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= The Actor 's Children =
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The Actor 's Children is a 1910 American silent short drama written by Lloyd Lonergan and produced by the Thanhouser Company in New Rochelle , New York . The film features Orilla Smith , Yale Boss , Frank Hall Crane and Nicholas Jordan . The production was not the first film subject by the company , but it was the first to be released . Both Barry O 'Neil and Lloyd B. Carleton have been credited as the director of the production . Edwin Thanhouser stated that 19 copies of the film were produced and distributed to dealers .
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The film begins with two unemployed parents obtaining employment in an upcoming theater production . Shortly after returning home , the landlady shows up and demands the rent , but can not collect . She gives them one week , but the theater production does not manifest and the parents again search for work . While they are out , the landlady finds a tenant and puts the children out on the street . They end up dancing for an organ grinder and are saved by a theater manager who puts them on his vaudeville bill . The parents come into a fortune and are reunited by their children at the theater . The film was met with positive reviews and some criticism for its acting and scenario , but the industry had reasons to encourage the success of Edwin Thanhouser 's company . A print of the film exists , but it was the subject of nitrate deterioration .
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= = Plot = =
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The plot of the film was best convened through a published synopsis in trade which introduced the names of the cast and the backstory . Eugenie Freeman and Paul Temple , marry and have two children , a boy and a girl . The parents have been unemployed , but the film starts with the parents finding work in an upcoming production at a theater . As they return home , they are interrupted by the landlady , Mrs. O 'Brien , who demands the rent . The landlady does not car about the family 's misfortune and is upset when she cannot collect . She provides one week for the Temple family to pay up .
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The production is postponed and the parents are out looking for work when a prospective tenant appears . Mrs. O 'Brien shows him the room and he is interested , but does not know what to do with the children . Mrs. O 'Brien puts the children out onto the street where they dance to the music played by an organ grinder . The organ grinder earns more money from their dancing and he entices the children to return to his hovel and teaches them to dance . The organ grinder instructs them to dance for money . The children are rescued by a theater manager and finds them a place in the theater program .
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In the meantime , the parents have searched for their children and suddenly come into a fortune when a relative bequeaths a large sum of money to them . The parents search for their children in large gatherings and find their children dancing on the vaudeville bill from their theater box . The family is reunited and the film concludes .
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= = Cast = =
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Frank H. Crane as the actor ( adult male lead )
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Orilla Smith as the actor 's daughter ( little girl )
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Yale Boss as the actor 's son ( little boy )
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Nicholas Jordan as a comedian
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= = Production = =
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The script for the production was written by Lloyd F. Lonergan , who employed the deus ex machina dramatic technique in the conclusion of the plot . In film , this is the sudden inheritance and parents finding their children in the theater . The two children , Orilla Smith and Yale Boss , were child actors with prior film experience and did not have any further known connection to the Thanhouser Company after the production . The cameraman , Blair Smith , used a camera rented by the Columbia Phonograph Company and had its inventor , Joseph Bianchi , assist in the camera 's operation and use . The director of has both been credited to Barry O 'Neil and Lloyd B. Carleton in numerous trade sources . Smith was the first cameraman of the Thanhouser Company , but this film was not the Thanhouser Company 's first subject . Instead , it was The Mad Hermit produced in autumn 1909 and shelved until August 9 , 1910 . The exact order of the productions is not known , but a work titled Aunt Nancy Telegraphs was filmed in December 1909 and never released . Certain parts of The Actor 's Children were produced in the last week of February 1910 .
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The director of the film is not known , but two possibles exist . Barry O 'Neil was the stage name of Thomas J. McCarthy , who would direct many important Thanhouser pictures , including its first two @-@ reeler , Romeo and Juliet . Lloyd B. Carleton was the stage name of Carleton B. Little , a director who would stay with the Thanhouser Company until moving to the Biograph Company by the summer of 1910 . The confusion between the directing credits stems from the industry practice of not crediting the film directors , even in studio news releases . Q. David Bowers says that the attribution of these early directors often comes from a collection of contemporary publications or interviews .
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= = Release = =
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The single reel drama , approximately 1000 ft , was released on March 15 , 1910 by the Thanhouser Company . In later years , Edwin Thanhouser recalled that 19 copies of the film were produced and sent out to dealers throughout the United States . Of these 19 copies produced , ten were returned , some with letters of interest in future Thanhouser productions . The film was viewed across the United States with advertisements for showings in Pennsylvania , Wisconsin , Kansas , and Washington
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= = Reception and impact = =
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The Actor 's Children was released with enthusiasm and positive reviews in trade publications . The Moving Picture World reviews would be favorable and without much criticism , even calling the acting convincing . A more honest review in The New York Dramatic Mirror was written by a reviewer who was pleased with the production , but offered criticism about the production 's weaker aspects . The reviewer found there to be too much emphasis on the unimportant parts and a lack of emotion from the actors , and the child actors performance was faulted by repeatedly looking at the camera . Critical reception of the film may not have been entirely neutral for a number of reasons . Edwin Thanhouser was a well @-@ liked gentleman who had many friends in the Patents Company that likely wanted him to succeed . Furthermore , writers in the magazines hoped that Independents would succeed and challenge the Patents Company 's stranglehold on the industry . Also , film critics and reviewers of the era would balance the negativity of even the worst films with some favorable aspects . Even without any ulterior motives , the film may have been worthy of a favorable review .
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The release managed to survive against considerable odds , but the surviving print is not without severe faults . The surviving print has considerable nitrate deterioration and very poor picture quality in certain parts . This film survives in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences film archives .
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= The Stolen Eagle =
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" The Stolen Eagle " is the series premiere of the British @-@ American historical drama television series Rome . Written by series creator Bruno Heller and directed by Michael Apted , the episode first aired in the United States on Home Box Office ( HBO ) on August 28 , 2005 , and on the BBC in the United Kingdom and Ireland on November 2 . Rome was given a budget of $ 100 million , making it the largest amount both networks had ever spent on a series . Heller centered the series ' narrative on the perspectives of two common soldiers , similar to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern from Shakespeare 's Hamlet . Apted shot the episode at Cinecittà , the Roman studio where the epic films Ben @-@ Hur and Cleopatra were filmed . On the set , realism and authenticity were emphasized more than grandiosity , with depictions of a cosmopolitan city of all social classes .
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As the wars in Gaul come to an end , Julius Caesar ( Ciarán Hinds ) is faced with both triumph and tribulation . On the heels of his victory comes news of his daughter 's death . Awarded with the adulation of the people , he also garners the enmity of politicians in Rome , including Pompey the Great ( Kenneth Cranham ) . In Rome , Pompey must balance honor and politics as he is urged to betray his former friend . Meanwhile , Caesar 's niece Atia of the Julii ( Polly Walker ) tries to steer her family on the dangerous path between the growing divisions of power . In the Gallic countryside , two unlikely allies ( Kevin McKidd and Ray Stevenson ) journey to reclaim the stolen standard of the Roman legion .
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HBO described its marketing strategy as " its largest , most aggressive for a new series , " and media outlets estimated its cost at $ 10 million . On its first broadcast , an estimated 3 @.@ 8 million US viewers watched the episode . On its first airing in the UK and Ireland , it secured an estimated audience of 6 @.@ 6 million people . Critical reception was largely mixed , with several reviewers writing that the episode suffered from slow storytelling . " The Stolen Eagle " garnered four major awards , including the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Special Visual Effects and the Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directing – Drama Series .
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= = Plot = =
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During the Siege of Alesia in 52 BC , Centurion Lucius Vorenus of the 13th Legion commands his men as Gallic warriors fall on his line . In contrast to the Gauls ' chaotic charge , the Roman files fight with precision , until one drunk legionary , Titus Pullo , breaks ranks and charges into the crowd of Gauls . Vorenus angrily orders him back into formation , but Pullo hits him . Later , the assembled soldiers watch as Pullo is flogged and condemned to death for his disorderly conduct . The day after , Vercingetorix , " King of the Gauls " , is brought before Julius Caesar and made to surrender , ending the eight @-@ year @-@ long Gallic Wars . Caesar 's niece , Atia of the Julii , orders her son Octavian to deliver a horse she has purchased straight to Caesar in Gaul to ensure that he remembers them above all other well @-@ wishers . Caesar himself receives news that his daughter , married to his friend Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus with whom he shares power in Rome , has died in childbirth along with her stillborn daughter . A blood tie broken between them , Caesar orders a new wife be found for Pompey .
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In the Roman Senate , Cato the Younger moves that Caesar be stripped of his command and recalled to Rome to answer charges of misusing his office and illegal warmongering . Pompey , as sole Consul present , vetoes the motion , insisting in trusting Caesar . At the theater that night , Scipio introduces his daughter Cornelia Metella to Pompey as a prospective wife , while Cato warns him that he must ally against Caesar before it is too late . Pompey again asserts that Caesar means no harm , although privately , he is troubled by Caesar 's rising prestige and power and gives orders to one of his slaves who is leaving on a trip to Gaul . At night in the encampment of the 13th Legion , the Aquila ( Eagle Standard ) is stolen by brigands . To avoid a potentially disastrous drop in morale , Mark Antony orders Vorenus to retrieve it . As Vorenus feels the mission is doomed to failure , he has the condemned Pullo released from the stockade to assist him .
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In camp , Caesar welcomes Marcus Junius Brutus , his unofficial stepson whose mother is Caesar 's lover , Servilia of the Junii . Later , at a party hosted by Servilia , Brutus confides to Pompey that the loss of the eagle has made Caesar unusually vulnerable as his men are on the brink of mutiny . On the road to Caesar 's camp in Gaul , Octavian is taken captive by brigands . For Caesar 's request , Atia instructs her daughter Octavia to marry Pompey by first divorcing her husband Glabius , despite Octavia 's protests that they are deeply in love . Atia then presents Octavia to Pompey at a party and offers her for premarital relations , which Pompey takes advantage of .
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Vorenus and Pullo set off in search of the eagle , encountering and rescuing Octavian from his captors . Octavian thanks them and promises that they will be rewarded . Vorenus and Pullo discover Pompey 's slave with the eagle hiding in the bandit cart and kill him , realizing the bandits were hired by Pompey . A politically astute Octavian explains that their mission is only a gesture , since the theft of the eagle is actually a blessing in disguise to Caesar . Civil war between Caesar and Pompey is inevitable , but Caesar needs Pompey to make the first move so as not to appear the aggressor ; Pompey is likely to do that if he believes Caesar 's soldiers are on the verge of desertion . The trio returns in triumph to camp , where a surprised yet grateful Caesar takes the eagle back and more than adequate proof of Pompey 's hostility . He sends Pompey the head of his slave and informs him of his next move , to winter the 13th Legion at Ravenna on the Italian border , in preparation for pressing his rights to the Consulship . Pompey breaks all ties with Caesar and takes Cornelia as his wife . Octavia , humiliated at being used by Pompey and heartbroken over her pointless divorce , says she wants him dead .
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= = Production = =
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= = = Conception and writing = = =
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" The Stolen Eagle " was written by executive producer and co @-@ creator Bruno Heller and directed by Michael Apted , who also directed the following two episodes . Heller said the era of the Roman Empire was " pivotal in Western history . If things hadn 't turned out the way they did at that particular point , the world that we live in now would be very different . " He decided to tell the story of the series from the perspectives of two common soldiers , Lucius Vorenus and Titus Pullo . According to Heller , " They are the only two ordinary soldiers mentioned by Caesar in his book , so the idea was to do a sort of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern take . I essentially took the seed of that idea to try to tell a big historical epic , but from the street level , the everyman 's point of view . "
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The episode title is a reference to the standard of the Roman legion , a symbol that represents the legion 's unity . While the storyline detailing its theft was based on fiction , Heller believed that it showed how Caesar could turn " misfortune into opportunity . He was always one step ahead of his enemies . " Certain characters were changed from their traditional images ; for instance , while Brutus has been portrayed as the noblest Roman , Heller and historical consultant Jonathan Stamp thought it would be interesting to have him forced into his later role through his ancestry . Alluding to the fact that Brutus ' great great great grandfather " drove the last king out of Rome " , Stamp said that " his family history was pushing him in one direction , his emotions in another . "
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= = = Casting = = =
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The producers cast relatively unknown British actors for the series . Scottish actress Lindsay Duncan , who was cast as Servilia , believed that she and other UK actors " can do old , can do classic , and you believe it . " She also said that because of long distances , American actors or those of other nationalities were avoided : " Transporting actors from [ Los Angeles ] to Rome on a regular basis does not look good for the budget . We 're quite cheap . " Stamp described Servilia as " the great love of [ Julius ] Caesar 's life , his mistress and by all counts the only woman he truly loved . " Irish actor Ciarán Hinds was cast as Caesar . Hinds first thought it was " silly " to be offered the part , but then " you think it 's quite an honour to be chosen to play it . And then you think , ' Oh shit I 've got to do it ' , and then , well , ' I suppose someone has to do it ! ' " Heller had believed that Hinds would make " a great Caesar " for a long time , and considered the series " extremely lucky " for being able to cast him .
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Scottish actor Kevin McKidd , who had never appeared in a television series that necessitated over twelve months of filming , was cast as Lucius Vorenus , one of the lead characters . McKidd said , " What was different about this show is you get 14 months to really get into every nook and cranny of the character , in a way you don 't get a chance to explore when you do a movie or a theater play . Initially , it was a terrifying prospect . But once you got over that , you realize what a great opportunity it was . " Heller described his character as " very much a Roman of the Old School , a stoic man devoted to duty and religion and the legion . " Ray Stevenson played Titus Pullo , a soldier who befriends Vorenus . McKidd said that " they 're kind of thrown together by fate , by chance , but somewhere along the line they start to stick ... [ They ] keep finding themselves accidentally at the epicenter of tumultuous events and immense change , so they 're kind of clinging to each other . "
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Caesar 's niece , Atia , was portrayed by actress Polly Walker . According to Heller , while most auditioning actresses assumed that the character was the series ' villainess , Walker made " [ Atia ] bigger than life but completely real ... She could read the phone book with that kind of brio and joy . " Rather than a villain , Heller wrote her to be " a real life force . Everything she 's doing is for the good of her family , her children . No matter how evil it gets , it 's always for good reason . " Walker was pleased with her " very complex character . I found it exciting to play such massive emotions and deal with such interesting , to say the least , situations . I saw it as a huge challenge , and I have huge admiration for this character . A lot of people might consider her to be sort of evil or bad , but I think she 's wonderful . She 's just a survivor , doing what she 's got to do . "
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= = = Filming = = =
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The series was given a budget of $ 100 million ( £ 58 million ) , the largest both HBO and the BBC had ever devoted to a series . The season was filmed between March 2004 and July 2005 , at locations in or around Rome , and on a set considered " to be the biggest and most expensive ever built for television . " It was built at Cinecittà , where the epic films Ben @-@ Hur ( 1959 ) and Cleopatra ( 1963 ) had been filmed . Production designer Joseph Bennett built a set that emphasized authenticity and realism rather than grandiosity . He said ,
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People think of Rome as white and cold and beautiful , powerful but distant . But based on the research , I don 't think it was like that at all . If you go to Pompeii , you 're struck by how garish it is , even now . The temples and sculptures were all brightly painted . Rome was like Pompeii , but much bigger . And Rome was so noisy it was impossible to sleep . It was like hell . Think of it as a combination of New York and Calcutta , with insane wealth and insane poverty . It was pretty extreme .
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The series begins with opening credits that depict traditional Roman myths , such as Romulus and Remus , the city 's foundation mythos . For inspiration , visual effects and design company A52 explored museums , read the script and researched Roman history . They created the opening sequence entirely in @-@ house . VFX artist Kirk Balden said of production , " On many projects , you start off with storyboards and everyone has a good idea of what it 's going to look like when it 's completed . This project was very experimental right to the very end . The tone of it is pretty much unlike anything we 've done and most of what any of us here have seen . There 's a lot there that creatively sets the stage for the series . "
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Heller was responsible for writing the episode 's voice @-@ over , despite his dislike of the task . He said that despite it being his " 400th version , " he was " still not happy with it . " He believed that an early scene in which cart distributes spoils in front of Pompey represented the first real sense of how the series would depict city life . He said , " I think this is the first time that we get sense of the version of Rome that the show is pushing , " which was a very different version than viewers may have been used to . To him , Rome was " colorful and painted " and cosmopolitan . A later scene featuring Cicero the Younger in the Senate proved difficult to film because of the large number of Italian extras who did not speak English . In the DVD audio commentary , he said that " this is one of those scenes where you need really great assistant directors , because all of these Italian extras who have no idea whatsoever what [ Cicero 's ] saying , so to keep them interested and focused and concentrated on what 's going on is a real trick . "
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Anachronistic stirrups were used to ensure the safety of the actors , though the crew attempted to conceal or camouflage them for historical authenticity , as they were not then used by the Roman cavalry . Extras playing soldiers attended a boot camp under the guidance of a former Royal Marine . Those actors portraying legionnaires learned to fight by thrusting , not slashing their weapons . Artisans reportedly handmade four thousand costumes using authentic period materials such as cotton , linen , wool and silk , all of which were hand @-@ dyed on set . Pullo was originally written to be a poor horse rider , a reflection that " Romans were notoriously bad horsemen , " according to Heller . However , Stevenson turned out to be " probably the best horseman on the show , " so they rewrote this characteristic because bad horsemanship is difficult to fake .
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James Madigan , the visual effects supervisor , approached the series as a feature film , observing that " every aspect of the production took meticulous care with every detail , the costumes , the set dressing , the acting , and the attention to historical fact . As you worked on it , you really got the feeling that Rome was going to look like something we had never seen on TV before , so our vfx approach very much wanted to respect that . " Madigan attempted to seamlessly mesh the visual effects with the physical sets and depend less on CGI . A friend told Madigan that after seeing the pilot , " he didn ’ t see any vfx shots , even though there are dozens of shots throughout episode 1 . That means we did our job well . "
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= = Marketing = =
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HBO said its marketing plan for the series was , " its largest , most aggressive push for a new series " . The channel broadcast the first three episodes seven days a week at various times during the day . Non @-@ subscribers could preview the first two episodes during the first week of September 2005 . HBO implemented an outdoor marketing campaign in major cities and produced movie @-@ style trailers which preceded a number of films in cinemas . Entertainment Weekly , Vanity Fair , Time , and GQ published full @-@ size articles about the series . The History Channel broadcast five nights of documentaries featuring the Roman Empire , which were hosted by Stevenson , McKidd , and Varma , a collaboration which was the first of its kind between the two networks .
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David Baldwin , the executive vice president of program planning , said , " This is a huge series for us . We wanted to give it every opportunity to be seen by as many people as possible . " Media outlets estimated that the entire marketing campaign cost HBO $ 10 million , the most the network had spent on marketing a series to that point .
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Commentators viewed the success of Rome as crucial for the network , especially after the past mixed reception of Carnivàle and K @-@ Street . In July 2005 , James Hibberd of Television Week wrote that Rome was viewed " as the network 's best shot for adding another literate , must @-@ see drama to its schedule " . Writing for the same publication , Tom Shales said that HBO " has made such a fuss over Rome , and the network itself has put such painful pressure on the show ( and its producers ) to make a hefty impact , that it 'll be scorned like a leper if it fails to make a truly gigantic splash . "
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= = Reception = =
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= = = Ratings = = =
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" The Stolen Eagle " was first broadcast on August 28 , 2005 in the United States on HBO and in Canada on The Movie Network and Movie Central . An estimated 3 @.@ 8 million viewers watched the episode , less than the series premieres of Carnivale and Deadwood but consistent with the series finale of Six Feet Under . In the UK and Ireland , the premiere was broadcast on BBC 2 on November 2 , 2005 . According to The Independent , more than 6 @.@ 6 million viewers watched the episode .
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= = = Critical reception = = =
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" The Stolen Eagle " received generally mixed reviews from television critics , many of whom criticized its slow pace . Mark A. Perigard of The Boston Herald wrote , " Less perverse than I , Claudius , more entertaining than American Broadcasting Company 's ( ABC ) toga twister Empire , " Rome " gets off to an uneven start . " Terry Morrow of the Dayton Daily News criticized the premiere , writing that " the opener , like most pilots , is so bogged down with introducing faces and setting up the story that it turns into a long and tedious journey . " Morrow also said the episode suffered from lacking one " standout , signature character " , though he believed that the " flaws in Rome should clear up in time , given HBO 's knack for winning dramas . It 's an epic story , and one worth savoring if you can muddle through the demands of slow storytelling in the beginning . "
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The Scotsman 's Robert McNeil thought that the premiere was " shocking , but also rather slow , as characters are established . Maybe it 'll get better . In the meantime , to paraphrase Roger McGough , I came , I saw , I concurred with those who say : Rome wasn 't built in an hour . " Similarly opinionated was The Cincinnati Post 's Rick Bird , who said that like other HBO series , Rome " takes a while to get going . After the first episode you will mostly be confused with a dizzying array of characters , intrigue and subplots . Hang in there . By the second episode things take shape and one should be hooked by episode three with this steamy romp through antiquity and its lusty intrigue . " Bird found some positive elements ; the episode , he said , was " enhanced by marvelous filmmaking including elaborate sets and costumes . Small @-@ screen film art has rarely painted such a realistic picture of ancient Rome . "
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Paul English of The Daily Record wrote that " Rome is visually dazzling , full of vim and tantalizingly seductive , " adding that " McKidd 's growling turn as Ceasar 's [ sic ] footsoldier Lucius Vorenus will undoubtedly propel him into the US major league . " Writing for the Los Angeles Daily News , David Kronke failed to find the series very remarkable , writing that " notwithstanding some lurid sex and gruesome violence , [ it is ] as conventional as anything the network has ever done . Sword @-@ and @-@ sandals epics have become familiar Hollywood staples ... and those expecting something that takes up where the legendarily decadent BBC / PBS series I , Claudius left off may be in for something of a disappointment . " Television Without Pity graded the episode with a B.
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Some viewers criticized the graphic nudity seen in the pilot , especially in the US . Heller commented , " Romans didn 't have our body shame and fear of sexuality . I think that is part of the modern fascination with that world . There was a lack of shame about those things , that we had to portray with a lack of shame in order to make it work . "
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= = = Accolades = = =
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= Roxas ( Kingdom Hearts ) =
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Roxas ( Japanese : ロクサス , Hepburn : Rokusasu ) is a fictional character from Square Enix 's video game franchise Kingdom Hearts . First revealed during the final scenes of the 2004 title Kingdom Hearts : Chain of Memories , Roxas is a " Nobody " , a being created when the series ' main character Sora briefly loses his heart during the first game of the series . Kingdom Hearts II reveals that Roxas is a member of Organization XIII , a group of Nobodies who needed Roxas as he could wield the Keyblade , a weapon that allows him to capture hearts . As a member of the organization , Roxas bears the title " Key of Destiny " ( めぐりあう鍵 , Meguriau Kagi , lit . " Serendipitous Key " ) . He is also the protagonist of the video game Kingdom Hearts 358 / 2 Days , which revolves around his origins . In the Japanese games , Roxas is voiced by Kōki Uchiyama , while Jesse McCartney takes the role in the English versions .
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Since his first cameo in the series , director Tetsuya Nomura has stated that Roxas is an important character to the series , and that in order to explain his back story in more detail than done in Kingdom Hearts II , Kingdom Hearts 358 / 2 Days was created . Since his introduction in Kingdom Hearts II , Roxas has received positive critical response from video game publications with most of them focusing on his development in 358 / 2 Days . Various types of merchandising have been released based on his character .
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= = Characteristics = =
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