Started watching "The Rings of Power" last night since the entire first season is now loaded and I get some of the disappointment from Tolkien fans but I am not expecting this to be as good as LOTR or even "The Hobbit".
I will say one thing for it, they did spend a good portion of that 1B on the visual effects because a lot of those shots look like a Thomas Kinkade painting come to life. Really visually striking.
I am 3 episodes in and while I do find the editing and movement between characters to be a little abrupt, I do not regret starting it and see the investment of entertainment time to be a wise one.
They dumped the showrunners after the 2nd episode dropped so I do wonder if and when that change might be seen in this first season, if at all.
I loved the series. They are playing a little loose with the lore and taking many liberties but really you have to with so little written about the Second Age. There are a few key things that are suspect but overall I thought they did a good job. The visuals are stunning. A lot of people complain about the girl playing Galadriel but I thought she was pretty good. I can't wait for season 2.
I believe a lot of the 2.4 million they added last quarter was mostly due to them cracking down on shared accounts.
To their credit, they provided a transfer path for people to move from a shared account to their own account and keep their profiles and viewing history which was a good move.
I do not blame them as I have heard a lot of people talk about how they were using other people's Netflix accounts despite not living anywhere near or even being related to the account owner.
However, while the added accounts are technically "new" accounts revenue wise, they really just found a way to to better monetize the viewers they had, which is great but not really sustainable growth-wise going forward.
Their next focus is on an ad-supported lower priced service that they are launching soon, but I am not really sure how people are going to react to that.
They will likely do what most media companies do by showing fewer ads in the beginning to get people to sign-up before slowly transitioning to more ads, longer ads and more ad breaks until people are pushed to upgrade to get rid of them.
I still think Netflix is the best streaming service because they seem to be less manipulative than the other services which are clearly trying to present a "We're like Netflix but with more shows you like" when in reality they are just setting everyone up to transition right back to where we were with one episode per week, pay-per-view for some productions and ultimately showing ads AND requiring you to pay for it. The only thing missing at that point will be Disney's VHS tactic of, "It goes back in the vault" in an effort to drive FOMO subscriptions.
I watch very little on Netflix at this point. For a billion dollar company, I expect them to do more in the way of showing their subscribers everything they have. After all this time, I still feel they do a poor job of that.
I loved the series. They are playing a little loose with the lore and taking many liberties but really you have to with so little written about the Second Age. There are a few key things that are suspect but overall I thought they did a good job. The visuals are stunning. A lot of people complain about the girl playing Galadriel but I thought she was pretty good. I can't wait for season 2.
Started watching "The Rings of Power" last night since the entire first season is now loaded and I get some of the disappointment from Tolkien fans but I am not expecting this to be as good as LOTR or even "The Hobbit".
I will say one thing for it, they did spend a good portion of that 1B on the visual effects because a lot of those shots look like a Thomas Kinkade painting come to life. Really visually striking.
I am 3 episodes in and while I do find the editing and movement between characters to be a little abrupt, I do not regret starting it and see the investment of entertainment time to be a wise one.
They dumped the showrunners after the 2nd episode dropped so I do wonder if and when that change might be seen in this first season, if at all.
I’m watching both Rings of Power and Andor right now. And while they may not be for everyone, I’m loving the slow build and world-building that they’re doing in both series. Big set-ups for future seasons and I’m here for it!
I’m wAtching both Rings of Power and Andor right now. And while they may not be fit everyone, I’m loving the slow build and world-building that they’re doing in big series. Big set-ups for future seasons and I’m here for it!
Andor is my favorite Star Wars related concept...by far. I find it much more entertaining and smartly written than any of their movies or series. When the characters are having conversations, they talk like normal people, with flowing, realistic dialogue. The story so far is like something from history, but reworked as a Star Wars book.
Andor is my favorite Star Wars related concept...by far. I find it much more entertaining and smartly written than any of their movies or series. When the characters are having conversations, they talk like normal people, with flowing, realistic dialogue. The story so far is like something from history, but reworked as a Star Wars book.
I completely agree. It’s ‘Star Wars for grown-ups’. I’m having more fun listening to Imperial meetings and in-fighting as I have with any of the ‘pew-pew!’ action that I’ve seen from any of the others.
The effects are amazing and the acting is top notch as well. I haven’t enjoyed Star Wars this much in a long time. This property is always what I had envisioned and hoped for when they first mentioned Star Wars on television.
It's all subjective, but I find the writing and acting in Rings of Power terrible. They screwed up the lore and it's astonishing to me this is the most expensive show ever. Andor and House of The Dragon run laps around it. It was a chore to get through and it was still better than the nearly unwatchable She-Hulk. Do better Amazon and Disney.
I just finished watching Sisyphus, A Korean Sci Fi series, 16 episodes long. Every episode is over 60 minutes. It is all dubbed in English and the dubbing is not that bad. The voiceover actors are not completely lifeless.
The show takes place in South Korea, and involves a genius, time travel, a kind of love story and the practical end of the world. I won't give much more info that that here but you can read the spoiler.
I think it is a little too long. Some episodes drag a little, but honestly, I have seen a few series that were half as many episodes and dragged like snails on hot tar.
You can see the cultural differences between Korea and the US watching a series like this. Just some little details here and there that indicate Koreans are a little more modest, and care a little more for the elderly than we do in the US. Not germane to the show but just something I picked up.
There are lots of details that upon further consideration make no sense. If you get into discussion about time paradoxes and things, this show will trigger you at times.
It wasn't great, but it wasn't terrible. I can give it a solid 6.5 out of 10 ignoring a few details that could have been better.
The main antagonist has a weird dubbed voice which I think is on purpose. His voice is a little comical for a bad guy but I am sure it was intended to be sinister. He sounds like he came out of an old Godzilla movie. I am certain if this show was made in America the voice would be much different.
The ending is a little scooby-doo. It is devoted almost entirely to explaining all the other parts of the story. But after all that explaining through flash back scenes, the very end is a head scratcher that is not explained and leaves open the possibility that the story does not end, maybe.
The big question in the show is, if someone goes back in time, can they change the future? In other words if you go back in time and kill the bad guy before be goes bad, does it mean the evil he did later in life never happens? Or, because the future is the past to another future, it is fixed and cannot be changed? This opens up a boatload of issues like the butterfly effect, but the show is very sloppy in addressing it. For example, If you prevent a guy who traveled back in time from going back to the past, he will disappear from that past, but so will all the things he accumulated in the past. So that office he built with all those monitors and servers? If he never came back from the future to set all that up, then why is it still there even after he literally disappears after he was prevented from going back in time? I guess we have to ignore those details.
The biggest problem in the series, how to stop the future from turning out to be a disaster, focuses on saving the life of one of the two main protagonists in the series. One is the genius who invents the time machine. I thought the answer was obvious from the beginning. If he dies, the time machine is never invented and then everything that resulted from the time machine's creation never happens. The world is safe. We wait 16 episodes for everyone else to figure this out. But then we get an unexplained alternate ending. Does all this sound confusing? It is. But it is still mildly entertaining.
The Peripheral on Prime. Only two episodes out so far, but they had me hooked halfway through the first. It's a very original concept (as far as I know) with very good acting, special effects, and story. Chloë Grace Moretz is just fantastic in the lead role. After two episodes, 8.5/10. I knocked off half a point for the hillbilly antagonists in the subplot.
Stevie Ray Vaughan 1984-1989: Lonestar ...Very good, but sad watch. I never knew he'd started dating a 16 year old Kiwi girl. After seeing her, I get it.
Anyway, I recommend it, especially if you're a SRV fan, like myself, but even if you're not.
The Peripheral on Prime. Only two episodes out so far, but they had me hooked halfway through the first. It's a very original concept (as far as I know) with very good acting, special effects, and story. Chloë Grace Moretz is just fantastic in the lead role. After two episodes, 8.5/10. I knocked off half a point for the hillbilly antagonists in the subplot.
I am watching Barbarians II now, The Peripheral is next on my list. I'll wait until almost all episodes are out. I hate this nonsense where the release one or two episodes at a time.
My thoughts on the House of the Dragon season 1 finale:
The last episode should have been the first episode. In other words, the show should have started with a little intro into the story followed by the events of the finale episode followed by 7 or 9 more episodes that pick up after last night's episode. I found the first season pretty boring until the finale. It almost seems like they gave us a bunch of fluff followed by a cliffhanger to keep us interested in the next season. Hopefully season 2 is not 3 or 4 years down the road. From what I am reading season 2 will be out sometime in 2024. By then we will have all forgotten the 1st 9 episodes and will be focused only on how season1 ended.
I read the producers wanted to give us season 1 to develop the characters and the background before they went to war with each other but 9 episodes of that was too much, IMO, and in the end I am still not invested in these characters. I have no reason to care who wins or who sits on the Iron Throne. Unlike GoT, the good guys and bad guys are not clear to me. Sure there were some nebulous figures in GoT like Varys and Little Finger. But we knew early on that Ned Stark was good. The Lannisters were bad, even if some characters changed character over the years. Which, btw, they could not have done unless we were clear on their character to begin with. The point is, to be invested we need to relate to someone or feel some empathy for them (or despise them). My feeling for these characters so far is more or less indifference.
As much as this show wants to be Game of Thrones it suffers from the single plotline. GoT had storylines for several characters going on all at once and there was always something eventful going on.
I don't want to be overly critical. The show is still well done and I suspect season 2 will be far more entertaining. But had I not been such a big fan of GoT, I don't think I would have gotten through 10 episodes of HotD and looked forward to season 2.
My thoughts on the House of the Dragon season 1 finale:
The last episode should have been the first episode. In other words, the show should have started with a little intro into the story followed by the events of the finale episode followed by 7 or 9 more episodes that pick up after last night's episode. I found the first season pretty boring until the finale. It almost seems like they gave us a bunch of fluff followed by a cliffhanger to keep us interested in the next season. Hopefully season 2 is not 3 or 4 years down the road. From what I am reading season 2 will be out sometime in 2024. By then we will have all forgotten the 1st 9 episodes and will be focused only on how season1 ended.
I read the producers wanted to give us season 1 to develop the characters and the background before they went to war with each other but 9 episodes of that was too much, IMO, and in the end I am still not invested in these characters. I have no reason to care who wins or who sits on the Iron Throne. Unlike GoT, the good guys and bad guys are not clear to me. Sure there were some nebulous figures in GoT like Varys and Little Finger. But we knew early on that Ned Stark was good. The Lannisters were bad, even if some characters changed character over the years. Which, btw, they could not have done unless we were clear on their character to begin with. The point is, to be invested we need to relate to someone or feel some empathy for them (or despise them). My feeling for these characters so far is more or less indifference.
As much as this show wants to be Game of Thrones it suffers from the single plotline. GoT had storylines for several characters going on all at once and there was always something eventful going on.
I don't want to be overly critical. The show is still well done and I suspect season 2 will be far more entertaining. But had I not been such a big fan of GoT, I don't think I would have gotten through 10 episodes of HotD and looked forward to season 2.
House of The Dragon was the best show on tv this year, and in a long while (including Better Call Saul and Succession). All subjective of course but the character development and subtle but ultimately savage payoff before the true Dance of The Dragons was great character development and well written story telling. Rings of Power Got Eaten by Vhagar lol
"In June 2022, Paramount+ announced that 1932 would instead be called 1923 — and would also be set in that year. According to a new description for the show, the action will now place amid an economic downturn in Montana that preceded the national Great Depression."
