Stranger Things was definitely one of the best new shows I've seen in a while. Great tone and feel, high quality, and original concepts.
Was in the middle of the series I suddenly had the thought that it was the closest thing to The Goonies I'd ever seen or felt; growing up The Goonies captured a certain magical feeling of kid's imagination coming to life, and the idea of adventure of pursuing a grown-up goal as a kid.
The casting was great overall; the kids are all awesome, especially the girl who plays Eleven. The high school kids are kinda odd-looking which suits the weirdness of the show.
There is just one huge, glaring problem with the show, for me. And it happens to be the 'name draw' of the show: Winona Ryder. She's terrible. Just awful.
Listen: I know she's supposed to be a mother in distress, and she's already neurotic before her son goes missing. But her acting is just one level, one note the whole show. There is ZERO nuance to her emotion; often times when a star is attached to a production, that star is given more leeway than other actors in terms of direction. It's like because she was the star, she was allowed to do whatever she wanted.
You can't have a character at an emotional 10/10 for the run of a damn series. It was actually jarring at times, how freaked out she was about things. It's exhausting, it doesn't match the tone of the other moments in the show, and it's a rookie move in terms of directing. But again, perhaps the directors didn't have much say.
Don't get me wrong: Winona Ryder was perfect for movies like Beetlejuice and Edward Scissorhands. She was a quintessential 90s star. But she wasn't and isn't good. Much like Keanu Reeves is perfect for Neo in The Matrix; we all know he's awful, but could you picture anyone else in the role?
The first thing I thought of when I started watching this show was this clip from Family Guy which sticks in my mind as being totally accurate when it comes to Winona Ryder. Not so much the "topless" comment, but on her acting...
