Mini Movie Reviews 12/15/19

Morning!

This time of year is always bonkers for me. The weather, too, especially as it swings from cold to warm and back again. Then there's squeezing in the holidays while trying to juggle all the year-end accounting projects before the close in January. Since the company is now public again, the amount of requirements for auditors and reporting goes way up!

I hope you guys are having a better time of it! :P

Mini Movie Reviews

Knives Out - This film was a lot more fun than I expected. It's a classic Agatha Christie setup, but then it takes a left turn in an unexpected direction. Secrets, machinations, lies, a ton of details pulling every which way. Even when you think you know what happened, it turns out it wasn't that way at all. Great performances, good twists and turns. There was something odd on the way close-ups were filmed, which made the actors and actresses look off, but this could have been intentional.

Rating: 3.75 out of 4 (Hubby's Rating: Worth Full Price to See Again!)



Jumanji: The Next Level - Hubby had been chomping at the bit to see this one. :P They did a great job showing some of the reasons Spencer chose to try to fix the game and going back inside. Some new people and characters get introduced as Jumanji gets thrown into a bigger crisis than before. The actors doing the avatars get to reinvent themselves as the people behind them have changed. They did such a great job! Awkwafina did a great Granpa Eddie. ROFL.

Some new skills and new weaknesses. The prehistoric ostriches were super cool and scary. Lol.  One extra bit ties the end of the film back to giving homage to the original Jumanji as well as a possible leading to another film! Favorite quote: "You are the worst Bravestone ever!" :P 

Rating: 3.5 out of 4 (Hubby's Rating: Worth Full Price to See Again.)



Have a great week!

Virtual Tourist - Seasons After Fall 11/3/19

Morning all!

Fall is definitely in the air. Temperatures have been chilly all week. It might actually be here to stay!
Due to unforeseen issues at the publisher, Alien Redemption will probably not be available in 2019 but be pushed to early 2020. :(  Editing is progressing. I don't think they've assigned a cover artist yet.

Movie Reviews

Terminator: Dark Fate - A lot of James Cameron's films of late have been not so great, so I went to see this with low expectations. I was very pleasantly surprised - the movie was good!

It picks up after events in Terminator 2 Judgement Day and then leaps forward twenty years or so. Skynet is no more. Now they have to worry about Legion. (Time does not like being messed with.)
Great action, special effects, and acting. There are lots of small surprises. I was impressed with the physical details concerning Grace being a cyborg. You can see the scars around her eyes, her arms, chest, and stomach where they did work on her. There are also divets, small screws, and more. And there is a price to be paid for the enhancements.

The new terminator type sent after Dani was super tough and absorbed information at an alarming rate. I love that they made him a small man, someone who you'd never expect to be able to do what he does. Both a liquid and solid terminator, he makes for a super challenging and scary combo. There were some attacks he could have done that he didn't, but then a future flashback shows his compatriots doing precisely what I thought he should have done. LOL. Guess it would have made his mission too easy then.

Overall, I enjoyed the film a lot. Seeing Linda Hamilton and Arnold Schwatzeneger together again was a treat. Bitter old Sarah Conner was a hoot. The film definitely deserves to do better at the box office than it has so far. Rating: 3.5 out of 4. (Hubby's Rating: Worth Full Price to See Again!)

Virtual Tourist

Seasons After Fall

Our true form. This is the Sanctuary.

We are back inside the fox and heading off to the second guardian.

You'll learn that in any of the areas with water, winter is your friend. It is the only way to get across and leap out.

Walking through a hollow log.

The route here is obstructed. There are little creatures you can get to spawn who, depending on the seasons, can be activated to blow them up. :)

Another obstruction. Though later, you learn to play with the steam and ice.

There's a giant feather on the outcropping. Something that will be useful after we meet the second guardian.

The second guardian! Now things are about to get super interesting!

Now we can summon summer by barking twice near the energy ball. The new season affects the little guys, and thus we can make them leave their nest which you can see in the branch to the left.

The tree now has a carving for the second guardian as we make our way back to the Sanctuary.

Stay warm out there!

Virtual Tourist - Wolfenstein II 7/29/18

Morning!

Mini Movie Review

Mission Impossible: Fallout - the film is a rollercoaster of non-stop action. They also throw in nostalgic bits which were excellent. Loved the mission recorder, which was a mix of super new tech (DNA matching) and original TV show (tape wheels and smoke!). Twists and red herrings abound. They also added things going wrong, annoyances to the protagonist, and other bits making this feel more like real life. Many things come back full circle. Rating: 4 out of 5 (Hubby's Rating: Worth Paying Full Price to See Again.)

Wolfenstein II The New Colossus

Yeppers, finally playing the third installment. Hubby finished it way back, but I'd not gotten to play. I bit more dizzying than the previous two, which is why I stayed away for a bit.

Blazkowicz's Mom - he's having a dream/nightmare. Not a good family life as it turns out.

The game picks up moments after the end of Wolfenstein The New Order. Blazkowicz is messed up. It's a miracle he's alive at all!

Our ragtag team's leader. The suit allows her to walk and fight. 

Blaskowicz wakes up fully when the stolen ship gets boarded. Finally finds one of the others. B has mad skills with his wheelchair. Lol. This boat is not made for the disabled.

The Doc has set up some nasty traps for the soldiers. Very nasty traps. :P

They always have such lovely details! B pics up bits of info about Nazi America as he wheels himself through the sub.

A bittersweet reunion with Anya! 

B isn't doing good. Half hitpoints are the best he gets! But he's still tougher than anything out there. :P

She has so much faith in him. Got to cling to what you can. 

Love in the midst of carnage. :) Pregnant she still kicks buns! Heh heh.

Hope your weekend has been fab! Next week I will be at ArmadilloCon! Hope to see you there. :)

Virtual Tourist - My Time at Portia 4/22/18

My goodness! 2018 is turning out to be even more turbulent than 2016 and 2017. Oi!
Typically once I am out of the YE and audit circus, things settle down a bit. But not this year! First Quarter End was brutal. I worked three weeks worth of time in two weeks. Ugh. I've been a mental vegetable.

Mini Movie Reviews

Rampage - The film is another piece of fun nostalgia. It's loosely based on the console game Rampage. It was a fun ride all the way around. George, the albino gorilla, is a hoot! 3.75 out of 5. (Hubby's Rating: Worth full price to see again!)





Isle of Dogs - this was a fun and super quirky film. They use both stop animation and film animation. They make subtle fun of all sorts of things. The dogs are awesome. Not everyone will like it, but we thought it was great! 3.75 out of 5 (Hubby's Rating: Worth full price of admission.)

My Time at Portia

I got a new game to detox with - My Time at Portia. It is very similar, yet also different from Stardew Valley (Another fun game). The central premise of both games is to help the community, grow in skills, mine, fish, farm, scavenge, fight, and more.  Aside from different mechanics and emphasis, My Time at Portia has an entirely different visual feel from Stardew Valley.

This is the central square in town. A&G Construction, Commerce Center, and the Mayor's office are here.

Since it is a community type game, you get experience for meeting people. This is my first meeting with Sonia. One thing this game adds to the townsfolk is the ability to spar with them, plays stone-paper-scissors, or even Go. If you win, you get additional relationship points and a bit of coin (or lose coin, too!)

This is the Mayor's office. On the right is a list of active quests. The indicator over his head shows I need to go to him for an action. (And yes, that's me!) :)

Game room at Django's restaurant. There are lots of things reminiscent of Stardew Valley.

The Civil Corps building - they help fight monsters and keep the town safe. Had to take a pic of their mascot/statue as it is a pig flying. lol.

This is a post-apocalyptic world that is once more prospering. There are ruins that can be mined for old technologies. There are factions/guilds that are pro and anti old technology. 

View back towards town from the tree farm area. You can see the Church of Light on the right. They are anti old tech. 

Inside the Church of Light. Quite impressive! 

The murals depict some of the events before civilization collapsed.

Here humanity is rising out of the dark ages.

More weird stuff was going on in life this past week. Hopefully, things will find a neutral ground, and I can get back to a regular schedule again. *fingercrossed*

Virtual Tourist - Secret World Legends 4/1/18

Morning, all!
I dropped off the face of the planet again. Between conventions, year-end audit at work and projects, and getting sick, it's been hard keeping up. First three months of every new year just seem brutal. Wheee!

Mini Movie Reviews ~!

Ready Player One - I'd had some reservations about this one, but there was nothing to be worried about! The film was awesome! Lots of actions, red herrings, deeper plots, tons of fan service, and more. A lot to think about too. 4.5 out of 5! (Yes, I was that impressed!) (Hubby's Rating: Pay Full Price to See Again!)




Pacific Rim: Uprising - This time it was hubby who was reticent and was pleasantly surprised. I was very much looking forward to it. (Giant robots and monsters - what's not to like?) A more serious version than the original and had a lot of character stuff going on to give the story depth and not just combat. Good job, guys! (And they don't fall into the bad habit of late of not giving the audience a quick 'what's gone on before' peek. :) 4 out of 5 (Hubby's Rating: Worth Full Price of Admission)

Secret World Legends

The fortune teller on Solomon Island. She used to be a fake until things started to go bad. Now she is the real deal.

We had to do a ceremony centered on this park and fountain. Love the funky lighting.

One of the super ugly beasts trying to take over town. Ugh!

 

This poor guy is one of the people from the fishing boat we'd heard came in with the fog when the chaos started. He's still himself, but he's losing ground. eek!

The dude is the reason all this is happening in town. Power hungry lunatic. The girl behind him? She's more than she lets on. Has her own agenda, too!

The Overlook Motel - it's in a new section of the map. A lot of bad things have happened here and still happening. 

 

One of the rooms of the Overlook Motel. This gentleman has been lost, but his spirit is giving us clues on how to find him and hopefully put a stop to the corruption here.

What was once a happy place, has been smeared with darkness.

Nice library!

Door puzzle to enter the lower levels of the library. Where the dangerous knowledge is kept.

Hope you and yours have a fabulous Easter!

Virtual Tourist - Wolfenstein The New Order 12/31/17

With all the holidays the last two weeks and trying not to catch a cold, my sense of what day it is is a little on the fritz! Lol. Almost forgot today is Sunday and Virtual Tourist Day! DOH!

Mini Movie Reviews

Star Wars The Last Jedi - 3 out of 5 - mostly a smash of Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi with unimaginative changes. For such a huge franchise, you'd think they'd try to do good scripts. Still better than Episode III (Movie 6) :P




JUMANJI: Welcome to the Jungle - 4 out of 5 - I REALLY enjoyed this one! It had a lot more depth than you'd expect, lots of surprises, and the acting was fab! Jack Black outdid himself on this one. They all did. (We went home and immediately watched the original again. Found several nice tie backs!)




Downsizing - 3.25 out of 5 - Hubby was wanting to see this one badly, and ended up very disappointed. The first half or so was fascinating! Then the pace came to grinding halt and took a left turn. I think they tried to do too much with the film and inadvertently lost their way. A pity.

Wolfenstein The New Order

After escaping the mental hospital, we hide at my girl's grandparents. I brought along a souvenir. Time to get answers. 

The little touches are always the best. Here is a poster that needs no translation. :)

A giant facility and checkpoint. We need to get through this to go to Berlin. 

Should have lightened this one. Dang. Anyway, you can see my girl's grandma and grandpa. Old but mean business. They are helping to sneak the two of us to Berlin.

 

Within the facility/checkpoint structure.

Another one I should have lightened. Boo! I'm sneaking my way further into the facility.

Some cool truck plans in the garage area. Some very subtle foreshadowing as you will soon see. :P

View of a smaller secondary gate. We're almost through.

Surprise! This is what the weird truck specs were for. Transporting mechanized warrior units. Eek! 

A full view of the beastie. Nasty sucker. They pop two of those for you to get rid off. Ugh!

Hope you and yours have a great New Years Eve!