Written by Troy Killjoy on 03.06.2014 at 19:17

Written by AnGina-- on 03.06.2014 at 18:57
You're the third person telling me the exact same thing. (So, it must be true )

I say that and then the most recent episode happens.

First of all, if you're going to follow the books as closely as possible while knowing you have to condense the series immensely in order to fit everything important into the show, then why bother making stuff up? Grey Worm and Missandei? Not a thing. The Lannister brothers having philosophical discussions about beetles? Not a thing. They spent more time on that beetle dialog than the fight they've been hyping since pretty much the first episode of the season. I know you can read into the beetle thing as foreshadowing for a bunch of different things that might or might not happen later in the series - if GRRM even lives long enough to publish the final book - but since it's all made up by the writers (and noticeably so) it kind of discredits the importance of things going on outside King's Landing.

I don't think they are following the books too closely.... Actually, I have the feeling that with each season, they differ more and more. No idea why do they add useless content (Grey Worm/Missandrei thing was embarrassing, on the same level as Pod's sexual prowess I think... ), at least with gratuitous sex stuff you know it's too fill in the boobz quota .
And they leave out some subplots (Red Wedding aftermath ? If they don't add it at the end of this season, they definitely won't in the future), plus simplify some otherwise really nice moments like that recent episode 8 ending fight, was expecting muuuuch more but it looked a bit silly in the end.
Plus, the producers said they will do 7 seasons. No way they will keep the book pace, which means next seasons will be even more different.

I have mixed feelings about the series, probably coz I love the books too much to hate the adaptation, though I'm always criticizing what isn't done well enough

Written by M C Vice on 08.06.2014 at 10:45

Written by Karlabos on 04.06.2014 at 03:02

Speaking of GoT I just wathed the 8th episode of season 4.
Must say I wasn't expecting that ending

Started the 4th season. Are Aria and The Hound BFFs yet?

Yep. And both are alive.. Yet

Written by Troy Killjoy on 03.06.2014 at 19:17

Grey Worm and Missandei? Not a thing.

Agreed. That was pointless, unnecessary and just feels like fan service. Won't complain too much, though, the chick playing Missandei is smokin'.

Quote:

The Lannister brothers having philosophical discussions about beetles? Not a thing. They spent more time on that beetle dialog than the fight they've been hyping since pretty much the first episode of the season. I know you can read into the beetle thing as foreshadowing for a bunch of different things that might or might not happen later in the series - if GRRM even lives long enough to publish the final book - but since it's all made up by the writers (and noticeably so) it kind of discredits the importance of things going on outside King's Landing.

I enjoyed the beetle dialogue almost as much as the fight itself. It wasn't foreshadowing of any type, at least I think it wasn't, and it served multiple purposes.

1. To strengthen and show the viewers Tyrion's and Jaime's brotherly bonds. Without these tidbits, what happens after Tyrion is sentenced to death wouldn't look as believable.

2. To develop Tyrion further as a character. Whereas others were happy to either ridicule or ignore the moron smashing beetles, Tyrion saw it as a puzzle, something he had to figure out to satisfy his naturally inquisitive and curious mind. The show has already portrayed him as a man of great intellect and this just builds upon it further.

3. It was a great metaphor for all the bad stuff happening in the world. Orson smashes those beetles without rhyme or reason, just because. Gods/fate/circumstances smash people just as carelessly, no deeper reason behind it. Bad stuff doesn't happen for a reason, it happens just because.
Some of the beetles Orson was smashing could have been real asshole beetles, deserving to get smashed, some of them could have been paragons of beetle-hood and he smashed them all just the same, without discrimination or any particular reason, because that's what he does. Hell, how can a human even understand if a beetle is good or not, if it deserves being smashed?
Now that Tyrion's life is in danger, he's the beetle and the gods/fate/circumstances are Orson. He's not going to be executed because he is guilty and he's not going to be pardoned because he is innocent. What happens to him is in the hands of some Orson, some external force beyond his control that doesn't even understand "guilty" or "innocent" and his life depends on the random whim of the said force.
You could draw the same parallel where the common folk are the beetles and all those kings and lords are Orson, just smashing them mercilessly because it's a game they play.

I'm pretty happy the writers decided to put that in the show. And I don't understand people who expected some Matrix-like epic action scene between Oberyn and the Mountain. If you want epic fighting duels, you'd probably do better by watching Dragon Ball, because combat and slaughter were never the actual focus, but rather a tool, for both the books and the show.

The beetle discussion seemed a bit like Tarantino, that always comes up with pointless long dialogues like that
Not necessarily a bad thing though.

Written by Slayer666 on 08.06.2014 at 17:04

I'm pretty happy the writers decided to put that in the show. And I don't understand people who expected some Matrix-like epic action scene between Oberyn and the Mountain. If you want epic fighting duels, you'd probably do better by watching Dragon Ball, because combat and slaughter were never the actual focus, but rather a tool, for both the books and the show.

The fight was already a bit Matrix-like, with Oberyn flying around like a kung fu master and the Mountain being incapable of swinging a sword correctly.... so cliché *facepalm* Where were the helmets, the shields and a more believable fight choreography ?
Redeeming point of the episode (overall it was a bit underwhelming) was the beetle thing, even if a bit long. I like when they give insight and depths to characters with monologues, as you can't put internal thoughts on a screen.

Fights with real actors are never good, deal with it.
As Slayer666 said, If you want epic fights you'd better watch anime. What is good about the show is the plots, so I don't really see what people were expecting.

Written by Karlabos on 08.06.2014 at 19:56

What is good about the show is the plots, so I don't really see what people were expecting.

The books have some good fighting scenes. So why not expect something similarly good in the tv adaptation ?

Written by Vombatus on 08.06.2014 at 20:19

The books have some good fighting scenes. So why not expect something similarly good in the tv adaptation ?

Well, still it's something that can't be reproduced on a series with real actors. No matter what you do, medieval battles will always end up seeming about the same and pretty meh.

The guy who played Oberyn was only given 3 weeks of training for the scene so you can't expect much from him aside from his fancy and totally unnecessary dance routine against The Mountain. Has anyone else seen the video of Halthorr Shmerglflrger deadlifting almost 1000 pounds?

Definitely a wise choice as a replacement actor, the guy's a beast.

Guys, they're developing a 13 episode TV adaptation of Daredevil. Vincent D'Onofrio as the Kingpin and Charlie Cox as the hero. I don't know why, but I have a feeling it's going to suuuuuuck.

Written by Troy Killjoy on 11.06.2014 at 02:38

Pedro Pascal, who played Oberyn

There, I fixed it.

Now that I have finally came to the point, where everbody else is (a.k.a. I watched all 9 episodes of fourth season, with a bit of napping between some boring scenes), I decided I liked Oberyn. He seemed so obnoxious to me at the beginning, but as it turned out, he was very witty and thus likeable to me. But I knew as the fight scene started, that his tongue will cost him his life.

And I believe the depth of relationship between Tyrion and Jaime has been presented quite eloquently during the episodes, so the whole beetle discussion didn't have any deeper impact on that, from my point of view.

I also did watch
Dempsey and Makepeace

The wire i think is one of the best.currently watching OZ.great prison drama.
also i think attack on titan and deathnote are the best animes.(have seen a few only)

I'm re-watching for the gazzillionth time 'Allo'Allo. I love this show so much, it never stops being funny, no matter how many times I watch it.

And alo started with Orange Is The New Black, heard a lot of great things about it and I'm the mood for something a bit more light-weight, so I'm giving it a try.

'Allo 'Allo was brilliant. It's funny that it was funny as each character pretty much had one catchphrase of shtick about them that they kept repeating but somehow it stayed funny. Officer Crabtree used to have me in stitches when I was a kid, and still does.

Not seen 24 mentioned much here. It's a cheesy and predictable series but a lot of fun. Just finished the new series and I enjoyed it. Actually felt different from their previous ones, no doubt due to the fact it was set in London and was set over 12 hours rather than 24 so it lacked the stretched-out nature other series have had. Was quite enjoyable.

Starting with Dreadful Penny. Let's see if it is as good as they say.

You mean Penny Dreadful?

Yepp, my bad. A friend who recommended it to me kept saying "Dreadul Penny" and it got stuck in my head so as far as I know myself, from this point on, I will never get it right.

Haha, I just kept imaging a very menacing penny. "Pick me up bitch and I kick your ass".

Anyway, what do you think of it? I am wondering if I should start the series, but I don't like the era/atmosphere. It has to have a really good plot for me to get into it.

Haha, thank you for that vivid picture.

Well, I can't really say much, because I've only watched 2 episodes so far. I find it intriguing because I do like the victorian era. The central plot seems rather basic to me, but the thing that keeps me on my toes is that it is very dense, it has many additional layers and interesting characters, who - I assume - will (some already have) build collateral story lines to the main idea. I find it rather interesting how they took well established characters (Victor Frankenstein, Dorian Grey, Mina Harker) and blended in original ones (Vanessa Ives). The portrayal of several characters is also superb, so casting team did a very fine job. And I love how the imagery is veiled in darkish Tim Burton (think Sweeney Todd) colours and also that several moments totally surprised me, while in other I was expecting something totally vile will occur, but they ended in rather romantic and serene manner. From my point of view - so far, so good.

And now I've said way much than I thought I would.

Yeah, I see. The whole victorian/gothic/Tim Burton stuff really doesn't work with me. I guess I'm going to pass on this one.

I'm kinda stuck in a weird phase where I don't want to start anything because I know I'll get addicted to it. So I'm just re-watching old funny stuff that won't get to my head and keeps my mood afloat.

Mad Men Season 2.

I've been wanting to start this one for quite a while but with so many seasons and the episodes being quite long, I kept avoiding it since I knew it would take quite a while to do so. With not much else to follow, I've started this and am quite happy with the decision, the show is amazing.

Yeah I watched Mad Men up until season three. I don't know why I stopped, but I know I started because of the advertising theme. The first season is great for that.

Written by deadone on 16.07.2014 at 02:18

I was watching Carnivale which to my disgust was cut after 2 seasons and never even got close to anything resembling a resolution.

Typical HBO - they did the same to Deadwood and Rome. Bastards!

ever watched Ausie TV series ... The E Street?

Written by Ilham on 14.08.2014 at 15:35

Yeah I watched Mad Men up until season three. I don't know why I stopped, but I know I started because of the advertising theme. The first season is great for that.

Yeah its a hard one to get into since its 7 Seasons, each one with +10 fifty-minute episodes so its easy to get intimidated by this amount of content. It took me almost two months to finish The Sopranos and I had to grasp every second of it, I'm experiencing the same thing with Mad Men. Its tough to start but when you do it, it's a nice ride.

Couldn't stand Mad Men. My ex really liked it and whenever I tried I just couldn't. The characters didn't interest me at all, and the plot was even less interesting, if you can be less interesting than not interested at all.

Actively uninterested? Whatever. Objectively a well-written show with a strong cast and good directing, one I'd recommend to a great deal of people I know, but just really not something I can enjoy.

Now that Penny Dreadful is no more (only 8 episodes till next season), I think I'm going to try this one. Heard great things about it, and well, we all know Mads Mikkelsen can deliver.

You're in for a treat. I just hope you have the books fresh in your memory. There are a lot of hints, differences, new interpretations and twists. It focuses on what happened before Red Dragon, but having red the three books helps understand the complexity of the whole thing.

Written by Ilham on 19.08.2014 at 22:50
Red Dragon
having red the three books

This one's slightly more forgivable than your typical typo.