Asking the Wrong Questions

Jaime: When we make camp tonight, you'll be raped.  More than once.  None of these fellows have ever been with a noblewoman.  You'd be wise not to resist. Brienne: Would I? Jaime: They'll knock your teeth out. Brienne: You think I care about my teeth? Jaime: No, I don't think you care about your teeth.  If you fight them, they will kill you .  Do you understand?  I'm the prisoner of value, not you.  Let them have what they want.  What does it matter? Brienne: What does it matter? Jaime: Close your eyes.  Pretend they're Renly. Brienne: If you were a woman, you wouldn't resist?  You'd let them do what they wanted? Jaime: If I was a woman, I'd make them kill me.  I'm not, thank the gods. Game of Thrones , "Walk of Punishment" Despite the title, this post isn't intended as a review of Game of Thrones 's recently-concluded fourth season, about which I feel largely the same way I felt about the third and the second --I ...

Over at Strange Horizons , I review the Tom Cruise time travel movie Edge of Tomorrow , a film that I thought was just terrible but which seems to be getting good reviews from all other quarters, which I honestly find quite baffling.  It's starting to feel a little like being the only reviewer not blown away by Looper , but where Looper had some genuine strong points (not least, recognizing that just because the male lead wants Emily Blunt to save him doesn't mean that's all she's got going on in her life, a fact of which Edge of Tomorrow remains sadly ignorant), Edge of Tomorrow is merely a competently made action film that squanders everything potentially interesting or thought-provoking about its premise and characters. Incidentally, between watching the film and writing my review I decided to read the original novel, All You Need Is Kill by Hiroshi Sakurazaka, just to get a sense of how big the gap between the two is (answer: not great in general but pretty ...