House of Cards (US)
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UmaOprah
Shalamar
naughty zoot
mokey75
Wildog27
laddical
Eris Rising
bbridges
big chicken
truecrystal
RiverThames
xyzzy
Matinee
vwlphb
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Snarkfest 4.0 :: Fame Talk :: Television
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House of Cards (US)
vwlphb Sat Feb 02, 2013 7:49 pm
Netflix's first original content effort was released (all 13 episodes) yesterday. The first one is available for non-Netflix subscribers as well.
Has anyone started it? I watched the first two episodes and I'm really enjoying it.
There's been mixed opinions on having the whole season released at once. A gawker article pointed out that without a season long run it may get buzz now, but how lasting will it be? Unlike shows like Homeland which will be discussed at the water cooler every week. Personally I love having them all available, and I think Netflix should be applauded for trying something new instead of going by conventional wisdom. We consume media differently now, and while this strategy may be a bust, it is worth experimenting.
Has anyone started it? I watched the first two episodes and I'm really enjoying it.
There's been mixed opinions on having the whole season released at once. A gawker article pointed out that without a season long run it may get buzz now, but how lasting will it be? Unlike shows like Homeland which will be discussed at the water cooler every week. Personally I love having them all available, and I think Netflix should be applauded for trying something new instead of going by conventional wisdom. We consume media differently now, and while this strategy may be a bust, it is worth experimenting.
vwlphb- Posts : 446
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Re: House of Cards (US)
Matinee Sun Feb 03, 2013 2:40 am
Really enjoying it as well - we're up to 6? 7? I'm particularly interested in the portrayal of the Frank/Claire marriage.
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Re: House of Cards (US)
xyzzy Sun Feb 03, 2013 6:15 am
It's a pretty good show. I love that Kevin Spacey voices his inner monologues directly to the camera. The acting is generally superb but I did notice that Spacey loses strength on his Southern drawl occasionally.
The writing is pretty tight though I did take some exception to the weird peach plot. The girl was texting while driving; I don't see how the subject of her text (the peachoid) had anything to do with the congressman or his political motivations for saving the sexualized water tower from destruction. I think the writers could have found an equally ridiculous but slightly more plausible reason for him to rush home to deal with a problem.
I'm about halfway through because I'm a habitual mainliner. I'll definitely finish the season.
The writing is pretty tight though I did take some exception to the weird peach plot. The girl was texting while driving; I don't see how the subject of her text (the peachoid) had anything to do with the congressman or his political motivations for saving the sexualized water tower from destruction. I think the writers could have found an equally ridiculous but slightly more plausible reason for him to rush home to deal with a problem.
I'm about halfway through because I'm a habitual mainliner. I'll definitely finish the season.
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Re: House of Cards (US)
Matinee Sun Feb 03, 2013 5:42 pm
Husband and I are debating if Frank is Iago (his vote because he sees the machinations as mostly spite-based) or Macbeth (my vote - mainly based on Claire being so in on things). Thoughts?
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Re: House of Cards (US)
RiverThames Mon Feb 04, 2013 2:37 am
I've consumed through episode 10, and it's been pretty fantastic. This can't get Emmy nods, can it? Robin Wright is fucking killing it.
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Re: House of Cards (US)
truecrystal Mon Feb 04, 2013 9:22 am
I'm through 6 and it is AWESOME. The show itself is great but I'm really loving being able to plow through the season at my leisure.
Just curious - why wouldn't it be eligible for Emmy consideration.
Just curious - why wouldn't it be eligible for Emmy consideration.
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Re: House of Cards (US)
RiverThames Mon Feb 04, 2013 10:01 am
Because it's not actually on TV, right? I mean, maybe I'm wrong, but I know a movie isn't eligible for an Oscar unless it premieres in an actual movie theatre. I'd love to be wrong on this, but I'd imagine someone would be a stickler about that.
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Re: House of Cards (US)
big chicken Mon Feb 04, 2013 12:47 pm
I don't think it's eligible for the Emmys.
As for releasing it all at once, I think Netflix probably want to keep the people who mainline a show happy. It does not affect the viewing experience of those who prefer a less intensive experience.
Netflix also has another original series (their first orignal actually) called Lilyhammer. It's about a mobster who relocates to Norway.
As for releasing it all at once, I think Netflix probably want to keep the people who mainline a show happy. It does not affect the viewing experience of those who prefer a less intensive experience.
Netflix also has another original series (their first orignal actually) called Lilyhammer. It's about a mobster who relocates to Norway.
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Re: House of Cards (US)
RiverThames Mon Feb 04, 2013 9:26 pm
Now I've finished it.
Damn, that was excellent. Best work Spacey has done in YEARS. Everyone is great. My biggest complaint is there are a few subplots that seem only to be there to keep Robin Wright on screen, and they don't really add up to anything. The old woman in the cemetery, and Origami Homeless Guy-- if those had some thematic point, they went over my head. But other than that? Fantastic. Especially any scene with Spacey and Wright together.
Damn, that was excellent. Best work Spacey has done in YEARS. Everyone is great. My biggest complaint is there are a few subplots that seem only to be there to keep Robin Wright on screen, and they don't really add up to anything. The old woman in the cemetery, and Origami Homeless Guy-- if those had some thematic point, they went over my head. But other than that? Fantastic. Especially any scene with Spacey and Wright together.
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Re: House of Cards (US)
bbridges Tue Feb 05, 2013 12:11 am
I'm through episode four and really liking it. I have been loving Robin Wright.
It is eligible for the Emmys. The Emmys changed the rules to allow streaming content a few years ago.
It is eligible for the Emmys. The Emmys changed the rules to allow streaming content a few years ago.
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Re: House of Cards (US)
xyzzy Tue Feb 05, 2013 8:48 am
Wow. I just finished. Excellent, excellent "television." I find it vastly superior to Homeland. It's hard to explain, but these political machinations feel far more threatening to me than the specter of terrorism.
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House Of Cards
Eris Rising Tue Mar 12, 2013 8:30 pm
Deleted post...only made sense as an intro to the thread I started. Didn't see the existing one. Mea culpa.
Last edited by Eris Rising on Tue Mar 12, 2013 8:59 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Re: House of Cards (US)
laddical Tue Mar 12, 2013 8:47 pm
My wife and I started watching it about a month ago and took about a week and a half to finish it, what with kids being up and this being a definite no-kids show.
We really enjoyed it - for values of "enjoy" that include that sinking feeling in your stomach you get when an ugly truth of politics is staring at you from the TV screen. It's fiction, but I'm sure it's more truthful than not.
I like that it mostly didn't end on a cliffhanger. There's a bit of it in that there's unfinished plot threads, but if this had been a movie or a limited series and it had ended where and how it did, I think it would have been satisfactory. As it is, I'm just hoping that they don't completely whiff the second season as so many "awesome out of the gate" shows seem to do.
We really enjoyed it - for values of "enjoy" that include that sinking feeling in your stomach you get when an ugly truth of politics is staring at you from the TV screen. It's fiction, but I'm sure it's more truthful than not.
I like that it mostly didn't end on a cliffhanger. There's a bit of it in that there's unfinished plot threads, but if this had been a movie or a limited series and it had ended where and how it did, I think it would have been satisfactory. As it is, I'm just hoping that they don't completely whiff the second season as so many "awesome out of the gate" shows seem to do.
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Re: House of Cards (US)
Wildog27 Wed Mar 13, 2013 2:25 am
Through episode 4 and totally enthralled by it, but I feel like I need to watch some West Wing as a balance to the dark political machinations.
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Re: House of Cards (US)
Eris Rising Sun Feb 16, 2014 4:48 pm
Finished episodes one and two of season two. Still enjoying the machinations involved in two, but number one....
- Season 2 Episode 1 Spoilers:
- HOLY CRAP, ZOE! It's like every time Underwood crosses a moral event horizon, he goes looking around for the next one.I had an idea of what was going to happen once I saw where they were meeting (and others had obliquely referred to "A Red Wedding event" in the episode), but I still yelled "Holy shit!" so loud that I woke up the baby.
"Did you think I'd forgotten you? Perhaps you wished I had." It's amazing how pinned to the wall I felt by his gaze, there. An enormously chilling moment.
The "F U" was a nice touch of humor after a dark, dark episode.
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Re: House of Cards (US)
mokey75 Tue Feb 18, 2014 11:21 am
We're 8 episodes in to the second season, and I mostly just wanted to call out sick today so I could finish it off.
I'm still trying to figure out why
I'm still trying to figure out why
- Spoiler:
- Claire wanted a baby so badly and then was all, nothanxkbai! about it all. Was it because she was jealous of the woman she fired? Or maybe she thought also being pregnant would make her more sympathetic if the lawsuit went forward? Or maybe the writers just decided to scrap that storyline. Regardless, she was motherfucking COLD when she threatened to let that woman's fetus shrivel up. Good lord. Of course, ten minutes later Frank threw Zoe in front of a train. It was like an awful-off.
I knew Zoe was gone for the minute they showed her in the subway station. I don't miss her at all, though. She'd kind of served her purpose.
Somehow, despite all of the terrible, despicable things the Underwoods do, I find Stamper the creepiest person on this show. Ugh. Run away, Rachel! RUNNNNNN!!!!!!
Also, I yelled at Claire when she hired Dr. Rapist (aka Joan's husband from Mad Men) three seconds after revealing she'd been sexually assaulted. That guy is never not going to be any other character to me, I swear.
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Re: House of Cards (US)
naughty zoot Tue Feb 18, 2014 11:43 am
I just finished the second season. Wow. My head is spinning from all the machinations and twists. mokey you'll get an answer to the why fairly soon. I was confused about that, too.
The show seems to be perfectly calibrated to my sense of
Edited to say that, on second thought, mokey, we don't get an answer. I suspect it was just intelligence gathering, but who knows.
The show seems to be perfectly calibrated to my sense of
- Spoiler:
Edited to say that, on second thought, mokey, we don't get an answer. I suspect it was just intelligence gathering, but who knows.
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Re: House of Cards (US)
mokey75 Wed Feb 19, 2014 11:16 am
naughty zoot wrote:I just finished the second season. Wow. My head is spinning from all the machinations and twists. mokey you'll get an answer to the why fairly soon. I was confused about that, too.
The show seems to be perfectly calibrated to my sense of
- Spoiler:
Edited to say that, on second thought, mokey, we don't get an answer. I suspect it was just intelligence gathering, but who knows.
We have two left - I really wanted to finish it off last night, but I could not justify staying up til midnight.
And holy shit to
- Spoiler:
- the threesome! I totally thought they were just setting up Meechum to get shot.
I feel badly for Remy. I don't know why, because he's kind of a shit, but I do.
And I guess it'll play out over the next couple of episodes, but I do not see the big deal about the President and his wife going to a marriage counselor. I just don't. I guess the concern is that he'd spill security/state secrets, but I can't imagine having that job and NOT going to a damn therapist.
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Re: House of Cards (US)
Shalamar Wed Feb 19, 2014 11:46 am
Not clicking those spoilers! I'm only on episode 9 of Season 2. Nope, not clicking those spoilers. Get thee behind me, Satan.
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Re: House of Cards (US)
naughty zoot Wed Feb 19, 2014 2:18 pm
mokey, it's a very long time ago but
Not the same thing but there's a bit of precedent for political weirdness around that issue
- Spoiler:
Not the same thing but there's a bit of precedent for political weirdness around that issue
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Re: House of Cards (US)
Shalamar Thu Feb 20, 2014 11:52 am
I really like this show, there's just one thing that bugs me ...
... almost all of the female characters seem to be cut from the same cloth. Lean bodies, classic clothing (especially shift dresses), soft-spoken, and graceful. Even Molly Parker's character, and she's a former soldier.
... almost all of the female characters seem to be cut from the same cloth. Lean bodies, classic clothing (especially shift dresses), soft-spoken, and graceful. Even Molly Parker's character, and she's a former soldier.
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Re: House of Cards (US)
mokey75 Fri Feb 21, 2014 11:23 am
Finished! I have to say, I really think they should have ended it after this season.
- Spoiler:
- 99% of the fun of this show was watching Underwood weasel and connive his way up, and now there's not really anywhere for him to go. I guess it'll be him fighting to save his Presidency, but meh. I feel as though they told a complete story, and they should have just ended it there because it was perfect.
I'm glad Stamper is dead. Fuck that guy. I knew he wasn't going to make it through the season. I hope Rachel picked up wasserface and they're off having a delightful adventure somewhere.
I'm also glad Claire had a moment of humanity about Megan. There's almost hope for her yet.
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Re: House of Cards (US)
UmaOprah Fri Feb 21, 2014 12:29 pm
mokey75 wrote:Finished! I have to say, I really think they should have ended it after this season.
- Spoiler:
I'm glad Stamper is dead. Fuck that guy. I knew he wasn't going to make it through the season. I hope Rachel picked up wasserface and they're off having a delightful adventure somewhere.
I'm also glad Claire had a moment of humanity about Megan. There's almost hope for her yet.
Yes, I wonder if in the third season
- Spoiler:
- we'll watch everything fall apart. Mistakes made? Backstabbing? Ambitious opponents? I'm not sure how how I would feel about it though since they are kind of horrible people. Would it stress me out to see Frank and Claire go down? Or would I enjoy it...?
- Spoiler:
- I only felt bad for Freddy.
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Re: House of Cards (US)
mokey75 Fri Feb 21, 2014 1:23 pm
UmaOprah wrote:Of all the people whose lives were ruined/greatly affected though,
- Spoiler:
Seriously.
- Spoiler:
- I knew something was going to go horribly wrong for him as soon as they wrote an article about him. I thought his stupid son was going to stage a robbery and get Freddy killed, though, so at least he lived, I guess. But poor Freddy! I felt so sorry for him sitting at that table when Frank left.
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Re: House of Cards (US)
truecrystal Sun Feb 23, 2014 8:16 pm
Just finished and DAMN. As much as I enjoyed S1, the one weak spot for me was how Claire's storyline just kind of petered out at the end. But boy did that pay off big time.
And I agree about another season.
- Spoiler:
- I can't help but wonder if Claire changed her mind about dragging the ex-lover through the mud after she found out he was seriously seeing someone else. The set-up with changing the story seemed like an afterthought and really convoluted.
And I agree about another season.
- Spoiler:
- He's got all the power now so what's left? Although it would be really interesting to see Frank pitted against the next Frank. His foils so far have been pretty easily defeated so it would be good to see someone who really gave him a run.
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Snarkfest 4.0 :: Fame Talk :: Television
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