American Gods on Starz

[Leofric]

Liked the first episode alot.   I haven't read the book since it first came out 15? 20? years ago, so I've forgotten most of the details.   Some things I'm remembering as they show up, kind of a bit of deja vu.  But for the most part it feels all new to me which is all good. 

[Dr. Pepper]

I keep meaning to read this book but just haven't gotten to it yet.  I think I'm going to need to because What. The. Fuck. Was. That.  

I have nothing else to say about it right now.  I have no idea what I was expecting.  I don't think I've even watched a promo.  I don't think this is what I was expecting at all.  

[Martini Sigil]

7 minutes ago, Dr. Pepper said:

I keep meaning to read this book but just haven't gotten to it yet.  I think I'm going to need to because What. The. Fuck. Was. That.  

I have nothing else to say about it right now.  I have no idea what I was expecting.  I don't think I've even watched a promo.  I don't think this is what I was expecting at all.  

ROFL.... my best friend texted me with your exact reaction...... I told him that it is a weird show, because it is a weird book.... but his WTF was very similar to your

I think this is one of those shows that people will either love or hate... personally, I loved Ep1

[Dr. Pepper]

21 minutes ago, Martini Sigil said:

ROFL.... my best friend texted me with your exact reaction...... I told him that it is a weird show, because it is a weird book.... but his WTF was very similar to your

I think this is one of those shows that people will either love or hate... personally, I loved Ep1

Lol, I was just trying to explain to my gf what the episode was about and I couldn't do anything other than stutter and say wtf over and over.  

I hope I can manage to read the book between now and next episode.  I can't say yet whether I loved or hated it.  It was definitely not what I was expecting.

[briantw]

3 hours ago, Dr. Pepper said:

I keep meaning to read this book but just haven't gotten to it yet.  I think I'm going to need to because What. The. Fuck. Was. That.  

I have nothing else to say about it right now.  I have no idea what I was expecting.  I don't think I've even watched a promo.  I don't think this is what I was expecting at all.  

I read the book and I'm still a little unclear as to exactly what the fuck happened in episode one.

[Ramsay B.]

I thought the book was just decent, and not great, but I am still intrigued with where they go with the show. I think they did a good job with the first episode. The casting is pretty spot on. The Bilquis scene can never live up to the book version, obviously, but they did a decent job.

I'm also glad they chose not to have Audrey spit on the corpse too. I was kind of dreading that.

[mormont]

11 hours ago, Dr. Pepper said:

I keep meaning to read this book but just haven't gotten to it yet.  I think I'm going to need to because What. The. Fuck. Was. That.  

I have nothing else to say about it right now.  I have no idea what I was expecting.  I don't think I've even watched a promo.  I don't think this is what I was expecting at all.  

If you think that was pretty out there, just remember - they offered the part of Mr Wednesday to Nicolas Cage. Imagine what that would have been like. 

[red snow]

1 hour ago, mormont said:

If you think that was pretty out there, just remember - they offered the part of Mr Wednesday to Nicolas Cage. Imagine what that would have been like. 

Really? Wow. I will now always wonder about how crazy that role could have been. They should find a smaller character for him to play down the road though.

I'm now very curious how my brothers, who haven't read the book, will feel about the premier. I didn't think it was that hard to grasp but I guess the book (and the Hannibal show) has made me more willing to roll with this type of thing.

The central plot of

"guy gets out of jail after discovering his wife is dead and gets a job off a strange man" seemed easy enough. The Bilquis scene seemed a bit out there (and possibly as a "look the show has sex scenes") though. And faceless drones but the title of the show should prepare people for some weirdness. I don't think they've been selling it as a "dramatic road movie".

[Dr. Pepper]

1 hour ago, mormont said:

If you think that was pretty out there, just remember - they offered the part of Mr Wednesday to Nicolas Cage. Imagine what that would have been like. 

Oh My God.  

I really should have looked up the summary for the show/book at some point.  

[SerPaladin]

Loved the book way back when. The show is a bit "off" for me somehow. I'm hoping it's just the effect of the characters being introduced / first episode awkwardness. At first I was dismayed to hear that the first season only covers the first third of the book, but I think that will fit, upon further consideration.

McShane was perfect as Wednesday. When I read the book, the voice I heard was Rip Torn, equal parts bombast and con man. McShane is a bit more smooth / isidious than Torn would have been. I shudder to consider Nic Cage in this role. Whittle seems a perfect Shadow so far.

[red snow]

27 minutes ago, SerPaladin said:

Loved the book way back when. The show is a bit "off" for me somehow. I'm hoping it's just the effect of the characters being introduced / first episode awkwardness.

I'd put the "off" down to Fuller's style. Ever since Dead Like me it's had a sort of hyper-reality. Sometimes it gets too much eg I grew tired of Pushing Daisies in season 2 and then he turned it down a much darker path with Hannibal. I really like it but even for me his style can often feel a bit overwhelming in places. Those trees and flaming animals are very reminiscent of the the dreams with the stag man/devil from Hannibal.

[Dr. Pepper]

True.  I didn't even realize it was a Fuller production (I literally read up on nothing about this show) but as soon as the flying blood and flaming animals happened, I knew right away.  I wish Fuller would use some of these things more sparingly.  Hannibal started to lose me as it began to use more flowing bright red blood and stag/devil imagery.  A little goes a long way.

[polishgenius]

To be fair the flaming animal was lifted verbatim from the novel, iirc, and the trees only slightly adapted.

But yes, as much as I love Fuller's work he does sometimes forget what subtlety is.

[GallowKnight]

4 hours ago, mormont said:

If you think that was pretty out there, just remember - they offered the part of Mr Wednesday to Nicolas Cage. Imagine what that would have been like. 

Well now I'm suddenly very disappointed in the casting

[red snow]

38 minutes ago, polishgenius said:

To be fair the flaming animal was lifted verbatim from the novel, iirc, and the trees only slightly adapted.

But yes, as much as I love Fuller's work he does sometimes forget what subtlety is.

It's why Fuller is a perfect fit for the adaptation. Gaiman's books often have a quirkiness to them and sometimes not too subtle either.

Although Legion has me wondering if Noah Hawley could have done a similar job. But then we wouldn't have had Legion or Fargo Season 3.

I still think Fuller's imprint would have been too strong on Trek. How many shots of blood spatter in zero G could we really endure?

[HexMachina]

7 hours ago, Ramsay B. said:

I thought the book was just decent, and not great, but I am still intrigued with where they go with the show. I think they did a good job with the first episode. The casting is pretty spot on. The Bilquis scene can never live up to the book version, obviously, but they did a decent job.

I'm also glad they chose not to have Audrey spit on the corpse too. I was kind of dreading that.

First, the bolded -  

I thought the Bilquis scene was pretty well done actually. Almost exactly the same as the book (except I think she is a prostitute in the book, and it's a client she...swallows). And it was rather well shot to look convincing without being ridiculous. 

As an aside, Yetide Badaki clearly loves this book when you see her talk about it with interviewers. She is really invested in her role.

5 hours ago, mormont said:

If you think that was pretty out there, just remember - they offered the part of Mr Wednesday to Nicolas Cage. Imagine what that would have been like. 

That's all kinds of terrifying.

1 hour ago, polishgenius said:

To be fair the flaming animal was lifted verbatim from the novel, iirc, and the trees only slightly adapted.

But yes, as much as I love Fuller's work he does sometimes forget what subtlety is.

More or less the same, though in the book I think it's actually part human part boar. Could be wrong but that's my recollection.

 

[Astromech]

50 minutes ago, HelenaExMachina said:

First, the bolded -  

I thought the Bilquis scene was pretty well done actually. Almost exactly the same as the book (except I think she is a prostitute in the book, and it's a client she...swallows). And it was rather well shot to look convincing without being ridiculous. 

As an aside, Yetide Badaki clearly loves this book when you see her talk about it with interviewers. She is really invested in her role.

That's all kinds of terrifying.

More or less the same, though in the book I think it's actually part human part boar. Could be wrong but that's my recollection.

 

Bison

[Channel4s-JonSnow]

13 hours ago, red snow said:

It's why Fuller is a perfect fit for the adaptation. Gaiman's books often have a quirkiness to them and sometimes not too subtle either.

Although Legion has me wondering if Noah Hawley could have done a similar job. But then we wouldn't have had Legion or Fargo Season 3.

I still think Fuller's imprint would have been too strong on Trek. How many shots of blood spatter in zero G could we really endure?

Yeah the comparison between fuller and Hawley is interesting. I actually think Fuller is a good fit for this show, and his visuals seem to sit very well with how I imagined events in the books.

However that is not always a compliment. I was never a huge fan of the book, which I felt lacked any sort of subtlety and was a lot like a Stephen King book at times ( also not a compliment) it had a bunch of interesting ideas but painted them in a very obvious way, using some very formulaic tropes and characters.

Fullers work on Hannibal was very similar, he totally lacks the ability to do subtle, and while he does pretty visuals they are usually so on the nose that they lack any mystery or hidden meaning. 

I could say similar things about Legion I guess but there is a level of playfulness and invention in that show that Hannibal never had.

[Mladen]

These days, I enjoy when they surprise me. And boy, did they do that...

Things at first seemed random, but there is something that makes it work all together. What it is don't ask me? But between carnage, man-eater and that last scene, there is a feeling like someone gave us specific puzzle pieces that are there so you could see a part of the picture and let the picture be made. It was confusing, it was interesting. Whether they are going to keep me interested to the end of the season, that is yet to be seen. 

It's been years since I have read American Gods... Time to do a reread... But this seems fresh to me... Something is different. I don't know what, but it does seem someone incorporated some elements I am not remembering. 

[Nictarion]

Finally watched it, thought it was solid. Jonathan Tucker as Low Key was the best part of the episode for me.