[Sony x Sweeney] Sydney Sweeney founded her own film studio, and Sony signed her to a contract. https://www.comingsoon.net/movies/news/2141170-sydney-sweeney-honey-trap-sony-first-look-deal

[The Blair Witch Project Reboot] The film will debut in 2027. https://www.comingsoon.net/movies/news/2143998-the-blair-witch-project-reboot-movie-sets-release-date-window

[Fred Astaire] Speaking of Sony, Tom Holland said that filming on the Fred Astaire biopic will likely begin in January. https://www.comingsoon.net/movies/news/2141803-tom-holland-fred-astaire-movie-gets-exciting-production-update

[Strip Law] Adam Scott's show was canceled after one season. https://www.comingsoon.net/tv/news/2140739-adam-scott-netflix-show-canceled-after-one-season

[And Justice for All] Netflix will produce a TV series version of an old Al Pacino movie. https://www.comingsoon.net/tv/news/2141781-netflix-turning-classic-al-pacino-movie-into-tv-show

[War Machine 2] Netflix will produce a sequel to the Reacher movie. https://www.comingsoon.net/movies/news/2141806-war-machine-2-netflix-gives-exciting-update-on-alan-ritchson-sci-fi-movie-sequel

[Devil May Cry] There will be one more season. The last one. https://variety.com/2026/tv/news/devil-may-cry-renewed-final-season-3-netflix-1236766762/

[The Four] Work on writing season 3 began in the writer's room a few weeks ago. https://www.comingsoon.net/tv/news/2140664-the-four-seasons-season-3-renewal-netflix

[Anna Kendrick] Anna Kendrick, the talented director behind the reportedly excellent Woman of the Hour, will direct a film for Netflix. https://www.comingsoon.net/movies/news/2141125-anna-kendrick-directing-new-netflix-movie-after-woman-of-the-hour-success

[Spy Movie] Netflix is ​​getting a spy movie starring Cavill and Kevin Hart. https://www.comingsoon.net/movies/news/2143900-new-kevin-hart-netflix-comedy-movie-casts-major-dc-actor

[Affection] The horror film will be available on June 5th. https://www.comingsoon.net/movies/news/2141395-affection-digital-streaming-date-revealed-jessica-rothe

[Hope] On September 9th, we'll get a Korean film starring Michael Fassbender. https://www.comingsoon.net/movies/news/2141094-acclaimed-michael-fassbender-sci-fi-movie-hope-poster-sets-release-date

[Crosshairs] Work on Alec Baldwin's new film is slowly coming to an end. https://www.comingsoon.net/m

[Pretty Little Liars] Actress Sasha Pieterse will play JFK's sister in the Rosemary biopic. https://www.comingsoon.net/movies/news/2141465-rosemary-movie-finds-star-pretty-little-liar-actress

[Disclosure Day] Oh well, some Alien movie fans will have a problem. The Japanese premiere is different from the American one. It's perfectly normal for it to happen for a week, two, or three. Sometimes it's a month... But four?! Well, bad luck is bad luck, there's nothing we can do about it. https://www.comingsoon.net/movies/news/2140638-disclosure-day-release-date-delayed-international-market

[New Apple Movie] A renowned actress will star in a film by a Canadian director who has made a very successful debut. Details, release date, and title are still unknown. https://www.comingsoon.net/movies/news/2141461-zoe-kravitz-star-cat-in-new-apple-movie

[Doctor Who] And finally, information about the next incarnation of the famous Doctor. We'll know the new name around June 17-20 at the latest. https://www.comingsoon.net/tv/news/2141491-doctor-who-next-16th-casting-russell-t-davies-ncuti-gatwa

Doctor Who | The Blair Witch Project | Fred Astaire | War Machine 2 | Devil May Cry | Pretty Little Liars | Disclosure Day

[Sony x Sweeney] Sydney Sweeney założyła swoje studio filmowe po czym Sony podpisało z nią kontrakt. https://www.comingsoon.net/movies/news/2141170-sydney-sweeney-honey-trap-sony-first-look-deal

[The Blair Witch Project Reboot] Film zadebiutuje w 2027. https://www.comingsoon.net/movies/news/2143998-the-blair-witch-project-reboot-movie-sets-release-date-window

[Fred Astaire] A skoro mowa o Sony, Tom Holland powiedział że prawdopodobnie w styczniu rozpoczną się zdjęcia do filmu biograficznego o postaci Freda Astaire. https://www.comingsoon.net/movies/news/2141803-tom-holland-fred-astaire-movie-gets-exciting-production-update

[Strip Law] Show Adama Scotta zostało skasowane po pierwszym sezonie. https://www.comingsoon.net/tv/news/2140739-adam-scott-netflix-show-canceled-after-one-season

[And Justice for All] Netflix przygotuje serialową wersję starego filmu z Al Pacino. https://www.comingsoon.net/tv/news/2141781-netflix-turning-classic-al-pacino-movie-into-tv-show

[War Machine 2] Netflix zrobi sequel filmu z Reacherem. https://www.comingsoon.net/movies/news/2141806-war-machine-2-netflix-gives-exciting-update-on-alan-ritchson-sci-fi-movie-sequel

[Devil May Cry] Będzie jeszcze jeden sezon. Ostatni. https://variety.com/2026/tv/news/devil-may-cry-renewed-final-season-3-netflix-1236766762/

[The Four] Prace nad pisaniem 3 sezonu rozpoczęły się w tzw. writer's room już parę tygoodni temu. https://www.comingsoon.net/tv/news/2140664-the-four-seasons-season-3-renewal-netflix

[Anna Kendrick] Anna Kendrick, utalentowana reżyserka która zrobiła podobno świetne Woman of the Hour, wyreżyseruje film dla Netflixa. https://www.comingsoon.net/movies/news/2141125-anna-kendrick-directing-new-netflix-movie-after-woman-of-the-hour-success

[Film szpiegowski] Dostaniemy od Netflixa film szpiegowski z Cavillem i Kevinem Hartem. https://www.comingsoon.net/movies/news/2143900-new-kevin-hart-netflix-comedy-movie-casts-major-dc-actor

[Affection] Horror będzie dostępny od 5 czerwca. https://www.comingsoon.net/movies/news/2141395-affection-digital-streaming-date-revealed-jessica-rothe

[Hope] 9 września dostaniemy Koreański film z Michaelem Fassbenderem. https://www.comingsoon.net/movies/news/2141094-acclaimed-michael-fassbender-sci-fi-movie-hope-poster-sets-release-date

[Crosshairs] Prace nad nowym filmem Aleca Baldwina powoli zbliżają się do końca. https://www.comingsoon.net/m

[Pretty Little Liars] Aktorka Sasha Pieterse wcieli się w rolę siostry JFK w filmie biograficznym o Rosemary. https://www.comingsoon.net/movies/news/2141465-rosemary-movie-finds-star-pretty-little-liar-actress

[Disclosure Day] Ech, część fanów filmów o Obcych będzie miało problem. Premiera w Japonii rozjeżdża się z tą Amerykańską. To że czasem się to zdarza tydzień, dwa, trzy - to zupełna normalność. Czasem miesiąc... Ale cztery?! No cóż, jak pech to pech, nic nie poradzimy. https://www.comingsoon.net/movies/news/2140638-disclosure-day-release-date-delayed-international-market

[Nowy film Apple] Znana aktorka wystąpi w filmie Kanadyjskiej reżyserki, która zaliczyła bardzo udany debiut. Nie znamy szczegółów, daty premiery oraz tytułu. https://www.comingsoon.net/movies/news/2141461-zoe-kravitz-star-cat-in-new-apple-movie

[Doctor Who] A na koniec, informacje na temat kolejnej inkarnacji znanego Doktora. Najpóźniej koło 17-20 czerwca poznamy nowe nazwisko. https://www.comingsoon.net/tv/news/2141491-doctor-who-next-16th-casting-russell-t-davies-ncuti-gatwa

Some movies are remembered because they take themselves seriously, and some are remembered because they are completely unforgettable. Flash Gordon from 1980 is definitely the second type. It is loud, colorful, over the top, and unlike almost anything else from that era.

The film was directed by Mike Hodges, who took the classic comic strip character and created a movie that feels like a live action comic book. Instead of trying to make the story overly realistic, Hodges embraced the fantasy, strange costumes, dramatic performances, and larger than life world of Mongo.

Sam J. Jones stars as Flash Gordon, a New York football player who gets pulled into an unbelievable adventure after a strange encounter leads him into space. Jones brings the classic hero energy to the role and fits perfectly into the movie’s exaggerated style.

The supporting cast is one of the biggest reasons the film remains so memorable. Melody Anderson plays Dale Arden, Flash’s companion throughout the adventure, while Topol plays Dr. Hans Zarkov, the scientist who helps lead the mission into space. Together, they create a fun and entertaining team.

Of course, the standout performance belongs to Max von Sydow as Emperor Ming the Merciless. His villain is dramatic, powerful, and completely over the top in the best possible way. Sydow brings a level of seriousness to a role that could have easily become a simple cartoon villain.

The plot follows Flash Gordon and his friends as they travel to the planet Mongo, which is controlled by the evil Emperor Ming. Flash discovers that Earth is in danger and must join forces with different groups on Mongo to stop Ming’s plans and save the planet.

One of the things that makes Flash Gordon so special is its visual style. The bright colors, unique costumes, strange creatures, and massive sets create a world that feels completely different from most science fiction movies. It has a personality that cannot be copied.

The soundtrack by Queen is another major reason the movie has lasted. The music gives the film an unforgettable energy and makes every moment feel bigger. The famous theme song became one of the most recognizable parts of the movie and helped define its identity.

While some people may see the film as silly or too much, that is exactly what makes it work. Flash Gordon is not trying to be a serious science fiction drama. It is a fun adventure that embraces its comic book roots and delivers pure entertainment.

For me, Flash Gordon is a great film because it has something many movies lack, a unique identity. The cast is memorable, Mike Hodges created a one of a kind world, and the story delivers an adventure that is impossible to forget.

More than forty years later, Flash Gordon remains a cult classic. It may not be a nineties film, but it became a favorite for many fans who grew up during that era. Its humor, style, music, and larger than life adventure are exactly why it continues to be loved today.

Few things epitomise the derivative, conveyor-belt nature of modern Hollywood’s content factory quite like the extended universe of The Mummy series. Ostensibly launched with Stephen Sommers’ 1999 blockbuster—itself a loose remake of Universal’s famous 1932 horror classic—the franchise swiftly spawned a spin-off in the form of The Scorpion King (2002), a prequel that effectively served as the vehicle which catapulted professional wrestler Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson into bona fide film stardom. The commercial success of that film, despite its critical mauling, inevitably led to a cheapjack film series of its own, beginning with the 2008 direct-to-video offering The Scorpion King 2: Rise of the Warrior. This sequel, in truth a prequel to the original spin-off, exemplifies the cynical, depthless recycling that defines so much of contemporary studio output, where any moderately profitable concept is milked dry with diminishing returns in quality, ambition, and coherence.

Rise of the Warrior itself functions as an origin story for the titular hero, depicting the early days of Mathayus before he becomes the legendary assassin-king. Set in a nebulous Ancient Middle East, the plot introduces a young Mathayus (played as a boy by Pierre Marais), son of Ashur, a noble Akkadian warrior serving King Hammurabi of Nippur. The boy’s father is murdered by the treacherous Sargon (Randy Couture), commander of the elite Black Scorpions guard, who seizes the city as a tyrannical ruler. Years later, the adult Mathayus (now played by Michael Copon) seeks vengeance, but Sargon is protected by potent black magic. Teaming with his childhood friend, the spirited Layla (Karen David), Mathayus journeys to Egypt to obtain the mythical Spear of Osiris. En route, they encounter the Greek poet Aristofanes, nicknamed “Ari” (Simon Quartermain), who suggests they might fare better in Greece by acquiring the Sword of Damocles. This leads them through a series of episodic encounters, including a battle with a Minotaur and a descent into the Underworld, where they are confronted by the Canaanite love goddess Astarte (Natalie Becker).

To its minor credit, The Scorpion King 2 was shot in South Africa as a direct-to-DVD low-budget production, and within those severe limitations, it might have emerged as a passable piece of escapism. The South African locations are used effectively, offering sweeping, arid landscapes that convincingly double for the ancient world, and the general production values—costumes, sets, practical effects—are decent enough for the format. While ancient history aficionados will rightly suffer apoplexy at the cavalier chronology that presents Hammurabi (18th century BCE) and the Greek historian Herodotus (5th century BCE) as rough contemporaries, such pedantry could perhaps be forgiven if the film were approached as unpretentious, light ‘swords and sandals’ entertainment, akin to an extended episode of Xena: Warrior Princess. There is a place for undemanding, briskly paced adventure, and the raw materials were arguably present.

Sadly, any potential is squandered by a combination of uninspired direction and fatal miscasting. The director here is Russell Mulcahy, a figure once celebrated for his pioneering music-video work in the 1980s and for launching the Highlander franchise, but who, by the late 2000s, had developed a reputation for churning out uninspired, low-budget straight-to-video fare. Mulcahy fails entirely to breathe life into the generic plot. His pacing is leaden, his action sequences lack dynamism and clarity, and he seems unable to coax compelling performances from much of his cast. While Michael Copon and Karen David are moderately likable and do a serviceable, if unremarkable, job in their lead roles, the film is crippled by the central villain. Casting UFC champion Randy Couture as the tyrannical Sargon was a catastrophic error. Couture possesses undeniable physical presence, but his acting is woefully inadequate; he delivers lines with a flat, wooden monotone entirely devoid of menace or charisma, rendering the supposed formidable antagonist about as threatening as a sleepy carp. The film’s already shaky credibility collapses whenever he is on screen. Some decidedly uninspiring CGI effects—particularly in the underworld and monster scenes—further undermine the spectacle, looking cheap and weightless even by the modest standards of 2008 direct-to-video releases.

The film’s structural flaws are compounded by its pacing. Rise of the Warrior runs for approximately 109 minutes, a punishing length for this sort of B-movie adventure. It feels at least twenty to thirty minutes too long, bloated by repetitive fights, meandering subplots, and lengthy periods of exposition that go nowhere. The middle section, in particular, sags desperately as our heroes trek from one generic location to another, with little sense of escalating stakes or narrative momentum. What should be a swift, punchy tale of revenge becomes a tedious slog, testing the patience of even the most forgiving viewer.

Amidst the dull, forgettable affair, only two elements provide fleeting relief. Simon Quartermain, as the comic-relief poet Ari, injects a welcome dose of wry humour and self-awareness. Acting as a sometimes-narrator, he gently mocks the absurdity of the proceedings, and Quartermain’s performance has a shambolic charm that suggests he understood the assignment was not Shakespeare. The other bright spot is South African actress Natalie Becker as the goddess Astarte. With an exotic screen presence and a costume that skilfully teases the PG-13 boundaries, she brings a fleeting moment of allure and otherworldly energy to the film’s final act, hinting at the more playful, mythic tone the production could have embraced.

Unsurprisingly, The Scorpion King 2: Rise of the Warrior was deservedly panned by critics upon its quiet release to the home-video market. Yet, in a perfect illustration of the franchise’s resilient commercial cynicism, its mere existence was enough to greenlight a further sequel, 2012’s The Scorpion King 3: Battle for Redemption, which recast the lead role yet again with Victor Webster. Rise of the Warrior thus stands as a profoundly mediocre artifact: not offensively bad enough to be memorable as a curiosity, nor competent enough to satisfy as straightforward entertainment. It is the cinematic equivalent of factory-floor residue—a product manufactured not from creative passion, but from the cold calculation that a known brand name, however diluted, might still tempt a weekend rental.

RATING: 3/10 (+)

==

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In principio

Some 14 years ago, a young, impressionable mrtats was having his first encounters with anime; Steins;Gate was a new anime back then, but it had already managed to climb the rankings on MAL (MyAnimeList). What better food for a young inquisitive mind than a sci-fi psychological thriller?

I had a chance to re-watch Steins;Gate with a friend who doesn't really watch anime. The only anime he truly liked was Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, and he was of the opinion that no other anime existed at that level of quality. Then I asked the ultimate question: "Have you watched Steins;Gate?" This led us to binge-watch all of Steins;Gate in a night.

Ergosphere

We need to talk about what Steins;Gate is broadly about before we can dive a bit deeper. It is a series about time travel — a topic that has fascinated humanity for as long as we have been aware of time. Who doesn't want to go to the past and change something?

Of course, time travel lies in the realm of fiction, but that doesn't mean we can't explore it. How would changes in the past affect our lives in the future? What would happen if we could rewrite a single regret, or undo a single mistake? These are the questions Steins;Gate asks.

Event Horizon

While Steins;Gate asks these questions, it doesn't treat them lightly. Time travel is not presented merely as a convenient fantasy or a simple wish-fulfillment device. The series is interested in what it would actually mean to interfere with time, even in the smallest ways.

That is where Steins;Gate begins to separate itself from a simple sci-fi premise. It enters into a territory where everything is at stake, and exploring these stakes is where Steins;Gate starts to shine.

In principio

And here we are, after a night of binge-watching. My friend rated Steins;Gate very highly. It came out of left field for him. But for me, it was a journey into the past.

I hadn't changed anything on this journey. Even though I knew what was to come, I lived each moment with the same passion I did 14 years ago. Steins;Gate was just as I had left it, and it will be as I leave it now.

If you haven't watched Steins;Gate yet, I highly suggest that you do. I tried to keep this spoiler-free, so you can enjoy it in its unadulterated glory. But if you have watched it, we can discuss the details if you mention me in the comments.

AI Disclosure: Text got edited by AI for grammar correction. Word choices, tone and style are all mine.

Stormborn (S7x02)

Airdate: 23 July 2017

Written by: Bryan Cogman Directed by: Mark Mylod

Running Time: 58 minutes

The final two seasons of Game of Thrones presented the creative team with a profound and perhaps insurmountable narrative problem: how to maintain genuine suspense and dramatic interest when the ultimate outcome of the central conflict appeared all but preordained. By the start of Season 7, the “game of thrones” itself—the political struggle for dominion over Westeros—seemed a foregone conclusion. Queen Cersei Lannister, having seized the Iron Throne through a spectacular act of terror, nominally ruled the Seven Kingdoms. Yet she faced overwhelming, arguably impossible, odds. Her army was decimated, exhausted, and demoralised; the treasury was empty; she was despised by nobility and smallfolk alike; and every remaining faction was coalescing against her. To compound her predicament, her opponents were rallying around Daenerys Targaryen, a charismatic young queen with fresh armies, powerful allies, and three formidable dragons. Stormborn, the season’s second episode, directed by Mark Mylod and written by Bryan Cogman, represents the show’s concerted effort to rebalance the scales, to inject a semblance of parity into the conflict and, in doing so, make its eventual resolution feel less predictable. It achieves this through a mix of strategic realignments, the introduction of a potential dragon-killing weapon, and, in its final moments, a devastating naval ambush that brutally reshapes the board. The episode is thus a fascinating study in narrative course-correction, albeit one that relies heavily on exposition, fan service, and a single, visceral action sequence to camouflage its essentially static nature.

The episode’s title refers to Daenerys’s sobriquet, earned by being born amidst the great storm that raged at Dragonstone. That same location provides the backdrop for the episode’s core strategic debate, as Daenerys convenes her war council. The scene efficiently establishes the fragile, fractious nature of her alliance. Representatives from Dorne (Ellaria Sand) and the Reach (Lady Olenna Tyrell)—traditional rivals united only by their shared hatred of Cersei—sit alongside the eunuch soldiers of the Unsullied and the feared Dothraki horselords. The political dissent is palpable. Varys, subjected to a pointed interrogation by Daenerys about his past loyalties, delivers an unapologetic defence of his consistent principle: service to the realm, not to any single monarch. It’s a moment of compelling moral clarity for a character often shrouded in ambiguity. He is joined by Melisandre, who sees in Daenerys the fulfilment of prophecy, further weaving the threads of magic and destiny into the political tapestry. The central conflict, however, is between Ellaria’s thirst for a swift, brutal assault on King’s Landing and Tyrion Lannister’s counsel for a measured, circumspect approach.

Tyrion’s plan is based on political cunning, designed to win the war without losing the peace. He argues against a direct attack, which would see the Unsullied and Dothraki—foreign invaders in the eyes of Westerosi—laying waste to the capital. Such a spectacle, he rightly fears, would allow Cersei to rally the otherwise hostile lords and smallfolk under the banner of defending the homeland from a savage external threat. Instead, he advocates a passive siege of King’s Landing by the Tyrell and Dornish armies, while striking at the Lannisters’ true source of power: their gold mines and home seat at Casterly Rock, to be captured by the Unsullied. This reasoning is immediately validated by parallel events in King’s Landing. Cersei, with Jaime at her side, actively spins the gathering threat as a foreign invasion. She summons the major lords of the Reach, including the formidable Randyll Tarly, appealing to their patriotism and xenophobia. Jaime’s attempt to sway Tarly—a man who admits he doesn’t like Cersei but respects Jaime—is a tense, finely acted scene that underscores the murky loyalties of the era. Furthermore, Qyburn presents Cersei with a potential game-changer: a massive scorpion, a ballista-like weapon he claims can, with a lucky shot, pierce a dragon’s skull. In a single episode, the playing field is subtly levelled; Daenerys’s overwhelming advantage is checked by political reality and a nascent technological countermeasure.

While the high lords plot, the episode dedicates significant time to the journeys of its scattered protagonists, often veering into overt fan service. Arya Stark, travelling south to fulfil her murderous list, pauses at the Inn at the Crossroads. Her brief, warm reunion with the genial Hot Pie provides the episode’s most touching moment of pure humanity. More importantly, his news—that the Boltons were defeated and her brother Jon is King in the North—causes her to abandon her quest for Cersei and turn her steps homeward to Winterfell. This decision leads to a poignant, wordless encounter with her long-lost direwolf, Nymeria. Now the leader of a fierce wolf pack, Nymeria eyes her former companion before turning away into the woods. Arya’s quiet acceptance (“That’s not you”) is a powerful metaphor for her own transformation; both she and her wolf have become something wilder and more independent, unable to return to a tame, domestic past. In Oldtown, Samwell Tarly’s storyline offers a different kind of grit. Frustrated by the Maesters’ inaction, he undertakes a desperate, gruesome procedure to cure Jorah Mormont of greyscale, violating every rule of the Citadel in a race against time. It’s a subplot of visceral horror and steadfast loyalty, momentarily shifting the focus from the game of thrones to the more existential threat brewing in the North.

That northern threat is the impetus for the episode’s most significant political journey. In Winterfell, Jon Snow receives Daenerys’s summons to Dragonstone. Sansa, backed by the wary northern lords, vehemently argues against it, invoking the fate of their grandfather, burned alive by the Mad King after answering a similar summons. Jon’s decision to go—driven by the desperate need for dragonglass to fight the White Walkers and the tantalising possibility of using dragons against the Army of the Dead—highlights the series’ evolving priority. The petty squabbles for the Iron Throne are becoming a dangerous distraction from the true war for survival. Before departing, Jon issues a stark warning to Petyr Baelish, whose creeping advances towards Sansa have not gone unnoticed: “Touch my sister and I’ll kill you myself.” It’s a moment of raw, brotherly protection that resonates, though it does little to mask the contrivance of Jon leaving the North vulnerable at such a critical juncture.

For all this political manoeuvring and character migration, Stormborn is, for its majority, an episode where very little actually happens. It is a table-setting instalment, concerned with exposition, realignment, and the careful positioning of pieces for the conflicts to come. This static quality is alleviated by doses of fan service aimed at the loyal audience. Beyond Arya’s reunions, the episode delivers a notably explicit sex scene between Grey Worm and Missandei. As the Unsullied prepare to depart for Casterly Rock, the two finally act on their long-subtle feelings. The scene is notable for its specific choreography. In a narrative where a sexual encounter between a woman and a male eunuch could easily veer into the awkward or crass, screenwriter Bryan Cogman made a deliberate and savvy choice. , Cogman cited the precedent of Hal Ashby’s Oscar-winning 1978 drama Coming Home. In that film, the love scene between Sally (Jane Fonda) and the paraplegic veteran Luke (Jon Voight) is remembered for its explicit yet romantic nature, particularly for its focus on cunnilingus as a means of intimate connection that transcends traditional physical limitations. Cogman applies this same logic to Grey Worm and Missandei; the scene emphasises emotional intimacy and service, with Grey Worm focusing on Missandei’s pleasure, thus navigating the potential “cringe” factor with a degree of taste and narrative purpose, making it more about tender connection than gratuitous nudity.

This fan service, however, is merely a prelude to the episode’s true purpose: the shocking, action-packed final sequence. The scene aboard Yara Greyjoy’s fleet, carrying Ellaria and the Sand Snakes back to Dorne, begins with a moment of relaxed sensuality as Yara and Ellaria flirt, promising a night of lesbian activity. This tranquillity is shattered by the sudden, brutal attack of Euron Greyjoy’s fleet. The ensuing battle is provides chaotic, close-quarters combat. Directed with claustrophobic intensity, it is a whirlwind of axe blows, splintering wood, and desperate struggles. The Sand Snakes, Obara and Nymeria, are unceremoniously killed—Obara impaled by a spear, Nymeria throttled with her own whip. Ellaria and Tyene are captured, as is Yara. Theon Greyjoy, confronted with the spectre of his own past cowardice and trauma, freezes. Paralysed by the memory of Ramsay Bolton, he abandons his sister to her fate, leaping overboard into the dark sea rather than fighting to the death.

This sequence is the episode’s undeniable highlight, providing the visceral action and narrative shock the preceding fifty minutes lacked. Its purposes are manifold. First, it dramatically rebalances the strategic equation. Daenerys suffers her first major loss; her naval superiority and Dornish alliance are gutted in a single stroke. Cersei, through her new ally Euron, scores a spectacular, morale-boosting victory. The message is clear: Daenerys’s path to the throne will not be a “bed of roses.” Second, it serves as a form of narrative housekeeping. The Dornish storyline, introduced in Season 5, had been a persistent sore point for the series, widely criticised by fans of George R.R. Martin’s novels for its drastic deviations and poor execution, particularly notable for farcical incompetence in episode Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken, which featured clumsy, weightless scuffle that passed for its fight scene, creating profound fan backlash. *Stormborn+ offers a form of grim redemption. By eliminating the Sand Snakes in a well-choreographed, sensible fight—one where they are overwhelmed on a crowded ship, unable to utilise their signature acrobatic combat style—the showrunners effectively draw a line under a failed narrative experiment. It is a tacit admission of past error, executed with a brutal efficiency that the earlier Dorne episodes sorely lacked.

In the end, Stormborn is an episode of dualities. It is both static and explosive, expository and decisive. It succeeds in its primary goal of making Daenerys’s campaign seem less like an inevitable coronation and more like a difficult war, thanks to Tyrion’s clever strategy, Cersei’s propaganda, Qyburn’s dragon-killer, and Euron’s devastating ambush. Its character moments, from Arya’s bittersweet reunions to Sam’s grim determination, largely land with emotional resonance. Yet, it cannot escape the feeling of being a necessary, somewhat mechanical step in a larger plan. The heavy reliance on fan service and the concentration of real action into a final, spectacular set-piece reveal a series increasingly conscious of its own pacing and audience expectations.

RATING: 6/10 (++)

==

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For decades, the horror film as a genre has been consigned to a commercial cinema “ghetto”, often considered unworthy of true Seventh Art status. This marginalisation persists despite the genre’s foundational role in cinema history, from the German Expressionist movement to the psychological terrors of Hitchcock. Occasionally, a renowned auteur like Stanley Kubrick would dabble in the form, most notably with The Shining, yet attempts to reconcile horror with arthouse sensibilities remained a relatively recent phenomenon. One of the most notable and ambitious examples of this reconciliation is Midsommar, the 2019 film written and directed by Ari Aster. Positioned as a “break-up film dressed in the clothes of a folk horror”, Midsommar strives to elevate genre tropes through meticulous art-house craft, glacial pacing, and a suffocating study of grief and relational decay. While it achieves a certain hypnotic, unsettling power, the film ultimately stumbles under the weight of its own derivations and a predictable narrative arc that undermines its artistic aspirations.

The film opens in the dead of an American winter, introducing us to Dani Ardor (Florence Pugh), a psychology student teetering on the edge of a protracted breakup with her boyfriend, Christian (Jack Reynor). Her fragile world shatters completely when she receives the cataclysmic news that her mentally ill sister has murdered their parents before taking her own life. Christian, out of a guilt-tinged obligation, postpones the relationship’s end. Several months later, he receives an invitation from his Swedish friend, Pelle (Vilhelm Blomgren), to attend a once-every-90-years Midsommar festival at his ancestral commune in Hälsingland. Christian’s crass friends, Mark (Will Poulter) and the academically driven Josh (William Jackson Harper), are also invited. In a move born of pity rather than desire, Christian reluctantly invites the still-grieving Dani. Upon arrival, the group is joined by another outsider couple, Connie (Ellora Torchia) and Simon (Archie Madekwe), invited by Pelle’s brother.

From the outset, Aster establishes a stark dichotomy. The initial American sequences are cloaked in cold, blue-tinged darkness, a visual representation of Dani’s isolation and depression. This contrasts violently with the Swedish setting, which is bathed in an almost blinding, perpetual daylight. Pelle presents the commune, Hårga, as a pastoral utopia, a community living in harmony with nature and ancient tradition. The initial cordiality, however, is quickly undercut by unease. Dani experiences a harrowing bad trip after being given psychedelic mushrooms, a sequence shot with disorienting, breathing visuals that externalise her internal trauma. The guests soon notice the community’s strange, pagan iconography and its rigid social structure based on strict age segregation. The rituals escalate from the oddly charming to the profoundly sinister, culminating in the film’s first major set piece: the ättestupa. Here, two of the commune’s eldest members commit ritual senicide by leaping from a high cliff onto a rock below. When one survives the impact, the community’s elder calmly finishes the job with a ceremonial mallet, as the entire group emits a synchronised groan of shared agony. This moment is less a shock tactic and more a brutal thesis statement: this society operates on a collectivist logic where individual life is subsumed to the cyclical needs of the whole.

Horrified, Dani and several others wish to leave. Yet Christian and Josh, anthropologists at heart, rationalise the act as a mere cultural difference to be studied, not judged. This academic detachment becomes their fatal flaw. The village elders, amused by their curiosity, grant them research access under the condition of anonymity. What follows is a slow, inexorable unraveling. The other guests—Connie, Simon, Mark, and Josh—begin to disappear under mysterious circumstances. Meanwhile, Christian becomes the target of a ritualised seduction by a teenage girl, Maja (Isabelle Grill), orchestrated by the community to secure “new blood”. The tension culminates during the maypole dance competition, a gruelling test of endurance where Dani, swept up in the communal emotion and psychedelic influence, is crowned May Queen. This victory coincides with the elders’ final, sinister plan for Christian, drawing the film to its infamous, fiery conclusion.

Ari Aster arrived at Midsommar riding a wave of acclaim from his feature debut, Hereditary (2018). Both films were produced and distributed by A24, a studio that had carved a niche in marrying arthouse aesthetics with genre fare. Following Hereditary’s success, Aster was approached by Swedish production company B-Reel with a proposition to make a slasher film set in Sweden. Initially reluctant, he found a way into the material through personal experience, channeling his own relationship breakdowns into the crumbling dynamic between Dani and Christian. This personal underpinning is crucial; it shifts the film’s core horror from external pagan threats to the internal horror of a relationship sustained only by inertia and guilt.

This focus dictates Aster’s methodical, slow-burn approach. For its first hour, Midsommar functions less as a horror film and more as a deeply sad psychological drama about grief and emotional abandonment. The horror seeps in at the edges, gradually saturating the frame like a poison. This deliberate pacing results in a 147-minute runtime—unusually protracted for a horror film—which proved divisive. Purists who equate horror with relentless tension and jump scares often dismissed Midsommar as not a “proper” genre entry. However, this criticism misunderstands Aster’s intent. The slow pace is the film’s primary engine of dread. It allows Aster to build an atmosphere of pervasive wrongness, where the sun-drenched fields and smiling faces become increasingly threatening. He uses long, static, and wide shots, often centred like a tableau, forcing the audience to scrutinise the frame for disturbing details: the cryptic runes, the unsettling tapestry depicting the guests’ fates, the passive-aggressive interactions within the commune. This visual patience makes the eruptions of graphic violence—the crushed head, the blood eagle, the ritualistic sex—feel all the more visceral and shocking. Aster’s battle with the MPAA over the film’s rating centred largely on this graphic content, yet it is the contrast between the film’s bright, beautiful aesthetic and its brutal acts that generates its unique discomfort.

Where Midsommar is most effective is in its atmospheric construction and its nuanced portrayal of Dani’s psychological journey. Florence Pugh’s performance is a monumental achievement. She portrays Dani’s all-consuming grief with raw, trembling vulnerability, making her gradual absorption into the Hårga collective feel like a tragic, yet perversely logical, resolution. The community offers her what Christian cannot: a shared emotional burden. Their synchronised weeping mirrors her isolated sobs in the film’s opening; their communal celebration of her as May Queen provides the validation and belonging her relationship lacked. The film’s final shot, as Dani watches the temple burn with a tear-streaked, ambiguous smile, is a masterclass in ambiguous catharsis. Has she found a new family, or has she simply traded one prison for another?

Yet, for all its technical prowess and psychological insight, Midsommar’s most significant flaw is its lack of narrative originality and its ultimate predictability. The film leans heavily on well-worn genre tropes, particularly the “city folk vs. primitive locals” dynamic that has fuelled horror from 1960s onwards. Aster attempts a subversion by presenting the rural “primitives” not as backward, inbred rednecks, but as an orderly, aesthetically pleasing hippie commune. This, however, is a surface-level tweak. The narrative trajectory—outsiders lured to a secluded community, gradual realisation of danger, systematic picking-off of the group—remains utterly familiar. The film’s debt to Robin Hardy’s 1973 cult classic The Wicker Man is profound and, at times, cripplingly overt.

Both films feature a devoutly principled outsider (Sergeant Howie/the grieving Dani) entering an isolated, pagan community under false pretences. Both communities use sexuality and ritual to disorient the protagonist. Both narratives build towards a ceremonial climax where the outsider is chosen as a sacrificial figure in a pagan festival. The key difference lies in perspective. The Wicker Man builds a genuine dramatic conflict between two worldviews—the Christian rigidity of Howie and the pagan order of Summerisle. The film allows the audience to question which side, if any, holds moral authority, culminating in an ending that is tragic, thought-provoking, and iconic. Midsommar, by contrast, lacks this ideological ambiguity. The Hårga are presented as unequivocally sinister from the moment of the ättestupa; their rituals are brutal and their manipulation overt. Christian and his friends are not principled but pathetic—academically arrogant, emotionally stunted, and culturally insensitive. This reduces the conflict to a simple dichotomy: a toxic, decaying modernity versus a brutal, but cohesive, primitivism. Dani’s choice is thus less a complex moral dilemma and more a desperate flight from one form of suffering into another, arguably worse, form. The ending, while visually stunning, lacks the shocking, philosophical resonance of Howie’s fate inside the Wicker Man. We see it coming, and its meaning feels pre-digested.

Furthermore, Aster’s meticulous research into Norse pagan customs, while impressive, often feels like anthropological set-dressing rather than organic world-building. The rituals can seem like a checklist of shocking acts designed to provoke the audience, rather than practices born of a fully realised belief system. The film’s middle section sags under the weight of this ritualistic exposition, as the audience waits for the inevitable to unfold.

Despite these criticisms, Midsommar was a commercial success and largely acclaimed by critics, cementing Aster’s status as a premier voice in arthouse horror and catapulting Florence Pugh to stardom. Its achievements in direction, cinematography, and central performance are undeniable. Yet, as a piece of narrative art, it ultimately feels like a beautifully crafted, supremely confident cover version of a classic song. It amplifies certain themes—grief, relational alienation—with modern intensity and visual bravura, but it fails to escape the long shadow cast by its most obvious predecessor. The Wicker Man remains the more intellectually daring and structurally surprising film, its flaws born of low-budget ambition rather than high-concept calculation. Midsommar is a fascinating, often breathtaking, experience, but its horrors are those of execution and atmosphere, not of truly novel ideas.

RATING: 7/10 (+++)

==

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[Toy Story] The famous singer participated in the production of the fifth installment. We also received a new promotional video. https://www.comingsoon.net/movies/news/2141037-toy-story-5-taylor-swift-involvement-with-pixar-sequel-movie-revealed https://www.comingsoon.net/movies/news/2143540-toy-story-5-jessie-original-owner-revealed-clip

[Ice Age] The sequel will debut in theaters on February 5, 2027. https://www.comingsoon.net/movies/trailers/2143121-ice-age-6-teaser-trailer-poster-previews-animated-movie-franchises-boiling-point

[Disney’s Atlantis] Atlantis fans have the crank so twisted they’re missing out on crucial information. There won't be a sequel. Well, there will be one, but not the kind you think – we'll get a comic book that tells the continuation. XD https://www.comingsoon.net/movies/news/2141335-classic-disney-film-sequel-25-years-later

[The Cable Guy] Hulu has ordered a show inspired by the Jim Carrey movie. https://www.comingsoon.net/tv/news/2143955-new-girl-stars-reunite-for-new-hulu-tv-show-inspired-by-classic-jim-carrey-movie

[Avengers] We've received some new promotional materials. https://www.comingsoon.net/movies/news/2141241-avengers-doomsday-promo-art-x-men-gambit-thor

[Wonder Man] We've received preliminary information about the next season. https://www.comingsoon.net/tv/news/2143256-wonder-man-season-2-new-plot-details-shared-for-mcu-show

[Escape from New York] The remake will be directed by Zack Snyder. https://www.comingsoon.net/movies/news/2141083-zack-snyder-reimagining-beloved-john-carpenter-sci-fi-movie

[Backrooms 2] Everything points to a sequel in 2 or 3 years. It looks like it's going to be another year of horror movies. https://www.comingsoon.net/movies/news/2141232-backrooms-2-sequel-details-current-status

[Onslaught] We've received information about the new film from Adam Wingard, director of the last American Godzilla. https://www.comingsoon.net/movies/news/2141234-onslaught-adria-arjona-a24-action-movie-poster-trailer

[Hyde] The star of Mindhunter will star in a new production. The film has a noir feel and was shot in Bucharest, interesting. https://www.comingsoon.net/movies/news/2141112-mindhunter-star-hunts-a-dangerous-serial-killer-in-hyde-thriller-movie

[Gene Wilder] A film about this actor may be in the works – one of the creators has secured the copyright. https://www.comingsoon.net/movies/news/2141192-gene-wilder-biopic-in-works-willy-wonka-young-frankenstein

[Streets of Rage] We've learned the name of the director who will bring the Sega game to the big screen. Jeymes Samuel directed The Harder They Fall and The Book of Clarence, and is also a BAFTA winner. https://www.comingsoon.net/movies/news/2141003-streets-of-rage-movie-based-on-hit-sega-game-finds-acclaimed-director

[Toy Story] Znana piosenkarka wzięła udział w produkcji 5 części. Dostaliśmy też nowy klip promocyjny. https://www.comingsoon.net/movies/news/2141037-toy-story-5-taylor-swift-involvement-with-pixar-sequel-movie-revealed

https://www.comingsoon.net/movies/news/2143540-toy-story-5-jessie-original-owner-revealed-clip

[Ice Age] Kolejna część zadebiutuje w kinach już 5 lutego 2027. https://www.comingsoon.net/movies/trailers/2143121-ice-age-6-teaser-trailer-poster-previews-animated-movie-franchises-boiling-point

[Disney’s Atlantis] Fani Atlantydy mają tak korbę przekręconą, że omijają kluczową informację. Sequela nie będzie. Tzn będzie, ale nie taki o jakim myślicie - dostaniemy komiks który opowiada ciąg dalszy XD. https://www.comingsoon.net/movies/news/2141335-classic-disney-film-sequel-25-years-later

[The Cable Guy] Hulu zamówiło show inspirowane filmem z Jimem Carreyem. https://www.comingsoon.net/tv/news/2143955-new-girl-stars-reunite-for-new-hulu-tv-show-inspired-by-classic-jim-carrey-movie

[Avengers] Dostaliśmy trochę nowych materiałów promocyjnych. https://www.comingsoon.net/movies/news/2141241-avengers-doomsday-promo-art-x-men-gambit-thor

[Wonder Man] Dostaliśmy wstępne informacje na temat kolejnego sezonu. https://www.comingsoon.net/tv/news/2143256-wonder-man-season-2-new-plot-details-shared-for-mcu-show

[Escape from New York] Remake zostanie wyreżyserowany przez Zacka Snydera. https://www.comingsoon.net/movies/news/2141083-zack-snyder-reimagining-beloved-john-carpenter-sci-fi-movie

[Backrooms 2] Wszystko wskazuje na to, że za 2,3 lata dostaniemy sequel. Zapowiada się na to, że będzie kolejny rok należący do filmowych horrorów. https://www.comingsoon.net/movies/news/2141232-backrooms-2-sequel-details-current-status

[Onslaught] Dostaliśmy informacje o nowym filmie Adama Wingarda, reżysera ostatniej Amerykańskiej Godzilli. https://www.comingsoon.net/movies/news/2141234-onslaught-adria-arjona-a24-action-movie-poster-trailer

[Hyde] Gwiazda filmu Mindhunter wystąpi w nowej produkcji. Film z klimatu Noir kręcony w Bukareszcie, ciekawe. https://www.comingsoon.net/movies/news/2141112-mindhunter-star-hunts-a-dangerous-serial-killer-in-hyde-thriller-movie

[Gene Wilder] Być może powstanie film o tym aktorze - jeden z twórców zabezpieczył prawa autorskie. https://www.comingsoon.net/movies/news/2141192-gene-wilder-biopic-in-works-willy-wonka-young-frankenstein

[Streets of Rage] Poznaliśmy nazwisko reżysera, który przeniesie grę Segi na duży ekran. Jeymes Samuel stworzył The Harder They Fall i The Book of Clarence, a poza tym jest laureatem nagrody BAFTA. https://www.comingsoon.net/movies/news/2141003-streets-of-rage-movie-based-on-hit-sega-game-finds-acclaimed-director

Posted Using INLEO

source: imdb

After the ending of Fear Street Part One: 1994, Netflix's Fear Street Part Two: 1978 steps back in time in one of Shadyside's most infamous massacres. The film shifts from the suburban horror of the first movie to a classic summer camp slasher. It expands the lore about Sarah Fier's curse. The movie is an exciting, violent sequel that strengthens the overall trilogy.

Plot Summary

source: imdb

The story is told by Ziggy Berman, one of the survivors mentioned in Fear Street 1994. The movie is set at Camp Nightwing in 1978. The movie centers on Ziggy, her older sister Cindy and a group of campers and counselors in a summer camp.

Strange events started to happen after Sarah Fier's influence once again emerges in the camp. Camp counselor Tommy Slater suddenly starts a murderous rampage through the camp. Ziggy, Cindy and their friends search for a way to stop the killings while finding more secrets about the curse that has haunted Shadyside for centuries.

The movie also reveals important details that connect directly to the events of Fear Street 1994, helping explain why the supernatural killers continue to target certain people.

Analysis

I like that Fear Street 1978 is similar to classic slasher movies. The summer camp setting reminded me of Friday the 13th. The nighttime chases through the woods and brutal kills, the film is like 1980s slasher movies.

The film also does a great job expanding the lore of RL Stine's book. It answers some questions in the first movie while introducing new mysteries that lead directly into the trilogy's final chapter. I appreciated how the movie connects to Fear Street 1994. The discoveries to uncover the mystery rewards viewers who watched the first movie.

I also like Sadie Sink in this movie who seemed to step out from Stranger Things set and into this one. Her characters and the setting look similar in both shows.

Connection to Part 1

The biggest strength of Fear Street 1978 is how it connects to the story of Fear Street 1994. As I mentioned in my review of Part 1, the movies seem like one big movie split into three parts, that's why they connect seemlessly with each other. The film explains Sarah Fier's curse, provides backstory for Ziggy Berman and provides information that directly impacts Deena's quest in the present day.

I highly recommend Fear Street Part Two: 1978 and the rest of the series to horror enthusiasts looking for a fun and mysterious movie. The film's violence and intriguing mystery make it one of Netflix's most enjoyable horror movies.

Dragonstone (S7x01)

Airdate: 16 July 2017

Written by: David Benioff & D. B. Weiss Directed by: Jeremy Podeswa

Running Time: 59 minutes

The most significant and telling conflict in the latter years of Game of Thrones was actually fought in the boardrooms and writers’ rooms of Hollywood. It centred on a single, fundamental question: when should the saga end? HBO, understandably protective of its most lucrative cultural phenomenon, desired to extend the series indefinitely, reluctant to relinquish its golden goose. The saga’s creator, George R. R. Martin, publicly advocated for at least ten full seasons, arguing that the epic, generational scope of his literary creation could only be done justice by a narrative spanning decades, not the condensed timeline the television format imposed. Caught in the middle were showrunners David Benioff and D. B. Weiss, who had begun concretely plotting the endgame as early as Season 4 and were adamant that the story should conclude with Season 7, perhaps with a slightly extended final run. The eventual compromise—a split final act comprising a shortened Season 7 and an even more truncated Season 8—feels less like a narrative necessity and more a corporate fudge. Watching Dragonstone, the premiere of this penultimate season, one can make a compelling argument that Benioff and Weiss were, in a grim sense, correct. The creative exhaustion they reportedly felt is not merely apparent; it is the episode’s defining characteristic. The plotting becomes formulaic, moving pieces with procedural efficiency rather than inspired drama, and the sense of artificial prolonging hangs over scenes that should crackle with anticipation.

Directed by Jeremy Podeswa, the episode functions primarily as an elaborate table-setting exercise, its core mission to delineate where every major faction and character stands in the wake of Season 6’s climactic upheavals. The result is a chapter that feels less like organic storytelling and more like a theatrical ‘reset’, with each storyline receiving a brief, functional update before the season’s true engine can engage. This mechanical approach is evident from the cold open, a rare device for the series. We are presented with a seemingly resurrected Walder Frey, presiding over a feast for his entire house. The deception—that this is Arya Stark wearing Walder’s face—is initially effective, a satisfying twist revealing her brutal completion of a long-sought vengeance. However, the scene collapses under minimal logistical scrutiny. The notion that Arya could single-handedly orchestrate the poisoning of an entire noble house, impersonate its lord convincingly enough to gather every significant male heir, and execute the plan without a single hitch feels less like the cunning of a Faceless Man and more like a narrative gimmick. It plays as if it exists primarily because the showrunners wished to have the superb David Bradley back on screen for a final, posthumous bow, sacrificing plausibility for a moment of visceral, yet hollow, catharsis.

The episode then engages in a whirlwind tour of Westeros. Beyond the Wall, Bran Stark’s arrival at the Night’s Watch, accompanied by Meera Reed, is handled with stark (pun intended) minimalism. His vision of the White Walker army’s southward march is chilling, but his reunion with the beleaguered Eddison Tollett is perfunctory, serving only to deposit this now-omniscient plot device at the Wall for future use. In the North, the political dynamics are more engaging, yet similarly tinged with routine. Jon Snow, consolidating his regime as King in the North, wisely chooses mercy over vengeance towards former Bolton loyalists, his focus entirely turned to the existential threat from the North. His decree that everyone must train to fight and his manning of abandoned Wall forts with Wildlings are logical, necessary steps. The more compelling tension lies between Sansa and Petyr Baelish. Sophie Turner and Aidan Gillen effectively portray the delicate dance of Sansa’s diplomacy, where she must simultaneously reject Baelish’s grotesque advances while implicitly acknowledging her brother’s continued need for the Knights of the Vale. It is a thread ripe with potential, though here it remains just that—a thread, pulled taut but not yet woven into a more complex pattern.

The Riverlands provide two contrasting character moments. Arya’s subsequent encounter with a group of Lannister soldiers around a campfire is, divorced from its real-world context, one of the episode’s stronger humanistic beats. Having just exterminated a house, she is reminded that the enemy is not always a monolithic evil. These soldiers are not monsters but conscripted boys and young men, singing songs, missing their families, and longing for peace. It is a vital recalibration of Arya’s humanity, a necessary pause before her relentless march towards Cersei. The controversy that engulfed this scene—due to the casting of global pop superstar Ed Sheeran as a singing soldier—was, for many, a catastrophic breaking of the fourth wall. For viewers unfamiliar with 2010s pop stardom, the scene works as intended; the soldier is simply a friendly lad with a nice voice. For the vast majority, however, Sheeran’s recognisable face and voice yanked them out of Westeros and into a distracting, poorly conceived celebrity cameo, reportedly arranged as a favour for Maisie Williams. The backlash was arguably overblown in its vitriol but entirely justified in its criticism of a production that had previously worn its immersion so impeccably. Nearby, Sandor Clegane’s subplot offers a quieter, more successful grace note. Taking shelter in an abandoned farmhouse—the very one he robbed years prior—he discovers the skeletons of the farmer and his daughter, a grim testament to the consequences of his past brutality. His decision to bury them is a wordless, powerful moment of redemption, beautifully underplayed by Rory McCann.

In Oldtown, the episode attempts its most direct injection of world-building, with decidedly mixed results. The Citadel segments introduce the formidable Archmaester Ebrose, played with delightful, curmudgeonly authority by the great Jim Broadbent. His presence lends gravitas and offers a rare glimpse into the scholarly and scientific underpinnings of Westerosi society, aspects largely ignored in favour of martial and political drama. Yet, this potential is squandered by the dreary, overlong depiction of Samwell Tarly’s gruelling maester training. Montages of him scrubbing bedpans, serving slop, and cleaning chamber pots are clearly intended as comic relief—the intellectual giant brought low by menial labour. Instead, they feel interminable and tonally jarring, a poorly conceived attempt at humour that pads the runtime. Furthermore, the convenient discovery of a greyscale-afflicted Jorah Mormont in the adjacent quarantine cell stretches credulity. While it efficiently reunites two key characters and provides Sam with a future heroic act, it feels like a contrivance, a narrative shortcut that highlights the writers’ increasing reliance on coincidence to manoeuvre pieces across the board.

In King’s Landing, the political calculus is stark. Cersei Lannister, now seated on the Iron Throne, possesses absolute power in a capital that is effectively a gilded prison. Lena Headey excellently conveys the paranoid isolation of a queen with no allies, surrounded by enemies on all fronts: the Tyrells, Dorne, and the looming threat of Daenerys Targaryen. Her brother Jaime’s palpable anxiety underscores the precariousness of their position; the Lannister armies are spent, their legacy reduced to one woman’s ruthless will. The timely arrival of Euron Greyjoy, played with unhinged charisma by Pilou Asbæk, injects a jolt of chaotic energy. His offer of the Iron Fleet is a classic Game of Thrones manoeuvre—an alliance of desperate convenience—and it works because both actors sell the mutual, predatory calculation beneath the pomp.

The episode culminates in its titular moment: Daenerys Targaryen’s long-awaited landing on the ancestral Targaryen stronghold of Dragonstone. Directed with a reverential, almost religious silence, the sequence is undeniably powerful. As Daenerys walks through the deserted halls, touching the stone of her birthplace, the weight of history and destiny is palpable. Emilia Clarke communicates volumes without dialogue, her awe mirroring that of the audience. Her final line, “Shall we begin?”, is a perfectly delivered promise of the war to come. Yet, this awe is undermined by a nagging logical flaw. The strategic value of Dragonstone—a formidable, impregnable fortress commanding the narrow sea and overlooking the approach to Blackwater Bay—is immense. That it has stood completely abandoned since Stannis Baratheon’s departure, ignored by a crown constantly fearful of invasion, is an absurdity the script glosses over. Jaime even reminds Cersei of its importance earlier in the episode, highlighting the oversight. Its vacant state exists for one reason only: to provide Daenerys with a pristine, dramatic stage for her entrance, a symbol overruling sense.

In the end, ‘Dragonstone’ is an episode symptomatic of Game of Thrones in its late-stage decline. It is competently made, features strong individual performances, and delivers several satisfying moments. However, it is fundamentally a product of compromise and creative fatigue. The plotting is functional rather than inspired, reliant on conveniences and gimmicks over the intricate cause-and-effect that once defined the series. It sets the board for the final conflicts, but the moves feel pre-ordained, the pieces pushed by authorial fiat rather than the complex internal logic that once made this world feel terrifyingly real.

RATING: 6/10 (++)

==

Blog in Croatian https://draxblog.com Blog in English https://draxreview.wordpress.com/ InLeo blog https://inleo.io/@drax.leo Substack https://draxster.substack.com

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