When Game of Thrones ended in May 2019, I went into an underground bunker to mourn its loss, and didn’t come out for fresh supplies until this morning. Has anything happened in the months since I left? ….Oh…I see…hmmm…. Well – More time to hunker down and read the next book in A Song of Ice and Fire! When did The Winds of Winter come out? Surely, sometime in the last year? ….Oh…I see…..hmmm… Well, then it must be time to catch up with the one-time cast of Game of Thrones and see what they’re up to these days!
Tywin Lannister’s Charles Dance, one-time father of the year, and regretful chamber pot-sitter of an unlocked privy, caught The Huffington Post up on how what he’s been up to in 2020: He’s been hard at work on a secret project for Netflix; “I’m very lucky, especially at the moment when the world’s turned upside down and people from all walks of life are struggling in one way or another.” Eventually conversation turned – as it always does – to the heavily chided (though not by me) final season of GOT. “I have to say, personally, I was underwhelmed…It was decided by committee and I thought, ‘Oh, no, no, no, no, no.’ I wanted it to go out with a bang…Anyway, it’s just nitpicking…I wouldn’t have continued to watch it if the show hadn’t been good. It raised the bar when it came to television drama.” Well, at least he acknowledged that GOT is in the upper echelon of TV, even if he didn’t like its conclusion.
Khal Drogo’s Jason Momoa, one-time Khal of a Dothraki horde turned Atlantean King with a trident, lamented recently on how he didn’t fare so well after filming the first season (before GOT went on to be a phenomenon): “I mean, we were starving after Game of Thrones,” he says. “I couldn’t get work. It’s very challenging when you have babies and you’re completely in debt,” he told InStyle. Luckily, he’s booked through 2024 with various projects.
Ramsay Bolton’s, Iwan Rheon, one-time holder of the title of the most sadistic man in Westeros with the absolutely dreamiest eyes (you know it’s true), shared a couple of his thoughts on his sojourn to Westeros in several interviews more recently. Sharing with Metro, Rheon revealed that the worst day of his career was the day he had to film the infamous wedding night scene with Sansa Stark: “That was horrible. Nobody wanted to be there. Nobody wants to do that, but if it’s telling a story then you have to tell it truthfully…They didn’t sensationalise it or anything. It was very, very hard watching. It’s a horrible thing that happens, unfortunately, and it shouldn’t be.” And while I’m sure many will agree with his sentiment, he had least had a more optimistic experience on the final season than did many of his former castmates: “I felt that they made a very strong decision to where they thought the season would go and I think they went with it and told the story really well…I thought the Battle of Winterfell was absolute genius, the best television I’ve ever seen. I thought it was really brave and they went for it,” he told NME And then when prodded to call out Charles Dance, he refused to submit: “I’ve got no problem with him [Dance] saying what he wants to say, and what should anyone? It’s his opinion.”
Lastly – and here’s a fun one – Jojen Reed’s Thomas Brodie-Sangster, one-time keeper of King Bran’s confidence, and fun-to-be-around doomsayer, has an opinion on the final season of GOT that he shared with NME. Well, more like a lack of one: “I’m still halfway through season four…I don’t have the right channel and just lost track of it a bit… I was thinking the other day I should probably watch it again, because it was really good.” I’m…not quite sure I have a follow up to this.
You can find Charles Dance in the upcoming 4th season of Netflix’s The Crown, and David Fincher’s upcoming Netflix movie, Mank.
You can find Jason Momoa in Dune, currently due for release towards the end of 2021, and an upcoming Netflix movie called Sweet Girl.
You can find Iwan Rheon appearing at some point in an upcoming British show called The Snow Spider.
You can find Thomas Brodie-Sangster currently appearing in Netflix’s acclaimed miniseries, The Queen’s Gambit.
Tywin!
Charles and Iwan – 2 gems of actors showing that differing opinions aren’t earth shattering in the real world. 😊
Thomas Brodie-Sangster in The Queen’s Gambit is great 🙂 That whole miniseries is great!
”Ramsay Bolton’s, Iwan Rheon, one-time holder of the title of the most sadistic man in Westeros with the absolutely dreamiest eyes (you know it’s true).”
Respectfully, I beg to differ. I’m partial to Ol’ Blue Eyes myself.
https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn%3AANd9GcTgSBGCdNJwtG7eWklOy3aBOtsRz-JrP9gvcA&usqp=CAU
Doesn’t he just make you swoon?
Wow!! I totally missed that was Jojen!!! He’s all grown up! I didn’t recognize him. He had a great role in The Queen’s Gambit.
And now both Maisie and Thomas had a chance to act with Anya Taylor-Joy in a movie.
It appears to me that you haven’t looked into Ramsay’s sweet beautiful eyes hard enough. Look…closer…..
It took me a little bit too! When I first saw the character, I felt something was a bit familiar about the actor but couldn’t place it. It took about two episodes until it finally clicked. (Oh, Jojen, I’m glad to see you’re a chess champion and not paste…)
Yeah, he really does have a great role in The Queen’s Gambit!
After reading this article and posts I was wondering what Kit Harrington may be up to. I found to my delight he’s reuniting with Richard Madden in (yet another Marvel movie) “The Eternals” due to be released in February. Kit plays Dane Whitman who is described this way “Burdened by a heavy past and wielding the Ebony Blade, Dane Whitman forges a new legacy as the Black Knight.” I guess we have more brooding to look forward to! I’m not a big fan of the marvel movies. Most I have viewed all the way through are focused heavily on the action and visuals which usually loses my interest after awhile. Perhaps there are exceptions. The early Spiderman movies with Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst was an exception for me. I enjoyed both of their performances. Yes the action was part of the movie, but it was only part of it. I mostly enjoyed watching their performances and following Peter’s story. I am not entertained by endless superhero fight sequences. I can hardly remember anything about the newer spiderman movies (the ones i made it all the way through).
Speaking of Marvel, I noticed that Maisie Williams’ New Mutants is hitting video this week. At least one streaming service will have it available on Nov 17. From the reviews, I would say it’s considered a failure, but I will give it a watch anyway.
Wait… Are you saying Ramsay is… Well, we never saw Ramsay and NK together in the same scene…
OMG! Ramsay Bolton = Night King confirmed!
Pedro Pascal is the lead in “The Mandalorian” and Natalia Tena is on the show as well.
Pedro’s work on “The Mandalorian” is phenomenal. As a decades long fan of “Star Wars”, Pedro and all the other people in front and behind the camera, are the best thing that has happened to the franchise in a long while.
Watching that show is like therapy and it also soothes the despondency and emptiness left by the fact that GOT is not around…LOL…
loco73,
100% agree with this!
loco73,
”Pedro Pascal is the lead in “The Mandalorian” and Natalia Tena is on the show as well.”
Osha is in “The Mandalorian”? I did not know that!
I’ve loved Natalia Tena ever since I saw her in “About a Boy” (2002). Highlights below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zOCd1HQ8vr0
(Scenes with the “boy” Marcus played by a young Nicholas Hoult – more recently, Nux in Mad Max: Fury Road.)
Ten Bears,
I have the movie on Blu-ray. I’ve seen it many, many times. You gotta give it to Hugh Grant though, he is excellent in it. I liked Rachel Weisz as well. It has probably one of the best exchanges, the part where he is asked to become a godfather to his niece:
“Will : I couldn’t possibly think of a worse godfather for Imogen. You know me. I’ll drop her at her christening. I’ll forget her birthdays until her 18th, when I’ll take her out and get her drunk and possibly, let’s face it, you know, try and shag her. I mean, seriously, it’s a very, very bad choice.
Christine : We know, I just thought you had hidden depths.
Will : No. No. You’ve always had that wrong. I really am this shallow.” — IMDB Quotes
To the best of my knowledge Wilko Johnson (Ser Ilyn) is still with us, though he left GoT because he wasn’t expected to live (he had cancer). This isn’t about what he’s doing now but he talks about how he came to be cast as Ser Ilyn https://youtu.be/FIy9xeldWBQ and also how he got his first Telecaster guitar https://youtu.be/h_Sl-8VqZNs and a demonstration of his playing style. https://youtu.be/wMlhWvIh7U4
My favourite is Charles Dance’s small but pivotal role in The Singapore Grip. All the power, even chilling power like Tywin Lannister. But Mr Webb is/was a nice man. Nothing like Tywin Lannister. Charles Dance is the best.
The Queen’s Gambit was an unexpected terrific show. I mean, how do you make a show about chess all that interesting? Thomas was great in it, although I didn’t think he fit the cowboy hat and leather duster look quite right. 😛
I’ve seen New Mutants and didn’t think it was all that bad. I did much prefer Maisie in Two Weeks to Live though. I hope she gets another season of that (with more fighting).
I finally watched a few episodes of Alex Rider over the weekend as well. I was surprised with myself when it took me a while to recognize Stephen Dillane in that one. I’m usually pretty quick to notice GoT alum, but the hair and beard threw me.
Thomas Brodie-Sangster was also in the Netflix show Godless which was fantastic. The British actors in that series did American accents surprisingly well. Michelle Dockery rockin’ a rifle in the Old West was amazing lol. Also Ian McElhinney (Ser Barristan Selmy) as Grandpa Joe in Derry Girls has been absolutely hilarious. Still haven’t had the time to see the Queen’s Gambit but it’s definitely on my watch list.
loco73,
Yes! Completely agree. The first season was the perfect remedy to episode IX 💀
I have to give Pedro Pascal alot of credit for taking a role where no one sees his face. I’m sure he wanted the gig, but I would bet some actors with bigger egos wouldn’t accept a role like the Mandalorian. “It is the way” (to not remove your helmet in front of anyone). There was one very brief scene in season 1 where they showed his face. He also has to wear bulky armor this season. He got an armor upgrade at the end of season 1, but the nicer armor seems much more cumbersome to move around in to me. I watched on YouTube yesterday that Kit Harrington’s new armor for his role as the Black Night in “The Eternals” will probably be all CGI like they did in the Black Panther. Pedro had to run and do some major action sequences in that armor this year, so hats off to him!
Tonight is the USA premiere of season 2 of His Dark Materials on HBO. This year, there is a GOT favorite joining the cast…Bella Ramsey as Angelica. Last year Lord Commander Moremont had a significant role.
Adrianacandle,
Bella Ramsey is doing a good job as a nasty kid in HDM
They didn’t make as big of a deal that the kids had left because of the fog and Lord Asriel’s bridge. I think they decided they didn’t need that part. Also, I seem to remember the witches helping the magisterium fly through the fog in the books.
Also, Lyra’s line about Will being a murderer made more sense in the book. It was almost a throw away line in the show she said it so quickly. They also did some of the same scenes (like attacking the cat), but they did them in a different order! That scene comes later after Lyra and Will return from his Oxford (I think). I also don’t remember anything about that Cardinal character being stabbed…
I get frustrated with myself for not remembering all the details of the book even though I just re-read it. It could be my brain getting older or it could just be I’m really into it as I’m reading it, but I don’t retain all of the details very well. I’m going along for the journey and not looking back! I took good notes this time. They are like my own cliff notes, and it really helps. And taking the notes did help me remember more too. It’s been a long time since I was in college!
Overall it was a good start. I think Dafne Keen seems more comfortable in her role this year. The episode seemed a little short, but I guess they got to a good stopping point and said that’s all for today…
Tron79,
Yes, she is!!
I was surprised that Mrs Coulter did her “interrogation” of the witch so early. I had remembered in book 2, this occurring near the end and this is when Mrs Coulter resolves herself to finding Lyra. At that point, it’s a cliffhanger because it has that implication Mrs Coulter plans to kill Lyra in order to stop the New Eve prophecy out of loyalty to the Church. Of course, it does not happen that way and Mrs Coulter ends up kidnapping Lyra to hide her from the Church.
Of course, it’s been about 5 years since I’ve read the books in full (I haven’t been able to yet!) so maybe I’ve got that wrong! So if your notes say otherwise, I’ll defer to them 🙂
I agree, with the context of the book, Lyra’s line about Will made more sense. I’m not sure how show-only viewers received this part. I should check out reactions on Reddit.
But I enjoyed it! I just watched the second episode yesterday and I thought it was opening up intriguing ideas — but I love when worlds collide 🙂 Lyra in our world with our technology and how she deals with it!
Adrianacandle,
Tron79,
Would I need to read the books first before watching “His Dark Materials” on HBO? I’m so backed up on my “To Read” and “To Watch” lists as it is…
Tron79,
Adrianacandle,
Not at all. It would be very understandable from just the show. I read the books after watching season 1. Now I’m enjoying comparing the books to the show but you don’t need to read them. It did help me with a couple of scenes that were explained better in the books but that was only a couple of scenes.
Tron79,
I have some more thoughts about the kids in the abandoned city but that’s going into the second episode so I’ll wait next week for that stuff!
Especially after the second episode, I’d be interested in your thoughts on religion and Dust because they go into it a bit there.
Adrianacandle,
About Bella Ramsey: I had read a while back that she bowed out of her series The Worst Witch because of “mental health issues.”
Now I am wondering if that was a pretext, i.e., quitting that tween fluff show was a (prudent) career move to take on more challenging roles like in His Dark Materials.
Any updates on Natalie Dormer (Margaery Tyrell)?
She had a starring role on Showtime’s “Penny Dreadful: City of Angels” but that got cancelled after one season. (I have not watched it, but from the ratings and reviews that series appeared to be a flop. Since Showtime had abruptly pulled the plug on the original Penny Dreadful starring Eva Green, I had wondered why they’d greenlight a sequel to begin with.)
Apparently, Natalie Dormer was in a 2019 movie “The Professor and the Madman” co-starring King Stannis (Stephen Dillane) and Catelyn 1.0 (Jennifer Ehle), with Sean Penn and Mel Gibson in the lead roles; I gather that movie was not a hit. I don’t recall that it was in theaters, and I have not seen it available on cable either.
Natalie Dormer was fabulous as Irene Adler in the first two seasons of CBS’s “Elementary” opposite Jonny Lee Miller as Sherlock Holmes. The showrunners were unable to coordinate her planned return because of her busy schedule with other projects – which seem to have fizzled. 😕
Perhaps! At the same time, I don’t think BR’s role on HDM is as demanding as one where she’s a main character on a series so perhaps she just decided to cut back.
It’s also possible she might be wanting to transition into more adult/mature shows from her time on The Worst Witch, especially since she’s 17 this year.
Under the topic “What are Game of Thrones Cast Members Up to in 2020?”…
One actor who surely could’ve monetized his popularity on GoT but has been conspicuously absent: Rory McCann.
Other than a minor role in Jumanji II, I’m not aware of any recent or upcoming TV shows or movies featuring our beloved Sandor. I suppose he’s content to be off by himself, sailing on his boat in the middle of nowhere, instead of chasing the big bucks?
Ten Bears,
I can picture Rory McCann pulling into port after nine months at sea…
“What the f*ck’s a Covid?”
LOL…you are being generous about “The Rise Of Skywalker”, and cough…the Sequel Trilogy… cough…🤓😳😬🤣
I was able to view New Mutants today. It started streaming today on Amazon prime and some other places. I thought it was actually pretty good. I enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would based on reviews. Maisie Williams was very good taking her Stark “wolf girl” to the next level. Her Irish accent was throwing me off a bit at the beginning. Anya Taylor-Joy also had an odd accent. It’s worth the watch. I had one major issue with the story but most made sense by the end. I still have a couple issues, but I thought all of the actors did a nice job.
loco73,
Hey there. I enjoyed the sequels a lot (even though the last one was sorta scuffed), and I’m not even a big fan of Star Wars. In fact, I personally like the sequels more than the originals, and certainly a fuck-ton more than the prequels (even though the last prequel is okay).
Wait, you liked episodes 7, 8, and 9 better than episodes 4, 5, and 6? Are you ok?
Mr Derp,
Not saying they’re better or worse than the originals, just saying that I find them more enjoyable, mainly because I like the more modern production values and I find Rey and Kylo to be vastly more interesting (and better actors) than the original stars. I like the originals well enough and have a lot of respect for them, and the first two are must-sees for anyone with a general interest in cinema. But for me personally, I only take a moderate amount of joy in watching them; there’s not very many scenes that really get my juices flowing. It’s like how Miles Davis described “Kind of Blue”: like warmed-over turkey.
Oh, and if you watch the originals objectively for what they are, it is painfully obvious that Lucas planned absolutely nothing, made it up as he went along, and then simply didn’t give three shits about taking the story in directions that blatantly contradicted what he’d done before. Yeah, I’m not a fan of ROTJ. The whole Han carbonite subplot was basically filler, Ewoks, Leia being Luke’s sister (omfg cringe oof), even Vader/Anakin’s “redemption” felt hokey and unearned (even though on its own it was a powerful moment).
Different strokes for different folks I guess.
I recall after “The Force Awakens” came out, a few people told me how good it was.
I had no intention on seeing it, but seeing as though I heard so many good reviews I figured I’d give it a try. Holy crap did I make a mistake.
“The Force Awakens” was basically a complete re-make of “A New Hope” with much less interesting characters and a tired performance from Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher to boot.
For me, Rey might be the least interesting protagonist in film history. Everything came incredibly easy for her. She had no struggles. She’s the dictionary definition of a Mary Sue. The entire trilogy was nothing more than an empty patronizing platitude for feminists. I recall the people who were in charge of movies 7-9 wearing shirts that said “The Force is Female”, as if the Force needs to be owned by a one particular gender. It wasn’t a movie. It was a very expensive political statement.
I hated Kylo Ren. He was just another moody emo kid that was upset for the sake of being upset all the time. No depth whatsoever, IMO.
“Kind of Blue” is a fantastic album.
What contradictions are you referring to? I’m not disputing it, I just don’t recall any blatant contradictions in the original trilogy.
Mr Derp,
Gah…I hate the Sequel Trilogy. If you can ever use the description “dumpster fire” when describing a movie, or a bunch of movies, then that is the apt one these movies and everything surrounding them soo richly deserve. I’ll leave it at that, because I don’t want to go into a whole diatribe, except I really want Kathleen Kennedy gone from Lucasfilm and the Sequel Trilogy declared as an alternate timeline. That is my one wish from Santa this year…LOL🤪
But I’ll say this. The Sequel Trilogy basically destroyed the legacy of the whole saga and rendered the whole story useless and basically everything the original characters did pointless. The Prequel Trilogy movies, were undoubtedly flawed, peppered with some really cringe worthy moments and characters. But overall they still felt like “Star Wars”, they expanded the richness, details and boundaries of world and mythos of the franchise. Plus they gave us a lot of exciting material as well, moments, characters and most importantly it opened the possibility to add to “Star Wars” in a way that made sense and didn’t feel forced.
Now, to play a very subjective and biased devil’s advocate…I looooove “Rogue One”. It is one my favourite movies of the past decade or so, and up there with (and right alongside) “The Empire Strikes Back”. I loved everything about the movie, cast, characters, director, the production values, the gritty, adult tone. I could go on and on. That is why I’m so glad and stocked and reeeally looking forward for the prequel series currently in development at Disney Plus, with Diego Luna and Alan Tudiyk reprising their roles. It’s set five years before the movie (plus they got freaking Stellan Skarsgård in the cast and Tony Gilroy involved with Gareth Edwards lurking somewhere in the background?!).
“Solo A Star Wars Story” is a kind of mediocre, side adventure, I can kind of tolerate, so I don’t mind it necessarily, though it had some really crummy characters and idiotic plot points. Yet Emilia Clarke’s character Q’ira was interesting and the appearance of Maul (Ray Park/Sam Witwer) has left some intriguing possibilities open and rumours of a miniseries…Also kudos to Paul Bethany, Woody Harrelson and Thandie Newton.
So yeah, definitely cannot digest or accept the Sequel Trilogy, but I’m really happy with “The Mandalorian” and excited about where “Star Wars” could be heading. I’m salivating at just thinking of the Kenobi miniseries…Ewan McGregor back as Obi Wan in the hands of one of my favourite directors Deborah Chow…please sir can I have more?!
Jessica Henwick (Nymeria Sand) is scheduled to be in the ‘Godzilla v Kong’ film but its release has been delayed to 2021 because of the pandemic. I don’t know the name of her character. Going by Wikipedia for 2020 she is in films ‘Underwater’, ‘On the Rocks’ and ‘Love and Monsters’.
Following on from a post a few days ago here is an interview Wilko Johnson (Ilyn Payne) gave after he had an operation to remove his cancer (which was initially deemed terminal). https://youtu.be/FcJh0yTn8V8 As far as I know he is continuing to make music.
I enjoyed “Love and Monsters.” Jessica was also the only good part of “Iron Fist” for me. Unfortunately, I was disappointed with GOT alum Finn Jones’ performance in Iron Fist. He was 3000% better in GOT (IMHO). Jessica’s fight scenes were graceful and filled with artistry, while Finn’s seemed awkward. It’s like a dancer who doesn’t point his/her toes. It just doesn’t look right. Jessica was fun to watch.
Mr Derp,
…”I recall after “The Force Awakens” came out, a few people told me how good it was.
I had no intention on seeing it, but seeing as though I heard so many good reviews I figured I’d give it a try. Holy crap did I make a mistake.
“The Force Awakens” was basically a complete re-make of “A New Hope” with much less interesting characters and a tired performance from Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher to boot.”
I could not agree more. “The Force Awakens” was total dreck. Recycled, derivative garbage – almost a cookie cutter, carbon copy of the first Star Wars. Though I liked Daisy Ridley, everything else was terrible. (Really? Lena Dunham’s emo boyfriend from “Girls” as the big bad antagonist Darth, Jr. aka Kylo Ren? 🤮)
I stopped watching the sequels after TFA. I get the impression I made a wise decision.
P.S. I had been looking forward to Brienne of Tarth as “Captain Phasm,” but that character turned out to be a spineless idiot. (“Sure! I’ll lower the defenses at gunpoint so all of my compatriots can be killed!”) What a waste of Gwendoline Christie!
Tron79,
I’ve been hoping to see Rosabell Laurenti Sellers in films or TV after GoT. It does not look like she’s been very busy since GoT, though who knows what potential castings were disrupted by the pandemic.
I may be in the minority. I really liked Rosabell Laurenti Sellers as Tyene Sand. I enjoyed Tyene’s banter with Bronn. I thought something might come of their flirtation. I thought Bronn might even make an attempt to save her.
Even if that may have been the original plan (I do not know this), that would have gotten euthanized along with Doran and the rest of the ill-fated Dorne detour.
She’s a good actress. I suspect she felt taking the role of Tyene on GoT (when she was 17 or 18) would help her make the transition from her children’s show “Mia and Me” to more adult roles.
Now I fear she will forever be saddled with the notoriety of uttering that cringeworthy “bad p***y” line. What a shame. She deserved better.
Adrianacandle,
So… how was Bella R’s debut in “His Dark Materials”? Can you provide a brief, spoiler-free assessment?
P.S. A little while ago I posted some questions about Joe Dempsie/Gendry in the Comments section under the Joe Dempsie interview article.
Ten Bears,
Will do in a few hours! In the midst of painting! 😀
Yes. She met a horrible end on GOT. I too would have wanted to see more with Bronn with a possible rescue.
I just found a series she starred in this year called Spides. It’s a sci fi thing where she wakes up from a coma and doesn’t remember who she is. The first scene is wild. She is in a fish tank cage wearing the same head contraption that Christopher Lloyd wore at the beginning of Back to the Future. I found it on Crackle. I am going to watch some and see how it goes. If you can find Crackle give it a try.
Tron79,
Thanks for that tip. I found the trailer for Rosabell Laurenti Sellers in “Spides” on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QxQWjxEaLH8
From that trailer I have no f*cking clue what this show is supposed to be about. Needless to say, it does not look like “Spides” is going to be a lighthearted sci fi adventure with a zany but lovable inventor like Doc Brown in “Back to the Future.”
I’ll try to find “Crackle.” In the meantime, if you start watching the series, please feel free to let me know if it sucks. I wouldn’t want to invest time in a show that flops or gets cancelled.
Besides, I’ve still got so many highly recommended shows on my “To Watch” list, including:
“Breaking Bad”
“The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”
“The Wire”
“Star Trek: Picard”
“Arrested Development”
“Ozark”
“Schitts Creek”
“Barry”
“Fleabag”
“Parks and Recreation” (?)
“Community” (?)
“Watchmen” (?)
“His Dark Materials” (?)
I’ve never seen a single episode of any of these shows.
Wow. Nice list. My favorites from your list are
Picard, HDM, and definitely Ozark. Ozark was very addicting and Julia Garner is fantastic. They should cast her in the new GOT prequel. I bet she can come up with a great British accent instead of her country twang she uses in Ozark.
Ten Bears,
“Schitt’s Creek” is a must. Rarely has Canadian television reached the kind of level that this series attains. If I’m honest, I think that in the future we may even look back on it with the kind of fondness that only “The Red Green Show” has managed to achieve in our hearts. 🇨🇦
Pigeon,
Wait. What is “The Red Green Show”? I’ve never heard of it. Do I need to add it to my “To Watch” list?
I thought she was great! Quite a different character from Lyanna and her Worst Witch character — angrier and mistrustful but not in the “this burden falls on me” angry/mistrustful but a more desperate sort of angry/mistrustful where she’s seen and experienced some bad sh!t.
What do you think, Tron? Would this be an accurate assessment? Would you have anything to add?
Ah! The Red Green Show! I never watched but I remember the commercials I had seen for the majority of my childhood! Just the name makes me nostalgic ;;
My first reaction (and this is only my own reaction) is that I found myself looking at Ella Schrey-Yeats when Bella Ramsay shared the scene. In the books Paola was Angelica’s brother, but apparently Ella Schrey-Yeats and Bella Ramsay had good chemistry during their auditions, and the showrunners decided to change Paola to a girl. Bella and Ella! Ella Schrey-Yeats had a bit of an unhinged look to her with her facial expressions and arm motions as she stood next to Bella Ramsay.
They really haven’t shown them too much yet. They have a few scenes in the opening episode. Bella Ramsay’s Angelica isn’t someone you want to mess with. After all, she was trying to kill a cat with the other kids (very minor spoiler).
Adrianacandle,
Here’s a photo of the two of them together although slightly blurry…
Bella definitely has a don’t mess with me face happening…
https://cdn.entertainmentdaily.com/2020/11/06104101/Screenshot-2020-11-06-at-10.13.45-768×382.png
Adrianacandle,
another hdm thought…
We talked in Synagogue (on zoom) today about the story of Esau and Jacob. Esau is the one who gave up his birthright for a yummy bowl of soup. He was the outdoorsman who hunted (not so big on brains but big on braun). Jacob was the homebody with more of the brains in the family. Their mother Rebecca plotted and manipulated the blind father into giving the blessing (and inheritance) to her favorite son Jacob instead of Esau. It was a real Game of Thrones moment! One of the congregants said in the discussion that even though there were two people, it was really a story about the two sides of a person. That goes directly with the more animalistic side (Esau) and then the more academic side less physical (Jacob). It was an awful story, because it almost condoned the manipulation because it could be seen as the “right thing to do”. Some people in the discussion even said it was OK because it was the right thing to do for the people. That really bugged me. They said Jacob’s mom saw that he was more fit to lead a new people than the idiot brother who would give up his inheritance for a hot bowl of lentil soup. So to them it justified her manipulations and lies. But to me it sent a really bad message that in politics it’s OK to do anything to get the result you think is best in the end. I did point out that I don’t think G-d condoned the manipulation since it caused a huge rift between the brothers which resulted in wars that are still going on today. The brothers though did come together and put aside their fear when they could see the “face of G-d” in each other, or said in another way that they could see the humanity in each other and not just think of the other as “the other”. That fits with the Game of Thrones idea of the Wildlings and “The Others”. Perhaps this is what will happen in the GOT books one very far day from now!
I think you mentioned what I’m about to say last year. I watched Dafne Keen in a recent interview with Amir Wilson. Dafne is definitely a teenager now, and Amir looked like he was 17 or 18. It will be interesting to see how season 3 looks. This is the part I think you told me last year, but Dafne mentioned that she first auditioned for the part when she was 11 and it took 2 years before they started filming.
I mean, I would definitely say so, but it went on for years and is very Canadian humour. 😄 No, it’s essentially about a handyman character named Red Green (Steve Smith, who wears suspenders over a plaid flannel shirt in those particular colours) who owns a fishing camp called Possum Lodge, and has a series of self-deprecating skits and recurring features with friends of various employment and quirks. His nephew Harold is the “technogeek” who produces the show. Their motto is “Quando Omni Flunkus Moritati”, or “When All Else Fails, Play Dead.” 🤪
I suppose you could say it appeals to a certain type of viewer. I have the bumper sticker on my ’84 Camry. Red Green looked like my dad, and was just as goofy, so that was the main draw for me. 😆
http://m.quickmeme.com/meme/3ro8km
I think it was on for 15 years or something crazy like that. I remember my uncle in the U.S. said it was really popular there as well. It’s funny what appeals, my cousin who was working in Houston brought a “Corner Gas” mug to work and his boss was thrilled as he was a big fan of that show. LOL.
I have some very diverse tastes in entertainment. 😄
If you want an amazing mood swing, then please check out Season 3 of Killing Eve. Gemma Whelan, known for playing badass leather-clad warrior-princess Yara Greyjoy, takes a turn as a feckless ninny, ruthlessly manipulated by dueling spymasters (including her character’s own mother!). She also has a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moment in “Marionettes”, an episode of The Crown, wherein she “fangirls over a schlub,” as my spouse put it.
Michael McElhatton, who played Roose Bolton (my own personal favorite villain from Game of Thrones), also portrayed Rob Breedlove, a corrupt police detective in The Fall. As with Gemma Whelan’s roles, the speech and body language are completely different for each role, which I really enjoy seeing in an actor.
Tron79,
Re HDM/GoT’s Bella Ramsey:
Yes, that picture is really good at conveying BR’s character without giving away any spoilers. Wary, mistrustful, don’t mess with her…
Oh, I definitely agree with this assessment of Lyra (and definitely Sow Lyra) and being ruled by her Yetzer Harah — “the animal inclinations without any control from experience and wisdom”. She does display fearlessness, lack of caution, and lack of consideration for what might happen next. That seems to be more Pan’s role — reminding Lyra to be cautious and to think things through but Lyra overrules Pan here most of the time.
And there’s a scene the episode you’ll watch tomorrow night further supporting that assertion 🙂
Ooooooh, very very interesting discussion. It sounds like one side was supporting an “End Justifies the Means” course (Jacob is a better leader so his and Esau’s mother is justified in her lies and manipulation of the blind father. Yeah, I’d definitely be on your side of the debate and I think I’d come to the same conclusions but what an interesting debate to have!
And right, enmity can lead to seeing the opposing side as “the Other” — that lack of humanization, as what happened with the wildlings and and with the Others — and more war. Although, while the Others aren’t actually human but another species, they may be a thinking/feeling species with their own compelling motivations and thoughts. However, they’re being treated as a completely foreign, alien threat by the human side with no attempt to understand why they are attacking. They’re simply seen as just the enemy. I hope they’re more than those evil orcs GRRM criticizes.
Oh, I didn’t know that about Keen! Yeah, I think both actors look like the true age they are. Had Keen and Wilson filmed when they were 12 and 13, I think it probably would have gone better visually.
I’d like to encourage you to watch the 2007 movie ‘The Golden Compass” — the film adaptation of the first book in HDM. It’s definitely a very clumsy adaptation and not a good script (they tried so hard to make it a typical fantasy escapist movie for kids when HDM is anything but) but the casting is A+.
Dakota Blue plays Lyra and she does look like an 11-year old kid and she looks more like how I pictured Lyra. Another casting choice I think I prefer (although, I think Ruth Wilson is marvelous!) is Nicole Kidman as Mrs Coulter. She has Mrs Coulter’s personality down pat — completely charming, beguiling, hiding her evil and sinister core. She was even the casting choice Philip Pullman pushed for as revealed by a December 2007 interview:
Anyway, if you’re ever moved to see the film, I think it might be interesting for you to check out!
Corner Gas!! So when I was on a road trip with my dad and sister during which we were driving from Toronto to Calgary, we stopped by the filming location for Corner Gas!! XD They were practically tripping over themselves with glee!
Book Obara is still alive hunting down a traitor. Here is the actress Keisha Castle-Hughes as a child – or at least tween – actress in the trailer for ‘Whale Rider’ where she had considerable success. https://youtu.be/hZSG9ex5iLo I’ve always liked Dick Wolf’s slick crime dramas. I’ve never seen ‘FBI Most Wanted’ but here is a short clip with KC-H playing a part. https://youtu.be/tmjAYdhfKOU
Adrianacandle,
I will watch the original. I did see it when it first made it to video, but I can’t remember it at all…Just some vague images left in my brain…
With all this talk of GRRM’s writing, it makes me really want to write something. I mostly write music, and I haven’t delved into writing fiction since college. Part is that I don’t think I have much helpful (or new) that I want to say or it ends up being too autobiographical. And writers have more of a passion for it than I do. Writers do it professionally (unlike me who has a whim to write one day and wakes up and says, “Today I will be a writer!”) I loved my writing teacher’s advice of carrying around a journal everywhere to note down conversations and the way people talk. She would say when you’re in an elevator listen to the people around you and take notes. Today I could do that with my phone, but I also don’t see anyone to observe anymore with COVID. GRRM talked about submitting to Isaac Asimov magazine as a way to get started (writing Sci Fi stories). My older brother is a writer and has published several teen fiction books. I also don’t read enough to be a real writer, but as a songwriter I really don’t listen to much music either. I’m always worried I will be accused of stealing someone else’s song or melody, so if you don’t listen much it’s hard to steal! As Yoda said, “Do or do not, there is no try”. So I’m declaring now that I will write something and submit it over the next 6 months. I’m going to go the Stephen King approach of writing 4 pages a day (well maybe 4 pages every two days?) I have some ideas but nothing has totally crystallized yet, so my blog would say…”hasn’t started yet, it will come letter by letter, idea by idea… once it comes…” With the isolation continuing until at least spring or summer here in the USA, I definitely have the time. Vaccines will be more available in the Spring here (according to the news). As you can tell by all my TV and movie references, I spend way too much time with my friend named Roku.
Adrianacandle,
I took your advice and watched the 2007 Golden Compass movie today. Here are a few thoughts about Mrs Coulter and more. I will say for GOT fans I prefer Lord Commander Moremont’s take in his character Farder Coram better.
Lyra definitely looked more age appropriate but the young actress didn’t pull me in as much as Dafne. Again it could be more the way it was filmed. The animations were too cartoonish. Every-time she used the alethiometer they switched to a dust animation that pulled me out of the action and made it feel more like a kids movie. Some of the characterizations were also much more cardboard and cartoonish. I much preferred how HDM built the relationship of Lyra and Lee Scoresby. Sam Elliot is known for playing a cowboy but that role is more than just being a cowboy. Anyway I’m glad I watched it and I suppose it did poorly and never continued the story. I believe they changed the order of a few things from the book. Also I much preferred the show Gyptians and their slow journey up the river instead of somehow having a big ship ready to sail up North in the movie. I think the movie was going well until the Gyptians showed up out of nowhere to save Lyra. I don’t recall it happening that way in the book. They said they had been following her the whole time. I much prefer the way the show developed the Gyptians. Also the music soundtrack was driving me nuts.
Tron79,
”With all this talk of GRRM’s writing, it makes me really want to write something…
… As Yoda said, “Do or do not, there is no try”. So I’m declaring now that I will write something and submit it over the next 6 months. I’m going to go the Stephen King approach of writing 4 pages a day (well maybe 4 pages every two days?) I have some ideas but nothing has totally crystallized yet…”
I know! How about writing a book titled… “The Winds of Winter”?
I’d bet the farm that Tron79’s TWOW would be finished and published by May, 2021 – and in any event, well before Big G gets around to finishing his version, if ever.
I’d pay good money to read your conclusion to ASOIAF. (Seriously: I admired the way you reconfigured events in your “Arya’s Pigeons” video so that her journey made narrative sense, and concluded where and when it should have.)
P.S. You mentioned Stephen King’s approach to writing. Have you read his book, “On Writing”? It’s an enjoyable, informative read.
I haven’t read his writing book but I think I will.
Most wouldn’t want to read my TWOW. I would go off on a tangent with the pirates and never come back. Possibly Arya would find her way onto Greyjoy ship to escape Braavos. It may become The Winds Take Arya.
Tron79,
Btw GRRM really likes his pirates in the books. The show didn’t go into as much detail on the very colorful characters and some were left out of the show altogether. I thought GRRM really enjoyed writing about them.
Tron79,
Good!! That’s awesome!!! 😀 Sometimes, a public declaration can be the proper kick in the pants!
On the topic of Stephen King, this podcast episode might interest you!
I kind of feel that, in a way, stories are daydreams written down and brought to life 😉 Just in the way that you start imagining a story and then one thing happens after another after another after another…
But the difficulty there is translating it to paper in a compelling way and making it blossom to life — transferring that daydream to other people’s heads!
It’s almost like illustrating a piece of your imagination so that others can see it too…
That you’re doing this is awesome!! I’m about to reply to your HDM/Golden Compass post now!
Tron79,
Out of loyalty to dear Lord Commander Mormont, me too!
Yeah, I think you’re right. Ruth Wilson is definitely beautiful and has those intense eyes but Nicole Kidman has that classic, old Hollywood glam look down — something I imagine Mrs Coulter (being insanely beautiful in the books) would have. So much so that even the author himself wished he had written Mrs Coulter to be blonde based on Kidman’s portrayal.
But I think it was also down to writing/acting choices too. HDM/Ruth Wilson emphasize Mrs Coulter’s unhinged/evil side and don’t really spend much time on her charming/beguiling aspects. She is more (overtly) abrasive, sometimes gets crazy eyes, and pisses quite a few people off to the point that I remember a few on Reddit wondering how Mrs Coulter still has her job.
Not to say that Ruth Wilson doesn’t do this well or isn’t a good actress — Ruth Wilson is an incredibly skilled actress! And she’s great at emoting too while, at the same time, leaving that mystery as to where you don’t quite know what Mrs Coulter is going to do next. There are some scenes in tomorrow’s episode where I think she is really great.
And this is a side to Mrs Coulter as well, that unhinged crazy-eyes side! But the exposure of this side is very limited to only a few moments when Mrs Coulter is at her most intense/her most desperate (ie. learning Lyra is the new Eve, torturing the witches). The majority of the time, Mrs Coulter is hiding her evil, sinister core and charming/seducing her way to the top. Not just sexually (Mrs Coulter completely seduces Lyra with her charm before Lyra discovers the truth) but I get the impression that just being around her is supposed to turn others into putty, which I think Nicole Kidman did really well. And that’s how Mrs Coulter has gotten her way so often. Mrs Coulter is incredibly intelligent and gifted but she’s also operating in a very sexist society where women scientists are a rarity — and Mrs Coulter is one of them.
Yeah, I think that’s where the movie got it really wrong. I think they were going more for the magical wonder of early Harry Potter than the exploratory, questioning, pretty dark nature of HDM and the characterizations could get a bit too simplistic.
I think I prefer Dakota Blue’s Lyra to Dafne’s because Dakota Blue’s Lyra (to me) felt more defiant, headstrong, and impulsive from the start. From the way she knocked Daniel Craig’s glass out of his hand to glaring at Mrs Coulter before she flees.
However, like with Ruth Wilson and Nicole Kidman, I find both to be great young actresses 🙂
Unfortunately, it did and I feel a pang because I thought the cast was so excellent. I mean, I really wanted to see Nicole Kidman’s Mrs Coulter and Daniel Craig’s Lord Asriel go all the way.
Yeah, I agree.
Tron79,
Crap, I got the link for that podcast episode on Stephen King (and how he overcame many many hurdles before becoming a success due to his refusal to give up): Here’s the right link!
Adrianacandle,
I don’t have much to add. I agree with your points. I can see what you’re saying about movie Lyra. I think Dafne seemed almost asleep in the early episodes. This season she has more attitude, which reflects to the way she is in real life. I said in another post I watched a recent interview on YouTube and she is definitely a teenager with an attitude now when talking to Amir Wilson. Comparing young actresses, she’s very different than Maisie Williams in interviews. Maisie is always very upbeat and very personable. Dafne is more talkative now, but she seems darker and her humor is more biting. It’s hard to explain and I’m sure it’s just my own reaction.
I was rewatching episode 1 today (of HDM season 2) after I watched the Golden Compass movie. The shows Mrs. Coulter is only beguiling to the Cardinal. She just ignores (or is rude) to the others.
Anyway, I look forward to seeing Episode 2.
There are a few characters I have been watching my Roku lately that would be great in the GOT Prequel… They have to find a role for Lin Manuel Miranda! As I said in an earlier post, I think Julia Garner (of Ozark and Maniac fame) would be great as a Targaryen. She has the fair skin tone that would work well with book descriptions, and she is a wonderful actress. I may add others to my list. Ella Schrey-Yeats who plays Paleo in HDM could also be interesting as a young Targaryen. She has a very interesting look and seems like a good actress.
Adrianacandle,
I have the beginnings of a story idea that has some small inspiration from HDM if you think about what a world is like with everyone having daemons.
Tron79,
I’m going to respond to your first post after I finish up painting later tonight (and maybe after a nap! And I agree with just about everything in your post!) but I wanted to say now that your story idea is just right up my alley and I’m so intrigued by it 🙂 I love seeing creative stuff like this unfold!!
Tron79,
Okay, well, I slept for way longer than intended, which means I have to hurry up, get to Tim Horton’s and back before the evil sun rises!
Also, Bella Ramsey makes another appearance in 2×03! 😀
Yeah, I agree. I haven’t seen many interviews with Dafne (although, on a Zoom with one of my friends last Friday, we were going down some YouTube holes and my friend suggested watching Maisie William’s The Hot Ones interview, which was very entertaining XD Oh, the more painful the sauces get, the more teary eyed she gets and everything she says — no matter what it is — seems really intense as a result. I definitely could not have gotten as far as she did!). However, I think Dafne is starting to get more fierce as Lyra.
Right! That’s been my thought too! She uses her charm on the Cardinal but… yeah, I wish that they would engage this weapon of Mrs Coulter’s (charm) more in HDM because it is one of Mrs Coulter’s primary weapons (alongside her intelligence and ambition).
Oh, you should suggest them when we have another HotD cast discussion thread!! 😀
Adrianacandle,
I saw the Maisie Hot Ones interview. She did very well, and she was very entertaining to watch!
Oh, it was great! (And I think it’s such a great idea to challenge an interviewee to mild torture while interviewing them! The tears add so much!) What I really love is whenever Maisie Williams talks about her love for Jenna Marbles, one of the OG YouTubers and who I’ve been watching since 2011 (which makes feel cool-before-cool! ;D) and who I’ve loved watching for all these years! (Fave Jenna Marbles videos for the uninitiated: Drunk Make-Up Tutorial, Ultimate 100 Coats of Things Video, and Making My Dog A Bed Out Of Soap — the last video Williams mentioned in an interview last year, I think!)
Okay, I know, I know, I’m getting off topic. On topic: Bella Ramsey has been really great in HDM (she’s scrappier than Lyanna and plays very much like a kid who’s been forced to survive in some scary situations and is living in fear). I also just watched an episode of Merlin (2008 series) which features Charles Dance as a witch hunter (very good — Merlin features a number of GoT actors including Liam Cunningham, John Bradley, Joe Dempsie, and James Cosmo who, as Tron noted above, is also in HDM!), and I again recommend The Queen’s Gambit in which Thomas Brodie-Sangster (Jojen) plays a really great role that is so different from Jojen!
I watched a few episodes of Merlin…I may have to revisit..but for now I turned off my Roku! I have 15 more minutes to write something. (or just sit here until 10:30am EST and get distracted)… I have actually filled up a couple pages of ideas so far, but I get easily distracted when I don’t like my story idea, and I come back here to find your post! I will be watching HDM tonight though!! I wonder if GRRM visits WotW and posts here under an assumed name when he gets distracted…he would write alot of posts here!
I highly recommend Merlin! It’s got some good emotional beats but is a lot of fun too! 🙂
How’s your writing going today? I hope you’re about to watch HDM 2×02 soon!
As for GRRM, I remember he said that he used to check out what fans were saying back in the day but he’s stopped since. I do know he’s aware of WotW as well as other fansites from a 2015 post he made on his LJ 🙂
Yes and yes! I did make some good progress today on the story. I’m working out what the world would be like and the rules of the world. And I suddenly realized what the opening scene will be. I’m just not sure yet on where the story is going. I think I need to have it figure out before I just start writing. I think I’m less of the gardner and more of a planner but we shall see. But these first couple days I guess are my gardening days as I think out the twists and turns and mostly what I want to say. HDM was good. There were some things not in the books.
Oh and speaking for religion did you see the first episode of Black Narcissus? I spotted the arch maester from the citadel.
Tron79,
I think that sounds like a solid plan — working on where the story needs to go and figuring out how before you start writing 🙂
I know JKR has had erm… quite the fall from grace recently… but I remember that when she figured out the whole story for Harry Potter on a train ride, she explained how she came home and immediately plotted out every detail on a chart (what would happen when, which character, which scene, what book, etc.). I’m supposing that’s how she came out with her books on time 😉
But I also think some room for the gardener-writer can also work out too if one has a solid frame! But I think this is different for every writer, how they work, and how they discover they work best as they write…
As for HDM…
I think you’re right. I can’t recall a battle-battle but more an ongoing war between the Church’s efforts to suppress free thought and all those (including the witches) who stand against that. But no battle, I think?
But yep! Evil!
Another GoT connection! But no, I haven’t yet seen it. What do you think of Black Narcissus?
Adrianacandle,
So Black Narcissus is not anything like Warrior Nun. So far there are no ninja nuns, but plenty of amazing scenery. I don’t know much about the story. Is it based on a true story? The nuns take over an abandoned palace on the top of the Himalayan mountains. It was once a palace of irrepute.
And how could i have forgotten to mention the GOT connection that Diana Rigg has a few scenes too (in her final TV role)!!
I will say it was a bit slow moving. I still have the last 15 minutes to view. The first episode was an hour and 15 minutes and I watched most of it before HDM came on.
I just googled and saw it’s a story about sexual repression. That makes some sense since the head nun is already having flashbacks of surrealistic romantic memories from before she became a nun. The palace seems to have that effect on people. It has some similar themes to HDM with its views on the catholic church.
If you are scared of heights, it had the scariest scene I’ve ever felt on TV. I really felt like I just about fell off the bell tower steps. For some reason, they built this stupid palace without guard rails, and the nun has to walk up on this very narrow stairway outside of the palace walls to get up to the bell tower (every day!!) I actually made some sort of yelp as she looked down… I’ve never felt that way from a TV show!
regarding HDM and GOT, I think the witches are similar to the Nights Watch in that they aren’t supposed to get involved in earthly battles. They are there to protect the realms of women and men. That’s why a few things about the tv adaptation seemed out of place to me…
The witches in general were there to help fulfill the prophesy. Ruta does talk in the books about how the magisterium are repressing all that is good. But the witches of the book prefer to stay hidden as much as possible. They know about the great war, just like the Night Watch and Jon talk about the great war. In the books they were guiding Mrs. Coulter’s ship through the fog. They helped the magisterium sometimes.
I think some of the changes are because they needed more for Mrs. Coulter to do in book 2. Lord Asriel’s house keeper was questioned by Mrs. Coulter in prison in the show. In the books, I believe Queen Ruta pays him a visit at Lord Asriel’s new fortress. She was Lord Asriel’s lover and her mission was more centered on Asriel.
Also, no matter how arrogant the Magisterium may be, they should realize they don’t want to piss off the witches. They are a bit powerful, I would say. But changing Ruta’s character and having her kill the Cardinal was a pretty major departure from the books. I’m guessing alot was to give Mrs. Coulter more to do.
Tron79,
‘Black Narcissus’ is based on a 1939 book by a writer called Rumer Godden. I didn’t even know there was a dramatisation of it on TV. I only know of the 1947 (made a couple of years before I joined this planet) film which starred, among others, Flora Robson and young Jean Simmons and Deborah Kerr. Kathleen Byron stole the show as the Sister Ruth going from memory. It was on YouTube at one time but I don’t know if it still is because sometimes the old films are taken down because of copyright issues. I won’t say anything about how the story unfolds because I don’t want to spoil it.
Dame of Mercia,
Thanks so much for the info. I found it on Hulu. I think it is on FX or BBC One.
Tron79,
I’ve had a look at the trailer for ‘Black Narcissus’ the TV show and see that Aisling Franciosi (Lyanna Stark) plays Sister Ruth in this version.
Also, previously I should have said ‘Sister Ruth’ not ‘the Sister Ruth’.
Dame of Mercia,
Wow! I missed that. There are quite a few GOT connections.
Pigeon,
To: Adrianacandle, Pigeon, et al.
I am reading an autobiography, and came across a passage that reminded me of my Canadian compatriots here on watchersonthewall:
“My recollection of Canadians is how kind they were to me when I had nothing and I was nobody. I’ll never forget it.”
Cyndi Lauper, “A Memoir” (2012)
In language reminiscent of Tyrion’s observations of Cousin Orson,
Anyway,
However, the Canadian customs agents were “rooting for [her]” and let her in anyway.
“Then they wished me luck and let me go. I was in love with Canada.”
🇨🇦 😉
I just saw that casting was by Nina Gold. That might explain why there are a few GOT cast mates . .
Ten Bears,
Aw, that’s rather lovely! I’ve always really liked her, she’s such a spirited person. I’m so glad that she was met with kindness. 😊❤
Tron79,
Ooh, great review of ‘Black Narcissus’! (And thanks, Dame of Mercia, for the additional information!)
Right, I think the witches’ role is kind of to make sure everything unfolds as organically as possible without external influence (which is kind of the opposite of the Church, which wants to control people’s thoughts rather than allow them to think for themselves). So there is a neutrality in that just like you’ve illustrated! (In that they’ll aid both sides, their priority is to the manifestation of prophecy).
And the Watch must stay neutral too! But I think the difference is, with the Watch’s neutrality, is that their neutrality serves a practical purpose because it avoids any quarrels or wars with the south,. This allows them to keep their focus northward (thus why Watch brothers must give up all previous allegiances and blood ties).
Right, they’ve kind of switched things up a bit and Mrs Coulter’s role is pretty expanded at this point from that in book 2, where we don’t see much of her on-page.
True! But ego clouds this kind of awareness 😉 And I don’t think the Magisterium’s goals (controlling thought and discourse) really align with the witches’ goals (prophecy to bring about free thought). So I think, no matter what, even if the Magisterium does realize how powerful the witches are, they will fight that.
Agreed.
Adrianacandle,
I finished watching Black Narcissus.
It was a limited series and only had three episodes. Lyanna Stark (Aisling Franciosi) had a huge role as Sister Ruth. I will say that Arch Maester of the Citadel (Jim Broadbent) hasn’t gotten any better at giving advice or making wise decisions as Father Roberts.
I’m still processing how I feel about the series. I’ve watched several movies/series that focused around nuns in convents and none of them have much good to say. I guess I may have liked to have seen if there was any beauty in the rituals and philosophies of the church. The church is taking quite the beating lately in shows like HDM. I have to believe that nuns do important work in communities. I like thinking about the Nuns in Sister Act. I know that’s not as much of a serious movie but it puts a loving light on the nuns. Perhaps the reality was more like Black Narcissus and HDM where repressing the parts of nature that might lead to sin is not natural and leads to worse consequences and a life of despair, self torture, and self denial. Perhaps someone out there who is Catholic may have more to say about this and how they feel about these depictions. .
There is a dedication to the memory of Diana Rigg in the final credits of episode three.
Tron79,
I did grow up Catholic but I’ve never been very religious. Rather, I’ve opted to pick and choose my own beliefs. Basically, I believe the effort to contribute in helping making others’ lives better and doing this, as best you can, is important. Of course, this has its own complexities too… Nothing’s ever easy 🙂
But you make a lot of really fascinating points about Black Narcissus and the portrayal of nuns in media. I think it would also be helpful to hear from real-life nuns, especially since their views and struggles can differ based on the individual. What might be difficult for one may not be such a big deal to another and vice versa. There must be documentaries out there — I should go find them. I think my friend K knows somebody who became a nun. I should ask her…
But you provide a lot of great material to ponder…
That’s touching to hear. It’s very sad about her passing 🙁 You know, I’ve always felt Natalie Dormer has quite a resemblance to a young Diana Rigg, which worked out so well since they were playing grandmother and granddaughter 🙂
Also, an HDM thing I’ve been pondering lately…
Odd musing, I know!! XD
Thanks so much for your comments. It gave me 10 ideas all at once! I won’t write them all, but here’s a direct GOT link. I have this problem that I’m pretty naive into thinking I just came up with a revolutionary idea, so I’m sure others have made this observation. When I read your post, I suddenly thought of Faceless Women/Men as compared to Nuns. I’m not talking about the killing aspects. I’m talking about the process nuns must go through so they put themselves out of the picture. Black Narcissus does talk about this. Nuns do not use their own names. They give up their personal clothes and belongings. Why is that? Can you say, “How can you be no one when you surround yourself with Arya Stark’s things. You wear Arya Starks clothes, etc…” That’s exactly the way the nuns were portrayed. They give up their clothes. They give up their names. They even give up mirrors so they can’t see their own FACE. It was such a taboo when a few of the nuns looked in a mirror that wasn’t covered up, and I wondered about what the big deal was at the time I saw it. Now it makes sense when I think of FM. You can’t be faceless or no one if you get distracted and see your own face in the mirror. They also made a big deal to stop using the word “I” and make sure they used “We”. I wonder if GRRM got some inspiration from this. I think the idea is that in order to totally give yourself to a life of serving others, you must become “no one” in a sense, so that your own personal desires are of no importance. She was no one at all. She lives her life to serve (valar dohaeris). Oh, so much of this fits really well with the FM training (other than the becoming an assasin part). I think we agree that Arya could never become the “no one” nun, but perhaps she could become the Warrior Nun of the other series 🙂 (just to lighten up the conversation here).
I have some ideas about daemons from your comments on HDM:
Then I thought with my psychology major background that oooh, what a good opportunity to test the nature vs nurture argument. Perhaps the daemon comes out as a cute owl, but after a rough childhood it settles as an alligator with lots of armor. Oh so many possibilities for a research study. But unfortunately, we don’t live in Lyra’s world, and we can’t do the observations! I’ll stop there for now.
Tron79,
The nuns in Black Narcissus were Anglican nuns rather than Catholic nuns though Rumer Godden who wrote the source novel became a Catholic in later life. Like Adriana I had a Catholic upbringing – well I still am Catholic though we are excused the Sunday church service in the pandemic. My secondary school was a convent school where we sometimes had end of term films (which had to be about something that the powers that be at the school thought fitting). One film was a tear-jerker about a boy who stole from one of the charity boxes in the local Catholic church to help feed his dog because of poverty. I remember as kids we laughed because the name of the writer of the source story was Phyllis Bottome. I looked up the name of the writer – it seems her husband was a spy at one time and she also ran a school for troublesome boys in the Austrian Tyrol at one time. One of her pupils went on to be a writer himself and went on to write about a (now) well-known fictional spy. https://www.radiotimes.com/news/2016-12-10/could-this-woman-have-invented-james-bond/ I don’t want to diverge too much from the subject of the thread.
Rumer Godden who wrote Black Narcissus had quite an interesting life herself but people can look on Wikipedia if they want to know more. I found a link to the 1947 version of Black Narcissus if anyone wants to compare it with the modern adaptation. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3yqueHBlUdM&t=7s
Getting back on track with the title of the thread John Bradley (Samwell) is scheduled to appear in a show about the late British comedian Les Dawson (who I don’t think is well if at all known outside the septic isle). https://www.thesun.co.uk/tvandshowbiz/12865795/john-bradley-unrecognisable-as-late-comedian-les/
Thanks for sharing your background. I am not well versed in the differences between the Anglican and Catholic churches. I just googled it some. I may check out the youtube link, and the woman who may have invented James Bond!
I’ll check out John Bradley. I enjoy searching for tv/movies that include GOT actors. I can get on a kick and find everything done by a particular actor and then move on to the next. The Roku makes this a little easier by putting in an actor’s name and all of their available movies/tv show up in the list. I was searching for Lena Headey movies, and she was in some bad movies.. I took a chance on the 2019 Fighting with My Family. She had a bizarre role of the wife of a wrestling family, but she was very good! I couldn’t give Pride and Prejudice and Zombies a chance though, sorry… She might have been great in it, but geez! I think an actress of her caliber deserves a major role in a movie that doesn’t include vampires, big foot, wrestlers, space aliens, zombies, or swamp creatures. I think that should be on her ryder.
Tron79,
”…That’s exactly the way the nuns were portrayed. They give up their clothes. They give up their names. They even give up mirrors so they can’t see their own FACE. It was such a taboo when a few of the nuns looked in a mirror that wasn’t covered up, and I wondered about what the big deal was at the time I saw it. Now it makes sense when I think of FM. You can’t be faceless or no one if you get distracted and see your own face in the mirror…”
• FM avoiding or foregoing mirrors is reminding me of the cheesy fanfic “makeover” scenario I had pictured before S7 aired. I may look for it and repost it…
• Seriously though, I wondered about the whole “mirror” theme while watching the imagery during the visit backstage to put the “Gift” drops in Lady Crane’s goblet or flask:
I thought Mercy (Arya) caught a glimpse of her own reflection in a cracked or hazy mirror…
I’m not sure if that triggered something inside her. Lemme go find that scene and rewatch it. (I thought the hazy or smudged reflection in the mirror was a deliberate cinematic devise; maybe it was incidental.)
I like your thoughts and interpretations! I now wonder if the lack of “self-reflection” in losing one’s individual identity to become “no one,” was signified by the FM’s avoidance of mirrors…
Getting back to “checking in” on GoT cast members, allow me to mention a few of the many talented actors who appeared on the show, even if in only a few episodes in one or two seasons, or in the “guest actor” category (one or two episodes).
• First up: Noah Taylor, who played Locke (in 8 episodes, according to IMdB), the Bolton spy who infiltrated the NW and pretended to befriend Jon. I did not even recognize it was Noah Taylor at first.
I was used to seeing him play the loyal scientist sidekick type, e.g., Dr. Carter in “Edge of Tomorrow” (2014) alongside Emily Blunt, and Lara Croft’s trusted aid “Bryce” in the 2001 & 2003 “Tomb Raider” movies.
I also remembered him as the virtual “Tech Support” guy in the lucid dreaming program in “Vanilla Sky” (2001).
Apparently he’s been in a ton of other films and TV shows, most of which I haven’t seen, including the movie “Almost Famous” (2000) as Dick Roswell; the series “Peaky Blinders” as “Derby Sabini,” in both “Preacher” (2017-2019) and “Max” (2001) as Adolph Hitler; and as the young David Helfgott in the movie “Shine.”
I really liked Noah Taylor’s portrayal of Locke, inducing Jon to consider him a kindred spirit, and nearly succeeding in his mission to track down and return Bran – before Warged Hodor snapped his neck. (Or was it Summer who tore out his throat?)
I also enjoyed his portrayal of the scientist
/inventor in “Edge of Tomorrow” – which also featured Ser Dontos (Tony Way) and maybe couple of other GoT alumni if I’m not mistaken.
——-
Next Up: Burn Gorman as GoT’s Karl Tanner, better known as “the Fooking Legend of Gin Alley.”
Ten Bears,
I had mentioned awhile back that Burn Gorman recently played a nasty character (who was again good with a knife) in Enola Holmes.
I’m sure Noah Taylor is a very good actor, but that Locke character makes my blood boil. But his crew was good at singing that bear and the maiden fair song.
Tron79,
There may be some overlap, but here are two scenes with Noah Taylor in “Edge of Tomorrow” (2014), a movie I really liked:
• Noah Taylor (as Dr. Carter) at 3:56 of this 4:56 long clip
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ibo5pAbhvc
• Noah Taylor (as Dr. Carter), Emily Blunt (as Rita, “the Angel of Verdun”) and Tom Cruise (as Cage).* 4:08 long clip
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=od98NrZPe3s
* Spoiler Alert/GoT Comparison
Tron79,
Wow, I’ve never heard of this kind of take or comparison between the FM and nuns! I guess — yeah, while I think this would extend to all orders requiring individuals to give up their identities to become part of the collective, the FM is about literally giving up everything that makes you you (like your face) to become no one and anyone at the same time in becoming part of that collective and serving a higher purpose.
HDM:
Oh good! I’m glad you’ve wondered about this too!!
These are pretty great musings, Tron! I had contemplated if the parent’s deamon gave birth to the child’s daemon (in this case, would that be Lord Asriel’s daemon, Stelmaria, the snow leopard, giving birth to Pan? As it seems when you’re female, you get a male daemon — ie. Mrs Coulter’s Golden Monkey and Lyra’s Pan — but when you’re male, you get a female daemon — ie. Lee Scoresby’s Hester and Asriel’s Stelmaria).
If so, it’d be an interesting way of involving both genders in the actual birth of a child since the human and daemon sort of make up one individual.
And yes, re: experiences. I had wondered if that had an impact on a daemon’s final form too? I’ve noticed quite a few Magisterium officials have insects and snake-like creatures as their daemons.
(And again, thank-you for providing that additional info on nuns, Dame of Mercia!)
Adrianacandle,
What a great thought about the daemons..
But there is a catch. What if the father can’t be with the mother during the birth. You can’t have a separated daemon like that. Perhaps the baby dies, and this forces the fathers to be part of the family. Or perhaps they become like the witch’s daemons and can be farther apart. Or, they need to search for their daemon and bio dad, and when finally reunited the lost part in themselves is finally filled. Lots to think about. I’m in the middle of creating the world for my story, so I am thinking similar thoughts about the repercussions of my “world” decisions and how that affects the characters. The main problem I have is the story itself isn’t going anywhere yet. However, I did figure out that the girl Zara will be an expert using “stereo clacker” toys in her room.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EC3OEFtmt40
Tron79,
”What a great thought about the daemons..”
Does this have anything to do with that Mailer Daemon guy who keeps kicking back my emails?
(J/K)
I always wondered where that term came from. Here’s a quote “We fancifully began to use the word daemon to describe background processes which worked tirelessly to perform system chores.” The daemon spelling comes from the Greek use of the word, and it refers to a general spirit and not necessarily an evil being”
Happy Thanksgiving!!
Tron79,
”…that Locke character makes my blood boil. But his crew was good at singing that bear and the maiden fair song.”
—-
Check out this crew:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YgYTR727jJI
When I heard the spoken word “dialogue” at the beginning, my brain supplied an additional line…
BBK: “I don’t know!”
CL: “Don’t you have a map?”
—-
Very nice.
Here’s a treat for you regarding Noah Taylor. I’m not sure if he’s serious about this art, but it does have a Nun in one of them, so it ties together nicely with my other thread. As someone in this video says, “There is a simplicity..directness… in his work”….
I read he’s a musician too, but I haven’t found a music video of his yet.
Ten Bears,
Nice musical interlude, and nice map reference.
Here’s a treat for you regarding Noah Taylor. It does have a Nun in one of them, so it ties together nicely with my other thread. As someone in this video says, “There is a simplicity..directness… in his work”….
Tron79,
”Happy Thanksgiving!!”
Happy Thanksgiving back to you and everyone else!
“Thank U” – Alanis Morissette
(live, New York, 1999)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXn8naS6Zuo
………
Tron79,
Oh, that’s a very very good point — and come to think of it, I don’t think Asriel was present at Lyra’s birth. I’m certain he wasn’t. However, Lyra’s connection with her daemon seems like everyone else’s (who isn’t a witch, who are separated from their daemons): she can’t go far from Pan or it hurts, she’s not feeling as if she’s missing a piece of herself, it didn’t force Asriel into her life (he only entered her life when Lyra was about 6 months old and Mr Coulter found out about her and came for blood, whereupon Asriel rescued her and shot Mr Coulter). Also, Lyra lived her life believing her parents died in an accident.
So maybe… it is, as you suggested, the mother’s (male) daemon bringing the child’s daemon into the world or the child’s daemon is born with the child but does not have a form. Maybe like a ball of light?
Indeed, lots to think about!
Ahhh! I’ve never heard of stereo clackers before! They remind me of the Skip-It (I had this version — and to connect to our previous discussion, a nun makes an appearance ;D)!
But once you figure this stuff out, I’d love to hear more!
Also, happy Thanksgiving to the Americans on this board! Ten Bears, Tron, and all others!
Adrianacandle,
Thanks Adrianacandle. It was a nice Thanksgiving, even though quite a bit different than usual since it had a “ZOOM” aspect. My daughter who I told you about just about had a meltdown because she objected to having people watch us while we eat. She said it was very creepy (over zoom). We explained it was just our family and they were going to be eating too. We have had other Zoom meals, so I’m not sure why she had such a strong reaction this time. We had a ZOOM Passover Seder, but I was running the service on that one and everyone on ZOOM was following the service. Perhaps that didn’t seem as odd. And we had my son’s birthday where others joined us, but they were eating the same birthday cake with us. Perhaps she was thinking of our larger extended family being there watching.
To stay on topic of this thread, has anyone seen Kit Harrington in the Netflix Criminal series? I think this is just in the UK, because I don’t see it on my Netflix in the US. I may be able to view it in the US with a VPN.
and regarding your skip-it
So I was thinking the character in my story would use the Klackers as a weapon somehow, and I just discovered that the klacker balls come from an actual weapon the Bolas. Here’s a quote from something online about them.
“Bola, also called Bolas, (Spanish: “balls”; from boleadoras), South American Indian weapon, primarily used for hunting, consisting of stone balls, usually in a group of three, attached to long, slender ropes. In hunting rhea, guanaco, and other animals in open country, the bola is whirled like a sling, then thrown parallel to the ground to entwine the quarry’s legs. Bolas were also used by the gauchos of Argentina and Uruguay to catch cattle.”
The “Miracle Klackers” did have a problem with exploding! But the commercial I sent you said they had new and improved “non exploding” miracle klackers.
As of now, I may have to be a gardner. I’m having trouble thinking of exactly how the story is going to go. I may need to just jump in with what I have so far and see what happens… That sounds like I might be headed into GRRM’s world of never finishing, but we shall see…
Tron79,
Yeah, perhaps it’s that unfamiliar aspect. I have a bit of a problem eating in front of other people so I think I sympathize in a kind of indirect way. And when I’m with people I don’t know so well, I take a lot longer because I’m so self-conscious and aware.
So thankful for Skip the Dishes!
But I’m glad that it sounds like the meltdown was curtailed and that you had a nice Thanksgiving! Doing things on Zoom (like Thanksgiving, baby showers, weddings…) does feel weird — makes me realize how much I took for granted once.
My on-topic contribution! I was watching Outlander and Diana Rigg made a sort-of appearance!
I think Klackers as weapons is a GREAT idea! I mean, they did seem a bit loud and forceful just from that commercial alone XD I’d definitely be able to believe they could do some serious damage 😉
As for your story, my suggestion would be letting some ideas roll around in your head for a while? Epiphanies and ideas can happen at the most random of times, triggered by just about anything! For me, I find trouble happens when I try to force the idea because then it’s like overworking watercolor instead of letting it flow.
That probably doesn’t provide much help but I feel you there. Being stuck like that is really frustrating.
Tron79,
“…but that Locke character makes my blood boil.”
He was a great villain, wasn’t he? House Bolton consistently produced or employed the best bad guys on the Game of Thrones screen. After we’re told (and told, and told) that “taking the Black” is a lifetime commitment, that it cannot be undone, that desertion from the NW means death, then in saunters Locke, apparently intending to join the Nights’ Watch as a ruse and then desert. Deliciously, his first trip Beyond The Wall ends disastrously for him.
Locke exists only in the show, not the books. I find it interesting how, in adapting a book series with ~1,000 named characters (!), D&D saw fit to invent a few more. In addition to doing what we’ve already said, Locke performs the important function of cutting off Jaime’s right hand. In the books, this is done on the orders of Vargo Hoat, a prancing, lisping anti-gay stereotype who is best forgotten — and was, by D&D.
Locke is another reason to love the television adaptation as an improvement on the books.
While I don’t think I can agree with this last statement (the television adaptation as an improvement on the books, I think each have their strengths and weaknesses), I suspect Locke was largely set-up and invented for the sake of a Night’s Watch storyline in season 4 and giving book 4’s characters something to do since three of the main characters (Tyrion, Jon, and Dany) are absent from book 4 (AFFC). Particularly since this storyline would not have worked with the book’s Brave Companions mercenary group.
As a result, much of J/D/T’s associated storylines are missing from AFFC. Considering AFFC and ADWD are two halves of the same book and it’d make sense the show would not want to go for a season without three of its main characters, some stories had to be invented for the sake for season 4. Where Tyrion, Jon, and Dany only appear in ADWD, other characters like Sansa and Cersei only appear in AFFC. A very awkward adaptational challenge…
Adrianacandle,
Typo!
*I suspect Locke was largely set-up and invented for the sake of a Night’s Watch storyline in season 4 and giving *book 5’s characters something to do since three of the main characters (Tyrion, Jon, and Dany) are absent from book 4 (AFFC)
Tron79,
”My daughter who I told you about just about had a meltdown because she objected to having people watch us while we eat. She said it was very creepy (over zoom)….”
Ha!!!! I feel the same way as your daughter!
I don’t know why I am so reluctant to communicate with my family and friends via Skype and Facetime, when I’d have no problem sitting across a table from them in person.
Why is that???
Adrianacandle,
”Doing things on Zoom (like Thanksgiving, baby showers, weddings…) does feel weird — makes me realize how much I took for granted once.”
I hear ya! If this sh*tshow ever ends and the world returns to normal I will savor every minute of simple, communal experiences I once took for granted…like at the end of the working day, meeting up at the club at the end of the street [cue Elton John song]; driving down to Miami Beach on a Friday night to the inverted rocket-shaped Delano hotel for champagne and canoodling; going to concerts and movie theaters; making special trips to New York to see Broadway shows; flying cross-country to visit old friends; and spending the holidays with my family.
I’ve always said that like pet birds, human beings are flock creatures: We can survive, but not thrive, in cages.
[I’ll leave it up to another commenter to make a connection to S1 Sandor saving Sansa and telling someone to tend to her cut and then put the little bird back in her cage.]
Tensor the Mage, Still Loving the Ending,
”He [Locke] was a great villain, wasn’t he? House Bolton consistently produced or employed the best bad guys on the Game of Thrones screen. After we’re told (and told, and told) that “taking the Black” is a lifetime commitment, that it cannot be undone, that desertion from the NW means death, then in saunters Locke, apparently intending to join the Nights’ Watch as a ruse and then desert. Deliciously, his first trip Beyond The Wall ends disastrously for him.”
For sure! I liked how Locke ingratiated himself with Jon, and then proved his bona fides by volunteering for the mission to root out the mutineers at Craster’s Keep.
As a pre-books fan, I can’t say whether Locke, as a show-only creation, was an upgrade over his book! counterpart Vargo Hoat, but from the way you described Hoat as “a prancing, lisping anti-gay stereotype who is best forgotten — and was, by D&D”, it sounds like the showrunners made a good decision.
Ten Bears,
Exactly! Every week, I’d walk around Calgary’s Plus 15 system with my best friend K and go to Sunterra. When I was walking through Gulf Canada Square to meet K, where she works and where fellow-Calgarian Enharmony told me he’d go for lunch sometimes, I’d briefly wondered if we’d cross paths that day and not know it. I miss the mall, cocktails, ramen, DnD sessions that aren’t over Zoom! Oh, I even miss the family gatherings I’d groan at… (with that, I’m feeling a bit like Sansa missing her family, even the members she didn’t like so much — but a much lighter version of that with me since, uh, I’m not being held hostage by a family fighting my own family ;D Nah, just by covid fighting everyone…)
It’s true! Even though I enjoy my vampire sun-shunning cave much of the time, I’m surprised to find I miss socialization 🙁
I see it! The cage of our quarantine and the cut of anything as little as a runny nose signaling potential death for ourselves or another if covid… D:
I just find things like that really awkward. There’s always the lag time, talking overlaps with others, fidgeting with the screen….or maybe I’M just awkward. 😄
Adrianacandle,
”Exactly! Every week, I’d walk around Calgary’s Plus 15 system with my best friend K and go to Sunterra.”
I miss Calgary even though I’ve never been there, and I miss walking around Plus 15 system and going to Sunterra even though I have no idea what they are. 😬
Seriously, there are excursions I’ve been promising myself I would take (make?) for years, but never made time to do so:
– I’ve always wanted to visit Hawaii. Every time I thought about going I’d whinge that I’d have to fly cross-country from South Florida to California, and then take a flight from there to Honolulu. Who’d want to sit on planes and in airports for that long? Well now I gladly would if it’s ever safe to fly again.
– About twenty years ago I was in wine country in Northern California, and spent a long weekend lolling around on the banks of the Russian River. It was paradise! Like I’d been beamed down to another planet. I’ve always wanted to go back there But it’s quite possible that slice of paradise was consumed by this year’s wildfires. 😫
Lesson learned.
I’ve given further thought to my own question:
(“I don’t know why I am so reluctant to communicate with my family and friends via Skype and Facetime, when I’d have no problem sitting across a table from them in person.
Why is that???”)
I’ve also conducted an informal survey. (I asked my sister about it.)
Here are my tentative conclusions:
(1) The closeness of the cell phone, laptop, iPad or other device’s camera to one’s face when using Facetime, Zoom and Skype distorts one’s features, almost like a funhouse mirror effect. It’s unsettling to see oneself with outsized and contorted facial features.
(2) Also, unlike sitting across the table from someone, an image of one’s face projected from just a few inches away picks up all kinds of “details” that aren’t otherwise apparent from a few feet away.
(3) As opposed to getting oneself cleaned up, dressed up, and groomed, and traveling for an in-person visit, it’s become all too easy in isolation to let oneself go: Tee shirts, sweat pants and mumus replace nice blouses, dress shirts and jackets. One isn’t so anxious to make a visual appearance when
one does not feel presentable, and it’s too tempting to just avoid a “video feed.”
(4) Most of all: Many (most?) of us have had to forego visits to the hairdresser or barber for several months. At the same time, not going to work or not going out in public for weeks at a time makes it all to easy to skimp on daily grooming routines, e.g., shaving, hair styling, trimming and coloring.
Many ordinarily clean-shaven men now have a Grizzly Adams look going on: scraggly beard, and long unruly hair. Some women and men, without access to beauty salons, have reverted back to their natural grey hair color and texture. Some feel a bit awkward about “being seen.”
Speaking only for myself, I would not want to shock my young nieces and nephew by appearing on their monitors looking like Tyrion after his lengthy imprisonment between S8e5 and e6. Or
like Sean Connery in “The Rock” as the long (silver)-haired, bedraggled looking British spy after years in solitary confinement – before he extracted a haircut, tailored suit, and ritzy hotel room from the government officials who needed his help to infiltrate Alcatraz.*
(Few of us can be like Nicolaj C-W/Jaime Lannister and look like a sex god, rocking long stringy hair, beard and dirty rags after months in captivity. For that matter – and not to go too far off on a tangent – I always thought Jaime looked ten times better with the long hair and beard while on his journey with Brienne, than with the short haircut and clean-shaven face after he got back to KL.)
Sometimes I do not recognize myself anymore.
Maybe that’s a good thing though? In any event it makes me think twice about showing up “live” on FaceTime or Zoom.
* Gratuitous nod to recently-departed Sean Connery. I hope nobody minds. I was a big fan.
(5) The background of one’s “skype room” or bedroom can be distracting or embarrassing. Very few of us had a dedicated, tidy home office. Before the pandemic forced us to stay at home we weren’t used to broadcasting live from our bedrooms or living rooms – or converting kitchen tables to desks and dining areas into makeshift virtual classrooms for our remote-learning kids.
My current work area used to be a small dining room. It doesn’t have bookshelves or separate computer station(s). Work files are now stored in boxes, and work papers are stacked in piles on the table and on the floor. (Gods! What a ghastly sight! 🙁) I don’t have easels, white boards or bulletin boards here at home. I’m trying to make do. It’s gotten cluttered.
Broadcasting live via Skype or Zoom would reveal a hopelessly chaotic background – which would invite commentary from young family members such as:
“What are all those Post-It notes all over your window? Why are there newspapers and books strewn all over your dresser? Why do you need so many cans of spray paint?”
It’d take quite an effort to create a pristine backdrop. I don’t have green screen. (I do know that there are computer programs that enable you to superimpose “virtual” scenery behind you; obtaining and implementing that technology is not on my list of priorities.)
Have I missed anything?
Tron79,
⚠️ Musical Commentary Warning
Since you replied
While I am not a music expert,
Also, the harmonica player in one of the videos is Charlie Musselwhite, another legendary figure.
Apparently, Cyndi Lauper was able to put together a group of All-Star blues musicians to play on her Grammy-nominated album, the best-selling blues album of 2010.
I had no idea until a few days ago that she had ventured into this genre.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7WEcBngVfiE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SAZYaCIzMqI
Ten Bears,
Speaking of piano, I just got the sheet music to this arrangement of the Main Theme of The Mandalorian (starring Pedro Pascal of course). Season 2 is fun, and the theme is amazing. Here’s the youtube video of the piano arrangement I’m learning. I should be able to play it in about a month I think. It will take significant practice, but it will definitely give me something to do while hanging out more at home. Patrik Pietschmann wrote the arrangement of Ludwig Goransson’s amazing theme.
Patrik Pietschmann also wrote arrangements for “Light of the Seven”. I didn’t buy the sheet music for that one yet, but perhaps I will. I can play some of the GOT themes just from memory of listening to it (or refreshing my memory on YouTube and then I can play it), but Patrik’s arrangements are pretty awesome and more elaborate than what I can come up with on my own.
I’m replying to a few of the comments about ZOOMing during meals.
One thing that makes it a little better for us is I have a laptop cart that rolls. I was able to angle it so it had a view of all of us around the table (it’s a challenge), but no one is really that close to the camera on our end… The same can’t be said about the folks on the other end. During our Passover Seder back in March, I had to get a bit crazy with the tech, and I put a second Zoom camera with a shot above the table at an angle. And I attached a large monitor to the laptop so we could see the folks better. That was back in March… Now in November, I just use the one laptop and the cart and I don’t worry about it as much. Before the meal we met with a bunch of relatives, but I just put the cart in our family room and we were watching the football game while zooming. Again the view of us was more natural from a distance like they would be sitting in the room.
I can see how people could be self conscious. Over the summer we created “virtual choir” videos for our synagogue choir, and three in the choir decided not to do it. The common thread was that they didn’t like seeing themselves for various reasons.
It does help to do what my wife did and share the food with your Zoom mates. My son lives in town, and he was able to pickup some of the thanksgiving goodies from our porch without coming in. His wife has to quarantine after being exposed at work this past week. We did the same thing for my younger son’s birthday who is currently staying with us. My other son picked up birthday cake and party favors, so they were doing the same things on ZOOM we were doing at the house. It’s better than not seeing them at all. I think my daughter thought that the larger extended family group would be on during the meal and they wouldn’t be eating anything. I would agree that would have been weird. But the larger extended family was earlier in the day when we were just sitting around watching football, and it was just her brother and his wife on ZOOM during the food part… I get it with the looking like a mountain man. You can always use a Zoom filter to put on a pirates hat or something.
Ten Bears,
also Patrik created software that does the hypnotizing “guitar hero” effects while he’s playing… I just watched one again and it calmed my nerves. It’s really beautiful to watch. Oh, and listening again to the Mandalorian theme, I don’t think I’ll have it down in only one month. It’s going to take at least a couple months of at least an hour or more a day. It’s very hard, but luckily I can play octaves really well. He does alot of octaves and cross hands in his arrangement. Getting the rhythms right is what screws me up because I’m not that great at counting out the rhythms immediately if it’s not intuitive. I love that theme though, and Pedro is really killing it.
I really like the sound of how you had it set up. And the sharing food is a great idea! My dad’s side of the family is pretty big, and we always used to get together at my grandparents’ house at holidays. It was always a lot of everything – food, relatives, catching up, trying to escape (ha!). Now my grandparents are both gone, and we just don’t have the same dynamic (although we’d all usually get together for my grandpa’s birthday, until he passed away in April.) As much as I would not look forward to some of the aspects of the big family things (I had a pretty bad period of anxiety and depression for several years), I have been pretty nostalgic about it lately. They really were the good times. 🙂
Thanks Pigeon for being open. I know holidays can be stressful and wonderful at the same time for many. Keeping with the GOT tie ins, it’s a bit like Arya having the Hound on her list, and then removing him. “She did and she did not….” She loved him and hated him at the same time, and the same can be said for many about the big holidays.
Oh and btw, how did my wife and I become the grownups at the table? With the passage of time, it’s an odd feeling of taking on that role as relatives pass away.
So, here’s something that might give people a lift on WotW. I’m not sure if there are more holiday movies by GOT actors, but here is one by Emilia Clarke (Last Christmas).
I will say that almost all of the movie has faded from my memory other than remembering I liked it and Emilia was charming! I watched it last year
She only had a small part in GoT as a prostitute who interacted with Bronn but Elisa Lasowski played a larger role in ‘Versailles’ as the Queen of France, Louis XIV’s first wife. ‘Versailles’ was well acted though I found the increasing differences between what happened in actual history and what the writers made up frustrating. This year she’s played a small (I think) part in a French film called ‘Police’ as ‘Sonia, la femme battue’. For 2019 she has ‘Sympathy for the Devil’ and ‘Blood Machines’ to her credit though I think ‘Blood Machines’ is on Shutter – all I know about that platform is that its adverts irritate me on YouTube. (Adriana, if you read this I have started playing some YouTube videos on VCL which gets rid of the adverts). Elisa Lasowski was one of my fancasts for Yennefer in ‘The Witcher’ (though I was quite okay with Anya Chalotra playing the part). I presume that with her surname Ms Lasowski (who is French) has some Slavic or eastern Europe ancestry.
Those are my thoughts! When my parents or sister would want to go on a small road trip with me to Canmore, Banff, or another place in the Rockies, most of the time I’d refuse because I’d have to spend three hours getting ready (hair and skin preparation for the day! Trust me, I need every single second! Including 15 minutes for make-up with an additional 30 minutes to account for a margin of error in case I screw anything up, need to wipe the eyelid clean, reapply the skin care, which requires an additional 10 wait time to be sure the sunscreen has absorbed and isn’t pilling, etc etc etc.).
But now, I’d go in a heartbeat too. You’re now making me appreciate waiting around in airports for hours and hours on end… At least it ends with somewhere to go afterward!
Oh, no, that’s awful to hear about the part of the Russian River you’ve visited 🙁
Oh! Sunterra and plus 15 explanation! Sunterra is kind of a gourmet supermarket which also sells really awesome ready-to-go lunches and dinners, like fresh pasta ;; As for the plus 15 system, it’s an indoor sky (15 feet up) walkway system connecting the majority of major buildings in downtown Calgary. It enables you to get around without having to go outside 🙂
Oh man, the thing that gets me when I’m on video is that I can’t lay down on a pillow with my laptop on my chest while my chin is practically on the trackpad — it would look super unflattering ;D
And one of the advantages I found in covid quarantine is that when I have a pimple, I don’t have to worry about covering it up 😉 And I can go for four days without washing my hair! (As I have fine textured hair, this gives me a natural “sleek” look ;D) And I can let my eyebrows grow wild and free! (That’s a good visual…)
However, when I have to be on video, these things don’t really work…
Not to mention lighting! I need to get a ring light like the beauty YouTubers have! That soft yet brightening illumination… 🙂
Tron79,
I watched Last Christmas! EC was really charming! Also, looking forward to HDM tomorrow (Bella Ramsey definitely comes back in 2×03 and I’m hoping there’s a reappearance in 2×04!)
Also, your Zoom set-up sounds amazing :O
Oh good! Do you download YT videos to watch on VLC? I’ve recently been watching Cheers on my VLC player… 🙂
And thanks for the info about parts actors who have played minor roles in GoT! Sometimes I see a face and when I can’t place it, it’s torment… X_X
I think Elisa Lasowski would be a good choice for Yennefer but I do really like Anya Chalotra in the part 🙂
It was on the news today that David Prowse (the original Darth Vader) has died. I know that’s not GoT related but this website is visited by some Star Wars fans. https://news.sky.com/story/david-prowse-darth-vader-actor-and-green-cross-code-man-dies-aged-85-12145735 In the UK at one time he was the Green Cross Code Man (associated with encouraging children to be careful crossing the road etc).
To get back on track Esme* Bianco (Ros) has been playing Eliza/Jane Chatwin on ‘The Magicians’ which I haven’t seen.
* I don’t know how to type an acute accent on this site.
Ten Bears,
What you were saying about Hawaii, I did just that in the summer of 2019. My mom and I got on a plane from South Florida, flew to California, then immediately after got on a plane to the Big Island. Over the ten days, we saw that island and the remaining three major islands in a westward order: Maui, Oahu, and Kauai. After all that, we flew back California, spent a few days there with family, then flew back to Florida. So, was the flight and cost worth it? Yes. The flight time in particular is a minor nusisance compared to the wonders that
are in store for you on that archipelago.
EDIT: Besides, the flight gave me plenty of time to sit back, relax, and rewatch GoT S8 on my pad 😁
Dame of Mercia,
Although I am not familiar with the Marvel multiverse and have not watched any of the recent Avengers movies, I came upon a recent EW article about an upcoming series called “WandaVision” starring Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany as their Avengers characters – somehow transplanted into a 1950’s or 1960’s sitcom setting.
(Don’t ask me to explain it I have no idea what the premise is.)
Here is the trailer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sj9J2ecsSpo
I am mentioning “WandaVision” here because I noticed that the series director is Matt Shankman (sp?) – the director of Game of Thrones S7e4, “Spoils of War” aka “Field of Fire 2.0.”
For whatever criticisms there were about S7 and S8, I think most of the fandom agreed that this episode was edge-of-your-seat exciting, and commended the director for a job well done. At least I did.
Plus, it had a bunch of memorable visuals, including
Adrianacandle,
my GOT link to this post is that I did re-watch Emilia Clarke in Last Christmas yesterday. I really didn’t remember any of it other than her elf shoes! I thought it was a lovely movie.
This is unrelated and more to do with writing.. I started listening to Stephen King’s book on writing. Ten Bears may have talked about his book in a previous post. I guess part of me wanting to write is because of reading so much about GRRM writing word by word, letter by letter…. Perhaps I wanted to relate…
anyway…. thanks for helping me practice writing some here, but I’m totally out of my league, so I have no misconceptions that this will turn out good at all. It might just be therapeutic. We shall see….
I rewatched HDM episode 2 today already and I’m highly looking forward to tonight’s episode. Dafne Keen is still being very subtle in her delivery. I noticed that even more the second time. She talks so softly and matter of factly…It’s a bit odd. I do like that she runs everywhere like a child would do, but it’s really bugging me that she looks older. A younger child would run like she does…Anyhooo. I will try to not let that bother me!!
Adriana, I use VCL with YouTube by copying the URL of the video I want to watch and then pasting it in the appropriate place in VCL.
Today I looked what Indira Varma has been up to. She was going to be in a theatre play with Emilia Clark earlier this year but the pandemic knocked that on the head. I haven’t seen any of these but she’s been in a film called ‘The One and Only Ivan’ playing Dr Maya Wilson. She’s been a voiceover artist in a revival of a satirical puppet show called ‘Spitting Image’ (I definitely won’t be watching that – I hated it in its first incarnation). She’s played a character called Grace in something called ‘Faith Healer’ and played a character called Safiya Masry in a TV series called ‘For Life’. As I say I can’t report on any of those shows as I’ve not seen them.
I have to say, the loot train battle is easily one of my top 5 scenes/parts/battles (or whatever you want to call it) of the entire series. I’m not an easily excitable person, but holy moly…
Me: “Whoo go Bronn! Yes!”
Me: ” Wait, no. MISS THE DRAGON, BRONN, I SWEAR TO GOD….”
Me: “Oh whew. Oof. Wow.”
Me: “Pfft, what the hell, Jaime you dumbass, I hope Drogon roasts y….”
Me: “AUGH DROGON DON’T KILL JAIME!!!”
*eye twitching intensifies*
My loyalties were so divided. It was so well done (pun intended).
I’ve accepted that a double chin may be unavoidable when on video conferencing, but the Jabba the Hut resemblance while in the position you mentioned is not my finest. 😆
I definitely feel that, for sure. Being the adult in a situation is weird when you realize how things have changed.
I meant to see Last Christmas and never did, I definitely will look for it! I like Henry Golding too, so it may work it’s way in through my “not a fan of Christmas movies” barrier. 😄
But it’s it such a comfy position??? XD The laptop, so warm upon my chest, the trackpad… well, that’s not so comfy for my chin ;D But thanks to my laziness, it’s not a deal-breaker.
Yet, when I’m video chatting, I have to actually sit up and that’s too big an ask.
Tron79,
Now is the season when my dad refuses to watch anything but Christmas movies (…sigh… Although, the atrocious A Christmas Prince trilogy on Netflix is delightful. It’s so awful, it’s good). I’ll have to suggest Last Christmas.
Or your first story might end up being a hit! It’s so hard to know! But I agree, hearing about Stephen King being rejected and rejected before he made it was a big comfort to me too. And sometimes, if I’m not feeling particularly confident about something, I’ll soothe myself with the thought, “Nobody’s going to watch this anyway!” 😉
Your story sounds fascinating. If this were a blurb on Netflix, I’d be watching it right away so I think you’ve got a strong premise! And there’s a ton to explore with that. Stuff I’ve tried touching on in my own work as well.
You should be seeing Bella Ramsey in tonight’s episode!!
Yeah, I agree about Dafne Keen. Sometimes, I have push the thought out of my head because I enjoy so much about the show that I don’t want to let that bring me down. But it does get to me sometimes. She just looks like the teenager she is to me…
Anyway, I think the episode you’ll be watching tonight is good! Lots to look forward to! I quite like the actress who plays Mary Malone, she’s really drawing me into that storyline. What do you think?
Thanks, Dame of Mercia! I had no idea you could do that with VLC!
Adrianacandle,
Yes I did really like Mary Malone
Tron79,
“My GOT link to this post is that I did re-watch Emilia Clarke in Last Christmas yesterday. I really didn’t remember any of it other than her elf shoes! I thought it was a lovely movie.”
• I’ve got a confession. “Last Christmas” with Emilia Clarke was on HBO last night. I was going to record it to watch after I finished doing work – or avoiding doing work by fiddling around making mini LED light bouys to launch into the Intracoastal Waterway.
Anyway, I peaked at online reviews to find out what “Last Christmas” was about. From the online plot synopsis
So I did not watch or record “Last Christmas.” 😣
”This is unrelated and more to do with writing.. I started listening to Stephen King’s book on writing. Ten Bears may have talked about his book in a previous post.”
It’s been a while since I read “On Writing.” What I remember most is that Stephen King stressed the importance of a good editor to eliminate
wasted words and extraneous details, and to restrain the author from becoming enamored with his own rhetorical flourishes. (As a general rule for writers, he says [something like] the first draft is for yourself and the next draft for the reader.)
I believe he does give illustrations of how his editor would pare down long-winded passages to get rid of colorful but unnecessary “window dressing”that pumped up the page count but impeded the story. (Big G, are ya listening?)
• I really, really like the premise for your story! I look forward to reading it when it’s done!
Speaking of editing, my ailing phone is freezing up again. Gotta go burn some balsa on the balcony. 🔥
Ten Bears,
Thanks for saying you liked the premise.
You are correct with the spoiler for Last Christmas. I will say it will not win any awards for the best movie of all time. I just enjoyed watching Emilia in a much less formal/serious role. I liked her relationship with the Asian woman who owned the Christmas shop that was filled with tacky but fun gifts.
I don’t know if she has any current projects but for 2020 I have found that Lady Stark Senior (Michelle Fairley) appeared in a short film “Max” and a TV series “Gangs of London” where she played the wife/mother of members of a crime family. (Obviously she was the wife to a different member to the ones to whom she was a mother).
Tron79:
I did! But I don’t think it’s an Apple in the books, is it? I think it’s just described as a generic computer.
However, if the use of an Apple was deliberate, it’d make sense given the New Eve prophecy.
Judging by the landscape and the bench, I’m sure it was Mary Malone’s world. The other world, the one with the spectres, has far less greenery and looks a lot more like an ancient, crumbling city.
Yeah, I remember commentary about the direwolves posing a problem due to their size and how hard it is to realistically render fur. However, it might be a different case with HDM. They already have to give most of the cast a talking animal to represent that characters’ daemon so it seems like they’d be better up to the challenge.
Adrianacandle,
HDM reactions…
Yes, Bella Ramsay was in episode 3, but she only had two or three lines and Paolo wasn’t with her (I like watching Angelica and Paolo together). I’m sure Bella will be back with a nastier streak …
So, I have some other reactions, most not so positive… Perhaps now that I come at this as a book reader, I get disappointed more with the showrunners’ decisions than I would have if I didn’t know any better.
On another subject, the show skipped the part about Lyra getting upset that she gave away Will. In the book she was extremely guilty about letting it slip that Will was with her. It had to do with being guilty about her friend Roger. It’s weird, because early on she does mention that she wants to be loyal to Will because she wasn’t loyal to Roger. And then, she doesn’t mention it at all during the bench scene. She just says people are coming after Will (which he already knew he wasn’t safe).
Again the CAVE was foreshadowing Mary’s future role in book 3 as it showed a serpent picture…
I watched some reviews of HDM on YouTube, and one person didn’t like the casting of Lin-Manuel Miranda as Lee Scoresby. She liked the movie’s take on it with Sam Elliot as the old crusty cowboy. I quite like Lin-Manuel in the role. It’s more believable to me that he sees her as the daughter he wants to protect. When I saw Sam Elliot, he was very one note to me. He played the same cowboy he played in every other TV show. I thought Hester was a better pairing with Lin-Manuel, and I loved his scenes with Dafne Keen. Again I look forward to season 3. I hope they get a season 3!! These season 2 episodes are almost all setup material for what will happen later.
So far the other changes from the book don’t seem to matter much. I think alot was to give Mrs. Coulter more to do. I didn’t see much point in the story for Mrs. Coulter and Lee Scorseby to get together in prison. Destroying the Witch’s homeland didn’t seem to have much point either since they are still on the same mission as the books (to help Lyra fulfill the prophesy).
I usually do rewatch the episode at some point this week, and I often pickup other things I missed the first time.
My favorite scene was Lyra and Will in the movie theater watching Paddington Bear. I loved Lyra’s description of popcorn as wood shavings, but she couldn’t’ stop eating it anyway (or however she said it). I am getting a bit annoyed with Amir Wilson. Every line seems to be delivered with the same inflections… Perhaps Dafne is growing on me some with her odd inflections, but Amir’s take on Will doesn’t seem real. I can tell he’s acting, which isn’t a good thing.
Sorry for all the negatives. I am still quite enjoying watching the series, but in the back of my mind I’m wondering if they will get to produce a season 3. These episodes in season 2 may not be exciting enough for the average viewer who doesn’t know where it’s all leading. It seems a bit like they are just going through the motions to get to the end game, but we may never get to see the endgame if it doesn’t have big enough ratings. And the endgame of season 3 is ten times as difficult to produce than season 2 (in regards to special effects). I am sure when Lee gives his life for Lyra, I will be heartbroken, but I’m not sure if that’s going to be enough action for most people. Next week should definitely have some action with Will fighting for the knife and losing a few fingers
Pigeon,
My loyalties were so divided. It was so well done (pun intended).
Same here. When Bronn revealed the cart-mounted ballista (‘scorpion’) and aimed it at Drogon, my heart just froze. At that point in the story, Dany was still the Heroine, and while Bronn was now a thieving mercenary, I still liked the character.
This fire-fight was also a good foreshadowing of the eventual fate of King’s Landing in “The Bells,” and of the ultimate fates of several characters. Both assaults, while dragon-riding spectacles, are entirely pointless; Lord ‘Turncloak’ Tarly had already informed us the looted gold has been sequestered inside the city. In both, Lannister soldiers get cooked alive by the screenful. Like Cersei later, the treacherous Lord Tarly dies at the end of the battle, along with a relative (his son) who could have been spared, but died due to his needless participation. Dany’s over-use of dragon fire comes back to hurt her in both cases; Samwell ‘avenges’ his brother’s death by telling Jon of his true identity.
And, of course, in both cases, Bronn survives to the very end, doing better than he ever has. 🙂
Tron79,
Yes. For me, I thought anything was something. I knew Angelica wasn’t going to be a major role so I was just pleased to see her. However, I do expect
I agree about Lord Boreal and when you watch next week’s episode, I have a few more comments about that in which his character felt… too much. And I’m wondering if it’s because they’re trying to add meat to Mrs Coulter’s part in this segment of the story.
I also agree about how the show glossed over Lyra’s upset over giving away Will.
I’m one of those who prefers Sam Elliot. That’s not to take away anything from Lin-Manuel at all though! I do like HDM’s Hester quite a lot and how they interact 🙂
Yeah, good point. Season 2 feels somewhat like Two Towers from LoTR. Two Towers did drag on a bit but it was that required set-up for the culmination of the story later on.
I agree about the Witch’s homeland! I’m wondering if the show is trying add more motivation for the witches in an upcoming attack. But I admit I enjoyed the Mrs Coulter scenes — just because she’s my favourite character, which may be why I enjoyed this episode more than you did.
She was right about popcorn, wasn’t she?? XD
Yeah. Unfortunately I’m not enamored by either actor but I’m also wondering if it’s growing pains and Amir will improve later on? Sigh. But yeah, I agree :/
I have some more thoughts — I’ll be back later!
Tron79,
I’m pretty confident they’ll get to produce a season 3. I hope.
It’s hard for me to see the series as somebody who hasn’t read the books but I will say that there are times where my attention drifts. I love seeing the Mary Malone stuff, figuring out what Dust is, and Lyra interacting with our world. I enjoy the Mrs Coulter stuff because she is my favourite and I think I’m seeing conflict between her maternal instincts for Lyra and her ruthless ambitions/goals/beliefs. Otherwise, yeah, it sort of feels like a bunch of set-up (the “calm before the storm” but a season-long calm) before the fireworks happen.
And you make a good point about special effects. There are some scenes (like with the Metatron, the angels, the dimension where Roger is) that will be very SFX heavy. Scenes that are certainly otherworldly in a way we haven’t seen on the show before. Scenes that are very conceptual and work well with text — like Mrs Coulter and Asriel falling through the abyss with the Metatron. I’m not sure how well I can visualize those on screen though…
Adrianacandle,
I want to reply to HDM but to add something to this thread has anyone seen Sophie Turner In her Survive steaming series? It looks interesting with 12 short 8 to 10 minute episodes. I’m not sure where it’s streaming. Has anyone seen it? I saw she received some good reviews. I felt really bad for her after the box office X Man bomb. I don’t think it was her fault.
HDM…
I think I feel a lack of tension in the show this season. I’m not worrying about the children being separated from their daemons like I was in season 1. I was with Lyra trying to rescue Roger. Part of it is that Lyra is trying to figure out her purpose. First she thinks she should find out about dust and then the alethiometer tells her to stop worrying about dust and just help Will. I don’t really feel that Lyra and Will are in danger enough for TV. So far Cittagazze isn’t that bad of a place. Yes they get chased from time to time but then they are safe again in their Cozy cafe. And they even get to go to the movies in Will’s world. I certainly hope that when the children turn on them it will feel much more menacing. Will won’t be old enough (according to the show) to be attacked by a Spectors so I’m not worried about spectors. And they haven’t really shown the spectors attack much.
So I really hope people will keep watching because I would love to see what they can do with season 3.
I do love the music. Dafne is growing on me a bit.
I think they should be making more of a big deal about the repression caused by the magisterium. I think that is more at the heart of the story.
Anyway thanks for listening. I wrote more of my story today and I even like what I wrote so far. We shall see about tomorrow.
Tensor the Mage, Still Loving the Ending,
” And, of course, in both cases, Bronn survives to the very end, doing better than he ever has. 🙂”
Come to think of it, was there any other character who didn’t only survive to the end, but completed such a dramatic upward trajectory from where he started?
With five fateful words in S1 Bronn took a gamble that paid off handsomely by the end.
(S1, Bronn volunteers to fight as Tyrion’s champion): “I’ll stand for the dwarf!”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3lFrjaLVFY
at 5:26
For all of LF’s blather about climbing ladders of opportunity amidst chaos, Bronn got it done. He wound up on top of the world (albeit without his highborn wife or his sweetheart Tyene).
Littlefinger? He wound up with his neck sliced open like a pithed frog in a biology class.
Tron79,
Oh! I hadn’t heard of this new series! I’ll keep it in mind!
HDM…
Yeah, I think that was all show (for Lee too). That part of the scene took me a bit aback and I was like, “What??” because we don’t know anything about either character’s childhood and I certainly didn’t remember anything about Marisa being abused growing up.
However, I went hunting on Reddit and they were talking about how this was a show-addition. However, one commenter said something quite interesting: that in The Secret Commonwealth (book 2 of the Book of Dust trilogy), Mrs Coulter’s mother is set up as abusive. I haven’t read this trilogy, I’ve only skimmed some Lyra-related parts of it so far.
Yeah, you’re right. There is less tension. I suppose some comes from the fact that Lyra is being hunted but even there… These episodes, so far, seem both more exploratory (even explanatory at times) and in the realm of set-up rather than having the suspense of season 1.
Me too! So many interesting things happen in book 3 🙁
Definitely and in the show, it seems more like an afterthought. There is a battle being waged but it doesn’t receive a ton of commentary — and it’s the battle between authority trying to control thought and speech (the Magisterium) vs. free thought and speech (Dust).
Good! It sounds like progress is being made!
After some digging, I found that Sophie’s streaming series “Survive” was only available on the Quibi phone app. Unfortunately, I just saw that Quibi recently went under! I downloaded the app, but it won’t let me signup anymore…Uggg.. I really liked the trailer which is on YouTube. I’ll paste it below. It got my attention. It’s 12 episodes with 8 or 10 minutes each. Does anyone know if Quibi might make it available somehow to other streaming services? Otherwise, it will just disappear…and it looks like great work by Sophie.
I’d actually never heard of Quibi. It’s possible somebody could have saved those episodes off the app and will put them on YouTube or another platform like that. Or Quibi could have sold the episodes to another streaming service. Either way, I think it’s quite possible the episodes are still floating around somewhere 🙂
Tron79,
”After some digging, I found that Sophie’s streaming series “Survive” was only available on the Quibi phone app. Unfortunately, I just saw that Quibi recently went under! I downloaded the app, but it won’t let me signup anymore…Uggg..”
———
⚠️ Whinge Alert:
I want to take this opportunity to complain about:
(1) The expanding universe of hypermonetized digital entertainment media, with all of the subscription-required “platforms” and “streaming services.”
To watch TV shows and movies I’d want to watch, I’d have to sign up and pay for separate subscriptions to: Disney+, CBS All Access, Hulu, HBO Max (even though I already pay extra for HBO in my cable TV package via AT&T U-Verse), Peacock, Amazon Prime, Netflix, and …. [I’m sure I’m forgetting a few].
Then I’d apparently have to download an “app,” and also purchase a “Roku,” a Flux Capacitor, a USB Port Dilithium Crystal Warp Drive Adapter Cable, or some other gizmo to be able to watch these streamed shows on a TV screen. (I’m a computer Luddite so I don’t know what these accessories are or how to classify them; to me they are just another hidden cost and another headache.)
Or I’d have to retrieve some long-ago forgotten I.D. and password when I first set up the original account or device in order to activate the new one.
It’s always something.
(2) I read about the abrupt collapse of “Quibi.”
I get it that some shortsighted dweebs must have thought catering to short-attention span audiences by producing TV shows with micro-episodes of a few minutes each was a good idea.
What surprised me was that some Hollywood heavyweights and financiers plunked down millions of dollars into such a risky venture.
What’s unfair is that subscribers who signed up and paid in good faith, and newer potential customers who’d want to watch the shows, have been left out in the cold, unable to access the existing episodes or (ever) see conclusions to shows they started to watch.
Exhibit A: Your attempt to sign up to watch “Survive” with Sophie Turner.
(3) I shouldn’t get started on “free” trials that turn into exorbitant, automatic credit card charges after one or two months, and make you jump through hoops to try to opt out. Even signing up for paid subscriptions can become a nightmare:
Well, after three episodes I couldn’t access any more episodes; there was no no phone number to call for customer service or tech support. An email I sent finally yielded a reply with a new, ridiculously long temporary log in I.D. – which didn’t solve the inaccessibility problem. I have never watched beyond the first three episodes.
And yet, even after I had gotten a new credit card issued (necessitated by recurring fraudulent FedEx charges unrelated to this streaming service), the streaming service was somehow able to obtain my new credit card number and continue billing my credit card every quarter.
(4) There ought to be a law against cancelling shows midstream. I don’t care if ratings are anemic, or the studio goes under or is acquired by a media conglomerate. Whatever the reason, if
episodes have already been completed they should be accessible to the audience.
.
Anyway, it also brings to mind a hyped TV series I started watching many years ago starring a young, then-unknown Olivia Wilde in a Romeo & Juliet-type story of young lovers from rival families in present-day Los Angeles.
The first few episodes were really good – from the teenagers’ “meet cute” at a pool party, unaware of their respective last names,
to the introduction of their feuding parents.
One evening I tuned in to watch episode 4, and … nothing. Without notice or warning the network had pulled the plug on the show. A rerun of some old sitcom was airing in the time slot.
Maybe it was the show’s “controversial” subject matter. Maybe it was the ratings. Who knows. No explanation was ever given. I know there were unaired episodes remaining because their synopses and casts were already listed in TV Guide.
There ought to be a free repository, to access episodes of orphaned and cancelled TV series….
Ten Bears,
I’m sorry they never showed the end of the “Olivia Wilde in a Romeo & Juliet-type” show.
You are right on the mark about the gluttony of streaming services popping up everywhere. For me, if I see something that looks incredible like “Raised by Wolves”, I’m willing to signup and pay for it. But I’m the first to cancel once I’m done watching the show. I do think original content is the only thing that can make those services successful. But at some point, they will need to consolidate or just go under like Quibi. I actually remember getting an ad for Quibi when they first came out, but I didn’t signup for it, because I didn’t have a reason. If I would have seen an ad for Sophie Turner’s series, I probably would have signed up.
For us, we cancelled cable about a year ago and saved over $200 a month. We do have a very reasonably priced Internet package (500mbps X 135mbps for about $50 a month), so that’s where you start. Then you just keep adding more and more and you can get over your $200 a month again if you’re not careful. We did consolidate on Hulu for live TV and watching things from network TV the day after. I would say as a family, we watch Hulu 90% of the time. The interface isn’t too difficult, and my wife likes it and uses the NVR to record shows she likes (and most we can just watch the next day on Hulu anyway). We tried YouTube’s live TV but I found the interface less intuitive. When I’m on my own, I use Netflix and Amazon Prime mostly. I have on and off subscriptions to HBO Max (currently for His Dark Materials), CBS All Access (not anymore.. I had it for Picard), Disney+ (Currently have it for the family during the pandemic. The family likes disney, and I really enjoy The Mandalorian!!. Once we start getting out more, I’m sure Disney+ will be going bye bye). But it is challenging to keep track of what I’ve signed up for to make sure I cancel it after the show I liked is over.
I’m all for buying on demand. I would rather things just be available to buy per show. Amazon Prime does offer alot of shows this way. I’m happy to pay $19.95 for the season and be done with it without worrying about canceling another streaming platform.
It will be interesting to see what’s left 10 years from now. We’re in the wild west right now, and unfortunately, there will be shows that disappear…ugg
Ten Bears,
also, just to whinge a little about the flux capacitor
I use Roku as my streaming box of choice. Roku had a major update in November.
They added some nice things such as built in Airplay support (which allows me to send my iphone to the TV easily). But they messed up the lip sync in the Amazon Prime app. Most likely it’s an Amazon issue with their app not being compatible with the new Roku update. It’s just a hair off. Since I do editing sometimes as you know, it’s very noticeable to me. It’s just a couple frames off on most shows, but it’s extreley annoying to me. It does the same thing on both of my rokus. I also have an Amazon Fire stick that I got for traveling. It works great in a hotel room and I think there was a deal on it. I ended up plugging the Amazon Firestick into my TV, because the Amazon Prime App works perfectly (the lip sync is right on). Now I have to have an extra remote! It could be a conspiracy by Amazon to get you to buy their Amazon Firestick, but I think more likely it’s just something in the Roku update that causes a glitch in the Roku Amazon Prime APP. I did all of the suggested remedies that I googled for sync issues and nothing helped. And of course, it was perfectly fine before the mandatory Roku update. OK, that’s all the whinging for now….
Tron79,
“…but I think more likely it’s just something in the Roku update that causes a glitch in the Roku Amazon Prime APP. I did all of the suggested remedies that I googled for sync issues and nothing helped. And of course, it was perfectly fine before the mandatory Roku update. OK, that’s all the whinging for now…”
Oh, that reminds me of (another one of) my cynical observations about technology:
• Every time there is an “upgrade” or “improvement,” two things f*ck up.
• Whatever happened to common sense principles like “leave well enough alone” and “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”?
Tron79,
…Along the same lines, I thought you might appreciate this:
Bill Maher, “New Rules” March 2019
“Reverse Improvement”
Synopsis: “In his editorial New Rule, Bill calls on companies to stop making “upgrades” to popular products that nobody wants, needs, or likes.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jAP5gbgWom0
(6:29 long)
Yeah, upgrades are often for features no one really wants and then it blows up the reliable program that worked fine for years…
Agree with all of this! I remember realizing during Bronn’s run through the battle just how much I liked that character and didn’t want to see him die. Then of course once he had that scorpion in gear, realizing how much I didn’t want Drogon to die. Then Jaime. 😆 Gahhh….
One thing Game of Thrones was capable of was giving me a very visceral, punched-in-the-gut reaction at certain parts. That’s almost unheard of in television for me, and very few movies. When I feel that, I know it’s ranking above just “good” in my books!
Pigeon,
Ha! I was torn during Bronn’s run through the maelstrom when he dropped his bag of gold! He had his payday for what – all of five minutes?
Then again, I figured if he tried to retrieve it he’d definitely get impaled or roasted.
Oh, another part of that whole sequence I really liked (and complements to the sound editors I guess) was at the very beginning when Bronn hears or feels a faint rumbling in the distance … and then all hell breaks loose when the Dothraki cavalry comes thundering on the scene, followed by the flying nuke.
For Bronn fans, it was nice to highlight that character with the non-stop tracking treatment (whatever it’s called), like when the camera followed Jon Snow during the Battle of the Bastards, or Arya running the gauntlet through Dany’s Inferno in “The Bells.”
⚠️ 🎶 Off Topic
Throwback Thursday
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4XHUNuY7OcY
🥁
Ten Bears,
Go and sit on the naughty step. Berl Inder Carboot really gets on my nerves (well her voice does).
According to the Metro (free UK paper) Tom W (Jaqen) is going to be in the next season of Stranger Things (as is Jamie Campbell-Bower who would have been in the cancelled prequel Bloodmoon). https://metro.co.uk/2020/11/26/game-of-thrones-star-joins-the-cast-of-stranger-things-4-13660954/
Ten Bears,
Ten Bears,
TB, when I click on that I get ‘She Bop’ by Cyndi Lauper.
Oh, that’s really cool! I love Stranger Things and it’ll be great to see Jaqen’s face in the show 😉
On the topic of the song…
I really like Tom in “Crossing Lines”, a series which also has a few of my others favourites – Goran Visnjic, Donald Sutherland, and Elisabeth Mitchell.
He’s been in a lot of tv shows, more recently Das Boot and Jack Ryan.
I’d watch that man tie his shoes, to be honest. 😆
Dame of Mercia,
Oh sorry! Let me try again.
This should be the reunited Go-Go’s on 9/15/20 performing “We Got the Beat.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GNcfx2dx9_8
🎶
⚠️ Warning! Musical Interlude
Dedicated to: Stable Boy, Polliver, Rorge,
and the Waif
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hd3oqvnDKQk
“I’ve seen the Needle and the damage done
A little part of it in every one.”
– Neil Young
On-Topic: What’s Pedro Pascal Up To?
• I’ve been reading some excellent reviews of Pedro Pascal (GoT’s Oberyn Martell, the Red Viper of Dorne) in Wonder Woman 1984, in theaters and on HBO Max on December 24. For example:
https://collider.com/wonder-woman-1984-reactions-reviews/amp/
• On that note, allow me to take this opportunity to revisit what for me was one of the most epic scenes in my all-time favorite episode of Game of Thrones:
Oberyn visits Tyrion in his cell (S4e7). Although it’s 4:59 long, and takes place entirely in a darkened dungeon with no action, it’s one of those “high thread count,” dialogue-rich interpersonal scenes that made GoT such a joy to watch. Here, it’s mostly Pedro Pascal as Oberyn delivering an extended monologue, recalling meeting Tyrion long ago when Tyrion had just been born:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7n79tN6Fpw
Two moments were (and still are, upon rewatch) especially evocative for me:
(1) at 3:18 “That’s just a baby.” Oberyn ostensibly professes “disappointment” but really humanizes Tyrion: the supposed “freak” that young Oberyn had heard so much about turned out to be slightly disproportionate but otherwise normal-looking infant.
(2) at 4:52: “I will be your champion.”
Pedro Pascal’s perfect delivery of that line never gets old. *
I might also suggest that this was an example of exposition done right. I got immersed in the backstory of young Cersei & baby Tyrion, as Oberyn described his long ago trip to Casterly Rock. So too was Oberyn’s/Pedro’s emotional recounting of the fate of his sister and her children, and his quest for “justice.”
* (Damn! When he picked up that torch and said “I will be your champion” I don’t know who was more choked up: me or Tyrion.)
• I’m wondering: Was there any other relatively unknown actor who made such a big splash with the Game of Thrones fandom in such a short time as Pedro Pascal? In less than one season he made a memorable entrance and a memorable exit, with so many top notch scenes in between.
• From the enthusiastic reactions of commenters here and elsewhere, it seems that Pedro Pascal’s Oberyn Martell made us all swoon – regardless of gender or orientation. What a fantastic portrayal of an unapologetic, proud hedonist!
• Tinfoil Alert. 🚩 Just spitballing here… Is it possible that the show hyped the Sand Snakes so much before S5 because of the overwhelmingly positive reception of the character of Oberyn Martell in S4?
I remember watching featurettes and teasers of the three Sand Snakes actresses and Alexander Siddig as Doran Martell before Season 5, and assumed Oberyn’s brother and daughters would have meaty roles going forward. Instead, the showrunners wound up pulling the plug on the Dorne/Martell storyline, prematurely jettisoned Siddig, and reduced the Sand Snakes to disposable second- or third-tier characters.
• I have never watched “The Mandalorian” or “Narco.” I hear Pedro Pascal was (is) really good in those shows. I’d have to check to see what else he’s going to be in besides the new Wonder Woman movie.
P.S. Preemptive Apology: If anyone else has mentioned Pedro Pascal upthread and I missed it, sorry I didn’t scroll up and scroll through before posting this.