I’d be legitimately surprised if someone started but didn’t finish Tolkien’s books, if they were a fan of the genre. Otherwise, not surprised at all.
As for The Rings of Power…the show felt like the onscreen version of those PS4 video games I played a few years ago, Shadow of Mordor and Shadow of War. Much of the action is even set in the same place, only further back in history.
I didn’t finish the Silmarillion. Agree that it would be odd to start but not finish the Hobbit or LOTR series.
Silmarillion was a bridge too far for me too but isn’t that the source material for the tv show?
No, which is part of the issue. Amazon only has the rights to the Hobbit and LOTR, not anything else in the Tolkien universe, so they can’t use the other stuff for plot points. They are basically taking the LOTR appendices or a short snippet mentioned in the novels and expanding it into a full story - but without getting too close to the other material (as there is some overlap).
Which is maybe why they’re including G-dawg who actually did not appear anywhere in the Simarillion, in fact the Istari did not show up until iirc around year 1000 of the Third Age which is thousands of years after the events depicted in RoP.
Even casual fans of the lore can see this series is just a total rewrite to the point that it is almost a brand new story, that is why it is so widely unpopular. Even with all the changes Peter Jackson made, he still stayed somewhat true to the original. This is (again) more like that video game, just a whole new story, it’s just populated with the original characters.
When I was in high school, many of my classmates were reading the Hobbit and LOTR, so I finally went to a used book store and picked up the Hobbit. I was so psyched to read it, and when I got home I tore into it.
By page 50, I was bored out of my mind and put the book down. Maybe my never being a fantasy or sci-fi fan could’ve predicted my reaction.
That was the book that got me into the genre. It opened the whole world for me.
S4 E13 of The Sopranos, Whitecaps, is a pretty good episode, at least I really enjoyed it on rewatch.
Led to what at the time appeared to be the disintegration of the Sopranos family. As a season finale I think it did a good job of raising questions for the next season.
Tony couldn’t just pay to keep his family together. Enough was enough for Carmela. Reminds me though at its heart the Sopranos is very much a family drama. Plus the whitecaps stuff is funny.
To me, Tolkien is one of those authors who transformed the genre, but it’s okay if you appreciate him and his works for their impact without them being to your taste.
A lot of sci-fi/fantasy was extremely silly and just kind of what if ideas, but Tolkien treated his works like a historian instead of a storyteller. At least a storyteller of the time. These days you aren’t really considered a made fantasy writer unless you have notes on the world building that are longer than any of the published books.
I keep forgetting the same actor who plays Sam from Ted Lasso also plays one of the main characters in The Power.
His name is Toheeb Jimoh. He plays Tunde, though you may also recognize him from Ted Lasso as Sam Obisanya. That’s the holy shit that’s funny show that recently returned for season 3.
I’m not saying Sam and Tunde being played by the same person means the two characters share the same taste in romantic partners, but if Ted Lasso is in any way connected to The Power through the multiverse, then you know this guy definitely needs to keep his guard up around Margot.
At least according to the book LOL.
From a different article about the voice for Moana who stars in the same show now.
Front page of the NYTimes also spoiled Succesion, although to be fair, so does the title of the show
Pretty easy to avoid the title of the show. Harder to dodge news banners that pop up on your mobile devices that might as well be a friend texting you the spoiler.
Holy fuck succession. They first 40 minutes is elite top tier tv. Just unreal good. Unmatched.
Truly some of the best TV ever. Fucking incredible.
Cool behind the scenes from Sarah Snook on how they filmed the latest Succession episode, courtesy of a Rolling Stone interview:
We did it over three days. On the third day, we did a 30-minute take of everything from the moment that we come up the stairs and Connor comes in and says he’s expecting dad to come by for a little pop-in, all the way until we’re upstairs in the top cabin on the roof deck. We had three different cameras staggered, so at the beginning, there were two cameras shooting, and they could keep switching them out as they had to change the rolls. It’s quite incredible, what they managed to do, in terms of an energy and a collaboration. There was a meeting that went on for about 45 minutes before we attempted the first take of that. I just watched everybody go [she mimes doing a deep inhale and exhale]. It’s like running the 400-meter. That’s a hard one, because you have to sprint the whole time.
Succession
My Google News feed just spoiled succession, I’m too episodes back fml
Thinking more about that succession episode it really might be top 5 all time. Just perfection. The acting was outstanding but the all star was the direction. The way they force the audience to experience it with the family. I can’t think of another show or movie that has done that before.
Welcome to the club, we’re having shirts made.
Feels like Roman is going to spiral thinking his voicemail caused the heart attack. I could see a suicide by the end.
penis
