On The Move!

Been on the move today! Almost no time to post! Sick kid, self-imposed deadlines, "free" microsoft points, Dragon Age anticipation, Deck Building and Heroes catch-up. Considered posting on each of these topics, but you'll just have to pick your favorite and guess at what I might have said because I'm OUT OF TIME!!

Happy Halloween! (Not For The Easily Queezy!)

Battlestar Galactica: The Plan (Movie Review)

Battlestar fans have been waiting for this direct to DVD release in hopes of getting one more fix of the Battlestar they loved so well. Did it come through? Sure! Depending on what you were hoping for.

BSG is known for several storytelling elements: Action sci-fi battles, human emotional drama, philosophical/social commentary and unraveling mystery. The Plan has a fair dose of all of these, but certainly seems to exist for the latter. Not that it sets up the mystery. The series did that. Producers admitted that despite the claim that the Cylons "have a plan" at the beginning of every episode, they did not pay off that idea as well as they should have in the series. So "The Plan" exists mostly to remedy that.

The movie takes you through some major events of the series, weighing heavily on the first season, and intercuts old footage with new to give you a "behind the scenes" look at the Cylons during major BSG events. A few questions are answered that may have gnawed at hardcore fans (like who Caprica 6 was talking to after Baltar walked away from her outside waaaay back in the mini-series), but the revelations are by no means important for casual BSG viewers. While adding an additional layer to the series, The Plan falls short of the magnificent "Razor" DVD release.

Special effects were equal but no better than the series. A tiny shame for a DVD movie release, but still wonderful if viewed with a TV show in mind. The opening chapter presents another look at the attack on the Colonies, which is very well executed and gives a much stronger idea of the hopelessness humanity faced against the Cylons. They have never appeared more unstoppably destructive.

I didn't hold out hope that "The Plan" would answer the questions that SHOULD have been answered at the end of the series and weren't, but it would have been nice to have a more interesting philosophical theme than "love outlasts death", which ultimately comes across as an ethereal, insubstantial statement in its execution here.

What fans will enjoy is a MUCH deeper look at John Caval, the first model of human looking Cylons. Dean Stockwell does double duty carrying this movie, as the plot focuses on two model 1's and their different internal journey's regarding the Cylon agenda. Although Stockwell was not given exceptional material to work with, he is fascinating to watch.

In the end, this is a BSG story that has little focus on the cast you watched the show for, but has some enjoyable action/sci-fi/effects sequences and adds new layers for your second or maybe third time through the series on DVD. Although it does deal with some philosophical themes, they are not focused enough to come through and be worth discussion afterward unless you're especially looking for a topic over coffee.

Hardly the best BSG, but definitely something fans enjoy seeing and many will want to buy.

Quality: 8.0/10

Veracity: 7.5/10

"Pilgrim's Progress"!

Okay, I usually don't talk about my work stuff here, but it's not often I release a new project either! So I hope you'll indulge me...

It is my pleasure to announce the release of Spirit Blade Productions’ latest audio drama, “Pilgrim’s Progress: Similitude Of A Dream”!

Based on the classic allegory by John Bunyan, this re-imagining retains the rich layers of philosophy and theology contained in the original, while repackaging it in the form of a mythical fantasy adventure. Monsters, magic, danger and discovery all await your ears and imagination! The epic story of one man’s journey may just be your story as well!

To listen to the trailer, get more information or download it now, visit www.spiritblade.net!

Blood: The Last Vampire (Movie Review)

Although I've seen the Japanese animated flick, "Blood: The Last Vampire", and I remember enjoying it, that's about all I remember. So it obviously didn't make a lasting impression. But when I saw a trailer for the live action re-make of the original movie, I knew I wanted to see it. And I'm glad I did, despite the fact that the live action version will probably be almost equally forgettable to me.

The story centers on a Japanese half-demon(vampire) girl who has been alive for hundreds of years, hunting the vampire that killed her father. In this story, she goes undercover, in service to a secret vampire hunting organization, as a high school student on a US military base in Japan. It seems this was done to bring more Americans into the script, which does help make the film more accessable. Most of the film was written and filmed in English, with subtitles appearing for Japanese language sequences.
Despite this, the movie suffers from the same kind of weak acting normally associated with dubs of anime. Nothing is outrageously bad, but the script and characters (especially the scenes in the school) are 2-dimensional and performed artificially.

The fight scenes are spectacular, however. Lots of wire work and cool slow motion that Matrix and 300 fans will seriously dig. It's been awhile since I watched a movie with martial arts fighting as enjoyable to watch as this was.

On the downside, the action can get a little far-fetched at times, especially in one fight scene near the end, where a character's strength and determination to fight and live results in emotional detachment for the audience, as he appears to lose 3 gallons of blood before showing any signs of fatigue. I was reminded of some of the old classic kung-fu movies where people get stabbed all over and it seems to have little effect on their amazing motor skills. Maybe that's normal for Asian audiences, but it was too odd for me and kept me from genuinely fearing for his life.

There is also some embarrassingly bad CGI in this movie, and it unfortunately occurs most often when representing the biggest, nastiest vampire of the bunch. They switch between a bad rubber costume and what looks like graphics from a video game. The CGI blood in combat sequences wasn't as bothersome to me, but it still looked very fake.

Some CGI near the end looked very good, however. In a final battle, our hero faces off against a being with flowing 15-foot lines of cloth constanting floating around them, which looks really cool.

In a classroom scene near the beginning, Mary Shelly's Frankenstein is being analyzed, and the subject of God enters the conversation. The teacher asks a student at one point if they thought God is like an irresponsible parent, abandoning his children. The student changes the subject and we never get to see where that might have gone, but it's clear the writers are playing with some significant themes. Or at least they planned to before cutting the development of those ideas short. There is also a subtle subtext relating to the nature of evil within us, but it isn't given much time in the story.

In the end, this is a cool action flick, briefly marred now and then by some bad CGI, with a few short philosophical moments that are clearly present but undeveloped. If you're looking for some cool fighting eye-candy, check it out. Anything beyond that and I'd recommend passing on this one or paying no more than a buck, as I did.

Quality: 7.5/10

Relevance: 7.0/10

www.spiritblade.net/paeter
www.spiritblade.net/podcast

My PC Is My Friend

I've decided that having a computer is like having a relationship. My PC is like a close friend or family member. It doesn't always make sense or communicate with me. Sometimes it just does what it wants to do, when it wants to do it. It may consistantly act one way for a little while and then have a major personality shift because of some event in its life that it hasn't told me about yet.

Sure, maybe it's just sick now and then. Naturally, I can fix the issue if it's a virus or registry error or I just need to defrag something. But I'm talking about the other times, when those tricks won't work. In those moments in our relationship, I've discovered that I just need to figure out what it likes and doesn't like and try to work around that. It doesn't want to be analyzed and picked apart. It doesn't want someone who is always trying to "fix" its problems. It just wants to be treated gently and with respect. Which I can do. Until I kill it.

"Magic" Back From My "Graveyard"

For the first few years that my wife and I were married, we were really into "Magic: The Gathering". I was especially. In addition to buying a bunch of cards all the time, I found an old computer game that simulated card matches for "Magic". It was alot of fun to play, but before long we had new computers that were not compatible with this old software. (And no, backwards compatibility tools were powerless to help me.) So I had to stick to real cards and real matches. But a lack of competitive nature, lack of funds, and lack of playing partners (my wife lost interest) led to me retiring my cards to the back of a closet, where they remain to this day.

But last week I got a little itch to get them out again. After looking through the cards, I was reminded of how I really don't like the competitive aspect of the game. But my interest was stimulated enough that I stumbled upon some user-made compatibility software online that would allow me to get my old "Magic" computer game out again and play it on XP!

So although I won't be buying any more cards and will have to make do with a set amount of them to play with in this game, I'm geeking out again over "Magic: The Gathering"! And it doesn't cost me a dime!