rachel on 4/9/2022 at 22:41
a clash of fantasy, part I: House of Dragons
Kind of a dud really. I didn't find that it gave a proper introduction to its own universe. It glossed over a half a dozen different protagonists very quickly, which reduced them to basic archetypes without much depth and what's left then is just stereotypes holding together a story that seems like a rehash of other, better things. For a show that has the added handicap of being a prequel, with a set future already in place, they would have benefited from making the premiere half an hour longer to give everyone proper screen time. I also wasn't impressed by the various performances; most, without going as far as saying wooden, felt pretty stiff and forced, and Smith's scenery chewing makes him look excessively hammy in contrast. So overall, I felt the first two episodes were fairly superficial, with the second becoming predictable to the point of cliché, and while I will check out the rest I can't say I'm confident that it's going to get better...
The quality of the CGI seemed way down compared to GoT, which is surprising. It's not quite season-finale-of-Wheel-of-Time bad, but I expected way better from a top-tier 2022 HBO show. CGI aside, I give it points for the photography, set designs and costumes.
My main beef is that it feels like a show built exclusively for GoT fans/aficionados, and that's cool when you're creating fanfics, but less cool when it's a show that will be an introduction to Westeros for some... Nobody will go through 8 seasons of GoT just to watch this, but you'd kinda have to to follow this premiere, and that's before getting into all of the above.
Verdict: Dragonfire is petering out in universe... and out.
a clash of fantasy, part II: The Rings of Power
Right away, the Rings of Power premiere already feels much much better than HoD. Roughly the same length but more balanced narration, with characters that feel more fleshed out and layered... Note: in terms of lore, I'm not familiar with the LOTR expanded universe except in small very generic areas (i.e. if pushed I could namedrop a couple of big players I guess) There is a variety of POVs throughout both episodes, and each really sets its piece of the puzzle to establish both the various parties in play and the primary threat. I'm pretty sure the guy who dropped from the sky is Gandalf?? Loved loved loved everything about Khazad Dum.
RoP feels much less dark and oppressive than HoD, no small feat when you got an underground mining city, but again, grittiness is after all a hallmark of GoT. It's cool too that while we know Elrond and Galadriel we actually don't, these two here are thousands of years before LOTR and practically junior among elves. This is going to be interesting. The weaker part is probably the Arondir and Bronwyn arc, I don't feel much chemistry in their performance when together, but separately both are pretty good. Bronwyn and Galadriel are pretty badass.
All in all I really liked it, it recaptures the beauties and mysteries of Middle Earth like LOTR did, and it's absolutely gorgeous to watch.
Verdict: Forth Eorlingas!
Cipheron on 4/9/2022 at 23:40
Quote Posted by rachel
LOTR expanded universe
i love this idea that it's anything like the Star Wars expanded universe. XD. Basically, you have Tolkien, and you whatever these guys are making up on the spot, that's the expanded universe that they're making up on the spot, whole cloth.
You have Christopher Tolkien in the middle however, but he's mainly just made the leftover stuff actually readable, as opposed to writing his own stories in the setting.
Straight up I'd recommend two paperbacks to get the full 'expanded' deal.
1) (
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unfinished_Tales)
2) (
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Silmarillion)
Those, The Hobbit and LOTR are basically all the major stuff published up to 1980. The Silmarillion however is the much more difficult read. But it's extremely comprehensive.
There is a trilogy from 2007-2018 by his son Christopher Tolkien and that fleshes out the three main First Age stories contained in Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales. So I think those are unnecessary to get the main plot points. But if you want to level up your Tolkien 1000%, get the two books I mentioned.
mxleader on 11/9/2022 at 05:50
This isn't a show or movie but can be entertaining to watch during Oktoberfest and around Christmas on the weekends. I have it on sometimes on my big screen TV and it's like a giant fish tank but with people (Sometimes drunk.). Last winter it snowed overnight and left about two feet of snow everywhere. It's way more fun to visit the town at various times of the year but I don't live in WA State any longer so I never visit. They have three other live cams to switch through but I like this one because of the view in the background.
[video=youtube_share;lim5hCR59kw]https://youtu.be/lim5hCR59kw[/video]
Nicker on 11/9/2022 at 05:56
Here's some real fantasy for you...
I was looking for videos about vitrified forts, late neolithic defensive structures in which large amounts of the stone is deformed or fused due to a great amount of sustained heat.
First up on the citations was this video.
[video=youtube;VgWTl3AlGn8]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VgWTl3AlGn8[/video]
According to the producer, vitrified forts and the Devils Tower contain organic material, specifically human collagen from the biblical giants. He claims that various Devils Tower samples have tested positive for human DNA, very likely his own.
Almost as remarkable is the chorus of uncritical praise in the comments.
mxleader on 11/9/2022 at 06:03
Quote Posted by Nicker
According to the producer, vitrified forts and the Devils Tower contain organic material, specifically human collagen from the biblical giants. He claims that various Devils Tower samples have tested positive for human DNA, very likely his own.
Almost as remarkable is the chorus of uncritical praise in the comments.
I bet that DNA belongs to Richard Dreyfus, or Melinda Dillon, or maybe even Stephen Spielberg.
Nicker on 11/9/2022 at 06:09
My bet is George Soros.
Is this fodder for a Poll?
mxleader on 11/9/2022 at 06:12
Quote Posted by Nicker
My bet is George Soros.
Is this fodder for a Poll?
Mmmmm, yeah he prolly melted all that stone with his evil melty hands and laser beam eyes, then left a few DNA strands for fun.
Definitely poll worthy.
Tocky on 11/9/2022 at 16:15
The part I found most jaw droppingly amusing was when he said that the problem with geologists was they refused to "engage" with this. Well yeah, in the same way doctors refuse to engage with witch doctors.
mxleader on 13/9/2022 at 04:39
I started watching The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power on Amazon. I got about twenty minutes in and lost interest. That doesn't mean much though because I do that with a lot of things and then come back later and dig in.
I heard some grumblings about having black elves and black dwarves but that's just dumb because it really doesn't matter. Are the series creators pandering a bit to the woke crowd? Yes, a bit I think. But in the land of Middle Earth it really doesn't matter because it is not a real place in real time. What I mean by this is that in some stories it's difficult to suspend disbelief if the story takes place in a certain time period and certain place. Like if you were making a serious film about Wyatt Earp you probably would want the character to match historically. But if it was Quentin Tarantino writing and directing, or maybe Spike Lee, all bets are off because the character could be anyone that can make the character believable. Tolkien didn't go that deep into describing skin color all that much other than sometimes referring to some elves as fair skinned and some characters as swarthy. Me thinks I've over-analyzed the first few minutes of the series. Crawling back under my rock now....
