Fact that it's called "KNIGHTS OF THE EVERFLAME" and that Kassen is namedropped in the background- I really want this adventure for myself so I can nostalgia-DM it to my group that ran the whole "Price of Immortality" trilogy. Cool stuff!
I really wonder how you guys view the gorilla tribe in Black Panther. Off topic, but one difference is that the Gorilla tribe are decidedly not a chaotic evil tribe of murder monster raiders not known for their intelligence. There is a difference in framing and purpose.
A Very Good Point. On the same note, staff people, maybe give a look from this perspective to other designs as well. Just in case. Easier to fix now than later!
So the guys who wanted to make confederate south wins- alt university TV show are now making a Star Wars movie. The same folks who have proven that they are good with adaptable material but with their own writing on place the show starts to sink? Who added more rape to game of flippin' thrones? Goodie, I'm so excited.
Name: Upi Lunkka
Now the player wants to change character, because Upi believed in natural progression of death and does not want to be raise'd or reincarnated. Which is shame, since Upi was fun and competent character. And the artist I commissioned for a group picture just finished Upi's picture, which seems just ironic.
I'm throwing around idea for Changeling Bloodrager, taking the Hag-Riven archtype and hag bloodline. Someone who voluntarily answered her call and well, process did not go as planned. Outcasted even by the hags, she know puts her considerable strength and unique abilities to use as a muscle for Taldor's wealthy elite, providing more terrifying sort of mercenary who can forgo weapons and just slice people up with fingers. Basically, Lady Deathstrike in Taldor.
I just want to share a adventure detail we just had while finishing this book: Our party is Black Blade Magus, Beastbonded Witch, Hunter, Arcane Duelist Bard and Volcano Oracle. 1) We were at the Logrivich's clock tower, and they were afraid that the dragon would be too much after whatever awaits in the towe. So, their decision was, to use wand of spider climb that they got I do not remember where, and climbed the tower from the outside. So, they did that then, and found very surprised Logrivich there. Battle ensues, and the dragon manages to use his breath weapon (all succeeded in their save + witch had resistance) and make one full round at the party, but then the dwarf hunter decideded "f this" and just whams his earthbreaker at the dragon's head; crit and massive. Logrevich is dead after two rounds of combat. Then they decide to go the tower in reverse. 2) At the fight with Nazhena, I replaced the wussie Ice Golem with Frost Giant. Frost Giant and hunter duel, and the giant barely wins. Nazhena is being all evil and super cool, but then our witch throws a Snowball spell to her face, and staggers her. Our witch, mind you, is kind of a meek, uses mainly debuffs from afar. Nazhena, having spied on the party, has not seen her ever using offensive spells. She is pissed now, and tries to spectral hand-vampiric touch her, but fails. Our witch answers with chucking a lighting bolt at her face, further making her super confused why her intel is so dead wrong about this young, barely 18-years old witch. That manages to draw her attention, so the black blade magus manages to sneak under her, and uses bladed dash vertically and after two tries finally crit kills her. That went really funny, and we had a fun session with lots of laughter and cool ideas to roleplay. Anyway, I just wanted to share this cool moment.
I just saw it and yes, believe the hype. I just cried like the last 5-7 minutes straight. It gets emotional like you would not believe. Spoiler: The ending of this movie is something else, rivaling even the Empire for me. I have no idea what Episode IX will be about, and I'm so glad.
Oh, he is a good director, not disputing that. But most of his more recent movies are bit trashy and low-bro, yet they work. Machete especially. It's silly, stupid and trashy, but it also has something to say and it means it too. I don't think I trust current Camerona as much.
But I do recommend Wennstam's book. I'm not sure if it is translated yet to English though. That is the newest one, the Traitor is in swedish Svikaren, right here.
In the last 2-3 months, I took part in a book reading club-course in my University class. Theme was nordic crime literature, and we read 10 novels by authors from Finland, Sweden, Norway, Danmark, Iceland and Russia. Names in the brackets are if there is no officila translation name, or at least that I did not found one. - Isä, Poika & Paha Henki (Father, Son and the Evil Ghost) by Matti Rönkä: Spoiler:
Almost a literal crime novel, being both told from perspective of business man Viktor Kärppä who meddles in prostitution and smuggling, and being criminally boring. Viktor is "Marty Sue", who is good at everything and everyone depends on him. Though I respect the angle of what being a russian/karelian immigrant in Finland is like. - Thirst by Jo Nesbo: Spoiler:
A real thriller story, latest entry in popular Harry Hole-series of Norwegian crime novels. Serial rapist-murderer makes headlines with his gross methods and links to vampirism. Harry Hole returns from teaching job to help catch him, since he reminds him of old foe he once let escape. Thrilling, gory, dark but also fun and very well written, with glimpses of hope and good humanity to balance the darkness of the murderers. Has slightly technological angle, with Tinder and 3D printing playing significant parts. - Murtumispiste (Breaking Point) by Arttu Tuominen. Spoiler:
Tuominen came to the course to talk about writing, and I was very glad he did it before I had to read his book, because it sucked. Hard. Annoying, needlessly cruel and full of super cliched and thin characters. Hard pass. Not even the fact that it happened in my hometown of Pori helped this at all. - Faceless Killers by Henning Mankell. Spoiler:
First of the super popular Kurt Wallander-books of swedish crime tradition. Mankell is way too good a writer for this to be a bad novel, but Faceless Killers is kinda boring nonetheless. Old farmer and her wife are cruelly murdered, and Wallander starts to investigate who are to blame, and rumors and yellow press are blaming the immigrants. Despite being written in the 90's, it is somewhat topical in it's themes. It is not a bad book, just bit cliched and tad boring. - The Hypnotist by Lars Kepler. Spoiler:
Swedish writer Kepler is a pen name of a married couple Alexander Ahndoril and Alexandra Coelho Ahndoril. That might explain the very split tone of the book. Detective Joona Linna finds himself amidst of a particulary gory mass murder, were members of one family are chopped up to bits, with exception of missing daughter and only very seriously injured son. Linna seeks help of Erik Maria Bark, a hypnotist, to find out what the boy knows. Bringing the hypnotist only makes matters worse, and the novel goes to wildy different direction than expected. Defines the term "frustrating", even if it is a very thrilling read. Long, full of characters and subplots (including 50 pages flashback, ugh). - Irina Tietää Liikaa (Irina Knows Too Much) by Alexandra Marinina. Spoiler:
Russian style detective novel in 90's Moscow, where militia officer Kamenskaja solves the murder of a murdered official Irina Filatova. Not much to say, because I failed to read it in time and did not finish it. The style is intriguing, but writer's tendency to give pet names to everyone makes it also a confusing read. - Petturi (Traitor) by Katarina Wennstam. Spoiler:
My favorite from the bunch. Story focuses on two characters; a lesbian police officer trying to solve the crime of murdered football star, and a Swedish-Iranian lawyer trying to help the family of the murdered. Very focused on socio-political themes, mostly on the theme of toxic masculine culture. Very well written, both main characters are different and fun to read. It has a killer ending, that makes you want to read more. - Strange Shores by Arnaldur Indriðason. Spoiler:
Very slow, very much a mood piece. Paints absolutely beautiful picture of Iceland and it's people. Most interesting part is that the murder in the novel happened decades ago, and is mostly about maun character Erlendur finding closure. Beautiful, but bit slow and hard to follow, from time to time. - Miss Smilla's Sense of Snow by Peter Hoeg. Spoiler:
Another very slow and very intricate mystery, with one of the most open-ended endings ever. Very nordic. Main character's Half-Danish, half-Greenlandic nature makes her a pariah in both cultures. But like I said, very intricate and super "wordy". Hoeg goes on tangents about Greenland's history and/or character's histories that halt the story. - My First Murder by Leena Lehtolainen. Spoiler:
Overly cliched, childishly simple and annoying dialogue makes this the second worst book in this list. It's not blood-boilingly bad as the Breaking Point, but it is a bad book nonetheless. Main character is self-hating, I guessed who the murderer was on page 20 and ending was just weird. Ugh. It was a fun project, and since I have never really read crime novels before, it was enlightening. Nesbo and Wennstam are definitely writers that I will read more in the future. Now, back to basics with Iain M. Banks...
Citizen Cold & Ray kicking ass and taking names while openly adoring each other. I loved this. Whole Crisis on Earth-X was such a hoot. Real stakes, really good emotional stuff that made me feel feelings I'm not ready talk about and kickin' superhero action. Spoiler:
Isis, Vixen & Killer Frost riding a ice bridge to NaziRider was so effing awesome. So many characters, but everyone got some cool moments. Too bad some where missing the action (Kid Flash you were so cool in the first ep) but still, really good superhero tv. More of this please.
I concur, this is stellar stuff. Even if one likes BvS, it's worth the watch for the movie making side of things. History of making Superman movies in part 2 is really something. It kinda makes you more annoyed at BvS because on paper, most of the ideas in it are actually kinda great.
Yeah, there is costume changes. Spoiler:
Flashback sequence dealing with Steppy's first assault on Earth features amazons from Age of Heroes, when they used either leather bikinis or deep cleavage armors.
And in the modern era, some amazons (like Hippolyta) still have their old armor. But many others, like Penthasilea and Nubia, have metal bikini armors, just a modern version of those leather bikinis. Also there are FAR MORE assshots of Wonder Woman and other Amazons. So yeah. Also sorry Freehold, under Snyder since these were shown a while ago before Whedon was even on board. Take that, hatred. Though the worst parts in JL are the added comedy parts sooo 50/50
Spoiler: Grandmaster was to me, like many other, like a slave master/owner. Casually seems nice, but his apprehension to speak about things with their real names (not slaves, non-paid workers) and casual cruelty towards people echo this. And that alone makes him very uncomfortable be with. So the idea that he has maybe using emotional abuse to keep Hulk happy is probably very true.
The popular theory is that someone at Disney finally got around to watching Jurassic World rather than just looking at its gross earnings.Colin Trevorrow (sp?) was suppose to do the third one, but Lucasfilm and him parted ways at the last minute, so they brought in Abrams.Wait really? I thought the plan was a different director for each of the three. Why are they bringing him back instead?Same here. I enjoyed watching TFA, but I felt it tried a bit too hard for the nostalgia at the cost of being a more original movie. Also I admit to uh...not being the biggest fan of J.J. Abrams (I was not pleased to hear he was doing the finale of this trilogy). Or Book of Henry. Depends on the source. Yea, I'm not super happy about that even though I really, really enjoyed Force Awakens. But better him than Trevorrow.
No. It would have not been great. Sure, I would have loved that MCU got the rights to Fantastic Four. That would have been amazing. But X-Men in MCU right now...would just mess everything up. Also...this would have been a huge industry shakeup. I love Disney and all, but I am against monopolies, including in the entertainment industry. This would mean that Disney would have the movie and TV rights to X-Men and Fantastic Four, but also: - The Simpsons
(But also home media rights to original theatrical versions of Star Wars 4-6, so that would have been neat.) But what would Simpsons look like if it was produced by Disney? Or Kingsman? Most of these are R-rated movies, a style of film which Disney rarely-if ever-makes. So yeah. This might still happen in the future, but let's hope it's just the Fantastic Four.
Ragnarok was ton of fun. Really fun, action was balls to the walls amazing, acting was solid and it had actually something to say, and Waititi's bold vision for Thor really paid off. HULK. HULK EVERYTHING. This was the best movie Hulk we have ever got, clearly it's own character, not just some always angry monster. Spoiler: Did anyone else notice that one of the Grandmaster's towers giant heads was Beta-Ray Bill?
Also, He stood alone at Gjallerbru. Well, not alone but still. NEAT. Matt Damon, Sam Neil and Luke Hemsworth made me laugh so much.
Runaways are coming in November 21! This looks so cool. Huge fan of the original comics, obviously they have changed some stuff but the core team looks great and I love the ending shot of that trailer. So ready for this.
I don't like that kind of music. I love the trailer. And I LOVE that Bilbo and Gollum are only white guys in the movie, and one is a bad guy. They are the tolkien white guys. I'm sorry I stole that pun from twitter lock me up in joke prison.
(Why do I see MMCJawa screaming to a pillow somewhere right now) But it is interesting to see if and how much this makes bank. It could draw the horror crowd too, but it is relatively unknown title. Logan and Deadpool where for one a very popular characters before that. COmic fans might know New Mutants, but there is not one character even on the main X-Men level of familiarity. Good thing they have Maisie and Heaton, because they might draw some people in as well.
Except Kylo Ren, Phasma, Rey, Finn, Maz Kanata, that ending battle between Kylo & Rey, both long silent parts with Rey in the beginning and at the end, land fights with X-Wings, melee fight with where lightsaber does not instawin but loses, "tempting of the light side" idea as something bad guy is afraid of, weaponized planet (not build fake moons, w e a p o n i z e d p l a n e t ) someone freezing a laser bolt in midair instead of just blocking/deflecting.... Plot structure is similar to New Hope. I'm not denying that. But to say FA tried NOTHING NEW is just not paying attention to the film.
Rey wins the lightsaber battle for one very simple reason: Kylo never wanted to kill or hurt her. He does not attack straight at her first, just hits around her, trying to scare her. Why? Because he wants Rey to his side, not to the side where all the corpses are. And when he can't force her to change sides, Kylo get's scared, where as Rey- who has been shown to be powerful in force- picks the hate she feels for Kylo right up. Tables have been turned- Rey wants to kill Kylo Ren, Kylo Ren is terrified beyond reason because he does not want to die. All of his focus is on survival, which includess... ....having a massive hole in his abdomen, and half of his time goes to, you know, keeping his intestines in. That is why he punches his own wound- to feel pain, which amplifies his force-using and keeps his guts where they are supposed to be- barely. (video I mentioned earlier and that I have been referencing.)
I don't think it really doesn't, since most of the criticism is based on how similar those movies are, and I think they are missing the point of Force Awakens. Because that is a criticism based on the surface elements- same plot (it really isn't) same themes, same overarching structure. What people seem to overlook every time is great acting with instant chemistry between the main characters, clever subversion of the tempting of the dark side, villain who is more interesting after he puts away the helmet and we see his very human face, character development for the old characters based on the state of the world and JJ Abrams doing his darnest to fix the mistakes of prequels (sorry, prequel fans, no hard feelings) in how light & dark side are equated in metaphysical level. Rey is awesome (who's actions make sense, and she is just as mary sue as Luke was), Finn is awesome (one of my favorite protagonists ever) and Poe is awesome (Oscar Isaacs is a living legend). Best fight scenes of the entire series, (lightsaber melee with only one lightsaber YES), tragic ending with weight and gravitas because they earn it by build up, and understandable and powerful storytelling in many parts without speaking a word. So yes. Force Awakens is more than just plot structure of New Hope. It is wholly it's own story, and very unique one on that when one looks deeper than just on the base level.
Oh look, it's again my time to defend Force Awakens as a good movie! Oh how I missed this. Not. Force Awakens was a good movie. I prefer it highly over Rogue One. Smarter folks than me have defended it better than me (I recommend Movies with Mikey episode about Force Awakens) and since every argument seems to start and end with "iT Is ThE sAmE MoVIe aS nEw hOpE", I'm just tired. Scott, take it away.
We are (finally!) starting this AP this Sunday, and this is our party: Akariel Wrona- CG Half-Elf Magus (Bladebound); Herald from the fey courts, a knight of summer. Grag- CN Half-Orc Oracle (Volcano mystery); startled by the early winter in his country, Grag is seeking the source of this phenomenon. La Gorda- Changeling Witch (Beastbound/Spirits); no further information yet. Pablo Esteban de Raichardt- Halfling Bard (Arcane Duelist); Director, founder and perfomer in Granite Orchestra, circus that is run by him and.... Upi Lunkka- N Dwarf Hunter; ...the other member of Granite Orchestra, animal wrangler who has a sad backstory of continued abandonment. Luscenzo- N Mammoth (Scarred Companion); Upi's animal companion, even sadder mammoth that accompanies Upi.
I loved Dunkirk. It was one of my favorite movies of the summer and will climb pretty high in my catalogue of best Nolan movies, still losing to Prestige and Dark Knight. It was beautifully shot by amazing Hoyte van Hoyteman who's work is exemplary, Nolan directed the s@+% out of it and I really liked the ticking clock music. Like so many Nolan movies, Dunkirk was all about desperation of time. By making three separate time stamps, it threw audience in small disarray of what is happening and when, and for me it enforced the "time is running out" narrative. It was not about action, but just trying to live, survive long enough to get home which just-right-there. And the ending really nailed the tone as well. Cillian Murphy was brilliant. Mark Rylance brought real heart to the movie and the reason why he was so adamant to get there was made very clear by the end of it all. The young soldier on the beach that everybody said was flat and without persona- duh, his name was Tommy. TOMMY. He was just one face to follow; normal young soldier, one of thousands stuck on the beach, terrified out of his mind just trying to survive. I did not need for him to have complex personality, actor did great with small things and since the movie was pretty light on dialogue to begin with, it worked for me. And I did not care at all that the movie did not have any gore or exploding people or any of that other crap less talented filmmakers think are vital on war movies (looking at you, Gibson) to "make it realistic" as it that was some sort of degree of which by movies should be judged. I do not care for aboslutely-every detail right-historical accuracy. If I want that, I watch documentaries. I don't- as most people as well- recognice right planes or count down bullets of guns to nitpick about them later. I got sucked in to the intensive drama and raging heartbeat-esq pace of the movie. I really, really liked this one.
I hesitate to call her joke, since her own series (EISNER-winning one) is legit really fun and good. And it is more like fun times superhero adventures with no care for complex canons or histories without taking everything so effing seriously, and I adore it And since she does not take part in civil wars, infinities or various other crisis crossovers, Squirrel Girl comics are basically a standalone series outside of main Marvel continuity. Deadpool however....he is industry joke that people take way too seriously. *mic drop*
Oh, there are many stories you could tell with amazons still. They don't have a strong mission in the comics these days, and yet writers can make compelling stories with them. Rucka did, Gail did and Rucka is still on it. There are good characters among them, that could be future allies, villains and anything between. I would love to see Themysciran Embassy, Io, Donna Troy, Alkyone, Circe and all the other Themysciran-linked characters. Also there is the whole thing about first creating a female utopia that (especially female) audience fells in love and then using it as a sacrifical altar for next doomsday villain. That is bound to bite the franchise in the ass HARD.
YES THIS ALL The trailer line about Superman being a inspiration to do better is really odd, and I did not recognize the Superman from MoS or BvS anywhere. I want to see Henry Cavill be the Superman he can be. I love Henry Cavill, he is a good actor, but he needs to step up his game and writers and directors should do as well. Superman means something to people. It must be weird for him to play the most iconic and beloved superhero ever and get critized, only to see a TV actor play the same role in CW series and do it better and be praised. I really, really hope that Geoff Johns (now heading the whole DCEU thingy) sees that the Superman from before did not work, and that changes must be made in order to make everyone once again love Superman.
Pretty much agree with The Thing on this one. Though I must say, Hollywood has almost nothing to do with this, being made by bunch of different European studios and a french filmmaker, even if by french cinema standard Besson is pretty mainstream. Could the name have just been "Valeran & Laureline?"
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