I wonder if that might be a show/GRRM break, though, because it was the latter who said that the Season One event was due to the bloodmagic and dragons at play. Or perhaps he was just being coy for some other reasons. As for now, I think the idea of it as a legendary but probably more recently bullshit trait is apt.

She's basically Robert Baratheon with better morals.

"I used [pokes at something on the ground] to run a Foot Locker, oh, in my younger years, of course… [slight smirk, pause] but I got tired of the smell."

There was an excellent moment in that scene when Pycelle was shuffling out of the room and Cersei cocked her head as if to say "Still with this shit?" Just a lot of great, subtle acting there.

It's odd because it's basically the MO of Kings past, from how the show has discussed it: great at war, bad at governing.

The army of the Vale is riding north, thus their army is moving. The Wildlings are preparing to march on Winterfell. The Reach's forces are preparing to assault the Faith Militant and rescue the queen.

Agreed. I think we tackle this kind of thing a little too much from our own modern perspective whereas I think a very spiritual warrior culture would bow to a god-like slaughtering of all their greatest fighters.

The show doesn't seem to make it explicit enough, but my understanding is that it's not a trait of her bloodline but something else.

I don't think everyone has. Only those at Hardhome and a few of the rangers have probably seen them. If they had, I think the Wildling thing would have been a lower priority.

He did. She turned away from him rather than speaking.

I had read the scene that the ground had been treated with something to burn like that. Those flames went up incredibly quickly and without catching the floor material in the way oil/gas fires do.

Criticism—really great and substantial criticism—is an art.

Once I got around to reading Gaddis and Pynchon, my love of Infinite Jest receded a bit.

Well, some of their songs don't have lyrics, but a lot of them are just in Icelandic.

I think "Kid A is overrated garbage" has been apart of the narrative as long as "Kid A is the best album ever" has been. People always cite it as the point where Radiohead lost them.

It's an incredibly atmospheric film that still manages to effect my mood when I watch it, but the last time I saw it, I couldn't help but feel that it's only 80% of a film. Every aspect of it feels like it's missing just one thing that would make it perfect to me.

Film Twitter seems to enjoy it quite a bit, but it's also like 60% contrarianism so that's part of it.

The first season (and part of the second) is also just way less captivating. All of Walt's "I'm doing it for my family!" nonsense was so dull to me. The character only really became interesting once he started to own that he actually liked being the villain.

I don't think it was adults so much as late high school and college freshman trying to stake out pop culture for the first time that really lost their shit over the latter two.

Fire Walk with Me actually is quite good, I think, but the criticisms he gives of Mulholland Drive apply way more to that film.