After many leaked photos and videos have surfaced on the internet, Marvel and Disney have finally released a trailer for the third Captain America movie: Civil War.
“Captain America: Civil War” picks up where “Avengers: Age of Ultron” left off, as Steve Rogers leads the new team of Avengers in their continued efforts to safeguard humanity. After another international incident involving the Avengers results in collateral damage, political pressure mounts to install a system of accountability and a governing body to determine when to enlist the services of the team. The new status quo fractures the Avengers while they try to protect the world from a new and nefarious villain.
While many fans were hoping for something similar to the comic book storyline of the same name, it seems that directors, Anthony and Joe Russo have decided to go a different direction with the plot. Instead, Cap’s childhood friend and Winter Soldier, Bucky, appears to be at the center of the conflict between Steve Rogers and Tony Stark. Whether or not he’s really at the heart of the issue remains to be seen, but hey, that’s Black Panther! It’s nice to see him making an appearance. And I won’t lie that it was kind of nice to watch smug Iron Man get his face punched in.
What do you think about the trailer? Any direction you want the movie to take?
Captain America: Civil War stars Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr., Chadwick Boseman, Scarlett Johansson, Sebastian Stan, Anthony Mackie, Paul Bettany, Jeremy Renner, Don Cheadle, Elizabeth Olsen, Paul Rudd, Emily VanCamp, and like a zillion other stars.
It goes without saying that some of the most respected films of the past 20 years have come from the geniuses at Disney/Pixar. In terms of animated entertainment no other studio or production team even comes close to matching the wow factor usually churned out by the geniuses behind the likes of the Toy Story trilogy, Up, Finding Nemo, and The Incredibles among many, many others.
In fact, there was a time when Pixar was essentially undefeated. Everything they touched turned to gold and you knew when sitting down that you were in for a great film. But that eventually became a thing of the past with flicks like Cars 2, Monsters University, and Brave underwhelming loyal fans and leaving us a little less certain of greatness when we purchased our tickets. A lot of respect was earned back earlier this year with the release of Inside Out (which is still a contender for best film of 2015 in my book) but I am sad to report that their latest release, The Good Dinosaur, is closer to the lesser entries of Pixar’s filmography than the films that have already become classics.
Set in the days when dinosaurs ruled the Earth, The Good Dinosaur, introduces us to a loving family of brontosaurus farmers (they can talk so why not be farmers too, right?) who are living the good life, working the fields, and raising the children to be strong, self-sufficient adults. As the story begins the Momma and Pappa dinos welcome the birth of three children. The first two are “normal” baby dinos who grow up to be strong and useful around the farm but the third, Arlo, is what you might call a runt. He is small, uncoordinated, and has an oddly shaped set of legs that make walking less than easy for him.
As Arlo grows up he remains weak and frightful while his two siblings become healthy and reliable for work around the farm. He sees them quickly earn the respect of his parents by getting to make their mark on the family’s grain silo (yes, the dinos can build shit too) and sets out to to earn this honor himself until….tragedy strikes. As in many Disney stories before this, a terrible thing happens that results in the loss of a parent and the child takes the blame upon himself for it. In this grieving process, Arlo tries to set things right by giving chase to a small caveman child who instigated the initial tragedy but ends up falling into a river and tumbling miles and miles away from home in the vast prehistoric world.
Once free of the water, a panicked Arlo starts his quest back home and ends up befriending the small caveman child (who comes to be known as Spot) who helps Arlo find food and overcome other obstacles that he otherwise wouldn’t be able to handle on his own. This unlikely pair then makes a movie-long journey where they encounter a host of zany characters – some good, some bad, some hilarious – and danger around every corner. Together they bond, learn life lessons, and ultimately do what is best for the other in hopes that Arlo can return home and make his mark of honor on the family silo.
This is of course all very heartwarming. The only problem is that you’ve already seen it 20 or 30 times. What used to make Pixar films so special was how unexpected and original they were, but this particular story has been told so many times that there is very little left to be excited about. The hero’s journey feels glaringly overdone and just about every twist and turn that the story makes is visible from miles away. The characters they meet along the way fall into very stereotypical categories of friends or foes that we’ve met in other Disney flicks and many of them rely on eye-rolling notions of humor (“Let’s give these dinos thick southern accents! What could be funnier?!”) that may have caused laugh riots twenty years ago but now just seem tired to all but the smallest of children.
Some of this retreaded material is countered with genuine moments of humor, beauty, or thrilling action but those things are sadly too far and few between to make the overall film anything more than your average kid-friendly movie.
Fans of great animation will find a lot to admire in the film’s beautifully rendered landscapes and natural elements but the cartoonish look of the characters somewhat clashes with the ultra-realism of those backgrounds making for a slightly jarring visual palette that feels a little all over the place.
So in short this is hardly one of Pixar’s better efforts. Small children may find it delightful but the rest of us will have to rely on the fact that the studio that recently gave us the more miraculous Inside Out might have better tricks up its sleeve than this in the future.
The Leftovers
Season 2, Episode 7: “A Most Powerful Adversary”
Grade: B
I have to admit, it gets harder and harder to write these reviews each week. It’s not because I’m lazy (though I definitely am), but because I feel this show has just gotten a lot cheaper. At seven chapters into a ten episode season, we’re finally starting to see things tie together but I really have no incentive to care. To this point, the writers have not served Jill (Margaret Qualley) well this season at all. Earlier in the season we saw Jill and Michael’s relationship begin to bud. Beyond a few nods to its progression here and there, we haven’t seen much on-screen development of their dynamic. As a result, when Jill chastises Michael for fooling around and not fucking, the tension seems forced. This moment is made all the worse by Jill’s bratty f-bombs, and Michael’s fairly unbelievable justification that he doesn’t know if he loves her yet.
Of course all of that is pretty much a distraction from Jill’s main conflict, which is her lingering anger over mother Laurie’s (Amy Brenneman) abandoning her and Kevin. To set up the inevitable confrontation between mother and daughter, the show has to somehow justify a sudden Laurie visit to The Lonestar State. As I predicted in my “Off Ramp” review, Laurie and Tom’s (Chris Zylka) efforts to supplant the “false belief” provided by cults like Guilty Remnant with their own belief system has backfired. This failure has drawn Laurie to Jarden under the assumption Tom has tried to reconnect with Jill. Unsurprisingly, when Jill sees the woman who almost caused her to die a slow fiery death, there’s no shortage of contempt. I have to admit I am interested to see how this conflict is resolved, if at all, given how much the estrangement has affected both characters. Of course there’s no catharsis in this episode, and I presume we’ll see another extended bout of scene chewing between Jill and Laurie during the next few installments. Yet, with Tom’s disappearance and the all but certain return of Meg Abbot and whatever fucked up plans she has, I would not be surprised if we see some act of sacrificial love by Laurie, atoning for her past and closing out her arc.
Then of course there’s Kevin and Patti, the worst onscreen pairing of a schizophrenic and ghost since Pacino and De Niro in Righteous Kill. I have no idea what the writers want to do with either of these characters at this point. As I’ve mentioned before, Patti roves back and forth between providing comic relief (I did laugh out loud at her missive that Kevin drink a chalice of his own man-butter) and harbinger that all of Kevin’s deepest fears will come to fruition. Kevin’s arc here is sadly the least interesting. The episode serves as one big tease the he’ll follow Virgil’s advice – despite more sensible counseling by Laurie – and finally rid himself of Patti by confronting her “on the otherside” ala A Nightmare on Elm Street.
Predictably, things don’t go quite as planned since Virgil gives Kevin some moonshine concoction to stop his heart and promptly kills himself, denying the latter an opportunity to be revived. After the fact, Michael is visibly distressed (but not surprised) at the scene and the episode ends with him dragging Kevin out to (presumably) be buried. In setting up the tension for the last three episodes, we get no resolution here, just a predictable cliffhanger. I doubt they’ll actually kill off Kevin – though that would be more interesting – opting instead, perhaps, for some bullshit prophecy that Virgil made to Michael that Kevin would survive if he was a just man or something to that effect.
Thoughts:
Enough with playing “Where is My Mind” We fucking get it, everyone is going crazy just trying to keep it together.
The Leftovers Season 2, Episode 6: “Lens”
Grade: B+
For a moment, we’re left to believe something interesting is about to happen. The episode begins with a well paced and enigmatic tracking of a researcher’s effort to argue that – in contrast to the beliefs of the MIT group we saw earlier in the season – the departures were driven through specific people, not location. The idea is referred to as “Lensing”, where apparently someone emits ultraviolet rays in such a way that causes people to lift and depart. When you initially hear this theory, its fairly infuriating, akin to learning in The Phantom Menace, that The Force is just a whole bunch of microscopic organisms (seriously, fuck “midi-cholrians”). Given David Lindelof’s thoughts on such issues in the past, it’s clear this idea isn’t meant to be taken very seriously beyond creating enough doubt in Nora to make her fundamentally reassess her responsibility for her family’s departure.
In a highly un-Leftovers fashion, we get a lot of answers in this episode to some earlier mysteries and recurring oddities. For instance, its noted that the continual goat sacrifices are one of a variety of rituals different townsfolk have adopted in the belief that they contributed to their immunity from the departure.
More importantly, we learn that Erika considered leaving John before her daughter’s disappearance. In an uneven episode, this penultimate scene of “Lens” is one of the best crafted moments of the season. Nora begins blithely administering the revised departure questionnaire, subtly asserting her authority, as she has countless times before, and searching for any sign that she’s not a lens. The shots become tighter and tighter, drawing the audience further into the tension and gradually inverting each character’s status. Nora slowly begins to break Erika down, resulting in a host of admissions, the most notable being that she feels personal guilt over Evie’s departure because she wished her kids would be ok without her. It turns out her release of a buried bird in “Axis Mundi” was tied to a myth her grandmother told her about wish-making. It’s a fairly convoluted explanation for what would be inexplicable behavior in any other context or show, but the borderline instability characters exhibit in a post-departure world has always been a hallmark of the show and only heightened in Season 2.
These schizophrenic overtones are evident throughout “Lens”. Erika lashes out at the town for its adherence to superstition, but a cites a fantastical yarn to explain her daughter’s disappearance and presumed departure. Nora acts unfazed by the prospect she might be personally responsible for her family’s loss, but Erika sees through the facade and exposes her underlying insecurities. Their relationship is a subset of the larger dualism between the Garveys and Murphys more generally, who couldn’t seem more different on the surface, but have so much similar grief between them. And then of course there’s Kevin, whose actual schizophrenia continues to reveal itself.
While we get some minor plot movement along the way – we learn Tom has left Laurie and is probably heading for Jarden – the major focus is on Nora and Erika. I can’t help but compare this season with the most recent iteration of True Detective and note the similarities in how well the show seems to execute on the little things, perhaps at the expense of the larger narrative. That show hit its stride in the last two episodes before puttering out in the finale. Something similar will probably happen here, and with four episodes left things are going to start moving pretty quickly, so this might be one of the last character heavy pieces we see until the finale.
Thoughts:
When is Mary going to speak? Janel Moloney may not be a household name, but her profile as an actress is certainly high enough to warrant more screen time (whether through more visions or an actual awakening).
“Let he who is without sin cast the first stone” – the reference here is fairly on the nose, but it’s fun to see it bookend the episode (first with Nora breaking Erika’s window and then vice versa).
HEROES REBORN -- "The Lion's Den" Episode 105 -- Pictured: (l-r) Kiki Sukezane as Miko Otomo, Toru Uchikado as Ren Shimosawa -- (Photo by: John Medland/NBC)
Heroes Reborn
Season 1, Episode 10: “11:53 To Odessa”
Air Date: November 19, 2015
He was just a boy, who fell in love with a girl who was just a video game character brought to life.
One of the craziest subplots in Heroes Reborn revolves around Katana Girl’s (Kiki Sukezane) Tron-like story. We first met her in episode one where gamer Ren Shimosawa (Toru Uchikado) arrives at her Tokyo condo after finishing a high level in the online MMORPG EverNow. Despite rocky beginnings Ren stays true to Miko Otomo as he aids her in her quest in both the real world and in the virtual one.
He manages to help her inside the Yamagato building and is the one who notices that Erica Kravid (Rya Kihlstedt) has Hiro’s (Masi Oka) Kensei sword. He recruits help from gamers from all around the world to get them to Midian, Colorado and even orchestrates a cover for them to get into the Renautas campus via cosplayers invasion. Question is, how does he manage to get Miko a passport? I doubt there was one just sitting in her apartment…
HEROES REBORN — “The Lion’s Den” Episode 105 — Pictured: (l-r) Kiki Sukezane as Miko Otomo, Toru Uchikado as Ren Shimosawa — (Photo by: John Medland/NBC)
Anyways, they somehow fool TSA and make it to Colorado. After some sneaking around, the two meet HRG (Jack Coleman) and Quentin (Henry Zebrowski) in the super secret basement where the Renautas scientists have been sending stuff to the future. We learned first learned that she wasn’t the real Miko here and that going back into EverNow to complete her mission would likely mean her death. Still, Katana Girl went back inside and freed Hiro Nakamura who then was able to take Noah to the past.
But what happened to her? Turns out she somehow got sent 7k+ years in the future to where Erica’s new city “Gateway” is. You know who else is there? Hachiro Otomo (Hiro Kanagawa) and the REAL Miko who seems to be in an induced coma (ala how the captured Evos are). The reunion between father and virtual daughter was short-lived however as he tells her to find the master of time and space to receive her final mission. Katana Girl is confused because she thought she had already freed him! She did free Hiro, but now that he no longer has his powers, Tommy/Nathan is the new master. Before they are separated once more the two share a touching moment when virtual Miko tells Hachiro that she’d always felt different but that a man had found her and treated her as if she was special. Awww!!! Her father nods and says that he sent Ren to her. But then he calls the guards on her likely to maintain his own cover.
Let’s take a moment though to notice that for all of the craziness that Renautas has done, Miko 1.0 is incredibly well groomed with a stylish haircut and makeup. I’m assuming that she has been in this sleep-induced state since she was a child after her tragic accident to have Hachiro do their bidding.
Lucky for Katana Girl that Tommy/Nathan (Robbie Kay) happened to take a field trip 7,957 years into the future with Erica, Q, and Phoebe (Aislinn Paul) so that the young man could see for himself that Renautas was trying to save mankind. After touring the expansive facility he agrees to help Erica and the CEO feels that she’s successfully manipulated him. In a sign of trust, she tells Quentin and the Shadow to go back to the present because she trusts Tommy. Also she wants Phoebe to find Malina (Danika Yarosh) and probably kill her of course. Just as the Frady siblings are sent back, Katana Girl shows up and disarms the guards to make her way to Tommy. She tells him that it’s her mission to free him and that they must go now. Thankfully this seems to bring him back from crazy land and he teleports them outta there. Erica’s enraged expression is priceless in this scene!
HEROES REBORN — “Game Over” Episode 106 — Pictured: (l-r) Jack Coleman as Noah Bennet, Kiki Sukezane as Miko Otomo, Toru Uchikado as Ren Shimosawa, Henry Zebrowski as Quentin Frady — (Photo by: Christos Kalohoridis/NBC)
Meanwhile back in the present, Ren is still in Midian after escaping Renautas and has been trying to log back into EverNow to find out what happened to Miko. He sees a man dressed in samurai armor like Hachiro wore in the video game and rushes after him. He then gets led inside what appears to be a dojo where people are practicing kendo. The man reveals himself to be a construct sent by the real Hachiro who is in the future. The construct then tells Ren that he has a new mission and that is to save Miko who is dying. Does he mean Katana Girl or the real Miko?? Faux Hachiro says that he must go to the future by finding a time traveler and gives him the glyph necklace that looks an awful lot like what The Haitian had been wearing (it is supposedly a key). Ren needs to head to Odessa where the gateway between present and the future is located in order to be sent to the future with the others.
As luck is on his side as well, a bus pulls up shortly that is heading to Odessa and Ren is able to get in. He’s now on a quest to save his ladylove. Before they were separated, he had finally confessed that he loved her and she answered with the classic line, “I know.” I wonder though if it’s possible for Hachiro to somehow transplant the memories of Katana Girl into the actual human Miko so that the two can have a shot at a real relationship. Though Ren, let’s be real you are probably in love with the idea of being in love with a construct who has an all-important mission to help save the world. But shucks I’m rooting for you crazy kids.
HEROES REBORN — “The Lion’s Den” Episode 105 — Pictured: (l-r) Kiki Sukezane as Miko Otomo, Toru Uchikado as Ren Shimosawa — (Photo by: John Medland/NBC)
Now the question is whether Tommy and Katana Girl have gone back to the present or are they still at some point in the future? We don’t know whether they time traveled or just teleported to a different location inside the Gateway facility. Also how will Ren find them and how does the glyph necklace fit into all of this? And what has happened to the Kensei sword? It wasn’t with Hiro when he was freed and Miko didn’t have it in the future either.
With only three episodes left in the mini-series we’ll have to wait to find out what happens next once the holiday break is over!
There will be spoilers from the entirety of the game in this review. If you haven’t finished, come back later!
Nearly a year after the first episode, Telltale has finally released the sixth and final episode of Game of Thrones season one. I say season one because there’s no way Telltale ends a game like that. Otherwise, they might give George R. R. Martin a few ideas and then we’d have to riot. And they’ve already confirmed a second season.
Game of Thrones is a series known for killing off fan favorites and leaving other characters’ fates ambiguous but my goodness, Telltale has taken that generalization too far. Who’s left alive by the end of game? Well, if you’re me, Gared (ugh), Talia (yay!), and possibly Asher. And…that’s it. I’m not even kidding. Even the Red Wedding didn’t kill off that many main characters in one chapter.
Let’s go ahead and start with the worst of the bunch: Gared freaking Tuttle. Not only was Gared a boring Jon 2.0, but by the end his story seemed even more pointless than originally anticipated. Gared’s entire plot revolves around finding the fabled North Grove and the help that awaits House Forrester at its location. However, after abandoning Jon and getting Finn and Cotter killed, Gared only finds the home of the bastard twins of Gregor Forrester.
I don’t understand how the wildlings can tell stories about the North Grove when it’s only been occupied a few years, but okay, I’ll suspend some belief in the hope that the North Grove has more of a history that we’ve yet to see. I have questions about how Elsera and Josera were raised (wights? Their Wilding mother? The polar bear?), but even more, why would they want to help a family who essentially banished them north of the wall? It’s not like Jon Snow’s situation where he feels a sense of loyalty to his father. I doubt that Gregor made regular trips north of the Wall. We spent five episodes building up to finding the North Grove, have a final episode named, “The Ice Dragon”, and then the plot fizzled out. But hey, Cotter’s wound looked pretty gruesome, so +1 to House Designers.
And then there’s Mira. If you’ve followed any of my reviews of the game so far you’ll see that I haven’t exactly been the best when it comes to navigating King’s Landing. I’ll be honest, I expected Mira to die a long time ago so her dismissal from Margaery’s service and beheading seemed almost too late, in my opinion, especially since it felt like every decision was the wrong decision. I’ll concede that like Ned Stark’s beheading, I didn’t think the writers would go through with killing Mira. The judicial system in King’s Landing isn’t exactly up to UN standards, but I thought at least Margaery or even Cersei would make an appearance before Mira lost her head. I think they were waiting until the final episode to have her die (through no fault of certain upstanding gamers who wouldn’t stoop to marrying that weasel Morgryn), because her interactions with Tyrion in the cell felt superfluous. That being said, I’m wondering how Telltale will navigate having some players with Mira alive and others with her dead. Maybe those with standards will have to play as Tom the Coal Boy.
I know there have been a lot of comparisons to House Stark, but I tried to play my Forresters more aggressively than Ned’s brood: I tried to kill Ramsay; I didn’t bend the knee; I sacrificed Rodrik instead of Asher because he was the fighter (and I HATED that because Rodrik/Elaena were totes in love). And what do I get? A stupid, Stark-like ending anyway. What the HELL was Mama Forrester doing on the battlefield? She along with all the small-folk should have been holed away in the keep, away from all the swords and bloodshed. Instead, she ran out there like, “ASHER! Sweetie! You forgot your lunch–*shink*.”
Why did everyone let Ludd run out the door, focusing instead on Whitehill guard #4? That’s was the ENTIRE point of the ambush, you guys! YOU HAD ONE JOB. What are we, stormtroopers? I don’t know how you do things over in Meereen, but in Westeros we–oh, screw it. We’re all bad, apparently.
I understand chaos and watching the hero lose for the sake of having him rise again in a narrative but this just felt like rushed writing for the sake of getting to an already planned ending. Killing Ethan was done for shock value but it made sense in the grand scheme of things. Ramsay Snow is just that sadistic to kill a child Lord in his own hall. I can’t understand the shock value of killing Mama Forrester and having Asher gutted, only to improbably survive. Maybe I’m still bitter about losing Rodrik or the rushed way in which I lost Mira, but there was too much bad in the first six episodes of Game of Thrones to really relish when the good guys get revenge. Add on top of that the fact that there was no way to “win” in any fashion for the Forresters and you’ve got one cranky Jen.
Telltale’s Game of Thrones feels like a story that could realistically be set in the Thrones universe, but I have to concede that playing through it feels even more hopeless than reading the books. It’s depressing and with so many WTF moments, you have to wonder–what’s the point?
I already mentioned this in my review of Mockingjay Part 1, but the split finale of the Hunger Games franchise is going to be one to divide fans. If you enjoyed Mockingjay as a book, I suspect you’ll like the finale; if you’re crazy and didn’t like the third book, well, you may be disappointed, as the film sticks to the book pretty closely.
Mockingjay Part 2 follows Katniss and her band of District 13 rebels as they make their way into the Capitol to force President Snow’s surrender, one way or another. The film doesn’t hit every note well, and it’s so convoluted it doesn’t quite know what it wants to be a lot of the time, but the moments it does hit, it hits hard.
Part 2 picks up exactly where Part 1 left off–immediately opening with a shot of Katniss’s bruised neck. It was such a sharp opening that I was taken aback by it, jarred into the movie when I expected some kind of “previously on Mockingjay” segment. I didn’t really expect a CW-esque summary of what we’ve all forgotten happened a year ago and I would have hated it, but I did anticipate some sort of voice-over while the opening credits rolled, replaying the moments before Katniss was attacked by Peeta. But maybe that’s what director Francis Lawrence wanted, a slap to the face introduction.
Katniss handles the physical injury well enough, something she’s always done with ease, but it’s the memory of that thing-who-isn’t-Peeta that haunts her. It’s a fear she carries with her for much of the film and I have to say, I appreciated the emphasis on her journey to trusting Peeta again, and vice versa. I am one of the few people who enjoyed the meandering moments of Part 1, using the down time to show us the effects of Katniss’s PTSD and I’ll concede that I hoped the second film would take a bit more time to show that effect on Peeta. While he wasn’t cast aside completely, he wasn’t given the screen time I thought he deserved. That being said, Josh Hutcherson as Peeta made excellent use of that little time, proving yet again that he was perfectly cast as the boy with the bread.
And for as good as Peeta is throughout the film, Gale is inversely bad. I don’t blame Baby Hemsworth for all of Gale’s flaws, as there are some truly baffling lines that can only be attributed to the poor writing of the character. Gale is a soldier, through and through. He has lived his life with one purpose: protect those he loves. And when he can’t do that, he throws himself further into the role of protector, each failure leading him to become more jaded about the world around him. His life is the mission: protect my family by taking down the Capitol. A mission he will do anything to see through to fruition. And that key aspect of Gale’s character is lost in the films. He comes across as whiny and selfish instead of stubborn and intent on his goal. It’s a shame because that destruction of his character really ruins his integral moments.
Like its book counterpart, Mockingjay depicts war, death, and grief in a more realistic manner than most films and that’s something fans can appreciate. Politics and corruption have a larger impact in the final installment when compared to its predecessors, and it’s so much more than just “Kill Snow”, but at the end of the day, it’s the action that takes the lead. There aren’t too many moments to sit and ponder the implications of Katniss’s actions because it’s all fast-paced right from the get-go. It’s another reminder that Part 1 and Part 2 really are completely different films.
I complained after first seeing The Hunger Games that the lack of music was striking for me and one of the reasons I didn’t resonate as much with the film. It seems Part 2 took that notion to heart and stuffed the final segment full of loud, action-packed music and it was grating, taking away from the really good moments of music–the quiet uses of “Rue’s Farewell” throughout.
There was some questionable camera work in the film that I wouldn’t usually draw attention to but because I’m still firmly in the camp of “this didn’t need to be two movies,” I’m going to. Long, meandering shots of alleys and corridors, crazy spinning shots of characters that I’m guessing were meant to be artistic and emotional only served in making me nauseous. Cut the fat and give me a three hour film, instead.
I could understand the need for a Part 2 if it enhanced the characters in the same way it did in Part 1, giving us the little moments with characters like Finnick and Joanna who rightly deserve more screen time. Unfortunately, those little moments were either nonexistent or fell flat. Why even cast someone like Brienne of Tarth if she’s only going to be used for a minute of screen time? And don’t even get me started on the underwhelming use of Effie and Haymitch.
We as viewers need those smaller moments to form bonds with characters so that when they leave us in grand fashion, we feel that loss more deeply. Rue’s death was difficult because Katniss had that time to love and then mourn. And I fully understand that Mockingjay is much more focused on the grim aspects of war and how death isn’t glorious and I respect that, but give me my moments beforehand, and not some half-assed foreboding scene where we know the character is about to die because you just focused in on them for the first time in an hour.
If there’s one compelling reason to see the film it’s Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss Everdeen. Say what you will about everything else in the movie and I’ll agree with you but the only reason Part 2 stands as strong as it does is because of how fully Lawrence embodies Katniss, how deeply she connects to the character. Every look, movement, and bit of dialogue is the Mockingjay brought to life. Katniss isn’t the best leader. She doesn’t consider the many consequences of her actions–ever–but she has her convictions, her notion of right and wrong and those principles are what guides her to the end.
The final half hour of Mockingjay Part 2 is hard to watch. Especially in light of current events, the madness of war and the chess game leaders was particularly difficult to watch play out on screen. Orphaned children, widowed spouses, childless parents, it’s all there and it’s all horrifying. And then there was the ending. (Not the epilogue, that was awful like in the books.) In most action sagas, the story is resolved moments after the climax. The final fight concludes, the victors celebrate, and credits roll. That isn’t the case with Mockingjay and I’m so grateful we were treated to a proper resolution as well certain characters’ emotional states at the end.
Is Mockingjay Part 2 perfect? No. But it does have perfect moments and in the end, that’s all I really wanted.
“Do I look like I’m hiding? No. You wanna know why? Because no one wants to know. They want to feel safe.”
If you want a spoiler-free look at the series as a whole, go check out Bilal’s review. If you want all the thoughts and details about what happens in the first episode of Marvel’s Jessica Jones, then stay right here. Spoiler alert: there be spoilers.
After the huge success of Marvel’s Daredevil on Netflix, I have to admit, I was afraid that Jessica Jones wouldn’t be able to compare. Call it fear of the sophomore slump and HEY–I’m justified in being concerned! Thankfully, Netflix seems to have this superhero gig on lock because Jessica Jones is just as good, if not better than its predecessor. (Also, thanks for slashing the A.K.A. bit from the title.)
Jessica Jones opens with a gritty narration of what Jessica does for a living–namely, investigating cheating spouses. Normally, I don’t like narration, but it works with the theme for Jessica, lending itself to the noir atmosphere of the show. After an angry tussle with a client, we’re introduced to Jessica’s apartment door and while it may seem silly, that door is a plot device and a damn good one. It serves as an accurate metaphor for Jessica as a professional throughout the first few episodes.
Without missing a beat, we follow Jessica to the introduction of one of the show’s main characters, Jeryn Hogarth, a powerful lawyer who takes zero shit from anyone. Wanting more from her private investigation career, Jessica approaches Hogarth about a job and after some Sorkin-esque fast-paced hallway dialogue, Hogarth concedes to Jessica’s April Ludgate-like charm and gives her a summons to serve.
The first ten minutes do a fantastic job of showing who Jessica Jones really is to the viewer: an alcoholic, workaholic who is clever enough to trick people into getting what she wants, even while sitting on the toilet. Even though she doesn’t like showing it, she cares about people like Malcolm, the drug addict next door, but she also berates him sarcastically, as his her nature. (And I love her for it.)
I’d like to take a break from your regularly scheduled programming and now pronounce my love for Jessica’s jacket and scarf. If anyone knows where I can buy these items, please leave a comment.
We see glimpses of Jessica’s powers throughout the episode, but there’s no real explanation of them. In fact, the show doesn’t focus in on her abilities at all, but instead brushes them to the side. If you blink you might not notice that Jessica jumped up to her hiding spot in the fire escape and she dismisses how easily she breaks an apartment door lock. You might not even notice that there’s something physically amiss with Jessica until she picks up the back end of a car. It’s a nice reminder that unlike Daredevil, Jessica Jones is a psychological thriller first and a superhero show second. Jessica may not hide her identity with a mask but she doesn’t parade around as the hero, either.
If you’re a fan of the comics or even just follow news surrounding the show, then Luke Cage’s appearance should come as no surprise. Right off the bat we’re treated to a few romantic moments between the two, some flirtatious and some more…primal. But there’s a history there we aren’t privy to yet and Jessica’s need to keep her distance from her past and real emotion rears its ugly head.
The episode really hits its stride at the introduction of Mr. and Mrs. Schlotten, adorable and over-bearing parents looking for their missing daughter, Hope. As Jessica delves further into the case she realizes something is amiss with Hope’s disappearance and only when she gets to the restaurant where Hope and her new beau went does she realize she knows the man who took her. Jessica’s sarcastic but calm demeanor takes a drastic turn and she becomes jumpy, anxious to get the hell outta Dodge. She eventually turns to her best friend turned radio show host, Trish, who gives her the money but tries to get Jessica to talk about what’s got her scared.
As someone who has suffered through abuse, I love the way the show has approached PTSD and the fear of an attacker. Jessica is at her most raw and vulnerable when talking about the man who controlled her. We don’t find out much about him in the first episode but we know that he’s strong enough to frighten a young woman into not moving from a bed for 5 hours and 21 minutes.
And then there was that ending. That ending that I can’t even write about because it’s so haunting.
Remember when Glee’s pilot first aired and everyone was all atwitter because yes, this show was going to be so good and it made us feel emotions all over the spectrum? Well, Jessica Jones did that with its pilot, too, except where there was hope in a show like Glee, Jessica left us only with unbridled despair. How do you fight a man capable of such monstrosities?
All episodes of Jessica Jones are available November 20th on Netflix.
It’s no mistake that Marvel’s Daredevil became a cultural phenomenon the weekend it released on Netflix. Its dark and brutal journey following Matt Murdock, a blind, masked vigilante, as he battled organized crime in Hell’s Kitchen was met with a non-stop wave of critical and public praise. Now, seven months later, Marvel and Netflix are set to release their second of four planned series, Jessica Jones.
But the big question is, can lightning strike twice for Marvel?
The answer is yes–stronger and brighter.
Marvel’s Jessica Jones follows Kysten Ritter who plays the title character, you guessed it–Jessica Jones, a private-investigator dealing with trauma from her past. Jessica’s an alcoholic who is down and dirty when it comes to her job. She doesn’t wear her emotions on her sleeve, but when the moments arrive, Ritter excels at showing the vulnerability and fear locked away behind Jessica’s cold, hard demeanor. That’s not to say Jessica is all business; Ritter certainly brings the character to life with her snark and wit when dealing with those around her.
Let’s also not forget that Jessica Jones is a superhero with powers of her own. Super-strength to be more specific, but don’t expect to see it in display in choreographed fight scenes as we saw in Daredevil. Jones’ powers are used in a subtler manner and because of this, expecting another series like Daredevil would be a mistake.
The series, based on the Alias comic book series by Brian Michael Bendis and Michael Gaydos, differs from Daredevil’s action, crime drama and opts instead for a noir-psychological thriller. From its opening credits, musical score, and Jones’ narration, Jessica Jones’ tone is grisly, reminding you of P.I. movies and stories of old.
Earlier this year, I wrote that Daredevil succeeded in bringing Marvel’s Cinematic Universe down to the street level. Jessica Jones continues that theme, but in an even more remarkable way: where Matt Murdock was trying to stop Wilson Fisk and his broader plans for New York City, Jessica finds herself out to stop one man, Kilgrave, played by David Tennant, who is quietly pulling the strings from behind the curtain. It is very much cat-and-mouse and feels like a personal vendetta, but that doesn’t make the story any less intense.
David Tennant excels as the supervillain Kilgrave. It’s crazy to think that the man who I’ve known as a savior for mankind from his years on Doctor Who is capable of being so menacingly evil. Known as the Purple Man in the comics, Kilgrave’s brand of evil is horrifically beautiful. The way he uses people and pulls strings to torment Jessica is psychologically and emotionally captivating. On or off-screen, it is hard not to be transfixed by Tennant’s performance and the writing behind this monster of a villain.
It is in the psychological and emotional trauma that Jessica Jones excels. There is a perfectly crafted moment in the series premiere that occurs after slowly laying the foundation of Jessica’s world that even weeks after viewing, still manages to crawl under my skin and makes me feel uncomfortable. The best part is, Jessica Jones is filled with these moments. The way the series handles the damage and repercussion brought by Kilgrave and how characters react to it really shines a light on how far Marvel has come in developing their characters.
Truly, the secondary characters is where Jessica Jones outperforms Daredevil. The writers give each supporting character time to develop and shine as they play a part the bigger picture. Notably, there is Luke Cage (Mike Colter), a bar owner with secrets of his own, Trish Walker (Rachael Taylor), the best friend from Jessica’s past who knows her secret, and Jeryn Hogart (Carrie-Ann Moss), a lawyer who gives her cases to work. Each characters offers a different skill set for Jessica whether emotional or strictly business, which all ties back to the stopping Kilgrave.
For those wondering if Jessica Jones would be a show to watch with their children, I would have to give you a hard NO. From sexual content (no nudity, but there is a lot of sexual content) to psychological and traumatic moments, I’d recommend keeping the young ones away from this series.
I lost track of the amount of times Jessica Jones left me uncomfortable and shaken to my core. It’s been a long time since television made me feel anything. Marvel has a giant hit on their hands with Jessica Jones. With a female superhero that excels in portraying strengths across the physical, mental, and emotional states, Krysten Ritter as Jessica Jones may just be the best superhero out there.
Final Grade: A
Review based off the first seven episodes of Marvel’s Jessica Jones which were provided by Netflix for review purposes.
Jessica Jones releases tomorrow on Netflix so before we dive into her TV series, let’s get to know the character a bit beforehand, shall we?
In addition to looking great in a leather jacket, Jessica Jones also has a bit of more under the hood than our last Netflix superhero, Daredevil. In Daredevil, we only really glimpse his ability in one scene, as opposed to in Jessica Jones, where her “gifts” are on display nearly every episode.
But before we jump into comparing Jessica to Matt Murdock, let’s ask: how exactly did she get her powers?
A classmate of the one and only Peter Parker, young Jessica Campbell was present at the infamous arachnid bite. Additionally, in all sorts of tie-in synergy, Jessica’s father received tickets to Disney World from Tony Stark, and tragically on the car ride down to Florida, their vehicle collided with a military convoy carrying radioactive materials.
The accident killed Jessica’s family and put her in a coma until the arrival of Galactus and his tussle with the Fantastic Four for the first time. Following her awakening, Jessica was adopted by the Jones family. If you’re wondering how you’ve read all these comics and never saw Jessica Jones, well, she was, uh, retconned into most of these events.
The same accident that took away her birth parents gave Jessica enhanced durability, strength, and the ability to fly. (There’s something about comic books that makes radiation do magical things, instead of you know, painful death things.) Jessica can lift approximately 2 tons with ease, though the upper limits of her strength have yet to be tested. While she is tougher than a standard human, she can still get injured if severe enough trauma is thrown at her; however, I would classify her as borderline bulletproof. (Note: In the comics, Jessica could fly, but in the series, it seems as if her abilities are limited to ‘skilled jumping’.) Using these powers, she aspired to be a hero under the guise of ‘Jewel’, until her run-in with Kilgrave, which is where we can let you go until you watch the series.
So there you have it, your quick and easy powers primer for Marvel’s Jessica Jones. All episodes premiere November 20th on Netflix.
Some of my favorite video games are the ones that I can pop in, hand a few friends some controllers and with little explanation we’re off and running–good ol’ party games! I’m talking the Rock Bands, the #IDARBs, the Jackbox Party Packs of the world. As much as I love my hardcore shooters and adventure games, there is something uniquely incredible about playing a simple yet fun game with friends. (Especially when I win!)
So it should come as little surprise, that I jumped at the chance to review this month’s Game with Gold free game on the Xbox One, Knight Squad, from Chainsawesome Games. “Knight Squad is an 8 players top-down Bomberman meets Gauntlet game.” That’s Chainawesome’s description and honestly the best one for both gameplay and its art style. Using only the left stick to move and any face button to attack, Knight Squad nails the simple part of the equation, but is it any fun? Well…
In Knight Squad you select your knight of choice, represented by one of the many colors of the rainbow. Knights enter an arena and battle it out in a number of game modes where one hit is enough to take you out. The modes range from variations of classic team deathmatch and domination to a 4v4 game of soccer, but you know…with swords and stuff.
Strewn about the arena are both weapons and power-ups for your knight to gain an advantage over his opponents. The weapons range from theme-specific, like bow and arrow and crossbow, to the more obscure, such as a laser gun and lightning wand. Complementing your arsenal are power-ups such as a shield that absorbs one otherwise fatal hit, a gang of minions to help attack enemies, and the ability to go full kamikaze.
Each mode can be played on a number of maze-like maps that change up how you will approach each game type. Combining the many modes, weapons and maps allows for what seems like a ton of options. Unfortunately, what it seems like and what it is are two very different things.
Let’s start with what it is: Knight Squad is fun. There is something satisfying about swinging your sword a split second before one of your opponents or grabbing a shield on your way to scoring a flag just before you get hit with a crossbow. With its simple controls, even my 7-year-old was able to have a good time. Sure, he wasn’t getting quite as many kills as me (because I’m the best) but he was still laughing the entire way. (Ed. note: He’s not that good. I played with him.) Also, playing online worked flawlessly, with no issues in any of the matches I played.
So what isn’t Knight Squad? Diverse. After spending time with every game mode–online, against bots, and locally with friends–I can tell you that while every match looked different, they all kind of felt the same. That’s not to say it wasn’t fun, just that the game boils down to who can land a hit first every time. Once I got the timing down, I was dominating both local and online games. I’ll tell you who I wasn’t dominating–the AI.
When you can’t find 7 other friends, or don’t want to go online and get wrecked (probably by me…did I mention how good I am at this game?) you can practice against bots. The bots range from easy to hard but you wouldn’t know it. When I first started playing, I was getting destroyed by the bots on easy. Even now, after hours of play, I still find the AI cheap and unfair with an unrealistic idea of what “easy” is. Now this may seem like a silly complaint but when I gave my wife and sister, two people who rarely pick up the controllers, a chance to play against the bots they both mentioned how little fun they were having because of the difficulty. For a party game, alienating the inexperienced is a big problem.
Beyond the arena game modes, players can also take on a series of challenges. These challenges task the knight with dispatching a group of enemies as fast as possible. The different enemies all have a weakness that must be exploited to defeat them. Your times are then placed on a leaderboard where you can see where you rank against your friends and the world. The problem is, the challenges aren’t much fun. The enemies don’t seem to follow any logic, so often success seems dependent on luck and patience instead of skill. Also, the appearance of times that don’t seem possible on the leaderboards reeks of cheating/hacking and doesn’t drive one to chase the top.
Knight Squad shoves simple controls and a whimsical attitude into a party game package with some success. Playing with a full match of human players is a fun and competitive experience. That’s in stark contrast to matches involving bots, where often times frustration is the end result. Even with a tweak to the AI, Knight Squad’s biggest sin lies in how monotonous every match feels. As a free game on Xbox One via Games with Gold, Knight Squad is a nice party game for a few matches or a quick time killer online. As a $14.99 product, I’m not sure it has the lasting appeal to justify the purchase.
6.5/10
Knight Squad was reviewed on the Xbox One but is also available on the PC. Review Code for Knight Squad was supplied by Chainawesome Games.
Fallout 4 released a week ago and after nearly 80 hours sunk into the game, I still don’t feel like I’ve scratched the surface of what it has to offer gamers. Bethesda games are massive and full of immense detail, which makes reviewing them so early after release a bit difficult when compared to other games.
But here I am, doing my civic duty.
The world is a wasteland after nuclear bombs have destroyed most of civilization and in the latest installment of the Fallout franchise, but you’re in luck because you get to take on the role of a pre-war human being, naive to atrocities of war. After spending hours in the character creation segment, the bombs go off and you, your spouse, and infant son are sent to Vault 111 where you are then cryogenically frozen in the name of science. A few mishaps later and you’re unfrozen, escaping the vault, and on the hunt for your kidnapped son. The world is different than your character remembers, but you can’t quite pinpoint what’s changed in 200 years. Maybe it’s all the dust, radiation, and lack of obnoxious football fans.
Once you exit Vault 111 you can do anything you want in the Commonwealth, the new term for the Greater Boston Metro. Anything. You can go search for your son, sure, or you can befriend the locals and establish settlements, or you can become the Renegade of the Wastes, leaving destruction and ash piles in your wake. The choice is yours and mother of god it’s a daunting one.
For anyone who hasn’t played a large-scale RPG like Fallout, Skyrim, or the Witcher, then Fallout 4 can be incredibly terrifying and I’m here to warn you: the game is not going to hold your hand. In fact, that’s probably the biggest issue I have with the game: at no point does it offer a proper tutorial on gameplay. For a new player, the V.A.T.S. system and pip-boy can be quite daunting, especially since they aren’t explained at all in the early stages of the game. Your character simply picks up a pip-boy and goes about her business. After far too many hours in FO3 and New Vegas, those aspects came naturally to me but when it came time to craft mods and build up a settlement, I was completely lost. Even after 80 hours, I still don’t understand how much of it works and the internet hasn’t come up with comprehensive guides on the area, so I’m left to wait until someone much smarter than I can fully explain how supply lines work and the crafting mods in my inventory.
I repeat: this game is NOT noob friendly. For a flagship entry into the franchise, Bethesda seems almost intent on making gamers figure it out on their own.
Why the heck do you think there were so many guides online the day after the game launched?
When it comes to the main story, the plot feels reminiscent of Fallout 3. In fact, many of the quests are the same, just the order is mixed around to throw the player off their copycat scent. And from what I’ve experienced in the side quests, there isn’t much variation. No longer are you faced with the tough choices the Commonwealth has to offer. You don’t have to decide between saving a city or blowing it up. Instead, go here and kill some thing and get caps as a reward. You’re the hero of the story so be a good little survivor and go save this town from Raiders again, would you? There are some exceptions–“The Silver Shroud” being the most noticeable one–but the game is significantly more linear than its predecessors.
Protagonist voice acting is a new addition to the game and I have to say that I love it. I know there’s complaint about it being unnecessary and taking away from the RPG aspect of the game, but role-playing as a mother searching for her son, I felt the character’s emotion at all the right points. Even her sarcastic lines felt real. And here’s a hint: use sarcasm as much as possible because it has almost zero effect on the outcome of a plot or quest and some of the lines are just hilarious.
There’s been some complaint surrounding the graphics of the game and I’m not sure I see it. Granted, the game isn’t as pretty as say, Witcher 3 or Arkham Knight but it is also a much larger game and it runs well on my Xbox One. Thankfully, I haven’t run into nearly as many bugs as I did opening week for New Vegas. Nothing has been game-breaking, truly, but I have had the game freeze on me a few times. Dialogue is mostly a miss for me, as I tend to play with subtitles (I can’t hear for shit) and many, many times I’ve lost track of a conversation because the subtitles and NPC froze. I think that this glitch is the reason a handful of my quests have been bugged as unfinished and are now stuck as unplayable. I’ve lost companions for hours at a time because their AI is kind of a mess in terms of how they follow or fight. I can’t trust any of those jerks with grenades, lest they use 8 of them on a gorram bloatfly and kill me in the process. Their “downtime” actions are neat though, in that they’ll go find something to do when you’re off shopping or searching an abandoned room.
In fact, the companions have been significantly improved from recent games. They aren’t quite BioWare levels yet, but the interaction and dialogue feels more natural from traveling companions. They can’t die, only “faint” until the end of the battle when Nurse Joy magically appears to heal their wounds. I still treat them like pack mules though since now every item in the game is useful with the new building and crafting system.
For the first time in a Fallout game, you can take charge of your own settlement: building power, water, and food resources for your little scrap finders. Now we all understand why Bethesda released Fallout Shelter. It wasn’t to keep us entertained. No, silly minions. It was practice for being an overseer for when the real thing came out in Fallout 4. The building itself, leaves a bit to be desired. It’s an awesome addition, one I was incredibly excited about, but I uttered on more than one occasion, “I can’t wait until modders fix this nonsense.” (Which is an outlook I’m sad to have for such a large game.) In short, the building is a mess. There are clipping issues abound, there’s no explanation for how settlements work, and I’m not sure I understand how the “size” parameters are meant to work.
Fighting has been improved from previous games, which I’m grateful for because I’ve never been a huge fan of V.A.T.S., a targeting system that uses AP and chance to hit an enemy. Firing a ranged weapon is more satisfying than before, mostly in first-person, though. Third-person hip shooting still needs more work.
There’s no longer a level cap in the game, which gamers met with rejoice, but I have to admit I’ve found that to be more frustrating than helpful. My character is in the mid-30’s and I have still yet to find better weapons that the dollar store variants of a sniper and assault rifle. And the same is said for armor. There just aren’t any good alternatives to the power armor and it’s incredibly frustrating not knowing which armor can have leather or combat armor strapped on top of it. I love the look of the Courser uniform but I feasibly can’t wear it in a fight.
Perks feel less useful because you acquire the power armor so early in the game that you don’t have to worry about stats. I will concede that I like the idea of relying on the power armor so heavily, on being able to put my points into more crafting-oriented skills like for modding weapons and armor. It makes it more believable that my scrawny twice-frozen ass could survive for so long in the Commonwealth with the help of such technology. That being said, it should not have been acquired first thing. It becomes too much of a crutch.
One thing the game doesn’t lack is detail. Bethesda may not be the best when it comes to the main story but they are kings when it comes to minor details. If you don’t read the terminals or listen to holotapes, you’re missing out on some really good storytelling, especially ones about the characters you travel with on a regular basis. There’s one in particular about Mama Murphy and her sway over the Raiders that I particularly enjoyed. It’s those little moments that Fallout does better than any other game. Only they could tell a story with a skeleton and a few miscellaneous items that breaks your fucking heart. It’s those little touches that make traversing the war-torn Commonwealth so exhilarating. You never, ever know what you will find.
And that’s what makes the game so fun, too. There aren’t many changes to the game–things like lock-picking and the pip-boy are exactly the same from previous installments–but there’s still so much to do. Sure, a lot of it feels redundant but then you do a quest at the Museum of Witchcraft and suddenly things are exciting again. And there’s nothing like the thrill of stumbling upon a Legendary Deathclaw and watching him dodge your shots as you panic and spray shots everywhere, aggroing everything in a three-mile radius.
Don’t get me wrong, the game is a worthy entry to the Fallout franchise. It’s fun to play and I’m sure I’ll easily sink another couple hundred hours into the game because I WANT to explore the Commonwealth. That being said, don’t expect anything innovative. The building is a nice touch for fans of the survival genre like myself but I imagine it’ll go mostly unused by the average gamer. Instead of being Fallout 4, the game feels more like Fallout 3 ½, and really, I’m okay with that.
Better Call Saul, the surprising prequel to the critically acclaimed Breaking Bad, has a return date in sight.
AMC has announced that the series, which follows James (Jimmy) McGill’s journey into becoming Saul Goodman, will return Monday, February 15 at 10 PM for its second season.
Season one found Jimmy stumble upon a large class-action lawsuit, which led to a promising job opportunity at a large firm. Having arrived at a fork in the road, will Jimmy take the straight and narrow path with a safe corporate job or will he fall back into his “Slippin’ Jimmy” con-artist ways?
“Jimmy McGill’s journey takes surprising, left-handed turns in season two of ‘Better Call Saul.’ He goes to places we’d never, ever expected. As for Mike Ehrmantraut, he’s pulled deeper into a world he was sure he’d left forever,” said Peter Gould, executive producer and showrunner, in a statement. “We can’t wait to share the next chapter of ‘Better Call Saul’ with the fans who have embraced the show.”
Better Call Saul was renewed for a second season before the series even premiered. No word on a renewal for a third season has yet been given.
The Huntsman Winter’s War is the upcoming 2016 prequel to Snow White and The Huntsman with Chris Hemsworth and Charlize Theron reprising their respective roles at the Huntsman and the Evil Queen. The film also stars Emily Blunt as as Freya (the Ice Queen), Jessica Chastain as Sara (the warrior), and Sam Claflin as William.
Cedric Nicolas-Troyan directs with Evan Spiliotopoulos and Craig Mazin penning the script.
We are a day out from the release The Ice Dragon, the final episode in Telltale’s Game of Thrones series, and that means a brand new trailer!
Majority of the trailer is filled with spoilers from the major choices players had to make through the first five episodes of the series. Surprisingly, I’ve learned that most players out there are spineless and sided with the King over Margaery. You monsters! Also how could majority of not try to stab Ramsay?!?!? Seriously, you’re all the worst.
The final moments of the trailer teases an impending war, skeletons, and Gared performing a ritual with what looks to be a human heart?!?!? The final episode is upon us!
The official synopsis for The Ice Dragon is below:
Your story is about to come to an epic conclusion. With House Whitehill tightening its grip on Ironrath at the behest of Ramsay Bolton, the remaining Forresters must give their all to save the family, whether through diplomacy, subterfuge, or violent force. In the frozen wilds beyond The Wall, Gared learns the secrets of the mysterious North Grove, and Mira discovers that political games in a King’s Landing controlled by Cersei Lannister often involve the highest stakes of all.
Telltale’s Game of Thrones: The Ice Dragon releases on PC, PS4, and Xbox One on November 17, 2015.
The Leftovers Season 2 Episode 5: “No Room at the Inn” Original Airdate: 11/1/15 Grade: B
When I saw the preview for “No Room at the Inn” last week, I had a feeling it was going to be grueling. We’ve seen so little of Matt Jamison (Christopher Eccleston) so far, that inevitably there had to be bottle episode with him as the focus. The opening sequence documenting Matt’s dutiful efforts to recreate Mary’s (Janel Moloney) awakening was a particular highlight for me. Matt’s admirable discipline in caring for her (and then increasing frustration) is paralleled by a repetitious use of the Bellamy Brothers, “Let Your Love Flow”, which is sweet the first time you hear it, but grating with each successive play.
Desperate for any sign of progress, Matt sets out to Austin to have Mary examined. At the doctor’s office, he is informed that Mary is pregnant. The reverend is genuinely overjoyed at the news, which makes the moment all the more squeamish since we know that Mary is in a persistent vegetative state, with the implication being either that Mary did genuinely wake up and make love to her husband or, more darkly, Matt is delusional and raped his wife.
Rushing back to Jarden to secure Mary and the baby, Matt stops to aid a father and son experiencing car trouble. While we can see what’s coming a mile away, Matt’s subsequent beating and theft of his and Mary’s wristbands to Miracle is no less disturbing. The rest of the episode is essentially an onslaught of misery for Matt as he regains and loses access to Jarden courtesy of John Murphy (more on that later), is forced to wade through the freak show of tourists outside the park, dishes out penance in the form of beating a man with an oar, and dropping $1000 dollars on a doomed effort to sneak back into the park.
In classic Leftovers fashion, the ending yields no definitive clue as to whether or not Matt raped Mary. Through his presence has been scant this season, Matt’s sincerity about what he perceived has never seemed in doubt. Even when John gets Matt to essentially confess to forcing himself on Mary, you’re not quite sure whether it’s because he’s actually been exposed for a misdeed or if he’s so afraid of dismissal from Miracle – and the loss of its healing effect on his wife – that he’ll falsely admit to a heinous act just to stay there. Fear drives so much of Matt’s actions in this episode. Fear of losing his wife, his unborn child and the promise of Miracle. Yet, this fear disappears when Matt secures Mary’s re-entry into the park (with help from the Garveys) and sets out to reaffirm his claim of her awakening. With calm confidence, he reasserts to John that the event did indeed happen and when the time is right, he’ll return to Miracle and work through why John can’t accept the possibility that miracles do happen there.
Then, Matt leaves the park, returning to the outside encampment where he frees the man hanging in the gallows because “it’s his turn”. One could take this as an indication that Matt ultimately knows he raped his wife – even if it’s not what he believed happened – but given his arc within the episode I doubt that’s the case. As a Christian, Matt lives the notion that everyone is a sinner, and from that viewpoint he’s no less in need of repentance than anyone else. Moreover, echoing the Parable of the Good Samaritan, Matt was beaten on the side of the road and left for dead. In a twist on that tale, Matt plays the role of both victim and savior, freeing a type of person who only hours before he wanted nothing to do with. Taking that stranger’s place is an affirmation of his faith, believing that someone else will do the same for him. His action is also yet another example of the show’s ethos that salvation is something manifested primarily through human empathy and the efforts of other people.
While “No Room at the Inn” gives the viewer a lot to chew on, the subject matter is well-worn. As I hinted at last week, I’ve become a little concerned that the show is struggling to evolve and refine the bounds of its original focus. So far season 2 has managed to change some fundamental facets of the show and yet simultaneously fail to show us anything really new. The season 1 parallel to this episode is “Two Boats and a Helicopter”, a similar Job like parable that also focuses on Reverend Jamison, testing the limits of both his faith and humanity. In that episode, the audience learns a lot about the Reverend and what motivates him, catapulting him from some local religious kook to a sympathetic figure that deserves our attention. I can’t help but compare “No Room at the Inn” to that previous effort and find it underwhelming as a result. Although it’s fairly daring to take one of the show’s more likeable characters and legitimately consider whether he’s capable of doing something so vile and sad, we don’t get much out of the whole ordeal beyond the tease that he’ll probably return and might be vindicated. I don’t mind the ambiguity in itself so much as I resent what seems to be an emphasis on cultivating a parade of mysterious threads over reflection on something deeper (“Cough. Lost. Cough”). We’ll soon see whether the whole season adds up to something greater than the sum of its parts, but in the interim we’ll just have to have faith.
Well, here we are suddenly at the Quarterfinals. Six couples remain. Tom Bergeron, Erin Andrews, and company, are all dressed to the nines and ready to Rumba, as we begin this weeks episode with yet more drama from Tamar, who is in the hospital for pneumonia after another crazy schedule week. At the start of the live show, she was still at hospital and not sure when she would be returning. Bergeron said they didn’t really seem to have more information, and when the camera panned to her partner Val, he did not look too happy. This week, there were two rounds of competition. Round One , each couple danced a style that they have not yet tackled in this season. Round Two was Team Showstopper Challenge – where the couples formed two teams and performed a huge routine to show-stopping Broadway show tunes.
Last week, I was going to suggest in my review that Leah Remini take over permanently as co-host. While Erin is perfectly lovely and fun and good at her job, my Tommy B. and Leah seem to have a great chemistry together, and Leah is just damn funny. Plus, anyone who thinks Scientology is nutso and writes a book about it, is cool in my book. Get it? Book? Anyway, forget what I said about Leah Remini being co-host, because I would like to nominate myself for that position. Or, at the very least, a guest spot being funny with my Tommy B. Technically, I should be qualified to be on next season as a “star” dancer, since this season’s Hayes Grier has “Vine sensation” as his claim to fame, and guess what? I can now make that same claim, since a Vine video called #McFallen featuring me, has gone viral everywhere. In total, this thing has over 30 million views and counting. So I tweeted to my Tommy B and asked if this video qualifies me to be on next seasons show. He didn’t answer my question, but he did respond by observing that in the video, I fell down even faster than Marie Osmond when she fainted a couple of years back …. LIIIIIIIVE!!!! So then, Marie Osmond herself responded to me, saying simply: “You got my vote, Kelley!”, meaning, that SHE thinks I should be on the show too!!! And then she started following me on Twitter. And oh, by the way, this all happened on my dead husband’s birthday. My husband, who had a HUGE crush on Marie Osmond during his teenage years, and yes, I just played the “widow card” to make Tommy B. feel guilty and FINALLY GET ME ON THE SHOW ALREADY!!! Readers, if you agree with me, please tweet @Tom_Bergeron on Twitter, and say PUT KELLEY LYNN ON THE SHOW ALREADY!!! But I digresss …. Lets get on with the dancing :
Alek / Lindsay: They did a Salsa. Alek shaved his chest hair off so he could be like all the other DWTS men I guess. Sorry, he waxed it. Well, HE didn’t do it himself. He just screamed while it happened. The judges liked the new smooth look, and the dancing was, well, I wasnt really paying attention. Bruno: “Youve been pimped! Like Playboy out of Miami Vice!” When Alek looked confused, Tommy B had to explain what on earth Miami Vice was. Carrie Ann thought that Alek and the music never came together. Scores were 8/8/8.
Alexa / Mark: Okay, since when is Mark British? Or have I just never noticed it before in all these years? LIsten to him talking during the rehearsal footage and package before their dance. He is talking in this weird British type accent. Out of nowhere. What the … what??? During that same footage, Alexa told him the story of how she suffered with bulimia and eating disorders as a kid/teen, and how she got through it. They decided to use this as the inspiration for their Contemporary dance. Mark represented the disorder, and Alexa was herself, playing a push and pull game against each other. By dressing Mark all in black for the dance, all you really saw and focused on was Alexa and her struggle, and the choreography and emotion were absolutely stunning. Carrie Ann said “that was more than dancing. That was healing.” Julianne said she could feel every move, and all she saw was Alexa. It was intensely powerful. Scores were 10/10/10.
Carlos / Witney: They did the Argentine Tango to a Justin Bieber song, which the judges were mostly less than enthusiastic about. Julianne thought it lacked the passion of the tango, while Horny Carrie Ann oddly said: “it didn’t smack me in the face, and that’s what I need.” I’ll bet you do, you vixen! Scores were 9/9/9, and Len Goodman was home on his second cup of prune juice.
Bindi / Derek: Their dance was the Viennese Waltz , and Derek was freaking out about creating the perfect choreography for Bindi. He didn’t want to let her down, and last season, he became injured around this time in the competition, and he was being really hard on himself. OF course, his choreography was brilliant as always, and their dancing it was brilliant as always. Julianne said “I can’t say enough about it. It was gorgeous.” Carrie Ann compared it to a sunrise, and Bruno melted to Bindi: “My little diamond – you got it, baby!” Perfect tens! 10/10/10. And after that last cup of prune juice, Len had a perfect bowel movement at home.
Tamar / Val: Well the drama with Tamar continued and she was still in the hospital when it came time for them to dance their dance. So, as per the official rules of the show, which are locked away in a hidden vault inside Tom Bergeron’s brain, if a contestant is in the hospital during the live dance, the judges must watch the dress rehearsal footage and judge that. So , we all watched that footage, and the judges judged that. After the footage ended, Val was standing there all alone and looking quite angry. The judges pretty much all said the same thing, that the dress rehearsal looked like a dress rehearsal. Bergeron then complimented Val on how protective he is of his dance partners. Scores were 8/7/7.
Nick / Sharna: They did the Quickstep, and it was a blast of a dance involving top hats and jazzy movements. I loved it. Carrie Ann noted that Nick was “a quarter of a second ahead” on his timing. Really? A quarter of a second? Bruno thought it was slick and sharp, and Julianne agreed, saying “straight outta Broadway!” Scores were 9/9/10. At home, Len changed the channel so he could watch “60 Minutes.”
SHOWSTOPPER TEAMUP CHALLENGE:
Team One: Carlos and Witney, and Lindsay and Alek: They did the show “We Will Rock You”, with Queen music, and it was a Paso Doble. The judges liked it, but didn’t seem out of this world impressed. Carrie Ann once again said it was out of sync. Wow, she is really liking that term this week! Scores were 8/8/8.
Team Two: Bindi and Derek and Alexa and Mark: THey did music from “Chicago”, and chose “All That Jazz”. They danced The Charleston, and it was absolutely awesome. Like watching a Fosse style show. Julianne called the girls “the perfect Roxy.” It was cool seeing Bindi and Alexa do their duet together in this number. They were both very strong. Scores were 10/10/10. Perfect again!
Team Three: Tamar and Val and Nick and Sharna . THey did music from the show about The Beatles, Cirque De Soleil. THe song was “Hey Jude”, and Tamar showed up at the studio literally 5 minutes before their number. Drama!!! Afterwards, she had to sit down immediately again, and catch her breath, as she looked like she might pull a Marie Osmond and fall down right there on the dance floor. Bruno called it a celebration of love, and it scored 9/9/9.
The Elimination was especially rough this week, as husband and wife were put against one another as the bottom two – they both cried and were very emotional about the other one leaving, and when it was announced that ALEXA AND MARK were voted off, Carlos said to his wife in tears: “I wish it was me.” It was highly dramatic. Honestly though, aside from the husband / wife thing, it was just a shame to have to see Alexa go home this week, when she absolutely should not have been the one to go. Two perfect tens! I know the votes are from last week, but still. It kind of sucked seeing her leave. THen again, the show is over in 2 weeks, so where are these people going really? Nowhere. Just into the audience basically, to cheer on their castmates.
NEXT WEEK: Tamar gets a hangnail. Erin Andrews leaves the show to join Scientology. Tom Bergeron requests Kelley Lynn’s appearance on the show.
In one of his few (and last) TV appearances, The Peanuts creator Charles M. Schultz said through tears on the Today Show of his most famous creation Charlie Brown: “That poor kid. He never even got to kick the football. What a dirty trick.” This is much how Schultz saw life in general – one big dirty trick.
Since its first comic strip creation in 1950, The Peanuts has always stood out as much more than just a cartoon. It has always been, and was always meant to be, a statement about life, society, friendship, adulthood, and being a kid and thinking kid thoughts. The cartoons are written completely from a child’s perspective, right down to the side angles on the school desks, to the way that Snoopy’s face can be seen both from the side and front. Adults are an after-thought in Schultz’s world. We never physically see anyone’s parents, and the teachers only appear as voices, and their voices are nonsense sounds coming through loudspeakers to the tune of: “Waaa. Waaa waaaa waaa waaah.” Schultz doesn’t even give them real words to say, because his cartoons were never about parents or teachers or anything other than what it’s like to be a kid (and a dog) in a kid’s world. The themes are often very adult, but come from the heart of children. The cartoon somehow manages to cover baseball, sibling rivalry, addictions (Linus and his blankey), heartbreak and depression, politics, art, (Schroeder’s piano obsession is a metaphor to how Schultz himself was with his art and drawings) the meaning of life, insecurities, anxiety, and even death – all through the eyes of a child. Well, many children. Charlie Brown and the gang.
The Peanuts Movie does its best to keep the tone of the original, while remaining both a relevant and fun adventure for both kids and adults. I went and saw it on its opening day, November 6th. That day also happens to be my husband’s birthday. My husband, who died suddenly at age 46 from a massive heart-attack in 2011. Since he and I were both mutually obsessed with all things Charlie Brown, and since the film came out on his birthday, I took it as a sign that he wanted me to see it. I’m so happy that I did.
The film begins with its usual familiar piano music as the snow is falling down at winter. The camera pans over to each member of the gang as all their separate alarm clocks go off early to get up and go to school. (Schroeder’s alarm clock, is, of course, Beethoven.) A voice on the phone tells Peppermint Patty “Waa, waaa, waaa,”, to which Patty responds in a joyous scream: “NO SCHOOL!! SNOW DAY!!!!!! NO SCHOOL!!!!” The gang goes outside to play a neighborhood game of ice hockey, while Charlie Brown tries once again to successfully fly his kite, despite always getting it caught in the evil “kite-eating tree.” The other kids, with Lucy leading the way, laugh at him for trying to fly a kite in the middle of winter, with Lucy groaning: “Don’t you EVER give up, Charlie Brown?”
Then we get to the real meat of this story. There is a new kid in town, and the moving truck pulls up right next to Charlie Brown’s house, as he hides in the nearest bush to see who is moving right next door. He is instantly excited about the possibilities of someone new being in the neighborhood, someone who doesn’t know him or know how many times he has screwed up or considered himself a loser. He is excited about starting over and new beginnings. So excited, that he leans too far forward on the neighbors fence and the whole thing falls down like dominoes. Everybody runs and scatters, and Charlie fears he has already embarrassed himself, before she even meets him.
She, being, of course, a cute little-red-haired girl, that Charlie immediately finds himself smitten with. Little hearts dance above his head after seeing her walking around in her yard or checking her mailbox, yet when he tries to knock on her door to introduce himself, he chickens out and runs away instead. The next day in school, when the new girls pencil rolls off of her desk and lands by his feet, Charlie Brown is so filled with panic at the thought of approaching her to give her pencil back, that he ends up in the nurses office. When the kid next to him asks him what he’s in for, he replies: “It seems I have a serious case of inadequacy.” Meanwhile, Snoopy is feeling left out of the school activities, and makes some hilarious attempts at getting into the school building. He is kicked out, literally, by Lucy, who yells: “No dogs allowed!” When Snoopy lands face-first in a dumpster, he pulls out an old typewriter, and , with Woodstock on his shoulder, he begins once again writing another chapter in his now infamous fantasy stories of the WWI Flying Ace and the Red Barron. This is what I love about The Peanuts. In this world that Schultz has created, even the dog needs an escape from reality. The dog has a fantasy life.
A key moment in the movie , when we really get some insight into the mind and heart of Charlie Brown, is when he goes to see Lucy at her psychiatrist booth outdoors, with the famous sign that reads: “The Doctor Is IN. 5 cents.” Charlie Brown explains that the new girl is “something”, and that he is “nothing,” and that if she were nothing and he were something, he could go talk to her. Or if he were something and she were something, he could go talk to her. But because “she is something and I’m nothing”, he just cant. Lucy gives him a book about “How to Be a Winner”, and then gives him a small mirror, asking him what he sees. She then tells him: “This is the face of failure.” He goes home and begins reading how to be a winner in the book. He finds out that his school is having their annual Talent Show, and decides to enter with a Magic Act, using Snoopy as his partner. The two rehearse and develop a great disappearing act to impress the new girl with. Meanwhile, Sally is practicing her baton twirling act for the same show. When the Talent Show happens, Sally goes on right before her brother and she is dying up there. She tells the audience to please wait, she has a “big finish’ coming up. But in order for her to finish, Chuck has to give up his spot in the show because they wont have time. He gives up his spot for Sally, and then he tries to help her act out by showing up onstage in a cow suit for her amusement. Sally gets huge applause, and the next day, Charlie Brown is all over the front page of his school newspaper with the headline reading: “Moo!”
As if that weren’t bad enough, the Winter Dance is even worse. After spotting the new girl dancing and smiling in her living room, Charlie realizes that he needs to learn to dance and enter the dance contest at the Winter Dance. Once again, man’s best friend Snoopy comes through and teachers Charlie Brown how to dance. The time finally comes at the dance itself, and everything is going great. When its his turn to take the dance floor, Charlie Brown dances wonderfully and everyone starts applauding. Until he slips on a fruit punch puddle on the floor, and sets off another domino effect, that ends with the sprinklers turning on and thus ending the dance. At the end of the day, he goes home with his loyal dog. “Snoopy, what would I ever do without you?”, he asks. “You really are my best friend. It’s so nice to have someone to come home to who will just simply listen. Someone who will listen to what I have to say.” But it’s too late. Snoopy is fast asleep and snoring loudly.
I don’t want to give away the entire plot of the movie, so what I have written above is just the first half or so. After that, Snoopy’s Flying Ace Adventures continue with a poodle named Fifi who he must save from harm’s way, and things start going suddenly right for Charlie Brown after he scores the first 100 percent ever on a Standardized Testing Exam. Overnight, he goes from the lovable loser to a winner who is being labeled a “genius”, and we start to see how this affects everyone else around him. Lucy is angry and jealous that he is getting so much attention. Sally is using his fame to start selling merchandise and making some money. All the while, Charlie feels like the exact same person he always was, and he wonders if all this attention is real. “Do they like me for who I am, or who they think I am?” There is a school assembly to celebrate his perfect score, and some truths come out during that assembly that I won’t give away here.
All of this leads up to the end of the school year, and the beginning of summer. Partners are chosen with names in a jar for Summer Pen Pal Partners. Charlie Brown and the red-haired girl get matched up, and he still hasn’t spoken a word to her. A name is read out of the jar, and then students are instructed to stand up if you want to be partnered with that person. When Charlie Brown’s name is called, there is, at first, a short silence. And then – the little red-haired girl stands up and says softly: “I will be Charlie Brown’s pen pal.”
The last few scenes in the movie focus on Charlie Brown attempting to reach the girl, before the girl pulls away on the bus for summer camp. He wants to finally say hello and give her back her pencil, and he wants to ask her WHY she chose to be his pen-pal partner, out of everyone in the whole class. Meanwhile, Snoopy is off trying to save his poodle in distress, and facing many hurdles along the way.
Will Charlie Brown get to speak to the girl he is in love with? Will his trusty kite help him to get to her? What will she finally say to him if he does make it in time? Will Snoopy save his love? Will Pig Pen ever shower? Will Charlie Brown finally get his kite in the air? Will he finally get to kick that football? Will he finally get the girl?
The answer is YES , to at least one of these last three questions. To find out which one, you’ll just have to see the movie. And make sure you stay during the credits. One of the questions is not answered until that time. And all the other questions about life, love, and childhood, will continue to be explored by The Peanuts, and by the always hopeful, always lovable, good ‘ole Charlie Brown. I can’t wait.
HEROES REBORN -- "June 13th - Part Two" Episode 108 -- Pictured: Greg Grunberg as Matt Parkman -- (Photo by: Sophie Giraud/NBC)
Heroes Reborn
Season 1, Episode 9: “Sundae, Bloody Sunday”
Air Date: November 12, 2015
Matt Parkman’s (Greg Grunberg) return to the Heroes universe last week showed us a man that transitioned from hero to mercenary after selling his abilities to Renautas. We find out just how much the telepath has changed from struggling good cop to evil badass in the latest episode of Heroes Reborn.
We first met Officer Parkman in Heroes season one when he was low on the totem pole of the LAPD. He was securing a crime scene when his telepathic abilities kicked in and Matt started hearing a pleading voice in his head. It led him to young Molly Walker who had hidden herself while Sylar killed her parents. Despite going through a lot of crap throughout the original series run, he was always a genuinely good guy trying to do what he believed was right. His string of misfortunes include his wife Janice cheating on him with his former partner (eventually resulting in divorce), his father Maury abandoning their family when he was 13, getting trapped in an illusion created by his own father (who is also a telepath), as well re-marrying but wife number two gets shot and dies (Daphne).
HEROES — Pictured: Greg Grunberg as Matt Parkman — NBC Photo: Michael Muller
On top of all that, he’s also had to deal with the craziness of Sylar, The Company, Pinehurst, his own father, the Petrellis’, and Samuel in the final season. Still, Matt and Janice decide to give their relationship another chance and raise their young son Matt Jr. together when Heroes ended. By 2010 however, he claimed to have gotten smart by selling his abilities to Renautas and is brought in to read past HRG’s mind to find out what happened to Claire. As previously discussed in last week’s article, the telepath still holds a soft spot for Noah and lets him and Caspar go after finding out about the cheerleader’s death. In 2015 though Matt seems to have become more like his father in ruthlessness and abilities.
We discover that he is the director of Sunstone Manor, a Renautas facility where Evos are being held through mind control and are evaluated for their usefulness to the company. When Carlos and former LAPD officer James Dearing (an Evo with enhanced strength) head to Sunstone to rescue Jose and Father Mauricio, Parkman is waiting for them after a botched infiltration. He is able to fully control both mens’ bodies and makes them relive their horrific nightmares while being able to see exactly what they are seeing in their minds. Parkman is powerful indeed.
HEROES REBORN — “Sundae, Bloody Sunday” Episode 109 — Pictured: (l-r) Greg Grunberg as Matt Parkman, Ryan Guzman as Carlos Gutierrez — (Photo by: Christos Kalohoridis/NBC)
His abilities also now include mass hypnosis while being able to create fully immersive illusions with deadly physical outcomes. In Dearing’s case, Matt makes him go into a room covered with plastic and picks up a pistol on a table. We don’t see him actually shoot himself, but the scene soon after shows Sunstone workers folding up a bloodied piece of plastic wrapping. Parkman then does the same thing to Carlos and has him go into the same room, but instead of a pistol he sees a military rifle. The Vengador imagines that he is back in Iraq when his unit is ambushed and Farah Nazan tells him to get a grip and to use his weapon. Matt seems to know who Farah is.
Parkman has become an incredibly powerful telepath and doesn’t seem to have any issues with using his talents to benefit Renautas. However does he know the extent of Erica’s devious plans? He must since he could have read Harris’ thoughts in the hospital and he’s had to have met Erica in person. Still the Renautas CEO could have had Phoebe around to negate his abilities when they met, which opens the possibility for him to join Team Heroes if he discovers the truth. He does have Matt Jr. and Janice to think about after all. This is a huge change for Matt who had never seemed fully confident in himself before. It’s incredibly fun to see him have such a commanding presence and be totally comfortable in his own skin, albeit as a baddie. Greg Grunberg has done an amazing job with evil Parkman and I am thoroughly enjoying his badass status. Super excited to see what’s in store for him next!
For being a small 3 man team, the Tomorrow Corporation has an excellent history. They have created great puzzle games like World of Goo on Wii and PC and the launch title for WiiU, Little Inferno. Each game has its own unique twist on the puzzle genre, and their newest product, Human Resource Machine, is no different.
Recently released for the WiiU, the story behind Human Resource Machine is simple. You are an inferior peon working in a large factory as you try to nudge your way to the top. As you solve puzzles, and the years pass by, you will slowly reach your final goal.
The game ends as quickly as it begins, but one great thing about the Tomorrow Corporation is how they hide allegories inside their games that reflect our own lives in many ways. Of course, like all of their games, this one is up to the gamer to decipher and interpret in their own personal way. They’ve never been one to hit you over the head with a blunt message.
One thing you will notice when turning on Human Resource Machine is the unique art style. This is something that has carried over through each game, making you feel like they are all set in the same universe, however odd that may sound for a puzzle game. While some may find the gothic, Tim Burton-inspired art style off-putting, I actually find it very charming. It definitely feels like the Tomorrow Corporation stamp of approval, and would be greatly missed if they ever decide to change it.
Like mentioned above, each game has its own unique take on a different puzzle genre. World of Goo was a physics based puzzles, Little Inferno was all about matching the right combinations, and Human Resource Machine takes something as complicated as programming and coding and brings it to the masses.
The way you solve puzzles in Human Resource Machine is by programming a robot to do your job. In a nut shell: you move boxes from one side of the room to the other, which starts off fairly easy at first, but quickly escalates into mental gymnastics. Your brain will definitely get a work out.
You start with basic commands like “Inbox” and “Outbox”, and over time they give you “Add”, “Subtract”, and “Jump”, and many others. This game is fantastic for anyone that may have an inkling of interest in computer programming, even if it is a very simplistic version. However, this may also be the game’s greatest downfall. It requires a very special kind of thinking to solve these puzzles, so if you don’t have the mind of a programmer, you may find yourself at a disadvantage.
Each level has one puzzle to solve, but its less about solving it and more about how you solve it. You need to complete the stage in as few moves as possible, and it gives you two unique goals for each stage. If you are looking for hints to solving puzzles you will need to turn your eyes to Miiverse, as the game is not the best at pointing you in the right direction.
If you are looking to add more playtime to your WiiU, this game is a good choice. The art style is great, the concept is original, but you definitely need a programmers mind. This may be the least accessible game from the Tomorrow Corporation. While fun, I feel this is the weakest of their games on the Nintendo platform. However, if you’ve already played the excellent World of Goo and Little Inferno, and want more from the Tomorrow Corporation, its definitely worth checking out.
Spoilers for Tales from the Borderlands: Episode One.
So you want to hear a story about vaults? Wait, you don’t? You want me to listen to the story and then tell you whether or not it’s worth sitting down and playing the story yourself? Well…I have some free time.
Enter, Tales from the Borderlands (Episode 1: “Zer0”), another offering from Telltale Games. In the same fashion used previously to take players into Westeros and the zombie apocalypse, TTG takes us to Planet Pandora in all the cell-shaded, over-the-top glory that is the Borderlands franchise. Now, I should interject here that games in this vein are not my traditional fare. I tend to stick to games that allow me a great deal of freedom to do what I want, when I want, but I’ve loved the Borderlands franchise for years, so it was an easy hook to get me to branch out. (Ed. Note: And I nagged you into it. – Jen)
Tales from the Borderlands stars the dashing protagonist, Rhys, a Hyperion corporation desk jockey, desperate to make a name for himself and become the biggest, baddest asshole in a company consisting entirely of assholes of various sizes and intensities.
Oh…INVESTMENTS…I misunderstood. I’ll let myself out.
Along with your trusty sidekick, best friend, and Google Glass beta tester, Vaughn, you set out to take on your arch-nemesis, Vasquez, in a power play years in the making, the specifics of which happen before the game starts, and are glossed over pretty heavily. Vasquez, voiced by Patrick Warburton, provides us with an easily recognizable voice early, which makes it appropriate that he collects his check for working the first five minutes of the game, and then goes on break for the foreseeable future.
At least it wasn’t the leader of the realm or our father and only physician that abandoned us this time…
Turns out Vasquez has already made his move, eaten all of your cookies, and worst yet, actually has sleeves. While he lavishes in his new corner office, enjoying the warmth of his torso AND arms, you uncover his plans to buy a vault key from a shady dealer on Pandora. So, while Vasquez takes a smoke break to go be someone’s paraplegic neighbor, you set off with a briefcase full of money (“borrowed” from the Hyperion coffers) to snipe the vault key from under Vasquez, and the second protagonist, Fiona.
Fiona, with her sister Sasha are a thief duo reminiscent of Wichita and Little Rock from Zombieland. Their adoptive father-figure-who-definitely-won’t-betray-you-for-his-own-benefit, Felix, has carefully crafted an imitation vault key, and you make contact with August, who then makes contact with Vasquez, who mistakenly makes contact with Rhys, who makes contact with August, and they both make contact with the vault key, which makes contact with the ground. Got all that? The false vault key breaks, and when August is about to start making main characters die of acute lead poisoning, the deal is crashed by full-time bandit king and part-time DJ for-fire, Bossanova. Bossanova and his crew are being pursued by our old friend Zer0, the assassin from Borderlands 2, and during the scrum, Bossanova makes off with the money to his home base at “Definitely-Not-Thunderdome”, and the PCs all pile into the Mystery Machine and follow the cash.
The episode wraps up in a spy caper style infiltration of Definitely-Not-Thunderdome that allows for the gang to split up and make their attempts at getting the money back in various ways. Rhys and Sasha make their way in the sneaky way, and Fiona and Vaughn immediately get caught and end up impersonating bandit drivers in the race to win a very familiar Hyperion briefcase full of money. After what seems like 153,000 quick-time events to avoid dismemberment in one fashion or another, a fight between Zer0 and Bossanova that RUINS EVERYTHING, and the inevitable betrayal by a member of the team (definitely not Felix), the heroes are left without the money. Lucky for them, the Dungeon Master’s mom shows up to pick him up from the comic shop, so he hastily gives them all their experience points and treasure, the latter coming in the form of experimental Atlas Tech, including what looks suspiciously like a REAL vault key…fin.
The conversations and dialogue are well done, and feature the Telltale Games choose-your-own-adventure system that turns every conversation into a quick-time event. The bonus to me, as someone who does not frequent these types of games, is that the Borderlands setting provides me with options that are, frighteningly, exactly what I find myself wanting to choose. Typically, my complaint about video games that limit your choices is that I find the choices boring. If you even get an actual choice in many games, it’s limited to “bad guy does A, good guy does B”, or, in the better productions, “let’s see if we can trick the player into doing something they really didn’t want to do.” The Borderlands setting, in all its unique glory, offers us another path: absolute chaos. If you’re familiar with Pandora from the Borderlands games, you should find the dialogue choices organic. During a jump scare moment, I found myself shouting “ASSHOLE!” at the screen, and was pleasantly surprised that the dialogue options included Rhys shouting “ASSHOLE!” and not just a boring startled noise. This is indicative of the rest of the conversational choices in the game, and it allows for a greater degree of immersion than the NPC interaction I’m used to.
Other quick-time events occur during the “action” in the game, including investigating your surroundings and taking part in aspects of combat, but to me it didn’t lend the same feeling of control as the conversations. Unlike the dialogue choices, the investigation into people and objects around you as you move through the environment seems less like actual gameplay and more like a “click until there’s a cutscene” time sink. The QTEs tend to be very simple and easy to pass, but are inconsistent with their placement and length, and carve up the “action” sequences in a way that didn’t enhance the storytelling at all for me. This could be a matter of personal preference rather than poor design, especially considering I was particularly bitter to have to clean chocolate off my keyboard when, while opening a Reese’s Cup during what I thought to be an appropriate time, I had to suddenly smash the ‘Q’ key to prevent some manner of violence from being inflicted upon my character.
I also found that the game seems to struggle to make environmental choices carry the same weight as dialogue choices. You get to click your mouse on plenty of objects and people in the environment, but rarely does it feel like you’re making an actual choice, and it reminds me of coming across the shotgun in Resident Evil 2 and being asked, “Take the shotgun?” with a Yes/No prompt following. Anyone who responds “No” in that situation should be put on a list.
Gee…I dunno Rick…
Graphically, the game is standard Borderlands fare, with cell-shading, hard lines, and tons of gore. I did notice some shading issues and artifacts towards the end of Chapter 1, but did not investigate them too much, as they didn’t impact the actual gameplay at all. As is to be expected with a game in the style of a Borderlands game, some of the animations are choppy, and characters and objects tend to clip a bit during the action. It’s nothing too significant, and it’s what I expected from my experience with Borderlands, but I do think that, in a game with significantly less mobility and more emphasis on the cinematic quality, a little more work could have gone into smoothing the animations.
TL;DR: Despite this game not being my traditional fare, I enjoyed playing it. I wasn’t a huge fan of the execution of the quick-time events or the environmental interaction, and I thought the animations could use just a little polishing, but the dialogue options, characters, and storytelling overall made it a good experience.
7.5/10 Tales from the Borderlands was reviewed on the PC.
Spoilers through the most recent episode of Jane the Virgin, “Chapter Twenty-Six”.
We’ve known for a while now on Jane the Virgin that Jane has to decide between the two men in her life: Michael and Rafael. As I’ve already laid out in my fantasy rankings, the race has been close, especially taking into account all actions in last season’s saga.
To sum up: Rafael won season one, but Michael is winning season two.
And according to the most recent episode, “Chapter Twenty-Six”, it seems all but certain that Jane has decided to be with Michael.
For the time being.
I love Michael, and with this season going the way it is, he’s definitely edging out Rafael bit by bit. Between the diary he kept for Jane, doing what he did to save to Mateo, and just generally being a good guy, Michael seems the way to go. Michael isn’t the fantasy that Rafael is and with that magic fading, of course she’s going to go back to who’s safe.
And it doesn’t help matters that Rafael has a new baby mama drama situation going on with Petra. I don’t think there will ever be a romance between the two again, but she and their unborn child will be in his life for forever and that prospect is kind of terrifying. Not to mention, Rafael has been kind of a space cadet with how he acts toward Jane. The big one for me was near the end of the last episode when Jane came to him, crying, about all of the ways her life has changed in three weeks and how she doesn’t even know who she is anymore and his response was simply, “I’m sorry.” Come on, Raf! You’re better than that!
That being said, I don’t think this “thing” with Michael will last. First off, this is a TV show and unless you’re Nathan and Haley from One Tree Hill, you’re going to see other people. Which means that Rafael is likely the end game partner for Jane and Michael is just a filler for the drama. As much as I love Michael and think he’s good for Jane, there’s still this connection between Jane and Rafael that can’t be denied. He is willing to give up his life of luxury for the sake of Jane and Mateo and I can’t help but love him for it. And as much as I don’t want to give him a pass for being the father, I do. Rafael desperately wants to be in Mateo’s life, to change for Mateo and having the three of them together would be so adorable I don’t think I could stand it.
Naturally, all of this rambling is unnecessary speculation but hey, that’s what we writers do. Maybe tonight’s episode will give us more answers. Stay tuned for more ramblings over the state of Jane’s love life! It’s a telenovela for crying out loud! Things will get crazy.
What do you think? Did Jane make the right decision? Will there be more of a love triangle in the future?
This is a spoiler-free review of Rise of the Tomb Raider.
“You won’t get far without me.”
Lara laughs. “You don’t know how far I’ve come.”
I thought it would be hard to top the Tomb Raider reboot from 2013. Square Enix and Crystal Dynamics took the iconic figure of Lara Croft, stripped her down to her most basic traits, and then built her back up in their own image in such a dynamic and believable way that’s it’s hard to think Rise of the Tomb Raider could come close to that high mark. And while some of the story notes aren’t as high as the original were, Rise of the Tomb Raider surpasses its predecessor in almost every other way imaginable.
In short: I love this game.
Rise of the Tomb Raider doesn’t begin exactly where Tomb Raider left off. There’s a gap in time where we’re led to believe Lara was off on archaeological trips around the world, generally just being awesome at everything (and making me feel oh-so-unaccomplished at 29-years-old). Yet, still in the back of Lara’s mind is the memory of her father and the dream he failed to achieve, the dream that brought about his demise, leaving Lara with a whole host of daddy issues. Lord Croft was in search of an item known as the Divine Source, a relic said to grant immortality so naturally, such a device couldn’t rest for long. Lara then learns about the existence of a deadly organization known as Trinity who wants the Divine Source for their own means. With the help of fellow Yamatai survivor Jonah, Lara suits up and heads out to stop Trinity from getting their hands on an ancient relic.
There’s betrayal, intrigue, flashbacks, hints of romance, gorgeous scenery, puzzles, and more action than a Michael Bay film. Right from the beginning things move at a breakneck pace and I had no issue with wanting to progress further into the story to learn the truth behind the Divine Source. From Syria to Siberia, Lara’s journey helps her unravel the mystery behind the item Trinity would kill for. At its core, the plot isn’t exactly an original one but it fits so well into the Tomb Raider universe, making use of stunning architecture, open landscapes, and a mesh of old and new technology that it’s easy to ignore the story’s cliched moments.
But don’t think the fast-paced speed means the game is all linear, though. If you had a chance to watch my Twitch stream, you’ll see that there are plenty of side quests and missions to take care of for a change of pace. You can collect relics, documents, listen to audio tapes, and even take part some good ol’ fashioned NPC quest lines.
The developers seem to have heard our complaints about the last game and almost every issue I had from before has been addressed. First off: No more quick-time-events! HALLELUJAH. And because of that, Lara’s “deaths” are infinitely less gruesome. Killing as a whole is secondary in this installment and for that, I’m grateful. Second: the entire skill point system is more forgiving, with level ups occurring much more quickly than before–which is useful since there are now so many more skills to choose from. And I’m not just talking “bonus XP from animal kills” useful. Third: hunting and scavenging now has a purpose as animals can be looted for skins, meat, and body parts instead of just experience. (Just like in the real world!) These parts are then used in a new crafting system to make unique ammunition, item upgrades, and larger pouches for any ammo rounds. With my penchant for being a completionist, I probably spent the first few hours collecting crafting items and I’m not even sorry about it.
What?! I don’t have to explain myself to you. Leave me alone.
Speaking of weapons, ROTTR adds plenty of new shooty items to make your inner hunter scream with glee. On top of the usual fare, there are unlockable variants of the bow, pistol, shotgun, and assault rifle. Each of which can be upgraded to your heart’s content. Take that, bad guys. There are more ammunition types to use with your fancy new weapons, including poison gas arrows, grenade arrows, and hollow-point pistol rounds. Oh, and you get to use your pickaxes like a friggin’ grappling hook, which is cool.
I know you’ll all be shocked to learn that tombs are still a part of Tomb Raider and with a new game comes new, redesigned purpose. Instead of raiding a tomb and getting, say, a super convenient and modern shotgun piece as a reward, you now learn unique skills based on the tomb’s theme, like a new ability teaching Lara how to heal faster, and so on. The level design is superb and while some of the tombs still feel like baby town frolics, the challenge comes more from the main story’s puzzles and the use of the environment in large-scale battles. And it looks gorgeous all the while.
There isn’t much change in the mechanics of the game. If you played the reboot you’ll be able to pick up ROTTR and play without a hitch. However, the way Lara plays has been drastically changed. There’s much more of an emphasis on tactics than just running and gunning her way through a linear battle arena. ROTTR has combined Assassin’s Creed and Batman Arkham games fighting styles, making use of tree branches, bushes for hiding, and even a really cool underwater boss fight. Because of all this, I used Lara’s melee attacks significantly more than I ever did in the first game.
I do have some issues, but almost all of them are with the minor, forgettable characters. Jonah as a sidekick, while lovable, kind of fell flat for me. Instead, I personally would have loved to have seen Joslin Reyes by Lara’s side, as the comics have set up a nice dynamic between the two and Reyes doesn’t just blow smoke up Lara’s bum to inflate her ego. Or they could have made Sam Lara’s sidekick and given me more inspiration for all my Sam/Lara fanfiction.
Additionally, there’s the issue of giving Lara more “father” figures in her life. We get it. She lost her dad and then she lost Roth and she’s still reeling from both deaths. Inserting more father figures into her life seems almost…lazy. Moreover, the “villains” if you will, were nothing to write home about. Crazed, religious fanatics intent on “saving” the world by purging it of sin. It felt like a rehash of Tomb Raider’s Mathias and I expected better.
However, Lara does have nice banter back and forth with some of the characters, including this dialogue with enemies:
“She’s here!” “You’re damn right I am!”
In terms of gameplay, there wasn’t much to fault. Swimming is a new addition to the series, but without the aid of some kind of a meter it became frustrating to even try to swim underwater. I recognize that a meter wouldn’t fit in well with the UI and it’s better to judge her air supply based on her vision, and the acquisition of a rebreather late in-game makes swimming a non-issue, but early on it was still a pet peeve that led to many a death.
Thankfully, there weren’t many bugs to contend with. A few quirks with jumping and climbing that I’ve come to expect with games like this, sure, but nothing game-breaking. Sounds were off a few times during major fight scenes, with assault rifle noises ringing out without enemies in sight. Other than that though, it was smooth sailing. Any real issue had been due to my idiotic gameplay.
I’m going to steal a line from Rob’s review of Halo 5: Guardians because I think its use is appropriate here: “Rise of the Tomb Raider may not be the best game, but it’s the best game for me.” As a huge fan of the series, this game does Lara Croft proud.
I don’t throw out high scores lightly but oh boy, did I enjoy the shit out of this game.
Final Score: 9.5/10
22 hours played, story beaten, 82% of total game completion. Review code for Rise of the Tomb Raider was supplied by Square Enix.
HEROES REBORN -- "June 13th - Part Two" Episode 108 -- Pictured: Masi Oka as Hiro Nakamura -- (Photo by: Christos Kalohoridis/NBC)
Heroes Reborn
Season 1, Episode 8: “June 13th, Part Two”
Air Date: November 5, 2015
The latest episode of Heroes Reborn revealed more of what happened on June 13th and how dangerous it is to mess with time.
With HRG returning to the past to set events of the present in motion, he made one momentous change that will now cost him in 2015. Firstly though, we find out how Claire really died. After Hiro and Angela time travel back to 1999, they discover that the master of time and space is unable to use his powers and that they landed in Odessa instead of a chateau in Geneva. Great-grandma Petrelli realizes that Nathan must have a similar ability to Peter and Arthur and is able to absorb powers. That’s why Claire was unable to regenerate because baby Nathan took it from her.
Peter Petrelli was able to mimic any other Evo’s ability by coming in close proximity with them while his father Arthur absorbed powers through physical contact.
HEROES REBORN — “June 13th – Part Two” Episode 108 — Pictured: (l-r) Jack Coleman as HRG, Robbie Kay as Tommy — (Photo by: Christos Kalohoridis/NBC)
Angela decides that they must raise the children separately because Nathan might absorb Malina’s ability. Do we just assume that he manifested earlier than his sister? Since they were together in the womb for nine months he could have also taken her ability then, though we do find out later on that he can only maintain one power at a time.
Perhaps the biggest event this episode however was that present HRG decided to try and kill Erica Kravid in 2010. Because of his foiled assassination attempt (by 2010 HRG nonetheless), Erica and Quentin meet at the hospital that day where he reluctantly saves her life after she manipulates him (threatening that he’ll never see Phoebe again unless he helps her). She does keep her promise and allows Q to meet the Shadow. When HRG goes back to 2015 (he is sent by Nathan), he is met by Quentin who is very much alive and is now a Renautas henchman. Not knowing this, Noah tells him all about the twins and how he had Hiro hide them in the past. Q then proceeds to inform Erica all about it. I kind of like evil Quentin and am happy he’s not dead at the moment. This unexpected development just made the show a lot more interesting.
We also saw the return of Matt Parkman who is also on Team Renautas. He is brought into the hospital after Harris catches 2010 HRG in order to find out where Claire is. Matt manages to learn that Claire died during childbirth but luckily Caspar Abraham is able to roll over one of his memory wiping pennies to HRG before he can reveal any more information. Feeling guilty, the telepath becomes the good guy we knew him to be back in the original series and tells the two men to get out of there before Harris wakes up.
HEROES REBORN — “June 13th – Part Two” Episode 108 — Pictured: Greg Grunberg as Matt Parkman — (Photo by: Sophie Giraud/NBC)
How is it that future Parkman seems to keep ending up working for the bad guys? Back in Heroes season one when Hiro and Ando went to the future he was working for President Sylar (who was pretending to be Nathan Petrelli).
Caspar takes 2010 HRG to the blast site and takes away the rest of his memories and we see the events that unfolded in episode one. In the hospital, past HRG wanted Rene to do it but his present self says to use Caspar instead. I guess it’s possible that in the original 2010 timeline HRG went to Rene’s office and instructed The Haitian to also bring him to the blast site. Does this mean that the mental manipulator might be alive in 2015 or would past HRG eventually try to go to him anyways to retrieve his memories?
Speaking of alive or dead, we leave Hiro this episode battling the Harris clones powerless and much older since he stayed with Nathan and Anne for the last 16 years. 2015 HRG had found them still living in 2010 through Molly’s ability (who was actually tracking Nathan). We discover that Nathan knew all about his destiny, spoke Japanese, and even took a side trip to see Angela and Malina with his maternal grandfather (though his twin didn’t know it). It’s also explained that Nathan and his adoptive mom went on the run because Renautas found out that Hiro was in Odessa. He tells his son to teleport Caspar and Anne out of there while he finished his fight. Nathan follows orders but is desperate to return for his father. Anne then asks Caspar for help and the man scrubs the boy’s memory clean of anything relating to Hiro HRG, Angela, Malina, Renautas, and his destiny. This ties in to the beginning of the season when Tommy knew nothing.
So the good guys are supposed to wait until 2015 before Malina and Tommy/Nathan can reunite and save the world, but couldn’t he still possibly absorb her powers? There must be some way of preventing that from happening in the present that we’ll find out about soon enough. Also I’m kind of hoping that Hiro gains some of his power back now that he’s separated from his son and survives the battle with Harris, though that is probably a long shot.
You can catch Heroes Reborn on NBC, Thursdays 8/7 central.
SPECTRE Directed by: Sam Mendes Written by: John Logan, Neil Purvis, Robert Wade, and Jez Butterworth Starring: Daniel Craig, Christoph Waltz, Lea Seydoux, and Ralph Fiennes
As an extremely avid fan of the James Bond series, the arrival of a new film is a momentous occasion for me. The excitement of seeing my favorite fictional character doing new things and interacting with new characters is intoxicating and I suppose in some ways that makes me extremely biased when it comes to reviewing it in a setting like this. But at the same time I look at any new Bond film as something that is essentially going to be with me for the rest of my life. I tend to watch every film in the Bond series at least once a year and so a new one is never going to be something I just watch once, type a few words about, and then never think about again. I know going in that it’s a film that I’m going to have on my shelf as a part of the collection and that I’ll watch it countless times over the years to come. I’ve already seen it twice and certainly expect my opinion on the film to evolve over the years to come but what follows is my opinion on it at this moment in time as a mega fan.
And with that bit of context out of the way, let’s get to the actual review.
As successful as it has been, Daniel Craig has had a really interesting run so far as 007. Starting with Casino Royale, his three films have essentially rejected the classic formula that steered almost all of the films over the course of 50 years and instead focused on showing us what makes James Bond tick. Through this effort we’ve seen Bond make his first kills, fall in love, learn not to trust anyone, discover the choice between killing and mercy, revisit his childhood home, and lose his surrogate mother figure in Judi Dench’s M.
To show those things the three films didn’t utilize the typical structure of a Bond film so for example, Q and Moneypenny didn’t appear until Skyfall and Bond never ended a film with a beautiful woman in his arms. Some die hard fans thought these omissions (among others) disqualified these films as 100% Bond flicks, but there was hope at the end of Skyfall that all of the pieces were now in place for a “proper” James Bond adventure.
And that brings us to SPECTRE where we first find Bond in Mexico City on a dying wish mission from Judi Dench’s M that sets him on a path to discover the criminal organization (and it’s leader) that has been responsible for all of the evil doings of the last three films. As in any good Bond movie the trail takes him to exotic locations such as Italy, Austria, and Morocco and he meets alluring woman like the widow of a man he killed (Monica Bellucci) and the daughter of former foe, Dr. Madeleine Swan (Lea Seydoux), who leads Bond on to the next clue in his quest for answers.
And as the title suggests the end of that quest leads to the classic criminal organization known as S.P.E.C.T.R.E., which featured prominently in many of Sean Connery’s Bond films but has been missing from the series since 1971 due to legal complications. Sitting at the head of this revamped version of the organization is a man named Franz Oberhauser (Christoph Waltz) who has a unique connection to James that I won’t spoil here.
And as excited as I was about the prospect of S.P.E.C.T.R.E. returning from the dead, this is probably the film’s weakest element. The “twist” that accompanies their return comes off a bit half-handily and the final act ultimately fails to generate much excitement due to an evil plot that lacks the sort of stakes seen in previous Bond films.
I will say though that everything leading up to that final act is a delight for fans of the series. The opening sequence in Mexico City is a thrilling piece of action filmmaking, the gorgeously designed opening title sequence makes Sam Smith’s somewhat disappointing theme song more impactful, and Bond’s home team of M (Ralph Fiennes), Q (Ben Whishaw), Moneypenny (Naomie Harris), and Bill Tanner (Rory Kinnear) are all in fine form and allowed to get in on the action in ways these characters usually aren’t allowed.
Other highlights include Dave Bautista as the hulking henchman known as Hinx, a thrilling car chase through Rome, a squirm-inducing torture scene, and an epic throwdown between Hinx and Bond on a train traveling across North Africa. It’s an intensely brutal fight that rivals the scuffle between Sean Connery’s Bond and Red Grant on the Orient Express in From Russia With Love as one of the best fights in the series’ history.
As in Skfall Sam Mendes leads the proceedings with a firm directorial hand and beautifully composed shots even though I found myself missing the cinematography of Roger Deakins from that film. That being said, the work from Hoyte Van Hoytema here is hardly something to shake a stick at. Thomas Newman provides another nice score to the film but it can’t quite hold a candle to the work of John Barry and David Arnold who I consider the best Bond composers.
The cast is routinely excellent through the entire film with Daniel Craig proving once again why he is one of the best actors to play the role of 007 and Seydoux doing fine work as the leading lady even though her relationship with Bond is written in a rushed and slightly unbelievable manner.
It is in fact the screenplay that holds SPECTRE back from greatness. With a final act at least one more draft away from working, the film never really soars in the way that Casino Royale and Skyfall exploded off of the screen. But I can’t talk about the reasons behind that without going into spoiler territory so if you haven’t seen it yet turn away now….
LAST CHANCE TO STOP READING BEFORE SPOILERS BEGIN….
Okay, here goes nothing.
When Christoph Waltz was cast in the film and it was called SPECTRE there was rampant speculation that he was actually playing that organization’s mastermind, Ernst Stavro Blofeld. And sure enough, that’s exactly who he was playing complete with the white cat and an eye scar that perfectly replicates the one seen on Donald Pleasence’s Blofeld in You Only Live Twice. Those things alone are enough to get the pulse racing on any Bond fan but for some reason the filmmakers felt the need to take things a step further and make Blofeld the son of the man who helped raise Bond for two years after the death of James’ parents thus making Bond and Blofeld quasi brothers. Insert eye roll here.
Waltz is fine in the role and I enjoy the prospect of him possibly returning to the franchise to kill Bond’s new love interest, Madeleine, but what we’re given of him here just doesn’t quite work. The notion that he was behind the events of the last three films is flimsy at best and his scheme to have access to the world’s biggest intelligence gathering facility lacks the punch of threats posed by Blofeld in films from the 60s and 70s. So if he does indeed return for the inevitable 25th Bond film I hope they make good on the promise of a rejuvenated Blofeld character and make him the nastiest son of a bitch imaginable. We should expect nothing less from a Bond villain and with luck that’s what we’ll get next time.
But even with these misgivings there is reason to rejoice: we have a new James Bond film in our lives! And that, paired with a good drink, is we really need to have a great night at the movies.
If you follow Bilal, Jen, Rob, or James on any sort of social media, you’ve probably noticed that we’re pimping ourselves out in the name of charity–Extra Life, to be exact. What is Extra Life?
Extra Life unites thousands of players around the world in a 24 hour gaming marathon to support Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals. Since its inception in 2008, Extra Life has raised more than $14 million for local CMN hospitals.
This Saturday, November 7th, the writers of the Workprint will be live-streaming video games for the Extra Life Charity. Thanks some pretty fantastic people, we’ve already managed to hit our goal, but every little bit helps! If you want to donate to The Workprint’s page, use the link here.
Live-streaming starts at 8AM EST over at The Workprint’s Twitch channel where Rob will handle most of the day’s gaming antics. Our tentative schedule for the channel is as follows:
8AM – Call of Duty: Black Ops III
11AM – Disney Infinity 3.0
3PM – Smite
7PM – Rise of the Tomb Raider
The schedule is subject to change, depending on Rob’s energy levels, but inbetween each scheduled event we’ll have all manner of games playing, including:
Halo 5 Rocket League Outlast Destiny: The Taken King Rock Band 4 Killer Instinct iDarb
Lego Dimensions Mario Party Mario Kart Super Mario Maker Yoshi’s Woolly World Splatoon
Thank you so much to everyone for all of your support. We are so exciting to be doing this for charity! If you have any games you want us to play, leave us a comment below or chat at us on Twitch tomorrow!
Get your first look at Benedict Cumberbatch as Stephen Strange in Marvel’s upcoming Doctor Strange. Filming is currently underway in Nepal and a bevy of set pics have popped up where we see the Sorcerer Supreme in shaggy action.
Directed by Scott Derrickson, the film also boasts an all-star cast including Tilda Swinton (The Ancient One), Rachel McAdams, Chiwetel Ejiofor (Baron Mordo), Mads Mikkelsen, and Michael Stuhlbarg (Nicodemus West).
Doctor Strange tells the story of Dr. Stephen Strange, a gifted yet arrogant neurosurgeon whose life completely changes after a horrific car accident. He embarks on a perilous journey where he eventually becomes The Sorcerer Supreme and earth’s defender against mystical evil forces. The film is a part of Phase 3 in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and is scheduled to hit theaters on November 4, 2016.
The first trailer to Disney’s Alice Through The Looking Glass has arrived where we see Alice (Mia Wasikowska) going back to Underland and finding it incredibly altered. We meet familiar characters such as the Mad Hatter (Johnny Depp), the White Queen (Anne Hathaway), and the Red Queen (Helena Bonham Carter) as well as the new faces such as the villainous Time (Sacha Baron Cohen).
Here’s the official synopsis:
In Disney’s “Alice Through the Looking Glass,” an all-new spectacular adventure featuring the unforgettable characters from Lewis Carroll’s beloved stories, Alice returns to the whimsical world of Underland and travels back in time to save the Mad Hatter. Directed by James Bobin, who brings his own unique vision to the spectacular world Tim Burton created on screen in 2010 with “Alice in Wonderland,” the film is written by Linda Woolverton based on characters created by Lewis Carroll and produced by Joe Roth, Suzanne Todd and Jennifer Todd and Tim Burton with John G. Scotti serving as executive producer. “Alice Through the Looking Glass” reunites the all-star cast from the worldwide blockbuster phenomenon, including: Johnny Depp, Anne Hathaway, Mia Wasikowska and Helena Bonham Carter along with the voices of Alan Rickman, Stephen Fry, Michael Sheen and Timothy Spall. We are also introduced to several new characters: Zanik Hightopp (Rhys Ifans), the Mad Hatter’s father and Time himself (Sacha Baron Cohen), a peculiar creature who is part human, part clock.
Alice Kingsleigh (Wasikowska) has spent the past few years following in her father’s footsteps and sailing the high seas. Upon her return to London, she comes across a magical looking glass and returns to the fantastical realm of Underland and her friends the White Rabbit (Sheen), Absolem (Rickman), the Cheshire Cat (Fry) and the Mad Hatter (Depp), who is not himself. The Hatter has lost his Muchness, so Mirana (Hathaway) sends Alice on a quest to borrow the Chronosphere, a metallic globe inside the chamber of the Grand Clock which powers all time. Returning to the past, she comes across friends – and enemies – at different points in their lives, and embarks on a perilous race to save the Hatter before time runs out.
Presented in Digital 3D™, Real D 3D and IMAX® 3D, Disney’s “Alice Through the Looking Glass” opens in U.S. theaters on May 27, 2016.
Warning: Spoilers through Arrow episode 5, season 4. Like, there’s death and stuff in here, guys. Be careful.
This week, Arrow got a visit from our dear old cancelled NBC friend, John Constantine, and while the guest star brought about a much needed change of tone for the show, he also shined a light on the show’s biggest problem of late: the absence of consequence.
I’ll fully admit that I recognize the shift Arrow is making in its design. With the addition of The Flash and the upcoming release of Legends of Tomorrow, Arrow has to be a little more campy to exist in the same universe. For the first two seasons, Arrow was, for the most part, set in a more realistic world. Nothing was over-the-top fantastical and that made its grim nature all the more engaging. The show has since had to make allowances for the metahumans from The Flash and the mysticism of the Ra’s al Ghul plot line, and for much of season three the show seemed able to tow that line, staying true to its roots while adding new elements to keep the stories fresh.
However, somewhere around Oliver’s near-death at the hands of Ra’s, things took a turn for the worse. Introducing the Lazarus Pit to the universe has brought all sorts of chaos to Team Arrow and not in the exciting way. We knew as viewers that Oliver wasn’t really dead and I’m okay with that kind of fake out because Oliver is the titular character. He’s a safe bet for at least another season. But the reason why Arrow has been so successful where other comic book shows have failed is in part because at any given moment, someone close to Oliver can bite the big one. Look at Tommy and Moira and the impact those two character deaths had on viewers. They hurt because their deaths were unexpected and final. Sara’s death felt much the same way at the beginning of season three. That is, until the introduction of the Lazarus Pit. Since then we’ve had fake deaths for Roy and Thea, and while I can understand the reason for both, they’re cheapened by the fact that at any moment things go south, the Lazarus Pit is there to save the day.
The writers tried to get around the deus ex mechanic by giving those resurrected from the Lazarus Pit “side effects.” It wasn’t good enough, in my opinion, but with the increasing fantastical nature of the show, I can accept it. When it comes to having something as over-powered as the Lazarus Pit in your universe, there needs to be rules surrounding its use–rules other than “because we said so.”
And then the show introduced the even bigger deus ex in John Constantine in the most recent episode, “Haunted.” Sara is plagued by her resurrection, guided wholly by a bloodlust for revenge against her murderer, Thea. Only by killing Thea can she become herself once more. Oh, except there’s one other way, the way utilized by the charming Constantine: an exorcism of sorts to expel the demons holding back Sara’s soul from reuniting with its body. Without much trouble at all, Oliver, John, and Laurel are able to rescue Sara and return her to the world just in time to star in Legends of Tomorrow. Easy as pie. (Oh, and hey! Ray Palmer is also still alive in time for Legends.)
What? Where’s the danger in that? Are there lingering effects on Laurel or Oliver from entering the spirit realm? No. Does Sara appear to be any different than her “self” from a season ago? No, not really. Does John charge an exorbitant amount of money for the use of his services? Maybe?
So then, what’s to stop Oliver from resurrecting Tommy or Thea from resurrecting Moira? Or heck, Thea was in the room, why not cleanse her soul too and get a two-for-one deal and remove any immediate danger from Team Arrow? OR Diggle could just bring his brother back to life. (Actually, there’s another fake death since I’m all but certain that Andrew Diggle is still alive.)
EDIT: I’ve neglected to mention that in the last episode, Ra’s’ daughter, Nyssa, destroyed the Lazarus Pit so that others cannot use it. However, I struggle with this because 1. the damage has already been done and a terrible precedent been set and 2. Damien Darhk, according to Ra’s from last season, has the waters from the Lazarus Pit. I have no doubt he will try (had tried) to make his own pit.
When a story loses its consequences, it loses its emotional connection to the viewer. If a character can return from the dead at any moment, why get invested into a character at all? Why do I care if Team Arrow faces death in any scenario if at the drop of a hat they can brought back to life? They can even wait a year to try to resurrect someone if they so choose. You know, just in case they aren’t certain if they want someone back in their lives, they have options.
There’s creating magic and fantasy to add depth to a story and then there’s disconnected, lazy storytelling for the sake of being safe and unfortunately, Arrow has fallen into that latter category.
If you ask my 7-year-old, “What is daddy’s favorite video game series?” he’ll answer Halo. Ask him about my favorite individual game and his response is Halo 2. It’s more than just a love; it’s an obsession. I’ve read books, listened to podcasts, watched web-series and animated features set in the Halo universe. Halo is a big reason for my love of gaming as a whole.
I mention all of this because reviews are often looked at as being an impartial assessment of a product, but the truth is they aren’t. (Ed. Note: What happened to ethics in journalism!?) They are written by humans with personal taste and varying degrees of experience. This is important to keep in mind because while I try to look at each game as an individual product, in reviewing Halo 5: Guardians, my knowledge of the mythos has greatly affected my experience. With that said, on to the review.
Halo 5: Guardians finds players in control of two different teams of Spartans, Halo’s super soldiers. Blue Team is led by Master Chief, the greatest hero mankind has ever seen, in search of the Chief’s best friend and AI Cortana. The events of Halo 4 left Cortana’s fate up in the air and the beginning of Guardians she reaches out to Chief, calling him to come find her. Chief will let nothing stand in his way on his search for Cortana, whether it’s Covenant or Promethean.
Team Osiris is led my Spartan Locke, former Oni agent (and star of horrible live-action series, Nightfall), on a search for Master Chief and Blue Team. Chief has been declared AWOL and it’s Team Osiris’ job to bring him back. During their mission, they find themselves in the middle of a Covenant civil war and facing hordes of Prometheans.
The premise of Chief going AWOL in his search for Cortana and Locke’s steadfast dedication to the mission at hand sets up a promise of tension between the two teams. That promise isn’t fully realized and for good reason. Chief has been our hero for 4 games before this and is a sacred icon in the eyes of fans. His intention is pure (finding and saving his friend) and chances of fans ever siding against him are slim to none. On the other hand, Locke’s team is the one we spend the most time with, so portraying him as being in the wrong would result in players controlling someone they hate for the majority of the game. Nobody wants that.
While the general theme is broad enough for players to be generally invested, it doesn’t do enough to keep new comers pushing towards its conclusion. The minutia and details of the lore require a previous knowledge of the universe, both from the games in the series and the multimedia outside of them, to truly appreciate and enjoy. I’ve talked to a few people who found the story to be a bit blah or confusing, while I found it engaging and engrossing. As far as story goes, enjoyment will vary on a person by person basis.
The saving grace of the Halo 5’s campaign is that, story or not, the game is amazing to play. Yes, I said amazing and I stand by it. The franchise has always had tight controls, but this time developers 343 Industries have taken to another level. Everything feels responsive and quick. The game runs at a steady 60 FPS, both in campaign and multiplayer. The added mobility from unlimited sprint (finally!), sliding, boosting and clambering make this the fastest Halo to date.
As a tradeoff for the steady framerate, Guardians features a dynamic 1080p resolution, meaning that when it needs the resolution, it drops to accommodate the 60fps. Truth be told, I found the game to be gorgeous and never noticed a drop in resolution. It may not be the best looking game out but I believe you’ll be hard-pressed to find one on consoles that looks this good and runs this great.
With the story focused around two teams of four Spartans, Halo 5 supports up to 4 player drop in, drop out co-op or the ability to issue squad commands in single player. Co-op works beautifully, with each Spartan having a different starting loadout and differing perks. More than once, I found myself yelling at my friends to help me out with an enemy then screaming out “woo” when we pulled off the kill. Playing with friends is the most fun I’ve had with a campaign this year.
Going solo however, doesn’t quite have the same punch.
When playing alone, the game defaults to you controlling either Locke or Chief, with the ability to issue simple commands to your team. You can tell them to move to a spot, focus fire on an individual enemy or to pick you up when you go down. The AI isn’t bad, it just require a ton of micromanagement to be successful. All too often would I be down, screaming to be picked up, only to watch my teammate stand there motionless. I still had fun playing through the campaign alone but nowhere near what I experienced with friends.
Now, while I am deeply invested in the story of the Halo franchise, I know that many people only come to these games for the multiplayer. I’m happy to report that Halo 5 has my favorite multiplayer since Halo 2 (and possibly my favorite period). Just like in the campaign, the added mobility adds some much-needed speed and fluidity to the competitive online play.
Online multiplayer is broken into two main sections: Arena and Warzone. Arena is where you will find the traditional multiplayer suite like free-for-all, Swat and team slayer. It’s also where you will find my new favorite mode, Breakout. Breakout is a 4 v 4 match, with a neutral flag and no respawns. This resulted in a number of matches ending in thrilling one on one duels.
The maps are also smaller and close quarters in Arena. The map design reminds me of Halo 2, where each map has recognizable, distinct areas, making callouts easier for your team. There are plenty of levels that I love and as a whole, I have yet to find a map that I hate playing on, which is rare in an online shooter.
The other section of online multiplayer is Warzone. Warzone is a new addition where teams of 12 on 12 are joined by AI marines on a large map. The objective is to be the first team to score 1000 “victory points” or by destroying the opposing teams core. “Victory points” are earned by killing opposing players, holding one of three bases, or taking down AI controlled neutral bosses. These bosses range in difficulty and are worth anywhere from 25 to 150 “victory points”. Alternatively, if your team controls all three neutral bases, then the opposing team’s core is exposed and can be destroyed resulting in an instant victory.
The inclusion of the “instant win” mechanic and the neutral bosses leads to matches that aren’t decided until the very last second. While it is possible to dominate as a team from start to finish, most matches have a back and forth nature. It is highly unlikely to ever be truly out of a match before it is over.
Warzone is also the mode that introduces Requisitions and Req Points. Throughout a match, you earn the ability to unlock different and more powerful weapons, vehicles and boosts. These are represented by Req levels and you spend Req points. These Req points are gained over time or faster with success on the battlefield. The caveat is that you can only call in certain items if you already have a Requisition for that item. Requisitions containing weapons, boosts, vehicle or cosmetic items are found in Req Packs that you open up outside of a match with either in-game currency or real money. Yes…that’s right… microtransactions. Here’s the thing: you earn so much in-game currency just playing, that there is no need to spend any real money. Although I understand any microtransactions leaves a bad taste in the mouth of some gamers.
Look, I opened up this review explaining my history with and fondness for Halo. Taking that into consideration, Halo 5: Guardians is the perfect game FOR ME. It’s a game that rewards knowledge of the universes lore while being a bit less forgiving to those without it. That being said, I am still confident recommending this game to anyone because of how well it plays and how much fun it is. At the end of the day, videos games should be fun and Guardians is the most fun I’ve had this year.
