This is the “true story” of Bruce Lee’s teacher, Ip Man. The WWII setting gives it some gravitas as characters live under the rule of the invading Japanese army. Stripped of the setting it is a standard kung-fu movie about fighters wanting to be the master. The choreography is very well done but you never feel like Ip Man is ever in any real danger.
More 80s horror catch-up for me. I wasn’t sure if this movie was so well known merely for it’s clever acronym title or if was legitimately good. I wouldn’t call it a classic but it does do several things right. First, the script does a great job in weaving together the various characters’ plot lines together. The acting is pretty good and there are many familiar faces in the cast that are mostly known for their work in supporting roles. The concept is pretty stupid and that prevents it from providing authentic scares, but the creature design is good and there is enough gore to keep horror fans satisfied. I have a feeling the dirty-faced look of the homeless people wouldn’t fly these days.
Here is some time-lapse footage of me cutting my latest wood engraving. See more exciting content like this on my Instagram account. (Music by Jimmy Riddle)
I could have sworn I had played this game before, but I wasn’t completely sure. I get this one confused with Tomb Raider: Anniversary. All I knew is that I didn’t own it and, if I had played it, it was probably on Gametap as a freebie. Well, this weekend it went on Steam sale for 97¢ so I grabbed it knowing that if I managed to have an hour of fun with it, it would have been worth the price.
Yup, I’ve played it before. I definitely remember the first level. Things get cloudy after that. These games aren’t quite known for their strong, memorable narratives. The game would seem completely new to me then I’d hit a particularly tricky level and memories would flood back. Most of the reason I write these redundant reviews is to help me remember what I’ve seen or played.
This is the first of the Crystal Dynamics Tomb Raider games and it still holds up rather well. The only areas of the game that haven’t aged as well are the shooting mechanics, an occasional quicktime event, and the too-close camera positioning. Otherwise, the controls are fluid and the tombs offer a medium-level puzzle challenge. There’s no crafting, and object collecting is limited to a half-a-dozen or so statues per level. This is straightforward fun that doesn’t wear out it’s welcome.
A piece of 80s shlock that’s much better than it should be mostly due to the excellent cast and characters. The plot involves a small time crook, grizzly murders, ancient Aztec sacrifice and the return of Quetzalcoatl. Interspersed every ten minutes or so are hilarious scenes of random New Yorkers being attacked from the sky by a mostly unseen monster. Q emerges in her full stop-motion glory at the climax and by then you are totally cool with how corny it looks. The right elements are all here, and it is very entertaining, but a generally lack of cohesion keep the movie from being great.
This print has nothing to do with the movie of the same name. This started as a sketch of a large man with a lobster bib and it morphed into this. I wanted to try engraving in maple again after years of using resingrave. I’m hear to say end-grain maple stinks. The lines are rough and it prints very unevenly. But never mind that. Buy this print!
Part two of the Tomb Raider reboot doesn’t offer anything really new in terms of game play but that’s okay. The core of the series is 3-D platforming mechanics and it does that very well. This is especially evident in the nine or so “challenge tombs” scattered throughout the world.
The graphics are stunning and most of the environments are fun to explore. The world is zoned off into half-a-dozen regions which are fairly open-world in their layout. Much of my time was spent hunting down the inane collectibles in order to get a 100% complete. I almost got everything before the end, but there is a region in the prelude that you can’t return to until you have beaten the final boss.
The story takes place somewhere in snowy Russia where the people dress like vikings and speak English. As per usual, there isn’t much more narrative beyond a magic object and a group of mercenaries racing to find it before Lara. These games could be perfect if they could just put a little more effort into the plot and characters.
As an aside, I am really getting tired of crafting in games. It’s not too complicated here, but I’d rather not be bothered with having to grab every mushroom or twig I see.
A small-time hood uses his fighting mastery to become the boss of his own gang. Features a fight with a giant European wrestler and a long, bloody finale in which the hero has an axe in his belly half the time. The movie is a bit too long but that final fight really makes up for all the fluff. Like Man of Iron, the lead character isn’t terribly likable but I guess he makes a little effort not to be a really bad crime boss.
A standard, post-LOTR epic movie with clashing armies and English accents. This should be a fun fish out of water tale but the story is structured in a way that kills any mystery and discovery. It has it’s moments but no real surprises here. This wasn’t the Martian Dreams follow-up I wanted.
Earlier this year I decided to support a Kickstarter campaign for a new Apple ][ game called Nox Archaist. It is going to be an RPG in the style of the 8-bit Ultima games. There are was a call-out for artwork submissions to be included in the manual. I decided to try and produce some drawings for the project. In the end I made about half-a-dozen pen and ink drawings of various fantasy creatures. This one was perhaps my favorite of the lot. As of this writing they were still looking for more art and, if I can find some time, I’ll try to do a few more; continuing my long-standing tradition of not being paid for my art services.
