Nick1Ø66

That was overrated.

In terms of characters, the best scripted show on TV.

It's going to be a Wheel of Time/Witcher level show in terms of writing and production values. Typical, generic Amazon/Netflix streaming fantasy. Anyone who is expecting anything genuinely "Tolkien" in this show is going to be sorely disappointed. I still wonder what the reaction will be when people begin to realize that 90+% of the show (including most of the plot, a good number of the characters and virtually every line of dialogue) is purely fan fic created by committee in a TV writer's room and has very little to do with what Tolkien wrote. Jackson's films and Game of Thrones caught lightning in a bottle, and it's something of a miracle they happened at all, let alone how good they ended up. You just can't conjure that kind of magic up by following an algorithm. I can't see how the show can be anything other than a let-down at this point (assuming you're someone who raised their expectations in the first place). Han Solo said something similar.

Exactly. He was great in Mandalorian, but in that show he was a supporting character. I'm just not convinced (yet) that he's a strong enough presence to lead the show. We'll see. It's also possible that the writing isn't as good as it could be and therefore his character isn't as strong. The flashbacks are sort of falling flat with me, and while I think the "present day" story is more compelling, his character doesn't have much of a commanding presence, IMO. Admittedly, I want him to be more of a villain than they're making him out to be.

Morrison is a likeable actor, but has zero charisma and isn't strong enough to lead the show, IMO. I get that Star Wars fanatics like the consistency, but they probably should have recast Fett. It wouldn't be the first time.

Pictures of stairs? So we've established there are stairs in Middle-earth? Israeli Intelligence? Show me behind the scenes pictures of Gale Gadot in the army, then maybe I'll be impressed.

We don't expect you to have been. You've got JWFan's Amazon LOTR portfolio. Your reporting on said future flop, incidentally, has been seriously lacking as of late. Have you been into the Gaffer's home brew?

If by "doing good business" you mean "it's a colossal flop", well then, yes, it's doing gangbusters!

I believe you're looking for the Matrix Resurrections thread.

Yeah just saw this. It sucked. Near Independence Day 2 level unnecessary and belated sequel level bore. At least Will Smith had enough sense to stay away from that disaster, unlike Keanu who surely had better things to do.

I much prefer live action as well, but at the moment I have little hope Amazon's LOTR show will fare much better than their Wheel of Time show, which is...not good.

To this point, there was a nifty six-volume (seven including Appendices) "Millennium" edition of LOTR that was released some time ago, created more in accordance with the six "books" (and their originally conceived corresponding titles) that comprise Lord of the Rings (which is one book). I quite like it, and it wisely didn't use Roman numerals. In any event, there's nothing in this new set that makes me even remotely tempted to buy it. The Cannes reel is nice (though the New Line presentation would be even better), but I'll find that elsewhere.

The best Thor movie is Thor. TDW is, in my opinion, borderline unwatchable and Ragnarok overrated. And I agree with you that the film doesn't have much use for its main character.

Yeah, I called that one too.