I was wondering who Stick was talking to in his last scene... they just show some big muscled guy sitting on the floor across from him, hidden by shadow. It seemed to me that they were talking about something mystical (I think the line was "will he be ready when the door opens?"). Anyway, something else to look forward to . It's a great time to be a comic book movie and TV fan.
Totally agree with that last line! Also, the muscly guy is one person that alludes to Iron Fist, there's also someone else. Spoiler Madame Gao's drugs were printed with a red snake symbol, which is for Steel Serpent, a huge enemy of Iron Fist. Also, she herself hit Daredevil with a huge punch, and mentioned that her hometown was "very far away" or something like that. It's possible she's an important woman from Iron Fist's history, although for the life of me I can't remember her name. I'll look it up when I'm back home.
I know that this is coming late as, the last episode of the first season just aired. But it's probably going to be repeated on Comedy Central, and probably is or will be available on-line. The series is called "Big Time in Hollywood, FL", and it is both smart, and hilarious. At first glance, the series seemed like just another slacker comedy. And when I first started watching it, I was ready to write it off as such. The show actually starts out seeming just like that -- the premise is that there these two completely clueless, slacker brothers who are out of school, and live at home with their parents. Their one love in life is making amateur movies, together with their ne'er-do-well and not terribly bright friend, Del. Too bad that there isn't a lick of talent between the three of them. But that doesn't stop them. Anyway, the show has included appearances by Michael Madsen, Ben Stiller (playing an hilariously bad actor/acting coach), Cuba Gooding Jr. and Jason Alexander (both playing themselves.... sort of). The story starts out as I described, and just gets crazier and crazier as it progresses through the season. As I started to watch the series, I thought it was going to bad, but I was totally wrong.
If this somehow managed to not make it onto these forums somewhere before this, anyone who busts a gut in the first 180 seconds of this video should definitely blow a half-hour of their day on the rest of it:
I've got a REALLY good recommendation. I just watched the first episode of an upcoming series on U.S.A. Network: "Mr. Robot". I'd seen previews for it, and I was a bit curious, but not particularly excited. But the first episode was fantastic. The premise is that a young mentally ill man named Elliot, who works for a computer security firm during the day, is also a hacker by night. He's played brilliantly by Rami Malek. I couldn't tell you what all is wrong with him -- he's had a history of delusions and halucinations that 'men in black' are following him. He has trouble socializing and talking to people, and things happen that have him questioning if he's hallucinating again. It turns out that at least one person may actually be following him: he never gives his name, but he wears a cap with a "Mr. Robot" logo on it. He tries to recruit Elliot for some illegal project. Then again, the guy disappears afterwards, and Elliot isn't quite sure at first if he was real or a hallucination. Anyway, the whole story is narrated by Elliot, which makes it even more interesting, because he may not be the most trustworthy of narrators. Anyway, the writing is the best I've seen from any USA Network show. The whole premise is intriguing, and I can't wait to watch more. The first episode is available to watch for free at a number of different places, including here: Here's the trailer: Also:
You guys may want to also check out "Sense8" on Netflix. It's created by J. Michael Straczynski and the Wachowskis. I've seen the first 8 or 9 episodes so far and I'm really enjoying it. The premise is that some people in the world are born with a mutation that allows groups of them to be able to share thoughts, experiences, skills, knowledge, etc. The story centers on a group of 8 of these people who all belong to this same group. Somebody is hunting them, and it's not exactly clear why. It's one of these stories with lots of mysteries, with bits and pieces being revealed as the show proceeds. The story starts out slow, so patience is a virtue -- there's a whole lot of character building and relationship development -- in other words, this is not really a superhero-action series (although there certainly are some decent action scenes). There's a lot of beautiful cinematography -- different people within this group all live in different cities around the world. I don't know how much of it was done with sets, and how much was done on-location. It SEEMS like a lot of it was done on-location, but then you have to wonder how the hell much it must have cost them to do that. Anyway, it's a beautifully filmed story with lots of likable, interesting characters. The story does unfold slowly, but I was never bored watching it.
BTW, I watched the rest of "Sense8". The finale was really good -- you could tell that the whole series was building towards it. The main thread of that episode was resolved, but the whole story is clearly not over yet. It could have ended in a different way, but the way it did end, left it open for more storytelling.
I have another really good recommendation. I just saw the first episode of a new series on AMC called "Humans". It's a very smart show filled with interesting ideas about a future where robots are used in all parts of life, to do manual labor, to work in brothels, to take care of all of the day to day tasks in the home, including cooking, cleaning, taking care of children, and so on. In a time when there's so much mediocrity in television writing, this is a refreshing change. The show keeps changing perspective: there's a family who purchases their first household robot, an elderly man living alone (played by the great William Hurt) who has grown attached to the now obsolete and malfunctioning robot who was assigned to take care of him by social services, there's a man on the run who is involved in hiding the fact that some robots may have gained consciousness and are capable of emotion and is trying to keep those robots free from being captured and disassembled. Anyway, the first episode was very promising. And I'll watch anything that has William Hurt in it -- I think he's one of the greats, and is incredibly underrated.
I'm going to recommend another Netflix series: "Narcos". It's the story of the rise of Pablo Escobar as the leader of the Medillin drug cartel. It intersperses actual news reports and newspaper headlines and photos with the drama. The acting is great, as is the writing. They may have taken some liberties with the story (according to some criticisms I've read), but that does not change the fact that the series is well-worth watching. It can be violent and intense in parts, but that's the nature of the subject matter. Some news: We have a release date for Netflix next Marvel series, "Jessica Jones": November 20, 2015. BTW, the first season of "Mr. Robot" finished recently, and imho, it was the best non-internet TV series of the summer, and it should definitely be coming back next year. If you have a chance to watch it, I STRONGLY recommend it. I considered calling it the best TV series of the summer, but then considered that I enjoyed "Sense8" about equally, maybe more.
I enjoyed Mr Robot too. It was great, excepting the bullshit pseudo Linux babble that they thought would legitimize their fake science. Sorry Television producers, spitting out the words Gnome and KDE does not make all your nonsense believable. Still it was great nonetheless.
Just came across another announcement concerning a series I recommended: Amazon.com's "The Man in the High Castle", based on the Philip K. Dick novel. I previously told you about the pilot. Well, the pilot was picked up for a full season, and all episodes will be available for streaming on November 20th. Episode 1: http://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B00RSI5EHQ/ref=dv_dp_ep1
I've been waiting for this for a VERY long time. I wrote about the French television series, "The Returned" ("Les Revenants" a while back. Well, season 2 is now almost here (FINALLY). It's premiering Halloween Eve on Sundance. If you don't recall what I said, "The Returned" takes place in a small French town where many dead people have started to return to their lives. It's dark, creepy, and unnerving, but it's more of a subtle, psychological darkness that grows slowly over time. Anyway, it was one of the best shows on television when it premiered here in the U.S., and I'm hopeful that the second season is just as good. And don't watch the following if you don't want season 1 spoilers:
I'm going to recommend an educational show on PBS (it's on lots of different PBS station. But if you prefer, you can watch it on-line here. David Eagleman does for the brain, what Neil Degrasse Tyson does for the Universe. One of the advantages of the subject matter, though, is that he's able to use a lot more demonstrations and experiments, and he uses real people (scientists, people with relevant abilities or disorders, and deals with actual case studies. As far as the fall television season is concerned, so far, I think the best new show (and probably the only new show worth talking about on broadcast television, which is sad) is "Blindspot" -- it's a fun series which, if you thought that this year was a great wasteland, is a decent exception to that conclusion. Whats bad is that this seems to be the bright spot on network TV, and the writing is kind of lazy. One example from the last episode: the FBI is going into a dangerous area where they know there probably will not be any cell service... and they accept that, instead of bringing alternate means of communication with them, such as a satellite phone or Walky Talkies. Heck, they make cell phones that can function like a walky talkie over short distances. They are the freaking FBI, not a group of teenagers on spring break. One show that has gotten a lot of hype, but to me, doesn't live up to any of it, is "Supergirl". The main problem is in the writing, and the supporting cast. At least Melissa Benoist is decent as Supergirl, but the writing keeps having to remind you that she's a girl, and she's strong. I think that if they just let the story speak for itself instead, it would be a lot less patronizing. Furthermore, they have a serious story problem -- she's Superman's cousin, but they cannot have Superman in the show. So if anything really bad happens, she can't very well ask her cousin for help, even though it would make total logical sense for her to do that, particularly since the big bad of the show (so far) is a relative of both of them, who's clearly stronger than Supergirl. Anyway, I still hold out hope for several upcoming Amazon and Netflix shows.
