I Sell the Dead

I Sell the Dead was a movie that had been sitting in my to watch pile for ages, a friend of mine had told me he really enjoyed it and I got a Blu-ray copy of the film dirt cheap but I just never got around to watching the movie.

As it turned out that was a big mistake, the movie starts out full of atmosphere, it reminded me a lot of the classic Hammer Horror films but before too long it gets kind of crazy, Army of Darkness kind of crazy and that in my opinion isn't a bad thing.

I guess this was supposed to be a horror / comedy but honestly there just isn't much in the way of horror in this movie but what you get is a fun period film about the misadventures of a couple of grave robbers and it really is a lot of fun.

Dragon Age: Redemption

OK I admit I probably never would have given this a second glance if it wasn't for the fact I enjoy Felicia Day's web series The Guild even though I own but still haven't played Dragon Age: Origins.

Basically this is a low budget ( and I mean low budget ) web series based on the Dragon Age video game franchise and it has a certain charm to it I guess but honestly I just didn't really like the writing, the story felt rather contrived in places and at times didn't entirely make sense.

The projects budget I'm sure is to blame for a lot of the stories shortcomings, at times it felt like some scenes weren't completed or shot at all, I bought the web series on DVD and at times the whole thing just felt choppy, the cast all seemed like able and their performances were reasonably engaging.

If you happen to be a Felicia Day fan ( and she sure seems to have a lot of them ) this might be worth checking out but even if you aren't a fan I think you would be better served checking out The Guild instead.

All of that being said I would be interested in seeing what Ms Day and her crew could do with an improved budget and more time but for me anyway Dragon Age: Redemption feels like it could have been great but failed to live up to it's potential.

My Name is Bruce

An ancient Chinese demon is wreaking havoc in small town America so who do you recruit to save the day ?, Bruce Campbell that's who and if you can't recruit him well you could always kidnap him throw him in that back of a car and try to coerce or con him into doing it.

My Name is Bruce is a movie I've wanted to see for ages and I recently picked it up as part of three movie Blu-ray pack along with Bubba Ho-Tep and I Sell the Dead, it's not what I'd call a classic but it's fun especially if you are familiar with Bruce Campbell and his movies, there are far worse ways to fill in 90 minutes of your time.

Avengers Disassembled

For the next 10 days I have the house to myself so I'm hoping to use the time to among other things catch up on some reading, one of the first things I grabbed of my to read pile was Avengers Disassembled.

I thought it was an interesting read, it started out well but I can't say I cared all that much for the choice of villain, I guess I thought it was an interesting idea, I just wish it had been done better, the reveal of the villain and the final conflict all seemed a bit rushed to me.
I believe New Avengers picks up where this series left off and it will be interesting to check that out, I do believe I have a collection of the first several issues of that series here somewhere as well.

Time Enough at Last !

Well for the next several days I have the house to myself, a pile of books, comics, DVDs, Blu-rays and video games that all have lacked my attention so the plan is to geek out big time.

Being unemployed usually sucks but I'm looking forward to this so of course if I find any kind of work you can guarantee it's going to happen now.

Misfits

Have you ever wondered what would happen if a group of slacker teenagers all doing community service for minor offences all gained superpowers ?, well to be honest no neither had I but the result is Misfits.

Several teenagers all out doing their community service are caught in a freak storm and soon discover they have all gained a superpower and at least initially those powers are all tied to an aspect of their personalities.

I know what you are thinking, realising the error of their ways these misguided youth form a team of superheroes and go out into the world to right wrongs and do good deeds, well you'd be wrong, it's pretty much business as usual but now they have superpowers, people die ( especially probation officers ) and minor crimes are committed on a regular basis, sure on occasions some actual good gets done but for the most part this is the comic misadventures of a group of kids that live on an English housing estate who found themselves on the wrong side of the law.

To say Misfits is messed up is probably understating things somewhat, at some point there is probably something to offend pretty much anyone but the show is often just so damn funny, they do occasionally sneak in some rather clever storytelling and even a story arc of sorts but don't tell anyone, they probably won't believe you anyway.

As much as it's about a group of teenagers with superpowers this isn't a show for children or those who are easily offended but if you are in neither of those categories check out an episode or two, so far I've only seen the first three series and the Christmas Special on Blu-ray but I'm looking forward to seeing series four when it's finally released.

It's a Funny Old Life.

Well Hello there, if anyone is actually reading this, it's been ages since I updated the blog and I'm sorry, for the better part of last year my life turned to crap, I found out my wife of 20 years had been cheating on me with multiple guys and well it kind of drove me into a bad place, this year however things have slowly been on the up and I'm a much happier camper these days, the wife moved out which was a good thing and I don't mean that in a nasty way, she did some truly despicable things but I'm pretty much over that now, frankly it's better for me and truth be told better for her that she's gone, life moves on and I hope she eventually finds whatever it was she was looking for, we just need the mediators and lawyers to finish doing their respective things so that we are both totally free to get on with our lives.

So now I find myself for all intents and purposes a single guy which has been interesting, I have to say for the most part I've actually been enjoying it, being free to do what I want and on my own terms has been somewhat liberating, truth be told my life hasn't changed much at all but it is nice to be able to watch, read or listen to things and not have to justify or explain myself  ( get your mind out of the gutter, I haven't been watching any of that ).

It's not as though I stopped doing the things I enjoyed over the last year but I enjoyed them a lot less, stress and depression will do that to you but like I said life is much better now and I am enjoying those geeky pursuits of mine once again.

So if anyone is still reading this blog, thanks for stopping by, life is almost back to normal now and I'm looking forward to chatting about all things geeky.