Category: Personal

Stuff about me or my family.

500 Movie Reviews! Hooray for Arbitrary Numbers!

My last post was the 500th movie review I’ve completed at DepressedPress.com! Happily, it was a doozy; perhaps my favorite movie of the year.

The first review I posted to the site in early 2011, the amazing Mirrormask, was actually authored in 2005 for a different (now defunct) website. The first review specifically written for this site was Prowl, a mediocre-but-interesting vampire flick, a month or so later. I had started doing the reviews as a lark to fill time, then just started reviewing everything I watched.

Here are some highlights:

  • The Next Race: This insane trip into somebody’s ego was the first film ever in “my-wife-and-kids-are-visiting-relatives-so-I’m-watching-loads-of-crappy-movies” film festival series. Come to think of it, I’ve not done one in a while… I’ve gotta get those people out of the house.
  • Fido: Now hosted on our everything-zombie sister site MoreBrains.com, this was the first review for our annual Easter zombie-thon Boiled Eggs and Brain Eaters.
  • Outlander: This was the first time that anybody actually involved with a film bothered to comment. Writer/Director Howard McCain was good enough to set me straight on a few things and discuss a few others.
  • Orc Wars: I have no idea why, but this is – far and away – the most popular review on the site. It is, in fact, the second most popular page on site overall and gets more than 10 times the traffic of any other review.

I don’t know if anybody is actually reading this stuff – I only get about 2000 page views a month and nearly no comments – but it keeps me off the street.

So here’s to arbitrarily round numbers and the vast expanse that is international cinema!

I Don’t Know How to This!

I can’t decide if this is a wildly hilarious, incredibly subtle joke… or just the laziest thing I’ve ever seen in my life.

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Is the idea that able men stand on their own without assistance? Maybe that it’s different for everybody? Are there no able men at all or is it saying that able men have periods behind them (but don’t know how to use commas)?

Is it a pun?! An anagram?!

Marian Call for the Holidays!

Marian Call is awesome. This is a scientific fact in the field of science generally referred to as Awesomology. It may be gilding the lily, but she’s gone and made her herself even more awesome by releasing a new album of holiday tracks! You can sample all of the tracks below and then head over to Bandcamp and pay what you like.

While you’re there, why not check out her other albums. No reason at all, that’s why! I defy anybody to listen to “Good Morning Moon” and not smile.

Levar Burton is Awesome

As part of their Extra-Life 2014 fund-raising the Rooster Teeth team asked the awesome Levar Burton to read the awesome Adam Mansbach’s awesome adult bedtime book “Go the Fuck to Sleep”. The entire thing is sublime.

As a father who has spent what seems like thousands of hours trying to make children go to sleep, this book echos deeply for me. Having Lever Burton read it is… sublime.

Extra Life 2014 Marathon: Last Checkpoint

Extra-Life LogoWell, we failed with our Extra-Life 2014 Marathon. Our team, the Vidiots, (feel free to donate) were able to make it most of the way but hit a wall in the 18th hour.

Although our team failed to stay awake, many others didn’t. The grand total as off 8am this morning was over five-million dollars raised, smashing the record from last year handily.

As much fun as we were having, we still couldn’t quite make it all the way. People started dropping off in ones and twos until there was nobody left.

All told, even though we didn’t meet our goal, I consider this a success. Our team was thrown together at the last minute and the event was sandwiched in the middle of what’s turning out to be a very challenging school year. We raised a little money, blew off a lot of steam and gave us an excuse to finally clean the living room.

Extra Life 2014 Marathon: Third Checkpoint

Extra-Life LogoWe enter the last quarter of our Extra-Life 2014 Marathon with our team the Vidiots  (feel free to donate). As we enter our 14th hours it’s clear folks are starting to flag, but second winds seem to incoming.

Since the last update:

  • We lost one! Our first victim is sawing logs on the downstairs couch.
  • There has been even more “Towerfall: Ascension“. For the past few hours two of our more dedicated team members have been working slowing through the brutal campaign mode. Unfortunately they’re hitting the last, and hardest, levels as they’re losing more and focus.
  • The other surviving team members are wandering from laptop to handheld listlessly poking at old favorites like “Team Fortress”.  I’m not optimistic that they’ll be awake much longer.

Six more hours. Six more hours!

Extra Life 2014 Marathon: Second Checkpoint

Extra-Life LogoWe continue our Extra-Life 2014 Marathon with our team the Vidiots  (feel free to donate). As we enter our 14th hour it’s clear folks are starting to flag, but second winds seem to incoming.

Since the last update:

  • There has been a lot more “Towerfall: Ascension” action on the PS4. The level of customization available in the game, an insanely deep but incredibly subtle handicapping system and a hugely effective sense of humor makes this a favorite of anybody that touches it.
  • Because we’re gluttons for strange we also played the highly bizarre “Cho Aniki“. This homoerotic acid trip never saw translation or retail release outside Japan, but is available for the PS3 as “PS1 Classic”. Truly, this game has to be seen to be believed; and if you see it, you won’t believe it.
  • Most of the time was spent with “Buzz: Quiz TV“. We’d forgotten how much fun this title was, even if the questions, after six years, seem a little dated. Still, we played six or seven full rounds so clearly it didn’t matter too much.
  • We just recently, finally, started playing “PlayStation All-Stars: Battle Royal“. A five gig download, 30 minute install then a full gig patch. We’re having fun, but it felt way too much like work!

We’re likely to lose people off-and-on from this point out. 10 hours left and I know I’m already feeling it.

Extra Life 2014 Marathon: First Checkpoint

Extra-Life LogoWe kicked off our Extra-Life 2014 Marathon, with our last-minute attempt at a team – the Vidiots  (feel free to donate) – about eight hours ago. I had planned on making regular updates, but I’m having too damn much fun, so shoot me.

The entire event – thanks almost entirely to the $115 our team has contributed – has raised nearly four million dollars so far and shows no sign of slowing. The strength and determination of sick kids is amazing, and this money will go to ensure that there are even more sick kids around to inspire us all!

The line-up so far as been pretty eclectic:

  • Plans to begin with “PlayStation All-Stars: Battle Royal” were scuttled by a corrupt game file. The game was deleted and re-downloaded.
  • While that was being done, the group decided to move to the PS4 and start with some manic “Towerfall: Ascension” action. This is, hands down, one of the best four-on-a-couch games ever made.
  • Staying in the same vein, we moved to some “Super Smash Bros. Brawl” on the Wii.
  • The group went even older-school next with some analog “Monopoly“, which was abandoned long before it was completed.
  • People wandered off to do their own things for a while and there was some Team Fortress, a little PS3 Flow, PS4 Escape Plan and a whole mess of semi-private PC and 3DS gaming.
  • As dinner time approached a good idea turned ugly as we attempted to get four Dual Shock 4 controllers connected to a laptop via HDMI to play the hilariously fun “Lethal League“. The entire exercise was, um, “problematic” and athough it did work, basically, for a short time it was abandoned pretty quickly.
  • Now – because why not? – they’ve decided to play “Adventure Time: Explore the Dungeon because I DON’T KNOW!” on the Wii U.

(I’ve been informed that I may have missed the point of the fund-raiser. I don’t think so.)