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Crunching the Numbers: Third Time's The Charm - It's The Final Countdown!

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4 minutes ago, 4815162342 said:

 

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I'm gonna be honest. The original Venchell was substantially better than the one we have here. It's a well-written role, but it feels too much like a having cake but eating it too scenario by going over-the-top at times in trying to have Venchell be righteous and sympathetic. The idea of the sins of the founders coming back to haunt them with targeted assassinations and terror is a good one, but I think it got muddled by the decision to make Venchell a Hero of His Own Story rather than an embittered, vengeful antagonist.

 

 

8.1/10 (pre-read version was probably a 8.6 or 8.7)

Spoiler

To be fair, at the climax he tries to set off a bomb that would kill millions of people, and obviously Alex isn't having it. But even then I'll admit it's after his home and countless allies are brutally destroyed. You could probably tell I wrote this second draft after watching Black Panther. :P

 

But that's still a great score! As for the power/teen Wolf choice.....I'm considering a similar situation in 3/4, but obviously one played a good bit differently.

 

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Battletoads

 

It's a goofy fun kid adventure that is light on making sense and heavy on wacky antics and colorful visuals. The main characters have a solid dynamic with lots of banter and quips that only occasionally get a little exhausting. The interplay between Angelica and the Dark Queen is nice, if a little simplistic. Kendrick is good fun as the Dark Queen, but it reminds me a bit too much of her character in Freddy Zapper. It also felt like they were going somewhere with a redemption arc for her, but the final act of the film seems to forget about the setup. All in all, it's a nice time, if somewhat disposable.

 

6.2/10

 

Professor T Bird does some searching and finds out that Destra is about a galaxy away and it’d take approximately 3 days to get there. Oh, only a GALAXY away.

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Cataclysmic

 

Not to make light of a natural disaster but the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo doesn't quite seem cataclysmic, especially when there were eruptions in the same region with Tambora and Krakatoa that were substantially more powerful and deadly. But that's just me quibbling with the title choice.

 

Anyways, we have the standard slow buildup in you disaster film, though in this case it's helped in a way by the slow chain of escalating events that put up bigger and bigger warning signs that something terrible is about to go down. Jennifer Lawrence is very good as Emily, her character carefully straddling the line between idealistic adventurer and narcissistic brat for the first two acts of the film. Ben Affleck is fine, but his character gets less and less to do as the film goes on, eventually being reduced to just watching things with a Ken Watanabe Godzilla look of awe. By the end of the film he's less of a character and more of a prop the film can move around to occasionally appear. The mother-daughter interplay is a bit cliched and hamfisted, but it does pay off well with the tense intercutting between Emily in Angeles City and her mom in the damaged airplane. The film's slow build of tension is its best strength and it manages to make Emily not seem like a total doltbrain for not evacuating when literally everyone except the stubborn Aeta guy told her to.

 

The Disaster Cinematic Universe is moving full steam ahead, I expect it will do well.

 

7.2/10

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13 minutes ago, 4815162342 said:

Not to make light of a natural disaster but the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo doesn't quite seem cataclysmic, especially when there were eruptions in the same region with Tambora and Krakatoa that were substantially more powerful and deadly.

Fair enough. I wanted to do something more contemporary since White Hurricane was my "way back when" disaster film thingy. That said this was the biggest eruption, particulate-wise, SINCE Krakatoa and pretty much the biggest volcanic eruption in recent memory. Plus y'know the typhoon happening in the same place at the same time.

 

Also there's already a movie about Krakatoa's eruption and it's boring as all hell so I feel like it was jinxed. :P 

 

But yeah disaster movies gotta have them over-the-top titles and most of the good ones were already taken. Thanks for the positive review!

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Bartimaeus and the Amulet of Samarkand

 

I remember prior versions of this film from prior versions of the game and this one feels a bit different. Well ok, it's the same in that the main character is a giant dickweek for the first two acts, but the film does do a solid job of him seeing the light, even if it takes a fridging or two to do it. Josh Hutcherson is probably miscast for the role of Nathaniel due to age, but Tom Holland does well as the title character. Mark Strong meanwhile does Mark Strong things as the Mark Strong-esque villain of the film. There's a lot of world-building in the film, which helps add flavor and detail, though some it goes by a bit too quick to really land, leading to a few instances where it's words and names and not much context. Still, it's a fairly enjoyable romp through fantasy Britain and should carry itself well through the holidays.

 

6.7/10

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The Prince of Egypt

 

 

I really liked the animated movie. This is very much a recreation of the animated movie, though some of the changes and pacing seem a little off. For example Huy's sudden face turn comes out of nowhere. Given the similarities, there isn't much for me to say since the stuff that is like the original is spoken for. So yeah, pretty good, if not as good.

 

7.8/10

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Basically, where I was coming from with Huy (and I admit that what I did could either be classified as subtle or non-present) was that with The Plagues, it puts into question everything he had believed in his life. Why would the Egyptian gods allow this? I admit more could have been done with his crisis of belief, but the most he really does to help Moses (suggest leaving at night) stems more from a desire to end the suffering of the Egyptian people.

 

Still, thanks!

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Don't Let That Pigeon Drive

 

It's a fun and breezy, if kinda forgettable film. Felt like the plot dragged a bit in the middle. Honestly I don't have that much to say, it's a safe, amusing, nicely done film for kids that most adults will kinda tune out of.

 

6.6/10

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The Cycle of the Werewolf

 

It's way too episodic in format and way too diffuse in its attention, with lots of attention to drawn out kills of random yokels and not much time comparatively spent with the characters who matter. The kill scenes are staged well and have effective brutality and gore, but they start to get repetitive while the plot spins in a circle. Passable as a horror shocker, but otherwise mediocre.

 

5.0/10

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Just now, 4815162342 said:

Today is the day @cookie

 

Scrooge later this morning. Scavenger Wars this afternoon.

I am done letting my fear control me

 

By the end of this day I will have tamed the Numbers beast

 



I am peeing myself inside.

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I have this reputation but it's only when a film is actually shitty. I'm usually lenient if I find stuff worthwhile in the film. :hahaha:

 

 

Unlike a couple others whose heel turns seem to be less and less rational each game year :kitschjob:

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