Shinobu Yaguchi’s films always make me smile because they’re consistently fun to watch even if they don’t achieve everything they need to over the course of their running times. 1999’s romantic (and slightly black) comedy Adrenaline Drive does make the most of its hilarious plot and energetic cast although it takes a slight misstep later on with a very short burst of violence some viewers may find slightly sours the experience. On the other hand, given the character in question dishing out that brief bit of ouch time, it’s a sort of cathartic moment for him after all he’s been through… Continue reading →
Oh, I’m up and about, but man, it is LOUSY out. Gray, rainy, a bit windy at times… yuck. I stepped out earlier for a short walk, but it wasn’t work related, just walk related (ha and ha). Anyway, depending on my mood later on, this may be either the only post you’ll see to-day OR I’ll be all motivated later and blast out a small army of reading material to keep your eyes and a few brain cells occupied. If you’re into cool exploration games with some innovative twists and funky colorful art, keep an eyeball peeled for Rat King Games’ wonderful TRI next week on Steam. My hands-on preview is going up this weekend at some point. Yeah, yeah, it’s a bit late, but I’m finally playing through the preview code I got and it’s a really amazing surprise that would probably get a lot more attention as a console game than it will as a PC game, but we’ll see soon enough.
I’ve also got a few book reviews to knock out, so fans of classic games from the 70’s and 80’s and/or creepy collectible dolls will want to pop back in after a bit. Okay, off to dive back into a few things. Back in a bit…
For the record, the ONLY reason Mr. Hack up there looks like a cross between Elvis and Captain Morgan in that art above is he’s been digitally tricked out for International Talk Like A Pirate Day (which was yesterday, but that didn’t stop the next post from happening. You’ll see soon enough), but he’s not decked out like that at all in this cool freebie from Meridian 4 and Bundle Stars. Anyway, click HERE (or on Hack’s scowling mug above) and get Space Hack for free on Steam and yes, go PLAY IT. It’s a fun “old school” isometric sci-fi action RPG in the Diablo vein that’s quite lengthy (well over 60 hours if you want to see everything) is pretty simple to play but nicely challenging as the aliens increase in number and strength… Continue reading →
Yikes. I have most of these already so I most likely will skip this sale, but if you’ve ever wanted to try a bunch of classic to current popular or not so popular but worth your time and money role playing games, well… here you go. 60% off oldies but goodies such as King of Dragon Pass, Lords of Midnight, and Doomdark’s Revenge.
The choice is all yours, of course. Grab one, a few, or grab them all and set your time machine so that you can play through all you’ve bought at your leisure before zapping yourself back in time to the present or perhaps the day before you bought them so you can say you didn’t spend a dime, but somehow still have all those games on your hard drive. Well, that’s how it would work in the movie version, folks. Anyway, you have about 48 hours to take advantage of this sale, so get to it if you see something there that floats your boat…
Okay, I hadn’t taken a day off in AGES, but Saturday I decided to do just that after making a few mistakes that meant I just NEEDED to get out of the home office. I did finally wrap up End of Serenity earlier in the day (actually VERY early Saturday morning) and started my review, but I was feeling a bit burned out from playing until Z o’clock, there was also a small freelance gig I needed to wrap up and I also had to rewrite a product review I’d started a while back that I accidentally deleted and turned into another post thanks to copying and pasting a document into the wrong Edit Post tab not realizing I’d overwritten the wrong post until I closed all the tabs and remembered that I was working on three things at the same time, not two as usual. Bleh.
So, I decided to tackle the easiest thing (the proofreading gig) and close up shop for the day. I ended up going to see X-Men: Days of Future Past at an overpriced theater in NYC close to a spot where I used to live and afterward, poked around some shops and into the old neighborhood to see what’s changed since I left so many years ago. Quite a lot, it turns out… but there were also some things that stayed pretty much the same. One constant: a LOT of tipsy people roam the streets on a Saturday night. I wasn’t one of them, however. Anyway, I’m back and will have a few posts up later today. Off to sleep for me now. I needed that little break!
Well, it’s a wrap on Season 2 of Orphan Black and as with the first season, more questions than answers crop up, but thee also seem to be a few things that got resolved in one way or another. Still, some things were a bit odd to me. A few of the important characters from the first season ended up dying (in oddball manners, at that), although I’m thinking one may make a return as we only saw her somewhat gravely injured and not actually “dead.” Shades of Helena’s “demise” in the first season, I guess. speaking of Helena, her arc was pretty interesting up to the point that she somehow got snatched near the close of the show, meaning so much for the happy reunion/dance party that cheered up the proceedings for a bit.
Poor Cosima looked as she wasn’t going to make it through the entire episode at all, but thankfully, she was still hanging on at the end. That said, she still needs to be cured of what she’s got, but thanks to another dead character, it seems that cure might be one for the books (or IN the books, if you saw the show and smiled at a certain scene). I got a bit confused at one point, so I’ll need to watch the episode again thanks to me looking down at something I was writing for about thirty seconds and missing something important. Oops.
Still, the end reveal made me see that Season 3 will be a bit packed in terms of plot twists and even more surprises. I kind of figured there was more than one clone type out there, but who it turned out to be was an interesting bit of business, that’s for sure. Oh well… here’s to waiting for the announcement of when Season 3’s shooting gets underway. Hopefully, BBC America will keep the first two seasons On Demand and not split them up to a “pay more to see this!” service like certain other dopey networks have done with their programming…
So, was anyone else slightly freaked out by Tony last week? It was weird in a fun way to watch Tatiana Maslany play a guy and that guy (who might be a girl, as what’s up with the testosterone shots he’s taking?) not knowing he’s part of the whole clone thing for a good chunk of the show, so it looks as if season 3 might have a new character to deal with provided he survives the remaining two episodes. On the other hand, I’d say he needs to be written a bit better if he does return, as jamming in so much of him into last week’s show and still having him feel like a late addition to the plot definitely showed. Ah well, here’s what’s happening tonight (lots of trouble for the gang, Helena’s back and cranky again and is this the last of Cosima? We’ll seeeeeeeee…:
Yikes, that last episode was QUITE a doozy, huh? That new clone being a shady guy with a mullet and hipster beard (and deftly played by Tatiana Maslany at that!) threw me for a loop, but that ending was a shocker. Then again, Cosima’s condition was always going to be an issue, so now there’s a week’s wait to see if she’s okay. Another twist? Donnie actually got a sympathetic scene that worked, but he and Alison are quite the messed up couple for sure. Anyway, Rachel’s cranky for a good reason, the other clones have issues popping up that will hopefully get ironed out with two shows left and I’m glad I’m a fan of this show. Whee!
(Actually, this is a test post to check on some issues I’m having posting on the site, so wave if you’re reading this and I’ll wave back!)
Vic MAY have big crush on Alison, but he had a BIGGER crush on that end table and that relationship was over with a BANG. Wow. One of the funniest moments last week was Vic getting knocked out loaded on some spiked tea and SLAMMING into that table like a champ. Thanks to the sound effects team, prop department and makeup crew, the results were shocking but hilarious and even funnier as his unconscious body was banged around while on the way to where it eventually ended up. Ouch and ouch! Pooooor Vic. Let’s hope he has a better show tonight!
I don’t think I’ve laughed more WITH a serious sci-fi show than I have during this season of Orphan Black. Last Saturday’s episode gave poor Vic both barrels, Sarah and Allison didn’t escape without making me chuckle and Donnie? Yeah, he’s even MORE clueless than even I realized. Given the rather surprising end to that episode, he’s in even MORE trouble than I’d have imagined, so we’ll need to see where that bit of story takes him. That said, next week’s show looks to get the dramatic elements to the forefront again now that the other big clone-related reveal has borne some rather unique blossoms.
Oh yeah… it looks as if there’s going to be quite a bit of drama kicking around in next week’s show…
Shinobu Yaguchi’s films always make me smile because they’re consistently fun to watch even if they don’t achieve everything they need to over the course of their running times. 1999’s romantic (and slightly black) comedy Adrenaline Drive does make the most of its hilarious plot and energetic cast although it takes a slight misstep later on with a very short burst of violence some viewers may find slightly sours the experience. On the other hand, given the character in question dishing out that brief bit of ouch time, it’s a sort of cathartic moment for him after all he’s been through… Continue reading 
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