RhaenysBee

Eventually I struggled through the first installment of season 3. With a couple of worthwhile highlights sprinkled on top, I found the first four episodes hot garbage.

Then the fifth episode rolled around and it was delightful. Not perfect at all and not early game of thrones material, but certainly five times the quality of the first four episodes combined. You can smell the sweat on the cleverness of the episode, but at least that signals the effort and thought that went into writing actually cohesive dialogue, considering cause and effect, having a purpose and direction and using basic writing tools. Maybe I’m imagining it but I could also feel that the actors shined and enjoyed a script with some flow and an actual story to tell, as opposed to having to deliver empty lines that are so disconnected, directionless and fragmented they barely feel like a story. It had an atmosphere, it went from A to B and it was possible to make sense of how and why we landed at B. 

The problem with the previous 4 episodes was the complete lack of understanding of the world, the terrible storytelling both in terms of plot, dialogue and character.

Throwaway lines of names and places and weird words littered over a rice paper thin plot isn’t world building. As an audience member (one that even read the novels but kinda forgot them), my reaction is a momentary what/who the fcks that again followed by instantly forgetting the word. There are a myriad ways to do this while building characters and/or plot but of course you would have to think about it and work on it and spend twice the time in the writing room so that you have ample time to develop every aspect of the series without trade offs for one or the other. The result is a tiny, empty, lackluster universe in which no borrowed element from the novels work for either plot, or character (eg my ugly one, lilac and gooseberries, etc). 

Characters are generally soft and lack gumption, the main characters lost themselves (well the writers rewrote them) and the supporting ones are tropes rather than anything else. Yennefer is Yen now. Just like that, because… well, you tell me. “Yen” used to be a thing in Yennfer’s story because Geralt called her that while Istredd called her Yenna. That was a thing between each duo and a source of jealousy and tension in the love triangle. But now Yennefer is generally Yen, to the council and to Ciri (rather than Madam Yennefer). I think I have said all there is to say about her. 
The last time I have seen the semblance of light in Joey Batey’s face when playing Jaskier was back in season 1. The guy looks like he would rather be anywhere else in the world and there’s nothing but anguish in his eyes in any scene he’s put in. Which also says everything that needs to be said about Jaskier. 
Henry Cavill is trying really hard to breathe life into the shell Geralt is with limited screen time and a small supporting role in the events of the story. And Ciri… ah it’s too exhausting. Let’s hope the second installment will remind her that it takes more than a childlike sense of justice and morality to make a good leader. Though tough love has pretty much evaporated from the series.

The dialogue is for the most part painful to listen to and probably equally painful to deliver for the actors. The main cast is doing the best they can, most supporting characters fail to take their lines and characters seriously. Most of the dialogue says absolutely nothing, it’s just word salad out of context. 

Overall it’s a 4/10 for me. 3ish scores for the first 4 episodes and a solid 7 for the 5th. I will watch the next installment because of Henry’s Geralt and then I’m out. And I don’t think I said anything that counts as spoiler but do correct me in case I did. 

9 hours ago, Zorral said:

Wasn't he in Spartacus as somebody or other?  

One of the better known actors who were in Spartacus is Manu Bennett (who was in the Hobbit and that dreadful D list fantasy, Shannara chronicles), maybe you’re mixing him up with Henry Cavill? 

29 minutes ago, Crown said:

when are you seeing it?

Next Wednesday or Friday. 

40 minutes ago, Relic said:

How? How is it possible that people otherwise reasonable can hold this opinion. I dont get it. Other than being built like a truck the guy is a TERRIBLE actor with zero range. Like, he's awful. Awful. ::shakes head and starts ranting to himself

Henry does have range, not a lot but more than a lot of other overhyped actors. He’s not a great actor but he’s pretty decent one if he’s in the right role. In the Tudors, he very solidly managed to follow the character journey of Charles Brandon and portray the range that character went through. He bought me there and then. He is a great Geralt and I enjoyed him a lot in UNCLE. He is like Jason Momoa in the way that some characters are made for him and when he plays those, he’s pretty good, but he couldn’t take on anything like great actors do and excel at. And he’s a dreamboat. 

12 minutes ago, Crown said:

not sarcastic at all.

it's great. in gerwig & baumbach i trust always.

Ah that fills me with hope  though realistically I’ll be happy if I walk out of the theatre not hating it  

I’ve had a listicle streak on Audible… listookle?  Whatever made up term there is for a book that’s titled and structured as a list of X number of things. 
 

48 Laws of Power was a rather interesting one. To this point I can’t decided how sarcastic it was intended to be. You can either listen to it from a sarcastic angle and have a smile at the often ridiculous suggestions. And you can take it seriously with the necessary grain of salt and think about how the toned down version maybe be useful (but also ethical) in your ordinary everyday life. I didn’t hate it, it was an odd but interesting one. 

Beyond Order 12 More Rules for Life this one actually resonate a lot more with me than the first Peterson book, which I didn’t particularly like. Maybe it has to do with my life events that I see his thoughts through a different light, maybe it’s just that the ideas I related to happened to be grouped in this book. It’s not the most helpful self-help book I read and I didn’t find it groundbreaking, but it was worth the listen. 

21 Lessons for the 21st century - this one was a bit of a disappointment for me, because Sapiens was in the top 5 best books I’ve read/listened to in the past 3 years and I was expecting the same mind blowing experience. The author did state that he was trying to touch on the present in this book while Sapiens was past focused and Homo Deus was future focused. I didn’t get the sense that he did manage to grasp the present which may have to do with the fact that 2018 present isn’t 2023 present. Either way the book reached too much into the 20th century and then swung over to the AI train of thought from Homo Deus, while completely ignoring topics that are super publicized and relevant today. I would have very much liked to hear about these through the perspective of his values and scientific method. It was perfectly all right, I just expected something a bit more extraordinary.

I read Secret Weapon from the Alex Rider series and started Nightshade. Secret Weapon is all over the place, some of the novellas are pretty strong, some are very basic, you can feel that some of them were written a long time ago and dusted off for this release. If Alex Rider needed a short story collection, the stories could and should have been more creative exploring the past (the best short story in the book did this) and the future of Alex to delivery the prequel and sequel interest. I would have loved to see a young adult (say 18-19 year old) Alex or a more about his uncle and dad. I would also have loved different perspectives (this does appear to a small extent in Nightshade) and go through the events from the point of view of supporting characters. 
Nightshade seems to be addressing the morality of the basic premise of the novels (which I assume must have been a criticism Horowitz received over the past couple years) in an incredibly creative and intelligent way. It has an amazing flow and it reads adult, I love Horowitz’s style and I’m a huge fan of this one. 

9 minutes ago, Crown said:

damn that barbie movie is so good

Is that sarcastic? 
(I haven’t watched it yet but I’m very much on board of the hype train and deep in Barbie nostalgia. I desperately want it to be not terrible)

After a lot of scheduling struggles I’ve booked Barbie tickets for Wednesday (my original plan was to see it this morning). At this point I just want the experience, so I’ll be there on Wednesday come hell or high water regardless of everybody else’s availability.

I opted out of watching Oppenheimer this morning too, it’s on at 11am, it’s 3 hours long, it would mess up my lunch time and I’m not that interested. There’s also Indiana Jones but my dad said it dragged on too much yo the point that his girlfriend fell asleep midway through the film. So no movie theater for me this morning after all. 

That it’s beautiful. 

18 hours ago, 3CityApache said:

They're actually going to see it with friends too. For the second time. But first, we have a little family tradition to watch certain movies together at the theater, and second, it's supposed to be a kinda late father's day present, they're going to pay for my ticket.

Awwwww that’s so sweet! Have a lovely time! 

anyway, Barbie was little girly girls’ Batman, it’s at least a very similar phenomenon. Sure there wasn’t a Barbie cartoon, but there were a couple Barbie films (absolutely terrible ones to be fair), there was Barbie magazine, there were Barbie toys (dolls, doll houses, accessories, etc), Barbie costumes, clothes, hair things, stickers, removable tattoos. Barbie birthday cakes were a huge (though in retrospect a yucky) thing for a couple years in Eastern Europe, just found photos of one the other week at my mum’s. And even though most places sold and most kids had cheap Barbie dupes, eg Steffi Love, we called them barbies too (because same difference really). That said I had a separate shelf for my “nice” dolls where my authentic Barbie brand barbies went too. So Barbie was a big deal, even on the barely out of social block world.
 

 I would never ever consider seeing this film if it weren’t for the nostalgia for my several years of being a Barbie fan girl. oh I want this film to be enjoyable sooooo much but I also fully expect to hate it. 

45 minutes ago, 3CityApache said:

No, but I do want to see it too! It's just that all of us will be watching Barbie, while for Oppenheimer it's only me. I guess it may not be uncommon.

Oh how come your daughters aren’t watching it with a group of friends? Not that there’s anything wrong with watching it with parents, just curious, as it sounds like something I would have wanted to see with a girl gang as a teenager. 
 

I’m simultaneously terrified of and super hyped for this movie. I loved Barbies as a kid and Barbie magazine and Barbie stickers and alllllllll the Barbie things. So I’m the person who wants to go the the cinema in a pink outfit and wants to buy the t-shirts of all the Barbie collections (which I don’t because I don’t find the slogans fun enough). We will see. 

I watched another episode. No idea whatsoever what happened. Somehow Ciri is super annoying even though she got that balance of annoying young brat and messiah complex protagonist right in previous seasons. The dialogue is an actual brain sucking monster that needs a Witcher to slaughter it. 

More weather reports, because who could ever expect me to work today? After a solid 37C, we now have strongish wind and a sudden “drop” to 32C. It kinda feels like someone’s blowing a hair dryer in your face, but maybe it’s the harbinger of that “cool wave” and more humanly bearable temps. 

It’s 6am and it’s 23C… I think it never for a second went below this. This is the worst. Any daytime high is bearable if it drops to 18ishC at night because you have a chance to air out and cool down the house a bit. With 23C at night… no chance of that. 

I took a sewing class this weekend. It was 30ishC in the workshop room because they didn’t have an AC, but it was worth every minute of melting and every penny of the fee because it was the most rewarding, fulfilling and endorphin inducing chunk of free time I’ve had in ages.

You know, I love love love to learn new analogue skills, I love manual hobbies. I would never in a million years trade this weekend for a generative AI online course in an air conned room frying my brain in front of yet another screen, no matter how much more future forward and marketable that would be. I don’t care about AI, I don’t care about design thinking and agile and learning  experience design and digital learning, god knows I don’t give a shit. I mean I try to, on weekdays between 9 to 5, but in my heart I want more sewing classes and an embroidery class and a class where they teach me how to make homemade pasta from scratch and a pie making class and a flower/wreath arrangement making class and an entire course on creative writing. 

Well. I will bask some more in this feeling of accomplishment and meaning.

It’s the second 35C day in a row. Mind melting. Of course I’m drenched in sweat ten times a day regardless of the outdoor temperature because of my lovely hot flashes  so what am I even complaining about. We are supposed to have a “cool” wave early next week and it will drop to 28-29c. Can’t wait. 

Well… at this point the best we can do is have motivational talks with ourselves as if in the mirror in the morning  

this is gonna be a great day! This is gonna be a great day! 

I watched episode 2. I have alllllllll kinds of issues but was asked to give the benefit of the doubt to this season, so I’m trying to. The funny thing is, I pick my YA action novel over Witcher season 3 every single evening because I just don’t care.

My top issue is that the show reimagined the personality of a few characters without much establishing, it sucks the spice out of the story which becomes too sterile. The dialogue doesn’t flow, the scenes are lackluster, not inventive and spark no emotion in the viewer.  The other is the show’s lack of respect for its characters and story. How am I supposed to be invested in something if it doesn’t take itself seriously? The third is world building through mostly character, I simply have no idea who this random person is on the screen that we spent a total of 5 minutes with in previous seasons and so I couldn’t give half a shit about them if I tried. The fourth is costume design, especially makeup and hair. 

i watched one episode and I hate it and I’m not surprised Henry doesn’t want to be on board with this nonsense. It’s not funny, it’s not adventurous, it’s not dramatic, it’s not interesting, it’s not anything at all other than a waste of money. The only thing that comes to mind so far is the look how they butchered my boy meme and I wasn’t even particularly into the books. Ugh it’s painful to watch. 

I finished The Idol. Well, wasn’t that an interesting one? I still don’t hate it and massively appreciate the try. The script would have needed a few more drafts, but I do believe they have the potential to do improve the shortcomings if they get a second season. 
Lily Rose Depp was quite incredible and I was surprised what a deep performance she delivered (though I do hope her parents don’t watch this  ). I’ll be looking forward to seeing her in other movies (and in more conservative roles as well, just for the sake of variety). It took solid talent to bring this character to life and make the audience like her. 

I cannot put into words how much I appreciate the fact that this show had a story to tell and was actually about something. It had underlying themes and wanted to say more than your average 2020s tv show. And all the while it managed to stay commercial and perfectly marketable by being explicit and visually well designed. Since these were both parts of the story as well, the show even felt authentic, at least more so than much of what’s on the streaming platforms. 

About the story itself.
 

so yeah sorry not sorry I actually appreciated this show in spite of all its many flaws because it made an effort and even worked in a couple aspects. 

I binged Love and Death over the past two days. I did enjoy it as I watched but in retrospect it was a bit anti climactic and lackluster. Elizabeth Olsen was great, she and her character carried the show, though I enjoyed many of the smaller characters as well. I think the editing/writing had quite a bit of room for improvement, there was a fair bit of screen time spent on bits and bobs that added nothing to the story at the expense of (better) establishing plot points or layering characters. But overall it was quite a decent true crime drama. 

53 minutes ago, Mexal said:

It’s an absolutely abysmal show. The further it goes on, the worse it gets.

Well episode 4 was definitely a slide downward the slope. But I do think it had something before it was suffocated with shock value and superficial tropes.

I’m watching The Idol and contrary to expectations, I don’t hate it. The male lead is atrocious and pretty much weighs down the entire series. But Lily Rose Depp is actually excellent which was a pleasant surprise for me. The writing has a lot of potential even though it’s also balancing on the same edge of depth and commercialization the story is about. It was an intriguing watch. 

why do murals worry you, again? 
 

We have a… let’s Google this and learn a new word today instead of describing it… a council cleanup. That’s a rather lame word, sorry. Anyway, we have that today, and my minimalist and hoarder identities are fighting over what I should dump and what I should keep. 

I guess the damaged mirror that I never bothered to get recut and framed is finally going. If I didn’t do it in 3 years, I’m not going to. Same for leftover ikea parts and a Facebook marketplace retro phone table. Hmm, I will probably go with the if I didn’t touch this in over a 1 year, it’s going rule. 

I want to put a 200x200 wall mural in my  kitchen, but I’m concerned about how soon I would start hating it.
 

And maybe that money should go to getting a new coffee table and accent chairs or reupholstering the dining chairs. Or you know… a fooking cordless vacuum which costs more than any of the other options