TV
A Game of Casting
Game of Thrones hemorrhages more characters in a single episode than most other series do in multiple seasons. No one is safe from George R.R. Martin’s bloodlust – the best most characters can hope for is a quick beheading or short trip out of the Moon Door. Without all those deaths, however, the number of new characters introduced in each book would quickly bloat the series, resulting in Martin’s publishing schedule going from “once every decade, maybe” to “when the sun rises in the west and sets in the east, when the seas go dry and mountains blow in the
Queen Without a Throne
Yes, Cersei’s decisions are usually ill-conceived and ineffective. Yes, she is selfish and prideful and vindictive. Yes, she is consistently depicted as one of the show’s main antagonists. That doesn’t change the realities of the political landscape Cersei occupies, or the misogyny that consistently tries to disempower her.
I’m Not A Bit
Lizzie danced around with a zombie, on the front lawn of the house where she, her sister Mika, and the two adults they were traveling with, Carol and Tyreese, had taken shelter. Carol was making tea in the kitchen, enjoying the luxury of clean water pumped out of a nearby well and a functioning gas stove.
Toys For Kids
Recently I was cleaning my room and I came across a box that I haven’t unpacked since my move last July. In it were random odds and ends and some toys that decorated my last apartment. One of these toys was my ED-209 from 1989, a toy made by Kenner that was based on the cartoon that was based on the original Robocop movie.
Have You Seen the Yellow Sign?
In 1938, Raymond Chandler published a short detective story called “The King in Yellow.” It takes its name from the victim, a musician named King Leopardi. When the hotel dick, Steve Grayce, finds the man shot to death in his bed, clothed in yellow silk pajamas, he remarks, “The King in Yellow. I read a book with that title once.”
Dune: Can There Ever Be A Good Adaption?
As a kid I was always fascinated by weird things. Like a lot of the children of the 80s, I was exposed to a wide variety of cinema at a young age, thanks to the proliferation of video stores. Most of this stuff we probably shouldn’t have been watching but we did anyway, often because it was a science fiction and/or fantasy film, or even a horror film if we managed to get an older kid to rent it (although the guy behind the counter usually didn’t care who was renting what).
The Problem with ‘Sherlock’
In 1998, someone gave Roland Emmerich $130,000,000 to make a Godzilla movie. This was not because Emmerich was a fan of the storied Japanese Kaiju film franchise, but rather was down to the fact that he had earned a reputation for producing popcorn spectacles in less time and with smaller budgets than other directors.