Is There Anything to Watch?

[shipperx]

I've been looking forward to this one.  The clips HBO has been airing have looked intriguing:

Mildred Pierce (HBO, starring Kate Winslet)
James M. Cain's 1941 novel gets a new adaptation, courtesy of filmmaker Todd Haynes (Far From Heaven) and HBO, which is airing the gripping five-part miniseries over three consecutive Sunday evenings. Kate Winslet plays the prideful title character over the course of 10 years, from her beginnings as a divorcee during the Great Depression to her career as a restaurateur, as she attempts to improve her own life and that of her supercilious daughter Veda (played by Morgan Turner and, later, by Evan Rachel Wood). Mildred is also looking for independence, including sexual liberation, but she discovers that she's trapped by society's expectations. The sumptuous and heartbreaking miniseries—which is a more faithful adaptation than the 1945 Joan Crawford film (there's no salacious murder plot here as in the film)—also stars Guy Pearce, Melissa Leo, James LeGros, Hope Davis, Mare Winningham, and Brian F. O'Bryne. (Launches March 27 at 9 p.m.)

***

Hey, I made it through the entire "The Tudors"...

The Borgias (Showtime, starring Jeremy Irons)
From writer/director Neil Jordan (The Crying Game) comes the story of Italy's notorious Borgia crime family. Starring Jeremy Irons as Rodrigo Borgia, this racy period drama revolves around the Borgias, the cunning and cruel members of the ruling oligarchy of Renaissance-era Italy. As Rodrigo does everything in his power to ascend to the papacy, his alleged purity and the family's role as patrons of the arts and discovery are at brutal odds with the sinful deeds committed by both him and his power-mad family, including rape, incest, bribery, and murder. In addition to Irons, the cast includes Colm Feore, Derek Jacobi, Francois Arnuad, Holliday Grainger, Joanne Whalley, and David Oakes. (Launches April 3 at 9 p.m. with a special two-hour premiere

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I'm really going to have to break down and pull that book out of the book case and actually read it.

Game of Thrones (HBO)
George R.R. Martin's bestselling novel series A Song of Ice and Fire is brought to vivid life by executive producers David Benioff and Dan Weiss. Set in the mythical world of Westeros, Game of Thrones recounts the uneasy peace of the Seven Kingdoms, united after many years of war. But old hostilities and ageless ambition lead to acts of treachery that threaten to bring down kingdoms' alliance, and several factions vie for control of the throne and Westeros itself. A hugely ambitious effort by the pay cabler to translate the books' sprawling cast and shifting perspective has resulted in a sweeping narrative that's at once huge in scale and yet hauntingly intimate as an epic battle gets under way. But as the eternal game of thrones unfolds once more, an ancient evil resurfaces and the last members of a vanquished royal line plot their return to power. This epic series stars Sean Bean, Emilia Clarke, Aidan Gillen, Harry Lloyd, Kit Harington, Mark Addy, Lena Headey, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Peter Dinklage, and many others. Not one to be missed.

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Doctor Who
The Doctor (Matt Smith) and companion Amy Pond (Karen Gillan) return in April with the first half of the sixth season of the relaunched Doctor Who (or Season 32 for those of you keeping track). Amy's husband, Rory (Arthur Darvill), will also stick around for the sixth season, which is airing, for the first time, the same day as the U.K. broadcasts. While details are being kept under wraps, Season 6 will launch with a two-part episode—written by head writer/executive producer Steven Moffat—that finds the trio on an adventure that takes them from the Utah desert to the Oval Office in 1969. Filmed on location in Utah, it's the first of what promises to be many intense adventures facing the Time Lord and his companions this season. Also on tap: a guest appearance by Mark Sheppard (Battlestar Galactica) and the return of Alex Kingston's enigmatic River Song. Seven episodes of Doctor Who are slated to run this spring, with the remainder of the 13-episode season kicking off in the fall. (Launches April 23 at 9 p.m.)

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Comments

[petzipellepingo.livejournal.com]

I'm especially looking forward to Mildred.

[shapinglight]

Game of Thrones sounds very interesting, but I don't know anything about the books.

[cindergal.livejournal.com]

Mark Sheppard! Now I'm looking forward to DW even more.

[shipperx.livejournal.com]

What I know about "Game of Thrones" Books:

* They are intimidatingly long. (I bought the first one after a couple of friends related how much they loved them). The first book is as thick as a thesaurus with very tiny print.

* Something terrible happens at some wedding.

* Jaimie Lannister([sp]? I don't know) is anti-hero teh hotness.

* The author has been promising to finish the series but has missed his publishing deadlines repeatedly and now won't talk about it.

* Neil Gaiman tells us that "George R.R. Martin is not [our] bitch."

[nutmeg3.livejournal.com]

Yesssss, my precioussssss. Enter the Martinverse and find yourself captured by the amazing.

[nutmeg3.livejournal.com]

They're amazing. Absolutely amazing. Worth their incredible length, and worth Martin taking the time to agonize and get it right.

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

Ugh, the Cable tv shows look more intriguing than the network ones, and I'm tempted again to subscribe to HBO instead of just waiting for Netflix.

Will have to pass on Showtime...unfortunately. Too many tv shows, too little time.

Oh on the George RR Martin novels? The novels after Game of Thrones, Clash of Kings and Storm of Swords are more interesting. There's some amazing character arcs in that series. But they take an incredibly long time to plough through. Took me four months to read each one.

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

"* The author has been promising to finish the series but has missed his publishing deadlines repeatedly and now won't talk about it."

Hee. Apparently the second to last novel in the series will come out in July. By the time you get there - heck, by the time I get through it, he'll probably have finished the series.

There was a hilarious article in EW about him last week - where he said that he hadn't seen any of the HBO series because of the fans with pitch-forks camped out on his doorstep screaming at him to finish the book!

Jaimie Lannister([sp]? I don't know) is anti-hero teh hotness.

Sort of Martin's version of Spike.

[usedtobeljs]

I'm really excited that Doctor Who will be shown on the same schedule as the UK airings!

[louise39.livejournal.com]

The Game of Thrones [you win or you die!] is exhausting reading - so many characters and many settings but once you get them straight - Wow! No black and white people/motives here. Plenty of twists and surprises.

I've just finished Storm of Swords and I don't know how much of this saga can be captured for the TV screen.

I don't get HBO and I'll probably have to wait for Netflix. Mildred Pierce might be a winner, too.

[shapinglight]

Thanks. I've never read anything by him. What's his prose style like

[nutmeg3.livejournal.com]

I don't know what to tell you except that he's a real writer, not a genre writer, if that makes sense. He's descriptive in building his world, has an amazing handle on characterization and individual voices...he's just damn good at what he does. (Note: I'm only talking about the "A Song of Ice and Fire" books. He's done other stuff that I'm not familiar with.)

[eilowyn.livejournal.com]

Good shit is coming. That's my great eloquence at work, by the way. Will be busily downloading Doctor Who and Game of Thrones on my little laptop at work every Sunday.

[silverusagi]

What I know about "Game of Thrones" Books:
* Neil Gaiman tells us that "George R.R. Martin is not [our] bitch."

Hey, I know that! But that's all I know...

[shapinglight]

Ah. That last comment is very offputting.

[shapinglight]

Thanks. And sorry not to have answered you before. I'm still not getting comment notifications.

[mollivanders.livejournal.com]

Sadly none of these shows really appeal me :/ Why has there been such a lack of space shows lately? Not one that isn't several seasons in the making and possibly on the verge of cancellation.