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Beach Buggy Blitz
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"Beach Buggy Blitz is an absolute triumph in iOS racing and will keep players glued to the screen" -...
Lep's World Free - platformer games
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"Lep's World™" is a legendary platformer, with nearly 250 million downloads! So, get in on the...
Super Phantom Cat 2
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Meet Ari. He's on a journey to rescue his sister, Ina, who has been kidnapped in the mysterious...
Arkham Horror: The Card Game
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Something evil stirs in Arkham, and only you can stop it. Blurring the traditional lines between...
Descent: Journeys in the Dark (Second Edition)
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Descent: Journeys in the Dark (Second Edition) is a board game in which one player takes on the role...
LeftSideCut (3778 KP) rated Halloween Kills (2021) in Movies
Oct 17, 2021
I can safely say, that I'm not 100% sure whether I liked Halloween Kills or not. There were parts that I genuinely enjoyed, in no small part thanks to Michael Myers. As in Halloween (2018), this Myers is a brutal and unforgiving one. His aesthetic is great and he's intimidating as fuck. This movie pulls no punches in making him out to be a monster, shying further away from the days of rooting for slasher villains. To top it off, Kills easily has some of the best Michael moments in the entire franchise. This is bolstered by some truly fantastic cinematography.
However, the positives are marred quite severely by everything else. The script is hammy as fuck, which is fine, but the tone of the movie is pretty damn serious, and a lot of the screenplay just doesn't land properly. There are endless characters saying something along the lines of "it's my fault, and I'm going to be the one to kill Michael Myers" for no real reason. Additionally, there are a whole bunch of "legacy" characters from the OG Halloween making their return. It's lovely to see the likes of Kyle Richards, Charles Cyphers, and Nancy Stephens back for another round, but they do kind of feel shoehorned in. Tommy Doyle being thrust into the spotlight as a main character is in no means a bad idea, but he's just a bit of a gammon for the entire runtime, and quickly becomes a tiresome protagonist. All of this is exacerbated by pacing that just plummets around the mid point. The whole subplot of a mob chasing down a small bald man who clearly isn't Michael Myers is just ludicrous, and it's goes on FOREVER. All just to throw in a forced "maybe we were the monsters all along" conundrum. It's really dumb.
I didn't hate Halloween Kills by any means, but for me, it was a huge step down from the fantastic 2018 effort. Hopefully, Halloween Ends will bring the quality back up (with more Laurie Strode fingers crossed)
However, the positives are marred quite severely by everything else. The script is hammy as fuck, which is fine, but the tone of the movie is pretty damn serious, and a lot of the screenplay just doesn't land properly. There are endless characters saying something along the lines of "it's my fault, and I'm going to be the one to kill Michael Myers" for no real reason. Additionally, there are a whole bunch of "legacy" characters from the OG Halloween making their return. It's lovely to see the likes of Kyle Richards, Charles Cyphers, and Nancy Stephens back for another round, but they do kind of feel shoehorned in. Tommy Doyle being thrust into the spotlight as a main character is in no means a bad idea, but he's just a bit of a gammon for the entire runtime, and quickly becomes a tiresome protagonist. All of this is exacerbated by pacing that just plummets around the mid point. The whole subplot of a mob chasing down a small bald man who clearly isn't Michael Myers is just ludicrous, and it's goes on FOREVER. All just to throw in a forced "maybe we were the monsters all along" conundrum. It's really dumb.
I didn't hate Halloween Kills by any means, but for me, it was a huge step down from the fantastic 2018 effort. Hopefully, Halloween Ends will bring the quality back up (with more Laurie Strode fingers crossed)
Gareth von Kallenbach (980 KP) rated Hellboy (2019) in Movies
Jul 2, 2019
Trivia question for you…what does an immortal evil queen, King Arthur, Nazis and a boy born from Hell itself have in common? If you answered Hellboy you win a prize. The prize is going to the theater and watching the film and whether it’s a prize worth winning is something you’ll have to decide for yourself. I’m getting a bit ahead of myself though, so let’s rewind a bit and start at the beginning.
Hellboy (David Harbour) is a demon from Hell (hence the name), his backstory as we learn early on in the movie is pretty standard fare. The Nazi’s are on the verge of losing World War II and in a desperate move to turn the tide call upon the evil sorcerer Rasputin to call upon the depths of Hell and raise a champion who will fight for them. The incantation is interrupted when famous Nazi hunter Lobster Johnson (Thomas Haden Church) goes in with guns blazing, as other allied troops join the fray. Their relief at stopping the incantation is short-lived as the alter opens and a young demon climbs through. Professor Broom who had infiltrated the Nazi team had been brought in to put down any evil that was successfully summoned. Upon seeing the young demon, Professor Broom (for reasons known only to him at the time) decides not to kill him, but to take him in and raise him as his own.
Flash forward to present day, and Hellboy as we now know him alongside his father are members of the B.P.R.D (Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense). On a mission to defeat some giants that are roaming the countryside in England they stumble upon an ancient evil that dark forces are trying to retrieve. It seems back in the dark ages a war between humans and monsters was being waged. Seeing no end to the violence King Arthur (Mark Stanley) and his faithful wizard Merlin (Brian Gleeson) offer to surrender to The Blood Queen (Milla Jovovich). On top the hill where the surrender is to take place, the Blood Queen is betrayed by one of her own and King Arthur, using the infamous blade Excalibur, cut the Blood Queen into several parts. While she can’t be killed, she can be contained and each of her body parts are placed in separate boxes. These boxes are then sealed with holy water that only a holy man can unlock and are sent to the farthest corners of England. If the Blood Queen ever returns, she will release a plague that will not only destroy England but spread across the entire world. Thus, sets the stage for Hellboy.
Being a fan of the previous movies and in particular the portrayal of Hellboy by Ron Pearlman, I wasn’t sure how to feel about David Harbour in this role. It’s always a bit hit or miss when a series is rebooted, and I was pleasantly surprised with how David Harbour stepped up and into the role. While he doesn’t have the same menacing size and gruffness that Ron Pearlman possesses, it didn’t take me long to adjust to this new version. He is joined by a strong supporting cast consisting of Sasha Lane as his ghost whispering friend Alice and Ben Daimo as an MI-11 agent weary of teaming up with a monster. Milla Jovovich does an outstanding job as the Blood Queen and her fairy-pig friend portrayed by Stephen Graham and Douglas Tait.
Visually the movie is stunning, with the numerous monsters and fairy creatures coming to life before your eyes. The movie is exceptionally gory as one might expect, with numerous limb dismemberments, decapitations, and more blood than anyone would expect to erupt from such wounds. It’s over-the-top and meant to be that way which tended to bring some uncomfortable laughter at times from those around me. Having recently played Mortal Kombat 11, I couldn’t help but feel that some of the fatality screens in that game would have felt right at home in this movie.
Story is where I feel Hellboy falls a bit flat. There are so many characters and side stories going on that it’s easy to get lost in it. From my description above, you can see that it includes King Arthur, Rasputin, Nazis, Secret Societies, Witches that eat children, monsters…and that’s only in the first half of the movie. There is a ton going on and there are a lot of disconnects. While trying to avoid spoilers, there is a part in the film where Hellboy is talking to Baba Yaga (see another character reference), and after tricking her she places a curse on him. I’m still trying to figure out if the curse she placed on him occurred in the movie or not. In fact, I’m trying to figure out exactly what the point of that scene was. It’s not a bad story, but it tries to pack in a TON of references in its brief hour and forty five-ish minutes.
I’ll be the first to admit that I’ve never read any of the Hellboy graphic novels, I have seen both of the previous films, so I had a little bit of background going into this movie. I don’t know if all the references in the movie are pivotal to the novels or not. You certainly don’t have to have read them or seen the previous movies to appreciate this one, I just wonder if they tried to fit in too many Hellboy references into one film. Hellboy is an enjoyable ride, and it certainly doesn’t drag at all, in fact I was surprised at how quickly it was over. With all that being said, it’s a fun action-packed movie, with lots of gratuitous violence if that’s your thing. I certainly wouldn’t recommend taking your children to see it, violence aside, I just think there is way too much going on and it can be difficult to follow. Oh, and don’t forget to stay through the credits for the end credit scene. It’s not pivotal to the movie, but worth waiting around for.
Hellboy (David Harbour) is a demon from Hell (hence the name), his backstory as we learn early on in the movie is pretty standard fare. The Nazi’s are on the verge of losing World War II and in a desperate move to turn the tide call upon the evil sorcerer Rasputin to call upon the depths of Hell and raise a champion who will fight for them. The incantation is interrupted when famous Nazi hunter Lobster Johnson (Thomas Haden Church) goes in with guns blazing, as other allied troops join the fray. Their relief at stopping the incantation is short-lived as the alter opens and a young demon climbs through. Professor Broom who had infiltrated the Nazi team had been brought in to put down any evil that was successfully summoned. Upon seeing the young demon, Professor Broom (for reasons known only to him at the time) decides not to kill him, but to take him in and raise him as his own.
Flash forward to present day, and Hellboy as we now know him alongside his father are members of the B.P.R.D (Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense). On a mission to defeat some giants that are roaming the countryside in England they stumble upon an ancient evil that dark forces are trying to retrieve. It seems back in the dark ages a war between humans and monsters was being waged. Seeing no end to the violence King Arthur (Mark Stanley) and his faithful wizard Merlin (Brian Gleeson) offer to surrender to The Blood Queen (Milla Jovovich). On top the hill where the surrender is to take place, the Blood Queen is betrayed by one of her own and King Arthur, using the infamous blade Excalibur, cut the Blood Queen into several parts. While she can’t be killed, she can be contained and each of her body parts are placed in separate boxes. These boxes are then sealed with holy water that only a holy man can unlock and are sent to the farthest corners of England. If the Blood Queen ever returns, she will release a plague that will not only destroy England but spread across the entire world. Thus, sets the stage for Hellboy.
Being a fan of the previous movies and in particular the portrayal of Hellboy by Ron Pearlman, I wasn’t sure how to feel about David Harbour in this role. It’s always a bit hit or miss when a series is rebooted, and I was pleasantly surprised with how David Harbour stepped up and into the role. While he doesn’t have the same menacing size and gruffness that Ron Pearlman possesses, it didn’t take me long to adjust to this new version. He is joined by a strong supporting cast consisting of Sasha Lane as his ghost whispering friend Alice and Ben Daimo as an MI-11 agent weary of teaming up with a monster. Milla Jovovich does an outstanding job as the Blood Queen and her fairy-pig friend portrayed by Stephen Graham and Douglas Tait.
Visually the movie is stunning, with the numerous monsters and fairy creatures coming to life before your eyes. The movie is exceptionally gory as one might expect, with numerous limb dismemberments, decapitations, and more blood than anyone would expect to erupt from such wounds. It’s over-the-top and meant to be that way which tended to bring some uncomfortable laughter at times from those around me. Having recently played Mortal Kombat 11, I couldn’t help but feel that some of the fatality screens in that game would have felt right at home in this movie.
Story is where I feel Hellboy falls a bit flat. There are so many characters and side stories going on that it’s easy to get lost in it. From my description above, you can see that it includes King Arthur, Rasputin, Nazis, Secret Societies, Witches that eat children, monsters…and that’s only in the first half of the movie. There is a ton going on and there are a lot of disconnects. While trying to avoid spoilers, there is a part in the film where Hellboy is talking to Baba Yaga (see another character reference), and after tricking her she places a curse on him. I’m still trying to figure out if the curse she placed on him occurred in the movie or not. In fact, I’m trying to figure out exactly what the point of that scene was. It’s not a bad story, but it tries to pack in a TON of references in its brief hour and forty five-ish minutes.
I’ll be the first to admit that I’ve never read any of the Hellboy graphic novels, I have seen both of the previous films, so I had a little bit of background going into this movie. I don’t know if all the references in the movie are pivotal to the novels or not. You certainly don’t have to have read them or seen the previous movies to appreciate this one, I just wonder if they tried to fit in too many Hellboy references into one film. Hellboy is an enjoyable ride, and it certainly doesn’t drag at all, in fact I was surprised at how quickly it was over. With all that being said, it’s a fun action-packed movie, with lots of gratuitous violence if that’s your thing. I certainly wouldn’t recommend taking your children to see it, violence aside, I just think there is way too much going on and it can be difficult to follow. Oh, and don’t forget to stay through the credits for the end credit scene. It’s not pivotal to the movie, but worth waiting around for.
Gareth von Kallenbach (980 KP) rated the PlayStation 3 version of BulletStorm in Video Games
Jun 19, 2019
One of the most enjoyable and action-packed games I have ever played has arrived in Bulletstorm which combines action, humor, and enjoyable gameplay to create a winning product. The game was created by Electronic Arts, People Can Fly, and Epic Games and tells the story of privateer Grayson Hunt who has spent the last ten years of his life on a mission of revenge against a corrupt general who has wronged him and his crew. When the opportunity for revenge arises, Grayson crashes his own ship in order to bring the generals ship down which strands them on the hostile world of Stygia. Stygia used to be a resort world and now scores of mutants, monsters, dangerous plants, and more roam the landscape making short work of all they encounter.
With his friend Sato in need of medical care following the crash, Grayson and Sato set out to find the general in order to get off the planet and to get Sato proper medical care less his cyborg implants take over his body. Along the way Grayson and Sato must face many challenges and battle against never ending hordes of bad guys. Thankfully they have some awesome firepower at their disposal ranging from shotguns to assault rifles as well as sniper rifles and rocket launchers. The game requires players to purchase new weapons and ammo as well as the ability to upgrade your weapons from dropships which are scattered throughout the landscape.
The more bad guys you dispatch and the more creative you are with your kills earns you more points to spend on your arsenal. One of my favorite weapons is the sniper rifle which allows you to steer your fired shot into your enemies, which comes in handy considering how much cover they like to take. Should you run out of ammo, you can always send a bad guy flying, thanks to a kick from Grayson who has no issue with kicking hordes of bad guys into various obstacles. The game awards you for being creative with your kills like kicking somone to impale them on an object which gets you a Voodoo Doll reward as does sending an enemy into an electrical field or sending them into the jaws of a deadly plant.
There are so many ways to take out enemies half the fun is finding out new ways to do so. I also liked being able to supercharge my weapon and vaporize any underlings that got in my way. The game also allows players a leash which fires an electrical tether to manipulate objects. I love latching onto enemies and pulling them into harms way, or towards me so I could kick them into harms way, or unleash a fury of bullets upon them.
The graphics of the game are amazing as the Unreal engine has never looked better. From scenic landscapes to epic monsters the game deftly handles them all. An early chase from a gigantic mining wheel is awesome as it encompasses the depth of the landscape and surroundings of Stygia. The language in the game is very sharp. Characters will unleash salvos of profanity that would make a drill seargeant cringe, but they are often done in very funny and unique combinations.
The multiplay modes of the game shine as well. You can really enjoy teaming up for unique kills. The control system of the game is good as I was easily able to move between movement and fire modes without any issues which allowed me to concentrate on the game and its challenges rather than having to fight a control system. Bulletstorm is also very clever with the locations of the game as one minute I am flying in a airship taking on a gigantic creature whereas another time I was gudiing a giant robotic dinosaur through an amusement park to dispatch the bad guys.
From the winning mix of action and humor to the numerous variations the gameplay offers Bulletstorm is a winner from top to bottom. Some may find the solo play campaign a bit short and may say that some of the boss battles were overly tricky. I prefer to see the game as a great action romp which is set up perfectly for a sequel and one of the best action
shooters in recent history.
http://sknr.net/2011/04/10/bulletstorm/
With his friend Sato in need of medical care following the crash, Grayson and Sato set out to find the general in order to get off the planet and to get Sato proper medical care less his cyborg implants take over his body. Along the way Grayson and Sato must face many challenges and battle against never ending hordes of bad guys. Thankfully they have some awesome firepower at their disposal ranging from shotguns to assault rifles as well as sniper rifles and rocket launchers. The game requires players to purchase new weapons and ammo as well as the ability to upgrade your weapons from dropships which are scattered throughout the landscape.
The more bad guys you dispatch and the more creative you are with your kills earns you more points to spend on your arsenal. One of my favorite weapons is the sniper rifle which allows you to steer your fired shot into your enemies, which comes in handy considering how much cover they like to take. Should you run out of ammo, you can always send a bad guy flying, thanks to a kick from Grayson who has no issue with kicking hordes of bad guys into various obstacles. The game awards you for being creative with your kills like kicking somone to impale them on an object which gets you a Voodoo Doll reward as does sending an enemy into an electrical field or sending them into the jaws of a deadly plant.
There are so many ways to take out enemies half the fun is finding out new ways to do so. I also liked being able to supercharge my weapon and vaporize any underlings that got in my way. The game also allows players a leash which fires an electrical tether to manipulate objects. I love latching onto enemies and pulling them into harms way, or towards me so I could kick them into harms way, or unleash a fury of bullets upon them.
The graphics of the game are amazing as the Unreal engine has never looked better. From scenic landscapes to epic monsters the game deftly handles them all. An early chase from a gigantic mining wheel is awesome as it encompasses the depth of the landscape and surroundings of Stygia. The language in the game is very sharp. Characters will unleash salvos of profanity that would make a drill seargeant cringe, but they are often done in very funny and unique combinations.
The multiplay modes of the game shine as well. You can really enjoy teaming up for unique kills. The control system of the game is good as I was easily able to move between movement and fire modes without any issues which allowed me to concentrate on the game and its challenges rather than having to fight a control system. Bulletstorm is also very clever with the locations of the game as one minute I am flying in a airship taking on a gigantic creature whereas another time I was gudiing a giant robotic dinosaur through an amusement park to dispatch the bad guys.
From the winning mix of action and humor to the numerous variations the gameplay offers Bulletstorm is a winner from top to bottom. Some may find the solo play campaign a bit short and may say that some of the boss battles were overly tricky. I prefer to see the game as a great action romp which is set up perfectly for a sequel and one of the best action
shooters in recent history.
http://sknr.net/2011/04/10/bulletstorm/