#i do want to revisit this universe one day and expand on the themes and the worldbuilding

[needcake]

day 4: cardverse

Arthur/Teo, PG-15 (for some violence), 2k.

@engportevents

Three times the Queen of Spades almost caught the Diamond Bandit, and one time he did (sort of)

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There had been talk – rumors – of a band of bandits roaming the borders between the four kingdoms for months. Their usual targets were trains loaded with gold and silver and the occasional rich traveler going from one kingdom to the other.

Arthur, currently, was the latter.

“Can’t you make the horses go faster?!” he shouted at the conductor who yelled back something he didn’t quite catch over the noise of the fighting in the carriages behind them where the rest of his security detail was being held back instead of doing their job of protecting him!

He shut the small partition between him and the conductor with a violent shove and noticed the inside of the cabin now smelled of lavender.

When he turned back on his seat, the Diamond Bandit was smiling at him, sitting with far too familiarity with his arms spread open over the back of the cushions and his legs crossed.

“My, so you’re the next Queen of Spades?”

Arthur breathed deeply. His powers had not fully developed yet and the masked man he had seen in the wanted posters all over the towns in the Diamonds Kingdom was very much not a rumor.

“What of it?” he asked, trying to buy himself some time while summoning enough energy in his hand to blast the damn smile off the man’s face.

The bandit shrugged, that idiot smile still plastered on his partially covered face.

“Does your future husband know?” he asked and Arthur could feel the small ball of pure energy in his hand growing even smaller and denser. It needed to be as small as the head of a pin before he could cast it and cause any real damage.

“Know what?” He needed more time, just a little more time and concentration.

The bandit leaped onto his lap and pressed a dagger to his throat. His smile turned wicked. “That you’re no longer a virgin,” he whispered in his ear and Arthur’s concentration evaporated, the energy in his hand expanding until it blew up like a firecracker and blinding white smoke filled the cabin.

The pressure of another body over his was gone. Along with his engagement ring.

When the smoke cleared, the conductor announced the bandits had retreated and they were safe now. Arthur nodded and pressed a hand to his chest. How had he known…?

-

Next he saw him was during a ball in the Clubs Kingdom to celebrate the Queen’s birthday. Clubs was a Northern kingdom with a long and proud tradition of horseback fighting and hunting, and Arthur was trying very hard not to look directly at the animals’ heads hung on the walls around the room.

The music changed and his dancing partner – an older gentleman and high-ranking noble, probably belonging to the House of 8 – was shoved out of the way to make room for a younger and more vigorous partner who strode across the ballroom with Arthur in his arms, barely giving him time to keep up.

“Watch it!” he scolded when his feet almost stepped over his.

“Are you going to throw another feeble spark at me?” the man laughed and Arthur only had time to catch a glimpse of pale green eyes and a dark mole beneath the right eye before the entire room went dark and a myriad of gasps and faint exclamations of fright and surprise replaced the music.

“It’s you!” Arthur hissed and felt strong hands hold him tighter against a firm chest.

“Does anyone in this room know, dear Queen?” the bandit asked in a whisper and Arthur felt his entire body shiver with the proximity and the smell of lavender. “Have you told anyone that you used to be just another one of the butcher’s kids until you began manifesting the powers of a Queen?”

Arthur’s anger grew white and hot and powerful, and when he shoved him away and flicked his wrists the entire room exploded in searing light.

He had to blink several times before the room had regained color again, the servants hurrying to light the candles again. Nobles and monarchs were looking at each other with surprise and astonishment. A lady clutched at her neck only to find it bare.

Her scream pierced through the night, followed by many others like hers.

-

The situation had to be dealt with. The Diamond Bandit could not just steal from under their noses and be allowed to go unpunished. After what happened in the ball, the King of Clubs raised the reward on the Bandit’s head and the Queen of Hearts volunteered to bring the man and the rest of his band to justice.

Arthur approached Kiku afterwards and asked to be a part of the task force. Kiku only looked him over once before acquiescing silently.

It took them a month to gather the information that led them to the humble stone house where the bandits were hiding deep in the Diamond countryside near the border with Spades. Kiku and his men went after the larger group while Arthur was left alone to chase their leader into the forest.

He aimed a single arrow at him when he had him in his sight and the Diamond Bandit fell to the forest ground, clutching at his shoulder and crying out in pain.

Arthur approached him slowly and balled up magical energy in his hand. He had trained for this moment. He was now so much better at it than when they first met.

The bandit smiled through the pain, writhing on the ground beneath him. His mask was slipping; the shape of his nose oddly familiar.

“Is your mother still the best seamstress in Spades?” he asked, grinding his teeth as blood flowed down between his fingers. “Does she still bake the most awful scones?”

Arthur stepped on his hand and he screamed. The ball of energy in his palm shrunk to an impossible miniature size, no bigger than an ant, more lethal than any weapon.

“How do you know that?” he hissed.

Green eyes looked up at him. “Have you forgotten about her too?”

Kiku’s horse distracted him as it rode with its master into the space they were in, and when Arthur looked back at him there was only a small pool of blood seeping into the earth in his place. Kiku dismounted and came closer, inspecting the blood.

“He has some sort of magic,” Arthur tried to explain even if he himself didn’t entirely understand. “He disappears.”

“Not disappear,” Kiku corrected him lightly. “He changes. A tanuki.”

He pointed at a small trail of blood, droplets that went further into the forest. Arthur looked at his friend. “Only Diamond high nobility can shape shift.”

Kiku nodded. “You should pay Francis a visit.”

-

It was not hard to convince his husband to send a letter to the King of Diamonds. It was hard, however, to sit at his table and pretend to enjoy the dinner when all he wanted to do was to strangle Francis’ neck between his hands.

“I see you have a new Jack,” Alfred said politely, raising his glass at the man on the other side of the long table and Basch raised his own politely in return. “What happened to the last one?” he asked Francis beside him.

“He died,” Arthur supplied in a dry tone and Alfred looked between him and Francis, noticing Arthur’s glare and Francis’ cold demeanor.

“His ship sank during the war,” Francis said and took a sip of his wine. “What kind of a Jack would he be if he hadn’t been willing to sacrifice himself for King and country?”

Arthur got up. His hands shook beside him with uncontrolled energy that seeped light between his clenched fingers. He stormed out of the dinning hall before he lost control. He left and did not come back, forgoing what he had come all this way for.

“Did you know the guy that died in the war?” Alfred asked him late that night after Arthur had forced them to pack up their things and take their carriage back to their kingdom.

“I did,” he said, staring out at the dark through the carriage window. “He was my best friend.”

-

Arthur woke up with a draft coming into his room through the open windows.

“You’re not too heavily guarded for a Queen,” the Diamond Bandit said, smiling at him under the moonlight.

He sat up on the bed and clutched the sheets to his chest. “What do you want from me?”

The man took a step forward in his direction and froze on the spot. A circle of light with intricate runes glowed beneath his feet.

“I see you’ve gotten better at magic.”

Arthur threw the sheets aside to reveal himself fully clothed and stood in front of him. He could already hear the guards coming closer, alerted by his spell. “Who are you?”

“Do you still remember when we first kissed?” he asked, still smiling despite having been caught. “Behind the house while my mother tried on dresses in your living room?”

The guards came into the room and took him away. Arthur prided himself for not collapsing to the ground until he heard their steps on the far end of the corridor. It was where Alfred found him minutes later, when he held him until he stopped crying, not understanding why since they were safe now. The bad guy had been caught.

-

The rest of the group had been hanged in the early hours in a secluded location as not to distract the people from the main event. Only the Diamond Bandit was to be given a public execution under the eyes of the four monarchs and the people gathered at the central square in the Spades capital.

Arthur had to give out a few golden coins, but he did manage to have the room alone with the Bandit before they took him to the gallows. Teo had his head down, his shirt had been removed along with his mask and his long hair hung over his shoulders, barely concealing the fresh bruises and cuts the guards had given him since he had been brought to their care.

“Did your companions know that you cheat at cards and that you once spilled black tea on your mother’s new dress and blamed your little brother?” he asked and Teo laughed, coughed, spat out blood. Arthur came closer to the bars separating them. “How did you survive?”

“The sea didn’t want me,” he said, his shoulders rising and falling as he spoke. “I floated to the surface with the debris and the enemy ship rescued me.”

“Francis would have paid the ransom.”

Teo laughed again, wet and raspy. “They tried that.” He looked up at him, green eyes almost swollen shut and Arthur felt his chin tremble at the sight of his mangled face. “He said he didn’t negotiate with barbarians.”

He curled his hands around the bars, pressed his face between them. “Then why? Why come back?”

Teo smiled. “You know why.”

-

Arthur sat beside his King and they watched as the Diamond Bandit was brought out. The crowd watched in silence. No cheering, no murmurs.

They put a sack over his head and a noose around his neck.

When the trap door opened, Arthur shut his eyes and flicked his wrist. Something small, smaller than a grain of sand, shot out from his palm.

The crowd gasped, someone screamed. When he looked again, the Bandit had disappeared.

-

Arthur came into his room followed by a chambermaid who was frantically trying to undress him while he gave her no attention and went on talking to his secretary about the seating arrangements for the banquet next week. The other kingdoms’ delegations should be arriving soon and their rooms and accommodations had to be prepared ahead of time, there was no time to waste.

He stopped when he noticed the open window over his desk.

On top of his books, there was a single stalk of lavender.

He smiled.

.

[franki-lew-yo]

The Romantic (2009, R, Gothic Fantasy/Horror), aka the most forgotten animated film in the world

What if I told you there was a movie under serious threat of becoming lost media with no clear reason as to WHY it's been lost other than no one has apparently watched it besides me and a few people on Reddit? What if I told you that movie wasn't half bad and would no doubt have some interest peeked if anyone DID know about it?

The name of that movie is The Romantic.

It was released in 2009 and it's Rated R for nudity and sex scenes [insert Robbie Rotten meme here], though none of it too graphic. It was a pet project created by animator Michael P. Heneghan, originally starting as a flash project for his animation class before he expanded it into a feature film. The film was inspired by movies such as The Dark Crystal and Labyrinth, but what I see every time I look at it is a touch of Jhonen Vasquez, Tim Burton, and Roman Dirge- the guy behind Lenore the Cute Little Dead Girl. It's flash animation especially remind me of the puppet-rigged toons of the 2000s (again like Salad Fingers or Lenore). It's not bad, it's just not inherently 'feature film' quality flash, nor is it exceptionally artistic like Sita Sings the Blues in it's simplicity. Like, really, if you happen to find this thing it's not the worst animated project at all it's just amateur for a professional production. I've seen worse flash movies. Heck, if The Romantic were released in separate parts on youtube or Newgrounds as a series (ala Homestuck) I'm sure it would have been really successful and totally in it's element. But it wasn't.

Because next to no one has seen it and I'm lucky to have not only ever seen it when it was available for free but have also found it recently (hush hush, I ain't telling you how) I'm going to actually give you all a plot synopsis under the cut. There will be some details I leave out and I think I've spelled some characters names wrong. It's a bit of a surrealist film as well, so you might need some things explained.

Spoilers ahead:

The Romantic is set in an autumnal, surrealist world inhabited by humans and monsters and ruled by three gods; Po the goddess of love; Pik the god of Hate; and Pjorrc the god of time though Pjorrc was made to live inside a pumpkin moon as everything he touched rabidly aged and died.

((Tapestry art featuring the main three gods of the film.))

A young man (called “Romance” or “The Romantic” by the other characters) performs a bull sacrifice in order to summon Abbledepopa, the unseen creator of the other gods and ‘storyteller’ of the world. The sacrifice does not conjure Abbledepopa but, when Romance spares a monster that was ready to eat him, the monster tells him of a profit named Patience. Patience is a foul-mouthed dwarf living alone with an army of babies who points Romance in the direction of Po.

((Romance outside of Patience's house.))

Romance wants the god’s help because he has fallen out of love with his girlfriend. Po grants him his desire and restores his love only for Romance to return home and find his girlfriend with another man. Blinded by heartache and rage, Romance kills her. He then swears vengeance on the gods for ‘making’ him do it. In the midst of this vow, a corrupt prophet called Fat Daddy kills the queen of Vauxhaul (Romance's home) and her guards, and forges a new body for his newborn son with their bodies. Fat Daddy rallies the townsfolk behind him in supposedly finding the Queen’s murder into follow a new religion called "The Poetic End".

((Romance (right) besides the monster he spared at the beginning of the movie.))

Patience accompanies Romance on his quest and tells him to take Po’s mask, which hides her true face, once he kills her. Romance buys Po’s trust by weaving her a tapestry that tells her story: in the dawn of time Po and Pjorrc were in love. However, Pjorrc gradually became distant and Po became resentful when their daughter, Love, earned Po's original title as the god of romance and love.

In the present day, Romance sleeps with Po for over a year before finally killing her and taking her mask. He and Patience return to his home of Vauxhul only to be chased out by Fat Daddy’s personal army. They flee to Marshallton, the town nearest to the god Pik.

((Romance's hometown of Vauxhul. ))

The king of Marshallton, King Crookie, tells Romance of a prophecy he, Patience, Fat Daddy and all the gods are a part of and that the world is soon to change. Romance then fights and successfully kills Pik when he shows the god of hate his reflection in a mirror King Crookie gave him, but not before losing his hand to Pik.

When Romance comes down the mountain he learns from Patience that nine years have passed since his fight with Pik began. Patience reveals to Romance what Pik saw in the mirror that allowed Romance to take the killing blow; after Love had grown up and married, Po asked Pik to tell her where her husband was always running off to. Pik reluctantly revealed Pjorrc was disguising himself as a human and married a mortal woman. Po found Pjorrc and his pregnant second wife, forcing Pjorrc to leave his human family behind, but not before asking his wife to name their son “Patience”. In retaliation for his treachery, Po proceeded to sleep with fifty men and produce the fifty bastard children in Patience’s house.

((Fat Daddy, the main villain.))

Marshallton and the entire rest of the world has fallen to the rule of Fat Daddy, who captures Romance and Patience. Fat Daddy tortures Patience into telling him how to get to Pjorrc but is unable to convince Romance to take part in his ‘new world’ or give him Po’s mask. Romance and Patience escape and leave the village to be torn apart by the fifty babies Po had, now transformed into veracious monsters after Patience didn’t feed them for the past ten years. Romance confronts Patience when he realizes the latter is Pjorrc’s son. Patience calls Romance out on his mantra of vengeance and points out that all his decisions are his own, not the gods, and instructs him to seek Love herself in Po’s basement. Patience then attempts to confront Pjorrc but is cornered and killed by Fat Daddy before he can do so.

In Po’s basement, Romance finds Love nailed to a wall, her face torn off and half eaten by her deformed husband. Love tells Romance that Po ripped off her daughter’s face in rage over Pjorrc’s infidelity and Pjorrc did not intervene fast enough. Po then threw Love into her basement, turned Love’s husband into a monster, and wore her daughter’s face as a mask - which Romance had broken into pieces moments ago after Patience had shown him his face in King Crookie’s mirror. Romance then finds Pjorrc hanging himself. As he dies, Pjorrc tells Romance to take the hand Fat Daddy had cut off and sew it onto himself, which will in turn help Romance defeat Abbledepopa.

Romance traverses the wasteland and does not find Abbledepopa, but instead a golden loom. Having seen all the destruction he and others had caused, Romance sits upon the loom and accepts his fate as the new ‘storyteller’ of the world, as he begins weaving a new one...

---

I mentioned before the animation quality of the film and why maybe that caused people to overlook it. The only other thing I could complain about on a technical level with The Romantic is it's sound design. Some of the voices and music is a little too quiet and so all these key details I had to go through the film a few times to really piece together. But that leads me to the thing I like about this movie and I'm sure others would to: the lore.

It's very hard to create a new fantasy world w it's own customs, religions, history and rules out of the blue as any YA Harry Potter/Hunger Games ripoff book could tell you. The Romantic is so unique in how it handles the pantheon and culture of these three gods and their kin; really only four or five characters throughout the entire story aren't connected to the gods or prophecy in some way, as there's the main three gods, Abbeldepappa, and the prophets Patience, Love and Fat Daddy, who make up your main cast besides Romance. There's a lot that's intentionally left unexplained and other info that must be explained, like Pjorrc and Po's marriage and Romance's feelings towards the gods, if we want to understand the former. The movie is paced pretty well and knows when to follow up on what, it's just that again some of those animation and editting shortcomings might make it hard to understand...but I don't think THAT hard. Look, if someone can enjoy Starchaser: The Legend of Orin or even better surrealist world-building films ((Fantastic Planet comes to mind)), then I say there's no reason The Romantic wouldn't have a following. There's no other way I can articulate why and what doesn't work about the story except just to recommend you watch it yourselves, but before I get into that I want to talk themes...because I love the themes and tone of The Romantic.

I revisited The Romantic a week before I made myself watch Centaurworld and The Owl House for the first time...and what a week that was~! The Romantic has the vibe of those kinds of shows along with Adventure Time and Infinity Train ((so I hear, I haven't watched the latter)). It's surreal and you'll only marvel at 'woooah wut an acid trip' for so long before you get into the vibe of the universe. It also reminded me substantially of the Broadway musical Hadestown and not just because this movie is also a self-contained, somewhat self aware fable about the relationships between humans and gods - it's very raw in how the characters talk. It's very emotional and blunt in how kind and how cruel they can be, and it doesn't make excuses or really worships any one of them. Romance himself is the world's most likable Incel: he murders a woman he thought he needed to love and blames his emotions on the gods of those passions...except the gods AREN'T the manifestations of love, time, and hate - they simply dictate and oversee it in the lives of men. It's a dynamic I really like in religious works where Gods are powerful but not all knowing or puppet masters to everyone's design- they have morality too and there is only so much you can blame and get from them.

"You made your gods into excuses and your excuses into gods!"

-Patience. This here is a cool quote. I like this quote.

No matter what, The Romantic is not gonna be a film for everyone. We all have our tastes - I think I'm drawn to it and accepting because I've come to love these kind of worlds that used to keep me up at night - these trippy 70s inspired fantasy landscapes given a whole Avatar: The Last Airbender degree of worldbuilding and character worth. It also doesn't feel exploitive in it's violence, it's sexuality, it's grimmness - it doesn't feel like it's trying to hard or going over the top because it happens to be an adult animated film, something that I love in movies like 9 or Hair High but really turns me off in stuff like Sausage Party or Wizards. Whatever go watch The Romantic...

if you can.

-----

When I first saw this film in 2016 it was actually very accessible and was even uploaded to youtube by the creator himself. I don't know WHAT happened to Michael P. Heneghan, but simply put, the man's disappeared...like...REALLY disappeared.

Lookit his IMDB. He has The Romantic and a wapping two other projects to his name. His Twitter isn't very helpful either. He last updated in early 2020 and he says next to nothing about The Romantic. It's so odd that he would one day be happy with the film enough to host it on Vimeo and Youtube but then just cop out.

According to a Reddit user: "On Valentines Day 2011, Heneghan released the film for free online through all kinds of platforms including direct download, bittorrent, Vimeo, and even directly through Archive.org. He even joked about releasing a 300 gig uncompressed version.

I know I watched it on Vimeo probably as recently as 2016. Now I can't find it anywhere. The website is dead, the Vimeo video went private, even the archive.org version has been taken down. It really looks like he wanted to wipe it off the face of the internet. His newer website mentions it, but again, the Vimeo link is dead and even that website is closed for business."

It's weeeird. What happened Michael?

And yes, obviously, other people worked on the movie.

No - I can't find out anything about them either.

I'm betting on three theories at the moment: 1) this film is an SCP or some Candle Cove weirdness with only me and a handful of people ANYWHERE remembering it, 2) something weird is going on w Michael Heneghan and it involves too something about this film. It was a scam or a scheme or a hidden agenda weirdness, 3) Heneghan's doing okay he just doesn't like this film anymore and wants it hidden while he takes a break.

Look, I get it Michael! What was once our life's worth can become cringe as you improve as an artist - you're not the person making the stuff you were ten years ago...but you should still have the film kept alive somehow. Someway.

I'm seriously the only person to have ever made fan art of this movie on the internet. That just doesn't happen, and I don't think I like being in a fandom of one. The Romantic is a testament to the power of design and storytelling > animation quality itself. Too often I see people equate good animation with smooth animation, with a budget with squash and stretch. These animations are good but art is diverse and there's so many kinds of films out there, the value of the medium can't just be in one style/form. There's a lot of honestly wonderful pieces of art out there if you know where to look and you're willing to see where it leads you.

Don't let The Romantic be the most forgotten movie of all time. Reblog this post. Show it to your friends. PM the animation community reviewer people like Saberspark and someone who isn't Saberspark and smuggle them a copy.

Keep telling the story...

[thedeaditeslayer]

Greg Nicotero Talks ‘Creepshow’ Season Two, His ‘Evil Dead’ Love Letter And Exploring More Iconic Horror IPs.

This interview with Greg Nictorero covers the season premiere episode that is a homage to Evil Dead. Recommended reading below!

The first season of Creepshow was a monster hit for AMC’s horror streamer, Shudder.

Becoming the most-watched program in the platform’s history, it smashed several records in terms of viewership, total minutes streamed, and new subscriber sign-ups. The show’s second season is about to drop, and a third has already been confirmed.

I caught up with horror legend and Creepshow’s showrunner, Greg Nicotero, to discuss the show’s killer formula for success, paying tribute to iconic multimillion-dollar franchises and what stands in the way of a new Creepshow movie.

Simon Thompson: How does making season two compare to your experience on the first season?

Greg Nicotero: Well, we got the green light to do Creepshow while I was shooting The Walking Dead, so we had to develop the stories, get the scripts written, prep in six weeks, so the entirety of season one was done between January and April. It was fast and furious. I’ve been in The Walking Dead world for ten years, so I was like, ‘How hard can it be? You build a bunch of sets, get some cameras, you get a bunch of great actors and a good script, and you shoot it.’ Man, I had no idea what I was letting myself in for. You’re creating an entirely new universe, all new sets, all new cast and crew every three and a half days. I felt like it was grabbing the horns of a bucking bull and just holding on for dear life. We made it through by sheer will. I had to deliver something that stayed true to the spirit of George A. Romero and Creepshow. If I screwed it up, I wasn’t going to get another chance. So, I don’t know if I had any fun on season one.

Thompson: Season one of Creepshow was a massive success for Shudder in so many ways, from viewership to subscriptions as well as critically. Did you soak that in?

Nicotero: I didn’t read many reviews because I didn’t want my heart to be broken. I’m a sensitive guy. I would probably find the one sh***y one and just be devastated. However, one thing that people saw across the board was that I had a passion for the material and put my heart into it. That gave me a lot of confidence to go into season two, stand up straight, grab those horns and control the show and fight for the stories I wanted to tell. I also wanted to have fun with it. I feel like season two has got that heart and passion, but it’s fun and pays tribute to everything important to me and my upbringing, from building monster models and watching TV horror hosts to the loving nod to Sam Raimi. These stories all meant something to me. I feel like I’ve matured 100 years between season one and season two.

Thompson: That’s the Public Television of the Dead story in the first episode of season two. It blew my mind a little bit.

Nicotero: That makes me so happy to hear that. I worked so closely with Sam on Evil Dead II and Army of Darkness. When I read the script, I loved that it was a nod, but it became something else when we got into making it. There’s a  bit where Ted Raimi starts to float on the Appraisers Road Trip set; I put that in, and the camera work with the evil force going down the hallway; they weren’t in the script. I was like, ‘If I’m going to do this, I’m going to go all the f***ing way.’ I even adjusted some of the dialogue, like when Ted Raimi talks about the book being in his family for years and gathering dust in the fruit cellar. Any opportunity I had to buy into the fact that maybe the Necronomicon is a real thing and that Sam and his brothers went off and made this movie with his book, I took it.  Sam was shooting the Dr. Strange movie, but I reached out to him right before shooting it. Without a doubt, it’s probably the most respectful send-up of the Evil Dead universe. Every one of the actors was like, ‘F**k, man, I love Evil Dead II. This is so much fun.’ It was always intended to be a love letter to Sam and Evil Dead. Creepshow is all about paying tribute, little love letters, to the likes of EC Comics, Stephen King, George A. Romero, and so many other things. We got to change the Necronomicon just a little bit. We still wanted it to feel like the original, but we also don’t want anyone to feel like we’d infringed copyright. Even the appraiser’s name, Goodman Tapert, is a tribute. David M. Goodman was the transportation coordinator on Evil Dead, and Rob Tapert was the producer. If only I could have got Bruce Campbell down there, steal him out of retirement, to do something on Creepshow, that would have been awesome.

Thompson: You got a great cast together for the first season, and you have raised the bar.

Nicotero: I feel fortunate that we were able to get the caliber of talent we did. Kevin Dillon, Justin Long, D’Arcy Carden, C. Thomas Howell, Ali Larter, the list of great people who jumped on board for season two goes on. Every one of them did a great job. They all showed up, were prepared, and knew their lines, and they were excited to be back to work. It’s always funny when you bring actors into your world. They show up, work for three days, and leave. And I remember in season one, I went through my phone, and I convinced Adrienne Barbeau and Giancarlo Esposito to do it because they all knew me, and I had worked with them on different projects. When they walked onto the set, they saw how fast we were moving and how immersive it was, and they had a really good time. Many actors find a tremendous amount of freedom in immersing themselves in a role that will take up their life for just three or four days.

Thompson: Going back to you paying homage to Evil Dead in an episode this season, would you like to do that with more iconic horror IPs or pick up on previous Creepshow stories?

Nicotero: The freedom is the greatest part about it. We talked about potentially revisiting stories from the first Creepshow movie, but that is convoluted in terms of the rights. You can’t clear it. There are stories that I guarantee you, especially after you see season two and season three, that we would love to revisit and pay tribute to those genres that we love. If I had a way to intertwine a Jason Voorhees story, a Michael Myers story, or a Freddy Krueger story without having the people that own the rights to those franchises jumping up and down and screaming, I would do it in a minute. For me, it’s really fun to be able to take a story and look at it from a different vantage point like we did with Evil Dead. So often now, the world is about taking material you think you know everything about and giving it to you from a different perspective. I think Wicked was probably the first piece of material that did that. It took The Wizard of Oz, a story that everybody knows and loves, and looked at it from the witch’s perspective. I read the screenplay before there was a show because I think the writers wanted it to be a movie first. I remember reading it and thinking, ‘Oh my God, it changes how we do look at everything related to The Wizard of Oz.’ The idea that we can take the horror genre and tell it from a perspective that gives us a completely new take is exciting and allows people to pay tribute to the original material and put a new spin on it. It gives fans something exciting that they can’t get from the original material.

Thompson: It was great to hear that there will be a third season but what’s the latest on a potential new Creepshow feature film?

Nicotero: I would love that. We’ve talked about it. When you do a show like this, you do it for the amount of money that we do it for, it becomes successful, and people want more, to get someone to turn around and give you more money to do a movie, they’re like, ‘Why would we do that when we’ve got a great show right here?’ I would love to do a Creepshow movie and expand the world with bigger stories and a little bit more money. I’m sure that down the road, that will become a reality, but right now, part of the beauty of Creepshow is that it gives you these bite-sized meals, these little appetizers. With today’s short attention span, you can watch 20 minutes and then go back later and watch another 20 minutes. I think that is very much in tune with how today’s society devours content. The beauty of Creepshow is that every story is so different, and every theme is so different that you’re getting an entirely new experience with each story.

The second season of Creepshow lands on Shudder on Thursday, April 1, 2021.

[fandom]

Fandom Spotlight: MuggleNet

MuggleNet, the #1 Wizarding World Resource Since 1999, is dedicated to honoring the magic of the wizarding world by providing reliable, fun, and informative news and content to fans—all while fostering a welcoming, safe, and engaging environment. They currently produce six podcasts, have published three books, and organized two large-scale live events. The next series of events, MuggleNet Live! 2019: Into the Pensieve, will be held October 4th and 5th in New York City.  The site is run by over a hundred fans from eleven countries and thirty-one states, ranging in age from fifteen to fifty-four, all of whom are passionate about making it the best it can be. Read all about the fandom and its future from seven of them!

20 years is a long time on the Internet. What’s the biggest way you’ve seen the fandom change on the site?

In the mid-2000s, when the books and movies were in their heyday, the site was all about speculation. In addition to news on book and movie release dates, filming updates, and changes made by J.K. Rowling to her website, MuggleNet’s most developed section was what is now known as The Quibbler, where individual authors regularly wrote columns theorizing about what might happen next. MuggleNet itself even published a book called What Will Happen in Harry Potter 7? After the final book was published in 2007, and the final movie hit theaters in 2011, the fandom had to make a choice: move on or adapt. Of course, then came Pottermore, The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Orlando Resort, Fantastic Beasts, The Cursed Child, etc. MuggleNet has been there throughout it all. We still write about the original book and film series, of course, but we also cover a whole lot of news on the expanded world of the franchise, and we maintain a plethora of sections on the site which explore subjects like Muggle quidditch, the Studio Tour, and the theme parks. —Felicia, Managing Editor

Real Talk. Books or Movies?

The movies are accompaniments to the books. They’re appetizers—satisfying enough, but if you want something filling, you'll choose the books every time. There’s a level of depth and detail to the books that cannot be captured on-screen. When you watch the movies, you’re being presented with someone else’s vision of the books, which can be restricting. When you read the books, the possibilities are as endless as your imagination: How you picture each setting, each character, is up to you. You get to create your own world.  —Victor, Creative Editorial Manager

Which moment in the series made you a Potterhead?

I became a true Potterhead when I revisited the books in high school. For me, it was the climactic scene of the final book. Harry and Voldemort face each other in the Great Hall with the whole cast of characters lined up around the walls listening in stunned silence as Harry explains how Voldemort has underestimated love, the most powerful source of magic, and that this is his downfall. Evil finally defeated, the joy and grief and exhaustion following that moment left me completely in awe. That's when I realized how powerful and important this story about a boy wizard was. That's what keeps me coming back to Hogwarts again and again. It's because of deeply emotional, profound, and beautiful moments like that one that my love for Harry Potter goes beyond simple appreciation or enjoyment. Anyone who loves Harry Potter for any reason can be a Potterhead, of course, but I became a true Potterhead when I understood all the things that make Harry Potter timeless. —Richa, Creative Editorial Manager

What’s the most memorable Harry Potter experience you’ve had at a Comic Con?

The moment the trailer dropped at SDCC 2018 during the Crimes of Grindelwald panel: the room transformed, and Grindelwald’s speech in the tomb, performed live, started booming out over everything. My jaw absolutely dropped. The anticipation at that moment, the promise that was held there…it was something to behold.  —Alison, Staff Coordinator

What’s your dream Harry Potter cosplay? 

My dream cosplay is an obscure one: Bob Ogden from The Half-Blood Prince. Frock coat over a striped bathing suit with spats.  —Meg, Copy Editing Coordinator

How do you see the Harry Potter fandom continuing to evolve?

I see it going through cycles of division but always coming back together. There will be things that push fans away, but I think that at the very core, fans will continue to LOVE Harry Potter, and generations from now, we’ll see new fans discovering it and reviving the love for it, too. Some will grow out of it, but it will continue to be loved, just maybe not in the same way as before. I will say, I’m super scared for the day they try to remake the series. That won’t go over too well! —Eliza, Content Team Manager

What do the next 20 years look like for MuggleNet?

As much as I wish I had Seer abilities to know for sure what the future holds for MuggleNet, I am unfortunately a Muggle. I don’t know where the franchise will take us after the remaining three Fantastic Beasts films, which are currently slated for release over the next 6–7 years. Will we see a Quidditch Through the Ages adaptation? Will there be an expansion of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter? Those are just some of the possibilities that we can currently imagine. At the pace they are producing content and expanding the world, we could be at this for another fifty years! What I do know, without a doubt, is that we will be here producing amazing videos, editorials, podcasts, and everything in between, all while continuing to be the #1 Wizarding World Resource Since 1999.  —Kat, Marketing Director

[aaronmaurer]

TV I Liked in 2020

Every year I reflect on the pop culture I enjoyed and put it in some sort of order.

Was there ever a year more unpredictably tailor-made for peak TV than 2020? Lockdowns/quarantines/stay-at-home orders meant a lot more time at home and the occasion to check out new and old favorites. (I recognize that if you’re lucky enough to have kids or roommates or a S.O., your amount of actual downtime may have been wildly different). While the pandemic resulted in production delays and truncated seasons for many shows, the continued streaming-era trends of limited series and 8-13 episode seasons mean that a lot of great and satisfying storytelling still made its way to the screen. As always, I in no way lay any claims to “best-ness” or completeness – this is just a list of the shows that brought me the most joy and escapism in a tough year and therefore might be worth putting on your radar.

10 Favorites

10. The Right Stuff: Season 1 (Disney+)

As a space program enthusiast, even I had to wonder, does the world really need another retelling of NASA’s early days? Especially since Tom Wolfe’s book has already been adapted as the riveting and iconoclastic Philip Kaufman film of the same name? While some may disagree, I find that this Disney+ series does justify its existence by focusing more on the relationships of the astronauts and their personal lives than the technical science (which may be partially attributable to budget limitations?). The series is kind of like Mad Men but with NASA instead of advertising (and real people, of course), so if that sounds intriguing, I encourage you to give it a whirl.

9. Fargo: Season 4 (FX)

As a big fan of Noah Hawley’s Coen Brothers pastiche/crime anthology series, I was somewhat let down by this latest season. Drawing its influence primarily from the likes of gangster drama Miller’s Crossing – one of the Coens’ least comedic/idiosyncratic efforts – this season is more straightforward than its predecessors and includes a lot of characters and plot-threads that never quite cohere. That said, it is still amongst the year’s most ambitious television with another stacked cast, and the (more-or-less) standalone episode “East/West” is enough to make the season worthwhile.

8. The Last Dance (ESPN)

Ostensibly a 10-episode documentary about the 1990s Chicago Bulls’ sixth and final NBA Championship run, The Last Dance actually broadens that scope to survey the entire history of Michael Jordan and coach Phil Jackson’s careers with the team. Cleverly structured with twin narratives that chart that final season as well as an earlier timeframe, each episode also shifts the spotlight to a different person, which provides focus and variety throughout the series. And frankly, it’s also just an incredible ride to relive the Jordan era and bask in his immeasurable talent and charisma – while also getting a snapshot of his outsized ego and vices (though he had sign-off on everything, so it’s not exactly a warts-and-all telling).

7. The Queen’s Gambit (Netflix)

This miniseries adaptation of the Walter Tevis coming-of-age novel about a chess prodigy and her various addictions is compulsively watchable and avoids the bloat of many other streaming series (both in running time and number of episodes). The 1960s production design is stunning and the performances, including Anya Taylor-Joy in the lead role, are convincing and compelling.

6. The Great: Season 1 (hulu)

Much like his screenplay for The Favourite, Tony McNamara’s series about Catherine the Great rewrites history with a thoroughly modern and irreverent sensibility (see also: Sofia Coppola’s Marie Antoinette). Elle Fanning brings a winning charm and strength to the title role and Nicholas Hoult is riotously entertaining as her absurdly clueless and ribald husband, Emperor Peter III. Its 10-episodes occasionally tilt into repetitiveness, but when the ride is this fun, why complain? Huzzah!

  5. Dispatches From Elsewhere (AMC)

A limited (but possibly anthology-to-be?) series from creator/writer/director/actor Jason Segal, Dispatches From Elsewhere is a beautiful and creative affirmation of life and celebration of humanity. The first 9 episodes form a fulfilling and complete arc, while the tenth branches into fourth wall-breaking meta territory, which may be a bridge too far for some (but is certainly ambitious if nothing else). Either way, it’s a movingly realized portrait of honesty, vulnerability and empathy, and I highly recommend visiting whenever it inevitably makes its way to Netflix, or elsewhere…

4. What We Do in the Shadows: Season 2 (FX)

The second season of WWDITS is more self-assured and expansive than the first, extending a premise I loved from its antecedent film – but was skeptical could be sustained – to new and reinvigorated (after)life. Each episode packs plenty of laughs, but for my money, there is no better encapsulation of the series’ potential and Matt Berry’s comic genius than “On The Run,” which guest-stars Mark Hamill and features Laszlo’s alter ego Jackie Daytona, regular human bartender.

3. Ted Lasso: Season 1 (AppleTV+)

Much more than your average fish-out-of-water comedy, Jason Sudeikis’ Ted Lasso is a brilliant tribute to humaneness, decency, emotional intelligence and good coaching – not just on the field. The fact that its backdrop is English Premier League Soccer is just gravy (even if that’s not necessarily represented 100% proficiently). A true surprise and gem of the year.

2. Mrs. America (hulu)

This FX miniseries explores the women’s liberation movement and fight for the Equal Rights Amendment in the 1970s and its opposition by conservative women including Phyllis Schlafly. One of the most ingenious aspects of the series is centering each episode on a different character, which rotates the point of view and helps things from getting same-y. With a slate of directors including Ryan Bowden and Anna Fleck (Half-Nelson, Sugar, Captain Marvel) and an A-List cast including Cate Blanchett, Rose Byrne, Uzo Aduba, Sarah Paulson, Margo Martindale, Tracey Ulman and Elizabeth Banks, its quality is right up there with anything on the big screen. And its message remains (sadly) relevant as ever in our current era.

1. The Good Place: Season 4 (NBC)

It was tempting to omit The Good Place this year or shunt it to a side category since only the final 4 episodes aired in 2020, but that would have been disingenuous. This show is one of my all-time favorites and it ended perfectly. The series finale is a representative mix of absurdist humor and tear-jerking emotion, built on themes of morality, self-improvement, community and humanity. (And this last run of eps also includes a pretty fantastic Timothy Olyphant/Justified quasi-crossover.) Now that the entire series is available to stream on Netflix (or purchase in a nice Blu-ray set), it’s a perfect time to revisit the Good Place, or check it out for the first time if you’ve never had the pleasure.

5 of the Best Things I Caught Up With

Anne With An E (Netflix/CBC)

Another example of classic literature I had no prior knowledge of (see also Little Women and Emma), this Netflix/CBC adaptation of Anne of Green Gables was strongly recommended by several friends so I finally gave it a shot. While this is apparently slightly more grown-up than the source material, it’s not overly grimdark or self-serious but rather humane and heartfelt, expanding the story’s scope to include Black and First Nations peoples in early 1800s Canada, among other identities and themes. It has sadly been canceled, but the three seasons that exist are heart-warming and life-affirming storytelling. Fingers crossed that someday we’ll be gifted with a follow-up movie or two to tie up some of the dangling threads.

Better Call Saul (AMC)

I liked Breaking Bad, but I didn’t have much interest in an extended “Breaking Bad Universe,” as much as I appreciate star Bob Odenkirk’s multitalents. Multiple recommendations and lockdown finally provided me the opportunity to catch up on this prequel series and I’m glad I did. Just as expertly plotted and acted as its predecessor, the series follows Jimmy McGill/Saul Goodman on his own journey to disrepute but really makes it hard not to root for his redemption (even as you know that’s not where this story ends).

Joe Pera Talks With You (Adult Swim)

It’s hard to really describe the deadpan and oddly soothing humor of comedian Joe Pera whose persona, in the series at least, combines something like the earnestness of Mr. Rogers with the calm enthusiasm of Bob Ross. Sharing his knowledge on the likes of how to get the best bite out of your breakfast combo, growing a bean arch and this amazing song “Baba O’Reilly” by the Who – have you heard it?!? – Pera provides arch comfort that remains solidly on the side of sincerity. The surprise special he released during lockdown, “Relaxing Old Footage with Joe Pera,” was a true gift in the middle of a strange and isolated year.

The Mandalorian (Disney+)

One of the few recent Star Wars properties that lives up to its potential, the adventures of Mando and Grogu is a real thrill-ride of a series with outstanding production values (you definitely want to check out the behind-the-scenes documentary series if you haven’t). I personally prefer the first season, appreciating its Western-influenced vibes and somewhat-more-siloed story. The back half of the second season veers a little too much into fan service and video game-y plotting IMHO but still has several excellent episodes on offer, especially the Timothy Olyphant-infused energy of premiere “The Marshall” and stunning cinematography of “The Jedi.” And, you know, Grogu.

The Tick (Amazon Prime)

I’ve been a fan of the Tick since the character’s Fox cartoon and indie comic book days and also loved the short-lived Patrick Warburton series from 2001. I was skeptical about this Amazon Prime reboot, especially upon seeing the pilot episode’s off-putting costumes. Finally gaining access to Prime this year, I decided to catch up and it gets quite good!, especially in Season 2. First, the costumes are upgraded; second, Peter Serafinowicz’s initially shaky characterization improves; and third, it begins to come into its own identity. The only real issue is yet another premature cancellation for the property, meaning Season 2’s tease of interdimensional alien Thrakkorzog will never be fulfilled. 😢

Bonus! 5 More Honorable Mentions:

City So Real (National Geographic)

The Good Lord Bird (Showtime)

How To with John Wilson: Season 1 (HBO)

Kidding: Season 2 (Showtime)

Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt: Kimmy Vs The Reverend (Netflix)

[miloscat]

[Review] Conker: Live & Reloaded (XB)

Let’s see just how well this misguided remake/expansion holds up. This will be a long one!

Conker’s Bad Fur Day is my favourite N64 game. It’s cinematic and ambitious, technically impressive, has scads of gameplay variety with fun settings and setpieces, and when I first played it I was just the right age for the humour to land very well for me. A scant four years later Rare remade it for the Xbox after their acquisition by Microsoft, replacing the original multiplayer modes with a new online mode that would be the focus of the project, with classes and objectives and such.

First, an assessment of the single-player campaign. On a revisit I can see the common criticisms hold some water: the 3D platformer gameplay is a bit shaky at times, certain gameplay segments are just plain wonky and unfair, and some of the humour doesn’t hold up. It’s got all the best poorly-aged jokes: reference humour, gross-out/shock humour, and poking fun at conventions of the now dormant 3D collectathon platformer genre. I also am more sensitive these days to things like the sexual assault and homophobia undertones to the cogs, or Conker doing awful things for lols. Having said that, there’s plenty that I still find amusing, and outside of a few aggravatingly difficult sequences (surf punks, the mansion key hunt, the submarine attack, the beach escape) I do still appreciate the range of things you do in the game.

As for the remake, I’m not sure it can be called an improvement by any metric. Sure, there’s some minor additions. There’s a new surgeon Tediz miniboss, the new haunted baby doll enemy, and the opening to Spooky has been given a Gothic village retheme along with an added—though unremarked on—costume for Conker during this chapter based on the Hugh Jackman Van Helsing flop. Other changes are if anything detrimental. The electrocution and Berri’s shooting cutscenes have been extended, thus undermining the joke/emotional impact. The original game used the trope of censoring certain swear words to makes lines more funny; the remake adds more censorship for some reason, in one case (the Rock Solid bouncer scene) ruining the joke, and Chucky Poo’s Lament is just worse with fart noises covering the cursing.

The most egregious change, and one lampshaded in the tutorial, is the replacement of the frying pan (an instant and satisfying interaction) with a baseball bat which must be equipped, changing the control and camera to the behind-the-back combat style, and then swung with timed inputs to defeat the many added armoured goblings and dolls carelessly dumped all throughout the game world. This flat out makes the game less fun to play through.

On top of this, all the music has been rerecorded (with apologies to Robin Beanland, I didn’t really notice apart from instances where it had to be changed, such as in Franky’s boss fight where the intensely frenetic banjo lead was drastically reduced as a concession to the requirement to actually play it in real life), and the graphics totally redone. Bad Fur Day made excellent use of textures, but with detail cranked up, the sixth generation muddiness, and a frankly overdone fur effect, something is lost. I’m not a fan of the character redesigns either; sure Birdy has a new hat, but I didn’t particularly want to see Conker’s hands, and the Tediz are no longer sinister stuffed bears but weird biological monster bears with uniforms. On top of all this you notice regular dropped details; a swapped texture makes for nonsensical dialogue in the Batula cutscene, and characters have lost some emotive animations. Plus, the new translucent scrolling speech bubbles are undeniably worse.

I could mention the understandable loading screens (at least they’re quick), the mistimed lip sync (possibly exacerbated by my tech setup), or the removal of cheats (not a big deal), but enough remake bashing. To be fair, the swimming controls have been improved and the air meter mercifully extended, making Bats Tower more palatable. And some sequences have been shortened to—I suppose—lessen gameplay tedium (although removing the electric eel entirely is an odd choice). But let’s cover the multiplayer. Losing the varied modes from the original is a heavy blow, as I remember many a fun evening spent in Beach, War, or Raptor, along with the cutscenes setting up each mode.

The new headline feature of this release is the Live mode. The new Xbox Live service allowing online multiplayer was integrated, although it’s all gone now. Chasing the hot trends of the time, it’s a set of class-based team missions, with the Squirrel High Command vs. the Tediz in a variety of scenarios, mostly boiling down to progressing through capture points or capture the flag. Each class is quite specialised and I’m not sure how balanced it is, plus there’s proto-achievements and unlocks behind substantial milestones none of which I got close to reaching (I don’t think I could get most of them anyway, not being “Live”).

The maps are structured around a “Chapter X” campaign in which the Tediz and the weasel antagonist from BFD Ze Professor (here given a new and highly offensive double-barrelled slur name) are initially fighting the SHC in the Second World War-inspired past of the Old War, before using a time machine, opening up a sci-fi theme for the Future War. These are mainly just aesthetic changes, but it’s a fun idea and lets them explore Seavor’s beloved wartime theming a bit more while also bringing in plenty of references to Star Wars, Alien, Dune, and Halo; mostly visual.

Unfortunately the plot is a bit incoherent, rushed through narration (unusually provided by professional American voice actor Fred Tatasciore rather than a Rare staffer doing a raspy or regional voice like the rest of the game) over admittedly nice-looking cutscenes. They also muddle the timeline significantly, seemingly ignoring the BFD events... and then the Tediz’ ultimate goal is to revive the hibernating Panther King, when the purpose of their creation was to usurp him in the first place! It expands on the Conker universe but in a way that makes the world feel smaller and more confusing. It’s weird, and also Conker doesn’t appear at all.

On top of this, I found the multiplayer experience itself frustrating. To unlock the full Chapter X, you need to play the first three maps on easy, then you can go through the whole six. But I couldn’t pass the first one on normal difficulty! The “Dumbots” seemed to have so much health and impeccable aim, while the action was so chaotic, obscured by intrusive UI, floating usernames, and smoke and other effects with loads of characters milling around, not to mention the confusing map layouts, the friendly fire, the instant respawns, and the spawncamping. Luckily I could play the maps themselves in solo mode with cutscenes and adjustable AI and options.

I found some classes much more satisfying than others. I tried to like the Long Ranger and the slow Demolisher, but found it difficult to be accurate. The awkward range of the Thermophile and the Sky Jockey’s rarely effective vehicles made them uncommon choices. I had most success with the simple Grunt, or the melee-range Sneeker (the SHC variant of which is sadly the sole playable female in the whole thing). You can pick up upgrade tokens during gameplay to expand the toolset of each class, which range from necessary to situational. But ultimately it’s a crapshoot, as I rarely felt that my intentions led to clear results.

Live & Reloaded is such a mess. The Reloaded BFD is full of odd decisions and baffling drawbacks, while the Live portion feels undercooked. I’d have preferred a greater focus on either one; a remake is unnecessary, especially only four years on, but a new single-player adventure would have been ace. And a multiplayer mode in this universe with its own story mode could be cool if it was better balanced and had more to it than just eight maps. As a source of some slight scrapings of new Conker content I appreciated it to some extent, but I can’t help being let down. I guess it’s true what they say... the grass is always greener. And you don’t really know what it is you have, until it’s gone... gone. Gone.

Yes, that ending is still genuinely emotionally affecting.

[smokeybrand]

Welcome Back

I am a card carrying geek. I was that nerd in grade school, reading comics, watching anime, and larping with his friends during recess. I’ve always loved things like books and film, mostly because my ma had a penchant for the sci-fi and we would share in her hobbies. I’ve been a fan of Doctor Who since i was a wee lil’ Smokey and had a particular fondness for Max Headroom’s shenanigans. My chosen proclivities lend themselves to alternate universes, divergent timeless, and the interdenominational doppelganger or two. What i am trying to convey, here, is that i am not stranger to the revisit of a franchise. For me, rebooting an established work or expanding a loved lore is not a transgression. I am a fan of narrative. If you can tell a unique story, it really doesn’t even have to be that good, but something creativity and compelling, i am totally on board. This isn't as difficult a feat as you'd think considering how well Hollywood can adapt international films. The Ring and The Departed are effectively remakes of their original Asian fare and those films are spectacular. Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy is the best example of this i can give. His deconstruction of the Batman mythos was one of the best cinematic and storytelling experiences I ever had. If you can take an established narrative, an established universe, and inject your own flavor into it, i am down for that, too. The Kelvin Star Trek timeline immediately comes to mind. Again, comic book guy, specifically a Spider-Man shill.

While i have years worth of alternate Spider-Men in the books to pull from, i think the most concise example i can give for a layman is to think Into the Spider-Verse, only with thousands more Spider-Men and Spider-Women. That’s the world I'm broaching this subject from, where there are decades worth of stories and reboots and remakes and reimagings, basically revisits, of a character that i absolutely love. Some are great like the Ultimate Spider-Man or the world of Renew Your Vows, and some are not so great, like that version Abrams’ kid came up with. That whole story was the worst. We have actually seen a little bit of this narrative reincarnation in the Spider-Man film franchise, itself, both good and bad. If we take the very first Spider-Man films, those campy, Raimi classics, as a starting point, then we had a terrible reboot in the Amazing franchise and a rather brilliant reimagining in the MCU outings. I really like the MCU retool. Tom Holland is THE onscreen Peter Parker and you can fight me about it all day.

Jurassic World and The Force Awakens are an interesting situation in the whole Revisit discourse. Both of these films are effectively reboots of the entire franchise and a whole ass remake of their initial entries. Beat for beat, theme for theme, these two films are basically the same as Jurassic Park and Episode IV, just less than they are in every conceivable fashion. Now, on paper, i should hate this but i don’t. There is a reason both of the imitations made billions for their respective franchise and that is simply nostalgia. We. as a culture, were starved for a Jurassic sequel and new Star War. When we got these movies in earnest, no one cared they were rehashes of the films that made them so important to the cultural zeitgeist. It was like seeing A New Hope and that initial outing to Isla Nublar for the first time, for a second time, but with much better effects. It had been decades since either of these movies had a proper release so we all just accepted that these were refresher courses in the lore. It was with the sequels that these things sh*t the bed so hard.

Fallen Kingdom and The Last Jedi skewed so far from what these franchises were, from the rules that had been established in the preceding films, including the first in their new trilogies, that they were offensive. Legitimately offensive. Jurassic World and The Force Awakens, as flawed as they were, left their worlds in respectable places. The narratives that could be built from those starting point were incredible. That potential was palpable. Lucas, himself, said that the stories should rhyme and you see that in his six films. Familiar yet different. Nostalgic yet original. Respectful yet original. None of that was recognized in the follow-ups and that is why these two franchises are on life support. It’s sad because there was potential there. Characters introduced were compelling and narrative threads left unties, could have become something great. Instead, expectations were subverted and the world completely sh*t on in an effort to be edgy, to distance itself from the established lore. That sh*t is whack. It’s not about being a fan of the franchise or a zealous istaphobe or whatever else the Twatter mob wants to accuse people of being. It’s about bad story telling. it’s abut a complete betrayal of a decades old franchise. It’s a bout being disingenuous with the property for personal gain.

I said at the beginning of this essay that i love a revisit. That’s why i went to see these sh*tty films. I also made very clear that i love storytelling. Fallen Kingdom and The Last Jedi lack in that fundamental aspect, that’s why they suck. They’ve done irreparable damage to the entire franchise and canon of these worlds that were so meticulously crafted by proper visionaries. Michael Crichton is rolling in his grave at what became of his Dinosaur Westworld and Lucas effectively bogarded his way into running Lucasfilm again after they sh*t on his legacy and that’s the thing; Legacy. These two franchises are part of American culture. They’re as revered as Apple Pie and Institutional Racism here. They’re not cash grabs or vehicles to push your politics. They’re modern fairy tales, myths, and should be respected as such. The thing is, though, i don’t believe there are actual creatives out there that have the vision to create like Crichton or Lucas anymore. Or, at least, Creatives that are willing to work within the constraints of this ridiculous studio system.

Modern film studios are disgustingly risk averse. That is a problem with anything making entertainment media nowadays but it’s most egregious in Hollywood. Films like Star Wars and Alien were made in a time when budgets didn’t swell to hundreds of millions of dollars so directors had to do what he could, with what they had, and that level of imagination birthed classics. It’s rare that creators get a blank check to deliver their vision nowadays, and even rarer that what they get to make if they receive that loot, is actually good. Zack Snyder and the train wreck that is Sucker Punch demonstrates my point perfectly. the new Lucases and Camerons are rare but there are a handful of directors who carry that torch. Denis Villeneuve is an incredible visual storyteller. He has a distinct vision for the grand and manages to craft proper worlds. Blade Runner 2049 is one of the best films i have ever seen in my life but it didn’t make money because people have been conditioned to ignore great storytelling for great effects. That sh*t is why people can say to me, with a straight face, that they think Batman v. Superman is better than The Dark Knight rises. That sh*t is stupid, shut the f*ck up. Deni was given the reigns to the Dune reboot and i think this might be the film that breaks him through to the mainstream.

Dune is a reboot. It looks like a revisit to the old David Lynch flick but with Deni’s penchant for the epic. This movie feels like what Jurassic World and The Force Awakens wanted to do; A respectful acknowledgment of what came before but an original take going forward. Dune is one of the greatest sci-fi novels ever written and Deni is one of the most profound visionaries in the game right now.  I have no doubt the new film is going to be fantastic. This combination is a match made in heaven, similar to Alex Garland with Annihilation or, more accurately i think, Luca Guadagnino and Suspiria. Those two films are f*cking incredible and they adapt the source material in a very, specific, manner. Annihilation is a reimagining of the book and carries its own themes and tones while the new Suspiria is a complete reinterpretation of what came before, that i believe eclipses the original. Dune looks excellent but i don’t know that it will be well received. Deni has his work cut out for him because the world of revisits is riddle with the corpses of films that couldn’t care the weight of what came before or what could have been. Still, i don’t want Hollywood to stop. As unoriginal as remaking things is, i adore a fresh set of eyes on familiar fare. There are infinite ways to tell the same story and that’s the fun of revisiting an old tale.

[hannahfaulder]

Final Evaluation (Unit 2: Title Sequence)

Going into this final project, I really wanted to do something outside my comfort zone. This seems to have been my mantra over the past academic year, as I’ve taken this opportunity - being in a creative arts university - to really utilise all the resources at my disposal and try new methods and styles to expand my knowledge of design.

I think that this unit perhaps lent itself more to venturing outside the box as it involved animation and moving picture. I love cinema as a medium: I’m fascinated by seeing how a simple storyboard eventually evolves into the final moving picture. I’ve admired the whole media from a distance, I’ve read about it and talked about it and participated in workshops, but I’ve never dared to touch animation. I was terrified of it. And I feel my main objective going into this project was to create an engaging, visually interesting piece of animated work: which I believe I have accomplished.

As for visuals, I was heavily inspired by one of my favourite graphic designers and filmmakers: Saul Bass. The father of modern movie title sequences, he worked with the late greats of Hollywood and cinema titans, and his philosophy of style is substance is something I connect with in my own work. His multimedia career and bold design choices really inspire me to be ambitious, and it was from researching is work more closely that I came upon the idea of stop motion animation.

From this point, I began researching the cut out animation style of Terry Gilliam from his Monty Python days. I was also inspired by the title sequence for one of my favourite modern TV shows: Love, by Judd Apatow. I really loved (pun intended) the simplicity of the title sequence, the humour of it, and I appreciated the amount of thought and care that was behind the animation. This extra research helped me define the style and tone of my sequence, as well as refine my initial, very chaotic storyboarding.

Chaotic is the word to describe the beginning of this project: I felt I had too many ideas and no way of clarifying them, and shaping them into a clear end product.

I’ve also had allot of problems with motivation over the course of this project. This is a problem I’ve had all my life, and something I’m constantly improving upon, however it’s sometimes incredibly difficult to overcome. Due to the current outbreak of COVID-19, these final projects have been under allot of stress and restriction. Although this was a setback, I am incredibly proud of the work I’ve produced in the time and conditions given to me.

Time management is another one of my downfalls, and seeing as days are blending together and my nights have become my days, I was able to eventually get my time schedule under control and began producing work and meeting deadlines on time. This is something I’m also constantly improving upon.

As for the core animation, I had some initial technical problems with After Effects; however, once I had fixed these issues, I seemed to work full steam ahead. There were some minor changes to the animation as it developed: mainly to runtimes, depth and tone. I had originally wanted my work to be aimed at teens to young adults with a dark comedy edge, however I ended up fully embracing the more ridiculous and silly aspects of my chosen text.

My idea was to create a fun, colourful and entertaining title sequence drawing on the imagery given to the reader by Neil Gaiman in the original text (The Day the Saucers Came): there’s undead, aliens, intelligent kitchen appliances, vikings, faeries, genies, giants and killer bees. I felt that capturing these characters in this light was a good way of solidifying the tone and theme without alluding to or revealing any of the plot elements. It also meant that I could be more outlandish with my illustration style, and I feel this fits well with Gaiman’s work and personal style on whole.

Moreover, there are things I would revisit if I ever came back to this project. From small things, such as wanting to animate the rainbow in one of my scenes but failing to find a way of doing this and eventually deciding to prioritise other aspects of the project, to bigger elements of my work process such as motivation and time management, and overall improving my animation skills. However, going forward I feel I now have a better understanding of moving image and a stronger grasp on how to use After Effects.

Overall, I feel I have created something that is visually interesting - using animating skills and programmes (After Effects and Premier Pro) that I had little to no experience with prior to this project - and I have successfully met the brief. I think that my title sequence engages the audience immediately: the visual style and music work very well together, which in turn works to create a strong theme. I have accomplished what I originally set out to create at the beginning of my unit, and although there is still a great amount of improvement to be done, and I’d personally like to build upon my skills in After Effects and Premier Pro, I am proud of what I've produced.

[rpgmgames]

April’s Featured Game: Folkloria

DEVELOPER(S): folkloriarpg ENGINE: RPGMaker MV GENRE: Adventure, RPG SUMMARY: Folkloria is a lighthearthed turn-based RPG set on a floating island inhabited by mythological creatures. You play as Weaver, a young and unassuming griffin determined to rescue his family from the clutches of Dr. Zeralidius, a shady businessperson from the world below the clouds who plans to modernize the peaceful island.

Our Interview With The Dev Team Below The Cut!

Introduce yourself! *Oi! I'm Domino, a wannabe artist. I've been drawing all my life, a passion I inherited from my father, but only recently I decided to publish my work online. Through the years I have tinkered with basically all iterations of RPG Maker, making silly short games with my friends before attempting to develop something full-fledged.

What is your project about? What inspired you to create your game initially? *Domino: Folkloria is a very simple, cartoony turn-based RPG which spices things up with timed hits, counters and a variety of partners. The game takes place on a floating island inhabited by anthropomorphized mythological creatures. The protagonist of the story is Weaver, a child griffin determined to rescue his family from the clutches of Dr. Zeralidius, a shady businessperson from the civilized world who wants to forcefully modernize the island. Along the way he will meet new allies like Lauper, a thousand-year old phoenix who needs his help to drive Zeralidius out of the island, and Akinai, a kitsune merchant who will supply them with the best items she has to offer. I still haven't shown all the party members, but among them are a buff minotaur lady, a shy but frightening wendigo and a sculptor gorgon. 

What inspired me to make a game was the indie scene in general. I have always dreamt of being a game developer since I was a kid, and when indie games first started becoming really popular I thought to myself "Hey, I could probably do that!". The folklore theme of the game was decided completely at random. When I first created the character of Weaver with my friends years ago, we wanted to make a traditional 2D platformer. We came up with a griffin character since being part lion and part bird he could fly, run fast and use its claws to attack. That decision alone basically shaped up the rest of the setting, and I started populating the game's world with different mythological creatures.

How long have you been working on your project? *Domino:  The game in its actual state was started at the end of 2015, but the basic setting and characters (specifically Weaver, the protagonist and Zeralidius, the villain) were conceived as far back as 2012. I didn't pay much attention to it during the following years since I was working on another unrelated project with some friends, but after things fell out with them I decided to revisit the concept and flesh it out.

Did any other games or media influence aspects of your project? *Domino: Of course! If it wasn't obvious enough, the game is heavily influenced by Nintendo RPGs, especially the Paper Mario series. I always loved the simplistic approach towards the RPG formula those games have, and I also adore turn based combat with timed button presses. I think it keeps the player engaged. Graphically, Mother 3 was a big inspiration. The art style of that game just resonates so well with me, with that colorful palette and the black outlines that make the sprites stand out so much.

Have you come across any challenges during development? How have you overcome or worked around them? *Domino: The biggest challenge was overcoming the limitations of the engine itself. I chose RPG Maker because it's very easy to pick up, as I'm mainly an artist and I don't know anything about coding. But as time passed, I noticed that even when using countless scripts I couldn't achieve the battle system I had in mind for my game, which required timed button presses and numerous character animations. So one day I decided to try making the battle system from scratch, using only common events and script calls, and it worked smoothly. In the end it felt extremely satisfying to see something like that work as intended, and by experimenting with script calls and variables I at least learned something about coding.

Have any aspects of your project changed over time? How does your current project differ from your initial concept? *Domino: Like I said before, the game was initially conceived as a 2D platformer. Then, when I picked up the project again years later, I envisioned it as a bare-bones boss rush RPG with Weaver as the sole playable character. As I started adding more features like partners and equipment, I felt those would be wasted in a boss-only game and I finally decided to include random enemies. Since then the game hasn't changed much, but to this day I always find myself revisiting minor stuff like the design of some NPCs (and I should seriously stop doing that!).

What was your team like at the beginning? How did people join the team? If you don’t have a team, do you wish you had one or do you prefer working alone? *Domino: I prefer to work alone, as I am very picky about how characters and gameplay aspects are handled, but I still enjoy receiving feedback. I have a very close friend who doesn't actively work on the game, but always tell me what I'm doing right or wrong, and I find his help invaluable. So far I'm doing well one-man-armying the project, I will have to find a composer sooner or later though, since making music is the only thing I can't realistically do by myself.

What is the best part of developing the game? *Domino: Animating the character sprites and seeing them interact in battles is incredibly satisfying to me. Being an artist at heart I'd say spriting in general is my favorite aspect of game development. Another thing I absolutely adore is worldbuilding, researching the mythical beasts from all around the world and trying to incorporate them in the game by giving them my own spin.

Do you find yourself playing other RPG Maker games to see what you can do with the engine, or do you prefer to do your own thing? *Domino: I haven't played many RPG Maker games, but I did enjoy LISA the Painful and OneShot immensely. I was impressed by how far these two games in particular pushed the RPG Maker engine to its limit.

Which character in your game do you relate to the most and why? (Alternatively: Who is your favorite character and why?) *Domino: Self-inserting isn't something I like to do in games, so this is a hard question for me, but I think I can relate with Weaver, he mostly keeps to himself but he's always willing to help his friends and family.

Looking back now, is there anything that regret/wish you had done differently? *Domino: Yes, I regret not having started working on this project earlier and wasting too much time during the planning phase.

Once you finish your project, do you plan to explore the game’s universe and characters further in subsequent projects, or leave it as-is? *Domino: Absolutely! I would definitely love to expand the game's lore further through comics and other side projects.

What do you look most forward to upon/after release? *Domino: The sense of accomplishment of having completed and released a game! But deep down, the thing I'd love the most is having fans of my work and seeing my characters drawn by other artists.

Is there something you’re afraid of concerning the development or the release of your game? *Domino: The whole marketing part scares me. I really don't know how to promote my game, so getting it noticed is going to be pretty tough for me.

Do you have any advice for upcoming devs? *Domino: Oh man I am bad at this. I'd say... when starting, keep the scope of your game small. Make something that you, as a player, would enjoy playing. Don't try to follow trends and, most importantly, value every bit of constructive criticism, but remember that you can't always please everyone!

Question from last month’s featured dev @plueschkatzeart: How do you keep yourself motivated?  *Domino: Sharing my progress on the blog for everyone to see is what keeps me motivated. Since I set myself the goal of posting at least once a week I've become more productive than ever. Of course, the positive response I receive from my followers also help. Another thing that encourages me to keep working on my game is seeing other developers succeed; that gives me hope and drives me to do my best!

We mods would like to thank Domino for agreeing to our interview! We believe that featuring the developer and their creative process is just as important as featuring the final product. Hopefully this Q&A segment has been an entertaining and insightful experience for everyone involved!

Remember to check out Folkloria if you haven’t already! See you next month! 

- Mods Gold & Platinum

[lovehaswonangelnumbers]

New Post has been published on https://lovehaswonangelnumbers.org/intuitive-astrology-forecast-for-april-2019/

Intuitive Astrology Forecast for April 2019

Intuitive Astrology Forecast for April 2019

By Nadia Gilchrist

As we turn the calendar into April we are going to feel like something has shifted. We are going to feel open and energized, we are going to feel that life has taken a new turn.

The first week of April is a wonderful, positive time of new beginnings and opportunity. In fact, there is so much abundance on offer all through the month of April and the best time to take advantage of it is around the Aries New Moon.

The Aries New Moon falls on the 5th and is one of the most powerful for setting intentions, manifesting, and tapping into abundance! This is a great time to think about what energy you want to bring into your life and what you wish to manifest throughout the rest of the year.

Really take the time to get clear about what you want, really take the time to lift your vibration and expand your mindset so you can achieve and create all that you desire.

This is also a wonderful time to get organized when it comes to your finances. If you want to save for that trip, buy your dream home, or just have a little extra cash to spend, this is a great time to work on tapping into the abundance of the Universe.

Attracting money is really a mindset. While it always helps to take practical steps to save and manage your finances, on an emotional level stepping out of a scarcity mindset and trusting that you will always have enough can be a huge help.

This month, watch your thoughts around money. Are you constantly living in fear of not having enough? If so, try to change this way of thinking. Try to practice gratitude and trust and believe that no matter what, you will always have enough.

You can also try reprogramming your mind by reciting some abundance mantras which you will find in my book, My Pocket Mantras.

In April, we also have a few of the outer planets turning retrograde. We don’t notice these retrograde planets as much as they tend to move slowly. They also only work on a subconscious level, so unless we are really tuned in, we tend to not notice the effects.

The first of these retrogrades happen on April 10th with Jupiter turning retrograde, a few weeks later on the 24th, Pluto follows, and Saturn joins in too on the 29th.

These planets will be in retrograde for the next few months and while we may not feel the effects directly, they are going to be working behind the scenes for a big cosmic show that will happen in 2020.

I have more information on this energy in my Yearly Cosmic Forecast Video, but essentially, these planets are going to be preparing us for a huge awakening moment that we will feel on both a personal and global level.

Huge shifts are in the works in 2020, and these retrograding planets are going to be busy preparing and getting into alignment so everything can fall into place.

Under this energy, we may feel like we are preparing for something too. We may feel called to peel back the layers and really question how we have been choosing to live.

These retrograding planets will also cause the energy of the cosmos to slow, and we may feel the need to revisit certain things or find that unresolved issues come back up to the surface in order to be cleared for good.

On April 19th we have another Full Moon in the sign of Libra. This Full Moon will work in tandem with the Libra Full Moon of March, so think back to this time to see what you are being called to let go of or resolve.

There may be some heated tension surrounding this Full Moon, so be sure to think before speaking and look before leaping, especially when it comes to your relationships.

If you notice a certain relationship has been strained lately, you may have to decide whether it is time to cut the cords or to finally take that healing journey together.

You may also feel the need to change your own attitudes towards your relationships and reconsider how you are choosing to treat others or how you are allowing others to treat you.

Setting boundaries in our relationships are so important, but there is often a fine line that is hard to navigate.

How do we stand up for ourselves and assert our truth without hurting others? How do we set boundaries with others without feeling guilty?

All of these can be challenging things to navigate, so watch and see what guidance or support the Full Moon brings your way.

Full Moons have the tendency to illuminate things, so if there is something that needs to be addressed in one or more of your relationships, it is likely that this Libra Full Moon will bring it to your attention.

Just a day after the Full Moon on the 20th, we enter into Taurus Season. This will definitely bring a shift from the fiery energy of Aries Season, and will help us to get grounded.

Towards the end of the month, use this slower, earthy Taurus energy to take some time to relax and recharge. Perhaps take a short trip somewhere or make it a point to develop a new routine that allocates time for doing more of the things that you love.

The last significant date for April falls on the 22nd with the meeting of the Sun and Uranus.

Uranus just moved into the sign of Taurus and on this day we are going to start to understand and unpack more of what this new planetary shift will bring.

As Uranus and the Sun align for the day, the Sun will be able to download wisdom and insights, and shower all of us with what it has learned.

Pay attention to what happens around this date, as it is likely to give you clues as to what themes Uranus in Taurus are likely to bring.

Overall, April is a fiery month with opportunities to manifest, mend, and become more mindful of where we are heading and who we are choosing to surround ourselves with.

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[galacticbugman]

What are My top ten favorite Movies and TV shows ???

Hi everyone you for a while now you may have caught on by reading my nature blog that I am kind of a nerd for more than just nature. I am now opening my blog to more than just nature but at about all my interests as a whole. You may think of me as more of a naturalist but there is a whole side of me that I would like to talk about. 

It is convention season for all of us Nerds. The Dallas Fan Expo will be starting in Dallas pretty soon which I will not be able to attend this year but I am going to a con this year with my brother. I thought it would cool to talk about my top 10 favorite TV and Movie franchises to kind of give you a window into the other part of my life that I hold most near and dear. Note that these franchises are not necessarily in the correct order because I can’t really decide which ones are my true favortie as a whole. (Hint I go over this in earlier posts.) So lets get started. 

Cartoons! are one of my favorite things to watch when I am in need of a good laugh so I nearly always turn to a few like Talespin, Darkwing Duck, Chip n’ Dale Rescue Rangers, Pokemon (only up to seasons 1-8) or a whole load of others. One has earned its place really near and dear to my heart and that would be this fan favorite

Who doesn’t love a good runabout with the Warner Brothers Yakko, Wakko, and the Warner Sister Dot on the 90s classic Animaniacs. I grew up in the 90s and absolutly loved Animaniacs from the start. Ever since I was little I was obsessed with the WB kids block and this show had me laughing the whole time. It makes fun out of pop culture as a whole, has catchy songs, goofy wit, classic slapstick, and tons of references and entertaining songs. I love this show and have gone back and watched many of the episodes and the truth is they still have me nearly laughing till I am on my butt doubled over. I love their jabs at Star Trek, Disney films, and many of the other things I watched as a kid. That is not all they make fun of they make fun of artists and many other icons from the 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, and 90s. I didn’t realize just how much stuff they make fun of but every time I watch it I am always finding something new to laugh out loud with. I enjoy watching the others to the series like Pinky and the Brain, Tiny Toon Adventures, Histeria, and Freakazoid. I have always been a fan of the whole line up of the spin offs but I don’t always revisit them as much as I do as this one. 

When I was a little boy I always wanted to grow up and be a Paleontologist. I loved dinosaurs with a passion. I was about four years old when I first said Paleontologist the correct way and that is what I told people I wanted to be. I was a big fan of Land Before Time growing up and I also liked the Disney Sitcom Dinosaurs, as well as Disney’s movie about Dinosaurs called Dinosaur. It was back in about 2005 or 2006 and I was finally allowed to watch Jurassic Park and it’s sequel The Lost World Jurassic Park. My aunt had both on VHS and I popped the first one in to the VCR player and didn’t quite know what to expect but this film had me at the moment Ellie Sattler and Alan Grant saw that Brachiosaur. I loved the story, the characters, and most of all the dinosaurs. It is a classic for any science fiction nerd or dinosaur nerd. I am a big fan of Steven Spielberg works and Jurassic Park and all of its sequels including Jurassic World and its sequel have always been a big part of my movie watching experience.  If I had to rank them from best to worst The Lost World would always come first. For some reason I loved that one as a movie better than any of the others for some reason. I didn’t necessarily like the book that was called the Lost World that I read in high school but I did love the book called Jurassic Park both written by the late Michael Crichton. Next would be the original, then Jurassic World would be next, followed by Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, and then Jurassic Park ///. I have always been a big fan of them but Jurassic Park /// was kind of awkward but don’t get me wrong it is starting to grow with me the more I watch it even with the hidden Lore that the latest two movie sites have put out. I was a little befuddled with the last entry in the Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom but I thought it was an okay movie and I have a feeling that it will lead up to a better follow up story. I tend not to really be overly critical when it comes to the franchise as a whole because most of what we get comes from the pages of the two novels as a whole. So Jurassic Park is and always shall be one of my favorites. If I feel like I am in the mood to have a movie in the dark night. I will most likely watch a Jurassic movie or the first Jaws film which I also love but I only like the first Jaws movie and somewhat like the second one but the last two are just downright terrible and I am not a huge fan of those unless I just want to watch them to get a good cheesy laugh out of them. I have a lot of Jurassic park themed stuff. I have two egg toys one featuring the injured T-rex baby from lost world and a raptor from JP///, I have Pop! figure of Blue, and have the Jurassic Park: Danger Board game, the a few shirts and a a hoodie and a few other things from earlier films as well as all of the movies on DVD. 

So when I was a kid my greatest obsession was Star Wars that was the main thing that I would watch and collect memorabilia and action figures from. However after the release of Revenge of the Sith it began to run kind of thin with me and I was not much as a devoted fan anymore. I mean I read the Expanded Universe stories which I love better than this Disney stuff that they have been spewing out for the last few years. However back in 2009 the new Star Trek reboots were just coming out. I went down the cereal aisle and found ads for  Star Trek with limited edition Beam Up badges so I decided to see what it was about. I had never really been a big fan of Star Trek. I would only watch it occasionally when my parents would watch it but I hardly understood it. They watch the later series with Jean Luc Picard, Benjamin Sisko, and Katherine Janeway as the captains. I decided to watch my first full Star Trek episode called the “Corbinite  Maneuver” In an instant I was hooked. I started with the the Original with William Shatner and it instantly became a big time obsession. I bought some more cereal and collected cut out tokens so I could send away for a Star Trek uniform Tee shirt which I still have to this day. I went on to watch the first six Star Trek movies, the Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, and Voyager, (sorry folks was not a big fan of enterprise) but I was totally hooked. In high school I even learned how to speak a little bit of Klingon. Mostly if I speak Klingon now I am singing Klingon opera like the “victory song”, the “battle anthem”, or “Klingon Drinking song”, or the song that they sing on the night before one’s wedding sung on the Deep Space Nine Episode “You are cordially invited” which is one of my top picks for that series. I am a huge fan of Deep Space Nine more than anything for its dark under tones and more serious manner. It tends to be the darkest series of the first five series. Don’t get me wrong Voyager had some pretty crazy and dark twisted episodes but my goodness is it good. I also got to meet a few Star Trek cast memebers along the way as I became more into wanting to go to more nerd conventions. 

Here I am with Captain Kirk himself at my first ever Dallas Fan Expo in Dallas TX. I was so excited to meet William Shatner and get this photo taken with the second Captain of the USS Enterprise NCC-1701. It was a truly awesome experience. I also got to meet Brent Spiner who played my favorite TNG character Data. I also got to meet Nichelle Nicholes. I got both her’s and Brent’s autograph. It was quite fun to go to those cons. I went three years in a row to the Dallas expo. My last time was in 2016. It was so cool to meet the rest of the people I met like Veronica Taylor from Pokemon, Christopher Lloyd from Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Back to the Future, Cyber Chase when he played the Hacker, I also Met Nathan Fillion from Firefly and Castle I am now watching his current show on ABC called the Rookie which me and my aunt are both obsessed over right now. I also met Dean Cain from the Superman series Louis and Clark, I also met Bill Farmer who plays Goofy on most of the modern Disney stuff, Jim Cummings who played Darkwing Duck, Winnie-the-pooh, Ed the Hyena on Lion King, and many other characters from most of our childhoods. I also met a few others but my goodness I have met a lot. So Star Trek to say has become one of my favorites surpassing Star Wars even though I have not been too sure about the new Discovery show. I am more of purist when it comes to Star Trek but that is just me. That doesn’t mean that the Reboots and Discovery have a few redeeming qualities I am just saying I like the way it intended to be. I since have collected books, a few models of a couple of the USS Enterprises like the original, D, and my personal favorite E, along with a model of Spock, I also made myself a do it yourself tribble because I am a huge fan of that episode Trouble with Tribbles as most of us Trekkies do. I still like Star Wars so don’t get me wrong I still have all my old Star Wars toys and things so that will never truly go away but I am still more toward the pre-Disney era and think that the legends are the only canon in my book. I still like both and each one brings something to the table so there is no reason to totally be at odds with each other when it comes to our two respective fandoms. 

Next is one of my favorite British TV Shows that I have grown to like since the year 2014 when I went to my first Dallas Fan Expo. 

Doctor Who will always be one of my all time favorite Time Travel shows. I have to admit when my mother watched this on TV when I was younger on PBS. It scared the pants off me. I hated the show at first. I was born with autism and some of the weird off set and loud noises from the original run episodes really bothered me with my audio issues with my ears. It took me a long while to develop a taste for this classic bit of BBC programming. I have watched PBS shows all my life from Keeping up Appearances, Are You Being Served, and many of the other British Sitcoms but I never really got into their science fiction stuff I was more into their comedies like Monty Python’s Flying Circus and what not but I gave it another go and instantly got into it. You may think that I started with what we call the NuWho but I began to watch the Third and Forth Doctor series from the 1970s working my way to number 5, 6, 7, and then I watched the movie with the eighth Doctor, and then got into the new stuff. Tom Baker, David Tenant, Matt Smith, John Pertwee, and Peter Capaldi were among my absolute favorite Doctors. The stories are insane and and very fun. They deal with a lot os issues saw into day’s world. It almost reminds me of Twilight Zone and Outer limits some of the time with a few of the stories but has its own vibes and style to it. I love the show and have a few Tee shirts, a 11th Doctor fez, a replica of 10′s sonic screwdriver, the Lego Tardis set along with the Lego Dimensions add on packs with the 12th Doctor, K-9 (who is by far my favorite side character of the series), I also have the Dalek and Cyberman add ons. I have a couple of other things like a 4th Doctor pop figure too, as well as a Doctor Who 4th Doctor scarf and blanker which I often wear and have when I am watching a marathon or when I am down with a cold or sick with something else. So yeah I am a huge fan of this but was not too impressed with the writing from the last Doctor’s run it wasn’t the Doctor being a woman or the acting which I though the change was very interesting and I had no problem with it but I just feel the writing could have been done a little differently. However I was sad we didn’t get a Christmas special last year so that broke tradition with the Doctor Who show. Still I don’t mind travailing with the good Doctor when I watch the show. It is an emotional roller coaster and a thrilling story of a mad man in a blue box. 

One of my other favorites and one of my regular go to movies and Cartoons is the Men In Back franchise. I am a fan of both the live action and the series they used to play on the WB kids block. Men In Black has always been one to get me laughing my head off. My favorite character is Jay because for me I kind of find his antics way off point for what Kay is trying to teach him to be. Jay is never low key about trying to keep things about global destruction low key like the MIB do. Jay always has the best lines and is kind of a good ball compared to his partner Kay. I first saw Men In Black movies in the early 2000s but I watched the series when I was a kid. I often revisit the series because I like how it was done. Dark a little bit, sarcastic absolutely, and full of action you bet. The cartoon doesn’t have a lot of deep seeded issues or things to reflect on like the movies do. The movies always get me to thinking and always having me laugh my head off till I nearly puke. Seriously every time the Worm Guys come on the screen I am on my butt nearly double over. They are my favorite aliens of the series in both the cartoon and live action universes. These films are just my kind of weird. I like Ghostbusters too for the same reasons there is a lot of fun characters, crazy villains, tons of gross out moments that either make you gag or laugh, and there is a lot of action involved. Seriously this film has it all space cops, evil human challenged aliens, and tons of shiny things. This series is a must for any science fiction fan. It is just simply put a fun series. I don’t know how the next one is going to go seeming that Agent K and J are not going to be in this film so far as I know but I will go see it just to see what they do to the franchise as we explore another branch of the MIB. I have all three on DVD and have some old wendy’s toys back when the cartoon series was out. I love this series too because in a few episodes in the cartoon and in the first movie they had to deal with Space Bugs so that kind of made me into it more. I love the whole fight scene with Edgar and Jay’s antics it was kind of a funny fight scene with an awesome gross out with the slime at the end when the space roach gets blown to bits. I find the episodes in the cartoon featuring the bugs funny. All of that has a great blend with sci-fi and comedy. Some of the cartoon stuff is pretty dark but heck man I still love it for what it is worth. 

Space Jam was one that I loved from the moment I saw it for the first time in the 90s. I have always been a Looney Tunes kind of guy. I love the classics, Tazmania, Loonatics Unleashed, Duck Dodgers, and I really didn’t think the Looney Tunes Show was all that bad in fact I think over all it was good but I still think they should have made a few changes to a few of their characters. I love the straight to DVD movies too. Space Jam is one of those films that is kind of off the rails but it is one that all 90s kids like to be honest. I have always been a fan of the blend with cartoon characters intermingling with humans and interacting with them. It is a fun movie and I really enjoy watching it. I have it on DVD and watch it often. I love the sport of Basket Ball I used to play it when I was young on a little league team and love to watch the Dallas Mavericks play so seeing a blend of two of my favorite things blended together is kind of fun. There are a lot of funny moments in this film and a few classic references to a few other movies. When I watch a new movie I always love to see what kind of other references I can find and laugh when I figure out what they are. Space Jam is one of those that is a fun film and sometimes fun films don’t get a lot of good press with critics but there is nothing wrong with watching a fun film. Sometimes life needs to be taken a little less serious and you need a good laugh or just need to take you mind off things and this is one of those films that is just down right ridiculous but we love it. Shoot I can watch this basket ball match between the Tune Squad and the Monstars anytime over and over again. 

Another one of my absolute favorites is this Toony Mystery film. Roger Rabbit is one of the few cult classic movies that I have seen and for me I love this one. I love mysteries I read a lot of mystery books like A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket and I have not been a stranger to reading a Sherlock Holmes mystery. I find this movie to be more for older kids but it has always appealed to me for its fun nature and its really interesting blend of Noir style with cartoon characters. It is one of my favorite crossovers using mainly Warner Bros., Disney, and Universal characters along with the original characters like Roger Rabbit, his wife Jessica, Baby Herman, the Weasels, and Benny the Cab. the one scene in this whole film that makes me laugh extra hard is the Droopy Bellboy scene were Eddie is entering the appartment building trying to track down Jessica but is actually following a bonkers Toon Named Leena who looks like Jessica but is not Jessica at all. The elevator scene is so funny the way that Droopy looks so emotionless and says his lines while Eddie gets flattened and then flung up to the ceiling. I am a fan of a lot of classic cartoons and Droopy is one of them so that is why I laugh so hard at that scene and I have been known to do an impression of him when I enter an elevator with my family. That"going up sir, mind you step sir, hold on sir, have a good day sir” line has always stuck with me. Now I watched this as a child and any fan of this movie knows how terrifying Judge Doom was toward the end. For me the most horrifying scene in this movie (and I am sure I speak to most of the fans of this here when I say) The most horrific scene for this movie (SPOILERS IF YOU DON’T WANT TO READ THIS BECAUSE YOU HAVE NOT SEEN THE FILM TURN BACK NOW.) Is where Judge Doom and Eddie get into the epic battle and Eddie grabs a tub of glue and Judge Doom breaks it open and winds up getting stuck to the end of the steamroller and instantly flattened. That is not what makes it so freaky it is when Roger yells to Eddie to look then you see a flattened Doom start to peel himself off the ground and start to flop around trying to get his balance. His partial Toon features are only freakier to whitness the burning red eyes, the high pitched voice that could break glass, the eye daggers, the arm saw makes him a formidable foe and one of the creepiest characters in this film. However besides that it is one of my favorites because I laugh and I think it is another one of those fun and silly films. I also like that is one of those very special films that allow for other film groups to correspond with each other. I feel that we need more films like these where characters from different franchises come together. I don’t think we will get another film where Mickey and Bugs, or Daffy and Donald share the same screen time ever again on the same playing field but that is another reason why I get a kick out of this film it is not totally one sided a lot of characters are in this movie sharing the spotlight from different film industries which still amazes audiences today. And too I like the crazy wit of Roger. I have actually played the NES game for this film but have never really completed it. 

Okay so now we are getting into more down to earth comedy which I do like. A friend in college a couple of semesters back told me about this movie after I told him that I was a naturalist and a birder. This movie is about the annual Big Year that happens every year. It is a comedy of three men trying to get the most amount of birds in a calendar year. It is one of my favorite nature based hollywood films. If you get into to birding though and want to see this movie DO NOT TAKE THIS MOVIE FOR SCIENCE ACCURACY! It will drive you nuts. It is a great movie about birds and many people who watch it are bird watcher and members of birding clubs like I am but there are many birds that are out of place in this film but heck it is still a fun movie to watch and get a laugh out of. I watch it every time during the new year or before a big birding event. Sometime I will watch it before the Christmas bird count or before I go to volunteer for the Great Backyard Bird Count. I love this movie for many reasons it is heartfelt, has birds and I love birds and have over 170 on my life list so far. It is also just a good film to watch if you are a nature lover. It is funny but has a good message to it. It is one that is good for the whole family. I like it because I like all three of these actors. I watch a lot of their material often. Steve Martin has always been one of my favorite actors for his roles in Cheaper By the Dozen, Pink Panther 1&2, my personal favorite The Three Amigos, among others. I think this is another one that is really fun I know I say that a lot but this one is kind of cool because it really does show what birder do minus Owen Wilson’s character being kind of a big jerk to everybody in this film. It shows a day in the life of a birder in most cases and what we do when we are caught in certain situations in a more comedic way but it is till a reflection of ourselves when we travel and when we all get together and go birding. So this movie really hits close to home for me. It is neither a cartoon or a science fiction it is a comedy and a pretty good one too. So I give this one a spot on my list. 

I mentioned this one earlier but this is one of the only horror movies I have ever gotten into. I had not seen the movie previously to 2010. I have seen bits and pieces and to be honest I was only a small kid when I saw the bits and pieces and this film creeped me out big time. In 2010 in one of my classes in high school we all got DVDs and my teacher knowing how much I loved animals gave me this one. I was not really allowed to watch it I lived a pretty sheltered life but I watched it and I was totally blown away (no pun intended to the ending). This film was truly amazing and one I watch again and again. I love sharks and I know this shark is viewed as a bad guy preying on poor beach goers who are just trying to enjoy themselves while having a swim at the beach. I really like the Matt Hooper Character portrayed by Richard Dryfuss. My grandmother said it must have been devine intervention that I saw this film because it made me study the truth behind sharks, shark attacks, and made me develop a new appreciation for sharks. This film may have scared the pants off of me when I was younger and may have scared everyone that went to go see it back in the summer of 1975 or who read the novel by Peter Benchly which I have read back in high school around the same time I read the two Jurassic Park Novels. This film is by far one of the darkest films and maybe the darkest film I will ever watch all though Star Trek: First Contact was really dark in some spots but I liked it. Jaws for me was fun and had a lot of nice dark undertones especially when you get to Captain Quint’s famous USS Indianapolis speech. The movie is good and reflect heavily on the 1916 shark attacks even though it happens on an island that doesn’t exist and the setting of the attacks was changed but it was meant to be a fictional story but it does have echos of the events that played out during the summer of 1916. I love this movie for many reasons but it was really well played out even as it turned out to be one of the toughest movies to make and was almost never made. I love the characters in the movie. I can see why they changed them from their book counterparts all of the characters were not that likable and were jerks to everyone it seemed. The movies puts heart into to some of the situations that play out and has a deep suspense theme to it. Number 2 was the one I enjoyed the second most. Number three I can’t even take seriously and number four only has that one genuinely terror scene at the beginning then it is a complete cheese fest. Don’t get me wrong I am one for cheesy movies I love a lot of the cheesy stuff from the 60s, 70s, and 80s but Jaws isn’t one that I would associate for trying to be totally cheesy then it turned out to be. I know they were just milking it for all it was worth but it was really unnecessary because the rest of the films didn’t take anything from the source material like you see in Jurassic Park. That is why I don’t criticize Jurassic Park that much because all of that stuff comes from the pages of the book. Jaws only does it justice one time then totally goes down hill from there. That is why I say that there will never be a movie with a shark half as good as Jaws one. Jaws one was tops for shark movies but no one has come even close from trying to break the cheese barrier. The Meg came a little close but not too close. So yeah Jaws still holds the record for being the best shark film. 

Okay now I am getting into some Superhero stuff. I bet you are wondering who like better DC or Marvel. Well I like both but I only like certain things from DC. DC I only like for the 1960s Batman TV show even though it was a campy series I still loved it and love to laugh at it and watch it just for fun. I also like the Michael Keaton stuff like Batman 1980 and Batman Returns; Don’t judge me on this but I also like to watch Batman & Robin and Batman Forever just for the cheap giggles and laughs. I also like the first four Superman Films, the original Wonder Woman series, and the early DC comics and things. I am not one for the darker films that much. I am just not that kind of guy. However I do love the Marvel comics and the Marvel cinematic Universe. What is a nerd without liking superheroes. This is one of my favorites. I first saw an ad for this trailer at the Dallas Fan Expo in 2014 and I instantly wanted to go see it. It looked funny and the song “Hooked on a Feeling” was played and I love that song just as much a Peter Quill so yeah I had to see it. I love things about renegades and rebels on the loose like Star Wars, Firefly, and several western flicks like Young Guns I&II and several others. Guardians of the Galaxy is one of my favorites for its sarcastic nature (I like a lot of stuff with sarcasm for my family tends to be pretty sarcastic and me I tend to be a wise guy sometimes and like to smart off so I would fit right along with the Guardians of the Galaxy crew if I was able to) The humor in this film is my kind of humor and the action is good; but what gets me with these films is the connection these outlaws have with each other and how they over come their troubles and woes. They were “losers” but they found strength with each other even if they were contemplating to kill each other at some points in the film. They still had their issues but isn’t that what happpens in a family. I love the story of the first one and love the follow up. These films have a place on the list because to me I can relate. My grandmother had cancer and died from it much like Peter’s momma at the beginning of the film and My grandmother got me hooked on a lot of the stuff that she got me into like vintage black and white comedies, old songs from the 50s, 60s, and 70s. So there was a deep connection I had with these films that really hit me hard minus the being abducted by aliens thing. So this film is one of those that makes me think about my own life in certain ways. 

So these are my top movie and TV show picks. You may see that I have a lot of things that are relate-able to my sense of humor and my life and the way I work. So there is much more to me then just picking up a camera and going on a hike. No I am a pretty big nerd in the long run. I have not go into Anime that much I do like some but I don’t really like a whole bunch of it. It has always been hard for me to get into. Normally I like comedies, western cartoons mainly classic cartoons and things, I am also into a lot of science fiction. Just to name a few other things I am into (Lord of the Rings, I am somewhat of a slight Hobbit guy, Battlestar Galactica 1978, Godzilla most of the films, King Kong, Scooby Doo and many other Hanna Barbara Cartoons, the Chronicles of Narnia, a whole multitude of Disney films from the past to today. Just to name a few things) 

So until next time I am Galactic Bug Man. Live Long and Prosper and I will see you on the trail. This transmission ends. 

and May the Force Be With You! Good Night Everybody! 

[hopoo]

DEADBOLT Q&A

I tried to answer every question as honestly as I could, so I hope this is a good read. If your question isn’t there, it’s either identical to another one asked or joined together with another question. Cheers!

Q: In total, how much time does the campaign of Deadbolt span? It’s hard to tell, what with it being infinite nighttime and all.

A: I would imagine a month-ish. It is implied that the Candles are doing some sort of investigative work between missions, which would surely take some time. Q: Did you have any major inspirations for the visual design of DEADBOLT? A: John Wick is obviously the biggest one! Q: What would hopoo do if someone made a game completely based and inspired from Deadbolt and its… Concept? (with permission and not) A: There’s no way DEADBOLT is that unique in settings or thematics – ultimately, you know what’s right and what’s wrong when you’re inspired by a work, and so will everyone else! If you feel obligated to ask for permission, maybe you’re not exploring enough original ideas? Q: When will we get modding? if so could we get a simplified modding kit? Any plans for updating dedbort, even just the map editor? Feature for adding custom sprites, rotation tool, copypasta tool, just to name a few… A: So the thing with that is that the map editor is only half the equation – while the map editor may be writing stuff to files, it also has to be interpreted on the end by the DEADBOLT game itself. Therefore, adding features that aren’t supported in engine simply won’t work – it won’t know what youre talking about. While rotation is supported in the engine, it doesn’t know how to read that from the files, etc. I also am trying to avoid any legacy issues where old maps are required for old versions of DEADBOLT, or vice versa. Q: When is deadbolt 2 coming with werewolves and mummies A: Werewolves aren’t undead you dingus. But mummies could be cool.

Q: Will the stuff that came with the release of Deadbolt on Play Station, will be added on PC? A: Nope, that was sorta our deal-sweetener for getting on the Sony consoles. Q: Will we ever see expansion levels for Deadbolt or would we get Deadbolt 2 instead? A: DEADBOLT 2 maybe sometime

Q: Does Ibzan is gay? A: I haven’t really thought of the sexual orientation of any of the characters, and I definitely don’t want to pull a JK Rowling and retroactively assign them. So in terms of canon, that just hasn’t been explored.

Q: Would you prefer deadbolt 2 to be in 3d and 2d? Would you do a sequel? A: DEADBOLT is probably the narrowest design space I’ve worked with – there’s no dodging, insta death, insta travel attacks. By the end I felt very stretched out in terms of enemy design, and for that alone I’d think 3D. But hey, I may also just hate 3D by the end of RoR2 so who knows :^). I’d love to do a sequel one day, most likely from the perspective of Ibzan. But who knows! Q: Did Ibzan want to kill the Fire, or just try to reconcile with it? A: He just wanted to talk – but who knows what would’ve happened after the Fireplace rejected him? Q: Would you be interested in going back to the world of deadbolt sometime in the future? I remember hearing somewhere a 3D concept would be interesting to work on. A: I wish I was talented or driven enough to write comics for it – I think DEADBOLT is more about the stories of individuals, compared to RoR who is a story of the universe. I wrote the Cassette Tapes to reflect that. Q: Looking back, is there anything you’d change about Deadbolt? A: Hmmm… I just wish I somehow could expand more on the lore and gangs, and what their goals were. Gameplay-wise, it was a tad too short. I liked doing a few standard stages, and then a mix-up stage (sniper, trap, boss, etc) – maybe we could’ve fit in a few more rotations. Q: What’s your favourite loadout? A: Death/Taxes and Flashbang, like a scrub. Q: Would you ever be interested in restarting the asset suggestion thread A: I consider DEADBOLT to be done – as a 2 (now 3!) man team, we financially can’t do the games-as-a-service thing like most big companies can for smaller games like DEADBOLT. I also intended DEADBOLT to be a one-and-done thing as a contrast for Risk of Rain, which we updated for years after release.

=CONTROVERSIAL OPINION ALERT= I personally also think that EVERY game getting a bunch of DLCS and updates and patches for a long time is, in a way, exhausting as a player. I think it makes it hard to feel satisfied when you finished a game and it’s over and you feel completed in the journey, knowing it’s not ~technically~ over until the devs stop patching. I think it’s great for some games (mostly multiplayer-based ones), but some games you just gotta let… finish, on a good note. Semi-open ended endings are always unsatisfying, in my opinion, and so recently it just feels like you don’t ever complete a game. …On the flip side, we are planning on doing lots of post-launch support for RoR2 because it’s actually inline with our design goals, so don’t fret! Q: Will bugs like Scythe not having a cover sprite or some enemies not having a falling sprite (which causes the game to crash) be fixed? A: Which enemies have been missing a falling sprite? They should be resorting to idle, not crashing. Bosses? Q: Just wanted to say, you guys are my favorite games studio, hands down. Now for the question: Now that the Reaper has completed his task and is allowed to rest, what’s next? Is the Fireplace going to keep him resting for a while? Does our MC have another task to accomplish? A: The Fireplace has never let a reaper “rest” before - the reason he is allowed to rest is because Ibzan never got to, and the Fireplace is trying something different with you. This is unexplored territory for the both of them – presumably he just pets his cat and gets bored before getting back to work. Q: What happens to everyone else in the afterlife? A: People who aren’t in the Place? Who knows, and who cares about boring happy afterlife 😊 Q: I had a question about the lore. There’s mentions of places outside the city, across the river Styx. What are they and what are they like? A: The Styx connects the other realms together, including (presumably) wherever the demons came from. This is explored lightly in one of the demon cassette tapes. Q: Will you ever expand more on the world of deadbolt or are you 100% done with it at this point? A: Nope definitely not done, really wanna explore more one day Q: What’s your office address? For post and stuff, maybe I want to send you a box full of A4 sheets of paper with a thousand hoopters on each. A: Maybe this is the paranoia in me but I’m not comfortable posting my address online – you can just tweet it at me a thousand times instead Q: Did Ibzan think the flames would give warmth to the Dredged or was he just lying to them and using them for his own gain? A: He was lying to himself, but he did truly believe that this was going to work, because this (at the time, anyways) seemed like the only way out. Metaphor woawoawo Q: Could you add some sorta DEADBOLT reference into RoR2?  Will the Reaper be playable in Risk of Rain 2 as a bonus? A: Definitely references happening in some form, but playable might be stretchin’ it a bit, especially since it’d be taking up the slot of some more in-universe secret character. Q: How excited are for RoR2? A: Honestly very nervous for the reception, with very big shoes to fill as a sequel for RoR. I just hope people like it, and that we don’t get burnt on 3D because there’s so many possibilities in the future for our games in 3D. Q: How are the Demons born? We know they’re made in birthing chambers, but then is it just like humans or is there anything specific needed for a demon to be born f.e. skeletons>suicide, zombies>overdose, etc. A: Demons aren’t undead and don’t naturally exist in the Place, which is why they have to be smuggled over – they exist in whatever version of hell is in the DEADBOLT universe, and are natural denizens of the underworld. Q: was izban hot before he died? A: The hottest Q: do all the nightclubs canonically have chris c. as the dj A: Yes Q: I love Deadbolt very dearly and i’ve listened to its soundtrack (particularly “Now I Am Become Death”) more times than i can remember. What’s your favourite tune from Deadbolt ? A: Defunktorum or The Proverbial Dust Biters Q: In the Hardmode Cassette Tape it talked about a Reaper that wasn`t the current Reaper that we play as in the Game. Was this Reaper Izban? Since in the tape, he talked about the fireplace as his friend and that could be why he wanted to go back to the fireplace through the portal at the end of the game, to revisit his friend. A: Yes yes and yes. This was most heavily implied in Ibzan’s “home”, which parallel yours. Q: Will RoR2 still have opportunities to create silly messy builds like covering the screen in missiles or releasing an endless stream of Thqwibs? If so, how are you working to mitigate the performance impact of those crazy builds? A: Yep! Currently we have a system that detects the average particle count in a scene and slowly adds a chance non-important effects (like hitsparks or impacts) don’t ever spawn. This will at some point also involve turning off expensive effects and reducing particle LODs. Q: I really love the attention to detail to the characters, environment, aesthetics and gameplay mechanics. Its themes on the criminal underworld and the supernatural give a unique identity in a high-octane/stealth pixel action game I have not seen before. Additionally what prompted or inspired you to make DEADBOLT in the first place? A: DEADBOLT in its entirety was supposed to be not-Risk of Rain. It’s a gorey, violent, moody singleplayer puzzle-stealth game. We were just burnt out from the Risk of Rain experience, and we also wanted to flex our design muscles a bit and show that hey, we’re not just a one-trick pony of gamedevelopment :^) Q: I just played through this game on PS4/Vita over the weekend. Huge fan of Risk of Rain. Even bought it through Limited Run Games. So I had to pick up Deadbolt (Didn’t previously know you had made it either.) and I love it. Its a super solid experience. I’m not sure I have any questions about it. I guess I was curious if co-op multiplayer was ever considered in development? Keep up the great work. Can’t wait to see what you guys make next. A: Nope, because of the reasons above – we wanted a single player game, since RoR was a multiplayer one. Q: First of all, congratulations!! I really loved the game since came out, I bought it for my birthday, since risk of rain made me fell in love with all the pixel art in it, deadbolt didn’t disappointed me!! Everything in it I love it! Thanks for the game!! Now the question You already answered about how the skeletons or vampires came to be in that Place, how the vampires are killed by their lovers, but, how a reaper, becomes to be a reaper? I mean a candle said “I’ve never been so close to one” A: Originally, the reapers were actually supposed to be from suicides – if I remember right, the reaper when going down the stairs to the docks still has the hole in the back of his head in his sprite. Currently, it’s not explored how a reaper is made – I think a bit of mystery is always needed in making a believable universe J Q: Lorewise how many reapers are there total? Why are they incredibly fragile compared to the undead? What makes the reapers not undead? A: IIRC there were 4 fireplaces in the final stage, which was supposed to represent the way the fireplace was communicating to all reapers in the field. Q: Do you like turtles? How about corgis? A: Yes, and yes (although there’s way too many in Seattle now). Q: Did you have any idea Chris would break out a whole band’s worth of musicians for the soundtrack? His work was superb and the OST remains my absolute favorite to this day. A: DEADBOLT OST was actually done with many people – it must be in the credits somewhere! If I remember right, there is at least a drummer and a musician.

Thanks for all the questions, and happy hunting :)

hopoo

[pass-the-bechdel]

Marvel Cinematic Universe: Iron Man 2 (2010)

Does it pass the Bechdel Test?

Yes, three times.

How many female characters (with names and lines) are there?

Three (15% of cast).

How many male characters (with names and lines) are there?

Seventeen.

Positive Content Rating:

Three.

General Film Quality:

A mess of illogical plot contrivances that does nothing good with the themes of the first film, but still entertaining on a basic level.

MORE INFO (and potential spoilers) UNDER THE CUT:

Passing the Bechdel:

‘Natalie’ attends to Pepper; they pass again later. Pepper and Christine trade a line.

Female characters:

Pepper Potts.

Natasha Romanoff.

Christine Everheart.

Male characters:

Ivan Vanko.

Anton Vanko.

Tony Stark.

Howard Stark.

Happy Hogan.

Larry.

Senator Stern.

Justin Hammer.

James Rhodes.

JARVIS.

Elon Musk.

Goldstein.

Major Allen.

Nick Fury.

Phil Coulson.

Jack.

Meade.

OTHER NOTES:

Naturally, Tony’s opening presentation includes a bevy of half-naked dancing girls, because Tony loves women as shiny pretty objects. Yay.

Don Cheadle is a superior Rhodey. Terence Howard was good, don’t get me wrong, but I get so much more organic personality from Don Cheadle. 

Hammer calling Tony ‘Anthony’ at the hearing is such a power move. It’s really the only power move (or at least the only successful one) Hammer makes in the whole movie.

Happy, you asked for that ass-kicking, and you know it.

“I want one.” Cool, Tony. She’s a person. If you had a respectful history with women at this point, I would let this line pass without mention, but...ya don’t. 

Pepper is VERY rude to other women. It’s not endearing.

Second-hand embarrassment over Hammer is so so real.

Ah yes, glass showering everywhere. My kind of party. 

Tony requesting a phat beat is gold. I don’t know if him cracking up laughing as he said it was scripted, ad-libbed, or pure accident on Robert Downey Junior’s part, but it’s what sells the line. It wouldn’t have been half as funny if he’d just said the line straight-faced.

If you missed the post-credits scene at the end of the first Iron Man, then this is Nick Fury’s first appearance: asking Tony to get out of the giant donut. The narrative here really treats Fury like we’re totally familiar with him at this point, and considering the extreme brevity of that post-credits scene, it’s kinda weird.

So, wildly-rich Howard Stark had his partner DEPORTED for daring to want to make money from his work? He didn’t actually do (or attempt) anything nefarious, he just wanted to get paid? And we’re supposed to shrug it off and think deporting him was the right call? Howard kept his partner’s work - including the profits! - for himself, and hung the other guy out to dry like a total jerk, and, what? The whole thing is just kinda mentioned in a throw-away fashion as an explainer, with no implication that Howard was in the wrong at all, and it’s VERY dissonant. What the fuck.

Those strawberries look very plastic.

So, how did Howard magically know to hide those blueprints to a new element in a scale model that would one day save his son from Palladium poisoning that Howard had no way of knowing he would have? This is so many levels of idiotic nonsense I don’t know how they convinced themselves to bother.

Did we NEED Happy oggling Natasha as she gets changed? Was it necessary?

It’s played for laughs, but I appreciate Rhodey making the distinction that even though he’s apologising to Tony for his own behaviour, that doesn’t make all of this any less Tony’s fault. You can be sorry for the way you personally handled something without letting the other person off the hook for their own culpability. Good, important distinction. 

The Big Bad ends up being taken down SUPER fast. Disappointing.

“you guys look like two seals fighting over a grape.”

The good: 

1. Robert Downey Junior’s maddening charisma allows Tony to be great fun despite his many and sundry personality flaws; it is charisma with the strength to carry the entire film, and that’s saying a lot because the film really, really needs the help. 

2. It may have a significant amount to do with the quality of the content being given to the character, but Don Cheadle definitely makes something of Rhodey where the first film barely gave him more life than your average prop. 

3. Tony continues to progress in his relationship with Pepper, with the script allowing space for her to be assertive and express grievances, as well as having Tony respond by actually hearing her this time, considering her perspective, and acknowledging his own shortcomings if not exactly making inroads on overhauling them. It’s not a lot, but there is at least some evidence that we’re making good on Tony’s attempted self-improvement from the first film by working on his basic respect for other people. Damn, it’s REALLY not a lot.

The less good:

1. the introduction of Natasha ‘Black Widow’ Romanoff isn’t terrible, but it’s not strong either, and I ALWAYS forget that she’s even in this movie until I’m watching it and she shows up. The narrative attention paid to how she’s ~super hot~ is frankly overdoing it - her ability to use her appearance as a tool/weapon IS relevant to the kind of character/operative that she is, but the framing hammers the LOOK HOT button so hard it all but obliterates any other presence or function she has in the story. She gets a pretty cool fight scene, but even that is so preoccupied with LOOK HOT (and is also fairly inconsequential to the plot) that it tends not to compute as a demonstration of character, and ultimately Natasha doesn’t leave as much of an impression as she could have with just a little less objectifying camerawork and a little more narrative purpose. Much like with Bruce Banner, I feel like you can ignore Natasha’s introductory film and just pick her up from The Avengers without missing a beat.

2. Also low on purpose: Pepper Potts. Where the first film gave her several plot-instrumental actions to ensure she wasn’t just ‘Tony’s annoying love interest’, this movie doesn’t try very hard to give her a reason for sucking up screen time. Low point: a gratingly unnecessary amount of screaming and not throwing Tony his suit-case (hehe, geddit?) while Happy rams Vanko with his car. The entire set-up is stupid, but the screeching (from Pepper and Happy both, really) sends it all way overboard. Happy also has no real purpose, but the difference is, I don’t care. When Pepper is one of only three female characters around - and one of only two with significant presence - I really, really want the story to give her something more memorable and functionally plot-relevant than screaming in a car.

The bad:

Everything else? This movie has no shortage of problems: it has too many plot threads, and it leaps from one to the next with no sense of cohesion or narrative pacing and then never follows any thread to competent completion. Tony is dying, and that leads to some self-destructive behaviour but ultimately has no relation to any aspect of the plot before it is suddenly and ridiculously rectified in the single most nonsensical contrivance of all the nonsensical contrivances that compose the flimsy backbone of the film. Some daddy issues are sprinkled in there like seasoning, but again, they don’t go anywhere or matter in any way, which is both weird and deeply unfortunate since the idea of Tony dealing with his father’s legacy is both a clear carry-through from the themes of the first film, and extremely relevant to the half-assed Vanko story-line. The plot (’plot’, for lack of a better word, we’ll keep privileging to call it that) doesn’t seem willing to actually get in the dirt with Howard Stark’s transgressions, against his son or against his old business partner, and so we get a handful of telling-not-showing exposition-exchanges with none of the emotional fallout or follow-through that such bombshells deserve. Justin Hammer is in there somewhere (and Sam Rockwell is good fun, but the content doesn’t rise to meet him). There’s also a hearing at the start where Tony defends his right to the Iron Man technology, but the rest of the film completely ignores all of the valid and serious concerns raised by Tony’s arrogance and lack of accountability (topics which will be revisited in future films, with infuriating results), and the obvious conversation - expanding on the first film’s themes again by looking at the Stark weapons-manufacturing legacy - falls completely by the wayside within minutes so that we can focus on the completely unfocused senselessness of the rest of the ‘story’. Oh! And don’t forget the completely awkward inclusion of SHIELD! What better way to set up for The Avengers film than to just drape some pointless extra character presence over an already overstuffed ‘plot’? 

All of it together is an absolute mess of a movie that feels kinda like it was constructed by a game of beer pong, with different plot ideas written on Styrofoam cups and the creative team way too fucking smashed by the end of it to realise that beer pong is the wrong way to build a story. In my review for The Incredible Hulk, I said there were other contenders for worst MCU film to date, and this is one of them. The Incredible Hulk at least had cohesion up until it went to pieces at the end, whereas the different pieces of Iron Man 2 are so disparate and lacking in gravity that the whole film seems to go for about a decade too long and builds absolutely nowhere in the process. The only entertaining advantage Iron Man 2 can boast is that same old saving grace, Robert Downey Junior, making Tony Stark enjoyable even when you’re not so sure he deserves to be enjoyed. It is a good advantage, no mistake. But there’s only so long you can coast on that, and only so far, and this movie abuses the Hell outta that power until we all welcome the end credits with at least a little bit of relief. 

[britesparc]

Weekend Top Ten #478

Top Ten 1990s Films I’ve Still Never Got Round to Watching

I came of age in the nineties. I was born in 1981, and by the time 1990 rolled round I was already eight years old; you consume a lot in those eight years, as my lifelong devotion to Transformers (which started in 1984, when I was all of two) will attest. But really it was the nineties that shaped me, I think, more than anything. There’s a weird kind of Ground Zero in 1993 which I feel defines so much about different aspects of my psyche, from The X-Files to Jurassic Park; I didn’t know it at the time, but that’s also when Batman was dealing with a broken back and Superman was dealing with being dead. If we stretch it a little either side of ‘93, you get Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction, two hugely seminal films from a director whose rise kinda defined the decade in film. And 1993 is the year I started reading Empire magazine, a publication which really cultivated my love of film, turning it from being “I like watching movies” to being a true hobby, probably the biggest and most abiding one of my life. And it’s through the pages of Empire that I was introduced to dozens of films that piqued my interest in lots of ways; quirky American indies, prestige historical dramas, wacky-looking arthouse fair, and loads more besides. Truth be told, as a regular visitor to Ye Olde Video Shoppe, my head was often turned by the exotica on display. Sometimes it was the cover art, delightfully lurid in the eighties; sometimes it was the title; sometimes it was just me wondering what on Earth this film could be about.

So through scenic trips round the HMV video isle and flicking through Empire and listening to the sage wisdom of Sir Barry of Norman, I was exposed to loads of films that just looked interesting; films I wanted to see. Sometimes I was too young, of course, but these films – unseen �� expanded my interest in the artform because I knew that they were there. I knew that I’d be able to see them eventually. I dreamed as a young teen of being older and independent, of taking myself to see earnest and adult films; the latest Tarantino or Scorsese, a Naked or a Wild at Heart. I wanted to be a smart-arse cinephile university student, probably with a goatee and a ponytail, the kind of character that I was too young to realise was already a comedy cliché by the mid-nineties.

I got older, and I saw a lot of movies, but I read about a lot more, and quite frankly even back then there just weren’t enough hours in the day or days in the week. I had friends, schoolwork, Red Alert, Red Dwarf, and loads of writing to do. And, even back then, I have to say I’d have chosen Judge Dredd over Before Sunrise, or Godzilla over Pi.

So these films go on your backburner. I read the articles in Empire, I watched the trailers (remember when Empire would stick a VHS full of movie trailers to the front cover? Good times), I scanned the posters in foyers, the boxes in Blockbuster, and the nascent and ever-growing racks of DVDs as the decade wound on. My time became scanter, the blockbusters bigger and more encompassing (Star Wars fever lasted at least three years), and still those quirky-looking indies, those intelligent-looking dramas, those intense-looking B-pictures all went unseen.

No worries; I’ll see them eventually.

And then a funny thing happens. You turn around and you realise that twenty-odd years have passed. That film starring young up-and-comer who was in Schindler’s List? The one with the unknown, good-looking actor who it turns out has a new paranormal sci-fi series starting on BBC2? That was a long time ago, entire series, entire movie franchises have come and gone. And I’ve still not seen these films.

So here we are then; a list of films I’ve not seen, but have wanted to, in some cases for nigh-on three decades. It sounds ridiculous when you say it like that, and it makes me wonder what recent films I’ll end up skipping on till I’m sixty or seventy. And, also, I’m going to take this list as a challenge; I’m going to try, within the next year, to watch all of these films.

Or at least I’ll try to do it before 2051.

There’s actually an added level of relevance this week. My Nanna turned 90 on Saturday. 90! So I was kinda primed to do something to do with the number 90, and as it happened this was a half-written list that I’d not got round to finishing yet. I was actually going to do a revisit of my 90th Top Ten, but as that was actually “Favourite Movies of the 1990s”, this feels like a fitting tribute, both to my grandmother (90!) and to my 90th list.

Oh, one last thing: this week I’ve just decided to do them in chronological order, rather than a “proper” ranking, because I couldn’t really decide which I wanted to see more. I’ve lived with these things for thirty years!

Malcom X (1992): there was no way I knew who Malcolm X was when this came out, but I remember seeing the posters and being curious. As I grew older, the stereotypical narrative of “militant Malcom versus peaceful Dr. King” emerged, and I was even more curious about this film. And then I began to see more films by Spike Lee, or starring Denzel Washington, and I realised just how huge a deal this must have been in the nineties. So here we are, 29 years later, and I still really want to see it.

My Cousin Vinny (1992): I knew Joe Pesci back in 1992 because of Home Alone, and also – if I’m honest – because of Goodfellas, which I’d have watched on video around the same time (shocking, I know). But all the same, I probably wasn’t that interested in a relatively-straight-looking courtroom drama starring the Karate Kid. However, I do remember people talking about it; I think my older cousins may even have rented it. And as I got a bit older, and wondered why people made jokes about Marisa Tomei winning an Oscar, I became really curious. So, by the time I was in my mid-teens, it became an early-90s film I really wanted to see. And I still haven’t. Ahem.

In the Line of Fire (1993): not everything here is going to be some earnest drama or forgotten indie movie; there’s a very good chance I would have seen Fire back in the day. I mean, my dad loves Eastwood, so it could have been something my parents rented. In ’93, I wouldn’t really have known about the political aspect of the film (I remember watching The Bodyguard and being really confused when one character talked about Reagan being shot, something I was utterly clueless about), but all the same, an Eastwood action-thriller is actually something I probably would have enjoyed. As time’s gone on, that feeling has increased.

Kalifornia (1993): weird to think that nowadays, the biggest draw for me with this film is seeing a pre-X-Files David Duchovny. Back then, I kinda had a thing for Juliette Lewis, and Brad Pitt was the epitome of cool. It probably hit me just as I was getting into Tarantino (not that I’d have seen any of his films in ’93 or ’94), and – in my head – it felt like one of those cool adult films that explored themes of violence in America. I’m not sure it reviewed all that well at the time, but all the same, I’ve always wanted to see it.

Quiz Show (1994): I think that, by 1994, I’d fixed Ralph Fiennes in my head as this young up-and-coming English actor who was going to conquer Hollywood. I’m sure by then I’d seen Schindler’s List; too young to go to the pictures, obviously, but it was an immediate rental. And ’94 was when I was really taking movies seriously for the first time; devouring Empire magazine, religiously tuning into The Film Programme. I’d probably never seen a Robert Redford film, but I knew who he was because he was so famous he permeated popular culture; so I knew it was a big deal whenever he directed. I knew nothing (still know hardly anything!) about the scandal the film depicts. But I was phenomenally intrigued. It’s on Disney+ now, I think. I’ve still not got round to it.

Reality Bites (1994): I don’t really know anything about this. It’s, like, Gen-X youngsters getting all angsty, right? And it’s Winona Ryder. If I “kinda” had a thing for Juliette Lewis, I definitely had a thing for Winona Ryder. But I remember seeing the poster in my local Video Emporium. And learning, years later, that it was an early (debut?) Ben Stiller film makes it all the more interesting. I think watching it now would be like opening a time capsule to the early nineties, and it’d be phenomenally interesting; but I know as the decade drew on, I felt this slight disconnect, like I should have watched these young-centric films that critics said “defined” the decade (see also Before Sunrise and Dazed and Confused). Still haven’t!

Things to Do in Denver When You’re Dead (1995): if I was just getting “into” Tarantino in ’93, by ’95 I was fully in the tank. And this is when the first wave of “inspired by Tarantino” films crested; see also the phenomenal (but, for me, phenomenally tainted) The Usual Suspects. Denver was one of the first ones I remember being talked about. Truth is, I don’t remember much about it; but it had one of those impossible-to-forget titles which, post-Reservoir Dogs, were very popular in nineties indie crime flicks (see also Killing Zoe, Albino Alligator, and Man Bites Dog). It had a very mid-nineties cast of interesting actors that I liked (Andy Garcia, Steve Buscemi, Christopher Lloyd); I think this was the film where someone told me that a character is shot up the arsehole to slowly bleed to death. That was probably why I wanted to see it, but also the whole post-Pulp American indie vibe played a huge part; these sorts of films just seemed so cool to me.

To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar (1995): mid-nineties I was very much into Patrick Swayze (Ghost! Point Break!) and Wesley Snipes (Demolition Man! Passenger 57!). Despite having seen Super Mario Bros, I’m afraid I did not at all recognise John Leguizamo, for which I can only apologise; by the time Spawn came round, he was a huge draw for me, if that helps (I imagine it don’t). anyway, I’ve gone off on a tangent. Seeing these three big macho dudes play drag queens was a big deal for me; even back then, I felt that it was good for them to do something that seemed progressive, or ran counter to outdated notions of masculinity. Was it really that progressive? I’m not sure; obviously I’ve not seen the film, but it seemed that way to me as a kid. It probably helped normalise the idea of non-heteronormative performance, in the same way The Birdcage or Philadelphia did. I’m not saying these are ideal interpretations of diverse sexuality, but when all you know is utter straightness, they were a window into a wider world. Also it’s got a hell of a title.

The People Versus Larry Flynt (1996): we’re now getting very deep into reading-Empire-religiously territory, and also David-is-old-enough-to-see-a-15 territory (the first 18 I saw was Face/Off the following year). We’re also – and I want to put this delicately – in an era where the discussion or depiction of pornography in a film was, shall we say, intriguing. Sue me; I was 14. The thought of taking a porn publisher and making him a good guy in a freedom of speech battle meant that, not only might it feature a bit of filth, but I could also root for him against the forces of censorship. I loved Woody Harrelson, too; and the insanely controversial (and banned!) poster is hilarious, if a bit much nowadays. Anyway, I wanted to see what I hoped was an intelligent and funny biopic that might also be a little bit rude; it made me feel grown-up and sophisticated. I wonder if I’d still feel the same if I watched in 2021.

Gods and Monsters (1999): jumping to the end of the decade and whilst I know full well why I’d be so excited to see Brendan Fraser in a more serious role, I’m not sure why I’d have know Ian McKellen; maybe The Keep? Or just reading about Richard III (I’d not seen it at that point)? Certainly I was very excited for his casting both in X-Men and Lord of the Rings, so I must have known who he was. Anyway, this film sounded great; a biopic of the director of Frankenstein, and also what appeared to be a rather tragic romance. I loved stories about old Hollywood, and – paging Wong Foo – stories about LGBTQ+ characters, even then. And I wanted to see what one of my favourite Hollywood action stars was up to, as well as support a British actor who I knew was in consideration for an Oscar. Knowing more about the situation, the movies, and the actors, I’d really love to see it now.

Well, there we are: ten films I can’t believe I’ve still not got round to seeing. I’m a bit rubbish, really. And these of course are just the tip of the iceberg (don’t worry, I did see Titanic). Throw a stick at an episode of The Film Programme in the nineties, and you’ll hit a film I was really interested in but still haven’t seen.

Mind you, I’m not dead yet. There’s still time… and I know Quiz Show is on Disney+…

[smokeybrandreviews]

Welcome Back

I am a card carrying geek. I was that nerd in grade school, reading comics, watching anime, and larping with his friends during recess. I’ve always loved things like books and film, mostly because my ma had a penchant for the sci-fi and we would share in her hobbies. I’ve been a fan of Doctor Who since i was a wee lil’ Smokey and had a particular fondness for Max Headroom’s shenanigans. My chosen proclivities lend themselves to alternate universes, divergent timeless, and the interdenominational doppelganger or two. What i am trying to convey, here, is that i am not stranger to the revisit of a franchise. For me, rebooting an established work or expanding a loved lore is not a transgression. I am a fan of narrative. If you can tell a unique story, it really doesn’t even have to be that good, but something creativity and compelling, i am totally on board. This isn't as difficult a feat as you'd think considering how well Hollywood can adapt international films. The Ring and The Departed are effectively remakes of their original Asian fare and those films are spectacular. Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy is the best example of this i can give. His deconstruction of the Batman mythos was one of the best cinematic and storytelling experiences I ever had. If you can take an established narrative, an established universe, and inject your own flavor into it, i am down for that, too. The Kelvin Star Trek timeline immediately comes to mind. Again, comic book guy, specifically a Spider-Man shill.

While i have years worth of alternate Spider-Men in the books to pull from, i think the most concise example i can give for a layman is to think Into the Spider-Verse, only with thousands more Spider-Men and Spider-Women. That’s the world I'm broaching this subject from, where there are decades worth of stories and reboots and remakes and reimagings, basically revisits, of a character that i absolutely love. Some are great like the Ultimate Spider-Man or the world of Renew Your Vows, and some are not so great, like that version Abrams’ kid came up with. That whole story was the worst. We have actually seen a little bit of this narrative reincarnation in the Spider-Man film franchise, itself, both good and bad. If we take the very first Spider-Man films, those campy, Raimi classics, as a starting point, then we had a terrible reboot in the Amazing franchise and a rather brilliant reimagining in the MCU outings. I really like the MCU retool. Tom Holland is THE onscreen Peter Parker and you can fight me about it all day.

Jurassic World and The Force Awakens are an interesting situation in the whole Revisit discourse. Both of these films are effectively reboots of the entire franchise and a whole ass remake of their initial entries. Beat for beat, theme for theme, these two films are basically the same as Jurassic Park and Episode IV, just less than they are in every conceivable fashion. Now, on paper, i should hate this but i don’t. There is a reason both of the imitations made billions for their respective franchise and that is simply nostalgia. We. as a culture, were starved for a Jurassic sequel and new Star War. When we got these movies in earnest, no one cared they were rehashes of the films that made them so important to the cultural zeitgeist. It was like seeing A New Hope and that initial outing to Isla Nublar for the first time, for a second time, but with much better effects. It had been decades since either of these movies had a proper release so we all just accepted that these were refresher courses in the lore. It was with the sequels that these things sh*t the bed so hard.

Fallen Kingdom and The Last Jedi skewed so far from what these franchises were, from the rules that had been established in the preceding films, including the first in their new trilogies, that they were offensive. Legitimately offensive. Jurassic World and The Force Awakens, as flawed as they were, left their worlds in respectable places. The narratives that could be built from those starting point were incredible. That potential was palpable. Lucas, himself, said that the stories should rhyme and you see that in his six films. Familiar yet different. Nostalgic yet original. Respectful yet original. None of that was recognized in the follow-ups and that is why these two franchises are on life support. It’s sad because there was potential there. Characters introduced were compelling and narrative threads left unties, could have become something great. Instead, expectations were subverted and the world completely sh*t on in an effort to be edgy, to distance itself from the established lore. That sh*t is whack. It’s not about being a fan of the franchise or a zealous istaphobe or whatever else the Twatter mob wants to accuse people of being. It’s about bad story telling. it’s abut a complete betrayal of a decades old franchise. It’s a bout being disingenuous with the property for personal gain.

I said at the beginning of this essay that i love a revisit. That’s why i went to see these sh*tty films. I also made very clear that i love storytelling. Fallen Kingdom and The Last Jedi lack in that fundamental aspect, that’s why they suck. They’ve done irreparable damage to the entire franchise and canon of these worlds that were so meticulously crafted by proper visionaries. Michael Crichton is rolling in his grave at what became of his Dinosaur Westworld and Lucas effectively bogarded his way into running Lucasfilm again after they sh*t on his legacy and that’s the thing; Legacy. These two franchises are part of American culture. They’re as revered as Apple Pie and Institutional Racism here. They’re not cash grabs or vehicles to push your politics. They’re modern fairy tales, myths, and should be respected as such. The thing is, though, i don’t believe there are actual creatives out there that have the vision to create like Crichton or Lucas anymore. Or, at least, Creatives that are willing to work within the constraints of this ridiculous studio system.

Modern film studios are disgustingly risk averse. That is a problem with anything making entertainment media nowadays but it’s most egregious in Hollywood. Films like Star Wars and Alien were made in a time when budgets didn’t swell to hundreds of millions of dollars so directors had to do what he could, with what they had, and that level of imagination birthed classics. It’s rare that creators get a blank check to deliver their vision nowadays, and even rarer that what they get to make if they receive that loot, is actually good. Zack Snyder and the train wreck that is Sucker Punch demonstrates my point perfectly. the new Lucases and Camerons are rare but there are a handful of directors who carry that torch. Denis Villeneuve is an incredible visual storyteller. He has a distinct vision for the grand and manages to craft proper worlds. Blade Runner 2049 is one of the best films i have ever seen in my life but it didn’t make money because people have been conditioned to ignore great storytelling for great effects. That sh*t is why people can say to me, with a straight face, that they think Batman v. Superman is better than The Dark Knight rises. That sh*t is stupid, shut the f*ck up. Deni was given the reigns to the Dune reboot and i think this might be the film that breaks him through to the mainstream.

Dune is a reboot. It looks like a revisit to the old David Lynch flick but with Deni’s penchant for the epic. This movie feels like what Jurassic World and The Force Awakens wanted to do; A respectful acknowledgment of what came before but an original take going forward. Dune is one of the greatest sci-fi novels ever written and Deni is one of the most profound visionaries in the game right now.  I have no doubt the new film is going to be fantastic. This combination is a match made in heaven, similar to Alex Garland with Annihilation or, more accurately i think, Luca Guadagnino and Suspiria. Those two films are f*cking incredible and they adapt the source material in a very, specific, manner. Annihilation is a reimagining of the book and carries its own themes and tones while the new Suspiria is a complete reinterpretation of what came before, that i believe eclipses the original. Dune looks excellent but i don’t know that it will be well received. Deni has his work cut out for him because the world of revisits is riddle with the corpses of films that couldn’t care the weight of what came before or what could have been. Still, i don’t want Hollywood to stop. As unoriginal as remaking things is, i adore a fresh set of eyes on familiar fare. There are infinite ways to tell the same story and that’s the fun of revisiting an old tale.

[magickalmenagerie]

We are in the midst of an amazing astrological time, and that is why we wanted to release a bulletin for you – make the most of this beautiful time period! The powerhouse of Mars is going to supercharge this time period for everyone, and as we are in the shadow period of Uranus before the retrograde, we will find that some of our most ancient problems, concerns, anxieties, and traumas are being reawakened within us. Toxins that are years or even decades old are attempting to make a powerful appearance now, and it is important that we take time out to deal with them.

What is upsetting you right now? What has you concerned, angry, or worried? Don’t look at the surface of that problem, but look at old memories, experiences, habits, and traumas that may have magnified that for you. Now is the time to reprogram your brain and start manifesting something you truly like.

You are going to feel overwhelmed with a very astringent energy during this time period, as the spirit is taking time to detoxify and start anew. As we are in a new astrological age that is brimming with change, we all find ourselves in a sort of boot camp that is pushing us to release old wounds and embrace new abundance.

You are going to find that during this New Moon, Mars squares up with Uranus which is falling into retrograde soon – part of your releasing the old will feature rebelling against authority, possible arguments, detachments from people who no longer suit you, aggressive forward movement, plans, strategic actions, and a lot of artistic expression. You are going to feel yourself overwhelmed with passion, but passion without purpose or direction is a ship with no sails. You will be surrounded by opportunity but unable to take it anywhere. Take the time in advance of the new moon’s approach to set your goals. Write down anywhere from 5 to 10, be specific, give them dates, associate them specifically. Don’t say “I’d like to have more financial freedom.” Set a goal with the intention. “I will make $1,000 through my start-up company by the last day of August.”

Even if, for some reason, you do not manifest these specific goals, you will find that you  are much closer to them than you would have been otherwise simply by placing a heavy amount of energy into a perceived outcome. Put sails on your ship and you will invariably head in the direction of the wind you choose to propel you.

Avoid an over-active ego or too much aggression during this time period. The astringent quality of the energy will have you mildly uncomfortable, and will build up over time, having you ready to pop off at someone who may not deserve it. Change your mode of thinking and operating during this time period. Understand the purpose of what you are doing. Understand your goals are not the responsibility, duty, or impediment of anyone else, and do not accept these messages from others either. You will not gain anything from aggressive interactions during this time period unless they are oriented toward the permanent release of a person or a truth that you have been withholding.

The best thing to do during this week and during this new moon cycle (You will invariably feel the vibrations of this new moon for a few days before and after it), is to put all of your aggression, fears, instability, and anxiety into a work of some sort. Rotate the tasks you can do while feeling this intensity. Do things with a purpose. Make sure that your self-care is good for your body. Have multiple tasks laid out that you would like to tend to, be they work related, home-care related, or simply a hobby such as reading or drawing. This is an important time to harness your aggression, as anything that is turned into an achievement will pay off for you later on. Follow your intuition at this time, as you will invariably know what is meant to benefit you and what to stay away from.

We would recommend taking this time as a time capsule. Find a notebook that is empty, or perhaps oriented toward manifestation and goals. Write down a status report of yourself. Whatever matters to you, mention it. Look at your goals and desires and see where you are in relationship to them. Write your relationship status, your physical status, your job, your finances, whatever you think will be important. Write down a healthy goal for any of these things a year from now. Set a reminder on your phone to revisit it and see how you have come closer to those goals or maybe oriented yourself toward achieving new ones.

This last wave of Cancerian energy is extremely important as it is supposed to help you wash away your guilt, your anxiety, your perception of lack, and any pain or ailment that is causing anguish in your body. You will even see this in a physical sense as many people are taking to body positivity, or even find themselves enduring different surgeries to come out healthier. Many individuals have the majority of their interactions with hospitals and healthcare during the Cancerian season.

Soon the Leo season will come, an astrological season of assertive action, strategy, planning, and career orientation. The Leo season is often where most people set their goals and find themselves empowered with the most energy to make it happen. It is important for you to face each of your uncomfortable emotions, toxic relationships, lack-of-confidence spells, and moments of tiredness and overwhelming thoughts. Utilize powers of forgiveness for yourself and others, and eliminate those thoughts by flushing them out with a new perspective. You must push the mess out of the way to allow the spotlight to shine on you, and it is time for you to take to task and become a leader this season. If you are reading this still, you are obviously feeling a connection with the vibration being sent out by this moon. It is a definitive clearing house. It is okay to embrace the things you are most afraid of in this time, to look for strength in difficult times, and to reorient yourself away from what used to be to what currently is.

This is a very important time astrologically as its point is to show us a new paradigm. This is a paradigm where money doesn’t lord over us and where the universe provides as is needed and as it is asked. We are entering a paradigm of fearlessness where we no longer embrace the worst case scenario and we no longer fear repercussions of others that truly do not matter.

Some extremely helpful things that you may want to try to do in the period between 7/18 and 8/3 are:

🦁 Write down a list of traumatic feelings and opinions you don’t believe in, and that you don’t believe serve you any more. Set them on fire, bury them, whatever you can do to symbolically dispel them.

🦁 Take a cleansing and rejuvenating bath – you can use Epsom or sea salts, bath bombs, or whatever makes you feel good. Set an hour aside for this, and try to make sure the bath is either very hot or very cold as you can tolerate it. Both temperatures can do something healing in a very different way. Calendula and Chamomile would be good herbs to use.

🦁 Write a list of goals and intentions for the next week, month, year, and five years on a piece of paper, preferably in a manifestation notebook.

🦁 Find four or five affirmations you would like to do in a day that would be important for you, and get an Affirmation Reminder app on your phone that reminds you to do this every day.

🦁 Do some cleaning in the areas that matter most to you. This may not even be in your home or office, but on your computer or phone. Change your wallpapers to suit a theme focused toward your goal, ambitions, or your thought process.

🦁 Make a dream-board on the computer, using pinterest, or using cut outs on a poster the old fashioned way. You will find that looking at familiar goal images really helps you bring your dreams into focus on a hard day.

🦁 Form an A-Team. This may be best suited to a chat group on facebook, or even an IM chat group through facebook, skype, or otherwise. Find a group of people that wish to take care of each other and keep tabs on each other. If you do not have this network, find manifestation groups, spiritual groups, and otherwise on Facebook that may help you expand your community.

🦁 Write nice things to yourself on your mirror, as you are going to have a rough go of it for a little while, and the best help you can find is right inside yourself.

🦁 Figure out a lifestyle you want for yourself and change one habit every day or two until you have made your lifestyle match your desire. If you have to work at it a bit to keep this schedule steady, don’t be hard on yourself. Use this time to try and get a sleep schedule that is efficient for you, a food schedule that is healthful, and find where your “you” time is during the day. Even if this is only during a commute or morning shower, spruce these areas up so that they are more nourishing.

🦁 Take time out of your day to remind yourself how far you have come each day before you go to bed. Even if you feel you haven’t changed your life much in the past year or two, think about the things you have endured in that time period that were not under your belt long ago.

🦁 After you wake up, light a candle, hold a crystal, or bask in the sunlight as you say your thanks for what you have and make prayers and wishes for those things you wish to have. Follow this with affirmations.

🦁 Be kind to yourself and others. The door to opportunity swung open, but this period of a few weeks serve as a very long, very steep stairway to your next step. Use this time to drop the baggage that doesn’t serve you, and learn to make the best of the baggage that you are carrying with you. Look up constantly, only looking back to remind yourself of progress.

You’ve got this.

Let the water wash your wounds, and then step forth with pride, Leo Season is near!