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Gareth von Kallenbach (980 KP) rated the PlayStation 4 version of Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time in Video Games

Oct 29, 2020  
Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time
Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time
2020 | Platform
Crash Bandicoot is back and better than ever in Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time.

This time around the lovable Crash must face his most challenge obstacles yet as he navigates various locales each with an abundance of timed precision jumps, enemies, traps, and more.

Aside from his speed, Crash can slide, jump, and spin to fight or avoid enemies and obstacles and this time around he can phase objects at certain locales which allows him to pass through them. This is often tricky as he has to phase out an object to jump but must phase it back in order land on it but cannot do so before allowing ample space to land.

Patience is required as there are frequent dangers that require precise movements to complete and nothing is more frustrating than biting it with a checkpoint in site.

The game also offers up some interesting variety not only in a plethora of level designs but by also allowing players to play as other characters in the game. Being able to zap objects to complete levels vs the traditional running and jumping does bring an interesting new dimension to the play and keeps things fresh.

The graphics are pleasing and Crash is such a fun and charming character it is easy to stick with him even when the level becomes so rage inducing you want to quit in a hailstorm of profanity.

What really makes the game great are not only the clever and creative levels but the sheer variety of them. From a junkyard with gears, fire, and shark like creatures to a frozen landscape where slipping off the ice is commonplace, the level designers combine sadism and genius to create a truly fun and challenging gaming experience.

The game is not only lots of fun but is ideal for players of all ages and offers plenty of great gaming moments. This is a great return for Crash and hopefully we will see him again soon as I would love to see a new game designed from the ground up for the Next-Generation systems.

4 stars out of 5
  
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KyleQ (267 KP) rated Halloween (2007) in Movies

Jul 20, 2020  
Halloween (2007)
Halloween (2007)
2007 | Horror
Intense and excessive
Before watching this I had become a fan of both House of 1,000 Corpses and The Devil's Rejects, so I did appreciate Rob Zombie as a filmmaker. But it still seemed like a strange idea to have him direct the remake of Halloween.

This remake is 2 hours long, it's mostly stretched to that length due to the scenes involving 10-year-old Michael.
Daeg Faerch plays the young Mikey, and does well, he's creepy and disturbing. Rob's wife Sheri Moon Zombie of course has a role, here as Mikey's mom, she's fine here as the role fits her well. The problem is everyone else, William Forsythe plays Mike's stepdad who happens to be a disgusting excuse for a human being, as is the bully played by Daryl Sabara. The movie then shifts to events at the asylum. Malcolm Mcdowell plays Dr. Sam Loomis. Mcdowell is a good actor, and he gives a pretty good performance here. But he still pales in comparison to the great Donald Pleasence. The movie than movies to 15-years later.
Scout Taylor Compton plays Laurie Strode, she does good, but I was disappointed that she was introduced making a sex joke. Rob couldn't even let the nerdy final girl be sweet and innocent. Needless to say, others are worse.

The movie has LOTS of profanity which honestly drags down any attempts at actually making characters likable. The sex and nudity have also been ramped up.
The violence is definitely brutal, but that's Zombie's style, I felt that Michael was quite terrifying here. Tyler Mane plays Michael, and his 7-foot tall stature is so intimidating.

Overall, Rob Zombie does a good job at developing the story of Michael Myers, and at making some really intense and brutal death scenes. But he does so at the expense of having likable characters and good dialog. I still like it, but I can understand why others wouldn't.
  
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Clerks (1994)
Clerks (1994)
1994 | Comedy
Dante and Randal - together forever
I had the pleasure of meeting Kevin Smith when he appeared at the Hollywood Video manager's meeting in Las Vegas in the summer of 1999. Clerks was revered at that time by all of us since we were living the life of Randal to a certain extent being video store managers. We could all relate to the examples of stupid customers and things we wanted to say to them, but couldn't since "the customer is always right".



Smith's appearance at our meeting must've shocked the Mormon founder, Mark Wattles, when Smith began using excessive profanity and talking about giving blow jobs in the bathroom for cash.

My own experiences as a video store manager were reflected in a lot of what Randal says especially when it came to movie recommendations. I'll never forget being asked "Which is better, Booty Call or Schindler's List" or arguing with customers during the "full screen" vs. "widescreen" debate explaining widescreen was better because you could see the entire picture instead of the side of the film being cut off.

Every time I rewatch Clerks it always reminds me of those times and how I reflect fondly on them now so many years later.

Smith was a funny guy and he certainly tells good stories if you have ever seen one of his stand-up specials where he talks about meeting Prince, Bruce Willis or his experiences writing a Superman draft.

Jay and Silent Bob are iconic too even getting their own reboot movie now.

Clerks is a comedy cinema cult classic having lived far beyond its original $27,000 budget where Smith had to sell his comic book collection and its characters will live on forever due to some classic screenwriting.

  
Recursion
Recursion
Blake Crouch | 2019 | Science Fiction/Fantasy
10
8.3 (7 Ratings)
Book Rating
I want to start this review by saying that science fiction isn't my usual genre that I love to read. However, I loved Dark Matter by Blake Crouch, so I decided that I'd give Recursion by Blake Crouch a read since the synopsis intrigued me. I was absolutely blown away by Recursion!

Helena, a nueroscientist is working on a chair to help people with memory loss like her mother who suffers from Alzheimer's. She has it almost all figured out, but she lacks the funding to make her dream a reality. Funding comes in the form of Marcus Slade. Together, Slade and Helena work together to create a chair that can send people back in the past and change memories. However, when people start suffering from False Memory Syndrome due to the changing of memories, Helena wants to stop. Slade won't allow it. Together with Barry, who was forced to have his memories changed, Helena will stop at nothing to stop her memory chair from being used for bad, even if it means dying again and again.

I'm not a very scientific person. (In fact, science and math were my worse subjects in school.) This book does use a lot of scientific jargon that went way over my head at times, yet I was still very intrigued. There are enough context clues to figure out what's going on without all the scientific speak. I felt the plot was solid for Recursion, and scarily enough, I could actually picture this becoming a reality in the not too distant future. Blake Crouch has a knack for writing books that seem so lifelike and in the moment. There is plenty of action in Recursion, and there's also enough mystery to make the reader wonder what is going to happen next. Due to being able to go back to different memories and plotting different outcomes, Recursion is full of little plot twists. There's no cliff hangers in this book, and all my questions were answered by the last page.

The characters in Recursion were so very lifelike! Barry reminded me at first of a dad who loved his family, especially his daughter, very much. He seems like a down to Earth guy and just very well rounded. I admired tenacity to always want to make things right. I also loved Helena's character. I loved how she was willing to do whatever it took, including death and extreme pain, to try to make things right. Helena was an extremely intelligent woman, but she wasn't conceited about it. I felt like Slade's heart was in the right place, but greed took over. I felt like Slade was the perfect antagonist, and his personality reminded me of many people in power and those with a lot of money. I enjoyed reading about each character's story in each memory. I found that to be extremely interesting.

The pacing for Recursion was perfect. This book held my attention from the very first page until the very last word in the book. Not once did I ever become bored or lost while reading this book. I was hooked from the get-go, and I couldn't wait to read more of Recursion every time I was interrupted.

Trigger warnings for Recursion include profanity, mentions of drug use, alcohol use, profanity, sexual references (non graphic), death, violence, some gore, and murder.

Overall, Recursion is quite the read! It's got a thrilling plot and memorable characters throughout! I would love to see this book made into a movie. I think it would do very well! I would definitely recommend Recursion by Blake Crouch to anyone looking for a book that will keep them hooked from the beginning. Regardless of if you're a science fiction fan or not, Recursion is the kind of book that will please any reader.
  
Eddie Murphy Delirious (1983)
Eddie Murphy Delirious (1983)
1983 | Comedy, Documentary, Musical
Has some all-timer bits, the entire segment with Eddie doing the drunk father routine had me doubled over in laughter - but otherwise disappointed to report that this is a mostly middling routine. Murphy's presence as a performer of course can never be understated, the dude is a force of nature even here at 22 and on SNL as young as 19. But this was *definitely* around the time where mainstream profanity (on this level, at least) in stand-up was still in its infancy and starting to become this enticingly risque thing because for the most part this uses vulgarity as a crutch in place of where a lot of these jokes need some room to breathe. I'm no stickler but the "lol I said dick!' act is only funny so many times, I adore caustic humor but when it's in service of such weaksauce, simple jokes it has all the nuance of a neckbeard Reddit post. Feels a lot like Chappelle's 𝘚𝘡π˜ͺ𝘀𝘬𝘴 & 𝘚𝘡𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴 in that it just seems like a surface-level attempt at provocation at times. Plus the transitions are super awkward. The first half is kind of boring though overall I did laugh quite a lot, but I left feeling almost nothing. Definitely not as iconic as the leather suit.