Stranger Things

[John-Locke]

I'm two episodes in and loving it so far, who else is watching?

[Cpt Kirks 2pay]

4 episodes in so far. It's a bit slow, but maybe I'm too impatient with the build up. The acting is good, not fantastic to be entirely gripping.

I'm not really seeing what the fuss is about so far really. The characters haven't grabbed my interest too much, but we'll see how things progress. There's some great ideas and mysteries going on with these abductions, are they in some other dimension or something? What's going on there? I'm enjoying finding this out so far.

The actress who plays El has me always glued to the screen when she's on. She's one of my favourite things so far. Winona Ryder is very good at playing unhinged to the point of going mad, she doesn't cross the line into becoming OTT too much.

At around 50 minutes per episode a lot can happen, so I hope that this setting up pays off.

[Ribbons]

I read somewhere that this was the '80s throwback/Amblin homage that Super 8 tried to be

[TheBaxter]

i'm looking forward to watching it once it's out on blu-ray or something

[Peven]

I read somewhere that this was the '80s throwback/Amblin homage that Super 8 was

there, corrected for accuracy

[Ribbons]

I'm just passing along the message, gosh!

[Cpt Kirks 2pay]

The appeal and quality of this show definitely grew as it progressed. I'm finished with it now, and I will miss this childhood early 80s world in which I felt privileged to be invited into, and I will miss the characters, especially the easy going kids who behaved admirably against all that darkness and horror.

It had a sci-fi twist which was just original enough to make it stand out from the films that it was paying homage to, and keeping it's own serious tone while still maintaining enough endearing treatment of it's characters make it it's own thing.

The acting, suspense and mystery made this an infectious watch, and sitting here on this computer as I type this, I know sitting here in front of it tomorrow there will be a feeling of lack, as this part of early 80s youth and hanging out with such likeable characters running around fighting bad guys and otherworldly demons will no longer be there for me to join in with. It sucks waiting nearly a year for the next season of a show you've grown attached to. Thank you for the enjoyment and being the best part of my day, guys.

[Maui]

This show is a real blast from the past for me. Being an 80s kid, just about every scene has some little reminder of my childhood (damn, I wish I had kept my Clash vinyls). The kids are just fantastic in this and it's really great to see Winona Ryder in front of the camera again.

I am 3 episodes in so far and very captivated by this show. Looking forward to seeing how this all plays out.

[judderman]

I'm also an eighties kid but I had a slightly abusive childhood so I don't really have a lot of nostalgia for it. I loved seeing Winona, but I felt hers was a thankless role. And I constantly wondered why they didn't just cut it down to 2.5 hours and release it as a movie, since it would have had the same effect.

[Fievel]

This could have easily been a derivative piece of shit. But thanks to the perfect casting, fantastic/authentic 80's acting, and ridiculous attention to detail, this was a genuine treat to watch. It was like every episode, I could just sit there and point out the influences (sometimes a shameless lift) from classic 80's films....but it was executed so masterfully that I didn't care.

Like kirks said, I'll miss this. I already do.

[Fried Gold]

[Ribbons]

Okay, so this seems like a good opportunity for the rant I've been practicing on my friends and relatives: why do Netflix shows have to come out at the same time every year?*

They've completely re-invented the distribution model, yet with the production schedule that most of their shows have, they're essentially starting the next season right after they finished the last one. You're not going to tell me that some of those shows haven't suffered creative sophomore slumps as a result of not having enough time to incubate (I'm looking at you, Daredevil and Orange Is the New Black). So why do they do it? Because that's how it's always been done? I don't get it.

*(in case this wasn't clear, this Stranger Things preview promises Season 2 will air next year, presumably at the same time.)

[TheButcher]

EW:
Andrew Stanton to helm 2 episodes of Stranger Things 2

[Wolfpack]

The things are getting strangier.

[TheButcher]

The things are getting strangier.

[Fievel]

Yeah....part 2 is really fucking good.

[Cpt Kirks 2pay]

Wow! Well WHAT a farking AMAZING great insightful review!!!

Wow to think with all the FB posts about this show that after all this time on a Film and TV forum we get ONE, yes ONE amazing line telling us so informatively that this show is simply - fucking good.

Wow, I'm so glad I came here. To think that people here complain that idiots in the world go to the AICN talkbacks and other places online when they should be here posting about such stuff instead.

Wow. What great condescending wanker posters you all are.

[Fievel]

Hey now, quit yer Kirkin'......

I was just looking to get the conversation started since no one is talking about it here.

Every Single Season 2 SPOILER follows:

Can you believe that they'd create such a kind, loving character like Bob, only to give him one of the most grisly deaths on the whole series? And how about that Hopper? That gruff teddy bear of a man is just one giant, walking heart, isn't he? At times when he and Jane are fighting, it's like "Ooooh nooo! He's really an asshole!" But no, he always has the best of intentions. And Paul Reiser...his head scientist actually ended up being a decent (seeming) guy! Winona Ryder's character was still crazy, but it made sense given the events of the previous season.

But this is a show about the kids.

-Dustin....holy crap. This kid caused my heart to break multiple times out of empathetic embarrassment!
-Lucas - I like him a lot more this season. His sister was hilarious, too.
-Mike - I understood a lot of his basic emotions, too. Really believable as a kid.
-Will - Significantly more screen time than last season, and he was great.
-Jonathon - graduated from stalker to romantic interest. Kudos?
-Nancy - She was great in her part, too. The drunk girlfriend scene was painful.
-Steve - Nice transformation for him. Still has stupid hair.
-Barb - Still dead.
-Max - A cool, fun addition to the group. I was a touch disappointed that she wasn't another powers kid from the lab.
-Billy - I was friends back in the day with a guy that had Billy's hair...and he was kind of a dick....it made me dislike Billy even more. A very Stephen King-ish antagonist.
-Eleven/Elle/Jane - Loved her story. Loved the progression in her character. Hope her Mom gets better (would be cool if she was integral to the next season).

The Chicago Field Trip to meet The Lost Sister - If that character becomes part of the series, then the episode wasn't a total waste. Otherwise, that was just painful to watch. It was a condensed bad 1980s film with the cheesy stereotypical cinema punks.

I hope they have a definite endgame in place for this series. The first two seasons have been great.

[Wolfpack]

Lucas winding up with Max. Eleven winding up with Mike. Jonathan winding up with Nancy. I found all of that a little hard to believe. I mean, I can get behind the ungodly monsters, the parallel dimension, and the magic children but the boy getting the girl (x3)? Come on, man!