Barb may be dead, but she's not quite out of the show... ‘Stranger Things’: Duffer Brothers Promise ‘Justice for Barb’ in Season 2 »
And just to update this thread, for those who have already seen the show, here's a 9-minute behind-the-scenes demo of some of the (very complex) visual effects done for Stranger Things by Gradient Effects: Do not watch this if you haven't yet seen the show, because there's quite a few giveaways in the footage. (Click the link and you'll get to it -- apparently it can't be directly shown on other websites.)
Ha! I was just about to post this same story. I'm surprised at all of the love for Barb. Don't get me wrong, she seemed fine enough; I guess it's because of the way she met her demise, especially since she didn't even want to be there.
Yeah, "Raise a Little Hell", I thought it didn't do much in the states back in the day, I actually thought it was a Canadian production there for awhile ,with all the cold breath coming from the characters, I also thought I saw a poster of Louis Riel.
Just finished the series, not bad! For me, the runaway star of the show was Millie Bobby Brown (Elle/Eleven). Amazing young actor! Her beautiful face seemed 'older' somehow than 12 yrs old, hard to explain. What's more, from the moment I saw her I thought she had a striking resemblance to another actor who's name I couldn't recall, only that she was in 'Inception'. Looked it up and found her; Marion Cotillard! The kid looks like her little sister or daughter! Anyhow, It's not difficult to predict Ms. Brown's future seems secure!
I liked the series - Millie was phenomenal, and the performances all around were top-notch - but found all the references to previous films a little too obvious and distracting. I was rematching Minority Report with my son, 12, who was seeing it for the first time and he says: "Agatha is like Eleven. She even looks like her!" Oh geez... lol
Let me try this ....... it is subjective, but here goes ..... The Wire, Breaking Bad, OZ, Band Of Brothers, Deadwood, True Detective S01, Game of Thrones - graded "A" GAMECHANGERS Boardwalk Empire, Dexter, Mad Men, The Walking Dead, Justified, DareDevil, House of Cards - graded "B" REALLY REALLY GOOD ENTERTAINMENT Prison Break, Gotham, Jessica Jones, Hell on Wheels, Suits, Outcast, Preacher, Outlander, Homeland S01 - graded "C" SOLID SERIES LOOKING FORWARD TO NEXT INSTALLMENT The Strain, The Following, The Affair, Damages, Salem, - graded "D" SILLY AND CHEESY BUT SOMEWHAT ENTERTAINING True Detective S02, Scandal, Homeland (after S01) - graded "E" SILLY AND CHEESY BUT LESS ENTERTAINING Fear The Walking Dead, The West Wing - graded "F -" SILLY, CHEESY AND PRETENTIOUS BEYOND ENTERTAINING I am sure I forgot a great many other series I have watched though ......
For those familiar with and into the Funko "Pop" figures (I dig them, but have a very love-hate relationship with their inflated prices on the secondary market, million variants, and "Disney vault" approach), Funko appears to have made a prototype unsolicited for an "Eleven" figure. They apparently like the show so much and want to do figures for it so bad, they did this:
I just finished the series, and I thought it was great. There isn't a ton I can add that hasn't already been said. I grew up around this same time period, enough to be into the "nostalgia" aspect of it. But for all of the references to the 80s that people have cited, I very much felt elements of "Lost" (nefarious mysterious organizations), "Fringe" (parallel universes, the deprivation tank (though "Fringe" admitted they cribbed that from "Altered States"), with even a *tiny* touch of "Twin Peaks" (young person in a small town is presumed dead and the town mourns). It isn't perfect, but it's the best "TV show" I've seen since "Bates Motel" and "Better Call Saul." I was surprised by how much I liked "Jessica Jones", and I liked "Stranger Things" even more. The show is engaging and builds well; I think *that* aspect of it is way more important than the 80s retro thing that seems to be mentioned in most reviews. While I think the 80s thing is important to the success of the show, I think these same actors with the same story set in 2016 would still have pulled it off well. *Great* child actors. They really lucked out with this cast. I'm curious for those picking out the little anachronisms if they know how difficult it might be to really set a show in 1983, to get the clothes, set decorations, cars, *everything* you see on screen. If the most heinous misstep was missing the release date of a song by one year or latter-day walkie-talkies, they're doing pretty good. I thought this was leaps and bounds ahead of "Super 8" both in terms of having the actual aesthetic and vibe of 1983 (this show looks accurately more drab and less sleek than "Super 8" to my recollection) and, more importantly, a more engaging story.
Just finished the series (I've never got used to binge watching). Extremely entertaining and the kids were great. The show had a lot of heart. So why am I ambivalent? I guess it's because the films it references were new and different at the time. Stranger Things was excellent but I'd rather see a show try something new rather than just be a homage to what's gone before.
The Tangerine Dream inspired title theme was worth sitting through every time. I'm a little worried about the series running out of gas in season 2.
The Duffer Brothers have said they only covered about 1/4th of the show bible they wrote in anticipation of the series. So there's a lot more stories to tell about the Upside Down dimension and the evil government decisions going on. Remember that the government got off scott-free in the show, so they're still in business.
My son and I finished the series last night too. He's 15, has never really seen any of the shows that were referenced in Stranger Things, but told me he loved this (as did I). He said the characters were really well developed and he actually cared about them. He enjoyed the overall vibe of the show too. For him, this show *was* something new and different.
I'd agree with him. Even though I'd seen many of the films this one paid homage to, the new and different aspects for me were similar to the things your son liked. Good story and well developed characters that you care about. That is so often missing in shows these days, so when it actually shows up it truly is new and different.
I'd also say it's fine to imitate successful films or shows provided you find an original way to use the same idea. Netflix has just announced that Stranger Things was one of their most-watched shows ever, with more than 14,000,000 views over the summer: ‘Stranger Things’ Ratings: Where Series Ranks Among Netflix’s Most Watched »
Not quite. Netflix doesn't publicize its viewership numbers. At best, they may say which shows are 'popular' or doing better than expected., etc. The 14m number was derived by a proxy company (Symphony Advanced Media) which claims it has a scheme to measure streaming numbers. They have done so in the recent past too and Netflix had come out and said that they were way off the mark (which they kind of would, but still). How do you measure popularity on something that's always available - over what period of time? I have absolutely no doubt that Stranger Things is a big hit for Netflix, but the reported numbers should be taken with a big grain of salt.
I'd also guess though that if a show was underperforming and Netflix didn't want to be expected to green light a second season, Netflix wouldn't want to proclaim it a success. I'd also be curious if these third party companies attempting to measure Netflix ratings at least have internally consistent numbers. That is, even if their numbers are off, they might be off proportionately the same across the board so that calling a show the third most popular might still be accurate.
I actually like a lot of your ratings, although I disagree with your assessment of Stranger Things. I might place The Walking Dead & Deadwood (because of horrible historical inaccuracies), further down on the list and elevate The Sopranos, Fargo and The Leftovers, which are not on your list at all. But a good list, nonetheless!
The problem of calculating accurate streaming numbers is compounded by the irritating fact that Netflix auto streams from one film or tv show into the next. I couldn't tell you how many times one of their Adam Sandler "Netflix Original" movies (that I wouldn't watch in a zillion years) started playing halfway through the end credits of the film I was viewing. No doubt they're using these auto starts to inflate their viewing numbers somehow. Do they even care if people watch the whole movie or a few seconds? Will we ever know the answer to that question?
Probably in Group C, because it in no way competes with Boardwalk and Mad Men for Group B. I would also, at the very least, place The Knick into Group B.
