Month: December 2016

AS ALWAYS: SPOILER WARNING!

Released: 2014

Distributor: HBO

Cast:
Peter Dinklage: Tyrion Lannister
Nikolaj Coster-Waldau: Jammie Lannister
Lena Headey: Cercei Lannister
Kit Harington: Jon Snow
Masie Williams: Arya Stark
Sophie Turner: Sansa Stark
Aiden Gillan: Petyr Baelish
Charles Dance: Tywin Lanister

It is rare to see a TV show get better as time goes on.  More often than not, newer seasons of a show end up getting worse.  Not so with Game of Thrones.  It started off pretty rough, but it really found its footing towards the end of Season 2 and now we are just barreling along.  Some people think I’m nuts for doing a marathon of the show in the span of a week.  They maybe correct, but honestly, it’s not as daunting a task as some people would believe.  It’s only ten episodes a season, while many shows are between 20-35 episodes a season.  Now, you tell me which one’s crazier.  Game of Thrones is perhaps one of the best things to come out of the fantasy genre in decades.  It’s engaging, exciting, funny, disturbing and devastating all at the same time.  I didn’t get into the show when it first started because I didn’t have HBO at the time, but now I understand why people really love this show.  Because I love it, too.

Thoughout Season 3, we saw Tywin Lannister become Hand of the King to Joffrey, while Tyrion became Master of the Coin.  Robb Stark is still waging war on the Lannisters while Stannis Boratheon is licking his wounds at Dragonstone.  Arya Stark is currently on the run with The Hound, Sandor Clegane with everybody looking for them.  During his march on the south, one of Robb’s banner-men commits an atrocity, and is promptly executed.  As a result, Robb loses about half of his forces, forcing him to reforge an alliance with the fickle Walder Frey.  After apologizing to Frey, Robb Stark and his army are massacred by Roose Bolton’s men masquerading as Frey’s, in one of the most shocking and controversial scenes in TV history.  The Red Wedding, as it is called, is one of the biggest turning points in the show.  It certainly pissed a lot of people off, even though I hear the book’s version is much worse.  But we also got to see Daenerys Targeryan take control of her dragons and rain destruction down on slave cities.  Meanwhile, Bran Stark and company are headed north beyond The Wall in search of the mysterious Three-Eyed Raven, that Bran keeps seeing in his dreams.  Jamie Lannister reveals to Brienne of Tarth why he assassinated the Mad King, who ruled until Robert Boratheon showed up.

Season 4 opens as Jon Snow is recovering from being shot at by the wildlings who took him in, revealing that his allegiance was always to the Night’s Watch.  After realizing that number of Watchmen have deserted and made camp beyond the wall, Snow, along with a handful of volunteers decide to go and end them, so that Mance Rayder can’t get information from them.  Meanwhile, Joffrey is getting married to Margaery Tyrell to secure an alliance between the Lannisters and Tyrells.  Jamie Lannister is having to retrain in order to fight with his left hand, since his right hand was severed in the previous season.  While the war appears to be over for the moment, there are many elements that are forming against the Lannisters, including the Martells, who have a fierce hatred of the Lannisters.  After getting married and celebrating his wedding, Joffrey is poisoned and dies painfully in his mother’s arms, ending his reign of terror.  To the north, it is revealed to the Night’s Watch that Mance Rayder is marching on the wall with 100,000 men and giants at his disposal.  Daenarys takes another city and frees thousands more from slavery, but her dragons are becoming uncontrollable, so she has to deal with that as well.  The story is obviously continuing to pick up steam here.  There’s a lot of twists and turns, some are predictable, but some are not.  If people were pissed off at the Red Wedding, then Joffrey’s death should be pretty satisfying, albeit horrific.

A lot of characters have really evolved over the course of the show thus far, my particular favorite right now is Jaime Lannister.  When he revealed his motives for killing the Mad King, it becomes very clear that this guy is not the evil scumbag that he appeared to be during the first season.  This is a guy who cares about his family, and trying to do things for what he feels are the right reasons.  While it may seem that he is on a path to redemption, it’s entirely unclear whether or not he continues down that path, but since he lost his hand, he has changed quite a bit.  Petyr Baelish is still a mystery.  After 4 seasons, we still don’t know what this guy is about.  We don’t know what his ambitions are or why he does the things he does.  The characters are just extremely well-written and the performances are stellar, again.

Each season has had a defining moment in which things take a major turn.  The first season saw the beheading of Ned Stark and the subsequent murder of his entourage.  Season 2 gave us the Battle of Blackwater Bay in one of the most spectacular episodes in the entire show.  Season 3 gave us the Red Wedding with the murder of Robb Stark and his army.  Season 4 has two particularly spectacular battles.  One is the one-on-one fight between Prince Oberyn Martell and Ser Gregor Clegane.  It’s a surprisingly even-matched fight.  It surprised the hell out of me.  The second is the Battle for The Wall, which involved thousands of people as well as giants and mammoths.  It’s quite possibly the most ambitious battle sequence up this point.  The fight choreography is second-to-none.  It’s brutal, spectacular and amazingly fun to watch at times.

So far, the show is something truly spectacular.  I’ve never seen anything quite like it.  With the all the events going on in the series, it’s really difficult to gauge where things are going to go next.  With two season left to go, I’m really excited to see what happens.

The Score for the Season: 9/10

WARNING: THERE WILL BE SOME MAJOR SPOILERS HERE!

Released: 2013

Distributor: HBO

Cast:
Peter Dinklage: Tyrion Lannister
Lena Heady: Cersei Lannister
Nikolaj Coster-Waldau
Charles Dance: Tywin Lannister
Jack Gleeson: Joffrey Boratheon
Liam Cunningham: Ser Davos Seaworth
Emilia Clarke: Daenerys Targeryan
Kit Harington: Jon Snow
Richard Madden: Robb Stark
Iain Glen: Ser Jorah Mormont

Wild card: A determining or important person or thing whose qualities are unknown, indeterminate, or unpredictable.  A wild card is brought into a story to shake things up, and make them more interesting.  Usually, a wild card is generally a person.  It’s someone that you might think to be a good guy but ends up being a villain and vice versa.  When it’s done well, a wild card will throw the audience for a fucking loop.  That is the intention of a wild card.  Game of Thrones is littered with such people.

By the end of Season 2, we witnessed the full brunt of Joffrey’s cruelty.  We’ve also seen Robb Stark take the Lannisters head on and win multiple battles.  Stannis Boratheon has gathered a fleet and attacked King’s Landing with only Tyrion Lannister and his men to stand between Stannis and the fall of the kingdom.  Jamie Lannister has been taken prisoner by Robb Stark, while The Night’s Watch finally encounter the darkness beyond the wall:  White Walkers.  Season 3 picks up the pieces from Season 2 with Tyrion Lannister, scarred in battle, no longer the Hand of the King.  His father, Tywin, has taken that position and continues to consolidate the Lannisters’ power in King’s Landing.  At this point, it is NOT Joffrey who is in power.  He may wear the crown, but it is Tywin Lannister that orchestrates everything.  Disobeying Robb Stark’s order to keep Jamie prisoner, Catelyn Stark attempts to have him exchanged for her daughters by sending him back to King’s Landing with Brienne of Tarth.  North of The Wall, Jon Snow has fallen in with Mance Rayder and his army of wildlings.  Daenarys has begun building an army by recruiting a large number of slaves.  While there is definitely large amounts of treachery in Season 3, the story definitely picks up the pace and doesn’t hold back.

As is custom in a new season, new characters are introduced while some older characters are RE-introduced.  If you guys thought that Joffrey was a sadistic twerp, wait until you meet Ramsay Snow, Roose Bolton’s bastard.  This guy is absolutely MEAN, considering the amount of torture that he inflicts on Theon Greyjoy.  We also get to meet Mance Rayder for the first time.  As always, the acting is superb.  Peter Dinklage simply owns his character of Tyrion Lannister, as does Charles Dance with Tywin.  Emilia Clarke is just fantastic as Daenerys.  She’s come from being a meek, scared little girl, to the city-conquering mother of dragons.  The dragons themselves are extraordinary.  They’re growing fast, and they burn shit up really quickly.  This season is definitely action-packed.  There’s plenty of sword-play to go around, and magic is definitely having an impact here.  Bran Stark, who was pushed out of a window in the first season, has discovered that he has the power to enter the minds of animals and people and control them.  That is what I call a wild card moment.  That’s going to play an important role in the seasons to come.

This being Game of Thrones, you would expect there to some pretty shocking moments, right?  Oh, boy, do we have something in store for you:  Episode 9: “The Rains Of Castamere.”  This has to be one of the most shocking and brutal episodes in the entire show.  It’s an episode that will linger on for quite some time, and changes everything for the entire show.  There’s a reason this show is not for children, and Episode 9 is a perfect example.  It’s brutally depressing while being utterly spectacular at the same time.  I’m not going to spoil this one for you, because it has to be seen to be believed.

As with everything Game of Thrones-related, the shots in the show are absolutely breathtaking, even in the scenes that take place beyond The Wall.  There’s a scene in which Jon Snow and a group of wildlings climb up the wall and we see what its like looking to the south and it’s gorgeous.  CGI for sure, but it’s definitely spectacular.  Overall, Season 3 of Game of Thrones is an even bigger success than Season 2.  Taking some well-established characters and throwing a curve-ball to the audience at various points in the story, help keep things interesting and the audience at the edge of their seats.  This is about a perfect season as you can get.

Score for Season 3: 10/10

THERE WILL BE MAJOR SPOILERS FOR SEASON 1!

Released: 2012

Distributor: HBO

Cast:
Peter Dinklage: Tyrion Lannister
Lena Headey: Cersei Lannister
Michelle Fairley: Catelyn Stark
Nikolaj Coster-Waldau: Jamie Lannister
Emilia Clarke: Daenarys Targaryen
Iain Glen: Ser Jorah Mormont
Kit Harington: Jon Snow
Richard Madden: Robb Stark
Alfie Allen: Theon Greyjoy
Charles Dance: Tywin Lannister
Liam Cunningham: Ser Davos Seaworth
Aiden Gillen: Petyr Baelish
Jack Gleeson: King Joffrey Boratheon
Stephen Dillane: Lord Stannis Boratheon
Maisie Williams: Arya Stark
Sophie Turner: Sansa Stark
Gwendoline Christie: Brienne of Tarth

By the end of Season 1, we saw the death of King Robert Boratheon, and the ascension of his…maladjusted child Joffrey to the throne.  Jon Snow has become a part of The Night’s Watch and encountered his first White Walker.  Eddard Stark was arrested for treason and beheaded, while Jamie Lannister returned to his father, Tywin Lannister.  Robb Stark has been declared the King In The North and marches his army towards King’s Landing.  Daenarys Targaryen loses her husband, Khal Drogo to witchcraft and has the witch promptly burned with the body of Drogo.  Stepping into the flames, it is revealed that she is impervious to flame, because she is known as the Dragon.  With her are three young dragons which could help her retake the throne of King’s Landing.  As you can imagine, there was a lot going on in the first season of Game of Thrones.  The Seven Kingdoms are at war, with the added danger of an ancient undead army possibly coming from beyond the Wall.

Season 2 sees Joffrey Boratheon as the newly-crowned King of The Seven Kingdoms, but because of his lust for power and his execution of Eddard Stark, war has embroiled the country with several lords taking the title of King for themselves.  Stannis Boratheon, who is the legitimate heir to the throne, comes from Dragonstone with a red-haired sorceress at his side.  From Storm’s End comes Renly Boratheon, the youngest of the Boratheon brothers.  Robb Stark, the proclaimed King In The North, comes down from Winterfell to bring his wrath against the Lannisters.  From the Pyke Isles, Lord Greyjoy hatches his plan to bring war to the Starks.  Across the Narrow Sea, Danaerys Targaryen seeks ships and men to help her take back the throne.  At the center of the conflict is Tyrion Lannister who is trying to keep his…maladjusted nephew from making anymore mistakes while trying to keep King’s Landing from being invaded.  Meanwhile, beyond the wall, Jon Snow and a host of the Night’s Watch are searching for Jon’s uncle, Ben Stark while trying to keep the Wildlings and possibly the White Walkers from invading Westeros.  The first season of the show, while excellent, had problems with pacing and an absurd amount of exposition.  It was a bit of a slog, until the last few episodes.  That’s not the case here.  The story is a little more streamlined.  Don’t get me wrong, there are some major twists and turns that will surprise you.

With the continuation of the story that began in Season 1, we see a whole new host of characters, including Stannis Boratheon, Davos Seaworth, and Brienne of Tarth.  All the new characters in this season have a major part to play.  None of them are wasted.  One of the most interesting characters is Brienne of Tarth.  She’s a female knight in service to Renly Boratheon, and she is a force to be reckoned with.  Gwendoline Christie does a phenomenal job as basically an underdog character.  We can expect much more from her.  Some of the best characters are more side characters than anything else like Iain Glen’s Jorah Mormont, who seems to be sworn to Daenarys’s service, but seems to be hiding something from her.  Mr. Glen is amazing.  The acting is still phenomenal in the second season.

Because the Seven Kingdoms are gearing up for a major war, the pacing in the second season is a little bit faster, because there isn’t as much setup that needs to be done.  There’s a lot of thrilling moments in the show, especially the fight scenes that take place.  It’s intense and it’s spectacular.  In fact, the major battle of the season, The Battle of Blackwater Bay is probably one of the most epic battle sequences I’ve ever seen.  It’s absolutely stunning.  From the opening explosion using the chemical known as “wildfire,” to Stannis’ landing at the Mud Gate, it’s an extremely thrilling battle to behold.  It’s very, very gory as people are sliced in half and dismembered left and right.  This being Game of Thrones, nothing is held back.  No punches are pulled, and it is seriously one of the most brutal sequences in the entire season.

As with the first season, the shots in the film are some of the most beautiful scenes I’ve ever seen.  Some of the cities and the environments are really gorgeous.  The set and costume designs are elaborate and insanely detailed.  The armor looks practical and the weaponry is just astounding.  Overall, I think that Season 2 is a vast improvement of the first one.  That’s not to say that everything’s perfect, it’s not.  One of my biggest issues is with the character of Sansa Stark, and it’s not necessarily Sophie Turner’s fault, she does fine.  I don’t like the way the character is written.  I didn’t like her character in the first two books that I’ve read, and I don’t like her now.  That might change over time.

So far, so good.  Season 2 is every bit as compelling as Season 1 and I’m really looking forward to tackling Season 3 tomorrow.  I’m absolutely committed to this project that I’ve undertaken and I’m going to see it through to the end.  When I was finished with Season 1, I was pretty exhausted, but that’s because there was so much detail and exposition that needed to be told.  That’s not the case here, as I wanted to continue, but I’m taking a break until tomorrow to continue this journey.  It’s going to be epic, I tell you:  EPIC!

Score for Season 2: 9/10.

WARNING: THERE WILL BE SPOILERS!!  YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

Released: 2011

Rated: TV-MA

Distributor: HBO

Cast:
Sean Bean: Lord Eddard Stark
Mark Addy: King Robert Boratheon
Nikolaj Coster-Waldau: Ser Jamie Lannister
Lena Headey: Queen Cersei Lannister
Michelle Fairley: Lady Catelyn Stark
Peter Dinklage: Tyrion Lannister
Emilia Clarke: Daenerys Targaryen
Iain Glen: Ser Jorah Mormont
Jason Momoa: Khal Drogo
Kit Harington: Jon Snow
Aidan Gillen: Lord Petyr Baelish
Jack Gleeson: Joffrey Boratheon
Sophie Turner: Sansa Stark
Maisie Williams: Arya Stark
Alfie Allen: Theon Greyjoy

About a week ago, I had announced that I was going to do a marathon of Game of Thrones.  I wasn’t kidding, I planned on doing all 6 seasons.  Several reasons exist for me doing this.  One: Because I can.  Two: Because I want to get caught up with GoT before Season 7 hits the airwaves next year.  Three: I love good fantasy and great writing.  Now, I had seen the first two seasons of the show before, but I thought it would be best to start at the beginning so things can stay fresh in my head while I do this.

The show opens as a group of soldiers clad in black are searching a forest for what appears to be an attack on a group of innocent people.  One of these soldiers discovers a number of bodies arranged in a strange formation, but when he returns with his comrades, the bodies are gone.  So, they split up when they come under attack from said bodies who had mysteriously returned to life with blue eyes.  That’s how the show opens, but the story gets complicated pretty quick.  The first episode of the show introduces us to several of the major factions that are part of the story.  You have the Starks, who reside in Winterfell, in the north and are lead by Eddard Stark.  We also have the Lannisters, who are the Wardens of the West, led by Tywin Lannister.  The capital of Westeros is King’s Landing and that is home to King Robert Boratheon and his family.  Further to the north at a massive wall that separates the arctic north from the rest of Westeros is The Night’s Watch, whose duty is to maintain a vigil over the wall in the event that someone or something might try to get over that wall.  Across the sea, we have the remnants of the previous ruling dynasty of Westeros, the Targaryens who ally themselves with a Dothrakhi raider known as Khal Drogo.

Over the course of 10 episodes, we see the interactions between these factions and the King and his subordinates.  I’m not going to delve too heavily into specifics, because there is a LOT of stuff that happens over the course of this season.  We see the politics at work and it’s rarely pretty.  The tone of the show has its lighter moments for sure, but it’s a very dark fantasy.  There is stuff that happens in the show that are quite frankly, very shocking.  At one point during one episode, one of the Stark kids climbs up a tower and sees Jamie Lannister banging his sister, Cercei.  As a result, he pushes the kid out of the window.  That’s not exactly something that people, including myself, were expecting.  What this shows is that nobody is safe from anything, and the show is not afraid pull punches of any kind.  It gets very violent at times, and very gory.  This is not a show for children, so do them a favor and keep them away.  It’s unpleasant at times.  Nothing in this show is clear-cut or black-and-white.  There’s a lot of grey areas and each faction has legitimate reasons for doing what they are doing.  Nobody here is inherently good or evil, with the exception of Joffrey.  That kid’s a complete sociopath.

The acting in this show is really, really good.  Sean Bean plays the noble Eddard Stark of Winterfell, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau is Jamie Lannister, and Lena Headey is Cercei.  They all do fantastic jobs, but I think the guy that steals the show a little bit is Peter Dinklage as Tyrion Lannister.  This is a character, who is a dwarf, but is extremely clever.  This guy is a real wild card in Game of Thrones.  He might be a Lannister, but he’s so much damn fun to watch.  Jason Momoa is pitch-perfect as Khal Drogo, the leader of the Dothrakhi hordes.  This guy is physically intimidating, and the character doesn’t shy away from brutality.  In fact, he kind of revels in it.  Emilia Clarke is in fine form as Daenerys Targaryen.  Her character grows from being a kind of a weak character to a very strong female presence by the end of the season, and her character has a HUGE part to play in the show.  In fact, most of the characters that you encounter in this show are not exactly disposable, which hits you in the gut when one of them dies.  Some of the characters that you love in the show will die, and in fairly horrific fashion, I might add.  Although, some of the more despicable characters definitely have a very satisfying end.  One character has a pot of molten gold poured onto his head.  I wasn’t kidding when I said this show gets brutal.

One of my favorite scenes which highlights some of the fantastic sword choreography in the show is when Eddard Stark goes up against Jamie Lannister outside a brothel.  It’s extremely intense and while short, it’s extremely memorable.  I love the way the film is shot, some of the scenery is extremely gorgeous.  Whether it’s the desert domain of Khal Drogo or King’s Landing, the visuals are simply stunning.  You usually only see production values like this in big-budget films.  The set designs are something to behold and the costume designs are absolutely incredible.  It’s very clear that a lot of planning and passion went into this.

While I’m definitely singing this season’s praises, it still has its shortcomings.  Some of these a nitpicking, but they are worth mentioning.  For one, there’s not a whole lot of action.  For anybody expecting an action-packed season is going to be disappointed.  This is the first season of Game of Thrones, so like the book it’s based on, there’s a lot of setup and exposition involved.  It’s establishing the world, the politics and the characters that populate it.  Also, some of the CGI is kind of suspect in certain spots, but it’s not a terrible distraction.  Some people might also be turned off by some of the liberal use of sex and nudity.  To be honest, that doesn’t bother me at all, but I can understand how some people might not like it.  It’s not a show for everyone, but for anyone who is willing to give it a shot, they are going to find Game of Thrones to be a very gratifying and fulfilling experience.  I like the fact that the good guys aren’t always going to win.  It allows for a more realistic take on the fantasy genre.

Overall, the first season of Game of Thrones is a pretty bad-ass experience with some really outstanding acting, story and character elements that are sadly lacking in a lot of today’s movies.  If you can stomach it, it’s definitely worth watching.  With the first season done, I’ve got five more to go.  This is actually turning out to be an interesting experience for me.  It’s the first time I’ve done a marathon like this, and it may be the last, but it’s certainly worth the effort.  I’ll be back tomorrow night with my review of Season 2, and at the end of this epic marathon, I will give my final review on the series thus far.  We have at least two more seasons left in the show, so I want to get caught up before the whole thing ends.

My score for the season is an 8.5/10.