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Post by imayne on Aug 22, 2016 21:21:41 GMT -5
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Post by imayne on Aug 23, 2016 23:04:35 GMT -5
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Post by bigdaddy on Sept 19, 2016 21:18:52 GMT -5
There were two great things for me in the series: The first was when David Harbour tells Ryder he believes her. Her facial expression was on par with INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS (1956), when Kevin McCarthy finally lets loose at the end when he knows Richard Deacon believes him. The sense of relief was really well done.
The second was allowing her to be shown at her correct height. For years Ryder has been shot to minimize her height unless it helped to create an image of youth or innocence. I loved it when she storms back from the shed with an axe as this compact ball of fire and I don't think anybody wanted to be in her way.
The series was big here in Canada too...at a screening of YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN the other week, the hosts announced that in honour of STRANGER THINGS they would be hosting E.T. and POLTERGEIST for October (the theatre has retro Fridays once a month...)
They nailed the look and feel of the early 80's and you got just how FOREIGN the whole time period is now. By the way, Matthew Modine SHOULD be cast next as Phil Austin in a bio. (Austin played Nick Danger in a lot of FIRESIGN THEATRE skits...and a bio for the group is long over due. Don't know what I'm talking about? Check out HOW CAN YOU BE IN TWO PLACES AT ONCE WHEN YOU'RE REALLY NO WHERE AT ALL. Universally seen as one of the best comedy albums of the 70's.)
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Post by imayne on Sept 20, 2016 1:03:16 GMT -5
My favorite things about the series had little to do with Ryder, even if she was excellent.
SPOILERS AHEAD for those who have not seen it. Swipe your mouse over the text.
First was Gaten Matarazzo as series' resident fat kid with the lisp, who was hands down my favorite child actor (Sorry Millie Bobby Brown). In films/shows of this sort generally he's the guy serving to be an annoying comic relief or eat a lot of junk food (which he does here too) but instead of annoying the show gives him some of the most witty, cutting lines. Rather than dopey, he was hilariously cocky and self-assured and lent a lot of levity to the proceedings.
In terms of writing I also like what was done with Steve, who seems like a standard bully jerk but as the series progresses you realize that given he doesn't know what's really happening it's rational of him to think of Charlie as a stalker and react the way he does. The way he turns around, stands up to the other mean kids and then actually partly helps to defeat the monster was for me a very smart twist on a seemingly standard character.
Then the score, of which I have already said previously. This is one of those scores that is so essential to the viewing experience it'd have been a WAY poorer series without it. Probably the best use of a score I've heard all year.
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Post by bigdaddy on Oct 8, 2016 11:58:38 GMT -5
Millie Bobby Brown stole every scene she was in, but one of the things I liked best was pretty subtle. Right now, there's a series called BLIND SPOT that has some traction, about a lady who has had her memories erased and her whole body tattoed. Now, most of the time she tends to just STARE straight ahead like she is having the biggest migraine since Pence was told to go to bat and be the Veep for Trump.
Millie, and the Duffer Brothers, in turn took a more reasoned approach. If you think about it, sooner or later, you'd have to ask someone a question about what you have forgotten. And in between, you'd probably just chill, because you have forgotten to worry about the gas bill, the backyard ant problem ozone depletion, or the guy down the street who just got busted making meth in the basement.
BLIND SPOT never has these moments. (Never mind it would impossible to wipe out a WHOLE MEMORY anyway, because that would include language, things like how to do up your shoes, and where you put the can of soup in the fridge you didn't finish, let alone what a fridge was or what to do when you finished using a toilet, or what a toilet was for...)
With Stranger Things, you get her asking stuff you forget you knew in the first place. A nice twist.
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Post by imayne on Nov 2, 2016 5:58:56 GMT -5
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Post by Deleted on Nov 2, 2016 9:30:00 GMT -5
Well, then, (with as much respect as I can possibly muster) what were the "good points" you took from that article?! And you're own definition of magic realism? I mean, you post and present an article and then don't explain FURTHER you're meaning for your "don't quite agree" viewpoint. What gives? Anyhow, I actually read that article. A very interesting topic and theme (still). For the sake of opinion, I can understand how the writer propagates the idea that magic realism is similar to our actual reality, as "when the crazy starts bleeding through into our day-to-day lives, the results are no one’s idea of a good time" and brings out all the upside-downs that "stands in for all the horrible oddity that exists in the world—the explanation for the suffering and injustice surrounding us in real life".I truly get that. Our shared world is crumbling, more and more rapidly, before our very eyes and MOST of us are in Severe Denial of Truths in Reality, that it can/will ultimately destroy us. Perhaps it's fate from the beginning. But what if all that could change and/or somehow be stopped... I say, thank God for such things that present Magic Realism (such as shows like Stranger Things). Whether how one defines it, I see it as required escapism (getting away every day is not a bad thing). And maybe, perhaps, I can myself, contribute inspired positive ideas back into our shared reality from all that. (*thinking to myself* - wait, what did I just say?) Be Good, imayne...I do understand it's okay to have your own opinions, as well.
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Post by imayne on Nov 2, 2016 10:21:25 GMT -5
I do not consider Stranger Things "magic realism" because the show makes up its own pseudoscience about the various supernatural phenomena on display. Magic realism would more be like a world where the supernatural is unexplained, treated in an offhand manner, and regarded almost as a part of the fabric of reality itself. American examples might include The Shipping News (2000), for example.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 5, 2016 21:20:39 GMT -5
I do not consider Stranger Things "magic realism" because the show makes up its own pseudoscience about the various supernatural phenomena on display. Magic realism would more be like a world where the supernatural is unexplained, treated in an offhand manner, and regarded almost as a part of the fabric of reality itself. American examples might include The Shipping News (2000), for example. Firstly, THANKS for responding. I re-learned something.
Upon realizing after your obviously-correct further explanation, I have to NOW agree with you (reminded-hindsight).
And I don't even know why (or how) I noted that Stranger Things was magical realism. It is not.
You are right. Now I feel bad that I was wrong.
Somewhere along the way, I must have confused the differences. My own offhand manner is apparently not remembering everything that matters.
(I know, I should NEVER post anything again unless I get remember my facts right - especially things like a film theme I have a strong interest in)
Again, thanks.
Sincerely.
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Post by phil on Nov 26, 2016 20:45:38 GMT -5
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Post by oinone on Dec 12, 2016 11:20:16 GMT -5
Today she is nominated for Golden Globes. She was there 17 years ago at last.
Congratulations Winona! Can't wait for the ceremony.
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Post by phil on Dec 31, 2016 15:55:55 GMT -5
Today she is nominated for Golden Globes. She was there 17 years ago at last. Congratulations Winona! Can't wait for the ceremony. How do they miss Millie. She's effective in every scene she appears in. Anyway, she visits here during April '17's Indiana Comic con. I'll kiss her for you(if her nose isn't bleeding)
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Post by phil on Jan 10, 2017 19:12:12 GMT -5
Q&A with the cast, Jan 7th..
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Post by imayne on Feb 6, 2017 4:45:46 GMT -5
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Post by imayne on Feb 8, 2017 4:39:53 GMT -5
New trailer for Season 2 is out.
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