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Big Little Lies |OT| HBO's Desperate Housewives (Kidman, Witherspoon) - Sundays 9/8c

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A

Androidsleeps

Member
Loved this mini-series. Was skeptical in the early episodes but got hooked pretty quick.
Kidman, Reese and Laura Dern were all great here.
 
F

forrest

formerly nacire
Really enjoyed watching this. I agree with many here that all of the question marks were easily predictable, but the story tries to throw you off of the obvious answers which turn out to be true in the end. Lots of great acting.
 
D

distantmantra

Member
Lan Dong Mik said:
Man, I really liked this show. Yeah the ending was really predictable but like others have said I loved how they handled it at the end. The fact that it was predictable didn't bother me too much. I hope we get a season 2 but mayb one isn't necessary.
Click to expand...

I enjoyed the show, but I don't think a second season is necessary in the least. Everything was wrapped up.
 
C

Chumley

Banned
That ending was kind of shit. The Madeline plot went nowhere, and they went with the most easily contemptible person in the show as the one who gets killed instead of something more complicated and thought provoking. I get the point that once everyone dispensed with the lies, they came together, but real life is far more complicated than that and this ending did a disservice to the more authentic feeling themes they teased at throughout the season. There also isn't really anything even remotely morally questionable about women standing together to kill a piece of shit domestic abuser and rapist, and Skarsgard's character didn't even have any depth to begin with so his death meant nothing to me other than "good riddance."

Like, they couldn't have picked a lamer and more cliche way to just wrap everything up like that. Still liked the show a lot, but damn.
 
F

firehawk12

Subete no aware
scarlet said:
In the book bonnie admitted to the police that she was the down who pushed him.
Click to expand...
Well... that would have helped. lol

TankRizzo said:
if you watched the "inside of" at the end, the producer said that even though that people might think that the book is closed, there's always another one open.
Click to expand...
I guess, and slice of life etc etc etc. But a montage/flash forward at the end just feels cheap after spending all this time looking at these broken people. Like all the men being douchebags - there's no real examination of that... except that men are all assholes and these women stay with them because of reasons.
 
J

jon bones

hot hot hanuman-on-man action
the more i think about it, i think the ending soured the whole thing for me

what a waste of all the tension going into the last episode
 
K

Klocker

Member
We really enjoyed it, never read anybody's theories so we were thoroughly surprised and satisfied with the ending..

Great performances all around and a well developed character study for such a short term.
 
R

rataven

Member
Finished the final episode. Great miniseries, very much enjoyed it. I never felt like the story did anything all that new or surprising outside of maybe Celeste's life, but that top-tier cast and gorgeous setting made me want to keep watching. Nicole is so good in this; I ached for her character. Reese, Laura, even the kids were amazing.

I'd love for HBO to do more series/miniseries in this vein. Hopefully it was successful.
 
C

Cosmic Bus

pristine morning snow
I figure it's a lot easier to get major stars to sign on for a limited series, which is a win for both the network - prestige, awards potential, etc - and the viewers, who can jump right in without having to worry about catching up on a serialized plot, and it makes for a more exciting "event" style show.

I really have very few complaints about BLL now that it's all over (and glad there won't be an unnecessary second go-round). Will definitely be a contender for best show of this year, and hopefully Kidman gets some Emmy and/or Globe recognition. Sound design and editing were especially fantastic throughout the series, and skimming the IMDB page shows that Vallée was using some of his regular crew which probably helps explains why it all worked so goddamn well.

Anthology shows are hot these days, so more self-contained miniseries like this one can hopefully come along in the near future. It'll be just like the '80s again!
 
M

mlclmtckr

Banned
Loved it so much. So many weird conflicting emotions at the finale.

Really smart and carefully-pitched show. And the twist (not the first twist but the second) really surprised me.

And the ending was just so perfectly happy sad and hopeful and melancholy in equal measure.
 
R

ryseing

Member
So I hear this is like The OC but with Reese doing Reese things?

Will have to watch soon then. I'll miss out on the conversation but what can ya do.
 
C

cw_sasuke

If all DLC came tied to $13 figurines, I'd consider all DLC to be free
Performances and cast were great for the most part. Ending was a bit too predictable though - wish they had added a little twist or something.
 
R

ronaldthump

Member
just finished the show. Did it all in 1 day. Its now 3.38am.

Really great. I thought it was fantastically cast - and Laura Dern stole the show overtime she was on screen. Her being in hysterics was great. Nicole Kidman was amazing too - Episode 6; has a bit of a chuckle at the scene between Reese and her ex-husband. She was shot as tall as he was - and I was like "she has to be standing on a box" and then the second that conversation ended - you can see her visible step down from something.

Anyhow, great show - some people said the finale was predictable but let's be honest here - you couldn't tell who was the one getting killed.

One more thing. All the talking heads of the B-tier cast in the interrogation room were all too bitchy witchy for me. Everyone was a bitchy little snarky fuck. Probably the only bits I disliked. Every time the overweight housewife, gay guys, dark haired mum etc were on screen saying snarky bitch remarks about various people, it took me right out of it.
 
T

ToD_

Member
Watched this with my girlfriend over the last week or so and we both thoroughly enjoyed it. Great performances, beautiful setting and loved the soundtrack.

As much as I would like to see more, I completely understand why there won't be a second season. It was clearly written with the intention of having the story fit in one season, and it wouldn't make sense to continue considering the way it ended.
 
S

Solo

Member
Girlfriend and I watched this over the past week. What an excellent series it was. I've never seen Nicole Kidman be so good.
 
J

jelly

Member
Damn, that was tense and scary. Weirdly uplifting in the end as well against what happened. Fantastic mini series and more mini series please.
 
R

Rodney McKay

Member
Solo said:
Girlfriend and I watched this over the past week. What an excellent series it was. I've never seen Nicole Kidman be so good.
Click to expand...

Same here (except I started in about half way through).

They did a fantastic job of building up tension to the ending and wondering who it was that did what to whom, but it all turned out a little too expectedly for either of us (I even guessed correctly that
Nicole Kidman's husband was the Divergent woman's rapist the second I saw him on screen, I swear that actor always plays roles like that
).

Everything leading up to the end was like "oh, is that guy going to kill that guy?, wait, is she going to kill her?! Or is she going to kill him?!?!"
But it was a nice ending, but this was one show where I totally did NOT expect for there to be a happy ending.

One thing I did not understand was why that female cop was so pissed off at the woman hiding stuff. Even the male cop was like "why does it matter, the one who did it would only get a super minor charge and do community service or something." But the other cop is so obbessed with it she goes to the funeral and stalks them with binoculars at the beach? Seemed weird, like they were trying to set up for a season 2 or something (which is even weirder that the director is saying there totally wont be).

Personally glad there isn't another season with these characters at least. I was afraid they'd mess with the ending in a second season and have that cop screw up all their lives by continuing to search for the absolute truth and someone else ending up dead.
 
S

Stigfinnare

Member
Awesome detail when Kidman is assembling the IKEA furniture you see the name of it "Svärta". Which means blackness/darkness in Swedish.

Loved this show even though it was pretty predictable. Cast was of the charts good.
 
J

jellies_two

Member
Great book.
Great show!

I hope they don't try for a second season because the book is the backbone, without a gifted author they are off the grid.
 
Grizzlyjin

Grizzlyjin

Supersonic, idiotic, disconnecting, not respecting, who would really ever wanna go and top that
SCULLIBUNDO said:
Looks like we may be getting a season 2.

http://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2017/05/reese-witherspoon-big-little-lies-season-2
Click to expand...

I'm actually okay with this the more I think about it. As long as they don't do something silly like another murder, there is room to play around with the characters some more. We didn't really get to see the impact of Madeline's infidelity, Celeste is now raising twins alone (one being incredibly troubled), Bonnie still has some backstory that wasn't mined + fallout from having killed someone, Renata...I don't care what they do there as long as they keep Laura Dern. Jane is the only one that I think they've used up thoroughly.

I see how it could continue organically moreso than 13 Reasons Why. Such a small percentage of Big Little Lies was actually about the murder. It was certainly the hook, but it's literally my least favorite thing about the show. It's really just an examination of relationships in the bubble of this community, and you can do more with that. And I really wouldn't complain about seeing the cast together again. Most movies don't even have a group this strong, especially if we're talking about mature actresses.
 
V

Vyer

Member
Just finished this. Really well done. Was hooked pretty hard by the second ep. Some excellent performances.
 
F

FullMetalx117

Member
Wow I was impressed by this show. I was hooked from the first episode onwards. Just the atmosphere of this show...the creators did an excellent job capturing the setting.

Also I definitely think this is the best performance of all 3 leads in their careers so far
 
H

hey_monkey

Banned
FullMetalx117 said:
Wow I was impressed by this show. I was hooked from the first episode onwards. Just the atmosphere of this show...the creators did an excellent job capturing the setting.

Also I definitely think this is the best performance of all 3 leads in their careers so far
Click to expand...

Same. Binged it while sick and it was great. Usually hate rich people problems stories, too.
 
T

TripOpt55

Member
I watched the first episode when this aired and wasn't blown away so didn't keep up with it. I saw it on a bunch of best TV of the year so far-type lists so decided to give it another shot. I ended up really enjoying it. I found the end very satisfying. While I agree it was a rather predictable end to the various mysteries, I still thought it was a good ending with all the women coming together in particular. Nicole Kidman was really terrific in her role. I thought the girl who played Chloe was great too. I also don't remember the last time I loathed a TV character as much as I did Perry.
 
W

Wood Man

Member
Just finished this after hearing all the Emmy buzz. What a great murder mystery. Although I figured everything out around episode 4.

I was never a huge Nicole Kidman fan but she was fantastic in this. Bravo

And I thought some of the kids acted strange given they are only 6 years old.

But do we really need a season 2?
 
J

Jules

Neo Member
Wood Man said:
Just finished this after hearing all the Emmy buzz. What a great murder mystery. Although I figured everything out around episode 4.

I was never a huge Nicole Kidman fan but she was fantastic in this. Bravo

And I thought some of the kids acted strange given they are only 6 years old.

But do we really need a season 2?
Click to expand...

Agree with you on Kidman, but she was great is this series! I read the book after I watched, which was different, considering the book was set in Australia and some of the context and characters was different. I also really enjoyed Reese Witherspoon as a bitch for a change! I say no to a season 2.
 
J

Jack Scofield

Member
Finished this last night. I guess I'm in the minority, because I wasn't the biggest fan. I actually felt that they could have cut down episodes and have had a stronger season. Every scene with Perry and Nicole Kidman felt extremely repetitive.
 
P

pswii60

Member
Really, really enjoyed this. The ending was indeed predictable but still incredibly tense.

The acting throughout was top notch. Kidman really brought her all to this part, she was amazing.

Up there with Ozark for my favourite of 2017 so far. I went in thinking it would be a chick flick series and it couldn't have been any further from that. Top tier television for sure.
 
B

brianjones

Member
so this was pretty entertaining!

the places it goes are pretty obvious but I found it satisfying regardless

Reese Witherspoon is a bad bitch

it bums me out that ill never live in a place as beautiful as Monterey looks

one thing I found weird was Shailene Woodley character.. she doesn't ever seem to work but can afford to live there as a single mom in a house?
 
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