I was severely disappointed by last week's Game of Thrones episode The Bear and the Maiden Fair (despite the utterly badass title). Even though I wasn't starting to give up on the show, all my friends started talking about how it's not what it used to be -- they cited the ongoing soap opera developing in King's Landing and lack of meaningful, plot-advancing events as reasons to stop following our beloved HBO show with the same devotion and dedication. However, I vouched for the series, as I always do. I argued that The Bear and the Maiden Fair had only served as a prelude to the third season's three-episode-long climax. Whether I was right or not remains to be seen, but I I did thoroughly enjoy this week's episode -- Second Sons is easily one of the best this year, although several fan-favorite characters were absent, including Robb Stark and Jon Snow.
Simon Pegg has been quite busy as of late. Not only is he starring in Edgar Wright's epic pub crawl film The World's End, but he is also reprising his role as Montgomery Scott in Star Trek Into Darkness. Now it's been announced that he's been cast in an unspecified role in Australian thriller Kill Me Three Times, from Red Dog director Kriv Stenders.
Nobody's a bigger fan of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon than me. Ang Lee's fine directing mixed with a strong cast and a truly engaging story resulted in one of the finest martial arts films of all time. Does it need a sequel? I'd normally say no, unless Ang Lee was attached to direct. Then again, I'm not Harvey Weinstein. Ever since Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon - The Green Destiny was announced and greenlit, there have been rumors about some of the original cast returning for a second bout. As it turns out, Michelle Yeoh will be reprising her role as Yu Shu Lien, while Donnie Yen (Ip Man) will play the character of Silent Wolf.
Ah, the land of Westeros. Sometimes, the events taking place in the aforementioned continent teem with intrigue, espionage and political tension, which is what drew me to the show to begin with. Nevertheless, even Game of Thrones needs to have a filler episode or two. When the third season started, I constantly debated with my friends over the slower pacing of the first couple of episodes -- while I repeatedly stood up for the show and explained how the story needed to have a solid ground for the episodes to come, my buddies argued that "nothing was happening." Looking back on it, I was definitely right, as tonight's episode pales in comparison to the earlier, slower ones.
Alright, let's get this party started. Anything created by Christopher Guest (This is Spinal Tap) and starring The IT Crowd's Chris O'Dowd is widely considered to be a party. Alright, fine, maybe not "widely" considered, but being a fan of both, it's definitely a party to me. The Irish comedian is an up-and-coming star, who is currently getting some decent roles in Hollywood flicks (most notably in Bridesmaids) and will hopefully establish himself as a solid leading man in the future. He truly deserves it
Who would have thought the director of Assault on Precinct 13 was a gamer? OK, let's not get ahead of ourselves -- he hasn't said he plays tons of video games, he's just confessed he's a fan of the Dead Space game franchise and would like to turn it into a feature film. Wh-what? Yes, we're talking about THE John Carpenter.
Even though it takes a while for the new episode of Game of Thrones to take off -- Samwell's scene with Gilly by the fireplace nearly put me to sleep -- it eventually takes us on a roller coaster ride. But I'm getting ahead of myself. This episode primary focus was on Jon Snow and Ygritte. What's the deal with Snow, anyway? He's digging a hole so deep he'll soon find himself in Essos alongside Danaerys. How does he expect to come out of his current predicament? As he falls in love with Ygritte, it is harder for him to carry out his mission, which is to turn on the wildlings as soon as he finds the perfect chance. When will that happen? How is he supposed to attack Castle Black and kill his brothers? Or is he supposed to betray his woman? This is why his story is one of the most engaging at this stage -- Snow's dilemma will likely cause blood to be spilled, and much, much heartache.
The Coen Brothers will be taking their newest feature film Inside Llewyn Davis to the Cannes Film Festival, but they also have big plans for its U.S. release -- it's been announced that it will open in select theaters on December 6th, followed by a wide release on December 20th. If you haven't noticed, all of this will occur during Oscar season, which will surely help the film's chances of getting an Academy Award nomination.
