Biggs' Zone

A Geek's Cogitations, Conjectures and other Cortical Experiences

MMT: Action/Adventure (July 2022)

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On August 9, 2022

In Monthly Movie Theme, Movies

July (2022) is Action/Adventure month for no particular reason. I wanted a month for Action/Adventure movies and July was available. I used to have genre statistics on my movie collection and I feel like Action/Adventure and Comedy are the top two. Suffice it to say I am a big Action/Adventure fan. In fact two of the movies on the list this month are in my Top 5. So without further ado, here are July’s selections:

  • Gladiator
  • The Rock
  • Walking Tall
  • The Losers
  • The Rundown

There are not many movies I know as well as I know all the Star Wars movies. The Rock is one of those rare cases where I almost know the movie line-for-line. Every time I watch it I am immediately taken back to high school. I enjoy this movie so much and still one of my all time favorites! RIP Sean Connery.

Bonus/Special Event Selections

If you live in the US then you know it’s the month we celebrate our independence. Therefore it’s only fitting that the special event movie for July is Independence Day starring Will Smith, Bill Pullman and Jeff Goldblum (to name a few). This is such a fun movie with many quotable lines, many of which I still use to this day (“must go faster”). I know there is a sequel, I have not seen it but I’ve heard it isn’t very good. Let me know, in the comments, if you’ve seen it and what you thought.

A “bonus movie” is a new movie that comes out on a streaming service. In this case the movie 1Up was released on Amazon Prime. It’s not really an action/adventure movie, but I had already watched my list for the month and I heard about it on a podcast so I decided to check it out. The movie is OK; you can click the link to see my review.

/cheers

Movie Review: 1Up

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On August 2, 2022

In eSports, Gaming, Movies, Reviews

1Up review

1Up

Starring: Ruby Rose, Paris Berelc
Director: Kyle Newman

My Rating: [rating=4]

I am a big fan of Rebel Force Radio (if you are a Star Wars fan, I highly recommend listening to them each week). During the July 15th broadcast Jason and Jimmy interviewed Kyle Newman and they talk about this movie. If you have seen the movie Fanboys then you are familiar with Kyle Newman’s work. First a quick synopsis then my 1Up review.

Vivian (Paris Berelc) is a “support” member of an elite eSports college team. After an egregious display of ego and male chauvinism, she quits the team. She forms her own, female only, eSports team with the help of Parker (Ruby Rose) to coach them against a male dominated industry.

Biggs 1Up Review

This is another one of those movies where it’s more like 3 1/2 stars but since the plugin doesn’t allow 1/2 stars, I generously gave it a 4. It is getting destroyed though on IMDB. So much so that I almost didn’t add the link to the website. I, honestly, don’t think this movie deserves so much harsh criticism.

I admit that it’s a little campy but I feel like it’s campy along the same lines as Fanboys. It’s not a unique plot. In fact this is basically the same movie as Pitch Perfect except using video games. The writers and director do embellish the actual game play a little bit, but I don’t think it ruins the movie. It’s a decent “David Denise? vs Goliath” flick.

Women and Video Games

Erin Brockovich - They're called boobs, Ed

During the first act it does, kind of, abuses the very stigma it’s trying to abolish. Paris Berelc is a “well endowed” woman and we see her frequently in a white tank top where her … “goods” are right in our face. Ruby Rose’s character even addresses the fact that, over the years, “boobs” sell video games. I feel like from that point on, however, Berelc’s wardrobe is a bit more modest. Perhaps that is on purpose.

The movie comes at a time where women are being challenged and/or ridiculed for wanting to feel welcome in a male-dominated industry. Especially on the heels of the Blizzard fiasco. It goes without saying that gaming and eSports has largely been tailored toward males for the better part of a generation. This movie challenges that and I’m on board with it. Women should feel welcome and safe in the video game industry. A penis is not a requirement for playing (or developing) MOBAs, MMOs and eSport games.

If you are a gamer and/or in the video game industry, then check it out. Keep an open mind but your expectations low. It’s not a masterpiece and certainly not as good as Pitch Perfect but I still enjoyed it (boobs aside). It does have a few subtle Star Wars references (not just the Jedi/Padawan reference, let me know if you catch it).

film_reel“The screen is a magic medium. It has such power that it can retain interest as it conveys emotions and moods that no other art form can hope to tackle.” 
– Stanley Kubrick

 

ICYMI: Official Andor Trailer

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On August 1, 2022

In Andor, Star Wars

I knew this had to be coming soon since it was originally set to be released at the end of the month. As you will see in the trailer, Disney pushed the release to September 21st, however we are getting 3 episodes on that date. I’m not surprised, to be honest. Disney has several new series launching soon and they were all going to overlap. I suspect they did this to spread things out a little more. In any event, here is the newest and official Andor trailer. Enjoy.

Now I’m Really Excited

This actually makes me more excited for the series. I am not going to do a trailer breakdown. If you are interested in something like that, I recommend listening to the Rebel Force Radio podcast. I’m sure they will be doing a breakdown this week or next.

What I may do later this month is a predictions post about this series, including characters I think may have cameo’s. Saw Gerrera was going to be one of the characters but I guess he no longer qualifies as a “cameo”.

Feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments.

MTFBWY

Kenobi Series Final Thoughts

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On July 19, 2022

In Obi-Wan Kenobi, Star Wars

Kenobi series

It’s been a few, quiet, solemn weeks since Obi-Wan ended. I was hoping to post this the week after it ended but I was on vacation and things became busy. However, the exciting news is Andor will be here in just under two months. I thought I would provide some final thoughts, talk about my favorite parts and perhaps address some of the criticisms.

Final Thoughts and Favorite Parts

If you’ve been reading my after show posts then you know that I really enjoy the series. If I have any “nits to pick”, they’re not many and I might get into those later. The years leading up to the release, and even before the first episode, I kept wondering what the story would be. We saw new planets in the trailers so we knew it wouldn’t take place solely on Tatooine. Honestly, I’m glad the story takes him off world, we just had an entire series take place, predominately on Tatooine.

The moment I recognized Alderaan I knew the one and only thing that could convince Obi-Wan to leave Tatooine is Leia. Vivien Lyra Blair is an amazing cast as young Leia, she made me believe she was a young Carrie Fisher. The best thing about this series is seeing that bond develop between Leia and Obi-Wan. It gives so much more meaning to the original trilogy and her excitement when Luke tells her he’s there with Ben Kenobi. It also gives more meaning to the sequel trilogy, when she names her son Ben. Also, the way she treats L0-LA is a testament to her trust in droids and the line “never underestimate a droid”.

This series ends by wrapping everything up nice and neat. Any loose ends, i.e. Reva, can be answered in future series but everything else fits well within current canon and lore. Personally, I don’t think we need another season. Granted I love Ewan McGregor as Obi-Wan and I could watch him everyday for eternity in that role. I think that’s the real reason fans are asking for more. However, we don’t need a second season just for the sake of a second season. The writing and story telling needs to be solid and thought out; they shouldn’t rush it.

A Few of My Favorite Scenes

This is already getting quite verbose so I will quickly cover a few of my favorite episodes/scenes. I don’t like to rank Star Wars but if I had to pick my favorite episodes, I’d pick Part III and Part VI. Granted I think all six episodes were great in their own way. Part III sticks out because of the confrontation at the end. Part VI sticks out because of everything in the episode.

The end of Part V is another one of my favorite scenes. The sheer ferocity of Vader when he pulls down that transport and rips it apart is terrifying. Then dueling with Reva without even drawing his own lightsaber is super cool. I think it’s a testament to Obi-Wan’s training.

Aside from Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christensen, the cast of Vivien Lyra Blair is, by and large, one of my absolute favorite things about this series.

No Part II

I was debating about writing a Part II where I address some of the criticisms but I have decided not to do that. This post is already two weeks overdue. If you enjoyed it, then I’m glad. If you didn’t like it, that’s all right too. I don’t think it’s necessary for me to justify or defend the series.

I’ll gladly have a civil discussion about it or write the second part if requested; but I’m not going to preach to anyone as to why you should like this series. I hate it when people try to tell me that I should hate something just because they hate it so I’m not going to do the opposite.

May the Force Be With You

MMT: Super Hero Movies (June 2022)

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On July 12, 2022

In Monthly Movie Theme, Movies

The Monthly Movie Theme for June is Super Hero Movies. I chose June for super heroes because it always seems like a new Marvel movie is released in June. However, I won’t limit the movie selections to just Marvel movies. In fact this year I focused on DC super heroes, specifically Batman. The inspiration to choose Batman movies comes from having watched The Batman earlier this year.

If you saw my Top 5 post a while back then you know that I would not have watched all of the movies. I just picked the movies that I think have the best portrayals of Batman, which are:

  • Batman
  • Batman Returns
  • Batman Begins
  • The Dark Knight
  • The Dark Knight Rises
  • The Batman

A New Top 5?

If you are familiar with all of the Batman movies then you may notice that the only movies I watched have Michael Keaton and Christian Bale. As I mentioned in my Top 5, they are my top two favorite Batman actors.

Since The Batman was my inspiration for the selection this month, I watched it again. I may go so far as to update my Top 5 Batman portrayals because I’m fairly satisfied with Robert Pattinson’s touch. I may not really care for his Bruce Wayne but the movie is called “Batman”, not “Bruce Wayne”. “BatDad” may be ousted from the list and Will Arnett may be moved down a spot.

There are not Special Event Movies for the month of June, at least according to my Geek Calendar. Although, we did celebrate the death of Internet Explorer, which was decommissioned last month. Perhaps that should be the day I watch Antitrust.

/cheers

Book Review: To Sleep in a Sea of Stars

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On June 23, 2022

In Book Review, Science Fiction

To Sleep in a Sea of Stars

To Sleep in a Sea of Stars by Christopher Paolini

My rating: [rating=4]

It’s been a while since I’ve written a book review. Sometimes, when I finish a book, I just don’t feel like writing a review. I want to immediately dive into the next book. This is especially true of books in a series. In this case I have some thoughts I felt like sharing.

To Sleep in a Sea of Stars is a long book. The copy that I read was over 800 pages, excluding the 20 pages of addendum content. Despite its length, I did enjoy this book. I never felt like I was struggling to get through it. It’s written by the author of one of my favorite fantasy series, The Inheritance Cycle.

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