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sevilodorf
Tol Eressea
Jun 9 2017, 8:23pm
Post #1 of 31
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What are you watching? viewing? attending? June 9th
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Don't think the May version has completely dropped but as I'm about to head out for a mad dash (to end in a slow crawl on the dang 405 freeway) for Santa Monica -- thought I'd put it up.
Caught up on The Son -- AMC series with Pierce Brosnan (Remington Steele-- ) -- been trudging through the book. Not certain what makes it so slow going --- the three book POV's are Colonel Eli McCollough 1830'3 to 1920- Indian Captive and general my family will win no matter what I have to do to make it happen --- Peter McCoulllough (Eli's son) 1915 to 20's -- he's tortured about all the things he and his father and brother have done over the years and Jeannie Anne McCollough -- Eli's great granddaughter -- who takes over as oil magnate....
Series is sort of a mishmash... they've squashed a generation and many characters together.... not sure how they will manage the timeline if there's a second season.
Not certain I'm truly impressed.
Query -- given that the admins have sanctioned threads devoted to single movies -- see Wonder Woman below--- is this thread still useful???
Fourth Age Adventures at the Inn of the Burping Troll http://burpingtroll.com
Home of TheOneRing.net Best FanFic stories of 2005 and 2006 "The Last Grey Ship" and "Ashes, East Wind, Hope That Rises" by Erin Rua
(Found in Mathoms, LOTR Tales Untold)
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Annael
Immortal
Jun 10 2017, 1:01am
Post #2 of 31
(2838 views)
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catching up on Season 2. VERY upset that Netflix isn't renewing - or even giving us a proper finale! Possibly the most innovative and unusual show out there, with a great message about how outward differences mean nothing. Also: very sexy! Would push most people's comfort zones I imagine - it does mine - but I love all the characters.
Hideously expensive to film I should imagine as they keep having to shlep the main actors all over the world for each episode.
I am a dreamer of words, of written words. I think I am reading; a word stops me. I leave the page. The syllables of the words begin to move around … The words take on other meanings as if they had the right to be young.
-- Gaston Bachelard
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NARF and member of Deplorable Cultus since 1967
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CuriousG
Half-elven
Jun 11 2017, 2:45pm
Post #3 of 31
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Sense8 was meant to be binge-watched on Neftlix too
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Back when season 1 came out, I didn't get it at all, but was still a little intrigued. Then I binge-watched it a couple times and was engulfed by it.
I was really looking forward to season 2, and while I enjoyed it and like how it moved the idea of psychic connectedness forward, I don't find myself going back to re-watch favorite scenes as much as in S1 (except for the restaurant confrontation between opposing groups, when sweet Kala turns tough girl). But I still like it.
Sense8 blazed new ground in a lot of ways, and maybe it will launch a new genre of its own--not hoping for copycats, but for shows of a similar spirit that carry on the main themes.
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Ciars
Rohan
Jun 11 2017, 6:32pm
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I'm looking forward to the 3rd episode later tonight, the first two were scarily good. It's very close to the book, Elizabeth Moss is perfect as Offred. The weird thing about it is that you get the uncomfortable sense that the world it depicts could easily come around, I'd read the book a few years back but somehow now watching it, there's a real sense of alarm, that what is ordinary can sift so quickly that what is far from ordinary becomes the norm. I've read that there will be a second season that will move beyond the book, though with Margaret Atwood on board it will probably become even more enthralling.
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CuriousG
Half-elven
Jun 11 2017, 11:58pm
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Nice to hear it adheres to the book
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I haven't seen the Hulu version myself, but I liked the book a lot and am glad the TV show is faithful to it, and you're right, the whole story was eerily plausible and didn't feel far-fetched, which is why it seemed more like social commentary than science fiction (even though it's technically the latter).
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Ataahua
Forum Admin
/ Moderator
Jun 12 2017, 12:19am
Post #6 of 31
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I read the book in a single day,
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thanks to a power cut that evening. :)
I've wondered occasionally: is this book part of the US school curriculum for English studies, by any chance?
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
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squire
Half-elven
Jun 12 2017, 2:00am
Post #7 of 31
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I don't think it's in the HS "curriculum" in the U.S.
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But part of that is because the country has no standard high school curriculum for English literature. Education is a local responsibility, with the federal government putting in a helpful word via supplemental funding conditions, and state governments ditto, and also approving textbooks and conducting testing. Most local districts put together a list of suggestions for readings, and the teachers take it from there. They usually have their eyes on the skills and reading levels needed to pass the state tests, and a weather eye on any political controversies depending on the district (or state).
I haven't read Handmaid's Tale, but my impression is that it would be most acceptable for upper level HS students, 11th or 12th grade, because of the political and sexual themes that I gather it contains.
Why do you ask?
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'.
Archive: All the TORn Reading Room Book Discussions (including the 1st BotR Discussion!) and Footerama: "Tolkien would have LOVED it!"
Dr. Squire introduces the J.R.R. Tolkien Encyclopedia: A Reader's Diary
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Ataahua
Forum Admin
/ Moderator
Jun 12 2017, 4:49am
Post #8 of 31
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I had a feeling from previous posts on TORN that it was required reading in high school, but I wasn't certain. I had clearly got the wrong end of the stick.
Thanks for your info about English lit in schools. :)
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
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CuriousG
Half-elven
Jun 12 2017, 5:41pm
Post #9 of 31
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I went to a Harvard event for Margaret Atwood, and many college students thanked her for writing Handmaid's Tale
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So I got the impression the book is widely--but of course not universally--read among people in high school or college/university. It was the book they all seemed to know her for. Maybe it's just word-of-mouth, the way "Dune" was passed around in the 1980s, or maybe it's in many college-level Intro Lit courses in the USA, hard to say.
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dernwyn
Forum Admin
/ Moderator
Jun 12 2017, 10:25pm
Post #10 of 31
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Is this thread still useful? Yes, as most posts here tend to elicit very little, if sometimes any, response, but they are being read, folks do like to pick up opinions on shows!
With the Boards slow these days, it's not a problem with the separate threads for certain shows, as some - such as the Wonder Woman movie - will be fodder for enough responses that they become a good-sized thread in their own right.
But not every show should have its own thread.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I desired dragons with a profound desire"
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The Grey Elf
Grey Havens
Jun 13 2017, 11:18pm
Post #11 of 31
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You've got some catching up to do, Ciars -- the season finale of Handmaiden airs tomorrow!
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I read Atwood's book many many years ago so it's hard for me to say how faithful the adaption is to the book (though I understand it is). But as television, this series is truly superlative in every possible way. I would rank it in the top 5 of the greatest series I've ever seen. I'm thrilled it's been renewed for another season and plan to reread the book waiting for its arrival.
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Ciars
Rohan
Jun 14 2017, 3:53pm
Post #12 of 31
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Sadly not over here, it's just started a few weeks back. I felt a bit like Pippin there , 'it comes in pints?' But nope, outside of Gilgead has a bit of catching up  interestingly I read an article there that quoted Margaret Atwood saying how close to reality the book is threatening to become!
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Darkstone
Immortal
Jun 15 2017, 1:50pm
Post #13 of 31
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Gods of Egypt (2016). I’d heard this otherwise abysmal film was beautiful and indeed the film revels in vivid colors, breath-taking structures, and sweeping landscapes. However, the plot is moronic and the acting is idiotic. The plot seems like a Disney reject, with Lion King uncle-nephew/fisher king issues and a Moana style buddy relationship with the immoral hero continually threatening to murder the young mortal seeking his help. As for the acting, it’s on the thespic level of the B-team from Xena Warrior Princess/ Hercules The Legendary Journeys. Indeed, the roles of Horus and Set would have been perfect for Bruce Campbell and the late Kevin Smith. (Indeed, I often found myself seeing and hearing Campbell instead of Nikolaj Coster-Waldau! Weird!) Of course the main controversy to the film was the “white-washing” of the cast which was made more wince-worthy by scenes of the mostly white Middle Eastern gods being worshiped by huge racially diverse crowds. Interestingly, Wifey, an Isis Solitaire Pagan, appreciated the attention to Egyptian mythology, expressing approval of its treatment on more than one occasion. (BTW, a hard lesson learned by this old Southern Baptist is that all Wiccans are Pagans, but not all Pagans are Wiccans. It’s like making the mistake of assuming all Protestants are Methodists.)
-Not recommended except as the subject of a drinking game.
The Children of Paradise, Parts 1 and 2 (1945). Considered by many to be the greatest French film ever made, which is ironic considering that it was made in Nazi-occupied France. A lavish film, up to then the most expensive French film ever made. It is set in the theater world of Paris of the 1820s and 1830s. (In the French theater “paradise” is the highest balcony, the cheapest seats where the common people sit. These people are the “gods” of theater, whose honest reactions and approval their “children” (the stage actors) strive for.) The semi-historical story follows the effects of the fictional world-weary courtesan known as Garance on three real men of the theater, and thus how those men ultimately affect French culture. While the three men are richly drawn, Garance is little more than an object. Indeed, we first meet her as a sideshow attraction posing nude in a barrel of water. Later she reaches the stage performing as a tableau vivant, an immobile statue of the goddess Diana. For all her effects on the men around her Garance is remarkably unruffled. “Love is simple” she keeps telling her lovers, but they insist on making love complicated and thus themselves miserable.
The film faced many challenges being made under Nazi occupation. Director Marcel Carne gave jobs to Jews who needed to hide. He gave jobs as extras to French refugees who were kept from starvation by cast buffets and prop banquets. He provided jobs for hunted resistance fighters who needed to lay low. He was also forced by the Nazis to hire French collaborators. (So Carne had a delicate balancing act to keep his cast and crew from killing each other.) Italian financing fell through after the Allies invaded Sicily. The massive street sets in Nice had to be relocated to Paris as the Allies advanced. Carne had to split the film in two as Vichy film regulations forbade any film longer than 90 minutes. After the Allied landings in Normandy he continually made up excuses not to finish post-production until Paris was liberated so he could debut the film in a free Paris. But a shadow was cast on the opening as immediately after liberation his star actress was arrested by the Free French, publicaly humiliated, harshly interrogated, and sentenced to eighteen months in prison for her long wartime affair with a German Luftwaffe pilot. (Later the dashing young pilot was eaten alive by crocodiles in the Congo. They really ought to make a movie about the making of this movie!)
BTW, this is exactly the type of lavish bourgeois film that the iconoclast French New Wave movement rebelled against, yet the film itself was held in esteem by most of those same Young Turks. (Francois Truffaut admitted seeing the film at least fourteen times.)
Anyway, the acting is magnificent from the lead actress to the secondary characters. The story is both epic and intimate in scope. The dialogue borders on the lyrical. And the sets are totally awesome from the huge crowd scenes to the intimate one-room interiors.
-Highly recommended if you can take subtitles and B&W.
******************************************
Once Radagast dreamt he was a moth, a moth flitting and fluttering around, happy with himself and doing as he pleased. He didn't know he was Radagast. Suddenly he woke up and there he was, solid and unmistakably Radagast. But he didn't know if he was Radagast who had dreamt he was a moth, or a moth dreaming he was Radagast. Between Radagast and a moth there must be some distinction! But really, there isn't, because he's actually Aiwendil dreaming he's both Radagast *and* a moth!
-From Radagasti: The Moth Dream
(This post was edited by Darkstone on Jun 15 2017, 2:00pm)
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sevilodorf
Tol Eressea
Jun 15 2017, 9:06pm
Post #14 of 31
(2479 views)
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Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 ...hmmmm
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While it was fun and Baby (and teen) Groot and Rocket were highlights I have to admit I didn't like this one as much as the first. Too many times it felt like the characters were ignoring the story (though face it the story was basically worth ignoring) and talking to the audience (not something I'm too much in favor of).
Also it felt like the writer/director/etc etc couldn't trust the audience to figure things out so had to lay on the emotions and explanations with a dump truck.
Love Kurt Russell --- love lots of pieces individually but as a cohesive whole ... it just didn't ring the same bells as the first one.
Fourth Age Adventures at the Inn of the Burping Troll http://burpingtroll.com
Home of TheOneRing.net Best FanFic stories of 2005 and 2006 "The Last Grey Ship" and "Ashes, East Wind, Hope That Rises" by Erin Rua
(Found in Mathoms, LOTR Tales Untold)
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Dame Ioreth
Tol Eressea
Jun 16 2017, 2:07am
Post #15 of 31
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Not sure how I ended up watching it but I've enjoyed it a lot. The lead character (Walt Longmire) looked familiar so I looked him up. He played the third parish priest on Ballykissangel; the one from Australia. You can't detect any accent at all in this series though. He has a pleasant rumbly baritone and he's managed adopt a bit of western twang without sounding stereotypical and silly. The supporting cast is really good too. His daughter is a doe-eyed Philadelphia-trained lawyer who moves back home to Wyoming when her mother dies. But it's the way they treat the stories and characters from the local Reservation that really made me keep watching. I grew up next to the Tuscarora Reservation in Western New York. I can remember traveling with our middle school chorus to the elementary schools, including the school on the reservation. It was a newer school but it looked as if everyone was more poor than I'd ever seen. The kids from that school came to the district middle and high school. Seeing the despair and poverty depicted in this TV show brought back memories of those kids. The theme of truth runs throughout the writing. What is truth? Can there be a different truth depending on one's point-of-view? There are some real baddies and some characters that you think might be bad but if you look in the gray instead of black and white you find that they are just doing their best in an almost impossible situation. I've really enjoyed it and I can't wait to see how they write the final season.
_
Heed WBA when building blanket forts.
ITLs don't get enough FAS. :)
Where there's life there's hope, and need of vittles.
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings
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Ettelewen
Rohan
Jun 16 2017, 2:24am
Post #16 of 31
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I have the first 4 seasons on DVD and can't wait for Season 5 to become available. I understand too, that the show's been renewed for a "final" 6th run - yay!
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Dame Ioreth
Tol Eressea
Jun 16 2017, 2:37am
Post #17 of 31
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I binged on all 5 seasons on Netflix
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Then I went back and watched them again at a slower pace to catch the things I missed. I know it's not filmed in Wyoming but the scenery is beautiful. I have a friend who works for the Bureau of Land Management in Wyoming where this is supposed to be set - has a log cabin and a horse and a wood-burning stove. He could be the main character.
Speaking of, I love Walt but oh, does he drive me nuts. He reminds me of my grandpa - tough with a gentle side but stubborn. I won't spoil Season 5 for you but I feel for you having to wait after that cliffhanger at the end of Season 4! I'm glad they renewed for the last season. I hope they can bring some closure to the more emotional story lines.
Have you ever read the books?
_
Heed WBA when building blanket forts.
ITLs don't get enough FAS. :)
Where there's life there's hope, and need of vittles.
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings
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Otaku-sempai
Immortal
Jun 16 2017, 6:50am
Post #18 of 31
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An image worth a thousand words...
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Goodbye, Adam.
"He who lies artistically, treads closer to the truth than ever he knows." -- Favorite proverb of the wizard Ningauble of the Seven Eyes
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Ataahua
Forum Admin
/ Moderator
Jun 16 2017, 9:18am
Post #19 of 31
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And what a great way to see him off. 
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
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Annael
Immortal
Jun 16 2017, 2:46pm
Post #20 of 31
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one of the Agents running with Agent Smith in the first "Matrix."
He captured the American trope of the taciturn, do-right, tough-as-nails Western sheriff all right. But I imagine that's not much of a stretch for Australians.
I am a dreamer of words, of written words. I think I am reading; a word stops me. I leave the page. The syllables of the words begin to move around … The words take on other meanings as if they had the right to be young.
-- Gaston Bachelard
* * * * * * * * * *
NARF and member of Deplorable Cultus since 1967
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Annael
Immortal
Jun 16 2017, 2:47pm
Post #21 of 31
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I grew up with Adam West's Batman, and really, none of the others have been as memorable.
I am a dreamer of words, of written words. I think I am reading; a word stops me. I leave the page. The syllables of the words begin to move around … The words take on other meanings as if they had the right to be young.
-- Gaston Bachelard
* * * * * * * * * *
NARF and member of Deplorable Cultus since 1967
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Otaku-sempai
Immortal
Jun 16 2017, 2:53pm
Post #22 of 31
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I grew up with Adam West's Batman, and really, none of the others have been as memorable.
Well there is Kevin Conroy as the voice of Batman, but that has me remembering Adam West guest-starring on Batman: The Animated Series as the Gray Ghost, young Bruce Wayne's favorite television hero.
"He who lies artistically, treads closer to the truth than ever he knows." -- Favorite proverb of the wizard Ningauble of the Seven Eyes
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Aragorn the Elfstone
Tol Eressea
Jun 17 2017, 5:08am
Post #23 of 31
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Listening to some of my favorite film scores.... (minor rant on modern film music)
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I know this isn't a music thread, but it made more sense to me to talk about this here as opposed to starting a music thread, which is likely to end up less focused on film scores.
I've been spending tonight listening to some of the crown jewels of my soundtrack collection, and some new(ish) ones that have piqued my interest.
But - and this what I really want to talk about - is it just me, or are scores getting collectively worse (or, at least, uninspiring)? To be fair, this is mostly a critique of bigger, blockbuster type films. Think about most big comic book films - how many in recent memory do you really recall the music from? I went to see Wonder Woman last weekend, and loved it. But I'd be hard pressed to tell you anything about the music.
But I guess it's good that at least some of those scores are orchestral at all. The increase in percentage of more electronic scores in recent years has been getting me down too. This may not be as much of an issue for others, but as a lover of classical music, orchestra scores have always been my preference. It's why Howard Shore is such a savior to me. When I knew we'd be getting three new Middle-earth scores out of him, I knew that no matter how the films turned out, the music lover in me would be greatly rewarded (and, boy oh boy, was I  ).
I just ordered Michael Giacchino's score to Jupiter Ascending from Varese Sarabande earlier tonight. I hadn't heard the music before, as I never saw the film, but I had the soundtrack recommended to me. I listened to some of it on Amazon Prime Music, and loved it. It's one of Giacchino's better film scores and reminds me why I became a fan of his in the first place (back when his work on LOST blew me away).
Also listening tonight to some Jerry Goldsmith '90s gems like First Knight and Star Trek: First Contact, Fernando Velazquez's Crimson Peak, John Powell's How to Train Your Dragon, Shore's Hugo, Hans Zimmer's The Lion King, Joe Hisaishi's Princess Mononoke, and pretty much every '80s and '90s James Horner classic.  Plus, a little LotR for good measure.
"The danger with any movie that does as well as this one does is that the amount of money it's making and the number of awards that it's got becomes almost more important than the movie itself in people's minds. I look at that as, in a sense, being very much like the Ring, and its effect on people. You know, you can kind of forget what we were doing, if you get too wrapped up in that."
- Viggo Mortensen
(This post was edited by Aragorn the Elfstone on Jun 17 2017, 5:13am)
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Meneldor
Valinor
Jun 17 2017, 1:05pm
Post #24 of 31
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I totally agree with you on orchestral music and scores.
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Some of my favorites, in no particular order:
Last of the Mohicans
The Rocketeer
Cutthroat Island
Van Helsing
Star Wars
Pirates of the Caribbean
Dr Zhivago
Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves
Indiana Jones
They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters, these see the works of the Lord, and His wonders in the deep. -Psalm 107
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Kelly of Water's Edge
Rohan
Jun 17 2017, 1:50pm
Post #25 of 31
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The soundtrack was a big part of what made the c.15 minute finale for me as we watched the chain of events unfold. Definitely added to the impact. Love that movie!
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