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Incidentally, is anyone else annoyed with the number of people who are 'dead' but (probably) not really? Brienne and Jon are currently in limbo. There were Cat and Gregor too, though they are seriously changed and follow the trend towards introducing more magic. Theon got a fake-out death too, and the fake over Arya's sight also annoyed me, though mostly because she just vanished for at least half a book.
Yep. It's quite frequently said that GRRM kills characters, but he hasn't killed half as many as he leads you to believe in the chapter cliffhangers. Remember when Arya got hit with the Hound's axe outside the Twins?
I was happy Catelyn came back, someone can kill her again
And Arya just leaves Hound to die. But don't worry, he aint dead either
I think most sane people would agree that AFFC and ADWD haven't been worth the long wait. Together, they've taken 10 years. I'll try not to get into a rant about GRRM's work philosophy and terrible sense of PR.
There are many reasons why they're inferior works, pacing and the introduction of unnecessary characters (4 Ironborn POVs?) and locations being the main ones. These are then compounded by the overly descriptive travelogue nature for many of the POVs (which we never saw in the earlier books, for instance, Catelyn zips around Westeros a lot without any . The main problem with ADWD, as bullet3 says above, is that his editor didn't do her job. So instead of getting the climax of that story which the whole thing is leading up to, we get chapters of Dany pining over Daario like it's Twilight.
I sound harsh, but in all fairness, they're still great writing and enjoyable to read.
And not to be an arsehole, but we're talking about the TV show in the books thread and the books in the TV thread
Also, mentioned earlier about the TV show dialogue making the R+L=J link more obvious, this scene sealed it for me:
"You may not have my name, but you have my blood". I think the choice of words is really telling here, a tacit admission that he's not his son, which surely he'd just say, but is still a blood relative. At least, that's how I see it.
I've not been watching this season (or most of season 2 either), but the threads and rising excitement and buzz have me wanting to put in the bluray and start watching again. Very tempted...
I'd worry that someone like that would essentially become a puppet for a Paramount committee.
Just thinking about it, I'd like to see an Enterprise era movie. You know, a film about mankind meeting new aliens, fumbling about in new places, seeing spacial anomalies that baffle them, and doing stuff an exploration ship would do using new technology that they don't really know how to use and which half the time isn't working properly.
And I like to see a crew that's actually developing their relationships on screen.
Good article, and I agree with the writer's thoughts on why it wasn't so successful, they managed to dilute the Star Trek brand to such an extent that Star Trek Into Darkness isn't really distinguishable from any other 'evil terrrorist blows up stuff on Earth' movie (with a few fan service moments grafted on).
And this is the part where I lament that we had yet another Khan or analogous antagonist, and that Cumberbatch wasn't playing Gary Mitchell.
I bet that at some point this was a pretty good script. Then someone renamed it and made a trailer giving away the main twist, then a director came along who couldn't direct traffic and then someone else added shitty CGI.
yep - me too. I don't even want to know if the reviews are positive or negative, but that's hard to avoid. Seeing the teaser trailer was enough and when the full trailer showed before IM3 and STID, I wondered what's that piece of fluff on the floor there.
I'm in full blackout mode, and I figure that I should see Man of Steel quickly, as it's becoming harder to avoid accidentally stumbling onto details or even feelings that can shape expectations.
For instance, whilst people are really good here on the forum about spoilers, just seeing those fast growing multi-page threads on IM3 and STID was enough to influence me on those two movies. I've still not seen IM3 yet, in part due to the 'controversy' about it that has spilled into other forum threads.
It'll be interesting to see how well this fares and whether it's a sign of things to come. Personally, I really like how I can contribute to an endeavour like this and only wish that I could do the same for NASA projects. Which raises the question of whether it's feasible for NASA to seek extra funding outside of US taxation. Can they do that?
I've been mostly okay with this second Abrams trek because I consider it to be the big dumb fun movie that I didn't know the first one was (not to say that Nemesis wasn't stupid). This time, I knew what I was going in for and enjoyed myself a lot more than when I watched Trek09.
As long as one doesn't go in expecting the usual cerebral quality of Star Trek, it's great fun. It's not Prometheus.
You can see Episode 7 taking shape now. The son of Grand Moff Tarkin wants revenge for his dad, and is going to fuck up the lives of the new generation, who have to run, jump, shoot, punch, and fence, for 120 minutes while shouting exposition and quips until he's defeated. On route, they'll consult Han, Luke & Leia for advice and drop a few catchphrases like 'I've got a bad feeling 'bout this' and 'May the force we with you'. It'll be loud, bright, and fast.
Sadly, I've not read the play, for some reason it's rare to do this one in English literature class during our UK high school equivalent (which is, no suprise, shock full of Shakespeare). I probably should since I loved Branagh's version from 1993.
Ok, now for some comedies. I think much of Korean humour stems from the visual, so it's much more accessible than Chinese, who tend to focus on language-related humour (puns and such), but still, I'm wary of recommending these as it does come down to taste.
Also, for some reason, there's always a lot of face slapping.
Sex is Zero - this was among my first Korean movies and the DVD cover and title looked interesting on my Korean housemate's shelf at uni. Sort of the Korean version American Pie is the best summation, really crude situational gags. I'm also a bit crushed on the lead actress. (first part of movie)
My Boss My Hero - a mob boss goes back to high school, antics ensue (full movie)
Attack the Gas Station - some youths attack a gas station, antics ensue (sorry for the rubbish quality)
A few folks have expressed interest in seeing some Korean films and seeing what they have to offer, which is unique from films from both the Chinese and Japanese whilst also incorporating arguably the best of both. Around the turn of the century, South Korea released a movie called Shiri (or Swiri). It was a big budget Hollywood style blockbuster film (the most expensive at that point) which had great actors, great action and the kind of slick production values that made it look great and feel professional. The story was also pretty good and dealt with North Korean agents in South Korea, even going so far as to humanise them at a point in time that Korean unification was controversial issue.
Anyhow, Swiri was a huge success, beating the records set by big American films such as Titanic and the Matrix, and gave birth to a film industry boom that continues to this day. Films with high production values like most big American releases, the action sensibilities of the Chinese, the storytelling nuances and eye for cinematography of the Japanese, and the Korean's own brand of humour and taste for being entertained by the unexpected.
Below is a list of what I'd consider to be the best of what Korean cinema has to offer, placed into various categories.
Note: I've deliberately gone for Korean trailers for most as these seemed to give less away. Half the fun of these films is that you go in not knowing much about them and being surprised.
Martial Arts: Musa (Musa the Warrior)
War of Arrows
Fighter in the Wind
Drama:
Sympathy for Mr Vengeance
Old Boy
Lady Vengeance (whole movie)
The Champion
Friend
JSA (whole movie)
War:
Brotherhood (Taegukgi) (whole movie!)
Romance:
Bungee Jumping of their Own
My Sassy Girl (full movie)
More recommendations to come if people have seen the above.
I'm a huge fan of Korean movies, in the last decade they've really stepped up on the quality. A Bittersweet Life, A Tale of Two Sisters, Sympathy for Mr Vengeance, 300 Pounds Beauty, My Boss My Hero, My Wife is a Gangster, The Chaser, I Saw the Devil, Musa, My Sassy Girl, and JSA are among my favourites.
As a general rule, Korean movies do tend to dip into tragedy (or melodrama depending on your cynicism) in the last act, even their comedys and romantice comedies punch you in the gut.
What did you think of Minority Report? I remember thinking it was good, and that I hadn't any complaints whilst watching it (even thought it was reasonably clever), except that I came away thinking that it missed being 'great' and was somehow unremarkable (if that makes sense).
This is all eerily reminscent of the prequels, what with their reliance on the audience's knowledge of later movies to fill in the drama of the story/scene, invariably done with a wink.
Which suddenly makes me very concerned for Star Wars Episode 7. Is Abrams capable of showing restraint and not filling that up with self-references? Are we going to see a one-armed wampa?
