Moving Wallpaper
2x03 Episode 3
2x04 Episode 4
Still quite funny, but would benefit from a companion show still. Hopefully it'll get picked up for a third series and they can have Renaissance (or indeed something -- anything -- else) running alongside it again.
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]
Not Going Out
3x07 Marriage [season finale]
Another bit of a desperate episode, though still with a few hearty laughs. And you wouldn't guess it from the episode itself, but this appears to be the last of the series.
Or, all things considered, perhaps the last ever -- is Not Going Out on the way out? (Yeah, I just wanted to get that pun in.)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]
Edit: Turns out there's one more episode, but the BBC have cancelled the show and decided not to show it. It should be on later in the year however.
And in TV news, starting Monday 30th March, BBC Two are going to be showing The Wire from the very start. They'll be showing one episode a night too, so it should go by at a nice pace. Most importantly, I can finally see it! For more details, have a look here.
Showing posts sorted by relevance for query "Not Going Out". Sort by date Show all posts
Showing posts sorted by relevance for query "Not Going Out". Sort by date Show all posts
Friday, 20 March 2009
Monday, 1 September 2008
James Bond Ultimate Editions
My geekiness -- or, as some would surely say, sadness -- knows no bounds:
Two years ago -- or, if we're precise, 25.5 months ago -- MGM released the first 20 James Bond films as Ultimate Edition DVDs. These re-releases featured remastered picture and sound, as well as an array of new special features, creating two-disc releases for every film (previously only Die Another Day had been rewarded with one). As well as being released individually, there was a box set -- packaged in a rather stylish Bond-like 007-logo-embossed briefcase -- that housed all 20. I bought this on release. It is rather lovely.
The point of all this is that now, 25.5 months on, I've finally finished going through all 40 discs... not watching them, you understand, just having a general look through. And counting up what's on them. And as I've done all that legwork, I'm now going to share some of my findings with you.
The Films
We'll start with the films themselves. Assume that I'm leaving the 21st film (that's Casino Royale, by-the-way) out of things unless I say otherwise.
So there are, as I've said, 20 Bond films, and if you wanted to watch them all back to back from UK DVD it would take you 40 hours, 3 minutes and 27 seconds. Except of course you'd have to change discs and sit through menu load times and what have you -- not to mention sleeping and eating -- so in reality it would take notably longer, but you know what I mean. I specifically say "on UK DVD" because they of course feature PAL speed-up; if you were to watch all 20 from a film print, it would take more like 41 hours, 43 minutes and 36 seconds. But that's just an estimate. (Additionally, throw Casino Royale into the mix -- from the first, slightly cut UK DVD (hopefully the new one will be uncut, but don't bank on it) -- and it'll take you 42 hours 22 mins.)
The longest Bond film is 1969's On Her Majesty's Secret Service, at 2 hours 16 mins. (Casino Royale now pips it by 2 minutes 10 seconds.) The shortest is the first, 1962's Dr. No. Only eight of the films run under 2 hours, and in 1997 Tomorrow Never Dies (1 hour 54 mins) was the shortest Bond for 30 years. And two final pointless statistics: the actor who's got the longest total running time as Bond is Roger Moore (beating Sean Connery by just under 3 hours), while the longest average length belongs to one-time Bond George Lazenby -- entirely logically, if you think about it. (He'll probably keep hold of that too, as reports say Quantum of Solace will be shorter than Casino Royale, thereby keeping Daniel Craig's average down.)
The Commentaries
Moving on to the only first-disc extras for these films: commentaries (apart from two exceptions that I'll mention in a minute). There's no way I'm going to do something crazy like list all of the commentary participants -- while some stick to only using a couple of people (especially the specially-recorded ones on later films), many compile interviews with several people. What I can say is that, across the 20 films, there are a total of 35 commentary tracks. That's just over 70 hours of people yapping away over the top of movies. The additional 15 are provided for as follows:
Goldfinger has a "director & cast" track and a "crew" track
Thunderball has a "director & others" track and a "crew" track
Live and Let Die has three tracks: "director & others", the screenwriters, and Roger Moore solo
For Your Eyes Only also gets three: "director & cast", "crew", and Roger Moore solo
Timothy Dalton's second (and final) film, Licence to Kill, features "director & cast" and "producer & crew" tracks
Tomorrow Never Dies has one from the director and one from the producer & 2nd unit director
The World Is Not Enough has one by the director and one by three members of the crew
Die Another Day features one with the director & producer, and one with star Pierce Brosnan and sporadic contributions from Bond girl Rosamund Pike
And finally, the number is rounded out by an additional five solo Roger Moore commentaries -- that's one for each of his films.
I mentioned two exceptions. They are an 'isolated score' track on Tomorrow Never Dies, featuring David Arnold's wonderful score unobscured by sound effects or dialogue (it makes some awkward edits painfully obvious however), and an "MI6 Datastream" on Die Another Day. The latter is a silly name for a trivia track, where random bits of info are displayed in boxes on screen throughout the film. This one also occasionally branches out to featurettes (19 of them), during which the film is minimised to a tiny box while the behind-the-scenes footage plays in a larger one. It makes the film impossible to follow if you're not familiar with it, and also makes the featurettes awkward to find (or quantify the length of) without sitting through the whole thing.
"007 Mission Control"
I'll get to the extras proper in a minute, but first I have something stupid to mention. In what seems to be an effort to pad out the content of the second disc, each film contains something called "007 Mission Control". This is merely a selection of clips from the relevant film, divided up into six sections: 007, Women, Allies, Villains, Mission Combat Manual, and Q Branch. It is in every way pointless and just a waste of space, especially on Die Another Day (more on that in a moment).
The only worthwhile bit of it is a seventh 'category', called Exotic Locations. These are in fact short featurettes (three to five minutes long), narrated by a couple of different actresses from the series, that detail some of the locations featured in their relative films. In total they run 1 hour 19 minutes, which is clearly far from insubstantial... but it doesn't justify the 18 hours total wasted by Mission Control! Bloody stupid idea that was.
The Extras
So to the extras themselves. I'm not going to attempt to list all of them -- there are 250+ separate items across the series -- but there are a variety of things included: original documentaries, including specific Inside... 'making of's on each of the first 16 films, as well as broader ones that cover specific elements or contributors; vintage featurettes from the time of the film's release; newly-uncovered behind-the-scenes footage; deleted scenes (though not on Die Another Day, despite various sources having confirmed their existence); storyboards; image galleries; music videos; trailers, for every film (except Die Another Day), and TV and radio spots for many... I think that broadly summarises what's there.
You'll undoubtedly have noticed me having several jibes at Die Another Day throughout this post. Well, they're with good reason. The first 19 films all receive well-deserved re-releases: the image quality on all of them is immeasurably better than the dirty, standard definition transfers from the old releases; and all have been treated to new extras, as well as retaining everything that was already there. Not so Die Another Day. Apparently the picture quality of the film is improved from the original release -- which, incidentally, was only three years old when this new one appeared -- but the extras have been ransacked! True, there are a handful of new elements that reuse some of the old material... but they only total 40 minutes, and one of the things now missing is the 81 minute Inside Die Another Day feature! Not to mention other bits and bobs, including multi-angle sequences, shorter featurettes and music videos. Plus, as mentioned earlier, the deleted scenes still aren't present and the trailers and TV spots -- surely easily available just three-and-a-half years after release? -- haven't been added to the package.
It's especially galling because there's clearly room on the disc. Die Another Day's extras total 2 hours 10 mins; with "Mission Control" wasting space, that's 3 hours... but the three other Brosnan films have around 3 hours 45 minutes of material on disc two, as do several of the older films (Thunderball for one). How ludicrous is that? Especially when there's the Ultimate Edition label slapped on it -- all things considered, it's not really as good as the first release, never mind better than it! Of all the Bonds, this is clearly the one to hold out on -- I'd wager that, when it comes time to re-release them on Blu-ray (the first releases, coming soon, will just duplicate these Ultimate Editions), Die Another Day will regain some of that missing documentary material, and maybe even rediscover its deleted scenes (the other three Brosnan films all have deleted scenes that weren't on their original releases).
Totals
Rant over, I'll get to the final point of this thing: the total running times for the extras and the collection as a whole.
But first... The best film in the extras department is GoldenEye, with 2 hours 59 mins of the stuff. The weakest is For Your Eyes Only, which only scrapes together 1 hour 19 mins. The amount of new material on each release varies wildly, from as little as 18 minutes to as much as 1 hour 40 mins. Several have over an hour of new stuff, and it's only a few that sink below 30 mins.
But what of that grand total? Well, I can tell you that the running time of all those extras exceeds that of the films themselves, topping out at 43 hours, 4 minutes and 37 seconds!
So, when you put all of this stuff together, how long would it take you to get through the whole damn lot? You're going to need plenty of time, because the total length of these 20 Ultimate Editions' content is 173 hours, 50 minutes and 18 seconds!
I'm so never going to watch all of that. It's over seven solid days for crying out loud!
Casino Royale
Just to finish up, a note on Casino Royale.
As I said way back at the start of this post (do you remember that? It must seem a long time ago now...), it's about to be re-released in a three-disc edition bursting with extras. I say "bursting" -- it bloody better be as I'm going to be buying it again. Anyway, the initial release wasn't quite as shoddy as some might suppose: as well as containing a good-looking (and sounding) copy of the film, it also manages 54 minutes of film-specific extras plus a 49 minute documentary on Bond girls. That's not a bad tally really, even though the new edition should easily top it. That considered, I won't be including those numbers in a total here... so expect an update before long.
Incidentally, if you're an extras fan and want the re-release, but already own the old one, I suggest selling it sharpish -- you've got 49 days til the new edition hits shelves...
Two years ago -- or, if we're precise, 25.5 months ago -- MGM released the first 20 James Bond films as Ultimate Edition DVDs. These re-releases featured remastered picture and sound, as well as an array of new special features, creating two-disc releases for every film (previously only Die Another Day had been rewarded with one). As well as being released individually, there was a box set -- packaged in a rather stylish Bond-like 007-logo-embossed briefcase -- that housed all 20. I bought this on release. It is rather lovely.
The point of all this is that now, 25.5 months on, I've finally finished going through all 40 discs... not watching them, you understand, just having a general look through. And counting up what's on them. And as I've done all that legwork, I'm now going to share some of my findings with you.
The Films
We'll start with the films themselves. Assume that I'm leaving the 21st film (that's Casino Royale, by-the-way) out of things unless I say otherwise.
So there are, as I've said, 20 Bond films, and if you wanted to watch them all back to back from UK DVD it would take you 40 hours, 3 minutes and 27 seconds. Except of course you'd have to change discs and sit through menu load times and what have you -- not to mention sleeping and eating -- so in reality it would take notably longer, but you know what I mean. I specifically say "on UK DVD" because they of course feature PAL speed-up; if you were to watch all 20 from a film print, it would take more like 41 hours, 43 minutes and 36 seconds. But that's just an estimate. (Additionally, throw Casino Royale into the mix -- from the first, slightly cut UK DVD (hopefully the new one will be uncut, but don't bank on it) -- and it'll take you 42 hours 22 mins.)
The longest Bond film is 1969's On Her Majesty's Secret Service, at 2 hours 16 mins. (Casino Royale now pips it by 2 minutes 10 seconds.) The shortest is the first, 1962's Dr. No. Only eight of the films run under 2 hours, and in 1997 Tomorrow Never Dies (1 hour 54 mins) was the shortest Bond for 30 years. And two final pointless statistics: the actor who's got the longest total running time as Bond is Roger Moore (beating Sean Connery by just under 3 hours), while the longest average length belongs to one-time Bond George Lazenby -- entirely logically, if you think about it. (He'll probably keep hold of that too, as reports say Quantum of Solace will be shorter than Casino Royale, thereby keeping Daniel Craig's average down.)
The Commentaries
Moving on to the only first-disc extras for these films: commentaries (apart from two exceptions that I'll mention in a minute). There's no way I'm going to do something crazy like list all of the commentary participants -- while some stick to only using a couple of people (especially the specially-recorded ones on later films), many compile interviews with several people. What I can say is that, across the 20 films, there are a total of 35 commentary tracks. That's just over 70 hours of people yapping away over the top of movies. The additional 15 are provided for as follows:
I mentioned two exceptions. They are an 'isolated score' track on Tomorrow Never Dies, featuring David Arnold's wonderful score unobscured by sound effects or dialogue (it makes some awkward edits painfully obvious however), and an "MI6 Datastream" on Die Another Day. The latter is a silly name for a trivia track, where random bits of info are displayed in boxes on screen throughout the film. This one also occasionally branches out to featurettes (19 of them), during which the film is minimised to a tiny box while the behind-the-scenes footage plays in a larger one. It makes the film impossible to follow if you're not familiar with it, and also makes the featurettes awkward to find (or quantify the length of) without sitting through the whole thing.
"007 Mission Control"
I'll get to the extras proper in a minute, but first I have something stupid to mention. In what seems to be an effort to pad out the content of the second disc, each film contains something called "007 Mission Control". This is merely a selection of clips from the relevant film, divided up into six sections: 007, Women, Allies, Villains, Mission Combat Manual, and Q Branch. It is in every way pointless and just a waste of space, especially on Die Another Day (more on that in a moment).
The only worthwhile bit of it is a seventh 'category', called Exotic Locations. These are in fact short featurettes (three to five minutes long), narrated by a couple of different actresses from the series, that detail some of the locations featured in their relative films. In total they run 1 hour 19 minutes, which is clearly far from insubstantial... but it doesn't justify the 18 hours total wasted by Mission Control! Bloody stupid idea that was.
The Extras
So to the extras themselves. I'm not going to attempt to list all of them -- there are 250+ separate items across the series -- but there are a variety of things included: original documentaries, including specific Inside... 'making of's on each of the first 16 films, as well as broader ones that cover specific elements or contributors; vintage featurettes from the time of the film's release; newly-uncovered behind-the-scenes footage; deleted scenes (though not on Die Another Day, despite various sources having confirmed their existence); storyboards; image galleries; music videos; trailers, for every film (except Die Another Day), and TV and radio spots for many... I think that broadly summarises what's there.
You'll undoubtedly have noticed me having several jibes at Die Another Day throughout this post. Well, they're with good reason. The first 19 films all receive well-deserved re-releases: the image quality on all of them is immeasurably better than the dirty, standard definition transfers from the old releases; and all have been treated to new extras, as well as retaining everything that was already there. Not so Die Another Day. Apparently the picture quality of the film is improved from the original release -- which, incidentally, was only three years old when this new one appeared -- but the extras have been ransacked! True, there are a handful of new elements that reuse some of the old material... but they only total 40 minutes, and one of the things now missing is the 81 minute Inside Die Another Day feature! Not to mention other bits and bobs, including multi-angle sequences, shorter featurettes and music videos. Plus, as mentioned earlier, the deleted scenes still aren't present and the trailers and TV spots -- surely easily available just three-and-a-half years after release? -- haven't been added to the package.
It's especially galling because there's clearly room on the disc. Die Another Day's extras total 2 hours 10 mins; with "Mission Control" wasting space, that's 3 hours... but the three other Brosnan films have around 3 hours 45 minutes of material on disc two, as do several of the older films (Thunderball for one). How ludicrous is that? Especially when there's the Ultimate Edition label slapped on it -- all things considered, it's not really as good as the first release, never mind better than it! Of all the Bonds, this is clearly the one to hold out on -- I'd wager that, when it comes time to re-release them on Blu-ray (the first releases, coming soon, will just duplicate these Ultimate Editions), Die Another Day will regain some of that missing documentary material, and maybe even rediscover its deleted scenes (the other three Brosnan films all have deleted scenes that weren't on their original releases).
Totals
Rant over, I'll get to the final point of this thing: the total running times for the extras and the collection as a whole.
But first... The best film in the extras department is GoldenEye, with 2 hours 59 mins of the stuff. The weakest is For Your Eyes Only, which only scrapes together 1 hour 19 mins. The amount of new material on each release varies wildly, from as little as 18 minutes to as much as 1 hour 40 mins. Several have over an hour of new stuff, and it's only a few that sink below 30 mins.
But what of that grand total? Well, I can tell you that the running time of all those extras exceeds that of the films themselves, topping out at 43 hours, 4 minutes and 37 seconds!
So, when you put all of this stuff together, how long would it take you to get through the whole damn lot? You're going to need plenty of time, because the total length of these 20 Ultimate Editions' content is 173 hours, 50 minutes and 18 seconds!
I'm so never going to watch all of that. It's over seven solid days for crying out loud!
Casino Royale
Just to finish up, a note on Casino Royale.
As I said way back at the start of this post (do you remember that? It must seem a long time ago now...), it's about to be re-released in a three-disc edition bursting with extras. I say "bursting" -- it bloody better be as I'm going to be buying it again. Anyway, the initial release wasn't quite as shoddy as some might suppose: as well as containing a good-looking (and sounding) copy of the film, it also manages 54 minutes of film-specific extras plus a 49 minute documentary on Bond girls. That's not a bad tally really, even though the new edition should easily top it. That considered, I won't be including those numbers in a total here... so expect an update before long.
Incidentally, if you're an extras fan and want the re-release, but already own the old one, I suggest selling it sharpish -- you've got 49 days til the new edition hits shelves...
Wednesday, 15 June 2011
Articles
Duke Nukem's PR threatens to punish sites that run negative reviews by Ben Kuchera
(from Opposable Thumbs at Ars Technica)
It's a little startling that the idea of blacklisting outlets that give negative reviews seems to just be an accepted part of gaming PR. It's things like that that prove it's an industry still not half as grown-up as it likes to think it is.
Lee Mack 'winces at early Not Going Out' by Morgan Jeffery
(from Digital Spy)
I thought early Not Going Out was funnier and more original than the recent series have been, probably for the reasons Mack dislikes it. Oh well.
(Also, I think I missed at the time (back in April) that it's been commissioned for two more series. Even if it's not as good as it was, this is still good news.)
Oscars to allow five to ten 'Best Picture' nominees by Simon Reynolds
(from Digital Spy)
(from Opposable Thumbs at Ars Technica)
It's a little startling that the idea of blacklisting outlets that give negative reviews seems to just be an accepted part of gaming PR. It's things like that that prove it's an industry still not half as grown-up as it likes to think it is.
Lee Mack 'winces at early Not Going Out' by Morgan Jeffery
(from Digital Spy)
I thought early Not Going Out was funnier and more original than the recent series have been, probably for the reasons Mack dislikes it. Oh well.
(Also, I think I missed at the time (back in April) that it's been commissioned for two more series. Even if it's not as good as it was, this is still good news.)
Oscars to allow five to ten 'Best Picture' nominees by Simon Reynolds
(from Digital Spy)
'Best Picture' nominees will now need to receive at least 5% of first-place votes from AMPAS members to make the cut, meaning between five and ten movies will be nominated.Good plan, thinks I. Also adds to the fun of predicting the Oscars -- "how many nominations will there be this year?", etc.
Thursday, 11 April 2013
TV
Elementary
1x19 Snow Angels
After yonks away, Elementary's back with a pretty good episode. It seems to have found a better groove as the season progresses, being less of a regular cop show and moving (slightly) more in the direction of "adventures" for its leads, which is what Sherlock Holmes should have really. It's still no Sherlock, but it's getting good enough on its own feet.
Unfortunately, it's now another fortnight 'til the next episode. Silly Americans and their silly scheduling.
The Matt Lucas Awards
2x05 Episode 5
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]
The National Lottery: Who Dares Wins
6x03 (6/4/13 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]
Not Going Out
6x01 Rabbit
There seem to have been a fair few articles slagging off Not Going Out to accompany its return for a sixth run, either explicitly or by association. Well, tosh and piffle. I like it, and I found this a particularly amusing episode. I laughed out loud several times, and that happens too rarely in so many 'acclaimed' 'comedies'.
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]
Plebs
1x03 The Erotic Vase
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]
1x19 Snow Angels
After yonks away, Elementary's back with a pretty good episode. It seems to have found a better groove as the season progresses, being less of a regular cop show and moving (slightly) more in the direction of "adventures" for its leads, which is what Sherlock Holmes should have really. It's still no Sherlock, but it's getting good enough on its own feet.
Unfortunately, it's now another fortnight 'til the next episode. Silly Americans and their silly scheduling.
The Matt Lucas Awards
2x05 Episode 5
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]
The National Lottery: Who Dares Wins
6x03 (6/4/13 edition)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]
Not Going Out
6x01 Rabbit
There seem to have been a fair few articles slagging off Not Going Out to accompany its return for a sixth run, either explicitly or by association. Well, tosh and piffle. I like it, and I found this a particularly amusing episode. I laughed out loud several times, and that happens too rarely in so many 'acclaimed' 'comedies'.
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]
Plebs
1x03 The Erotic Vase
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]
Friday, 30 January 2009
TV
Broken Saints
Chapter 15 Tempest
Lark Rise to Candleford
2x05 Episode 5
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]
Not Going Out
3x01 Pregnant
I remember, when Not Going Out started, being worried it wouldn't even make it to a second series; but here's the third, and there was a Christmas special to boot! (Research reveals that was Christmas 2007, and there hasn't been a series since. God, time flies -- I didn't think it was this year, but it also doesn't feel like almost 13 months since it was last on. I must be getting old...)
Anyway, the quality seems to have stepped back up too (the second series wasn't half as good as the first). Incredibly traditional sitcom? Undoubtedly. Some jokes predictable? Yes. But it's still hilarious, so does that matter? Not a jot.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]
Chapter 15 Tempest
Lark Rise to Candleford
2x05 Episode 5
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]
Not Going Out
3x01 Pregnant
I remember, when Not Going Out started, being worried it wouldn't even make it to a second series; but here's the third, and there was a Christmas special to boot! (Research reveals that was Christmas 2007, and there hasn't been a series since. God, time flies -- I didn't think it was this year, but it also doesn't feel like almost 13 months since it was last on. I must be getting old...)
Anyway, the quality seems to have stepped back up too (the second series wasn't half as good as the first). Incredibly traditional sitcom? Undoubtedly. Some jokes predictable? Yes. But it's still hilarious, so does that matter? Not a jot.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]
Tuesday, 17 April 2012
TV
Not Going Out
5x01 Band
It's nice to watch a series of Not Going Out not thinking it might be the last ever -- they've already commissioned a sixth. Hurrah! And based on this, it's still on form. Double hurrah!
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]
Onion News Network
2x08 Artificial Intelligence
This show gets loopier by the episode.
5x01 Band
It's nice to watch a series of Not Going Out not thinking it might be the last ever -- they've already commissioned a sixth. Hurrah! And based on this, it's still on form. Double hurrah!
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]
Onion News Network
2x08 Artificial Intelligence
This show gets loopier by the episode.
Saturday, 12 February 2011
TV
Faulks on Fiction
Part 1 The Hero
An interesting look at the history of the novel. Faulks makes for a good presenter, especially in the way he's able to stay still (as opposed to flapping his arms around and jiggling his head all over the place) when he talks, something some of his interviewees would benefit from learning. That said, someone needs to buy the cameraman a tripod -- why must the image wobble and vibrate when someone's just being interviewed?! And it all gets a bit too up itself and Literary toward the end. But that aside, quite good.
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]
The Great Outdoors
1x03 Episode 3 [season finale]
Series finale? Not sure. Would be nice if they made more.
House
7x09 Larger Than Life
How I Met Your Mother
6x08 Natural History
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]
Not Going Out
4x06 Life on Mars Bars [season finale]
Looks like Not Going Out might be over -- again -- because apparently Tim Vine wants to leave. Considering how central he is to the series, that may well be the end. Again.
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]
Part 1 The Hero
An interesting look at the history of the novel. Faulks makes for a good presenter, especially in the way he's able to stay still (as opposed to flapping his arms around and jiggling his head all over the place) when he talks, something some of his interviewees would benefit from learning. That said, someone needs to buy the cameraman a tripod -- why must the image wobble and vibrate when someone's just being interviewed?! And it all gets a bit too up itself and Literary toward the end. But that aside, quite good.
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]
The Great Outdoors
1x03 Episode 3 [season finale]
Series finale? Not sure. Would be nice if they made more.
House
7x09 Larger Than Life
How I Met Your Mother
6x08 Natural History
[Watch it (again) on 4oD.]
Not Going Out
4x06 Life on Mars Bars [season finale]
Looks like Not Going Out might be over -- again -- because apparently Tim Vine wants to leave. Considering how central he is to the series, that may well be the end. Again.
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]
Thursday, 24 December 2009
TV
Is anything not a special or finale?
Have I Got News For You
38x09 (18/12/09 edition; uncut repeat) [season finale]
Also, Christmas special.
[Watch the short edition (again) on iPlayer.]
The Impressions Show with Culshaw and Stephenson
1x07 Best Of [season finale]
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]
Never Mind the Buzzcocks
23x13 Where Are They Now? [season finale]
Very little new material, but the best bits of this series were good, and outtakes are always nice. Well, these ones were.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]
Not Going Out
3x08 Absent Father Christmas [Christmas special]
Goodbye, Not Going Out. At least it went with a funny episode.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]
Victoria Wood's Midlife Christmas
Apt title, which is nice. Very funny also. And, unlike most comedy shows, every last word was written by Victoria Wood herself. Super.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]
Victoria Wood: Seen On TV
Feature-length documentary shown earlier this week as part of Victoria Wood Night on BBC Two. Interesting and, courtesy of lots of classic clips, very funny.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]
...No.
Have I Got News For You
38x09 (18/12/09 edition; uncut repeat) [season finale]
Also, Christmas special.
[Watch the short edition (again) on iPlayer.]
The Impressions Show with Culshaw and Stephenson
1x07 Best Of [season finale]
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]
Never Mind the Buzzcocks
23x13 Where Are They Now? [season finale]
Very little new material, but the best bits of this series were good, and outtakes are always nice. Well, these ones were.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]
Not Going Out
3x08 Absent Father Christmas [Christmas special]
Goodbye, Not Going Out. At least it went with a funny episode.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]
Victoria Wood's Midlife Christmas
Apt title, which is nice. Very funny also. And, unlike most comedy shows, every last word was written by Victoria Wood herself. Super.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]
Victoria Wood: Seen On TV
Feature-length documentary shown earlier this week as part of Victoria Wood Night on BBC Two. Interesting and, courtesy of lots of classic clips, very funny.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]
...No.
Saturday, 20 October 2012
TV
The Graham Norton Show
12x01 (19/10/12 edition)
I will finish watching the last series at some point, but it seemed to make sense to try to get back into the habit by watching the new ones.
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]
Merlin
5x03 The Death Song of Uther Pendragon
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]
Mock the Week
9x10 (30/9/10 edition) [2nd watch]
Ah, late night Dave. See also: Not Going Out.
Not Going Out
2x06 Dating [2nd watch]
Ah, late night Dave. See also: Mock the Week.
Suburgatory
1x19 Entering Eden
12x01 (19/10/12 edition)
I will finish watching the last series at some point, but it seemed to make sense to try to get back into the habit by watching the new ones.
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]
Merlin
5x03 The Death Song of Uther Pendragon
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]
Mock the Week
9x10 (30/9/10 edition) [2nd watch]
Ah, late night Dave. See also: Not Going Out.
Not Going Out
2x06 Dating [2nd watch]
Ah, late night Dave. See also: Mock the Week.
Suburgatory
1x19 Entering Eden
Friday, 7 January 2011
TV
The Graham Norton Show
8x10 New Year's Eve Show
Said so.
Little Crackers
Episode 2 Capturing Santa
Episode 3 My First Nativity
Episode 4 Satan's Hoof
Two of these concern children's inappropriate urination. Awkward coincidence.
Live at the Apollo
6x06 (1/1/11 edition) [season finale]
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]
Not Going Out
4x01 Drugs
Despite being cancelled, it's back! Hurrah! Not Going Out may be a rather old-school sitcom, but it's still damn funny, and that's what counts.
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]
8x10 New Year's Eve Show
Said so.
Little Crackers
Episode 2 Capturing Santa
Episode 3 My First Nativity
Episode 4 Satan's Hoof
Two of these concern children's inappropriate urination. Awkward coincidence.
Live at the Apollo
6x06 (1/1/11 edition) [season finale]
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]
Not Going Out
4x01 Drugs
Despite being cancelled, it's back! Hurrah! Not Going Out may be a rather old-school sitcom, but it's still damn funny, and that's what counts.
[Watch it (again) in HD on iPlayer.]
Friday, 24 October 2025
Video Games
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
Amazon recently announced some changes to their Prime Gaming and Luna offerings (essentially, combining them under the latter brand, plus a refresh of the Prime-tier of Luna to include more recent, big-name games), and it went live this week. There are a few titles on there that I wanted to play, but this jumped straight to the front of the queue. I've been an Indy fan as long as I can remember, and this game seemed to receive nothing but praise when it came out. I nearly subscribed to Xbox Game Pass just to play this — indeed, I was still planning to at some point, but I've bought so much else for my Steam Deck and 3DS recently, I thought I should focus on them for a bit first. But, heck, if this didn't cost £60+ and reviews had said it ran well on the Deck (apparently it doesn't), I probably would've bought it and dived in. So I was ecstatic when I saw it was coming to Luna Standard (as it's now called), I've quickly dived in now it's available, and...
Well, thank goodness I didn't pay £60 for it. Or whatever the cost of Game Pass was, even. I'm about two hours in and I'm... bored, really.
So, it looks pretty great, overall — there are some issues, but that might be with how Luna runs it and/or streaming in general (if I loved it, I'd be tempted to buy it and play it through GeForce Now, which I'm considering for some other graphics-heavy titles that my Deck won't run well). In the cutscenes and so forth it does a good job of recreating the feel of an Indy movie. But the gameplay...
I suppose dying multiple times during the opening tutorial-ish section was a bad omen. I'm sure that's partly a skill issue on my part, but not entirely ("oh, I need to run now? Okay, so I press... Oh, I'm dead", repeated a couple of times until I did it right). Part of the slow pace is my desire to explore and see and find everything, but I guess there's not really enough to see to justify that. It's funny, because some people say it's really an exploration/puzzle game, but as someone who likes that kind of game, nah, it doesn't scratch that itch right.
Instead, there's a lot of stealth. I find stealth boring in concept, and turns out I do in play, too. I can see the inspiration — Indy isn't a run-and-gun killing machine, so they don't want it to be a shooter — but the Indy films are action adventures, and stealth simply doesn't feel adventurous and it's certainly not action-packed. I turned the action difficulty down to low, so the enemies and stuff weren't too difficult when they did spot me, but I wasted so much time not trying to be spotted. The level design felt like a maze, too — it didn't feel like I was exploring, it felt like I was lost.
I have so many other complaints and niggles, too. One I feel I see all too often in recently-made games I try is that it won't let you save wherever you want; it only saves when it decides to. At least that's not only at the end of a lengthy level, or only at majorly significant checkpoints — sometimes the little save icon will flash up when you enter an inauspicious room (and it's not a portent of "this seemingly unimportant room is about to be a big fight", which is how some games do it). And it does try to help you on the pause menu by stating how long it's been since the last autosave — I've not seen that before, and it's a useful feature... if only for the fact that, when I wanted to quit, it told me it had been quarter-of-an-hour since the last save. The immediately-obvious downside was that, to not lose that quarter-hour of progress, I had to keep going when I didn't really want to, at least until I trigged a new save, which took a fair while. Making you play when you don't actually want to anymore is the kind of thign that turns you off a game!
The first person view does not suit it. That feels like a funny thing for me to say, because back when I was into gaming the first time round, FPS was the genre and third-person games were often looked down upon. I feel opinion has swung in the other direction, and playing this in first person feels wrong. It's a bad fit for the property (I don't want to be Indy, I want to watch him have adventures) and for the style of gameplay (both stealth and melee combat feel so much harder in this than in third-person games I've played that use similar mechanics).
Then there's the point early on where it suggests you read the in-game manual to learn how to do stuff, and it turns out that's a mass of different screens explaining dozens of different gameplay mechanics. Why is it so complicated?! How often am I going to need to do all these different things? Should I be trying to memorise them because the game is truly flexible and I could use any at any time? Or, actually, are some only used in very specific circumstances? In which case, can't you just explain them when I get there? Or maybe you could've just made the game less unnecessarily complicated, I dunno.
I feel like I should go back to this, because I'm a huge Indy fan and this is such a praised Indy experience. Also, I've only given it one go, and I'm still quite early into it — it kinda feels like I've only done some training mission-type opening stuff; and, indeed, the level I'm on is still hand-holding a little... even as it could handhold more (that damn maze-like layout). Perhaps if I can get past these early teething troubles...
But the first barrier is the fact I don't really want to go back to it now — the complete opposite to how desperate I was to play it before. That's some cruel irony. I'm going to have to force myself, and I can't decide if it's worth that effort.
On the bright side, in this new Lina world it doesn't seem to have a time limit on the Standard tier (other games do, so it's not that they're not listing them anymore), so I guess I've got some time still to force myself back into it. That might help. Or maybe I'll lean on that possibility and just never try again. We'll see.
Amazon recently announced some changes to their Prime Gaming and Luna offerings (essentially, combining them under the latter brand, plus a refresh of the Prime-tier of Luna to include more recent, big-name games), and it went live this week. There are a few titles on there that I wanted to play, but this jumped straight to the front of the queue. I've been an Indy fan as long as I can remember, and this game seemed to receive nothing but praise when it came out. I nearly subscribed to Xbox Game Pass just to play this — indeed, I was still planning to at some point, but I've bought so much else for my Steam Deck and 3DS recently, I thought I should focus on them for a bit first. But, heck, if this didn't cost £60+ and reviews had said it ran well on the Deck (apparently it doesn't), I probably would've bought it and dived in. So I was ecstatic when I saw it was coming to Luna Standard (as it's now called), I've quickly dived in now it's available, and...
Well, thank goodness I didn't pay £60 for it. Or whatever the cost of Game Pass was, even. I'm about two hours in and I'm... bored, really.
So, it looks pretty great, overall — there are some issues, but that might be with how Luna runs it and/or streaming in general (if I loved it, I'd be tempted to buy it and play it through GeForce Now, which I'm considering for some other graphics-heavy titles that my Deck won't run well). In the cutscenes and so forth it does a good job of recreating the feel of an Indy movie. But the gameplay...
I suppose dying multiple times during the opening tutorial-ish section was a bad omen. I'm sure that's partly a skill issue on my part, but not entirely ("oh, I need to run now? Okay, so I press... Oh, I'm dead", repeated a couple of times until I did it right). Part of the slow pace is my desire to explore and see and find everything, but I guess there's not really enough to see to justify that. It's funny, because some people say it's really an exploration/puzzle game, but as someone who likes that kind of game, nah, it doesn't scratch that itch right.
Instead, there's a lot of stealth. I find stealth boring in concept, and turns out I do in play, too. I can see the inspiration — Indy isn't a run-and-gun killing machine, so they don't want it to be a shooter — but the Indy films are action adventures, and stealth simply doesn't feel adventurous and it's certainly not action-packed. I turned the action difficulty down to low, so the enemies and stuff weren't too difficult when they did spot me, but I wasted so much time not trying to be spotted. The level design felt like a maze, too — it didn't feel like I was exploring, it felt like I was lost.
I have so many other complaints and niggles, too. One I feel I see all too often in recently-made games I try is that it won't let you save wherever you want; it only saves when it decides to. At least that's not only at the end of a lengthy level, or only at majorly significant checkpoints — sometimes the little save icon will flash up when you enter an inauspicious room (and it's not a portent of "this seemingly unimportant room is about to be a big fight", which is how some games do it). And it does try to help you on the pause menu by stating how long it's been since the last autosave — I've not seen that before, and it's a useful feature... if only for the fact that, when I wanted to quit, it told me it had been quarter-of-an-hour since the last save. The immediately-obvious downside was that, to not lose that quarter-hour of progress, I had to keep going when I didn't really want to, at least until I trigged a new save, which took a fair while. Making you play when you don't actually want to anymore is the kind of thign that turns you off a game!
The first person view does not suit it. That feels like a funny thing for me to say, because back when I was into gaming the first time round, FPS was the genre and third-person games were often looked down upon. I feel opinion has swung in the other direction, and playing this in first person feels wrong. It's a bad fit for the property (I don't want to be Indy, I want to watch him have adventures) and for the style of gameplay (both stealth and melee combat feel so much harder in this than in third-person games I've played that use similar mechanics).
Then there's the point early on where it suggests you read the in-game manual to learn how to do stuff, and it turns out that's a mass of different screens explaining dozens of different gameplay mechanics. Why is it so complicated?! How often am I going to need to do all these different things? Should I be trying to memorise them because the game is truly flexible and I could use any at any time? Or, actually, are some only used in very specific circumstances? In which case, can't you just explain them when I get there? Or maybe you could've just made the game less unnecessarily complicated, I dunno.
I feel like I should go back to this, because I'm a huge Indy fan and this is such a praised Indy experience. Also, I've only given it one go, and I'm still quite early into it — it kinda feels like I've only done some training mission-type opening stuff; and, indeed, the level I'm on is still hand-holding a little... even as it could handhold more (that damn maze-like layout). Perhaps if I can get past these early teething troubles...
But the first barrier is the fact I don't really want to go back to it now — the complete opposite to how desperate I was to play it before. That's some cruel irony. I'm going to have to force myself, and I can't decide if it's worth that effort.
On the bright side, in this new Lina world it doesn't seem to have a time limit on the Standard tier (other games do, so it's not that they're not listing them anymore), so I guess I've got some time still to force myself back into it. That might help. Or maybe I'll lean on that possibility and just never try again. We'll see.
Wednesday, 18 June 2008
Doctor Who: Revelation of the Daleks
In the '80s, Doctor Who was in trouble. The massive popularity of Tom Baker's era gave way to a well-liked Doctor (played, of course, by Peter Davison), but also to a damaging new weeknight schedule and an obsession with referencing the past that soon led to a show only fans could understand. When Davison was replaced with Colin Baker, things got worse still. The new Doctor was initially violent and garish, a total contrast to the previous meek incarnation. In spite of the dad-friendly sight of Peri's cleavage, viewing figures plummeted (I should rewrite that with a different gag...) For its 22nd season, the show was reshaped from twenty-six 25-minute episodes to thirteen 45-minute ones -- surely that could never work?! Obviously, it does if you handle it correctly, but 1985 was not the right time for Doctor Who, and it was put on an 18-month suspension... You can catch the next part of this story when I come to review my next serial, but for now let's stick with this one -- Revelation of the Daleks, the last story broadcast before the hiatus.
Colin Baker's era is generally looked down upon (not without reason), but Revelation is a brilliant story for all sorts of reasons. The subject matter is wonderfully grim. Consequently the story is packed with violence and gore, all of it effectively achieved, especially considering the programme's budget. This is underscored by a set of great guest performances, both from recognisable faces like Eleanor Bron and Clive Swift, and lesser-known (to me, at least) actors such as William Gaunt. Even Alexei Sayle's DJ character, while incredibly irritating, provides a change of pace and style that is almost entertaining -- plus, whoever thought you'd get to see a Dalek killed by rock 'n' roll! Speaking of pace and style, both hold up incredibly well 23 years on -- with a few modifications, this might even fit quite comfortably into the new series. Graeme Harper's direction especially is as accomplished as ever, some of the best you're likely to see in classic Who -- or, I'd wager, in much drama from the same period.
There are flaws, of course. The Doctor and Peri take too long to actually get involved, meandering across Necros for the whole of Part One, while inside there's some actual plot going on. In the same vein the Daleks and Davros do next to nothing for the whole of the first episode -- their return is so underplayed, and then they're so underused, that one has to wonder if the story would be even better with an original enemy. Part Two does something to address these faults, but simultaneously discards much of what was going on in the first episode. Perhaps it goes without saying that the story might've been stronger if it could have mixed the two halves together, especially as the first half has quite a slow pace while the second rattles through events in a rush to get everything done.
The DVD of Revelation has the option for both new CGI effects and 5.1 Surround Sound. I'm a purist only as far as the original at least being an option, so I merrily turned both of these on for my viewing. The surround mix is great, making good use of the rear speakers for both effects and music (one of the things that most often annoys me about surround mixes is when they don't put the music across all the speakers. Why not?! It's not occurring either on screen or in the off-screen space (to get mildly technical!), so it should come from everywhere, not specifically the front!) Mark Ayres, the Restoration Team's audio expert, seems quite happy to add new effects, recreate dialogue, etc, for these surround mixes, so that they work as well as possible. As I said, this is fine as far as I'm concerned, as the originals are always included and are the default setting, but semi-purists may have different feelings. (For more information on the work Ayres did here, check out the Restoration Team's article.)
The new CGI effects, meanwhile, are so well integrated that most, if not all, would go unnoticed to an unaware first time viewer. I didn't compare them to the originals, which may of course be flatly bad -- I sometimes find classic Who's video effects, such as laser beams, are even worse than I remember -- but these new versions don't jump out as totally incongruous. In this respect I suppose the story benefits from not having any big model sequences, or dodgy aliens that could do with replacing, so doesn't have entirely CG-model sequences that would stand out like a sore thumb. It lessens the importance of any debate over whether to turn the new effects on, whereas on other, more heavily CGI'd stories I'm still not sure which version I'd plump for (especially for a first viewing).
Before he was unceremoniously booted off the show, C. Baker only managed to make eight stories -- less even than Chris Eccleston! (Though, this is because I count The Trial of a Time Lord as one story; if you listen to those who count it as more, Baker managed twelve tales.) Whilst I haven't seen them all (in fact, I've thus far missed out on the two widely considered to be among the programme's worst ever), I think it's safe to say Revelation is among his best. That might not be saying much, so I'll add that there are probably a sizable number of the stories from all the other Doctors I would rank lower than it too. Maybe, just maybe, I might even place it somewhere in my personal favourites... but then, as I've only seen 42% of classic Who, I'm always wary of making such sweeping statements.
Colin Baker's era is generally looked down upon (not without reason), but Revelation is a brilliant story for all sorts of reasons. The subject matter is wonderfully grim. Consequently the story is packed with violence and gore, all of it effectively achieved, especially considering the programme's budget. This is underscored by a set of great guest performances, both from recognisable faces like Eleanor Bron and Clive Swift, and lesser-known (to me, at least) actors such as William Gaunt. Even Alexei Sayle's DJ character, while incredibly irritating, provides a change of pace and style that is almost entertaining -- plus, whoever thought you'd get to see a Dalek killed by rock 'n' roll! Speaking of pace and style, both hold up incredibly well 23 years on -- with a few modifications, this might even fit quite comfortably into the new series. Graeme Harper's direction especially is as accomplished as ever, some of the best you're likely to see in classic Who -- or, I'd wager, in much drama from the same period.
There are flaws, of course. The Doctor and Peri take too long to actually get involved, meandering across Necros for the whole of Part One, while inside there's some actual plot going on. In the same vein the Daleks and Davros do next to nothing for the whole of the first episode -- their return is so underplayed, and then they're so underused, that one has to wonder if the story would be even better with an original enemy. Part Two does something to address these faults, but simultaneously discards much of what was going on in the first episode. Perhaps it goes without saying that the story might've been stronger if it could have mixed the two halves together, especially as the first half has quite a slow pace while the second rattles through events in a rush to get everything done.
The DVD of Revelation has the option for both new CGI effects and 5.1 Surround Sound. I'm a purist only as far as the original at least being an option, so I merrily turned both of these on for my viewing. The surround mix is great, making good use of the rear speakers for both effects and music (one of the things that most often annoys me about surround mixes is when they don't put the music across all the speakers. Why not?! It's not occurring either on screen or in the off-screen space (to get mildly technical!), so it should come from everywhere, not specifically the front!) Mark Ayres, the Restoration Team's audio expert, seems quite happy to add new effects, recreate dialogue, etc, for these surround mixes, so that they work as well as possible. As I said, this is fine as far as I'm concerned, as the originals are always included and are the default setting, but semi-purists may have different feelings. (For more information on the work Ayres did here, check out the Restoration Team's article.)
The new CGI effects, meanwhile, are so well integrated that most, if not all, would go unnoticed to an unaware first time viewer. I didn't compare them to the originals, which may of course be flatly bad -- I sometimes find classic Who's video effects, such as laser beams, are even worse than I remember -- but these new versions don't jump out as totally incongruous. In this respect I suppose the story benefits from not having any big model sequences, or dodgy aliens that could do with replacing, so doesn't have entirely CG-model sequences that would stand out like a sore thumb. It lessens the importance of any debate over whether to turn the new effects on, whereas on other, more heavily CGI'd stories I'm still not sure which version I'd plump for (especially for a first viewing).
Before he was unceremoniously booted off the show, C. Baker only managed to make eight stories -- less even than Chris Eccleston! (Though, this is because I count The Trial of a Time Lord as one story; if you listen to those who count it as more, Baker managed twelve tales.) Whilst I haven't seen them all (in fact, I've thus far missed out on the two widely considered to be among the programme's worst ever), I think it's safe to say Revelation is among his best. That might not be saying much, so I'll add that there are probably a sizable number of the stories from all the other Doctors I would rank lower than it too. Maybe, just maybe, I might even place it somewhere in my personal favourites... but then, as I've only seen 42% of classic Who, I'm always wary of making such sweeping statements.
Wednesday, 15 August 2012
Comics
Idolized #0 & #1 by David Schwartz & Micah Gunnell
Zero issues are a funny business. When they're released mid-run (as DC are doing next month with all their titles), they make sense as prequels. But before the series itself starts? Why isn't it just issue #1?
Here, the first superhero comic from Aspen (as they proudly proclaim in various places) offers a bit of setup... as well as revealing what look like future events in the comic. Now, maybe this isn't a problem, but it sure looks like they're spoilering their own series to me.
The other thing that interests me is that this doesn't seem to be promoted as a miniseries, but surely it's got a finite life? Once Superhero Idol is over, surely you can only go so far before it begins to move far from its original concept? Surely this is why the very-similarly-themed America's Got Powers is only six issues? There are options, of course -- you continue with the characters regardless of how it began; you reset with each new season of the TV show; etc -- and it might be interesting to see where they choose to go with it.
The actual first issue is more setup, really. If #0 establishes the premise, #1 establishes the lead character. Unfortunately it does this through an awful lot of telling and not showing -- it's her audition, at which she stands around and talks us through her life. Comics allow us to see snatches of this as she talks about it, but still, it's being narrated, not really shown. But it's an interesting one, actually, and the concept and balls Schwartz has set into play are interesting. Plus Gunnell's art is nicely cartoony, yet still expressive and exciting when needed.
I made sure to read this quickly (over all of the other comics I have stacked up) because despite ordering it ages ago Forbidden Planet seem to have failed to send me a copy, so I thought I better read it (coughonewayoranothercough) before it was impossible to get anywhere else. On the quality of these first two, I think I'll keep going.
Revival #1 by Tim Seeley & Mike Norton
Described as "A Rural Noir", Revival looks set to be The Next Big Thing from Image, publishers of The Walking Dead -- and look how that turned out. Copies of The Walking Dead #1 now change hands for prices in excess of $1,000 (according to Bleeding Cool Magazine), so this isn't just a good read but also potentially an investment. If I could sell this in however-many-years for half the cost of The Walking Dead #1 after the-same-number-of-years, I'd be a happy bunny (and it'd be a pretty stunning return on investment).
But that's not my main aim, because I'm not One Of Those People. My main aim is to enjoy it as a read, and it is a damn fine read. It feels exactly like a TV pilot, actually, as it establishes multiple major characters and plot threads. One great thing about it is it dives into the middle of the story: in one small area of Wisconsin death has stopped, but so-called Revival Day was sometime weeks or months ago (it's not specified, but it's clearly A While whilst still being Quite Recently) -- the world knows what happened, but not why or how, while debates still rage about how to deal with it going forward.
The other extraordinary thing it does is, in 25 pages, feel like an entire pilot episode. If you watched this on TV, with this much incident, I imagine you'd feel satiated. It's not action-packed, but with an HBO-y Mad Men-y pace -- entirely befitting the kind of genre-but-intelligent stable it's going for -- it'd slot right in. And there's plenty of threads and mysteries set in motion to keep it going, too. Definitely one to stick with.
Zero issues are a funny business. When they're released mid-run (as DC are doing next month with all their titles), they make sense as prequels. But before the series itself starts? Why isn't it just issue #1?
Here, the first superhero comic from Aspen (as they proudly proclaim in various places) offers a bit of setup... as well as revealing what look like future events in the comic. Now, maybe this isn't a problem, but it sure looks like they're spoilering their own series to me.
The other thing that interests me is that this doesn't seem to be promoted as a miniseries, but surely it's got a finite life? Once Superhero Idol is over, surely you can only go so far before it begins to move far from its original concept? Surely this is why the very-similarly-themed America's Got Powers is only six issues? There are options, of course -- you continue with the characters regardless of how it began; you reset with each new season of the TV show; etc -- and it might be interesting to see where they choose to go with it.
The actual first issue is more setup, really. If #0 establishes the premise, #1 establishes the lead character. Unfortunately it does this through an awful lot of telling and not showing -- it's her audition, at which she stands around and talks us through her life. Comics allow us to see snatches of this as she talks about it, but still, it's being narrated, not really shown. But it's an interesting one, actually, and the concept and balls Schwartz has set into play are interesting. Plus Gunnell's art is nicely cartoony, yet still expressive and exciting when needed.
I made sure to read this quickly (over all of the other comics I have stacked up) because despite ordering it ages ago Forbidden Planet seem to have failed to send me a copy, so I thought I better read it (coughonewayoranothercough) before it was impossible to get anywhere else. On the quality of these first two, I think I'll keep going.
Revival #1 by Tim Seeley & Mike Norton
Described as "A Rural Noir", Revival looks set to be The Next Big Thing from Image, publishers of The Walking Dead -- and look how that turned out. Copies of The Walking Dead #1 now change hands for prices in excess of $1,000 (according to Bleeding Cool Magazine), so this isn't just a good read but also potentially an investment. If I could sell this in however-many-years for half the cost of The Walking Dead #1 after the-same-number-of-years, I'd be a happy bunny (and it'd be a pretty stunning return on investment).
But that's not my main aim, because I'm not One Of Those People. My main aim is to enjoy it as a read, and it is a damn fine read. It feels exactly like a TV pilot, actually, as it establishes multiple major characters and plot threads. One great thing about it is it dives into the middle of the story: in one small area of Wisconsin death has stopped, but so-called Revival Day was sometime weeks or months ago (it's not specified, but it's clearly A While whilst still being Quite Recently) -- the world knows what happened, but not why or how, while debates still rage about how to deal with it going forward.
The other extraordinary thing it does is, in 25 pages, feel like an entire pilot episode. If you watched this on TV, with this much incident, I imagine you'd feel satiated. It's not action-packed, but with an HBO-y Mad Men-y pace -- entirely befitting the kind of genre-but-intelligent stable it's going for -- it'd slot right in. And there's plenty of threads and mysteries set in motion to keep it going, too. Definitely one to stick with.
Sunday, 3 June 2012
Comics: Night of the Owls
Night of the Owls begins!
And with the publication last Wednesday of Batman Annual #1, the event is now over... but I've saved up the whole thing to read in one go. Well, I say one go -- it's fourteen issues, so it'll probably be two or three goes. And the other advantage to waiting is I can read it in reading order rather than publication order... though as they're mostly standalone stories, and some issues take place across multiple other ones anyway, I doubt it really matters.
So, in reading order...
Batman #8 by Scott Snyder, Greg Capullo, James Tynion IV & Rafael Albuquerque
Here the night begins with a whole team of Talons attacking Wayne Manor, forcing Bruce and Alfred to retreat into the Batcave where they realise the full extent of the Court's plan. It's primarily an action issue, with some good fights, but it also sets up where the whole event is going.
This is also the first issue of Batman to have a backup strip (co-written by Snyder & Tynion and drawn by Albuquerque) and, unusually, it continues the story immediately where the main one leaves off, plus leads directly into the wider Bat-family's involvement in the event. I hope there's no one who just ignores those extra bits...
Nightwing #8 by Kyle Higgins & Eddy Barrows
They've labelled this a "prelude" to the main event, just because it fell outside the main month when everything as tying in, which is stupid really: Alfred's call from the Batman backup comes very early in the issue (complete with a Night of the Owls timestap), before Nightwing ends up battling a Talon and it all ends on a "to be continued" cliffhanger. I imagine if one only read Nightwing #9 as part of the event, it would feel a tad confusing -- this is as much a part of it as anything else.
And once again, I swear no one actually reads these comics before they put an age rating on them. Despite featuring a graphic beheading (amongst sundry other violence), this retains the series' regular T rating. Perhaps it's a moot point -- comics mostly sell to grown men who should know better these days -- but still, if you're going to bother, do it right.
Batgirl #9 by Gail Simone & Ardian Syaf
I'm behind on Batgirl -- last one I read was #6, so I'm skipping two issues here -- but it's Night of the Owls! And it's a standalone issue as part of that, so it's OK.
The way they pitched Night of the Owls, I was expecting the main story to be contained to Batman (and maybe Nightwing) with all the other titles telling smaller one-on-one stories about Bat-family members which are connected to the main story but not essential. Based on this one issue, that's not entirely the case: not only does this reference several other issues (plenty of footnotes telling you where to go for the full story), but it's based around a pretty significant incident (I imagine -- we'll see), involving not only Batgirl but also Commissioner Gordon, and a turning-point victory for the Court.
While it would be good for comics crossovers generally if not every involved issue was essential to understanding what the hell's going on, I'm glad that not all the books in Night of the Owls will be providing ancillary stories that don't really matter.
Oh, and Batgirl fights a female Talon -- I hope they don't have all the female heroes fighting female Talons, because that's just too coincidental.
Batman and Robin #9 by Peter J. Tomasi, Lee Garbett & Andy Clarke
Or Robin, this issue, as Batman is pretty busy elsewhere (considering he's the sole starring character in three other titles; though I think Batman: The Dark Knight subs in Red Robin this month (which is funny, really, because as the only one without Batman in the actual title, you'd think Detective Comics would be the natural home for a non-Batman story. But hey-ho, that's comics for you.)).
Unlike Batgirl, this is a standalone ancillary tale, but a pretty good one. Another bloody beheading though -- in fact, there's four. Four. And Americans count this as Teen. God.
Batwing #9 by Judd Winick & Marcus To
So we reach the first title in the Night of the Owls that I've never read before (there'll be several more of these before we're done). It's another standalone tale in which 'African Batman' Batwing defends Batman, Inc.'s Lucius Fox from a Talon attack. It also builds on some elements from Batwing's regular run, I think, but in no way that locks out people like me who'll only pick up this issue. It's fine enough as a bit of a scrap, but it's not going to convince me to start buying the book regularly.
It's also nice that in several books characters who would know note how much the Talon moves like Nightwing -- in Batgirl, here, and later in Red Hood.... Neat. As for other recurring themes, there's no beheadings this time (only a threatened one), but yet another repetition of Alfred's call from the end of Batman #8. I suppose I don't blame them, it's a good way of quickly kicking off the plot, but I'll know it by heart at this rate. At least Red Hood and the Outlaws put it at the end of their preceding issue.
And Batwing doesn't fight a black Talon, so that's good (see comment on Batgirl above for why I note this).
Batman #9 by Scott Snyder & Greg Capullo
Back to the main title next for the primary issue of the whole event -- it's even titled Night of the Owls, just to make sure you know. This one covers a fair chunk of the evening, passing around and over the events of several books that will follow (and some that have gone before) -- there's a glaring space left for the events of Detective Comics #9, for instance. (For some reason the reading list puts that four issues away yet, but I'd consider putting it next. Maybe there's a reason I'll discover when I get to it.)
As a whole, the issue by itself doesn't quite have the grandiosity that an event of this scale promises. It's a fight -- a tough one, admittedly, but still just a fight -- followed by a quick trip in the Batmobile to the next plot token. I suppose that's kind of the problem with the Night of the Owls: by making it a Big Event they've made it seem like the climax to the story, but actually that's a couple of issues away yet. Not bad, just not quite the event linchpin one feels it should have been.
The backup strip (again co-written by Snyder & James Tynion IV with art from Rafael Albuquerque) is titled The Fall of the House of Wayne, Part 1 of 3, and tells the story of another Talon attack, this one in the past, on Alfred's father and former servant to the Waynes, Jarvis Pennyworth. It promises some secret to the history of the Wayne family, which some have speculated will be a re-writing of Batman's origin story. We'll see.
Red Hood and the Outlaws #9 by Scott Lobdell & Kenneth Rocafort
Another one I've never read before. More successful than Batwing this issue, in my opinion, though obviously you can't use these to judge the whole series. Some of the cast's banter is more forced than funny, and Rocafort's unusual layouts are a mixed blessing (that they're strange is nice; that this sometimes results in very small panels is more debatable), but it tells a whole story that doesn't feel woefully short, with some major character beats (that Red Hood has previously been resurrected a la the Talons is neatly used).
It also ties in nicely to the rest of the event: there's Mr Freeze, who'll crop up majorly in Batman Annual #1 (which is placed later on the reading list, though there's no clues left here to where it should sit), and the last couple of pages wrap up the story from Batgirl, as well as pointing the way to Birds of Prey (which is next on the reading list). All good stuff. Despite early reservations, this is perhaps my favourite single issue of the event so far.
And that's the halfway point! More tomorrow.
And with the publication last Wednesday of Batman Annual #1, the event is now over... but I've saved up the whole thing to read in one go. Well, I say one go -- it's fourteen issues, so it'll probably be two or three goes. And the other advantage to waiting is I can read it in reading order rather than publication order... though as they're mostly standalone stories, and some issues take place across multiple other ones anyway, I doubt it really matters.
So, in reading order...
Batman #8 by Scott Snyder, Greg Capullo, James Tynion IV & Rafael Albuquerque
Here the night begins with a whole team of Talons attacking Wayne Manor, forcing Bruce and Alfred to retreat into the Batcave where they realise the full extent of the Court's plan. It's primarily an action issue, with some good fights, but it also sets up where the whole event is going.
This is also the first issue of Batman to have a backup strip (co-written by Snyder & Tynion and drawn by Albuquerque) and, unusually, it continues the story immediately where the main one leaves off, plus leads directly into the wider Bat-family's involvement in the event. I hope there's no one who just ignores those extra bits...
Nightwing #8 by Kyle Higgins & Eddy Barrows
They've labelled this a "prelude" to the main event, just because it fell outside the main month when everything as tying in, which is stupid really: Alfred's call from the Batman backup comes very early in the issue (complete with a Night of the Owls timestap), before Nightwing ends up battling a Talon and it all ends on a "to be continued" cliffhanger. I imagine if one only read Nightwing #9 as part of the event, it would feel a tad confusing -- this is as much a part of it as anything else.
And once again, I swear no one actually reads these comics before they put an age rating on them. Despite featuring a graphic beheading (amongst sundry other violence), this retains the series' regular T rating. Perhaps it's a moot point -- comics mostly sell to grown men who should know better these days -- but still, if you're going to bother, do it right.
Batgirl #9 by Gail Simone & Ardian Syaf
I'm behind on Batgirl -- last one I read was #6, so I'm skipping two issues here -- but it's Night of the Owls! And it's a standalone issue as part of that, so it's OK.
The way they pitched Night of the Owls, I was expecting the main story to be contained to Batman (and maybe Nightwing) with all the other titles telling smaller one-on-one stories about Bat-family members which are connected to the main story but not essential. Based on this one issue, that's not entirely the case: not only does this reference several other issues (plenty of footnotes telling you where to go for the full story), but it's based around a pretty significant incident (I imagine -- we'll see), involving not only Batgirl but also Commissioner Gordon, and a turning-point victory for the Court.
While it would be good for comics crossovers generally if not every involved issue was essential to understanding what the hell's going on, I'm glad that not all the books in Night of the Owls will be providing ancillary stories that don't really matter.
Oh, and Batgirl fights a female Talon -- I hope they don't have all the female heroes fighting female Talons, because that's just too coincidental.
Batman and Robin #9 by Peter J. Tomasi, Lee Garbett & Andy Clarke
Or Robin, this issue, as Batman is pretty busy elsewhere (considering he's the sole starring character in three other titles; though I think Batman: The Dark Knight subs in Red Robin this month (which is funny, really, because as the only one without Batman in the actual title, you'd think Detective Comics would be the natural home for a non-Batman story. But hey-ho, that's comics for you.)).
Unlike Batgirl, this is a standalone ancillary tale, but a pretty good one. Another bloody beheading though -- in fact, there's four. Four. And Americans count this as Teen. God.
Batwing #9 by Judd Winick & Marcus To
So we reach the first title in the Night of the Owls that I've never read before (there'll be several more of these before we're done). It's another standalone tale in which 'African Batman' Batwing defends Batman, Inc.'s Lucius Fox from a Talon attack. It also builds on some elements from Batwing's regular run, I think, but in no way that locks out people like me who'll only pick up this issue. It's fine enough as a bit of a scrap, but it's not going to convince me to start buying the book regularly.
It's also nice that in several books characters who would know note how much the Talon moves like Nightwing -- in Batgirl, here, and later in Red Hood.... Neat. As for other recurring themes, there's no beheadings this time (only a threatened one), but yet another repetition of Alfred's call from the end of Batman #8. I suppose I don't blame them, it's a good way of quickly kicking off the plot, but I'll know it by heart at this rate. At least Red Hood and the Outlaws put it at the end of their preceding issue.
And Batwing doesn't fight a black Talon, so that's good (see comment on Batgirl above for why I note this).
Batman #9 by Scott Snyder & Greg Capullo
Back to the main title next for the primary issue of the whole event -- it's even titled Night of the Owls, just to make sure you know. This one covers a fair chunk of the evening, passing around and over the events of several books that will follow (and some that have gone before) -- there's a glaring space left for the events of Detective Comics #9, for instance. (For some reason the reading list puts that four issues away yet, but I'd consider putting it next. Maybe there's a reason I'll discover when I get to it.)
As a whole, the issue by itself doesn't quite have the grandiosity that an event of this scale promises. It's a fight -- a tough one, admittedly, but still just a fight -- followed by a quick trip in the Batmobile to the next plot token. I suppose that's kind of the problem with the Night of the Owls: by making it a Big Event they've made it seem like the climax to the story, but actually that's a couple of issues away yet. Not bad, just not quite the event linchpin one feels it should have been.
The backup strip (again co-written by Snyder & James Tynion IV with art from Rafael Albuquerque) is titled The Fall of the House of Wayne, Part 1 of 3, and tells the story of another Talon attack, this one in the past, on Alfred's father and former servant to the Waynes, Jarvis Pennyworth. It promises some secret to the history of the Wayne family, which some have speculated will be a re-writing of Batman's origin story. We'll see.
Red Hood and the Outlaws #9 by Scott Lobdell & Kenneth Rocafort
Another one I've never read before. More successful than Batwing this issue, in my opinion, though obviously you can't use these to judge the whole series. Some of the cast's banter is more forced than funny, and Rocafort's unusual layouts are a mixed blessing (that they're strange is nice; that this sometimes results in very small panels is more debatable), but it tells a whole story that doesn't feel woefully short, with some major character beats (that Red Hood has previously been resurrected a la the Talons is neatly used).
It also ties in nicely to the rest of the event: there's Mr Freeze, who'll crop up majorly in Batman Annual #1 (which is placed later on the reading list, though there's no clues left here to where it should sit), and the last couple of pages wrap up the story from Batgirl, as well as pointing the way to Birds of Prey (which is next on the reading list). All good stuff. Despite early reservations, this is perhaps my favourite single issue of the event so far.
And that's the halfway point! More tomorrow.
Sunday, 16 November 2025
Video Games
Dispatch
Episode 1 Pivot
Yep, I finally started it! And it's really good... as a TV show. It's funny, it's emotional, it's exciting; the characters are likeable, the performances are great; it's all really well made — it feels like watching a 'proper' animation, not a video game approximation of one. But as a game...
Well, being able to choose dialogue options is fun, though I don't think they have any meaningful impact. This is no Bandersnatch, where I actually felt like my choices were changing things. Here, it's just some divergent dialogue before things slot back on their preordained path. I get why that is (it seems nightmarish enough having to create all the different eventualities for a finite film, something designed to run about two hours, so imagine having to do it for an eight-episode TV series), but consequently there's an element of "why?" about it. Even if it affected dialogue later on, that would be something, but (based on replaying some parts) I think once you get past the initial variant, it just clicks back to the same path.
Even worse are the QTEs — I see now why there's an option to just have them be 'cinematic' (i.e. no interaction), because I don't think whether I managed to hit a button in time or not actually changed a single thing. Why rush to participate if the fight's going to play out the same way anyway? Eventually there's some actual gameplay in the dispatching minigame... though, again, I'm not sure if your performance actually changes anything (maybe in future episodes? Though I have heard complaints that what you do doesn't affect the story, so...) Also, to be honest, that dispatching is not my kind of game. I muddled through it, and I did ok, but if Dispatch was 100% that, I'm not sure I'd choose to play it.
I'll definitely be continuing though, because — like I said — this is a really good slightly-interactive TV show... even if, on the evidence of the first episode, it wouldn't have lost much by being just a TV show.
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition
When I started up Skyrim today, I had a specific plan: head straight out of the city to investigate the missing 24 hours. On the way, stuff happened... and then more stuff... and then other distractions... Two hours of playtime later, I still hadn't left the city, but I had completed a couple of minor quests, had several instances of combat, and was midway through various other storylines. Whoopsie!
But I set those storylines aside for the time being (partly because I became aware that finishing one would lead to a whole other one that I'd have to play immediately) and set off out of the city for the next location in the aforementioned investigation... and, of course, immediately encounted more stuff. Another 2¼ hours later, I put the game down again, this time outside a dungeon I'll tackle next time — but I'm still not close to the next stop in my search! Maybe I will get there next time I play. Maybe there'll be more distractions.
In short: damn, there's a lot of content in this game! I am going to have to seriously think about consciously making time to play other stuff alongside it, otherwise it'll be nothing but Skyrim, Skyrim, Skyrim for... months? Years? The rest of my life?
Episode 1 Pivot
Yep, I finally started it! And it's really good... as a TV show. It's funny, it's emotional, it's exciting; the characters are likeable, the performances are great; it's all really well made — it feels like watching a 'proper' animation, not a video game approximation of one. But as a game...
Well, being able to choose dialogue options is fun, though I don't think they have any meaningful impact. This is no Bandersnatch, where I actually felt like my choices were changing things. Here, it's just some divergent dialogue before things slot back on their preordained path. I get why that is (it seems nightmarish enough having to create all the different eventualities for a finite film, something designed to run about two hours, so imagine having to do it for an eight-episode TV series), but consequently there's an element of "why?" about it. Even if it affected dialogue later on, that would be something, but (based on replaying some parts) I think once you get past the initial variant, it just clicks back to the same path.
Even worse are the QTEs — I see now why there's an option to just have them be 'cinematic' (i.e. no interaction), because I don't think whether I managed to hit a button in time or not actually changed a single thing. Why rush to participate if the fight's going to play out the same way anyway? Eventually there's some actual gameplay in the dispatching minigame... though, again, I'm not sure if your performance actually changes anything (maybe in future episodes? Though I have heard complaints that what you do doesn't affect the story, so...) Also, to be honest, that dispatching is not my kind of game. I muddled through it, and I did ok, but if Dispatch was 100% that, I'm not sure I'd choose to play it.
I'll definitely be continuing though, because — like I said — this is a really good slightly-interactive TV show... even if, on the evidence of the first episode, it wouldn't have lost much by being just a TV show.
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition
When I started up Skyrim today, I had a specific plan: head straight out of the city to investigate the missing 24 hours. On the way, stuff happened... and then more stuff... and then other distractions... Two hours of playtime later, I still hadn't left the city, but I had completed a couple of minor quests, had several instances of combat, and was midway through various other storylines. Whoopsie!
But I set those storylines aside for the time being (partly because I became aware that finishing one would lead to a whole other one that I'd have to play immediately) and set off out of the city for the next location in the aforementioned investigation... and, of course, immediately encounted more stuff. Another 2¼ hours later, I put the game down again, this time outside a dungeon I'll tackle next time — but I'm still not close to the next stop in my search! Maybe I will get there next time I play. Maybe there'll be more distractions.
In short: damn, there's a lot of content in this game! I am going to have to seriously think about consciously making time to play other stuff alongside it, otherwise it'll be nothing but Skyrim, Skyrim, Skyrim for... months? Years? The rest of my life?
Tuesday, 30 December 2014
TV
Elementary
3x07 The Adventure of the Nutmeg Concoction
The Flash
1x09 The Man in the Yellow Suit
Not Going Out
7x11 The Outtakes [special]
Some places listed the title of this bloopers special as Not Going Outtakes, which I rather liked.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]
3x07 The Adventure of the Nutmeg Concoction
The Flash
1x09 The Man in the Yellow Suit
Not Going Out
7x11 The Outtakes [special]
Some places listed the title of this bloopers special as Not Going Outtakes, which I rather liked.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]
Friday, 6 March 2009
TV
Moving Wallpaper
2x02 Episode 2
Not the best episode, which does raise the question: with show-within-show Renaissance already shooting, what are the behind-the-scenes team going to do for most of the series? It's still funny, though only sporadically. I hope it gets another recommission, but Must Try Harder if it's going to.
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]
Not Going Out
3x06 Speech
Simple pleasures.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]
Orangutan Diary
2x01 Episode 1
Since the advent of iPlayer, the BBC's website has really gone downhill -- series that previously had dedicated sites now just have pages with iPlayer-esque links, like this one for Orangutan Diary. Series 1 had a proper site! (Archive here.)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]
2x02 Episode 2
Not the best episode, which does raise the question: with show-within-show Renaissance already shooting, what are the behind-the-scenes team going to do for most of the series? It's still funny, though only sporadically. I hope it gets another recommission, but Must Try Harder if it's going to.
[Watch it (again) on ITV Player.]
Not Going Out
3x06 Speech
Simple pleasures.
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]
Orangutan Diary
2x01 Episode 1
Since the advent of iPlayer, the BBC's website has really gone downhill -- series that previously had dedicated sites now just have pages with iPlayer-esque links, like this one for Orangutan Diary. Series 1 had a proper site! (Archive here.)
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]
Tuesday, 4 November 2025
Video Games
Leaving Lyndow
I'm already actively trying to play through Metroid: Zero Mission, with doses of Pullblox on the side; I started Indiana Jones and the Great Circle anyway because now it's on the free-with-Prime tier of Amazon's Luna and I'd been so excited to play it*; also thanks to Luna's recent refresh, there's now a bunch of other games available to me that I've really wanted to play and/or have heard are great, like Dave the Diver, Hogwarts Legacy, Kingdom Come: Deliverance II, and Dishonored 2; I should definitely go back to Forza Horizon 4, Pilotwings Resort, Doom, and Balatro; I recently bought Dispatch at full price** on release day because I'd been looking forward to it and initial reactions suggest it's as good as hoped, so I definitely want to find time for that; a point-and-click adventure I've been very excited for ever since I backed it on Kickstarter three years ago*** is finally out tomorrow, and I wanted to finish Gray Matter before then so I could dive straight in (obviously not going to happen now); and I actually drafted this post to highlight the ridiculousness of the fact I decided to have a crack at Skyrim for the first time ever — a game with an average minimum completion time of almost 30 hours, but for which the median playtime is over 100...
But, instead, I bought Leaving Lyndow for 67p this evening and immediately played that. Huh?
Okay, a bit more context. I was recently looking into open world games, because for whatever reason I've had a hankering to play one (hence Skyrim), and learnt about a game called Eastshade that sounded like it might be perfect: you play an artist, there's no combat, you just explore and complete side quests and stuff like that; and it's supposed to be beautiful. Sounds right up my street! So I wishlisted it; then, yesterday, it went on sale on Steam, so I instantly bought it. I was also aware it had a prequel, Leaving Lyndow. Various games seem to have "prequels" or "prologues" nowadays, and from what I can tell they're just a glorified demo — the opening chunk of the game, available for free. I'm sure there's some algorithm-related reason why it's better to list them that way. Anyway, I ignored Lyndow on the assumption it was the same, but then something today (I've already forgotten what) led me to discover it was actually a separate-but-connected game. Well, that settled it: I had to play that first, really. Well, maybe I didn't have to, but when it's only 67p in the same sale and reportedly takes about 45 minutes, it seemed rude not to.
It actually took me an hour, because I'm me and so explored quite thoroughly. It's definitely a gentle and relaxing game, as advertised, but also with a bit of an emotional storyline about a young person leaving home for the first time. It's not long enough to really get into that and thus it doesn't hit home as much as a fully-developed narrative could, but it's serviceable.
It also looks fairly beautiful. It's made for wandering around and appreciating what you see, so it needs to look pleasant, really. There were a few bugs (a character fully clipped through a tree at one point), and it's got that thing where it looks amazing in screenshots / when you're stood still, but when you start moving around all the ways those things are achieved immediately become obvious — but then, in my (limited) experience, this is still a thing with most games. And, in fairness, it's also almost nine years old and was made by indie developers; so while it does lack graphical polish in minor areas that I suspect would lead graphics-obsessed AAA-game players to think it looked rubbish, to me — who's been out of this kind of gaming for a very long time and hasn't exactly dived in to the current high-end of graphical amazingness (yet) — it still looked pretty special. Eastshade proper was released two years later, so I hold out hope it had even greater polish, but even if it's at the same level, it has the potential to live up to its reputation for beauty.
* I nearly subscribed to Xbox Game Pass just to play this, so getting to have a go at it on a service I'm already subscribed to is awesome. (I say "have a go" because, knowing Luna, it'll get locked away behind Premium long before I get a chance to finish it (see: Dungeons of Hinterberg and Control).
** Well, I did get the 10% first-week discount; but that was the "full price" at the time, so…
*** It does not feel like it's been three whole years. Wow. That's ages to have been waiting. I mean, it's not uncommon for Kickstarters to end up taking a stupidly long time to fulfil — when I back them, I always take a "it will be here when it's here" attitude, because expecting them on time and sitting waiting for that is a recipe for madness — but I never would've guessed it had been so long.
I'm already actively trying to play through Metroid: Zero Mission, with doses of Pullblox on the side; I started Indiana Jones and the Great Circle anyway because now it's on the free-with-Prime tier of Amazon's Luna and I'd been so excited to play it*; also thanks to Luna's recent refresh, there's now a bunch of other games available to me that I've really wanted to play and/or have heard are great, like Dave the Diver, Hogwarts Legacy, Kingdom Come: Deliverance II, and Dishonored 2; I should definitely go back to Forza Horizon 4, Pilotwings Resort, Doom, and Balatro; I recently bought Dispatch at full price** on release day because I'd been looking forward to it and initial reactions suggest it's as good as hoped, so I definitely want to find time for that; a point-and-click adventure I've been very excited for ever since I backed it on Kickstarter three years ago*** is finally out tomorrow, and I wanted to finish Gray Matter before then so I could dive straight in (obviously not going to happen now); and I actually drafted this post to highlight the ridiculousness of the fact I decided to have a crack at Skyrim for the first time ever — a game with an average minimum completion time of almost 30 hours, but for which the median playtime is over 100...
But, instead, I bought Leaving Lyndow for 67p this evening and immediately played that. Huh?
Okay, a bit more context. I was recently looking into open world games, because for whatever reason I've had a hankering to play one (hence Skyrim), and learnt about a game called Eastshade that sounded like it might be perfect: you play an artist, there's no combat, you just explore and complete side quests and stuff like that; and it's supposed to be beautiful. Sounds right up my street! So I wishlisted it; then, yesterday, it went on sale on Steam, so I instantly bought it. I was also aware it had a prequel, Leaving Lyndow. Various games seem to have "prequels" or "prologues" nowadays, and from what I can tell they're just a glorified demo — the opening chunk of the game, available for free. I'm sure there's some algorithm-related reason why it's better to list them that way. Anyway, I ignored Lyndow on the assumption it was the same, but then something today (I've already forgotten what) led me to discover it was actually a separate-but-connected game. Well, that settled it: I had to play that first, really. Well, maybe I didn't have to, but when it's only 67p in the same sale and reportedly takes about 45 minutes, it seemed rude not to.
It actually took me an hour, because I'm me and so explored quite thoroughly. It's definitely a gentle and relaxing game, as advertised, but also with a bit of an emotional storyline about a young person leaving home for the first time. It's not long enough to really get into that and thus it doesn't hit home as much as a fully-developed narrative could, but it's serviceable.
It also looks fairly beautiful. It's made for wandering around and appreciating what you see, so it needs to look pleasant, really. There were a few bugs (a character fully clipped through a tree at one point), and it's got that thing where it looks amazing in screenshots / when you're stood still, but when you start moving around all the ways those things are achieved immediately become obvious — but then, in my (limited) experience, this is still a thing with most games. And, in fairness, it's also almost nine years old and was made by indie developers; so while it does lack graphical polish in minor areas that I suspect would lead graphics-obsessed AAA-game players to think it looked rubbish, to me — who's been out of this kind of gaming for a very long time and hasn't exactly dived in to the current high-end of graphical amazingness (yet) — it still looked pretty special. Eastshade proper was released two years later, so I hold out hope it had even greater polish, but even if it's at the same level, it has the potential to live up to its reputation for beauty.
* I nearly subscribed to Xbox Game Pass just to play this, so getting to have a go at it on a service I'm already subscribed to is awesome. (I say "have a go" because, knowing Luna, it'll get locked away behind Premium long before I get a chance to finish it (see: Dungeons of Hinterberg and Control).
** Well, I did get the 10% first-week discount; but that was the "full price" at the time, so…
*** It does not feel like it's been three whole years. Wow. That's ages to have been waiting. I mean, it's not uncommon for Kickstarters to end up taking a stupidly long time to fulfil — when I back them, I always take a "it will be here when it's here" attitude, because expecting them on time and sitting waiting for that is a recipe for madness — but I never would've guessed it had been so long.
Sunday, 20 June 2010
this week on 100 Films
4 new reviews were posted to 100 Films in a Year this week, and they were...
The Condemned (2007)
Inkheart (2008)
Knowing (2009)
Tu£sday (2008)
More next Sunday.
The Condemned (2007)
It amuses me is how many reviews call this “a brainless action movie”. I’m not going to argue that it's actually a polemic on the evils of the media or modern violence-obsessed culture, but it has more to think about than the majority of action movies — meaning it’s neither brainless nor devoid of importance between action scenes.
Inkheart (2008)
it doesn’t bother to set out the rules, a major oversight in a fantasy movie such as this. The central conceit is that when Brendan Fraser’s character reads a novel aloud, what he’s reading enters our world — and, in exchange, some one or thing is sucked into the book. But how is it decided what comes out and what goes in? What can and can’t be read? Why not just write your own story to get you out of trouble?
Knowing (2009)
it's an intriguing mystery. Arguably this conquers all. There are attempts at giving the characters depth, but these are more about giving them a reason to care about the plot. That’s not necessarily a problem — I’d suggest if you’re watching a film like Knowing with the intention of focusing on the characters rather than the mystery then you’ve got the wrong end of the stick.
Tu£sday (2008)
The high-profile cast frequently belie what you’re watching. Most of the production has an amateurish feel. The look is like plain digital video, the choice of shots often obvious and lacking variety, the editing not as tight as it should be. The screenplay feels a draft or two away from completion, particularly dialogue.
More next Sunday.
Saturday, 30 August 2025
Games
Steam Deck
This is the thing I alluded torecently* a couple of weeks ago: I won a Steam Deck! The 512GB OLED model, to be precise. And I spent most of today playing with it. Not playing on it — I played bits of various games, but nothing properly — but playing around with getting it set up and stuff.
Because, sure, my Steam library is all easily accessible and installable and whatnot (even if it doesn't all necessarily run, though there are websites to help with that), but I've got so many games from other places (mainly GOG, but others too) that I'd like to be able to play on there that I had to get some other stuff going. Those aren't much more difficult thanks to Heroic Games Launcher (which I mentioned a couple of weeks ago because it's also helped with my Mac. Also, that's how long this has been incoming!)
No, the thing that occupied most of my time was emulation. The Deck is basically just a PC in a console shell, which means it's very customisable, and that means you can run emulators on it. Considering my interest in the Switch 2 had reached a point where I was on the verge of purchasing one and had begun planning what exactly I wanted to buy (the console itself, obviously, but also which peripherals and games), plus the fact I'd already had a go at emulation on my Mac with an eye to playing more, and I was keyed up to get some classic games going — as if I don't have enough natively-playable games to be getting on with! (I do. I really, really do.)
There are various emulation solutions, the two main ones (it seems to me) being EmuDeck and RetroDeck. I'd been umming and ahhing about which to go for, eventually settled on the former, but over the course of today decided the latter was more my speed. And so I've been installing stuff and setting it up and testing out old games.
First up: James Bond adventure Everything or Nothing. Although I'd tried the GameCube version before, I read that the Xbox version was actually the best one, so I tried to get that going. Turns out, EoN doesn't play nicely with Xbox emulators — as in, it's entirely unplayable — so, after trial and error getting to that realisation (if only I'd found that link earlier and realised it was futile), I caved and went back to the 'Cube version. That runs pretty much perfectly.
In a similar vein, I tried GoldenEye 007 Reloaded, the PS3/Xbox 360 port of the GoldenEye remake originally released on Wii (which I owned on that console back in the day but don't think I even got round to starting). It runs, and while it's running it runs well, but then it will suddenly completely freeze up and the app has to be killed and restarted, and you have to pick up from wherever the last checkpoint was. Frustrating. I have tried to see if there are some fixes that can be applied (changing graphic settings, that kind of thing), but everything I turn up is related to getting an Xbox port of the N64 original to play. Grr. I've left it installed, just in case. So far I've tried the Xbox 360 version, because the controller layout matches the Deck (no silly circle/square/whatever PS BS here), but maybe the PS3 one is worth a shot if it's more stable.
Considering they always run such closed ecosystems, it's kinda ironic that the easiest of all was getting Nintendo stuff to run. Legend of Zelda games from both SNES (A Link to the Past) and GameCube (The Wind Waker) ran without a problem, as did the N64's Paper Mario. I also started up a couple of other SNES games — EarthBound and Super Castlevania IV — which also seem fine. Quite why I'm interested in Castlevania right now, I'm not sure, but I also popped on one of the most acclaimed, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night from the original PlayStation, which I got going easily enough. Finally, a couple of PS2 titles — ICO and Shadow of the Colossus — required some more fiddling (in part to set up some recommended graphics settings to ensure they ran well), but weren't too strenuous really. Well, that said, I wouldn't want to be having to faff with that all the time, but for a couple of well-regarded titles I've been on-and-off curious about for a while, I'm hoping it was worth it.
Obviously, as I said earlier, I've only touched on each of these games briefly — enough to establish they run at all, not that they won't break apart / crash / etc when playing them properly. I fully expect the Nintendo systems to all be fine, but who knows if those PlayStation ones (especially the PS2 pair) won't behave like GoldenEye Reloaded when I do more than run around the opening room for two minutes?
Anyway, I'm done with all that setup now (apart from maybe trying the PS3 GoldenEye), so maybe I'll actually get on with playing some of the games. Of course, I also ought to take the time to go back to Gray Matter and Dungeons of Hinterberg — although as the latter is scheduled to leave Luna tomorrow, it makes more sense to just quit now and start over on my Steam Deck. At least that makes it easier to know which game to start with.
* Two weeks! That's for two reasons: firstly, it took quite a while to turn up; and secondly, it came almost a week ago, but I've been too busy to sit down with it until today.
This is the thing I alluded to
Because, sure, my Steam library is all easily accessible and installable and whatnot (even if it doesn't all necessarily run, though there are websites to help with that), but I've got so many games from other places (mainly GOG, but others too) that I'd like to be able to play on there that I had to get some other stuff going. Those aren't much more difficult thanks to Heroic Games Launcher (which I mentioned a couple of weeks ago because it's also helped with my Mac. Also, that's how long this has been incoming!)
No, the thing that occupied most of my time was emulation. The Deck is basically just a PC in a console shell, which means it's very customisable, and that means you can run emulators on it. Considering my interest in the Switch 2 had reached a point where I was on the verge of purchasing one and had begun planning what exactly I wanted to buy (the console itself, obviously, but also which peripherals and games), plus the fact I'd already had a go at emulation on my Mac with an eye to playing more, and I was keyed up to get some classic games going — as if I don't have enough natively-playable games to be getting on with! (I do. I really, really do.)
There are various emulation solutions, the two main ones (it seems to me) being EmuDeck and RetroDeck. I'd been umming and ahhing about which to go for, eventually settled on the former, but over the course of today decided the latter was more my speed. And so I've been installing stuff and setting it up and testing out old games.
First up: James Bond adventure Everything or Nothing. Although I'd tried the GameCube version before, I read that the Xbox version was actually the best one, so I tried to get that going. Turns out, EoN doesn't play nicely with Xbox emulators — as in, it's entirely unplayable — so, after trial and error getting to that realisation (if only I'd found that link earlier and realised it was futile), I caved and went back to the 'Cube version. That runs pretty much perfectly.
In a similar vein, I tried GoldenEye 007 Reloaded, the PS3/Xbox 360 port of the GoldenEye remake originally released on Wii (which I owned on that console back in the day but don't think I even got round to starting). It runs, and while it's running it runs well, but then it will suddenly completely freeze up and the app has to be killed and restarted, and you have to pick up from wherever the last checkpoint was. Frustrating. I have tried to see if there are some fixes that can be applied (changing graphic settings, that kind of thing), but everything I turn up is related to getting an Xbox port of the N64 original to play. Grr. I've left it installed, just in case. So far I've tried the Xbox 360 version, because the controller layout matches the Deck (no silly circle/square/whatever PS BS here), but maybe the PS3 one is worth a shot if it's more stable.
Considering they always run such closed ecosystems, it's kinda ironic that the easiest of all was getting Nintendo stuff to run. Legend of Zelda games from both SNES (A Link to the Past) and GameCube (The Wind Waker) ran without a problem, as did the N64's Paper Mario. I also started up a couple of other SNES games — EarthBound and Super Castlevania IV — which also seem fine. Quite why I'm interested in Castlevania right now, I'm not sure, but I also popped on one of the most acclaimed, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night from the original PlayStation, which I got going easily enough. Finally, a couple of PS2 titles — ICO and Shadow of the Colossus — required some more fiddling (in part to set up some recommended graphics settings to ensure they ran well), but weren't too strenuous really. Well, that said, I wouldn't want to be having to faff with that all the time, but for a couple of well-regarded titles I've been on-and-off curious about for a while, I'm hoping it was worth it.
Obviously, as I said earlier, I've only touched on each of these games briefly — enough to establish they run at all, not that they won't break apart / crash / etc when playing them properly. I fully expect the Nintendo systems to all be fine, but who knows if those PlayStation ones (especially the PS2 pair) won't behave like GoldenEye Reloaded when I do more than run around the opening room for two minutes?
Anyway, I'm done with all that setup now (apart from maybe trying the PS3 GoldenEye), so maybe I'll actually get on with playing some of the games. Of course, I also ought to take the time to go back to Gray Matter and Dungeons of Hinterberg — although as the latter is scheduled to leave Luna tomorrow, it makes more sense to just quit now and start over on my Steam Deck. At least that makes it easier to know which game to start with.
* Two weeks! That's for two reasons: firstly, it took quite a while to turn up; and secondly, it came almost a week ago, but I've been too busy to sit down with it until today.
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