"Homecoming" Amazon original series with Julia Roberts

Discussion in 'Visual Arts' started by wayneklein, Nov 2, 2018.

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  1. Vahan

    Vahan Forum Resident

    Location:
    Glendale, CA, USA
    One thing I've learned about Julia Roberts is this: She really likes wearing wigs in her film work. Pretty Woman, Sleeping with the Enemy, The Pelican Brief, Mother's Day, and now this series are just some examples.

    Nothing wrong with that, just an observation.
     
  2. GentleSenator

    GentleSenator what if

    Location:
    Aloha, OR
    The Shining too, yes?
     
  3. Deesky

    Deesky Forum Resident

    What an amazing series. I loved it from the first ep. It just drops you into the narrative with little context or setup, but the way it unfolds it fills in all the blanks. A perfect example of the old screen writing adage - show, don't tell.

    It's brilliantly acted by Roberts and Stephan James, who's charisma just drips from the lens. All the supporting actors were great too.

    I don''t normally notice these things, but Roberts' wigs were so obvious, and well...bad, that even I couldn't help but to notice. Still, when she flashes that big smile, all is good.

    In fact, related to her appearance, I simply loved the scene where she's at a cosmetics counter at a store and the salesperson asks her what beauty regimen she uses and Roberts replies quizzically - regimen? She walks out with a makeover that makes her look like a clown with trout lips, and with one look in a mirror, she wipes that crap clean off! I really loved that scene.

    One mild criticism I was going to have was the use of the vertical mobile phone aspect ratio. I figured okay, they're trying to differentiate flashback scenes from present day scenes, but why use such an annoying aspect ratio? And then towards the end, they seemed to stop doing that... But then I realized what they were actually doing:

    ...mild spoiler...

    the constricted aspect ratio wasn't so much a flashback differentiator, but a state of mind, or memory recollection signifier. Mobile phone mode represented her loss of memory - a constrained view of reality. When her memory returned, we went back to normal widescreen. So, that ended up being a positive in the end! Clever.

    To sum up, one of the best series of the year.
     
  4. RayS

    RayS A Little Bit Older and a Little Bit Slower

    Location:
    Out of My Element
    So someone help me out here.

    The "present day" is 2022 and the flashbacks are from 2018? So when we see on the computer screen that Heidi's employment records are scheduled to be digitized in 2036, that's just a little joke about government inefficiency???
     
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  5. BZync

    BZync Senior Member

    Location:
    Los Angeles
    Another spoiler below....

    Also, the flashback to her job interview scenes were letterboxed. Her "awareness" of her situation was somewhat limited. In the iPhone sequences her awareness was severely limited. But during the scene where her memory returns in a flash - the aspect ratio dynamically changes accordingly.

    Another odd thing I noticed was that the very bottom of the screen was always slightly out of focus. I'm sure that had some significance but I haven't been able to figure it out.
     
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  6. jriems

    jriems Audio Ojiisan

    We just finished this and loved it. Excellent use of varying aspect ratio to convey a specific meaning, great performances throughout, interesting story, and a bittersweet yet hopeful ending. Also loved the borrowed music from various films. I can't name them, but I did recognize some music from The Thing in one episode.

    Excellent series. The after-credit scene was a nice surprise.
     
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  7. Deesky

    Deesky Forum Resident

    Bad news everyone. Season 2 is confirmed.

    So, why 'bad news'? Julia Roberts will not be returning! I can't see the show working without her. She and her story was what made the show so compelling. I doubt I'll be interested in seeing S2...

    Homecoming season 2: Julia Roberts will not return
     
  8. mdm08033

    mdm08033 Senior Member

    I'll tune in / stream.
     
  9. noname74

    noname74 Allegedly Canadian

    Location:
    .
    I’m fine with it continuing without her...the story is strong enough on its own without the need for star power.
     
  10. GentleSenator

    GentleSenator what if

    Location:
    Aloha, OR
    it wasn't ever part of the plan to have her around for a second season, was it?
     
  11. Partyslammer

    Partyslammer Lord Of The New Church

    Thanks to my wife, I started watching this and quickly cued into the fact the background music was coming from a wide variety of film scores. From an Indiwire article, here’s a list of the music cues:

    Episode 1
    “Dressed to Kill,” composer Pino Donaggio
    “All The President’s Men,” composer David Shire
    “Marathon Man,” composer Michael Small
    “Vertigo,” composer Bernard Herrmann

    Episode 2
    “Klute,” composer Michael Small
    “Duel,” composer Billy Goldenberg
    “The Gift,” composers Daniel Bensi & Saunder Jurriaans

    Episode 3
    “Capricorn One,” composer Jerry Goldsmith
    “The Andromeda Strain,” composer Gil Mellé
    “The Car,” composer Leonard Rosenman
    “Chariots of Fire,” composer Vangelis
    “Gray Lady Down,” composer Jerry Fielding
    “Star Chamber,” composer Michael Small

    Episode 4
    “The Amityville Horror,” composer Lalo Schifrin
    “The Day The Earth Stood Still,” composer Bernard Herrmann
    “The Hand,” composer James Horner
    “Carrie,” composer Pino Donaggio
    “The Andromeda Strain,” composer Gil Mellé
    “L’Apocalypse des animaux,” composer Vangelis
    “All The President’s Men,” composer David Shire

    Episode 5
    “Body Double,” composer Pino Donaggio
    “The Taking of Pelham 123,” composer David Shire
    “The Conversation,” composer David Shire
    “Escape from New York,” composer John Carpenter & Alan Howarth
    “The Thing,” composer Ennio Morricone
    “Narrow Margin,” composer Bruce Broughton
    “The French Connection,” composer Don Ellis

    Episode 6
    “High-Rise,” composer Clint Mansell
    “Scanners,” composer Howard Shore
    “The List of Adrian Messenger,” composer Jerry Goldsmith
    “Copycat,” composer Christopher Young
    “Creation,” composer Christopher Young
    “Three Days of the Condor,” composer Dave Grusin

    Episode 7
    “Gray Lady Down,” composer Jerry Fielding
    “The Thing,” composer Ennio Morricone
    “The Andromeda Strain” (TV Series), composer Joel J. Richard
    “Christine,” composer John Carpenter & Alan Howarth
    “The Parallax View,” composer Michael Small
    “The Thing,” composer Ennio Morricone
    “The Fog,” composer John Carpenter
    “Halloween 3,” composer John Carpenter & Alan Howarth

    Episode 8
    “The Conversation,” composer David Shire
    “Christine,” composer John Carpenter & Alan Howarth
    “Halloween 3,” composer John Carpenter & Alan Howarth
    “Altered States,” composer John Corigliano
    “The Andromeda Strain,” composer Gil Mellé
    “The Fog,” composer John Carpenter

    Episode 9
    “Body Heat,” composer John Barry
    “Dove Siete? Io Sono Qui,” composer Pino Donaggio
    “Raising Cain,” composer Pino Donaggio
    “Legend,” composer Tangerine Dream
    “Oblivion,” composer Anthony Gonzalez & Joseph Trapanese
    “All The President’s Men,” composer Michael Small
    “The Eiger Sanction,” composer John Williams

    Episode 10
    “The Dead Zone,” composer Michael Kamen
    “The Andromeda Strain,” composer Gil Mellé
    “Opéra sauvage,” composer Vangelis
     
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  12. hybrid_77

    hybrid_77 Forum Resident

    Location:
    New England
    I tried the first episode of the second season and I fell asleep. Maybe I was tired or maybe it was the show.

    Has anyone else seen it?
     
  13. mdm08033

    mdm08033 Senior Member

    I’m 5 episodes in. It’s kind of redundant but I’ll stay with it.
     
  14. kwadguy

    kwadguy Senior Member

    Location:
    Cambridge, MA
    I got 20 minutes in and switched it off.

    I really liked season one, but this seemed dull.

    Different lead, different director. I wonder what happened behind the scenes.
     
  15. GentleSenator

    GentleSenator what if

    Location:
    Aloha, OR
    it was kind of a vanity/stopgap project for sam esmail while everyone waited to see if mr. robot would get a final season, if i recall correctly. another example of a series that probably should have been left alone instead of being forced to continue.
     
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