Designer1 Posted April 16, 2012 VT Supporter Share Posted April 16, 2012 But GoT is a cut above. In fact I'd say that Tolkein's stuff is superior to GoT only in that it was the first of its genre. GoT goes easy on the magic tricks, elflings and swords-of-destiny, and the characters are ambivalent just like actual people. A Song of Ice and Fire/Game of Thrones is completely different to LOTR in sense of style. Setting is about the only thing they have in common really. Really? The Lord of the Rings is a fantastic tale of good against evil, truly superb. GoT is simply just a ruthless fight for power. To compare it directly to LotR is baffling, the only similarities are its "fantasy land", "dragons" and "medieval fighting", i.e. not with guns. I'd agree the general fantasy genre is not too dissimilar to your scathing (yet true) osbervation, but A Song of Ice and Fire isn't like that. All bang on the money for me. It's a shame that some people will be put off the books by the mere mention of the word 'fantasy' because as stated above (and in numerous other places) they are very, very far from the average, run of the mill, churned out shite that does admittedly swamp that particular genre. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ED Posted April 16, 2012 Share Posted April 16, 2012 Darren Bent is the baddie in Homeland Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Rev Posted April 17, 2012 Share Posted April 17, 2012 Absolutely, but I didn't feel like episode 5 added anything to it at all. Everything that wa sin it could have been included in 5 or 10 minutes on another episode. But maybe something else will become evident at a later time. Anyway, I still haven't gotten over the over the top acting and awful script in it. I think the storyline and concept (despite it being pretty unoriginal) is good enough to keep me watching, but I really don't see why it's so highly thought of. I could easily stop watching now and not be bothered one bit. I'm actually inclined to agree now I have watched the whole run. The first four episodes were excellent. Five and six were "shit, we have only got 90 minutes to end this!" and there was a noticeable decline in quality. The final episode was awful. I think I will still persevere with season 2 though. The main thing I took from season 1 is that six episodes is not long enough to tell this story. The zombie apocalypse is supposed to be a tale of death by a thousand cuts and The Walking Dead almost gets that right, it certainly fits in with my idea that slow zombies are better than fast zombies (fast zombies probably work better in a 90 minute film) because the situation becomes a war of attrition which the protagonists simply cannot win rather than just another monster. A fast zombie might as well be a werewolf. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ponky Posted April 17, 2012 Share Posted April 17, 2012 I've put The Shield on the back burner EPIC FAIL Just watched seasons 1 & 2 of the Shield in quick succession & starting on the third. Fantastic show. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ponky Posted April 17, 2012 Share Posted April 17, 2012 Darren Bent is the baddie in Homeland Or is it Steve Sidwell.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo985 Posted April 17, 2012 VT Supporter Share Posted April 17, 2012 Absolutely, but I didn't feel like episode 5 added anything to it at all. Everything that wa sin it could have been included in 5 or 10 minutes on another episode. But maybe something else will become evident at a later time. Anyway, I still haven't gotten over the over the top acting and awful script in it. I think the storyline and concept (despite it being pretty unoriginal) is good enough to keep me watching, but I really don't see why it's so highly thought of. I could easily stop watching now and not be bothered one bit. I'm actually inclined to agree now I have watched the whole run. The first four episodes were excellent. Five and six were "shit, we have only got 90 minutes to end this!" and there was a noticeable decline in quality. The final episode was awful. I think I will still persevere with season 2 though. The main thing I took from season 1 is that six episodes is not long enough to tell this story. The zombie apocalypse is supposed to be a tale of death by a thousand cuts and The Walking Dead almost gets that right, it certainly fits in with my idea that slow zombies are better than fast zombies (fast zombies probably work better in a 90 minute film) because the situation becomes a war of attrition which the protagonists simply cannot win rather than just another monster. A fast zombie might as well be a werewolf. I think the other thing that's making me enjoy it less, is I've been listening to that podcast that someone linked on here "We're Alive" (which for anyone that doesn't know is basically a very similar concept to The Walking Dead but in a radio play sort of format) and it's excellent. So when I'm watching the Walking Dead I just think to myself "'We're Alive' is actually much better than this". So I think I'm unfairly comparing it to something else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SlimJim Posted April 17, 2012 Share Posted April 17, 2012 As an aside, I am also loving 'We're Alive', so thanks to whoever recommended it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rodders Posted April 17, 2012 Share Posted April 17, 2012 Have watched the pilot episodes of sons of anarchy and bored to death recently. Both were fun, the latter pleasantly funny, the other not so! Also deleted my episodes of new girl I had after 5 minutes. Zooey love can only overcome so much awfulNess Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
legov Posted April 18, 2012 Share Posted April 18, 2012 Right, imagine LotR with lots more shagging, and Rohan, Gondor, Elves, Isengard, Mordor, Erebor etc all beating the shit out of each other instead of one side against another trying to chuck a ring into a volcano.Sounds like a good way to make it more shit. Really? The Lord of the Rings is a fantastic tale of good against evil, truly superb. GoT is simply just a ruthless fight for power. To compare it directly to LotR is baffling, the only similarities are its "fantasy land", "dragons" and "medieval fighting", i.e. not with guns. I'd agree the general fantasy genre is not too dissimilar to your scathing (yet true) osbervation, but A Song of Ice and Fire isn't like that. Nah, the below-mentioned represents the pinnacle of the medieval fantasy genre for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo985 Posted April 18, 2012 VT Supporter Share Posted April 18, 2012 Last night's episode of Mad Men was absolutely brilliant! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjmooney Posted April 18, 2012 VT Supporter Share Posted April 18, 2012 I don't know why I keep looking in this thread. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOF Posted April 18, 2012 Moderator Share Posted April 18, 2012 Because you're not watching anything good on TV. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Houlston Posted April 18, 2012 Share Posted April 18, 2012 Have watched the pilot episodes of sons of anarchy and bored to death recently. Both were fun, the latter pleasantly funny, the other not so! Also deleted my episodes of new girl I had after 5 minutes. Zooey love can only overcome so much awfulNess I've watched the three series of Bored to Death and I think you should stick with New Girl, it gets better and although perhaps not side splitting its not too far behind the comedy of Bored to Death. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GarethRDR Posted April 18, 2012 Share Posted April 18, 2012 New Girl's definitely worth persevering with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjmooney Posted April 18, 2012 VT Supporter Share Posted April 18, 2012 Because you're not watching anything good on TV.Nothing that anybody here might have watched, anyway. I just had a scan back through the thread, and my few contributions all read much the same: "Anybody see [one-off documentary] last night?" With no response. Whereas I have never seen a single moment of any of the following titles randomly trawled from the thread: Sons of Anarchy Bored to Death Breaking Bad House Mad Men The Shield Dexter Game of Thrones Homeland We're Alive 24 Lost Walking Dead The Killing Spartacus Deadwood Big Bang Theory The Sopranos Weeds The Borgias Curb Your Enthusiasm Alcatraz Friday Night Lights It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia The West Wing How I Met Your Mother Big Bang Theory Justified NCIS CSI anywhere Law & Order Southland New Girl Modern Family Treme The Office (either version) Californication Nip-Tuck Six Feet Under Eastbound and Down Arrested Development I watched half an hour of Deadwood (and hated it) and the pilot episode of The Wire (it was OK). It seems that "TV show" has a very specific meaning in this thread, so I may as well not bother. Ho hum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo985 Posted April 18, 2012 VT Supporter Share Posted April 18, 2012 There are so many incredible TV shows in that list, Mike! (and, admittedly, some shite) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjmooney Posted April 18, 2012 VT Supporter Share Posted April 18, 2012 I hate committing to watching series. It's such a waste of time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Houlston Posted April 18, 2012 Share Posted April 18, 2012 You read fiction dont you Mike? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
legov Posted April 18, 2012 Share Posted April 18, 2012 You read fiction dont you Mike? This Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjmooney Posted April 18, 2012 VT Supporter Share Posted April 18, 2012 Of course. Obsessively. Books >>> films >>> TV. Hence TV time is wasted reading time. TV is mainly for documentaries as far as I'm concerned. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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