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Emma @ The Movies (1786 KP) rated Max Winslow and the House of Secrets (2019) in Movies
Oct 23, 2020
An out of the blue watch here, I had my fingers crossed for something a little lighthearted... and that's sort of what I received.
A challenge is issued, a competition that will see the mansion of tech billionaire Atticus Virtue gifted to the lucky winner. Chosen from his old school, five pupils enter to compete for the prize. As the evening goes on the games become increasingly dangerous and they find themselves fighting back against an advanced AI who's out to get them.
Max Winslow And The House Of Secrets feels like the kind of hybrid you'd get from crossing Willy Wonka with Ready Player One. All three films have the same sort of idea to them but convey it in their own quirky ways.
The story isn't the only classic idea the film capitalises on, we've also got your stereotypical group of teens thrown together end up having to work together to solve their problems. As they're introduced to us there was a little eye-roll on my part... we've got the computer nerd, the jock/musician, the social media icon, the gamer and the bully... but despite that eye-roll I quickly got over it as we progressed further in.
All these characters actually give us quite a well-balanced film, their introductions were handled quickly and clearly so it doesn't feel like a slog meeting them all, and jumping between characters/scene helps move the action along and keep you interested.
The acting from the younger members of the cast is pretty good when they're thrown in together, they all work well together and in scenes that could quite easily have become a little cheesy they manage to keep it quite sensible. We're treated to Marina Sirtis playing the AI running the mansion, I was amused by this casting, I don't think my brain could quite comprehend her in this role. The mansion's eccentric owner is played by Chad Michael Murray, I wish I could be a little more excited about him in this film but his brief appearances didn't rate highly with me. There weren't many moments when he was on screen where his performances weren't slightly awkward, at one point it felt like a script issue, but either way I was pleased that the main focus was one the younger actors.
Eye-rolling early on felt like it was becoming a habit, as the main storyline began it happened again. A moment occurs and you know that the information is going to be relevant later, you don't have to wait too long for an initial pay off to it either. I was worried that this would mean the ending of the film would be ruined but the pace from switching up between characters helps to drag you away from it.
Something I was a little surprised about was the tone of some of the scenes. When you start to watch the film it feels very much like a made for TV (that's not a negative comment, you know I love my made for TV movies!) family adventure affair, but some scenes are actually a little darker than would happily fit in that sort of film. Sitting at a 12A seems like the right level, had it been sanitised for younger viewers I think we'd have been left with something too tame to be good. (You could have pushed it further into the 15 and up area, but that would have put it in Escape Room territory and I'm not entirely sure we need more of that.)
Despite my eye-rolling and (many) unanswered questions that come from an adult watching a film not entirely made for them, I really enjoyed Max Winslow And The House Of Secrets. It's a fun watch, with some surprising little additions.
Originally posted on: https://emmaatthemovies.blogspot.com/2020/10/max-winslow-and-house-of-secrets-movie.html
A challenge is issued, a competition that will see the mansion of tech billionaire Atticus Virtue gifted to the lucky winner. Chosen from his old school, five pupils enter to compete for the prize. As the evening goes on the games become increasingly dangerous and they find themselves fighting back against an advanced AI who's out to get them.
Max Winslow And The House Of Secrets feels like the kind of hybrid you'd get from crossing Willy Wonka with Ready Player One. All three films have the same sort of idea to them but convey it in their own quirky ways.
The story isn't the only classic idea the film capitalises on, we've also got your stereotypical group of teens thrown together end up having to work together to solve their problems. As they're introduced to us there was a little eye-roll on my part... we've got the computer nerd, the jock/musician, the social media icon, the gamer and the bully... but despite that eye-roll I quickly got over it as we progressed further in.
All these characters actually give us quite a well-balanced film, their introductions were handled quickly and clearly so it doesn't feel like a slog meeting them all, and jumping between characters/scene helps move the action along and keep you interested.
The acting from the younger members of the cast is pretty good when they're thrown in together, they all work well together and in scenes that could quite easily have become a little cheesy they manage to keep it quite sensible. We're treated to Marina Sirtis playing the AI running the mansion, I was amused by this casting, I don't think my brain could quite comprehend her in this role. The mansion's eccentric owner is played by Chad Michael Murray, I wish I could be a little more excited about him in this film but his brief appearances didn't rate highly with me. There weren't many moments when he was on screen where his performances weren't slightly awkward, at one point it felt like a script issue, but either way I was pleased that the main focus was one the younger actors.
Eye-rolling early on felt like it was becoming a habit, as the main storyline began it happened again. A moment occurs and you know that the information is going to be relevant later, you don't have to wait too long for an initial pay off to it either. I was worried that this would mean the ending of the film would be ruined but the pace from switching up between characters helps to drag you away from it.
Something I was a little surprised about was the tone of some of the scenes. When you start to watch the film it feels very much like a made for TV (that's not a negative comment, you know I love my made for TV movies!) family adventure affair, but some scenes are actually a little darker than would happily fit in that sort of film. Sitting at a 12A seems like the right level, had it been sanitised for younger viewers I think we'd have been left with something too tame to be good. (You could have pushed it further into the 15 and up area, but that would have put it in Escape Room territory and I'm not entirely sure we need more of that.)
Despite my eye-rolling and (many) unanswered questions that come from an adult watching a film not entirely made for them, I really enjoyed Max Winslow And The House Of Secrets. It's a fun watch, with some surprising little additions.
Originally posted on: https://emmaatthemovies.blogspot.com/2020/10/max-winslow-and-house-of-secrets-movie.html
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Purple Phoenix Games (2266 KP) rated Shuffle Grand Prix in Tabletop Games
Jun 12, 2019 (Updated Jun 12, 2019)
I very rarely reference video games in my reviews. Mostly because I have never really been a big video gamer. I was always more into RPG style video games (Final Fantasy XI ftw), but some styles of video games I also enjoyed quite a bit. Among those were the battle racing style games of Crash Team Racing and Mario Kart. So much fun not only to race to the finish but also to plant traps and equip weapons to slow your opponents’ progress. Such is your plight as you play Shuffle Grand Prix by new-to-the-board-game-scene publisher Games by Bicycle.
DISCLAIMER: While I will not be delving completely into the rulebook and describing every rule and scenario, I will give you a good idea of how the game plays and what I think of it. -T
Okay let’s setup this game in our minds. Shuffle the large deck of Distance Cards (in denominations of 25, 50, 75, and 100 distance) to form a draw deck. Each player will draft a team of racer and co-pilot, which means taking the racer’s deck and co-pilot’s deck to form their team. Each pilot is a different character with different decks and different special abilities that can be used throughout the game. For example, my first team was the wizard and the musician. Place the driver’s character card on top of the wheel (health) card at maximum wheel strength, and tuck the co-pilot’s card underneath them. You cannot use the co-pilot’s ability until they become the driver (when your main pilot spins out due to your opponents and their dastardly play). Now shuffle the driver’s and co-pilot’s decks together (a la Smash Up) to form your personal draw deck, draw three cards, and you are ready to begin!
On your turn you will flip over the top Distance Card and place it in front of yourself. This is how far you have driven this turn, and ultimately is your VP stack. From there you may play cards from your hand to affect your own cards, the cards of your opponents, or place traps. You may equip items to your car (max 2), switch out equipment, or pass your turn ? This structure continues until there are no more Distance Cards to draw, then the game ends and you count Distance to see who is the winner! I have intentionally left some rules out because they are fun to discover and play – like making your opponent spin out (for trophies), nerfing your opponents, card combo play, etc.
Components: this game is relatively light on components as it is a large number of playing cards and a collection of trophy chits. The chits are good quality, and were definitely too numerous for our plays. The cards are of great quality, which is what you expect from Bicycle, the playing card giant. The art in this game is VERY quirky. I wouldn’t say the art is amazing, but it’s fun and fits the theme. Think Munchkin art. In fact, think of this game as a whole as a combination of CTR/Mario Kart meets Munchkin.
Overall, I really dig this game. It’s pretty fast-playing, though those AP-prone players will hold up the game a bit on their turns. The rules are light, the game play is really fun, and the flavor text on the cards is quite humorous. I thought out loud as we were playing that this is a replacement for Munchkin for me, and I like Munchkin a lot. The take-that/screw-your-neighbor aspect is certainly there, but even when you pile on it doesn’t seem to slow you down so much that you can no longer do much on your turn. I appreciate that. The eight provided playable character decks feels like I can play this game for a really long time with different combinations and enjoy it each time. So for the ease of play, enjoyment of play, different combos we are excited to try, and absolute silliness, Purple Phoenix Games gives this one a bashin’ 14 / 18. Check it out!
https://purplephoenixgames.wordpress.com/2019/06/06/shuffle-grand-prix-review/
DISCLAIMER: While I will not be delving completely into the rulebook and describing every rule and scenario, I will give you a good idea of how the game plays and what I think of it. -T
Okay let’s setup this game in our minds. Shuffle the large deck of Distance Cards (in denominations of 25, 50, 75, and 100 distance) to form a draw deck. Each player will draft a team of racer and co-pilot, which means taking the racer’s deck and co-pilot’s deck to form their team. Each pilot is a different character with different decks and different special abilities that can be used throughout the game. For example, my first team was the wizard and the musician. Place the driver’s character card on top of the wheel (health) card at maximum wheel strength, and tuck the co-pilot’s card underneath them. You cannot use the co-pilot’s ability until they become the driver (when your main pilot spins out due to your opponents and their dastardly play). Now shuffle the driver’s and co-pilot’s decks together (a la Smash Up) to form your personal draw deck, draw three cards, and you are ready to begin!
On your turn you will flip over the top Distance Card and place it in front of yourself. This is how far you have driven this turn, and ultimately is your VP stack. From there you may play cards from your hand to affect your own cards, the cards of your opponents, or place traps. You may equip items to your car (max 2), switch out equipment, or pass your turn ? This structure continues until there are no more Distance Cards to draw, then the game ends and you count Distance to see who is the winner! I have intentionally left some rules out because they are fun to discover and play – like making your opponent spin out (for trophies), nerfing your opponents, card combo play, etc.
Components: this game is relatively light on components as it is a large number of playing cards and a collection of trophy chits. The chits are good quality, and were definitely too numerous for our plays. The cards are of great quality, which is what you expect from Bicycle, the playing card giant. The art in this game is VERY quirky. I wouldn’t say the art is amazing, but it’s fun and fits the theme. Think Munchkin art. In fact, think of this game as a whole as a combination of CTR/Mario Kart meets Munchkin.
Overall, I really dig this game. It’s pretty fast-playing, though those AP-prone players will hold up the game a bit on their turns. The rules are light, the game play is really fun, and the flavor text on the cards is quite humorous. I thought out loud as we were playing that this is a replacement for Munchkin for me, and I like Munchkin a lot. The take-that/screw-your-neighbor aspect is certainly there, but even when you pile on it doesn’t seem to slow you down so much that you can no longer do much on your turn. I appreciate that. The eight provided playable character decks feels like I can play this game for a really long time with different combinations and enjoy it each time. So for the ease of play, enjoyment of play, different combos we are excited to try, and absolute silliness, Purple Phoenix Games gives this one a bashin’ 14 / 18. Check it out!
https://purplephoenixgames.wordpress.com/2019/06/06/shuffle-grand-prix-review/