Author: Shmee

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Star Wars Looses A Director While Suicide Squad Gains One!

It seems like Disney can’t hold on to their directors for Star Wars.  They have now lost two directors (well three, but two come as a set) for their upcoming Star Wars projects in the same year.  Colin Trevorrow’s exit from Star Wars IX isn’t as stunning as Lord and Miller’s from Han Solo, but clearly Disney has a specific vision for their films, and if you can’t deliver it, you are out.  Really at this point they just need to lock in Howard or J.J. to long term deals and have them direct the next few movies, since both of them can deliver a pretty solid Spielbergian adventure film.

On the Warner Brothers side of things, we are finally getting details about the upcoming Suicide Squad sequel.  It looks like Gavin O’Connor has been called in to write and direct.  He is an okay choice.  I say that because most of his movies are, you know, okay.  Much like The Accountant which I recently reviewed.  If you go look at his IMDB page you will not find a bad flick.  Though you will probably not find a movie you feel super strongly about either, so this is probably a smart choice for a studio trying not to have any more critical failures, but just not one the fans are going to get supper pumped up about.  Hey, maybe he will get to direct an upcoming Star Wars movie!

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Unpacking PAX West 2017!

PAX West was a blur this year, I did so much, and I had so much fun that it is hard to talk about anything in particular.  I enjoyed most of the panels I went too.  Two of the funniest featured Kris Straub: PAX Rumble 2017 (video game wresting at its finest) and the live version of his internet radio show 28 Plays Later (two guys talk about stuff).  Of course the Telltale group play of Batman: The Enemy Within was as fun as always, and even though it has changed to a bunch of random ads, I still love going to the Gearbox show.

I didn’t have time to play a lot of the games on the show floor or elsewhere, but I am going to say that Forza 7 is the default game of show for me.  I played it twice, and it is simply stunning on the Xbox One X.  It truly shows the craziness the X will be able to pull off this Christmas.  Board game wise, I am not going to name a game of the year.  The ones I played were all fine, but I didn’t play a game I had to have.  Though Dwarves: Dig, Delve, Die at least had some sweet dwarven shaped dice, and I won, which is always a bonus.

PAX West is always an experience, and there are some moments after all the walking and waiting in lines that make me wonder if it is all worth it, but every year I can’t wait to do it all over again.  If you like geeky things and hanging out with geeky people, try to get yourself to a PAX.  There will be something for you.  Even if you have to weed through the three hundred “how to make your stream successful” panels.  Though I can help you out with that: be funny, talented, have good screen presence, and self promote like crazy.  Until next year PAX West!

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The Tick Is Strange Fun!

The Tick in its previous TV incarnations were off the wall slapstick fun.  The new Tick however is sad and strange, but in a good way if that makes any sense.  It is still funny, but it is more awkward humor instead of slap stick.  Though sticks are still slapped from time to time.  It is like a direct response to the Netflix Marvel shows.  The Marvel shows are dark and gritty and show heroes in ‘real life’.  The Tick holds up a mirror to that and shows how real life heroes would really work.  It turns out, not well.

Right now you can only watch the first half of season one, so six episodes, and they deal with Author (Griffin Newman) meeting The Tick (Peter Serafinowicz) and accepting his destiny.  The Tick obviously has some things to say about his best friend destiny.  Author is not keen on becoming a superhero due to personal trauma and mental health issues, so he needs quite a bit of convincing.  Right off the bat the show is swimming in different seas story wise.

Peter Serafinowicz’s Tick is perfect.  He is dumb, sincere and unwavering in his quest to rid the city of crime.  Even if he doesn’t know who he is.  His random monologs will no doubt make long time Tick fans very happy.  Author of course is the exact opposite, and Griffin Newman captures Author’s nervous unease perfectly.  The rest of the cast is quite good as well.

The main complaint so far is that there are only six thirty minute episodes to watch, and that they need a bigger budget.  While The Tick has always been more about the comedy than the action, its limited cash flow is very apparent any time anything superhero-y is going on, and that is a shame.  Come on Amazon, give the big dumb blue guy a little more green!

If you love The Tick, you have already watched the two and half hours of new content Amazon has produced, and if you are like you me, you enjoyed yourself.  For everyone else, if you think the Netflix Marvel shows need to get made fun of a little, The Tick is well worth watching.  Even if it is a bit more melancholy than I was expecting.  Another thing to note, if The Tick were a movie it would be rated ‘R’ for language and at times graphic violence, so it is not for the kiddoes.

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Rune Is Coming Back!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1bViPhnt9Rk

Seventeen years ago Human Head Studios launched a Viking RPG that would become a LAN party staple for years to come, Rune, and they are finally making a sequel.  I know that it took some time for the studio to get back on its feet after the Prey 2 fiasco that turned some fans against Bethesda, but regardless, I can’t wait for a proper return to the world of Rune.  I am a little worried about it being open world.  I don’t think that is something every game needs to do, but I know they are a talented studio looking to do something big after the hardships they have had to endure, so I hope Rune Ragnarök blows me away!

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Season Seven Was Game Of Thrones’ Most Satisfying And Frustrating Yet!

Season seven of Game of Thrones was the season that answered all the questions, pulled back all the curtains, and heading in to season eight, I am not sure how many twists the show has left.  This has led to some of Game of Thrones greatest moments, but it was in such a hurry to get to those moments it lost a lot of the long percolating intrigue that made the show so great in the first place.

Some people have complained that the show was in fast forward, and for me, that is not quite right.  Because in that scenario we still would have seen all those inter-personal moments, but just glossed over.  No, this was more like we were watching a story told people who read the CliffsNotes of the last two books.  As if they were trying to add some meat to the bones of a very small skeleton.  Which if the writers are to be believed, and they did indeed get their ideas for the last two seasons from George R. R. Martin, I guess that is exactly what they were doing.

However, those glorious moments the show did deliver, were worth the plotting issues, and having the questions we have been asking answered has been great.  It just seems that the show should have had thirty episodes left at the beginning of this season instead of thirteen.  Oh well, there are now only six episodes left, and I can’t wait for the real battle between fire and ice to begin!