Category Archives: Reviews

Reviews of books, movies, music, and maybe even games.

Journal, Reviews

In Lieu of a Full Review…

I’ve been playing XCOM 2 lately. A full review is coming eventually. Until then, here are some screenshots which I dragged into Photoshop, and then applied artsy-filter stuff to.

XCOM2-Startscreen-Cutout1
The Load Screen, which uses one of your soldiers from the active game file
XCOM2-SkyrangerReturnsPointillize
One of the many “Skyranger Returns” scenes, pointillized
XCOM2-HomecomingCutout&Grain
XCom’s soldiers RTB and report. The guy in front has a sad story about “this hurts.”

If you click on any of these you’ll be rewarded with a 1920×1080 jpg that is nicely suited for use as a desktop wallpaper.

Enjoy!

(Note: These images would not be possible without the work of the passionate and brilliant artists and designers at Firaxis Studios. All I did was screen-grab, and then stylize. Mad props to the real heroes here!)

 

 

 

 

Reviews

Hail, Caesar

HailCaesarSo far this year I’ve seen three movies, and all of them have been a lot of fun. Hail, Caesar currently sits at the bottom of my list, but it’s well above the Threshold of Disappointment.

Hail, Caesar is a movie for movie people. It’s full of SAG in-jokes and homages that I’m sure I only caught a few of, since I did not major in film. It was still a lot of fun for me. It demands to be patiently watched, like you’d watch a sunset, or perhaps a neighbor’s open window.

Does that sound creepy? Well, parts of this movie had that same level of creepy in them. Bits that felt like a lampooning of American culture in the 1950’s were lifted directly out of our history. It’s creepy that stuff like that really happened.

The jokes worked, and the musical numbers were wonderful, and the story itself, while seeming disjointed at first, was a really good one that I’m happy to have been told.

Crossposted, Journal, Reviews

Kung Fu Panda 3

KungFuPanda3I am impressed.

I was not expecting the Kung Fu Panda franchise to become an epic martial arts trilogy, but with Kung Fu Panda 3 the writers looked sequelitis in the eye, and then shot for the moon. Which they hit. This mixes at least two metaphors, but with the Dreamworks crescent moon logo in the blend I think I’m allowed the indulgence.

Put another way, they took a big risk, and it paid off.

Back in 2011 Kung Fu Panda 2 left me amazed, and more than a little surprised. The craft on display there was exemplary, and in all of the best ways. Kung Fu Panda 3 brought that same level of craft to the screen, and put paid on promises made in the first two movies. I’d say more, but some of the payoff is very much worth not spoiling.

There’s a line early on which I will spoil for you. (I’m quoting from memory, so please excuse any errors.)

“If you only do what you can, you will never become more than you are.” —Master Shifu (Dustin Hoffman)

Kung Fu Panda 3 clears my Threshold of Awesome, and takes the #1 slot for the year. Not hard, given that as of this writing¹ I’ve seen exactly two movies, but impressive nonetheless.

¹UPDATE: And now it is July 9th. My 2016 list has 18 films on it, and Kung Fu Panda 3 is still on top. I watched the Kung Fu Panda 3 Blu-Ray² last night, and stand by my rankings.  

²As Blu-Rays go, it’s fine, provided you’re just there for the film. The Panda Party song and Panda Paws featurettes are disappointing. The deleted scenes (Faux Paws) is a nice tool for writers, though, because the directors tell us why these scenes, which were quite good, had to be cut. 

 

Reviews

Deadpool: Pretty Good For February

DeadpoolI enjoyed Deadpool, but I don’t have any desire to see it again. I have a deep appreciation for a well-crafted joke, and Deadpool was full of those, but of necessity the jokes were contextualized with stuff I don’t love sitting through.

It’s hard to figure out which side of the cart this horse should be on, and the cart itself is carrying a chicken and an egg. Is it gratuitous violence when commentary upon the gratuitous violence is part of the story? Taken as a whole, the movie works really well, but I only want to take it once. The other Marvel movies have been more inviting, and I’ve seen some of them several times (except the Wolverine origin story, which I saw exactly one more time than I wish I had. So, you know, once.)

Films that demonstrate amazing understanding of the craft are usually a pleasure to watch, and re-watch. Deadpool was truly amazing in a great many ways, but while I had fun in the theater, I didn’t have Threshold-of-Awesome fun. I will, however, concede that the craft on display in Deadpool was top-notch, and was perfect for that particular character.

I’ll slap a ranking on this one after I have seen a couple more movies this year. Kung Fu Panda 3 and Hail Caesar are next on my hit list. I’ll be in touch.