TV shows of the year. From the “Queen’s course” to the “Dyatlov Pass”
About the nomination
As we have already noted in the selection of films, 2020 turned out to be completely crazy and violated all possible rules of the film industry. So we decided to abandon our usual scheme: this time we will not compare the series among ourselves and arrange them in places. Instead, we offer a selection of the ten best projects last year. It presents a variety of genres, styles and formats-so you will probably find something to your taste.
"Starger"
Once a channel The CW , And in the soprene "Sidab", he released really good superhero shows. The first seasons "Arrows" And "Flash" They did not claim masterpiece or a new word in the genre, but they performed confidently in their niche. However, the creators lost their way when they began to please everyone at once: both geeks and warriors of social justice, and lovers of melodramas.
"Starger" — This is their return to the roots, in times "Smolville". Although much more it resembles the first "Spider-Man" Sam Raymy and, oddly enough, "Super family". And all because they, like Stargers, are inspired by the sixties comics: bright, naive and not a drop of their own absurdity. At the same time, a costume booth in the series successfully adjacent to a teenage drama: it does not pull attention, but adds depth characters, and events — weight. In addition, with all the ease of the tone of the narrative, the creators are not averse to killing one of the heroes-and without any wonderful resurrection.
Surprisingly, at the time when, when all the superhero shows are used to honor only "Boys" , Where they are frankly staring over the genre, the “Stargers” manages to revive the old plot, without pouring it with darkness and cynicism. This is a series in which there is everything that you love for or once long loved a superhero.
"Hunters"
Many critics smashed this series for tactlessness, because in "Hunters" A serious drama about the Holocaust is intertwined with an openly comic fighter. Relatively speaking, this is a hybrid "Schindler list" With the already mentioned "Boys". As in the hit Amazon Prime , The protagonist after the death of a loved one joins the detachment of the Avengers, who are fighting a threat hidden from most people. Only instead of the supervillains here are runaway Nazi criminals, and instead of Karl Urban — the great Al Pachino. This, by the way, is his first large serial role.
Like "Inglorious bastards" Tarantino, "hunters" — a fantasy about revenge and restoring historical justice. And this is also a reflection on the topic of a very ambiguous attitude of the States to Nazism. But, which is more important for us, it is just damn fascinating spy thriller, flavored with irony and brilliant acting.
"Dracula"
Having somehow finished with Holmes, scriptwriters Stephen Moffat and Mark Gatisse immediately took into circulation another star of Victorian literature-Count Draculus. Everyone who saw at least out of the corner of their eyes "Sherlock" , they perfectly understood that it is not worth waiting for the usual film adaptation of Bram Stoker. However, this time the showranders experiment went even further than usual.
In fact, "Dracula" BBC for only three episodes manages to cover the entire history of horror films. The first series is a costume Gothic horror with recognizable references to "Nosferatu" And to the studio paintings Hammer. The second is the slasher pure water of those that were flooded with cinemas in the 70s and 80s. Well, the third is a modern postmodern farce, where everything is not what it seems. At the same time, each of the series is almost self -sufficient as a full -length film, so instead of one adaptation of the classic novel, the audience received three completely different ones at once. The only thing that unites them (except for not such an important through plot) is the charismatic British Dolly Wells and the Danish class Bang. The latter without the slightest exaggeration can be called the best Dracula since Gary Oldman. This is an insidious predator endowed with devilish charm and sadistic sense of humor. After the galaxy of the tragic-romantic or caricature of the villainous interpretations of the most famous vampire in the story, seeing a kind of immortal Hannibal Lecter is a pleasure.
If you love vampire cinema and are ready for an unexpected reading of the classics, the “Dracula” of Moffat and Gatiss will surely please you with at least luxurious decorations and no less luxurious count.
"Queen's course"
Creators "Fersomed Gambit" — or " The queen »In official localization — you can applaud at least for how excitingly they managed to show the least spectacular sport — chess. In absolutely all the parties shown by the parties, the ordinary viewer has no idea what is happening on the board, but still cannot tear himself away from the screen, because the course of the game is perfectly read from the faces of the heroes, directing, installation and music.
Although, in fact, the series, of course, is not about chess — it is about genius, loneliness, obsession and self -destruction, which almost always go in a connection. Beth Harmon could have the same success to be a rock star or astrophysicist-and her path would run along the same spikes. Anya Taylor-Joy Divo is so good in this role and is obliged to collect all the possible awards, but not only she pulls the “queen gambit” on her shoulders. An excellent ensemble got in the series: here and the matured Harry Melling from "Harry Potter" , and not wanting to grow up Thomas Sangster, and charming Mariel Heller.
“The Queen Gamba” does not invent anything fundamentally new, but he shakes the stagnant genre of sports drama. It is not only for the sake of Ani Taylor-Joy to watch it, but one cannot but admit that the show won its popularity with her efforts.
"Creations"
Alex Garland was a kind of gray cardinal fantasy for many years. He wrote scenarios of a revolutionary zombie-chorror "28 days later" , cult "Peckla" And "Judges Dredd" , as well as games Enslaved: Odyssey to the West. And then Garland sat down in the director’s chair and took off "From the car" And "Annihilation" — One of the most praised fantastic films of the past decade. But "Creations" — This is perhaps the most risky project in his entire career.
In the center of the plot, a talented programmer girl Lily, who is investigating the mysterious suicide of her young man. He was accepted into the department of secret developments of a large IT company, and a day after entering a new position, he doused himself with gasoline and settled right in the courtyard of the office. But the intrigue is not how or why this happened, but in what the same department actually does. As soon as the viewer finds out the answer to this question, the true scale of what is happening is visible — and the scale of the plan of Alex Garland.
In the "development" he reflects on the topics of the world order, fate, free will, the device of time, reality and a lot more. Sometimes the brain boils from this or hefty goosebumps begin to run along the back — but, as it is in science fiction, all high concepts only framed the human drama. And here the show shamefully steals Nick Offerman: in his broken, truly tragic hero it is simply impossible to identify the character of memes from "Parks and recreation areas".
"Rasfrozes" is a deep and complex series, the creators of which definitely do not hold the viewer by the idiot. But in order to justify this credit of trust, you will have to pay the show maximum attention.
"Dyatlov Pass"
In the last couple of years, Russian TV shows are rapidly crawling out of the swamp and conquer restrained approval even among skeptics. Recently, we devoted a whole selection to the most worthy projects, but we did not include the most high -handed and praised domestic series of recent times — "Dyatlov Pass". We hasten to improve, because the show really turned out worthy, albeit heterogeneous.
In fact, we have not alone in front of us, but two as many as particularly similar to each other in the series: one is dedicated to the investigation of the death of the “Dyatlovites”, and the second — the group itself and the ill -fated campaign. They are shot by different people, in different styles and even in different genres. And although the neo -ore detective with Peter Fedorov came out pretty good, albeit not without scenario jambs, he is far from the second “Dyatlov Pass”.
The creators turned out to be just brilliant stylization for Soviet cinema. Operating work, music, actors play — everything refers to the ribbons of the time of the Khrushchev thaw. The illusion is destroyed only by the clarity of the picture, mustachioed, but still recognizable Yegor Beroev and, of course, the plot. Something, and the mystical thrillers were not shot at that time. Each series dedicated to the "Dyatlovites" is saturated with an oppressive feeling of close disaster. The guys together experience dangers and pour out to each other, although the viewer already knows that they are on slaughter. And the finale, although it is based on a rather controversial version of events, cannot but break into emotions.
For the domestic industry "Dyatlov Pass" — bold and, which is much more important, a successful experiment. To make such projects more, they must be supported.
"Bangs of London"
Director Gareth Evans made a named dilogy for himself "Raid" , who glorified the Martial Arts of Martial Arts Iko Wais throughout the world. Then-already in the mid-2010s-the director returned from Indonesia to his native UK, where he removed for Netflix horror "Apostle". The picture turned out to be a good, but never outstanding. However, two years later, Evans finally created something that corresponds to his reputation: "Bangs of London".
According to the plot of the main mafia boss of England, they suddenly kill, and the entire giant criminal empire is once in his unbalanced son, who is obsessed with a thirst for revenge. Not all vassals agree with such a state of affairs, and a real war is flared up on the streets of the British capital.
London gangs suggest two comparisons. The first is the early films of Guy Richi, in which all humor was replaced with bloody shootings and brutal hand -to -hand contractions. And the second — "Game of Thrones" In modern setting. Here is the confrontation of powerful houses, and the death of important characters, and sudden betrayal. Associations strengthens the presence of Lady Stark herself — Michelle Fairley, and here she again plays a decisive widow.
London gangs are the most stylish criminal series after "Sharp visors". And in terms of action, in principle, little will compare with him, because even without the participation of Wais Evans perfectly copes with the staging of cruel battles.
"World! Friendship! Chewing gum!"
For our country, the nineties are not just a decade, but a whole era, moreover, extremely contradictory. In Russian cinema, it is customary to portray it in exceptionally gloomy tones in the manner "Brother" Alexei Balabanova: As a time of troubles, chaos and a rampant crime. However "World! Friendship! Chewing gum!" takes the courage to violate the prevailing tradition. The series depicts the nineties from the point of view of adolescents — and here not gangster showdowns come to the fore, but gatherings on the roof, "Dandy" , First love, as well as adventures that simply could not be in more calm times. Although the dark signs of that time, the series does not bypass: death from a knife or bullet is a common thing, teenage drug addiction at a peak, and ordinary people are ready to trade at least in the market, at least get into fraudulent schemes to feed their families.
At the same time, "World! Friendship! Chewing gum!»Looks great and sounds even better — among Russian projects, an equally atmospheric and adhesive soundtrack can boast "Method". But the main decoration of the series is actors. Sergey Stepin is especially distinguished in the role of the harsh grandfather San Sanych and the rapidly gaining popularity of Yura Borisov. The latter plays the noble bandit Alika-Afghan and the vnagoy is stealing every scene with its participation.
"World! Friendship! Chewing gum!" — the most sincere and nostalgic story about childhood of those that were shot in Russia over many years. And a little nostalgia is exactly what the doctor prescribed in the current strange time.
"Alien"
Due to phenomenal success "It" Hollywood again became obsessed with Stephen King. New film adaptations dripped like mushrooms after rain: here you and you and "Cemetery of pets" , And "Dr. Dream" , And "KASL ROCK" , and a bunch of projects at the shooting stage. True, due to the fact that the main incentive for the creation of these films and series was fashion, their quality turned out to be quite heterogeneous. However "Alien" From the HBO channel, you can confidently classify the successes.
A small town is shocked by a brutal murder of a boy — but even more local ones are shocking that all evidence indicates a school coach. His public arrest launches a chain of tragic events, and the policeman who is investigating, too late, begins to suspect that the real devilry can be involved in the case in the case.
"Stranger" is a gloomy detective thriller with a very viscous atmosphere and successful interspersed of mysticism. Fantastic assumption only complements the classical story about the search for an elusive maniac. But perhaps the main reason watching the series is Ben Mendelsson. In the past five years, the image of a flat villain of blockbusters has been fixed after him, but the “stranger” allows the actor to demonstrate what he is actually capable of. In some scenes, his game makes his way literally to tears.
Fans of King and terrible detectives about catching serial killers to miss the "stranger" is strongly not recommended.
"The ghosts of the Bly estate"
A couple of years ago "Ghosts at home on the hill" They made a lot of noise: it seems that the mainstream audience finally appreciated the talent of Mike Flenegan, one of the most distinctive and promising directors in the genre of Horror. And when it became known that the Ghosts will become a series of anthology "American Horror History" , Many began to look forward to new horror stories — but instead they got something completely different.
At the heart "Ghosts of the Bly estate" Lies the story "Turn of screw" Henry James is a work that periodically makes the reader question the reliability of the narrator's words. So the series constantly plays with the viewer: he throws him up the details of the puzzle, but until the last hides the overall picture. Which of the shown is real? What horrors were going on in this estate forgotten by God? What the hell is not so with these children?
As in the first season, a lot of time is devoted to the study of characters, their background, fears and motivations. But now romance also plays an important role. Yes, “the ghosts of the Bley’s estate”, like most Gothic novels, is a love story, only seasoned with mysticism, and therefore Saspensa has become smaller. So if you are waiting for a purebred horror, you will remain disappointed. But if you are not against genre diversity, then you should give the second “ghosts” a chance.
Continuations and finals
And now we will briefly go through the continuation of already known projects.
Heat "boys" acquired the second season, and he left behind a slight disappointment. Of course, we received a colorful villain Stormfront, and Anthony Starr and Karl Urban are still gorgeous, but the general plot was noticeably stalled. We hope that in the third season he will gain momentum again.
Ended "Darkness" -One of the main science fiction series of recent years. As fans feared, the creators were so carried away by the interweaving of plot and temporary https://sister-site.org/slots-safari/ lines that in the end they themselves could not unravel the resulting ball. I had to chop it quite rudely: the story has the ending, but it seems hasty and crumpled.
But John Favro and especially Dave Filoni did everything right-and they deserve some order for salvation "Star Wars". Together, they proved that the Fanservice is not so bad in itself — the main thing is that its quality and feed are not pumped up. Much of what they scolded mercilessly “Skywalker. Sunrise" , Raised the second season "Mandalor" to top tops.
Well, the finale "Clon Wars" , Namely, the last four episodes, is, in principle, the best that happened with the Star Wars over the past fifteen years. The animated series does not just complement "Revenge of the Sith" , But it also allows you to feel the horror of the tragedy that befell the Order of the Jedi and the distant-daling galaxy.
That's all the best series of 2020 that fell in the field of our vision. And what show did you look at last year? Write in the comments!
All the results of 2020 from gambling