Game of Thrones & House of the Dragon

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Anhedionisiac
the Displeasure Principle
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Game of Thrones & House of the Dragon

#1 Post by Anhedionisiac » Sat May 07, 2011 11:11 pm

Does anybody else here watch Game of Thrones? There have only been three episodes but I'm already addicted to it

ianungstad
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Re: TV of 2011

#2 Post by ianungstad » Wed May 11, 2011 1:48 am

Game of Thrones turned out much better than I thought it would. (My hopes weren't all that high)

It's good popcorn fare but nothing all that substantial. It's also a little convoluted with it's mythology at times. (To be fair, I guess it's a pretty complex story and they have a lot of exposition they need to burn through. )

Much like a lot of other HBO shows it seems purposely gratuitous; which is a big negative. It often feels forced, like the show has to shoe in a certain amount of titillation (sex/violence) to hit some kind of quota set by HBO.

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mfunk9786
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Game of Thrones

#3 Post by mfunk9786 » Mon Mar 12, 2012 12:29 am

Were it not for Breaking Bad, it'd be pretty easy for me to conclude that Game of Thrones is the best drama on TV right now (yes, even better than Homeland). What I fully expected to be an incredibly dry bit of Lord of the Rings-ish snoozery is actually an incredibly violent and sexy romp filled to the brim with soapy intrigue, without ever losing its high-class HBO vibe (this isn't one of those goofy Spartacus shows). Like a lot of fantasy, Game of Thrones isn't bogged down with the supernatural - rather, it is only hinted at in hushed tones after a stunning series cold open [pun intended, sorry] demonstrates to the viewer what everyone's whispering about, and how high the stakes ultimately will be. You might be a little baffled by the first episode - it actually helps to read an episode review/recap of some kind (just for the pilot - you'll be rewarded for not spoiling anything further) just to get your footing with regards to who everyone is and what exactly is going on. But if you're not hooked by the end of Episode 2, well, I don't really know what you're doing wrong. But you're definitely the one at fault.

Oh, and skip streaming or piracy if you can - the Blu-ray set is absolutely stunning - the packaging, the insert, the video and audio quality, the wealth of bonus content... I can't imagine it not still being my favorite release of the year come December.


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mfunk9786
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Re: TV of 2012

#5 Post by mfunk9786 » Fri Jun 15, 2012 4:53 pm

Talk about an overreaction! This is the image seen in the episode, in case anyone's curious:

Image

In other words, who cares?!

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domino harvey
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Re: TV of 2012

#6 Post by domino harvey » Fri Jun 15, 2012 5:01 pm

I love that the producers talked about this on the commentary, which means legal already vetted everything, and it's been out on the home video market for months and now it's a big deal

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swo17
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Re: TV of 2012

#7 Post by swo17 » Fri Jun 15, 2012 5:05 pm

HBO apologizing for this just calls attention to all of the things that they have never apologized for, like, say, the existence of Sex and the City.

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mfunk9786
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Re: TV of 2012

#8 Post by mfunk9786 » Fri Jun 15, 2012 5:08 pm

What baffles me too is that it was a legitimate "these are the heads the prop guys had to use because we were short on time and it's what we were sent" thing, not a "Bush is a slaughtered king who destroyed our country, maaaaaan" thing

The "everyone is too PC these days" hardcore right wing crowd are the actual pussies (for lack of a better term), they just don't want to admit it. Just like they're the actual classists, racists, sexists, homophobics, et. al

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Mr Sausage
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Re: TV of 2012

#9 Post by Mr Sausage » Fri Jun 15, 2012 5:32 pm

These are exactly the kind of irrational actions you'd expect from people who are afraid. What, precisely, they're so afraid of I don't know, but the panic is palpable.

Now I'm off to demand a recall of every DVD copy of Halloween for using William Shatner's face as the killer's mask.

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domino harvey
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Re: TV of 2012

#10 Post by domino harvey » Fri Jun 15, 2012 5:46 pm

Just wait til the Dragon Council gets its talons in HBO, they'll be nothing left of your precious Game of Thrones


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mfunk9786
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Re: TV of 2012

#12 Post by mfunk9786 » Thu Jun 21, 2012 3:35 pm

But the Octomom porno will be out in time to fulfill all orders with no alterations made

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Alan Smithee
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Re: Game of Thrones

#13 Post by Alan Smithee » Sun May 12, 2013 1:30 am

So there's a lot of TV talk lately and I'm shocked that this thread hasn't been active in over a year. I won't single out shows but damn people are paying minute attention to shows that don't hold a candle to GOT.
Some initial things I'd say about this year is that I think that technically the show is growing by leaps and bounds. This year has seen some masterfully handled scenes, and this show is conceived in well rounded scenes that have a beginning, middle and end. With so many characters on display it can feel like a series of short films building a world.
Two scenes that have killed me so far this season were Jaime's epic monologue and the purchase of the army by Danerys.
Jaime's monologue felt as if it was one of those suspended in time monologues from a Bergman film that just takes the face into this disconnected still point and Danerys moment was entirely spoiled for me by expectation and others telling me what happened, and yet, that scene unfolded with perfect filmic precision.
I feel like the general story having built to a certain point of including fantastical elements as opposed to the almost purely medieval story lines may be hurting it among people who are just catching on. It's been such a slow build to this point that I'm afraid those just coming aboard are having their fears confirmed about a fantasy show, when they don't realize the establishment the show gone through and sparing nature in the way that it's handled.

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Polybius
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Re: Game of Thrones

#14 Post by Polybius » Thu May 30, 2013 2:40 am

Those two are among the best moments (of many) so far this season.

This is about the only show, at least for me, that compares to Justified in it's comfortable blending of dark humor and sudden, gut wrenching violence.

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Murdoch
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Re: Game of Thrones

#15 Post by Murdoch » Wed Jun 05, 2013 5:53 pm

SpoilerShow
Did anyone else's head nearly explode after the Red Wedding? Like Breaking Bad's "Crawl Space" it will likely become a moment against which I measure the rest of the series.

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jindianajonz
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Re: Game of Thrones

#16 Post by jindianajonz » Wed Jun 05, 2013 6:58 pm

Murdoch wrote:
SpoilerShow
Did anyone else's head nearly explode after the Red Wedding?
SpoilerShow
Yes, apparently they did.

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Murdoch
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Re: Game of Thrones

#17 Post by Murdoch » Thu Jun 06, 2013 6:51 pm

Seriously though, do we only have the handful of people who posted here watching? This show has far surpassed my initial expectations of a Lord of the Rings with more t and a and will easily rise to the spot of top TV drama once Breaking Bad ends.

I will admit that I can't name more than ten of the expansive list of characters and the show has a tendency to drown itself in the number of different storylines it throws at viewers, all with their own set of characters. Still, once I settled into the show and threw my hands up at ever figuring out everyone's name I found a series that may be the most sinister ever to air on television. Unlike other shows that tease the death of large characters, in Game of Thrones every character is expendable no matter how central they have become to the plot. I think the show's (and possibly the books, though I haven't read them) greatest success is it trades Tolkien's rather whimsical realm of good versus evil for a world overcome with vice and evils where every character is cloaked in nostalgia and cynicism.
SpoilerShow
I think the series picks up a great deal following the death of Ned Stark, as the surviving Stark clan is left scattered with each thinking themselves forever cut off from their family ties. Yet, I found the most compelling plot to be Theon's fall from grace, from Rob's BFF to trying a haphazard takeover of Winterfell to gain his father's affection to hapless victim of an unknown torturer. Sansa's transformation from an ingenue dreaming of a royal wedding to wading through the trenches of her fiance's tyranny and his family's cold stare has also been a highlight.

A storyline that's piqued my interest has been the developing frenemy relationship between the Hound and Arya, along with the latter's seemingly inevitable transformation into a vengeful killer. Arya being witness to her brother and mother's slaughter just as she thought herself soon to reunite with them just shows how this show likes to pour on the irony with a capital "I."
Anyway that's my mindless rambling and hope I can help Alan kickstart some conversation in this thread!

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jindianajonz
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Re: Game of Thrones

#18 Post by jindianajonz » Thu Jun 06, 2013 8:18 pm

Murdoch wrote:Seriously though, do we only have the handful of people who posted here watching? This show has far surpassed my initial expectations of a Lord of the Rings with more t and a and will easily rise to the spot of top TV drama once Breaking Bad ends.

I will admit that I can't name more than ten of the expansive list of characters and the show has a tendency to drown itself in the number of different storylines it throws at viewers, all with their own set of characters. Still, once I settled into the show and threw my hands up at ever figuring out everyone's name I found a series that may be the most sinister ever to air on television. Unlike other shows that tease the death of large characters, in Game of Thrones every character is expendable no matter how central they have become to the plot. I think the show's (and possibly the books, though I haven't read them) greatest success is it trades Tolkien's rather whimsical realm of good versus evil for a world overcome with vice and evils where every character is cloaked in nostalgia and cynicism.
I'm not actually watching it on HBO; I wait for the blu-rays. But since I've already read the books, I don't mind the spoilers from the show.

And the books are every bit as good as the show; you should definitely check them out.

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jbeall
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Re: Game of Thrones

#19 Post by jbeall » Thu Jun 06, 2013 10:49 pm

jindianajonz wrote:
Murdoch wrote:
SpoilerShow
Did anyone else's head nearly explode after the Red Wedding?
SpoilerShow
Yes, apparently they did.
Jesus, you'd think they just watched "Two Girls, One Cup" or something!

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dwk
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Re: Game of Thrones

#20 Post by dwk » Fri Jun 07, 2013 12:04 am

I'm a huge fan of the show, but I do tend to avoid discussing it for two reason:
1. I've read the books and I don't want to inadvertently spoil something for people that haven't read them. In fact, last year I gave in and read the books because I learned of a certain character's fate and decided that any future events were going to be "spoiled" that way and not from some jerk on the internet.
2. Discussing it with book readers can be annoying because a number of them really can't let the show be the show and the books be the books, so every deviation from the books becomes way to important to them. Now, adaptation choices can be an interesting topic to discuss, but not with fantasy geeks.

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Murdoch
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Re: Game of Thrones

#21 Post by Murdoch » Fri Jun 07, 2013 12:19 pm

That's true, I know a few people who follow the series and have read the books, and there's a lot of "yeah, I remember that happening in the books, but just wait till [x] happens." I'll probably wait on the books for a while, at least until after the series ends so I can distance the TV show from the source material and approach the books with a semi-fresh mind.

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GaryC
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Re: Game of Thrones

#22 Post by GaryC » Fri Jun 07, 2013 7:49 pm

I have read the novels, but as the TV series is broadcast on Sky in the UK I'm watching on disc. I haven't yet got the Series 2 Blu-ray so will be watching it that way a little later this year.

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jindianajonz
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Re: Game of Thrones

#23 Post by jindianajonz » Mon Jun 10, 2013 12:12 pm

Some interesting musings on the show from the author of "Theories of International Politics and Zombies"

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Jean-Luc Garbo
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Re: Game of Thrones

#24 Post by Jean-Luc Garbo » Thu Jun 13, 2013 2:13 pm

"Theories of International Politics and Zombies" sounds like an episode of Community that I missed.

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domino harvey
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Re: Game of Thrones

#25 Post by domino harvey » Thu Jun 27, 2013 9:10 pm

Believe the hype. I just spent the last couple days marathoning all three seasons and I don't think I've ever watched any TV series quite as addictive as this one-- Oz and the Wire come close, and all three shows share tendencies: great actors, juicy scripts, and an unsureness of the immediate future. I completely understand why so many people watch the series and then go out and read the books, because this series has the most forward momentum of any TV show I can name. That vast cast of characters and mountains of plot means there's no wasted time, everything is happening and unlike in similarly busy soap-style shows, it is important. I believe it's that sense of all lean, no fat which gives it all such a cinematic feel. It really did feel like I just watched a thirty hour movie-- and what a movie!

It's nice to finally watch one of those shows everyone loves and love it right back

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