Stop reading now if you want to avoid any potential spoilers.
Below are my comments from each of the two shows.
Atlas Shrugged
I felt like they used the "Who is John Galt?" question as a catchphrase. Eat my shorts! To me it was as if the actors were looking at the audience and winking as they asked the question. My wife, who has not read the book, didn't feel that way. In the book, the question is an expression of hopelessness and frustration. As the world is crumbling, no one even thinks to find this John Galt person - if he even exists at all. It is just something everyone says.
Matthew Marsden plays James Taggart. I pictured Jim Taggart to be much older. I think we got a little too much "hollywood" in casting this character. However, the worse offense was making Jim too active in the political games. While he was a political creature in the book, you felt like he was being swept along with the other socialists. In the movie, he takes much more initiative and blurs the lines between producers and looters.
Hank Rearden is very socially awkward in the book. My wife described the movie version as smooth and suave. Fail.
People have criticized the physics of the train running on the new Rearden Metal track. That didn't bother me nearly as bad as the attempt to explain the magical motor.
I don't think the movie did a good job of showing the root cause of the problems. Maybe this is because Rand spent a bazillion pages pounding the message into my skull and the movie was trying to compress those philosophies. Likewise, Rands views on the role of sex and relationships between men and women are completely left out. There other plot points that are missing - like the relationship that was formed between Dagny and Francisco as children. The lack of detail on Francisco's background and prior achievements is a huge gap.
And is everyone sharing the same limo?
Now that I'm done beating it up, I will say I am glad I went and I'm sure I will see Part 2. (Also, a mini-plug for Regal Cinemas. My wife and I dug out a hundred year old gift certificate that was for $5. They couldn't find it in the system, so they just gave us a free ticket. Customer service isn't dead!)
Reviews
Rotten Tomatoes
The View from North Central Idaho - Joe Huffman
ExurbanLeague - sounds like he had people clapping at the end of the movie, too.
Walls of the City
Game of Thrones
I've been more excited about this than Atlas Shrugged. As I mentioned, I even added HBO specifically for this show - that's almost $18 per month, so I better like it.
In short (and in contrast to ASP1 above), the first episode was exactly as I pictured it in the book. It was fantastic!
I was worried about some of the actors as I did not think they would fit their characters, but everyone was fantastic. I really liked Lena Headey (from Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles) as Cersei Lannister. I did not see her as a good match, but she was great. I predicted I would like Peter Dinklage (from The Station Agent) as Tyrion and he lived up to the expectation.
The opening scene was very well done - from the CGI, to the pacing, and tension it created. The first few minutes would compare well to any classic horror movie.
I also thought the opening credits were very smart. You get a bird's eye view of Westeros, but you don't see each of the Seven Kingdoms. It only shows the ones that are currently relevant. My guess is that they will change the opening as the action moves between kingdoms.
Definitely, money well spent. It makes me even more excited that the next book is coming out. When A Feast of Crows came out, the bookstore provided everyone with a cheat sheet to remind us of what was happening with all the characters at the end of the book. The series will be a nice refresher without having to re-read some of the books.
I can't wait for next Sunday!
