tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11303103.post4136712317048527288..comments2024-03-20T03:12:56.498-05:00Comments on Lou Anders: Two Telling ArticlesLou Andershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00694362734492222851noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11303103.post-8075377512312526322007-02-20T10:21:00.000-06:002007-02-20T10:21:00.000-06:00Hi Ted,Interestingly, now that you mention Caesar'...Hi Ted,<BR/>Interestingly, now that you mention Caesar's comment, I wonder if that isn't the first evidence of the divine and the coincidence of Titus learnign of Vorenus' children's fate the second...<BR/>I do agree with you re: GLADIATOR - and the more ROME prompts me to research the actual history, the more I realize how "fast and loose" they are being. I think Gary's article stands more on the idea that they are creating an SFnal like "verisimilitude" of history. ROME "feels" more authentic than other historical dramas due to the Peter Jackson-like obsession with detail of setting.Lou Andershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00694362734492222851noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11303103.post-20149520553591644552007-02-16T15:26:00.000-06:002007-02-16T15:26:00.000-06:00I recently watched the first season of Rome on DVD...I recently watched the first season of <I>Rome</I> on DVD and enjoyed it, but not as much as I had hoped. <BR/><BR/>For me, perhaps the biggest obstacle is what Kamiya calls the "over-the-top, picaresque plot." Vorenus and Pullo wind up in the middle of <I>everything</I>, and the fact that Caesar explicitly comments on the unlikeliness of this doesn't make it easier to believe. And their presence isn't even required for story purposes; there are plenty of other characters on the show, so it'd be easy to show the pivotal historical events without dragging Vorenus and Pullo into them. I can't agree with Kamiya when he says "it's the kind of absurdity that doesn't matter."<BR/><BR/>I also don't agree with Kamiya's claims about the show's historical accuracy. The show plays fast and loose with history, which I don't have a problem with, but I think it's only marginally more accurate than <I>Gladiator</I> (given the differing focuses of the TV series and the film), so I think Kamiya is being unfair in the way he disparages the latter.<BR/><BR/>Nor do I find the characters as alien as Kamiya seems to. Atia's utter nonchalance about her slaves' presence during sex is a neat bit of strangeness, but it seems to be more a reflection of her individual character than it is of the period. In general, I find the characters all pretty recognizable.Tedhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00799259633965559067noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11303103.post-73677777446946550602007-02-16T13:30:00.000-06:002007-02-16T13:30:00.000-06:00Justin: "If I started watching Rome next week, wo...Justin: "If I started watching Rome next week, would I be totally lost?"<BR/><BR/>The <I>real</I> question is: "If I started watching <I>Lost</I> next week, would I be totally Rome?<BR/><BR/>Which is to say, I thought <I>Rome</I> was superb; not so much because of its gifted and mostly ex-Shakespearean cast of actors (something one expects from the BBC), and not exactly because of the violence and the sex (tho' I've no objection to that); but fundamentally because it created a rounded, believable social milieu, world-building in fact, that possessed a genuine thickness of verisimilitude and affect. Which is to say, I believed the city portrayed on screen; it’s daily life, its topography, its values, its strengths and weaknesses. My view: there was only one feeble stretch in the whole series, and that was presumably a budgetary thing (where the director decided to skimp over the battle of Pharsalius, at which Caesar defeated Pompey the Great). Otherwise it was an delicious business as viewer just sitting back and immersing yourself in the world created.<BR/><BR/>The 21st century has started well for telly, I’d say: <I>West Wing</I>, <I>The Wire</I>, the sublime <I>Deadwood</I>, <I>Dexter</I>, <I>Battlestar Galactica</I>, <I>Rome</I> ... even <I>Lost</I>. All classic. I haven't yet seen <I>Heroes</I> (debuts in the UK next week), but I'm looking forward to that.Rachel Robertshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09514816247989239714noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11303103.post-45589942861777464482007-02-15T23:26:00.000-06:002007-02-15T23:26:00.000-06:00Fair point. Now I shall place another Amazon order...Fair point. Now I shall place another Amazon order -- and I am incapable of just ordering ONE item. <BR/><BR/>Ahm. Voluntary penury.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11303103.post-9009837695934866782007-02-15T22:07:00.000-06:002007-02-15T22:07:00.000-06:00Yeah, I thought the Iraq stuff was reaching, thoug...Yeah, I thought the Iraq stuff was reaching, though watching last week's subversion of the Senate by the military, I wasn't so sure there weren't some parallels. <BR/><BR/>But Rome is only ever going to be two seasons, and the boxed set of Season One is already out - so I'd say start from the beginning. If it were going on for years, you might want to jump in or you'd never catch up. But given it's finite, why not do it start to finish in order?Lou Andershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00694362734492222851noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11303103.post-18966828437884077112007-02-15T21:15:00.000-06:002007-02-15T21:15:00.000-06:00Righteous.The Iraq stuff was a touch gratuitous. B...Righteous.<BR/><BR/>The Iraq stuff was a touch gratuitous. But a pair of really nice articles. <BR/><BR/>If I started watching Rome next week, would I be totally lost?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com