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Post by imayne on Jul 16, 2016 12:19:20 GMT -5
Put up your reviews of Winona's Netflix sci-fi horror here!
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Post by imayne on Jul 17, 2016 7:55:40 GMT -5
So starting to watch the series, and have just finished episode 1.
So far: great opening sequence, great title sequence where I dig the 80s potboiler font, great music with the Carpenter-esque synthesizer score. Winona put a nice spin on her character playing it as manic and frazzled and unstable rather than stoic and/or heroic. The other supporting players are pretty good too with my personal favorite being the crochety but still likable police Chief Hopper (David Harbour). The biggest problem with this series so far is that it seems to be all about reminding people of why Spielberg and Carpenter et al.. were such groundbreakers in their time without actually focusing on what made them groundbreaking or even updating it. While the thread about a boy disappearing into thin air is relatively intriguing, the other plots about some kind of monster and a telekinetic girl pursued by government agents seems at times overly familiar.
Will it get better? Let's see...
On a personal level, one thing baffling me is the 80s nostalgia on display here, probably because that era feels rather fresh in my mind. I didn't catch many of the great 80s blockbusters like CLOSE ENCOUNTERS, STARMAN etc. till I was an adult, which may explain why I'm not THAT nostalgic for what the series is paying tribute to.
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Post by imayne on Jul 17, 2016 22:05:43 GMT -5
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Post by Deleted on Jul 18, 2016 8:01:49 GMT -5
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Post by imayne on Jul 18, 2016 10:29:35 GMT -5
Episode 2: Boy Winona can do hysterical weeping. She out-Watts Naomi Watts.
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Post by imayne on Jul 19, 2016 0:19:21 GMT -5
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Post by imayne on Jul 19, 2016 10:35:48 GMT -5
Episode 3 (SPOILERS ALERT):
I love how all good all the kids are in general (personal favorite: Gaten Matarazzo and his toothless lisp) and how well they developed their characters are. It's certainly their show despite Winona's top billing. Don't get me wrong, Ryder gamely throws herself into a frazzled and hysterical performance here, but so far it still seems pretty one-note. This episode does kick it up a notch with that near-silent sequence where telekinetic girl sees those happy childhood photos and seems to realize what her brutal and cruel upbringing as a government test subject took from her, but it also doesn't mince words to describe what it's shaped her into in that scene where she kills the guards. I have to admit I was most affected by Barb's fate and Nancy's regret that she was so eager to lose her virginity that she failed her friend. The whole idea involving Will's fate (who seems trapped in another dimension though his body is apparently found) still seems strangely unengaging though for some reason, probably because its subtext is handled a little too obviously.
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Post by imayne on Jul 21, 2016 3:41:25 GMT -5
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Post by imayne on Jul 21, 2016 20:13:51 GMT -5
Episode 4 (SPOILER ALERT, highlight to see):
David Harbour is so great, and Gaten Matarazzo has scientifically proven himself to be one of the coolest child actors alive. It's pretty easy to see where the series is going from here, but the acting and music in this thing are so good you don't really care that dramatically it's not exactly all there.
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Post by imayne on Jul 22, 2016 20:27:05 GMT -5
Episodes 5 - 8> (SPOILERS, HIGHLIGHT TO SEE):
There's not much here that hasn't already been said. But overall, this series is pretty damn good even if you're not that into the era it depicts or that it's paying tribute to. I mean characters have posters on JAWS, THE EVIL DEAD and THE THING on their walls. I also counted the films it was borrowing A NIGHTMARE FROM ELM STREET, ALIENS, ALTERED STATES, THE FURY, REAL GENIUS, THE GOONIES, E.T, CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND, THE KEEP and STARMAN. However, nearly everything is what you expect it to be: It more or less mimics the stylings and premises of late 70s and 80s sci fi with several unusual twists of character (Steve is less a standard bully jerk than a decent guy who is angered by something he doesn't understand etc.). The best thing about it remains the unusual match of the score with the genre: rather than the orchestral scores that you would expect it uses an ambient John Carpenter-esque electronic score that adds layers of off-kilter tension between sight and sound. Acting is really good across the board: Winona's performance is probably her hitting her middle-age stride in a way that few other actresses of her generation have managed (without being British and having stage work to fall back on). Her new persona is here fully-formed: scrappy, emotionally distraught, skirting the edges of hysteria, but with the same keen intelligence that still accompanied her in her prime. My four favorite players have to be Winona, David Harbour, and child actors Millie Brown and Gaten Matarazzo. All in all, even though I'm mixed to positive towards it I can see why this has become as huge a thing as it is. Good work to all involved.
And of course there's gonna be a second season...so let's start discussions, guys.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 26, 2016 2:00:05 GMT -5
I thought Stranger Things was very good in just about every way and look forward to the second season next year.
That's all that really needs to be said about that here. (Hell, I mean, I'm getting older and it's just not necessary for me to write long wordy concoctions any longer)
However, I do give you kudos for being spoiler-free, though. That's a GOOD thing.
Honorable tact.
By the way, the 1980's culture-wise WAS a thing to experience, and some not. But fond memories, there was.. Yoda said.
Good luck and Be Good...
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Post by imayne on Aug 14, 2016 21:40:55 GMT -5
Fan art reimagining the show as an episode of Scooby Doo.
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Post by imayne on Aug 14, 2016 21:45:23 GMT -5
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Post by imayne on Aug 18, 2016 21:57:08 GMT -5
Stranger Things reimagined as Manga
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Post by imayne on Aug 19, 2016 4:13:47 GMT -5
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