Game of Thrones
Episode 7.7 “The Dragon and the Wolf” (Season Finale)
Directed by Jeremy Podeswa
Written by David Benioff & D. B. Weiss
Starring Kit Harington, Emilia Clarke, Peter Dinklage, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Lena Headey, Sophie Turner, Maisie Williams, Alfie Allen
HBO
Air date: August 27, 2017

WARNING: Spoilers for HBO’s Game Of Thrones….

Last week’s Game Of Thrones was CRAZY! Winterfell sisters Sansa and Arya were seemingly at each other’s throats and it could turn deadly. Sansa ordered her protector Brienne of Tarth to King’s Landing in her stead to Cersei’s gathering. Tyrion commented to Daenerys that Jon Snow is in love with her, and she played coy at the idea. Beyond the Wall, Jon Snow and his group – Tormund, Beric Dondarrion, Thoros of Myr, The Hound, Gendry, and Ser Jorah Mormont – were on a mission to abduct a wight to bring back to Cersei to prove that Winter has come and that the Night King is marching on them with his army of the dead. While they were at it, said army found them and surrounded them. It looked like this was the end (again) for Jon Snow, until Daenerys rode in on her dragons to save them! During the rescue, Viserion was killed by the Night King, who them reanimated the dragon to be part of his zombie army. On their way back to Dragonstone, Daenerys and Jon shared a moment that shows us that they are falling in love. Also, Jon swore fealty to her as his Queen, and she vowed to defeat the Night King.

Game of Thrones
Episode 7.1 “Dragonstone”
Directed by Jeremy Podeswa
Written by David Benioff & D. B. Weiss
Starring Kit Harington, Emilia Clarke, Peter Dinklage, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Lena Headey, Sophie Turner, Maisie Williams, Alfie Allen
HBO
Air date: July 16, 2017

WARNING: Spoilers for HBO’s Game Of Thrones….

After waiting an excruciatingly long 13 months of waiting for the premiere of Season 7 of Game Of Thrones. And while it feel weird that “Winter Is Here” in mid-July, I think we can all agree that we’ll take it!!!

So, do you all remember what happened during Season 6? I’m guessing, YES! Because what an amazing season it was (check out the rundown of the Season 6 finale). Not only was it the season that saw the resurrection of Jon Snow, but also the reveal of the bastard’s heritage — he is, in fact, as suspected, the son of Lyanna Stark and Rhaegar Targaryen. Yes, he’s a Stark-Targaryen, not the bastard son of the noble Ned Stark. There was also the reuniting of Jon Snow and Sansa Stark, which led to the satisfying Battle Of The Bastards, where Ramsay Bolton finally got what was coming to him. Season 6 also ended with the death of Cersei Lannister’s third and last child, the boy king Tommen, who killed himself after watching his wife and other subjects die in an explosion in the city. Oh, and it was Cersei who caused the explosion! While Cersei takes the crown, Daenerys Targaryen, the rightful Queen of the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros, allied with Tyrion Lannister (Peter Dinklage), Theon and Yara Greyjoy, the Tyrells, the Martells, and of course, her three huge dragons, and more, finally sets sail to Westeros to claim the Iron Throne.

The Newsroom
The Complete First Season
Blu-ray/DVD/Digital l DVD
CREATED BY: Aaron Sorkin
DIRECTORS: Greg Mottola, Alan Poul, Alex Graves, Daniel Minahan, Jeremy Podeswa, Joshua Marston, Lesli Linka Glatter
WRITERS: Aaron Sorkin, Gideon Yago
CAST: Jeff Daniels, Emily Mortimer, Sam Waterston, John Gallagher, Jr., Alison Pill, Thomas Sadoski, Dev Patel, Olivia Munn, Jane Fonda, Chris Messina, David Krumholtz, Patton Oswalt, Marcia Gay Harden
HBO
RELEASE DATE: June 11, 2013

With shows like Game of Thrones, Boardwalk Empire, and True Blood leading the charge, it’s clear that HBO’s hit shows can often have a hefty budget and rely heavily on visual effects and costumes and so on. One of their newer series, The Newsroom, is not one of those shows.

Created by Aaron Sorkin, the show is simple enough on the surface—being about the inner workings of a news team—but a collection of lives intertwined within this newsroom setting leads to plenty of interesting storylines as the show progresses. Instead of the aforementioned effects and costumes, it instead relies on two key things: writing and acting, and nails both of them consistently.

Boardwalk Empire — The Complete Second Season
Blu-ray l DVD
CREATOR: Terence Winter
DIRECTORS: Timothy Van Patten, Allen Coulter, Jeremy Podeswa, More
WRITERS: Terence Winter, Howard Korder, Steve Kornacki, More
STARRING: Steve Buscemi, Michael Pitt, Kelly Macdonald, Michael Shannon, Jack Huston, Shea Whigham, Aleksa Palladino, Michael Stuhlbarg, Stephen Graham, Vincent Piazza, Anatol Yusef, Gretchen Mol, Paz de la Huerta, Michael Kenneth Williams, Dabney Coleman, William Forsythe, Anthony Laciura
HBO Studios
RELEASE DATE: August 28, 2012

I’ve made my love for HBO no secret, with two of my all-time favorite shows going strong right now in Game of Thrones and Boardwalk Empire, and a slew of others I’ve adored over the years. So instead of reviewing season 2 of Boardwalk on Blu-ray, I’ll just be swooning about it for a bit before sharing what bonus features there are to enjoy.

Where season 1 established the incredible collection of characters the show has to offer, season 2 expands on them (those who have survived, anyway), creating an intricately crafted web of often interconnecting storylines. The primary focus of the second season is again Enoch “Nucky” Thompson (Steve Buscemi) and James Darmody (Michael Pitt). But instead of being the boy Nucky helped to raise, Jimmy has reunited with his estranged father, the Commodore (Dabney Coleman), and is leading the charge to take control of Atlantic City and the alcohol coming in and out of it. As you might expect, Nucky isn’t fond of anyone trying to muscle him out of his position of power, let alone the man he’s helped to make who he is, and the two go to war. The results of this power struggle trickle down, affecting anyone associated with the two parties and leading to some interesting new business partners.