When I heard HBO was rebooting the Watchmen, one of the most important graphic novel stories ever, I was pretty intrigued. While I had no issue with the movie and actually thought it improved some things, I was curious what could be done. The first teaser looks interesting and the dark tone is there. I’m curious if this is meant to be before or after the events of Watchmen, considering the cult of people wearing Rorschach’s mask, I’m leaning towards after. I am curious what they’ll come up with. May the gaming gods bring you glory.
Author: torstenvblog
Writer of the strange and everything; lover of horror, literature, comics, and the alien is my spirit animal
Spider-man: Far from Home trailer 2
I have to say I had to chuckle that they start the trailer with a spoiler warning for Avengers: Endgame from Tom Holland, who was notorious for spoiling stuff during Infinity War. I have to say, being a long time Spidey fan , I think I figured out the plot from this latest trailer but I’ll call it out in the review. Mysterio looks great and the monsters look pretty cool. I think it’ll be a cool movie and it has the potential to be a great sequel. May the gaming gods brig you glory.
Looking For Alaska
I’d like to dedicate this review to the only girl who ever gave me a chance and understood why I loved books. In a strange way this book reflected one of the most painful times of my life, the before, the cataclysm, and the aftermath. We always cling to the before when after falls when all we have is a billion questions and wet, crushed petals of what could have been…
Miles Halter is a smart, quiet young man who is fascinated by last words. He isn’t an outcast but just doesn’t seem the need to stand out. He is sent to Culver Creek, a prestigious boarding school in Alabama, all the way across the US from his native Florida. At Culver Creek, he finds himself amongst a host of snotty rich kids but he finds friends of his own in the prank loving group lead by his his roommate Chip ” The Colonel” Martin and Alaska Young. Alaska’s eccentric ways and mysterious past fascinate Miles, now dubbed “Pudge”, and he can’t help but be drawn to her. Maybe even love her. Hi-jinks ensue when they pull a epic prank on the rich kids and they spend a night drinking to celebrate. Life seems to be going great for Miles until Alaska storms out one night and the After begins, and Miles is left to watch the belonging and life he loved break apart…
For those who read the book, you’ll understand why I pretty much couldn’t talk about the second half of the book. I have to say I really enjoyed this book. The story is well paced and the characters are really likable. The way Green writes is very natural and I have to admit, it was pretty easy to lose a few hours inside of it’s pages which is one of the best compliments I can give a writer. I give him credit on the ambiguity of the ending and for not copping out with a forced happy ending. In the end I highly recommend this book as a good read but also to young inspiring writers too. I’d like to thank my dear friend again for sharing this story with me and I’d like to wish her a happily ever After in a new chapter of her life. May the gaming gods bring you glory.
Star Wars Battlefront (EA)
Games, like all forms of media entertainment, have expectations and as part of life, sometimes our expectations crash and burn. Star Wars: Battlefront 2 was one of my favorite Star Wars games and one of the games that got me the Battlefield franchise. You can imagine my joy when I found out the makers of Battlefield were making there own Battlefront game…
EA’s Battlefront first and foremost has no actual story mode. It stays exactly within the original trilogy of Star Wars , The Empire Strikes Back , and Return of the Jedi . If you got the plain $60 copy, you essentially got a game with a small hand full of repetitive maps played with basic game modes. The game looks great and sounds great and the gameplay itself is solid but my friend Autobot and I sat down and played every mode this game had to offer in about 3 hours. The heroes, to which each side has only 3 each, are clunky but wreck infantry easily enough. There was a huge lack of vehicular combat, let a lone being able to seamlessly jump in. Flying was serviceable but clunky.
Let’s keep in mind however, this game was released in 2015, around the time The Force Awakens was coming to theaters. While I have access to the DLC maps and two bonus heroes, just from sight I can say it doesn’t seem like much considering what the season pass originally cost. Finally, we come to epic problem: because this is a strictly multiplayer game with a bad reputation to begin with, it’s hard as hell to get a game going. I waited 10 minutes to play a game at 1:00 pm on a Tuesday in 2019 and got nowhere. As far as I can tell at the moment, it’s nearly a dead game which is why I can’t recommend it at all, even for dirt cheap. May the gaming gods bring you glory.
Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween
Goosebumps (2015) was a strange thing for ole Torsten: seeing iconic monsters from my childhood on the big screen lead by the freaky talking dummy I fully admit scared me as much as Michael Myers and the Xenomorph when I was a kid but knowing damn well this movie wasn’t meant for me. It was meant for a generation of young kids who barely know what the hell a book is let alone a Goosebumps book, and that tears my heart out I must admit. So if the first disappointed and made me kinda sad, why watch the second- I’m a glutton for punishment, that’s why.
Goosebumps 2 begins with a small family in the quiet suburbs. Sonny and his best friends are normal kids trying to earn a buck but cleaning out houses and such, and one day they are called to a abandoned old house said to be haunted. They are told they can keep whatever they want, just clean it out. Inside is a old, unfinished manuscript that just happens to belong to R.L Stine. They also find Slappy the dummy and accidentally bring him to life. At first the dummy seems to be a friend but that changes when his intentions become clear- to unleash the power of Stine’s monsters and take over the town. Its up the kids and Sarah, Sonny’s big sister, to take down Slappy before it’s too late.
I have to say I kinda like this movie more than the first but it’s still far from great. This movie doesn’t try to feed you as much nostalgia and does in a lot of ways feel like a more modern episode of the show. The effects are better and the CGI has improved. Jack Black is better both as Stine and Slappy; the kids I wasn’t a fan of at first but they grew on me throughout the movie. This movie, pretty obviously, wasn’t made for the old fans and there are a few scenes here and there that made me groan, and much of the plot feels retold from the first. Honestly, it feels more like a soft reboot than a sequel. In the end, it’s not a terrible movie for kids but its absolutely not a substitute for anything that came before. May the gaming gods bring you glory.
Obsessed
There are times I watch things for the blog I love, sometimes laugh at, hate, or just once in a great while experiment with to fulfill a theory. I remembered the trailers for this movie a decade ago and thought meh; I heard reviews for this movie a decade ago that were basically meh. So one night, finding it on Netflix, I decided to see if its really meh or not…
A young, happy couple move into a new house with there newborn baby. Derrick is a successful business executive who meets a pretty temp girl named Lisa. She came prepared to be Derrick’s assistant and tries to get closer to him; Derrick is happily married to his wife Sharon and brushes off Lisa’s advances. Things don’t seem serious until the Christmas party when Lisa tries to seduce derrick after a few drinks, and that’s when he realizes she’ll destroy his marriage, his career, and his life to have him all to herself…
Basically the title says it all- this is pretty much a by the numbers stalker film. Because it’s PG-13, there is no crazy bat shit stuff like Fatal Attraction or Audition. Idris Elba and Beyonce are too good for this bland script and Ali Larter is fine as the crazy stalker but even she could have done better. It’s not terrible, just bland as hell with one really hilarious moment from Elba about halfway through. I can’t really recommend it, mostly because there are much better movies that did more with the premise. May the gaming gods bring you glory.
Sticks:A tool in Time
I’m dedicating this post to a good friend of mine, Billy, who coincidentally wrote the book which is the topic of today’s blog. Sticks: A tool in time is exactly what the cover and title suggest: a book about sticks. Yes, sticks. No metaphors, no mysticism just ordinary sticks you break off a tree every day. Now, I know what many of you are thinking: “Torsten, why in the fuck do I want to read a book about sticks when I can read about distant fantasy landscapes, millionaires with kinky fetishes, or secret agents?” Well my friend, I have 2 reasons why you should. The first being a response to your thoughts, yes those are fun subjects to dive into but there are so many books about the same thing, but how many are about sticks? Also, its absurdly hilarious. Savior laughed himself silly and honestly I had a good many laughs too; the book is written to be self aware and laughs are intended. I’m well aware the humor won’t catch on everyone but it’s a fun, small read you can find cheap on Amazon ( link listed below) and I wish my friend the best and can’t wait for the next installment. May the gaming gods bring you glory.
Alien: Harvest
Harvest is the last of the 6 and I have to say the most action oriented, actually in a way I felt there was some Alien: Isolation vibes here. While the Alien looks pretty convincing, the biggest flaw I see is I don’t like the weird flashy editing. Other than that, it’s a pretty good fan film. May the gaming gods bring you glory.
Alien: Alone
I’m nearly positive that of all 6 Alien shorts, Alone may be my favorite of the 6. Trapped aboard a dying, abandoned vessel in the middle of space, an android deals with the prospects of dying alone, but when she finds a “friend” of sorts, how far will she go to help her friend survive? I love the twists the story takes, especially putting the Alien in a role I admit we haven’t really seen before. There is a great moment at the end where you see her and her friend united that was really cool to see. The pacing is slower but I liked the final product so I didn’t mind much. I definitely recommend it for the fans and may the gaming gods bring you glory.
The Bye Bye Man
It’s been a long time since I saw a movie quite like the Bye Bye Man. Once in a great while I see a horror movie so bad it’s funny, which is why I’m regarding it as a comedy too. All the better is it’s not like Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn , which know it was goofy and this movie basically tries to be as serious as it can be with a hack premise. But the question is, how bad are we talking?
In typical horror cliche fashion, three college kids rent a old house near campus. While cleaning out the old furniture, they find a old nightstand with a bunch of deranged carvings on the the inside reading ” don’t say it, don’t think it.” and the words the Bye Bye Man. From there, the teens being seeing things and a tall man with a dog stalks there’s minds but they can’t stop the urge to spread the madness of the Bye Bye Man…
As a horror movie, Bye Bye Man is utter crap but as a ” so bad its good” movie its freaking awesome. The imagery behind Bye Bye man isn’t explored at all like the train images or what’s up with him and his dog. The acting was hilarious, especially from the lead actress and one particular scene from the lead character in a car that had me in stitches. The effects are laughably bad. The movie doesn’t really drag so that’s a positive. In the end, stay away if you are looking for scares but looking for unintentional laughs, step right up. May the gaming gods bring you glory.
Savior Gaming 