The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power series

My understanding (from the noises made by the planetary scientist next to me) is that dumping a load of water in will definitely kill the village next to it - going full Matrix on the skies for 1000 years, maybe not.

waldreg's cunning plan: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Garita_Caldera

we literally see the water cascading into a caldera so i don't think the idea of a massive explosion is wrong even if the engineering seems a bit hopeful* -- and mount tambora in 1815 certainly caused the "year without a summer" round the other side of the world

(long-term atmosphere shift in mordor would be caused by orodruin not then being turned off again) (the engineering of a long-term plumbing control system more hopeful still tho as much of it is MAGIC as wood-built sluices)

*"we here at Sauron Devices don't just make pretty little rings!"

sorry this is wildly spoilery, i am excite (also amused)

hobbit-era peter jackson wd have made the key a wind-up and the machinery some comically clockwork chitty chitty bang bang shit

turns out i miss that guy :D

The initial "turn the key and the blocks move" reminded me of old-school over-respecter of ancient empires The Mysterious Cities of Gold.

durin's folk just raging at the IP theft going on here

dwarrowpunk

Series has kind of gone full on “Let’s just make up some wild s—-“ and I’m kinda still here for it. Galadriel actress and visuals are carrying this entire thing, let’s be real.

this ep was kinda gorey too with the whole eye thing

idk its all a bit naff but weirdly relaxing

I haven't seen a minute of this show but thanks to this thread I am confident I could summarise it for a fellow non-watcher:

1. Extended history of elves standing on boats
2. Some people get horny
3. Volcano blows up

i think u secretly are watching

A haunting familiarity.

Series has kind of gone full on “Let’s just make up some wild s—-“ and I’m kinda still here for it. Galadriel actress and visuals are carrying this entire thing, let’s be real.

I'd name a couple other actors too but that is about the size of it.

Our next episode is on Monday and we have some initial thoughts as of five episodes in. The full vivisection will yet follow.

I want to like The Rings of Power, I am a huge Tolkien fan, but this deathless guff is making me cheer for the Cockney Orcs pic.twitter.com/tHkqW34PHN

— Bill Bailey (@BillBailey) October 2, 2022

bill b not paying good attention this ep: galadriel is sauron #7

Boooooooooof I watched a single elf take town an entire Orc tower invasion and turned to bf and said "I'm getting off this train" and fell asleep on the sofa

Healthy approach!

This series is Tolkien's New Jersey

eh im tolkin' here

All you do to me is tolk tolk

^one Tolk over the line

Kemen's Gate

Tolkin’ on a doobie

Did I have a new vent thread? I did, though mostly on a point-of-comparison front...

Thanks again to all the responses to my previous _Rings of Power_ thread — some points brought up reminded me there was a further comparison I had wanted to make earlier illustrating a different way of adapting source material over a long amount of time. So, new thread!

— Ned Raggett (@NedRaggett) October 2, 2022

i just started rewatching breaking bad so i'm comparing it to that

ringing bad

ROP is a lot slower for starters

indiana jones and the mount of doom

Our latest podcast episode is up with our initial thoughts -- our next episode will be the full deep dive into the madness.

https://www.megaphonic.fm/bythebywater/43

Anyway, I hope you're all happy over there

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/the-rings-of-power-season-2-filming-1235231978/

where are they setting off the volcano

all yr rings are belong to us

Everybody's Tolkien at me

Anyway

the sound vibration opening credits

Game of Thrones credit sequence: mechanical mapworld comes into being before your eyes.

Vinyl credit sequence: an LP comes liquidly into being before your eyes.

Westworld credit sequence: various biobots come liquidly into being before your eyes.

The Crown credit sequence: molten metal liquidly becomes a crown before your eyes.

Wheel of Time credit sequence: threads become a tapestry that weaves itself before your eyes.

If the Rings of Power credit sequence evolves such that the vibrating grains are - spoiler alert - bits of metal that will become the rings, I will not be surprised but I will heave the weariest of sighs.

mithrillmatic

I'm out for Mumakil to represent me

elf on the lava shelf

eye of sauron says no christmas presents for you

Hobbit barrel scene = dwarf on a wharf

the most beautiful phrase in the English language is "pyroclastic flow obliterating Galadriel"

Magmarillion

The credit sequence already is bits of metal forming the nine rings, though? https://img.buzzfeed.com/buzzfeed-static/static/2022-09/6/6/asset/d6cc372deeb4/sub-buzz-9249-1662444861-15.png

*credits

nah it's brass knuckles for a balrog

The credit sequence already is bits of metal forming the nine rings

God DAMMIT I fucking KNEW it, argh.

How about a credit sequence that has people in it? Or a hammer smashing eggs How about an extreme closeup of a pimple getting squeezed, or a cute wolverine smiling?

Something, anything, other than the same ONE IDEA getting flogged to death by prestige streaming media companies.

If someone paid me to do credits for a Netflix/HBO/whatever show (which they won't), it would be a grainy video of me typing the credits, badly, on a circa-1977 manual typewriter, and the closing credits would be me correcting the inevitable mistakes using Wite-Out.

Or one of those Warhol movies where it's a guy snoring or the Empire State Building or some shit

Can no one rid me of this 2020s visual cliche

I mean...the end of the credit sequence is literally one big ass ring dissolving into the center space. Can't see how you missed it! :-D

the one ring is a toilet seat?

Magmarillion

― the floor is guava (Ye Mad Puffin), Monday, October 3, 2022 11:13 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

Worst twin tribute band ever

Enjoying this show, despite caveats. Dialogue and stupid decision-making by some of the characters being the primary ones. Last episode: was so appalled that Arondir would give low-key dark blade addict Theo responsibility for handing said blade to the elves, that I was ambushed + exponentially appalled by the fact that the blade turned out to be an axe. Truly astonished that no one unfolded that cloth. Someone else can blind hold an axe and a knife and see how much different they feel from one another, my guess is “very.”

The characters are solid enough*, as concepts.

I’m generally fine with the acting, the better acting ranging from really very good (Galadriel, Adar, Arondir, the dwarves, Elrond) to almost everyone else not on Numenor**.

*Biggest problem spots with characters for me have been the Harfoot caravan — decent acting but Ireland should probably sue the show.

**Numenor has broader soap opera-y acting (from the Gerald Butler clone picking fights and leading failed union movements, to the Failson of Pharazôn) but at least Numenor looks impressive. Speaking of failsons, Isildur does seem like the perfect mark for Sauron’s “one last heist” plan to stay afloat decades later at Mt Doom.

I’m not sold on it being a failure at all, but if I was more steeped in the lore I might feel that way. The manner in which the last episode played out for most of the runtime (violent, tense, bloody) gives me some hope.

This show is unbelievably boring. I’m out.

― 𝔠𝔞𝔢𝔨 (caek), Saturday, September 24, 2022 3:00 PM (one week ago) bookmarkflaglink

It pulled me back in.

I’m not sold on it being a failure at all, but if I was more steeped in the lore I might feel that way.

I'm right here, you know. (This assessment is accurate.)

It pulled me back in.

At this point the three of us on the podcast are essentially watching with grim fascination -- or rather observing it rather than engagedly watching it. If I can draw distinction, it is driving me crazy that I have wait another six days for a new Andor episode, while the fact that the new episode of this show debuts in less than two hours from now is making me resent I have to spend time on it.

I think the major reason I’m actually excited to see new episodes is because the 11 year old is pretty thrilled by the show. Despite having read and apparently memorized the Silmarillion, he doesn’t seem too thrown by the deviations at this point. We’ll see how he feels when Galadriel sleeps with Sauron (joking of course….unless…?)

Andor episode 3 was sort of a masterclass in how to make a damn thrilling episode of a show with little in the way of FX, just some effective mapping out of a location and absurdly effective sound design. TROP has the spectacle but could take similar lessons in such use of other elements from that show (or from the Jackson trilogy in scenes such as the pre-battle sequence at Helm’s Deep.)