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Notes on HBO's Lanterns S1E1

 SPOILERS FOR THE SHOW IN THE TITLE, OBVIOUSLY As with the Odyssey, I have a huge prior bias when it comes to this property since I've been reading Green Lantern comics since I was a kid, and Hal Jordan specifically has been my favorite superhero for decades. So yeah, I carry some baggage here. Overall, the first episode was cool. It introduced a lot of solid mythology about the Green Lanterns (if not the CORPS specifically). We've got space cops, sectors of jurisdiction, charging the ring with the battery, the oath, Guardians, etc. I didn't feel like too much of it was dumbed down, except maybe the focus on fearlessness and imagination over willpower - DC's various adaptations seem to shy away from the comic-accurate willpower being the main driver for a GL's power, while imagination/knowledge of how things work fuels the complexity of their constructs. Hal is obviously very proficient with his ring and able to make small and subtle constructs, but doesn't use ...
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Notes on The Odyssey (2026)

MAJOR SPOILERS BELOW FOR CHRISTOPHER NOLAN'S THE ODYSSEY ... and the ancient epic poem, I guess? First off, and obviously, the film is epic and a massive accomplishment, so everyone should see it. There was a lot that was just really good filmmaking. Did it do justice to the epic poem? Eh, mostly . Nolan included a lot of details I wasn't expecting, and it's mostly true to the poem (and at least the overall plot). This is both a good and bad thing when it comes to a movie, as some parts are definitely more interesting than others and it starts and ends a bit weirdly. I felt there were two big divergences, one more obvious and the other maybe debatable (though connected). First, I think the lack of gods did a disservice to the story . The Odyssey is (partly) a story of men swept up in the affairs of gods, tossed about at their whims and suffering their attention, both good and bad. They are forced this way and that, to do things and to avoid things, because of the pantheon ...
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