Maedhros

Yeah it was a breath of fresh air after what has to be one of the most outright boring episodes of GoT/HotD history.

Fallout was much better than I expected. Really enjoyed it, especially the mid-season episodes. 3 Body Problem - promising start. Only watched one episode yet. Shogun - really, really looking forward to this. Probably gonna wait until I'm home alone for a weekend or something like that.

Not only anti-vax, he's also quite clearly pro-russia. Anyone voting for him instead of Biden is a loony. His backers want Trump as President. A vote for him is a vote that favours Trump over Biden.

Watched Barbie - I expected it to be overhyped, but I didn't expect it to be this bad. It's not funny, and it's not clever. Not a good combo for a film that tries to be both.

Should probably be in the "funny stuff" thread.

The naive policies of Sweden are starting to send waves of crime to their neighbours. But it's not in the character of a Swede to admit they were wrong. Ask any Norwegian or Dane. (I still love you though, Sweden).

Watched the D&D movie, which I liked more than I expected to. Fun adventure film with lots of heart. More similar to something like Princess Bride or Stardust than Lord of the Rings.

Elephant Man has been on my watchlist so for so long, pretty much the only thing I haven't seen by David Lynch yet. I really, really enjoyed Twin Peaks season 3. Far more than I believed I would. One of few films/tv-shows I really want to watch again.

Because they are the ones most deserving of criticism/disapproval. Why let them off the hook?

It baffles me that anyone's focus in this war is consistently criticising anyone but Russia.

Avatar. Way too long, with a pretty damn average script - but the stunning visuals makes it worth it.

I think rather the war in Ukraine is the reason. Turkey is more important to NATO and the EU than ever.

https://variety.com/lists/best-martin-scorsese-movies-ranked/ Controversial pick for #1, but it really is a phenomenal film.

Elrond (and his friendship with Durin) is the best part about the show I think. They nailed the "kind as summer" Elrond from the books, unlike Hugo Weaving who is nothing like the character. People like his Elrond because they like Hugo Weaving...who's just being himself. He also looks just as much an elf as bloody Hugo Weaving with his receding hairline did. --- As for the show. The hate and unreasonable criticism it's getting is so over the top. I've read all of Tolkien' writings (including the obscure stuff) a gazillion times and the feel I'm getting is that these guys know Tolkien better than Peter Jackson did. While the showmakers take liberties at times, and invent stuff left and right they kind of have to as there are so many blank spots to fill in, in the second age. The dialogue for the most part is Tolkienian (more so than PJ - "let's hunt some orc!"), and he even had so much dialogue to pick from the books. I'd rate it a decent 7/10, with the expectation that things will get even better now that they've sat things in motion. Big kudos to them that they manage so much with so little to go from, AND with big constraints put on them in terms of where these characters have to end up. I especially loved the dwarven stuff, and the orcs looked better than ever. The dialogue was at times beautiful, and some scenes were much better than they could be expected to be (like the intense back-and-forth with the two Durins).

Living standards declining in 90% of countries: https://www.dw.com/en/un-index-shows-living-standards-declining-in-90-of-countries/a-63052023 Coronavirus/war in Ukraine/global warming cited as main reasons.

Liking House of the Dragon so far (bar that action scene at the end of episode 3). It's taking its time, and laying some really good groundwork for upcoming conflicts. Kudos to the writers for being very loyal to the story by GRRM. Rings of Power I had very low expectations going into, and I'm reasonably happy with it. They clearly care about the lore, despite the weird scriptmaking decisions at times. It's just frustrating that they don't have the rights to Silmarillion, Unfinished Tales, etc. They're also gonna miss out on some key events that they don't have the rights to in the future).

@BartimaeusI quite disliked Jojo Rabbit, and feel very alone in that camp (what's up with EVERYONE loving it so much?!). It wasn't smart and it wasn't funny. Though very different, I think Death of Stalin did satire much better. In terms of Taika Waititi, I vastly preferred his Hunt for the Wilderpeople. When I think about it, I think I've just grown tired of his style of quirkiness. What We Do in the Shadows isn't as funny as it used to be either.

Seems like early reviews of the new Game of Thrones show are pretty positive. Even GRRM's assistant/helper who was very vocal in his criticism of Game of Thrones enjoyed it. Also liking the look of Rings of Power, despite being very annoyed that Bezos couldn't add a couple hundred million more to get the rights to all of Tolkien's works. Gonna be a bit weird to have a second age show based solely on what's mentioned in Lotr and its appendices, when there's so much good stuff in Silmarillion, Unfinished Tales, etc.

Everything Everywhere All at Once. Great film that I think a lot of people will miss out on sadly. Do yourself a favour and watch it.

Is episode 6 released? Can't seem to find it -- Had the same issue with Dark as @Lexx. Really enjoyed the first season.

You need a bachelor's degree to be police over here and I support that. Defunding isn't necessary, but spend all that money on education instead. -- On a complete sidenote, North-Dakota has the happiest people in the US. Kentucky the most miserable ones. According to this https://amerisleep.com/blog/happiest-states/ anyway. Anything to take from this? States up north seem to do better than states in the south. Worldwide Finland has the happiest people according to https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/happiest-countries-in-the-world - that I refuse to believe knowing Finns to be miserable bastards. Danes are far more happier in my experience.

Was home alone yesterday. Made pan fried chicken breast (@ 60 celsius, with lots and lots of butter and garlic), ramson that I picked in a nearby forest, celeriac puree and a red wine sauce. Paired with a beautiful red from my favorite aussie winemaker - By Farr. Wish I made more!

Some of the shows I've seen lately: New season of Stranger things started out nicely, but lost all suspense and nerve along the way. The first two episodes of Obi-Wan were very mediocre, as pretty much all Star Wars content after Empire Strikes Back. Waste of potential as usual. Barry season 3 is great, and a true contender for best show of the year. That motorbike chase scene in the last episode was a highlight.

Been playing Romance of the Three Kingdoms XI (2008) these last years every now and then. The game is really easy once you master it, so I try to give myself really difficult challenges such as letting the game go on for a few years, and then take over a faction that's about to be destroyed. I wish there was a better editor for the game, as there's so much potential in it.

I rather liked the new Batman film. It's rather low key, so not neccesarily something you need to watch at the cinema. More a crime thriller than a superhero film. It should have been at least 15 minutes shorter, and a few scenes annoyed me - but overall good. Also, best portrayal of Gotham so far.