What Are You Watching

[jazzbo]

Agreed, nice finale, nice season.

[Scott Dolan]

If the two previous episodes are any indication, the finale has GOT to be unbelievable. I agree with Lon, great season. By far the best show I've seen in a really long time. When I first saw the original movie I thought the concept was awesome, but could just imagine how much better it would have been in the right hands. 

This first season proved my assumptions correct. It's in the right hands. 

Hopefully my wife and I will get a chance to sit down and watch the finale this evening. 

Worst part? Season 2 isn't set to hit the airwaves (can we still call them that?!) until some time in 2018. Gonna be a long, slow, painful wait...

5 hours ago, JSngry said:

Binge-watched Westworld over the weekend, caught the finale in real time last night....quite a bit to chew on!

I have to admit, having soaked in the season piece by piece, I can't imagine the Herculean mental task of trying to decode that story in a binge! 

[JSngry]

Some things, like the parallel timelines, I didn't even try to figure out logically, figured it would all be revealed in the end. And it mostly was.

Also, hey, motifs, themes and variations, recaps of themes, modulations, orchestrations, all that...script and editing as score/composition...I can do that if I feel it, and this I was feeling!

The hardest part was emotional...watching the unfettered/unleashed predatory nature of too many humans acting without fear of consequence just seemed more real than I wish it did

Other things turned into hunches that either did or didn't pan out as the episodes progressed.

Have spent a large part of my free time today ready/catching up on all the "fan theories". What surprised me was that there was/is a Delos "company website" that sounds like fun if you have time for that type of thing (which I really don't), and how, like Mr. Robot, there are scenes where freezing the scene on a screen with coding can actually yield easter eggs. I'm not really all that into participating in that type of thing, but certainly think it's a nifty way to engage viewers past the traditional passive reception paradigm.

One theory I formed which I haven't yet seen discussed - was Arnold EVER real, or did Ford create him Arnold as some kind of alter-ego who he then got frustrated with and termed out, only to rethink and rebuild into Bernard? And for that matter - was Ford himself ever purely human? The latter is a bit of a stretch, but consider the whole Delos thing, look at the real Delos, the Greek isle, see what's up there? And consider how William, the owner of Delos, is coming back for the next season, both gratified by Dolores/Wyatt and "lucky" to have survived it. Ford says that they - Delos - were the ones playing god, that it started when they came into the picture. It's easy to think that Delos came into the park once it was underway, but isn't it mentioned earlier on that the purpose of the visit with young William and...what's his name? was to consider an expansion of "the company's" ownership? Perhaps the whole thing was actually begun by Delos as R&D and that visit was to assess whether or not the project was a go?

Throw this into the mix - the photo of Ford & "Arnold" that Bernard first saw as two people was, as it turns out, a picture of Ford and the being that is his "father" from the hidden host house that Bernard discovered. Maybe it's more than Arnold never being real, maybe this is a Cain & Able thing where the slain brother is given a chance at redemption...and maybe both brothers came from Delos?

Or....maybe ford is actually still evil, tempting the innocent hosts into consciousness...consider his statement that the decision was made that consciousness evolves from suffering, consider the meaning of the name "Dolores", and then consider that the first thing Dolores does when gaining full consciousness is to start behaving like a human and just laying waste to shit all around her. Paradise Lost or Found? Ford/Arnold liberator or trickster?

Of course, the whole thing will ultimately "mean" whatever the writers decide for it to mean (and that's something I LOL-ed at, the irony of a story about a storyteller in complete control of his characters he creates actually being told by storytellers who by necessity have to be in control of the characters they create, and what better way to end it than just blowing everything up, the story-equivalent of taking the last page out of the typewriter, wadding it up, throwing it away, and going on to the next one?).

The whole Ford/Arnold/Delos thing, though...the immediate references for me as I watched it unfold were the various version of the Jacob/Esau tale, the "stealing of the blessing", in particular the NOI variation involving Yakub, and this significantly more pop-culture theme.

Again, it's just a tv show, and a big part of the fun of stuff like this is that it allows you to project all sorts of things onto it. If it's where the writers decide to go, you're right, and if not, you're not. But I do enjoy finding something like this, a vehicle which allows for projection of some pretty basic existential quandaries. I allow my enthusiasm because I know that none of it is real, it's just other people projecting their shit onto a dramatic production.

But they do it so damn well, eh?

[kinuta]

An amazing finale to a first season that was so good it eclipses anything else on the tube.

I'm ready to rewatch the whole thing.

 

[jazzbo]

I liked it mostly because it was so Phil K. Dickian.

I think it was awesome, but I still think Better Call Saul bests it a bit. That's the pinnacle of the year for me.

[A Lark Ascending]

Never seen this before - good, old fashioned war film but despite the usual hero-portrayal it doesn't try to hide has arrogance and tactlessness. Didn't they make long films in them days?

Been watching this over the last week. Standard cop thing with young policewoman somewhat compromised (a bit like 'Marcella' last spring). Enjoyable (with a nice Brighton setting) but a very messy ending - too obviously left hanging for a sequel.  

Edited December 6, 2016 by A Lark Ascending

[jlhoots]

Designated Survivor

[kinuta]

Game Of Thrones season one

I'd never felt any inclination to watch this but felt I might be doing the show an injustice.

I'm up to episode six and firmly engrossed. The production values and plotline are excellent and it's nice to hear so many of the cast being allowed to speak in their natural dialect. Sean Bean sounds like my old mates in Sheffield.

I'll continue watching one episode a day.

[kh1958]

It's a great show--but not really a show, at this point a 60 hour epic film (sadly with only 12 or 13
 hours  remaining to be made).

2 hours ago, kinuta said:

Game Of Thrones season one

I'd never felt any inclination to watch this but felt I might be doing the show an injustice.

I'm up to episode six and firmly engrossed. The production values and plotline are excellent and it's nice to hear so many of the cast being allowed to speak in their natural dialect. Sean Bean sounds like my old mates in Sheffield.

I'll continue watching one episode a day.

 

[Scott Dolan]

We only saw the first two episodes, but it struck me as little more than medieval soft porn. 

Will have to give it another try when we've got time to really delve into it. 

[JSngry]

16 hours ago, jlhoots said:

Designated Survivor

Watched the first 3 episodes, was teetering on intirigued, but then a stretch of real life intruded and I got distracted and never got back. How's it playing out?

[page]

I've just found out a couple of days ago, my provider offers me:



Borgen season 1 (not sure how many seasons there are already).
I quite like it. Political drama.

In my own language

De zaak Menten (The case Menten) about a journalist revealing the actions of war criminal Pieter Menten during WOII.
True story.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5749974/?ref_=nv_sr_1

 

Edited December 7, 2016 by page

[jlhoots]

17 hours ago, JSngry said:

Watched the first 3 episodes, was teetering on intirigued, but then a stretch of real life intruded and I got distracted and never got back. How's it playing out?

Getting better IMHO.

 

[jazzbo]

I held off watching Game of Thrones for a long time and gave in finally a few years ago when I found Blu-ray sets cheap. I confess it was not grabbing me at first but then I got into it about halfway Season 1 and kept watching. It's not all to my fancy but the production values are awesome and stay awesome year after year, and some of the characters sort of get under my skin. 

[jlhoots]

3 hours ago, jazzbo said:

I held off watching Game of Thrones for a long time and gave in finally a few years ago when I found Blu-ray sets cheap. I confess it was not grabbing me at first but then I got into it about halfway Season 1 and kept watching. It's not all to my fancy but the production values are awesome and stay awesome year after year, and some of the characters sort of get under my skin. 

FWIW, I see George R. R. Martin riding around town in his Tesla. 

[A Lark Ascending]

17 hours ago, page said:

I've just found out a couple of days ago, my provider offers me:



Borgen season 1 (not sure how many seasons there are already).
I quite like it. Political drama.
 

I really liked that. I think there were three seasons in all - they decided to quit while ahead. 

Also watching a Danish series:

Not brilliant, but watchable. Reminds me of the sort of thing they used to make in the 70s. The lead character is really annoying - constantly going where she shouldn't, walking into crime scenes, having instant rumpy-pumpy with a doctor who is treating a graze, entering houses with open doors (there seem to be a lot of those in Jutland) etc. If the sign says 'Keep Off The Grass', don't walk on it! (I'm so jazz!)    

Edited December 8, 2016 by A Lark Ascending

[kinuta]

2 hours ago, A Lark Ascending said:

I really liked that. I think there were three seasons in all - they decided to quit while ahead. 

Also watching a Danish series:

Not brilliant, but watchable. Reminds me of the sort of thing they used to make in the 70s. The lead character is really annoying - constantly going where she shouldn't, walking into crime scenes, having instant rumpy-pumpy with a doctor who is treating a graze, entering houses with open doors (there seem to be a lot of those in Jutland) etc. If the sign says 'Keep Off The Grass', don't walk on it! (I'm so jazz!)    

" Rumpy-pumpy ", that's a new one, almost onomatopoeic.

[A Lark Ascending]

1 hour ago, kinuta said:

" Rumpy-pumpy ", that's a new one, almost onomatopoeic.

It's a Danish hot drink, like Ovaltine. 

[mjazzg]

BBC's adaptation of Zadie Smith's NW

I find Smith has a keen eye for contemporary London and have enjoyed all her novels so approached this adaptation with some trepidation. I thought it was excellent - well scripted, well cast and on the whole well acted . There were characters and incidents uncannily resonant of my neighbourhood in NE London

[A Lark Ascending]

First of a two part doc on Walt Disney. Fascinating. Going to the cinema to see a Disney animated feature film in the 60s was the ultimate experience - nothing quite matched the colour of those films (and, except for new films, they appeared rarely. Recall seeing "Pinocchio" at about 8 and being scared out of my wits...have kept clear of amusement parts ever since). Lost touch after "The Jungle Book" and just have a mental image of Disney as a rapacious, union-bashing capitalist. So it was interesting to learn just how innovative he was in the 20s and 30s. Expect the nasty stuff will appear in part 2.   

Edited December 13, 2016 by A Lark Ascending

[kinuta]

 Rillington Place

Final act.

Horrifying.

Tim Roth was truly frightening in one of the most chilling things I've ever seen on tv.

[sidewinder]

4 hours ago, kinuta said:

 Rillington Place

Final act.

Horrifying.

Tim Roth was truly frightening in one of the most chilling things I've ever seen on tv.

Chilling for sure. Strange to think that I must have driven past the site of where it happened many, many times. M40 flyover Westway in West London is right next to it. Roth's performance was in this episode was totally believable.

The original 1971 film had the original street location as a set though - chilling in itself.

[JohnS]

Not seen for years and well worth watching again.  I can always watch Nancy Gates 

[page]

On 8-12-2016 at 6:53 AM, A Lark Ascending said:

I really liked that. I think there were three seasons in all - they decided to quit while ahead. 

Also watching a Danish series:

Not brilliant, but watchable. Reminds me of the sort of thing they used to make in the 70s. The lead character is really annoying - constantly going where she shouldn't, walking into crime scenes, having instant rumpy-pumpy with a doctor who is treating a graze, entering houses with open doors (there seem to be a lot of those in Jutland) etc. If the sign says 'Keep Off The Grass', don't walk on it! (I'm so jazz!)    

Yeah, me too. I'm watching series 2 of Borgen at the moment. Getting hooked, although sometimes I wonder why I want to watch more political drama than the ones from real life.

Dicte needs a bit getting into, I think. I did take some time with me, but I did learn to appreciate the story. Maybe I like that bit of rebellion, since the feeling is recognsable. Give it some time.

Edited December 14, 2016 by page

[A Lark Ascending]

11 hours ago, page said:

Dicte needs a bit getting into, I think. I did take some time with me, but I did learn to appreciate the story. Maybe I like that bit of rebellion, since the feeling is recognsable. Give it some time.

I watched all five and enjoyed them. I thought the 'police' storylines of each episode a bit predictable; but I really warmed to the characters as they developed. Really liked the "daughter much older than her mum" character.

 

I think I saw this last in 1964. Most of my memories come from parodies, Miles Davis versions of the big tune and Tom Waits' disturbed take on the dwarves song.  Still an impressive piece of animation.

 

On 12/14/2016 at 2:01 AM, kinuta said:

 Rillington Place

Final act.

Horrifying.

Tim Roth was truly frightening in one of the most chilling things I've ever seen on tv.

I have that recorded but after reading your comments am not sure I can manage it. I get scared by the queen in Snow White.