Orphan Black

I still owe a post on the movie Tomorrowland, but I’ve just spent the last three days watching all three seasons of the BBC America show Orphan Black and I was so blown away by it and its star Tatiana Maslany that I had to write about it.

For some of you reading this I’m very late to the party because it has been airing since 2013.  For the others, though, I’d love to say, “Just take my word for it and watch it” and let you go in knowing as little as possible so that you could get the full effect of it.  Unfortunately, that would both make for a very short post and also likely cause some people to shy away from it.

Picture the following scenario: it’s late at night on an empty train platform.  You’ve just finished a phone call and notice one other person in the distance, their back to you.  Out of curiosity you walk towards them and notice they are acting oddly.  They take off their expensive shoes and jacket then finally turn towards you.  This person has your face.  As you stand in stunned disbelief this person calmly steps in front of a moving train, killing themselves.

TV – Castle Season 7

Note: This is part of my ongoing reviews of the Castle television show’s seasons, the books written by “Richard Castle”, and some events related to the show.  For the parent post with links to all of these, please click here.  I will have an upcoming review for the latest Nikki Heat novel at some point.  I haven’t read it yet.

Note 2: There are spoilers for Season 6 in this post.

The Top Ten Lesser-Known Films from Game of Thrones Actors

Note: there are no spoilers in this post for Game of Thrones, regardless of how little of the show you may have seen.

As I write this the fifth season of the TV show Game of Thrones has one episode left to air.  Once again several new characters were introduced.  It was the addition of two of the performers – Keisha Castle-Hughes and Jonathan Pryce – that got me thinking about a couple of great movies they did.  I then started mentally wandering through other cast members and I soon realized that there were quite a few good movies out there that the actors and actresses on the TV show had been involved in.  I decided to build a Top Ten list.

Coldplay’s Game of Thrones: The Musical

The members of the band Coldplay are big fans of the show Game of Thrones.  They’ve written some songs to turn it into a musical.  See Tyrion Lannister sing about being a survivor in “A Man for All Seasons (Still Goin’ Strong)”.  See Jaime Lannister sing about his love for Cersei in “Closer to Home”.

You may be wondering “Is this serious?”  The answer, perhaps fortunately, is no.  This is a bit of fun Coldplay and some of the cast of Game of Thrones had for the recent Red Nose Day.

Here is the full twelve minute skit from Coldplay where we see them getting together with the cast to work on the musical.  It includes partial versions of three songs, the two I mentioned above, along with Dany singing “Rastafarian Targaryen”.  I’ve included videos of the more complete versions of these three songs below the main Coldplay video.

For Fans of Firefly/Serenity and The Flash (Not to Mention The Big Bang Theory)

I happened upon this video of three of the cast members of the current TV show The Flash singing a “gospel version” of the Firefly theme song.  Left to right they are Jesse L. Martin, Carlos Valdes, and Rick Cosnett.

Valdes plays a character named Cisco who makes tons of references to cult/geeky things, so it’s very fitting that he’s one of the ones in the video.  My favorite Easter Eggs on The Flash have been the extra-meta references to the TV show The Big Bang Theory.  Anyone who watches that knows that Sheldon is a huge fan of the character The Flash and that he often wears T-shirts that somehow reference him.

Here is Cisco on the TV show The Flash wearing T-shirts that reference The Big Bang Theory character of Sheldon.  (If you can’t make it out, the first one says “Bazinga!”)

TV and Book – Game of Thrones Season 4

The fourth season of Game of Thrones is based on the last third of the novel A Storm of Swords, as well as parts of A Feast for Crows and A Dance with Dragons – the third, fourth, and fifth books in the ongoing series titled A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin.  Please note that this review of the fourth TV season and fourth book contains spoilers for the first three TV seasons and books.  If you have never seen this show and would like a spoiler-free overview of what it is about and why you might want to watch it, please read my review of the first season and book here.  My reviews of the second season and book can be found here and the third season and book here.

Because the show and the books are no longer in sync with each other, I will only be discussing those parts of books 4 and 5 that were part of the show.  The reason for this situation is that the producers wanted to end Season 3 with the Red Wedding and the fallout from it.  They wanted to keep the further events of book 3 for this season.  Unfortunately, not all characters have enough book 3 plot left to last an entire season without dipping into their future storylines. 

TV – Castle Season 6

Note: This is part of my ongoing reviews of the Castle television show’s seasons, the books written by “Richard Castle”, and some events related to the show.  For the parent post with links to all of these, please click here.  In the coming days I will also post reviews of the latest books.

Note 2: There are spoilers for Season 5 in this post.

This season picks up right where Season 5 ended.  Castle has just proposed marriage to Beckett.  The context at the end of Season 5 was one where it seemed more likely they were going to break up than they were going to get engaged.  It was then surprising for the fans that show runner Andrew Marlowe actually had her accept.  Most fans had grown cynical of Marlowe’s apparent continued dislike for the two of them as a couple.  It’s possible the network had a word with him and told him that they wanted ratings, which meant giving the fans what they wanted to see – Castle and Beckett as a couple, or “Caskett” as some fans referred to them. 

TV and Book – Game of Thrones Season 3

The third season of Game of Thrones is based on the first two thirds of the novel A Storm of Swords – the third book in the ongoing series titled A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin.  Please note that this review of the third TV season and book contains spoilers for the first two TV seasons and books.  If you have never seen this show and would like a spoiler-free overview of what it is about and why you might want to watch it, please read my review of the first season and book here.  If you've seen that, my review of the second season and book can be found here.

TV – Castle Season 5

Note: This is part of my ongoing reviews of the Castle television show’s seasons, the books written by “Richard Castle”, and some events related to the show.  For the parent post with links to all of these, please click here.  In the coming days I will post reviews of the three newest books.

Note 2: There are spoilers for Season 4 in this post, especially the final episode of that season since it directly relates to the events of Season 5.

This season picks up the morning after Season 4 ended.  Beckett had finally admitted her desire for Castle and had shown up at his apartment.  As the season opens Castle wakes up alone in bed.  Was it all a dream?  Nope.  Beckett comes in with a couple cups of coffee.  Castle quizzes her.  Does she regret it?  Was it a one time thing caused by the trauma of almost dying and then quitting the police force?  Nope and nope. 

A Veronica Mars Movie is a Go!

So I got on my computer this morning to write my parent post for the next category of movies I will be doing.  I go to IMDB and find that there is going to be a Veronica Mars movie.  What makes the story so great is that the initial funding for it came from the fans.  What makes it an even better story is that the goal was to raise the necessary two million dollars in 30 days, but they passed that mark in only eleven hours.  They set a record on the site they did the fundraising through.

If you’ve never heard of Veronica Mars, you might be wondering what the fuss is all about.  It was a TV show that ran for three seasons (2004 – 2007) that featured a great title character played by Kristen Bell.  The first two seasons where creator Rob Thomas had control of it were top notch.  The third season the network made him alter it to try to raise ratings, which of course just alienated the people who were watching it.

I was a big fan of the show.  I still tend to check out the various things that Kristen Bell appears in, although she’s never had the chance to play as great a character as the one she did on the TV show.  She is on board with the new movie and Thomas already has a basic story plotted out.  Right now it is planned to be released some time in 2014.

If you’d like to read more about why it was such a great TV show, you can find my post on it here.

TV and Book – Game of Thrones Season 2

The second season of Game of Thrones is based on the novel A Clash of Kings – the second book in the ongoing series titled A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin.  Please note that this review of the second TV season and book contains spoilers for the first TV season and book.  If you have never seen this show and would like a spoiler-free overview of what it is about and why you might want to watch it, please read my review of the first season and book here.

Movie – Sherlock: A Study in Pink (2010)

There have been many, many incarnations of Sherlock Holmes over the years.  Some of them have contributed permanent additions to the mythos surrounding the character – in some cases these are things that his creator – Sir Arthur Conan Doyle – never intended, or could have ever imagined.  I once read that Holmes was one of only five fictional characters that were known to every nation and every tribe on Earth.  (Superman was another; I can’t remember the rest.)  ‘Sherlock’ has chosen to show us a version of Holmes set in the present, with him being a very modern man.  It is a very well written show that appeals to both the Sherlock Holmes fan, and the casual viewer, alike.

Castle TV Show, Books, Graphic Novels, and Videos

“There are two kinds of folks who sit around thinking about how to kill people: psychopaths and mystery writers.  I’m the kind that pays better.” – Richard Castle, Castle

Back in March of 2011 I wrote a series of posts about the TV show Castle, which was then part way through its third season, as well as the two books that had been published at that point.  I even included some videos of the cast together at Comic Con 2010 to show how much fun they have with each other.  It is now time for an update. 

In the time that has passed since I did my posts the show has completed four seasons, with the fifth having just aired its first episode.  There have also been two more Richard Castle novels published, as well as a graphic novel “adaptation” of his first Derrick Storm novel.  Another adaptation is on the way next month.

The ideal way to experience all sets of media is to watch Castle Season 1, then read the book Heat Wave, then watch Castle Season 2, then read the book Naked Heat, then watch Castle Season 3, etc.  Rather than make you search for my original posts, I am re-doing them now in order to better present a flow or sequence to follow.  I will separate each season into its own post, as well as tweak the text to improve it a little.  The first two books already were separate entries, so I will not re-post those.  I will have links to them, in the correct sequence, below.

TV Show Intro and Season 1

Book - Heat Wave (posted March 10, 2011)

TV Show Season 2

Castle Cast at Comic Con 2010 (posted March 10, 2011)

Book - Naked Heat (posted March 10, 2011)

TV Show Season 3

Castle Cast at Comic Con 2011

Book - Heat Rises

Book - Richard Castle's Deadly Storm

TV Show Season 4
(The Castle cast did not have a panel at Comic Con 2012)

Stana Katic Singing at a European Film Festival

Book - Frozen Heat
Book - Richard Castle's Storm Season
TV Show Season 5
Book - Deadly Heat
Book - Richard Castle's A Calm Before Storm
Book - Storm Front
The Castle Cast at the Paley Center
(The Castle cast did not have a panel at Comic Con 2013)
Book - Wild Storm
Book - Richard Castle's Unholy Storm - No full review for this one because I cannot recommend it.  Both the story line (voodoo instead of spy craft) and the shoddy artwork are a disappointment.

TV Show Season 6
Book - Raging Heat
TV Show Season 7
Book - Driving Heat

On to the reviews…

TV – Castle Season 1

Castle debuted as a Spring replacement on ABC in March of 2009.  It only had time for a run of 10 episodes, but that was enough for ABC to see that it had something good.  They brought it back for a full 24 episode run the next Fall and that’s when the show really hit its stride.  It is now starting its fifth season.  It airs Mondays at 10:00 PM on ABC.

The premise is that a popular crime novelist ends up helping a New York City police detective solve murder cases.  At the same time he is using these experiences with her as the basis for a new series of crime novels starring a character based on her.  There’s much more to it than that, but that is the 50,000 foot view.

TV – Castle Season 2

This season is the one where the show hit its stride.  The writers and actors know who the characters are and they are able to expand on them.  The show plays up the growing attraction of the two leads.  That really gets fun when Castle’s first Nikki Heat book is published.  It’s titled Heat Wave.  If you have not read the post on the book, please do so now.  You can find it here.

TV – Castle Season 3

At the start of this season none of the detectives have heard from Castle for months.  They think he might still be out of town, but they walk past a bookstore display touting the release of Castle’s next book, Naked Heat, and that he will be there signing it.  They get a call that a body has been found.  They are the first cops on the scene, so they start to go through the apartment with guns drawn.  They discover one person in the apartment with the body – Castle.

TV – Castle Season 4

Note: There are spoilers for Season 3 in this post, as well as a discussion of the status of the Castle/Beckett relationship at the end of Season 4 and the first episode of Season 5.

This season picks up right where last season left off.  Beckett is being whisked into a hospital emergency room.  She took a bullet to the chest from an unknown shooter at the end of Season 3.  After a tense scene, she is going to survive (although it wasn’t ever really in doubt.)

What was in doubt was whether Beckett would remember Castle’s confession to her, just after she was shot, that he loved her and he couldn’t lose her.  She says she doesn’t, but it is revealed in the first episode that she really did.  Her therapist (Michael Dorn) tries to help her address this, as well as the trauma of almost being killed.

Whistling While I Work Part 2

I’ve spent the last couple of days adding a few features here. 

If you look over to the right in the “Pages” section you will now find some additional ones designed to help folks find specific movies, books, and TV shows that I have reviewed.  I did this because I’ve found that the Google search box in the upper right has gotten less reliable for the older posts.  When I can’t even find my own year old review without some searching, how can I expect someone else to find it at all?  Because of this I felt it would be best if I build and maintain these indexes going forward. 

In the Movies Index page I have also included the Movie Categories that I have used.  These link directly to the parent post for each Category, which then has links to the individual movies in those categories.  If you prefer, you can continue to use the Labels which appear a little lower on the right.  I will not be discontinuing those.

If you find a bad link, please let me know and I will correct it.  If you have suggestions on how to improve these index pages, please let me know.

In other news, I haven’t forgotten about reviewing the Big Summer movies.  I will have a review of Rock of Ages up soon.  I have already added some comments on The Amazing Spider-Man to the 2012 Big Summer Movies post.  You can read them here.  In short, the movie is poorly written and it is not good enough for me to recommend, despite Emma Stone’s presence.  I have not seen Brave yet, but hope to soon.  I will probably see The Dark Knight Rises after the crowds dissipate some – so this probably means some time next week.

Most of my highest viewed posts right now are my hiking ones.  This makes sense since there are a lot of tourists here in Maine for the summer and they are looking for information on some good hikes.  I plan to post some of the backlog I have here.  I’ll continue that at least through my review of The Dark Knight Rises.  I will start my next Movie Category after that.  I also have posts I want to do at some point on Game of Thrones Season 2, as well as updating my Castle TV show review to bring it up through the end of Season 4.

Finally, last Friday night this site passed 50,000 views.  I’d like to thank everyone who takes the time to visit, to comment, and maybe even pass a post on to someone they think will like it.  My apologies for not visiting your sites for the last week or so.  It’s been too damn hot where I am to be on the computer any longer than it takes to write and post a review, plus the time I spent on building the new Pages.  I’ll try to catch up when the weather breaks in a couple of days.

Movie and TV – Buck Rogers in the 25th Century (1979) (1979-1981)

Buck Rogers in the 25^th Century was a reboot of the sci-fi serial character from the 1930s.  It was released as a theatrical movie in the spring of 1979 and based on its box office returns it was turned into a TV series in the fall of 1979.  The movie was edited and turned into the two hour pilot for the show, which ran two seasons before being cancelled.  It was campy fun in the tradition of the shows like the original Battlestar Galactica and the original Star Trek.

TV and Book – Game of Thrones

The book A Game of Thrones was first published in 1996.  It is the first book in the series titled A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin.  In the summer of 2011 HBO adapted it into a ten episode television season by the name Game of Thrones.  The series proved to be very popular with viewers.  HBO is currently filming the second season, which will be based on the next book in the series.