The Phantom Tollbooth (1970)
I first saw The Phantom Tollbooth during the early seventies, more than likely on a Sunday afternoon. I enjoyed it at the time but being a child its subtleties were lost on me. However I did get a distinct feeling that there was more to the movie than met the eye and it stuck in my mind as being different to the other animated films that I had seen at the time. Forty years on, I am now familiar with the legacy of Chuck Jones and the significance of his work. So when I recently acquired a copy of The Phantom Tollbooth on DVD I was very keen to revisit it and view it through the eyes of an adult.
Lake Mungo (2008)
Do not be fooled by the marketing and artwork for Lake Mungo. It is not a found footage movie but in fact a faux documentary. If you are looking for cheap scares, loud noises and unpleasant imagery, then you will be disappointed. Lake Mungo is not your standard exploitation fodder. If however you like well constructed movies that create a genuine sense of disquiet, then Lake Mungo is a must see. Once again Australian cinema has managed to produce an innovative and thoughtful entry to a popular sub-genre. The film demonstrates a great understanding of the mechanics of a ghost story and how they should be handled.
Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins (1985)
Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins is based on "The Destroyer" pulp novels books from the seventies. Written by Richard Sapir and Warren Murphy, the stories catalogue the adventures of Remo Williams, an ex-cop brought back from the dead and trained in the obscure (and fictitious) Korean martial art of Sinanju. This esoteric fighting style enables an exponent to dodge bullets, cripple an opponent with blows to nerve endings and run across a beach without leaving footprints. On paper this was ideal material for an action movie franchise that could potentially fill a gap in the market between Bond movies. Yet this 1985 film struggled to find an audience upon release.
Spaceballs (1987)
There are some movies that you just never get around to seeing and they can remain an unknown quantity for many a year. If any of these films were a big event at the time, or have become a major part of pop culture, then catching up with them can presents its own set of problems. For example the status of some cinematic classics or cult movies inevitably raises expectations, which then may be hard to meet. Then there can also be pressure not to fly in the face of popular consensus, leaving the viewer obliged to like a film or find merit in some way. I had this experience myself recently when I finally caught up with Spaceballs.
Breakheart Pass (1975)
Breakheart Pass is a curious hybrid film even by the experimental standards of the seventies. Written by Alistair MacLean, it encompasses both the western and whodunit genres with a twisting tale of cholera epidemics, fugitive gunmen, corrupt politicians and Indian uprisings. Starring Charles Bronson at the peak of his career, this often overlooked film has many virtues. Its production design has an air of authenticity and the plot has more than a hint of Agatha Christie, endearing the film to both the casual viewers and more seasoned action fans.
Blaugust – Thirty One Days of Movie Reviews
Blaugust is an annual writing event run by Belghast, designed to encourage bloggers to post content more often. Its original remit was to publish blog articles every day for a month but over the years it has become somewhat more flexible. When I relaunched Contains Moderate Peril a year ago, I decided to participate, despite my long term plan of reducing my content output. This year I’ve decided to join in yet again, although I shall be changing the focus of my writing. At present I’m not particularly inspired to write about gaming. Star Trek Online and Overwatch are the only titles I’m currently playing and I don’t have enough to say about either of those games to sustain a month worth of posts. So I’ve decided to return to my primary passion, cinema and the film industry.
Cosmetic Uniform Controversy in Star Trek Online
Star Trek Online like many MMOs uses multiple in-game currencies. Reputation, fleet equipment as well as cosmetic items are purchasable using a variety of energy credits, dilithium and reputation tokens. Cryptic have therefore placed various restrictions governing these items to ensure that the game economy remains functional. However many players still amass sizeable quantities of these currencies overtime; especially those with multiple alts and sufficient time to invest in the game. At present although dilithium ore can be earned in multiple ways, a daily cap allows only 8,000 units to be refined each day. It is refined dilithium that can be used as a tradeable currency.
Star Trek Beyond (2016)
I am not a dogmatic fan. In fact as I get older, I become far more flexible and forgiving in my outlook. I certainly don’t buy into the concept that your “childhood can be ruined”. The only way something new can spoil the memories of something old that you hold dear, is if you allow it to. If you wish to explore this concept further, I’d suggest reading Marcus Aurelius. Back to the matter in hand. When I found out that Star Trek was to be rebooted via an alternative timeline plot device, I was content with this. I decided to ditch my personal baggage and try and be objective about the now named “Kelvin Timeline”. I make no bones about the fact I have liked the previous two Star Trek movies. Are they masterpieces? No. Are they entertaining? Yes. That is far more than some reboots have achieved.
My Home Entertainment System
The ongoing changes to the way we consume media is a common subject for discussion these days. In recent years I’ve written about it on this blog and discussed the matter at length with my co-host Brian on the podcast. The focus of these debates has usually been about the cultural shift away from fixed viewing schedules, to watching shows and movies on demand. For many people TV has broadly moved from a shared cultural experience defined by broadcast times, to a more isolated experience. One has to be doubly aware of spoiler etiquette these days, as friends and colleagues may well watch the same show but be a season ahead or behind.
New Content or Rinse and Repeat?
Over the weekend I finally finished the Blood and Wine DLC for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. By which I mean I’ve completed the main story (and achieved the “best” of three possible outcomes) and all (allegedly) of the secondary quests. It’s hard to tell with this game; it may well still have surprises to spring within its open world. However pedantry aside, to all intents and purposes I’ve played through the game. This got me thinking about the thorny issue of game content because The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt and all its DLC contains a lot. Playable content is a subject that frequently comes up when discussing games because there is no standard quantity. Furthermore the nature of content itself varies. Some is meant to be unique where other is specifically designed to be repeated. Whatever a developers approach to this issue, a game’s content is certainly a key selling point.
Pokémon GO – Ten Days Later
Ten days on from the launch of Pokémon Go the game has finally been officially released in the UK. However judging by the amount of gyms that have been claimed in my neighbourhood, it would seem that many people have already opted to download and install the client unofficially, like myself. Pokémon Go has gone beyond being just a popular mobile game and quickly morphed into a pop culture phenomenon. It’s everywhere at present and Nintendo are obviously enjoying the fruits of their labour. However it will be interesting to see in the weeks to come whether the level of enthusiasm the game currently enjoys can be sustained.
Pokémon GO – The Madness Spreads
Well the world seems to be going crazy for Pokémon GO at present, myself included. I must admit the first thing I did today when I woke up was reach for my phone and log into the game. I ended up catching a Drowzee in my bedroom which came as a surprise to me. So much for me trying to temper my smart phone “addiction”. Just five days after the release of Pokémon GO, the Nintendo Corporation is enjoying a $7.5 billion increase in their market value. The game itself is certainly gaining a lot of media attention as well as traction with the player base, despite performance issues and bugs. I hope that Niantic release an updated client soon with various fixes.
Dark of the Sun AKA Mercenaries (1968)
British cinematographer Jack Cardiff had an extremely distinguished career working with the like of Powell & Pressburger, Hitchcock and John Huston. As a director he received acclaim for Intent to Kill (1958), Web of Evidence (1959) and Sons and Lovers (1960). However his 1968 adaptation of Wilbur Smith's novel Dark of the Sun (also known as Mercenaries) is often overlooked. In some respects this gritty action movie may have been a little before its time with regard to both its politics and depiction of the Simba Rebellion of 1964-65. It still packs a punch forty eight years later.
My Phone and Me
I was wandering to the shops yesterday when there was an audible alert from my smartphone informing me of some message that needed “my urgent attention”. On this occasion it was from Discord regarding a new post and was nothing of significance. Needless to say this got me thinking about the endless stream of whistles, chirrups and beeps that emanate from my pocket during the course of the day, most of which are trivial. Frankly it’s been getting on my nerves for a while. In recent weeks, due to my Father’s illness, I’ve been using my phone in a far more traditional fashion; namely making and receiving calls and text messages. This shift in use has given me a different perspective and as a result I have fallen out of love with this constant barrage of trivia.
Pokémon GO
"Okay, it's 1 AM in Seattle, and I saw no fewer than 12 other people roaming the downtown Seattle streets looking for Pokémon" Tweeted by Talarian 7th July 2016.
I’ve never been a big Pokémon fan. My exposure to the franchise was mainly through my son who was obsessed with it during the late nineties. Over the years I’ve played a few of the games on handheld devices and like so many other Nintendo products found them to be engaging and polished. In recent times I’ve watched with both sadness and fascination as Nintendo’s fortunes have waned, both within the console and handheld markets. For a company with so many good products and customer goodwill, they certainly seem to make a lot of poor business decisions. So when they finally announced a year ago that they would enter the mobile game market my interest was piqued.
Star Trek Online: Agents of Yesterday
The third free expansion for Star Trek Online, Agents of Yesterday, went live today and there was much merriment and rejoicing among TOS fans. Cryptic have done a fine job in capturing the essence of the sixties shows. The new faction has a starter zone set in the 23rd century which features several stories that link to specific episodes from the classic era. There are Gorn in Gornkinis, neural parasites and Rumulans in knitwear. The game aesthetic is spot on and features a wealth of sound effects that are lore appropriate. Mind you, if you spend too much time on Taurus II revelling in your tricorder readings, you may find yourself on the wrong end of a Folsom Point.
Blood and Wine
Blood and Wine, the swansong DLC for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, is yet another exquisitely crafted blend of quality adult narrative and action gaming. As ever with this franchise there’s a central story that drives the game but the devil is in the detail of the secondary quests, witcher contracts and treasure hunts that occur along the way. Blood and Wine oozes both beauty and mystery during its thirty plus hours of content. It’s also a fitting denouement for Geralt of Rivia; a character I’ve warmed to over the four hundred plus hours I’ve played. Future RPGs will have a tough act to follow now that CD Projekt Red has set the bar so high.
Preparing for Agents of Yesterday
With the latest free expansion for Star Trek Online, Agents of Yesterday, launching on 6th July, I decided to do some in-game housekeeping in preparation today. Having only three alts this wasn’t too difficult and it didn’t take long to trawl through inventories, sell unwanted items and delete or dry dock unused ships. I also moved some energy credits into the shared bank so the new character I create on Wednesday is not without financial resources. I also receive my monthly Zen stipend round about the time of the new expansion launch, so overall I consider myself ready to enjoy the new content.
Resetting the Market
Over the last five years Cryptic have introduced a variety of themed lock boxes into Star Trek Online. Each type of lock box has only been available for a limited period of time, thus making much of their contents quite rare. Naturally this has led to a booming market based on the trading these items. Consoles such as Plasmonic Leech and such ships at the Wells Temporal Science Vessel have regularly sold on the exchange for hundreds of millions of energy credits along with other scarce rewards. STO has long been a haven for commodity speculators and even led to an illicit trade outside of the game where rare items are sold for real money.
Newbie Blogger Initiative 2016 - The Realities of Blogging
As this year's Newbie Blogger Initiative draws to a close, I would like to take time to reflect on some aspects of blogging that don't always get talked about. I guess that's because some of them can be perceived as negative things, although that may not necessarily be the case. The NBI is all about encouragement, promotion and advice; however it would be remiss of us all if we simply ignored some facts because they weren't "upbeat" enough. So let's grasp the nettle and talk about some of the practical realities of blogging, in the spirit of "forewarned is forearmed".