Oh Jon Snow, what is rule number one of heights? You don’t look down! Especially while scaling a very, very, very high wall of ice.
Aack! I don’t even have an issue with heights but hooboy that is terrifying looking. It also looks like Theon Greyjoy makes a return after this week’s absence.
There is sadness with this episode though, and that would be the fact that we are past the halfway mark.
Thankfully the internet provides such things to keep us going through these times of great loss, and even anticipation of great loss. How about a collection of various Game of Thrones theme music? If nothing else, it might give you a new appreciation for carillon bells!
David Cage’s new title Beyond: Two Souls is being shown off at the Tribeca Film Festival this weekend and yesterday Cage debuted 35 straight minutes of footage. The video focuses on a section of the game in which Jodie, the player-character, is living on the street.
The clip seems to jump to certain key points in the chapter in order to showcase the variety of gameplay Beyond will offer the player. It begins with Jodie trying to scrape together some cash, which appears to be almost entirely scripted cinema stuff interspersed with a bit of walking and some of the same button prompt mechanics from Heavy Rain. It then moves to a street brawl with some rowdy teenagers in order to show the new combat system. Again, a lot of this looks to be on rails save for the occasional button-prompt, but it’s hard to tell without seeing someone play it in real time. Skipping ahead, Jodie goes on to help a woman give birth and later escapes a burning building before the video ends. There’s a lot of content being shown here, with lots of dialogue and a couple of times in which the player takes control of Aiden, the mysterious entity tethered to Jodie throughout Beyond: Two Souls. If you’ve been wanting to see just how the game will play, this preview will give you a very good idea.
I have been ambivalent toward this game since its announcement. I have little love for Heavy Rain or David Cage, but I don’t want that to affect my judgement. For all of Cage’s pretentious and backwards ideas about video games, we do need more mature stories in this medium and if nothing else, Beyond is trying to tell a sincere, deliberate story.
It’s also impressive just how much the animation and acting have improved since Heavy Rain. The detail on the face models is breathtaking and the motion capture has led to very fluid character movement, but it’s the VO that has impressed me most. Not a hint of the same absurd accents and bad acting acting that ran rampant in Heavy Rain (Although some of the dialogue is still pretty terrible). Ellen Page is putting a quality performance into her role as Jodie, and you can see it in this half hour demo. It also helps that there is something about Beyond: Two Souls that feels reminiscent of two of her previous film roles, The Tracey Fragments and Hard Candy.
The bottom line of the whole video for me is that this still looks like a mostly passive experience. Quantic Dream say that Beyond has a lot more active gameplay than Heavy Rain did but this footage really only shows the same kind of button-prompt nonsense we’ve seen from them before. True, Aiden’s new possession mechanics are thrown in as well, but it doesn’t really seem to be all that dynamic. It’s basically just another layer of very rigid point-and-clicking. Truth be told, this preview has me more convinced that I won’t be buying Beyond: Two Souls. I prefer to play games and watch movies, not the other way around.
What are your thoughts of this preview? Will you be picking up Beyond: Two Souls? Sound off in the comments section below!
Seems like just yesterday we stumbled into Starling City and learned that Oliver Queen had a family and an ex-girlfriend named Laurel Lance and a best friend named Tommy Merlyn and now look where we are. There’s an entire Arrow posse that is teaming up to take down the baddies and looking fantastic while doing so. Hard to believe there’s only three episodes left until next October (I’d say September but the CW started in October this year and I imagine they’ll do the same next year), but let’s not focus on the long Arrow-less summer, rather let’s dive right in to this week’s episode, Home Invasion!
I’m going to start with Thea and Roy because there were a small side story this episode with most of the time going to Laurel and Oliver and a hired gun but I felt it necessary to lead off with this moment from Felicity. I think she just gets better each week! Now she’s going from one moment lamenting a trip to Guantanamo Bay and the next she’s reminding Oliver what she could do to him if he were to let it be known she dyes her hair. This chick is just awesome.
“Is that a police radio in your pocket?” Credit to: ScruffyDean
Okay, Roy and Thea. If I wasn’t already certain that Roy Harper was going to be THE Roy Harper, I am after this episode. He thieves a police radio so he can try and track down the vigilante, somehow Detective Lance who was completely unaware of a bug on his phone for an unknown period of time (for all we know it could still be there as they’ve never mentioned it again – annoyance) noticed this and devised a way to trap the hoodlum. Of course that leads to him telling Thea how much he feels he owes the vigilante and blah blah, he’s going to be Speedy, I imagine they’ll have both Thea and Roy find out about Oliver in the season finale.
I feel like it’s been way too long since we had a nice workout scene. This one was way too short thanks to that jackass fun ruiner Floyd Lawton, aka Deadshot. Let me just say, unlike the Count from episode 19 who sadly came back as a non-issue, I’m really liking how they’ve played Deadshot through the season. Of course, at first it seemed as if they were going to make him a one shot wonder, but the story line of Diggle distancing himself from Oliver’s list to start his own is really appealing. Of course he wants to go after Deadshot and of course Oliver will help him… or will he?
This week’s bad guy was an assassin hired by another dirtbag businessman Rasmus. Enter the home invasion of “Home Invasion”. That dude was rather efficient. You’d think as a seasoned assassin he’d at least attempt to go after the 10 year old that he wants to kill, but let’s not be foolish, it’s not as if a grown man can outrun a gradeschooler. No it is much better to just go ahead and leave that loose end to be finished off later.
Speaking of really bonehead moves…
Credit to: TheBoyInTheRedHoodie
I am really glad that Laurel’s father taught her how to handle a gun. However, I’m fairly certain that he probably also told her to make sure that if you are going in with only one shell, make sure it counts. Otherwise you do this badass move to pump the shotgun only to look like an idiot when it’s empty. Thankfully Oliver swoops in to save the day, somewhat to Tommy’s chagrin. Of course this was after Tommy had a little heart to heart with the poor little orphan boy.
Awwww…
Look at those teary eyes! If that doesn’t make you sigh then you have a heart of stone. That was a very endearing moment. Of course Tommy is having a very emotional couple of weeks. First his father is an ass, then his best friend tells him he’s been lying/withholding truth, and now he’s having to deal with now ex-best friend being the human equivalent of Mighty Mouse and swooping in to save the day. Poor guy, I just want to give him a hug.
So now Tommy, Laurel, and the kid are at the Queen mansion. How awkward is that? Nothing like playing house in the house of your ex-boyfriend while his mother tells you how much she liked her son dating you. Yea, that’s not cool. Even less cool would be Oliver, again. Although I do concede that this was a crappy decision to make, I’d probably go after the guy who has names of everyone he’s killed tattooed on his body, but I do recognize that it would be difficult to ignore the fact that your ex-girlfriend that you still love is target by proxy of the other contract killer. Really, when you are dealing with two assassins, perhaps it’s better to just flip a coin. Either way, someone is going to get hurt.
Unfortunately this time it was Diggle, quite literally. Well Diggle was hurt and his ARGUS cohorts were more than a little hurt. Best line of the episode was Deadshot telling Diggle that the reason he wasn’t going to kill him was someone hadn’t paid him to. Foreshadowing maybe? Hmmmm. What’s really got to chap Diggle’s ass though is yes Rasmus was jailed which was Oliver’s doing but in the end his assassin went off the reservation and went after the kid anyway. Well he did until Oliver stuck a fire poker through his chest. Ouch.
That probably hurt
So not only has Deadshot gotten away, again, but the assassin his killed anyway. I sort of can’t blame Diggle for leaving. I mean I feel badly for Oliver, but Diggle has a better leg to stand on with this one. Of course I want him to stick around but man, Oliver might have to do a bit of groveling. Diggle isn’t the only one leaving because in a move everyone saw a mile away, Tommy is leaving Laurel. So now he’s working for his father, he’s kaiboshed his friendship with Oliver, and he’s dumped Laurel. He’s either going to take a long walk off a short pier or he’s going to go into the real family business. I’m banking on the second.
The island story was short but full. We get to see more of the shaping of present day Oliver as Shado is teaching him to shoot. Oh and how to awkwardly tell a woman that there’s someone else. Awkward.
Speaking of people dumping other people, Yao Fei and I are OVER!! Fool me once and all that. How many times is he going to give up Oliver to Fyers? How many?!?!? I’m officially disbanding the Yao Fei fan club. No more Fei, no more.
Overall, I really liked this episode. Moved the plot along quite a bit and sets up quite a bit of action for the remaining three episodes. Going to have to go with a four out of five.
Like Mr. Amell said, there are no breaks until the finale so we’ll be back next week – see you then!
First it was Lillyhammer, then the wildly popular (especially among the Congress crowd) House of Cards, later this summer it will be Arrested Development, but right now it’s Eli Roth’s Hemlock Grove‘s time.
Premiering on Friday, April 19th, Netflix again released the entire 13 episode season at once for all of us who enjoy bingeing on TV shows in one or two sittings. I’ll admit that I’d never heard of the book by Brian McGreevy (who is an executive producer for the series) and don’t normally keep up with all news vampire and werewolf related so I had heard nothing about this show until it started getting buzz right before it premiered. Of course I then went out and found the trailer and Netflix lets you know right away what you might find in their new series.
So just a couple of days ago we shared with you Comicbookgirl19’s Epic History of the Targaryens. Now, just like that she has released the first part of her History of the Lannisters video. This one will focus on Tywin Lannister, leaving the kids till the next vid.
If you were absent from the internet the last few days, you missed perhaps one of the greatest tirades ever printed. Rebecca Martinson is a student at University of Maryland and also happens to be a Delta Gamma sister. Apparently she felt that her fellow sisters weren’t living up to the Delta Gamma social standard and decided to take it upon herself and let them know exactly how disappointed she was in them.
[quote]If you just opened this like I told you to, tie yourself down to whatever chair you’re sitting in, because this email is going to be a rough f*cking ride.
For those of you that have your heads stuck under rocks, which apparently is the majority of this chapter, we have been F*CKING UP in terms of night time events and general social interactions with Sigma Nu. I’ve been getting texts on texts about people LITERALLY being so f*cking AWKWARD and so f*cking BORING. If you’re reading this right now and saying to yourself “But oh em gee Julia, I’ve been having so much fun with my sisters this week!”, then punch yourself in the face right now so that I don’t have to f*cking find you on campus to do it myself.
I do not give a flying f*ck, and Sigma Nu does not give a flying f*ck, about how much you f*cking love to talk to your sisters. You have 361 days out of the f*cking year to talk to sisters, and this week is NOT, I f*cking repeat NOT ONE OF THEM. This week is about fostering relationships in the greek community, and that’s not f*cking possible if you’re going to stand around and talk to each other and not our matchup. Newsflash you stupid cocks: FRATS DON’T LIKE BORING SORORITIES. Oh wait, DOUBLE F*CKING NEWSFLASH: SIGMA NU IS NOT GOING TO WANT TO HANG OUT WITH US IF WE F*CKING SUCK, which by the way in case you’re an idiot and need it spelled out for you, WE F*CKING SUCK SO FAR. This also applies to you little shits that have talked openly about post gaming at a different frat IN FRONT OF SIGMA NU BROTHERS. Are you people f*cking retarded? That’s not a rhetorical question, I LITERALLY want you to email me back telling me if you’re mentally slow so I can make sure you don’t go to anymore night time events. If Sigma Nu openly said “Yeah we’re gonna invite Zeta over”, would you be happy? WOULD YOU? No you wouldn’t, so WHY THE F*CK WOULD YOU DO IT TO THEM?? IN FRONT OF THEM?!! First of all, you SHOULDN’T be post gaming at other frats, I don’t give a F*CK if your boyfriend is in it, if your brother is in it, or if your entire family is in that frat. YOU DON’T GO. YOU. DON’T. GO. And you ESPECIALLY do f*cking NOT convince other girls to leave with you.
“But Julia!”, you say in a whiny little bitch voice to your computer screen as you read this email, “I’ve been cheering on our teams at all the sports, doesn’t that count for something?” NO YOU STUPID F*CKING ASS HATS, IT F*CKING DOESN’T. DO YOU WANNA KNOW F*CKING WHY?!! IT DOESN’T COUNT BECAUSE YOU’VE BEEN F*CKING UP AT SOBER F*CKING EVENTS TOO. I’ve not only gotten texts about people being f*cking WEIRD at sports (for example, being stupid shits and saying stuff like “durr what’s kickball?” is not f*cking funny), but I’ve gotten texts about people actually cheering for the opposing team. The opposing. F*cking. Team. ARE YOU F*CKING STUPID?!! I don’t give a SHIT about sportsmanship, YOU CHEER FOR OUR GODDAMN TEAM AND NOT THE OTHER ONE, HAVE YOU NEVER BEEN TO A SPORTS GAME? ARE YOU F*CKING BLIND? Or are you just so f*cking dense about what it means to make people like you that you think being a good little supporter of the greek community is going to make our matchup happy? Well it’s time someone told you, NO ONE F*CKING LIKES THAT, ESPECIALLY OUR F*CKING MATCHUP. I will f*cking c%nt punt the next person I hear about doing something like that, and I don’t give a f*ck if you SOR me, I WILL F*CKING ASSAULT YOU.
“Ohhh Julia, I’m now crying because your email has made me oh so so sad”. Well good. If this email applies to you in any way, meaning if you are a little asswipe that stands in the corners at night or if you’re a weird shit that does weird shit during the day, this following message is for you:
DO NOT GO TO TONIGHT’S EVENT.
I’m not f*cking kidding. Don’t go. Seriously, if you have done ANYTHING I’ve mentioned in this email and have some rare disease where you’re unable to NOT do these things, then you are HORRIBLE, I repeat, HORRIBLE PR FOR THIS CHAPTER. I would rather have 40 girls that are fun, talk to boys, and not f*cking awkward than 80 that are f*cking faggots. If you are one of the people that have told me “Oh nooo boo hoo I can’t talk to boys I’m too sober”, then I pity you because I don’t know how you got this far in life, and with that in mind don’t f*cking show up unless you’re going to stop being a goddamn cock block for our chapter. Seriously. I swear to f*cking God if I see anyone being a goddamn boner at tonight’s event, I will tell you to leave even if you’re sober. I’m not even kidding. Try me.
And for those of you who are offended at this email, I would apologize but I really don’t give a f*ck. Go f*ck yourself.
[/quote]
Using things like “retarded” and “faggots” as insults aside, you have to admit the girl has quite the knack for completely capturing the rage she feels and forming it into words. And when those words include the phrase “c%nt punt”? Someone get this woman a Nobel Prize, stat.
This is the first thing I thought of
Of course this letter was sent over to Gawker and even less surprising, the internet and it’s minions jumped on it like a duck on a june bug. Those of us who aren’t in the mood to hire Man of Steeland Boardwalk Empire‘s Michael Shannon to do a dramatic reading of the diatribe turned to those who were, not surprisingly, it was Funny or Die.
As if that wasn’t enough, the geniuses behind “The Most Popular Girls” decided to do their own take on the correspondence. Something about Barbie dropping F-bombs like it was her job just makes it even funnier, which I didn’t even think was possible.
Michael Shannon and Barbie not doing it for you? Then how about Nerdist’s Alison Haislip?
I think we can all agree, these are fabulous but what about poor Rachel’s future? Here she has had a momentary lapse in judgement that will likely follow her through the years as she attempts to find a life after college and in the professional world. For all we know, she is a perfectly lovely young woman outside of this incident.
So obviously, being self-aware and sensitive to the feelings of others is not really Rebecca’s strong suit. Her parents must be so proud. Good luck Ms. Martinson, you are going to need it.
Join us next time as we all audit University of Maryland’s class, The Internet Never Forgets 101.
Grizzly Bomb 