Movies! Games! Film at 11!

Shark Night was horrible. Fortunately it was so horrible that it was still enjoyable. But mostly it was horrible. Why are they referring to the bayou as a lake? Why is Donal Logue in this movie? Why are the swampbillies philosophizing about the varieties of sharks? Why are you not watching this? So many questions, so few answers.

The Thing (the recent prequel) was fine. I'm not sure why there's a ton of backlash against this movie. I suspect it's because they're calling it a prequel (it is) instead of a remake/reboot of Carpenter's flick (which it sort of also is too). Admittedly it hits all the notes from the previous film, but you know what? That's ok. It's still enjoyable. And some of the effects are pretty good. Gruesome little Thing-lets... At least they nailed the ending (with the dog running off and the helicopter giving chase).

Roll Through the Ages is a fun little dice game with a light civ building theme. It offers some pretty interesting choices over the course of the game. Obviously there's a fair amount of luck involved (dice game) but it's offset some by the things you can do - get more dice to roll thus increasing your odds of getting what you want, add improvements that let you alter/supplement the rolls you have, etc. It's also nice to know that I'm not the only person to get rules wrong when learning a game.

Had a fun visit with littlest sis. Games were played, food consumed, etc. The big winner over the weekend was Wits and Wagers family edition. Decent little party game. Everyone seemed to like it. Alas, we have to return that one to lovely wife's sister. I did manage to snag a copy of Summoner Wars though. (The recently released Master Set) M and I managed a game over the weekend and she eked out a victory there at the bitter end. Now that I have a better grasp of how things go I will crush her next time. Next time...

The Horror!

Have consumed a fair amount of horror films lately. And still have quite a few to go. Let's see, watched Carpenter's version of The Thing, The Child's Eye (by the Pang Brothers), the bulk of the Resident Evil movies (2-4 as I'd seen the first one not too long ago), Thor. Wait. That one might not count. Or does it? Hmm.

Still have Trick 'r Treat, The Boogeyman and The Sentinel on tap plus some other stuff. I also finished off that second book in the Monstrumologist series, Curse of the Wendigo. So there's been a fair amount of horror filled goodies to fill out this October. I am pleased. Lovely wife might be a touch burned out (she opted to fore go The Child's Eye last night) but that's not gonna stop me. Horror will go on. Much like Jason or Freddy. Down, but never out for the count.

Most of it has been pretty decent. The Thing is still a classic and holds up. The Child's Eye (I guess it's theoretically the third film in the Eye series) was kinda odd (dog-headed kid). But the Resident Evil movies... Look, the first one is great. It's both a decent zombie flick and a nice tribute to the games. After that the series just gets weird. Psychic powers, clones, monsters... I don't believe most of those show up in the games (I've only played bits and pieces of a few of them and all the way through 4) so I have a hard time reconciling those differences (other than some character/creature names). And honestly after that first one, maybe the second, the zombies are just kind of there. It's more about the Umbrella Corp. Which I suppose is fine. I almost think they'd have been better served if they weren't RE movies...

Hard to believe October is just about done. We'll have some more family in town soon, plus some birthdays. And Drucon looms near. Time to start sorting out the Fortune and Glory rules. That one looks pretty exciting.

G and I have been making our way through the Scott Pilgrim video game lately. It's been pretty fun. We're up to exes 5 and 6 the Katayanagi twins. That should prove to be rather difficult. And I'm drooling over Uncharted 3. Can not wait to play it. Alas, I'm trying to hold off on purchasing it to see if it crops up in any Black Friday ads. Here's to hoping I can avoid spoilers. I hear there are some real twists and turns in this one.

M is recovering nicely from her tonsillectomy. She's even managed to start talking again. There was a lot of finger spelling at the beginning of the week. Which was pretty useless where I was concerned. No matter how many times she tried to do it, I still don't read sign language.

I have no idea what the kids are going as for Halloween. I have no idea what I'm going as. Maybe I'll throw the lab coat on, grab a potato battery and claim to be a scientist for Aperture Science. Speaking of, I really liked this. I think I'm going to have to grab that song off iTunes when I get home. Apparently it makes an appearance in the game in one of the Ratman's hideaways. It was absent from the soundtrack Valve was giving out. But it will be mine. Oh yes, it will be mine.

Hope you all have a perfectly horror filled Halloween.