#and between anya chalotra and the writing for most of her arc this has been a Delight and a Joy and I CRIED

[saessenach]

This all goes under the cut because I need to yell into the void about things in the Witcher s2

FIRST OF ALL YENNEFER

Yennefer's arc this season left me yelling screaming shouting emotionally bereft and incredibly distraught! I've barely slept last night and I still feel everything so this will be incoherent *at best*

What are you when you lose the one thing that distinguished and defined you? The one thing that gave you purpose and is both crutch and cudgel and instrument to the way you navigate the world? I can't tell you how many times I flat out had tears in my eyes because HER LOSS is so palpable and it made my heart ACHE

To answer the question: A RESOURCEFUL MOTHERFUCKER

SHE

SHE DID ALL THOSE THINGS

WITHOUT MAGIC

it's this one little parallel between her and Geralt, who also always tries to find the middle way, and in his case it mostly ends up in tragedy because of his moral shtick (Evil is evil, greater, lesser, middling), BUT OH NO SIR, NOT FOR YEN

YENNEFER SAYS FUCK, MAKES THE BEST OF IT, AND CARVES A THIRD CHOICE FOR HERSELF, SNARLING, SPITTING AND CURSING ALL THE WHILE

her whole journey made me very emotional and it was a WHOLE RIDE

BABE WENT ROGUE and found friends EVERYWHERE in THE UNLIKELIEST OF places

AND IT ENDED IN HER SACRIFICING EVERYTHING FOR CIRI BECAUSE SHE SEES C I R I, WHO IS UNLIKE ANYONE SHE'S EVER MET. CIRI WHO HAS POWER AND FEELS CURSED BECAUSE NOBODY KNOWS WHAT TO DO WITH HER

YENNEFER HOLDS HER FACE AND TELLS HER SHE HAS NOTHING TO APOLOGISE FOR.

Anyway, Yennefer was done dirty and I am very excited for s3 to give her her due and have Geralt groveling for her forgiveness because she deserved better than whatever the fuck Geralt did in the finale.

[smokeybrandreviews]

Smokey brand Reviews: Coin Toss

In my ongoing effort to avoid watching actual, award winning cinema that takes a massive amount of my attention to critique, i’ve decided to re-watch The Witcher on Netflix. Now, i’ve never read the books. At all. I’ve played the games though so i’m aware of the world and i’ve been balls deep in the wiki, so i’m aware of the lore. Being aware of the lore is not the same as understanding the nuance of plot, however, so i’m approaching this as a superficial fan of the series but a well versed critic of cinema. I’d say this is a waste of time but, seeing as how it’s the most popular show in Netflix history, already has a second season ready to begin production, an anime movie adaption in the works, and the actually creator making nice with CD Project Red so we might get a fourth Witcher game, it’s maybe not SO much a waste of time to revisit.

The Best

Yenner. F*cking Yennefer of Vengerberg! Yo, she is easily the best thing about this show. Seriously, it’s called The Witcher but it is basically Yenner’s story from the second she appears onscreen in the second episode. She has the most development, appears in the dopest set pieces, and has the highest stakes among all principal characters. For them to nail the character so perfectly, one needs to have a brilliant performer to embody that spirit, and Anya Chalotra stepped into that responsibility perfectly. Chalotra’s Yennerfer is gorgeous, powerful, brilliant, broken, strong, and vulnerable at the same time. It takes very real talent to convey all of that nuance so effortlessly.

The Good

I was hesitant when they announced Henry Cavill as Geralt of Rivia and then put off by the production shots with that terrible wig, but dude IS Geralt. I mean, again, i only know the character from the games and what little information i was able to glean from the wiki, but, from what i’ve learned, dude is perfect in the role. He has a presence onscreen that demands your attention, only outshined by Chalotra’s Yennefer. Learning that Cavill, himself, is a massive Witcher nerd, which makes a ton of sense. Superman bailed on being The Man of Steel, specifically to have input on this project so they wouldn’t f*ck up the adaption. I love that passion, man!

I hear that the Jaskier character is completely different in the source material but i wouldn’t know anything about that. All i know is the Jaskier presented in this show and he is absolutely delightful! Portrayed by Joey Batey, Jaskier shows up, sings a diddy, and steals all of the scenes. His chemistry with both Geralt and Yennerfer is palpable and i look forward to where they take this character. Toss a goddamn coin to your Witcher!

I remember reading, way back during the casting call, that hey were trying to Race bend Ciri. Having no real connection to the characters outside of the games, i thought it might be dope to see a brown lead. I, apparently, was in the minority. The fanboys hated that idea. There was this big stink between geeks and SJWs. It exhausted me so i stopped caring. Imagine my surprise when Freya Allen appeared onscreen for the first time in the role. I was mad confused because i was looking for a caramel colored lady or something, not this snow white faye. It took a few episodes for me to understand that this WAS Cirilla Fiona Elen Riannon but, by then, i was in love with Allan’s portrayal. I could see the beginnings of the badass the Ciri i knew from the games in her performance and, indeed, by the end of the season, she was well on her way to being that b*tch. More than anything, i’m looking forward to season two specifically to see where her arc goes.

Surprisingly, in a show with such, great, principal performances, MyAnna Buring as Tissaia de Vries, came with the heat. I was thoroughly surprised by how cold, how calculating, yet, how loving she was as a character. I was actually stunned with her portrayal. I’m a little perturbed by where the show ended up taking the character, but i still enjoyed what she did with the material given to her.

Now, i have to be clear, Yennerfer is my favorite character in this show. She’s my favorite character in the entire franchise but Netflix’s version of Calanthe Fiona Riannon, can give my darling Quadroon a run for her money in that regard. My, goodness, “Lioness of Citra”, indeed! Jodhi May killed this role. I was absolutely enthralled with her portrayal, so much so, i mourned her passing when she kicked the bucket. I was left wanting so much more of her. We’ll see how that work out going forward.

The world, itself, is kind of wondrous. The y way they built these sets and created such a palpable, tangible, reality for such a hard fantasy series, is kind of amazing. The only other show in this genre to even come close to these levels of production was Game of Thrones. I’ve heard Witcher compared to GoT in articles and it’s a relatively apt juxtaposition. The world and lore created by Netflix so far, is a quiet miracle unto itself.

The writing is pretty okay. Considering the source material and type of genre wherein the show takes place, i’m surprised by how natural the dialogue feels in this thing. I mean, who doesn’t love a particularly punctuating “F*ck.”

The overall vision of this show, the grandness of the tale being told, is fantastic. I love that ambition. I love the fact that the challenge of The Witcher, is being taken on with a true reverence of love for the source material. In a world with such terrible Starr Wars films made by Disney and the worst kind of capeflicks coming out of WB, getting such a dope adaption is a breath of fresh air.

The Bad

This show feels cheap as sh*t. I understand you want to capture the “pests” as they’re called, in all that horrid glory but that CG, man, it’s just poor. I gushed about the sets and what they were trying to do, the loving scope of production, but the end product fell just sort of that vision. The Witcher is not a cheap show to produce properly and it feels like Netflix was a little gun-shy to give it what it needed to be properly great.

The way the narrative is told can be wildly confusing. It took me a few episodes to understand that there were multiple points in time being shown and that we were bouncing between them. One of the major complaints i’ve heard is how the show didn’t make any sense and i am more than certain it’s this aspect of the presentation that people were talking about. Once you understand that there are literally three timeless being presented to you at once, there re guides on line, all of a sudden, this show becomes so much easier to digest.

There are certain character that were given such a criminally short amount of screentime. Triss Marigold immediately comes to mind but i’m speaking more about Renri. That sh*t was Refrigerator Syndrome in the clearest sense and it’s the worst. I’m not going to get into the whole politics of what that means because it’s exhausting but, seriously, to just tease us with such amazing characters only to have them relegated to nothing is just cruel.

The Verdict

Overall, The Witcher is a decent show. It’s by no means perfect, there are other, much better shows out there, a few even on Netlfix, but i understand why this one is so popular. There is a ton of potential here and i want to find my way back into this world as soon as possible, but i hope it has a bit more polished on the second outing. At the end of the day, even as cheap as this thing looks at ties, The Witcher is a brilliant, fantasy adventure, with strong set pieces and even stronger characters. The writing is solid, if a little cliche at times, but Yennefer’s journey, alone, is enough to make watching this thing worth. If you’re a fan of fantasy narratives or fantastic characterization, The Witcher will not disappoint.

[smokeybrand]

Smokey brand Reviews: Coin Toss

In my ongoing effort to avoid watching actual, award winning cinema that takes a massive amount of my attention to critique, i’ve decided to re-watch The Witcher on Netflix. Now, i’ve never read the books. At all. I’ve played the games though so i’m aware of the world and i’ve been balls deep in the wiki, so i’m aware of the lore. Being aware of the lore is not the same as understanding the nuance of plot, however, so i’m approaching this as a superficial fan of the series but a well versed critic of cinema. I’d say this is a waste of time but, seeing as how it’s the most popular show in Netflix history, already has a second season ready to begin production, an anime movie adaption in the works, and the actually creator making nice with CD Project Red so we might get a fourth Witcher game, it’s maybe not SO much a waste of time to revisit.

The Best

Yenner. F*cking Yennefer of Vengerberg! Yo, she is easily the best thing about this show. Seriously, it’s called The Witcher but it is basically Yenner’s story from the second she appears onscreen in the second episode. She has the most development, appears in the dopest set pieces, and has the highest stakes among all principal characters. For them to nail the character so perfectly, one needs to have a brilliant performer to embody that spirit, and Anya Chalotra stepped into that responsibility perfectly. Chalotra’s Yennerfer is gorgeous, powerful, brilliant, broken, strong, and vulnerable at the same time. It takes very real talent to convey all of that nuance so effortlessly.

The Good

I was hesitant when they announced Henry Cavill as Geralt of Rivia and then put off by the production shots with that terrible wig, but dude IS Geralt. I mean, again, i only know the character from the games and what little information i was able to glean from the wiki, but, from what i’ve learned, dude is perfect in the role. He has a presence onscreen that demands your attention, only outshined by Chalotra’s Yennefer. Learning that Cavill, himself, is a massive Witcher nerd, which makes a ton of sense. Superman bailed on being The Man of Steel, specifically to have input on this project so they wouldn’t f*ck up the adaption. I love that passion, man!

I hear that the Jaskier character is completely different in the source material but i wouldn’t know anything about that. All i know is the Jaskier presented in this show and he is absolutely delightful! Portrayed by Joey Batey, Jaskier shows up, sings a diddy, and steals all of the scenes. His chemistry with both Geralt and Yennerfer is palpable and i look forward to where they take this character. Toss a goddamn coin to your Witcher!

I remember reading, way back during the casting call, that hey were trying to Race bend Ciri. Having no real connection to the characters outside of the games, i thought it might be dope to see a brown lead. I, apparently, was in the minority. The fanboys hated that idea. There was this big stink between geeks and SJWs. It exhausted me so i stopped caring. Imagine my surprise when Freya Allen appeared onscreen for the first time in the role. I was mad confused because i was looking for a caramel colored lady or something, not this snow white faye. It took a few episodes for me to understand that this WAS Cirilla Fiona Elen Riannon but, by then, i was in love with Allan’s portrayal. I could see the beginnings of the badass the Ciri i knew from the games in her performance and, indeed, by the end of the season, she was well on her way to being that b*tch. More than anything, i’m looking forward to season two specifically to see where her arc goes.

Surprisingly, in a show with such, great, principal performances, MyAnna Buring as Tissaia de Vries, came with the heat. I was thoroughly surprised by how cold, how calculating, yet, how loving she was as a character. I was actually stunned with her portrayal. I’m a little perturbed by where the show ended up taking the character, but i still enjoyed what she did with the material given to her.

Now, i have to be clear, Yennerfer is my favorite character in this show. She’s my favorite character in the entire franchise but Netflix’s version of Calanthe Fiona Riannon, can give my darling Quadroon a run for her money in that regard. My, goodness, “Lioness of Citra”, indeed! Jodhi May killed this role. I was absolutely enthralled with her portrayal, so much so, i mourned her passing when she kicked the bucket. I was left wanting so much more of her. We’ll see how that work out going forward.

The world, itself, is kind of wondrous. The y way they built these sets and created such a palpable, tangible, reality for such a hard fantasy series, is kind of amazing. The only other show in this genre to even come close to these levels of production was Game of Thrones. I’ve heard Witcher compared to GoT in articles and it’s a relatively apt juxtaposition. The world and lore created by Netflix so far, is a quiet miracle unto itself.

The writing is pretty okay. Considering the source material and type of genre wherein the show takes place, i’m surprised by how natural the dialogue feels in this thing. I mean, who doesn’t love a particularly punctuating “F*ck.”

The overall vision of this show, the grandness of the tale being told, is fantastic. I love that ambition. I love the fact that the challenge of The Witcher, is being taken on with a true reverence of love for the source material. In a world with such terrible Starr Wars films made by Disney and the worst kind of capeflicks coming out of WB, getting such a dope adaption is a breath of fresh air.

The Bad

This show feels cheap as sh*t. I understand you want to capture the “pests” as they’re called, in all that horrid glory but that CG, man, it’s just poor. I gushed about the sets and what they were trying to do, the loving scope of production, but the end product fell just sort of that vision. The Witcher is not a cheap show to produce properly and it feels like Netflix was a little gun-shy to give it what it needed to be properly great.

The way the narrative is told can be wildly confusing. It took me a few episodes to understand that there were multiple points in time being shown and that we were bouncing between them. One of the major complaints i’ve heard is how the show didn’t make any sense and i am more than certain it’s this aspect of the presentation that people were talking about. Once you understand that there are literally three timeless being presented to you at once, there re guides on line, all of a sudden, this show becomes so much easier to digest.

There are certain character that were given such a criminally short amount of screentime. Triss Marigold immediately comes to mind but i’m speaking more about Renri. That sh*t was Refrigerator Syndrome in the clearest sense and it’s the worst. I’m not going to get into the whole politics of what that means because it’s exhausting but, seriously, to just tease us with such amazing characters only to have them relegated to nothing is just cruel.

The Verdict

Overall, The Witcher is a decent show. It’s by no means perfect, there are other, much better shows out there, a few even on Netlfix, but i understand why this one is so popular. There is a ton of potential here and i want to find my way back into this world as soon as possible, but i hope it has a bit more polished on the second outing. At the end of the day, even as cheap as this thing looks at ties, The Witcher is a brilliant, fantasy adventure, with strong set pieces and even stronger characters. The writing is solid, if a little cliche at times, but Yennefer’s journey, alone, is enough to make watching this thing worth. If you’re a fan of fantasy narratives or fantastic characterization, The Witcher will not disappoint.