Like with “The Mountain and the Viper,” I was fortunate enough to be given a look at a deleted scene from this past Sunday’s Game of Thrones, the epic “The Watchers on the Wall.” Similar to that alternate take on the battle between Prince Oberyn and Gregor Glegane, this scene between Jon Snow and the acting Lord Commander provides a different insight into their relationship and sheds new light on Sir Alliser’s commitment to Castle Black.
Filed under Monster Mash, We'll Get It In Post, Winterfallen
I had a chance to check out the original edit of last week’s epic Game of Thrones showdown between The Red Viper Prince Oberyn Martell and The Mountain Gregor Clegane, and I have to say I think I find this version a bit more compelling. Certainly more star-studded.
At the very least, this certainly opens up a lot more doors for Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon.
Filed under It's gross., We'll Get It In Post, Winterfallen
When Survivor: Caramoan – Fans vs. Favorites 2 Legit 2 Quit began just three months ago we bemoaned the ubiquity of loud, boisterous, attention-grabbing personalities like Shamar, Brandon Hantz and Former Federal Agent(?) Fillip. It felt like a season plotted by casting – and by casting just a few controversial, polarizing figures, stunt casting essentially – than a season anchored by appealing, charismatic, engaging characters who we would want to root for, and a season that might rely on shock value and stock reality show antics than good stories, solid gameplay and jaw-dropping twists. Well, we are happy to say that we were wrong. While the pre-merge game was dominated by those big names and big bodies, and while some of our favorite players were eliminated earlier than we would have preferred, after the merge Survivor: Caramoan has delivered great Tribal Council after great Tribal Council, offering some landmark series moments. It was like viewing a Sandra Bullock film back to back to back. Blind Side after Blind Side after Blind Side. And it’s left us with five somewhat unlikely players, none of whom are physically dominant or socially controlling or remarkably devious. Just five players who’ve managed to get to the end, through considerable disadvantages and obstacles, each carving a somewhat different path. It wasn’t what we foresaw for Caramoan, but we’re not complaining.
Cochran, for sure, is the front-runner, having played a smart, strategic, clean game. But Dawn has been right there with Cochran, and she’s made stronger personal bonds, which could play in her favor. Don’t discount Sherri though, who took an entry-level position with Stealth ‘R’ Us when the fans’ alliance fell apart, came in everyday on time, punched her card, worked hard, and is one of the few employees still with the company. Then there’s Eddie, who’s been on the outs from day one, has been to nearly every Tribal Council and was always at risk of going home, and who has made no enemies. Finally, you have Erik, who’s ruffled very few feathers, managed to flip and flop without seeming untrustworthy, and has an excellent chance to sweep the remaining challenges. Really, out of these five, you could make a case that all of them can win the million and it’s going to be interesting…
If you’re having a bad week here’s just a little reminder that the the worst is over. Just hang on a couple more days and TGIF!
Filed under 10 Seconds or Less, Good Humor, Just because., TGIF, We'll Get It In Post
There is no middle ground.
We’ve been diligently posting remixed Newsroom opening credits over on our sister site A Newsroom A Day, and we thought we would be remiss if we didn’t share today’s entry here. We think this is our favorite one so far, although it makes us miss Game of Thrones oh so much.
And while we’re on the subject of Game of Thrones mash-ups, we’d also be remiss if we didn’t use this opportunity to point you towards this brilliant GoT meets Parks and Recreation illustration done by our very close personal friend Steve Ponzo.
And, sadly, winter is coming.
Having wrapped up its first season this past Sunday, there was a lot to like about Aaron Sorkin’s The Newsroom. And a lot not to like. But we’re going to get to all (or some) of that in another post. Whether or not you liked the show, found the writing brilliant, whip-smart and incisive or hackneyed, cloying and self-indulgent, found the female characters to be hysterical, underwritten, overacted cartoons or relatable, well-rounded representations of women balancing breaking news with breaking hearts, there’s one thing about The Newsroom about which you can’t argue: the opening title sequence is really, really long. One minute thirty seconds long. Clearly, Sorkin was eager to take advantage of every additional minute afforded to him by cable, and, perhaps, we should be grateful that instead of another Will McAvoy soliloquy (a McAliloquy?) we’re offered a montage of Edward R. Murrow and Walter Cronkite and the unimpeachable giants of broadcast journalism set to the epic and strangely melancholy strings and piano of Michael Newman’s grand musical theme, and it seems as if every single crew member gets their name up on-screen in that 90 seconds. We immediately felt that this dramatic opening and score was the direct successor to Sorkin’s The West Wing, and that, perhaps, the two openings were interchangeable. And then we began to imagine what The Newsroom opening credits would feel like if those striking and symbolic images (and Jeff Daniels) were paired with some of television’s other memorable themes.
And, thus, A Newsroom A Day was born. Over at our new Tumblr, we’re making that idea a reality, each day presenting The Newsroom opening titles with a different – perhaps popular, perhaps not – theme song (which has proven much more difficult than presumed, mostly because the majority of themes – even the most campy, expository, interminable ones from the 80s – are no longer than a minute). We started with the genuine article, then followed up on our initial West Wing hunch, and today we bring you The Newsroom if it met one of our favorite furry visitors from outer space.
We’ll be uploading these remixes here as well, but perhaps not as regularly, so feel free to go ahead and bookmark that Tumblr page.
Good night, and good luck.
Filed under Slow News Day, We'll Get It In Post
Doing our due diligence we’ve been watching the trailers for the new series picked up by the big four networks for their respective fall seasons. Some have been promising, some dead on arrival, and others just somewhere in between. But there was one – NBC’s new JJ Abrams sci-fi thriller Revolution – that particularly caught our eye. However, it wasn’t the premise or the cast or the special effects that piqued our interest. No, it was the last few seconds of the trailer, an insert of the title over a grand wide shot of earth from outer space that stuck with us. We couldn’t shake the feeling that we’ve seen this before on NBC. In fact, it appears that this is a well that NBC has been returning to for decades. You hear a lot these days about how there are no new ideas, but this is a little excessive.
We’d suggest that there’s some kind of corporate conspiracy, or at least mandate, owing to NBC’s ties with Universal (the gold standard in spinning globes), but they didn’t merge under the same umbrella until 2004, so perhaps it is just a lack of imagination.
We got our hands on the exclusive, never-before-seen trailer for The King’s Speech, featuring the original actor earmarked for the role of King George VI. As much as we like Colin Firth, we think they should have stuck with their first choice.
Chills.
[btw, Rowan Atkinson is EXCELLENT in Love Actually]
Filed under Across the pond, The Big Screen, We'll Get It In Post
We’re little late making this observation, but it seems like last summer’s Rise of the Planet of the Apes may have been recycling some footage. Who knew that Andy Serkis got his start in commercials?
Filed under The Big Screen, We'll Get It In Post
Jumped The Snark 