The Queen's Gambit

Khane · Oct 28, 2020

4.75 star(s) Rating: 4.75/5 4 Votes

Title: The Queen's Gambit

Genre: Drama

First aired: 2020-10-23

Creator: Scott Frank, Allan Scott

Cast: Anya Taylor-Joy, Bill Camp, Moses Ingram, Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Harry Melling

Overview: In a Kentucky orphanage in the 1950s, a young girl discovers an astonishing talent for chess while struggling with addiction.

Khane · Oct 28, 2020

In a Kentucky orphanage in the 1950s, a young girl discovers an astonishing talent for chess while struggling with addiction.

Khane · Oct 28, 2020

Watched the first 3 episodes. Pretty good.

Acting is good. Story is relatable but not over the top. They spend a little too much time on the "Here's how it happened" childhood piece but I'm a sucker for a good chess TV show/Movie and there aren't nearly enough of them.

So far in those episodes the writing starts to look like it might go off the rails but they only hint at the drama. They're doing a good job of keeping the show on track and compelling as far as I've made it.

Nidhogg · Oct 29, 2020

I will watch this just to compare it to one of my all time favorite chess movies growing up: Searching for Bobby Fischer.

Hateyou · Oct 29, 2020

We have one episode left. It's not great but it's entertaining enough that I've recommended it to a couple people. It has very high production value, but some weird acting/script once in a while.

goishen · Oct 29, 2020

I fell asleep watching it. Of course, then again, I'd fall asleep watching Searching For Bobby Fischer. I dunno, just something about chess shows that bores the shit outta me.

*shrug* I could go more heavily into it. But I'd rather not.

nu_11 · Oct 31, 2020

Think I watched 5 episodes so far. It’s entertaining enough. Looking forward to finishing it.

sakkath · Nov 3, 2020

Anya Taylor-Joy is amazing in this. Really strong effort from her in a wonderful show. This is one of those shows that I hadn't heard of when I started watching it.. Just saw it on the front page of netflix, looked interesting, started watching, then finished the whole show in 2 days. Great stuff.

Grizzlebeard · Nov 3, 2020

Enjoying it so far. Some really strong characters. Particularly love her step-mother, she has some excellent one-liners.

The set design is beautiful as well, it's like Mad Men meets Wes Anderson.

Frenzied Wombat · Nov 3, 2020

I personally thought this series was fantastic. It's one of the rare girl-power style movies that don't come off as overly forced or cliche, all the characters are interesting, and Anya's character's demons feel real and relatable. The scene where she finally goes back to the orphanage after Mr. Schueber (sp?) dies and finds that trove of newspaper clippings, and then realizes what a cunt she was for never visiting him, hit me right in the feels because anyone who has lost a loved one only to discover things in their possession after they die that instill deep regret can relate. Highly recommend.

sakkath · Nov 3, 2020

Frenzied Wombat said:
The scene where she finally goes back to the orphanage after Mr. Schueber (sp?) dies and finds that trove of newspaper clippings, and then realizes what a cunt she was for never visiting him, hit me right in the feels

Absolutely, that one kicked me right in the guts.

a_skeleton_05 · Nov 3, 2020

The trailer hit heavy on the men talking down to her stuff. Is the series itself rife with it?

Frenzied Wombat · Nov 3, 2020

Dom said:
The trailer hit heavy on the men talking down to her stuff. Is the series itself rife with it?

Not really, only at the beginning when she’s totally unranked. As soon as she’s got a tourney under her belt and demolishes her friend list with wins, she’s mainly treated like one of the dudes.

Frenzied Wombat · Nov 3, 2020

sakkath said:
Absolutely, that one kicked me right in the guts.

Don't know if you noticed it, but at some point she mentions (jokes actually) right after she found out Mr. Schueber died that she never even paid him back the $10 she promised him in return for mailing her the $5 that launched her career. My respect for her plummeted at that point, though I guess her obvious despair later is somewhat redeeming.

Barellron · Nov 4, 2020

I enjoyed this a lot as well. Stylish, well-acted, not preachy.

I did lose my shit a little when Harry Melling and Anya Taylor-Joy sat across from each other during the first tournament final. Just the difference in their eye spacing, like a cyclops facing off with a gecko.

a_skeleton_05 · Nov 4, 2020

Pretty good overall. There's some pretty silly elements that don't quite fit, and the ending is rather corny, but Taylor-Joy is great and her character is compelling and well developed.

Bill Camp (The janitor) is always great, and his performance in this is one of his best.

There's something with Anna Taylor-Joy that fucks with me though. In one instant she's absolutely jaw-dropping hot, and then you blink and your brain registers that somethings not quite right and reacts negatively. Load her up on google images and she looks bizarre in most of the pics.

Valderen · Nov 5, 2020

Dom said:
There's something with Anna Taylor-Joy that fucks with me though. In one instant she's absolutely jaw-dropping hot, and then you blink and your brain registers that somethings not quite right and reacts negatively. Load her up on google images and she looks bizarre in most of the pics.

I totally agree, I find that she’s generally beautiful but there’s something strange about her I just can’t quite put my finger on that bothers me. I think it’s about the angles that you view her from.

That doesn’t change 1 thing though and that is that she gives an excellent performance in this.

Khane · Nov 5, 2020

She's got bug eyes.

Mahes · Nov 5, 2020

She almost looks artificial. Its like she is a mannequin come to life. She is beautiful but it is a different kind of beauty that ebbs and flows as she moves.

Chris · Nov 5, 2020

If anyone is on the fence about this like I was because they don't want to watch a woke Netflix female empowerment drama, I'm two episodes in and there's zero SJW tropes in this.

It's pretty good.

Search

The Queen's Gambit

Khane

Got something right about marriage

Khane

Got something right about marriage

Khane

Got something right about marriage

Nidhogg

Molten Core Raider

Hateyou

Not Great, Not Terrible

goishen

Macho Ma'am

nu_11

Avatar of War Slayer

sakkath

Trakanon Raider

Grizzlebeard

Ahn'Qiraj Raider

Frenzied Wombat

Potato del Grande

sakkath

Trakanon Raider

a_skeleton_05

Frenzied Wombat

Potato del Grande

Frenzied Wombat

Potato del Grande

Barellron

Trakanon Raider

a_skeleton_05

Valderen

Space Pirate

Khane

Got something right about marriage

Mahes

Bronze Baronet of the Realm

Chris

Potato del Grande