The One Ring Forums: Off Topic: Off Topic:
What movies did you watch this weekend?



deej
Tol Eressea


Feb 4 2013, 3:51pm


Views: 594
What movies did you watch this weekend?

Tell us about them here!

"The Hobbits bowed low. 'Most gracious host', said Frodo, 'It was said to me by Elrond Half-Elven that I should find friendship upon the way, secret and unlooked for. Certainly I have found no such friendship as you have shown. To have found it turns evil to great good."


imin
Valinor


Feb 4 2013, 5:41pm


Views: 375
6 nations rugby championship first weekend

Not a film but if you are someone like myself who likes rugby and has some interest in the teams playing - I'm English, then it is just as if not more exciting!

What a cracker the first weekend was as well! 3 brilliant games with every team i wanted to win doing so!

I have quite a few Scottish friends, coming from where i do in England so it was great to get another win over them and start the championship brightly. I thought both Scotland and England played well just with England being better at taking their chances.

Did anyone else catch any of the three matches or am i alone on this? Unsure


silneldor
Half-elven


Feb 4 2013, 5:44pm


Views: 406
Stagecoach -1986 version

With an all-star cast, and not primarily actors either. It was fun seeing them all:

Willie Nelson
Johnny Cash
Kris Kristofferson
Waylon Jennings
John Schneider
June & John Carter Cash
Elizabeth Ashley
David Allen Coe
Anthony Newley
Jessi Colter















Annael
Immortal


Feb 4 2013, 6:44pm


Views: 373
Star Trek; Wasabi; Heaven

Was visiting friends & brought "Star Trek" & "Wasabi" along because they hadn't seen either ."Star Trek" meaning the recent JJ Abrams reboot; "Wasabi" is an old Jean Reno movie - he plays a French detective who was stationed in Japan years ago and is summoned back because he's the only legatee in the will of his former lover. Turns out that her property includes a daughter he never knew about. Very funny, very touching at times, and yet has plenty of action scenes (the violence is cartoonish).

My friends had gotten "Heaven" from Netflix, so we also watched that. it was made in Italy & stars Giovanni Ribisi and Cate Blanchett. I cannot begin to describe the plot without spoiling it, but suffice it to say it has some of the most beautiful cinematography I've seen (we were reminded of the care taken to frame shots in "Girl with a Pearl Earring"), the acting is excellent, the movie NEVER goes where you think it's going to go next, and we could not stop thinking about it afterwards.

The way we imagine our lives is the way we are going to go on living our lives.

- James Hillman, Healing Fiction

* * * * * * * * * *

NARF and member of Deplorable Cultus since 1967


Ataahua
Forum Admin / Moderator


Feb 4 2013, 6:46pm


Views: 369
I didn't catch any of the games

but I heard Italy beat France! What a cracking win for them.

Celebrimbor: "Pretty rings..."
Dwarves: "Pretty rings..."
Men: "Pretty rings..."
Sauron: "Mine's better."

"Ah, how ironic, the addictive qualities of Sauron’s master weapon led to its own destruction. Which just goes to show, kids - if you want two small and noble souls to succeed on a mission of dire importance... send an evil-minded beggar with them too." - Gandalf's Diaries, final par, by Ufthak.


Ataahua's stories


FaeLyra
Registered User


Feb 4 2013, 6:47pm


Views: 368
Watched "We Need to Talk About Kevin"

Starring:
Tilda Swinton
John C. Reilly
Ezra Miller

It was very good. The performances were fantastic and I think really carried the film's emotional weight very well.
I recommend it!

I swear at that moment, we lost the ponies.


Ataahua
Forum Admin / Moderator


Feb 4 2013, 6:48pm


Views: 380
The Impossible.

This has Naomi Watts and Ewen McGregor as parents of three young boys who are holidaying in Thailand and are caught in the Boxing Day tsunami. Such a heart-breaking movie, and the acting from both Watts and McGregor is amazing. It's worth seeing, just to get a first-hand POV of what it was like during the tsunami and in the terrible aftermath when you're in shock and trying to keep your children safe.

Celebrimbor: "Pretty rings..."
Dwarves: "Pretty rings..."
Men: "Pretty rings..."
Sauron: "Mine's better."

"Ah, how ironic, the addictive qualities of Sauron’s master weapon led to its own destruction. Which just goes to show, kids - if you want two small and noble souls to succeed on a mission of dire importance... send an evil-minded beggar with them too." - Gandalf's Diaries, final par, by Ufthak.


Ataahua's stories


Lily Fairbairn
Half-elven


Feb 4 2013, 8:14pm


Views: 373
Downton Abbey (vague spoilers)

This one seemed like a bit of a place-holder after the traumas of the last couple of episodes, although I was very glad that Violet engineered a reconciliation between Cora and Robert. But my goodness, Robert is becoming more of a stuffed shirt! And don't you just want to hit Carson with a cream pie for his self-righteous attitude about Ethel? Thank goodness both the upstairs and the downstairs women have made their own decision.

I was delighted to see the previews for next week include a shot of Bates returning "home". At last! That sub-plot played out ages ago.

What will O'Brien's manipulation of James and Thomas lead to? I realize she's trying to get back at Thomas for his dirty tricks regarding Alfred, but still---just when he's humanized by his grief for Sybil.




Alassëa Eruvande
Valinor


Feb 4 2013, 8:39pm


Views: 373
Carson

is the biggest snob at Downton! Laugh

Yes, O'Brien is certainly leading Thomas down the primrose path. Oh, those two! But James keeps making comments that Thomas seems bound to misinterpret. Such as the "she's not my type" comment about the new cook's helper. But it seems O'Brien's dirty trick is going to be much worse for Thomas than Thomas's dirty trick was to Alfred. Such a soap opera! But I can't turn it off! Laugh



I am SMAUG! I kill when I wish! I am strong, strong, STRONG!
My armor is like tenfold shields! My teeth like swords! My claws, spears!
The shock of my tail, a thunderbolt! My wings, a hurricane! And my breath, death!


Lily Fairbairn
Half-elven


Feb 4 2013, 8:44pm


Views: 373
Yes

James is playing into O'Brien's hands. He has a pretty good idea what Thomas is up to, but he has no clue what she's up to! (So does James have his eye on Daisy, do you think?)

I almost ended my post with "what a soap opera!" Great minds, etc. Laugh




CuriousG
Half-elven


Feb 4 2013, 10:22pm


Views: 357
My favorite Downton lines of the week

"I want you to tell Lord and Lady Grantham what you've almost admitted to me... Lie is such an unmusical word."
-Violet to Dr. Clarkson

"Anyone who has use of their limbs can make a salmon mousse."
-Mrs Pattmore to Ethel


Magpie
Immortal


Feb 4 2013, 10:29pm


Views: 357
I have to say, this episode is one I finally liked!

lol... or maybe I'm just finally letting myself like it.

What I think I needed that this episode gave me was a sense that the writers want us to see a range of thoughts and attitudes.

Up till now, I felt - in terms of the upstairs - was a lot of stuffiness and not a *ton* of pushing back. Now we see that sense of entitlement from some characters and other characters are standing up to them or calling them on it. Up till now, I kind of felt we were supposed to look at that hoity-toity attitude and think it was cool. That that's what the 'allure' of the show was rooted in.

With a wider ranges of attitudes being presented, it's more interesting to me.


LOTR soundtrack website ~ magpie avatar gallery
TORn History Mathom-house ~ Torn Image Posting Guide


CuriousG
Half-elven


Feb 4 2013, 10:39pm


Views: 359
You sound like an Irish radical; is Tom lurking here? lol/

 


Magpie
Immortal


Feb 4 2013, 10:57pm


Views: 345
well...

I'm not an Irish radical but I came of age in the 60s and I've been known to have some radical thoughts and opinions.

I think my husband still has his old SDS button somewhere around.

:-)


LOTR soundtrack website ~ magpie avatar gallery
TORn History Mathom-house ~ Torn Image Posting Guide


squire
Half-elven


Feb 4 2013, 11:12pm


Views: 381
Zero Dark-Thirty

Nothing about this film surprised me. I had seen the trailer and read the reviews. I saw "The Hurt Locker", the director's earlier exploration of America's war in Southwest Asia. If I wanted to be flip, I could stop now with this closer: "Remember that super-competent, alienated loner hero in The Hurt Locker? Well, he gave up bomb disposal and got a gender change operation, red hair, and a job as an analyst with the CIA. All the emotion is still locked up in that hurt locker, though."

And yet. The film has stayed with me. Parts of it keep replaying in my head, primarily some of the scenes where Maya, the heroine, figuratively beats her head against yet another wall between her and her prey. And some of the footage of those burly Seals, dressed as the SWAT Team from Hell, slowly but noisily breaking their way into Bin Laden's fortress, is more gripping than it ought to be, given that everyone in the world already knows what the outcome will be.

It's really two movies, then. The first one is long and slow and only occasionally violent; brightly lit in a stark desert world of detainee prisons and CIA cubicles; focused on the uses of the mind and wits to solve an almost unsolvable puzzle. The second one is much shorter, moves more quickly, takes place in the dark, and focuses on the uses of brute force to see if the puzzle solution is correct. The first is eerily feminine, improbably so except that the analyst hero was in fact a woman; the second is reliably masculine -- traditional war movie stuff -- but joltingly so after two hours of girl power seemingly getting whatever it wants in a man's world.

Yet both movies are, as I began realizing on writing this up above, about breaking down barriers by harnessing the will and suppressing the feelings. As part two begins, Maya stands back and retreats from the stinging dust of the stealthy helicopters taking off at zero dark-thirty. She can do nothing to help these men, who've made it brutally clear to her that they are prepared to die for the sake of her theoretical certainty that she has found the elusive "UBL". Only at the end, when they return with their prize and she identifies the corpse, does she regain her position as the heroine. And only at the very end, in a place of literal solitude and military machinery that reflects the solitude and all-male world in which she's lived for the past ten years, does she finally - well, it's not a break-down, but it'll have to do. It's all she will ever give us.

The torture scenes get all the publicity, but I don't even think they were needed for the film to work. I suspect they were put in for political reasons, that is, entirely to engage the audience with the images of Americans as expert torturers and to pose the question of the effectiveness of torture as an interrogation method. When they finally do get information that drives the investigation forward, it's not clear just how much a part the actual torture played at that point.

And except for one brief interchange during the torture, we never even meet the enemy or hear his point of view. The bad guys are out there, to be sure; at several places they even strike back at Maya's team, giving us a tantalizing sense of uncertainty about the survival of the heroes. But mostly they remain a collection of anonymous bearded faces and quickly rattled-off Arabic names; the film makes it clear that for all her undeniable passion to find and kill UBL, Maya's real enemy is bureaucratic inertia, Agency politics, and the changing status of the War on Terror back in Washington. And that too is unspecific: the film makes no comment about whether or not, as has been claimed elsewhere, the hunt for UBL (like the original war in Afghanistan) was sidelined by the Bush administration's war in Iraq, or whether the Obama administration put more effort into finding UBL than the Bush group did. There are a few passing references to the CIA's loss of credibility after the WMD fiasco, but those are merely there to drive the drama of Maya's certainty that she's right, without any hard evidence to point to.

The scenes of life in Pakistan were fascinating, and one of the best scenes is a cell-phone hunt through the streets of a typical Punjab city. I was reminded rather forcibly by the images that our wars in this region have definitely begun to take on a "movie look", equivalent to the looks we now immediately associate with films set in the Cold War against the USSR, the Vietnam War, and even World War II. I've seen Argo, The Hurt Locker, Black Hawk Down, and now this one, and I believe there are at least as many more that I've missed. All have that desert scenery, those boxy plaster houses and rundown streets, those grim but baffled soldiers in hyped-up armor, canvas boots, and camouflaged helmets, the helicopters, the yellow skies, and always the mysterious, darkly-exotic, Islamic extras in the background.



squire online:
RR Discussions: The Valaquenta, A Shortcut to Mushrooms, and Of Herbs and Stewed Rabbit
Lights! Action! Discuss on the Movie board!: 'A Journey in the Dark'. and 'Designing The Two Towers'.
Footeramas: The 3rd (and NOW the 4th too!) TORn Reading Room LotR Discussion; and "Tolkien would have LOVED it!"
squiretalk introduces the J.R.R. Tolkien Encyclopedia: A Reader's Diary


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CuriousG
Half-elven


Feb 5 2013, 12:11am


Views: 344
Thanks for the review

I read No Easy Day, and thought this movie might be redundant. But it seems to fill in the holes left by the book. The book was good enough on its own, especially the step-by-step details of the raid, but the author seemed rather arrogant, particularly when it came to the CIA people, who appeared as mere appliances to him and the SEALS, so it will be good to get another perspective.


Magpie
Immortal


Feb 5 2013, 12:29am


Views: 341
thanks

I'm on the fence about seeing this, mostly because I'm not sure how I'll react to the torture scenes.

I appreciate the thorough review.


LOTR soundtrack website ~ magpie avatar gallery
TORn History Mathom-house ~ Torn Image Posting Guide


imin
Valinor


Feb 5 2013, 12:32am


Views: 337
Yeah it was a great game :)

I am really pleased they won, they definitely deserve to win more matches than they do - always getting better, it really opens up the championship and leads to a very interesting game next weekend between Wales and France (both losing).


Annael
Immortal


Feb 5 2013, 1:05am


Views: 340
I really liked

how the women supported Ethel (most of them).

Love the Dowager more each episode.

I was also glad to see Mary stop siding always with her father and instead take on a mediator role to help him deal with how everything is changing. She's the only one who can do that.

The way we imagine our lives is the way we are going to go on living our lives.

- James Hillman, Healing Fiction

* * * * * * * * * *

NARF and member of Deplorable Cultus since 1967


silneldor
Half-elven


Feb 5 2013, 2:05am


Views: 331
I really enjoyed

and got a lot out of your review squire. I see so few movies out in the theaters, but i do like to understand a bit where a film stands if i can.
Thank you.















sevilodorf
Tol Eressea


Feb 5 2013, 2:07am


Views: 329
The Guilt Trip

not like any road trip I've ever taken with my mother. She said we obviously don't visit the right places. I offered to drive her to Texas and find her a restaurant that served three pound steaks, but she wouldn't go for it.

Fourth Age Adventures at the Inn of the Burping Troll http://burpingtroll.com





zarabia
Tol Eressea


Feb 5 2013, 3:10am


Views: 333
I agree for the most part

I've enjoyed all along though I've often felt frustrated for the same reasons you gave for not liking it: the attitude that the aristocracy really were better and that the servants were good and worthy only if they "knew their place" and were properly deferential. This attitude seemed to become more and more obvious later in season one and most of season two. When I first got hooked at beginning of the first season, Mrs. Crowley was great; stood right up, politely, to the Granthams and called them on their antiquated notions. Then the romance and intrigue took over on the show which was okay at first because I was invested in the characters. But in season two they made Mrs. Crowley out to be a ridiculous, interfering busybody, and the general tone seemed to follow suit. They had Sybil become a nurse and Edith took to driving and being helpful, but it was the aristocracy deigning to pitch in in hard times rather than the "commoners" standing up for themselves and challenging the "upstairs" crowd to do their part. This season seems to finally be getting back to some of what I loved in season one.

I'm really loving Mrs. Hughs. I've always liked her, but she's really showing some backbone now. And of course, I'm so glad to see the Mrs. Crowley that I admired in season one returning. They still don't have her being the great foil to Cousin Violet she was in season one, but she's getting some of her mojo back. Smile

"The question isn't where, Constable, but when." - Inspector Spacetime


CuriousG
Half-elven


Feb 5 2013, 3:15am


Views: 330
Did you think it was realistic, though?

It was good to see Ethel get all the support; only Robert and Carson were strongly aghast about her. But does it seem realistic? I have trouble believing that many people in the 1920s would find "a fallen women" socially acceptable. Even now, I don't think most people would mix too readily with ex-prostitutes. But maybe it's all due to the fact that they knew her before it all, so she's not "another prostitute," but an acquaintance. Kinda funny that she has more friends now than she did as a housemaid, but that was her fault back then.


Starling
Half-elven


Feb 5 2013, 5:04am


Views: 319
I thought I wanted to see this, but now I'm not so sure

When I saw the preview at another movie, the earthquake / tsunami scenes (particularly the sound) put me into some sort of bad earthquake memory zone. I might need to give it a miss. Unsure


Starling
Half-elven


Feb 5 2013, 5:13am


Views: 314
Rain of the Children

I can't believe it's taken me so long to get around to seeing this one. I found it deeply moving, and a riveting story. Vincent Ward (NZ film maker) made a documentary about a family a long time ago. In Rain of the Children, he goes back many years later to try and make sense of the story, and finds out so much more, which helps him make more sense of what he observed originally. It's an amazing story of love and loss, with some incredible NZ history woven in. It's as much a personal journey for Vincent Ward as it is a story about the people in the the documentary.
If you have any interest in New Zealand history and the richness of Maori culture, this is a must see. But anyone who has experienced loss will relate to this story.

Here's a link for more info.


Aunt Dora Baggins
Immortal


Feb 5 2013, 5:33am


Views: 384
The Lizzie Bennet Diaries

I am totally sucked into this now. It's Pride and Prejudice told via youtube, twitter, tumblir, facebook, and a couple of mock websites. It's getting harder and harder to keep on top of it. LIzzie and Lydia have their own vlogs, and so does "Pemberly Digital". The big Lydia drama broke last week, first in a *comment* on Lydia's youtube video (the comment was advertising a hot sex tape featuring youtube star Lydia Bennet), and then heated up on twitter (as Charlotte frantically tried to contact Lizzie, who was at the Apple store because her phone had flaked out) before being addressed in a video the next day. This wild 21st-century way of telling a story just fascinates me. Along with thousands of fans commenting on the videos, characters in the story are commenting too. It's total immersion. Part of what makes it feel so real is that it's being told in real time. It's been going on almost a year now. The writers pay detailed attention to everything, because the fans do. For example, the fans noticed yesterday that Lizzie is no longer following Pemberly Digital on youtube or twitter, which means she won't know what the Darcys are doing.

And I'm learning a whole new vocabulary from fan comments. "Oh, the feels! Omg I can't the feels!"


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"For DORA BAGGINS in memory of a LONG correspondence, with love from Bilbo; on a large wastebasket. Dora was Drogo's sister, and the eldest surviving female relative of Bilbo and Frodo; she was ninety-nine, and had written reams of good advice for more than half a century."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"A Chance Meeting at Rivendell" and other stories

leleni at hotmail dot com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



(This post was edited by Aunt Dora Baggins on Feb 5 2013, 5:37am)


Alassëa Eruvande
Valinor


Feb 5 2013, 3:23pm


Views: 385
Thanks to you, ADB, I'm totally hooked as well!

You mentioned the LBD a while back, and naturally I had to check it out, too! Laugh

Although I don't follow the twitter and facebook stuff, I'm keeping up with the you tube stuff. It occurred to me to google Pemberly Digital once, when I still didn't realize all the venues they were using, and was pleasantly surprised that there is a website for PD. Brilliant! It's like looking at a real corporate website!

And their casting is spot on! The three girls really do look like sisters, and Gigi and Darcy look like siblings, too. The guy who plays George is a terrific mix of creepy attractiveness, if there is such a thing! Crazy What abs!
Oh the feels! Laugh



I am SMAUG! I kill when I wish! I am strong, strong, STRONG!
My armor is like tenfold shields! My teeth like swords! My claws, spears!
The shock of my tail, a thunderbolt! My wings, a hurricane! And my breath, death!


Lily Fairbairn
Half-elven


Feb 5 2013, 3:39pm


Views: 374
I've felt the opposite

I've felt as though the stuffy and entitled attitudes of the upstairs crowd was being held up to a subtle sort of ridicule, and that Fellowes was trying to show how the aristocracy and their country houses began slipping away in the 20th century as the ordinary people came to realize they were just as worthy.

There was the sub-plot about the maid learning to use a typewriter and then getting a job as a secretary, for example. And Tom, of course, with his revolutionary ideas meeting with Sybil, who I don't think was condescending but genuinely trying to help.

I also think there's been a fair amount of "see, they may be wealthy but they have problems too". And the whole story of Ethel highlights hypocrisy from the get-go.

The conflict between the more traditional servants (epitomized by Carson) and the younger ones is as vital a conflict as the one between upstairs and downstairs.

But, like all drama, what we see in it often reflects what we bring to it. Smile




Magpie
Immortal


Feb 5 2013, 4:02pm


Views: 374
your last statement...

so true!

I'm fairly certain that my reactions to this show are very colored by my own attitudes and experiences.

:-)


LOTR soundtrack website ~ magpie avatar gallery
TORn History Mathom-house ~ Torn Image Posting Guide


Aunt Dora Baggins
Immortal


Feb 5 2013, 4:21pm


Views: 378
Are you following all the videos?

Lizzie and Lydia have vlogs, and now Gigi is doing demos on the Pemberly Digital youtube channel, and some of the story is being told there.

And I got a big laugh at Gigi's twitter comment during the tour of San Francisco with LIzzie and Darcy: "This part of San Francisco is known for its shipping."

Wasn't Lizzie's last video heartbreaking?


Though I have to say this week was also a big climax for a web comic I've been following about Nathan Hale. It's been going on for several years, and right now Nathan is at the gallows, which makes all the Bennets' problems seem small by comparison. Someone on that site posted "Ow! Right in the feels!"

But back to LBD, yes the casting is amazing, all the sets of siblings. Bing Lee and Caroline Lee look alike too, as do Charlotte and Maria Lu.

Someone speculated that now that LIzzie is filming in the den, we might get to see her parents.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"For DORA BAGGINS in memory of a LONG correspondence, with love from Bilbo; on a large wastebasket. Dora was Drogo's sister, and the eldest surviving female relative of Bilbo and Frodo; she was ninety-nine, and had written reams of good advice for more than half a century."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"A Chance Meeting at Rivendell" and other stories

leleni at hotmail dot com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



(This post was edited by Aunt Dora Baggins on Feb 5 2013, 4:25pm)


Alassëa Eruvande
Valinor


Feb 5 2013, 7:31pm


Views: 384
I only watch on you tube.

Fortunately, they put up little icons of Lydia's and Gigi's videos at the end of Lizzie's or I never would have thought to look for them. I watched Maria's blogs but they were kind of boring and didn't have much to do with the story.

As for the filming in the den, I took it as a parallel to Mrs. Bennett being "indisposed" in the book after the Lydia/Wickham scandal broke. She's got her little "spa" set up in Lizzie's room, so Lizzie has to use the den. I don't really think the parents will let Lizzie post videos of them on you tube.

If these actors don't get some sort of award or other recognition for this work, well, that's just wrong. This program is as good or better than anything on tv, and done in such an interesting way.

Holla! Tongue



I am SMAUG! I kill when I wish! I am strong, strong, STRONG!
My armor is like tenfold shields! My teeth like swords! My claws, spears!
The shock of my tail, a thunderbolt! My wings, a hurricane! And my breath, death!


Aunt Dora Baggins
Immortal


Feb 5 2013, 11:03pm


Views: 363
I haven't watched most of Maria's either.

I think there was some little piece of info that Lizzie got from them, but they were too tedious to watch.

You're probably right about Lizzie's parents. I am on the edge of my seat wondering how Darcy is going to save the day, since it clearly has to be something different than in the book.

There's a fan (not official) twitter account for Anne Elliot, who is apparently working at Pemberly Digital :-D


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"For DORA BAGGINS in memory of a LONG correspondence, with love from Bilbo; on a large wastebasket. Dora was Drogo's sister, and the eldest surviving female relative of Bilbo and Frodo; she was ninety-nine, and had written reams of good advice for more than half a century."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"A Chance Meeting at Rivendell" and other stories

leleni at hotmail dot com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



Laerasëa
Tol Eressea


Feb 5 2013, 11:13pm


Views: 376
Finally finished the 2004 BSG series on Netflix! (no spoilers)

I absolutely loved the ending, and I am looking forward to rewatching the series, as there are several things that I think I missed the first time around. It's rather like Lost in that aspect-- I am under the impression that the writers knew where they were going for the most part, throughout the majority of the show.

Overall, I was absolutely enthralled by the show.

‎"When we can take green from grass, blue from heaven, and red from blood, we have already an enchanter's power—upon one plane; and the desire to wield that power in the world
external to our minds awakes."
--J. R. R. Tolkien


Mozart and Chocolate


Kassandros
Rohan


Feb 5 2013, 11:23pm


Views: 383
Not everything went as originally planned.

I do believe that BSG was originally slated to be only three seasons, but was extended to four, so I imagine some changes, at least, were made.

I definitely enjoyed the earlier seasons more than the later ones, but overall I quite liked the show.

all we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us...


imin
Valinor


Feb 6 2013, 12:44am


Views: 356
Anyone watching the Netflix original - House of Cards? //

 


Starling
Half-elven


Feb 6 2013, 1:35am


Views: 356
You might think that...

I couldn't possibly comment.


Elizabeth
Half-elven


Feb 6 2013, 2:16am


Views: 373
Lincoln: very disappointed.

Mainly, I hated the script. Too many characters saying things that were so inappropriate it took me out of the movie. Main offenders:

* The earnest black soldier complaining about unequal pay (a totally mid-20th Century speech)

* Reciting the Gettysburg Address... it wasn't considered notable at the time, and only became an item for everyone to memorize in school much later. It's wildly unlikely that troops would be reciting it from memory 2 years after the event. It's a shallow movie gesture to say, "yeah, that Lincoln."

* Too much exposition by Mrs. L. She explained politics to Thaddeus Stevens, worries about her mental health to her husband, goes on about many things that the movie wants us to know but would never have been talked about in that way.

There were historical blunders (I grew up in Petersburg -- I know too much!), but I pretty much expect that in historical films.

It was also too long. It should have ended when Lincoln said good evening to his cabinet and left for the theatre. That would have been brilliant.

The actors all did a good job, though.








Patty
Immortal


Feb 6 2013, 9:13am


Views: 426
I am more and more impressed with Michelle Dockery's acting..

She plays off her father especially well. Ever notice how much good acting is done in the library scenes?

Permanent address: Into the West






Lily Fairbairn
Half-elven


Feb 6 2013, 3:29pm


Views: 331
Yes

The library is where all the characters gather to discuss Important Issues, I suppose. I also like the way Mary has sort of become Robert's handler. Smile




imin
Valinor


Feb 6 2013, 4:45pm


Views: 334
haha awesome

I have only just started watching it yesterday but i think its really good. I am a big fan of Kevin Spacey and think he is perfect for this role. I like the actual idea for the show as well and so far really want him to succeed.

It was weird as yesterday was when i first noticed netflix advertising house of cards on TV. Though i did get the trailer for it after i finished watching the awesome Breaking Bad.


Ataahua
Forum Admin / Moderator


Feb 6 2013, 6:59pm


Views: 339
Good point.

There is no earthquake in this film, but I think the tsunami and aftermath sequences could refresh strong memories among Cantabrians.

Celebrimbor: "Pretty rings..."
Dwarves: "Pretty rings..."
Men: "Pretty rings..."
Sauron: "Mine's better."

"Ah, how ironic, the addictive qualities of Sauron’s master weapon led to its own destruction. Which just goes to show, kids - if you want two small and noble souls to succeed on a mission of dire importance... send an evil-minded beggar with them too." - Gandalf's Diaries, final par, by Ufthak.


Ataahua's stories


sherlock
Gondor


Feb 6 2013, 9:37pm


Views: 317
I watch scary

movies often but that kid creeped me out more than anything!


sherlock
Gondor


Feb 6 2013, 9:40pm


Views: 317
Yeah,

I love how the women are all sticking together.


sherlock
Gondor


Feb 6 2013, 9:44pm


Views: 326
I liked those & also

Violet saying about Ethel "I guess she has an outfit for everything"or something like that referring to her different jobs.


sherlock
Gondor


Feb 6 2013, 9:54pm


Views: 339
I will watch this but

will wait to get it from Netflix. I think it will be worth it for the performances.


N.E. Brigand
Half-elven


Feb 6 2013, 10:22pm


Views: 328
Have you seen "Upside Downton Abbey"?

Brought to you by Sesame Street?

(Thanks to David Bratman for the link, and also for that to Me, Claudius.)

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Discuss Tolkien's life and works in the Reading Room!
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How to find old Reading Room discussions.


Lily Fairbairn
Half-elven


Feb 6 2013, 10:32pm


Views: 399
No, I hadn't seen that. Thank you!

How cute and clever! Sesame Street always has the last word Smile




Silverlode
Forum Admin / Moderator


Feb 7 2013, 2:37am


Views: 318
I've actually just been watching the original.

I haven't seen the new one yet - I just heard about it for the first time a couple of days ago.

Silverlode






Eowyn of Penns Woods
Valinor


Feb 7 2013, 5:41am


Views: 296
I like Jimmy Fallon's Downton Sixbey, which is back this week. Part 2 coming on now.//

 

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NABOUF
Not a TORns*b!
Certified Curmudgeon
Knitting Knerd
NARF: NWtS Chapter Member since June 17,2011


Starling
Half-elven


Feb 7 2013, 6:19am


Views: 300
I thought you meant the original,

which is this one. Francis Urquhart is a legend!
If you haven't seen it, I couldn't recommend it highly enough - it's brilliant.


Starling
Half-elven


Feb 7 2013, 6:25am


Views: 97
Yes, I thought

Imin was talking about the original when I answered. I still have such vivid memories of that programme. It was appointment viewing in our house.
It must be time to watch it again, if I can cope with the very scary *FU*. Cool


Elizabeth
Half-elven


Feb 7 2013, 7:38am


Views: 177
Yes, it was brilliant.

So much so that I'm reluctant to watch the new one.