Dead Ringers

[Dom D Spoon! Find all posts View Profile Close Dom D]

Amazon dropped the full run of this on Prime the other day. I've seen two episodes so far which is not enough to know if it's going to be good but is enough to establish that it is a quality production.

I haven't seen Dead Ringers since the early 90s. I remember thinking it was very good but beyond that almost nothing. So this is all new to me.

Weiss, who I felt disappeared for about 15 years there, is a lot of fun in the main roles, it's fast and witty and it's quite disgusting in a way that you can get away with on modern tv but not in Jeremy Irons movies in the 80s.

Should be of interest to Cronenberg fans though.

[Randy G Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Randy G]

I thought the concept was promising, not sure who the showrunner is. Wasn't aware that it was already out on Prime, cool.

[Dom D Spoon! Find all posts View Profile Close Dom D]

In episode 3 there's a bit where they walk past a movie poster for a remake of Rabid coming soon to Amazon Prime. Dead Ringers is only a limited series but wouldn't it be cool if Amazon was remaking a different Cronenberg for each season? A weird sort of anthology show. I've always thought Videodrome would be ripe for a remake (love the original but there's just directions you could go in the same world) and a tv series would give space to do something quite different.

[JoeS Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close JoeS]

.

Weiss, who I felt disappeared for about 15 years there, is a lot of fun in the main roles....

Weisz most certainly has not "disappeared". She was Oscar nominated in THE FAVORITE which was up for Best Picture amongst it's ten nominations. She's also been in some of the best indies of the past few years like THE LOBSTER, DISOBEDIENCE, MY COUSIN RACHEL and DEEP BLUE SEA (not the shark one) amongst others.

Sure, she ain't doing Mummy blockbusters any more, but, she's still a much in demand actress - and a damn fine one.

[Dom D Spoon! Find all posts View Profile Close Dom D]

Well she's most excellent in this. With the exception of a forgettable turn in Black Widow (I saw it and had forgotten it) she does appear to have taken a break between 2018 and 2023. I had seen a few of the movies listed from the 10 years prior to that but had forgotten them too.

Apparently she was the driving force behind this show. Bringing in playwriting Alice Brich who took on showrunner duties. Brich is listed as one of the writers on Succession which does shine through.

[ShawnP5 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close ShawnP5]

Amazon dropped the full run of this on Prime the other day. I've seen two episodes so far which is not enough to know if it's going to be good but is enough to establish that it is a quality production.

I haven't seen Dead Ringers since the early 90s. I remember thinking it was very good but beyond that almost nothing. So this is all new to me.

Weiss, who I felt disappeared for about 15 years there, is a lot of fun in the main roles, it's fast and witty and it's quite disgusting in a way that you can get away with on modern tv but not in Jeremy Irons movies in the 80s.

Should be of interest to Cronenberg fans though.

My buddy worked on this show (props) and I've been a terrible friend who hasn't checked it out yet; cant wait to check it out.

[Dom D Spoon! Find all posts View Profile Close Dom D]

I finished this last night. It was interesting reading the reviews of this show before it launched. In all the ones I read the reviewers were very non-committal. Everyone raves about Weiss which is fair. She's great. And the talent of the show runner is undeniable. But nobody wanted to plant their flag with this one and actually say whether they liked it or they didn't.

Having seen it all now I get that. I had been wondering if nobody was wanting to really criticise such a female led show- from memory I suspect it wouldn't pass a reverse Bechdel test. There's possibly a touch of that but moreover it's just a difficult show. The Succession influence runs pretty heavily with it and sometimes to it's detriment. The dialogue crackles in a Succession-ish sort of way but sometimes it follows Successions prefered way of telling a story which is to get all the characters at a big event for a whole episode for them to combust. Not sure that was the right way to go here. It means that what exactly it is that the girls are up to gets lost for long periods.

This needs more time in the lab with the Elliot sister so we can understand what she's doing. It needs more time with the Beverly sister in the birthing center so we can understand how the fuck that's a business. The show kind of ignores all that to focus on the twins relationship, which is obviously the center of the show but shouldn't be the centre to the exclusion of all else, and that's a hard watch. The last episode in particular is an open wound of an episode. Not an enjoyable experience.

So put me down as another person who's not going to give an opinion. It's definitely an interesting show and it has a different story to the movie so don't worry about knowing where it's going.

[null Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close null]

Simple two part (sorta) question:

- Was it worth the time investment you made? As a Cronenberg fan?

I have some interest, but I don't want to commit to 6+ hours only to feel like I just wasted it at the end. Too much to watch, too little time.

[Dom D Spoon! Find all posts View Profile Close Dom D]

- Was it worth the time investment you made? As a Cronenberg fan?.

Interesting question... Not sure. I am a major Cronenberg fan, pretty sure Ive seen them all, but I am also a major fan of this run of television. I think it all needs to be watched like I feel all of 70s film needs to be watched. So as a TV fan it definitely rates a viewing. It's one of the top of 10 of the year. As a Cronenberg fan? Not sure. Feel it's more 2020 than 1980 but... I'd love to hear Cronenbergs take on it. I'd not be surprised if he dug it.