Lisnaholic

^ At the beginning I found this case really interesting, but then became annoyed with how slowly the story unfolded. As with too many documentaries these days, they seem afraid to use "voice-over" any longer. The scripted voice-over is a great way to explain things succinctly, but with Making a Murderer it felt like the editor couldn't bear to cut his original footage. There's so much real interview footage that, despite my original sympathy, I just got tired of listening to the accused and his family. I got so impatient that I was ready to take them out and execute them all myself just to get the program finished!

Oddly enough, I had the same problem with a Netflix fiction program too. Anyone seen Bloodline ? This could've been a much better program if someone had taken a firmer editorial hand imo. Two examples that particularly bugged me:-
>1. We are all familiar with the technique of the flashback to explain some crucial event prior to the main story. This is often done in a teasing manner, by showing the event cut up into several flashback glimpses, but in Bloodline they really overdo this teasing. After being granted about about a dozen 5-second flashbacks, I found myself thinking, "You obviously know, so why don't you just show us what happened with Danny and his sister?"
>2. Danny is the main character in Bloodline and the actor played the part very well. But once again, a Netflix program is determined to drag things out for as long as possible. The editor must have lost his scissors because the finished program suggests that the photographer had a total hard-on for Danny. Even when he's not contributing a line of dialogue, we get to see Danny's every cigarette and every sigh as the camera lingers in loving, appreciative close up. If I had paid more attention, I could tell you by now how many nasal hairs the actor has in each nostril.

So, Netfix, please make some faster-paced programs. Your motive might be to keep us watching for as long as possible, but please don't do it by dragging everything out to such exhaustive length.

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^ Yes, I just finished watching this too, and although some members here didn't care for Season 1, I enjoyed both seasons. For starters, unlike the progs mentioned above, Stranger Things rattles along at a fast pace. IMO the fast pace is designed to keep a young audience interested, and to keep an older audience from thinking too much about how impossible the whole thing is - not just The Upside-Down, but the way normal, real-world conventions are suspended to allow the main action to take place. One example is the way the town of Hawkins is so disconnected from the national media or federal investigation. This unrealistic isolation allows a band of heroes to confront the evils of Hawkins lab by relying mainly on each other and their collective wits - which is all great fun.

Another thing I like about Stranger Things is the way they use a whole raft of ideas from other programs. We can play the post-modern game of "Identify the Original Source of That" because the series is a kind of compendium of sci-fi mystery memes, by which I mean things like this:-

>1. Yac mentions Stephen King and with Carrie, SK memorably introduced these characteristics of telekenisis; it turns up in young girls, requires effort, and can be strengthened by focusing on anger. Stranger Things have bought into these ideas completely, as does the audience, because we are familiar with them already.
>2. There is a band of children on bikes with a world shattering secret. This is perfect for appealing to a young audience and allows adults to feel nostalgic about childhood in small-town America. Plus, we know it happens because we've seen it already in E.T.
>3. Go back 50 years, and many threatening alien lifeforms were laughable robots or wobbly humanoid/insect composites. It was the movie Alien which gave us the slimey octopus/vegetable monster supported by some free-moving units that can run around and fight. Again, Stranger Things reminds us of an element of sci-fi that we have already accepted.
>4. Mind-control that leads to compulsive drawing is another second hand idea. Of course the drawings are at first inexplicable, but they soon provide an essential clue to the mystery that is unfolding. This is a notion that I would date to Close Encounters of the Third Kind - which makes me wonder if in Season 3 our heroes will be communicating with The Upside-Down by means of music. Anyone remember how those notes on the synthesizer went?

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"Am I enjoying this moment? I know of it and perhaps that is enough." - Sybille Bedford, 1953