Money Talks

Year: 1997
Directed By: Brett Ratner
Written By: Joel Cohen and Alec Sokolow

RYAN’S REVIEW

OK maybe this movie doesn’t belong.  Maybe it’s simply a vehicle to showcase the talents of Chris Tucker. Talents which Brett Ratner would utilize to the max in coming years.  I love Chris Tucker, I didn’t watch all the Rush Hour movies because I had seen this one and it was enough.  The guy does a mean Michael Jackson impression; his Tony Montana is good as well but I find that one too stereotypical.  This movie was part of the family movie collection I grew up with so that’s the main reason we own it.  I don’t know if my parents would ever admit it or not but they loved Chris Tucker.  Even Friday sat on the shelf and it was probably the most out of place movie in the family collection. Chris Tucker has fallen out of the spotlight for a long time now but he had a significant role in Silver Lining Playbook so hopefully he is in the early stages of a comeback.

Is it necessary to discuss anything beyond Chris Tucker in this film? 1997 was not a time when Charlie Sheen was “winning” and when you look at his performance in this film you can understand why.  Heather Locklear has never been more than a pretty face.  Paul Sorvino is boss in everything he does but there is only so much he can do to enhance the film.  This film starts and stops with Chris Tucker and that’s all good because Tucker was quite the character in his time. What I love about this movie is it’s more Raw than the family friendly Rush Hour movies ever could have been.  I love the unfiltered version of Tucker in his element.  I thought his performance in The Fifth Element was specifically impressive and I am a loyal fan of whatever he is doing, excluding the Rush Hour movies.

This film reminds me so much of the nineties.  It seemed like the time for movies with lots of language and action with unnecessary explosions. Maybe movies like this are still being made only I just don’t watch them anymore.  I’ve mentioned it many times throughout this blog but it is the type of film I grew up watching.  I like this one by comparison too.  It’s all about Chris Tucker because it’s his humor and personality that drive the film.  The way I see them most of these films were the same.  At the end of the day the only difference was who played the lead role and how many bad guys he killed.  This is different from that as Tucker isn’t a badass killing all the bad guys but I think it still fits in with that same type of film. This has all the witty dialogue of a Shane Black film, enough fire power to compete with any Stallone or Schwarzenegger film, and a car chase with a classic automobile to boot. It works, while not Die Hard–esque enough, it still fits with that genre of action films we saw in the 80s and 90s.  That time back before mainstream internet use and before we were accessible at all times by way of cell phone.

This is a fun movie and I have enjoyed watching it again.  It’s an easily forgettable film but if you ever get a chance to see it you should give it your attention.  It is worth your time to see because it is fun.  It’s not suitable for your kids to watch but if your looking for something to kill an evening on your own with you can’t go wrong watching this one.  Chris Tucker makes the most of his opportunity and everyone else does just well enough to keep everything moving along smoothly. Under most circumstances I will tell you not to waste your time with anything made by Brett Ratner but this is a rare, possibly only, exception.  This Ratner film is worth your time to see.

AMBER’S REVIEW

I have seen this movie so many times, but in different pieces as it use to play on television all the time. We all know how stations like TBS get a hold of one movie and play it over and over and over again. This is a silly movie, but is ultimately funny and easy to watch. It is definitely one of those movies that you can watch and do something else, if just for some background comedy. I don’t really know anyone who hasn’t at least seen parts of this flick.

Well, it’s a movie poster. I guess the personalities of the characters come through in this poster. And if you didn’t know what money looks like, they illustrate it for you. The typography is red and yellow. RED AND YELLOW. Maybe it’s because anything retail makes my eye twitch. This title even has a drop shadow, so do the typography of the actor names. I think it is quite obvious that I do not like this poster. Not at all. Too staged and too retail-looking. Not a fan. Definitely not the comedic print piece to accompany this comedy.

NEXT MOVIE: Monster’s Ball (2001)

White Walkers Making White Babies

Game of Thrones Season 4 Episode 4

Well this was certainly an interesting episode for readers of the book because it’s all so fresh and new.  This was bound to happen because the show has really been advancing too quickly.  If they didn’t find new things to do they would be at a standstill on several story lines come season’s end. What people who only read the books should understand is that there is only so much material to go on for the show.  They are rapidly catching up to a point where there is simply nowhere else to go unless they start superseding George R. R. Martin.  That would be a horrible mistake because they show is simply cliff notes to a much larger and better story.  For the show to go ahead of the books and spoil what is to come would be the worst thing that could happen to those of us readers who have been sooooo patient in waiting for the next installment.

I went over all of that simply to say; nearly everything in last night’s episode was not from the written material.  Nowhere in the books do the men of the Night’s Watch go back to Craster’s Keep.  Bran and his posse never come across them either. This is I suppose an easy place to add in new material and maybe it is something Martin has envisioned eventually happening.  In order to avoid spoilers I won’t say why but I find this option highly unlikely.  The story advances too far past the point where anybody going back to Craster’s would make little sense.

There is also nothing in the book that suggests what the White Walker’s do with the sons left to them by Craster.  It is easily possible that they are taking them and turning them into new White Walkers but nowhere in the books is this suggested or talked about.  In fact, in 6,000 pages of the series there are very few appearances by the White Walkers.  They are mainly just talked about and only seen in the very beginning and a few times in the third book.  They attack the Black Brothers camped out at the Fist of the First men and Sam manages to kill one by accident when he and Gilly are attacked but other than that there is nothing.  It has been said that the next book will take us farther North than we have ever been before so there is a lot of thought that we will learn more about White Walkers then.  One of the largest theories by readers too is that eventually that legendary horn will be blown that shatters the wall and White Walkers will storm the lands of Westeros in force.  That’s just a theory but does seem the most obvious thing the books have been building to.  This will probably correlate with Dany’s return her homeland on the back of a dragon that can burn the frozen spawns back into dust.

I am more interested in the next book than anything the show will be doing because the books are better.  However, the obsessive addiction these books create is eased to some extent by watching the show although nothing is the way it should be.  The show does plenty of great things so I still do enjoy it from time to time and I look forward to seeing what else might happen.

Mississippi Burning

Year: 1988
Directed By: Alan Parker
Written By: Chris Gerolmo

RYAN’S REVIEW

The best movies are the ones that teach us something.  The ones that get into our core and change the very fiber of our being for the rest of time. This movie did that for me. It taught me an invaluable lesson about racism that I will never forget. The message this movie sends is one that has been preached by many films but it is one I only needed once. It has soured my opinion some to other movies along the same lines but I hope each and every one of them did for others what this one did for me.  The world was an uglier place in 1964. It’s an unfortunate reality that the world is still that ugly 50 years later, but I hope with every lesson a film like this delivers that we will be that much closer to what the world can be.

There is plenty of ugliness in this world but I think racism would just about give anything a run for its money at being the worst.  To have hate in your heart for another person based on nothing more than their skin color is despicable.  To judge a person you do not know for preconceived notions that are unfounded is awful.  Worst of all is being so blinded by hate that you physically and emotionally hurt other people to perpetuate some ridiculous idea created by hateful and evil people.  It just blows, in every way possible.  Nothing makes me sicker than to see this ugliness in the world.  I do not judge people for what they were raised to believe but I believe we should all try to be better.  When you settle for the norm or go on with a mentality you know to be wrong you aren’t being better but simply bringing us all down by being worse. The world will never change unless we change ourselves but we can’t do it alone.  It’s a sad reality that as long as ignorance is still prevalent in our society that we will have to endure unnecessary hatred and judgment.

I mentioned that this movie has soured me on others along the same lines and I’d like to clarify that statement.  I just don’t like seeing racism, and I prefer not to see it because I find it ugly.  It’s no different than seeing rape or adultery in a movie.  Some things will just turn me off of a film because I don’t care to see it.  With racism I have learned my lesson about it and I don’t care to pile on by choosing to watch more of the ugliness.  I hope they never stop being made because each and every one has the opportunity to teach someone and that’s great.  I just don’t need that lesson anymore and choose to avoid seeing those films for the most part.  This movie is enough for me but I still find this one hard to watch again.  It’s a great movie all around but I don’t think it is fun to watch.  The Klansmen make me sick to my stomach and though it is awesome to see them get what is coming to them the damage they had already done can’t go unnoticed.  I wish this world hadn’t been this way and wasn’t so similar today in various ways but it’s an unfortunate reality we have to live with.  It’s incredibly difficult to change someone’s opinion about anything once they have set their mind to it.  I am thankful for the people out there who want to fight the battle but personally I think you are just fighting.  It’s like the war on drugs, it’s unwinnable.  You can no more make someone feel a way they don’t than you can stop them from doing something they want to do.  You can preach and punish all you want but at the end of the day haters are gonna hate and hopheads are gonna get high.

I think with this movie that the lesson I have learned from it is more important than the movie itself.  It’s a very good film that is based on real events.  There are the Hollywood elements added in as they are in all movies based on true stories but the messages the film sends are clear and authentic. Gene Hackman is incredible and should have won the Oscar but lost to Dustin Hoffman for Rainman. Frances McDormand is great in everything she does and I’m a big fan of Willem Dafoe.  I think all the KKK members were perfectly cast, R. Lee Ermey and Michael Rooker fit in accordingly.  There is also a young Eddie Winslow in the movie playing an inspiring part.  That is all I want to say about the film itself though.  I think it is a terrific film and I appreciate what it taught me but I believe what it taught me was more important than the film itself.

This movie is worth your time.  If you watch this movie and don’t feel sympathy in your heart there is something wrong with you.  There is a valuable lesson to be had from this movie and if you manage to not get it you need to see more.  If you can’t feel how awful the content of this movie is then you need to open your mind and see it again.  We can all be better as people and as individuals.  This is one of the movies that taught me to be a better person and a stronger individual.  I hope you watch it and get as much out of it as I do.  We can’t change the world but we can change ourselves and we can raise children to be smarter than our parents were and we are.

AMBER’S REVIEW

This movie is incredibly moving. A movie that makes you want to stand up for something, too. It is a really hard movie to watch. If you are a black person or a white person, it’s hard to watch. There is a huge lesson to be learned about this movie, about people and natural born rights. I wasn’t alive during this time and I am so thankful for that, because my whole motto in life is “Live and Let Live.” I don’t understand why people had and have hatred for other people for no reason at all. It burdens my heart. This movie tells an amazing story and it is worth watching for sure.

I am really impressed with this poster. I don’t think it effectively draws in curiosity or anything, but I do think it is really well designed. I am always a fan of a grid design. I think the colors are simple and well suited for this movie. You have two big names and they are evident and at the top and it also gives you an idea of what the characters look like in the film. For this poster to be done in 1988 is also impressive, I feel like it is a little ahead of its time. Another note here. I feel like the simplicity of this poster alludes to the seriousness of its nature.

NEXT MOVIE: Money Talks (1997)

Minority Report

Year: 2002
Directed By: Steven Spielberg
Written By: Phillip K. Dick (short story), Scott Frank and Jon Cohen (screenplay)

RYAN’S REVIEW

This is the only movie about the future that I look at and think “that’s what it’s going to be like.”  I don’t know about psychic pre-cogs who can detect crime before it happens but everything else looks legit. The computer operation, eye scanners, personalized marketing, vehicle models, and so much else that we see in the background of the film I think will hold true in 2054.  It’s hard to say really but I think as that year approaches this film will look more like a vision of the future than say Back to the Future II’s 2015.  Where the hell are our hover board Robert Zemeckis? Aside from being an interesting vision of the future this movie is a fast paced thrill ride that will keep you on the edge of your seat till the end.  It offers some surprisingly outstanding performances from a director who simply makes hit after hit after hit.  In truth this movie is way down the totem pole for great films from Spielberg, but the man has made so many incredible movies it’s hard to get to the top.

Every time I get the opportunity to discuss Steven Spielberg I feel like I can’t say enough about how incredible he is.  This time around is no different.  The man has shown such growth as a filmmaker and he has never stopped getting better at what he does.  For this movie he rolled up his sleeves and did his research.  He didn’t just want to make any other vision of the future with this film but a more accurate picture of what the world would be like.  He met with specific people in a variety of fields and discussed with them where their business was going in the future. This is specifically why I think that in 40 years the world will look pretty close to what we see in this movie.  I just believe that much in Spielberg.  Not only was this film influenced by the information he gathered in his research but this film has over time influenced society itself.  It’s no secret that science fiction films have been influencing technological developments for decades now but this film specifically has been cited as an influence in new emerging technology today.  If you want specific examples feel free to read about it yourself on the film’s Wikipedia page.

Aside from the film’s vision of the future there is always one other specific thing that comes to mind when I think of this movie.  This too I credit Steven Spielberg for and his ability as a director, because otherwise I can’t figure out any other explanation for it.  What I’m talking about is the performance of Colin Farrell. I think he is incredible in this film, and I just can’t figure it out for the life of me.  How can the guy be so damn good in this movie and so widely suck in his career beyond this?  I’ve been seeing this guy in films for a long time now. I know him to specifically blow as an actor.  I have never been able to get over his God awful performance as Alexander back in 2004.  How is it that Oliver Stone, a director that made Charlie Sheen look great in the 80s, fail to get a good performance out of him when Spielberg did so great? It’s always puzzled me but at the same time only makes me appreciate Spielberg more. Somehow he has to be responsible because I sure as hell am not going to give credit to Farrell.  So, for the record, Colin Farrell blows but in this film he is awesome.

I don’t see the point in discussing Cruise.  He is in this film and he is doing his thing.  Probably just to spite haters like me he is a total professional all the way and turns in another killer performance to add to a killer career.  It’s peculiar that you can look at him in this movie and see no noticeable difference in his appearance 12 years later but I’ve discussed that before.  As a hater of this guy I have to admit that he really doesn’t have many flaws in his trade.  He is an outstanding actor and has made a significant career worth being proud of.  I like Max Von Sydow being the real bad guy once everything is figured out.  How did this surprise anyone?  When Emperor Ming it at the top of the hierarchy his hands are bound to be dirty. I like the short part played by Peter Stormare, always great to see him in anything.  Also in small roles Tim Blake Nelson and Neal McDonough add their talents to the cast.

This movie was based on a short story of the same name written by Phillip K. Dick.  I haven’t read it but I have read two Dick books recently and wanted to discuss him a bit.  Dick has been the influence behind a few science fiction films and is significant because one of them is considered one of the greatest of all time.  Blade Runner was based on a book by Dick called “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep.” I read that book recently and found it very interesting.  He also wrote the story that inspired Total Recall, and its remake twenty years later.  Dick was an author far and away ahead of his time.  He wasn’t right about plenty of things but was clever enough to give visions of the future that left a clear impression on his readers.  I also recently read “The Man in the High Castle” which has been talked about being adapted into a film since it came out.  The book is about an alternate reality in the United States in 1962 where everything was different because we lost the war to the Axis powers 20 years prior.  In the book the US is divided into three regions where the Japanese rule the Pacific States of America, the Nazis run the Eastern states, and there is a neutral zone in middle America loosely run by a coalition of the two. A fascinating and frightening book that I really enjoyed reading and would recommend to any person with interest in the topic.

Back to the topic at hand, this film is a great example of a great director and a great actor adding another notch to their belts.  They showed up for work and collaborated to create something awesome.  They both continue to make great films and have been doing so for as long as I have been alive, it’s nice to see them get together to do it.  It’s hard to believe that 12 years has passed since this film came out.  Spielberg has reached a point in his career where he can do anything he wants now.  He is in his later 60s now but he isn’t too old to blow us away with his talent and his career will continue to be interesting to follow.  Cruise on the other hand seems to be standing in some different realm where time stands still and we only see him by happenstance.  Any day now that man is going to become an old man and the world will be so weird then.  I imagine there are a lot of older people out there who look at Tom Cruise and just don’t accept the reality of their age.  They see him looking just like he always did and in their disillusion minds they have what Morpheus would call a “residual self image” of themselves still as lively as they were in the 80s.  That’s all part of why I don’t like Cruise; the guy is a hell of an actor but he is screwing with the small minds of people everywhere with his ability to defy time.

When it comes to science fiction films this one is as good as they get and that doesn’t belittle the genre but enriches it.  This movie is interesting and exciting.  It will draw you in with a fantastic vision of the future and keep you on the edge of your seat with action sequences that will have you biting your nails off. This one is easy to recommend because it is awesome.  This movie is worth your time to see it and if you get the opportunity you won’t be disappointed.

 

AMBER’S REVIEW

I always really like watching this movie. It’s an interesting take on how the future will run. It has been really impressive to watch this movie over the years, and to see how close we actually are to a lot of these technologies. Technology and science have always intrigued me. I also love that they did research of true future technologies and incorporated them into the film. I think that’s the best way to make a movie about the future. We can actually watch it evolve over time and see that some movie called it first.

Having said all of that above, you would think maybe the poster could also be a little advanced. But, no. It looks like that. How boring is this poster? Tom Cruise in an “action pose?” To me he looks a little more like he may have a stomach ache and is doubling over. I can’t even tell what is going on in the background. The typography is completely bored and had barely if any thought put into it. It also looks like they stretched it out across the top. I could be wrong, there might very well be an expanded version. I hate this poster. I can’t even fathom the idea of someone getting paid for crap like this.

NEXT MOVIE: Mississippi Burning

Me, Myself & Irene

Year: 2000
Directed By: Peter and Bobby Farrelly
Written By: The Farrelly Brothers and Mike Cerrone

RYAN’S REVIEW

There is often a fine line between funny and stupid.  Nobody out there knows how to teeter on that line better than the Farrelly Brothers.  They have been making us laugh, and blush, for twenty years now and this film is exactly what I expect from them.  A stupid scenario formatted to be really funny.  Occasionally I find their movies to be too stupid but there are some exceptional ones.  This one is incredibly funny but does tend to get too stupid here and there. However, the laughs this movie offers will challenge those you got out of any film.  A funny movie made by funny people with their favorite funny man.

I remember the days when Jim Carrey was just full-on bursting with comedy.  In the mid to late nineties the man was so relentlessly funny and everything he touched turned to gold.  That all changed somewhere along the way and looking back over his career it seems to have ended after this film.  I am and always will be a big fan of Jim Carrey but he has been missing something for quite a while now.  I don’t know what that is but I will always hold out hope to see the Carrey of old come back.  His talent is undeniable but something has certainly changed about him.  He is currently wrapping up the sequel to one of his greatest, his first collaboration with the Farrelly brothers in fact.  Dumb and Dumber To will be hitting theaters sometime in the near future and I have high hopes for it.  Those guys were hilarious the first time around and I look forward to seeing what they are able to do now. At the same time I have concerns about the state of Carrey’s career when he is going back to Lloyd Christmas while nothing else seems to be working.  Jim Carrey if you are out there I am hoping you hit a home run with your next film and I believe in you man, never give up.

While I will never accept it until it is undeniable, this is currently the last really funny movie made by Carrey.  He has made a couple of comedies that weren’t bad since but nothing as nonstop funny and over the top.  With that being the case, Carrey really went all out in this one.  The two personalities of Charlie and Hank gave Carrey a duality to capture two different kinds of comedy.  I love when he turns into Hank and tries to pull off a super cool persona.  One of my favorite parts of the film is when he slides off the hood of the car in one motion while smoking a cigarette, hilarious.  I also love so much about his character as Charlie too.  His half-assed explanation about his children being that “his great grandmother was half Italian” is simply priceless. I remember when this movie came out Jim Carrey was seen as such a crazy guy that with each new film there was a prevalent thought along the lines of “what will he do this time?” In this movie he admitted that his antics were too much for even him at one point.  The specific scene that made him blush was the one in which he drinks milk from the mother’s breast.  He should have blushed too; he was really going to town on that thing. All for the greater good though, you gotta love a comedian that will literally do anything to make us laugh.

Since seeing Chicago and Cold Mountain I have considered Renee Zellweger one of the most impressive actresses of the decade but this film never seemed right for her.  This part, the hot girl in trouble messed up with the wrong people, in a film like this.  It’s just beneath her as an actress.  Granted this was before the two movies I mentioned but it still doesn’t seem like a good career decision.  Why did she play a part like this? She isn’t bad in the film I just think she could have done better in 2000.  I am a huge fan of Richard Jenkins and always enjoy a chance to see him in any movie.  I don’t think this film really showcases what he has to offer as a comedian and actor but he’s here.  Chris Cooper is great in the bad guy role.  He has a real sinister look to him and a tone in his voice that brooks no argument.  Cooper is never cast as a guy that gets picked on, for good reason.  Any time I have ever seen him I feel like he is always a character that conveys some power or a sense of danger. The rest of the cast only makes the film funnier.  There are plenty of people I haven’t even mentioned that are worth noting.  Tony Cox is always great and brings some great laughs to this movie.  Anthony Anderson is awesome whether he is being funny or stone cold gangster “Antwon Mitchell” style. He’s like a chubbier Michael Strahan; you can’t help but like the guy because he makes everything he is in better.

This movie is what it is, but when what it is makes us laugh it’s easy to be forgiving as a critical viewer.  This movie occasionally is a bit too much but it is funny enough to make you forget about anything that was simply stupid in the effort to be funny.  It is a relentless movie that will have your side hurting after all the laughter it provokes.  I sincerely hope that in a few months Jim Carrey will give his greatest comedic performance in his next collaboration with the Farrellys but until then I will always be happy to have this one.  It’s going on 15 years since this came out but this movie is just as funny now as it was then.  Having said all that I wouldn’t recommend a movie this vulgar to my mom, but to anybody else I’d point them toward it and tell them to get ready to laugh.  A very funny movie that is worth your time to see.

AMBER’S REVIEW

I love this movie. I never get tired of watching it. I know that a lot of people hate on this one. Actually they hate on Jim Carrey in general, but I don’t care. I love that guy. I love him when he is serious, I love him when he is funny, I just think he is one hell of a person. Also, on a side note, when he dated Jenny McCarthy, he got along famously with her Autistic son, she referred to him as an autism whisperer. THAT makes me love him EVEN more. Back to the matter at hand though, this movie shows what it can be like when a person just finally gets pushed too far. I think we can all (to some degree) relate to that feeling.

The only reason this is a great poster is because of Jim Carrey. He carries it completely and you totally get a sense of what the movie is about. He looks seriously goofy and nice on the left side and the right side he looks utterly like pure evil. The tagline is great too. “From Gentle To Mental.” The thing I really hate about this poster is the typography. And that’s a big one for me. I like that they used different weights for the words, but the outline and overlapping and drop shadow are killing me. Really? Other than that, this poster is really successful. I always know what movie it is immediately, and that’s simply because of the main focus. Jim Carrey. (I love him.)

NEXT MOVIE: Minority Report (2002)

Game of Thrones Season 4

Thoughts during the first episode of the season.

The pain of seeing Ice melted down runs deep.  There is really no end to how hard the Starks get slapped in the face. There is always hope for them as Arya, Sansa, and Rickon are all still capable of doing something.  There is also Benjen Stark, whose fate remains a mystery even to readers.  Jon Snow as well offers hope and I still want to see him eventually become Jon Stark. Bran is still out there too but his ability to do anything will be limited to how much he can influence the others.  So, while times certainly seem incredibly DIRE (pun intended) for the Starks don’t worry because there are still plenty of possibilities for them. They get stepped on real hard by their enemies, and the salt is far from being finished pouring into all the wounds created by the Red Wedding.

The arrival of the Red Viper of Dorne is really cool.  Prince Oberyn is a badass.  He is a dangerous man capable of anything. In the book he arrives at Kings Landing with the party and Tyrion has a lengthy discussion with him as he is led to the palace.  I suppose the show needed more to introduce him.  He is a wildly sexual character and HBO wouldn’t miss a perfectly good opportunity to infuse more sex and nudity into the show.  Prince Oberyn has nine bastard daughters known as the Sand Snakes and each of them are as dangerous as he is.  Keep in mind this guy’s twin sister was the Princess Elia who was married to Rhaegar.  The one who was raped and murdered by the Mountain during the siege of King’s Landing.  That will certainly be covered before this episode is over.  It doesn’t sit well with him and he comes looking for justice. He is a new player entering this game and he unbalances the entire board.  He poses problems for the Lannisters because he is a deadly enemy who has reason to have it out for them.

Did they recast Daario Naharis? I feel like too much recasting has already gone on in this show but oh well.  I’m not a big fan of the Daario character anyway so it doesn’t really matter.  Kudos to the new actor, he no doubt gets plenty of acting time with a naked Emilia Clarke during shooting. The guy who was playing the part should have read the books.  No doubt if he knew what was coming for his character we would be seeing him on screen tonight.

The Thens! or however it is spelled.  The people from the far North who follow a Magnar.  At first I thought they were the giants, they are really cool looking.  I think they have been merged with another peoples from the far North.  The people of Skagos are cannibals but I don’t remember hearing anything about the Thens eating people.  Skagos is widely where Rickon is believed to be by the way.

Joffrey is such a little shit. It has never been more satisfying to hate a character.  The statue of him standing over a dire wolf was a nice touch.  I feel bad for the kid playing the part.  With the popularity of this show being what it is people will always remember him as the biggest douche in the world.

I’m glad to see Sir Dontos brought back into the show.  I can’t remember what they did in season three but I specifically remember being mad that Sir Dontos wasn’t involved with something to do with Sansa.  This bumbling fool is the perfectly deployed and manipulated pawn of a large player in the Game of Thrones.  Quite possibly the greatest player in fact because he is the one who has created all of his power out of nothing. Stop now if you don’t want to see a major spoiler but Sir Dontos works for Littlefinger.

The Hound is one of my favorite characters, I feel he has been under utilized on the show to an extent but this should finally be a chance to see him in action. Glad to see that he and Arya didn’t disappoint. I figured I would be writing a sentence about how that fight scene was more dramatic in the book but I don’t think I can.  It was really awesome and a great way to cap off the first episode of season 4.  This has been a great episode and I look forward to what else this season has to offer.

Just a note, I’m publishing this without editing so excuse any typos.