Archive for the ‘Opinion’ Category

That Zod-Damned Man of Steel…

Posted: November 18, 2015 by patricksponaugle in Comics, Movie Review, Opinion
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In case you’re behind in your viewing of movies featuring the Last Son of Krypton, this post will contain some spoilers. If spoilers are your kryptonite, get behind a lead wall now! (Or don’t read…)

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Zod: Spoiler Vision… ACTIVATE!
Superman: Don’t look, Zod! Great Scott, don’t loooooook!!!!!

The movie I’m going to talk about has been out for ages, so the speed (and timeliness) of my reviews clearly aren’t faster than a speeding bullet. But since next year will be featuring a new Superman movie (Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice) it’s not really a bad time to talk about that Zod-murdering Superman.

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The Lighter Side of Tywin Lannister

Posted: November 10, 2015 by patricksponaugle in Game of Thrones, Opinion, TV
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This post will be talking about the patriarch of the Lannister family from HBO’s Game of Thrones. There will be plot discussions that will include the first five seasons of the show, so if you are not up to date, I’ll be spoiling things for you. SPOILING THINGS!

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I once spoiled the ambitions of the Reynes. They were from Castamere, you know.

I usually confine my Game of Thrones pontificating to what’s been seen on the show, but occasionally I stray into details from the source material, A Song of Ice and Fire. This is one of those occasions.

I won’t be spoiling future book details (in general, there is less danger of that until The Winds of Winter gets published) but I’ll be bringing up some book elements omitted from the show to give a slightly different perspective to the Old Lion, the uncrowned might-as-well-be-king Tywin Lannister.

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Second Looks: Fist of the First Men

Posted: October 27, 2015 by patricksponaugle in Game of Thrones, Opinion, TV
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Happy Halloween! (Well, we’re close to Halloween, it’s due to arrive at some point, like a shambling undead horde…)

This post will be talking about HBO’s Game of Thrones, specifically events that took place during the fifth season episode Hardhome and how it relates to previous seasons. Hardhome was an amazing episode, possibly the best of the series, and if you’re not caught up I’d hate to spoil you on that experience.

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TRICK OR TREAT! Just no spoilers please! Or healthy snacks.

Still with me? Cool.

Hardhome featured a battle involving the undead army controlled by the mysterious and mystical Others. The legendary White Walkers directed their wights to attack the fortified Free Folk fishing village of Hardhome, and corpses did so en masse, tearing through the Wildling and Night’s Watch defenders. To make matters worse, the human casualties were resurrected to join Team White Walker. Spoooooky!

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Daenerys Targaryen: Breaker of Chains (and Wheels)

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

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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.

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

Posted: October 4, 2015 by patricksponaugle in Comics, Opinion
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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.

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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.

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Second Looks: Stannis Baratheon

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

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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.

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Once Upon a Mattress. Twenty Mattresses, Actually.

Posted: September 20, 2015 by patricksponaugle in Arts, Music, Opinion
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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.)

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Road Warrior’ing on the Fury Road.

Posted: September 15, 2015 by patricksponaugle in Movie Review, Opinion
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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.)

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Bronn: Lovable Rogue or Unreliable Cutthroat?

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

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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?

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Are Fantastic Four Movies Doomed?

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

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