Huisman def weakest, I havent liked him in anything since he was in Nashville.As much as I didnt love the final ep, what I did love was Hutton getting some v good camera time. I have always been a fan. Gugino too, she was stellar. Kind of wish they had given Annabeth Gish more to do throughout the series as well. I thought the two kids that played Nell & Steve were so good. And frowny remote young Theo reminded me so much of myself at that age (right down to the Paula Abdul choreo).
― Squeaky Fromage (VegemiteGrrl), Monday, 22 October 2018 16:15 (five years ago) link
I actually had to google to see if young Theo was related to Keirnan Shipka (she's not)
― Number None, Monday, 22 October 2018 16:17 (five years ago) link
yeah young Theo was great. even though they were too close in age, I really liked Henry Thomas and Tim Hutton as a pair.
― wayne trotsky (Simon H.), Monday, 22 October 2018 16:18 (five years ago) link
Between this and American crime story or whatever it was called, I have been mega enjoying all these damaged and greasy old Timothy Huttons
― valet doberman (Jon not Jon), Monday, 22 October 2018 16:47 (five years ago) link
The ending is terrible - the house is meant to be a deranged, corrupting force on people, and those that end up there are lost, tortured beings. it's not an afterlife day care. All of a sudden the threat of the house is handwaved away, as if it is 'what dreams may come' or some such. It just didn't make any sense - I still thought it was a great show, though.
― Leaghaidh am brón an t-anam bochd (dowd), Monday, 22 October 2018 20:29 (five years ago) link
I want those 10 (?) hours back.
― An Uphill Battle For Legumes (Capitaine Jay Vee), Monday, 22 October 2018 20:35 (five years ago) link
The scares were fun and great to see Hutton, Thomas and Gugino get relatively good roles to work with. The woman who played Nell was terrific but the little girl who played her was just bad. And I really could care less about the elder kids as damaged adults because, with the exception of Nell and Theo, they were plain unlikeable. It was a bit of a struggle but I hung out for the big payoff that just never happened. Once burned...
― An Uphill Battle For Legumes (Capitaine Jay Vee), Monday, 22 October 2018 20:40 (five years ago) link
I found all the adults pretty sympathetic. Except for fuckin' Steven. I think he could have worked with a different actor, and if they'd done more with the family's financial stresses and made clearer that book revenues were keeping them afloat. (Finances were definitely a throughline, but I think they could have done more to implicate them all in monetizing their suffering rather than just having Steven be the asshole.)
― wayne trotsky (Simon H.), Monday, 22 October 2018 21:55 (five years ago) link
dowd otm about the ending & “afterlife daycare”also the red room pay-off felt halfbaked. ok so it morphed depending on who was in it. cool. but then what? what does it mean, exactly? idk
― Squeaky Fromage (VegemiteGrrl), Tuesday, 23 October 2018 00:27 (five years ago) link
Now I am wondering if I should commit any more hours to this.
― Yerac, Tuesday, 23 October 2018 00:31 (five years ago) link
it’s still worth it imo
― Squeaky Fromage (VegemiteGrrl), Tuesday, 23 October 2018 01:37 (five years ago) link
Yep.
― wayne trotsky (Simon H.), Tuesday, 23 October 2018 02:04 (five years ago) link
(unless you're one of those "an iffy ending undoes any good that came before" types, which, idk how ppl like that ever enjoy horror)
― wayne trotsky (Simon H.), Tuesday, 23 October 2018 02:06 (five years ago) link
lol otm
― Squeaky Fromage (VegemiteGrrl), Tuesday, 23 October 2018 02:34 (five years ago) link
lol IF this had been horror. Instead, it felt like a sum total of 20 minutes of spooky stuff sprinkled throughout a bunch of endless sibling bickering
― An Uphill Battle For Legumes (Capitaine Jay Vee), Tuesday, 23 October 2018 03:00 (five years ago) link
mr veg called it “the screaming & crying show”
― Squeaky Fromage (VegemiteGrrl), Tuesday, 23 October 2018 03:21 (five years ago) link
As I said on the main TV thread, it's absolutely a melodrama with horror elements rather than the other way around. I will say a LOT of people (on social media etc.) do seem to find it v spooky, but movies stopped scaring me a long time ago so I'm not a great barometer for these things
― wayne trotsky (Simon H.), Tuesday, 23 October 2018 03:31 (five years ago) link
it made me jump quite a few times & i found it mildly scary in places. no more or less scary than the Conjuring imo
― Squeaky Fromage (VegemiteGrrl), Tuesday, 23 October 2018 03:41 (five years ago) link
To talk about stuff besides the ending: I feel like a big part of the Netflix model is making sure that there's a centerpiece sequence people talk about - Daredevil with its long-take fight scenes, for instance. But the end of "Bent-Neck Lady" and the long takes in "Two Storms" were genuinely impressive and even emotive in a way Netflix shit almost never is.
― wayne trotsky (Simon H.), Tuesday, 23 October 2018 04:08 (five years ago) link
just starting episode 2 and jesus stop trying to force the kid to see his dead grandma!
― Toss another shrimpl air on the bbqbbq (ledge), Wednesday, 24 October 2018 18:20 (five years ago) link
The family seems to have a deep commitment to the idea that people should see the dead bodies of their loved ones...
― Leaghaidh am brón an t-anam bochd (dowd), Wednesday, 24 October 2018 18:36 (five years ago) link
If I had a family member that was an embalmer, I would explicitly make it clear than I would not want them performing that task on me.
― Yerac, Wednesday, 24 October 2018 18:52 (five years ago) link
It's odd because it's kind of treated like it's some universal part of grief. Ah well, WASPs gonna WASP, I guess.
― Leaghaidh am brón an t-anam bochd (dowd), Wednesday, 24 October 2018 19:05 (five years ago) link
i have never been to an open casket funeral - really dont want to ever have to go to one imo
― Squeaky Fromage (VegemiteGrrl), Wednesday, 24 October 2018 19:44 (five years ago) link
No, me either.
― Leaghaidh am brón an t-anam bochd (dowd), Wednesday, 24 October 2018 21:00 (five years ago) link
so the Dudleys' second kid, Abigail, she WAS real, right? I can't quite wrap my head around the fact that Luke kept saying he had an imaginary friend who was a little girl and nobody put two and two together that it was the Dudleys' kid. I guess maybe the Crains didn't know the Dudleys even had a kid until the scene when Mrs. Dudley talked to Mrs. Crain about it, but considering Mrs. Dudley was always around during the day and Luke was always yapping about this imaginary friend, you think at least she would have put it together.
― evol j, Thursday, 25 October 2018 13:25 (five years ago) link
fwiw I liked the ending, even if it was indeed rather touchy-feely "Lost"-esque. so much horror nowadays resolves with EVERYONE dying brutally and meaninglessly that I was expecting the show to go that route.
― evol j, Thursday, 25 October 2018 13:27 (five years ago) link
I don't think Luke ever called her imaginary, it was just their assumption. I have to say that was a nice little twist (brutal to watch a kid merrily gulp poison, though)
― wayne trotsky (Simon H.), Thursday, 25 October 2018 13:33 (five years ago) link
yeah, I was imprecise there, what I meant was that everyone assumed she was imaginary.
― evol j, Thursday, 25 October 2018 13:34 (five years ago) link
Yep, they were all aware that there was a young girl that actually lived on the property and they never thought for a second Luke's friend might be real
It was both dumb and an incredibly obvious twist
― Number None, Thursday, 25 October 2018 14:13 (five years ago) link
another thing that irked me was Shirley's one-night stand, the way it was just sort of tossed in at the 11th hour as a way to explain her being an asshole and more importantly to give her a reason to need redemption.
― evol j, Thursday, 25 October 2018 19:51 (five years ago) link
yeah, that dude literally materialised out of nowhere
― Number None, Thursday, 25 October 2018 20:05 (five years ago) link
yeah i think it could have been integrated better
― Squeaky Fromage (VegemiteGrrl), Thursday, 25 October 2018 20:09 (five years ago) link
I'm not going to read this whole thread since I'm only three episodes in but I think the casting in this is superb. They did an amazing job of not only finding people who actually look related to each other (at least the women) but also casting younger people who really do look like the older actors.
― akm, Thursday, 25 October 2018 21:37 (five years ago) link
It seems to not be a universal opinion (to say the least), but I thought the casting and acting was excellent.
― Leaghaidh am brón an t-anam bochd (dowd), Thursday, 25 October 2018 21:40 (five years ago) link
i agree except for stupid dumb Steve
― Squeaky Fromage (VegemiteGrrl), Friday, 26 October 2018 01:47 (five years ago) link
I think some of the kid acting was a little kid acting-y but that's more than forgivable; all the non-Huisman adults are great. it's kind of funny to see his previous leading ladies (Reaser, Gugino, Siegel) united as one unhappy family.
― wayne trotsky (Simon H.), Friday, 26 October 2018 14:17 (five years ago) link
agree!
― Squeaky Fromage (VegemiteGrrl), Friday, 26 October 2018 14:33 (five years ago) link
Siegel is so good. I need to see Hush and Ouija 2 now. Huge fan.
― akm, Friday, 26 October 2018 20:24 (five years ago) link
the amazing one take (if it really was) during Eulogy when she misses the arm of the couch and falls on her ass!
― akm, Friday, 26 October 2018 20:25 (five years ago) link
Her screams when she touches Nelly's body ... i rarely find anything in a horror film heartbreaking but that was.
of the Flanagan flicks I've seen, I'd rank 'em:
AbsentiaOculusOuija 2Gerald's GameHush
― wayne trotsky (Simon H.), Friday, 26 October 2018 20:26 (five years ago) link
Oculus was pretty decent imo. I havent seen any of the others
― Squeaky Fromage (VegemiteGrrl), Friday, 26 October 2018 20:36 (five years ago) link
Oculus was great.
― akm, Friday, 26 October 2018 21:19 (five years ago) link
Way, way better than a movie about a ~spooky mirror~ has any right to be.
― wayne trotsky (Simon H.), Friday, 26 October 2018 22:33 (five years ago) link
otm
― Squeaky Fromage (VegemiteGrrl), Friday, 26 October 2018 23:45 (five years ago) link
karen gillan also. which is the only reason I watched it at first
― akm, Saturday, 27 October 2018 01:14 (five years ago) link
Man I really hated oculus and would put it dead last of the Flanagans I’ve seen
― valet doberman (Jon not Jon), Saturday, 27 October 2018 02:11 (five years ago) link
Man, that ranking is so not my ranking. Hush is his best movie imo
― Number None, Saturday, 27 October 2018 03:52 (five years ago) link
Madness. It's fine but no better than a half dozen other home invasion flicks.
― wayne trotsky (Simon H.), Saturday, 27 October 2018 04:09 (five years ago) link
none in the pipeline yet AFAIK but I'm sure Netflix is after him for more of them, anecdotally it seems to be one of their most popular "series"
― it bangs for thee (Simon H.), Thursday, 19 November 2020 13:53 (three years ago) link
lmao i don't know why i held off on hill house (well i do but it's for the very silly reason of loving the book so much that the extreme looseness of the adaptation made me suspicious of it) but it's phenomenal
― mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Sunday, 22 November 2020 03:41 (three years ago) link
Hill House is def better even if it falls apart even worse at the end than Bly Manor did
― it bangs for thee (Simon H.), Sunday, 22 November 2020 06:47 (three years ago) link
the middle stretch is just primo Flanagan, playing to all of his strengths
― it bangs for thee (Simon H.), Sunday, 22 November 2020 06:51 (three years ago) link
episode five was major
― mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Sunday, 22 November 2020 13:31 (three years ago) link
And six!
― chap, Sunday, 22 November 2020 14:43 (three years ago) link
wow long takes galore in episode 6
the performances in hill house do make me wish the most talented member of the ensemble, victoria pedretti, weren't playing a character who's dead. guess that's why she's the lead in bly manor
― mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Sunday, 22 November 2020 16:18 (three years ago) link
The thing keeping me away from Bly Manor is that Hill House was so long and too filled with conversations of half-arsedly written dialogue and exposition. It could have been half the length, easily. And it needed more ghosts.
― Vanishing Point (Chinaski), Sunday, 22 November 2020 17:35 (three years ago) link
Er, Bly Manor probably has more talking and fewer ghosts.
― chap, Sunday, 22 November 2020 17:41 (three years ago) link
Bugger.
― Vanishing Point (Chinaski), Sunday, 22 November 2020 17:45 (three years ago) link
And it sounds like you're really gonna hate his next series, No Ghosts, Just Talking
― it bangs for thee (Simon H.), Sunday, 22 November 2020 18:03 (three years ago) link
The Talky Ghost, and the big twist is he's not actually a ghost.
― chap, Sunday, 22 November 2020 18:05 (three years ago) link
OK, a compromise - maybe some ghosts sitting about discussing the 'Like A Virgin' video?
― Vanishing Point (Chinaski), Sunday, 22 November 2020 18:14 (three years ago) link
bly manor = perfectly splendid schmaltz. I liked hill house a lot more too, scarier and I thought the way they handled luke’s character was actually interesting
― k3vin k., Sunday, 22 November 2020 18:46 (three years ago) link
oh my god i do not care about the ghost shirley fucked
― mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Monday, 23 November 2020 01:29 (three years ago) link
lmao as reported this blows
― mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Monday, 23 November 2020 01:57 (three years ago) link
lol I completely forgot about that plot stand for good reason
― it bangs for thee (Simon H.), Monday, 23 November 2020 02:13 (three years ago) link
i mean he wasn't even a ghost, he just haunted her or whatever, but god, so lame, i do not need her to have cheated on her husband to realize she has flaws, she's extremely sanctimonious, that's her character flaw, it's good enough
― mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Monday, 23 November 2020 02:19 (three years ago) link
The end was fine, good even, in terms of story but they fucked up the tone and way overexplained what you were supposed to take from it
i ultimately agree with this old chap post bc i feel like you could salvage something worthwhile from the last hour if you cut... so much of the dialogue
― mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Monday, 23 November 2020 02:21 (three years ago) link
one nice thing i'll say about the finale: abigail being real was a great choice
― mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Monday, 23 November 2020 02:24 (three years ago) link
yes! that was a nifty surprise
― it bangs for thee (Simon H.), Monday, 23 November 2020 02:33 (three years ago) link
I don’t know if this is true cause I haven’t seen enough of his works but Mike Flanagan seems Bad.At.Endings. Of five of his works I’ve seen, the only one that had an ending I legitimately liked was “Hush”.
― Roz, Monday, 23 November 2020 12:14 (three years ago) link
I love Oculus' downer ending.
― it bangs for thee (Simon H.), Monday, 23 November 2020 13:03 (three years ago) link
He should have brought in Frank Darabont as a consultant on Gerald's Game to fix that awful King ending, though, for sure.
― it bangs for thee (Simon H.), Monday, 23 November 2020 13:05 (three years ago) link
― it bangs for thee (Simon H.)
Didn't realise he did Oculus!
― chap, Monday, 23 November 2020 13:24 (three years ago) link
I haven’t seen Oculus - will check that out. It’s the one with Karen Gillan yes?
Gerald’s Game was so good until those last five minutes, makes me genuinely angry just thinking about it lol
― Roz, Monday, 23 November 2020 13:40 (three years ago) link
yep that's the one! iirc she has a memorable entrance
― it bangs for thee (Simon H.), Monday, 23 November 2020 13:42 (three years ago) link
I never saw Gerald's Game but I will say I am deeply indebted to the book because it taught me that I didn't need to finish reading something if I hate it
― DJP, Monday, 23 November 2020 14:53 (three years ago) link
Absentia ending was alright
― or something, Monday, 23 November 2020 15:52 (three years ago) link
As we barrel toward the start of production on @intrepid's new @netflix series THE MIDNIGHT CLUB, based on the work of Christopher Pike, I'm honored and thrilled to announce our cast:— Mike Flanagan (@flanaganfilm) February 1, 2021
Christopher Pike! 12-year-old me would've been stoked about this lol
― Roz, Tuesday, 2 February 2021 03:02 (three years ago) link
oh and I finally saw Oculus. The climax is better than most Flanagan endings but I still wouldn't exactly call it good - somehow it was both heavily foreshadowed AND seemed to come out of nowhere
― Roz, Tuesday, 2 February 2021 03:06 (three years ago) link
Oculus isn't perfect but it manages to be a good movie about an evil mirror, and that's enough for me
― stimmy stimmy yah (Simon H.), Tuesday, 2 February 2021 11:51 (three years ago) link
that is true - as always, saved by great character work and a strong emotional core
― Roz, Tuesday, 2 February 2021 13:28 (three years ago) link
is this the thread where we can discuss Midnight Mass? I'm on the final two episodes now - so far it's got both Flanagan's best and absolute worst tendencies on display, but i'm still mostly into it.
it's less scary than the two Hauntings, but potentially more traumatising for anyone who had a strict religious upbringing
― Roz, Monday, 27 September 2021 02:50 (two years ago) link
it is good though?
― terminators of endearment (VegemiteGrrl), Monday, 27 September 2021 03:28 (two years ago) link
I like it! But I can see how it can test some viewers' patience - it's slow-going to start with and he does love those goddamn monologues/long conversations. They hit hard on some occasions and completely kill the show's momentum on others.
Excellent cast though - Hamish Linklater esp but almost everyone is on point, which helps to distract from some of the clumsier writing. pleasantly surprised by the accurate and thoughtful portrayal of Muslim characters in this too.
― Roz, Monday, 27 September 2021 07:42 (two years ago) link
― it bangs for thee (Simon H.), Monday, November 23, 2020 2:03 AM (ten months ago) bookmarkflaglink
this is not entirely inaccurate, lol
― Roz, Monday, 27 September 2021 07:44 (two years ago) link