Trailer is up. Looks good.

http://deadline.com/2015/05/sense8-trailer-netflix-wachowskis-1201422182/

Really dug those.

it keeps poping up in my nextflix but I'm scared to take a dive and watch.

http://grantland.com/hollywood-prospectus/8-is-enough-the-wachowskis-new-netflix-drama-is-gloriously-terribly-insane/?ex_cid=GrantlandFB

‘8’ Is Enough: The Wachowskis’ New Netflix Drama Is Gloriously, Terribly Insane

Here’s something no one wants to admit: TV is safe. It risks little, it discomfits few. From the fetid swamps of TLC to the rarefied air of HBO, the budgets (and the coverage!) may have changed, but television’s eternal formula has mostly stayed the same. The best series in any era endeavor to create likable, credible characters and then dangle them like yo-yos above a deep ravine of terror and change. Sometimes the ravine looks like a chocolate factory, other times it looks like an ice zombie apocalypse. Either way, TV always returns to the same beats, promising peril while guaranteeing refuge.1 It makes sense: Television is piped directly to us. It greets us in our homes, it snuggles up beside us on the couch. Broken off into episodes to be snacked upon or massed together into binge-able seasons, TV is, by nature, digestible. Even when it unsettles, it finds a way to nourish.

This isn’t a criticism per se. Consistency and comfort have their value, in art as in life. One of the greatest things about television as a medium is that its best practitioners are able to reshuffle the deck in ways that delight and surprise. Even Mad Men, for all of its emotional BASE jumping and writerly flourish, was built upon the sturdy, accumulated bones of decades of soap operas, antihero dramas, and office comedies. It didn’t quack like a duck, but it often moved like one.

I’m as enamored of this creative sleight-of-hand as I am of the shows that result from it. I find it thrilling how the slow and languorous Rectify and the gleefully manic Better Call Saul emerge from an identical Final Draft template, how both CBS’s underrated Mom and FX’s underseen You’re the Worst are able to squeeze their dissimilar points of view into the same 22 minutes. (Perhaps this also explains my affection for Food Network’s Chopped, another high-profile example of talented people forced to make do with precious few ingredients and even less time.) TV remains as much about ingenuity as it does about invention. Knowing the trick only increases my appreciation of the magic.

But as the ruddy glow of TV’s recent Golden Age begins to fade, I can’t help but wonder — as Mad Men creator Matthew Weiner did just a few months ago — is that all there is? Many people have compared the first decade of the 21st century on the small screen to what happened on the big one in the 1970s, as idiosyncratic auteurs wrested control from their risk-averse studio masters.2 But The Godfather and The French Connection weren’t wholly original; rather, like The Sopranos and The Shield, they were radical reinventions of preexisting formats. Half of the films’ appeal came from the way they embraced our expectations; the other half came from the way they noisily subverted them. To focus only on these blockbusters ignores the less populist but no less influential work of that decade: avant-garde filmmakers like Luis Buñuel, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, and Jean-Luc Godard didn’t just challenge the way cinematic stories were told; they challenged the very nature of story itself. TV, by contrast, has had no such experimental phase. Louie, I suppose, comes close with its auteurist flights of fancy. But even that, eventually, comes back to diarrhea jokes. For the most part, television seems content to continually push the envelope but never quite tear it open. In other words, Don Draper will go see I Am Curious (Yellow). But in the nearly half-century since that movie was released, TV has shown no interest in making its own.

Sense8, which premieres this Friday on Netflix, is not that show — but, my goodness, does it aim to be. Created by the Wachowskis (The Matrix — and, deep breath — Jupiter Ascending) along with Babylon 5’s J. Michael Straczynski, it is a gargantuan feat of both creativity and capitalism: Its narrative spans eight cities and its production budget permitted travel to all of them. The story of an octet of adult telepaths linked by magical abilities and haunted by visions of Sayid from Lost, Sense8 does not look, feel, or sound like anything else on TV. In the three episodes provided to critics, the series wrestles nobly with issues ranging from transphobia to gang violence and veers madly from soggy melodrama to charlied-up wuxia. Scenes and styles bleed into each other like watercolors. Attempting to describe the scope of the story runs the risk of collapsing into gibberish. There are drug-smoking Icelandic DJs and underground Korean fight clubs. A colostomy bag is tossed onto a table. A well-lubed dildo is dropped onto the floor. Sense8 is utterly sui generis.

It is also, I’m sorry to say, almost entirely terrible. From the opening moments, in which a heroin-ravaged telepath named Angel (Daryl Hannah) “gives birth”3 to the aforementioned eight baby mentalists across the globe and then blows her brains out with a pistol to avoid the clutches of a villain named — no joke — “Mr. Whispers,” Sense8 demands utter fealty to its insanity. Which I appreciate as far as it goes. The problem is that Sense8 fails to buttress that insanity with anything remotely resembling coherence or, in fact, entertainment. The eight different locales — Chicago, San Francisco, Nairobi, Seoul, Mumbai, London, Berlin, and Mexico City — look terrific, but are little more than vivid dioramas for the Wachowskis to populate with their usual hobbyhorses: explicit lesbian sex (San Francisco), transformative raves (London), kick-punching women (Seoul), car crashes (everywhere), unexpected messiahs (everywhere). The siblings, aided and abetted by frequent collaborators James McTeigue (V for Vendetta) and Tom Tykwer (Run Lola Run), are so enthralled by their personal interests that they appear to have forgotten entirely about ours. Three hours in, it’s not at all clear just what any of the eight baby brainiacs — who count a Kenyan bus driver and a German safecracker among their number — can do, other than complain about headaches and have visions of each other in awkward moments. Oh, there is one other thing: They all appear to be under surveillance by Naveen Andrews’s Jonas, a shadowy senior sensate who wanders aimlessly through the narrative like a narcoleptic in an art museum.

Worse, it’s not clear why they do anything.4 The majority of the protagonists are trapped in utterly banal circumstances — disappointed dads, sick moms — that could be addressed with basic therapy instead of advanced telepathy. Characters natter on about “limbic resonance” and “eco-biological synaptic network,” smoke copious amounts of DMT, and are threatened with lobotomy. And yet the bulk of them remain painfully slight. Jamie Clayton’s Nomi, a transgender “hacktivist” learning to love herself, has the sole emotional story line. And Miguel Ángel Silvestre, as Lito, a closeted Mexican action star, has the only truly engaging one, thanks primarily to the comic brightness supplied by his costars Alfonso Herrera (as Lito’s lover) and Eréndira Ibarra (as his eager beard). Everything else drips with the gloppy solemnity of a college stoner telling you about his righteous dream. For all of its high-flying ideas, Sense8 is remarkably leaden. It’s as if the Wachowskis passed over both the red pill and the blue pill in favor of the one marked “Ambien.”

But while I don’t come to praise Sense8 — clearly! — I have no interest in burying it. Sense8 is bad in a way that feels entirely fresh. Its untamed ego is inseparable from its wild imagination. This distinction matters. Rather than look at Netflix’s considerable investment in Sense8 as an act of arrogance (“We can make anything!”) or folly (“With anyone!”), I choose to consider it through a much more optimistic lens. If Netflix and its cash-rich peers, including Amazon and Hulu, truly want to upend 75 years of television business as usual, then why have they spent so much time slavishly re-creating it? Extending Longmire, rebooting Full House, investing money in old hands and shaky ideas — all of this may be reassuring to investors, but it’s hardly inspiring to viewers. There’s a reason why many of the biggest critical successes to emerge from television 2.0 — like Amazon’s Transparent and Vimeo’s High Maintenance — feel completely distinct from anything on broadcast or cable. And Sense8 feels completely distinct, full stop. There’s a raw, wheedling humanity just beneath the show’s demented surface that deserves our respect, if not our acclaim. It has no spoon. Consuming it is messy, but not at all familiar.

Which is to say there are far worse ways for Netflix to spend its billions. And though the already-wealthy Wachowskis are far from the ideal beneficiaries of this largesse — why not blank-check worthier weirdos like Shane Carruth, Miranda July, or Tsai Ming-liang? — their refusal to play by anyone’s rules but their own makes them strangely important figures in television’s bold, uncertain future. On a daily basis I want to watch good TV. But in the long term I want TV to aspire to greatness — and that will entail taking some wild leaps and enduring some truly spectacular falls. The worst thing you can say about the majority of television is that you can see everything coming from a million miles away. The best thing I can say about Sense8 is that I have no idea what it was I just saw.

This post has been updated to correct an error in the display that erroneously identified the Wachowskis as Larry and Lana. They are Andy and Lana.

JUST to get to the ACTUAL review?

Nah-b. I don't trust.

-it aims at being the next great show
-it's also almost entirely terrible

I stopped there.

http://www.hitfix.com/whats-alan-watching/review-netflixs-sense8-makes-no-sense-at-first-but-will-it-by-binges-end

Review: Netflix's 'Sense8' makes no sense at first, but will it by binge's end?

The Wachowskis and 'Babylon 5' creator J. Michael Straczynski team up for a globe-spanning... something
By Alan Sepinwall @Sepinwall | Thursday, Jun 4, 2015 12:00 PM


"Sense8" is a show that could only exist on Netflix (or another streaming service like it), because no human would have the patience to watch it weekly.

But that's not necessarily a bad thing.

Among its originals, Netflix has some great shows ("Orange Is the New Black" and "BoJack Horseman," to name two) and some lesser ones, but good or bad, the Netflix series only occasionally seem made with the Netflix distribution model in mind. Though they have serialized elements, most of them are structured in the exact same way as their counterparts that air in a traditional pattern on cable or broadcast TV. (Ditto most of Amazon's originals.) Previous attempts to design shows explicitly for the streaming/binge world — like Mitch Hurwitz's aborted plan to make "Arrested Development" season 4 viewable in any order — haven't worked out, and I'm still waiting for someone to find a way to explicitly configure their series so it wouldn't make sense to watch them any other way.

"Sense8" (whose first season debuts tonight at midnight Pacific) isn't quite that, in part because the three episodes I've seen don't necessarily promise a great experience by the time the season's done. But it's the closest I've seen so far, if only because it seems to have been made under the assumption that people will watch it in one burst, or not at all.

The show comes from a group of creators who have experience in redefining how we view entertainment. Back in the '90s, J. Michael Straczynski created the sci-fi epic "Babylon 5," one of the very first shows to employ the Novel For Television approach, where Straczynski had most of the series already mapped out(*) before he made a single episode. Here, he's partnered with the Wachowskis, who rewrote the visual language for action and science fiction with "The Matrix," and who have tried to experiment — with mixed degrees of creative and commercial success — with form and content with most of their ensuing films.

(*) Real life ultimately interfered with these plans, as always happens ("The Wire" also isn't exactly the story David Simon would have told under perfect circumstances). "Babylon 5" was ultimately a groundbreaker without being an influencer, since it's not widely known outside its circle of fiercely devoted fans. The people who would make intensely serialized shows in the '00s tend to credit other works as inspiration, but not "B5."

Together, Straczynski and the Wachowskis have teamed up to make a show about... well, I'm not entirely sure. There are eight central characters, scattered around the world — they live in Chicago, London, Nairobi, Seoul, Mexico City, Mumbai, Berlin, and San Francisco — each with their own separate narrative and problems, each essentially existing in a different storytelling genre, but all are connected... somehow. The show opens with a scene featuring its most recognizable actors, Daryl Hannah and Naveen Andrews (Sayid from "Lost"), having a largely incomprehensible conversation about the other eight, all of whom are linked by a “biological synaptic network.” As we bounce from character to character, there are occasional moments where one suddenly finds herself in the same room with another who should be thousands of miles away, or staring into the mirror to see another's reflection, or borrowing the skills of another member of the group (whose ranks include a cop, a safecracker, a mixed martial artist and a club DJ, among other jobs; the DJ'ing has yet to come in handy for someone else, but I have faith it will).

Is the other person really there? If one fights for another, are they taking over their body, or just somehow lending their skill? None of that is clear, because very little about the larger point of the show is. When the cop tells Andrews that he fears he's losing his mind, the most concrete thing Andrews tells him is, "No, it's just expanding."

In reviewing ABC's "The Whispers" the other day (which discussed "Sense8" in passing), Fienberg referred to the phenomenon of No Breadcrumbs TV, where creators assume their audience will be watching in chunks, if not all at once, and that the show therefore doesn't have to hold its viewers' hands to keep them following the story from episode to episode. That approach is much more valid with a Netflix show than it is with an ABC show at this point, and Straczynski and the Wachowskis seem determined to test just how much they can withhold from their audience before everyone loses patience, even if people can watch the whole season in a day. In the early going, at least, the show's larger story is complete gibberish.

The smaller stories are a mixed bag, but it's fun watching the creators try to mash together so many different genres and character types into the same show, so that we can bounce from a sex farce in Mexico City to a Bollywood marriage drama to a more personal drama involving a transgender woman (Jamie Clayton) and her girlfriend (Freema Agyeman) in San Francisco. Individually, some of the mini-shows are more engaging than others — Lana Wachowski is trans herself, and has worked queer and/or trans themes into a lot of her work(**), and there's a personal stamp on those scenes that isn't necessarily present, say, when we're following the safecracker (Max Riemelt) in Berlin. And the Mexico City scenes, involving a TV star (Miguel Ángel Silvestre) with a secret, are a relief because their lightness cuts through the pretensions of a series that — with its globe-spanning design(***) and love of philosophizing — often feels a half-step away from evoking the worst of Tim Kring on "Heroes" and "Touch." (Similarly, scenes involving Aml Ameen as a Nairobi commuter van driver can approach despair given the setting, yet are leavened by the fact that the van is named after, and decorated with images of, Jean Claude Van Damme.)

(**) As I understand it, Straczynski intended to have Delenn on "Babylon 5" start the series as a male alien (albeit played by a woman) and transform into a female alien after the first season, but abandoned the idea because the technology wasn't good enough at the time to make an actress sound convincingly male at the start. Both technically and in terms of larger cultural awareness of trans issues, that would have been much simpler to pull off today.

(***) Oddly, all the characters speak English in every setting, regardless of whom they're encountering. Straczynski told Fienberg (in an interview to be published later this week) that the approach is more or less like in "The Hunt for Red October," where we will all hear English when people are alone with their countrymen, but as the characters start to have more prolonged encounters, the Berlin safecracker might speak German in front of the confused Chicago cop. I suppose we should be thankful for one less thing to complicate a show that's already hard to follow by design, but given how comfortable other current dramas like "The Americans" are with extended subtitle sequences, it's the most retrograde element in a show that's otherwise pushing a lot of boundaries.

It helps that the Wachowskis, who directed the first three episodes (other directors will include their "Cloud Atlas" collaborator Tom Tykwer) have such great eyes. Even when I had little idea what was happening, and/or why I should be caring, "Sense8" is great to look at, and its palette shifts as we move from setting to setting and genre to genre. Whether they're reluctant to explain in dialogue exactly what's linking these people together, or simply have trouble articulating it in a way that makes any sense, they have no difficulty at all drawing those lines visually. There's a fight scene late in the third episode, involving one character somehow drawing on the skills of two of the others, that's both beautiful as a bit of action choreography and far clearer in conveying the connection between these strangers. The experience makes sense, even if the story doesn't quite.

"Sense8" has a lot on its mind, as the brief encounters between its leads quickly blur boundaries of nationality, gender and sexuality, among other heady topics. It's aiming for something big, and while these three episodes give me no idea if they can ultimately hit the mark, they're also more interesting than they have any right to be considering how incoherent so much of it is.

I wouldn't call "Sense8" the platonic ideal of a Netflix show, because there will be people who understandably give up at the end of the first episode (if not sooner) and warn everyone they know not to bother. But because it will be so easy to go on to the next episode, and the one after that, all the way to the end, I imagine it will engender a lot more patience (particularly among those who revere any or all of "Babylon 5," "Cloud Atlas" or the two "Matrix" sequels) than if it was HBO's new summer Sunday night drama.

Watched the first episode and liked it. Good setup and left me wanting more, but I'm not going to binge this one.

Looked great and sounded great even with my mediocre setup.

In fact, every TV show that shoots in Chicago kinda shoots it the same, and I hate it. Plus the cops saying "Chiraq"? I know the name has been added to the national lexicon now...I get it, but really? I kinda cringed at that.

I'm waiting to see who they do this, but based off the trailer and the fact there were 8 main characters, I was hoping they'd take their time telling their stories. Introducing them all at once? Maybe it was just a bit much for me. I'm still locked in though.

but oddly the stuff set here usually doesn't shoot here, and I didn't watch that one cop show that got cancelled.

so really, they're just all using the same stock footage

www.engadgethd.com - the other stuff i'm looking at

For a Wachowski's show, it's jarring that it lacks style. Outside a handful of establishing shots, it looks like a network TV show on the CW.

The basic idea seems interesting, but judging from the first episode it isn't clear what the tone of the series is. (Edgy? Dreamlike type fantasy?)

Also, some of the dialogue is just laughably bad. That scene where the couple was verbally attacked by the women from Berkeley and the woman said, 'I'm crying because no one has ever defended me'. Like are you for real??!?

And I'm not sure what the deal is with the police team. First off, it doesn't seem realistic that a black cop would be that apathetic about helping a young black kid who was shot. (I didn't think of the 'white man saves the poor, impoverished kid sterotype until now.)

Also, wouldn't they have already known before driving to that hospital that the hospital wouldn't take the patient?

But there are some good points. The main concept seems interesting and the woman from Korea and the lesbian couple seem worth watching.

Hopefully, I'll get back to the series this week.

Shit gets good GOOD AS FUCK HERE.

the Wachoski's have always known how to shoot action and portray righteous violence. They have few equals in that territory and the climax in this episode is flames

They def also know how to smash so much conceptual and theoretical shit into scenes and motivations.

I'm in

So we get to see how they'd use the powers of the other 7 at the end of this episode, and I'm kinda 'eh' on it. The fight scene in Nairobi paired up with ol' girl in the boxing ring? I guess I thought they'd learn how to access the power of the others on their own. But it seems like the events of both characters have to be happening at the same time.

woohoo!!!!
~~~~
When you are born, you cry, and the world rejoices. Live so that when you die, you rejoice, and the world cries.
~~~~
You cannot hate people for their own good.

the Wach's have always been able to cling to western character and plots tropes and simultaneously subvert them

I think Longo said it in the Jupiter Ascending post (still ain't seen that) but we don't deserve them.

is essentially Ziggy. Dude is gonna get people killed being all Ziggy-like.

all of them singing?

And when the Indian girls sister walks in her singing and says "What's wrong with you? You were singing in English." So are we supposed to hear them in English but in reality they're speaking their native tongue?

Also, the idea that this Indian woman is fixing to turn down the PERFECT Indian suitor for some white crook is KINDA pissing me off.

not bad
not bad atall
~~~~
When you are born, you cry, and the world rejoices. Live so that when you die, you rejoice, and the world cries.
~~~~
You cannot hate people for their own good.

Too on the nose
Too sincere
just too much.

I'm still watching, overall, tho.

Desi breezie marries "Mr. Right" and of course he's a capitalist psychopath who begins to physically abuse her. Moment eating her father's food before she walked in after wedding gave it away, along with scene of Ganesha followers posterizing him and his scumbag pops. ohh and I hate that she's falling for the German dude #reversebigotry

Incredible wife in 3.4 seconds Korean breezy won't do much time, bitch ass bother will step up and take blame. I hope she strangles her father to death after release

Cop boy's partner will reveal his self as gay during a stake out or some shit

Fine as hell Latin@ co-star with the mediocre face will fuck Gay Actor's man and they'll live in happy threesome ever after

Kenyan Van Damm is also gay, and will get lukemia daughter killed

Obviously German diamond thieves get caught up, skinny dude ends up murked

I have no predictions for Transgender Sensaite or Persian sensaite

>ohh and I hate that
>she's falling for the German dude #reversebigotry
>

>Desi breezie marries "Mr. Right" and of course he's a
>capitalist psychopath who begins to physically abuse her.
>Moment eating her father's food before she walked in after
>wedding gave it away, along with scene of Ganesha followers
>posterizing him and his scumbag pops. ohh and I hate that
>she's falling for the German dude #reversebigotry
>
damn wrong as hell...

>Incredible wife in 3.4 seconds Korean breezy won't do much
>time, bitch ass bother will step up and take blame. I hope she
>strangles her father to death after release

well I was close here. almost, just reverse dad and bitch ass son

>Cop boy's partner will reveal his self as gay during a stake
>out or some shit

i'll stand by this. think the gym scene

>
>Fine as hell Latin@ co-star with the mediocre face will fuck
>Gay Actor's man and they'll live in happy threesome ever
>after
>

lofl. wrong, again

>Kenyan Van Damm is also gay, and will get lukemia daughter
>killed
>
wrong. Well I do still think he gay cause he seemed to be masturbating to the Van Damn movie when he was first driving the girl

>Obviously German diamond thieves get caught up, skinny dude
>ends up murked
>

almost, yeah....

>I have no predictions for Transgender Sensaite or Persian
>sensaite
>
>

I'm all for sex scenes, but this was a little too much. It really didn't serve the plot at all. It seems like every episode has at least one sex scene but doesn't serve the plot any. I guess it's a silly complaint because 99% of sex scenes are to titillate and not advance the story, but considering this narrative meanders so much, to me, it's just more wasted time.

to write dialogue and characters that seem to indicate they've never met any black people?

Not to say their character-building has ever been a strength but a few of these folks (particularly all the black peripheral ones) exist somewhere between archetype and stereotype.

That being said, there's some cool ideas dispersed throughout this mess so far.

I have enjoyed the first five or six eps more than say, House of Cards or The Leftovers.

the Gay Latin lover, the gays in SF, the THIRD WORLDNESS of Nairobi.

and why the hell is everyone speaking English. that bothers me more than any of the Black shit, BUT

non of it matters cause this shit is off the chain with how it owns its own ridiculousness.

niggas aint tryna read subtitles.

Doesn't seem believable.

Mexico City
Berlin
Seoul
Mumbai
Nairobi

They speak English in what?

"Oddly, all the characters speak English in every setting, regardless of whom they're encountering. Straczynski told Fienberg (in an interview to be published later this week) that the approach is more or less like in "The Hunt for Red October," where we will all hear English when people are alone with their countrymen, but as the characters start to have more prolonged encounters, the Berlin safecracker might speak German in front of the confused Chicago cop. I suppose we should be thankful for one less thing to complicate a show that's already hard to follow by design, but given how comfortable other current dramas like "The Americans" are with extended subtitle sequences, it's the most retrograde element in a show that's otherwise pushing a lot of boundaries."

I agree with their approach. Since everyone besides Will and Nomi are in America, that means 6 of the storylines would entirely be in a foreign language with subtitles. That doesn't help for ease of viewing. I can buy into the conceit that these people are actually speaking their native language with each other, but it's in English for our sake.

where people in another country are speaking english with each other.

.

.

.

also for as plot driven as it is, all the characters make it seem like it's kinda slowed to a crawl from ep 6-9

it's not great, but I def enjoy it. the meta stuff on action movie making is cool too because the Wachowski's even seem to be winking at their aesthetics

and I don't think there is any way any of these plot lines are wrapped up in one season. Seems like this gunna need another season at least.

I agree that the narrative has slowed to a crawl. Just when it looks like we're getting somewhere, they pull back and get the sensates talking to each other about their feelings.

There were a couple moments in here, but too much shit left unsaid with the blond girl. It was frustrating and I wanted to ffwd through her, but I didn't thinking they would explain what's going on, but they didn't, which made me like it all the less.

.

.

I really don't like this shit. It's too slow, and busy all at the same time. I really don't think they have a good grasp of the story. This is all character building and NO plot.

I'll finish it, I'm so far along I might as well - I ain't enjoying it tho. :/

.

The Capheus/Sun fight scene was great. And the Wolfgang/Lito scene from the previous episode was nice too. I need more of THIS in the show. No matter what, The Wachowskis know how to shoot action sequences.

.

I wonder how many seasons they gunna try to make of this cause there is just so many questions in terms of the plot that need explaining.

also the theme and concept needs so much analytical unpacking.

the best parts were the fight scenes

the worst was the dialogue. yikes it was really fucn bad in places

also they keep trying to pretend it's about ALL 8, but they stuck to white hero narrative in the end and really made The Cop and the DJ girl the center of the show. Black Van Damn, Korean woman, and German criminal dude are easily the most entertaining story lines of the bunch, and that's who they need to focus on IMO.

also they really bitched out not killing ANY of the core 8, since there is a possibility that each has their OWN cluster...

furthermore, they really have no idea what to do with the Indian doctor character. She's just in scenes looking good as fuck, or crying, or all naval gazing about her marriage / not marriage, or crushing on German criminal dude.

Nomi's girlfriend is fine as hell

that's all

>Nomi's girlfriend is fine as hell
>
>that's all

~~~~
When you are born, you cry, and the world rejoices. Live so that when you die, you rejoice, and the world cries.
~~~~
You cannot hate people for their own good.

I can't do but two at a time. too dense. too much to absorb. I will say this, this is a VERY open show.

this easily took me to other places and I appreciated it's reach.

At least the Wach's fucn try. Their stories take place in worlds that look like the one I inhabit and they try and handle race, class, sex, and gender like it actually exist

The plot is necesarily messy and I'm not sure it actually suits the viewer even if it does suit the narrative.

How they gon release OINTB a WEEK early, while this is still in it's inception faze?

lol

I bet ain't NO one talking about this now.

i really don't see it's presence anywhere on line

not tumblr

not my fb timeline

no IG memes

even in here it's basically like 3-4 of us kinda talkin' a bout it

Huh? Orange... had been scheduled for June 12th from all the promos I had seen.

But yeah, it's not like a convoluted sci-fi thriller that is prominently about fluidity in sexual and gender identity is the easiest thing to market. I don't think they're sweeping it under the rug, just recognizing it's a superniche show that they probably hope can build that cult status.

>Huh? Orange... had been scheduled for June 12th from all the
>promos I had seen.

Nah, they released it a week early. It even said "Out Early for good behavior."
>
>But yeah, it's not like a convoluted sci-fi thriller that is
>prominently about fluidity in sexual and gender identity is
>the easiest thing to market. I don't think they're sweeping it
>under the rug, just recognizing it's a superniche show that
>they probably hope can build that cult status.

Perhaps it was always intended to be Niche, but a sci-fi show made by the Wachowski's - what about that says "niche"?

>>Huh? Orange... had been scheduled for June 12th from all
>the
>>promos I had seen.
>
>Nah, they released it a week early. It even said "Out Early
>for good behavior."

It was released 3 hours early. Not joking.

>>
>>But yeah, it's not like a convoluted sci-fi thriller that is
>>prominently about fluidity in sexual and gender identity is
>>the easiest thing to market. I don't think they're sweeping
>it
>>under the rug, just recognizing it's a superniche show that
>>they probably hope can build that cult status.
>
>Perhaps it was always intended to be Niche, but a sci-fi show
>made by the Wachowski's - what about that says "niche"?

Wachowskis in collaboration with "some guy only nerds devoted to Babylon-motherfucking-Five have ever heard of".

I mean, from a consumer perspective that Wachowski tag might say "populist action epic" (or whatever), but considering what it actually is I don't think Netflix is in a position to sell it as such.

people finish watching it in a week or so...that shouldn't impact this show.

Lotta worse shows to watch at this time of the year.It's a little bit pretentious but it has something to say.

The cop character pissed me off when he was trying to arrest East Indian dude when it was becoming clear that it was a supernatural thing goin' on.Even after he was inexplicably jumping from car to car, dude didn't hit the brakes of the car.

I called that Nomi was a dude from the beginning :P I also thought that Mexican chick was too. The Mexican part of the show should be its own show, I'd watch a sitcom based on that.The episode where he feels Korean chick's period was funny as hell to me.

Van Damme's friend is waaay more interesting than he will ever be.I wish he was Van Damme.The way the African gangsters and police curse is so unnatural...


Up to where i'm at Blonde Brit lady is boring and is only used for filler. It's just her mopping around and smoking. The people she was hangin' with don't fit her at all.

I like it a lot though. I'm in for the long haul.

>Lotta worse shows to watch at this time of the year.It's a
>little bit pretentious but it has something to say.

It's too melodramatic at times. I'm on episode 9 and I really want them to start moving the main story along. I can deal with each individual's storyline if its interesting. Whether or not this show works turns on that. If all 8 stories are interesting, you don't need the main storyline to advance so quickly. But as some of the stories are on the slow side, you start getting anxious for them to move along.
>
>The cop character pissed me off when he was trying to arrest
>East Indian dude when it was becoming clear that it was a
>supernatural thing goin' on.Even after he was inexplicably
>jumping from car to car, dude didn't hit the brakes of the
>car.
>

Yeah, I don't like how nonchalant most of these characters are about what's going on with them. Kinda like, "Hey, I'm Will. Who are you? Cool. Let's stand here and talk."



>I called that Nomi was a dude from the beginning :P I also
>thought that Mexican chick was too. The Mexican part of the
>show should be its own show, I'd watch a sitcom based on
>that.The episode where he feels Korean chick's period was
>funny as hell to me.

That is definitely the most interesting story to me followed by Sun in Korea, Kala in India and Capheus in Nigeria. Hernando is my dude though. He really brings some levity and humanity to that storyline.

>
>Van Damme's friend is waaay more interesting than he will ever
>be.I wish he was Van Damme.The way the African gangsters and
>police curse is so unnatural...

I don't have a problem with Van Damme actually. I find it hilarious however that everyone calls him "Van Damme" like that's his name now! LOL!

>Lotta worse shows to watch at this time of the year.It's a
>little bit pretentious but it has something to say.

>It's too melodramatic at times. I'm on episode 9 and I really >want them to start moving the main story along. I can deal with >each individual's storyline if its interesting. Whether or not >this show works turns on that. If all 8 stories are interesting, >you don't need the main storyline to advance so quickly. But as >some of the stories are on the slow side, you start getting >
>anxious for them to move along.

My girl feels the same, she keeps saying "Are they ever gonna advance the storyline?" I appreciate the fact that they want to introduce the characters but there's a lot of scenes of people just standing and swimming naked, and pouting in front of windows.


>The cop character pissed me off when he was trying to arrest
>East Indian dude when it was becoming clear that it was a
>supernatural thing goin' on.Even after he was inexplicably
>jumping from car to car, dude didn't hit the brakes of the
>car.
>

>Yeah, I don't like how nonchalant most of these characters are >about what's going on with them. Kinda like, "Hey, I'm Will. Who >are you? Cool. Let's stand here and talk."




>I called that Nomi was a dude from the beginning I also
>thought that Mexican chick was too. The Mexican part of the
>show should be its own show, I'd watch a sitcom based on
>that.The episode where he feels Korean chick's period was
>funny as hell to me.

>That is definitely the most interesting story to me followed by >Sun in Korea, Kala in India and Capheus in Nigeria. Hernando is >my dude though. He really brings some levity and humanity to that >storyline.

I love the Sun story line as she is finally not so one-dimensional anymore, I like her conversation with Van Damme and the scene with her giving her dog, gave her some much needed personality.The Kenyan scenes are well shot, as an fellow African, I got real sentimental at the scene where Capheus and his friends are eating street bbq meat after a long day.The little splashes of Swahili here and there makes it more authentic than both Mexico and Berlin IMO.For a while I thought that the Berlin parts were in Ireland.

>
>Van Damme's friend is waaay more interesting than he will ever
>be.I wish he was Van Damme.The way the African gangsters and
>police curse is so unnatural...

>I don't have a problem with Van Damme actually. I find it >hilarious however that everyone calls him "Van Damme" like that's >his name now! LOL!

Yeah Those minibus in Africa and their drivers are so much parts of every day's life, there. I lived in South Africa for a while and I saw a lot in those things.Those dues live and die by their buses.They always have colorful nick names based on action flicks. Every city would have a Rambo, McCoy or a Commando, don't forget Cobra and Ninja.

What I really love about the Nairobi part of the story is that it's a narrative that doesn't get to be on TV much at all even though it's been an issue for a long time. Caring for sick relatives that have contracted the HIV Virus and finding the proper medication.

- Another case of a season having too many episodes. It started off promising, then focused too much on character development instead of moving the plot along in episodes 5-9. The last three episodes were the strongest, but this season would have been better with 10, maybe even 8, episodes.

- The greatest aspect of this show, and what I assume was one of its main goals, was to show interconnectedness of humanity; the different lives people live throughout the world, while sharing the same emotions. I loved seeing the set locations, and they did a great job at exploring the 8 different cities.

- The dialogue was bad. The Wach's need a critic in their writing room.

- The early part of the season struggled with balancing the storylines. 8 main characters is tough, and it seemed like too much to handle until the end tied it together well. They should take notes from David Simon in Treme.

- A big part of the reason the Wachowski's are so polarizing is because they blatantly inject their political and spiritual beliefs into their films/TV shows, more so than most directors. I didn't mind it for the most part, but there were a few scenes and lines that felt shoehorned in.

- For being mostly no-names, the cast was pretty impressive. All of them held their own.

- Sadly, I'd be surprised if there is a Season 2. It's been mostly poor reviews, little advertisement/hype, high piracy rates, and what looked like a costly budget. If it is renewed though...

- Sense8 should be an anthology series with each season having 8 new characters/locations. I feel like we've gone about as far as we can with this group and would enjoy seeing a new cluster, with a better leader than Jonas.

- Wachowski's have some cringeworthy moments in their films/TV shows, but they're two of the most underrated and curiously hated directors in Hollywood. As others have said in here and other threads, we take them for granted. To me, they've made 4 outstanding films, are the best in the game at shooting action sequences, and aren't afraid to take risks with the content they produce. I just hope somebody in Hollywood recognizes the greatness and gives them the budget they need to keep going.




Overall it was an entertaining and unique series, but had some shortcomings that held it back from being a top tier show. I'm still a big fan of the Wachowskis, and this was much better than Jupiter Ascending. I'd watch a second season, but if a friend asked me to recommend a good new television series, I don't think I'd say Sense8.

>- A big part of the reason the Wachowski's are so polarizing
>is because they blatantly inject their political and spiritual
>beliefs into their films/TV shows, more so than most
>directors. I didn't mind it for the most part, but there were
>a few scenes and lines that felt shoehorned in.

Definitely felt a little forced, too much, what have you.
>

That's what those moments felt like to me.

It's got great visuals, and some cool action scenes. Most of the main 8 characters, I dug. There was plenty of corny sentiment, but I didn't mind it too much because all the action stuff these days is trying to go the dark route.

Dialogue is really bad at times, and the plot wasn't well planned. There was more than a few ridiculously unbelievable moments. Finale just kind of ended; little resolution, no kind of cliffhanger or anything.

I hope it gets a second season, and if it does, I think the Wachowskis need to bring in some new writers.

>It's got great visuals, and some cool action scenes. Most of
>the main 8 characters, I dug. There was plenty of corny
>sentiment, but I didn't mind it too much because all the
>action stuff these days is trying to go the dark route.
>
>Dialogue is really bad at times, and the plot wasn't well
>planned. There was more than a few ridiculously unbelievable
>moments. Finale just kind of ended; little resolution, no
>kind of cliffhanger or anything.

It did just end, but I think it's implied that they are still in danger. Whispers is still alive and still looking for them.


>
>I hope it gets a second season, and if it does, I think the
>Wachowskis need to bring in some new writers.

I think different voices would definitely do this show some good. The Wachowskis can set the tone and direction for the show, but create a writer's room where you have 4 or 5 different writers taking cracks at bringing that vision to life.

didn't really seem to have a solid plot. they barely showed a few of them connecting ever. some seemed to have never met each other until the very end. i know sometimes we complain about not enough development but this seemed to have a bit too much development. a lot of their individual stories, while interesting seemed to have nothing to do with the overall story. matter of fact, was there even an overall story? i STILL have no idea who Whispers is.

i won't even get into the heavy handiness of most of the story telling. i doubt i'd watch another season.

The original "Van Damme" has been replaced by another actor a few episodes into taping.


http://deadline.com/2016/04/sense8-aml-ameen-toby-onwumere-recasting-wachowski-netflix-series-1201744886/

‘Sense8′: Aml Ameen Replaced By Toby Onwumere In Wachowskis’ Netflix Series

by Nellie Andreeva and Mike Fleming Jr
April 26, 2016
6:23pm


The Capheus character on the Wachowski siblings’ Netflix drama series Sense8 will look a little different in Season 2. I have learned that British actor Aml Ameen, who played the role in Season 1, has abruptly left the show, and the role has been recast with recent UC San Diego MFA acting graduate Toby Onwumere.

The circumstances behind Ameen’s exit are murky but sources indicate that there had beeAmln some sort of conflict between Ameen and Sense8 co-creator/executive producer/director Lana Wachowski that flared up at the Season 2 table read in Berlin and worsened as filming progressed in India, leading to Ameen’s exit a couple of episodes in and the recasting of the role. Creative differences may have played a role in the departure.

Capheus “Van Damme,” which now will be played by Onwumere, is one of the main characters on Sense8, a young Kenyan man living in Nairobi who is striving to earn money for his AIDS-stricken mother’s medication. He is one of eight strangers around the word suddenly linked mentally and emotionally who are at the center of the sci-fi series created, written and executive-produced by Lilly and Lana Wachowski and J. Michael Straczynski. According to updates by cast members on social media, filming on Season 2 recently moved to Italy from India.

Sense8 was only just hanging on in the rotation anyway...

i didn't realize BOTH the wachowskis came out as transgender women.

haven't watched the show.