Had to throw that out there. I just watched Sunday nights episode and I'm blown away with the quality of that show so far this season. The past three episodes have been more than I could ever hope for. Also, they are now past the point of what I've read in the books. To any of you who have yet to read them or aren't quite caught up, don't bother. I was on that same train of thought and I completely got off three episodes ago. I found that by reading the books first, a few things happened:
First off, I had to read the damn books. While they are good and well worth the time and effort, it's a lot of time, especially if you only read before bed like I've been inclined to do lately. So trying to read and get caught up before a new season starts isn't my cup of tea, especially when you get to those long ass Sansa chapters.
Second, I spent too much time comparing the two in my head rather than enjoying what a great show it is. Books obviously have much more detail and information. Some of which is good. Some of which isn't. During the first two seasons I spent a lot of time picking at the differences between the two. I feel the greatness of the show was watered down a bit in the process by worrying about a lot of the little things that didn't make the cut or were altered in some form.
And finally, I spoiled a few of the "Holy Shit!!" moments with the book. They were still enjoyable while reading since I could put the pieces together myself and make the perfect image for these scenes in my mind. But this awesomeness is magnified when it's got HBO, a decent budget, and some incredible actors to bring it all to life.
So I strongly urge all of you to do the TV show first. Read the books after if you still want to. I know I will eventually. But I feel the journey is much better going in blind. It's probably one of the best shows on TV lately, and with the way this season has been going I'm soon going to raise this to the same level as Breaking Bad and Sons of Anarchy.
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So I moved last week and was fairly busy with that. Spent all of Wednesday moving everything and then the rest of the week was putting this and that away. I did manage to get two of Eberts top ten list out of the way though. I was foolishly hoping to get more done but it will have to wait a little longer. Here again is a brief synopses of the movies I did get to see:
Citizen Kane
One of the more well known movies on the list. Easily recognizable as a classic and widely considered to be one of the greatest films of all time. Some of my fears of watching older movies finally came to surface with this one sadly. While I still thought it was great, it didn't meet all the expectations I had for it.
Raging Bull
This was one of the movies that I hang my head in shame for not watching until now. It's debatable if this is De Niro and Scorseses best movie and I can completely see the reasons behind this argument. I wanted to re-watch it again as soon as the credits rolled.
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The only movie I watched in theaters this week was Iron Man 3. I saw this opening night and aside from the lineup to get in, it was nice to see a movie on opening night. I haven't done that in a while and I know it really doesn't change the movie in any way, but some part of me gets a little excited that I get to see the movie before anyone else. Other than the millions of other people around the world who have seen it already of course...... but you know what I mean.
Iron Man 3 7/10
I won't say too much about Iron Man 3. Most of you have already decided if you're going to see it or not. I've already talked about the Marvel universe they have created in my previous post and if you are buying into that whole thing then this is a worthy installment in that world.
Being the first film after The Avengers is a huge burden to bear, but Iron Man does it in typical Iron Man fashion. All the characters, humor and fancy gadgetry are here that we expect from the series. The trailers give it a more somber tone than you would expect, and the seriousness is there, but it's given in a manner that is consistent with the other two installments. It's marketed to seem more serious for a reason I promise you. You'll see what I mean when and if you watch it.
Iron Man succeeds in picking up where The Avengers leaves off. The references are there but they're not overwhelming. The shadow of the events linger over Tony and they have some effect on him, but it's not where the conflict in this movie comes from. It manages to stay an Iron Man movie in a much bigger universe. He still has his own problems that have nothing to do with that happened in New York and it's done believably. These movies all need to co-exist but they still need to be their own. Iron Man is probably the best example of a character who can stand on his own and this movie solidifies that.
I do wish there could have been more character cameos, or tidbits of info regarding the rest of the Marvel universe hidden in here. But I understand why they didn't. A lot of that before The Avengers was build up. Now that we're past that movie it's going to be a different journey to the next Avengers film. If the quality of the movies to come stay the same as this one, then these missing pieces won't be an issue.
There were a few things about this movie that frustrated me a little though. A few of the characters don't get the amount of screen time I felt they deserved. Either being killed off too quickly or just being oddly absent for extended periods of time.
A few of the plot details are left very vague with little to no explanation. I've thought more about it since I've seen the movie and I've grown a little more accepting of the decisions made. But still, this movie could have (should have) been smarter. A little more exposition could have gone a long way.
Finally, at one point in the movie Tony Stark mentions being a "hot mess". It's fitting because at times, this movie would fall into the "hot mess" category. I feel like some of the scenes and sequences were a bit much and over the top. It's almost as if it's dialing everything up to pander to the summer movie audience and to try to live on the same plain of spectacle that The Avengers did. Most times it works as the visual eye candy it is. Other times it felt like it was trying way to hard.
I don't think anybody should go into this expecting a sequel to The Avengers. This is an Iron Man movie that lives in a post-Avengers world. It's great if you liked the Iron Man movies and Tony Stark on their own. It might not rub off the same way if you're expecting to see Thor or Nick Fury show up to help out. This is also not the smartest of the three Iron Man films. I feel like this time around they sacrificed some of the intelligence that helped make the first two films some of the better ones in the Marvel universe. In it's place we're getting more grandeur and spectacle, and once you suspend your disbelief in some of the more ridiculous ideas that pop up, you'll get a film that feels much more complete than Iron Man 2, but not quite as smart as the original Iron Man.
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That's all I have for this week. Sorry for being a little late with getting this up. Also, don't mind the change in format and spacing compared with the previous weekly updates. I'm trying to find the best flow and this whole blog is still a work in progress of course. As always, comments/suggestions are always welcome.
Thanks again for reading!
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