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Patton Oswalt: Annihilation

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This is one of the more odd stand ups I have seen. Its funny, and he openly admits that while Trump winning the election was good for comedians in theory, in practice it gave them so much material it essentially made it all useless. He is funny and thought provoking but he also talks about the death of his wife. This part was actually pretty heart wrenching having 3 daughters myself as he goes on to say the worst day of his life wasn’t the death of his wife, but the following day when he had to rip a part of his daughters life away by telling her that her mom had died.

To tell the talent of this man tho, he even managed to to turn such a sad event into something people could smile and laugh about. This one won’t be for everyone, but it was still a good one. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

The Boondock Saints (1999)

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The Boondock Saints is a rather odd movie in that it probably shouldn’t be as good as it is. Sure the premise is good. Two guys take it upon themselves to kill the undesirable criminals that the law can’t take down themselves. The issue is the addition of the religious twist. This usually makes things come off as weird.

However this time around their religion while very much in the forefront of who these Irish brothers are, it isn’t in your face. It is the reason for what they are doing, but it isn’t quite the catalyst. It does however drive them. Oh, and did I mention its also a damn comedy? Seriously it is a serious movie and a comedy at the same time. The entire movie on paper reads like something a drunk guy wrote down or a couple of 15 year old kids made some weekend. It should not work. Yet it does, it works well. The movie is interesting and has some parts that are hilarious and may be one of the most quotable movies of its time. Admittedly the movie is over hyped at times, it is far from perfect and has its issues. The story has so many plot holes its ridiculous. Don’t try to think about the movie, just enjoy it for what it is. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Dazed and Confused (1993)

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This is another movie I didn’t see until well after it came out. I actually had a friend that kept calling me Matthew McConaughey and when I asked why he wouldn’t tell me, all he kept saying was watch the movie. Finally I did and well, my girlfriend while legal was a bit younger than me. We met freshmen year in college, tho I went through the army before college and she went straight from high school. You do the math.

The movie itself however is amazing. Its a coming of age story about a few of the football players and choosing between giving in to the demands of the coach, or staying true to themselves. It doesn’t stop there tho. There is a love story as well, there is some philosophy talk and even a fun side story about the tradition of of High School seniors essentially chasing the soon to be freshmen down and beating them with paddles.

Now I am not quite old enough to know anything about what the 70’s was like. I was born after that, but the stories I hear makes it seem pretty accurate. The acting is also amazing and they really capture what many think of when they think stereotypical high school experience. It is one of those cult classic movies people love and there is a reason for it. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Chris Rock: Tambourine (2018)

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Chris Rock has always been a favorite of mine in the stand up world. Not only has he always made me laugh but there was always some great social commentary and was usually pretty thought provoking and his newest addition is no exception. There are some parts that when taken out of context sound HORRIBLE and a few will probably make a few people a bit uncomfortable regardless. He however hasn’t lost anything in all these years and any fan of his will also enjoy this one, best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Violence in Video Games…Again

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It seems like every so often after a tragedy someone decides its the fault of video games. Before we go any further by the way, this transcends party lines. At one point Democrat Hillary Clinton took her shots at the industry and she wasn’t alone. The original Mortal Kombat was also attacked from what seemed like all sides for what was touted as realistic violence and blood.

This time around however it is American Republicans. Recently Donald Trump also decided to blame violent video games and movies and according to Robert Nardolillo of Rhode Island they actually need a special Tax applied to them, which while it would help schools it would exclusively be used to punish gamers for an alleged issue being caused by games that I will discuss in a minute, but spoiler, science mostly says otherwise.

In a recent study from the University of New York found no evidence to support the claim that video games make players more violent and in the opinion of Jesse Marczyk, Ph.D this claim also holds no water. There is also some simple common sense to this tho. Violent video games are played all over the world, yet these shootings aren’t an issue in every country. Hell it isn’t even an issue in every state tho I promise you will find a copy of Grand Theft Auto in all 50 states. Another study also shows no link between violent games and movies and real life violence.

I do apologize for all the links on this one by the way, I know they can be annoying at times. I do however realize this subject can be very divisive and I did want to share the source of where the claim was coming from in case people wanted to see that for themselves. Best wishes, and may the gaming gods bring you safety and glory.

5 Games or Series That Deserve a Remaster, but Won’t Get Them.

Lunar is one of those series many of us remember fondly, but tons didn’t get to play at all. Lunar Silver Star Story was an amazing game, and a remaster for the PS4 would be amazing.

I have mentioned this game a few times on here, and it wouldn’t take much to just up the graphics and give it to us, but sadly the company that made it Camelot Software Planning now works pretty much exclusively for Nintendo, so this one is likely to stay in the past.

The Guardian Legend was a game I played back in the NES and involved flying a ship top down style blowing up ships, fighting a boss and then landing on a surface to fight more aliens before they reach Earth. It got mixed reviews and had possibly the longest passwords I have ever come across but the game was fun, and would be fun to see again as a budget title.

Shining Force was one of the earliest tactics RPG games and was followed by Shining Force 2. There were other games in the series but they varied in game type and quality. Tho oddly enough these were also made by Camelot Software Planning, so these will also probably remain in hiding as they continue to blast out hit titles for Nintendo.

The Phantasy Star series has had numerous iterations and has been on a few collections as recently as the PS3 and Xbox 360 but what the series hasn’t had is the classic Final Fantasy treatment where they up the graphics a bit, smooth things out and give us a proper remaster. I also do not believe this will ever happen, but it would be a great day if it did. Let me know what you guys would love to see, but know we probably won’t. Best wishes and may the gamin gods bring you glory.

Rainbow Six Siege

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Siege is one of those games I have seen others play, friends have tried to get me to play and I just had no real interest in. Tho this past weekend there was a free to play weekend on both Xbox and PS4, and I had nothing to lose. I decided this would be a good time spend some time on my One X and see what it was like. Graphically speaking the game looked nice. The operators all felt different and each had their own strengths and weaknesses and the weapons all felt different enough to be worth trying different ones out. The game was far from perfect, for example some walls you can shoot through but another wall that is a slightly different color but also made of wood is a no go. I know its a balance issue but until you pick up on this and start memorizing maps its pretty damn annoying.

The biggest problem siege has however is its community. It may be the most toxic and ridiculous community I have encountered outside of Grand Theft Auto 5 online but at least GTA5 has the excuse of its GTA and you are supposed to be a dick. In a couple games playing with friends in casual games people actually wanted to vote me out of the game simply because I was new. I didn’t shoot anyone on the team or anything, was simply new and inexperienced. In a ranked game this would make sense, in a casual game tho?

Which brings me to the next issue. Team killing is a very common thing. Easily in over half the games I played someone on a team killed someone on their own team. Many times its for some reason on purpose by the way. I don’t know what causes this, but its there. The game is fun, and obviously the community isn’t holding it back any. But new people trying to get in should know at times you won’t be welcomed in with opened arms by many. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

When We First Me (2018)

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What happens when you meet the girl of your dreams, have a great night and she meets the love of her life the next day? Apparently you get hammered at their engagement party, spend a bit tossing your lunch and getting a ride home from a woman that seems to not like you very much.

A bit later Noah finds an old picture machine that sends him back in time where he can attempt to win the woman he loves over and over again. It doesn’t always go well. For example in one attempt his love interest Avery and her best friend mistake him for a stalker and he gets beat with an indoor tree for his troubles.

The movie is pretty solid, not perfect but solid. For example for a comedy it doesn’t exactly have to many laugh out loud funny parts. This is forgivable tho since the humor is still there and it isn’t heavy on the romance either. The movie happy to be average with both in return for being bad with neither. The movie is definitely worth a watch but don’t go in expecting an instant classic, but it is an enjoyable experience. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Lucifer 1-3 Impressions

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As some of my early readers know, or friends even know I enjoy the Television show Lucifer. It happens to be based off a DC comic book character and I decided to check it out. Lucifer is 75 comics long as far as I can tell and I am about 3 in, so It is safe to say I really can’t give it a proper review so this is just my first impressions so far.

First the Lucifer character himself is very different than the one presented in the show. He really isn’t as whimsical or easy going, he is actually kind of a dick. Funny, but still a dick. He also seems to have some sort of a weird plan going on, he isn’t simply solving crimes because he is bored. There is actually something going on in the background that is building towards something.

Mazikeen is also vastly different. She wears a mask and so far speaks a strange language that at times almost seems English, but isn’t. She is still a demon from hell. The comic is very adult, there is nudity and violence and doesn’t shy away from things such as Neo Nazi youths beating up a gay man and shoving a bottle in a certain lower orifice.

So far I am enjoying the series even tho I am by no means a comic guy. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Ghost in the Shell: Ghost Pain (2013)

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So I was looking for something to watch and came across something called Ghost Pain. I am not really an Anime guy, @torstenvblog normally takes care of that. However this looked interesting so I figured I would check it out.

A couple things to note, I had no idea this was Ghost in the Shell until after I had watched it. Another, I had never seen Ghost in the Shell until I saw this. I am essentially watching this as a guy that has no idea what the hell is going on. Also this movie has a bunch of different names as you can tell from the picture so pick your poison on that one.

Essentially our main heroine here is investigating a murder after a bomb goes off and kills a major arms dealer. She also has an issue with her memory which turns out to be some sort of a memory hack causing false memories. There is honestly a lot going on and explaining it all would ruin much of it. It is a fun watch but I honestly can’t say its for me. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.