47 Ronin

The 47 in the title is not only the amount of ronin, but it is just over the percentage of the film I enjoyed.

I know a bit of the original Japanese story of the 47 Ronin. I had no idea where this film was going to go with it. However, the previews had some monsters, magic, swords and fighting which meant I was going to give it a try. I did and kind of wish I had waited or even skipped it.

All good things....

The final week of the NFL regular season is here!

Here is hoping Denver wins and clinches home field.Here is to the Patriots (and that dreamy Tom Brady) losing.

Then there are the two clandestine games, Chicago vs. Green Bay and Philadelphia vs. Dallas. I care not for any of these teams, but the fact that their seasons all come down to one game is great!

It makes for a great end to the regular season and intro to the few remaining weeks of playoffs.

Anchorman 2 "Its a hell of a film."

The original is still one of my favorite comedies, will the sequel fall into the same category?

Anchorman 2 continues the tale of Ron Burgundy and his news crew. They have their trials and tribulations throughout and a large dose of comedy along the way. This film has a lot of laughs, unless you dislike Will Ferrell’s brand of comedy. If that is the case then what is your problem?

X-mas time!

By the will of the Emperor of Mankind.....

have a merry X-mas!

That or burn like a heretical traitor, it is your choice.

Have a great X-mas holiday everyone!

testing the anime waters again

A quasi-medieval human world, giant walled cities, naked giants that eat humans, sword and wire-fu all mean that I have started watching Attack on Titan. 

This series has been bouncing around and I finally decided to take notice. I have been away from anime for quite a long time. There just hasn't been anything that has peaked my interest in a few years. Then Attack on Titan (Shingeki no Kyojin in Japan) popped up a few times. After seeing a 60' skinless human attacking a fortress looking city. I thought that this might be appealing and jumped over to Crunch Roll to give it a watch.

Humans live behind giant walls to keep safe from naked (no sex organ having ) giants that look like humans with silly or rictus grins. They don't talk or seem to think about anything. They just wander around and try to eat people. They seem to have no other desire but this. Why, what, and how are all questions I have about them and is the main reason I keep watching.

Desolation of Smaug

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug I will lead off saying that it is not the hobbit tale I grew up reading.

However, it is the second part of a trilogy prequel to the Lord of the Rings that contains elements of the Hobbit novel. That being said, it is a damn fun movie!

Week 1 of 3

X-mas movie season is here. This week returns me to Middle Earth with The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug.

Next week Anchorman 2 hits. Then 47 Ronin Christmas week. Dragon, Ron Burgundy and then Ted Theodore Logan fighting stuff. It looks like a descent three weeks of films.

Chaos review #29 The doctor is in.

Every time there is a bunch of evil guys running around they always seem to have/need a scientist. This is usually some demented wierdy who has an attraction to the macabre, wants to fuse stuff together, makes kill bots, has love for gene splicing or what have you. Fabius Bile is that weirdy scientist for the forces of Chaos. As an Emperor's Children apothecary he saved lives. Then he went all nuts-o and started trying to figure out how the Emperor created Astartes and Primarchs by pulling apart fallen Marines from various chapters. He also "discovered" how to enhance Astartes to make them better than then already were. Sure a lot of this was trial and error, but it is all omelet and eggs to him. Bile refers to himself as the Primogenitor and will someday soon unlock the Emperor's genetic secrets, until then he skips around the galaxy making Chaos Marines bigger faster and stronger, but at what price?

Fabius Bile has a descent stat line for a HQ. He comes with WS 5, BS 4, strength 5, toughness 4, 3 wounds, 5 attacks, initiative 4, leadership 10 and a 3+ save.  He comes with power armor, frag/kraks, bolt pistol, a Xyclos Needler, the Rod of Torment and a Chrirugeon. He is an independent, has the vets o' war, is fearless and is a champion of Chaos. He also has the special ability Enhanced Warriors. He has the same points cost as Lucius "The Eternal."

I'm listening......

After years I have started trying out the podcast universe. I needed some different ambient noise while gaming and painting. The first place I stopped was the Nerdist. Why? Chris Hardwick wore me down with his constant promotion of the site. I figured I'd see what all the noise was about.

The Nerdist is his little web show where he interviews tons of celebrities or just jacks around with his buddies for  an hour. I was surprised by the cast of characters he has interviewed. This intrigued me and so of course I tried it out. I was impressed and now his little show cycles through my computer frequently.

There is a wealth of celebrities that grace his show and most of the episodes are descent. Sure there are stinkers, but one man's trash and all that. If you can tolerate Talking Dead, then you won't mind Chris Hardwick interviewing people for an hour. It is light, usually comical  and with just a minor hint of occasional ego stroking.

Trollbloods vs. Druids another game

Madrak and his troll buddies come creeping into the forest again. The druids are waiting to chase them out!

Trollblood turn 1

Madrak and the Axer move forward. The Impalers are forced to run to a flanking position.

Druids turn 1

Kaya casts Occultation on her and the pair of Argus. She then riles the beasts to leech the fury next turn.
There is no movement this turn. The trap is baited and set.

Chaos review #28 "Its a kind of magic."

Well until the Eldar codex arrived, Arhiman was the biggest and best psyker in this edition. I think he still is mostly due to the fact that I dislike Eldrad’s rewritten background.

Arhiman is still the same tragic hero wizard he has always been. He is that guy who turned his legion into dust filled suits of armor in the hopes of saving them from getting all mutated due to Tzeentch and magic use. He is still forever in search of a cure and also that elusive Black Library.

Angel Exterminatus review

I skipped this novel in the chain of the Horus series, mostly due to the fact that I loathe the new Black Library big books. Why they are making large sized paperbacks instead of regular size is beyond me. Anyway, I waited until it was released in regular paperback size so I don’t look like a grandparent reading some large print novel.

Graham McNeil is the author and he returns to the Iron Warriors. Storm of Iron was the 1st 40K novel I read and it is personal favorite of mine. I was excited to see what he would do with Hersey era Iron Warriors and their moody (a reoccurring theme) Primarch. This is a Heresy novel, but it is also a Storm of Iron prequel; and I was very pleased with that.

turkey day

Work.

Food.

Football.

My day is complete.

Happy Thanksgiving!

No More/ Gallifrey Falls

The Day of the Doctor, the 50^th anniversary special of Doctor Who, was it worth the wait?

Yes, it was.

I had reservations about this episode, and they were justified. However, as the final credits scrolled I was content. All my worries were crushed and my expectations were met.

The story was Goldilocks, just right. There was enough action, comedy and a hint of drama for balance. The plot involved the last days of Galifrey during the Time War. The day the Doctor ended it all. Finally we get into the how and why of that event. John Hurt is this incarnation of the Doctor and he I the 9^th now I guess. So, it might skew the numbering of any Doctor since 8, or does it? I don’t care since it doesn’t alter the show. Ok, we get the Doctor grabbing a weapon o’ mass destruction and he toddles off to use it.

The week that was.

Last week had some pretty damn amazing anniversaries.

First was the 150th  anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg and the Gettysburg Address.
I'm a bit of a Civil War buff and this battle has some amazing stories and events. Then there is one of the greatest speeches given after the battle has ended.

Then there is the 50th anniversary of the assassination of JFK. Was it a lone gunman? was it a conspiracy? Nobody will ever know but I do enjoy the craziness that surrounds this presidential tragedy. The kooks all came out of the woodwork for this.

Finally, there was the 50th year of Doctor Who. This long running series has a huge anniversary this past Saturday. 50 years of stories that range from super campy to awesome! I'll jump into the Day of the Doctor special later, but I will say it was a great tribute to the long running and popular show.

A big week of stuff for me to read about, watch and witness.

The moment has come!

The Day of the Doctor is upon us!

Just a few more hours to go! Spending some time today catching up on some of the old favorites while I wait. 

Well it isn't a cyberman.....

......but it is damn close.

Unless there is something lost in a box somewhere, this is my last Necron model in my house. 

Is it finally going to happen?

A long standing (and infinitely quotable)  favorite comic of mine, is on the radar yet again.

AMC is now rumored to be interested in bringing Preacher to the small screen. I have my doubts. An adaptation of this comic has been in development limbo forever. Also is AMC the best place? They would have to cut a lot from this that a network like HBO or Showtime wouldn't.

Doctor Who 50th prep

The Doctor Who 50^th is just a few days away. 

Now if you know nothing or care nothing for Doctor Who then you will feel the same about this post. 

Myself, I have enjoyed the Doctor’s trips through space and time for many years. Now I’m geared with my sonic, slick new duds, and I am eagerly awaiting a great episode of Doctor Who. This is also the 50th anniversary of the show! Saturday I get some new Who and a milestone episode to boot!

Then I watched the Night of the Doctor, an online prequel to the Day of the Doctor which premiers Saturday night.

This seven minute short starts out great. It has Paul McGann reprising the 8^th Doctor. How cool is that?! It even takes place during the Time War. Once again cool beans! The problem I have is the ending. Here we get a look into who John Hurt is playing in the 50^th. It really left a bad taste in my mouth. The big shakeup at minute 6 something, really warps the Doctor Who universe. Yes, I know it will all be made clear this weekend. Whatever this was about, or will it?

Kaya vs. Madrak battle report

The second or third game of Hordes we have played, now in written and pic form!

Druid 1

Kaya casts Occulation on all the beasts. This gives then stealth to protect from incoming spears. Then she forces them to run. The warpwolf is riles to generate extra fury for next turn.

Trollblood 1

Madrak forces the Impalers to run. He fores the Axer to cast its rush animus. This gives him 2" extra movement. Then it is forced to run.

Pregame

She had been tracking a band of Cephalyx and their slaves for a few miles. They seemed to have been searching for something and had yet to find it.

Thor 2 Electric Bugaloo

Where Iron Man 3 felt like an epilogue to the Avengers movie, Thor- The Dark World is the first chapter on the way to another Avengers adventure.

I was pleasantly surprised by the first Thor film. I went in with mild expectations and left feeling pretty damn impressed.

numbers are fun!

11-12-13

I'm celebrating the day with cake!
There is only one more sequential set and then I'll probably out, well unless they get some good cloning or robot mind transfer going.

Shadows in the forest. A distant howl.

The druids of Circle Orboros are stalking the forest and waiting for you.

A resounding bellow is heard!

The Trolls are on the march!

The Trollblood battle box is done!

A nice set of models and they look good coming across the table at you.

I didn't try to give them the tartans they a supposed to have, I just couldn't pull it off. These trolls are not Scotsmen I guess. I went with a lot of brown and dark yellow. The green was thrown in for some contrast and it didn't look bad opposite the brown. I'm not unhappy with these guys. I need to get them based though. Even when I'm done, I'm not.

Cautiously optimistic/waiting

12-18-2015

Chaos review #27.. Why am I dripping with goo?

When diseases, plagues, viruses, fungi and all other manner of disgusting is needed then look no farther than Typhus. He is a champion of Nurgle and just chock full of disgusting awesome! If you are a fan of the Death Guard, then you should be a fan of this guy.

Vaction pics

A short time away in the North Bend State park in West Virginia and it was very relaxing. There was hiking, too much food, tons of animals, great weather, gaming and a lot of quiet.

Look more boring nature pictures to view. Well maybe to some, for me it was more gaming inspiration. This is the forest primeval. It is full of all manner of creature and beast. It also worked as a great gear-up to play Hordes. The models were painted before the trip and they made it to the table a few times out there.

Another Halloween gone

Our rag-tag collection of jack-o-lanterns this year.

Well actually, these were carved a few days prior to Halloween. I was on a short vacation out in West Virginia and we did our carving there.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Have excellent tricks and treats tonite all you ghosts and ghouls!

                               I couldn't decide which cheesecake pic I liked better, so I used both.

 

Sexy witches are sexy!

A bit horror fun.

Mine is Day of the Mutant Sock Puppets. It sounds very Troma produced movie.

Last scary, but not intentional, movie of the season

Where this is supposed to be scary it fails miserably and on more than just the scary. I have my final scary, but not intentional, movie of the Halloween season. 

I forced myself to watch World War Z. I knew I shouldn’t have and I knew with what I was getting involved. I went in knowing this was Brad Pitt zombie apocalypse movie, not the same named book that I enjoyed immensely. This is film where the title is the same as the book, and that is where the similarities end.

4 scary bad remakes

There are certain movies that should never be remade and hopefully won't be. Then again there are classics that have been raped and pillaged in the name of re-imagining or updating. There are a quartet of films that are my classics and they have all been rebooted for gods know what reason. Well money is the main reason I guess since these films, dated as they are like all classics, did not need a reboot. The original Halloween, Nightmare on Elm Street, Friday the 13th and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre are disturbing and scary to many people, and after the reboots they fall into the category of bad at a frightful level.

Three of these films were done with the backing of Michael Bay and directed by two music video directors. That right there makes for a bad film before the first scene is shot. What is worse is that they are supposed to be scary and disturbing. The disturbing part is real, but the scare is just not there.

Worse is that they show have some level of scare or spook to them. The only scary part is how bad they are.

More scary bad films and their ruling actor

I cannot pass over the worst movie star of the last century. He will take a role in anything because he loves acting, or he has a horrible addiction or way too much debt. His work is scary bad. His film choices are just as bad. I have given him one chance too many and many people have too. His name invokes scenes of dread and doom. He is Nicolas Cage and his work is terrifying!

I have sat through numerous Nick Cage movies for some idiot reason. I was either tricked into seeing them, was young and naive, was bored with nothing better to do, lost a bet, etc. I can go the rest of my life without seeing him in a movie. He is just terrible in everything he does. It is terrifying that he still gets work and scary that people choose to view it. I’ll briefly hit four films that I remember being awful.

Not a Black Library novel? Who am I?

I branched out  and grabbed a non- Black Library novel. I figured it was time to try something else. The question was what to try. I wandered through the bookstore and this caught my eye.

An every man who discovers the world around him is full of monsters and magic. He then is recruited to fight it, and then cool stuff is bound to happen. Well it sounds interesting enough. I’ll bite.

What I expected was  Hellboy light, and that is pretty much what I received, just not as good or fun.

Owen Pitt is our hero and is some lower spectrum accountant. I am thinking this……

What I got was more like this……

Owen Pitt is paramilitary trained, is 6’ something,  300 pounds of pure muscle, an ex-bouncer turned fight clubber, has all sorts of punching ability and power, is a gun nut, and a crazy fast shot as well. I can suspend disbelief about the monster aspect, but the main character is too much of a stretch. Yes, I can overlook the monsters but not the quasi-meta human turned accountant.

Scary, but intentional, films continue

I am not, nor do I understand who is, a fan of Michael Bay movies. The few I have seen are just awful. South Park summed it up best with the Imagination Land episode that included Michael Bay. Explosions and special effect shots do not a story make. I had walked away from any project of his years ago. Well that was until the other night.

I fell into a Michael Bay movie that stars Sean Bean and with the man crush I have I decided to sit through it to support him. Plus I really wanted to see if he made it out alive since he seems to die in every movie. Surprise...he doesn't live.

The film was The Island and it was bad, scary bad. It will easily make this month’s scary, but not intentionally, film list.

 

Sad but true.

I love the comic and the show, but this video is pretty true to form. never noticed the Shane head rub that much.

Chaos review #26 "Why so serious?!"

Where Lucius is better than average as a close combat/challenge character HQ unit, Kharn succeeds.

Kharn is the Khorne Berzerker. There was Angron the Primarch and after he went away, there is only Kharn. He is the go to for crazy close combat killing.

Kharn is still a melee monster. He comes with a WS 7, BS 5, strength 5, toughness 4, initiative 5, 3 wounds, 4 attacks, a leadership of 10 and 3+/5++ save. He comes armed with a plasma pistol, frag/krak grenades, a Mark of Khorne, the Aura of Dark Glory (5++) and Gorechild. He has the Warlord Trait of Hatred Incarnate and has the champion of Chaos, fearless, independent character, furious charge, veterans of the long war, Blessings of the Blood God and The Betrayer rules. He costs 5  points less than Lucius, and that is a bargain for a super kill crazy HQ.

January is too far off!

Genius!

Another scary, but not intentional, film

My second installment of this moth's scary bad.

Spawn is a comic that I only read the first ten issues and it still holds some memory. Sadly, it was not the story I have memories of, it was the artwork. This was a looking comic more than a reading comic for me. Sure there was a tale of loss, love and revenge all set against a backdrop of demons and Hell. I should have been all over this, but I just wasn't.

Well this comic created a movie, like many do. It was the typical origin story of Al Simmons and his whirlwind life of black ops stuff that eventually gets him killed and has make a deal with the devil (or one of Hell’s higher level functionaries) to return to his beloved wife Wanda. Along the way the deal goes akimbo and Al Simmons is now a soldier in the army of Hell. This once again should be right in my wheel house, but the movie application was so awful it left me with chills and nightmares. How could something based on pretty pictures, demons and a tale of revenge fail so badly?

Geared up for Sunday

I've been jumping over to AMC all week to watch the episodes of the Walking Dead that are my favorites. It has made for great background noise while working on projects too.

Sunday is the start of season 4. I will have football and then zombies what could make that day better?

Chaos review #25 the swordsman

Lucius “the Eternal” is still floating around the HQ slot for Chaos. He is the best of the best when it comes to close combat Chaos Marines who favor Slaanesh. He still has the same sad tale of being a super swordsman. If he does get killed in close combat, the slayer of Lucius will eventually morph and change into Lucius (insert Circle of Life song here). I still find him pretty blah and question why he is still a HQ choice.

1st scary,but not intentional, film

My first non scary scary movie.
This movie is a two hour nightmare of frightfully bad elements.  

Battlefield Earth

With a tagline like that, how could it suck?

Here we have Earth    years after it has been taken over by aliens from the planet Psyklo. These giant humanoid aliens are on Earth to strip the planet of valuable resources. They seem to have killed and/or enslaved most of humanity. Humans have become quasi-primitive again. They exist in tribes that are hunter gatherers and are all about the spears, bows, and animal hides.

A different take on Halloween fright

The month of October usually has me talking of monsters, slashers, beasts, undead and the sort. This year I am going in a bit of a different direction. I'm going to keep a Halloween theme of monsters, aliens, demons, soulless killers and the sort, but just a different angle.

Instead of focusing on the good scares from this time of year, I'm going to focus on the bad. See, there are good Hollywood movies and there are SyFy originals and a myriad of in between. However, there are certain films that are slated to be great, and just fail miserably. These are scary bad movies. Films that invoke nightmares with their awful acting, horrible effects and frighteningly bad plots. These are what I refer to as scary, but not intentional, films.

Walking Dead webisodes!

There is a new set of webisodes set in the AMC Walking Dead world. These are descent and will satisfy the need for zombie survival until the show kicks off in a few weeks.

This series is called The Oath.
You can check it out here  greg-nicotero-walking-dead-webseries.

The previous two are Torn Apart and Cold Storage, give them a go!

AMC Walking Dead webisodes

4 weeks and a finale

 As it goes all good things, and it has.

The series finale of Breaking Bad was as good as the rest of the series. The final episode delivered a great end to a fantastic series. The few loose ends were tied, there was no wiggle room, it did not leave me wanting and there are no real lingering questions to answer/argue.

Chaos review #24 the holy man?

Well look who has evil Chaplains now. The forces of Chaos now have Dark Apostles and they are twisted versions of their loyalist brothers. I am glad to see these guys in the codex as they make for some great modeling and army opportunities.

What they wanted for the look of this model.

Truth!

The Warhammer Fantasy comes out with incredible work like this!


The 40K people come out with this..........

Steam

I have begun to dabble with Steam. I can say it intrigues me. The amount of games there is insane! The ability to just download and play is just as awesome, and dangerous. Having a library of games just a click away could be very detrimental for me. Right now I am only dealing with two, but I have seen several more I would like to try.

I’m looking at you Space Hulk!

Shadowrun Returns and Borderlands 2 (thanx for the wonderful gift of giant game o’ guns) are currently in motion. I’ll see how far they take me before I complete them or get frustrated and walk away

Not sure I like this idea, but....

On the heels of the 3rd wave of X-Wing models comes this box. The Empire has ace pilots and they are Tie Interceptors.

Chaos review #23 the mechanic

The traitorous Chaos Marines finally, have the ability to take a Techmarine now. It is about damn time too. There are a few minor differences between the two, but they are essentially the same. They are 40K versions of Doc Ock that have good armor and like to tinker with machinery.

9-13-2013