Hollywood reporter review

[Wiggum]

Makes me giddy

 

[Ursa major]

Thanks for that link, Wiggum. I believe Mr Goodman may be leaning towards liking Game of Thrones.




In amongst all the praise, I noted this phrase,

a beautiful, haunting, visual template of vast expanses (Northern Ireland, Malta),

which while it will undoubtedly be true on the screen, may gave readers a rather skewed view of Malta's size.

 

[Boaz]

Ursa, I agree. The ambiguity of Mr. Goodman's review is bothersome.

The quote that grabbed my attention was...

A great series should challenge viewers to pay attention, to connect dots and anticipate connections. Thrones manages a superior complexity without ever making you think that you’ve lost the connection to the story. It’s paced with precision and the carefully crafted assemblage of characters unspools at such a rate that you can keep up while keeping tabs on their ever changing moods.

And a thought struck me... We won't get any "one off" or "filler" episodes with AGOT.

I highly enjoyed LOST (except for the last ten minutes). I admit I liked Veronica Mars. I really liked The Sopranos. I enjoyed ROME. Last year's guilty pleasure was Spartacus: Blood and Sand, while this year's was True Blood. I also found Battlestar Galactica to be fun. But the one thing that often frustrates me with all these shows are the stand alone episodes. You know the episodes that take place right in the middle of the season long (or series long) story that only focus on one character and don't relate in any way to the main story. These episodes end up being a self contained story. Legend of the Seeker, an adaptation of a fantasy series seems to fall victim to this malady on a fairly regular basis. I might as well have been watching any 70's or 80's action hospital, cop dramedy like Knight Rider, Emergency, CHiPs, or Air Wolf. Because of the plethora of chracters... actually plethora is too small... because of the horde of characters, the structured narrative, and constraining timeline, AGOT should avoid the stand alone, "one off" and "filler" episodes.

Movies don't usually have a ten minute mini story in the middle that does not really relate to the rest of the plot. Well, The Two Towers did it with Aragorn's cliff falling and vizions... must resist the demon...

I want my shows to flow much more like a novel and less like a comic strip.

 

[Wiggum]

I hate it when reviewers only write tepid opinions.

there’s a real allure to costume-dramas that pair dense mythology with all of the crowd-pleasing elements of war, honor, pride, lust, power and, yes, even humor. Thrones has all of those in spades and supports them with exceptional storytelling, strong writing, superb acting and some stunning visual effects.

I mean, that has to be the most "neither here, nor there" statement possible.

 

[Daezarkian]

I am so excited for this series I can't see straight!