I have a lot of time to reminisce at my day job, and I started remembering cartoons I’m shocked parents let us watch like Invader Zim and Ren and Stimpy. One of my all time favorites is Rocko’s Modern Life. It’s a story of a wallaby named Rocko just trying to live a normal, 90’s world full of the mad people who inhabit it. With him is trusty dog Spunky, best friends the gluttonous Heffer and sickly Fhilbert as well as other weird ass characters like his neighbors the BigHeads. So the question is yet to be asked, how does this show qualify as not that kid friendly? When you get older you begin to see a truck load of sexual innuendos, adult movie references, and some WTF moments laced throughout. For example, the superhero Really Really Big Man and his amazing nipples that make you see the future; the restaurant named Chokey Chicken; Mrs. Bighead getting pretty perverse about her sexual frustration and wanting to bang Rocko to spite her husband. Not to say the show is as harsh as Ren and Stimpy for kids, it’s just fine for them, but adults may end getting a bigger kick out of it, especially if you are a 90’s child like myself. In the end, if you find the complete series, which isn’t very expensive, it certainly is a interesting specimen to add to any TV collection. May the gaming gods bring you glory.
Category: Opinion
Cyberpunk 2077 E3 teaser
Of all the trailers to drop at this year’s E3, Cyberpunk 2077 is the the least I’m familiar with. Cyberpunk always made me think of Blade Runner or the 90’s Judge Dredd movie. After watching the trailer at E3, I got a heavy GTA vibe set in a neon colored, gritty futuristic world which could be cool. Looking up the trailer for this, I did find trailers for this dating back to 2013 which is worrisome and after Aliens: Colonial Marines I get nervous about games in the making that long. The game looks like it could be a fun sandbox but it isn’t the top of my list. May the gaming gods bring you glory.
Deadpool 2
Deadpool , the little antihero who could, has become a huge phenomenon in the two years since the movie. I see countless men, women, and children in Deadpool garb everyday at my day job. The very second the trailer dropped for Deadpool 2, in a rare event I haven’t witnessed since the teasers for Avengers: Age of Ultron and The Force Awakens debuted, I had friends, coworkers, and even random strangers ask me if I saw it and my thoughts (I give a shout out to the creative marketing behind this movie, keeping us engaged with hilarious parody trailers so the actual material wouldn’t get old.) So, does Wade have what it takes to earn the hype?
Picking up months after the first ended, Wade is finally happy being an unkillable mercenary with girlfriend Vanessa, about to start a family when, like every superhero story ever told, tragedy strikes. Wade, left broken hearted is suicidal but that’s for naught because of that pesky healing factor, so he joins the X men as a trainee with old buddies Colossus and Negasonic Teenage Warhead. There’s a troubled youth going a rampage named Russel at the Mutant Rehabilitation orphanage, but all it’s what it seems; he’s been abused and in a fit of rage Wade kills one of the assholes responsible and lands him and Russel in a detention center for mutants. It isn’t long until a threat from the future comes, claiming Russel would slay his family one day and it’s duty to assassinate the boy here and now to save them in the future. Enter Cable. It’s up to Wade to save the boy from Cable with his own group of misfits, but can he change the future?
I have to honest, for a while I’ve been burnt on Deadpool since the first movie and the mammoth popularity in pop culture. That being said, I loved Deadpool 2, but it’s not without some flaws. If you love raunchy, meta comedy, you will adore this movie, especially if you are a superhero nerd like myself. The action is bigger and there’s a host of characters, old and new to fall in love with. This is Josh Brolin’s year, he excels at being Cable just as he did playing Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War and Domino was a welcome addition, as well as the well done villain cameo at the end I won’t spoil. A small flaw I had was the movie flows really good until the third act where I felt it dragged a bit. Another issue I had was I felt the emotional parts of the movie stopped having weight to them because of the never ending speed and intensity of the jokes and I feel the first movie balanced these aspects out a lot better. In the end, I liked it as much as the first film but it easily could have transgressed the first if they work on the serious/ comedy balance a bit better, flushed the characters out a bit more, and paced the jokes a bit better. It’s still awesome as hell and I highly recommend it. May the gaming gods bring you glory.
Xbox at E3 2018
So Xbox at its big E3 today, and it started off by making a very bold claim. 50 games, 18 exclusives and a whole bunch of world premieres. For a company that is renowned for having very few exclusives and even less of quality this is a very big claim. Now I didn’t count, but it was over an hour and a half of just games. I marked down a lot of the interesting and big titles, but I will happily assume it was in the ballpark.
We got some big ones, Halo Infinity, 3 new Gears of Wars games, possibly the most random game announced in years with Battletoads, the reveal of Division 2 and Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice. This was possibly the most game staked conference in years if not ever. There was nothing ground breaking or that will change the landscape of gaming, but I have to say unless Nintendo or Sony has something MASSIVE to reveal, Xbox has this E3 in the bag. Best wishes and may the gaming…Oh yea, and at the last possible moment, as Phil Spencer was saying good-bye the lights dropped, and Cyberpunk 2077 was revealed. Gaming gods bring you glory.
Command & Conquer Rivals (Mobile)
Command & Conquer Rivals is a new C&C for the more modern era, and by that I mean it’s for mobile. Being shown at E3 actually upset a few people since cellphone games usually aren’t shown at the event. For a more in-depth explanation for why you will see more of it tho, look here. Are Mobile Game Players Gamers?
As for what the game is, well its C&C. You gather resources and fight over a Nuclear missile in the center of the map. Whoever controls 2 of the 3 spots when the meter fills up shoots the enemy base, whoever hits the enemy base twice wins. Pretty simple concept really. The game will be available on IOS and Android but to my knowledge is currently only available in pre-alpha on Android. The game is fun but does have its issues. While feeling decently like C&C they make it a point to tell you that for now there are no in-game purchases, meaning the full game will have some.
You do occasionally win boxes with money and troops, and it is a save assumption these are what you can buy. If that is the case, this is clearly going to be a pay to win mobile game from EA. To make matters worse, at least for now the game seems to be nothing but PVP with no way to practice or even grind for stuff. The game however is fun and easy to get into. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.
Last House on the Left
There are a very few movies that have dropped jaws as well as terrify the masses made by young folks with a passion, as well as a remake that shits all over it. The late horror legend, Wes Craven, as well Sean Cunningham who would give us Friday the 13th gave us a new kind of horror that nearly 50 years, still inspiring writers and filmmakers to this day.
It’s Mari Collingwood’s 17th birthday and all she wants is grab some weed and go to a rock concert with her BFF Phyllis. Her folks, Estelle and John, let her go because kids will be kids, despite the radio reports of a trio of criminals on the loose. Mari and Phyllis find a pot connection in Willow, who leads them to the sinister trio led by his father, Krug, who proceed to kidnap the girls and take them into the woods. They are raped, Phyllis is disemboweled, and Mari is fatally shot, left to die in the water- leading to the twist, the woods are behind the Collingwood’s home. The trio disguises themselves as a family with car trouble, showing up at there doorstep. As the rain descends, Estelle’s intuition tells her something is wrong and tragically, unaware to the criminals, the parents discover the body of their daughter, and suddenly they plan there revenge…
Let’s talk about the original, it’s one hell of a debut film. The subject matter is indeed disturbing and some of the scenes are hard to watch but it helps illustrate its point. The actors, as well as the way its filmed, do not feel produced or glossy, giving the movie a sense of seldom realism we rarely get in horror anymore. I love the villains, horrible people who go from being dimwitted goofballs to savage fiends which is captured remarkably well. The music is unique to the core and unforgettable. The only real flaw are the cartoonish cops throughout that trip the tone hard at times but I admit, helps gives the movie personality.
Personality is something the 2009 remake lacks. First, why the hell this movie exists, I don’t know. Granted, on it’s own, it isn’t a terrible movie. The cinematography is quite nice at times and the score is fitting. Essentially the plot is the same but with one damning difference, Mari doesn’t die and Willow turns good instead of crack and kill himself which gives it a huge Hollywood feel, if the cinematography and big orchestra score weren’t dead giveaways. On top of that, the actors do look like actors and the criminals look like bad guys from the get go. The fact it does look and feel so much like a big budget movie cripples it and makes it feel like a run of the mill home invasion thriller by the third act.
Last House on the Left was a heavy horror movie with some meaning behind it, made by some 20 somethings who wanted to do something different. The remake ain’t horrid if you never saw the original, but I urge you to if you haven’t. May the gaming gods bring you glory.
Halloween 2018 first trailer
He’s back! I know this isn’t my usual time to post, but considering the occasion I think it can be forgiven. As a babe in diapers, two icons have haunted my nightmares for 27 years, making me want to spread the fear someday with my own stories of horror. Michael Myers, the shape, is tied for my favorite horror character next to the Alien. After the soul crushing defeat after watching Rob Zombie’s remakes and after a string of aimless sequels leading to a busted continuity, we get a movie that rewrites history, erasing all but the very original. Normal, these kind of deals don’t sit right with me but I love the look and vibe I got from the trailer. For the first time in a long time, I felt a buzz of terror seeing Michael lurking the streets of Haddonfield once again to the classic Carpenter score. Laurie, reprised by Jamie Lee Curtis , seems badass if not traumatized which isn’t far from H20 but seems more maddened which is a cool twist. Michael looks haggard but appropriately so, unlike Zombie’s. I am excited as hell, like fanboy nerdgasm right now and I’m pumped. I’m dedicating this quick to my friend and fellow Halloween fanboy Dave at work, enjoy bro and thank you for the support. May the gaming gods bring you glory and remember, evil never dies.
Mighty No. 9 (first impressions)
Mega Man. Beloved gaming icon who sadly I have 0 experience with, that’s more of Savor’s realm. Months ago Mighty No. 9 was a free PSN game, and curiosity got me after the host of negative reviews I’ve heard about this damn game and I tried it. I’ve played Dark Souls 2 Scholars of the First Sin and I’ve played Alien: Isolation, all hard ass games, but neither of them made me rage quit after half an hour. From the get go, I felt moving feels slow and jumping feels heavier than it should. That was a red flag but soon, in the tutorial, I started having issues with the high jump weirdly enough and the instruction flashed quicker while others lingered longer.
So essentially, Beck the 9th of these robots has to go and fight the other 8 that have gone wayward. You can go to any stage in order, which is cool. I tried 2 stages and both have a strange issue: they get hit with bitches of difficulty spikes. The game goes from being easy as hell to stupidly hard in a instant. A lot of times I didn’t feel it was being hard as much as it was being a dick; I can’t say I’ve had a death where I feel it was deserved as much as a bullshit death. Also you have limited lives before you have to restart the whole level again, becoming the ultimate rage cap. I’m determined to beat at least a stage just to say I did but I can tell you, DON’T play this if you have anger management problems, you may break your TV. May the gaming gods bring you glory.
Justice League Dark
As someone who isn’t too deep into magic, despite my love for Dr Strange, I had a lot of fun watching the R rated animated JLA Dark movie. After a grim series of murderous crimes the JLA can’t explain, Batman sets off to visit British occult expert, John Constantine and his old friend, Zatanna to try uncovering answers, coming across the Deadman, Etrigan, and Swamp Thing in a winding mystery of demons, dark magic, betrayal, and a epic finale.
I was deeply surprised how much I enjoyed this movie. Right off the bat, I’m impressed how the R rating came out; there is no heavy language past shit but instead it’s for the themes going on mostly. There is some disturbing crap in the beginning- if the fact you almost see a woman try to kill her baby, who commits suicide after Batman saves the baby unnerves you, this may not be for you. The characters were done damn well and as for plot, it’s surprisingly strong but at times it feels slow and sometimes it can be a little hard to follow if you aren’t familiar with the source material. In the end this is one of the best animated DC movies in my opinion and well worth watching. May the gaming gods bring you glory.
Survivors Guide To Prison (2017)
This isn’t actually a movie, it’s a documentary. It follows the struggle of innocent men sent to jail for crimes they clearly didn’t commit,but were charged and found guilty with anyway and how they eventually were set free. This happens far more often that you would think, but rarely do people ever get out.
The movie also gives tips for if you find yourself in this situation, such as getting a good lawyer, not discussing your case with other inmates or assuming any of them are your friends and remaining silent because much of it will be used against you and twisted by many. All of this is very good advice and actually the same advice any lawyer would give you.
The movie has a lot of information, far too much for me to pass along without this post being thousands of words long. If you are simply interested in the cases followed they are Bruce Lisker and Reggie Cole but I do recommend checking this out. It was an interesting and somewhat emotional watch with some valid points that many people may be unaware of, best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.
Savior Gaming 