2016 Movie Ranking Countdown: March

Another month in the books, another 5 movies will move on to my year end ranking list. What will the 5 movies be for the month of March? Let's find out. I will be discussing the movies in the order in which I watched them this month, and then picking my top 5 after thinking about it long and hard.

Without further ado...

I first read this book several years ago, and completely fell in love with it. While it will almost always be the case that the book version of something is better than the movie (and I believe this holds up for Room as well), I still thought the movie was pretty darned good.

The first half of the movie actually wasn't as strong for me as I thought it would be. Perhaps it was the frame of mind I was in while watching it. I expected to get sucked into the movie and completely engrossed in it, but for some reason I found my mind wandering, and then (big surprise) I fell asleep right before the escape. I woke up the next day clearheaded and finished the movie, and I found that I enjoyed the second half of the film much more than the first.

I think it was more of a me thing, Room. and not a you thing. If I'm not in the mood to watch something, or if I have something else on my mind that is hampering my concentration, I find that I can not enjoy a movie nearly as much as I would otherwise. Which is perhaps why I enjoyed the second half more than the first. I was wide awake, I had nothing else to do, and I was able to invest emotionally in the movie, which was something I had a hard time doing the first half of the film. This movie will likely move on, but I wouldn't be surprised if I watched it later on in the year because I think I will like it better the second time around - similar to how I felt about Wild, which finished second on my ranking list last year.

The Friday the 13th series got off to a strong start, in my opinion, but the quality of the series has definitely taken a nosedive as I continue watching its sequels. This movie actually doesn't feature Jason at all. It focuses on Tommy, the boy from the last film who killed Jason. Now he has grown up and is considered an "at risk" teen. He goes to a camp for kids like him, and brings a lot of his emotional baggage with him.

In typical Friday the 13th fashion, kids at the camp start getting killed. We are led to believe that Jason is back doing the killing. If not Jason, then maybe Tommy has snapped and picked up where Jason has left off as a copycat killer. It turns out to be neither. I won't spoil it, but the movie definitely keeps you guessing the whole way through.

I liked the movie overall, but it still doesn't stand up very well compared to the first 1 or 2 entries in the series. The film is a lot more goofy and silly in tone, and I didn't find it very scary at all. It was entertaining, but not exactly a world beating horror film. Favorite scene for me is by far the port-a-potty murder.

I'd seen this movie a loooong time ago, but I couldn't really remember if I liked it or not. I decided to watch this again because I was in the middle of the TV series Fargo, and I wanted to compare the show to its movie predecessor. It is a good thing I did this, because in the very next episode of the show one of the characters found something left behind by one of the characters in the film. I didn't think that the two tied together, but they definitely do.

I enjoyed the movie a lot. It has mystery, there is humor, and there is also some decent blood and violence. The cast is great. Steve Buscemi and William H Macy automatically make anything they appear in better. This is one of the rare cases where I actually prefer the show to the movie, however. The movie, while entertaining, does do a few things that annoy me. They make too big a deal out of the North Dakota/Minnesota accents. Yeah they are funny, but this kind of becomes overkill after a while. There seem to be entire scenes in the movie where the character just "yaaah" back and forth at one another.

Overall, I liked it a lot, though. I wouldn't be shocked to see this one move on.

I'm not a huge fan of Westerns, but I saw this show up on Netflix one random night, and it just really jumped out as something that I should watch. I have seen it once before, but that was back when I was in high school. I didn't remember anything about it, so seeing it now was like watching it for the first time.

I enjoyed this movie a lot. I thought it would drag on and seem like a super long movie, but it didn't at all. The story is basic, nothing really too special. I watch a lot of the show Hell on Wheels, so nothing done in this film really surprised me too much. What really carries the film is its characters, and the performances by the actors and actresses of the film that bring these characters to life. The world of the film is alive and feels very authentic as well. I couldn't help but feel like I was being transported back in time and I was watching actual events that took place in the past.

That's really what made the movie for me. The story about an old bounty hunter/outlaw coming out of retirement for one last gig is something we've all seen before, but the way the film makers bring this world to life is what makes the movie so great.

Of all the superheroes out there, Deadpool is probably the one character I am the least familiar with. I've never read any of the comics, don't know anything about his background. I was familiar with his brand of humor and violence, however. So I was very excited to see this.

The movie not only lived up to my expectations, but it exceeded them. I love vulgar humor, I love blood and gore. This movie provides both of these in spades. Deadpool himself is a great character. This movie transformed him from someone I knew almost nothing about to perhaps my favorite character in the entire Marvelverse (although I do still love Tony Stark).

I don't feel as if the story of the film was anything to write home about, but that didn't really matter to me. Usually I am a stickler for a great story, but with all the death, destruction, and inappropriate humor flying around, I didn't even think twice about the plot of the film. I thought this was really good, and I can't wait to see it again, this time knowing what to expect coming in.

I watched this movie last year, and I believe it got a somewhat middling ranking on my list. I've read the books in the series, and I really liked them. But for some reason I wasn't feeling the movie that much.

So I decided to give it a shot and see if I would like it upon watching it a second time. Unfortunately, I had very similar feelings about it once again. I did overall like the movie, but I wasn't really able to throw myself in and invest myself in what was happening on the screen. I don't know if it is because the movie isn't that good, or if it is because - having read the books - a lot of the mystery that makes the story more appealing is no longer a mystery to me. I feel as if I had come in blind and not knowing what was going to happen I would have liked the film a lot more. As it stands, the film is just a good, solid adaptation. There is nothing too horribly special about it.

I never really cared much about the Manson murders until a year or two ago when I read Helter Skelter. The story behind all of that mess is actually quite fascinating and I can't get enough of reading about it or watching shows and movies about the subject material.

When this showed up on Netflix, I immediately put it on my queue. The movie is about a man who receives a visit from his estranged, adopted brother. The two go on a tour of famous sites related to the Manson killings. As the movie goes on, the brothers fight, make up, go through a whirlwind of emotions with one another. And we find out a very dark, disturbing secret about the adopted brother.

I enjoyed the movie a lot. Not only is the topic of the Manson killings one of the big themes of the film, but the movie is actually very touching as well and delves into the topics of family, mortality, and brotherly love. The overall feel of the movie reminds me somewhat of Little Miss Sunshine. They are completely different movies, but do have some similarities. If you liked that movie, you should definitely check this one out. This movie is as big a lock as any to make my top 5 for the month.

I had never heard of this movie until a few weeks ago, when I read an old Entertainment Weekly that built it up as one of the scariest and most disturbing films of 2015. I'm all for scary and disturbing, so it seemed to be right up my alley.

The movie is about a woman who comes home after undergoing some kind of undisclosed facial surgery. Her two little boys, twins, think that her behavior has become erratic, and start to question whether or not this is really their mom. I'll try to be as spoiler free as I can, but the movie quickly takes a turn for the disturbing. I don't know if the film is really that scary, but it definitely weirds you out with its scenes of torture and physical violence.

I liked this a lot. If a movie can make even a jaded moviegoer like me feel uneasy watching it, it has done a good job because I like blood and gore. The story is strong, and there is a big twist at the end as well. I was so fixated by the mother, that I didn't even notice that something else is definitely amiss. This is another film I consider a close a lock as any to make the top 5 for March.

Oh dear. I had mentioned in my Friday the 13th Part V write up that the movies had been slowly getting worse as they progressed. And they have definitely hit rock bottom here.

Up until this point, the films had at least been relatively believable. But here, they completely take a turn for the weird. And the stupid. Tommy from the last movie returns, looking to dig up Jason's grave and burn his corpse once and for all so he can rest easy. He inadvertently ends up reviving Jason when he is struck by lightning - and a big killing spree ensues.

Tonally, this is by far the least scary film in the series. It is almost a satire or a parody of itself. The characters are goofy, the deaths are ridiculous. The movie is a joke. I mean, I was able to pluck some enjoyment from the film. But the Friday the 13th I fell in love with back in the beginning is no more. I plan to watch the rest of the movies in the series, so hopefully the series returns to its roots and the rest of the films aren't as dumb as this one.

Manson Family Vacation definitely rekindled my interest in the Manson case, and I made it a point to seek out this documentary since I had heard it was good.

The documentary doesn't reveal anything I didn't already know, so I did feel a little cheated in that regard. The appeal of this film to me, however, was the fact that it mixes actual original footage of the Manson family with modern day footage recreated by actors. At first I thought this would be a lame gimmick, but the two types of footage blend well, and are often indistinguishable from one another. The documentary recreates the killings from Linda Kasabian's perspective (she was the driver for the Tate and the LaBianca killings, but she never actually hurt anyone) and offers some insight into her frame of mind as all this was going on.

Very interesting, very well done. I wish the film included a few things I didn't already know, but I still enjoyed this a lot. Was it enough to make my top 5? Time to think on it and come up with my decision.

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All my write ups are done and I now have a chance to reflect on what movies should move on from March of 2016. A few of these are easy, some were hard. In no particular order, moving on are:

Room
Manson Family Vacation
Deadpool
Goodnight, Mommy
Unforgiven


This was a very tough call for me. Fargo and Manson just missed the cut. In the end, the final spot went to Unforgiven, simply because it is so immersive, so wonderfully made. It took someone who isn't a big Western fan and made him a true believer who wanted to see more films of the genre.

It is just one of those tough months where there were too many quality films to choose from. I wish I had that problem every month! February in particular was horrible for me. but the show must go on.

So far, three months of films are in the books. 15 films have been selected to move on. By the end of the year we will have 60 films, 10 of which I will eliminate immediately. And then I shall rank my top 50.

Your top 15 for 2016 are as follows:

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed
Cake
American Sniper
Predator
Friday the 13th Part 2

Locke

Evil Dead

Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter

Elysium

Snowpiercer
Room
Manson Family Vacation
Deadpool
Goodnight, Mommy
Unforgiven


What will April hold in store for us? Stay tuned and we shall see.

Video Game Review: Super Mario Kart

Super Mario Kart

Super Nintendo Entertainment System

I've documented this fact on my blog several times now, but just in case you haven't heard it before, I will repeat myself. I didn't grow up playing Super Nintendo. I was a Genesis kid. It sucked, because there were sooo many great looking Super Nintendo games out there that I wanted to play but I couldn't on the Genesis. And then the games that existed on both consoles - generally the SNES versions got better reviews than their Genesis counterparts. I wanted one so badly, but it just wasn't in my family's budget.

My stepbrothers, however, did have a Super Nintendo. They lived with their dad and only came over to visit every other weekend. They didn't always bring their Super Nintendo with them, but when they did I made sure that I played it with them as much as humanly possible.

I was never a big racing fan, but one game that everyone liked to play was Super Mario Kart. Since this was the game that was on the majority of the time, I had to suck it up and play the game or I wouldn't get to play any Super Nintendo at all. Despite not being a big racing fan, I became pretty darned good at the game. I'm fairly positive that I beat each and every single "cup" on 150 CC, in addition to (occasionally) kicking some major butt in two player head to head match ups. My stepbrothers were good.

But as I said, the game wasn't mine. When the step brothers left, so did the Super Nintendo. And so did Super Mario Kart. Eventually new systems came out and they stopped bringing the SNES over. I remember Mario Kart 64 became a big thing - and I mastered that version as well. I perhaps became even better at that version than I did this one. But still, the original held a dear place in my heart. About 15 years passed in my life when I saw this for sale at a used game store and decided to snatch it up. By this time I had a "combo" system that played Super Nintendo and regular Nintendo games. So Super Mario Kart was FINALLY mine and mine alone.

Firing it up, I was initially taken by how primitive the game seemed. By this time in my life (I'd say it was around 2008 or 2009) I'd already played several versions of Mario Kart, each one more enhanced and with better graphics than the one before it. I remember how everyone was SO blown away by this game when it first came out, and now it looked old and outdated.

I played around with the game for a little bit, but ultimately it went back to the shelf. And on the shelf it stayed, never to be touched for yet another long period of time. Seven or eight years passed until finally this year I decided to pick it up and play the heck out of it so I could review it for this blog.

The game does look a little dated if you compare it to the other Mario Kart games. But if you keep in mind that this game was released in, what - 93 or 94? - it doesn't look that bad. It's charming actually. The split screen does become a little irritating. I don't see why they can't just make it full screen. If you are taking the time to look down at the bottom of the screen to see where everyone is, you are doing it wrong and probably aren't going to win the race. It really is a useless feature.

All the characters look nice and crisp. The courses are all bright and colorful and diverse. The whole feel of the game just bleeds classic Mario. The soundtrack for the game is very authentic as well. Sure there aren't any classic Mario tunes brought back for the game (the whole soundtrack of the game is original) but it still blends perfectly with the Mario world. My personal favorite piece of music from the game is the haunted house theme. A lot of the individual sound effects are carried over from past Mario games, in particular when you collect a coin. When you factor in the graphics, the look and feel of the game, the music, and the sound effects, you get nothing less than a classic and authentic Mario experience.

Which is a fantastic place to start.

Now on to the game play. If you are used to the newer Mario Kart games, you may struggle with this right off the bat. Whereas past Kart games focus a lot on multiple branches in the course, "slide" boosting, and of course - items galore, this game focuses mainly on the driving. That's right, you have to actually be able to legitimately race if you want to have any chance of doing well here.

Each character you can choose from his or her own unique strengths and weaknesses. I found myself picking Toad because he seemed to be one of the most well rounded racers. He is fast and he handles pretty well. But he is a weakling and can get bumped off the track very, very easily. Each character also seems to have his or her own "rivals" on the course. For example, playing as Toad, it seemed like the Princess and Donkey Kong always were the ones to challenge me. If I finished first, they'd be 2nd and 3rd. If I finished 3rd, they'd be 1st and 2nd. If I flamed out and didn't place at all, they'd be right at the top of the leader board. I played this game a LOT and this never seemed to change.

One thing you will notice that is different here is that there are coins you can pick up on the race track. I don't know what these coins do, but my theory is that they make you go faster. I noticed on a pretty regular basis that on the later laps of each track, I would always be going a shit ton faster than normal. I chalked that up to the fact that I'd have collected more coins by the time the later laps came along. I don't know if this is true or not, but that is my theory and I am sticking to it. I do know that if you have no coins and you get bumped, you completely wipe out. And that is super annoying.

Items are pretty standard fare for anyone familiar with Mario Kart. You've got green and red shells, banana peels, lightning bolts (which shrink everyone down), mushrooms, and feathers that make you jump. Absent are the blue shells which seek out whoever is in first and wipes them out completely. Thank the maker for that. I hate hose things.

The game does use the stupid "catch up" mechanism found in most Mario games. You could be racing flawlessly and still have an enemy right on your tail, launching an obscene amount of items in your direction. Even if they wipe out, they'll be right back there behind you in a matter of seconds. I don't know if they do this to make the game more challenging or what, but it is obnoxious. Of course, when you fall behind you noticeably go faster as well, so I can't complain too much. But I am ahead more than I am behind, so I guess I do still find that this favors the computer.

Another thing that favors the computer is the fact that they are immune to a lot of the things that can really mess you up when you are trying to race. Certain obstacles such as pipes and those angry blocks that come smashing down on you don't affect the computer racers at all - they just pass right through them. Also they often are able to miraculously leap into the air to avoid running over things like banana peels and shrinking mushrooms. This is super annoying too. The game is tough enough as it is, giving the computer unfair advantages like that is not cool.

Which brings us to the difficulty. I do NOT remember this game being so hard. Unless my memory is failing me completely (which it very well could be) I could have sworn I beat all of the tracks on 150 CC as a kid. As an adult, I could barely scrape through the 100 CC courses. I was able to complete the first two cups on 150 CC, but quickly became frustrated and gave up trying to finish off the last two on 150. I must have played them a countless number of times, and something ALWAYS would fuck me up.

It got to the point where I was like screw this - it just isn't fun anymore. And I stopped playing. I must have put at least 20 or so hours into this game before writing this review. And I still couldn't beat the last two cups on 150 CC. This irritates me a little, as I feel as if I didn't truly beat the game, but I won't lose any sleep over it. When I beat the Special Cup on 100 CC, it played the credits, so I am still going to count this game as "beaten" by me.

All in all, I still do like this game. This game was at its best back in the mid 90s, playing with my step brothers, feeling like I was on top of the racing world. It was so new, so fresh back then. If I was writing my review simply based on old memories, the game would get an A+. But I have to factor in my opinions from today. The game is not that great. Don't get me wrong, it is a classic and it is very original. Many of the things that this game introduced to the racing genre you still see in games today. It is a highly influential title that many other franchises have tried, and failed, to emulate.

But, hmm. I just didn't have that great of a time playing the game. The game was a lot of fun on 50 CC, but a little too easy. Pretty challenging (but still fun) on 100 CC. Nearly impossible on 150. In fact, it was so hard and frustrating on 150 that it nearly wrecked my opinion of the game. Have you ever been so mad and frustrated at a game before that you just wanted to smash it against the wall? That's how I felt here.

And as a single player experience, the game is very short and doesn't offer much replay value. No secrets, no unlockables, no truly satisfying ending. If you take away 150 CC mode, which takes a long time to master, and simply played 50 and 100 CC, you could be over and done with this game in a day. I know the game is a lot more fun to play with two people, but I didn't have anyone to play with this time around, so its enjoyability suffered in that regard with me as well.

This is still a fun game. It is still a classic. There is no denying the influence it had (and is still having!) on games today. But as a standalone single player game, it does come up short in many areas. I'm trying to balance my thoughts for it when I was a kid, the impact it has had on the gaming world, and my thoughts on how enjoyable it is to pick up and play 20 years after its original release. I think a B+ is more than fair considering how mad this game made me on more than one occasion.

Overall:

B+

11.22.63: Episode 3

Episode 3

"Other Voices, Other Rooms"

All right, here we go with episode three of the miniseries based on the epic Stephen King novel. The last episode left off with the series' protagonist, Jake Epping, in the past. 1960, to be exact. His quest was originally to go back and investigate the JFK shooting and take whatever steps necessary to stop it from happening. After an unfortunate fire wiped out nearly all of his research, Jake decided to perform a little side experiment. Harry, a friend of Jake's from the future (our present) witnessed his entire family killed in front of him when he was a kid. His father was the murderer. Jake took it on himself to stop the tragedy by killing the murderer in the past to see what effect it would have when he returned to the present.

Fleeing the scene, Jake is stopped by a boy who witnessed his murderous (although justifiably so) actions. The boy has also found a newspaper from the future that talks of the JFK assassination. As the last episode ended, he held Jake at gunpoint, demanding answers.

This episode begins with Jake driving his car through the rain, his captor riding shotgun. The boy (I swear one of these days I am going to catch his name!) wants to take Jake to the cops. Jake convinces the boy that the cops would arrest him as an accomplish, since he was present at the scene of the crime. The two stop at a hotel for the night, and Jake convinces the boy that his story about being from the future is true. He uses the newspaper and his journal full of sports scores as proof.

Bill (that's his name!) is taken in by this story and wants to help Jake save Kennedy. He agrees to take Jake to Dallas for a 100 dollar fee, but doesn't leave when Jake tries to dismiss him. Jake reluctantly takes Bill on as a his sidekick, crafting a cover story that they are brothers. Jake takes a job as a substitute teacher at a high school in a small town in the proximity of Dallas, and Bill wants to go out and have a night on the town as a way to celebrate.

The two party hard a strip club, where Bill gets a little too tipsy and nearly blows Jake's cover. There they meet the owner of the club, Jack Ruby. For those who don't know, Jack Ruby is the man who killed JFK's alleged killer, Lee Harvey Oswald after Oswald was convicted of the crime. This little strip club scene doesn't add much to the story, but it is a nice little nod to the history of the time period. Since it has been so long since I've read the book, I don't know remember if Ruby plays a role in things to come, but I don't think he does.

Jake adjusts to life as a small town school teacher in the 60's. He makes some small blunders, such as offering to serve coffee to the school secretary, who happens to be black. The years pass, and the show fast forwards to 1962 - the year Oswald arrives in America. Jake has graduated from substitute to full time teacher. He and Bill take up residence across the street from where Oswald will eventually move in, so that they can keep an eye on him.

Sadie, the cute blonde woman who Jake met and was clearly smitten with in the pilot, comes to the school to serve as the new librarian. She is recently divorced, and ashamed of it since this was something that was considered a big no no back in the 60's. Still, Jake doesn't mind. He is divorced himself, and now he can pursue her all he wants without having to worry about her husband.

Oswald arrives in town, and Jake is there at the airport to get an eyeful of him. He buys some surveillance equipment so he can monitor Oswald's apartment and listen in on his conversations. He plans to install the equipment on a night that he knows Oswald will be out of town, but he is basically pushed into chaperoning the school homecoming dance with Sadie. The two bond and share a special moment while dancing, and it is clear that the two have an obvious chemistry. He is forced to cut the night short, however, when he takes note of the time and realizes he is losing his chance to get into Oswald's apartment and install all the bugs.

Jake and Bill arrive at Oswald's apartment and start setting up shop, only to be surprised by Oswald's sudden appearance. He is there with his wife, looking for some privacy so they can get it on. Jake and Bill go up in the attic and try to escape from the building that way, but some spiders make Bill freak out (wimp!) and Oswald is alerted to their presence above.

The two escape, and proceed to listen in on the surveillance equipment to Oswald's paranoid ranting. The equipment works! Yay! But oh no - Jake has forgotten about his promise to return to the dance to assist Sadie with the chaperoning. And he hears about it the next day at school. Sadie gives him the cold shoulder. Has he blown his chance with her?

Jake and Bill continue to listen in on Oswald's conversations, but nothing seems to be going on except for a bunch of bickering between him, his wife, and his mother. But one day that all changes when CIA agent George de Morenschildt comes to pay Oswald a visit. This is the man who Jake had attempted to spy on in the restaurant in the pilot episode. This could be the break he is looking for. If he can connect George and Oswald as working together in the shooting of General Walker (an assassination attempt preceding the JFK shooting) - he will then know for certain that Oswald wasn't acting alone in the JFK assassination.

Unfortunately, their whole conversation takes place in Russian, and neither Jake nor Bill can understand what they are saying. Jake runs to the school library to see if he can find a book on Russian to English translation, but when he returns he finds Bill passed out on the floor of the apartment, blood running from his nose.

One of the punk neighbors had broken in and stolen all of the equipment, beating Bill badly in the process. Jake is furious and busts down the man's door, claiming to be FBI - and that the man had just seriously compromised an investigation. He reclaims the equipment, but everything on the tapes is lost. The past messing with Jake once again?

Jake apologizes to Sadie one more time, and this time she accepts his apology, silencing his words with a kiss. She wants a date with him, but warns him not to ever abandon her like that again. She has forgiven him, but will not forget.

The episode concludes with Jake and Bill attending a Walker rally. They are surprised to see Oswald in attendance, side by side with George de Morenschildt. After the rally, Oswald flips out, verbally attacking General Walker and even throwing a bottle at him. Clearly, Oswald is very mentally unhinged. Has his friend George put him up to this however?

For the answer to that, we shall have to wait and see.

All in all, this was another really good episode. I am a big fan of this show, even more so than I thought I was originally going to be. I am not sure how true it has stayed to the source material (I always have to bring up the fact that I read this book several years ago and am foggy on the details) but it seems to be doing a good job. Even if it is not - I still like it a lot. I really don't remember Jake having a helper though. Was Bill in the book or did I just completely forget about him?

I am really tempted to pick up the book and read it again. But in a way I like watching this and not knowing what is going to happen next. I may just wait until after the series is finished before I re-read the novel. 3 episodes down, 8 more to go. I can't wait to see where this show takes us next.

2016 Movie Ranking Countdown: February

Another month has ended, which means it is time for me to recap my experience with each movie I watched in the month of February. The five movies that I like the most will advance to my year end movie ranking, where I will make some cuts and then begin a countdown of my 50 favorite movies watched in the year of 2016.

The five movies to advance from January were:

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed
Cake
American Sniper
Predator
Friday the 13th Part 2

What will move on from the month of February? Let's find out. Spoiler warning: this was a very underwhelming month of movie watching for me, so this should be interesting.

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Snowpiercer

I first watched this movie 2 years ago, and I thought that it was only so-so. I liked the concept, I liked how the movie kicked off, but the more it went on, the more disinterested I became. I figured now that some time has passed, I would give it another try and see how I liked it this time.

I actually did like it more this time than I did the first time. I still enjoy the concept. In this movie, the world has frozen and humanity's last survivors are residents of a cold resistant train that is circling the world at high speed. The people at the back of the train are basically slaves living in squalor and doing all the hard labor, while the people in the rest of the train are high class and living it up at the tail section's expense. The dirty, downtrodden, tortured and tormented tail section rises in a rebellion against the rest of the train and fights their way forward to overthrow their evil captors. 

The action in this movie is very over the top and comic book-esque, which seems appropriate because if I remember correctly this is based off a graphic novel. I really like the mythology of the movie and seeing all the different, creatively designed sections of the train as the rebels move forward. I enjoyed myself watching this. I really did. But whether or not it was good enough to rank among the top 5 movies I watched this month remains to be seen.

Friday the 13th Part 3

It's a goal of mine this year to watch through all of the Friday the 13th movies. Technically, I watched the first movie back in 2015, but what does it really matter? 

I knew that this movie was a big turning point in the series because it is where Jason becomes the Jason that we all know and love. In the first movie, the killer was his mother. In the second movie, he wore some kind of pillow case or sheet over his head. In this movie - he gets the hockey mask. Finally!

But other than this milestone, I found the movie to be quite lackluster. It just didn't do enough for me to separate it from the other films in the series. It is more of the same thing. Which is nice because the formula works, but at the same time a little disappointing because it does nothing original. Of all the 4 movies in the series I have watched so far (my evaluation of part 4 is coming up) it is by far my least favorite.

Elysium

I didn't like this movie the first time I watched it a couple years ago. The same thing happened with District 9 - and I ended up watching that movie a second time and really liking it upon rewatch. And the same thing happened here. I thought it was pretty good.

This movie is set in the future. Earth has gone to shit, and all the rich, privileged individuals now live on a paradise-like space station named Elysium. Not only do they live relaxed, easy lives - but they also have machines that can basically cure any and all medical ailments. Occasionally people from Earth try to invade Elysium, but they are always pushed back by the station's heavy defenses. Matt Damon plays a man with radiation sickness and nothing to lose who must lead a group of rebels to Elysium. It is his only chance to gain access to the medical equipment needed to save himself from certain death.

I think the movie could have gone further, could have really explored the mythology of Elysium a little bit more. Instead it was a little predictable, there weren't really a lot of big surprise moments. But I still enjoyed it. It is fast paced, action oriented, and kept my interest the whole way through.

Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter

Funny story - it actually took me quite a long time to find this movie. Not available at the library. Not available on any streaming programs. I couldn't find it anywhere! That's because it is not titled Friday the 13th Part 4. It is called the Final Chapter instead. Now, I had seen this movie around, but I knew that there were a shit ton of Friday the 13th movies. I never figured that the 4th one would be called the final chapter. Because it is nowhere near the final chapter! Isn't there like 8 or 9 of these movies?

Anyway, I actually really did like this movie. It tweaks the same old tired Friday the 13th formula just enough to make it interesting and unique. I like the black humor found in the movie. I like the cast (Cory Feldman is in this!). And the kills are just as fun as ever. It is one of my favorite Friday the 13th movies - and with the lack of quality movies I watched in February it has a good a chance of any movie to advance in the ranking. It doesn't have a chance in hell of winning, but I still liked it.

Fantastic 4

This movie has been destroyed critically, so I didn't have high hopes for it. I think that this actually helped me enjoy the movie more than I would have normally, because I expected it to suck so bad.

But I actually liked it! I can see why people wouldn't like it, but I had fun. The look of the movie is great, I like the cast. The sci-fi story line really had me interested. As a superhero movie it wasn't great. They don't really do anything fantastic until the very end of the film, where there is an epic 20 minute or so battle against Dr Doom. The rest of the movie is very light on action - very high on science fiction.

This has potential to be a good series if they ever make a sequel for it. But with how bad this movie bombed, I don't know if that is going to happen. 

Evil Dead

This movie had potential to be a complete disaster, but I enjoyed myself. It doesn't try to be the original Evil Dead, which would have been sacrilege. Instead, it takes similar themes from the first movie, combines it with a VERY familiar locale, and does its own thing. 

There is no humor in this movie. They don't attempt to "reboot" the Ash character. Instead, this is a very serious and dark film. I actually was scared in a few places, which rarely happens in movies anymore. Some may question the need to remake a classic film like the Evil Dead - and then change so much about it. But I like what they did here.

The Book Thief

This was a pretty big disappointment for me. I have read the book before, and really liked it. I expected great things from this movie. Endearing characters, dramatic moments that leave you on the edge of your seat, heartbreak to make even the most manly men weep like little girls.

But to me this was really boring. The film doesn't do a good job at helping us connect with the characters emotionally, and this is what the book was all about. It is pretty much just a straight up, flat, lifeless translation of the novel to the big screen. It was decent, but there is something majorly missing here. I hate to say this, but I pulled out my phone in the middle of this and started playing games because I was so bored.

That is never, ever a good thing.

Locke

This whole movie is about a guy driving in his car, talking on the phone. While it sounds like it could be really, really lame - it got solid reviews. So I figured I'd give it a chance. Turns out I actually did like it.

It really is a guy driving and talking on his phone for the whole movie. It is not as bad as it sounds though. I got really into it as I watched. The movie begins with Locke (Tom Hardy) leaving work. He comes to an intersection and takes his time deciding whether he is going to go left or right. He starts to go left, but at the last minute changes his mind and heads the other way.

Through a series of phone calls, we watch as his life goes to hell all around him. He tells his employers he is not going to be coming in tomorrow, which happens to be the day of the biggest multi million dollar job his company has ever taken on. And he was supposed to be a critical player in making sure that everything went as planned. He is forced to juggle between walking his coworkers through difficult situations, telling his wife he is not coming home tonight, and - the big twist - that he is on his way to be with a woman he impregnated as she goes into labor and gives birth to his illegitimate child. 

Through monologues and inner dialogue scenes in between phone calls, we find out that Locke's dad was a deadbeat who abandoned him when he was young - and now Locke hates him for that. He doesn't want to make the same mistakes his own dad did. He wants to be there for this kid, whether it is legitimate or not. Whether it means leaving his wife and his career behind or not. 

Despite his shadiness in cheating on his wife and getting a strange woman pregnant - you never get the impression that Locke is a bad guy. In fact, you grow quite attached to him as the movie goes on. He has a moral code - and although he broke that code in a moment of weakness, he is now out to redeem himself. 

I liked this movie a lot, and it was a lot more complicated and heartfelt than I had expected. This is definitely moving on.

---

So, moment of truth. Which 5 of these movies will advance to my year ending top 60 (which will be trimmed to a top 50) and then make my ultimate ranking? Let's get down to it.

Moving on are:

Locke

Evil Dead

Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter

Elysium

Snowpiercer

Fantastic 4 almost made it, but I couldn't justify putting it above Snowpiercer. Not the greatest group of movies, I admit. But not as bad in retrospect as I made it out to be before writing this blog entry.

---

So far, combining my top 5 from January and my top 5 from February - the top 10 movies I have watched this year are:

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed
Cake
American Sniper
Predator
Friday the 13th Part 2

Locke

Evil Dead

Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter

Elysium

Snowpiercer

A little underwhelming of an array, but there is still a lot of 2016 left. Here's to ten months of... better movies than these!

11.22.63: Episode 2

Episode 2

"The Kill Floor"

Here is my recap of the second episode of 11.22.63.

I find myself in quite the state as I write this for you. I managed to fall asleep on the couch very early last night. Now I am awake at 5:30 in the morning. I'm in the dark, I'm highly medicated. Usually when I sleep for a very long time like this I wake up with a headache that lasts the entire day. So I took no chances, even though I feel fine, and took a bunch of headache medicine. And now I am kind of in a daze, yet I am very awake and alert. Highly caffeinated as well.

I was going to watch the Book Thief, but then I suddenly remembered that I had yet to watch the second episode of this show. Sweet. I had enjoyed the first episode a lot, and had been eager to keep watching more. It's quiet, it's dark. Perfect time to catch up!

The episode starts with a brief recap of the last episode, which is good because I am not a champion at remembering things. As I mentioned in my recap of the first episode - I don't remember specifics of the book much because I read it several years ago and have read hundreds of books since. So if this show starts to stray from the source material I probably won't notice it.

The first scene brings us to Harry's childhood. He is being chased by a pack of bullies, who knock him to the ground and steal his pants. The leader of the bullies holds him down and spits in his face. A big, wet, nasty load. Very gross. Harry remains motionless and unresponsive so the bullies eventually get tired and leave him alone.

Jake encounters the boy in a small diner, and helps him out with his no pants situation. This seems to steel Jake's resolve to save the boy from his father. The kid has already had a rough enough life. No wonder he is such a sad sack in the present day.

He goes to a local bar to find Harry's dad, Frank. Frank comes in with a bunch of co-workers from a plant that has just shut down for the day. He is told that Jake has been looking for him, so he goes to talk to Jake. Immediately you feel on edge with this guy. He seems like he has a short fuse and could go off at any minute. He just oozes menace.

They get drunk, and Jake tells him how he is there as a writer trying to capture the struggles of the real working man for his book. Frank asks Jake if he would like good material for the first chapter of the book, and Jake says yes. Frank takes him to the meat processing plant where all of the guys work. He walks him around and shows him all the disgusting things. I feel really on edge with Frank around. I thought for sure he was going to attack Jake or lock him in the room with the entrails and all the flies, but he doesn't.

Finally Frank takes him to the room where they kill all the animals. He brings out a cow and tells Jake to smash its head with a hammer. He had taken offense at Jake saying he and his comrades were scrambling around in the dirt to make a living. So now he was testing Jake to see if he considered himself one of them.

Jake refuses to kill the cow, and it seems like Frank and his goons are going to beat Jake up or something. But Frank takes the hammer, kills the cow himself, and walks out. This was a pretty tense opening 20 minutes of the show. I thought for sure it would erupt in violence at some point, but it did not. Good, dramatic, tension building story telling here. Something that Breaking Bad pulled off effortlessly - and this series seems to be doing an admirable job at as well.

The next day finds Jake safe in his hotel room. He heads to Harry's house while his father is at work and gives his mother tickets for a weekend away. Jake probably thinks that the family won't die if they aren't home. But I get the feeling that this won't be enough. He'll have to kill Frank if he wants to change the past.

Jake has dinner with the boarding house owners he is staying with. The husband tells Jake a long, boring war story about terrible things he had seen and done while overseas. Honestly, I zoned out during this. It's a very long scene. Someone knocks on the door, and it is Frank. He apologizes to Jake for his behavior the night before and wants to have a talk with him. Great, just who we wanted to see...

We can tell that the stern woman in charge of the boarding house doesn't approve of Frank, even though he acts in a very polite manner. Jake gets up and leaves with Frank, which he really shouldn't do. Frank is dangerous and unpredictable, not someone you want to be alone with.

Frank takes Jake to his butcher shop and shows him around the place. Seems like a nice visit, until he calls his wife out of the back room. She is bruised up and appears to have been crying. She has the tickets that Jake had given her earlier in her hand. Frank thinks that Jake was trying to get his wife out of the house so he could sleep with her.

He proceeds to beat Jake up (totally knew it was coming, at some point) and throws him out the front door of the butcher shop. Jake realizes what he has to do, and he goes to buy a gun. That night as he sleeps, he has a dream of a conversation he had with Al before coming into the past. This was touched on in the last episode, but explained in greater detail here. About the past not wanting to be changed, and strange things happening to keep the past from being changed. Al even believed that he developed cancer because the past was trying to keep him from changing things.

Jake wakes up and rushes into the bathroom to vomit. He has symptoms of food poisoning, but wonders if this is simply the past trying to keep him from killing Harry's father. It is Halloween, so this is when the murders supposedly had taken place. Jake watches Harry's house from the shadows as he waits for Frank to come home. According to Harry's story, the murders had taken place at 8 o'clock.

As he waits, he is grabbed from behind by some young man from the town, a knife to his throat. The past again trying to stop him from changing a major event? He tells the kid the truth about being from the future out of desperation. The kids tells him he can't be right because the time is 8:05 and nothing has happened yet. Cue screams coming from the house.

Jake threatens the kid at gunpoint and runs into the house to save the day. The kids are alive, but the mom is being assaulted with a large sledgehammer in one of the upstairs bedrooms. After a grueling battle, Jake kills Frank, but not before getting smacked around himself. He confirms that the wife and all the kids are alive, and then he runs from the house.

Jake drives away, the rain coming down in droves. He finally pulls over to a water spigot and uses it to wash his face and hands of all the blood. Um hello - it is raining very hard. Did you really have to pull over to a water spigot? He seems happy with himself that he's saved the kids, but traumatized that he just had to kill someone.

But he didn't get away scot-free. The kid from before comes out of the bushes, fixing a gun on Jake. He has a newspaper clipping in his hand from the future containing the story of JFK being assassinated. How did he get a hold of that?

The kid wants answers. And he wants them now!

End of episode.

Well, I thought this was pretty good. I liked the slow dramatic build with Jake encountering Frank, that relationship deteriorating with each passing moment. There were a few slow spots here and there. It has been a while since I have read this book, but I don't recall this particular section of the novel being so long and drawn out. Certainly it wasn't 1/8 of the entire thing.

Whether or not it stayed true to the source material or not, I liked it. I enjoy the fact that until the very end of the episode, all the JFK stuff was pushed to the side for a while. While stopping the assassination is the main focus of the series, I think this was a necessary thing to do for this particular episode. Attempting to kill Frank and change the past is a big thing for Jake, and I like that the show gave it the attention it deserved. As a stand alone episode, this was really good.

Judging from the previews it looks like we will be getting back to the JFK stuff in the next episode, which is expected. I'm eager to see what happens next - if Jake comes back to the present to see what effect his actions have had on Harry's life. If he stays in the past and resumes his quest to save JFK with the help of this kid. I don't remember what happens in the book, nor do I know if they are going to change things for the show. We shall have to wait and see.

Love the show, can't wait to see more.

I'm wide awake now, it is starting to get light outside. I could go out and get some fresh air, or maybe I could continue to drink coffee and lounge around in front of the TV for a few more hours. And by maybe I mean that this is exactly what I am going to be doing. Time to watch the Book Thief after all.

11.22.63: Episode 1

I've been a huge fan of Stephen King for a long time now. He's written it, chances are I have read it. My obsession started when I was back in the third or fourth grade. I went to a small, conservative, Lutheran K-8 grade school. Suffice it to say the teachers were not very happy when they saw me reading a Sai King novel during silent study time. Despite every attempt to reform me and turn me from my evil ways, I resisted. Not only did I not stop reading the works of Stephen King, but the school's stubborn stance on not allowing me to read his works in class only strengthened my resolve to read more.

One by one I devoured his works, falling in love with his characters, his stories, and his unique style of writing. Misery, The Dead Zone, The Stand, Cujo, Needful Things, It, The Dark Half, The Gunslinger... the list went on and on. In his forewords where he'd address the Constant Reader, I always got the impression he was speaking to me specifically. My interest in his work was no passing phase either. Over 20 years later, I am still an avid fan. I've reread most of his books more times than I can count. My personal favorite: The Dark Tower series. I've read through the series five times, and could easily pick it up now and make it six. I love it.

To my knowledge there is only one book of his which I have not read. It's called Blaze, and it was written by Sai King under his old pen name of Richard Bachman. I've been wanting to pick up that book for a while now and read the hell out of it. Just to say I've read every in print novel that my favorite author has written. At the same time, I will be sad when I read it. I'm sure he'll come out with plenty of new books in the future, but for the time being I will have read everything there is to read from him. So despite owning the book for several years now, I keep putting my reading of it off. And off. And off.

One of my favorite recent books from Mr King is titled 11/22/63. If you just glance at the summary of the novel, you may think it sounds a little goofy. A man goes back in time to save JFK? How silly, right?

Wrong. This novel is so much more than that. It's not a horror story. Casual fans think that everything the man writes has to be scary. Which it doesn't. This book instantly grabbed me with its sense of wonder and mystery. Ten pages in, I was hooked. In addition to the horror genre, I love sci-fi. Time travel stories are perhaps my favorite genre of them all. So this was right up my alley. Plus- I'm not a big sappy romance person, but if something happens to have a love story that makes me cry, I won't object to it. I'm a relatively emotionless and detached person, so if something can really hit that special cord with me and crack that shell I've built around my emotions, I'll remember it. And love it for that.

11/22/63 was a great combination of many different things I love. It took my love of sci-fi (time travel... yes...) and combined it with a great mystery with great characters. Throw in a little bit of romance and a little bit of history, mash it all up and you get one hell of a story from my favorite author of all time.

If I had to rank this among my all time King novels, it would definitely be top five. I don't know if I could arrange those top five in proper order and pick a favorite, but I do feel safe saying this would be right up there.

When I heard that they were making 11/22/63 into a miniseries, I was excited. I'm sure a lot of people had mixed reactions. If this sucks, it will totally ruin the book. I don't feel that way though. The book will always be great. The book will always be there when I want to read it. Just because it exists in movie or miniseries form doesn't diminish the book's accomplishments in any way whatsoever. Even if the miniseries does suck. I was very curious to see what they'd do with it.

As ka would have it, I recently discovered that I could play Hulu on my PlayStation 3. I had been paying for the service for over a year, but it played like crap on my Wii and would constantly freeze up or buffer every minute or so when trying to watch something. It was horrendous and completely unwatchable. I urged my wife many times to cancel it, but she never did.

Months and months passed. We paid for Hulu, but it went unwatched. Netflix was where it was at. Randomly I decided OK I am going to try Hulu on my PlayStation 3 and see if it works better on this console. Lo and behold: it works like a charm on the PS3. And will you look at this - I set it up just in time. 11.22.63 the miniseries would be starting in two weeks. As excited as I originally had been over the miniseries, I was resigned to the fact I'd have to wait for the DVD or download it (legally!) somehow since I wouldn't be able to watch Hulu. But all the pieces fell into place. Call it coincidence or call it ka, but I had rejoined Hulu a mere two weeks before this miniseries was to start. Maybe it was even 19 days...

I've only read the book once, and that was several years ago when it first came out. I don't even remember the characters' names anymore. All I remember is the basic plot of the story and what happened throughout the course of the book. Nothing specific, however. I read a lot of different books so my brain can't really retain a lot of information from one single book unless I read it multiple times. Which I have not with this.

I occasionally write blogs, but never anything too serious. Mainly video game reviews and talking about what TV shows I happen to be watching at the moment. Since I loved the book so much, I figured I'd write up a little blog entry (although this is turning out to already be MUCH longer than I had anticipated) for each episode of the miniseries.

Be forewarned: like I said I don't remember a lot of specifics about the book. So this miniseries could potentially change a LOT of things and likely I won't notice these things or remember what is "supposed to" happen. How I plan to do this is to watch up to each little commercial break, pause the show, and then write up a small recap on each segment of the show. At the end I will probably post my thoughts on the episode as a whole and tell you whether I liked it or not. Depending on if anyone actually reads this thing, I may do this for all eight episodes when they are eventually released.

I guess... we'll start. I've wasted enough of your time with my rambling already. You clicked on this to see my thoughts on the show, and now it is time to get down to business.

---

Well, we hit our first commercial break around the 25 minute mark of the show. I must say that so far I am very impressed. Despite the time traveling subject material, the show has a very grounded and realistic feel to it. Even if I had never read the book, I think I'd still be very interested to see where this show is going to go.

As I mentioned earlier, it has been a few years since I've read the book. From what I've seen so far, it seems to be doing an admirable job staying true to the source material. James Franco plays the main character, Jake Epping, a high school teacher in the middle of going through a divorce.

At night he teaches a writing class for adults. He is particularly impressed by a story written by Harry, the socially awkward school janitor. In the story, his entire family is killed by his psychotic father and he is the only one left alive. Whether or not this is based on a true story or is entirely a work of fiction is not explained. But by the tone in Harry's voice as he reads the story aloud to the class, you get the feeling that this is something that actually happened to him as a kid.

Jake meets his wife at a small diner, and divorce papers are quickly signed and handed over. Jake puts on a cool facade while saying goodbye to the woman he used to (and maybe still does) love, but you can tell it is troubling him on the inside. The owner of the diner, Al, disappears into the back during the signing of these papers, and when he returns he seems to be violently ill.

Jake is of course very concerned about Al's health. Al tells him it is cancer, which confuses Jake immensely. He was fine just a few minutes ago. How could he have gotten cancer and be suffering its effects in five minutes? Al takes him into the back of the restaurant and tells Jake to enter the store room. All would be explained there.

Jake begrudgingly enters the store room and emerges into.... the past. 1960, to be exact. Milkmen, antique cars blasting old music on their radios, well dressed people out and about - actually socializing and having fun with one another. Freaked out, Jake returns to the diner. He can hardly believe his eyes, so Al sends him back out with a knife to carve his name into a tree. Tells him to come back when he's done and check it out. Jake follows Al's directions. A homeless man harasses Jake that he is not supposed to be there. He had accosted Jake on his first trip into the past, but this time he seems especially agitated. Even if I hadn't read the book, I would know that this is a potential situation to keep an eye on. When he returns to the present - sure enough, what he has carved remains engraved in the tree. But aged.

Al proposes to Jake that Jake go back through the rift and hang out in the past for a couple of years and do whatever it takes to save JFK from being assassinated. Al would do it himself, but his health is failing him too quickly. Jake does not seem receptive to this at first, but Al shows Jake a bundle of money from the past he has saved for the occasion, fake identification, as well as a list of sports outcomes which Jake can gamble on and build himself a respectable nest egg.

Still unconvinced, Jake returns home to think on all that has happened on this crazy day in his life. Al is furious with Jake for not going back immediately. Relax guy! Give him at least a little bit of time to think on all this. Obviously Jake realizes that he has been involved in something special and will want to go back again. But to tell him to go back and save Kennedy right off the bat seems to be pushing things a little too hard, too fast.

Jake returns the next day to find Al dead in his home. Guess that explains Al's sense of urgency regarding the situation! Apparently seeing Al's dead body has changed Jake's view on the situation. He hurries off to the diner to head back in time. Has he gone back to stay and save Kennedy, or is this just an exploratory expedition? We shall have to wait and find out.

After a second commercial break, we return to the action. Realizing with his T-shirt and scruffly facial hair that he looks out of place, Jake gets a haircut and a change of clothes so he can blend in. Despite Al's previous warning to get a low maintenance and inconspicuous vehicle, Jake splurges and gets a flashy yellow sports car. Already nearly drained of his resources, he heads to a seedy bar to place a 35 to 1 wager on a boxing match. Obviously he knows the results of the match ahead of time, and wins big.

The goons at the bar seem pissed that he is making off with $3500 and intimidate him on his way out. Jake leaves and heads to a motel to stay the night. But with his flashy car parked outside, one of the goons finds him and enters his hotel room to beat him up and take the money back. Luckily Jake has the foresight to set his cell phone on the bed while playing a funny music video. This distracts the goon, and Jake clobbers him from behind and takes off. Tearing out of the parking lot, he nearly hits the homeless man (from this point on to be referred to as the Yellow Card Man because of the yellow card sticking out of his hat) from before. Yup, something is definitely going on with that guy.

Jake heads across the country on a road trip to Dallas, taking in the sights and the sounds of the 60's. Upon arriving in Dallas, he rents a room at a boarding house owned by a mother and her son. Exploring Dallas, Jake meets an attractive young blonde woman named Sadie. You can tell he is smitten by her, and nearly makes a large blunder referencing a movie that hasn't been made yet while chatting with Sadie. Unfortunately for Jake, Sadie's husband shows up and takes her away, presumably out of his life for good. We'll be seeing more of Sadie in the future, however. I can guarantee you that.

Jake recalls a conversation he had with Al the night before he left. Al had told him that if he tried to mess too hard with the past, the past would mess with him in return. I don't know what Jake is thinking, but he tries to call his father from a pay phone. His father would only be a child at the time, so again - I don't know what he was trying to accomplish. But the line goes fuzzy and the call is not allowed to connect. Jake hangs up and begins to leave. He gets about ten feet or so from the phone booth before he turns around, presumably to try the call again.

An out of control car nails the phone booth and flips over in the street. Jake rushes to the car and sees a woman sprawled out on the ground with a major head injury.

"You aren't supposed to be here."

Well, shit. Mess with the past, the past messes with you. If a simple phone call can cause this, imagine what altering history to save JFK will do.

In his quest to save JFK, Jake follows up a lead on some Russian guy named George. Apparently George was under suspicion for having ties to Lee Harvey Oswald. If Jake can connect the two, maybe even see if George is somehow connected with the CIA (as rumored) he will have somewhere to go with his investigation. He tails George to one of JFK's political rallies, and follows him at the end of the rally when George gets up to leave. Unfortunately George wanders into an area that Jake is not authorized to be in. When he is spotted and called out by security, he decides to run.

Probably not a great idea. Jake runs into the bowels of the building and experiences some nightmare hallucinations of the Yellow Card Man and a large group of beetles that converge on him. Right when he begins to panic and tries to leave, he is knocked out from behind.

Upon awakening, Jake plays the role of a rabid, frothing JFK fanatic who had only wanted to get close to the man to shake his hand. Apparently his captors believe him, and set him free without an arrest.

Jake follows up on another old lead from Al. George had attended a dinner that night, and supposedly had met with the CIA there. Al had attempted to get close to the action during his trip to the past, but an accident set him on fire before he could find out who George was meeting, and he had to be rushed to the emergency room. Jake avoids the fiery accident, even avoids a falling chandelier. The past really doesn't want him to find out what happened!

But eventually Jake gets to his table and watches the meeting unfold. He struggles to listen to what they are saying, but he is only able to make out three words: Lee Harvey Oswald. After confirming that the men are indeed CIA, Jake is ecstatic. He returns to his apartment, giddy with excitement. The excitement is soon cut short when he sees that the building has burned down, the young boy who was living there with his mother dead. Another result of his meddling with the past?

Jake is able to salvage a few of his notes from the burned building, but for the most part they are completely ruined.

Distraught, Jake decides to pack up and head for home. It's on his way back that he recalls the story old janitor Harry had submitted for his nighttime writing class. About how his father had gone crazy and killed his entire family with a hammer. Jake may not be able to stop the Kennedy assassination, but he may be able to stop the murders from happening.

Jake heads to Kentucky and parks outside Harry's home. He sees the dad come home and welcome the family warmly, but the look on Jake's face tells us that he still knows what he has to do before he heads home.

The episode ends.

Ahh, way to leave us wanting more! I'm sure that's the point though. Will Jake kill Harry's dad before he can harm his family? Will the past intervene? If he succeeds, what will the effect be on the future (our present)? What if he doesn't succeed? Even having read the book, I can't really remember what happened. This was at least four or five years ago that I read it, and I read multiple books a week. My memory is not great. I still wanted to continue watching. I have a really short attention span, so kudos to the show for being able to keep my attention for such a long episode, and leave me wanting more. That's a sign that it must be good.

So yes. I really liked this episode. It stayed relatively true to the source material. Sure there were some changes. In particular I remember the root beer float scene from one of Jake's early trips being left out. Travesty! OK, not really.

I'm sure there were some other changes to the time line and the order of things. Probably some minor things left out, some other minor things added for dramatic effect. Nothing that altered the story too much.

Being a long time King fan of both his books and the movies and TV series based off of his books, I can definitely say that this is one of the best adaptations of his work to date. It seems my nervous feelings of whether or not they could do the source material justice were ill founded. I can't wait to see more of this show!

And since it has been so long since I have read this book, the show has made me want to go back and read it again. Do I do it now, or do I wait until the run of this series ends? Questions, questions.

But yeah. This was really good. I'd recommend it to anyone, King fan or King hater.

I approve.

Video Game Review: Dynamite Headdy

Dynamite Headdy

Sega Genesis

I find myself in a predicament this particular review. The same predicament I found myself in with my last game review (Smash TV, if you are keeping track). See, I am always eager to recommend to people the classic games that I grew up playing. When other people recommend their classic games to me, as Dynamite Headdy was recommended to me, I always try to keep an open mind and give them a fair shot.

But growing up playing a game is one thing. Going back at the age of 33 and playing "classic" games that I somehow missed is another. I didn't particularly care for Smash TV, and I am not quite sure how I feel about this game either. I found myself torn between liking this game and hating it with a passion. I'll tell you what its about first before I get too into my feelings on the matter.

This is a 2D side scrolling game where you star as a loveable puppet creature named Headdy. Headdy attacks by throwing his head at enemies. He also uses his head as a grappling hook of sorts to latch on to items and launch himself to new heights. Over the course of the game you pick up different heads which each have different powers. Some heads launch projectiles that home in on your enemies. Some heads shrink you. Some give you extra speed. Some give you a shield. The list goes on and on. There are a lot of different heads you can find and play with on your journey.

Don't even ask me what the story of this game is about. There is no text, no subtitles. You watch a cutscene when the game begins, but it doesn't explain anything at all. It is really Japanese, really crazy. It doesn't appear to make a whole lot of sense. I did Google the story line to see what was going on, but it didn't seem to match up at all with what I observed while playing this game. I suppose it doesn't really matter anyway. You don't really play games like this for their story line.

Controls are pretty basic. With the exception of the control pad, you only use 3 buttons. Shoot, jump, and revert back to your normal head. The game controls well for the most part, but I did find myself getting frustrated in parts (more on this later).

We'll start with the things the game does right. I'm not sure exactly when this game came out, but judging by its cover art, it looks like it came out near the end of the system's life span. You can tell that a lot of hard work was put into this game. Visually, it shares a lot of common traits with some of the all time Genesis greats, such as Sonic and Knuckles and Vectorman. In fact, it may even top them. This could very well be the most vibrant and colorful Genesis game I have ever played.

The sound effects and music aren't bad either. I mentioned how this game shared some visual traits with Sonic and Vectorman, and I swear it shares some of the same sound effects as well. There were a few points in the game where I was like "I know that sound effect!" Maybe I was mistaken, but I don't think so. The music for the game is very well done. Some of these songs sound like they would fit right at home in a Sonic game, and that is not a bad thing at all. Well, unless you're talking about Sonic R.

So stylistically, the game is great. Top notch visuals, top notch audio. Fun concept. We're off to a good start.

Now we'll get to what I didn't like about the game.

I absolutely have to start with the game's steep learning curve. I don't know how many games out there I actually died during the training stages, but this was one of them. Definite foreshadowing there. This game requires you to be an expert right from the very beginning. This is for sure a very unique game, so I bet that no one out there was able to pick it up right away and master it from the beginning. I am usually that kind of player, but that did not happen here.

This is one of the most cruel and unforgiving games I have ever played. The game starts you off with three lives. You can earn extra lives as you play the game, but you don't get the chance to snare many. You also don't get any continues. And there is no save option. If you die, you have to start from the beginning. I played this version of the game on the Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection for the PlayStation 3. This disc allows you to manually save your progress on any of its games. I am extremely fortunate to have this version of the game, because if I had been playing the original Genesis version where you had to start from the beginning every time you died, I would have never finished this game.

This game is so hard, I found myself not only saving after every stage, but sometimes in the middle of a stage after making it past a particularly hard part. Heck, sometimes even in the middle of a boss fight!

It took me three nights to beat this game. The first night, I played and didn't save at all. I just wanted to learn the basics and prepare myself so I knew what to expect when I decided to start playing it for real. The second night, I tried to beat the game, but failed miserably. I saved after every level, but soon found myself at a point in the game where I had no lives left and my last save took place with only half a health gauge left. And I still had several levels left. There was no way I could have beaten the game in that sorry state.

The third night I played, I set out to conquer this game once and for all. I micromanaged everything. Saved after every level, saved in the middle of levels. If I died, I would load my last save up and try again. I knew that if I wanted a chance to beat this game, I had to be PERFECT. And even doing it this way, I still almost failed in completing the game. I can't even comprehend beating this game on the Genesis without this save option. I would have torn all my hair out trying.

Being difficult is one thing, being brutal and unfair is another. And this game is definitely brutal and unfair. You all know the type of game I'm talking about. Cheap deaths out of nowhere. Enemies that swarm you from all angles and knock you off platforms or right into spike traps. Bosses that follow predictable patterns but then break that pattern when you are on your last sliver of health, which allows them to kill you and totallty fuck you over right when you are on the brink of victory.

As I mentioned earlier, the game controls well for the most part. But when you are trying to shoot at an angle, sometimes the game fails you. The jumping and especially the grapple mechanism is flawed and "off" at times. Also, your character can only shoot in the direction he's facing. There is a particular boss that chases you and you have to fire at him behind you while still running forward to avoid damage. This is incredibly frustrating because Headdy never seems to do what you want him to do here. The game controls well when you move along slowly. When things get frantic and you have to react quickly and move back and forth in multiple directions at a rapid clip, things aren't so pretty. The game is tough enough as it is, the controls add to it that particular controlling chucking extra bit of frustration.

The game is a decent length for a platforming game. If you play it through in one sitting and manage to not die while completing the game, it can probably be beaten in about two hours. If you play and die and have to start from the beginning multiple times, who knows how long this can take to complete? It took me about five or six hours to beat on my third day play through, and that's not even counting the time I spent playing on the first and second days. I can imagine it must take weeks, maybe even months to beat this game if you are playing on the Genesis console and can't save.

The game does try to do a few things differently, and I have to give it props for that. Aside from the traditional sidescrolling levels, there are bonus levels where you have to knock basketballs through a series of hoops. There are flying levels that remind me of classic old-school shooters. Some of the boss stages are extremely clever and require unique strategies to defeat. And my particular favorite game wrinkle is a stage that has tilting platforms that actually allow you to move your character up and down as well as left and right. Its almost like a 3D platformer for that one level, and I found it pretty cool.

So all in all, I find this to be a game I really wanted to like. Great visuals, great music and sound effects. I enjoyed the variety of the game, all the things it tried to do differently to stand out from the crowd. But the punishing difficulty and the gimmicky controls really brought it down for me. I'm right on the middle of the fence, and I think right on the middle of the fence is where I am going to stay. I can see why some of the people who love the game love it, and I can see why some would hate it. I can't really pick a side, so I am taking the easy way out and giving it the most mediocre grade I can think of. You should know what is coming.

Overall:

C