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The Queen’s Gambit | Netflix

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    #92
    Thelonious Monk
    Registered Users Posts: 13,902 ✭✭✭✭Thelonious Monk


    does anyone know the name of the Roman film the kids were watching in this? It's really wrecking my head.


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    #93
    extra gravy
    Registered Users Posts: 22,555 ✭✭✭✭extra gravy


    Thelonious Monk wrote: »
    does anyone know the name of the Roman film the kids were watching in this? It's really wrecking my head.

    Ben Hur? Nearly sure I remember seeing Charlton Heston.


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    #94
    Thelonious Monk
    Registered Users Posts: 13,902 ✭✭✭✭Thelonious Monk


    extra gravy wrote: »
    Ben Hur? Nearly sure I remember seeing Charlton Heston.

    It's the one with a really effeminate angry high pitched voice caeser or emperor, I haven't seen it in years but it seemed like it was always on tv when I was a kid


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    #95
    TK Lemon
    Registered Users Posts: 332 ✭✭TK Lemon


    Thelonious Monk wrote: »
    does anyone know the name of the Roman film the kids were watching in this? It's really wrecking my head.

    I thought it was Ben-Hur myself.


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    #96
    Dial Hard
    Registered Users Posts: 13,413 ✭✭✭✭Dial Hard


    jon1981 wrote: »
    Presume this will be a one season only thing. Hard to see how they could swing a second.

    Netflix are listing it as a limited series, which says to me this season is it. As it should be, its a closed narrative arc.

    I'm genuinely curious to know how many of the "This is woke revisionist nonsense!" dudebros posting here have actually watched it, though.


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    #97
    Thelonious Monk
    Registered Users Posts: 13,902 ✭✭✭✭Thelonious Monk


    Dial Hard wrote: »
    Netflix are listing it as a limited series, which says to me this season is it. As it should be, its a closed narrative arc.

    I'm genuinely curious to know how many of the "This is woke revisionist nonsense!" dudebros posting here have actually watched it, though.

    haven't read those posts but what was supposed to be woke? the fact that she was a woman or something?


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    #98
    The Black Oil
    Moderators, Category Moderators, Entertainment Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Regional East Moderators Posts: 18,307 CMod ✭✭✭✭The Black Oil


    Thelonious Monk wrote: »
    haven't read those posts but what was supposed to be woke? the fact that she was a woman or something?

    I've watched 4 episodes. So far I've missed the scenes where she or the show calls all men bastards.

    Moderator: Television, Psychology and Dublin County North.

    CMod: Entertainment



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    #99
    storker
    Registered Users Posts: 5,646 ✭✭✭storker


    Dial Hard wrote: »
    Netflix are listing it as a limited series, which says to me this season is it. As it should be, its a closed narrative arc.

    I'm genuinely curious to know how many of the "This is woke revisionist nonsense!" dudebros posting here have actually watched it, though.

    I'd say it's a very round number.


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    #100
    storker
    Registered Users Posts: 5,646 ✭✭✭storker


    TK Lemon wrote: »
    I thought it was Ben-Hur myself.

    The Robe.

    It's one of those nice details because it's mentioned in the novel as the movie that was being shown when Beth heads for the dispensary. The maths teacher stifling her yawn was a nice touch too.


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    #101
    Thelonious Monk
    Registered Users Posts: 13,902 ✭✭✭✭Thelonious Monk


    storker wrote: »
    The Robe.

    It's one of those nice details because it's mentioned in the novel as the movie that was being shown when Beth heads for the dispensary. The maths teacher stifling her yawn was a nice touch too.

    Yes. Thank you. It's Jay Robinson as crazy Caligula I was looking for.


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    #102
    Dial Hard
    Registered Users Posts: 13,413 ✭✭✭✭Dial Hard


    Thelonious Monk wrote: »
    haven't read those posts but what was supposed to be woke? the fact that she was a woman or something?

    Their issue seems to be that it depicts a fictitious woman playing chess and beating fictitious men at it in a work of fiction.


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    #103
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 0 ✭ [Deleted User]


    Best new thing on Netflix in ages.


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    #104
    Galway K9
    Registered Users Posts: 2,353 ✭✭✭Galway K9


    MikeOxsgreen wrote: »
    Best new thing on Netflix in ages.

    Yup, brilliant. Disappointed when got to the end.


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    #105
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 0 ✭ [Deleted User]


    Galway K9 wrote: »
    Yup, brilliant. Disappointed when got to the end.

    Finished up nicely though.
    No cheese


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    #106
    Treppen
    Registered Users Posts: 4,571 ✭✭✭Treppen


    MikeOxsgreen wrote: »
    Finished up nicely though.
    No cheese

    Seriously?
    All the Americans decide to work together to beat the Russian.
    If it were a male protagonist it would have been laughed off the schedule. The fact that its pretending to be a legendary female from the 50's 60's just to show her "being as good as any man" was just a cheap ploy.
    What's next? fictional female character joins Neil Armstrong on the moon!


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    #107
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 0 ✭ [Deleted User]


    Treppen wrote: »
    Seriously?
    All the Americans decide to work together to beat the Russian.
    If it were a male protagonist it would have been laughed off the schedule. The fact that its pretending to be a legendary female from the 50's 60's just to show her "being as good as any man" was just a cheap ploy.
    What's next? fictional female character joins Neil Armstrong on the moon!

    Its fiction...

    The fromage level was consistent throughout.
    No queso overload in the denouement.
    Did you forget the Russians were working together to beat her, why not reciprocate, with a bit of Hurrah

    And why not? There's no reason not to reimagine the moon landing, with an entire ensemble of female BAME actors, the triggering would be epic.

    The adaption from what I understand was pretty faithful to the book ( I stand to be corrected), you'd have people cribbing had they changed the ending to further empower women, gad she done it entirely solo....


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    #108
    storker
    Registered Users Posts: 5,646 ✭✭✭storker


    Treppen wrote: »
    Seriously?
    All the Americans decide to work together to beat the Russian.
    If it were a male protagonist it would have been laughed off the schedule. The fact that its pretending to be a legendary female from the 50's 60's just to show her "being as good as any man" was just a cheap ploy.
    What's next? fictional female character joins Neil Armstrong on the moon!

    Wow. This is a wonderful example of how shooting from the hip makes it harder to hit the target. :rolleyes:

    Players helping each other with adjournments - in times past when adjournments were a thing, it was done. When I played competitive chess I had fellow-players help with my adjourned games and I've participated in the analysis of theirs. The Russians in particular were renowned for it.

    A female player beating top flight GMs? Go tell Judit Polgar how ridiculous that is...and the GMs she defeated.

    There was no "pretending" that Beth Harmon was a legendary figure. TQB is a work of fiction and was never presented as anything else, so the Armstrong comparison is nonsense.

    The one place one could have land a blow against against "cheesiness" was with Townes turning up in Moscow and Beltik turning up at Benny's flat to assist with the analysis, giving the ending a bit of a romcom feel that I don't think it needed.

    It's interesting and not a little illuminating that so much criticism of The Queen's Gambit is from an "anti-woke propaganda" viewpoint...when the series follows very closely a novel that was written nearly forty years ago...


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    #109
    storker
    Registered Users Posts: 5,646 ✭✭✭storker


    MikeOxsgreen wrote: »
    The adaption from what I understand was pretty faithful to the book ( I stand to be corrected), you'd have people cribbing had they changed the ending to further empower women, gad she done it entirely solo....

    You'd think from the scribblings of the "anti-woke" brigade that the series shows men in a bad light, yet none of the men assault Beth, try to control her, gaslights her, or stop her from reaching her goals. Quite the contrary, the men seem to be always there for her...Benny putting aside his anger with her to help out with the analysis, Harry worrying about her descent into substance abuse, Borgov and Luchenko being pleased for her when she beats them, Mr Ganz recognizing her potential, Mt Shaibel proudly following her progress from afar...etc On the other hand we have Ms Deardorff, who takes Beth away from the game she loves as a punishment, Beth's natural mother, who tires to kill her, and the bitchy Apple Pis. The men definitely come out looking better.


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    #110
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 0 ✭ [Deleted User]


    storker wrote: »

    The one place one could have land a blow against against "cheesiness" was with Townes turning up in Moscow and Beltik turning up at Benny's flat to assist with the analysis, giving the ending a bit of a romcom feel that I don't think it needed.

    I'll brook no charges of cheese, I enjoyed it too much!
    :)


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    #111
    storker
    Registered Users Posts: 5,646 ✭✭✭storker


    MikeOxsgreen wrote: »
    I'll brook no charges of cheese, I enjoyed it too much!
    :)

    Oh so did I, and there was a real fealgood buzz about seeing all the characters come together for the finish, even if at the same time I was thinking "Ah now come on..."


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    #112
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 0 ✭ [Deleted User]


    storker wrote: »
    You'd think from the scribblings of the "anti-woke" brigade that the series shows men in a bad light, yet none of the men assault Beth, try to control her, gaslights her, or stop her from reaching her goals. Quite the contrary, the men seem to be always there for her...Benny putting aside his anger with her to help out with the analysis, Harry worrying about her descent into substance abuse, Borgov and Luchenko being pleased for her when she beats them, Mr Ganz recognizing her potential, Mt Shaibel proudly following her progress from afar...etc On the other hand we have Ms Deardorff, who takes Beth away from the game she loves as a punishment, Beth's natural mother, who tires to kill her, and the bitchy Apple Pis. The men definitely come out looking better.

    I'm fairly anri-woke, but I cant see the problems with it. I wonder is it actually male exceptionalism (don't want to accuse anyone of misogyny), thats manifesting itself as "anti-woke", or those who yearn for the days women were second class citizens.

    Its ironic, the men in it (other than the chap turning away her mother (father?), and her adopted father) are pretty decent skins.


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    #113
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 0 ✭ [Deleted User]


    storker wrote: »
    Oh so did I, and there was a real fealgood buzz about seeing all the characters come together for the finish, even if at the same time I was thinking "Ah now come on..."

    Don't....

    (OK, there might have been one easy single)


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    #114
    Brock Turnpike
    Registered Users Posts: 3,744 ✭✭✭Brock Turnpike


    A weird experience watching this. It was shot really well, and to keep hour long episodes, heavily focused on chess matches, interesting was an achievement.

    I wasn't aware it was based on a book. I thought it was based on a true story and, for that reason, I was willing to suspend my reservations about Benny. However, I found out halfway through that it wasn't based on a true story and I just can't comprehend how they thought a) a character like Benny was a believable character b) have him played by that actor. It completely impacted my opinion of the show as I could not take that character seriously at all - absolutely ridiculous.


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    #115
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 0 ✭ [Deleted User]


    He was the most improbable character all right,


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    #116
    Sardonicat
    Registered Users Posts: 12,378 ✭✭✭✭Sardonicat


    I finished this today. After episode 5 of went downhill. Boring, improbable with a cast of mainly deeply unlikeable characters, not least Beth, who didn't seem to have any personality at all to speak of. I get that she was emotionally muted from childhood trauma and her addiction but honestly, outside of chess there was nothing there. She just seemed utterly empty. And I dont agree that they made the chess interesting. It was boring. Multiple shots of a few chess moves followed by a scene of her leaving the tournament to cheers again and again did not add anything. By the end I couldn't care who won, what happened to her or what kind of relationships she forged with her patronising chess buddies.


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    #117
    Thecageyone
    Registered Users Posts: 6,756 ✭✭✭Thecageyone


    Sardonicat wrote: »
    I finished this today. After episode 5 of went downhill. Boring, improbable with a cast of mainly deeply unlikeable characters, not least Beth, who didn't seem to have any personality at all to speak of. I get that she was emotionally muted from childhood trauma and her addiction but honestly, outside of chess there was nothing there. She just seemed utterly empty. And I dont agree that they made the chess interesting. It was boring. Multiple shots of a few chess moves followed by a scene of her leaving the tournament to cheers again and again did not add anything. By the end I couldn't care who won, what happened to her or what kind of relationships she forged with her patronising chess buddies.

    If I felt that way I'd not have gotten past episode 2 - why did you keep watching?


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    #118
    Sardonicat
    Registered Users Posts: 12,378 ✭✭✭✭Sardonicat


    Thecageyone wrote: »
    If I felt that way I'd not have gotten past episode 2 - why did you keep watching?

    I was enjoying it very much for the first episodes. After that I was waiting for it to turn around again. Shows often get a bit wobbly in the middle only to finish with a flourish. This one didn't.


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    #119
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 0 ✭ [Deleted User]


    Sardonicat wrote: »
    I finished this today. After episode 5 of went downhill. Boring, improbable with a cast of mainly deeply unlikeable characters, not least Beth, who didn't seem to have any personality at all to speak of. I get that she was emotionally muted from childhood trauma and her addiction but honestly, outside of chess there was nothing there. She just seemed utterly empty. And I dont agree that they made the chess interesting. It was boring. Multiple shots of a few chess moves followed by a scene of her leaving the tournament to cheers again and again did not add anything. By the end I couldn't care who won, what happened to her or what kind of relationships she forged with her patronising chess buddies.

    Strong is the masochist in this one!
    :)


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    #120
    eclipsechaser
    Registered Users Posts: 879 ✭✭✭eclipsechaser


    The book itself is based very loosely on the life of Bobby Fischer. There's a really good documentary by Liz Garbus called "Bobby Fischer Against the World" that does a great job of explaining the time and what it was like for Fischer to take on the Russians practically alone. Again, you don't need to know chess to appreciate it. Garbus also doesn't shy away from Fischer's terrible mental health issues later in life.

    If you're looking for a deeper appreciation of the series and book, I would recommend you check it out: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1777551/

    Edit: It's actually on YT: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V14gXuzRdp4


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    #121
    The Black Oil
    Moderators, Category Moderators, Entertainment Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Regional East Moderators Posts: 18,307 CMod ✭✭✭✭The Black Oil


    It's the biggest scripted limited series on Netflix to date.

    https://news.avclub.com/the-queens-gambit-has-already-become-netflixs-most-watc-1845739304

    Moderator: Television, Psychology and Dublin County North.

    CMod: Entertainment



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