Monte Carlo

It's not as awesome as Hawk the Slayer.

^ I agree about Legend, I had high hopes too then it just fizzled out. I like Will Smith, he was doing a good job then the zombies appeared... fzzzt. Up to that point though, abandoned NYC was beautfiully realised. I can't help but think the movie was dumbed-down - the albino Medieval-cultist type victims in The Omega Man were much better. For me, 28 Days is better, although I'm biased because it's a British movie. The cast are solid, the zombies original and Chris Ecclestone's fascist army officer a bit of a left-wing cliche but works in the context of the plot. There's just more going on in 28 Days that ain't happenening in legend.

Makes sense to me. Look at Citizen Kane. An undeniably old film, with many hokey shenanigans. But at the same time, perfectly captivating (although it's bloody long). Citizen Kane is, for me, unwatchable along with a number of other movie buff standards (The Bicycle Thieves - huh?). Although I'll raise you a Lawrence of Arabia for that Citizen Kane, now there's a proper classic. Cheers MC

Kaftan, I know it's cruel, but we all planned it behind your back. I don't know about the others, but I feel kinda bad about it. I mean, you'd have probably won. Cheers MC

I didn't enter it because my opus, a glorious slice of space opera concerning intergalactic narcotics dealers, had nothing whatsoever to do with an Obsidian game. But well done to the winners

Sort of. What I'm saying is this: look at Reservoir Dogs - it's a post-modern, ironic piece of cinema; the first in a long series of imitators which in of themselves reference previous genres (i.e. Tarantino adores pulp 60's and 70's trash cinema, Guy Ritchie is clearly influenced by Tarantino). Personally, I see this as very 1992. Viewed in that context, Pulp Fiction is still great. But it isn't timeless. Blade Runner, on the other hand, looks and feels as fresh now as when it was made. That's the difference. Both good movies but for entirely different reasons. Cheers MC

2001 is one of those movies that has to be viewed in the context of it's time. People will disagree and say that it's a timeless piece of cinema - I say baloney*. However, when it was made the special effects and cinematography were special. The plot, OTOH, was portentous nonsense. Even by the late 1960's, the technology-taking-over meme was well established so HAL was hardly original. And, personally, a year or two later (can't be arsed to search imdb) Silent Running with Bruce Dern did it all a lot better, with more soul. Naturally, Dark Star is the best sci-fi movie of it's time. As for Bladerunner, yes, it is timeless the sci-fi standard by which the others are measured and usually found wanting. * If you disagree, watch Reservoir Dogs. In 1992, the cinematography and dialogue was original and hip. Now, it is dated. This isn't to say RD wasn't a brilliant movie (it's an old favourite of mine) but it is of it's time and place as much as The Maltese Falcon was. Cheers MC

TACTICAL GIMP SPREE A gamed bespoked just for me. This isn't a spam thread, it's a major contribution to the understanding of Gamer culture. You are a prince among men for finding this gem.

I just wrote about two hundred words of utter wisdom on this topic when my connection crashed and I lost it. Sorry. MC

Grognard, huh... what you play? Do a search on forum topics, and you'll see.

^ Despite Planescape being pretty 'meh' for me personally, kudos to those modders because Purgatorio looks awesome. Well done. Cheers MC

Tropic Thunder was released on pay-per-view today in the UK, am watching it tonight and will let you know what I thought. It can't be worse than Pineapple Express. Last week, BTW, I saw Taken. I viewed it as a low-rent Man On Fire (which is an awesome movie that I can watch on a loop), but it had the worst ending of almost any movie I've ever seen, EVAR (I mean the pop star bit with Holly Valance). Shame, because the close-combat action scenes were very well done, and Paris is always a groovy action movie location (q.v. Ronin, Nikita). Cheers MC

^ Agreed. Was watching NCFOM, was enjoying it as a superior, arthouse-esque thriller. Then, half an hour before the end it disappeared promptly up it's own arse, ruining what went before. Cheers MC

Rogue. Fair enough, I like that class. But why is the new PHB 75 US$??? What does it do, make the coffee or something? Dispense beer? The more I see when I lift up the corner of the D&D website, the more I reckon people need to go out an play Pathfinder. Cheers MC

Enoch, 300 is all about Myth, a battle as told around campfires by people who knew someone who knew someone who knew someone there. I can understand why people loathe it, but personally I thought it was stylish, visceral and interesting. From a historical perspective, it's also one of the most important battles in history: if you wanted to play a counter-factual around what would have happened if Xerxes' army had won... Right, another movie review: Pineapple Express I liked Knocked-Up, where Seth Rogan was a breath of fresh air. I liked his dumb cop in Superbad. He tries to push this persona a bit too far in Pineapple Express. The plot? Slacker process-server Seth Rogan and his dope dealer buddy get involved in a feud between rival drugs gangs. The comedy potential is obvious but unfortunately the movie is about as funny as an afternoon locked in a secure unit. Why? It's self-regarding, lazy and has no discernible plot. Rogan's lovable wise-cracking slacker meme is wearing dangerously thin - in this movie he isn't as funny or as talented as he seems to think he is (his names are all over the credits, which at least suggests that he is prepared to take responsibility for this car-wreck of a movie). Watching this, I was reminded why Cheech and Chong aren't funny (when the entire comedic narrative is 'WE ARE STONED. AGAIN.' you know you're losing) and why Clerks is (and, boy, do these guys want to achieve Clerks, or even Swingers levels of indie comic hipness). To give you an idea of how bad this movie was, ten minutes before the end, when there's a mildly amusing attempt at referencing the 'You Only Live Twice' ninja assault, I sighed and went and did the washing up instead. I'm not even giving this movie a rating. Maybe it wasn't aimed at me. Cheers MC

Tactics' most annoying feature was collateral burst damage to your squad members. Apart from that it was although CGs point about the later level design is well made.

OK, I didn't make myself clear - I'm bored, mightily, of superheroes. Especially Marvel superheroes. I wish Hollywood could give it a rest for a couple of years. Cheers MC

From this article in the Times newspaper (UK).

Gadzooks I'm bored of comic book movie adaptations. Yawn.

People slam ToB, and yes some of it was rushed (particularly art assets). However, it was a big, crunchy expansion pack, good value for money and Watcher's Keep is good fun. I like the protracted boss battles, hack and slash and OTT loot. Fully modded with Ascension / Redemption (cheers, Dave) it's a good end to the series. I've usually got a few BG2 save games on my 'puter... my latest has just seen my Ftr/Thf leave the Underdark and I'm looking forward to WK (haven't played it in ages, only remember a few bits of it). Hmmm..... I might go play again. My other games in progress are MTW2 (which ain't on Steam ) and SoZ. Still can't get my SoZ party right, it's bugging me. Cheers MC

Without de-railing us into firearms geekery, most practitioners will tell you that a modern 9mm pistol is a 9mm pistol is a 9mm pistol (I know someone is going to point out that the action on this pistol is superior to the action on that pistol yadda yadda but really, it's a RPG, what's the point?). I think a blend of different eras to represent calibres and respective stopping power is fine, but you only need a few weapons to do that: Example: .38 revolvers (generic) WW2 era automatics (with all sorts of calibres from .45 to 9mm but not as polished and maybe slower on the action point front) Modern 9mm pistols (fast and reliable with better access to peripherals - i.e. you can't plug a laser sight onto your WW2 Walther) Monster pistols (Your auto-Magnums and Desert Eagles) Then add to the equation ammo (i.e. Glasers / AP / dum-dums / frangible etc) What would be cool, however, is to concentrate more on skills. The handgun skill tree might look like this (bear with me, it goes from gritty realism to John Woo freak-out) Entry Level - Basic handgun awareness (i.e. you can shoot without penalties) Specialism - Weaver / basic instruction (increases accuracy) Specialism +1 - Close Quarters training (as above but fire on the move) Specialism +2 Advanced CQ training (as above but increase rate of fire / accuracy quotient) Specialism +2a / b / c (environmentally specific - i.e. sense of direction bonus in low light, urban combat training etc) Specialism +3 Akimbo / advanced Ninja stuff (You know the kids'll love it, what about that bullet curving trick from Wanted?) So, a few basic types of guns, some cool peripherals like sights and different ammo and a menu of skillz = firearms coolness. Maybe not hyper-realism, but something a bit more immersive and three dimensional. Cheers MC

Am displaying epic self-discipline and cool judgement. Have other games on the go, so am waiting to pick this up when it's patched, cheaper, de-Steamed and modded to fix the AI in the way only the hardcore TW modders can. It's not easy, but (grits teeth) it's the only way to fly. Cheers MC

^ Yeah, I built a warlock this afternoon and I have to say it's the spellcaster for people who don't really like spellcasters. He can even wear armour. The others are: Human Bbn/Brd/Rog (all even levels, I know it's strange but he really can do everything and is a marvellous overland map leader, we are pinging bonuses and treasure all over the place) Elven vanilla Cleric (he's got a longbow and luck and war domains, good backup tank / archer) Human vanilla Ftr (she's just a greatsword-wielding tank, but essential in such a combat heavy game)

I thought it might help to point out that the rest of the party is: Tiefling Ranger / Rogue Aasimar Cleric (aiming for Warpriest) Human Fighter (aiming for Divine Champion of Tempus) I'll probably be starting again, as the Tiefling is surprisingly frail in combat, as is the single-class cleric. Probably ECL, I usually avoid subraces with ECL for this reason.

Hello. I'm not a fan of arcane spellcasters, I sort of take them along grudgingly because you need them in higher level D&D. I've noticed, however, that in NWN2 this isn't as acute as it used to be. However, I do need an arcane spellcaster of sorts to: 1. Cast offensive magic (duh) 2. Craft items (for the first time ever I've found a crafting system in a game I like) 3. Provide meaningful combat support for when the spells run out I've tried a sorcerer / red dragon disciple (got him up to level 7) but just got bored of his general crappiness and fragility. Should I be going for an arcane archer or a warrior / bard build? Any ideas would be great. Lastly, I know SoZ has taken a bit of flak on this board, but FWIW I really like it because (drum roll)... it's fun. Am particularly loving the overland map, trading, abbreviated parly / merchant system and that there are loads of easter eggs on the map. I also appreciate the optimization, it runs as smooth as silk with every option cranked up to the max. So, cheers Obsidian.