Episode 120: The Bootstrap Paradox, or: Why Is Your Kindle Sticky?

Another season of HBO’s Game of Thrones is behind us, leaving us once again with a pile of dead so high it would embarrass Jerry Garcia, were he not also dead.

This was a big season: not only was it the first that wasn’t completely backed by one of George R. R. Martin’s Song of Ice and Fire novels, but it pushed some fan-favorite characters toward their eventual endgame by (gasp!) allowing some of them to not only live, but to win. And not only to win, but to win in the layman’s sense of the word, not George R. R. Martin’s normal definition of “win,” which is “alive, but mutilated and perhaps covered in latrine leeches.”

So, as is becoming an annual tradition here, we welcomed guest John Keating: an actor, a comedian, and as close to an expert in Game of Thrones as you’re likely to find without riffling through a stack of Martin’s restraining orders.

We discuss the season, the huge arcs some characters have, the double-edged sword of certain characters’ comeuppance, and why the only ones in Westeros qualified to ride The Iron Throne are either ten years old or a quadruped.

In addition, John brings us up to date on The Concessionaires Must Die!, the independent film he co-starred in and co-wrote, which features Stan Lee in a cameo role, and has a new trailer available to psyche you up for when it appears at a film festival near you.

And, we talk about Chuck Tingle. For some reason.

Strap yourselves in, it’s one hell of an episode.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:48:10 — 104.2MB)

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Thanks for listening, suckers!

Episode 75: White Walker Simba

We have a special guest this week: John Keating, a former Boston comedian who now lives in Los Angeles, working as an actor, who has a couple of geek-related projects in the works. He plays a primary character in the independent movie The Concessionaires Must Die!, a film about a bunch of genre geeks who work at a movie theater that’s about to close down, and which features a cameo by Stan Lee (playing someone other than Stan Lee for a change!). John’s also voice acting in a cartoon called Gen Zed, about a group of videogamers living together in a house, starring the first transgender voice actress in a lead role. So we spend some time talking about indie film production, the unique way that the directors and producers of The Concessionaires Must Die! got some early buzz and interest in the flick, and some of the basic ins and outs of voice acting in an animated show!

But John isn’t just an actor, he’s a longtime fellow geek with a huge interest in Game of Thrones. So we spend a lot of time talking about the fifth season of the HBO show, including our favorite and least favorite moments and storylines (hi, Sand Snakes!), some of the greater themes put forth in the season (like the effects of blind faith, and the perils of governing when you misunderstand your subjects), and whether the levels of violence and terror in some parts of the season were justified by the story and characters. And you know which parts we’re talking about.

We also discuss:

• Mad Max Fury Road: Furiosa #1, written by George Miller, Nico Lathouris and Mark Sexton, with art by Sexton, Tristan Jones and Szymon Kudranski, and:
• Thors #1, written by Jason Aaron with art by Chris Sprouse!

And now, the disclaimers:

• We record this show live to tape, with minimal editing (although a couple of parts were cut to eliminate old inside jokes you wouldn’t understand, and to protect our secret identity). While this might mean a looser comics podcast than you are used to, it also means that anything can happen. Like learning the perils of Al Goldstein’s film festival.
• This show contains spoilers. If you haven’t seen Game of Thrones fifth season, be forewarned.
• This show contains adult, profane language, and is therefore not safe for work. Unless you want your employer to hear the name of Al Goldstein’s film festival, get yourself some headphones.

And to get a sense of John’s current projects, here are the trailers for The Concessionaires Must Die!, and Gen Zed!

Thanks for listening, suckers!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 2:35:20 — 140.1MB)

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Game Of Thrones + BTVS = Awesome

In this Game Of Thrones fan trailer, posted by YouTube user zuziako, scenes from the show are set to the Buffy The Vampire Slayer theme by Nerf Herder. In the role of Buffy? Jon Snow. Because, as zuziako puts it in the comments, “Well, he battles the undead.”

He does indeed.

Best quote from the comment thread is by user Joe Coffey:

You know nothing, Buffy Summers.

Miss Buffy? Then check out this never before released footage from behind the scenes of the series over at The Mary Sue. It’ll help keep you going until you can dig out your old BTVS DVDs, or until winter comes back around again.

Via The Mary Sue.

In Our Cups: New Game of Thrones Season 3 Trailer, Episode Synopses

It is St. Patrick’s Day, and that means that we will be adjourning to a local drinking establishment to drink to excess and act like degenerate spastics. Well, the fact that it’s a Sunday means that we will be doing those things; the fact that it’s St. Patrick’s Day means that we will be surrounded by people who are not very good at doing those things.

This commitment to debauchery means that my review of Paul Cornell’s and Alan Davis’s Wolverine #1 will need to wait until tomorrow morning (sneak preview: it’s damn good), but the concept of medieval excess (and, once the rubes get to Green Budweiser number 11 after a pile of corned beef and cabbage, medieval plumbing facilities) brings to mind Game of Thrones, which is returning for it’s third season on HBO on March 31st, and which is therefore in full publicity mode right now.

In fact, HBO has released another preview trailer for the new season, as well as some plot summaries for the individual upcoming episodes, which you can check out after the jump.

Winter Is Coming Back – New Trailer For Game Of Thrones Season 3

“Death is coming for everyone and everything”, says Catelyn Stark in this new trailer for season 3 of Game Of Thrones and I say: it can’t get here fast enough.

Game Of Thrones returns to HBO on March 31 at 9pm.

And, a little treat for everyone who loves to hate Bitch King Joffrey, after the jump.

Ours Would Read “Whiskey. Blackout. Whiskey.”: Miguel Lokia’s Game Of Thrones Parody Banners

This isn’t news or important information or anything but cool, but Miguel Lokia, an artist on DeviantArt and Flickr who goes by the handle Lokiable, has Photoshopped some cool geek and pop culture versions of House banners from Game of Thrones. You know the kind of thing I’m talking about: big old banners with the mottoes of the fiefdom in question, like “Winter Is Coming” for House Stark, or “Ours is the Fury” for House Baratheon, or “Money. Power. Then The Women” for House Montana.

Anyway, Lokia took the concept of those banners and created a bunch based on a bunch of other pop culture icons, including a ton based on comic books. We’ve collected some of our favorites here, which you can check out after the jump.

I Hate It When This Happens To Me, Too

It’s Sunday. The question that is burning in the minds of ardent Game Of Thrones fans everywhere: will I make it until 9pm, so that I can watch tonight’s premiere? Because Winter may be coming, but my hangover is already here and I need to go back to bed. What? Just me? Ok. Meanwhile, here’s a little clip from Funny Or Die to help keep us going for the next four and half hours. Enjoy!

Love Makes You Weak – New Trailer For HBO’s Game Of Thrones

“The more people you love, the weaker you become.” At least according to Cersei Lannister, manipulative, incestous force behind the royal throne in Game Of Thrones. All the cast members you grown to love (or hate – Sansa Stark, I’m looking at you) are back, along with some new ones as well. Look for Carice Von Houten as Melisandre this season. According to this Game Of Thrones Wiki she is:

…a priestess of an eastern religion which is little-known in Westeros. She visited the island stronghold of Dragonstone and has become a close advisor of Stannis Baratheon and his family.

Also joining the cast in episode one of the second season will be Natalie Dormer as Margaery Tyrell, daughter of another royal family who will get in on the fray. The plot, truly, does thicken. Here’s the new trailer: