What are we watching lately?

[Michi]

To me what makes it shine is the world-building... it reminds me a bit of Dune.
And it just goes far beyond the usual 'disaster-movie in space' / 'lord of the flies in space' / 'standard people-drama with aliens' kind of stuff in creativity IMO.

Yes, Foundation has more depth than your run-of-the-mill sci-fi series. Don't get me wrong—I didn't think it's bad, but I also don't think it's great. The characters are too simplistic and cardboard to really come alive. Compare with The Expanse or Westworld, both of which had better character development, IMO, and similarly high production values.

I'm a bit conflicted about Dune. I watched both movies (as well as the 80s movie with Sting back when it was released), and I read the books as a teenager. It's a good epic story. The recent movies managed to capture the scope of the story well, the production values and camera work were impeccable, costume design was awesome, and they captured the steam punk feel really well.

My disappointment with Dune again is with the character development. The characters never really came to life to the point where I really cared about them. They felt a little bit too simple and cardboard. The whole movie experience was nice and enjoyable high-quality escapism. With characters I will have problems remembering two years from now. Make the characters more real so they engage the audience more, and you turn a good movie into a great one.

I had the exact same feeling with Wheel of Time. Great story, great production, beautiful constumes and sets, but just a tad shallow characters. In contrast, I really enjoyed House of the Dragon (Game of Thrones prequel). The characters there felt much richer and complex, and I actually could remember them and their internal struggles.

 

[Corradobrit1]

I've tried several times to watch Dune (original and the more recent offerings) and no matter how hard I've tried I just can't seem to watch them in one sitting. Same with Bladerunner (original). There is something about the storytelling that makes me lose interest, or maybe its the characterisation.

I have Counterpart lined up after I finish 3 Body Problem.

 

[Jovidah]

Yes, Foundation has more depth than your run-of-the-mill sci-fi series. Don't get me wrong—I didn't think it's bad, but I also don't think it's great. The characters are too simplistic and cardboard to really come alive. Compare with The Expanse or Westworld, both of which had better character development, IMO, and similarly high production values.

I'm a bit conflicted about Dune. I watched both movies (as well as the 80s movie with Sting back when it was released), and I read the books as a teenager. It's a good epic story. The recent movies managed to capture the scope of the story well, the production values and camera work were impeccable, costume design was awesome, and they captured the steam punk feel really well.

My disappointment with Dune again is with the character development. The characters never really came to life to the point where I really cared about them. They felt a little bit too simple and cardboard. The whole movie experience was nice and enjoyable high-quality escapism. With characters I will have problems remembering two years from now. Make the characters more real so they engage the audience more, and you turn a good movie into a great one.

I had the exact same feeling with Wheel of Time. Great story, great production, beautiful constumes and sets, but just a tad shallow characters. In contrast, I really enjoyed House of the Dragon (Game of Thrones prequel). The characters there felt much richer and complex, and I actually could remember them and their internal struggles.

'The Expanse' was better sounds rather hollow to me because IMO it's a pretty strong contender for best science-fiction ever made.

Haven't seen the latest 2nd part of Dune yet, liked the first part. What's always forgotten is the 90's mini-series that was actually quite decent - even if it lacks the production values of more modern stuff. It also covered more than just the first book.

I think where the new Dune feels is the casting; I can't even remember the kids who are playing Paul Atreides and Chani but they just seem far too weak for their roles. Bit of a shame because I think a lot of the other performances and casting choices are quite good.
It kinda reminds me of Luc Besson's failed 'Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets', which was a total let down pretty much exclusively because the two main roles were played by people just completely unsuitable for the part.

I agree that Wheel of Time was...forgettable. Didn't hate it though. I think what makes roles in GOT / HOD more memorable is that they're less 'polished'; not the stereotypical 'perfect good' or 'utterly bad'; there's more shades of grey to all the characters.

 

[Michi]

'The Expanse' was better sounds rather hollow to me because IMO it's a pretty strong contender for best science-fiction ever made.

I thought 'The Expanse' was very good. I enjoyed it. What stopped it from being great was the final season, which was a true let-down, IMO. Very rushed, none of the development of plot and characters we saw earlier, and lots of loose ends left hanging. In particular, the whole story arc about the proto molecule and the rotating giant towers was left hanging and, in the end, seemed somewhat pointless.

I haven't read the books, so I don't know whether that gets a better resolution there.

Haven't seen the latest 2nd part of Dune yet, liked the first part. What's always forgotten is the 90's mini-series that was actually quite decent - even if it lacks the production values of more modern stuff. It also covered more than just the first book.

I've never seen the mini-series. Will dig that up.

The first movie was better than the second one, IMO. More story telling, and fewer bombastic effects that were very impressive and perfectly executed, but did nothing to advance the story.

I think where the new Dune feels is the casting; I can't even remember the kids who are playing Paul Atreides and Chani but they just seem far too weak for their roles. Bit of a shame because I think a lot of the other performances and casting choices are quite good.

I feel the same. Paul and Chani were OK, but not outstanding. Duncan was well cast, I thought. He felt like his character in the books. The main Harkonnen characters were also better cast and felt more real than Paul and Chani.

It kinda reminds me of Luc Besson's failed 'Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets', which was a total let down pretty much exclusively because the two main roles were played by people just completely unsuitable for the part.

I haven't seen that one. The Besson movie I was most impressed with is the 'The Big Blue'. Worth a look.

I agree that Wheel of Time was...forgettable. Didn't hate it though. I think what makes roles in GOT / HOD more memorable is that they're less 'polished'; not the stereotypical 'perfect good' or 'utterly bad'; there's more shades of grey to all the characters.

Exactly! Same genre, both with high production values, but GoT and HoD were so much better simply because the characters were fleshed out and people could genuinely get involved with them. Not just cardboard cut-outs, but people who felt real and complex. Think of the complexity of Jamie, who in cold blood tries to murder a child and yet, at times, the audience starts rooting for him because he feels like a good guy. Or the strongly-felt hatred for Cersei and Joffrey. Lena Headey and Jack Gleeson did an outstanding job in those roles.

Good movies are always about good story telling and about people, never about high production values.

 

[onasram]

"Turning Point," multi-part Netflix series on the Cold War. Excellent. "Ripley," also Netflix series. Shatteringl;y good B/W cinematography. Remake of the famous Patricia Highsmith tale.

 

[Keithpaints]

Started watching Turning Point it's a history of insanity. Well done.

On a lighter note because of this thread watched first two seasons of Resident Alien. SF comedy. Alan Tudyk is so funny as the Alien trying to adapt to human body he morfed into. Learned to speak watching Law & Order on TV. He is known for voice over in animated films voices of characters & animals chickens goats. It has quite a few outrageous characters in series with all the serious shows comedy that makes you laugh is good therapy.

 

[chefwp]

I've been avidly watching Counterpart. It is utterly brilliant, IMO. J.K. Simmons is a fantastic actor, and the entire series has extremely well-acted and believable characters that really come to life. One of the best sci-fi series in many years! Available on Apple TV.

Agree, both the wife and I thoroughly enjoyed this, Simmons is fantastic.

 

[fortheloveofmoar]

3 body problem on Netflix is really good.

 

[fortheloveofmoar]

Started watching Turning Point it's a history of insanity. Well done.

On a lighter note because of this thread watched first two seasons of Resident Alien. SF comedy. Alan Tudyk is so funny as the Alien trying to adapt to human body he morfed into. Learned to speak watching Law & Order on TV. He is known for voice over in animated films voices of characters & animals chickens goats. It has quite a few outrageous characters in series with all the serious shows comedy that makes you laugh is good therapy.

Glad you liked resident alien. Yea it’s a good show!!!

 

[Corradobrit1]

Ripley is looking good but I agree with one reviewer who said casting 40 somethings as the main protagonists was an odd choice.

 

[chefwp]

Anybody watching "Sugar" on AppleTV? Looks pretty good...

 

[Keithpaints]

These days there are are so many bad western movies, I seem to miss the good ones. On Starz streaming caught a really good one 2018 Hostiles. Christian Bale, Rosamund Pike, Wes Studi.