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Post by emtee on Jun 2, 2015 20:12:06 GMT -5
Catching up. I was pleased with the ending of Mad Men. Loved the Rylance look at the end of Wolf Hall. And I don't know if Narrows still checks in from time to time, but holy mother of home-erotic fantasy, Outlander. Very ... er, tastefully done, all in all. People thought the last 15 minutes of this weeks GoT was intense, that whole final episode of Outlander was 1000x more, albeit in a vastly different way. Phew. Um, yeah, I'm here. I can't tell you how many times I've watched that last Outlander episode (and who am I kidding, all the others), hard as it was because of the subject matter. Since I've read all eight books (twice!) I knew what was coming and I knew where to shut my eyes, but holy cow. This is the way I operate on stuff I love - the first time I watch to see what it's about, and then the second time and times after, I really concentrate on the other stuff. I'm sorry, but to me Jamie and Claire is one great love story, the way they sacrifice for each other! This show better get some Emmy love!!!! They've started filming season 2, based on the second book, which probably won't air until early next year (darn now those cable shows work!). It will have 13 episodes. And bring your tissues for season 2 also - I think I cried at almost every episode in season 1. I've watched all the episodes multiple times too. So well done. I have to change the channel at the violent parts though -a dozen times seeing Jamie whipped is more than enough and the prison abuse - the hammer bit -is nothing I want to see twice. I gave up on the books years ago around the third or fourth one. As it is, I don't remember details so I wish I had someone like yourself to give me spoilers when I need them.
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Post by narrows101 on Jun 3, 2015 5:43:10 GMT -5
Um, yeah, I'm here. I can't tell you how many times I've watched that last Outlander episode (and who am I kidding, all the others), hard as it was because of the subject matter. Since I've read all eight books (twice!) I knew what was coming and I knew where to shut my eyes, but holy cow. This is the way I operate on stuff I love - the first time I watch to see what it's about, and then the second time and times after, I really concentrate on the other stuff. I'm sorry, but to me Jamie and Claire is one great love story, the way they sacrifice for each other! This show better get some Emmy love!!!! They've started filming season 2, based on the second book, which probably won't air until early next year (darn now those cable shows work!). It will have 13 episodes. And bring your tissues for season 2 also - I think I cried at almost every episode in season 1. I've watched all the episodes multiple times too. So well done. I have to change the channel at the violent parts though -a dozen times seeing Jamie whipped is more than enough and the prison abuse - the hammer bit -is nothing I want to see twice. I gave up on the books years ago around the third or fourth one. As it is, I don't remember details so I wish I had someone like yourself to give me spoilers when I need them. Ask away LOL! I know what you mean re the abuse, which is why the first time my eyes were closed! But subsequent viewings, since I knew what was coming, got better and better for me and I could see the details and concentrate on the dialog and comprehend what everything meant (especially in that last episode, OMG!). The 8th book ended in 1780 and Diana is now writing the 9th. Lots more time travel and adventure in future books, and the last book (or was it the 7th LOL) had locations near where I live. Jamie and Claire accumulate quite a family and are always there for each other and for me at least, it's a timeless love story. Something that happens in season 2 is totally going to have the waterworks flowing for me. The words that come out of Jamie's mouth to Claire in the books, OMG! Unfortunately TV is a different medium and you can't cram everything in but I think they are doing a fabulous job. And the third and fourth book, I cried so much since that's where "stuff" happens. Claire returns to Jamie after 20 years apart in the third book - Jamie sends her back through the stones when Culloden starts because she's pregnant again (the first pregnancy was a miscarriage) and he wanted his wife and child to be safe - and their daughter Brianna finds her parents in the fourth book.
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Post by emtee on Jun 3, 2015 8:37:40 GMT -5
I've watched all the episodes multiple times too. So well done. I have to change the channel at the violent parts though -a dozen times seeing Jamie whipped is more than enough and the prison abuse - the hammer bit -is nothing I want to see twice. I gave up on the books years ago around the third or fourth one. As it is, I don't remember details so I wish I had someone like yourself to give me spoilers when I need them. Ask away LOL! I know what you mean re the abuse, which is why the first time my eyes were closed! But subsequent viewings, since I knew what was coming, got better and better for me and I could see the details and concentrate on the dialog and comprehend what everything meant (especially in that last episode, OMG!). The 8th book ended in 1780 and Diana is now writing the 9th. Lots more time travel and adventure in future books, and the last book (or was it the 7th LOL) had locations near where I live. Jamie and Claire accumulate quite a family and are always there for each other and for me at least, it's a timeless love story. Something that happens in season 2 is totally going to have the waterworks flowing for me. The words that come out of Jamie's mouth to Claire in the books, OMG! Unfortunately TV is a different medium and you can't cram everything in but I think they are doing a fabulous job. And the third and fourth book, I cried so much since that's where "stuff" happens.
Thanks , that was satisfying. I lost interest when the focus lessened on Jamie and Claire and blended in more family. I know they were in the Carolinas when I dropped off. {Spoiler} Does Capt. Jack recover and return to torment Jamie in Season 2 next year? Can you give a quick overview of what happens in France? When does Jamie travel to the future?
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Post by narrows101 on Jun 3, 2015 9:31:47 GMT -5
Ask away LOL! I know what you mean re the abuse, which is why the first time my eyes were closed! But subsequent viewings, since I knew what was coming, got better and better for me and I could see the details and concentrate on the dialog and comprehend what everything meant (especially in that last episode, OMG!). The 8th book ended in 1780 and Diana is now writing the 9th. Lots more time travel and adventure in future books, and the last book (or was it the 7th LOL) had locations near where I live. Jamie and Claire accumulate quite a family and are always there for each other and for me at least, it's a timeless love story. Something that happens in season 2 is totally going to have the waterworks flowing for me. The words that come out of Jamie's mouth to Claire in the books, OMG! Unfortunately TV is a different medium and you can't cram everything in but I think they are doing a fabulous job. And the third and fourth book, I cried so much since that's where "stuff" happens.
Thanks , that was satisfying. I lost interest when the focus lessened on Jamie and Claire and blended in more family. I know they were in the Carolinas when I dropped off. {Spoiler} Does Capt. Jack recover and return to torment Jamie in Season 2 next year? Can you give a quick overview of what happens in France? When does Jamie travel to the future? Does Capt. Jack recover and return to torment Jamie in Season 2 next year? Can you give a quick overview of what happens in France? When does Jamie travel to the future? This is going to be long!!!! Well, in the book they think Jack is dead and was trampled by the cows because they see a bloody body. Turns out that wasn't him. TV show - he's not dead. He reappears in France. Turns out he has a brother that looks exactly like him named Alex and Claire and Jamie come across him (he's the secretary of the Duke of Sandringham) and they think Alex is Jack at first. But he's completely different than Jack and is ill. He's in love with Mary Hawkins, who they also come across. I *think* Jack comes back to help his brother (don't remember too much of that) and asks Claire's help after he finds her. Jamie finds out that Jack is back (getting fuzzy again) and he challenges him to a duel (I think) which is illegal in France. Claire begs him not to do it because she thinks that if Jack dies, Frank will not exist. Well, they do duel, and Jamie manages to castrate him. Claire runs to try to stop the duel, she sees what happens, and promptly starts having a miscarriage while Jamie is being dragged away and put in the Bastille. He does get out and of course there's some trouble there because of the miscarriage but they overcome it. Alex dies, but guess what, Mary is pregnant, and Alex asks Jack to marry her to give the baby a name. So Frank is not a descendent of Jack at all, he's a descendant of Alex. Jamie is not a time-traveler - he never goes to the future. Long story short, they eventually go back to Scotland after their plans in France were unsuccessful, but then The Rising starts and Jamie's name is forged on some document that makes him have to take part in The Rising. Claire of course goes with him (they are never separated). Culloden happens and Jamie sees it's no use, and they find out Claire is pregnant again. So he takes her back to the stones and makes her go back to the 20th Century to "see you and my child safe." (sniff sniff!!!). She doesn't want to go, there's a great parting scenes, but she eventually does and gets back to Frank, pregnant. Frank finds it hard to believe her story, but she gives birth to Brianna who looks exactly like Jamie (turns out she had a difficult pregnancy and she and Brianna would have died if she stayed) and is raised as Frank's daughter. Claire promised Frank she wouldn't say anything to Brianna until he was gone. They have an unhappy marriage and Frank was going to take Brianna to London to live with him (she was raised in Boston) but he dies in a car crash. Jamie goes back to the battle totally intending to die, which of course he doesn't. He gets back to Lallybroch and spends seven years in a cave hiding from the British (fuzzy again). The beginning of Book 2 is Claire taking Brianna to Scotland where they meet Roger Wakefield (that little boy in one of the earlier episodes). Roger changes his name back to McKenzie when he finds out his history. Claire tells Brianna the whole story which of course she doesn't believe at first. Claire wants Roger to try to find out what happened to Jamie and all his men at Culloden, which he eventually does. Jamie had every intention of dying at Culloden, but he didn't. Oh, about Jack - Jamie woke up at Culloden, with Jack on top of him! He doesn't know if he killed him or what happened there. Jamie goes through all trials and tribulations without Claire for 20 years. Claire decides she wants to go back to Jamie and Brianna accepts this. Brianna and Roger eventually fall in love, Claire goes back to Jamie in Book 3. Turns out Brianna is also a time-traveler - she goes back to her parents in Book 4 and finds them. Roger is the descendant of Gaellis Duncan and Dougal McKenzie - he goes back to find Brianna, since he finds out he's also a time-traveler because of Gaellis. Of course there's so much more (they meet Gaellis in 1968 and we find out that she's not as nice as she seemed). Roger and Brianna have two children - Jemmy and Mandy. Mandy it turns out has a bad heart that Claire can't fix so Jamie and Claire send the McKenzies back through the stones so Mandy can get to a hospital and she's cured. They are gone for a few years but in the last book, Claire and Jamie are back on the Ridge in NC and they see four strangers comings towards them. It's Roger, Brianna, Jemmy and Mandy. Next season, Claire and Jamie will hire a ten-year-old pickpocket named Fergus to help them. Fergus becomes their adopted son. Fergus marries Marsali, who's the daughter of Leoghrie. Fergus and Marsali have four kids. Turns out Jamie married Leoghrie! That was Jenny's idea because Jamie was so distraught and missing Claire and she thought it would make him happy. Wrong! He left her after a year. Oh, and Jamie has an illegimate son William. He was a groom at an estate (he was sent there after release from Ardsmuir Prison by Lord John Grey, who you will meet next season, he was the warden and he and Jamie became friends and he sent him to the estate since it was better than where the other prisoners were sent). The daughter at the estate blackmailed Jamie into having sex with her since she was supposed to marry and old man who was an Earl. She said if he didn't she would squeal as to who he really was (he was under an assumed name) and Jenny, etc. would be in trouble. So of course she gets pregnant. She dies in childbirth and the husband died after a fight at the house. Jamie was really close with William up until about 6 years old, and then he left because he started to look a lot like him and he didn't want anyone to connect the dots. Lord John Grey (who is gay and has feelings for Jamie that he never acts on) married William's mother's sister and brought him up as his own. Needless to say in the later books they cross paths and William finds out who he really is. Also, Jenny and Ian's son Young Ian has been with Jamie and Claire since he was 15. Jenny eventually comes to live with Claire and Jamie in North Carolina after Ian dies. Of course Jamie fights in the Revolution and meets Washington and a bunch of other historical figures. So at the end of the last book, Brianna, Roger, Jemmy and Mandy are returning and Claire and Jamie are in their late 50s (of course many trials and tribulations in between). Oh, and the baby Gaellis is carrying? He's also a time-traveler that meets Roger and Brianna (so he's Roger's descendant) and Gaellis did not die at the witch trial but the baby was given up. I know, a lot to comprehend!!!!!
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Post by narrows101 on Jun 3, 2015 10:11:07 GMT -5
Thanks , that was satisfying. I lost interest when the focus lessened on Jamie and Claire and blended in more family. I know they were in the Carolinas when I dropped off. {Spoiler} Does Capt. Jack recover and return to torment Jamie in Season 2 next year? Can you give a quick overview of what happens in France? When does Jamie travel to the future? Does Capt. Jack recover and return to torment Jamie in Season 2 next year? Can you give a quick overview of what happens in France? When does Jamie travel to the future? This is going to be long!!!! Well, in the book they think Jack is dead and was trampled by the cows because they see a bloody body. Turns out that wasn't him. TV show - he's not dead. He reappears in France. Turns out he has a brother that looks exactly like him named Alex and Claire and Jamie come across him (he's the secretary of the Duke of Sandringham) and they think Alex is Jack at first. But he's completely different than Jack and is ill. He's in love with Mary Hawkins, who they also come across. I *think* Jack comes back to help his brother (don't remember too much of that) and asks Claire's help after he finds her. Jamie finds out that Jack is back (getting fuzzy again) and he challenges him to a duel (I think) which is illegal in France. Claire begs him not to do it because she thinks that if Jack dies, Frank will not exist. Well, they do duel, and Jamie manages to castrate him. Claire runs to try to stop the duel, she sees what happens, and promptly starts having a miscarriage while Jamie is being dragged away and put in the Bastille. He does get out and of course there's some trouble there because of the miscarriage but they overcome it. Alex dies, but guess what, Mary is pregnant, and Alex asks Jack to marry her to give the baby a name. So Frank is not a descendent of Jack at all, he's a descendant of Alex. Jamie is not a time-traveler - he never goes to the future. Long story short, they eventually go back to Scotland after their plans in France were unsuccessful, but then The Rising starts and Jamie's name is forged on some document that makes him have to take part in The Rising. Claire of course goes with him (they are never separated). Culloden happens and Jamie sees it's no use, and they find out Claire is pregnant again. So he takes her back to the stones and makes her go back to the 20th Century to "see you and my child safe." (sniff sniff!!!). She doesn't want to go, there's a great parting scenes, but she eventually does and gets back to Frank, pregnant. Frank finds it hard to believe her story, but she gives birth to Brianna who looks exactly like Jamie (turns out she had a difficult pregnancy and she and Brianna would have died if she stayed) and is raised as Frank's daughter. Claire promised Frank she wouldn't say anything to Brianna until he was gone. They have an unhappy marriage and Frank was going to take Brianna to London to live with him (she was raised in Boston) but he dies in a car crash. Jamie goes back to the battle totally intending to die, which of course he doesn't. He gets back to Lallybroch and spends seven years in a cave hiding from the British (fuzzy again). The beginning of Book 2 is Claire taking Brianna to Scotland where they meet Roger Wakefield (that little boy in one of the earlier episodes). Roger changes his name back to McKenzie when he finds out his history. Claire tells Brianna the whole story which of course she doesn't believe at first. Claire wants Roger to try to find out what happened to Jamie and all his men at Culloden, which he eventually does. Jamie had every intention of dying at Culloden, but he didn't. Oh, about Jack - Jamie woke up at Culloden, with Jack on top of him! He doesn't know if he killed him or what happened there. Jamie goes through all trials and tribulations without Claire for 20 years. Claire decides she wants to go back to Jamie and Brianna accepts this. Brianna and Roger eventually fall in love, Claire goes back to Jamie in Book 3. Turns out Brianna is also a time-traveler - she goes back to her parents in Book 4 and finds them. Roger is the descendant of Gaellis Duncan and Dougal McKenzie - he goes back to find Brianna, since he finds out he's also a time-traveler because of Gaellis. Of course there's so much more (they meet Gaellis in 1968 and we find out that she's not as nice as she seemed). Roger and Brianna have two children - Jemmy and Mandy. Mandy it turns out has a bad heart that Claire can't fix so Jamie and Claire send the McKenzies back through the stones so Mandy can get to a hospital and she's cured. They are gone for a few years but in the last book, Claire and Jamie are back on the Ridge in NC and they see four strangers comings towards them. It's Roger, Brianna, Jemmy and Mandy. Next season, Claire and Jamie will hire a ten-year-old pickpocket named Fergus to help them. Fergus becomes their adopted son. Fergus marries Marsali, who's the daughter of Leoghrie. Fergus and Marsali have four kids. Turns out Jamie married Leoghrie! That was Jenny's idea because Jamie was so distraught and missing Claire and she thought it would make him happy. Wrong! He left her after a year. Oh, and Jamie has an illegimate son William. He was a groom at an estate (he was sent there after release from Ardsmuir Prison by Lord John Grey, who you will meet next season, he was the warden and he and Jamie became friends and he sent him to the estate since it was better than where the other prisoners were sent). The daughter at the estate blackmailed Jamie into having sex with her since she was supposed to marry and old man who was an Earl. She said if he didn't she would squeal as to who he really was (he was under an assumed name) and Jenny, etc. would be in trouble. So of course she gets pregnant. She dies in childbirth and the husband died after a fight at the house. Jamie was really close with William up until about 6 years old, and then he left because he started to look a lot like him and he didn't want anyone to connect the dots. Lord John Grey (who is gay and has feelings for Jamie that he never acts on) married William's mother's sister and brought him up as his own. Needless to say in the later books they cross paths and William finds out who he really is. Also, Jenny and Ian's son Young Ian has been with Jamie and Claire since he was 15. Jenny eventually comes to live with Claire and Jamie in North Carolina after Ian dies. Of course Jamie fights in the Revolution and meets Washington and a bunch of other historical figures. So at the end of the last book, Brianna, Roger, Jemmy and Mandy are returning and Claire and Jamie are in their late 50s (of course many trials and tribulations in between). Oh, and the baby Gaellis is carrying? He's also a time-traveler that meets Roger and Brianna (so he's Roger's descendant) and Gaellis did not die at the witch trial but the baby was given up. I know, a lot to comprehend!!!!! I forgot the most important part - the sex is as hot as ever LOL!!! Through all the books. And Jamie, God love him, is as romantic as ever with all the words he says to Claire.
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Post by SueFB on Jun 3, 2015 10:19:07 GMT -5
I loved watching Laura Donnelly this season. What a pistol of a character. Squirt out a kid, go off with Claire to track down her brother, torture a British soldier. Whatever it takes, lol.
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Post by narrows101 on Jun 3, 2015 10:38:48 GMT -5
I loved watching Laura Donnelly this season. What a pistol of a character. Squirt out a kid, go off with Claire to track down her brother, torture a British soldier. Whatever it takes, lol. Oh yeah, how could I forget Laura!!!!!! Wasn't she fab? She does appear in future books too. Forgot to mention, what happened to Jamie in the last episode stays with him for the rest of his life. He has nightmares, etc. PTSD. And Claire always brings him out of it.
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Post by emtee on Jun 4, 2015 7:14:08 GMT -5
Thanks so much Pat for taking the time to put that summary of 10000 pages of Outlander history together. Great recall on your part.
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Post by narrows101 on Jun 4, 2015 9:55:47 GMT -5
Thanks so much Pat for taking the time to put that summary of 10000 pages of Outlander history together. Great recall on your part. It helps if you've read the books twice LOL. Although I have to admit the later ones get a bit fuzzy since there's a lot more character and then the books sort of run together as one big story. I did neglect to mention a few things - Young Ian (I love him!) is a big part of the books (he appears in book 3 and all the others after) as is Lord John Grey, who appears in book 2 and all books after, so he appears next season (big part of Jamie & Claire's life as I mentioned a bit). There's also Stephen Bonnet, who's a pirate and is a big part of Brianna's story. And William, {Spoiler}Jamie's illegitimate son who finds out who he is in book 7. Be prepared for mega-tears in book 2 when {Spoiler}Jamie sends pregnant Claire back to the 20th century and then is prepared to die at Culloden. They are apart for 20 years and Brianna is brought up by Frank Randall. I'm waiting (please!) for books 3 and 4 where {Spoiler}Claire goes back to Jamie after 20 years apart, shows him all sort of photos of his daughter, and then Brianna goes back in book 4 and meets her father for the first time. And then Roger follows her.
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Post by SueFB on Jun 7, 2015 8:29:30 GMT -5
Look out for Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell. It's very well done and surprisingly funny. Bertie Carvel is quite cute in this. Starts here on BBC America next Saturday, I'll give it a look. I like Eddie Marsan as well. I guess his character in Ray Donovan really did move to Ireland (and leave that show).
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Post by wombat on Jun 21, 2015 17:12:21 GMT -5
Outlander eventually became available on Amazon Prime. I watched up to the mid-season break because that was all that was available initially. I'm finding it hard to get back into. One of the problems is it doesn't feel real to me. My literary scottish history is more Nigel Tranter (Robert the Bruce and his ilk), Robert Louis Stevenson (Kidnapped) Sir Walter Scott (Rob Roy) and, more than anyone, Dorothy Dunnett. I think I might like it better when they leave Scotland and move to a less familiar (for me) part of the world. It did get me thinking that maybe one day there might be a tv series based on Dorothy Dunnett's Lymond Chronicles. They're a bit like Outlander and Wolf Winter rolled into one with sprinklings of Alexandre Dumas. They have the best romantic hero, ever (I was 17 when I first encountered him and I've yet to find a match). Here's a good, non-spoliery review.
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Post by narrows101 on Jun 21, 2015 19:32:25 GMT -5
Outlander eventually became available on Amazon Prime. I watched up to the mid-season break because that was all that was available initially. I'm finding it hard to get back into. One of the problems is it doesn't feel real to me. My literary scottish history is more Nigel Tranter (Robert the Bruce and his ilk), Robert Louis Stevenson (Kidnapped) Sir Walter Scott (Rob Roy) and, more than anyone, Dorothy Dunnett. I think I might like it better when they leave Scotland and move to a less familiar (for me) part of the world. It did get me thinking that maybe one day there might be a tv series based on Dorothy Dunnett's Lymond Chronicles. They're a bit like Outlander and Wolf Winter rolled into one with sprinklings of Alexandre Dumas. They have the best romantic hero, ever (I was 17 when I first encountered him and I've yet to find a match). Here's a good, non-spoliery review. My understanding was that it premiered on Amazon Prime in the UK in March as a "catch-up" to the US, and then when the mid-season break came back in April and aired on Saturdays, I believe the same episode aired in the UK on the following Sunday. They are filming season 2 at the moment, I think they have about three episodes "in the can." They are going to be at Comic-Con on July 11 where the rumor is they may show some kind of teaser and introduce some of the new characters, which are many, although the main two of Brianna and Roger supposedly haven't been cast yet. In season 2 they are in partly in France and the French court (can't wait to see those costumes on Jamie and Claire!) and back to Scotland again (leading to the Jacobite Uprising and Culloden). I think I have all the episodes memorized - I just finished watched 107 ("The Wedding"), 109 ("The Reckoning") and 116 ("To Ransom a Man's Soul") again. At this point I usually just fast-forward to Jamie and Claire parts LOL (I'll admit it, I love the sex scenes, they look so real LOL) unless I haven't seen the episode in a while or there are other parts I want to see. The end of season 2 (or near to it, depending on how the TV show does it) is going to be a tearjerker. "An Inside Look at Outlander" was just posted on Facebook, very interesting! www.facebook.com/backstage/videos/843800539003153/
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Post by wombat on Jun 22, 2015 8:23:57 GMT -5
Thanks for that. I began wondering about the work that had gone into the dialects. The clan dialect had to be consistent, broad enough to mark them as scottish but still understandable for its american audience. Even "Claire" was using a dialect as the actress is irish. I've been interested in this aspect since "The Prestige". They're not aiming to recreate the way people of that time would have spoken, it's more about creating an impression that allows us into that world and allows us to distinguish different groups of people based on how they speak. I was impressed by the gaelic - how anyone can get their mouths around that langauage, I have no idea.
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Post by narrows101 on Jun 22, 2015 19:20:28 GMT -5
Thanks for that. I began wondering about the work that had gone into the dialects. The clan dialect had to be consistent, broad enough to mark them as scottish but still understandable for its american audience. Even "Claire" was using a dialect as the actress is irish. I've been interested in this aspect since "The Prestige". They're not aiming to recreate the way people of that time would have spoken, it's more about creating an impression that allows us into that world and allows us to distinguish different groups of people based on how they speak. I was impressed by the gaelic - how anyone can get their mouths around that langauage, I have no idea. I do admit I sometimes had to put on the closed-captioning to see what they were saying with the Scottish accents, but that was only in the very beginning until I got used to it. They also have a Gaelic teacher on set, but I do wish that was subtitled. Showrunner Ron Moore said they didn't subtitle because the story is told from Claire's point of view and she doesn't know what they are saying, so the audience shouldn't. Most of the time you get the gist of it and the translation does appear on the internet eventually. The only time I really wish they would have subtitled was a scene in the last episode between Jamie and Murtaugh - the eventual translation was beautiful but no one knows what was said since it was just an intimate conversation between the two and all in Gaelic. The beginning of season 2 in France should be interesting, wonder if they will subtitle those.
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Post by wombat on Jul 6, 2015 11:08:51 GMT -5
I'm really enjoying a new sci-fi series called "Humans". It's a remake of a swedish series that translates to "Real Humans". The premise is a world much like now but in which synthetic humans are used for the boring shops - housekeeping, cleaning, caring for the elderly, even physiotherapy. Add in a group of "synths" who may be sentinent. There are several interleaving story lines, from the family wondering if their new synth is normal, a group of synths on the run, a murderous synth and the police team with the job of investigating, an elderly man cared for by a synth under contract from social services. It's fascinating and gripping and raises issues of exploitation and free choice. The acting is uniformly good and you start to feel for characters, even individual "synths". This works in a way that Extant never did. It's a bit more like Bladerunner.
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Post by wombat on Feb 11, 2017 7:28:44 GMT -5
I watched the first episode of Legion and found it engrossing. It's a new superhero series that is a distant relative of the X-Men franchise. It's Marvel but developed by Fox and has lots of familar names as executive producers - Lauren Shuler Donner, Bryan Singer, Simon Kinberg and it reminded me a little of the first X-Men movie. The lead actor is Dan Stevens but it's a very differnt role to Downton Abbey's Matthew. The character is in a mental hospital with a diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia. He's charming and funny but confused and dangerous. I've never seen Fargo, but I've read that it's the same writer/director/producer. On first sight, it seems less cookie-cutter than the other superhero series out there.
On the other hand, I watched the first of the new MacGyver series. Yawn.
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Post by mamaleh on Feb 11, 2017 8:25:25 GMT -5
I wasn't quite sure what I was watching--what was real or not, when and where certain events were taking place--but LEGION certainly is fascinating and visually interesting. I could barely recognize Dan Stevens. Looks like he's whittled himself down to a very low weight. Except for the furrowed brow, he looks and acts years younger than Matthew of DOWTOWN. Besides all the familiar names (Donner, Kinberg, Singer, etc.), I noticed there's a little "X" inside the letter "O" in the show's title. Dead giveaway right there. I don't watch many new shows, but I'm going to follow this one.
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Post by deanamarie on Feb 12, 2017 17:26:16 GMT -5
I watched Legion because I'm a massive Dan Stevens fan and obviously for the X-men aspect, but I found it to be a bit...hard to follow. It was pretty and it was very visually stunning, but really, slow. David is supposed to be the son of Charles Xavier in the comics, so it will definitely be interested to keep up with the character, but it's still, very odd.
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Post by wombat on Jan 15, 2018 16:23:52 GMT -5
I hadn't realised how our of the loop I was with the X-Menu movie universe until today when I found out there's another spin-off on Fox, called "The Gifted". The first episode was directed by Bryan Singer, with Thomas Newton Sigel as cinematographer, music by John Ottman, Lauren Shuler Donner as producer, Simon Kinberg, a cameo by Stan Lee (has he aged in 19 years?). It was quite gripping.
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