Octopus Overlords

naednek wrote: ↑Fri Jul 22, 2022 8:56 pm Well it's not wrong

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He does look rather emo and sullen. I always pictured him as a wise and charismatic fella vs someone who has Morrissey songs on repeat on their Spotify playlist (not that there’s anything wrong with that since I’m a Morrissey fan… )

It's like seeing Jake Lloyd as Anakin. The mystique of an entire universe has been shattered. #notmysauron

It will be sublimely subversive if it comes across this way.

$iljanus wrote: ↑Sat Jul 23, 2022 9:14 am

naednek wrote: ↑Fri Jul 22, 2022 8:56 pm Well it's not wrong

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He does look rather emo and sullen. I always pictured him as a wise and charismatic fella vs someone who has Morrissey songs on repeat on their Spotify playlist (not that there’s anything wrong with that since I’m a Morrissey fan… )

No kidding. Sauron should be someone that the viewer loves. He should be handsome, charismatic, and likeable. It should be an Empire Vader-scale reveal that Mr. Good Elf is actually Sauron.

At first I hoped/assumed that the dark-haired elf crowning Galadriel at 00:14 was Sauron, but it's Gil-Galad. (I don't remember much about the history.)

Sudy wrote: ↑Sat Jul 23, 2022 10:51 am At first I hoped/assumed that the dark-haired elf crowning Galadriel at 00:14 was Sauron, but it's Gil-Galad. (I don't remember much about the history.)

I remember that he was an elven king, and that of him the harpers sadly sing.

Blackhawk wrote: ↑Sat Jul 23, 2022 10:39 am No kidding. Sauron should be someone that the viewer loves. He should be handsome, charismatic, and likeable. It should be an Empire Vader-scale reveal that Mr. Good Elf is actually Sauron.

How could you possibly fool the audience about the nature of Sauron when virtually 100% of viewers know exactly who he is? I don't see a problem with showing him as spiteful and malicious behind the elves back as long is he appears beautiful, charismatic and wise to them.

Now with the Official Trailer (tm)

lots of good tv happening right now

naednek wrote: ↑Tue Aug 23, 2022 12:19 pm lots of good tv happening right now

When does this come out?

September 2nd, per the end of the trailer.

I am so much more excited about this than I am about the new Game of Thrones . . .

Freyland wrote: ↑Fri Aug 26, 2022 1:03 am September 2nd, per the end of the trailer.

Excellent. The LOTR movies are up on Prime now, and while my wife and I watched them on DVD during my first trip to the Philippines, she's completely forgotten it and last night, the first was a revelation for her. The kids seemed mildly interested, but they had to go to bed before Boromir started behaving badly. I did give them a spoiler though, explaining the actor was Sean Bean and he typically dies in anything he's in.

NGL

Kinda recklessly excited about this.

Maybe I should try watching the LOTR movies again. Didn't like the first one very much. Turned the second one off halfway through and never finished it. But if they're "free" on Prime maybe I'll see if I can get into them.

I suspect if you didn’t enjoy the movies, you’re just not a fan of this genre. Try The Boys on Prime.

Kraken wrote: ↑Mon Aug 29, 2022 6:30 pm Maybe I should try watching the LOTR movies again. Didn't like the first one very much. Turned the second one off halfway through and never finished it. But if they're "free" on Prime maybe I'll see if I can get into them.

The story itself is classic (perhaps you never read it?) and it is told with reasonable book-to-movie fidelity - and the settings, scenes, and cinematography are really done wonderfully.
I mean... if you have no taste for fantasy, I can see the turn-off...

Unagi wrote: ↑Wed Aug 31, 2022 10:10 pm

Kraken wrote: ↑Mon Aug 29, 2022 6:30 pm Maybe I should try watching the LOTR movies again. Didn't like the first one very much. Turned the second one off halfway through and never finished it. But if they're "free" on Prime maybe I'll see if I can get into them.

The story itself is classic (perhaps you never read it?) and it is told with reasonable book-to-movie fidelity - and the settings, scenes, and cinematography are really done wonderfully.
I mean... if you have no taste for fantasy, I can see the turn-off...

No, I read and loved the books when I was a teenager. I don't remember why the movies turned me off. That's why it might be worth watching again.

The only fantasies I don't like are those that are formulaic derivatives of Tolkien...which is most of the genre. Tolkien himself gets a pass.

I’m not sure how you could like the books and hate the movies. They’re pretty much perfect adaptations.

Well I was 14 when I read the books and in my 40s when the movies came out, so maybe my perspective changed.

You grew up to hate Tolkien. It happens.

This is out now (they released the first two episodes early — normally AIUI they’ll be out on Fridays). First episode is a bit slow with a lot of setup. I thought it was decent, but I went in forewarned that it was going to be slow. I loved the second episode. Definitely looking forward to more.

One review I read today:

It began with the forging of the Great Films. Rights were given to Peter Jackson. Immortal, wisest, and fairest of all beings.
But we were all of us deceived, for another adaption was made.
In the land of Amazon, in the fires of Mount Doom, the Dark Lord Bezos created in secret a disaster series.
And into this series he poured his money, his greed and his will to dominate existing franchises with political pandering.
One series to ruin them all!

A complaint about "political pandering" reads like shorthand for "This woke series has too many characters that aren't white."

Max Peck wrote: ↑Fri Sep 02, 2022 11:10 am A complaint about "political pandering" reads like shorthand for "This woke series has too many characters that aren't white."

Right? I saw the same complaints about Survivor the last couple of seasons. People are ridiculous.

"Dark Lord Bezos" made me chuckle.

MHS wrote: ↑Fri Sep 02, 2022 11:17 am

Max Peck wrote: ↑Fri Sep 02, 2022 11:10 am A complaint about "political pandering" reads like shorthand for "This woke series has too many characters that aren't white."

Right? I saw the same complaints about Survivor the last couple of seasons. People are ridiculous.

I was a little worried until I got to the “political pandering” bit. Then I was just like,

I only watched the first episode (FF draft had me distracted) and I was impressed with the production - looked like (better than?) a movie. Costuming, makeup, set locations, CGI - it all was off the charts.

That said, I have absolutely no idea what is happening; all of the material is new to me. Other than Elrond and Galadriel, the only other name I recognized was Celebrimbor and I was like, "Oh, it's the ghost dude from Shadow of Mordor!"

The two things that really stood out for me were the Green Man armor on the elves - totally awesome. The second was the Hobbits. Of course mentally I'm always going to think of them from the Ralph Bakshi movies and the Peter Jackson movies. Though I guess they aren't really Hobbits? They're pre-Hobbits are something? Again, all this stuff is so far out of my wheelhouse they might as well be Wookies or Ewoks.

Either way, I enjoyed it. Will definitely continue.

I've watched the first two episodes and really enjoyed them. It was so much better than the Hobbit Trilogy. God, that was awful.

I just finished the first episode. I came away very impressed. The massive budget is quite apparent.

I wouldn't describe myself as a massive Tolkien nerd (or purist). I have read the LOTR books and the Hobbit. When I was much younger I tried reading the Sillmarillion and didn't get far. I loved all 6 of PJ's LOTR/Hobbit movies. I think the LOTR movies were pretty much perfect - in fact, I largely think they are an improvement over the books. (I thought the things cut out and/or changed were by and large wise decisions that worked better for movie(s).) But, I also really love the Hobbit movies as well. It had a much thinner story, so I thought it made sense to flesh it out. I thought Martin Freeman was an amazingly superb choice to play Bilbo. Sure they are padded with tons of movie fluff. But I found all that fluff to be tons of fun.

Anyway, excited to keep watching.

Finished the 2nd episode. Totally hooked.

84% RT FWIW (so far).

I loved and read and re-read LOTR as a kid and teen. Certainly didn’t hate the movies but they didn’t do much for me for some reason either, and I have no idea why.

Read and re-read (and loved) Song of Ice and Fire books, and adored the TV series.

Isgrimnur wrote: ↑Fri Sep 02, 2022 7:28 pm Amazon Prime Video Suspends ‘The Rings of Power’ User Ratings After ‘Review Bombing’ Occurs

That's pretty sad. The bigots have learned this behavior from social media and it is not likely to get better any time soon. Unfortunately it means the era of honestly critical user reviews is probably over.

Effing morons, the lot of them. It’s a goddamn show about elves, orcs and another race that really hates footwear. In other words, it’s fictional, you dipshits. So the eff what if an Asian actor portrays elf #238, or an African actor portrays a female warrior?

Incels are so goddamn annoying.

That being said, I’m struggling to enjoy the first episode. It’s just not clicking with me. But not because of its inclusive casting. I’m just not finding it terribly interesting so far.

I wonder if I’m just burned out on the fantasy genre?

Who knew that Tom Bombadil...

hepcat wrote: ↑Fri Sep 02, 2022 8:13 pm That being said, I’m struggling to enjoy the first episode. It’s just not clicking with me. But not because of its inclusive casting. I’m just not finding it terribly interesting so far.

I wonder if I’m just burned out on the fantasy genre?

The first episode is really slow, a lot of people aren’t finding episode one that great. The second episode picks things up a lot, there’s a fair amount of “episode one bad, episode two great” people.

Personally I went in having heard how slow and meh episode one was and I actually rather enjoyed it (possibly because I went in with lowered expectations). Episode two though is a lot better.

I'm not overly thrilled with the Peter Jackson-ish aesthetic, but in a surprising reversal I actually like the snooty elves and find the hobbits a bit annoying.
My favorites though, are the two weirdos who wandered across the set from the Monty Python version.

Isgrimnur wrote: ↑Fri Sep 02, 2022 7:28 pm Amazon Prime Video Suspends ‘The Rings of Power’ User Ratings After ‘Review Bombing’ Occurs

I don't have Amazon Prime, so seeing this is not in my foreseeable future but I thought this response (or anticipation?) was attention getting.

His stories are about his fictional races doing their best work when they leave the isolation of their own cultures and come together.

I enjoyed the first episode and hope to get the second episode in this weekend. There’s just not enough time in the day though. Our TV time is limited, and it is about to dwindle down to almost nothing when football comes back.