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Andy K (10823 KP) rated Big Little Lies in TV

Dec 16, 2018

The best thing about good programming is good writing!

I just finished binge watching all 7 episodes of this fantastic HBO limited series featuring a mostly female cast (I'm sure everyone knows of this by now).

The story centers around three women, all raising children trying to lead "normal" lives, but have hidden scars and emotional baggage in their relationships they are trying to work through. Tensions continue to escalate through a series of confrontations and slow burn emotional scenes, but the payoff is ultimately worth it. I am much more a fan of vague endings than most people, so I would say I thought they could have left out the final scene and left us to wonder what happened, but I'm sure I'm in the minority on that.

The acting is certainly stellar all around; however, the real royalty here is the screenplay. too often great writing gets overlooked since it's not the flashiest of production values, but this one should not be ignored. It shows that everyone you encounter in life is a human being with strengths and weaknesses. You have to take the good with the bad sometimes, or make the tough choices to save your situation and make a better life for yourself.

After finishing I read they are doing a second season. Not sure how I feel about that. It would be all right maybe if it was a completely separate story, but this is going to be a continuation. They are adding Meryl Streep so I guess that's a good start.

I will have to wait and see!

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Marylegs (44 KP) rated The Walking Dead: v. 1: Days Gone Bye in Books

Aug 14, 2019

So I have finally got started on reading these graphic novels. I have been an avid fan of the TV remake and am fully aware that the series and graphic novels do not run exactly scene for scene. Some characters have had longer roles or shorter roles, other characters added or omitted. That is not what I am concerning myself with whilst reading this novel.

What I am concerned with is how the book felt as I read it. I thought the frames were well drawn, if you take the time to look over each picture you really feel the emotions of each of the characters. At no point does it feel lacking from the sole use of greyscale, colour is unnecessary in this story. Considering there is limited writing used, the conversations between characters have been orchestrated to portray all the information and emotions needed.

It always takes me a few pages to get into a graphic novel, the switch to reading pictures and not written descriptions takes some getting used to, but this story is so gripping that it isn’t hard to get lost in it. Nothing is too gruesome or overdone (not that I mind gruesome) but some people may be put off as it is a tale set in a zombie ridden world, but actually this is a story about the effect on the people left standing. How they cope in this new harsh existence, and how they decide to make a new future for themselves. This is a great start to a series and I will be carrying on gladly and with a great deal of enthusiasm.