What's new
Fantasy Football - Footballguys Forums

This is a sample guest message. Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!

Netflix Original: Stranger Things (1 Viewer)

El Floppo said:
I get what he's saying: it's one thing to accept sci-fi stuff like the upside down and the monster- but for me at least (and based on the endless quibbling in TWD thread on this- others as well), I want the human/normal stuff to make sense. people to act normal, chemistry/physics to act normal, etc. 

but again- I didn't really have a problem with the isolation chamber other than using the science teacher as a repeated go-to for encyclopedic knowledge about everything arcane. and even that I don't really mind too much... kinda liked the character.
Click to expand...
I did too but the hardest thing to believe is that he would have spent more than 30 seconds on the phone with that kid when he had that hot Asian chick at his house.   :excited:

 
badmojo1006 said:
I can see shooting him, but they should have made it a robbery gone bad instead of a suicide attempt. That didn't fly with me
Click to expand...
kinda agree, except that a robbery/murder means there's somebody stlll out there for authorities to look for... and given that witnesses put 11 there and trying to rob, it's likely they'd have her as their #1 suspect. 

 
I'm through episode 6, and finding this a really interesting show to watch on a meta level.  As everyone knows, most Stephen King movies are ####.  Yes, Shawshank is good*, but that's not what people think of when they think of Stephen King.  The Shining is okay, but that took Kubrick to accomplish, and IIRC King himself would have ruined it.  

Obviously Stranger Things takes a whole ####load of stuff from Stephen King, mixes it up in a 1980s blender, and pours out the resulting slurry in a highly-competent fashion.  This series is the answer to the question, "What if they made a Stephen King movie with good writing, good direction, and good acting?"  Strangely, the answer is that it would still suck a little, because Stephen King's stories are terrible.  Every character is either irredeemably evil or has a heart of gold -- there's never any in-between.  As soon as you meet a 12 year old D&D-playing nerd, you know he's going to be a heroic figure.  You know the class bully isn't just a regular bully who bullies little kids, but is actually a would-be murderer who is willing to commit multiple felonies by holding a knife to some kid's throat while forcing another to commit suicide.  And of course the loser small-town sheriff is going to be the guy who really gets to the bottom of things.  JFC I'm rolling my eyes just typing this.  

This whole story so far is a gigantic cliche that may have worked okay back in 1983 but is harder to pull off in a post-X-Files, post-Sopranos, post-Breaking Bad world where people have grown accustomed to little winks of irony and characters that aren't so predictable and black-and-white.

Like I said, I'm only halfway through, so if there is some big plot twist where one of the characters suddenly becomes something other than a cartoon, I will revise my take accordingly.  This is kind of disappointing otherwise though.  

* Edit: For full disclosure, I find Shawshank enjoyable to watch, but it suffers from the same problem of every character being either angelically good or diabolically evil.  I've always thought it was highly overrated for that reason.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Just finished the series.  Loved it.

I usually fast forward through a show's opening song/credits, but this one had me mesmerized.

Interesting to read that the Duffer brothers are only 32, so didn't grow up in the 80's.

 
Think they should have went the true detective way.

Complete the story in one season.  Stranger Things is the franchise.  Do a whole new story the second season.  Set it in the late 1940's in the South.

The second season of TD was a bust but no more likely then next season of stranger things will turn out.

 
IvanKaramazov said:
I'm through episode 6, and finding this a really interesting show to watch on a meta level.  As everyone knows, most Stephen King movies are ####.  Yes, Shawshank is good*, but that's not what people think of when they think of Stephen King.  The Shining is okay, but that took Kubrick to accomplish, and IIRC King himself would have ruined it.  

Obviously Stranger Things takes a whole ####load of stuff from Stephen King, mixes it up in a 1980s blender, and pours out the resulting slurry in a highly-competent fashion.  This series is the answer to the question, "What if they made a Stephen King movie with good writing, good direction, and good acting?"  Strangely, the answer is that it would still suck a little, because Stephen King's stories are terrible.  Every character is either irredeemably evil or has a heart of gold -- there's never any in-between.  As soon as you meet a 12 year old D&D-playing nerd, you know he's going to be a heroic figure.  You know the class bully isn't just a regular bully who bullies little kids, but is actually a would-be murderer who is willing to commit multiple felonies by holding a knife to some kid's throat while forcing another to commit suicide.  And of course the loser small-town sheriff is going to be the guy who really gets to the bottom of things.  JFC I'm rolling my eyes just typing this.  

This whole story so far is a gigantic cliche that may have worked okay back in 1983 but is harder to pull off in a post-X-Files, post-Sopranos, post-Breaking Bad world where people have grown accustomed to little winks of irony and characters that aren't so predictable and black-and-white.

Like I said, I'm only halfway through, so if there is some big plot twist where one of the characters suddenly becomes something other than a cartoon, I will revise my take accordingly.  This is kind of disappointing otherwise though.  

* Edit: For full disclosure, I find Shawshank enjoyable to watch, but it suffers from the same problem of every character being either angelically good or diabolically evil.  I've always thought it was highly overrated for that reason.
Click to expand...
You`re trying to hard 

 
IvanKaramazov said:
I'm through episode 6, and finding this a really interesting show to watch on a meta level.  As everyone knows, most Stephen King movies are ####.  Yes, Shawshank is good*, but that's not what people think of when they think of Stephen King.  The Shining is okay, but that took Kubrick to accomplish, and IIRC King himself would have ruined it.  

Obviously Stranger Things takes a whole ####load of stuff from Stephen King, mixes it up in a 1980s blender, and pours out the resulting slurry in a highly-competent fashion.  This series is the answer to the question, "What if they made a Stephen King movie with good writing, good direction, and good acting?"  Strangely, the answer is that it would still suck a little, because Stephen King's stories are terrible.  Every character is either irredeemably evil or has a heart of gold -- there's never any in-between.  As soon as you meet a 12 year old D&D-playing nerd, you know he's going to be a heroic figure.  You know the class bully isn't just a regular bully who bullies little kids, but is actually a would-be murderer who is willing to commit multiple felonies by holding a knife to some kid's throat while forcing another to commit suicide.  And of course the loser small-town sheriff is going to be the guy who really gets to the bottom of things.  JFC I'm rolling my eyes just typing this.  

This whole story so far is a gigantic cliche that may have worked okay back in 1983 but is harder to pull off in a post-X-Files, post-Sopranos, post-Breaking Bad world where people have grown accustomed to little winks of irony and characters that aren't so predictable and black-and-white.

Like I said, I'm only halfway through, so if there is some big plot twist where one of the characters suddenly becomes something other than a cartoon, I will revise my take accordingly.  This is kind of disappointing otherwise though.  

* Edit: For full disclosure, I find Shawshank enjoyable to watch, but it suffers from the same problem of every character being either angelically good or diabolically evil.  I've always thought it was highly overrated for that reason.
Click to expand...
You will end up revising your take.

 
This thread has proven to me that some of you people will never be pleased.

By anything.

 
I personally enjoy Stephen King.  Yes, his characters are never nuanced.  But he has such fantastic ideas and interesting plots.  His world might be black and white, but that doesn't mean it can't be interesting in other ways.  Not everything needs to be a study in character development.

 
badmojo1006 said:
Nigel said:
Started this last night, 1.5 eps in, not completely hooked. Winona is awful and the kid with the long hair/baseball cap is as annoying as any character I've seen in a long while. Will keep watching because I trust you guys. 
Click to expand...
Dustin? Aww, he is my favorite character on the show! He has such heart and keeps the group together. And he is funny
Click to expand...


I love that kid.  He is adorable

 
The thing that occurred to me as I watched, and applies here, is that this isn't ELP, or Yes, or a progressive rock type of piece that you ponder the brilliance and depth.  This is closer the Ramones or the Clash, where we take the story down to its elements and tell that story succinctly.  It has a retro 80s feel, and every aspect of the production hits all of the right notes.  

 
Finished it over the weekend. Very entertaining. Part of me wants a completely new story / setting, part of me likes some of the characters and wants to see more of this story.

 
My family loved it. We watched it in 3 sessions and couldn't wait until the next episode.

It just had so many things that were awesome, but can't say we liked the daughter's relationship choice there at the end.

 
IvanKaramazov said:
  And of course the loser small-town sheriff is going to be the guy who really gets to the bottom of things.  JFC I'm rolling my eyes just typing this.  
 
Click to expand...
FYI I believe he was a detective in a larger city and moved home after his daughter died.

 
facook said:
You will end up revising your take.
Click to expand...
I don't think so.  I liked it quite a lot at first but thought it went downhill in episode 7 and especially in episode 8.   Overall I enjoyed it and will tune in next season but I would say that if you do not like it at episode 6 you're probably really going to dislike it after episode 8.

 
JerseyToughGuys said:
Finished it over the weekend. Very entertaining. Part of me wants a completely new story / setting, part of me likes some of the characters and wants to see more of this story.
Click to expand...
Just binge watched the whole series this weekend.  I'm in the same place.

 
Courtjester said:
My family loved it. We watched it in 3 sessions and couldn't wait until the next episode.

It just had so many things that were awesome, but can't say we liked the daughter's relationship choice there at the end.
Click to expand...
I don't think she likes the choice either.. you can kind of see her eyeballing the other dudes crotch so im not too sure why she went back with the #####? im guessing money

 
Godsbrother said:
I don't think so.  I liked it quite a lot at first but thought it went downhill in episode 7 and especially in episode 8.   Overall I enjoyed it and will tune in next season but I would say that if you do not like it at episode 6 you're probably really going to dislike it after episode 8.
Click to expand...
I don't necessarily disagree with this. But I was referring to revising the take that the characters are all cliche, all good/all bad and have no nuance.  At least one character in particular was extremely nuanced, especially in 7 and 8.  I'd even say that the on friend's struggles with 11 showed quite a bit of nuance.  I just don't think it's fair to say the characters are all cliche.

 
facook said:
I don't necessarily disagree with this. But I was referring to revising the take that the characters are all cliche, all good/all bad and have no nuance.  At least one character in particular was extremely nuanced, especially in 7 and 8.  I'd even say that the on friend's struggles with 11 showed quite a bit of nuance.  I just don't think it's fair to say the characters are all cliche.
Click to expand...
I wouldn't argue against the cliches... but tbh, the cliches are part of what I like about the show. I like that it touches on all of these different areas of source material and genuinely captures the feel and tone of shows and movies back then, and also tells a fun and well-thought out story in the process. nails it on both counts, IMO. but I get it if somebody thinks its too much of an homage.

 
facook said:
I don't necessarily disagree with this. But I was referring to revising the take that the characters are all cliche, all good/all bad and have no nuance.  At least one character in particular was extremely nuanced, especially in 7 and 8.  I'd even say that the on friend's struggles with 11 showed quite a bit of nuance.  I just don't think it's fair to say the characters are all cliche.
Click to expand...
the boyfriend, in particular, was anti-cliché.

 
The Sherriff also had some nuance.

 It's not every day you see a county mounty beat up a state trooper outside a bar. Or, have underlings question whether the boss "went off his meds"
 
cockroach said:
badmojo1006 said:
Nigel said:
Started this last night, 1.5 eps in, not completely hooked. Winona is awful and the kid with the long hair/baseball cap is as annoying as any character I've seen in a long while. Will keep watching because I trust you guys. 
Click to expand...
Dustin? Aww, he is my favorite character on the show! He has such heart and keeps the group together. And he is funny
Click to expand...


I love that kid.  He is adorable
Click to expand...
:yes:   he started off annoying but by episode 4 he became a favorite.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
facook said:
I don't necessarily disagree with this. But I was referring to revising the take that the characters are all cliche, all good/all bad and have no nuance.  At least one character in particular was extremely nuanced, especially in 7 and 8.  I'd even say that the on friend's struggles with 11 showed quite a bit of nuance.  I just don't think it's fair to say the characters are all cliche.
Click to expand...
yep, actually all 3 kids and the chick were good characters.  The older brother was solid.  I thought I'd like Winona a lot more but she was typical Mom.

 
CletiusMaximus said:
JerseyToughGuys said:
the boyfriend, in particular, was anti-cliché.
Click to expand...
Bad boy who actually has a heart of gold?  I'm not so sure they're really breaking new ground with him. 
Click to expand...

I did like the fact that not only did Steve get his a$$ kicked, but he then had a change of heart and went and cleaned off the marquee of the movie theater. Plus he came back to help Jonathan and Nancy and put a serious hurt on the monster. Most bullies in teen/monster movies do not do that.

And most of the time the Jonathan character, the quirky loner, gets the girl. I can't think of any movie where the bully/old bf keeps the girl.
 
CletiusMaximus said:
Bad boy who actually has a heart of gold?  I'm not so sure they're really breaking new ground with him. 
Click to expand...
They took the cliché and went the opposite way over and over again. Examples:

- When he showed up at the girl's house, climbed into her room, tried to get her naked, but then respectfully backed off

- Breaks the camera, but probably justified given how creepy that whole thing was

- The movie marquee - we think he did it, we find out the friend did it, he cuts ties, goes back and cleans it up

- He fought the monster like a hero and didn't die the cliché ######## boyfriend death.

- Bought a new camera and ended up with the girl (the normal cliché would have the weird brother with the girl in the end)
 
Last edited by a moderator:
JerseyToughGuys said:
The Sherriff also had some nuance.

 It's not every day you see a county mounty beat up a state trooper outside a bar. Or, have underlings question whether the boss "went off his meds"
Click to expand...

He also betrayed Eleven, giving up her location to the bad guys.  Cliche sheriff would never have done that.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Finished the s1 last night.  The current 5-star Netflix rating might be a bit high imho but a solid 3.5-4.  One thing that stood out to me:

When Dustin called the science teacher, it was "10:00 on a Saturday".  Then during the scene where they're in the classroom and El kills the monster, the clock on the wall shows 10:03 and is shown 6 times during the scene.  It was the same night, correct?  Was that just a continuity error?
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Just finished it.  Thought it was great with the exception of the cliff scene and winona's acting.  The sherrif was brilliant imo.  

 
Amused to Death said:
Finished the s1 last night.  The current 5-star Netflix rating might be a bit high imho but a solid 3.5-4.  One thing that stood out to me:

When Dustin called the science teacher, it was "10:00 on a Saturday".  Then during the scene where they're in the classroom and El kills the monster, the clock on the wall shows 10:03 and is shown 6 times during the scene.  It was the same night, correct?  Was that just a continuity error?
Click to expand...
My school clocks often had the incorrect time....

 
Walking Boot said:
Could have been an unintentional mistake. However, clocks in schools are weird. They all synchronize off a central ticker in the principals office. That way the bell rings at 8 sharp for every room. It's possible to fanwank a theory that the machine that syncs the classroom clocks was turned off Friday night when the last person left and wasn't going to be turned back on until Monday morning. 
Click to expand...


Rove! said:
My school clocks often had the incorrect time....
Click to expand...
It just seemed kinda odd (to me) that they made a point of noting the time, then put the clock in a noticable position multiple times showing the same time. I can't connect it to any relevance, just noticed it.

 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

GordonGekko
Valentines Day Couple Publicly Shamed At Chili's For Being Too Poor On Social Media (5/30)
Replies
11
Views
2K
rockaction
rockaction
John Maddens Lunchbox
U2 - Community rankings - FIN - #4 Sunday Bloody Sunday, #3 - One, #2 - Bad, #1 - Where the Streets Have No Name -Spotify links, thanks to Krista4
89 90 91
Replies
5K
Views
131K
Anarchy99
Anarchy99
Pip's Invitation
The THIRD 100 from 1971. #1: Echoes
5 6 7
Replies
310
Views
19K
BobbyLayne
BobbyLayne

Users who are viewing this thread

Total: 1 (members: 0, guests: 1)
Back
Top