Day: March 17, 2017

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Review: Kong: Skull Island

Best non-Star Wars movie I’ve seen in a few years.  Though except for Rogue One, it’s probably the best movie I’ve seen in quite a while, which surprised me.

As I said elsewhere, I was in tears during the fight scenes.  They were beautiful to watch.

If anything, this movie reminded me why I love giant monster movies, and in this case, Kong.

I remember seeing the original 1933 movie when I was little, and while it was scary, I was more scared when the biplanes attacked Kong.

In King Kong vs. Godzilla, I recall how upset I was at Kong when he beat Godzilla, but later realized that Godzilla was the villain in that movie.

I remember my aunt bringing us to see the 1976 film at the old Serramonte 6 theatre (now a BevMo) and how annoyed I was that Kong wasn’t as big as he was in the movie posters.

And then the poster idea was copied…

Heh.  But I digress.

Then came the Peter Jackson film, which was actually 2 films in one: Kong on Skull Island and Kong in New York.  I don’t think I’ve ever watched it more than once, not because I didn’t like it, but because it’s such a long movie.

Except for the last one, I think I’ve seen the others many times.

Oh, and then there’s this one…

I may have seen this one… once?

Anyways, Kong: Skull Island is a good movie, with a fantastic cast.  I thought I’d be annoyed with John C. Reilly, but I wasn’t, and even Samuel L. Jackson didn’t phone in his performance.

Corey Hawkins is much better in this than he is in 24: Legacy.

Also, it’s very weird to see Nick Fury, Loki, and Captain Marvel all on screen together in a non-Marvel film.

I look forward to what comes next from Legendary and their kaiju/monster movies.

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Skirmish Game: BMG

I went and bought a game that I didn’t think I would:

Bonus item: Alfred Pennyworth

I held off getting this game mostly because of the cost of the damn miniatures, but that was based on the mistaken idea of just how many miniatures I would need to buy in order to play.

I stopped by the original Game Kastle in Santa Clara this afternoon, and asked the staff what exactly I need to start playing, besides the rulebook.

“A crew, or two if you don’t know anyone else who plays.”

One of the guys then showed me the Suicide Squad starter box, which included 2 crews and the rulebook, but I wasn’t interested in the theme of that set.

And then he said something that set me at ease.

“Batman is a ‘crew’ by himself.”

AHA!  I *wouldn’t* need to buy that many minis at all!  No need to spend a small fortune on an army of Batmen!

They didn’t have a Penguin or Joker set that I liked, so I ended up picking up one of my other favorite Batman villains and his crew:

Riddle me this, Bitches!

The guy told me that any single Batman figure could stand up to this crew.  They had plenty to choose from, ranging Frank Miller’s Dark Knight to the Animated Series to the ones in Arkham City and Arkham Night video games.  He showed me a set that had both Batman AND Robin, which would be a good pairing, but I was sold on getting my favorite live-action Batman of all time:

THAT’S RIGHT, IT’S ADAM WEST, Y’ALL! #Batusi

As with the 7TV game, I went and ordered a few more figures for this game as well, including a Robin from Arkham Knight, Gordon and SWAT team from The Dark Knight Rises, and a Joker w/crew from the comics.

If anything, this game is going to look interesting on the tabletop.

Also, they are coming out with a full DC Universe Miniatures game, starting with the CW versions of Arrow and Flash (rulebook available), but I think I just want to keep this to street level play, with Mutants and Masterminds filling in for full super heroic gaming.

Though the Classic Superman and Wonder Woman figures looked cool, in addition to the ‘DC Trinity’ set based on how the characters looked in Batman v. Superman.

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Skirmish Game: 7TV

About a year ago I came across a company that was making 28mm Doctor Who miniatures, including the 12th Doctor, for some game that at the time I was not interested in.  I never did place an order for those figures.

About a week or so ago I found the company’s website again, but all the Doctor Who minis had been removed due to Warlord Games getting the official BBC licence to make a Doctor Who game and miniatures.

The more I looked into the original game and miniatures, the more I realized that this could be an interesting game to play.  So I ordered a basic set and 2 sets of starter miniature ‘casts’.

Behold, 7TV 2nd Edition!

From the website:

What is 7TV?
7TV is our tabletop miniatures game of high-octane spy-fi action set in the worlds of 1960s and 70s cult TV shows. Spies, minions, masterminds, ghosts, aliens, officialdom, hitmen, coppers and metal killers are all waiting for you. Relive some of 7TV Studio’s great lost shows or create your own and reach new audiences! 7TV is back in 2015 with an all new 2nd edition, so grab your shooting script and lets go!

The basic rules allow you to put together a cast of between 3 and 24 (or more!) models and fight other casts in abandoned warehouses, secret volcano lairs, forbidding jungles and underwater bases – in fact anywhere you like! Use your star qualities, special effects and gadgets to get your mission accomplished before the countdown ends and the episode is over. The core rules are generic, so if you’ve seen it on screen or had a dream about your perfect lineup, you can put your cast together quicker than ever before.

The game comes with cards and tokens, and something called a MacGuffin, which, as the name suggests, is an object that a whole scenario can revolve around.

The nice thing about this game is that it can probably accommodate a lot of generic miniatures that I’ve collected over the years.

The miniatures:

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