Tag: grrm

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The Force Awakens evening report: Oscar Isaac praises Star Wars experience, fans

sw-xwing327→ We heard from him briefly the other day, but Oscar Isaac talks more about The Force Awakens over at IGN, including advice from Harrison Ford, working with practical effects, the “emotional aspect,” the broadsaber and even the racist backlash to co-star John Boyega:

“What’s great about it is, it’s like, ‘Are you a racist? Here’s a perfect way of revealing that to everyone!’ [Laughs] What I loved about the trailer too is, like, the giant middle finger of the first thing you see, right off the bat: John’s face — BAM! So it is, yeah, ‘Just deal with it.'”

Adding, “ultimately, it’s not even about race at all. It’s about a story, and it’s about these characters. [Boyega’s] a great actor, and he’s so good in this movie. And, you know, why not? But what’s great about it too, even more so, is that the huge majority have come out so vocally, the people that are real, true fans in support. [Laughs] They come out and defend it and make themselves heard. They really drowned out that negativity pretty quickly. I think that was really wonderful, to see that.”

How much dumb luck do you think it was that he happened to be on the publicity circuit for A Most Violent Year just as the trailer hit?

→ Andy Serkis calls the reaction to the trailer “extraordinary.”

→ Did The Force Awakens trailer inspire George R.R. Martin? Will The Winds of Winter really be out in 2015? Who actually expects a gossip blog to have a ‘source’ on George R.R. Martin in the first place? What times we live in.

→ Still running with The Force Awakens on Tumblr, including tons of fan art.

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Other worlds: Game of Thrones returns Sunday with S2

The night is dark and full of terrors. The second season of the hit series based on George R. R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire debuts tomorrow! (I’m so excited, even though I can’t actually remember where A Clash of Kings ends and A Storm of Swords begins.) Among the must-reads is this interview with showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss. There’s also been a lot of attention paid to the shows’ female characters. And is the mainstream finally paying attention to fantasy? Well, sort of.

If you want to gorge on more Thrones news, reviews, and interviews ahead of the premiere, head over to the dedicated fan blog Winter is Coming.

Authors behaving badly. Christoper Priest, author of The Prestige, is not very happy with the Arthur C. Clarke Award shortlist. Take it, Cleolinda.

Preach it. I haven’t been much impressed with his books, but I think Patrick Rothfuss hits things right out of the park on how fantasy needs to move past aping the Tolkien elves-and-dwarves formula.

The Hunger Games. Everyone loves it! Except the people who somehow missed that Rue was black in the book, and think that diminishes the character’s impact. (Um, spoilers.) Not enough facepalm in the world. Actress Amandla Stenberg said in a statement: “It was an amazing experience; I am proud of the film and my performance. I want to thank all of my fans and the entire Hunger Games community for their support and loyalty.”

Will The Hunger Games mark a sea change in Hollywood’s willingness to greenlight more female-lead action movies? The experts are skeptical.

And finally, here’s something not-so-serious: Capitol propaganda posters.

The Lame Files. Is 50 Shades of Grey taking fan fiction mainstream? Considering what what I got in my mailbox yesterday… Yes. Yes it is. Here’s a look back at the book’s fanfic past.

Also: Ten books every fantasy author should read – Why the Wheel of Time series is so long – Highlights in the history of space opera – Harry Potter genderswap – Stakes in fantasy novels – Why old books smell so good

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Game of Thrones gets 13 Emmy nominations

The Emmy nominations came out this morning, and HBO’s fantasy series is among most nominated. Game of Thrones received 13 nods, most notably Best Drama and a Supporting Actor nomination for Peter Dinklage, who plays Tyrion.

For Best Drama, the show is up against Boardwalk Empire, Friday Night Lights, Dexter, The Good Wife and last year’s winner Mad Men. Dinklage’s competition includes John Slattery of Mad Men and Alan Cumming in The Good Wife.

Thrones other nods include writing (for ‘Baelor,’) direction, casting, costumes, hairstyling, visual effects and Main Title Design.

Meanwhile, A Dance With Dragons is actually selling better in print than in eBook.

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Out this week: Robot Chicken, Invasion

It’s been a while since we’ve had any releases at all, but this week thankfully bring a few! First off, on Tuesday, you pick up the Robot Chicken: Star Wars III DVD or Blu-Ray. Hilarity we haven’t seen since Robot Chicken: Star Wars II! io9 catches up with creator Matt Senreich on why there’s no Robot Chicken Star Trek and gets an exclusive deleted scene about Princess Leia.

If you’re a fantasy fan, there’s also A Dance with Dragons, the long-awaited fifth volume of George R. R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series. (You know, the one that began with Game if Thrones Which is now an HBO series? Yeah.) But more on that later.?

Meanwhile, there’s an actual comic in stores on Wednesday. A new storyline launches with Invasion: Revelations #1.

And come Saturday, it’s also time for the annual summertime wish-it-were-cooler tradition of the Hallmark Ornaments Premiere Weekend.

Next week? Choices of One! SDCC attendees and/or San Diego natives can enter a contest to win lunch with Tim Zahn and editor Shelly Shapiro while they’re in town for the con.

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Other worlds: GRRM’s A Dance with Dragons is done

Yes, George R. R. Martin finished the book. The fifth volume of A Song of Ice and Fire got a July 12th publication date last month, but he still wasn’t quite finished with the manuscript, leaving many to doubt that the long-awaited book would actually become a reality. Well, worry no longer, because Martin posted today that Kong has been slain. For those not up on GRRM’s lingo – ‘Kong’ is the book’s nickname – his editor, Anne Groell, has confirmed in plain English.

Meanwhile, HBO’s Game of Thrones TV show has been doing well – ratings held steady for the second episode, and it’s already been renewed for a second season. And you’ll certainly want to check out Time’s four–part interview with Martin about the show, including his thoughts on how the next few volumes should be split up for filming.

Awards. Nominees for the 2011 Hugo and Campbell Awards were announced the other day, and I’m still a little in shock that two of my 2010 favorites – The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms and Feed – are up for best novel.

Tolkien. The extended editions of Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy will be in theaters this June. Individually, thankfully.

Dark Tower. And for new adaptations, it appears that Javier Bardem (No Country for Old Men) has signed on to play Roland in Ron Howard’s take on Stephen King’s epic fantasy series.

Recs. Thanks to Jo Walton, I now want to give Daniel Abraham’s Long Price Quartet a swing. And while I was already planning to try Genevieve Valentine’s Mechanique, but Charlie Jane Anders’ review has made me even more intrigued.

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Stick them with the pointy end: Believe it or not, but the ladies sure do love them some fantasy

HBO’s adaption of Game of Thrones premieres tonight amid a new storm of controversy about women and fantasy. What could possibly have soiled the premiere of what is probably the biggest fantasy literature event of the year? (Well, the biggest one that doesn’t involve boy wizards and horcruxes, anyway.) Why, yet more false assumptions about women and what they watch and read, of course!

It was all sparked by Ginia Bellafante’s New York Times review. Behold this bit of ‘wisdom:’

The true perversion, though, is the sense you get that all of this illicitness has been tossed in as a little something for the ladies, out of a justifiable fear, perhaps, that no woman alive would watch otherwise. While I do not doubt that there are women in the world who read books like Mr. Martin’s, I can honestly say that I have never met a single woman who has stood up in indignation at her book club and refused to read the latest from Lorrie Moore unless everyone agreed to “The Hobbit” first. “Game of Thrones” is boy fiction patronizingly turned out to reach the population’s other half.

Uh-huh. There’s plenty one can say to this, but since I am the absolute last fantasy-loving female in the blogosphere to address it, here are a few selected responses:

The reality check. Emily of The Discriminating Fangirl responds to many of Bellafante’s misconceptions. Key quote: “…How can the show require MENSA-member viewers and be too stupid/silly for HBO?”

The feminist. Sarah Louise of Bleeding Cool takes on the gender normative tone of the review. Key quote: “The main thing I find shocking about all these sweeping remarks is the fact that the piece was written by a woman. Aren’t we all supposed to be in this thing together?”

The ally. Alan Kistler wonders where the actual review was in his Newsarama Op-ed. Key quote: “We didn’t get an informed opinion on the show. In fact, in her whole review, the story premise is barely touched on and not one character, plot point or scene is mentioned. ”

The snarky: Annalee Newitz of io9 asked (with spoilers) why would men want to watch Game of Thrones? Key quote: “Who but a woman would even be able to keep all those Stark children’s names straight, let alone all the other people connected to the Stark family?”

The full package. Amy Ratcliffe of Geek with Curves talks about what she really wants to see in the series. Key quote: “I’m not tuning into the television show to see sex either. I won’t lie – I’m not unhappy about seeing Jason Momoa shirtless as Khal Drogo, but that isn’t the primary reason I’m watching. I want to see Westeros on screen.”

The author. George R. R. Martin breaks his own rules to say something about the review. Key quote: “…if I am writing ‘boy fiction,’ who are all those boys with breasts who keep turning up by the hundreds at my signings and readings?”

And naturally, amid all this? A Today piece on how ladies power viewership for SF/F TV. How long must we have to harp on this before the Ginia Bellafantes of the world catch on?

UPDATE: Bellafonte responds. What does she take from this? ‘People on the internet are mean?’ So much facepalm.

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Other worlds: Dragonriders of Pern movie shows some life

Now on the failed adaption shortlist… Pern, yet again? This time sees Copperheart Entertainment hook up with with X-Men scriptwriter David Hayter. Is [mumble] times the charm for Anne McCaffrey’s dragonriders, or will this project vanish into between? But since Peter Jackson doesn’t seem in much rush to utilize the rights to Naomi Novak’s Temeraire, this might be fantasy fans best hope for an actual dragon movie franchise. Just, you know, don’t hold your breath.

The Hunger Games. Suzanne Collins is profiled in The New York Times, and the actors playing Peeta and Gale have been announced.

A Song of Ice and Fire. Game of Thrones debuts this weekend! For those of you not poring over Winter is Coming, here’s a character cheat sheet. Meanwhile, Tor.com is running a series on the women of the series, and George R. R. Martin is interviewed by the NYT.

Recommended. What are the 80 greatest science fiction books for kids? Online Colleges and Universities has some suggestions, helpfully sorted by age group.

Cover art. A threefer: Terry Brooks The Measure of Magic, N.K. Jemisin’s The Kingdom of Gods and Lev Grossman’s The Magician King. As unimpressed as I was by The Magicians, I must admit that both books have gorgeous covers.

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And the rest: What is Nathan Fillion doing?

Is it… Robot Elvis? What kind of pose is Nathan Fillion doing on the cover of the new Entertainment Weekly? Topless Robot readers have many, many answers. Your reward: Looking at Nathan Fillion.

Shocking facts! A survey of 5,041 Star Trek fans found that 57% of them were female. Fascinating.

Brain a moose. Check out the manuscript for George R. R. Martin’s A Dance With Dragons. Or check out the HBO features on House Stark, House Baratheon, House Lannister and House Targaryen.

You’ll laugh, you’ll cry… A funny Regretsy post involving Roseanne Barr, Carrie Fisher and (of course) a puzzling crafted object.

Your indie moment(s) of zen. Mario and a trailer for Ferris Bueller’s Day Off recut as an Sofia Coppola-esque coming-of-age film.

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GRRM’s ‘A Dance with Dragons’ has a release date. No, really.

We’ve been waiting six years for the next installment of George R. R. Martin’s epic A Song of Ice and Fire series and now – finally – Entertainment Weekly has the scoop: A Dance With Dragons will come out July 12. And at more than 900 pages, it’ll probably be big enough to brain a moose.

With the Game of Thrones TV series (there’s a new trailer for that, too) debuting on April 17, I’m sure that the folks at HBO and Bantam are dancing in their respective hallways.

Though actually, I’m not even sure I believe it myself, yet. Is this real life? Someone pinch me. Is July even enough time to reread?!?

BUT! On his website, Martin says he’s not done yet. What gives?

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Other worlds: Tor.com readers name their top SF/F novels of the decade

Tor.com has wrapped up their reader’s poll, naming the top ten science fiction and fantasy novels of the decade:

  1. Old Man’s War by John Scalzi
  2. American Gods by Neil Gaiman
  3. The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
  4. Blindsight by Peter Watts
  5. Kushiel’s Dart by Jacqueline Carey
  6. A Storm of Swords by George R.R. Martin
  7. Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke
  8. Anathem by Neal Stephenson
  9. Mistborn: The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson
  10. Perdido Street Station by China Mieville

I’ve read half of them: I could see American Gods, Kushiel’s Dart, and A Storm of Swords among my own top reads, but I was distinctly underwhelmed by The Name of the Wind and Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell. (I’ve been putting off Old Man’s War – it’s in the pile!) What are your thoughts?