There goes free time

Ah, the games of yesteryear. Weren't they so much better than the games of today? No, no they weren't. And to prove it, you can play those really old games!

The Console Living Room is a project by the Internet Archive to bring all those old 'console' games back to life. Where 'console' is things like the Atari 2600, the Magnavox and the Coleco. Never heard of them? Can't say I'm surprised. Me, I first started with actual programmable machines like the ZX81, but I was aware of these beasts.

Ah, but such games. I can remember things like Mario Bros... Joust... Rampage... Donkey Kong... (I'm not sure why there is no sound. Maybe just my browser?)

Of course, there are a lot of games I'd like to play from around then that aren't on the archive. Karnov. The New Zealand Story. ... okay, so that's two. But they aren't on there... yet!

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Giant!

This is another kickstarter item, a comic called Giant! Which is ironic as the comic is about the size of A5!

This is a rather short version of a typical story whereby 'young chap who flubs everything does good'. The main character is a lot of a goof, but is an alchemist... and there's a small problem in the story where he has some potions, but it's never explained what they do. Somehow they help? Anyway, there's a giant that turns up, so they need to deal with that.

I can see this being an easy Saturday morning cartoon, and it's a decent enough story, but does feel rather short. The drawing style is nice, and simple but effective and easy to read expressions. The characters are cute enough, and my copy of this book has the Gargoyle as a special image (although he's got my name wrong).

I don't know if you can get this elsewhere, but worth reading if you can get it simply.

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Triton!

I meant to talk about Triton earlier, after reading volume 1, but seems I forgot. Hey, means I can talk about volume 1 and 2! Anyway, this was the original point of the kickstarter.

Triton is a man of the ocean, but starts off in human society. However, he drawn to the ocean, and, by the end of volume 1, is pretty much returned to the sea. He has something of a girlfriend, but must fight the ancient Atlantean clan, headed up by Poseidon. First, he must take out the children of Poseidon before forming an alliance with Poseidon... or does he?

It's amazing how sprawling this story gets while still only focusing on just a few people. And some of the characters are dolphins! (FUN-yaa!) Although I do wonder if there is a coloured version of this around, and one of the dolphins is golden, and represented by being white with glow lines.

The ending isn't one one would expect, but Osamu Tezuka doesn't shy away from outcomes while still keeping this being fantastical. Although I could do with the chapter sizes being standardised (how many pages do I need to get through?).

Good story overall, and glad I was a part of this.

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DW: The Time of the Doctor

They got the name of this episode wrong, and I'll hardly be the first person to say it: it should have been The Continuity of the Doctor. All those missing bits and pieces from the previous seasons we've been wondering about are brought up, and I guess answered in a way, here. And... doesn't that make it a crap Christmas special?

This is it! Hey, it's the origin of the Silence! Er... all right. It's the origin of the crack in time! Well, kinda... It's the origin of the question! Rather disappointingly... It explains the whole twelve regenerations thing! Except only us hardcore nerds ever cared about it. It featured Matt Smith in old age make up! Because if you are going to have a special, why not put your main lead in prosthetic make up for most of the time. (Yes, I know there are plenty of shows with leads in prosthetics, but they were designed that way!) It answered all those questions only us fanatical ones were answering...

...and no-one else cared about. Really. I find it highly unlikely that the general watcher, except on a casual basis, cared about the whole 'name spoken on the fields of Trenzalore' thing, and what not. In fact, this retcon episode makes for a rather boring story. Outside of exposition city, what happens in this episode? Not a lot! The Doctor goes to a place, and then stays there... and then the episode ends with a Deus Ex TimeandSpacia.

And how is it all solved? With sparkly regeneration effects, because we've now proved that regeneration energy is powerful enough to destroy whole Dalek ships! And if you must do a "remember all these companions" bit, at least go with an updated version of the end of The Caves of Androzani, instead of dragging it out like some show runners. And I will give them points for a quick change over of actor.

Aside from capping off the Eleventh Doctor, I doubt families gathering around the telly after Christmas dinner found this episode particularly thrilling...

Next Time: Well, we got us a Peter Capaldi, and a mad cap adventure I'm sure awaits!

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The non-Christmas Movie

I remember when I first saw Die Hard with a Vengeance, when I was with a friend who had already seen it, I said to him "I hope this doesn't take too long to get going." Boy howdy!

This, in many ways, is even more of a replicate of the first movie. There's a Gruber, there is stealing of money, there is a deception to make people think something else is going on... it's just like the first movie! But this movie, in other ways, is having even more fun than the first. The riddles to send McClane all over the place, getting Zeus involved so there can be more of a 'buddy' vibe to the movie, the uncovering of layers of the plot... the only real let down is that the ending feels like the very tacked on affair that it is.

Still, you got to admire Bruce Willis and Samuel Jackson in this. They have a great chemistry together. And Jeremy Irons kicks it up a notch with him evidently enjoying his role. Indeed, they were all having fun. And there are some impressive sequences (even if, again, the Mythbusters show some of them couldn't happen).

This ranks only just below the first in fun, and with plenty of action is a great entry to watch.

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The other Christmas Movie

It's set at Christmas for one obvious reason. Die Harder is simply the first movie redone. (I've read both novels the movies were based on. The first one had some changes, but was a lot closer than the second.)

We have would be terrorists again, we got us some big explosions, we got McClain running about the place complaining that this is the same movie again. I had forgotten about the other group of 'good guys' that turn up. Which, to be honest, really feels like a complication they could have left out. That whole scene with the Church battle could easily have been dropped without too much going missing. And the last explosion looks cool (even if the Mythbusters have proven it impossible).

William Sadler is looking good for a man of 40. Dennis Franz, although a cop, isn't completely retreading his role (which I haven't actually seen). Art Evans gets some fun parts to fill in, gets near action as well as expository. And, of course, we have Bruce Willis, with a higher quip ratio, and able to take out whole groups of guys when SWAT teams can't. Some scenes do push the credibility factor, but it's still all good.

Certainly not up to the first, or the third, this movie is far better than some entrants in this now series.

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THE Christmas Movie

If you are going to have a tradition for watching a Christmas movie, there is only one choice you can have. The one, the only... Die Hard!

This is the beginning of the everyman film. A cop from New York ends up in Los Angeles, at a party with his estranged wife, and ends up shirtless, shoeless and aidless as he takes on a European gang who have an exceptional thief for a boss. There's action a plenty, and even character growth, in this amazingly well crafted film. A hell of a lot of the dialogue is quoteable, and there are many performances to applaud, with, of course, the main plaudits going to Bruce Willis and Alan Rickman.

And I'm not one to go gaga over the music, but Michael Kamen does a wondeful job with the music score, with his arrangement of Ode to Joy. The perfectly time swelling as they enter the vault is masterful. And we even get a hint of the end song, courtesy of Al, before it shows up as a final cap to the movie.

I love this film, and it's one of my top ever movies of all time. Never mind the family classics, sit down and watch this!

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