Archives June 2022

IT IS RARE FOR ME TO SEE A MOVIE WHEN IT’S STILL IN THEATERS BUT THANKS TO WARNER BROS I WAS ABLE TO CATCH UP ON THOSE I MISSED!

Recently the fine folks at Warner Bros (their home page is here) had sent me codes to some of their movies I missed so that I could share my thoughts on them with you. For the first part of this series we talked about Scoob, Birds of Prey, The Way Back, Goonies 4K, Beetlejuice 4K, Full Metal Jacket, Sherlock Holmes 4K and Sherlock Holmes A Game of Shadows 4K. Part 2 ‘twas massive and discussed V for Vendetta 4K, 300 4K, The Lord of the Rings Trilogy 4K, The Hobbit Trilogy 4K, Blade 4K, Bill and Ted Face the Music, Tenet and The Wolf of Snow Hollow. Part 3 talked about Wonder Woman 1984, The Little Things and Judas and the Black Messiah. Part 4 discussed Tom and Jerry the Movie and Godzilla Vs Kong. Part 5 was all about Wrath of Man, Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory and Space Jam. Part 6 had discussed Mortal Kombat and Those Who Wish Me Dead. Part 7 discussed In the Heights, The Conjuring 3: The Devil Made Me Do It, Zack Snyder’s Justice League and Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone 20 Years of Movie Magic edition. Part 8 discussed A Clockwork Orange, Space Jam: A New Legacy and Shawshank Redemption. Part 9 talked about The Suicide Squad and Reminiscence. Part 10 discussed The Outsiders, Cry Macho, Malignant, the Many Saints of Newark and the Mad Max film collection. We have returned for Part 11 to talk about Dune, Matrix: Resurrections, The Batman, Dog and Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore.

Dune

This film is the first half of the latest adaptation of the novel but by far the most faithful we have yet to receive. This was always one of my favorite series and I only had one complaint- that we didn’t receive the full adaptation in a single release. I would have gladly sat through the full 4-6 hours it would have taken to watch it in it’s entirety.

Matrix: Resurrections

In the previous Matrix film Neo and Trinity sacrificed themselves to save the day. The film picks up with a video game designer who looks like Neo with flashes of events from the previous films and it seems like these are all part of a video game he designed. Things get crazier as we dive deeper into this meta rabbit hole and it was a fantastic ride all the way until the end.

The Batman

All heroes have to start somewhere and this is the Batman’s start. His first “super villain” and his first major case, all before the gadgets and masking of his voice. Sure it is yet another retelling of his origin but in the end this film was a fantastic story and was told wonderfully. I hope this same creative team gets the chance to do more.

Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore

This is the first film since we had Depp replaced and yet Ezra Miller still kept his role. The film follows Dumbledore as he brings together a team to fight Grindelwald and along the way clash with his follows and encounter new and old beasts. I continue to love the films in this universe but wish that we could have done so with maintaining the original cast.

Dog

Army Ranger Briggs and a dog named Lulu travel towards a funeral and along the way have to survive each other. The film does something that has been ignored for too long, focus on the psychological damage and necessity for healing after experiencing war. For this alone it is worth a watch but it is an amusing buddy comedy otherwise.

Which of these films from Warner Bros have you seen and which did you enjoy? Let us know on our Twitter page!

IT IS RARE FOR ME TO SEE A MOVIE WHEN IT’S STILL IN THEATERS BUT THANKS TO Marvel Entertainment I WAS ABLE TO CATCH UP ON A FEW THAT I MISSED!

Recently the fine folks at Marvel Entertainment (their home page is here) had sent me a code to one of the movies I missed so that I could share my thoughts on it with you. This will be a regular series and Part 1 we talked about Black Widow. Part 2 discussed Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. Part 3 shared our thoughts on Eternals and straight to DVD release Spidey and his Amazing Friends. We are back this time to talk about Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness!

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness

This film picks up shortly after the events of Wandavision and Spider Man No Way Home, however only Wandavision is required viewing prior to seeing this film, trust me. If you haven’t seen Wandavision yet then do yourself a favor, stop reading and come back once you are caught up. Those that have seen the show will remember that Wanda created children in her grief and in letting them go managed to defeat Agatha and obtain the Darkhold. Fast forward to present day and Doctor Strange (from a different universe) races towards the Book of the Vishanti with America Chavez and being chased by a demonic entity. The creature kills this version of Strange and mistakenly sends America into the Multiverse. This film introduces many plots from the comics for the first time like the Illuminati and Incursions. Having been caught up on the various cinematic plot threads I found this movie to exceed my expectations and managed to even change where I thought the current story arch for the MCU was going. Overall I want to watch it again to see what I missed the first time.

Have you had a chance to see this film from Marvel Entertainment? If not it can currently be seen in Disney+ as well as purchased from your favorite distributer (releasing July 26th).

Exploding Kittens brings us another food based fighting game. Throw Throw Avocado is both sequel and expansion to its predecessor Throw Throw Burrito.

Ever since I was a kid I wanted to take part in one of those epic food fights where the whole school is involved. Sadly this dream was never realized but Throw Throw Burrito and Throw Throw Avocado are the next best things. Even better is cleaning up after this food fight is much preferred to a real food fight.

Players take turns passing cards around the table, scrambling to find matches until matching duel cards are played and the throwing of avocados commences. There is an added variation this time around called Leg Duel where the players stand back to back, take three paces, turn and throw them through their opponent’s legs in order to score a point. What makes it even better is chucking this little avocados at your own kids, even with hard a throw these things are so soft that they make a satisfying hit without injuring them.

Combing this game with its predecessor makes for a longer experience that is pure chaos. This variation is the best way to play the game but not as suitable for younger players as the chaos can be overwhelming or they grow tired of the game before it is over.

Exploding Kittens brings us this latest gem to their library of game titles and I sincerely hope this isn’t the final installment in the Throw Throw franchise.

The Oatmeal returns to their classic card game with essentially an Ultimate Edition of Exploding Kittens with Recipes for Disaster!

There are very few titles where I will want every edition that is released but Exploding Kittens is one such title. The Oatmeal brings us their latest edition Recipes for Disaster. Overall the gameplay is very much the same. Each player will play an action of some sort in hopes that their opponent will draw one of the Exploding Kittens and be removed from the game. Of course if they have a defuse in hand then the Kitten will be returned to the deck.

Where previous editions or expansions added cards to your deck, Recipes for Disaster changes things up. Before starting the game you will choose your ”recipe” which will require the deck to be modified. Some remove certain cards entirely while other minimize the numbers of others. Each previous iteration of the game is included within this single edition and is the most complete release yet. These changes brings fresh new ways to play for any that needed it. For our family we are still far from sick of this game but these changes are welcome additions and look forward to see what else they come up with next for the game.

Gravitar is the latest Atari title to receive the Recharged treatment for the current generation of consoles.

The last time I had even heard of Gravitar was in the days when Atari gaming was in its prime. Playing it then I never got very far but my dad had the patience and skill to pilot the ship to victory. Fast forward a couple decades and not much has changed on my end with this Next Gen release.

In both iterations of the game you play a lone pilot trying to get home. While the controller themselves are entirely different the experience feels very much the same. A little too much acceleration when pointing the wrong direction can spell certain doom for this pilot. Each map is a new solar system where you must complete various challenges before being able to move on to the next solar system via a massive black hole. The question remains, will I ever bring this pilot home? For the now the answer is easy, its not going to happen. I al simply too heavy handed when it comes to a game that requires so much finesse and because of that I have yet to complete the first system. Despite my many, many failures I found the game to be challenging but enjoyable.