Gaming for January

​This year brought on a big shift for me. Microsoft’s policies and price increases have driven me away from them and to PC’s, Steam in particular. I got a Steam Deck and I’ve virtually shifted entirely to that. Pretty much I’m giving Microsoft the giant 🖕

That being said, I still have my XBox and play a few games on it, at least until my prepaid game pass runs out in the summer/fall. 

So let’s get to the games I played!

Avowed - I enjoyed this rpg, I like most first person games over third person and this one kept my attention better than most. Not sure I’ll finish it but it I enjoyed what I played even if it’s not my thing. 

This was one of the better first person ARPG's I've played. The parkour style movement really makes it flow. There are options for melee or ranged attacks, you have companions, but honestly I barely notice them in combat. Of course I play on story mode because I'm not here for a challenge. I'm here for some fun and a plot. The plot is interesting and did engage with me. Overall a decent game from a genre that I almost always bounce off of hard. This was maybe a more gentle bounce and I might come back if the urge hits.

Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines 2 - I didn’t play the first one and I only just started this game, but it really drew me in. I only wish I had enough time to play more this month!

I enjoy the world and the story. The combat is a little clunky, but overall I can't wait to get further into it.

Speedball - Rebellion has made an original update to the classic and I dig this one. It’s a fun sports game that you can play in short spurts. Truly enjoyable. 

This is one that I will probably play pretty consistently. I can play one match a day and feel pretty satisfied.

Not much else right now, there's not a new game I'm interested in until March. One of the kids is playing Dispatch and as soon as she finishes her run I'll probably run through that. I'm excited. Also have the Expanse Telltale Game waiting for me, but I want to finish the books first, so that should be in a couple more months. Those are some tombs of novels!

Thanks for stopping by and if you want to leave a comment, that's cool! 

Cheers!

January Readings

Man, Somehow in January I finished a ton of books. Albeit many of them were short, but even still it was a lot to get through!

Armor by John Steakley - I reread this one as it was my pick for the Library Book Club. Looking at it through other peoples eyes made me still appreciate it. It really is one of the better military sci-fi's out there. Great characters, awesome world building, left you wanting more. The worst part was the gratuitous dog death scene. Not sure we needed it, or at the very least we certainly didn't need it to last quite that long.

Tales of Em-Bot by Nicky Penttilla - This is a pair of short stories by one of my new favorite authors. Nicky has a way of infusing humor into the worst of situations and brings humanity into everything she writes. I recommend all of her science fiction at the very least!

Know Your Station by Sarah Gailey and Liana Kangas - The first graphic novel of the year and it's a sci-fi/murder mystery/eat the rich story by a very good author. I dig the story and figured out the whodunnit but had the motive totally wrong. Kinda reminded me of Exit Black by Joe Pitkin and Escape Velocity by Vistor Manibo. All three of these are fantastic and I recommend.

The wife and I have been listening to several of Steve Cavanagh's Eddie Flynn Series and these are the ones we've finished in January:

The Cross 0.5 - A novella that was interesting enough, but focuses a lot on Eddie, who I only like once he's in the courtroom, and doesn't have any of the fantastic supporting characters the later novels have.

Fifty- Fifty 5 - A pretty good and startling story about two sisters on trail for the murder of their father but only one committed the crime. Makes you hate the police and political judges and prosecutors for sure. Introduces my favorite character of the series.

The Devil's Advocate 6 - A pinch of A Time to Kill and To Kill a Mockingbird that is sadly too relevant in today's USA.

The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allen Poe - Made the boy listen to this so they could appreciate What Moves the Dead by T. Kingfisher. Poe was a master of his craft and this story is awesome!

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving - Meant to read this again around Halloween and it just fell through the cracks. Man I love everything Headless Horseman. The start of this is slow but the payoff is 👨‍🍳💋

Quite a month of reading!! Can’t believe I read that much or that it was all that good!!

The Senior and Angel Films

​Last year I went to Provo to meet some friends and enjoy a writers conference. While I was walking from the hotel to the convention I passed by a film production company. It was called Angel films, and they make mostly faith based films. They’re relatively new but have really started getting bigger. Who would have guessed they’d do a bio pic about Mike Flynt the 59 year old college football player. Let alone that it would have Michael Chiklis, Rob Corddry, and Mary Stuart Masterson? This is just the start of the iceberg for them as they’ve released a few modern westerns with Neil McDonough and have that new Young Washington movie coming to theatres here this year. 

All this to say, I liked The Senior. It’s not my typical fair as my atheist ways usually steer me away from faith based films, but this one was actually decent. Yeah there was some bible talk, but it wasn’t over the top and didn’t sidetrack from the plot to preach to you. It was just part of the film. And yeah if Mike found god and that helped him get over his daddy issues and anger and allow him to heal and treat his family and teammates better, good for him. Of course therapy years before would have probably been better, but c’est la vie. 

The idea that a 59 year old would play NCAA football is crazy. They do it justice though. An although some things are a bit unbelievable, some of them happened. 

The film even made a joke about being a cheaper version of Rudy, which is way too accurate and intentionally and maybe unintentionally hilarious. 

Overall the is a higher quality film than you would expect from a small production company. Not a bad watch if it interests you at all, but not worth going out of your way for it. 

5/10

Mars Attacks! (1996)

​I’ve always liked the idea of Mars Attacks. The Martians always looked cool and the idea that comes from just some old trading cards. The art was fantastic. The more adult nature of something “for kids” and how that made Mars attack more than originally conceived. The rereleased of cards, the movie, comics, models, a full on miniature war game even! Mars Attacks is an awesome story of an IP!

But does the movie hold up?

Tim Burton is hot and cold for me. I appreciate the way he has some awesome artistry to his work. His ongoing focus on teen girls is weird to me though. 

His movies are a list of the amazing and the wasted. Some great, some borderline awful, all atmospheric. 

Mars Attacks! is the perfect combination of all of this. There some awesome parts to it, with over the top characters. But that also is a problem, as early on there's an insulting gender joke right off the bat. Albeit this was around the time that Pat was a thing on SNL but it's still punching down for a cheap laugh. Same with the Martians being pleased with the racist Dukes of Hazard because it has Daisy on it.

The special effects are looking pretty dated, but actually look awesome on the in-film old tube TV's. It's campy fun and most people aren't really watching this movie now adays for anything but campy fun!

The fact that it turns from a pleasant and happy first contact into a massacre because of a dove of peace released by a hippie is funny as well. Captain Terrell being the first to die after almost being the first to die in Khan is so funny. 

That Michael J Fox dies right away instead of him being the expected hero is awesome! That the humans in charge keep making the same mistakes and it results in more death and destruction is funny because the people that are expected to be the smartest are the ones in power and they are the dumbest worst of all.

I'm not a fan of Jack Nicholson, and this movie and his portrayal of several characters is just too much of him. Martin Short playing the right hand man of the president is fantastic. Pierce Brosnan kills it as the "intelligent" scientist that we are used to seeing as the other hero of movies like this, but being so overly wrong is one of the best parts of the movie, up there with Jack Black's older brother bully getting his.

Natalie Portman as the president's daughter and one of the true ending heroes is interesting and easy to root for, but also ties into this weird obsession of Tim Burton with teenage girls.

My other biggest issue with this film is the, hopefully changing, use of people with horrible and/or questionable personal lives being in so many films until *maybe* recently. Jack Nicholson, Jim Brown, Tom Jones, heck even Tim Burton himself. It's tough to support the art but not the artist. 

All of this doesn't take aware form the camp and enjoyment that a movie like Mars Attacks! can bring. The camp is turned up to 10, the mid-mod aesthetic needs to be used more often. The destruction of everthing here is just as if not more satisfying than ID4. Such as cops running out of the donut shop before it's blown up.

The war room brings in some big Dr Strangelove vibes. The obvious plastic skeletons colored red or green look great! Rod Steiger is great in one of his final roles. That the Martians are always in their undies in the spaceships is weird but funny to see. The recarving of Mount Rushmore hilarious. That people around the earth are shown scrambling around in either stereotypical traditional garb or older more basic outfits is problematic. 

Overall the movie is enjoyable if as disjointed as this review.

If you like the "lore" (as the kids say) of Mars Attacks, this movie is worth it. But if you don't, you're not missing much.

4/10

The Greenland Duology - *Spoilers Ahead*

 Let me start this off with saying that the wife and I are fans (?) of the pure popcorn Gerard Butler action flicks. We went to watch Plane in the theatres, and somehow enjoyed it. The wife also like disaster movies, we went and saw Moonfall in theatres too, I'm not as big a fan but I do enjoy a good towering inferno or adventure with Poseidon.

You would think Greenland and it's sequel would be right up our alley. We somehow missed the first movie, so we had to get caught up on that first one and so we streamed it and watched it about a week before we went to theatres to see the sequel.

Greenland -

This is a tense, everything goes wrong, but the main characters still have plot armor, disaster flick. It is a bit of a combination of 2012/Don't Look Up disaster film, and No Escape family just trying to find safety story. So many other people who do so much more to help and die in some bad ways. There's the sense of desperation and humans are the real enemies. I mean we all know Roy from The Office is a bad guy, but there's so many others too. Of course there are a few people that are good and helpful, but those people die worse than anyone. Holt McCallany, who's becoming one of my favorite active character actors, think Clancy Brown but with more dramatic less bombastic, saves the main family and gets crushed by ice for his trouble. Of course, everything turns out ok for the main family and were given a sense of hope by the end. Overall this was an ok film, but the many flaws will not make this one that we'll every think of to rewatch. No Escape has better tension and a better story about a family surviving an insane situation and there are so many other disaster movies I'd rather watch, even *shudder* Moonfall because at least its unique.

Greenland 2: Migration

The bunker that the family spent all movie working so hard to get to last movie is destroyed at the beginning of this film. We see a little bit of life in the Bunker, like the boy (who is a new actor, now that kid from Jojo Rabbit) making eyes with another teenage girl, or people debating about saving people vs dwindling resources. All of this is moot though as the bunker getting destroyed means everyone has to run to the main crater of the biggest chunk of the comet landed because it's the safe place now? MOVIE SCIENCE!!! The insulin that the boy needed so desperately that created so many issues the last movie is briefly mentioned once this movie and then is no longer an issue? The girl he flirted with, as they were escaping I though he stopped to save her, but nope it was a scientist that we briefly saw earlier too. It was too shaky and quick to realize who it was until a bit later. Like why even introduce the flirting if it literally goes no where. They also save the mean man who was concerned about resources over saving others. That guy dies pretty quickly. The man that they then get a ride from, that weirdly they don't even ask his name until hours (?!?!) after he picks them up? And guess what, within 10 minutes of finding out his name... DEAD! The scientist lady who says the safety land is possible, dead shortly after because humans suck. They eventually make their way to another man who conveniently knows all about what's going on. The man helps them on their way and sends his daughter with them so she can be safe too, and guess what, the boy and her are all flirty flirty!!! Why was the original girl even in this if there was nothing to tie that into the plot at all!!! We then find out the crater is real and it's EDEN and there is a war being fought over it (on the outside of the crater not inside). The west want to protect people inside and the east want to get in there and exploit the recources. So there's a warzone to get through. We see the carnage of war and all these people fighting. And guess what, not a single "good" person fighting cares that they're out here to die while the family makes their way to safety without having to fight at all. Like absolute disconnect there. This movie was trash. The best part of the whole thing was the candy I got.

In case you haven't noticed, I didn't even name the family or their characters and that's how generic they really were. It doesn't matter. you could have plugged in anyone into these roles and it was just Meh, at best. I do not recommend this series, there are so much better movies out there. Honestly if it wasn't the end of the movie, the weird fighting for people for no reason other than "we're good, they're bad" would have probably made me give up on the movie. For a series that wants to show the best and worst of humanity in many cases, this was just the least human thing I've seen. Chappie wouldn't have understood at all. 

There you go, my first review post. Sorry it wasn't one that I could recommend, so here's a brief list of family/disaster films to go with instead:

The Towering Inferno

The Poseidon Adventure

No Escape

Children of Men

A Quiet Place

Swiss Family Robinson

The Host (2006)

My most anticipated new releases for 2026

Strangely my first post is one that doesn't talk about something I'm reviewing, but things that I look forward to reviewing. I've been meaning to start this blog for years and I'm trying to actually follow through on things this year so here it goes! Yet another middle aged cis white man giving his opinion.

My anticipated release for the year are wide and varied. I'm sure there's more that I will learn about as the year goes on, but these are the ones I'm most excited for at this point:

Movies:

Project Hail Mary - This looks cool and while I haven't read any Weir, I enjoyed The Martian.

Ready or Not 2: Here I Come - Samara Weaving screaming and killing more, I'll take it!

The Sheep Detectives - I need to read the book first, but it's Shaun the Sheep meets Thursday Murder Club and that's good enough for me

Spider-Man: Brand New Day - The only Superhero film I'm definitely seeing in theatres. I'm a little over-

saturated at this point in the genre, just give me more Werewolf by Night and I'll be good.

Coyote vs. Acme - I dug Looney Tunes: Back in Action and I bet I'll dig this. 

Dune: Part 3 - It's Dune. And Dune is cool. I need me more Gurney Hallek, hopefully he'll be there.

Werwulf - Werewolves are the best and I need more.

They Will Kill You - This is my most anticipated movie of the moment. I really love cults and satanism in media and add in the Ready or Not likeness of this one and I actually want to watch it already!

Send Help - This looks terrifying in the absolute best way! One more week!

Shows - Not as much here, I'm only talking new shows, not new seasons:

Starfleet Academy - It's Trek, 'Nuff Said!

Memory of a Killer - something about this one. Color me intregued

The 'Burbs - My favorite movie is getting a show! And the cast looks amazing! I'm chomping at the bit!

Books - I read, I listen, they both count:

Everyone in this Bank is a Thief by Benjamin Stevenson - Ernest Cunningham returns, none have been as good as the first, but they're all sooooo good it doesn't matter!

The Faith of Beasts by SA Corey - The second novel in the Captive's War series by the Expanse guys. I loved the first one and look forward to the increasing tension I'm sure this one will bring.

Platform Decay by Martha Wells - MURDERBOT!!!

Christmas Miracles: Another Twisted Christmas Story Collection by BD Anklevich - I love Big's short stories and his Christmas ones are some of his best! Can't wait for the physical release of this collection.

Whatever he actually releases in physical format by Rish Outfield - Honestly one of my favorite story tellers out there and I will continue to pressure him to release more physical version of his work and then snatch them up for myself and as gifts.

Video Games - I play some, I lose often

Screamer - Maybe a spirtiual successor to ONRUSH, my favorite racing game of all time (RIP). 

Rivage - Looks very interesting and right up my alley, a mystery in space, hoping it is as good, or better than, Observation and/or The Station.

The Expanse: Osiris Reborn - It's a stretch to see it this year, but I can hope.

Gallipoli - If it works on Steam Deck, this will be my FPS for the foreseeable future.

Jurassic Park: Survival - Another that I hope will be released this year, but that's probably optimistic. Still playing through the first movie sound so fun. 

Control Resonant - Gotta play the first one soon so I can see if I actually am hyped for this one or not. 

Whelp, there ya go. I did it! I made a blog post! At the start of February, I'll make some review posts about what I consumed here in January and so on and so forth, yeah, mansplanning, sorry. 

If you find this blog somehow, someway, and want me to review something, or tell me how you agree with me *ha* or have a respectful discussion about how wrong I am and why, feel free to comment, I'll try to reply in a timely manner, but as I've claimed this blog title for 5+ years and I'm only now making my first post, we'll see how that goes. 

Later Gators!