Sociotard Posted July 18, 2016 Report Share Posted July 18, 2016 Highly recommended! I don't binge watch things, but every episode ended on a cliffhanger, and I just couldn't stop until I'd finished. I especially liked that tabletop RPGs were very prominent. While videogames and even CCGs have been positively shown on TV, tabletop rpgs are usually played by people who either accidentally summon a demon or violently lose touch with reality. (granted, those examples were LARPers.) Okay, I did roll my eyes when their setting book actually proved useful, but still it was a nice change of pace. Demogorgon indeed. And wow, Winona Ryder was absolutely convincing as a mother on the edge of madness. All the actors did a good job, really. The little girl playing Eleven was perfect. And the sets and wardrobes really sold the 80s. What was amusing was that the show was even more 80s pop culture aware than a TV show from the 80s would have been. When a mom wants to bond with her kid, she doesn't surprise him with tickets to the movies, she surprised him with tickets to Poltergeist. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Psybolt Posted July 18, 2016 Report Share Posted July 18, 2016 I watched this and enjoyed it tremendously. I loved the D & D reference. It had a very Steven King/Steve Spielberg feel to it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sociotard Posted July 18, 2016 Author Report Share Posted July 18, 2016 Although I did watch some anime later which made all the nosebleeds seem really funny. In US cinema, a nosebleed means something terrible happened to your brain meats. In Japanese cartoons it means something entirely inappropriate for a 12 year old girl. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badger Posted July 19, 2016 Report Share Posted July 19, 2016 Never quite got that with anime. At the time, it isn't where the blood is flowing to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zslane Posted July 19, 2016 Report Share Posted July 19, 2016 I've only seen the first two episodes so far but I recommend it as well. I agree that it is like Steven Spielberg meets Steven King. Much like Super 8, this series feels like a love letter to Spielberg's early films, with a dallop of King's menace and suspense. It does capture the early 80s quite well, though that is sort of painful for me in a way. I was only a few years older than those kids back in 1983, and so I know that period well. Looking back, I don't hold much nostalgic fondness for the 80s. But I do have great nostalgic fondness for Spielberg's films of that era, so I can look past the horrible hair and what passed for music back then and enjoy the wonderful Spielberg pastiche that it is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pattern Ghost Posted July 20, 2016 Report Share Posted July 20, 2016 Ah! Got the Red Box in 83. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NuSoardGraphite Posted July 21, 2016 Report Share Posted July 21, 2016 I'm a tinfoil hatter and this show is based on one of the most tinfoil of the conspiracies. http://www.crystalinks.com/montauk.html In fact, the show was originally supposed to be named "Montauk". No idea why the name changed. I'm about 5 episodes in. Love it so far. Its got a good creep factor to it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starlord Posted July 21, 2016 Report Share Posted July 21, 2016 3 shows in...nice little mystery. Definitely recommended. PS: A fireball against Demogorgon??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zslane Posted July 21, 2016 Report Share Posted July 21, 2016 PS: A fireball against Demogorgon??? Yeah that was puzzling. The boys all seemed to know who/what Demogorgon was (not just Mike, the DM). I would have thought they'd know how futile a fireball would be. But the whole scene was darn charming just the same. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starlord Posted July 22, 2016 Report Share Posted July 22, 2016 Finished. Yes, I definitely recommend. It was a nice little ET meets Poltergeist meets X-Files meets Wonder Years meets X-Men meets Aliens mash-up. PS: Dustin was my favorite character. PSPS: It took 7 episodes for Mike's mom to enter her own basement??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sociotard Posted July 28, 2016 Author Report Share Posted July 28, 2016 A fun side-by-side of Stranger Things with assorted 80s movies it drew from. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nolgroth Posted July 28, 2016 Report Share Posted July 28, 2016 Stranger Things is like watching a Stephen King novel being played out on the screen. Pacing, characterization, setting, etc are so reminiscent of King's best works. I was so convinced that King was involved, that I looked it up. Turns out a fan of Stephen King is behind the project. I don't have the link (cell phone) handy, but what a great homage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nolgroth Posted July 29, 2016 Report Share Posted July 29, 2016 Sadly, the finale was really a let down. Are you really telling me that a bear trap, a gasoline fire and a spiked baseball bat can hurt the creature but several men firing sustained bursts from full auto weapons couldn't? I know that the whole setup was for 011 to save the day with mystical powers, but it stretched my suspension of disbelief a touch too far. It was lazy storytelling. The good news are all the MacGuffins that were laid for a potential second season. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starlord Posted July 29, 2016 Report Share Posted July 29, 2016 Sadly, the finale was really a let down. Are you really telling me that a bear trap, a gasoline fire and a spiked baseball bat can hurt the creature but several men firing sustained bursts from full auto weapons couldn't? I know that the whole setup was for 011 to save the day with mystical powers, but it stretched my suspension of disbelief a touch too far. It was lazy storytelling. The good news are all the MacGuffins that were laid for a potential second season. In a story as unrealistic as children being the heroes, yes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zslane Posted July 29, 2016 Report Share Posted July 29, 2016 To be fair: From what I can tell, those things only lightly wounded it. It seemed to come back with full strength shortly after that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NuSoardGraphite Posted July 29, 2016 Report Share Posted July 29, 2016 Almost done. In watching this, I realize that I miss this genre of film. Man the 80s were a great time for low budget weird horror films with a lot of heart and imagination. Stuff like Scanners and Firestarter. I want more stuff like this. Nolgroth 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sociotard Posted August 16, 2016 Author Report Share Posted August 16, 2016 https://www.reddit.com/r/StrangerThings/comments/4x8fip/where_the_upside_ends/ (It would honestly be kinda funny if they made just a few Stranger Things VHS tapes to auction off) Oh, and the DOE put out a 'fact check' of the show. http://energy.gov/articles/what-stranger-things-didn-t-get-quite-so-right-about-energy-department bigdamnhero 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nolgroth Posted August 16, 2016 Report Share Posted August 16, 2016 I'm pretty sure the DoE in Stranger Things was no more than a cover for whatever shadow government project was going on. That DoE guy needs to listen to George Noory more often. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FrankL Posted August 16, 2016 Report Share Posted August 16, 2016 If we had Netflix, I would watch this based on the recommendations of this thread alone. I'll be watching for it to hit DVD. Have to watch it alone, though. My wife doesn't like the weird genre. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoloOfEarth Posted August 16, 2016 Report Share Posted August 16, 2016 My wife doesn't like the weird genre. And yet, she married you. I kid, Frank, I kid. bigdamnhero, FrankL and Nolgroth 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FrankL Posted August 16, 2016 Report Share Posted August 16, 2016 And yet, she married you. I kid, Frank, I kid. No problem. She might even say the same thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starlord Posted September 2, 2016 Report Share Posted September 2, 2016 There will be a Season 2 Netzilla 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigdamnhero Posted September 3, 2016 Report Share Posted September 3, 2016 Finally finished binging it - excellent show and can't wait for Season 2! Re guns being worthless, well yeah it's kindof a genre thing. Bugs me too but it's hardly unique to this show. Honestly the only thing that really twigged my suspension of disbelief? The fact that the "townies" were so ignorant of the Lab and its employees. This comes from my having grown up outside a DOE lab (Los Alamos). Where do you think all the lab personnel live? In the community. Half the town would be working at the lab, and everyone else would know someone who worked there. Need to know what's going on at the lab? Lemme go talk to my sister who's on the cleaning staff or my cousin who's a computer tech there. The Lab Director would be a local celebrity - not necessarily liked, but certainly known. The Sheriff would have the Lab security force on speed dial and vice-versa; I'm not saying they'd always get along or cooperate well, but they'd damn sure know one another. So it was jarring to me that folks in town barely seemed aware of the existence of what would certainly be one of the major employers in the area. But that's just me and my baggage. Nolgroth, Sociotard and Netzilla 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zslane Posted September 3, 2016 Report Share Posted September 3, 2016 I kind of assumed that most of the rank and file employees were unaware of the secret experiments going on in the secret labs on the secret floors of that facility. Knowledge of the psychic dimension penetration experiments was likely limited to only a handful of scientists, lab technicians, and security personel. Pattern Ghost 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sociotard Posted September 3, 2016 Author Report Share Posted September 3, 2016 It's a general problem in the conspiracy theory genre. How on earth could the thousands involved in the Apollo 'fake' keep such a secret a secret? In a similar vein, I kept wondering about the dudes 11 kept killing. They lived in the community. They had families and friends. How did the lab cover those up? Whole lotta car crashes? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.