Media – Are TV/Movies going the way with weak endings more?

[Tpaktop2_1 NA]

Maybe its me. With TV/movies, endings it sort of a conclusion. And if not then there is a setup for the next season or version of the story. However, it is occurring to me I am misunderstanding the ending. I don't see series finales as endings. I give examples, Star Wars: The Bad Batch, Star Wars: Clone Wars, A gentleman in Moscow, and Juliet, Naked.

I'll admit I am misunderstanding the two Star War series because of timelines in those universes. It could be because of the big picture I am not seeing the expected ending. A gentleman in Moscow, I thought it was going to be a clear ending for a docu drama. I will not spoil the ending for that series. I thought that some blurb was going to state things about Russia for the series timeline. And Juliet, Naked started to be a bad ending for me until I saw a final cut scene which saved it.

To me it seems that endings in media are not important in the story telling anymore as with the beginnings. Maybe it's because of my age when compared to younger viewers and scriptwriters. I am not expecting a happy ending, but rather a chapter completion. I am seeing too many TV/Movies do “Whatever” endings.

[Wolfswetpaws]

I've seen Star Wars: Clone Wars. 
My Wife watched the "A Gentleman in Moscow" mini-series, which meant that I watched some of it out of my peripheral vision while playing WOWs in our living-room.  https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8230448/
I don't remember the ending to A Gentleman in Moscow.

But, the relevant point is that the "drama" of the story had my wife hooked.

It seems that Soap Operas exist, and make money, for a reason.  

I started watching Star Wars: Bad Batch, but didn't get past the first couple of episodes.  I got bored and/or felt it was predictable.
Clone Wars I've seen to the end.  It wasn't boring, for me.

Have you seen Star Wars:  The Mandalorian yet?
 

Edited May 21, 2024 by Wolfswetpaws

[thornzero]

There is so much media competing for attention it is ridiculous.

Have you seen Greyhound with Tom Hanks? If you like DDs and U-boats you will find this to be very good.

 

[Admiral_Karasu]

15 minutes ago, Wolfswetpaws said:

I've seen Star Wars: Clone Wars. 
My Wife watched the "A Gentleman in Moscow" mini-series, which meant that I watched some of it out of my peripheral vision while playing WOWs in our living-room.  https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8230448/
I don't remember the ending to A Gentleman in Moscow.

But, the relevant point is that the "drama" of the story had my wife hooked.

It seems that Soap Operas exist, and make money, for a reason.  

I started watching Star Wars: Bad Batch, but didn't get past the first couple of episodes.  I got bored and/or felt it was predictable.
Clone Wars I've seen to the end.  It wasn't boring, for me.

Have you seen Star Wars:  The Mandalorian yet?
 

Well, A Gentleman in Moscow is almost Star Wars.

I haven't seen any of those Star Wars series or side projects, heck I haven't even seen Ep. 9 even (and based on what I've heard might be advisable not to watch it...)

[Wolfswetpaws]

25 minutes ago, thornzero said:

There is so much media competing for attention it is ridiculous.

Have you seen Greyhound with Tom Hanks? If you like DDs and U-boats you will find this to be very good.

 

I felt that the U-Boats in the movie "Greyhound" were "paid actors", practically serving themselves up to be slaughtered on-camera.
But, perhaps that's just me?

[Justin_Simpleton]

56 minutes ago, Tpaktop2_1 NA said:

To me it seems that endings in media are not important in the story telling anymore as with the beginnings. Maybe it's because of my age when compared to younger viewers and scriptwriters. I am not expecting a happy ending, but rather a chapter completion. I am seeing too many TV/Movies do “Whatever” endings.

You got me reflecting on whether this is a sign of the times.  Are we not seeing resolutions of conflict?

[Wolfswetpaws]

30 minutes ago, Admiral_Karasu said:

Well, A Gentleman in Moscow is almost Star Wars.

I haven't seen any of those Star Wars series or side projects, heck I haven't even seen Ep. 9 even (and based on what I've heard might be advisable not to watch it...)

Personally, I enjoyed "The Alienist" more than "A Gentleman in Moscow".
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4604612/

[Tpaktop2_1 NA]

50 minutes ago, Wolfswetpaws said:

Have you seen Star Wars:  The Mandalorian yet?
 

Yes, so far the story telling is nowhere for that series

5 minutes ago, Justin_Simpleton said:

You got me reflecting on whether this is a sign of the times.  Are we not seeing resolutions of conflict?

Just an observation I am seeing with me. I suspect other viewers are not seeing what I am seeing. Am I turning into a movie critic now?

3 minutes ago, Wolfswetpaws said:

Personally, I enjoyed "The Alienist" more than "A Gentleman in Moscow".
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4604612/

Now that is a good series that I wish to continue.

[Wolfswetpaws]

Just now, Tpaktop2_1 NA said:

Now that is a good series that I wish to continue.

Well, the television series was based upon a book series.
If memory serves me, the book series covers more story-telling?  https://www.bookseriesinorder.com/caleb-carr/
 

[Snargfargle]

15 minutes ago, Wolfswetpaws said:

I felt that the U-Boats in the movie "Greyhound" were "paid actors", practically serving themselves up to be slaughtered on-camera. But, perhaps that's just me?

Serving on a U-boat in WWII was pretty much a suicide mission. 785 U-boats out of a total of 1,162 were sunk. About 30,000 U-boat personnel were killed out of 40,000 total, a casualty rate of 75%.

[Admiral_Karasu]

34 minutes ago, Wolfswetpaws said:

Personally, I enjoyed "The Alienist" more than "A Gentleman in Moscow".
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4604612/

Yeah but there's no Obi Wan Kenobi in it.

[Wolfswetpaws]

17 minutes ago, Snargfargle said:

Serving on a U-boat in WWII was pretty much a suicide mission. 785 U-boats out of a total of 1,162 were sunk. About 30,000 U-boat personnel were killed out of 40,000 total, a casualty rate of 75%.

Early in WW-II the U-Boats enjoyed their "Happy Times".
It was later in WW-II, after the Allies had built more escorts and planes to detect U-boats (with SONAR/ASDIC and RADAR, eventually) on a nearly 24 hour continual basis that things for a U-Boat looked grim.
 

[Wolfswetpaws]

4 minutes ago, Admiral_Karasu said:

Yeah but there's no Obi Wan Kenobi in it.

Despite that, the Actors & Actresses played their parts well, in my opinion.  Even if the scriptwriters seemed to "jump the shark" on a few occasions.

[Admiral_Karasu]

1 minute ago, Wolfswetpaws said:

Despite that, the Actors & Actresses played their parts well, in my opinion.  Even if the scriptwriters seemed to "jump the shark" on a few occasions.

The problem I personally have with the more recent (make that post 2000ish) productions is they are full of actors I've never seen, never heard of ... so basically that only maybe leaves me with the story to base on whether I'd be interested in it or not.

[Wolfswetpaws]

2 minutes ago, Admiral_Karasu said:

The problem I personally have with the more recent (make that post 2000ish) productions is they are full of actors I've never seen, never heard of ... so basically that only maybe leaves me with the story to base on whether I'd be interested in it or not.

Some productions don't have the budget to hire "A-List" people.
So, they use their available budget to cast people who are relatively unknown.
Personally, I don't have a problem with that, as long as the story is good and is told well.

There have been plenty of moments in various movies that I've decided to blame on the writers/directors/producers. 
The cast & crew are following their instructions, after all.

[Snargfargle]

7 minutes ago, Wolfswetpaws said:

 after the Allies had built more escorts and planes to detect U-boats

I used to live next door to an old fellow who flew anti-submarine patrols outside the Panama Canal. Troops guarding the Canal Zone are hardly mentioned in WWII histories but without them it would have been extremely difficult for the Allies to wage a world war.

[Admiral_Karasu]

2 minutes ago, Wolfswetpaws said:

Some productions don't have the budget to hire "A-List" people.
So, they use their available budget to cast people who are relatively unknown.
Personally, I don't have a problem with that, as long as the story is good and is told well.

There have been plenty of moments in various movies that I've decided to blame on the writers/directors/producers. 
The cast & crew are following their instructions, after all.

I'm not necessarily talking about the "A-list people", though. I mean the sort of actors you know you've seen, might remember their name or not, the regular actors who pop up in various series over the years. Sometimes in movies too, like the sort of actors when you spot them in a movie you know you've seen them before.

[Wolfswetpaws]

Just now, Snargfargle said:

I used to live next door to an old fellow who flew anti-submarine patrols outside the Panama Canal. Troops guarding the Canal Zone are hardly mentioned in WWII histories but without them it would have been extremely difficult for the Allies to wage a world war.

And the Japanese did have a plan to attack the Panama Canal, with their Submarines which were equipped with float-planes.
The Submarines did sortie and neared their launch point, but circumstances of the war changed sufficiently to abort the attack.

[Wolfswetpaws]

Just now, Admiral_Karasu said:

I'm not necessarily talking about the "A-list people", though. I mean the sort of actors you know you've seen, might remember their name or not, the regular actors who pop up in various series over the years. Sometimes in movies too, like the sort of actors when you spot them in a movie you know you've seen them before.

A lot of the "big names" got their start in small parts.  Some of them were child actors, too.
As I understand things, it's "normal" in show-business.

[Snargfargle]

3 minutes ago, Wolfswetpaws said:

I've decided to blame on the writers/directors/producers.

I just watched a review by a 747 pilot of a movie set on a plane. Almost nothing they portrayed about flying the aircraft was right. It wasn't a huge budget film but he said that quite a few pilots would love the opportunity to consult on a movie.

[Wolfswetpaws]

2 minutes ago, Snargfargle said:

I just watched a review by a 747 pilot of a movie set on a plane. Almost nothing they portrayed about flying the aircraft was right. It wasn't a huge budget film but he said that quite a few pilots would love the opportunity to consult on a movie.

The people in the entertainment industry don't always "get things done right".  But, generally speaking, they do know "what sells".
And paying to "do things right" isn't always in the budget.  😉  

[Admiral_Karasu]

10 minutes ago, Wolfswetpaws said:

A lot of the "big names" got their start in small parts.  Some of them were child actors, too.
As I understand things, it's "normal" in show-business.

Yeah.. but all the people I recognize never appear anywhere.

[Wolfswetpaws]

8 minutes ago, Admiral_Karasu said:

Yeah.. but all the people I recognize never appear anywhere.

Stop looking in the mirror?  😉 

[Tpaktop2_1 NA]

33 minutes ago, Wolfswetpaws said:

Early in WW-II the U-Boats enjoyed their "Happy Times".
It was later in WW-II, after the Allies had built more escorts and planes to detect U-boats (with SONAR/ASDIC and RADAR, eventually) on a nearly 24 hour continual basis that things for a U-Boat looked grim.
 

Like here:

It explains all about it.

21 minutes ago, Snargfargle said:

I used to live next door to an old fellow who flew anti-submarine patrols outside the Panama Canal. Troops guarding the Canal Zone are hardly mentioned in WWII histories but without them it would have been extremely difficult for the Allies to wage a world war.

I use to visit my grandparents who lived near NAS Oceana in the 60's. I remember the ASW planes fly out at regular intervals from that base. It seems a few go out on patrol and the same number comes in to land.

[Justin_Simpleton]

2 hours ago, Admiral_Karasu said:

I'm not necessarily talking about the "A-list people", though. I mean the sort of actors you know you've seen, might remember their name or not, the regular actors who pop up in various series over the years. Sometimes in movies too, like the sort of actors when you spot them in a movie you know you've seen them before.

I call them background actors.  Clint Howard and Jonathan Banks are examples of actors who we've seen in many movies.  I'm getting too old to recognize the new background actors.