Tag: Reviews

The day the Earth Stood Still (1951)

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So I am screwing around on Netflix looking for something to watch and I come across this. Feeling nostalgic around Christmas, maybe because my dad died this year and I used to watch stuff like this with him, or maybe just because I haven’t really had the chance to sit down and watch some classic movies in awhile I popped this one on. I learned a few things. First, it felt weird not watching this on VHS and an old tube television. Second, this movie came out decades before I was born and yet I still enjoyed it more than most modern movies. And possibly last but not least, At least once a week I hear someone say ” I wish people would stop with all the political and social commentary in movies and on television.” Honestly, that has always been there. This movie is about a man from space that shows up with a giant robot. We as humans of course shoot him as soon as he tries to hand us something and his giant robot melts some guns and a tank. Space man gets fixed up and tried to get a meeting with the world and of course the world goes all high school stupid and starts with the if he goes I won’t go stuff.

So what is a space man to do when America locks him in a room and says don’t go anywhere? He leaves to see the city. News of course goes nuts, starts gets people all riled up and scared. See a pattern here? This movie was released in the 1950’s and if you replace the word spaceman with words like “Irish, immigrant, communist, Muslim” or any number of words you can change the year and it would fit the social commentary of a decade. The space man even comments about the media spreading needless fear.

Once we get to the end of the movie we hit another topic of social commentary that could hit any number of decades. Our space man finally gets a meeting, but not with world leaders but with scientist. Whats his message? That giant robot is basically the galaxy police force and they have ultimate power that no one questions or interferes with. They are so feared the rest of galaxy wants to trouble so they simply don’t have weapons. Since earth discovered nuclear energy they will eventually use it in a space ship and join the galactic community. Either do so in peace or the giant robots will destroy the Earth. That is a pretty damn severe message I would say.

All and all I have to say I was surprised by the the amount of social commentary in a movie from the 1950s, but more surprised how much of it actually stands true over 60 years later. Best wishes and  may the gaming gods bring you glory.

 

Mickey’s Magical Christmas: Snowed in at the House of Mouse (2001)

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Oh Mickey you and that contemptible damn duck Donald. Wait this isn’t Kingdom Hearts so the duck is cool. Seriously watching this sense me into flashbacks of him not healing me when he was supposed to so I died. They better make him not a useless jackass in KH 3 or I will be upset.

Anyway on to this movie. It is essentially a series of short Christmas stories for the kids…..that  I watched without my kids. My favorite of course was their version of A Christmas Carol. My capitalistic hero Scrooge and those pesky ghost ruining his life stealing all his cash.

Now that I think about it that wasn’t how A Christmas Carol went, but I am sure someone out there thinks Scrooge was the victim here. The movie is about an hour long and is full of Disney characters from what people my age consider the golden era of Disney when everything was pretty much hand drawn. Cameos galore, over dramatic dancing. Its a great nostalgic blast from the past that everyone should take this Christmas. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Kerbal Space Program (update)

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I have written about Kerbal Space Program a few times, and always about the console version ( I will leave the links below) this will just be a quick update and a little bit about my recent experience with the PC versions Demo that is free to download on Steam.

Kerbal On Consoles Finally Fixed?

Kerbal Space Program. Hardest game for PS4?

The last thing I can confirm about KSP on console prior to the January launch ( this come straight from a private message with their verified Twitter account) is that anyone that owns a console version is getting the updated version of the game free of charge, and they have yet to release any information on Trophies/achievement progression as to whether or not it will be new ones or just the old ones or even if they fixed the bugged one that prevented the rare person that could actually play the game correctly from achieving a platinum Trophy.

Now on to my experience with the PC Demo. Honestly outside of the controls being  little bit more responsive and easier to work with, most notably the maneuver nodes they play quite similar. I would consider picking it up to do a more detailed comparison if I had to cash flow ( hey Squad if you read this and want to hook an up and coming blog up, that would be cool)

Honestly if you have the PC with the power to play KSP and you need your fix right now, simply buy the PC version. If you prefer console wait until the reviews come out after the fix. It won’t take long, keep an eye out here.  I will be playing the day it comes out for a good long time to get you guys the info you need. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Bad Santa 2 (2016)

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Its hard to believe there is a 13 year gap between the two movies, but here we are. Thankfully this time around parents seemed to have been smart enough to realize an R rated movie called “Bad Santa 2” was not good for kids. Maybe that 13 year gap was long enough for those kids to have kids and remember oh shit  Santa’s elf punched a kid in the nuts lets not bring my kid to see this one.

Anyway this time around our elf is out of jail and is back with Santa for one last job, and this time mom is here. Mom is played by Kathy Bates and I have to say Billy Bob, her and Tony Cox work amazing together. Not to be out done Brett Kelly once again plays his role perfectly.

The plan this time? To rob a charity of millions of dollars by pretending to be Santa once again. Having recently watched the first Bad Santa again I can’t say this one is as funny as the first, but it is as good of a movie. Don’t get me wrong, the movie is hilarious and it is now on my list of movies I will watch every Christmas. This is easily one of those must see Christmas movies. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Mountain Men (2016)

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Mountain men with Tyler Labine is one of those movies it seems most people never heard of, but is actually quite a good movie. Tyler is actually a pretty good actor that seems to never really get the credit he deserves. You can read about another of his movies here. Tucker and Dale vs. Evil Review 

This one is the story about two brothers that really don’t see each other. One lives in the small mountain town they grew up in, the other has moved to the big city and never really comes home. That is until their mother gets married. Tyler has a plan tho, and that plan is to get his brother up to their fathers cabin for a few days.

This is where shit goes terribly wrong. The following morning in a series of accidents leave them stranded in the woods, cold, injured and pretty much stoned as hell.

The story itself is pretty  cliche and doesn’t do anything new, but it is funny and entertaining, which for a comedy is good enough really. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

 

Bad Santa (2003)

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This movie being as old as it is kind of messes with me. I remember when it came out and people took their kids to go and see it in theaters. Not sure why they thought an R rated movie titled “Bad Santa” was going to be appropriate for children but hey they did it and then got pissed when he was an alcoholic that swore worse than a drunk sailor on shore leave. And that is a lot, I have met a few.

The basic story is simple, a life long criminal and his partner that happens to be height appropriate to play an elf every year get a job at a mall. Christmas eve they rob the mall, crack open the safe, steal the cash and live off it until the next Christmas.

This may actually be the funniest holiday movie every created honestly. Billy Bob Thorton and Tony Cox are hilarious and may be one of the most fun and unlikely duo for its time. Once again Bernie Mac played his role to perfection. If somehow you missed this one, now is the time to watch it. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

 

Civilization V (5)

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Civilization has always been the king of “one more turn” and that hasn’t changed here. I have been playing since Civilization 2, and while the game has changed massively since those days one thing has not. Every time I play this game i tell myself there is just one more thing I want to do, and one more turn and I am done. It never works out that way, that always happens for about an hour or so.

The basic idea here is you run a historical country as a historical ruler that has a massively long  life span of thousands of years. You would build cities and armies and interact with other countries. The options on what to do are damn near limitless, do you make peace? Prepare for war? Or do you simply buy everything you want with a booming economy and trade? The choice is all yours and yours alone.

The game play is fun and addictive but for many it is simply not fast paced enough and I can totally understand why. From turn to turn there isn’t much excitement, you will some times wait many many turns before a unit or building is even built. If you are patient and have the right mind set for it, you are looking at hundreds of hours of fun, if not you will be bored out of your mind very quickly. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About Christmas (2012)

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The other day i’m hanging out with my youngest, I call her baby savior because it makes me laugh, and I decide we need to watch a movie. Now she has probably seen more horror movies than most adults but I see the cat in the hat and know she needs to see this. The movie isn’t bad, its full of music and rhymes as you would expect.

The story itself is pretty much the usual. Reindeer gets lost, gotta get it home for Christmas. The Message is also the same as every other Christmas movie, love, giving, friendship. Come on, its a damn kids movie. Seriously tho, if you are an adult check it out for nostalgia reasons. If you have kids, watch it with them. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

The Christmas Project (2016)

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I really didn’t know what to expect with this movie, tho I did discover it is based off a couple of books by Matthew Buckley called “Bullies in the Headlights” and “Chicken in the Headlights”. So feel free to read those if you are of the books are always better than the movies opinion.

Anyway, the movie it self is a semi comedy semi feel good movie about a family that every December picks a local family to secretly give presents to. This year year however four brothers will end up with the worst job they can imagine. Their pregnant mother chooses the school bully. What follows is almost like a modern version of “A Christmas Story” in a way. ( tho not as good. don’t go watch this and expect an instant classic than come back here screaming at me) The story itself is almost a coming of age story for this family as new friends are made, love is found and a father and son relationship is built that will last a lifetime.

That is not to say it is all rainbows and blue birds. The movie has its ups and downs, its happy moments and its sad moments. But all in all if you are looking for a feel good Christmas movie to watch with your family, look no further. This one has everything you could want, including a life lesson from a war veteran bus driver. Best wishes, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

 

Happy Christmas (2014)

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I hate to write this review because I love Anna Kendrick. I think she is a greatly talented and very underrated actor. I actually chose to watch this for no other reason than she was in the movie. Tho by now you probably already know by ” I hate to write this” this wont be a complimentary review. Also I normally avoid spoilers as best I can. This review I will not. STARTING IN THE NEXT PARAGRAPH THERE WILL BE SPOILERS AND I WILL RUIN THE ENDING. STOP READING IF THIS BOTHERS YOU. SERIOUSLY. STOP. I WARNED YOU. THE CAPITAL LETTERS MEAN I AM SERIOUS

Yea I would have kept reading myself. The basically story is simple and actually sets it up for a nice drama comedy, which is actually how the movie was listed. A woman going thru a breaking up (played by Anna Kendrick) moves to Chicago with her older brother, his wife and sister and sends their life into a bit of a tail spin. The movie will never actually get funny. Sure you may find occasional humor here and there, but that is most movies.

The acting is stiff from most of the actors, the camera work looks like it was shot by a film student from 1997 and you know the start of a movie, say the first 30 minutes or so when you get to know the characters and their motives and such? It is usually pretty interesting but you soon want to start the good stuff? That will never end here. There is actually a scene where they discuss the best way for the sister in law writer to write sex scene in a book that like most things in this movie never gets finished and never gets answered.

The ending of the movie may actually be the first movie ending I have ever been offended by as a person watching it. Not by anything bad mind you, that would have at least been artistic and interesting or thought provoking. See Anna’s character is a bit of a party animal,and after a fight with a guy gets really drunk and really stoned. Tosses a pizza in the oven and the oven and passes out in bed.

The brother wakes up to a house full of smoke and as anyone would on Christmas that early thinks the house is on fire and runs downstairs to check on his child as he wakes his wife up and discovers…yup burnt pizza. Small argument, Anna leaves. Next day Sister in law finds Anna in the office they used to write the book, there is a small heart to heart they walk out and…”The End”…no I mean the words “The End” pop up on screen and the credits roll. Nothing is sorted out, none of the questions in the movie are ever answered the book they start writing never gets finished nothing. Just the words The End. Skip this movie people, skip this movie and may the gaming gods bring you glory.