The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

So Sam and I get very behind on movies... like really embarrassingly behind.

This weekend we finally watched The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.  Yeah, yeah, we know that it came out 7 months ago.  Like I said, we have a tough time getting to the movies.

It was incredible- I couldn't believe how amazing the movie was.  The effects, the characters, the scenes... wow.  What a great job they did.  I am sure they built a lot from the Fellowship of the Ring trilogy but wow they stepped it up a lot.

The only disappointing part was when Sam said, "I can't believe they turned this into a 6 hour story."  It was then that I remembered we were NOT going to get to the end of the story today.  We weren't even going to get halfway through the story!  I mean I guess the nice part is that we're only about 5 months from the release of the second installment, The Desolation of Smaug.  Life's all about finding the silver linings right?

Anyway, watching the movie brought back lots of memories from my childhood of watching the animated version of the story.  Sam couldn't believe that I haven't ever read the books despite my  voracious appetite for fantastical fiction.  So I think I'm going to break down and buy the nook book for some summer reading.  I mean I LOVE A Song of Ice and Fire and I think it's very safe to assume that Martin used Tolkien as his inspiration.

Game of Thrones: The Red Wedding

Now I think I've made it pretty clear by now that I'm a big A Game of Thrones (AGoT) fan, more aptly put: I am a Song of Ice and Fire fan because that's actually the true name of the book series.

Anyway, I actually started reading the books after buying the first season of the Game of Thrones HBO TV series.  Midway through the DVDs I was tweeting about my love and obsession with the show (I watched the entire first season over one weekend) and several friends recommended I read the books.  I tend to be a big fan of both the fantasy and medieval genres.

Anyway, Sam got into the series too, although he doesn't have time to slog through the incredibly lengthy novels that George R. R. Martin puts together.  So watching the latest episode has become our Sunday night tradition.  This third season has been a relatively slow season for me - I keep waiting for the plot to move ahead so that we can get into some of the stuff from the more recent novels.

Last night, we didn't watch episode 9 because Sam was on call at the hospital and I wait for him to watch the new episodes since I pretty much know what's going to happen anyway.  Well, let me tell you, we watched the shit out of the episode tonight and it's just so tough to swallow all that went on in the last 10 minutes.

Honestly, as someone who knew it was coming, I have been dreading this episode since I first read A Storm of Swords and knew that Rob Stark was doomed.  Honestly, I hoped that with all the jumping around and minor changes to the plot that perhaps his dear baby would escape unscathed.  Unfortunately I was wrong.

And the scene was so graphic, so terribly graphic, that it was almost worse watching it than reading it.  Catelyn Stark's final few moments are just so horribly gut wrenching and heartbreaking as you see her completely give up as she stands there with Rob at her feet.

Sam was completely shocked at the turn of events.  His jaw dropped and his hands flew to his face where they stayed until the credits started rolling.  I was heartbroken for him almost as much as I was heartbroken myself.  I try not to spoil the big plot lines for him, so I kept my mouth shut about The Red Wedding.

The outpouring of fan emotions has been huge following this episode and it's funny because I never thought to argue with George R. R. Martin on his plot development.  Read this article from the LA Times to see just how upset some fans are.  I, personally, found this article on The Onion to be more appealing.  Yes, it's sad these characters died and I am grieving for their losses, but I believe that we all knew that no one is safe as soon as Ned got the axe in season one.

Furthermore, if you think Daenerys Targaryn has any chance of coming back to Westeros and claiming her throne you have to realize that it's unlikely the Starks will rule a sovereign Northern territory for long.  Before you all run out and cancel your HBO subscriptions, let me assure you that the series goes on just fine without Rob Stark.  And this may not be the end of Catelyn... so stick with it and see where George R. R. Martin is taking us!

That said, I read a quote today that said something along these lines:

"This story isn't going to end in such a way that all the characters are happy.  And it's probably not going to end in the way the readers want it to."

Yes, that's probably very true.  But like I said before, we all agreed to play George R. R. Martin's sick game where none of the main characters are safe when we kept watching after season 1.

Seasons

So The Walking Dead season 3 ended this weekend... I will be honest I watched the season finale on Monday because I was watching the Game of Thrones premier on Sunday.

I must say, if there is one thing I really appreciate about HBO (and believe me there are LOTS of things I love about it: no commercials, great movie selections, etc.) it's that they run new episodes during the off season for most primetime series.

I remember dreading spring because all my favorite shows were going to be playing reruns until after school was back in session.  Obviously my parents were not into Pay-per-View TV.

Before I dive into Game of Thrones, let me share with you this awesome link from The Chive A Few Things That Make No Sense About 'The Walking Dead'.  Enjoy Dead-Heads!

Now, onto GoT.  Wow.  I was overwhelmed with all the new characters introduced during the 4th A Song of Ice and Fire book, A Feast for Crows.  I also hated that George RR Martin broke the characters up into two groups and told their stories across two concurrent books: A Feast for Crows and A Dance with Dragons.  But that's another story.

I am very curious to see how the TV show is going to overcome the difficulty of giving each character enough screen time and plot development as we see additional characters joining the cast.  In the books, we lost a couple other key people before we added any new faces, but the show's writers still haven't given those characters the axe yet- which I am grateful for!  Still though, we watched the premier with Ryan and Jen, and Ryan made the comment that there are so many people to follow.  We didn't see Arya Stark at all, nor did we see much of Jon Snow or Tyrion Lannister.  I am very, very curious to see how they make this work.  Especially since they are blowing through the plot of the books and going further ahead into some plots than others.

Sam's big concern is that we're going to see a decline in the series this season now that the show has such a following and they are doing season premier events and meet the cast sessions.  Perhaps he's right.  The more concerning thing for me at the moment is when Martin will finish The Winds of Winter.  It was assumed that he would be able to write roughly 500 pages a year and finish the book in 3 years.  As of November 2012, he had 400 manuscript pages finished.  That means, if I am lucky, he might publish sometime in 2014.  Seriously?  The dude is 64 years old and I am going to be pissed (as will millions of fans around the world) if he leaves this business unfinished or if the TV show catches up to the damn books!