Map! - Spinward Marches 'Trane'

Trane, as a colony, started simple enough. It was the calmest, albeit radioactive, place to setup a fuel refinery. The vast ice reserves below the surface proved easy to access and refine. Primitive native life even eeks out a living deep below Trane's icy crust that attracts the occassional tourist. And while it continues to be a robust refinery, Trane has grown considerably since then. Since its founding it has sprawled out uncontrollably to what it is today- a sort of perpetual keg party gone horribly wrong for the ships and their crew capable of navigating to the planet. Of which, used to be a somewhat significant feat of piloting made moot by automated landing beacons and other advances of space faring technology.
Trane exists on a perpetual cusp of chaos with its people either inebriated or ambivilant. It's government outside the refinery consists of whomever looks the most responsible and changes daily.

Though the TAS has not formally declared Trane to be amber, it is advised that all passing travellers be aware of changing political situations and to keep visits short. Popular rumor has it that the TAS has not issued an amber warning because it would devestate the local economy, though this is completely unsubstantiated.

Map! - Spinward Marches 'Craw'

For most people, ideal retirement is a trip to one of Craw's idyllic rural communities. For the people that live there; it's anywhere else. Craw's atmosphere has a helium contaminant that easily remedied locally through pharmaceutical means.

The Sky Crawlers

The Sky Crawlers

Ever feel like you are missing some sort of in-joke? That despite people are speaking plain english around you and you can understand what they are saying but still don't understand what they mean?

This is Sky Crawlers in every sense of that. At one point a flipped to the subtitles just to see if the english voice actors were destroying it (they weren't though I suggest the japanese on this one as the delivery is superior to the english track). Every time the action stops and the dialogue begins, it's as though Oshii is on some sort of personal pseudo psychological trip (he actually was). Though this is normal from Oshii's movies and should be expected. Sometimes it's even enlightening.
But this time it's unfortunate because the world the movie is set in is just bizarre, and more so than usual, never fully explained. Any time that is spent on the subject of their world and character histories is mired in Oshii's psychological babble. This part is most troubling for me because it's a plot point of sorts. There are many of these plot crutches in use that are actually somewhat important and incredibly subtle. Typical anime has, unfortunately, caused me to glaze over these land mines of anime logic.
Not so from Oshii; It's something to be respected from Oshii because his films rarely beat you over the head about something that should be implicit, and in other anime would be a mere plot hole. Where other directors would leave these sorts of plot holes and cinematic abberations unchecked, Oshii finely weaves it into the setting and plot to be intrensic. So it's difficult to suggest changes when it's fine. It's well crafted and built to its initial design.

Only nobody realized they were making a beautiful gold plated CG urinal.

Which says nothing of the key frame artists, it appears they must have checked out early because the hand drawn segments are, on average, woefully lacking.
Despite this, it is in alot of ways it's like Jin Roh. There's a wonderful story in there that is far deeper than it initially seems. But you have to be able to have the patience to analyze it wholistically in a mature modernist sense.
The question then becomes, is it worth it?
Despite feeling a little jilted on first viewing, the action scenes, musical score, attention to just feeling authentic, and great story you almost have to work for give an emphatic 'Yes'.

Check it out.

---

The Sky crawler - Trailer
by glxtendo

Transformers 2

Transformers 2.

Where do I start?

First, I loved the movie. I thoroughly enjoyed it. It's faithful to the fans of the original continuity as it is to anyone that enjoys a Michael Bay film.

However, the refrigerator logic on this one is simply mind blowing. When the explosions died down, the last of the juvenile potty humor is delivered (good Lord, this is PG-13?!), and one is left considering what has just taken place, it becomes apparent that someone was asleep at the wheel in the scripting department. Did it seriously take 3 writers to hammer this one out? Out of the entire film, this one gem in the credits really was the most astounding.

We have almost every conceivable macguffin and plot hole thoroughly used and abused in this one. Does it really take Shia LeBouf only 10 minutes to solve a riddle that took the Decipticons eons to decipher (and fail)? Was Indiana Jones working with Shia in the back ground on this one too? How long does it take -really- to find those shards? A casual glance and it's obvious, so why did it take them years to find them? Why does the robot hump Megan Fox anyway (again, PG-13?)?
It really looks like the script writing session probably took place in a Dennys over some brown bagged bottles of tequila.

I digress, it's a decent enough film while the explosions are going on. Just don't think too heavily on it. You might get a headache trying to rationalize it all. Which is fitting, since the original Transformers continuity was a little head scratchingly strange and this one, unfortunately, follows in its foot steps despite doing a wonderful job of glazing over and improving the original plot archs.
Though I can't help but think that if this was the first film, they would not have made a sequel.

Spoiler:
Great nods to Megatron turning into a tank after his death, having the original voice actor for Soundwave (and it really does add to it all), Soundwaves minions doing what they do best, classic Megatron/Starscream dialogue, Jetfire having all his backstory and being wonderfully reimagined, and even the completely insane robot spirit ancestor hoo-ha.

Kudos for Michael Bay getting it all in.

Map! - Spinward Marches

Here is the Spinward Marches map stitched together. This is just a rough just to get an idea on how things are going. As you might be able to tell, there are some problems. Trade routes don't always line up for one. And secondly the hex template is off. Though the later I knew about and didn't spend to much time fretting over it. When you cut it out and piece it together, that little anomaly won't be noticed.

Map! - Spinward Marches 'Egypt'

Egypt is a unique world in that it's thought to be an ancient remnant of a transient gas giant or some other super massive debris. It's core is so incredibly radioactive as to be a radiation hazard through out the planet and well within 100 diameters. So intense is both the gravity well, radio interference, and radiation that the world makes for a natural orbital storage location where munitions and other military hardware spend time. Anyone attempting to steal anything would need not only need to know the location of the object in excruciating detail, but also have a ship capable of navigating the gravity well quickly, and have a death wish.
Because if the radiation doesn't shorten the lives of the crew, the orbital military supply posts will likely finish the job.

Map! - Spinward Marches 'Aster'

Lying on the border of frontier space the rather tropical water world of Aster is home to a rather elaborate fuel refinery and subsidized space port. LSP holds an interest here in the form of a hydrogen research facility that is long rumored to anything but.

Map! - Spinward March 'Horosho'

Horosho is a world in change for better and worse. As a byproduct of terraforming the world is remarkably more green than it used to be. Vast ice deposits that laid below the crust were melted to provide the planet with the thin atmosphere and vast lakes it now enjoys. However the terraforming did not go as well as initially projected and it eventually crushed the Horosho government under its financial burden. The terraforming project now sits half completed as the world slowly slides back to its natural state. Strong sudden storms are common with atmospheric pressure dipping dangerously for hours at a time.
Though the current regime enjoys public support for disposing of the former government pork projects, it sits on a precarious position of watching the world slide back into being uninhabitable to the less developed parts of society that grew up depending on the terraformed Horosho.

Horosho is also home to some of the most famous scout training facilities in the Glisten sector that value not only the data gained by the terraforming project, but by the 2 nearly hostile worlds from which they dispatch recruits for training.

Clarkson Class Deckplan

Clarkson Class Cruiser SXT

Clarkson Class Cruiser SXT (Refit at Glisten Shipyards) TL-F 332.92925Mcr

The Clarkson Cruiser SXT is a popular refit of the popular Clarkson Cruiser built by Omni Consumer Products. It removes the eponymous particle beam for more infantry, an upgraded Omni Consumer Products Intelli-Force Autonomous computer, and close support assets. It's a favorite of quick strike groups that can afford to field them. The 3 G/Carriers provide ample fire power for the ships that still have them as they tend to be hard to replace given their high tech military status - the ones on the ship are often part of the original refit package. Though it is not uncommon to see other grav platforms used in their stead. These G/Carriers are modified from the original design to easily fit in the Clarkson's hangars. However any G/Carrier will fit within, maintenance merely becomes more difficult while onboard (+1 DM). Altering a G/Carrier to Clarkson specs takes a successful engineering check and 12 hours. The SXT refit is found almost exclusively in kits or finished ships at the Glisten Yards when not in use by high profile military detachments. The refit from the base model tends to cost around 80Mcr with labor and 1 month dock time.

With the refit computer the Clarkson looses some of it's ability to cook delicate meals in the captains quarters but gains an otherwise charming and sincere personality that is typically exudes a concern for the troops it deploys.
This quirk wasn't intentional, as the Intelli-Force Autonomous Computer is infamous for being inhumanely calculated, and is thought of as a result of the expert medic and steward programs.
The Omni Consumer Products software development team strongly advises to not alter the software load out of the IFAC mainframe.

400t Streamlined 17.6MCr Hull 8/8
Fins 2Mcr 20t
Armor 8Crystal 3.52Mcr 40t
Reflec 1.76Mcr
Self Sealing 0.176Mcr
Maneuver-4 (H Drive) 15t 32Mcr
Jump-4 (H Drive) 45t 80Mcr
H Plant 25t 64Mcr
Bridge 20t 2Mcr
Comp/7(bis) 45Mcr
Jump-4 0.4Mcr
Expert(Pilot)-1 0.001Mcr
Expert(Navigation)-1 0.001Mcr
Expert(Remote Operations)-1 0.001Mcr
Translator-0 50cr
Security-1 200cr
Expert(Steward)-1 0.001Mcr
Expert(Comms)-1 0.001Mcr
Expert(Sensors)-1 0.001Mcr
Expert(Mechanic)-1 0.001Mcr
Expert(Medic)-1 0.001Mcr
Intellect 1Mcr

Advanced Sensors 3t 2Mcr
20 Staterooms 80t 10Mcr
20 Escapepods 10t 2Mcr
30 Low Passages 15t 1.5Mcr
Air Raft 4t 0.275Mcr
3 G/Carrier 30t 45Mcr
Fuel J-4 40t
2 Weeks Operation 16t
2 Fuel Processors 2t 0.1Mcr
TL-8 Triple Turret 2 Beam (Variable), 1 Sandcaster 1t 3.25Mcr
TL-8 Triple Turret 2 Beam (Variable), 1 Sandcaster 1t 3.25Mcr
TL-7 Triple Turret 3 Missile(Accurate) 1t 3.25Mcr
Ammo Magazine(48 missiles) 4t
Probe Drones (5) 1t 0.5Mcr

4x Armoury 8t 2Mcr
Luxuries 3t 0.3Mcr
Autodoc slaved to the Computer 0.04Mcr

Cargo 16t

Clarkson Class Cruiser

Clarkson Class Cruiser (Built in Glisten Shipyards, New Rome Yards) TL-C 254.93735Mcr

The Clarkson Cruiser is a by product of a design bid with the Imperium for a formidable high speed maneuver ship built for fast intercepts and light ground support in high contention areas with an emphasis on atmospheric maneuverability. It failed to gain traction within the Imperium largely due to its poor jump capabilities compared to the rest of the fleet and large particle beam that had little use in it's intended atmospheric troop support role. As imperial support for the project waned, it was endanger of being scrapped. Instead, with its initially governmental product placements it found great acclaim within corporate military and mercenary detachments for the stylish design and ability to fight and stand against starships much larger than itself. It was billed in these markets as a jack of all trades. Before production was finalized it was tweeked for those markets with the inclusion of an "advanced" computer system by a subsidary Haufell Light Industries (known for kitchen appliances, among other things) and luxuries for their captains that would otherwise be balked at on an Imperium Cruiser. Though the captains quarters are considered decadent for a cruiser of this size, the rest of the ship is incredibly spartan and is indicative of its functional military roots. The computer aboard the Clarkson however is reknown for its sloppy distracted AI that is neither capable of performing one task on it's own nor doing it efficiently with assistance. Stories abound of crews asking a Clarkson class to act on something menial only to see it divert power from something otherwise intrinsic, like life support or otherwise miss the point of the request entirely.
This is generally attributed to the primitive intellect program that it was given that is largely incapable of managing the starship without draining resources and even then it's almost completely ineffective without a crewman baby sitting it.
The computer is however, very capable of cooking meals within the Captains quarters where it applies its steward skill above par.

Since its debut, it has seen continued success and support ever since with the Clarkson Class being seen as far out as Antares.

400t Streamlined 17.6MCr Hull 8/8
Fins 2Mcr 20t
Armor 8Crystal 3.52Mcr 40t
Reflec 1.76Mcr
Self Sealing 0.176Mcr
Maneuver-4 (H Drive) 15t 32Mcr
Jump-4 (H Drive) 45t 80Mcr
H Plant 25t 64Mcr
Bridge 20t 2Mcr
Comp/5(bis) 15Mcr
Jump-4 0.4Mcr
Intellect-2 0.05Mcr
Expert(Pilot)-1 0.001Mcr
Expert(Navigation)-1 0.001Mcr
Intelligent interface .0001Mcr
Expert(Remote Operations)-1 0.001Mcr
Translator-0 50cr
Security-1 200cr
Expert(Steward)-1 0.001Mcr
Expert(Comms)-1 0.001Mcr
Expert(Mechanic)-1 0.001Mcr
Advanced Sensors 3t 2Mcr
20 Staterooms 80t 10Mcr
20 Escapepods 10t 2Mcr
20 Low Passages 10t 1Mcr
Air Raft 4t 0.275Mcr
Fuel J-4 40t
2 Weeks Operation 16t
2 Fuel Processors 2t 0.1Mcr
TL-C (+4 TL) Fixed Bay Weapon Particle Beam (Very High Yield) 45t 10Mcr
TL-8 Triple Turret 2 Beam (Variable), 1 Sandcaster 1t 3.25Mcr
TL-8 Triple Turret 2 Beam (Variable), 1 Sandcaster 1t 3.25Mcr
TL-7 Triple Turret 3 Missile(Accurate) 1t 3.25Mcr
Ammo Magazine(48 missiles) 4t
Probe Drones (5) 1t 0.5Mcr

Armoury 2t 0.5Mcr
Luxuries 3t 0.3Mcr

Cargo 12t

Note on the Computer: It can only apply one skill or activity at a time. It is completely capable of self diagnosis and providing rudimentary functionality to comms and the probes. It's even a capable navigator. But it frequently misses key details when left to itself or executes commands too literally. It also effectively has an autopilot though it has great difficulty (-4 Dm) in any area that is not well mapped or traveled, as in going anywhere that does not have an explicit landing beacon. It flies almost blindly in these areas and when presented with hazards that a pilot would be unconscious to have not seen (as referenced by its ability to use Pilot but not comms at the same time. It cannot even see what the sensors might pick up).
As stated before it has a repertoire of skills related to cooking and puts them to use in the captains quarters (but not the general mess). However, asking it to do so will cause the ship to halt doing whatever it was doing before, like piloting, etc.
It is a good conversationalist that unfortunately with long discussions tends to drag the computer to a halt causing it to stop doing whatever it was before until instructed to do so again.
Some crews go so far as to disconnect the microphones to the computer from any location other than the bridge to avoid it from accidentally crashing the ship while it attempts conversation.

I'll make a deck plan for it later.
edit: I noticed a horrible discrepency in the software load out, so I wrote it into the backstory.

Map! - Spinward March 'Callia'

Callia is the home of the Thillian, a race brought to the stars in 643 when Imperial frontier scouts began translating their language.

This has widely been considered a mistake as the Thillian are little more than miscreants and criminals when outside the inscrutable gaze of the law. The Thillian were on the brink of extinction despite maintaining a modest TL3 civilization when the Imperial scouts arrived. The local predators were so well adapted to Callia's environment that the diminutive Thillian were forced to eek out an meager living in the shadows of near omni present and imminent death. Shortly after contact and rudimentary trade began, the tables turned for the Thillian as they immediately armed themselves and, bent on genocidal revenge, systematically devastated the local fauna.

And when the local predators were no longer a challenge they turned on each other. Brutalizing a long held culturally accepted value of "might makes right" that had previously been mostly bloodless. As value within Thillian society was often determined inversely by it's legitimacy, with theft being a common trade practice. The more difficult to secure and prized the item, the more it was valued and the more heroic and virile the Thillian was thought to be.

The Thillian have made grand paintings and epic songs of 'Heroes' that managed to steal the contents of cribs, family heirlooms, and more recently, cars and weapons - often from unwary travellers. The most songed hero is that of "Tuelin". He stole the livestock from his neighbor and adultered his wife. Many years later, poor and destitute, when the farmer realized that his son is not his own, he attempted suicide only to find that the family knives were taken as well- taking from him the ability to end his own life.

With the typical life of a Thillian often being incredibly brutal and short anyway, the occasional automatic weapon and laser carbine did nothing to satiate this cultural standard.

Contact became sporadic for many decades after state warfare became the norm and wasn't reestablished properly till a frontier ship from Omni Consumer Products arrived and formally established a work program with the, then balkanized, Thillian governments. This would be the beginning of many such agreements as the Thillian proved to be willing and able to do a great deal of dangerous and menial labor other sophonts refused to do.

The Thillian are rarely welcome off world as their unfortunate reputation precedes them.

Map! - Spinward Marches 'Sorel'

In MTU Sorel is something of a rustic backwater protected by the Imperium's developing civilizations and ancient historical site laws. Though its legal status is frequently abused for various reasons by the natural inhabitants, the Sorel. The Sorel are little more than cold blooded parasitic pseudo-vines capable of speech and high thought but very little else. It is unclear how they came to be originally, but some evidence suggests Ancient involvement occurred in their past in either a genetic or purely social role.
Found strictly on Sorel, At birth they are attached to a fruit bearing tree (or bushes, in the case of the poor), from which they will gather nearly all their nourishment, that the Sorel then grow with as much as they grow onto it. The type of plant that they are bonded too often determines their social status and role in Sorellian society.
They are almost completely immobile and bound to the fate of the plant they host with. As such they welcome travellers and other humans that are capable of assisting them and reward them with choir songs and fine wooden crafts, often grown into the shape they are presented in from the vessel that they host. Such crafts are considered the finest honor that they can bestow and their choir routines are thought of as the most enchanting in the sector.

However in addition to being know for their gifts of song and trinkets, they are frequently depicted as being loud, abrasive, passive-aggressive, and gabby. The scout retinues dispatched to Sorel never do so happily and freqently leave ahead of schedule.

Map! - Spinward Marches

These look so much better with that star field edited in.

Map! - Spinward March 'Blank'

A blank tile!

Map! - Spinward March 'New Rome'

And here is New Rome. Another world, like Aki, that I'd rather avoid. If anything, because it's so friggin cold let alone nearly completely inhospitable.

Map! - Spinward March 'Aki'

Poor Aki, must be a miserable place to live.

Map! - Spinward Marches

My latest work is mapping out the MTU Spinward Marches starting with the Glisten subsector as a sort of reprisal to the Ivanez map. As of now, these are to be used as tiles for a later work. But I'm aiming in the direction of cutting them out and laminating them(I suggest a Brother LX-900 'Cool Laminator' with magnetic backing) with each hex going to be around 3".

This of course would make the Spinward Marches take up a living room or so if laid out. So some sort of digital representation will not be ruled out.

If you've been following the other posts, you can see Almacen drifting out in the middle of nowhere in the Glisten tile; In addition to 2 other MTU orbital colonies. I'm not sure if I should explicitly name some of these entities. I'm afraid it will clutter it up.

Just awesome animation

Starship Troopers Quote

I'm reading the book for the first time now. It's pretty awesome by all accounts. Heinlein is a talented writer. I'm generally regretting putting it off since it's not only a pretty gritty 50's sci fi war epic but it holds an air of authenticity despite it.
It's suave in this approach as well.

Take this quote from the drill sergeant Zim as narrated by Rico:

Once, during one of the two-minute rest periods that were scattered sparsely through each day’s work, one of the boys — a kid named Ted Hendrick — asked, "Sergeant? I guess this knife throwing is fun . . . but why do we have to learn it? What possible use is it?"
"Well," answered Zim, "suppose all you have is a knife? Or maybe not even a knife? What do you do? Just say your prayers and die? Or wade in and make him buy it anyhow? Son, this is real — it’s not a checker game you can concede if you find yourself too far behind."
"But that’s just what I mean, sir. Suppose you aren’t armed at all? Or just one of these toadstickers, say? And the man you’re up against has all sorts of dangerous weapons? There’s nothing you can do about it; he’s got you licked on showdown."
Zim said almost gently, "You’ve got it all wrong, son. There’s no such thing as a ‘dangerous weapon.’ "
"Huh? Sir?"
"There are no dangerous weapons; there are only dangerous men. We’re trying to teach you to be dangerous — to the enemy. Dangerous even without a knife. Deadly as long as you still have one hand or one foot and are still alive. If you don’t know what I mean, go read ‘Horatius at the Bridge’ or ‘The Death of the Bon Homme Richard’; they’re both in the Camp library. But take the case you first mentioned; I’m you and all you have is a knife. That target behind me — the one you’ve been missing, number three — is a sentry, armed with everything but an H-bomb. You’ve got to get him . . . quietly, at once, and without letting him call for help." Zim turned slightly — thunk! — a knife he hadn’t even had in his hand was quivering in the center of target number three. "You see? Best to carry two knives — but get him you must, even barehanded."

Or here's another good one, revealing Heinlein's fascist lean in a flashback recalled by Rico:

He had been droning along about "value," comparing the Marxist theory with the orthodox "use" theory. Mr. Dubois had said, "Of course, the Marxian definition of value is ridiculous. All the work one cares to add will not turn a mud pie into an apple tart; it remains a mud pie, value zero. By corollary, unskillful work can easily subtract value; an untalented cook can turn wholesome dough and fresh green apples, valuable already, into an inedible mess, value zero. Conversely, a great chef can fashion of those same materials a confection of greater value than a commonplace apple tart, with no more effort than an ordinary cook uses to prepare an ordinary sweet.
"These kitchen illustrations demolish the Marxian theory of value — the fallacy from which the entire magnificent fraud of communism derives — and to illustrate the truth of the common-sense definition as measured in terms of use."
Dubois had waved his stump at us. "Nevertheless — wake up, back there! — nevertheless the disheveled old mystic of Das Kapital, turgid, tortured, confused, and neurotic, unscientific, illogical, this pompous fraud Karl Marx, nevertheless had a glimmering of a very important truth. If he had possessed an analytical mind, he might have formulated the first adequate definition of value . . . and this planet might have been saved endless grief.
"Or might not," he added. "You!"
I had sat up with a jerk.
"If you can’t listen, perhaps you can tell the class whether ‘value’ is a relative, or an absolute?"
I had been listening; I just didn’t see any reason not to listen with eyes closed and spine relaxed. But his question caught me out; I hadn’t read that day’s assignment. "An absolute," I answered, guessing.
"Wrong," he said coldly. " ‘Value’ has no meaning other than in relation to living beings. The value of a thing is always relative to a particular person, is completely personal and different in quantity for each living human — ‘market value’ is a fiction, merely a rough guess at the average of personal values, all of which must be quantitatively different or trade would be impossible." (I had wondered what Father would have said if he had heard "market value" called a "fiction" — snort in disgust, probably.)
"This very personal relationship, ‘value,’ has two factors for a human being: first, what he can do with a thing, its use to him . . . and second, what he must do to get it, its cost to him. There is an old song which asserts that ‘the best things in life are free.’ Not true! Utterly false! This was the tragic fallacy which brought on the decadence and collapse of the democracies of the twentieth century; those noble experiments failed because the people had been led to believe that they could simply vote for whatever they wanted . . . and get it, without toil, without sweat, without tears.
"Nothing of value is free. Even the breath of life is purchased at birth only through gasping effort and pain." He had been still looking at me and added, "If you boys and girls had to sweat for your toys the way a newly born baby has to struggle to live you would be happier . . . and much richer. As it is, with some of you, I pity the poverty of your wealth. You! I’ve just awarded you the prize for the hundred-meter dash. Does it make you happy?"
"Uh, I suppose it would."
"No dodging, please. You have the prize — here, I’ll write it out: ‘Grand prize for the championship, one hundred-meter sprint.’ " He had actually come back to my seat and pinned it on my chest. "There! Are you happy? You value it — or don’t you?"
I was sore. First that dirty crack about rich kids — a typical sneer of those who haven’t got it — and now this farce. I ripped it off and chucked it at him.
Mr. Dubois had looked surprised. "It doesn’t make you happy?"
"You know darn well I placed fourth!"
"Exactly! The prize for first place is worthless to you . . . because you haven’t earned it. But you enjoy a modest satisfaction in placing fourth; you earned it. I trust that some of the somnambulists here understood this little morality play. I fancy that the poet who wrote that song meant to imply that the best things in life must be purchased other than with money — which is true — just as the literal meaning of his words is false. The best things in life are beyond money; their price is agony and sweat and devotion . . . and the price demanded for the most precious of all things in life is life itself — ultimate cost for perfect value."

I couldn't agree more though.

Moon Trailer

I really would like to see this one. "Realistic" space travel is a genre that really needs more attention.

The Descent

The Descent

It's a good film overall, I recommend it heartily. I really dig zombie/apocalyptic films and this one manages to hit all the notes of a good horror film when it gets into its stride. Which is important to note because the beginning is fairly slow and cliche. The film is both innovative for and suffers from the cast being all female except for one brief moment. And it particularly suffers for the mundane banter the women have early on. Their thick - and drunk - accents doesn't make it any livelier either. Even my wife was annoyed. But it sets the tone and familiarizes the characters in an almost intimate way that is played to good effect later on despite being just an inch deeper than stereotypical card board cut outs of characters. Point in fact, most of the characters had nicknames assigned by us that were easier to identify. ("The lesbian, The schizo, The clueless one", etc)
But that's practically convention with any horror film in addition to guessing who dies first. (My money was wrong on this one -Be careful if you are taking bets.)

We watched it just recently over the XBOX live service (a highly under rated product). It's important to note that the XBOX version of the movie is the original British version as opposed to the American edit, which has a slightly different ending (the American version literally cuts about a minute off the end creating a vastly different fate for one of the characters).
The British version is superior.

And while not many horror films actually make me cringe, there are moments within The Descent when mundane issues fail to act so, and the peril becomes more and more tangible; that I couldn't help but be at unease.

Left 4 Dead 2

Oh hell yah.

Egypt! Part 3

A friend had mentioned that he read my blog and mentioned the bazaars in Cairo. Though, I only made one email about that... Regardless, here is a blog post about it. Imagine if the internet had a place in the real world, where pop ups availed you constantly, and you were litterally seconds from SNES's, VCRs, Herbal suppliments, High Definition TVs, trinkets, and cell phones all intermingled with the occassional smoke bar and resturaunt.

This is the Cairo Bazaar. Litterally miles of alley ways and carts (please let that settle in for a second), the bazaar extends far beyond your line of site into seedy areas and pleasant bars. It took almost a half hour of traveling into and through the ancient bazaar for the bus to get toward a point that we could be left off at. Its' immense span is where litterally everything is sold no matter how obscure or necessary. It's loud. The smell of which changes drastically and liberally from the smell of goat being cooked to sewage to smoke from a passing deisel bus and back to a pleasant perfume and beyond.

You barter for everything. Very few things have a listed price, and even less are at a price you'd actually purchase at. There would be more pictures, particularly of the more common alley ways. But as it were, we were given a stern warning about the successful, and about as old, pickpocket trade.

Terminator: Salvation

Terminator: Salvation

"Salvation" is an merely enjoyable film that suffers from being nearly unrelated to the core Terminator work among other things. It's to the Terminator franchise what Matrix: Reloaded was to the Matrix. It's fun but clearly pandering toward making a series. And although it's certainly inspired in some parts, Salvation overall simply falls flat because the actors with the most screen time are at best distant, phoning in their performances. The sound effects are also disappointing with many opportunities squandered with what sounds like a typical melange of sound board garbage. The plot is riddled with holes aswell and some philosophical concepts are as poorly executed as beheading with a butter knife. The plot pacing itself comes across as teateringly drunk, swaying from side to side till it finally stumbles toward the end. As a whole the film feels poorly edited and rushed with references missing and scenes jumbled togethor in a barely comprehensible mess.

Despite it, "Salvation" is worth the price of admission just to see "body builder arnie" in all his robotic ass kicking glory. But avoid it like the plague if for some reason special effect's flicks aren't your thing or have something better to do.
You're certainly not missing anything.

Star Trek

Star Trek

Awesome. Simply Awesome. It manages to include all the camp and cheesy cliche's of the series without being a 'Trek movie. Go see it. I'm a reborn Trek fan. Spoiler: Though, one has to wonder why the Romulans didn't just wait out and help Romulus when their sun went nova with the Red Matter instead of going on a killing spree. Why was the mining vessel so well armed anyway?

Watchmen

Watchmen

I've read the comic. I don't recall the source material being this depressing and modernist... but then I was 12-ish... I don't recall even finishing it. Reading Watchmen again with education and experience, it's obvious though the subtexts that they draw from. They're both great in a 'modernist literature' sense, if you are into that sort of thing. I can only stomach so much frankly because I find it too disillusioning. Despite this the movie is well paced, clever, and eloquently executed. It strives, like the source material, to be more than just what it is- a mere film. It wants -begs- you to think on issues of morality. This is one of those movies that does comics justice. But unfortunately it does it too well. Like the source material it is phenomenal at rendering the credibility of comics as a legitimate form of literature - and misses the point of being a "super hero movie", or comic. Justifiably, it's not as the source is barely a superhero comic itself. It's not a movie in that league at all, rather it's more like "Shawshank Redemption" or "The House of Sand and Fog". It is as much a literary and philosphical work as it is an suspense film. It's pacing is slow and methodical, analyzing every character and plot point with poise. I highly recommend it because of it's high brow take on culture and the superhero genre. But because of all its well executed modernist themes, a sense of loss, modern sexuality, and justice, It's definately something to keep the kids from.

The Girl Who Lept Through Time

The Girl Who Lept Through Time

I read reviews online before I picked it up, but still only barely knew what it was about.... time travel... maybe a girl that jumps? And as anime can generate some real lemons, and long ago I had become enured to the potential that this new addition may very well be another fan fueled 2 hours of idoicy, I was pleasantly surprised by this one. It's funny and engaging and paces itself fairly well. The film walks around a touchy subject, potentially mired with plot holes, like time travel and runs circles around it merrily making camp and plot points till things start to keenly fold in on themselves. The quality of the film, despite some frame rate issues, is up their with the Miyazaki works. It has to be one of the best time travel film to cross my path.
It even has the "Jessica Seal of Approval" - If my wife likes it, it has to be good.

This Is Why The Russians Rule

(Credit to Jalopnik)

The TOS-1 Buratino

These things fire 220mm Fuel Air Explosives, fired in batteries no less. It's as if one of them wasn't enough to level the 40 acres they are designed to, ahem, clear cut. It's not just a one off wonder weapon like the Russian land battleships either. They see continual use, even recently in Russia's war with Chechnya.

They leveled a city with them then...

Go Ruskies.