The Sakura Dojo

After the short summary it gets a bit spoilery, so be careful if that is important to you. You can find it here on my RPG journal.

Are linked to at the Memory Palace. Join in on sharing them and get a chance to win a nifty Steam-Powered themed gift pack!

Short, non-spoiler version:

Go and watch it for the CGI world of Pandora and the Na’vi. An amazing realization of an alien environment, the best so far. Ignore as much as possible the ham-handed plot that lacks all subtly and shows that Cameron does not understand what science fiction is. My Grade: B- (and only because the CGI is so spectacular, apart from that it would drop a full letter)

For my spoiler-laded analysis of why it fails at being science fiction here.

Finally managed to watch all of this in a marathon sitting last Sunday when BBC American showed it all in one block. The review contains spoilers and so ( is behind this cut )

Again, more catching up.

The IT Crowd, Season 1 and 2, a comedy about the IT Department of a large corporation. It is a small depeartment, two people, classic computer geeks, and their supervisor, who knows almost nothing about computers. Very amusing, lots of geeks dealing with real world sort of humor as well as the insanity of corporation work. My Grade: B

Supernatural, Season 1, sibling monster hunters travelling across the US saving people from all sorts of occult dangers. Very amusing, would have benefitted from letting some stories last more than one episode as sometimes the conclusion is rushed. The filming and special effects are quite excellent and the plots are decent, if, as mentioned, occasionally rushed. A good resource for modern monster hunting games. My Grade: C+/B-

Mirrors, a Keifer Sutherland supernatural suspence movie. Interesting in that there was never any doubt that the weirdness Sutherland's character is supernatual in nature, never "of he is a recovering drunk and seeing things". Not bad, the major set (a fire damaged and abandoned department store) is very impressive. The ending is surprisingly good. My Grade: C/C+

The Wire is set in Baltimore and follows the activities of a major crime unit that gathers information primarily through surviellence and wire taps (the wire of the series title). We are given views from that of the police as well as the criminals, and occasionally others who paths intersect with the story told. As my mother lives in Baltimore, it is also fun occaionally seeing places I have visited. (It is written by David Simon who also behind the superb Homicide: Life on the Streets.)

The story is intense, at times depressing and exceptionally well done. Each season is one 'case' from beginning to being handed over to the courts. In all of them so far, drugs have been the primary focus. The character are well drawn and real with flaws and weaknesses. The acting is superb, and the penultimate episode of season 3 has two of the best, most emotional charged scenes I have watched.

It is just an excellent series, the best of the HBO Series I have seen and they are pretty good overall. I cannot recommend it enough for those who enjoy police dramas. My Grade: A

Just finished the Furies of Calderon by Jim Butcher. An immersive fantasy. I keep feeling that I should have liked this book more than I did, it has: a Roman-analog Empire, a loyal Agent of the Empire, a young man who must live by his wits, political intrigue and war! But they just do not fit well together. And there are little things that bothered me (door knobs in a Roman house? really?) and the magic system, well, it is interesting but not coherent.

The Alerans, the main culture in the book, are born with the ability to manipulate furies which are elementals (the usual four plus wood and metal) but most Alerans only one or two types at their command. The furies a character commands are usually named and have some vestigial
personality and the power level of these furies vary greatly from master to master. One of the main characters (the young man who must live by his wits) is the only Aleran ever not to have furies of his own, at least that is the impression the book gives. But for all this structure, the furies ultimately do what is needed by the plot not what they should be in a coherent structure and, but some unknown method, they can be bound into items so we can have magical flashlights and floodlights ("fury lamps"), which halfway make sense in the setting, and will destroying slave collars, which do not.

The plot is also very predictable. While it was an easy read and the battles at the end of the book are very intense, it is just very . . . standard. Every plot twist was telegraphed and played out as expected. Most of the villains barely had three dimensions though our heroes managed slightly better. Still, not a bad read, but not really engaging enough to make me want to read the second book. My Grade: C/C+

Finished watching the Tudors, Season 2, which moves the timeline forward from (roughly) the divorce of Catherine of Aragon to the execution of Anne Boleyn. A bit more intense, as it deals with a lot of personal politics, and it includes lots of executions. Not anywhere near as much as in the first season that sent me scurrying to fact check. Peter O'Toole is delightful as Pope Paul III. Overall, enjoyable. My Grade: C/C+

Lots of catching up here . . . Organized from most recently watched to watched some time ago.

Road House recommended by nemloen. Stars Patrick Swayze as Dalton, the best Chiller (head bouncer) in the business, hired to clean up a bar he runs afoul of the man who runs the town. The first half, the how to clean up a bar part, was excellent, the second half was pretty standard 80s action movie. The fights were pretty good and Swayze was competent. Not the greatest movie but fun. My Grade: C/C+

Grey Knight (aka Killing Box and other titles), the version we watched was the Director's Cut which weighed in at 92-minutes (as opposed to the 80 of the other version). A horror story set during the American Civil War, the basic story is good but the execution and pacing is poor. The basic concept of undead roaming the edge of the Civil War is very clever but it does not hold up very well in this movie which is hampered by a limited budget (but has some good actors). Still, a valiant effort, even if it does not succeed. Good fodder for horror game (especially Deadlands). My Grade: C-/C

After the Fox, an Italian movie starring Peter Sellers who get to indulge in playing a master of disguise and multiple roles. Victor Mature is a good sport and parodies himself as "Tony Powell" and Britt Ekland is beautiful as the film obsessed "Gina Romantica". The film involved smuggling a huge amount of gold, conning an entire villain and much silliness. Fun and has some very cute scenes but rather uneven. My Grade: C

Layer Cake starring Daniel Craig as a successful criminal who just want to take his money and get out. Unfortunately, events conspire against him. Well written and plotted (except for the ending, the director had to have his "shock twist" at the end which was entirely unnecessary). Good source material for games involving criminals (like Shadowrun). My Grade: C+

Once Upon a Time in the West, one of the classic Westerns with several plot elements (the railroad vs settlers rights beging the primary) but too long and ponderous for my tastes. Interesting to see Henry Fonda as a villain though. My Grade: C/C+

Waiting for Guffman, an odd 'slice of life' comedy by Christopher Guest center on the music put on to celebrate a small Indiana town and the hopes of the cast members to be discovered. Amusing with some really funny moments and some not, the musical itself is quite humorous as well. My Grade: C

Three . . . Extremes, a set of three Asian 'horror' pieces by different directors, presented in this order:
Dumplings by far the most disturbing and sinister of the pieces (though they are all disturbing). What price beauty? A perfect piece for the Legend of the Five Rings setting, showing how people can be seduced and corrupted by dark promises. My Grade: C+/B-
Cut, the longest sequence, at least it feels the longest. Clever in that the main character is a director and obviously intended to be 'realistic' and 'edgy' but is ultimate pointless and stupid but engaging while watching because you hope that something will happen that will make it all make some sort of sense . . . but it does not at the end mean anything. I advise skipping this one entirely. My Grade: D
Box, the cinematography is amazing, it is beautifully filmed and what seems to be the story is disturbing and twisted (in many ways) but I found the twist ending, well, dumb, but doji_kumoko sort of liked it. So, your perception on that will determine how much you like this one. Still, visually a treat. My Grade: C+

My advice, skip Cut, and watch Box and then Dumplings. If you must watch all three, watch Cut first, so you can get the taste of stupid out of your mind by the end of it all. Overall grade: C-/C