Episode 137.5 - Minisode 137.5

[taylor anne photo 11311]

Also, in relation to Game of Thrones talk, the biggest disappointment for me over the last season and even heading into this far superior season, mainly stems from the show writers resorting to some pretty hacky plot devices and lazy character deaths.

 

Namely alot of the major character deaths this season have been by small daggers. Apparently tiny daggers are big theme this season.

 

Last seasons Dorne storyline was some of the worst writing i've seen on an otherwise spectacular show. Its pretty mindblowing how badly they botched that whole thing. They spent an endless amount of time hyping up the Sand Snakes before the season began, leading up to their terrible dialogue and to easily the most choreographed and laughable fight sequence in the entire series. Which is even more glaring considering it had to follow last seasons fight with the Hound and Brienne which was fucking amazing.

Yeah the Sand Snakes seemed to be completely reduced to laughable objects that just can be used whenever they ~feel~ like it.

 

Also speaking of the Hound... I DON'T FUCKING CARE ABOUT THE HOUND

 

The entirety of the last episode pissed me off sooo much because I could not care less about him and his stupid moral compass. So they wasted so much god damn time when they could have stayed with Arya or Sansa & Jon or fucking Dany.

 

[Jamie Power 224]

 

You mean that amazing movie with Dan Stevens that made me suddenly find him attractive and made me buy a bunch of music from some amazing bands I had never heard of?

 

Yep, that one. I also enjoyed that movie a lot, and still listen to the soundtrack.

 

This movie on the other hand... should make for a great episode of HDTGM.

[Amy the Gorilla 732]

I've never seen "The Guest" and never heard of Dan Stevens, but based on the pictures from the movie I googled, he looks like a mashup of Bradley Cooper and Paul Walker.

[Cameron H. 23786]

I've never seen "The Guest" and never heard of Dan Stevens, but based on the pictures from the movie I googled, he looks like a mashup of Bradley Cooper and Paul Walker.

 

 

Hey, Amy-I'm not trying to tell you how to live your life or anything, but you really need to get down with some Downton Abbey.

 

Sorry, I've been MIA today, I've been extremely busy and didn't have too much to add to the whole GoT conversation (I gave up on it after Season 3), but I did manage to fill a large (and glaring) cinematic void in my life this morning when I finally got around to watching Glengarry Glen Ross. All I've ever seen was the Alec Baldwin "

" scene, but wow, the rest of the movie is just as amazing. It was like a real, "Oh, this is what great writing looks like..."

[taylor anne photo 11311]

I've never seen "The Guest" and never heard of Dan Stevens, but based on the pictures from the movie I googled, he looks like a mashup of Bradley Cooper and Paul Walker.

LET ME INTRODUCE YOU TO WHAT I CALL THE GREATEST MOMENT IN CINEMATIC HISTORY

 

[Amy the Gorilla 732]

 

 

Hey, Amy-I'm not trying to tell you how to live your life or anything, but you really need to get down with some Downton Abbey.

 

In that case I need to hit up my sister who has pretty much all the seasons (series?) on bluray.

 

LET ME INTRODUCE YOU TO WHAT I CALL THE GREATEST MOMENT IN CINEMATIC HISTORY

 

 

[FisterRoboto 7499]

The Guest is pretty legit, but the same director did You're Next, which I absolutely love.

[tomspanks 9039]

I've never seen "The Guest" and never heard of Dan Stevens, but based on the pictures from the movie I googled, he looks like a mashup of Bradley Cooper and Paul Walker.

 

He reminds me of Andrew McCarthy.

[Amy the Gorilla 732]

Also, on the subject of GoT... I don't really watch it, but I read up on some spoilers and such for when I do plan to binge watch it at some point in the future.

 

anyway... The thing with Hodor...

 

 

Was him only being able to say "Hodor" a sort of misheard "Hold door"? as in the thing he was meant to do before he died? Just a thought.

 

[taylor anne photo 11311]

Also, on the subject of GoT... I don't really watch it, but I read up on some spoilers and such for when I do plan to binge watch it at some point in the future.

 

anyway... The thing with Hodor...

 

 

Was him only being able to say "Hodor" a sort of misheard "Hold door"? as in the thing he was meant to do before he died? Just a thought.

 

Major spoilers for the Hodor thing

 

 

Because Bran was in his vision state (literally forgot what that's called and I'm too lazy to look it up) and was in his family's and Hodor's childhood it messed with the actual past somehow. I think it has to do with the Night Prince touching him, but honestly I haven't read the books and it's a bit fuzzy for me with the details.

 

Anyway, Meera was yelling at Hodor over and over to "Hold the door" and that connected to young Hodor in Bran's vision so he had a seizure and started yelling it out himself over and over and then as his brain suffered damage from the seizure so did his speech and it combined into "Hodor."

 

[Herself 107]

Well, I was ~25 minutes in to Dragonheart when I bailed and came here. But I'll be damned if I'm gonna watch a Jennifer Lopez movie.

[FisterRoboto 7499]

Major spoilers for the Hodor thing

 

 

Because Bran was in his vision state (literally forgot what that's called and I'm too lazy to look it up) and was in his family's and Hodor's childhood it messed with the actual past somehow. I think it has to do with the Night Prince touching him, but honestly I haven't read the books and it's a bit fuzzy for me with the details.

 

Anyway, Meera was yelling at Hodor over and over to "Hold the door" and that connected to young Hodor in Bran's vision so he had a seizure and started yelling it out himself over and over and then as his brain suffered damage from the seizure so did his speech and it combined into "Hodor."

 

 

 

It's called "warging."

 

 

[Amy the Gorilla 732]

Well, I was ~25 minutes in to Dragonheart when I bailed and came here. But I'll be damned if I'm gonna watch a Jennifer Lopez movie.

 

Finish watching Dragonheart then. It's lots of dumb fun and worth the watch at least once, even if they wussed out and changed the movie.

[EllenM 943]

I don't watch GoT, so I can't really join in this part of the thread but guys I'm so excited for tomorrow!

[joel_rosenbaum 1269]

The entirety of the last episode pissed me off sooo much because I could not care less about him and his stupid moral compass. So they wasted so much god damn time when they could have stayed with Arya or Sansa & Jon or fucking Dany.

The re-emergence of the hound is probably an important plot device in Cersei's arc.

 

I will say that Game of Thrones has handled the subject of faith kind of clumsily (in contrast to say, Battlestar Galactica).

[Lando 2019]

Whoa, I totally got Auked. I have been too busy to be active here and finished watching Dragonheart last night (even teared up a bit at the end even though it really is not a terribly good movie) and then saw they did different movie. The good news is that it looks like Boy Next Door might be coming to HBO Go pretty soon. I see it listed as playing on HBO on Wednesday, so if you want to watch it and have HBO you can probably wait a bit.

[Quasar Sniffer 4174]

 

First of all, Thank You for the compliment

 

Yeah, even after I wrote my response I was like, "Is Dennis Quaid likeable in this?" But I like where your head is at. I guess they were hoping to make him a more sympathetic character rather than a likeable one. But, with what you wrote, they could have probably have had both.

 

The more I think about it, the more I feel like it's a tough nut to crack. Originally, I was going to say why not just make Quaid a knight under a despotic king who urges his men to attack a random dragon (like, for sport or bragging rights), Quaid says this is a bad idea, but is ordered to go through with it anyway. Then, in the ensuing melee--and in self-defense--the dragon burns down a village full of innocents--maybe even Quaid's family dies as a result. This would lead directly into your story of him being this bum, mercenary knight and give his character a reason to hate both the king and dragons while still preserving himself and the dragon as a virtuous characters. Plus, it would give him a reason not to hunt the dragons outright since he is aware of the collateral damage that action might cause. The only problem with that is that it would excise the whole idea of the only way to kill the king is to kill the last dragon, which is an important plot element and poses a kind of Prisoner's Dilemma for the protagonists. Although, as a possible solution, maybe instead of a literal dragon heart, maybe you re-write it so that the king's surname is "Dragonheart." Then there could be a legend that, long ago, one of the king's forefathers got a blood transplant or something from a friendly dragon, and as a result, the bloodline of the two are inextricably linked and the "Dragonheart" line will only survive as long as dragons still exist. The king knows of this legend, but thinks it is just that: a legend. However, when he injures the last dragon (Sho'Nuff) he comes to realize that maybe their fates are intertwined. This way, the onus of the whole dragon murdering business is placed squarely on the shoulders of the king--instead of Quaid--making him the instrument of his own destruction. Fuck, Quasar! I think you and I need to re-boot this sucker.

 

Also, I agree with you about Postlethwaite. He was so damn good in this movie and I was really disappointed when his character disappeared for a good chunk of it. I would like it, if in our movie, this character meets Quaid in a tavern or something and just sort of tags along with this bum knight thinking he's going to be witness to feats of valor and chivalry, only to be heart-broken to see it's not like that at all. But as the conscience of the movie, and through his paeans of praise for the knights from the Old Times, he helps Quaid realize the goodness that he already possesses and encourages him to turn his life around and be a true Knight of the Code.

Thank you as always for your thoughtful and wise response, and since this movie keeps getting brought up incidentally in this thread, I'm just gonna keep pitching our reboot ideas!

 

I like your idea of the king being linked to Dragons via legend, but I also like the idea of Connery Dragon being asked to literally connect his lifeforce to King Pissant as a conscious choice. This makes him the most optimistic, empathetic, and loving character in the film since it's he who, by dint of his faith in the goodness of the mother and humanity in general, chooses to trust that the new king will be a better man than his father. And look how that faith is rewarded. It is only through the efforts of the Knight of the Old Code, that knight's own redemption, that Draco faith in humanity is restored. Conversely, it is only through the nobility of the dragon that Quaid's own faith, both in humanity and the Old Code, is restored as well.

 

Everything you say about Postlethwaite is correct, and the stronger his character is (and the funnier he is), the stronger his influence can be. He could by the linchpin that brings to two leads together.

 

Ok, Cameron, who's gonna give us $150 Million and and Anthony Hopkins to voice the dragon? Also, who would replace Quaid? Another out-of-place American star like Nathan Fillion? Michael Shannon because the more out of place and weird the better? Or I was also thinking Fassbender because I will watch Fassbender in anything.

[taylor anne photo 11311]

The re-emergence of the hound is probably an important plot device in Cersei's arc.

 

I will say that Game of Thrones has handled the subject of faith kind of clumsily (in contrast to say, Battlestar Galactica).

Cersei is one of my least favorite characters so I'm really hoping for some good pay-off.

 

I couldn't agree more with that. Everyone that has faith is viewed as completely crazy and wrong. Even the ones with The Hound were made to seem wrong because their passive life doesn't work.

[Amy the Gorilla 732]

Thank you as always for your thoughtful and wise response, and since this movie keeps getting brought up incidentally in this thread, I'm just gonna keep pitching our reboot ideas!

 

And I'll help write it if it's something you would really want to do. =)

 

 

[Lando 2019]

Cersei is one of my least favorite characters so I'm really hoping for some good pay-off.

 

I couldn't agree more with that. Everyone that has faith is viewed as completely crazy and wrong. Even the ones with The Hound were made to seem wrong because their passive life doesn't work.

 

Funny, while I agree that the religious people mostly seem like zealots on GoT, I feel that the belief systems are a lot more fleshed out than in BSG. I always thought BSG's religion seemed clunky, maybe it was the fact that they took an ancient belief system and just used it in a futuristic context.

 

I imagine that writing realistic behavior within a belief system that you personally do not believe (be it invented or real world) in is probably one of the more difficult things in fiction writing. I usually find Stephen King's attempts at writing religious characters to be pretty blatant examples of clumsy writing for a belief system that the author doesn't hold.

[taylor anne photo 11311]

 

Funny, while I agree that the religious people mostly seem like zealots on GoT, I feel that the belief systems are a lot more fleshed out than in BSG. I always thought BSG's religion seemed clunky, maybe it was the fact that they took an ancient belief system and just used it in a futuristic context.

 

I imagine that writing realistic behavior within a belief system that you personally do not believe (be it invented or real world) in is probably one of the more difficult things in fiction writing. I usually find Stephen King's attempts at writing religious characters to be pretty blatant examples of clumsy writing for a belief system that the author doesn't hold.

I actually can't chime in with the BSG portion cause I've still not watched it yet... (Don't worry my BFF yells at me every time she is reminded of this)

 

Personally the best representation I have seen of people with faith has been both on Daredevil and Orange is the New Black. Not talking about Pennsatucky and her crazy zealots but rather Sophia, Sister Ingalls, Gloria, and now Cindy who are shown to still hold on to their faith and are not fucking crazy about it.

[Geans 193]

Oh man guys I watched "Dragonheart" and totally missed the memo.

I even did my first nerd notes submission for this one...I went all in. I went all in too hard. Enjoy.

 

[Lando 2019]

I actually can't chime in with the BSG portion cause I've still not watched it yet... (Don't worry my BFF yells at me every time she is reminded of this)

 

I know the show has its fanatics, but I thought the first season of BSG was very good, but it got pretty bad by the 3rd season. The 4th was an improvement from the 3rd, but still not anywhere near the 1st.

[RyanSz 3140]

Borrow one from the library. Also make sure to tell him he was OK in the Captain America movies but The Covenant is your favorite of his.

No because I order the DVDs for the library I work at, and that pile of poo is nowhere near the collection.

[blakejharrisnyc 10]

Does anyone else feel like the oral history stuff is starting to take over? Like, they're choosing which movies to do based more on who they can get to talk about them than how crazy or bad they are?

 

I literally don't want to listen to How Did This Get Made to hear how these movies got made!

 

Sorry if it feels that way, but I can assure you that I've never so much as suggested a movie to Paul and the gang. Nor would I want to. The fun for me is being handed a challenge and then scrambling to get some information (ideally in a narrative-leaning form) that the listeners will enjoy.

 

It was my love for the show that led to writing the series. And I, like you, have no interest in fiddling with the method to HDTGM's beautiful madness. I consider it an honor to write these pieces and--whenever Paul lets me know what movie has been selected--my only objective is to try and come up with something HDTGM-worthy...

 

bjh