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GoGoGadgetChris posted:Are they intentionally doing a different subgenre each episode? Emerson Cod posted:Was that kid who asked the Ouji board about his upcoming vacation meant to be Emmit Till? He did live in Chicago in 1955 and was dressed similarly.
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Sep 1, 2020 20:19
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GoGoGadgetChris posted:Are they intentionally doing a different subgenre each episode? I dunno how much Book Chat we want in the TV thread, but based on the previews, we're not going in book order any more.
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Sep 1, 2020 21:05
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Yeah this episode is the one that made me bail on this show. The beginning was so abrupt and so disconnected from the first two episodes I thought it was supposed to be a flashback for a while, and for a show that seemed to start leaning hard into the audience being knowledgeable of horror tropes and both referencing and actively challenging them this was a really generic haunted house story that didn't do anything interesting or surprising. And the show's glossy production values really hurt the visuals in this, I could see how the visuals could have been spooky if done differently and more subtley but they're so intent on making sure you see all the money on the screen that it turns something like seeing a spooky hidden image in some photos I to a giant cartoon head jumping out and screaming boo just to make sure you Get It. There were multiple times in this episode that I was laughing out loud in ways the creators probably didn't intend, but regardless I can't enjoy this is in the way I can enjoy an American Horror Story because the constant references and portrayal of real world hate crimes are too heavy for me to like it as some cheesy goofy fun. It almost feels like a disservice to evoke and portray such evil in the service of something as mediocre as this. AtraMorS posted:They are all doing the same subgenre: Lovecraftian horror. This episode was Lovecraftian in the sense that Sharknado is a Spielbergian film because it has a shark in it.
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Sep 1, 2020 22:51
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Yeah what is the Hate Crime equivalent of "torture porn"? As a white person I am not qualified to comment on this, but I definitely have been wondering each episode if the hate crime imagery is being wielded responsibly After Watchmen and Westworld I am wary of recommending an HBO show before it's complete, but I have at least enjoyed all 3 episodes so far. Agreed that episode 3 felt like a flashback at first and had me wondering just how disjointed each episode is going to be from the weeks prior.
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Sep 1, 2020 23:08
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Oh yeah I'm moderately positive on the show but also its not Lovecraftian at all. I'm just willing to roll with it so far
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Sep 1, 2020 23:12
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Sleeveless posted:This episode was Lovecraftian in the sense that Sharknado is a Spielbergian film because it has a shark in it. edit: GoGoGadgetChris posted:Yeah what is the Hate Crime equivalent of "torture porn"? AtraMorS fucked around with this message at 23:37 on Sep 1, 2020 |
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Sep 1, 2020 23:18
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I'm still going to watch the show because it's interesting at the core, but it really needs a better editor. For episode two and three the tone just seems all over the place and real haphazard. Maybe its also the writing, but the tonal shifts are enough to give you whiplash. I generally think the acting is pretty good. Theres enough good pieces here but they haven't come to a satisfying whole save for the first episode.
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Sep 1, 2020 23:27
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Great episode. When Atticus' dad and aunt were having the conversation about her knowing there is something they are not telling her, there was a really weird audio "bleeeghh", like it was meant to be emphasising something but I re watched it 3 times and there was literally nothing else going on.
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Sep 1, 2020 23:42
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AtraMorS posted:Rats in the Walls meets Re-Animator sounds like an accurate description to me. More true than you know; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delphine_LaLaurie Likely inspiration for the story for the mansion.
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Sep 2, 2020 01:23
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Bleh, please don't remind me of AHS: Coven
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Sep 2, 2020 01:31
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I love this show. Even though things are constantly happening I still feel like it gives time for the characters to breath. And all the actors are doing a fantastic job. The music usage is spot on, too.
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Sep 2, 2020 01:41
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Macdeo Lurjtux posted:More true than you know; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delphine_LaLaurie One of the things Ruby mentioned in passing was another historical horror show: Trumbull Park Race Riots. If someone has a better source for this, I'd love to read it. That site--along with this contemporary account from The Militant--is the only site I found that gave it more than a paragraph. *I mean that in a good way.
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Sep 2, 2020 02:56
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Sleeveless posted:This episode was Lovecraftian in the sense that Sharknado is a Spielbergian film because it has a shark in it. Lovecraft wasn't just cosmic horror but I get what you're saying. You want chanting townsfolk and scary elder gods. I always thought Lovecraft was hard to bring to visual media because the bulk of his stories are descriptive. A bunch of pages describing antediluvian ruins or horrific monsters gets replaced by three seconds of screen time. Many works involve pondering or self reflection too, so there isn't much action besides characters going slowly insane. That's why I was afraid that this show would be super slow. They're obviously going for a pulp fiction now which I'm sure Lovecraft would be all on board for (except racism being portrayed in a negative light, he'd hate that)
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Sep 2, 2020 05:16
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I want to say I have a complaint about this show pushing an agenda. Over and over we see this one-sided, biased presentation, and it's just a complete loving lie. There are plenty of shoggoths who don't want to rend humans limb from limb and eat them. But you wouldn't know it if you watched this mythosist show. So until they fix this, I'm absolutely boycotting Lovecraft Country. #NotAllShoggoths
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Sep 2, 2020 06:41
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So, given that story Tic told in episode 3, about how his dad and uncle George were saved by a mysterious stranger with a baseball bat during the Tulsa riots, who wants to lay odds on some time travel shenanigans later in the series and it'll turn out to have been Tic?
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Sep 2, 2020 08:50
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GimpInBlack posted:So, given that story Tic told in episode 3, about how his dad and uncle George were saved by a mysterious stranger with a baseball bat during the Tulsa riots, who wants to lay odds on some time travel shenanigans later in the series and it'll turn out to have been Tic? That fits in with the potential time-travel experiments going on in the house pretty well. And Tic’s dream in ep1. Ask, lol @ the posters calling this ‘hate crime porn’ as if this isn’t a rather accurate portrayal of racism at this time in America. It making you uncomfortable doesn’t mean it didn’t (and doesn’t still) happen.
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Sep 2, 2020 15:44
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As a white guy, I'm not going to get to far over my skies on the topic of depicting hate crimes in media, but I've really been enjoying these Lovecraft Country reviews by B-Stuc (a comedian) and Michael Harriot (writer for the Root). One reason I like it is that they recognize subtle nods and era/area-specific contexts that are completely lost on me at first, about fashion and Black cultural references and the like. On this topic, they actually found it really interesting that Leti's "interview" in the back of the paddy wagon was how Freddie Gray was killed, noting that it was a historical way of police assaulting Black people out of public view. They didn't seem to find it to be "torture porn" but rather a stamp of authentic Black history. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=taq8G0zM2xc
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Sep 2, 2020 17:06
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Captain Monkey posted:
Who are you doing a Lol at? I can't imagine anyone thinks it's inaccurate, other than the fact that the hate crimes are often interrupted by monsters & ghosts. Who is claiming they didn't happen? Who is complaining about being uncomfortable?? Basically, what the hell are you talking about? I assume this is a reference to my post GoGoGadgetChris posted:As a white person I am not qualified to comment on this, but I definitely have been wondering each episode if the hate crime imagery is being wielded responsibly Which I certainly hope didn't come across as "  It makes me sad to have to see hate crimes, put them away I don't want to see them!!! "
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Sep 2, 2020 17:59
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This thread has been coming across that way, yeah. Tbh, Lovecraft Country is a lot more focused on the happier parts of this bullshit than I was expecting. It's triumph and grit and, yeah, some of it sucks, but they're *prepared* for it and they *execute* knowing full well the consequences. I'm talking about the characters and the showrunners both. It's amazing.
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Sep 2, 2020 20:52
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I just realized that the final reveal of the episode basically completely validates the racist cop's suspicions and that he was totally right about someone putting them up to buying that house even if they themselves didn't realize it. Big ol' yikes to that.
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Sep 3, 2020 03:21
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Sleeveless posted:Big ol' yikes to that. Why is that a yikes? Like, that's... the story.
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Sep 3, 2020 04:33
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the music is handmaid's tale level, which is an extremely low bar for an HBO show
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Sep 3, 2020 06:33
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Sleeveless posted:I just realized that the final reveal of the episode basically completely validates the racist cop's suspicions and that he was totally right about someone putting them up to buying that house even if they themselves didn't realize it. Big ol' yikes to that. Shut up, Sleeveless
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Sep 3, 2020 08:59
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I'm really enjoying this, but the editing is the thing that is keeping me from loving it. Episode 2 seemed like someone was just hitting skip on some scenes, that probably could have easily covered two episodes worth. Episode 3 was better, but still a bit janky. What was the payoff with Hypolyta in the weird locked room? How was the weird locked room not a bigger mystery in the episode? I think the Emmett Till (amazing catch to whoever caught that earlier, btw) reference in the ouija board scene is amazing, but why have the one they are talking to be George if it's not going to be brought up at all afterwards? Was there any other point to having that scene in this episode? I'm assuming some of this will make sense after seeing the rest of the season, but it does seem to be a little bit scatter shot. Also, completely random, but I finally figured out that Tic's mom is Rachel from Justified. When they showed that photo in the first episode I knew she looked familiar, but I couldn't place it. AFewBricksShy fucked around with this message at 19:25 on Sep 3, 2020 |
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Sep 3, 2020 13:13
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AFewBricksShy posted:
The full ouija sentence was "George is Dead" so I think it was the ghost of Epstein loving with them
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Sep 3, 2020 14:23
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Sleeveless posted:I just realized that the final reveal of the episode basically completely validates the racist cop's suspicions and that he was totally right about someone putting them up to buying that house even if they themselves didn't realize it. Big ol' yikes to that. Except the cop thinks they're doing it to integrate the neighborhood, which the wizards don't care about.
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Sep 3, 2020 14:59
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mary had a little clam posted:The full ouija sentence was "George is Dead" so I think it was the ghost of Epstein loving with them That makes more sense. I was watching it on a smaller screen so I missed the second half, I thought it said something like "your dad" which was why the girl freaked out.
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Sep 3, 2020 15:00
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AFewBricksShy posted:I'm really enjoying this, but the editing is the thing that is keeping me from loving it. I didn't get the feeling they were talking to George unless he had a habit of speaking in the third person that I didn't pick up on. But yeah I agree that they brought a bunch of ideas for creepy stuff going on and didn't really pay off on all of it.
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Sep 3, 2020 18:56
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Inspector 34 posted:I didn't get the feeling they were talking to George unless he had a habit of speaking in the third person that I didn't pick up on. But yeah I agree that they brought a bunch of ideas for creepy stuff going on and didn't really pay off on all of it. From memory because I'm dumb and probably wrong: They asked some innocuous question and got an answer. Emmett Till asks if he'll have fun on his vacation, goes to "NO" They say "who are we talking to" and it spells out "GEORGE" Then it keeps going and it was too quick for me to follow. I thought it said DAD, Mary had a Little Clam said it spelled out "GEORGE IS DEAD",either way the girl freaks out and then it's forgotten about. Also I totally typed Emmett as Everett in my earlier post because as mentioned before I'm dumb. The ghost that woke Letty up was creepy as poo poo. Baby headed basketball player was kind of funny, even if the idea of having your head sent back in time is pretty horrifying. AFewBricksShy fucked around with this message at 19:26 on Sep 3, 2020 |
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Sep 3, 2020 19:22
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I guess I thought whichever ghost they were talking to just declined to answer the actual question and went right to "George is dead."
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Sep 3, 2020 19:49
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ex post facho posted:the music is handmaid's tale level, which is an extremely low bar for an HBO show It rules, though?
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Sep 3, 2020 20:05
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I saw it as George Friedman (isn't that his last name), but it was going pretty fast so I could've just filled in the blanks from what I saw.
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Sep 3, 2020 21:50
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Anthology shows, like sketch comedy, have more misses than hits. That's just kind of how they operate. Get weird, try something new. It probably falls flat on its face. Sometimes it works brilliantly. They've got a solid cast so even when it misses, the show is still enjoyable. I wish they had done a "The Boys" style treatment where they mined the book for good ideas and then built on them because the book, to me, was just OK. But playing around with the book is fun enough. I'm disappointed that Peele is having such a hard time transitioning to TV. He's spent most of his life in TV so he should understand how it operates but it never quite connects. His movies, on the other hand, are outstanding. Keanu, Get Out and Us all knocked it out of the park. Raised expectations, I guess?
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Sep 3, 2020 23:58
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Those movies are also pretty much entirely his artistic vision as opposed to being one of many cooks in the kitchen or just a producer.
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Sep 4, 2020 01:25
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Incelshok Na posted:I'm disappointed that Peele is having such a hard time transitioning to TV. He's spent most of his life in TV so he should understand how it operates but it never quite connects. His movies, on the other hand, are outstanding. Keanu, Get Out and Us all knocked it out of the park. He's just an E.P., meaning he attached his name to the project for marketing and funding purposes. Thats all his involvement.
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Sep 4, 2020 03:39
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Macdeo Lurjtux posted:He's just an E.P., meaning he attached his name to the project for marketing and funding purposes. Thats all his involvement. Things are starting to make a lot more sense now  I hope he's at least uplifting black creators. An anthology show on a prestige channel would be a solid way to do that.
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Sep 4, 2020 03:48
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I thought the pacing on episode 3 was a lot better than 2. I think I liked it more than 2, about the same as 1. I definitely agree with the theory that the guy with the baseball bat was time travelin' Tic.
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Sep 4, 2020 17:27
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after ep 4, pretty clear that this is just HBO AHS. still lolling at the completely random immersion breaking 10 second contemporary hip hop clips when they have an enormous selection of era-appropriate blues, rock and roll and gently caress it I give up ex post facho fucked around with this message at 20:34 on Sep 4, 2020 |
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Sep 4, 2020 20:31
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episode 1 was so good but just been downhill from there. i also agree that episode 2 and 3 don't really seem to be 'particularly' lovecraftian and that this the same jarring music/overstylized visuals that sunk Hunters for me
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Sep 4, 2020 21:10
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ex post facho posted:after ep 4, pretty clear that this is just HBO AHS. It is wild to me that you distilled a television show about subverting pulp fiction and horror tropes from the perspective of 2020 black America into "HBO AHS"
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Sep 4, 2020 21:24
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