Now with additional garlic.

Well, this is likely the last blog entry I'll make in 2015, and as I look back, it has been my weakest year in a long time in terms of writing reviews. For the past few years, I've made it a personal challenge to write more than 20 reviews per year, but as I'm writing this, I've only written 17 so far. 18 in total, since I'm in the midst of playing a game (which has been surprisingly longer than I expected...) I'll be reviewing before the month is over.

I can point to a couple things that distracted me from writing: getting back into the habit of watching movies, playing several games I intended to review but decided not to because of their crappiness, and getting sucked into playing two multiplayer games, Metal Gear Online 3 and Star Wars Battlefront, back to back, during the last three months. Whoops. If anything, this makes me want to do better in 2016, but who knows. At the very least, I'll aim for my 20-review+ goal.

-GAMES-

Choplifter (SMS): So I noticed Never3ndr was submitting a bunch of Sega Master System reviews, and that got me in the mood to review one for myself, so I picked Choplifter. As mentioned in the review, it's very charming, but the third stage just sucks out the flow from the rest of the game. As a kid, I remember being excited finally passing the second stage, only to be left speechless for what the third stage wanted me to do. I thought it was because I sucked at the game, but when I returned many years later... the third stage was still garbage. And in case you don't get what I'm saying in the review's header, you can spot Superman, the Jaws shark, and the flying E.T. bike if you meet certain conditions.

Choplifter HD: I originally planned to review this game and have it submitted a week after my Choplifter SMS review... but I got distracted by the release of Star Wars Battlefront that came out three days later. I should have followed my own rule, play one review game at a time, more sternly. Lesson learned. Having said that, HD is a surprisingly fun game that follows the design of the original while adding new gameplay elements that actually improve the overall mechanics. The game also has a bizarre sense of humor that I didn't like at first, but grew on me over the course of the first few levels. It has its own flaws, but I would recommend checking it out if you were remotely entertained by the original Choplifter titles.

Star Wars Battlefront: It feels like I've talked about this game for a bizillion times by now, so I'm just gonna say it's fun in a basic way, but as a full-priced online multiplayer-focused release, there's not enough content. Here's the review for a more detailed explanation.

???: My current game/review in progress, so I don't really want to say much. I will say the game is taking much longer to complete than expected, and if it comes to it, I'll switch to a smaller game for one final review of the year.

Klondike Solitaire/Patience: For some reason, I've taken a renewed interest in card games that can be played by a single player, and I started with Klondike. It's a nice time waster. I'm only playing the computer version, but I also bought an actual deck, just in case the power goes out and need to waste time somehow. I've also been looking into other potential single player card games to play, which has been a fun experience in itself.

-OTHER STUFF-

I started writing in a personal journal. I have several reasons for doing so, but one of them is to put my personal thoughts onto a page so they won't end up as a jumbled mess in my head. At first I thought it was weird, but after a few entries, I found it to be very relaxing and relieving, to be able to jot all these thoughts in writing without other's influencing my writing or trying to impose their own interpretations into it.

-MOVIES-

Spoiler Warning: There's going to be Star Wars Episode VII spoilers in this section, and it's going to be placed at the end of this blog entry.

But before that, I watched several other movies. Hilariously, I got into an oldschool horror movie kick after Halloween, and decided to check out some Hammer horror films. So far, I focused on a couple Dracula films, though I am curious to watch the other Hammer films in the 2 collection sets I bought.

(listed in order of viewing)

Dracula/Horror of Dracula: I've watched three other Dracula films after this, but even then, I say with confidence that Jonathan Harker is an amazing idiot. Why? Because unlike all of Dracula's other victims, Harker had knowledge about vampires and how to kill them, and he STILL got bitten in the end. Like, wow. And what does he do when he desperately goes to kill Dracula in his sleep? He goes for the other vampire first. Bravo.

Still, it was an entertaining movie, especially with Peter Cushing's commanding presence. Of course, Christopher Lee is great as Dracula. Though, one of the most unintentional hilarious moments in the film happened when Cushing discovers Dracula's coffin, and Dracula pops up behind him and quickly locks Cushing inside the room in comedic fashion. I wanted to say "Yoink!" when that happened. I mean, where the hell was Dracula in the house if he wasn't in the coffin room? Eating a sandwich in the kitchen?

Creed: I figured after six Rocky films, I wouldn't be blown away by this. However, Ryan Coogler manages to pump new life into a formula that should have run its course back in the 80s. It's hard to pitch this film, because it really does follow the general formula of the previous films. But it works. The acting, the direction, the choreography of the fights, and the general tone of the movie just works. I think I walked out of the theater with a shit-eating grin on my face. I can't remember. I watched it twice, because I wanted my family to see the movie, too. I paid for their tickets and food. I think I spent a total of $70 on these two viewings, and I regret NOTHING.

Dracula - Prince of Darkness: So I read in numerous places to skip Brides of Dracula, and went with this as my next viewing. I love how, after the first film, it becomes noticeably obvious how Dracula's success hinges on the stupidity of people. The amount of times it became drastically obvious that going to the castle is a dreadful mistake was staggering. Or the amount of times people should have opened their mouths to mention an important plot device to save others. Still, the movie had atmosphere, specifically in the castle's interiors. Wasn't a fan of the movie's ending mimicking the original's.

Dracula Has Risen from the Dead: This one probably frustrated me the most, especially since it had a couple neat moments in it. First off, the way Dracula comes back in this film was absolutely stunning. In the worst way possible. This is literally what happens: a priest gets drunk and stumbles on top of Dracula's frozen coffin on a mountain, breaking it. It's shocking that they go from Dracula's awesome resurrection in the previous movie to this stupefying scene in DHRftG. The rest of the movie copies a lot of what the previous films did, making it a questionable watch if you're only looking to view the best of the bunch.

This film also makes Dracula seem extremely petty and stupid, as, instead of leaving well enough alone with his accidental revival that NO ONE KNEW ABOUT, he decides to take revenge on a priest for putting a giant cross in front of his castle. Did he need to kill the priest for the cross to lose its function? No, because he simply forced someone else to remove it. Anyway, his death was cool, if a bit goofy, and the concept of an atheist defeating Dracula was interesting, but not much was really done with it. Pass on this if you saw HoD or D:PoD.

Brides of Dracula: After watching the previous three, I actually watched Brides of Dracula, chronologically the second in the series, after hearing it was actually a good movie. It is true that Christopher Lee isn't in this, but for the most part, it's still a solid movie without his presence. And it's mainly because of Peter Cushing. Dude acts like a Gentleman Badass throughout the movie. Even when he's not the main focus in a scene, he's striking a pose at the bar in the background. Film is worth watching just for him, but the rest of the cast is commendable. At least compared to the people in the following films. Though, the vampire lead in this movie looks ridiculous.

Nightmare: I remember reading somewhere that this was an often overlooked Hammer film, so I checked it out. While overall a simple thriller, I liked the way the story was handled. The direction and the acting from the cast really made me want to see what happens next, and by the end, I was like, "Yeah, I enjoyed that."

Still deciding what Hammer film to watch next. These are the other films I've yet to watch in the collection sets I have: The Curse of Frankenstein, The Evil of Frankenstein, Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed, The Curse of the Werewolf, The Phantom of the Opera, Paranoiac, The Kiss of the Vampire, and Night Creatures.

Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens: I think the general consensus is that we're glad the film follows the tone of the original trilogy. But from there, opinions vary wildly. Personally, and I have to strongly emphasize that I like most of the film, and I enjoyed the new characters. I don't know where I firmly place the movie in comparison to the rest, but I will confidently place it above the prequels. It does have its issues, however. It's pretty much a remix of the original trilogy, with strong comparisons to A New Hope; desert planet, plans in a droid, bigger and stronger Death Star, X-wing trench assault. I've read a surprising number of people defending these aspects of the film by saying things like, "Oh, but that's just background stuff, it's about the characters!" But is that a good excuse? I still view it as being lazy, even if its function was to be nostalgic.

Now, if they really wanted to be ballsy with the whole Starkiller assault, they could've made the attack be a failure. And if there had to be a compromise to this, at least have the Starkiller base destroy a few planets during the assault before the assault was a success. I mean, put some weight behind it. But I guess everyone involved with the story didn't want people walking out of a new Star Wars movie in almost a decade to feel gloomy.

I just really wish they opted for a different-looking galaxy-wide murder weapon. If they made a giant space hand holding a giant space magnum, I probably would have said, "Well, at least it's not another Death Star."

I really did enjoy the new characters, and I completely understand the returning cast was there to function as a conduit for the new generation characters, but there were some flaws here. Rey's a cool, down-to-earth character, and easily my favorite in the film beside Han Solo and Chewie, but she had a bit too many Deus Ex moments for my liking. I understand Luke was similar in the first film, but Rey got to the point where I was like, "Okay, some of this stuff needs explaining..." Still, I'm holding off on being too critical, because I feel they're intentionally holding back for the next films. Which is also why I'm holding off on saying anything for Phasma.

My biggest complaint is Kylo Ren. I UNDERSTAND he's supposed to be inexperienced and a brat, but I think they went a little overboard in some aspects. His first tantrum with his lightsaber was goofy and overstayed its welcome, and the part where he was beating his chest during the fight made me want to role my eyes. Kylo Ren as a character is interesting, and I just hope he's improved in the sequel.

It plays too much with nostalgia and familiarity, but I still think it's a competent Star Wars movie. Time and multiple viewings (on blu-ray) will tell, however.

Happy holidays!

Most recent blog posts from Wendell B...
(for personal reference) I've changed my name from pickhut to dementedhut Some Rambo: Last Blood Thoughts

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	honestgamer - December 21, 2015 (10:26 AM) I didn't read all of your post, in part because I haven't yet seen Star Wars. Thanks for the spoiler tags! But anyway, I've had a devil of a time keeping up with my usual review output, as well. Until this month, I was way behind, and it's still shaping up to be my weakest year since starting the site, for reasons I posted elsewhere. But I'm doing better now, and the next review I write will be number 20. If I can hit 24, this won't even be my weakest year to date! I don't think that will happen, though. All I've probably managed to do is stop the bleeding. In 2016, I still hope to be a lot more prolific, even around the other stuff I have on my plate. It would be nice to have another year where I crank out something like 60 reviews. That hasn't happened in a long while. It probably won't happen in 2016, either, but maybe I can hit 40? That would also be nice...
	dementedhut - December 29, 2015 (09:31 PM) Well, that's 24.