(no subject)

[winterbadger]

I gather tonight is the Oscars; I suck at keeping track of stuff like that.

I spent part of the afternoon finishing the second season of Rome, which I had borrowed from gr_c17 . What an amazing series! I'm so sorry they weren't able to make another season.

Tonight I watched Defiance, itself nominated for both an Oscar and a Golden Globe. I can't speak much to the historical reality--I gather that some of the actions of the Bielski partisans may have been questionable, but when do partisans engage in war without some bad things happening? For a film about people trying to survive and fight back against a deadly enemy, and about Jews looking after each other when no one else will, I thought it was excellent, with good acting, a decent plot, and good cinematography. It's not one of the greatest movies of all time, but it's definitely a very good movie, IMO.

In unrelated commentary, I would eat more vegetables if they didn't go bad so damn fast. I also had to chuck a pound or so of ground lamb that I just wasn't able to eat soon enough. I would spread my grocery buying out more, but one of the reasons I don't cook often enough as it is, is that I end up working late and don't have time to cook. Add in more shopping trips, and I'll never be home to cook at all.

Comments

[kmpleet.livejournal.com]

I second your opinion of Rome. It's a really wonderfully written and well acted series. It's also very realistic in terms of its "physical interactions" between the characters. There are times that I wish that it was more historically accurate, but it isn't *bad* on that note; they just take some big liberties with a few of the historical characterizations.

The production staff wanted to do, I think, 5 seasons worth of filming, with parts hitting Egypt, the revolt of Judeah, and other major points, but they ran out of funding and had to tie up things as soon as they could. However, they still made a great story, and it's really worth watching.

In fact, if you like the historical stuff and aren't put off by large amounts of cussing, I'd also recommend Deadwood, which is another high-quality HBO series. It's based during the American west in the title town.

[winterbadger]

Yep, I'm amused by the way that I and some of my friends who will pick apart some of the details on fairly decent productions just fell head over heels for Rome, which does some serious history-twisting in places.

And, yes, it's striking how much time and character development they put into the Jewish family in the second series and how Herod is introduced (Herod the Great, of course, not any of his four (!) sons named Herod--it was a long time before I learned that the Herod who had all the babies killed was not the same Herod that turned Jesus over to Pilate for execution.)

The interactions between characters are, I think (along with the excellent acting and good writing) as much a part of its appeal as the (excellent) depiction of physical culture. One touch I liked was in a Season 2 scene where the now-freedman Posca passes on some top secret intel to one of his "betters"--having been a slave, one of the first things Posca does is indicate that the slaves present should be sent out of the room, a precaution few of the free men ever bother to take. :-)

I've seen parts of Deadwood, mostly the first season, I think. It looked good, but I think at the time I was overly supplied with grim and depressing drama. It's in my Netflix queue (well, the first season, so as to do it properly), but things that are only on DVD are losing out to programs I can stream direct to my TV via ROku.