Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion The Water Cooler So what are you watching tonight?

LOTR series was the first set I updated.

I'm very disappointed in how The Wheel of Time has turned out. I don't see how they ever recover from the choices they've made that deviate from the books. There are so many ways they could have improved the material, as much as I liked the books, but instead they've dragged it down to the typical poorly executed TV fantasy level. They don't spend enough time setting up the characters and the world, rushing instead to drama and conflict amped up to stupid proportions this early in the story. They've altered certain characters in ways that makes them less engaging. They hobbled one of the most emotionally resonant scenes in the first book by changing the context and setting where it occurs. They've changed the rules of the magic system that Robert Jordan put a ton of thought into. There's no subtlety. You get clubbed over the head with everything. The writing is just clumsy with story structure and pacing being a total mess, and the directing is wholly uninspired. It's hard to watch, but I will keep doing it because at least I get to do with my best friend who got me into Wheel of Time back in the day. He also has a lot of problems with the show, so we get to complain to each other about how wrong they've gotten it. But my sister and his brother are both enjoying the show, so take my disgust with a grain of salt.

I don't know. I have not watched any of the 4K movies - yet.

But....to date, any 4K version that I've bought and sat through in my HT system has been a real treat. Better than 1080P by a significant amount. The HDR aspect of 4K puts them in a different category. Some of the Atmos soundtracks are just - meh, but some are pretty fantastic. 4K stuff on my smaller, great room TV isn't as much of a treat as in the HT with 8' screen.

Charles - never watch a movie thinking it will be as good as the book. You're in for disappointment ever time. LOL

I did not read this series of books, or The Hobbit, or Harry Potter. I am enjoying this new series quite a bit and find it entertaining. I also liked LOTR even though I don't like hobbits. Harry Potter, same thing. Entertaining, despite not liking Harry Potter. Winey little twit.

The Harry Potter books are great.

Ha ha, I know, but it would feel weird not to be protective of something I grew up with. For anyone wondering, my sister and my friend's brother also read the series, so they also had the comparison in mind. And my sister said her friend also started watching it and loved it, and she had read the books as well. I guess my friend and I are sticks in the mud. I really wanted to like it, if only because I love Rosamund Pike as an actress and was excited they got someone at that level to play Moiraine. She's too tall for the character, but so was Hugh Jackman as Wolverine.

There are some touches I've liked in The Wheel of Time, but I'm still finding it hard to get past some of the glaring character changes and lack of patience on the part of the writers. And I'm sure some of it comes from Amazon limiting them to 8 episodes in a season. I sure hope they expand that in future seasons. It would help to feel like you're spending time in the world rather than racing from plot point to plot point.

I also signed up for the free trial of Paramount+ to watch Detroiters and the two new South Park specials. Good stuff.

I hadn't fired up my UHD Blu-ray player in a couple weeks, so I decided it was time to watch the 4K copy of the Emma Thompson/Ang Lee Sense and Sensibility I bought. It was released as part of Columbia Classics 4K Ultra HD Collection Volume 2, but I bought it on its own on eBay. While you can tell it's not the most recent movie, and there's some softness to the picture through a lot of it, there are certainly scenes that have benefited from the new transfer. I'm happy with it. The audio is also very nice. Piano playing scenes, thunderstorms. It left me satisfied. Beyond that, it was great to revisit a movie I watched a lot of times back in the day, but it had been a while. It holds up.

Just got the fam Disney + for the holidays, trying it out for a month so we can get caught up on some Marvel movies we missed.
Finally, a 4k feed for the new setup!

Starting watching the Hawkeye series. A good premise though the supporting actress is playing the same character that she did in Pitch Perfect 3. I despise actors that keep playing the same character type, line delivery regardless of the movie. You end up stereotyping yourself.

I'm sure part of it is the people making the show liked the way she acted elsewhere, so they asked her to do more of the same. How is the 4K treating you? Remind me, what are you using as your streaming device?

Speaking of Disney+, do they still have Free Solo on there? I ask because there's a good follow-up to that one on Netflix called The Alpinist. The subject of this one is Marc-André Leclerc, who Alex Honnold calls crazy. I'm only halfway through, but it also has me scratching my head why people like this exist.