Women Talking Review

The latest game news from IGN - one of my fave channels ever - check it out

Women Talking opens in limited theaters on Dec. 2 before going into wide release on Dec. 23.

To say that a film feels like a Twitter thread is rarely a good thing — see also: the middling Harvey Weinstein exposé movie She Said — but Sarah Polley’s Women Talking makes a meal out of the concept. Based loosely on Miriam Toews’ eponymous novel, it takes aim at patriarchal structures, and the ensuing philosophical gridlocks emerging from a society where sexual assault is all too common, and women have finally begun to speak out. The story unfolds in an isolated Christian commune, where a series of attacks have forced its oppressed female population to gather, vote, and debate on how best to proceed — whether to forgive their rapists as their faith dictates, to stay and fight to create a better culture, or to up and leave entirely — but the film’s non-stop dialogue avoids straying too far towards the didactic. This is owed, in large part, to Polley probing at what lies beneath every facet of this ongoing conversation, which can manifest in the public sphere in reductive ways, whether through new media or more traditional streams. Women Talking tries to pick up the broken pieces of those debates and put them back together. While its theatrical staging does occasionally give way to an inorganic ebb and flow (alongside some awkward shifts in tone when the film attempts levity), it’s hard not to be taken in by its incredible ensemble, who deliver stellar performances across the board.

Its opening text reads, “What follows is an act of female imagination,” though its most imaginative qualities are all in its staging and dramaturgy. The story itself is rooted in the painful reality of a Menonite community in Bolivia, the Manitoba Colony, whose real-life case Toews adapted for her novel set in Ukraine (Toews herself grew up in a Menonite town in Manitoba, Canada, which she left when she was 18). Polley further transposes the film to the United States, where the timeline isn’t fully clear at first — the simple costumes and rural production design make this commune feel stuck in time, and out of time; both trapped in the past, yet timeless and prescient — but a few references begin to slowly clue us in on the “when” of it all. The text’s westward cultural translation speaks to the story’s theatrical nature; it feels distinctly like a blackbox stage play, unfolding mostly in a barn in secret, via spoken dialogue first and foremost. It’s the kind of under-the-radar tale that would benefit from being localized, given how it lives in the delicate space between broad generalities, with regards to gender, and specificities of time, place, and language — or lack thereof, where the latter is concerned. As one of the film’s illiterate victims describes, she was taught little about her own body, and what could be done to it.

However, despite its theatricality, Women Talking discovers its most affecting moments when it briefly cuts away from the barn, to flashes of memory. These interludes illustrate what the women inside are actually discussing, resulting in distinctly cinematic depictions of the emotions underscoring their words (whether the brutality wrought upon them, or their more abstract hopes and dreams for their children in the future). After the colony’s women vote in secret — with “X”s marked alongside illustrations, since they can neither read nor write — they arrive at a deadlock between fleeing and fighting. And so, under the guidance of a minor character played by Frances McDormand, the women from two specific families are chosen to hash things out, and come to a collective decision.

The kindly elders of each family, Agata (Judith Ivey) and Greta (Sheila McCarthy), conceal their burdens with accepting smiles, but they harbor wry wisdom too. Agata has two daughters: Ona (Rooney Mara), who’s pregnant from her assault and who thoughtfully considers each option, and Salome (Claire Foy), whose youngest daughter was raped, and who harbors an unquenchable fury; she’s determined to stay and fight, though what that truly means is something the women still need to decide on. Rounding out the leading trio is Greta’s daughter, Mariche (Jessie Buckley), whose abusive marriage has convinced her that leaving is the best (and only) option. Mariche and Salome are at constant loggerheads, and their understandable hair-triggers result in frequent explosions amid the debate.

The lulls between their skirmishes, however, see the dramatic baton passed to a rich array of supporting characters. Not only Agata and Greta, but Greta’s niece Mejal (Michelle McLeod) — who quietly considers the conversation from a corner, as she dulls her resurgent traumas by smoking — and the film’s two teenagers, Salome’s niece Neitje (Liv McNeil) and Mariche’s daughter, Autje (Kate Hallett). Rather than following Salome and Mariche’s adversarial lead, they’re best friends who quickly grow tired of the process. However, their performances are so finely tuned that the two teens never blend together, despite having to share almost the entirety of their limited screen time; as the debate intensifies, McNeil grows more quietly disaffected, while Hallett begins to slowly crack and crumble.

Rounding off the main cast is Ben Whishaw as the sensitive schoolteacher August, who’s in love with Ona, and whose function is to take the minutes of the meeting. He’s also asked for his input on occasion; his mother was once excommunicated from the commune for challenging their beliefs, so the way he was raised makes him willing to assist the women in ways the colony’s other men may not.

It’s a rare ensemble movie where every single performance makes it worth watching.

The movie’s desaturated palette stands out right from its opening frames, and while Polley and cinematographer Luc Montpellier don’t play with light and color much beyond this, it sets the stage for the unfurling of a particularly bleak story. The unusually wide 2.76:1 aspect ratio certainly adds to the stage-like quality, but it also helps frame multiple women and multiple perspectives unfolding alongside each other simultaneously, as opinions and tempers fly, and the debate about leaving versus staying deepens to the point that several characters end up 180’ing entirely. Ona is frequently the catalyst for these changes; where Mariche and Salome rage at one another (and at practically everyone else), Ona’s pregnancy keeps her keenly aware of the future and its fragility, so she asks pragmatic questions about where exactly each path might lead the women, should they either stay or leave.

The subject of forgiveness is also broached, both as a religious concept as well as one with a collective social function. But these intellectual musings, while no doubt engaging, are eventually set aside in favor of its emotional strengths. The film, though it features few male characters beyond August — and a trans man in the community (August Winter), who was also raped and impregnated — harbors a constant awareness of the ways in which men and boys play into this dynamic, especially when the topic of leaving is considered more seriously. Which of their sons would the women bring with them? What’s the cutoff age? And are the women even equipped to teach their sons, and help them unlearn cruelty? Of the numerous cutaways to disjointed flashbacks, the images concerned with these questions are perhaps the film’s most moving. The women ask August his thoughts on his young male students; he answers in words, elucidating ideas about kindness and curiosity, but Polley matches his statements to both images of innocent, boyhood frolic, and of the haunting loneliness and emotional isolation imposed upon the boys. Even as children who don’t play a major role in the story, the boys’ diverging paths —should they stay or leave — are laid out clearly through poetic, abstract implications. Composer Hildur Guðnadóttir ties a neat bow on this sequence with some of her most moving film music to date. One moment in particular stands out, where held strings accompany a fleeting closeup of a tween boy staring right down the lens, causing time itself to stand still as his future hangs in the balance.

While not quite as polished as Todd Field’s Tár, Women Talking pairs surprisingly well with it, as an extrapolation of power dynamics (“Don’t we all want some sort of power?” Mejal asks at one point, to which Ona responds: “I think so, but I’m not sure”). But rather than exploring the way power hurts the powerless, the film instead lingers alongside that hurt, long after it has taken hold, as the women figure out ways to escape its dulling grasp. But where the movie ultimately succeeds is not just in its cinematic presentation of ongoing debates on power and gender, or even the rhythms with which each blistering performance is crafted (kudos to editors Christopher Donaldson and Roslyn Kalloo). Rather, its key success lies in its ability to follow the ripple effects of these conversations along distinctly emotional trajectories, tracing each implication as it arrives at some new hurdle to be painstakingly jumped, even at the point of exhaustion. It’s about what could, or should, come after the yelling, the screaming, and the desperate venting — which is to say, the difficult task of healing and rebuilding.

from IGN Reviews https://ift.tt/WhaBCOK
This could be a real lead forward for personal gaming... Revolutionise gaming

Marvel's Midnight Suns Review

The latest game news from IGN - one of my fave channels ever - check it out

One of my favorite things about watching superheroes duke it out is when someone gets smacked so hard they fly backwards and crash through solid walls, explode tanker trucks, or slam into their friends. It’s an awesome demonstration of just how strong these godlike characters are supposed to be, and it’s always a disappointment when a superhero game doesn’t quite capture that feeling. With Marvel’s Midnight Suns, however, Firaxis has built a deep and innovative turn-based tactical combat system around the joy of having Iron Man, Dr. Strange, Blade, and more knock enemies around like toys they're trying to break – and that hasn’t gotten old in the roughly 75 hours of its surprisingly expansive RPG campaign. A lot of that time isn’t spent in battles, though, and while it’s certainly appealing to get up close and personal with this cast of more than a dozen popular and lesser-known Marvel heroes, it does tend to go a bit overboard with convincing Earth’s mightiest heroes to all be your BFFs.

The full-on supernatural theme of Midnight Suns immediately sets it apart from the Marvel games we’ve gotten in recent years. This story is very loosely based on the Marvel Comics series Midnight Sons, and centers on the corrupt witch Lilith returning from the dead to claim the Darkhold (the evil spell book featured in Dr. Strange and the Multiverse of Madness) on behalf of an even more evil god. That apocalyptic mystical threat isn’t terribly novel in of itself, but the family relationships around it make it more interesting: Lilith is the mother of our character, a Commander Shepard-style blank slate known as The Hunter, and her sister is Caretaker, a powerful witch who serves as the Midnight Sun’s Professor X-like mentor. There’s a lot of history between them to delve into – literally, in that Lilith and Caretaker are hundreds of years old and date back to the Salem Witch Trials – and the story uses Lilith’s ability to twist the minds of heroes and villains alike to great effect in creating strife and division among our heroes. With such a long campaign – at least 60 hours, but I’m at more like 75 or 80 now – just about everybody in the cast gets some time to shine, from the world-famous Spider-Man to the more obscure magical heroes like the Runaways’ Nico Minaru and Colossus’ sister Illyana “Magik” Rasputin, who both take central roles in the fight against Lilith.

Right off the bat, Midnight Suns’ style of combat is radically and refreshingly different from Firaxis’ genre-defining XCOM games. For one thing, each member of your three-person team you take on a typical mission has their own customizable deck of eight cards representing everything from Spider-Man’s THWIP!!! web-stunning attack to Dr. Strange’s Winds of Watoomb tornado, forcing you to think on your feet in order to make the best possible use of the hand you’re dealt. As a big fan of card games like Slay the Spire and Monster Train (and recently Marvel Snap) I’m absolutely on board with this idea – the unpredictability of it keeps me from falling into the rut of repeating the same routine every battle once I find something effective. Having just a few cards in your hand isn’t as limiting as you might think, since you can discard and redraw any at least a few every turn to replace those that aren’t useful in your situation (and you can increase the number of redraws per turn with consumable items or card upgrades). It’s rare that I’ve found myself unable to act, and it’s not unusual that you’ll draw exactly the card you want.

Losing one character doesn't pull you into the downward spiral of failure that can happen in XCOM.

Another excellent aspect of this system is that all your characters draw from the same pool of (usually) three “card plays” and one movement action per turn. That means that one person getting knocked out doesn’t instantly reduce your available actions by a third – you lose access to that hero’s cards, but those who are left standing can still use all of the turn’s allotted moves. So you’re at a disadvantage until you can revive them, but it’s not so great that you’re pulled into the downward spiral of failure that can happen in XCOM and other squad-based games – but it certainly doesn’t mean Midnight Suns is easy.

Superheroes don’t take cover in a fight and they don’t miss their shots, so instead of getting entrenched and using suppressive fire to win shootouts, these mostly small-scale missions are exciting slugfests where staying alive is all about quickly taking enemies out – or at least weakening them before they get to move. Directing their attacks away from your weakest hero with taunts and buffing your allies with armor and resistances is key to mitigating the damage, and a lot of the guesswork is taken out of it by icons above enemies' heads indicating who they plan to attack on their turn.

The rhythm of combat involves picking off weak fodder enemies using basic attack and skill cards (those with the “quick” trait refund your card play if you knock out a target, extending your turn) to build up Heroism points, which can then be spent on powerful Heroic cards like a hail of missiles from Iron Man’s shoulders that damages every enemy on the screen or Wolverine's armor-piercing claws, or satisfying environmental attacks like dropping a street lamp on a group of enemies or vaulting off a table to come crashing down on a target from above. It’s fantastic when it all comes together to let you clear out one of these close-quarters arena maps before the inevitable wave of enemy reinforcements charges in from off-screen to keep the action going.

Firaxis’ animators have done an excellent job.

Firaxis’ animators have done an excellent job of making these turn-based fights feel energetic. That so much of it is built around smacking enemies with extreme force works extremely well with high-powered heroes like Iron Man and Captain Marvel, and using Spider-Man’s webs to fling objects into bad guys’ faces from across the map is very on-brand. With all of that knockback in play positioning is extremely important – you have to think about how to approach a target and how to set up more damaging hits. On that note, I love how every hero has a distinctive flavor to the way they move and attack, whether it’s flying, levitating, teleporting, or swinging, and the powerful team-up attacks put on a good show as two heroes take turns beating the living hell out of a target. When you scale up to the over-the-top late-game abilities the animations are a whole lot of fun to watch, and it's all set to a rousing Avengers-esque score.

Mixing heroes like Magik and Ghost Rider into your squad gives you the ability to open portals in the floor (into Limbo and/or Hell) and kick enemies into it for an instant knockout, which is one of the few major places in Midnight Suns where a roll of the dice determines if an attach is successful or not. Considering this requires you to spend a move and may not do any damage at all, it’s a gamble – but it can pay off big if you can remove a beefy enemy from the map in one move.

While the maps you do battle on are consistently small and flat with only a handful of objects on them for you to slam enemies with or into, there are a fair number of backdrops to keep visual diversity up and a good variety of objectives beyond simply defeating all the enemies. There are hazards that make you keep your squad moving to avoid danger zones, shield-bearing enemies that have to be broken through to reach a target, Hydra VIPs that must be captured, bombs that must be disabled, and so on. You can also keep things interesting on straightforward battles by opting into side objectives where you need to, for example, use a specific character to deal 250 damage within two turns. Between those factors and occasional boss encounters with Venom, Sabertooth, Crossbones, and more – each with their own unique mechanics – missions rarely felt like I was stuck in a loop.

It can be a pain to find the exact right place to cast an area-of-effect attack.

Of course, Midnight Suns’ combat does have some annoying quirks to get used to: because positioning is so important it's a bit frustrating that you can’t really control where your characters will land after an attack (though it does preview the location for you before you play a card), and because there’s no grid it can be a pain to find the exact right place to cast an area-of-effect attack to hit multiple targets or to get an environmental attack to line up just right. The main thing that still throws me off, though, is that it’s easy to accidentally move a character when you’re trying to make them shove an enemy, and once you do that you've burnt that shove move for this turn.

While I’ve come to love it, I admit that Midnight Suns' battles did take a little while to grow on me. The opening hours are a lot to take in, and at the same time you’re trying to wrap your head around this dramatically different new combat system you’re barraged with what feels like way too many currencies for upgrades (each of the three card types has its own) and relationships and other stats to manage, and of course each character’s individual deck of cards – including Hunter’s, which are a mixture of light and dark cards that give you a good range of options for how you’d like them to play, focusing on support abilities that heal or grant armor or going all-in on damage dealing. I also made the mistake of taking on a lot of early side missions, which turns out to be unwise because a lot of things that haven’t been unlocked at that stage. For example, if you don't unlock the ability to do extra damage by knocking an enemy into one of your own teammates you're just making things harder than they need to be. When Venom randomly showed up in an already difficult situation (boss characters can drop into normal missions unexpectedly, similar to XCOM 2’s Chosen) it took me around two hours of stubbornly retrying it to figure out how to survive that mission.

But by the time I’d made my way through the first act of the surprisingly long story, things had really clicked into place, and I found myself greatly enjoying the challenge of maximizing the potential of the hands I’m dealt. Having a wider selection of cards to work with and the ability to upgrade and augment them with bonuses, like increasing their power when you spend a redraw on them or inflicting bleeding on a target, expanded my options significantly and made each character feel more tailored to my preferred style.

I did end up having to tone the difficulty down during that second act. I’d ambitiously cranked it up three levels as they’d unlocked based on my scores in some early missions, but when the generic Hydra soldiers were replaced by a bigger variety of tougher demonic enemies (such as the creepy guys who can clone themselves and others) I started hitting walls where my current understanding of how to optimize a deck just wasn’t up to the task. So I went back down to just one notch above the default for the rest of my run, and that put me in a good place – but I’m looking forward to a future playthrough (maybe when the planned DLC characters Deadpool, Storm, Venom, and Morbius arrive) where I can plan out my decks with a better understanding of how upgrades work and which cards I can sacrifice for extra resources to level up and enhance the ones I like.

Turning up the difficulty increases your rewards for beating missions quickly and without anyone getting knocked out, and it’s a really smart system. Doing well doesn’t make you much stronger (if you’re doing that well you don’t need a lot of help there anyway), it just makes you look cooler doing it by increasing the amount of Gloss currency you have to spend on unlocking new costumes and leisure wear for Hunter and the rest of the gang, among other things. With at least a few costume options for everyone, each with multiple color palettes, to earn it’s a good incentive to push yourself to improve on the battlefield.

The Abbey is certainly a major change of pace from battles, though that’s not always a good thing.

Before you can pay Gloss to enable them, though, you have to find those cosmetic items, and most of them come from exploring the grounds around the Midnight Suns’ home base, a castle-like building known as the Abbey. I generally enjoyed the parallel story that unfolds here, wherein the ghost of Agatha Harkness sends you looking for clues to missing memories of Hunter and Lilith’s previous conflict, and retracing the events that lead to her own death. It’s certainly a major change of pace from battles, though that’s not always a good thing because it can feel like a big time-sink: there’s a lot of aimless wandering alone across the moderately sized, maze-like map, which is almost entirely devoid of NPCs of any kind, as you search for pieces of puzzles. During that time I encountered a few frustrating bugs where items weren’t interactable at first or a solution didn’t work until I tried it multiple times. Also, while there’s a set of four different powers you get here that aren’t available at all in combat, they aren’t used very creatively and mostly serve to unlock areas that’ve been gated off. It becomes very straightforward that you need to use the Open spell to open locked doors, the Purify spell to clear obstructions made of vines, and Reveal whenever you see the eye symbol.

The third major part of Midnight Suns is the aggressive befriending of everyone on the team, and it’s here that things can become a bit awkward. We do get to explore every hero’s backstory and what led them to join the Suns, along with interpersonal conflicts between the visiting Avengers and the resident magic users, and a lot of that is done well and brings depth to the characters. The writing is usually strong and often funny – Tony Stark and Dr. Strange have some of the best banter as they work to solve problems with their technological and magical approaches, Nico’s rebelliousness puts her constantly at odds with Caretaker, and Blade is dark and intense but also nursing a secret crush. There’s a lot to like about each of them, even the vacuous young Ghost Rider, Robbie Reyes, and the voice acting holds it all up fairly well. These iterations of known characters feel distinct; the only one I’d accuse of doing an impersonation of their Marvel Cinematic Universe counterpart is Tony Stark.

Having recently replayed the Mass Effect trilogy I couldn’t help but notice a fair amount of similarity to how you chat up your teammates and earn points for being a goodie-two-shoes or an abrasive jerk at every opportunity (or taking the more neutral option), with each character having their own preference for how they’d like you to act. Nico, for example, is generally fishing for a dark answer when she’s venting about Caretaker, while Steve Rogers is exactly what you’d expect. Like nearly everything else, that system feeds into combat by unlocking items that give Hunter passive bonuses, so there’s a good reason to be consistent with your choices even if you’re not into roleplaying.

As for Hunter, they aren't a bad character, but they’re kind of set up for failure by being placed next to legendary comic book heroes like Iron Man, Captain America, and Spider-Man, among others that we already know and love – they never really stood a chance of being as memorable. My Hunter – a male who almost exclusively chooses the “light” dialogue options (my standard choice for a first playthrough of a game like this) – tends to alternate between a self-serious crusader against his mother’s evil and kind of a goofy dork who always wears sunglasses at night, and that was kind of endearing. I don't expect a dramatic change in how events play out when I eventually revisit it with a different approach, though.

It takes on the tone of self-insertion fan fiction.

What made me cringe here and there, though, was the fact that so much of Midnight Suns is spent getting all of these heroes to really like Hunter. It takes on the tone of self-insertion fan fiction, where you write a story in which you get to meet all your favorite characters and they’re constantly telling you how cool you are and how much they love being friends with you. To be fair, we see a lot of this same relationship-building in other similar party-based RPGs of the BioWare style, but in this case the fact that our character is the only one who isn’t drawn from the existing Marvel Comics universe and largely already know each other gives it a bit of a different flavor when everyone is quickly fawning over you. Of course, there’s gameplay value in participating in all of the various book clubs and surprise parties and soaks in the Abbey’s grotto pool: leveling up friendships unlocks powerful passive abilities for each character when in combat and eventually unlocks their Midnight Suns costumes and most powerful card, so it’s worthwhile.

Speaking of payoffs, though, it’s odd that in a game where we spend so much time buttering up a group of mostly attractive people by showering them with compliments and thoughtful gifts suited to their interests, and unlocking their swimsuit options, all of these friendships are completely platonic. (I believe canonically makes our character the only person Tony Stark hasn’t tried to bang.) There are quite a few conversations, especially with Magik, where it seemed poised to take a romantic turn but nothing came of it, and that can be anticlimactic coming from games like Mass Effect, Dragon Age, and The Witcher. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if Marvel vetoed the idea of romance options with its established characters, but as it is a more appropriate superhero name for Hunter might’ve been Captain Friendzone.

from IGN Reviews https://ift.tt/fpxgM80
This could be a real lead forward for personal gaming... Revolutionise gaming

Willow Season 1 Review: Episodes 1-7

The latest game news from IGN - one of my fave channels ever - check it out

This is a spoiler free review of episodes 1-7 of Willow.

In an age where "content" is king and established franchises rule Hollywood, it often feels as if everything is getting rebooted. In many cases, it can leave fans wishing their precious artistic fave was left alone. But in some cases, it can lead to underappreciated gems getting to find a new audience as they're reimagined for the modern age. Or, in the case of the new Disney+ series Willow, it can build on a beloved story that many thought would never be continued. The first seven episodes of Jon Kasdan's sequel to the 1988 Ron Howard dark fantasy amount to one of 2022's most magical shows.

Decades after the events of Willow, when the titular Nelwyn hero and his allies Sorsha (Joanne Whalley) and Madmartigan (Val Kilmer) defeated the evil Queen Bavmorda, peace reigns in the kingdom of Tir Asleen. Or at least it does within the walls of the magical barrier that was erected to keep evil out and the prophesied child known as Elora Danan in. Sorsha is queen and her rebellious daughter Kit (Ruby Cruz) is set to be married off to a noble, Graydon (Tony Revolori). But when Kit's twin Airk (Dempsey Bryk) goes missing, it sets off a series of events that bring together a ragtag group of young heroes including Kit's best friend and knight, Jade (Erin Kellyman); a local criminal and adventurer, Boorman (Amar Chadha-Patel); and Airk's current squeeze, a young kitchen girl named Dove (Ellie Bamber). Together they must journey beyond the barrier with the help of the sorcerer Willow (returning star Warwick Davis).

Beautifully, vibrantly shot by four talented cinematographers -- James Friend, Joel Devlin, Stijn Van der Veken, and Will Baldy -- Willow watches like a warm hug. Though similar shows trade simply in nostalgia, the built-in audience for Willow is much more niche than your average re-quel, and the source material more limited. That means it has to constantly innovate and expand on the little that we who love it do know of the universe we're losing ourselves in. Luckily, Jon Kasdan is a lifelong fan of the franchise and comes from a family legacy of creating accessible and exciting adventure yarns. His love for the world drenches every scene and, along with the stellar creative team, Kasdan has created a truly unique and lovely fantasy series.

Willow's biggest surprise will likely be its comedy. While the original movie was funny -- mostly thanks to Val Kilmer's Madmartigan -- what has long stuck with young viewers is the combination of terror and fantasy. Both of those elements come into play here, of course, but the writing is legitimately warm and often hilarious. Davis gives a performance that channels a truly heartwarming kind of humor that delivers some of the show's most hearty laughs. His new party of adventurers are equally charming. Disney stalwart Kellyman, who's had impressive but underwritten turns in Star Wars and the MCU, finally gets a role that showcases the breadth of emotion and range she can bring to a performance. Here, she's the party's Knight, a brave and brilliant soldier with a loyalty to Kit that will take her to the ends of the earth. Cruz seemingly has a lot of fun as the spoiled warrior princess whose brother's kidnapping breaks her out of her palace-trapped reverie and into the real world.

While adventuring is at the fore, this is a story about legacy and how we live it. That's true not just in the fact that Willow is itself a sequel, but in the journey that each of the heroes take. At the heart of many of those stories is Madmartigan and the impact he had on them. It's this connection that introduces two of the show's standout performances, one from a never-better Christian Slater, and the other from Chadha-Patel as Mad's spiritual successor, Boorman. He's a whirlwind of charm, quips, and well-timed violence that feels closest to what Kilmer brought to Willow all those years ago. It's rare for an ensemble show like this to have such a balanced cast of key players, but Willow really does introduce us to an entire swath of characters where almost all of them feel like worthy additions to the story and world that we've been invited back into.

Leaning into the classic serialized storytelling that has always shaped Lucasfilm, this is a wacky and wonderful adventure-of-the-week series set in a gorgeously drawn fantasy world that's driven forward by an overarching mystery and a party of heroes that you'll care about.

from IGN Reviews https://ift.tt/56lox34
This could be a real lead forward for personal gaming... Revolutionise gaming

Violent Night Review

The latest game news from IGN - one of my fave channels ever - check it out

Violent Night hits theaters on Dec. 2, 2022.

It's the month before Christmas that brings Violent Night, a rowdy skull crusher that dons fierce action might. Director Tommy Wirkola honors Die Hard and Home Alone with care, with hopes that a barbarian Santa would — just kidding, rhymes stop here. There's no reason to distract from my enthusiasm for a smashup of Hallmark holiday traditions and gore-slathered fight sequences from the filmmaker behind both Dead Snows and Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters. Violent Night sells its gingerbread-scented hostage scenario with the tongue-in-cheekiness of winter wonderland innocence, then jacked old Saint Nick goes warrior-berserk with a sledgehammer.

David Harbour is seemingly having a blast as Santa Claus, currently suffering a crisis of faith due to civilization's increasingly naughty habits. Another year flying around the world, gifting bratty kids electronics that'll be outdated in weeks — Santa's Christmas spirit is fading. His next stop? The Lightstone residential compound where matriarch Gertrude (Beverly D'Angelo) once again hosts her son Jason (Alex Hassell), daughter Alva (Edi Patterson), accompanying family, and all the hired catering help. Santa cracks into homemade cookies and vibrates in a luxury massage chair, living the good life until he hears gunshots. Enter John Leguizamo as a Christmas-hating criminal ("Mr. Scrooge," he calls himself) in search of Gertrude's vaulted millions, blasting his handgun and threatening even Jason's wee daughter Trudy (Leah Brady) — which Santa doesn't approve of.

Violent Night darkens your average syndicated Christmastime drama with coal residue by introducing the Lightstones as dysfunctional elites who've lost the jolly with their holly. Alva is a catty alcoholic, her husband Morgan (Cam Gigandet) is a D-list action star wannabe in search of producers, and Gertrude's introduction includes metaphorically roasting a senator's chestnuts without remorse. Violent Night takes Michael Dougherty’s Krampus approach of teaching wholesome holiday lessons with heavy doses of danger, except Violent Night swaps horrific creatures for mangled henchpersons standing within Santa's reach. No jack-in-the-box monsters, only whirring snowplow blades, icicle spikes, and sharpened ice skates as Santa's makeshift arsenal.

Harbour's transformation into a grizzled, tattooed Santa shows an actor loving every second on screen.

Pat Casey and Josh Miller's screenplay is aggressively on the nose, calling out influences and storytelling beats like Rudolph pointing to his blinking red schnoz. Scenes don't just cheekily recreate Home Alone — characters will say how much a sequence resembles Home Alone aloud. Violent Night lives to entertain by turning famous Christmas carol lines into badass Santa catchphrases during battle or by bastardizing Trudy’s yuletide innocence. The script can read as initially corny since momentum takes a few beats to start snowballing, but then the decapitations begin, and Wirkola's brutal sensibilities usher in primetime seasons beatings.

Harbour's transformation into a grizzled, tattooed Santa shows an actor loving every second on screen. Santa's not invincible, nor are choreographed fight sequences fantastically outmatched. Harbour stands Redwood-thick in his red leather outfit, using everything from electrified star toppers to glittery garland for an upper hand against Scrooge's hired psychopaths (each with cute seasonal codenames like Frosty and Jingle). It's the John McClaneisms like calmly lying exhausted next to dead bodies or hearty laughter as soldiers explode after he stuffs a grenade in their "stocking." Beverly D'Angelo, Cam Gigandet, and the rest are playing cemented stereotypes, while Harbour reinvents Santa Claus as a brawny action hero with only twinkly nose magic, an endless toy sack, and a readable scroll with "naughty" enemy names. The reset is all Harbour translating precious holiday imagery into rough-and-tumble mercenary punishment.

With a zippier opening, Violent Night would’ve reached a rung higher. When Harbour's off camera, there's less to be enthusiastic about. Leguizamo can easily pull off the bah-humbug bulletstorm persona, but not all his supporting baddies carry the same presence. Harbour's the not-so-secret weapon of Violent Night, which becomes apparent when Wirkola stages a game-changing combat sequence set to another radio-friendly Christmas hit that elevates intensity and sets a new standard moving forward. That's when Violent Night locks into overdrive, when gory tidings erupt and the naughtiest are shown no mercy, the same way 1989's Deadly Games morphs from a “playful” Christmas thriller into suspenseful December warfare.

from IGN Reviews https://ift.tt/6hWXynY
This could be a real lead forward for personal gaming... Revolutionise gaming

Scrooge: A Christmas Carol Review

The latest game news from IGN - one of my fave channels ever - check it out

Scrooge: A Christmas Carol streams on Netflix on Dec. 2, 2022.

Netflix’s Scrooge: A Christmas Carol is a heartfelt retelling of the classic Charles Dickens story. It's familiar to a fault, with a predictable conclusion. That said, thanks to some solid animation, a lively cast, and strong musical performances, Scrooge manages to delight nonetheless.

Directed by Stephen Donnelly, Scrooge: A Christmas Carol depicts the exploits of miserly old Ebenezer Scrooge (Luke Evans) during Christmas Eve. A businessman with zero holiday cheer to give, he can often be seen hounding his debtors for money or berating the poor for their lack of wealth. That is when he isn’t chastising his nephew Harry (Fra Fee) for daring to invite him to a Christmas dinner. He detests all things merry and rarely enjoys the company of others. Ultimately, Scrooge lives a solemn life that’s free of familial obligations and the common decency one would typically expect from folks during the holidays. As long as he remains wealthy, he can’t be bothered – a silly notion that’ll eventually falter over the course of a long winter’s night.

A Christmas Carol is a classic for a reason. Presented as a cautionary tale, it delivers a potent message about reaping what’s sown through a man’s encounter with time-traveling spirits. The basic premise is almost always as engaging as it is fanciful. That’s not to say that its charm doesn’t wane at times. Given how each rendition is more or less the same, most all of them suffer from being overly familiar; the timeless nature of A Christmas Carol doesn’t circumvent the fact that it’s been retold several times in all manner of film and play. The audience knows what to expect. And while Scrooge: A Christmas Carol certainly entertains, its plot only slightly deviates from what’s come before.

The good news is that deviation helps to humanize Netflix’s Scrooge. He shares a similar upbringing as his predecessors except in this version, his descent into bitterness is slightly more understandable given certain story shifts. His desire to hoard wealth, for instance, comes from a basic need to secure a solid financial footing as opposed to just being greedy for the sake of it; he never wanted to be like his father, who always seemed to be indebted to someone. Scrooge’s reasons for hating Christmas also differ slightly. The emphasis is placed more on the loss of loved ones over “wasteful” holiday shopping. Scrooge is as cold hearted as ever but his self-induced state is more relatable this time around.

Scrooge believes he’s a good man who worked hard for his station in life. This notion is often contradicted by his actions, none more obvious than his treatment of Bob Cratchit (Johnny Flynn), his poor office clerk. His fear of becoming poor outweighs his love for money. This realization makes the latter parts of the film shine when Scrooge is confronted with the results of his wrongdoings. The ending is predictable, even to those who haven’t seen any version of this story. That said, this shift in tone colors that way the final scenes come across in a nice way.

Luke Evans does a wonderful job at showcasing the different sides of Ebenezer Scrooge.

None of this would matter, of course, if the cast didn’t provide strong performances. Luke Evans does a wonderful job at showcasing the different sides of Ebenezer Scrooge. From grumpy old miser to grief-ridden hopeful, Luke seamlessly captures the essence of this classic character. Olivia Colman and Trevor Nicholas are also great as the Ghosts of Christmas Past and Present, respectively. Their distinct portrayals of these characters match that of the vibrant animation, resulting in lively and charming performances. The same can be said of Johnny Flynn’s Bob Cratchit and Rupert Turnbull’s Tiny Tim. And that’s before mentioning the musical numbers, some of which are rather moving.

from IGN Reviews https://ift.tt/nTyuAWE
This could be a real lead forward for personal gaming... Revolutionise gaming

Dash Review

The latest game news from IGN - one of my fave channels ever - check it out

Dash is now available on digital and VOD.

Sean Perry's Dash is a structural marvel as a one-take Los Angeles thriller captured exclusively by a rideshare driver's dashboard camera. Adultery, drug dealing, gunsmoke, and numerous other unsavory elements blend as “Tarantino for the found footage age.” Heaping helpings of chaotic storytelling and hopelessly detestable character work trademark this seedy reinvention of Crazy Taxi through Hollywood, all about consequences ganging up for a relentless night of karmic lashings. We don't leave the car — leaving us reading exposition on floating text bubbles or hearing private voicemails — which will be a selling point for adventurous viewers and a hindrance for those who switched off other vehicle-focused thrillers like Wheelman or H4Z4RD.

Alexander Molina stars as protagonist driver Milly, propelled by a host of bad decisions that collide in a sky-high pileup over 100 minutes. His love life includes pregnant secret girlfriend "Potential Spamm" aka Emily (Monette Moio), workaholic doctor wife "My Favorite Prostitute" aka Tara (Paige Grimard), and actual prostitute "Cali DMV" aka Kalli (Audra Alexander) — who sells Milly a brick of drugs to start the night (after an unfinished flaccid handjob). Dash rests on the car's chassis and Molina's performance, ranging from awkward conversations with "Dash" app riders to Milly's increasingly manic spiral. Text messages go to the incorrect recipients, Google becomes a resource for cocaine measurements, and Perry introduces scenario after scenario of captivating discomfort as we ride shotgun.

Dash is a single-location, mostly feel-bad movie, which creates a tougher barrier for entry. Perry — who also appears backseat as a stupendously drunk off-duty LA cop — visually succeeds as far as one-shot cinema is concerned, but the writing needs to be airtight in a movie like this. Sticking within a confined and unchanging setting can lead to environmental monotony, and Dash isn't impervious to gear-grinding lulls. Whether that be Milly's lonesome speeding down Los Angeles alleys screaming obscenities or bits like giddy and gassy rideshare party girlies who refuse to speak (dialogue is conveyed through on-screen messages), Perry feels the weight of his conceptual challenge. The experience sustains but stretches like a grating Grand Prix with too many laps.

Perry takes the Taxicab Confessions approach while swapping lewdness for emotional vulnerability, not to forgive Milly's actions. It's more about who Milly encounters — a police officer with a superhero complex who feels demonized, the sex worker with a heart of gold — while Milly struggles to either conceal or offload his powdery product. Molina accentuates licorice-bitter humor through Milly's inability to identify the correct narcotics via street names or fumbling through cheater coverups, never to grant any confessional pass. Dash is wholly cognizant of Milly's despicable behaviors and ensures the audience knows, through deserved mental anguish and surprise violence. That's important because choice scenes unwittingly drift towards forgiveness — but Dash is more about starting over and learning from painful, destructive lessons.

Cinematography, “editing” (fluid storytelling transitions), screenwriting — it's all Perry. Hollywood Boulevard signage zips by rear view window views as Milly digs himself a bottomless grave, hellbent on nuclear self-sabotage. It's too grounded to be zany, but frequent close calls with proverbial brick walls make Dash seem like a failing playboy's fever dream. Whether dropping a straight white guy's opinion into a queer throuple's argument or inept juggling of his too-good wife and Dave Matthews Band one-night-stand mistress, Milly's actions keep us wincing but also engaged. Perry deserves applause for an independent feature shot by a skeleton crew that requires immense on-set finesse not to break the marathon shoot. It's a few steps away from full-throttle, but neither coasting on autopilot.

from IGN Reviews https://ift.tt/AQcE8XF
This could be a real lead forward for personal gaming... Revolutionise gaming

HyperX Cloud Stinger 2 Review

The latest game news from IGN - one of my fave channels ever - check it out

No stranger to the increasingly crowded and competitive gaming headset market, HyperX has consistently stood out, dependably delivering quality performance, long-lasting comfort, and durable designs across its line of mid to high-end models. With its recently released Cloud Stinger 2 – an update of the company's popular budget-minded Cloud Stinger – the reliable brand attempts to again hit that same trifecta at a fraction of the cost.

HyperX Cloud Stinger 2 Gaming Headset – Design and Features

The Cloud Stinger 2's lower price is apparent as soon as you free the headset from its packaging. Forgoing the familiar, aluminum frame of the brand's more premium builds, this budget entry is almost entirely constructed of plastic. The mold is pretty solid and the matte finish is pleasant enough on the eyes, but if you've been spoiled by sturdier models, you'll have trouble overlooking the Cloud Stinger 2's flimsier feel.

Given its affordability, I wasn't especially bothered by this cheaper chassis construction, but was more put off by the ear-cups' excessively loose swivel. While I appreciate the convenience and comfort that comes with rotating cups, the Stinger 2's have far too much play, lending to an especially wobbly, inferior feel.

Of course, the saving grace of this cost-cutting design is the brand's signature comfort. Coupled with cozy leatherette and memory foam coverings, the lightweight build provides a feathery, ergonomic fit that might find you forgetting you're even wearing a headset. I tested the Cloud Stinger 2 for several weeks, donning them for lengthy days of work and play, before clocking another couple hours of bedtime TV streaming. Discomfort was never an issue, even with eyeglass arms tucked beneath the cans for most of my testing period.

My only minor complaint here is that the headband adjustment slider moves too easily. Like the too-loose ear-cup swivel, this feature would benefit from far more rigidity. As is, it feels insecure and can occasionally cause your adjustment to gain – or lose – an unwanted notch when positioning or removing the headset. The addition of numbered notches is welcome, letting you assign – and memorize – a precise value to your perfect fit; I just wasn't expecting to rely on this feature, frequently re-dialing in my preferred fit whenever it slipped out of place.

Speaking of those numbered notches, they pretty much represent the limit of the headset's features. The Cloud Stinger 2 is a no-frills offering, providing the bare minimum of what you need to game. It's a wired headset with a permanently fixed cord, and a mic that isn't going anywhere either. The latter conveniently mutes when raised, but it would be nice to detach it entirely when using the headset outside of the home. On-board controls are limited to a red, chunky volume wheel, which nicely contrasts with the black peripheral.

The lack of flashy features is by no means a deal-breaker, as its minimalist design is pretty on par for headsets circling this price point. And, honestly, I often appreciated the simplicity of a straightforward, plug-and-play experience, one where I needn't dedicate a single brain cell to selecting optimal settings.

When tucked into bed, mindlessly farming resources in Disney Dreamlight Valley, for example, I don't want to fiddle with touch controls, worry about tuning insignificant features, or wonder if my battery's gonna run out of juice before I do. In this way, the Cloud Stinger 2 makes for a great second headset, one that unassumingly sits on a bedside table, never distracting you with 1-million-plus RGB lighting options or other superfluous inclusions.

And what it lacks in extras, it easily makes up for in versatility. While the Cloud Stinger 2 is marketed as a PC gaming headset, its 3.5mm connection makes it compatible with so much more. Over my month or so of testing, I used it with my PC and laptop, all current-gen consoles, and even an old iPhone S. The convenience of being able to plug it into – and immediately use it – with so many devices can't be understated.

HyperX Cloud Stinger 2 Gaming Headset – Performance and Gaming

The Cloud Stinger 2's streamlined design and lack of features doesn't come at the cost of its ability to deliver exceptional sound, especially for a headset priced so reasonably. Its 50 mm drivers more than hold their own, pumping out a dynamic soundscape with surprisingly good separation.

I made a point of using them with games that regularly mix subtle, ambient audio cues with big, ear-pummeling action and combat encounters. After dozens of hours spent slaying all manner of mythological monsters in God of War Ragnarok and cracking criminal skulls in Gotham Knights, I came away impressed by the headset's ability to keep up with these games' deep, layered sound designs.

Audiophiles will certainly find room to nitpick, as the Stinger 2's performance – while more than proficient for its price point – doesn't match the quality of more premium cans. There are moments when the mid ranges get lost in the highs, and the bass doesn't quite reach those stomach-rumbling lows. More often than not though, only the most discerning ears will pick up on these shortcomings. I tested the Stinger 2 side-by-side with HyperX's pricier Cloud Alpha and Cloud II models, and noted only occasional, often negligible differences.

The headset's attached mic also gets the job done, delivering consistently clear comms during even the most chaotic multiplayer skirmishes. My teammates did report my voice sounding a bit distant on several occasions, but the effect never seemed to come at the cost of clarity. The ability to mute the mic, by flipping it up, also worked as advertised.

HyperX Cloud Stinger 2 Gaming Headset – Software

Like everything else with the Cloud Stinger 2, its software support is a pretty straightforward, stripped-down affair. In fact, those who like to tweak and customize their audio output are out of luck, as there's no real software or app compatibility to speak of.

That said, the headset is bundled with a code for DTS Headphone: X Spatial Audio, which promises a more immersive soundscape. Compatible with Windows and Xbox – via a download from the Microsoft Store – the license typically costs $20 after a free trial, but you'll score two years gratis with the Stinger 2. It's worth downloading and testing with different games, as results tend to vary from game to game. The improvements were pretty subtle in my experience, leaving me happy I redeemed the code, but not so won over that I'd consider ponying up for a renewal.

from IGN Reviews https://ift.tt/WKcMYe3
This could be a real lead forward for personal gaming... Revolutionise gaming

Andor: Season 1 Review

The latest game news from IGN - one of my fave channels ever - check it out

The following is a spoiler-free review of Season 1 of Andor. All 12 episodes are now available to stream on Disney+.

Andor is Star Wars like you’ve never seen it before. This ground-level view of a burgeoning resistance movement is a fantastic thriller that snakes through corridors of Imperial power and the homes of the innocents they bring suffering to. It’s slow-burn at times, shouting rarely but loudly, with memorable action sequences made even more impactful by the tangible stakes birthed in its quieter but equally engrossing episodes. It’s one of the very best TV shows of the year and as good as Star Wars has been in a long, long time.

Set five years before the events of Rogue One, Andor charts the journey of Cassian Andor from nomad to rebel who very much finds a cause. Along that path, the series consistently surprises with the mature themes it tackles and the emotional depth it explores – making it a true breath of fresh air when it comes to Star Wars-set drama. There are no Jedi or lightsabers here, and arguably it’s barely a Star Wars show that just happens to star members of the film it's building up to. But in truth, this is why I love it so much more than anything I’ve seen in that universe recently.

It sets itself apart by raising issues such as apartheid and class warfare. It doesn’t just flutter its eyelashes at them either, but instead explores them beyond the surface-level reading. Of course, it’s not a groundbreaking look into subjects that plague our world, nor does it offer up solutions as to how we can fix society, but it does thrust them forward more prominently than any other Star Wars project has done before, and for that, it deserves to be praised.

Creator Tony Gilroy is a modern master of the espionage thriller, with his work on the original Bourne trilogy and Michael Clayton some of the best examples of the genre. Andor successfully melds the high-stakes action of the former with the smartly written script of the latter, resulting in a masterful blend of tension and release. The series isn’t afraid to spend entire episodes slowly loading the gun before firing in spectacular fashion when the time is right. Some may find the pace plodding at times, but it’s that setup that makes the flurries of violence all the more exciting – actually constructing a full-fledged narrative with defined characters and conversations that feel like humans naturally interacting and rather than coming across like walking-talking plot devices there to transport you to the next low-stakes fight scene.

Scripts have never been of this high a standard at any point in Star Wars history.

Scripts have never been of this high a standard at any point in Star Wars history, and with rose-tinted glasses removed there’s a genuine argument that it’s never been as good as this in general. Andor isn’t just a brilliantly made Star Wars show, it’s a brilliantly made TV show full stop thanks to the lofty ambitions and clinical execution of each of its 12 episodes. The confidence it exudes by trusting the audience to be smart enough to understand the steadily boiling nature of its intertwining plot pay off to hugely satisfying effect by the end of its stunning finale. It’s a series of towering highs made all the more dizzying by meticulously constructed, dialogue-heavy scenes that preface them. These quieter pockets work so well thanks to the layered, thoughtful writing on show throughout, and the nuanced, often powerful performances from each member of the cast.

Weirdly for the star of the show, Diego Luna is almost the unsung hero of Andor. He’s the glue that holds the series together – crucial in driving the plot forwards at all times, but often letting others take centre stage in big moments. The subtle but highly effective acting he regularly produces from a single look on his face often tells us more about Cassian than his words. Luna does a fantastic job displaying genuine character development in tangible ways, whether it be through more confident actions or the way he interacts with his many different cast mates.

Headlining that stellar supporting cast is Stellan Skarsgård who plays the deliciously mysterious Luthen. He’s a character with incredible depth who, just when you think you’ve drilled deep enough into understanding, throws another curve ball your way. He loves to play in the grey areas of the galaxy, and Skarsgård does a phenomenal job conveying Luthen’s complex motivations, stooping over others in a scene whether through whispered threats or spine-tingling monologues. No actor feels out of place in Andor, each pitching their A-Game, from Adria Arjona who brings warmth and loyalty to the role of Bix, to Fiona Shaw who stars in some of the series’ most impactful scenes. Then there are the actors who come into the show for extended cameos and end up stealing scene after scene, like Alex Lawther’s impassioned Nemik or Andy Serkis’ powerful turn as Kino Loy.

Any story is only as good as its villains though and in Dedra Meero and Syril Karn, Andor has two very different but very effective ones. The former, played brilliantly by Denise Gough, is a force of nature and a reflection of the very worst sensibilities of the Empire. A snarling face ready to spit vocal venom at any who challenge her, she has very few redeeming qualities, making her the perfect villain to root against. Syril is a very different sort of presence. A slimy, almost desperate sort of figure searching for recognition from the world in all the wrong places. Kyle Soller is excellent in the role, hiding a stalking threat behind Karn’s steely eyes and a thin mask of fascism. Andor gets us deeper within the Empire’s walls than ever before, frequently exposing us to just how evil they can be. It’s a refreshing peek behind the clinically white Imperial curtain, letting us see more reflections of our world than we’d be keen to admit, therefore granting us a more personal connection to the atrocities being committed and evoking a greater emotional response.

Andor doesn’t only create engaging new characters, but also successfully develops existing ones. Playing the proxy for the audience for stretches of Andor is Mon Mothma – someone advocating for positive change in the world but often finding herself drowned out by the shouts of the oppressors. This is thanks largely to the humanity that Genevieve O’Reilly brings to the role. Her scenes in the heart of Imperial-controlled Coruscant add an almost Game of Thrones-like edge of political intrigue to proceedings as she attempts to play people off of one another while remaining undetected as a rebel sympathiser.

For long stretches, Andor presents itself as a political thriller, with walks and talks through Imperial halls and back alley deals taking place on more than one occasion, but that doesn’t mean it lacks action. Its cadence allows for multiple episodes of delicate setup to take place, but never drifts thanks to the snappy script and eye-catching performances. When it chooses to click into next gear though, it never disappoints. Highlights include exciting street battles, heists, and prison breaks – each a wonderfully choreographed sequence with genuinely tangible stakes at play.

It never once looks cheap and has some of the most gorgeously shot Star Wars scenes ever put on camera, as well as claustrophobic handheld sections that get you right into the action. The range of styles on display is exciting with each designed to fit the style of thriller each act of the series is tapping into. Standout episodes directed by Susanna White, Toby Haynes, and Benjamin Caron each come with their own unique look but are all held to a high standard by showrunner Tony Gilroy, whose espionage thriller fingerprints leave a mark on every frame. When combined with Nicholas Britell’s astounding score, it creates something truly special. His stirring strings soundtracking the series’ more paranoid pockets as well as the pulsing percussion does its explosive moments. It’s an extra slathering of class on top of a show already layered with so much quality.

from IGN Reviews https://ift.tt/mcgdqFz
This could be a real lead forward for personal gaming... Revolutionise gaming

Bones and All Review

The latest game news from IGN - one of my fave channels ever - check it out

Bones and All is now in theaters.

Luca Guadagnino’s Bones and All is lush, romantic, and brutal. A cannibal road trip movie that fleshes out its mythology akin to vampires or werewolves, it’s a poetic piece of American Gothic horror with unexpected turns rooted in rigorous character drama. Led by stellar performances from, among others, Taylor Russell, Timothée Chalamet, and Mark Rylance, it feels fully lived-in even in its most languid moments, resulting in a work that’s both sweeter and funnier than you’d expect, but no less heart-wrenching.

It begins unassumingly in Virginia in the 1980s, where mixed-race teenage newcomer Maren (Russell) acclimates to her new school and to her wealthier white friends, despite attempts from her father, Frank (André Holland), to keep her sheltered. His reasons become all too clear when Maren sneaks out to a sleepover and, during a moment of physical and emotional intimacy with her classmate, gets carried away and takes a bite out of her finger. When she returns home covered in blood, Frank’s lack of surprise (and the quickness and routineness with which he has her pack up and leave) tells us this has happened before.

It's also the last straw. A few months after they move to Maryland under new identities, he reluctantly abandons Maren in the middle of the night, leaving her with nothing more than her birth certificate — which contains scant details about her estranged mother, who she barely remembers — and a Walkman with a cassette tape explaining his actions, and revealing parts of her bloodthirsty past he’d long kept hidden. Unable to listen to it all at once, she digests his audio confession in increments on the road while taking buses and hitching rides in the hopes of tracking her mother down and finding answers about herself.

This journey, its meetings, and its pitstops serve as a proxy for a tale of self-discovery, one punctuated by the same kind of loneliness and romance Guadagnino brought to Call Me By Your Name. It’s also rife with simmering feelings of queer self-hatred, with an obvious but effective parallel with the movie’s version of cannibalism — or “eaters” — for whom consumption and indulgence can be marked by shame. Guadagnino first taps into these feelings when Maren briefly crosses paths with an eccentric cannibal named Sully (Rylance), who sports a ponytail under a feathered hat, refers to himself in third person, and sniffs our young runaway protagonist from half a mile away. Eaters have a keen sense of smell, we learn from Sully, who not only teaches Maren some of the basics of “their” kind, but functions as a specter of a lonely future, a sort of queer-elder who’s seen the worst of what the world has to offer, and wants to prepare Maren for a life of survival in isolation.

Despite the bloodshed occurring mostly off-screen, there’s a sense of ritualism to eating human flesh — not in a cultural or even occult sense, but as an act of intimacy between two people (whether two eaters, or an eater and the eaten). However, the cannibalism lore takes a backseat when Maren crosses paths with Lee (Chalamet), a young, brooding twentysomething straggler with an apparent moral code, and a semblance of remaining connection to his family (a rarity for eaters). He’s gaunt and awkward, with the kind of quiet disposition a teen like Maren might find mysterious, but there’s something obviously despondent about him too — between this and Call Me By Your Name, Guadagnino has perfected the art of using Chalamet to create Sadboi cinema — and the characters’ personal dynamic offers the movie a sense of novel calm, at least for a moment. Fittingly, a key scene for Lee and Maren’s understanding of other eaters (and of themselves) takes the form of a revelatory fireside chat with a character played by Michael Stuhlbarg. However, it’s the emotional antonym of its equivalent in Call Me By Your Name, creating tension and unease rather than comfort.

As Maren and Lee make their way across the U.S., Guadagnino and cinematographer Arseni Khachaturan paint each location with a tangible texture, using celluloid to capture both atmospheric warmth and emotional mystery in the air. They even play tricks with exposure for handfuls of frames, during moments where vivid memories briefly invade the characters’ consciousness, as if to root their troubling thoughts in physical sensations, burned onto the film. All the while, composers Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross play with mischievous, haunting tones, with each stretched, individual guitar note practically anticipating the next one, as if it were reaching out through the lonely silences between them — until that silence becomes filled with an ethereal melody. It’s the sound of falling in love, but it’s ever so mournful too, as if Maren and Lee’s romance isn’t long for this world for one reason or another.

Guadagnino wields sorrow not as an affect, but as a fabric, one that ripples with the weight of the past.

Some of the movie’s zigs and zags may not feel entirely in tune with its listlessness — one late turn in particular, while shockingly visceral, works to make its silent, lingering horrors a bit too overt — but there are rarely moments when Bones and All doesn’t feel engrossing. Guadagnino wields sorrow not as an affect, but as a fabric, one that ripples with the weight of the past even before it’s fully rediscovered, resulting in a film where love feels as much like a burden as it does liberation.

from IGN Reviews https://ift.tt/7mg1wph
This could be a real lead forward for personal gaming... Revolutionise gaming

Warhammer 40,000: Darktide Review in Progress

The latest game news from IGN - one of my fave channels ever - check it out

The suffocating darkness of Warhammer 40,000's bleak future isn't where one would typically seek out a breath of fresh air, but I've come away from every session of Warhammer 40,000: Darktide reinvigorated nonetheless. Whether it's the vicious yet darkly comedic melee brawls or the head-bop-inducing synthwave tracks blasting throughout intense shootouts, this four-player cooperative FPS from developer Fatshark frequently has me grinning like an idiot. While Darktide is still getting updates and new content during its pre-order beta window, sluggish performance issues are the only thing that has tempered my excitement for its full release next week – but even those problems don't diminish the glory that comes with chain-swording heretics in half.

Darktide opens like many other wonderfully over-embellished Warhammer 40,000 stories before it: with a legion of Chaos-worshipping traitors causing trouble. The massive hive city of Tertium is overflowing with zombie-esque Poxwalker hordes, gun-toting preachers spouting blasphemous gospel, and all sizes of misshapen, rift-powered boss monstrosities that you'll joyously slaughter by the thousands as a conscripted convict. Only six missions are available in the beta as of this review-in-progress, so I can't judge the overarching narrative quite yet, but the cheeky squadmate banter is pretty sharp so far, at least.

Of the four playable classes, I've come to adore the tank-like Ogryn Skullbreaker — a tall brute that can easily knock down dozens of enemies with one lumbering swipe. That muscly stopping power never goes out of style either, as Darktide's shockingly in-depth melee combat will consistently test your hand-to-hand martial prowess. Light, heavy, and special attacks are all chainable to brilliant results. It's endlessly satisfying to slice and dice a dozen Poxwalkers into bits quickly, then block an incoming overhead two-handed hammer swing from one of the more sentient enemies before shoving them away. Better yet, darting into an armored enemy's range to knock off their shoulder pad, exposing a weak point in the process, then dashing away before they can retaliate will almost certainly make you smile. Heck, I even let out a good belly laugh after lopping off some poor sod's arm because he examined the bloody stump before falling over as if this were a Wile E. Coyote and Roadrunner bit — Darktide isn't shy about tongue-firmly-in-cheek moments like this. I’m not sure if Ogryn doing the whole “float like a butterfly, sting like a bee” routine is intentional, but it's still hilarious.

Getting into its satisfying melee exchanges reveals Darktide's performance woes.

Unfortunately, getting into those busy up-close exchanges reveals Darktide's performance woes. My admittedly aging RTX 2080 isn't a top-tier graphics card anymore, but it’s not so far out of date that the framerate should slow down to near-slideshow levels when bodies start piling up. Yes, Darktide is pretty at times — I quite enjoy looking up from Tertium's seedy underbelly to admire the ornately detailed superstructures above. However, it's not a technical showpiece you would expect to melt most modern PCs while every visual toggle is on low. Fatshark has said it’s well aware of the widespread call for better optimization and patches are already on the way, so fingers crossed that Darktide runs better by the time it leaves beta.

Thankfully, everything tends to stabilize once you're picking off nasties from afar. Darktide's firefights may be less frenetic than its melee tussles, but they are no less exhilarating, largely thanks to how its suppression system works. Taking shots at foes who know better than to mindlessly shamble into bullets will typically cause them to hide behind cover. Keeping up that barrage makes their return-fire sloppy, usually resulting in projectiles that miss you by several feet. It's plenty fair, though, since they can also suppress your team. There's this fantastic risk-reward element to suppression that forces you to either find cover and regain a steady trigger finger or pull out a melee weapon while blitzing toward the shooter. Goodness, caving in some mutant's orbital bone after they make it nigh-impossible for you to shoot never gets old — particularly when a John Carpenter-sounding synth track rife with catchy metal clangs commemorates the occasion.

I wouldn't sink 18 hours into a limited pre-order beta that chugs like this one under normal circumstances, but it's hard to put Darktide down. The thunderous melee battles, tactful ranged exchanges, and that ever-so-delicate balancing act between those two methods of murder keep pulling me back even when most of the campaign isn't out yet. I'm hopeful that Darktide will maintain that exciting momentum as all of the content unlocks in the lead-up toward its full launch, and that the worst of its performance problems get addressed as well, but I’ll have my final scored review shortly after release either way.

from IGN Reviews https://ift.tt/buX6BPK
This could be a real lead forward for personal gaming... Revolutionise gaming

Nanny Review

The latest game news from IGN - one of my fave channels ever - check it out

Nanny is in theaters Nov. 23 and on Prime Video Dec. 16.

Something the horror genre excels at is bridging cultures through a well told native fairytale or folktale. For humans, fear is a universal connector and our regional stories and creatures can help define, and personify, our cultural bête noire with potency. Director/writer Nikyatu Jusu attempts to do just that with Nanny, a contemporary immigration story centering on a Senegalese single mother, Aisha (Anna Diop), trying to build a new life in New York City. Her quiet suffering over the separation from her young son manifests in her everyday life as increasingly frequent nightmares and disturbing visions filled with images and creatures from her native culture. While visually arresting and featuring a star-making performance by Diop, Nanny ultimately is a hodge-podge of too many ideas that never quite converge into one succinct meditation.

As a relatively new transplant from Senegal to New York City, Aisha lives with an aunt as she starts saving enough money to fly her beloved young son, Lamine (Jahleel Kamara), over to live with her. Hoping to accelerate the process, she takes a job as a nanny for an affluent white couple, Amy and Adam (Michelle Monaghan and Morgan Spector). They have one young child, Rose (​​Rose Decker), who Aisha is hired to care for in their well-appointed home. Amy is a fretful helicopter parent with a binder full of directives, rules, and activities for Aisha to follow to the letter. There are even inferences of existing behavioral problems for Rose, which seem to clear right up under the attention and compassionate kindness that Aisha brings with her skills as a career teacher.

While Aisha easily bonds with Rose, the job exacerbates the distance from her son and doesn’t help the problematic issues that Amy and Adam bring into her life. Late pay, thoughtless last minute requests, and the demands made by an increasingly erratic Amy seem to trigger water-related nightmares and daylight moments of zoning out for Aisha which become more and more unnerving. It’s only when she tentatively allows herself to plant tiny roots in her new town, by dating doorman and fellow single parent Malik (Sinqua Walls), that she meets his grandmother Kathleen (Leslie Uggams), who tells her about shared African folklore and mythology relating to water and mermaid-like creatures.

A woman stuck between two worlds, Aisha finds herself metaphorically drowning under the stresses induced by her work, the inconsistent communication back home due to her flighty cousin caring for Lamine, and the dreams which invade her psyche and perhaps her ability to care for Rose. Jusu and cinematographer Rina Yang are creative with their camera, utilizing intimate frames to show the smallness of Aisha’s new reality juxtaposed against the almost cavernous coldness of the home she has to spend most of her time existing within. The apartment is essentially rendered into a haunted house, which earns some genuine chills and a vibe of unease that permeates the piece effectively.

Nanny excels as a character piece and a showcase for the many talents of Jusu and Diop.

Perhaps more interesting is their refusal to portray Aisha in the frame, or in most spaces, as a victim, which is refreshing and really sets the film apart. Yes, she can be melancholy and frustrated about where she is in life. But she’s also shown to be joyful with her local family, while being resourceful and clear-eyed about the kind of people she works for. She is many things, including a caring mother, an outspoken advocate for herself and Rose, and a beautiful woman who rightfully enchants Malik. Their choice to not diminish her makes Aisha’s spells more intriguing since we know there’s a competency there that is being overwhelmed by something beyond her control.

Unfortunately, when Jusu tries to distill the disparate parts of Aisha’s life into a satisfying ending, those elements prove to be a bit too scattered and undeveloped to coalesce into a finely tuned, finished thought. And for a film that gives ample space for both the concrete and the metaphysical to play out, the ultimate climax feels jarringly rushed. While it gets points for subverting expectations, there’s an hasty expeditiousness in wrapping it up that doesn’t match what comes before. But even with that issue, Nanny excels as a character piece and a showcase for the many talents of Jusu and Diop.

from IGN Reviews https://ift.tt/zKsC3MP
This could be a real lead forward for personal gaming... Revolutionise gaming

Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special Review

The latest game news from IGN - one of my fave channels ever - check it out

Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special debuts on Disney+ on Nov. 25, 2022. Below is a spoiler-free review.

Leave it to James Gunn to close out the MCU’s Phase 4 with what could very well be a new Christmas classic. The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special not only shines a very welcome spotlight on Pom Klementieff’s Mantis, but gives us unabashed Christmas cheer, a couple of earworms, and, of course, some Guardians-style laughs. After this and the wonderfully spooky Werewolf by Night earlier this year, it seems like Marvel is onto something with seasonal specials.

The Holiday Special opens like so many Christmas classics do: with animation. A quick, charmingly drawn sketch gives us a sad story about how Yondu (Michael Rooker) ruined Christmas for Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) and Kraglin (Sean Gunn), and as Kraglin recounts the story to the gang, it pulls right on Mantis’ heartstrings. It’s here that the humorously bizarre premise reveals itself: what if Mantis and Drax (Dave Bautista) saved Christmas for Peter by giving him the best gift of all… his favorite Earth hero, Kevin Bacon?

Peter and the rest of the Guardians don’t get a ton of screen time in this refreshingly brisk 43-minute special, though the time that Pratt does get packs an emotional punch. But the focus is squarely on Mantis, Drax, and, hilariously, Kevin Bacon, as the former two take a thoroughly entertaining and ridiculous trip through Hollywood in Christmastime to find Peter’s present. The comedy of Mantis and Drax together never grows tiresome – seriously, I laughed every time Mantis yelled “DRAX!” in exasperation. And Bacon, playing himself, throws pretension out the window. He fully buys into this goofy concept while acting as an audience stand-in where necessary. Bacon’s involvement also allows a sweet message about the power of stories to sneak its way in.

Klementieff does a stunning job as Mantis acts as the special’s anchor for its emotional moments, of which there are plenty.

But the Holiday Special really is Mantis’ time to shine, and Klementieff rises to the occasion. Just as Gunn took a formerly despicable character in Peacemaker and made him into a believably sympathetic protagonist in his HBO Max series, he takes Mantis – previously mostly just a background character – and gives her more complexity and layers with the help of Klementieff’s endearing performance. As mentioned earlier, she and Bautista are a dream comedic duo, but Klementieff also does a stunning job as Mantis acts as the special’s anchor for its emotional moments, of which there are plenty.

It certainly doesn’t skimp on sentiment but, thanks to Gunn’s ability to punctuate weighty moments with humor without undermining them, it never gets too saccharine. It’s filled with scenes that garner both laughs and potential tears, and it’s delightfully uncynical. That lack of cynicism extends to its full embrace of the Christmas spirit. From its brief scenes of animation to the showcase of beautiful Christmas lights to its musical moments, it’s not hiding its inspiration from past holiday classics, and it’s all the better for it. And by the way, those musical moments deliver too; it opens with a number that’s both endlessly catchy and funny.

As for the MCU of it all, don’t expect big multiversal shenanigans. But the Guardians Holiday Special does manage to weave in a big reveal without it feeling shoehorned in, something the MCU has struggled with in other parts of Phase 4. Surprisingly, it adds to this individual story rather than detracting from it; it’s hard to talk too much around the spoilers, but you’ll know it when you see it.

from IGN Reviews https://ift.tt/sJBPAS9
This could be a real lead forward for personal gaming... Revolutionise gaming

Andor: Season 1 Finale Review

The latest game news from IGN - one of my fave channels ever - check it out

This review contains full spoilers for episode twelve of Andor, now available to view on Disney+. To remind yourself of where we left off, check out our Andor episode 11 review..

The closing chapter of Andor’s first season is thrilling from its first moment to last, never pulling any punches when delivering heavy hits of both action and emotional weight. It’s the fulfillment of showrunner Tony Gilroy’s vision as it achieves everything it set out to from the series’ opening moments and is a masterfully orchestrated episode that balances satisfyingly tying up loose ends while leaving others tantalisingly leading into the future.

Andor's season finale opens with a display of delicate engineering that the show itself has displayed throughout up until this point. It's symbolic of the fusing together of what makes Star Wars great, with a modern, more politically charged energy. It's the creation of a bomb that has not only been threatening to explode since the start of the episode but whose ticking could be heard echoing from its very first; the sound of a reckoning that is ready to explode from the shadows.

The shape of this chapter mirrors the series' third episode, but the tables have been turned. Ferrix is now home to an increased Imperial presence and Cassian is playing the Karn role - the newcomer in town unaware of the ambush that awaits in its streets. It's a classic Western setup with the hero strolling back into once familiar surroundings to take it back from the evil that presides there. Dedra Meero has proved over the course of the series to be a worthy and ruthless avatar of that evil, and now one who possesses the resources to act on it. She's up against a counterpart capable of equally questionable means in the shape of Luthen, however. With Cassian caught in the sights of both, it makes for a thrilling 45 minutes that packs in more high-stakes tension than most feature-length thrillers. It's once again a shining example of Gilroy's masterful control of the plot combined with the vision of director Benjamin Caron to pull it off, and as layered a thriller you could dream of watching since he steered his eyes away from the original Bourne trilogy.

Every word of the script holds weight, meaning characters have to be extra careful when uttering them around others - a lesson learned slightly too late for Mon Mothma it appears - as Andor proves itself to have more moles than The Departed. Infernal affairs are taking place throughout the galaxy at this point, as displayed by the fact that 30 dead rebels in an attack garners nothing more than a brief couple of lines dedicated to it. This is truly a representation of the Empire that is darker than we've ever seen before in Star Wars, with retribution the first and only course of action for any threat to their power.

These ghosts from the past excel in accentuating the events of the present and fuel the motivations of Andor's future.

The conversation is frequently so engaging that not even a passing mention of the cursed Canto Bight threatens to derail it. The episode smartly utilises flashbacks to aid in multiplying the emotions conveyed through the cast. Whether they be the rousing passages of the manifesto spoken by Nemik or Cassian touching the cold stone of what remains of his family as it's the closest he'll ever be to feeling the warmth of their skin again. These ghosts from the past excel in accentuating the events of the present and fuel the motivations of Andor's future.

The town-wide laying of one of those ghosts to rest is a spectacle to behold. Maarva is remembered in a stunning display of unity as the beautiful music and colourful clothes of the mourners clash with the cold, black-and-white nature of the Empire and their swarm of troopers. Maarva's projection gives us the farewell that both she and Fiona Shaw deserved as her wise and rousing words rumble through Ferrix. It's a standout moment in a series that has already given us so many, and it couldn't help but elicit an emotional response as her words and the strong-as-ever score washed over me. That beauty is swiftly disrupted with a sharp moment of violence, however, as you're suddenly reminded of the harsh world Maarva has left behind.

Pavlov's bomb eventually goes off and we're back into thriller mode. It's fast, frantic, yet clinical in its execution - never once losing track of any of the vast cast of characters at play. The cinematography is crisp and clear, even when navigating through heavy smoke, always keeping you dialed in on the action. The opening of fire on civilians is a stark and sad mirroring of many inciting events of our own history's revolutions, such as the Bloody Sunday massacre of 1905 St Petersburg, and a further damning reflection of humanity in Andor - a peaceful public event turned into an expression of violence by regimes who know no other language. For a show set in a galaxy far away, it is consistently at its very best when tackling very human emotions and flaws in our nature.

The funeral march may have laid Maarva to rest, but in turn ushers in a rebirth for Cassian. In a show so rooted in showing us the murky grey areas of this world for much of its runtime, it ultimately relies on the good to shine through as everyday people - the beating heart of any rebellion - to help Cassian. His desire to rescue Bix only elevates his hero status, a role he once would have reluctantly accepted. It brings a fantastic first season to a close as we've witnessed the creation of a rebel, from the way he holds himself more confidently around others to the way he speaks more ferociously about the Empire than ever. It's not only what a reckoning sounds like, but what it looks like too, and it's absolutely glorious.

from IGN Reviews https://ift.tt/sRHxYPn
This could be a real lead forward for personal gaming... Revolutionise gaming