HBO's Game Of Thrones Season 2 Cast

Season 2 of HBO's Game Of Thrones will start airing this April. The show, based on G.R.R. Martin's Song of Fire and Ice series of novels, had a very strong showing during Season 1, and Season 2 is expected to do great as well.

The casting for Season 2, which will be based on the 2nd book in the Song of Fire and Ice series A Clash of Kings, is complete. Check out the casting below.




Brienne of Tarth played by Gwendoline Christie

Larger and stronger than most men, Brienne is a skilled warrior and longs to be a knight. She has an awkward personality, but is also honest and stubborn. She holds a naïvely idealized notion of knighthood, despite the insults she receives from many knights, who call her Brienne the Beauty to mock her ugliness.


Davos Seaworth played by Liam Cunningham


Lord Davos Seaworth of the Rainwood, Admiral of the Narrow Sea, commonly called the Onion Knight, was once a smuggler, but became a landed knight and Stannis Baratheon's most honest and loyal supporter. He captains the Black Betha, his old smuggling ship.


Maester Cressen played by Oliver Ford Davies


Maester Cressen is the maester of Dragonstone. As maester he is the adviser of Stannis Baratheon.



Stannis Baratheon played by Stephen Dillane


Lord Stannis Baratheon is the elder of Robert Baratheon's younger brothers. He served on his brother's small council as Master of Ships, After the death of Robert, he styled himself king of the Seven Kingdoms as Robert's heir, though he has difficulty getting support for his claim.


Margaery Tyrell played by Natalie Dormer


Margaery Tyrell is the only daughter of Lord Mace Tyrell and his wife, Lady Alerie. She is an intelligent and shrewd young woman, very much the protégé of her cunning grandmother, Lady Olenna Redwyne.



Melisandre played by Carice Van Houten


Lady Melisandre of Asshai is a priestess of R'hllor in service to Stannis Baratheon.



Yara (Asha) Greyjoy played by Gemma Whelan


Asha Greyjoy is the daughter of Balon Greyjoy and his wife, Alannys. She is fierce and proud, and defies traditional ironborn gender roles by commanding her own ship, the Black Wind, and leading men into battle.


Xaro Xhoan Daxos played by Nonso Anozie


Xaro Xhoan Daxos is a merchant prince of Qarth. He is a member of the Thirteen, a prominent group of traders within Qarth. He owns eighty-four ships, including his pleasure barge.


Jaqen H'ghar played by Tom Wlaschiha


(a description might prove too spoilerish)


Matthos Seaworth played by Kerr Logan


Matthos Seaworth is the third son of Ser Davos Seaworth.


Pyromancer Hallyne played by Roy Dotrice


Lord Hallyne, also known as Hallyne the Pyromancer, is the head of the Alchemists' Guild. He is a third generation alchemist.



Gilly played by Hannah Murray


Gilly is a wildling girl, daughter and wife of Craster, with dark hair and a gaunt face. She is named for the gillyflower.



Dolorous Edd Tollet played by Ben Crompton


Eddison Tollet, better known as Dolorous Edd, is a member of the Night's Watch.



Roose Bolton played by Michael McElhatton


Roose Bolton is the current Lord of the Dreadfort. Though mild-mannered, he is cold, calculating, and capable of great cruelty. He speaks softly, never raising his voice, forcing those who must listen to do so intently. He receives regular leechings, which he believes to improve his health, prompting some to call him the "Leech Lord".


Craster played by Robert Pugh


Craster is a wildling, master of Craster's Keep, located beyond the Wall. Despite his unsavory reputation, he was regarded as friend to the Night's Watch.


Balon Greyjoy played by Patrick Malahide


Balon Greyjoy is a member of House Greyjoy. He is Lord of the Iron Islands and proclaimed himself king twice. He is a follower of the old custom of the Ironborn and tried to bring them back to prominence. In 289 AL he proclaimed their independence from the Iron Throne but was defeated. During the War of the Five Kings he rebelled again and attacked the North.


Podrick Payne played by Daniel Portman


Podrick Payne is the squire of Tyrion Lannister. He is from a cadet branch of House Payne. He is a very quiet boy.


Pyat Pree played by Ian Hanmore


Pyat Pree is a warlock from the city of Qarth.



Ser Armory Lorch played by Fintan McKeown


Ser Amory Lorch is a landed knight of House Lorch and bannerman of House Lannister.


Ygritte played by Rose Leslie


Ygritte is a wildling woman and spearwife who becomes (spoiler)

Ricardo "That Monkey Guy" Morra

Ricardo "That Monkey Guy" Morra.

This guy was a natural athlete. During training he would do things like jump on to a tree branch where he would then grab a coconut and smash it with one strike.

He had a unique monkey/caporiea style but was also good at karate and wrestling (in the video footage below he demonstrates a double leg takedown in his first fight followed by a ground n pound style utilizing karate chops). His unique style made him very elusive and often frustrated opponents.

I have no doubt that if he were around today he would be a UFC champion. Imagine a guy as elusive as Machida, faster than Anderson Silva, as unorthodox as Jon Jones, who also had a very strong wrestling base, high level karate training, combined with a style no one's seen since.

Unfortunately in those days safeguards weren't in place like they are today. During an open weight "no rules" tournament Morra had to fight the Sumo specialist Pumola who outweighed him by close to 200 lbs. He put up a valiant effort, keeping Pumola off balance and delivering a good karate chop, but Pumola's size proved too much. Morra was caught in a bear hug and refused to tap. His spine was broke before the ref could step in and Morra's career was tragically cut short when he immediately died from the injury.

RIP

What the Hell is Going on Here? Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes Doesn’t Suck ?

Admittedly, the newest installment of The Planet of The Apes saga didn’t really have people waiting in anticipation for a great movie. At best viewers were probably hoping that it didn’t completely suck, and there would be enough cool ape on human violence to at least cover the cost of the ticket. However this prequel not only surprises, but Rise of The Planet of The Apes exceeds all expectations and rises above as the best blockbuster this summer.

Taking a completely different tone than Tim Burton’s 2001 campy remake, 20th Century Fox goes for a more stripped down visceral tone, and the results are amazing. While giving nods to the original films and throwing in some subtle foreshadowing of events to come, Rise of the Planet of The Apes does just as well as a standalone movie, and hits all the high notes of a great action film, while giving the viewer much more character development than is the norm for these types of movies.



The film takes place in the modern world, as scientist Will Rodman, played by James Franco, tries to find a cure for Alzheimer’s, motivated by his father’s declining health. It’s a balancing act for Rodman, who is trying push forward with his research while David Oyelowo as corporate head Jacobs is trying to make sure that this will bring their pharmaceutical business big money, and if not will scrap the project altogether.

Honestly the human cast isn’t anything special. James Franco could have been replaced by several actors without the performance dropping in quality, and maybe even slightly improving. Oyelowo, and Tom Felton as ape abusing Dodge are servicable enough bad guys, but won’t be making anyone’s top 100 villain lists anytime soon. Freida Pinto playing Rodman’s girlfriend Caroline seems to disappear during the movie and might only be there for Franco to talk to someone about his thoughts without turning to soliloquy in the middle of the movie. The one bright spot among the human actors is John Lithgow as Rodman’s Alzheimer’s stricken father.It’s a relatively small role, but he does a great job of helping to humanize and help the audience sympathize with the main chimp character Caesar.



But this is Rise of the Planet of the Apes, and no one came to see James Franco or any of the other humans. Fortunately the apes more than make up for it. We see Caesar from baby chimp orphaned and destined for euthanasia rescued and brought up with a human family. The character development for this stop motion cgi ape is amazing, and really adds to the later action scenes. We see Caesar growing up, questioning his place in the world. In one scene Caesar sees a dog on a leash, then looks at his own leash and collar and asks his human “father” if he is a pet. After trying to protect John Lithgow’s character from bullying he ends up in a primate facility, which plays out as a prison scene, with Caesar having to grow up fast and eventually becoming something of a revolutionary.

The other apes that eventually make up Caesar’s crew are also great. With their own distinctive personalities, back stories, and even movements, no two apes seem the same. There is Rocket, the Alpha chimp bully of the facility. Buck, a monstrous giant ape and the brawn of the army. Maurice, the former circus Orangutan and the only other ape who can communicate by sign language before the apes become super smart, and Koba, the stone cold killer of the crew, abused by years at different medical and science labs and menacing to look at when freed. The characterization of the apes and their growth through the film just make the payoff in the movie’s climactic battle scene all the more amazing. You root for these characters, cheering when a familiar ape does something epic during the battle, or feel when one goes down in battle.

And the action in the movie is shockingly good. Although billed as a sci-fi movie, Rise of The Planet of The Apes is as good as any Hollywood action movie released this year. The director Rupert Wyatt is a relatively young director, with only one film under his belt The Escapist a UK prison break movie. But this near rookie UK director does action scenes just as good as his U.S. counterparts and in some ways does better than most. The action looks stunning and flows well, and as stated before hits the viewer even harder having set up the character growth earlier in the film. AT this point in the film you are rooting for the downfall of the humans and marveling at the action sequences.

Rise of The Planet of The Apes was not only more impressive than expected, it is a solid action movie and probably this summer’s best. Although listed as a prequel to the Planet of The Apes series, and talks of a franchise based on this film, even if that never happens this could standalone as one of the great sci-fi/action films of recent years.

A Game of Thrones Comics : Humor is coming!

George R.R. Martin's first book in his Song of Fire and Ice series, A Game of Thrones has hit HBO and about three episodes in so far. Intrigued me enough to pick up the books and also search around the internet for information on it, and I was able to find some Game of Throne comics. I'm posting a few of the Game of Thrones comics here, enjoy!














Check out more Game Of Thrones and Song of Ice and Fire
stuff here.

Star Studded Zombie Greatness : Call of Duty: Black Ops Escalation - Call of the Dead

The new Call of Duty Black Ops Escalation Zombie map, Call of the Dead, is going to be amazing. The storyline is inspired by the Godafther of Zombies himself George A Romero, who will also star in the game along with a blockbuster cast including Mr. Freddy Krueger himself Robert Englund, everyone's favorite vampire slayer Sarah Michelle, Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer star Michael Rooker, and "you just messed with the wrong mexican" Danny Trejo.

The brilliant grindhouse style preview has me more pumped than any movie that's come out recently.



From the Activision and Treyarch press release:

"This is Treyarch's tribute to the legendary George Romero, who truly defined the zombie genre and whose incredible work has been such an inspiration to our team." says Dave Anthony, Call of Duty: Black Ops Director. "It was an absolute honor to work with such an amazing and talented cast whose passion and energy brought their characters instantly to life. Fans are going to love this."

Cop punches out woman in ihop. Black guy with Mandalorian battle armor looks on from table

Initially nothing new to be seen here. Random IHOP brawl with a cop punching a woman in the face.



But if you look closely you see a black man at the table sitting calmly wearing what appears to be Mandalorian Armor, much like the infamous bounty hunter Boba Fett.




Much like the calm and cool Boba Fett, this man isn't shaken by the violence at all. If no money is involved, then there is no point for the man at the table to pull out his blaster. I imagine he finished his pancakes, payed his bill and was off in the Slave-1. Errr, maybe a Firespray-31 with a different name actually.

EDIT UPDATE

Confirmed Boba Fett suit lol, found alternate cam with the Mandalorian in question.

Nimrod vs Jesus Christ (an original comic, contains adult language)