Medium Mashup

Author: Ross Miller

  • Game of Thrones: Fun with Theories – Tyrion Lannister

    tyrion

    (This article will contain spoilers for Game of Thrones, A Song of Ice and Fire, and George RR Martin’s supplemental material. It will also cover potential plot points that could very well turn up in the future of the series. You’ve been warned!)

    Last week on Game of Thrones, we were teased by the “Tower of Joy” sequence and unceremoniously yanked out of Bran’s vision before we could enter the tower with Ned Stark. For casual viewers, this was just a cool fight scene with a hint of mystery, but to those who have been reading and theorizing about A Song of Ice and Fire for years, it was a somewhat irritating stalling tactic for a reveal that we’ve been expecting for a long time. The R+L=J theory is so well-known and well-supported at this point that it’s essentially canon, so holding out of the reveal feels less like suspense and more like prolonging the inevitable.

    But there’s another theory that is less widely accepted by fandom and, I feel, almost as likely to be true as R+L=J. If you’re paying close attention to the supplemental material and the scenes included in the TV adaptation, there’s a strong reason to believe that Tyrion Lannister is, himself, half-Targaryen.

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  • Why the Playstation Neo is Bad News

    neo

    In case you’ve missed all of the news and rumors so far, here’s the gist of the situation with the Playstation Neo. Sony is reportedly working on a new version of the Playstation 4, with improved CPU and GPU components. In theory, this console will be able to handle 4K video output and VR gaming more capably than the current version. However, the new system’s improvements will not be relegated only to these particular functions. Starting in October, all Playstation 4 games will be REQUIRED to have a “Neo” mode, with improved resolution, visual effects, and framerate beyond what the original Playstation 4 can provide.

    As you might expect, this has caused something of an uproar in the Playstation community. The PS4 has sold roughly 40 million units to date. That’s a lot of owners who are now seeing their highest-end console as obsolete. Of course, in Sony’s supposed documentation, they insist that this is not the case. The Playstation Neo is meant to coexist with the base-PS4 unit, with all games playable on both consoles, just better on the Neo.

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  • Captain America: Civil War Review

     

    civil-warSomebody at Marvel must have sold their soul to the devil.

    That’s the only way I can explain how a movie like Captain America: Civil War, which juggles enough characters to make Batman v Superman and the previous Avengers movies look quaint, works so beautifully. Civil War isn’t just good, it’s the best team-up movie Marvel has produced to date, and possibly the studio’s best film yet. Despite running for two hours and twenty-six minutes (just slightly longer than the Avengers movies), Civil War never ceases to be entertaining. Just about every scene is enjoyable in its own right.

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  • Is Game of Thrones Losing Its Ability to Surprise Us?

    game-of-thrones

    (This article will contain spoilers for the series Game of Thrones, and may discuss elements of the A Song of Ice and Fire book series as well. If you are not caught up, I would not recommend reading further)

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  • American Ultra Review

    american-ultra

    If American Ultra is a failure, then at least it’s a noble one. The film, starring Jesse Eisenberg and Kristen Stewart, is about a West Virginia stoner who finds himself the target of a CIA hit operation, suddenly able to fight and shoot guns and basically behave like an action-movie hero. Most notably, though, it is NOT a comedy. The storytelling is completely straight-faced, there’s great care put into the action sequences, it can be mercilessly violent at times, and the screenplay is genuinely interested in making us care about Mike (Eisenberg) and his girlfriend Phoebe’s (Stewart) relationship.

    The approach to take such a ridiculous concept and weigh it down with the central character’s fear, confusion, and relationship worries is certainly attention-grabbing, at least for a while. Eisenberg and Stewart are both great in their roles, sharing a strange chemistry that worked for them in Adventureland and continues to work here. Their performances and the movie’s undeniably-strong style make for a pretty engrossing first act, as we wonder what exactly the film intends on being.

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