Parents and Movie Ratings

July 09, 2017 / Roger Edwards

Movie ratings in the UK are overseen by the British Board of Film Classification. A movie legally requires certification to be shown theatrically or released on DVD or Blu-ray. Ratings are governed by guidelines that have been determined through public consultation, expert advice and peer review. In recent years the BBFC has become a measured, informed and progressive body that broadly reaches appropriate decisions that are mainly agreed with by cinema audiences. UK ratings, unlike their US counterparts, are exclusionary. Films rated 15 or 18 prohibit the admission of those below that age. With regard to home media, it is illegal to rent or sell DVD or Blu-ray discs rated similarly.

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categories / Movies, Parents and Movie Ratings

Running Around Shooting Things

July 08, 2017 / Roger Edwards

I took advantage of the current summer sales and pre-ordered the next instalment of Call of Duty, succinctly named WWII, due to be released in Autumn. After straying far from the established model, it’s nice to see CoD returning to its roots. The Second World War is a tried and tested formula and will no doubt be well received by fans of the franchise. As I have said before, COD is not a revolutionary product and as far as I know has never claimed to be. It provides a standard formula with sufficient variation, which is commercially viable and demonstrably popular. Those gamers that constantly rail against these games are on a hiding to nothing. You might as well complain about pop music being mainstream and accessible.

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categories / Gaming, FPS, Call of Duty, Battlefield, Running Around, Shooting Things

What’s My Age Again?

July 07, 2017 / Roger Edwards

As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, I am a child of the seventies. I was born in late 1967 so my most formative years were from about 1973 onwards. I really don’t remember a great deal of things prior to the age of five. Does anyone? Now the thing about the seventies is that in many ways it was a transitional decade. It had one foot in firmly planted within the post war socio-economic and cultural norms. The other was set in the new era of societal change that came about during the Sixties. Hence, I was raised with a mixture of both old school and modern values, ethics and ideologies. I believe these have provided me with a broad spectrum of “soft skills” (a term I abhor but it serves a purpose in this instance) that have been beneficial.

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categories / Editorial, Politics, What's My Age Again?, Generational Divide, World View

Mrs. Brown, You've Got a Lovely Daughter (1968)

July 06, 2017 / Roger Edwards

I was channel surfing a while back when I stumbled across Mrs. Brown, You've Got a Lovely Daughter, a feature film starring none other than Herman's Hermits! Now I was aware that after the success of the Fab Four's A Hard Day’s Night and Help, several popular bands tried to follow in their wake. The Dave Clark Five made Catch Us If You Can (directed by John Boorman) and there were numerous vehicles for Cliff Richard. But apparently, Herman's Hermits were signed to MGM records in the US and it was standard marketing practice to make at least one feature film vehicle for their bestselling artists. Apparently, this included Hank Williams, Connie Francis and Roy Orbison although I’m not familiar with the movies they made. Hence there’s nothing really that unusual about this film’s existence.

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categories / Movies, Mrs. Brown, You've Got a, Lovely Daughter

Skyline (2010)

July 05, 2017 / Roger Edwards

When I first saw the initial trailers for Skyline, I was not overly impressed. Once again, here was a film that appeared to offer a great deal of spectacle but was there any substance? Would there be a good script, engaging performances, likeable characters? Call me old fashioned but I do consider these to be important attributes to any film. Well I finally caught up with Skyline, in the comfort of my own lounge, an environment that is often more forgiving that the cinema itself. As I suspected, Skyline turned out exactly as I predicted and once again I was left thinking "so what?" It’s an all too common refrain these days.

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categories / Movies, Skyline, Science Fiction

Train to Busan (2016)

July 04, 2017 / Roger Edwards

The horror genre has more than its fair share of bad movies. It’s the nature of the beast (no pun intended). Films of this type can be made quickly and cheaply but have the potential to make a tidy profit. Therefore, they attract not only burgeoning talent but those bereft of any as well. Furthermore, traditional formulas work, so any new innovative production is often followed by a wealth of copycats and knockoff films. To say that the genre is self-plagiarising is an understatement. Yet, from time to time, horror movies can surpass mainstream cinema with regard to social commentary, satire and intelligent adult narratives. Look no further than Dawn of the Dead, The Thing and The Descent if you want three solid examples. Horror is a versatile and malleable genre that can facilitate great stories and reflections upon the human condition.

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categories / Movies, Horror, Train to Busan, Zombies

World War Z Unrated Cut (2013)

July 03, 2017 / Roger Edwards

World War Z Unrated Cut runs seven minutes longer than the theatrical version of the movie and contains "intense footage not shown in theaters". The material consists of more violent alternative takes of existing action scenes and features mainly CGI effects work. There is no additional plot, although there may be some nominal changes to dialogue. Overall the unrated cut is an improvement over the theatrical print in so far it offers a more traditional zombie movie experience. However, compared to other examples of the genre, the unrated version of World War Z still remains relatively sedate in terms of violence. The movie focuses on the scale of the zombie outbreak, rather than the visceral mayhem of a George Romero film.

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categories / Movies, World War Z, Unrated Cut, Horror, Zombies

LOTRO: High Elf Preview

July 02, 2017 / Roger Edwards

I was more than a little surprised when Standing Stone Games announced the addition of a new race coming to LOTRO. As Elves are already a popular option in the game, I really didn’t see any merit in adding a subtle variation of them, with High Elves. However, as I had time this weekend, I thought I’d take a look at the new introduction for this race, that is currently available for preview on the Bullroarer test server. Like all races in LOTRO, there is a bespoke opening quest line, that orientates players and provides a degree of lore and backstory. Although aspects of the High Elf race are yet to be completed such as the character visualisation, the introduction is in place and has a rather unique narrative compared to the rest of LOTRO.

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categories / Gaming, LOTRO, MMORPG, High Elf Preview

LOTRO: Mordor Preview

July 01, 2017 / Roger Edwards

I decided to take a look at the second Mordor preview today, that is currently available on Bullroarer test server. Due to technical issues, I could not initially log into the game. The game client stuck at installing “pre-reqs”. However, by the evening SSG had resolved the problem and I managed to successfully login and copy my level cap character from Laurelin. Access to Mordor is via a teleport horse at the Slag-Hills. As with Helm’s Deep and the Battle of the Pelennor fields, this system of transitioning between multiple phases set at different times, can be a little confusing. Irrespective of this, it was rather droll of SSG to have Boromir as the NPC that bestows access to the Mordor quest line. I subsequently spent several hours touring the region. This post is specifically about my initial impressions of the area and is not a critique of all the new features and systems.

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categories / Gaming, MMORPG, LOTRO, Mordor Preview, Build 2

Classic Movie Themes: Mackenna's Gold

June 30, 2017 / Roger Edwards

Mackenna's Gold is a perfect example of the Western at its most decadent. Made at a time when the genre was becoming increasingly tired and facing strong competition from the Italian market, Hollywood decided that the way to renew public interest was to turn everything up to eleven and turn the Western into a multimillion dollar spectacle. The movie cost Columbia Pictures $14 million in 1969 and boasted an all-star cast, as well as action and special effects. However, it was not a smooth production and the studio seemed to get cold feet prior to its release. The Three hour running time was reduced to one hundred and twenty-eight minutes, leaving the final cut feeling somewhat uneven. Overall, the public were indifferent and the box office takings were low.

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categories / Classic Themes, Movies, Mackenna's Gold, Quincy Jones, Jose Feliciano, Ole Turkey Buzzard

Gaming and Semantics

June 29, 2017 / Roger Edwards

Language is an evolutionary thing. It changes over time, reflecting the needs of the culture that use it. Furthermore, each unique sub-set of society seems to create and utilise its own bespoke lexicon. From business, science, politics, religion, to sports and other leisure activities, all use terminology that is pertinent to their own group. Overtime some of these terms crossover from one niche to another to eventually find broad mainstream acceptance. It is a fascinating process and one I think has accelerated in recent years due to the growth of social media.

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categories / Gaming, Gaming & Semantics

Dark City: Director's Cut (1998)

June 28, 2017 / Roger Edwards

There are many directors who have cut their teeth working in the music industry. They have often fashioned their cinematic style and technique from the music videos they’ve made. Unfortunately, I am not a fan of this school of movie making. McG, for example represents to me the epitome of style over substance. I also detest this current trend for fast editing. It may well be pertinent for the music industry but I believe it is to the detriment of the narrative cinema. But there is one director from this background who has risen above his roots and exhibits true creative talent and a fundamental grasp of film. Alex Proyas, director of The Crow and I, Robot.

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categories / Dark City, Director's Cut, Movies

Secret World Legends

June 27, 2017 / Roger Edwards

Writing a lengthy article as to why you don’t like a game is often a bad idea. It seldom makes for a good post unless you are humorous or have a cogent point to make. Often all the anger, bile and vitriol can be distilled down to the following. “I wanted X and they (the developers) gave me Y”. Its a simple question of differing expectations and personal taste. Well that is what we have here. Simply put, the changes made to The Secret World in its transition to Secret World Legends are insufficient for me to change my overall view of the game. Specifically, I still do not like the combat system and find the UI esoteric and unintuitive. It is easier to play the game now so theoretically I can soldier on to see the narrative that I previously missed. But I still have to endure an unsatisfactory fighting style to do this and that is a big enough hurdle for me to possibly conclude “it’s not worth it”.

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categories / Gaming, MMORPG, Secret World Legends

Apollo 18 (2011)

June 26, 2017 / Roger Edwards

A fundamental requirement of cinema is that the audience suspends their sense of disbelief. Anything that breaks this will immediately has a negative impact upon the viewing experience. There are many things can severe this connection but the two most common seem to be obvious plot holes and Scooby Doo behaviour IE “Let’s split up…”. If these are the result of simply poor film making, then they can perhaps be forgiven. Every director has to learn their craft. However, if these two factors are present by design, then that is an unpardonable sin. Assuming that your audience is stupid, is insulting and the worse sort of hypocrisy.

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categories / Movies, Apollo 18, Science Fiction, Found Footage

PVP in MMOs

June 25, 2017 / Roger Edwards

There has been an interesting debate this week about PVP in MMOs among several of my fellow bloggers. Syp AKA Justin Olivetti wrote an article for Massively OP referencing “gankbox culture” of EVE Online which then garnered a series of reciprocal posts from the likes of Bhagpuss, Jeromai, UltrViolet and Wilhelm Arcturus. Good points have been made by all but I think Bhaggie hit the nail on the proverbial head when he said that the term “PVP”, like so many in the gaming lexicon, is ill-defined. Player versus player can manifest itself in many forms, such as duels, arenas and zerg against zerg. Some games do offer an open world were players can be preyed upon or “ganked” but it is usually regulated to some degree. However, the thing that came out of this discussion that was of the most interest to me was why some people dislike PVP so much?

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categories / Gaming, MMORPG, PVP

LOTRO 10th Anniversary: Remembering LOTRO Part 2

June 23, 2017 / Roger Edwards

When reminiscing about LOTRO, there are many personal highlights for me to consider. Raiding in the Rift, completing the epic story in Shadows of Angmar, or even getting my first mount. Yet, if I had to pick a personal favourite experience, it would be the great charge across the River Anduin, into Mirkwood. This happened on Gilrain server on Monday 25th of Janurary 2010, the night before Siege of Mirkwood expansion was launched. An enterprising player by the name of Mikeemoo arranged the event via the forums and at the designated time a hundred plus players assembled on the Western bank of The Great River. Once the signal was given we swam en masse to the Eastern shore and swarmed up the bank into the woods. As the zone was not yet accessible the developers had placed NPCs in the vicinity; Mirkeves Fell Arrows that could one shot any player. However, due to the sheer number of players in the zerg and the resulting lag, many made it across. Eventually the server kicked everyone but it was immense fun while it lasted.

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categories / Gaming, LOTRO, MMORPG, LOTRO 10th Anniversary, Remembering LOTRO #2

Godzilla (2014)

June 22, 2017 / Roger Edwards

Gareth Edwards directing debut Monsters, was a clever, subtle and genuinely moving human drama that just happened to be set against the background of alien lifeforms in a quarantine zone. He also managed to imbue the monsters of the title with a sense of depth. They were intriguing with their bio-luminescent communication and curious vocalisations. They were not simply an arbitrary MacGuffin and hinted at something far more complex. I was therefore very surprised and pleased that he has managed to maintain these qualities in his second feature film Godzilla. Despite being a massive studio undertaking his reboot of the classic franchise has a depth of soul that you seldom find in such mainstream material.

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categories / Movies, Godzilla, Creature Feature

Pacific Rim (2013)

June 21, 2017 / Roger Edwards

At first glance Pacific Rim may appear to be yet another exercise in Hollywood excess. Another bloated, vacuous spectacle made by cynics who have no other motive than to part the unwary cinemagoer from their hard-earned cash. Fortunately, it is not one of those movies. It is big and certainly visually impressive but it also has a plot, likeable characters, a global overview and a sense of integrity regarding the genre it lovingly references. In every respect, this is a superior example of the summer blockbuster genre and it can all be attributed to the unique talents of Guillermo del Toro.

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categories / Movies, Pacific Rim, Creature Feature

The Expendables 3 Unrated Edition (2014)

June 20, 2017 / Roger Edwards

The theatrical release of The Expendables 3 in 2014 was severely hamstrung by the producer’s decision to court a wider audience with a PG-13 rating. The film although profitable, still fell short of its predecessor’s box office taking. Many fans of the franchise subsequently looked to the DVD and Blu-ray release to provide a harder cut of the movie, similar to the previous R rated instalments.

Sadly, this was not the case. The Expendables 3 Unrated Edition does include some additional action content and one new expositionary scene but overall there is nothing that radically improves the film or makes it stronger in content than the theatrical release.

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categories / Movies, The Expendables 3, Unrated Edition, Action

Messing About in Boats

June 19, 2017 / Roger Edwards

“Believe me, my young friend, there is nothing - absolutely nothing - half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats.” Kenneth Grahame. The Wind in the Willows.

It's curious the way a simple aspect of a game can resonate with you and become a source of pleasure. Regardless of the availability of new content, I still like to log into LOTRO on occasion and just ride around Middle-earth. Similarly, the vast open world of Skyrim has a comparable appeal. Despite my lack of driving skills, even aimlessly cruising around Los Santos in GTA V can be a source of relaxation. I can lose hours indulging in these simple tasks, quietly reflecting on either the game or the real world. Recently I returned to another activity that can also be added to this list. Sailing in Two Worlds II.

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categories / Gaming, Two Worlds II, Sailing