|
Post by Feologild Oakes on Mar 29, 2022 15:49:19 GMT
Supergirl season 6
|
|
|
Post by Lebowskidoo 🦞 on Apr 4, 2022 14:43:57 GMT
After binging my way through all seven seasons of Sons of Anarchy, I wasn't quite ready to leave this world behind, so I began watching the spinoff series, Mayans M.C. I was warned that it wasn't as good as SOA, but it's only the first season and gave it a chance. It's actually really good so far. Would have finished the first season by now if not for a power outage. Even SOA took awhile to really get cooking, which this show seems to have learned from because it hit the ground running.
|
|
|
Post by Feologild Oakes on Apr 6, 2022 2:52:49 GMT
The Great season 1
|
|
|
Post by taylorfirst1 on Apr 7, 2022 15:14:05 GMT
"Heels" season 1
|
|
|
Post by Chalice_Of_Evil on Apr 8, 2022 23:54:09 GMT
Season 7 of Castle, Season 3 of Xena: Warrior Princess & Season 2 of The Bridge (US version) - all on DVD.
|
|
|
Post by Feologild Oakes on Apr 22, 2022 12:41:53 GMT
Grimm season 6
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
@Deleted
Posts: 0
Likes:
|
Post by Deleted on Apr 23, 2022 18:02:40 GMT
|
|
|
Post by Chalice_Of_Evil on Apr 25, 2022 1:54:27 GMT
Just finished Season 1 of The Batman on Blu-ray last night. I never watched this show when it was originally on and didn't even really know anything about it, but it recently got released on Blu-ray as a complete series Blu-ray set and was on special, so after having it be recommended to me, I decided to give it a chance/took a risk and bought it. I split up my thoughts on the first five episodes into 'Likes' and 'Dislikes'. **spoilers below** Likes:While nobody will ever surpass Kevin Conroy as the definitive animated voice of those characters (for me), the guy they got doing it in this show is pretty decent. He's not overdoing the 'Batman voice' and he sounds fairly similar to Conroy. I'm actually not that upset with the Joker's redesign. Yes, the Joker from Batman: The Animated Series is still the version I will always think of whenever I think of animated Joker, but I at least don't dislike this redesign as much as I did with the Joker in The New Adventures of Batman relaunch. In that show, all he had was a plain white face, no signature red smile, and these beady black eyes which I thought made him very boring to look at. If nothing else, this show's Joker at least isn't boring-looking. I also have no problem with the guy providing his voice. He's similar enough to Mark Hamill without being a carbon copy nor TOO different. And lastly, I appreciate that this Joker can FIGHT. Honestly, it was always so unbalanced between him and Batman in the previous shows, in that he never even could put up a decent fight (as far as I can remember, anyway). I'm sure some people have problems with this Joker flipping about and whatnot, but it at least makes things a bit more interesting than Batman just easily catching him or knocking him out with one punch after no real fight whatsoever. Also, once again the Joker toxin/gas has freaky results. The smile on the victim's face is just as unnerving here as it was in B:TAS. I don't mind the two cops who're sort of 'stand-ins' for the lack on Jim Gordon. There's the one who actually thinks Batman's helping and his female partner who isn't so quick to be on Batman's side (her being voiced by Ming-Na Wen from Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. certainly goes a ways towards me not hating her character). I quite like the show's opening credits/theme...though I probably like the tune more than the credits themselves. It's definitely not B:TAS-level...but it's decent. Dislikes:Speaking of the opening credits, I noticed how prominent Batman's 'Bat-Wave' signal thingy that alerts him to trouble being afoot...and I have to say, that thing bugs the crap out of me. It's too noisy, for one thing, and has me missing the good ol' reliable Bat Signal in the sky. This show's version of Oswald Cobblepot/The Penguin has got to be THE MOST ANNOYING version of the character I've seen, I think. I hate his voice, his laugh, his shark-like teeth and basically his entire personality. Unlike the Joker, I just find it too unbelievable that this rotund little man can flip around on trees and take Batman in a fight. I also hated his laser-whip/chain cane thing he used. I really don't want to see him featured much. While 'normal' Bane has a somewhat interesting look, his costume got me wondering about when he enlarges and turns into this big red hulk how his costume/mask can split apart and them come back together perfectly when he shrinks back down. On the whole, I wasn't overly impressed. I also don't like this new Catwoman's costume. Those HUGE ears unfortunately conjure images of Halle Berry's godawful Catwoman costume - and that's something I never want to think about/remember. I don't mind her when she's out of costume, but for me B:TAS is still the second-best version of Catwoman (for me), right after Michelle Pfeiffer's from BR. This ties into Catwoman (and most of the characters, really), but I'm not loving the 'banter' between Batman and his enemies in this show. With B:TAS, it felt 'effortless' in a way, whereas here it feels like it's trying too hard. And at the same time it also feels very predictable, like you know what sort of 'one-liner' they're going to come out with before they've even said it. I just don't get the sense of 'cleverness' from it here that I did from B:TAS. This show's version of Man-Bat was just so very ho-hum, imho. I think that's part of my problem with this show - it's them seemingly 'retelling' the first appearances of these characters...but none of these redone versions surpass the ones from B:TAS as far as I'm concerned. The best they can hope for is to be on the same level...and they haven't even achieved that. Man-Bat was the most obvious example, as I still remember starting my rewatch of B:TAS on Blu-ray last year and the first episode featured Man-Bat...and it was just done SO MUCH BETTER. I'm not fussed on the Batmobile or any of Batman's vehicles we've seen so far in the show. I'm also not overly fond of Alfred. I guess B:TAS set the bar pretty high for animated Alfred and so far this one just hasn't the same charm. I guess my biggest complaint is this just feels like so much of a 'redo'...and there was never really any need for such a thing. You're never going to outdo B:TAS's versions of these characters, and certainly not their introductions, so maybe it would've just been better to have them already be 'established' in this universe rather than doing their introductions. Anyway, I don't HATE the show...but so far I feel like at least Batman Beyond did something *different*, which this show doesn't really feel it's done much of so far (or any changes it *has* made aren't 'for the better'...in most cases, anyway). Thoughts on the next five episodes:Mr. Freeze having his head inside a block of ice just raised multiple questions. Tom Clancy does a good menacing voice, but I felt he was wasted on this as the writing for the character wasn't nearly as good as it was in B: TAS. Not to mention this version was making lame ice/cold-related quips like he was Arnold Schwarzenegger's version of the character. So they changed his suit and have him shooting ice from his palms instead of a gun - big whoop. The original version made his character sympathetic by doing what he was doing for his beloved wife. Here he just came across as a thief and not a sympathetic one. The Firefly episode which followed was possibly even more underwhelming. They actually had the character say out loud to Batman "Fire...fly. Get it?' (like they had to SPELL IT OUT. One thing I never felt B:TAS did was talk down to its audience, whereas this one seems to be treating its audience like they're five or are not very bright). It was just more of the same and nothing really stood out about it other than Firefly's suit actually having a firefly light-up butt to it and the annoying noise it made when he flew (I guess it was supposed to sound like a fly...but it actually sounded more like a mosquito, which is the MOST ANNOYING SOUND EVER to me). The 'Cluemaster' episode that followed was equally lame. Honestly, I just couldn't find anything good in these episodes. While the ventriloquist himself bore some resemblance to B:TAS's, it seemed their attempt to make Scarface different was just to have him look like an unfinished dummy - like this made him 'edgier-looking' or something. I think I was falling asleep during this episode, I was so bored. Not even the return of the Joker in the tenth episode could keep me from drifting off. It also boggled the mind how a laser beam could somehow create a human-sized 'playing card' that trapped them inside. It was like Han being trapped in carbonite...but made even LESS sense. One thing I forgot to note in my previous comments is how Batman's gloves now seem to have stolen Catwoman's claws. They're very pointy. I've also noticed the reused shots of him gearing up (I don't really feel they're necessary EVERY TIME. We get that he has to suit up...why do we have to *see* it every time? Especially if it's just the same shots). I also continue to be annoy by the 'Bat-Wave', especially when Bruce says "The Bat-Wave!" (because we need it said out loud?). All in all, this bunch of episodes was even less impressive than the first five. I do know, however, of a storyline to come featuring one of the two cop characters - and I also know that will bring some actual 'drama' to the show, so here's hoping those episode impress me (though I'm not looking forward to the return of this show's Penguin in the next episode, since he's probably one of the MOST annoying things in this show). Thoughts on the final three episodes of the season:Despite dreading the return of Penguin...I didn't dislike this second episode with him quite as much as I did the first. I mean, he's still the MOST annoying version of Penguin I think I've seen. He's just like the biggest nuisance ever, and I still don't buy him being able to take on Batman in any sort of physical fight. One 'plus', though, was that at least this time his weapon (using the umbrella as a buzz-saw type of thing) made more sense than his previous laser-whip. I was even slightly amused when he made a call to Bruce who was being followed around by a female reporter and her cameraman (she'll never replace Summer Gleeson from B:TAS) and Bruce was doing the typical thing characters do when they don't want to let anyone else know who they're talking to over the phone, with Penguin wondering if he dialed the wrong number. We were also treated to that old trope of another character dressing up as the costumed hero to prove that they're a separate entity to the one suspected of being them (in this case the reporter suspected Bruce of being Batman and it was ALFRED who dressed up as Batman to throw her suspicions off. Can't say I really bought they he could pull off Batman's physique...but whatever). Frustratingly, the show FINALLY managed to actually get good in its last tow episodes - which I already knew about after watching YouTube vids to decide whether I should get the show. Joker's putty seemed to have no real rules as to how it worked. One minute it basically dissolved a vault, then the next it was turning a truck and his goons' shoes into bouncy rubber. It seemed to do whatever it was required to in any given scene, even if it was doing totally different things. Anyway, I knew that Bruce's friend, Ethan Bennett, would become Clayface from an encounter with Joker's putty. It's too bad Ethan had been absent for a few episodes (from what I can recall, anyway, since I was almost falling asleep during some of them), as the obvious goal the show was aiming for was to make us care about him having this happen to him. If he'd been more present leading up to it, that might've helped. Anyway, it felt like a similar thing to what B:TAS did with Harvey Dent before he became Two-Face...except we saw even *less* of him before his 'accident' than we did with Ethan here. I think a melding of both would've been the best - have Harvey in the old show be featured as much as Ethan was here and given a real personality/some actual depth before he became Two-Face. Anyway, this show actually got to almost reach B:TAS levels of good near the end, when Bennett's partner, Ellen Yin, finally softened towards Batman and didn't deliver on her promise to unmask him. She actually showed character growth. Ming-Na Wen really does a good job with her voice acting. As for the actor who voices Bennett, he did well too and there was some real drama when he asked Yin what they had become. I think they had a halfway good episode here...but a lot of it was just fights. Not that I hate the fights. At least they've creative/more interesting than just trading a few punches (it's also weird seeing the Joker be permanently barefoot. I wasn't expecting to get a glimpse at his origin already, as I thought that'd come later). Anyway, I can't say this first season show overly impressed me, but I did see hints of potential for what it will hopefully become in its later seasons.
|
|
|
Post by FridayOnElmStreet on Apr 25, 2022 6:28:20 GMT
Picked the DVD up last week. I half way done. Im digging it.
|
|
|
Post by taylorfirst1 on Apr 26, 2022 17:03:51 GMT
Motal Kombat Legacy season 1 and only
|
|
|
Post by Chalice_Of_Evil on Apr 26, 2022 22:02:45 GMT
Finished Season 2 of The Batman on Blu-ray. While I wasn't overly impressed with Season 1, that doesn't mean it can't improve in my eyes. And I'm not going to stop watching since I bought the whole show on Blu-ray (if I did stop, then it'd be a waste of money). **spoilers below** The first episode featured Catwoman and Penguin team-up. I was surprised by the Batman Returns-like team-up, complete with them turning on each other...though unlike that movie, instead of Penguin hooking Catwoman's neck with an umbrella and sending her soaring through the sky, the two of them fled from Batman together in Penguin's upside-down umbrella (that thing must be quite strong to carry both their weight). I never really noticed it during Season 1, but in this episode it stood out - that Catwoman ears her whip around her hip so that it looks like she has a cat tail. At first I thought "Has she actually got a TAIL as part of her costume? That seems impractical.", but then I noticed she used it as a whip and that...made it slightly less impractical. Still, having that thing drag along the ground just seems to be asking for trouble, like it could get caught in/on things or her enemies could use it to pull her towards them. Suffice to say, I *still* don't like her costume in this show. What I *do* like, however, is that now Yin is a sort of 'Gordon' to Batman, but isn't completely on his side either. I think this was also the episode where the concept for the 'Bat signal' was born, with Batman's silhouette reflected in the night sky (I won't miss the irritating 'Bat-Wave' - and Bruce's need to state out loud that it's flashing - when/if it's ever replaced by the Bat signal, that's for sure).The action's still pretty neat (even if I'll never get used to seeing Penguin flipping around and holding his own against Batman), though the 'one-liners' leave a lot to be desired. Anyway, don't feel bad, as like you said...at least you convinced me to not take a total pass on it. It's quite possible I may come to enjoy the series more as it goes along. The second episode of Season 2 was one that I thought was legitimately quite good. It was the first one in this show to feature The Riddler. I'd seen clips/pics of how he looked here...and I can't say I'm a fan. I don't know why they had to change his look so drastically. Either keep him close to his 'classic' look or just make him a totally different character if you're going to change everything about him physically. That was the 'negative', but the 'positive' was pretty much everything else. Riddler was actually a credible threat here, threatening to blow up various places (I honestly think this is what the Joker would be like if one of these animated series decided to take the more 'serious' route with him), and his riddles were actually decent instead of just lame/dumb. While I did like Batman helping Yin out, other than one riddle, I don't think she really got to show off that she's pretty decent even without his aid. The flipside of that is we got to see Batman's smarts and him living up to his 'world's greatest detective' moniker (which I've read he doesn't really do in the movie with the same title as this show). It is getting a bit weird that EVERY villain Batman encounters can put up a decent fight against him, especially a spindly character like this version of the Riddler...but, hey, in even the PENGUIN can manage to go toe-to-toe with Batman, then I guess it's not such a big leap that this Riddler can too. The police chief is pretty lame/annoying, and I almost laughed at him not get the Riddler's clue as to who on the police force was working with Batman (I was half-expecting Yin to roll her eyes after he didn't get it even when she outright told him). Good voice casting with Robert Englund as the Riddler. He actually managed to make him sound somewhat menacing. Shame about his appearance. Sadly, the next episode wasn't nearly as good. It was just Mr. Freeze and Firefly teaming up and then the sudden but inevitable betrayal of one against the other. I just don't think much of either of these villains. Clancy Brown would be better served if he was voicing the Mr. Freeze from B:TAS, since that version still remains the BEST...but whatever. There was some duh-worthy stating-the-obvious lines throughout this episode, like they think people can't READ or whatever. And can Bruce PLEASE stop saying "The Bat-Wave!" every time it flashes? It was nice that the episode ended with the people of Gotham finally getting a clue that Batman SAVED them, at least. That's progress. The following episode was back to being a decent, as it at least tried something I hadn't seen before - which was Joker masquerading as Batman (he seems to have this aversion to shoes, as even dressed up as Batman, he didn't have any on. I was also mildly amused at the parody of Batman's suiting-up montage with the Joker doing the same in his loose/ill-fitted costume and getting into his own Jokerized Batmobile) and punishing people for petty 'crimes' with his Joker gas. I thought this was a fresh idea for the Joker rather than just the usual (even if in the end it was all just an excuse to use his Joker gas like normal). The really unique part was seeing Batman/Bruce affected by an infection from the venom which caused him to basically be Joaquin Phoenix's Joker - ie. uncontrollable laughter whilst trying to keep it contained. Seeing Bruce laugh at inopportune/inappropriate moments was something novel/different. Shame they had to slightly ruin things by bringing Penguin into the story. He just felt like a nuisance (as always) and not really needed. Probably the most impressive thing about this episode was the jokes that Joker and Batman told each other as they fought near the end were ones I actually found legitimately funny. Joker's was about a patient and his doctor who told him bad news and worse news while Batman's joke was one about a man walking into a bar. So, of these three episodes, I liked the first one the best, the third one second-best and the middle one the least. At least this shows signs of improvement from Season 1, so that's something. Despite Ron Perlman voicing Killer Croc in the next episode, I can't say I was that fond of his look or the episode itself. To me he just looked like an animated version of the Lizard from TASM. While the B:TAS version was pretty simplistic in its design of the character...at least it was unique. On the plus side, this version of the character was treated as just some dumb 'muscle'. He actually had a plan (which seemed like the Riddler's plan from The Batman movie. Hmm, did that movie rip off this show?) and had actual conversations. As much as I'm sick of every villain being able to take Batman on in a physical fight, it's also getting a bit annoying that almost every one has henchmen. I mean, really? Even Killer Croc has henchmen? This show's version of Man-Bat AND Penguin in the same episode? Suffice to say I didn't think much of this one, with Penguin basically enslaving Man-Bat to do his bidding. The ONLY entertaining part I could recall was the birds (which Penguin has insulted/treated poorly) who had much more character to them. Like, they had proper personalities and I enjoyed them basically laughing at the Penguin when things didn't go right for him. The next episode was better, as it finally dealt with Ethan Bennett having became Clayface. This episode actually felt like it had some emotional 'weight' to it and I appreciated that. Though I still think this would've had even more impact if he was this show's version of Two-Face. B:TAS got halfway there with establishing Harvey Dent as a character before his transformation, but he didn't really do that much before it happened. Whereas here Bennett felt like a proper character before his transformation...but him suddenly wanting to turn against those who're just trying to help him feels a bit contrived or whatever. It'd make more sense if he had two sides to him where one fought the other. Anyway, I noticed Joker FINALLY started wearing footwear (though in this case, it was just so he could have those extension boots - which was a bit ridiculous, him and Clayface being able to have a chase/fight on such tall things...but at least it made for a different sort of fight, so I'll let it slide). The Joker TV episode that followed was...decent, I guess. Patrick Warburton has such a distinctive voice, I like to think I would've figured out it was him voicing Yin's new overzealous partner even if I hadn't known about it beforehand from looking at the IMDB cast list for the show. He was somewhat amusing in an annoying sort of way, and one thing this series HAS gotten right is that it still keeps those creepy smiles the Joker gas causes. Those will never NOT be freaky. Because my memory's not great, I can't remember many details about this episode, but I thought it was fairly good...I think. Well, I finished the last batch of episodes from Season 2. The first of which was probably the episode with Catwoman that I've liked the best in this show thus far. I think part of what made me like it the most was because we got to see some interaction between Bruce Wayne and Selina Kyle rather than just Batman and Catwoman, they seemed to get along for a while, I enjoyed the split screen parallels with them both suiting up and running across rooftops shot, and Catwoman (when she wasn't overusing the 'Meow's or 'Rowr'-ing unnecessarily) amused me with her 'wah wah' when something didn't go right for this episode's other villain, Ragdoll. Speaking of, while he wasn't exactly an intimidating villain, he made up for it in the somewhat freaky unnatural bending. I reckon Doug Jones would be the perfect guy to play someone so skinny in live-action. Anyway, unlike when the Penguin was sharing an episode with Catwoman, Ragdoll didn't annoy me quite so much. The only thing I found was when he got stuck in the cogs at the clockwork tower...after he'd shown an unnatural ability to squeeze out of any small space. I liked the fight throughout that setting, as it made for some great visuals and was a more interesting fight than the usual fisticuffs (unrelated to this episode, but I just remembered that there was a previous episode where they managed to work in the old 60's Batman WHAM!s and TWACK!s etc which I thought was neat). Lastly, when Batman got his cape caught and Catwoman had to cut it free (seriously, Bruce, all those tools in your utility belt and you had NOTHING to cut your own cape with?), it made me wonder if this was where he'd get the idea to slightly shorten his cape...but nope. All in all, this was a pretty decent episode, I thought. Unfortunately, the next one with Solomon Grundy was pretty average/rather boring. I never even knew of this character until, I think, watching Gotham (or maybe it was one of the previous Batman animated shows I watched?). Anyway, to me he's just another big guy who can take Batman on in a fight (though, really, who in this show CAN'T by this point?). Nothin really sticks out about him as particularly unique (though, oddly, I always thought the face of Man-Bat's human form in this show looked more like a Solomon Grundy-type...he just lacked the body. Instead, I see they went the more monster route this time around). The next episode, where Alfred appeared to be stealing from Bruce, was something somewhat different. You know this whole 'everyone's able to fight Batman' thing is getting ridiculous when even ALFRED can land a punch against him. I remembered seeing Michael Massee credited as a voice in the IMDB cast list for this show, and I figured out it was him voicing Spellbinder pretty quickly. He has a pretty distinctive voice after all. His character could've been much more formidable, though, since he could hypnotise people. The one after was another Joker episode, and this time we got to see inside his mind thanks to him kidnapping Yin and the only way to get her location was for Batman to enter the whackos head. I'm sure the animators had funny creating all those crazy visuals inside the mind of a psycho. We also briefly got to see/hear from Joker's former self (pre-chemical bath). This was another fairly decent episode. Though I did feel getting Joker two episodes in a row was a bit much, since he was in the season final too along with Penguin (ugh) and the Riddler - whose look still bugs me, but he actually comes across as the most credible threat. Too bad they didn't make HIM this show's version of the Joker. I was amused when the Joker asked Riddler if he was stealing his shtick and Riddler clarified he does riddles, not jokes...though I think late into the episode something he said sounded more like a 'joke' than a 'riddle'. Something else that came late into the episode was me finally figuring out who was voicing Commissioner Gordon (who made his debut). I'd read the IMDB page with the cast of voices when I started watching this show, but due to my shoddy memory, had forgotten some. So, I was racking my brain trying to remember who voiced him, then eventually I realised/remembered it was Mitch Pileggi. One episode with him and he's already SO much better than that useless Chief (who I hope we don't have to put up with much anymore...though I'll be bummed if Yin's role is dialed back, now Batman has another ally. She and him had a good partnership going, especially in this episode). Anyway, I thought this second season of the show was definitely a bit better than the first. There were some pretty good episodes...though still quite a few 'meh' ones (and some I downright disliked). So, basically a mixed bag this season. Though with all the mentions of Gordon's daughter in the season final (plus the fact that I saw on my Blu-rays that the third season starts with a two-parter titled 'Batgirl Begins'), it looks like I'll have FINALLY gotten to what I've been waiting for since I started this show. It was also nice that this season ended with hopefully the Bat signal becoming something everyone saw - so hopefully we won't need the deus ex machina of the Bat-Wave (and Bruce's need to ALWAYS say it) anymore. Roll on, Season 3!
|
|
|
Post by Feologild Oakes on May 2, 2022 22:24:13 GMT
Doctor Who series 12
|
|
|
Post by Chalice_Of_Evil on May 4, 2022 6:44:03 GMT
Finished Season 3 of The Batman on Blu-ray. **spoilers below* I watched the first part of the two part 'Batgirl Begins' premiere of the third season. I appreciate the shoutout to the Batman Begins movie...or did this come out before that? Strange coincidence if the latter. Anyway, the beginning made me think I'd missed some episodes, since we already had Batgirl in full costume, Batman familiar with her and Poison Ivy already having been established despite this being her first episode. I wondered what the heck was going on, but then Barbara's voiceover chimed in and it became clear this bizarre beginning was intentional. Speaking of voiceovers, a lot of the time they can be annoying or boring depending of who's doing the voice. You need to find someone who's voice keeps things interesting, and their dialogue has to be just right too, as when they're too quippy it becomes irritating and if they're just narrating everything we're seeing, it becomes dull. However, the voice actress for Barbara/Batgirl here kept things lively/interesting. She had some good dialogue without coming off as trying too hard. What I found REALLY odd was her and Pamela Isley being buds and plant activists (I mean...it makes sense for she-who-would-become-Poison-Ivy...but having Barbara be her co-activist was something new/unexpected). I don't know how much older than Barbara Pamela is supposed to be here...but it's weird to think of one of Batman's enemies being Batgirl's contemporary (especially when you remember Poison Ivy's usually someone who uses her sexuality on top of her plant powers). Anyway, can't say I'm fond of this Poison Ivy's look (which we got to see briefly at the beginning). B:TAS will always be the definitive Poison Ivy look as far as I'm concerned. Still...at least she seemed to be using her plant powers to their fullest (including her mind control of Batman). I thought the episode did a good job of establishing Barbara's character and making her feel properly fleshed out just in this first episode alone (while other characters in the show who've had multiple episodes still feel pretty one-dimensional). So, once again Batman fails to save someone from a chemical accident (as he always seems to do with at least*one* character in any interpretation of his story). While I wasn't too sure how I felt about this new version of Batgirl's and Poison Ivy's backstories, I do appreciate the show making an effort to have one of the good guys (in this case Barbara) have some *investment* in one of its soon-to-be villains. It's like with Bruce and Bennett/Clayface - there's always more 'stakes' when the characters are friends/have some form of attachment. If there's one real 'negative' I have to mention about this first episode of Season 3, it's that I'm baffled as to why they'd change their awesome theme music they had for the first two seasons. I'm guessing with the addition of Batgirl they felt they needed to 'lighten' things up a bit maybe? While the previous theme was dark/moody/kinda rockin'...this new version sounds like something from the 60's Batman TV series. Really feels like a step down, to me (just like when B:TAS's theme changed when the show became The New Adventures of Batman relaunch). Disappointing. Other than that, it was a pretty decent start to the new season. Well, to be fair...I don't really have much of a problem with this show's Joker. Some seemed to take issue with his appearance, whereas for me it's actually not that bothersome. I also like that Riddler's actually threatening in this...it's just his appearance I'm not fond of. With the rest, it's either a case of they're just annoying/lame (Penguin) or I simply don't think they compare to the B:TAS versions - which is the case here with Pamela Isley/Poison Ivy. The best thing about her is her use of her plant powers and how imaginative the animators are with the various displays of said powers. The character herself I just find rather meh, especially the voice actress for her. Her voice just doesn't really stand out to me. It's also weird to think of her as Barbara's age and her taking on Batman. Yes, maybe I'm overly attached to the B:TAS versions of the villains...but that just shows how GREAT they were - that so much time has passed and they've left such a lasting impression. It mightn't be fair, but I can't help but compare. However, this version of Batgirl makes up for that. She's SO great. Her voiceover's entertaining whilst delivering exposition, she cracked me up a couple of times - one was when she was discussing her dad's relationship with the Batman and pretended to be Batman, asking if he'd care to go bowling. The other instance was when Batman pretty much knew straight away it was Barbara and she was was all like, "Oh, dude! You just broke the superhero secret identity code."). She brings a nice new dynamic, and she's by know means 'perfect' off the bat, she's still got lots of training to do, but she's not useless either. They did a real good job introducing her character and I think even if I don't like certain episodes, she'll always be a highlight. B: TAS's version of Batgirl will always be *my* Batgirl (and the voice actress for her will always be my favourite), but this one is a pretty close second. It's funny that now she's finally achieved what other previous animated Batgirl's failed to...which was getting the same white eye treatment for when her mask is on. Of course, hers are much BIGGER/wider than Batman's...but it does allow her to be more expressive, which is good. Sadly, it seems the usual suspects had to complain about her (I read one IMDB review for the second episode and it's just so eyeroll-worthy, their beef with Batgirl). If anything, her character/dialogue has been the BEST part of this season thus far. Ugh, Penguin returned AGAIN (seriously, it feels like he's the one who reappears the most...yet he's BY FAR the lamest/most annoying. Do they try to see how many times they can work in his supremely irritating laugh each episode?) in the third episode, but once again Barbara/Batgirl was entertaining, so that helped. We also had Bruce forgetting he was Batman and being all 'cowardly'. To his credit, he called himself out on it and managed to do what he needed to. Batgirl also saved his butt (but he saves hers too, so it's evenly balanced). I do find it weird that Gordon can't tell Batgirl has his daughter's voice (unless they're going to reveal later on that he figured it out and was just playing along), since she doesn't really alter hers like Bruce does when he's in costume. I am glad that although he's been against her joining, he hasn't been TOO much of a dick about it. It was funny (but slightly odd) when the episode ended with him asking, "Who says I'm a man?". I get what he was going for, but Batgirl's response should've been something like, "Well...if you're NOT a man, then you're a pretty butch woman." or somesuch. Maybe I do have a problem with this show's villains, as the next one was the Ventriloquist and Scarface. While I think it was somewhat interesting to delve into Arnold's split personality thing...I always remember his storyline in the Batman & Robin Adventures comic books (I collected them for a while) which had him eventually kick Scarface to the curb and replace him with a sock puppet, but then Scarface wanted to off Arnold's mum and so he shot Scarface's head off (seriously damaging his own hand in the process). This episode didn't really interest me as much as that comic book issue did...plus I've never been that into these characters either. Then there was the SUPER-ridiculous moment where you're watching a guy tied to a train track with a puppet on each hand...and they're fighting each other (the 'Mr. Snooks' one seemed to have a Kermit the Frog voice. There was one moment where I thought they could've been amusing with it, where it asks Batman his favourite colour - they should've had it look him up and down and then say, "I'm guessing...black?"). So, yeah, I wasn't fond of this episode. Plus, it was missing Barbara. Thank goodness she was in the next one. Though once again the villain failed to impress. This was a 'new' one, named Gearhead (though I spent the beginning of the episode thinking it was Firefly, since I seem to recall him having facial hair the times we saw him out of his suit, and this new guy had a goatee as well...I guess they're unrelated). It got pretty ridiculous when he was morphing vehicles like they were Transformers or whatever (nanotechnology was the 'explanation' for it...then we had to hear Batman state out loudly for our benefit that Gearhead wasn't using nanotechnology...he *was* nanotechnology - thanks, Bats). All in all, a rather unimpressive bad guy...but at least we got fun Barbara/Batgirl (I like that she has her own suiting-up montage just like Batman has) and there was even a moment when Batman showed some truly human behaviour, as he mourned his poor ol' Batmobile that Gearhead exploded. That's the first time I've felt Bruce behave like I imagine a real dude would (in regards to his car), and it was good to see him create a new one that looked at least somewhat like the shape we're mostly used to seeing the Batmobile be. Another 'human' moment came at the end when he just wanted to take his new sweet ride for a spin...just for the hell of it. He's SUCH a guy. I thought that was neat. I'm actually dreading the introduction of Robin next season, as I already know from having watched some clips on YouTube before I bought the show that Batman will end up showing ROBIN the Batcave before he does the same for Batgirl, despite her joining his team *before* Robin. I'd like to know what his excuse for that will be, as I'm pretty ticked off on her behalf. Oh well, I guess I'll just have to enjoy the Batman/Batgirl dynamic this season before Robin comes along. The next two episodes I watched both featured Joker. I know I've complained about the villains on this show, but the Joker has more or less been one of the ones I *didn't* really have a problem with...though now it sort of feels like they're overusing him since he was in these two episodes in a row. The first had somewhat of a novel idea, combining Joker's insanity with Bane's brawn (shows just how unremarkable/unmemorable this version of Bane was, since he only featured in one episode). It did feel a tad hard to believe when he was surviving having rockets and stuff explode on him (I don't ever remember any other Bane being indestructible, but then Batman survived a hell of a beating this episode too. Like, he had entire structures fall on him and such. At least Batgirl got to save the day...though not without quite a few hiccups along the way. I was amused by her wanting to 'bulk up' since the way she's drawn, her arms and legs are literally the thickness of twigs (and I'm not one for skinny-shaming, just to be clear). Another thing about B:TAS is that the way they drew her, she actually had a womanly figure. Here the guys are mostly over-muscled while the girls are the exact opposite. Anyway, I was amused when Joker was taunting Batman with what he was going to do to Batgirl, saying something like he'd scrape her from his shoe...which is amusing because he never WEARS shoes. The Bat robot/'muscle suit' took a fair beating (and the poor new Batmobile was probably dented too), but it was good that Batgirl just didn't suddenly master using it. The message about being tiny having its advantages felt a *little* bit forced...but it wasn't too bad. And, hey, at least supersized Joker wasn't defeated by an overdose of Bane's venom (like we saw at least twice in the old animated shows). The second episode introduced Batgirl to Catwoman, and I remember their team-up in B:TAS. It was interesting seeing their dynamic here, as Catwoman was open to the idea of Batgirl joining her. The whole part with getting them on the island with the maze kind of rendered the hunter guy himself pointless (since Joker gassed him), but it did work in Joker's hyena's. I wasn't fond of their look (B:TAS made them look for fearsome), but I *did* like the 'twist' of them not siding with him, but Catwoman instead. That was unexpected. Though for someone who kept going on about how much she cared about animals (especially the feline variety), she kind of just abandoned those big cats she went to all the trouble of saving when they didn't want to get on the boat/cross water. Once again the show had Batgirl not being 'perfect', as she fell for Catwoman's trick, but I was glad Batman pointed out that she originally *didn't* trust Catwoman (whereas he did). They're doing a decent job of Batgirl somewhat messing up, but not so much that you think she's more a hindrance than useful. When the next episode began with flowers, I automatically thought this was going to be a Poison Ivy episode, but then it seemed to be about Penguin...until it was revealed he was actually a plant (and I can't even give this episode grief about that, since I recall an episode of B:TAS featured Poison Ivy having plant babies or something). Anyway, I was surprised when we saw the shreds off Penguin spurt up after he was knocked into a rotor blade by Batman - can you imagine if that had actually been his demise? That would've been the DARKEST thing any kids animated show had ever done, I think. Alas, I'll never be rid of his annoying self, and so he appeared perfectly fine/intact the next instant...only to dissolve into compost. Once again Barbara's intelligence was on display, as she knew pretty quickly her dad wasn't her dad. She reacted pretty well to the reveal of him being a plant person. I also recall her having some good lines this episode (it's no wonder the writers enjoyed writing for her, since she feels like a *real* person in this show. Like, it they made her live-action and wrote her the same way, it wouldn't feel odd. She feels like the most three-dimensional character in the show). I got a good laugh out of Batman cutting off the old lady by punching her in the face mid-sentence and then Batgirl asking if he *knew* she was a plant. Also amusing was everyone who had a plant counterpart getting stuck in some trippy happy flower world, including Penguin (the ONLY time he's entertained me. Him being all happy and frolicking through the flowers was admittedly funny) and his greeting Batman and Batgirl, then him and the cops all being sad when they blipped out of there after the real versions of them had offed their plant versions (Batgirl mowing over her plant self was kinda morbidly amusing). Unfortunately, I just find this version of Poison Ivy pretty dull. As previously mentioned, I don't like her look and I find her voice actress pretty dull/boring to listen to. B:TAS Poison Ivy was seductive and a total femme fatale, whereas this one is nowhere near as interesting. I wondered, when Batman was killing all her plant people with pesticide rain, what that was going to do to all the regular people. The next episode felt like this show wanted its own version of Superman's enemy, Toyman, with this Krank character (I figured that was Patton Oswalt voicing him without even having to look at the credits), since he basically had the same shtick of using dangerous toys to terrorise. Can't say he was at all impressive or interesting. Slightly more entertaining was the return of Patrick Warburton as Cash Tankison, who remains annoying, but is at least the *entertaining* kind of annoying. Him constantly talking about about being a 'wingman' to Bruce reminded me of Neil Patrick Harris' Barney Stinson from How I Met Your Mother (which I'm currently watching via repeats on TV). It was amusing how offended Cash was by Bruce sneaking out on him, since he was tasked with bodyguarding him, but eventually he was won back over by Bruce providing him with new shades after his previous ones got wrecked. Krank's orange robots looked to me like sinister robotic version of Tails from Sonic the Hedgehog. The next episode saw this show's version of Maximllion Zeus introduced...and at least I can't say that this is a case of the original version being any better...as I thought he was lame *before* and he's still lame now. Such a forgettable character (I think I started falling asleep). The only noteworthy parts were the Batwing being introduced (wasn't long before it already got damaged) and Batgirl getting sick of being 'left out of the loop' by Batman, her sticking it to him about that, and then the ending where he left her a present (at first it looked to me like a printer) which included new gear such as a Batarang (complete with Bat-Wave, naturally) and was that a skirt she now has? I think I was only half-awake and so I couldn't tell whether it was that or a new belt or what. I did like the end shot with the two of them standing side by side in silhouette. Here's hoping that now he treats her better and not so much as just a tag-along. She's MORE than proven herself (though there's still that issue of him showing Robin the Batcave before her, which I know is yet to come and I'm already not-liking). The last three episodes of the season started with the one where Joker gets himself an apprentice (I guess Harley Quinn's a ways off yet?) who ended up being some bully who had it in for Barbara at school...which already told you how much he sucked, since Barbara's AWESOME - and this was not even taking into account his pathetic attempts at 'jokes'. Anyway, in the end he naturally wasn't willing to murder Batgirl...though it would've been nice to have seen this experienced had impacted him enough whereby he was decent to Barbara at school (I don't mean because he knew she was Batgirl, which he obviously *didn't*, but just that it made him mature/grow as a person to the point where he didn't pick on others). Batman continued his jerky treatment of Batgirl by ditching her every chance he got, though at least she continued to call him out of this crap, pointing out how nuts it was that the frickin' JOKER had a better 'relationship' with his 'apprentice' than Batman had with her, even getting to see the Joker's hideout (which is apparently at the chemical plant where he was 'created' - I hadn't realised that before now). The second episode was rather dull/boring, I thought, as it just featured an 'old school chum' of Alfred's, a map on an umbrella handle and both Penguin and Mr. Freeze (neither of whom interest me in this series). The last episode was slightly better, involving a robot that got all the minds/memories or whatever of the different villains. The most interesting part was when Batman confused it by asking its origin (which it didn't have, and could only think of the other villains origins). Naturally, Batgirl being absent made this episode rather disappointing. I'm already tired of how Batman treats Batgirl. I don't think he was this bad in B:TAS (though I don't really remember his 'relationship' with her from that). It sucks that they created such a great Barbara/Batgirl...and then don't really have anyone recognise her awesomeness and give her the credit she deserves. Sure, there was a throwaway line from Alfred in one episode how she fared better than one of the Bat vehicles, I think...but she deserves SO much more. Anyway, she was obviously the highlight of this season. Without her, I doubt I would've been really into it at all. I'm wondering if I'll like Season 4 better or worse than this season.
|
|
|
Post by Chalice_Of_Evil on May 6, 2022 7:10:28 GMT
I most recently finished Season 1 of Emily in Paris on DVD. I didn't really know anything about this show when I got it other than apparently it had 'offended' some people for some reason (which was reason enough to check this out, since everyone seems to be SO easily offended these days and usually it's over nothing). I'd watched a trailer for Season 1...but that hadn't really piqued my interest. I knew the show came from the creator of Younger (which was the last show of his I finished watching) and I'd enjoyed that show (at least in its early seasons), so I thought that despite the uninteresting trailer, it was worth giving this show a shot. Thankfully...I didn't hate it. It mostly gets by on the charm of Lily Collins as Emily Cooper, who manages to keep her character endearing (at least for *me*, anyway). I'd heard that people found her 'annoying' and such, but she was really no worse than those who treated her like crap as soon as she arrived in Paris. Yes, they kept pointing out that she came to a country she didn't speak the language of...but does that mean all none-English-speaking people should get booted out of any countries that mainly speak English? Somehow I doubt it. Anyway, we saw she was taking lessons and learning Parisian French, and plus this job was something that fell into her lap at the last minute when her boss couldn't go, so that's why she was unprepared for it. Naturally, Emily clashed with her work colleagues and boss (the former were pretty one-dimensional early on, but seemed to warm up to Emily towards the end of the season...while the latter seemed to just stay in 'cold bitch mode' and never really seemed to show and 'growth'. I remember when I started watching Younger, I thought the main character's boss seemed kind of a bitch, but then we were shown she had layers and she slowly warmed up to the main character...plus she was funny/entertaining. Unfortunately, that's not the case with Emily's boss here who, unlike the others, didn't seem to show any 'growth'. I think there was only *one* instance in the whole season where she complemented Emily, and then it was business as usual after). Really, the best/most likeable supporting characters in this show were Mindy (who was the first to really befriend Emily and in return she helped Mindy work up the courage to utilise her great singing talent) and Camille (another actually *decent* person Emily encountered...unfortunately, she's together with the guy who's Emily's neighbour, who she naturally grew feelings for after he helped her out a lot). Other than these two and Emily, I can't say I really liked any of the other characters in this show. Maybe they'll get more development in Season 2? I'm not really a social media type of person, so a lot of Emily's things that she said/did in regards to that was stuff I didn't really understand a lot of, but I think I got the gist of it. Predictably, the French style of doing things and Emily's American way clashed, but I think it was inevitable that she'd point out things she perceived as just plain 'wrong'. I know others criticised her for this, but what would they have rather had...her just sit back and accept everything, going with the flow and not having any disagreements with anybody? That would've been rather boring. I think I found the early seasons of Younger funnier than I found the first season of this show, but there ere *some* amusing moments scattered throughout - I think the most amusing parts came from Emily getting exasperated by certain things people said to her and her responses to them. One thing that must be mentioned is how Emily fashion sense/clothes were almost like their own character in the show. Some were really nice, others somewhat questionable, but I appreciated the original style she seemed to have. It was unique/stood out and made watching her always interesting (though Lily Collins being very easy on the eyes also helped. I was shocked to learn she's over thirty now. She still looks more or less the same as she did when I first became aware of her...which was quite some time ago). The other 'unofficial' character in the show would have to be Paris itself (which I was glad to hear they actually filmed in, as it would've been tricky to 'fake' that kind of scenery). It certainly has a very special 'look'/'feel' to it, which the show utilised well. On the whole, I ended up fairly happy that I took a chance with this show (especially seeing as how couple of shows I'd bought previously didn't turn out so great and I regretted buying them). I'm not sure how long it'll take before this series starts losing its 'charm' (with Younger, it took a few seasons), but I do hope they release the other seasons here on DVD - so the fact that I want that to happen must mean I enjoyed it enough. But let's see more croissants next season! I LOVE a good croissant.
|
|
|
Post by Chalice_Of_Evil on May 18, 2022 0:51:59 GMT
Seasons 4 & 5 of The Batman on Blu-ray. Seasons 1 & 2 of The Royals on DVD.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
@Deleted
Posts: 0
Likes:
|
Post by Deleted on May 18, 2022 18:21:23 GMT
|
|
|
Post by taylorfirst1 on May 18, 2022 21:32:28 GMT
Bewitched season 1
|
|
|
Post by Feologild Oakes on May 19, 2022 23:47:19 GMT
|
|
|
Post by theravenking on May 20, 2022 14:00:29 GMT
|
|
|
Post by Feologild Oakes on Jun 4, 2022 13:00:58 GMT
Step by Step - Season 2
|
|