Game of Thrones episode review: "Beyond the Wall"

Image taken from IMDb.

dir. by Alan Taylor

written by David Benioff & D.B. Weiss

This year, Game of Thrones has thrived on balancing its blockbuster impulses with the nuances of its character relationships. When that balance works, we get "The Spoils of War", where everything falls into place and even easy narrative tricks like big battles and small reunions can be emotionally evocative and deceptively deep. For the most part, it has worked very consistently, and while season 7 is still eager to please, it's been intelligent enough to elevate its pandering in ways which season 6 wasn't. 

Unfortunately, "Beyond the Wall" neglects a lot of that intelligence in favour of brainless spectacle and contrived tension, caring more about action and epic sweep than the grit and intricacy which once defined this show's main appeal. The story has been gearing towards epic blockbuster fantasy for some time now, and it's still often good at delivering the bombast, even when it's illogical and predictable as it is here. But when even the recent years of the show have accomplished so much more than this, it's hard not to be disappointed. 

Movie review: "Wind River"

written/directed by Taylor Sheridan
It's hard to begin a discussion of Wind River without acknowledging the recent pedigree of writer-director Taylor Sheridan. Over the past two years, Sheridan has emerged from a supporting role on Sons of Anarchy to write exquisite scripts for Sicario and Hell or High Water, both of which suggested him as a major talent in film writing. When news broke that he'd be directing a film as well, anticipation was high; after all, when your first two films were that good, how could they not be?

The surprising thing about Wind River, then, is that it's actually Sheridan's weakest script by some margin, boasting less nuanced characterization, uneven dialogue, and some dubious survivalist philosophy. Instead, what makes the film thrilling is Sheridan's assured direction, emphasizing a harsh, freezing sense of place and crafting from that not only great tension but great action as well. Above all else, it possesses a taut, bleak beauty which allows it to transcend the deficiencies of its script and become compelling in spite of itself.

Game of Thrones episode review: "Eastwatch"

Image taken from IMDb. 

dir. by Matt Shakman

written by Dave Hill

To the disappointment of some fans, Game of Thrones can't be epic action every week. After last week's poignant reunions and exciting battle, this week we're back to table-setting in an episode which is predominantly exposition and setup for storylines which are going to pay off later. As always, the show does this very well, and this season's exposition benefits both from a breakneck flow of information and the nuances of character relationships from over six seasons of development. 

But even considering that, "Eastwatch" is much more exciting than similar episodes from earlier in the series, and part of that is because there's simply more novelty to the storylines set up here. With Cersei facing imminent defeat and Jon desperate for help against the White Walkers, the show has finally regained a sense of political intrigue, and even the slower scenes retain a sense of momentum and importance. Best of all, even though the show leans heavily on major revelations this week, it clips through them so quickly in pursuit of its novel plot threads that they don't get in the way of good storytelling. 

Pocket reviews: Week of August 11

In lieu of longer reviews, here's some shorter critiques of the films and television series I watched in the past week. This week: Atomic Blonde, A Ghost Story, Detroit, and Archer: Dreamland.

Game of Thrones"episode review: "The Spoils of War"

Image taken from IMDb.

dir. by Matt Shakman

written by David Benioff and D.B. Weiss

Reviewing a serialized show on an episode-by-episode basis can be challenging, as you won't really get a satisfying narrative arc within any single hour of the season. Perhaps this is why so many people writing about these shows call their pieces "recaps" rather than "reviews," as it's easier to relay what happened and insert snippets of editorializing here and there than to nitpick at individual character interactions or technical qualities which are common to the show in general. Individual episodes often have different directors and writers, but especially in the case of Game of Thrones, narrative arcs move slowly enough that critiquing specific episodes can come down to picking at little details. 

And yet, I can still tell when an individual episode is above the rest, and "The Spoils of War" is where this season really kicking into high gear. There's emotional reunions, powerful moments, and even a few fun one-liners, and it all concludes in one of the show's most exciting and spectacular battles to date. There's still some clunky exposition here, but this week the show has decided to even further emphasize the nuances of character relationships, and if that doesn't quite compensate for the show's continued lack of intrigue, it's starting to come close.