Buys'n'Gifts
I've mentioned before that Amazon went sales-crazy, which made me buy-crazy. The stuff is pretty quickly showing up in bundles. So this week, I got:-Days of Being Wild, part of my tracking down Kar Wai Wong films after loving his 2046.-H2O, a Canadian film Amazon suggested when I told them I loved Slings & Arrows.-Good Will Hunting, real cheap and it's been on my wish list for a long time. Hearing Affleck and Damon tear each other down (for laughs) in the commentary should be fun.-Black Canary Archives, since I've been wanting to get a few of these, especially with Golden Age material.-Jpod by Douglas Coupland, love his work and this one seemed in the Microserfs vein.-The Doctor Who Soundtrack, which I've since listened to almost non-stop.-The new Dumas album, which I haven't listened to at all on account of being obsessed with the Doctor Who record.-When I flipped the tape on Goodfellas a couple of weeks ago, I realized I haven't got any other Scorsese in my collection, and have hardly seen any of his most important works. Turns out I could get Mean Streets and Casino on the cheap, and threw in The Departed for good, head-bursting measure.
In addition to all that booty, my good friend Bauble, responsible for starting RomQuest when he got me Rom #1, has now given me Marvel Two-in-One #99, the Thing/Rom team-up destined never to be reprinted. I haven't done much with Brave&the Bold/2-in-1 lately because I've got a feeling Batman's winning the competition, but I'll be damned if the Rom issue doesn't make me want to post a final smackdown. Oh, and he threw in some Marvel Premieres starring Doctor Who. To him, much thanks."Accomplishments"Yeah, not much this week. Had an improv show to prepare for and present, plus had some family business to attend to over the weekend. For those following Lyndawithay's meteoric rise in World of Warcraft, I did managed to spring her from level 47 to 48, but that's it.I'll try to do better next week!
Beginning a trek through my DVD collection, I'll be discussing what the release means to me, why I wanted it, what I thought of it, etc.
11:14 (Greg Marcks, 2003)
This indy thriller is one of those timeline puzzles that unveils itself slowly but surely, with the implacable clock acting as the hand of fate. Got this based on the vague notion that I might have heard good things about it. I got lucky. An excellent example of guerilla filming, coupled with some major stars in really quirky roles (Patrick Swayze as the dumpy father and Hilary Swank in a role originally written as a man, especially). Not a major film by any means, they nonetheless pull it off successfully.
12 Monkeys (Terry Gilliam, 1995)
The girl I was going out with in '95 was, I think, both a Bruce Willis fan and a Brad Pitt fan, so of course we went to see 12 Monkeys. She was put off by the grime and the violence and really hated it. I didn't because I love time travel puzzles, and it visually made me think of Brazil. I didn't actually realize it was a Terry Gilliam film until the closing credits, but yeah, that made perfect sense! Monkeys has remained a perennial favourite and definitely watchable after all this time, though somewhat depressing, I'll admit it.
28 Days Later (Danny Boyle, 2002)
Again, a recent purchase, and a recent review which I won't repeat here. I didn't see 28 Days when it came out, but the buzz remained strong in my mind. The chance to get it cheap came up and so... Once again, a lucky "blind" purchase, as I enjoyed it a lot. Haven't seen 28 Weeks Later yet, but I want to. Online comments remain positive despite Boyle not sitting in the director's chair. At the very least, I'll buy it "blind" too.
2046 (Kar Wai Wong, 2004)
There are a few international films I've wanted since hearing them reviews on Siskel&Ebert, but was prevented from doing so because I couldn't quite remember the title or the director's name. 2046 was one of these. Sometimes you get lucky on a search and when I did, I grabbed it immediately. I reviewed it briefly on the blog after watching it, so I won't repeat myself. I'll just reiterate my love of his Kar Wai Wong's work here.
The Abyss (James Cameron, 1989)
My friend Rob Tam and I dearly wanted to see this underwater sf thriller back in '89, but we weren't too solid on the title. We got ropped into seeing Leviathan instead. That's the one with the Russian-created monster with the mouth in the hand... Anyway, it sucked something awful and since there were only four of us in the theater, they really should have sent us home. I finally saw the Abyss years later and it was much better. Better yet is the extended special edition on the DVD, which restores the proper "message" ending the film should always have had. Yes, it's a bit slower, but it makes a lot more sense. Cameron is mostly remembered for Terminator and Aliens (oh all right, and a little indy film called Titanic), which makes the Abyss rather underrated. And you know what? I think it's my favourite Cameron film. That scene where Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio has to drown is killer!
But what did YOU think? Next: Adventures of Superman to Alien Planet.
177. The Most ToysFORMULA: The Tholian Web + Plato's Stepchildren + Requiem for MethuselahWHY WE LIKE IT: Kivas Fajo is a nasty, memorable villain. The crew's reaction to Data's death. The startling conclusion.WHY WE DON'T: Fajo's plan requires total suspension of disbelief.REVIEW: I own a book called The New Trek Guide, and it has very brief reviews of every TNG episode along with a choice of great lines and technobabble, info about aliens, various funny bits, etc. Now, I like to glance at this thing to see if my opinion differs from the authors' (who also penned the excellent Discontinuity Guide for Dr. Who). They call The Most Toys "a rather ordinary comedy episode", which tells me that, in this case at least, they completely missed the point.The Most Toys is most definitely a drama and a strong Data episode. Saul Rubinek does a fairly good job with Kivas Fajo, a bit over the top, but only in the way an eccentric, amoral billionaire might be. He's cruel, petty, nasty, and uses his intelligence only to devise ways to possess others. Data's point to Varria that Fajo has them both is a strong incentive for her to later help the android escape. Data fights his captor in every possible way, only staying his hand when it would cost the life of others. When Data realizes at the end that Fajo will keep killing, he makes a choice that goes beyond his programming, and is about to kill Fajo when he's beamed to safety. This is a shocking moment made even more shocking when Data then lies about it to Riker. And does he then go see Fajo to gloat? Data really does seem on the edge of his humanity here. Powerful, and very ambiguous, stuff.Back on the ship, the reactions to Data's apparent death are uniformly excellent. As Picard says, for someone who had no feelings, he certainly ellicited them from his crewmates. Ending that scene with a quote from Shakespeare's Hamlet scores big points from me. Worf having to fill another dead crewmember's shoes is addressed as well. Not quite a funeral scene, but a greater variety of scenes that avoid this cliché. Also of note: Some pretty cool effects, like the destruction of the shuttle and Fajo's eye-popping force field.Of course, the episode is far from perfect when it comes to the premise itself. Fajo's plan seems entirely too complex, and yet avoids one central question: How did he know Data would fly the shuttlepod? In fact, they don't address why he would even pilot it. But accept it, we must. I'm not that keen on the Fajo's collection either, even if that is a minor point. It seems incredibly humano-centric to me (or was that just for Data's benefit or as part of a theme?). And another baseball reference? Keep it for Deep Space 9, please!LESSON: Collecting is evil. (Oh, no!)REWATCHABILITY - High: If you're a Data fan, I can't guarantee you'll be as much of one after The Most Toys, but it's a must-see. Adds a level of complexity to the character, with a nasty bad guy to chew up the screen.
176. Hollow PursuitsFORMULA: Tin Man + Booby Trap + ContagionWHY WE LIKE IT: Barclay is immediately deserving of repeat appearances.WHY WE DON'T: Some longueurs on the holodeck.REVIEW: Dwight Schultz is given the job of creating a character that plays against the normal Trek type and he succeeds beautifully. Barclay is quite atypical. He's nervous, he's anxious, he's shy. He stutters, can't find the right words, freezes when asked to speak in public. It seems that Engineering attracts these "imperfect" types, if we go by no-luck-in-love La Forge and klutzy Sonya Gomez ;-). (I'm sure there's a reason for the amazing revolving chief engineers of season 1 too! Good thing there's O'Brien.) Showing us someone like this humanizes Starfleet a great deal, and Schultz is careful to make Barclay sympathetic, where he could easily have been annoying.His only escape from his anxieties is the holodeck, and he makes very natural use of it too. I just wonder how far things with holo-Troi have gone! Though I do think some of the musketeer material goes on too long, Barclay's fantasies do serve a variety of purposes. They allow him to be charming and confident, get the girl and punch out the jerk. Nice swordfight. They also give us "revenge" visions of the bridge crew, which are pretty funny. Wesley as a spoiled brat, Riker as a small-statured fool (unfortunately, this isn't as well executed as I'd like, and I never notice "Number One"'s size until Troi mentions it), etc. Finally, they also make good false leads, as you suddenly realize you're not watching the real McCoys, but their holodeck facsimile.In the real world, there's a plot that requires Barclay to be instrumental in saving the ship, but this is all par for the course. Far more interesting is everyone's quest to make him fit in. I particularly loved Picard's management style here, killing the nickname thing (and he's the one that slips!) and ordering La Forge to make Barclay his best friend. Guinan's good here too, making some good points. And when Barclay finally opens up to La Forge, what he says about being shy feels right. Troi's defense of Barclay's behavior turning into outrage when she discovers the goddess of empathy is another fun moment. This episode is filled with them.LESSON: When you're... indulging your fantasies... lock the door.REWATCHABILITY - High: With hindsight, we know Barclay did not go the way of Sonya Gomez, and we can all be glad about that. A fine - and very human - addition to the Enterprise, and his intro story is worthy of him.
Because Bahlactus demands it, here's how a Squid guy SHOULDN'T fight Blue Beetle (from #1 of the Charlton series):
Squid's mistake here is giving the Beetle the chance to become a human whirlwind of FISTS!So does Squiddy learn from his mistakes? Nooooooooooooooooooo...
Who told you to fight with your back to the wall?Yeah, I miss Ted Kord. Long live Earth-4!
Dragon Magazine #116, December 1986Tag Line: Monthly adventure role-playing aidMakers: TSR Inc.What is it?Trotted out because it's the first RPG magazine I ever bought, Dragon was pretty much a house organ for TSR's games, mostly AD&D, but it might include material for other companies' games. Features covered on the cover: The High Seas (and a 3-D sailing ship); Wild animals; Doctor Who? (all six!)Neat Stuff-The photo cover. I'm not surprised I had to get this despite some rather dull-sounding articles (wild animals? wow).-Good variety: Articles for Elfquest, Traveller and Doctor Who in addition to the usual TSR products.-Keeping it statless. There are a number of articles that can fit any campaign (admittedly skewed towards fantasy and historical genres). The Ecology of the Minotaur, that article on wild animals, a historical dissertation on communications through history (with actual scholarly references no less), all of it very much "for any RPG".-That 3-D ship model was pretty keen I seem to remember, though it's long been lost.-A feature called The Dragon's Bestiary that printed readers' concepts for monsters. It must've been especially cool to see your ideas illustrated by actual artists.
The art throughout is better than a lot of stand-alone RPGs out there, though sometimes culled from other sources (like Gustave Doré prints... I'm not complaining).Bad Stuff-The stuff hasn't aged well. A lot of the material was written for games that have gone through other editions or gone out-of-print altogether, or how about that article on computer RPGs like Bard's Tale? I certainly don't find the comic strips funny anymore, if I ever did.-At the time, I certainly found the scholarly articles (including the gigantic "High Seas" with its many charts and hex grids) dreadfully boring. The one on communications has more dates than your average GURPS sourcebook.-I'm pretty sure the stats for the 6 first Doctors are already in the FASA RPG.Quote"Killer Jugglers? ...What next month? Mimes of the Marvel Universe?" "We did Black Bolt two months ago."How I've used itI know I've used material from Dragons over the years, but maybe not this one. I was all of 15 when I read it and deep into dungeon delving. I didn't understand how to stage outdoor adventures until much later. Certainly, the sea theme was lost on me, and none of my players ever expressed a desire to play Aquatic Elves. Never used the Death-Throws in a supers game either.In conclusionCall me crazy, but old school RPG magazines were much more interesting than the house organs and hype machines we have now. I understand why a company would put out a dedicated magazine that focused exclusively on its products (makes business sense) or on a single game (a kind of supplement for your favorite game), but I loved Dragon, Challenge and White Wolf because of their sheer variety. In their pages, you'd see what else was out there. Even an ad like this one for Villains&Vigilantes would send my mind spinning.
Stats as marketing! Old school indeed. There's also a large color insert for Warhammer with sample pages. It's the kind of thing that would make us throw even more crap into our hodgepodge home-made campaigns. This issue was also directly responsible for my procuring FASA's Doctor Who RPG and Marvel Super-Heroes, and indirectly responsible for my 100+ game collection. Damn you, TSR!!!
175. Tin ManFORMULA: Haven + Contagion + Encounter at Farpoint + Déjà QWHY WE LIKE IT: The ship model work. Some very sympathetic moments.WHY WE DON'T: Tam Elbrun can grate on the nerves. The Romulans lack personality. Tin Man's interior.REVIEW: Harry Groener's performance as Tam Elbrun goes a long way in making Tin Man watchable, as he is generally very good. He exudes anxiety, and has some very heartfelt moments with both Data and Troi. I'm surprised at how sympathetically he comes across after those annoying early scenes where he keeps completing everyone's sentences. Thankfully, there's more to Elbrun than that, and the episode is peppered with good character moments. The performance does dive into the melodramatic occasionally though, and this may well turn off some viewers.Betazoids are meant to be somewhat ethereal, and in Elbrun's case, that comes across as a sort of poetry in describing minds. His link to Tin Man, certainly, but I also liked his description of the Chandrans (Chandrathans?) as a kind of like alien Treeants. The fact he can't read Data makes this yet another episode where Data relates to a guest-star better than most. Passing no emotional judgement, Data can more easily befriend the likes of Q, Roga Danar, and in this case, Tam Elbrun. The two make a good pair onscreen. There's a poignancy in Elbrun's remark that being different isn't a sin, and he clearly shows his expertise when he DOES read Data after all.The episode is well complemented by dynamic visual effects whenever we get outside the ship. Gomtuu is strange and beautiful, and incredibly lit by a dying star. The Romulan attack on the Enterprise harks back to The Defector in style, and is a great shot, though the Enterprise is very good at just sitting there and taking it. (That's what happens when you put a child at the helm.) Not so great is Tin Man's interior, which is ok, but kind of misses the mark with its clumsy sliding doors, melting wax effects and supposedly spongy walls.The Romulans are a bit boring here, the commander lacking any kind of personality, but are a necessary evil. The final coda, where Data realizes where he belongs, now that seems unnecessary to me, though the moment is touching thanks to Marina Sirtis' performance. Tam and Gomtuu are a pair I would have liked to see revisited, but alas, we never found out what happened to them.LESSON: When you can read minds, nobody ever seems to shut up.REWATCHABILITY - Medium: A good story with a strong guest star, but somehow it feels a little empty. The Romulans are relegated to special effects, and Data's story arc is pretty shallow.
I've mentioned before that Amazon went sales-crazy, which made me buy-crazy. The stuff is pretty quickly showing up in bundles. So this week, I got:
In addition to all that booty, my good friend Bauble, responsible for starting RomQuest when he got me Rom #1, has now given me Marvel Two-in-One #99, the Thing/Rom team-up destined never to be reprinted. I haven't done much with Brave&the Bold/2-in-1 lately because I've got a feeling Batman's winning the competition, but I'll be damned if the Rom issue doesn't make me want to post a final smackdown. Oh, and he threw in some Marvel Premieres starring Doctor Who. To him, much thanks.
