They did a good job with this one. It wasn't quite as good as Spiderman 2 or the Dark Night, but it was a solid performer and still quite enjoyable. As a comic lover I was particularly appreciative about how they incorporated all of the other movie projects that they're working on.
Normally, having more than one villain is a terrible idea, but the truth is that we have one 'super villain' and two minor villains in the form of Hammer and a rogue senator that wants to take Stark's armor. I also like the fact that they addressed in a somewhat realistic fashion just how much the government wouldn't like the idea of such armor being in the hands of a relatively unregulated private citizen; even a billionaire.
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Friday, April 23, 2010
Movie - Kickass
Kick Ass is Kickass.
Basic Premise: Average high school student decides to become a super hero and ends up in circumstances beyond his control. A disgraced cop and his brainwashed daughter are exuding revenge against a local mafia. They see the would be super hero in action, like the idea and become super heroes themselves.
Good: The fight sequences, the acting, the cinematography, the plot, the writing and the dialog. In short, just about everything in the movie.
Bad: Nothing.
Of Note:
*Is Nicholas Cage in EVERYTHING?
*This is based on a small miniseries comic. I think that helped it because it kept the story scale limited, while still leaving loads of room for a sequel.
*This is NOT a movie for small children. AT ALL.
*However they will probably see it anyway and like it.
*You will never listen to the Banana Splits song quite the same way ever again...
Basic Premise: Average high school student decides to become a super hero and ends up in circumstances beyond his control. A disgraced cop and his brainwashed daughter are exuding revenge against a local mafia. They see the would be super hero in action, like the idea and become super heroes themselves.
Good: The fight sequences, the acting, the cinematography, the plot, the writing and the dialog. In short, just about everything in the movie.
Bad: Nothing.
Of Note:
*Is Nicholas Cage in EVERYTHING?
*This is based on a small miniseries comic. I think that helped it because it kept the story scale limited, while still leaving loads of room for a sequel.
*This is NOT a movie for small children. AT ALL.
*However they will probably see it anyway and like it.
*You will never listen to the Banana Splits song quite the same way ever again...
Monday, April 19, 2010
The Dragon of Feldra - LARP
I played in this LARP with Jennifer at Gen Con in 2009. They're running it again this year and I've volunteered to help them 'promote' it. This thing was awesome in a hat box. Here are six things I liked about it:
1) The out come is HIGHLY flexible. You as a player, can make a huge difference. It was obvious looking at the design that there were probably 10-12 different story lines, each of which could end a different way, and each of which was somewhat independent of each other whilst still affecting the other story lines.
2) All of the parts matter. There are no small parts in this thing. It allows everyone to do some really cool stuff. I didn't see anyone looking at their character sheet and going, "Well that sucks!"
3) The world makes sense. And yet at the same time it is extremely unique. It is obvious that the GM's have put quite a lot of thought into it.
4) The people running it are cool. They'll take the unexpected but in many cases they've also already PREPPED for the unexpected. This is their baby and it clearly matters to them, which only highlights how awesome it is that they're so flexible about what the outcome can be.
5) The system rocks. Its very simple. Its an excellent blend of crunch and yet it allows for creative flexibility in interpretation of how to do things.
6) Most important of all, the system and setting are very 'newbie' friendly. I've been doing LARPS for years and yet I had a blast with it, while my wife, who had never played a LARP before was also mastering things in a few minutes.
If you have the chance, I highly recommend playing this or the sequel, the King of Feldra at Gencon 2010.
1) The out come is HIGHLY flexible. You as a player, can make a huge difference. It was obvious looking at the design that there were probably 10-12 different story lines, each of which could end a different way, and each of which was somewhat independent of each other whilst still affecting the other story lines.
2) All of the parts matter. There are no small parts in this thing. It allows everyone to do some really cool stuff. I didn't see anyone looking at their character sheet and going, "Well that sucks!"
3) The world makes sense. And yet at the same time it is extremely unique. It is obvious that the GM's have put quite a lot of thought into it.
4) The people running it are cool. They'll take the unexpected but in many cases they've also already PREPPED for the unexpected. This is their baby and it clearly matters to them, which only highlights how awesome it is that they're so flexible about what the outcome can be.
5) The system rocks. Its very simple. Its an excellent blend of crunch and yet it allows for creative flexibility in interpretation of how to do things.
6) Most important of all, the system and setting are very 'newbie' friendly. I've been doing LARPS for years and yet I had a blast with it, while my wife, who had never played a LARP before was also mastering things in a few minutes.
If you have the chance, I highly recommend playing this or the sequel, the King of Feldra at Gencon 2010.
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Bohemian Girl and Other Stories
By Stacy Danielle Stephens. (Full disclosure. I received a free electronic copy of this book from a friend.)
Right. First of all, this book is about the experiences of various Transsexuals dealing with their experiences in reality and life. The book is excellently written, and I'm a bit surprised at the fact that there appears to be a deliberate attempt at not mentioning what the book is about anywhere I've seen. Given that the theme of the book involves living with and coming to terms with the truth of who they are; it seems a bit of a mixed message to spring a 'surprise' in how it is marketed. Its not like there is some big reveal at the end. The reader learns about it in the first three pages. It seems a bit of a Kangaroo Jack to imply otherwise. I make this comparison not because the book is bad, which it isn't, but because Kangaroo Jack was marketed as a movie about a talking Kangaroo...which it wasn't. At all. Bohemian Girl doesn't go quite into that territory, but it certainly is approaching Hudson Hawk levels (which was marketed as an action drama and was in fact, a quirky surreal fourth wall breaking romantic comedy.)
This book is strong enough to stand alone as what it is. It doesn't need a Shyamalanian twist to get people to read it. I highly recommend it.
The characters are interesting. Personally, I still liked the title story the most. It obvious that the writer has put a lot of their personal life into the book, or researched the lives of others rather thoroughly. Common themes of Nebraska and the Catholic Church seemed especially prominent. The details draw the reader in.
I have often pondered what things I was doing now that might be disapproved of by future generations. For example, while there were blatant racists in the 1940's...there was still a baseline of acceptable behavior by less racist people that would be considered shocking today. I do not want to be judged by history. For a while, I thought that this might be the way we treat animals (and it still might be) and in discussing with others they've said that it might be plastic (or how we treat the planet in a broader sense of the word (and it still might be) but after reading this, I have come to realize that it will DEFINITELY be the case with the way society treats Transsexuals, and if one desires to avoid being judged harshly in the light of future generations, one would be wise to avoid stereotypes and preconceptions as much as possible.
This book does an excellent job of doing that. The characters are real people, with real hopes and dreams. More importantly, while the greater facts of their lives are taken into account, they are still all quite different as individuals and are extremely in depth. This is literature in the finest sense of the world; both for the quality of writing it uses and for the themes that it explores.
Right. First of all, this book is about the experiences of various Transsexuals dealing with their experiences in reality and life. The book is excellently written, and I'm a bit surprised at the fact that there appears to be a deliberate attempt at not mentioning what the book is about anywhere I've seen. Given that the theme of the book involves living with and coming to terms with the truth of who they are; it seems a bit of a mixed message to spring a 'surprise' in how it is marketed. Its not like there is some big reveal at the end. The reader learns about it in the first three pages. It seems a bit of a Kangaroo Jack to imply otherwise. I make this comparison not because the book is bad, which it isn't, but because Kangaroo Jack was marketed as a movie about a talking Kangaroo...which it wasn't. At all. Bohemian Girl doesn't go quite into that territory, but it certainly is approaching Hudson Hawk levels (which was marketed as an action drama and was in fact, a quirky surreal fourth wall breaking romantic comedy.)
This book is strong enough to stand alone as what it is. It doesn't need a Shyamalanian twist to get people to read it. I highly recommend it.
The characters are interesting. Personally, I still liked the title story the most. It obvious that the writer has put a lot of their personal life into the book, or researched the lives of others rather thoroughly. Common themes of Nebraska and the Catholic Church seemed especially prominent. The details draw the reader in.
I have often pondered what things I was doing now that might be disapproved of by future generations. For example, while there were blatant racists in the 1940's...there was still a baseline of acceptable behavior by less racist people that would be considered shocking today. I do not want to be judged by history. For a while, I thought that this might be the way we treat animals (and it still might be) and in discussing with others they've said that it might be plastic (or how we treat the planet in a broader sense of the word (and it still might be) but after reading this, I have come to realize that it will DEFINITELY be the case with the way society treats Transsexuals, and if one desires to avoid being judged harshly in the light of future generations, one would be wise to avoid stereotypes and preconceptions as much as possible.
This book does an excellent job of doing that. The characters are real people, with real hopes and dreams. More importantly, while the greater facts of their lives are taken into account, they are still all quite different as individuals and are extremely in depth. This is literature in the finest sense of the world; both for the quality of writing it uses and for the themes that it explores.
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Lazy Review
The following things suck:
Space Chimps (as if that wouldn't be obvious.)
Meet Dave
The following things are flawed but watchable
Igor
The following things rock:
The Wire Season 3.
That is all.
Space Chimps (as if that wouldn't be obvious.)
Meet Dave
The following things are flawed but watchable
Igor
The following things rock:
The Wire Season 3.
That is all.
Monday, March 29, 2010
Movie: How to Train Your Dragon
It was awesome. This is an excellent kids movie. It teaches a lot of important lessons like using your head, and avoiding stereotypes without beating you over the head about it. It also has a fascinating mythology to the whole thing that is pervasive but comes nowhere near overwhelming anyone unfamiliar with the setting (and I certainly wasn't going into this.)
The summary of the story is that a child named Hiccup doesn't fit in with the rest of the village of Vikings that are routinely raided by Dragons. Obviously (since the title kind of gives it away) Hiccup ends up with a dragon that he has to deal with and bonds with it. The rest of the movie involves how Hiccup solves the challenges that brings him, including how to rectify being the friend of a dragon amongst a people that hate dragons and want to kill them on sight.
The summary of the story is that a child named Hiccup doesn't fit in with the rest of the village of Vikings that are routinely raided by Dragons. Obviously (since the title kind of gives it away) Hiccup ends up with a dragon that he has to deal with and bonds with it. The rest of the movie involves how Hiccup solves the challenges that brings him, including how to rectify being the friend of a dragon amongst a people that hate dragons and want to kill them on sight.
Monday, March 22, 2010
Movie: Inglorious Bastards
This movie is seven kinds of awesome. Basically it is a Quentin Tarantino movie about a group of US Jews who are sent behind Nazi lines to kill Nazis. That and the fact that it is basically a movie for those who felt the Nazis, especially the Nazi upper echelons that killed so many people and died before they could really be held accountable to the whole thing. I enjoyed it. There are a few elements of violence that are a little over the top, but since it largely involves blowing up nazis it is very hard to call it extreme. The ending is a classic that will be remembered for quite some time and the very very ending is even better.
In short, this is a movie worth watching.
In short, this is a movie worth watching.
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