Oblivion is a huge, open-world RPG made by the same folks who made Fallout 3. In fact, it plays very much like Fallout 3 in terms of quest structure and interaction with the world. The main storyline is not terribly interesting, but I found myself getting sidetracked by the optional quests and dungeons that litter the entire world map. I must have spent the first ten hours of the game trying to recover from a vampire’s bite. I also wasted a lot of time in the colorful expansion world of the Shivering Isles. When I finally got around to completing the main quest it took about 5 hours. The fun of this game is more in the exploration of the world map and character building by honing your various skills. Combat is fun but can be hectic and confusing if you are fighting alongside an ally. In the end it’s just a click-fest in which you are just trying to time your health potions and spells when there is a moment between the attacks.
After years of searching through record bins and online auction sites I have finally purchased a copy of The Golding Institute’s Sounds of the International Airport Restrooms! This was Planet Pimp’s final release and it has become the rarest title from that catalog. I am not sure why this one became so hard to find but I think when Sven-Erik decided to close shop he ending up destroying a lot of his stuff (just a guess). For years I have chatting up the rarity of this record on my Unofficial Planet Pimp Tribute site which may have lead to the ridiculous prices that I would see this 7″ would go for on eBay. At one time I thought that twenty dollars was too much for me to pay but then I kept seeing it going for higher and higher prices—the last few auctions I tracked had it selling for seventy dollars. I paid forty dollars to a seller on Discogs.com which is still ridiculous, but I have a feeling it may be the lowest price I will see this going for.
In the interest of liberating this record from the clutches of the evil record collectors, for a limited time I am going to post a rip of the entire album for you to download and enjoy. See the download link below!
A mediocre giallo that felt a lot like early 60s Bava without the style. Although the twist, which should have been plainly obvious, fooled me.
Outside of Bava’s Rabid Dogs I have not seen many Italian Eurocrime movies. This one was pretty good. It had a groovy wah-wah laden soundtrack, lots of violence and a by-the-numbers revenge plot. I especially liked the 70s style car chases complete with fruit stands getting obliterated and scaffolding being driven through.
I think this is my least favorite Shellac album. Sure there are some great tracks on it, as there are on any Shellac album, but are also a few that just seem lazy in their delivery. I am not too keen on the experimental/talky moments on the first side either.
I am a fan of Westerns, especially the spaghetti kind, but I not very familiar with many of the classics of the genre. The Magnificent Seven can now be crossed off my to-watch list. The story about a group of would-be heroes hired to defend a helpless village has been done a zillion times from the obvious Seven Samurai to A Bugs Life. Because the plot has become a cliché, you watch these various iterations for the characters, the action sequences or visuals. There are plenty of great actors in this version and a few hammy ones too. Overall, I was entertained throughout the film and especially enjoyed every scene with Eli Walach.
A pretty straightforward detective mystery which, despite the cover of the book, has very little to do with baseball. Even though the body count steadily increases, the story never really gets more exciting than the PI investigating clues and interviewing increasingly dull characters.
When this came out it felt like a return to form for Shellac. It opens with the fantastic “Prayer to God” which, upon first listening, any schlup (like me) would immediately run to their guitar to try to figure out. It’s a good excuse to use the F-word a whole bunch. The album loses a little steam on the second side but ends with “Watch Song.” It’s another barn burner complete with violent lyrics and the scuffling sounds of what I assume is supposed to be the fight alluded to in the lyrics.
Just when I was about to lose hope regarding my Hammer Films: Icons of Horror DVD set, I got around to watching the last film on the collection. Scream of Fear is not really a horror film and would have been much more at home on the Icons of Suspense collection. This is an excellent thriller about a wheelchair bound girl who is haunted by visions of the corpse of her missing father. It’s filmed in lovely black and white, has some good twists and contains the obligatory European-man-in-Speedo scene.
This is a zero-budget Italian take on post-nuclear sci-fi. It is utterly derivative and filled with bad acting, plot holes and cheap effects. What it does have is tons of action, a smattering of gore and George Eastman as a caveman.
