HBO adaptation of Game of Thrones - will this be just for nerds? (NO SPOILERS PLEASE)

Loved. Loved.

i kind of want to watch the first episode or so of this, i feel like the combination of it being about elves and shit + apparent shitheap of gratuitous nudity = it will be a hard sell for the other half, i think

I watched this while my wife futzed around with her phone, her comments were something along the line of "every time I look up there are boobs wtf"

thought the eps was disappointing overall. the opening sequence was *really* well done, pretty much the main reason I tuned in after seeing the preview. set design + cinematography + acting were top notch but I don't get all the hurrahs for the script. characters were weakly written. and the danerys + drago sequences came off like some harlequin skinemax weaksauce.

haven't read the books but it seemed like this would only appeal to someone who loved them?

It's not about elves and shit.

wolves and shit

laurel i've read them, i'm just saying that the look they've gone for with this pretty broadly telegraphs ELVES AND SHIT. 'dragons and shit' would have accomplished the same admittedly

And had the advantage of being accurate.

Waiting for Carcetti to arrive

haven't read the books but it seemed like this would only appeal to someone who loved them?

i hated what i read. the show has the advantage of not being written in terrible fantasy trope language. (gritty fantasy or not.)

and some of the cgi is so impressive that it's more like LOTR where you don't care that it's a theme you've seen a dozen times. like the guard riding out past that huge wall was OMG impressive.

not being written in terrible fantasy trope language.

Man, if you think GRRM is "terrible fantasy trope language", you better just stay away from the genre completely, because, imho, he's one of the least worrisome offenders for this type of thing.

I agree with Mordy.

I like fantasy more on screen than on the page, generally.

this show seems ok

I have never read the books and haven't read much fantasy, but I enjoyed this. Some problems that I'll write off as pilot-issues but I'm looking forward to the rest. We'll know in the next 3 or 4 episodes just how much being a fan of the book matters.

also theon never does anything interesting

martin's not a great stylist, but i stopped noticing/caring about 1/3 of the way into GoT - that's not really why you read this stuff anyway

i had a hard time getting into Book 1 but was looking forward to this. It's great so far but have to agree with this:

"and the danerys + drago sequences came off like some harlequin skinemax weaksauce"

also, drago wedding fight scene was some Star Trek : TOS lolz but with tits and rape.

the title/credits sequence with the little clockwork gameboard showing all the locales is v. awesome imo. and supposedly it changes from episode to episode depending on where stuff's happening

really? thats a nice touch!

not sure if thats true, i just remember reading it somewhere

i hope it's true...we'll have to check the next set of credits to see

martin's not a great stylist, but i stopped noticing/caring about 1/3 of the way into GoT - that's not really why you read this stuff anyway

― cum dude (Princess TamTam), Monday, April 18, 2011 11:51 AM (3 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

^word up

This is why I don't read much fantasy lit. Wish I could get past it but I can't.

martin's prose is functional but he certainly does like to tell you what color people's doublets are.

he likes to say "nearly a man grown"

at least westeros' weird seasons thing invalidates the "she had seen barely thirteen summers" sort of thing because you just know he'd be dipping in that well like once per page

dude is a perv tbh

strikethrough, pimp, http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_JjTZojojDPI/SxPR-ffvWkI/AAAAAAAAAok/bzrrZEsb1T4/s1600/0007stfc.jpg &c &c

I was surprised to learn that he uses the word "fuck" in the books.

The robe completes the outfit. and he kind of looks like the playing robert baratheon

for anyone who's watching this without reading the books and wants to get all the characters/houses/history straight, HBO has a great little viewers' guide that doesn't appear to spoil anything that's not pre-episode-1 backstory:
http://viewers-guide.hbo.com/game-of-thrones/#!/guide/houses/

Video podcast with cast interviews and stuff: http://skyatlantic.sky.com/game-of-thrones/thronecast

this was terrible. so much hair gel. so many stupid accents. and the horselord wedding reception.

i mean http://mimg.ugo.com/201103/9/8/6/183689/cuts/gameofthrones-targaryen01-screencap-11_288x288.jpg

rather http://mimg.ugo.com/201103/9/8/6/183689/cuts/gameofthrones-targaryen01-screencap-11_288x288.jpg

It was distracting how white Drogo's teeth were.

Nah, the third book goes into great detail re: Dothraki dental plan.

i just watched the 25 minute making of that's on the HBO site (still having not seen the first ep) and I gotta say the guy who plays Drogo seems like a bro in all senses of the word.

dude is a klingon

Dude is also going to play Conan later this year.

He was in Stargate Atlantis, too. Nerd cred.

It was distracting how white Drogo's teeth were.

Someone else I was watching it with said this! What I noticed mostly was that his breasts are bigger than Danaerys'.

Xpost aha that's where I recognize him from!

OK watched it - was good! Also posts very much in character but Laurel otm re the wolf pups omg. The end was great too. I didn't have a problem with the nudity/boobage but I was a bit fan of Rome which has tons of that sort of thing so maybe I'm just used to it. I want the next one already! Damn.

Yeah see I have enjoyed Rome, Deadwood, all the HBO stuff...maybe it was more "boobs in broad daylight" then that was giving me hangups? Dunno.

Biggest WTF moment - "The Dothraki have no word for thank you"

Wait, why is that wtf? Irish Gaelic doesn't have a word for "no." Sort of. There are workarounds, but there's no direct translation for a flat No.

I'm Irish funnily enough. The line wasn't in the book and it just seemed really cheesy.

Haha ilx being what it is, I wondered right after I said that if I was carrying coals to Newcastle. Haven't read the books in years so I can't remember exactly what was in them.

It was just like, really, that's the line you decide to add?

you know damn well what was in the books--sex, violence and the occasional supernatural threat.