The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

girl dragon tattoo

I remember hearing about these series of books just as I got into reading in my late teens, mainly because of the disturbing nature of there subject matters. Going into them, I was excited as hell to read them, especially considering the David Fincher movie was right around the corner then. The question is, did it live up to the hype?

Mikael Blomkvist was a well off journalist, publisher, and co owner of a popular magazine until a lawsuit turned his life to shit and nearly destroyed his career overnight. With his career in jeopardy, he figures he has nothing left to lose when he’s summoned to a private meeting with Henrik Vanger, a millionaire with a task for Blomkvist: discover what happened to Harriet Vanger and in return he’ll get the evidence to win his suit and save his career. In this he isn’t alone, crossing paths with anti-social, strange hacker and researcher Lisabeth Salander, who’s dealing with her dark past and present. Can these two solve the dark mystery of what happened to Harriet Vanger?

Before I begin, I only read the first book and haven’t seen any of the movies so my familiarity with the series ends here. The book was pretty fascinating with two interesting lead characters and a lot of twisting back stories in the Vanger family. Salander keeps you’re attention because the first few chapters are slow. On the whole, the mystery is good and there is some really dark shit in it; the ending I feel was disappointing. Also I have to note something that was a bit disorienting. Like Let the Right One In it was translated into English from native Swedish and the sentence structures and wording feels odd and takes getting used to. In the end, I found it to be a solid book worth checking out if you like mysteries or dark thrillers. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

 

Easter weekend At the Box Office Worst in Over 10 Years

As reported by Screenrant this was the worst box office easter weekend in a long time, almost 15 years to be exact. The Curse of LA Llorona which reportedly cost just over $9 million to make and had $26.5 million in ticket sales opening weekend. Breakthrough and Penguins did quite a bit less, however, with those being the only notable releases I would not take this as a sign of things to come. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Castlevania Collection Lineup Confirmed by Konami

Konami took their time, but we finally have a full list confirming all 8 games coming with the Castlevania Anniversary Collection. It will include the first 3 released on the NES as well as Super Castlevania from the Super NES (making 4 games) Castlevania The Adventure (Gameboy) Belmonts revenge (also Gameboy) Bloodlines from the Sega Genisis and to finish  the 8 games Kid Dracula which received a remake sequel of sorts on the Gameboy but was this version was a Japan-only release.

Honestly, for any fan of the series or anyone wanting to try it out, eight games for $20 is a steal and you should give it a shot. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Alien: Night Shift

Here we have the 3rd of 6 Alien anniversary shorts. Of the ones I’ve seen this maybe my least favorite, maybe just because it feels a lot like Alien: Containment in a different atmosphere. The setting is damn good but I have to say the chestburster looks kind of off. It’s not the best, but it’s not bad either. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Sinner: Sacrifice for Redemption

sinner 2

I can’t help but love a great boss fight in games and honestly there aren’t many outside the Souls series and the flock of games that followed in it’s steps, just in there own way. Sinner is a member of that flock that says F the grinding and gets us the main attractions from the get go.

We play as a lonely knight who has survived a cataclysm of sorts and has sinned to do so and become strong. For redemption, they must sacrifice their power and strength to vanquish the beasts and fiends sin created. With dwindling resources, can you face such greater evils?

Sinner is a cool game I can’t help but to have fallen in love with. If you are familiar to Souls type combat layout, you will have an advantage going in although you may want to customize the button configurations a bit. The weapons you get are what you get, but they are simple but effective. I like the art style and how it has a dark, fairy tale twist to everything. What enthralled me a lot is the strategy aspect there is to the game, having to decide which bosses to take on first and learning to cope with the piling of debuffs you accrue throughout the game. In the end, Sinner is a nice is on the Souls formula and for less than $20 on PSN it’s well worth the price. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

sinner

 

Blockers (2018)

Sorry, I couldn’t properly name the movie in the title, I didn’t have a picture of a rooster and I didn’t want to type out Cock Blockers in the title. You all know the movie tho, it features Leslie Mann and John Cena amongst many others trying to ruin their kids attempt at having an amazing night at prom.

Seriously, that is what this movie is. Julie, Kayla, and Sam are about to graduate high school and go to college but first is prom night. They decide to lose their virginity in one night. After their parents see their text messages tho, they decide to follow them around town and try to stop them.

As you could imagine the movie was quite commercially successful tho it did get some rather varied reviews from both fans and critics. Personally, while I recognize the movie wasn’t great it had its moments, and it did an admirable job of being an R rated adult comedy yet still having a nice message of family and friendship behind it. There was also a car explosion so I always enjoy that as well. This comedy won’t be for everyone and if you don’t like John Cena this won’t really change your mind tho it is a far cry from his wrestling persona. This is one of those times tho where there are no surprises, the trailers are what you are getting in the film. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Alien: Ore

Happy Easter everyone, and to celebrate, here’s the 5th short Alien film we’ve gotten before this special Alien day. Honestly, this one may be my favorite of the five. The atmosphere is good, the characters solid, and decent effects. I liked the touch with the full grown Alien at the end. It’s a really cool little movie I think true Alien fans will appreciate, may the gaming gods bring you glory.

The Nun (2018)

The Nun is another movie from The Conjuring series that tells the story of, you guessed it, where the nun from The Conjuring 2 came from. Given how creepy she is this seems like it should be an awesome idea and concept. The problem is the movie is relegated to a needlessly convoluted story that bounces around and relies on jump scares for its horror as opposed to any real suspense or horror.

The movie starts in a cloistered castle with two nuns searching for something in a hurry and terrified. One is killed by something and the other hangs herself. Not long after a young man from the local village in Romania finds the nun and the Vatican sends a priest that is known as a miracle hunter and a soon to be nun to figure out if the place is still holy.

People in the town don’t speak of the place, and the man that found the nun, Frenchie, doesn’t want to go back but he basically wants to sleep with our soon to be nun Sister Irene sp he goes anyway because why not.

Soon after arriving weird things start happening, the nun Frenchie tossed in the ice house isn’t how he left her, Father Burke ends up buried alive somehow which somehow wasn’t the universal sign for leave now.

The story will also bounce around a ton and for no real reason. The blood of Jesus is also involved. The best part of the movie was the ending which ties in nicely with The Conjuring movies themselves and Frenchie himself being possessed and talked about in one of the classes taught by Warrens. This for me was the worst movie in a franchise I enjoy. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

 

Happy Easter!

As I do with most holidays, I just wanted to take a minute to wish you all a safe and happy Easter. Many of you will spend the day at church or with family eating and drinking and that is awesome, but remember when traveling to be a little extra careful and if you had a few too many to drink it’s better to stay where you are or call a cab. Also if you happen to be alone for the holidays and need someone to talk to, by all means, there are places to call or friends and family that love you. Let me know how you are spending your day, me and @torstenvblog are visiting his dad. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.