Category: TV

Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett

On By Rick McIn books, TVLeave a comment

Highly recommended. Best book I’ve read in some time.

The Pillars of the Earth is a historical novel by Ken Follett published in 1989 about the building of a cathedral in the fictional town of Kingsbridge, England. It is set in the middle of the 12th century …

The book traces the development of Gothic architecture out of the preceding Romanesque architecture, and the fortunes of the Kingsbridge priory and village against the backdrop of historical events of the time. …

Before this novel was published, Follett was known for writing in the thriller genre. The Pillars of the Earth became his best-selling work which was later made into an 8-part miniseries in 2010. …

It is fantastic. Though I have very little interest in either history or architecture, I was entertained for over 40 hours of audio.

The story leads up to the murder of Thomas Becket by followers of the king in Canterbury Cathedral.

Gothic architecture characteristics include the pointed arch, the ribbed vault (which evolved from the joint vaulting of Romanesque architecture) and the flying buttress. During the course of the book these innovations come to England.

Reims Cathedral

Ken Follett:

I knew it had to be a long book. It took at least thirty years to build a cathedral and most took longer because they would run out of money, or be attacked or invaded. So the story covers the entire lives of the main characters. My publishers were a little nervous about such a very unlikely subject but, paradoxically, it is my most popular book. It’s also the book I’m most proud of. …

I’ve downloaded the sequel World Without End (2007)

American politics went batshit crazy starting with Newt Gingrich

On By Rick McIn economics, education, ethics, Facebook, GOP USA, government, human rights, things getting worse, TV1 Comment

I ignored American politics until 2004 when — inexplicably — George W. Bush was elected for a second term after being unbelievably bad in his first term.

What the Hell was going on?

Jim VandeHei explains why the USA has such extreme politics in 2017: Newt Gingrich, Fox News (1996), MSNBC, CNN, Facebook and later Twitter, Sarah Palin and finally Trump.

Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert documented the idiocy.

How American politics went batshit crazy

a battle of wits

It’s easy to say Americans deserve the politicians they have.

My fear is that other nations will evolve in the direction of the American way. 😦

Game of Thrones – season 7

On By Rick McIn TVLeave a comment

I bought Game of Thrones (season 7) from iTunes. Yes I know it’s the most pirated TV series. 🙂

Like the previous season, it largely consisted of original content not found in George R. R. Martin‘s A Song of Ice and Fire series …

Like the previous season it’s better for being freed of Martin’s over-complicated story line. In fact, I’d say season 7 is the best yet.

In fact, I’d say season 7 is the best TV of all time. Attention to detail is astonishing.

Winter is finally here. The armies are converging so we might yet find out who will end up sitting on the throne of swords. (My guess … Jon Snow.)

The plot is crystal clear. I only occasionally had to look up characters online to remember who they were.

I can hardly wait for the 8th and final season.

Click PLAY or watch a season 7 trailer on YouTube.

I like most of the characters. Starks best of all. Aria best of the Starks.

 

Big Little Lies

On By Rick McIn TVLeave a comment

As Big Little Lies won a ton of Emmy Awards, I thought I’d better download the 7 episodes.

It’s excellent. Very intense.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

At a public school in Monterey (California), a death occurs on trivia night, but neither the victim nor the murderer are revealed. Backtracking to the first day of school, the families of five first-graders are introduced. …

Reese Witherspoon is awesome as Madeline Martha Mackenzie. She’s been excellent in everything I’ve seen her in.

Nicole Kidman is always good. Director Jean-Marc Vallée says he’s so privileged to have such experienced, talented actors.

My other favourite character is Shailene Woodley as (Plain) Jane Chapman. Homicidal? Suicidal?

In July 2017, HBO revealed that a second season is possible, and that Moriarty had been asked to write a story for a second season

 

Vikings – season 1

On By Rick McIn TV1 Comment

Vikings is a historical drama television series …

Season 1 premiered on March 3, 2013 in Canada …

Filmed in Ireland, Vikings is inspired by the tales about the Viking Ragnar Lothbrok, one of the best-known mythological Norse heroes and notorious as the scourge of France and England. …

Rotten Tomatoes reported a 81% approval rating with an average rating of 6.9/10 based on 27 reviews. The site’s consensus reads, “Vikings makes up for its lack of historical accuracy with a heaping helping of violence, romance, and striking visuals”. …

Click PLAY or watch a trailer on YouTube.

Already renewed for a sixth season I doubt I’ll continue on to season 2. Too gory for gore’s sake.

related – The religious angle of the TV series is entirely fabricated. Learn about Ásatrú – the religion of the Vikings

The Bridge (U.S. TV series) – season 2

On By Rick McIn government, human rights, travel, travel Mexico, TVLeave a comment

I loved season 1 and had high expectations for season 2.

Many critics liked season 2 better. I found it muddled. Disjointed. There were too many characters. Plot too fuzzy.

Still … for me it was well worth watching. But I’m not surprised there was no season 3.

I’ll next watch Bron, Broen … the Scandinavian crime television series on which this American version was based. It’s headed into it’s 4th season.

 

The Bridge (U.S. TV series)

On By Rick McIn government, travel, travel Mexico, TV1 Comment

Important issues in the era of Trump’s hateful America.

Yes, there are detectives and, yes, there is a killer. But the true mysteries of The Bridge lie in the great swaths of land and stories surrounding the U.S.-Mexico border. …

Episode 7 Recap: The Defiant Weirdness of ‘Destino’

Click PLAY or watch a trailer on YouTube.

The Bridge is an American crime drama television series … based on the Danish-Swedish series Broen/Bron. …

The show stars German actress Diane Kruger and Mexican actor Demián Bichir in pivotal roles.  …

The complete series consists of two seasons of 13 episodes each. The series debuted on FX in the United States on July 10, 2013, and the series finale aired on October 1, 2014. …

The American version takes place on the U.S. and Mexican border where a murdered body on a bridge between El Paso and Juárez (the Bridge of the Americas) bring together El Paso detective Sonya Cross (Kruger) who is mentored by Hank Wade (Levine) and Chihuahua State police detective Marco Ruiz (Bichir). …

Detective Sonya Cross has undiagnosed Asperger’s syndrome or a similar autism spectrum disorder. She’s awesome. Meticulous, direct and prickly. No empathy.

Many of the minor characters are excellent too. Casting is great.

Cult-figure Steven Linder (Tom Wright) is my favourite. Wright’s been compared to Daniel Day-Lewis.

Linder believes that he has a calling to help people, including the women and girls in Ciudad Juarez, hundreds of whom have been killed or disappeared since 1993.

I got the series from Warren. And will continue watching season 2. And then the Danish-Swedish version.

House of Spies (Gabriel Allon #17)

On By Rick McIn books, Islam, TVLeave a comment

We expected in this book that Gabriel Allon would stay home, now the Chief of Israeli security and father of twins.

Not so much.

… Daniel Silva’s runaway bestseller The Black Widow was one of 2016’s biggest novels. Now, in House of Spies, Gabriel Allon is back and out for revenge—determined to hunt down the world’s most dangerous terrorist, a shadowy ISIS mastermind known only as Saladin.

Four months after the deadliest attack on the American homeland since 9/11, terrorists leave a trail of carnage through London’s glittering West End. The attack is a brilliant feat of planning and secrecy, but with one loose thread: the French-Moroccan street criminal and ISIS operative who supplied the combat assault rifles. …

Amazon

Click PLAY or watch a TV interview with the author on YouTube.

A TV series in in the works produced by MGM.

This is Us – Kate and Toby

On By Rick McIn food, happiness, TVLeave a comment

Have you been watching This is Us?

It’s excellent.

One of the story lines is the charming romance of two obese characters.


That’s Chrissy Metz as Kate Pearson. And Chris Sullivan as Toby, her boyfriend.

37% of Americans are currently obese (50% obese by 2020).

34% more are currently overweight.

Fad diets and reality TV doctors don’t seem to be helping. Overweight in the 1st world is here to stay, I think.

Old Man’s War (2005) by John Scalzi

On By Rick McIn books, movies, TV2 Comments

Old Man’s War is a military science fiction and debut novel by John Scalzi …

It was nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Novel in 2006. …

… the first novel in Scalzi’s Old Man’s War series. …

I was reminded of of Ender’s Game.

Scalzi freely admits he was influenced by Robert A. Heinlein’s Starship Troopers.

The writing is juvenile to appeal to teenage boys.

Still, I enjoyed this book. Particularly the plot twist that soldiers must be age-75 to enlist.

Soldier John Perry tells the tale. His consciousness is transferred to a super-powered 20-year-old body.

There are plenty of interesting technologies in this imagined future.

BrainPal is a neural implant that allows members of the Colonial Defense Forces (CDF) to send and receive data, including speech, battle plans and much more. CDF soldiers use their BrainPals to translate alien languages, watch classic cartoons, and read old books.

It was initially optioned for film in 2011, and for the last few years Syfy has been trying to develop it as a TV series. Don’t hold your breath.

I don’t think I’ll continue to the sequel — The Ghost Brigades.