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I'm still trying to cram a few more shows in before the end of the year. Started Atlanta, Pantheon looks interesting. We'll see what I get through, last year Station 11 bumped its way onto my list last minute. I'm not including Station 11 this year because I preferred the earlier episodes but it did end well. A notable absence from my list is Survivor, I haven't been able to watch that or Big Brother since my Grandfather passed away last year. We watched almost every season together since the beginning, plus a few other reality shows, rooting for our favorites and rolling our eyes at the sad piano played up for tv moments. Even the dumbest show was fun, and I may have to hunt down Mountain Men to see what happened to some of those guys. Anyway, here's my initial list, I may change it up or add more detail later: 10. Rings of Power (Amazon Prime). I didn't want to rate this one on the list but it beat the remainder of the new shows I watched this year. It's been discussed to death on these boards so I'll just say I'm disappointed by a lot of the choices they made but it was a beautiful show with some moments that did land (and a bunch that didn't). I hope they improve as they go, take the more constructive criticism to heart, and complete the series well. If nothing else it finally got me to buckle down and "read" (audiobook) The Silmarillion after umpteen years of being a Tolkien fan. 9. House of the Dragon (HBO). Retaining some hate from how the first show ended, I wanted Rings of Power to trounce this show, but it grew on me and was pretty good overall. I've been a lifelong dragon nerd and I'm not sure about how they are used in this series but the cast did very well and I'm curious to see what they do in the future. It needs a new theme song, they should call this one the prequel to Fire & Blood and start back with a new show when they return, keeping the cast etc. Paddy Considine was great, Matt Smith made me forget The Doctor. The younger cast switches were a bit jarring but they did well with it. 8. Archive 81 (Netflix). This was our water cooler show at the office earlier this year. A guy is brought in to restore found footage of a documentary a grad student filmed in a NYC apartment building that burned down in the 90s. It has its creepy moments and questions of sanity and kept us on our toes. The show was based on a podcast which is the only place to turn now that it has been canceled, alongside so many other good shows this year. 7. Reacher (Amazon Prime). I just started watching this one while sick a few weeks ago, I didn't feel like doing anything else so I let youtube shorts unspool at me and a bunch of them turned out to be clips from this show's pilot. With all the realistic dark dramas these days, sometimes its just fun to watch a protagonist brute force his way through unfair situations and get to show an easy earned confidence and competence. 6. Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (Paramount+). A welcome return to form after several strange new JJ Abrams movies and series like Discovery and Picard. It's nice to have a more classic show with a solid base cast and modern fx. To be honest I'm still watching this season but it has already made a dent in my list and I'm looking forward to finishing it out as I haven't heard it went off the rails or anything like some other shows have. 5. From (Epix). It's all I ask for in a Lost type show. Lots of weird stuff happening, a good cast, suspenseful episodes. It had better get some more seasons to explain this poo poo but even if they don't it's a fun watch, mashing up zombies, mystery boxes and the trapped cast. So far it's looking good for a season 2 next year. 4. Peacemaker (HBO). This is a great show and Gunn and Eagly make the most of it. John Cena is there too and fearless in his role. Lots of great music though I'd like to see Gunn and Waititi both ease up on the soundtracks a bit, even if I am their target audience for it. HBO is massacring shows over there but with this show being good enough to get Gunn the head job for DC films going ahead I think its a safe bet we'll see more. 3. Andor (Disney+). I'm still more of a fan of the jedi and spaceship battles I grew up on but since those mostly haven't been done well for a few decades I'll take what I can get, and surpringly this was a good get. It really highlights that there's room for more types of shows than the cookie cutter expected ones and I hope it opens the way for a Doctor Aphra series. This felt more like a collection of movies than a tv show and worked best watched in segments imho. Great cast, great music, and its promising that they have a planned 2 season arc and will hopefully get to play it out without too much interference. 2. Sandman (Netflix). Longtime fan of the comic, it was the first "adult" one I ever read, jumping on at the end of Brief Lives and quickly catching up with the trade paperbacks. This adaptation has a few moments I don't agree with but I'm glad Neil held out for the control he had and did such a good job with it. The whiplash of episode 5 into 6, and 7-10 being a contained story, confused a couple of people I convinced to watch it but overall they agreed it was very well done. The bonus episode 11 dropping later with two self contained stories confirmed they know what they are doing, and I hope no Zaslav/Warner Bros/Netflix politics get in the way of playing out an adaptation of the full series of the same quality or better. 1. Severance (Apple+). I've mentioned before I love shows with building dread or tension and an earworm of a soundtrack that matches the mood. For instance Rubicon, most of Mike Flanagan's horror shows, the Take Shelter movie mentioned above. This nailed that vibe. This is just the music not the main title sequence, which is also very well done but I only watched it the first episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-_SX5MheDI
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Dec 26, 2022 17:08
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| # ¿ May 12, 2024 09:57 |
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timp posted:I’m surprised that Station Eleven hasn’t appeared on any lists yet since it technically counts; I know it’s a goon favorite and the last It probably should have been #5 on my list but as I mentioned I preferred the earlier episodes and it was on my list last year, so I'm leaving it off this year.
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Dec 29, 2022 19:32
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