Tag: Game of Thrones

The just-published book “Beyond the Wall” is a collection of essays regarding George R.R. Martin and his work. Below is one of the selections: Los Angeles author and essayist Ned Vizzini’s piece on the disdain and disinterest traditionally facing fantasy works that look for a spot on the bookshelf of respected literature.    When I set out to get blurbs for a young adult novel with fantasy elements that I sold in 2010, the person I wanted to beg most was George R.R. Martin. While reading up on roleplaying games’ influence on American culture, I discovered his work through Dreamsongs: Volume II, which, if you’re already chafing for The Winds of Winter, documents Martin’s creative ventures in Los Angeles with Tyrion-esque cynicism. In Dreamsongs I found that in 1983 Martin started playing the Call of Cthulhu and Superworld games so much that he stopped writing for a year ...

On ”Game of Thrones,” Lena Headey plays Cersei Lannister, the diabolical but damaged queen who hides behind a face of royal beauty, but fans of the HBO medieval epic might need a moment to recognize the British actress in the sci-fi film “Dredd,” which is scheduled to arrive in September. Like Cersei, Madeline “Ma-Ma” Madrigal ruthlessly puts down all challenges to her authority, but her scarred face is no facade — it’s more like a map of the cruel metropolis called Mega City One. In a world scorched and sickened by radiation wars, Mega City One is one of the last pockets of civilization but it tests the bottom limits of the word. Madrigal is the fierce gang leader who rules Peach Tree City Block and that puts her squarely in the sights of the film’s title character, Judge Joseph Dredd — played by Karl Urban of “Star Trek” ...

HBO’s “Game of Thrones” has the look of a conquering king right now — HBO has just renewed the series for a third season, just two weeks after the Season 2 opener earned glowing reviews and posted a gaudy 77% increase over last April’s series premiere. But one of the stars, Peter Dinklage, says any television success is a double-edged sword. When asked what challenges lie ahead for the creators, cast and crew of “Game of Thrones,” the 42-year-old actor said he sees them coming from several directions, including the most passionate fans of the show. Specifically, the newly minted Emmy and Golden Globe winner said he frets a bit about the relentless Internet drumbeat of fantasy fans who want the medieval epic to be more, well, epic. “There’s so much pressure to, in terms of this genre, make it bigger,” Dinklage said. “There’s all this talk about, ‘We want more ...

David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, the writer-producers of HBO’s “Game of Thrones,” return to the Seven Kingdoms on Sunday with the second season premiere, and the early reviews are glowing. We interviewed the duo for a lengthy feature on Lena Headey, the glowering queen of House Lannister, but got so much out of it that the transcript deserves a post of its own. HC: When you look at Cersei Lannister what is it in her situation and persona that you find most interesting? DB: Cersei is frustrated by the constraints placed on a woman in medieval society, even the most privileged woman in the land. She wishes she were born a man so she could fight her enemies in the open. But she can’t — and so she chooses other methods of combat. As malicious as she sometimes is, Cersei’s motive is familiar ...

The news is dire: The most feared woman in the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros is being held captive by Los Angeles mid-morning traffic. Well, more precisely, Lena Headey, the willowy actress who plays Cersei Lannister on “Game of Thrones,” is half an hour late for an interview at the HBO offices in Santa Monica and, when she does arrive, it’s in a swirl of charismatic chaos. “Hectic morning, so sorry,” Headey said as she ran her fingers through jet-black hair that is nowhere close to her broadcast blondness. Her aura was more spiky than regal; two fingers were bandaged after home-project mishaps, her off-the-shoulder top revealed a scattering of tattoos and every fourth or fifth sentence was sprinkled with F-words. “I … hate being late. I’ve lived in L.A. for five years but I forget there’s traffic until I’m in it.” No matter, Headey ...

Fans of Peter Dinklage’s sublime work in HBO’s ”Game of Thrones” will smile this Sunday night as they watch the opening credits of the second-season premiere: The newly minted Emmy and Golden Globe winner is listed first now, jumping more than 15 spots. “Well, thanks,” Dinklage said with a wry chuckle last week when he was congratulated about the ascension. The reason for the reaction — nothing lasts forever in Westeros, just ask Sean Bean who was listed first for the opening nine episodes and got axed before the 10th. “I feel like the credits are about what’s going on in the show,” Dinklage said. “Sean Bean’s character gets killed and now my character is the new Hand of the King, so he goes to the front of the line. We’ll see how that goes…” Bean’s character, Lord Eddard Stark, was ...

This post has been corrected, as detailed below. Like a graybeard king, George R.R. Martin sat near the center of the ballroom at the 69th Annual Golden Globes and watched the royal court of Hollywood pass by his table Sunday night and, yes, in a room packed with lithe starlets and square-jawed leading men it was easy to pick out the only plump fantasy novelist in the room. “It is another surreal thing,” said Martin, the grand mythmaker behind HBO’s “Game of Thrones.”  “But this is not my first Golden Globes. I was here before. It was years ago but it was nothinglike this. It was one-tenth the size. It wasn’t so completely crazy and with the stars who are here now and the coverage, it’s a different thing.” Those previous visits to the Globes were in the late 1980s, when Martin was a writer/producer for “Beauty ...

Feel a chill in the air?  Here’s the teaser for Season 2 of the HBO series that taught us that dragons still live and that even the bravest of men can lose their heads when confronted by the dungeons and deceit of King’s Landing. If you want to revisit the first season — or figure what all the fuss is about — click on the photos below and join us in our epic interest of this most interesting epic. – Geoff Boucher ( All photos: HBO, except bottom right Comic-Con photo from the AP.)

Are you looking for a magical gift for that special Muggle in your life? Do you need to send a wrapped present to a Time Lord in the near future? Or maybe you’re an enterprising soul who just can’t figure out the logical thing to bring to the holodeck holiday party? Well, no worries, just mind-meld with us because we’re here to save the day. Look, up in the photo gallery, it’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s…the Hero Complex Holiday Gift Guide. Flip through the gallery image above to see the best geeky gifts around and read our review (be sure to click the “CAPTIONS ON” option). Also below, grouped by price range, you’ll find those same gift suggestions listed with handy links to help you get your shopping done at light speed. May the nog be with you. – Noelene Clark ...

Twenty-three floors above city pavement, Jason Momoa leaned on a window at the Ritz Carlton and stared down at the bright lights of his Hollywood hopes. “There it is, look at that,” the 32-year-old actor said, nodding toward the huge “Conan the Barbarian” banner and waiting red carpet at the Regal Cinemas across the street. “You know, I’ve never owned a suit before but I got one for tonight.” Many of Momoa’s fans have never seen the brawny star in a shirt much less a tuxedo. Not only is he the star of Lionsgate’s “Conan” he portrayed the even more ferocious Drogo on 10 episodes of the acclaimed HBO series “Game of Thrones.” Next up is Walter Hill’s “Bullet to the Head” with Sylvester Stallone and Christian Slater. Our Geoff Boucher sat down with the Honolulu native before the  premiere of “Conan,” which ...