The Edge of Seventeen — First Trailer

NSFW:  Language

The Edge of Seventeen, which was the closing film at the Toronto International Film Festival, has gotten some extremely favourable reviews since it was screened.  It stars Hailee Steinfeld, Woody Harrelson, and Kyra Sedgwick.   Steinfeld is so perfect in the role that, according to Deadline Hollywood, “You can add her name to the increasingly long list of Best Actress contenders this year from Golden Globes to Oscars.”

The film takes one huge, daring risk:  The main character is a teenage girl, and yet the story is set in a high school, instead of in a post-apocalyptic dystopia!

How can that possibly work?  Has it ever been tried before?  Will audiences walk out en masse, or can they somehow get past the disappointment of seeing a movie in which the young heroine doesn’t have to deal with zombies, vampires, mass slaughter, or evil dictators?

Fingers crossed.

Game of Thrones — Gendry Might Have Sighted Land!

In a series like Game of Thrones, with scores of named characters, it’s inevitable that some story lines are not resolved.  Case in point:  The fate of Gendry, the last, unacknowledged, bastard son of King Robert Baratheon.  During the first three seasons of GoT, Gendry played a major role in the contest for the Iron Throne, and it looked like he’d continue to do so.

But by the end of the third season, Gendry, played by the charismatic Joe Dempsie, was on the run from characters who wanted to use his royal blood in black magic rituals.  Even though he’d never been on the water before, he escaped in a rowboat.  And he hasn’t been seen since.

When GoT series four ended without an appearance by Dempsie, fans began to ask: “Where’s Gendry?”  Dempsie’s response was this tweet:

And a meme was born.

Series five and six passed, while Gendry was “Still rowin’.”

But now, with only two short series left, he might be nearing landfall.   A few days ago, Dempsie was spotted at the Belfast City Airport.   Parts of  “Game of Thrones” are filmed in Northern Ireland, which raises the possibility that he’s about to row ashore.

At last.