@Limiescouse Just caught up to the most recent episode of For All Mankind. Enjoyed it more than I thought I would. I think the show kind of works as a prequel for The Expanse; I’m sure someone is about to point out how that doesn’t work beacause of some minute detail I overlooked. 
2 Likes
Rings of power season 2 is much better than season 1 - I’m enjoying this season quite a bit.
1 Like
Watched the first episode of the new BBC version of Rebus tonight. I read some of the novels about 10-20 years ago which I really enjoyed. I can only really remember that he was a heavy smoking, heavy drinking cop who liked listening to and referencing 80’s music. Judging by the opening of the show, it may be moving away from that which would be a shame.
I still enjoyed the show, and it does have some of that sharp wit from the books but it isn’t quite the same.
When I think of Rebus, I think Robbie Coltrane’s Cracker was a better fit than either of the two shows of Rebus, in much the same way that Robocop was that decade’s Judge Dredd.
1 Like
I am still conflicted. I think it is a joy to watch any Tolkein put to screen (apart from Jackson’s awful Hobbit shite) so I am enjoying it, and probably would be even if it was far worse than it is. But I am confused and disappointed at some of the decisions they have taken with the plot. There is so little of this era actually told by Tolkein that they were always going to have to fill in a lot of blanks themselves, but what plot details they do have they have ignored and I just find that really grating. Especially as I don’t see that any of those decisions had to be made to accommodate some of the shifts they’ve had to make for TV (condensing 5000 years into a single human generation). Nothing justifies taking Galdriel, a character noted for her immediate rejection of Annatar, and portraying her someone too easily fooled by Sauron’s disguises and treachery.
But it’s fun so most probably wont care about any of that. It just feels like it could be so much more. I did like Bombadil’s appearance last week though.
1 Like
Who do you think those decisions would have been down to?
The reason I ask is that I’m a huge fan of Warhammer material and they are trying to get a deal agreed with Amazon for shows/ movies to be made of its 40k (dark futuristic) universe, with perhaps its more tolkienesque fantasy stuff to follow. But Games Workshop are notoriously picky about how others use the lore of their worlds and as a result have not had any luck in getting companies to make films/ shows using their material before.
I don’t see why it would be anyone other than the two showrunners just making decisions about the story they want to tell.
There is reporting that the Tolkein estate is involved in an advisory capacity and is happy with the adaptation, but since Christopher stepped back (and died) I dont think any of the rest are remotely as invested in the creative/story telling side of the estate.
1 Like
I’ve read the hobbit and lord of the rings multiple times, but never got into the silmarillion, so i don’t really know all the fine details of what is supposed to be happening, so I’m sure that helps me out. I’m just enjoying it without worrying about the source material.
2 Likes
Treat it as a fanfiction of Tolkien’s world. A poorly written fanfiction made by people with way too much money.
Hmm. Maybe I should try watching some once more. Have to check if my Netflix is still available though.
Just started it. I don’t know if you know about Carl Hiaasen, but if you’re enjoying bad monkey you should check out some of his other novels. He is the quintessential Florida is corrupted/weird/absurd story teller and so far this is a really authentic feeling adaptation that has not been the case in the other adaptations of his work
1 Like
Yep, i’ve tried reading some of his novels before but i don’t recall ever finishing them. I’ll have another go.
This will be controversial…
20 years ago
This was probably the first ‚blockbuster tv show’ and such a hype when it first aired. Loved some of the characters and I think it was a great cast overall.
I remember watching 4 of the 6 seasons. Missed some episodes and had no options to catch up. Story got weirder the longer it went and I stopped watching.
Should I go back and rewatch the whole thing or will it be a waste of time
- Watch it
- Don’t waste your time
0
voters
I only watched season one because that was available free on terrestial tv at the time.
I was going to watch it a year or so ago but decided not to after reading some interviews about how toxic some of those responsible for the show were.
1 Like
Can I point out that Rings of Power (as I predicted) is an absolute towering pile of shite? Thanks.
1 Like
It’s excellent. I get the people who never liked it. I simply do not get the people who liked it and came to hate it.
For a show where the focus was on the mythology, it’s one of the best done character dramas TV has done. In lots of successful shows the writers squeeze out new material by inventing new motivations for the characters out of thin air to give themselves something to write about. They make no sense and are explained by little more than a single line of exposition "oh, these two former friends hate each now because [insert one line explanation]. Every main character in lost evolved in interesting ways and every one of those arcs made perfect sense because of what was happening in the core plot - show dont tell storytelling. I think that is a very under appreciated aspect of the show.
1 Like
People that don’t rewatch good shows are weird.
But how do you define good?
I personally thought the Van Helsing tv show was really good and enjoyable but a lot of others have seen online wrongly claim it to be rubbish.
Zoo season 1 was brilliant, but fell apart massively in the following seasons in my opinion, but others (again, wrongly) thought it got better with each season.
I’ve just noticed that Sky are doing an adaptation of Peter Shaffer’s Amadeus:
Now the play is brilliant and the film outstanding. I’m just wondering if we really need a TV version? Aren’t there other plays that would benefit from an adaptation?
2 Likes
Second season of Gyeongseong Creature, the South Korean series has just dropped onto Netflix.
Now the shock factor from the first season has calmed a touch, the story, set in modern day, is more about how they thread the two differing timelines together.
Still worth a watch though
1 Like