Yeah, Quigley's counter-argument seems to be "LOOK SEE ALL THESE MALE DIRECTORS ARE GOOD SO THEY DESERVE THEIR SUCCESS SO LEAVE MEN ALONE" which is obviously dumb. He's acting like Monsters and Following were gigantic successes that made the directors' follow-up projects guaranteed successes. That's plain nonsense. Frankly, getting Gareth Edwards to direct Godzilla was a TERRIBLE idea. It happened to work out very well, because the studio was behind him and they helped him achieve his vision. But Quigley is pretending that these male directors all "proved themselves" with their first features, which led to them getting big studio films. Wrong. They proved themselves on those big studio films. Indie success is no guarantee of mainstream success.

So here's an idea, Hollywood. Take a chance on some female directors every so often. Because it might work out really well.

I don't think that's where Dany's arc is headed. I think she'll be consumed by madness and Barristan will be forced to kill her.

That sounds like a black metal remix of a Beatles song.

Finally, a movie with a "magic blood" plot device that works! This is the new bar for summer blockbusters for me. Every summer blockbuster should be AT LEAST as good as this, in every capacity. Man did this movie make me happy.

1) He was demoted to the rank of Private because he was a deserter.
2) Because, like she says, she's a soldier. It's not in her nature to give up even when the odds are impossible. In her mind, she can still get away if she tries.
3) She forgot to unhook the trailer.
4) Because clearly they didn't need more than one. They were mounting a full-scale attack on human civilization at the same time, and Alphas are extremely rare (one in six million, I think the scientist guy says.) They could probably only afford to keep one behind.
5) Because the reset was caused by the destruction of the Omega. Immediately after the reset, it failed to reconstitute. Or something. Does it matter?
6) They're called mimics because of their ability to precisely imitate (and counter) Earth's military strategies. I'm 99% sure they say this during the opening, but it's easy to miss because of the overlapping voice-overs.
7) Because they were needed, clearly.

Leaked casting calls indicate that they're looking for a black actor for Areo Hotah. So...that's one, I guess.

Have you listened to the FIYH commentary for it?

I, Frankenstein is awful, but I'm not sure it's an interesting kind of awful. It's just the obvious kind of awful that anyone can innately recognize.

Yup. It complicates your feeling about how it ends. Even if you love the character, you love Tyrion, and you know that Oberyn had a valid cause, you have to admit that it was his own hubris that got him killed. That's a running theme in the show, but it's never been more apparent than here.

Alright, here's mine:

EPISODE 9

- Pretty easy to predict, given the single-location setup. Big battle at the Wall, Ygritte is killed, Jon gains favor, and Stannis shows up and everyone freaks out.

- There'll also probably be a scene where Sam and Gilly are reunited, which they set up this week.

- Also, that kid is totally gonna be the one to kill Ygritte. He's introduced when she shoots his dad, and the next time we see him he's at the Wall talking about how he's the "best archer in his village."

- Maaaaaaaaybe we see Bran? Just to quickly check in on him, as long as we're there? Although there's not too much more to do with him pre-Bloodraven.

EPISODE 10

- This one I can get more specific on. Starts in the aftermath of the battle at Castle Black, the need for a new Lord Commander is brought up. Maybe we get the election later in the episode? At the very least they have to set that up pretty strongly.

- The Hound collapses because Biter's bite is severely infected. I'm going to go out on a limb and say that Arya will give him the gift of mercy. The showrunners teased that characters will die in the show who don't in the books, and since The Hound isn't likely to factor into the endgame of the series, I think this moment works. They've been building up Arya's brutality and thirst for blood all this season. It doesn't seem to fit into this version of the character to leave The Hound there to die, especially considering the relationship they've built up. I'm thinking this happens early in the episode, and her trip to Braavos comes closer to the end.

- One of two ways this could play out: One, Daenerys is furious in the wake of Jorah's betrayal, and it shows. Barristan tries to reason with her and she just flips. Shows the first sign of Targaryen madness, maybe? Alternately, they go closer to the book and have her broken up and more vulnerable after Jorah. Either way, it leads to the same thing, because her final scene of the season will definitely have a farmer bringing the "bones of a child" to her throne room. It's a nice downward twist, because this season has been all about Daenerys rising in power and confidence. The final scene will be a crushing blow, and it'll setup her slow spiral next season.

- I'm thinking we'll get a quick scene of Littlefinger and Sansa to follow up the events of episode 8. This may or may not involve Littlefinger explaining his plan to her re: Harry the Heir (or maybe just Robin, tbh. Simpler.) I think this would make a great cliffhanger, and it makes sense as a sort of initiation into the Game for Sansa.

- Bran and Co. will meet the Children of the Forest. Reeeeeeeeeeally don't know how this is gonna work on screen. But who cares? Anyway...

- Tyrion is fuming over his inevitable fate, knowing that one of the only two people in the world who gave half a crap about him doesn't have a head anymore. Then the other one comes to his cell to spring him. Jaime's GOT to tell him about Tysha, which they'll probably remind us about in the previously-on. He needs to be really angry when he gets to the Tower of the Hand, not just despairing. Unfortunately, I guess we're not getting the line about how Cersei is fucking Lancel and Osmund Kettleblack and Moonboy for all we know, because none of those characters are in the show and Cersei's sexual affairs haven't been touched on at all this season. This line was so key to Jaime's later material that I wonder what they'll do to replace it.

But speaking of lines like that, we'll surely get "Wherever whores go." I think that scene will play out almost exactly as it does on the page, right down to Tywin saying that he doesn't plan on executing Tyrion but on sending him to the Wall instead. I think it'll throw people for a loop to have Tyrion do something purely based on emotion and not pragmatism, especially right after killing Shae. And they'll spend all year rationalizing it with "Well he couldn't trust Tywin so he was totally justified!!!" and then he comes back in Season 5 all dark and moody and depressed to everyone's surprise. This scene should mirror the season's opening in some way directorially, though I can't imagine how. It completes the arc of the season, where the Lannisters started on top and the Starks on bottom, and now they've switched places completely. Which means the final scene has got to be...

- ...Lady Stoneheart! I'm really curious how they'll do this. It's gotta involve Brienne, right? But then what do they do with her during all of Season 5? I guess they could invent stuff for her to do with the Brotherhood like they've done with Theon, but if they do that I'm not sure how they'd get out of bringing Michelle Fairley back as a main cast member. Here's how I see it playing out:

Right after "Wherever whores go," we slowly fade to black as the score does this very mournful version of The Rains of Castamere. We hold in black for a little while, just long enough for people to think the episode is over (because what else could they POSSIBLY do, right?) but then we fade right back up on Brienne and Pod, walking along a path or something. Then maybe the Brotherhood comes upon them, or vice versa, and one of them recognizes or knows Brienne. They lead her to this clearing where a man has a noose around his neck. They explain that it's Merrett Frey, and he's screaming his head off about whatever (they'd use his lines from the book) and it can be inferred that he was at the Red Wedding. He says "You have no witness!" and then they bring out Lady Stoneheart. She takes off her hood, Stark theme builds to a massive crescendo, CREDITS. I can't imagine they'd introduce Lady Stoneheart by hanging Brienne. This moment has to feel hopeful and maybe almost heroic for the Starks. It won't work if the first thing she does is seemingly murder a fan-favorite character. Besides, it never made total sense to me why she threatened Brienne with death in the first place. Maybe I just don't remember the chapter very well. In any case, this is how I would do the scene, and it wouldn't surprise me if they do pretty much this version in the show. If anything, they just wouldn't include Brienne and Pod.

Really? Because it seems like the queen is still beholden to the whims of the ruling men. And no, Merida is basically being sold as property. The princes are competing for the right to own her. She starts the movie desperate for individuality and personal agency, and the whole climax of the movie relies on her having to apologize to her mother for...begging for individuality and personal agency.

Teaching kids that they're not going to get EVERYTHING they want in life (Monsters U) is fine, but Brave takes a bizarrely sexist route to that message, and the message is polluted as a result.

This movie has a dangerous and regressive message. It's basically saying, "Your parents are always right, even if their beliefs are sexist and immoral." The movie starts with Merida boldly defying the misogynist politics of her kingdom by refusing to be sold as property to some prince she barely knows, and by the end she APOLOGIZES FOR THAT as if she did ANYTHING WRONG.