In a piece for The Cut, Senator Elizabeth Warren (presidential candidate and HBO fan) shares her love for Game of Thrones. It's loaded with spoilers and political metaphors, so proceed with caution if you're not caught up or allergic to allegory.

Dany believes fiercely in her right to rule, but she despises what ruling means in the world she’s grown up in. She doesn’t want to be a slave owner or a dictator — and she definitely doesn’t want to become her murderous father. She tells Ser Jorah: “Slavery is real. I can end it. I will end it. And I will end those behind it.” Before sailing across the sea to Westeros, she frees the enslaved people of Meereen and creates an army that fights because they want to, not because they have to. (Also, she has dragons.)

Senator Warren isn't the only 2020 candidate making Thrones noise. The current occupier of the White House tweeted a GoT meme after the release of the redacted Mueller Report. HBO was less than thrilled. Read the rest

The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley, HBO's documentary about fraudster Elizabeth Holmes, who started her multi-billion-dollar healthcare company Theranos when she was 19-years-old, airs on March 16. That gives me six days to finish the highly-engaging Theranos bio, Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup, by Wall Street Journal reporter, John Carreyrou, if I don't want any book spoilers. Here's the trailer to whet your appetite. Read the rest

The first season of True Detective was a sensation, arguably qualifying as some of the best television of all time. The show's second season? Not so much. Read the rest

Deadwood fans have been teased by rumors and malarkey about a final season or a movie that would tie up the loose ends of the series, for years.

Back in 2015, the whispers about a Deadwood movie going into production grew from whispers to a quiet mumble. Then, in 2017, Deadwood creator David Milch said that he'd completed a script that'd appeal to the show's followers and new viewers alike. Fast forward one more year to 2018: a whole twelve years after the last episode of season three went to air. According to The Hollywood Reporter, HBO has finally announced that production on a Deadwood movie will start this October. Tell your God to prepare for blood!

If you're not familiar with the show, love blood, excellent writing, complex characters and dark humor, you need to get on it. During its three-season run, Deadwood chalked up eight Emmy Awards for its portrayal of the life and drama surrounding the citizens of Deadwood, South Dakota in the 1870s. While the show's roots are rooted in the Old West, at a time when outlaws and gunfighters still held sway, the story lines covered over the series' 36 episodes are more Shakespearean in scope than Spaghetti Western.

If Deadwood sounds like your thing, you're in luck: it's currently streaming on HBO Go, Amazon Prime Video, and can be bought outright on iTunes, Google Play or as a DVD or Blu-ray box set from Amazon for under $50. Image via HBO Read the rest

I could not be more thrilled that Come Inside My Mind, a documentary about the legendary Robin Williams, will air soon. Look for it on HBO starting on July 16.

The film explores his extraordinary life and career, revealing what drove him to give voice to the characters in his mind. With previously unheard and unseen glimpses into his creative process through interviews with Williams, as well as home movies and onstage footage, this insightful tribute features in-depth interviews with those who knew and loved him, including Billy Crystal, Eric Idle, Whoopi Goldberg, David Letterman, Steve Martin, Pam Dawber and his son, Zak Williams.

The documentary underscores what made Williams so unique, ranging from his youthful days in the San Francisco Bay area, to his time in New York at The Juilliard School, to his rocket-propelled fame on TV’s Mork & Mindy, to his profound impact on the American cultural landscape. Such career high points as his landmark comedy show at the Metropolitan Opera, his Broadway debut in “Waiting for Godot,” his Academy Award-winning performance in Good Will Hunting and his classic confessional bits about his alcohol and drug issues and 2009 heart surgery capture the spark that made him stand out across four decades in entertainment. Williams’ tragic death in 2014, which revealed he had been suffering from the disease Lewy Body Dementia, left fans around the world heartbroken...

(Kottke) Read the rest

This behind-the-scenes look at the giant practical set built for HBO's 1983 station identification sequence is impressive. It inspired Christopher Johnson at Colossal to dig into the archives for more great examples, including a vintage logo created 63 years ago for Eurovision: Read the rest

As HBO's Westworld nears its conclusion, Boars, Gore, and Swords is there to keep up with all the twists and turns. For this week's "The Well-Tempered Clavier," Ivan and Red discuss Arnold's true identity, the relative lack of value of human cognition, Logan wearing a "Hand of The King" pin, when and where Dolores is, and the male nudity everyone's been waiting for.

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To catch up on previous episodes of Westworld, previous seasons of Game of Thrones, the A Song of Ice And Fire books, and other TV and movies, check out the BGaS archive. You can find them on Twitter @boarsgoreswords, like their Facebook fanpage, and email them. If you want access to extra episodes and content, you can donate to the Patreon. Read the rest

In the face of overwhelming listener demand, Boars, Gore, and Swords will be deviating from their stated cause of Game of Thrones to cover all of HBO's video game vacation series Westworld. Ivan and Red worked overtime to get current, recapping episodes two, three (along with guest Walt Hickey of 538), and four over the weekend. And, of course, you can start with last week's coverage of episode one. They discuss all the fan theories, gaming references, and old-timey talk contained therein. If all that content wasn't enough, they also released a recap of episode nine of The Great British Bake Off over on their Patreon. 

To catch up on previous seasons of Game of Thrones, the A Song of Ice And Fire books, and other TV and movies, check out the BGaS archive. You can find them on Twitter @boarsgoreswords, like their Facebook fanpage, and email them. If you want access to extra episodes and content, you can donate to the Patreon. Read the rest

This week, Boars, Gore, and Swords breaks from the ASOIAF book club to watch the first episode of HBO's robot cowboy apocalypse series Westworld. Ivan and Red discuss the commentary on gaming woven throughout the show, how to successfully program a robot so that it won't foment a revolution, and Ed Harris's portrayal of the ultimate griefer. They also continue their Patreon-exclusive coverage of episodes seven and eight of the Great British Bake Off, so kick in a dollar or more to hear their excitement about cakes.

To catch up on previous television seasons, the A Song of Ice And Fire books, and other TV and movies, check out the BGaS archive. You can find them on Twitter @boarsgoreswords, like their Facebook fanpage, and email them. If you want access to extra episodes and content, you can donate to the Patreon. Read the rest

“I designed and animated this piece as an homage to my favorite show of all time, HBO’s The Wire,” says animator Elliot Lim.

What an absolutely stunning piece this is. One of my new year's resolutions is to watch the entire series, start to finish, in one big binge.

[Laughing Squid, animation stills via elliot-lim.com]

Read the rest

HBO's Westworld sounds like it will be quite a show. The drama, which premieres in 2016, is executive produced by J.J. Abrams and is described as a "dark odyssey about the dawn of artificial consciousness and the future of sin."

The casting call for the series states that extras "may be required to perform genital-to-genital touching, simulate oral sex with hand-to-genital touching, contort to form a table-like shape while being fully nude, pose on all fours while others who are fully nude ride on your back, [and] ride on someone's back while you are both fully nude."

After SAG-AFTRA officials started looking into it, HBO passed the buck: "The document that the background actors were given was created by an outside extras casting vendor."

[via] Read the rest

"HBO CEO Richard Plepler has confirmed the company plans to launch a "standalone, over-the-top" HBO Go subscription offering at some point in 2015" Read the rest