Buys
I say thee NAY!!!
"Accomplishments"
DVDs: On the heels of Seasons 1 and 2, I flipped The Guild Season 3. Is it me or do comedy shows go darker in their third season? Anyone who's played World of Warcraft for any length of time will know the premise well - that point when a guild threatens to collapse. In this case, there's an evil guild to help things happen and nerd-master Wil Wheaton joins the cast. Again, great fun, and the DVD package makes it worthwhile to free The Guild from its webcast format. There are two funny commentary tracks, lots of outtakes, the Halloween video, the hilarious "Do You Want to Date my Avatar?" video (plus its making of), Guild application rejects, a feature on building fake weapons, interviews with the Axis of Anarchy, and tips on how to make your own web series. Now I can rejoin The Guild on the web in its 4th season already in progress.
Our Asian film film this week was Protégé, a textured undercover cop drama that delved into the world of narcotics, the heroin trade principally. I thought I knew all the tricks thanks to The Wire, but this actually gave me a lot more insight into both the producer and user ends of the equation, and was a finely acted and shot tragedy to boot. Andy Lau is always good, but full props to the entire cast here, including the very young actress who plays 3-year-old Jane-Jane. Her innocence made the film, in many ways. The Dragon Dynasty release is supplemented by expert Bey Logan's usual commentary (when discussing contemporary films, he tends to unnecessarily nitpick, but otherwise good), a short making of in Chinese, and three interviews in English (with two of the stars and the producer). It's rare you don't have to do any reading on these releases, so enjoy!
Books: The Story of Martha may just be the only relevant novel in the New Series line. Or half of it is. Dan Abnett writes that half with a more adult pen than usual releases, detailing the missing year between The Sound of Drums and Last of the Time Lords, as Martha Jones walks the Earth and spreads the gospel about the Doctor while on the run from the Master's goons. It's an engaging story with harrowing images and solid character work. In her travels, Martha tells stories of the Doctor, and these are represented by short stories by different authors. Beyond the fact that you desperately want to stay with the framing tale, this is where the book is let down. Written in varying styles, they just don't seem like stories Martha would be telling. They're not in her voice, and I doubt she would tell stories with non-linear narrative structures. Worse, perhaps, is that only one of these stories is truly memorable (not surprisingly, Rob Shearman's), but the book may be worth reading just for that one. So a qualified recommendation. If you're only going to read one...
RPGs [Savage Worlds/Evernight]: To avoid the "crap it's getting late and we're in the middle of a battle" of the previous session, I put the obligatory fight towards the start this time, leaving the big interaction scenes for later. It helped. I think my players are getting smarter about their strategies too and are now all Seasoned, so their new Edges should give them more options there too. Funny thing about "Resistance points": One player said "I don't know what they're for, but I want them so badly!" Savage Worlds has cracked the Achievements market. Though we're only at the midpoint of the campaign (I'd estimate), I'm already looking to the future. Though at first I thought Slipstream or Rippers would be our next Savage Worlds destination, I also like what I've seen of the Oriental Adventures conversion, so might dust off that old Ninja Wars scenario for OD&D and convert it. But that'll be 2011's problem...
New Unauthorized Doctor Who CCG cards: Currently doing one card a day from Doctor Who Series 5. The first 6 stories have their cards up already.
Hyperion to a Satyr entries this week include:
I.v. Swearing Oaths - Olivier '48
I.v. Swearing Oaths - BBC '80
I say thee NAY!!!
"Accomplishments"
DVDs: On the heels of Seasons 1 and 2, I flipped The Guild Season 3. Is it me or do comedy shows go darker in their third season? Anyone who's played World of Warcraft for any length of time will know the premise well - that point when a guild threatens to collapse. In this case, there's an evil guild to help things happen and nerd-master Wil Wheaton joins the cast. Again, great fun, and the DVD package makes it worthwhile to free The Guild from its webcast format. There are two funny commentary tracks, lots of outtakes, the Halloween video, the hilarious "Do You Want to Date my Avatar?" video (plus its making of), Guild application rejects, a feature on building fake weapons, interviews with the Axis of Anarchy, and tips on how to make your own web series. Now I can rejoin The Guild on the web in its 4th season already in progress.
Our Asian film film this week was Protégé, a textured undercover cop drama that delved into the world of narcotics, the heroin trade principally. I thought I knew all the tricks thanks to The Wire, but this actually gave me a lot more insight into both the producer and user ends of the equation, and was a finely acted and shot tragedy to boot. Andy Lau is always good, but full props to the entire cast here, including the very young actress who plays 3-year-old Jane-Jane. Her innocence made the film, in many ways. The Dragon Dynasty release is supplemented by expert Bey Logan's usual commentary (when discussing contemporary films, he tends to unnecessarily nitpick, but otherwise good), a short making of in Chinese, and three interviews in English (with two of the stars and the producer). It's rare you don't have to do any reading on these releases, so enjoy!
Books: The Story of Martha may just be the only relevant novel in the New Series line. Or half of it is. Dan Abnett writes that half with a more adult pen than usual releases, detailing the missing year between The Sound of Drums and Last of the Time Lords, as Martha Jones walks the Earth and spreads the gospel about the Doctor while on the run from the Master's goons. It's an engaging story with harrowing images and solid character work. In her travels, Martha tells stories of the Doctor, and these are represented by short stories by different authors. Beyond the fact that you desperately want to stay with the framing tale, this is where the book is let down. Written in varying styles, they just don't seem like stories Martha would be telling. They're not in her voice, and I doubt she would tell stories with non-linear narrative structures. Worse, perhaps, is that only one of these stories is truly memorable (not surprisingly, Rob Shearman's), but the book may be worth reading just for that one. So a qualified recommendation. If you're only going to read one...
RPGs [Savage Worlds/Evernight]: To avoid the "crap it's getting late and we're in the middle of a battle" of the previous session, I put the obligatory fight towards the start this time, leaving the big interaction scenes for later. It helped. I think my players are getting smarter about their strategies too and are now all Seasoned, so their new Edges should give them more options there too. Funny thing about "Resistance points": One player said "I don't know what they're for, but I want them so badly!" Savage Worlds has cracked the Achievements market. Though we're only at the midpoint of the campaign (I'd estimate), I'm already looking to the future. Though at first I thought Slipstream or Rippers would be our next Savage Worlds destination, I also like what I've seen of the Oriental Adventures conversion, so might dust off that old Ninja Wars scenario for OD&D and convert it. But that'll be 2011's problem...New Unauthorized Doctor Who CCG cards: Currently doing one card a day from Doctor Who Series 5. The first 6 stories have their cards up already.
Hyperion to a Satyr entries this week include:
I.v. Swearing Oaths - Olivier '48
I.v. Swearing Oaths - BBC '80
Comments