A short Russian novella that details the final days of seven criminals who have been condemned to death. Most of the seven are from a group of terrorists who plotted to kill a minister. I guess we are supposed to sympathize with them but they all sound like brainwashed zealots to me. The point of the whole endeavor is probably to make a statement against capital punishment. Being as this book is over one hundred years old, I’d say, “Mission Accomplished?”

It’s the best movie about a cat since Milo and Otis and I’m pretty sure fewer animals were killed during the filming.

A famous modern artist is obsessed with an old Italian villa and the previous resident who died tragically. He spends much of his time brooding, then doing weird/dumb 60s cinematic artist stuff. Did all filmmakers in the 60s think artists would just have scantily clad models roll around in paint? Anyhow, it becomes a psychological drama/semi-horror film in the final act and, knowing the director, there is probably some sort of gobbledygook message about the working class and oppression. I liked it because it was goofy.

It was a little better than Project Hail Mary. Hurrah!

Here’s a silly little Web app that I had Claude.ai generate for me that will allow you to map out relationship names between family members and yourself. It arouse out of a discussion of what to call a grandparent’s brother’s grandchild. This app will clarify the whole first/second cousin once/twice removed thing and will allow you to family reunionize like a pro.

Goofy Woody Allen is better than serious Woody Allen by a long shot. A parody of Russian literature is not the most ripe area for comedy but he manages insert a joke every minute or so. In hindsight, Allen’s real-life persona just makes his on-screen character come across as a perverted creep rather than a lovable loser.

The bicycle chase and clock tower scenes are some of Jackie Chan’s most well known set pieces. The rest of the movie is boring, unfunny, and barely watchable.

I was entertained by this despite its overly long runtime and kid-friendly tone. Basically an “escape room” movie where characters have to puzzle their way out of a tough situation. Too much karaoke and too many flashbacks for my tastes.

My memory of Super Troopers was that it was primary a drug humor movie with a couple memorable gags. The dream sequence opening of this sequel did nothing to dispel my memories. It was more unfunny drug humor that assumes I remembered all the crazy characters and their past antics. And then, once back to reality, something happened. Instead of being all weed references it became a non-stop hour-and-a-half of goofing on Canada and Canadians. With that I was all in and thoroughly enjoyed every “sooh-rey” and “aboot.”

More of the same spazzy gun and sword fighting that was the hallmark of the previous game. But this one feels less expansive and much more linear. Not much to say other than if you like Shadow Warrior 1 & 2 you will enjoy this. I did.

Marty, a hotel detective who suffers from diarrhea attacks thinks he’s got only a few days to live but then his eager wannabe cop son uncovers a big crime leading to his hospitalization. Marty has given up on life but feels compelled to solve the case. He’s racist and unlikable but the noir atmosphere is dense and entertaining.

The first part of this one feels like a classic giallo with a woman being stalked and eventually attacked by a mysterious man. Then Charles Bronson shows up to manhandle his way to catching the attacker. He’s basically playing the same character as he does in Once Upon a Time in the West where he borderline roughs up a woman for her own good. I liked it but I wish it kept the tone of that first part.

This image was mostly worked out by drawing directly on the block rather than attempting to transfer it from paper. This is probably the best way to go but it makes seeing the final image reversed a little more jarring than usual.

It has been a while since I last talked about QBob: Remastered. In fact it’s been just about a year. I have been wanting to do a major update for some time now and I’m happy to announce that this week we will be updating the game with a bunch of new features.

First, there are twelve new bonus levels that will mix things up and offer a nice challenge for experienced players. These levels tell the story of QBobbi’s escape from her alien abductors. In addition to the new layouts, there are new intermissions, music, enemies, and achievements.

If you already own the game, this update will automatically be applied to your game. in celebration we are dropping the price down to its lowest level during the Steam Summer Sale. Get it while you can!

This game has wonderful visuals and music and a pretty good story that takes its time to introduce you to the characters. Unfortunately it’s only just a shade more interactive than a walking simulator. It has the look and feel of a stealth game but everything is to planned out and linear it feels like you are just going through the motions to get to the next cut scene. Really it’s just a puzzle game where you need to find the correct order in which to use your tools to get past a locked area.

The novel game-play element is the swarms of rats that move like a procedural liquid. They look cool and play an important role in the story, but you are basically turning on and off lights to clear paths through the swarm or direct them at guards. Only in the last two or three levels does it feel like an actual video game with some player agency. The story is good enough to give this a weak recommend.