What is Movie News After Dark? Tonight it’s all about learning. We’ll show you the world, pretty babes. Things like destination posters for the whole of Westeros, what can be learned from Batman, Veronica Mars, Morgan Spurlock’s mustache, The Hunger Games, the Marvel Cinematic Timeline, Felicia Day dancing in an elevator, Damon Lindelof, Kickstarter, James Cameron’s obsession with blue people and of course, the world of men’s grooming. It’s going to be a wet and wild ride for a Monday, friends. We begin this evening with something Game of Thrones related. Because Game of Thrones – be it books or show — is slowly taking over the life of yours truly. And that’s just fine with me. Artist Nicholas Hyde has begun selling very cool Game of Thrones destination posters, found via The Mary Sue. At one time there was one for The Wall, Winterfell and King’s Landing alongside the currently listed posters for The Eyrie and Pyke. It’s hard to say whether or not the others have sold out (and even harder to say whether or not I had anything to do with that. Above, you will see Winterfell. Below the jump, I’ve got The Wall and King’s Landing rounded up. Hopefully Mr. Hyde will print more soon.

It’s time to call you back in, my Bannermen. And Bannerladies. As you well know, Winter is Coming. And as we steam past the midpoint of season two, the big season finale is also coming to the lands of Westeros. So our weekly Blog of Thrones can see the end of this round, not clearly, but on the horizon. This week we learn plenty of lessons along with the denizens of Winterfell, King’s Landing, Harrenhal and whatever the hell they call those mountains north of The Wall. These lessons will likely come back to be important later in the season, as many a collision course is being set. War may be upon these gamers of thrones, but we are yet to see the real bloodbath that is to come. As always, Blog of Thrones is written from the perspective of a relative novice to George R.R. Martin’s books. It focuses solely on Game of Thrones the show and assumes that you’ve seen everything up to the latest episode. If you travel down this Kingsroad and find yourself spoiled, the king will know the reason why. 

What is Movie News After Dark? Mostly, it’s a nice little nightly column about movies and entertainment. Before you came along, it was nothing. We begin tonight with a first shot of an independently produced Portal animated movie. It’s from an artist and animator named Alex Zemke, who plans to make a Portal short called Companionship. This reminds of Dan Trachtenberg’s indie short Portal: No Escape, but with some pretty cool animation. We’ll have to keep an eye on it.

The anticipation one feels from week-to-week as a fan of Game of Thrones is almost maddening. Like any great dramatic work, every new chapter delivers as many new questions as it does answers. “The Ghost of Harrenhal,” season two’s fifth chapter, is absolutely no exception. Critics of the overwhelming nudity in Game of Thrones can relax for a week — this one isn’t about the sex — but plenty of people are violated. With our weekly Blog of Thrones entry, it’s time to see what happens as the battle between brothers Baratheon escalates in an unexpectedly swift manner, Daenerys and her dragon children settle in to Qarth and Tyrion Lannister continues to maneuver around his twisted sister. Remember, Blog of Thrones is written from the perspective of a “Song of Ice and Fire” novice — no making fun of me if I can’t pronounce all the names correctly — and it is done so with the understanding that you have seen last night’s episode and those before it. There won’t be any spoilers beyond that, of course, but before you read on, get yourself caught up, then come have a good old fashioned discussion about all the intricately crafted drama of Westeros.

What is Movie News After Dark? It’s something that happens nightly, provides you with good feelings, is easy to clean up and doesn’t require anyone else to be in the room. What else in your life is like that? We begin tonight with a completely badass image from Brave in which Princess Merida jumps from the clutches of what seems to be an evil bear into the grasp of a nice bear. The difference is in the claws. Also, The Art of Brave book is available for pre-order. Get it.

Warning: The following article spoils plot points for last week’s episode of Mad Men, the film Sound of My Voice, this week’s episode of Community, perhaps a bit of Game of Thrones and potentially everything else. If you aren’t completely caught up on the world of entertainment, you probably shouldn’t read it. Oh, and LOST. It spoils all of LOST. “Twitter is the new water cooler, folks — If you come to get a drink, you’re gonna hear people talking about last night’s TV.” That’s an interesting sentiment to read in the Twitter feed of Damon Lindelof, who was an integral piece behind one of television’s most secretive, conspiratorial experiences of the modern era. Yet the executive producer of LOST has a point: if you are on Twitter on any given night — or in movie time, any given weekend — people are going to be talking about the things that have just happened. And Twitter being what it is — an uncontrollable stream of unfiltered, ever-hazardous culture-obsessed id looking for a good time — it’s likely that if you’re not current, you are going to find some spoilers. This is the world we live in.

What is Movie News After Dark? Usually it’s just a nightly column dedicated to the best news and links from around the movie blogosphere. Tonight it comes with a disclaimer: Its author has just returned from a bender of Pixar films and is in the midst of a Marvel films marathon as he writes this. This sort of situation may cause over-zealous Avengers coverage, animated goofiness and spontaneous, uncontrollable bouts of crying — that is, if the score from UP comes on. Be prepared. We begin tonight with an awesome image of Kareem Abdul Jabbar and Bruce Lee in 1978 courtesy of the Tumblr blog of film critic Shawn Levy. Beyond being an exceptionally nice guy, Levy also has a taste for the moving pictures and the icons of said medium. This shot, in my opinion, is certified awesome.

Season two of Game of Thrones rages on. And up to this point, there has been a great deal of shifting in pace. It opened fast and furious, with so much to say in that frantic first episode. Then is slowed down for two episodes, taking its time in showing us some of the characters we’ll be spending time with in this frame. And now we’re back to accelerating. And how. As we do every week, it’s time to talk about it in our Blog of Thrones. But before we do that, a usual warning: this is being written under the assumption that you’ve seen this week’s episode and all of season one. We take no responsibility for spoiling anything that has already happened on the show. Also, it’s being written by someone who is completely new to the material. I have no idea what will happen, and I like it that way. So no making fun of me for not knowing what the hell that thing is at the end of “Garden of Bones” and if you can avoid it, don’t spoil it for me (or others) in the comment section. That said, lets get down to business. There’s a lot of ground to cover.

As promised, the wicked pace set in the first episode of Game of Thrones‘ second season has calmed a bit, as the time for checking in on everyone in Westeros is done and the time for the build up to the storm of war — which appears to be happening on about 30 fronts — is upon us. It all brings us to perhaps the best episode of the new season yet, “What Is Dead May Never Die,” a chance to see some real political maneuvering on several fronts. But before we get into the nitty gritty details, remember that our weekly Blog of Thrones is not meant to be spoiler free. It’s written by yours truly, a man who has never read George R.R. Martin’s books, so there won’t be spoilers of anything in the future, but I am assuming that you’ve seen everything up to and including this week’s episodes. With that in mind, lets talk about sexual politics…

What is Movie News After Dark? It’s a nightly movie-related link dump written by a guy who is having all kinds of trouble typing at the moment. Look out, all you armchair copyeditors. This one might get a little wld. We begin tonight with the story of the afternoon: Simpsons creator Matt Groening has revealed that Springfield, Oregon is the basis behind the Springfield where Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie cause trouble. In response, the folks at Gizmodo have used Google Earth to show us What The Simpsons’ Springfield Looks Like in Real Life. The people aren’t yellow, as it turns out.

Raise your hand if you didn’t think Game of Thrones would get picked up by HBO for a third season? If your hand is up, that will be convenient, as your next step is to use it to smack yourself in the back of the head. After some series-best ratings in the first two weeks of its second season, Game of Thrones has solidified itself as a genuine hit. That is, of course, if you ignore the fact that it’s winning awards, drowning in critical praise, and above all else, based on a series of books that provides fan-base and source material that should last at least 5 seasons. Ignoring all that makes this a surprise. Ergo, it’s not a surprise. In related news, my Blog of Thrones series has also been picked up for another season. It’s the natural order of things. Someone must espouse the many wonders of Peter Dinklage.

What is Movie News After Dark? It’s a nightly collection of links and thinks from around the world of movie and television news and reviews. It spends its weekends racking its brain trying to cull together the strength to go forth with its usual Monday entry, knowing full well that it can’t spend all of its page space on Mad Men and Game of Thrones. This is a movie website, after all. We begin this evening with a shot from Rush, the racing movie about Formula 1 driver James Hunt starring Chris Hemsworth and Olivia Wilde. Director Ron Howard and his leading lady have been tweeting them like crazy. Including pics of Hemsworth and Wilde getting married as Hunt and his wife, model Suzy Miller. I chose the one above to highlight because it’s badass. 

If only one could create an opening credits sequence for a blog post, the one for this particular column would be as informational and visually pleasing as that of Game of Thrones. If you’re paying attention — something I’m not always one to do — keeping a close eye on the opening credits for season two’s second episode will bring clarity to some of the other areas of Westeros left unexplored in season one. Namely Pike in the Iron Islands and Dragonstone. The geography of all this is going to become important as season two wears on, one can assume, because it seems like everyone will be moving from their respective locations and descending on King’s Landing, where episode two’s missing boy, the false King Joffrey, waits for all-out war. But before that happens, season two appears to be slowing down a bit, taking some time to introduce us to new characters. Gone is the dizzying march across the lives of season one’s beloved (and not so beloved) characters. In its place are some new faces, some new alliances and yeah, some of that wonderful Game of Thrones nudity. Of course, as you read on with this week’s Blog of Thrones, remember that you should do so having watched this week’s episode and the entirety of season one. This author will not be held responsible for spoiling anything that has already aired. Also, here’s hoping you brought some notes, as there will be a discussion at the end.

What is Movie News After Dark? If you don’t know already, then it might not be for you. Wait.. wait… wait… Don’t leave. Trust us, it’s for you. We begin tonight with a shot of Mark Wahlberg in Michael Bay’s Pain and Gain, the small movie that Bayhem will direct in between the last and the next Transformers movies. It’s being called a sort of “Pulp Fiction meets Fargo” story about a bodybuilder turned kidnapper. Wahlberg is beefy. There’s a 712% forecast of explosions, despite the promised sense of reality. Say hello to your mother for me, and carry on for more news…

What is Movie News After Dark? It’s a delightful little sampler of all that is right in the world of movie blogging. Even on a rather slow news day, typical for the day after April Fool’s as sites try to weed out the weekend’s news that wasn’t fake, we can still find plenty of things worth your reading eyes. We begin this evening with a look at Christoph Waltz on the set of Django Unchained, looking quite dapper and if I might say, rocking some wicked facial hair. There’s no way that this goes poorly, of that we can be assured.

Some big time shows are finally back on the air and with them has come an air of excitement and, of course, the urge to share your opinion of what happened with everyone in the entire world, because you have something of value to offer. Like a 140 character recap of what happened! You should be a writer. I am smiling so smugly right now. For better or worse (definitely worse), Twitter and Facebook are things that are going to stick around. Whether or not we even like them, we use them. They’re how we connect with friends both close and distant and they keep us abreast (a breast, hahahahaha) of what’s currently going on in the world, like why you hate waking up, how bad your dog’s fart smells, what you ate for lunch, and that question you have that you typed into Twitter instead of Google. Unfortunately, one of the things that goes on is television. And movies. On different timetables. We all get excited about entertainment, that’s why we’re here together on this site right now. But I think we can all agree that spoiling stuff makes you a dick. So here’s the thing about tweeting television….

Four episodes. That’s about how long I was able to remain a skeptic. For some unforeseen and completely magical reason, I was able to remain completely spoiler-free on Game of Thrones and its much talked about first season. Even though it had aired many months before, I went into reviewing the first season on Blu-ray last month with open eyes and a clear mind, completely untainted save for the layers of praise spread all over the series by many a friend or acquaintance. Having never read the books and feeling rather complacent with the iron-crusted genre of kings, lords and fools. Little did I know that I was merely a cripple, a bastard and a broken thing. My skepticism would be washed away half way through the opening series, when all hell was breaking. With one swipe of the sword (or a few, rather), I was converted into a believer. There’s more to this world of the Westeros than I had ever expected. And that’s before the first season’s final moments, where seeing truly was believing. This has all brought us to this moment, the day following the premiere of season two. My newfound fandom of this world has not yet led me to the literature, but it might. It has, at the very least, led me to a desire to blog along with the epic second season. I write this as convert, who remained skeptical through much of the first season, unable to understand what the big deal was about until

What is Movie News After Dark? It’s the calm, both before and after the storm. It’s the thing that keeps you warm just before you slip into a night’s slumber. It’s the movie news, editorial links, audio-visual stimuli that you yearn for all day long. It’s the alpha and the omega of what’s happening in the world of entertainment news. It’s also quite playful. We begin tonight with a new shot of Bruce Willis in G.I. Joe: Retaliation, in which he plays Joe Colton, the original G.I. Joe. It’s hard to argue with the facts: that man knows how to look cool holding a gun, even if the gun in the hands of Adrianne Palicki (seen behind him) is far more badass.

What is Movie News After Dark? It’s a nightly link round-up column that has a severe addiction to ice cream. And Ron Burgundy’s mustache. We begin this evening with a bit of silliness in the form of photographer Federic Chiesa’s 80s horror movie icons as creepy senior citizens. He leaves no stone unturned — from a drunk old Freddie to a homeless, still masked Jason — and has created something quite fun. The creepiest of all of these is the one above, featuring the little girls from The Shining, all grown up. Not the actual girls — at least not that we know of — but creepy, all the same.

If I were to call The Vampire Diaries stupid, I don’t think that too many people would be outraged or even ask me to explain why I had that opinion. Everyone would probably just assume that I wasn’t in to vampires or diaries or good-looking men with smoldering eyes and leave it at that. The show definitely has its fan base, and it’s a very devoted fan base, but it’s socially acceptable to not like The Vampire Diaries. Now, what if I were to call Mad Men stupid? The kind of inarticulate assessment that it’s perfectly OK to make when talking about The Vampire Diaries probably wouldn’t fly when talking about Matthew Weiner’s acclaimed drama (mainly because the show isn’t stupid and, even if it isn’t your cup of mid-afternoon booze, there are certain things about it that you have to concede—it’s thematically complex, well-written, pretty to look at, etc.). I happen to be a faithful Mad Men viewer but I know that there are people who find it painfully unwatchable and I also know that these people aren’t hillbillies (no offense to hillbillies) or unintelligent. Disliking a popular show is, of course, alienating—even when you’re steadfast in your opinion—but it’s also just incredibly frustrating; there’s a kind of emperor’s new clothes aspect to it where you’re left asking, what is it that I’m missing here?