Blistering summer days or eternal rain, it’s one or the other here. What does one do? The easy answer is, stay inside and lose yourself in music, movies, books and games. Well, that’s what I do, anyway. And as this mix proves, I kept rather busy. This is a big one. I can say undoubtedly, this one is one for the record books. You may even have to create another FB or Google account just to read it in its entirety. Sorry about that, but I don’t do tl;dr here. When I write I simply open a vein. And here you get the full enchilada.
F1 in IMAX: Not so much a fan of Brad Pitt as I am of Formula One racing. This movie was definitely popcorn fare, but it did show a lot of Formula One racing from some interesting angles. The IMAX experience was over the top, as is F1 racing itself. Despite having two official tracks in the United States, it still baffles me why we have no American teams. Brad Pitt plays a has been racer that never really was. His character is compelling, however, and by the end of the film you are truly rooting for him. I play F1 racing sims, and this movie depicted the sport with authenticity. In truth, it made me want to go home and jump into a race.
The Terminator on Blu-Ray: Though it seems antiquated now, you can see the nascent roots of the genre. The sets were pulled off with miniatures using orange flashbulbs and walnut dust to create the explosions which depicted the whole future war scenes of the machines fighting mankind. The stop motion animation of the exoskeletal Terminator is laughable by today’s standards, but this movie paved the way for James Cameron’s future successes and began a franchise that would make millions of dollars. Cameron helmed this film while working on the script for Aliens and Rambo: First Blood Part II. Brad Fiedel (Terminator, Terminator 2, Fright Night, Gladiator) scored the film and used a percussive heartbeat sound to emulate the heartbeat of the Terminator throughout the movie. This percussive heartbeat sound became the signature sound of the soundtrack in future Terminator movies. Both Mel Gibson and Sylvester Stallone turned down the role of The Terminator. Arnold Schwarzenegger, with his 17 lines and less than 100 words makes the role tingle, however, and as James Cameron said, “his accent just . . . worked.”
Arma 3 on PC: My adventure began with Operation Flashpoint back in 2001. This was the ultimate watercooler game, and what I mean is a game that created stories to be recounted at work around the watercooler or soda machine. It’s been said Warren Specter’s System Shock and Deus Ex gave birth to the “im-sim” (immersive simulation.) I can see that, but Operation Flashpoint delivered it in spades, and playing Arma 3 has refined it to the point I feel it’s the most realistic shooter I’ve ever played. I’ve only just begun, but the sense of immersion is of the intensity that I almost feel out of breath running up hills or trying to hold my weapon steady after scrambling for cover. The game’s authenticity is far more reaching than my mere experiences with it. Footage that was posted online by major news sources in 2018, 2021 and 2023 were eventually determined to be footage from this game. That’s how realistic this game is. Not too shabby for a game that came out in 2013.
Timeline by Michael Crichton on Kindle: I’ve always felt I came away with an education after reading a Michael Crichton novel. Often referred to as “fact-ion” novels, each one is a delve into plausibility. This novel involves a group of history students who travel to 14th century France to rescue their professor. I’ve only begun it, but I have a feeling, as with all typical Crichton fare, this will be a fun amusement park ride.
SOMA on PC: Made by Frictional Games, the same company behind the Amnesia games, this game follows the same tradition, a horror walking simulator. This one finds you going into a clinic for a therapeutic brain scan, and waking up suddenly in an undersea biosphere, and being the only person alive. It’s creepy and startling. It evokes a great sense of dread without the jump scares (which is a good thing.) The game reminds me a lot of Interplay’s Bioshock which is a game that still harbors one of my all time favorite in-game environments of all time.
Gameplayers of Titan by Philip K. Dick: More a speculative writer than what I would call hard science fiction, Philip K. Dick was responsible for the basis of one of my all time favorite movies, BladeRunner. I’ve always thought his writing a bit on the dry side, but he always told a good story. This dark tale concerns a disheveled Earth after being conquered by one of Jupiter’s moons. Most of Earth’s population is wiped out and Jupiter’s moon denizens treat our planet as a puppet government would. They have us play a game called Bluff, a strange Life/poker-like game played to determine economic and marital fate and ultimately that of Earth itself, the "luck" of a mostly barren post-apocalyptic population in conceiving children. The book resonated with 1960’s tropes in a fun way. It was like reading a naughty version of The Dick Van Dyke Show.
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea on Blu-Ray: Thanks to my good buddy, Vic Berwick for netting this rare find for me. I’ve had the DVD Collector Edition for decades now, and I’m eagerly anticipating a 4K release of this classic Disney movie, but you could do much worse than this beautiful Blu-Ray edition. This was one of the first feature-length films to be filmed in CinemaScope, and Blu-Ray truly reveals how beautiful the film can be. The film also won two Academy Awards for Best Art Direction and Best Special Effects. This is another great reason to track the movie down on Blu-Ray. Unfortunately, there are no extras with this edition. Hang onto your double disk DVD set because it has all of the cool extras that collector’s seek.
StarCraft on PC: I was first exposed to Starcraft in 1999, a year after the game’s release. My friend, Vic Berwick and I would play endless games over dial up modem at the time. To my chagrin, I was never able to beat him in our 1 vs 1 matches. I’m working on the single player campaign in hopes of honing my skills well enough to win a rematch against my devious foe. I’ve beat the human campaign and since moved onto the Zerg campaign. The Zergs are an insect like group that attack in numbers, hence the term “zerg rush,” which has become an accepted term for online RTS rushes in any capacity. Blizzard’s rendition of a new “remastered” version did the game justice, as this game is much shinier and crisper than its original. This game was definitely not the first RTS, but it was an important game that caused an almost religious type following in South Korea.
The Thing on 4K Blu-Ray: It’s easily on my list of top tens. My PC was built from its inspiration (you can see it in every Mix photo I post.) Seems I just watched this not so long ago, but each time I do I take something more enriching from it. I’ve previously commented on how beautiful the film looks on 4K, but this time watching it, I got a sense of how much hard work went on behind the scenes and by some of Hollywood’s best cast to ever work in movies. Dean Cundey, who has worked with John Carpenter since Halloween (1978), was one of the very first cinematographers to use a “steadycam” rig, which revolutionized filmmaking at the time. He went on to film other movies including, Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, The Back to the Future trilogy, Jurassic Park, and Apollo 13. Being Halloween was an independent project, this was the first time Carpenter and Cundey worked on a film for a big budget studio (Universal Pictures.) The OST, created by the legendary Ennio Morricone, was simply Morricone creating a film score that sounded like John Carpenter’s Halloween. Carpenter, dissatisfied with some of Morricone’s tones during some of the more intense stressful parts of the film, interposed his own simple tone synth music which he now states was nothing more than “sound effects.” Albert Whitlock did the set matte paintings for the movie. Whitlock got his start in Alfred Hitchcock films, which you can quite easily see in The Birds (1961). He did remarkable work in The Hindenburg (1976) and even more extensive work for Earthquake (1974) for which he also received an Academy Award. Perhaps the most interesting take of all, however, is the story of Rob Bottin, who was hired to do the special creature effects for the movie. This poor guy lived at the Universal Studios studio for a year as the movie was being created. He slept on sets and in locker rooms. He worked late nights and didn’t take a single day off for that year. He was ultimately hospitalized for exhaustion, ulcers and pneumonia. Bottin was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Makeup for his work on Legend (1986), but lost out. He finally received one for Special Achievement for his work on Total Recall (1990). Rob Bottin has since retired from moviemaking, given that CGI took away his job, but man! The dedication he put forth for The Thing, and how that dedication turned into his job being replaced by CGI. Sad.
Tiger Leader by DVG Games: So, you know how much I love solo boardgames. I was searching online for a particular one, seeing if it was being sold at discount somewhere and I stumbled upon this game, made by the same company. I didn’t hesitate. A few days later I had a 5 lb. shrinkwrapped box on the kitchen counter. I spent 2 full days setting up the game, poring over the manual repeatedly and on Board Game Geek.com trying to wrestle the game into a playable state (read: wrapping my head around the rules enough to where I could play it.) After watching 3 hours of YouTube vids by a guy named oddly simply enough, “Jeff” I was able to get a handle on it, AND THE TIME OF MY LIFE! Of course I got bug squashed on my first playthrough, my marauding German forces couldn’t take the 1939 Poles, no Blitzkrieg for me. But for a solo boardgame experience, this ranks right up there with Nemo’s War. You command a German panzer division from the beginning of WWII to the fall of Germany. Recruiting and developing commanders, each one gains experience and skill points to better his abilities as you play through the war. As you mete out orders and your commanders execute them, the good ol’ imagination kicks in and you develop camaraderie with these cardboard chit commanders. Good times.
Memoir ’44: Had a visit from my cousins, two brothers, and introduced them to Memoir ’44. After our games I asked them what they thought. They both said they were picking the game up when they got back home. Who needs YouTube to be an influencer? This game which won the 2004 International Gamers Award for General Strategy – 2 Player category and the 2004 Award for Excellence by The Wargamer. It received the 2004 International Gamers Award for General Strategy. You’ve seen me extoll its virtues here before, but it’s a game I never get tired of. I get so much enjoyment out of it I often play it solo. A mixture of dice, cards, military figures (artillery, tanks, soldiers, sandbags, concertina wire, etc.) This is truly a gateway game if you want to get into war strategy boardgames.
