Stranger Things

Moedred

Administrator
Staff member
To tide you over until October 31, a couple of recent films going for the same retro vibe were It Follows and Midnight Special. Both were well reviewed but neither particularly memorable. The latter is one long homage to Spielberg, a lesser Super 8, named possibly for the Twilight Zone movie intro. It's mostly about 2 guys driving but they never burst into song.
 

Attila the Professor

Moderator
Staff member
David Harbour has spoken about Harrison Ford being an influence on his performance here, from Esquire.

Did you grow up watching films like [Spielberg's nostalgic Americana pieces]?

I saw Raiders of the Lost Ark, like, 13 times in the movie theater. I made my grandmother go with me. I remember she would take me because she liked the air conditioner. Raiders of the Lost Ark and Jaws and E.T. and all of those Spielberg movies from that era—that was my film upbringing. It's interesting to play a leading man in his 40s who is of the era from when I was watching Roy Scheider or Harrison Ford play these guys. Movies really do affect you, especially when you're young, and I certainly learned what it was to be a man from some of their performances. It's really interesting. Now I can do that in a certain way.

OK, we need to talk about your beard in this show. It's pretty awesome. How did you and the hair and makeup department come up with this?

It's funny. It was longer when I started because I had grown it for something else. But that hat the costume designer had designed by this guy in New York because I wanted him to have an iconic hat. I love hats like the porkpie hat in The French Connection or the fedora in Indiana Jones, so we came with this open road hat—a kind of hat like Eisenhower used to wear. We thought it might be something that maybe his grandfather had worn and had been passed down by generations of cops.

In particular, I'd argue that the scripting of the sequence where he sneaks into a couple of facilities, and how his character gets in, has a real "here to view the tapestries"/"No ticket" vibe to it.
 

Moedred

Administrator
Staff member
It's 1984, and there are some riffs on Temple of Doom: "we are going to die," saving the hat, and nocturnal activities.

Also Hopper gets scrubbed down in the showers like in Crystal Skull (1:59 in the final trailer).
 
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Forbidden Eye

Well-known member
Moedred said:
It's 1984, and there are some riffs on Temple of Doom: "we are going to die," saving the hat, and nocturnal activities.

Also Hopper gets scrubbed down in the showers like in Crystal Skull (1:59 in the final trailer).

Picked on a couple of those as well, but also
the end where Eleven closes the gate really reminded me of the lava pit in Temple. The elevator with chains and even the lighting were very reminiscent of TOD


That said, I thought this season was pretty safe and obvious. For all the talk of using Temple Of Doom as an outline, they pretty much gave us more of the same of Season 1.
 

Z dweller

Well-known member
I finally finished watching season II and really liked it.
As a fan, I would be quite happy for the show to end here.

But two more seasons? I don't know.
Keeping it fresh is going to be a real challenge.

Let's hope the Duff brothers can pull it off, but I'm not too optimistic at this stage...
 

Moedred

Administrator
Staff member
David Harbour: "It’s very epic. There are monsters and horror and scares. There’s also some great Indiana Jones-type action."





This brings to mind: oldest high schoolers? Gabrielle Carteris was 30 on season 1 of Beverly Hills 90210. Alan Ruck was 29 when Ferris Bueller's Day Off was filmed and released. Maybe this slow moving production can someday beat them. 2022.
 

SnakeSurprise

Well-known member
S1 is among the best in television history, but I was over it with S2, which was about as bad as S1 was good...just polar opposites in quality.

Passed on S3, but hope they can right the ship.
 
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