Edward's October 2018 Mix

Another year almost over just when I’m getting used  to writing 2018 on my checks. This was a busy month for me, but not really gaming (for once.) It seems my latest obsession has been my guitar. The more I discover, the more I realize I have so much to learn and this is the most difficult thing I’ve ever undertaken. I wish I’d started 30 years ago. It’s probably my life regret truth be told. Some say it’s never too late to start. I cling to that statement. 

1.       Chariots of Fire on Blu Ray: An independent film made in 1981, this is a great story about two runners of different faiths who aspire to the 1924 Olympic games in Paris. The music brilliantly done by Vangelis is a masterpiece. And this Blu Ray transition is a masterpiece unto itself. If you’ve never seen this movie, it ranks right up there with The Natural and Hoosiers as one of the best sports movies made. And I don’t even like sports!

2.      A Few Dollars More on Blu Ray: This was Sergio Leone’s second in his spaghetti western trilogy. After having made the first film on a shoestring budget, and the movie being an overwhelming success, Leone and crew were given crap tons of money to make this film. And it shows. The production values are much more apparent. Leone chose to use many of the same actors he used in the first film (and subsequently in the third film as well.) Lee Van Cleef was actively recruited by Leone himself to be a part of this film, and his solid performance as a former Civil War officer turned bounty hunter is a strong suit of the film. The Blu Ray transfer highlights some stronger colors, much more so than the first movie, A Fistful of Dollars. Definitely a part of my favorite western series of all time, not to be missed.

3.      Halloween on 4K Blu Ray: This was probably the fourth time I’ve seen this movie over the years, but admittedly I’ve never seen it look so crisp, bright or clean. I don’t have a premium sound setup on my television, (not yet anyway) but this 4K is proof that it’s a medium that has indeed surpassed Blu Ray which in itself has left DVD far behind.

4.      Pirate Latitudes by Michael Chricton: A fictional (or “factional” account being this was penned by Michael Chricton.) This was Chricton’s last work before he passed on. It was supposedly a rough draft discovered on his computer. It seems to be a work he had fun creating because this book has been a blast to read. The historical intrinsics seem accurate, and the characters are almost over the top. I could see Stephen Spielberg making this into a blockbuster film. Think Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean for adults. I’ve got a hundred pages to go to the end and I’m racing to get there.

5.      Invisible Monsters by Chuck Palahniuk: I’ve generally found Palahniuk to be a compelling writer. It’s not his plots or his characters. It’s his writing style. He has a knack for putting one word in front of the other quite unlike anybody else in the trenches. This book, though. It’s reminiscent of a Tom Robbins novel, but I think Tommy did it better. The story concerns a fashion model who ends up blowing her jaw off with a shotgun, and her descent into abject ugliness and the fallout that succeeds it. It’s the first Palahniuk book that’s made me gag.

6.      Need For Speed: Pro Street on PC: I’ve played car racing simulations for three decades now. I’m a stickler for realism, but I’m also a sucker for a good arcade racer. EA’s Need for Speed series has always scratched that itch for me. Pro Street almost, operative word being “almost,” carries over into more serious simulation territory, but not really. Maybe more so than any other EA racer before it. This involves a series of street type racing (e.g. drag, drift, time trials, etc.) in which you earn cash and upgrade cars or buy new ones. The goal is to unseat the current leader in each racing style. I’m about ¾ of the way to completion and having the time of my life.

7.      Star Trek: The Next Generation: Season 4 on Blu Ray: I just finished the season. The show’s writers seem to think this is when the series started getting stellar. They said at this point they had a staff of regular writers and there was no more musical chairs. Michael Pillar had basically formed the equivalent of a team of Olympians. We got such great character insight with this season. We got to see Picard’s home on Earth. We got to meet Data’s creator father. We even got to see Worf’s human parents. I don’t think I have a favorite season, not yet anyway, but this is a testament the series is getting better with each season. The Blu Ray treatment is excellent. Sell your DVD set on eBay or Amazon and pick this up on Blu Ray. It will be a keeper.

8.      The Great Escape on Blu Ray: I remember watching this movie as a kid on a local Indiana channel, WTTV Channel 4. This was one of those movies that would air late night New Year’s Eve. I was fascinated by WWII as a kid, and it was movies like this that fostered that interest. This movie, with its all star cast (James Coburn as an Aussie was perhaps the only mis-cast in my opinion that stood out glaringly.) Elmer Bernstein’s musical score is perfect. The Blu Ray transfer is excellent and well worth it for any Steve McQueen fan or anybody interested in World War II films.

9.      A Star is Born at the movie theater: I watched the great version of this with James Mason and Judy Garland many years ago. When I saw the previews to this remake I was immediately interested. Seeing it at the theater I was not disappointed. Bradley Cooper is good as a famous singer/performer who has descended into a world of narcotics and alcohol. Along the way he becomes enamored with a struggling musician, Stefani Germanotta (aka Lady Gaga.) (*SPOILER ALERT*) Cooper tries to sober up through rehabilitation and seems to be successful until Gaga’s manager pays him a visit and informs Cooper it’s a matter of time until he fails and he should just do the right thing to quell any impedance to Gaga’s career. I thought that could have been played better; it just seemed a bit too contrived. I would have punched the manager and thrown him out of my house. Instead, Cooper lugubriously acquiesces. I call bull****.

10.   Dirty Rotten Scoundrels on Blu Ray:  I’m not a fan of comedies. Comedies are just not something America is good at, but seriously, is Britain really? But I am a fan of Michael Caine, and he shines gloriously in this film. Steve Martin does a great job as well as a con man out to oust Caine as the better man at his shady craft. This is a fun movie, with a feel good ending. I watched the Blu Ray and immediately afterwards put in the DVD for scene by scene comparisons. Yes, there is a noticeable difference.

Edward's September 2018 Mix

Ah, September. The end of summer, and childhood’s end, at least it was for me being it’s the month of my birthday. I remember sixth grade days, looking out of my elementary school at a lumber mill across the road and watching the men labor there and how much fun it looked rather than being stuck in a desk listening to a boring lecture. It all seems like that was a month ago. Time flies. Some of the movies I watched this month were movies I saw as a kid, and it’s strange to see those same actors, their ages frozen forever on film. It’s almost magical in a way because watching them takes me back to my boyhood when I first saw them, at least for a short moment of time.

1.      Elite: Dangerous on PC: I had toyed with the idea of buying this for quite a long time before seeing it on sale and picking it up. I blew the dust off of my Thrustmaster FCS and blasted off from a first space station to seek my fortune. There was definitely a learning curve, but now that I’ve rounded it, as the developers worked with Thrustmaster to create this new flight control system, it was a match made in Heaven, or the heavens, I should say, being this game is absolutely drop dead delightful to look at and be immersed in. I’m seeking my fortune as a freighter pilot. I have very little in the way of defense. I’m basically moving goods from point A to point B. There’s supposedly a huge update in October. I can hardly wait.

2.      Escape from the Planet of the Apes on Blu Ray: Still enmeshed in this spectacular series, I just completed this, the third movie in the series. It seems to be the one most unpopular with the fans, but from the standpoint of 20^th Century Fox, the producers, and the director and screenwriter they considered it a great success for the series. Of course, as I’ve mentioned before, each movie in the series had a diminutive budget to work with. This one was perfect from a monetary standpoint: they only had to put makeup on three “apes,” and modern day Los Angeles, California was the chosen location. Filming ease didn’t get much better than this. From the story standpoint, the apes really got a bum deal. But the movie does pave the way for the rest of the series. The transfer to Blu Ray, much like the movies before this one, is excellent.

3.      The Sand Pebbles on Blu Ray: I read the book decades ago and remember how good it was, and I had seen bits and pieces of the movie as a kid. It was great to be able to see it in its entirety, and it’s arguably Steve McQueen at his very best. His passion for the engine room on the ship is endearing, especially since he’s a man of few words. This movie depicted a US Navy not unlike my own memories of the real thing I experienced, especially being on two “small boys.” The ship was the real star of the movie, however. The San Pablo, a steam powered gunboat, was in reality a pontoon like boat outfitted with a Cummins diesel engine. The Blu Ray transfer was excellent with no noticeable grain or discoloration. Colors were bright and popped.

4.      Fender Lizards  by Joe R. Landsdale: Typical Lansdale fare: accessible, compelling, usually humorous, and always nostalgic. As I've mentioned in other reviews, Joe R. Lansdale is underrated. Read one of his books and I think you'll agree. Fender Lizards concerns a seventeen year old girl, Dot, who works at the local drive-in restaurant where she is a "Fender Lizard," waitresses who wear roller skates to bring food out to customers' cars. She isn't sure where here life is going, but she doesn't want to settle into her background -- living in a housetrailer with her mom and grandma whose greatest enjoyments are watching TV, a sister with a history of bad abusive men, and a father who went to the store for a pack of smokes one day and never came back. Then she finds out a roller derby is coming to town hosting an open competition. Dot sees this as an opportunity to fly like an eagle in an aviary filled with crows. She assembles a team of her fellow Fender Lizards and with the help of a man claiming to be a long lost uncle who coaches them, enters into the battle of her life to shed her droll, less than spectacular existence.

5.      Vanishing Point on Blu Ray: I was lucky enough as a kid to have parents who enjoyed going to the drive-in because that meant I got to go a lot. And now being an old guy, with the magic of recorded media I can revisit these old movies. And with new technology I can let the graininess of nostalgia be damned and watch these movies, cleaned up, remastered, and looking like they were just filmed last week. And thus is the case with Vanishing Point. The movie is about a guy who delivers cars as a profession, and this time the guy who simply goes by “Kowalski” is tasked with delivering a 1970 Dodge Challenger R/T to San Francisco from Denver, Colorado in 15 hours. Pumped up on speed and a total disregard for cops who’ve accumulated to stop him for blazing through their western towns we get a movie that is an exciting ride, compelling and unpredictable. The main star, of course, is the car itself. The police all look like buffoons, and the colorful cast of characters in the car’s wake are perfect early 1970 stereotypes. This movie was an influence on a very young Stephen Spielberg who made Duel and it was probably an influence on the much later Fast & Furious movies as well. Made with a budget of 1.8 million bucks, and a relatively no-name actor who was chosen over Gene Hackman, I remember Kowalski (Barry Newman) being such a cool dude in the movie. And even now, despite the over the top dated dynamics of the film by today’s standards, he’s still hella cool in his bell bottom jeans, flyaway afro-ish hair, and the stern look of a driven man, literally.

6.      3:10 to Yuma on 4K Blu Ray: A great western depicting a civil war veteran who lost a leg during the way and is trying to bare knuckle a homestead in the west, bringing up a son, and about to lose his farm due to drought and dying crops. He’s a man who just can’t catch a break, and then he’s offered an opportunity to escort a notorious outlaw to Yuma, AZ to catch a train where he will stand trial for his crimes. The farmer played so seriously (but very well) by Christian Bale and the outlaw portrayed by Russell Crowe are great match ups. This is one of the better westerns I’ve seen in recent years. The 4K resolution is pristine, but honestly, I didn’t see a difference between this and the Blu Ray version. If you have the Blu Ray, save your money. There are better transfers out there.  

7.      The Music of Chance by Paul Auster: A strange sad little book I didn't want to end, yet raced to the end because I couldn't wait to see what happened. Two young men's fate are decided when they are on the losing end of a poker tournament. They become victims of indentured servitude on a wealthy estate, and are required to construct a wall made of stones. Their confinement draws the two men together as they begin to find themselves through their arduous labor. And then tragedy befalls. I had never heard of Paul Auster and I'm not sure how this book got into my collection, but it's a truly discovered gem. This won't be my last Paul Auster book.

8.      Neverwinter Nights on PC: I’m still on the grand endeavor to get this game completed. I’m well into chapter 3 now and my character, Edward, the venerable paladin is level 14. I’m on a quest to find the Words of Power which will save the city of Neverwinter. I’ve found two of the three, and I’ve just discovered the last area where hopefully the last one of the three resides. And then I’ll be heading into chapter 4, the last segment of the game. I’m 90 hours and 30 minutes in. I’m notoriously slow when it comes to RPGs, and I have to wonder if I’m going to hit the 100 hour mark. The game is fun, and it looks great for a 2002 game on my 1440p monitor, but I’m really ready for it to be over with.  

Edward's August 2018 Mix

August is gone and fall is here. I took the plunge into 4K Blu Ray. And yes, there is a difference. It's nothing like VHS to Blu Ray different, more like VHS to DVD if a comparison were made. Anyway, next month I should have a 4K movie or two in the mix. I've been on a Need for Speed binge for some reason. And I'm way behind on my games. I'm wondering if I'm even going to break ten games played by the end of the year. How odd considering there are so many new games released now. I miss the old days sometimes where you bought one game a month at a brick and mortar store and played through it simply because that's all you had. Now I have a Steam library of 200+ games and sadly many of them I'll never play. Mortality sucks.

1       Need for Speed: Carbon on PC: Continuing the story in Need for Speed: Most Wanted (2005) this installment consists of five boroughs in which different types of street races are required to ultimately face off the borough’s “boss” racer in a very challenging canyon race. The canyon race involves a two-stage race in which the player must keep on the tail of his opponent, and in the ensuing stage must create as much space as possible between himself and his opponent trying to stick to his tail end. The game play is typical of all the NFS games, arcadish, but challenging. The graphics are adequate for a game released in 2006, but the killer for me was the final boss race. I’ve had friends who gave up on the game after not being able to beat him. I stuck with it, the masochist that I am, and despite my 40+ attempts, I finally nailed it. I haven’t raised my arms in a victorious fist pump over a game in a very long time.

2    Need for Speed: Pro Street on PC: I started this game a few years back, but it kept bugging out on my computer and I had to uninstall it. After completing Carbon I thought I’d give it another go. So far, so good. This one is strictly road and track racing in closed venues. Win races (or place high enough to stand on the podium) and you win cash enabling you to upgrade car components or purchase better cars. And dominating in a race venue allows you to play a lottery style pick game in which upgrades/cars/cash are locked behind mystery boxes. I’m about halfway through the game. It’s fun, a bit repetitive, but a welcome change from the typical NFS fare of racing in city streets.

3    Lone Survivor on Blu Ray: I’d heard many good things about this movie, including an honor among military veterans putting it in a top ten list of most authentic military/war movies. I read Amazon reviews which stated Mark Wahlberg became the reviewer’s favorite actor after watching this movie about a botched US Navy Seal operation in Afghanistan. The first thing I noticed was the pristine clarity on the Blu Ray format. This is probably one of the crispest movies I’ve seen on Blu Ray. The scenes depicting the JOINT OPS base and the Seal Team base looked as if I were looking over it from a distance in the real world. As for the story, yes, I’m sure there were artistic licenses taken, but I was invested enough in the characters that at the end of the movie, not only was I reaching for a Kleen-ex tissue, so were both my parents who watched it with me.

4    Blackwood Farm by Anne Rice: This is the 9^th book in Rice’s venerable Vampire Chronicles. It’s compelling, especially the last ¾ of the book, but it sure took its time getting there. And the main character, Quinn Blackwood, is not a very sympathetic character. A poor little rich boy whose imaginary friend is a ghost. And the ghost is even more of a spoiled brat than Quinn. Oh, and then there’s the story’s antagonist: a towering she-male vampire, probably one of the most wanton characters Rice has ever created. Incest, underage sex, hermaphrodites and devout homosexuality. This book exudes weirdness. I hate to admit Rice’s Vampire Chronicles began a downward spiral starting with about book five. My tenacity with the series bears testament to the bond I’ve created with her characters. I didn't feel it with this one. And frankly, I’m glad the series is winding down to an end.

5     A Fistful of Dollars on Blu Ray: I recently picked up The Man with No Name trilogy, and this is the first of the series, the one that made Clint Eastwood a household name. An upgraded transfer to the Blu Ray format from DVD seems non-existent. This looks identical to the DVD version I own. Still, the movie is so entertaining I watched it again, and then I watched the commentary version by noted film historian and Spaghetti film fanatic, Sir Christopher Frayling. Interesting facts: Clint Eastwood’s character is different in each movie; he is not the same character in all three movies. I didn’t realize this, but it makes sense. The movie was a direct rip off from famed Japanese director Akira Kurosawa’s Yojimbo. (A lawsuit arose but was settled out of court.)  And perhaps most odd of all is when filming began, Eastwood encouraged Sergio Leone, the director to cut much of his dialogue to make Eastwood’s character more of a visual presence. It was a good call and only served to make him much more memorable in further movies in the series. Interestingly, it’s probably the first time in movie history that an actor solicited cutting his lines instead of adding to them.

6     TheHunter: Call of the Wild on PC: I’ve always been intrigued by hunting games. Probably because I don’t hunt in real life. I always passed on the old Walmart Cabela hunting games, and I’m glad I held out like I did because this one is the granddaddy of them all. Starting out with a lower level rifle (all firearms are unlicensed but bear resemblances/characteristics to their RL counterparts) you earn in-game cash and XP to upgrade to better firearms. The popular notion is the graphics in this game depict the most realism of any game on the market today. And it’s not just hype. I’ve spent the best part of my childhood in the woods, and this game nails the look and feel of it. I played multiplayer with friends who complained about the lack of animals. I welcomed this aspect since it attributed more to realism. Many Steam reviewers lament the DLC accusing it of being a cash grab. I must disagree. There isn’t that much of it and what little it is can be picked up during a sale for next to nothing. Most importantly none of it attributes to any kind of “pay to win” scheme.

7     Indianapolis: The True Story of the Worst Sea Disaster in U.S. Naval History by Lynn Vincent & Sara Vladic: Not only did the movie Jaws terrorize a whole generation of moviegoers in 1975, it also sparked a public interest in a little known facet of American war history with Robert Shaw’s character’s recounting of his ordeal of survival after the sinking of the USS Indianapolis in July 1945. This book is the story of that ordeal, and the events surrounding the ship and the men who served aboard her before and after the ordeal. I’ve only just started it, but the book resonates with me because I personally sailed those very same waters between Guam and the Philippine Islands where this occurred. And I was fortunate enough to attend a book signing by the two authors in Indianapolis, Indiana this past month.

8     Bladerunner on Blu Ray: I’ve watched this, my favorite movie, perhaps more times than I can count now. But this time I watched the commentary by Syd Mead, the visual futurist who was responsible for much of the design of the movie. Very interesting stuff, indeed. Supposedly, the movie as it was being filmed began going over budget. Ridley Scott, the director, in his unorthodox style would film a particular scene sixteen different times, much to the chagrin and utter frustration of his financial backers standing over him and breathing down his neck. He simply ignored them as if they were invisible. Work conditions were so long and tedious several people on the film made it their last film. They sought a livelihood in other professions. Mead did a wonderful job though of making the film a piece of magic, and Scott did a remarkable job of covering up the blood and the sweat to make this movie his magnum opus.

9    Neverwinter Nights on PC: I’m still on the grand endeavor to get this game completed. I’m well into chapter 3 now and my character, Edward, the venerable paladin is level 12 just on the verge of hitting level 13. Still a gorgeous game (even on my new 1440P monitor) and well worth playing.