Finished Fleabag S1 which may be the most intense TV show I've ever seen. Thankfully the episodes are all less than 30 minutes. Billed as a comedy but it's not - at all. I'm still digesting it today.
On a lighter note also watched the Uncharted movie over the weekend. I went in with low expectations but had a great old time!
Just barely started Rings of Power before saving it. Really like the opening and the Bear McCreary music.
10yo daughter is super-excited after we watched the LotR trilogy over the summer. Think we'll be able to watch the first episode tomorrow night.
Just finished season 3 of The Boys While it's still excellent, and it physically made my jaw drop at the start of the final episode
Russian Nerve Agent in a perfume bottle felt very close to the mark
the shock and awe tactics of the show are just starting to wear a little thin. It felt like the occasional splurt of blood and guts were needed just to keep eyes off where the plot was starting to wear a bit thin in place.
Still have watched a giant talking penis in the anime show Knights of Sidonia, I should have guessed this show would be the one place I'd see something exceedingly similar.
Rings of Power
I will say from the outset that I really did enjoy the first two episodes. It's not Tolkien's Tolkien, it's not Peter Jackson's Tolkien, and it's not the Tolkien I read and grew up with.
But it is recognisably Middle-Earth. The things in it which humanise everyone - elves, dwarves and well, humans alike are the shows own making and in this day and age they are no bad thing, and certainly give the show it's own feel and style. I also think they are really well handled. The settings are great and the lack of CGI except where it was really necessary is something that The Wheel of Time could really learn from.
The casting - so far - is spot on. It builds the story quite well, getting across a sense of foreboding that increases as the second episode progresses, as well at least one "mystery" character that, well, could be any one of a number of characters.
However - and I blame Peter Jackson for this - I'm really not sure why the Dwarves have to be Scottish, The Halfings Irish (or approximations there of) or the Elves Welsh speaking English aristocrats moonlighting from Twilight's vampires. It's a stereotype the show leans into hook, line and sinker. I keep expecting Michael Sheen to turn up in a camp cameo. It's a real shame that it's doing it. I hope it stops but I suspect it's too late.
So yeah, early thumbs up from me. I enough of a nerd to see that a whole lot of people will be foaming at the mouth over it though. It's a shame to be honest, it deserves to be watched with an open mind.
Yeah, I liked it. I know quite a lot about Tolkien, but I'm more easygoing than most about adaptations changing the lore to make a story work. I know some book superfans that are very unhappy with lore changes.
I'm not too bothered about the accents - picking specific accents for different cultures makes a lot of sense, and you sort of have to go British for Tolkien really, so I don't know what else they could have done. I would have been OK with the elves talking subtitled Sindarin and Quenya all the time and then they could only speak English when they're dealing with non-Numerorean Men, but I might be in the minority there.
I would have been OK with the elves talking subtitled Sindarin and Quenya all the time and then they could only speak English when they're dealing with non-Numerorean Men, but I might be in the minority there.
You're not; I found it pretty distracting how they switched between languages apparently at random. I'm assuming that when we hear characters speaking English it's meant to be Westron aka the Common Tongue, which is how the Jackson films consistently did it; but why would Elves speaking only to other Elves switch back and forth between Sindarin / Quenya and Westron so much?
DudleySmith wrote:I would have been OK with the elves talking subtitled Sindarin and Quenya all the time and then they could only speak English when they're dealing with non-Numerorean Men, but I might be in the minority there.
You're not; I found it pretty distracting how they switched between languages apparently at random. I'm assuming that when we hear characters speaking English it's meant to be Westron aka the Common Tongue, which is how the Jackson films consistently did it; but why would Elves speaking only to other Elves switch back and forth between Sindarin / Quenya and Westron so much?
It really bugged me in Prey, too.
Just finished the first episode of Rings of Power and I don't think I'll be watching the second right now. It was very pretty, but it felt a mile wide and an inch deep. They had half the length of a feature-length movie to make me care about any of the characters and I just... didn't. It might or might not be a bad series, but that's a bad start.
I'm going to pass on Rings of Power because frankly I don't need more confusing-assed Tolkien in my life.
I'm going to pass on Rings of Power because frankly I don't need more confusing-assed Tolkien in my life.
I have bad news for you about all Tolkien that isn't the Hobbit (book only) or Lord of the Rings (book or movies).
Nevin73 wrote:I'm going to pass on Rings of Power because frankly I don't need more confusing-assed Tolkien in my life.
I have bad news for you about all Tolkien that isn't the Hobbit (book only) or Lord of the Rings (book or movies).
I think the majority of people know. The could definitely get something out of the Silmarillion if they wanted, but the appendices of lord of the Rings isn’t what I would have spent $200 million dollars on just for the rights.
I would kill for The Tale of Beren and Luthien animated by Cartoon Saloon (creators of The Secret of Kells among others).
Oh, I was wasn't talking about the confusing mess that is the Silmarillion. I just meant Middle-Earth in general is a confusing mess.
I'd be perfectly happy if this show was completely set in Khazad-Dum.
Rings of PowerBut it is recognisably Middle-Earth. The things in it which humanise everyone - elves, dwarves and well, humans alike are the shows own making and in this day and age they are no bad thing, and certainly give the show it's own feel and style. I also think they are really well handled. The settings are great and the lack of CGI except where it was really necessary is something that The Wheel of Time could really learn from.
There's a ton of CGI, but most of it is top notch. It's so well done that most of it doesn't trip the "this is bad CGI" sensor.
One of the things I really noticed about the show is that the cinematography and framing and just basic lighting are miles ahead of most other streaming productions.
I liked how the orc intruder scene in Ep 2 had some touches of Sam Raimi style and convincingly established that the monster was a really dangerous threat.
Ep 1 was not great, but Ep 2 was enough to convince me to roll with it. Elrond and Galadriel are not well cast though. But, I like Gandalf, the elf warrior, and the Harfoots.
Ep 1 was not great, but Ep 2 was enough to convince me to roll with it. Elrond and Galadriel are not well cast though. But, I like Gandalf, the elf warrior, and the Harfoots.
I think Elrond was supposed to be quite light of heart earlier in his life before everything that happens to his Brother and Numenor and Ilsidur basically gets him (justifiably) down. I think quite a few people are going to have to roll with that a little. However where we are with the timelines I'm not sure.
However
Took me a while to figure out who he reminded me of. Now I can't get it out of my head.
*snicker*
5 or 6 episodes into A League of their Own... Just a spectacular show that is so well written and acted. Superb and heartbreaking character development. Can't recommend it enough.
Just finished episode 6 and I'm really loving it. Rockford IL is my hometown where I lived most of my life until just recently and I've been pleasantly surprised at some of the real world things it depicts.
Episode 6 featured The Coronado Theater where they're playing the Wizard of Oz. My grandfather used to see vaudeville acts including the Marx Bros. perform there, and I saw the premiere of Tron (1982) and live acts B.B. King, David Copperfield and Steven Wright among others there. Not to mention it's also where my H.S. graduation ceremony was held.
The second surprise was in the same episode when they featured The Office- which is a real long-running gay niteclub in Rockford. I'm assuming they were operating underground in the 1940s similar to its depiction in the episode, but don't know enough of its history to confirm.
Those real world easter eggs aside, it's a great show and it's interesting how it starts as about baseball, but it clearly becomes a historical look at Black and LGBTQ+ characters in the 1940s.
tuffalobuffalo wrote:5 or 6 episodes into A League of their Own... Just a spectacular show that is so well written and acted. Superb and heartbreaking character development. Can't recommend it enough.
Just finished episode 6 and I'm really loving it. Rockford IL is my hometown where I lived most of my life until just recently and I've been pleasantly surprised at some of the real world things it depicts.
Episode 6 featured The Coronado Theater where they're playing the Wizard of Oz. My grandfather used to see vaudeville acts including the Marx Bros. perform there, and I saw the premiere of Tron (1982) and live acts B.B. King, David Copperfield and Steven Wright among others there. Not to mention it's also where my H.S. graduation ceremony was held.
The second surprise was in the same episode when they featured The Office- which is a real long-running gay niteclub in Rockford. I'm assuming they were operating underground in the 1940s similar to its depiction in the episode, but don't know enough of its history to confirm.
Those real world easter eggs aside, it's a great show and it's interesting how it starts as about baseball, but it clearly becomes a historical look at Black and LGBTQ+ characters in the 1940s.
Very cool!!!
I'd be perfectly happy if this show was completely set in Khazad-Dum.
Somebody HAS to make a fake 80's/99's sitcom trailer for that.
I'd watch. Loved episode 2. It's just so cool to see all this after reading the appendices and Silmarillion. I feel like Tolkien just created all the lore to give a basis for people's imagination to create stories like this. You get the possibilities reading it, but it just makes you basically want what this show is.
Bear McCreary, as always nailed the score. He's so talented and versatile! Crazy how much he's done.
The weird thing is that it has caused me to look up a lot of things in online LotR wikis for reference. Lots of names, lots of places, lots of events, lots of back and forth. And that is just the first age whereas Rings takes place in the second age.
So why not do something new and tell the story of Morgoth? Is it a rights issue? It should be perfect because there isn't any prior works that tells a coherent story but there are ample pieces to create seasons of stories. And the fanbase has less history to cling to and hence even less justification for persnicketies.
First age topics:
Stealing of Silmarils
Creation of orcs
Creation of dragons, Glaurung
Balrogs and Gothmog
Angband, Utumno and the Iron Mountains
The two lamps and two trees
Noldor
The Edain
Ungoliant
Thorondor and the eagles
And on, and on. There is so much epic stuff to be fleshed out but everyone is obsessed with hobbits and a ring of invisibility. Lets try telling stories that haven't been told many times before...
The weird thing is that it has caused me to look up a lot of things in online LotR wikis for reference. Lots of names, lots of places, lots of events, lots of back and forth. And that is just the first age whereas Rings takes place in the second age.
So why not do something new and tell the story of Morgoth? Is it a rights issue? It should be perfect because there isn't any prior works that tells a coherent story but there are ample pieces to create seasons of stories. And the fanbase has less history to cling to and hence even less justification for persnicketies.
First age topics:
Stealing of Silmarils
Creation of orcs
Creation of dragons, Glaurung
Balrogs and Gothmog
Angband, Utumno and the Iron Mountains
The two lamps and two trees
Noldor
The Edain
Ungoliant
Thorondor and the eaglesAnd on, and on. There is so much epic stuff to be fleshed out but everyone is obsessed with hobbits and a ring of invisibility. Lets try telling stories that haven't been told many times before...
Because a lot of fans just like the old stuff, which is fine BUT then they get real vocal when anything new pops up. Happens in a lot of fandoms.
So why not do something new and tell the story of Morgoth? Is it a rights issue?
I believe that it's exactly a rights issue. The (much more interesting than what we're getting from RoP so far) stories you list are all from the Silmarillion or various other supplementary writings, none of which Amazon has the rights to. They have the rights ONLY to Lord of the Rings, and the story of Rings of Power is largely fanfiction being hung on a skeleton which is a 20-page summary of the events of the Second Age in the appendices of Return of the King.
I'm getting the distinct impression that they probably had to have some really good copyright lawyers pore over their script to see what they were and weren't allowed to reference. The Kinslaying at Alqualondë, for example, it a pretty important formative event in both in-universe world history and Galadriel's personal history, and it seems like they're not allowed to talk about it at all considering how hard they seem to be avoiding the subject.
So, I guess its an issue where even if the rights to the Silmarillion is on par or cheaper cost wise , the third age stuff has a known and sizeable audience. The audience that might be interested in the first age stuff is unknown and potentially less than that third age audience.
The rights to the various parts of the Tolkien legendarium are a quagmire. The rights to Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit were sold by the man himself in the 70s, apparently in perpetuity, and they've been passed around between various corporations and holding companies since then.
The rights to the rest of the Tolkien legendarium have never been sold; they still rest with the Tolkien estate. The rumor is that Amazon approached them with a script treatment based on The Silmarillion and were informed that the rights were not for sale at any price. (Christopher Tolkien, JRR's son who was the steward of the the legendarium from JRR's death up until his own in 2020, famously HATED the Jackson adaptation of LotR; the other heirs haven't been as vocal about their thoughts.)
I'm sure if it were a matter of throwing money at the problem, Amazon would have thrown it by now.
I believe the bought the TV rights to LOTR and its appendices. I would also very much like to see some of the crazy Silmarillion stuff, but I think they're positioning this specifically as a direct prequel to LOTR, which is why they've made Galadriel and Elrond protagonists (Elrond was in the lore too, but they've changed Galadriel's history a lot).
I'd like to think that if they do it right they could put in enough references in this show that they could buy more rights later on and do a First Age series and casual viewers would have enough context for it.
I've been enjoying it. While I remember reading the Silmarillion in high school, I can honestly say I didn't retain anything from it, at least not anything that i can remember after 20 years. So I'm fine with whatever deviations or changes they want to make.
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