Two episodes down and I think I am done with it. To me it is little more that a teen drama spruced-up with period dress. If it were a true story I would be far more interested.
I can see how he had trouble paying attention. I did as well and kept zoning out. His main criticism was that it suffers from too slow a pace for his liking, similar to Mad Men.
I appreciated that the main character was weird, and not always in a likeable way. Which, considering her life and the way her brain works, is much more realistic than if she was portrayed as loveable and cuddly. It's a well realized character, and beautifully acted.
Yes, that was my take as well, a little bit of a "Beautiful Mind" thing. I think there's a payoff in the final episode when she forces herself to visit the orphanage... but I will reveal nothing more. Anybody who thinks this is slow or boring... you're not paying attention. There's a lot going on in this show. Guaranteed, this will pick up half a dozen Emmys next year for sure.
Since at least one individual clearly misunderstood the comment directly above, I’m going to clarify it. “Shazam” is a music app for identifying songs, not a euphemism for ... something else. I was unfamiliar with much of the music used in this show and frequently used Shazam to find the names of songs and performers for the show’s music. I thought they did a great job highlighting lesser-known, but really interesting music choices.
Ummmm...until I watched this series, I totally did not know that "Stop Your Sobbing" by the Pretenders was a cover. I agree, the music was so great on this show. Very clever, and not the usual suspects and cliches. dan c
There's a review on Vulture from a couple of days ago that called this "the Forrest Gump of chess" and complained it's a "bad period piece." The main thrust of the review is that it could have been better if it had been more like Mad Men. I can appreciate someone just not connecting with the show, but those are incredibly off the mark takes. Then again, it's Vulture, so....
Skipped to the end of the thread to avoid spoilers. Two episodes in and liking it, but also finding it somewhat predictable. Still, entertainment value is high, so I’m sticking with it.
I guarantee this will not pick up 6 Emmy trophies. Possibly 6 nominations. There will be heavy competition from other limited series like I May Destroy You (HBO/BBC), The Undoing (HBO), and Fargo (FX).
I predict best drama series, best actress, supporting actress (the stepmom), costume and art direction nominations at the very least. I don't have any objectivity about Anya Taylor-Joy, but given how much she carries this and what a breakout role this is for her, I would think a win isn't out of the question. The odds of that will become clearer in time though. Of greater immediate impact is how it's been a success in 63 countries. This hit the sweet spot for a lot of people, and that's going to have an impact in the next few years.
That’s a very bold prediction. There’s a lot more series that will be airing before the May 31, 2021 cut off for eligibility. There’s going to be a lot of stiff competition from star power like Nicole Kidman and Michaela Cole and other yet to air series. The supporting actress award will also be competitive as hell with HBO and FX series with huge casts. As well those Netflix stats aren’t that impressive an accolade. It’s now 2nd place to The Witcher for most watched Netflix series. It just means it’s the hot trending show like The Tiger King was 8 months ago.
I'm watching it now and I like it, but I can't help feeling that Searching For Bobby Fischer is similar....and Conrad Hall's cinematography in that film really is great.
I could be completely wrong, of course, but I'm mainly saying it's outstanding in all those categories. Whether it gets nominated or not, you're right, it depends on what comes out in the next six months.
A few thoughts... - I think people are starved for true miniseries. Not prospective series with hopes for renewal, but stories (novels) that have a beginning, a middle, and an end. (Remember Roots, Thorn Birds, Winds of War, and a lot of Stephen King) - Rocky is a great, under appreciated model. -the lead actress is compelling, in the same way that Jennifer Lawrence was compelling a few years ago. -the production design is spectacular. however -chess is not boxing -Ivan Drago would pretty much kick both their asses -there’s not a lot of difference between episodes three and six -as others have commented, kicking drugs and alcohol should look a little harder than this -The lead actress, as the saying goes covers the entire gamut of emotions from A to B, while looking like a living Vogue cover.
Here's an interesting piece about the men in the series. I hadn't thought about it, but she is right in this analysis: ‘The Queen’s Gambit,’ a period drama that erases sexism from 1960, is the best fantasy show of the year
I read that review a week or two ago, and that’s not what I got out of it all. The review points out, correctly, in my opinion, that The Queen’s Gambit, Mad Men, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, and The Crown all trade on what the author identifies as the “nostalgic fetishization of whiteness in decline.” In this regard, they are not so different from other expressions of that nostalgia that plague us at our present moment. Further, as I noted above, the addiction subplot is ridiculous on several different levels, and I largely agree with the author when she notes, The series begins as a Victorian orphan story and quickly morphs into something like a Marvel superhero film when Beth’s adoptive mother realizes her talents at chess and starts taking her to tournaments. Cue a series of exquisitely shot matches where Beth repeatedly triumphs over mediocre men … As Beth effortlessly wins a series of increasingly high-stakes chess games, even her frequent spirals into addiction … no longer register as moments of concern, so much as opportunities for cinematographic play while Taylor-Joy stumbles around in her underwear. Which gets to the heart of the matter: how much of the rapturous joy over this series stems from the joy of watching Anya Taylor-Joy romp around in her underwear? Or simply from watching her gaze at the chess board with those gorgeous gigantic eyes of hers? If everything else about this show were exactly the same, but the protagonist was not played by Taylor-Joy, but rather by a man, some sort of nebbish Bobby Fischer lookalike, would this be number one in 63 countries?
