The Fireside

Lastly, for the time being, I shall somewhat-wrap up talking about Middle-earth music. I am following the development of the Amazon Middle-earth series with great interest. It's far too early to tell if it will be any good,, as everything at this stage is in the 'pre' phases: pre-production etc. We don't even have a premiere date, cast, trailer etc. But this leaves time and room for thinking and speculation. First and foremost, I must say that I greatly adore Howard Shore's Middle-earth music (most notably, the Complete Recordings releases of The Lord of the Rings  soundtracks). This post is being written under the assumption that Howard will be not a part of the project, however much I wish him to be. He's poured so much into Middle-earth at this point, I'm unsure what else has to offer, even if he wanted to! One never knows... So, due to my love of film and TV soundtracks, fantasy, and music and all that, I've been listening to a few composers over the...

I wanted to do a write up of my thoughts about the upcoming Amazon  Lord of the Rings  (or, rather, “Middle-earth”) series. Before I do so, however, there are some points that need to be made: 1) They are  only  using (and only allowed to use) material found within the pages of the books known as  The Hobbit  and  The Lord of the Rings , or from any of the six Peter Jackson films. (More on that to follow.) That means, anything found within the pages of  The Silmarillion, Unfinished Tales,  or the History of Middle-earth is off-limits. 2) In terms of Middle-earth’s timeline, it will take place between  The Hobbit  and  The Lord of the Rings . If it takes place in the First or Second Age, it’ll be based on what Jackson has shown us in  Rings , or what was written in  The Lord of the Rings  that references those eras. Where it might get tricky is Beren and Luthien: Aragorn sang a song about them in  T...

The day is finally here - Game of Thrones: Season 4 is now out on blu-ray! Most of the fans have most likely seen these episodes when they aired on HBO, or through other means, but now you can officially own all the episodes of season 4, plus lost of  extra goodies. So for those that buy the show on blu-ray, your pre-orders should be coming in anytime. You can buy the set pretty much anywhere that sells blu-rays. I also suspect that the season is on itunes by now, too. Makes waiting for season 5 a bit better (if you will be watching it 'this year'. If not, the blu-ray should be out around this time next year), and for the book readers, it will kill a little bit of time until Book Six. 

Breaking Bad finally gets the 'complete series' treatment on blu-ray on June 3. Read more info, courtesy of tvshowsondvd.com : 

Not long ago, I finished watching the first season of AMC's drama, Hell on Wheels .

I haven't seen any episodes yet (it is on my Netflix list) but AMC's series Hell on Wheels was just renewed for a 4th season. Better than that - it went from 10 episodes for the season to 13. With Breaking Bad ending a few months ago, and Mad Men on its way out, this looks to be AMC's new flagship series. Speaking of TV, where am I at? Season 3 of Breaking Bad Season 5 [final] of Damages (once I finish that I'll start up Hell on Wheels ) Watching Big Bang and Shield week by week. Once Boardwalk Empire finishes its 4th season, I'll start watching that season. Likewise in March with Walking Dead .