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Big Little Lies

nelsonmuntz

nelsonmuntz

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I did not think I was going to like it, but it is really well done. I thought it was going to be Real Housewives of Monterey with slightly better acting than the real Real Housewives, but it is much better than that. The acting is fantastic (except for Laura Dern, who I can't stand), and the set up is good towards something darker and deeper. It is funny enough to keep you interested in what is otherwise a pretty depressing underlying story. All the plotlines are pretty raw.

Monterey looks freaking awesome. I have visited there, and didn't think it was that nice a city other than the waterfront. Turns out $900 thousand or $1 million will buy you a total Spartacus-box.
 
Sorry... nothing to add. I thought this was about Big Trouble in Little China. Love that movie! Without watching, I do agree that Monterey is awesome and expensive, and Laura Dern was overrated (didn't know she was still alive).
 
nelsonmuntz said:
I did not think I was going to like it, but it is really well done. I thought it was going to be Real Housewives of Monterey with slightly better acting than the real Real Housewives, but it is much better than that. The acting is fantastic (except for Laura Dern, who I can't stand), and the set up is good towards something darker and deeper. It is funny enough to keep you interested in what is otherwise a pretty depressing underlying story. All the plotlines are pretty raw.

Monterey looks freaking awesome. I have visited there, and didn't think it was that nice a city other than the waterfront. Turns out $900 thousand or $1 million will buy you a total Spartacus-box.
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100% agree on Laura Dern, she has this weird rep as an arty and great actress because of her association with David Lynch, but I honestly don't think a single movie she's been in is above good. And too skinny plus very mousy looking.
 
Dogdeacon said:
100% agree on Laura Dern, she has this weird rep as an arty and great actress because of her association with David Lynch, but I honestly don't think a single movie she's been in is above good. And too skinny plus very mousy looking.
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Laura Dern thinks screaming is acting. She is average on her good days, and is only in the business because of her dad. She looks like a total amateur next to Kidman, Witherspoon and Woodley.
 
nelsonmuntz said:
I did not think I was going to like it, but it is really well done. I thought it was going to be Real Housewives of Monterey with slightly better acting than the real Real Housewives, but it is much better than that. The acting is fantastic (except for Laura Dern, who I can't stand), and the set up is good towards something darker and deeper. It is funny enough to keep you interested in what is otherwise a pretty depressing underlying story. All the plotlines are pretty raw.

Monterey looks freaking awesome. I have visited there, and didn't think it was that nice a city other than the waterfront. Turns out $900 thousand or $1 million will buy you a total Spartacus-box.
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I agree with every point here.

Im intrigued by the show despite initial skepticism.


And yeah. Laura Dern wins the traditional Helen Hunt award as overrated actresses that make you want to gouge your eyes out.


I watched the whole series of enlightened (which was mercy killed early) in some kind of reverse self loathing perversion. I hated her acting and her character so much, I could not look away as I wanted to celebrate her failure at every moment.

2nd to only Sansa Stark in patheticness
 
August_West said:
I agree with every point here.

Im intrigued by the show despite initial skepticism.


And yeah. Laura Dern wins the traditional Helen Hunt award as overrated actresses that make you want to gouge your eyes out.


I watched the whole series of enlightened (which was mercy killed early) in some kind of reverse self loathing perversion. I hated her acting and her character so much, I could not look away as I wanted to celebrate her failure at every moment.

2nd to only Sansa Stark in patheticness
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And I agree with every point above even though I've never seen enlightened. Helen Hunt is the perfect name for the career award even though HH is a peer of Dern's. Helen Hunt is basically Jennifer Aniston (can't act, same go move of "be exasperated with any/every situation") but nowhere near as pretty and inferior TV sitcom career base.
Although in HH's favor she's not total movie kiss of death, "As Good as it Gets" qualifies as a good movie in which she stars and supporting wise so does Peggy Sue (minor role) & Castaway, although in latter her best moments involved the carving from the tiny picture of her face. EXTREMELY over rated though.
 
.-.
Dogdeacon said:
And I agree with every point above even though I've never seen enlightened. Helen Hunt is the perfect name for the career award even though HH is a peer of Dern's. Helen Hunt is basically Jennifer Aniston (can't act, same go move of "be exasperated with any/every situation") but nowhere near as pretty and inferior TV sitcom career base.
Although in HH's favor she's not total movie kiss of death, "As Good as it Gets" qualifies as a good movie in which she stars and supporting wise so does Peggy Sue (minor role) & Castaway, although in latter her best moments involved the carving from the tiny picture of her face. EXTREMELY over rated though.
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It doesn't matter what movie it is or what type of character she plays, she plays it exactly the same way with the same expressions and emotional cues.
 
August_West said:
It doesn't matter what movie it is or what type of character she plays, she plays it exactly the same way with the same expressions and emotional cues.
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The Vince Vaughn of female actresses. (I thought I was the only one who disliked her)
 
August_West said:
I agree with every point here.

Im intrigued by the show despite initial skepticism.


And yeah. Laura Dern wins the traditional Helen Hunt award as overrated actresses that make you want to gouge your eyes out.


I watched the whole series of enlightened (which was mercy killed early) in some kind of reverse self loathing perversion. I hated her acting and her character so much, I could not look away as I wanted to celebrate her failure at every moment.

2nd to only Sansa Stark in patheticness
Expand ...

Find the second worst big name actress on TV or in the movies, and Laura Dern makes that woman look like Meryl Streep.

I watched about 2 episodes of Enlightened, and in my opinion it is the worst train wreck of self indulgent nonsense ever put on HBO (including the completely worthless Doll and Em).
 
jleves said:
The Vince Vaughn of female actresses. (I thought I was the only one who disliked her)
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Hold your horses there. Vince absolutely does the same thing in every movie but he's a comedic actor which is by nature hit or miss and with Swingers, Old School and Wedding Crashers he's got 3 classic or near classic great comedies. We all know not to go see him in anything else or expect him to do anything other than be Vince Vaughn and he's no critics darling, so there is no pretense here.

Female equivalent is say Goldie Hawn, no one is expecting great acting or academy awards, but have her play a ditz and you're entertained.
 
Dogdeacon said:
Hold your horses there. Vince absolutely does the same thing in every movie but he's a comedic actor which is by nature hit or miss and with Swingers, Old School and Wedding Crashers he's got 3 classic or near classic great comedies. We all know not to go see him in anything else or expect him to do anything other than be Vince Vaughn and he's no critics darling, so there is no pretense here.

Female equivalent is say Goldie Hawn, no one is expecting great acting or academy awards, but have her play a ditz and you're entertained.
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well yeah.

Vince at least has comedy. I agree with that. Helen and Dern have nada.
 
Big Little Lies is starting to slide off the cliff. Too much going on. I am getting the same feeling I got with The Night Of. It started awesome, but then the characters got crazier and crazier as the season went on. Witherspoon's character went from quirky and annoying to just a scalitoing beaatch in one episode, and there is no coming back from that. I also think writers start right on the line of acceptable by using domestic violence or rape in something that is a dramedy, but to have both, in separate plotlines, is gratuitous. I know it is supposed to be dark, but the murder gets us there without all the other stuff.
 
.-.
It feels so "desperate houseswivesy" but since it's on HBO it's automatically going to be a better show. Witherspoon is a good actress but I hate every single character she plays.
 
At the risk of objectifying, I used to watch Dern for her ass and legs, which are fantastic (and she was great in Citizen Ruth).

Whenever I see Witherspoon, my eyes cannot leave that scary freakish forehead (but she was great in Walk the Line).
 
polycom said:
It feels so "desperate houseswivesy" but since it's on HBO it's automatically going to be a better show. Witherspoon is a good actress but I hate every single character she plays.
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Desperate Housewives was always essentially a fun fantasy for middle aged women, and it didn't pretend to be anything else, so it had more leeway to be crazy with its plotlines. Big Little Lies is presenting itself as a serious show, with the shaky camera and raw plotlines, and it didn't need to bring in the other stuff. The show would have been more interesting if it stayed in the gray area.

I feel the same about Witherspoon, other than when she played June Cash. Kidman is always excellent at playing the detached ice princess. Woodley is a good agent from being the biggest female star on the planet. She is a very good actress and bankable star. All she is missing is some hardware. I suspect she is chasing an Emmy with this role.
 
I hate this show. It basically could be called "Rich White People Problems". But I watch it anyways. I went ahead and read the plot synopsis of the book.
It's really disappointing and obvious in what is about to happen.
 
I find this to be an excellent show and am at the edge of my seat as to who got killed and who was the killer.

Two things that I am certain of:

1. They will make it seem that the killer will be justified in their actions

&

2. A male will the victim of the killing.

I agree that Shailene Woodley is an excellent actress on the verge of future stardom.
 
.-.
FASTEDDY said:
I find this to be an excellent show and am at the edge of my seat as to who got killed and who was the killer.

Two things that I am certain of:

1. They will make it seem that the killer will be justified in their actions

&

2. A male will the victim of the killing.

I agree that Shailene Woodley is an excellent actress on the verge of future stardom.
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Ding ding ding!

Also, making the prediction now. I actually don't know this, but I think the creepy Kidman twins are the bullies at school.
 
ZooCougar said:
Ding ding ding!

Also, making the prediction now. I actually don't know this, but I think the creepy Kidman twins are the bullies at school.
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Nice call on the creepy twins. I never even considered this but the more I think about it, just makes perfect sense. I'm nearly certain that you are correct on this.
 
FASTEDDY said:
Nice call on the creepy twins. I never even considered this but the more I think about it, just makes perfect sense. I'm nearly certain that you are correct on this.
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I will give Zoo credit on that. That is a good call.
 
Is anyone else still watching this? I feel like it's a soap opera on steroids. Very heavy handed. I'll watch the finale next week but I have no idea how they're going to close it up in an hour...
 
.-.
JMick said:
Is anyone else still watching this? I feel like it's a soap opera on steroids. Very heavy handed. I'll watch the finale next week but I have no idea how they're going to close it up in an hour...
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I am. It is a little soapy and it has gone from a dark comedy to just dark. I am also not sure how they tie it all together.

Kidman and Woodley should expect Emmy nominations out of this, and I think Alexander Skarsgard has been incredible.
 
nelsonmuntz said:
I am. It is a little soapy and it has gone from a dark comedy to just dark. I am also not sure how they tie it all together.

Kidman and Woodley should expect Emmy nominations out of this, and I think Alexander Skarsgard has been incredible.
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How the heck are they going to tie this together in a meaningful way in just one hour? When the last episode ended, my wife was upset that just one more episode and then she'd have to wait ten months for it to continue. It never occurred to her that it was close to being over.

If the Skarsgard character isn't the one who ends up dead, can we take a collection to pay someone to kill him?
 
businesslawyer said:
How the heck are they going to tie this together in a meaningful way in just one hour? When the last episode ended, my wife was upset that just one more episode and then she'd have to wait ten months for it to continue. It never occurred to her that it was close to being over.

If the Skarsgard character isn't the one who ends up dead, can we take a collection to pay someone to kill him?
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Yeah I don't understand how they can tie it together. It has been paced pretty poorly the last couple episodes. I could maybe see it if they were doing a 1.5-2 hr finale. Either a lot of things will go unanswered or it will be rushed
 
businesslawyer said:
How the heck are they going to tie this together in a meaningful way in just one hour? When the last episode ended, my wife was upset that just one more episode and then she'd have to wait ten months for it to continue. It never occurred to her that it was close to being over.

If the Skarsgard character isn't the one who ends up dead, can we take a collection to pay someone to kill him?
Expand ...

The scenes with Skarsgard and Kidman must have been tough to film. They are tough to watch.
 
nelsonmuntz said:
The scenes with Skarsgard and Kidman must have been tough to film. They are tough to watch.
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At times, you actually need good actors, and not just actors. Their characters require good actors. I had never viewed Skarsgard that way.
 
.-.
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