Stranger Things

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Penk!
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Re: Stranger Things

Postby Penk! » 02 Nov 2017, 16:08

Goat Boy wrote:I’ve finished the first season.

I like it, it’s good but it’s some way off being great.

It’s all a bit clichéd and easy to predict but it’s likeable and the kids are good. You do have to suspend your disbelief quite a bit though.


Yeah, I'm midway through the second series and that's how I feel.

It has an engaging plot and I do really like the characters, and the general setting is really well done. The town and other locations have been constructed from their favourite bits of '80s films and pop culture, and it lives and breathes even though there's that fake, nostalgic feel to it. It's done with enough heart and style.

There are some elements that seem very contrived: for example, in the second series we have a new character called Billy, whose personality seems to revolve around being a cocky, aggressive, too-cool asshat, but who seems to be a mixture of odd unmatched elements of '80s style (mullet, flash car, top-to-toe denim, hard-rock stereo, jock skillz on the court), and I'm just waiting to see whether the mysterious past he apparently has justifies his presence or if he's just there as a cipher to help flesh out a couple of other characters.

So yeah, there are too many cracks and seams and mistakes for it to be really great TV, but perhaps Toby was right saying it's like fast food: it's very satisfying and comforting.
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Re: Stranger Things

Postby mentalist (slight return) » 02 Nov 2017, 22:36

I don't know this Stranger Things. But I do love Better Things.
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Re: Stranger Things

Postby Goat Boy » 03 Nov 2017, 10:52

PENK wrote:
Goat Boy wrote:I’ve finished the first season.

I like it, it’s good but it’s some way off being great.

It’s all a bit clichéd and easy to predict but it’s likeable and the kids are good. You do have to suspend your disbelief quite a bit though.


Yeah, I'm midway through the second series and that's how I feel.

It has an engaging plot and I do really like the characters, and the general setting is really well done. The town and other locations have been constructed from their favourite bits of '80s films and pop culture, and it lives and breathes even though there's that fake, nostalgic feel to it. It's done with enough heart and style.

There are some elements that seem very contrived: for example, in the second series we have a new character called Billy, whose personality seems to revolve around being a cocky, aggressive, too-cool asshat, but who seems to be a mixture of odd unmatched elements of '80s style (mullet, flash car, top-to-toe denim, hard-rock stereo, jock skillz on the court), and I'm just waiting to see whether the mysterious past he apparently has justifies his presence or if he's just there as a cipher to help flesh out a couple of other characters.

So yeah, there are too many cracks and seams and mistakes for it to be really great TV, but perhaps Toby was right saying it's like fast food: it's very satisfying and comforting.


I know some people have criticised it for cynically mining nostalgia and for being little more than a patchwork of 80s influences and there is some validity to that but I still think it’s recognisably its own thing enough to work. Just.

You can pick holes with some of the 80s references and certain aspects don’t feel right. The Evil Dead poster? The reference to Television (the mix tape Jonathan makes for his bro) etc. Of course these things are possible but I don’t buy a kid from some Hicksville town in Indiana listening to Marquee Moon somehow. It does feel like the writers – who weren’t even born then – creating their own 80s but it doesn’t bother me that much although I can understand why it might really bother some, especially if you were actually around back then.

The main problem for me is that it is far too convenient at times and it really stretches plausibility to breaking point.

The local cop manages to break into a top secret government building? Really? And he’s like James Bond too, knocking people out left, right and centre. When he gets taken to the secret facility he’s just like “fuck you, we won’t talk” and off he goes although that may be explained in season 2 I guess.

Jonathans friendship with the lass has unlikely origins. He’s taking photos of you and yer mates in the woods and you befriend him? Hmmmmm....

Eleven is on her knees at the end of season 1 and then suddenly is back on her feet again getting rid of the monster. Did she manage to gobble some chocolate puddings then to get her energy back?


If I was being very generous I would say that considering the source material this kind of shit is understandable but it removes some of the dramatic tension I have to say.

And yet despite its weaknesses it works as superficial entertainment. The kids are sweet and believable and it has some nice moments.

I’m a bit surprised by the praise mind. Maybe we’ve just reached the stage where any above average TV show that you can binge is instantly elevated, I dunno.

I had no idea that Jonathan is English by the way. That's the biggest surprise in the show!
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Re: Stranger Things

Postby harvey k-tel » 03 Nov 2017, 13:56

Goat Boy wrote:Of course these things are possible but I don’t buy a kid from some Hicksville town in Indiana listening to Marquee Moon somehow.


For what it's worth, I remember hearing Marquee Moon on the local AM radio station in the Hicksville, Ontario town I grew up in. If I had been a bit smarter I would have paid more attention to it instead of the KISS and AC/DC records I was into at the time...
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Re: Stranger Things

Postby Goat Boy » 03 Nov 2017, 14:01

I always knew you were a wrong 'un
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Re: Stranger Things

Postby harvey k-tel » 03 Nov 2017, 14:19

:(

I suppose you were listening to Roxy Music and Bowie when you were 8, right?
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Re: Stranger Things

Postby Goat Boy » 03 Nov 2017, 15:23

New Kids On The Block
Griff wrote:The notion that Jeremy Corbyn, a lifelong vocal proponent of antisemitism, would stand in front of an antisemitic mural and commend it is utterly preposterous.


Copehead wrote:a right wing cretin like Berger....bleating about racism

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Re: Stranger Things

Postby harvey k-tel » 03 Nov 2017, 15:58

I knew it!
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Re: Stranger Things

Postby driftin » 06 Nov 2017, 10:08

Second season is meh. My first impressions were that I enjoyed it but the more I think about it the less I like it. It feels very rushed, there's so many inconsistencies and plot holes, and is more like a quick cash grab rather than a labour of love like season 1.

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Re: Stranger Things

Postby Goat Boy » 06 Nov 2017, 12:41

Hmmmmm....I'll see how the first few eps pan out.
Griff wrote:The notion that Jeremy Corbyn, a lifelong vocal proponent of antisemitism, would stand in front of an antisemitic mural and commend it is utterly preposterous.


Copehead wrote:a right wing cretin like Berger....bleating about racism

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Re: Stranger Things

Postby The Modernist » 07 Nov 2017, 00:06

Harvey K-Tel wrote::(

I suppose you were listening to Roxy Music and Bowie when you were 8, right?



The funny thing is when you were listening to Kiss and AC/DC, I actually was listening to Bowie and Roxy.

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Re: Stranger Things

Postby The Modernist » 07 Nov 2017, 00:09

sloopjohnc wrote:
yomptepi wrote:I think the Clash song was a hit quite a while after it was released. (on the back of a Jeans commercial in 1991). So at the time it might have been an unusual record to like.


No it wasn't. All the singles from Sandinista were really popular from the git-go. Remember, the Clash played Shea on the back of that album's popularity.


Should I Stay.. was Combat Rock, the next one -which also had the big hit 'Rock The Casbah'. The singles from Sandinista were total flops in the UK (The Call Up, Hitsville UK)

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Re: Stranger Things

Postby Geezee » 08 Dec 2017, 12:13

Geezee wrote:We're about 4-5 episodes in. I definitely don't find it dull. At most, I found it pushing the boundaries of believability (well...) once the cop goes rogue and breaks into the science centre. As with so many programmes set in the modern past, however, it's sometimes a bit too in your face with it's cultural touchpoints...and it's a bit too obvious in its reverence for King, Carpenter, Spielberg etc (although I absolutely love the opening titles and some of the theme music, however much of a pastiche they may be). Every scene feels like it needs to make sure that it's clear the viewer is watching something set in 1983...and I'm pretty sure the actor who plays Nancy Wheeler was only chosen because of her striking resemblance to Ferris Bueller's girlfriend.

Otherwise, I like the set-up, the mix between teen horror, children's adventure, and adult murder mystery. It's nice to see teens playing teens, or at least allowing the teens to have acne, bad skin and bad dress sense. It is nice to see Winona back - but she's not given much room to do except cry and scream which gets a bit tiring. Still, I like it - never thought something like this would ever be (re)created.


Well, having finished season 2 now I'd pretty much echo the first impressions I had, and I'm even more frustrated at Winona's role which never breaks out of her constant, dare I say hysterical character. It did feel that this one definitely took too long to get going, and conversely wrapped up a little bit too soon - but the last 3-4 episodes were definitely pretty strong once things got going. There are again a few things that don't add up at all - they make a big deal of the "scandal" surrounding the cover-up over Barbara's death...but by the time that whole news breaks out, there's about another 30 deaths in that town that either they also covered up or was in the news and would presumably be a bit of a bigger deal! I also just don't buy the whole cover-up anyway, it just doesn't make much sense, nor Jim Hopper holing up El for this whole time. I was really hoping Hopper would die. :evil: The kids are good - I think the Dustin actor has a decent chance of making it pretty big. And I do think Steve's character arch has been pretty good (although I was very confused over how Nancy was still together with him).

It's definitely more than above-average entertainment, and I feel they toned down the 80s setting a bit this time around which was good - the make-up, dress code and even the hairstyles (which they make more of a joke about this time around) were more believable and not quite so inyerface, even though they did push the Reagan-Bush posters too much.
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Re: Stranger Things

Postby copehead » 03 Jan 2018, 03:10

I think the redemption of the Steve character is pretty cool in series 2 on the whole I think I preferred series 2 to series 1.
I think it would be interesting to see where they go with 011 and 008, and what of the other numbers?
The introduction of the ginger lass gave it an interesting dynamic too.
Pretty shocking to see Samwise Gamgee getting eaten by DemaDogs though.

I am happily looking forward to series 3 and perhaps a greater exploration of the Upside Down and a longer look at the vaguely X-men stylings of 011 and 008.

Might not want to get too deep on the Upside Down or it could all go a bit "Lost" sometimes explaining something just makes you look like a clueless idiot who was winging it.

And the trouble is the cute kids will grow up into stinky teens and that will be less interesting, they should wring the 4 main leads dry ASAP because they will go from adorably dorky to horribly dorky in the blink of an eye.
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Re: Stranger Things

Postby Geezee » 04 Jan 2018, 10:51

Copehead wrote:I think the redemption of the Steve character is pretty cool in series 2 on the whole I think I preferred series 2 to series 1.
I think it would be interesting to see where they go with 011 and 008, and what of the other numbers?
The introduction of the ginger lass gave it an interesting dynamic too.
Pretty shocking to see Samwise Gamgee getting eaten by DemaDogs though.

I am happily looking forward to series 3 and perhaps a greater exploration of the Upside Down and a longer look at the vaguely X-men stylings of 011 and 008.

Might not want to get too deep on the Upside Down or it could all go a bit "Lost" sometimes explaining something just makes you look like a clueless idiot who was winging it.

And the trouble is the cute kids will grow up into stinky teens and that will be less interesting, they should wring the 4 main leads dry ASAP because they will go from adorably dorky to horribly dorky in the blink of an eye.


I thought that's what made Season 1 quite unique though - they really did let horrible teens be horrible teens, so I'd think they'll go with it. The episode that focused on the 008/011 relationship got a lot of criticism - I didn't quite think it was so bad and do think the 008 character could go places.
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Re: Stranger Things

Postby Sneelock » 06 Jan 2018, 17:50

It was weird having to wait a whole episode for all the other story arcs. Still, 11 is my favorite character & I liked seeing her channeling her anger but, also, finding a sense of decency which led her back.

I do think the episode slowed things down but I think it made my favorite character a lot richer in the long haul.

I like both seasons but I think 11, in season one, is one of the best TV characters ever.
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Re: Stranger Things

Postby Snarfyguy » 06 Jan 2018, 19:59

Toby wrote:I'm enjoying it 4 episodes in, even if it's basically the netflix equivalent of a Big Mac and Fries.

Just finished the first season and I agree.

Scrutinizing the series for period verisimilitude rather misses the point. Things like the Evil Dead poster are just a wink to the audience; the thing doesn't hang on whether it's credible that an actual American teen in the 80s would have had that on his wall. Likewise the soundtrack. They're just having fun. It's not as though the big brother were listening to The Slits and The Raincoats.

I was kind of surprised more wasn't made of Matthew Modine. Prosthetic hair aside, it was a lost opportunity to have a fun and engaging villain in the proceedings, but the script didn't really give him much to work with.

I thought the "upside down" town was really handled wonderfully well and the kids were great, especially that 11 girl.
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Re: Stranger Things

Postby pcqgod » 29 Jan 2018, 21:54

i finished season 1 yesterday. It's an enjoyable enough series, but it's hard for me to get past the hoary comic book cliches the story is built on. There were some good, tension-filled moments, but not enough surprises. The 80's setting just seems an excuse to fill the soundtrack with a bunch of popular 80's new wave classics for nostalgic effect.
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