Lincoln Logs In: Last Trailer Before Friday…

Daniel Day Lewis plays the namesake in Lincoln, Steven Spielberg’s latest theatrical release, which seemingly has Oscar written all over it. [checklist]

  • Legendary director? Check.
  • Epic period piece? Check.
  • Daniel Day Lewis being Daniel Day Lewis? Check.
  • A ridiculously talented supporting cast? Check.
  • Sappy American back story that everyone thinks they are familiar with? Check.

[/checklist] If only there were some hookers or handicaps to round out the story you could guarantee the film would sweep the Oscars this year…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qiSAbAuLhqs&feature=player_embedded

Let’s face it Daniel Day Lewis is awesome, and you know he is going to hit it out of the park when it comes to his portrayal of Lincoln, but it almost seems too easy. Lincoln is one of the most beloved and revered historical figures in American history so hopefully this film will not simply be a further exploration of what we already know, but instead a glimpse into the darker sides of the President’s life. Early indications from the trailer are that we will see Lincoln’s struggle to lead a nation through its greatest conflict and moral dilemma but you have to wonder if that is enough of a challenge for the great Daniel Day. He is at his best when portraying flawed characters and I’m not sure if Spielberg’s Lincoln will be more than a Patriotic shadow of the towering icon, but you might not imagine that Lewis would sign on for that kind of project.

This particular trailer is light on the battle action but it seems like there will be some spectacular recreations of the Civil War in a Saving Private Ryan-esque style. Lincoln clocks in at 149 minutes which is less than you might expect from a movie of this scope but does indicate that there will probably be some long boring court scenes to balance out the battlefields. As far as I can tell there will be no zombie killing in this retelling of the Lincoln story, but Spoiler Alert: Lincoln dies in the end!

New International TV spot for ‘The Hobbit’

Oh, we are getting so close. So very, very close. The long-awaited and much-anticipated new film from Peter Jackson will open in theatres a month from today we’ve been treated to another little teaser.

Looks good! We’ve seen most of that before but as is customary with new spots, they added in a little bit more. This movie is nothing if not beautiful and given that the trailers and teasers just show a snippet, I can not wait to see it in its full scope. It was nice to see a bit of humor in this spot with Balin (Ken Stott) telling Bilbo (Martin Freeman) that what he is carrying around is not a sword, but rather a letter opener. Ha! Well done Balin.

If you are planning to head to the theatres opening weekend, it might not be a bad idea to go ahead and get tickets. They went on sale on the 7th and you can purchase them online or from your local theatre (obviously if they offer that, which they surely will because it would be foolish not to). If you order your tickets through Fandango, you receive a free download of the Howard Shore song, “The Adventure Begins”.

However, if you are like me and are a fan of film scores, you can head over to Empire Magazine where they have the entire film score available for streaming. There are some who won’t listen to it in order to experience the score for the first time with the movie, but I’m of the thought that you can never hear good scores enough. The score will be released on cd and digital formats on December 10th and can be purchased from both Amazon and iTunes.

So there you have it. All that’s left is to start the countdown until we join Bilbo Baggins on his adventure! The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey opens on December 14th.

Not So Big and Scary: My First Con Experience

Despite touting myself as a geek for years and being proud of that status, I didn’t realize conventions were actually a “thing” until I saw The Terminal and realized Zoe Saldana’s character was a Trekkie who loved going to cons.  At first I thought it was a joke, a cute little character development the writers of the movie decided was a unique way to set her apart.  Yet the more I looked into it, the more I realized that conventions were indeed a thing.

I didn’t make it to my first con until this month.  Call me undedicated to the world of geekdom, but I preferred to be able to afford food, clothes, and a roof over my head instead of spending all the money on a temporary hotel roof, plane ticket, and convention eats.  Fortunately, I got a press pass to attend my first con, Anime Nebraskon, and I stayed with a cousin, so that helped my decision to attend by a significant factor.  I’ve decided I really like press passes.

Yeah, I am not 100% sure who that is, but the name sounds familiar. The character, not the state.

Anime is a realm I never got into.  Watching Avatar: The Last Airbender and marveling over the beautiful artwork in the Final Fantasy games were the closest experiences to anime that I had ever come.  And yet here I was attending a con based solely around this genre; I felt lost as I looked at the weekend program.  The only anime-related session title I recognized immediately was Legend of Korra (that saved my skin a bit), and after perusing the program more closely, a few more titles seemed vaguely reminiscent from what I’d heard friends and Internet people talk about.  I fortunately found other sessions to attend like one about Rooster Teeth hosted by a community member I’d met on their website, as well as a fantastic session by voice actress Stephanie Young about what types of female characters voice actresses often play when they have a lower vocal range.

The best thing about the sessions and panels I did attend was that Anime Nebraskon, though one of the larger conventions for this Midwest area, still boasted small enough numbers that each session I sat in on did not seem like there were too many people for the moderators or hosts to interact properly with them (unless you were talking about the celebs like Stephanie Young and Steve Blum, and then of course the rooms were packed to the brim).  One guy even hijacked the “How to Create a Podcast” session when the real host failed to show up after 15 minutes of waiting, and since the hijacker said he did a Brony podcast, he decided to just teach the rest of us 10 or so attendees what he had learned from his experiences.

Avengers cosplay group – I like the drinking Tony Stark.

Also, I was very glad I had decided to dress in appropriate attire, and by appropriate I mean at least one geeky item of clothing or accessory.  For the first day, I decided to wear my Star Wars Her Universe Han and Leia t-shirt along with my Imperial logo earrings.  The second day, I plastered on dark eye makeup, wore my old Freelancer Tex shirt from Rooster Teeth, and dressed it up runway-style, with skinny black jeans, black boots, black military blazer, and a maroon fedora; I called it my “If Tex Were a Bad-Ass Fashion Model Instead of a Bad-Ass Killing Machine” look.

Unfortunately, by the time I found out about getting a press pass to Anime Nebraskon, I didn’t have time to make a costume, and no costume I owned seemed fitting for an anime convention (a self-created Amazon warrior via slave Leia costume, or Galadriel from Lord of the Rings).  I was wrong.  Though the majority of attendees were indeed in anime-style costumes, there were more than a handful of gaming characters there like 2-3 different Master Chiefs, Marvel and DC characters (including an epic grey Spider-Man who told me it took him over a year to put the entire costume together), and even some very realistic Jedi Knights and Clone Troopers running around.  Next time I’ll have to remember that pretty much any geeky costume will do.

BEAUTIFUL Master Chief armor. It lit up and everything.

I’d have to say the best part about the entire Nebraskon experience was the way that the convention organizers created a positive experience for all the attendees.  All the Nebraskon staff were willing to help out when asked a question or two, and many even seemed energized instead of drained by the crowd around them.  Though most people roll their eyes at or even jeer security staff, none of this happened that I could see, and most attendees were very respectful when security asked them to move closer to the wall or keep moving so as not to block other attendees’ pathways.  In addition, the con organizers made sure to put this sign up all over the convention center:

That’s right, it’s not.

With all the issues surrounding sexual harassment of specifically female cosplayers, this sign was refreshing to see.  What was more refreshing was the fact that I saw it enforced by the staff and security and respected by the attendees; I never once saw a guy take a picture of a girl without her permission, even if she was in full armor of some sort.  From what I’ve read, many cons, especially the larger ones, only wish they could expect this type of civility amongst their costumed patrons.

Overall, Anime Nebraskon offered a wide range of sessions and panels to attend for its intimate size, lots of time-intensive costumes to admire, and a positive, no-hassle atmosphere that makes me ignore the fact that only pizza was offered as the on-site caterer (yes, there was only one).  Would I attend Anime Nebraskon again?  Yes, most definitely.  However, I’ve now been bitten by the con bug; the experience only made me eager to make it to some of the larger and most famous ones out there.  That means you, PAX and San Diego Comic-Con.

* PLEASE NOTE: ALL PICTURES ARE COPYRIGHT BREE BROUWER.  CONTACT HER WITH PERMISSION TO USE THEM ELSEWHERE.

Oh, yeah: there was “YMCA” dancing on stage at the cosplay contest, too.

The Walking Dead: 3.05 – “Say The Word” Review

“Say The Word” was an extraordinarily intense episode of The Walking Dead. Getting back to the standard format of the show, this episode picks up where episode 4 left off. After learning that his wife is dead, Rick is in a state of shock. This is not the Beth type of shock where you lay in a bed and become suicidal… this is Rick’s own personal hell. He becomes enraged and takes an axe to anything he can find in the prison.

He comes across a walker who…*shudders*…ATE Lori. Her body is gone with only scraps and a bullet remaining on the floor where she was left. It was devastating.

Back at Woodbury, Michonne got the award for best zombie kill of the week by unleashing some caged biters and letting her katana loose on them.

 

Michonne then had to have a sit-down with the Governor, who wants her to stay. He explained that she fits in. He then spoke with Andrea to try to get her to convince Michonne to stop being so aggressive and just embrace the town, as she is making other people uncomfortable. Andrea is being an idiot about it, but I cannot in any way blame her. If I had spent the past 8 months constantly fighting for my life, I would want peace and safety, too. After Michonne leaves without Andrea, who refuses to succumb to the ultimatum, the Governor asks Andrea to go with him to the event they’re having that night in the town. The event? ZOMBIE FIGHT CLUB!!!

This is one of the most interesting uses for these guys I have seen on this show.  The walkers form a ring around the two men and are chained to posts. The chains are loosened as the fight draws near an end. Merle wins this fight, of course.

We also saw that the Governor keeps his daughter, who is a walker, locked up. He was brushing her hair. Everyone in the room with me while I was watching this kept saying how creepy this scene was. I, for one, thought that it was just devastatingly sad. Here, this man has his daughter, his own flesh and blood, and she wants to kill him. We have seen it a lot in this show. Sophia had to be put down by Rick, Andrea’s sister Amy had to be put down by Andrea… it is so sad to see. Everyone is losing people closest to them, and I imagine that what happened to his family turned the Governor into this madman.

Maggie and Daryl went out and found supplies for the wee baby Grimes (Walsh?). They brought back formula and such, which lead to a sweet moment in the episode. Daryl was feeding the unnamed baby and smiling. As a woman, I am absolutely a sucker for this stuff. It was adorable.

At the end of the episode, after Rick has absolutely destroyed the walker who ate Lori, the phone in the boiler room rings. He picks it up, aaaaand of course the episode ends. WHO IS IT?! Could it be Carol calling trapped in another part of the prison? Could it be someone working for the Mayor, scouting all of the nearby places for survivors? Or is Rick just losing his marbles? Could it be someone like Shane or Lori on the phone? Could Rick be literally going crazy? Who takes over the group then? Although I am not happy that I’ll have to wait to find out, I am glad I have something to look forward to!

I could not have imagined that this season would be so amazing. I have loved just about every episode of this show so much that I find it difficult to be objective in rating them and trying to not give everything a perfect score. After much deliberation, I would say this is 4/5 Grizzlies.

Red Dwarf: Series 10 – A Retrospective…

So with the latest series of Red Dwarf just finishing on UK screens, I thought it time to look back on the series and see how well it has adapted to its new home on the UK channel Dave, and how the series progressed with a little breakdown of each episode for anyone who missed them.

Trojan (Episode One) brought the dwarfers back in a tale involving a new ship, Rimmers resentment files making him crash and a chance encounter with his brother who is now a captain and a hologram.

Fathers and Suns (Episode Two) has a depressed Lister missing his dad (who is actually Lister, it’s a time travel thing!). Lister starts recording messages when drunk to himself, to teach the hung over Lister how to be a man, while the rest of the crew struggle with a new computer programme they have installed which is doing more harm than good.

Lemons (Episode Three) has a faulty rejuvenation shower sending the crew back to the UK AD 23, where they meet a chap who seems very familiar, turns out his name is Jesus.

Entangled (Episode Four) has The Cat and Kryten stuck in a quantum tangle where they speak in unison, and Rimmer is lost in a poker game with the Gelfs. This all leads to a weird conclusion.

Dear Dave (Episode Five) Lister finds himself in a love triangle with two food dispensers and also struggles with the notion he could have been a father to a child long dead.

The Beginning (Episode Six) Rimmers back-story is looked into more while the crew get attacked by a bunch of rogue stimulants.

red dwarf X crew

The series is a mixed bag, but mostly the episodes feel like the Red Dwarf we all know and love. The set design is different, with a lot more action happening in corridors and a selection of quarters and Kryten’s facial design looks a tad bizarre at first, but it soon grows on you. The great thing about the smaller budget means that the stories are more streamlined and back to basics. The feel of this series is very much like series one and two (minus Holly which is still a shame), with very few special effects and the scope of the episodes focusing a lot more on the characters and not on the developing story arcs. In fact this series has no real story arc, each episode is pretty much self-contained and can be watched in pretty much any sequence (with the exception of the last episode). This new episode structure means it is a great way for people who have never seen Red Dwarf to jump in and not feel too intimidated by the ongoing series. However the series is full of little references to other episodes which make it more rewarding for hard-core dwarfers. For example Rimmer is still trying and failing to pass his officer exams and still stuck in the shadow of his family (which we see throughout the series is not as successful as they appear), while The Cat has gone back to entertaining himself with his piece of string. The series is full of little references like this and recurring characters (The Gelfs and the Rogue Simulants appearing to cause the crew hassle). The balance between keeping the regular fans happy and the new viewers is spot on.

red dwarf X simulant

The new series is very character based, with a lot of emphasis on how the dwarfers get on together. The actors have not lost any of their magic and it warms your heart to see them interacting together again. The only downside is that the series is very Rimmer and Lister heavy with The Cat and Kryten only getting one episode that is their own and that is in a subplot. Not that they don’t pull their weight, some of the more restrained moments of hilarity involve these two, examples include Kryten blow drying cutlery with his blower attachment stuck to his anus and The Cat and Kryten speaking in unison. The series is full of little jokes like this, which really make it work. But the story development really goes to Rimmer and Lister. Lister has some interesting scenes involving him as a father and being his own dad, as well as how depressing his life has become now he is alone in the universe. Rimmer has some truly great scenes in this series; in fact this series has given him the most character development out of everyone. We find out his family is not as good as they appear, with a brother who was not a captain at all and a father who was actually a gardener and not a teacher as he imagined. All of the cast members are fantastic together and even the poorer episodes work because of just how great they are.

red dwarf X rimmer

It is not without its problems however. Some episodes don’t hit as well as they could. Lemons, especially suffers from this, with one or two great gags, but a lot of just plain awful ones. It just seems like a lazy episode in some respects, with the Jesus story not really working. This is the weakest episode of the bunch, but Dear Dave also feels in places a little bit padded. But overall all the episodes are great fun to watch for one reason or another. One of the strongest is definitely Fathers and Suns which is a very simple episode but is just hilariously funny, with both plots diverging and coming together beautifully. The best episode in the entire series however is The Beginning with a great mix of pathos and humour and a nice turn for all the cast, but Rimmer developing so much as a character is the highlight. At the end of the day, when the dust from the series has settled, it still has it. This series was incredibly funny and although the episodes are more reined in, they have more magic to them than some of the later series’, which were special effects heavy but lost some of the Red Dwarf spirit. This has that feel, the characters are all there and more importantly the humour is there. Red Dwarf has always been a show about the crew and their chemistry together. It is great to see that after years without a full series, it is still there. A great return to form and a series that can easily be watched again and again. It feels comfortable to watch, with enough attempts to be daring that it does not seem to stagnate (even if some of the attempts fail). From one dwarfer to another, it was smegging awesome. Watch out world the slime is coming home!

red dwarf X dvd

Halo 4 Review: You’ve Left an Impression of Sorts on Me

Once upon a time, or more like ten years ago, this female gamer decided to buy her very first Xbox because she played Halo at a friend’s house and fell in love.  Ever since then, a passionate love affair has existed between her and subsequent Halo games, so of course you could expect her to highly anticipate Halo 4.

But as with most love affairs, there are ups and downs, sacrifices to be made, and compromises to be had.  Halo 4 is like a compromise, but one that’s growing into a hopeful up.  After playing through the entire campaign, all of the Spartan Ops, as well as many hours of multiplayer, here are my initial thoughts and reactions to the game.

*WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD.  DO NOT READ IF YOU’RE A HALO 4 VIRGIN.*

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CAMPAIGN/SPARTAN OPS

Story – The plot surrounding Master Chief and Cortana’s survival and of course the continuing salvation of the human race has little issues and runs very fluidly from one level to the next (and oh, man, is Cortana’s rampancy excruciating to watch).  Many fans were wary of how the relationship between Master Chief and Cortana would play out considering the fact that neither is actually romantically tied to the other, but 343 Industries stayed true to that status, keeping the couple’s relationship based 100% on mutual trust, dedication, and shared experiences.  How this will play out in future games, though, will be interesting not only because of the apparent loss of Cortana, but also because Master Chief suddenly has to deal with the fact that he has emotions that she slowly pulled out of him, and that he is more human than he’d like to believe.

My only concern with the campaign was that outside of the immediate Chief/Cortana storyline, there are threads of stories that tie in to theirs that are never truly explained or satisfied.  For example, Halo 4 starts 4 years after Chief disappeared, and suddenly humans are fighting the Covenant again, a fact which is never explained.  The game also starts with an officer questioning Dr. Halsey about her involvement with Cortana and Master Chief; the only valuable information we get out of this is that the leaders-that-be consider Chief to be dead and they want to replace him.

However, after finishing the first five Spartan Ops, my husband and I watched the video that was released to us for completion, which clarified one of my concerns about the story.  I must say that if 343 Industries planned to leave these threads in the campaign unanswered simply to be filled in by the Spartan Ops videos and other supplementary material, all I can say is that they made a genius marketing decision.  I’ll want to make sure I can download every single video to get the entire story, and I’m sure many other players will be hooked on this method of storytelling, too.

Gameplay – A blast.  I only experienced one glitch total, and the rest of the time gameplay was tight, fast-paced, and purposeful (there never seemed to be a ridiculous  number of enemy waves or useless confrontations of any sort).  Many new weapons are introduced and though I could get into the benefits and drawbacks of all of them, I think in general that the Promethean/Forerunner weapons are not impressive and tend to be lesser versions of both human and Covenant alternatives (this is especially true in multiplayer).  Personally, though, I am glad to see the beam rifle back, which was my favorite sniper weapon for quite a while (yes, even above the human sniper) even though I’m not that good at sniping.  However, the binary rifle is quickly becoming my top favorite because of its smooth, quiet functioning.

The new Promethean enemies were fun to figure out considering they are purely digital constructs, a concept that may be hard to grasp at first for some Halo players because we’ve never fought enemies of this sort before.  Specifically, I love that the Knights are able to teleport closer to you and swipe their swords right across your face.  The experience was different from previous games, which made it a challenge and forced me to stay alert and interested in the game the first time through.

Music – I have to throw this in here because I simply fawn over all the previous Halo soundtracks, even ODST.  At the initial load screen of Halo 4, a haunting, single female voice starts chanting in the style of ancient Celts or even Egyptians, reminiscent of the original Halo theme of a monk-like, a capella chorus.  I was excited to hear the rest of the score as I continued play.

However, there were several instances throughout the campaign where I felt that something was amiss, and I finally pinpointed the issue ¾ of the way through the game: the composers brought in too many horns for my taste.  The horns overpower the strings on a fairly regular basis, which is frustrating because Halo music became famous because of its ability to combine what normally doesn’t get put together (strings, guitar riffs, drums, and chorus) in an epic, powerful wave of sound.

On the credits list, I couldn’t find either Martin O’Donnell or Michael Salvatori, composers for all previous Halo games, which would explain why the score for Halo 4 sounded different.  The new composers seemed to be going for the traditional heroic sound with triumphant horn crescendos, but I prefer the old-school Halo strings and monk singers any day.

MULTIPLAYER

Gameplay – In general, 343 Industries has some work to do on multiplayer.  Almost every game that I played (that loads properly) had some sort of glitch or situation where, even if I wasn’t doing that well, should have turned out a bit more in my favor.  Then again, I’m sure many players right now feel this way.

Multiplayer feels like a throwback to Halo 3, where reactions seem slightly lagging and less tight than what Halo: Reach achieved this last year.  I know many disagree with me, but this is what I have experienced thus far.  Melee has a split-second pause from when you pummel to when the enemy dies, or vice versa.  Sometimes the Spartan abilities don’t load at all, which makes sense then that you can’t always call in ordnance properly, either.  Grenades are pretty bouncy and may or may not go off where you’d like them to, and let’s not even get started on how unbalanced the weapons are.

Weapons/Vehicles – No, actually, let’s talk about that.  As I mentioned earlier in the Campaign section, I felt that the Forerunner weapons were crappy versions of human and Covenant weapons.  The bolt shot, for example, is a less powerful version of a human pistol, and the suppressor is good for what its name implies, but little else.

The only two Forerunner guns I prefer are the rail gun and binary rifle; otherwise, I avoid all else in favor of traditional Covenant and human weapons.  This could be because I am used to these, but I truly feel that the Forerunner weapons have good uses in the campaign, but are hard to work with in multiplayer.

In regards to vehicles, I think that the Mantis, though a great new addition as a vehicle, is overpowered and will probably have its damage infliction reduced in future updates.  It’s a bit much to have a Warthog, Mantis, AND Banshee coming at you in some of the maps, and nearly impossible for the team not in control of these machines to have a balanced and fair game.  Fortunately, though, the Banshee and Warthog have all remained in similar states to what they were in the past, and haven’t received any game-altering updates.

Maps – We need some diversity.  Right now, most maps are medium-sized spaces that really don’t allow for proper one-on-one combat nor long-range options.  There’s no such thing as a massive Sidewinder version nor lots of compact maps like Blood Gulch.

My other problem with the Halo 4 maps is that they involve lots of little environment details that unfortunately only hang you up as a player.  My husband and I have had several instances already where we get caught on a branch while we’re backing up, or where the Warthog wouldn’t drive over a rock.  That seems really inconsistent when you’re a freaking Spartan warrior and can supposedly flip over a Warthog all on your own; I’m not sure why you wouldn’t be able to crack a branch under your foot.

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So there you have it.  As a Halo fan since the original game, I am disappointed in the multiplayer experience this week, and yes, I do realize that 343 Industries is most likely receiving constant feedback and planning to implement patches on a regular basis.  However, since 343 kept their promise to stay mostly true to the Halo universe in regards to the Campaign and Spartan Ops missions, this is why I am calling Halo 4 a compromise in my love affair with the entire franchise, a compromise that will hopefully grow into a more positive experience over time.