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LeftSideCut (3776 KP) rated Final Fantasy VII Remake in Video Games
Apr 28, 2020
Like many of you, Final Fantasy VII is my favourite game, ever. It was the first FF title I played all the way back in 1997, and have since played it through a silly amount of times in the years since.
The prospect of a remake was cautiously exciting to me, but any doubts I may have had were completely blown away withkn the first hour or two of play.
Final Fantasy VII Remake looks absolutely stunning. It plays on nostalgia in all the right ways as it brings characters and locations from the original straight into the modern times, and a few texture issues aside, it's one of the best looking games available.
The combat mechanics are superb as well. Fairly similar to FFXV in style, with some elements taken from XIII, make for an easily addictive play style, and one that has buckets of replayability.
There has been a lot of concerns raised about the decision to release the remakes in parts - this game is based on the first 5-6 hours of the original. Remake however, is a fully fledged gaming experience in its own right. After finishing the main story, my play time had clocked in at a respectable 42 hours, and this isn't taking into consideration endgame content, and new game plus mode. It's hefty for sure.
Nobuo Uematsu's beloved score from the original has had and incredibly crafted upgrade as well. The music score is just phenomenal, and elevates the whole thing to bigger and better heights.
This isn't to say that Remake is flawless, because it's not. The main issue that people have taken seems to be with the story (no spoilers, don't worry). A lot of the new stuff added to pad out the game is genuinely great, however, there are some big changes made to the original, which is bound to piss off die hard fans. Personally, I'm ok with it at the moment, but I do have some concerns about how it will effect future installments.
Some of the exploration is very linear, but honestly, it's something that didn't impact my enjoyment too much, especially with the likely hood of part 2 being more open.
All things considered, Remake is above and beyond what I thought we would get. It's a fantastic reimagining of a stone cold classic, and part 2 can't come soon enough. My heart is full.
The prospect of a remake was cautiously exciting to me, but any doubts I may have had were completely blown away withkn the first hour or two of play.
Final Fantasy VII Remake looks absolutely stunning. It plays on nostalgia in all the right ways as it brings characters and locations from the original straight into the modern times, and a few texture issues aside, it's one of the best looking games available.
The combat mechanics are superb as well. Fairly similar to FFXV in style, with some elements taken from XIII, make for an easily addictive play style, and one that has buckets of replayability.
There has been a lot of concerns raised about the decision to release the remakes in parts - this game is based on the first 5-6 hours of the original. Remake however, is a fully fledged gaming experience in its own right. After finishing the main story, my play time had clocked in at a respectable 42 hours, and this isn't taking into consideration endgame content, and new game plus mode. It's hefty for sure.
Nobuo Uematsu's beloved score from the original has had and incredibly crafted upgrade as well. The music score is just phenomenal, and elevates the whole thing to bigger and better heights.
This isn't to say that Remake is flawless, because it's not. The main issue that people have taken seems to be with the story (no spoilers, don't worry). A lot of the new stuff added to pad out the game is genuinely great, however, there are some big changes made to the original, which is bound to piss off die hard fans. Personally, I'm ok with it at the moment, but I do have some concerns about how it will effect future installments.
Some of the exploration is very linear, but honestly, it's something that didn't impact my enjoyment too much, especially with the likely hood of part 2 being more open.
All things considered, Remake is above and beyond what I thought we would get. It's a fantastic reimagining of a stone cold classic, and part 2 can't come soon enough. My heart is full.
156Reviews (7 KP) rated Extra Ordinary (2019) in Movies
May 1, 2020 (Updated May 1, 2020)
Ghosts, hell demons, possessed animals, sex, a car chase, people exploding, ware-wolves (Kind of), Extra Ordinary has it all. Is it some kind of Hollywood blockbuster staring Benedict Cumberbatch? No, it's a small independent Irish comedy staring little known actors, and Will Forte of course.
The film begins by introducing us to Rose Dooley (Maeve Higgins), a very single driving instructor in a small town who has a âTalentâ. She can talk to Ghosts. After the death of her father when she was a child, Rose no longer uses these talents though. She spends her days teaching the locals how to drive, and her evenings with no trousers on, eating microwavable meals for one and ignoring messages on her phone from people asking for supernatural help. That is until she gets a call from Martin Martin, who is being haunted by his dead ex-wife, and her journey back to the exorcism business begins.
What this film does best is keep the ordinary and the supernatural events very grounded. Instead of screaming angry spirits howling in the night they see messages like âYou must pay ..... The car taxâ or âDog has wormsâ. The dead don't stick around to terrorise, they are here to make sure we're doing the recycling properly, or donating enough money to charity. Even Christian Winter (Will Forte) the satanist pop-star dubbed âOne hit Winterâ seems like an every-day man, doing the ironing and making cups of tea between sacrifices and demon summoning.
As the films big-bad, Will Forte does a decent job of keeping the film flowing, even if it is almost identical to his Last man on Earth performance. It's Rose and Martins relationship that really pulls the film forward. After Martins Daughter starts floating in mid-air, he reaches out to Rose for help. Directors Mike Ahern and Enda Loughman succeed in making Rose and Martins journey through the mysterious, humorous yet believable, a will they-won't they without the cheesiness.
Overall this is a very funny, well made film, not afraid to take the time from driving the plot to include some great, if possibly unnecessary scenes, Christian Winter's driving lesson is a particular highlight. Everybody involved has done an excellent job making a great film. It's absurd, it's funny, it's weird, it's well worth a watch.
The film begins by introducing us to Rose Dooley (Maeve Higgins), a very single driving instructor in a small town who has a âTalentâ. She can talk to Ghosts. After the death of her father when she was a child, Rose no longer uses these talents though. She spends her days teaching the locals how to drive, and her evenings with no trousers on, eating microwavable meals for one and ignoring messages on her phone from people asking for supernatural help. That is until she gets a call from Martin Martin, who is being haunted by his dead ex-wife, and her journey back to the exorcism business begins.
What this film does best is keep the ordinary and the supernatural events very grounded. Instead of screaming angry spirits howling in the night they see messages like âYou must pay ..... The car taxâ or âDog has wormsâ. The dead don't stick around to terrorise, they are here to make sure we're doing the recycling properly, or donating enough money to charity. Even Christian Winter (Will Forte) the satanist pop-star dubbed âOne hit Winterâ seems like an every-day man, doing the ironing and making cups of tea between sacrifices and demon summoning.
As the films big-bad, Will Forte does a decent job of keeping the film flowing, even if it is almost identical to his Last man on Earth performance. It's Rose and Martins relationship that really pulls the film forward. After Martins Daughter starts floating in mid-air, he reaches out to Rose for help. Directors Mike Ahern and Enda Loughman succeed in making Rose and Martins journey through the mysterious, humorous yet believable, a will they-won't they without the cheesiness.
Overall this is a very funny, well made film, not afraid to take the time from driving the plot to include some great, if possibly unnecessary scenes, Christian Winter's driving lesson is a particular highlight. Everybody involved has done an excellent job making a great film. It's absurd, it's funny, it's weird, it's well worth a watch.
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Matthew Krueger (10051 KP) rated House of Dracula (1945) in Movies
Jun 18, 2020
Get The Gang All Together: The Crossover II
House of Dracula- was a direct sequel to House of Frankenstein, and continued the theme of combining Universal's three most popular monsters: Frankenstein's monster (Glenn Strange), Count Dracula (John Carradine), and the Wolf Man (Lon Chaney Jr.).
The plot: This monster movie focuses on the iconic vampire, Count Dracula (John Carradine), and Lawrence Talbot (Lon Chaney), better known as the Wolf Man. Both beings of the night are tired of their supernatural afflictions, so they seek out Dr. Franz Edelmann (Onslow Stevens) for cures for their respective curses. While trying to aid the imposing creatures, Edelmann himself develops a transformative condition, adding to the many ghouls lurking around the foreboding landscape.
The working titles for the film were Dracula vs. the Wolf Man or The Wolf Man vs. Dracula.
Although Glenn Strange appears as the Monster in most of the film, footage of Chaney as the Monster from The Ghost of Frankenstein and Boris Karloff from Bride of Frankenstein was recycled; Karloff appears in a dream sequence, while Chaney, as well as his double Eddie Parker, are seen in footage in a fire scene.
Strange recounts that a scene with the Monster stuck in quicksand was particularly arduous for him. On top of three hours of getting into makeup, Strange spent the rest of the day buried in cold sand, including during the lunch break, and was so cold by midafternoon that he could barely feel his legs. Lon Chaney Jr. attempted to help Strange keep warm by passing him a bottle of scotch, with the result that Strange was so drunk that after getting out of costume and makeup, he had difficulty dressing himself in his street clothes. Chaney's drinking contributed to his reputation as being difficult to work with, and probably was the reason Universal let him go after the film was completed.
The film, which was the seventh Universal film to feature Frankenstein's monster, as well as the fourth with Count Dracula and the Wolf Man, was a commercial success, but was one of the last Universal movies featuring Frankenstein's monster, vampires, and werewolves, with the exception of the comedy Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948), in which all three appear.
Its a fun entertaing horror film starring the universal monsters.
The plot: This monster movie focuses on the iconic vampire, Count Dracula (John Carradine), and Lawrence Talbot (Lon Chaney), better known as the Wolf Man. Both beings of the night are tired of their supernatural afflictions, so they seek out Dr. Franz Edelmann (Onslow Stevens) for cures for their respective curses. While trying to aid the imposing creatures, Edelmann himself develops a transformative condition, adding to the many ghouls lurking around the foreboding landscape.
The working titles for the film were Dracula vs. the Wolf Man or The Wolf Man vs. Dracula.
Although Glenn Strange appears as the Monster in most of the film, footage of Chaney as the Monster from The Ghost of Frankenstein and Boris Karloff from Bride of Frankenstein was recycled; Karloff appears in a dream sequence, while Chaney, as well as his double Eddie Parker, are seen in footage in a fire scene.
Strange recounts that a scene with the Monster stuck in quicksand was particularly arduous for him. On top of three hours of getting into makeup, Strange spent the rest of the day buried in cold sand, including during the lunch break, and was so cold by midafternoon that he could barely feel his legs. Lon Chaney Jr. attempted to help Strange keep warm by passing him a bottle of scotch, with the result that Strange was so drunk that after getting out of costume and makeup, he had difficulty dressing himself in his street clothes. Chaney's drinking contributed to his reputation as being difficult to work with, and probably was the reason Universal let him go after the film was completed.
The film, which was the seventh Universal film to feature Frankenstein's monster, as well as the fourth with Count Dracula and the Wolf Man, was a commercial success, but was one of the last Universal movies featuring Frankenstein's monster, vampires, and werewolves, with the exception of the comedy Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948), in which all three appear.
Its a fun entertaing horror film starring the universal monsters.
Emma @ The Movies (1786 KP) rated Inmate #1: The Rise of Danny Trejo (2020) in Movies
Jun 30, 2020
I don't think there's anyone who would be able to say "Danny who?" unless they were living in a cave somewhere. Whether it's Machete, Navajas in Desperado or the voice of Jaguar in Rick and Morty, there's something for everyone to click with out there. (3-Headed Shark Attack for the classiest of you out there.)
There's always something amazing around Danny Trejo, I love seeing him pop up in films. It wasn't until watching this that I realised just how many roles he's done and has coming up, it's even gone up a significant amount since they put this together. It also made me realise that I have a lot of things I need to watch. I'm at a measly 5% watched according to Letterboxd.
With several documentaries I've watched recently there are fundamental pieces that they've tweaked to try and change things up, Inmate #1 has kept to quite a traditional setup and it works tremendously well. We have interviews, old video footage of locations and sets and photos from Danny's life, the archival footage gives you a very clear image of what is being narrated and it helps to take you through the timeline.
The only slight drawback to the interview portion is the sheer variety of people that they include. Trejo's children, friends and colleagues have recurring parts and a significant portion is them recounting stories. It's all interesting content, but it's not always personally relevant to them and that seemed a little odd. It was really only a small point on the whole thing but I wouldn't have said no to more Trejo moments.
Seeing Danny Trejo's personality come across is wonderful to behold, he has an addictive humour to him and seeing him laugh at memories will make you smile back. But you also get to see remorse and emotion in such an honest way. The Kermit story broke me.
Overall, the documentary handles change in tone and situations well. All the transitions you see are smooth and there was no jarring change at any point which meant I was engaged for the whole 1hr and 47 minutes. It's compiled wonderfully and the mix between old and new content is balanced, the fact that it brings you full circle and shows you how hard he works on his career and his community is a joy.
Originally posted on: https://emmaatthemovies.blogspot.com/2020/06/inmate-1-rise-of-danny-trejo-movie.html
There's always something amazing around Danny Trejo, I love seeing him pop up in films. It wasn't until watching this that I realised just how many roles he's done and has coming up, it's even gone up a significant amount since they put this together. It also made me realise that I have a lot of things I need to watch. I'm at a measly 5% watched according to Letterboxd.
With several documentaries I've watched recently there are fundamental pieces that they've tweaked to try and change things up, Inmate #1 has kept to quite a traditional setup and it works tremendously well. We have interviews, old video footage of locations and sets and photos from Danny's life, the archival footage gives you a very clear image of what is being narrated and it helps to take you through the timeline.
The only slight drawback to the interview portion is the sheer variety of people that they include. Trejo's children, friends and colleagues have recurring parts and a significant portion is them recounting stories. It's all interesting content, but it's not always personally relevant to them and that seemed a little odd. It was really only a small point on the whole thing but I wouldn't have said no to more Trejo moments.
Seeing Danny Trejo's personality come across is wonderful to behold, he has an addictive humour to him and seeing him laugh at memories will make you smile back. But you also get to see remorse and emotion in such an honest way. The Kermit story broke me.
Overall, the documentary handles change in tone and situations well. All the transitions you see are smooth and there was no jarring change at any point which meant I was engaged for the whole 1hr and 47 minutes. It's compiled wonderfully and the mix between old and new content is balanced, the fact that it brings you full circle and shows you how hard he works on his career and his community is a joy.
Originally posted on: https://emmaatthemovies.blogspot.com/2020/06/inmate-1-rise-of-danny-trejo-movie.html
Sarah (7800 KP) Apr 28, 2020
LeftSideCut (3776 KP) Apr 28, 2020