Entertainment Stuff - Pop Culture Tragic

Binge Watch Weekend: What's Coming and Going from Netflix in June 2016

29/5/2016

Only a couple of days left until the big monthly change-up begins on Netflix, so shut the curtains on that blinding summer sunshine, North America, turn on the AC and settle into that worn indent in the couch. You are living the good life, my friend.

May 1st will find a cull of movies from the early noughties (and pretty much my entire late teenhood).

NOTE: Say adios to Bridget Jones's Diary at the start of the month. If you're wanting to catch it before the third film, Bridget Jones's Baby, releases on September 16 then you need to do it NOW (and just remember the gist for a couple of months).

The biggest addition to Netflix in June is the highly anticipated 4th season of Orange is the New Black on June 17. If you haven't seen it yet and want to catch up on the drama at Litchfield before everyone starts talking about it, you still have a couple of weeks to marathon it. 36 episodes, 19 days... if you watch an episode after work each night and a couple on the weekend, you've got this!

So without further ado, check out what's coming and going below, open up Google calendar and start adding!

RECAP: Game of Thrones, Season 6, Episode 5, “The Door”

27/5/2016

If you are in a bright and happy mood. Now is not the time to watch Game of Thrones. If you are already miserable, well then, pull up a seat because misery will certainly enjoy your company..
Here’s my recap of Episode 5 (entitled “The Door”) of Season 6 HBO’s Game of Thrones.

Book Review: The Yearbook Committee by Sarah Ayoub

24/5/2016

Five teenagers. Five lives. One final year.
The school captain: Ryan has it all … or at least he did, until an accident snatched his dreams away. How will he rebuild his life and what does the future hold for him now?
The newcomer: Charlie’s just moved interstate and she’s determined not to fit in. She’s just biding her time until Year 12 is over and she can head back to her real life and her real friends …
The loner: At school, nobody really notices Matty. But at home, Matty is everything. He’s been single-handedly holding things together since his mum’s breakdown, and he’s never felt so alone.
The popular girl: Well, the popular girl’s best friend … cool by association. Tammi’s always bowed to peer pressure, but when the expectations become too much to handle, will she finally stand up for herself?
The politician’s daughter: Gillian’s dad is one of the most recognisable people in the state and she’s learning the hard way that life in the spotlight comes at a very heavy price.
Five unlikely teammates thrust together against their will. Can they find a way to make their final year a memorable one or will their differences tear their world apart?

The Yearbook Committee by Sarah Ayoub
Pages: 304
Publish date:March 1st 2016
Publisher:HarperCollins Australia
ISBN: 0732296854
Purchase: Book Depository – Amazon UK – Amazon US – Dymocks

RECAP: Game of Thrones, Season 6, Episode 4, “Book Of The Stranger”

18/5/2016

Here’s our recap of Episode 4 (entitled “Book of the Stranger”) of Season 6 HBO’s Game of Thrones. Let us begin.

So, surprisingly, HBO finally decided to throw Jon Snow (Kit Harington) and his “half” sister, Sansa Stark (Sophie Turner) together. Because this hasn’t happened in forever and it is about bloody time Sansa got something good in her life. And it is especially poignant as it is now Jon who is acting all Sansa-like and needs someone to support him because he is all sooky over the Night’s Watch and their betrayal of him. And in what is possibly the quickest time ever for desicion-making in Game of Thrones, Sansa and Jon decide it is time they reclaimed the North. They don’t even need to be told that Ramsay (Iwan Rheon) has their little brother, Rickon (Art Parkinson) and wants Sansa to return home to her husband. But Ramsay tells them anway. In explicit detail. Because being raped by Ramsay is so much different to being raped by his army.
Speaking of rash Game of Thrones decision-making, Littlefinger (Aidan Gillen) manages to convince Lord Robin Arryn (Lino Facioli) to aid Sansa in her claim over the North quicker than it normally takes little Robin to decide to throw someone through the moon door. This is actually a good thing because Jon and the WIldlings did the math and they fall about 3,000 men short of a fair fight with Ramsay.
In Westeros, where things are boring because the religious nuts have taken over, Margaery (Natalie Dormer) is trying to convince the High Sparrow (Jonathan Pryce) that family is important. She also tries to convince her brother, Loras (Finn Jones), to fight the High Sparrow. Loras, being his normal spineless self thinks this is just all too hard.

RECAP: Game of Thrones, Season 6, Episode 3, “Oathbreaker”

12/5/2016

Here’s my recap of Episode 3 (entitled “Oathbreaker”) of HBO’s Game of Thrones. My recaps of Game of Thrones now comes with the shiny new Tits and Dragons rankings thanks to Ian McShane thinking this is all the show is about. These ranks will appear at the end of the recap and will let you know just how many tits and dragons have appeared in each episode

RECAP: Game of Thrones, Season 6, Episode 2, “Home”

3/5/2016

[Editor's note: It was SO hard to choose a header image for this episode as there is so much going on. Are you keeping track?]

Let's get right to it and talk episode 2 (entitled “Home”) of HBO’s Game of Thrones:

Bran Stark (Issac Hempstead-Wright)–remember him? Well, he’s all grown up and having flashbacks all over the place thanks to enrolling in the Diploma of the Three-Eyed-Raven. In the “This Is Your Life” segment, Bran wins a trip down memory lane. Unfortunately, the Three-Eyed-Raven won’t let him stay there but we learn just enough to find out Hodor’s name is actually Willis (which is completely hilarious thanks to the meme below) and for some strange reason Bran knows what his dad’s sister, Lyanna looks like. So who is this Lyanna? And why would she be important? Well…

Image via Reddit

Mark Your CalendaR: This is What's Coming and Going From Netflix in May 2016

29/4/2016

Netflix streaming service is like a revolving door, with programs coming and going not in bulk each week, but something leaving the service and something else replacing it every other day.

There are a bunch of Netflix Original programs hitting the service this month, including the debut season of Lady Dynamite, as well as continuing seasons of Bloodlines, Grace & Frankie, Chef's Table (season 2) and Mako Mermaids (season 4). There are also a couple of Netflix Original features debuting on the streaming service this month (Marseille, Ali Wong: Baby Cobra, Chelsea and The Do-Over) plus a ton more.
Make sure to check what's leaving and catch those titles you've been planning to watch but never got around to. Once they're gone, they're gone.

Happy watching!

Fear the Walking Dead: Get to Know the plane Crash Survivors in Their Very Own Webisodes

28/4/2016

In tonight's episode of Fear the Walking Dead (season 2, episode 3), we were introduced to some new characters, the survivors and many not-survivors, of a plane crash.

But who the heck are they?

If you've been watching the Fear the Walking Dead companion 50 second webisodes (or you've seen them during the ads, depending on where you live), you will already have met these characters before and have a better understanding of who the survivors are and how the flight went down in the first place.

Needless to say: zombies.

RECAP: Game of Thrones Season 6 Premiere: Episode 1, “The Red Woman”

26/4/2016

Here’s what went down in Episode 1 (entitled “The Red Woman”) of the Season 6 premiere of HBO’s Game of Thrones:

So, just in case we didn’t notice, HBO reassures us that Jon Snow (Kit Harington) is dead. Like deader than dead. Lying in the snow with no one giving a fuck sort of dead. Really HBO, Jon Snow is dead? We get where you are going here. But then Davos (Liam Cunningham) turns up and some fucks are given, mainly about how to kill Alliser Thorne (Owen Teale). HBO shows us several close ups of Jon Snow during all this. Just to remind us, well, you know why. Thorne offers an amnesty to Davos and the scant night’s watchmen that are Team Snow, offering them safe passage if they open up the door. Davos calls him on his bullshit.

Book Review: The Unexpected Everything by Morgan Matson

21/4/2016

Andie has a plan. And she always sticks to her plan.
Future? A top-tier medical school.
Dad? Avoid him as much as possible (which isn’t that hard considering he’s a Congressman and he’s never around).
Friends? Palmer, Bri, and Toby—pretty much the most awesome people on the planet, who needs anyone else?
Relationships? No one’s worth more than three weeks.
So it’s no surprise that Andie’s got her summer all planned out too.
Until a political scandal costs Andie her summer pre-med internship, and lands both she and Dad back in the same house together for the first time in years. Suddenly she’s doing things that aren’t Andie at all—working as a dog walker, doing an epic scavenger hunt with her dad, and maybe, just maybe, letting the super cute Clark get closer than she expected. Palmer, Bri, and Toby tell her to embrace all the chaos, but can she really let go of her control?

The Unexpected Everything by Morgan Matson
Pages: 496
Publish date: May 5th 2016
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1471146146
Purchase: Book Depository –Amazon UK –Amazon US –Amazon AU