House of Cards on Netflix [Caution: Current Season Spoilers]

Watched the First episode which was excellent ,Maybe too real for me,its scary
It looks like another Fincher video,with his yellow green tones,and was a little too
fuzzy for my taste, It looked like a feature film

 

I think we're gonna give it a try tonight.

 

We watched the first two episodes. Very good. Story lines seem plausible. Minimal cliches. I was a bit uncomfortable with Kevin Spacey in a southern drawl, but it grows on you. For those who watched the series Boss, its similar but without the overt violence and nastiness. It's there but but more subtle (so far).

I have never streamed video to the TV before (via my DVD player and wireless). There were a few times when it lost signal and a minute or two of searching (with that circling image). Is this typical for streaming video or is it my signal?

 

Kind of sick of Netflix forcing this down my throat.

 

Narration sort of hit me sideways.

 

I also watched the first two last night and thought it was good enough to watch again. I didn't care for the dark production of it though. And yes while streaming video at times to much bandwidth is being used locally and your signal will be paused and refreshed.

 

You should use a cable instead of Wireless ,maybe that will fix your problem but it could be that so many people are watching the same show,or on the whole system

 

Watched the whole series already. Bring me more. I like the naration aspect, gives a great sence of Underwoods mentality.

 

Watched the first episode, and I thought it was only so-so. West Wing worked a lot better at the alternate reality thing in DC imho. Both the pretend politics and soap opera stuff mostly seemed quite contrived to me, and not very believable. Doubt I'll watch anymore. I applaud Netflix for thinking big, but I think they backed the wrong horse somehow.

 

We had this on tele in the 90s,essential parliamentary satire
The narrative is essential as are the lines direct to camera

 

You just need faster Internet! Ours did that too until we had our speed increased.

 

Have watched four episodes, really liking it. Narration is not a minus in any way IMO.

 

how can this guy ever get his???? the talking to the camera makes it clear hes incharge,Did they do that on the Original?? Liked the second show,there's more shots of Washington than the whole run of Bones

 

I tried to pace myself at one episode per day but as of Friday I've watched the whole thing. Started slow but I really got into it by the third or fourth episode. The acting is the thing here, and while Spacey is a little over the top he's still well worth watching because of how the story unfolds. I so badly want Zoe to nail him.

 

I have 2 more episodes to go, will probably finish it tonight. Hope this show continues.

 

Spacey is almost ALWAYS over the top in whatever he does. I'll have to check this out, though. I became a fan of his during his first big TV role on Wiseguy. "Only the toes knows..."

 

I have two more episodes to go and really like the show, but I'm not crazy about the strategy of releasing the entire season at once. It makes for great binge watching but I've grown accustomed to reading reviews and comments after each episode of shows I love like Mad Men and Homeland. I feel like this show is missing out on its social media buzz because those who are watching are all on a different pace and reviewers haven't figured out how to handle spoilers.

 

Right: Dumping the whole season at once diminishes the already diminished sense of shared community that surrounds a new show. I guess the thing is to consider this as a very extended movie, and not a show. So you have your water cool discussions about the full season (full "movie"), not in installments. But I agree that something gets lost with this method of transmission...

 

We just watched the first episode and were very taken with it- I like Fincher's work and admire Spacey as an actor. The supporting cast is excellent. I've enjoyed watching episodic series programs in large batches after they have run their course, e.g. Lost, where I was able to take in as many episodes via Netflix streaming as i could stand at once, so I'm good with the notion that all 13 episodes of the first 'season' are available immediately, to watch at my own pace.
I've also begun to appreciate that some of these made for home delivery programs, like HBO's Game of Thrones, or Boardwalk Empire, can actually deliver far more in the way of plot intricacy, than any feature film, given the luxury of more time to develop the story. I'm rooting for high quality television. We may be in a new 'golden age' of TV, given the number of high quality programs made for direct to home viewing these days.

 

I've seen two episodes. It's fun, and I agree that Spacey's direct-to-camera asides are integral to the show's appeal, and allow Spacey to do what he does best.

My only criticism is that this show suffers from what too many "post-Sopranos" shows suffer from: its allure is the darkness and outrageous behavior of its characters - it's supposed to be a critique of how cynical and dysfunctional our world and culture are, but the entertainment value comes from letting us indulge in all that cynicism and dysfunction. Basically, it's porn by other means.

 

Fair observation. I guess in the context of Washington, you don't have to make it up for it to seem absurd. *
*Non-political commentary disclaimer.

 

I don't quite get this. Indulging in dysfunction and characters cynicism? This is a "post-Sopranos" creation? You should watch these shows called "Hamlet," "Othello" and "Richard IIi."


Watched three episodes of House of Cards and enjoy it very much. Spacey is fantastic, as usual. The rest of the cast, just okay. Direction is...fair enough. David Fincher has slowly been developing as a director into completely invisible force. I noticed this trend starting with his Scorpio killer film. Honestly, I think the show could have been directed by any competant TV director equally as well. If Fincher is an auteur, he's the invisible auteur. I think he's quite boring lately.

 

I agree with you on this. I was unclear - I don't mean that shows (or plays) about characters' cynicism and dysfunction are anything new at all. What I mean is that these newer shows get a lot of their cache from being sharp critiques - so that we're supposed to marvel at how different we are from these folks, how much their ambition and single-mindedness make them deviate from what we see as a good way to be a person in the world. And yet, they entertain us by encouraging them to identify with the main characters, to enjoy and revel in the very attitudes and behaviors the show supposedly is critiquing.

Of course, I could be making too much of the distinction - one could argue that Shakespeare's works and others did the same thing.

 

Really enjoyed the show, ready for season 2.

 

Just finished the season. Certainly worth watching, but the writing is probably the weak link. Some of the dialogue is really trite and the staging is a bit static and dull. But it held my attention enough, obviously. I found Doug, the chief of staff, to be the most interesting character.

I also don't really see the Underwood character as a product of the post-Sopranos TV landscape -- he's basically Richard III in a suit and tie. The viewer could identify with Tony Soprano personally and even find him charismatic and magnetic. I didn't get that about Underwood -- he's not only a bad guy who'll do anything to get ahead, but he barely has a personality underneath his ambition and depravity.