Front Page

Content

Authors

Game Index

Forums

Site Tools

Submissions

About

KK
Kevin Klemme
March 09, 2020
35144 2
Hot
KK
Kevin Klemme
January 27, 2020
20825 0
Hot
KK
Kevin Klemme
August 12, 2019
7405 0
Hot
O
oliverkinne
December 19, 2023
3967 0
Hot
O
oliverkinne
December 14, 2023
3497 0
Hot

Mycelia Board Game Review

Board Game Reviews
O
oliverkinne
December 12, 2023
2075 0
O
oliverkinne
December 07, 2023
2583 0

River Wild Board Game Review

Board Game Reviews
O
oliverkinne
December 05, 2023
2255 0
O
oliverkinne
November 30, 2023
2496 0
J
Jackwraith
November 29, 2023
3016 0
Hot
O
oliverkinne
November 28, 2023
1973 0
S
Spitfireixa
October 24, 2023
3692 0
Hot
O
oliverkinne
October 17, 2023
2625 0
O
oliverkinne
October 10, 2023
2461 0
O
oliverkinne
October 09, 2023
2289 0
O
oliverkinne
October 06, 2023
2505 0

Outback Crossing Review

Board Game Reviews
×
Bugs: Recent Topics Paging, Uploading Images & Preview (11 Dec 2020)

Recent Topics paging, uploading images and preview bugs require a patch which has not yet been released.

× Use the stickied threads for short updates.

Please consider adding your quick impressions and your rating to the game entry in our Board Game Directory after you post your thoughts so others can find them!

Please start new threads in the appropriate category for mini-session reports, discussions of specific games or other discussion starting posts.

What MOVIE(s) have you been....seeing? watching?

More
11 Jul 2018 10:17 #277303 by Erik Twice
Watched Antman and the Wasp. It's fairly by-the-numbers, it doesn't have the flaws of other Marvel films but it doesn't aim very high, either. It's simply well-made and has a good tone. I had fun, laughed a bit and enjoyed it more than my girlfriend who is the big Marvel fan. It is "skippable", but, hey, why skip it? It's fun

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
12 Jul 2018 16:21 #277412 by ChristopherMD
Split - Knew practically nothing about it going in. James McAvoy and Anya Taylor-Joy (girl from The VVitch) were both great. The final scene of the movie had me cheering out loud by myself. This is Shyamalan's best movie since Unbreakable. Really looking forward to Glass now and I haven't looked forward to his movies in a long time.
The following user(s) said Thank You: Black Barney, the_jake_1973, WadeMonnig

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
21 Jul 2018 18:22 #278071 by Ancient_of_MuMu
As I met my wife at a Rocky Horror midnight screening, after her death a few of us decided to get the band back together and go to the next screening which was last night.

The shadow cast had better props and more nudity than we we did back in the 90s, but I felt that we had more heart and fun with it. I thought that the Janet was particularly poor, but then it is hard not to be biased when you married a Janet impersonator.

I won the award for the audience member best dressed as Magenta. That is always a competitive category as it is a fairly easy costume to recreate that is sexy but not too revealing. My friend said that there were a couple of Magentas posing and sticking their tits out trying to be sexy and then they saw a six foot guy in a dress shorter than theirs and their faces just dropped.

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
21 Jul 2018 19:52 #278088 by WadeMonnig
Damn it, Janet, we want pics!

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
22 Jul 2018 10:03 #278119 by DarthJoJo
Caught Incredibles 2 yesterday. There’s a certain floor to the quality of a Pixar film, but I hate to say that I found it underwhelming. The animation was great, characters solid, the action brisk and fun, but the emotional core, the thing that makes Pixar a cut above, just wasn’t there.

The broad strokes are the same: parent goes off to live the super life, the other maintains the mundane, a secret is discovered, everyone comes together for the big punch up at the end. It feels like a rehash but could have worked, turning Mr. Incredible into the dad and Elastigirl into the hero, but there were problems. Elastigirl was too competent. Her conflict was all external, and it never felt like anything was underpinning it. I enjoyed Mr. Incredible’s story more though it was more boilerplate working-father-struggles-to-be-a-good-dad. It didn’t feel either like that theme peaked at the climax either. He just got better at parenting and then went on an adventure.

It’s fine, but I feel kind of bad saying I enjoyed Ant-man and the Wasp more when we get there plus Marvel movies a year and one Pixar.
The following user(s) said Thank You: Shellhead, SebastianBludd, Black Barney, Gregarius

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
22 Jul 2018 10:30 #278125 by Black Barney
I had the same level of guilt with Incredibles 2


I rewatched Call Me By Your Name a couple of nights ago. My uncle walked out, « what’s the point to this movie? » but both my aunts liked it. Maybe it’s a chick flick and I didn’t realize it. That final scene with the dad still hits me like a freight train.

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
22 Jul 2018 14:11 - 24 Jul 2018 16:22 #278138 by Shapeshifter
Call me by your name was my suprise of 2018.
A tremendously subtle and moving film.
The father/son sofa talk is such a stunningly written piece of dialogue.
What also impressed me aside from the level of acting presented here is the incredible detail in the sounddesign of the film.
In each scene there is a well above average attention to the texture of sound...creating a living and breathing enviroment.
While "Nebraska" is still my favorite film of recent years, this definitly hits my top5.
Last edit: 24 Jul 2018 16:22 by Shapeshifter.
The following user(s) said Thank You: Black Barney

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
22 Jul 2018 17:15 #278153 by Ancient_of_MuMu
I watched Clerks 2 for the first time last night. I am a big fan of the original, but have always felt that every other Kevin Smith film (with the exception of Chasing Amy) missed the point of Clerks and instead focused on the crude humour, and they all have been big disappointments. I have avoided Clerks 2 for a decade as I knew there was a scene with a donkey, so expected another flop for me, but finally thought I would give it a go last night. And I was pleasantly surprised, as it is probably Smith's 3rd best film. It managed to recapture the heart from the first film that was missing from his other work, and focus on what it is like to work in customer service jobs. The donkey scene was still problematic for me but better handled than I was expecting.
The following user(s) said Thank You: Gary Sax

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
22 Jul 2018 17:22 #278154 by WadeMonnig

Ancient_of_MuMu wrote: I watched Clerks 2 for the first time last night.

*stirs the pot* The King Diamond scene was better than any John Mayer scene could ever hope to be.
The following user(s) said Thank You: jay718, Black Barney

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
23 Jul 2018 08:27 - 23 Jul 2018 09:20 #278183 by charlest
Tau felt very weak and I ended up fast forwarding through chunks of it, not good for a 90 minute film. Someone described it as a combination of the OA and a Black Mirror episode - spot on. Doesn't come close to hitting the greatness of either though.
Last edit: 23 Jul 2018 09:20 by charlest.

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
23 Jul 2018 08:33 #278184 by hotseatgames
I watched The Belko Experiment. This is a dumb, dumb film. A multi-level office becomes the site for a social experiment that demands the workers to kill each other in a battle royale-style situation.

I'm sure that COULD be the setup for a good movie, but that's not what happened here at all. Avoid.

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
23 Jul 2018 09:53 #278188 by RobertB
My daughter took her mom and I to see Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom. It was a perfectly mediocre dinosaur movie. Through the whole movie, I was trying to figure out where I had seen the dinosaur hunter villain before. It turns out he's the serial killer from Silence of the Lambs. If it wasn't my daughter's treat, I'd have waited until Netflix.

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
23 Jul 2018 13:22 #278195 by Gregarius
I saw Leave No Trace over the weekend. It's a really good movie that's all about character and not plot. Some may find that off-putting, but the scenes are interesting and the scenery is beautiful. It's about a single Dad trying to live off the grid with his teenage daughter. They start the movie living in a state park, but are found and have to keep moving.

I wasn't totally sure how I felt about it while watching it, but it really grew in my mind in the days that followed. The end had a powerful message: Sometimes the only way to reconcile despair and hope is by acceptance.
The following user(s) said Thank You: Black Barney

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
23 Jul 2018 20:24 - 23 Jul 2018 20:25 #278219 by Erik Twice
I saw Saving Private Ryan again after a few years.

I don't remember when was the first time I saw the film. It was probably in High School, in history class, though I think I had already seen it on TV before that. I must have seen it several times, over the years, and each time with a little more perspective and life experience. And after watching other, perhaps not as well-known films.

And while it remains a great film, I find myself increasingly agreeing with its critics. It is very much a film that exists inside the standard Hollywood "WWII as the good war" (And America the good guys) paradigm, even when it intends to oppose it. It's still a film in which the good guys kills dozens of dudes and enemy tanks, even if some of these good dudes die during the film.

I'm thinking of the "modern day" scenes and the waving American flag at the end but also of the unrealistic, higher-purporse way some characters talk about the natura of war and the mission they are involved. Ryan refuses to be saved, and he's ahistorically meant to be saved, after the very upright and Super General Guy reads a letter by Abraham Lincoln. He reads it, after peeking out of the window, with the US Flag by its right. When the film is almost reaching its end and aerial support comes, the Captain compares them to angels and dies an honourable, proud death. And all German soldiers wear ahistorical shaved head.

These scenes and momemnts exist in the film and form a great thematic part of it. They are presented alongside critical and gruesome scenes, scenes which are the best of the film. But these scenes do not make the nationalistic or Hollywoodian aspects go away, they are still a part of the work itself and cannot be ignored. That the film shows up a guy being blow up by his own self-made explosive does not change the fact that the mission is presented as commendable, not so much because it's righteous but because it's in line with American values.

Just a quick thought. If the Reddit guys caught me, they would use it as proof my Terraforming Mars list is wrong and I'm a blistering idiot. AND WE CAN'T HAVE THAT, CAN WE?
Last edit: 23 Jul 2018 20:25 by Erik Twice.
The following user(s) said Thank You: ChristopherMD

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
23 Jul 2018 22:34 - 24 Jul 2018 17:13 #278223 by Jackwraith

Erik Twice wrote: I saw Saving Private Ryan again after a few years.
And while it remains a great film, I find myself increasingly agreeing with its critics. It is very much a film that exists inside the standard Hollywood "WWII as the good war" (And America the good guys) paradigm, even when it intends to oppose it.


Ah. You have discovered the problem with every Spielberg film, post-Schindler's List. He's so conscious of the message he's trying to convey (GOOD triumphs over evil! Even when it's a guy lost in an airport.) that they all descend into this sappy, treacly mess that makes you feel like "...and they all lived happily ever after." is embossed at the end of every screenplay.

Take Bridge of Spies, for example. Decent retelling of the Gary Powers story, good atmosphere in much of the film, wonderful performances by Mark Rylance and Sebastian Koch, passable performance by Hanks... spoiled by utter melodrama at the key moment of the film (the exchange of the, y'know, SPIES on the, y'know, BRIDGE) and at the end, Donovan comes home to his wife and kids, the sun is out, they have a white picket fence and they all lived happily ever after! Save me, jeebus. It's like he decided that he was done doing realistic or grim endings with List and the only undercurrent of emotion allowed at the end was the main characters wondering how big that stack of pancakes was going to be the next day. Ugh. What happened to the storyteller who left you thinking EVEN AFTER happy endings, like in Close Encounters? If he did that film today, Neary would come home after a couple years with the aliens to be reunited with his wife and kids before taking them back with him to the second star to the right.
Last edit: 24 Jul 2018 17:13 by Jackwraith.
The following user(s) said Thank You: Gary Sax, Cranberries, Erik Twice

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

Moderators: Gary Sax
Time to create page: 0.655 seconds