Opinion – Page 82 – Savior Gaming

The Perfection

perfection

I have a strange place in my heart for movies that make me say “WTF?”, especially more psychological endeavors like May (2002) or The Witch: a New-England Folktale . My last jump into Netflix horror was I am the pretty thing that lives in the house which didn’t really do anything for me. What lured me were claims of how controversial it was. By the end I wasn’t able to speak.

Charlotte was a cello prodigy who left her prestigious music school to care for her dying mother, leaving a life of fame behind. She returns to the posh world of classical music she left behind, finding another young prodigy, Lizzy, has taken the scene by storm. There mutual mentor, Anton, says they were the greatest pupils he ever had. It just so happens Charlotte’s last day was Lizzy’s first and there talent seems equal. They hit it off after a duet together, and after a night of dancing and love making, they go for a trip that goes horribly wrong when Lizzy gets sick and the question goes: how far will some go to find perfection…

There is a lot to the story I don’t want to spoil but there is a crazy amount of twists and turns I didn’t see coming. What I feel is the movie’s strongest attribute is how well it switches between romance, drama, horror, and revenge thriller. The scenery and music are beautiful and the acting is well done, especially the romantic chemistry between the lead actresses. The only real gripe I have is it’s annoying how the movie literally rewinds itself after a major twist to replay what’s really going on and there is a really weird camera choice for the final climax. I have to say while satisfying the ending feels a bit abrupt. Regardless of some bumps, the Perfection is a damn good movie with a story that will keep you guessing and I recommend it. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Memorial Day (United States)

As Memorial Day comes winding down in the United States (I am being specific because I know many of you in other countries have your own Memorial Day, or version of it) I just wanted to take a minute to tell you all to be careful on your way home tonight as always, but also to remember the lives that were lost not for what they were, but for the plans they had. Entire lives planned out suddenly lost, so with that in mind don’t wait on the things you want, because next year may not come. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory, and those that came before us peace.

Terminator: Dark Fate trailer

Terminator was once upon a time an amazing Sci-fi action movie with one of the greatest sequels of all time, becoming two pop culture icons. Sadly that wasn’t enough and now with one of the muddiest canons in modern film, we get yet another “Se-boot” , trying to be the T2 sequel that never was. Despite Cameron’s involvement and the return of Linda Hamilton and Arnie, I doubt this is going far I’m afraid. The effects look fairly poor by today’s standards and the new Terminator reminded me of Ultron mixed with Conner in Genysis. The future isn’t written but I hope the title doesn’t reflect Terminator’s future, a dark fate. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Pokemon Stadium

With Detective Pikachu killing it in theaters, I wanted to look back at a classic for 90’s kids. Pokemon Stadium was a simple concept done right- choose from the classic first generation 150 Pokemon and battle in epic tournaments against the AI or your friends, challenge the classic Indigo League gym leaders, or play some pretty fun mini games.

Much like the classic Pokemon games on Gameboy ( Red, Blue, Yellow, etc.) battling is standard turned based combat. I admit, knowing Pokemon in advance is a huge advantage. Types are everything and discovering what type beats your opponent grants you a near instant K.O. While the combat is certainly fun, type-matching and spam moves rule. There are a awesome assortment of modes to choose from; my favorite was a combination of the gym leader tower and the mini games. The graphics are fairly solid for the time but the sound effects are pretty corny, even for twenty years ago. While I don’t have much to say, if you have a friend and an N64, Pokemon Stadium is an amazing time. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Tag (2018)

Tag is the movie of a group of friends that played the same game of tag for about thirty years and is actually based on a true story. There are some pretty big differences that I will get into later, and some outlandish things in the movie that are confirmed based off real life that you will even see the real video of in the end credits. The movie, however, takes place in the month of May, as their friend Jerry (Jeremy Renner) gets married and decides after this year he is retiring. The problem is he has never been tagged, and his friends can not allow this. This year they pull out all the stops to tag him, for example, Hogan (Ed Helms) goes to the mall and dresses as an old lady in an attempt to tag him. This is is based off a tag that really happened for the record. Another attempt was when they all broke into Jerry’s house in an attempt to tag him, which in real life also happened. It is worth noting in the real story there is no Jeremy person that was never tagged and these plans worked unlike in the movie.

The movie is pretty amazing honestly and is worth watching but having looked up the real story to write this I have to say while the movie does it justice, the true story is even better. It is worth watching tho without a doubt.

Some of the differences tho are the real story is 10 friends, not the 5 from the movie and while the movie is based on the story the characters really are not and many things are tossed in for effect tho some things, legitimately happened. Some examples are in the movie they discuss people being tagged at a funeral or giving birth. These did happen in real life, and these guys really did travel all around the country to play the game. Oh, and while the movie takes place in May, the real guys played in February and there really was a written agreement. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Game Of Thrones Ending (Spoilers)

As the title says, this is about the ending of Game of Thrones and contains spoilers so please, stop reading now if you haven’t watched. This will contain spoilers, in fact, this contains the ultimate spoilers.

Everyone here that wants to be here? Cool. There have been a lot of complaints about the last season of G.O.T. and the end is no exception, and let us be honest, this was always going to happen. Everyone had their idea of who would take the Iron Throne and how and why and what Jon and Sansa would end up doing? Well, we finally have an answer after 8 years.

To give you a quick rundown, After realizing what Dany turned into, Tyrion begs Jon to do the right thing, and he does. He gives her one last chance to do the right thing and when he sees she is clearly not going to, he stabs her with a knife and kills her. Drogon in his rage won’t hurt Jon, which there are already many theories on why melts the Iron Throne and takes the body of Daenerys Targaryen and flys away, presumably back to Valyria. This results in Jon being arrested by Grey Worm.

This is where Tyrion explains it doesn’t matter what anyone wants to do, it all is the choice of the new king or queen and since the most powerful people in Westeros are gathered they should just pick one. Samwell Tarly votes to let everyone have a vote, but he gets laughed at. Tyrion has a better idea, to give it to someone with a story because stories unite people and never die. And nobody has a better story than Bran the Broken who fell from a tower and lived, cross the wall despite having no use of his legs and became the one eyes raven. The fact that he can’t have kids is sold as a good thing, because as they have all seen the son of kings and queens can be cruel and kings should be chosen at that spot from now on by the houses of Westeros.

Grey Worm is fine with this but demands Jon still be punished, and he is banished back to the wall and the Night Watch. Meanwhile, Tyrion is once again Hand of The King which he refuses because he doesn’t want it. Bran points out he doesn’t want to be king, but there they are.

The issue is most people are upset and don’t realize pretty much everyone got exactly what they wanted. Jon didn’t want to be king, in fact, he liked the north to the point when Tormund invited him to go he basically says he wishes he could. The show literally ends with him walking out of the wall into the north with Tormund and the Wildlings.

Arya points out nobody knows what is west of Westeros because all the maps end at Westeros and she decides to go there, and interestingly enough the last thing you see of her is her on a ship and the ships sale is of a wolf, the implication being she is the captain of the ship. This is of course what she always wanted, she wanted to go on adventures and do her own thing.

Last is Sansa, and if you think back to season 1 all she wanted was to be queen. Her end is she is the Queen of The North as she told Bran that the North would remain a free realm despite the fact that she loved him.

That is what people are missing, all the main characters in the end that are alive got what they wanted plus they got a king that wasn’t a tyrant or power hungry. While the ending isn’t perfect, it is still a pretty happy ending for the characters we grew to love over the years and the world is a better place. The wheel is broken and most importantly, Tyrion lived. Tell me what you guys think, best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

The Blackcoat’s Daughter

blackcoats daughter

The Blackcoat’s Daughter is the story of 3 young women and a remote all girls boarding school. Katherine is a quiet, weird girl whose parent’s haven’t come to get her on winter break; Rose is pretty, popular, and is afraid because she may or not be pregnant; Joan is a mysterious girl found on the side of a road by a grieving couple and given a ride, while being followed by the cops. Katherine and Rose are stuck at the school over break, waiting for there parents to show. Something isn’t right when Katherine begins acting strange; can an old rumor be true?

This is not a basic horror movie. I will say the atmosphere, the cinematography, and sound sell the film. There is a very well done feeling of cold isolation throughout and a really good sense of dread. There are a few creepy moments and the ending is unsettling. The acting is really good from the 3 leading ladies. The story itself is a bit confusingly laid out but overall is solid. It is a slow burn and I feel many will zone out because it’s not an eventful movie and there isn’t any huge effects in it which will turn many off. I feel the first third of the movie drags a bit too much. Blackcoat’s Daughter is a decent movie with some great aspects to it. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Backdraft (1991)

Backdraft is a 1991 Action crime drama that takes place in Chicago and follows two brothers, both firefighters, that do not get along, on their life. Younger brother and rookie Brian McCaffrey (William Baldwin) joins the force and tries to win the respect of his older brother, veteran Stephen (Kurt Russel) after Stephen bribes someone to get Brian into his unit with him.

It doesn’t take long for this to go horribly wrong as the two always seem to have a reason to be fighting and eventually after seeing a series of fires set by an arsonist that were set to kill specific people Brian gets himself put into an investigation unit and instead of fighting fires with his brother finds himself trying to stop the criminal.

Honestly, the movie isn’t bad. It is well done and the special effects were amazing for its time. The story while at times convoluted and weird to follow is done in a pretty realistic way many times and you aren’t shoehorned into a happy ending for the sake of having one. This is however very much a movie made for firefighters and people interested in that sort of thing. In fact, almost everyone I know that loves this movie and raves about it was a volunteer firefighter at some time. If you like that sort of thing tho, there is no reason not to watch this one. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Mr B Gone

mr b gone

Clive Barker, over the past decade I’ve been trying to better myself as a writer, has been something of a inspiration to me. While his work I find pretty varied in hits and misses, he is a master of working gruesome details and making the macabre almost beautiful and creative. Since The Hellbound Heart I haven’t read a full book by him, sticking with short stories like those found in Books of Blood (vol 1) , until I read this strange oddity called Mr. B Gone…

Jakabok Botch is a pathetic demon residing in hell with his family. Beaten, hated, and scarred by them, everything changes when he kills his father as he’s pulled to Earth circa the 1400’s. After running from his captors, he sets off on a journey of menace and bloodshed amongst the weak and corrupt disguising himself as a burned man. His only partner in mischief is Quitoon, a lover, a friend, and enemy. Quitoon, fascinated by the inventions of man, is excited by a new invention that will change the world: the printing press…

After finishing the book, I really didn’t know what to think. I like the overall narrative and thought the story itself was pretty inventive. There are some great gore moments and some good dark humor moments. I didn’t like Mr B as a main character and the meta nature of the book itself irked the hell out of me. I’ve never liked stories where the narrator talks directly to the audience so that made the story slog longer for me than it should have; I will say I had to chuckle for the reasoning behind it revealed at the end. While not my favorite by Barker, Mr B Gone should be checked out if you like horror meta fiction but avoided if you want a straight narrative. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Lucifer Season 4 Ending Thoughts (Spoilers)

Once again if you missed it, this will contain spoilers for the end of Season 4 of Lucifer. So please, stop reading now if you want it the surprise reserved.

So the end of this season finally got us a few things many fans have been wanting for years. For starters, Chloe finally tells Lucifer she loves him, we get the first real kiss between the 2 of them and we get to see Lucifer in all his devil glory as he commands an army of demons back to hell.

On the flip side, we get a very emotional goodbye when Lucifer realizes as long as he stays on Earth they will disobey him and more will come, and Chloe and his friends will be at risk. So despite Chloe being upset and crying and begging he returns to hell to rule, and that is where the season ends.

I am actually quite happy with this ending. See as of now when I wrote this there is no word on a season five of the show. This ending is truly the end, it closes it all up. We got to see a goodbye between the 2, Lucifer is in hell ruling, Chloe is still a cop, Linda and Amenadiel have baby Charlie and are raising him on Earth. For the most part, it is all wrapped up nice and neat. So for me, this was a great end to a season they knew could very well be their last. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.