Thriller/Mystery/Horror, 97 Minutes, 2013
[Personal Note: my wife and I finished this movie and, as you’ll see, enjoyed it thoroughly. I began writing the review and, a short while later, learned that Anton Yelchin had died. Considering the subject matter of the film, this created some eerie sensations to say the least. He was a damn good actor and seemed like a damn fine human.]
Zombie alert!
See the review of “Rammbock” on our sister site, MoreBrains.com dedicated to all things zombie!
Comedy, 102 Minutes, 2016
A young man is on a path that he wouldn’t have chosen for himself. His passion for photography was abandoned to become a lawyer and follow in his father’s footsteps. His fiancée is controlling and demanding. He’s lost his way. If only there was a crazy old man who could slap him out of his complacency!
Drama/Thriller, 104 Minutes, 2016
This is said to be a sequel, of sorts, to 2008’s big budget found-footage, love-it-or-hate-it epic Cloverfield [IMDB]. If so, the connection is, to be generous, tenuous. The films are vastly different in tone, style and pacing and lack any obvious overlap. They are similar thematically, however. Both focus on small, personal stories occurring on the periphery of enormous, world-altering events.
Horror/Thriller, 97 Minutes, 2016
There’s a certain comfort to a classically staged horror story. An immense, ancient mansion in the English countryside, miles from the nearest aid. Is the daunting, wrought-iron fence keeping people out, or keeping… something, in? What’s hiding in the overgrown hedges, twisting corridors and shadowed corners?
After my initial disappointment and mid-game thrills with Uncharted 4, I completed the game. Having let the experience sit for a couple of weeks and allowing the adrenaline to fade, I can say without exaggeration:
Best. Game. Ever.
I’ve never experienced a better meshing of character, story, setting and gameplay. Others have come close and even surpassed it in one or more areas. “Mass Effect” had greater depth, but the ending marred the experience. The “BioShock” games brought the drama, but lacked the longevity and depth. Lara Croft may be responsible for some great experiences, but failed to ever show any real growth as a character.
This brought everything together.
[Spoilers Ahead]
Family/Adventure, 108 Minutes, 2016
Consider this: A movie radically changes its premise well over a year into production, with less than 18 months to release. To support this, a secondary character is promoted to lead and a new director is brought in to partner with the existing crew. All of this comes from a team of no less than 10 writers. The entire perspective of the film altered.
The question: is this movie is a hot, steaming mess?
Drama/Thriller, 99 Minutes, 2015
[Some films simply can’t be discussed without exposing something. This is one of them. They will be kept to a minimum, but there will be spoilers ahead.]
After my initial disappointment with Uncharted 4’s gi-freakin’-normous day one patch, I was actually able to play it. Since Tuesday, I’ve been able to put something over ten hours into the title and have reached Chapter 12 (of 22). Yes, I’m a 45 year-old man who took a vacation day from work to play a video game. I’m a growed-up and I wanna find pirate treasure, dammit!
In a fit of hubris, having earned Platinum trophies for the three previous games, I decided to start the game on “Crushing” difficulty. Having spent the last two hours failing to progress, I’m beginning to feel that this may have been a mistake.
[Spoilers Ahead]
Like many others, I took delivery of Uncharted 4 today. I got home from work, unpacked the very impressive Nathan Drake collectible statue, took a picture or two and sat down to dinner.
The collector’s set is very large, but rather sparse. The statue is the centerpiece and, at over a foot tall, towers over similar pack-ins from other games. The game, in a steel case, a small hardcover art book, some stickers and a small load of downloadable multi-player goodies are also included. It pales in comparison to the cornucopia of trinkets in the Uncharted 3 collector’s editions, but hey, it is a very impressive statue!
“The Boy” on IMDB
“He Never Died” on IMDB
