I ended up watching this after a recommendation. One of which I sat on for about a week or more, since what little I saw of it reminded me too much of the old Hercules and Xena. And once I knew Raimi was involved, it was like no..
But I was bored enough, and both season were on Netflix so I started watching it. And it's shame that the show was cancelled. I have never read or even heard of the books before now. But the show is your typical fantasy romp, and nothing too complicated. But I can say that it pleasantly falls into the category of being the best of the Hercules and Xena 'Mold'
The show isn't too campy, funny or silly. And strikes the right edge. And the casting turned out to be quite good. I especially liked the 'Train Man' from the matrix. He made a fantastic wizard, and the icing on the cake was the fact they actually spent some money on FX and he could cast more than 1 spell. And they weren't shy about throwing around some lightening and fire in this series.
I would heartily recommend it to anyone who didn't mind the Hercules and Xena style, but a little more serious. I have no idea how it reflects on the books. And being cancelled after two seasons, they still manage to end the show without too much feeling unfinished.
4 Stars out of 5
Monday, August 20, 2012
Tuesday, August 7, 2012
TOTAL RECALL 2012
Being pressed for time working on my Downsizing, and panting for stepping back into Warhammer. It's been awhile since I managed a media related piece.
Well, I went to catch an afternoon show of the remake of Total Recall. Two days after it opened, and the theatre was damn near empty. That was odd, even for an afternoon. But it meant a quiet and peaceful experience with no interruptions, cell phones or any other annoying occurrences.
I will say right off the top, that the movie was decent. But not great, could have been better. I will lay the blame right on the script. I found the movie had a lot of just head scratching logic associated with the technology of the world in which they set the movie. It all moved along nicely enough, and I liked the casting. They had the bucks for all the effects and stunts. But the world that they laid the story out in just broke suspension of disbelief for me.
I mean, if you had the tech to build a skyscraper sized building that travels in a tunnel through the center of the earth from Great Britain to Australia in no time at all really, Android Police Officers and 90% of the planet is uninhabitable wouldn't you just build a colony on Mars instead?? It would be easier. Or the Moon even. Since for the purpose of the story you needed two locations.
Rekall itself just seemed to be an afterthought, it seemed to be more central in the original. More part of the plot. Here it just seemed to be minor stop along the way to tip off the plot. Which really was it's purpose, but it just didn't seemed to have enough weight. And seemed like an underground operation, rather than the recreational vacation company I felt it was in the original.
The best part for me was the throw back to the 1990 one in customs. You'll know when you see it.
I'm going to have try and see the 1990 version again soon, it's been a long time since I've seen it. But I fully expect it to be the better of the two.
3 out of 5 stars
Well, I went to catch an afternoon show of the remake of Total Recall. Two days after it opened, and the theatre was damn near empty. That was odd, even for an afternoon. But it meant a quiet and peaceful experience with no interruptions, cell phones or any other annoying occurrences.
I will say right off the top, that the movie was decent. But not great, could have been better. I will lay the blame right on the script. I found the movie had a lot of just head scratching logic associated with the technology of the world in which they set the movie. It all moved along nicely enough, and I liked the casting. They had the bucks for all the effects and stunts. But the world that they laid the story out in just broke suspension of disbelief for me.
I mean, if you had the tech to build a skyscraper sized building that travels in a tunnel through the center of the earth from Great Britain to Australia in no time at all really, Android Police Officers and 90% of the planet is uninhabitable wouldn't you just build a colony on Mars instead?? It would be easier. Or the Moon even. Since for the purpose of the story you needed two locations.
Rekall itself just seemed to be an afterthought, it seemed to be more central in the original. More part of the plot. Here it just seemed to be minor stop along the way to tip off the plot. Which really was it's purpose, but it just didn't seemed to have enough weight. And seemed like an underground operation, rather than the recreational vacation company I felt it was in the original.
The best part for me was the throw back to the 1990 one in customs. You'll know when you see it.
I'm going to have try and see the 1990 version again soon, it's been a long time since I've seen it. But I fully expect it to be the better of the two.
3 out of 5 stars
Adventures in Downsizing
I've been working on pruning my collection, and getting a sales list together. The heatwave here the last couple weeks has put a damper on that. I don't imagine anyone wants anything with bonus sweat. So, beyond my original list. I only pulled some of the larger pieces.
With those, according to Ebays completed auction listing they sometimes sell for stupid amounts. So instead of risking insulting my fellow collectors I decided to list them on Ebay and see how that goes.
Let us just say that Ebay has a reputation, and it is well earned. As a buyer things couldn't be better usually. But as a seller it is a whole other ballgame. After learning my way about the system having never sold anything on there before I listed a half dozen items.
Nothing has sold, I still have a few remaining. And no matter how many watchers I doubt they will either. And it's not that I didn't price them competitively because I did. But probably because shipping is just too high. Canada Post does me no favors in that regard. And neither does Paypal if I want to protect myself by adding some stipulations to how I can ship and keep that protection.
But, getting back to Ebay again. I was very careful in how I setup my auctions. Shipping only in North America. USA & Canada. I excluded everywhere else and PO Boxes. And stated it in the auction. And yet I still get bids from Chinese buyers with Ebay accounts only 2 months old and almost 1000 purchases (Insane) but in all fairness maybe legit. I cancel those bids, and find out I missed a loophole buried in my control panel. So I close that loophole. And said Chinese bidder still get though, so I cancel his bid again and ban him. And I have one remaining bidder. He wins, which was great. And when I get payment I find out from the Paypal info that he is another Chinese bidder, shipping through Los Angeles to an unconfirmed address.. Here we go again. Opening a case with Ebay, refunding the money through Paypal and several hours later I'm back where I started.
Almost a month into this, and the only sales I have made are a handful to my fellow Canadians through the TF Community. Which is very appreciated. But I have a lot more I want to get moved. Once these last auctions come down, I may cross post my sales over into TFW2005. Members in the community seem to be a lot more understanding of what shipping is like. And there a lot more US members than Canadian ones.
But in the end, Ebay seems like a great waste of time and aggravation. I agree with all the complaints I've ever heard about. And I don't know how anyone makes any money on there with small ticket items with all the fees.
In other regards at present I am mainly keeping my G1s, Beast Wars / Machines, CHUG, RiD, Prime and Animated stuff. So that means I am mainly clearing out all the doubles, and movies stuff I shouldn't have bought. And any figures I bought for the 'Coolness' factor but have no real attachement to. Which means some third party figures.
Going forward I'm not sure. I'm thinking about staying with G1 / Masterpiece. And filling a few holes I have missing. And finish Prime since I'm half done or better now anyway( And how is Hasbro messing that up??). But I know one thing, I feel better without the weight of all the new releases on my shoulders (I was far from a completist. But I liked too much of what was coming all the time) And the flood of items that never seemed to end. There has to be a limit somewhere. The hobby is too broad and deep otherwise. Or else you need very deep pockets. Because you can't afford to do anything else if you don't.
Once I get the bulk of items moved that I cleared in the first passes I will go back and decide what else is staying. I have duplicate Cyberverse, Deluxe and Voyager stuff. Clear out the Cyberverse versions?? Keep the voyager versions?? I will need to decide that once I've sold most of what is waiting to go now.
And too add to the aggravation.. Paypal is being a real pain.. I setup an account to link for selling purposes. And PP stated that if the account held too few funds to cover a purchase it would go to the CC attached instead. Well, for the record they don't. They like to overdraft the account and not go to the CC as they are supposed to. Something that needs to be watched carefully. I feel like changing my sales to EMT only.. But I know too many people use PP and have money in their accounts. But once I'm done selling, I will be closing that account and removing it from my PP account. I don't want to have to go into my accounts and transfer funds to cover purchases every time I buy something because PP doesn't go the CC when it's supposed to.
With those, according to Ebays completed auction listing they sometimes sell for stupid amounts. So instead of risking insulting my fellow collectors I decided to list them on Ebay and see how that goes.
Let us just say that Ebay has a reputation, and it is well earned. As a buyer things couldn't be better usually. But as a seller it is a whole other ballgame. After learning my way about the system having never sold anything on there before I listed a half dozen items.
Nothing has sold, I still have a few remaining. And no matter how many watchers I doubt they will either. And it's not that I didn't price them competitively because I did. But probably because shipping is just too high. Canada Post does me no favors in that regard. And neither does Paypal if I want to protect myself by adding some stipulations to how I can ship and keep that protection.
But, getting back to Ebay again. I was very careful in how I setup my auctions. Shipping only in North America. USA & Canada. I excluded everywhere else and PO Boxes. And stated it in the auction. And yet I still get bids from Chinese buyers with Ebay accounts only 2 months old and almost 1000 purchases (Insane) but in all fairness maybe legit. I cancel those bids, and find out I missed a loophole buried in my control panel. So I close that loophole. And said Chinese bidder still get though, so I cancel his bid again and ban him. And I have one remaining bidder. He wins, which was great. And when I get payment I find out from the Paypal info that he is another Chinese bidder, shipping through Los Angeles to an unconfirmed address.. Here we go again. Opening a case with Ebay, refunding the money through Paypal and several hours later I'm back where I started.
Almost a month into this, and the only sales I have made are a handful to my fellow Canadians through the TF Community. Which is very appreciated. But I have a lot more I want to get moved. Once these last auctions come down, I may cross post my sales over into TFW2005. Members in the community seem to be a lot more understanding of what shipping is like. And there a lot more US members than Canadian ones.
But in the end, Ebay seems like a great waste of time and aggravation. I agree with all the complaints I've ever heard about. And I don't know how anyone makes any money on there with small ticket items with all the fees.
In other regards at present I am mainly keeping my G1s, Beast Wars / Machines, CHUG, RiD, Prime and Animated stuff. So that means I am mainly clearing out all the doubles, and movies stuff I shouldn't have bought. And any figures I bought for the 'Coolness' factor but have no real attachement to. Which means some third party figures.
Going forward I'm not sure. I'm thinking about staying with G1 / Masterpiece. And filling a few holes I have missing. And finish Prime since I'm half done or better now anyway( And how is Hasbro messing that up??). But I know one thing, I feel better without the weight of all the new releases on my shoulders (I was far from a completist. But I liked too much of what was coming all the time) And the flood of items that never seemed to end. There has to be a limit somewhere. The hobby is too broad and deep otherwise. Or else you need very deep pockets. Because you can't afford to do anything else if you don't.
Once I get the bulk of items moved that I cleared in the first passes I will go back and decide what else is staying. I have duplicate Cyberverse, Deluxe and Voyager stuff. Clear out the Cyberverse versions?? Keep the voyager versions?? I will need to decide that once I've sold most of what is waiting to go now.
And too add to the aggravation.. Paypal is being a real pain.. I setup an account to link for selling purposes. And PP stated that if the account held too few funds to cover a purchase it would go to the CC attached instead. Well, for the record they don't. They like to overdraft the account and not go to the CC as they are supposed to. Something that needs to be watched carefully. I feel like changing my sales to EMT only.. But I know too many people use PP and have money in their accounts. But once I'm done selling, I will be closing that account and removing it from my PP account. I don't want to have to go into my accounts and transfer funds to cover purchases every time I buy something because PP doesn't go the CC when it's supposed to.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)