George R.R. Martin's Game of Thrones

[AdmiralDigby]

[spoiler]http://resources2.news.com.au/images/2012/02/27/1226282/289174-miracle-max.jpg[/spoiler]

[TinkTanker]

[spoiler]http://resources2.news.com.au/images/2012/02/27/1226282/289174-miracle-max.jpg[/spoiler]

I was going to say something like that, only say this instead.

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[Spooky]

The first S2 review is in: EW grades it A-

Game of Thrones screeners have been showing up at critics' doorsteps the past couple days and now the first review for season two is in! Entertainment Weekly's Ken Tucker gives the show an 'A-' and has nuthin' but positive things to say in his review:

I've tried a little experiment: I had read the first volume of George R.R. Martin's saga A Song of Ice and Fire (the source material for this series) before I watched the first season of GoT so I would be familiar with the vast array of characters and plots that would develop. But I intentionally did not read the epic's second volume, A Clash of Kings, before watching the start of GoT season 2, because I wanted to see if I'd have trouble following the new intricacies.

And I'm here to report that my lack of homework in no way prevented me from becoming enthralled with this series all over again. That's a testament to what adapters David Benioff and D.B. Weiss have accomplished in whittling down and reshaping Martin's novels for weekly TV. It's difficult enough to hook a viewer like me, who resists sprawling, noncontemporary narratives; it's another level of pop culture wizardry to make such storytelling seem so vivid, so vital, and just plain fun. A-

Winter is Coming: Good stuff! Many of the tweets from TV critics and journalists have been very positive as well. Sounds like David & Dan have done it again!

http://winteriscoming.net/2012/03/the-first-s2-review-is-in-ew-grades-it-a/

[Spooky]

Now that the reviewer screeners are out in the world, I wonder how long before the fall off the Internets?

[TinkTanker]

Now that the reviewer screeners are out in the world, I wonder how long before the fall off the Internets?

I'll let you know. 

[Spooky]

HBO has uploaded the full minute "You Win or You Die" video to Youtube, a full two days earlier than it was scheduled to air. The 22 minute special looks back at season one, introduces the major players, and provides some new glimpses of season two. Enjoy!

Game of Thrones: You Win or You Die

[AdmiralDigby]

 

[Spooky]

Agreed. Got me some goosebumps watching that.

[Spooky]

S2 reviews
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The Games People Play

"Game of Thrones," HBO's gorgeous and hypnotic fantasy series from the novels by George R.R. Martin, takes place in the proverbial olden days, when dragons had faded into myth but men still fought with swords, women wore long gowns and capes, and life was often nasty, brutish and short. Brush past those details, though, and it is a tale still unfolding today, with the quest for political power in uncertain times, when every person must choose whom to trust, and war or other ominous stirrings echo from faraway lands.

There is even climate change. "Winter Is Coming" is the theme for the series' second season. Literally, it refers to a weather cycle in the story's world, which historically has meant years of uninterrupted summer followed inevitably by years of snow, bitter cold and unabating darkness. But a metaphorical chill is already in the air. As the season opens, the Kingdom of Westeros is racked by conflict. Themes of love, lust, honor, betrayal and intrigue, plus just enough magic and exotic creatures to expand our humdrum mental horizons, whirl through every episode. Yet a sense of doom, of worse to come, hangs over it all.

It is not too late to dive in, and the main outlines of the story will come into focus after an episode or two. Three main Westeros dynasties are at the center of things. In the North there's Winterfell, once ruled by the late nobleman Ned Stark, who has left behind a dynamic wife and children, the eldest of whom, Robb (Richard Madden), has gone to war to avenge his father's murder. In the House of Baratheon in King's Landing, meanwhile, the death of the king has left his two brothers arming to fight for the throne. The late king's in-laws, the Lannisters, have the fewest redeeming moral features. His widow Cersei (Lena Headey) and her vicious son Joffrey (Jack Gleeson), now on the throne, will murder and scheme to hold on to power and hide the fact that Joffrey and his two siblings are the offspring of the king's widow and her twin brother.

While dozens of people will play vital roles in the story, so far it draws us in most powerfully through Ned Stark's illegitimate son Jon Snow (Kit Harington) a guard at the edge of the known world, and Stark's young daughter Arya (Maisie Williams), now on the run for her life and posing as a boy.

Another pivot is Tyrion Lannister (Peter Dinklage), a cynic and master manipulator who walks a razor-thin line between damnable and decent. Finally, and most enchantingly, there is the story line of the white-blonde Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke). Now the only heir to an ancient throne, she was married off to a warlord of the wild Dothraki race. The warlord's recent death and cremation on a flaming pyre has left Daenerys a leader of men and mother to three tiny dragons, hatched from fossilized eggs by the heat of the funeral fire.

For those among us who instinctively recoil at the sight of leather jerkins, cut throats and castle keeps, "Games" may take some getting used to. But the cinematography, like the cast of largely British and Irish actors, is magnificent. Each week the story unfolds like a tapestry, its intricate stitches slowly creating not just a scene but a whole world. It's a world to get lost in, but not always easy to endure. Because the good die as often as the bad, and happy endings are only for fairy tales.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304724404577297420237664392.html

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Game of Throne Season 2, Episode 1 Review

This weekend HBO Watch was given the upresedented opportunity to view the first episode of the new season of Game of Thrones a bit early this year!   The early premire took place at a local theater where 150 A Song of Ice and Fire fans feasted on complimentary pizza and beer and wine before the big show.  Many were in costume and prizes flowed like wine but you dont care about all of that, you want to know about Season 2 of HBO's Game of Thrones, right?  As someone who's read the series I was extremely excited to see how the novels played out on the big screen.  Here's our review of the first episode of the new season.
Warning: minor spoilers may be found within this review.  I'll try to confine them to book two and prior.  If you'd rather not read any spoilers for season 2 and you're just wondering whether or not this year's episodes kick ass I can put your mind at ease right now– it appears as though they do.

Dinklage shines – As if you needed more reasons to love Peter Dinklage's Tyrion Lannister season 2 gives you several right off the bat.  In the first few scenes he's returning to King's Landing to tell Joffrey and Cersei that his father has appointed him Hand of The King in his stead.  He manages to clown both of them in a pair of scenes and drops a bomb on Cersei's world when he informs her that she is now the 'disappointing child' in her father's eyes.

Some of the wittier things Tyrion thinks in the novels are actually distilled into actual lines on screen and it's great to see the half-man shine in what readers know will surely be a major season for him.  If last year's performance won him a Golden Globe he's on track to win another even more decisively this year!
Cersei and Petyr have words – The novels are broken up into chapters that each are confined to the perspective of one character at a time.  Because of this you're not often able to overhear conversations between non-perspective characters unless that character happens to be hiding behind a tree or some such nonsense.  Luckily, HBO's Game of Thrones series is not troubled by this limitation.

There is a new scene in this first episode where Cersei Lannister and Petyr Baelish are walking down a hallway in King's Landing discussing mundane buacracy when Petyr tries to take a dig at Cersei by implying he knows about she and Jamie's relationship.  Mid-sentence Cersei calls for the four Lannister guards walking with them to seize Petyr and slit his throat.  Just as the guard is about to draw the knife she yells "Stop!" and they halt.  "Power is power" she says cooly and releases Petyr.  He seems shaken and takes the point.  I wasn't exactly rooting for Cersei in that scene but she definetely shows that she is not to be messed with by the likes of the mockingbird.  Great scene and I think it added to the depth of both characters.  It's like a mini bonus chapter that we'd all never read until now!

Dragonstone & Co. – There are two scenes that take place at Dragonstone, a new location in Game of Thrones. One on a beach where Milisandre is burning wooden statues of "The Seven" while the local maester attempts to object (with no help from Davos or Stannis who we see for the first time here).  A second scene takes place in the castle where the same maester makes an attempt at Milisandre's life.  I'll let you watch the episode to find out how that turns works out if you're not a reader.

Milisandre mostly preaches in this episode but she certainly gives off a convicing 'red witch' vibe as far as I'm concerned.  Stannis' character seemed similar to how I pictured him in the novels.  Perhaps he's a bit more independent and clear-headed than the novel portrays but we'll probably see that slowly decline as Milisandre's grasp tightens on him this season. Davos looked great and it looks like the actor is setting him up to be a a very strong character in this series.  It's hard to say for sure how these three major characters will be portrayed ultimately from just two short, early scenes but what I saw, I liked.  I'm sure the actors will become more comfortable and deft with their characters as the season and series progress.

I wonder how viewers who haven't read the novels will react to having these three major characters all in a new location introduced in such a short period of time.  To be fair, as I read Clash of Kings I felt the same way as these scenes played out in my head.  If you're not feeling these characters just yet and you're looking at your watch to see when Jon of Dany will be back on screen– give them some time.  I'm confident you'll come to enjoy their scenes as you get to know and care about them.  Subsequent viewings will also help solidify their identity as well.

Robb, Grey Wind and Jamie – Another scene you're probably wondering about is the one they've included in every trailer thus far with Grey Wind creeping slowly towards a Jamie Lannister in captivity, snarling.  Needless to say this was one of my favorite scenes from the episode and it's only partly because of Grey Wind's badassishness.  Robb really comes into his own in this scene ably turning Lannister's smart-ass remarks with grace.  I think Jamie is genuinely impressed with the 'boy' as he tries to insult him, intimidate him and mock the King in the North but ultimately fails.  Grey Wind adds insult to injury as he snaps at Jamie and causes the kngiht to flinch visibly.  The crowd actually cheered Robb (or maybe they were cheering for the direwolf?) so it was fairly exciting for Stark fans and enemies of Casterly Rock everywhere.

No Renly or Brienne Yet – Two new characters were visibly absent from the second season premiere of Game of Thrones.  Would-be-King and younger brother of Robert Baratheon, Renly.  And his massive, female rainbow-guard from Tarth, Brienne.  Both are important characters but won't make an appearance until next episode when Catlyen is sent to Renly's camp to treat.  I know you'll be dissapointed, Brienne of Tarth fans but the way the story is lining up I'm confident you'll see her next episode!

Ice and Fire (Jon and Daneryes) – These days you'll find Jon on the north side of the wall with the Lord Commander and a crew of his Night's Watch brothers.  In this episode they arrive at Craster's place and find it a disturbing place.  Essentially this is a small hut north of the wall where an old man has several daughters that he's "married".  There's a line from Jon where he asks about what Craster does with his sons... I'll let you try and figure that one out yourself if you haven't been keeping up on your reading but needless to say the entire place is a creep-fest and Jon is visibly disturbed much to the Old Bear's dismay.   He wants Jon to become a leader after all!

The Queen of Dragons is wandering through the Red Waste trying to find a place to safely grow her dragons.  We get some great scenes with Dany nursing her babies and trying to decide what to feed them in terms of meat.  She sends a few riders to figure out what they'll do next but you get the sense that she's going to need a lot more time to get her dragons to maturity before she can consider taking back the Iron Throne.

Robert's Bastards – There is another scene that is only mentioned in the novels and it involves the rounding up and execution of the late King's many bastards.  In an effort to qwell any potential claims to Joffrey's throne guards are sent to find and kill all of Robert's base-born children (he had alot of them, okay?)  Some of these scenes are quite disturbing with one in particular depicting a small baby being ripped from it's mother's arms and having it's throat slit.  Yeah, it's HBO.  I actually enjoyed the inclusion of this scene as it took an important plot point from Clash of Kings that couldn't be fully shown as written and HBO portrayed it with the magnitude it deserves.

The Other Starks – Bran and Hodor are shown pondering the meaning of the red comet that can be seen throughout the realm while Osha insists it means 'dragons'.  We also get a scene where Bran hears grievances from the people of Winterfell as "the one Stark in Winterfell".   He daydreams in and out of Summer to pass the time.

Sansa is seen with Joffrey in the opening scene with Tyrion.  She manages to save the life of a knight who shows up drunk to a duel by suggesting he become the King's fool in lieu of her betrothed's preferred method of punishment.

Unfortunately Arya is only seen at the end of the episode shortly after the aforementioned bastard-killing-montage when the shot flips to she and Gendry (one of Robert's bastards who survives the purge) on the back of a cart heading down the King's Road.

The episode was a treat and the entire audience cried 'awwwww' when they saw the credits and realized they'd have to wait until next month to see more.  I honestly think this is looking to be a great season, picking right up where season 1 left off and threatening to surpass it in terms of action, intrigue and... dare I say– romance?   If you haven't read the novels I highly suggest you give them a shot.  I felt as though I got so much more out of this viewing than some of my friends who hadn't read (but still absolutely loved the show).  Pick them all up on Amazon for $21, read them and pass them on to your children some day!  I've never met someone who's read the novels and subsequently told me- "Gosh, I sure regret reading those!"  Well,  they might have said something to that effect towards the end of Storm of Swords... but they eventually recovered and read on too!

For those of you looking for a numerical value or a letter grade I have to say this single episode really did it for me.  I'd give it an 'A' for a great start to what looks to be a very interesting spring.

If you ever get the chance to watch Game of Thrones in a full theater setting I strongly urge you to attend!  It seems like a series this grand was just meant to be watched on a large screen with incredible sound.  It makes me want to try and convince my wife we need to upgrade our home theater system before April 1st!

If you have any questions about the episode please ask in the comments below as I'm sure I've missed something important.

http://hbowatch.com/game-of-throne-season-2-episode-1-review/

[Spooky]

 

http://winteriscoming.net/2012/03/got-laughs-special-edition-sunday-is-coming/


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Game Of Thrones Season 2: Nowhere To Hide Promo