It’s Halloween, when the dead rise. This inspired me to write an article about resurrection for the Film School Rejects website.
A few months ago, they were cool enough to publish (and pay for) a Game of Thrones Season Four recap I wrote right after the season wrapped up, and they accepted my pitch this month for a Halloween-relevant article about the dead rising, in Game of Thrones and other shows.
This post will be talking Game of Thrones, the Television show. It’s best you not read this unless you’re caught up on the current season, or have read the books. Oh, I guess if there’s anyone reading this not familiar with Lord of the Rings, I’ll be spoiling a wee bit of info about that excellent fantasy series too. Just sayin’
Okay, Halloween is right around the corner, with long cold nights, demanding children, and the undead. So a perfect time to talk about Bran Stark’s storyline on Game of Thrones.
He’s a Stark, Therefore AWESOME, right?
Hey, I’m all Team Stark. I’ve gone to bat for Ned, Cat, Robb, Sansa, and Arya. And especially Jon Snow. So I’m favorably inclined to Rickon’s older brother.
But, I’m worried about Bran’s future path. There’s some serious dark vibes about a child with mind-control powers being taught magic by a wizened old hermit in a cave littered with skulls. This doesn’t seem to be Hogwarts.
A few weeks ago I had some extra free time, so I decided it was time to for the annual Pug Film Fest, where I present to my pug Chi Chi movies that I really like.
Chi Chi Loves Action Movies. Perhaps a Bit Too Much
Last year, Chi Chi the pug and her friend Pippin the Chihuahua-Corgi were the audience for 1972’s Enter the Dragon, featuring John Saxon, Jim Kelly, and the great Bruce Lee.
I even wrote up the experience (in hopefully an amusing fashion):
This year, I decided to continue the Hong Kong Action Movie theme with a double bill: 1993’s Eagle Shooting Heroes and 1994’s Ashes of Time (more specificaly, Ashes of Time Redux, a new cut of the film.) I’d recently picked them up on DVD and had been looking for an excuse to watch them back-to-back.
Chi Chi the pug and our new puggle, Peanut, were happy to view them with me, kicking off Pug Film Fest 2014.
Earlier this month, in honor of October and the imminent holiday of Halloween, I had a post rating a handful of notable deceptions and surprises in Game of Thrones. I enjoyed it so much, I decided to do another round, but focus on some of the less-amputation oriented pranks (no beheadings in this bunch.)
Oh, Spoilers for the first three seasons of Game of Thrones. Seriously.
I’ve Got an Idea for a Laugh. Oh Yes.
I provided more details in that last post, but basically, I rated events based on three parameters: Planning, Patience, and Payoff. All on a scale of 1 to 10, and completely subjectively scored. Here we go…
This post will be talking about details found in the first three seasons of HBO’s Game of Thrones. If you’re not caught up on the show (at least to that point) you might trip and fall over some Spoilers in this post. You’ve been warned, my friends.
Happy Halloween! Or as the Dothraki Might Say: Happy Khalloween!
October is here, a solidly Autumn month. I know my daughter is looking forward for the month to fly by as fast as possible, to land on October 31st and the holiday of Halloween. Although this generation knows Halloween as mostly a costume-laden, candy-filled explosion, years and years ago the night of Halloween put just as much emphasis on the Trick part of the equation, as well as the Treat. Like I said, Autumn’s here, so Winter is Coming. A perfect time for a Game of Thrones post, and in honor of hooligans who are planning practical jokes for the upcoming Halloween, I thought I’d spotlight some of the greatest pranksters in the Seven Kingdoms. Westeros: where it’s all fun and games once someone loses a body part. Usually. Read the rest of this entry »
It’s October, so I went through my social media feeds and grabbed all the MicroStories I’d tweeted during the month of September.
As a reminder, these represent story-essences composed using no more than 129 characters (so I could tweet them with the hashtag #MicroStory.)
Usually, I only tweet Science Fiction and Fantasy #MicroStories. September was pretty much no exception.
For really great #MicroStory action, please follow @MicroSFF, the Twitter account that inspired me to participate in this minimalist writing exercise. That feed puts out great science fiction and fantasy MicroStories all the time.
Early this week, FOX television aired Gotham, a show exploring the formative years of Bruce Wayne (aka The Batman) by focusing largely on young Detective Jim Gordon, who comes face to face with the city’s established and highly organized criminal elements, the larval-stage villains who will one day battle the iconic Caped Crusader, and the corruption and cross-purposes of his colleagues in the Gotham PD.
Although I think the premiere was generally accepted as either likable or having potential, it has drawn a measure of criticism, and I don’t see why I’m any less qualified to express my opinions.
This post will include spoilery information from the first four seasons of Game of Thrones. So there.
Being Spoiled About When That Thing Happened to That Person at That Place During That Event was the Worst!
Recently, George RR Martin, the author of the source material for HBO’s Game of Thrones, admitted who his favorite character was. It’s Tyrion Lannister.
Although this isn’t a surprising admission, if I had been asked previously who GRRM’s favorite character might be, my guess would have been for Samwell Tarly.
Okay, maybe not a literal ton (or tonne, since I did say “metric”) – but I do have a large backlog of comics to get through.
This article will contain spoilers for the first four seasons of HBO’s Game of Thrones. Spoilers! Just go watch the show or read the books if you haven’t.
Game of Thrones generates a tremendous amount of attention from fans who recap the episodes, analyze its faithfulness as an adaptation, follow casting and production information, and basically keep the show relevant during the off-season.
It’s also easy to find articles of a more academic bent, where experts talk about Westeros’ unusual weather patterns, or how it’s possible to have wine when grapes need specific seasonal changes, or how representative the society on the show is in regards to Europe’s medieval period.
I thought it might be interesting to have a series of posts focusing on elements of the show from the perspective of a student of medieval history.
To be clear: I’m not talking about the perspective of an academic with a degree in Medieval History. I’m talking about a college student hoping to pass a hypothetical medieval history course, which for some reason was studying A Song of Ice and Fire. Possibly because the Medieval History department needed to bump up student enrollment numbers or something. Just go with it.
I Can't Possibly Be Wrong All the Time 