Edward's July 2017 Mix

 

I’ve met with a great and terrible misadventure this month. It turns out I’ve been carrying around an unbeknownst heart defect for the past several years. (Heart doctors don’t seem to think I was born with it.) It reared its head two weeks ago and I’ve been out of commission since. (And lucky to be here, according to the doctors.) Besides the ultimate reality check this has given me, it also freed up a lot of time. I took full advantage.

1.      I Know What you Did  on DVD: As a longtime fan of William Castle’s gimmicky horror movies from the 1960’s I was elated to find a copy of this rare movie at a local Walmart store. The movie concerns two girls babysitting and making prank calls to random people, saying “I know you are and I saw what you did!” They just happen to call a psycopath who just murdered his wife. And the fun begins. As with all Castle films, when this was released in theaters back in back in 1965 some of the theater seats were fitted with seat belts so you could be strapped in for the “thrill of your life.” The movie of course is extremely dated. (All the phones were rotary phones and Caller ID was non existent), but this movie was still a fun movie to watch and the suspense factor was there in spades. Joan Crawford (who was probably a bit too overqualified for this film) does a remarkable job as a lustful cougar.

2.      13 Ghosts on DVD: My good friend, Mr. John Wallen, came over to watch this, another William Castle film, 13 Ghosts. If you like creepy houses, suspicious characters (featuring Margaret Hamilton from Wizard of Oz fame) you’ll like this scary old movie that really hasn’t aged well. It exudes camp like a third season Lost in Space episode. It’s more reminiscent of a Leave it to Beaver episode gone way south. Still, it’s an engaging movie that’s fun to watch. Castle’s gimmick for this film was the life insurance policies he sold at the theater ticket booth when the film released. He wanted to make sure moviegoers were covered if they didn’t survive the shocks and horrors of this film.

3.      Forbidden Planet on Blu Ray: The last time I watched this was on DVD in Austin, Texas many years ago with my friend, Vic Berwick. The transfer to Blu Ray is smart and definitely good looking. This is quintessential science fiction at its best. This film blazed a trail for good (and bad) science fiction for years to come. The film featured spectacular sets and the first all electronic musical score in movie history. This film introduced us to Robby the Robot who made other guest appearances including Lost in Space a decade later.

  

4.      Fallout  on PC: This makes the third time over the years I’ve tried to play through this important game, many gaming enthusiasts have christened, “the best RPG of all time.” It has an array of compelling quests, an excellent soundtrack, and despite its age old almost sprite type graphics there are mods and patches that heighten the resolution for more modern systems. The game is extremely difficult, and that’s what finally killed it for me. To get to the main goal of the game, and get one shotted because I don’t have enough hit points yet, well, a guy can only take so much. I’m pretty much done with it. But I still have oodles of respect for the game and I always will. I doubt I try Fallout 2, even though I thoroughly enjoyed Fallout 3 and actually beat it.

5.      Star Wars 1: The Phantom Menace on Blu Ray: First let me say this, this movie on my 55” 4K television looks absolutely stunning on Blue Ray. I think a person could think these movies suck, but still have an enjoyable experience simply watching them on a nice television/monitor. This film is an utter showcase of amazing effects, battle scenes, and unforgettable Star Wars characters. My only gripes: Jar Jar Binks being introduced as more of a castaway from a Saturday morning kids show, and Darth Maul, such a strong character who could have been utilized so much more, being killed off before the film’s end. Nooo! He was such a great character! I’m looking forward to watching the rest of these movies.

6.      Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea on DVD: This movie ties right up there with BladeRunner as my favorite movie of all time. This is the movie that made James Mason my favorite actor, and I think he’s the best Captain Nemo that’s ever graced the planet. But the real character show stealer in this particular vehicle is actually a vehicle, the Nautilus. I’d never seen this movie as a child, but if I had I’m sure I would have forever wanted to steal away and become one of Nemo’s submarine sailors just to have the chance to live aboard this wondrous vessel. This film which garnered two Academy Awards, Best Special Effects and Best Color Art Direction in 1954 is well worth a watch if you get the chance.

7.      Borderlands on PC: This makes my second play-through. I beat it in 72 hours which includes all of the DLCs that shipped after I had beat the original back in 2010. I’m still playing the game with my friends, Gene Clifford and Phil Harvey. The game is a mix of everything you know and love about post apocalyptic desert environments, e.g. Mad Max, The Book of Eli, and the venerable Fallout series with a huge splash of laugh out loud humor thrown in. The cartoony graphics work quite well in the telling of the story, and running around shooting bad guys and looting their weapons is like being thrown into a convenience store for a ten minute scratch off ticket shopping spree. This game is fun and more so with friends.

8.      Neverwinter Nights on PC: I first attempted this game back in 2002 upon its release trying to play a bard. That’s just all kinds of wrongo! What was I going to do sing the monsters and villains to death? Needless to say, I didn’t get very far in the game and quit playing. It probably didn’t help that this was only the second RPG I had ever played. Well, I picked up the game on gog.com and decided to give it another go. This time I’m playing a paladin whose specialty is strong armor and a two handed Great Sword. So far, it’s making a huge difference. The game has aged well, and if you’re looking for a good role playing game with a good story, you might want to pick it up. I actually got it on a sale for $2.49, and that’s for the diamond edition which includes extra story modules. You should play it so we can talk about it.

9.      The Shack by Wm. Paul Young: I started reading this after my friend Gene Clifford passed it onto me with the sage advice to simply pass it on when I finished it. I’m halfway through this interesting tale of a man whose daughter was abducted and killed, and he’s instructed by a letter he finds from God to go to the cabin in which lay the most compelling evidence of his daughter’s abduction and the heart rending surmise of what became of her. The man answers the call and meets God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. The book is interesting and I like the dialogue, much of it nothing short of profundity, but Young’s choice of how the Trinity personifies Itself into three different human beings leaves a little to be desired. Maybe I’ll get on-board as I get more into the book, but I’m just not feeling it.

10.  AC/DC High Voltage on CD: I had never listend to this, AC/DC’s first release. I find it hard to believe that Rolling Stone Magazine deemed it “less than impressed.” This album was far better than the punky stuff coming out of Britain at the time. And look at us, we had The Bay City Rollers and theatrical bands like Kiss coming out. This album was pure unaltered high energy rock and roll. This album introduced AC/DC’s official ballad, “It’s a Long Way to the Top,” and “She’s Got Balls,” a tribute Bon Scott wrote for his wife. If you want to sizzle your speakers, or get into some air guitaring I suggest picking this one up. Highly recommended. 

Edward's June 2017 Mix

I went from working 68 plus hours a week to a two week vacation. Yay! So, no small wonder I couldn’t squeeze out a Monthly Mix last month. It’s okay. I more than made up for it this month; I’ve been a busy boy. I guess I’m entering the ‘Tang in her first car show next month, so I have been busy with mods, and sheesh, I didn’t realize how addicting that can be! But of course, everything is expensive. It’s okay, I still managed to hold some back for the Steam Summer Sale.

 

1.      Gwent on PC: As a longtime fan of Wizards of the Coast’s venerable collectible card game, Magic: The Gathering (and with which I won a sealed deck tournament two years ago. Ha!) I’ve always liked the idea of computer collectible card games. I welcomed Blizzard’s Hearthstone with open arms. I quickly tired of its crippled communication system and its “pay to win” mechanics, however. CDProjekt has recently introduced a card game that’s actually a metagame in their amazing The Witcher III: The Wild Hunt. The game uses a simple system of each player getting a number of cards, and the winner is the one who wins two of three rounds. It’s much more strategy than luck ever thought about being. Do you bring out your heavy hitters up front and dominate the first round, or do you hold back in reserve and try to stay the course causing your opponent to lose through attrition? I’ve always loved the Witcher games (which were based on a small series of books written in the late 1980’s) but that’s no matter in this game. You don’t need to know anything about the lore of the Witcher games. And the best part of all? The game is in open public beta so for now it’s free. And entirely worth it. Get it, then hit me up. And then let me school you. Bwaahaahaa!

2.      A Song of Fire & Ice: Clash of Kings (Book 2) by George R.R. Martin: I’m slowly making progress in this magnificent series. I’m about 450 pages into this 900 page tome. Now that I have a vacation perhaps I can finish it. Martin’s writing reminds me of the imagery I used to know and love in my favorite Robert Howard and H.P. Lovecraft stories. He describes tall trees skirting a huge city on fire at night. And the trees are engulfed in flames “alive and covered with orange swaying robes.” Beautiful writing. If you have some time on your hands this is a great series, and then of course there’s the cool factor of looking smart because you are carrying a War and Peace sized novel around with you.

3.      Company of Heroes: The New Steam Version on PC: This, my second favorite desert island game ( Sid Meier’s Railroads!) being number one, I had to make a return when Steam integrated the Steam workshop into the game menu. A new map was introduced: Wake Island. Boy Howdy! Imagine the days of Battlefield 2 yore, only playing Wake in an RTS! The map is not perfect (bugs) but it’s a gas amongst my friends, Vic Berwick and David Tidwell. I’ve said it before, but if you want a RTS that’s not simply a mouse-clickfest, where you have to implement actual strategy, I wholeheartedly recommend this game. It’s done so well a movie (starring Tom Sizemore) was made inspired by the game. 

4.      Ladyhawke on CD: Of all odd things to find inspiration from, I have Dirt 2 to thank for my love for Ladyhawke. This chick came from the early oughts, but you’d swear she stepped out of a time machine nestled in 1982. This album had a few radio hits, but the one most people know is “My Delirium.” That was what I heard on the Dirt 2 soundtrack that prompted me to pick up the CD, and boy, was I in for a surprise! There is so much to like on this record. I’m amazed an artist that sounds this good could pass under the radar like a stealth bomber in Operation: Desert Shield. She took her name from the 1985 movie of the same name. Check out the tracks, “My Delirium,” and “Crazy World.” You may, like me, wonder where this girl has been all of your life.

5.      Steelseries Siberia V3 Gaming Headset: I’ve had these tucked away in the box forever as a back up. My Kingston Hyper X gaming headset gave up the ghost finally. (The microphone stopped working.) I used to own the V2 Siberias and they were great until they stopped working in one ear. These are . . . well, okay. Frankly I’m a little disappointed. They sound good music-wise, but they just don’t have the “oomph” in gaming as my Hyper Xs did. And they are really lightweight, cheap, “plastic-ey.” Hopefully, these last, but unless they do a serious engineering update, I won’t be buying another pair of them.

6.      Player Uknown Battlegrounds on PC: I’m a fan of the concept of early release games on Steam. But of course, you pay your money and you take your chances. I’ve bought into three different EA games and I’ve not been burned yet. My latest endeavor, Player Uknown Battlegrounds (which gets the award for the weirdest game title this year) chapped my hide, however. I’m plagiarizing my own review here on Steam, but well, here goes: I just watched Brenden Greene brag about the 3 million PC players who bought into the EA version of PlayerUknown's Battlegrounds (weirdest PC game title of 2017) on the E3 (very console friendly as always) 2017 Twitch. Color me jaded, but I find the game severely unoptimized, and despite the regular updates, nothing seems to be done about the real things that need to be fixed. And at $29.95 this is the most expensive EA game I've bought into to date. I regularly join with 4 friends {which make up a squad) and at least 1 out of 3 times, one of us will mysteriously drop from the game. The blue ball of death is an interesting and effective mechanic which admittedly forces the ultimate outcome of the game, but even that randomly either becomes grossly unfair or not, depending upon the speed that it decides to move across the map. As I aforementioned, Greene's presentation offered up as an XB1 "exclusive" (even though it's been on PC for months) revealed graphics three times better than what we have on PC. I just don't get it. The PC crowd made this guy rich, and yet he's showing the love to the console crowd. I'm done with it. 

7.      Spawn on Blu Ray: I remember buying Spawn comics from the shops in Austin, Texas many years ago. I really thought Image Comics was onto something there. I ended up buying several issues numbered 0 (the very first issues.) I unloaded them for next to nothing years later, but then there was the movie. It was typical anti-hero action movie fare, numerous explosions, lots of violent gunplay, great fight scenes, but arguably, John Leguizamo made the movie his own as the nasty clown/Violator character. If you want to laugh out loud and spray your soda, just watch his performance in this movie. There’s a scene where he finds a pizza crawling with maggots in a trash can. He picks up the pizza and takes a huge bite out of it, exclaiming, “I hate anchovies!” The pizza actually had live maggots on it and he took the bite in the first take.

8.      Terminator: Genysis on Blu Ray: I’ve always loved the Terminator series since I watched the first movie back in 1984. The movies are available on Blu Ray, but serious reviews pan them as half hearted reviews. I’m still awaiting a complete remastering of the series. I did pick this one up on Blu Ray for cheap, and admittedly I wasn’t disappointed. Of course, it radically changed the series’ canon, but it was done logically, and inferrentially as part of the new canon now, and I’m okay with that. I think this one ended it though. I don’t see how the producers can come up with anything new. The series reached it’s finale.

9.      Flaked Season Two on Netflix: I eagerly anticipated this second season since I enjoyed the first season. Oddly, this one was only six episodes long. The story concerns a recovering alcoholic and his best friend’s misadventures in trying to stay sober. A supposed comedy of sorts, I found it more depressing and dismal than anything, but still compelling to watch. The finale offered a glimmer of hope, but personally, I feel the series may have run out of steam. I guess we’ll see next year if a third season rears its head.

10.  Steam Summer Sale: Yes, it’s that time again for our wallets to go on a crash diet and lose inches. There’s been nothing bombastic about this sale. I’ve spent probably $25 on about six games, all remnants lingering on my wishlist for probably the past two or three years. And now I have more games on my to play list to get to. When does it end? I may yet still pick up Red Storm Rising: Vietnam despite that it’s only 10% off. I have friends who play and they’re convincing me to pick it up.

11.  Assetto Corsa on PC: I finally finished the BMW Z4  series (GT2) and moved onto the BMW Z4 Extreme (GT2X) series. This series is much more hardcore. No more 8 lap races that take ten minutes to complete. Nosirree, these are 30 lap one hour beasts. The cars are slightly beefier and there are pit stops involved if you want them. So far so good. I’ve ran one race and I won. I have Silverstone coming up. I can dominate that track. If there is any possibility of natural ability in the seat of a race car, I own it at Silverstone, but then I’ll have my work cut out for me. Wish me luck.