Movie number four from the excellent Icons of Suspense Collection: Hammer Films DVD package. Despite having a killer with a blow torch in the opening scenes of the movie, this movie is not quite on par with the other Hammer noir films I have seen. That’s not to say I didn’t like it. By the third act, after a bit of squirmy mother/daughter love-triangulation, there is finally some real suspense. Also, as one might expect, there is a neat little twist at the end that I never would have guessed.
Pushing balls around has never been more fun! I have really enjoyed the last few Tomb Raider games like Tomb Raider: Legend and Anniversary. This game takes the standard puzzle solving elements of Tomb Raider—pushing blocks and balls on to pressure plates and the like—but, rather than platforming, puts the emphasis on shooting enemies. In fact, the combat is not dissimilar from Robotron 2084 or other, more recent, twin stick shooters. Run with one stick and aim and shoot with the other. The gun-play is never quite as frantic or enemy-rich as Robotron or Geometry Wars, but it can get pretty challenging at times. There are also time challenges and item bonuses to try to achieve once you’ve played through the game once. I like this top-down, isometric perspective (I would love to see a Nox sequel using a similar engine).
I’m continuously on the lookout for a new fantasy series to fill my Kingkiller Chronicles/Song of Fire and Ice void. I’ve heard of the Discworld series but have avoided it because I thought that it might have something to do with the boring-ass Ringworld books. Well, it doesn’t. It’s actually a comedic take on the fantasy genre, somewhat like Hitchhiker’s Guide. Don’t expect laugh-out-loud funny, but Pratchett does an admirable job injecting in-jokes and turning fantasy clichés on end. I don’t know if I can handle 36 more of these books, but, thankfully, they are short, so I think I will give a few more a try.
I directed this short promotional video in anticipation of the release of my band’s new record, People Live Everywhere. It’s basically a shot-for-shot remake of a late 80s anti-drug public service announcement starring our drummer, Tony, and his daughter, Isabella.
Okay, I’ll admit it. I’m one of those nuts who actually likes The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged. It has been years since I read those books and in the intervening decade or so I have discovered that a lot of people really, really hate those novels. They (they being mostly politically left-leaning types) understandably rail against the politics and idealogy, but the most bitter venom seems to be saved for Rand’s writing style. I started reading We the Living expecting to put aside my personal politics and finally pick up on just how bad a scribe she was. But, you know what, I think she’s a pretty darn good writer. She paints a really vivid picture of life in the shadow of the Russian revolution and this was the perfect book to read after having finished Pictures of the Socialistic Future. Now, that said, I’m still not giving this book high marks because the plot didn’t really grab me. It’s essentially a love story (not really my cup of borscht) that, despite the political backdrop, doesn’t really have the sort of philosophical backbone of her later novels. Should I go on to complete my socialism trifecta by reading The Gulag Archipelago?
Although it’s a massive 30-40 hour game, New Vegas is really just an stand-alone expansion pack to the wonderful Fallout 3. If there were graphical enhancements or gameplay tweaks, I didn’t notice them. But that’s okay. I liked the way Fallout 3 played and more of the same can’t hurt. This time around I was already well-aquainted with the mechanics so I was able to be more thorough in my exploration of the map. I managed to discover every area and, quite frankly, I’m a bit peeved that there wasn’t an acheivement for that.
The story has you waking up after having been buried and left for dead. The main goal is to find out about the man who shot you. This could be interesting, I suppose, but I was a bit ho-hum about the main plotline. That’s okay though. There are ton of little stories to be had all throughout the game world. Plus you get to run around in your boxer-briefs if you so choose.
This is what happens when you give up on new music. You stop paying attention to music press and new releases and then great stuff like this record from The Knights of the New Crusade slips by. I’ve reviewed the Knights in the past here and here, and it’s more or less the same Christian skuzz rock formula as before. And here’s a term that probably doesn’t get tossed around in garage rock reviews much, but Knight Vision comes across as a very well-researched record. It even closes with a relatively epic (7 minutes) track that features musical saw and exotic tribal drums. It’s like an exorcism on the cheap.
Buying this DVD was worth it for the extras (besides, I got it for less than five bucks). The movie itself was alright. As one might expect from Peter Jackson, the effects are great. The story moves along but it is not terribly deep, it’s riddled with clichés and there’s some truly questionable acting (especially from Jack Black). But, again, the bonus features are very interesting and go into great detail about the technology and processes behind the film.
I have had this game sitting on my video game to-do list for a long, long time. This is regarded as one of the best cRPG games ever. It is perhaps deserving of that praise simply for sheer imensity of its scale and attention to detail. Unfortunately, like other older RPGs, the game makes no concessions towards more casual players. There are a gazillion magic spells with which to become familiar. Gear and weapons are identified by numerical stats and dice roll probabilties rather than simply saying, “Powerful sword of lightning damage” or something. I must have looked up what THAC0 meant half a dozen times and I still don’t quite get it. At times the game is just plain unfair, like when you walk through an unmarked door only to die instantly from the attacks of magical creature on the other side. It’s like dying until you chance upon a strategy is part of the intended game mechanics. Like the first Baldur’s Gate I found myself having to cheat my way through 2 or 3 of the battles near the end of the game. I may have been able to win those fights (I doubt it), but after 40+ hours of hacking away at this game, I simply wanted it to be over.
During the majority of the first half of the game, when I wasn’t being killed every two minutes, it was really enjoyable and addicting. My OCD tendencies had plenty of ways to be satisfied by the many, many side quests and stories. Combat actually requires real tactical thinking (which is probably I was getting killed all the time), which is an element sadly missing from most modern RPGs and every Japanese console RPG since the dawn of time. I think it’s time for another game in this style but modernize it so you don’t need a degree in advanced nerditude just to understand the manual.
Generation X’ers like myself tend to have a bit too much nostalgia towards The Muppet Show and the first couple Muppet movies. Sure they had their moments, but we tend to forget just how much of that stuff was just stupid hippy puppeteer self-indulgence. That said, as far as kids movies go, this sure beats the hell out of Space Chimps or Chipwrecked! There are plenty of Kentucky Fried Theater style sight gags and moments of self-aware parody to keep both parents and kids entertained. The plot really tugs hard at the nostalgia angle to the point where eighty percent of the movie is just depressing and down-beat. Still, the film manages to entertain and provide laughs between the attempts at conveying emotion in a puppet frog via strange hand-driven head pulses.
