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Season 5 in Santa Fe

April 1, 2015 at 10:07 am
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We had a great time at the GAME OF THRONES season five premiere at the Jean Cocteau.

No Iron Throne this year, alas, but we partied before the episode, and partied after the episode, and in between enjoyed the show, our famous popcorn, and some great specialty cocktails — including the fabulous White Walker, which may become a new favorite.

Santa Fe's mayor joined us, along with a state representative and three members of the city council… and some of the cast and crew of RIDICULOUS SIX, presently shooting just north of the city, came down to join the fun.

Eleven days to air…

My Night With Sibel

March 26, 2015 at 2:23 pm
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The lovely and talented SIBEL KEKILLI — best known to all you GAME OF THRONES fans out there for her amazing portrayal of Shae — came to Santa Fe last December.  We celebrated her visit by screening HEAD ON, the breakthrough German film that gave Sibel her first starring role and won her the Lola (the German Oscar) for Best Actress, but that was not the main purpose of her visit.  She was here to film a segment of a popular German travel show DURCH DIE NACHT (roughly, INTO THE NIGHT), for the French/ German TV network ARTE.

The premise is the show is that each week, a celebrity visits some place they have never been before, and a local shows them the town, with an emphasis on the nightlfife.  Sibel asked me to show her Santa Fe, and I was delighted to say yes ( though I did warn her that Santa Fe, for all its charms, does tend to roll up the sidewalks at 9:00 pm or so).    So after a rather adventurous series of flight, and a six-hour drive through the night with a stranger in a car full of fish, Sibel made it to the Land of Enchantment, and I had the honor of playing her host.  We took in my own lair, a local gallery, a comic book shop, two restaurants, two bars, and of course the Jean Cocteau.  (With a film crew trailing us everywhere we went).

I had a great time.  Got to introduce Sibel to margaritas and chile con queso, two of my favorite things.  All in all, she seemed to enjoy the experience.  And driving around through the night, we talked about all manner of things, which was fun as well.

The segment has now been edited and broadcast.  For those of you not in France and Germany who did not get to see it, here you go:

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I've met some wonderful people through GAME OF THRONES, and Sibel is one of them.  What an amazing, talented, courageous young woman.   And yes, I confess it: her Shae was better than my Shae.

Oh, and by the way, here's that song I had them sing for Sibel — Istanbul, Not Constantinople, by the Four Lads.

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Two Premieres

March 22, 2015 at 9:16 am
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Off to San Francisco this afternoon for the premiere of GAME OF THRONES season five on Monday the 23rd, at the San Francisco Opera House.  Should be a grand affair, though the LA and NYC premieres (for seasons three and four, respectively) will be hard to top.  I look forward to seeing our old friends on the cast, and meeting some new ones.

Then it's home again, for the Santa Fe premiere of season five at the Jean Cocteau, on Saturday the 28th.   Three screenings, including the first Spanish-language screening in the morning for our Hispanic fans.

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Four Covers

March 10, 2015 at 8:19 pm
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Feast your eyes on the four variant covers for ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY's forthcoming double issue devoted to GAME OF THRONES.

Some gorgeous stuff here.

1355-1356-ew-got-cover-emilia

1355-1356-ew-got-cover-harrington

1355-1356-ew-got-cover-dinklage

1355-1356-ew-got-cover-williams

Be sure to collect them all. I know I will.

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Season 5 – The Wheel

March 8, 2015 at 5:22 pm
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HBO has released a new trailer for season five of GAME OF THRONES.

This one is called "The Wheel."

Enjoy.

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Awards Time

February 14, 2015 at 1:53 pm
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In Beverly Hills for the Writers Guild Awards. GAME OF THRONES has two nominations. Keep your fingers and toes crossed, boys and girls.

Oh, and Happy Valentine’s Day to all. May you shares many hugs and kisses with your honeys.

LATER. Back from the awards. Same old same old. Lost them both.

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The Lost Lords — Found!

February 3, 2015 at 11:58 pm
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Telltale Games has released a trailer for “The Lost Lords,” the second episode in their GAME OF THRONES videogame, centering on the travails of House Forrester of the wolfswood, bannermen to the Starks of Winterfell.

Looks pretty nifty. Take a look:

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I haven’t played the game myself, but all the reports I’m hearing are very enthusiastic. My former minion, Ty Franck, helped to write the scenario before he went off to become half of James S.A. Corey, and it looks like he and the Telltale crew did a bang-up job.

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Marathon Time!

February 3, 2015 at 11:45 pm
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Yes, we’re doing it again.

February begins Marathon Month at the Jean Cocteau Cinema. We may not boast the colossal screens of IMAX theatres, but we do have a pretty cool medium-sized screen, bigger than your TV sets, and we’ll be presenting the entire fourth season of GAME OF THRONES on it, starting February 17.

We did think of showing all of the first four seasons, but that’s forty hours of television, and we would have needed to start around Thanksgiving if we wanted weekly screenings. So we decided to restrict ourselves to a single season this time around. We ran the first three seasons last year, after all. And there’s plenty of spectacular fun to be had in season four.

You remember:
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We’ll be showing two episodes a week, on Tuesday nights, for five weeks. The schedule:

TUESDAY February 17 episodes 401 & 402
TUESDAY February 24 episodes 403 & 404
TUESDAY March 3 episodes 405 & 406
TUESDAY March 10 episodes 407 & 408
TUESDAY March 17 episodes 409 & 410

Wherever possible, we will also feature cast members, writers, and directors answering audience questions after the episodes… most via Skype, but we are hoping to arrange some personal appearances as well. Sibel Kekilli and Pedro Pascal have already agreed to Skype in with us. More to come.

The bad news is, sorry, you cannot buy tickets for these shows. The good news is, ALL SCREENINGS ARE FREE. First come, first seated will be the rule, just like it was last year… and do recall, the Cocteau has only 125 – 130 seats. We expect every one to be filled. Last year we had people lining up before the sun rose.

Of course, we will have plenty of GAME OF THRONES merchandise for sale… along with signed books… special Westeros-themed cocktails… and our justly famous buttered popcorn.

See you there, I hope!

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Season 5 Trailer Unveiled

February 3, 2015 at 11:38 am
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I was at the SuperBowl this past weekend. Great game with a terrible ending. But overall, still an amazing experience.

Others — millions of others, actually — were at IMAX theatres across the land, for the special IMAX screenings of episodes 9 and 10 from the fourth season of GAME OF THRONES. I would have loved to have seen that too, but alas, there’s no Imax near me.

Those who did make it to an Imax saw the first full-length trailer for season five.

For those who were not, like me, here it is in all its glory. Enjoy.

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Congrats, Congrats

January 24, 2015 at 6:22 pm
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Congratulations to GILLIAN FLYNN.  Her story "What Do You Do?" from ROGUES has been nominated for an Edgar Award by the members of the Mystery Writers of America.

It's a terrific story, and Gillian is an amazing writer.  Gardner Dozois and I are very proud to have had the honor of publishing it.

Fingers crossed for Gillian to bring home the head of Edgar Allan Poe when the MWA gives them out at the end of April.

For a full list of this year's Edgar nominees, go to http://www.theedgars.com/nominees.html

If you'd like to read "What Do You Do?" — and a lot of other great stories about con men, scalawags, ne'er do wells, cads, scoundrels, and their disreputable brothers and sisters — ROGUES is available from your local bookstore or favorite online bookseller.  And you can snag a signed copy (signed by me, not Gillian, alas) from the Jean Cocteau Cinema at http://www.jeancocteaubooks.com/

Rogues comp A March 17 lo res

Congratulations also to the amazing and talented SOPHIE TURNER, our very own Sansa Stark, who has just landed the plum role of Jean Grey in the next X-MEN movie.

Yes, THAT Jean Grey.  Marvel Girl.  Phoenix.  Dark Phoenix.  One of the most iconic.. and most powerful… characters in the Marvel universe.

I first met Jean Grey in the first issue of the X-MEN, when Stan Lee and Jack Kirby introduced them back in the 1960s.  I first met Sophie when when we were shooting the pilot of GAME OF THRONES.  This is a casting made in comic book heaven.  It brings out the old fanboy in me, the kid who used to write letters that began "Dear Stan and Jack."

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 Sophie will be terrific.

'Nuff said.

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