Offside Chat Archives (2014-2021)

"Water polo on dry land" is honestly the best way I've ever heard someone describe a sport.

There’s shooting happening right in the middle of downtown🤦

https://www.nytimes.com/news/us/crime/chicago-shooting-downtown/9843055/

There is so much more to come, and frankly, we haven't even begun to grasp the caliber of the generations that have grown up and finally stepped onto the stage. This is especially true in certain pockets of the country—places like specific cities in the Deep South—where society has turned a blind eye to blatant social dysfunction for years. In these areas, children were raised with completely warped norms regarding behavior and what is considered acceptable versus taboo. The types of individuals who would be pushed to the fringes of a functional society are, instead, the ones holding power here; they are the ones being questioned, and the very people shaping our daily reality. When you combine poor parenting with even worse offspring, you get a recipe for disaster. To make matters worse, there is absolutely no systemic accountability or rule of law to speak of. It is truly a tragedy. There was once such immense potential here...

I finally sat down to watch The Witcher. While the production value is actually decent enough and the lead actor holds his own, everything else feels... lackluster. It’s all quite shallow, lacking any real depth or development; the characters feel flat, the dialogue is borderline laughable, and honestly, if you stripped away all the gore, you could probably pass this off as a show for seven-year-olds.

Take those three villains, for instance.🤦

It’ll totally bounce back in season two; right now, it's basically Netflix's golden goose.

I haven't actually read the books or played the games, so the whole universe was a complete mystery to me before I sat down to watch. That said, I don't think they did a particularly stellar job of fleshing out the characters or the world itself. Aside from Geralt, Ciri, and Jaskier, most of it felt a bit nonsensical to me. You have Yennefer, who is supposed to be this brilliant powerhouse, yet she spends half her time acting like an absolute fool; then there's Calanthe, presented as this legendary warrior, only to be caught completely off guard by these people; and that whole gathering of mages feels even more chaotic than a messy political convention back home... As for Cintra and Nilfgaard—why should I even care about who ends up winning 🤷? And that scene involving Duny and the Law of Surprise? It felt like being tossed into deep space without a map; I found myself wondering, what on earth is actually happening here? 🤣

It feels like they’ve taken that raw, old-school grit and smothered it under layers of political correctness, filling the screen with werewolves, strigas, and a cast of Black and Asian actors. At this rate, I’m just waiting for them to cast a white actor in a tribe like Shake Zulu.

When I watched the first two episodes of Game of Thrones, I started reading immediately. Here, I'm just sitting here tossing and turning...

Still, you watch stuff from this genre because it's entertaining, and I suppose I'll keep watching, hoping they eventually manage to fix it.

In the games, Yennefer is way older, and Geralt is too. Here, we’re just seeing this kid who’s still finding her footing as a sorceress.

Yeah, honestly, it's tough to keep track of everything happening at once. I don't want to spoil anything regarding Duny, but they really could have handled the explanation of the Law of Surprise a lot better.

Nilfgaard is also pretty poorly written. You get this impression they're just some bunch of religious fanatics, even though there's actually a reason why they targeted Cintra specifically—not that I want to 😁 spoil anything—but they're more like the Roman Empire; they just invade and conquer everything because they're constantly expanding. The show makes them look like these one-dimensional villains, when they're actually much better for the elves and dwarves, for example. The series just doesn't show that; it builds them up to be nothing but bad guys.

Paul Sanders5 said:In the games, Yennefer is way older, and Geralt is too. Here, we’re just seeing this kid who’s still finding her footing as a sorceress.

Yeah, honestly, it's tough to keep track of everything happening at once. I don't want to spoil anything regarding Duny, but they really could have handled the explanation of the Law of Surprise a lot better.

Nilfgaard is also pretty poorly written. You get this impression they're just some bunch of religious fanatics, even though there's actually a reason why they targeted Cintra specifically—not that I want to 😁 spoil anything—but they're more like the Roman Empire; they just invade and conquer everything because they're constantly expanding. The show makes them look like these one-dimensional villains, when they're actually much better for the elves and dwarves, for example. The series just doesn't show that; it builds them up to be nothing but bad guys.

The series actually takes place before the books and the games based on those books.

I am totally on the same page as ZZ, because honestly, I’ve been forcing myself to sit through one episode every single day just to feel something, but it’s all such a massive letdown. I get that you sometimes make stuff specifically to target a certain audience, but this whole thing feels so incredibly rushed and pointless, like everything is "happening" without anything actually happening at all. Maybe some heavy-duty editing could save the series, but as it stands? It’s just not interesting.

If The Witcher wasn't already some big-shot no name IP, I honestly think the show would have flopped even harder.

The way Yennefer is drawn, she’s got an incredible figure
It feels like we're just seeing the same tropes over and over again
To be honest, watching this series became a total chore for me after that first episode hooked me...

I finally sat down and managed to watch 1917 a very good war movie
Seriously, what a phenomenal piece of filmmaking. The technical execution is absolutely top-tier.
The camerawork is nothing short of masterful
Those trench sequences were easily some of the most visceral and well-shot scenes I've seen in a long time

Elizabeth Mendoza said:The series actually takes place before the books and the games based on those books.

Yeah, sure, but only for the first few episodes. By the time Geralt meets Ciri, he and Yennefer are basically old folks. They totally botched the timeline, honestly. Because they messed up the chronological flow, viewers who haven't read the source material have zero clue how a massiveaaaa amount of years passed between all those events.

Amanda Evans2 said:watched 1917 a very good war movie

Just a really solid war flick. The technical stuff? Top tier.

The camerawork is incredible... truly.

Those trench scenes... honestly, they're probably the best I've seen in a long, long time.

I see the General hasn't caught up yet.😳

bluebison47 said:I see the General hasn't caught up yet.😳

I’m sitting here anxiously waiting for the Oscar nominations to be announced, specifically for Best International Feature. Once that list is finally out, I think I'll set my sights on watching General... it's definitely one to keep an eye on...
I have to say, I’m genuinely disappointed that Sedlar didn't receive the baton for this particular achievement, especially considering how deeply he embodies the American spirit...

Amanda Evans2 said:The way Yennefer is drawn, she’s got an incredible figure
It feels like we're just seeing the same tropes over and over again
To be honest, watching this series became a total chore for me after that first episode hooked me...

I finally sat down and managed to watch 1917 a very good war movie
Seriously, what a phenomenal piece of filmmaking. The technical execution is absolutely top-tier.
The camerawork is nothing short of masterful
Those trench sequences were easily some of the most visceral and well-shot scenes I've seen in a long time

I am actually considering heading to the theater to catch it on the big screen. There is something about those seamless "one-take" illusions that I find endlessly fascinating...

Paul Sanders5 said:Yeah, sure, but only for the first few episodes. By the time Geralt meets Ciri, he and Yennefer are basically old folks. They totally botched the timeline, honestly. Because they messed up the chronological flow, viewers who haven't read the source material have zero clue how a massiveaaaa amount of years passed between all those events.

I totally agree. Check out the thread about the series; you'll see exactly what I mean. A ton of people are just completely lost on this one.

I honestly think the next season is going to have a much higher production value. That’s probably why they pushed it back to 2021—they want to beef everything up.
They went off to film that first season, so we'll just have to wait and see. Since the show was a massive hit and got nothing but rave reviews, they're definitely swimming in cash now. They likely didn't want to take any risks and end up flushing all that money down the drain with a flop.

brightpilot6 said:I am actually considering heading to the theater to catch it on the big screen. There is something about those seamless "one-take" illusions that I find endlessly fascinating...

Worth it
I went to see it this past Thursday because it's absolutely worth the ticket price

The Witcher basically handed us the first real female vampire protagonist in the history of the entertainment industry.
That's a massive plus in my book...

@Paul Sanders5

From what I can gather, there’s quite a significant amount of time passing throughout the series, which would explain why they look older despite everything. Both her and Geralt of Rivia seem to show it. Still, she carries herself with the air of a young girl.

bluebison47 said:I see the General hasn't caught up yet.😳

Good grief, you really seem to have a grudge against everything American, don't you?☕

If they just called the movie Duke, it would actually be a pretty solid ☕

ruggedjackal46 said:If they just called the movie Duke, it would actually be a pretty solid ☕

🤣