Game of Thrones: Season 4 Anticipation Begins . . . NOW!

What, you thought you'd go this long with no mention whatsoever on The Bimillennial Man of my favorite genre television show? As if!

Yes, Season 4 of Game of Thrones is almost upon us, and this past Sunday HBO finally deigned to deliver some much needed meaty goodness on what's in store for fans this year. Behold for your viewing pleasure, Ice and Fire: A Foreshadowing -- the 15-minute first look into just how dark and twisted this next season will prove to be. I'm telling you, guys, it's going to be BIG! But don't just take my word for it, whet your appetites on this well crafted preview:





Oh. Mah. Gerd! There's just so much to squee over! I will try to maintain a tight lip on any spoilers, but if anyone has questions about what you may have just watched, ask me in the comments section. I won't give anything away with my replies, but I will clear up any confusion if you have such. As for the clip itself: feel free to watch with no fear of ruining anything. It's really just quick glimpses at things to come, along with on-set commentaries from some of the cast and crew involved. Click just to see Gwendoline Christie's (the Lady Knight, Brienne) insane laughter and obvious excitement alone. She's a hoot, and seems to really be enjoying her time on the show.

Personally, I'm very happy to see the long awaited arrivals of some fan-favorite and new to the show characters. Primarily Pedro Pascal as the Red Viper, and his fierce consort Ellaria (portrayed by the always lovely Indira Varma!).

Both characters represent the first time on this show we will see anyone hailing from the oft mentioned 7th Kingdom of Westeros, Dorne, as they arrive at King's Landing for Joffrey's pending nuptials to Lady Margaery Tyrell. And ... for other, not yet disclosed, reasons.

Of course, I would be remiss if I didn't mention the other big Thrones-related news. Yes, the wait is finally over. Season 3 of the show will be hitting store shelves on DVD and Blu-ray early next week! That's Feb. 18th, to be precise. And for the first time ever, the home video release will include extended special features such as: a lengthy recap of the season highlighting the most important details; deleted and extended scenes; and on-set, behind the curtain-style insights into the making of the show. Material that has never been included on a Game of Thrones video release, let alone most other HBO shows. This is a big first for fans!

I will be purchasing my set on Day 1, naturally. What about you? Come on, don't try to play coy with me!

As for the upcoming season? Game of Thrones: Season 4 will premiere on Sunday, April 6th, only on HBO. Get ready!

Goodbye, Jim!

As I posted a while back here, I've started watching the blu-rays of the original 1960s Star Trek show which I received for Christmas. I'm on season 2 and have finally come across one of my favorite episodes from that series -- "Amok Time," where Spock returns to his home world of Vulcan in order to participate in an ancient marriage ritual hearkening back to his people's violent past.

Yes, this is the episode where Spock and Captain Kirk FIGHT! Not only was this episode brilliantly written, but it contains some of the most iconic music this show is known for. Especially during the scene where the two good friends must battle each other for their lives:





However, watching this scene invariably reminds me of the famous Jim Carrey parody included in one of my favorite dark comedies of the 90s, The Cable Guy. In it, he and Matthew Broderick go to Medieval Times and Carrey's character bribes the show operators to allow him and his "best buddy" onto the arena floor for a memorable match--unfortunately to the surprise of Broderick's character. Hilarity ensues, especially if you watch the above clip from Star Trek first, then followed by the one below.

I mean, this is fucking HILARIOUS by a Warp Factor of 11! :)





Tell me you are not amused.

Almost There . . .

As we get nearer and nearer to the April 1st season 2 premiere of Game of Thrones, more and more glimpses into what's in store for us fans are starting to leak out. Case in point, this awesome behind-the-scenes invitation which aired last night. Watch it below and weep, then dry your tears (of pure joy, of course!) and read what it is about this clip that makes me so giddy like a schoolgirl:

Well, well. Ain't that just something? I mean, WOW! There's so much awesome jammed into such a short video that I don't even know where to start.

It goes without saying that many of the reveals to geek out over in this clip only have real weight with those who have read the second book in the A Song of Ice and Fire series, "A Clash of Kings." But since I know so many fans of the show have not in fact also read the books, I will refrain from going into spoilery detail about what it is we're seeing. However, I will run down a list and commentary of all the cool character moments to be found in the clip:

1) Early on right off the proverbial bat, at the 0:12 mark, we see slain King Robert's youngest brother, Renly Baratheon, alongside his new bride Margaery Tyrell (played by Natalie Dormer of The Tudors fame). Renly was briefly shown a few times last season as part of King Robert's Small Council, but remembered most scandalously for his steamy spa, shaving, and "happy ending" scene with the dashing Knight of Flowers, Ser Loras Tyrell (Margaery's brother). So, um, needless to say this is going to make for one thorny situation should the wrong people learn of certain details. Add on top of that the little matter of Lord Renly vying for young King Joffrey's throne while insinuating that the little brat is really the product of his mother's incest, and . . . well, you'll see!

2) At the 0:42 mark, we briefly see Arya Stark sitting atop the battlements of Harrenhal. If you recall last season, Arya goes by the name "Arry" now and has disguised herself as a boy to escape the Queen's men who are searching for her. Yoren of the Night's Watch is leading her and a bunch of dungeon-scraping criminals north to serve on the Wall, accompanied by King Robert's bastard son, Gendry, who is himself being smuggled out of King's Landing to escape the Queen's wrath. And oh what a tangled plot we weave!

3) @ the 1:18 mark, we get our first and very brief glimpse of what I believe is Craster's Keep north of the Wall. This location plays a pivotal role in the future of the Night's Watch and the safety of its Rangers being led by Lord Mormont as they traverse through Wildling territory. Of course, all you really care about is that this location should feature lots of Jon Snow and Sam! Who doesn't want more Jon and Sam adventures, I ask you? While most of what goes on north of the Wall this season was filmed in Iceland, Craster's Keep itself was filmed in Ireland in pretty much the same location as the opening scene of last season's first episode. Iceland has no trees, and Craster's Keep would not be filmmable without them.

4) We get a quick glimpse of Davos Seaworth--aka, the "Onion Knight"--at the 1:34 mark. This is another new character to the show, and is Stannis Baratheon's right hand man. Which is funny since Davos is missing a few fingers on his own hand. Which is even funnier when you discover that it was Stannis himself who deprived him of those fingers. He's going to be AWESOME! Just take my word for it.

5) 1:36 gives us a very far away shot of Brienne of Tarth. Everyone's been waiting to get a glimpse of this character, as she is also new to the second season and is one of the few highborn ladies in the books who actually dons armor and kicks much ass! She's also being constantly ridiculed by everyone for not only fighting like a man, but looking like one as well. Let's say Brienne spends a lot of time getting shit on for her looks and demeanor, and this has not made Brienne a very happy lady Knight at all. Not at all. She's also in love with Lord Renly, whom she has sworn to protect. And oh yeah, she looks GREAT, btw! Spot-on as in the books! :)

6)  We get another glimpse of Melisandre, the Red Priestess, at the 1:38 mark just after Davos and Brienne. She's a bad mama-jamma, I'll just say. She's Stannis Baratheon's mysterious new adviser, bringing with her promises of the Iron Throne along with a new religion from the East. She'll also be responsible for some of the more scarier dark magic moments this season if they pull off a certain pair of scenes just right, I'm thinking. But I've already said too much--shhhhh!


7) We get to see the man himself, Lord Stannis Baratheon, at the 1:50 minute mark. The middle brother of the Baratheons, he holds the castle of Dragonstone after proving himself a formidable commander under his kingly older brother against both the old Targaryen Dynasty as well as Balon Greyjoy's failed rebellion a few years later. Now that Robert is dead, he believes that he himself, and not Lord Renly, is the rightful heir to the Iron Throne in light of current King Joffrey's illegitimacy issues. In addition to marshaling his forces against House Lannister and King's Landing, Lord Stannis must also contend with his younger brother's forces. Hence why the second book in this series is called "A Clash of Kings." There are many kings in this chapter, and they WILL be a-clashing!

8) Speaking of more kings . . . the King in the North, Robb Stark himself, can be glimpsed staring fondly at Jeyne Westerling @ the 2:03 mark. We only see the back of her here in this clip, but know that she will play a very key point in Robb's quest to gain support for his own campaign against the Iron Throne. He has the Kingslayer, Jaime Lannister, as his captive, and you best believe he intends to get satisfaction after what the Lannisters did to his father, Ned, in the first season. In fact, the very first episode of season 2 will be titled: "The North Remembers." Oh yes, that they do. And it is a very looooong memory.

9) And perhaps the most geekgasm moment of the entire video happens @ 2:15 -- Tyrion fucking Lannister holding up a vial of the volatile pyromancer's brew known as "wildfire!" Fans of the books know exactly where this will be going, and I really can't say anymore for fear of spoiling the awesome. But just know it is that, awesome!

"I have dreams of this show, you know? It's created a world in my head, it's . . . that I can't shake. Which is a testament of how good the show is."                                                                          -- Peter Dinklage

What an awesome quote to end the video with, eh? This is why Tyrion is the dude, because of this man right there! I've said it before but it bears repeating: look for Tyrion to have a much larger, intricate, and awesomer role this season. If you loved him last year, you should pretty much get double your fun this time around. I think the Emmy's and Golden Globes' folks are going to shit the proverbial brick when they realize they're just going to have to honor this actor a SECOND time all over again.

This is going to be fun!

And there you have it. Excited yet?

Well as if that isn't enough, we're almost at the point when the entire season 1 will be released to home video. In 2 weeks, as a matter of fact -- March 6th! I've already pre-ordered the Blu-rays long in advance, and so that weekend is going to involve a rewatching of EPIC proportions at my house. Oh how the walls shall shake!

And if you're thinking of getting the DVDs, fine. But just know that you might want to invest in a Blu-ray player instead. Click on this link and you'll find out why. Let's just say the Blu-rays give you a whole lot more bang for your bucks.

VALAR MORGHULIS!

To Boldly Go . . .

I'm going to pointedly ignore that today is that Hallmark-created holiday and instead tell you all what I did over the weekend.

Which is to say: nothing. Nothing much at all.

Ha! Wouldn't it be funny if that was my blog for the day. Just that?

Okay, perhaps not. Of course, I did do something. But that something involved sitting on my hind quarters and watching television for the most part. How EXCITING, huh? Hey, sometimes my weekends are like that . . . perfectly uneventful. I did get to finally crack open my complete Star Trek: The Original Series Blu-ray sets, though. I had these since Christmas and had meant to check them out back during my two-week hiatus then. But as you know, the best laid plans and all that jazz.

Anyway, I wasn't expecting much from this upgrade, as ST:TOS is not exactly my favorite of the Star Trek series. It is responsible for my whole-hearted love of all things science fictional, though, so it always commanded a healthy level of my respect. In fact, some of my earliest television watching memories are of this show from circa 1981 when I was only four years old. Most of my childhood, in fact, would be spent watching and rewatching every single syndicated episode until the show seriously began to get on my nerves. Still, when the Trek relaunch series "The Next Generation" premiered in the late 80s, I was reluctant to get into it due to the fact that, for me, the original crew was still the ONLY crew.

Of course, The Next Generation would quickly come to be one of my most favorite tv shows of all time -- so what the hell did I know back then, right?

Anyway, the original series has never looked better on Blu-ray! They went back and totally remastered the hell out of these episodes, to the point that I feel like I'm seeing them with new eyes. And they didn't just clean up the dirt and mend the scratches, no. They actually re-tooled all the outdated special effects as well!

Now, I know what some of you are thinking: BLASPHEMY! But hear me out, some of these changes are really good! I'm not a purist, though, so that could be it. I certainly did enjoy the remastered versions of the Star Wars films, for example. But in my opinion the original Star Trek series was seriously long in the tooth with these crappy effects. And now they look a lot better.

Check out the vid below which does a very quick overview of some of the many improvements. The first frame is taken from the 60s originals, while the second frame(s) of any comparison is from the newly remastered footage. You might want to use the pause button judiciously, though, to slow the speed of the comparisons down.

See what I mean? Now, yes, not all of the new effects look as snazzy as I would have preferred. In fact, some of them are too CGI-ey for my tastes. But overall I find that the textures are a vast improvement, not to mention that the obvious changes like the phaser beams and multi-directional camera views of the Enterprise make for a more dynamic immersion into the viewing experience. Especially from a modern sci-fi fan's point of view.

One of my favorite improvements occur in the classic episode, "The Corbomite Maneuver," when the U.S.S. Enterprise approaches the Fesarius ship. You can see it at the 2:27 mark in the above video clip if you pause it just in time. Or you can click on the image below to see a more detailed comparison:

The original shot is on the bottom, while the remastered block is on top. Check out those textured layers--WOW! Talk about a vast improvement, yo!

See, for all the grumblings on the net about how they shouldn't have messed with the purity of Roddenberry's vision, it's instances like this one that make the remastered version all the worthwhile to purchase for my collection. Since I'm a story-first kind of guy, as long as the core performances are kept intact I couldn't care less if the bells and whistles of the presentation are tinkered with. So much the better, I say!

Over the weekend I was able to watch the first 6 episodes of season one and find myself totally impressed. The transfer is simply GORGEOUS! It makes this fan squee uncontrollably at the thought of seeing my beloved ST:TNG get this same treatment later this year. I still haven't figured out when exactly they'll start rolling out those episodes on blu-ray, although a sampler disc of sorts was already released earlier this year. But I have no desire for a paltry taste -- I want the whole meal!

And so I will wait.

In the meantime, I have these TOS blu-rays to tide me over. And of course, Netflix streaming service for Deep Space Nine and Voyager rewatchings.

I do so love my Trek geekdom!

And so, how was your weekend? Scratch that: how's your Valentine's Day going? Oh come on, don't be like THAT! :)

Lightning Strikes Twice!

I know, WHAT THE HELL? Yet another vlog, David? Oh, geez. *rolls eyes*

But, hey, no one's forcing you to watch these. Right? RIGHT???

Oh, and this time I'm in another room in the house. The room where I close the door and do all my writing. Hey, in fact, I'm there right now . . . writing this very sentence!

Anyway, here's me babbling away for your amusement. Stay tuned 'till the end -- I have a special request for those of you brave enough to watch.

Later!

Blu-ray Haul, Week Of 2/1/11

I don't usually buy movies anymore, unless the title in question is a movie I *really* like, or if the film comes highly recommended. I got a little of both worlds when I went to check out Tuesday's new releases today, Wednesday. Yes, despite that all new media releases on a Tuesday here in the U.S., I usually wait an extra day to go when the crowds have already dissipated and the store has finished shelving all the stock in the back room. Works out better this way.

But you didn't come here to read about all that. Below are the (count 'em!) four Blu-ray titles I felt worthy of my hard-earned cash this week. Perhaps you see one you like but didn't know was out? If so, let me know in the comments section below. I'm always interested in what other people's movie likes are.


ALICE IN WONDERLAND
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Confession time: I'm not a big fan of the live-action Tim Burton version that released in theaters last year. For me, it was an overblown and muddled mess. For having some of my favorite stars in it--Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter--the acting was merely "okay." And being forced to watch it in 3D only made it worse. I was never a huge, frothing fan of the Lewis Carroll novel even after reading it twice (first as a pre-teen; second while at college). But for me this 1951 Disney animated classic has always been the definitive Alice story. I know that's blasphemy considering the liberties ole Walt took in making the tale more presentable to a larger family audience, but this movie is an indelible slice of my childhood. And as with all the classic Disney movies currently in my collection, this was also a must-buy. We used to have all the Disney classic cartoons on VHS when I was 9, which was about as good as animation got for us. Having Alice in Wonderland in the glorious vibrancy of the Blu-ray format now is like reliving the first moment we ever set eyes on this movie at grandma's house. I can smell the cookies baking in the oven already!



LET ME IN
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I saw the original Swedish film, Let The Right One In, of which this movie is a by-the-numbers remake, back in 2009. At the time, I thought it was a damn-near perfect little horror tale. But, call me crazy -- I think the 2010 American version is even better! Well, at least, it's a damn-near perfect little horror tale in its own way. Let Me In is just a tad more compact, better produced, and arguably better acted film than the foreign version. And, trust me: as someone who is a huge cinephile of subtitled flicks, I don't make this claim lightly. I guess the main selling point for me is, in fact, the acting of the two young leads, Kodi Smit-McPhee and Chloë Moretz. Their maturity and creepy chemistry onscreen is spellbinding to say the least. Their obvious heart-felt dedication to the material bolsters the entire project and elevates it just a touch above the careful, tightly-wound narrative cues of the original version. Moretz in particular is awesome as the mysterious little girl lonely Owen befriends in his apartment complex one fateful night. Having seen her only months earlier as the potty-mouthed "Hit Girl" in Matt Vaughn's Kick-Ass, I left Let Me In of the impression that this young lady has quite the promising acting career ahead of her. Of all the movies I've purchased this week, this is the one I recommend highest to all my friends.



NIGHT CATCHES US
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I had to pick this up simply on the strength of word-of-mouth alone. But, actually, I already knew a little bit about this indie flick thanks to the efforts of my best friend, Tarrell Childs, who tried to get me to go with him for the all of 2 seconds this movie was screened here in NYC, but who I ultimately had to turn down because of how damn busy I was over the holiday break. Which sucked for me. But now I get to right that wrong this week! It surprises me that this is already out on video so quickly, but I guess films of this nature get very limited theater time, and only in the major cities. All that I know of Night Catches Us is that it stars one of my favorite new actresses, Kerry Washington, and that it takes place in the year of my birth (1976) in Philly, PA. I also know it has something to do with the Black Panther party, but more importantly with the relationship between a black man and woman during this iconic and tumultuous time for both the Movement and the plight of African American civil liberties in general. I'm certain I'm going to enjoy this flick. In fact, I'm highly looking forward to checking it out when I get some down time this weekend. I have intelligent friends with great tastes in movies, so it's a no-brainer for me. If anyone else has seen this, please chime in below in the comments section with your impressions.



A WOMAN, A GUN AND A NOODLE SHOP
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Again, this is a movie I didn't get to see before its release this week, but which I've been hearing strong word-of-mouth about over the Interwebs. And, since it's directed by one of my all-time favorite Chinese film directors, Zhang Yimou, I knew I would have to check it out on principle alone. After all, this is the man who's films I dissected in my senior thesis paper back in college. Ah, those were the good ole days! And unlike apparently 95% of the Internet, it seems only I can remember Zhang's cinematic efforts before Hero and House of Flying Daggers--he did already have a name made for himself before these movies, people! Anyway, this latest film of his appears to be a reworking of the 1984 Coen brothers' directorial debut, Blood Simple -- except way more of a screwball comedy this time around. Which is saying a lot if you've been following the zany career of the Coens over the past 25 years. A Woman, a Gun and a Noodle Shop seems to involve all those elements present in the title, but with the added randomness of being set in the desert regions of Gansu province, circa the late 19th century. At the very least, I imagine this film will be rather, ah . . . different from its predecessor set in contemporary Texas. Again, let me know if you've seen this fun-looking flick. I'd like to compare notes.


And that about wraps it up for this week in new Blu-rays. It was a robust offering this time around, and I can't claim my wallet survived the experience all that well. But hey, what can I say? I *love* movies! Case in point, my DVD and Blu-ray collection conveniently listed over on DVD Aficionado. Check it out if you care to see the direction my eclectic home video interests run.