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It's a pretty good depiction of the Fast Travel system from the games, though.
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Dec 29, 2021 15:58
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scary ghost dog posted:the david french translations are godlike Even the Danusia Stok translations have their moments. The Dear Friend letter is great, as is the dinner party in Time of Contempt.
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Dec 29, 2021 16:01
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The dinner party is probably the high point of the novels, and also could be filmed straight up with absolutely no difficulty. Hope they don’t screw it up too bad
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Dec 29, 2021 16:20
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my cat is norris posted:The Continent/the North feels very, very, VERY small because of how quickly people move through it. To be fair, Europe is also pretty small and they're meant to be somewhat analogous but also there are literal wizards with teleportation, too that said, maybe every scene transition should start with Henry Cavill vomiting a little bit to show that he just got teleported to wherever the shot changed to
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Dec 29, 2021 16:23
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Haramstufe Rot posted:There's a lot of bad shows, but this show is good. The thread is flip-flopping between wanting a more faithful representation of the books (which includes tomes worth of people discussing politics and intrigue) and a fun monster of the week show (pretty much only the short story collections and that part where the Witcher chills in with the French dudes). Good Soldier Svejk posted:To be fair, Europe is also pretty small and they're meant to be somewhat analogous but also there are literal wizards with teleportation, too
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Dec 29, 2021 16:55
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watched episodes 4 and 5 and despite me wanting this to be a different kind of show, these weren't bad. just a few thoughts: - yenn really feels and looks like she's about 20. i think anya is really good at playing yenn when she's being cocky and insulting people but isn't melding that with the anguish well so it comes off as fake. - i like her and cahir together. cahir is interesting to watch, he's one of the better actors on this show. - i like the ciri elder blood wanting to be a witcher bit. ciri being a witcher would be extremely cool but i know from the games and everything that this isn't where it goes, at least not until the end of witcher 3's good ending and even then she's not really a witcher, just doing the job - ciri is very likeable this season - geralt might not be doing actual monster hunting jobs, but at least they are using his detective stuff and various skills in service of the main plot. him investigating the monolith with istredd was cool. - triss was a non-entity in s1 but i've liked her being at kaer morhen. - even though there's some talk about forcing whedon dialogue into this, it's really only noticable with jaskier. everyone else at least feels appropriate to the setting. the comedy is the weakest part of this - the banter between the witchers and ciri is awful - so i'm glad they're keeping it pretty muted most of the time. - i'm just ignoring the elves and fringilla stuff for now. shame, i liked fringilla in season 1. - reince and djikstra are promising i think it's good i basically took a week off between episodes 3 and 4, and let my expectations sink. i wasn't sure if i was going to continue but this is one of those situations where the discussion is so negative about something that i go in expecting the worst and end up enjoying what good is there.
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Dec 29, 2021 17:27
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It's not quite as big an earworm as Toss a Coin to Your Witcher, but Burn Butcher Burn is a very fun jilted lover song.
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Dec 29, 2021 17:43
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Beefeater1980 posted:I find it odd that she was considering mining that scene for “meta” comedy. It suggests someone who doesn’t get the characters or, you know, basic emotional reactions to things. Which I would have thought were preconditions for being a showrunner for anything. the funny thing is she's *almost* there, where this joke has better punch if it shows up in a later episode
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Dec 29, 2021 19:26
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I appreciated that they've continued with their casting of little actors for the Dwarfs. It's a good balancing point between fantasy dwarfs and GOT style human dwarfs. And given Witcher's digressions on racism and bigotry it also draws a good comparison between the stigma surrounding little people in reality and the persecution of dwarfs and gnomes on the Continent. It reminds me of when they used Peter Dinklage and Warwick Davis to play Trumpkin and Nikabrik in the Prince Caspian movie. It's a drat sight better than the little actors playing horrible goblins in the Harry Potter movies. Yarpen and friends give no fucks and I like that. Arc Hammer fucked around with this message at 19:36 on Dec 29, 2021 |
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Dec 29, 2021 19:30
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That bit with the horse was really good. Cavill should have script approval/rewrite privileges.
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Dec 29, 2021 23:01
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AlternateAccount posted:That bit with the horse was really good. Cavill should have script approval/rewrite privileges. Promote him to showrunner. And director. And lead writer. And editor. And sound mixing. S3 is now his one man show about Geralt.
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Dec 29, 2021 23:03
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Seriously. The show is mostly crap except for the parts that he can carry on his broad and fearsome shoulders.
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Dec 29, 2021 23:26
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been outright skipping every scene an elf is in and the show has been more enjoyable
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Dec 29, 2021 23:27
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I really enjoyed the first half of the season, didn't care much for the second half. I don't need a MotW format, but they definitely needed more Geralt hunting random monsters and less palace intrigue poo poo. I get they're telling an overarching story, but they could not make the Brotherhood or elves any less interesting. Part of the problem is the short seasons. Feels like if you made it 10 with the extra episodes focusing more on character building and monster hunting, the show would be fun. Instead you get these short scenes trying to capture complex characters who have complex storylines. Don't think the showrunners understand the appeal of the show either which is weird.
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Dec 30, 2021 00:14
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roomtone posted:been outright skipping every scene an elf is in and the show has been more enjoyable Confirm. That plot line also involves a lot of murdered babies and call me a big wuss or whatever but I don’t like that, especially for cheap shock.
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Dec 30, 2021 00:33
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I think the elf plot is the core of the season's problem. High politics should have been cut and we should have learned about it on the path with the main characters. First they see elves being persecuted in cities, then they meet refugees on the road who explain Nilfgaard is offering asylum. Later perhaps they get into trouble with Squirrels who demonstrate that the elves are being sent back against the North as guerillas. Then we can cap it off with Geralt in Cintra witnessing Cahir have a public meltdown at the gates complaining that we're not a charity drat it. He can still do that bit where he's like "You must state your name to enter the city" "Supreme General Mickey loving Mouse" which ruled
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Dec 30, 2021 00:45
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roomtone posted:- even though there's some talk about forcing whedon dialogue into this, it's really only noticable with jaskier. everyone else at least feels appropriate to the setting. the comedy is the weakest part of this - the banter between the witchers and ciri is awful - so i'm glad they're keeping it pretty muted most of the time. Maybe it's the actor or how it's written, but Jaskier is the only one in the show who can pull off comedy. Maybe a little over the top at times, but I love his banter with all the characters. Got a good chuckle when he finally got Geralt to apologize and then goes on about how sensitive Geralt is. Did anyone else find Vesemir to be weirdly written? Seemed to give him a lot of screentime during the season but felt like he was all over the place. One episode he's a fatherly figure with sage advice and the next he's trying to secretly turn Ciri into a Witcher. Just couldn't grasp what they were trying to do with him this season.
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Dec 30, 2021 01:32
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One of his students died and he's all out of sorts facing mortality and the notion of the Wolf School going extinct, so he starts making questionable choices because he's way past rational thought. Hell, he was ready to kill Ciri when he thought she was too far gone like Eskel. Arc Hammer fucked around with this message at 01:50 on Dec 30, 2021 |
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Dec 30, 2021 01:41
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There’s a lot of telling and not showing how hosed yo Eskels death has him.
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Dec 30, 2021 01:42
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Vesemir should have been scruffier and uglier imo. He needed to be a real battered grandad type and he’s a bit too neat. Paul Hollywood lookin
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Dec 30, 2021 01:48
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finished the seasonNiwrad posted:Maybe it's the actor or how it's written, but Jaskier is the only one in the show who can pull off comedy. Maybe a little over the top at times, but I love his banter with all the characters. Got a good chuckle when he finally got Geralt to apologize and then goes on about how sensitive Geralt is. Yeah that bit you mentioned was actually funny. Jaskier isn't a totally unwelcome presence for me but his interjections are either amusing or really, really annoying to me. I think the actor is doing his job just fine, it's just not a job that needs to be done half of the time. Strategic Tea posted:I think the elf plot is the core of the season's problem. High politics should have been cut and we should have learned about it on the path with the main characters. It's made me realise the big danger trying to do epic fantasy - the scattered plot threads. I've been reading and watch a lot of it lately. Having plot lines which don't interact is momentum killing. They all need to be especially good to withstand that kind of stop-start pacing. What we have in the Witcher is a bunch of thin supporting characters doing things that are only tangentially related to what the actual protagonists are doing. Yes, they'll intersect later, but it doesn't justify all the time wasted before that happens. Without characters to care about, it's utter filler. Would anybody be watching the Fringilla and the Elves show? Thinking back to Game of Thrones, they mostly managed to avoid this even though it was the same epic fantasy structure. That's a compliment to GOT's writing in the early seasons. Branching plot threads all stood up alone for the most part. When this genre is done well it can feel huge and totally engrossing, I understand why they want to go for it. Problem is, in the Witcher, only things surrounding Geralt, Ciri and to a lesser extent, Yenn, are interesting to watch. You could edit this season into about 4-5 episodes without losing any quality material. They're trying to do an epic fantasy and they just don't have the writing to support it. The ending of this season indicates a tighter focus for season 3 - everyone is going to actively be hunting for CIri, while the main trio are off on their travels trying to keep ahead while training Ciri. Hopefully they learn from this and only show us the side factions when they are actually doing something involing the mains, rather than spend 40% of every episode on them. roomtone fucked around with this message at 01:53 on Dec 30, 2021 |
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Dec 30, 2021 01:50
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AlternateAccount posted:There’s a lot of telling and not showing how hosed yo Eskels death has him. If that had him that hosed, I'm curious to see how he will be next season after losing a bunch more in the final episode. Just felt like they started portraying him as a stoic fatherly figure and most of the season he was being lectured by Geralt for being a dumbass. Niwrad fucked around with this message at 02:03 on Dec 30, 2021 |
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Dec 30, 2021 01:52
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would have loved to see this moment 
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Dec 30, 2021 01:52
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Ok season. Better costumes, better vfx, Cavill absolutely carries this show on his back, the man is magnetic. It boggles my mind that the photography has improved so much, there are some really good wide shots and just some great lightning and composition especially in episodes one and two and then we get stuff like the dwarfs wagon and yen and ciri ride a horse .its so goddamn inconsistent, which is basically the tag line for this show.
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Dec 30, 2021 02:37
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But then also the weird pointless shots like the camera rotating in the establishing shot of the waterfall.
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Dec 30, 2021 02:42
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AlternateAccount posted:But then also the weird pointless shots like the camera rotating in the establishing shot of the waterfall. Yeah, that served no purpose. Really speaks to a DP that has no confidence in their work or an editor that has no confidence in the audience. Just hold on the loving shot, let us enjoy it you're filming in these beautiful locations we can look at them for a few seconds I'm not asking for Tarkosvky shots but let me see the damned scene
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Dec 30, 2021 02:57
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Yeah that too, the concept was kinda neat because it really looked like a mirror/skull but then the camera started rotating and holy god was this shot with the hobbit cameras? close ups where two thirds of the screen are empty, why? And then we get the chernobog fight and leshy shots which are just great.the bruxa fight which was crisp and clean. Ciri and the basilisks. Edit:oh hey they had different cinematographers in different episodes.lol.
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Dec 30, 2021 03:03
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AlternateAccount posted:Confirm. That plot line also involves a lot of murdered babies and call me a big wuss or whatever but I don’t like that, especially for cheap shock. My wife, holding our 7 month old boy, really did not enjoy that part. I promised her less baby murder in the last episode. michaelscottwincing.jpg
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Dec 30, 2021 03:57
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Yeah, the whole Babies writhing in agony and then apparently being exploded by magic (the *whump* sound effect is usually an explosion sound) scene was super loving uncomfortable to watch. Even the other Elves were like "This is super hosed up, why can't we just kill them quickly?" but that was probably the point. Also yes please put Cavill in charge of the script/etc. because it's clearly a passion project for him in interviews and every time we find out he has a direct hand in a scene's creation/etc. it turns out to be one of the best scenes in the episode. I kind of want a stretch of episodes where there is a Monster of the Week, but Geralt doesn't default to killing the monster. Give me more "remove the curse" episodes like the Striga from Season 1 or the many times you can take that path to solve a monster problem in The Witcher 3 game. That one quest involving a water/swamp hag that was cursed to never enjoy a spoon of food and never have dinner with company again being able to be solved by Geralt sitting down at a dinner table with the hag and miming tossing the spoon aside and drinking straight out of the soup bowl and having the hag do the same was a  curse loophole.Would love to see more of that kind of lore stuff come in. gently caress the political intrigue.
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Dec 30, 2021 12:34
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Tender Bender posted:I feel like part of her plan or at least an ancillary goal was to get revenge and kill a bunch of Witchers on her way out, since they make a point of saying over and over that the first Witchers are the ones who imprisoned her and then she grabs her old knife and starts stabbing them.
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Dec 30, 2021 15:33
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The whole characterization of Francesca was a pretty fuckin big oof
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Dec 30, 2021 15:55
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ALLAN LASSUS posted:The whole characterization of Francesca was a pretty fuckin big oof It would be easier to make a list of characters they didn't change.
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Dec 30, 2021 16:09
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Indolent Bastard posted:Agreed. These deep and dramatic political machinations of make believe kingdoms I know nothing about based on ancient legends I know nothing about is kind of dull.
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Dec 30, 2021 16:37
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ALLAN LASSUS posted:The whole characterization of Francesca was a pretty fuckin big oof I dunno if it was deliberate or bad direction - were the interactions between her and Fringilla supposed to come across as two schoolgirl besties? They were all but giggling in the scenes strolling in the grounds. It sort of makes me think that was the point - their wishes with Gaunter O'Crone propelled them into this elevated fairytale reality where everything is magically going okay, until Yen reneges and breaks the spell?
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Dec 30, 2021 16:56
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chaosapiant posted:And while I really like the show, I keep wondering how confusing it would be if I didn’t already know the source material. It’s easy to take that for granted. I’ve never read the books or played the games (or even read a review/watched a YouTube of the games so I literally know gently caress all jack poo poo about the source material) and the show isn’t confusing at all. I mean I was a bit confused now watching season 2 because I watched season 1 when it came out so I forgot who some of the characters are or what their deal was, but that’s on me and not the show being confusing. The only other confusing thing to me is people having too similar sounding names like Emir and Cahir, Vesimer and Vezimer. It was actually pretty straight forward I thought. Someone pages earlier than this post I quoted asked why Fringella murdered those guys at the table and why Cahir just let it happen. I think this was just bad at watching TV because Fringella and Cahir literally spell it out for you in the scenes after. Some of the characters that I completely forgot about from season 1 and had no clue about their allegiance were Stegobor and I’m not sure I remember who that guy who was always talking to the owl was, and I forgot who the king he works for is or why he’s important. But again, I’m sure I’d remember if I watched a recap or something. Anyway, from my perspective, I liked the show both seasons. It’s entertaining and has an interesting world and setting. I find it hilarious that some people here are posting page after page after page about how awful the show adaptation is cause what’s the point of getting so stressed and worked up about something you could just… not watch?
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Dec 30, 2021 17:13
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biracial bear for uncut posted:
Yeah I do feel like it was odd that there weren't a couple more motw episodes, especially in an 8 episode season. I feel like pushing to 10 Eps to work more monsters in there would have been good. However I also love all the political poo poo, and will argue to the death that it shouldn't be dropped. Though I have to say they did not do a very good job of showing northern politics beyond the Visimir and Dijkstra bits which were pretty ok.
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Dec 30, 2021 17:21
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Yes, it's like a lava lamp.
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necrobobsledder posted:We had that show but the Witcher was a cop. It was called Grimm and it was probably better written in many ways than what we have with the Witcher series because at least it owns it’s on network TV and its CGI budget and usually camp style makes sense for the format with a minimal violence and actually scary monsters bias. I don’t see any of the directors or writers having any association with that show but many have network TV experience so that may be what’s leaking into the Netflix show. Fringe: sci fi Witcher!
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Dec 30, 2021 17:54
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biracial bear for uncut posted:I kind of want a stretch of episodes where there is a Monster of the Week, but Geralt doesn't default to killing the monster. Give me more "remove the curse" episodes like the Striga from Season 1 or the many times you can take that path to solve a monster problem in The Witcher 3 game. This is one of my favorite Geralt things. He COULD reliably just exterminate most monsters, and I wonder if that’s what most Witchers do. But he often puts himself in terrible danger or is grievously wounded to solve the issue or restore someone. It’s just a tremendously compassionate outlook.
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Dec 30, 2021 22:20
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I dont know why people want less politics when we're on the cusp of the best politics scene in the books with the dinner. Page after page of Yennefer dragging Geralt through a banquet hall introducing him to important mages, sorceresses, spies and politicians who all become relevant in their own little vignettes, and Geralt ignores all of them to raid the food table. You can just feel all their nonsense flowing I'm one ear and out the other while he homes in on the best snacks.
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Dec 30, 2021 22:34
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I mean at this point it's pretty clear that anyone who comes to the TV series with the "wow, I can't wait until they adapt my favourite scene from the books, it will be great!" attitude is lying to themself and will end up being disappointed.
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Dec 30, 2021 22:56
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