Time Capsule: The Matt Smith Era, Part 1

 The sonic's 762nd function is the JJ Abrams Effector.

Rarely used.

Doctor Who has been far too big a part of my life since its 2005 resurrection for me to ignore it on this blog, and a scathing (but completely accurate) review of a now-forgotten Wii game several years back seems insufficient.  So begins Time Capsule, which is/will be a series of mini-reviews (or capsule reviews) covering a large selection of Who stories (over the course of many years, hence time - see how clever I am with my title choices and weep) since trying to go full-depth with a show that's run this long will keep me busy 'til Doomsday.  Hell, by then I'd barely be up to the actual episode called 'Doomsday'.  Although it might be a gentle relief if the world ended before I had to watch that one again.

Since his time in the TARDIS ended last Christmas - and since I've basically got his whole run on shiny blu-ray for reference - I'm starting out with a look at Doc 11, Matt Smith, him with the bow tie and inexplicable wavy fringe.  Smith's run - especially the latter half of it - got to be very wearying for me, and I know I'm not alone in that, but it's been a while since I've ventured back to the start of his tenure, and I'm very excited to switch off the part of my brain that knows who River Song is and has so many conflicting ideas about the Silence I can't make heads or tails of them anymore.  Off we go then!

(one last note in advance: the series and story numbering I'm using here is cribbed from the Counter-X listing and extended to cover more recent fare, which means it might not fit with some other listings.  I'm also counting any new-Who 2-parters as single stories because, well, they bloody are)

Toy Review: Play Arts Kai Faora-Ul

 Not a photo of mine.

You can probably guess by the lack of awfulness.

To start, hey look, my first post of 2014!  Hope everyone had a safe New Year's.

Anyway - as time passes, I find myself growing more and more irritated with Man of Steel, as seems to be the prevailing feeling amongst interweb dorks like myself.  This is the big problem with the tone and aesthetic that Christopher Nolan has bequeathed to Warner Bros.' nascent DC cinematic universe: when every character and place is presented as cold, severe and super-duper-serious it prompts the audience's thoughts to linger on the ideas and questions raised by the story rather than just relax and let oneself be moved by the flow of the film.  That's fine if you've got a tight grip on the tale and know exactly what points you want to get across, but if you don't - if the questions you're raising clash with the overall 'point' of the film, or if you're simply not elaborating them well enough - then all you're doing is giving viewers more time to chew over the film's problems.  And hoo boy did MoS have hefty problems delivering its themes.

Despite that, I still bought the damn blu-ray just so I could gawk at Faora-Ul in glorious HD.  That plus the hilarious sight of Michael Shannon's misshapen beanpole body being pushed through military-grade workouts in the special features was worth the asking price.  Thus my Faora crush remains strong, albeit ill-served by the movie's merchandising.  Sadly there's still no sign of a Hot Toys 12" $200+ wallet-killer fig of the lady (I remain hopeful - HT's Roadblock figure still hasn't been released and G.I. Joe 2 came out last March) and Mattel did their usual hopeless job on the main toyline, resulting in this disappointment with its cartoon face, borked joints and oddly squat physique.  Luckily, though, DC's licensing deal with Square Enix covers both comics and movie properties, and so the MoS subline of the Play Arts Kai range has stepped up to fill the void and maybe give Faora the toy she deserves.

Season's Beatings

It's that time of year again, and with a mountain of wrapping still ahead of me it's fair to say there won't be time for posting stuff until the holiday hoo-hah is all done and dusted.  So while I indulge myself with festive femdom, have a safe and happy Christmas and New Year's, and I'll get back to the swing of things whenever there's something that needs affirmated via vague rambling.

Now Playing: TOO! MANY! GAMES!

 GAH!

The holidays are a tricky time of year for most people.  Of course, 'most people' have bills and families to worry about, and I don't, so you'd think I'd be content, but never let it be said that I can't find something to gripe about in even the best of circumstances.  For example: having so many genuinely good games to play, which is a problem because I like to keep updating this blog with thoughts on stuff like that, and I just don't have the time to give each individual title the write-up they deserve before it's no longer timely to do so (read: before it's bloody mid-January again).

So, I'm gonna limit my thoughts to a couple paragraphs for each game I've played since late November, going in descending order of how much time I've logged into them.  Skim at your leisure.

PHICEN Nina Armoury Post 3

It's been a while, but with more figures in the collection now I've got more Things Nina Can Hold, and more amateurish photos to prove it!

Now Playing: GIRL FIGHT

 Lowest Common Denominator: THE GAME

Developed by Kung Fu Factory.

Published by MicroProse/Majesco.

Released mid/late October 2013.

Formats:  Xbox 360 (Live Arcade download), PS3 (PS Store download)

Version played:  PS3

You know...I can usually come up with an at least somewhat clever introductory paragraph for these write-ups, but this time?  This time, I don't know what to say.  This is Girl Fight.  It's a game where girls fight.

...that's basically it.

Film Reaction: THOR: THE DARK WORLD

"Darling, keep me safe from the floating people with no legs!"

And so onwards rolls the Marvel juggernaut (uh, not the Marvel character Juggernaut, although that dude does roll on quite a bit) as, after Iron Man 3 basically killed summer for every other movie this year, the coming of winter brings with it the return of the mighty Odinson, he of magic hammer, enviable hair and crazy popular evil sibling.  While there's only been one prior Thor movie, the use of Loki as the main villain in The Avengers made that film quite organically the 'step 2' of the brothers' story, and leaves The Dark World with a very different starting point.  Even so, it still has to tie things up neatly from its predecessor and succeed in being a superior film, so, how did it do?  Read on, mortals.