Sunday, July 5, 2015
Saturday is Haul Day 50!!
Easy week this week, just comics. After a day of festivities here's the Haul.
Darth Vader #7 by Keiron Gillen, Salvador Larroca, and Edgar Delgado, Princess Leia #5 by Mark Waid, Terry Dodson, Rachel Dodson and Jordie Bellaire, Secret Wars #4 by Jonathan Hickman, Esad Ribic, and Ive Svorcina, The Spire #1 by Simon Spurrier, Jeff Stokely, and Andre May, The Wicked + The Divine # 12 by Kieron Gillen, Kate Brown, Jamie McKelvie, and Matthew Wilson, and The Woods #14 by James Tynion IV, Michael Dialynas, and Josan Gonzalez
Sunday, June 28, 2015
Saturday WAS Haul Day 49!!
Where was I Saturday, you might ask? Well, I was powering through the last 8 hours or so of the fantastic The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. Why was I pushing through it when I had other things I could have been doing? Well aside from it being fantastic and worth finishing, I had something new that was going to demand my attention in the near feature; Rocksteady's Batman: Arkham Knight.
I also picked up a couple of other things. Coup from Indie Boards & Cards, the makers of The Resistance. It's another game involving a large group of your friends lying to each other at every turn and promises to be just as much fun.
I also picked up a new Funko Pop! figurine; the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man! Basically I just saw that face and had to bring it home. Who could say "No"?
It was a really light comics week, with the only new release from my pull list being Tomb Raider #17 by Rhianna Pratchett and Derlis Santacruz.
Saturday, June 20, 2015
Saturday is Haul Day 48!!
All right, I know what you're thinking to yourself, "Did Matt really go and buy a puzzle? Really?" As a matter of fact, I sure did. We were walking through the toy section and this little box caught my eye. It's from White Mountain Puzzles and features a ton of vintage book covers of best sellers. Once assembled I think it'll be an interesting bit of decoration, now to figure out how to keep it assembled and framed.
This week in the comic world I picked up several interesting things: Archie vs. Predator #3 of 4 by Alex de Campi, Fernando Ruiz, Rich Koslowski, and Jason Millet, the conclusion to Vertigo's The Kitchen #8 of 8 by Ollie Masters, Ming Doyle and Jordie Bellaire, Moon Knight #16 by Cullen Bunn, German Peralta, and Dan Brown, Secret Six #3 by Gail Simone, Dan Eaglesham, Drew Geraci, and Jason Wright, and Trees #10 by Warren Ellis and Jason Howard.
Saturday, June 13, 2015
Saturday is Haul Day 47!!
I know sound like a broken record at this point, but more frequent reviews are definitely in the future. It's all The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt's fault. The articles you see claiming there is 200+ hours of content to make your way through are not exaggerating.
The latest collaboration of Matthew Vaughan and Mark Millar, Kingsman: The Secret Service, was released on Blu-Ray this week. It was so much fun the first time around that I just had to add it to the collection. I can't wait to dive into the special features and see if there is a behind the scenes look at the insane melee in which Colin Firth takes out dozens of attackers.
This was a great week for comics too. Batman #41 by Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo, Danny Miki and FCO Plascencia, Constantine: The Hellblazer #1 by Mike Doyle, James Tynion IV, Riley Rossmo and Ivan Plascensia, Rachel Rising #34 by Terry Moore, Saga #29 by Fiona Staples and Brian K. Vaughan, Secret Wars #3 by Jonathan Hickman, Esad Ribic, and Ive Svorcina, and Spider-Gwen #5 by Jason Latour, Robbi Rodriguez, and Rico Renzi all came home with me.
Monday, June 8, 2015
Game of Thrones: Season 5, Episode 9
Game of Thrones
Episode Title: “The Dance of
Dragons”
Channel: HBO
Director: David Nutter
Writers: David Benioff and D.B.
Weiss
Genre: Action,
Drama, Fantasy
Runtime: 55 min
Rated: TV-MA
Original Air Date: June 7, 2015
After last week's superb episode I had
high hopes going in to the ninth episode of this season. The ninth
episode is typically where the really big stuff happens in a season
of Game of Thrones, and if
the thrill that was “Hardhome” was too be any indication, “The
Dance of Dragons” was going to be a huge episode. Maybe I had
placed expectations that were too high on this episode, or maybe it
just failed to live up following “Hardhome.” Either way it just
wasn't quite what I was looking for.
Let's
begin with Jon's return to Castle Black. After the battle with the
White Walkers, Jon had managed to bring a few thousand wildlings to
the Wall. The audience was teased for a moment with the idea that
First Ranger Thorne would refuse to open the gates, leaving the Lord
Commander and his guests to rot on the northern side of the Wall.
The tense moment passed and the wildlings were allowed to pass
through the gate. There were a lot of hateful glares directed Jon's
way, but the passage of the wildlings was allowed to occur without
violence. This would be the sole appearance of Jon Snow in the
episode, highlighting once again a problem I've had with this season.
If a character's time in an episode is limited to a handful of
minutes and then not to be seen again in the episode; I would prefer
they held off on that character's appearance until there was more to
see. There was no need for this scene in “The Dance of Dragons,”
Jon's arrival at Castle Black and the consequences of his choices
could have waited until next week.
Arya
set out to complete her first assignment for the Many-Faced God, but
was distracted with Lord Tyrell's group arrived in Braavos. She
recognized Ser Meryn Trant immediately and abandoned her
assassination of the Thin Man in favor of following Trant around
town. The writers saw fit to remind us how bad a guy Trant is with a
very uncomfortable scene in a brothel. He rejected a couple of the
brothel's women before settling on a young girl. Part of the fun of
the previous seasons of Game of Thrones
has been the ambiguity surrounding the good or evil nature of its
characters. Sure some characters acted in such ways as to cause the
audience to dislike them, but beneath the schemes and plots you could
see how the character(s) in question could consider themselves the
good guy. The unquestionably bad guys have previously seemed evil
organically, The Mountain was just a murderous behemoth, Armory Lorch
was a sadistic sword for hire; neither of them required reminder
scenes reinforcing the level of disdain the audience should have for
them. Between Bolton, and now Trant, it seems the audience is being
bludgeoned about the head with the writers' desire for us to dislike
those characters. I don't know if it's a lack of confidence in their
own writing, or in the audience, but it has been too blatant for my
tastes. Anyway, Arya reported back to Jaqen that the Thin Man wasn't
hungry when she passed by, and that she'd try again the next day. It
seems obvious that he would know she's lying, so his motivation for
allowing things to play out may be interesting.
Dorne
wasn't as bad as it has been this week. Doran Martell argeed to
allow Myrcella to return with Jaime to King's Landing, on the
condition that Trystane Martell would still be allowed to marry her,
and that he would take Oberyn's seat on the King's Small Council.
Jaime agreed to the terms, and even managed to get Bronn freed from
his cell. Ellaria seems to have dropped the grudge she held against
the Lannisters, but her surrender seemed too easy. I expect her to
renege on her new sworn fealty to Doran at the next possible moment.
I don't believe that her tears when Doran forgave her were due to his
kindness, most likely she realized that he had become an obstacle in
her way.
Stannis'
encampment was attacked in the night, with most of their food stores
being destroyed. This made a desperate situation worse. Faced with
no options that would allow him victory Stannis made a decision I was
sure he would never made. I knew things were going to take a turn
for the worst when he sent Davos back to Castle Black to beg for
supplies. With the only voice of reason among his confidants removed
Stannis gave in to his desire for victory. He had a quiet chat with
Shireen, during which she professed her willingness to help in any
way she could, and then sentenced her to die on a pyre in sacrifice
to the Lord of Light. After so much time had been spent making
Stannis a more likable character this season it was surprising he
decided his own daughter was an acceptable loss on his way to the
throne. All of the goodwill Stannis had accrued from the audience
died in the fire with Shireen. Here's to hoping that her cries for
help and her pained screams haunt his sleep. While she begged for
mercy it was Selyse, Stannis' wife and devout follower of the Lord of
Light, who was shaken enough to try to help. By that time it was too
late.
Finally,
in Meereen, Dany was attending the festive reopening of the fighting
pits by viewing the spectacle of men killing each other. Daario
verbally sparred with the Queen's soon to be husband in what I though
was a good character moment for Daario. Jorah made his appearance
and after some hairy moments managed to win his fight. During his
fight you could see Dany's stance towards him waver every time he was
in danger. Upon his victory she seemed relieved, until Jorah took up
a fallen spear and threw it in her direction. It wasn't intended for
her though, as it struck an approaching Son of the Harpy. Soon there
were dozens of Sons making their way towards the Queen, with a small
band of defenders struggling to keep them at bay. Tyrion gave a good
showing for himself, killing one of the assailants and saving
Missandei in the process in the process. Once again the Unsullied
were made to look like the Stormtroopers of Westeros as they proved
rather ineffectual in protecting the Queen. When all seemed lost
Drogon, aka deus ex
dragon, entered the battle. After man spears through Drogon's hide,
and even more Sons of the Harpy burnt extra crispy, Dany clambered
upon his back and took to the skies.
Conclusion:
“The Dance of Dragons” faced a tough task this week, and fell
short. If not for how good “Hardhome” was I think my reaction to
this episode would have been different. None of that is to say this
was a bad episode, it just failed to up the ante the way the ninth
episodes of seasons had before.
Rating:
8.5/10
Sunday, June 7, 2015
Saturday WAS Haul Day 46!!
OK, so where have I been this week? The same place I was last week, playing The Witcher 3 during every free moment I could find. It's a little frustrating because I feel like I'm probably only a quarter of the way through the game; at the same time every game that a person spends $60 on should provide this much entertainment.
This week I noticed that Target had a bunch of classic (and other, does Peter Jackson's King Kong count as a classic? I think not.) movies on the shelf with interesting new cover art and these metallic cases that I really like. Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho has been missing from my collection for far too long, so it was time to rectify that.
This week was a rebound week in the comics department, with a lot of fun stuff coming out. The Bunker #11 by Joshua Hale Fialkov and Joe Infurnari, Darth Vader #6 by Keiron Gillen, Salvador Larroca, and Edgar Delgado, The Empty #4 by Jimmie Robinson, Princess Leia #4 by Mark Waid, Terry Dodson, Rachel Dodson and Jordie Bellaire, Star Wars #6 by Jason Aaron, John Cassaday, and Laura Martin, The Wicked + The Divine #11 by Kieron Gillen, Jamie McKelvie, Matthew Wilson and Clayton Cowles, and The Woods #13 by James Tynion IV, Michael Dialynas, and Josan Gonzalez.
Monday, June 1, 2015
Game of Thrones: Season 5, Episode 8
Game of Thrones
Episode Title: “Hardhome”
Channel: HBO
Director: Miguel Sapochnik
Writers: David Benioff and D.B.
Weiss
Genre: Action,
Drama, Fantasy
Runtime: 55 min
Rated: TV-MA
Original Air Date: May 31, 2015
Let's get the smaller things out of the
way first. Sansa confronted Theon over his loyalty to Ramsay. It
wasn't the best scene of the episode, but it did allow Sansa to
discover that Bran and Rickon are still alive. I'm not sure what the
point of revealing this fact to Sansa was; it felt more like a
reminder to the audience that Bran is still out there. I understand
the motivation behind the reveal in that regard, since Bran has not
appeared in this season. What is Sansa supposed to do with this
information though? I suppose she can draw on it to find strength,
or something some other nebulous thing, but it felt a little clumsily
handled and transparent. Also in Winterfell, the Boltons were
discussing how best to handle the impending threat of Stannis' army.
The elder Bolton was content with staying behind their walls and
waiting the assault out, Ramsay on the other hand advocated a raid of
some sort on the advancing army. He claimed he'd need only twenty
men to hurt Stannis, hopefully setting up the character's downfall in
the upcoming episode; episode nine when all of the big stuff happens.
Ceresi is still locked away in a
dungeon by the Faith. Apparently they're withholding water from her
until she confesses her crimes. When she refused she was beaten.
Qyburn showed up and gave her an update on recent events in King's
Landing. Her uncle Kevan has returned from Casterly Rock and is
serving as the Hand to King Tommen. Tommen has locked himself away
in his chambers and refuses to eat or see anyone. Qyburn also
revealed that the work he has been doing is progressing well, teasing
the audience with whatever was under the sheet we saw in his
laboratory. If nothing has changed in that regard from the books
readers of the series will know what's in store. I feel like it's a
reveal that could go either way. If it's not handled well it could
come off as cheesy, otherwise it could serve as a chilling remind of
what Ceresi will do to maintain her power. After Qyburn's visit the
woman that has been interrogating Ceresi returned with another bucket
of water and a ladle. Ceresi continued making threats to the woman,
who proceeded to dump the water on the dirty floor of Ceresi's cell.
The sight of Ceresi greedily slurping water from the dirty stone felt
like she was finally reaping what shes sown, although it was pitiful
enough that one could almost feel sorry for her.
Arya's journey to become a Faceless Man
has progressed. She has come a long way since the days she couldn't
sneak a single lie past Jaquen. She has been spending her time
cultivating a character to play while she's out in the city, that of
a peddler of mollusks. She changed the path she normally walked at
Jaquen's request and met a man named only the Thin Man. When she
reported back to Jaquen he explained to her that the Thin Man was to
be her first assignment; someone who deserves to face judgment at the
hands of the Many Faced God. After making only miniscule jumps
forward in her story this season the last two episodes have made me
care what's going on with her again.
There was a brief check in with Sam and
Gilly at Castle Black. This was another segment of the episode that
felt unnecessary. Sam and Gilly briefly discussed how safe they may
be in Castle Black before Jon's steward walked in. Their
conversation gave Sam a few minutes to assure the audience that Jon
knows what he's doing, we just have to trust him. The quick scenes
with characters who are doing next to nothing otherwise that have
been so prevalent this season are interrupting the flow of the
episodes they appear in. Nearly every one of them have been for the
audience's benefit and not the story's.
Tyrion and Dany finally had their sit
down moment. Tyrion successfully convinced her to spare Jorah's
life, but didn't save him from banishment. Once Tyrion and Daenerys
got into a one on one setting things really picked up. He tried to
convince her of the futility of her return to Westeros, claiming that
no one would side with her. She retorted by explaining that she
didn't want the support of the ruling families in Westeros, she wants
to completely break the system of governance and remake it in a way
that's more fair to the common folk. It'll be interesting to see if
Tyrion can convince her that her goals are unrealistic, or if he'll
come around to her way of thinking. Tyrion seems too pragmatic a man
to think that the leading families of his homeland would be so easily
overthrown.
Nearly the entire last half of the
episode deal with Jon's mission to Hardhome to convince has many of
the free folk has possible to travel south and seek refuge on the
southern side of the Wall. He and Tormund arrived to a chilly
reception, but managed to convince some of the clan elders to come
with them. They began loading noncombatants on to boats to take back
to the waiting ships. Before the evacuation could be completed the
earth began to shake and clouds of ice and snow began pouring down
the surrounding mountainsides. I was sure that this was where we'd
leave the story for this week, leaving the threat to make its actual
appearance in next week's episode. You know, the episode that we've
grown so accustomed to looking at for all of the action.
Alas, I was pleasantly surprised. What
followed was an all out attack by the forces of the White Walkers,
reanimated corpses that move much faster than the last time we saw
them. I'm going to assume that their new found speed stems from the
Walkers' power growing. Jon, the men of the Night's Watch that
accompanied him on the journey, and the fighters of the wildlings
fought desperately to allow as many people to flee as possible.
After attempting to reacquire the pouch of dragonglass he'd brought
to the meeting Jon met one of the Walkers in single combat. He won
the fight and managed to escape on the last boat leaving Hardhome.
He and the apparent leader of the White Walkers engaged in a staring
battle, during which the Walker raised all of the dead that had been
left behind. With the numbers of the dead army increased following
the battle things look bleak for those south of the Wall.
Conclusion:
The writers surprised us with an epic battle in the eighth episode
of the season. The story lines that received the bulk of the time
were all served well by “Hardhome.” Although they weren't as
distracting as they have been, the one off scenes following
characters doing very little at the time were still present, and
still obviously there only to remind the audience of things they
might've forgotten. I chuckled a bit when the
animated skeletons of the dead army reminded me of the stop-motion
skeletons in Army
of Darkness.
Rating:
9/10
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