Thursday, August 04, 2022

I don't always agree with him

I've said before that I like a lot of Noah Smith takes, but I don't agree with all of them: 

I've tried watching The Orville, on more than one occasion, and I just find it dull, dull, dull.   

And this:

I like the way that in dispute threads about LOTR, quite a few people will admit the "problem" aspects - "the prose is often clunky", or "you can just skip the poems", yet go on to defend it to death.  


8 comments:

Not Trampis said...

I am a trekkie and I love LOTR but what is the orville

GMB said...

Sounds like they named it after one of the Wright Brothers.

Steve said...

The Orville runs on SBS, and it's a sort of odd combination of part homage to Star Trek, part light comedy. It's run 3 seasons, so someone must like it, but I just can't be convinced.

I am fond only of the original Star Trek and the movies with its cast. Never could be bothered with the later variations, which struck me as dull too.

John said...

I can't stand Star Trek Next Gen. They are all so bl**dy nice. Star Trek Enterprise is much better. Strange New Worlds I have watched but it doesn't grab me. The Orville can only be entertaining for opioid freaks.

GMB said...

"I am fond only of the original Star Trek and the movies with its cast."

I'm the same. To me the original television program was more akin to a series of stage plays than to normal television. Explored all kinds of issues and the new series were something entirely different. People could like the new stuff and thats fine, but its not the same species.

GMB said...

I don't really get Noah's comment. Because I think the very first movie was so high quality that it was on a par with the book. And the next two weren't even close. And then to me they really messed the hobbit up in every last respect, except for visuals and set design. The book is like the Odyssey for kids. Its not meant to be a fast paced action flick and its this small kids masterpiece. Its as if they turned Huckleberry Finn into three Kung Fu movies. I just didn't get it at all.

There is a very simple animated movie done by this crowd who used to do the Frosty the Snowman Christmas specials. And they did a real good job of the Hobbit. Captured the feel of the book really well.

So I don't get what Noah is saying because aside from awesome production values its only the very first movie that was up to scratch. I think it should have swept the field for oscars but I think they were waiting for the other two instalments. And I think they ended up getting the last one awards when it didn't really deserve them.

Steve said...

The problem I have with later incarnations of Star Trek is that I reckon I can forgive early television science fiction for taking liberties with realism - you know, aliens that all talk in English, cheap effects, etc - in a way that I can't bring myself to do with more recently made shows.

Steve said...

I guess the more recent shows look better, but the cheesy science fiction aspects that are unrealistic in the first show (all aliens basically humanoid is another) are just continued in the later ones.