Game of Thrones “The Winds of Winter” Review: Game on

 Dany and Tyrion confiding in one another on Game of Thrones

Photo credit: HBO

A bunch of thoughts on what might have been the best Game of Thrones episode ever right after I give you some very ineffective console…

“I do things because it feels good.”
-Cerci

Ok Game of Thrones you got me back.

After weeks of wheel spinning and a climax that ultimately did very little for me, Game of Thrones really needed a bounce back with its finale “The Winds of Winter.” While I have not been reviewing the show for the last few weeks (apologies most weeks got me to the point where I was watching and beginning to write about the show mid week at which the episode was at that point old news) I have begun growing very frustrated with it. Two weeks ago “No One” spun the show in circles, reverting a lot of progress in the character development front (Jamie) and revealing that some characters were being spun around repeating very similar arcs to the ones they had previous for the sole purpose of keeping them out of the action (Arya). It made for a frustrating lack of process that ultimately never ended up serving the story in any positive manner. Then there was “Battle of the Bastards” that despite it’s cool (if overlong) battle sequence never really provided the emotional satisfaction it wanted to due to just how awful of a character Ramsey was. Not to mention there was no satisfaction to the victory as Jon and Sansa were frustratingly bad at war to the point that their victory seemed as if it came from sheer luck.

Luckily for the show “The Winds of Winter” was much more than just a simple bounce back episode. In fact it may be the best episode in the show’s run so far. One of my main criticisms of the show that has been made even more opaque over the last few weeks is the moment to moment nature of the show’s storytelling. Because of the “bounce around Westeros” format the show doesn’t often provide a chance for building coherent themes or connecting its thoughts. It can make for a show that contains great individual moments but often lacks the connecting elements of a great television show. “The Winds of Winter” is the first episode of the show that finally begins the process of connecting the show’s various, characters, themes and plotlines. It begins to shed a lot of the fat that had made the show so frustrating over the last few years and begin the process of moving towards a dramatic finish. It finally feels like there is an end game in sight and it feels so good.

It helps that the finale managed to pull all of this off in beautiful fashion. The first third of the episode was one of the best single sequences that the show has ever done rivaling and maybe even topping the amazing battle sequence from “Battle of the Bastards.” The quicker editing, the beautiful new piano theme from series composer Ramin Djawadi, and the near perfect composition of the lead up to Cersei’s bombing of the Sept of Balor made for a sequence that was both memorable and satisfying. Gone are the characters that have been holding Cersei back from fully being a part of the more central conflict that was looming. No more distractions from the faith or a younger queen. Even her son Tommen is now out of the way as the young king, out of greif and perhaps a little bit of powerlessness, decided to take his life in the most beautiful and horrifying ending shot possible. Everything that stemmed from the opening third that took place in King’s Landing was perfectly executed, and made for one of the best single sequences in the show’s history.

But unlike other episodes of Game of Thrones it was not just a single sequence that defined the episode rather the amazing King’s Landing sequence tied into the rest of the episode’s themes of revenge, power, and leadership. Dany, using both the lust for revenge that the Dornish and Tyrells possess has found herself new allies on her way over to Westeros (finally!), Arya exacted her vengeance to finally rid of the Freys once and for all in a fashion that had me both cheering and actively questioning the good of Arya’s sociopathic nature, and Jon Snow managed to wrangle together the leadership and belief in one’s self to become a competent King of the North. It all tied together in a beautiful coherent bow. Never, like I had in the past, was I asking why we were focusing on a particular area of the show or what all the individual parts of an episode had to do with each other. For Game of Thrones this was mighty refreshing.

Best of all though, “Winds of Winter” is finally bringing the characters together. Long gone are the day’s of sprawling and stalling as it seems as the show looks to finally be centering these characters around a single plot line. Dany is finally making the trek over to Westeros that has been way too long in the making, the Starks finally have a leg to stand on again in Jon Snow/Tygarian (the nobility of Ned again rears its ugly head) even if Littlefinger’s devious plotting may be ultimately out to get him, and there is no doubt who the f-ng official queen of Westeros is now. The final participants of the Game of Thrones are set and it’s time for them to begin to square off.

Season six of Game of Thrones had many a frustration, especially in its later half but I could not have asked for a better finale than “The Winds of Winter.” The show has finally rid of a lot of the fat and has began to connect its sprawl in a beautiful novelistic fashion. We are just (or so at least the creators would have it) two seasons away from the conclusion of show and I could not be more excited to find out where this roller coaster ride will conclude.

Some other Musings:

• Jon Targaryen/Stark!!!!! So turns out he wasn’t a bastard after all! Thank you Bran for being a part of a useful part of the show for once!

• Cersei’s strange look of authoritative satisfaction as she took the throne was one of the most chilling scenes of the episode. Even if loosing her son was not in the plans it sure did not seem like she cared by the end of it. Her icy stare as she looked to take back her own destiny was one of the many memorable shots that punctuated this beautiful episode.

• In an episode of big moments we still got time for some great scenes of intimacy. The peak of this being the wonderful conversation between Tyrion and Dany. For the first time Tyrion has a place, and a cause in which to believe in. Will his newfound belief end up being his downfall? Or can he overcome the odds in the way he always has?

That’s it for this season. It was a little rough getting there at times but boy what a satisfying conclusion.

Now let’s see if they can stick the landing...

That’s just me though. What did everyone else think?

The 2016 Halftime Top 5: From 80 bros to drone strikes

Green Room is one of my favorite films of the year but where does it land on the halftime top 5?

 

Is it really June already? It sure does not feel like it. Not even from just a “time flies” perspective, but from a quality film release perspective as well. It is not as if there have not been good films to come out over the course of 2016 but I have not been this unenthusiastic about a collection of film releases to open up a year for a while. Sure generally the release of excellent films in any good year tends to be concentrated near the back half of the year but this spring has felt rather uninspired to me. It may be that I am becoming more jaded for whatever reason which is something that has been creeping in the back of my mind as the year gone by or it may just be a dry year. That being said the films that ultimately populate my halftime top five I enjoyed a great amount. A lot of the films on this list have been hidden gems and actually represent a diverse amount of filmmaking styles and voices. here are the films that have managed to transcend an otherwise mediocre year. Here is my list of the top five films of 2016 so far:

Honorable Mention:
Midnight Special

5. Everybody Wants Some
 

Richard Linklater is the best “time capsule” filmmaker going today. There is no one right now who is able to capture a time, place or feeling the way that he can and Everybody Wants Some is another great example of it. Sure it is not nearly as great as his previous two offerings, Before Midnight and Boyhood, but the film was still charming and a ton of fun. Linklater has a great sense of how to make even the most background of characters likeable and three dimensional. It makes a film that could have been an average 80s bro comedy into something that is more interesting and fun. Sure these characters have some less than ideal elements, the sexism of college athletes in the 80s is on full display, but Linklater makes them unique and interesting enough to make them seem like they would at least be interesting to hang out with. Everybody Wants Some was just a blast to watch from beginning to finish, a really good nostalgia romp through the 80s and one of the best films of the year so far.

4. Eye in the Sky

Quiet thrillers are often the most effective. Nothing truer could be said about Eye in the Sky, the first good film from Gavin Hood in a long while. Eye in the Sky brings the extraordinary tension of preforming a drone strike to life through fantastic performances from Helen Meeren, Aaron Paul, and the late Alan Rickman along with a great script that ramps up the tension in the most fantastic fashion. Eye in the Sky does all this while almost solely focusing on people sitting in rooms talking and observing the situation on screens. The film is a fantastic example of how to create tension without having to be too flashy and is ultimately one of the year's very best films so far.

3. Love and Friendship

Whit Stillman and Jane Austin are a match made in heaven. Love and Friendship is just an absolute delight from beginning to finish. I laughed out loud at this film more times than I have since Wolf of Wall Street and had a smile on my face throughout the entire film. Whit Stillman has always been known for characters with acid tong and Love and Friendship is no exception. The film is quippy and the dialogue beautifully written from start to finish. It is so great to have Stillman’s voice back into the filmmaking space and Love and Friendship is yet another great film to add to his resume.

2. Green Room

Jeremy Saulnier is the young filmmaker to watch and Green Room is yet another huge reason why. Easily the tensest thriller of the year Green Room is a perfect example of hitting every note that allows for such a film to be successful. Saulnier’s characters are actually intelligent, both the good guys and the bad guys allow no point in which the viewer has to ask, “why the hell would they be stupid enough to do that.” His plot is unpredictable, anchored by a great script that tires and succeeds at completely subverting thriller tropes while also ramping up tension at just the perfect pace. The result of all of the brilliant ingredients is a near masterpiece in thriller construction and execution. Green Room is as brilliant as a 95 minute white knuckle thriller can be and easily one of the very best of 2016.

1. Lemonade

Is Lemonade really a film? In my book Beyonce’s masterful “visual album” is not just a film but it is easily the most unique and fascinating piece of filmmaking to be released in 2016. Setting music to visuals is nothing new but doing to tell such deep overarching personal story has never been done at even a fraction of this level. Filmmaking is often not ideal for showing internal struggle which makes Beyonce’s perfect stream of conscious storytelling so remarkable. Her struggle with the infidelity of her husband is not just represented by a series of external events like it would be in most filmmaking projects. Rather her mind wanders, her emotions develop and change minute to minute, and the progression of her feelings feels like it progresses in the most natural way. On top of that the filmmaking itself is gorgeous and the actual musical album is the best that Beyonce has ever produced. Lemonade is simply brilliant from beginning to finish, a unique and powerful piece of art and easily the best film of the year so far.

X-Men Apocalypse Review: Looking for family at the end of the world

Oscar Issac looks rather blue in X-Men Apocalypse

Photo Credit: FOX

Sometimes a good idea can overcome its execution. There is really no better example of this than X-Men Apocalypse. Both visually and plot wise X-Men Apocalypse is really nothing particularly special. For the most part it resembles a “greatest hits” package of all of Brian Singer’s X-Men films a mix of all the good and bad things that have been a part of these films since he started making them all the way back in 2000. On the surface X-Men Apocalypse is a film that really brings nothing new and special to the table. Yet somehow there is an emotional core to Apocalypse that managed to pull me in and really allowed me to care about it on a level I haven’t actively cared about a superhero film since at least Captain America: Winter Soldier.

The best X-Men stories have more than often centered around the conflict between its two central characters, Professor Charles Xavier and Erik Lehnsherr. For those not familiar the original idea for the characters were for them to be metaphors for two of the sides of the civil rights movement LBJ and Malcom X. One sees hope for integration between humanity and mutants while the other sees the only way for mutants not to be hunted is to tear everyone else down.

Apocalypse sets up the motivations for its two central characters beautifully. It doesn’t center the motivations around single scenes like Civil War does, instead it connects everything that happens in the film to previous events, giving the audience a better idea of all the events that led up to the decisions that Xavier and Magneto make. This is not holding peoples hands nor assuming the audience is dumb it is just adding layers to the film's storytelling. Sure a lot of the things that drive the characters has been covered in previous films but brief reminders only make the storytelling more interesting and powerful. X-Men Apocalypse never allows for the interpretation that the central motivations of its characters revolve around single events but instead allows for the characters to have complicated and layered reasons for the decisions they make which ultimately makes for a much more satisfying experience.

It also helps that the center conflict involves two world class actors. James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender both elevate the material that they are given. Each manage to ground their respective roles which really helps in getting across their respective characters' motivations. This is especially true for Fassbender who is given some material late that could be considered a little cheesy but manages to pull it off quite marvelously. The central actors, like the central character arc, manage to make Apocalypse a infinitely more engaging experience.

The core central push and pull makes the rest of the admittedly generic X-Men Apocalypse far more interesting. All of the elements of the film surrounding the core conflict run into most of the problems that Marvel films have been running into over the past few years. The most egregious of these is having a poor villain. The villain Apocalypse feels so out of place here. In a film that is fairly dark and emotionally driven Apocalypse looks so over the top it’s laughable. The film generally has a rather grey color pallet and then there is Apocalypse and his awful bight blue body paint and completely cheesy purple teleportation bubble. Then there is the fact that Apocalypse is played by Oscar Isaac. Yes, that Oscar Isaac the man who just may be the best young actor in the world is put in the most ridiculous of costumes and then given nothing to do at all. Even Star Wars: The Force Awakens, in which Isaac may have been in a combined four or five scenes gave the man more to do. Here he’s just running around in horrid blue paint being the most generic comic book villain possible. It’s really quite sad.

The action here is also, for the most part, unspectacular. Bryan Singer has never been the best action director in the world and while everything here is absolutely serviceable none of it is especially eye catching or original. For example, the best action scene in the film is essentially a reworking of a scene they already did in Days of Future Past. The scene is still great a second time but it ultimately feels like a lot of the rest of the film, familiar and a little bit uninspired.

Having said all of that X-Men Apocalypse still managed to grab me. It’s a film whose core conflict managed to make me care about the otherwise generic film around it. Apocalypse is an example of just how important deep and involving core characters can be. Being invested emotionally in a film can erase a lot of sins and while X-Men Apocalypse is indeed a film that contains a lot of sins its care for the characters at its core makes it the most satisfying Superhero film to be released in 2016.

Grade: B

-Frederick Cholowski