Category Archives: TV-Shows

Game of Thrones

Posted by on May 9, 2011 No comments | 2,194 views

Game of Thrones

«Game of Thrones» is a new TV series produced by HBO, the people who gave us «The Sopranos» and «The Wire», arguably some of the best series made the last years. This series is based on a series of novels called «A Song of Ice and Fire» by the American author George R. R. Martin. 4 novels have come out so far, one is due soon and 2 more planned. The title of the series is derived from the title of the first book. The series premièred on April 17th 2011 and is currently scheduled for at least 2 seasons. I watched the pilot and the two following episodes this weekend.

I have never read the novels by Martin, so I had no expectations when watching the show other than having been recommended it by some friends. The series is set in a semi-fantasy setting, a mix between middle-earth and our own middle ages. The distinction is subtle in the pilot. I first assumed this was your common British middle ages setting as we saw in for instance the last Robin Hood movie. This may in part be due to the fact they filmed these episodes in Ireland and Scotland.

The pilot itself is always a tricky bit to pull off for a new series. All the main characters need to be introduced and their backstory established as well as some main plot outline. This pilot pulled it off well despite the large number of characters introduced. You may need to watch the pilot twice to get a grip on it all though. The acting is excellent and the characters are convincing. As others have mentioned, even the child-actors are very good. The scenery is magnificent, and the overall mood of the set is convincing and immersive.

The story is set in the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros where a struggle for power is fought between several noble families. We are introduced to a few parallel storylines in the first three episodes. Starting with 2 in the pilot and splitting to 4 in episode 3. The plot seems to have it all, drama, romance and power struggles; intrigues and conflicts. It is not a romanticised and idealised fantasy world like Tolkiens, but has a rougher, darker tone where violence is frequent but not overdone. This is not your average cleaned up American TV series, not that you’d expect that from HBO anyway if you have seen «The Sopranos» and «The Wire». It features swearing and partial nudity when appropriate, and manages to not overdo that either, giving an overall impression of a rougher and darker time.

In any case, go watch it. Very highly recommended!

The Event

Posted by on February 27, 2011 No comments | 1,226 views

The Event

The Event is an emotional, high-octane conspiracy thriller that follows Sean Walker, an everyman who investigates the mysterious disappearance of his would-be fiancée Leila, and unwittingly begins to expose the biggest cover-up in U.S. history. TheTVDB.com

Started watching this new TV-Show today, on episode 5 so far. I cannot add too much to the introduction above yet, but so far I like it. It has a bit of the story-telling style of Lost with the jumps back in time to elaborate on the characters background and the background of the story. The story itself reminds me a little bit of The 4400, but I hope this show manage to keep my interest better as The 4400 quickly failed to deliver a story progression that lived up to the initial expectations. So far this show does, but hey, I’m only on episode 5.

XBMC 10.0 (Dharma)

Posted by on January 10, 2011 Comments Off | 2,901 views

Finally, just before Xmas, XBMC released version 10.0 of this excellent open source media centre software, codenamed “Dharma”. I have finally gotten around to upgrade it on my media centre box. Some of the main new features I have been looking forward to is the option to use a MySQL server for the database instead of a local SQLite database. Now I can update content from my PC and have it accessible on my media centre box. I also have a database I can integrate into my media manager website which I have been working on for a while. All this is probably not what most people are after, but there are much more. The addon system have been significantly improved, the software now properly remembers files you have watched even if they’re not in the library and many more minor improvements and bug fixes. Still, XBMC is much as we’re used to, and why not? It’s an excellent piece of software!

I run XBMC on a custom built PC in a ChiefTec media centre box, all of which I wrote about in an earlier post. Such a box can be built fairly cheaply, it doesn’t require much hardware, I have pretty much just picked cheap items. Computers these days are made for computer games, playing video is piss easy, even HD. All my media is stored on a server in another room, but there isn’t necessarily a need for that since the ChiefTec box has room for 3 hard drives. Anyway, the system runs on Ubuntu Linux 10.04, which is also free and incredibly easy to set up. The box i use also come with a iMON remote control, which was a bit tricky to set up in Linux, but is fairly easy to configure in XBMC when that’s done. I have finally a setup that I am very happy with :)

Here’s a few screenshots (I use the skin Transparency! instead of the default skin):

Screenshot 1 - XBMC Media CenterScreenshot 2 - XBMC Media CenterScreenshot 3 - XBMC Media Center

 

Update 16.03.2011: Comments have been disabled, because this post receives an immense amount of spam.

ALF

Posted by on November 14, 2010 No comments | 5,187 views

ALFI got hold of the 1980′s sitcom “ALF” here the other day. For once one of the good old TV shows I watched as a kid turns out to be every bit as funny as I remember it to be!

ALF (Alien LifeForm) is a character from the planet Melmac that crash-lands in the garage of a regular middle class American family, the Tanners. They take him in as part of their family to hide him from the government Alien Task Force. ALF is a frantic funny little guy, a bit immature for his 229 years of age. Every episode of the 4 seasons of the show are more or less independent stories involving ALF getting into some sort of trouble or another. Enjoyable easy-going sitcom with many fun moments. It is pretty timeless for being over 20 years old, and have very few obscure 80′s references. :)

ALF – Episode list

“I shed, therefore I am.” -ALF

Caprica

Posted by on July 21, 2010 No comments | 1,833 views

Caprica PosterSciFi’s new Science Fiction show, Caprica, which started in January this year (although the pilot aired in April 2009) is a follow up show, or actually a prequel, to Battlestar Galactica (the new version). It takes place on Caprica and covers the backstory of how the Cylons first came to be. We see Bill Adama as a young boy, and we follow his family and the Graystone family through the first half season of the series.

There are much similar between Battlestar Galactica and Caprica. They are both Sci-Fi/Drama, but Caprica is less about politics and religion although these are of course in the background. Caprica is more of a family drama, and it works well in this futuristic and slightly alien setting without becoming to remote from the world we live in. Much is familiar, the main difference is a few levels up in technology, though this is not overplayed as they do in more traditional Sci-Fi like Star Trek. A lot like Battlestar Galactica really, except Caprica takes place on the ground and not in space. The Cylon side of the story greatly reminds me of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, which also was an excellent show I might add.

Caprica is a show well worth watching if you like Sci-Fi and Drama alike. Especially if you enjoyed Battlestar Galactica in its first seasons. I’ll be looking forward to the second half of season one which unfortunately isn’t scheduled to start until January 2011.