Quote from: Master_Phruby on May 15, 2013, 09:41 AM

Quote from: McMetal on May 15, 2013, 08:43 AM

Quote from: EdSolo on May 15, 2013, 06:52 AM

I would call a movie based on political disputes over a trade route a poor story.

Seconded, what an abysmal mess that was.

Yet we all loved it and bought every toy related to it.

It wouldn't say everyone loved it.  I would attribute a large portion of its success on the fact that it was the first Star Wars movie made in 16 years at the time it was released.

Then where was that criticism at the time?  For some time, the only thing SW community was outwardly critical of in The Phantom Menace was Jar Jar Binks.  And then when Episode II finally came out, THEN the floodgates opened and people were hating on TPM more outwardly. 

Personally, I've found the delayed criticism of the prequels to be more objectionable than the movies themselves.  And I've always looked at that criticism through the filter of an audience that saw the OT as kids, and they wanted to relive that level of excitement as 20/30/40 somethings.  That was never going to happen, and no filmmaker could live up to expectations that high.

Quote from: name on May 14, 2013, 12:23 PM

Quote from: Tracy on May 13, 2013, 08:26 PM

Damn you GOT - I actually find myself starting to care about what happens to Jamie Lannister!  The thing that really stood out to me in the scene where Dany was dealing with the slave trader was how much she had taken on the mannerisms and tone if Viserys - it was almost uncanny.

Jaime Lannister may be one of the most dynamicly developed characters I've ever come across in any literature.

I agree... His character's stories are very compelling.

His scene with Brienne in the tub where he told the tale of the killing of Aerys and what that meant to the people of Kings Landing was amazing.  Because the series has had us so tied up in the Stark story that we haven't been able to see that the actions of "The Kingslayer" were actually quiet heroic.  But because Ned Stark was so bound in the rigidity of oaths, he was never able to reason out what Jaime had done.  As a result I tend to look at Ned a bit differently now.

Jaime is absolutely a complex character.  And I'm genuinely interested to see how he will continue to develop, both in the television series and in the books.

They are going to make the convention center bigger and hopefully kick out some of the big movie companies to make room for real comics.

Well, the Twilight kids won't be camping out there anymore.  That's SOMETHING positive.

This panel discussion revolves mainly around the Game of Thrones HBO series, and it was recorded around the time of the most recent Emmy awards.  However, there's a very nice exchange with the two show runners, David Benioff and D.B. Weiss regarding their first meeting with author George R.R. Martin and the possible adaptation of his series of novels.  It was reportedly a very LONG meeting, and one of the questions that Martin posed to the two prospective show runners? 

"Who is Jon Snow's mother?"

Without a doubt this is one of the more significant mysteries of both the novels and the show.  But I suspect we may have to wait until The Winds of Winter is finally released to see if this mystery gets resolved.

Be that as it may, apparently Martin was impressed with Benioff and Weiss, because they guessed correctly.

Aside from Jon Snow and the Wildlings climbing The Wall in this past Sunday's episode, it appears that "The Climb" was very much about setting the stage for events later in this season, and presumably next season.

Having read the books, Robb's meeting with the Frey's in an effort to marry off Edmure Tully so that he can re-establish his alliance with the Frey's was a little chilling.  Simply because if you've read the books, you know where this plotline will eventually lead.

The head scratcher scene of this episode?  It had to be Melisandre coming to the camp of the Brotherhood without Banners.  Simply because that seems to be a creation of the show, and not the novels.  But it does serve to establish that both Melisandre and Thoros of Myr are both priests of the Red God.  Readers of the books will know that Thoros' actions in bringing back Beric Dondarrion will have implications down the line in novels that have already been released.  My personal belief is that Melisandre may exercise this very same power in a book that is yet to be released.

Anyhow, I don't recall this Melisandre / Thoros meeting as anything that happened in the books.  And I think it had more to do with Gendry than anything else.  My belief is that Gendry will stand in the series as the SOLE bastard heir of Robert Baratheon, and the HBO show will totally disregard the other established Baratheon bastard, Edric Storm.  IIRC, Stannis wound up holding Edric Storm captive.  And I think that for the purposes of the show, Gendry will serve as a composite character of both himself from the novels as well as Edric Storm.

The climb?  It was very cool to see The Wall like this, and not as part of the scenery of Castle Black.  And as Jon, Ygritte, Tormund and the other Wildlings made the climb, I was very mindful of some words from the book:  "The Wall defends itself".  When that ice face came down, those words had a whole new sense of gravity.

The maneuvering of Tywin Lannister and the Queen of Thorns to marry off their heirs for political gain made for a great scene.  And where a lot of people may have previously written off Sansa Stark as an inconsequential character, she now has some serious things happening to her.  Because Tywin is regarding her as the heir to Winterfell, and the key to ruling the North.

But the scene that had me wondering where it would go?  Of all things, it was Samwell Tarly and Gilly in the wild, with Gilly's son.  When Sam took out the obsidian dagger, I was really wondering if we would see the possible origin of his nickname.  But I think that may come later as they get closer to The Wall.

Based on some of RDJ's recent press, it seems like he wants to step away from the franchise to a degree.  And I think he certainly deserves some time away from the character.  Don't get me wrong:  I think he's done amazing work in this role.  And he seems to have moved past a lot of the personal problems that nearly destroyed his career a decade ago.  Plus, he's an amazing actor.  I'd like to see Robert Downey Jr. move on to some other projects so that he can show just how great of an actor he is.

From the rumblings I've been hearing, a War Machine movie may be a possibility.  Don Cheadle's definitely strong enough to carry a movie on his own.  I hope that IM3 does service to the Rhodey character so that a spin-off movie would get a good launching off point.

That being said, I'd definitely want to see RDJ return for Avengers 2.

They even gave a bit of humanity to Joffrey this last episode.

Of course Tyrion is the ultimate amoral ******* you can't help but root for.

I don't know if I'd say that much about Tyrion.  He's a complicated character, without a doubt. 

His dwarfism makes him an oddity, since life in Westeros is so hard that a child with birth defects would ordinarily be left to die.  But since he's a Lannister he's had the benefit of the best of care due to the family's riches.  But in contrast, he's always had the disdain of his own father since Tyrion's mother died giving birth to him.  And Tywin won't seem to forgive Tyrion for that.  And his siblings are near perfect, which makes Tyrion that much more of an outcast.  Tyrion's personal moral failings seem to be an exercise in him seeking refuge and comfort since he gets next to none from his family.

Where Tyrion really seems to show his character is in the dealings with the other House of the Seven Kingdoms.  When it comes to dealing with the Starks, he's been very honorable.  He acted very much as a good counsel to Jon Snow when he rode up to The Wall.  He chastised Joffrey for not showing proper courtesy to Catelyn Stark following Bran's fall.  And he was one of the few people to comfort Sansa Stark following Ned's execution at Joffrey's hands. 

Tyrion has the makings of a statesman, but a terrible personal life.  Of the three Lannister children, I think that only he would be a proper heir to Casterly Rock.  But Tywin's grudge against him has clearly stood in the way of him leading the Lannister house.