I was pleasantly surprised by the first trailer for the new, animated Super Mario Brothers movie: the aesthetics looked just right, Bowser was portrayed as a genuine threat rather than a joke, and so on. Now the second one's landed and...egh. Good feeling's gone. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tMYg69DfFLs As I said last time, the crucial factor is Peach, … Continue reading Second Mario Trailer – Yep, Looks Bad
Video Games
Friday Flotsam: Minnesota and Mario
1. Spent most of the week in Minneapolis getting training for my new job. It went fine for the most part, but travel is always tiring, especially travel for work. Looking forward to the weekend. 2. I always hate air travel; crammed alongside strangers for an hour or more while the pressurized air grinds against … Continue reading Friday Flotsam: Minnesota and Mario
Friday Flotsam: Ember Days, RPGs, and ‘Bofuri’ Season 2
1. Last full week at work. One of my assignments was to make a particular alteration in the code. It was a matter of changing a single parameter in Javascript. It then took over a day to get it approved and pushed through for testing. Probably this is something that happens all the time in … Continue reading Friday Flotsam: Ember Days, RPGs, and ‘Bofuri’ Season 2
Thoughts on ‘Sonic the Hedgehog 2’
2020’s Sonic the Hedgehog was a lot better than it really had any right to be, borne along on a tide of audience good-will, easy-going charm, and a fun throw-back performance by Jim Carrey. I was pleased with it and looking forward to the promised sequel. Well, now I’ve seen the sequel (actually, I saw … Continue reading Thoughts on ‘Sonic the Hedgehog 2’
Low-Effort Blogging: Unskippable
Because I'm still sick, I'm doing some extra low-effort blogging right now. In this case, here are some videos of a now-ended series called 'Unskippable', which is basically Mystery Science Theater 3000 for cheesy video game cut-scenes. It was a charming series, with the two laid-back-sounding hosts providing easy-going humor (as I recall, there's very … Continue reading Low-Effort Blogging: Unskippable
Thoughts on ‘Rampage’
A couple weeks ago, my movie night was revisiting Rampage, the 2018 video game adaptation starring Dwayne Johnson, Jeffery Dean Morgan, and a giant cgi gorilla. When I first saw the film in theaters, I found myself unexpectedly pleased by it, at least for what it is. Keep in mind that I saw it just … Continue reading Thoughts on ‘Rampage’
‘Rama’ Soundtrack
Gather 'round children, and I will tell you a tale. In 1973, author Arthur C. Clark came out with Rendezvous with Rama, about an encounter with an enormous alien ship. It was followed in 1989 with a sequel Rama II, about the second encounter with the ship. In 1997, the two books were adapted into … Continue reading ‘Rama’ Soundtrack
Sonic 2 Trailer
The first trailer for Sonic the Hedgehog 2 has dropped at last (actually, I found it dropped back in December and I completely missed it). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5kzUpWAusI (By the way, why do internet trailers now do that little 'intro' these days? What is the point of that?) As you may recall, I was moderately pleased with … Continue reading Sonic 2 Trailer
Compare – Contrast: ‘Street Fighter’ vs. ‘Mortal Kombat’
The two biggest fighting game franchises of their time (and ours) were adapted into feature films one after another: first Street Fighter in 1994, then Mortal Kombat in 1995. The question is, why did one work and the other didn’t? The Structure: The first and, I think, the most important factor is how the two … Continue reading Compare – Contrast: ‘Street Fighter’ vs. ‘Mortal Kombat’
Thoughts on ‘Mortal Kombat'(1995)
Video Game movies seem to be going through a bit of a renaissance at the moment. Which is rather ironic, given the state of the film industry in general. 2019 gave us Detective Pikachu, a light-hearted, fun, and generally well-received take on one of the biggest gaming franchises out there, being essentially a family adventure-comedy … Continue reading Thoughts on ‘Mortal Kombat'(1995)
Serpent's Den 