Apparently this is a highly divisive movie. Lots of one-star reviews and lots of five-star reviews. I liked it but I didn’t think it was great. It sets itself up as the ultimate puzzle movie where clues abound in every frame. Eventually you realize the point of the whole thing is that looking for meaning is futile. I can see why that would annoy viewers who are looking for nicely wrapped up answers. This cop-out thesis aside, there was a lot going on to keep me reasonably entertained. I’m sure a director’s commentary, where every little detail is revealed, would be really interesting to watch.
Picks up right where the first movie left off with the family battling Cliff Clavin. Every bit as fun as the original but a little too long and thematically not quite as strong. Pixar animation no longer excites the way it used to.
I can see why, in this time of everyone and their grandma being a cos-player, that this is a cult favorite. It’s a stylish, incredible looking movie filled with wonderful new wave fashion. Beyond the slick surface is it’s terrible editing, a stupid plot and a bit too many rape scenes for my tastes.
Nex Machina is the (almost) official follow-up to Robotron: 2084 or, as I like to call it, the greatest arcade game ever created. If you watch the credits you will see the Eugene Jarvis was the creative consultant for the game. As far as I’m concerned that means this is Robotron: 2085 (we’ll ignore Smash T.V. … NOT canon!).
It’s just as frantic and twitchy as ever, and the core game play remains the same: shoot everything that moves and save the humans. There is a far greater variety of enemies, boss battles, and the graphic effects are stellar. Improvements include lots of hidden collectibles, a variety of secondary weapons, the ability to dodge, and lots of differing level designs.On higher difficulties the game is tough as nails and requires a bullet-hell level of pattern memorization. I’ve managed to complete the game at the “Rookie” level. My problem is that my OCD kicks in, and I rage quit when I don’t finish a level without grabbing all the extra bonuses. I still think Geometry Wars is a more pure twin-stick shooter arcade experience but this one is a close second and worth every penny.
This has all the trappings of a boring, low-rent “guys doing kung-fu in an empty field because the producers were too cheap to build sets” martial arts film. It transcends its cheapness with an over-abundance of gravity defying wire-work and bad makeup effects. The whole “one-armed” thing has no bearing on the story whatsoever either. She loses the arm and three minutes later she’s back to slashing baddies. This is not a great film, but it certainly was fun.
Another walking simulator but this time with a horror theme. The whole point of this “game” is to make your way through an old haunted house and get hit with a jump scare every four minutes. At first this is very thrilling. After the fiftieth time, not so much. Technically there are about three puzzles in the game. Mostly you encounter a lock, look around the room, get hit with a jump scare, and then see the combination in the aftermath. On top of this, the story is lame and required too much effort searching around for notes and clues for me to care. Glad I didn’t have to pay for this one.
This is a track from my second computer music release called, Upgrade Downgrade (2001). The music was created in MadTracker 2 on a Windows 98 PC. The voice was from AnalogX’s SayIt software and most of the samples were probably found online somewhere.
Daughters of Darkness rivals Argento’s best work from the 70s in terms of style and design. Every frame is a masterpiece of bold colors (mostly red) and stark composition. Even the plain Helvetica opening credits are a visual treat. The story doesn’t quite hold up to the visuals, but it had enough going for it to keep me interested. Despite the vampire elements, this is definitely not a horror movie. It would make a nice double feature with The Duke of Burgundy.
I agreed with many of his main points on stereotyping, democracy, propaganda, and the inability for a potential voter to actually understand beyond their personal realm. But, man-o-man, this is not what I would call a “fun” read. Lots of 1920s news references and lots of rambling prose. I know I’m not the target audience here, but geez liven it up Walter. For what it’s worth, the book was very Hayekian in it’s view of the limits of knowledge. The final section puts forth the idea of establishing another layer of government called “intelligence agencies” which would independently gather “facts” for the public to use in determining opinions. Yeah, that’s the ticket.
The Witness is from the same developer who created the superb Braid. It feels like a cross between that game and Myst. Once again the game play centers around puzzle solving, but instead of time manipulation, you are solving mazes. I know what your thinking, “Mazes? Are you kidding me. Ever since the ‘Twisty maze of passages, all alike’ mazes have been the bane of every video gamer’s existence.” At first I thought the same thing. The first dozen puzzles are so easy that I assumed this was just going to be another boring walking simulator with challenges thrown in just to extend the experience a few more minutes. But then you encounter the next set of mazes which sprinkle in a few new rules (which you have to discover on your own) and things start to get more challenging. Get a little further, then you have an epiphany and realize not everything is what it seems. Perspective and your place in the 3-D environment start to matter. At that point I was sold and fully immersed myself in the world (this would make an incredible VR game).The open world structure allows you to try various challenges long before you know how they can be beaten. The island is big and there’s always easier puzzles to work on while you think things through. By the end of the game you will realize that the solution to everything has been right in front of you all along.
There really isn’t a story here but there are several audio and video clips to find that have an arty, philosophical sensibility that are more about mood than narrative. I didn’t manage to find everything. Note that if you are a 100% gamer, if you get to the ending, all the puzzles will be reset. Find everything you can before rushing to the conclusion.
