TV/Movies Megathread

[Viking]

Viserys isn't a monster, he's a weak man who finds himself in a station well below where he thinks he belongs. That makes him sensitive, insecure and fearful. He's constantly looking for ways to demonstrate that he should be treated better and he tries to do that by bullying others and reacting violently when the bullying doesn't work.

Viserys is too stupid and delusional to be realistic. Joffrey's life wasn't one that should typically lead him to self-reflect. Viserys' life was the opposite.

Viserys was told his entire life that he was the rightful king. He reacts harshly against anybody who disagrees or refuses him that. His last words, well before the "AAAAARRRRRRGGGGHGHHHH!!!!!!" were "well, that's all I wanted". He wants his rightful respect and position and reacts when he doesn't get it. Joffrey has the respect and position and still hurts people.

[garbon]

I think P Wig is right as V had plenty of time to reconcile his pedigree and his real world standing.

[viper37]

Fuzzybritches was danish and almost certainly never saw a fjord, like he is depicted as living next to in ep. 1. It's good to see they made the Odin as Gandlari (father/inventor of magic) connection with Gandalf.

Edit: I like how the director probably kept telling the actors to speak like bjork all the time.

There are fjords in Denmark, apparently, but judging from the pictures, it seems kinda flatland, nothing like we see on tv.

However, they say they have to move west and south to find new land, so maybe they were in southern Norway?  Were the Vikings of this age semi-united?

[Ed Anger]

Saw the 2nd Vikings episode. Enjoyable. 

[Viking]

Fuzzybritches was danish and almost certainly never saw a fjord, like he is depicted as living next to in ep. 1. It's good to see they made the Odin as Gandlari (father/inventor of magic) connection with Gandalf.

Edit: I like how the director probably kept telling the actors to speak like bjork all the time.

There are fjords in Denmark, apparently, but judging from the pictures, it seems kinda flatland, nothing like we see on tv.

However, they say they have to move west and south to find new land, so maybe they were in southern Norway?  Were the Vikings of this age semi-united?

The highest point in denmark is 170 meters. Those non-norwegian fjord mountains were more than that. The producers wanted to film in norway but the norwegian government film fund only funds friends of the culture minister these days. So they filmed in canada somewhere iirc.

Ragnar Lothbrok was danish. He was danish from denmark (or possibly skåne, which was part of denmark at the time). Denmark at the time was surrounded by similar people they had trading and raiding connections with. Swedes (stockholm), Geats (gothenburg), Vikings (oslo), Wends (mecklenburg), Frisians (Frisia) and Saxons (Lower Saxony and Holstein) were all neighbors. They knew about england through the saxons and they knew about christianity through the franks in Bremen and Hamburg. Traditionally the frisians and saxons went west and the danes and vikings went east while the geats and swedes were proper uncouth barbarians who couldn't build boats.

What had happened before this was that the frisians and saxons were conquered by the franks on the mainland and by the irish church in england. So the raiding targets for the frisians and saxons in the old roman provinces opened up to the danes, who exploited this ruthlessly. The other main factor of the time was a political unification that was happening in denmark. The previously free peoples of denmark were building a unified kingdom to resist the franks who had just finished conquering the saxons along the elbe.

The Thing was not a court as it was presented here. It was a gathering of all the local free men for trade and justice. There was no police or executioner, just a declaration of outlawry, the convicted man would be "réttdræpur" - justly killable. The jarls didn't have political power like the Gabriel Byrne Character does, they had the ships and experience in raiding. Each summer after planting they recruited a new crew to go raiding. The reputation and skill of these sea kings was what mattered. The jarls were sea kings on land that led by virtue of skill and ability. They were more like the best men in the district rather than the sons of the richest men. This is in the process of changing and this is the process that ultimately ends the viking period 250 years later when the viking world is consolidated into 5 (england, norway, denmark, sweden and rus) strong kingdoms. 

The two named characters that reference historical characters (rollo and floki) lived a generation later. Floki was a norwegian and discovered iceland. Rollo was a dane and decided not to burn paris when the king of france offered him normandie instead.

And finally. We still don't know what the Sunstone was though the explanation given here is the best one imho. You can find the rock used in southern norway in large amounts.

Frankly, this just looks like the History channel's version of AGOT rather than a dramatization of the true and horribly tedious and boring lives of vikings.

[crazy canuck]

I would have missed the Vikings completely if I hadnt seen the reference here.  Thank you Languish.

Also, on the Languish recommendations I watched the first episode of House of Cards - again, thank you.

[Admiral Yi]

the geats and swedes were proper uncouth barbarians who couldn't build boats.

:lol:Hope the Geatish posters don't get too pissed off.

[Liep]

Started watching Band of Brothers. I like streaming services.

[Liep]

Also, 'et Ting' is translated to 'a Thing'? Sounds weird.

[Viking]

Also, 'et Ting' is translated to 'a Thing'? Sounds weird.

We still use "Þing" in Icelandic

[Viking]

the geats and swedes were proper uncouth barbarians who couldn't build boats.

:lol:Hope the Geatish posters don't get too pissed off.

Well, they were very good at killing people on land though...

[Syt]

Pop quiz. Which movie ends with this shot:

[The Brain]

Sweatshop 4: Asian Seamstress Needled

[CountDeMoney]

Rent is on this morning.

How many minutes in a year?  Too many for these AIDS-addled junkie squatters, I'll say that.

[mongers]

Pop quiz. Which movie ends with this shot:

Abba The Movie ?