Kit Harrington takes "broody" to a whole new level with Jon Snow - I'm still not sure if it's deliberate, or if he's just a very limited actor. The Jon Snow in the books was a lot more emotionally animated.

Wow - great replies, guys. I guess we're all affected by different things. Saving Private Ryan was a wonderful movie (love Hanks) but didn't hit me the same way it hit oldhippie1952 - perhaps because, as an Irishman, I don't have a cultural affinity with what those guys actually did when they stormed the beaches.

American History X is another great one. I love Ed Norton, but think Edward Furlong was overrated, even then. Again, it didn't have the deep impact that it did for Ruth34611.

Some nice movies in your list, msharmony: I think Amistad came close for me - there was something searing about the injustice of the situation.

LOL - Torgo70, how can you have such a long list of movies I'm not familiar with? I loved Harold and Maude and it made a deep impression on me (the bit where Harold walks off down the garden and catches fire always stayed with me). I remember When The Wind Blows, I think: animated British movie about an old couple after a nuclear war? I really will have to go Googling for the rest.

Why do you think a movie moves some people and not others?

Nobody's been deeply affected by a movie. Hmmm ... could it be one of those embarrassing things where you realize "it only actually happens to you"?

I guess the total lack of responses equates to an answer of "No", lol

OK, that's a solid response. I'll keep an eye on this thread and try to get a clearer picture of things. I may have more points / questions as time goes on - hope you don't mind.

When I read the books my faves were Tyrion and Arya Stark. It's difficult to totally leave the books behind with the TV show, but both these characters are still way up there for me. Jaime Lannister is another one with an interesting development arc ... and I'm finding I really quite like Samwell Tarly.

In the books I could just about get through the Daenerys Targaryen sections - bored the pantaloons off me. The show is a little better in this regard, though she's still among my least favorite characters.

Absolutely - done by Gerry Anderson, of Thunderbirds fame, if I remember correctly. I really loved their spaceships - the Eagles - which were effectively space trucks. I was quite young when I saw it and I remember it with great fondness, though I suspect if I were to see it now it wouldn't have aged well. Those seventies flared pants, and the over dramatic music! Still, for the sake of nostalgia, it might be bearable.

I was a huge fan, though I gotta admit it flagged at points and was dead on its feet by the end. I loved the original movie, but you can't really equate it with the series: if anything, the movie was a rough, convenient starting point for the series and very little more.

I must admit to still being bothered by the "how the hell does everyone on all these alien planets speak English (and with an American accent)?" question. Sure, it would have taken some creativity to get around this, but by ignoring it and just asking us to accept it, I felt the series started off by effectively insulting my intelligence.

That said, they got the characters right, at least. O'Neill developed along a path that was quite satisfying (even if Anderson became a pain-in-the-*** about him over time); Carter - well, how can any self-respecting sci-fi buff not fall in love with Carter? Daniel Jackson was a little bit of an annoyance, though he did lose the sneezing, the glasses, and the daft hair over he course of the various seasons. And Teal'c, well ... Indeed!

I'm reserving judgement for the moment. Sometimes you get a TV show with a lot of potential but there's just something "wrong" with the characters, and you just know this is gonna be a one-season wonder. The Spielberg show, Terra Nova, was like that for me: I just couldn't get to give a crap about any of the characters, and I kept thinking: who put this together? Who chose these guys? It just doesn't work. And it didn't! Bye bye, Terra Nova.

I have a little inkling this is gonna be the same. Not quite as bad yet, but it could go either way. Barbie does nothing for me, neither does the redhead, and Junior is just a step away from being ridiculous. OK, it might pick up - and I hope it does, cos there's precious little out there for those of us who loved stuff like Lost and 24, Galactica, and SGU (another casualty). But the writers had better get their collective fingers out, cos this thing has started much more with a whimper than with a bang.

A few nights ago I sat down and finally watched Cloud Atlas. It's a challenging movie - about six different storylines interwoven, some from way in the past, some from far in the future, and the cuts between them are short and fast. It's also a long movie, well over two hours. Sometimes it's difficult to know what's even going on. But by the end of it, a strange thing happened - I found myself deeply moved. I mean, genuinely moved ... touched.

I'm not going to recommend the movie to all and sundry. I suspect the effect had a lot to do with my mental state while watching it - tired to the point of exhaustion - and to where I am in life generally - mid-forties, wondering what the hell it all means. Probably, most people won't come away with anything like the feeling I had (and I suspect quite a few will just HATE it). Still, it's nice to know I still have to potential to be profoundly affected by a mere movie.

Has anyone else ever had a similar experience?

In all fairness, Adam takes a position that, to the average person, must seem very extreme - and maybe it does even seem that he's a quack. I follow some of his YouTube stuff but I disagree with quite a lot of what he says.

I get that you're pissed that you feel someone essentially insulted your friend. However, what you go on to say in your post is deeply flawed, I think. No-one set out to make this a dick-measuring competition, so your "10 times the man" comment is provocative and, if I may say so, unnecessary.

Your second point - that someone who hasn't gone to war has no right to judge someone like Adam - has some problems too. Taken to the extreme, I could interpret it to mean that Adam earned the right to come back to the States and do whatever he wants, and that he can only be challenged by other vets. That's absurd, of course. What Adam's doing is contributing to the dialogue about the future of the US - something he has every right to do, but also something that others have a right to disagree with (and, alas, to think and to say that he is a quack). I think Adam would be the first to defend Lpdon's right to his opinion, don't you?

Just recently joined and looking to make some new friends - particularly Canadian or US. I like to read, I like to write, I like to talk (not necessarily in that order ... I guess talking would be top of the list, though as I get older I'm becoming a better listener; still hard to not talk, though).

If there's anyone out there who just wants to have a plain old pen-pally relationship with an Irish guy living close to Toronto - to share a few laughs, clink "virtual" glasses of beer, and generally dissect whatever happens to be the subject of the moment, please - drop me a line.