CliqueClack

Beyond the Wall: What is in store for House Greyjoy?

We are only three weeks away from the fourth season premiere of Game of Thrones. The excitement is building as April 6th brings us “Two Swords.” In these last few weeks, Clackers Bob and Ivey will be previewing what is to come as the series delves deeper into the second half of Storm of Swords, the third installment of the A Song of Ice and Fire series.

In this week’s edition of Beyond the Wall, we are going to take a look at what might happen to the Ironborn of House Greyjoy this year. As with much of the series, last season saw the story on the Iron Islands begin to diverge more and more from the books. Theon was exactly where he was “supposed” to be — though we were seeing on-screen what was extrapolated from what happened off-page in the book. Yara’s mission to rescue her brother, however, was a complete departure from the source material.

As always, our usual SPOILER WARNING: Beyond the Wall is a column intended for those who have read the novels. So, if you don’t know why Reek rhymes with meek, then you should not click to read what comes next. Continue reading 'Beyond the Wall: What is in store for House Greyjoy?' »

Whether living or (un)dead, young females aren’t safe on The Walking Dead

At least once a season AMC’s powerhouse Sunday night drama pulls a “killer” version (see what I did there?) of Whomp, There It Is out of its bag of tricks. Someone unexpected gets offed. That’s a given.

(If you’re keeping count, we’ve had two so far. The beloved Hershel bowed out in surprising fashion during the mid-season finale “Too Far Gone” earlier this season. )

“My mom used to say: Everything works out the way it’s supposed to.” — Mika to Carol when they first see the house

And that’s why I asked above if anyone was really shocked. While Mika’s moving death at the hand of severely disturbed sister Lizzie was horrifying on multiple levels, as a long-time fan of The Walking Dead you just knew something was going to come along and knock our socks off. (Didn’t you?) Because, often, the M.O. for TWD is to zap us outside our peripheral vision — the producers seem to like to hit us when we least expect it. And, often, to the point of shaking us to our very cores.

With one preview of this week’s episode showing Lizzie being “playfully” chased outdoors by a walker, you figured there would be consequences for such actions. It was a hint of things to come … but we didn’t know what those consequences would be. Continue reading 'Whether living or (un)dead, young females aren’t safe on The Walking Dead' »

Dancing With the Stars gets season 18 off on the right foot

Dancing With the Stars season 18 premiered this week and even with the many changes to the show, things went rather smoothly. Following up on our review of the new celebrities participating this year, Chuck and I are back with our thoughts on the changes and who did best … and worst.

KIM: I thought the new band did well – they appeared to bring a younger energy to the set. Perhaps that’s why the producers felt a switch-up was necessary? I am so happy they brought the judges’ location back to its rightful place. I also love the Skybox – I was majorly bummed when they took it away last season. However, is it just me or was the rest of the set really lackluster? What happened to the big fancy, multicolored staircases and the really over-the-top costumes? I watch this show for the glitz and the glamour, and it felt like they were holding back on me last night. The entire show had a subdued feeling.

CHUCK: Yes, the new band did well and sometimes I couldn’t even tell when they were using recorded music, like with Ellie Goulding’s “Burn.” It sounded like the original, but then there were more voices singing with the chorus, so I thought they did a good job (and I love that song). The dancers have more floor space now with the orchestra pit mostly covered over, the video screen has been expanded down, and the staircases are still there. The stars haven’t made their entrance down the center though for a season or two. But there are two staircases at the opposite end of the ballroom as well. With the amazing lighting design that they employ on the dance floor, I thought the show was flashy as ever. They’ll build up to flashier costumes as the season progresses.

Continue reading 'Dancing With the Stars gets season 18 off on the right foot' »

Dancing With the Stars 18 – Have they run out of stars?

With the new cast of Dancing With the Stars announced, and the season premiere only hours away, it’s time for Kim and I to play catch up and dish on the stars, non-stars, and twists and turns coming this season.

CHUCK: The biggest issues we need to address first are the big shakeup in the personnel department. First we heard the Harold Wheeler Orchestra got the boot because they were going to use all pre-recorded, original music this time out … and then they went and hired a new band fronted by a former American Idol band leader. I know a lot of people out there hated the show’s music – and not necessarily the music, but the singers who often butchered the songs – but I thought Wheeler and his musicians and singers did an admirable job under tough circumstances. It’s hard to cut down and arrange a 3-plus minute song to a minute and a half, sometimes completely re-orchestrating the music to fit the style of the dance. I’m not sure how a stripped down band is going to work. I like the use of original music, but a live orchestra just adds to the ambiance. What do you think?

KIM: I never really had much of a problem with the music, to be honest. I was shocked to hear of this shakeup. I think original music would be a good format, but can they always get the rights to do that? The show wouldn’t be the same without the live music format. I hope they get this figured out!

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Need for Speed has little style, less substance

There is a long and storied history of video games being made into successful feature films. First, there was Super Mario Bros. … oh wait, not that one. Street Fighter? Not so much. Wing Commander, Mortal Kombat, Doom and Bloodrayne all disappointed. The Lara Croft duology did pretty well, but the name “Angelina Jolie” on the posters probably gets most of the credit for that. No, the only property that’s performed well has been the Resident Evil series. The latest adaptation to hit the big screen, Need for Speed hopes to become the next exception and avoid falling prey to the rule.

Sorry folks, that’s not going to happen.

At least most of the previous adaptations were based on franchises with stories. I’m not that familiar with the Need for Speed games, but a quick search of the Wikipedia page confirmed that the few installments that had stories certainly didn’t emphasize them. The movie, thus had nothing to pull from – nor was it tied to a lackluster, half-assed story. With a clean slate like that, one would hope that writer John Gatins could find an interesting way to incorporate the world of illegal car racing into a compelling story. Sadly, it looks like the Fast and Furious have used up all the good ideas. Continue reading 'Need for Speed has little style, less substance' »

Veronica Mars is great for the fans, but not as much for everyone else

I’ve always found it interesting how passion from fans can manifest in many different ways. I spent most of life unfamiliar with comics or authors like Neil Gaiman, but when I suddenly started down those roads after college by reading a few things here and there … suddenly I have nearly all of Neil Gaiman’s work and a large collection of graphic novels with a true appreciation for the medium. By now, I’d support Gaiman in a lot of things, although that pales next to his biggest fans. Certain content creators have rabid fan bases, like Joss Whedon among the cult fans or One Direction among the masses of teenage girls. Of course, the application of paying money for anything related to their idols is a pretty typical way to handle it, something I’ve been guilty of myself at times. But it’s rare indeed when fans are essentially directly responsible for the creation or success thereof.

Veronica Mars is one of the few exceptions; it was a mildly popular television show that was cancelled after three seasons (one great, one good, one mediocre), but managed to obtain a cadre of rabid fans. Those fans, and others like them, put up over $5 million on Kickstarter to fund the movie, although Warner Bros. ended up giving more money later on because of the “demonstrated value.” After all, over ninety thousand people ponied up dough for the effort, which probably implied that twice as many at least will buy tickets for the movie. Or will they? The real question is whether or not people will care if they haven’t seen the show. After all, for most people, will they even know what Veronica Mars was? The show was about Veronica Mars (Kristen Bell), a young high school girl in a rich Southern California town filled with corruption who ends up becoming a detective because she wanted to solve the mystery of her best friend’s murder. And the second and third seasons were about other mysteries, of course.

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I don’t like The Walking Dead’s Bob Stookey …

I want to talk about one character in particular featured on last Sunday’s The Walking Dead. Someone I don’t like in the least:

Bob Stookey.

I don’t like Bob. There’s something about him, maybe it’s something that hasn’t been revealed yet. I can’t put my finger on it; it’s just a gut feeling. Maybe it’s a character flaw or a quirk or kink. But it’s definitely something intuitively unsettling that continues to linger.

I haven’t liked Bob from the beginning. In the season 4 opener, I didn’t like his fishing for some project to keep him occupied at the prison, practically begging for meaningfulness in order to earn his keep. The fact he’s a closet alcoholic is problematic. As it is, his alcoholism got him in trouble in that Big Box store … remember? (Well … sort of. It almost got him toasted. And not in the way he would have liked. Not to mention his back story revelation during the last episode where we caught him quaffing freakin’ Nyquil — or its equivalent — in order to get high!) Since his introduction on the show he’s seemed not only out of sorts (that’s the lack of alcohol playing tricks with him) but a bit “off,” too.

I’ve read the comic and I know what happened with and to the character therein. The differences in the comic book character and the show character are vast. To wit, Bob wasn’t even around at this point in the comic — he died. There was nothing redeeming about him in the comic. He was story filler, nothing more. That was the comic, not the television series. Continue reading 'I don’t like The Walking Dead’s Bob Stookey …' »

Throwback Thursday: Anything Goes is a rambunctious musical jaunt into the past

Last time I reviewed a DVD from the Warner Archive Collection, I concluded that actors are some of the vainest people to walk the earth. Continuing in that trend are the main characters of this week’s movie — Anything Goes (1956), starring Bing Crosby, Donald O’Connor, Mitzi Gaynor, Zizi Jeanmarie and Phil Harris. In this film, Crosby and O’Connor play a couple of big-time Broadway acts who join forces to appear in a show together. Because both men consider themselves top billing for the act, both take it upon themselves to find and sign the perfect leading lady for the show.

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You’ll love or hate Inside Llewyn Davis

It’s always cause for celebration when the Coen Brothers release a new movie. Whether that anticipation or celebration was warranted once the movie is out is almost always in the eye of the beholder. The Coens can veer from cult classic to box office hit from film to film – from Blood Simple to Raising Arizona, Barton Fink to Fargo, O Brother Where Art Thou to No Country for Old Men – the list is impressive, even with their “failures” like The Man Who Wasn’t There and The Hudsucker Proxy (which I think are both criminally under-rated).

Their latest film, Inside Llewyn Davis, was met with a lot of anticipation but severely divided the Coen devoted. I’ve seen high praise and downright disdain for the film, and with the Academy of Motin Picture Arts and Sciences passing the film over in all of the major categories (save for cinematography and sound mixing), I knew it was time to take a look at the film now that it’s available on home video.

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Beyond the Wall – Game of Thrones new cast in Season Four

It has been a long wait, boys and girls, but Game of Thrones is just about back. Have you recovered yet from the Red Wedding? Weddings are bad luck, and we’ve got at least one on the schedule for this season. As the show returns, so does Beyond the Wall, CliqueClack’s weekly column about one of our favorite shows. Clackers Ivey West and Bob Degon are back to discuss all things Westorsi — and across the Narrow Sea as well.

At the beginning of every season, we take a look at the new actors joining the cast. As the seasons wear on, there are understandably fewer additions, but you can always count on Game of Thrones to need fresh meat going into a new season. There are a couple of folks we’re going to focus on, including the recasting of a role that will become more and more important as the story evolves.

It’s been a long time, so it is time for our regular Spoiler Warning. Beyond the Wall is a column intended for those who have read George R. R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series that Game of Thrones is based on. So if you don’t understand just how badass the Red Viper is supposed to be, this post isn’t for you. Continue reading 'Beyond the Wall — Game of Thrones new cast in Season Four' »