OakGoblinFly

I saw the trailer and was thoroughly confused; at first I thought it was about a man who dreams/dreamed he lived during ye olden days of King Arthur because everything about the film seemed way too "modern"; but it seems that the films is supposed to actually be about King Arthur's origin. Then I saw Guy Ritchie's name and thought, "well, now it all makes sense." It's a shame, because I really enjoy Arthurian Legend stories; well-done ones that is.

I too saw this trailer before Star Trek: Beyond and was surprised; I had no idea that this was being remade - so I thought "why?" I will need to see/hear more before I commit to seeing (no matter how much I like the cast, and I do quite a bit).

I saw it this weekend and I really enjoyed it; might be my favorite of the JJ Abrams era Star Trek movies. Like others mentioned, it felt very much like the original television series and I really liked the cast breaking off into pairs; I felt that each had their own moment to shine - of course, Bones was the best (Karl Urban is perfect in the role). I didn't have an issue with Krall; I thought he was a fine villain and he served the plot well; even though the alien make-up was gorgeous (especially Sonfia Boutella's Jaylah) I do wish Idris Elba's face wasn't so covered up. Visually, the movie was stunning - Yorktown was especially beautifully and I liked the clever way Sabotage was worked into the plot. If future films maintain this tone, I will be a very happy fan.

I like this choice - she's a solid actress and I think she'll do very well.

Didn't he say "great" game? Dany may have been in the game for entire life, but she was playing minor league.

Except as I understand it, The Battle of the Bastards (also directed by Miguel Sapocknik) was the only episode that HBO submitted for Emmy submission (actors submit their own reels).

They need to smile more; Kit Harrington and Sophie Turner have mega kilowatt smiles that go all the way to their eyes and they need to be turned on once in a while.

After 20 years, 5000 pages, and 6 seasons we finally have confirmation of the worst kept secret in A Song of Ice and Fire; that Jon is a Targaryen and finally, finally, FINALLY Dany gets off her ass and heads towards Westeros. Frey Pie!! I’m not going to lie, I did give a little cheer when the direwolf appeared on the Winterfell Clockwork Castle during the opening credits. I liked the entire opening sequence; it was beautifully filmed (no surprise as this episode was also directed by Miguel Sapochnik) and the music was fantastic (the music is generally very good on this show; however these last two episodes has been exceptionally good). Poor Tommen; I realized about 30 seconds before he jumped that he was going to jump. Cersei’s reaction to the death (by suicide no less) was strangely muted. While I thought that the Septa should have been punished for gleefully shouting “Confess” and “Shame” – I cannot/do not condone rape as a punishment. Dany should use the magic transporter that Ayra used to get to The Twins as quickly as she did – maybe then Dany’s storyline would have been interesting. Arya is going to eliminate all the people on her list, isn’t she? Cersei has gone full tilt into bat shit crazy territory; Dany’s not too far behind her. Lady Mormont rocks; it took a 10-year old to shame the northern lords into doing their duty. “The North Remembers” – only when it is convenient for them. Dorne is still dreadfully boring and I really don’t care that Sam and Gilly made it to Old Town (though the shot of the library was stunning). Lovely moment between Jon and Sansa when Sansa reports that the White Raven was sent announcing the arrival of winter; Jon had a wonderful moment where he says “Well, father did promise” and he smiles – it was the first time in years that he appeared to have about 10 seconds of stress free, no worries, thoughts. I hope that look that passed between Baelish and Sansa at the end wasn’t her thinking about partnering up with him especially after he planted the entire “a girl” or “bastard born son” garbage in her thoughts. More anvils were dropped; last week it was “Jon Snow is no king” to “White Wolf, King of the North” to “He’s not the first to love you and he won’t be the last” and of course all those mentions of Wildfire. Would it have killed (or more thoroughly kill) Benjen to leave Bran the horse? Now poor Meera has to drag Bran all the way to Castle Black (I assume that’s where they’re heading as Benjen mentioned not being able to pass the wall).

Wasn't that after the great tour of the north yielded minimal results?

Yes, that was a great scene; you could see with every step Jon took Ramsey's bravado falter - again, it was beautifully shot and both actors did really well conveying so much with just their faces.

Didn't need to see Dany and her "burn them all" routine (again) for the first ten minutes of the show and the scene with Theon and Yara meeting Dany could have waited - let's just hope she gets on the ships and moves her arse to Westeros because right now her storyline bores me to tears. Thank goodness the rest of the episode was excellent. My heart broke for Davos finding the stag - and the look he gave Mel at the end - oh boy. Not gonna lie, I gave a little cheer when the Stark banner was hung at Winterfell. That battle scene was brutal to watch - and the scene with Jon climbing through the piles of dead bodies - WOW! I really liked that extended one-shot of Jon during the battle - while the subject matter was brutal and difficult to watch, the cinematography and direction were compelling. I didn't want to watch, but I couldn't look away. I don't know why Sansa didn't tell Jon about the Knights of the Vale; I suppose if they showed up to the battle Ramsey would have stayed in Winterfell and there wouldn't have been a battle - still, she could have told Jon about the Knights and held them in reserve until Ramsey played his hand. I am glad that Ramsey finally got his comeuppance in the end; though I was tired that he (once again) was the smartest person in the room, erm battlefield, and played Jon like a violin. Just once, I want to see the good guys (or less bad guys) win a battle of wits (and no, Tyrion doesn't count). Sophie Turner (once again) gave a brilliant performance. I don't how it is that Clarke received two nominations when Turner hasn't been recognized for her excellent work these past few seasons (same for Alfie Allen) - I guess that speaking a made up language and riding fake dragons gets all the attention while playing a victim of psychological torture gets over looked. Kit Harrington will never be confused with a great actor (though he has greatly improved) - what he does well is action scenes (boy really knows how to swing a sword and look good doing it) and the quite moments.

There were parts I liked - basically everything Mark Ruffalo and Morgan Freeman; Daniel Radcliffe was fun. Sadly, there were many more parts that I disliked; everything to do with Chase made me grind my teeth - so, very painful to watch. Honestly, I wonder if Woody Harrelson told the powers-that-be that he would only come back if he was allowed to play two roles and the powers-that-be caved in because Isla Fisher wasn't coming back. I wasn't very impressed with Lizzy Caplan's Lulu; I suppose she was to be going for perky and energetic, I thought she hit "annoying" more often than not. Dave Franco, while awfully nice to look at, was merely there - I don't know if he got lazy in his acting choices or what; then again, there wasn't a whole lot there for him to work with. Jesse Eisenberg played Jesse Eisenberg; at least it works here (unlike Superman V Batman).

Honestly, I think a PG-13 is an appropriate rating for this movie; I don't think the violence needs to be especially graphic to make a point (in fact, I think NOT showing graphic depictions of violence (just the hint of it) tends to make me more squeamish). And while I understand that the nature of the character of print Deadpool meant that the R rating was necessary for a more accurate (or as accurate as you can get when translating from printed material to film) representation of the true nature of the character. That’s not the case with the Suicide Squad or most other superhero/comic movies. I also think that the target audience for Suicide Squad (or most comic movies) is very, very different from the target audience of a Deadpool and I am quite certain that the studio executives do not want to alienate/eliminate part of their audience due to an R rating (yes, I’m certain that some youn’uns will sneak into an R rated movie or their parents will take them, however, there is a larger segment of the population that will not). While Deadpool had box office success, I tend to think that this particular movie is the exception; I don’t think that other R rated comic movies would be as successful.

He has the chops to be other than angst or stoic; I really wish the powers-that-be would allow him to do so – some of my favorite Ben moments are when he is plotting with Caleb (love the scene from season one when he spins a story about the scout in order to get Abe’s intelligence about the Hessians to General Washington or any scene with him and Anna; thought he was his best when working with Stephen Root (then again, who wouldn't be?)). Honestly, the entire cast is talented - I wish the powers that be would focus on the talent they have, tell the story of spying, and forgo the romance. This episode showcases everything that I disliked about parts of season one and two. I suppose that makes some sort of sense, though I think it does a great disservice to both the character and the actor.

I must be the odd ball because I knew nothing about Simcoe prior to this show yet I knew/know quite a bit about Sackett. Still, it doesn't change the fact that (historical figure or not, well known or not) Simcoe as portrayed on this show is (in my opinion) an awful character and has outlived his usefulness as a plot device half way through season one.

So was Nathaniel Sackett and the show had no qualms about killing him before his time.

I thought that this was part of Robert Downey Jr's new contract with Marvel - no more solo films, but Ironman will appear in other MCU films. I hear/read rumors that Marvel is trying to work on a similar deal with both Chris Evans and Chris Hemsworth.

Why boo?

Well, I guess it was too much to ask that the quality that the show showed us for the first six episodes extended for the entire season (and I am hoping that this episode was just an anomaly) because this episode was all kinds of pathetic. First, can we just get rid of the Simcoe character already? He really does not add anything new or interesting to the storyline; the entire Keystone Cops routine with Mary trying and failing to kill him and the Rangers going in circles trying to catch “Rogers” was cringe-worthy. And while he’s leaving, please take Robert Rogers, any mention of him, and all plots that involve even imaginary Rogers too. You can take Papa Woodhull to complete your sorry trio. Second, am I supposed to feel sorry about Sarah? Because I don’t. I didn’t find her interesting in her first episode and I didn’t find her compelling here, especially since Ben gave her a way out. Oh show, you really had to go to the standard trope of having a male solider attempt to rape a female captive; so unimaginative and very, very lazy. Did Ben go off the deep end because he feels guilty for having pre-marital sex with Sarah and then leaving her (which is stupid because SHE kicked HIM to the curb after SHE used HIM) and now he feels responsible for her death? Well, he shouldn’t because Sarah was the one who decided to set up an ambush, Sarah was the one who got captured, and Sarah was the one who refused Ben’s deal (even when he told her she just had to sign the paper and then disappear). I didn’t buy their “connection” then and I certainly don’t buy it now. If they want Ben to have a relationship with a woman, why not create one who works with the ring (not Anna – I adore the sibling vibe they have) or one who lives in a town near one of the dead drops allowing Ben to see her when picking up/delivering some messages? I’m glad the powers-that-be are giving Numrich more to do, but he really deserves better than this crap (actually that’s true for most of this very talented cast). I am so freakin’ tired of mopey, love-struck John André and dejected Peggy Shippen. The story of Benedict Arnold’s turning traitor is interesting enough without having to create a love triangle. The only enjoyable part of this episode was Arnold defending himself at the court martial.

Alex Verus is similar to the Dresden series (another favorite of mine - I don't care if the quality of the stories has gone down, I just can’t quit him much like I can’t quit the Agent Pendergast books). As I said, the stories aren’t very deep and the concept of magician in modern world is not particularly unique, however the stories are fun and Jacka’s writing style is very pleasant (even if he does rely on the phrase “to my mage sight” a wee bit too much.) I am hesitant to recommend The Iron Druid Series by Kevin Kearne (sorta like Harry Dresden and Alex Verus except main character is an ancient Druid fighting gods and creatures of myth), while the first four or five books were pretty good, the remaining books were utter trash – so much so that I stopped reading the series. Have you checked out the Magic Ex Libris series by Jim C. Hines? I received discounts (via BookBub) on the first two books and enjoyed the stories well enough; again nothing deep or earth-shattering (frankly I don't want to read deep and earth-shattering as my day is deep and earth-shattering enough - I just want some fun, fast, enjoyable reading to escape into). These stories center around Issac, a magician of sort who can reach into books, withdrawing objects - and of course there are all sorts of magical threats that must be dealt with.

I am currently reading book 3, Taken, in the Alex Verus series by Benedict Jacka; it's a series about a mage who runs a magic shop in London and his misadventures. It isn't deep or a particularly original concept, what it is, however, is a lot of fun in a fluffy, bubble gum sort of way. This series has replaced the hole left by The Iron Druid Chronicles which fell off the rails around book six (I had to force myself to finish seven and I gave up on eight). Next up in my queue is Stiletto, the long (4 years!!*) awaited sequel to The Rook by Daniel O'Malley (I already have my pre-order in with Amazon). *You'd think I'd be used to long waits between books, having read all of George RR Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire books.

I think Becky got blotto for two reasons; (1) she was upset about the news regarding André and Philomena and concerned how Peggy would handle it, and (2) she made a fool of herself in front of Martha Washington. Historical inaccuracies aside (the whole love triangle with Shippen-André-Arnold is inaccurate and tiresome), I really like how this season is mostly focused on spying. Why did it take until season three for that to happen? It was nice to see Ben smile for a change. Woodhull, you big ole dummy – it’s bad enough that you endanger the Townsends with your stupid plots, you put the entire ring in jeopardy, and make Ben look the fool in front of Washington. I know they are beefing up Anna Strong’s actual role for dramatic purposes, but I approve – especially when she’s dressing down Abe, Ben, Caleb, or some combination of the three. Rogers and Simcoe can leave my screen anytime now. Ben did spend a lot of time admiring that clock - I wonder if that means anything.

I've learned that I much prefer episodes about events at The Wall - so this one fell mostly flat for me. I did like Benjen and the fact that Jamie is finally (FINALLY) going to Riverrun. I guess this is confirmation that Benjen is indeed Coldhands - or not. It was really nice to see him come to Bran's rescue. Speaking of Bran, I really need to re-watch the visions sequence because I thought there were some new elements interspersed with what we’ve already seen. On a totally shallow note, how incredible did Nikolaj Coster-Waldau look storming up to the High Sept on his horse? Hi Sam’s family, bye Sam’s family. Thank goodness Arya went back for Needle; now maybe her story will become interesting. Oh look, Dany is back on her dragon screaming at people about how she’s going to take her birthright, blah, blah, blah, blah. I think the producers were going for “inspiring” in that scene, what they got was laughable; between the really, really bad CGI and Clarke going all shrill during her speech my eyes rolled so hard I gave myself a headache.

Personally I don't think we were "hit" any more with regard to Nyle's deafness then we were Ginger's being a new mom or Paige and her bullying/I'm so not girly tripe. It's the storyline that the powers-that-be elected to tell and the pros, hosts, and judges all follow the prescribed storyline; it has been that way since season one .

Carrie Anne; you are a very pretty woman - please stop with the garish eye make-up. I’m glad that Peta used an outside choreographer for her contemporary freestyle with Nyle; that was very smart of her. Most of the “contemporary” routines on this show are severely lacking in content; that was not the case for Peta and Nyle’s routine; chock full of content, meaning to ever movement; so very powerful; and very well performed by both Peta and Nyle. That was my favorite routine of the season; it was the perfect combination of raw emotion, choreography, performance, and song. Paige’s freestyle was good – for me, it lacked the punch and it really paled on comparison to the power of Peta and Nyle’s. I thought the routine Val designed for Ginger was perfect for her. I still haven’t warmed to Paige – she came in as trained and highly proficient dancer and she’s leaving the same; I really haven’t seen any dance improvement or growth from her. I will say that she does appear to trust Mark more now – so that’s something I guess. Ginger seems pretty much the same to me – a very upbeat, warm, happy person. She too came in with some dance training. I guess I’m rooting for Nyle by default – he came in with no training and worked to improve himself. While he still has some posture issues I did notice him tucking is bum in during the Quickstep and work to keep his shoulders down. Considering all the challenges he and Peta had to overcome, I think he’s done extremely well.