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Telltale Two Trailer

January 22, 2015 at 12:57 pm
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Telltale Games has just released a trailer for the second episode of their GAME OF THRONES videogame.

This one is called "The Lost Lords."  (Hey, good title).

Enjoy.

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A Tease from IMAX

January 20, 2015 at 7:59 pm
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If you happen to live in or near a town with an IMAX theater, it may be that you'll be one of the lucky ones who will get to see GAME OF THRONES on the big, big, BIG screen on January 29.

HBO will be screening the last two episodes from season 4 — "Watchers on the Walls" and "The Children" — at selected IMAX theatres for one week only.

Here's a taste:

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Alas, the Jean Cocteau does not have an IMAX screen.  There is an IMAX down in Albuquerque, but last I heard, it was not one of the theatres selected for those promotion, so New Mexicans are out of luck.

But not completely — the Jean Cocteau WILL be doing another free GAME OF THRONES marathon this year, screening all of the episodes from season four on our… alas… modest medium-sized screen.  We do hope to have cast and crew joining us via Skype, however.  So watch this space closely for details, and go to the Cocteau web site and sign up for our newsletter.

And all you folks who have an IMAX near at hand, enjoy the spectacle.

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Win Some, Lose Some

January 12, 2015 at 12:22 pm
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Well, at least the Cowboys lost.

Otherwise the results of this weekend's various contests were pretty depressing, from where I stand.

Seahawks beat the Panthers pretty soundly, as most people expected.  No big surprise there.

For a few minutes at the start, and a few minutes in the middle, the Ravens were two touchdowns up on the Patriots, and it looked as though Evil Little Bill might go down as well.  But New England and Tom Brady rallied, not once but twice… once, admittedly, aided by what the Ravens coach called a 'substitution trick,' which wasn't illegal but probably should be.  No one ever said Evil Little Bill wasn't clever.  And in the end Joe Flacco threw a killer INT, and the Pats moved on.  That made me mad and sad.

But not as sad as Jerry Jones and Chris Christie probably were when the Cowboys lost.  Last week TV showed up the two of them high-fiving and hugging when Dallas won, it was a pity we didn't get a good shot of them this week when the 'Boys went down.  (And honestly, the very idea of the governor of New Jersey rooting for the Cowboys instead of the Jets or the Giants or even the Eagles… never mind Bridgegate, Christie should be impeached for that alone).

Andrew Luck and the Colts upset Peyton Manning and the Broncos.  Peyton did not look at all like himself, and this morning all the talking heads are speculating that he might be near the end of the line.  I hope that's not so… but if he does retire, well, it was sad to see him go out with such an underwhelming performance.  What's doubly sad is that I don't think the Colts have a chance in hell of beating the Patriots next week at Foxboro, which means Brady and Belicheck will be heading to another Superbowl, pfui.

As for the Cowboys and the Packers… it was a lot closer than I thought it would be, and I have to give props to Jason Garrett, who did a helluva job of coaching and showed real guts at a couple of key spots, and Tony Romo, who played an amazing game and did not make the patented Tony Romo Mistake that all of us Cowboy haters were waiting for.  But in the end, the game belonged to Aaron Rodgers, who gave the most heroic  performance by a one-legged limping star that the world has seen since Hopalong Cassidy.

And then there was the dagger through the heart: Dez Bryant and the catch that wasn't a catch.  Sorry, Dallas, them's the rules.  Ask Calvin Johnson.  Oh, and that sound you hear — that's the city of Detroit, laughing their asses off.  Karma's a bitch.  The refs giveth, and the refs taketh away.

As for the non-football contests, yes, of course, GAME OF THRONES lost another Golden Globe.  This one to THE AFFAIR.  Nothing unexpected there, and I am glad I saved myself some time and money and stayed home.  Sad to say, I don't think any fantasy will ever win a Golden Globe.  The prejudice against genre shows runs too deep.  I did think Tina Fey and Amy Poehler were great, however, and I liked Allan Cummings in his peach suit-shirt-tie ensemble.

But never mind.  The Cowboys lost, so I went to sleep with a smile on my face.

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Weekend Contests

January 9, 2015 at 4:42 pm
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Some big big contests this weekend.

In the NFL, it's the divisional round.  On Saturday, Baltimore is at New England and the Carolina Panthers are at Seattle.   My former assistant Ty is a big Panthers fan, so my feelings for them are largely positive… but I like the Seahawks too.  I had a very pleasant breakfast with their owner a few months ago. I have no favorite in that game.  Of couse, I will be rooting hard for the Ravens to defeat Evil Little Bill and his Patriots.  Hey, they are named in honor of Edgar Allen Poe, a fellow writer… and while it is true they beat my Giants in a SuperBowl once, it's been a long time, I forgive them.

On Sunday, it is Dallas at Green Bay and Indianapolis at Denver.  I am for Denver in the AFC game; after all, Peyton is Eli's big brother.  And the Colts should never have left Baltimore besides, so pfui to the Irsays.  The early game, hey, no contest, I have hated and despised the Cowboys even longer than I have hated the Patriots, so I will be pulling hard for Green Bay and that baaaaad man Aaron Rogers.

(Meanwhile, I will also be rooting for the Jets to get a kickass GM and head coach, for Rex to get another head coaching job, and for my Giants to bring back Steve Spagnuolo as defensive coordinator).

The NFL isn't the only contest this weekend.  This year's Golden Globe Awards will also be presented on Sunday night, and GAME OF THRONES is nominated in Best Dramatic Series.  The competition this time around is HOUSE OF CARDS, THE AFFAIR, THE GOOD WIFE, and DOWNTON ABBEY.   David Benioff and Dan Weiss and Carolyn Strauss and a number of our other producers and cast members will be on hand at the ceremony, though I won't be there myself this year.  But I will watching from home and cheering loudly for the show, and hoping that my friends and colleagues get a Globe (the GG rules are such that I would not get one myself, even if we win).

So in conclusion:

GO RAVENS
GO PACKERS
GO DRAGONS
GO DIREWOLVES

GO HBO!

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Sibel Is Coming

December 12, 2014 at 12:28 pm
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I think Sibel Kekilli has forgiven me for killing Shae.  🙂

She must have, surely, because she's coming to Santa Fe week after next.

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Those of you who are GAME OF THRONES fans know Sibel best for her turn as Shae, of course… but this beautiful young German actress has done a great deal more of that.  Among her other honors, she's won the Lola Award — the 'German Oscar' — not once but twice.  In honor of Sibel's visit, we'll going to be screening the first of her Lola-winning performances.  For three nights only,  you can see HEAD ON on the big (well, medium sized) at the Jean Cocteau Cinema.

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HEAD ON will be showing on December 18th, 19th, and 20th.  Tickets will soon be available through the Jean Cocteau website at http://www.jeancocteaucinema.com/    And circle the middle date on your calendars.  December 19 is the date that Sibel will be joining us at the theatre to introduce the film, talk about her life and career, and answer your questions… about HEAD ON, sure, but I imagine she'd be glad to take some GAME OF THRONES questions too.

(And we will have plenty of Ice & Fire books on hand for her to sign, including the new 'Making Of' book).

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See you at the movies.

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Awards, Awards

December 11, 2014 at 12:34 pm
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Award season is at hand in Hollywood, and GAME OF THRONES is racking up the nominations.

The show scored three nods from SAG, the Screen Actors Guild.  Peter Dinklage was nominated as Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series, along with Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey of TRUE DETECTIVE, Steve Buschemi from BOARDWALK EMPIRE, and Kevin Spacey for HOUSE OF CARDS.   The cast as a whole was nominated for Best Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama, and our stunt team was nominated for Best Action Performance by an Ensemble.

Variety has the full list at http://variety.com/2014/film/news/sag-awards-nominations-birdman-boyhood-1201375775/

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This year's Golden Globe have also just been announced.  The Hollywood Foreign Press Association nominated GAME OF THRONES in Best Drama.  The competition is THE GOOD WIFE, DOWNTON ABBEY, THE AFFAIR, and HOUSE OF CARDS.  (Very surprised not to see BOARDWALK EMPIRE on that list; their final season was astounding.  MANHATTAN also deserved a nod, I think.  This is truly the Golden Age of television drama).

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As ever, it is an honor to be nominated, to be part of the conversation.

(I remain skeptical about our chances of actually winning, the bias against fantasy being what it is).

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GOT, HBO Score WGA Nominations

December 4, 2014 at 2:53 pm
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The Writers Guild of America has just announced the nominees for its annual awards, and HBO and GAME OF THRONES are both well represented on the shortlists.

The writing staff of GAME OF THRONES season four (David Benioff, D.B. Weiss, Bryan Cogman, and me) scored another nomination for Best Dramatic Series.  We'll be up against THE GOOD WIFE, HOUSE OF CARDS, TRUE DETECTIVE, and MAD MEN.

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But that's not all.  In the Episodic Drama category, my own season four episode, "The Lion and the Rose," was nominated.  It will be competing against episodes from THE GOOD WIFE, RECTIFY, MAD MEN, and two strong BOARDWALK EMPIREs.  Tough company indeed.

But I am thrilled by the nomination.  The last time one of my scripts was nominated was 1987, when one of my TWILIGHT ZONE episodes was a finalist.  (I lost to Harlan Ellison, with another TZ script).  So it's very cool to make the shortlist. 

For a full list of nominees, go to:

 http://www.eonline.com/news/603528/game-of-thrones-orange-is-the-new-black-and-true-detective-lead-2015-wga-nominations

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Iron from Ice

November 18, 2014 at 12:28 am
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There's a new GAME OF THRONES computer game on the way, this one from Telltale Games.

Unlike the earlier games from Cyanide, this is an HBO license, derived from the television series rather than the novels, so the characters will look like their TV incarnations, and in many cases will be voiced by the actors who play them on the show.   The action is centered around House Forrester, bannermen to the Starks of Winterfell whose seat in the wolfswood.  (Some Forresters are mentioned in the Stannis chapters, when he marches south from the Wall to attack Winterell, but very little is said about them, which made them ideal for game purposes).

The game will be sort of a side story to the show (and books), swirling and around major events.  Ty Franck, my longtime assistant who went off to become half of James S.A. Corey and write the Expanse novels, acted as a consultant on story and continuity for Telltale.

The first teaser trailer has just been released.  Have a look:

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Banned In Turkey

November 8, 2014 at 2:45 pm
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It appears that GAME OF THRONES has been corrupting the morals of the Turkish military:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2014/11/11/why-turkeys-military-wants-to-ban-game-of-thrones/

Who knew?

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Emmy Night

August 25, 2014 at 8:21 pm
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It's Emmy night!

(On a Monday in August… thanks, NBC, he muttered sourly).

Parris and I will be off to the Nokia Theatre in a few hours, battling the inevitable traffic jams, which will be much worse than usual because, well, it's a Monday in August.

GAME OF THRONES scored 19 Emmy nominations, more than any other program, and took home four awards last weekend in the technical categories.  Tonight we are contending in five more categories: Neil Marshall for directing, David and Dan for scripting, Lena Headey for Best Supporting Actress, Peter Dinklage for Best Supporting Actor, and of course the show itself for Best Drama.

Whether we will win any remains to be seen.  Pretty much everyone is saying that BREAKING BAD has this year locked up.  Maybe they are right.  But last week pretty much everyone was saying DOCTOR WHO had the Hugo locked up as well.  Can GAME OF THRONES score another upset, and break through the Academy's long-standing aversion to fantasy and science fiction?  We will know in a few hours.

That's why they play the games.

Anyway (all together now), "it is an honor just to be nominated," and the after parties are always fun.

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