Hot Heart

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014) As a huge turtles fan I knew I had to see this sooner or later. From what I'd heard, I was kinda hoping for something so terrible and campy that it's funny in its execution (Spider-Man 3, for example) but it disappoints in that regard. Although, Fichtner does a great job with some really stupid lines. "We're going to drain all their blood... even if it kills them!" Well, duh. The story and "reimagining" or whatever you want to call it is hecka dumb and bad, and if I thought about it, I could probably find twice the number of plotholes I spotted while watching. It does feel like maybe they did re-do the Eric Sacks as Shredder stuff, because that element is completely absent yet they still go for a face-off between Splinter and this nobody Shredder... with no context/weight/history between them. Fortunately, the origin stuff is handled in little chunks, although, like a certain other '80s property it puts the human character centre stage so you're waiting twenty minutes before your first proper introduction to the stars of the show. There is a sort of story, but it definitely feels rudimentary rather than revolutionary. That said, the effects and the way the characters come to life is highly entertaining. The actual designs of the turtles are still misguided, but the actors filling the roles do a great job. There's also a fair bit of humour peppered throughout, even if some of it is rather juvenile. Mikey's obsession with April is highly irritating (just like a teenager!) but also kinda messed up with how they've done the origin story and keep establishing her as family. Megan Fox is hot, we get it. Oh, and Will Arnett is great as usual; he needed more though. Also, the action was pretty neat in parts. Some of it's too fucking busy (but not Michael Bay busy) so you miss a lot of the nuance, but there's a real great sequence involving a snowy cliff that has an old school action film feel, albeit one tuned up to 11 thanks to the wonders that modern effects technology is capable of. Splinter gets to kick some butt, too, which is nice.

When you go grocery shopping, you get offered/given plastic carrier bags. Usually, they're free, although because of the environmental (and, likely, company cost) aspect some places charge for them to encourage reusing old bags or buying tougher, reusable shopping ones. Most places I know, don't, but Marks & Spencers charge 1p per bag. I guess everywhere in Scotland charges 5p.

Forgot about this. From when Ash weren't disappointing.

Invincible is fairly self-contained, from what I recall; it's just been running a long time. That collection would be a good buy though. Most independent comics would probably fit what you're after because they're not part of Marvel/DC universes so keep everything in one place. Probably all comes down to taste more than anything, really. I found Powers was a good series as well... which reminds me that I need to check out that terrible-sounding Sony adaptation.

(Or maybe this belongs in The Boob Thread?)

Yeah, I decided to give S2 a go and it's weird. Three episodes in, the Carrie stuff is really good but the Brody stuff is already becoming more and more ridiculous.

Watched the first season of Homeland. Really mixed feelings on it. It does some things really well... and then does stuff that makes me want to sigh. The episodes can be a bit all over the place in general. Mandy Patinkin is great though, and I think Claire Danes does well with what she has. I've seen people take the piss out of her 'cry face' which, sure, looks silly but is usually related to a manic episode so deliberately over-the-top. Not sure if I'll jump into S2 right away, and I think I've seen enough that the board game doesn't have spoilers now. Also cool to see Ray from Due South again. That guy's awesome, too. Reminds me that I should start The Shield, really.

Or comment, "That sounds terrible. What are you doing to help them?"

Wait, I thought this was being published by Activision. That doesn't make sense.

It's more like including Kingdom of the Crystal Skull in an Indiana Jones boxset. Sure, it counts, but it's NOT WELCOME.

The only sense I can make of it is like Two on the rocks = no drink specified, so just ice Bartender's enquiry sounds like he's asking if they're "too hot" But then the punchline should be "Yeah" This makes it sound like they've been complimented as hot but THAT ALSO MAKES NO SENSE. WHY DID YOU SHARE THIS WHO EVEN SAID THIS AAAAAAAGGGH

But tabletop games are so much more interesting than video games right now!

Saw it for a reasonable enough price, looks refreshingly different to all the other 'hidden roles' games I've seen and supports enough players for my group of friends. I've never even watched the show. ...I think I have a problem.

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I was aware that a lot of it was inspired by real history. I think I commented waaaaay back about how it was nice that an American show actually paid enough attention to have the northern characters played by northern actors or with northern accents. Still have no clue what Peter Dinklage's is though.

Calvary Was finally in the mood to watch this. McDonagh's previous film, The Guard, is fantastic and definitely one of my favourites; however, I already knew this was a very different beast. It still features a brilliant central performance from Brendan Gleeson and the same familiar Irish faces (along with some more well-known actors), but this is a far more serious film. Not to say there aren't laughs, but this is a moving examination of Catholicism; its strengths and its flaws, its hypocrisy and its value, forgiveness and faith. And all of it centred around, embodied even, by this one man. The film has an almost vignette nature, and an odd tone, but that's what emphasises the glue (or the shepherd) of the priest character. Definitely won't be to the taste of most, and it feels a little too 'written' in parts, but a moving watch.

Can't say I pay much attention to Eurovision, but it sounds better than most of the crap it usually churns out. Love the weird mash of elements, although I'm not very fond of that guy's voice... or that scat section.

Put in a bid on eBay, half expecting to win; turns out I did... just. I really dig the look and B-Movie theme of the game (you play aliens all invading Earth simultaneously), and seems like it might be good trashy fun. Will probably have to grab the expansion to make it five-player though.

Played some new games with friends. Billionaire Banshee Simple party game, a bit like those 'relationship' game(show)s. You pull a "Perk" and a "Quirk" which creates a potential life partner, like in the image above and then secretly decide if you would Date or Deny them. So, this imaginary person might have a chocolate island/own a unicorn pet/be able to transform into an ATV... but they have translucent skin/can never wipe their butt properly/speak only in spoonerisms, etc. Then everyone else has to work out what you've decided and give their reasons (hopefully, in a humorous way). Very simple, but works well with the right group of friends (and I got to make a bunch of terrible puns). It does feel somewhat overwritten, funnily enough, but that might be to justify some of the weirder 'perks' like "vomits cheeseburgers" (probably in an attempt to include more content since it was a kickstarter). Ninja Dice Cool theme, nice components, but this is marginally better than Elder Sign, and also competitive rather than cooperative. We played with a "Locations" expansion, which adds a little more in the actual theme department, but it simply picking some extra modifiers for your die roll to beat. The interesting thing is that there's some simultaneous die-rolling, with other players still taking part when it isn't their turn, and there are spatial elements to the die rolls too. This is with regards to being able to apply certain bonuses, or also allowing players to steal coins off one another, depending on which way they are facing in relation to other people's rolls. That said, it is a huge dice fest where one player can get incredibly lucky and just run away with it. It was only three rounds and pretty much decided after round one, which is a total bummer. Our Descent campaign is still going strong, although I feel really sorry for our overlord now. My warrior character has pretty much become the Terminator, who is incredibly hard to harm, and can cut through groups of enemies without much difficulty. That said, the rest of our hero team is a little underpowered/neglected, but that has more to do with the gear that has become available to buy or through quests. Every time it comes to a shopping phase, it's "Priority goes to these guys this time..." and then nothing worthwhile comes up for them. Anyway, we played a campaign involving goblins trying to make off with crops, which would somehow impact the next encounter depending on how many they took. There were four overall, and we would not let a single one go. It made the encounter last a good while, and it really did come down to a 1/3 die roll at one point, but we managed to deny the overlord completely (much to his frustration). I felt sorry for the guy, because he played well, but I think it made for the most interesting part, since it really required some coordination from us.

Lately, I've been speeding through the season of Brooklyn Nine-Nine available on Netflix (hopefully, S2 is up on the US one). The initial trailer didn't look great, and it hasn't proven to be a total hit, but it is a good watch. The real reason I got into it, is that it doesn't really require a great deal of attention while ironing (a lot of the gags are somewhat obvious but delivered well). Anyway, it's got a good cast with people like Terry Crews and Joe Lo Truglio in the more supporting roles, too. I think Melissa Fumero is great as well, and while I like Andy Samberg, I think that element could wear out its welcome in no time. That said, I'm pleased to see that it's not The Office format transposed into a police station (since it's by the same people), but there are familiar character touchpoints in parts. If you're a fan of that style of show, though, I think you'd enjoy it once it gets going.

"Works fine for me."

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