Tag: Netflix

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Reviews Science Fiction Television

The Silent Sea on Netflix: Entertaining

I watched The Silent Sea on Netflix this last weekend. It’s a South Korean drama about a trip to a research station on the moon. As you can imagine, not much goes right for the crew tasked with finding something and bringing it back.

There are English subtitles and an English dub (I read the subs, because I like to hear the actor’s original voices).

The show has eight episodes and they’re just long enough.

The Silent Sea was suspenseful and had enough action to keep me entertained. I’ll avoid spoilers and just say that they did a good job doling out the information when it was needed, and the actors were well suited to their roles.

Although it was good, there are a few things I think could have been done better, but overall, I enjoyed the time I spent watching.

If you have a chance to see this one, give it a shot. :)

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Science Fiction Television

Watching: Another Life (Netflix series) (Spoiler: I like it)

I’m four episodes from the end of the series Another Life on Netflix and I just do not understand why so many people seem to hate this show. When I checked yesterday, it had a rating of 4.5 on IMDB. I went back last night and it was up to 4.7. And that’s where it remains this morning. (I have since watched the entire first season and my opinion hasn’t changed a bit. The show just got better.)

Finally a fast-paced action-packed science fiction show that doesn’t bog down in the personal dramas of every side character and villain. One with lighting that actually lets me see what’s happening. One that is diabolical in the use of cliffhangers, I admit. :D One that is fun to watch, but still manages to be touching enough to make me have to fight back tears near the end of one particular episode.

So yeah, I don’t get it.

Another Life is a decent little show, deserving of much better reviews than it’s getting.

As of 8/8:

Rotten Tomatoes – 6%

IMDB – 4.7

Google Users – 77% liked this TV show

Why the discrepancy?

I have one hypothesis, and it’s this: Netflix targeted the wrong audience with their trailer.

I watched the trailer when Netflix first sent it out to members, and it didn’t appeal to me at all. I wasn’t interested in watching this show based on that trailer. I just happened to be looking for something to watch yesterday after deciding I wasn’t up for another episode of Father Brown at the moment (I know, I know, but I have wide and varied television interests and mystery series is one of them :D). Anyway, I turned on Another Life and was hooked from the moment it skipped straight to the action.

The trailer misled me into thinking this would be an entirely different kind of show.

Another Life needs a new trailer. :)

I’d love to hear from other people who like this show. Any of you out there?

Categories
Fantasy Reviews Television

Hemlock Grove, a Netflix Original Series Let-down

Hemlock Grove

The Monster Is Within

In the shadows of a rusted Pennsylvania steel town, the mangled body of a teenage girl is discovered. As they hunt for a monster among them, rumors mount and many of the eccentric residents become suspects, from the newly arrived gypsy family to the wealthy Godfrey clan. In the twisted world of Hemlock Grove, everyone hides a dark secret. From director Eli Roth (“Hostel”) comes a chilling supernatural series based on Brian McGreevy’s novel.

Series is at Netflix.

Although I watched every last episode of the season 1 available on Netflix, I had mixed feelings about the series, not the least of which involved some serious reservations about the ending.

The moment went kind of like this: you mean I watched all that for all this?

I gave the series three stars because even though I didn’t love it, if a season 2 makes it to Netflix, I’ll watch at least the first couple of episodes to see where they’re going next.

Still, by the end, I felt like I was watching horror moreso than paranormal or fantasy, which was more what I expected when I started watching.

I wonder what the book was like? I saw a movie tie-in edition with a new cover on Amazon tonight.

At once a riveting mystery and a fascinating revelation of the grotesque and the darkness in us all, Hemlock Grove has the architecture and energy to become a classic in its own right—and Brian McGreevy the talent and ambition to enthrall us for years to come.

But does Hemlock Grove have “the architecture and energy to become a classic in its own right?” I wouldn’t say that…. Not if the book doesn’t add something that an almost 10 hour series didn’t have.

Not at all.

Disagreement welcome if you have comments about the book or series. :)

Sci-fi fantasies