This Week in Geek (4-10/10/10)

Buys

Nothing, but then, I gotta take a break from consuming.

"Accomplishments"

DVDs: Our Asian cinema night brought us Triad Election, AKA Election 2, a direct sequel to the Johnnie To film we watched last month. All the surviving characters return as do the musical cues, so it's all of a piece. We're two years later, and another election inside the Society highlights how the younger generation cares less for tradition, changing Hong Kong's underground landscape. It's Johnnie To, so there are scenes of casual brutality that will stay with you for a long time, but also some beautiful, lyrical shots. The extras also treat the two films as one longer epic, with interviews dedicated to actors who did not fulfill their complete destinies in the first one, and a making of that seems to follow from the first's.


I also flipped the complete season of Max Headroom (at 14 episodes, quite doable), a prescient little cyberpunk gem from my youth, more relevant today than ever. If you say that the Internet is the new television, then it got a LOT right. Think Blade Runner or Brazil meets Network, and you've got the gist. Very fun still and definitely cut down before its time (that's what happens when you're programmed against Miami Vice and Dallas, I mean come on). There's an extra disc with a couple of hours of interviews and round tables with writers, producers and actors, telling the story of how it was made and what impact it had. Sadly, Matt Frewer (Edison Carter/Max Headroom) wasn't available for comment. It's my feeling that there could have been even more in this package, including the original Channel 4/HBO movie, the video jockey links and even the Coke adverts, but I understand how such a thing would have been a copyright nightmare to assemble. Still, what's there is passionate and enlightening. If you don't know it, discover it!

RPGs: We might have started our DC Adventures series today, but are taking advantage of Canadian Thanksgiving and doing it tomorrow. I should still report on another character that was made, Chalif's Napoleonic Wars French patriot hero, Fleur-de-Lys. This guy was never good at marksmanship, so is kept on the back lines peeling potatoes. Without his superiors' knowledge, he goes behind enemy lines wearing a domino mask and breaks some jaws using the mystical powers of French Liberty (enhanced speed), Equality (enhanced fighting skills) and Fraternity (enhanced presence and charisma). I think it's a fine design and can't wait to see it in practice.

New Unauthorized Doctor Who CCG cards: 12 new cards from The Keys of Marinus, barely a fraction of what I can squeeze out of that story (or anthology of stories, really).

Hyperion to a Satyr posts this week:
II.i. Reynaldo - Fodor (2007)

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