Letters: Game Of Thrones, how babies are made, mystery films

It’s back! And there are lots of your letters, in our cunning, non-interactive discussion forum! It is further evidence of us being proudly stuck in the past.

To get your letter included, you’ll find contact details down at the bottom there. But before that: our latest round-up of correspondence…

Game Of Thrones, Spoilers & Reviews

This is partially a rant, but also consists of a question regarding post-finale news coverage of Games Of Thrones season five.

Right, I have had a difficult week trying to dodge spoilers for season five of Game Of Thrones. I haven’t seen any of season five as I do not have access to a TV channel or legal online source that makes it available to me. I gather it aired on Monday night on Sky? So since Monday morning, I have had to browse my usual social media newsfeeds and carefully avoid seeing any links to any articles on any of the various online news outlets I use.

This is particularly hard when people I follow/am ‘friends’ with, share links to news articles detailing ‘Fans reaction to shocking GoT finale’ (and similar) and even though such headlines are not spoilers, they are usually accompanied by a photo of a character which is almost certainly going to be the character that is the subject of the ‘shocking finale’.

Imagine back to the 1980s (go on, indulge me for a minute) and Dallas killed off [spoiler redacted. Sorry, couldn’t resist!], but you didn’t know that was coming. Suppose you had to video it with your top-loading JVC VCR because you couldn’t watch it when it was broadcast. Next morning, in the papers, it might say ‘Fans reaction to Shocking Dallas twist!’ and display a picture of the character. Even without reading the article, you can guess that something pretty bad is going to happy to [Dead-ish person], right?

For all my efforts to avoid spoilers, I regrettably have suspicions as to what will happen, through seeing similar headlines and photos – The Guardian was particular guilty of this, also Yahoo News, Sky News.

I’m guessing it doesn’t turn out to be all a dream? That’s the rant part over, here’s my question:

Den Of Geek published a review of the finale on the morning of Monday June 15 (with spoiler warning), 12 hours before it is due to go out on UK TV? I get you probably have access to an advance screening, but wouldn’t it be better to wait until Tuesday morning to publish it? Honestly, who is going to read it before the show has been broadcast?

Makes no difference to me though – I have to wait until the Blu-ray box set comes out in eight months time before I get to watch season 5. At which point I may come back to all the spoiler-y articles on DoG and other news outlets. Just need to keep avoiding those spoilers, which may well include news bits about season 6, for the next eight months……

Andrew

Simon writes: To answer your specific question of us first: our life would be much easier if we had early access to the episode in question! But we didn’t, We watched it when it was screened, and wrote our review accordingly. The episode was simulcast in the UK in line with the US screening of it, before Sky showed it again last Monday in its usual 9pm slot. Lots of people in the UK had legally seen it before our review ran. We had one complaint we were late!

That said, we do have US correspondents, and we do sometimes run a review before its UK transmission, so we don’t get off scot-free. However, we do spoiler tag such reviews, and now tend to push them at UK pace as well.

Broadly, I agree with you. Spoilers seem a currency to some whose intention is to spoil things for others, and Twitter the day after Game Of Thrones season 5’s finale aired was a particular minefield. I can’t say I’m a fan of ‘if you don’t want it spoiled, stay off Twitter’ argument, but sadly, it does seem the only practical approach right now. Which doesn’t really help you. Sorry!

Those Dallas revelations shook us to the core, by the way…!

Mobile Geek!

Dear Mr Of Geek (can I call you Den?)

I’ve recently been separated from my laptop power cable in a series of distressing and unforeseen events that both began and ended with me forgetting to pack it. As such, I’ve had to use my smartphone to browse the internet, which is sadly not quite smart enough to direct me to the mobile version of your site (which I’d say nice things about but you’d only redact them), nor smart enough to access your full blooded bells-and-whistles-and-lasers one without going throwing chairs around and generally going off the chain.

Does a mobile version exist? Are there plans to add one? And where DO babies come from?

I’m going to stop typing now because I’ve run out of things to say.

Rob (Cardiff)

Simon writes: You can call us what you like, just don’t call us when you’re in trouble etc. Think that’s a Police Academy gag, but not sure. Anyway, moving on.

The answers: we don’t have a mobile site at the moment. We’ve got plans to make a few enhancements to the site as it stands, although nothing too radical right now. But yes: making it work better on mobile whatsits is high up our to-do list. When we’ve finished writing about 1990s action movies.

As for babies? Well, we always cite Wednesday Addams…

Avengers Assemble Title Finally Justified

It’s happened, the distributors have been vindicated. On 25th May 2015 at 8.00pm, “Marvel’s Avengers Assemble” was on BBC1 and “The Avengers” was on True Entertainment. Just think of the confusion that could have happened…

Richard

Simon writes: We’re waiting for the three-way clash when the 1998 The Avengers crawls back onto the telly. Channel Five gold! surely?!

Name The Mystery Film!

Dear DoG, first time writing to you, though I do contribute in the comments semi-regularly.

Well, after reading others requests for helping naming a film from what they can remember, I thought I would give it a go because there is one that’s been bugging me on and off for the past 30-odd years!

This is something I saw as a boy, it was definitely on TV and not a video rental though I do not know the channel. Might’ve been a made-for-TV film or low-budget B-movie from the ’60s, could’ve been an episode of a show… but it was definitely a self-contained story. It was in colour, I’m almost positive, though I do not recall if it was British or American. I believe it would’ve been sometime in the late 1970s or early 80s that I watched it. And unfortunately a few fragments are all I can recall, and they are:

A sci-fi story set in the not too far future. An older scientist, possibly in the company of several younger people, may only have been one other person, possibly a boy, but not sure. The Earth was going through extreme climate shifts – from extreme scorching heat to extreme freezing temperatures – however the scientist soon discovered that this was because the Earth had been knocked off it’s orbit and had been on a grand tour of the solar system!

I ‘think’ there were scenes where other planets appeared very close by in the sky. I cannot remember how it all ended, although I have a nagging suspicion that it might not have been the Earth they were on at all, maybe a comet or something, but it’s just a feeling…

I am about 98% certain it wasn’t something I dreamed!!

I hope that you and the other DoG readers can help me identify this mystery film / episode,

My very best wishes, and keep up the [nice comment redacted, in line with letters page policy] work!

Rod Maughan

Simon writes: Good to hear from you Rod! I’ve got no idea what your movie is, so I’m going to ask Ryan. He’ll know!

Ryan writes: My god, I’ve no idea what it is! When Worlds Collide, perhaps?

And talking of mystery movies….

Mystery Movie Solved

Previously in Den Of Geek letters, Stuart McLagan wrote in and asked us to help identify a mystery movie…

“It was a courtroom drama and a woman was trying to convince the judge that some kind of sect/cult was after her. She managed to persuade him that the cult was real and that they wore rings with a masonic-type symbol (similar to Ming’s belt in Flash Gordon). Just as the judge rules in her favour, she notices that the judge is wearing a similar ring and she realises that the cult has orchestrated the court hearing to capture her. There’s also a painting of a kind of ‘master’ wearing robes with the symbol, sitting on a rock, which bears an uncanny resemblance to the judge”.

And now we’ve had a reply…!

I think the movie title might be Brotherhood Of The Bell starring Glenn Ford. 

Pooleys47

Simon writes: Is that the one? Let us know! And thanks to you, Pooleys47!

And that’s it for this time! 

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