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Maedhros

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Posts posted by Maedhros

  1. The books are grander, and is altogether just more a rewarding experience for me. Watching the tv-series is fun, but it can be frustrating how little time you get to spend with each character. It's definitely a dumbed down/simplified experience as opposed to the books where you really get to delve into each character's thoughts and experiences. Best example of how a character suffers from this is Loras Tyrell. In the tv-show he's pretty much just a "token gay character".

     

    I don't mind learning more about the families and their members, and I like how even minor characters like Garlan Tyrell, Kevan Lannister etc all seem very fledged out with a distinct personality of their own. Then again, I'm one of those guys who loved to read about all the elven family trees in The Silmarillion, so I feel right at home when GRRM starts rambling about Tyrion's various uncles and their exploits. Makes the world seem more realistic/alive to me.

     

    People got annoyed with Ros because she was an annoying character. No one minds when they make new scenes that are actually good. Such as King Robert and Cersei discussing their marriage in season 1 for example.

  2. Yeah, after I read on a Wiki that Daario (the womanizer merc captain) looks like this:

     

     

     

     

    People thought Jack Sparrow was awesome and charming back when the first Pirates film was released. Daario in the books is pretty much a more ruthless, less drunk version of Jack Sparrow. Silly looks but incredible swag and confidence. I think this picture is better:

    asoiaf___daario_naharis_by_justanor-d7vz

     

    I don't really mind the change, but he is definitely more boring in the tv-series. Very generic pretty guy.

  3. The TV show has done a really good job so far, and even improves on the book in certain cases. However it clearly works best when dealing in dialogue and drama, you never really get the huge cinematic "Lord of the Rings" scenes due to the series' budget. Just simple scenes like the King visiting Winterfell in the first episode - in reality it was thousands of people accompanying the king. And of course the budget restrictions means we barely get any Direwolf fighting. What annoyed me the most so far though was the lousy job they did with the costume on "the guy Bran meets" (avoiding name spoiler :p) in his last scene. Let's just say the character is very significant for several reasons. The tv-series however portray him as just a relatively old man sitting in some trees. They said the reason was they had run out of money at that point, but this is how he's supposed to look (note the eye):

     

    Close_up_TEC_Marc_Simonetti.jpg

     

    No idea why they thought CGI skeletons (why not just have white walkers/zombies attack them?) was a good thing to spend money on instead of getting his look right.

  4. The Hobbit 3

     

    Not as bad as the last one, but it still had tons of flaws. Legolas' ridiculous stunts, and the Alfrid-character being the worst ones. Still, I had fun and the first half was actually pretty strong. The film works best when Bard is the "point of view" character.

  5. So... what I'm seeing here is there are a lot of folks here who really don't like freedom. Not really. They like a government who tells them what to do and how to do it. To each their own I guess. I can't really see it myself but to each their own.

    The only freedom you have that I don't is the freedom to fail, really. Well, that and hate speech I guess.

     

    I like my safety net! It's not like the government is forcing us to pay high taxes, we, as free folk and all that, prefer it that way.

  6. I usually don't mind dumb scientists/science in films, as long as the film is redeemed by other qualities - but Promotheus didn't really have any strengths as a film.

    At a certain point it was obvious that the girl was going to be the only human survivor, with the rest of them dying in stupid ways. Like in the end when the blonde woman runs in the same direction as the falling ship and is crushed by it. Why not just go sideways?!

    It had maybe one or two good scenes. The intro scene with the engineer was brilliant, but it set a tone the film never managed to follow up on.

     

    Interstellar was in a different league entirely. Even though it shares similar flaws with Promotheus, I was immersed in a whole different way. Pacing/acting/music(!), some breathtaking scenes, it was just all over a better film.

    • Like 1
  7.  

     

    Is Icelandic ( the language) similar to one of the 4 Scandinavian languages ( yes I'm including Finland)?

     

    Can a Dane for example understand someone from Iceland?

    Nope. Swedish and Norweigan you can guess your way through with varying success. Finish might as well be Russian. Denmark, Norway and Sweden historically traded a lot and was ruled by the same kings on occasion.

     

    Iceland was a Danish possession until they decided to mine their harbor and we decided not to bother contesting their rebellion. 

     

     

    Interesting, so are you saying that Icelandic is like the  old Danish language (because it was a Danish colony)  which modern Danes don't understand?

     

    Yeah Icelandic is very similar to Old Norse. Guessing it was more similar to the Norwegian dialect though, as most of the settlers on Iceland were Norwegians. All Scandinavians spoke Old Norse during the 900-1300s, but Norway apparently had a different dialect than Sweden & Denmark:

     

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Norse#mediaviewer/File:Old_norse,_ca_900.PNG

     

    But yeah, Norwegians/Danes/Swedes don't understand old norse at all, while Icelanders can read the old sagas in norse writing fine (as far as I know).

    • Like 2
  8. The Amazing Spider-Man 2

     

    Probably my favorite Superhero movie. I'm going to need some time to digest it to be certain.

     

    Wow, did not see that coming. I thought the previous one was pretty much the most unneccesary film ever made, and didn't really offer anything that the previous triology didn't. What was good about this new one?

  9. Great cast. Pretty excited about this actually - guys like Oscar Isaac (Inside Llewyn Davis) and Domhall Gleeson (About Time) are very impressive up-and-coming actors. Looks like Mark Hamill is getting into shape as well.

     

    cV1uGqF.jpg

  10. Pretty much every "beloved" oldschool crpg plays terribly now. Clunky controls, ugly graphics, boring dungeon grinding, etc. Even newer ones like the Kotor games, and NWN 2 are horrible to play now. Jade Empire passed the test of time slightly better. I thought Dragon Age handled controls and combat better than pretty much any crpg released.

     

    Mass Effect 3 and Dragon Age 2 were horrible games. Waste of my time, both. Same goes for Alpha Protocol and Dungeon Siege III.

    • Like 2
  11. Looking forward to it. Then again, I'm Norwegian and we've always liked the sports no one else does. Gonna watch curling (hypnotizingly fun), hockey (gogo Zuccarello!), cross-country skiing (crushing Sweden is always fun), and biathlon - with the best biathlete of all time still competing at 40, and having a real chance at gold.

    • Like 3
  12. Eyecandy is indeed important! One thing I liked with her addition is that she's a silvan elf. As opposed to all the other major elven characters in the movies, who are of very royal elvenkin. 

     

    I liked one of her initial scenes, the one where she talks about how the elves love starlight (any Tolkien geek knows why). My favorite scene in the movie actually, except the ending of it with Legolas' jealousy stare. Seriously, why did they have to make that silly romance triangle? So ridiculous. A small scene with Kili and Tauriel bonding would suffice, and then later have that dismantled when both choose loyalty to their lord/race over friendship, thus not undermining that insane accomplishment Legolas' and Gimli's friendship in LOTR was supposed to be.

    • Like 1
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