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Kevin Klemme
March 09, 2020
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Kevin Klemme
January 27, 2020
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Kevin Klemme
August 12, 2019
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oliverkinne
December 19, 2023
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oliverkinne
December 14, 2023
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Mycelia Board Game Review

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oliverkinne
December 12, 2023
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oliverkinne
December 07, 2023
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River Wild Board Game Review

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oliverkinne
December 05, 2023
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oliverkinne
November 30, 2023
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Jackwraith
November 29, 2023
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oliverkinne
November 28, 2023
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Spitfireixa
October 24, 2023
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oliverkinne
October 17, 2023
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oliverkinne
October 10, 2023
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October 09, 2023
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October 06, 2023
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Outback Crossing Review

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What TV SHOWS are you watching?

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08 Jan 2021 12:16 #317823 by Jackwraith
We basically lost interest as soon as the ring gate was created. We got 3 or 4 episodes into the following season and then just turned it off. From my perspective, it took an often tense sociopolitical story (What's one of the best things about Alien? The heavy industry approach to space.) about clashing cultures and economic interests and turned it into a pastiche of the HeeChee universe. There's nothing wrong with the HeeChee stories or exploring new, alien worlds (Space! Madness!), but it's not what I was sold when the series began. This development was probably delivered much more smoothly in the more measured approach of prose, but I found that the key to me was the plot and not any of the characters dealing with a radical new version of it.
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08 Jan 2021 12:18 #317825 by Gary Sax

jason10mm wrote: I've never really thought about it that way but that is a good way to describe The Expanse. Was is originally a RPG game? I know it has 2 authors but I've not really dived into the writing of the books much.


Yes, this is literally true, its origins are in an RPG campaign the authors were involved in.
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08 Jan 2021 19:38 #317870 by Jackwraith

Gary Sax wrote:

jason10mm wrote: I've never really thought about it that way but that is a good way to describe The Expanse. Was is originally a RPG game? I know it has 2 authors but I've not really dived into the writing of the books much.


Yes, this is literally true, its origins are in an RPG campaign the authors were involved in.


Eh. That's fine. So was the Wild Cards book series and it's brilliant. RPGs are supposed to tell stories.
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08 Jan 2021 20:09 #317872 by Gary Sax
I think it's fine! But it does explain a lot about the way the first season is structured.
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09 Jan 2021 00:07 #317878 by jason10mm

Jackwraith wrote: Eh. That's fine. So was the Wild Cards book series and it's brilliant. RPGs are supposed to tell stories.


I am SHOCKED that Wild Cards has not been turned into a streaming show yet. After GoT especially, after the MCU even more so. I thought HBO or Amazon for sure would have snapped it up given the adult concepts, the superhero thing, and the GRRM tie-in.

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09 Jan 2021 00:09 #317879 by Jackwraith
Same. I know there was supposed to be something happening with Hulu a couple years ago, although Martin couldn't be involved because he has an exclusive contract with HBO. Don't know if it ran aground or not.

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09 Jan 2021 16:12 #317884 by Shellhead
Wild Cards was a good idea that started out great due to the quality of the writers involved. And then it gradually got too extreme for my tastes. It was like the writers were competing to see who could deliver the most shocking and depraved plot twist. A real low point came when a particularly complex storyline led to a male character getting raped and impregnated by his own grandson. I don't think that most viewers are ready for a story like that. I toughed it out for the entire original series, then came back for the first book of the sequel series before I gave up and moved on.
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12 Jan 2021 04:10 #317955 by still_c
I think now Martin is not HBO exclusive unless they are shooting something else. I think Wild Cards could be turned into a great show and the fact that viewers might be not prepared, it can result in good PR. I think before GOT was released people also didn't expect to see something as frank. That all just a matter of habit.

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12 Jan 2021 05:44 - 12 Jan 2021 05:45 #317956 by mezike
Caught up on the first two episodes of the aptly named The Great, a dark and very adult comedy that charts the rise to power of Catherine The Great, which has just started airing over here but I believe was broadcast Stateside last Summer. It's very much from the same mould as Death to Stalin, where the reality was so awful that it borders on surrealism, although in this case they are hamming it up rather than toning it down. No idea where the show is ultimately going to go as they will soon run out of mileage with the short and tumultuous reign of Philip III who bears the brunt of the satire. By the end of the second episode the conspiracy has already started to form and it feels like the showrunners will be milking it if they stretch it out for more than one season.

Watched to the end of Staged as the whole thing is already up on iPlayer. Starting to forget that broadcast TV is even a thing anymore, let alone of any relevance. The first series was brilliant and the first couple of episodes of the second were even better, but it all takes something of a stylistic turn in its somewhat shouty middle. Without wanting to spoil anything there are an increasing number of guests who all get to do a little skit with the boys and the humour changes along with them. Subtle wit is muscled to the side by broad slapstick. Most of the guests are American comedians/comedy actors performing to stereotypes and for the viewer it feels like you are constantly being mugged by the shifts between British and American humour (to be clear, I find enjoyment and laughter in both, I just don't want a Bourbon milkshake poured into my Gin & Tonic). I think the problem is that some of the guests just aren't subtle enough in their approach which breaks the careful boundary the show treads between reality and fiction. One or two in particular are almost screaming "Oh look, I'm a caricature of myself!"

Speaking of tonal shifts, we also caught up with the Christmas episode of Macenzie Crook's latest love-letter to idyllic English countryside life, the reboot to the much nostalgia-cised Worzel Gummidge. Originally a pre-war series of books about two children who make friends with a magical scarecrow, it was subject to a frankly terrifying 70/80's kid's TV show where Worzel, amongst other horrifying things, would often remove his own head. Crook's reboot however is far more gentle, spending plenty of screen time luxuriating over rolling hills and open fields, and features appropriately folksy music from The Unthanks whose dulcet tones fans of The Detectorists in particular will instantly recognise. This year's episode was a perfectly contained yarn where the protagonists went on a nice adventure and had a wonderful day out, neatly tying everything up with one character being in a happier place (literally) than where they started without a shred of narcissism or greed involved - in a very welcome change to the usual fare nobody sought revenge, got the girl, or became rich, it was just a lovely time for all. Very highly recommend for family watching.
Last edit: 12 Jan 2021 05:45 by mezike.
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12 Jan 2021 09:20 #317960 by Jackwraith
Just FYI, in case anyone is interested, I started a run of posts on Batman: The Animated Series- dichotomouspurity.blogspot.com/2021/01/n...-reality-batman.html

Going to run through all 65 episodes that HBO has.
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12 Jan 2021 10:08 #317962 by Shellhead
Saw an ad on the HBO menu saying that I could upgrade to HBO Max for free since I already had HBO. I pondered the possibility of a price hike coming later, but decided to go for it, since my social life in 2021 might not be much better than 2020. That unlocked the HBO Max menu, and there is a lot of content there, especially lots of DC superhero stuff. Not just the recent crappy movies, but a lot of decent cartoons. Anyway, I finally settled in to watch some Batman Beyond, when HBO Max popped up with a six-digit code and instructed me to go to their login website and use that code. But I wasn't in the mood to go boot up my computer, I just wanted to watch to watch something while enjoying my dinner.

So I went back to grinding my way through Buffy season six and Angel season three. I previously stated that Buffy season five was the worst season, but season six is almost as bad. I had to completely skip the musical episode, because I hate musicals. It always seem so outrageously fake when somebody is talking and suddenly breaks into song. Otherwise, this is a season about the writings beating down the characters. Every couple breaks up at some point this season. Willow struggles with addiction. Dawn gets caught shoplifting. Buffy nearly goes broke and then gets a minimum wage job at a fast food joint. The big bad of the season is a trio of misogynistic nerds. But I know that the Dark Willow storyline will be decent, and the end of the season is so good that it makes Xander tolerable again.

Back when Angel was on the air, season three is when I started losing interest again (I also missed a chunk of the first season because I didn't like Cordelia or the Irish demon guy). It's not bad, it's not great, and there are occasional moments of quality and humor. As the season winds down, Wesley finally moves from comedy relief to cool badass, and things get pretty dark.
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12 Jan 2021 10:23 #317963 by jpat
Bridgerton . . . I might need a fan and a fainting couch.
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13 Jan 2021 09:17 #317990 by the_jake_1973

jpat wrote: Bridgerton . . . I might need a fan and a fainting couch.


My wife and I binged that series. It was enjoyable, although I was more a fan of the costuming than the overall plot. I have velvet blazers, but I need more velvet waistcoats in my life...and perhaps some of those short pants.

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13 Jan 2021 09:37 #317992 by jason10mm

the_jake_1973 wrote: ]
My wife and I binged that series. It was enjoyable, although I was more a fan of the costuming than the overall plot. I have velvet blazers, but I need more velvet waistcoats in my life...and perhaps some of those short pants.


Hah, i feel that way about His Dark Materials on HBO. The show itself is tedious and dull but DAMN, the costuming is on point! Amazing leather jackets and waistcoated suits for the men. Aside from a terrible fedora on Lin Miranda that looks like it came straight from the factory while the rest of his outfit crawled trough a gravel pit anyway.

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17 Jan 2021 20:20 #318112 by DarthJoJo
So I watched the first episodes of WandaVision last night. It’s hard to talk about because it commits hard to its conceit of replicating old sitcoms from cinematography to writing to performance. It’s not winking at the audience either, like Community would. It’s wholeheartedly in on the ‘50’s and ‘60’s aesthetics, and it’s off putting as a modern viewer. And that’s before it takes a swerve into the Twilight Zone.

It’s not immediately fun like The Mandalorian, so it’ll be hard to recommend until the full thing is out and the story is told in full. Elizabeth Olsen’s performance is pretty great, if that’s enough for you.

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