[paran falcon]

On the topic of Outlander, I read the first 4 or 5 books of the series quite a few years ago now and my wife and I are watching the show. From what I remember, there is definitely a serious amount of romance/sex in them; almost but not quite enough to drive me off. However, I come from the point of view of having some Scottish blood and being greatly interested in the medieval-ish time period, the castles and knights and swords. My wife shares the same interests; it's one of the things that brought us together. We went to Scotland on a delayed honeymoon in '99 and absolutely loved every minute of it (well, except for driving on the opposite side of the road through roundabouts!). I probably read the Outlander books just after we went. Being at Culloden in person got me very interested in the 1745 uprising that was put to a bloody end there. So I stuck with the books for the history/historical fiction of the time period. The show has thrown some things in that I'm not sure were portrayed the same way in the books, for instance: I don't recall anywhere near the "action" between Claire and her husband before she time traveled. They were estranged after the long separation and things were rather cold as I remember it. (My recollections could be wrong, I'll allow; my memory retention is for crap anymore!) I can see why they would alter that for the show; it is HBO after all and they must draw people in with nudity, etc, in nearly every episode, especially at the start. We are enjoying the show though; seeing Scotland again through it makes us yearn to go back. One of the most beautiful places I've ever seen. All the castles and ruins and mountains and the tasting of different single malts at the end of each day! *Sigh*

[QuickTidal]

 polishgenius, on 22 September 2014 - 11:28 AM, said:

I watched the first episode of Outlander and it was alright, and I was interested in watching more, but then I read about some of the more morally squiffy sexual stuff that's in the books, and it put me right off.

Morally squiffy? *curious*

The first ep isn't actually all that great, but as things go along it gets quite good. Especially (as Paran Falcon mentioned) once you realize that the battle of Culloden is a mere three years off, and Claire has basically made friends with the losing side but has no way to properly warn them.

Anyways, unless something terrible happens to put me off, even the slower/boring episodes are entertaining so I'm on board for the rest of the season. My wife loves it, and has a wee bit of a crush on Jaime.

[polishgenius]

 paran falcon, on 22 September 2014 - 01:21 PM, said:

I'll allow; my memory retention is for crap anymore!) I can see why they would alter that for the show; it is HBO after all

No it isn't, it's Starz.

Though the nudity thing applies perhaps even more there.

 QuickTidal, on 22 September 2014 - 01:40 PM, said:

Morally squiffy? *curious*

A post on the subject here. Warning, there are spoilers for what I strongly suspect is the next episode.

[QuickTidal]

 polishgenius, on 22 September 2014 - 01:56 PM, said:

 QuickTidal, on 22 September 2014 - 01:40 PM, said:

Morally squiffy? *curious*

A post on the subject here. Warning, there are spoilers for what I strongly suspect is the next episode.

Spoiler

I had read of this before. The post reads as a little kneejerk (the kind we saw when Lawrence's PRINCE OF THORNS came out to controversy), but I found the comments (all by females) to be more enlightening and quite split down the middle on the opinion of it. It sounds as if those that have read the entire series so far have a clearer picture of Jaime and his growth over time, than those that read book 1 and stopped at the disturbing scenes. Jane's comment on Aug 21st at 9AM seems to be the most telling in that regard.

We'll see how the show handles it, as I dunno how much of that will make its way into it.

[paran falcon]

 polishgenius, on 22 September 2014 - 01:56 PM, said:

 paran falcon, on 22 September 2014 - 01:21 PM, said:

I'll allow; my memory retention is for crap anymore!) I can see why they would alter that for the show; it is HBO after all

No it isn't, it's Starz.

Though the nudity thing applies perhaps even more there.

Duh! You're correct, it is Starz. I guess I was thinking of Game of Thrones, also, while writing that bit, even though I no longer even have HBO. As you said, I think it applies to pretty much any of the pay movie channels now.

 QuickTidal, on 22 September 2014 - 01:40 PM, said:

Morally squiffy? *curious*

A post on the subject here. Warning, there are spoilers for what I strongly suspect is the next episode.

Wow, I can't believe I don't recall anything near that serious/drastic occurring. I would think I would; I've never forgotten a similar one-time incident in The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, and I read that at about 14 or 15. That is not something I consider ho-hum and glide nonchalantly by. I do recall a punishment

Spoiler

of Claire by Jaime for lying to him about something and it involved a "spanking" with a thistle but I don't recall forcible rape. Sex on the rough side perhaps, but not rape.

It seems clear from the comments to the post on the subject that there is some disagreement as to whether or not that's what it was.

[worry]

It definitely felt like a pilot (introductions to everybody and all), but I liked it. I only know Harvey Bullock from the animated series so it was cool to see another iteration, and good to see Donal Logue playing outside the affable underachiever. And they did a good job of making Gotham a little unhooked from real-world time, with noir era through modern era touches, as it should be. The biggest hurdle obviously is that it's a bunch of origin stories, so there's bound to be constant pulled punches (one thing lacking, as opposed to the movies, was serious tension), so they have to write through that somehow or risk mirroring the Adam West series.

[QuickTidal]

I know it was a cheesy line, but I liked Gordon telling young Bruce "I know it seems dark right now, but there will be light."

Enjoyed it, but WW is right it feels very pilot-y so we shall have to see where it goes.

I did enjoy that the Penguin is already such a psychopath that he would slit a fishermans throat for a sandwich.

Oh and the girl playing Selina needs to not mug for the camera in some random pose.

EDIT: the kid telling jokes on Fish's stage is supposed to be Jack Napier (the Joker) right?

This post has been edited by QuickTidal: 23 September 2014 - 11:12 AM

[HiddenOne]

 Slow Ben, on 19 September 2014 - 07:11 PM, said:

 QuickTidal, on 19 September 2014 - 07:07 PM, said:

 Slow Ben, on 19 September 2014 - 06:51 PM, said:

The first. That makes sense, but i still couldnt do it.

I know its still on because my wife has to watch that godawfulness every week.

It was decentish in S1 & 2 when it was trying to do something new in the genre...but it's pretty heavily soapy these days at like what ten seasons in?

Exactly. I made it through a few seasons watching it with her, then around season 3 sometime it became unbearable for me.

I suggest you work on the man cave/tool shed at maximum speed. I can't stand the crap my wife watches, it makes me want to shoot at people most of the time.

[QuickTidal]

 HiddenOne, on 23 September 2014 - 06:51 PM, said:

 Slow Ben, on 19 September 2014 - 07:11 PM, said:

 QuickTidal, on 19 September 2014 - 07:07 PM, said:

 Slow Ben, on 19 September 2014 - 06:51 PM, said:

The first. That makes sense, but i still couldnt do it.

I know its still on because my wife has to watch that godawfulness every week.

It was decentish in S1 & 2 when it was trying to do something new in the genre...but it's pretty heavily soapy these days at like what ten seasons in?

Exactly. I made it through a few seasons watching it with her, then around season 3 sometime it became unbearable for me.

I suggest you work on the man cave/tool shed at maximum speed. I can't stand the crap my wife watches, it makes me want to shoot at people most of the time.

Thankfully we have three TV's in the house, one in the spare room that is my QUASI-man cave...but to be honest, unless she's Netflixing through the PS4 on the main TV or watching something we both watch together...she'll watch stuff I dislike in our bedroom (like she's currently re-watching Dawson's Creek for some inexplicable reason)...and I'd say that probably 15-16 out of 20 shows we watch over any given year, we both enjoy and watch together.

[polishgenius]

 QuickTidal, on 23 September 2014 - 11:11 AM, said:

EDIT: the kid telling jokes on Fish's stage is supposed to be Jack Napier (the Joker) right?

He's a candidate. Rumour has it they'll be seeding potential Jokers throughout the season, which if they do and get it right will be a nice nod to his multiple origin stories.



Anyway, I liked it a hell of a lot more than I was expecting to.

[McLovin]

Gun Jesus is back! Loved Shaw as perfume girl, and the Logan's Run reference ("there is no sanctuary"). Also realized that Samaritan's operating system resembles a genetic profile. I do kinda miss psychotic evil Root though.

[tiam]

Finished season 3 and 4 of Boardwalk Empire

Spoiler

Gutted Harrow is dead he was my favorite character. Wish he could have gotten to live on the farm with his new family. Im slightly tired of the constant Eli betrayals. He wanted Nucky killed in season 2 and then wanted him imprisoned season 4. Also did Al Capone (Stephen Graham always plays angry psychotic short men hes good in it though) have Johnny shot and did Johnny have him attacked?

Looking forward to the final season

[Gnaw]

 McLovin, on 24 September 2014 - 12:05 PM, said:

Gun Jesus is back! Loved Shaw as perfume girl, and the Logan's Run reference ("there is no sanctuary"). Also realized that Samaritan's operating system resembles a genetic profile. I do kinda miss psychotic evil Root though.

I think for the moment that I'm reserving judgement on the "evil" being gone. She seems to have dropped a level from "killing bystanders if fun" to "not killing bystanders is pragmatic." I have zero doubt that the psychopath is still there.

[QuickTidal]

CALL THE WIDWIFE series 3 finale.

Fuck me. Emotion-central.

[worry]

Gotham ep 2: still in decent/has potential mode, with Harvey Bullock as MVP again.

Is it just me or does Jada Smith seem to be doing an Eartha Kitt (minus the cat affectations) impression? It's kind of appropriate as homage but also kind of annoying cuz she's only a so-so actress, and it doesn't come off naturally.

Also, why is Lili Taylor a "guest star" while Frank Whaley is in the "with" section of the credits next to Carol Kane? I know there's some kind of importance attached to all these labels (none of them got to be "Special" guest stars, sadly), but there's no way Frank Whaley is more of a draw than Taylor or for that matter Richard Kind. So if "with" is a lesser role, it makes no sense to put Carol Kane there. Basically what I'm getting at is if Frank Whaley is the Joker I'm suing FOX for gross negligence.

[QuickTidal]

I liked ep 2 of GOTHAM too...I had a few issues with it, the most major of which are Pinkett-Smith attempting to be a scenery chewer and failing...and Cat/Selina not being seen by Lili Taylor as she walks down the bus aisle. I mean come on!

But otherwise, solid.

[Gnaw]

 McLovin, on 24 September 2014 - 12:05 PM, said:

Gun Jesus is back! Loved Shaw as perfume girl, and the Logan's Run reference ("there is no sanctuary"). Also realized that Samaritan's operating system resembles a genetic profile. I do kinda miss psychotic evil Root though.

Well, it seems that we're going to be seeing lots of

Spoiler

psychotic evil Root analogues.

This could get interesting.

[Tiste Simeon]

Regarding Battlestar Galactic a am I meant to like Starbuck? I just find her really annoying! Is that the point or am I missing something about her that makes her likeable?

[QuickTidal]

 Tiste Simeon, on 01 October 2014 - 06:41 PM, said:

Regarding Battlestar Galactic a am I meant to like Starbuck? I just find her really annoying! Is that the point or am I missing something about her that makes her likeable?

What season are you on? She's ALWAYS abrasive. Always. She's never not that. Even when she's being softer and letting people in...she's still abrasive. I think she's different in S4, but it may not be in the way you might like.

You may not be meant to like her now that I think about it. I like her when she's being badass and argumentative...but I dunno if I ever "liked" her character on the whole. Which may be the point.

[Slow Ben]

Still cant decide if i like the Strain or not. Its one of those shows if i never watched it again, I wouldnt care, but its interesting enough to keep me watching. I almost stopped when

Spoiler

they showed "The Master". What a fucking goofy looking bad guy. Looks like a fucked up muppet.

The wife and i just chuckled.

And Bones, the ole lady is PISSED

Spoiler

that they killed of Sweets. PROPER PISSED.