A thread for Stranger Things, the "Goonies meets X-Files" new Netflix series (with SPOILERS!)

tbf Will himself barely had any scenes with the other kids

I think Modine's only scene w/ the kids was that brief moment in the school when he finally found them but then he got (presumably) eaten not long after

someone said on twitter that Modine "looked like Treat Williams in old-person makeup" & I feel that this is hilariously otm

haahahahaha

dang that kid's teeth came in since they shot the show

Nice peewee herman outfit, keepin it period

finished this last night.... pretty much the most enjoyable watchy show ever.

one episode left to go and my impression of this show continues to go downhill - every single goddamn thing in it evokes something else, sometimes in the most hamfistedly obvious way possible (bike + vans chase scene, the especially lazy "Under the Skin" rip, kids' dialogue referencing D&D in *every scene*, etc.) I dunno this is really lovingly done but it's also annoyingly empty, there is literally not a single unique idea or original thought or twist or provocative angle to any of it. One thing I like about horror and sci-fi is their capacity to deliver surprises within familiar tropes - and this has none of that.

Anyway, some of the nostalgia I get from Stranger Things is a nostalgia for the warm childhood feeling of imagining those experiences, more than having them. I think that's okay!

This is a lovely thought and also OTM

those kids acted their butts off & winona was awesome & it if it was a book i'd read the shit out of it

This too

Seriously I have trouble with people complainng about Winona being too oddball and shouty - I feel like she totally killed this (as a usually kinda so-so actor it's possibly her best performance even)

Loved the scene with her ex where he talks about using the money to send the older kid to college, and she's all, "O RLY, what college?" and he replies, "Whichever one he wants" and she's all "NYU MOTHERFUCKER GET OUT OF MY HOUSE."

that showdown with her ex was so good, winona spitting fire

Totally. Also I love the final dinner scene revelation where are you realise Winona and her two sons all have the same haircut

lool omg

https://soundcloud.com/dj-yoda-uk/the-stranger-things-mixtape

(August 10, 2016 – Los Angeles, CA) – Lakeshore Records will release the STRANGER THINGS - Original Netflix Series Soundtrack in two parts. Volume One releases digitally August 12th and on CD September 16th. Volume Two releases digitally August 19th and on CD September 23, 2016. Both volumes feature the original score by Kyle Dixon and Michael Stein, members of the popular Austin experimental synth band S U R V I V E.

it's a shame there's not a 2xLP Mondo nosebleed-splash vinyl or w/e

this whole show was basically a mixtape

i'm sure there will be vinyl, how could there not be

http://consequenceofsound.net/2016/08/the-soundtrack-to-stranger-things-is-being-released-this-friday/

oh we already said that.

dog latin's post was an homage to the earlier posts

lol

I hope some fan does a side-by-side comparison

haha

time to poll the soundtrack

Sorry, ILX, not feeling the love.

Sadly realizing that the Netfix-ization of television is obliterating online discussion for anyone who doesn't binge the thing right out the gate. Sad!

Anyway, finished this last night, pretty much loved it sans reservation, don't have a whole lot to add that others haven't already said. Pastiche was fun and felt very self-aware (one ref everyone seems to have missed is that the specific X-Men issue they referenced early on was part of the Dark Phoenix Saga, and El seems very Dark Phoenix-y) but it wasn't distracting for me at all (congrats though Whiney on your Family Guy troll which certainly got the traction you intended, your predictable responses to the mere acknowledgement of pop culture never disappoint). I think they did a pretty masterful job of cherrypicking and remixing scenes and tropes they felt resonated and makingit all cohere into something of their own. I look forward to future projects from these brothers.

Funnily enough, it actually was filmed outside of Atlanta, in Jackson, GA - and the evil laboratory building is in Virginia Highland, twenty minutes from the house I grew up in. I went to summer day camp just down the street! So yeah... Stranger Things felt like my childhood, but not exactly my childhood.

― Silence, followed by unintelligible stammering. (Doctor Casino), Monday, August 8, 2016 4:23 PM (6 days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

So yeah that's probably another reason this resonated with me. Besides being around the same age as the younger kids in that time period, Georgia and Virginia and Indiana were the first three places I lived within the first like seven years of my life. The scenery looked and felt v familiar.

I couldn't figure out why this had me wanting to watch V but then I realized that the time when this was set was roughly when V came out and it was the first scary thing I ever watched and those kids would've definitely been watching V if they hadn't been busy extracting their friend from the dark dimension.

i wasn't allowed to watch V but yeah it was a very big deal with my friends

Sadly realizing that the Netfix-ization of television is obliterating online discussion for anyone who doesn't binge the thing right out the gate. Sad!

I miss being able to check into threads like this once a week instead of having to wade through the entire thing only after finishing the show (which I just did last night).

I liked this a lot, as I would have been 9 1/2 when it took place so it was absolute nostalgia bait for me. Kind of like with the Americans though I keep second guessing word usages and slang, like I really don't imagine kids in Indiana in 1983 would use "chill" to mean hang out, but maybe I'm wrong?

It was hard to not see every little thing as a reference though, like were they consciously aping the A-Team and Macgyver and Home Alone during the booby-trapping of the house, or are they only so many ways to do something like that? And based on the internet love for Barb I thought she would have been on screen for more than ten minutes or so.

I liked the end more than I thought too, as it works as a single season ending or as a cliffhanger if it ended up getting picked up for another season, sort of like the first season of Better Call Saul and probably most other shows nowadays.

https://twitter.com/egg_dog/status/764375817765912576

Scott's right about the language, and "chilling" was not the only problem. "Suffers from anxiety"! "I GET it" (which apparently is now required by law to replaced the phrase "I understand" in all American tv shows)! But the acting was terrific, and if there were detail slips on the language but the characters and story were complex, it's forgivable (but they need to hire a writer over the age of 45 if they really want to get it right).

Mr. Clarke and Barb need to be next season's heroes, Mike's dad next season's monstrous villain.

Amazing casting, although I found Natalia Dyer's BMI distracting and I hope that she (the actual human being) is not in trouble. She is terrific.

Ultimately, I found the spot-the-reference/hey-look-at-this-prop elements a little annoying but mostly ignorable (got annoyed by the cars, but I suppose they had to use what hasn't been junked or has been restored -- but Barb and Steve were in ridiculous vehicles for who they were in 1982) because ooh boy the acting!

Mike's dad is the most underrated part in this thing. I loved his sure and steady way of confidently shit that was totally wrong. Ain't that just like a dad.

confidently STATING

Amazing casting, although I found Natalia Dyer's BMI distracting and I hope that she (the actual human being) is not in trouble.

i also found this distracting

she is made of twigs

def wondered about her wellbeing while watching the show

Thought she looked realistically teenager-sized.

xp

As did my wife and I, to the point I began questioning the producers' judgment in hiring her. Like, why validate someone who's obviously abusing themselves? It's a slippery slope I guess, but after a while, it was hard to notice anything else about her in the show.

ok, that was a stupid way of putting it. I'm saying I have known teenagers who looked like her and have not worried about them.

The actress is 19, and you can find pictures of her from the last few years online. I wish her well.

xp

As did my wife and I, to the point I began questioning the producers' judgment in hiring her. Like, why validate someone who's obviously abusing themselves? It's a slippery slope I guess, but after a while, it was hard to notice anything else about her in the show.

― Dominique, Monday, August 15, 2016 12:17 PM (17 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

this is not a good post

in fact, it is a bad post

yeah, armchair diagnosing people with serious diseases is nagl. Neither is body policing. She could really just be skinny!

Srsly. I've seen dangerously skinny people before. I never once thought this was that while watching the show. Did you guys not ever know a gawky angular teenager before?

Yeah, this is just a weird variation on finding non-acting reasons to pick on female actors, this time under the veil of "concern".

I hope so, it just seems unlikely. the whole culture of trying to be as skinny as possible seems weird to me, and when I see someone who looks like that, it's hard not to imagine what they're going through to do it

yeah, yeah, point counterpoint. Go look at her in "I Believe in Unicorns", filmed two years earlier. Watch her facial elasticity or arm musculature there and compare it to Stranger Things. She is a terrific actress and I was able to enjoy her performance. But.

Cool, well as long as it's not just random guys policing women's weight, that's fine.