Octopus Overlords

Isgrimnur wrote: ↑Thu Sep 10, 2020 10:06 pm Class Action Park



You may have read tales of this place from Bill Harris and his readers.

I shared that with him early last week. He was thankful for setting up what he was going to watch that night

hepcat wrote: ↑Fri Sep 11, 2020 10:28 am Question though:

Spoiler:

At first I thought the Necromancers were tools of the Athiests, but now it looks like they were actually part of the Sol worshippers forces. And Mother was just captured (although how is beyond me...those things are pretty much gods) and reprogrammed by athiests. Is that correct? Or do I have that backwards?

I was confused about that too, but I watched episode 5 last night and that explains what went down. I also thought that episode was probably the best so far.

I’ve been working my way through the Lone Wolf and Cub movies. They are surprisingly beautiful movies. Once you get past the firehouse blood spurts.

Is this where we cover HBO shows generically? Anyway I was just thinking last night that it feels like every HBO show I watch is filled with tons of gore, a lot of it needless. And this is coming from a big horror movie fan. Watchmen, Raised By Wolves and Lovecraft Country, they just seem to enjoy one-upping each other on grossness.

I think you have to give Lovecraft Country as pass as it's going for a hard core horror aesthetic. Watchmen was pretty brutal, but that's the source material, too. Maybe I'm getting too desensitized to it, but I haven't been all that grossed out by Raised by Wolves. I did watch an episode of Doom Patrol last night where butterfly wings burst out of peoples' backs, though.

That's not to discount what you're saying. I do think that HBO and HBOmax are leaning into the "premium streaming service for adults" idea to help differentiate the brand. There's a fair amount of kids' stuff on there, but in our house we tend to go for Disney+ and Netflix for kids' fare.

Welcome to a post Walking Dead world. I think that show really did shatter the normal conception about what you could show on TV (even subscription TV) and folks have just been running with the ball ever since.

That being said, the gore doesn't bother me that much. I grew up with Sam Raimi and Peter Jackson films, so they showed me that over the top gore can sometimes be SO over the top as to be ridiculous. That made it less about the violence and more about the absurdity....if that makes any sense.

Did anyone catch The Third Day? Premier episode was Monday. Jude Law rescues a girl from a suicide attempt and takes her to her home on the island of Osea in the UK, which is accessible only via a causeway during low tide. There's something sinister happening there, but Jude doesn't know what it is. Uh oh! He's not able to get off the island before the causeway is flooded!

It's really gorgeous visually and has a great creepy vibe. I think it's only going to be six episodes, so it's not a huge investment.

P.S. There's some gore.

I saw the description for it, but didn't realize it was a thriller and that it had Jude Law. I'll check it out! Thanks!

OK, since Lovecraft Country came up I'm going to share my thoughts here:

I'm liking this show less and less and that COULD be because I'm such a fan of the book and they are taking some just stupid divergent paths from wonderful source material.

Too many things seem to just be tacked on and not plot points. Like, when they went to the museum the character of Tree was there JUST to leer at Letitia. Why? He wasn't even present for the trapped book situation at all. Where did he go?

Why did they needlessly complicate the story line with Ruby and shape-shifting with making Christina/William also a shape-shifter?

WTF was up with the drag show? Is it because Omar was gay HBO had to make Montrose gay too? I'm fine with gay characters (SO happy to find this weekend that Showtime streams Queer As Folk and we are gonna binge it again) but it just feels shoehorned in.

Z-Corn wrote: ↑Wed Sep 16, 2020 3:40 pm OK, since Lovecraft Country came up I'm going to share my thoughts here:

I'm liking this show less and less and that COULD be because I'm such a fan of the book and they are taking some just stupid divergent paths from wonderful source material.

I'm still liking both, but I think I have a higher tolerance for adaptations straying from the source material than most folks. I told my wife after this week's episode that I'm not sure where they're going with this even though I read the book, and I think that's kind of cool.

Z-Corn wrote:Too many things seem to just be tacked on and not plot points. Like, when they went to the museum the character of Tree was there JUST to leer at Letitia. Why? He wasn't even present for the trapped book situation at all. Where did he go?

That was my least favorite episode so far. I kept expecting Nicolas Cage to show up with the original copy of the Federalist Papers to lead them past the traps. (BTW, Tree was hitching a ride on the way to visit a lady friend out east, so he presumably continued on his way.)

Z-Corn wrote:Why did they needlessly complicate the story line with Ruby and shape-shifting with making Christina/William also a shape-shifter?

When that happened I said, "Z-Corn called it!". (My wife rolled her eyes at the use of forum names.) I think they're trying to add the sexism/misogyny aspect here, and they figured this was the way to do it. Christina is effectively locked out of the Sons of Adam leadership so she has to shape change. They seem to be trying to make her a bit more sympathetic than the corresponding character from the book? Anyway, it's not bothering me too much.

So I’ve come to the conclusion that Travis Fimmel (of Raised by Wolves) is an interesting personality, but not a good actor. Every role he takes on, he just uses the same eccentric quirks (the head movements, the grunts, the odd accent, etc.) without variation. He doesn’t become his characters so much as he makes the characters into Travis Fimmel. I just can’t decide whether or not that actually works in shows like this and Vikings.

ImLawBoy wrote: ↑Wed Sep 16, 2020 1:27 pm Did anyone catch The Third Day? Premier episode was Monday.

Jude Law, Emily Watson, Paddy Considine...talk about a dream cast. First episode was of the non Nicholas Cage Wicker Man variety. So I enjoyed it.

And Harley Quinn is renewed for a 3rd season! Yea!

And Lovecraft Country continues to disappoint.

Honestly, at this point I wish they hadn't even bothered going past the first two episodes.

I flipped back and forth last night while watching from being so bored I was snoozing to being actually angry at the direction the show has taken.

The internet tells me my opinion is incorrect.

My finger hovers over the unsubscribe button.

I thought the last episode was great, and I look forward to seeing how they tie it into what's happening in the present in the US.

I also thought the last episode was pretty good and definitely a step up from some of the earlier ones, IMO.

RunningMn9 wrote: ↑Fri Sep 11, 2020 10:48 am

Isgrimnur wrote:You may have read tales of this place from Bill Harris and his readers.

Action Park is one of the most insane places I’ve ever been, but only in retrospect. As a teenager in the 80s and early 90s, it’s just where you went in the summer.

I am friends with a number of people who grew up in Vernon and worked at the park and their stories were nuts. F the Tarzan Swing pool.

At the time it seemed normal to me. They let me go bungie jumping there when I wasn't old enough so they will always get a thumbs up from me. Not sure where my parents were that given day. The tarzan swing was fun to just watch people eat it badly. I think I only did it once or twice myself. My favorite thing there was the slide (not the insane one with the loop). You got MASSIVE air flying into the pool. I'm pretty sure that slide doesn't exist anymore, but it had to be a good 5-10 foot drop from the slide to the ice cold water.

*Edit*
Hmm looking at the old park map maybe it WAS the cannonball after they took out the loop.

http://thedod3.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/back.pdf

That was definitely the cannonball, over in between the Tarzan swing and the speed slides, right? Surf hill was always on of my favorites.

Ralph-Wiggum wrote: ↑Tue Sep 22, 2020 2:17 pm I also thought the last episode was pretty good and definitely a step up from some of the earlier ones, IMO.

It was definitely better than National Treasure 4 or whatever they called that episode. I especially liked the way they yanked the rug out from under me on how I view Atticus after that scene...and you know which one I'm talking about. Now I don't view him as a completely sympathetic hero.

But I also am a little disappointed that it became somewhat of an anthology series after the first two episodes lead me to believe it was going to be all about Atticus and his fight with this mystic lodge. I mean, it still is in most ways, but it also is now branching off into full blown vignettes that seem only tangentially related to that core story. If they were as strong as the first two episodes that set the framework in place for Atticus' story, I wouldn't mind as much. But it's kind of a crap shoot right now.

hepcat wrote: ↑Wed Sep 23, 2020 1:03 pm

Ralph-Wiggum wrote: ↑Tue Sep 22, 2020 2:17 pm I also thought the last episode was pretty good and definitely a step up from some of the earlier ones, IMO.

It was definitely better than National Treasure 4 or whatever they called that episode. I especially liked the way they yanked the rug out from under me on how I view Atticus after that scene...and you know which one I'm talking about. Now I don't view him as a completely sympathetic hero.

Yeah, I was definitely not expecting that - in particular the way he did it.

hepcat wrote:But I also am a little disappointed that it became somewhat of an anthology series after the first two episodes lead me to believe it was going to be all about Atticus and his fight with this mystic lodge. I mean, it still is in most ways, but it also is now branching off into full blown vignettes that seem only tangentially related to that core story. If they were as strong as the first two episodes that set the framework in place for Atticus' story, I wouldn't mind as much. But it's kind of a crap shoot right now.

I think they'll make the tie ins from these episodes a bit more clear as they get closer to the finish line.

I’ve come to view Raised by Wolves as The American Horror Story of science fiction. I have no clue what’s going to happen one minute to the next, and they often throw stuff into the mix that just makes me shake my head and go, “WTF?”.

I can’t say it’s great television, but it certainly isn’t boring.

The Murders at White House Farm

A World of Calm

And the incredibly weird but still fascinating season 1 finale for Raised by Wolves has arrived...and it’s as bat shit insane as I expected. The show is just so damn weird that I’m enjoying it. Even with Travis Fimmel doing what I think is an impersonation of Foster Brooks on a bender all the time.

hepcat wrote: ↑Thu Oct 01, 2020 10:16 pm And the incredibly weird but still fascinating season 1 finale for Raised by Wolves has arrived...and it’s as bat shit insane as I expected. The show is just so damn weird that I’m enjoying it. Even with Travis Fimmel doing what I think is an impersonation of Foster Brooks on a bender all the time.

I just started episode 9. Got to the scene where Mother and Tempest were having a nice conversation while walking through a barren wasteland as Mother was pulling a dude on a chain with a spiked bucket on his head while hooked to him via an umbilical cord (hence the ep title) drawing blood to feed her fetus.

Yup, just another typical day on Kepler-22b.

There's so many things in that show that should cause me to roll my eyes and sigh while saying "really?" under my breath...but for some reason, the more absurd it gets, the more interesting it gets. At least for me. I'm dying to find out the history of Kepler-22b. Obviously it has a rather interesting one.

hepcat wrote: ↑Fri Oct 02, 2020 10:20 am There's so many things in that show that should cause me to roll my eyes and sigh while saying "really?" under my breath...but for some reason, the more absurd it gets, the more interesting it gets. At least for me. I'm dying to find out the history of Kepler-22b. Obviously it has a rather interesting one.

Yeah I’m actually drawn into the craziness that makes up a day on Kepler-22b. Also, I always look forward to Father’s stand up routine.

Glad it was renewed for a second season since the history of the planet is really intriguing.

And on a random note I thought Mother’s bloody unitard was a nice visual touch in ep 9.

It does seem to be heavily influenced by Scott's work with the Alien franchise, I will say. It could almost be a straight up sequel in many ways.

RunningMn9 wrote:That was definitely the cannonball, over in between the Tarzan swing and the speed slides, right? Surf hill was always on of my favorites.

Probably. From the map I don't see how it could have been anything else.

Roald Dah's The Witches

hepcat wrote: ↑Thu Oct 01, 2020 10:16 pm And the incredibly weird but still fascinating season 1 finale for Raised by Wolves has arrived...and it’s as bat shit insane as I expected. The show is just so damn weird that I’m enjoying it. Even with Travis Fimmel doing what I think is an impersonation of Foster Brooks on a bender all the time.

I meant to comment on this earlier, but yeah. So weird, but oddly compelling. I haven't seen much of Fimmel before, so I'm not as tired of his shtick as you seem to be. I mentioned after first watching the show that it seems like something that could go bad very quickly, but so far it's dancing on that razor's edge. I'm looking forward to season 2.

I'm also still enjoying The Third Day. I know I probably should have seen it coming, but the final shot of episode 4 was a great twist.

Fimmel’s affectations just annoy me. The first 2 shows he used them in I chalked up to inexperience. But good god, enough already. Show some range, man.

Who needs range? He's going for the coveted Wahlberg Trophy!

Whoa....slow your roll. I wouldn’t go THAT far. At least Fimmel can play a human being.

Fair enough. And, to be fair, I haven't seen the show. I was just trying to help you out.

TheMix wrote: ↑Thu Oct 08, 2020 10:01 pm Fair enough. And, to be fair, I haven't seen the show. I was just trying to help you out.

Check it out. It really is just bat shit insane enough to be entertaining. I have no clue what's going to happen moment to moment. Sometimes that's just a sign of bad writing/plotting...and I'm not sure I can say that's not the case with RbW. But for now, I'm enjoying it quite a bit because I can't wait to see what they'll do next.

Walhberg's career you can safely ignore though.

Interesting article excoriating AT&T for playing hardball with Amazon and Roku. It's amazing to me that Amazon now carries the Roku channel on Fire devices but HBO Max still isn't on Fire or Roku devices. AT&T is run by clowns. They spent a fortune on DirecTV and now they can't find anyone to buy it from them. (Note, I have AT&T Gigabit internet and like it but it's $30 more a month than the local gigabit internet I had before I moved last year. Yikes!)

https://www.fool.com/investing/2020/10/ ... -and-fire/

A West Wing Special

David Byrne's American Utopia

It took it a while to catch, but Lovecraft Country has been really good. This last episode was one of the most horrifying, and it wasn't the fictional parts.

And Michael Kenneth Williams continues to give a master’s class in acting. Man, it still ticks me off Hap and Leonard was cancelled.