Nick1Ø66

House of the Dragon 1x07 Driftmark
 
Damn, this is probably the best season of television that will air this year, and this is one of its best episodes yet!
 
There is one elephant in the room to get out of the way, and that's the awful "day for night" shooting decision someone made - it was a bad decision, there's just no way around it.  Filming these actors in broad daylight, casting shadows on the ground, having shadows on their faces, squinting in the sun, and then using computers to darken it all and pretend it was nighttime.... just didn't work!  So much of the episode looked fake and off-putting, but even beyond that, blurry and nondescript.  And this was highlighted perfectly when it cut to Corlys and Rhaenys INSIDE during the night by their fireplace, and it looked fantastic, then it cut back to dim fake outdoor scenes.  Bummer!  Hopefully they learned their lesson, and won't do this again
 
Now, onto the good stuff!
 
The funeral - I loved seeing another culture's traditions here, though was surprised to see how shallow the part of the bay they were putting the caskets into was  It was so amusing seeing Otto admiring his Hand pin, but I loved the way he went to get Aegon II in line when he was drunk.  I loved that Rhaenyra's kids recognized that they had just as much right to grief over Harwin's death as their cousins had to grieve over Laena, but Rhaenyra had to shut that down.  It was amusing seeing Daemon quietly observing everything
 
After the funeral - I guess Rhaenyra truly had the hots for her uncle all along.  I wonder what would have happened if Daemon actually did as she asked and whisked her away to Dragonstone on her wedding night?  The scene where Aemond finds Vhagar, and claims him, was SUPER SUPER awesome, I loved it!  I loved how FREAKING BIG Vhagar is, and when they took flight, I wanted someone to make a rescore video with Powell's Test Drive cue  
 
After the flight - Oh man, once the kids all meet up and Baela and Rhaena confront Aemond for claiming Vhagar since Rhaena viewed it as her right, the episode really kicked into a higher gear.  The way the fight kept escalating really surprised me, it seemed like Aemond was going to kill at least one of them with a rock before the knife came out.  And then he loses a freaking eye!
 
After the fight - And then all the kids get brought to the king and council, and damn, the episode kicks into an even higher gear!  I loved how angry Alicent was at Rhaenyra on behalf of her children, and wants an eye removed back as retribution!  And then she doesn't just state this, she goes so far as to order Criston to do it!  I loved his reply that he's only bound to her "as her protector".  The tension in this whole scene was so palpable, it seemed like it could turn into a bloody massacre at any second, with both Criston and Ser Harrold seemingly ready to throw down.  And then Alicent grabs the freaking Valyrian steel dagger and attacks Rhaenyra with it!  I loved how Rhaenyra recognized Alicent was exposing her true nature to everyone in this moment!  Aemond's line to end the scene, that he doesn't care about an eye from them, because him losing an eye was worth it for a dragon, was so badass!
 
Otto & Alicent - Oh man, I loved when Alicent was all distraught, and Otto comes into her room, she's expecting the worse - and he's fucking immensely and completely proud of her.  Because of course he is!  This fucking guy.  As much as I do think part of him does believe that a woman on the throne will result in a civil war and a man on the throne will solve it, I also REALLY think he WANTS the power that will come with a HIGHTOWER being on the throne.  I think the moment his plan have Viserys fall for Alicent worked he has been doing nothing but grooming Alicent to ensure this is the path she will follow no matter the cost.  And he's proud of her for having a vicious side after all!
 
Rhaenyra & Daemon - I find myself only able to root for Rhaenyra out of the major players so far; She seems more logical and level-headed than Alicent, but also I loved that her and Laenor actually did really try to have their own maybes (I guess it was his pipes that don't work after all, and not Daemon's!), and that in the end, she truly admired him and thought he was a good, honest man.  And I love that while she realized for political gain, the realm had to think Laenor was dead, but that she doesn't actually kill him, and comes up with a great plan for him to escape.  Chef's kiss!  ....... but damn, her lust for her uncle and marriage to him is icky and makes it harder to root for her  But even then, I loved getting to see another culture's rituals, this time for wedding instead of funeral.  And I love that while no one died AT this wedding, someone still had to die just before it in order for it to happen  
 
Viserys - I just feel so bad for this guy, he just loves his children and grandchildren and is doing nothing, just nothing to stop the obvious in-fighting happening between his wife and daughter right in front of him.  I hope he gets to do something substantial in this story before he moves on!

I’m in a group here in Ireland of Tolkien fans. We meet up once a month to have a drink and talk Tolkien and there’s obviously a WhatsApp group. Nobody in the group is still watching this show. Some didn’t bother others watched a couple of episodes out of morbid curiosity. Everyone thinks it’s daft. 
 
If you’d told me two years ago I’d prefer a GoT prequel to a new LotR show I’d have called you insane but here we are! HotD gets better and better every week and RoP sounds like a parody. 

I've listened to the Serkis recording, it's surprisingly good...even excellent. Usually I'm skeptical of film and TV actors doing audiobooks, it feels gimmicky, but Serkis is quite capable to the task. I like how he subtly mimics the performance of some of the actors who were in the films. I wouldn't call it better than the Inglis version, just different. 
 
Karol, if you haven't listened to those tapes, that's the BBC dramatisation, and it's excellent. Ian Holm plays Frodo. Very highly recommended!

You are twisting my words. I said, music like The Andor score is not intellecually challenging in any way. That is an exaggerated way of saying something doesn't contain anything worth thinking about. 

I think I listened to that and their Hobbit when I was down with the chickenpox. Audio speech only is not my genre, but I highly enjoyed them, like the SW OT dramatisations, highly recommended indeed!

I don't know how they do it.  I read aloud to my oldest (as in, an actual novel not a picture book) and I have a headache and want desperately to stop speaking after 5-6 pages.

Episode 7 was pretty bad, kept fighting sleep the whole time. The heated disagreement between the dwarf King and his son was the only scene I liked. The show suffers from mediocre writing and an overall sense of datedness.

That is simply wrong.
The reason why this music has in the meantime such a vivid existence on its own apart from the pictures is because it has much more value than just being background music.
Opposite to Andor. 

People are allowed to make their own points, whether or not they directly answer yours. I guess most people are just shooting the breeze about what they’re deciding to watch; they’re not trying to send a message to Disney or whatever. There is a huge quantity of SW TV now, and there’s no obligation to watch it all.
 
From my point of view, if you write a story about Sherlock Holmes, it will be judged on the basis of whether it’s good Arthur Conan Doyle pastiche. A new Conan of Cimmeria story will be judged on how good of a Robert E. Howard pastiche it is. They can be pastiched forever and never lose their fun; the game is not to reinvent the formula, and certainly not to debunk or contradict the originals in any way, but to tell a smashing good yarn within the context—to see how close you can come to beating Doyle or Howard at his own game.
 
Star Wars is a bit like that. The essential works of art/literature/film which define Star Wars are in the past. When a new piece calls itself Star Wars, people will say, well, are there heroes and villains? Space battles? Droids and aliens? Exotic planets? Was it optimistic and adventurous? Mystical, romantic, funny? Was there magnificent orchestral music? Because if it strays too far from too many of these points, people will say, maybe bring back some of that stuff I liked. Or do your thing; it’s just not for me. Or maybe just let it lie dormant for a while.

I don't think so. I think you guys are reading too much into it.
 
I think Shore was given a brief and composed his music to that. The main title concept might have been pre decided. But Shore didn't score a finished sequence.
 
He delivered his piece and the new sand sequence was adjusted to his score.
 
There isn't a whole lot of syncing between the music and the visuals so both could develop independently.

I think to someone in Andor's position, there was not much difference between Republic and Empire

Old SW sound effects were fun
 
New SW sound effects are dull and lame

Or some people simply think the show's just not that good.

Or some people simply think the show's just not that good.

I think I'm with you. Even if this sticks the landing(s) I can't see myself revisiting this much. I definitely don't need this to be "The new direction of Star Wars".
 
As much as I'm loving this, I remember how much FUN I had watching the first season of Rebels. This is really GOOD. But it isn't FUN.

I stuck with this show up to episode 5, hoping it would improve, but sadly this ain't my Star Wars. As bad as Kenobi was, at least it was watchable in part. This is a slog to get through.
 

THOSE.ARE.NOT.PILLOWS!!!!!!

I am actually listening to this every day while performing my everyday chores. The trilogy, that is. It is a really enjoyable listen actually.
 
Karol

Borrowing movie clichėes. And forced storytelling like planting a village into Mordor.
 
The original trilogy is so timeless because it doesn't overtly and directly try to be allegorical. This, however, has allegory coming out of its ears.

Oh misty eye of the mountain below… 🤮 

Well, no. I like to think I appreciate art, study art, watch, listen to and read art.
 
I guess it's just my own thing, I cringe when words like "consumer" and "franchise" attached to music, literature & film, like I'm buying a toaster or going to McDonald's. Even more so when it comes to Tolkien I guess!

It's a Middle-Earth tradition!
 


 

This is exactly what I was getting at

Exactly. The same problem also plagued last year's Jungle Cruise.
 
One of the best things about movies like those is the possibility of seeing exotic locations. But this simply doesn't happen when you're filming in a comfortable LA set.

A big problem with KOTC is that they only filmed in the USA, so every foreign location looks extremely fake.