Amentep

Forgot to post my weekend watching: NIGHT OF TERROR (1933) - A mad killer is on the loose. A scientist creates a stir planning to test a suspended animation formula by being buried alive. The scientist's fiance is heir to a fortune. The other heir's start dropping like flies. Is it the work of the mad killer? Or is someone using the mad killer to disguise their goal of getting the money? Its a pretty good myster/thriller (the solution is rather clever). The madman in this is particularly mad, killing practically on sight and wandering, crazed, through the proceedings (the opening, where he kills a couple kissing in their car can't help but make me think of the 1940s Texarkana Moonlight Murders that became the source for The Town that Dreaded Sundown) Stars Wallace "The Mummy's Hand" Ford, Bela "Lederstrumpf" Lugosi and Sally "City Limits" Blane. THE MUMMY LIVES (1993) - Late Cannon film, this entry into the Mummy horror film canon comes at a low ebb for mummy films. It trots out a lot of the expected tropes (priest who defies the gods and is buried alive; reincarnated loves, etc). Originally intended to star Anthony Perkins, when he passed away he was replaced by Tony Curtis. Many feel Tony was miscast in the role (and its easy to make jokes about him coming from the Brooklyn part of Egypt as Curtis was never one to affect an accent), but the part under him plays up the doomed romance angle and he's quite capable when playing the charming revitalized mummy character; less well done are the actual horror aspects as they seem to not be as well thought through (or they just didn't have the budget/time to do it right). And while the sets are pretty impressive considering its low budget, the film feels like a rushed job. These were the days after Golan-Globus had split, Cannon had financial problems and the death of the planned star probably led to concessions in the filmmaking. Its remarkable the film is coherent at all. Probably not for anyone but Mummy film purists, but its a respectable mummy film even with its often cheezy moments and sometimes spurious logic. Look for the death by domestic cat as a highlight. Stars Tony "The Black Shield of Falworth" Curtis, Greg "Barbarian Queen II: The Empress Strikes Back" Wrangler, and Leslie "Pensacola: Wings of Gold" Hardy. ELVIRA: MISTRESS OF THE DARK (1988) - Elvira quits her talk show to go to Vegas but needs money. An Aunt dies and she goes to the reading of the will and ends up stuck in the small, anti-fun, anti-non-conformist town of Fallwell. Meanwhile, Elvira's evil uncle tries to get a hold of a spellbook that will give him ultimate power. The enjoyment of this film is probably related to ones thoughts on Elvira's shtick; the floor is littered with asides, gags and double entendres (Elvira: "I was flat-busted" "I mean I was broke") and the finale song and dance routine is very much a vegas-y song and dance routine by someone who'd been there, done that. Some jokes hit, some miss but like the Airplane! films, if you didn't like that one another will be along any second. Its funny looking back on the film - positioned at the time as we were going through a period of anti-pop culture focused on rap and video games to then look and see that we're still fighting over video games (and maybe rap, not as hooked into music as I once was). Stars Elvira "Elvira's Haunted Hills", W. Morgan "Hawk the Slayer" Sheppard and Edie "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" McClurg. SUPERNATURAL (1933) - White Zombie is often credited as the grandfather of the zombie film (albeit anyone in the know understands that Night of the Living Dead owes more to Mattheson's I am Legend than any of the voodoo zombie films that came before). The director/producer's of White Zombie - the Halperin brothers - on a career upswing were hired by a major studio, Paramount, to craft a horror film. And while many a horror film critic has poo-pahed the film (as it has a fake psychic) they seem to miss the weird science and mystical mumbo-jumbo that placed the film firmly in the horror pantheon. The film had its troubles in production; the Halperins wanted Madge Bellamy for the role (she'd played the wife-turned-zombie in White Zombie). The studio wanted a bigger star and one already under contract - Carole Lombard. Lombard hadn't yet become the queen of the screwball comedy (that would come in the next year, in Howard Hawk's Twentieth Century). And while Lombard had gained notice from critics (and William Powell), she'd yet to completely break out as a star. So Paramount tried her in a variety of genres trying to find her niche. For her part, Lombard wasn't keen on getting typecast in horror pictures and ultimately was coming to realize what she wanted to do was comedies. This led to a strained relationship with the Halperins over how to handle the film and the role (Lombard, after an earthquake had shook the lot, is reported to have crossed the lot at Paramount to find the Halperins and quip that "She was just getting started" with respect to how she felt over their disagreements about the film). The film when it came out was a dud; Lombard recovered going on to greater stardom, but the Halperins' career fell as they went back to the minors and poverty row movie companies. But enough with the background; the film itself turns out to be a real gem. Good performances from the cast lead a plot that deals with themes similar to White Zombie; a young woman finds her will being usurped by that of another - in this case an executed murderess who has one last person to kill. The film takes its time with the set-up (with at least one scene ultimately being dull) but it all leads to understanding why the characters all get drawn together. Lombard's distaste for the film never shows; instead she gives a great performance. In particular her ability to play the possession in such a great way where her facial expressions, body language and attitude change in big and small ways to illustrate she is, literally, a different character is very well done. Overall the film is well worth looking out for if you're a fan of 1930s horror films or of the Halperins' other horror films. Stars Carole "Mr. and Mrs. Smith" Lombard, Randolph "Ride the High Country" Scott and H. B. "The Devil and Daniel Webster" Warner. GHOSTBUSTERS (1984) - Who you gonna call? Its hard to really discuss a film as big as this one in retrospect. One that you've seen dozens of times and even though I hadn't seen it in years the dialogue and scenes were still familiar. Its fun and clever and while not perfect its still very much the same film it always has been. You almost have to feel for William Atherton who was so identified as the evil EPA guy that people harassed him in public for years after. Stars Bill "The Razor's Edge" Murray, Dan "Driving Miss Daisy" Ackroyd and Sigourney "Gorillas in the Mist" Weaver.

Mmm, since technically Persona games are SMT games and given that most of the SMT series proper have their own unique worlds/setups, I'm not that worried that GENEI IBUN ROKU #FE also has its own unique setup that's as much Persona as it is SMT as it is Fire Emblem. Yes and no... sort of. The relationship between SMT and Persona is a bit weird, I'm not sure I completely understand it myself. The original Persona game was known as Shin Megami Tensei: Persona in the west, they added the SMT so that it would be recognizable and sell better, in Japan it was known simply as Persona. As the Persona series grew in popularity, it actually became more popular than SMT and they dropped the pretense of calling it SMT in the west. If I remember correctly, Persona was a spin-off of a game called Shin Megami Tensei If, which itself was a spin-off of Shin Megami Tensei. So, I guess the easiest way to look at it is that Persona is a spin-off of a spin-off (second cousin?) of SMT. Anyway, the two series share no story connection, though they do share some mechanical similarities. Core SMT games tend to be significantly darker than Persona and tend to delve into angels and demons and religious ideologies. To me a spin-off of a spin-off (as the Persona series is) is still in the same family (so I'd consider SMT, Devil Survivor, Digital Devil Saga, Persona, Devil Children, Last Bible, Raidou Kuzunoha, Jack Bros, etc to all be SMT games ultimately). That said, with respect to this game the Japanese title for Persona 1 is Megami Ibunroku Persona. I think the use of "Ibunroku" in the title Genei Ibunroku #FE for this game is intentionally signaling they're taking elements from the Persona series for this one - and I don't have any problem with it (I'd argue it actually makes the most sense - the Persona and Radiou Kuzunoha series are about as close to the heroic fantasy of Fire Emblem as the series in my experience has gotten). As a side note, the original western release of Persona wasn't branded "Shin Megami Tensei" as it (and a translation of Megami Tensei Gaiden: Last Bible) were the first games in the "series" officially translated to English. The pair came out in 1999 as Revelations: Persona and Revelations: The Demon Slayer. The theory I heard at the time was that Atlus was trying to create a brand that would make sense of the supernatural, religious overtones of the series but make sense to English readers in a way that "True Goddess Reincarnation" or "Rebirth of the True Goddess" wouldn't.

Mmm, since technically Persona games are SMT games and given that most of the SMT series proper have their own unique worlds/setups, I'm not that worried that GENEI IBUN ROKU #FE also has its own unique setup that's as much Persona as it is SMT as it is Fire Emblem.

That's an awesome response. Just vague enough to not tell anything but tease people anyhow.

Well they failed to make an MMO and managed to make WW stop making P&P games. Notably bad is still notable, isn't it?

According to the article, there's a telenovella that has a three woman marriage on it. Given that conservative politicians in Brazil are trying to put forth bills to define marriage as one man plus one woman, will they try to demonize the telenovellas like so often happens here when someone is convinced some media is ruining society?

CCP managed to (IMO) mismanage the WW brand, so I'm kind of happy to see the rights bought by another group. Lots of questions as to what this will mean for the future (does WWP still have the ability to do P&P? Are they a developer or a producer with respect to video games?)

I'd rather (re)read the Baum books than see Wicked. May be just me, though.

I'm looking forward to this. Not exactly what it seemed to be in the initial trailer, but it still seems interesting. I was really hoping for the game to be a simulation of the life and times of Oscar Wilde, the biting delivery of razor sharp witticisms, the charming and challenging of society with our risque personal behaviour, the writing of some of the most enduring works of art one can imagine, the wholesale consumption of industrial sized quantities of Laudanum, the wearing of stylish cravats and far too tight breeches, lunch at the Savoy etcetera. Alas. "There is only one thing in life worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about." RE: Magic; The initial presentation had made it seem like you could play any creature in the game; the magic stuff seems to give a rationale for why that happens

I'm looking forward to this. Not exactly what it seemed to be in the initial trailer, but it still seems interesting.

I'd have to agree with this. People take suspicion too personally. I think her being in a rage was a bit uncalled for though; I mean, it's not that big a deal. Both of them were being silly IMO. How can you not take suspicion personally?

I think Supergirl's biggest problem is that no one ever really was able to transition the character out of the 50s. The 70s and 80s series are unfocused messes and its clear that no one knew what to do with the character. Its for that reason that they killed her in Crisis on Infinite Earths (which according to DC is one of the 5 top moments for the character; that top 5 also included two moments that actually weren't Kara Zor-El version of Supergirl which was a bit of a headscratcher). When they finally brought the character back she was a bit of a mary-sue; better at all of her abilities than adult Superman just to show she was really great. I skipped the pilot because there was one too many reviews that referenced "The Devil Wears Prada" which I kinda got as a potential vibe for the Cat Grant / Linda Danvers working relationship but...kinda not interested in that.

Personally I prefer Pandorum to Event Horizon, mostly because I think Event Horizon fell apart in the end (IIRC, to be honest I haven't seen it since I saw it in the theaters upon original release).

I've wanted to play the Ravenloft games for some time (just missed out buying one of those collections way back when). So definitely of interest to me.

I don't just deny your point, I reject your entire assertion because its based on an arbitrary insistence that TES has to model its Paladins after a specific archetype represented by the D&D Paladin and that any other version of a Paladin is "head canon" that isn't really a Paladin.

No, I take each game on its own terms and do not create arbitrary constructs to criticize the game for not meeting. I also don't assume that because "X" means something in D&D that it has to mean the same thing in every other game made that isn't D&D. Criticizing TES for having a Paladin class that is not a religious warrior is like criticizing a Star Trek game for not letting you play a Jedi Knight. Because TES is not D&D which in not the real world folk tales that supplied the Paladin's in the first place. Its just as inadequate comparison of Paladins between TES and D&D as it is PoE and D&D or TES and PoE. I explained the origin of the word Paladin not because I feel you are a kid but because you seem to be hung up on Paladin meaning one thing when it clearly doesn't. And worse you're criticizing non-D&D games for not holding to your definition of Paladin which seems to be strongly shaped by the D&D definition of one.

All Skyrim characters end up as that. Mine is a Mage/Thief/Blacksmith

Paladin, as a word, started - as I understand it - as a reference to the Twelve Peers of Charlemagne from The Song of Roland (albeit they were originally the companions of Roland, not Charlemagne in earliest chansons de geste). The word derives from the Latin Palatinus which was a reference to high ranking officials in a royal court. While these knights were exemplars of the code of chivalry and certainly tied into Christianity (as were the Knights of the Round Table, who are also sometimes characterized as Paladins and whose stories are tied to a pagan origin), the Paladin concept seen in D&D and its derivatives are probably more influenced by the Knights Templar, the Knights Hospitaller and/or similar knight and monastic orders as much as they are the peers of Charlemagne. All this to say, you don't have to have any of those things you mention to be a Paladin, because Paladin is a concept that exists as its defined in the game. If a TES game allows you to pick a set of skills and calls that a Paladin then that is what a Paladin is defined as for that game and/or TES universe. The Paladin as a title has no need to be connected to the D&D version anymore than the D&D version was held to the definitions of Paladins on display in Charlemagne tales or Arthurian legend (or else they'd be about searching for holy Christian relic, killing Saracen's in Spain and generally getting killed heroically in battle a lot which wouldn't make a lot of sense in Dungeons and Dragons, much less The Elder Scrolls).

Paladin is whatever it is / isn't defined as in the game. But lore itself is not role playing but a tool to aid roleplaying; the lore surrounding a theoretical paladin class is only going to be there to exist as a background and/or a constraint or guide to role-playing but is not, itself, role-playing. Factions also exist to create options and tensions in a game, but are not necessary for role-playing nor are they required to even be in a setting (although, again, they make the setting richer by adding options and tensions). Role-playing is what you do with the tools presented to you - it is not the tools themselves. Lore, classes, racial characteristics are tools to define a role, but role-playing is what you do with that role once you create it, in cooperation with your "game master" (or in the case of video games - as limited as they can be with respect to role play - what they game has been created to allow).

So long as they extend that same courtesy to everybody, whether it's an indie darling, a big time AAA title that may be advertising on their site, or a little known publisher title. Right, which is why I think companies who publish game reviews would do well to have an actual stated procedure. "It is GameRevewTypeWebSite's policy to..." etc. boilerplating articles with games with gamestopping bugs at launch.

Game mechanics /= role playing Lore /= role playing Factions /= role playing

Yeah I agree, without further information its kind of hard to determine whether there is a problem. I know, personally, I don't have a problem if a review site - for all publishers/games - follows a "1st review discussing bugs but leaving incomplete the evaluation of those game elements" then "revised or companion review after bug fix" procedure. In fact, unlike books or games which aren't often as altered in a quick turnaround (possibly years to revision), I'd almost argue that a video game site would do well to have a clear and standing policy on how to address bugs in games since they are regular and often quickly turned around.

So are we saying that the review posted on Eurogamer's website is backdated? Because the review I see (http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2015-10-08-civilization-beyond-earth-rising-tide-is-generous-imaginative-and-currently-a-bit-broken) is dated the same as the date that STEAM says the game was released (08 Oct 2015). And in it the author only opts to not review the bugged element - although clearly saying it is bugged - in favor of reviewing a fixed version later. In fact it seems - although I'm unable to verify - that they did exactly what I'd expect them to do; release a review of the game informing about the bug and reviewing the elements that were, in fact, reasonably review-able and following up with further review at a later date (http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2015-10-13-civ-rising-tides-alliance-bug-has-been-fixed-firaxis-says).

Video games - as we know them now - will never allow role-play in the sense that we understand it from P&P games. So to me, role-play in the context of video games has to be treated as a conceptually different thing from role-play in pen and paper.

So...she was an adventurer until she took an arrow to the knee?