TV and Movie Chat

[Necron 99]

Ok. So I know Allan was asking about this in the TV/Movie trailer thread, but I was able to watch the first episode of Lovecraft Country, last night.

My quick and dirty review after watching the first episode is, it's definitely worth watching. That being said, there were some things about it that I had to either ignore or overlook. All in all, though, even with minor things like that, if they can keep up the mystery and deliver aspects of Lovecraft throughout the series, I think it will be really good. The characters all seem to fit, the actors and actresses play the parts well, and they throw out quite a bit of talk concerning Lovecraft and his work.

The premise from the first episode, is that the main character, Atticus, returns to Chicago, his home town, then sets out to look for his missing father. Accompanying Atticus is his Uncle George and a childhood friend Letitia; the trio hits the road looking for a town called Ardum, supposedly located somewhere in Mass., but doesn't appear to be on any modern map.

The timing of this series is important, because it takes place in the 1950s, when Jim Crow laws (and worse) were in effect in America. This makes for even more tension, since the trio are black and everything that went on back then, like segregation and lynching, are of real concern.

However, even with all of the real world crap going on, there is a greater mystery surrounding Atticus, and I guess to an extent, his father's disappearance, which ties in with Lovecraft's Mythos. I won't spoil anything, but I will say that even in the first episode, you get to see some Myhos critters. My only gripe with that, is whether or not they are in fact, what Atticus at one point, thinks they are, because I don't feel like the name he uses, fits the description in Lovecraft's work.

Now, aside from that, I did have a couple other minor gripes:

In the beginning when Atticus is talking with another older black lady, she has some comments to make about John Carter, after Atticus tells her about the book he is reading, John Carter of Mars. As much as I get the state of the country at that time, it felt like the points she was making were aimed more at circumstances we've seen, today, as opposed to something that would have been an issue, back then. Maybe I'm wrong, but it just felt preachy.

In one scene, Atticus goes to a bar to talk with the bartender and ask some questions about his father. Not to go into details, but the scene then treads into adult themed activities for a brief few seconds, the implication is pretty easy to see. The entire scene, imo, was pointless, unnecessary, and served zero purpose to the story, they could have just as easily left it out and achieved the same result for the audience.

Still, I give it thumbs up, good stuff, enjoyed it and looking forward to watching more.

[Necron 99]

Ok. Episode two is in the bag.

As enthusiastic as I was after the first episode, I left the second feeling less satisfied. The mystery surrounding Tic (Atticus) is brought to light and for me was understandable but underwhelming. I don't know if I expected more or just something different, but the whole episode seemed to be something of a mess. There was a definite point/story they were trying to get across, but the way they went about doing it was like watching an ambling drunk, many of the scenes seemed like they were thrown in for no real reason, they were just there.

Some of my gripes:

This happened in the first episode too, but I forgot about it until the beginning of episode two. Using modern music needs to stop, they did it at one point in episode one and then the at the beginning of episode two and it just really throws you out of the mindset of Lovecraft.

At one point the characters are locked in their bedrooms and each one has a personal experience. Each one goes through their thing, and I kind of understood why, but even so, it didn't really seem noteworthy.

The lady they meet at the village tower, then again later on seemed like a pointless character, not sure why they even included her.

At the end of the episode, I didn't pick up on how Tic gets out of the situation he's in. He thwarts the plan of the big-bad-end-guy, but there was no obvious reason how/why he should have been able to do so, other than through, maybe, just sure willpower or something, idk. It didn't make much sense.

Another gripe I had was with the daughter (of the big-bad-end-guy), who in one scene, runs to a farm in the local village to help with a cow giving birth. Not going to go into details but aside from trying to show how "lovecraft" they can be, it didn't really seem to make any difference to the story. I was like, "Ok, so that happened, but other than simply just showing us that, what was the point?"

Idk, maybe I'm looking too hard at things or expecting too much. The first episode seemed to be on the right track, but after the second, I'm not sure. I'm going to watch the next two at least before I decide if I'm going to continue watching.

After this episode, I have to give the show one thumb up and one thumb down.

[Necron 99]

Ok, so I've watched the third and fourth episodes of the series and by now, I'm fairly solid when I say that after the first episode, the series is just kinda "meh" and not at all what I was, I guess, hoping for in regards to "Lovecraft". It feels more like the name Lovecraft was tacked on to make it stand out from other horror stories. Aside from an over-arching story that seems to be leading up to "other-world" mythos and the initial name drops, there really isn't anything here that I could classify as "Lovecraft", it just feels more like a general horror theme.

Depending on how many more episodes come out for the season, I will most likely continue watching, just to see how they wrap up what is currently going on, but I don't know if I would continue with any future seasons unless something changes. I think a review I saw online drives home, the problem I too, have with the show so far.

After a memorable first episode, Lovecraft Country never quite decides what it wants to be, and as a result, it’s difficult to imagine what kind of outcome these characters may stumble upon by the very end.

If you go into this with the mindset that you're getting "Lovecraft", like I did, you may be disappointed. If you go into it with the understanding that it's really just a horror show that has a very, very loose tie into the mythos, then you may enjoy it just for the horror and mystery aspect of it.

[Ancalagon]

Thanks for the progress reports.

That just sounds like some disappointing feces right there, man. If a show is supposed to be horror themed / related AND uses the name of the great horror writers in American history, famous for creating an entire mythos, then there should be no confusion about how to approach things. Period. Sounds like I'd be quite disappointed in the writing.

Reminds me of the attempted reboot of The Bionic Woman back around 2007. I enjoyed the original Bionic Woman with Lindsey Wagner back in the 70s so figured I'd give the reboot with Michelle Ryan a try. The show tried to be a blend of hard sci-fi, spy stuff, and family drama but struggled to make it work as a whole. When the writers' strike hit, the show went on hiatus. Once the strike was over, Bionic Woman was not brought back. I thought it had potential but the strength of writing wasn't there.

[Necron 99]

Two mentions here:

First, I picked back up and watched the next episode of Lovecraft Country. I can positively say that I will not be finishing this show, or even the first season. With episode 5, I was just completely exhausted from the constant race related content. I get it, it is the 1950s and there is a significant difference in how the two races treated one another, this was made pretty clear in the first episode, AND the second episode, AND the third episode...so on and so forth, but here in episode 5 it just becomes ridiculous. With a show named Lovecraft Country you'd think the real focus would be on, oh idk, Lovecraft related mythos stuff. Sure there is an over-arching story line which has loosely dropped some LC references and such, but most of what I'm watching seems to just be some other show altogether which minor bits and pieces of LC tossed in.

And in true fashion, I guess you can't have a show on HBO unless there are at least one or two scenes in just about every episode involving gratuitous sex and nudity, none of which serves any real purpose. The first episode showed the most promise, at least it had something you could consider to be mythos-related, the rest might as well be generic.

The second thing I'll mention is the movie, The Head Hunter, which I posted a trailer for a while back. This had a lot of potential and opportunity for a cool low-fantasy styled movie. The actor did a fine enough job, the effects seemed to be decent, the world info initially seemed interesting, but the overall story just fell completely flat by the end. For the first 20 minutes I was confused as to what was going on, then everything started to make sense, then when it finally did, the wrap up was just bad. I thought the ending was a let down, I get they were going for some sort of a twist but this just seemed very amateurish and poorly thought out.

[Ancalagon]

Isn't it disappointing how the public goes bonkers for a show with fantastic writing like Game of Thrones (seasons 1-4), demonstrating a serious hunger for quality but none of the networks / executives producing shows seem able to find any writers who can create compelling material, or writers who can adapt strong source material without screwing it up, or not interfering with said writers attempting to do so?

[rredmond]

So true!

[Necron 99]

"Luck often enough will save a man, if his courage holds."

Such a great movie, I haven't seen it in many years now, but ran it for some background ambience while working from home. Maybe it's just me, but it seems like it is harder these days to find quality movies compared to what was out back then.

Fan created trailer:

[Ancalagon]

Nearly all of the commercials I see on TV for films is POW-BANG-ZOWWEE attention deficit disorder brains soaked in cola nonsense or genres that don't interest me. Lots of pandering to the lowest common denominator (LCD) to rake in $$$. And I understand that. Studios are in the money making business via movies. But when so many films play down to the LCD, those of us who want something better are left out.

[Necron 99]

Goonies never say die!

The other day on one of my FB groups, someone posted that they had acquired the Milton Bradley board game, The Goonies. Long story short, I realized it's been a long while since I've actually revisited the movie.

Broke it out yesterday and had it running in the background while working, I forgot how great some of the dialogue is. I really enjoyed checking it out again and paying attention to details I may not have caught back in the day.

Great movie, great fun.