Here's part 2 of Maureen Ryan's interview with George R.R. Martin. Enjoy.
When my initial review of 'Game of Thrones,' which was decidedly mixed, appeared online, one of the responses I saw on the Internet amused and mildly irritated me. Some of the grumbling amounted to, "But what does she know -- she liked 'Spartacus'!"
It amused me because, as most critics do, I judge each show independently and on its own merits; if, by law, I am required to review expensive HBO series favorably and basic-cable shows unfavorably, well, I didn't get that memo. And I'm fully willing to admit (as are most of people who make 'Spartacus') that the first couple of episodes of that show aren't good. But if you watched the Starz show until at least the midpoint of the first season, it became a gripping saga that worked as an action-adventure story, a soapy melodrama and a well-constructed, emotionally compelling drama.
And hey, guess what? George R.R. Martin, the man who created the books on which HBO's 'Game of Thrones' is based, is also a fan of 'Spartacus'! I would say "Nyah nyah" or "Oh snap!" at this point, but I'm far too mature and evolved to do something like that. Much.
In any event, Martin and I talked about much more that our mutual affinity for the gladiator drama in Part 2 of our interview (Part 1 is here, by the way). We discussed magic, "comfort fiction" and his approach to the next book in his 'Song of Ice and Fire' series, among other things.
As was the case with Part 1 of the interview, it's best to have seen all of Season 1 of 'Game of Thrones' before reading this interview, which does not spoil anything that happens beyond Season 1 (or Book 1 of the novel series).
Read the full Part 2 Here.
Read the full Part 1 Here.
good interview
ReplyDeleteInteresting to read he watches Spartacus! XD
ReplyDelete"And hopefully, that one will not take as long as the last one did" if it does he won't be able to go out in public for fear of fans chasing after him!
ReplyDeleteGreat interview thanks for posting
ReplyDeleteAgreed! Is it weird that, although I would defend Spartacus if anyone were to say that it's nothing more than blood and sex, it somehow makes me feel better that a genre heavyweight like Martin has my back?
ReplyDeleteIt's not weird. Well, not TOO weird anyway. XD
ReplyDeleteI dismissed it as blood and sex in the first season and quit after 2 or 3 episodes only to watch it through completely later. I would argue it is blood and sex, but not JUST blood and sex.
Personally, anytime there is slow-motion fight scenes or Hong Kong style rope fight trickery it's a bad thing.... especially in non-Kung Fu genre movies. But the sex is a needed aspect of the series. It was a large part of the culture of gladiators and ancient Rome as a whole. To remove it would have been worse in all likelihood.
Regardless, between said over processed fights and sex scenes there is some pretty good acting and plot. It will be interesting to see how they adapt the highly stylized format now that the gladiators will be out of the arena on the run....
Hopefully the success of the show wont have too great an effect on the time he spends on public appearances or we'll be waiting 10 years for the finale, if indeed it ends with book 7.
ReplyDeleteHonestly, it had one of the most satisfying season finales I have ever seen. It was incredibly well setup, put together, and executed. The catharsis was pretty intense. They didn't skimp on the advancement of plot.
ReplyDeleteBut, as you say, yes the stylized slow-mo fighting can verge on silly sometimes, but I've never really had any problems with them. I grew up loving Jet Li films like Hero, Courching Tiger, Iron Monkey, etc.
It's odd, for some reason slow motion fight scenes do not bother me at all in martial arts movies. When it's overused in medieval or Roman fights (or modern fights) it does though.
ReplyDeleteI usually blame The Matrix. At least Neo could alter time/reality so when he slowed down it was plot oriented..... It seems after that movie more and more fight scenes have more and more slo-mo.