Archive for the ‘Opinion’ Category

Daenerys Targaryen: Breaker of Chains (and Wheels)

Posted: October 13, 2015 by patricksponaugle in Game of Thrones, Opinion, TV
Tags: , , ,
27

This post will be talking about Daenerys Stormborn, Mother of Dragons, Breaker of Chains, Lover of Long Ass Titles. She’s the Khaleesi on HBO’s Game of Thrones, okay? If you’re not up on the show, then expect spoilers to be contained within.

daenerys-and-drogon-official-hbo

Drogon Hates Spoilers! Drogon BURNINATES Spoilers!

The last time I wrote about Daenerys specifically, she had just overtaken Yunkai, the second city along Slaver’s Bay, with her army of Unsullied, her mercenaries, and her two Westerosi knights.

Seasons 4 and 5 have had her ruling the largest city on the bay, Meereen, where her emancipation proclamations were met with resistance from the Meereenese culture, and her dragons have transitioned from wartime assets to peacetime liabilities.

(more…)

International Batman Day (Really, it should be International Batman Night…)

Posted: October 4, 2015 by patricksponaugle in Comics, Opinion
Tags: , , ,
2

Last week was International Batman Day! If I’d been on top of things, I’d have had this post written last week, for the actual day.

The-Dark-Knight-Returns

The Dark Knight does not respect my tardiness.

I don’t know who chooses these dates, but I’m grateful to whomever arranged for a day to celebrate one of my favorite mythological heroes (even if I was unprepared.)

Mythological heroes?

I apologize to any classical Greek and Roman humanities scholars for equating Batman alongside Achilles and Hercules, but I wouldn’t be surprised if colleges in the future have courses on 20th century heroic archetypes like the guardian of Gotham City.

(more…)

Second Looks: Stannis Baratheon

Posted: September 29, 2015 by patricksponaugle in Game of Thrones, Opinion, TV
Tags: , , , , ,
12

This post will be talking about Stannis Baratheon, one of the many, many characters in HBO’s Game of Thrones. Therefore, if you’re not caught up with the show there’s a chance of being exposed to spoilers.

s05e09_1_stannis_still_mannis-1024x576

Melisandre used to tell Stannis spoilers. See how well that worked out for him?

Just under two years ago, I published a post examining Stannis Baratheon, the crabbier and less embraceable of Robert Baratheon’s two younger brothers. At the time, I presented my case that Stannis might not be that bad of a king, if he could just cut loose of the influence of his magical advisor, Melisandre.

(more…)

Once Upon a Mattress. Twenty Mattresses, Actually.

Posted: September 20, 2015 by patricksponaugle in Arts, Music, Opinion
Tags: , ,
10

FRED

This weekend, I took the family to see Once Upon a Mattress, being performed at the Bowie Playhouse.

Bowie Playhouse? Fine. Here’s the address.

16500 White Marsh Park Drive
Bowie, MD 20715

You should go see it. IT’S ONLY BEING PERFORMED THROUGH SEPTEMBER 26TH!!! (This might make it difficult for the international community who reads my blog to get tickets and make travel arrangements in time. That’s my bad for not seeing the musical earlier.)

(more…)

Road Warrior’ing on the Fury Road.

Posted: September 15, 2015 by patricksponaugle in Movie Review, Opinion
Tags: , , , ,
7

RoadWarriorCool

Recently, my wife and I managed to see Mad Max: Fury Road in the theaters. I saw it during its summer release, and by the time I’d talked my wife into wanting to give it a try, it was no longer being shown.

But once it became available through digitial release, it inexplicably reappeared at a high-end theater near us. Date Night! But this is all unnecessary detail.

If you’ve wandered here looking for a review of this latest installment of the Mad Max franchise, I am going to recap it below (after some rambly preamble.)

(more…)

Bronn: Lovable Rogue or Unreliable Cutthroat?

Posted: September 15, 2015 by patricksponaugle in Game of Thrones, Opinion, TV
Tags: , , , ,
33

This post will be talking about a secondary character from HBO’s Game of Thrones. In the discussion, there will no doubt be references to plot points from the first five seasons of the show, so if you’re not caught up, this is your spoiler warning.

Bronn-game-of-thrones-22032281-1024-576

Spoiler babies! What’s the worst that would happen? That you’ll find out I’m a secret Targaryen?

Ser Bronn of the Blackwater, the son of You-Wouldn’t-Know-Him, is one of my favorite characters on Game of Thrones. (Look, I admit that nearly every character is a favorite. It’s really hard to choose.)

I just assumed Bronn was universally liked. I mean, he’s funny, he’s a good companion to Lannisters for clever dialog, he kicks ass. What’s not to like?

(more…)

Are Fantastic Four Movies Doomed?

Posted: August 30, 2015 by patricksponaugle in Movie Review, Opinion
Tags: , , ,
8

could-anyone-actually-defeat-dr-doom-494013

Earlier today, my wife, daughter, and I went and saw Fantastic Four (or FANT4STIC if you go with the title on the movie poster, literally.) I was surprised that it wasn’t as horrible as I’d been told. With a Rotten Tomatoes score of 9% among critics and 21% among movie-goers, I expected something painfully bad, and it was just kind of okay.

(more…)

Final Reflections on Season 5 Reflections on Season 2. Yes, I Said Reflections Twice. Three Times.

Posted: August 25, 2015 by patricksponaugle in Game of Thrones, Opinion, TV
Tags:
2

This is the final post in a series of articles, discussing the nature of the fifth season of HBO’s Game of Thrones. Should you have come to this page without reading the previous posts, I was discussing how most of the major characters in season 5 had season 2 journeys that were similar, or at least useful for compare/contrast exercises. In my opinion, season 5 was a mirror on season 2.

Crowns

Let’s assume that previously I made my point about the character storylines, and now lets talk about if it means anything.

(more…)

Season 5 Reflections on Season 2: House Stark

Posted: August 25, 2015 by patricksponaugle in Game of Thrones, Opinion, TV
Tags: , , , ,
2

This is the fourth post in a series, discussing what elements of season 5 Game of Thrones were mirror-like reflections on season 2. Previously, I talked about the Baratheon/Targaryen stories and the Starks’ persecutors House Lannister. Now, it’s time to discuss the Starks. (And Stark-relations.)

StarkBanners

Ygritte had a head start on Janos when it came to being at the business end of Jon’s sword. I literally mean his sword! You get *your* mind out of the gutter!

Season 2 Starks were still rebounding from the shakeup of Lord Eddard’s death in season 1, and of course there were more Stark deaths that continued to cast a shadow into season 5 over the seemingly cursed family.

(more…)

Season 5 Reflections on Season 2: House Lannister

Posted: August 25, 2015 by patricksponaugle in Game of Thrones, Opinion, TV
Tags: , , , ,
2

This post will be talking about HBO’s Game of Thrones, specifically how many of the major characters’ season 5 storylines were twins (or possibly Bizarro Twins) of their respective storylines in season 2.

I introduced the topic two posts ago, and last post dealt with both of the exiled monarchs, Daenerys Targaryen and Stannis Baratheon. This post will be all about the Lannisters.

TwinsS2-5Bright

Some seasons are Good Hair seasons, some seasons are Bad Hair seasons.

There are less (fewer) Lannisters now to talk about than in season 2, but I’ll confine myself to Lord Tywin’s three children.

(more…)

Older Entries
Newer Entries