Hidden Gems of HBO Max

Tscott wrote:

Wonder Woman 1984 never once felt like it was taking place in 1984.

Those leg warmers in the opening scene suggest otherwise.

In other news: count me in on HBO Max. I subbed on Christmas Eve to watch Die Hard with the family, and then WW84 on Christmas. There’s probably some other good stuff on the service too, right? /s

Tscott wrote:

Wonder Woman 1984 never once felt like it was taking place in 1984.

They missed the opportunity to do a really good early 80's soundtrack. Think on the quality of Atomic Blonde if not exactly the same genre of music.

Yeah I was shocked at the lack of period music. Tragic.

BadKen wrote:

Yeah I was shocked at the lack of period music. Tragic.

But they had random break dancing extras, so...

But yeah, I agree. Just one Cindy Lauper song is all it would have took.

But one super cool nostalgia call back...

Spoiler:

When Christen Wig became Cheetah at the end I had a nerdgasm. Apparently there has been some more recent comics featuring Cheetah which I wasn’t aware of, but I was having a flashback to Challenge of the Superfriends.

At about 40 seconds in you get a quick glimpse of her.

Wonder Woman 1984 never once felt like it was taking place in 1984.

Hmm a lot of the background stuff reminded me of the 80s. I absolutely had some of the clothes being shown off as well.

I liked WW84. Not as much as the first one, but it was still enjoyable.

Between WW84 and Soul, Soul is the better movie by a huge margin.

karmajay wrote:
Wonder Woman 1984 never once felt like it was taking place in 1984.

Hmm a lot of the background stuff reminded me of the 80s. I absolutely had some of the clothes being shown off as well.

Yes. I wasn't watching with my eyes closed. I'm aware they had a ton of stuff from the 80s everywhere. What I'm saying is it never FELT like it was the 80s. The props and the extras just tried too hard to say "this is something from the 80s!" but nothing about the movie made me feel like this story actually took place in the 80s, like say Stranger Things or Boogie Nights.

Tscott wrote:
karmajay wrote:
Wonder Woman 1984 never once felt like it was taking place in 1984.

Hmm a lot of the background stuff reminded me of the 80s. I absolutely had some of the clothes being shown off as well.

Yes. I wasn't watching with my eyes closed. I'm aware they had a ton of stuff from the 80s everywhere. What I'm saying is it never FELT like it was the 80s. The props and the extras just tried too hard to say "this is something from the 80s!" but nothing about the movie made me feel like this story actually took place in the 80s, like say Stranger Things or Boogie Nights.

Perhaps they should have shot it on VHS?

WW84 was okay. I feel like it needed some extra run time or some different edits. For me, it just spent too long on the build ups and had the whole damn thing wrapped up with a bow a little too neatly at the end. I mean, that ending just... missed for me.

Spoiler:

I mean, that "event" would have been a catastrophic world-changing event. Literally all over the world people would be tripping balls over this. I needed some scenes of the fall out / repercussions of the aftermath. Like what the hell happened to Max Lord? Or Barbara? Wouldn't those guys be locked up somewhere? Wouldn't this incite a mass incident of inquiry? Scientists all over the world ought to be recruited into figuring out what the hell just happened. When Lord renounces his wish, doesn't that mean the stone re-appears? It ought to be locked up in a warehouse and "Top Men" need to be on this! I just... needed more time in that wrap up to get all the way bought in.
Oh, and I'm sorry, flying the invisible jet through the middle of the fireworks was bullsh*t. I love the idea of the scene. I love flying by them, flying over the clouds. Awesome. Beautiful. But flying right through the f*cking middle with sparklers landing on the wings. Sorry, nope. I call bullsh*t there.

Yes, I know, I'm horrible for taking these issues. I liked the movie. I really did, I just couldn't buy in 100%.

Tscott wrote:
karmajay wrote:
Wonder Woman 1984 never once felt like it was taking place in 1984.

Hmm a lot of the background stuff reminded me of the 80s. I absolutely had some of the clothes being shown off as well.

Yes. I wasn't watching with my eyes closed. I'm aware they had a ton of stuff from the 80s everywhere. What I'm saying is it never FELT like it was the 80s. The props and the extras just tried too hard to say "this is something from the 80s!" but nothing about the movie made me feel like this story actually took place in the 80s, like say Stranger Things or Boogie Nights.

I think this is a side effect of having like 4 characters you spend any time with, 1 who’s a super being and 1 who’s from the 1910s.

Max Lord kind of sort of is a creature of the 80s with his whole thing about greed and getting rich quick. I think we’re meant to view that as our window into the 80s beyond a surface level.

Watched The Flight Attendant yesterday. Michelle Gomez (Missy from Dr. Who) stole every scene she was in and there were a few spots that could have been edited down but overall it was a fun ride.

Probably will be re-watching Ghosts this weekend, which if anybody hasn't watched it is fantastic.

Dont sleep on Perry Mason - some excellent acting across the entire arc. Loved the "origin" story and his transformation.

Some really good "side" stories, supporting characters and societal issues. Like all good stories - it really does an excellent job of humanizing the impact of what these characters are experiencing within Post-War I/Great Depression America.

I watched Love Life over the past few days and it was enjoyable. It's mostly Anna Kendrick being Anna Kendrick, which isn't a bad thing. The story looks at the main character's romantic relationships over a span of about 10 years, but the best episodes are towards the end where the focus shifts to some non-romantic relationships in the main character's life.

SpyNavy wrote:

Dont sleep on Perry Mason - some excellent acting across the entire arc. Loved the "origin" story and his transformation.

Some really good "side" stories, supporting characters and societal issues. Like all good stories - it really does an excellent job of humanizing the impact of what these characters are experiencing within Post-War I/Great Depression America.

Yep! Incredible show. (coming from someone who loved the old show)

SpyNavy wrote:

Dont sleep on Perry Mason - some excellent acting across the entire arc. Loved the "origin" story and his transformation.

Some really good "side" stories, supporting characters and societal issues. Like all good stories - it really does an excellent job of humanizing the impact of what these characters are experiencing within Post-War I/Great Depression America.

I just finished binging it early this morning. It's a great noir-ish series with wonderfully developed and flawed characters (even the 'bit' roles).

And the cast! That was quite the collection of acting talent.

I watched the first episode of Perry Mason and was unsure, but I guess the praise here has me thinking I should stick with it.

All I know about Perry Mason is my parents watched the first episode and hated it. They complained the character was nothing like the character in the original show, and he wasn't even a lawyer. I wrote it off, but maybe it should return to my list of potential shows to watch sometime in the future.

Tscott wrote:

All I know about Perry Mason is my parents watched the first episode and hated it. They complained the character was nothing like the character in the original show, and he wasn't even a lawyer. I wrote it off, but maybe it should return to my list of potential shows to watch sometime in the future.

While I haven't watched it myself other than seeing my wife have it on as I pass through the room, I'd consider it a reimagining in the vein of BSG. Similar idea underneath, but very different execution.

MannishBoy wrote:
Tscott wrote:

All I know about Perry Mason is my parents watched the first episode and hated it. They complained the character was nothing like the character in the original show, and he wasn't even a lawyer. I wrote it off, but maybe it should return to my list of potential shows to watch sometime in the future.

While I haven't watched it myself other than seeing my wife have it on as I pass through the room, I'd consider it a reimagining in the vein of BSG. Similar idea underneath, but very different execution.

Watched a couple of episodes, found all the characters unlikeable so I gave up on it.

The payoff in Perry Mason happens in the last 3 or 4 episodes when they get to the trial. You really see the character develop from something that's completely different than the old TV show character into something that actually resembles the old TV show character. For instance, they set it up so that now they can kinda do something similar to what the show was.

And of course, the best part is the ending.

Spoiler:

Dat song.

Watched season 2 of His Dark Materials and liked it. I thought season 2 was better than season 1.

Baron Of Hell wrote:

Watched season 2 of His Dark Materials and liked it. I thought season 2 was better than season 1.

Agreed. Season 2 was great. Right up until the dumb ‘ol cliffhanger ending. At least Season 3 is confirmed.

Watching Miracle Workers and it is a lot of fun.

PaladinTom wrote:
Baron Of Hell wrote:

Watched season 2 of His Dark Materials and liked it. I thought season 2 was better than season 1.

Agreed. Season 2 was great. Right up until the dumb ‘ol cliffhanger ending. At least Season 3 is confirmed.

Ending could have been better but they had to shutdown production because of covid.

Clumber wrote:
MannishBoy wrote:
Tscott wrote:

All I know about Perry Mason is my parents watched the first episode and hated it. They complained the character was nothing like the character in the original show, and he wasn't even a lawyer. I wrote it off, but maybe it should return to my list of potential shows to watch sometime in the future.

While I haven't watched it myself other than seeing my wife have it on as I pass through the room, I'd consider it a reimagining in the vein of BSG. Similar idea underneath, but very different execution.

Watched a couple of episodes, found all the characters unlikeable so I gave up on it.

That's what I loved about the series. It had that great noir vibe where every character was flawed in some significant way.

OG_slinger wrote:
Clumber wrote:
MannishBoy wrote:
Tscott wrote:

All I know about Perry Mason is my parents watched the first episode and hated it. They complained the character was nothing like the character in the original show, and he wasn't even a lawyer. I wrote it off, but maybe it should return to my list of potential shows to watch sometime in the future.

While I haven't watched it myself other than seeing my wife have it on as I pass through the room, I'd consider it a reimagining in the vein of BSG. Similar idea underneath, but very different execution.

Watched a couple of episodes, found all the characters unlikeable so I gave up on it.

That's what I loved about the series. It had that great noir vibe where every character was flawed in some significant way.

And importantly, you see how the flaws are identified and addressed by the characters as the story moves forward.

I have dropped my Netflix sub and am putting that moolah toward HBO Max (I took advantage of the 2 weeks free right before Christmas) to catch WW84 and Young Justice/Outsiders.

So now we will be both a Disney+/Marvel and HBO Max/DC house.

cartoonin wrote:

I have dropped my Netflix sub and am putting that moolah toward HBO Max (I took advantage of the 2 weeks free right before Christmas) to catch WW84 and Young Justice/Outsiders.

So now we will be both a Disney+/Marvel and HBO Max/DC house. :D

Some would demand that you pick a side. I say live the dream.