Game of Thrones has moved at such a breakneck pace this season that it's easy to forget about the storylines the show has temporarily set aside. Everyone's favorite smiling sleazebag Littlefinger didn't make an appearance until episode 4. By recent standards, last week's episode was fairly uneventful, yet there still wasn't enough time to check in with Tyrion. Fortunately, the goings-on in Westeros have been thrilling enough that we don't mind if some fan favorites aren't as prominently featured as they've been in the past. That said, we couldn't be more excited about the return of freakin' Bronn, baby! Check out some production stills from this week's episode – entitled “The Broken Man” – in the gallery below, and watch Game of Thrones online in order to get caught up in time for Sunday night. 1. The Return of Bronn Bronn is back, and he’s still rolling with Jaime Lannister. We think it’s safe to say some badassery is about to go down. 2. The Blackfish Brynden “the Blackfish” Tully is about to butt heads with the Freys. It’s safe to assume it won’t be pretty. 3. Margaery Tyrell: The Queen is Back We guess it’s Margaery Baratheon these days, but that just sounds strange to us. Anyway, despite her “conversion,” we still think she’s got something up her sleeve for the High Sparrow. 4. Arya on the Run Arya is on the move in Braavos. It’s safe to assume her days of trying to appease the Many-Faced God are over. 5. Jon, Sansa and Ser Davos Jon Snow is preparing his raid on Castle Black. Of course, fans still have their doubts about who wrote that taunting letter that was supposedly from Ramsay Bolton. 6. Cersei Lannister is NOT Having It Lena Headey has Cersei’s pissed off mom look down to a science. Sure he’s the king, but we still wouldn’t want to be Tommen. View Slideshow
Most shows save big events like the deaths of beloved characters for season finales, but not Game of Thrones . D.B. Weiss and David Benioff went and killed off Hodor in a midseason shocker last week, leaving many to wonder if the show would be able to continue upping the ante with “Blood of My Blood.” One thing most fans hoped the show wouldn’t do going into this year is get too deep in the weeds with the mystical mumbo-jumbo, but thus far Bran and Arya’s storylines have been two of this season’s most compelling. Not only have they made for pulse-pounding drama (see: “Hold the door!”) but they’ve helped to demonstrate how some of the more arcane aspects of the show’s elaborate mythology tie into the current fight over the Iron Throne. Nowhere is this better demonstrated than in Bran’s flashback that takes place while he and Meera are fleeing some seriously aggressive White Walkers. View Slideshow: Hodor Shocker: The Internet’s Best Reactions to Game of Thrones’ “Hold the Door!” Scene His visions cover everything from his own near-fatal fall at the hands of Jaime Lannister to the lunatic rantings of “the Mad King” Aerys II Targaryen. Bran’s haphazard warging is interrupted by a real-life blast from the past, as a man who looks a lot like Benjen Stark swoops in to save the day (and confirm a popular fan theory ). From there, it’s back to the ’90s sitcom that is Sam and Gilly’s mismatched love affair. At first it looks like his return home will go smoothly, but you had to know that wasn’t gonna last… With the Internet’s gnashing of teeth and rending of garments over the death of Willas (aka Hodor), it’s easy to forget that last week’s episode promised a major conflict at Margaery’s scheduled walk of shame. It seems at first that Tommen’s queen has actually been taken in by the High Sparrow’s sanctimonious BS, but based on her reaction to her brother Loras’ lowly state, we’re guessing she’s got something up her sleeve. The gods may have a plan for us all, but something tells us Margaery has several plans for the High Sparrow. Predictably, the Tarley family reunion goes awry when Sam’s father does his douchey thing, and Gilly accidentally spills the beans about being a Wildling. Is it just us or did the convo about whether or not White Walkers exist remind anyone else of a Thanksgiving argument about global warming? Anyway, the good news is that Sam’s mom is every bit as cool as he always claimed. The bad news is that his dad is every bit as dickish as we were led to believe, and he promptyl gives his son the boot while allowing Gilly and Sam’s child to stay. View Slideshow: Game of Thrones Season 6 Episode 6 Photos: Life in a Post-Hodor World Just as it looked like Sam would be cowed by his dad once again, he returns for Gilly and peaces out with the family sword, thus providing one of this season’s most satisfying “f–k yeah!” moments. Hell, we enjoyed Sam’s revenge almost as much as Arya enjoyed watching the re-enactment of Joffrey’s death. Almost. As the show goes on (complete with a poop-joke heavy cameo for the always-fantastic Richard E. Grant) it looks like Arya finally is finally going to carry out one of her ordered assassinations. Unfortunately (or fortunately, if you’re that rum-loving actress), it seems The Girl just doesn’t have what it takes to be a hit woman for a freaky cult. It’s always tough to give up on a dream (even when that dream is taking lives for the Many-Faced God), but we’re glad to see the return of the old Arya (and Needle!) After Arya turns tail, it’s finally time for the showdown at King’s Landing. Or at least it would’ve been, were it not for the fact that Tommen is thoroughly under the spell of Margaery’s vagina, and in this case it’s told him that Bernie Sparrow is leading a political revolution. (Just joshin’, Senator Sanders!) (Side bar: The show is primarily about the battle for the Iron Throne, and we’re guessing the average casual viewer couldn’t tell you the name of the current king. Just a thought.) From there, it’s the return of Walder Frey, a character who was missed by exactly no one. As if one unpleasant reminder of the Red Wedding wasn’t enough Walder trots out the Catelyn Stark’s brother, Edmure Tully, who is apparently being held captive at the Twins. What does it mean that Walder is using him as a tool to regain Riverrun? It’s not totally clear, but we’re sure it’s not good news for Edmure or the Blackfish. This season has done an incredible job of intertwining seemingly unrelated storylines, and that’s never more apparent than when we learn that the banished Jaime Lannister is being “sent to deal with the Blackfish” on Walder’s behalf. Jaime is understandably pissed that the High Sparrow has won over his son, but we’re having trouble being sympathetic. Maybe it’s because this episode featured a flashback to that unfortunate little incident in which he crippled Bran for life. Speaking of Bran, he and Meera are back on the road, this time with the mysterious stranger who, to the surprise of absolutely no one, turns out to be Benjen Stark. It seems the writers are going for the “most storylines in a single episode” record this time out by briefly checking in with Daenerys and her ever-expanding khalassar. Naturally, she swoops in on her newly-recovered dragon and gives a stirring speech in Dothraki, because this is the Season of the Badass Final Scene. Despite the many ways in which this episode moved the plot forward “Blood of My Blood” might be the most uneventful installment of Season Six thus far. And that’s okay. We’ve been needing a chance to catch out breath, and place-setting episodes of GoT are usually followed by something seriously epic. At the very least, hopefully we’ll get some freakin’ Tyrion next week! Watch Game of Thrones onlin e to remind yourself of who the hell the Blackfish is. View Slideshow: 8 Best Game of Thrones Season 6 Fan Theories!
The Sundance Film Festival opens Thursday with a new crop of anticipated indies — some of which will define the cinematic year. Last year’s narrative winner Beasts of the Southern Wild received a slew of Oscar nominations this year along with other titles. Which ones will emerge this year? Over the next week, Movieline will give a snapshot of the filmmakers themselves in their own words along with trailers. Here Andrew Bujalski ( Computer Chess ), James Ponsoldt ( The Spectacular Now ), Francesca Gregorini ( Emanuel and the Truth About Fishes ), Kim Longinotto ( Salma ), and Gabriela Cowperthwaite ( Blackfish ) preview their films. Computer Chess by director Andrew Bujalski Synopsis (via Sundance ): “Is there a computer program in the house which can stand up against a human chess master?” That’s the question posed by mastermind of the game Pat Henderson, head of an annual computer chess tournament. Set in 1980 in a nondescript hotel, Computer Chess follows several young geniuses as they try to make the ultimate chess program to beat a human player. As the nerdy guys sweat through various social situations (especially with the one girl there), and the convention overlaps with a group of new-age couples in therapy, things get really strange. Computer Chess quick pitch: Computer Chess takes place 30-some years ago at the dawn of the digital age, an era when nerds were nerds (not the well-paid guys with decent haircuts and cute girlfriends you see today), and the rest of us had no idea what was coming. Why it’s worth checking out at Sundance and beyond: Who knows when you’ll get another chance? I’m quite confident it won’t be much like anything else you see this year. How it all came together: I’d spent the early part of 2011 trying to pull together a much more expensive project, with movie stars, etc (y’know, a “Sundance” kind of movie…) and when that hit a brick wall for that year, I determined to go make this cheaper, stranger dream project I’d been fantasizing about forever. So I called up some producer buddies and said, “Hey, wanna make a movie with me that has zero commercial potential? We don’t have a dime for it, I haven’t cast anyone yet, I also haven’t written a script. It’s a period piece, on a subject matter that I don’t really know anything about. We’re going to shoot it on an experimental camera rig that we’ll have to design from scratch. We start shooting in, I dunno, 2 or 3 months. Whaddya say?” Some background on the cast: It’s the greatest cast ever assembled! Some of Austin TX’s hardest hustling actors alongside a whole bunch of explosive new discoveries. A lot of real-deal computer experts, as they bring knowledge and a feeling for that culture much better than I could ever instruct anyone to do. *Definitely* the greatest extras ever assembled. And the phenomenal Patrick Riester in the closest thing this broad ensemble has to a lead role — nothing would delight me more than for him to be the hot new flavor-of-the-week discovery out of Sundance, though I’m sure nothing would horrify him more. Next: James Ponsoldt on The Spectacular Now , starring Miles Teller and Shailene Woodley —
