Seek television that breaks concepts down to dust, a story of the mind that tinkers with perception, deception, time and personality, every bit as warped and alien as a dream. All of those arguments you’ve ever had about what a superpower should be capable of are great fodder for a creative mind, but it’s so rare to see the product of those arguments come to mainstream television. This kind of arthouse flexing of the thought muscles, toying with metaphors brought to life, the landscape of the mind turned into a battlefield, that’s usually the reserve of Sundance Festivals and indie game developers.
Legion, a series based on a lesser known X-Men character, and played by Dan Stevens, who you’ll know if you watched Apostle on Netflix at all. Legion is the son of Charles Xavier himself, and like his father he is a staggeringly powerful telepath, actually a great deal more powerful, but there’s a few complications attached to his ability. At a very early age, David Haller was subject to a dark parasite that piggy-backed off the strength of his mind, another telepath – Amahl Farouk, the Shadow King, disembodied but no less alive, arrogant and malevolent, and harbouring a vendetta against David’s father.
Now, whether it was because of Farouk, the strain of carrying the indomitable will from an early age, or the side effects of having the bogeyman that haunts you for decades, or if it was already part of his mind, David… Legion, suffers a host of mental health issues, not least of which being dissociative identity disorder on a massive scale. He’s a bucket of voices, a classroom of toddlers piloting a psychological tank, and the results are amazing.
Where Legion breaks the comic book mould is that war between telepaths isn’t an action packed romp of explosions, gunfire and thrown fists, they’re wars of words, and emotions, and concepts, which leads to battles of song, dance, hallucinations, haunted-house style walks through memories, and the reshaping of reality, not just mental reality but the physical world.
The series features surreal and dark performances from Aubrey Plaza and Jemaine Clement, predominantly comedy actors but masters of the strange, and brilliant at creating unsettling characters. One can never be certain if Aubrey’s character, Lenny, is real or a mask of the Shadow King, worn to gain trust, even to the very end it’s near impossible to know for sure. As for Jemaine’s character, Oliver, is never entirely certain if he is real, being so wholly attuned to his own mind and the myriad worlds and sweet jazz therein, that his body has become a fiction to him.
The “side cast” are also arranged to explore psychological concepts; memory, identity, loss, dependence, addiction, and all of the madnesses that dog these parts of human interaction, and because they each represent a part of the human condition we get chance to explore their feelings and their characters through interconnected narratives that drive towards a single, many layered plot.
It’s all strangely beautiful, and set to a 60’s/70’s backdrop, colour scheme, and soundtrack, meaning everything is cast in this psychedelic clash of colours and images, equal parts horror film, musical, and emotional drama, but dotted with anachronisms to There’s astonishingly little in common with anything else based in a comic book universe, although I’d say it has fingerprints in the Joker, being based on the struggles of mental health. We’d have seen something like it in the New Mutants, a project so quagmired in production limbo it looks set to sink into oblivion.
But it’s more than just comic books, I don’t remember the last thing I saw that was so willing to violate the basics of narrative to the point where it becomes an aesthetic study of character rather than a straight forward beginning-to-end story. And sure, there’s a narrative to follow, but it’s impossible to know what parts are story, what parts are fictions, what takes place in the mind, or out of it. This is television that plays with the medium, rolling camera angles, shifting aspect ratios, clever transitions, unapologetic use of colour motifs, even the recaps that begin some episodes replace “previously” with “apparently” or “ostensibly”. When season three introduces the mere concept of time travel, it’s not a shark jumped, more a continuation of themes, themes of warped narrative and the inherent instability of the mind. We cannot trust our narrator, not the accuracy of his story, or his motives, or the way he perceives himself.
The only thing I’ve seen come close is American Gods, or perhaps Westworld, and more should be done like it, mentally challenging, shifting sands of ideas that force the brain to work harder instead of accepting a linear and heavily simplified story telling upon which our brains grow fat. A little mental junkfood is all well and good, and I’m not saying that this is your meat and potatoes as such… perhaps a more accurate analogy would be that it’s like a long holiday somewhere far from home compared to a weekend in the same old pub. One expands the mind, the other is all too comfortable to promote active thought. There’s nothing wrong with either, but too much of one makes the other lose value.
Don’t you just love it when the temperature begins to drop? You get to stay indoors, snuggle in with a loved one, or just put your feet up by a warm fire… Or, y’know, whack on the central heating or just a radiator. The point is, feeling warm on a cold day is lovely. These characters however, they might not agree, as it turns out their coldness is their speciality. So come and check out our Top 10 Cold Character.
Don’t you just love it when the temperature begins to drop? You get to stay indoors, snuggle in with a loved one, or just put your feet up by a warm fire… Or, y’know, whack on the central heating or just a radiator. The point is, feeling warm on a cold day is lovely. These characters however, they might not agree, as it turns out their coldness is their speciality. So come and check out our Top 10 Cold Characters.
A kleptomaniac is someone who can’t help themselves, but to steal. Nevermind stealing your heart, these individuals will just take what they see. Really, it doesn’t matter to them – they know they need it, no matter what it is. They just have to have it. Well then, we’re going to have to tread carefully and lock all of our valuables away. Indeed, we’d better nail this Top 10 down, as this week we’re keeping an eye out for our Top 10 Kleptomaniacs.
I find it alarmingly easy to say that the end of the Super-Hero film craze is getting close, but that’s not to say that the genre dies with the trend, much like any genre it must evolve, grow, and integrate itself into other genres.
A quick run down on what one might loosely define as the “super hero” genre, although really it’s just a typical family adventure film with super heroes as the subject, one might similarly define Monsters Inc. as a horror film because there are monsters; all you require is a hero and a villain, pitch them against one another in a narrative that tells us a story of hope, and of self reliance, some kind of positive take away to which the villain is usually the antithesis. Iron Man tells us stories of taking responsibility for one’s own actions; Batman is an exploration of sanity from various angles; and X-Men is about accepting diversity; you get the idea. Toy Story 3 is only a short step away from being a super hero film is what I’m trying to say here.
So who’s seen the trailer for the New Mutants?
Now that you’ve seen that, did you also watch Legion? The FX series attempted to follow the broken narrative of a mutant with incredible telepathic and telekinetic powers and one very serious mental disorder. The first episode was a masterpiece of horror when we witness what happens when an unstable mind is given incredible power, spoilers the ward the mutant in question is in is reshaped violently, and a human being is fused with a wall that was once a door end spoilers and after that it’s eight episodes of questioning the truth 12 Monkey’s style, complete with a demonic haunting.
It was well received, a refreshing take on the X-Men franchise, and an exploration into the possibilities of the mutant narrative that one can’t usually delve into in other properties, let’s not forget that mutants are born with their powers, never ask for them, and often never have anyone to show them how to properly use them* and so are often a danger to themselves as well as others. Enter “The New Mutants”.
That line about baby rattlesnakes being more dangerous is so wonderfully apt, except that in this case we have adolescent children and teenagers who contain the power to tear down nations if they put their mind to it, and the world simply does not know how to handle it, so they shove them into a holding pen turned creche. We’re left with some substantial questions about what the nature of the horror in New Mutants might be, but it looks strongly like the fear may simply be out of control mutants who are simply unable to control their abilities. Legion proved the concept, but it’s not the only intellectual property lately that proves that X-Men can cross genres.
Logan I have heard described as a modern western (I still haven’t seen it, but I look into these things thoroughly), and it makes no attempt to hide its inspirations, flaunting the film Shane throughout to remind us exactly where it has drawn its idea. It was an answer to the fatigue of the “super hero genre” and it worked, and if I weren’t so fatigued at Wolverine as a whole I might have watched it by now, but there’s a certain satisfaction in knowing that someone, somewhere in the market is listening to the consumer.
It’s not new of course, we’ve seen super heroes blending genres for a long time now, comedy, science fiction, the neo noir stylings of the Defenders and Batman, but to my memory I have not seen a super hero project marketed as anything other than just that? The trailers tend to make a big deal out of the spectacle and the drama, where the New Mutants is clearly and unapologetically playing to every horror archetype.
I love the cast. Anya Taylor-Joy has already proven her horror chops, she’ll make an excellent Magik, Maisie Williams has some experience playing a wolf-child, and Charlie Heaton is just great in Stranger Things. Let us hope that it can lay roots for comics to stay in the cinema for generations to come without fear of losing originality for some time to come.
*Which is why I’m anti-registration by the way. If a baby is born with a gun taped to it’s hand do you arrest it for illegal possession of a firearm? I like you Stark, but screw you and your Registration Act/Sokovia Accords.
The world is ravaged by evil-doers and the greed of man. There are countless people out there, trying to undo countless years of civilisation, breaking apart our very nations. But, with the right guidance and help, you can help us. You can save us from ourselves. You can come along… and GeekOut in our Hero Academy!
18+ Event
The world is ravaged by evil-doers and the greed of man. There are countless people out there, trying to undo countless years of civilisation, breaking apart our very nations.
But, with the right guidance and help, you can help us. You can save us from ourselves. You can come along… and GeekOut in our Hero Academy!
Stand tall, friends, you and I are in for a bumpy ride, as we’re going to be looking to stop the evil-doers of the world. We’ll be taking you back to school, learning the very basics of your powers and abilities. We will show no fear and we will take back control of our cities!
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FOODIE PRE-MEET Times Pending (Poll Pending):
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… Many peoples wallets regretted it.
That’s right, we at GeekOut South-West believe in having a good nomming session before we start the night off of fun, games, drinks and great company!
The poll is up until Wednesday 10th, so please be sure to make your vote if you’re coming along to this month’s pre-meetup event! With a new comer on the list in Casa Brazil, be sure to put your vote on our poll.
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MAIN EVENT: 14:00-Midnight (Old Market Tavern)
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If you’ve seen the phenomenal anime My Hero Academia, this meet will be for you.
Love the X-Men? Great! This meetup is equally for you.
If you are a fan of Marvel, DC, or any other superhero stories, this meet will also be for you.
If you aren’t a superhero fan, then hey, this meet will still be a GeekOut Bristol Meet, filled to the brim with games galore and plenty of things to do and see. So as ever, come along for a fun evening!
PLEASE NOTE:
Food & drink can NOT be brought in with you to the Old Market Tavern. If you are caught with food and drink on the premises, you will be asked to leave until you’ve disposed of your food or drink.
There will be a food menu at Old Market Tavern in the evening! The food is very cheap and it’s absolutely delicious! Trust me, I’ve eaten there enough times… But regulars of the event are also fans of the food there! The food is home made as well, so it’s simply scrummy! Food is usually available from 6pm.
Final note: If you are asked for ID by the bar staff, we will not vouch for your age – You must provide ID.
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BOARD GAMES (& a dash of video games)
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As always, we’ll have a large selection of board games available, so please do check out what we have:
– Bears vs Babies
– Bucket of Doom
– Cards Against Humanity (UK Edition + Expansions 1, 2 and 3)
– Cash n Guns
– Chess
– Code of Nine
– Exploding Kittens*
– Fluxx
– Goat Lords
– Harry Potter Trivial Pursuit
– Jungle Speed
– Love Letter
– Pokemon Monopoly
– Rogues to Riches
– Scrabble
– Star Trek Settlers of Catan
– Star Wars Guess Who
– Three Wishes
– Unusual Suspects
– Zombie Munchkin
– Zombies!
AND MANY MORE!
We won’t be bringing every game listed above with us: If there’s a specific game you want to see, please let me know in the comments below, before I finish making a real system for this game request feature.
Also, bring along your devices – Quiplash, Drawful 2 and JackBox Party Pack 3 are played throughout the day. These are games where you connect with your smartphones or tablets (Or anything that can connect to a browser really). We also sometimes play other games, such as Worms and people with 3DSes can pick up StreetPasses and of course play games with other 3DS players. Also, people can play Mount Your Friends and other video games. We’ll try to bring the Raspberry Pi as well, which has some arcade games.
We will try to get a new game for this meetup as well.
*Please note, as of right now, Exploding Kittens appears to be missing. We’ll try to locate it, but it may have gone walkabout. As such, if we genuinely cannot find it anywhere, then we’ll get a new copy of it at some point.
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BOOK & COMIC SWAP
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We felt that we really needed to revamp our Book/Comic Swap system. As such, starting from this meetup, we will not be bringing all of the books and comics with us; but rather a sample of 10 books/comics. As such, we will be opening a spreadsheet from February 2018, listing all of the books/comics we own. If you wish to see a specific one, please let us know before the day via the spreadsheet. It’ll be included in all future Meetup descriptions!
PLEASE NOTE:
Books/Comics you saw last month might not be present this month, unless you have a specific request for book/comics. You may take a book/comic home, free of charge. You may leave a book/comic with us to put into our list as well.
Coming in costume? Fantastic! If you’ve come up with your own My Hero Academia inspired costume; or if you want to be a member of the X-Men; or perhaps you just want to be your very own superperson – at 9pm, just after the competition, we will be getting a group shot of all of our heroes!
*CHANGING FACILITIES*If you want to change into a costume when here, please note there are no changing facilities. There are just standard toilet cubicles – Which are fine to change in, but you might want to consider this first.
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SOCIALISING
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We’re one of the geekiest events in the South-West. We get people together to play board games and video games, share a pint and discuss what they enjoy in geekdom. Books, comics, music – Anything that you’re passionate about, you’ll be sure to meet fellow geeks who are into the same thing as you!
We do not discriminate – But if you ever find you have a problem with anything at the event, just let the host (Timlah) know and he’ll sort it out!
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COMPETITION: Heroes Academy (8pm-9pm)
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Everyone loves a good competition and this month will be no different.
For the heroes amongst us, this competition will not be for the feint of heart. We’ll be doing a heroes academic test for only the most heroic among us. We’ll be putting to test your knowledge of what it means to be a hero. But, before you can do that, you must create your very own hero persona. As such, this is a two-part competition, which we’ll run at throughout the day, with it wrapping up by no later than 8:30pm.
When you join us, you’ll receive a Hero Profile Sheet, allowing you to create your very own superhero. Once created, come speak to Timlah and have a couple of minutes to spare. You must use this superhero to overcome a series of ‘practical’ tests. If you manage to get to the end, we’ll then score your results and compare them to others.
1st Prize: My Hero Academia Volumes 1-3, £25 cash and a GeekOut Poster of your choice. 2nd Prize: Logan Pop! Vinyl, £15 cash and a GeekOut Poster of your choice. 3rd Prize: Sky High DVD, £10 cash and a GeekOut Poster of your choice.
Note:Occasionally, there may be even more on the day!
*Please note, when I say practical, you will not be actually doing any physical heroics. Sorry about that.
There is so much to do and see at this months GeekOut Bristol Meet, so please do come along, bring a friend or a member of your family and come for a geeky night out.
As part of our commitment to being a great night out, we do not discriminate based upon age, gender, race, religion or sexuality. If at any point you feel you need to speak to someone about another’s actions, please grab the host (Timlah) and we’ll sort it out!
The word “prequel” sends shivers down the spine of every fan of an IP, be it book, film, game, or otherwise. Not the good kind of shivers either. But once in a while we are spared our apprehension and given that rare and wonderful thing, an enjoyable prequel that serves the original well.
The word “prequel” sends shivers down the spine of every fan of an IP, be it book, film, game, or otherwise. Not the good kind of shivers either. But once in a while we are spared our apprehension and given that rare and wonderful thing, an enjoyable prequel that serves the original well.
Now, let us be clear that we are in no way saying that these prequels are better than their original properties, just that they did a good job of trying to tell the story before the story starts. They might make us see the original in a totally different way, add context, close plotholes, or just be fun to watch in their own right. With that in mind let us get into our Top 10 Good Prequels.
10) The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay
Starting with an unusual one, the video games Escape from Butcher Bay and Assault on Dark Athena were highly regarded, in fact by many they’re regarded as being better than the films, detailing the bloody escape from triple max prison of one Richard B Riddick, earning him the infamy he boasts from Pitch Black onwards.
Graphics are very early 00’s, but Starbreeze delivered an excellent stealth/action game with some of the best voice acting from Diesel himself, Ron Perlman, and Michael Rooker. Riddick is easily a better game character than film character, but I still love Pitch Black and damn you if you say otherwise.
9) Star Trek: Enterprise
Enterprise was set before the events of the original series, and over the course of its four seasons we witness the dawn of teleporters, the coming together of species (politically and physically), the foundations of the prime directive, and humanity finding its place among the older space faring races.
It stands among the greats, with incredible stories, performances, and characters, lending new insights into the Star Trek universe and creating something new and enjoyable in the process. Captain Archer may not stand up to Picard, Kirk or Sisco (sorry Janeway, but… y’know) but he’s still an excellent centerpiece for characters who are the equal of any other Starfleet crew. And Floxx is a comedic masterpiece.
8) X-Men: First Class
The X-Men series of films doesn’t get enough love. No really, they don’t – There were a few rough films (and the more of us that forget about X-Men Origins: Wolverine, the better.) However, what the X-Men series has always managed to achieve is a wealth of excellent characters introduced in a relatively simple to understand plot. The overall plot is convoluted, but each contained story within is easy to digest.
As such, when the X-Men franchise got a soft reboot in the form of a sort of prequel, it’s no wonder that it did so well. Of course, First Class isn’t the only prequel in the series – There are a number of them, including: X-Men: Days of Future Past, X-Men: Apocalypse and next year we’ll be treated to X-Men: Dark Phoenix.
The series is always a joy to watch, even if I personally think they’ll never beat X-2.
7) Hannibal – The TV Series
Here I profess to having never watched Hannibal, but I’m willing to concede public opinion when I’m repeatedly told that something is worth a watch. While no one will best Anthony Hopkins for portraying the cannibalistic gentleman, of those who could at least make an effort Mads Mikkelsen must surely be near the top of the list.
In his three seasons he is truly sinister and charismatic, and in the role of a psychologist turned serial-killer-coach it seems the part is almost tailored to him. The series serves as a prequel to Red Dragon, before even the novels, telling some of the early tales of the famous man-eater, telling an original story without compromising the original creation.
6) Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them
Long before the events of Harry Potter, the wizarding world was still just as dangerous and as magical. In America, the No-Maj, or Muggles as we in England refer to them, lived somewhat obliviously to the magical world around them. Although in England the events of all things magical happen in their own secluded areas, such as Hogwarts or otherwise. No instead, the wizarding world is hidden in plain sight.
Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them was a huge success, breathing new life into a franchise which had seemingly reached its apex. Where the series goes from here will be wild and wonderful – But it’s fascinating how many more tales from the wizarding world that J K Rowling could venture down, as some of the stories could be exceptional.
5) Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West
Before the movie, the Wizard of Oz, the Wicked Witch of the West wasn’t quite as Wicked as she became. Elphaba, the Wicked Witch as we know her, is actually not all that wicked as we’re first made to believe in the original Wizard of Oz. In fact, she’s interested in the politics of the land of Oz and it turns out that treachery and deception makes her the way that she is – The green skinned witch.
Wicked became a play, many, many years after the release of the novel. Not only was it a play, it was a hugely successful one. With a film on the way in 2019, if you’ve not had the opportunity to check this out, I’d highly recommend looking out for the film in the coming years. It’s going to be wicked!
4) Monsters University
Without question, this was the prequel that inspired the list, and may even be the best prequel I have ever seen. We bring together Sully and Mike at University, and while it may not be easy for John Goodman and Billy Crystal to play teenagers, the characters are brilliantly rolled back to their younger and more arrogant selves. Mike is the nerd with delusions of grandeur, Sully is the lazy jock getting through on a scholarship he doesn’t deserve.
Watching the two overcome their differences to work together and bring their new friends from the bottom to the top of the MU pecking order casts new light upon their tight friendship at work many years later. Ok, so it’s a classic college film, the Dean is mean but ends up friendly, the mismatched pair get dumped with the frat of underdogs and losers, but come out on top. But with monsters! And Nathan Fillion!
3) Samurai X
Before the days of Rurouni Kenshin, the samurai was a lot more dark and gritty than we could ever have imagined. With the release of a 4 episode special known as Samurai X, we learned a lot about the dark past of the character, along with a perfect lead into the first episode of the highly popular anime. It was bloody, it was gritty and yes, Samurai X is one of the best anime prequels released.
I’d personally so far as to say it’s the best anime prequel – Granted it doesn’t have huge catalogues of other anime to go through with a prequel. In fact, off the top of my head, the only other anime I had was Dragon Ball Z’s Bardock. However, Samurai X was such a grim retelling, it made for most-see viewing. It’s stylish, it’s dark and yes, it’s everything you’d want from a story about samurai.
2) Star Wars Rogue One
I don’t think any of us expected to see episode 1-3 on this list, simply not going to happen. Rogue One on the other hand fed perfectly into the beginning of episode 4, and gave us a new hope (hah!) for the reign of Disney over the property. The elite force sent to gather the plans for the Empire’s new superweapon were always doomed to a tragic end, but the journey taken is nothing short of epic.
The film throws the evils of the Empire into far harsher relief than we have seen elsewhere, families torn apart, the oppression of an omnipresent regime, cities stripped of their wealth and then destroyed with space lasers, so that to hear Luke talking about joining the Rebels makes him seem a little more noble, and a lot more naive, unaware of the kind of horrors that he is putting himself against.
1) Castlevania III – Dracula’s Curse
WHAT IS A MAN?!
Well before Simon Belmont became a fixture name in Castlevania, there was a name even more powerful in the Belmont family. Trevor. Trevor Belmont was the first man to go and take down the evil Dracula. Say what you will about Castlevania, but it’s a franchise that not only has stood the test of the time, but it is partially responsible for creating a genre that is still inspiring games today with Metroidvania.
Frequently getting into Top 10 lists for Best NES games ever released, Castlevania III introduced some amazing new mechanics, such as mid-air jumping and wall climbing in the form of Grant Danasty. Along with Trevor, being able to switch between companions is a hugely important addition to the franchise – Without this game, we’d probably not have seen any more continuations of the legendary Castlevania series.
Honourable Mentions
Some things are just good – No matter how you look at it. Some things are good, but sorta not quite on the level as the above list. Whatever you think about our next two entries, they both were definitely well received additions to their respective franchises.
The Thing
Bit of a polarising one, and would have been considerably less so if the practical effects work in the film had been left broadly untouched, because a lot of effort had been made to ape the style of the 1982 horror masterpiece. The 2011 prequel was actually very well written and directed, but there’s no question that thanks to studio fiddling it became a poster child for the evils of CGI against practical puppetry.
There’s still the air of mistrust and suspicion, and the terror of the beast. Watching it embrace someone and absorb him into its amorphous mass is grisly, and you feel the fear on the poor man’s face as he’s devoured. Watching someone’s head split open to reveal the lashing tendrils and rows of wicked teeth, knowing that three people are trapped in a helicopter with it is a tense moment unmatched in the ‘82 film. The CGI took a hefty chunk out of the enjoyability of The Thing prequel, but give it another shot, it’s still a damn good film.
Puss in Boots
When Shrek 2 came out, everybody was infatuated with the newest (and sassiest) character introduced. It was the lovable little orange fuzzball himself; Puss in Boots! We all loved him, from his cute eyes, to that little hat and the boots he wore. Oh and it helps that this cat bites back, with a razor sharp tongue and an equally as dangerous rapier. Yes, Puss in Boots is cute but deadly!
Of course, the Puss in Boots standalone film was considered a success. Similar to how the Minions movie was out not too long ago, there seems to be something to be said about lovable, cuddly mascot characters and their own films. Sure, Puss in Boots wasn’t anything special, but it gave you a bit more story about him in his own adventure.
Extra Honourable Mention
Timlah reporting!
I knew I wanted to get a mention in to this film, because this is incredibly convoluted… And I wasn’t a fan of the film/s, but I know people who are fans of it… So I’m playing devil’s advocate today and giving an extra honourable mention to:
The Hobbit
The Desolation of Smaug – What a fantastic title for a film! Of course, The Hobbit is a relatively average sized novel, featuring Bilbo Baggins and a crew of Dwarves. They go on journeys with Bilbo, who happens to be a Master Thief, in an attempt to save the Dwarves home. With the evil, dangerous Smaug in their home, it was up to Bilbo to steal a specific item to draw Smaug out so the Dwarves could reclaim their home.
It’s not a genius story and, in terms of chronological order, it was indeed a prequel to The Lord of the Rings… However, it’s not a prequel! The Hobbit was written first. When we came to Peter Jackson’s vision of the stories, he chose The Lord of the Rings to be translated to film. Then, many years on, he chose to go to The Hobbit to be the next trilogy. If only it was translated to one film.
So yes: It’s a prequel to The Lord of the Rings, but it’s actually not a prequel, as it was written first. So there!
If you thought I was originally good, you should have seen me before the original me! Whether or not you’re a fan of prequels, or if you think they’re a blatant way to spin some extra cash out of a story, they’ve been around for some time – and they won’t leave us any time soon. However, we’re now in the Christmas season – You know what that means, right? From next week onwards, our Top 10’s will be somewhat festive! Help us choose the first of our Festive Top 10’s:
That’s it for another week, we’ve gone back and re-examined the past and we’ve come to the conclusion that it was good. The future looks great, but the past was just stellar. But, what did you think of our Top 10 list this week? As always, if you think we missed any great options out, then let us know. Did we get the order right, or did we mess that up? As always, let us know your thoughts and opinions in the comments below, or over on Facebook and Twitter.
For better or for worse, authorities are there to enforce rules upon us all. They tell us that we must comply, or we must pick up that can and put it in the bin. They tell us that we’d best do as they say, or they’ll lock us up, or worse, kill us. Regardless of how you feel about this, authorities have a simple goal: To lead people, through either inspiration or fear.
Well, we don’t fear them here, as we are taking a look at our Top 10 Plots To Overthrow Authority. Before we delve deep into these schemes, it’s worth pointing out that ‘authority’ does not have to be a government, or royalty. It can be anything that’s in charge of anything, but it has to have some form of governing body.Continue reading “Top 10 – Plots To Overthrow Authority”
The power of teleportation is a skill which few possess; a skill of true concentration and energy. The characters we’ll be chatting about in today’s list are all masters of their craft, able to teleport seemingly with ease. It’s as if moving their, or another whole mass, is just like breathing to you or I. Whatever you think of these characters, it’s certain that these are our favourite zone-phasers.
Don’t blink, or you’ll miss this week’s Top 10 Teleporting Characters!
These old bones won’t heal, at least the old bones of the titular hero Logan won’t. What an utterly gripping film! Well worth the trip to the cinema and, as one of the first films we suggested would ne worthwhile this year, I can gladly say I was not disappointed. But for those of you who haven’t seen it, here’s our spoiler-free review of the most action-packed film in March.
These old bones won’t heal, at least the old bones of the titular hero Logan won’t. What an utterly gripping film! Well worth the trip to the cinema and, as one of the first films we suggested would ne worthwhile this year, I can gladly say I was not disappointed. But for those of you who haven’t seen it, here’s our spoiler-free review of the most action-packed film in March.
This year has been quite a crazy one, full of lots of interesting decisions and a political vitriol abound. It’s been a year where we’ve seen legends disappear in the blink of an eye, as well as the year we’ve seen VR become more mainstream than ever. Honestly, just watch Ronnie O’Sullivan here. It’s excellent!
Ahem, laughing at people who can’t get the concept of Virtual Reality in their heads is fun, but we’ve got a strong year ahead of us in 2017. Whilst we could be fearful for what’s to come, we could also be happy to see that we’ve got a lot of great and interesting releases and general stuff to look forward to. This is our Top 10 list of Things To Look Forward To in 2017. A year that’s basically 2016, but one more.
Top 10
10) Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales
Image Credit: Flickr
“Yeah, one time the police were like “Dude, who killed you?” Brother never even ratted me out. He’s cool now, we’re good.” – Joel Smith 2016
Other than having a bit of a giggle at the title, about how dead men (apparently) tell no tales, this should be an excellent addition to what has been a truly spectacular series of films. I mean, all of these films were great fun. They might not have been very intelligent films, but they really didn’t need it. Disney did good with the first bunch of these, so I’m sure bringing people back for the latest instalment will be great fun as well.
Now, this ends up at only number 10 because, well, I don’t think anyone necessarily needed another Pirates of the Caribbean in their lives. We’re all gonna be thoroughly entertained once more with the antics of Jack Sparrow, but honestly, we didn’t need this. Not like some of the items in our list this week.
9) Rick and Morty Season 3
The creator of Community and a prolific actor of weird voices came together to inject a cartoon straight into the “cult classic” sensibilities with a mash-up of improvisation, parody, and messed up comedy. Rick and Morty slapped us hard with two seasons that whipped up a drooling fanbase demanding plush Meeseeks and spawning lunatic (but oddly convincing) theories and crying out for a third season…
What do you mean “A year and a half”?
Ok, so to tide us over this year we’ve had a series of claymation shorts and a fully animated Rick and Morty version of the State of Georgia vs Denver Felton Allen transcript which you should not read here because you will never hear anything else that so elegantly combines bad language and stupidity. Season 3 will be released 2017.
8) Gaming Reboots
Okay, so unlike basically everything else in the list, this is an incredibly niche audience we’re talking to here. If you were a gamer on the Sega MegaDrive, there’s no doubt you would at least be aware of the hugely popular title: ToeJam & Earl. It’s a game where you play as two funky aliens who go about their business by crashing into Earth, realising they need to fix their ship and get back to their planet. Groovy. They’re coming back for a release in 2017 as well! Looking forward to this one.
But that’s not all. There’s also the wildly popular PlayStation franchise Crash Bandicoot on the verge of a reboot too. In fact, I mentioned a bunch of the games coming around in 2017 in yesterday’s article. I’m excited to see them make a return, so here we go – Let’s get our game on this year!
7) South Park: The Fractured But Whole
It took a few tries for South Park to produce a decent computer game, but when they finally nailed the formula with the fantasy inspired “Stick of Truth” they really knocked it out of the proverbial park, and I for one am sincerely looking forward to seeing their super-heroic spin. Drawing from the adventures of Mysterion and the Coon to parody the recent cinematic slugfest, Superman vs Batman vs Civil War vs all of our wallets.
I haven’t finished Stick of Truth yet to be entirely honest, but I’ve played more than enough to know that I need to play The Fractured But Whole, and sincerely hoping that there’ll be a third addition to the series because I think it has a lot of possibility. And the way things are going in the TV series there’s a lot of material to play around with.
6) Spiderman Homecoming
You know this makes sense – It’s about bloody time we get a reboot of Spiderman. It’s about time we get one that mimics the comics better too. No more odd dancing Peter Parker like during Spider Man 3 in 2007, no, no, much better. We’re about to get the Spiderman that showed up during the Captain America: Civil War film that happened during the early half of the year. You know, the younger Spiderman who basically acted like spidey should?
The joy of Spiderman Homecoming is that we’ve had a taste of what to expect from our new Spidey and it’s excellent. The actor, Tom Holland, was an absolute joy to watch during Civil War and couple this with the now cinematic cannon that we’re used to with Tony Stark, this is going to be amusing, but yet at the same time a downright excellent cinematic experience. Watch out for this one – It might be one of the year’s best.
5) Logan
Old Man Logan as we’re calling this one, is one of those films that when you say it out loud, doesn’t sound like an appealing title. Knowing that Logan is all about the titular character Logan, AKA Wolverine, you realise that having an “Old Man Logan” theme is a lot more intriguing to begin with. Sitting neatly halfway down our list, Logan we feel could be one of the best films of 2017.
If you’ve not watched all of the other Logan films, you likely will not need to – However you certainly will get more out of it if you catch up with the rest of the series. This is going to be the last film in the Logan arc, so it’s worth checking out, even if it’s to see the end of a pretty long era of films.
4) Dark Tower Series
Stephen King usually brings gold to the screen, big or small. With the sheer volume of material he’s produced across his prolific writing career under his own name and a collection of pseudonyms, there’s plenty to pick and choose from, dozens of highlights, a few minor flops but overall some amazing stories to make real. This year we’ll not only see a remake of the eponymous clown horror IT, but 2017s big summer blockbuster looks set to be the start of his fantasy/western epic, the Dark Tower.
Idris Elba will be stepping into the shoes of gunslinger of a knightly order, Roland Deschain on a quest to rebuild his world, and he alone would be enough to drag me to the cinema. I’m no huge fan of Stephen King, but he’s got some indisputable works of art in his catalogue, and I believe the Dark Tower is amongst them. Perhaps once the films are well under way I’ll pick up the books; don’t want to ruin anything by being the guy saying “They missed that bit” like I did for all of the Discworld films.
3) Star Wars Episode VIII
Star Wars episode VIII (or 8 for those who hate Roman Numerals). This is a huge one for cinema, as we’ll get back that scrolling wall of text that we’re oh so used to at this point. We’ll be getting back the major characters in more than just cameo appearances and we’ll continue Ray’s story. Perhaps most tragically this might be the last time we see Carrie Fisher, (as Princess Leia,) make an appearance on screen, due to her sudden departure earlier this week. Our thoughts go out to the family of those affected most by this.
You know that this one deserved a top three slot, although we relegated it from the mass importance it should have had on this list, down to ‘only’ third place. I know, third place isn’t exactly a bad spot to be in, but it’s still only third place compared to how we would have rated 2015’s The Force Awakens. But that’s simply because we knew this was coming… As there’s going to be a Star Wars film every year for the next few more years as well. It’s nice, we should still be hyped for it… But we kind of expect it now.
2) Baby Groot – Guardians of the Galaxy 2
Ok, while we love the look of all of Guardians of the Galaxy’s greatly anticipated sequel, and once again Drax the Destroyer looks like he may have some real show-stealing moments, there will be one thing and one thing only that puts geeky butts into cinema seats. It is Groot.
Now I may have my little rant about how the saplings of Groot’s species actually have softer, more supple cell structures that form their larynges and can therefor talk comparatively normally, until they mature and are reduced to limited vocal ranges that can be differentiated by little subtleties only. But he’s SO CUTE with his little button and angry adorable killing spree! Plus you have to respect exactly how much can be conveyed three little words and tone of voice.
But seriously does anyone have any tape?
1) Nintendo Switch
The number one slot on our list today is the Nintendo Switch, a games console that, let’s be frankly honest, could end up being the next Wii… Or the next Wii U. Whilst the Wii U certainly was a damn good console in it’s own right, it really didn’t meet the same praise as the Wii and quite understandably so. It was effectively just the Wii with a weird tablet controller to connect to it as well. It’s strange it wasn’t released as a backwards compatible tablet peripheral, which granted you’d need to slot into your Wii controller via the jack, same as the Nunchucks, but nevermind that…
The Switch has turned a lot of heads – I bet you’ve heard of it, but if you haven’t, the interesting concept behind this console is the fact that the controller can effectively be a console in it’s own right: a handheld one. So you can take your gaming from your living room, then get told by your ol’ gran that she needs TV for her TV time and you can take your gaming from the TV down to your hand… You don’t lose out, she doesn’t lose out. With rumours circulating that Pokemon might make the Switch as well, this could be a massive boon for Nintendo and this could even be another major success. Watch this space is all I can say here.
Mentions Honourable
Have we got you excited for 2017 yet? Good, because we’re excited for two relatively selfish reasons as well. We love to do things here on GeekOut South-West, as I’m sure you’re well aware… However, it’s time to reveal what we personally are really, really excited to be doing next year:
Revamped GeekOut Website
It’s frustrating that this hasn’t happened sooner, as I’ve been working my butt off on this. As I was developing the new website this month, I stumbled into a problem, where the hosts seemingly dropped off all links that weren’t brand new to the site. This meant that I had to do a lot of backtracking and trying to fix anything. Having not heard from the hosts for a while, I assumed the worst – That I’d have to port everything over… But fortunately, I’m a good developer me – I kept backups.
After restoring everything, the website came back to normal and I was able to continue development. I was amazed – But hey, it’s all back and it’s all going ahead smoothly again. It’s late – Very late for my initial plan of having it released by the end of November, but I suspect it’s going to not be too much longer. The wait really will have been worth it. Forums; A ‘Geek Events Calendar’ which can be edited; Unlockable profile badges; Our usual wit and much more.
Kitacon Quest
Around half past six on Tuesday we’ll be glued to our computer screens awaiting our chance to return to the Warwick Arts Centre, desperate to get our names down in that ever narrowing window, despite the promise of more spaces than ever we will still be desperately clinging to keyboards and hope.
And why not? Between Kita and Amecon we have two incredible teams to bring us some of the biggest, loveliest, geekyest events in the country. Your average comic convention these days is a big marketplace that you have to pay to enter, and gaming conventions are halls filled with demos you can queue to watch people play. At Kita and Ame we are one leviathan family, getting drunk and nerdy until the small hours, launching ourselves out of bed, through breakfast and away to do it all again.
If we don’t get in, 2017 will officially be a bigger let down than Duke Nukem Forever.
That’s it, we’re finished now until 2017. We’re done writing, but hey, if you’re out and about today and you’re in Bristol, why not come and celebrate it with us? We’re going to be in the Old Market Tavern from 6pm until 1am, celebrating the new year in, with competitions and games and amazing people. Come along – but wait, why not help us with 2017 in a different way? Give us your vote for next week’s Top 10, the first in a new and important year for us all!
To everyone who has stuck with us through thick and thin, through better and worse, in sickness and in health – We do… Solemnly declare that we’ll be up to no good next year as we’re going to be better than ever. In the meantime, what did you think of this list? Have we got you looking forward to some great media next year? What did you think of the Nintendo Switch being our number one choice? As always, comments below, or over on Facebook, Twitter and Reddit.
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