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Game Of Thrones: Updates – Season 3 Teaser & Photos! Plus Season 2 Blu-Ray Details…

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Being a Game Of Thrones fan has been pretty exciting for the last few years. It’s not often that an epic, sprawling, complex fantasy series is adapted near perfectly into a TV show that transcends its initial fandom. I, like many other fans, had only tangentially heard about the Song Of Ice & Fire book series in passing, up until news of it being adapted into a TV show started to surface. Having been a staunch Hard SF advocate most of my life, fantasy fiction was something that never quite held my interest, but I decided to give the first book a go. I quickly found myself really wrapped up in it, and started watching the show while reading the book in tandem. A few weeks later the first season ended, and I found myself addicted to the novels, and read right through and up until the third.

I’ve since finished the third book, and I’ve found myself at a curious standstill, unable to continue. Watching the second season was a curious experiment, as I found myself noticing what was changed or different, rather than just sitting back and enjoying the show. Since A Storm of Swords was such a captivating book, I plan these next two seasons to be the last I spend, with foreknowledge of the novels. I’d rather be surprised by what’s happening in the show, and read the book later, and have it act as a sort of “extended directors cut” version of the story. I have books 4, 5 & 6, but for now I’m content to let them sit on the shelf, until season 4.

Well lately it seems like progress is rolling along for season 3 of the show, which will be adapting A Storm Of Swords, what is considered by fans the best entry in the A Song Of Ice and Fire series. It’s considerable length will come into factor and end up being split into 2 seasons for the show, meaning season 4 will still be events from ASoS. The sad thing is, all we have to go on right now are some meager set photos. HBO is keeping a tight ship on this season, and for good reason, as this season is packing most of the bigger wallops from the books into it, and will assuredly floor fans of the show who haven’t read the books. Everyone else who has, will get to enjoy all of their friends reactions to the twists and turns of the story, and be surprised by what new changes are made….

So while these aren’t the most exciting set photos on the planet, at this point any details of the show I’m ready to gobble up. I’m anxious to see my favorite scenes from ASoS onscreen, and even more antsy to see how horrified my friends reactions will be to what happens this season. In the future, I’m hoping we’ll get some better promo materials, or far more revealing set photos to speculate on. For now, we’ll just have to wait patiently and live with this teaser…

One last thing: For those who are looking to whet their GoT appetites, you’ll be happy to know the DVD/Blu-ray of Season 2 is now available for pre-order. As usual it’s packed with extras, bells, whistles, and comes in a delightful box to hold it in. The good folks over at [IGN] have the full list of extras:

[quote]

Blu-ray with HBO Select – includes all DVD features plus:

  • War of the Five Kings – Track the claims, strategies and key players involved in the battle for the Iron Throne with this interactive guide that follows the movements of various armies detailing their victories and defeats.
  • Histories & Lore – 19 animated histories detailing the mythology of Westeros and Essos as told from the varying perspectives of the characters themselves and featuring, in-part, illustrations from Game of Thrones storyboard artist Will Simpson.
  • In-Episode Guide – In-feature resource that provides background information about on-screen characters, locations and relevant histories.
  • Hidden Dragon Eggs – Find the hidden dragon eggs to uncover even more never-before-seen content.

DVD:

  • Creating the Battle of Blackwater Bay – See how the epic Battle of Blackwater Bay was brought to life in this exclusive, in-depth, behind-the-scenes look at the climatic episode. The 30 minute feature showcases never-before-seen interviews with cast and crew.
  • Game of Thrones: Inner Circle – Actors Emilia Clarke, Kit Harington, Lena Headey, Michelle Fairley and Liam Cunningham talk in detail about their experiences shooting season two in this roundtable discussion moderated by executive producers David Benioff and D.B. Weiss.
  • The Religions of Westeros – Hear author George R.R. Martin, David Benioff and D.B. Weiss discuss the competing religions in the series and how they influence the various characters in Westeros and beyond.
  • Character Profiles – Profiles of seven major characters as described by the actors portraying them including Renly Baratheon, Stannis Baratheon, Robb Stark, Theon Greyjoy and more.

Audio Commentaries – 12 commentaries with cast and crew including David Benioff, D.B. Weiss, George R.R. Martin, Emilia Clarke, Peter Dinklage, Kit Harington and more.

[/quote]

The best thing out of all of those has got to be the audio commentaries. I remember being disappointed by the limited commentaries for the blu-ray of season 1, and wishing there were more. I can’t wait to marathon the first 2 seasons in preparation for season 3.

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Star Trek 2 Gets New Title: Into Darkness.

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Star Trek is a thing that is near and dear to my heart. Granted, there was a time, when I was young and foolish, and didn’t get it. I remember seeing my Mom watch the movies, liking the ships, but not understanding the story and thinking it was boring, especially compared to Star Wars. Only as I got older, and found myself appreciating the original series, did I REALLY start getting into it. I even started catching episodes of The Next Generation from time to time, following the story when I could, in between bouts of Goldeneye 64 matches, or Wrestlemania 2000. I even got into the movies, and, found that the original series movies were way more awesome than I remembered, and First Contact was probably the best space/cyborg/zombie film of all time. So unlike a lot of people, I wasn’t born a Trekkie, I slowly became one. Bit by bit, won over by its charm, writing, characterization, and social commentary.

Jonathan Frakes’ gorgeous beard helped as well.

I have a feeling that that’s how a lot of the populace felt in 2009, after JJ.Abrams took the concepts and characters of Star Trek, and made them accessible to a new audience, not pre-conditioned to Sci-Fi fandom. Despite the film having some plot holes, inconsistencies, and weird “What’s canon? What’s a reboot? What’s ret-conned?” issues, managed to be massively entertaining to an entire new generation of fans, who might have never given Star Trek a chance otherwise. Factor in the advent of Netflix bringing all 5 live action series being readily available, and it seemed like the dawn of a new era of fandom for Star Trek. I personally know several people who only are fans of the movies, or are fans of the shows, or both, or one particular show and not another, and multiple combinations of all. Star Trek is unique in that it really does have something for everybody, and the newer fans from 2009 have been waiting for a sequel pretty patiently for 3 years now, along with all the other die-hard Trekkies.

So after 3 years, with only set photos, and the occasionally purposely leaked screenshot, we’ve gotten yet another tasty morsel of information from the project, and this time, it’s the alleged  confirmed title of the film:

Star Trek Into Darkness

My first thoughts on the title? I’m not really impressed. It’s actually kind of corny, and borders on almost being a pun. But, I suppose the attempt to make a title that’s memorable has succeeded, because everyone expected the typical STAR TREK 2 COLON SUBTITLE style of title instead. In that way, it goes along with the previous movie’s intentions to subvert our expectations and help keep things new and fresh. Will the second sequel continue in this fashion? Star Trek Where No Man Has Gone Before? Actually, holy shit, they could totally use that for the next movie if they wanted. This whole title sets up a precedent. Here, I’ll come up with some more for them.

Potential future Star Trek Titles:

Star Trek Where No Man Has Gone Before

Star Trek Across The Universe

Star Trek Back Home

Star Trekkin’

Star Trekkin’ AGAIN

Star Trek to Electric Boogaloo

Star Trek Over To Bennigans, I Hear Their Broccoli Bites Are Amazing

All jokes aside, the actual movie does sound pretty awesome. What little we know of its plot, is mostly due to Karl Urban, who plays Doc McCoy. During an interview, he made one revealing comment about Benedict Cumberbatch’s role in the film.

via [SFX]

At a promotional junket for Dredd, Karl Urban looks to have let slip to SFX who Benedict Cumberbatch is playing in the forthcoming Star Trek sequel. When asked what it was like having the Sherlock actor on set, Urban said:

“He’s awesome, he’s a great addition, and I think his Gary Mitchell is going to be exemplary.”

For those of you who aren’t familiar, Gary Mitchell was a pretty big deal back in The Original Series. Basically he was an officer who came into contact with an energy barrier, and it gave him godlike psionic abilities.

Bad ass silver eyes too!

He started using them in increasingly dangerous ways, until he was stopped by Kirk and Company, as is to be expected. What was fascinating about the episode, was seeing an everyday man, transcend past humanity, into figurative Godhood, into believing he was actually above all of humanity entirely. It’s one of the best episodes from the original series, and I always thought that his character was intriguing. Hopefully, we’ll get to see an interpretation of his character, now with a much larger budget, and modern special effects crew to really demonstrate what a powerful, godlike being he is/became. I know a lot of fans were a bit disappointed we won’t get to see the new continuity’s version of Khan in this movie, but he’s coming. We all know he is, and I wouldn’t be surprised to hear a few mentions of the “Eugenics Wars”, or whatnot, in the background of this film. Khan is a role that was pretty solidly Ricardo Montalban’s, and casting that role is just as hard, if not harder than casting the entire crew of the Enterprise. Factor in that Star Trek II: Wrath of Khan is by far the most popular Original Trek film, and I really don’t blame JJ for trying to hold off on that for a while. If I had to cast Khan right now? Benicio Del Toro. The guy has the unique look, voice, and acting skills to make you forget all about Ricardo Montalban’s Khan, and would work tremendously. I have a feeling he’d be a bit too old for the role though, and my back up would be Jason Momoa, known most widely as Khal Drogo, from Game Of Thrones fame.

It goes without saying that I’m stoked for the film to come out already, and I’m really looking forward to seeing JJ Abrams’ new interpretation of all the original series concepts that were so wildly imaginative, but limited 47 years ago by technological and budgetary restraints of the time. Hopefully, we’ll get to see more and more of those ideas re-imagined for the big screen, where they can be appreciated by a wider audience. I’m always supportive of Science Fiction being more readily accepted and viewed by the mainstream public, because in my opinion, it’s the best genre out there, and Star Trek, is, has been, and always will be the best example of it around.

…Except for this news that Worf is getting his own series. Worf was the worst Lieutenant ever.

Ever.

TV

Game of Thrones: The King Beyond the Wall is Cast

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Well folks, winter is coming, and that means that Game of Thrones will be filming and returning to HBO before you know it. After having cast most of the minor characters thus far, the one I’ve most been wondering about has also finally been cast. I speak of none other than Mance Rayder, the self proclaimed King Beyond the Wall. Mance is a deserter from the Night’s Watch (who kept his head) who went to live with the Free Folk (Wildlings) North of the wall and has now unified them as one… something Lord Commander Mormont and the other brothers of the Night’s Watch have a bit of a problem with.

The character of Mance Rayder to me was a very charismatic one in the third novel of the Song of Ice and Fire. And even though I pictured him being a bit younger than Lord Commander Mormont or Quorin Halfhand, I’m liking the selection of actor they picked to portray the Wildling king. That actor is none other than Ciarán Hinds, star of HBO’s Rome where he played Julius Caesar and many other movies including’;Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, Ghost Rider: Spirits of Vengeance and John Carter.

Hinds playing the role of Julius Caesar on HBO’s Rome

Hinds is definitely no light weight and if he can portray Julius Caesar in a TV show then he should have no problem playing the man leading the Wildlings. As I said I didn’t picture Hinds as Mance but he’ll definitely have the presence to do things right. A lot of things have occurred on the show that were slightly different than what I imagined from the book, but for the most part I’ve loved them. I  can’t imagine if they’d left the Battle of Black Water Bay occurring in the day time, it just wouldn’t have looked as epic.

On top of the other casting selections made during Comic Con, it looks as if the cast is pretty much rounded out… at least for the first half of book three. It looks as if they may be breaking the third book up into two seasons since there are still notable characters missing. Diana Rigg has been cast to play Lady Olenna Tyrell, also known ominously as “The Queen of Thorns” in what is one of the more interesting characters in the series. Although she has been cast, the role of Mace Tyrell, the patriach of House Tyrell has not been cast yet.

The soon to be ‘Queen of Thorns’

Other roles that have been cast include Jojen and Meera Reed, Brynden “The Black Fish” Tully, Edmure Tully, Orell, Missandei, Shireen Baratheon, Selyse Baratheon, Beric Dondarrion, Thoros of Myr, Tormund Giantsbane, Qyburn and Anguy. None of the roles I just mentioned are particularly big roles, but alot of the characters are pretty bad ass and I think everyone will enjoy their screen time when it occurs. A lot of us novel readers will notice that a handful of the characters were noticeably absent from season 2 including Edmure Tully and Brynden Tully. Whether this was due to pacing and time constraints who knows, but I’m sure they’ll fit everyone in somehow in the coming season. For a complete list of new cast members, check out this link at Entertainment Weekly and stay tuned for more casting in Game of Thrones season 3!

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2012 Emmy Nominations Are Out, Who Got Snubbed?

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It is that time of the year again where dreams get crushed, and the elite throw a party for themselves to give the obligatory ‘pat on the back’. The 2012 Emmy Nominations are in, and it’s time to fight for the snubbed and decry the undeserving. I have the list down there courtesy of EW, but let’s talk about what I think were great nominations and of course, the snubs.

Continue reading 2012 Emmy Nominations Are Out, Who Got Snubbed? →

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CCI 2012: Game Of Thrones Panel!

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I’m not sure how big a presence Game Of Thrones had at last years CCI, but I’m positive it wasn’t nearly as big a deal as it is this year. What with the show becoming a mainstream success, reaching audiences far and wide, It’s no surprise that the panel at CCI was packed to the brim with GoT fans eagerly waiting to see their favorite characters, hear their anecdotes, and most likely, get some sweet, sweet details and teasers about Season 3. Being a huge Game of Thrones fan myself, imagine my surprise to hear from several sources, fans included that the panel was a bit… let’s say lackluster. While George R. R. Martin himself was moderating the panel, the consensus seems to be that he wasn’t a very good moderator. Most of his questions seemed either uninteresting, or boring, and the basic outcry is that the panel was a bit of a disappointment.

While I’m bummed to hear that the panel was disappointing, It does provide me, and probably you, the reader, some relief that we didn’t miss anything AMAZING. I know I’d be really saddened if they had had amazing, mind blowing, insightful revelations about the show, crazy behind the scenes stories, titillating previews of the new seasons, all wrapped up with some kind of awesome free poster giveaway. In essence, It seemed that the panel got a bit better when questions were turned over to the audience, but still, the impression is there, and now that’s it’s over, we only have HBO’s marketing team for any kind of Season 3 teasers or photos. Anyway, here’s some of the highlight anecdotes from the Panel.

Courtesy of [Collider]

–     Martin asks Allen if he considers Theon a villain.  Allen says Theon isn’t a villain, but he’s misguided and has issues.  Martin then jokes how he’s given Theon so many sex scenes, and hasn’t received a single thanks from Allen.  Allen responds that he had to get in shape for the sex scenes, but so far he’s been enjoying it.  Apparently preoccupied with sex, Martin then mentions how Robb has a sex scene as well, and then asks if Madden prefers the loving or the fighting.  Madden says he enjoys “swinging a sword”, waits a beat, and then realizes the innuendo.

–      Clarke says she can still walk down the street without being noticed, but when it happens “it really happens.”  For example, when she was in a department store, a woman came up to her and said, “Khaleesi.”

–      It turns out that Kristian Nairn (Hodor) is in the audience (instead of the panel for some reason).  “He’s still learning his line,” Martin jokes since Hodor is a mute.

–      An audience member asks if the show relates to contemporary issues.  Clarke responds that it deals more with universal issues like family and death.  Strauss adds that the show goes beyond the fantasy paradigm of good vs. evil, and says that Game of Thrones boils down to complex stories and characters.  Martin notes that J.R.R. Tolkien rejected the notion that Lord of the Rings was an allegory for World War II.  Martin says it’s the same way with A Song of Fire and Ice, and he’s trying to relate to larger issues rather than recent real-world events.

Overall the panel was fairly by the numbers, and didn’t appear to be anything really special. In my opinion, the biggest announcement was that Season 3 will be premiering March 31st, 2013. Which seems so far away right now… But oh well.

If you’re interested in watching the panel, the videos are below.

http://youtu.be/X6W6adukTYA

http://youtu.be/wFesRwOn4X0

Check out more Comic-Con coverage here, more pics on our Tumblr and follow the action at the Con over on our Twitter! Oh, and Like our Facebook page while you at it!

Movie News & Opinions, POP CULTURE

CCI 2012: Banner Poster Impressions!

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It’s nerd Mecca time, and this year the bevy of posters, trailers, previews, easter eggs and all the other little tidbits in between are being analyzed by every single person who isn’t at CCI, while everyone who is there ignores them while waiting in line for their Hall H panel. Having been to SDCC twice before, I can attest that it truly is the spectacle people make it out to be, and is one of the most exhilarating experiences you can have, that is also extremely horrible at the same time. But I digress, because you’re not here to read what I think about the Con itself, you’re here to look at the juicy, juicy posters and coverage of the event! So let me transport you there for a moment with a collection of the posters themselves, which I believe are mostly self evident of their awesomeness, but I’ll talk about them anyway.

Pics Via [Collider]

I’m totally stoked to see how The Evil Dead remake is gonna be. I like the use of the original font, and the inclusion of the #Necronomicon is a nice touch that echoes the poor idea of reading the books pages aloud, only now it’s on social media. I’d like to think that was a clever marketing decision on purpose, but even if it isn’t, I’m digging it. Check out our previous coverage of the movie here.

Here’s the complete banner. Spring 2013! Awesome.

Of course GoT is there reppin’ themselves rightly. Season 3 is gonna make everyone shit bricks. Can’t wait.

I was a huge fan of District 9, and remember being intrigued by the viral marketing for the movie they had at the 2008 SDCC, and after seeing it in theaters, Neill Blomkamp cemented himself as a visionary director to keep your eye on. His new project here, looks fascinating. Read our previous coverage here.

I didn’t even know they were remaking this. Reading about it though, seems it’ll be an interesting remake, as Kimberly Peirce is directing. She’s best known for Boys Don’t Cry, and her work on The L Word, which means she knows how to direct stories about women, and messed up relationships.

What can I say about this movie it’s awesome trailer already doesn’t? Joseph Gordon-Levitt has yet to be in a bad film, and Bruce Willis is Bruce Willis. Plus it’s directed by the guy who did Brick, which also starred JGL. Seriously, go see Brick if you haven’t already. Time travel, guns, JGL, Bruce Willis, what more could you want?

I am not familiar with this show, but the banner makes me laugh. The use of internet memes becoming legitimate marketing ploys is so strangely recursive it almost works.

Seeing these banners makes me wish I was there at Comic-Con International, but then I remind myself a bottle of water there is 6 goddamned dollars and am glad I’m not there. BUT if you wish you were, you can find more CCI related coverage right here! On Grizzly Bomb! The site you’re reading right now! YAY!