Stranger Things

[Steve Green]

I don't think I've seen it mentioned here, but Stranger Things has been getting a few mentions online.

I enjoyed it a lot,  pretty much a Spielberg/Joe Dante/Stephen King/John Carpenter supergroup homage.

I'm not sure how much of the enjoyment is the 80s nostalgia, but it's a fun watch.

[maryanddavid]

Ill second that, I'm up to episode 6 and while nothing spectacular it keeps bringing me back.

[Definitely Not Mister Pops]

There's really nothing original in it, but it takes old, well established ideas and executes them perfectly.

It's like Lovecraft at his peak, ripped off by Steven King at his peak, directed by Spielberg at his peak.

It has the best cast of child actors I've ever seen. [spoiler]The way El looks at most of the adults like they're mere insects is astonishingly good.[/spoiler]

[By-Jove]

Since I have partial access to Netflix, I've watched a few episodes & notice it's lineage to earlier stuff from Steven Spielberg.  Not sure if he's behind this one, but I thought I read that somewhere. Was fooled into thinking that [spoiler]young girl was a dude[/spoiler] & would like to watch from the start again. It does look like Netflix gives me that option, but it just won't do that. Wish they took this approach to a lot of modern horror/fantasy films and other television series. Also like the weird stuff [spoiler]beyond the hole in the tree[/spoiler].

[JOE SOAP]

I enjoyed it but while it aims for a 1980's story pattern and tropes it leaves the brevity behind for noughties extra padding - 3 episodes would've done it - and there's a clear influence from 2013's Under the Skin -

[ryubyss]

yes, it borrowed from Under the Skin blatantly. I wouldn't have halved the number of episodes but I would have shortened it by one or two. less of the soap opera. still, I liked it just as much as I had hoped. it neither talked to us nor presented itself as self-serious Art. (okay, maybe during one musical interludes.)

on the subject of Under the Skin, though, the original novel by Michel Faber has a lot going for it, too. very different from the film, well worth reading. it reminded me of the work of Iain Banks.

[Mute77]

I knew nothing of it beforehand and was pleasantly surprised by it. Made me all fuzzy about the 80s. Loved the soundtrack too. Will be interested to see where they go with s2..

[Buttonman]

I only got to episode two before being sidetracked by 'The Night Of' which was excellent. Will go back to 'Stranger Things' but don't feel compelled to.

[Tony Angelino]

I think it had just the right number of episodes with 8. Some of the other Netflix series I've watched have been a bit of a slog at times as a lot run for 13 episodes and there is quite a bit of padding.

I enjoyed the show but I'm not sure about the second series. Maybe they should take a leaf out of the Fargo book and set it in a different time with some of the characters a bit older.

[radiator]

I'll echo my thoughts on it from the TV Boxset thread, to say that I really, really liked the series and thoroughly enjoyed the performances (especially the unknown actors), style and music, but felt that it had some really silly plot elements/shoddy writing* that I had to force myself to ignore, it didn't quite stick the landing, and firmly felt as if it should have been a one-and-done miniseries. The dangling plot threads felt like a cop out that undermined all that had been built up to over the course of the series and seemed like they were added in at the very last moment, and I can't escape the feeling that season 2 will underwhelm. I just don't see how they can sustain it for long.

* eg the [spoiler]fake dead body seemed extremely silly and hard to swallow for me, as did the evil shady corporation letting the cop go when it had previously been established they had no qualms about killing witnesses to cover up the situation. I also found it very strange how everything (mostly) turned back to normal with no repercussions by the end of the series with little or no explanation.[/spoiler]

[JOE SOAP]

* eg the [spoiler]fake dead body seemed extremely silly and hard to swallow for me,

The switcheroo isn't a bad idea in and of itself but what's the point trying to play the [spoiler]finding of the body as a sad moment for the kids[/spoiler] when it's all ready been telegraphed [spoiler]to the mother - and the audience - in ouija style flickering lights and phone calls that the kid is clearly still alive in some form of existence[/spoiler]. Completely undercuts the emotion. Would've been better to [spoiler]find the body[/spoiler] first then have the lights begin flickering at the end of an episode.

[radiator]

For me it just seemed entirely implausible that, even in a world of [spoiler]parallel dimensions, psychic assassinations and extra-dimensional monsters, the shadowy company would somehow be able to fabricate a completely lifelike prosthetic body at short notice. Where would they get it from? did they hire Rick Baker or Rob Bottin? Why would they bother, rather than, say, producing a substitute corpse that had been mangled beyond recognition?[/spoiler] I was waiting for some kind of explanation that never came.

Likewise with [spoiler]releasing the cop rather than just murdering him or discrediting him in some other way. Yeah they bugged his house, [/spoiler]but there didn't seem to be any rhyme or reason other than thats the sort of thing that happens in this sort of story.

I also found the workings of the [spoiler]'upside down[/spoiler]' frustratingly vague. There didn't seem to be any particular logic as to how or why [spoiler]Will survived (in close proximity to a hungry monster and without access to food and water) while the girl was just killed in a very offhand manner)[/spoiler].

That aside, I enjoyed it. I just felt like it was one of those stories where the payoff couldn't live up to the buildup.

[ryubyss]

The switcheroo isn't a bad idea in and of itself but what's the point trying to play the [spoiler]finding of the body as a sad moment for the kids[/spoiler] when it's all ready been telegraphed [spoiler]to the mother - and the audience - in ouija style flickering lights and phone calls that the kid is clearly still alive in some form of existence[/spoiler]. Completely undercuts the emotion. Would've been better to [spoiler]find the body[/spoiler] first then have the lights begin flickering at the end of an episode.

it would have worked better. although [spoiler]it allowed for the possibility of Will's spirit continuing to exist in the Upside-Down after his body had died, since we did not quite know how the metaphysics of the setting worked[/spoiler].

[JOE SOAP]

For me it just seemed entirely implausible that, even in a world of [spoiler]parallel dimensions, psychic assassinations and extra-dimensional monsters, the shadowy company would somehow be able to fabricate a completely lifelike prosthetic body at short notice. Where would they get it from? did they hire Rick Baker or Rob Bottin? Why would they bother, rather than, say, producing a substitute corpse that had been mangled beyond recognition?[/spoiler] I was waiting for some kind of explanation that never came.

The institute had a long history of child abduction so it's plausible in its own fictional sphere they were used to covering-up but I suppose this was a short-cut at adding to the "mystery".

Likewise with [spoiler]releasing the cop rather than just murdering him or discrediting him in some other way. Yeah they bugged his house, [/spoiler]but there didn't seem to be any rhyme or reason other than thats the sort of thing that happens in this sort of story.

Which indicates the bigger thing for me the repetition of many events, and that highlights the problem and solution to the very issue of setting him free without consequence - the cop visited or broke into the institute two, three times instead of holding it off till the end, doing it once, and making a big thing out of it. By dragging it out it weakened both the story and the villains. It's like the character of the father - he served no purpose other than to delay things and make Winona cry, again.

I also found the workings of the [spoiler]'upside down[/spoiler]' frustratingly vague.

Or how could he communicate through electricity? I suppose this is part of the promise of Season 2, or not.

[JOE SOAP]

it would have worked better. although [spoiler]it allowed for the possibility of Will's spirit continuing to exist in the Upside-Down after his body had died, since we did not quite know how the metaphysics of the setting worked[/spoiler].

It's more the undercutting of the scene with the boys reacting to [spoiler]finding the body[/spoiler]. It meant less because in some fashion we know he is still alive; leaving the electrical interference till [spoiler]after the body was found[/spoiler] still would've allowed for the possibility for Will [spoiler]to be in a spirit form[/spoiler] - if that was the way the story was to go.