Glass

glass

I’m sure I’m weird to say Glass was one of my most anticipated movies of 2019. Unbreakable is one of my favorite superhero movies and Split was one of my favorite horror movies of the decade so I was really pumped to see how the trilogy would conclude and I wanted to see the reunion between Dunn and Glass.

The Horde is on the loose, kidnapping and killing young women in his pursuit of saving the broken. David Dunn, now deemed the Overseer, has spent the past 19 years as a vigilante using his powers to keep people safe. He’s been hunting the Horde down while evading the police. After confronting him, both are surprised at the others ability, but are apprehended by a mysterious doctor convinced they aren’t superhuman but rather mentally ill. They aren’t the only one she has captive however, seemingly comatose for nearly two decades is Elijah Prince who is reunited with Dunn and introduced to Crumb. Mr Glass has a plan to unite with The Beast and unveil the existence of super humans to the world. Can the Overseer stop the deadly alliance?

First, don’t go into this expecting a conventional super story. There isn’t a lot of pomp and circumstance, and I can’t say this movie is for everyone. I personally believe it’s a damn good end to an amazing trilogy. The three main leads do a great job but Jackson and McAvoy steal the show. The movie is a decent mix of cross over combined with dual sequels for Unbreakable and Split. The pacing slows quite a bit in the second act but McAvoy thankfully carries what could be a painful slog. I couldn’t help but wish we got more time with Dunn as a vigilante. The fights are pretty cool for what they were. I liked the twists and the ending, being the minority and felt uplifted after. Glass isn’t perfect nor the ultimate trilogy ender and while I can see where a lot of the choices made will piss fans off, I will say it’s well worth a watch. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Halloween (2018)

halloween 2018 2

A few days ago, I posted a rant during my review of Texas Chainsaw (3D) about horror’s particularly bad track record of sloppy canons. Like TCM, Halloween thought it was better to wipe out it’s lackluster sequels and far from great remakes and start from a new slate, keeping only the events of the original Halloween in canon. No Thorn cult, no Busta Rhymes, and no edgy gargantuan Michael that roams the countryside. Most importantly, Michael and Laurie are no longer brother and sister. So how does the new canon hold itself up?

Forty years have passed  since Michael Myers stalked the streets of Haddonfield on Halloween night. Scarred and silent, he’s stayed in the sanitarium. A pair of bloggers try interviewing him to no avail, reminding him of that night by presenting him with the mask he once wore. Meanwhile we join Laurie who’s life has been ruined by Michael and has dedicated the past four decades to stopping him if and when he would break out, even if it meant the rift in her family life. Her daughter Karen wants nothing to do with her, trying to raise her own teen daughter away from the trauma of there past, while Laurie struggles to stay in there life’s. While being transferred on Halloween, Michael escapes and the bodies begin to pile up, leaving Laurie to face her fears once and for all…

This is the damn Halloween movie I wanted. There is a surprising amount of character drama in this sequel and the characters are done really well but Jaime Lee Curtis steals the show as a broken Laurie hellbent on killing Michael. Old man Michael is terrifying and badass. There is a surprising amount of twists in the story and a surprising amount of humor that weirdly works. The classic score returns but is given new life with new music added that’s really good. I enjoyed the cinematography. Overall, Halloween 2018 is one of the best horror movies I’ve seen in recent years and I highly recommend it. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Tenet trailer

It’s been a while since we got a film from Christopher Nolan and as always, it always looks pretty epic. Tenet looks like a good line between intelligent spy trailer and high class Sci-fi  movie with a trailer that doesn’t show much thankfully. I’m fairly curious how it will turn out great and I’ll be glad to check out Nolan’s next film. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Monster Energy Supercross

monster supercross

This review is going to be pretty straight forward because of all the games I’ve played this year, this game honestly sucks the worst and I gave up pretty quickly for some pretty huge reasons.

First reason I gave this game the finger was my first impression. It installed and was ready to use so I gave it a try. Immediately I saw the Monster energy drink logos and a start screen that stalled for almost five minutes. After that, without further menus I was taken into a game I had no choice in. I wasn’t given options for character, map, or even game mode; I thought perhaps it was a tutorial until the final disastrous look at the scoreboard at the end of a match I didn’t choose to be in. There was prompts telling me controls and hints, but yet it wasn’t a tutorial because I leveled up, not even knowing I had a level to begin with. The controls are easy enough to learn but the bikes handle like shit. Talking with Savior, he agreed and it wasn’t just me. Trying to make simple turns was harder than hell and most times I just flung myself out of the ring.

Weeks later, I tried again. My second time around, there were menus and customization options but I found it dumb there were no stats on the bikers and the tracks look mostly the same. Strangely there was muddied look to the faces of the drivers too which was weird. The driving is still shit and I still don’t understand why you need a different control ground and air when I can’t do a trick in mid air. After another match that did nothing but raise my blood pressure, I quit and deleted it.

In the end, I hated this damn game and even free, I still say you’re paying too much for this obvious cash grab. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Texas Chainsaw (3D)

tc3d

Horror has a really bad habit of messy cannons. Following the chain of endless sequels, remakes, and reboots ( not to mention the strange fusions of them) we started getting movies meant to set the stage and wipe the cannons clean and kick off from the original classics anew. So was Texas Chainsaw worth abandoning Texas Chainsaw massacre 2 and beyond?

Taking place moments after the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre , Sally’s escape from the Sawyer family brings the police down on the cannibals, especially Jeb ( Leatherface). The family convinces him to surrender, but the angry rednecks of the area decide to take matters into there own hands and slaughter the Sawyer family, except  for missing Leatherface and a baby that is taken by the rednecks. Years later, Heather gets a letter that a grandmother she never knew she had and inherited her home, but Heather and her friends learn this home comes with it’s own resident…

I’m going to say right now, this movie is utter ass. It’s not so- bad- it’s good; there is some pretty cringe-worthy shit in it. I can’t say I liked any of the characters and Leatherface isn’t even that intimidating here and has no personality, despite the attempt to make him a anti-hero. The 3-D is pretty cheesy but there isn’t much to really justify calling it 3-D. The effects are meh but the blood is plainly CGI. In the end, you can skip this and watch either the original, sequel, or the remakes. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Star Wars Trilogy Arcade

star wars arcade

With Rise of the Skywalker debuting close to Christmas this year, I want to look at one of my favorite childhood Star Wars games. Me and my dad, Duke, spent many a hours at the local arcades as a kid. Besides the awesomeness of Air Hockey, the Star Wars game was my favorite. It is simplicity itself, a joystick and a big red button but what was done with it was pretty impressive. The opening three stages come from Star Wars , The Empire Strikes Back , and Return of the Jedi . The Death Star run is exceptionally done and feels epic as hell. Hoth and Endor are done really good. My favorite parts are the special stage boss battles where you follow the prompts and battle Boba Fett and Darth Vader; while they warped my anxiety as a kid,they were also one of the biggest victories I faced as a kid. I could never beat the last stage, the second Death Star run because it was frankly insane. The graphics and music are damn good and overall, it’s some of the closest I felt to feeling like being in Star Wars. If you ever find it in a arcade, I urge you to give the game a try. May the gaming gods bring you glory and may the force be with you.

Free Guy trailer 1

Everything about this movie should probably suck, but damn it looks really funny. I like the premise of a guy trying to be good in a video game; how many of us can say we choose to be the good guy in a game if we can help it? Reynolds is great as a squeaky clean hero in a world of excessive video game madness. I would totally check this movie out. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Ancestors: The Humankind Odssey

As always I would like to start this out with a huge thank you to Private Division, Take Two Interactive and Panache Digital Games. Getting a review copy of a game is always an honor and appreciated and this is no exception.

I have to say I honestly didn’t know what to expect going into this one. A survival game about the evolution of humans from our earlier ancestors seemed interesting yet silly. Where is the fun in playing as a sort of half monkey half human thing that can’t talk and has to figure out how to use tools? Turns out that is basically all of the fun.

As the game starts you instantly notice the jungle is a beautiful and dangerous place and you play as a small child, scared and trying to find a place to hide. Once you do this you will swap to an adult tasked with finding this child and leading it back to your tribe. A tribe you can switch between any member of by simply walking up to and selecting the appropriate option.

It is important to know outside of telling you what you need to do, such as building a sleeping spot, this game will not hold your hand. It explains the basics and it is left up to you to guide this tribe among its journey, from a group that walks like apes on all fours but can stand and swing sticks to standing upright and hunting with make shift spears and everything in between.

The game can be repetitive however, but this is all survival games. It seems worse in this one tho because rather than chopping down trees you are finding new things to eat or smell and examine. You can’t even drink water until you examine and smell it. This adds to the experience tho, as like the tribe you are also learning about this world that has been beautifully crafted for you.

The strongets part of this game to me is also its weakest part. If you enjoy the survival genre and want it to be as realistic as possible and just leave you to it, this game does an amazing job. If this however is your first survival game or you aren’t familiar with how they work this might be really frustrating for you. I do have to give this game a solid 8/10 and recommend it to anyone that likes this sort of game. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Antlers final trailer

I’m extremely excited after seeing these trailers. Antlers looks to have an amazing atmosphere and I can’t tell you enough how much I love that we haven’t seen the monster yet. I hate that a lot of trailers go and spoil the movie from the gate. Antlers intrigues me and I think it’s going to be a damn good horror movie next year. May the gaming gods bring you glory.