• rektdeckard@lemmy.world
    14·
    14 days ago

    The Expanse. I forgot how good the earlier seasons were, and looking forward to seeing the newer stuff for the first time.

  • reddig33@lemmy.world
    9·
    14 days ago

    I recommend “Severance” on AppleTV. Also recommend “Shining Girls”. AppleTV is free this weekend.

    • jaaake@lemmy.world
      4·
      13 days ago

      What I didn’t realize about Columbo until watching it last year is that every episode is basically a full movie. There’s no connection between each episode, Columbo himself is the only recurring character. Each episode is an hour 10 to an hour 40 long. Also, it’s by FAR the best production and acting on TV in that era. It’s legitimately like almost 70 individual films.

      • Dessalines@lemmy.ml
        4·
        13 days ago

        For sure. I’m only just now finishing the first season, and maybe 3 episodes in it should qualify as some of the best films ever made. The acting, the psycological warfare, the poor schlubby wife-guy underdog vs evil rich parasite undertones pervading everything… there’s so much going on, that I’m sure others have scratched the surface of.

        I also love how it inverts the mystery drama by showing you exactly what happened, and the suspense is in guessing where they messed up, and gave enough clues to columbo.

    • rhacer@lemmy.worldEnglish
      2·
      14 days ago

      My wife and I weren’t sure what to expect. We took one run at it, failed, then a few months later took another run. We are now thinking we need to watch it again. Truly wholesome.

  • IonAddis@lemmy.worldEnglish
    71·
    14 days ago

    Arcane.

    I missed the hype for Arcane season 1, mostly because it didn’t really seem up my alley. I figured it’d be boring to me because I wasn’t into that specific game, or too juvenile for me, or something.

    I was really wrong. Really, really wrong. It stands on its own and season 1 has the strongest storytelling I’ve seen in anything in a good, long time. You don’t need to care about or play League of Legends to watch the show. And it’s very much NOT a kid’s show even if it starts with kid characters…it touches a lot on crime, poverty, mental illness, etc. It’s very honest and truthful and complex and nuanced on these things.

    And every aspect of storytelling was strong. EVERY ONE.

    What I mean by that is this…in most TV shows, animated or live, you usually have one form of strong(ish) storytelling carrying the entire thing and compensating for other things that are weaker. So a show will have one or two stand-out aspects, and others that are okish to bad, but able to be overlooked because of the other awesome things going on.

    Like, you might have a poor script but really good actors who can elevate the poor script with their spoken intonation or physical acting. Or you might have a good script and really good soundtrack but mediocre acting and bland costume/set design. Basically, script, art/costume design, music, and actor ability all play together to deliver a story, and usually you have one or two of those that are strong, and the rest are being carried by the strong parts and ranging from competent-but-not-awesome to mediocre to bad.

    Arcane’s not like that.

    Arcane has top-tier storytelling on the writing level, AND on the art and animation level, and in the choice of songs for the soundtrack. Like, the script itself is fantastic, but then you watch the animation and see they decided not to use common animation shorthand. Instead, they went back to actually LOOK at how humans display emotion and move their bodies and translated THAT into their animation. So you have a strong script AND strong “physical acting”. How they frame shots is fantastic too. And if that wasn’t enough, all the music is stellar and pertinent to the scenes it’s used in. And if THAT wasn’t enough, even the design of the characters BEFORE they even move or speak is top-notch. And if THAT isn’t enough the voice actors are phenomenal too.

    For Season 1, nothing’s carrying anything else, everything is strong. And that’s EXTREMELY rare in ANY show. So, so, SO rare.

    Season 2 is not as good–but that’s really just in comparison to how outrageously and unusually good Season 1 was. I’d say in Season 2, the script is not as tight, but all the other things are still as good as Season 1. So the animation/art design/music/etc. carry the script a little in the second season. The script isn’t HORRIBLE though…it’s mostly the pacing is off and it’s missing some appropriate build-up in some parts. I’ve read they had to cut some scenes, and if that’s true it would completely explain the flaws. The second season also suffers a bit in comparison to Season 1…Season 1 did everything right, so anything that’s not perfect in Season 2 naturally sticks out. It doesn’t make it bad though.

    Anyway, yeah. Watch Arcane, if you missed that boat previously.

  • kambusha@sh.itjust.works
    6·
    14 days ago
    • Shrinking
    • Sopranos
    • Severance
    • SAS Rogue Heroes

    Season 2 of Shrinking has been a very emotional ride, but has a good mix of comedy & drama, while addressing some difficult topics.

    Sopranos is a classic. Depends if you like long character development.

    Severance is a great dystopian show about people essentially hating to work. Season 2 should be out shortly.

    SAS is an expensive BBC production following the formation of the SAS during WWII. Has a Band of Brothers type feel to it, with a British twist. They’re all madmen. Cinematography is amazing, and the history, while dramatized, is still impressive. It’s based on the book of the same name by Ben McIntyre (non-fiction).

    • tetris11@lemmy.ml
      1·
      14 days ago

      SAS

      Cinematography is good, but christ are all the characters flanderised to hell with their nationalities. The trope of “caw blimey guvna!” is disappointingly strong for a BBC production. Also, more WW2 propaganda that Britain is strong and gutsy (such lines were peddled shortly before Brexit…)

  • southsamurai@sh.itjust.works
    5·
    14 days ago

    I’ve been doing Doom Patrol lately, switching between it and What we do in the Shadows.

    I can recommend them both with the caveat that I’m not very far into either.

  • j4k3@lemmy.worldEnglish
    5·
    14 days ago

    Frazer Cain recommended Dr. Stone, an anime series that features the scientific method prominently in a scenario about rebuilding civilization. I haven’t watched it though. I don’t agree to the Netflix terms of service with stalkerware and exploitation.

    • tetris11@lemmy.ml
      4·
      14 days ago

      Dr Stone

      The scientific method for the various inventions are shown quite well. But that’s it. The character art is strange, the main characters are all unlikeable/arrogant tyrants, the storyline is barely coherent. It really seems like the hastily put together premise is just there to enable one character to demonstrate his skill.

      Plenty of anime’s out there where the world revolves around a single person, but they usually make an effort with their other characters. I dont feel that’s the case here.