Flirting with television streaming series
Oct. 16th, 2020 11:12 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shadowkat1. Teen Wolf - I made it through 4 seasons, then got bogged down in the mess that is S5. Season 5 doesn't make much sense, and the writers seem to have lost track of their own mythology and character arcs.
I don't know if I should continue or not.
2. The Haunting of Bly House
Seen four episodes so far. It's not as scary as The Haunting of Hill House, nor as creepy. It is compelling though - in part due to the actors. The actress playing Dani, who played Nelle Crain in the Haunting of Hill House is a compelling actress and slowly pulls the viewer in with very little effort.
But it's also kind of slow in places, and not well paced. There's lots of talking - that doesn't quite further plot, and a heavy focus on romance. It's a bit schmaltzy in places. And some of the twists are...well a little on the cliche side.
But like I said previously, it's compelling. Also it's delving into grief, in much the same way Hill House did. But Hill House had more of a central focus, while this feels less focused - I think perhaps because they felt the need to add onto the original story in ways that may not have been an expansion of its themes.
That said, I'm enjoying it. And the fact that it is less frightening - makes it a lot easier to watch.
3. The Right Stuff - Disney +'s take on Tom Wolfe's non-fiction novel of the same name, and Philip Kaufman's film version. My difficulty with it is I've read the book, and I loved the film adaptation. The actor playing John Glenn is quite good, and yes, that's Colin O'Donahue -(Hook in Once Upon a Time) as Gordon Cooper (Dennis Quaid's role in the film), but the actor playing Shepard, while attractive, doesn't hold a candle to Scott Glenn (few can) and Sam Shepard's Chuck Yeager is sorely missed. Yeager isn't featured at all.
Yet, it is interesting in places and I may stick with it, since it is comforting to watch something that takes place in another era and has zip to do with this one. I don't know about anyone else - but I can't watch anything right now that is relevant to what's going on now. For escape? I want to really escape.
4. Great British Baking Show S8 - eh, it tries, but I'm still aware. Also it's replaced the female co-host with the bald headed guy from Doctor Who - which is not working for me.
I think I finally burned out on it. Shame it was a good comfort show, still kind of is. Once you get past the first episode. And the old episodes are still comforting.
5. Social Dilemma - I flirted with it after two people on FB rec'd it, but I apparently know more than they do about how FB, Google, Pininterest, Instagram and Twitter work - which is why I've not really invested that heavily into them. They are marketing platforms designed to get as many viewers and hits as possible. All are ad based.
There are non-ad based platforms, but at some point they do cost something or they have subscribers who are supporting them. Kind of like Netflix, Disney +, Hulu, etc. You have the subscription platforms and the ad-base platforms.
Amazon's Kindle and HD Fire are similar - you pay more for a version without ads. Amazon sells ad space to authors, publishers, etc - to appear on their Kindle and Fire HD.
Anyhow the Social Dilemma goes into detail - utilizing actors and real people to explain how social platforms are ad and marketing based, constantly gathering market research data on customer spending habits, interests, etc - in order to sell, promote, and market products, political platforms, candidates, etc.
I got bored and somewhat annoyed within fifteen-twenty minutes. What annoyed me was the realization that most of the ex-social platform execs were all now with a new platform entitled the Human Connection or something, can't remember - and subtly selling it. Netflix also put it together - and Netflix is promoting itself through the very channels its questioning. In short, it was a documentary telling me something - I've known since 2002, and it had an agenda - ie to sell me yet another tech platform.
Vincent Karthesier - who played Connor and on Mad Men makes an apparence in it - as one of the actors playing a role to demonstrate how the evil marketing logrithrythms work. Don't get me wrong I know they have all that - but I also know it doesn't really work all that well. How do I know this?
Because FB, Amazon, Google, Netflix, etc keep rec'ing things to me that I don't want or care about. They think because I buy or watch something, I want more of that - no.
I took a marketing course once - and learned during it how inexact a science marketing truly is - it's impossible to figure out what people want or what will be popular. There's no real discernible pattern. And you can't really control it. Oh, you can guess. Put together logrithrythms, and gather data on people, demographics, buying behaviors, etc to make a qualified guess - but that's about it.
People are impossible to predict, and oddly fickle. You really can't predict human behavior with a mathematical formula or control it as effectively as you think you can.
That said, I agree - people are addicted to their gadgets. But the Social D is only the latest to tell us this - it's not like others haven't, ad nauseaum. I mean Al Gore did warn everyone about this in 1990s. No one listened, any more than they listened to him about Climate Change.
I don't know if I should continue or not.
2. The Haunting of Bly House
Seen four episodes so far. It's not as scary as The Haunting of Hill House, nor as creepy. It is compelling though - in part due to the actors. The actress playing Dani, who played Nelle Crain in the Haunting of Hill House is a compelling actress and slowly pulls the viewer in with very little effort.
But it's also kind of slow in places, and not well paced. There's lots of talking - that doesn't quite further plot, and a heavy focus on romance. It's a bit schmaltzy in places. And some of the twists are...well a little on the cliche side.
But like I said previously, it's compelling. Also it's delving into grief, in much the same way Hill House did. But Hill House had more of a central focus, while this feels less focused - I think perhaps because they felt the need to add onto the original story in ways that may not have been an expansion of its themes.
That said, I'm enjoying it. And the fact that it is less frightening - makes it a lot easier to watch.
3. The Right Stuff - Disney +'s take on Tom Wolfe's non-fiction novel of the same name, and Philip Kaufman's film version. My difficulty with it is I've read the book, and I loved the film adaptation. The actor playing John Glenn is quite good, and yes, that's Colin O'Donahue -(Hook in Once Upon a Time) as Gordon Cooper (Dennis Quaid's role in the film), but the actor playing Shepard, while attractive, doesn't hold a candle to Scott Glenn (few can) and Sam Shepard's Chuck Yeager is sorely missed. Yeager isn't featured at all.
Yet, it is interesting in places and I may stick with it, since it is comforting to watch something that takes place in another era and has zip to do with this one. I don't know about anyone else - but I can't watch anything right now that is relevant to what's going on now. For escape? I want to really escape.
4. Great British Baking Show S8 - eh, it tries, but I'm still aware. Also it's replaced the female co-host with the bald headed guy from Doctor Who - which is not working for me.
I think I finally burned out on it. Shame it was a good comfort show, still kind of is. Once you get past the first episode. And the old episodes are still comforting.
5. Social Dilemma - I flirted with it after two people on FB rec'd it, but I apparently know more than they do about how FB, Google, Pininterest, Instagram and Twitter work - which is why I've not really invested that heavily into them. They are marketing platforms designed to get as many viewers and hits as possible. All are ad based.
There are non-ad based platforms, but at some point they do cost something or they have subscribers who are supporting them. Kind of like Netflix, Disney +, Hulu, etc. You have the subscription platforms and the ad-base platforms.
Amazon's Kindle and HD Fire are similar - you pay more for a version without ads. Amazon sells ad space to authors, publishers, etc - to appear on their Kindle and Fire HD.
Anyhow the Social Dilemma goes into detail - utilizing actors and real people to explain how social platforms are ad and marketing based, constantly gathering market research data on customer spending habits, interests, etc - in order to sell, promote, and market products, political platforms, candidates, etc.
I got bored and somewhat annoyed within fifteen-twenty minutes. What annoyed me was the realization that most of the ex-social platform execs were all now with a new platform entitled the Human Connection or something, can't remember - and subtly selling it. Netflix also put it together - and Netflix is promoting itself through the very channels its questioning. In short, it was a documentary telling me something - I've known since 2002, and it had an agenda - ie to sell me yet another tech platform.
Vincent Karthesier - who played Connor and on Mad Men makes an apparence in it - as one of the actors playing a role to demonstrate how the evil marketing logrithrythms work. Don't get me wrong I know they have all that - but I also know it doesn't really work all that well. How do I know this?
Because FB, Amazon, Google, Netflix, etc keep rec'ing things to me that I don't want or care about. They think because I buy or watch something, I want more of that - no.
I took a marketing course once - and learned during it how inexact a science marketing truly is - it's impossible to figure out what people want or what will be popular. There's no real discernible pattern. And you can't really control it. Oh, you can guess. Put together logrithrythms, and gather data on people, demographics, buying behaviors, etc to make a qualified guess - but that's about it.
People are impossible to predict, and oddly fickle. You really can't predict human behavior with a mathematical formula or control it as effectively as you think you can.
That said, I agree - people are addicted to their gadgets. But the Social D is only the latest to tell us this - it's not like others haven't, ad nauseaum. I mean Al Gore did warn everyone about this in 1990s. No one listened, any more than they listened to him about Climate Change.
no subject
Date: 2020-10-17 07:40 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-10-17 12:52 pm (UTC)I find it very hard to find things on Netflix, Hulu, Amazon etc because of this tendency. If I watch a bunch of anime - they feel the need to rec only anime. So I have to search for say, something like The Haunting of Bly House.
The Haunting of Bly House
Date: 2020-10-17 07:42 am (UTC)Re: The Haunting of Bly House
Date: 2020-10-17 12:42 pm (UTC)I've read some reviews - and apparently the critics kind of split on the later episodes, which get a little convoluted in the back story.
But I may continue watching this morning. I'm curious about a few things.
no subject
Date: 2020-10-17 07:30 pm (UTC)