The Legend of Zelda is another popular franchise. Created by Nintendo the first game released around 1986. The cartridge was gold colored and was one of the first to include a internal battery for saving. Famous for its open world gameplay the Legend of Zelda sold two million copies after its release in the United States. Recently the latest game in the franchise was released called Legend of Zelda: Tears of the kingdom. which follows in the footsteps of the previous entry: the Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild in that the gameplay has changed from its roots to be more of a sandbox with tons of sidequests. here is a trailer for one of my favorite Zelda games which got a High definition port on the Nintendo Wii U last Generation called: The legend of Zelda: the Windwaker (hears hoping a Nintendo Switch port gets released soon)- Known also as Super Mario USA. Super Mario brothers (bros.) 2 was originally going to be another game altogether (Yume Kojo Doki Doki Panic) Super Mario bros 2 included some characters that have not been used in the franchise for a while. One of the new characters being Wart the games main Antagonist. Also this Mario game is different from its predecessor in that it takes place in dream-land. the latest 3d Mario game being Super Mario Odyssey is out and heres a trailer for it- The Blow Monkeys - Atomic Lullaby (from the album - Limping for a Generation. released in 1984)19/8/2023 Here is The Blow Monkeys - Atomic Lullaby from their debut album Limping for a Generation
Underneath is an album cover that wasn't the original in my region. it is the 1986 reissue and is way better in my opinion. Soft Cell are a really good band. Today I've decided to post this song of theirs. It's about some guy in a supermarket having a nervous breakdown. Soft Cell have a lot of really good songs but i chose this one because it is not on their first album and is a rarer song of theirs because of that. I'm also a huge Prefab Sprout Fan. I didn't want to pick a popular song of theirs. So i ended up picking this from their fourth album. Another good B-Side shame it wasnt originally included in the Construction Time Again Album. I reckon this is one of the best episodes in this great series. Classic Song with memorable quotes, great album. OMD/Orchestral Maneuvers In The Dark -2nd Thought (From the album-Organisation. released-1980)19/8/2023 It was a tough call i really like most of the songs on this album but decided on posting this one for today. I've been playing a lot of King recently. Such a good Band. Final Fantasy 1 was a huge game back in 1987. It crafted its own mythos and introduced players into its world. This became a franchise and in 1997 Square released the famous Final Fantasy 7, one of the best received Video Games of its time, winning numerous game of the year awards. The next major installment for Square-Enix will be released some time in 2024, it is part two in a three part remake trilogy and titled Final Fantasy 7: Rebirth. Underneath is a Trailer for it- Metal Gear is a stealth game that was released in 1987, the first of its franchise which was created by Hideo Kojima. The player takes control of Solid Snake with an objective by his commanding officer Big Boss to: (Metal Gears are Bipedal tanks capable of delivering nuclear missiles undetected by radars.) The latest in this popular series has been released and it’s called Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain. The tables are turned this time, the player controls Big Boss during 1984 before his appearance in Metal Gear. Big Boss is voiced by famous actor Kiefer Sutherland this time around rather than David Hayter who up until now voiced both Solid Snake and Big Boss in previous Metal Gear Solids. Underneath is a trailer for the upcoming MGS5: The Phantom Pain DISCLAIMER (scenes could be disturbing to some viewers). Castlevania by developer Konami is a long running franchise that started with the first iteration around 1987. This series has a variety of themes including classic horror and mythology appearances of characters such as Frankenstein’s monster, demons, ghosts, living dead and the most frequent recurring main antagonist is Dracula. The latest Mainline 3D instalment of the series (Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2) was released on the 25th of February 2014. It is a sequel of the 2010 Castlevania: lords of shadow featuring voice acting from Robert Carlyle and Patrick Stewart. It is very hit or miss with some Castlevania fans, being a reboot and not part of the original cannon timeline. Underneath is the trailer for the Castlevania: Lords of Shadow- ”It’s just Bernie!” - Larry Wilson
Warning there are spoilers ahead: Today’s film review genre is Comedy the director is Ted Kotcheff. Larry (Andrew Mcarthy) and his friend/work college Richard work at a New York insurance corporation in 1989 uncovering insurance fraud. They eventually meet up with their boss, Bernie who thanks them and invites them to his beach house for the weekend (hence the movie title). Later, when they arrive at Bernie’s house, they both find him dead, they then realize that the party guests have not noticed he is dead. So the guys decide to go along with it (rather than spending their night at a police station). Andrew Mcarthy is one of my favorite actors. In this film he radiates an aura or presence. It’s that presence that holds a lot of those movies for me aside from other factors. Another touch that I like is how Richard and Gwen come from not knowing each other at the start of the film to getting it to a relationship which makes for a happier ending. The locations shot in this flick are very scenic starting from the 1980’s urban sprawl of New York City and ending up in the latter part at the beach in Bernie’s home. The costumes especially Larry and Richard’s, change along with the scenery from fashionable business suits to Hawaiian shirts and sunglasses. The soundtrack to me could have used a lot more variety of music from that era that would have appealed a lot more to me. This is the only area that I feel had room for improvement. There was a sequel made in 93 however I have not seen it (yet) but I have heard it did not go too well so I’d recommend only watching it if you really liked the original. An interesting bit of trivia is that when Andrew Mcarthy read the script after being told if he wanted to play Richards character he decided to play the part of Larry instead. Which he preferred after reading the script and I think was a good choice. Final Thoughts: This is a great comedy, a must see. 4 out of 5 stars “Is this detention?”-Keith “Actually it’s your mother’s house, and were all having a party.”-Duncan Warning there are spoilers ahead: Today’s film review genre is Romance/Drama the director is Howard Deutch. I’m a fan of John Hughes. I’ve been waiting to do a review covering this director. I decided to go with this film. While not directed by Hughes it was written and produced by him. Keith Nelson (played by Eric Stoltz) attends an American public high school with his friend Watts (Mary Stuart Masterson). Keith starts to get feelings for Amanda Jones (Lea Thompson) the most popular girl at school. I cannot really get into much without spoiling too much of this straight forward plot. The film is evenly paced and has enough in each scene to keep it entertaining and not too slow. An interesting piece of trivia is that Eric Stoltz almost worked with Lea Thompson in Back to the Future back in 1985. The chemistry of the characters makes the film watchable. Keith’s strong friendship with Watts invigorates the film creating somewhat of a love triangle. This flick is about relationships being a romantic/drama (or love story) it tries to play with emotions. For me it works but if you’re looking for a film with deep symbolism or something opposite of this films genre you might be disappointed. The first time I did not know what kind of film I was getting into. I enjoyed the roller-coaster ride and cathartic ending. This movie has a bit of social commentary concerning cliques in schools and shows how some individuals from each can co-exist. The soundtrack is very ‘synthy’. It has one noticeable instrumental by Billy Idol – his track, Catch my fall. The OST fells very in place with the costume design from the decade. Final Thoughts: This review is shorter than previous ones mainly because this film has a more laid back simpler plot. I may be bias but I feel a certain affinity for this film. If you haven’t already, I recommend you watch this film. 4.5 out of 5 stars. Trailer: “I am Peter Vincent vampire killer!”
Warning there are spoilers ahead: Today’s film review genre is Thriller the director is Tom Holland. The main character of Fright Night is Charley Brewster. He’s a fan of traditional horror films. One night he watches “Fright Night” a TV show hosted by Peter Vincent (Brewster’s hero). Brewster then witnesses some eerie occurrences when his next door neighbour Jerry Dandridge moves in. He comes to believe he is a vampire and eventually visits Vincent for assistance. Here’s a piece of trivia I didn’t know: Peter Vincent’s character is named after two actors that appeared in some classic horror movies Peter Cushing and Vincent Price. I admired that there weren’t any direct references to Dracula, only new characters that are likable. The scenes of the TV show Fright Night were cheesily amazing. I find Peter Vincent’s character to be both iconic and very memorable. Most mainstream Action/Thriller flicks these days wouldn’t put an aging actor as a lead role. The remake of Fright Night is an example of this and has a totally different Peter Vincent played by a younger David Tennant, which I enjoy but for totally different reasons. If I had to decide which actors are better in both of these versions of Fright Night. I would say Roddy McDowell shines in the original 1985 version, although David comes close. There hasn’t been a vampire movie in the classic style for years. This wasn’t done in the classic style yet I felt that it went in the right direction, some examples of this are: The supernatural powers inherited by the vampire follow a set of canon/rules such as vampires cannot be seen in mirrors and burn in sunlight. These powers are loosely based around source materials (The Bram Stoker’s Dracula Novel being one) and not made up fantasy that doesn’t fit into the vampire canon/Mythos (Twilight being one example even tho I haven’t seen the whole film). I liked the ending but would’ve enjoyed it more I it were a bit longer. The soundtrack is very s 80’s, and much like the other reviews I have written include cheesy synths that in my opinion, fit in well. Final Thoughts: This must be one of my favorite vampire movies. 4.5 out of 5 stars. “Groovy” - Ash
Warning there are spoilers ahead: Today’s review genre is horror the director is Sam Raimi I originally wanted to review a “video nasty” (I still might down the track). However, I grew up as a huge Lovecraft (the Necromicon is a literary inspiration direct from lovecraft) and an Ash fan and felt Evil Dead 2 needed to be on this 80s tribute blog. The original Evil Dead is one that stands out for me. I ended up choosing the sequel/remake, simply because I feel it’s a more fleshed out film. The Sequel to me takes cues from various genres (e.g. science fiction and fantasy) to further push the mythos of the necromicon and the deadites whereas the original was more of a 80s horror/slasher along with the tropes that come with those genres. Evil Dead 2 is essentially a remake not a sequel, despite the title as there are a lot of differences from the first film. For example in the beginning a couple arrive at the cabin as opposed to the five college students on spring break that we met in the first one. The couple are Ash (Bruce Campell) and his girlfriend Linda, it becomes apparent in the start that Ash is our hero and this is less about the last one standing and more about his skills. Ash stumbles upon a tape recording describing the Necronomicon (the book of the dead). This tape then chants a few summoning words, and the demons arrive, as in the first film. The central character is Ash and he is supported by a few other people (who arrive later) and his girlfriend, all of who are trying to survive the assaults from the demons, the risk is that the characters themselves may then become the demons. However that’s not to say it’s that plain and simple although it is a very straight forward story. Bruce Campell’s acting shifts from dramatic, when he loses his girlfriend, to hilarious in the way that at times he exaggerates with self-awareness. This is the most engaging part of the film in my opinion and shows his ability to couple comedy with horror. Other features that hold the movie up for me include effects like the POV (point of view) shots from the demon during chase scenes. It is a great stylistic visual choice from art direction which often turns the comedy back into psychological horror. I really appreciate the use of puppetry, make up and stop motion (visual special effects). Now days most movies use computer generated effects (CGI) instead of puppetry and the difference is clear. CG in some movies looks out of place in my opinion, particularly those in the Action/Si-Fi/horror genre. The events in the movie have a lot of action that keep the momentum of the film not too short but packed with a lot of suspense. Each conflict with the demons (which at times feel more not physical as opposed to some movies in the genre that have villains based more in physicality) usually ends up in a cathartic release in each destruction. However the ending does not end obviously. There is a big cliff-hanger at the end which continues into the sequel: Army of Darkness. Costume wise Ash has a specific trademark costume (Blue shirt with kaki pants), weapons (shotgun, chainsaw) and car (Oldsmobile Delta Royal 88) that sticks to in the movies he appears in. An interesting fact is that the car is actually the director’s car and is a feature in all of the Evil Dead films. Communication wise, the utilitarian dialogue is just there to advance the plot. As for character development, this is not fleshed out as each character is simply reacting to the situation. I can’t say for certain because I have not seen enough horror flicks (I’m planning to) but there seems to be a lot of clichés such as for example the ominous cabin in the woods and the always night time cliché. These clichés seen in 80s films have inspired many future films to use the same feature or as we like to call them, predictable clichés. The franchise has spawned four games (regeneration being the best and including the voice of Sam Raimi‘s brother Ted). The Evil Dead Franchise has Influenced Pop culture heavily here’s just a few references. Shinji Mikami creator of Resident Evil and the Evil Within goes on record to say that the Evil Dead was a major inspiration. Doom 2: Hell on Earth and especially Blood the Video games was influenced the latter even had quotes from the franchise. The Cabin in the Woods has a scene where it pays homage to Evil Dead. This clearly shows how influential this 80s franchise has been. Final Thoughts: I must admit Army of Darkness Is my favorite out of the trilogy, because of the comedy and the well delivered “one liners”. My second choice is Evil Dead 2 which has more comedy than the original but is still mainly horror. That’s not to say that I didn’t like it I have given it 4.5 out of 5 stars “Call me Snake” – Snake Plissken
Warning there are spoilers ahead: Today’s film review is the film “Escape from New York” the genre is action and the director is John Carpenter. The movie starts out describing the totalitarianism/dystopia alternate time-line in which the entirety of New York becomes a prison after a rising crime rate. The totalitarian police surround New York along with landmines in the ocean and on the roads leading out. After Air Force One gets taken over by terrorists, the president escapes the plane crash via an escape pod. Lee Van Cleef plays Hauk, a police officer in charge of this situation. He recruits Snake Plissken (played by Kurt Russel) and offers him immunity. Hauk provides Snake with a bunch of really cool gadgets for his mission, he then leads Snake into a lab where a scientist injects him with miniaturized bombs, Snake is forced to cooperate so that he can get the bombs out of his nervous system within 24 hours. The main baddies’ in the flick (which is not black and white) appear to be (in the beginning) the police who arrest Snake and blackmail him. Early on this then switches to random gang members chasing Snake. Then again switches to the self-proclaimed Duke of New York and his subordinates. The mission is to rescue the president and a tape that is inside his suitcase for the summit between USA, China and Soviet Union. The movie has a memorable and ingenious switch of an ending, but I won’t spoil it. Apparently, John Carpenter wrote the script in the aftermath of the Watergate scandal in 1976. The film portrays certain cynicism towards the authority figures namely the president. The costume design in this movie ranges from rags that the gangs scavenge to wear to the clean black military like costumes of the police. The production design also ranges in a similar way to the costumes with the clean plain tall concrete walls and police structures that is on the outside. On the inside of New York however it is sleazy and filthy. Of the Soundtrack the theme especially stands out, purely instrumental using synths it is still awesome theme to listen to even now. One of my favorite characters, Snake Plissken the antihero of the movie, really shines in this performance as well as his character development. Snake has a past that is alluded to in the film, it was briefly mentioned near the start that snake was one of the youngest soldiers to be decorated by the president with two purple hearts after his campaigns in Russia during World War 3. Which happened quite a while before the movie started. Snake has a scar on his cheek but is perhaps best remembered by his eye patch which covers his left eye. Not so much the snake tattoo over his chest. His personality is very cynical, vocally has short and stern things to say. The Escape from franchise influence is big in pop culture here are some references: The Metal Gear Solid Franchise Is heavily influenced from this franchise. Snakes’ in MGS being influenced directly from this movie to the distrust of politics. Cyber City Odeo 808: In this anime criminals have to do missions for the state with the chance for pardon. Double Dragon and Final Fight. The latter especially because of the huge city filled with crime and some level designs two in particular that look almost the same. Is just two references from this game. Battle Royale: A group of students are forced politically (similar tie to the film) to murder each other on an island. Far cry 3: Blood dragon the video game has similar Clichés like the fact that it is on an island and in an alternate timeline. Final Thoughts: Escape from New York to me does not compare to its sequel. I felt that the sequel had a bit more suspense that cut out the long (sometimes uninteresting) pans of scenery. However, Snake is one classic character. 4 out of 5 stars "He was born in the wrong era, on the wrong side of the river. With the ability to be able to do anything that he wants to do and, finding nothing he wants to do." -The Father Warning there are spoilers ahead: Today’s review is a Drama directed by Francis Ford Coppola. The film starts in a lounge with a young man called rusty James (Matt Dillon’s character) who aspires to be like the idol that his brother was. It feels very The warrior’s esque near the start. The protagonist rusty James is a flawed anti-hero of the film that when he meets up with his brother Motorcycle boy, doesn’t understand why he quit the gang and left. I feel that Rusty goes through a metamorphosis throughout the film. The motorcycle boy (or Mickey Rourke’s character) holds the movie up for me I found his performance amazing. His character is wise and Cryptic I also like how he acts, antisocial he looks preoccupied at times and I also like his costume design. I have an older brother and have a similar appreciation than the brothers this is another reason why I like the movie because this connection between them. Prior to the movies beginning The Motorcycle boy was a gang leader and is still an idol of the subculture. He has personally transformed into a philosophical character as opposed to the leader that he was. This film is shot in black and white and has an uncommon kind of soundtrack by Stewart Copeland from the Police band. The Cinematography and the soundtrack feels like it comes from a schizophrenic mind, this connects to the fact that the motorcycle boy is colour blind and partially deaf. The costume and set design is ambiguous in that the decade could be set in the 70s, 80s or 90s. There’s a lot of religious symbolism near the end of the movie that I interpreted there’s: The final supper. The freeing of souls or the breaking of established slavery in the pet shop. The Martyrdom scene with the people gathering. Any way this led me to a cathartic experience. Final Thoughts: This review may be a bit bias I must admit because of my appreciation for this film and the fact that it is one of my favourite films at this point in time. 5 out of 5 stars Trailer: |