If you have ever wondered what starving sailors riddled with scurvy might look like after months at sea, Shōgun will not keep you in suspense. From the outset, this is gruesome stuff, set amid the emerging threat of civil war in Japan in 1600.
It adapts James Clavell’s classic 1975 novel with ambition and evident respect for its source material, and given that the paperback is more than 1,000 pages long, it is extraordinary that they have managed to condense it into 10 episodes. The result is peacocking, mesmerising television.
I enjoyed it. I must admit to being a little taken out of the story at times because the lead gaijin kept making me think they used AI to have the part played by Tom Hardy.
I have only watched Ep 1 so far. Will get to Ep 2 tonight.
SNL continues to be less funny than the news. Sydney Sweeney was this week’s host and her monologue was abysmal; any comic presenting shit like that at an open mic night would be booed off stage.
After 3 episodes, I’m still a bit confused with the roles the different Japanese feudal lords are playing, but I am otherwise thoroughly enjoying Shogun. I’m just kind of dumb at keeping up with the many multisyllabic names. I need a tutorial, maybe I should check out the podcast associated with the show.
On the off chance that you haven’t seen it in a while (or at all), The Great Escape has hit Amazon Prime. The escape in question was referenced in the last episode of “Masters of the Air”.
Don’t know whether to put this here or in the video game thread, but this show looks like it could be great fun. All I know about it is what’s in this trailer, anyone play the game(s)?
