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

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

xp. modine asked her to make contact with the monster in the black void. I think that this making contact with the monster is what opened up the portal to the upside down

xpost Shots are related, but the overall works are arguably much less so.

Oh, right. She noticed the monster when she visited the Russian, and then he tells her to go meet the monster. I'm assuming right after that is when the chamber developed its ulcerous gateway problem and then after that is when they send in that poor dumbass with the tow cable clipped to his waist.

ok sure

xp

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

― meh 😐 (wins), Tuesday, August 30, 2016 11:49 AM (thirty-four minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

how about a 'reference'?

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

― Οὖτις, Tuesday, August 30, 2016 11:30 AM (fifty-five minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

ahh more depth. so much deep

"lift" correctly denotes the laziness involved (ie implies thievery), is more appropriately pejorative

xp

ahh more depth. so much deep

lol Stranger Things made me think about one thing - the 80s. (ok two things if you count Under the Skin)

UTS made me think about considerably more than that

but again yes it doesn't really matter if UTS is better, it's a totally different thing/beast with different goals and a different vocabulary. the only point of overlap is ST's bite of the void scenes.

yes but what about how the whole thing is basically a rip of Beefheart's "Tropical Hot Dog Night"?

Meet the monster tonight
How would you like to be the lucky girl,
The lucky one?
– To be the monster tonight
Ow, to be the monster tonight
Oh, everything’s wrong, at the same time it’s white!
You get to be – you get to be – with me
And also to be the monster tonight

actually I was using the term "lift" pretty much interchangeably with "reference" cause d-40 & old lunch (latter possibly doing a zany improv character) were pretending it wasn't a reference

"UTS made me think about considerably more than that"

boobage...

xxpost So obvious now that I reflect on the characters constantly stepping out of triangles and into striped light.

But yeah it's a particularly obvious reference (nb I personally don't have a problem with this)

this is a really goofy argument. it is obvious to me, seeing the two side by side, that the reflective void shot is derived from Under the Skin. whether it's an homage or a rip-off might be up for discussion but since there have already been many weeks of discussion on Stranger Things's relationship to its source material this all seems a bit redundant (especially as the UTS connection has been referred to many times on this thread already). can we give it a rest?

sure

Yeah, that Under the Skin rip/homage is emblematic of the general (boring and creatively lazy IMO) “mix-tape” approach of ST and probably isn’t worth getting caught up on specifically. It just snowballed into something because people were actually insisting it ISN’T a pull from UTS when it very obviously is.

apparently D-40 was only concerned because I called it a "rip" instead of a "reference" so everything boils down to stupid semantics yet again I suppose

oh good can we just have the two people who've made it clear they hated the show monopolize the thread about it? let's do that

at least I've made my fucking peace with MR ROBOT season 2

Mix taping it up can be a totally creatively bankrupt and hollow approach but it kinda served a more decorative purpose wrt this show because it focused so heavily on fully fleshed-out characters and well-rounded and believable relationships. AFAIC.

awesome thread guys, great work

anyway hosers

the upside down for moi was like the 4th dimension

that's why i posted that video of that little duder explaining it in the infinity thread

the upside down IS here, but not all of us can see it, only if you are a creature of the 4th dimension you could, like el

if you are a 4th dimensional creature, you see things in 3d. if you are a 3 dimensional creature, like us, you see things in 2dimensions

...

yo...

the void was a way to get into the 4th dimension as this is what physics dictates

woof woof

meow meow

etc etc

Outraged that at no point did anyone walk an actual tightrope.

Are there threads about television programs or films that Οὖτις does like?

Under the Skin (2014) dir. Jonathan Glazer

iirc

I like lots of things

are you asking for a list or just telling me to stick to those threads :)

I would personally request that you make an attempt to like the right things, shakes.

Outraged that at no point did anyone walk an actual tightrope.

Have we talked about Mr. Clarke? I love that character. He's always there to supply extemporaneous science explanations whenever the story needs it, even if it means interrupting a hot date.

I would personally request that you make an attempt to like the right things, shakes.

I keep trying but for some reason it never works out

are you asking for a list or just telling me to stick to those threads :)

― Οὖτις, Tuesday, August 30, 2016 2:15 PM (twelve minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I have only noticed your cinematic expertise here and on the Star Wars threads. I don't wanna tell you to go home or anything like that and you're a positive contributor all over ilx. But in both these cases, it's nigh-Morbsian.

what can I say, sometimes ubiquity warrants critique

Have we talked about Mr. Clarke? I love that character. He's always there to supply extemporaneous science explanations whenever the story needs it, even if it means interrupting a hot date.

i was so relieved that he didn't die or turn out to be a creep (as his mustache would suggest).

The black void also appeared in an episode of Space 1999 in the 70s. So there. Someone else find something older.

I have a feeling that ST's black void was just an illustrative version of remote viewing/telepathy that was under budget. Had this been some Inception/Interstellar big budget B.S., it would have been all frenetic etc.

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!

― scott seward, Tuesday, August 30, 2016

Feature, not Netflix, but Alex Garland so there's hope: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annihilation_(film)

Welp, here you go:

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

Episode titles for Season 2:

Madmax
The Boy Who Came Back to Life
The Pumpkin Patch
The Palace
The Storm
The Pollywog
The Secret Cabin
The Brain
The Lost Brother

Madmax is probably a reference to 80s franchise Mad Max.

Well now you're just stretching things to fit.

However "The Pumpkin Patch" is almost certainly a reference to horror classic, "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!"

Really pointless teaser - episode titles don't seem v important in this show.