click here to log out

[PhantomCatClock]

Has anyone watched Amazon Prime's new The Tick? Without offering anything constructive, I can say that I liked it.




Not related:
[u2]4e9Y3mO6an0[/u2]

[RenegadeClock]

Has anyone watched Amazon Prime's new The Tick? Without offering anything constructive, I can say that I liked it.

I'm about halfway through the season. I loved the cartoon during the early 90's. Overall I like it, but the first few episodes were kind of slow. It seems to be getting better as they introduce more characters. The focus on Arthur and his neurosis in the beginning was a bit overwhelming.

[PhantomCatClock]

Yeah, having the show be about Arthur was surprising, but I think it's cool. At the risk of saying something that sounds like a spoiler, towards the end of the last episode, it starts to feel so much more like The Tick, but yeah the last... three? Were slowly getting closer and closer


Halfway through, so you got to see the flagpole joke that's been recycled in every iteration of The Tick since 1988? Aw ye.




It's turning into H2G2 in that every time the IP is introduced to a new medium (or even a new version in the same medium) the only thing it has in common with the previous iterations is the main characters and some of the gags, which I believe makes it officially "My Kind Of Franchise" and I will be hunting down copies of the previous ones

[PhantomCatClock]

I have the two channels that I actually watch on bookmark so I can just get to them with a hotkey, and I have yet to actually try to navigate the site, but I'm digging that the video grows and shrinks when you resize your window, now

[RenegadeClock]

Halfway through, so you got to see the flagpole joke that's been recycled in every iteration of The Tick since 1988? Aw ye.

Well, I thought I was halfway through until I realized there are only 6 episodes. So I guess I'm done.

[PhantomCatClock]

Speaking of things similar to Netflix: NETFLIX



I watched the Death Note Netflix original movie and

ACTUAL SPOILERS:

Oh, they changed Light's last name. And.. it's in Seattle. And he's not that basdfgasgafgAE WELL ANYWAY my only gripe is that while this was an interesting retelling of a COOL STORY, part of the appeal of the books was that they were written by an actual Japanese nerd and all the pedantic bullshit actually fit together. Meanwhile, in THIS MOVIE, it's like

RIGHT after saying every page contains the power of the entire book, it shows Ryuk's name written in the margin. Meanwhile, unlike in the comics, Ryuk's reasoning for the notebook not killing him is that he never lets anyone finish writing his name, not that it won't affect him. Someone fucking wrote his name. There were a lot of rules they broke in passing, or rules that they changed from the comics and I GET IT CHANGING THE RULES WOULD HELP THE NEW STORY but they didn't, actually. None of the examples I saw did, anyway. ...There was more but I can't remember anything right now because I am a dullard. New L is hot though. Getting jungle fever. OH, and like, the big mystery at the end, OOH DID LIGHT DIE? Like, one, I really think that's what they were going for because they showed off that they aren't afraid of showing off killing and even gore in the first like ten minutes, and two holy horse shit does Light ever die, he has a heart attack for like forty pages in the original.

I stand by my synopsis in high school that the manga would be a thousand times better if you stopped reading it at the panel where Light is standing over L, grinning wickedly while L can't do anything but stare at his face realizing he fucked up. L was still possibly the coolest character in this, but he ends up discredited instead of dying as a badass eccentric genius. HOLY SHIT WAIT WHAT IF L BECOMES KIRA haha just kidding Ryuk's gonna take the notebook back so he has sheets to wipe his ass with

[FLOUNDERMAN_CLOCK]

ed edd and eddy big picture show was the most perfect and satisfying conclusion to the series possible. I never thought it was a series that actually needed to be definitively ended rather than just have some seasons and get cancelled, or even have character development at the end, but fuck damn they wrapped everything up neatly.

[PhantomCatClock]

im gonna make a 3d printer in a bottle and theres nothing you chodes can do to stop me

[PhantomCatClock]

oh shit, wait, I was going to talk about Depth Scrote more. Spoilertext:

Ryuk being a dick was central to the story, I know, but I still can't get over the huge change from how macabre yet likable he was in the Magne and then what a genuine bad guy he was in this. Also I don't know why I said so much about the ending in that last post because it was a well executed and thought-prostroking one. Holy shit, the red squiggly line says prostroking is a real word. Okay, there's a red squiggly line under the lastâ€"oh, the hyphen. Okay nevermind. Death Note. Right, yes, AS I WAS SAYING you have to give the movie credit for not having ....Mellow? I can't remember his name that was said a million billion times, but I remember his real name is Nate Rivers (just in case I ever have to kill him myself)


fuck, I started this post because there was something I kept thinking while watching it, and kept thinking I was going to say in the first post, but just like last time I forgot now that I'm writing. They hired Green Goblin to be Ryuk and that's neato bandito. Fuck, I really can't remember. THERE'S GOING TO BE A PART THREE THAT YOU ALSO WON'T READ, THEN.

[RobClock]

I haven't sat down at my computer in like a week, it's weird and it sucks

[RobClock]

To whom it may concern, you can watch the Twin Peaks finale live as it airs HERE. There is a chat that you can close down if you find it obnoxious or intrusive.


I can't believe it's almost over.

[Slash]

Speaking of things similar to Netflix: NETFLIX



I watched the Death Note Netflix original movie and

I'm not touching anything manga adapted to live action, much less adapted to American live action.

[PhantomCatClock]

That is wise. I tried a little too hard in my review, but these guys say 100% what I was trying to say (quoth a specific fandom wiki):


IGN said the film was "a flawed take on the beloved manga," but gave the film a "Good" rating of 7/10 with the summary: "Netflix's live-action Death Note movie is a very condensed take on the manga with two unsatisfying lead performances."

JoBlo gave the film a 5/10, saying: "It doesn't make a whole lot of sense or flow very naturally, but it gets points for the effort."

GameSpot gave a mixed review, saying: "Death Note probably won't become one of Netflix's biggest hits, but for what it pays tribute to and what it accomplishes, it's not hard to recommend."





ed: but yeah, to go on even more, it's exactly how you'd imagine. Take how much worse a live action one would be, then compound it by it being a different story, then multiply that by being an American take on the whole thing.

[RobClock]

but for real though, how is annie?

[GreyClock]

To whom it may concern, you can watch the Twin Peaks finale live as it airs HERE. There is a chat that you can close down if you find it obnoxious or intrusive.


I can't believe it's almost over.

nnn nnnnn nnnnn nnnn n n n n n nnn nn n n.

I was like, if this is the end I'm going to have to call someone. Then the credits rolled. 

Yeah, it's a shame really. It's been a wild and unexpected ride so far, and it's still hard to really predict where this is all going. I mean some sort of showdown between Coop(pelganger) is inevitable, but how? And (how) will all the (more disconnected) pieces fit together? Will there be another "I'll see you again in 25 years" and "How's Annie?" etc.? How is Annie, anyway?

"What year is this?"

Strap in, because here comes another unstructured rant: I don't really understand it. I read something about it being some sort of meta-commentary on trying to recapture the essence of a series that ended 25 years ago. I guess it comes down to the spontaneity vs. planning thing I was wondering about before. It's hard to believe that Lynch et al went "In 25 years we'll make a new season that will comment on this thing we're now in the process of wrapping up" vs. "See you again in 25 years" as just a mysterious, weird little thing to end a mysterious, weird series on, and not some sort of declaration of intent. I guess it could be both, a general idea of "if we ever get the chance, we'll revisit this and have two Coops out in the world" or whatever, with some new ideas and reflections tacked on. (I doubt that there's one single interpretation/explanation though.) Not to take anything away from the series, which I enjoyed immensily, but somehow the ending does feel sort of tacked on. Another mysterious, weird little thing, to end another mysterious, weird series on. I mean, there's a semi-conventional ending where Dark Coop is defeated etc. (Which is also subverted because Hero Coop is more or less a bystander.) And then we're going one step beyond, because that's maybe what's expected? Maybe it's one of those travelling back in time to kill Hitler things, where (aside from the obvious paradox) you return only to find that the entire universe is different. Although it's hard to place exactly with the 430 (?) miles and "Once we cross, it could be all different" stuff that happens in the interim. It turns out to be different, i.e. Richard, Linda, Carrie, but there's a slight lag. It's also hard to relate to the vague scream for Laura from the house, which I had to read about and rewatch because I didn't even hear it the first time.* In a way, Lynch succesfully pulled the carpet out from under me as it were, so even if it does feel tacked on, it perhaps doesn't matter because it worked. I mean, regardless of everything, the whole thing succeeded in giving me that strange tight feeling in the pit of my stomach that only the best art can generate by resonating with something intangible and unknowable somewhere deep inside of you. So, good job!

* I figured it was another one of those random Laura screams like in FWWM**, which might have been a reaction to spotting Coop it turned out? Nibbler's shadow.
** I've heard, read and even used the sentence "Fire Walk with Me" so many times now, but when MIKE said it the last time it finally clicked how insane that sentence sounds.

What do you think Robbo?

[GreyClock]

I mean, for whatever reason, at some point it's all different. (Or is it? Coop is still an FBI agent, even if he's called Richard. He can still kick ass, still has his memories. Still has (some) of his intuition I guess (finding Carrie etc.), although at the same time he seemed kind of stilted and empty?) (Lost Highway lite?) Anyway, the vague "Laura?" suggests that it's not all entirely different after all, just somewhere else (again)? That said, I'm also still not clear on the Judy and BOB and Sarah and Leland stuff. I mean what is Sarah Palmer? A broken woman grieving over her murdered child, but also a hollow-faced killer, another mysterious entity? And which is calling for Laura?

And retconning Annie kind of makes Cooper look like a dick. Remember that woman you were madly in love with? No? Okay, here's Diane.

[GreyClock]

I mean, even Dark Coop had the common courtesy to inquire after Annie's welfare!



In terms of there being weird things to end weird series on, it's a great example of something that's never even referenced again.

[RobClock]

To speak strictly narratively, the conflict of The Return was more or less wrapped up in part 17 with part 18 being kind of a hook/opening for further continuation (that lynch has publicly stated he isn't interested in pursuing "right now"). Then we're left with The Real Coopâ,,¢ out of time, or maybe not because the woman in Sarah's house introduced herself as Alice Tremond and purports to have purchased the house from a Chalfont, both names having been used by the old woman in attendance at the spirit meeting above the convenience store in FWWM, which leads ones to believe that Cooper may instead be in some kind of alternate dimension or just being fucked with by the Black Lodge spirits? Obviously, he must have fucked with the timeline in some way when he walked Laura through the forest after she ran from James, so are we just in the Biff's 2015 version of the modern day? What did Sarah do, exactly, by stabbing at Laura's photo that caused her to disappear? But I'm not even sure the Cooper we see after he parts ways with Gordon and Diane is strictly speaking the "real" Coop we know- his mannerisms changed drastically and while he's not as sinister as his BOB possessed doppelganger, he was extremely curt and uncharacteristically violent at Judy's in his confrontation with the three stetson bedecked jerkoffs. Moreover, when Coop fucks Diane at that motel, and she covers his face- is this the rape Diane tells Gordon, Tammy and Albert about? She's got red hair so it could be a younger Diane than the grey haired tulpa they interact with, if we have gone back in time that is. But if that's taking place in the past, how far back are we? Is this after Laura would have been murdered if Cooper hadn't intervened? But then Coop wakes up in a different hotel so maybe he jumped through time again?

Oh and a few episodes back when DoppelCoop met with Phillip Jefferies, the jumping man from FWWM appeared shakily and his face flickered between the white nosed mask and Sarah Palmers face making further connection with Mrs. Tremond and her grandson.

I'm probably not being extremely coherent here, I'm sure. I was also disappointed that we got nothing about Annie in the entire run, but not terribly surprised because she wasn't so much as mentioned in Mark Frost's recent book 'The Secret History of Twin Peaks', and I'm fairly certain that Lynch has an out-and-out disdain for Season 2.

Watching part 18, when Cooper and Carrie were driving I had the deep sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach because without even checking the time I knew there had to be only 5-10 minutes left. I didn't for one second think that The Return was going to end with any definitive closure, but I was still left feeling hallow when the credits rolled.

[GreyClock]

To speak strictly narratively, the conflict of The Return was more or less wrapped up in part 17 with part 18 being kind of a hook/opening for further continuation (that lynch has publicly stated he isn't interested in pursuing "right now"). Then we're left with The Real Coopâ,,¢ out of time, or maybe not because the woman in Sarah's house introduced herself as Alice Tremond and purports to have purchased the house from a Chalfont, both names having been used by the old woman in attendance at the spirit meeting above the convenience store in FWWM, which leads ones to believe that Cooper may instead be in some kind of alternate dimension or just being fucked with by the Black Lodge spirits? Obviously, he must have fucked with the timeline in some way when he walked Laura through the forest after she ran from James, so are we just in the Biff's 2015 version of the modern day? What did Sarah do, exactly, by stabbing at Laura's photo that caused her to disappear?

Ah right, Mrs. Chalfont, Happy Gilmore's grandma with the marble rye. I forgot about that.

But I'm not even sure the Cooper we see after he parts ways with Gordon and Diane is strictly speaking the "real" Coop we know- his mannerisms changed drastically and while he's not as sinister as his BOB possessed doppelganger, he was extremely curt and uncharacteristically violent at Judy's in his confrontation with the three stetson bedecked jerkoffs.

Yeah, maybe it's just a "different" Coop, like I said, or maybe it's another mix, like three parts Coop one part BOB, i.e. Coop + Dark Coop. The line about how he didn't know whether or not the oil was hot enough to set the bullets off or whatever seemed uncharacteristic to me, as well the way he was waving the gun around. He also just left the "three stetson bedecked jerkoffs" with the other (feeble) diners without giving further instructions. Compare that to the take-charge attitude right after the Dougie coma. It's hard to narrow down though. I mean Lynch has had people changing into other people in varying degrees in at least three movies that I can think of (Eraserhead/Lost Highway/Mulholland Dr (next to TP obv.)) sometimes with even less explanation, so maybe there isn't necessarily a discernible logic to it. Although I somehow feel that in an 18 hour stretch, with a long established character, there perhaps should be.

TMoreover, when Coop fucks Diane at that motel, and she covers his face- is this the rape Diane tells Gordon, Tammy and Albert about? She's got red hair so it could be a younger Diane than the grey haired tulpa they interact with, if we have gone back in time that is. But if that's taking place in the past, how far back are we? Is this after Laura would have been murdered if Cooper hadn't intervened? But then Coop wakes up in a different hotel so maybe he jumped through time again?

Diane had the red hair after BOBbash as well. I have no frame of reference, but I figured the face covering was just a manifestation of her trauma. I mean the man she's having sex with has the same face as the man who raped her. I thought it seemed as if she was trying to mold it like clay, trying to change it perhaps. Maybe she succeeded in some way?

[GreyClock]

Even if it's a hook for a further continuation, my problem with it is that it seems a little rushed. E.g. Coop is another person for almost the entire runtime, he changes back into his former self, only to change into someone else again almost immediately? The same with the endings: the long build-up towards the semi-conventional wrap-up > the possibility of something like an alternate dimension is set up > wham! "Laura?" twist. Maybe I'm missing a point here.

In the end, what did we really learn? What has changed? Not all that much. In broad strokes, I'd say that the three main things are: (some incarnation of) Coop & (some incarnation of) Laura are no longer in the Lodge, but are now in some other place or time. BOB is back in the Lodge. Major Briggs is no longer lost, but dead.

Most of the other stuff was mentioned in passing. Case in point: Audrey. New characters were introduced, only to die pretty fast and without much consequence (Richard Horne/Shelly's daughter (maybe)/assorted goons/etc.). Old characters did some things: RR stuff/Bobby/Shelly/Ben Horne/Jerry Horne/Nadine... all pretty low impact. Some characters were introduced that had little to do with anything: that magician criminal/George Michael Brando/most of the people discussing things & doing stuff at the Roadhouse. Something else was clearly going on in Twin Peaks, but what? Maybe that's the point, we're still wrapped up in a mystery that (literally) happened over 25 years ago, but even in Twin Peaks almost no one gives a shit.

This all sounds pretty negative I guess, but like I said it was a hell of a ride.