By visiting our site, you agree to our privacy policy regarding cookies, tracking statistics, etc.

Home Blog Page 30

Ms. Marvel: Beyond The Limit: Issue #5 Review

By
Christian Angeles
-
0
janet van dyne and kamala khan in ms marvel beyond the limit

We say our goodbye, as we reach the end of Ms. Marvel: Beyond The Limit. 

It’s hard saying goodbye to a really great story. Especially, for those kinds of series that come out of the blue like Samira Ahmed’s run of Ms. Marvel. From our interview here at The Workprint to the resulting binge-read of every iteration of the Ms. Marvel comics, there was just so much to love about Kamala. A character whom I believe the world will be super excited about seeing upon the debut of her Disney+ series on June 8th.

Without a doubt, Beyond The Limit serves as an ace introduction to the character. When I’d first picked up the series, I had no idea what I was getting into in seeing this young woman grow and change; the cultural zeitgeist of acceptance regarding that weight of being the first Muslim Pakistani-American superhero. How big of a moment this is going to be that I’m entirely certain your average superhero fan understands just yet.

Representation matters. Things are changing. The youth are more accepting against the prejudices of the old…

If you don’t believe me, ask some kids you know about their takes on superheroes. The things that they watch on Disney. The characters that are being portrayed like Captain Marvel or Kate Bishop. Perhaps, explain to my nephew and niece, why is it that when watching Spider-Man and His Amazing friends… it’s Miles and Gwen and Ms. Marvel, that they’re excited to go see?

The Final Run Summarized

wasp and ms. marvel in the ms. marvel beyond the limit cover of issue 5

In the final issue of Ms. Marvel: Beyond The Limit, we see this run of the story come to a close. After issue #4’s harrowing conclusion which saw Kamala Khan at her most vulnerable, the series wrap-ups nicely not with brawn, but with brains, and the power of friendship triumphant overall.

Now, the best of the Beyond The Limit run has been its worldbuilding. Since the beginning, everything has felt like an homage to the best of Ms. Marvel’s history. The costumes, location designs, and character setups are all very in-tune with the comics. Nothing feels out of place and the storyline with the doppelganger allowed for a unique look back at all the iterations and abilities of Kamala and her journey.

That being said, Qarin’s storyline is super tragic! A shapeshifter from another part of the multiverse borrowing Kamala’s powers in their shared time/space, the revelation in issue 5 about how Qarin’s abilities justify a lot of the mechanics used in this run. It showed us other Kamalas from different worlds, and mostly, served as a unique plot device to get us to reexamine the character. My only qualm is that ultimately, having illusory projections as an extension of Qarin’s abilities instead of featuring actual multi-verse travel, did wrap things up a little too conveniently. As everything was more illusory rather than world-altering.

Kamala and Qarin fight each other in ms marvel beyond the limit #5

Still, one of the most interesting story parts is the psychic connection between Qarin and Kamala. It’s how Kamala borrowed matter from a version of her in a different universe, thus in turn, having Qarin subatomically borrows Kamala’s powers. As mentioned, so much of this run focused on Kamala’s and Qarin’s abilities getting out of wack, as each was pooling energy away from the other. It’s a struggle that saw us deconstruct what these other-worldly abilities mean to both Kamala and Qarin. It also raised the stakes, as their instability, might’ve meant the end of the world.

Now, in this journey of self-discovery of what it means to be Ms. Marvel, we got to see really cool uses of S.T.E.M. thanks to Samira Ahmed’s brilliant showcasing of it. This introduced a whole lot of pop-science physics featuring strong women characters; where Nadia Van Dyne, in particular, played a very significant role by the series conclusion. So kudos to the writing.

Nadia’s presence adds a lot to the science. Her bouncing theoretical physics ideas with Bruno is exactly the kind of nerdy weird fans of the series come to love. I can’t stress enough, that the subtleties of this run have done a great job of embracing that and the artwork by Andres Genolet really pops in every one of these weird science scenes. Atop of this, the Bollywood and multiversal artwork at the beginning were easily some of the funniest I’ve seen about the series.

This brings us to the best part: that this run is fun! Between the action and the friendships, the science fiction rigamarole, and the Kamala montages… there’s just a good chunk of seeing Ms. Marvel doing her thing. Especially, in regards to the most stand-out part of the limited-run: the food! 

I loved it and it made me really wish I still had that good of a metabolism. Issue 5 here features Balushahi, which was a unique and delicious type of Indian donut. Why this is important? Is because it takes a bite out of heritage and culture here, as Kamala’s need to feed both her abilities and Qarin’s, made it so that Ahmed could drop a lot of references to food. It’s delicious and super fun to see easter egged throughout the run.

Final Take

kamala makes a large fist in the variant cover of ms. marvel beyond the limit

It’s a fun run that does its job to entertain, but also, empowers your Y.A.-themed lady heroines. Thematically, we hit the typical teen-superhero beats where Kamala’s biggest strength: is of course her friends and the actions she’s taken to be a caring type of person. 

And sure, the conclusion is your stand-of-the-mill heroes save the day. But I liked that as that’s also sort of Kamala’s M.O. in a lot of her comic runs. The series is more about the culture of being Muslim American, and really, about the kinds of friends and company Kamala keeps as she continues to figure herself out. 

Most important of all,  I like that the run also ends in hope. As Qarin can choose to be a new hero in her universe, which is really interesting to me. As it’s really important to have stories these in today’s world… 

You really need to give the next-gen of kid readers hope. And I think this five-issue run of Ms. Marvel: Beyond The Limit did exactly that.

You can buy Ms. Marvel: Beyond the Limit at your local comic book stores. Also, if you liked Samira Ahmed’s run of the series, she’s also releasing a new book called Hollow Fires, a new YA book about racism and finding hope, Which debuts May 10th.

Sex Education Star Ncuti Gatwa Is The Next Doctor

By
Christian Angeles
-
0
ncuti gatwa in sunglasses in sex education
PC: Sam Taylor/IMDB

The Rwandan-Scottish actor will be the next iteration of the Time Lord replacing actress Jodi Mitchell

Ncuti Gatwa will be the next Doctor of the long-running British Science fiction series. Known for portraying Eric Effiong on the Netflix acclaimed series Sex Education, in which he won a Scottish BAFTA award for best actor, the actor will be next in line for the titular role in Doctor Who.

“There aren’t quite the words to describe how I’m feeling. A mix of deeply honoured, beyond excited and of course a little bit scared. This role and show means so much to so many around the world, including myself, and each one of my incredibly talented predecessors has handled that unique responsibility and privilege with the utmost care,” Gatwa said regarding his new role on the BBC’s Doctor Who website.

“I will endeavour my upmost to do the same.  Russell T Davies is almost as iconic as the Doctor himself and being able to work with him is a dream come true. His writing is dynamic, exciting, incredibly intelligent and fizzing with danger. An actor’s metaphorical playground. The entire team have been so welcoming and truly give their hearts to the show. And so as much as it’s daunting, I’m aware I’m joining a really supportive family. Unlike the Doctor, I may only have one heart but I am giving it all to this show.”

At the end of 2022, Gatwa will be taking on the role of the fourteenth doctor. A groundbreaking achievement, the actor will be the first black Doctor in the series’ longstanding nearly 60-year history.

Though Gatwa portrays an openly gay character on Sex Education, the actor has never expressed their own sexual identity publically. So whether or not they’ll be the first openly LGBTQI+ portrayal of the Doctor is a matter up for debate.

The new Doctor also comes with the return of showrunner Russell T Davies. Who left the series in 2010. A popular showrunner credited with revitalizing the series, Davies’ tenure coincided with the run of fan-favorite Doctor, actor David Tennant.

Regarding Ncuti Gatwa’s casting, Davies adds: “The future is here and it’s Ncuti! Sometimes talent walks through the door and it’s so bright and bold and brilliant, I just stand back in awe and thank my lucky stars. Ncuti dazzled us, seized hold of the Doctor and owned those TARDIS keys in seconds. It’s an honour to work with him, and a hoot, I can’t wait to get started. I’m sure you’re dying to know more, but we’re rationing ourselves for now, with the wonderful Jodie’s epic finale yet to come. But I promise you, 2023 will be spectacular!”

Doctor Who will return in the Autumn of 2022. It will coincide with the Centenary special for the BBC, celebrating 100 years of the broadcaster’s existence.

Every Confirmed Marvel’s Voices: Pride Cover

By
Christian Angeles
-
0

Check out every Marvel’s Voices: Pride Variant available in stores on June 22nd.

Marvel’s Voices: Pride is returning for another one-shot in honor of pride month. A comic issue that celebrates the company’s LGBTQI+ talents and themes, various writers and artists from all across Marvel’s talent pool will be showcasing their work to commemorate the month. Giving fans and creators a chance to celebrate the identities and experiences of the LGBTQI+ community. 

After being nominated for a GLAAD in 2021, this new volume of Pride will feature work from New York Times bestselling author Charlie Jane Anders, who is going to introduce a new Marvel hero. If that wasn’t enough, Iron Man writer and TV Showrunner Christopher Cantwell will be sharing a tale about Moondragon, and the Eisner-winning writer Andrew Wheeler will be making his Marvel debut by introducing a new love story about Hercules. Finally, Nebula-winning Alyssa Wong will be telling an all-new Young Avengers story. 

All of this, and much more, will be featured in Marvel’s Voices: Pride #1. Details, along with specifics and special art of each variant cover, can be found below.

 

MARVEL’S VOICES: PRIDE #1

Written by CHARLIE JANE ANDERS, CHRISTOPHER CANTWELL, ANDREW WHEELER, ALYSSA WONG, GRACE FREUD, IRA MADISON III, & DANNY LORE

Art by STEPHEN BYRNE, TED BRANDT, RO STEIN, LORENZO SUZI, BRITTNEY WILLIAMS, KEI ZAMA, SCOTT B. HENDERSON & LUCAS WERNECK 

Cover by NICK ROBLES – 75960620405200111

On Sale 6/22

 

Variant Cover by OLIVIER COIPEL – 75960620405200131

Coipel’s cover features three very extraordinary heroes. Marvel’s first openly gay hero Northstar, divine warrior Angela, and of course, the star of the upcoming Defenders: Beyond, America Chavez.

 

Variant Cover by AMY REEDER – 75960620405200121

Known for her extraordinary work on MOON GIRL AND DEVIL DINOSAUR, Amy Reeder’s cover features Loki, Loki, and more Loki!

Dealing with the massive impact of Odin’s death and changes to Asgard in Donny Cates and Nic Klein’s epic run on THOR, Loki will be starring in Al Ewing and Javier Rodríguez’s DEFENDERS: BEYOND and will see the return of the Loki variant from LOKI: AGENT OF ASGARD. This five-issue saga will also be co-debuting during Pride month.

 

Variant Cover by JEN BARTEL – 75960620405200141

The Eisner-winning Jen Bartel has a cover featuring Black Cat caught between Peter Parker and Thieves Guild Leader, Odessa Drake. 

Felicia’s romantic history and rivalry with Odessa Drake was explored by writer Jed MacKay in his back-to-back acclaimed runs on BLACK CAT! MacKay will continue his defining work on BLACK CAT alongside artist Pere Pérez in IRON CAT.

This new series is also launching during Pride month.

 

Variant Cover by STEPHEN BYRNE –  75960620405200151

 

 

LUCIANO VECCHIO AND BETSY COLA – Other Variants

Atop of this, extraordinary comic book artists Luciano Vecchio and Betsy Cola depict some of the most beloved and rising Marvel stars that belong to the LGBTQI+ community. With 8 covers to be featured this June, from differing comic title releases.

Here are the details below for each character from Marvel’s Press Release.

 

On Sale 6/1

  • Aaron Fischer – Also known as the Captain America of the Railways, Aaron made a big splash during Captain America’s 80th Anniversary in THE UNITED STATES OF CAPTAIN AMERICA limited series. Look out for him in upcoming issues of the ALLIGATOR LOKI INFINITY COMIC.

  • Daken – The son of Wolverine, Daken will put his claws, healing factor, and fierce fighting skills to good use as a member of the current lineup of MARAUDERS. 

 

On Sale 6/8

  • Valkyrie – Rūna debuted as the mysterious and only surviving original Valkyrie during KING IN BLACK. Since then, fans have learned more about her in titles like MIGHTY VALKYRIES and WOMEN OF MARVEL. Stay tuned to find out where to witness her next legendary battles starting in June! 

 

On Sale 6/15

  • Somnus – A mutant hero with the power to control dreams, Somnus debuted in a poignant story in last year’s MARVEL’S VOICES: PRIDE and now a member of Kate Pryde’s mutant rescue squad in MARAUDERS.

 

On Sale 6/22

  • Iceman – An original X-Man, Iceman is fresh off a stint on the Marauders that saw him use his omega-level abilities in some of his most impressive feats yet and the next big thing for this iconic hero is just on the horizon. Keep an eye out on upcoming X-Men issues to see what title he’ll be ice sliding into next!

 

On Sale 6/29

  • Destiny – The recently resurrected classic X-Men foe now serves as one of the most prominent leaders of mutantkind. See what the future holds for her in the upcoming IMMORTAL X-MEN series.

  • Karma – A founding member of the New Mutants, Karma uses her many years of experience defending Charles Xavier’s dream to guide the next generation of mutantkind in the current run of NEW MUTANTS.

  • America Chavez – The breakout star of the Young Avengers, America will use her superhuman strength and interdimensional star portals as part of a new team of THUNDERBOLTS.

 

 

 

 

Atlanta Season 3 Episode 8 Review – New Jazz

By
Robert Kijowski
-
3

Parents imprint on us. No matter where we live, especially in our heads, we don’t live ‘rent-free.

One of my favorite quotes is from someone who knew too much about family-

“Go, go, you question with a wicked tongue.”

Welcome to the eighth episode of Atlanta (FX) titled “New Jazz.”

There’s nothing like drugs. It opens you up, it loosens you up and it shows what your other half consists of.

As Al (Brian Tyree Henry) and Darius (LaKeith Stanfield) partake in the lovely unlimited smoke and all the Netherlands can handle, they are bonding. The thing is that they also break up in paths.

Sometimes friends need to bake you lovely and teach you what is what.

This comes in the form of love. Earn (Donald Glover) brings cashola to the table and watches over Alfred. He’s got everyone covered.

In transit to the weed spot, Al spots someone in a Goofy hat. Darius warns him not to be like that guy, tweaking.

Nepalese Space Cake. If you forget everything in this article, remember those words… because, with one sip, you will assuredly forget.

Though Al doesn’t know what he’s partaking in, there’s one thing that is for certain: the movie Cats is underrated.

Sauntering through the streets, the drug is beginning to take effect.

They wax about Stereolab and their song “The Flower Called Nowhere“.

Well, that flower was in their tea and now in their bloodstream. I, for one, couldn’t be more jealous.

Time slows down for Paper Boi, scurrying through the avenues. He’s realizing that life is a happier endeavor for everybody.

Everybody but himself.

This is until he spots a rat suffering on the street. Darius pulls no punches, totally unphased by the grotesque display of reality. The adventure continues.

In fact, he tries to lead Al past a few black people, labeling them as tourists.

Al’s mind is elsewhere, finding a siren in the form of a courtesan through a glass window. This is the Red District, after all.

But before he can ruminate, a scuffle ensues, shoving him into an alley.

Al is famous. He’s no longer Alfred.

He’s Paper Boi and that fame comes at a high coin. All because of a stupid hat, and with the fans left without a signature, they steal the next best thing… a baby, before tossing it.

With a woman wailing in earshot, Al is down bad.

Though of slight consternation, it’s of no concern to us surveying. It’s nearly perverse.

She’s part and parcel of an art installation.

Al’s met with a woman that doesn’t like his hat. She roasts him for that sartorial choice. This is Lorraine (Ava Grey).

As he takes a gander at the museum, the sax player included, she keeps on roasting the poor guy.

She’s a puck. Think of her like a Bat-Mite.

Her unique hot take on the art is as offensive as it is beautiful.

I’ve been that person before. A total fucking dick in the name of being precious. Holding something as sacrosanct when it’s anything but. I mean, that’s why bad art exists.

Al’s over it, though. She’s annoying, but also a standard. Again, Bat-Mite.

She speaks in riddles and isn’t exactly a fan of his.

She does posit a pointed query: Does he own his masters?

This could be taken another way as well.

Say hello to Lorraine. They haven’t been formally introduced until now, but now that we are, she gets real- really quick.

This starts with a warning shot, for him to replace the bomb ass pork-pie with a Goofy hat.

This is for him to become what he fears most- being corny.

With him donning what is basically a Dunce Cap, the adventure can proceed!

As she smokes, he realizes there are a bunch more people with the same hats.

Sauntering through the Red District, he loses her for a moment.

He’s in panic mode until her soothing voice guides him back. No cap, I can easily follow her to the ends of the Earth as well. It’s called a siren. It’s called a voice. A vox in your brain, and sometimes, those are the sweetest.

She’s inducting him into a new, exclusive club.

These are the things only spake about in back alleys and in code. He’s now a bonified card-carrying member. He’s New Jazz.

Apparently, everybody is hip to the term, save for him.

Once seated in the Crimson Club, he’s treated to a White Hennesey, neat. The Chris Evans.

While meeting other patrons, assuming he knows other more popular rappers, he’s not in on the joke with his Goofy hat. In fact, he’s front and center and now wishing that he hadn’t followed Lorraine down that garden path.

All immediately presume that he and Lorraine are bedtime buddies, but Al tosses ice on that hot mess of a story.

They go hard on them actually fucking, but he denies it because in his mind, she’s batshit insane and why would he?

Ostensibly, she’s a sexual sniper for brothers. They even have a fucked up term for her exploits: 106 & Park.

Alfred needs a drink after his drink, a pre-drink. No amount of booze could ease the horrible nature of the atmosphere, but he bellies up to the bar and who is his better angel?

Liam-fucking-Neeson playing himself.

It is within him getting his drink that we find out the name of the joint- Cancel Club. I know, it’s a bit on the nose, but you can always boop and still be savage.

Liam talks about his transgression, and as aberrant and abhorrent as his words may fall, they land with a semblance of elegance.

The frightening thing is he still harbors those feelings. Those very toxic feelings. It’s something he’s trying to grapple with and this takes Paper Boi aback.

Now, for the record, Liam is the sweetest guy and he’s just playing a role.

With that being said, he leaves Al with an interesting parting word: the best part of being white is, given all the horrible, racist shit he may have said, he doesn’t have to learn anything he doesn’t want to.

He’s non-compos mentis, which Al can understand.

With the red curtain a la David Lynch behind the stage, Paper Boi is called up only to be saved by Lorraine, guiding him elsewhere.

It’s now daytime and he has no idea where the adventure will drag him. I mean, he didn’t know how to say “NO” back there.

Lorraine’s got a hold on him, but he’s not having it.

She assures him that growing a pair of balls isn’t the worst thing to come out of the experience. In fact, she spits facts. His fam got him looking like a goddamn fool, but he can’t see it.

He can’t see him looking Goofy. He can’t take stock of any of his potential. He can’t feel any of it because he can’t feel anything.

The chronic is now kicking in hard as fuck and in an “I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream” Midsommar way, he’s willing to know that the bud hit but hard.

We open up nearly where the first episode left off: in a hotel room, safe in bed.

Earn’s been keeping vigil over his cousin. Al was in a bad way, passing out on the street.

The funny thing though is Alfred asks but one question: Where is Lorraine?

It turns out, that Lorraine was the name of his mother.

Who owns his masters? He does. He sure as hell does.

This was the first episode Donald wrote of this season and with the fabulous Hiro Murai behind the lens, the one-two punch of this episode is official.

It has a soupcon of mystery, a ton of pathos, and just the right amount of cinematic quality. I personally didn’t know whether I wanted to laugh or cry, but the kid is a talent.

With only two more episodes left, the road to success is paved with uncertainty for the boys, but there is one absolute: Everybody’s in for a penny, everybody’s in for a pound.

Moon Knight Episode 6 Review: Gods and Monsters

By
Josh Speer
-
0
Moon Knight | Gods and Monsters Taweret
Taweret (voiced by Antonia Salib) in Marvel Studios' MOON KNIGHT, exclusively on Disney+. Photo courtesy of Marvel Studios. ©Marvel Studios 2022. All Rights Reserved.

Gods and Monsters Manages to Pull Off the Impossible, and Wraps Up Moon Knight With Style

So here we are again, with me covering Moon Knight. But the way I like to look at it is that it’s just a matter of balancing the scales (see what I did there?). Since Christian ably covered the first three episodes, I’m simply covering the back half. And boy, what a back half Moon Knight had! I wasn’t sure they could pull off a satisfying conclusion in one episode, but they did more than that. They executed another rousing action-packed climax that led me to one concrete opinion—we need another season of Moon Knight from Disney+.

Gods and Monsters | Layla Hiding
May Calamawy as Layla El-Faouly in Marvel Studios’ MOON KNIGHT, exclusively on Disney+. Photo by Csaba Aknay. ©Marvel Studios 2022. All Rights Reserved.

Gods and Monsters begins where we last saw Layla—in the tomb after Marc was fatally shot by Harrow. Harrow grabs the ushabti Marc / Steven found, and cracks it open, supercharging and transforming his already powerful gator staff. Thus the villain is ready to spread Ammit’s judgment to all of Egypt, starting with an unlucky security detail.

Meanwhile, Layla is hiding and taking it all in. She’s overwhelmed with grief over the death of her husband, and she’s ready for vengeance. She follows Harrow’s caravan in secret. She has plans of vengeance and a knife handy, but unfortunately Harrow is much more powerful now. He can affect multiple people with his sorcery at once, judging their worthiness. If they’re deemed worthy, they live. If not, they die, their souls sent to Ammit.

Gods and Monsters | Upgraded Harrow
Ethan Hawke as Arthur Harrow in Marvel Studios’ MOON KNIGHT, exclusively on Disney+. Photo by Gabor Kotschy. ©Marvel Studios 2022. All Rights Reserved.

Despite all this, Layla is ready and willing to knife him, until she gets saved at the last minute by our favorite hippo goddess, Taweret. Apparently she can possess the bodies of the dead, and does so to communicate Marc’s situation to Layla. She tells the mortal woman she must rescue Khonshu first if there’s any chance of Marc being brought back to life. She also asks Layla to be her avatar, which struck me as funny. Maybe all the Egyptian gods are just waiting for an opportune time to ask a worthy mortal to be their ride or die bitch? Either way, Layla passes for the moment, but we’ll return to that later.

As for Marc, he should be at peace in the Field of Reeds, but he feels enormous guilt for letting Steven get turned into sand during last week’s episode. So much so that he forgoes peace and tranquility, and risks everything to get Steven back. And luckily for all of us, he succeeds at the very last minute, right as he’s about to turn into sand himself. Maybe the gods were merciful, but regardless, his bond with Steven is renewed. Marc tells Steven that he was “the only superpower he ever had” and they both rush through Osiris’ open doors to the realm of the living before the desert consumes them.

Gods and Monsters | Suited Up
Oscar Isaac as Marc Spector in Marvel Studios’ MOON KNIGHT, exclusively on Disney+. Photo by Gabor Kotschy. ©Marvel Studios 2022. All Rights Reserved.

Far too late, the avatars of the other gods realize Harrow has been deceiving them, and they try and stop him. Unfortunately, he’s much too powerful for mere judges now, and he makes quick work of them. The only good thing is the battle buys Layla time to free Khonshu, albeit right after Ammit is released herself. And boy howdy, Ammit lives up to the hype. She’s big, bad and brutal. The only curious thing is that she seemingly has no idea who Harrow is, despite him utilizing her power. Which struck me as odd, but it’s the only part of the episode that felt out of place.

Despite not knowing Harrow well, Ammit is more than ready for this broken man to become her avatar. Which I took more as a sign of convenience than any moral ambiguity on her part. Because the one thing we know about the Egyptian gods is they are dedicated to their goals, and stick to them no matter the consequences. And Ammit wants to gobble up all the souls of the unworthy and punish any who did or might commit a crime in the future.

Gods and Monsters | Khonshu Unleashed
Khonshu (voiced by F. Murray Abraham) in Marvel Studios’ MOON KNIGHT, exclusively on Disney+. Photo courtesy of Marvel Studios. ©Marvel Studios 2022. All Rights Reserved.

Another thing Gods and Monsters made very clear, at least to me, is how untrustworthy Khonshu is. Sure, he’s technically fighting on team Moon Knight, but he’s more than willing to bend the truth to serve his aims. He quickly tries to recruit Layla to be his avatar, but she angrily refuses. The only good thing he does is tell her how to beat Ammit, which is binding her soul in a weaker form so she can be imprisoned. The tricky part is that the gator goddess is incredibly powerful, and more than a match for the sneaky old bird.

Gods and Monsters also features some epic fights. As anybody that’s a fan of the Marvel shows on Disney+ knows, the series tend to save the truly epic battle scenes for the last episode. Moon Knight is no exception, but I feel there’s nothing wrong with this model. It’s just good storytelling to save the climactic action for the final arc, and have it pave the way for the end of the tale. And boy are there some amazing fight scenes here.

Gods and Monsters | Scarlet Scarab

Ammit and Khonshu duke it out on several occasions, a renewed Moon Knight has a particularly epic fight scene where he alternates between Marc and Steven fluidly, and both hold their own. But the big surprise in Gods and Monsters is that Taweret’s deal to make Layla her avatar happens, and Layla becomes the heroic Scarlet Scarab! I admit to not being familiar with the character, but apparently it’s a riff on a Marvel hero from the 70s. All you need to know is that this version of Scarlet Scarab is like an Egyptian Wonder Woman, and she kicks all sorts of ass. She can fly and deflect bullets with her wings, and she’s just awesome. Which did throw my crazy theory about Layla becoming Ammit’s host into the dumpster, but I’m not even upset.

In the big fight scene, something weird happens, and Marc and Steven both lose time. When they awake, they’re suddenly victorious, despite having been on the verge of defeat. Still, they manage to bind Ammit inside Harrow’s body, but they refuse Khonshu’s order to kill the goddess. Finally, Khonshu abides by the deal Steven struck with him earlier, and releases the two personalities from his service.

Gods and Monsters | Stevie Boy
Oscar Isaac as Mr. Knight in Marvel Studios’ MOON KNIGHT, exclusively on Disney+. Photo courtesy of Marvel Studios. ©Marvel Studios 2022. All Rights Reserved.

Just when I was getting comfortable I knew what was going on, the episode has Marc and Steven wake up in an asylum AGAIN. They ask Harrow about reality, and notice the psychiatrist version of the man is leaving behind bloody footprints. Then they wake up again, chained to their bed, and it seems all is mostly well. Until the scene during the credits. I won’t ruin it, but suffice to say Christian’s theory about Jake Lockley turned out to be correct, and I’m now adamant we get another season of Moon Knight.

Gods and Monsters | Mind Games
(L-R): Oscar Isaac as Marc Spector and Ethan Hawke as Arthur Harrow in Marvel Studios’ MOON KNIGHT, exclusively on Disney+. Photo by Gabor Kotschy. ©Marvel Studios 2022. All Rights Reserved.

All in all, I was really happy to cover Moon Knight. It’s a show that not only honors an obscure and complex character, but it also illustrates the fragility of the human mind when confronted by loss. Not to mention the whole discussion about free will versus punishment of crime. Best of all, the show manages to pull off what I call an Inception move, and makes it so multiple interpretations of the series can be completely accurate. A great Disney+ series, and one I hope continues.

Marvel Comics Releases Giant-Size Gwen Stacy #1

By
Christian Angeles
-
0

A Giant-sized finale sees the end of Christos Gage and Todd Nauck’s saga of Gwen Stacy

Releasing in August, GIANT-SIZE GWEN STACY #1 is an epic one-shot. A re-release of the original two issues, plus the final three that were postponed until now, the comic collection is the finished product of the 2019 Gwen Stacy run.

The series takes place before AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #31 during a period before Gwen met Peter Parker. The comic sees Gwen go against villains such as the Green Goblin and Kingpin and takes place during the Silver Age.

“Working on the GWEN STACY miniseries with the brilliant Todd Nauck and Rachelle Rosenberg was a huge thrill, as I got to play in the timeline of the original Stan Lee/Steve Ditko Spider-Man stories – but BEFORE Gwen ever met Peter Parker – revealing untold tales about folks like Gwen, Green Goblin and Captain George Stacy,” Gage explained in Marvel’s Press release. “Unfortunately, COVID put the series on hold after just two issues. And it’s been a while, but…Gwen is back! And I couldn’t be happier! The icing on the cake is that for the first time I get to see my name on a GIANT-SIZE title…a nice thick volume containing ALL 5 issues! Ever since I was a kid, Marvel’s Giant-Size books have held a special place in my heart, so I couldn’t think of a better, more exciting way for Gwen to return. I thank everyone who’s waited so long, kept asking about the book, and retained their enthusiasm for it…I hope you find it worth the wait!”

The beauty queen of Standard High, Gwen Stacy is uniquely portrayed as a science whiz. A girl whose aptitude for brilliance is rivaled only by her indomitable spirit–a strait, that often gets Gwen into trouble. The story also sees Gwen take on a Marvel Universe-spanning conspiracy that gets her involved with the original X-Men.

“I am so excited to see our complete Gwen Stacy story is coming to the fans!” Nauck said in anticipation of the release “I had so much fun drawing this series and working with Christos, Nick Lowe, Lindsey Cohick, Ralph Macchio, and Rachelle Rosenberg! I really enjoyed brainstorming and working in aspects of the Marvel Universe of that era around Gwen and her story. Wait till fans see issue #4!”

In commemoration of the event, is a new cover by Oliver Vatine, and a variant cover by Peach Momoko of a very fashionable Gwen Stacy.

GIANT-SIZE GWEN STACY #1 arrives in August wherever comic books are sold.

GIANT-SIZE GWEN STACY #1
Written by CHRISTOS GAGE
Art by TODD NAUCK
Colors by RACHELLE ROSENBERG
Cover by OLIVIER VATINE
Variant Cover by PEACH MOMOKO
On Sale 8/10

Pax East 2022 Interview: Paul Cousins of Dead Fury

By
Christian Angeles
-
0

We spoke with Funder Game Studio’s Paul Cousins about his company’s upcoming zombie shooter: Dead Fury. 

Dead Fury is what you get when you take the gameplay of Days Gone, set it in a Last of Us styled narrative, and then endlessly go on a zombie shooting spree. A fast-paced shooter where the player must survive against hordes of undead. There is a lot to enjoy regarding Dead Fury and what it’s doing to keep the third-person zombie shooter feeling fresh, particularly in the game’s unique story setting.

“It’s set inside New Zealand, around the hometown area where I grew up,” shared Paul Cousins, the creator and lead developer of Dead Fury. “I want to immerse players in what it’s like to be in New Zealand. Things I experienced that I tried to recreate in the game. More representational than any actual real-world location. But the aesthetic is there. The foliage is there. The way that New Zealand looks and feels and sounds is all there.”

Cousins’ has personally constructed almost the entirety of Dead Fury. His attention to detail in creating a streamlined zombie shooter, stripped of the tiresome level-grind, is in pursuit of wanting Dead Fury to feel as practical and realistic as possible. This includes featuring guns with friendly turret fire and keeping players cognizant of their clip counts as they search for ammo. 

To create the feeling of immersion, 3D audio was used to incorporate the sensation of being in the zombie apocalypse. Atop of this, sound can actually attract nearby zombies, and so items such as suppressed weapons to quietly pick off hordes, as well as loud repeater turrets, were used. There are also interactive elements featured in the game such as fire extinguishers or exploding barrels. Combine this with strategic trap placement, and you have a different sort of zombie-slaying game that features very practical mechanics.

 

“There’s a reason you take 10-20 hours to grind through Days Gone to get through a horde like this because you need those skillsets. We’re trying to give the players a chance to take on a horde without all of that,” says Cousins about Dead Fury’s gameplay. “You get three guns. A primary, secondary, and heavy. With melee weapons as well, such as a machete and chainsaw. I’m super passionate about realism here as there’s a real big emphasis to provide players with brutality. Get too close to an explosion? It kills you. Stand in the friendly line of fire? it’s gonna kill ya.”

Indeed, the zombies featured in Dead Fury are of both the fast and slow variety. They can crawl, walk, and jump at the player, emphasizing the need for both horizontal and vertical aiming. 

The game stresses a lot of run and gun style of play. Staying in one location leads to being flanked or running out of ammo, and if the player isn’t careful, zombies can seemingly always spawn right along the player’s blind spot, making this an experience that keeps players on their toes. 

There are two planned modes for the game. First is the Dead Fury’s Story Mode, where you play as Jackson. He’s a man against the world surviving in a now shut-down New Zealand while staving off hordes of zombies using traps, guns, and third-person shooter mechanics. 

“In Dead Fury, a zombie virus has fully hit the world affecting the water where the disease is being transmitted. The organization that Jackson, our series protagonist, is working for is servicing and maintaining the water treatment facilities that the military now manages. His goal at this level is to try and get to the water treatment plants in order to repair them. Naturally, they’re overrun by hordes of infected,” said Cousins regarding the overall plotline of the game. “Overall, the game will take about six to ten hours to beat; however, it is being redesigned at the moment. We’re talking about bringing on a brilliant writer; possibly an academy award-winner.” 

In regards to the story mode’s progression thus far, “The more you play story mode, the different elements of the arcade unlock. It’s a level-based game right now. The next step is to do an open-world hub.”

Though The Workprint was unavailable to try story mode at PAX East, a demo of the game’s second mode, aptly titled Horde Mode, saw us stave off wave-upon-wave of zombies. 

As an arena shooter, you can see how much the aesthetics resemble Days Gone but are inspired by linear levels, where specific objectives for each scene are interrupted by hordes of zombies. What’s fun was the game’s gunplay, with head-shooting pistols, a powerful shotgun, and a super overpowered 50 caliber rifle. Cousins is hoping to reach a beta version available on Steam deck sooner rather than later. 

“It’s casual accessible gaming at its finest. That’s my goal is to try and curate for the player. It’s everything they’d love about a AAA game, condensed down to something that’s affordable, accessible, casual, and that they can play for an hour,” said Cousins. When talking about the game’s casual playstyle, “They’re not committed to this. They don’t have to be grinding for a whole weekend unless they want to, and when we roll out co-op, they’re gonna have a lot of reason to come back and play.”

The Endgame Episode 10 Review: Happily Ever After

By
Josh Speer
-
0
morena baccarin as elena federova looking up at paisley day herrera as sofiya, who is in a small lavender sundress
THE ENDGAME -- "Happily Ever After" Episode 110 -- Pictured: (l-r) Morena Baccarin as Elena Federova, Paisley Day Herrera as Sofiya -- (Photo by: Zach Dilgard/NBC)

Reeling From the Revelations of Last Week, Happily Ever After Starts Rosy and Ends Grimly

It’s honestly hard to believe The Endgame is already at the season finale, but here we are. The show has been playing a lot with the concept of fairy tales, from the name Snow White for Federova’s organization to her designation as the Queen to the title of today’s episode. While Happily Ever After starts really positive for the criminal mastermind, things quickly get darker and more complicated. And by the end of the episode, I was eager to see where a second season of The Endgame would take us.

The episode is framed by another story. This time from Elena to young Sofiya. It’s about an evil king, and it reveals without a shred of doubt what happened to the gold stolen from the Federal Reserve. It was moved to Peekskill Prison where inmates took the melted gold and pressed it into a new, harder-to-trace form – golden buttons. Which also sounds like the title of some unknown fable, but I digress. With this clarification, a lot of things started to come into focus, not least of all how Owen and Sergey found themselves in that exact prison, which wasn’t by accident.

Happily Ever After | Doak the pawn
THE ENDGAME — “Happily Ever After” Episode 110 — Pictured: Noah Bean as Patrick Doak — (Photo by: Zach Dilgard/NBC)

Another good thing about Happily Ever After is it makes painfully clear how corrupt and dirty President Wright is. He lies openly about Federova in a press conference, and then decides to set Doak on a quest. First he wants Doak to find and delete the evidence of his crimes, claiming they were fabricated by Elena. When something complicates that mission, Wright decides to send Doak to take young Sofiya hostage (because what fairy tale would be complete without some good old-fashioned kidnapping?), a goal the incompetent FBI goon is more than eager to undertake. He calls agents watching the girl’s house and then takes a helicopter to personally retrieve her.

Val is at a loss, and isn’t sure what to do about the missing queen of crime. But then she notices the light that was being used to communicate with Elena has gone silent, which means her people know she’s missing. We’re shown images of Snow White agents hunting for her using a signal from a broach she’s wearing to track her down.

Without any other avenues, Val decides to interrogate her husband at Peekskill prison. But right as she’s arriving, Owen and Sergey are escaping, strapped to the undercarriages of trucks ferrying away the stolen gold buttons. By the time Val realizes they’re gone, Elena is found and safely recovered by her men. Worse, Val finds proof that the man Owen escaped with is none other than Sergey, Elena’s supposedly dead husband. So much for Federova always telling her the truth.

Doak nearly takes Sofiya hostage, but luckily the old woman and young girl are a couple steps ahead of them. They get to a safe location where Sofiya and her mother tearfully reunite, moments before escaping, with Doak nipping at their heels.

Happily Ever After | On the hunt
THE ENDGAME — “Happily Ever After” Episode 110 — Pictured: (l-r) Chad Ackerman as Agent Pastore, Noah Bean as Patrick Doak — (Photo by: Zach Dilgard/NBC)

Meanwhile, the Belok’s convoy of trucks carrying gold buttons is interrupted by Owen and Sergey. Thanks to them being strapped to the bottom of their truck, they go unnoticed as the outside of the trucks is changed to avoid detection. Once they have an opportunity, they remove the Belok agents and take one truck in another direction. And not to be outdone, Val and Anthony find the other three trucks. Right as they’re assessing the situation, Elena calls and offers another riddle and some actual information to Val. Val’s not happy about Elena lying to her, but she knows her information is real. With it, the FBI agents take the Belok agents, shooting those armed with guns.

In the immediate aftermath of the shootout, Réal reveals some key information to Val that changes everything she thought she knew about her husband. And the same information also means he’s in extreme danger of being killed by Sergey. So Val and Flowers follow different leads to try and find him before anything happens.

Happily Ever After | Long live the Queen
THE ENDGAME — “Happily Ever After” Episode 110 — Pictured: Morena Baccarin as Elena Federova — (Photo by: Scott Gries/NBC)

Lady Belok makes a house call to President Wright in his own domain, and punishes him for his failure. I may not like the woman, but it’s clear she’s a powerful rival to Elena, even though in many ways they’re opposites. Whereas Federova is a scalpel, prone to manipulation and deceit, Belok is a cudgel, more than happy to beat down anything in her path with extreme force.

Val does manage to find Owen moments before Sergey executes him in cold blood, but then Snow White and Elena arrive and have them outgunned. Elena is exultant in her moment of glory, but she still offers a token of respect to Val. And because she can’t help herself, she gives her another perplexing clue about the matryoshka dolls. Unable to stop her, Val has to watch Elena escape with her family. While I’m sure Owen was hoping for a tearful reunion, after what Val discovered about his secrets, she can’t find it in herself to forgive him. At least not yet.

Happily Ever After | The dream team
THE ENDGAME — “Happily Ever After” Episode 110 — Pictured in this screengrab: Ryan Michelle Bathe as Val — (Photo by: NBC)

Because of his failure to grab Sofiya, Doak instead tries to recover the proof of Wright’s criminality and then erase the drive it was on. Luckily, an FBI tech manages to stop him before he erases the evidence, and Réal and Anthony put Doak in their crosshairs. When he makes a surprising decision later in the episode, the Director decides to use the information to leverage it against Doak in the future.

Happily Ever After started so well for Elena, but it ends in tragedy. Lady Belok catches up, and the consequences are beyond dire for Federova. And as Val finds another thread to follow in Fort Totten, a bereft Elena calls and asks her for help.

I have to say, overall I was really pleased with season 1 of The Endgame. I feel it managed to differentiate itself enough from The Blacklist, and Morena Baccarin has proven her acting chops in this morally grey role. Here’s hoping the show gets another season to keep telling this story of duty, ambition and corruption.

The Death of the Arrowverse, and Why it Matters

By
Josh Speer
-
0
the cast of legends of tomorrow walking towards the audience

Just When You Thought It Was Safe to Be a Comic Nerd Again, the CW Shakes Up the Arrowverse

DC’s heroes have faced some truly epic threats over the years. Deranged madmen, powerful futuristic technology, and even some entities so powerful they can only be understood on a scale of gods or elementals. So it’s kind of ridiculous that the thing that killed the CW’s Arrowverse was corporate greed. If it was that easy, it’s no wonder we have no superheroes in our own world. Someone like Elon Musk would have bought them off with a boatload of cash before they could save one person in distress.

Arrowverse | Flash

Let’s back up a little. I’m lamenting that the proposed merger between Warnermedia and Discovery seems to have some collateral damage already. Regardless of whether or not the CW remains afterward, they’ve already decided to kill two great shows – Batwoman and Legends of Tomorrow. I would argue Batwoman was the strongest it’s been in the last season, and Javicia Leslie brought more to the character than Ruby Rose ever did. And as for Legends, what can I say? It was the boldest, most ambitious DC show on the CW, and it kept fans entertained like few others. It gave us lovable and quirky characters and even resurrected John Constantine from the short-lived NBC series. I was always eager to see what creative mayhem the Legends could spin from week to week.

Arrowverse | Green Arrow

See, the Arrowverse has been around since Flash joined the party in 2014, with other shows arriving later to complement Ollie Queen’s adventures. And though there’s been ups and downs for all the Arrowverse shows, they always took big swings and orchestrated some truly amazing crossover events. They took chances and were always trying to keep things fresh and interesting. But the reason I’m really down in the mouth about all this is that they didn’t just kill one of my favorite shows. Killing Legends and Batwoman almost entirely removes any possibility for another crossover. Not to mention there’s a good chance many of these shows will get locked behind a paywall.

Arrowverse | Black Lightning

Another part of the potential merger is that many of the CW shows are already streaming on HBO Max, with more to come. Which, unlike the CW, is a paid subscription service. Here’s the thing. Since Disney, Paramount, and Netflix love charging us for the privilege of watching shows, I fear there’s a good chance the Arrowverse shows might become available solely through a paywall. Given that we’ve enjoyed watching all the CW shows for a decade while everything else started to become monopolized by greedy streaming services, this worries me.

Arrowverse | Supergirl

Normally I’m more of a Marvel boy than a DC guy, but as a longtime nerd, there was something reassuring about being able to just watch comic fandom whenever I wanted. Not only is the CW free on television, but it also has a free streaming app that was recently launched. So long as you don’t fall into a coma for an extended period, that meant you never had to work that hard to stay caught up with your favorite shows. And there were a lot of great ones, from Black Lightning to Legends of Tomorrow, Flash and Supergirl, and recently added darlings like Stargirl and Superman & Lois.

Arrowverse | Batwoman

More than anything, this makes me sad because the CW was a lone bastion of decency in an era plagued by more and more fly-by-night streaming services. I even remarked as much when I was complaining earlier this year about Disney and the Marvel Netflix shows (though that miraculously wound up much better than expected). Now it feels like we can only look forward to being constantly gouged by huge corporations that just happen to have a stranglehold on our favorite things. You’d think having all this streaming competition would benefit the user somehow, force savings and deals, but I have yet to see that happen in any meaningful way.

Arrowverse | Superman and Lois

So the fate of the CW hangs in the balance. I fervently hope it manages to defy the odds and remain in some recognizable form. But regardless of what happens, we’ve lost two really fantastic shows, and possibly the capacity for more epic crossover events in the future. And as someone that loves comic books and what they represent, that’s like hearing that Lex Luthor has just become president. Here’s hoping some Superman equivalent manages to save the day, no matter how unlikely…

PAX East 2022 Hands-On Impressions: Source of Madness

By
Christian Angeles
-
0
source of madness acolyte using an ability

If you like Castlevania and Eldritch Horror powered by machine learning A.I. where no terror feels ever the same, then you’ll find Source of Madness horrifyingly awesome.

Any time I’ve ever gone to one of these conventions, whether it be a Comic-Con, a Gen Con, or in this case a Pax East gaming Convention, there has always been that rare gem nobody seems to be talking about. An event or experience that’s just so incredibly unique and unabashedly intriguing that it seems rather strange nobody is talking about it. Sometimes, there are just some hits that are going to blow people away. I personally think Source of Madness will be that game from PAX East 2022.

“Source of Madness is a side-scrolling dark action rogue-lite set in the Loam Lands, a twisted Lovecraftian-inspired world powered by procedural generation and AI machine learning,” says Source of Madness’ description on Steam, “Take on the role of a new Acolyte as they embark on a nightmarish odyssey. Uncover the cosmic secrets of the Loam Lands and The Tower of Madness, the moon’s mysterious Citadel.”

Besides Shredder’s Revenge, this is the other game that really stood out to us at The Workprint at PAX, as the game’s design and dedication to the environment, Eldritch horror and the combat feels nothing shy of amazing. It was clearly a labor or love and dread, filled with tentacled and eerie artwork, fantastic use of in-game lighting, and very maneuverable controls featuring projectile rings of power meant for attacking and casting.

Gameplay mechanics in the game are a straightforward combat system that utilizes a pair of ring powers for two different attack triggers (usually, each of a separate skill or attack element). This encourages a lot of diversity to gameplay depending on how the player wants to approach their tasks. 

Because every new acolyte used for each run has a different set of skills, there is a lot of customization in terms of gameplay. Some can be generalists. Others can be pyromancers and other classes besides. The limits are up to the player, what kinds of weapon rings of power they find, and however they desire to approach the game–which is encouraged, given that the game is always throwing out new things.

Between levels, the merchants Roy and Roger are at work at a safehouse. The player can sell extra equipment, buy goods, and save their progress; and of course, stock up on better bits of everything. The gameplay just progressively gets better as the game continues.

In terms of level design, each 2D in-game maze is randomly generated so that you’re constantly in a state of misdirection. There’s platforming and hidden secrets at almost every turn. The Eldritch horrors are also randomly generating their designs (you’ll never face the same monster encounter twice), but also mixing up their attacks, meaning that despite how skilled of a player the character created can be, the unique enemy patterns change every time. 

This makes for some really cool and challenging battles, often against monstrosities over 10 times your size, where you don’t know what to expect! Atop of this, gothic fans will love the artwork in the game as it’s a dreary Victorian nightmare. Each level, full of unique environmental biomes that spawn certain types of enemies (i.e. cave dwellings will feature spiders). 

“The game is a 2D Rogue-lite action platformer in which you play as a new acolyte for every single run and try to brave the Eldritch horrors along the way,” said Kyle T. Johnson, the sales manager over at Thunderbolt publishing who has worked closely with studio Carry Castle and the game’s original creators. He then went over the terrors on screen, “If you look at the screen right now, the horror it’s an abomination of limbs, eyes, tentacles–whatever you can imagine. But it also seems to be using a poison attack. See, every monster forces you to adapt differently. You learn to pick-up some patterns but you’ll always have to be on your toes. Every battle is unique.”

Overall, with such gorgeous visuals, kick-butt mechanics, and a lot of fun terrors that’ll keep you on your toes, I highly recommend Source of Madness. The early access Beta is out now on Steam. The full release is coming on May 11th.

PAX East 2022 Hands-On Impressions: Lego Bricktales

By
Christian Angeles
-
0
seven types of landscapes featured in bricktales

A Lego game where the things you build stay in the environment, Bricktales is the best of Bridge Builder and Classic Lego Construction Kits.

They’ve made a chess game, Ninjago, the Legends of Crimea, a free-build creator series, Star Wars, Harry Potter, and of course: an adaptation of Batman on both video game and pc. Since 1995 there have been 85 commercial videogames based on Lego properties. But with Lego Bricktales, for the first time in the franchise’s longstanding history, there will finally be a game where original and unique constructs crafted by the user appear immediately within their interactive world. 

Lego Bricktales is a game dedicated to good old-fashioned block brick building. Developed by ClockStone, the same developers that make the popular bridge constructor series, and published by Thunderful, what makes this Lego experience unique is that it’s a wholesome story meant for kids that stresses more of a focus more on creativity, taking Lego back to its roots. 

The objective in Bricktales is to build using blocks based off dioramas. With no complicated intellectual properties dictating the experience (i.e. no Star Wars or Harry Potter themes) and with extra pieces given for every puzzle, the imaginative possibilities for how to solve it are totally left to the user to construct. 

 

The Story

The basic campaign for Bricktales sees the player go on a worldwide adventure with a robot friend in order to help find a way to save the family business and revitalize their grandfather’s rundown amusement park! Tasked to rebuild constructs brick-by-brick while traveling corner-to-corners of the earth, the Lego Bricktales journey takes the player across unique biomes of jungles, deserts, cities, castles, and even islands. Locations where the character must find and help new allies solve puzzles to unlock new secrets. The kind of information that will be needed to rebuild the amusement park, customize the rides, and make them their own.

It’s part designer puzzle solver, but also just fun with Legos! Which speaks to the hearts of these toys from childhood. The best thing? Once you construct a piece it’s forever in that part of the world! A permanent fixture of architecture you can play on, that the user put into this world. It’s up to the user to build and solve these puzzles to build in their environment.

 

The Gameplay 

A big aspect of the bridge builder games is to see what support beams are needed to cross a bridge and ferry a group over. The physics need to work. Stairs must be built. Paths must be steady on solid foundations. For people that love building towers and bridges, the game is a challenging puzzle solver. Though with the extra pieces than necessary, it makes it so that a solution is almost always possible. Which should encourage kids to creatively find solutions to problems.

But what blew us away at the PAX East Lego Bricktales demo was just how much it captured that feeling of letting out dozens of bricks spread across the floor. The itch to put them together from a tiny manual guide into making something cohesive and, possibly, wonderful. And while the campaign is this brick-builder with physics mechanics, the other half of Lego Brick Tales is without the instructions! 

The planned sandbox mode is basically a free build. Which, for anyone who’s ever loved Minecraft, is more-or-less a place of fun possibilities and intuitive brick building. Though we don’t know anything official about the sandbox mode in terms of gameplay (which I think will probably be the game’s biggest appeal), we do know that Bricktales is expected to release in 2022. 

 

The Controls

Most of the controls are straightforward as the game’s early tutorials teach all the game’s mechanics step-by-step. I will note, however, that locking in brick into the exact place wasn’t easy on an Xbox controller, though I’d imagine it would be in terms of playing the game on PC where mouse-and-keyboard seem like the perfect precision controls that this game will require.

Placement of brick pieces did feel a little clunky, in that you’d need to adjust the camera angle and piece rotation, often having to gauge the placement of a piece based on the construct’s pieces or shadows seen from down below. Still, once you get the hang of the mechanics it’s a lot of fun building pieces together in traditional Lego fashion.

Like in the bridge builders, you establish the piece and then run a simulation to see whether or not something can traverse through. There’s a zoom in/out function and useful undo/redo features that allow you to test out if a build is working. Red bricks establish where on the base you’d need to build something, connect pieces, and supports and suspensions. All for a little creative engineering.

 

The Takeaway

Simply put, if you loved the aspect of constructing things with Legos, this is your game. If you loved bridge builders, this is your game. If you’d want to raise your child to be an engineer one day, yep, this is your game.

It’s fun if you like puzzles and building things. Just don’t go in expecting Lego Star Wars Skywalker Saga because this is more of a game about thinking and creative building. 

 

 

 

Atlanta Season 3 Episode 7 Review – Trini 2 De Bone

By
Robert Kijowski
-
0

I remember my first funeral. It was for a teacher I loved dearly. I remember the car ride to it. Alanis Morissette’s “Ironic” was on the radio as I passed a bridge to that arrival.

I was scared to death about seeing a body in repose, the place where we’re ALL destined.

My grandmother’s passing had me in therapy, and only years later, I’ve learned to appreciate how people celebrate life through it, as she was my caretaker for the most formidable places in my young life.

I still take her Italian recipes with me to the grave, not only her sauce but also her soul because they both sunk in.

You can’t get any better feeling at home than down into the bone.

Welcome to the seventh episode of Atlanta (FX) titled “Trini 2 De Bone”.

We open on a white man jogging through the city. As “Black Harlow” by Sada Baby blasts a vehement rapping in his earphones, all the way to his high rise. This is Miles (Justin Hagan).

His son, Sebastion (Indy Sullivan Groudis), or “Bash” awaits Sylvia. He won’t even touch his bland breakfast sandwich without her homemade spicy curry mango. Things seem off, as Sylvia, his caretaker is late and with good reason: she’s not for this world.

After Miles receives the call, a knock is heard on the door and a package is left with nary a courier insight. It is addressed to Sylvia Hossonah.

Miles’ wife Bronwyn (Christina Bennett Lind), escorts her son into school, simply throwing a blanket over Sylvia’s absence. He only wants Sylvia, causing his mother to nearly break down. The perceptive lad thinks mum is sad because she’s ‘missed yoga class’, but in the back of his mind, he may know better.

Maybe this pain is due to the fact her own flesh and blood pines for the company of someone who isn’t technically family, but her son would soon croon a different tune.

As the bell tolls for Bash’s first class, it turns out school is in session for both of his parents, as clearly, they haven’t made the grade…

That night in the cab on the way home, Bronwyn gets a Facetime from hubby. They both seem alright in light of the situation.

He tried to leave the package with the doorman, but he honestly didn’t know its origins.

Bronwyn also relays that Bash’s teacher inquired about both of their being in absentia on family picture day. Right in front of the boy.

They both seem incredulous, going as far as using the term “ridiculous” (a word used by the dude trying to explain reparations to his child), Bash couldn’t be the only one in a private school left high and dry due to their parents having high ranking jobs.

Where they are lopped off at the knees is how to spill the beans to Bash.

Though wifey second-guesses if breaking the seal and popping that bottle is a recipe for a cork to the eye, Miles is all for confronting the truth, front and center.

He even cites presumably Sebastian’s psychologist, Dr. Lipschitz (which, is a funny joke), finding a ‘teachable moment’ in the wild.

At home, they both try to ease the conversation with their son in terms of the dinosaurs he’s playing with, but mollycoddling discourse only muddies the water, so Miles outright says that his beloved nanny, Sylvia has died.

The poor precocious cherub understands the concept. He’s never been given credit, it seems, for his emotional intelligence by his parents.

He simply wishes one last time for her to say goodbye, and then continue on being dead. They gently shoot down that wish.

If such is the case then, he would at least like to see her one last time.

Again, though Miles is all for transparency, Bronwyn is hesitant. A knock is heard again at the door.

As daddy goes to answer it, Bash is inquisitive as to where Sylvia had gone off to. Though his mother cannot offer any fast-food explanation, he posits that maybe she went back to Trinidad and Tobago… and that’s something you can’t fucking order in.

Opening the door, at Miles’ feet lay the very same package with a ‘2nd ATTEMPT’ stamped, still with no courier in an eye’s length over that long hallway. Not even any footsteps.

As Bronwyn cleans out Sylvia’s closet, she bemoans not hiring somebody younger. With that, Miles doubles down on wanting to take Bash to her funeral, honoring his wishes instead of having him potentially live in fear of death.

After all, as he puts it, the living room used to be for showcasing the dead before America started turning up its noses on reality.

That night in bed, Bronwyn skirts the current situation by burying her brain in the future: a cosmopolitan nanny or a Chinese one.

She’s suddenly frightened by the child, in the doorway.

The poor kid’s scared and only heightened because Sylvia’s no longer there.

Now Bronwyn’s equally as scared. She feels she must fill that feminine void, but even her attempting a good backrub couldn’t make the tyke fall asleep, because it’s not simple motions.

She cannot replicate what Bash references as Sylvia’s ‘Sweet T and T’ song which contains the line “Trini To De Bone”.

Raffie’s “Baby Beluga” can go fuck itself. Shit ain’t got no soul, so though, I know you’re trying your best, Bron, but hon, it’s too little too late.

On their way to the funeral, the Warners are now the fish out of the water, deep in the heart of Harlem. In Bronwyn’s semi-snarky tone, they’re “practically in the islands”. Classy.

Pulling up in his rich black SUV, Miles attempts to address two guys sitting out, but Khadija (Khadija Speer), Sylvia’s daughter greets them.

Pleasantries are exchanged before one of the guys, Richard, calls Miles a ‘cockroach’.

Khadija diplomatically assures them it’s not as bad as it sounds until Bash pipes that “cockroach has no place at fowl party.”

Chickens will eat cockroaches if given the opportunity if no better option is around.

Immediately, Khadija takes a shine to Sebastian. It turns out that because Bash is family, his parents are simply guests. This means, though, despite Bronwyn’s silent pleas, they will stay for the food wake-cum-food-coma.

When speaking with Khadija, Bash turns very vocal. He’s even happy, talking from the soul as if he were born Trini himself in another life.

Inside the funeral parlor, the three walk past the grieving, making a b-line to Sylvia’s casket.

Miles lifts up his son to view the one person that meant the world to him and the reality of that blue spinning marble.

No tears are shed on the boy’s eyes—just a calmness that washes over him like an ‘ocean breath’.

Proceeding back to their seats, they meet her comparè who offers his services, and Curtis (Chet Hanks), a gentleman with a thick accent that Sylvia nannied when he was a child.

He’s not from the islands though. He’s from Tribeca.

(Yes, that Chet Hanks.)

As the Preacher (Noel Arthur) arrives with an opening joke, the Warners realize this isn’t going to be what they are used to.

Two out of three ain’t bad, right?

It’s a ‘homegoing service’ and with each and every Amen, Bash is as vocal in the call in response as his parents had ever seen.

It’s as if he’s in a trance, tethered to Sylvia Lucille Hosannah from the beyond.

Sylvia’s noted to be survived by her children Princess Lee (Alia Raquel), Khadija Lee, and Steven Lee Jr.

It turns out she was a nanny to many in NYC as well as an accomplished ballet dancer and teacher before having kids of her own.

With each and every passing praise to Sylvia, including being the first of her family to move from Trinidad to NYC and sending money to her family, Princess Lee is growing mighty silent.

Before she is bound for the loam, her final request is a limbo dance from students and alumni complements of an after-school high school dance program she herself founded to the tune of “Trini 2 De Bone.”

At the mere mention of this, Bash is smiling and animated.

His parents see this as a step in the right direction. Maybe a ‘teachable moment’ has come to pass!

With everybody in high spirits and on their feet, Princess Lee ain’t feeling so hot… until she’s feeling HOT!

Macing the merriment and mirth, she takes hold of the mic and everybody’s attention…

She spits the truth when she said that her success came at the sacrifice of her and Steven. She lights the fuse by punching her mother’s coffin, ultimately inciting bedlam.

With fists flying into the air, her sister histrionic sister climbing into the coffin, Curtis filming it all for the austere posterity of Worldstar, the circus is brought all to a halt by the comparè.

They are scaring the white people!

Upon asking the most important one, Bash, if he’s scared, a mere nod speaks volumes.

The comparison assures him there’s nothing to worry about.

They’re all sad. That is the way they grieve.

On the drive home that night, silence ensues in the car until Miles starts singing “Trini 2 de Bone”.

Hey, rip the flesh, sinew, and muscle off. All you still have is the skeleton when left in the grave.

Tucked in for the night, Miles makes sure that sonny is alright. He assuredly is, as he bids his dad goodnight as well as Sylvia.

Bronwyn’s lassitude is showing.

She’s worried that their son witnessing the problems of one mother not being there would inject thoughts into his head that they weren’t there when he needed them the most.

Miles assures her that bash is very much fine. It’s his coping and trusting versus her not coping nor trusting.

Bronwyn confesses that when she asked him earlier what he wanted to be when all grown up, his response was to “play steelpan like Uncle Samuel”.

This confounds both of them.

Later that night, a vehement RAPPING is at the door and, unlike the prior two times, will not stop… until he’s but a foot away from the door. He opens the door to find the same parcel and once and for all opens it up. What does he find?

Why it’s Sebastian and Sylvia on parent picture day!

He rifles through a few 8x10s until he sees it. He is broadsided by the picture. The stare of Sylvia and Sebastian looking HARD at the viewer, at his dad as if to say to Miles and Bronwyn from beyond the grave, “We’re the winning team. You guys are simply in the stands.”

Miles wanted transparency for his son. Well, I guess he got it, smiling right back at him. Front and center.

Sometimes you don’t have to wear contacts just to see the context in front of you.

Or maybe it’s not your eyes that need to get checked but rather your heart.

… Out of the mouth of Babes…

Ordained strength.

 

 

Three Ways to Improve The Ultimatum: Marry or Move On

By
Rebecca Wang
-
0
Nick and Vanessa Lachey hosting The Ultimatum: Marry or Move On
Nick and Vanessa Lachey hosting The Ultimatum: Marry or Move On. Source: IMDb

Nick and Vanessa Lachey’s new reality show on Netflix about getting married (or not) leaves more to be desired

On April 6, renowned celebrities cum social scientists Nick and Vanessa Lachey premiered their new Netflix reality show, The Ultimatum: Marry or Move On.

Fans of their other series, Love is Blind, heard about this from the second season’s reunion episode. In Love is Blind, we explored the question of whether two people who forged a romantic connection without ever laying eyes on each other could then speed through a vacation and a stint of living together to saying “I do” at the altar.

In The Ultimatum, we explored whether two people already in a committed relationship could be motivated by an ultimatum to take the relationship to the next level. Anyone who’s read an advice column or subreddit (such as r/relationship_advice) knows that issuing an ultimatum isn’t usually a good idea. But apparently, it worked for the Lacheys, so they wanted to see if it could work for others willing to televise their dirty laundry.

The Ultimatum Cast

Here’s how the show worked. There were six couples based in Austin, Texas:

  • Jake (age 26) and April* (23)
  • Colby* (25) and Madlyn (24)
  • Zay (25) and Rae* (24)
  • Randall (26) and Shanique* (24)
  • Hunter (28) and Alexis* (25)
  • Nate* (30) and Lauren (29)

Each couple had been together for roughly two years. Each had one person—the one with the asterisk (*) next to their name in the above list—demanding that they either get engaged ASAP or just stop wasting each other’s time.

Alexis and Hunter lean in for a kiss
“I initiated the conversation with Hunter about an ultimatum,” Alexis explained in the first episode. “I’m ready to make the next step. And I basically told Hunter, ‘We either get engaged or we break up.'”
  • For the first week, the twelve cast members got to date among each other and see if they clicked with anyone else.
  • Then there was a choosing ceremony where, one at a time, a participant selected someone they were interested in living with for a three-week “trial marriage.”
  • After that, the original six couples got back together for another three-week period of living together.

The goal was to see if “the experience,” as it was often called throughout the show, changed anything in these people’s minds. Would they reflect and learn from their wants, needs, and potential areas of self-improvement? Or would they double down on their original stance, whether they were for or against getting married? At the end, they had to decide whether to move forward with a proposal or break up with each other.

According to Today, Netflix has already green-lit a second season, and it is going to feature an all-queer cast. This could be very interesting indeed if it makes most or all of the participants fair game for “trialing” each other. However, if the show doesn’t make certain other improvements that I’m suggesting below, the novelty of this singular casting choice could wear off quickly.

1. Give us all the spicy moments

With only nine episodes covering the seven-week duration of the experience, it felt as though we in the audience missed out on a lot of events and interactions.

Let’s be honest: We were mostly interested in the second phase, the trial marriages with other people. We were dying to see if anyone would use the experience as a free pass to stray outside their relationship, fall in love with someone else, or even become willing to get engaged with someone else.

Surely there was enough content from those three weeks to fill just one more episode. For example, in episode 4, Zay and Colby got into an argument about a night when they went clubbing together.

Colby argues with an off-screen Zay
“How was that fake?” Colby demanded of an off-screen Zay, as audiences with zero context watched in confusion.

I didn’t even realize those two were pals like that. What was that night like? Did any of the other cast members hang out as friends? Aside from that one dinner and Alexis’ bachelorette party, did other girls’ or guys’ nights out transpire? If not, there should be next time.

I would have also liked to see each participant introduce their trial partner to family or friends. Only half of them did it in season one. Zay shared a meal with Shanique’s family, Jake raced cars with Rae’s father, Jake’s mother told him that Rae wasn’t nearly as good for him as April, and Madlyn’s friends fawned over Randall.

Madlyn's friends talk about how perfect Randall is
“Is there anything wrong with you?” Madlyn’s friend asked Randall, who seemed “pretty perfect” to the group.

What about the other half? I would have loved to see Randall introduce Madlyn to the people in his life and elicit incredulous reactions (in what world does she play in remotely the same league as the vibrant, stunning Shanique?). Zay should have shown Shanique his notorious party scene. And even though they weren’t interested in each other that way, April and Colby should have done this anyway, just to hear what kinds of comparisons might get made with their original partners.

Oh yeah, and somehow April and Colby wound up as BFFs by the end of their trial marriage? How did that happen? Aside from Colby taking care of April while she was sick, we never saw them do anything together, not even grab a drink or brunch. If they were each doing their own thing—which we knew was definitely the case for Colby—we still should have been privy to glimpses of it.

By comparison, each season of Love is Blind had ten episodes covering a slightly shorter time frame.

2. Give us couples who have been together longer

Two-year relationships are too short for a show like this. Half of these couples hadn’t even moved in together yet. It was hard to care much about these outcomes when communication was so bad all around, and every interaction dredged up memories of your worst college or high school dates.

When I was in my early to mid-twenties, it felt as though all the long-term relationships around me were crashing down. Someone in a lukewarm four-year relationship eventually decided that “nothing is really wrong” wasn’t a good enough reason to keep it going. A pair of high school sweethearts who had been together for eight years realized they’d grown apart. A ten-year relationship collapsed, and then an eleven-year one.

That’s the kind of situation The Ultimatum viewers can feel invested in. Give us couples who have held each other’s hands through prom, graduations, moves, and maybe periods of long-distance dating. Ones where someone sacrificed a dream to pack up and follow their other half somewhere for college or work. Ones who would need to rediscover themselves if their partners aren’t willing to move forward with their relationships because this is all they’ve known throughout their formative years. 

3. Give us older couples

In a similar vein, the idea of starting over at age 23 evoked such a minute emotional response, that it was almost boring. Don’t get me wrong; I liked April for her confidence and sympathized with her fertility issues. I just couldn’t believe that a show about the urgency of marriage featured only one couple with a 29- and a 30-year-old.

Every participant should be 29 or older. We want people whose life plans entailed getting married by their mid or late twenties. Those who face the prospect of a geriatric pregnancy by the time they get all their ducks in a row. Those who worry that they’ll be too old to play sports with their future kids. Those who have been experiencing mounting pressure from their families year over year to get married and produce grandchildren already.

These are the situations where ultimatums almost feel like life or death—and that’s good drama.

Final Thoughts

The first season of The Ultimatum: Marry or Move On definitely served up some juicy moments involving heated arguments, jealousy, confusing new feelings, even surprise proposals—all important stuff for reality TV. Yet overall, it induced more eye-rolls than dropped jaws. Everyone seemed too immature, most of the conflicts too trifling and drawn-out. Season two can do better.

Rogue Legacy 2 Review: Bigger, Bolder, Better

By
Bilal Mian
-
0
Rogue Legacy 2 Review

Cellar Door Games is back with the release of Rogue Legacy 2, the follow-up to 2013’s genre-defining roguelike. 

Much like its predecessor, Rogue Legacy 2 has players take control of a hero tasked with extinguishing evil within a randomly generated castle. Every time the hero dies, players pick from one of three heroes, each with their own unique traits, from the bloodline of the fallen hero. While the core gameplay loop remains similar to the original, Rogue Legacy 2 expands on the franchise in every way possible.

One of the first things I noticed playing Rogue Legacy 2 was how good the game looked and performed. The action is snappy and responsive which made it almost impossible for me to put down the controller between each run. 

“One more run” became a common mantra as I played late into the night, running through randomized dungeons, defeating enemies, and collecting gold in order to upgrade my hero’s stats at the Manor. Utilizing the Manor I was able to upgrade health, armor, and mana and unlock new character classes and vendors. However, with each upgrade, the cost of the subsequent one increases, and trust me, it gets costly pretty fast! 

Vendors like the Blacksmith will allow you to upgrade your gear while the Architect would let you lock the dungeon from your previous run, for a cost, allowing you to continue your progress through a dungeon you just ran. 

As I made my way through each run of the castle, I started to come across heirlooms, which serve as permanent upgrades for your character. They include the abilities to dash, read memories, spin kick, double jump, and more. In order to unlock an heirloom, you first have to find them in a biome and then complete the heirloom challenge using the challenge’s respective ability. With each of these unlocks, the ever-changing walls within the castle open up even further allowing me to progress into further biomes. 

I also came across Relics in my runs but I quickly came to realize picking one up had its pros and cons. Relics are tied to Resolve, a stat that is tied to how heavy your armor is. The lighter your armor, the more Resolve you have. Every relic has a varying cost that drops your total Resolve for the run if you decide to pick it up. If your Resolve drops below 100%, your total max health will be decreased. So when you’re tempted with adding burn to your attacks or being able to revive at 50% health when you die, you’ll have to leverage whether or not it is worth the cost of your maximum HP for that run. 

The sense of exploration in Rogue Legacy 2 is outstanding. There seems to be something new around each corner and in each chest every time I sat down with the game. In one of my runs, I encountered a woman who delivered pizza for a store in the second biome. I befriended her and she went on to help unlock teleporters to each of the biomes – for a cost, of course. Everything has a cost. This allowed me to quickly make my way to the biomes. Just this morning, I solved one of the riddles in my quest log which unlocked a 15% damage buff against the boss of the first biome. I really could have used that earlier! 

And let’s be clear, upgrading and exploring are essential. Sure making progress is the goal, but Rogue Legacy 2 is a hard game. For some runs, you’ll get super lucky and have amazing traits or artifacts on your hero that will make the run feel amazing. In one particular run, I had a Barbarian start with an artifact that had a 20% chance to turn their critical hits into super critical hits. The Barbarian class happens to crit on all ground attacks. This led to me beat a boss by dealing an absurd amount of damage for an encounter that I was wayyyyy under-leveled for. 

In other runs, I’ve had dungeon layouts or enemies quickly chip away at my health. Some rooms felt like I was playing a shoot-em-up with how many projectiles I was trying to dodge. At one point I grew frustrated with my repeated failure and dug into the menus and found a saving grace – House Rules. 

House Rules allows players of Rogue Legacy 2 to balance the game around how they want to play with no penalty at all. By turning on House Rules players can adjust Enemy Health and Enemy Damage from 50% up to 200%. You can enable the ability to fly if you don’t feel like platforming and turn off enemy contact damage as well. The options can be toggled on the fly and it feels great. 

Rogue Legacy 2 Review

Instead of banging my head against a wall and grinding for gold for upgrades, I was able to change the difficulty to what I was in the mood for. Lowering the difficulty doesn’t make Rogue Legacy 2 a cakewalk. Boss fights still require you to dodge and play smart. Just because the enemy deals less damage to you and has less health doesn’t mean they are pushovers. But it does mean more people can approach a difficult game and balance it to find fun in their own way. One downside though, you may find yourself under-leveled if you blast through a biome too fast by lowering the difficulty. Upgrading and leveling your character is key to progress.

Rogue Legacy 2 is a bigger, better, and bolder and sets the bar higher for the roguelike genre. Even with 20+ hours in the game, there is still more to uncover and even more for me to unlock in New Game+. If you’re a fan of the genre or looking to try a roguelike, Rogue Legacy 2 will have you going “just one more run” late into the night. 

Final Score – 9.5

An Xbox review copy of Rogue Legacy 2 was shared with The Workprint for review purposes. Our review is based off of time spent playing the game on the Xbox Series X and Series S consoles. 

Moon Knight Episode 5 Review: Asylum

By
Josh Speer
-
0
Moon Knight Asylum WTF

Asylum Is a Short But Emotionally Supercharged Episode of Moon Knight that Sets Things Up Well for the Finale

Well folks, I thought last week would be my one and only Moon Knight writeup, but I’m here again. And boy, was Asylum a doozy of an episode to cover. Despite having a shorter runtime than most of the episodes thus far, it packed an emotional punch that walloped me by the end.

The good news is, Marc and Steven aren’t crazy. Or rather, they’re not just imagining all that’s happened to them prior to waking up in the ‘psychiatric facility’. The bad news is, that means they are both very much dead men, and currently taking a trip down an Egyptian afterlife called the Duat. Inside the boat, their human minds cobble together something they can understand, as explained by their helpful hippo guide/goddess, Taweret. Outside, eerie desert, a dark sun and hordes of souls that failed the test Marc and Steven are about to try and pass.

Moon Knight Asylum Hippo

To pass the test posed by Taweret, their hearts must achieve balance on the scales of justice when weighed against a feather. And for obvious reasons, their scales are out of whack. So their only choice is to face some painful memories together in the hopes it might balance the scales. That would mean they land someplace pleasant called the Field of Reeds. If they’re not balanced, the souls of the Duat will claim them forever in the cold, merciless sands. So, you know, no pressure.

Moon Knight Asylum Judgment

When Marc and Steven aren’t reliving truly painful memories, Marc spends a lot of time jumping around between different realities. He even starts to accept Doctor Harrow’s prognosis about his mental state, at least until faced with the unquestionable reality of the Duat. And it’s clear that Marc is hiding something, not just from himself, but from Steven as well.

Moon Knight Asylum Therapy

Without going into all the gory details, I will say that Marc blames himself for the death of his younger brother. The direct result of that tragedy is that his mother starts blaming him entirely, and sees him as someone to punish instead of a child she should love. And as her behavior escalates, drinking heavily, screaming and beating his door, even taking a belt to young Marc, he does the only thing a helpless child can. He creates another personality to hide from the horrors of his life. He creates Steven Grant.

Now, while that may make it sound like Steven is some artificial fabrication, I want to stress that he’s very much a fully-fledged personality. Sure, he wasn’t born first, but his emotions are genuine and his experience shapes him. He got to live the good parts of Marc’s life, and Marc kept the pain to himself. There’s even one huge secret about Steven’s experience that he discovers, and it’s utterly shattering.

Moon Knight Asylum Khonshu

Asylum also makes clear how much guilt Marc is carrying all the time. He’s still haunted by everyone he’s ever killed, and it’s fair to say he probably hates himself. When he found his way to Khonshu’s tomb, he was moments away from ending his own life with a gun before the old bird intervened.

Marc and Steven develop a new understanding in the episode, and both grow from the experience. And though I’m not a longtime reader of the Moon Knight comics, I was also glad this episode stayed true to one of the few things I know about the character – his religion. When Marc’s family is mourning the death of his brother, it’s clear that it’s a Jewish gathering, not any other religion. He’s even wearing the traditional Jewish skull cap later on. And though the episode sort of quickly glossed over those elements, any comic book fan should be happy Disney is trying to stay true to key details of the story.

Moon Knight Asylum Memory

Though there’s not much physical action in Asylum, they do have a dramatic fight scene at the end. Despite their best efforts, Steven and Marc’s scales aren’t balanced, and the souls of the Duat come to claim them. Think walking corpses made out of shifting sand, and you’re on the right track. Though more humanoid than most of the other supernatural foes in Moon Knight, they’re nevertheless eerie and disturbing. Especially since their only goal is to grab the men and drag them overboard to perpetual agony.

Thanks to a desperate sacrifice, the episode ends with the boat heading towards Osiris’ doorway back to the land of the living. Unfortunately, Marc’s the only one getting off. Be sure and tune in to The Workprint next week for our coverage of what’s sure to be a climactic finale of Moon Knight.

Moon Knight Asylum Back in White

 

 

PAX East 2022 Hands-On Impressions: The Last Oricru

By
Christian Angeles
-
0

The Last Oricru uses unique Co-Op combat in a changing-narrative world.

The Last Oricru is what happens when you take a Souls game, give it co-op capabilities, and then turn up the expectations with a compelling narrative. Developed by Goldknights and Published by Prime Matter and Koch Media, this fantasy third-person RPG with medieval and sci-fi themes takes a unique take on stories. While you are enjoying playing The Last Oricru, the game, in turn, is actually playing you! As enemies, plot points, and the overall environment adapts in-game based on the decisions made by the player.

There are three primary pillars of production the game is built-upon. First, is its Souls-like combat which should feel very hack-and-slash. Second is the co-op experience-styled gameplay that ultimately changes how the game is played with an ally. Finally, it’s the diamond-shaped narrative structure, where the heart of the game’s mid-section vastly changes according to the player’s decisions.

“There’s a civil war going on that you’re dragged into, and with your actions, you’re deciding the plot. The different factions tell you their motivations of why they’re fighting, but ultimately, it’s up to you to decide who wins the civil war: if all of them lose, there will be peace, or everyone is dead,” said Tobias Stolz-Zwilling the communications specialist from Prime Matter, “It’s different because it starts as a medieval game but becomes more sci-fi as it goes on. Like an ET calling home story, you’re human and in the midst of this conflict but want to leave the planet. You’ll want to find out why you’re here, how you got there, and how to go home.”

The shape of the environment is also determined by your decisions. Every choice matters as it’ll affect the outcome of the land structure and where your character begins the level. Players can summon a hologram in battle, which is basically a second player avatar that can be controlled. Player Two’s able to equip shared equipment and adjust their stats as needed. With online play and split-screen co-op available, you can pair this hologram with a friend to solve unique puzzles and conduct devastating combos together. 

“On release, the game will be online co-op as well,” said Stolz-Zwilling, “It’s just so satisfying to play with someone else because you can slice through enemy hordes together but the game is also adapting. There are special weapons that support co-op and traps that can only be triggered. You don’t have to but it’s just so much more fun IMO.”

Highlights of The Last Oricru Demo:

  • It’s a Souls-like game where you lose your experience when you die.
  • Whenever you side with a faction or do a quest, it has an effect on the world and changes both the geography and people. Allies can become enemies, and friends can become boss fights. 
  • Co-Op allows for tag-team strategies such as melee kiting while allies cast at range from behind. You can also use a friend to solve unique puzzles and combo powerful techniques to wipe out enemies, like a tethered lightning bolt.
  • Player 1 pushes the story forward and talks to NPCs. Player 2 can freely distribute attribute points however they want. Allies can revive one another but you can’t get back potions if revived.
  • The combat is fun though straightforward. There was also a slight problem in that if hologram players dropped in the water there was no way to revive them.

PAX East 2022 Hands-On Impressions – Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge

By
Christian Angeles
-
0

If you loved any of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Video Games, you will absolutely love this game. Here’s why.

What was impressive about Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge was that for a game that serves as an unofficial sequel to a title from over 20 years ago, this was easily the most talked-about title at PAX East 2022. 

Shredder’s Revenge is an homage to the original series of TMNT games and the animated TV series. In a year where indies dominated the PAX booths in terms of hype, standing out amongst this crowd was noteworthy. The developers at Tribute Games received praise for both bringing back what fans loved about the classic TMNT Games and improving upon them with additional features. 

“A while back we worked on TMNT for Game Boy Advanced which was the opportunity of a lifetime but it had limited multiplayer capabilities. We always wanted to have a second go on more modern systems. We got the chance to work on Scott Pilgrim, then spun out a few other games, but we always kept asking Nickelodeon for a second go at a TMNT,” said Tribute Games co-founder Jean-Francois Major at PAX East 2022. “We grew up with Ninja Turtles. I have a Halloween costume of Donatello, the Pajamas, the action figures, and basically, all the research we had to do was already done.” 

Developed by Tribute Games and published by Dotemu, this unofficial sequel/homage to the beloved arcade beat-em-ups like Turtles in Time, brings audiences back to a simpler era when arcades were all the rage, cowabunga was term of excitement, and pizza was considered safe to consume for a group of radical anthropomorphized turtles. 

 

In TMNT: Shredder’s Revenge, players can join Leonardo, Michelangelo, Donatello, and Raphael as they kick shell in this side-scrolling 2D Ninja brawler. A classic beat-em-up, the turtle teens go up against robots and ninjas along with classic boss baddies like Bebop and Rocksteady. With beautifully modernized pixelated 2D maps and characters, TMNT: Shredder’s Revenge, sees your favorite ninja turtles feature their own unique attack moves and range of swipes. Bringing back much of the original game’s designs, but with new combat characters in April and Master Splinter. 

This homage to the TMNT arcade game will be released this summer for PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PC, and Nintendo Switch. Atop of this: all of the original voice actors—yes, the same ones from the animated TV series—are returning to voice the turtles; along with some of the original villain voice actors too. There will also be a digital soundtrack made available with some rockin’ tunes of the 90s, and shell-shockingly, a series of limited edition physical copies post-digital release, available by Limited Run Games—so collect them while you can!

Highlights of TMNT: Shredder’s Revenge Demo:

  • A playful level design filled with easter eggs and cameos scattered throughout the game.
  • Modernized gameplay with dash and backflip to close in or escape.
  • Double Jump and Charged Attacks! Also, in general, a LOT of new combinations.
  • A special mechanic that unleashes devastatingly wide area attacks. Donatello’s for instance sucks enemies toward him.  
  • Tag-team co-op moves with your partners that all depend on the positioning. Players can air-juggle, sandwich, and grapple enemies. They can also, toss, knockdown, and joint attack depending on where the player is in relation to their partner while facing an enemy.
  • You can taunt to recharge your special! You can also high-five your ally!
  • In multiplayer, you get 10 seconds to revive a KO’d ally.
  • Special pizzas allow you to use infinite specials for infinite spins.
  • Chaotic 4-Player fun, much of this game is focused on crowd control. As it’s easy to be surrounded now. So much more mobility-focused than in the old game.
  • Turtles have some subtleties in their stance and moves. Leo can toss footsoldiers. Raphael suplex. Splinter, when standing still, hand gestures to enemies, “come at me, bro.”
  • There will be in-game achievements and extra-level challenges. 3 per level. 
  • Drop-in and drop-out capabilities for online multiplayer and multiplayer co-op where 2 people can play in the same house with other people.
  • A balanced combat system where everyone can pull their own weight regardless of skill.
  • Will be both an arcade mode, but also, a story mode.

The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent Review

By
Josh Speer
-
0
The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent Review

A Comedy Parodying Nic Cage’s Life Is Somehow the Best Cage Movie In Decades

It feels like Nic Cage has been making movies forever. And no, that’s not me making a bad joke about how he’s supposedly been alive since the Civil War (though that would explain a lot). While it’s evident his glory days are in the past, he’s pulled off the impossible in his latest film. Not only does Nic Cage feel relevant again, but he does so by parodying his own career. The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent not only pokes constant fun at itself but repeatedly breaks the fourth wall. It’s a buddy movie, a quasi biography, and even an action flick. And somehow, it doesn’t trip over its own feet, not once. Keep reading to see why this isn’t only a must-watch film, but the best Nic Cage movie in ages.

The movie starts unexpectedly, with a young Hispanic couple watching Con Air in their home. The woman is remarking how much she loves Cage’s acting when something even stranger happens. The doorbell rings, and the boyfriend goes to grab their food delivery, only to be met by armed, masked men. They quickly burst in, knocking the couple unconscious and taking them hostage. Honestly, the result of this sequence was that I suspected that the rest of The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent was just some fever dream in the girl’s head for most of the movie. But rest assured, that’s not the case.

The first arc of the movie is all about the woes of Nic Cage. He’s trying his best, constantly working, but is cognizant that’s not enough. He has massive debts, he’s separated from his wife, he’s ridiculed by most people and just needs one good break to reboot his career. He thinks the he’s found just that, but then he goes too hard and scares off the director. Cage’s agent Fink is portrayed by none other than Neil Patrick Harris, who delivers every scene with a wink and a nod. While Fink may not have Nic’s best interests at heart, he has one more opportunity for him. An eccentric billionaire wants Cage at his birthday party. So the newly down on his luck Cage grudgingly agrees, thinking this will be the last gasp before he quits acting forever.

Massive Talent | Nicky

I will say, one of my favorite elements of this arc, other than Nic’s awkward relationship with his young daughter and estranged wife, is his doppleganger Nicky. Only Nic can see and hear him, and he’s essentially Cage’s worst instincts brought to life. He’s arrogant, manipulative and power hungry. He’s also eerie, like some uncanny valley version of Cage. I’m sure it’s still Nic acting as him with some visual filter in play, but Nicky is utterly strange and totally hilarious. Especially when he convinces Nic to do the wrong thing before making out with him for a really long minute.

Actually, as a quick side note, I thought Nicky was a herald of more dopplegangers to come in the movie. I was actually envisioning a whole cadre of them, arrayed in a circle inside Cage’s mind, not unlike in the horror movie Split. Because honestly, there has to be more than one voice calling the shots in Nicolas Cage’s head. But sadly, only Nicky showed up in Massive Talent. And honestly, I better quit before I give the actor ideas for extended sequels.

Massive Talent | Arrival

Where things really start to pick up, and transition from quasi biography to buddy film, is when Nic takes Fink’s offer and winds up on the island of Mallorca. He’s there because Javi Gutierrez, played pitch-perfect by Pedro Pascal, is a super fan of the actor. He wants Cage to star in a movie he’s written a script for. Suffice to say, once Cage finds out, he’s not eager for the opportunity. But somehow, despite how clingy and emotionally open Javi is, Cage and him develop a genuine friendship. Which makes it awkward that Tiffany Haddish’s character believes Javi is a cartel boss.

Massive Talent | Haddish

Yes, I wasn’t sure about Haddish as a CIA agent either, but she brings a lot of great humor to the role and is believably tough. She and her partner basically force Cage into working with them, but only after he starts thinking of Javi as a friend. He cannot believe the claims against Javi, but is still pushed into helping by Haddish. Cage starts gathering information for them and begins looking for the girl kidnapped at the beginning of the movie. One of my favorite sequences is when Cage accidentally doses himself with a knockout agent meant for a patrolling guard and gets locked out of the room with the counteragent. He has to crawl outside on a ledge to get back, nearly falling over his own two feet as sensation rapidly leaves his body. Haddish yells at him via an earpiece and manages to keep him from falling to his death. When he inevitably passes out, she wakes him by yelling “Action!” in his ear.

Another amazing scene is when Javi is looking for inspiration to alter the movie script and has Cage and himself drop acid before driving into town. I don’t normally think of Cage as a comedy actor (at least, not intentionally), but his body humor was remarkable in this sequence. I was doubled over laughing as Cage and Pascal were overcome by paranoia, and started running from an elderly couple. And though you’ve likely seen the moment in trailers where Cage and Pascal are trying to scale a small wall, it’s so much better in theaters.

Massive Talent | Buddies

The final arc of the film is where it turns into an action flick, and somehow it doesn’t ruin any of the humor. Cage has to finally confront Javi about his supposed role as a cartel boss, and there’s a lot of good stuff that happens. Cage’s family gets kidnapped, people get shot and all sorts of mayhem occurs. But my favorite bit is when Cage has to disguise himself, because it may be the Cage-iest thing he’s ever done. I won’t ruin it by saying more, suffice that you have to see the scene to believe it.

In the end, Cage’s career (in the movie) gets rejuvenated, his family dynamic gets repaired and we finally get the answers we need about Javi. And while I am uncertain if the real-life Nic Cage will get such a happy ending, I am very happy that he got this film. Earlier I said The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent was the best film of Cage’s in ages. I want to amend that. This is easily his best film, ever. It shows he’s incredibly aware of his own mythos, and instead of being offended by it, he plays into it with humor and style. Cage might get a bad rap, but this movie shows that despite it all, he’s only human.

Massive Talent | Bond Moment
The name’s Cage. Nic Cage.

The Endgame Episode 9 Review: Beauty and the Beast

By
Josh Speer
-
0
president wright in a blue suit looks distressed in nbc's the endgame
THE ENDGAME -- "Beauty & the Beast" Episode 109 -- Pictured: Sasha Roiz as President Wright -- (Photo by: Virginia Sherwood/NBC)

Beauty and the Beast Keeps The Action Simmering and Reveals Shocking Truths

I know this might be hard to swallow after the events of last week’s The Endgame, but this was yet another mind-blowing episode. For those that can’t believe it, here’s the proof – I’m now fully rooting for Elena Federova. I had my doubts about the manipulative and urbane criminal before, but now that I can see most of the big picture, I understand and sympathize with her quest.

Now we all know that Elena’s last target is none other than President Wright himself. And she’s trying to flush him out with proof that the Federal Reserve is empty of real gold. Somebody took it all, and the implication is that Wright had a hand in it. Director Réal is trying hard to keep the circle tight, mostly to keep Doak out of his business. Réal, Val, Flowers, and Federova know about the entire situation, but people like Doak just know bits and pieces.

I have to say, it’s good to see Sasha Roiz again, especially in a morally questionable role. He blames Rogelio for the situation and offers an ultimatum to find the gold or step aside. But even that is a misdirection since he immediately turns around and starts grooming Doak to take his place as interim Director. The only good thing about Doak is that his ignorance helps shield Réal temporarily, but it’s painfully clear Wright only wants him because he’s a yes man.

elena federova looks intensely to her right in nbc's the endgame
THE ENDGAME — “Beauty & the Beast” Episode 109 — Pictured: Morena Baccarin as Elena Federova — (Photo by: Virginia Sherwood/NBC)

Val tries hard to get help from Elena, who retorts the clock is ticking. Elena wants to indict Wright and jail him, and nothing else will suffice. Val asks again, and Elena tells her a story about a girl in a box. We flashback to happier times, with her, Sergey, and their daughter in a blanket fort playing around. The ladies are wearing tiaras and he comes in shambling like a beast, only for Sophia to summarily defeat him by sitting on his chest. It’s charming, and a stark reminder about everything Elena is fighting for. As we cut back to the present, Elena tells Val to search a lead with the Serial Skeptic about a matryoshka doll, moments before all the shit hits the fan.

The Secret Service butt in, and completely takes over Fort Totten, telling Val to leave or get arrested. Then they slap a hood over Elena’s head and chain her to the table, blinding her before they present some needles. And to nobody’s surprise, her mystery guest is none other than President Wright himself.

Val and Flowers follow Elena’s lead. Flowers acknowledges their president may be a dangerous criminal and worries a failure to find definitive proof could have dire consequences for them. But then things get so much worse. They arrive at the home of the Serial Skeptic, only to find a flaming ruin, with the Skeptic a charbroiled corpse. Apparently, his security detail was conveniently removed before a “gas leak” killed him. Thankfully, Val finds his car, festooned with stickers, and tracks the plates to another lead.

Meanwhile, Doak is looking into where the gold may have gone. With plenty of help, he finds the cameras at the Reserve were looped on 3 separate occasions, and that the gold might have traveled via a subway line. What he finds is that there are some odd discrepancies about the incident and that a member of the Secret Service might be involved.

Val and Anthony arrive at the home of a Diaz woman who was close with the Skeptic. Once they convince her they’re not part of the problem, Diaz shows them a room full of potential crimes committed by the Beloks. And one particular incident involved a car accident that derailed a presidential candidacy. With no other leads, they head to a garage owned by the driver in that incident.

Owen is sitting on an outdoor lunch table as he holds a book in his hand. Sergey, standing to his right, looks towards us. Both are in blue jackets and teal prison uniforms. They're in the outdoor area of a prison, where a metal-mesh wire fence stands behind them in the backdrop.
THE ENDGAME — “Beauty & the Beast” Episode 109 — Pictured: (l-r) Kamal Bolden as Owen Turner, Costa Ronin as Sergey Vodianov — (Photo by: Ralph Bavaro/NBC)

Meanwhile, Owen is fishing for information under the guise of making certain his and Sergey’s plan is still on schedule. It’s clear Sergey no longer trusts him, and he starts watching him carefully.

The main event of Beauty and the Beast is Wright’s interrogation of Elena. Roiz and Baccarin trade all sorts of verbal barbs, and it’s apparent they’re evenly matched. She calls him a puppet president, and he tries and fails to coerce her to play ball. It’s clear he’s working with, or for, the Belok family, and is hunting for the very thing Val is – the matryoshka. Inside is proof of his complicity, something he can’t let see the light of day.

There are a lot of hard-to-watch scenes that Baccarin totally sells as she’s tortured by Wright. He doesn’t lay hands on her (though she does get some on him), but he repeatedly injects her with sodium pentothal. It even seems the drug is working at one point, and when he asks her where the matryoshka is hidden, she tells him to go to one bank to find it. And though he promises not to hurt Snow White or the hostages, he then tells his pet Secret Service agent to “deal with” Elena.

val looks intensely at the camera to her left
THE ENDGAME — “Beauty & the Beast” Episode 109 — Pictured in this screengrab: Ryan Michelle Bathe as Val — (Photo by: NBC)

Luckily, all of Val and Flower’s legwork finally leads her to the conclusion the evidence is at the other bank being held by Snow White, and she manages to get there before the Secret Service does. By the end of the episode, Val, Flowers and Réal are suddenly in the crosshairs, and Elena is in real danger, perhaps for the first time ever. I’m not sure what is going to happen in The Endgame season finale, but I’m excited to see how it shakes things up.

PAX East 2022: TinyBuild

By
Christian Angeles
-
0

We looked at Rawmen and Asterigos: Curse of The Stars at the tinyBuild booth at PAX East

Game studio tinyBuild is making some mighty changes. Easily the most entertaining booth at PAX East 2022, with its giant inflatable tube-waving SpiderHeck, a caged justice-seeking murder Roomba, and strong-punch machine, it was hard not to love everything about all the tinyBuild demos showcased at PAX East. Their booth may very-well have been the most fun thing about PAX East. 

With a catalog of games such as SpiderHeck, Rhythm Sprout, and Hello Neighbor 2 (set to debut in December), there was a lot to love about tinyBuild’s pipeline. The Workprint was able to try out two of their upcoming games. The food-themed shooter Rawmen along with Asterigos: Curse of the Stars. 

 

Rawmen

One of the popular highlights of tinyBuild’s PAX East 2022 showcase, Rawmen is what you get when you combine a quick and friendly shooter-styled game with the free-for-all mayhem of a Fortnite deathmatch. A third-person shooter that can support up to 32 players at a time, this skate-park-inspired battle arena brings some serious foodie fun! Better yet, it has a beta set to go live Summer of 2022.

In Rawmen there is a boundless amount of character customizations allowing for players to switch up their aesthetic flavors. Quickplay matches, supporting 2-8 player online battle team modes, are arena-based with special in-map mobility bonuses and a plethora of food-themed weapons such as sausage miniguns or in-your-face pies. 

If that wasn’t ridiculous enough, even after a ‘victory’ the game encourages internal team food fighting! Winning teams can vote to split their prize equally amongst the group or betray their allies to enter a Sudden Death round of winner-take-all! 

Some of Rawmen’s featured battle modes are its Broth Battle: which is a battle royale; Meatball: which is an escort the meatball to the goal; Claim Chowder: which is capture the flag featuring Soup, and Top Rawmen: the game’s king of the hill mode… extra donut bombs and farts included.

Highlights of the Rawmen Demo

  • Mobility in this game is fast as the characters can glide and hit jumpers all across the map. The combat feels constant and the action is non-stop.
  • Awesome gameplay! With quick-use one-shot items reminiscent of Mario Kart and specials that make every match experience unique. Ours was a gingerbread wall.
  • Depending on how close you are to the target, clicking on an enemy causes either a ranged or melee attack. Both of which are fun to spam in the thick of battle.
  • The items are all food-themed. It’s fun and will probably make you hungry.

 

Asterigos: Curse of The Stars

While checking out the different games at tinyBuild, we’d seen a lot of art design and hype around Asterigos: Curse Of The Stars. It debuts this fall on PlayStation, Xbox, and PC.

Developed by Acme Gamestudio, this action-adventure series takes place in a Greek and Roman-inspired mythic fantasy where you play as the young warrior, Hilda. She goes on an epic quest to explore the amazing city of Aphes in search of the truth behind the city’s curse and to find something she’d lost. 

A fresh take on the action RPG that combines ability utilization, Hilda’s combat style is distinct in that it depends on energy build-ups and weapons of choice on hand to execute very beautiful and mesmerizing battle attacks. Asterigos also features some unique combat with over 60 types of enemies and 22 main bosses. 

If that weren’t enough, the game features loads of places to explore that are all interconnected within the city. Every decision matters in Astergos, as the fate of the story falls upon every decision made. All for a fun action-RPG.

Highlights of the Asterigos: Curse of The Stars Demo:

  • The combat is surprisingly fun! Building-up combos and mixing ability special moves is key to breaking down shields and devastating enemies. Though it’s definitely more catered to a player’s style of choice which was the biggest problem because…
  • The in-game weapon mechanics need much better instructions. Sword and Shield fighting felt incredible. Suddenly losing this weapon and apparently dropping it because I picked up a magic staff was annoying. Especially as Hilda now felt very vulnerable as a magic caster compared to a melee warrior. 
  • The game’s menu UI seems a bit too stripped and was lacking a lot of basic features. Like instructions on how combos work outside of the game’s very skippable tutorial. 
  • The artwork is gorgeous. The backdrops and textures feel surreal and so natural because the immersion into the Greek/Roman aesthetic is seamless and well-designed. 
  • Despite these minor hiccups, this game seems like it could be huge in terms of the range of possibilities as there’s a large story, fun setting, and great mechanics. Just needs a better tutorial or an in-game menu.

 

PAX East 2022: 505 Games

By
Christian Angeles
-
0
505 games logo

We checked out Eiyuden Chronicle: Rising and Rogue Spirit. Two of the newest titles releasing for 505 Games. 

It’s been two years since PAX was in person. Now PAX is back to showcase the latest in gaming with a plethora of titles from the hottest studios. 505 Games, the publisher that’s released games such as Dead by Daylight, Control, and the PC release of Death Stranding, is one booth you cannot miss at PAX East 2022 as they debut two very exciting titles: Eiyuden Chronicle: Rising and Rogue Spirit.

 

Eiyuden Chronicle: Rising

CJ poses with her pickaxes as Isha casts spells in Eiyuden Chronicle Rising

First up is Eiyuden Chronicle: Rising. This unbelievably fun 2.5-dimensional action RPG was developed by Rabbit and Bear studios and NatsumeAtari. It serves as a pre-war backstory to Eiyuden Chronicles: Hundred Heroes. Below the town of New Neveah, a massive quake reveals treasured ruins deep underneath. As a result, adventurers looking for fortune seek to explore the city. Three heroes, CJ, Isha, and Garoo, team up out of mutual interest to restore New Neveah to glory. The game will be available on Playstation 4 and 5, Xbox Series X|S, Switch, Steam, Epic, and GOG on May 8th.

Highlights of the Eiyuden Chronicle: Rising Demo

  • Combat is unbelievably smooth and refined with pinpoint accuracy.
  • Boss fights were more difficult than I expected, with just the right balance of challenge and clever pattern-learning to find their vulnerability. 
  • Dialogue bubbles are pretty fun and reminiscent of old-school RPG Gameboy game text.
  • Artwork is just outright beautiful, with gorgeous 2D landscapes of forestry and life. New Neveah looks alive and full of the hustle and bustle of an everyday village. 
  • The gameplay does feel very fetch-quest at the beginning. 
  • Lootable items and goods per defeated enemy make for a fun replayable level RPG. 
  • The best thing is finding the allies to eventually partner and do sick combo chains with as this is the reason you’ll want to play. Be sure to ask for a further save file or push through the first 20 mins of play at least to really see what this has to offer.

 

Rogue Spirit

the spirit of rogue spirit along with all the enemies they can possess

Next is 505’s other game being demoed, Rogue Spirit. It’s a classical Japanese-anime 3D rogue-lite developed by Kids with Sticks, who are a Polish team of devs who’d worked on games such as Dying Light and The Witcher 2. This game is about overcoming enemies to eventually challenge a Demon King, not just by fighting as a single class, but by possessing the bodies of others. Rogue Spirit is a possession game of transfer from body-to-body of your defeated enemies as a ghost. Sort of like Soul Reaver, but set in an anime world. 

At PAX East, 505 is showing off new features in an upcoming content drop including two playable characters, a boss battle, and a biome. It’s available now on Steam in Early Access and will fully release everywhere soon.

Highlights of the Rogue Spirit demo: 

  • Seriously challenging like any good rogue-lite.
  • Immediately thought of Soul Reaver because of the fun body possession mechanic.
  • A little buggy as the game can freeze when visiting some shopkeepers
  • The mysteriously spiritual anime setting fits well in the 3D adventure. Lots of lore and decor about and there’s a good amount of in-game world-building.
  • Combat felt slightly stoic but it could also be because of stamina limits.
  • Does feel like a basic system. Attack, strong attack, dash, or parry.  The upgrade and progression system feels a little too straightforward.
  • Overall, the gameplay is fun in that possessing and swapping new enemies allows for new combos/attacks. Sometimes as a tanky wolverine type, sometimes as an archer, other times as a quarterstaff warrior.

Atlanta Season 3 Episode 6 Review – White Fashion

By
Robert Kijowski
-
0

Call it high. Call it low. Hell, even call it prêt-à-porter. Clothing is an essential part of our lives. It keeps us warm and protects us from the elements. It may even look good on us.

Before we open our maws to introduce ourselves, what we look like speaks volumes. How we present ourselves is necessary for the entre to what we’re about to say.

Sometimes, clothing belies a bigger thing. A pair of Louboutins doesn’t take away the fact you may be an asshole and a good pair of slacks doesn’t erase the fact you may harbor a secret…

…Especially if you didn’t pay for it.

Welcome to the sixth episode of Atlanta (FX) titled, “White Fashion”.

We open in on a fashion house. Marcello wants to make the shit chic, but accessible.

Never pair an Italian brain with French fashion.

He’s super into Mr. Spagooti. The dude’s basically like the rockstar of art. Think of OBEY and SUPREME but with slightly a more artistic bend. Fuck it, he’ll put that stamp on anything and triple the price and it would sell like gangbusters.

Before the Chairman of the board leaves, he wants a piece for his grandson. As it turns out, Eniola’s (Anita-Joy Uwajeh) package came in quite quickly for the child and the whole company gets to cash in another day. This was all because of a simple character logo.

Now, Paper Boi (Brian Tyree Henry) and Earn (Donald Glover) are meeting up with these designers. Al wants some food, some comfort food. Some semblance of Atlanta.

I’m pretty certain that these blokes in London don’t know what down-home meals are like. Not unlike Peter Parker, he’s far from home.

While Earn wants for nothing, Darius (LaKeith Stanfield) craves what could not be provided- Jollof Rice.

Ostensibly, their little pow-wow came at a price. It always does. ‘Twas because of a mix-up, an ‘incident’ if you will indulge.

The company said some racist ass shit and they want Paper Boi to co-sign to their apology campaign.

Earn wants cash. Al wants something more valuable. Integrity…

Because they can’t pay with actual money, Al demands three custom suits. One for each of his boys and as well as some drip for himself, and though they unwillingly agree to the request, they cave.

It’s the least they can accommodate for them. I mean, fuck it, they’re nouveau riche, right?

As Al gets fitted, cousin Earn feels the deal is almost an Uncle Tom thing and somehow knows the streets will think about him being ‘bought’. Al cares not. He’s making fucking lemonade. He could give a shit about what the streets chatter.

He already had a gun charge with the intent to, oh wait, he fired his warning shot in the first episode, except the shot wasn’t a warning. The streets have his six with an extra bullet, should he require one.

Earn is on a different level, though. Because they cannot pay but only put that lucre into a foundation in Paper Boi’s name, Earn would want to have it matter. Helping out black entrepreneurs. Al dismisses the project, thinking of it as a pipe dream, bringing the space cadet back down to earth.

Sharon (Tamsin Topolski), head of hospitality reaches out to Darius with a special email request with Jollof. It doesn’t exist in her world, but HE SURELY DOES.

She’s more than willing to take him out and get some bomb food.

Just like that, he’s on the adventure the wanderlust had always steered him.

Sam and her friend, Khalil (Fisayo Akinade) shoot the pleasantries. He enjoys a strawberry, compliments due to the hosts, and listens to Rose crooning ‘Amazing Grace’. It’s time for the gathering.

Just as all are properly introduced, activist/writer/foodie Khalil queries if Al was having a grand time apologizing for white people.

Khalil is hip to the game, riding on the backs of white people.

So long as he can forgive them, he is set for life. What did he give up? His soul. The devil doesn’t have a color. Oh wait, it does. Green.

At the press conference, Khalil assures Al that once he confirms that the European brand “meant nothing” in terms of whatever racist shit they said, all will be good, at least for him and the rest of the day.

The press box is hot. Hands are raised.

If you press the press, pressing issues are going to be pressed.

First question: If Paper Boi stands behind the brand, is racism over?

He responds with a resounding FUCK NO to the consternation of all in attendance.

Even with Al’s febrile outburst, Khalil seems to smooth over the situation, citing that with the initiative Paper Boi is backing, racism should be eradicated within two years.

Keep fucking dreaming, my dude.

As Darius and his new beau watch a movie in Eko Chops, his desire for liver and rice overcomes him. The hostess easily finds him out as Naija.

The lady of the house confronts him on his roots and he is truthful to them.

She’s busting his Chops! Go for no applause.

As he enjoys the meal, Darius explains to Sharon that Naija means Nigerian and though they seem to be getting on, when Sharon talks about her chef husband wanting to make the move into brick and mortar business, the date isn’t so much of one. It’s more of a confession.

She wants to buy out blackness and genuine shit. Remember that good ass food? Dyspepsia has now set in.

Alfred has now a seat at the table! This is a table he would rather not be seated at, but he has a seat nonetheless at this convening, meeting of the minds, brain trust, or council.

It’s up to him how the PR will go down and for his money, he has some brilliant thoughts in the court of public opinion.

He wants to start a limited version of clothing, backed by a campaign to have other blacks invest in themselves. It’s a great concept. Keep it all home.

Khalil doesn’t care much for that, looking to the Senate to shoot down his dream.

They only want their personal gain while still trying to maintain a “woke” attitude. How fucking aberrant.

Al sees through the fakeness (ironically wearing a Gucci Sweater with ‘FAKE’ emblazoned all over it.)

When confronted with his blackness and the rest not vouching, he only has to ask one question about his conscription.

What the shit is he here for?!

Actually, he has a bigger question for the board: What the fuck are they doing? The streets don’t fuck with them.

Al wants to help and is acutely aware his fame can bring a lot to the cause. He’s now going above board.

Hey, why not use that move when your meter is all charged.

At the hotel’s front desk, Earn needs an Apple Store for his watch. The watch is better seen on him, as Van (Zazie Beetz) is in the lobby and better seen on her.

My guy isn’t happy that she’s been ghosting him for weeks, and though her up demeanor tries to hide the pain, he can slice through it. But before a heart-to-heart can be held, Van now stands accused of shoplifting from some crazy white chick.

Is it because she’s black?

I mean, the situation was de-escalated quickly due to the house, but still. This brings up the situation of Gucci and a black guy buying a belt but being accused of stealing it. This would even go further with Ryan Coogler arrested just trying to fucking get some money out! It doesn’t just exist in America, my darlings and it makes no more sense.

And let’s not skirt away from the fact that in a moment of panic, Earn called Van his fiancee and goes further into expressing his displeasure to the house, getting them a top room for free.

Earn’s been in the boss mode for a minute and this exemplifies it. If he wasn’t staying there before, he sure as fuck is now.

As Al pitches, we realize that he’s not great. He actually kind of sucks. His heart is in the right place, but his thoughts are kind of all over that same place. They take the idea and run with it though, infusing social media into it. Now, something that was pure was jizzed all over by influencers, someone he knows little to nil about.

Give enough rope though. The board is having a civil war but, Al doesn’t have time for this.

In fact, he lost time even indulging their asses.

When push comes to shove, it’s Alfred’s plan and they defer to his wisdom.

All he has to do is film a quick vid for the campaign of Reinvesting In Your Hood and all will be copacetic, no?

Darius isn’t fairing any better. His favorite restaurant has been shuttered, bought out by Sharon, who has a food truck with Naija Bowls.

She purchased authenticity with her power and privilege. I mean, I guess with enough pounds, you can buy anything. Even a pound of flesh.

Though she gives Darius a dish she named after him, he’s like super depressed, especially knowing that Mimi was fucked out of a business.

It was his one taste of home abroad and she wrested it from him. Other than eating the meal, he throws it out. At least one of them has integrity.

But wait! Al’s message is now live!

In something looking like it was directed by early era David Finch in black and white, his words, his speech, and his personae were used. Al is no longer Al. He’s now a spokesman and this isn’t going to go settling with him.

They made his words out to be a joke to him, including homosexual overtones and a proxy gangster lean at the end so as to make it official. This wasn’t what he signed up for.

Though Khalil tries to calm him down, shit ain’t working… until the truth is spate.

Al’s commercial would have never worked. A fantasy does not a business not make. It’s a charity. Black investing in black was a pipe dream and to include more would be company suicide.

Khalil knows the game and was able to garnish the table out of 100k for his own charity, but even the temptation of a Black Panther 2 ticket couldn’t buy Paper Boi… just like a meal in his honor couldn’t buy Darius’ love.

As Earn pours the booze in his gratis hotel room, he references Nick or Treat.

Wowww. Just wow. A fucking throwback. (Appropos of nothing, I had to say it.)

Van emerges in a robe. The place is fucking beautiful and big. She relaxes and Earns takes a turn.

He apologizes for confronting her before. He’s just worried.

Throwing her arms around him, she knows worrying is in his nature. I can relate.

But for tonight, he does not need to worry about anything.

As they slow dance, the wig stealing isn’t even a memory because stealing a kiss is more important.

Oh yes, it feels like the first time.

A complete circuit needs to flow with something. Without that crucial element, it’s just wiring.

With Van back in the picture, these guys can crush it and hard.

I loved this episode for really bringing the game back and though they all have their own muck to mire through, it’s not without cause.

Though they don’t see it, like the beautiful Maple tree, native to Atlanta, when it’s towering, then you do.

Maybe it’s called growth.

The Telelibrary: Literary Portals – An Immersive Review

By
Eileen Ramos
-
0
The Telelibrary A black rotary phone whose top receiver is separated and on the left, its cable in a shape of a loop. Photo by Quino Al
A black rotary phone whose top receiver is separated and on the left, its cable in a shape of a loop. Photo by Quino Al

 

Right before I paid a phone call to The Telelibrary, I had my heart broken. Freshly frustrated from the final exchange over Instagram messages (the absolute nerve), I wasn’t sure if I was open enough to do an immersive experience, especially one as novel as The Telelibrary. I didn’t really want to talk to anyone, but I’ve already secured a time slot and they usually sell out quickly.

Please be advised that there are spoilers in this review. I do recommend going in with as little knowledge as possible, but if you’re curious, feel free to read further.

Billed as part theater, part game, part self-care and created by Yannick Trapman-O’Brien, I did not know what to expect. I knew that it won awards, in 2020 for “Outstanding Achievement in Immersive & Experiential Production” and “Audience Choice: Best Screenless Experience” from No Proscenium. And in the following year for “Innovation in Interaction Design” by IndieCade.

The Telelibrary is a remote, one-on-one, immersive experience played solely through the telephone. Though if you’re not based in the United States, you can call through WhatsApp. Set up in the Eastern Timezone, you call up a number and meet the robot operator. Played by Yannick, he was extremely polite, inquisitive, and delightful. When he asked me for my name, I misheard and when he requested again, I stated it. Throughout the 50+ minutes, he called me “OhI’mSorryEileenPlease”. Unfortunately, when he asked me what to call him, I went with the humdrum “Operator”. It would’ve been cooler if I called him “Hot Dog” or “Glob”.

To start off, he gives you the option of picking a number between 1-6, just like any automated menu. I selected a digit and it led to him repeating a word I didn’t recognize at all. I was confused so he paused and offered an option for the explanation for this selection. I confirmed and he then states that this is from Lost in Translation: An Illustrated Compendium of Untranslatable Words from Around the World by Ella Frances Sanders and what the book is about. Thrilled I asked him to continue, and he finished the definition and gave an example. I proceeded to have him read the rest of that wonderful menu. I will note that each number has a varying number of credits you need to use in order to listen. But good news, you can add credits pretty easily. He’ll give you a choice between two questions such as what’s outside your window or share a joke.

I couldn’t resist when I could choose to tell him what I miss. I proceeded to tell him about that heartbreaker, how it ended, and that I shouldn’t miss him but I do. Operator was the first person I told and it felt like a great release. And I earned a credit for my self-pity so yay haha. But something more beautiful (and healthier) happened as I stayed on the phone. As each choice led to a further expansion of the menu from 1-23+, I got to hear other participants besides Operator. I won’t reveal more than that, but I will say that the readings that Operator/Yannick shared with me were healing.

He recited a wondrous poem about springtime during the war written decades ago which made me go “hmm” at the end. He responded, “Can I ask you a question?” I said yes. And he asked me why I went hmm. So I went off about how it’s amazing how nature and the Earth will be fine long after us, despite all the current war and carnage, and how comforting it is despite our despair. He then beautifully and so succinctly summarized how I felt right back to me, asking for my confirmation, like the fantastic robot he is hehe. I said “Yes!” And he replied “I’m learning a lot today!” which he happens to say a lot, making me grin quite often.

Heartbreak is such an inward, internal process, especially when it’s brand new. For me, it always feels like I’m alone in it. But this singular phone call allowed me to open up and see our World beyond this last failure. To view a fascinating range of subjects and creative possibilities. Through Yannick’s gem readings and the participants’ materials, I was able to stave off the pain and experience the wonder of literature, humanity, and storytelling. There are a lot of amazing expansions and sub-menus to explore and the selection of menus changes each week, inviting further play.

It’s important to note that you have the option of being recorded during these phone calls. However, you can state at any time if you no longer give permission to be recorded. I think I’ll always green light mine and maybe, my own thoughts will help another user like how the past participants helped me with my own.

Yannick has created a terrific experience with quality storytelling, performance, and clever innovation. And all with just his voice, some books, and a ukulele. When we mostly seek our entertainment in gargantuan libraries of streaming services, CGI franchises, and viral videos, it’s an utter breath of fresh air when you come across something seemingly simplistic yet incredibly brilliant. I just signed up for the waitlist and I can’t wait to meet Operator/Glob again. Definitely check out The Telelibrary with an open mind and heart, you’ll be sure to be enchanted.

Moon Knight Episode 4 Review: The Tomb

By
Josh Speer
-
0

Steven and Layla Try and Thwart Harrow Before Things Get Weird

Bear with me, folks. Normally Christian would do his normal fantastic job of covering Moon Knight. But since he’s away covering PAX East, I’m playing pinch hitter this week. And honestly, I welcome the chance to cover Moon Knight, since it’s a very different Marvel series.

The episode mostly deals with Layla and Steven. At first, they’re both dealing with the aftershocks of Khonshu’s imprisonment in stone. As a direct consequence, not only is Steven unconscious, but he’s also bereft of any supernatural assistance. That means no healing, no increased strength, and no suit. Which, honestly, Steven is totally fine with. He just wants his life to go back to before he discovered he was an unwilling superhero. But the problem is that without those very powers, he’s very much at the mercy of Harrow and his men. Or he would be, if not for action-hero Layla.

Moon Knight | The Tomb 1

As Steven lies sleeping on the sands, men in armed vehicles start shooting at him. Layla thinks quickly and rolls him to some cover, but the ruffians keep after them. Using a well-timed flare and some quick maneuvering, Layla manages to blow them to bits, and get Steven away safely. It’s clear that the situation is weird for her since Steven is in the same body as her husband. Hell, she remarks at one point that he even smells the same. But regardless, they’re both very different personalities.

There are some fun romantic moments between Layla and Steven as they arrive at Harrow’s dig site. It’s clear Steven is starting to develop feelings for her, and Marc is not happy about it. He threatens Steven with all sorts of bodily harm, which seems even crazier since doing so would hurt him as well. And after an especially awkward kiss between Layla and Steven, it seems Marc gains temporary control to punish the goofy Brit git.

Moon Knight | The Tomb 2

What I most liked about The Tomb was how much it dialed up the Indiana Jones energy. Normally there’s plenty of that in Moon Knight since it involves studying ancient relics and tombs and fighting zealots and monsters. But it’s even more poignant since Steven / Marc are very fragile human beings without Khonshu to assist them. And just to play on that even more, it quickly becomes apparent Harrow may have entered the tomb first, but he didn’t do so without resistance. There’s something called Heka priests already there, and the best way to describe them is as zombie Egyptian sorcerers with a penchant for carving up their prey.

Moon Knight | The Tomb 4

I appreciated a supernatural foe other than Harrow’s Anubis soldiers. Cause while those are fine, they’ve been overused by now. And it helps how incredibly indestructible the Heka priests are in comparison to the naughty puppies. They’re seemingly bulletproof, very nimble despite the whole undead thing, and super sneaky. After encountering them, Steven and Layla have to frantically race in separate directions, and of course, a priest manages to snag Layla. Unlike Steven, she can handle herself just fine, and she summarily uses another flare to good effect, plunging it into the eye socket of the creature before sending it flailing into a deep, dark pit.

Harrow gets some screen time with Layla, and starts to reveal unfortunate secrets. He tells her that when he read Steven’s aura, he saw his past pain and sin. And most of that contends with Marc being there when Layla’s father was killed. She angrily confronts Marc about this, and he takes control long enough to tell her that he had no hand in her father’s death. It was his partner that murdered him and then tried to kill Marc as well. Which is likely where Khonshu first intervened to make a new avatar.

Moon Knight | The Tomb 3

I also enjoyed watching Steven nerd out in Ammit’s tomb, and deduce the path forward using his keen mind. He eventually finds the sarcophagus that is supposed to contain Ammit’s ushabti, but finds something strange. I won’t spoil the reveal, but suffice to say Ammit’s original avatar was a very unconventional pharaoh.

Moon Knight | The Tomb 6

It’s all going as expected until Harrow catches up with the couple in the tomb, and seemingly fatally shoots Marc twice. As he falls into a pool of water, things get really weird. We see a corny movie with a hero named Steven Grant. Then we’re taken to a blindingly white room that appears to be a mental ward. Marc is doped up and barely able to talk, and his psychiatrist is none other than Arthur Harrow. And while part of me wondered if this was a mind fuck showcasing the depths of Marc / Steven’s mental distress, I suspect it’s something else.

As Marc gets loose, he finds a sarcophagus in the ward. Inside is none other than Steven, somehow in his own body. And as the two men race around trying to escape and find answers, they are stopped dead in their tracks by Taweret, some darling hippo goddess. Which really makes me think the men are stuck in the Egyptian afterlife, though I’m uncertain how they got there without Khonshu’s help.

Moon Knight | The Tomb 7

Overall, The Tomb was another solid episode of Moon Knight. It kept revealing new details at a good clip while allowing the various personalities of Moon Knight time to breathe. And though it appears Harrow is trying to resurrect Ammit using her former avatar, I have my suspicions that somehow Ammit might get brought to life inside Layla. As for how Marc and Steven will escape their predicament, I’m eager to find out!

Be sure to tune in next week for The Workprint’s latest review of Moon Knight. And thanks to Disney for the images used in this review.

Eat Nuts & Kick Butts with ‘Marvel’s Squirrel Girl: The Unbeatable Radio Show!’

By
Christian Angeles
-
0
squirrel girl and friends

Writer Ryan North returns to The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl. With actress Milana Vayntrub, of those infamous AT&T commercials, voicing the character.

The beloved Marvel comic The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl is getting a surprise sequel in podcast form. Marvel’s Squirrel Girl: The Unbeatable Radio Show! is a scripted podcast released by Marvel Entertainment and SiriusXM radio. Available on all podcasting platforms, this six-episode podcast is written by veteran Squirrel Girl comics writer Ryan North, and directed by acclaimed theatre director Giovanna Sardelli. With original music by Justin Huertas and Steven Tran.

In a shock to fans, the podcast series actually sees actress Milana Vayntrub voice the character of Doreen Green, AKA Squirrel Girl. Having already played Doreen in the “Marvel Rising” animated series, Vayntrub was actually originally casted to play as Squirrel Girl in Freeform’s live-action superhero adaptation. At least, before the New Warriors show became officially canceled.

Squirrel Girl: The Unbeatable Radio Show features performances by Crystal Lucas-Perry (Nancy Whitehead), Davied Morales (Chipmunk Hunk), Peter Hermann (Brain Drain), Erica Schroeder (Tippy T. Squirrel), Tina Benko (Rachel Oskar), and Leo Sheng (Koi Boi). It should also be noted that Koi Boi, the first-ever transgender superhero in comics, is being played by a queer trans man.

As reported in Marvel’s Squirrel Girl press release, the plot for the series is as follows:

“Squirrel Girl has taken down Thanos and Doctor Doom – but now she faces something far more terrifying… living authentically. The new series follows Empire State University college student, Doreen Green, who has recently been outed as a superhero – The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl! Hoping to unify her personas in the public eye, Squirrel Girl has created a new student radio show on ESU’s own college station. With the help of her best girlfriend, Nancy Whitehead as producer, and her best squirrel-friend, Tippy-Toe in the booth; Doreen is ready to help more people than ever with her greatest superhero advice. And when the going gets rough, she can always lean on her heroic friends: Iron Man, Spider-Man, Chipmunk Hunk, Koi Boi, and Brain Drain.

However, with a call-in show comes caller anonymity, and not all the folks on the line want help – some want to crime – and crime hard! When a suspicious caller wreaks havoc on New York City, Squirrel Girl and her friends will have to put their heroics to the test and prove that once and for all Doreen Green is the UNBEATABLE Squirrel Girl.”

In an exclusive with Variety, Vayntrub had this to say about returning to the character:

“Doreen has an optimism that’s not based in naiveté. Her optimism is grounded in fairness and trust and justice. I think she — like me and in a way, she’s more of who I want to be like — really believes there is good in all people and that justice is not punishment, but justice is restorative and it’s about people taking accountability and it’s becoming better versions of themselves. People do harm because they are lacking in resources or in love in some way. And she is hilarious because of her honesty and her bluntness and her ability to see the best in people. It’s more of who I want to be like, and I feel like, after a few hours of playing her, I like channel her and then can bring that into my life.”

Fans of the comics should be happy to see that Squirrel Girl’s still the super-positive and fun-loving character that fans have grown to love. Atop of this, North has also released an exclusive Squirrel Girl vertical comic on Marvel Unlimited. All for a Squirrel Girl one-shot prequel to the podcast.

About returning to the series years after his four-year run on Squirrel Girl, writer Ryan North had said, “For me, a lot of the fun of the project initially was getting to work in a new medium, one where everything that happened had to be communicated through sound. Of course, once we started recording, my favorite part was hearing the actors bring these characters to life. Milana and Crystal are Doreen and Nancy, and the way Leo and Davied and Peter brought Koi Boi, Chipmunk Hunk, and Brain Drain to life was just exceptional.” North continues, “The podcast continues right where the comics left off, so long-time fans will feel instantly at home, but it’s also built for new people who maybe have never encountered the world of the Unbeatable Squirrel Girl before.”

Episode one of Marvel’s Squirrel Girl: The Unbeatable Radio Show! is available right now. For those with the SXM App or a subscription to Marvel Podcasts Unlimited, there is also bonus content, including an early sneak peek of the second episode, “Spider-Sense Didn’t Even Tingle” along with behind-the-scenes work with Vayntrub and Lucas-Perry.

The Endgame Episode 8 Review: All That Glitters

By
Josh Speer
-
0
Elena reads Sofiva a bedtime story in nbc's the endgame
THE ENDGAME -- "All That Glitters" Episode 108 -- Pictured: (l-r) Paisley Day Herrera as Sofiya, Morena Baccarin as Elena Federova -- (Photo by: Virginia Sherwood/NBC)

‘All That Glitters’ Truly Ups the Stakes, and Paves the Road For the End of the Season

While I’m still of a mind that last week’s episode of The Endgame was one of the very best, All That Glitters comes in at a close second place. It’s clear now that the show is moving towards its own endgame, and things are heating up real fast. It all starts with a crank named the Serial Skeptic reporting with unnerving accuracy about the whole Federova situation. He seems to have figured out that the people Snow White has moved off the board are all enemies of Elena, and he’s even sporting a Free Elena t-shirt.

THE ENDGAME — “All That Glitters” Episode 108 — Pictured: Noah Bean as Patrick Doak — (Photo by: Ralph Bavaro/NBC)

Doak and White House chief of staff Swanstrom are watching the Skeptic’s video, and they’re not happy with what they hear. The Skeptic is getting millions of views, and Swanstrom once again promises Doak a promotion if he starts dealing with the Snow White problem differently. He’s very eager to take Réal’s place, but then something surprising happens. Swanstrom suddenly faints, with a guard close behind. Before Doak nods off, he notices gas coming from a vase of flowers, and men wearing gas masks come and take the unconscious chief of staff.

Meanwhile, Réal is facing pressure from the White House to do something more proactive. He wants to make a big move, and take Federova’s daughter hostage. Val is very much against this plan and tries to convince Elena to stop her games and work with them. She points out that everybody in the picture has been dealt with, but Elena is still up to something. Elena says once the last person behind the church bombing has been dealt with, then they can work together. But first, it’s time for another story.

THE ENDGAME — “All That Glitters” Episode 108 — Pictured: (l-r) Boris Granolic as Vitaly Belok, Costa Ronin as Sergey Vodianov — (Photo by: Virginia Sherwood/NBC)

We get a flashback showing Elena and her adorable daughter Sofiya. Elena is telling her the story of a king who wants straw spun to gold, and takes a young girl hostage. As she is regaling her daughter, her husband Sergey is downstairs torturing another Belok agent. The man is tied to a post, and says he won’t reveal the location of Lady Belok. Sergey counters, saying he only wants to know about the gold.

In the present, Val is mulling over the story, and how the gold might be relevant to current circumstances. And then things get really crazy. A video turns up of Swanstrom in a water tank, and gold paint is pouring in, ready to drown her. As a fun side note, the president Wright we’ve heard so much about lately is played by Sasha Roiz of Grimm fame. He does a good job impressing the urgency of recovering his chief of staff to the FBI, and its clear failure will not be tolerated.

THE ENDGAME — “All That Glitters” Episode 108 — Pictured: (l-r) Jordan Johnson-Hinds as Flowers, Ryan Michelle Bathe as Val — (Photo by: Ralph Bavaro/NBC)

As all this is happening, the fake gold bar placed in the Federal Reserve a few episodes ago has nearly finished counting down. There’s 4 hours left to go until something happens, though the FBI is utterly unaware of this new problem at their door.

In the present, Sergey is talking with his attorney. It’s clear the man is privy to Sergey’s plans and knows that Owen is vital to them going off properly. Sergey says it’s a two-man job, but the attorney makes it clear it might now be a one-man job. He says it would take a miracle for Owen to get out of solitary in time. Either way, Sergey is determined to get back to his wife and daughter.

As the FBI is trying in earnest to figure out why Snow White kidnapped Swanstrom, who was apparently in the Peace Corps at the time of the church bombing, Doak is doing his best to advocate for the woman. Which would make me feel all warm and fuzzy if it wasn’t clear he only wants to save her to guarantee his own promotion to interim Director. He’s sweating with guilt, and unfortunately for him, Val starts to put the pieces together. But that doesn’t stop Doak from horning in on her investigation, which is now focused on the Serial Skeptic and a missing flower delivery van.

THE ENDGAME — “All That Glitters” Episode 108 — Pictured: (l-r) Keith Nobbs as Serial Skeptic, Ryan Michelle Bathe as Val — (Photo by: Ralph Bavaro/NBC)

Somehow the Serial Skeptic went from a crackpot talking conspiracy theories to someone dialed directly into the schemes of Snow White. So Val and Doak bring him in for questioning. He’s been making trouble, and even sent his followers to Fort Totten protesting outside the gates. When they ask him questions, it’s clear he’s no criminal mastermind, just a conduit of information. Which likely means Snow White is feeding him information to use him for their own purposes. But with his latest tip, the FBI follows a lead from the flower van to a clay mine where Swanstrom is about to breathe her last.

Back in the past, Sergey’s victim gets loose right as young Sofiya finds him. She asks if he’s a prisoner that can spin straw to gold. The Belok agent plays to her innocence and draws her closer to grab her. Just as she screams, we hear a loud sound, and he drops to the ground dead. Mama Elena shot him from the staircase, and Sergey and her take the traumatized child upstairs. Federova is determined to make the world a better place for their daughter.

As Doak and Val drive frantically to the mine, Réal calls. He reveals to Val that he’s sending a HRT team to surveil Sofiya. Doak overhears them, and says if it were up to him, he’d send a helicopter to grab the girl immediately. When Val counters “good thing you’re not in charge”, all Doak says is “yet”.

The pair manage to get to Swanstrom just in time, and prevent her drowning. It’s still unclear why Snow White was after her, but Val and Flowers start to find some incongruous details about the chief of staff’s past.

THE ENDGAME — “All That Glitters” Episode 108 — Pictured: Jordan Johnson-Hinds as Flowers — (Photo by: Ralph Bavaro/NBC)

In Peekskill, Owen is miraculously released from solitary. I immediately worried about this, and rightly so. Sergey talks with his attorney, only to find he had no hand in Owen’s release. Which likely means Owen is working against Snow White’s purposes now.

Without revealing the big twist in the episode, all I can say is it’s clear Swanstrom wasn’t Snow White’s final target. And as the timer finally goes off in the Reserve, it reveals something truly game-changing. With only two episodes left for this season of The Endgame, I’m truly captivated and cannot wait to see where those last episodes take us.

New ‘Thor: Love and Thunder’ Trailer Debuts!

By
Christian Angeles
-
0

New Trailer sees Thor out and about wandering the galaxy and finding himself.

 

The long and anticipated trailer to Thor Love and Thunder is finally here! And it is an easter egg-littered doozy. With Chris Hemsworth returning as the former God of Thunder, this movie, directed by Taika Waititi, is everything fans have been dying to see and more!

This new film features a slew of old cast members including Chris Pratt, Dave Bautista, and Karen Gillan returning as the Guardians of The Galaxy. If this wasn’t a callback to the Thor franchise enough, the movie will also feature Jamie Alexander in her return as Lady Sif, along with Tessa Thompson as Valkyrie. Most importantly, is the long-anticipated return of Natalie Portman. Fans have been dying to see her as Lady Thor and if you check out the new trailer, you can see her–albeit briefly–in a pretty butt-kicking role.

If this wasn’t enough to convince you to check out the film later this year, Christian Bale,  AKA Batman himself, will be making an appearance as Gorr the God Butcher. This will be Bale’s first return to comic book superhero type of films since his retirement as the Dark Knight in Christopher Nolan’s final Batman film back in 2012.

The trailer above sees the rockin’ sounds of Axel Rose singing ‘Sweet Child of Mine’ while Thor explores the galaxy with several different companions. It’s promising to be the most introspective journey to Thor’s life and destiny, along with his place in New Asgard.

You’ve got action. You’ve got suspense. You’ve got… Thor getting back into shape and figuring out a new way of living! All for what’s going to be one of the best Marvel movies to date, and hopefully, just the beginning of a new Thor line!

Moon Knight Episode 3 Review: The Friendly Type

By
Christian Angeles
-
0
moon knight surrounded by defeated enemies
PC: Marvel

In one of the most proactive episodes to date, Moon Knight finds some direction heading into its second half of the season. Spoilers Abound.

Let’s begin this review with the episode’s biggest revelation: that Marc Spector is probably the primary personality. In what’s easily the biggest takeaway from this episode of Moon Knight, this revelation changes a lot of what we’ve come to expect of the series because thus far, we’ve seen it all unfold from the point of view of Steven’s perspective. 

Why does it matter? Well, this wholesome vegan museum worker whose humor and irreplaceably terrible British accent is the whole reason the audience should feel invested in. His occasional slips out of consciousness, waking into the mysteriously superheroic and deadly Moon Knight is the hook. Which is why the sudden shift into Mark’s world in this episode has some major implications in that this is evidently Mark’s story. Not Steven’s.

It’s Mark who is the person in a longstanding relationship with Layla. It’s Mark who travels the world for long stretches at a time. It’s Mark that serves Khonshu on assassination missions. It’s Mark, in this week’s episode, who is the one summoned for a mysterious council of the Gods. 

We see all of this unfold in his adventure to Cairo. Featured in Marc and Steven’s back and forth adventure, as the two jump-cut forward battle-after-battle, and later, race to find the tomb of Ammit before Arthur Harrow can. It is in these sequences that we finally get some Khonshu action. Where, after forcing an eclipse, the God of the Moon speaks to the Gods of Egypt. This leads to seeing the beginning of the end as Khonshu’s actions lead to his own imprisonment, and Arthur Harrow’s gaslighting of Marc/Steven’s psychological health.

Layla, meanwhile, is playing the spy on her own in this episode. She gains passports to enter Egypt, and of course, has some moments of sincere backstory about her father who’d passed away. If there was ever a reason to check out her story in an episode, it would likely be this one, as she takes the helm in a fun and assertive way. Hunting leads and kicking some serious butt. Most importantly, we get a hint of her and Marc’s life together as a married couple though are still left uncertain as to what the bigger secrets behind their relationship are: like just how much does Marc know about her father’s death?

Besides these developments, the best things about this one were the city of Cairo street chases, the fight sequences (including an odd round of joust), and the implications of a third more murderous persona (Jake Lockley). It’s a good episode. It’s just mostly a substance episode that builds the overall conflict of Arthur versus Khonshu, along with questions just as to who really is Marc Spector.

Atlanta Season 3 Episode 5 Review – Cancer Attack

By
Robert Kijowski
-
0

We’ve all been there.

Maybe a night replete with libations. Maybe a small bump. Maybe just pure, unabashed forgetfulness.

We’ve all been there.

These days, our phone is basically an appendage. If we lose it, we feel incomplete, and though anxiety may rear its ugliest head, we know that all can be found if we look in the right places. Welcome to the fifth episode of Atlanta (FX) titled “Cancer Attack“.

We open on Earn (Donald Glover). He’s got shit locked down and Paper Boi (Brian Tyree Henry) is in the building. His concert is about to pop off and though Earn has eyes on all, Darius (LaKeith Stanfield) has an eye on the building.

It turns out that a few rooms in the blueprints weren’t accounted for, and though Darius wants an adventure, Al just wants to get through the night.

His British agent, Socks (Hugh Coles) injects a bit of levity into what will be the next few rough days. I mean, he’s bankrolling them, right?

What’s the amuse-bouche? A meet-up from the Dream Foundation. A kid with cancer: Marvy. It’s so fitting, even the House of Chanel couldn’t fuck with it.

Though febrile Earn has his shit on lock, he still misses Van. She isn’t responding to his texts and his worried face is wearing the responses.

Wasted time was never en vogue and he knows this. He commands the security, but are things really secure with the crew?

He’s secured Al’s ginger beer, but things need to be spoken. Earn is too busy though and his cousin is too concerned for his well-being.

With a concert in less than thirty minutes, rumination and conversation are out of the cards.

It’s sad because we never focus on what’s of import—mental health.

As Darius leads the rap god in prayer, a random Brit Bloke storms the stage, attempting to introduce. He’s not a fan. He’s a stan. And though Earn shoos him off the stage, his stain is indelible, and with taxes.

After the concert, Al is searching for his phone. We’ve all been there. That rush of anxiety when your personal life in carbon is left out to the world. Is there anything more incriminating? Is there anything more personal?

The aether is the scariest thing you don’t know and even more so when you have a brush of fame.

Earn accuses Marvy of stealing what is not rightfully his, but Al can’t believe humans, even on their deathbed, would stoop that low.

Socks throws it out to the Senate as if a kid could steal it. On the precipice of a “cancer attack”, Earn takes the leap and in one of his less elegant moments, searches a dying kid for a damn phone. Marvy knows what’s up and consents to a search. Thankfully, there is no seizure.

Al is restless. He wants that phone. It’s not about the cost of an iPhone, but rather the contents that lay therein.

Socks, witness to all of this suggests the runner backstage and throws him under the bus. He feels the guy was sketchy from the jump. Now they all have a new villain, and when Earn tries to settle up with the owner of the venue, a reference was never so unwanted.

As it turns out, this is the guy’s nephew. It’s Wiley (Samuel Blenkin). The nomenclature was not lost on me.

His uncle vouches for him not taking the phone, but Earn is adamant. He doesn’t have his number, but his rigger does. Earn lacks the wherewithal of playing games and even less patience. His loading time is little to nil.

Through a bit of visual insight, Earn steals Wiley’s resume, nabbing his number.

Al wants in on this, but Socks is a little too extra on what would be a simple interrogation.

Earn sets up a meeting between Paper Boi and his potential thief. Socks STEALS the phone and gives the person on the other end the what for. He’s going scorched earth, which may or (may not) be to the trios’ advantage.

It’s too late. The damage has been done.

Darius’ night is fucked. The captain of coolness, with even a bit of weed, couldn’t help this situation, and it’s about to get worse.

The dude actually showed up.

Smokes cannot be in the room, though. He’s too much of a wild card, so it’s left up to the trio to suss out the sitch.

Wiley is scared and him even asking how they are enjoying Budapest has the anger and frustration bubbling. Even Darius, one of the most gentle people in the fucking world is hyped on this shakedown.

Wiley knows fuck all. Though an admirer of Paper Boi, there’s an air to him that doesn’t sit right.

They aren’t going to kill him, but he’s wanting to maybe die at the hands of his favorite artist. I mean, that says more about the culture of celebrity than the actual celebrity.

This is especially prevalent when Wiley cites Box Top Chevy’s or kissing a thorn on a rose… This is a trigger.

Though his uncle swears the under-investigated is ‘only 19’, Socks can get fitted with a halo only too soon, by the hand of Alfred.

Wiley knows that Al dreamed about a Box-Top in high school and had a girlfriend named Rose, but the only way my dude would know about it would be to know one of Paper Boi’s earliest songs…. which he recorded on that phone.

Do you know when good things arrive in threes?

Earn comes in ‘good cop’, Al ‘bad cop’, and Darius ‘devastated’ cop.

Wiley has a one-up on everyone, though. He brings up Earn’s ‘whiteness’, and Al’s phone number, lying about his age.

What is real anymore? They are all miffed, but it only takes one to level it up.

Socks nearly throws the N-bomb down but knows clearly what company he’s in. He’s not felonious, but he isn’t exactly innocent either.

Marvy knows the game they are playing, but can only talk to Al, not Paper Boi man to man. Person to person.

Al gets his most real with his most real fan. He’s had a bit of writer’s block. Maybe life block. But being lost, he is now found.

That revelation was recorded on his phone and he needs it. His seat at the table isn’t out of the question.

This is special for Wiley. They share a birthday, and naked as the day they were born, honesty has been shared, and foolishness has been shed.

What ensues is a really awkward serenading to the rapper. It turns out Marvy’s life, despite being worlds away mirrored his admiration, isn’t so distant. So he regales him with a song.

The song itself is surfeited with metaphors and nearly sends something off that David Lynch would be proud of. It’s Paper Boi/Alfred trying to let go of himself, just in a different skin.

As the trio attempt to get out to the tour bus, Earn checks in with Van.

She seems ok, but it’s still disconcerting that she only checks out with a thumbs-up emoji.

With ‘Dedicated to the One I love’ by The Temprees firing up, we realize that Socks had the phone the entire time, which he immediately tosses in the trash. At least put some respect on the rightful owner’s name.

What ensues is a gorgeous long shot of Paper Boi enjoying a joint and a thought. Or two. Or three. He’s now hoisted by his own petard.

This is not what you expected, but at this juncture, what is?

This is dreamy and maybe fix up your pumping ventricles before watching this. In any event…

…Enjoy this rollercoaster and hold on for dear life.

Could Rick Grimes Be Joining Marvel Zombies?

By
Christian Angeles
-
0
zombie captain america next to rick grimes

Rumors are that actor Andrew Lincoln, who played the titular character of Rick Grimes in The Walking Dead, may be joining The MCU.

In an exclusive from Giant Freakin Robot, there are rumored hints that actor Andrew Lincoln may be joining the MCU. Since leaving The Walking Dead in 2018, The actor has kept a low profile. Having stayed out of the public spotlight to spend time with his family, thus far, the actor has taken on only two acting roles since that time. First in the book-to-film adaptation of Penguin Bloom. Then, in the upcoming Guillermo del Toro horror series: Cabinet of Curiosities. 

Lately, Andrew Lincoln has been seen around Atlanta hinting at a small return in the final season of the popular zombie series. He also has a contract to do a Rick grimes-centered movie. But what afterward, to Rick Grimes and The Walking Dead series itself, is up in the air at best. This is why Lincoln’s pivot to the superhero world would make a lot of sense.

A lot of former Walking Dead stars have moved onto the superhero world. Shane, played by Jon Bernthal, became Marvel’s Punisher on Netflix. Daryl’s brother Merle, played by Michael Rooker, was Yondu in The Guardians of The Galaxy. Fan-favorite Glenn, played by Steven Yuen, is now the leading character on Amazon Prime’s Invincible. Then of course, there’s the biggest star of both The Walking Dead and Marvel Cinematic Universe worlds: Michonne, played by actress Danai Gurira, who plays Okoye in The Black Panther franchise.

Suffice to say, Lincoln would be in good company if the pivot into the superhero world were to happen. However, details are murky according to GFR and it’s uncertain as to what role Lincoln would play in the MCU. Though there has been a series of Walking Dead-related connections in Marvel as of late, a big one that is often overlooked: is the upcoming Marvel Zombies series for Disney+. 

Debuted in ‘What If…?’ this adapted series from the comics sees fan-favorite Marvel superheroes take on the zombie apocalypse. Often, in dire and escalating situations that sees conflicts like, “What if The Avengers become zombified”? Or, “What if Deadpool were the last human left in a zombie apocalypse?

That said, it should be noted who the original creator of Marvel Zombies story was in the first place. Because that gem began by none other than Robert Kirkman. The very creator who made The Walking Dead. Kirkman has got a bit of a history introducing zombies into other creative universes. Doing so for Disney/Marvel, let alone using a star character/actor that helped rocket his career, doesn’t seem all that ludicrous to me. And though this is a TheWorkprint fan rumor created by yours truly, I will throw this out there: that Robert Kirkman was given the reigns to let both AMC be home of The Walking Dead and let Amazon be home of Invincible. So I personally see no reason as to why Disney/Marvel wouldn’t want Kirkman to have some degree of creative control over Marvel Zombies to establish it as their home for the Disney+ platform?

Rick Grimes dropping in for a cameo doesn’t sound too obscene. Though even better: would be seeing Andrew Lincoln in a starring role in the MCU.

Atop of this, The Marvel Zombies comic line pretty much breaks every rule when it comes to canon anyway. It already had a longstanding Evil Dead crossover in their comics… which, if unrealized by fans, is also an MCU/Disney+ possibility. Because now that Sam Raimi (the evil dead’s creator) is back at Marvel and directing Multiverse of Madness, that door for including The Evil Dead into this, is now open as well.

Truth be told, the possibilities of all sorts of zombie crossovers became endless the second that ‘What if…?’ greenlighted Marvel Zombies. But only time will tell what will happen…

 

 

1...293031...123Page 30 of 123

Copyright © 2022 The Workprint