Stranger Things

[Tictacbk]

Created by: The Duffer Brothers (first created by credit for them).
Premieres: July 15

New Netflix show. I had the privilege of seeing the first two episodes of this tonight. Methinks it's going to be a pretty big hit around here. Spielberg with more than a dash of Stephen King, and some Freaks and Geeks mixed in taboot.  Can't wait to see the rest of the eps.

[Sleepless]

Been looking forward to this. I think it's got a lot of buzz around it.

[Tictacbk]

Here's the cold open for anyone on the fence: 

[KJ]

(Y)

[RegularKarate]

(Y)

?

I liked it. It's definitely got it's flaws, but they did a great job of pulling off that 80s King/Speilberg vibe. The first third relies pretty heavily on that vibe, but eventually it finds itself and despite some spotty acting in parts, it's a pretty fun ride.

I'm also a sucker for that synth score.

[Tictacbk]

I wish there was more eps to this season. Which I mean both as a compliment and a criticism. I enjoyed every ep and would love to have consumed more of it, and also I felt like some of it was a bit rushed.

Agree, the score ruuuules.

[polkablues]

I thought this nailed the style and the tone, most of acting was great (the younger kids were great, the older kids a bit less so, David Harbour was perfect, Matthew Modine should donate his paycheck to charity), and it was all very satisfactorily made. I just wish it had more to say. Homage not in service of a new idea is just a nicely wrapped box with nothing inside.

R.I.P. Barb - she was too good for this world.

[Ghostboy]

Was really sad about Barb.

[Kal]

Can't wait for next season of this. I felt at some point that they would wrap everything up and the only way to do a second season would be True Detective style with new characters, but turns out there are lots of unanswered questions and possible mysteries for next season. Excited to see how the story continues!

SPOILERS

The saddest thing about Barb is that nobody really gave a shit. No parents, no funeral, no investigation, not even a discussion between the main characters about her. So sad.

[Alexandro]

It had been a while since something rubbed me so intensely the wrong way. I basically hated everything about this up until the fourth and a half chapter, which is when I turned it off for good.

It's like an all you can eat buffet of clichés. I don't think there was, in what I saw, a single shot, story point, scene, dialogue, lighting scheme, music cue, or anything that felt like anything else but a direct theft from better, more honest movies. I even hated the haircuts. No common place seemed too low to copycat. Every choice seemed motivated by nostalgia hunger among our generation.

Kids in bikes, UFO's, high school bulles, teen sex followed by bloody carnage, "geeks" reivindication, and an endless package of been there done that. The fact that it was all done so perfectly only added to the bad trip.

Why not just watch ET instead? At least that movie has big soul and a big heart. This was as if an app created the whole thing.

[polkablues]

I think my initial reaction to it was along the lines of yours, but once I caught on that's what they going for, that it was just going to be pure pastiche, I was able to start enjoying it on that level. Like listening to a good cover version of a great old song.

[RegularKarate]

Yeah, I think those complaints are totally valid and I had them a little while watching it, but everything just worked for me enough to where it didn't bother me at all.

[Alexandro]

I was giving it all the chances I could, forgiving everything, but I guess I was expecting some twist to it, something on the table more than that. And when it didn't showed, all the other stuff started exasperating me exponentially.

SPOILERS

I hated the ET girl and most of that storyline, I got tired pretty quickly of Winona's performance, which seemed the definition of one note. But really, there two instances where I really lost my shit:

1. When the missing kid "died". For starters, we had been asked to give a shit about a kid who appears no longer than five minutes in the first episode, and who keeps being missing by the end of the third. Almost nothing happens except the mystery itself to care, but then he suddenly appears dead. Maybe everyone knew right away, maybe not. But I was so sure they were going to pull that crap of "killing" the character only to bring him back the minute the next episode started, that I watched the start of the fourth episode only to confirm it. Now, In GOT we've had characters return from death, but the dyanmic is so different you actually hope that happens. Here it just feels like minutes of grief unearned. The episode even finishes with a huge crane pull back as characters hug (very nostalgic 80's bullshit, by the way) grieving for the kid that just died. And then of course, the next episode starts withe how he isn't dead at all. I LOATHED that.

2. On the same episode a little later a couple of characters are shown "investigating" at a library. That's when I sad "fuck this". I mean, I'm a sucker for nostalgia as anyone else and I do admire a well written, and well made show, but I need that extra something to care. Just pulling off a vibe is not enough.

In any case, everyone LOVES this show so gives a fuck?

[Drenk]

I've watched two episodes. It's not good. And even Xavier Dolan wouldn't like Winona Ryder's acting.

[Jeremy Blackman]

I think this was worth watching, and it was brutally addictive. But I kinda hated parts of it.

So much of this thing is devoted to skeptics standing in the way and droning on about their doubts while we, the audience, are fifty steps ahead of them. Why on earth do they think people want to watch that? And why does the show put us so far ahead of half the characters? It is not entertaining or engaging in any way to watch people being ignorant, certainly not for so long. What a strange way to pad the running time. There's enough content for 4-5 episodes, certainly not 8.

SPOILERS

Eleven was my favorite part of the series by far. Everything about that character and performance worked for me. I don't understand the criticisms; her powers, her story, and her relationship with Mike gave us the realest and most resonant moments. Not even close.

What's the worst part? That's real easy. Lucas, their black friend who is an uber skeptic. Why don't you join the James Randi Foundation already? Give it a rest, kid. Until he is finally convinced, Lucas is supremely annoying. The other guys don’t even like him, which I understand, because he’s a relentless contrarian. The character contributes nothing to the story, except to cause perpetual delays.

And that's what I really struggled with. Throughout most of the middle episodes, especially 4 through 7, the writers find every possible way to halt the plot or even move it backwards. The fact that it's mostly done through cliches makes it sting all the worse. It is absolutely maddening at times. I was almost pulling my hair out. And yet I still couldn't stop watching...

I actually loved the cliffhanger with Will in the bathroom. Felt like the show was suddenly operating on a new level, 15 seconds before it ended. Now I have to watch the next season.