The Biggest Entertainment Disappointments of 2010!

Discuss entertainment media here, including TV, cinema, the Internet, books and literature, and other non-musical works or multimedia productions.
User avatar
Queen of All Spiders
Posts: 4263
Joined: 2008.09.29 (03:54)
NUMA Profile: http://www.freeWoWgold.edu
MBTI Type: ENFP
Location: Quebec, Canada!

Postby SlappyMcGee » 2010.12.30 (07:00)

What were they for you? No music or video games.

For me, Boardwalk Empire ended up being a huge disappointment. Additionally, Iron Man 2 was vastly inferior to the enjoyable first film, The Book of Eli did not meet it's cast+trailer expectations for me, Kick-Ass ended up being terrible (except for Cage; he was brilliant.) in spite of a plethora of recs from friends, The Social Network did not live up to the critical hype.

The Last Airbender and Jonah Hex were both franchises I loved prior to the terrible film adaptations this year; And I really like the first Wall Street and thought the trailer looked good for the sequel (Although that was 90% "Sympathy for the Devil" and 10% Brolin) but that ended up being a jumbled ridiculous mess.


To be clear: my intentions for the thread include both a discussion of my disappointments (e.g. Hey! Kick-Ass was great because of...) as well as your personal disappointments. I mention this only to help the moderators with their flame pruning; I want to foster a discussion about ineffective filmmaking, not to compile a list.
Loathes

User avatar
Depressing
Posts: 1977
Joined: 2008.09.26 (06:46)
NUMA Profile: http://nmaps.net/user/rennaT
MBTI Type: ISTJ
Location: Trenton, Ontario, Canada
Contact:

Postby Tanner » 2010.12.30 (07:03)

The one that comes most immediately to mind is the Tron soundtrack.
Image
'rret donc d'niaser 'vec mon sirop d'erable, calis, si j't'r'vois icitte j'pellerais la police, tu l'veras l'criss de poutine de cul t'auras en prison, tabarnak

User avatar
Queen of All Spiders
Posts: 4263
Joined: 2008.09.29 (03:54)
NUMA Profile: http://www.freeWoWgold.edu
MBTI Type: ENFP
Location: Quebec, Canada!

Postby SlappyMcGee » 2010.12.30 (07:11)

hairscapades wrote:The one that comes most immediately to mind is the Tron soundtrack.
No music
DONT MAKE ME MODERATE YOU
Loathes

User avatar
Depressing
Posts: 1977
Joined: 2008.09.26 (06:46)
NUMA Profile: http://nmaps.net/user/rennaT
MBTI Type: ISTJ
Location: Trenton, Ontario, Canada
Contact:

Postby Tanner » 2010.12.30 (07:37)

I should stop reading your posts backward and upside down so that actually get the important parts.
Image
'rret donc d'niaser 'vec mon sirop d'erable, calis, si j't'r'vois icitte j'pellerais la police, tu l'veras l'criss de poutine de cul t'auras en prison, tabarnak

"Asked ortsz for a name change"
Posts: 3380
Joined: 2008.11.13 (16:47)

Postby otters~1 » 2010.12.30 (15:36)

SlappyMcGee wrote:For me, Boardwalk Empire ended up being a huge disappointment.
Damn! I have heard from multiple sources that it's an honest, realistic etc etc portrayal of the Prohibition Era with great acting and all that. But it was the first thing you listed. :/

Kick-Ass was decent, and it wasn't a disappointment at all because I didn't expect it to be good. Wouldn't watch it again.

(No music? There's not a "Biggest Disappointments" thread over in the Music Forum. I need somewhere to talk about Suburbs and stuff.)
the dusk the dawn the earth the sea

User avatar
Queen of All Spiders
Posts: 4263
Joined: 2008.09.29 (03:54)
NUMA Profile: http://www.freeWoWgold.edu
MBTI Type: ENFP
Location: Quebec, Canada!

Postby SlappyMcGee » 2010.12.30 (17:15)

Fine, music.

I really recommend you watch the first episode of Boardwalk Empire. When Scorcese had the reigns, the show was exactly what you want; Goodfellas with The Sopranos' heart set in Prohibition New Jersey. And it had so much fucking potential. It was an episode that set up this sweeping setting all the while having these really strong motifs, characters that you wanted to know more about, and a very strong focus on the same theme as the Sopranos (Mobster with a heart! Is it a contradiction?) And then... well, it seems to me that the show didn't have a strong focus.

Half the subsequent episodes were designed to just let us sit with these characters. This is a technique that can be really effective if the writing is good (Re: Season 3 of Breaking Bad, which is the thing I was least disappointed with this year.) but the writing quickly revealed itself to be one-dimensional. There was also no moving forward the plot in any of these episodes; that was reserved for every other episode. Let me give you my average experience, thusly:

Oh, okay, so here are the roles that the script must have clearly defined them as. That's cool. I wish they were in a crazier situation, but they seem to just be dating and arguing about scotch. Oh, and there is this one guy who seems to be an analysis of pre-internet American fetishes. Interesting; NEVER COMES UP OUTSIDE OF ONE TIME IN THE FIRST SEASON (That I watched. I gave up a little over halfway in.)

Or: Goodbye roles! We'll have these cogs move forward. The woodchipper guy from Fargo can date the Irish girl from Trainspotting, but then he won't because she's too strongwilled and he has a past! Meanwhile his son will date a hooker, but then he won't because she gets fucked up by some mobsters (Actually, that scene was genuinely fantastic. I won't complain.) Lucky Luciano will go to spy on a woman, but then he'll overcome his sexual impotency and fuck her!

And, oh my God. Every fucking episode has a moment that makes me lean over to Baillie and go: "It's the 1930s". Example. "The only way we can treat this kind of coronary problem is with the common medical ingredient, Cocaine! (Pause for laughs.) COCAINE, LADIES AND GENTS!" These happen at least 10 times an episode if you are being generous to the show; their idea of setting it in the era means making it a universal story (The Sopranos, really. I can't emphasize enough how much better and the same The Sopranos was.) and then namedropping Al Capone, Prohibition, Women's Rights and Cocaine. (They hit the cocaine well a few times.) I can't see any discernible connection thematically to these elements, so the show struck me as verymuch "Let's just stick it in the 1930s. People will eat that shit up."

In sum, I find the show failed to live up to the promise of the first episode (or the title sequence, which is superb) by not having strong writing to back up what could be a cool setting with some interesting characters. And also, Omar was in the show and fantastic (from the Wire, durr) and the problem was he wasn't in the show ENOUGH.
Loathes

User avatar
Depressing
Posts: 1977
Joined: 2008.09.26 (06:46)
NUMA Profile: http://nmaps.net/user/rennaT
MBTI Type: ISTJ
Location: Trenton, Ontario, Canada
Contact:

Postby Tanner » 2010.12.30 (18:00)

Wait, we can do music now? You cut me, SlappyMcGee. You cut me deep.

And I know what my biggest entertainment disappoint of 2010 was! I have this friend who's really knowledgeable about TV so I generally take his recommendations seriously. He's recommended Breaking Bad, The Wire and Sons of Anarchy to me in that past all of which have been A++ top notch. Anyway, this year he recommended a show that he said looked "Malcolm in the Middle"-esque. This excited me because, as he knows, Malcolm in the Middle is one of my all-time favourite sitcoms. I forget the name of the show now but it was the worst shit ever. I hope somebody in this thread remembers the name of the show in question that I haven't really given any details about.
Image
'rret donc d'niaser 'vec mon sirop d'erable, calis, si j't'r'vois icitte j'pellerais la police, tu l'veras l'criss de poutine de cul t'auras en prison, tabarnak

User avatar
Cross-Galactic Train Conducter
Posts: 2354
Joined: 2008.09.27 (00:31)
NUMA Profile: http://nmaps.net/user/T3chno
MBTI Type: ENTJ
Location: foam hands
Contact:

Postby T3chno » 2010.12.30 (18:03)

SlappyMcGee wrote: I really recommend you watch the first episode of Boardwalk Empire. When Scorcese had the reigns, the show was exactly what you want; Goodfellas with The Sopranos' heart set in Prohibition New Jersey. And it had so much fucking potential. It was an episode that set up this sweeping setting all the while having these really strong motifs, characters that you wanted to know more about, and a very strong focus on the same theme as the Sopranos (Mobster with a heart! Is it a contradiction?) And then... well, it seems to me that the show didn't have a strong focus.

Half the subsequent episodes were designed to just let us sit with these characters. This is a technique that can be really effective if the writing is good (Re: Season 3 of Breaking Bad, which is the thing I was least disappointed with this year.) but the writing quickly revealed itself to be one-dimensional. There was also no moving forward the plot in any of these episodes; that was reserved for every other episode. Let me give you my average experience, thusly:

Oh, okay, so here are the roles that the script must have clearly defined them as. That's cool. I wish they were in a crazier situation, but they seem to just be dating and arguing about scotch. Oh, and there is this one guy who seems to be an analysis of pre-internet American fetishes. Interesting; NEVER COMES UP OUTSIDE OF ONE TIME IN THE FIRST SEASON (That I watched. I gave up a little over halfway in.)

Or: Goodbye roles! We'll have these cogs move forward. The woodchipper guy from Fargo can date the Irish girl from Trainspotting, but then he won't because she's too strongwilled and he has a past! Meanwhile his son will date a hooker, but then he won't because she gets fucked up by some mobsters (Actually, that scene was genuinely fantastic. I won't complain.) Lucky Luciano will go to spy on a woman, but then he'll overcome his sexual impotency and fuck her!

And, oh my God. Every fucking episode has a moment that makes me lean over to Baillie and go: "It's the 1930s". Example. "The only way we can treat this kind of coronary problem is with the common medical ingredient, Cocaine! (Pause for laughs.) COCAINE, LADIES AND GENTS!" These happen at least 10 times an episode if you are being generous to the show; their idea of setting it in the era means making it a universal story (The Sopranos, really. I can't emphasize enough how much better and the same The Sopranos was.) and then namedropping Al Capone, Prohibition, Women's Rights and Cocaine. (They hit the cocaine well a few times.) I can't see any discernible connection thematically to these elements, so the show struck me as verymuch "Let's just stick it in the 1930s. People will eat that shit up."

In sum, I find the show failed to live up to the promise of the first episode (or the title sequence, which is superb) by not having strong writing to back up what could be a cool setting with some interesting characters. And also, Omar was in the show and fantastic (from the Wire, durr) and the problem was he wasn't in the show ENOUGH.

I really liked B.E., granted I've never watched many other dramas, so I'm not sure my opinion is validated. The only character who I wish did some better acting was Jimmy. He was basically a one-type-of-show the whole season. "I'm distraught by war. I HAVE SEEN THINGS IN TRENCHES YOU HAVE NOT." That was his excuse for shit he had done the whole season. Do not like.
Other than that, I really don't have a problem, but I agree that Chalky should be a more prominent character. Oh, and Scorcese said he wants to direct more episodes in the coming seasons.

Also, doesn't it take place in the early 20s?
Image

User avatar
Queen of All Spiders
Posts: 4263
Joined: 2008.09.29 (03:54)
NUMA Profile: http://www.freeWoWgold.edu
MBTI Type: ENFP
Location: Quebec, Canada!

Postby SlappyMcGee » 2010.12.30 (18:12)

Same tech, different celebrities.
Loathes

User avatar
Admin
Admin
Posts: 2332
Joined: 2008.09.27 (16:53)
NUMA Profile: http://www.nmaps.net/user/Aidiera :3
Steam: www.steamcommunity.com/id/
MBTI Type: INTJ
Location: Phoenix, Arizona

Postby aids » 2010.12.30 (23:01)

SlappyMcGee wrote:Additionally, Iron Man 2 was vastly inferior to the enjoyable first film, The Book of Eli did not meet it's cast+trailer expectations for me, Kick-Ass ended up being terrible (except for Cage; he was brilliant.) in spite of a plethora of recs from friends, The Social Network did not live up to the critical hype...The Last Airbender
  • Iron Man 2 was kind of a tack-on of the first movie, but it had clever writing and a pretty badas enemy (I'm looking at you Mickey.)
  • YOU SHUT YOUR MOUTH ABOUT THE BOOK OF ELI! That movie had everything it need to have, including all the religious subtleties and excellent actors. I went to buy the DVD when it came out. It's perfect in my eyes.
  • I didn't think Kick-Ass was all that bad, but I really like Clark Duke and Nic Cage, so I guess they justified the movie for me.
  • The Social Network was very much overhyped, but that didn't make it any less of a film.
  • I saw Airbender to make fun of it. I enjoyed myself. But it was still a bloody waste of a movie.
I'm adding MacGruber to the list. What a shitsucker.
Image

//--^.^--\\
\\.:.^.:.//

User avatar
Lifer
Posts: 1099
Joined: 2008.09.26 (21:35)
NUMA Profile: http://nmaps.net/user/smartalco
MBTI Type: INTJ

Postby smartalco » 2011.01.05 (06:52)

Aidiera wrote:I'm adding MacGruber to the list. What a shitsucker.
MacGruber wasn't bad if you went in expecting nothing but a whole bunch of adolescent jokes.

Biggest disappointment? I'm disappointed that Avatar was a POS, although I only actually watched 10 minutes of it after I had been told it was shit. Really, every time I think disappointment in entertainment I can't help thinking back to Eragon, even though that wasn't in 2010, every disappointing movie since then has been 'well at least it wasn't Eragon bad'.
Image
Tycho: "I don't know why people ever, ever try to stop nerds from doing things. It's really the most incredible waste of time."
Adam Savage: "I reject your reality and substitute my own!"

User avatar
Queen of All Spiders
Posts: 4263
Joined: 2008.09.29 (03:54)
NUMA Profile: http://www.freeWoWgold.edu
MBTI Type: ENFP
Location: Quebec, Canada!

Postby SlappyMcGee » 2011.01.05 (17:45)

hairscapades wrote:Wait, we can do music now? You cut me, SlappyMcGee. You cut me deep.

And I know what my biggest entertainment disappoint of 2010 was! I have this friend who's really knowledgeable about TV so I generally take his recommendations seriously. He's recommended Breaking Bad, The Wire and Sons of Anarchy to me in that past all of which have been A++ top notch. Anyway, this year he recommended a show that he said looked "Malcolm in the Middle"-esque. This excited me because, as he knows, Malcolm in the Middle is one of my all-time favourite sitcoms. I forget the name of the show now but it was the worst shit ever. I hope somebody in this thread remembers the name of the show in question that I haven't really given any details about.

Hahaha. Man, was that show bad.
Loathes

User avatar
Oops Pow Surprise
Posts: 635
Joined: 2008.09.26 (22:09)
NUMA Profile: http://nmaps.net/user/
MBTI Type: INTJ

Postby noops » 2011.01.16 (18:29)

You know, I've seen so many mentions of Breaking Bad on these forums, but I've never actually gotten around to seeing it. I think I'll start watching it now.

And I completely agree with smartalco; Avatar wasn't Eragon bad, but Eragon was based off of shitty books to begin with, whereas Avatar had the backing of a really interesting show, which just makes it all the more worse.
Image

User avatar
With a cow, closer than you think.
Posts: 241
Joined: 2008.09.28 (11:48)
NUMA Profile: http://nmaps.net/user/krusch
MBTI Type: INFJ
Contact:

Postby krusch » 2011.01.17 (06:33)

My biggest entertainment disappointment of 2010 was that none of Zomby's unreleased 2009 music got released. I'm sure nobody else will agree, but this was really disappointing for me. I'm sick of playing these low bitrate pirate radio rips. :(

Come on Zomby!
Image


Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 11 guests