House of Cards

[Paul Kemp]

I've only watched two episodes so far. It's decent. I just REALLY hate Spacey's monologues and the breaking of the fourth wall; it's a bit jarring and sometimes cringe worthy. I'm not sure if the original version featured this too.

I'm not quite sure why Netflix doesn't just release one episode a week, rather than all of them at once. It would be the best way to maintain interest.

[Paul Kemp]

Spacey has a tendency to come off as a caricature in most of his roles over the last ten years or so. I'm not sure if his portrayal of Underwood continues in that vein but it seems so.

I'm about five episodes in.

[Paul Kemp]

I just finished it. I was lukewarm on the first few episodes but the second half of the season was quite excellent. It will be interesting to see how the second season will be, should another occur.

How does the BBC version compare? Is the story identical just set in Parliament obviously?

[Paul Kemp]

Well, Paul, the biggest difference I'd say is that FU in the new version is just working towards power as opposed to say a specific office, whereas the British FU was working towards the Premiership. I personally don't think FU intended for Russo to flop like that- I thought he intended to use him as a power center, but shifted to exploit that opportunity once that happened.

Thanks Sim. That's interesting. I added the BBC version to my Netflix instant queue. Perhaps I'll check it out soon.

[Paul Kemp]

Perhaps we should use some spoiler tags for some of these posts, no?

[Paul Kemp]

I watched the first episode (of the second season)... meh...

[Paul Kemp]

To be honest, I spent a lot of the first episode trying to remember who the hell was who and how they fit into The Grand Scheme.

[Paul Kemp]

So I was highlighting text as I do occasionally when I read... and accidentally highlighted Snowstalker's spoiler on my way down... so there's that...

[Paul Kemp]

I feel like there should be a spoiler tag in the above post...?

Admittedly, it's somewhat my own fault that I keep visiting this thread but still...

[Paul Kemp]

Just finished the fourth episode of season 2. This really took a left and got off at Sorkin-ville huh?

[Paul Kemp]

Speaking of which, lol to that photoshop job they did to that Kate Mara pic in the first episode.

[Paul Kemp]

To be honest, I'm probably not going to finish it. Even with my reservations, I still enjoyed the little I saw somewhat but I really don't feel compelled to watch the rest. More power to those who liked it, I suppose.