This Looks Like It Could Be Good...

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Lord Jim
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This Looks Like It Could Be Good...

Post by Lord Jim »

I don't know who here besides Joe has Amazon Prime; we're going to check this out over the weekend. I hadn't heard about it until they started promoting the second season a few days ago (it has an 8.4 rating on IMDB)
The Man in the High Castle is an American dystopian alternate history television series produced by Amazon Studios. The series is based on the 1962 novel of the same name by American science fiction author Philip K. Dick. The story is an alternate history of the world in which the Axis powers won World War II. The United States has been partitioned into three parts: The Japanese puppet state of the Pacific States of America, which comprises the former United States west of the Rocky Mountains; a Nazi puppet state that comprises the eastern half of the former United States; and a neutral zone that acts as a buffer between the two areas, called the Rocky Mountain States.

The pilot debuted on January 15, 2015[1] and was Amazon's "most-watched since the original series development program began." On February 18, 2015, it was announced that it has been picked up for a season[2] of 10 episodes to be released November 20, 2015.[3][4]
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Joe Guy
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Re: This Looks Like It Could Be Good...

Post by Joe Guy »

I watched both of the episodes that were released. It is very good and I'm hooked for now.

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Long Run
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Re: This Looks Like It Could Be Good...

Post by Long Run »

Looks interesting, will have to give a try. Did you catch the Longmire new season on Netflix?

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Lord Jim
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Re: This Looks Like It Could Be Good...

Post by Lord Jim »

Long Run wrote:Looks interesting, will have to give a try. Did you catch the Longmire new season on Netflix?
Yes I did...


I thought it was pretty good...

Though I was disappointed that Walt and Vic didn't finally deal with the obvious sexual tension that exists between them...

(It's been going on since Season 3 when they were staying in that motel and they were trying to figure out who would knock on the adjoing door...)

I thought the writers were very playful about that, by starting the season with Vic driving up to Walt's cabin with a six pack of his favorite beer and fixing her hair right before she knocked on his door...

Her attitude was obviously, "okay, it's time, let's do this"...

And then they get news of Branch's death and the whole thing goes sideways...

A real mood killer... 8-)

I was surprised at how quickly they resolved the "who killed Branch?" story arc...

I thought the episode with Walt and Barlow Connerly squaring off ( played brilliantly by Gerald McRaney...who does an excellent job of playing sociopathic self-entitled rich guy villains...he did a superb job playing George Hearst in Deadwood) was the best of the season...

The upside of being able to "binge watch" a whole season of a show, is that you can you can follow the whole thing thematically in a short period of time...

The downside, (especially with a show like this, where they only create 10 episodes a season; we watched the whole season in three nights) is that once it's over, it's over... :?

And then you have to wait another year for more episodes...

The good news in this case, is that Netflix has already signed up for a season 5 of Longmire...

So maybe Walt will finally get his head out of his ass regarding Vic... 8-)
Last edited by Lord Jim on Sun Nov 15, 2015 4:05 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Econoline
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Re: This Looks Like It Could Be Good...

Post by Econoline »

I read the book The Man in the High Castle when it first came out, and it was excellent. (In fact, I was at the Hugo Awards banquet in Washington, D.C. in 1963 when Philip K. Dick won the Hugo for Best SF Novel for this book; I'm pretty sure that I, as a paid member of the convention, voted for him, too.) It does indeed look like a good adaptation...and of course Ridley Scott, the executive producer of this miniseries, has already made the best adaptation of a Philip Dick story *EVER*!!!

I see from the trailer that the novel-within-the-novel, The Grasshopper Lies Heavy (written by the mysterious and reclusive Man in the High Castle) has been changed from a book to a film. I wonder how many other changes have been made. In particular, I wonder if the adaptation maintains the importance of the role of the ancient Chinese book, the I Ching. Well, I guess I'll have to try to watch it sometime, if/when I can....
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Guinevere
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Re: This Looks Like It Could Be Good...

Post by Guinevere »

I have Prime, but I use it sporadically. And I'm not a fan of dystopia. Last series I watched was Newsroom, over the summer.
“I ask no favor for my sex. All I ask of our brethren is that they take their feet off our necks.” ~ Ruth Bader Ginsburg, paraphrasing Sarah Moore Grimké

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BoSoxGal
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Re: This Looks Like It Could Be Good...

Post by BoSoxGal »

Lord Jim wrote:The upside of being able to "binge watch" a whole season of a show, is that you can you can follow the whole thing thematically in a short period of time...

The downside, (especially with a show like this, where they only create 10 episodes a season; we watched the whole season in three nights) is that once it's over, it's over... :?
Imagine my experience, watching the whole show in one binge! I'm Jonesing bad . . . but, the upside of digital streaming on demand is that I can go back and watch it all again, as it's that good and worth two views before the next season airs.

However, I do have to make the observation that smart Sheriffs like Longmire are very few and very far between in the actual modern-day rural West.
For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring.
~ Carl Sagan

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Guinevere
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Re: This Looks Like It Could Be Good...

Post by Guinevere »

Guinevere wrote:I have Prime, but I use it sporadically. And I'm not a fan of dystopia. Last series I watched was Newsroom, over the summer.
Famous last words. I've been home sick yesterday and today and decided to try High Castle. I'm through seven episodes....and my iPad is charging so I can finish them up. So yes, it was very very good. The setting is both fascinating and appalling, the story line is gripping, and the acting is very good, as is the filming. I'd give it an 8.5/10.

No spoilers so I'll stop here. Let me know if anyone else watches it.
“I ask no favor for my sex. All I ask of our brethren is that they take their feet off our necks.” ~ Ruth Bader Ginsburg, paraphrasing Sarah Moore Grimké

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Guinevere
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Re: This Looks Like It Could Be Good...

Post by Guinevere »

Also, I believe only the pilot was released in January. The remaining 9 episodes of season 1 were released last week. I don't see anything about a Season 2 yet.
“I ask no favor for my sex. All I ask of our brethren is that they take their feet off our necks.” ~ Ruth Bader Ginsburg, paraphrasing Sarah Moore Grimké

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Lord Jim
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Re: This Looks Like It Could Be Good...

Post by Lord Jim »

Worst promotion ever?

Or most clever....

‘Man In The High Castle’ Subway Ads, Featuring Nazi Symbols, Removed From Trains


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The New York Metro Transportation Authority has removed Nazi-themed subway advertisements for a new Amazon show, The Man In The High Castle, after New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo asked that they be taken down.

Featuring Nazi eagles and a variation on the Japanese rising sun flag, the advertisements blanketed the walls and seats of the subway car. Though the advertising blitz was limited to only one subway car [So they stirred up all this controversy and got all this free publicity from a media buy on one subway car? Looks to me like who ever came up with this is in line for a big bonus...a promotional value way beyond the investment....] on the S train, Cuomo requested that it be removed, according the local CBS affiliate. MTA officials confirmed to NPR that the advertisements have been taken down.

The ads for The Man In The High Castle were pulled from the New York subway. Part of the advertisement covered seats in a design that evoked Japan's rising sun flag.

The Man In The High Castle, which is based on a book of the same name, is about what life may have looked like had Germany won World War II. But some people, including New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, found the imagery overwhelming...[It's a friggin' television show moron...try to maintain... :roll: ]

"While these ads technically may be within MTA guidelines, they're irresponsible and offensive to World War II and Holocaust survivors, their families, and countless other New Yorkers," de Blasio said in a statement.
http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/ ... igh-castle

It's not like they put this symbol from "The Man In The High Tower" in that one subway car:

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I can see where that might be considered inflammatory and unacceptable...

But there's no swastika involved here...

The percentage of people riding in that one subway car who would have recognized the Eagle/Iron Cross symbol as something to be associated with Nazi Germany is probably close to 0.00001%...

Yo, Governor Andrew and Mayor Bill...

You just got played... ;)
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Re: This Looks Like It Could Be Good...

Post by oldr_n_wsr »

Them's my boys. :shrug :loon :mrgreen:

Big RR
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Re: This Looks Like It Could Be Good...

Post by Big RR »

the Eagle/Iron Cross symbol as something to be associated with Nazi Germany is probably close to 0.00001%...
You may be correct, but I'd bet that the percentage is a lot higher; that's a pretty well-known Nazi medal/decoration; and I think most people who ever saw a WW2 movie would know it.

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Re: This Looks Like It Could Be Good...

Post by MajGenl.Meade »

The good news in this case, is that Netflix has already signed up for a season 5 of Longmire...

So maybe Walt will finally get his head out of his ass regarding Vic...
So you do watch a decent show once in a while? :lol: (and quite right about Vic too)
For Christianity, by identifying truth with faith, must teach-and, properly understood, does teach-that any interference with the truth is immoral. A Christian with faith has nothing to fear from the facts

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Guinevere
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Re: This Looks Like It Could Be Good...

Post by Guinevere »

Econoline wrote:I read the book The Man in the High Castle when it first came out, and it was excellent. (In fact, I was at the Hugo Awards banquet in Washington, D.C. in 1963 when Philip K. Dick won the Hugo for Best SF Novel for this book; I'm pretty sure that I, as a paid member of the convention, voted for him, too.) It does indeed look like a good adaptation...and of course Ridley Scott, the executive producer of this miniseries, has already made the best adaptation of a Philip Dick story *EVER*!!!

I see from the trailer that the novel-within-the-novel, The Grasshopper Lies Heavy (written by the mysterious and reclusive Man in the High Castle) has been changed from a book to a film. I wonder how many other changes have been made. In particular, I wonder if the adaptation maintains the importance of the role of the ancient Chinese book, the I Ching. Well, I guess I'll have to try to watch it sometime, if/when I can....
After watching the series, now I need to read the book to get a sense of how true to the original intent of the novel it was. And also to find out if the ending is the book ending, or the movie ending, or the set up for Season 2.

Sigh. Down another rabbit hole . . .
“I ask no favor for my sex. All I ask of our brethren is that they take their feet off our necks.” ~ Ruth Bader Ginsburg, paraphrasing Sarah Moore Grimké

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Lord Jim
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Re: This Looks Like It Could Be Good...

Post by Lord Jim »

that's a pretty well-known Nazi medal/decoration
Big RR, The Iron Cross is a German military decoration that long predates WW II and the Nazis, and the one portrayed is not the Nazi version:
The military decoration called the Iron Cross which existed in the Kingdom of Prussia, and later in the German Empire and Nazi Germany, was established by King Friedrich Wilhelm III of Prussia and first awarded on the 10th of March in 1813 during the Napoleonic Wars. The recommissioned Iron Cross was also awarded during the Franco-Prussian War, World War I, and World War II. The Iron Cross was normally a military decoration only, though there were instances of it being awarded to civilians for performing military functions. Two examples of this were civilian test pilots Hanna Reitsch who was awarded the Iron Cross 2nd Class and 1st Class and Melitta Schenk Gräfin von Stauffenberg, who was awarded the Iron Cross 2nd Class, for their actions as pilots during World War II.

The Iron Cross was used as the symbol of the German Army from 1871 to March/April 1918, when it was replaced by the bar cross. The Iron Cross was reintroduced as an award in the Wehrmacht in 1939 with a swastika added in the center by the Nazis for the duration of World War II. In 1956, the Iron Cross resumed its German military usage, as it became the symbol of the Bundeswehr, the modern German armed forces. The traditional design is black and this design is used on armored vehicles and aircraft. A newer design in blue and silver is used as the emblem in other contexts.

The Iron Cross 1st Class and the Iron Cross 2nd Class were awarded without regard to rank. One had to possess the 2nd Class already in order to receive the 1st Class (though in some cases both could be awarded simultaneously). The egalitarian nature of this award contrasted with those of most other German states (and indeed of many other European monarchies), where military decorations were awarded based on the rank of the recipient.[Hitler received The Iron Cross 2nd Class during WW I when he was a Lance Corporal]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_Cross
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Re: This Looks Like It Could Be Good...

Post by Big RR »

Jim--I defer to your research; FWIW, I never saw any iron cross replicas with swastikas, even in WW2 movies, but I can't deny it was used this way.

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Re: This Looks Like It Could Be Good...

Post by MajGenl.Meade »

Really it's a Maltese cross. The appropriation of the symbol by Germany angered the Maltesers. Here's a picture of them rioting

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But less seriously....

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and

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The Parteiadlar (eagle and swastika) was the symbol of the Nazi party. They did not use the Prussian iron cross as in the first image there. The latter seems to be a current "adaptation" made to order as transfers for car windows, shirts and so on (also en masse in China)
For Christianity, by identifying truth with faith, must teach-and, properly understood, does teach-that any interference with the truth is immoral. A Christian with faith has nothing to fear from the facts

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Lord Jim
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Re: This Looks Like It Could Be Good...

Post by Lord Jim »

The Final Season will be out Nov. 15th:






The writers have created a very complex story line to resolve...

It will be interesting to see how they do it; it will be a challenge to do it well...
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BoSoxGal
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Re: This Looks Like It Could Be Good...

Post by BoSoxGal »

I never watched past episode one of season 3 - it felt like the show totally changed after the first two seasons and I didn’t like the new approach. Did it get better?
For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring.
~ Carl Sagan

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Lord Jim
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Re: This Looks Like It Could Be Good...

Post by Lord Jim »

It's become very multi-verse science fictiony...

That's a large part of what I was referring to when I talked about a "complex story line"...

I've liked it so far, but I'm concerned the writers may have bitten off more than they can chew...

I think it's going to be tough for them to resolve everything they've set up in a satisfying way for the viewers, with only 10 one hour episodes left...

I'm prepared for a disappointing ending...
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