HBO greenlights A Game of Thrones pilot!

[keg in kc]

EDIT: Changed the original header to mark this as the thread where spoilers are allowed (but not necessarily recommended...). Created a new, spoiler-free thread for Ice and Fire virgins...


This is awesome...

Huge, Huge News

Nov. 11th, 2008 at 10:29 PM

HBO has given the production order.

They will be filming the pilot episode of A GAME OF THRONES.

It's just the pilot so far. They'll need to see that before they decide whether to proceed with a full season's episodes. So let's all hope the pilot will kick serious ass.

It should. David Benioff and Dan Weiss did a terrific job with the script. And yes, all of you can relax, it's very faithful. Dan and David will be the executive producers for the pilot and (we hope) the eventual series.

More details when I have 'em. The news is very fresh. HBO just issued their own press release, which should be up on their website soon, if it's not there already.

Winter is coming to HBO. Hot damn.

[vailpass]

Originally Posted by Bowser

This guy sums up the most important event of Season 1 -

(spoilers here, you moran)

I had forgotten about this one.

[Hawk]

Originally Posted by vailpass

I had forgotten about this one.

Haha, that one was pretty funny!

[Swanman]

Originally Posted by Hawk

Haha, that one was pretty funny!

Funny pic

[NewChief]

Originally Posted by Bowser

This guy sums up the most important event of Season 1 -

(spoilers here, you moran)

His actual sitdown vblogs where he discusses the episodes in length are pretty good. The one for that episode is really good and hilarious.

That video is super funny, though, because it seems like some hardass black dude is flipping out for a fantasy video. The actual guy is kind of a fanboy nerd, though, you realize when you watch his vblogs.

[keg in kc]

[keg in kc]

Damn, Craster's Keep looks exactly how I always envisaged it.

[vailpass]

I want to see how they cast Tormund Giantsbane, Mance Rayder, The Weeper, Harma Dogshead, Varamyr Sixskins, the giants and the rest of the Free Folk when the time comes.
Tormund is a funny bastard.

[Hawk]

Peter Dinklage will win another Emmy this year, he should absolutely shine this season gvien Tyrion's role in book 2.

Robb Stark is such a better character on the show than in the books. He's going to kick some butt this season as well.

[keg in kc]

[KcMizzou]

Originally Posted by keg in kc

Damn, I can't wait for this. I want to see it all at once..lol

[Hawk]

A slew of reviews have been released the last couple of days for Season 2 (first 4 episodes were screened for critics). Nearly all of them (other than some bitter dude at the NYT) have been extremely positive, and many of them have been downright effusive in their praise giving it 4 stars or calling it the best show on TV!

Looking forward to Sunday night!

[Red Brooklyn]

Great write up from The Atlantic. http://www.theatlantic.com/entertain...hrones/255233/

The Fantastic Ambition of 'Game of Thrones'
MAR 30 2012, 8:02 AM ET 16

The HBO show's second season, which premieres this weekend, has an even wider scope than the first.

Among the fondest memories of my 1970s childhood is that of my father reading Tolkien to me: The Hobbit first and, later, The Lord of the Rings. I followed up with what was, at the time, a fairly common male-nerd-adolescent diet of science fiction, Dungeons & Dragons, and the occasional foray back into sword-and-sorcery lit. I'd read the Narnia books, of course, and tried my hand at the Sword of Shannara series, Michael Moorcock's Elrics and Hawkmoons and Corums, and various other shadows cast by Tolkien's sun. But by my mid-teens, I'd pretty much concluded that the fantasy genre had reached a premature apogee with J.R.R. that it was unlikely to approach again. My infrequent toe-dips into the enchanted pool in the years since (His Dark Materials, etc.) did little to alter this assessment.

Until Games of Thrones. I approached the first season of the HBO show, based on George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series, with great skepticism—and burned through it at a two-episode-a-night clip. Then came the books. My initial plan was to read only the first, and save the others (there are a total of five to date) until after I'd watched the relevant seasons of the show. That plan lasted for perhaps an hour beyond my completing the first book. (Perhaps less.) A Clash of Kings, A Storm of Swords, A Feast for Crows, A Dance with Dragons—the pages flew like ravens, despite the burgeoning girth of each successive tome. (The most recent could double as an end table.) And then: emptiness. An absence of purpose. The endless ticking of days until the resumption of HBO's exceptional adaptation, by David Benioff and D.B. Weiss.

Relief is at hand, at last.

In the show's first season, we were introduced to Martin's vast chessboard, the land of Westeros, and its central pieces: the Starks of Winterfell (chilly, stubborn, loyal to a fault), the Lannisters of Casterly Rock (rich, sly, addicted to ambition), and, spiraling outward from them, Arryns, Baratheons, Targaryens, and their respective retinues of warriors and whisperers. The dynastic was leavened with just a hint of the fantastic: a pack of dire wolves, a crate of dragon eggs, a smattering of undead.

With the second season, set to premiere this Sunday, the focus widens further still: wildlings from the north, the Ironborn from the west, storylines scattered across two continents. Indeed, nearly every one of the early episodes has been forced to amend the mechanized map featured in the show's title sequence in order to squeeze in yet another relevant locale: the island redoubts of Dragonstone and Pyke; cursed, molten Harrenhaal; exotic Qarth. (Not to be confused with Tarth, which is another place altogether, the alphabet itself scarcely capable of accommodating the breadth of Martin's vision.) The peace that had prevailed in Westeros has been broken, and self-anointed kings lie thick on the ground. Plots and counter-plots unfurl, alliances are made and betrayed. Through the first four episodes (which are all I've seen), no one of consequence has yet lost his head. But unless I'm mistaken, regal blood will run red before the credits roll in episode 5.

Like the first season, this one looks to be a triumph, though (also like the first) it takes a little while to gather velocity. Unlike Martin, who dumps readers in the middle of unfamiliar settings and circumstances and challenges them to keep up, showrunners Benioff and Weiss are more deliberate. Several scenes have been inserted with the apparent intent of reintroducing existing characters—here's a quick confrontation that tells you what you need to know about Cersei Lannister; here's another that summarizes the history between Catelyn Stark and Petyr Baelish—presumably on the assumption that there will be a sizable population of new viewers who skipped season one. (If I may pause to offer advice: Don't be one of them. Start at the beginning like a sensible person.)

Thus far the second season takes greater liberties than the first: some, as above, in the service of clarity; others for the sake of concision (an issue that will loom ever larger); and still others to make explicit an idea that Martin's books offered only obliquely—the fate of Craster's sons, for example, or the exact provenance of Melisandre's shadow assassin. In Martin's telling, it is unclear whether newcomer Margaery Tyrell is a true innocent or devious schemer; the casting of Natalie Dormer (Anne Boleyn in Showtime's The Tudors), with her sloe eyes and longitudinal necklines, quickly puts that question to rest, substituting one kind of mystery for another.

However one feels about Benioff and Weiss's infidelities, though, it is clear that they know what they're doing. The meticulousness of the show may differ in its particulars from the meticulousness of the novels, but it is unmistakable—in the first-rate dialogue, the sharp segues, the careful sowing of seeds that will bear fruit episodes later. The spirit of Martin's epic, moreover, is ever in evidence, glinting with malice and irony.

There are quibbles that can be made: I'm not yet persuaded by some of the casting choices (notably for Stannis Baratheon and his mage-muse Melisandre), and there are times when the limitations of HBO's budget show. Those who were nonplussed about the frequent sexing-up of the material—I was agnostic, but am beginning to tire of it—will have plenty more to nonplus them moving forward.

That said, there is so much more to like than not: the amiable sneer of Bronn the sellsword; the stoic decency of Gendry the blacksmith-boy; the look of moral dyspepsia that regularly crosses the lovely features of Cersei Lannister. And Tyrion, the Imp! Peter Dinklage already pocketed a Golden Globe and an Emmy for his portrayal of the most likable Lannister in season one. Given the wry wit and subtle mastery he displays in season two, they may have to start inventing new awards to give him.

At one point early in the season, wise Maester Luwin cautions young Bran Stark, "Maybe magic once was a mighty force in the world, but not anymore." One could scarcely ask for a more eloquent rebuttal than Game of Thrones itself.

[KcMizzou]

I kinda wish they'd do a post-episode show like Talking Dead for GoT.

[KcMizzou]

Fantasy epic makes strong case for being one of TV's best series.

At their best, genre series tend to be creative and fun and compelling, but held up to the standards of great dramas, they tend to lack gravitas. This is especially true in the science fiction and fantasy categories, where The X-Files broke the mold and received a best drama Emmy nomination four consecutive seasons from 1995 to ’98 but never won. Lost was nominated four times, winning in its first season (2005) in a battle with the unquestionably great Western series Deadwood (which itself only managed one nomination in three seasons). Perhaps the last sci-fi or fantasy series to be truly taken seriously was the now-defunct remake of Battlestar Galactica, which never received a nomination.

And despite Lost’s victory, the series is unlikely to ever be considered among the truly great dramas of the past 20 years (nor will True Blood, inexplicably nominated for best drama in 2010).

Ah, but from the fantasy realm comes a legitimate contender in HBO’s Game of Thrones, which received a best drama nomination in its freshman season of 2011. The epic series, based on the collection of books from George R.R. Martin, created an amazingly ambitious worldview and supplied it with a vast array of complicated and nuanced characters. The result was a series that immediately put itself in the discussion as one of the best shows on television, a rare and lightning-fast emergence.

On April 1, Game of Thrones returns for its second season and impressively cements the reputation it earned when it burst onto the scene. The first four episodes are rich in storytelling and action and ambition -- a thrilling return to brilliance.

Fans of Martin’s work are lucky (and they know it) that Game of Thrones ended up on HBO, which seems to have spared little money in letting executive producers David Benioff and D.B. Weiss bring Martin’s vision to the small screen. It’s an incredible undertaking to tell such a sprawling story and keep numerous story arcs not only functioning but riveting. (Martin, for those who don’t already know, is a co-executive producer, ensuring nothing hinky or subpar happens to the work.)

After the shocking conclusion (to those who haven’t read the books) of Season 1, where all rule was lost and war was encroaching, Season 2 wastes no time deftly setting up the battles for power yet to come.

Westeros is about to become a battlefield as the five kings (that almost never works out, does it?) try to unite the lands under the Iron Throne. Everyone should know by now that a thirst for power needs a thirst for blood -- and the leading up to war amounts to a lot of conniving and allegiances, not all of them obvious. This is where allies become enemies, and if you don’t have your house in order, as it were, someone will likely try to trample it out of existence.

Although there will probably be myriad twists, we know already that Joffrey (Jack Gleeson) is holed up in King’s Landing sitting on the Iron Throne (that he didn’t earn). His mother Cersei (Lena Headey) continues to pull the puppet-strings. But it’s her brother Tyrion (Peter Dinklage) who seems to be the one to watch, as he’s the smartest Lannister and knows that having a brat for a king -- who mistreats all those around him -- could cause major backlash.

(Some viewers may consider minor plot description in the next three paragraphs to be small spoilers, though they are mostly setting up the main players this season.)

In the north – and the title to the first episode is “The North Remembers” – Robb Stark (Richard Madden) is taking the fight to the Lannisters while seeking to consolidate houses and armies. And for the first time, we see that Stannis Baratheon (Stephen Dillane), next in line to the late King Robert, has risen up from the island of Dragonstone to claim what he believes to be his. This is complicated in two parts: first because he’s allied himself with Melisandre (Carice van Houten) a priestess of otherworldly powers, and secondly because younger brother King Renly Baratheon (Gethin Anthony) doesn’t want to join him nor get out of the way. Renly has married Margaery Tyrell (Natalie Dormer, a familiar face in these types of shows), thus annexing land and armies under the House Tyrell.

Even farther north, Jon Snow (Kit Harington) and the Night’s Watch hear rumbling of yet another king, this one north of The Wall and not from Winterfell. In more arid lands – called the Red Waste – Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke) tries to keep her three young dragons alive (hatched when she walked into husband Khal Drogo’s funeral pyre and lived to tell about it) as well as a ragtag band of Dothraki.

Let’s see – any more kings? Well, yes, sort of. When Robb Stark sends Theon Greyjoy (Alfie Allen) back to his father’s homeland to seek an alliance, we find out that Theon’s father and sister would rather resurrect the Kingdom of the Iron Island if there’s going to be a power vacuum. Nobody wants to share?

As you can sense, the lure of the throne and of power won’t make these various forces unite easily, so Season 2 is shaping up to be, what’s the word – bloody?

It’s a pleasure to see that Game of Thrones hasn’t lost a grip on its ability to tell a vast, interconnected story without slowing down the pace. What’s truly impressive is that as life is breathed into these storylines, Game of Thrones just gets better and more fulfilling as a top-tier television series. The intrigue of the plot and the keenly drawn characters – plus the sense instilled in Season 1 that absolutely anything can happen and no one is safe – makes the show all the more compelling.

There’s a rich tapestry at work in Game of Thrones that precious few series have pulled off, or even attempted. This series makes HBO's late, lamented Rome seem like a minimalist stage play. The result is that fans (and not just the die-hards who have read the books) soak up each episode and wish – like I did after the fourth episode – that there were more than 10 episodes per season. That kind of insatiable sense of wanting to absorb the fertile storytelling, excellent characters/acting and magnificent visuals is a definitive sign that a series is doing virtually everything right.

Game of Thrones is so much more than a genre series, a fantasy epic. It’s a series that doesn’t need to feel dramatically inferior up against the likes of Mad Men or Breaking Bad, Justified or anything else.

It’s quite a feat, this amplification of the achievements in Season 1, and -- though it may be early yet in Season 2 – should ensure more Emmy recognition, genre be damned.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/rev...-Martin-304869

[NewChief]

Awesome article:

http://www.salon.com/2012/03/30/game...nting_lessons/
“Game of Thrones” parenting lessons
by Ned Vizzini • March 30, 2012 •
game_of_thrones

“Game of Thrones” isn’t the most likely parenting guide: Season 1 is bookended with beheadings and chock-full of incest. But when you’re about to be a dad you can find inspiration in unlikely places, and last April I had already maxed out my library renewals on “Your Baby’s First Year for Dummies.”

I didn’t freak out when I found out my wife and I were going to have a son. But as the day approached, I had a crisis of confidence. We were living in a studio in Los Angeles, sleeping on a mattress that smelled like pumpkin beer from the previous fall, driving a two-door, 30-year-old car. How were we supposed to do this?

It turns out I was asking the right questions. We needed a new car and a new house; we got Ford’s least-monstrous SUV and a three-bedroom rental that cost as much as my old Brooklyn one-bedroom. And then, in the final weeks before our son arrived, we started watching “Game of Thrones.” By the time our boy was born, I didn’t want to swaddle him; I wanted to thrust him to the heavens on top of a parapet and declare, “All this will be yours!”

“Game of Thrones” cares about children. Children are heirs. There’s no hemming and hawing about how they’re desensitized to violence or they cost too much to send to college. They’re a blessing — in many ways the only blessing — and even the evil ones have parents who love them.

I tried to remember this as I changed my son’s diapers with the DVR paused and him screaming his head off. If I were Ned Stark, right-hand man to the king and Season 1′s exemplary patriarch, I wouldn’t dare to complain about him. You’re so strong! I thought as he kicked me. A hale and hearty lad! A darling babe at the breast! If Wildlings ransacked the house, they wouldn’t kill you. They’d raise you up to be King-beyond-the-Wall! It helped, and when I unpaused with my wife, I attempted to learn some lessons from “Game of Thrones” about being a dad.

1. If you’re not kicking ass for your family, your son should do it for you.

“Your Baby’s First Year for Dummies” (which is a great book) explained that no matter what I did, I could never prepare for the moment when I brought home a little creature who was completely dependent on me. That’s true, but the good news is it goes the other way. When Ned Stark is shamefully ambushed in King’s Landing, Theon Greyjoy urges his son Robb to take revenge: “It’s your duty to represent your house when your father can’t.” I fully intend to use this line on my son if I ever get arrested.

2. Wean your kid.

Young Robin Arryn’s breast-feeding was voted “Most WTF Moment in GOT”1 at Fanpop, and it’s easy to see why. There’s something unnerving about breast-feeding to begin with. Oh sure, it’s beautiful and natural and it saves money on formula, but it’s a fundamental repurposing of a woman’s body: What was once A is now B (and maybe a little bit of A if the kid’s asleep). The hijacking that starts in pregnancy continues until — well, for Robin, it appears to have gone on way past my wife’s rule: “If he’s old enough to ask for it, he’s too old for it.”

3. The bigger the family, the better.

Once you have a kid, it’s amazing how quickly people ask, “So are you going to stop at just one?” (It’s the third question they ask, after “How’s he sleeping?” and “Are you breast-feeding?” Kids are like privacy repellent.) My simple answer is “no,” because there’s balance in my life right now between the time I spend with my son and the time I spend being me, but “Game of Thrones” has shown me that it’s good to keep an open mind. On the show, you have as many kids as you can. Your kids protect you. They run the castle when you’re away or dead. Little Bran Stark can’t shoot an arrow to save his life, but his sister Arya can. Father Ned smiles: insurance.

4. Give your kid a dog.

I have an issue with dogs — I can’t pick up after them. It’s nothing personal; it just makes me feel like a servant. I limit my janitorial duties to my son, but after seeing the Stark family’s dogs, or direwolves, rip into anyone who threatens their keepers, I’m thinking it might be worth changing my policy. Still: I’m only getting a dog if it’s telepathic and can sense when my son is being menaced by a home invader.

5. It’s supposed to be embarrassing when you introduce people to your father.

Tywin Lannister, father of Tyrion (the antihero dwarf played by Peter Dinklage), is one of the unheralded dads of “Game of Thrones.” He’s fiercely loyal to his children and apt to say things like, “Family is all that lives on.” But he’s tough to love — filthy rich and scary stern — so when Tyrion shows up with his running buddies Shagga and Bron, it’s not a comfortable moment. But you know what? It shouldn’t be. My father would always answer the phone in a Vincent Price voice to scare off my friends. I intend to do the same. I am not my son’s friends’ bro. I am to be feared.

6. Child-proof your house.

OK, if I had more kids, chances are pretty slim that they would fight near a fireplace and one would shove the other’s head into the flames. But those chances are a lot slimmer if I don’t have a fireplace. This is why Sandor Clegane, the fighter whose scarred face is evidence of such an injury, teaches us not only about the emptiness of chivalry, but also child safety. My wife and I noticed quickly after our son was born that there are a ton of rip-off child-safety products out there, including fences that will fall on kids and drawer latches they will choke on. The easiest way to keep your home safe is just to not have things. No pool, no fireplace, no dining-room table, not even a dining room. No scars yet.

7. Don’t cheat.

Cheat on your girlfriend and get in trouble. Cheat on your wife and end up in arbitration. Cheat on the mother of your children, though, and you’re creating a world of hurt for innocent kids — including the bastards you might sire. Jon Snow, illegitimate son of Ned Stark, is so alienated from his half-siblings that he joins the military order of the Night’s Watch, and before he enlists he cuts short his last chance to make love to a woman so he won’t sire an unwanted child like himself. Tragic! Ned tries to reassure him, “You might not have my name, but you have my blood,” but it’s really a father’s responsibility to provide both.

8. Lead by example.

Samwell Tarly, the cowardly whipping boy of the Night’s Watch, confesses that he was told by his father, “You’re not worthy of my land and title” before he was stripped of his inheritance and sent into service. Now, Sam can’t fight, he has bad eyesight, and he hasn’t really been taking care of his body — but I’d like to see his dad. I bet the man isn’t a paragon of courage or self-control. Kids learn by example, and it starts early. When it comes to food, for instance, I thought my wife’s pregnancy would let us both load up on pickles and ice cream, but she said that her condition was no excuse to turn her body into a garbage dump, and she kept me on the straight-and-narrow, too. Now our son eats Brussels sprouts and mackerel. If I go up a pant size, I feel like I’m letting him down.

9. Whatever you do for your family, it won’t necessarily be enough.

“Game of Thrones” is going to have to work hard to top the heart-wrenching death of Ned Stark, but even crueler than his beheading is the lesson behind it. Ned has a chance, when he’s brought before Joffrey the false king, to speak truth to power. He lies to save his family — and gets executed anyway. No matter what I do to keep my family safe, I could end up with my head on a spike (or, more likely, crushed under a bus), so I really should have life insurance.

10. Love all your kids, no matter what.

My favorite father-son moment in “Game of Thrones” is when Tywin Lannister says of his dwarf son Tyrion, “He might be the lowest of the Lannisters, but he’s one of us.” Of course this is a lesson about loving your children no matter how they come out, and I’d like to think my wife and I have the courage to welcome any future additions no matter what prenatal testing reveals, but it’s that “one of us” that gets me. The best part about having a kid, so far, is that I’m an “us.” I’ve managed to go from being alone to helping pilot a unit. It’s like going from private to general, from the mailroom to CEO, but oddly enough I’m less anxious than I was before. Instead of worrying about a lot of little things, I worry about one.