Sidney Blaylock Jr.'s Blog, page 15
July 9, 2020
Video Game Tropes that Need to Go Away
In thinking about tomorrow’s “Log” post on gaming, I started brainstorming about all the reasons why I’ve been majorly un-enthused about gaming for the past 2-3 weeks. I’m in a Pandemic and I’m not going out, so gaming should be the major activity right now for me. However, streaming is probably what I’m doing most, as well as reading and writing, be it for school or creatively. Gaming is far behind these activities.The original title of this post was going to be “Video Game Tropes that NEED to DIE!” However, I felt that was way TOO over the top and sensationalist, and we really need to stop saying things “should die” on the internet (too many imbeciles use “death threats” as a way of intimidation and fear against ideologies that they don’t believe, so I don’t want to encourage that way of thinking, no matter how tangentially.)
“Circle Arenas”
So, this one is a “biggie” for me. Circle Arenas are my name for a whole class of enemy encounters in which you, the protagonist character, are forced into an “arena” of some sort (usually a circle) and are forced to square off against a vastly overpowered opponent (or multiple opponents) in some way. Sometimes you are fight the opponent/opponents by themselves, but more often you either have to fight numerous other smaller/weaker enemies (current gamer slang = “adds” or “minions” or “mobs”) alongside the overpowered opponent.
The arena is designed in such a way that there are basically two moves that the player has: dodge and attack. The player must dodge the enemy’s attack, waiting for the right time to strike. Then the player attacks and whittles away at the (usually) massive life of the boss character. Rinse and repeat until either the enemy is defeated (or moves on to another “form”) or the protagonist character is dead.
This game design tactic needs to go away because it shuts off avenues for learning. It is basically tied to reflexes and timing. You need the reflexes to consistently avoid the attack and you need the timing to line up your attacks while avoiding being hit yourself. If you’ve discovered a successful strategy for taking out the enemy in the game world, chances are good that you aren’t going to be able to use it here in the “circle arena.“
This an overused game design mechanic–I can’t tell you the number of games that it is in. Assassin’s Creed Origins has it (of course, it has actual arenas, but this mechanic features into some non-arena encounters as well). Two games I’m currently playing–Horizon Zero Dawn and Strange Brigade–both have these and that’s where I’m currently “stuck” (well, not really stuck, but have little interest in continuing the narrative because of my annoyance and lack of motivation to continue playing because of these “circle arenas“). I even quit a game that I was playing a while back, not because I couldn’t finish it, but because of the lazy over-reliance on “circle arenas.” It was Inversion on the Playstation 3 and I just stopped playing because of the “circle arenas” in this game.
Boss Fights
Okay, so I’m not opposed to Boss Fights in theory, but I don’t like the way most are executed. Most boss fights stop progress, acting as a sort of “test” of your gaming abilities in that game and not allowing you to progress until you defeat it. There are usually bespoke mechanics that you’ve either been taught earlier in the game that you are required to use here, or they teach you the mechanics inside the boss fight itself.
Now, it isn’t that I don’t like boss fights per se, but game designers seem to love combining them with “circle arenas” listed above–especially in open world games. Bespoke mechanics not withstanding, you much usually hide/take cover/dodge as the boss attacks, and then wait for the opportunity to attack, taking small chunks off the enemy’s health. And woe be it unto you if you make your character not combat related–such as taking a stealth approach to the game–as this will often make the boss encounter much more difficult, if not impossible. Don’t believe me? Here is a game journalist discussing his experience with the game Deus Ex: Human Revolution and its boss battles using stealth.
Going Away From Core Game Mechanics
Now this one sounds like it shouldn’t be on this list–you want there to be variety in a game. Without it, the game gets boring. Except that designers are going away from what their game is actually about. Call of Duty Modern Warfare (2019) is an example of what I mean. There’s a section where you guide someone in the embassy away from terrorists using video cameras. Okay, not the arcade shooting gallery that I bought the game for, but I see what you’re trying to do.
However, I’m stuck on the section where (minor spoilers) you play as a little girl hiding from a terrorist. It is a boss fight encounter inside a “circle arena” and you have to stab the terrorist and then hide, repeating this multiple time before the game will let you continue. This is NOT the Call of Duty experience I signed up for! I want a “virtual gun” and I want my skill at “virtually shooting” foes to determine my progression, not my ability to “hide” from foes and stealthily stab a “virtual knife” into the enemy’s leg and run away. There’s a game for that already, Little Nightmares, and it does a far better job than a CoD campaign ever could. In fact, you be the judge:
versus
In trying to be controversial and “edgy,” CoD moved too far away from its core mechanic of “virtual shooting gallery” and created a “circle arena” boss fight that completely robbed the narrative of any punch and took me out of the game–so much so, that I’ve still not gone back to it to finish it.
In Conclusion
While no game developer will probably ever read this blog, I write it in hopes that someone will, if not now, then in the future, and eliminate some (or praise be, ALL) of these tropes from his or her game. I think these are old, tired tropes, that need to go away from gaming (if not forever, definitely for a while).
Sidney
Please consider supporting these fine small press publishers where my work has appeared:
Read Skin Deep for Free at Aurora WolfRead Childe Roland for Free at Electric Spec
Purchase HawkeMoon on Amazon.com (Paperback) or eBookPurchase Dragonhawk on Amazon.com (Paperback) or KindlePurchase WarLight on Amazon.com (Paperback) or KindlePurchase Ship of Shadows on Amazon.com (Paperback) or KindlePurchase Faerie Knight on Amazon.com (Paperback) or Kindle
Currently Working On (7/2020):
“Project Wall” (Science Fiction Story)
Drafting: First Draft
Unhallowed (Weird Western Story)
Drafting: 2nd Draft (Working Draft)
Childe Roland Graphic Novel
Up Next: Rough Draft (Story)
I, Mage (Urban Fantasy Story)
Drafting: 1st Revision
July 8, 2020
Streaming Services that Work (for Me)
As a Science Fiction and Fantasy reader and writer (and a lover of most things of a speculative nature), I find myself (Pre-Corona virus) browsing bookshelves in libraries and bookstores for the Sci-Fi and Fantasy offerings. Not surprisingly (I guess), is that I end up doing the same things for various streaming services. The first thing that I do when I look at a service or assess as to whether I’m going to sign up, is to take a look at the offerings for Sci-Fi and Fantasy. While not the only criteria (price plays a role as well), I often decide on what streaming services to subscribe to, in large part, based on what offerings they have that appeal to my as a speculative fiction afficianado.
Netflix
I subscribe to Netflix because (initially) because, originally, it was an innovative way to rent movies affordably. While I didn’t always love the “DVD/Blu Ray” by mail system, even then I thought the movie companies should have had an online streaming licensing clause available to Netflix — similar to what Hoopla has for libraries now–even back then I found Netflix to have a strong back catalog in Sci-Fi and Fantasy. Even now, with their original programming, I find that, in many cases, Netflix has more Sci-Fi/Fantasy shows and movies than I can reliably watch. While I wish Netflix would work on beefing up their licensing deals with Hollywood content–there’s rarely a a movie in the speculative genre that I haven’t seen on their service, I still find they do a pretty good job with content for a reasonable price.
Amazon Prime Video
So, Amazon Prime Video is a mixed bag for me. They have some really good content and my current favorite spaceship show–after a rocky start as I didn’t like it at first, The Expanse–is exclusive to the service. However, while not as expensive as Netflix, it does come out of my out in a large one-time sum. Now, Amazon Prime Video has other services that make this a fairly compelling value (2 day shipping on orders, a watered down “free” music service–there’s a paid version of the service as well, and other benefits at the time of this writing), but their movie offerings leave much to be desired. Amazon Prime Video has a few big name Hollywood movies, but they’re ones that I’ve seen before–rarely do they have new ones that I want to see (they currently have Knives Out, which, while not speculative, still is a pretty high profile “get”) and one that I hope to see soon.
Disney + and AppleTV+
I almost forgot these two, and since I got them from the same source, I’ll talk about them together. These are two that I got as a part of my needing to get a new iPhone after the old one broke–with a free 1 year trial. While I use both services, I find that I use Disney+ the most as I’m catching up on the Star Wars animated shows that I wasn’t able to watch before they left Netflix. I’m also catching up on the Disney live action movies, such as Aladdin which I enjoy. I own pretty much all of the Marvel content, so while a big draw for some, it isn’t really as much a draw for me. Apple TV+ has been mostly a “wash” for me as I’ve not yet seen any of the shows. I keep marking shows to watch, but I never seem to get around to them–and because of the way the interface works, I only notice AppleTV+ when I actually go looking for it (I may need to move the icon around and put it next to Amazon Prime and Netflix on my screen to “remind” me that there are shows that I’d like to watch before the free trial period is over. While I’m not sure I’ll keep either after the 1 year trial–although Disney+ does have my attention, Foundation for AppleTV+ is looking awesome, but that doesn’t come until 2021 after my trial is over, so we’ll see.
Hulu
This is one that I get because I’m a student and I get it through the student offer for Spotify. Technically, I also get Showtime through this as well, but since I rarely log on to Hulu, I’ve not taken the time to really set up the Showtime account (yes, I know I’d find a lot more Hollywood movies there, but as a student, there’s already way too many distractions for my time–the last thing I need is another streaming service competing for it). Hulu is the service I use the least and currently has the least amount of speculative content (that I’ve not yet seen, especially for movies). For television shows, they do have a fair amount of speculative fiction (for me) that I’m interested in, but they don’t have an original series that has really set me on fire the way Netflix and Amazon Prime does. Once I’m no longer a student and have to pay full price for the service, I’m sure how long I’ll keep it as it is justified at the current price point along with (Spotify and Showtime), but not by itself.
Tubi
This one is free and I actually like it quite a bit. It is on par with Hulu for me, but instead of a subscription fee, it requires you to view ads during the movie. For that reason alone, it is my least watched service. But, I thought you said you liked it, I can hear you ask. I do, because it has a fair amount of Speculative fiction on it in terms of Hollywood movies that I’ve not yet seen. Appleseed Alpha and The Last Witch Hunter were both movies that seemed to be made for streaming, and yet, none of the other services picked them up–not even for a 6 month licensing deal. There are tons of Hollywood movies released every year (well, maybe not this year), that would do so well on a streaming service just to recoup some of their investment, yet they end up only releasing for sale or stuck on some cynical corporate streaming service (CBS All Access, anyone?) which makes no sense. Tubi has a surprising number of speculative works. Now, it doesn’t look like they refresh their content as often as the others, so once I go through that content, I may find it all a bit stale in 6 months to a year from now, but as of now, if not for the ads, this service would probably be used more than Hulu for movies (ad and all)–although Hulu would still win out for TV content.
Well, that’s all for now. These are just my experiences with the various services, looking in general at what they offer in terms of speculative content, for me personally. I’ll be sure to let you know of any major changes (like, if I get Showtime up and running–probably won’t happen, though) and I see they have a major speculative presence or the like. Anyway, have a great day!
Sidney
Please consider supporting these fine small press publishers where my work has appeared:
Read Skin Deep for Free at Aurora WolfRead Childe Roland for Free at Electric Spec
Purchase HawkeMoon on Amazon.com (Paperback) or eBookPurchase Dragonhawk on Amazon.com (Paperback) or KindlePurchase WarLight on Amazon.com (Paperback) or KindlePurchase Ship of Shadows on Amazon.com (Paperback) or KindlePurchase Faerie Knight on Amazon.com (Paperback) or Kindle
Currently Working On (7/2020):
“Project Wall” (Science Fiction Story)
Drafting: First Draft
Unhallowed (Weird Western Story)
Drafting: 2nd Draft (Working Draft)
Childe Roland Graphic Novel
Up Next: Rough Draft (Story)
I, Mage (Urban Fantasy Story)
Drafting: 1st Revision
July 7, 2020
To Travel or Not to Travel: That is the Question
So, today’s blog is late because I’m working remotely from home for the University Writing Center (UWC) for MTSU for the summer. Today is actually my off day and I’d plan to travel from Chattanooga to Murfreesboro to visit my apartment and to start the process of bringing some of my stuff home from my apartment.
In case you’re new to the blog, I would routinely commute to an apartment at school on a weekly basis, working and going to school and then traveling home on the weekends (again, all generally speaking–sometimes I stayed in Chattanooga or Murfreesboro, depending on the situation). Well, due to Covid-19, I’ve not been back to my apartment since March 3–the day before my trip to Boston, Massachusetts for my conference. Luckily, I knew I would be on Spring Break after that so it would be two weeks before I came back up, so I brought back all my food, took out my trash, and turned down the heat to avoid wasting electricity.
What I didn’t foresee was the way in which Covid-19 forced everyone into “lockdown” which meant that travel was, if not prohibited, actively and extremely prohibited.
Spike in Tennessee Cases
Now, as of July 7th, when I write this, I’m fairly sure that at least part, if not all, of the semester will be done remotely by many of the GTAs such as myself (heck, at this point, even our yearly “orientation” for returning and new GTAs are planning to be remote), so I decided to end my lease for my apartment (one less drain on the limited pool of money), preferring to just drive up there on the days I’ll need to actually be there (whenever we go back to in-person classes). This is aided by the fact I’m no longer taking classes myself, but have move into the Prospectus/Dissertation writing phase of my study.
Having made this decision, however, now all I really want to do is go up there and get my stuff and start bringing it back home. That’s what today was supposed to be.
Until I looked at the (still) rising rates of Covid-19 infection in Tennessee. Until I heard about the new potential for the “airborne” nature of the virus in certain situations. Until I heard that the risk increases based on moving into spaces where you don’t know the people you’re interacting with. Until I heard that Murfreesboro has no mandated mask order at the moment. Until I remembered that my apartment is in a “cluster” of 4 other apartments and my neighboring apartment, while empty at the time, was already being shown to various potential tenants as late as that last week of February before my trip and has probably been rented out in the interim with “new” neighbors who I don’t know and don’t know if they’ve been sick or not.
So I decided against going up there today. Next Tuesday will also be a “wash” as I have something planned for that day. So, I’ll check back in two weeks to see where we are now, and then I’ll make a decision.
Staying Safe
Ideally, I would stay here and not travel at all until the Governor’s “State of Emergency” order expires on Aug. 29th. However, since my lease is up Aug. 31st, that would only give me two days to clear out my things from the apartment–not ideal.
However, as August has 5 Saturdays (& Sundays) in the month–a rare occurrence indeed–so, thinking about it, I may just go up there on each Saturday in August (assuming infection rates are not still rising) and bring my things back then. My goal is to follow what I’ve learned during this pandemic: take small bites out a large goal and spread it out over time. I’ve learned the more that I do this, the better and more successful I am at whatever I’m doing, so this is what I’m going to do try to balance the need to clear out my apartment and to stay safe while doing it.
Have a great day!
Sidney
Please consider supporting these fine small press publishers where my work has appeared:
Read Skin Deep for Free at Aurora WolfRead Childe Roland for Free at Electric Spec
Purchase HawkeMoon on Amazon.com (Paperback) or eBookPurchase Dragonhawk on Amazon.com (Paperback) or KindlePurchase WarLight on Amazon.com (Paperback) or KindlePurchase Ship of Shadows on Amazon.com (Paperback) or KindlePurchase Faerie Knight on Amazon.com (Paperback) or Kindle
Currently Working On (7/2020):
“Project Wall” (Science Fiction Story)
Drafting: First Draft
“Project Arizona” (Weird Western Story)
Up Next: 2nd Draft (Working Draft)
Childe Roland Graphic Novel
Up Next: Rough Draft (Story)
July 6, 2020
Mini-Movie Review: Gemini Man
Over the Fourth of July Holiday weekend here in America, my family (my mother and my step-father) and I watched Gemini Man. I was leery at first as it didn’t get very good reviews, from professional reviewers (26% Critical; 83% Audience). Now, going in, I’d seen the trailers, but I didn’t really know anything about the script (apparently, a 1997 script that had been bought, shelved because the technology wasn’t good enough at the time, and then attached to many different stars), nor did I now anything about the preferred way it was shown (4K, 120 frames per second, and 3D).
The Script
Okay, so I should be clear–my mother and step-father liked the movie; me–not so much. Most of my issues stem from the script. While I liked the action scenes, I felt there were too few of them based on the movie’s concept/trailer, but really I had two major problems: the dialogue and the pacing. The dialogue actually factors into the pacing–there’s too much dialogue. Unlike most movies, dialogue reveals character. Here, however, the dialogue is mostly exposition. For instance, there was a great scene where Mary Elizabeth Winstead’s character and Will Smith’s character are discussing a “wire” that Smith’s character just found. Very witty and very real–and then, (minor spoiler). it is revealed that she really is spying on him, which just undercut all emotion, characterization, and wasted 3-5 minutes of screen-time setting up something just to throw it away on the very next scene. Maybe have some doubt for a while until it matters, and then reveal it when she has to make a choice–save Smith’s character and reveal her identity or keep her identity secret? How about that, script? No? Okay–your call. 26% Rotten Tomatoes score–just saying.
Also, I think that it really feels its age as it seems to make more of “cloning” without actually getting into the science behind it. It’s almost a “cloning = bad” situation going on without actually taking into account some of the real-life “horrors” that have happened as recently as the Chinese doctor (Dr. He Jiankui) who “gene-edited” babies. There’s none of that “real world” world-building going on.
Young Will Smith (aka “Junior”)
So, most of my problems with the movie come from the script. Some of it comes from the CGI in the movie. I liked the performances and the look of “Junior” in the night scenes, but in the day scenes, it was clear that it was CGI and dipped (for me) into “Uncanny Valley.”
I thought that the beginning scenes almost worked at times, but the ending scenes, while I liked the dialogue, didn’t quite work for me.
Another thing, I also thought that it took too long to get “Junior” into the action. The first 30 minutes are mostly set-up and, as I mentioned above, it wastes scenes and time when it could get right into the action–there’s not enough action for it to waste so much time, nor is there enough complexity for the amount of time it takes–to me, it all feels like wasted time.
Overall Rating: (C 75)
Rating: 3 out of 5.
I don’t have the option to give half stars because really, this would be a (2.5 stars otherwise). I think this is movie is one that needed to be held and it needed reshoots a “revision” of sorts). It needed less dialogue and more action–probably one or two more action scenes and less dialogue, or at least, dialogue that was more relevant to the idea/horror of cloning. It also, in my opinion, needed another pass at the daytime scenes for “Junior.” I really had high hopes for this one, but it was the actual script that (mostly) let me down.
Sidney
Please consider supporting these fine small press publishers where my work has appeared:
Read Skin Deep for Free at Aurora WolfRead Childe Roland for Free at Electric Spec
Purchase HawkeMoon on Amazon.com (Paperback) or eBookPurchase Dragonhawk on Amazon.com (Paperback) or KindlePurchase WarLight on Amazon.com (Paperback) or KindlePurchase Ship of Shadows on Amazon.com (Paperback) or KindlePurchase Faerie Knight on Amazon.com (Paperback) or Kindle
July 3, 2020
Writing Log: July 2020 (7/2020)
Wrap-up for June 2020 (6/2020)
Before I move into new projects for July 2020, I wanted to take a moment to wrap-up what I’ve done for June 2020 to both tell you, the reader, what I’ve accomplished on a monthly basis, but also to hold myself accountable for the goals that I’ve set for myself during this time-period with the hope of becoming more professional over time and finishing more (and longer) projects as time goes on.
The Independent: Finished my revision of the project for a goal of submitting it to a market by June 30th. I originally revised it with help from the MTSU University Writing Center, but then I saw a short segment by Neil Degrasse Tyson in which he explained what a “flatlander” in two dimensions might interpret someone like us who live in three dimensions if they tried to interact with them. I tried to do the same, but with time. We live in space (three dimensional space-height, width, depth), but there is also a time component that we aren’t privy to (except to note its passing). I tried to take that idea a little further–what if there was a race who lived in a “curled” up region that we can’t interact with because it is mostly a region of time–what would that look like, how would that act, etc.? The I tried to have my “space truckers interact with this “dimension” in the story briefly. I think it came off moderately well. I don’t feel that I necessarily hit it out of the park, but I don’t feel that it is particularly bad or without merit. I feel that if I had more time, I might have been able to handle it better, but the story (from seed to this revision) is already 3+ years in the making, so I really need to get it out there. Maybe feedback (if I get any) will help me push the story into a stronger position if it doesn’t sell.
Project Arizona: Although I started on this one late (well into the month of June), I still have almost finished the 1st Draft of the story. This is where the power of working on the story consistently has helped. This is the story I will be working on for July.
Project Wall: This is the one next story will be working on. While I won’t draft it until next month, I will be working on character sketches, world history, politics, and other “Bible” documents for it all through July.
Prospectus (School): Finished my prospectus (hurray!). Even though I need to get “official” approval from my graduate director and my graduate committee, I’m going to start putting together a tentative dissertation outline and begin preliminary work on the dissertation with the books that I have available to me. I probably won’t get to work on it “formally”/”officially” until September at the earliest, but that doesn’t mean that I can’t still put together a draft so that it isn’t a burdensome to do in the Fall and Spring of next year.
What’s on tap for July 2020?
Well, there are several goals that I’m hoping to do, however I only want to talk about a couple of them in-depth here:
Work on 2nd Draft (and officially unveil the title) for Project Arizona. I don’t think I will dive right into a 2nd draft of this story immediately as I think I will do another project in the interim. Hopefully, though by the 2nd week of July I will be ready to start drafting a second draft. I actually like the way much of the 1st draft turned out, so I will try to begin turning those places where I’m “telling” the story into places where I’m “showing” the story (dramatizing). It will be a beginning to end look at the draft, where I rewrite as necessary. I also have a title in mind for the story and I intend to start using it once I unveil it officially.Plan Project Wall: Now that I have a “rough draft” down on paper, I’m going to do what Hollywood would call “pre-production.” I’m going to try to nail down the elements of the story that may not necessarily appear in the story, but are crucial to the reason the story exists. Basically, answering a lot of What, Why, Where, When, and How questions that I still have about the story. It also has a title, but I’ll wait to unveil it. Lastly, I really want to get back into the “graphic novel”/comic book writer mode. That’s a place where I feel I can grow. Eagle-eyed blog readers will notice that the “Ship of Shadows” line under What I’m Working On” hasn’t changed in a while. Now, whether the graphic novel actually is me working on that or another project altogether, I want to put together a script that I can try to market by the end of the year at the latest, so I’m planning on working on it starting this month.
Well, that’s it for now. I hope that this month will be a productive one as last month was. Have a great weekend, and if you’re in the U.S., have a safe and fun July 4th Holiday weekend!
Sidney
Please consider supporting these fine small press publishers where my work has appeared:
Read Skin Deep for Free at Aurora WolfRead Childe Roland for Free at Electric Spec
Purchase HawkeMoon on Amazon.com (Paperback) or eBookPurchase Dragonhawk on Amazon.com (Paperback) or KindlePurchase WarLight on Amazon.com (Paperback) or KindlePurchase Ship of Shadows on Amazon.com (Paperback) or KindlePurchase Faerie Knight on Amazon.com (Paperback) or Kindle
Currently Working On (6/2020):
The Independent (Sci-Fi Short-Story)–
Finished: Revision 1
Rating: 5 out of 5.
“Project Arizona” (Weird Western Story)
Drafting: First Draft
Rating: 4 out of 5.
Ship of Shadows Graphic Novel
Finished: Script, Issue #1
Next: Script, Issue #2
Rating: 1 out of 5.
“Project Wall” (Science Fiction Story)
Finished: Rough Draft
Rating: 5 out of 5.
July 1, 2020
Weird West Story Project Arizona = Unhallowed
On Monday, June 29th, I finished the first draft of Project Arizona. I’m sure it needs a lot of work, but I like the way it turned out (except for the end, but I’ll talk more about that later in the post). It’s official title is Unhallowed, and it is a Weird West story (a fantasy story with magic and the like mixed with tropes from the Old West — American West). The main character’s name is Arizona and she is an African American woman who becomes a “gunslinger” (one who is Hallowed) in the parlance of the world to fight the evil of the Unhallowed.
Why This Story and Why Now?
Much of the theme around this story has to do with the idea of Justice vs Vengeance. Justice means literally means “just behavior or treatment” and/or the “impartial adjudication of laws” (google it to fact-check me). Vengeance means “punishment inflicted or retribution exacted for an injury or wrong” (again, fact-check me). As we have visual evidence from the past two months (May and June 2020), the American Justice System says that it stands for justice, but what many people involved with it actually try to dispense is vengeance. Now, people may see this as political, but I recognized this much earlier based on the way in which America has conducted its wars in the 20th and 21st centuries (remember, I minored in History). I noticed a discrepancy in which the way America articulates its values and the ways those values actually get realized when we go to war–in my mind, they are two different things, and I wrote this story to explore that idea. The fact that there were multiple high profile cases of social injustice as I was writing this story, just galvanized my desire and need to write it. America (and Americans) say one thing, but do another, and to me, that’s a problem that I’ve been seeing for a while now and major failing that we need to solve.
Why a Weird West Story?
Well, let’s not overlook the fact that Weird West stories are cool 
June 30, 2020
Mini-Review: The Last Witch-Hunter
Sorry this blog post is a little late, but I didn’t really have time yesterday to work on it. It will be a little shorter than normal today as I have a couple of deadlines that are today (6/30) and one tomorrow that I need to be sure and meet. However, I did see a movie over the weekend–The Last Witch-Hunter–that I’ve been wanting to see for a while. It is currently streaming on Tubi–a free streaming site supported by ads that play during the movie (more on that later).
Vin Diesel “Vehicle”
This movie is primarily geared around Vin Diesel as the star of the movie. It focuses and spends quite a bit of time with Vin’s character. In many ways this is a good thing, as Vin is always likable in this role. However, the focus on his character means that we see little-to no character development or motivation for the other characters. The “twist” is poorly set up, coming through expositional dialogue rather than being organically revealed via the plot and the villains have almost no motivation, especially the Witch Queen who serves as the movie’s “Big Bad.”
While there are other named actors in this movie, such as Michael Caine and Elijah Wood, they aren’t really used to great effect in the roles they play and their screen-time is greatly diminished do to the almost relentless focus on Kaulder, Vin Diesel’s character. For me, the highlight of the movie was actually the performance of the female lead, Rose Leslie, who played Chloe. I enjoyed the “pluckiness” of the character and thought that it turned something that was fairly familiar into something that was enjoyable.
Highlander By Way of The Sorcerer’s Apprentice
When I say familiar, I mean it. Essentially, this movie is a compilation of many of the scenes/ideas from both Highlander and The Sorcerer’s Apprentice. There are even flashback scenes evoking the lost “love” of Kaulder’s life during his “sword and sorcery” days just like in Highlander. The modern day elements play out more along the lines of The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, but there still shades of Highlander even there.
While I’m sure the movie nodes to other modern day “undying heroes” movies and tropes, these are the two in which I kept seeing the most references for as I watched the movie. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, especially if you happen to like those two movies. If you’re unsure at all, then watch how the history of the hero unfolds and keep track of how the character is introduced and interacts with the love interest, and in both instances, you’ll see similarities within what I’m going to refer to as the “Undying Hero” genre.
Commercial Breaks Really Hurt
This is the second movie that I’ve watched on Tubi, and I have to say that while they have movies that none of the other streaming services have (especially ones that I’m interested in watching for the most part), their model while free, really hurts them in terms of me watching them on a long-term basis. While I don’t agree that every network needs a streaming service–CBS AllAcess, why do you even exist, except for corporate greed as your star show, Star Trek Picard is available on Netflix everywhere else in the world–I would be willing to pay a small fee for Tubi (no more than $2 a month), or have them added on to Netflix, again for a nominal fee. I stopped watching movies on commercial TV a while back because commercial breaks began to become onerous and the networks would edit content. While not quite as egregious as normal network TV (and certainly no editing of content), the ad break would happen in places that broke the tension. I don’t recall an ad break happening in the last half hour of the movie, but I think there were a total of 7 or 8 breaks over the run-time of the movie.
Overall Rating (B- 80-82)
Rating: 4 out of 5.
So, “Your Mileage May Vary” definitely applies here. Your enjoyment of the movie will probably hinge on two very important factors: 1) do you like Vin Diesel and his acting style and 2) do you like the “Undying Hero” genre, or in other words, do you like Highlander and/or The Sorcerer’s Apprentice? If the answer is yes to both of those (like me), then this is going to be a fairly enjoyable watch, if your answer is yes to one of the two questions, then you’ll probably find it bog-standard average–nothing special, but totally watchable, but if your answer is no to both of these things, then you’ll probably want to watch something else as there’s no escaping either of these two factors.
Sidney
Please consider supporting these fine small press publishers where my work has appeared:
Read Skin Deep for Free at Aurora WolfRead Childe Roland for Free at Electric Spec
Purchase HawkeMoon on Amazon.com (Paperback) or eBookPurchase Dragonhawk on Amazon.com (Paperback) or KindlePurchase WarLight on Amazon.com (Paperback) or KindlePurchase Ship of Shadows on Amazon.com (Paperback) or KindlePurchase Faerie Knight on Amazon.com (Paperback) or Kindle
Currently Working On (6/2020):
The Independent (Sci-Fi Short-Story)–
Finished: Revision 1
“Project Arizona” (Weird Western Story)
Finished: First Draft
Ship of Shadows Graphic Novel
Finished: Script, Issue #1
Next: Script, Issue #2
“Project Wall” (Science Fiction Story)
Finished: Rough Draft
June 26, 2020
Reading Log: 6/2020
Well, Covid-19 has affected many parts of the civilized world and forced changes to the way many of us live our lives and interact with one another. You might be asking what does that have to do with reading? Well, for me, quite lot actually. You see, where Corona virus has affect many people’s lives and social interactions, for me, it has greatly affected my reading life and the ways in which I read.
No (Physical) Library Spring/Summer 2020
Obviously, I’m a huge proponent of libraries in general, and my own in particular, having worked as a Library Assistant for 17 years and being an Language Arts Teacher (maintaining my own classroom library) for 3 years, including purchasing books with my own (limited) funds. Obviously, due to the pandemic, my local library has been closed (rightly so) to help prevent the spread of the virus. However, this has had the knock-on effect of curtailing my intention of renting more books from the library and purchasing less. I’d planned to get back to my monthly visits of the library as well, but alas, this won’t happen for a while.
Reading Took a Hit
Add to that the fact that I’ve been rereading books on my shelf and I hit Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings at that time. Now, I love Tolkien’s work, but it is dense. His writing style is not something that is made for light reading to escape–which is what I wanted right at the pandemic’s height. It took me a while of procrastinating, but I finally had to put this particular book aside and start on another one in order to get back into the reading life.
All that to say that my reading life, which you would think would have increased with the pandemic, actually was affected by it because the book I’d queued up to read wasn’t the one best suited for the time.
Mage: The Hero Discovered (Volume 3)
About the only (non-school) related book that I got through since the last reading log was the 3rd volume in the Mage: The Hero Discovered trilogy by Matt Wagner. This is probably my least favorite of the trilogy because 1) there’s quite a bit more dialogue in which the protagonist is having his “origin” explained to him rather than us seeing it organically, and 2) the protagonist goes from stubborn to obstinate, which requires the dialogue to get him to “move on.” Basically, it is the exposition of the story, just shifted to the end rather than coming at the beginning. A good story, but one that is dialogue heavy.
Lone Wolf & Choose Your Own Adventure
The only other things that I’ve gone through was to skim through all my old Lone Wolf books by Joe Deaver and Gary Chalk, and later with Ian Page and Joe Deaver, and other Choose Your Own Adventure books that I own. If I’m honest, I was mostly skimming them, looking for inspiration for new short stories, but I had so many that I have already on my “backlog” to get to that it seemed foolish to look for more. I may revisit this activity next summer if my well of stories begins to run dry, but right now, I have enough to work on for the next year or so (and that’s not even counting school-related writing), so I think for now, I’ll just make sure they’re reflected in my online catalogs (Goodreads & LibraryThing) and place them back on my bookshelf.
Well, that’s all I have for today–have a great weekend everyone!
Sidney
Please consider supporting these fine small press publishers where my work has appeared:
Read Skin Deep for Free at Aurora WolfRead Childe Roland for Free at Electric Spec
Purchase HawkeMoon on Amazon.com (Paperback) or eBookPurchase Dragonhawk on Amazon.com (Paperback) or KindlePurchase WarLight on Amazon.com (Paperback) or KindlePurchase Ship of Shadows on Amazon.com (Paperback) or KindlePurchase Faerie Knight on Amazon.com (Paperback) or Kindle
Currently Working On (6/2020):
The Independent (Sci-Fi Short-Story)–
Finished: Revision 1“Project Arizona” (Weird Western Story)
Drafting: First DraftShip of Shadows Graphic Novel
Finished: Script, Issue #1
Next: Script, Issue #2“Project Wall” (Science Fiction Story)
Finished: Rough Draft
June 25, 2020
Foundation: New Science Fiction Show in 2021
WWDC happened this week and we learned about new Apple products and announcements. There are some things that I’m interested in from the event. While I will try to do a post on the event (or the things I’m interested in), my attention massively spiked during the Apple TV portion of the show because they premiered a trailer for their new TV show: Foundation.
Foundation: Old Sci-Fi Book, New Sci-Fi TV Show
Image Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xgbPSA94Rqg
Foundation is an older sci-fi property written by Isaac Asimov (the writer of I, Robot and a whole host of other fiction and non-fiction works. For those who don’t know of his work, he was a prolific author, especially in his non-fiction. However, he was, at one time, the “Stephen King of Science Fiction” (along with another older sci-fi author Robert Heinlein, whom most know as the author of Starship Troopers).
Now, while I’ve read other works by Asimov, my local library didn’t have a copy of Foundation, nor was it still in print at the local bookstores, so it was somewhat legendary when I was a child. I would see it mentioned in magazines and best of books, but I could never find it (remember, as a kid, my resources were limited, if it wasn’t in the library or bookstore, then I probably didn’t have access to it–no such thing as the internet or Amazon to find things that you were interested in, but couldn’t get locally).
However, about a year and a half ago, I happened to find a copy of Foundation at my local used bookstore. Thanks to school and Covid-19, I’ve not had a chance to read it yet, but it is on my To Be Read (TBR) shelf. It is a trilogy of books that (in this volume) are all in one volume.
On Apple TV+ in 2021
While I’m super interested in the show, I’m in quandry about whether to read the book first or wait. In the case of Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time series which is scheduled to premiere on Amazon Prime, I’ve already read the books (in fact, I’m rereading them now–although that’s a blog post for another time). I already know the story. When I watch movies based on books, I try to watch the movie first to go in with no preconceived expectations (again, if I don’t already know the story) and then I read the book so as to get a sense of how cloesly the movie captured the essence of the book. Not sure which is going to be the best in this case.
Also, the actor on this played Anderson Dawes on The Expanse. While I liked The Expanse (eventually) and while I think the actor is a great actor (he made me dislike Dawes’s character), Dawes was my least favorite character on the show, so it will be interesting if the actor can make me forget Dawes through his portrayal of the character in Foundation that seems to be a “wise mentor” type of character.
While I have quite a bit to work on in the interim (dissertation, anyone?), I still could use a little more sci-fi in my life right now. 2021 seems along time away, but based on this trailer, the wait could be worth it!
Sidney
Please consider supporting these fine small press publishers where my work has appeared:
Read Skin Deep for Free at Aurora WolfRead Childe Roland for Free at Electric Spec
Purchase HawkeMoon on Amazon.com (Paperback) or eBookPurchase Dragonhawk on Amazon.com (Paperback) or KindlePurchase WarLight on Amazon.com (Paperback) or KindlePurchase Ship of Shadows on Amazon.com (Paperback) or KindlePurchase Faerie Knight on Amazon.com (Paperback) or Kindle
Currently Working On (6/2020):
The Independent (Sci-Fi Short-Story)–
Finished: Revision 1“Project Arizona” (Weird Western Story)
Drafting: First DraftShip of Shadows Graphic Novel
Finished: Script, Issue #1
Next: Script, Issue #2“Project Wall” (Science Fiction Story)
Finished: Rough Draft
June 24, 2020
Mini-Movie Review: The King’s Speech
A couple of weeks ago, I watched The King’s Speech before it left Netflix. Again, like The Dark Knight, this movie is considered an “essential” watch for those who are interested in film. As I’d not yet seen it, but heard that it was good enough that several schools have shown it, I thought that I should make sure to watch it before it left.
A Period Piece Par Excellence
While some may not like period pieces and dramas, as a History Minor, I don’t mind them. Like any work, I don’t think that the genre is inherently boring (as I heard it explained), but rather it is up to the skill of the individual creators as to how the work holds my interest. I have to say that the King’s Speech was masterful. I enjoyed all of the actors in it, especially the principals. I could easily understand the pain of the main character. As an introvert, public speaking is probably one of my least favorite activities (yes, I’m aware of the irony–a scholar who/teacher who doesn’t like public speaking). However, the protagonist’s condition goes far worse than mine and I could empathize. The acting was amazing, the sets and locations were effective, evoking Britain on the cusp of World War 2, and the story was very engaging.
This is How You Do a Modern “Classic”
Unlike The Dark Knight, I was engaged with the is story the entire way through–although the very first scene was very painful (but that’s the point–to show the character in crisis while we watch him solve his problem all through the movie). However, even though much of the solution to the problem comes from the character of Dr. Logue, the king has to take an active role in solving his own problem. There are places in the movie where part of the problem comes from the king’s refusal to engage with Logue’s methods–again, this is what I like in a movie rather than the “antagonist” being presented as the heroic figure — as in The Dark Knight or Pitch Black.
I can see why this is shown in schools–although I don’t know that I’d feel comfortable showing it at the Middle School level, but definitely at the High School level as it not just shows the time period, but also the concept of grit.
Overall Rating (A 95-100)
Rating: 5 out of 5.
This is the type of movie that I like–a strong protagonist, with problems that they have to actively overcome. The time period was unique (as was the problem), and the acting and movie was stellar. At the time of its release, I wondered if it was really worth all the hype. I can say, without a doubt, it was, and is! I loved it!
Have a great day!
Sidney
Please consider supporting these fine small press publishers where my work has appeared:
Read Skin Deep for Free at Aurora WolfRead Childe Roland for Free at Electric Spec
Purchase HawkeMoon on Amazon.com (Paperback) or eBookPurchase Dragonhawk on Amazon.com (Paperback) or KindlePurchase WarLight on Amazon.com (Paperback) or KindlePurchase Ship of Shadows on Amazon.com (Paperback) or KindlePurchase Faerie Knight on Amazon.com (Paperback) or Kindle
Currently Working On (6/2020):
The Independent (Sci-Fi Short-Story)–
Editing: Revision 1“Project Arizona” (Weird Western Story)
Drafting: First DraftShip of Shadows Graphic Novel
Finished: Script, Issue #1
Next: Script, Issue #2“Project Wall” (Science Fiction Story)
Finished: Rough Draft
