The Curse of Monkey Island
On to #3! The forthcoming Return will be a direct sequel to #2, so arguably I should've stopped there; but they've also said it doesn't erase #3–5 from canon, and definitely features characters and/or elements from those later sequels, so my plan is to just go ahead and play them all.
As for how long this one takes to complete (vs. the 6 hours it took me to finish each of the first two this time round), the save games don't have a timer here, so I'm keeping track of it myself. Therefore, I also have no idea which percentage I've (supposedly) completed. I'm into Part Two already, though, after just over an hour playing. That said, it feels like this game has to be longer — there's lots more stuff to look at, each with its own description (rather than the generic "nice" that was trotted out so often in MI2), and tonnes of dialogue options in every conversation; plus, really lengthy cut scenes. Unless the game itself is very short (which I don't remember it being), this has to have a longer playtime. (For what it's worth, a site I found called HowLongToBeat says the first two take 6½–7½ hours, while Curse takes 8–9½, so I may well be correct.)
Big aside...
I've not included re-play counts on these (like I do for film or TV rewatches) because the first two were Special Editions and it was the first time I'd played those remakes. But also, I'm really not sure how many times I've played any of these. The first two, at least twice each before these recent plays; Curse, I really can't remember if I only ever played it once or if I went back sometime. Looking ahead, I also can't remember if I only played Escape once or more (I feel like I did replay it at some point). I only become certain with the fifth game, Tales of Monkey Island, which was released in chapters, and I clearly remember only playing Chapter One. Plus, it's archived on this blog if I had forgotten.
Saturday, 21 May 2022
Collection Count
Collection Count tracks my DVD/Blu-ray collection via a number of statistics every week.
As if the 9 new titles I purchased last week, I mentioned that I had a bunch more in the post — and so, they've turned up for this week. It's not quite as many, but it makes for a big fortnight overall.
Number of titles in collection: 2,837 [up 6]
Of which DVDs: 1,057 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 1,780 [up 6]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 169 [no change]
Number of discs in collection: 7,056 [up 6]
Number of films: 3,382 [up 6]
Number of additional cuts: 261 [up 1]
Number of TV episodes: 9,268 [no change]
Number of short films: 960 [up 2]
Now, I've got even more titles in the post... but many are coming from faraway places like Australia and the USA, so it's hard to know exactly when they'll arrive. If they all turn up in the next week (which they might, but also might not), they'll be just in time for the monthly running time update. It could be a big'un!
See you then, faithful reader.
As if the 9 new titles I purchased last week, I mentioned that I had a bunch more in the post — and so, they've turned up for this week. It's not quite as many, but it makes for a big fortnight overall.
Number of titles in collection: 2,837 [up 6]
Of which DVDs: 1,057 [no change]
Of which Blu-rays: 1,780 [up 6]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 169 [no change]
Number of discs in collection: 7,056 [up 6]
Number of films: 3,382 [up 6]
Number of additional cuts: 261 [up 1]
Number of TV episodes: 9,268 [no change]
Number of short films: 960 [up 2]
Now, I've got even more titles in the post... but many are coming from faraway places like Australia and the USA, so it's hard to know exactly when they'll arrive. If they all turn up in the next week (which they might, but also might not), they'll be just in time for the monthly running time update. It could be a big'un!
See you then, faithful reader.
Friday, 20 May 2022
Thursday, 19 May 2022
Wednesday, 18 May 2022
TV
For All Mankind
1x05 Into the Abyss
Crikey: it’s over a year since I last watched an episode of this! And apparently I only watched four — I thought I’d got a bit further through than that. Thing is, I didn’t intend to stop watching, it just… happened. It’s, weirdly, a show I think is great while it’s on, but don’t feel much drive to watch in between episodes; and when there’s always so much else to watch, that can end up with it falling by the wayside. Anyway, here I am making a concerted effort to finally get on with it. I thought this was another great episode, by the way.
1x05 Into the Abyss
Crikey: it’s over a year since I last watched an episode of this! And apparently I only watched four — I thought I’d got a bit further through than that. Thing is, I didn’t intend to stop watching, it just… happened. It’s, weirdly, a show I think is great while it’s on, but don’t feel much drive to watch in between episodes; and when there’s always so much else to watch, that can end up with it falling by the wayside. Anyway, here I am making a concerted effort to finally get on with it. I thought this was another great episode, by the way.
Tuesday, 17 May 2022
Video
Doctor Who: The Fan Show
- Steven Moffat On Writing, Weeping Angels, and More
- Steven Moffat On Matt Smith's Era, Writing The 50th Anniversary & MORE!
- The Steven Moffat Interview: Part 3
When Steven Moffat stepped down as showrunner of Doctor Who, he did a three-part over-an-hour-long interview with The Fan Show YouTube series, covering his entire time on the show. I'd meant to watch it at the time but kind of forgot. Something brought it to mind the other day, and so I've finally watched it. It's interesting and with some insightful observations, although you may have heard them repeated or retold elsewhere in the intervening years. And, in fact, he worked on the show for so long that even an hour-or-so doesn't feel like long enough to cover everything worth covering. But they do their best.
[Watch them (again) at the above YouTube links.]
- Steven Moffat On Writing, Weeping Angels, and More
- Steven Moffat On Matt Smith's Era, Writing The 50th Anniversary & MORE!
- The Steven Moffat Interview: Part 3
When Steven Moffat stepped down as showrunner of Doctor Who, he did a three-part over-an-hour-long interview with The Fan Show YouTube series, covering his entire time on the show. I'd meant to watch it at the time but kind of forgot. Something brought it to mind the other day, and so I've finally watched it. It's interesting and with some insightful observations, although you may have heard them repeated or retold elsewhere in the intervening years. And, in fact, he worked on the show for so long that even an hour-or-so doesn't feel like long enough to cover everything worth covering. But they do their best.
[Watch them (again) at the above YouTube links.]
Sunday, 15 May 2022
Podcasts / Audio Drama
Doctor Who: Redacted
1x04 Angels
[Listen (again) on BBC Sounds.]
Kermode & Mayo's Take
13/5/2022 The one with Gaspar Noé, The Essex Serpent, Everything Everywhere All at Once
1x04 Angels
[Listen (again) on BBC Sounds.]
Kermode & Mayo's Take
13/5/2022 The one with Gaspar Noé, The Essex Serpent, Everything Everywhere All at Once
Video
RetroAhoy
The Secret of Monkey Island
Stumbled across this on Letterboxd, so thought I might end up logging it as a film, but eh, not really. It's very slickly produced, though, even if it does stray from its ostensible title: the part about The Secret of Monkey Island is actually only 10 or 15 minutes of the 74-minute video, proceeded by a potted history of the birth of the adventure game genre, and followed by a look at the sequels, other LucasArts adventure games, and what's happened to the genre since. All very interesting, mind, and I've ended up with about half-a-dozen titles to look up.
[Watch it (again) on YouTube.]
The Secret of Monkey Island
Stumbled across this on Letterboxd, so thought I might end up logging it as a film, but eh, not really. It's very slickly produced, though, even if it does stray from its ostensible title: the part about The Secret of Monkey Island is actually only 10 or 15 minutes of the 74-minute video, proceeded by a potted history of the birth of the adventure game genre, and followed by a look at the sequels, other LucasArts adventure games, and what's happened to the genre since. All very interesting, mind, and I've ended up with about half-a-dozen titles to look up.
[Watch it (again) on YouTube.]
this week on 100Films.co.uk
7 new reviews were published to 100Films.co.uk this week...
Fast & Furious 9 (2021)
West Side Story (2021)
2022 | Weeks 12–13
More next Sunday.
Fast & Furious 9 (2021)
before long they're racing around (literally) after one Macguffin or another, plus all the requisite shooting stuff and blowing stuff up and performing physics-defying CGI-aided stunts that have become The Fast Saga’s hallmarks. If that makes it sound a bit tired — just “more of the same” — well, remember, we’ve reached film #9.Read more here.
West Side Story (2021)
I remember when I first heard about this remake, I couldn’t quite understand what they were going to add by redoing it. The original is a widely-acclaimed classic — why remake it? I should’ve remembered one of the golden rules of cinema: always trust Spielberg.Read more here.
2022 | Weeks 12–13
Featuring...Read more here.
- Muriel's Wedding (1994)
- Cobra (1986)
- Django & Django (2021)
- A Man Escaped (1956)
- Death on the Nile (2022)
More next Sunday.
Saturday, 14 May 2022
TV
Eurovision Song Contest: Turin 2022
The first time I've been able to watch Eurovision live since 2018! And thank goodness I could, because what a show to experience live! So close...
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]
The first time I've been able to watch Eurovision live since 2018! And thank goodness I could, because what a show to experience live! So close...
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]
Games
Monkey Island 2: LeChuck’s Revenge: Special Edition
And that's the end. Took me pretty much exactly the same time it took to complete the first one, a little to my surprise.
I find it hard to say which of the two is better. The first has more classic memorable moments, but the second feels more expansive, and does have its fair share of great bits. They're both great classics, ultimately.
And that's the end. Took me pretty much exactly the same time it took to complete the first one, a little to my surprise.
I find it hard to say which of the two is better. The first has more classic memorable moments, but the second feels more expansive, and does have its fair share of great bits. They're both great classics, ultimately.
Collection Count
Collection Count tracks my DVD/Blu-ray collection via a number of statistics every week.
I had one of my "carried away" weeks this week, with 9 new additions here and a bunch more in the post for next week. Of this week's lot, four are new releases (out next Monday); two were titles I happened to see recommended; one I thought was a recent release (it actually came out last September), but I'd been waiting for a sale price and now I got it; and the other two were just a bit random... and they're also DVDs.
That's right, I bought DVDs! And not one, but two! It does still happen, once in a blue moon; and only for titles not available on Blu-ray, and not likely to be available on Blu-ray, of course. (It'd be just my luck for someone to announce BD releases of them next month now. But they cost less than £4 each, so it'd be no true hardship.)
Number of titles in collection: 2,831 [up 9]
Of which DVDs: 1,057 [up 2]
Of which Blu-rays: 1,774 [up 7]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 169 [no change]
Number of discs in collection: 7,050 [up 10]
Number of films: 3,376 [up 9]
Number of additional cuts: 260 [up 2]
Number of TV episodes: 9,268 [no change]
Number of short films: 958 [up 2]
See you next week, faithful reader.
I had one of my "carried away" weeks this week, with 9 new additions here and a bunch more in the post for next week. Of this week's lot, four are new releases (out next Monday); two were titles I happened to see recommended; one I thought was a recent release (it actually came out last September), but I'd been waiting for a sale price and now I got it; and the other two were just a bit random... and they're also DVDs.
That's right, I bought DVDs! And not one, but two! It does still happen, once in a blue moon; and only for titles not available on Blu-ray, and not likely to be available on Blu-ray, of course. (It'd be just my luck for someone to announce BD releases of them next month now. But they cost less than £4 each, so it'd be no true hardship.)
Number of titles in collection: 2,831 [up 9]
Of which DVDs: 1,057 [up 2]
Of which Blu-rays: 1,774 [up 7]
— of which Ultra HD Blu-rays: 169 [no change]
Number of discs in collection: 7,050 [up 10]
Number of films: 3,376 [up 9]
Number of additional cuts: 260 [up 2]
Number of TV episodes: 9,268 [no change]
Number of short films: 958 [up 2]
See you next week, faithful reader.
Friday, 13 May 2022
Games
Monkey Island 2: LeChuck’s Revenge: Special Edition
My opinion is now swinging the other way: I feel like I'm nearly at the end, and I've got there quicker than in Secret. Possibly I've just been playing it in a more condensed timeframe, though, because I'm at about five-and-a-half hours of playtime for 87% complete.
My opinion is now swinging the other way: I feel like I'm nearly at the end, and I've got there quicker than in Secret. Possibly I've just been playing it in a more condensed timeframe, though, because I'm at about five-and-a-half hours of playtime for 87% complete.
Thursday, 12 May 2022
Games
Monkey Island 2: LeChuck’s Revenge: Special Edition
Just over 3 hours playtime and apparently 37% complete. Might be worth mentioning that I don’t remember this one as well as I did Secret, so I am having to actually solve more of the puzzles. Still, the game feels bigger, with more stuff to look at, more characters to talk to and for longer, and the need to traverse multiple islands with multiple locations on each.
Just over 3 hours playtime and apparently 37% complete. Might be worth mentioning that I don’t remember this one as well as I did Secret, so I am having to actually solve more of the puzzles. Still, the game feels bigger, with more stuff to look at, more characters to talk to and for longer, and the need to traverse multiple islands with multiple locations on each.
Wednesday, 11 May 2022
Games
Monkey Island 2: LeChuck’s Revenge: Special Edition
Setting sail on game #2! The save game once again charts my progress, so after an hour's play I'm allegedly 10% of the way through. If that's true, MI2 is a much longer game than the first, as I thought. But the first game's progress percentage was poppycock, so we'll see.
Setting sail on game #2! The save game once again charts my progress, so after an hour's play I'm allegedly 10% of the way through. If that's true, MI2 is a much longer game than the first, as I thought. But the first game's progress percentage was poppycock, so we'll see.
Tuesday, 10 May 2022
Monday, 9 May 2022
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