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Mycelia Board Game Review

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What TV SHOWS are you watching?

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09 Feb 2018 17:22 #263296 by Vlad
Altered Carbon

In fact, I'm surprised this show doesn't have a dedicated thread here. I'm 6 episodes in and completely hooked.
First of all, visually compelling. Yeah, it borrows heavily from Blade Runner (the hover-cars in particular), but it builds its own world, with many lush and detailed settings. It doesn't look cheap, and I am talking not just TV cheap, but even for big screen. You know, like when they have this high-concept sci-fi TV show, but then everything kinda happens in the same warehouse? Not here.
It has an interesting world, very Neuromancery-like. Again, this is not original for those of us who read books and play video-games, but for big screen and TV there's really no comparison. I think it is the most cyberpunk available on the screen. It feels right.
Characters are good. The main dude is the best. Very good actor, very well-written. He combines an over-the-top pathos of a typical noir detective (I find his inner monologue particularly hilarious, but then I love Max Payne), with a healthy dose of humor, strength and vulnerability. I just love watching him do his thing. The supporting cast is good, too, and very quickly builds a sense of camaraderie and bickering. There's also a lot of love put into minor characters, and some little weird things that constantly remind you this is happening hundreds of years into the future.
Plot-wise it starts kinda slow, I only got invested into the main story by episode 5. It is not that I find the first part boring, but there's some unnecessary filler - and that's my biggest complaint with the show. I think it is also the reason it is not rated higher by critics reviews.
Oh, lots of sex and violence, just how cyberpunk should be. Again, this is more Neuromancer than Blade Runner. I don't buy into the "transcendental" themes one bit (and, specially in the earlier episodes there're some pretentious scenes that made me fear this was going to be a show about some existencial stuff, but fortunately it is just window-dressing), it is just a crazy and entertaining romp.
I found action scenes to be particularly engaging. In general, the show borrows heavily from everything and everywhere (I was really surprised at a Reservoir Dogs rip-off at one point), but does so playfully and with style.
Anyway, it ranks up there with Stranger Things 1 for me.
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09 Feb 2018 18:09 #263300 by Shellhead
All three Tokeshi Kovacs books were very good, though my favorite was the second one, Broken Angels. I am looking forward to seeing the show. I hope it does well enough for netflix that they end up doing all three books, even though the second and third are less cyberpunk. And if they follow the books, they should eventually have different actors playing Kovacs.
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09 Feb 2018 18:46 #263305 by barrowdown
I liked Altered Carbon throughout, but I thought it really dropped off starting with episode 6 as it moved into a fairly traditional sci-fi action movie with cyberpunk trappings. I much prefer the slower noir stuff in the first half.
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09 Feb 2018 19:35 #263311 by Vlad
watching episode 7 tonight, so can't tell yet.
I think I'll be happy even if it doesn't have a season 2, or has an entirely different cast (although the chemistry between actors/characters will be hard to replicate), as long as season 1 is a complete story. Pretty sure I'll be rewatching it, too.
I really love how netflix puts up these quality shows out of nowhere.

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11 Feb 2018 18:52 #263408 by Shellhead
I am now caught up on Game of Thrones. I went into Season 7 with doubts, having heard comparisons to fan-fic and concerns about odd timelines and characters practically teleporting around Westeros. I am happy to report that season 7 was very good, possibly my favorite season so far. There were some very exciting scenes, and even the slower moments featured some high stakes conversations between characters with rich histories. As a fan of the books, I had already figured out 18 years ago that Jon Snow and Daenerys were going to either fall in love or go to war against each other. As for the travel times, let's just say that book fans know that Dragonstone is conveniently located with respect to King's Landing and other key locations on the east coast of Westeros, and both cavalry and navy are going to be faster than mere infantry. The dragons look great and it's thrilling to watch them just destroy opposition on the battlefield. I've been bored with Theon Greyjoy for nearly the entire series, but he finally won back my interest a bit in the season finale.

I did have some issues with season 6. Ramsey Bolton was already made into too much of a big deal in the books, but he was more intolerable on the show for being such a lame tool. The idea that he would invent a whole new infantry tactic (for Westeros) when he wasn't busy with his usual hobbies of mindgames and torture was preposterous and silly. Jon Snow's accent gradually turned into a Scottish accent during season six, and continued into season seven, though at least he wasn't incomprehensible. Littlefinger also wore out his welcome by season six, and his artificially raspy voice and his vaguely Irish accent became grating. And it might have been in late season six when Jon started sporting a man-bun, which also continued into season seven.

There remains a divide between the well-cast main characters and the forgettable second-tier characters. Jaime Lannister has gradually fallen back into old ways since his redemption arc, but it was thrilling to watch his heroics on the battlefield. By contrast, I don't know if I could tell Thoros of Myr apart from Beric Dondarrion if the latter character didn't have a bandage over one eye. Still, the casting was so great with the main characters that I guess I can get over the others. When I see characters like Tyrion, Cersei, Arya, or the Hound onscreen, the acting is fine and I remember so many good scenes with each of them.

I am excited about season eight, and the idea of waiting a year is nothing compared to the eternal wait for Martin to finish book six. Season eight should be wild. Martin is notorious by now for killing off major characters in surprising scenes, and nearly everybody will disposable in the final episodes. The apparent final story arc doesn't require anybody to live except for Daenerys and maybe Jon Snow.
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11 Feb 2018 19:14 #263410 by repoman

Sagrilarus wrote: The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel . Kick ass show.

I set you all up with Good Behavior and you ignored me, this is your second AAA rated pick. Don’t make the same mistake twice.

‘Tis on Amazon.


What a great recommendation, Sag. This show is fantastic. I binged all the first season in 24 hours.

Rachel Brosnahan is just super and I love Tony Shaloub in just about everything.


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11 Feb 2018 20:50 - 11 Feb 2018 20:51 #263416 by Sagrilarus

repoman wrote:

Sagrilarus wrote: The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel . Kick ass show.

I set you all up with Good Behavior and you ignored me, this is your second AAA rated pick. Don’t make the same mistake twice.

‘Tis on Amazon.


What a great recommendation, Sag. This show is fantastic. I binged all the first season in 24 hours.

Rachel Brosnahan is just super and I love Tony Shaloub in just about everything.






We've started watching it a second time and there's a lot of stuff we missed on the first pass. The laughs in this come really damn fast, and if you're not careful you're laughing over top of the next punch line.

Great TV.
Last edit: 11 Feb 2018 20:51 by Sagrilarus.

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12 Feb 2018 15:31 #263458 by the_jake_1973
So I was a big fan of Queer Eye for the Straight Guy years ago and when I saw Netflix rebooted the series, I was quite excited. I know it is reality schlock, but the new Queer Eye is a good show about people helping people and, perhaps, bridging a divide here and there. I am not ashamed to say that most of the episode made the tears flow, much to the enjoyment of my stone-hearted concubine. There were some genuinely touching moments in the shows and I really hope Netflix continues the show.
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15 Feb 2018 09:44 #263653 by ChristopherMD
Finished the second (and sadly final) season of Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency. Was even funnier than the first season. I loved the giant scissors as swords thing. Recommended.

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23 Feb 2018 23:33 #263933 by repoman
Babylon Berlin is another show airing on Netflix.

It's a Film Noir set in Berlin in the late 20s. That's a time frame I always find intriguing

The sets and costumes are great although I detected some CGI in aerial shots of large crowds. That's easily overlooked.

I'm halfway through and the plot is sophisticated and complex and damn intriguing with several story lines that weave in and out of each other. I've no idea how it will end.

It is in German with English subtitles so you'll have to deal with that.

The show is very good.


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25 Feb 2018 12:43 #263979 by LilRed
The Tick

Just finished watching season 1 (first episode released in 2016, 2-6 released in 2017, and 7-12 released just now)That show took me back to me childhood. A silly antihero-hero series is what the entertainment world so desperately needed. Netflix is churning out these dark/broody superhero series and frankly I'm sick of it. This was a breeze of fresh air.

Trailer here

It's good reason to visit Primevideo (that and the man in the high castle).
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25 Feb 2018 23:01 #264002 by jeb
Replied by jeb on topic What TV SHOWS are you watching?
I am watching ALTERED CARBON and ... man, I will cut you a lot of slack if you are a SF/mythos title. I read a book I didn't really like (MEDDLING KIDS) and am quasi-hate-watching this gory, plodding series. It takes potshots at all these cool ideas and then kind of squanders them on some low-level intrigues. I am not seeing the amazing advances of the Meths—they seem banal. The whole mission of the Envoys seems dumb and backwards—I feel like THE STARS MY DESTINATION would have been the better way to revolt, ie, upload to some transport and scatter across the galaxy. I just don't get this universe in some deep way.

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26 Feb 2018 10:29 #264031 by Gregarius

jeb wrote: I am watching ALTERED CARBON and ... man, I will cut you a lot of slack if you are a SF/mythos title. ... I just don't get this universe in some deep way.

Yeah, I'm about three episodes in, and that's kinda how I feel about it. I'm enjoying it, but a lot of it doesn't really make any sense.
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26 Feb 2018 10:34 #264034 by hotseatgames
I felt that Altered Carbon had a bit of a sine wave to the season, getting better up until about 3/4 and then dropping a bit. I enjoyed it overall. I think the world is interesting.

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26 Feb 2018 10:39 #264035 by Sagrilarus
We're watching The Alienist, and we're waiting for a plot to appear. As it stands it keeps showing scenes where someone explains something that just adds to the mystery, without providing any footing for the viewer. It's on the edge, could be deleted from the Tivo queue at any moment.
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