Movie Review: The Martian

Back in July I read the Andy Weir's book The Martian and posted a positive review of that here.
I went and saw the movie today and thought a follow up was warranted.

Ridley Scott has doen a great job with the film adaptation and stayed very true to the book.  At 2hr 22 min he had to cut a few of the challenges that Astronaut Mark Watney faces on the Red Planet, and he added a few scenes at the end which overall I think gave a better sense of closure to the story.

With only one exception, I thought the casting was very good and the characters.  Sean Bean doesn't even die in this movie, which makes a change for him.

Overall, a very good movie.  Read the book first and its even better.

Panic Attack!

Iron Sky 2

You may remember the Moontruppen from Iron Sky: a wonderfully flippant movie about the resurgence of the Reich...from the Dark Side of the Moon.  Well they are coming back...on Dinosaurs...(Awesome)...from the centre of the Hollow Earth (Even more Awesome).

More SciFi Goodness

"Sunshine"- a different but enjoyable Sci-Fi flick 

I've really got the SciFi bug at the moment, having watched "Edge of Tomorrow", "Sunshine" and "Moon" this week. Very different movies but I enjoyed them all.  "Moon" in particular was excellent and highly recommended.

In the meantime enjoy this little online (free) gem:
http://www.theverge.com/2014/11/30/7310433/wanderers-sci-fi-short-film-imagines-when-humans-conquer-the-solar-system

A Sci Fi weekend

With no modelling gear or a lead pile to prepare for the annual painting challenge, plus being devoid of ladies in the house, this Thanksgiving weekend the boys turned to Sci Fi for a bit of fun.  In addition to several long binge sessions playing Beyond Earth, we also went to see Interstellar.  Its an edgy 'hard' SF movie with more than a touch of Kubrick's 2001 as an influence.  We both really enjoyed it, and while there isn't a lot of action in the almost three hours and two bags of popcorn required, its engaging throughout.  Recommended.

And if you are looking for some more inspiration along these lines, check these links out:

http://sploid.gizmodo.com/the-most-extraordinary-and-inspiring-vision-of-the-futu-1664783812

http://sploid.gizmodo.com/here-are-some-fantastic-starships-to-make-you-dream-abo-1663802732

Mis-drop!

A short (13min) SF film, this delivers intense action all portrayed on the face of a drop trooper.
Great stuff!  http://www.mis-drop.com/

Officer Murphy Mk II

Watched the Robocop remake over the weekend.  Being a big fan of the original, I wasn't sure how I was going to like it.  Still set in Detroit, there are lots of nods to the original including some classic one liners ("Dead or Alive, you're coming with me"), the same theme music and very nicely updated ED-209 models. The result? Big Thumbs up!

King of the Monsters!

Yep, its awesome!  Comrade James, Right Stuff and I enjoyed it tonight with extreme popcorn feasting.

There and Back Again - in a day!

To celebrate the start of the Summer holidays and prepare for the release of The Desolation of Smaug, the Lad and Lass declared that must have a mega Tolkien movie marathon.  Using all lyper-extended versions and with minimal food preparation and comfort stops, the day went like this:

• 0810 started Fellowship of the Ring
• 1145 started The Two Towers
• 1540 started The Return of the King
• 2020 started The Hobbit
• 2321 Finished!

Phew! Didn't know you could get couch sores.  The last few hrs were a bit of a battle I must admit and made me think of this - which would have saved us some time :-)

Well Done Doctor!

Got up early with the Lass this morning to watch the most enjoyable 50th anniversary special - that's three generations of Whovians in my family who have grown up and loved his adventures.  Thanks for all the good times!

Sharknado!

In the best traditions of awful B grade shark movies, my kids made sure I saw this sensation which appeared in my absence.  Its is best described as "Sharknado is a 2013 made for television disaster movie about a waterspout that lifts sharks out of the ocean and deposits them in Los Angeles" - and thats exactly what you get!

A must watch laugh from end to end!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sharknado

Bumper crop of Christmas Goodies!

Santa (and his many helpers) were very kind to me this year.  Actually it was the being together with all the family and still feeling full 2 days later that was most awesome, but lets face it - our inner kid (and not so inner - we play with toy soldiers right?) still loves pressies right?

Cutting to the hobby related stuff, Santa got us a family ticket to see the Hobbit in 3D and we went yesterday at the first session of opening day.  We really enjoyed it, the departures from the book made sense to me and worked well, and it was done in a lighter tone than the Lord of the Rings.  Reminded me of an Indiana Jones movies actually.  Well done and highly recommended.

On the Dark Ages front my recent SAGA adventures saw me score very well: All three SAGA rulebooks, a box of Plastic Norman knights plus a set of crossbowmen to complete that army, and the newly released Irish Warband starter set from Gripping Beast.  Lovely Jubbly!

And the big surprise this year was my combined 40th Birthday and Christmas present from Comrade James: Battlefront's 'Open Fire' Flames of War starter set and the new book 'Normandy Battles'

He is a sneaky one that Comrade James, knowing that I have secretly wanted to do 15mm for years but with no opponent and an aversion to collecting terrain in a new scale.  Now that he is coming back to live down the road, we can get a good campaign going.  I will be very interested to see how the lad goes with this - I have no doubt he will play it but think his heart will be with Blood Bowl and games like that for awhile yet.  Still, he has already claimed the German force (grrr...) and having watched 'Kelly's Heroes' and the like, I think he'll enjoy it. Thanks James - awesome pressie!

Hoping your Christmases were just as great! Back to playing our in house Blood Bowl competition: "Santabowl"!

Judge Dredd

Went to see the movie on the weekend - very cool.  Sure it had bits that might have been better, but was it a rollicking yard of our fav Judge in Mega City One filled with action and mayhem?  You bet!  And no taking his helmet off in this version, thank you very much!

So I got home, unsuccessfully searched for my old game "Block War" and pledged $5 for a Judge Dredd figure in the current Kickstarter game.  I wont be playing JD skirmish games, but he'll make an awesome Human Player for Blood Bowl!  Or a Referee for a variant of DreadBall...DreddBall: "You made a foul Creep!" - BLAM! (and yes, I'm proud of my self restraint in not getting a big package deal!)
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1990654819/judge-dredd-miniatures-game-block-war

Gold Star Parenting

The Lad was home sick this week: a day off school.  I stayed with him, lit the fire, setup the movie theatre and introduced him to one of the most awesome SF films ever: Aliens.  Funnily enough, this flick (supported ably by hot chocolate and popcorn) saw him feeling much better by the end of the day.  Needless to say SWMBO had a differing opinion...

JC of Mars

The girls went out to the Taylor Swift concert tonight, so naturally the boys sneaked out after they left to see John Carter of Mars.  Its had a bunch of mixed reviews, but our opinion? Epic!  A great adventure movie with amazing effects.  It had some slow spots, but these were necessary for the plot and I guess they just seemed slower after all the action bits.

Seriously, ,the Green and White Martians and the associated special effects are fantastic (and should be for 250 million dollars!)  If you are looking for a good, fun adventure yarn this is a great ride.


PS Its pretty WoW in 3D!

Dinoshark

Every bit as wonderfully cheesy as you might fear, but way better than Megashark vs Giant Octopus!  The dialogue was rather painful but worth battling through for the last 30 mins which has some great scenes and a wonderfully high bodycount.  Cheer as Dinoshark goes for guys on parasails and jetskis, tears through a girls water polo match and takes a general dislike to anything over, on or in the water.  Actually, just watch the trailer below and you've seen most of the best bits.

The Blob

I got the kids back for those horrible Shark movies - the 1958 Steve McQueen version of course!
In the meantime 30 more Vikings were based, as well as a Blood Bowl team...

The opening music was a major highlight!

Pingu's THE THING

In the spirit of Zombie Penguins, here is Pingu's rendition of The Thing!  Incidentally, this inspired me to watch the 2011 remake last night, not bad but I prefer the Kurt Russell version from 1982.
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Mega Shark vs Giant Octopus

Sharktopus was classic, B grade cheezy fun, but this one was just an epic fail...

...and that is really saying something!

http://babbleon5.wordpress.com/2010/10/26/mega-shark-vs-giant-octopus/

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1350498/

Sharktopus!

The Lad chose tonight's viewing - the deliberately cheezy and dreadful flick Sharktopus!

Fun for all the family cheering for the beast and guessing which bimbo will be the next victim!

A half-shark, half-octopus creature created for the military, creates a whole lot of terror in Mexico while a scientist who helped created it tries to capture/kill it.

Horrornews.net said "Full of Kickassitude you can't go wrong with the cheesy goodness covered in awesome sauce that is Sharktopus!"  Not sure if I'd go that far but it was a good laugh.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1619880/