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Post by Eddie Love on Sept 26, 2010 20:48:20 GMT -5
Yeah, that's definitely a good point, that we're told "division" is scary, but have no real reason to believe they are, very much the opposite of ALIAS where the nefariousness of SD6 made the show compelling and, ultimately, so depressing. (But I do love the great Xander Berkeley as the chief.) Okay, just for you I watched the second episode of Nikita. I'm still not sold, and prolly won't watch episode three. Sure, Maggie Q is great (and is hella sexy; I'll even go so far as to say that Lyndsey Fonseca is also pretty cute, albeit in that Causcasin Wankery Network Cookie Cutter way)...but Division still seems like a cardboard tiger, Shane West is thoroughly wooden as Michael (if you follow my principle that a character is only as good as his/her villian....well, then Nikita is a pretty poor character), that whiff of Dollhouse is blossoming thanks to that character Birkoff, I find the action sequences well, not very action-y, the characterization is piss-poor (dragging out yet another 'I was molested by my dad' shorthand trope to get us to sympathise with Alex).... And another, potentially killshot-like, problem is that Nikita doesn't struggle to overcome anything. Every single complication is solved within a matter of minutes, and she has everything in hand in every scene. It's no fun watching a hero who isn't challenged by anything... Yeeeeah, it looks like I'm gonna keep up with NIKITA. Maggie Q is just too mesmerizing and a really good actress -- I love her voice, she sounds like Catherine Keener. Plus Xander Berkeley as the bad guy is clearly having a blast. I really like the production design -- especially in the second episode -- the way they lit Nikita's lair and Berkeley's office were just marvelous. That episode also had some very well acted scenes between the female leads. Perhaps these stood out as the actors were in the same room; there's a lot of confrontations over the phone or plotting via the Internet. (But, I think they spelled out that the back-story on the girl is her parents were killed, not that she was molested.) I've so far enjoyed it, even though I'm not a huge fan of the teen element of the show, but one does have to marvel at the clear business rationale for its inclusion. They want to lure in the erstwhile 24 crowd (hence Berkeley) and maybe CHUCK's loyal base (same producers), but are afraid of entirely cutting out the CW's core demographic. Also on the spy-TV front UNDERCOVERS, the pilot of which was more cutesy than cute. I'll see where this goes as, apart from the breathtaking female lead, I'm not sold yet. It opened with a very good action scene. But otherwise the look was very dark, yet they were trying to go for a light-hearted tone and it hasn't quite worked yet.
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Post by tombitd on Sept 26, 2010 20:56:26 GMT -5
Just for the record, I did end up passing on the third episode...
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Post by Eddie Love on Oct 8, 2011 21:33:36 GMT -5
Did anyone watch the much-hyped American Horror Story on FX? I couldn't believe how pretentious and generally shitty it was. I'm fine with "just going with it" but do these types of haunted house stories work if the characters are this stupid? What on Earth is Jessica Lange doing in this?
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Post by Derrick on Oct 8, 2011 22:28:43 GMT -5
Did anyone watch the much-hyped American Horror Story on FX? I couldn't believe how pretentious and generally shitty it was. I'm fine with "just going with it" but do these types of haunted house stories work if the characters are this stupid? What on Earth is Jessica Lange doing in this? Eddie Murphy had a famous bit in one of his stand-up movies where he talks about the stupidity of the characters in a haunted house movie: "Why don't they just leave the house?" And he's right. You need to have a compelling reason why the characters just don't run out the front door like their asses are on fire. Now having said that, some of my favorite horror movies are haunted house stories: THE SHINING THE HAUNTING (probably the ultimate haunted house story) THE LEGEND OF HELL HOUSE HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL I haven't seen AMERICAN HORROR STORY yet but I have to admit I'm intrigued to see it for myself as folks I know whose opinion I trust and respect (like you) either hate it or love it.
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Post by Eddie Love on Oct 9, 2011 4:10:22 GMT -5
***SPOILERS***
My issue wasn't with the family not leaving the house, though you make a great case they need a compelling reason to stay in these things, but rather:
-- The show opens with the mother arriving home to the house she shares with husband and daughter. It's broad daylight she hears something upstairs...and promptly calls 911? Really? First of all, who would do that? However, immediately after placing the call, she's not so terrified that she doesn't just walk upstairs to see who's there.
-- This same woman isn't so skittish that later she won't screw a figure done up head to toe in fetish gear she merely assumes is her husband despite the fact she thinks the get-up in question was thrown away and her husband has moments before been sated.
-- The husband -- a mental health professional, no less -- masturbates in broad daylight standing next to a window and is then shocked -- shocked! -- that someone sees him.
-- This guy, by the way, comes to L.A and seemingly within days is able to start a practice and see patients, one of whom he establishes such a rapport with that the kid is revealing to him homicidal fantasies of a mass killing at his high school that the good doctor literally laughs off. (Until later when he tries reporting the kid to school authorities and gets a bureaucratic runaround. Um...surely he could call the kid's parents whose contact info he must have.)
-- This evil kid walks in on the teenage daughter who ritualistically cuts herself in the bathroom -- with the door unlocked and doesn't notice when someone else walks in
-- Later these two are able to have a flagrant relationship that the daughter must know is inappropriate in the same empty house her father sees patients in, yet the father is oblivious. The pair even meet in her room, where they leave the door open and no one notices.
-- But then, no one thinks to close the door when they do something surreptitiously -- as when the father gets down with the housekeeper -- otherwise how could people walk in on them and thus advance the plot?
-- The deal with the housekeeper and the dude in the fetish suit both revolve around the assurance that the couple won't talk to each other about anything weird that might be happening around them. This, even though the Jessica Lange character, who is in on whatever evil is going on, acts extremely strange from the get-go and should seemingly prompt the couple to compare notes on how odd all this shit is.
-- And shouldn't this character and the housekeeper be more engaging ala the neighbors in ROSEMARY'S BABY rather than so off-putting if the demonic forces want the family to stay and not turn tail and split?
-- And whenever we get the mysterious stranger who intones "That house is evil! Your family is in danger!" -- why, why, WHY must the father always get his back up and be like -- "Leave my family alone!" Just once I'd like a guy to go "You know, I'm new in town, you're convinced we're in grave peril. Um...tell me more. In fact, you know what -- let's go get a coffee. I think I may want to hear this"
Lastly, I thought it was tasteless that two young, intellectually challenged actresses were cast just so they could personify the creepy kid next door.
Okay, fine, the mother's really hot...
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