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

I really liked the scene in the 'void' (and its literal appearance as the dark flip side of the game board) where Eleven encounters that Russian guy though, followed by the chilling sound of the monster. I really dislike the idea that the Upside Down might be some literal future/past 'ruined' reality of our world as it was presented to all the other characters though.

i just saw it as an alternate earth reality that some alien species had been able to get to. and eleven was their way into our world.

i really wish someone would make Area X into a netflix series. that is my dream. in that book a teeny tiny piece of an alien universe ends up on earth. hilarity ensues!

I really liked the scene in the 'void'

this was possibly the most irritating "reference" in the whole thing to me, mostly because it wasn't a rip of something from the same era as all the other rips and instead just a lazy bite of a film that came out two years ago

??

I got the sense that the upside down was like a shadow or reflection of our world. Winona is able to communicate with Will by painting letters on the wall. That implies that the same letters must have appeared in the upside down, which means that changes in the upside down are caused by changes in the real world. I think that accounts for why there are identical buildings in that world.

the idea that under the skin invented having a character walk into blackness is silly

oh come on

the walking on water!

George Lucas also did "characters in an empty void," albeit white rather than black, in THX-1138.

which looks totally different and is in a different context

the whole monster-that-eats-people-in-a-void-of-blackness with ripples of water providing a plane is 100% from Under the Skin idk how anyone could see both and not draw that conclusion

one of my favorite movies of all time is, of course, Cube, and the director of that movie made a movie about da void:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zc8XXv3pl10

these two things that serve a similar narrative function and look identical are totally unrelated! yup uh huh

whatever, enjoy your sub-literate derivative nonsense

I got a Mork-calling-Orson vibe but you'll be pleased to hear I haven't seen "Under The Skin".

Feel like I've just got some major UTS spoilers, thanks.

Ha, I've still not seen Under The Skin yet. I found myself wanting a more imaginative other-world but I realise this isn't necessarily the show for that. I agree with a few upthread about all the studied references being a bore (whereas 20 years ago I loved that shit from The Simpsons to Spaced). OTOH maybe every generation needs their 'in' and this is done to encourage younger viewers to check out the originals. But yeah as in all art this is risky as it can devalue the power of those scenes.

Feel like I've just got some major UTS spoilers, thanks.

eh not really. UTS was 100% better than this garbage btw, and that "spoiler" won't ruin anything about it.

i haven't seen Under The Skin either. i've seen stills of it...

Under the Skin is great.

Feel like I've just got some major UTS spoilers, thanks.

UTS isn't "spoilable" really.

Now I wanna know the most obscure intentional reference in the show. Thanks a milli :(

this show was so not garbage. i mean i know garbage when i see it. it's not an art movie or whatever.

false comparisons!

Steve breaking Jonathan's camera is a reference to an episode of Tom Poston's forgotten sitcom from 1968, Now, How Do Ya Like That?

it's better than Wayward Pines. that's a more realistic comparison. i can't bring myself to watch 2nd season of Wayward Pines since my boyfriend Matt Dillon isn't in it. where did he go? don't get me wrong, Jason Patric was totally hot circa 1990, but he's no Dallas "Dally" Winston!

that reminds me that I've been meaning to rewatch the Outsiders for several years now

the void stuff does look exactly like under the skin.

under the skin is great and everyone should watch it (not just because it's filmed in Glasgow/Scotland)

FWIW I don't think the black void is the "upside down" but rather some kind of in-between space, either representing El's consciousness freed by sensory deprivation, or just, like, the medial space where she can roam free in the ether. The astral plane, or the space of the wire that connects the two phones. Within the thickness of the D&D board, if you will, and hence the reflections.

yeah the black voidy place is not the upside down

That became more apparent further on I guess but a shame as that was creepier than a gloomy mirror of the real town/world.

the void does remind me of under the skin, im not denying the similarity, just the idea that it's a 'rip off' is absurd and silly

under the skin is great but ... they are not at all alike in any other way

This show was such a dumb cliché because they had human beings portraying all of the characters. Like, maybe try doing something that hasn't been done a million times before, stupid idiots.

I don't find it hard to believe that they ripped an idea from Under the Skin without any deeper point or relevance to the reference, just because it looked cool.

agree that they are not alike at all except in that one specific sequence which is lazily identical to similar sequence(s) in UTS

that being said UTS is absolutely the better piece of work, more interesting, more provocative, more creative, more unique, more depth, more everything

I can't believe it took this long for someone to compare the respective merits of the Netflix series Stranger Things and the completely unrelated film Under the Skin. You're slipping, people!

except they are related

They are both filmed products released in the 2010s, it's true.

totally unrelated, yep

https://images.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.telegraph.co.uk%2Fcontent%2Fdam%2Fon-demand%2F2016%2F08%2F01%2Fcomposite-under-the-skin-better-xlarge_trans%2B%2B8EuVKQIuseo94-dKmHKl1XjjZp2Y6K8nbt-Aru5IwLA.jpg&f=1

We should compare the two works to albums or bands now.

It's weird that no one ever thought of putting a character in a black void before UTS. Weird!

I don't know why I'm so protective towards this show. It's not like I thought it was the greatest thing ever, but I had measured expectations going in and I did like it a lot and basically had no real qualms with it, which is rare. They had a clear albeit not particularly lofty goal and it seems like they achieved what they set out to do.

pretending that isn't a straight lift from under the skin is particularly bizarre

Its not a black void it has a reflective liquid plane. Show me another example if this is so fucking common.

Look, just because it's not seen in the frame doesn't mean that every previous character filmed in a black void wasn't ankle-deep in water. It seems pretty likely to me.

LOL at the ridiculous auteurist idea that lifting a shot from another director makes the two movies containing the shots "related."

Next we will discuss the very obviously related motion pictures The Battleship Potemkin and The Untouchables.

DC OTM, except I thought the black void was where El was *supposed* to go, where she could only visit when immersed in water, and that allowed her to do remote viewing (the intended purpose of the entire thing). Opening up the upside down world with the demogorgon was the unfortunate side effect.

xp. the triumph of the will and star wars

I was under the impression that shared characteristics constitutes a relationship but maybe we should take this over to the "Logic 101" thread

xp