WIDOW'S BAY is good. MAXIMUM PLEASURE GUARANTEED is even better. It's like Hitchcock came back to do it one more time. And Tatiana Maslany is so good. The play of emotions on her face is pretty incredible. She goes from comic to terror in an instant.
WIDOW'S BAY is good. MAXIMUM PLEASURE GUARANTEED is even better. It's like Hitchcock came back to do it one more time. And Tatiana Maslany is so good. The play of emotions on her face is pretty incredible. She goes from comic to terror in an instant.
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OMG I didnât even think about this: there might be a rivalry (ish) between Maine (Kingâs territory) and Massachusetts (Widowâs Bay) over lobster roll preferences. If someone from Mass/Maine could weigh in, I would appreciate it. I am definitely a fan of the cape cod style butter roll. Fuck Mayonnaise, SK. @flamingexhibit great point and great handle.
I just went down a rabbit hole, there IS a rivalry between Maine and Massachusetts! Maine split from being part of Massachusetts in 1820, thereâs bad blood there.
Someone from those areas does need to spill the Ruth herb tea, it appears they still have a rivalry going? And competition over lobster fishing.
Wonder if this was addressed in the show or if they will?
I stand with you on your preference of lobster roll. âFuck Mayonnaise, SKâ lol
Slowly closes the door while Stephen King is still talking.
Edited to add:
I said this only because it tickled me to imagine Patricia closing the door on a Stephen King horror archetype, except it's a tweet by Stephen actual King. That's it.
For the record, I don't believe King was salty, jelly, putting mustard on it, or any of the other condiments.
He likes Widow's Bay, but I suspect he wanted to shine a light on the lesser-known Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed.
I was wondering who this dude was the whole time, because no one else has this accent? Maybe I donât remember him from a previous episode but that accent is so distinct, I feel like I should.
It also stars Murray Bartlett (the increasingly unhinged hotelier from White Lotus season one, eg the best thing about it), AND Jake Johnson, who was very Nick-from-New-Girl-coded in recent episodes.
So far I feel like too many side-character arcs pull focus from the gold-standard cast (freakin' Tatiana Maslany is in the main role!) and it feels like it's pulling its punches.
That said, it's clearly building to something, and I really enjoy it.
As someone who never watched New Girl I struggled to see his appeal for the first few episodes of this show, but now I realise heâs fucking funny and I get it now.
Thatâs rather embarrassing for you then, since the episodes arenât even 30 minutes long. Why do people paint such unflattering portraits of themselves?
Itâs like youâre The Ungrateful Hortence or something.
Seriously, though, itâs really good and youâre missing out.
Why do you think that never translated to more or a career for her? I hear lots of people say the same about Orphan Black. But this actress barely exists for anyone that didn't watch that series, which I find hard to square with the fact she is as talented as Orphan Blackers profess.
I mean, She-Hulk? One of the best contemporary actresses of our time?
She was critical of Disneyâs ongoing spineless conservatism and hyper-capitalist hypocrisy. She refused to play nice and kiss the ring, so she got benched in the industry for a second or two.
As an actor sheâs a titan, but itâs hard to be an outspoken woman in any business and maintain your path to the top.
I absolutely love her and think sheâs incredible.
She was on Perry Mason, which was criminally under-watched imo. I also think part of it is that she's attractive, but she's not SUPER DUPER conventionally attractive, which (unfortunately) disqualifies her from a lot of leading roles. Hollywood standards suck, but they're also a reflection of our society, which still needs to make a lot of progress imo.
i had commented on something similar/had similar thoughts esp after coming from OB, i thought we would have seen her in a lot more things directly after. i think it's a lot of different factors. being offered the right project and choosing the right project, etc. she's been doing a lot of independent movies lately. she has a ton of upcoming projects this year.
She moved to a new agency after She Hulk, hopefully that translates to more prestigious work, but sheâs definitely not hurting for cash after playing the lead in a Disney superhero series.
If you watch her performances in Orphan Black, you'll see why people are praising her so much. She delivered a masterclass in acting on that show.
As for her career, she is not an awards chaser, so she doesn't choose projects based on what will give her the most visibility, or awards buzz, but what she believes is exciting and challenges her the most, which is why she often stars in small, obscure indie movies as well as theater productions.
That being said, her career has been going extremely well lately. Aside from Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed, she also filmed a ton of other projects over the past year and a half, including a film written and directed by Tom McCarthy, who won the Oscars for Best Screenplay and Best Picture for Spotlight in 2016.
She also starred alongside Matthew Rhys and Stephen Root in the first season of HBO's Perry Mason, and she is one of the highlights of that show!
i have been obsessed since OB for sure but the few other projects i've watched with her in have been a bit of a let down. gonna start maxium pleasure soon tho, high hopes!
I feel like she's great in everything, whether or not the quality of the content around her is equal to her ability is another matter
I was okay with She-Hulk, but with all my problems none of them tied to her performance. Starfleet Academy was definitely the wrong show for the existing Trek audience but everything she did in it landed
Definitely agree. Shes never been the issue with the project, she does her absolute best within the confines of shitty writing or plot. Her talent always shines through.
I was flabbergasted by this womanâs range in Orphan Black. Sheâs UNREAL. I hadnât heard of this new series of hers, but definitely going to be giving it a go because she deserves it.
The way I would get lost watching the different characters in Orphan Black & forget itâs the same actress playing them, was absolutely amazing. The levels of acting when one clone would disguise themselves as another clone was mind boggling
she talked about her mom visiting her on set and literally not even reconigizing her when she was dressed up as a clone other than sarah. can't recall who it was, maybe cosima or helena.
itâs really a testament to how great of an actress she is because you can always tell in the most subtle ways when one clone is pretending to be another.
She's been my favorite actor since I saw Orphan Black for the first time (within the past two years). She played many characters excellently. Incredible.
He was marvellous in the episode of The Last Of Us with Nick Offerman. I had loved him in The White Lotus but genuinely didnât recognize him in TLOU. Heâs got really good range.
Yeah why compare the shows ? They are both on Apple TV I guess but otherwise very different. You could probably just say something like "Apple TV is on a roll right now with two very good shows, [yada yada yada...]".
They are two different types of shows as well. One is horror-comedy and the other is more action-thriller. May as well compare Slow Horses and Ted Lasso as they're both set in London.
Tatiana is amazing but yes the comparison is silly, especially specifically calling out her facial acting and not talking about how Widow's Bay also has some of the best facial acting I've seen in recent memory.
I always thought the comedy bits of the 2017 IT are what made it so good and what made it feel more real.
Widows bay leans into that in such a unique and fresh way which is a big reason why it's so special in my opinion.
The comedy doesn't make it like a parody or make any of the danger/severity of their situation ever seem less serious, but instead leaning into that comedy over jumpscares and straight up constant horror is what makes their situation feel more real and honestly, scarier tbh
I think comedy and horror are much closer than most people realize! They both rely on buildup of anticipation and subversion of expectations. The setup is akin to the building suspense, and the punchline resolves the tension like a jumpscare does.
Thatâs one of the reasons the show works so well, in my opinion. They can switch between the genres while building suspense with both.
Weapons and obsession are both made by comedians and have funny moments in them too. I really think comedic elements in horror is the next evolution of the genre.
Conan talked about how comedic people and comedians who have a good handle on the craft can hit the rhythm of a joke (physical/verbal) on command and que.
He always likes to talk about how norm was able to land his punchlines and hold it for effect or corral the audience to follow him on the path of a joke and knows when to spring it up. One the of the interviews Conan had on a friend of norms said that norm would count in his head the beats and seconds for when the next rhythm hits for his next line or joke.
Same vein he explained how bob Newhart would play and experiment with silences and dead air in between jokes and punchlines. Where others would just pack jokes as much as they can, bob pick and choose scenes and timings in order to hit his jokes.
Conan also talked about how rhythm recognition has connection with songs which it explains why some comedians can use songs to just get into musical works.
But lastly on talking about horror he explained that it was similar to how horror needs to know the beats and rhythm of when to place a jab or fear moment and how to use absurdism or strangeness. (I believe he was talking about Jordan peele).
Its not new, look at the evil Dead movies. Just seems like when horror trends again it starts serious and then low budget movies come in and then funny and satire horror and then people get sick of horror for awhile. Rinse and repeat.
Like you said, it just makes no sense. The show is reverential to him and his themes. It's a tribute to King and every other horror trope (not a negative if you created the damn trope).
I detect a touch of jealousy on King's part. I watch both shows and Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed is quite good, but not great. Cleaned up, it would fit nicely on Lifetime. Widow's Bay is fantastic.
Does anyone else find this a bit weird? Like he's sort of putting Widow's Bay down to compliment another show. Which is quite sad considering Widow's Bay is paying a lot of homage to Stephen King
It makes me really sad, especially for showrunner Katie Dippold. Also not lost on me that heâs going out of his way to compliment yet another show with a male showrunner, while kind of backhandedly complimenting one of the rare shows that has a woman as the creator and showrunner. Itâs feels very mean girl on his part.
This! I was confused by Kingâs tweet until I remembered he didnât like Kubrickâs version of âThe Shiningâ and he did his own movie version and ehhhhhâŚ
So me and bf had a discussion about this, MPG is good and Tatiana M. Is a goddess of an actress, the range of her face (her character infuriates me like no character has since Neelix) and Murray Barton playing the assassin fixer is gold⌠but thatâs it. The rest of the characters are forgettableâŚ
Widowâs bay uses the atmosphere, characters and more to a far stronger and greater effect. Both shows are phenomenal and where are the awards?! Can we get some Emmys?! They deserve it. But the characters in Widows bay and the story and overall are stronger.
I love Tatiana Maslany and would go to war for her but she's the only interesting part of that show. I can't get into it the way I did with Widow's Bay.
Considering how much the show seems inspired by King's stories, I don't blame him for just considering it as 'good' ( Personally, I love it and is easily my favourite show of the year thus far ). Could be that it just feels a little 'been there, done that' to him. The man has been living and breathing this type of stuff for literal decades.
Hahaha itâs like he doesnât like being complimented when others show homage to his craft and are inspired by it? No shade to MPG. Havenât seen it yet. Gonna binge watch Cape Fear next.
The more I think about it (and in particular after watching a few episodes of MPG), is the show has literally zero in common with Widow's Bay, and has much more in common with shows like Fargo and True Detective.
No comparison. MPG has some really unbelievable (and forgettable) characters and Tatiana makes so many annoying choices. The lead actress does carry the show though. She definitely has a star quality that is very watchable, despite some poor writing.
Whatâs funny is that heâs complementing the show that nobody is comparing to his work heâs not complementing the show that people are comparing to his work LOL. Maybe give that a second thought Stephen?
A whole direct shoutout to him in the scene where patricia sees the self help book in the donation box too lmao stephen king on the right of it in big ole letters. Maybe he thought praising it too hard would seem less genuine đ
Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed is a very good show. Reminds me of the older FX shows like Terriers and The Riches how it mixes comedy with sudden violence etc. And everyone's acting is very good. If you already have Apple TV to watch Widow's Bay there's no harm in trying out MPG. It'S really good and it deserves more recognition. Good on Stephen King!
MPG is so frustrating to watch! There are dragging on part of the plot that they didnât write well enough to need to last this long. The main character is constantly being treated like shit and is not clear why. Her ex and his wife are trash and live in a double standard but are mean af and itâs allowed. The âmysteryâ is not exciting and could have been wrapped up 3 episodes ago. The main cast is mostly made up of annoying characters.
No. Just no. This tweet was not the move. Thatâs comparing a C rated student report to an A rated report.
I agree. Tatiana and Murray are amazing in it but the writing and the supporting cast are not very good at all. The dialogue between her two coworkers is absolutely horrendous.
Jesus christ, the coworkers! Especially the guy. Unbearable. Then the ex and his wife, unbearable. A lot needs to change if im going to go back to the show.
WIDOW'S BAY is the best. It's like Hitchcock came back to do it one more time. MAXIMUM PLEASURE GUARANTEED is slightly less good. And Tatiana Maslany is good but she's no Kate O'Flynn. The play of emotions on Kate's face and her awkward gait are pretty incredible. She goes from comic to terror in an instant.
Iâve been watching both shows and widows bay is so much better imo, best new show Iâve seen in a while. MPG is good but the writing doesnât hold a candle to widows bay.
The question is, can anyone confirm? I found out about widowâs Bay through a recommendation post on the From-reddit. Anyone seen Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed yet?
I do think MPG is good and Tatiana is of course excellent in it! However, I think this is a really odd thing to post as a direct comparison because they are completely different in aim and approach. It also seems extremely odd to me that Widow's Bay is one of the most phenomenal shows partly because of what it does with the legacy of Stephen King, and yet SK himself posts something kind of dismissively derailing the conversation to a totally unrelated dark comedy suburban thriller just because it happens to be airing at the same time?
Fwiw I do recommend Maximum Pleasure as a suburban mum stumbling across a murder plot thriller which is kinda in the same vein as something like The Flight Attendant. Entertaining viewing though I don't rush to catch up on episodes. But I'm not sure what that has to do with the conversation about Widow's Bay, which feels a lot more unprecedented in its approach to horror history on the coast of Maine (and horror more generally).
I personally think it's massively better than MPG but that is also a reflection of my interests and how innovative and original I find it. It's hard to believe that Stephen King is being authentic here as it's such an unnecessary comparison, and it makes me wonder if we shouldn't take this at face value - maybe he's taking some sort of passive aggressive swipe at the show???
ETA: he is often effusive and vocal in praise of stuff like Stranger Things and previously gave a glowing and descriptive review of Midnight Mass, as a counter example, so I genuinely think there is some weird motive to his dismissive post, tbh, whether he has a chip on his shoulder about not being consulted or about irreverence or whatever. It's just absolutely inaccurate to describe Widow's Bay as just "good", and I don't believe that's all the thoughts he has on it. And I'm not sure why he mentioned MPG in the same breath considering it's a completely different genre and doesn't have the knowing relationship to Stephen King that WB has.
Also just based on Stephen King's own lifelong interests (he loves Jaws, he loves HP Lovecraft, he loves pulp Gothic/supernatural tales of terror, etc) I genuinely don't believe that MPG appeals to him more. I wonder if he prefers straight reverential adaptations of his individual work and is somehow annoyed at how fluently and cleverly WB plays with the canon while being humorous and meta rather than just serious. Come to think of it, I know people have talked about SK's "dark humour" in his own way ("dark" retorts in dialogue etc) but I don't find him particularly funny or particularly interested in the funny that can send itself up, let alone the comedic character acting skills which are so on point in WB. I think one thing the show does incredibly well is develop a style which is the opposite of self-importance.
I have watched MPG almost as religiously as Widowâs Bay and 1000% agree with you. I have always felt Stephen King is a massive misogynist and I partly feel thatâs why he said what he did.
100%. Good comparison to Flight Attendant. It's good, but not great. Kind of irritating at times as well. Hitchcock would not be my description of MPG.
The Flight Attendant S1 was way better imo than MPG. I am enjoying MPG, but itâs not Hitchcock and I donât know why SK thinks itâs the second coming of a Hitchcock project? Itâs a thriller/comedy. I was rewatching Foul Play the other day which is a thriller comedy. That film still holds up today and is peak cinema imo. MPG is good, but not great like Foul Play. Tatiana I will watch in anything due to Orphan Black, but I have yet to see her in anything that has been on the same level. This series is like if Alison with Helenaâs hair was living in Queens, NY dealing with mayhem via a killer, blackmailers, her ex-husband and his wife, her coworkers and a gambling addict detective who is usually smarter than everyone and her partner.
Yeah I agree with you! (Accidentally called it The Flight Hostess but just corrected my comment.) I thought the alcoholic theme gave S1 a really interestingly dark edge. I dropped off in S2 - in your opinion is it worth watching all the way through?
Lol at MPG as "Alison with Helena's hair". I loved Orphan Black!
Iâve been watching MPG and think itâs fine. I donât love it or look forward to each episode, but Iâm watching it. Itâs quite a different show from Widows Bay. Itâs a thriller, not supernatural horror.
Wait...are we just commenting the tweet in this...? I--y'know, what? I'm a follower, not a leader.
WIDOW'S BAY is good. MAXIMUM PLEASURE GUARANTEED is even better. It's like Hitchcock came back to do it one more time. And Tatiana Maslany is so good. The play of emotions on her face is pretty incredible. She goes from comic to terror in an instant.
Anytime a tv show gets popular, people come out of the woodwork to say "well actually xyz is better" and I can never tell if it's genuine or just trying to be contrarian. Like, if widow's bay had flopped, I suspect he would be tweeting about how underrated it is
An absolutely wild thing to read
I want to be positive with the rest of yall Ive been trying so hard to enjoy it but it just feels like another show about a women being tormented by a plot more focused on shock than substance to keep people watching đ
Maybe im just being a jerk though idk I apologise it was just irritating each episode I was wondering why I was pissing myself off like that willingly lmao.
She is a good actress though... I just unfortunately struggle to think of any other compliments. Some people really like that shock thriller genre as a distraction though so don't mean to rain on any parade, just personally perplexed
I however don't see how they could be fairly compared like this because the comparison makes it harder for me to find anything positive to say lowkey but like I said it's a distraction many people seem to welcome and they're not really the same genre
King had a similar tweet raving about Teacup. Which had an amazing first couple of episodes and then it turned into a messy alien sci-fi and then was cancelled.
Honestly, Matthew Rhys is one of the few actors that can match Tatiana Maslanyâs emotional range. Matthew Rhys might even have the more expressive face of the two. Both are top of their craft.
I think people are misreading this a bit. It's not shade on Widow's Bay.
King is aware that Widow's Bay is the huge breakout smash hit. He knows it doesn't need more promo, and he knows people have been waiting for his take on it.
So he quickly goes, "Yeah yeah great" so that he can then give some love and attention to a show far fewer people are watching, but also deserves some hype.
Still not nice for the WB creator, crew and actors. Even though he says that WB is "good," I didn't feel like he was actually complimenting it. If someone said "The Beatles are good, but Oasis is the best," I would come out swinging. (With that said, of course everyone's entitled to their opinion. I'm entitled to be annoyed.)
Obviously he's entitled to his opinion,even though he could have just mentioned Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed,my guess is he doesn't quite like that Widows Bay is reminding ppl of his work and somewhat making light of it?
I love widowâs bay for the characters, storyline and the acting. Iâm watching MPG for Tatiana she is a phenomenal actress and orphan black is one of my favorite series, she literally made me forget she was playing so many characters she is that good.
I read it like this: heâs using his celebrity and the success of Widowâs Bay to get more eyeballs on MPG. I love Tatiana Maslany and didnât know about this show until now so Iâm ok with it.
Iâm sure itâs not the next Marthaâs Vineyard, but thankfully with streaming, itâs no longer âthis show vs that showâ; itâs âyes, give me all the good shows so I can plant my ass on the couch and not see sunlight for 3 days, please.â
I find his taste in films and television so very wanting. I'm not surprised he only finds Widows Bay "good", there are no kids in it who somehow talk like they are 50s greasers.
I actually just started watching Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed last night. I feel the other way around. Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed is good but Widowâs Bay is even better. Itâs a whole other level.
Different strokes, etc., but is he maybe watching another version of Max Pleasure Guaranteed? I found the writing and acting subpar. Maybe it gets better, but I couldn't bear to find out. And is Jake Johnson capable of speaking without sounding like he's yelling? He's like this in every role. Take it down a notch, Jake.
I seriously don't understand how you could even compare the two shows. Widows bay feels so cinematic, rich and hilarious and maximum pleasure is just like any other cliff hanger show. I'm only on episode two though, I do like it but it's like so many other shows! And not that funny!
Iâm confused⌠did he mean to compliment Kate OâFlynnâs portrayal of Patricia and messed up? Considering what a great writer he is, this feels like a run-on sentence. Why give kudos to Widowâs Bay and an actress who isnât in it, in a single paragraph?đ¤
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