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[Jopax]

Saw the first season of Carnival Row. I like it, it's decent enough, has an interesting world and some characters but it also has some major flaws, mostly in how certain things are written and certain people cast.

Girl playing Vignette is absolutely dreadful, while the actress has those large expressive eyes she simply cannoct act with her face to save her life and most of the show she's either in lifeless stare or some sort of rage modes with nothing inbetween. Similarly the Dahlia actress has the wierdest way of speaking, it might be an intentional quirk of character but to me it felt more like the actress had no idea what sort of accent she should be going for so it ends up all over the damn place.

Bloom was brilliant tho, even tho his initial gruff voice act was a bit odd.

And now some spoiler stuff that bugged me:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

The whole Imogen side story felt so goddamn rushed that it kinda ruined whatever potential it had. It is a bit of a trope story but it worked fine enough to show the upper classes of the city and how they might think. But my issue is that the girl basically goes from being as racist as her brother to fucking the puck guy within a span of a few days. It could've been great if they took it a bit slower and resolved it in the second season, as is it felt rushed to fit into a single season and just another thing to fill the amount of fucking per episode quota.
Also the whole intro plot of Jack and his mad ramble towards the end, was he aware of the thing Piety was making? Did he help her? Was he reffering to the Puck cult that was growing? Was it just random mad rambling that happened to coincide with the events that came after? Does it refer to something else entirely that'll come in season two? Feels kinda too coincidental and specific without any explanation as to why IMO.

All that said, I'm interested in where they take S2 so there's that.

[Yoink]

I watched the first two and a bit episodes of Frontier (don't ask me why, I guess I've been playing a fair bit of Red Dead Redemption 2 lately, plus I saw the trailer which made it look more interesting than I remembered) and wow, it was even worse than I first imagined.
"Dumpster fire" is the quickest way to describe it. A shame, since the setting could have been interesting... why do all historical TV shows tend to be utter garbage? I guess anything approaching realism doesn't make for good ratings.

[Iduno]

I've finished the second episode of The Dark Crystal:Age of Resistance. It's great so far.

[nenjin]

I love me some Dark Crystal but after watching some promos, it seems more like a reboot than a sequel. That sound about right?

[Il Palazzo]

It's a prequel. It's great, too. Far superior to the original.

[nenjin]

It's a prequel. It's great, too. Far superior to the original.

That's a pretty tall claim. Especially with the way things get made today.

[Il Palazzo]

Have you rewatched the original recently, though? It's very flawed in the story department, so surpassing it is not that hard, really. This one has pretty much the same level of marvellous puppetry, but with sufficient running time to build the world up and tell a tale. It's got solid direction and inventive camera work (both by the guy who made the Transporter films, of all choices).
As one watches it, it's obviously apparent that everyone involved cared a lot about what they were doing and about honouring Henson's legacy. They even hired a few of the old crew.
The 'making of' doc is almost as fun to watch as the series itself. Also, there must have been some serious cash thrown at the project.

[nenjin]

I'll admit I suffer from nostalgia when it compares to modern takes. I don't remember any problems with the original story. Sure it wasn't as detailed as a miniseries but of late I honestly feel that sometimes, less is more. The way stories were told versus how they are told today can amount to a big difference in the same universe. Show vs. tell, all that stuff. I may get around to watching it.

[ChairmanPoo]

I'm liking Arrow a lot. Season 1 is basically Batman Begins, except done right

[itisnotlogical]

Scrubs uses so many sound effects I recognize from Daggerfall that it's actually a bit distracting. I've recognized quite a few random spell sounds and the skeleton scream so far.

[Il Palazzo]

I started watching Unbelievable after reading glowing reviews. I get the noble intent in spotlighting the subject matter, but the execution is so heavy-handed, it's barely on par with CSI-grade police procedurals. How did it get to 96% on RT is bamboozling.

[Imic]

I’ve been watching Steven Universe recently, after someone I know started watching the episodes out of order while I was in the room, and now I need to know all the missing context. I’ve learned very quickly that everyone has an opinion of this show though, so to avoid debate, I now have to avoid telling people my own opinion. Quite the show.

[Reelya]

I'll admit I suffer from nostalgia when it compares to modern takes. I don't remember any problems with the original story. Sure it wasn't as detailed as a miniseries but of late I honestly feel that sometimes, less is more. The way stories were told versus how they are told today can amount to a big difference in the same universe. Show vs. tell, all that stuff. I may get around to watching it.

Note that at the time, most reviews of The Dark Crystal were basically "it's shit, don't watch it". You can find good reviews of it, but those are all 20 years or so after the release. Jim Henson made it and basically went "well I won't be making any more of those" due to the negative response. Then he made Labyrinth, which addressed a lot of the specific criticisms of The Dark Crystal, and they didn't like that one even more. The Dark Crystal at least made money at the box office, but Labyrinth didn't turn a profit. So he listened to the critics then lost money because of it. So at this point Henson's like "fuck this shit. I'm going back to TV".

https://www.nytimes.com/1982/12/17/movies/henson-s-crystal.html

A lot of obvious effort has gone into this solemn fairy tale, but all of it has been devoted to the complicated technical problems involved in making a film mostly with animated puppets. The screenplay by David Odell, based on a story by Mr. Henson, is without any narrative drive whatever. It's without charm as well as interest.
...
Most surprising is the lack of either humor or wit, especially in the designs for the mythical creatures. More than anything else, they seem inefficient, as if no order of evolution could ever have thrown them up, even in an off millennium.

[Folly]

I recently finished the new Dark Crystal.

Story is slow at first, then eventually warms up to 'interesting' but doesn't really go any further than that. The best things I can say about this series is that it has a unique and creative aesthetic, both in terms of visuals as well as worldbuilding. Having never watched the original, everything was very much fresh and new to me and unlike anything else I've seen.

I'll be keeping my eye out for a season 2 if it happens, but I'm withholding my hype.

[nenjin]

To be fair, animatronics have always been a pain in the ass. The guy who made Gremlins didn't want to make Gremlins 2 for exactly the same reason, the puppets were so difficult to work with.