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Post by theotherjosh on May 5, 2017 12:49:19 GMT
I searched for a thread on the topic and was surprised that there wasn’t already one underway. I’ll spoiler tag anything from the book that hasn’t been revealed in the series.
I watched the first episode with my wife and several friends. Our kids were watching Netflix in the attic, but we let them come down for the Bilquis scene.
Some changes and compression to the way the story was told but they were all in service of the story. I wasn’t even upset that Audrey didn’t have red hair!
It feels like it has more of Fuller's DNA than Gaiman's. The Viking scene felt like Fuller filmed a bit from A Game of Thrones with a Pushing Daisies filter on the camera.
I like Ricky Whittle's Shadow much more than book Shadow. Book Shadow seemed like a cipher to me, the kind of empty nobody who only served to tell the reader about the world. He was so numb from the unreality of his wife's death that he accepted everything else without question. I think that was by design, but I don’t think that would work well on television, so it’s fine that Whittle is as expressive as he is.
His race is never specifically addressed in the book, but I always figured book Shadow as mixed race, but someone who could pass for white. (Or at least pass from something other an African American) I think Gaiman said once that he could see the Rock playing Shadow. Whittle is pretty unambiguously a black dude. (Usual disclaimers about race as a social construct apply.) I don’t think book Shadow was a black dude because in the course of several hundred pages his race is never an issue, and for POC in America, race is always an issue. You can’t have a book about America, gods or no without addressing that. But Fuller addresses this head on by framing the beating very specifically as a lynching and I think that works. It’s disquieting, but it’s supposed to be.
Wednesday was great, just an outstanding performance and I thought the effects on his glass eye were nicely understated. . There is a wrongness to one of his eyes. It really feels like something from the book. Sweeny was also good, and he’s in and out before he can wear out his welcome. Not sure if I like this interpretation of the Technical Boy or not, but if I wind up not liking it, it’s certainly not because of the actor’s performance.
{Spoiler} I don’t think they mentioned Shadow’s cell mate by name. I wonder if that means they’re trying to pull a switcheroo on the fans of the book.
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Post by Trace on May 8, 2017 4:42:12 GMT
I watched the first episode with my wife and several friends. Our kids were watching Netflix in the attic, but we let them come down for the Bilquis scene.
You let them watch the Bilquis scene? You're joking!!!
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Post by theotherjosh on May 8, 2017 14:18:22 GMT
I watched the first episode with my wife and several friends. Our kids were watching Netflix in the attic, but we let them come down for the Bilquis scene.
You let them watch the Bilquis scene? You're joking!!! Heh heh, yeah. I'm kidding.
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Post by elkawho on May 11, 2017 10:29:39 GMT
This book was the only Neil Gaiman written work that I was not able to get into. I started the book but after about 40 pages I just didn't like it enough to continue. I've been looking forward to the show to see if that would change in another medium. I watched the first episode last night. It didn't. I hated every second of it.
Oh, the casting was spectacular, and they all gave really great performances. Didn't matter. I hated it. Oh, well.
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Post by theotherjosh on May 11, 2017 12:10:53 GMT
This book was the only Neil Gaiman written work that I was not able to get into. I started the book but after about 40 pages I just didn't like it enough to continue. I've been looking forward to the show to see if that would change in another medium. I watched the first episode last night. It didn't. I hated every second of it. Oh, the casting was spectacular, and they all gave really great performances. Didn't matter. I hated it. Oh, well. He has said in interviews that it remains one of his more polarizing works. Either people love it or they HATE it. I personally like it a lot, but it draws on a lot of Gaimain-esque tropes and I can certainly perceive the elements that would cause people to dislike it, even if I don't interpret them same way.
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Post by Trace on May 12, 2017 0:21:27 GMT
I have watched both episodes and I'm fighting a war with myself. I know it's really well done, but man!! Infuriatingly slow and self-indulgent. Like the author is saying, "I have written the most complex and thought-provoking story ever!!" When in reality, it may just turn out to be a time-consuming mind-f*ck. I'll stick with it for a couple more episodes. I like the characters and visuals.
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Post by elkawho on May 12, 2017 2:43:35 GMT
I have watched both episodes and I'm fighting a war with myself. I know it's really well done, but man!! Infuriatingly slow and self-indulgent. Like the author is saying, "I have written the most complex and thought-provoking story ever!!" When in reality, it may just turn out to be a time-consuming mind-f*ck. I'll stick with it for a couple more episodes. I like the characters and visuals. Agreed. I think it's completely self-indulgent, and any heart or soul has been sucked dry because of it.
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Post by muckypup on May 13, 2017 14:14:42 GMT
Agree with others after watching ep2 is tediously slow......too many lingering shots
But on the upside whittle & McShane sparkle in their exchanges.
I see I has been given a second series this week, I am glad I will stick with it but it needs a rocket up its bum.
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Post by Trace on May 16, 2017 23:24:34 GMT
Ok it's been three eps and I'm out! I can't recommend it based on stunning visuals and great acting alone. It's BORING. If any of you keep up with it and think it gets really good and I should give it another try, please let me know! As of now, I can't, in good conscience, give it ten more minutes of my life.
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Post by Trace on May 24, 2017 1:41:26 GMT
So, three people said I was too hasty....watch it again with an open mind, and guaranteed by ep. 4, I would be hooked. I hate to admit when I'm wrong--but they were right! Actually, I still find the first three episodes boring, but episode 4 completely grabbed me, and now I am starting to see the first three in a different way. I'm going to watch ep. 5, and if it's as brilliant as ep. 4, then I'm starting over and watching them all again. Amazing that one episode could completely sway me, but Laura Moon is such a compelling character, I can't wait to see what's next. (And from everything I've read, the Starz TV series character of Laura is a masterful improvement on Gaiman's novel's version of her. Here's me...eating my words, at least for now!
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Post by Deleted on May 24, 2017 5:37:04 GMT
Agree with others after watching ep2 is tediously slow......too many lingering shots But on the upside whittle & McShane sparkle in their exchanges. I see I has been given a second series this week, I am glad I will stick with it but it needs a rocket up its bum. Wait a minute, series 2. You mean they aren't going to cover the the full book in series 1? That's me out then.
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Post by muckypup on May 24, 2017 13:01:03 GMT
Agree with others after watching ep2 is tediously slow......too many lingering shots But on the upside whittle & McShane sparkle in their exchanges. I see I has been given a second series this week, I am glad I will stick with it but it needs a rocket up its bum. Wait a minute, series 2. You mean they aren't going to cover the the full book in series 1? That's me out then. The book is split into 3 with new elements & stuff from the companion book anansi boys From what I know, series one is about gathering, series two is around the mystery of the car series three is the resolution and set up for possible continuation. i still like the TVs series but all the problems I had with the book are there with added slow direction.
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Post by elkawho on May 24, 2017 23:36:02 GMT
Wait a minute, series 2. You mean they aren't going to cover the the full book in series 1? That's me out then. The book is split into 3 with new elements & stuff from the companion book anansi boys I had no idea that Anansi Boys was a companion book to American Gods. I love Anansi Boys. One of my favorite Gaiman novels, but I just can't manage American Gods, in either medium.
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Post by Deleted on May 25, 2017 5:28:40 GMT
Wait a minute, series 2. You mean they aren't going to cover the the full book in series 1? That's me out then. The book is split into 3 with new elements & stuff from the companion book anansi boys From what I know, series one is about gathering, series two is around the mystery of the car series three is the resolution and set up for possible continuation. i still like the TVs series but all the problems I had with the book are there with added slow direction. Doesn't sound like the series is going to speed up any time soon then. I really don't think I'll bother. I liked the book, but haven't read Anansi Boys yet. I'll put it to the top of my Gaiman to-read list.
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Post by jasonward on May 26, 2017 12:49:32 GMT
So I've never come across this story before, I came to the series because it was Neil Gaiman, I watched episode 1 enraptured and clueless, by the end I still had no idea what I was watching, I watched episode 2 and was still enraptured and only slightly more clued in, well beginning to guess with some surety, watched episode 3 and loved the whole snow sequence, loved the atmosphere it created, Shadows wife's reappearance was no surprise to me at all, from the moment in episode one when he tossed the coin on her grave I've been expecting her to come back to life.
Not yet watched episode 4, but hooked, love the filming style, will be watching much more.
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Post by Deleted on May 26, 2017 19:29:58 GMT
Personally I think it's, quite easily, the best new show of the year so far. It may be a slow burn, but I haven't found any of it even remotely boring. I haven't read the book, so I'm coming at it with fresh eyes, and while I can certainly understand it being polarising, I really don't get some of the complaints I've seen levelled at the show. Still, to each their own.
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Post by Trace on May 26, 2017 23:42:07 GMT
For me, episode 4 was the turning point. I also wasn't surprised about Laura, but I find her story fascinating! Now, the first theee eps don't seem boring at all.
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Post by jasonward on May 27, 2017 15:36:36 GMT
Well watched episode 4, again thought it was great, although I'm at a loss to understand why it's being recommended as the episode to get you hooked, I personally was less fascinated by Laura's story than I am about the death guy, there seems some deep mystery there to me, and one I'd love to see explored more.
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Post by Trace on May 27, 2017 16:30:23 GMT
Well watched episode 4, again thought it was great, although I'm at a loss to understand why it's being recommended as the episode to get you hooked, I personally was less fascinated by Laura's story than I am about the death guy, there seems some deep mystery there to me, and one I'd love to see explored more. It's not a recommendation as to being the episode to hook you. Just that it was for me. I was ready to throw in the towel, for whatever reason. Maybe I was tired when I viewed the first three.
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Post by muckypup on May 27, 2017 16:55:37 GMT
Well watched episode 4, again thought it was great, although I'm at a loss to understand why it's being recommended as the episode to get you hooked, I personally was less fascinated by Laura's story than I am about the death guy, there seems some deep mystery there to me, and one I'd love to see explored more. Death guy? Do you mean {Spoiler} Anubis?
have you read the book? if not don't spoil it and click on the spoiler tag. but I am sure you will understand more once Wednesdays and Shadows tale unfolds. but yes I was not that keen on lauras backstory, but I did enjoy the bathroom scene.
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