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Reviews
Prey (2017)
Not talked about enough
If you are a fan of survival horror games and you haven't played this yet, drop everything and get this game IMMEDIATELY.
It's challenging in all the right ways, it's innovative in its resource/leveling system. All aspects of the gameplay are infused with the story and setting. It's one of the most cohesive and rewarding game experiences of all time.
Nothing shows this better than the map itself. Talos1 is a 1:1 completely fleshed out Space Station/Research Facility and by the end of your playthrough you will begin to see it's grand design and understand it's genius as every area is meticulously placed both inside and outside of the station. Most areas have airlocks that allow you to fly around the station and jump the different locations (some through hull breaches in the stations walls). There is also a grand lift that shoots through the middle taking you to the three main hubs. Then there is the G. U. T. S that allows you to float through the maintenance tunnels of the station and get around that way. It's so creative and well thought out and each zone has its own story and they almost all intermingle in some way.
Which brings me to another point, the story is DENSE. Specifically the world building and the personal stories of everyone in the ship's crew. More than any other game I've played the creators spend an incredible attention to detail compared to other games of this genre. When you see a dead body in a hallway or stuffed behind a maintenance shaft, they have names, and usually a specific story as to what they were doing before everything went to hell and how they ended up there; to the point that you can literally look up EVERY crew member of Talos1 by the various security terminals in each zone. This game is DETAILED.
So go do yourself a favor and pick up this game and enjoy not wanting to play anything else for the next month or so.
Halo: Transcendence (2022)
S2 LETS GOOOOO
Besides the *snooze Kwan Ha side story this show is everything I could have ever asked for in a Halo Live Action Series
AMAZING action, thought-provoking and emotionally resonant story telling, and plenty of narrative juice to keep us plowing full-steam ahead for season 2!
Please paramount keep this train ROLLINGGG!!!
The Northman (2022)
Half-History Half-Legend
Robert Eggers has a knack for infusing historical authenticity with the homegrown mythos of his chosen subjects. The Northman (2022) is no different. Half history and half legend, we see carefully curated longboats and longhouses and meticulously manufactured scenes of Viking berserker raids, funeral rites, and royal customs. At the same time, we are given fantastical scenes of Draugr guarding mystic weaponry, Valkyries riding warriors off to Valhalla, and Icelandic witches casting necromantic sorceries to revive the spirits of the dead. For the lover of Nordic history, this is everything you've ever wanted and more.
The story is loosely based off the Danish folktale that Shakespeare loosely based Hamlet on, so that just means the bones of this plot are smoldering with the burning desire for vengeance in the name of the father and the sanctity of one's royal bloodline. All of that could be seen as derivative and overdone, but it's the raw delivery of the acting as well as the genius level vision of the surrounding production that somehow makes this age-old, well-trodden tale feel fresh and exciting again. And even with a final scene that you can see coming from about two hours away, I still found my heart beating out of my chest and my head dizzy with cinematic gravitas as I walked out of the theater.
The Northman is drenched in the brutality of its historical era, and with that harsh reality comes the authentic impetus of pure rage that accompanies dishonor and betrayal in the early medieval age. I'd say this film is more appropriate in its nihilistically violent messaging than even Hamlet itself considering the real cultural significance of those concepts at the time this film is set. The addition of the Nordic mythos is also welcome as entities like Odin, Fenrir and Freya were all real forces at play in the pre-Christian Viking world, and therefore the historical accuracy is arguably enhanced by those fantastical elements.
Eggers has carved out yet another visionary masterwork that deserves every bit of attention and praise it gets, and I am waiting on bated breath for his next inspired project. I give this howling blood-soaked Nordic revenge epic: 9.5/10.
Halo: Unbound (2022)
Amazing set up
Without having much action at all, somehow this episode was even better than the first. I'm a long time Halo reader and player and I really enjoy how they are handling the lore and the story so far. I understand that people are upset that this isn't the story of the original Halo universe, but if you really think about it, they are still employing SO many of the things that are discussed and laid out in the original lore. The Spartan program and it's side effects, the Astroid colonies, the outer colony insurgents, the human's place as the Forerunner reclaimers, ITS ALL THERE!! It's just not exactly how everything sits in the original canon. And that should be fine because they are making a show, not a game or a book. A show. And one that many many people who have never heard of Halo are watching. Thinking of watching this episode as someone who knew nothing about the Halo universe, I would be so intrigued. They are making this a more cohesive, made for tv storyline and I am here for it. I think it will bring so many new people into this amazing universe. I am absolutely loving what they are doing with this show and I want everyone to rate it highly so we can get a season 2!! Let's gooo!!
Messiah of Evil (1974)
Lovecraftian Spookshow
Messiah of Evil (1973) delivers a fever dream of mystery wrapped in a vintage veneer. The plot has many parallels to my favorite Lovecraft story, The Shadow over Innsmouth (1936), but instead of an isolated costal town harboring a cult of human/fish hybrids who worship an elder fish god, this film is about an isolated costal town harboring an UNDEAD cult of human/zombie hybrids who worship the Blood Moon as they await the return of the "Dark Stranger". The narrative is displayed in a classically mysterious and engaging way. We open with the main character, Arletty, on her way to the sleepy town of Port Dune to investigate her father's disappearance, as his letters have stopped coming and his last correspondence has led her to believe he has run afoul of some strange force. When she arrives to his house/art studio, she finds his journal entries and throughout the movie these entries are read aloud (by the voice of the father), and these monologues help not only drive the narrative, but firmly insulate the dreary tone of macabre mystery. However, there are a few things that annoyed me. For one, there were tons of strange and creepy vibes, but I could have done with creepier payoffs. The "undead cult" was effectively just zombies who bleed out of one eye and work better in groups, which was slightly disappointing because a lot of the film's energy was spent showcasing these zombies and we've all seen that type of thing many times. There was also a lot of dramatic fluff that I think could have been streamlined for some more culty exposition. Don't get me wrong, there are plenty of uniquely creepy scenes, but the coolest conceptual aspects (like the freaking BLOOD MOON and MESSIAH OF EVIL) felt pushed aside to make space for the womanizing male protagonist who didn't do much in the end anyway. Still, Messiah of Evil's 6.4 rating on IMDB is well deserved and it delivered on the strange atmospheric spookiness that I was expecting/desiring. Also, it's dated nature combined with the its intentional strangeness makes for some pretty good laughs, so watch this with friends for a better experience. I give this high-strange tale of old gods and the occult: 7/10.
Inferno (1980)
Equal parts beautiful and disappointing
As much as I have complained about his film, it does do certain things quite well. The imagery is incredible and the setting is probably its biggest strength. The majority of the film takes place in an old apparent house in New York City. This tall and looming figure, lords over the entire film, with the characters many times looking at it with curious caution and awful anticipation. Each of the main characters, at some point, finds themselves lurking through its endless halls and limitless levels, only to be murdered in bizarre and gruesome ways. This brings us to another bright spot: the kills. Each murder in the film is memorable and a few are particularly strange and surprising; especially for being made in 1980. I don't want to ruin any of them too much but let's just say there are man eating cats and then there are also later, man eating rats, if that gives any indication to the sort of high strangeness you can hope to endure during this film. Inferno (1980) is the definition of a mixed-bag. I really wanted to like it, but it kept making decisions that made my eyes roll or even straight up tilt my head an say, "Huh?"; However, I'd definitely recommend it for horror fans, for it gives off some major spook vibes and includes some above average horror elements.