HOTD: A House of the Dragon Podcast - “Gods of Thrones” – Chattin’ Catelyn

Anthony and A.Ron continue their deep dive into the characters and themes from their new book, “Gods of Thrones”. Now available on paperback! Today we’re talking about a polarizing character among the fandom, Catelyn Stark. What are the essential differences between Book!Cat and TV!Cat? What is her worst move in playing the Game? Who would win in an all-female Houseoff? How vital is Lady Stoneheart’s arc to understanding Catelyn, and why does the show skip it entirely? We discuss and debate all this and more!

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Super Serious Film Fest - Con Air (1997) – Rewrite

A shocking discovery was made as we attempted to rewrite the cheesy classic, Con Air: It’s actually way harder than you think to fix this movie. Does that mean that the plot is actually better thought-out than we first assumed? Or is the fundamental idea so flawed that it’s simply impossible to film if you respect your audience? Or perhaps it’s simply a lack of imagination on our part? Any way you view it, we had to get real silly to make this one work, but we had a lot of fun in the process.

Premium

Con Air (1997) – LIVEWATCH

We kicked off the back half of Season of the Cage with perhaps his most mainstream film of all time, Con Air. Does that mean it’s inoffensive? No. Is it one of Cage’s more impressive acting jobs? Also, no. Is it even a good film? Again, no. But that also doesn’t mean it’s not a fun movie to watch. Jim loves it, A.Ron probably doesn’t, but you should decide for yourself as you listen to us make jokes over it.

American Horror Story Podcast - 810 – “Apocalypse Then” – Instant Take

We’re not saying the latest episode of FX’s American Horror Story, “Apocalypse Then” is a disappointment, exactly. But it sure wasn’t a success. Honestly, we’d have rather gotten a “to be continued” rather than a slap dash climax with a too long and puzzling denouement that offers a breezy, cheesy Harry Potter “all is well” wrap up before immediately blowing it up. It’s hard to shake the feeling that Cordelia’s coven, and indeed Michael the Antichrist deserved better, to say nothing of Hawthorne’s School and their Exceptional Young Men. Midway through the season we just wanted more, more! And we kept getting less, and less. Ah well, that’s what we thought. How about you! Meet you back here in two so we can hash it out on the FINAL FEEDBACK FRIDAY of the season!

Bald Move Pulp - The Romanoffs – 106 – Panorama

Jim and A.Ron think this latest episode of Amazon’s The Romanoffs, “Panorama” is a mess. At best, it’s a mildly interesting yet gorgeous travelogue for Mexico City. At worst, it’s a poorly, written, directed, acted, and edited mess that seems to have no idea what it wants to say, and doesn’t know enough about the topics to offer any depth to the things it reaches for. The only thing that kind of works is the relationship between the two ridiculously photogenic protagonists, but they are also the least interesting of the premises. Our hope for this series is now that Weiner can make one really exceptional episode out of the next two, or the finale episode is truly “The One That Holds Everything” and somehow ties this all together.

Bald Move Pulp - Overlord (2018)

Another split decision on the latest first run Bald Movie, the WW2-themed action-horror film, Overlord. The serious and somber tone set against the gonzo and outrageous action quickly lost Jim. I thought the film delivered a pretty solid war film, followed by a tense and effective horror film, then rounded into a solid action romp that unfortunately started collapsing under the weight of too many action movie tropes. Still, the war scenes are more horrifying than most supernatural spookfests, the characters while basic are appealing, and the effects gruesome and effective enough to deliver the goods, especially if you can turn your brain off for the last act.

HOTD: A House of the Dragon Podcast - “Gods of Thrones” – Talking Tyrion

It goes without saying that Tyrion Lannister is an extremely interesting character in A Song of Ice and Fire / Game of Thrones, but  you’d think he’d make a poor focus for our book on Westerosi religion. After all, he’s famously skeptical of superstition and faith in a world full of magic, physics defying creatures, and powerful gods. But it’s precisely that contradiction that makes him so fascinating in this context! Join Anthony and I for a deep dive into Tyrion, the events that have shaped him, and the journey that has brought him before a dragon goddess that he can believe in. Have questions or feedback? Send it in using the contact info below…