After three long years off the air, True Detective makes a season three comeback on the backs of Mahershala Ali and Stephen Dorff. We talk about the show’s premise and leads, our feelings about the franchise in general, thoughts on the promotional material and interviews we’ve read so far, reasons to hope that season three is a return to form after an arguable stumble in season two, and where things might go wrong. See you back here next Tuesday!
We’re back with a super-sized wrap up episode for our coverage of our new book, Gods of Thrones, as well as putting George’s Fire & Blood to bed as we consider the final third of the book, starting with “The Dying of the Dragons: Rhaenyra Triumphant”. Anthony and I get things kicked off with a discussion of Lord Cregan Stark and his “Hour of the Wolf”. Then I welcome our old pal Kim Renfro (follow her on Twitter!) back to discuss women in Westeros, our theories on Game of Thrones and GRRM himself. Finally, I interview illustrator Chase Stone, who did the cover and interior art for Gods of Thrones, about life as a professional artist, his work on Magic: The Gathering and The World of Ice and Fire, as well as his influences and techniques.
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We continue our Very Giamatti Christmas with a deep dive into Fred Claus. A movie that wants to be Elf but falls off the high wire act that is the commercially successful family film. Their loss is our comedy gain, as we struggle to understand the bizarre rules of Sainthood in this strange alternate reality, ponder what Santa needs with a smoking hot little helper who is the only full sized elf at the Pole, and marvel at a 3 foot tall Ludacris DJing an all Santa, all the time radio station at the big man’s workshop. Merry Christmas!
Anthony jones me once again as we discuss the second third of GRRM’s new Fire & Blood, as we consider from “Jaehaerys and Alysanne: Their Triumphs and Tragedies” to “The Dying of the Dragons: Rhaenyra Triumphant”. Firewyrms! Mysteries of the wall! Dragon eggs beneath Winterfell! And many other interesting twists and tidbits we found in this fake history book detailing the first 150 years of Targaryen reign over Westeros.
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Paul Rudd and Paul Giamatti star in “All is Bright”, a very good Christmas film about ex-cons trying to go legit by hauling Christmas trees from Canada and selling them to the fine folks of New York City. It’s funny, but way darker than you’re probably expecting, and threads a bitter sweet needle of poignancy that really nails the feeling of those Christmas seasons where things might not be as merry and bright as you might wish. All the more reason to hang our lights up high.
My Gods of Thrones co-author Anthony is back once again as we do a deep dive on GRRM’s latest work, Fire & Blood! We talk about events up to but not including “Jaehaerys and Alysanne, Their Triumphs and Tragedies”. Next week we’ll be reading up to “The Dying of the Dragons, Rhaenyra Triumphant”, before finishing the book the week after. This week’s all about Aegon, Maegor, and the third generation Targaryen that really steals the show, Jaehaerys! We talk about the gossipy tone the Maester sometimes takes, the doctrinal concept of “Targaryen Exceptionalism”, missing dragon eggs, maester conspiracy theories, and that most well worn Thrones hobbyhorse, incest.
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In the past 6 weeks, we’ve learned more about Nicolas Cage than we ever thought we would, or ever really cared to. So for the final week of season 1 of Super Serious Film Fest we’ve decided to do a retrospective on the whole process. We talk about our favorite moments from Season of the Cage as well as the most interesting things we learned about the man himself, Nicolas Cage.
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The final livewatch of the Season of the Cage is in the books and it’s, well… completely mediocre. Like the movie and starring actors it’s based on, there’s absolutely nothing worth seeing here. Ok, so maybe we spice it up a bit with a few jokes but can that really save a complete pancake of a movie?
We draw the Season of the Cage to a close with its namesake movie, Season of the Witch. Does a movie starring Nicolas Cage, Ron Perlman, Claire Foy, and that guy who played Al Capone in Boardwalk Empire actually deserve a viewing? A.Ron and I certainly have an opinion.
Amazon Prime’s The Romanoffs arrives at the finish line in “The One That Holds Everything”. If you were hoping that this would be the one that really brings into focus Weiner’s thesis for The Romanoffs, you’re probably walking away disappointed. An ambitious story framing device that doesn’t quite work leads to a surprise ending that doesn’t feel earned, and we’re still left at the end of it all confused and asking “why?” What is so fascinating about the Romanovs and their lives of various levels of privledge and quiet desperation that justifies the time and expense that went into making this, or watching it? We don’t have great answers, but we’re relieved to see this particular line of Romanoffs brought to an end.