Unless you’ve lived under a rock or have lived a very sheltered life, you probably know that Walt Disney became the king of animated films when he first released Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in 1937. A hit, the film led to more classic fairy tales and children’s stories being brought to life through the wonders of animation.

In 1950, Walt Disney Productions brought Cinderella to the big screen and the film has charmed audiences ever since. Now Disney has gotten into the business of remaking its classic animated films, past and present, as live action extravaganzas. Last year’s Maleficent, based on Sleeping Beauty‘s grand villainess, was a monster success and more remakes — Beauty and the Beast, The Jungle Book — are in the works (and let’s not forget Disney did remake 101 Dalmations several years ago). For now, we have Disney’s Cinderella brought to magical life.

You probably know the story: young orphan is treated badly by her stepmother and stepsisters, basically treated like the help instead of family, she meets a prince in the forest, he is smitten and holds a ball to which everyone is invited, she arrives with the help of her Fairy Godmother, clock strikes midnight, she must run, loses a shoe and he takes the shoe (a glass slipper) throughout the kingdom to find its owner. And, of course, they live happily ever after. Spoiler alert?

The 1950 version followed that plot and the 2015 version is extremely and thankfully faithful to its source material. There’s been no attempt to modernize the story, although you’d be hard-pressed to pinpoint an exact time period (but there are no cars) which helps make the film and the story timeless.

Lily James, better known as Lady Rose MacClare on Downton Abbey, is simply wonderful as Ella (the Cinder part is attached to her after she is forced to work in the kitchen). She radiates innocence and purity and love and happiness, she’s pretty but not beautiful, she gives Ella a nice down-to-earth charm that should be a good role model for young girls. Even in her darkest moments of being emotionally bullied by her step-family, she remains true to herself and never wallows in her own self pity. Once she’s transformed and knows the prince wants to marry her, she still retains that charm that had been instilled in her from childhood. James makes Cinderella someone to really root for.

On the other hand, you have the deliciously evil Stepmother played with aplomb by Cate Blanchett. The character certainly could have given Blanchett reason enough for some juicy scenery chewing, but she manages to keep Stepmother just this side of a caricature. And as with Maleficent, the script gives us a little bit of an insight into why she’s so mean so as to humanize her, but you’re still happy that she and her daughters get what’s coming to them in the end.

Richard Madden, Game of Thrones‘ Robb Stark, is a prince any girl would want to marry and any boy might aspire to be. Even with his regal bearings, he’s just as down-to-earth as Ella and refuses to be married off to another kingdom’s royalty just because his father and the royal court says that’s the way it’s done. He goes to the end of his land to find the mysterious girl from the ball, and you can’t help but fall in love with them as they fall in love.

Helena Bonham Carter shows up for one scene as the comic relief Fairy Godmother (she also sings “Bibbity Bobbity Boo” over the end credits), Derek Jacobi is the King and Stellan Skarsgård is the Grand Duke. Director Kenneth Brannagh firmly grounds the film in its own special world, opting to use mostly physical sets over the routine CGI creations which really helps the fairy tale fantasy feel more realistic. The scene where the clock strikes midnight and Cinderella must flee the ball before everything returns to their normal states, from lizard footmen to the goose carriage drive, is a breathtakingly shot and edited chase scene that will keep you on the edge of your seat even though you know how it ends. And kudos to the CGI department who really give life to a bunch of digital mice. If you didn’t know better, you’d swear they were real, trained performers.

Cinderella is certainly geared towards a female audience, young and old alike, but the action, special effects and palace intrigue should be appealing to everyone. The film is enjoyably pleasant (and also features some gorgeous costumes) and you won’t feel like you just wasted two hours of your life after you exit the theater.

As a bonus, audiences are treated to the new animated short Frozen Fever featuring the cast of the original film. The story follows Elsa as she tries to plan a birthday party for Anna, but a cold could prevent her from getting Anna to her party. It’s wonderfully animated and tells a cute story with one big laugh, but it’s ultimately not quite as memorable as Frozen. Luckily, Disney announced there will be a Frozen 2, so this should hold fans over until then.

HBO generally produces high quality DVD/Blu-Ray sets. The annual Game of Thrones release could win awards (Are there such things, and if not, why? I found none of particular note in a 30-second Google search). Last year’s release of The Newsroom’s first season was solid, but left me wanting more – not unlike the show, as I am admittedly a huge Aaron Sorkin-nut. The features in the second season set, available this week, were great, but I wanted more.

I’ve got to be honest: I’ve never been able to wrap my head around why it seems to be so difficult to record commentary tracks. Season two comes with four commentaries (compared to the five out of ten in the season one set), recorded with a mix of cast and crew. The participants recorded simultaneously in different locations, causing some interesting scheduling challenges (Aaron Sorkin left midway during one track, Jeff Daniels joined late in another). But as someone who records a weekly Podcast, I do know it isn’t that hard to find an hour to sit in front of a microphone and blather on about any particular subject.

The set also included two deleted scenes, the first of which was much more lengthy than the other. The scene was set up in the premiere, as Sloan and Charlie discussed their upcoming fantasy football draft. The scene in question showed just how seriously Sloan took her job as commissioner. If only she’d taken her research as seriously … Tony Gonzalez as a high first round pick? And Will suggesting Roy Helu, Jr. as an alternative just because he was a Nebraska grad was even worse (Says the Washington Redskins fan).

The set also included something HBO called Instant Preview. If your Blu-Ray player is internet enabled, you can watch the first episodes of several HBO and Cinemax shows: Veep, The Knick and others. I didn’t have a great deal of luck with the app; my attempt to watch the Knick was faced with enough buffering challenges that I moved on to the next feature. It is a good opportunity for folks who just watch HBO series on DVD to take a look at shows that might not have appealed to them otherwise. Considering HBO’s plans to open a streaming service to the public, I doubt they will have an exposure issue anytime soon.

I have skipped over the technical aspects of the set. I am a nerd about many things, but video transfer and audio composition is not one of them. Suffice it to say, the episodes both look and sound great. Content is more my thing; I’m looking the final six episodes of The Newsroom. I wish we were getting more, but Sorkin’s success on The Social Network begat his work on the Steve Jobs biography, and that movie’s inevitable success will likely keep him out of the television business for a long time to come.

This review is based on a complimentary copy, provided to CliqueClack, solely for the purpose of this review.

Wednesday, October 15 was a momentous day for digital media. With streaming services like Netflix, Hulu Plus and Amazon Prime giving networks a place for past episodes (and in some cases, new episodes day after air) of their series to live on and gain new viewers, there was a seismic shift that was felt throughout the lands of Comcast, Verizon, Time Warner and other cable providers when HBO announced it would launch its own stand-alone streaming service in 2015.

HBO currently provides HBO GO for cable subscribers which includes a library of movies, and complete series both new and old, including Game of Thrones, Veep, The Sopranos, Girls, The Wire and more. Amazon Instant members also have access to HBO programs, but only past seasons (current seasons will take up to three years to land on Amazon). The new streaming service will not require a cable subscription and will include basically the same content as cable subscribers get with HBO GO (sister channel Cinemax content may also be included). It’s rumored Showtime will follow suit at some point in the near future.

And that future may not be too far away with today’s announcement that CBS (Showtime is a corporate sibling) is also going to offer its own exclusive subscriber streaming service. As far as streaming content goes, CBS has been notoriously stingy in offering new episodes of its current season shows on any platform save for its own mobile app and website (and even there, finding complete episodes of your favorite shows is a dicey proposition although the network does offer current episodes of Under the Dome and Extant on Amazon).

CBS All Access is a new pay service that gives subscribers access to most of the network’s current programming and classics from its vaults. For $5.99 a month, users have access to full current seasons of 15 CBS primetime shows, including The Big Bang Theory, Blue Bloods, Criminal Minds, CSI, Elementary, The Good Wife, Hawaii Five-0, The Mentalist, NCIS, Person of Interest and Survivor, with new episodes available day after air. (CBS is the one major network that does not offer new episodes of its shows on Hulu Plus.)

You also get the ability to live-stream your local CBS station (initially in 14 markets with more to be added, and some sporting events will not be available), full past seasons of 8 CBS shows including The Good Wife, Blue Bloods, and Survivor (with more to come), 5,000 episodes of “CBS Classics” including Cheers, Twin Peaks, Star Trek, and CSI: Miami, and Big Brother 24/7 live feeds. Extra content for special events like the Country Music Awards and The Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show will also be available.

With more options becoming available to stream just the shows and networks you want, are the cable companies in danger of becoming obsolete, or will this force them to drop prices to keep subscribers plugged in? The new streaming options, of course, won’t kill cable — just yet — but they will certainly force the companies to re-examine their current models. With subscribers cutting the cord and relying on OTA local network channels, streaming services, Roku, Apple TV and Google Chrome, the cable companies are going to have to start offering something other than their tiered packages.

One popular solution, something demanded by cable subscribers in general, is an ‘a la carte’ option, allowing customers to choose what channels they want to pay for and not be forced to pay for channels they never watch. So far, though, cable companies and content providers have been less than enthusiastic about that option simply because it would cost them millions. But with many cable channels offering their programming online (hardly any of the big ones like HGTV, Lifetime or Discovery offer current programs on Hulu Plus like the major networks do), cord-cutters could force them to re-evaluate their own streaming strategies, especially those that do require a cable subscription log-in (like MTV and TNT) to access their shows. If subscribers start to flee cable en masse, those networks will have to adapt to survive.

With CBS All Access priced at $5.99 a month, Hulu Plus at $7.99, Netflix at $8.99 (and that recent $1.00 price increase really hurt their bottom line), Amazon at about $8.25 a month and the HBO service projected to cost perhaps as much as $15 (totaling less than $50 a month), would you be willing to ditch cable and watch everything streaming and over the air in the case of local channels?

Product tie-ins for television shows and movies are nothing new. From action figures to video games, apparel to novels, audiences are accustomed to searching Amazon – or your favorite brick and mortar stores if that’s what you are into – for items related to your favorite show. There has not been, however, a massive influx of branded adult beverages, even though there is a lot of opportunity for natural connections. One of the best examples of that – other than the inevitable Scandal-branded wine – is Game of Thrones and beer.

Valar Morghulis represents the fourth collaboration between HBO and Ommegang Brewery. Their previous brews have included a blonde ale (Iron Throne), a stout (Take the Black Stout) and a red ale (Fire and Blood, natch). The latest is an Abbey Dubbel, which Ommegang describes as:

Valar Morghulis possesses a deep chestnut brown color with a persistent and creamy tan head. Rich aromas of caramel, toffee, ripe fruits and burnt sugar, with a hint of cloves. The taste is delicately balanced with rich malty sweetness, caramel and just enough bitterness to balance out its malty backbone. A surprisingly dry finish is light on the tongue, which belies the initial aroma.

While I missed out on the opportunity to try the previous products, HBO was kind enough to send us a couple of bottles – and some cool beer goblets – to try. I’m not nearly the craft beer aficionado as a lot of people out there – those that know me make fun of my appreciation for a good organic cider – I did enjoy Valar Morghulis. The maltiness was a little complex for my tastes, but the sweetness, in the form of the fruits and particularly the caramel and toffee tones really completed the flavor.

Maybe Ommegang and HBO are going to revolutionize the television-tie-in industry. Maybe that Scandal wine is right around the corner, followed by a Mad Men gin, Outlander whiskey and Simpson’s Duff (Oh, wait …). In the meantime, go find this beer (using Ommegang’s cool Beer Finder) – do it soon; it’s only a limited run. I promise, your tastebuds will thank you.

For more information, check out Ommegang’s blog post.

An homage is a tricky thing, because it’s easy to screw up. And when there’s a language barrier, it can be even trickier. But sometimes you can get past all that merely by being sublimely ridiculous.

I usually don’t review Korean movies (the last — Masquerade – was nearly two years ago), but occasionally I get the chance if they open locally. Oddly enough, Kundo (also called Kundo: Age of the Rampart overseas) also takes place in the Joseon Dynasty, a once powerful and influential Korean state for many centuries. This movie takes place in 1859 at the time when the Dynasty was beginning to fall apart. At the time, there was massive corruption among the nobility, who hoarded their riches and stores of food from the poorer country folk. This is the real historic backdrop to a very violent and stylized take on Robin Hood meets kung fu historical epics meets spaghetti westerns. There are a lot of characters here, but most aren’t that important. The interesting ones quickly stand out and the others tend to blend into the background. And the story? It’s relatively simple. Relatively.

There’s already the idea I mentioned, a group of bandits (called “kundo”) that act like Robin Hood, stealing from the rich and giving to the poor. There’s an interesting cast of characters in the band, although we don’t get to know all of them. But that’s just one part of the story. Illegitimate son of a nobleman, Jo Yoon (Kang Dong-won), is the only male heir to his father’s estates, but he knows he only matters until another more legitimate heir is born. He is driven, capable, and broken — he’s a master martial artist but kind of a sociopath, targeting several relatives that stand in his way to inheritance.

When the wife of his deceased brother is revealed to be pregnant and in hiding, Jo Yoon hires Dochi (Ha Jung-woo), a lowly and destitute butcher, to kill the expecting mother. But he can’t do it so in punishment, Jo Yoon sends goons to kill Dochi and his family. Dochi survives a house on fire, although badly burnt, but his wife and child do not. So of course, Dochi joins the kundo, desperately wanting revenge but waiting for the opportunity, which may come sooner than he’s ready for…

Soon he becomes a feared member of the group, wielding twin cleavers in an uniquely awesome, violent manner. And perhaps his chance for revenge is coming soon. As we get into the second half of the movie, everything increases in volume and pace. There are battle after furious battle, slaughters of innocents and over the top action sequences. The language is vulgar and often a bit anachronistic and the villains absurd and complex. I felt like there were a lot of connections to Tarantino’s homages, as this felt like its own collection of homages. Not to say I didn’t like it — it’s satisfying to see a man with cleavers take on a bunch of armed soldiers at once. I was a bit lost at first, and the movie did seem kind of slow, throwing more characters at me than Game of Thrones. But that second act became one giant revenge flick, and it was great. There’s even a real sort of gunfight later on, and that was just great to see pulled off in the historical setting.

I’m not sure about all of the homages to past cinema, but the score seemed very Ennio Morricone-esque and the ending was so spot on to classic westerns that I laughed at the audacity. There were a few really great stand-out performances here; Kang Dong-won is fantastic as the incongruously evil  villain with daddy issues, and Ha Jung-Woo plays his part as the revenge-crazed warrior perfectly. Some of the side characters are decent too, but a bit forgettable. I was also surprised by how dark and brutal the movie got at times, but then I’d be surprised by some casual profanity, so that just reminds me of Tarantino again. Although to be honest, it’s not that slick or polished as his best, not that much ever has been. This won’t be the next great movie you’ll see, but it’s a lot of fun with a bit of pathos in there. It makes me really just want to see more Korean action cinema, and I suppose that’s not a bad thing at all.

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First published in 1991, Diana Gabaldon’s series of Outlander books are, to the excitement of fans everywhere, finally being adapted for television. The show, premiering August 9th (though the premiere is available to watch online now at Starz.com) stars Sam Heughan as Jaime Frasier, Caitriona Balfe as Claire Randall (nee Beauchamp), Tobias Menzies as both Frank and Jonathan Randall, Graham McTavish as Dougal MacKenzie, Lotte Verbeek as Gellis Duncan and is executive produced by Ron Moore. We sat down with them during this year’s San Diego Comic-Con, and learned about the show’s first season.

The books have a lot of fans, so there’s a corresponding amount of pressure

Fans have been waiting for twenty-three years to see these characters brought to life. “I think there is definitely pressure to get this right. But we’ve been very lucky that we’ve been supported by Diana from pretty much the beginning … so you’ve got this wealth of knowledge to draw upon” says Heughan, who plays Jaime. “ What we have to focus on is our character, and being true to that” adds his co-star Balfe.

Scotland is almost a character in and of itself

There is no place else on the planet that they could have filmed this show. The settings are absolutely stunning. McTavish – a native Scot – is appreciative of the cinematography and care with which the filming is done. The first episode opens with a long shot that, if it does nothing else, hits viewers over the head with the idea that Scotland is an incredibly beautiful place. “We would spend all day setting up shots, because they were so particular how it was lit and how the set was decorated; it was amazing to be there” says McTavish.

The cast is proud of the show and were almost nervous about sharing it with audiences

Filming on location in Scotland, the cast has been isolated from the public as the premiere has grown closer. Between the TCA Summer Press Tour and San Diego Comic-Con, they’ve only recently “peeked over the parapet” to see how the show’s buzz has developed. Heughan: “There’s an element of sadness, yesterday [at the premiere screening] releasing this … we’ve been working on this for a year, giving our heart and soul into it, and suddenly we have to give this over to people.” You can tell they are nervous, but having seen the first episode, they have no reason to be.

The show will follow the books fairly closely

“The first two episodes set up the story, much like in the book, but then the journey begins. Each episode has its own feel to it, like a chapter almost, and it really turns it on its head.” Heughan also hinted that Ron Moore will play around with perspective to tell the story (The series used a growing number of POVs as each book was released, though Claire is the only true first person perspective).

This means they are not skipping any of the darker material

The cast teased that this season’s story includes some pretty dark moments. “It’s a major thing that happens to [Jaime], and it will probably test his character … he questions everything. He questions who he is and what he’s always believed about himself,” says Heughan. They’ve not yet filmed the scenes in question, but it sounds like the show isn’t shying away from the darkness; a good thing, as subsequent books are full of them as well.

It was important, however, to focus more on Frank Randall in the first episode

There is more Frank in the series than in the book, helping to fill out the relationship between he and Claire. They wanted to develop Frank and Claire as a relationship that has real depth. At some point Claire has to make a choice, and the show wants audiences to be more torn than perhaps they were when reading the book.

Menzies did a good deal of research into the two different time periods in an attempt to draw the differences between the two characters (Frank and Jonathan “Black Jack” Randall). Ron Moore shared an important note with the actor, that “both Frank and Jack are two men shaped arguably by their experiences at war … with very different results. Frank, by the love of a good woman, has survived … whereas Jack has gone to a very dark place.”

Filming a period piece provided for some fun with horses and costumes

“[Horseback riding is] actually one of my favorite parts … it just feels great. It’s the stuff that you dream of when you’re a kid,” says Balfe. She and Heughan apparently have developed a competition on who can get the horses to like them best. “It’s not a competition; it’s my horse and she keeps feeding him sugary treats!” protested Heughan. (I commented to them both at this point in the interview how their dynamic even at the table proves just how good their chemistry will be on screen.)

Becoming accustomed to wearing kilts regularly has provided some fun moments. Balfe says that “she gets flashed quite a lot,” a problem that the cast and crew have just gotten used to throughout the production. Once the actors have grown accustomed to the … erm … freedom, it is tough to go back: “It is actually very comfortable riding a horse in a kilt. I recommend it,” says Heughan.

Why Ron Moore wanted to bring this story to life

The character of Claire is one of the main reasons Moore was interested in doing Outlander as a series, “I thought she was smart, strong and interesting. I liked her voice all the way through the book.” As a history buff, he also thought doing a piece on the specific historical period would also provide for compelling storytelling. In the books, “the period was realized with a great deal of detail and authenticity, and the plot itself had a lot of twists and turns and reversals of fortune that I didn’t see coming” that would be great for television.

There are plans for future books, and the challenges those stories might bring

If the show lasts a couple of seasons, they have a plan on how to handle changing times, ages and locations. Most importantly, there is no plan to recast any of the actors (though sadly, wee Rodger did not show up in the premiere). But the changes mean good things are coming. “There’s a lot of interesting casting still coming up, because there’s so many characters we haven’t gotten to in book one,” says Moore.

But the actors know what the following books bring for their characters?

Most haven’t read past the first book. Menzies has started in on the second, Balfe is looking forward to finishing filming this year so she can start on the second (she flew through the first book in a weekend), Heughan is nearing the end of book two. “I’ve read the first one. I didn’t want to get ahead of myself … but people keep telling me things that happen,” kids McTavish. Considering how much we learn about the backstories of certain characters in later books, series author Diana Gabaldon played an important role in helping fill out the characters for the actors.

The show has a great title sequence

Moore is proud of the main title sequence. “Bear [McCreary] did a great job scoring it, Raya [Yarbrough] sings … we shot some stuff that was specific for the title and other pieces were outtakes or unused angles from other episodes. It was a process; it took a few weeks to pull it all together.” While many shows are eschewing these sequences – often for time – there has been a small resurgence with shows – TURN for example – and Outlander continues in that trend. “It takes you to this place and to this world in a very nice way, and keeps the two periods alive and reminds you of the time travel aspect with it becoming all about that.”

Menzies has recently joined the cast of two fan-favorite adaptations

Menzies has played roles in both Outlander and Game of Thrones this year. He complimented David Benioff and Dan Weiss on the sophistication with which the Thrones adaptation has been brought to the screen. But getting on the “ground level,” as with Outlander, is fun as he’s had the ability to weigh in on a variety of decisions, including apparently his costume.

Adapting a story is a different process than writing something new

Outlander differs from Moore’s previous work on Battlestar Galactica in that there’s a very specific roadmap fans will expect the show to follow. On BSG Moore was unafraid to let the story develop organically and take turns not necessarily envisioned in the breaking process. “It’s very different; it’s been an interesting exercise just in terms of that, in writing and structuring a show in the writer’s room because normally on an original piece you are sitting there tossing out ideas all the time … you don’t do that here; we try to stay in the lane. We start with the order that’s laid out for us in the book … It’s a different task intellectually.” Diana Gabaldon has been a tremendous help, making sure that fan favorite lines didn’t end up on the cutting room floor.

Gellis and Dougal are characters that should be interesting to watch

Gellis Duncan is not at all what she seems, but Verbeek promises that we’ll learn more and more about her over the course of the first season, “We see everything from Claire’s perspective, so everything we see of Gellis is what she actually gets to know about her.”

With Gellis, there’s a lot of game playing; she shows different faces to different people. She always seems to know a bit more than everyone around her. “When push comes to shove, she actually shows her true colors, which I thought was great to get to play all of that” says Verbeek. McTavish thinks Dougal is a complicated character, “He does bad things … I guess you could describe them as bad possibly … but he does good things. His relationship with Jaime is evidence of that complication.” Both have very specific motivations and goals that are not immediately evident at the beginning of the story.

Fans of the Loch Ness Monster will not be happy

There was a lot of discussion about the decision to leave out a scene from the book where Claire encounters the famed Loch Ness Monster. Moore says that while it was a great passage in the book, translating that scene to the screen might have felt out of sync with the rest of the show …  but Menzies teased that he remembered that sequence in a script at some point during production.

Moore plans on recording podcasts for Outlander

It was a fan at the autograph signing at San Diego Comic-Con who reminded Moore of the podcasts that he did for Battlestar Galatica. The recordings, which served basically as commentaries that could be played in sync with each episode, were a great window into the production of the show. Thus, everyone needs to send a thank you note to the fan that brought a nice bottle of Scotch (Moore’s refreshment of choice during recordings) to the signing.

Each year, as I look across the mass of people who attend San Diego Comic-Con, I always wonder if they should just rename the whole kit-and-caboodle “Line Con.” Hell, the two queues that are traditionally the longest – for Hall H and Ballroom 20 – now have their own Twitter accounts, which cover everything from tips for managing one’s line experience to good-natured trash-talk between the two. This year, one of the longest lines (based on the amount of space and time in the event) had to be for Game of Thrones’ Survive the Realm experience.

It’s no secret that I’m a pretty (damn) big fan of both George R. R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire and of HBO’s adaptation. The show has had a big presence at SDCC since it premiered, starting off with a panel in Ballroom 20 in its first year before quickly getting upgraded to Hall H (and its 6,500 seats) ever since. The show twice has announced the new slate of cast members at their panel (quick rule of thumb: If I manage to attend the panel, they won’t announce new cast members; if I miss it, they will … I’m two for four). And for two years now, the HBO has hosted the Survive the Realm experience across the street from the Convention Center.

The line for the experience was insane, wrapping around the building. Attendees were allowed in in small groups to keep the space crowded. Inside was an interactive experience that held everything from props and costumes to a pair of real tattoo artists.

HBO brought just a portion of the displays from their Game of Thrones: The Exhibition that has toured around the world. The costume displays were particularly well done. The pieces were displayed in groups, showing off items that were designed for specific pairs of characters: Jaime and Brienne, Bran and Hodor, Dany and her dragon.

There were also several interactive features. There was a green screen photo-op where Dany sat on a rock with Drogon (the rock was real, the dragon CGI, natch). There was also a very cool activity featuring Oculus Rift technology. Attendees stepped into separate “elevators” for The Wall. Once the VR Headset was in place, we were pulled to the top. Vibrations and cold air fans helped with the effect, but VR work was immersive. Once at the top, we were told to turn around as our character would walk to the edge, taking in the land beyond the Wall. I’m not going to lie … my body knew I was standing on the ground in San Diego, but when I leaned over the ledge and looked down, my mind forced my hand to grab onto the elevator. The effect was incredibly well done.

The last two activities had to be the most popular, and I think it is easy to assume that the first is why most people waited in the first place. I know it is a prop, actually one of several that HBO uses at similar events … but sitting down in the Iron Throne and getting your picture taken? Pretty damn cool. The only thing that lasts longer than a picture, though, is a tattoo. HBO brought in two real tattoo artists and were offering – at no cost – a tattoo from a selection of Game of Thrones designs. I walked through about 45 minutes after they’d opened up on Friday, and the waiting area was already full.

Giving out swag at SDCC is a staple, as networks and studio bring exclusive items for their fans. What was given out at Survive the Realm might have set an unbreakable bar. The network commissioned Robert Ball – the artist who designed the amazing Beautiful Death series that premiered in advance of the show’s fourth season – to design four shirts, a unique design for each day. The piece I received was a silhouette of a member of the King’s Guard over the Lannister crest. There were a limited number of each shirt made – only 2,000 – making them one of the most exclusive things publicly available at the convention.

These off-site experiences are becoming more and more commonplace at Comic-Con. This year, you could do everything from ride a zip-line through downtown “Gotham” to run an Assassin’s Creed themed obstacle course. The Simpsons’ Home Dome was impressive, as with the Godzilla setup. None of these, however, compared to Survive the Realm. I’m looking forward to what the network does next year, as True Blood’s final season leaves Game of Thrones as their sole property at the show. As the network has used True Blood to sponsor the annual Robert A. Heinlein blood drive, maybe they can shift that to GoT. Just think: The “Fire and Blood Drive!”

Comic-Con is what you make of it.

And, being the event comes but once a year for a brief portion of a week, it’s best you hit the floor with all thrusters at full when you descend on San Diego.

Plans in place, I did just that Friday …

• My day started with a tradition I maintain every year at Comic-Con, a visit to the San Diego Blood Bank for my annual donation. With my partner in crime Ivey in tow, we made the short trek to do our thing. Lo and behold, the same gentleman who poked and prodded me last year — Ramon — drew from me once again. I think the two of us are becoming “a thing” …
• I got the opportunity to do quite a few interviews Friday, all of which will be posted in some form or another in the coming week. Included in those Q&As were a comic property (Eric Powell of the popular comic The Goon), a couple television show press rooms (Falling Skies which had to be cut short due to scheduling conflicts and The Walking Dead) and something new I wanted I sought out to learn more about, God Is Disappointed In You by writer Mark Russell and Shannon Wheeler of Too Much Coffee Man fame.
• Ivey sat down with the cast from Dominion, or putting it another way: Ivey sat down with Giles and Charles Widmore … and David from Kings and Doreah from Game of Thrones.
• I caught an extended look at iZombie in one of the spacious meeting rooms, something I thought might be packed to the gills. To my surprise, I was able to walk right in, unlike Thursday with the Toy Story That Time Forgot. (That panel was stuffed to capacity. You win some, you lose some.)
• In a stark contrast to last year’s The 100 press room, Ivey said series star Isaiah Washington was comically tight-lipped about what is coming up for his character on the show this year … but in all honesty, his being in attendance is a spoiler in and of itself.
• Do I have to mention there was a gaggle of photos taken and the Con floor traversed in search of personalities and old friends? Naturally.

Busy as the day was, there were still evening parties to attend.

• En route to the Warner Bros. fest, I bumped into a crowd of luchadores (Mexican wrestlers) going the opposite direction. Every year we hook up at some bar or restaurant in San Diego’s Gaslamp to enjoy pitchers of cerveza and offer photo opportunities to any passersby. (The kicker is the fact these guys are real luchadores from Tijuana. I’m the token gringo of the bunch who they’ve welcomed with open arms as a brother.) I told them I would seek them out a bit later in the evening.
• The Warner Bros. party Ivey and I attended was located at a spacious, open air rooftop of The Hard Rock. This shindig boasted more talent than you could shake a stick at. Talent from The 100, Mike Tyson Mysteries (including Iron Mike himself), The Vampire Diaries, iZombie The Flash, Arrow, Person Of Interest, Gotham, The Originals and The Following mingled about. There could very well have been more but, with a list like that, it was dizzying enough keeping track.
• Post party, Ivey headed back to the hotel while I went on the hunt for my wrestling brothers. I was unsuccessful … but I did wind up at an after-Eisner Awards festival with full of talent and fellow writers.
• Missed opportunity of the evening was The Last Ship party on the USS Midway. Wouldn’t it have been cool to have been rubbing elbows on an aircraft carrier? A wish for another time.
• Of a few things Ivey was involved in, he realized a dream this year which was unfulfilled in 2013: A photo opportunity on Game Of Thrones very own Iron Throne. Geek nirvana for certain.
• Additionally, he commandeered some pretty cool GoT swag — exclusive T-shirts HBO distributed at their Survive the Realm Experience. Artist Robert Ball, of GoT/HBO’s “Beautiful Death” series earlier this year, was the creator with a different piece debuting each day of The Con. Pretty cool swag if I do say so myself.

Saturday? Look out: We’re comin’ to getcha …

San Diego Comic-Con. The summer week that is marked off of my calendar automatically each year. The people behind marketing effort that has dubbed the annual White House Correspondent’s Dinner “NerdProm” have obviously never spent their July’s in San Diego and have experienced the rock-em sock-em fracas that descends upon the Gaslamp District of San Diego. I’ve been there – just a couple of times, I don’t necessarily have tenure that my partner-in-crime Michael Noble has – and I have lived to tell the tale. And this week? It’s time to jump in and do it all again.

Last year was my third Con, and was a bit of an anomaly. I tried taking a different approach; while I had several big-ticket events that I was really looking forward to (Wil Wheaton’s Hopcon event, Joss Whedon’s NerdHQ panel and the Veronica Mars off-site fan event to name several), I really tried to keep my schedule as lean as I could, which allowed me to experience some things that I normally don’t have time for. Mike, Keith McDuffee and I all caught the Cartoon Voices and Quick Draw panels together and had a blast. I took in a couple of the off-site experiences that have popped up (The Ender’s Game one in particular stands out … but I did miss out on the Godzilla experience that the rest of the team caught). This flexibility allowed me a random chance to see the Game of Thrones panel in Hall H (and everyone knows that GoT is far and away my favorite property that shows up to SDCC).

This year, I’m back to having nearly every waking minute scheduled. I’m not entirely sure I’ll see the inside of a panel room this year … especially considering some of the decision-making Comic-Con International displayed in scheduling TV panels this year. Room 6A is the fifth largest room available to CCI, yet it will be hosting shows like The Blacklist, Vikings, Orphan Black and Outlander … I believe that as a function of capacity, 6A might actually be more difficult to get into than the vaunted Hall H on Friday. But I digress; I have a pretty darn good idea what I’ll be doing most of the week.

I’m going to sit down with the cast and creators of some of our favorite television shows. I plan to ask Jason Rothenberg of CW’s The 100 about his show’s success in its freshman season and where he plans to take things this year. I’m going to find out what is Rob Thomas’ new show iZombie is all about. How much can TNT’s The Last Ship diverge from it’s source material (spoiler alert: I doubt they even read the book)? Do the producers of Legends plan to live up to their #dontkillSeanBean Twitter campaign? How much of Kings’ David does Christopher Egan see in his new character Alex on SyFy Dominion?

It took NerdHQ a long damn time to get their panels announced and tickets on sale this year, but once they were available, they were gone quickly. While I think Brown Paper Tickets and NerdHQ did a much better job with the ticket sales this time around, I did have a confirmed seat in my cart for the Badass Women mystery panel that disappeared as I was shopping for another ticket in that wave. Regardless, I did pretty well for myself, scoring a ticket for Zachary Levi’s panel, The Last Ship and Garfunkel & Oats (!!!!). And while my attempt to get an encore with Joss Whedon failed, my attempt to trade the ticket did not go unnoticed by the king of NerdHQ himself:

“@Dorv: Failed in getting the @josswhedon #NerdHQ panel ticket I was hoping for, but totally have a @ZacharyLevi one I’d trade.” *GASP!*

— Zachary Levi (@ZacharyLevi) July 19, 2014

In my defense, it’s not that I don’t want to see Zach, I just have a scheduling conflict (the phrase “scheduling conflict” could easily be the subtitle of San Diego Comic-Con).

With such a full schedule, I’m not sure how much of the off-site stuff I’ll be able to do this year. Like my buddy Mike, I too will be stopping by the 38^th annual Robert A. Heinlein blood drive to drop off a pint or two for the cause. I’m itching to visit the Game of Thrones Survive the Realm experience, because I want a picture with me in the Iron Throne! There’s frankly too damn much going on in the Gaslamp District to keep track of it all (Thankfully, the wonderful folks over at Outside Comic Con do all that heavy lifting for the rest of us). I will have to find time for the Assassin’s Creed/Schick Cutting Edge shave experience, though.

The nightlife this week is always one of the highlights. I’m particularly looking forward to the to the folks at TNT and The Last Ship hosting a party on the deck of the USS Midway … that’s the kind of thing that you just can’t do at home. I’ve always wanted to stop by NerdHQ at night just to see what all the fuss is about, but I think that 2014 will be another year that we won’t make that particular trip.

The best part of Comic-Con isn’t the parties, the celebrities or the panels (Well, that’s only because I could never get into the Marvel movie panel … if I could score a ticket to that, that would totally be better than this next bit). It’s the friends. While our fearless leader Keith won’t be making the trip this year, my brother-from-another-mother Michael will have my back. Plus, seeing fellow writers from some of my favorite websites is something that only happens – for me – this one time a year. The craziness of the Con is always made better by those you’re experiencing it with.

Be sure to check back at CliqueClack during the week. We’ll try to have some posts up during the week about the goings on (Hopefully I’ll bring back my Daily Highlights posts from last year). Also check us out on the Twitter (@CliqueClack, @Dorv and @RuprechtReal) as we try to keep you up-to-date with the chaos of San Diego Comic-Con.

When the world seems dark and troubling, it’s easy to imagine that you’re the hero in your own story, fighting demons and rescuing damsels (male or female as you prefer). But sometimes high fantasy can be a barrier for newer readers, a new world filled with weird words and geography, magical beasts and kingdoms; why can’t we just have it on Earth, like Harry Potter? Ah, but that’s where urban fantasy comes in. This is the genre that takes magic and fantastical concepts and shoves them whole cloth into our own non-magical reality. Depending on the rules of this urban fantasy version of our own world, sometimes all magic has just been hidden or perhaps it’s just about to be discovered. The former is far more common, because we humans love our conspiracies and mysteries. So we take our Earth and shake things up, but sometimes the darkness of reality can’t help but bleed through into the stories we invent.

Following up on his urban fantasy book Dreams and Shadows, author C. Robert Cargill returns with a direct sequel Queen of the Dark Things. In a similar way to the first book, Cargill blends past and present timelines to continue the story of itinerant rogue wizard Colby. The story continues to show more of the tale of Colby’s childhood and his training in magic while also directly continuing from the dark events of the first book. This time, Austin is not only home to the faeries and myths of before, but new mythos show up. We see the seventy-two Goetic demons from The Lesser Key of Solomon, mainly more pseudo-Christian imagery, but there’s an extended series of events about the Aboriginal shamans in Australia. Even a real life historical horror, the massacre in the Batavia is integrated seamlessly in the story. But this is once again a story about trickery and cleverness, how power can be abused or misunderstood, and the complex morality of the real world transposed into fantastical circumstances. Colby must face an old threat and make an impossible choice, all the while trying to keep his remaining friends alive.

One thing that remains true about Cargill’s books is the clear and robust world building, a foundation of various mythos to show a world rife with fantastical conflict yet strangely believable. The characters are well defined, although the primary focus is on Colby and his childhood friend, meaning that there isn’t as much on the tertiary characters. There are glimpses of hidden depths that I would hope are reflective of careful consideration instead of accidental meaning. That said, sometimes subconscious ideas never explicitly considered turn into ones realized on the page. Just like Dreams and Shadows, there is a darkly comic style at play here, with death and despair evident despite the best wishes of the heroic characters. There are far fewer wish fulfilments built into these characters than most urban fantasy stories; Colby may have a tragic backstory but he’s not constantly bewitched by eldritch ladies, or vice versa. Well, there is one minor exception, but that’s acceptable considering it’s an idea I rarely see.

This is a quick and engaging read, mixing just the lightest bit of complexity until the final denouement. Some of the plans aren’t really that clever or are so obtuse they don’t have any meaningful way to be understood by the reader. But for the most part, the book is fun and only rarely overly confusing. I don’t particularly like it when stories invent wholly new rules for magic without thinking it through, but I find Cargill usually manages to sidestep this problem. Just like his last book, Queen of the Dark Things includes interstitial excerpts from a fictional book on magic that sheds light on relevant plot details, a narrative device I personally enjoy but some might find a bit too dry.

The ending may be a bit too easy for some, but I found it satisfying and a reasonable endpoint to the drama built up over 400 pages. This isn’t a book with highly complicated twists and turns like George R. R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire or Joe Abercrombie’s fantasy books, but it has some of the fun silliness and near darkness of Jim Butcher’s The Dresden Files. I like how carefully this world is considered, and I like how easy the book is to finish, just a relaxing few hours and you’re done. It’s a compromise for those that like Game of Thrones but are intimidated by the thousands of words and hundreds of characters. Try these two from C. Robert Cargill and ease yourself into it.

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