Good TV
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I've been watching Powers. What a lost opportunity for a fantastic take on superheroes.
I'm a big Brian Michael Bendis fan from the comics so when I heard they were putting a version of his Powers series for TV I was pretty interested. And the cast is even fascinating, Eddie Izzard is just killing it every time he's on the screen, and they got that guy from Distrinct 9 to play Christian Walker which turned out better than I expected.
But man, it was on the freakin' Playstation Network? The budget seems to be non-existent, and I mean this is a series that has to portray superheroes with, y'know. Powers. The special effects are really bad, and the director (I didn't notice if it's a rotating team of them) isn't able to hide them. Babylon 5 had better effects more than twenty years ago than these, and I'm usually pretty forgiving about that - but they were pretty distracting. Everything about the production was, the sets themselves looked cheap, the TV news casts looked hilarious, etc.
The dialogue? The plot? I'd say it's all top-notch. They deviated from the comics but that's fine when it's done right, and Bendis was personally involved in the series so he left his mark with the writing.
I'm only on episode 5 so maybe it fixes or hides its weaknesses better later but... still, a shame.
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You have to keep in mind that this is also the first thing Playstation has put out. They're feeling out a demographic. I think the second season, if they do it, will probably have a larger budget. That said, Johnny's teleporting was really well done, I thought.
"Excuse the hell out of you. He's a bag of dicks. I'm a carefully curated box of cocks." -- to @GirlCalledBlu upon being misrepresented.
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@Coin Yeah, 'cause it costs next to nothing. It's a camera trick + a popping sound.
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Update: Penny Dreadful continues to own hard.
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Anyone watch Sense8? I want someone to gab with about the sensates! I want to be Sun Bak when I grow up. Or Wolfgang. Or Nomi.
For those who haven't heard about it, Sense8 is a Netflix original scifi thriller, about eight people around the world who become connected telepathically.
The roster is:
A white male cop from Chicago. (Will)
A transgender woman from LA. (Nomi)
A male van/bus driver from Nairobi. (Cepheus)
A female DJ from Iceland. (Riley)
A male thief/hit man from Berlin. (Wolfgang)
A female pharmacist from Mumbai. (Kala)
A male actor from Mexico City. (Lito)
A female business woman from Seoul. (Sun)It starts out really slow but has some awesome moments as it ramps but and the last couple of episodes are awesome. Graphic birth scenes aside.
Expect a lot of tits, ass, and at least one dick scene if you watch it.
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@Cobaltasaurus
Wolfgang ftw -
You've sold me.
I have a waggish sense of humor.
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@Misadventure I really enjoyed it. Seriously, Sun is the baddest badass I've seen on TV in sometime. I could watch her beat people up for hours.
Secretary: Would you like to leave a message?
Sun: A message?
That aside, some (mostly) non-spoilery thoughts/comments:
- Like I said it is incredibly slow at the beginning of the series. With a few moments of action put in.
- Skip the opening theme. It's kind of lame. I get what they were trying for, but it's just bad.
- There are some pretty graphic sex scenes in this series (including a telepathic orgy), so it really is not a family show.
- Late in the season there is a 5 or so minute long (I think) series of graphic birth scenes (I mean, you see the babies' heads coming out of vaginas). So you may want to skip it if you're squeamish.
- There is some blood/violence but most of the gore is pretty low key (there are scenes where an arm or a hand gets cut off, but it's mostly so fake that it isn't really awful).
- I'm not entirely sure how to phrase this so just going to say it: Nomi is a male-to-female transgendered woman with a lesbian lover. This character is awesome. However, at the beginning of the series they briefly explore Nomi's mother being completely in-denial/bitchy about it, and it could be potentially triggery for folks who have been or are in that kind of situation. Nomi is amazing, however.
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@Cobaltasaurus
Late in the season there is a 5 or so minute long (I think) series of graphic birth scenes (I mean, you see the babies' heads coming out of vaginas).
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Wuss.
I have a waggish sense of humor.
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@Cobaltasaurus
This is on my list. I need to finish Continuum and Walking Dead, but it's on my list.I think I was sold on the 'oh shit I'm being beaten up, let's the badass Asian lady kickboxer take over the body and beatdown my attackers' preview.
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@Misadventure said:
Wuss.
If something's going to come squeezing out of a human body to shriek its way into the world, shortening the life expectancy of everyone around it, I'd just prefer it do so through the more socially acceptable chest-hole, like our savior Ridley Scott intended.
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^ Best. Post. Ever. ^
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@Bobotron said:
@Cobaltasaurus
This is on my list. I need to finish Continuum and Walking Dead, but it's on my list.I think I was sold on the 'oh shit I'm being beaten up, let's the badass Asian lady kickboxer take over the body and beatdown my attackers' preview.
Sun is f'ing amazing, yes. Sun, Wolfgang, and Nomi (in my opinion) are the best. Kala and Capheus are the best people, but the other three are the biggest badasses.
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Has anyone watched the new episode of True Detective yet? If so, without too many spoilers, what did you think of it?
- He who takes offense when not intended is a fool. He who takes offense when intended is a greater fool.
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Eh. It's not the first season and this time around I think the phrase "trying too hard" applies.
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I like Memory Entertainment Television! It's all the old shows from the past that were halfway decent!
remembers sitting in front of Perry Mason back when i was in elementary school on days when it was either a holiday/summer vacation, or I was sick
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I used to stay up late on Tuesdays and Thursdays to watch "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" which aired at 11 PM on Nick-at-Nite.
My mother had the hardest time waking me up on Wednesdays and Fridays because not only did I go to bed late, I was often fucking terrified.
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I had underestimated Silicon Valley so much. That series is hilarious. The second season is killing it.
