Primeval series 1 episode 2 review

Here's what you need to know; Conner gets into trouble after spilling the beans on the Anomalies to his nerd friends, but a more pressing matter arises when a subway worker is attacked by a creature in the Underground, the team investigates, and finds an entirely new threat that has made itself at home in the abandoned tunnels, one that has a stingy trick up its sleeve.

This episode takes a different approach to the first one, swapping the Forest of Dean for the middle of the city, and swapping the open and expansive woods for the dark, tight tunnels of the Underground, this translates to a very different tone to the first episode, while the first went more for a mood of wonder and mystery, this goes in with the effort to make your skin crawl, and it does it's job for the most part. I'll say the creatures in this episode are far more interesting than the ones from the first episode, as is the place they comes from, which you, surprisingly, never actually see in this episode, there's that element of mystery, a world from which giant spiders and centipedes scuttle is surely one to behold. As for the giant bugs, yet again the effects are a bit of a mixed bag, looking better on their own, but the interactions between them and the characters looking surprisingly bad, at times even laughable, by that I mean a soldier swatting a giant spider off his friend's back, and clearly just swinging at thin air where a bug will eventually be added in post. The creatures are also more interesting looking than the Gorgon from the first episode, with their pincers and their scuttling; the Arthropleura in particular is very menacing and cool. The stories on offer here are, however, weaker than the first episode in my opinion, it's cute how Conner has a crush on Abby, and I understand that it's intended to be awkward, but he comes on a little strong in this episode, in some ways it works, it is clearly meant to be cute and awkward, and it is awkward. The side plot with Abby having a crush on Stephen is less cute, and the situation's burnout conclusion really makes it all feel a bit pointless. equally as pointless feeling is the side plot of Conner getting in trouble after going on an anomaly goose-chase, like the Abby crush, it ultimately leads to very little by the end of the episode, other than Conner finding a new respect for security and Cutter finding a new respect for Conner. The main story that brings these loose threads all together though is good, with the anomaly in the Underground and the new security threat posed by an army of giant venomous bugs. And the mystery of Helen is only deepened here, as she makes another ghostly appearance and delivers another cryptic message. The only thing here that I feel was an improvement here was Lester, who, while getting less screen time, gets to flex his sarcastic and cynical muscles again, and that's always cool. And this episode plays more with the relationship between Cutter and Claudia, planting a predictable, but never-the-less interesting seed.

All in all, while this episode definitively has more shortcomings than its predecessor, it makes up for that with an unsettling new setting and creatures, and an interesting story with said creatures running loose in the subway, and while some side plots amount to very little, that central story and the enigmatic side plot of Helen makes this an episode that's just as interesting to watch, definitely worth watching.

The Bells are blueing

It's about that time of year again, so I went down to my local bluebell wood to see, and take pictures, of the first signs of the coming summer, by which I speak of the explosion of green and the blooming of Bluebells absolutely everywhere. It was an interesting walk for sure, I met a couple of fellow snappers, one of which I met about 6 times as the path circles back on itself a few times, and my favourite bit, I met the County Fungus Association, which is every bit as riveting as it sounds, it was a group of old people gathered around a fallen tree, cutting out mushrooms and staring at them through magnifying glasses, it was cute, it that weird, sad kind of way. And I took a few pretty nice photos, not nice says me, but rather my fellow snappers, who took the photos quite positively. The Bluebells aren't at their bluest yet, but they're still pretty blue, and I got a few decent shots of them, but there were a few types of flowers scattered round the place, and mushrooms, including a bunch of white ones I also took some photos of. And the strangest thing I took photos of, and the strangest thing I found in the wood besides the County Fungus Association and a storm drain I nearly broke my neck trying to get close to, a bunch of streams and puddles where the water is bright orange, they've always been there, but this year there's far more of them and they are much, much more orange, I don't actually know what causes it, but it makes for some colourful photos, enjoy.

Lego Star Wars Poe's X-Wing set

At last, one of the bigger sets I have acquired in the Blitz, an X-Wing, specifically Poe's Halloween coloured X-Wing from The Force Awakens, not just a movie I love, but a vehicle I love, the X-Wing is cool, and, as it turns out, this one is cool too. Setting me back about £60 and taking a surprisingly short amount of time to build, 90 minutes, the set of course includes an X-Wing, as well as a mini vehicle and 4 mini figures, now let's go.

First up, the X-Wing itself, it looks really nice, the black and orange compliment each other really nicely, and the design is both pretty in keeping with the look from the film, and cool on it's own, with the technique used to build the nose a specific example of the interesting way this thing came together, the ship is thin and pretty light weight, for its medium size, coming mostly from its wing span and length, with that should come concerns about structure, but that isn't the case, I recently had to pull this thing apart to do some cleaning, and the wings put up a fight, it's an impressively ridged design for its shape, and it comes with some playability, of course. The X-Wing comes with a pilot, a pilot that can be sat in the cockpit with a hinged canopy and room for the minifig inside. That pilot happens to be Poe, so you also get a BB8, who is identical to the one that come with the Millennium Falcon, and he, as you can see, has a snug little spot above the canopy. The forward landing gear has 2 cogs, allowing it to be put on a flat surface for display. The wings have guns on them, represented both with idle rod pieces, and some smartly placed spring missiles, and on either side of the cockpit, the X-wing also has stud shooters. But the best feature is the one I left for last, it being and X-Wing after all, the S foils can be locked into attack position, how it does this is a mechanism I believe previous X-wings sets have also used, but this is my first, a piece on the top can be rotated, in turn rotating a mechanism inside which in turn rotates 2 pegs on either side, between the wings, this wedges the wings into their X formation, and they are held firm by rubber bands wrapped around the engines, which also hold the wings level when they are not in attack position. My explanation is more complicated than the mechanism inside, but I really like this mechanism, it's clever, and it makes for a very nice look in both modes.

Like I said previous though, this set comes with an additional vehicle, which I can only assume is a hanger assistance vehicle, and it is not even remotely as interesting as the X-Wing, a tiny little thing made mostly of yellow, and with room for 1 driver, as well as room for a mini figure or whatever you see fit that takes up a 2x2 space, as well as a chest on the back and side storage for spare missiles and random tools. I speak ill of it, but it is a cute little thing, just something that really isn't terribly interesting, a accessory the set didn't really need, but it does go quite well with the little ladder you get, which serves more of a purpose, and gives the assistance vehicle more of a purpose on it's own. Now, finally, onto the mini figures, and I'll start with the 2 I've already mentioned, Poe and BB8, Poe is a pretty cool figure, having a very nice, if standard, torso print, and a fitting head print, complete with a standard X-Wing helmet, only in Poe's unique colours. Something that does bug me about this mini figure is the lack of a hair piece, yes, the helmet is nice, but in all honesty I would at least like the idea of the figure also including a hair piece, should you/me want to display him with other mini figures, with a hair piece. The BB8 is the same as the one from the Falcon, which isn't exactly a problem, as it means he's every bit as adorable, and he's of equally high quality, with the same great head and ball prints. The other 2 mini figures are more generic, a generic X-Wing pilot and an alien, the X-Wing pilot is straight forward, with a standard torso print, and a generic head print and a pretty cool helmet too. The alien however, I am personally not as interested in this mini figure, like the Jawas and the guy from the Falcon I can only assume is Iko Uwais from The Raid, While the figures themselves aren't bad, they're just not all that interesting, and are more likely to randomly populate my Lego ships display as apposed to being in a separate figure display, another troop in the army.

All in all though, this is a really great set, the star of the show is the brilliant X-Wing, with tons of playability and a nice design and look, and 2 really cool character mini figures, even if 1 of them isn't new, the accessories are far less cool in my opinion, but they don't really bring the set down in any way, the set would still be an absolute must buy with or without them, because from my perspective, this set is a must buy.

Primeval series 1 episode 1 review

Spoilers ahead for Primeval.
Here's what you need to know; 8 years after his wife vanished without a trace, Scientist Nick Cutter finds himself drawn to the place of her disappearance by reports of a giant monster in the area, but what he and his fellow scientists, hunters and government agents find is something none of them could have imagined, something that challenges their very understanding of reality.
Since Thunderbirds is currently off the table, and I feel I've been lacking in posts, I am starting a new series of reviews. Not considering that I never finished series 9 of Doctor Who and Game of Thrones comes back at the end of the month, I went for yet another show I loved as a child, but one I'm rockier on, a little sci fi drama on ITV called Primeval, so let's dig in.

This episode starts out in a very interesting fashion, providing no context or background as a woman is chased though an ASDA car park by a Gornonopsid, it's admittedly a very intriguing opening for a new series, and as you'd expect, 10 year old me loved it. Looking back, the effects are pretty damn dated, more on that later, but the intrigue and mystery of the series is brilliantly established in this opening. As most TV series' do, this one focuses on several characters, Nick Cutter however is more or less the main character here, and he's cool; being a scientist in a very typical university teacher way, but his back story with his interest in archaeological 'anomalies' and his missing wife are pretty interesting, and at one point in the episode, when he begins to show his true intentions with these 'anomalies,' his character becomes a lot more interesting in my opinion. Stephen Hart is less interesting, serving as the hunter of the group, tracking down the Gorgon and having his little moment of badassary in a chase with him and the Gorgon.  Connor Temple was always one of my favourite characters in the series, and now, as a young adult, I find I relate with him the most in this crew, a slightly weird, moderately sad little nerd who struggles with the ladies; only thing is he's a lot Wittier and funnier than me, another reason to like him though. He very quickly develops a crush on Abby Maitland, a cute zoologist and reptile expert who has her own reasons for being in the area, in addition to being cute, she's very smart with the reptiles, and her little side plot with the mysterious flying lizard, while largely forgotten about as the episode goes on, is a good introduction to her character. Really the characters who leave the smallest impression here are the government agents, Claudia Brown and James Lester, and even then, Lester is cynical and sarcastic, so I like him. Claudia is probably the flattest character here, not really contributing to the episode in a sizable way or having any interesting characteristics. Supporting characters are about as flat too, the soldier that accompanies Cutter towards the end of the episode is just a typical army veteran body guard, and the dumb dino loving kid, who is a recurring character in this episode, gets somewhat annoying as the episode goes on. A very interesting character however, who has no dialogue in the episode and only really appears twice in the whole episode, is Helen, Cutter's wife, her character and the story with her and Cutter is one of the most interesting stories in this episode, as both of them have their agenda, but while his is to find his missing wife, hers is more ambiguous, open to interpretation.

Primeval has a decent line up of characters, and the story on offer here is equally as decent, each character, to an extent, has their own story and goals, as you'd expect, but the overall story of this episode is a fascinating one, and it's one that I will try not to go into too much detail on, but I can't really not go on about the Anomalies. These things are awesome, and can best be described as portals, linking our time with another. Something that really lends to their coolness is their design, which is as mesmerising and divine as it is violent, basically looking like a floating cloud of broken glass, I'm sure that's a very deliberate choice given their nature of being holes in time, their interesting design various properties create a surprisingly grounded interpretation of what is essentially time travel, but the subject of anomalies brings us onto the effects. Let's be blunt, it's a TV show about dinosaurs, so, with the show coming up on 10 years old, how do the effects hold up, not well, the vast majority of the creatures here are CG, and while it has times of looking decent, it has its moments of looking utterly laughable, while it's an admittedly minor distraction to the interesting story and characters, it's definitely something that's noticeable, The Gorgonopsid is a good example of the effects not holding up, while Rex and the other creature still look decent for the most part. I also like the way the creatures are set up, Rex is adorable, and the reveal of the other big creature is done very well, the only one I really don't get is the Gorgonopsid, who is shown literally in the first few seconds of the episode, for the episode to then get all mysterious with this monster we've already seen is a bit weird, personally what I think would have been more interesting is if they were more reserved with the Gorgon, which would have made the very effective scene with Abby seeing the monster far more effective.

But overall, episode one of this series is very good, it sets up it's cool and interesting characters very well, and establishes a fantastic overall story of mystery and monsters with some really cool sciency stuff, the effects are a very mixed bag, and some of it has aged pretty poorly, but it's a minor distraction from this well done introduction to the series, Primeval episode 1 is definitely worth watching.

Godzilla Resurgence trailer thoughts

And so, much to my surprise, Toho released another trailer for their upcoming Godzilla reboot, known over in the west as Godzilla Resurgence, this is a far more interesting trailer than the piece of crap last one they released, which showed none of the characters, no Godzilla at all, and featured a Godzilla roar that I assumed wouldn't actually be in the film. But with this trailer, we actually see Godzilla himself, as well as the film's special effects, and some of the characters.

Let's cut to the chase, this trailer actually shows Godzilla. and I feel I no longer need to hold judgement on the 'radiation burns' the leaked photos showed, now we can see quite clearly throughout this trailer that not only are they more extensive than the pictures suggested, but they glow. I actually like that more as I think about it, that last Godzilla movie where he glowed was one of the best ones Toho ever produced, and it goes quite well with the fucked up look of the guy, having the same raw, un natural texture he had in the leaks. But the way this trailer portrays Godzilla is very inconsistent. the first thing we see of him is a close up of his face as he roars, in which he's very animated, moving in a way that's very comparable to the Legendary Godzilla, the effects look great in this 1 shot, though it's clearly all CG as opposed to the CG suitmation hybrid they'll probably be going for in the film. The roar is also a peculiarity, it's another classic roar, and while I like it, I don't think it matches the new Godzilla look, there's custom Godzilla roars on YouTube that I think fits this design far better, it being a more monstrous design, I expected a more monstrous sounding roar. Again though, I doubt he will actually sound like that in the film, I'll bet he will have a more monstrous roar, one that either isn't ready, or that they're holding close to the chest. The very next shot is equally good and equally as animated, a low angle shot of Godzilla's tail sweeping some rooftops, similar to Gareth Edwards' portrayal of the monster, I think that very effectively conveys his size. But then we see a shot of Godzilla that's more conventional, and he is far less animated, in fact looking almost robotic, this looks more like the CG suitmation hybrid I was expecting, but it's also a confirmation of my biggest issue with the leaked photos, his arms are completely pathetic, they're tiny. I really hoped that that would change from the leaks, and it hasn't, and I now like it even less. On the plus side, I've very much warmed to his ridiculous neck. And, now for some hard awesomeness, for me a big part of the Godzilla is his spines, and this Godzilla has some great looking spines, they really do look great, stunning, even. But an issue I didn't expect to have is the tail, which is ridiculous; the tail really is stupid looking both in its length and in its girth. It looks like some kind of compensation, it's so enormous, and I don't like that, like the tiny arms, it just looks funny. back to the inconsistency however, what worries me now is the film will be inconsistent with Godzilla, having times when he's entirely CG, moving in a very animated manner similar to Legendary, but it will then have hybrid shots where he moves far more robotically, these things won't go well together if they go this route, and that does strike me as a possibility.

 The rest of the trailer is equally mixed in my opinion, consisting largely of the film's characters talking, but having no dialogue, while these dialogue scenes look cool, the lack of talking makes them feel a bit hollow in the trailer, and the lack of motivation or story in this lack of dialogue is an issue I have, other than that though, the rest of the trailer stands out to me for its cinematography, which looks very interesting. There are some very interestingly haunting shots, such as a shot of a road packed with cars and people running at night, a beautiful shot of presumably one of the film's characters standing in the wake of Godzilla. And a completely haunting landscape of the city with Godzilla on his rampage, which, in addition to highlighting one of my biggest issues with the new Godzilla design, is just a spooky and brilliant shot. And the trailer also goes out of its way to show a bit of action, with the Japanese military mobilising and attacking Godzilla, with a very familiar looking tactic of just lining up a few hundred tanks and building a fire wall against Godzilla, this is cool to look at, not just because it's tanks, but because Toho has, again, become more creative with it's camera shots, including a great shot that I included as my taster image, and a very cool shot of a rotating tank turret firing at Godzilla. The music in the trailer is pretty good though, being pretty standard, but also fitting the tone of the trailer quite nicely, since the film looks to be going for a more grim, grounded take on Godzilla, more in line with films like the Original Godzilla, The Return of Godzilla, and Legendary's recent reboot. I tend to like those more serious Godzilla films, so that makes me happy. All in all this is a far better trailer than the one Toho released in December, but I still have my issues with it, I like the new look of Godzilla, but then those arms still look crap, and now I don't like the tail, I like the new effects and the CG suitmation hybrid, but I fear the inconsistency this could lead to. The rest of the film looks good, and my issues are probably limited to the trailer, like the lack of motivation or story. But I still like the look of this film, and I still have confidence in this new Japanese reboot.

LEGO Star Wars Carbon Freezing Chamber set

This is yet another smaller set with a retail price of about £20 and a build time of about 20 minutes, but unlike the Wipeout looking Interceptor, this set is A from a film I have seen, and B from a specific scene from that film, the very famous scene in which Han Solo is frozen in Carbonite. And for some stupid reason I turned this down when I snagged the escape pod and the Takodana sets, it only took me about a week to rectify my mistake, that said, let's go.

So first up, this set comes with 3 mini figures, and I'll start with the 2 I find the most unimpressive. The Han Solo figure isn't really what I had in mind when I wanted a classic Lego Han Solo, while he is based on his appearance in The Empire Strikes Back, his 2 faces are neutral and frozen, and his torso is a simple vest, the decent print aside, the figure serves more as an accessory to a gimmick than it does an actual figure, I'll get to the gimmick later but for now, the figure does have storage, in the form of a concealed platform underneath the far left segment of the set, with can hinge outward to expose said storage. the second figure is an alien I recognise from the film, but otherwise know nothing about, he is cooler than the Solo figure though, with a more interesting torso print, and a very cool head sculpt with good detail and printing, he also comes with the shorter, non poseable legs. That just leaves the real reason I got the set, Boba Fett, while I never really understood the insane love people have for the character, I liked the look of the character, and if I am to start acquiring a large accumulation of Lego Star Wars, Boba Fett isn't exactly something I can over look, next up is Yoda.  But this figure is really cool, it has an excellent amount of detail in the torso print, as well as a great print on the legs, the helmet looks awesome and has equally good prints to the torso and legs, and his cape looking thing is also cool, the figure just has a great look to it. And now to the set itself, which I think is helped a great deal by the orange accents in terms of its look, they give it a real glow, but other wise, aside from 1 really cool feature, the structure isn't all that impressive. as already mentioned, on the far left there is a compartment for storing a mini figure, on the right segment there is also a lift, which can be positioned up an down and is held in place with a technic ball. but the most interesting feature by far is the Carbonite block, with as you can see, has a mold of the Han Solo figure frozen in it, what you can't see is that on the back, it is open, and has enough space for a figure and handles to hold one in place. Ideally you put the Han figure in there, then pull and rotate the technic ball on the front of the set, lowering the block into the 'chamber' itself, then rotating it, flipping the figure compartment for the frozen Han. Me explaining it isn't as cool as the mechanism itself, which is really simple, yet really cool, and it's a clever piece of engineering.

This little set would be pretty unremarkable were it not for 2 really awesome components, while 2 3rds of the minifigures aren't that interesting, the 3rd 3rd is superb, and may just justify the set on his own if you're looking for a Boba Fett like I was. Just like the mini figures, the largely unimpressive structure, while still having some cool colours on it, is completely saved by a very cool piece of playability and clever engineering, this is a pretty cool set overall, and I'd recommend it for sure.

Star Wars Rogue One trailer thoughts

So, Rogue One has a trailer, finally, and I, as you'd predict, was very excited to see not just what comes next in Star Wars, but to see what Gareth Edwards does next, him being the director behind the recent reboot of Godzilla, a film I love. This is an interesting Star Wars film for a few reasons though, in addition to the new vision from Edwards, it'll be interesting to see a new story in the Star Wars world, especially one with such significance to the original trilogy, but that to my knowledge has never really been explored. And now the first teaser trailer has arrived, a trailer that probably changed how my colleagues look at me when I sat in the canteen staring at my phone screen eager for the video to load like some ecstatic child on Christmas. So what do I think, in a nutshell, I think Rogue One looks awesome.

Let's just cut to the chase, it looks like Star Wars, not just in the very cool looking classic StormTroopers, but in the CG, which looks incredible, but the ships still look like the models of the original trilogy, it's nice that even when using CG, they went to that level of respect. And, something Gareth Edwards proved in Godzilla, is that he can portray size and scale very well in film, and he does it here. The Death Star, which you obviously see in this trailer, looks huge and menacing, and the final big sequence of the trailer, with everyone running on the beach and the ATAT's shooting at them, they look huge, and it looks like a war. There's another thing this film trailer does, this looks grittier than the original trilogy, or even The Force Awakens, while those were arguably more about the adventure, this film just looks like a straight up war film, me being a fan of war films, I don't mind that at all. I can't stress enough how much I love that shot of the ATAT's on the beach, they look huge, and it's threatening. Back to the grit though, yes, The Force Awakens had big explosions with flying debris and Stormtroopers, this film looks like it will be more vicious than The Force Awakens, with this trailer also showcasing hard hitting melee combat. It also looks like this film will show a more tyrannical and oppressive Empire than we saw in the first trilogy, which is, again, something I don't mind. The Characters look like they'll be interesting too, Jyn Erso, while looking less interesting than Rey, is probably still going to a character I'll be prioritising a Lego of, same with Forest Whitaker, and this is just a teaser, so the character's entire story and development won't be here, but I like it so far. And the music, I like the new bwowm sound, because it sounds very Star Wars, and it lends very heavily to the tone of this trailer, and I generally don't have a dislike for the soft piano versions of classic themes yet, though I know some people do.

Another short trailer thoughts post, not like I do them very often, but this is a trailer that gets me very excited to see the more gritty, violent, and political take on the original trilogy, which this film looks like, I like the classic look, the new characters, and I love the direction from Gareth Edwards, this film looks like this going to be great.

Thoughts on Body Language & The Male Gaze - Tropes vs Women in Video Games

Sometimes I wonder if I'm a masochist, after all, every time Anita shits out a new Tropes video, I sit down and watch it, out of some misplaced obligation, of which I have many, but most of them don't make my head hurt, this one does. That's right, Anita Fem Freq Sarkeesian has released a new episode in Tropes vs Women in Video games, this time tackling another sexist issue of our time, the Male Gaze. Story time, I've had some experience with this Male Gaze, and Laura Mulvey, in fact I wrote an essay on her and her theory, yep, because my expertise in cinematography and editing and sound mixing apparently mattered less than some feminist theory that just reeked of agenda driven bullshit, apologies to my media and film teacher, but micro analysis and critical theory was a waste of valuable time and effort. And now that's addressed, let's dig in, it's going to be juicy.

Ok, let's get going, Anita, you conflate video game control with body language, never mind then that body language is a far more complicated and nuanced thing than simply a well timed jump, these are 2 completely different things you are describing, why? More over, yes Anita, body language is in fact a very powerful form of communication, you can learn many things from body language, but what relevance does this have to a video game, how a character jumps is not going to convey a message in the same way body language will, again, these are different things, but like all things, they can, as you say, reinforce gender stereotypes, because you know, everything is sexist, everything is racist bla bla bla. Oh the irony of your destiny point tho, look, Anita, you admit that the female and male characters are treated almost identically, yet you're going to point out an inequality, it's 1 thing, how they sit, now, Anita, I did say body language is an important part of communication, but here I think you're looking too hard, it's 2 characters sitting down. Yes, she's sitting down like the little mermaid, but Anita, have you considered that this may just be a reflection of what the developers know, that's where game devs' expression comes from for you isn't it, but men and women don't sit the same, men have higher centres of gravity, and some sensitive parts that they need to accommodate when they sit down, how ironic, you're making the man spreading argument but this time the problem you have is women. A character's animation and movement is indeed part of their character, as apposed to how they jump, but Anita, I know Catwoman's coming, have you considered that Catwoman's sexy hip sway is part of her character, have you not considered that it's her expressing something about herself, by the way well done for your points on Ninja Gaiden and Uncharted, it's almost like you do understand the significance of body language in communication, even ignoring your conflation of jumping and body language. And there goes the spark, in comes the Presumed Straight Male player bull again, I actually love how you say this, given that gaming has a huge and diverse audience, yet we can always safely assume that it's a straight man playing these games, then you can say he's doing it for sexual pleasure, rather than, I don't know, getting intimate with their lover or firing up the Pornhub, something most people do as an alternative to sexy videogame gals. Hey, I called it, Catwoman, and again, you ignore your own point about body language to argue her butt is sexualised, to which I refute, sexy and sexualised are not the same thing, and I'd consider Catwoman's sexy hip sway as a part of her character, especially given that when she isn't shaking dat ass, she's on all fours like a cat or crawling on a ceiling, you know, because it's a video game. And as for Resident Evil, yes, Anita, people move when they walk, they aren't robots, their body moves to do things like keep balance, or move forward, something most people tend to do while walking. And oh how I love your use of Saint's Row as an example here too, Anita, it's Saint's Row, I know you think video games "intentional or not, always express a set of values, and present us with concepts of normalcy" but it's Saint's Row, I'm not sure you've even played the game because it's not really expressing a concept of normalcy, in fact you can just go to the clinic and just completely swap your sex, does that sound normal to you?

Anita, men walk like normal human beings, and so do women, I'm sorry, but they're not the same, women and men have distinct physical differences, and they are reflected in the way they walk, sure, not all women walk like runway models, in fact, most of them don't, which come to think of it kind of makes your point redundant, because clearly in this case art is not an accurate reflection of life, and Bayonetta, again, if this 'issue' you have was so rampant, surely you'd have other, more high profile examples, and here's a surprising fact, Bayonetta's character was designed by a woman, for some reason I feel that that kind of blows a hole in your logic. And Anita, tell me, how does a vampire move, it's just, I've never seen one in person, so tell me, how does a vampire really move? Well done, immediately following your comment about vampires you blow a hole in your own argument by admitting that some women do walk with a hip sway, but let me guess, women shouldn't be wearing high heels in combat, in video games because life and art are interchangeable for you or something, no, it's apparently rooted in "sexualised aesthetic pleasure" over believability, unbelievable, but again, concepts of normalcy. And now for the part that hits a bit of a nerve with me, Mulvey, Laura Mulvey, Anita, by your own admission, it's a theory, and more over, it's a dumb one, must we assume that all visual media in the world to be structured around a male viewer, even movies like Twilight, or Sex and the City, or the countless paint by numbers romance movies out there, like Dear John, or Safe Haven, or The Longest Ride, or The Notebook, Anita, the theory of the Male Gaze is bullshit, I know, I've studied it. as evident in your next point, perspective of the stereotypical heterosexual man, Anita, what the fuck is that? are you on about technicals? camera angles, lighting, camera movement, clearly not, so are you on about visuals, are you on about Marilyn Monroe's legs, because Anita, I have news for you, men aren't the only people that like looking at women, women also like looking at women. Why would so many women's beauty product adverts feature women, because women like looking at women, with that in mind, why the fuck is it called the male gaze, I have a feeling I know why, after all, we're talking about Muvley here. And swinging it back round to video games, Lara doesn't have much of a choice crammed into that tight space while trying to climb up a rock wall, and again with the Bayonetta, give it a rest, find another example if they're so rampant, it shouldn't be that hard. And now for another spin on the subject object dichotomy, another feminist dead horse that can be refuted with very little brain power, and I think there's more to the relationship between men and women than men look and women are looked at, you misogynistic creature.

No, Anita, the male gaze isn't a rule, it's a theory, a very wobbly one, and by your own admission again, the male gaze isn't just limited to men, so, again, why the fuck is it called the male gaze, huh Mulvey, oh, sorry, Anita, again, I think I know why, and you said it yourself when you introduced this idea. And now for the juicy bit, equality isn't the answer, says Anita, the way to end the non-existent male gaze isn't to create a female gaze, because Equal opportunity sexual objectification isn't the answer. Oh isn't it, so why are men sexually objectified so much, Gears of War, God of War, Resident Evil, Conan, it's almost like the argument you're making doesn't account for the fact that men are sexualised in games if women are, so are they both sexualised, or are neither of them sexualised, you can't have a double standard. Oh but double standards are fine because they are not the same, one is oppressive and damaging for some undetermined and unspecified reason, and the other reinforces nothing, makes perfect sense. oh here we go, lack of clothing and big guns is power and strength, Anita, I dislike you enough as it is, I don't need to know about your sexual fantasies. And finally, men express personality traits in body movement, yet women don't says Anita, why, is it because women are incapable, you misogynist, is it because women are nothing but sexy play things for men, you misogynist. At least you're not a paedophile too, because yes, a 14 year old girl in a video game doesn't walk with hip sway, and The Last of Us, oddly enough, is actually a very grounded game that takes itself and it's story and world very seriously, so of course the less grounded, more fantastical elements of games like Bayonetta or Resident Evil aren't there. And of course, the path to equality is paved in extending human rights to video game characters, recognising their agency and their feelings, because again, they're people too, not just lines of code in a machine. Well done Anita, you've carried on the tradition of pumping out complete bullshit and misinformation in the hopes of what, forwarding your agenda, slandering men, slandering video games, unfortunately you have failed again, you just come across as a misogynist, again, people don't like you because you're a lair, not because you're a poor, persecuted woman, or an out spoken women, you are a bullshit artist and a lair, and that's why.

Lego Star Wars Obi Wan's Jedi Interceptor set

A little set that, like many of it's size and price, about £20, took about 20 minutes to build, and it was, to be fair, an interesting build, to let's go. First up, oddly, the minifigures, a younger ginger Obi Wan from the prequels, and I must confess, I have yet to see the prequels, fortunately that means I have dodged a bullet, if word of mouth is anything to go on, and I can look at this figure as a figure, and I think he looks cool. I like the simpler torso print, still being a pretty cool, and getting the look of robes right. Minus the headset on his head print, I like the head print too, and it goes well with that very orange hair piece. It does bother me though that there's a headset on the print, yes he comes with a jet, so reasonably he would have a headset, but I personally see it as a detail the figure would have benefited from if they skipped it. the Droid figure is pretty cut and dry, being the same figure as the R2D2 in the escape pod set I reviewed a few weeks back, and therefore the same R2 unit Lego has always done, but with a different colour, one more matching of the Droid the wiki says Obi Wan has in the Prequels, again, to my shame. I personally like this little gal more than the Obi Wan figure, perhaps purely because it's a droid, and I like the droid figures, and I like the crimson colours on her. much like I love the crimson colours on the interceptor itself, the colour, as well as the exposed studs gives this set enough intricacy to be passable for looks without stickers, of which this set includes a few. and I really like the design of the wings on the Interceptor, me quite liking the look of the racers from the Wipeout series, it really reminds me of that futuristic, antigravity racer design, which is what I thought when I first saw it, and it's what I think now. thankfully, the cockpit also is a printed piece, and there is room inside for 1 minifigure to boot. in addition to that, this set has firing string missiles, that at pretty well hidden away on either side of the cockpit, while still not being blocked or obscured, I know, I shot myself in the face with one after taking the above photo.

All in all I very much like the design, colour and look of the Interceptor itself, and I like the playability that it comes with, cockpit with seat and missiles. And while I'm less liking of the minifigures, I still have no major issues with either of them, aside from the headset print. similar to the escape pod set, I fell this set may be redundant for many people, myself included oddly given how I haven't seen the prequels, but I like the design and look of the jet too much to say that, this set ain't bad.

10 Cloverfield Lane movie review

Here's what you need to know; after a nasty car wreck, Michelle wakes up in a bomb shelter of all places, and is told by Howard, the shelter's owner, that the world above has been attacked, and that the surface isn't safe. But Michelle and her fellow bunker dweller, Emmett, grow suspicious of Howard, and his real intentions for keeping them in the bunker, and not knowing if he's truthful or insane, they begin to plot their escape.

This film's introduction isn't something I expected, a subtle, dialogueless introduction to the life of Michelle, in which we see her leaving her boyfriend, and then the car wreck; which is to the soft subtlety of the introduction what a baseball bat is to your face. Now as ever, on to the characters, and there isn't exactly a large selection of them here. Michelle is someone you instantly gravitate to, a character who's emotional and afraid, but equally as smart and resourceful, and she's played by Mary Elizabeth Winstead, which is never a bad deal. As the film goes on we learn more about her character, but not in a forced, expositional way, in a way that flows and works with the rest of the film. Emmett is similar, as the 2 interact and become friends and we learn more about him, and he has a lot of the likable qualities that Michelle has, he's no fool. and then there's Howard, who is scary. I really mean that, he's huge, he's looming, and the guy just gives off bad vibes, like he's walking the line between reasonable, decent guy and full on psychopath, his mere presence in screen is one of the most unsettling and disempowering things I've seen in a cinema, and I mean that, most of the scenes he's in are racked with tension, but it isn't the kind of tension I value in things like Thunderbirds, it's a far more personal, anxious tension, it's difficult to describe, but while it's something I adore about this film, the anxiety really does bother you, and in a psychological thriller like this, that's perfect. This is also another film that doesn't feel long, it being a film about 3 people stuck in a bomb shelter, it could very easily have been boring, but instead the time is taken up by legitimate moments of character, and heart stopping anxiety, and the plot moves at a good pace, with of course, some twists and turns along the way, I would give a specific, but A I don't want to spoil the film too much, and B there's too many to choose from. Including 1 big twist at the end of the film that you know is coming, a twist that is interesting, but I am not sure weather to like it or not. which finally brings me onto subtlety, while the film has it's louder, more intense moments that make you want to hide from John Goodman, there's a lot of littler things that work just as well. As I said to my friends after seeing the film, it's more ambiguous elements aren't like the side plot syndrome Batman v Superman died of, because while that film was messy, this one is deliberate, subtle, it tries to get in your head, to make you feel the claustrophobia and anxiety and at times even shock, and it completely nails it.

This is a really short review, but this is a film I don't really know how to explain, there's something about it that really bothers me, and I love this movie, I legitimately do love it. It's a slow, subtle, anxiety filled thriller that succeeds in making you really uncomfortable, and it's deeper elements of which the film obviously has some are food for thought. The ending does, in some ways, feels at odds with the rest of the film, but even then, it's interesting and tension riddled, perhaps even just as nightmare educing as John Goodman, who is one frightening mother fucker in this film. 10 Cloverfield Lane is an absolute must watch.

The Interview movie review

Here's what you need to know; Dave Skylark is a big TV personality, his celebrity talk show raking in millions of viewers from across the globe, but Dave and his producer Aaron Rapaport get the chance of a lifetime when it turns out that the Supreme Leader of North Korea is a fan of the show, and is up for an interview. Things aren't that simple however, as the CIA gets involved with a mission for the TV face and his producer, to assassinate Kim Jong-Un, an undertaking just as dangerous as it sounds.

This film has a comically suiting introduction, with a scene in Pyongyang with rocket launches and a little girl singing about death to America. Then we are introduced to our 2 mains, Dave and Aaron. Both characters are played up brilliantly by their respective actors, James Franco and Seth Rogan, Dave is a moron, the face of the TV talk show, and possibly the dirtier of the 2 mains, saying and coming up with some golden stuff, if you like really crude, tasteless comedy. But he'd be crap with nothing to bounce off, and in comes Aaron, who comes in a close second to my favourite character in the film. He is the more serious of the 2, being more of the brains behind the show to Dave's face, but he and Dave bounce off each other really well, and the 2 have some great scenes. He too however produces some great laughs, often of an equally low level brand of comedy to Dave, as well as a funny romance with Sook, a propagandist from North Korea who is a member of a brewing Coup, she's a pretty interesting character on her own, but like Dave, she's at her best with Aaron. Lacey is less interesting than those 3 however, while still funny at times, she's got the least screen time of all of them, and spends most of the film in the CIA control room, there's a running joke in the film that starts with her character, and it's one of many running jokes in the film, it's also the funniest. Then there's of course Kim Jong-Un, the point of the film, and I'll be honest, Kim Jong-Un in this film is great, of course they take the piss out of him, and I love things like how he has a huge collection of supercars and a love of Katy Perry, things you would never expect of the leader of a communist state, that's clever shit. North Korea in this film is a character all it's own, and it's done in a very clever way. As Kim Jong-Un makes efforts to fool Dave, the film is basically one big propaganda piece pretty much, it's like Peace Village but for the entire film, and it's done in a very obvious manner that get's its desired response, everything's fake, and that's also clever stuff. The Plot is about as self explanatory as you'd expect, 2 people going to a very dangerous place to kill a very dangerous man, with the added room to play of it being North Korea, but aside from the plot to kill the Supreme Leader, there really isn't a lot going on in the film, this really isn't a bad thing, because for a film coming up on 2 hours long, it doesn't feel long, it's not bogged down by any needless side plots.

This film didn't have the biggest budget, and it's fair to say you can tell in the effects, they're not terrible, far from it, some effects look great, while others just look ok, not that it's a very effects heavy movie, aside from the 3rd act and the very earie North Korea backdrops, the Pyongyang skyline for example, or the isolated, monolithic mountain compound where most of the film takes place. Where this film excels is in the comedy, I'm no arbiter on comedy, or anything for that matter, but from time to time, I like a good comedy, and this is a good comedy. The jokes are admittedly not the smartest in concept, but in execution they are usually brilliant. and while some jokes are funnier than others, me and the friend I was watching this film with never really stopped laughing at the jokes, some even had the pair of us laughing out loud. The only joke I can remember that didn't work was one of the running jokes in the film, while it would have been funny if they did it once, the fact that they do it multiple times in the film kind of drags it down, and when it comes to a head at the most pivotal moment of the film, it just feels out of place, and by that point it just wasn't funny. on the subject of that pivotal moment, while this film has a really funny first and second act, the third act is something else, ramping up the action and bringing everything to a head in a way that really works. The comedy is still there, and it's still great, but now there's explosions and guns and a down-right vile scene in the control room. This is, of course the most effects heavy part of the film, and as already stated, some effects look good while others look great, and the action is fun to watch, culminating in an oddly poetic and completely badass finale. The third act is easily the best part of the film, it really is when I stopped liking this film and started loving it.

I really enjoyed The Interview, is it the smartest comedy ever, absolutely not, is it really a good political commentary, to be honest, at times, and it has some great characters and some side splittingly funny, albeit dirty, comedy. When things all come to an end, the action is fun and violent, the comedy is still funny, and it really does become a more enjoyable film as you watch the stupidity unfold, I'd very highly recommend The Interview.