Film Critic Hulk on WandaVision
Feb. 22nd, 2021 02:13 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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disneyplusshowsFILM CRITIC HULK has been a favorite of mine for years. And he's actually been writing weekly about the show. He comes at it more from an all-encompassing story and cinematic critique, which given the nature of the show's setup is something I really appreciate. Less "oooohhhh who's the Big Bad and did you see that Easter egg??", more how they're constructing their story and the tools they're using to do so, plus obviously what tv tropes they're referencing.
Water Cooler-ing With WANDAVISION
The second they emerged onto the street at night I as like “Oooh i hope this show gets more noir,” and then beekeeper man shows up out of the sewer and you appropriately get just enough of those Lynchian vibes where it’s like “teh fuq?” But what’s telling is that, in an abstract way, the show immediately gives away a huge part of the game. Wanda doesn’t like this so rather than investigate, she basically rewinds time, goes back into sitcom world and in another Pleasantville-ian stroke, it now becomes a color world.
Watercoolering With WANDAVISION - Ep. 3 - NOW IN COLOR
Virtually ever moment just has the characters reaction to something strange, like the hedge clippers thing, and they go “that’s weird!” and move the fuck on to some new distraction (they’ve done this like fourteen times in three episodes and I am EXHAUSTED by it. These are insane levels of plot-blocking).
Watercoolering With WANDAVISION - Ep. 4 - We Interrupt This Program
Again, a mystery is not presenting endless vague-ness, it is establishing a driving question, having people try to answer it, and changing the scope of that understanding based on newly evolving information. Here we finally get all that. And even more.
Watercoolering With WANDAVISION - EPISODE 5
I’m seeing a lot of how this show gets talked about on social media and I’m realizing how much it plays into “what people see and don’t see.” For instance, everyone is talking about the shifts in performance when Wanda and Vision “get real.” And they should! They are good at it! But the thing that I really love is how good the cinematography is at effecting mood. Watch the camera placement shifts and subtle changes in light, particularly when they go for close-ups.
Watercoolering With WANDAVISION - Ep. 6 - All-New Halloween Spooktacular
First off, I want to take a second to say how much they’re nailing the cinematography of this show. While the effectiveness of the writing sort of goes in and out, the stylistic approach of the camera work has been ON POINT every step of the way. And this week’s “90’s episode’ is probably the best work yet, in that it so absolutely fucking nailed the Malcolm In The Middle sensibility and joke style (though I have a fun caveat about that at the bottom). But it’s not just the show’s ability to capture pastiche of sitcom - it’s when they know how to break it and use traditional camera work to bring us close to intimate moments in all the right ways.
Watercoolering With WANDAVISION - Ep. 7 - Breaking The Fourth Wall
🤐
Assume spoilers including ep7 in the comments. (I'm turning comment notifications off, as I'll be on ep six for several more weeks)
Water Cooler-ing With WANDAVISION
The second they emerged onto the street at night I as like “Oooh i hope this show gets more noir,” and then beekeeper man shows up out of the sewer and you appropriately get just enough of those Lynchian vibes where it’s like “teh fuq?” But what’s telling is that, in an abstract way, the show immediately gives away a huge part of the game. Wanda doesn’t like this so rather than investigate, she basically rewinds time, goes back into sitcom world and in another Pleasantville-ian stroke, it now becomes a color world.
Watercoolering With WANDAVISION - Ep. 3 - NOW IN COLOR
Virtually ever moment just has the characters reaction to something strange, like the hedge clippers thing, and they go “that’s weird!” and move the fuck on to some new distraction (they’ve done this like fourteen times in three episodes and I am EXHAUSTED by it. These are insane levels of plot-blocking).
Watercoolering With WANDAVISION - Ep. 4 - We Interrupt This Program
Again, a mystery is not presenting endless vague-ness, it is establishing a driving question, having people try to answer it, and changing the scope of that understanding based on newly evolving information. Here we finally get all that. And even more.
Watercoolering With WANDAVISION - EPISODE 5
I’m seeing a lot of how this show gets talked about on social media and I’m realizing how much it plays into “what people see and don’t see.” For instance, everyone is talking about the shifts in performance when Wanda and Vision “get real.” And they should! They are good at it! But the thing that I really love is how good the cinematography is at effecting mood. Watch the camera placement shifts and subtle changes in light, particularly when they go for close-ups.
Watercoolering With WANDAVISION - Ep. 6 - All-New Halloween Spooktacular
First off, I want to take a second to say how much they’re nailing the cinematography of this show. While the effectiveness of the writing sort of goes in and out, the stylistic approach of the camera work has been ON POINT every step of the way. And this week’s “90’s episode’ is probably the best work yet, in that it so absolutely fucking nailed the Malcolm In The Middle sensibility and joke style (though I have a fun caveat about that at the bottom). But it’s not just the show’s ability to capture pastiche of sitcom - it’s when they know how to break it and use traditional camera work to bring us close to intimate moments in all the right ways.
Watercoolering With WANDAVISION - Ep. 7 - Breaking The Fourth Wall
🤐
Assume spoilers including ep7 in the comments. (I'm turning comment notifications off, as I'll be on ep six for several more weeks)
no subject
Date: 2021-02-22 03:50 pm (UTC)1x01
Date: 2021-02-23 03:59 pm (UTC)I'm glad there are more people who think that the weekly format is better (and I hope FCH has some influence on industry people). There are even more reasons than FCH mentioned: Our creative endeavors are an important part of the experience. To me it's absolutely essential.
I came to this show 2/3 in, so I'm glad I still get to experience some of it "live". And because there's so little time left, I'll just let the new obsession reign and all of the other stuff has to wait a few more weeks.
For these critiques I've rewatched 1x01 and plan do to the rest too. I think FCH criticisms and mine might be somewhat related. We partially differ in the sitcom part. To me it looked like the show honestly loves sitcoms, which is a problem I have with ep1 (and to a lesser extent with 2 & 3). I came for the mystery, but there were only tiny hints of it, while the rest was like 95% sitcom. You might come away from the all-important pilot episode thinking that the whole show will be like that.
We agree on the emotional connection thing, it seems. It bothered me that the pilot doesn't work on its own, you have to know the context of the movies. That might be turn-off for new viewers.
If you're aware of the context though, there's one hell of a connection. "My husband and his indestructable head!" - Right in the feels! Since we weren't shown the wedding in sitcom world and the characters can't remember it, it never happened - but at the end of the episode Wanda conjures up rings, she and Vision exchange I dos and that right there was them getting married! There, I'm emotionally invested as fuck via the characters. "And they lived happily ever after" - Yeah, what could possibly go wrong?! *nervous laughter*
Speaking of tropes, is it a sitcom thing to have an exterior of a home that clearly doesn't match the interior?
Argh, I so badly want to use this post to share all my thoughts about the previous episodes, but I doubt they'd count as meta.