posted
Before I tell you what it is, let me point out that my subject ryhmes, and no, it was no accident.
Continuing, that show is Rome on HBO. Maybe you have watched it but just didn't have the time to review it, but if you havn't, this is definatly one you need to check out. Much better than that Empire show on basic cable.
They try to keep up with history (they slip up, sometimes, but it is TV after all) and do quite a good job.
Check it out, it's on Sundays at 9, on HBO
Posts: 340 | Registered: Jun 2005
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Most people don't have HBO, and many people who could afford it don't have it because they consider most of the shows HBO offers either offensive or irrelevant.
This is, after all, the network that hosted both Sex and the City and Tenacious D.
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..and The Sopranos, Six Feet Under, and Carnivale, all of which are arguably some of the best television ever aired.
Posts: 2689 | Registered: Apr 2000
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That doesn't change the fact that people who find excessive language, nudity or violence offensive or find sensationalist entertainment irrelevant will not have HBO.
Or the fact that most people don't have HBO in the first place.
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Rome actually sounds really cool, but given that it's on HBO I pretty much assume that it gets excessively violent/crude/offensive.
Posts: 4089 | Registered: Apr 2003
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Right you are, sarcasticmuppet. It's basically just a porno set in Rome. Maybe living in Rome was like a constant orgy, but it ain't what I wanted to see.
Posts: 50 | Registered: May 2005
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quote: Right you are, sarcasticmuppet. It's basically just a porno set in Rome.
I disagree very much. Yes, there is sex and nudity. But there's much more drama and character development, and political intrigue.
And pretty great cinemetography to boot.
To lower it to the level of a 'Porno' gives Pornos way too much credit.
I don't disagree that it could be very offensive to some people, but I will say that anytime nudity is shown in the series, it is done so for specific purpose in the plot. It's not just "Look! Boobies!" moments.
Posts: 2689 | Registered: Apr 2000
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I'm so old now that during the "look! boobies!" moments I'm usually thinking, "I wonder if somebody's getting a costume credit for this."
I was traveling - signing books, as I recall - when the series debuted. So I missed it. And I didn't want to start in the middle. That simple.
I also expected it to be awful. I know too much about actual Roman history and culture during the various periods, and I expected it to be as contemptuous of history, mixing everything together and violating the cultural rules, etc., as, say, Gladiator was.
I'm glad to know it isn't awful. But remember, I watched a few minutes of Deadwood and found it so pretentious, anachronistic, and generally boring that I figured it was one of those series that existed primarily to remind me that I'm not just not one of the cool people who can find value in badly written twaddle just because it's "edgy."
And, to be candid, nothing posted here gives me much hope that I'd feel differently about "Rome." I'm a graduate of "I, Claudius" and Saylor's Roman novels, in addition to the history and biography I've read. I know what great art looks like in that setting. And from what the promos looked like, this one was not going to be in that league.
I'm glad to know that for you, the series works. And I WILL give it a look, and try not to tell myself, "Oz meets the Sopranos in Rome."
Posts: 2005 | Registered: Jul 1999
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That post just made me order Roman Blood. Have you read Colleen McCullough's novels about Rome? I love them - well researched, and well written.
Posts: 26077 | Registered: Mar 2000
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quote:I'm a graduate of "I, Claudius" and Saylor's Roman novels, in addition to the history and biography I've read.
Then you should read Lindsey Davis' novels. She's got a new US publisher, and her earlier novels, long out of print in the US, will be re-released next year. Her books are wonderful. Well-written, witty, well-researched (although of course she takes liberties), and just good. They're the only mysteries I re-read again and again.
Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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Oh, and her new book will also be released in the US then. They're working very hard to make sure that US/UK release is as close to simultaneous as possible from now on. Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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I was also expecting Rome to be terrible, but if nothing else serviceable to inspire me to dig out the I Claudius DVDs again.
I expected it to be so thoroughly contaminated by the horrible Gladiator, which seems the current required template for sword and sandal epics, that I was tempted to give it a pass. Gladiator lost me with the opening scene (including the non-attributed lift of the Zulu army sound effect from that wonderful movie).
But I love the period enough that I’m willing to wade through mountains of waste for the rare nuggets of good stuff.
Rome turned out to be not awful and quite good in many places. The sex was indeed gratuitous and was a giant story-momentum killer in all but one scene (out of the first three episodes). The violence was not gratuitous, but hard to take in a few places. But the politics and exploration of this culture was never less than engaging and often captivating.
The best scene so far was the opening scene, where we were treated to a look at real (or at least real-seeming – my Roman history isn’t as thorough as it could be) battlefield tactics, and the effect of a disciplined and well trained force against an undisciplined one. It was easy to see in this small moment how Roman soldiers could conquer a world that was substantially armed with the same technology. More importantly it flew in the face of the Hollywood standard of celebrating the lone, maverick hero who always wins by rebelling against structure and strikes out on his own (something Gladiator couldn’t dispense with, despite a few lines of lip service to the contrary).
Mr. Card: All three of the Rome episodes are being repeated this Friday, for those needing to play catch-up. I think it’s well worth a look.
And it did indeed inspire me to revisit I Claudius and the Saylor books – not to get the ugly taste out of my mouth, but as worthy companions to this show (so far).
Posts: 1 | Registered: Sep 2005
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I think a really good series on TV nowadays would be "Lost". It's quite addicting, actually. They should make it into a book, in my opinion.
Posts: 1 | Registered: Jun 2005
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quote:And it did indeed inspire me to revisit I Claudius and the Saylor books – not to get the ugly taste out of my mouth, but as worthy companions to this show (so far).
If you like I, Claudius and the Saylor books, you really, really need to read Lindsey Davis' Falco mysteries and also The Course of Honor.
Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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I love the Saylor books, and I think I may have read one or two of the Falco books. I should get my hands on the rest. Posts: 32919 | Registered: Mar 2003
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quote:Originally posted by Illbay: Funny thing. I was just thinking "Bah! It's already been done, thirty years ago!"
If they ever come up with something as good (and faithful to the novels, which were faithful to Suetonius' history) as that, I'll watch.
Otherwise, I suspect "ROME" is just the "reality TV" version of "history."
How will you know, though, if anything is as good if you haven't watched it? It can't be word of mouth, since most posts in this thread are mostly positive...
Posts: 450 | Registered: Nov 2004
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As a matter of history, Rome gets some elements right, some not so right. That's a big problem I have with it.
Honestly, I don't mind the nudity or the sex; part of the downfall of Rome as well as the cultural setup of the Roman empire was a very sexually free wheeling society, far moreso then almost anything since.
That having been said, the problem with Rome and sex is that it gets the basic constructs wrong; only in very few moments does it get the "sex as art" format historically correct, and sex is used far more as "negotiation" and a woman-empowering event, something fairly laughable based on the history of the culture.
One other thing.. if the idea was to go out of the way to make the series "feel" correct, then some of the big elements are most definitely wrong; and that's frustrating.
This is a show that has a good dramatic arc, and develops solid characters. That having been said the problems with the show are significant enough that they cannot be overlooked
To give OSC a ribbing, some of the problems I feel with "Rome" are the same thru-line problems I felt with "Children of the Mind" at times fantastically well played, at other points puzzling use of the cast
Realistically, HBO has only put out one show that I found developed the really nuanced characters and interesting concept: Carnivale. Deadwood is so historically out of place that it's hard to watch. (Besides the language) and HBO comedies have just been terrible since, boy, I can't think of the last decent one.
Posts: 202 | Registered: Aug 2005
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Sorry, I used to read Davis's Falco series, and it just got to be too much of a soap-opera-cum-guided-tour for me. I found myself skipping to the end and finally not even starting. At that point, I stop buying the series.
Posts: 2005 | Registered: Jul 1999
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I love Arrested Development... the only problem is that all the jokes are references to what happened earlier, so if you tune in and miss a week or two, you will usually have no idea what's so funny about it.
Posts: 11 | Registered: Sep 2005
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Except that Arrested Development is FOX and not HBO, so not sure what you mean in relation to the topic. Then again, I don't watch HBO or A.D., as I dislike them both.
Posts: 2207 | Registered: Oct 2003
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Just naming tv shows that are good, they don't need to be on HBO... at least it wasn't specified.
Posts: 11 | Registered: Sep 2005
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quote:Sorry, I used to read Davis's Falco series, and it just got to be too much of a soap-opera-cum-guided-tour for me. I found myself skipping to the end and finally not even starting. At that point, I stop buying the series.
Really? Interesting. 'Cause when I'm mentioning authors whose characterization I love, her name is on the list right next to yours.
Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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