Kulchur

Watching The Pitt made me curious about ER, which I hadn’t watched since early in the 90s– so long ago that I can’t even tell you when, or who was on it, or anything. I can’t tell whether ER was conventional at the time, or whether it seems conventional because it warped the genre around itself in a way that just feels conventional now because we take it for granted. What feels conventional now is the show’s frenetic action, the quasi-familial camraderie of the employees, and the drama in the lives of the main characters; and I find all of that a little less interesting (if still watchable) than shows that still read as a bit more innovative and off-beat. ...

I don’t see many movies anymore (esp in theaters), but this was a fun one. A great cast of imperfect characters, a solid central mystery, some creepy imagery and darkly humorous shit (I loved the shots of Alex feeding people soup, somehow)– this was pretty tightly crafted, and checks a lot of the boxes I’m looking for in a horror movie. Its unreflective attitude towards its central villain and its disinterest in any deeper point made it feel like a movie from a different era, but that’s not a bad thing. ...

Just finished S1 of The Pitt. It was good! Pretty watchable, at least. Did it hit the target it set for itself? I don’t really think so, tbh: it’s a little lumpy, and shifts awkwardly between really tight prestige TV stuff and parts that are pure melodrama, or mawkish, or sentimental, or overly didactic. It was better in the early episodes, and weaker once it had dealt out most of its dramatic / competence porn cards. Honestly, it would be a great show if you were actually, y’know, in a hospital and needed to watch something to keep you distracted. ...