Age of Umbra
1x01 Desperloch [1st hour]
As I've reached a very convenient end-of-story-arc point in my Campaign 2 viewing, I'm making a start on their currently-running Daggerheart-based miniseries. It's still the same players and GM playing a story-focused TTRPG, and yet the system switchup somehow makes it feel fresh and exciting. Interesting.
[Watch it (again) on YouTube or Beacon.]
Ever since I started watching Critical Role, I’ve debated where to categorise it. Some would just say it’s TV, but I started watching it on YouTube — that’s not really TV, that’s just online video slop, right? (I get that this is a generational thing, and I’m definitely of a generation that doesn’t respect “YouTubers”.) I don’t even watch CR on my TV, but on my computer or tablet, something I would never dream of doing with real TV (this is less generational, more just being a purist — or, if you prefer, snob). But it sits uncomfortably under the “Video” heading too — that was created more for short-form disposable stuff.
Anyway, after (too) much reflection, I’ve decided to ‘upgrade’ CR and its associated content, and the start of their newest miniseries seemed as good a changeover point as any. Funnily enough, tomorrow this will include their backstage pre-show livestream from Sydney, which immediately threw me into a conundrum: a livestream is definitely more “Video” than “TV”. But I don’t want to split their stuff up like that, so I guess it’s all TV now!
Maybe I should just call it “Content”. My Content Experience. Ugh.
Wednesday, 18 June 2025
Monday, 16 June 2025
Sunday, 15 June 2025
Podcasts
The Empire Spoiler Special Film Podcast
Christopher McQuarrie on Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning Part One
Christopher McQuarrie on Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning Part One
Videos
Critical Role
2x108 Traveler Con [1st half]
Just 77 episodes (that's over half the campaign) after it was first mentioned (even at my accelerated pace, it's been a whole year since I watched that episode; in real life, it was over two years) — and after many, many episodes of steadily increasing mentions and preparations as it got closer and closer — Traveler Con is finally here!
[Watch it (again) on YouTube, Twitch, or Beacon.]
2x108 Traveler Con [1st half]
Just 77 episodes (that's over half the campaign) after it was first mentioned (even at my accelerated pace, it's been a whole year since I watched that episode; in real life, it was over two years) — and after many, many episodes of steadily increasing mentions and preparations as it got closer and closer — Traveler Con is finally here!
[Watch it (again) on YouTube, Twitch, or Beacon.]
Saturday, 14 June 2025
Collection Count
Collection Count tracks my DVD/Blu-ray collection via a number of statistics every week.
Three new purchases this week, all new releases — two from this week, one ahead of next week — with two of them being splashy UHD Collector's Editions, and one of those an upgrade to an existing Blu-ray.
Number of titles in collection: 3,556 [up 2]
Of which DVDs: 986 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 2,570 [up 2]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 475 [up 2]
Number of discs in collection: 8,566 [up 7]
Number of films: 4,512 [up 2]
Number of additional cuts: 446 [up 2]
Number of TV episodes: 10,154 [up 2]
Number of short films: 1,239 [up 1]
It's also time for the monthly running time update, which passes a milestone...
Total running time of collection (approx.):
601 days, 17 hours, and 21 minutes.
(Up 1 day, 20 hours, and 37 minutes from last month.)
Yes, I've now passed 600 days! I passed 500 days back in March 2022 (with no fanfare). That's 3 years and 3 months ago, fact fans. I'd passed 400 days in July 2018, which was 3 years and 8 months before 500 — so the speed at which my collection increases is increasing. That doesn't surprise me in the slightest.
Purely in running time terms, my collection has doubled in size in just under 11 years. The number of titles has more than doubled in that time (makes sense, as the amount of TV thats gets released/bought by me has steadily decreased, and that has much higher running times per title). My DVD colleciton has shrunk by 17.9% in that time, while my Blu-rays have increased five-fold. I now own almost as many UHDs as I did Blu-rays back then. Considering I described 300 days as "madness" and I now have doubled that, I do have to wonder when (if) it will ever stop... Well, if I continue as I have been, logically I'll reach 700 hours around March 2028 — so let's see!
On a more immediate scale: I'll see you next week, faithful reader.
Three new purchases this week, all new releases — two from this week, one ahead of next week — with two of them being splashy UHD Collector's Editions, and one of those an upgrade to an existing Blu-ray.
Number of titles in collection: 3,556 [up 2]
Of which DVDs: 986 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 2,570 [up 2]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 475 [up 2]
Number of discs in collection: 8,566 [up 7]
Number of films: 4,512 [up 2]
Number of additional cuts: 446 [up 2]
Number of TV episodes: 10,154 [up 2]
Number of short films: 1,239 [up 1]
It's also time for the monthly running time update, which passes a milestone...
Total running time of collection (approx.):
601 days, 17 hours, and 21 minutes.
(Up 1 day, 20 hours, and 37 minutes from last month.)
Yes, I've now passed 600 days! I passed 500 days back in March 2022 (with no fanfare). That's 3 years and 3 months ago, fact fans. I'd passed 400 days in July 2018, which was 3 years and 8 months before 500 — so the speed at which my collection increases is increasing. That doesn't surprise me in the slightest.
Purely in running time terms, my collection has doubled in size in just under 11 years. The number of titles has more than doubled in that time (makes sense, as the amount of TV thats gets released/bought by me has steadily decreased, and that has much higher running times per title). My DVD colleciton has shrunk by 17.9% in that time, while my Blu-rays have increased five-fold. I now own almost as many UHDs as I did Blu-rays back then. Considering I described 300 days as "madness" and I now have doubled that, I do have to wonder when (if) it will ever stop... Well, if I continue as I have been, logically I'll reach 700 hours around March 2028 — so let's see!
On a more immediate scale: I'll see you next week, faithful reader.
Friday, 13 June 2025
Thursday, 12 June 2025
Wednesday, 11 June 2025
Games
Batman: Arkham Knight
It's over six months since I got my Luna controller — crikey, so long? Yeah, I've barely used it. To be honest, I didn't have the greatest experience with A Plague Tale — it was ok, but I've never really felt like going back to it. Things went better with Everything or Nothing, but I think my iffiness with the analogue sticks prevented me from revisiting it beyond the tutorial stages (I do still want to, though). And then I tried Final Fantasy VII, which... I sort of didn't get on with? The lack of free saving annoyed me, especially as I ended up having to play for hours when I didn't actually want to just to get to another save point. Maybe that's because I was still early in tutorial-esque bits and it gets better? It is a revered classic, after all.
Anyway, I finally whipped the controller out again today, to have a go at this Batman game that's currently available through Luna to regular Amazon Prime members (there's also an additional Luna+ sub that gets you even more, but I don't use it enough for that — evidently). This was the fourth in the series of 'Arkham' Batman games. I don't normally like I starting with the last, but this is the one that's free, so...
I ended up playing for about two hours — not because a lack of save points forced me to, but because I was actually enjoying it. I can certainly feel I'm out of practice at this type of gaming (aside from the aforementioned tests at the end of last year, I guess the last time I properly picked up a controller was pushing 20 years ago? Jesus, time flies...), but the game wasn't so punishing that I couldn't get somewhere (I did put it on 'easy' mode, but I feel no shame about that — like I said, I'm terribly out of practice. And, frankly, dying over and over and getting nowhere has never been part of the fun of gaming for me). Also, it looked pretty great. It's 10 years old, but when I haven't really played games since the GameCube / original Xbox (I did dabble with the Wii, but not enough give the amount of stuff I bought for it), I guess I feel the jump more! Imagine what I'd think of a new game...
Anyway, I can't promise I'll stick at this too much, because there are plenty of other demands on my free time (films, books, comics, podcasts, audio dramas, self-learning, card games, board games... eesh!), but I'm definitely more inclined to return now. The only possible downside is, the game is due to expire on Luna on the 1st of July — there's no way I'm going to play it enough to finish it by then. It's listed as being about 17 hours just for the main story, but I'm so out of practice that I suspect it will take me longer; and I'm always a completist, so the 31-hour-plus higher estimates seem more like it.
It's over six months since I got my Luna controller — crikey, so long? Yeah, I've barely used it. To be honest, I didn't have the greatest experience with A Plague Tale — it was ok, but I've never really felt like going back to it. Things went better with Everything or Nothing, but I think my iffiness with the analogue sticks prevented me from revisiting it beyond the tutorial stages (I do still want to, though). And then I tried Final Fantasy VII, which... I sort of didn't get on with? The lack of free saving annoyed me, especially as I ended up having to play for hours when I didn't actually want to just to get to another save point. Maybe that's because I was still early in tutorial-esque bits and it gets better? It is a revered classic, after all.
Anyway, I finally whipped the controller out again today, to have a go at this Batman game that's currently available through Luna to regular Amazon Prime members (there's also an additional Luna+ sub that gets you even more, but I don't use it enough for that — evidently). This was the fourth in the series of 'Arkham' Batman games. I don't normally like I starting with the last, but this is the one that's free, so...
I ended up playing for about two hours — not because a lack of save points forced me to, but because I was actually enjoying it. I can certainly feel I'm out of practice at this type of gaming (aside from the aforementioned tests at the end of last year, I guess the last time I properly picked up a controller was pushing 20 years ago? Jesus, time flies...), but the game wasn't so punishing that I couldn't get somewhere (I did put it on 'easy' mode, but I feel no shame about that — like I said, I'm terribly out of practice. And, frankly, dying over and over and getting nowhere has never been part of the fun of gaming for me). Also, it looked pretty great. It's 10 years old, but when I haven't really played games since the GameCube / original Xbox (I did dabble with the Wii, but not enough give the amount of stuff I bought for it), I guess I feel the jump more! Imagine what I'd think of a new game...
Anyway, I can't promise I'll stick at this too much, because there are plenty of other demands on my free time (films, books, comics, podcasts, audio dramas, self-learning, card games, board games... eesh!), but I'm definitely more inclined to return now. The only possible downside is, the game is due to expire on Luna on the 1st of July — there's no way I'm going to play it enough to finish it by then. It's listed as being about 17 hours just for the main story, but I'm so out of practice that I suspect it will take me longer; and I'm always a completist, so the 31-hour-plus higher estimates seem more like it.
Tuesday, 10 June 2025
Videos
Critical Role
2x107 Devoutness and Dicks [2nd half]
[Watch it (again) on YouTube, Twitch, or Beacon.]
2x107 Devoutness and Dicks [2nd half]
[Watch it (again) on YouTube, Twitch, or Beacon.]
Monday, 9 June 2025
Videos
Critical Role
2x107 Devoutness and Dicks [1st half]
[Watch it (again) on YouTube, Twitch, or Beacon.]
2x107 Devoutness and Dicks [1st half]
[Watch it (again) on YouTube, Twitch, or Beacon.]
Sunday, 8 June 2025
Films
The Untouchables (1987)
[#52 in The 100 Films in a Year Challenge 2025]
"What Do You Mean You Haven't Seen...?" 2025 #6
[#52 in The 100 Films in a Year Challenge 2025]
"What Do You Mean You Haven't Seen...?" 2025 #6
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