June 10, 2014 by Billy Henehan

Star Wars Half-Marathon Weekend

In case you hadn’t heard, Disney recently announced the first annual Star Wars Half Marathon Weeekend. Events will take place at Disneyland in California from Thursday, January 15-Sunday, January 18. There will be a half marathon, a 10k, a 5k and a kids race. What’s nice about this is that Star Wars fans of different running skill levels can all participate together. Don’t think you’ll be ready for half marathon by January? A 5k is exactly 10 miles less! But for those of you feeling extra adventurous, you can run the Rebel Challenge, which consists of running the 10k on Saturday and then the half marathon on Sunday.

I don’t know why I didn’t see this coming when Disney bought the Star Wars franchise. Disney has been running races of various lengths at its parks for years, many with different themes, including the upcoming first ever Avengers Half Marathon Weekend.

If there’s any downside to the race, it’s the price. The half marathon is $195. The 10k is $105. The Rebel Challenge is $320 ($20 more than signing up for the half and 10k separately, but you do get a third medal and shirt). The 5k is $70. The kids race seems like a bargain at only $20. Now keep in mind, these prices DO NOT include park admission. And don’t forget about hotel and airfare. As a Disney Marathon veteran, I strongly suggest staying on a Disney property. Disney starts their races very early, as in pre-dawn. If you’re at a Disney property, you’ll have a much easier time getting to the starting line.

All that said, as a Star Wars fan and a runner, I am hugely excited for this. Search your feelings. You know you are too. Now I just need to find some running rights with Correllian stripes going down the side.

If you’re interested in running this race, I definitely recommend signing up for it quickly. Disney races tend to sell out fast, and with the added appeal of this being the first ever Star Wars themed race run by Disney, I expect it to sell out even faster. Registration for the Star Wars Half begins TODAY at 12 noon EDT onthe Run Disney website. You know I’ll be hitting f5 starting at 11:59!

June 9, 2014 by Billy Henehan

Agents of SHIELD – S1E20 – Nothing Personal – Recap

I have to say, I really like the synergy that Agents of SHIELD and Captain America: The Winter Soldier have together. Having the story from Captain America: The Winter Soldier tie in so much with the last quarter season of Agents of SHIELD has been wonderful.

Nothing Personal by Stephanie Hans (Art of Level 7)

Colbie Smulders guest stars in this episode, reprising her role as Fury’s second-in-command Maria Hill, who when we saw her last at the end of Winter Soldier was taking a job with Tony Stark. Hill is still at Stark. When we catch up to her this episode, she’s heading to her car, and making every agent trailing her along the way. She soon realizes that those agents she made have all been waylaid. For a moment, I thought Blackout had returned from last episode, but it’s quickly revealed to May whose behind the agents being taken out. May quickly explains what’s going on with Coulson and company.

Speaking of Coulson, FitSimmons and Triplett, they’re very surprised when they return to Fury’s secret base only to find everyone gone. They review the tapes and see that May left first heading one way and then Skye and Ward left with the Bus heading the other way. But where is Koenig? FitzSimmons discover the answer to that question, as Fitz finds the “WARD IS HYDRA” scrawled on one of Koenig’s exterior mood photos just as Simmons finds Koenig’s body.

Fitz cannot bring himself to believe that Ward is Hyrdra. He bonded with Ward a lot when they went in the field together. He wants to believe Ward is still a good guy, to the point of questioning what they know about Triplett when Triplett tries calming Fitz down. Fitz makes his way through all five stages of grief fairly quickly, and focuses his anger at Ward in a positive direction, namely getting Skye back.

Speaking of Skye, she and Ward head to the diner where she first met Mike Peterson in the pilot episode. Skye claims that’s where the geolock on the drive can be opened. It’s interesting watching their conversations. On the one hand, it feels like it should be painfully obvious to Ward that Skye is onto her and to Skye that Ward knows she’s onto him, so the diner scene comes off like neither of them wanting to acknowledge it, though Skye sure does get close.

Up north at Fury’s base, ~~Nathan from Heroes~~ , Talbot arrives to arrest Coulson and company just as they’re about to take off to rescue Skye. Coulson gets the best line when he asks Talbot if his men are going to shoot him, because if they are, he’s not going to come out. How’d Talbot and the army find Coulson? Maria Hill led them there as part of her deal. Nice job, Hill. To Hill’s credit, once it’s revealed that Talbot is not going to go lightly on Coulson and his agents, Hill helps them escape. Man, Colbie Smulders is really good at fight scenes. Now that How I Met Your Mother has ended, I hope she becomes a regular fixture on this show.

In LA, Skye makes her move. The diner is filling up with cops, fast. Ward notices. Skye plays dumb, but then reveals that she alerted them to Ward’s presence and fugitive status on her laptop. Skye’s been playing Ward the whole time, as the geolock for the drive wasn’t this diner. I really liked when Skye called Ward a Nazi, and then backed it up by pointing out that Hydra was founded by the Red Skull, a Nazi. In the ensuing melee with the police, Skye bolts. Now hold on a second. Aren’t the LAPD a little more trigger happy than the cops shown here? Ward is taking out a room full of cops and none of them shoot him in even the leg? Come on…

Skye steals a police car. Just when she thinks she’s free, Deathlok literally drops in her. Ward and Deathlok return Skye to the Bus. Skye is ready to not tell them anything, until Deathlok induces a heart attack in Ward. Seeing Ward dying gets Skye to talk. Skye tells them that geolock has nothing to do with latitude or longitude, it’s all about altitude. I feel a Jimmy Buffet song coming on…

Actually, can we talk about Deathlok for a minute? I can’t figure this guy out. I get that Garrett is giving him commands in his eyeball all day, but he talks like he’s really into what he’s doing. I just don’t get Mike Peterson these days. There doesn’t seem to be any hesitation in him going along with the villains. I get that he wants to keep his son safe from harm, but you’d like there would be more internal dilemma here. Sure, Garrett is giving Mike commands, and sees through Mike’s eyes, but he can’t see if Mike were to gesture frantically at people or mouth something to them. I’d really love to get an episode told solely from Deathlok’s POV one day, or half told from the Agents’ POV and the other half showing the same events from Deathlok’s POV.

Hill, Coulson and company block their take-off, sort of. The bus can take off vertically, but Hill does threaten to blow them out of the sky if they take off. It’s a Mexican standoff, but Ward gets Hill to blink first, or so Ward thinks. Hill lets him take off, but this was all a distraction so that Coulson could sneak onto the Bus through the landing gear.

Once on the Bus, Coulson finds Skye, who ask him what his plan is for dealing with Deathlok. Coulson’s reaction? “Deathlok’s here?” Deathlok’s here. Coulson and Skye flee to the hanger and jump in Lola. Ward and Deathlok catch up to them and start firing. Ward is definitely trying to take off Coulson’s head. Coulson manages to open the cargo bay door and drop Lola from the Bus. Unfortunately, Lola’s thrusters are all out of whack from being shot at by Coulson and Deathlok. Skye almost goes flying out. Coulson: “I told you to buckle up!” Coulson is the best. Coulson manages to right Lola enough to drop it perfectly in a tight parallel parking spot near the valet outside the Ritz Carlton. Skye’s hair is hilarious, as is the valet nonchalantly asking them for $20. I really wish Rob Huebel played the valet in this scene, even if it was just for one line. Yes, yes, I know we already saw Huebel in the series in a previous episode. I just like the guy so much.

Skye’s free. Coulson has the team back together…yeah, minus Ward, but what can you do? Unfortunately, Maria Hill goes back to Stark. Coulson tells her to say hi for him, but then remembers that Stark still thinks Coulson is dead.

At the end of the episode, May lets a bombshell drop. She shows Coulson the video of who was in charge of TAHITI. It was Coulson! Coulson obviously has no recollection of this, but in the video, he advises Fury to shut down TAHITI. The program was initially devised for bringing back any of the Avengers if they should fall, but Coulson warned that the test subjects are too unstable. Huh, Coulson was in charge of TAHITI, and Fury used it to bring back Coulson even though Coulson warned him against using it. I feel like Coulson can still be mad at Fury if he wants to be.

Comic Book Connection:

Early in the episode, Maria Hill says, “I don’t know even know what a Man-Thing is.” Lucky for you, I do! Man-Thing is a Marvel comic book character created int he 1970s. It lives in the swamps of the Florida Everglades. Think Swamp Thing, but creepier looking…and less interesting. Unlike Swamp Thing, Man-Thing never speaks, making his stories a bit on the dull side in my opinion. Also unlike Swamp Thing, anything that knows fear burns at Man-Thing’s touch, like literally bursts into flames. There aren’t many things that don’t freak out when a giant swamp creature ambles in their direction.

June 8, 2014 by Billy Henehan

Game of Thrones – S4E9 – The Watchers on the Wall

Hi there, and welcome to another Game of Thrones recap. This recap has many spoilers for season 4, episode 9, The Watchers on the Wall. If you haven’t seen the episode yet, come back after you have. I’d hate to be the one to spoil things for you. A small caveat to new readers: forgive my use of nicknames. I use them to keep track of characters whose names I don’t remember. I have not read the books. If you have read the books, I ask that you not spoil future events on the show for those of us who haven’t. Okay, on with the recap!

It’s all Wall this episode. Wall to wall Wall, perhaps?

Last week, I wondered when we’d get to see the Wildlings attacking the Wall. I figured it would have to happen during the two last episodes or the onset of it would happen at the very last scene of the season. I didn’t think they they’d devote a whole episode to the Wildling attack. I’m not complaining. Yes, this episode was basically one giant fight scene, but it was one giant, AWESOME fight scene.

The fight doesn’t start immediately. At the start of the episode, Jon and Sam are atop the Wall on watch. Sam is pestering Jon to find out what sex is like. He figures since they’re all going to die in this Wildling attack, he’ll never find out for himself. Jon tries to play it off, but man, Sam will really not let this go. Jon tells Sam to get some sleep.

At the Wildling camp, Jon’s ex girl, Red, is ready to kill. Big Bald Scarface calls her out, saying that she’s still soft for Jon Snow. But Red says that not only will she kill Jon, but she’ll kill anyone who tries to kill him first. Unbeknownst to them, Gilly…or someone else up there holding a baby…sneaks past them.

Maester Heyman (sp?) walks in on Sam in the library. This maester is blind, right? Just checking. He looks blind. Sam’s looking something up. Oh, he’s looking up what Wildlings do when they kill people. Hasn’t Sam seen Wildlings in the flesh before? Does he really need to look this up? Maester Heyman says his real name is Eamon Targaryan. Whattttt? Did we know this already? So, he’s Dany’s great uncle, right? Was he the one who Grandma told Princess Low Cut about wooing back in the day?

Hey, that girl sneaking past the Wildlings before, it is Gilly! She’s trying to get in the gate, but the guy guarding the gate isn’t having it. Lucky for her, Sam is wandering by at this same moment. Basically, Sam gets the guy to open the gate by cursing. The guy’s never heard Sam curse before. Gilly’s inside. Sam takes her and the baby off somewhere to hide.

Up on the Wall, horns are blowing. Get ready for Fight Night, everyone. There’s an owl on the Wall. A bald Wildling is seeing through the owl, using the same trick Brann does. Baldy wakes up and says it’s time.

There are a few inspiring speeches this episode. Jon’s Jerk Boss gets to make one here. The guy’s a dick during peacetime, but he knows how to handle things once the firing starts. His troops are beyond nervous, but he barks them into line.

Sam stows Gilly in the meat locker. Gilly doesn’t want Sam to leave, but Sam gets all John Wayne on her and tells her that a man’s got to do what a man’s got to do (Alternatively, you could say he got all Dr. Horrible on her based on that line). Gilly and Sam kiss before Sam goes off to save the day.

Sam patrols with another crow that makes Sam look like the bravest man in Westeros. But sure enough, Sam talks up some courage into this coward.

Red spies the entrance to Castle Black and reports back. The Wildlings douse their campfire and rush the south gate. The huge Wildling army emerges from the treeline near the Wall. Whoa, they’ve got giants riding mammoths! Correction: they have one giant riding one mammoth, and another giant standing nearby. Still, that’s two giants and a mammoth. They’re all 3/3 and the mammoth has trample. Sorry, I was just flashing back to playing Magic: The Gathering in high school.

As the Wildlings attack the southern gate, Jon’s Jerk Boss leaves the Wall to confront them. Once he hits the courtyard, he gives another inspiring speech. This guy really is great in wartime. I kind of feel bad for not knowing his name and only referring to him as Jon’s Jerk Boss.

Red Beard takes out a bunch of crows as he makes it over the gate. Sam and his new cowardly friend retreat as everyone else there dies.

Up on the Wall, Jerk Face’s Second is freaking out. Jon’s BBFF (Bearded Best Friend Forever) tricks him into going down to the courtyard, leaving Jon in charge. Jon gets to shine here. He’s a natural leader and calm under immense pressure. The men shoot arrows and drop barrels Donkey Kong style on the Wildlings below.

Whoa! Giants shoot giant arrows, big enough to smash through a platform and send a man impaled on an arrow into the courtyard below. I guess I shouldn’t be so surprised that a giant would have a giant bow that shot giant arrows, but yes, I was surprised during that scene. That was one of the coolest scenes of the whole episode.

Sam’s new friend takes out one of the Wildlings with a crossbow. He’s psyched. It’s his first kill. Sam’s reaction is great. He deadpans, “Is it over? Well then.” His friend gets the message and lines up another shot…but is taken out with an arrow through the neck by Red. Damn, Red looks so bad ass when they show her here. She’s like a small, red headed, female John Rambo.

Red Beard and Jon’s Jerk Boss fight. It’s a good fight. Red Beard gets the better of him, but not before Jerk Boss gets some good shots in. Some crows manage to help the injured Jerk Boss escape with his life as he yells for his men to hold the gate.

Sam stays with his new bud until he dies. He then makes his way to the elevator to the top of the wall. A Wildling charges him, but Sam drops him with a crossbow bolt. The kid elevator operator is freaking out. Sam manages to calm him down and tells the kid to find a weapon and fight. The kid spies a bow.

Jon is surprised to see Sam atop the Wall. Sam gives him news of below. Jon puts another guy in charge and heads down. It’s kind of funny how quickly being in charge of the Wall’s top is being passed from man to man. This new guy in charge gets possibly the best line of the episode when he says, “Might as well enjoy our last night, right boys? Light the fuckers up!”

The two giants are getting ready to hitch their mammoth to the gate. The crows drop flaming barrels on the giants. Someone has really been studying his Donkey Kong. If the giants had read up on Donkey Kong tactics, they would have known to have a hammer on hand to take out these barrels. Side note, mammoths REALLY do not like being set on fire. Who knew?

One giant goes after the mammoth. That giant dies from the business end of a crow spear. The other giant is so pissed about his mammoth being on fire and his buddy being dead that he gets that crazy mom strength, you know, like when a mom can lift a car off her child, and lifts the gate up on his lonesome. Jon sends his BBFF and some men to hold the inner gate from that giant. They reach the inner gate just as the giant has made it past the outer gate. The giant charges them and the inner gate. They’re scared, but BBFF gets them fired up by having them chant their oaths.

Jon sends Sam to free Ghost. Jon tears through four Wildlings before the other crows even leave the elevator. As Sam runs from one side of the castle to another to free Ghost, we get a very cool, extended long shot that shows all the fighting going on in the castle, highlighting all the major players. Once free, Ghost tears through the Wildlings. I want a dire wolf so bad.

Big Bald Scarface spots Jon and it’s on. Man, they both want each other dead. This is another very cool one on one fight. During this fight, Red runs out of arrows. She scampers around, grabbing some. Scarface gains the advantage when he knocks Jon’s sword from his hand. Red spots Jon and Big Bald Scarface fighting. BBS slams Jon into an anvil face first and then throws him through a fire. Just when it looks like Jon might be done, Jon picks up a hammer and slams it into Scarface’s head. Pure Donkey Kong Playbook, my friends.

Red confronts Jon. She kneels 10 feet from him, with an arrow trained on him. Jon smiles at her. The briefest hint of a smile crosses her face before an arrow goes through her heart. Jon’s shocked. It’s that kid elevator operator, the one whom Sam told to get a weapon and fight who shot her. Red’s dying. Jon holds her. She says they should have stayed in that cave. Jon tries to comfort her by saying they’ll go back there. She says, “You know nothing Jon Snow,” and dies. “You know nothing, Jon Snow” is the “As you wish” of Game of Thrones. Despite the battle raging around him, Jon holds her one last time. Man, I was really hoping these two kids would get out of this together, like two young lovers in a Bruce Springsteen song.

Atop the Wall, the guy in charge yells for the men to “Drop the scythe!” Holy crap, that scythe is cool. It’s basically a giant metal ax on a chain that swings down, cleaving the ice on the Wall and everything else in its wake. After this, the Wildlings retreat. But as the guy in charge points out, the Wildlings still outnumber them 1,000 to 1.

Down below, Red Beard is full of arrows, but still raging. Jon tries to reason with him, but Red Beard still wants to fight. Like a scene out of Raiders of the Lost Ark, Red Beard swings his sword in defiance and Jon shoots him with a crossbow. Jon orders that Red Beard be locked up.

Sam and Gilly reunite. They’re totally going to do it.

The next day, the crows are cleaning up. Jon and Sam are walking together. Sam’s more upbeat than Jon is. I think Sam got some. Jon tells Sam his plan, which is find the Wildling commander, the one who organized all these war parties together, and kill him. Sam tells him it’s a bad idea, so Jon asks him if he has a better one. One their way to the gate, they find the body of BBFF, the other crows and the giant. Damn, I liked BBFF. But they held the line. Jon tells Sam to get some men and burn their dead brothers’ bodies. Once they reach the gate, Jon asks Sam to watch his sword, since he promised he wouldn’t lose it again. Why isn’t Jon taking Ghost with him? Ghost survived the battle, right? Ghost is not allowed to die off camera! Jon exits the gate, resigned to his fate. Sam tells him to come back alive.

One episode to go this season! I wonder if we’ll see Jon again next episode or if his story won’t pick up again until Season 5. Man, this has really been a great season!

June 5, 2014 by Billy Henehan

Game of Thrones – S4E8 – The Mountain and the Viper – Recap

This recap contains spoilers about Game of Thrones season 4 through episode 8, so if you’re not caught up, come back when you are. Comments are always welcome, however, I have not read the books, so if you have, please keep your knowledge of future events on the show to yourself. Thanks!

The episode starts at the best little whorehouse north of the wall, the one where Sam left Gilly. Things aren’t going well for Gilly. She’s trying to keep her head down, but one of the tougher looking whores (and local burp contest champion) gets in her face about her baby crying. Gilly’s saved from having to brawl with the Burp Queen by the arrival of the giant Wildling army. Okay, maybe saved isn’t the right word. The Wildlings literally cut through the entire town and whore house, killing everyone in sight. The ceilings are dripping blood from the floors above. Amazingly, this would not be the grossest visual in this episode.

Lucky for Gilly and her son, it’s Jon Snow’s ex who finds her hiding in a closet. Seeing the baby, she lets Gilly and her baby live. Man, you take the girl out of Dowling Gardens, but you can’t take the Dowling Gardens out of the girl…

At Castle Black, Sam is seriously distraught. He believes Gilly dead after the attack, and is inconsolable. One of his brother crows points out that Gilly has survived everything from Craster to a White Walker, so maybe she’s alive. This is enough to get Sam out of his funk. I wonder how much longer this Wildling army bit will be drawn out. Will will see their attack on Castle Black some time in the next two episodes? Or will the oncoming horde be the final scene of episode 10?

Over in Mereen, the men and women don’t bathe together…but they do bathe about 50 feet from each other with no barrier between them. Grey Worm, the captain of the Unsullied, is taking advantage of this, checking out Dany’s assistant. For those of you keeping score at home, I think this is the first time we see her topless. Captain Unsullied really likes to watch. I think he’s sullying himself. Dany’s assistant notices, and at first seems into it, but is then creeped out and covers up.

Okay, she was definitely creeped out, because she reports this incident to Dany. I would love for these two scenes to be featured in some company’s HR video. ‘Here’s how to respond to unwanted advances.” Dany’s a little confused about the incident though. She wonders how unsullied her men are, asking if they’ve had the pillar as well as the stones removed. Side note: I am now referring to my junk as the pillar and the stones.

Missandei and Grey Worm meet up, and they tell each other that they were both into it. Hey Missandei, he might not have a pillar, but he definitely has a pointer.

We cut to Rob Thomas and Reek, who are going through the “I am Theon Greyjoy” plan. Reek certainly looks like Theon again, minus the swagger. Reek approaches a fortress belonging to his father and announces himself. Once inside, Theon/Reek offers the captain the chance to live if they all surrender to Rob Thomas. The captain, who is not doing too well, spits some blood in Theon’s face over the offer and goes on about “Iron born this, iron born that,” and how they don’t surrender, and if he really was Theon Greyjoy, he’d know that. Reek’s veneer starts to crack, but his sales pitch is saved by one of the captain’s men putting an ax firmly in the captain’s head. The ax man is interested in this surrendering business. Oh sorry, ax man, you chose the wrong door. Behind the door marked surrender was your body flayed of its skin from the neck down. I think you’re also missing an eye or two (won’t be the last time this happens this episode). Better luck next time!

Up at the Aerie, Littlefinger is sitting before a tribunal in regards to Aunt Crazy’s death. Things aren’t going well for him. They call in Sansa as a witness, who announces she can lie no longer…and then proceeds to lie her ass off to help Littlefinger. Hey Littlefinger, you’re still in the courtroom! The tribunal can see you! Stop smiling so much!

Back in Mereen, Sir Barriston is given a sealed scroll. Whose mark is this on the wax? Do we know? The scroll is the royal pardon of Friend Zone signed by King Robert. Sir Barriston confronts Friend Zone about this and then immediately brings it to Dany’s attention. Things don’t go well for Friend Zone. It turns out that women are less impressed with you saving them from poisoned wine if you’re the guy who gave the information as to where the assassin should be in the first place. I think Tuesday Night Movies contributor Sarvenaz Tash put it best when she tweeted…

https://twitter.com/SarvenazTash/status/473286703877464065

Friend Zone leaves town like David Banner at the end of an episode of The Incredible Hulk. I kind of wish they played the Hulk’s closing credits music during this scene.

Back north, Rob Thomas gets what Jon Snow never got, an acknowledgement of some fatherly love. Praise Ned Stark all you want, but at the end of the day, Rob Thomas’s father let him drop Snow and take the family name. That said, he’ll always be Rob Thomas to me.

In the Aerie, Littlefinger is questioning Sansa as to why she helped him. He’s doing this in a Christian Bale Batman voice. Sansa does not answer with “Why so serious?” Instead, she lets Littlefinger know that his being alive is beneficial to her. Westeros look out! Sansa is being proactive!

Cleared of any wrongdoing, Littlefinger suggests that Robin be sent out into the lands around the Aerie, so that he can get a better understanding of the people and lands he will one day oversee. I see this going as well as when an animal raised in captivity is released into the wild.

Sansa enters the room where Littlefinger and Robin are. She’s wearing a new dress and walking with a new confidence. Just as Arya is turning into Mini-Hound, I feel Sansa is turning into Mini-Littlefinger.

Arya and the Hound complete their season long journey to the Aerie, just in time to find out that Aunt Crazy is dead. Arya’s reaction is priceless. She just laughs her ass off. I look forward to Arya and Sansa’s reunion. Both have grown as characters so much since they last saw each other. And do they each even think the other is alive?

Tyrion is visited by Jaime again. I won’t lie, as this scene was starting, I was looking at my watch. Other than Dany defriending Friendzone, this has been a fairly uneventful episode so far. But here it is, Tyrion’s trial by combat, ~~Inigo Montoya~~ the Red Viper vs. the Mountain!

I had a bad feeling about the Red Viper’s chances as soon as he told his lady friend that he didn’t plan on dying today. Anytime someone in Westeros announces that they don’t plan on dying that day, I feel that their chances of dying that day increase dramatically.

Wow, the Mountain is big, especially compared to the Red Viper. The Red Viper strikes an early advantage, slicing at the Mountain and dodging all of his blows. But the Red Viper doesn’t want to just win. He wants the Mountain to publicly admit that he raped and killed the Red Viper’s sister and murdered her children. Seriously, how does anyone not see the Inigo Montoya comparison during this scene? His “You raped her. You murdered her. You killed her children.” sounds so much like “My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die.” I kept waiting for the Mountain to ask what the Red Viper wanted, and for his response to be, “I want my sister back, you son of a bitch.”

The original Red Viper.

Inigo is toying with the Mountain. He clearly wants to fight to the pain. People in the audience are very amused to see the underdog come out on top, especially Jaime Lannister.

When Big Red then wanted the Mountain to implicate Tywin Lannister as the person whose orders the Mountain was following when he raped and murdered his sister, I had a feeling the shit was definitely going to hit the fan. I thought Inigo might jump into the stands and kill Tywin in front of everyone. Instead the Mountain makes a comeback usually reserved for the Undertaker in WWE matches and pops Inigo 2.0’s head like a watermelon. When the Mountain was gouging Big Red’s eyes, all I could think was that it looked like pressing your thumbs into a cherry pie. It’s been a few days since I watched the episode and I both cannot get that scene out of my head and cannot bring myself to watch it again. I think I’d rather watch the Red Wedding again before watching this scene a second time. That said, enjoy it all you want below.

Have fun trying to fall asleep after watching this.

I thought maybe both Inigo and the Mountain would die, leading to a mistrial by combat, but it looks like the Mountain lived, because the episode ends with Tywin sentencing Tyrion to death.

Okay, Jaime, time to bust your brother out of jail and hit the road, Dukes of Hazzard style!

June 3, 2014 by Billy Henehan

Tuesday Night Comics Podcast Episode 22

In the twenty second episode of the Tuesday Night Comics podcast, Billy and Dave give their picks for new comic books being released on Wednesday, 6/4/14. They also discuss the varying levels of coolness and creepiness of DC’s Bombshell variant covers and statues.

You’ll also hear about artist Howard Porter’s amazing story of coming back from injury to draw again, the best comics of last week, and why you should pick up Cowl #1 by Kyle Higgins and Rod Reis if your shop has any left.

Plus, is Miles Morales coming to the Marvel 616 and just what is going on with Marvel possibly cancelling the Fantastic Four?

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

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June 3, 2014 by Billy Henehan

Special Edition: NYC Saturday Panel Guide

Special Edition: NYC is right around the corner, taking place at the Javits Center in New York City on Saturday, June 14 and Sunday, June 15. Unlike New York Comic Con, Special Edition: NYC is going to be strictly comic book focused. Don’t mistake this for a lesser show though. The Big Two publishers, Marvel and DC, will both be at Special Edition: NYC, and they (and others) are planning some very cool panels. Here’s our picks for the best panels happening on Saturday at Special Edition: NYC.

11:00 – 12:00 – DC Comics: Art Masters – Francis Manapul, Joe Prado and other DC artists will be talking art in this panel. I’m hoping this panel involves some live drawing on a big screen for fans to see. (Theater A – 1E19)

12:15 – 1:15 – Marvel’s All-New Young Guns – Once the DC art panel wraps, stay in your seat and listen to Marvel’s artists talk about their craft and upcoming projects. Mahmud Asrar, Sara Pichelli and Ryan Stegman will be on the panel, among others. (Theater A – 1E19)

1:30 – 2:30 – Mike Allred Spotlight – Okay, at this point, you can just stay in Theater A – 1E19 all day and witness some awesome lectures on comic book art. Any listener of the Tuesday Night Comics Podcast knows that I am a HUGE Mike Allred fan. This is must-attend for me, and should be for you as well. PS – Allred’s new Silver Surfer comic is a must-read. (Theater A – 1E19)

1:45 – 2:45 – Archie: Life, Afterlife and Beyond – Afterlife with Archie is one of the most unique comic books to debut in the past year, and takes Archie and the Riverdale crew into all-new territory. The creative team of Afterlife with Archie, Robert Aguirre-Sacasa and Francesco Francavilla, will both be at this panel. (Theater B – 1E21)

3:00 – 4:00 – Rocket Girl: Past and Futures – Rocket Girl was one of the coolest books to debut at NYCC 2013. Creators Amy Reeder and Brandon Montclare will be at this panel to talk all things Rocket Girl. If you haven’t checked out this series yet, I highly recommend you do! (Theater B – 1E21)

4:00 – 5:00 – Reimagining the Female Hero – Some of the best female creators in comics today, including Amy Reeder, Jenny Frison and Marguerite Bennett, will be on this panel discussing evolution of the female hero in comics. (Theater A – 1E19)

4:15 – 5:15 – Comic Book Club – Live! – I’ve attended Comic Book Club – Live! shows in the past and absolutely love them. These guys produce one of the best comic book related podcasts around and are very entertaining. They also tend to give away comics at their shows, so…bonus! (Theater B – 1E21)

5:15 – 6:45 – Creator Connection – Are you a writer looking for an artist? An artist looking for a writer? Check out this networking event and you may find your next creative partner. It will be interesting to see what comics spawn from this event. (Theater A – 1E19)

Tickets are currently available to Special Edition: NYC at specialeditonnyc.com.

Tuesday Night Movies

Movie reviews, Comics & General Geekery

Monthly Archives: June 2014