In 1991, in an effort to compete with Nintendo and their smash-hit Mario franchise, Japanese video game developer Sega released “Sonic the Hedgehog”. The original game was a fast-paced side-scrolling platformer starring the eponymous snarky blue anthropomorphic rodent tasked with protecting the natural world from Dr. Eggman (localized to Robotnik in America) and his army of machines. Sonic would go on to become the de facto mascot for Sega through their resignation from the console wars of the 1990s and early 21st century, and well into their later continuation as game publisher. In recent years, the franchise has fallen on […]Read more »
Maracaibo is an exploration Euro-style game set in the age of piracy in the 17th century Caribbean. Players assume the roles of ship captains assembling crews, delivering goods, and vying for influence of the European superpowers that control the area. While at its core, gameplay consists of moving your ship, performing one or more actions, and refilling your hand of cards, the game offers a wide range of different things to do and strategies to employ, not dissimilar from most modern strategy games. The complexity lies in the sheer number of things you can do that constitutes taking an action. […]Read more »
Osgood “Oz” Perkins’ directorial debut The Blackcoat’s Daughter received some mild praise in the horror industry for being able to effectively build atmosphere and tension while carefully navigating tropes of the supernatural thriller genre. While I wasn’t particularly blown away by the film, I was impressed by the originality of Perkins’ story and its reluctance to stick with a safe and sterile conclusion. Much like his debut, and what I’ve heard of his follow-up I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House, his newest film Gretel & Hansel radiates a dark and brooding atmosphere while slowly building up […]Read more »
Weathering With You is the newest animated film by Japanese director Makoto Shinkai, whose smash hit Your Name broke box-office records in 2016 as one of the most commercially successful and critically revered anime films of all time. Praised for its twisty and emotional plot as well as stunning visuals, Your Name would prove to be difficult to follow up as Weathering With You fails to live up to its predecessor on an emotional level but succeeds in being just as visually impressive. The film follows Hodaka, a high school boy who runs away from home to live in Tokyo, […]Read more »
Underwater is a science-fiction/action movie with some horror elements that takes place at the bottom of the Mariana Trench. Directed by William Eubank (The Signal), it follows a group of research scientists and technicians that, after the destruction of their undersea lab, are forced to travel by foot across the ocean floor to safety. Principle cast includes Kristen Stewart, Vincent Cassel, and T.J. Miller. Two weeks later and I’ve already forgotten most about Underwater. Regardless of any talent attached to the script, this movie was destined to be disposable, at best. The main conflict between our protagonists and a swarm […]Read more »
Help! Tom Hooper’s Cats broke something in my brain! While seemingly every critic is turning up their nose in disgust at the musical, I can’t help but wonder if I’ve gone insane, or if everyone else has. It’s like I’m the doomed protagonist of my own Lovecraftian nightmare. It’s a bit of a stretch to even think of Cats as a movie in the traditional sense. The general idea is that a white house cat named Victoria (Francesca Hayward) is abandoned to the street by her owner and taken in by a clowder of cats known as the Jellicles. Once […]Read more »