Aside from what I would randomly catch while channel surfing, I hadn’t revisited TOS in a long while. Settling down to review “Space Seed” was not only a lot of fun, but also surprised me with the level of subtext I found now that I’ve seen it as an adult.

I don’t think I need to delve too deeply into the plot of “Space Seed”, but as a refresher, the USS Enterprise comes across a derelict ship, the SS Botany Bay, and upon investigating, discover that it is home to 73 people from the 1990s who have been in suspended animation for centuries.  One awakens and is nursed back to health by Dr. McCoy and immediately begins to plan on taking over the Enterprise for he is none other than Khan, an augmented tyrant of earth who had fled with his remaining fellow super beings at the end of the Eugenic War.  Bending the weak will of Lt. McGivers, he frees his fellow travelers, takes over the ship and nearly kills Kirk before McGivers, guilty at her actions, frees Kirk.  The crew retakes their ship, but not before an epic battle between Kirk and Khan wherein Kirk triumphs over the supposed superior specimen by beating him up with a Nerf prop.  In a moment of kindness, Kirk exiles Khan and his people to a far off planet which only sets the stage for greater tragedy that would take place years later.

Nothing about this episode in and of itself stands out as truly amazing on its own merits, but the whole of the story definitely has a lot to say, not only about the time period it was filmed, the level of intelligence it expected to find in its audience, and the inability of humans to learn from the mistakes of the past.

One of the overt themes found is the weakness of women.  Khan never could have accomplished what he did without the willing help of McGivers who positively swoons and drools over the power he exudes. It is only through her treachery that he is able to awaken the other Augments and take control over the Enterprise.  This, of course, is nothing more than a modern retelling of the Garden of Eve story in which Eve is tricked by the Serpent into eating the forbidden fruit and tricking all of mankind into falling.  Khan, as the beguiling Serpent offers himself to her, and she falls powerless in his thrall.  Of course, Star Trek managed to allow her to redeem herself and help save her crew, but she is still ‘exiled from the garden’ at the end of the episode and goes to stay with the Serpent (which is even alluded to via the Milton quote). Weak-willed women who are used only as sex objects are seen constantly throughout TOS, but few to the extent we see in “Space Seed”.

The episode also assumes its audience aren’t mindless drones laughing and being titillated by every little innuendo or joke thrown their way (cough, Two and a Half Men, cough).  Star Trek actually expected that fans understood some references to the classics and history. One would be hard pressed to find a show quoting Milton these days, and those that did would have to explicitly spell out the meaning behind their words. People may disagree and point to the success of books like The Da Vinci Code and Angels & Demons, but if you’re honestly trying to prove your point with those examples, then you’ve already lost your side of the argument. Americans don’t read any more, and our lack of knowledge about the classics is becoming telling.

Finally, the crew was quite amused (moreso in Spock’s case) that humans used to breed specifically to create a race of people who were genetically superior to the rest of humanity. The writers of Star Trek had obviously been around during part of World War II, so the idea of a superior race would still have been fresh on their minds as one of the worst ideas that had possibly sprung from the mind of a madman. Not only did the theory not work, but the zealots who bought into the whole idea were responsible for nearly wiping a race of people from the face of the earth and the deaths of untold millions in the ensuing war. As was mentioned in the episode, the 1990s were when the last World War supposedly took place, which only proved the stupidity of man in not learning from the past.  Of course this time, mankind did succeed at making a superior race, but in an ironic twist, their master race immediately set to enslaving those beneath them and becoming their rightful rulers.

Having not seen this episode since I was a kid, I didn’t quite expect to get so much out of a tv show that aired over 40 years ago, and maybe I’m reading between the lines too much and seeing more than the writers originally intended, but I don’t think so.  Science fiction has oft been on the forefront of social commentary although the message can easily be missed between the phasers and spaceships going into warp speed.  Needless to say, I thoroughly enjoyed my journey back in time to catch up with a classic that will only lead on to bigger and better drama and spectacle in the future.

When Inkle Studios sent me an email to review this the negative and cynical thoughts racing through my mind knew no bounds. I’m the last guy you ask to review anything related to 1980’s style pen and paper RPG’s. I’ve played Dungeons and Dragons twice in my life, and have done everything I can in the realm of nerd to avoid sinking “that far”. You can imagine, then, somebody telling you a fighting fantasy book converted to an app is a pretty far fetched pitch for you to enjoy.

The descriptive text guides you through the story, while music sets the tone.

After playing through the game twice, once on my iPad and once on my phone, (which by the way it looks gorgeous on both with only one purchase!), I can without a doubt say that I’m hooked. The premise of the game is pretty basic as far as fantasy goes, a great evil has stolen an important artifact and you’re the poor sap chosen to go get it back. You wake up in a strange town with your sword ready to embark on the journey, a quick tutorial teaches you to fight, haggle, spend money, and deal with characters in the game and away you go. Instead of watching videos you read descriptive text to set you into the mood of the game, with music playing while reading I found it extremely easy to be pulled into their universe. The spell casting system was also very unique, instead of simply choosing a spell and having it use your magic points, you aligned stars that help spell out your attack. For example if I want to cast lightning, which happens to be called ZAP! I would align Z, A, P and then cast.

COMBAT:
Combat is handled in an incredibly unique way, being a game that would resort to dice rolls Inkle has taken that seemingly random event and made it strategic. You get to choose your attack power while your opponent chooses the same. Your goal is to choose a higher number than your opponent. If you block you are losing 1 stamina and if your opponent blocks they are losing one stamina, so strategically you don’t want to use a super heavy attack if they’re blocking since it wastes energy. Combat then, is a chess game of analyzing how much energy your opponent has and calculating how much he will attack with, or if he’ll block to conserve your energy. Imagine using this system against a creature with double your stamina, and double the attack power. The amount of strategy involved is ridiculous. I fought the Manticore (close to the final boss) about 6 times to finish him once. On my second play through I fought him 3 times, so the strategy is absolutely key.

The game map guides you from level to level.

Without videos to move their story forward, Inkle has relied on illustrations that reference playing through a book, but still keep the game interactive. Words to describe are tough, but what I’m saying is that the images make you feel like you’re playing a pen and paper RPG, on your device. The crisp illustrations bridge the two technologies flawlessly, and make you want to defeat the “vile creatures”, or escape the terrifying situations you have encountered.

The game map guides you from level to level.

The final piece of note are the death sequences, I cannot tell you how many different ways I died due to stupid choices. I starved to death, was strangled by snakes, speared by a Manticore, bludgeoned by “Elvens”, poisoned by a witch, crushed by a stone, and I know for a fact that I still missed more opportunities to die. Seeing the death scripts almost became a game in itself, I wanted to find out how to die. This changing story arch gives you ample opportunity to mess up and experience everything the world has to offer, it goes as far as to allow different paths for your entire adventure. My first go I missed 2 towns since I was captured, and ended up meeting a bridge troll. Play through number 2 I went the opposite way ended up skipping a small town, missed the bridge troll and somehow muddled my way through to the end.

The $4.99 you spend on this game is wasted if you only play through it once, your repeated play throughs should only take you 30-45 minutes unless you thoroughly inspect every piece of the game. I left this story excited to see part 2 release. This is a unique new genre, that has definitely been done right.

Jedi Master K’Kruhk has drawn the enemy on himself in order to spare the younglings.. but without around, can he stay on the light side? Also, the Empire closes in.. but are they friend or foe, in this week’s Star Wars comic. Plus, apemen! (more…)

If, a year ago, anyone had told me that I would count a Hawkeye comic in my top five “must reads” for 2013, I would have laughed. Really hard. Hawkeye has been one of the Marvel characters I could care less about, right up there with Wonder Man and that little booger guy from X-Men. I do, however, enjoy Matt Fraction’s writing, so I picked up Hawkeye #1 when it hit the comic shop, and was pleasantly, if not overwhelmingly, surprised.

Hawkeye tells the story of the Avenger’s Clint Barton when he’s not wearing the purple gimp suit. The comic also features Kate Bishop, the “other” Hawkeye, and a host of great supporting characters. Hawkeye also introduced what has quickly become my favorite group of villains in comic-dom, the Tracksuit Draculas. These guys are a constant foil for “Hawkguy”, but mostly cannon-fodder and comic relief.

Issue 9 of Hawkguy saw the sudden murder of Grills, a nice guy who gives Clint advice from time to time. His killer was wearing a tear-drop Harlequin mask, and claimed to be straight from Hell. Issue 10 tells the back story of the killer, an kid named Kazi who was orphaned, became an assassin, and was recruited by the Tracksuit Draculas. The story itself is told in flash-backs while Kazi is flirting with Hawkeye Kate, then wraps up on the roof of Clint’s building with the same scene that ended issue 9.

The story is great, as should be expected with Fraction. You really feel for Kazi, as tragedy after tragedy befalls him. You can see how a life of non-stop catastrophe could turn someone into a sociopathic contract killer. Kate has some great lines, and there is a very poetic ode to Manhattan at night that I loved.

The only thing holding me back from flat-out loving this issue is the art. Up until this issue, David Aja has handled the illustration, and while simple, it works. Aja’s drawings have a great narrative elegance to them that reminds me of Matt Wagner during his early Grendel days. The colors are complementary to the art, sticking to unshaded, flat hues and a cool color palette. Issue 10’s art was provided by Francesco Francavilla, who’s work I normally hold in pretty high regard. I have to assume that he had very little time to complete the issue, because it feels rushed, muddy, and at times sloppy.

Still, sloppy art doesn’t interfere with the overall quality of this issue; snappy dialogue, clever word-play, and excellent character work flows through every page of this story. Hawkeye #10 is at your local comic shop now.

HIMYM only has 1 season left, and it’s really starting to feel long in the tooth as was evidenced by tonight’s episode that tried to be edgy and fun, and would have been had it been released a few years ago.

Full spoilers abound!

Ted and Marshall kidnap Barney for his bachelor party — an event Barney has been hinting at for months, and something he has dubbed a ‘Bro-Mitzfah’ since it is a coming of age for a man that will only happen, like, 2-3 times in his life.  We learn that Barney has skipped out on a dinner with Robin and his mother to go to his bachelor party, and Robin is incensed that not only is she stuck with his mother, but also the fact that Barney told his mom Robin was a virgin, which leads to his mom explaining the birds and the bees to Robin with breadsticks and napkin holders.  Ted and Marshall take Barney to a seedy motel on the outskirts of Atlantic City since they can’t trust him not to gamble and begin to bring in a series of party guests they hope will be exciting.  The guests include a miming balloon-animal-making clown, Lily, and what’s sure to be a slam dunk for Barney — the Karate Kid himself, Ralph Macchio … except of course that we all know Barney viewed William Zabka’s character, Johnny Lawrence, as the REAL karate kid.  The only thing that could make the night even worse is that the stripper hired ends up being none other than Quinn, Barney’s ex-fiancee who agrees to strip for everyone BUT Barney.

Time goes by, and as Barney sulks in the bathroom, he gets another call from Robin who begs him to come back since she finally admitted to Barney’s mom that she is not a virgin, thus leading to his mother getting extremely drunk and starting to act out her sex history with appetizers at the restaurant.

Barney abandons his bachelor party, taking all his friends and ‘guests’ with him, only to have Ralph Macchio call him a loser which inspires him to head back to Atlantic City and indulge in his favorite gambling game, Xing Haishi Buxing, where he immediately loses all of his money before accepting $80,000 of credit from the loan sharks and losing that too.

Broke and despondent, Barney and the gang head back to New York, only to learn that Barney used Marshall as collateral for the loan sharks which angers everyone who all conveniently abandon him right in front of the restaurant where Robin was waiting.  Robin, angry about the fact that Quinn was the stripper for the evening, calls off the wedding and storms off.

Of course, it is shown that all of this was a ‘clever’ ruse put on by all of Barney’s friends to give him a night he will never forget, and when the loan sharks show up and drag Barney up to his apartment, everyone is up there to wish him a happy bachelor’s party.  Before the episode fades to black, the miming clown removes his makeup and reveals himself to be Barney’s Karate Kid, William Zabka which checks off his entire list of what he expected his Bro-Mitzfah to be.

My problem with this episode is that anyone who has ever seen more than a season of this show immediately saw where the episode was going, so the ‘twist’ at the end was hardly satisfying.  The writers have proven they still have it in them to provide a surprise ending no one saw coming, like when we learned that everything that happened to Ted 2 episodes ago only took place in his head, so this just felt lazy. I would have excused it if the episode itself was funny, but aside from the scenes with Barney’s mom trying to teach sex-ed to Robin, and Lily’s recurring horniness around Ralph Macchio, there were few laughs to be found during the whole thing.  It’s not that the episode wasn’t well done, but it’s just that the joke has been done before, and only HIMYM virgins wouldn’t have seen where this was going — a common theme we’ve seen over the last two seasons, and especially the episodes that have come out this year.

Look, I absolutely love this show, but the shtick is getting old, and I’m actually looking forward to the fact it ends next year. We have a bunch of beloved characters and a ton of classic episodes in the can; it’s time we finally meet the mother and get on with life.

Well, what can be said about this latest installment of the Iron Man saga?

I feel like it was a vast improvement over the last film and, at this point, I’m pretty convinced that it might be my favorite of the three films. It’s not that I didn’t enjoy Favreau’s efforts, but this just brought things together in a way I wasn’t sure was possible.

Where to even start? This is a post-Avengers world, and thusly, this is our first glimpse into what the Marvel Universe looks like after the invasion of the Chitauri, and it’s our most human look at Tony Stark across the board. Shane Black said we couldn’t see him dealing with the demon in the bottle, but we were certainly able to see him battling the devil in himself. At this stage in his life, he’s prone to panic attacks at the mere mention of the words “New York.”

Yes, we saw Tony change in The Avengers, but that change wasn’t all for the better and Tony wasn’t exactly ready for the change.

And, like most things in Tony’s life, things from his past come back to haunt him.

I don’t want to get too much into spoiler territory with this review. I will say that I’m still not sure that I like some of the choices for characters made. I can safely say, though, that I do like the portrayal of The Mandarin. Ben Kingsley is fantastic and turns in one of the finest performances of any superhero villain. Though I will admit the direction they take him might upset some fans. It made perfect sense, though.

What I will say, is that Shane Black placed his own thumbprint on the film in a way I wasn’t sure was possible. It’s a Christmas movie that instantly conjured images of Lethal Weapon, with the Christmas music, tree lots, people tossing fake badges on tables, Riggs and Murtaugh like shootouts in construction sites…  This film truly is the descendant of Lethal Weapon. It also has much more of Shane Black’s later sensibilities, many will notice similarities in style with his last Robert Downey, Jr. film, Kiss, Kiss, Bang, Bang. It’s particularly striking in the way the film starts and ends.

As for the post-credits sequence, it’s worth staying for once, and it’s fun to see other characters from the Avengers universe, but it’s not much to write home about. It’s satisfying to a degree, but I feel like it should have left a stronger lead up to Thor: The Dark World.

This film had me in tears (the scene where Tony’s house is blown up!) and in stitches (Tony is as funny as ever.) It had me smiling (Downton Abbey!) throughout and cheering for the good guys and hissing at the bad guys. Guy Pearce is particularly delightful, if not slightly cardboard. The events put into motion provide the backdrop for the most stunning and Iron Man filled finale in any of the movies.

And I can’t overstate how much I liked his interplay with “The Kid.” Best sidekick ever.

My only complaint (aside from the questionable change of one character, which may or may not be fixed by the end) is that it felt as thought Rebecca Hall was underused. I think she’s a great actress and she was given a bit of short shrift here, underutilized in a way that was even worse than Sam Rockwell’s under-utilization.

Will you enjoy Iron Man 3? Absolutely.

Did I? You bet.

Was it the best of the three? As I’m at the end of this review, I still think so, yes.

Am I still more excited for Thor: The Dark World coming later this year? Verily.

Iron Man 3 hits cinemas in the United States on Friday.

This review will contain spoilers, this is your one and only warning, episode spoilers will not be prefaced.

Hi all, Arse-bot here filling in for Proletariatron on Game of Thrones duty for the week! And what a week it was! While not incredibly heavy on the “action” – aside from that awesome opening battle between Beric and The Hound – there was a lot happening and a lot of movement in everyone’s respective story lines. So let’s get to the run down!

The Good

• Jon Snow’s journey North of The Wall continued as he finally gave in to getting nude with Ygritte. While she seems sincere in her attraction to Jon, there’s most likely going to be consequences for breaking his Nights Watch vows.
• The Hound was judged by combat, and defeated Beric Dondarrion and his flaming sword – however, Beric was promptly brought back to life by the Lord of Light via Thoros
• Damn it all to hell Jaime Lannister. I thought for sure I had you pegged as a true villain in this show, but over the last few episodes you’ve started to make me question that. Are you acting for your own selfish reasons still, or was your bath tub conversation with Brienne of Tarth sincere? Time will only tell.
• Also, I’m chalking up Tywin forcing Cersei to marry Loras as a good thing, because it’s about time this smug Queen Regent got a little of what she deserved – and a loveless marriage is a good start, however…

The “Bad”

• Tyrion is being forced to marry Sansa to “secure the North”. It’s going to be interesting to see how that plays out.
• Jon Snow is in a tough spot right now, and now he’s forsaken his vows – perhaps this “cover” of his would best be served to become a reality for him?
• Arya has lost the last of her companions with Gendry deciding to stay on with The Brotherhood.
• We finally met Stannis’ wife and daughter, which proved to be depressing as hell. His wife is a loon who keeps dead babies in jars, and his poor daughter has what appear to be grey scales covering half of her face.
• Robb Stark is quickly losing his grasp on this war as half his men deserted after the execution of Karstark. His only option now? Return to the man who’s daughter he was supposed to marry and presumably beg for reinforcements.
• Barristan is vying for Jorah’s place at Dany’s side – does he know about Jorah’s spying he was doing to King’s landing back in season 1?…

This was a great episode that moved all of the plot lines along nicely – for better or worse. Tyrion has had the shit piles on since episode one of this season, and continues to get screwed around every turn despite having nearly single-handedly devised the strategy to defend King’s Landing. Jaime is growing as a character, but it’s hard to not think he has a plan up his sleeve, and Robb is quickly losing ground in a war that started off so well for him. Dany is amassing her army to take back the throne, but she still has quite the journey ahead of her; and one of my favorite characters, Arya, is now on her own, supposedly set to be delivered back to her brother and mother – which may not be as touching a reunion as some are hoping for. We are only half way through the season, so a lot more is set to happen!

If you haven’t been to see Margin Call, missed it on the cinema listings and/or haven’t rented it yet on DVD – then do yourself a favour and watch it at once. Make no mistake; this is a superb and very under-rated movie that really puts you in the moment of the breaking financial crisis back in 2008.

Yes, there are things wrong with the movie in that it has to try and be all things to most people – so it is dumbed down a little. But if it wasn’t, it would hardly have a mainstream audience so in this way, it bridges the gap really well.

If you don’t know what this movie is all about, then as a brief synopsis, it tells the story of a major New York based investment bank on the evening of the precipice that turned into the global; financial crisis.

Two junior risk analysts and a trading desk head watch as human resources consultants conduct an unannounced mass layoff at the bank on the trading floor, at what was otherwise a normal day of business.

One of the people fired is the boss of the two junior risk analysts, and he tries to alert the consultants and execs at the bank of the risk it is facing – based on the programme he’s been working on.

The consultants take no interest in this and simply want him out of the building, so as he leaves he very briefly tells the more senior of the tow junior analysts about the risks –  handing him a memory stick as he leaves. The clever young analyst works on in the evening on the project, managing to finish it off and to discover that the volatility in the bank’s portfolio of mortgage-backed investments could soon topple the entire company.

The junior analyst calls in his colleagues and a more senior analysts played by Kevin Spacey and the plot moves on from there – with ever more senior people getting involved until the CEO, played by Jeremy Irons, takes drastic action to save the bank.

This movie really puts you in the moment more than any other financial-based film ever has done – so don’t miss it.

I totally had that song on 45, by the way.

“Pac-Man Fever” was an amazing episode. It was a one-off that still tied into the season arc, and when Supernatural does that well it’s always a good time. Well, “good” in the Supernatural way, not in the normal people way. In the angsty, bittersweet, OH MY CREYS AND FEELS kind of way.

Last night, fan favorite Charlie Bradbury happens to be in Kansas when she stumbles upon a possible hunt and looks up the brothers. They team up for an adventure that includes quips, gore, video games, and Djinn all the while touching on Sam’s ailing health and Dean’s brotherly concern. Charlie gets captured by the Big Bad and Dean has to injest some African Dream Root to join her in her dream, and in the process learns a lot about why Charlie is Charlie. Let’s discuss, shall we?

The ‘meh.”

• Jennifer is the Djinn? Jen- Djinn? AHAHAHA really? Not awesome.
• There was a brief return to the Dean “I’m Dean and I know what’s best all the time for everyone” of old, but it didn’t last. This does, however, seem to be a recurring device in the season, and one could argue that it’s hard for old habits to die hard and Dean shouldn’t just change overnight, but one could also argue that writers can’t change overnight but maybe they should. I’m undecided, myself, on this point, and don’t really care for now. As long as there continues to be growth I don’t mind a little relapse into bossy-Dean every once in a while.
• The teaser’s flash forward. In hindsight it seemed a bit unnecessary.

The “yay!”

• The beer toss. Supernatural got yet another guffaw out of me.
• OK I tried to avoid talking about it in the review but can we just talk about Dean’s sexified retro hair because that should totally be a thing from now on.

The “amazeballs.”

• Charlie Bradbury. What an amazing character. What an amazing idea. She quips without ever sounding like a Diablo Cody character. She has the best tee shirts. She can hack. Charlie is us. Charlie is the perfect representation of the female fanbase of this show. We hold conversations solely with our favorite movie quotes. We want to be effortlessly pretty (which is not to say we want to conform – in fact just the opposite. We just want to feel confident and comfortable in our own skins, and Charlie seems great at that). We want to hunt with Sam and Dean freakin’ Winchester. Charlie is all these things, and I cannot commend the person that made the decision for her to not be a love interest with enough honor. Thank you for this strong, non-secondary female. We love her!
• Agents Hicks and Ripley. Yisss.
• I literally squeed “ohmahgod a shopping montage in Supernatural!!” Only seconds later Charlie sulked “but… montage….” Need I say it again? Charlie Bradbury is one of us. And her aliases are amazing, too.

I have to end with a personal note on this one. Charlie stated in the episode that her mother “made me who I am.” If I loved Charlie before last night, I loved her a thousand times more by the end of the episode. My mother read to me every night too, and as a result I could read by the time I was three. I devoured books, and I too credit my mother for making me who I am in a very specific way. But like Charlie, I had to say goodbye to my mother as well, and by the end of the episode I was bawling so hard it scared my pets. But it wasn’t a bad cry at all – even thought Charlie isn’t real, it still felt comforting to see someone deal with and be strong in my own situation.

There are only three episodes left in Season Gr8. I hate that feeling. Wanting to see all three episodes NOW NOW NOW and anticipating the goosebumps that will arrive with “Carry On My Wayward Son” coupled with the dread of waiting months and months for the next season. Bah, it’s always worth it.

Oh, and PS – Charlie was wearing a Lying Cat tee shirt. If you don’t know who Lying Cat is, go to your LCS right now and pick up a Saga trade. You won’t regret it.

So I decided to check out the subscription box craze and lootcrate.com being geek oriented fit the bill pretty well. Below you’ll find my video review. First impression it wasn’t amazing but we will see what the next 2 crates bring before I really decide if it is worth it or not.  If you decide you want to give it a try click here

“>httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNfjzPMHsPg