It’s rare when a game gives you an opportunity to make a timely David Bowie reference in the title.
Film Review – The Short Life of Charles Beaumont
This time I’m taking a look at the documentary, Charles Beaumont: The Short Life of Twilight Zone’s Magic Man. I was provided with a copy of this documentary at no cost for purpose of review from the film’s director at OryCon 2014. Read more
Film Review: Executioners from Shaolin
It’s been a while since I reviewed a martial arts film from Hong Kong, and even longer since I reviewed a film from Shaw Brothers. With Netflix including more and more of the Shaw Brothers filmography, now is as good a time as any to revisit the studio and their works. Read more
Let’s Play Lost Planet 3: Part 6 – Roll On
This episode we have the hardest fight I’ve encountered thus far.
Film Review: The Yakuza Papers Pt. 3 – Proxy War
Proxy War, along with the second film in the series, Hiroshima Deathmatch, are really where the Yakuza Papers series really kicks into high gear with showing the real nature of the Yakuza life. Where the sophomore film in the series introduced a new character, followed him through his induction into the yakuza, until his ultimate death, Proxy War returns us to following Bunta Sugawara’s character, Shozo Hirono, as factions within the old guard start playing the new generation of yakuza against each other, while Hirono himself tries to reconcile this current chain of events with the yakuza code of honor. Read more
Let’s Play Lost Planet 3: Part 5 – Icing Problem
You’d have thought that on the ice planet people would have realized that extreme cold causes things to freeze on the machinery, so maybe we should do something about that. Nope! Read more
Let’s Play Lost Planet 3: Part 4 – Gas Run
This time we’re retreading some old ground to get some new Thermal Energy.
Nintendo Power Retrospectives – Part 49
This week we start with the Best of the Rest of Nintendo Power’s fourth year, with the 6 NES titles that made the top 30 (or 20) but weren’t featured in the magazine. Read more
Where I Play: Lost Planet 3 – Part 3, When Extraordinary Repairs Become Commonplace
We’ve got a lot of stuff to fix on this planet.
Where I Play: Lost Planet 3 – Part 2, Ice Planet Repairman
This time I deal with all the crud that needs to be fixed on this planet.
Where I Play: Lost Planet 3 – Part 1, Dirty Snowball
I’m starting a new Let’s Play, as the Dragon Age II LP wasn’t really working for various reasons. I’m doing Lost Planet 3 because the game has a more conventional level structure, so it makes it easier to have more conventional chapter stops. Read more
Book Review – Fire In The Valley
This week I have another non-fiction book review, as I take a look at “Fire in The Valley”, a book about the history of the computer industry. Read more
Nintendo Power Retrospectives: Part 48
Sealed Envelope – Star Wars, The New Era, and The Prophecy
This week I’m putting together a video with some speculation on Star Wars: The Force Awakens, and how The Prophecy from the prequel trilogy might tie in to the film’s plot (if it comes up at all). This was recorded Thanksgiving Weekend, well before the film came out, as a little sealed envelope – if my predictions are right, then I’m a genius! If I’m wrong, I look like a moron! Either way, you win! Read more
Nintendo Power Retrospectives – Part 47
Film Review – A Christmas Carol (1999)
Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol is probably the work of literature that has been most frequently adapted to the screen that wasn’t written by William Shakespeare. With so many adaptations, it’s probably hard to pick the best. I’d probably put the Muppet version at the top of my list, but aside from that, the 1999 made-for-TV version starring Patrick Stewart as Ebenezer Scrooge is my number two pick. Read more
Tabletop RPGs for Video Game Fans II
This time I’m revisiting a concept did a video on a few years ago – recommendations for Tabletop RPGs for people who play video games. Read more
Film Review: The Yakuza Papers Pt. 2 – Deadly Fight in Hiroshima
After the original The Yakuza Papers came out and did incredibly well at the box office, a sequel came out with a relatively fast turnaround. Unlike the first film, the sequel, Deadly Fight in Hiroshima, bypasses Bunta Sugawara’s character, Shozo Hirono (who does appear in this film as a cameo appearance), for a new character, and new story of induction into the world of the Yakuza.
Read more
Nintendo Power Retrospectives – Part 46
Film Review – Rashomon
It’s weird watching Rashomon after seeing multiple films and episodes of TV shows that used the central narrative device of Rashomon after the film came out. On the one hand, it’s a film that did a lot of this stuff first, but on the other hand, it is still, in a way, somewhat old hat.
Probably what makes Rashomon work as well as it does is how the lies in the story are presented. We have the initial witness testimony, showing the discovery of the body. Read more
Book Review – Genpei
This week I’m doing a vlog-styled review of Genpei by Kara Dalkey. Read more
Nintendo Power Retrospectives – Part 45
This week we continue with Nintendo Power with issue #33 for January of 1992.
Movie Review – The Yakuza Papers, Vol. 1: Battles Without Honor and Humanity
Due to the copyright strike on my Youtube channel, I’m going to hold off on doing film video reviews for the immediate future, aside from works from companies with a proven track record as being forgiving when it comes to film criticism (such as the Criterion Collection). However, I still want to keep talking about film so, for now, I’m going to do those review as prose reviews. If there is an interest from my Patreon Backers (which you can be one of), once the copyright strike is up, I’ll go back to re-do some or all these reviews as video reviews (depending on what films they’d like to see reviewed).
These reviews are also being posted on my Letterboxd page. I’m cross posting them here because I remember what happened to Screened, and I’d like to make sure I don’t lose any of my reviews.
With that out of the way, I’m taking a look at a Japanese Yakuza film from the 1970s – and the first part of the Yakuza Papers/Battles Without Honor Or Humanity series of films. Read more
Video Game Review – Yoshi’s New Island
This week I’m doing a Vlog style review of Yoshi’s New Island (as, at present, I can’t capture gameplay footage from the 3DS). Read more