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Garth Ennis' The Boys on Amazon

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vi edit said:
Violence rating 110/115 people rate it as "Severe".

This is pure gore porn. Which is fine. But fair warning to those that weren't sure what they were getting into.
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Yeah, started watching with my wife and she literally had to walk away after the girlfriend’s “mishap” with A-Train. I quickly realized this would be one that I watch alone.
 
destrekor said:
Want to see an adaptation that completely missed the mark, in every way possible? The Dark Tower. Honestly it wasn't bad, at least as a fan of the Stephen King series, because I still got to see some things brought to life, but yeah, it was certainly not a great movie. And worse they showed cut scenes at the end of the disc, and holy fuck those were exactly the kinds of scenes that needed to be included! That was a case of far too many players getting their hands on it, trying too hard to put their own mark on it as other hands departed the production. Partly expected when the project shifts production companies, directors, producers, writers, etc. At that point it became: how do we recoup this waste of an investment? Pisses me off because that's a series that would be epic to see done right with the original plan, a few movies and a few TV seasons/series.

Here's to hoping this latest Dune effort pays off, I want an epic film series!
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The Dark Tower is still coming to Prime TV—albeit as somewhat of a “prequel” series focused on events in Gilead and Magis. I think expectations have been lowered after the movie, but with people from Walking Dead seasons 2-3, Ozark and House of Cards involved...who knows, it could be good?

This guy (Sam Strike) is playing young Roland:
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I ate through the series two episodes at a time and quite enjoyed it. That said, I wish the season ending was a little more impactful. As for the gill fucking scene, I thought it was boring. Whatever commentary they intended for The Deep was muddled and confusing.
 
EvilYoda said:
I ate through the series two episodes at a time and quite enjoyed it. That said, I wish the season ending was a little more impactful. As for the gill fucking scene, I thought it was boring. Whatever commentary they intended for The Deep was muddled and confusing.
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I was also a bit confused on what they were trying to do with him. Were they saying he's a rape victim now? Was it just trying to balance the karma from what he did to Starlight? It's like they started down a path and then dropped it.
 
Skel said:
I was also a bit confused on what they were trying to do with him. Were they saying he's a rape victim now? Was it just trying to balance the karma from what he did to Starlight? It's like they started down a path and then dropped it.
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The Deep's arc was a bit strange, and very much unfinished. It seems like they were trying to make him the "sympathetic rapist" by the final 3rd of the season. ....which I think might be doable if they spent some time on showing him repent/regret his past in an honest way, but it never got there. It just kinda ended with a whisper, the assumption being they will pick it back up next season as the "embittered & lame superhero that no one wants?"
 
zinfamous said:
The Deep's arc was a bit strange, and very much unfinished. It seems like they were trying to make him the "sympathetic rapist" by the final 3rd of the season. ....which I think might be doable if they spent some time on showing him repent/regret his past in an honest way, but it never got there. It just kinda ended with a whisper, the assumption being they will pick it back up next season as the "embittered & lame superhero that no one wants?"
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I took his character as sort of like "What happens if DC's Aquaman had to deal with the Internet's mockery". You see a bit of that with his scenes with the psychiatrist, and I think that's part of why you don't see the interaction between him and Starlight. (The insinuation is enough.) But yeah, it seems like his character has sort of hit rock bottom, and I think that's what his sort of head-shaving scene was meant to represent. He's sort of "shedding his vanity". Although, I wonder what they'll do with his character. Do they go the redemption route? Do they go the anti-hero route? The hardest part is that he's limited to water, and unlike the Aquaman that we've seen recently, he has pretty much no power outside of the water. At least the DCEU's Aquaman appears to have some sort of super-human strength... The Deep can't even push a creepy woman off of him.

EvilYoda said:
I ate through the series two episodes at a time and quite enjoyed it. That said, I wish the season ending was a little more impactful.
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It always bugs me when I finish a show and it feels like there should be another episode. It happened with The Warrior earlier this year, and even though I was sure The Boys only had eight episodes, I still looked for a ninth. 😛
 
Aikouka said:
I took his character as sort of like "What happens if DC's Aquaman had to deal with the Internet's mockery". You see a bit of that with his scenes with the psychiatrist, and I think that's part of why you don't see the interaction between him and Starlight. (The insinuation is enough.) But yeah, it seems like his character has sort of hit rock bottom, and I think that's what his sort of head-shaving scene was meant to represent. He's sort of "shedding his vanity". Although, I wonder what they'll do with his character. Do they go the redemption route? Do they go the anti-hero route? The hardest part is that he's limited to water, and unlike the Aquaman that we've seen recently, he has pretty much no power outside of the water. At least the DCEU's Aquaman appears to have some sort of super-human strength... The Deep can't even push a creepy woman off of him.



It always bugs me when I finish a show and it feels like there should be another episode. It happened with The Warrior earlier this year, and even though I was sure The Boys only had eight episodes, I still looked for a ninth. 😛
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I'm pretty sure "you don't see the interaction between him and Starlight" because it's not porn.
 
Skel said:
Touche!
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Honestly, I figured they didn't show any of it because they didn't want to worry about backlash from what you could argue is an unnecessary rape scene. (Let's call it the "Goblin Slayer Conundrum") To a degree, that's not wrong since we all kind of got the point from her throwing up afterward.
 
UNCjigga said:
Yeah, started watching with my wife and she literally had to walk away after the girlfriend’s “mishap” with A-Train. I quickly realized this would be one that I watch alone.
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My wife and I have gotten through episode 6 so far this weekend and she loves the show. Then again this is the woman that likes Alien movies and her fave holiday is Halloween.
 
UNCjigga said:
The Dark Tower is still coming to Prime TV—albeit as somewhat of a “prequel” series focused on events in Gilead and Magis. I think expectations have been lowered after the movie, but with people from Walking Dead seasons 2-3, Ozark and House of Cards involved...who knows, it could be good?
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Yes this was part of the original plan, and I forgot that Amazon had greenlit the TV show!
That "prequel" should be the events of the fourth novel in the series, Wizard and Glass. with the vast majority of action in the novel happening with a young Roland.

The original idea was to have that series running for a season or two, with seasons launched between the cinematic releases. I'm glad some of it is still alive, here's to hoping they pull off a miracle and get further films produced.
 
Aikouka said:
Neither is Game of Thrones... so I don't know what you're talking about?
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Were you watching the same GoT the rest of us were watching? Before the producers fell in love with CGI dragons it was almost nothing but porn.

As for The Boys, I just got done binge watching it and really enjoyed it. I loathe superhero movies and TV shows and it was great to see capes portrayed as scumbags for a change.
 
i just finished season 1, it's good.
there are a few episodes that rise to really impressive on the story construction, reveals, and general character development. the effects and cinematography are very high quality and used more judiciously than some of the marvel movies.

i can understand the issues some have expressed with the break off point for the season, it does kind of blunt the direction/momentum of the narrative build up they had been pointing at.

i skimmed the wiki page for the comic and yeah they diverged off the core material pretty hard. but i'm fine with the showrunner Kripke(creator of Supernatural) doing his own take. with most of the big reveals out of the bag, season 2 will have to lean pretty hard on character development.
 
destrekor said:
Want to see an adaptation that completely missed the mark, in every way possible? The Dark Tower. Honestly it wasn't bad, at least as a fan of the Stephen King series, because I still got to see some things brought to life, but yeah, it was certainly not a great movie. And worse they showed cut scenes at the end of the disc, and holy fuck those were exactly the kinds of scenes that needed to be included! That was a case of far too many players getting their hands on it, trying too hard to put their own mark on it as other hands departed the production. Partly expected when the project shifts production companies, directors, producers, writers, etc. At that point it became: how do we recoup this waste of an investment? Pisses me off because that's a series that would be epic to see done right with the original plan, a few movies and a few TV seasons/series.
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League of Extraordinary Gentlemen too, that one I felt like they already had ideas for an action movie with literary characters in it, then found out someone had already done a comic like that, and bought the rights for name recognition and/or to keep from being sued.
 
I've gotten through episode 3 on this show and I'm also getting a weird "something is missing" vibe and there have been a few moments where the story moves fast because it doesn't really make much sense. Some of the violence also crosses over into that goofy "evil dead" snuff territory like the face sitting scene. So many ways to do that without it coming off as absolutely ridiculous.

I'll watch the show to the end cause, honestly, what the hell else am I going to watch while waiting for S4 of the Expanse. But my spider sense is telling me that this is going to be another frustrating show that would go from OK to incredible with a few minor tweaks.
 
I just finished the season, and it was one of my favorite "streaming-only" series so far.

It wasn't perfect, but I think they knocked it out of the park with the story, characters, and actors who portray them........especially Homelander.
 
Just finished watching the first season: A very entertaining show that's like the mirror verse version of the Marvel Comic Universe. The show definitely works better when binge watched, and is really structured more like an 8 hour movie than 8 individual episodes where taken as a whole the experience definitely overwhelms some of the weaker points that jump out when watching and digesting the episodes individually.

Some points for discussion below:

- Homelander: Jesus Hubert Christ, this guy is the most terrifying person to watch on screen since forever, easily surpassing Joffrey as an easily detestable psychopath (albeit with a sympathetic twist). The actor really killed it, totally owned the role. Every time he's on screen, there is this palpable sense that he's really just barely keeping it together, that he could snap and everyone on screen would be dead and there really wouldn't be much anyone could do about it. Even other supes are clearly terrified of him. How the show deals with this (Stilwell clearly exploiting Homelander's "Mommy" issues, etc) is really a treat.

-A-Train: Love the depth that gave his character, kinda the aging actor/actress desperately clinging to his fame, slowly destroying his relationship with everyone who cares about him to hold onto the one thing he cares about. Another great performance, and a very non-standard way to get taken out for a Supe.

-The Deep: Not sure whats going on with this guy, but there is almost a character scourging going on here where his rapey behavior at the start of the show sets him up as a whipping boy through the rest of the season. He would be a weird character to redeem, I wonder if he's headed deeper into nutty super-villainy.

-Butcher: Really enjoyed how the "final" showdown between him and Homelander was handled. Clearly this is a man totally consumed by hatred, totally uncaring of what innocent people might get hurt, so long as it hurts Homelander somehow. Helluva cliffhanger ending for him there too, although I have no doubt whatever happens he will only go deeper into a downward spiral of rage.

-Really enjoyed Haily Joel Osment playing a washed up child star, solid tongue in cheek right there.

-There is more, but i'm going to stop myself here.
 
Wow, a little surprised not to find anything regarding the first 3 episodes of Season 2. Amazon is promoting the hell out of the show.

The show is getting brigaded hard on Amazon thanks to its release format, but I feel like Amazon found a good balance here: Three episodes of the current season are released each Friday and the whole season is released over the course of the month.

I personally like it, its more content than the old one episode a week format but the regulated flow of content allows the community to theorize and discuss and ruminate on what they saw; and it also lowers the odds of spoilers. With the season dump, you really are doing the community building in the year between seasons, rather than the week between episodes. Frankly I feel some of the magic of the "cooler talk" has been lost there.

Anyhow, first three episodes:

- Hughie: The character was somewhat endearing in how out of his element he was in the first season, but he started to grate on me a bit covering his little "find his place in The Boys" mini-arc over these episodes. I hope he gets progressively less whiny and more self-assured as the season goes on.

- Butcher: Looks like the cliffhanger from last season remains to be resolved here. Madelyn's baby appears to be OK, Butcher winds up in a random parking lot, both seemingly obviously saved by Homelander. To gloat or for some other purpose, we'll see.

- Homelander: Jesus Christ this guy just keeps getting more and more unhinged and terrifying. Every time he's on the screen I feel myself subconsciously tensing up because he's such a menacing presence, you don't know if someone is going to die horribly or be maimed or what. I personally enjoyed his scenes with Giancarlo and Stormfront, the writers have to be a bit creative in coming up with characters that can stand up to him despite his capability to easily kill anyone he's in the presence of.

- Stormfront: Not sure what the hell anyone expected with a name like Stormfront, but like most supes you keep waiting for the other shoe to drop and booooy does it drop. Great addition to the show, a character that is clearly being built up to be as vile as Homelander, but much more savy. The actress has done an incredible job making you want to like someone that is clearly not good person inside.

- The Deep: I wonder how deep the hole will go. The gills scene had me grinning like an idiot while also adding a lot of depth to the character, and the whale scene was just a god damn sight to behold. I appreciated how his reunion with Starlight was handled, and while he has a lot of atonement in front of him, I really hope this is a redemption arc in a show that could really use one.

There is more, but I wonder if anyone else is even watching...
 
The first couple of episodes were a little on the slow side, but thankfully things picked up quite a bit in the 3rd episode.

Hopefully the rest of the season is good (but it's not like it has much competition out there right now anyways). Even before we found out they weren't releasing all of the episodes at once, my wife and I had already decided we weren't going to binge watch it, and were instead going to pace ourselves in order to have something good to watch for more than one or two days.
 
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