An epic fantasy adventure based on the timeless Arthurian legend of Gawain who embarks on a daring quest to confront the eponymous Green Knight, a gigantic emerald-skinned stranger and tester of men.
Tag Archives: King Arthur
Holy Jon Snow! Kit Harrington Soon to be King Arthur
If any of you Game of Thrones fans had a dream grudge match envisioned of who would win in a fight between Jon Snow and Robb Stark (Not that it would have happened in the books) then I hate to tell you that Jon Snow would win. Well, if it were between the actors who play those characters on the show… and they were dueling over movie roles…. With only their acting skills…. Ah forget it. Either way, Kit Harrington who plays Jon Snow on the Game of Thrones has beat out Robb Stark actor Richard Madden (amongst others) for the role of King Arthur in an upcoming movie about said King and Sir Lancelot. Thanks to IGN for the info.
I say good for Kit Harrington, but is anyone out there really psyched for another re-imagining of the Arthur story? We’ve had the abysmal Clive Owen-Arthur movie, and the so-so Camelot show that was recently and shockingly canceled by Starz. Now this version of the Arthur tale is said to be a contemporary, modern day retelling of the Arthur story….. That sounds very unappealing to me. Will it be some sort of chick flick? If so why do you need someone like Harrington? Why not Matthew McConaughey or Josh Duhamel for a lame duty such as that? Personally I hope it’s a modern day retelling where there is a love triangle between Arthur, Lancelot and Guinevere that ends in a thrilling 30 minute sword fight through the streets of London. Part of which occurs on the roof of a moving double decker bus.
Either way, good for Kit Harrington and if it is destined to suck we won’t have to worry about it until March of 2013.
Camelot Cancelled By Starz
Camelot left me and many others with mixed feelings. Was it a good show or wasn’t it? I enjoyed it more at the beginning and the end than I did in the middle where I thought the series started to falter. I was willing to forgive and forget the shortcomings of the first season and look on with eager eyes for season 2. After all they finally established the young Arthur as king in the now cleaned up Camelot, had him weilding Excalibur, and making an enemy of his sister who now carried his future nemesis Mordred inside her. Season 2 was supposed to be a ‘cut the pleasentries and get down to business’ season of a show that had plenty of potential, but now we’ll probably never know what might have been. Starz has reached the decision not to renew Camelot. Check out the announcement from IGN:
The only reason given for now? “Significant production challenges.” It looks like Starz might have, once again, run into the problem they faced with Party Down, where “scheduling conflicts with some of the actors were part of the problem for the Ireland-shot costume drama.” Which would probably mean that Starz neglected to lock these guys into a save-the-date contract.
While we’re not sure which actor or actors had the conflict, it had to be one of the key roles. It’s possible that it’s star Jamie Campbell Bower, who plays Arthur, as he just recently signed to star in The Mortal Instruments.
Man if it’s just a case of Jamie Campbell Bower having other obligations then by all means replace that turd with a new leading man. Hell, they’re doing that with Spartacus already albeit under different circumstances: Those being that Andy Whitfield has Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma. But at least I loved Andy Whitfield as the main character, with Bower I could care less if they replaced him. So now there are maybe a couple possibilities vague though they may be. The first is that another network picks up the show and the second being that Starz decides to pick the series up down the road sometime. As for another network picking up Camelot, we’ve seen how that theory has panned out with other canceled shows.
So what does everyone think of this news? Are you sitting there crying for Camelot, or are you like me just biding time until Game of Thrones Season 2 comes out? I know the main thing I’ll miss is Eva Green…
Camelot Review: Episode 9 – “The Battle of Bardon Pass”
If you’ve missed any other episodes, hit it HERE.
So the 9th episode of Camelot focuses on 2 major things:
1. Morgan’s capture and impersonation of Igraine
2. The Arthur/Guinevere/Leontes Love Triangle
So first, as we saw in Episode 8, Igraine has escaped Castle Pendragon and made her way back to Camelot only to be confronted by…herself. That’s where we pick up in 9. Igraine thinking herself crazy retreats to her room to find Merlin still in her bed from his night with her Morgan. She blubbers coherently enough that Merlin figures out what has happened and they almost immediately set out for Pendragon to confront Morgan. Alone and unarmed. Again. For the extreme badass that Merlin is supposed to be, he sure doesn’t show it much…
As Merlina and Igraine are preparing to leave, Leontes confronts Guinevere about her relationship with the King. She initially denys it, but quickly folds like a the cheap thin metal they used on my new grill…
While all the melodrama is going on in Camelot, Bardon Pass, the main trade post of the kingdom is under attack and Arthur’s guards there are killed. So as Merlin and Igraine head to Pendragon, Arthur, Leontes, and the others head to the Pass.
By this time Morgan is back at her own Castle and it’s clear that the attack on the Pass is of her doing, and lead by her peeping Tom from a few weeks back. As she arrives she is met by the mysterious Nun, whose motivations to this point are still completely shrouded, and the two discuss Igraine’s escape and how no one will believe the weak-minded Queen.
As her men continue attacks all over the lands, more and more villagers flock to Morgan for the protection Arthur isn’t providing. She goes on the convince the stupid frightened people that Arthur is being mislead by Merlin and that he’s not to blame for the troubles of the land, begging that they put their faith in her.
Now, when Merlin and Igraine show up to confront her, the deck is already staked against her. The many people seeking refuge within the castle walls see Merlin as a liar, and are convinced of Morgan’s innocence.
Merlin enters quite boisterously and makes grader claims that many in the crowd do not understand. Morgan emerges from within Castle Pendragon’s walls with a smirk on her face that only further proves this too is part of her plan.
Merlin and Igraine are quickly branded as traitorous and bat-shit crazy. Respectively. They are then taken into custody as Morgan announces plans to March them back to Camelot and reunite with her brother. Except what no one knows it that she have already given her men orders to kill Arthur in the Battle at Bardon Pass. Thus ensuring the crown will fall upon her head in his demise. Pretty clever.
Merlin has legitimate questions as to the endgame played by the Nun, but they aren’t questions we’ll yet have answered. This is about the time the stupidity of the writing once again takes grasp. They’re need to constantly inject Guinevere into every situation has become bothersome. So when she came galloping into the battle to bring Leontes his bible, I was hoping she’d catch an arrow…
Of cousre she doesn’t get shot, but she does fall off of her horse, causing Leontes and Arthur to play a quick round of “Who can get Shot Quickest” as they rush out in a hail of falling arrows to save her. Unfortunately, Morgan’s men can’t shoot any better than the Vietnamese in Rambo II, so unbelievably, no one gets hit here.
This does once again prove though how stupid Arthur is. If he dies, all is lost. Guy really doesn’t deserve to be King at this point…
Ol’ Arttie decides now would be a good time to tell the troops how he betrayed his Champion and that’s he’s basically a dick and all. His brother Kay disowns him and then, as the full blown battle begins, is promptly shot with an arrow. Not however before Morgan’s troops shoot the only Black knight, dudes were totally racist…
Arthur’s men however are well trained enough to push back the attacking horde and hold their ground. This leads to Arthur’s next stupid selfless act – he orders that everyone retreat out the back of the pass, unseen by the enemy, to get help for Kay and Gwen, since she bumped her head and all. Arthur will stay at the pass, alone, and distract the opposing forces for as long as he can. Then, everyone actually leaves. Really?
So Guinevere’s decision to jump into the battle is now gonna cost them the Bardon Pass. Hey, G, thanks for stopping by!
So this episode was mostly setup for the impending 10th episode and season finale. I give it a 3 of 5.
Camelot Review: Episode 8 – “Igraine”
Filling in for Darth this week, I have to say he’s been a little rough on Camelot as of late. Yes there were a few episodes in there that got a little slow, but this week’s I think had a nice flow to it.
Morgan is disguised as Brandi Svenning Arthur’s mother, former Queen Igraine. She has positioned herself inside of the walls of Camelot, while the real Igraine is a chained prisoner at Castle Pendragon.
This exchange is the focus of the episode with surprisingly little of Arthur actually appearing. Arthur and his champions are out of Camelot on a hunting trip, bonding as a crew. Two important things happen on the hunt. First, Arthur talks of creating a representative government for the people, which his brother Kay likens to the Roman senate. Leontes however suggested instead that each area send a champion to represent them, this is obviously the suggestion that will turn into the ‘Knights of the Round Table’.
The second event is the encounter between Morgan’s mystical wolf and Leontes. While the others sleep Leontes is meet face to face by the wolf who has been stalking the group. The wolf does nothing though, as Arthur’s champion still has too large a part to play.
Back at Camelot Morgan is starting to become more comfortable in her Igraine appearance, and she’s also getting more familiar with Merlin. This was the strange part to me, I guess I just expected Merlin to sniff out the deceit, but he was just a powerless against it as everyone else. The real Igraine however is less comfortable, incarcerated within the castle walls she once called home. This is when we get to see more and more the true character of Sybil, the nun. She enters Igraine’s prison to taunt and belittle the former Queen. This episode is also the first time we see any real flare from Igraine and she nearly kills the nun with her chains. It is only that blade of the door’s guard that stays the Nun’s execution.
Meanwhile, as the Queen is fighting for her freedom, Morgan is learning how the other side lives. She spends time with an orphaned boy who is clearly in love with Igraine and to whom Merlin is obviously also attached. The kid looks a little like Darth Vader…but a better actor.
Anyhow, this won’t grow up to be a badass like Lil’ Ani, because this kid, is dead. That’s right folks. After Morgan and Merlin give him his first ever birthday and tuck the little guy in, Morgan has another attack from the powers, which seem to be ripping her apart from the inside. Well the kid wakes up and finds who he believes to be Igraine in pain and declares that he is going to get Merlin to help. In an attempt to stop him from retrieving Merlin, Morgan grabs his arm and inadvertently knocks him over the balcony. So after Game of Thrones, I’m starting to think they like dropping kids off of stuff in these period pieces…
Wow. Nice move Morgan.
Thinking this might cause Morgan to see the error of her ways, and retreat back to Pendragon, I am proven completely wrong as she first lets it slip to Leontes that his wife and Arthur bumped uglies, and then uses the tragedy of the day to seduce Merlin. And might I say, for someone who is pushing 40, Clair Forlani is still looking damn good.
So anyhow, back Pendragon the real Igraine is using her body to advantage as well, making a deal with the guard for her freedom. It proves deadly for the guard however, as she is giving opportunity to grab his dagger during. But hey, if you gotta go, can’t think of many better ways…
Igraine then escapes Pendragon thanks to a blind eye turnned by Vivian, and steals a horse to make way back to Camelot. She however cannot get in time stop prevent the cavalcade of damage. The kid is dead, Merlin slept with who he thought was the Queen, and Morgan had her little chat with Leontes about his wife and the King. This does not bode well for Arthur, as his greatest champion now knows of his treachery and the wolf let Leontes live for a reason…
The house of cards Merlin has so steadily been building is starting to tumble, and it’s awesome. This was probably the best episode since the premiere. (and I’m not just saying that cause we saw Brandi Svenning’s boobs...or at least her body double anyway) I’m giving this one a 4 out of 5.
Camelot Review: Episode 7 – The Long Night
Just when I thought Camelot couldn’t get any worse…. it didn’t. Which is good because if this episode had been as terrible as the last one I’d have stopped watching completely. Lord knows it’s much classier neighbor, A Game of Thrones, comes on two nights after and is better in every aspect.
As I said above, the show wasn’t any worse. I would say it even got a little better with some action and a plot development that could prove interesting in the upcoming episode or two. The story starts with Morgan throwing a feast in honor of her brother Arthur to promote friendship and an alliance. That means an open invitation to everyone including Arthur, Merlin, Kay, Leontes, Guinevere, Gawain and Igraine. Of course Morgan has some sort of scheme behind the whole thing. Would you expect anything less?
Camelot Review: Episode 6 – “Three Journeys”
I don’t know about the rest of you, but I need something big to actually happen on Camelot. It seems like we’ve had too much set up and not enough pay off. I for one don’t really care about a story of Merlin, Leontes, Gawain and Kay on a mission to retrieve Kay’s father’s books from their old home. But that is what we were treated to and it sucked epically. I don’t mind the character development one bit and I really enjoyed the scene where Leontes and Merlin had a civil debate about their different ideologies. But the whole episode just felt like filler.
Continue reading Camelot Review: Episode 6 – “Three Journeys”
Camelot Review: Episode 5 – Justice
After a week of being MIA, I was ready to jump back into the world of Camelot. This week’s episode was properly titled ‘Justice’ because quite frankly that’s what it was all about. It was another episode where not much moves along in terms of action until the end, but we at least get to see Arthur not be a total little bitch. He actually passed for a man and a good King in this episode, even though it cost him a lot of enemies.
Camelot Review: Episode 4 – Lady of the Lake
This does not bode very well for my relationship with Camelot. Game of Thrones premiered two days after this episode and was fantastic, in many ways already surpassing Camelot. Then this episode itself, though not boring by any means, really pissed me off again with the characters of Arthur and Merlin. Both of them are starting to become my least favorite characters of the show. Meanwhile, characters like Leontes, Gawain and Kay remain to be amongst my favorites.
Continue reading Camelot Review: Episode 4 – Lady of the Lake
Camelot Review: Episode 2 – The Sword and The Crown
If you missed the Pilot, get caught up HERE
The second episode of the excellent Starz show Camelot starts on a somber note. After the tragedy that befell Arthur and Kay, they bury their dead and fortify themselves at Castle Camelot. After the funeral Arthur takes a stroll, alone on the beach, and sees a girl emerging from the water. It appears to be the same girl he was getting it on with in a dream he had in the first episode. Apparently, the young king thought it would go the same way as his dream, but the wet and scantily clad girl doesn’t see it as such.
As some of us already know by seeing her in Arthur’s dream in the first episode, this beach beauty must indeed be Guinevere. Who else could it be? It’s funny in this retelling of the Arthur story how their first exchange goes. Arthur is really excited to see the girl from his dreams, and Guinevere tackles him and holds a knife to his throat for intruding on her swim.
Spoilers Ahead…
Continue reading Camelot Review: Episode 2 – The Sword and The Crown
Grizzly Bomb 