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[Star Trek]

Onto the reboot Star Trek movies now so rewatched the first one. I know a lot of old Trek fans don't like what they did with it and I can understand that, but I really like it and still really enjoyed it going back.

[The Gift]

I really feel like rewatching Unforgiven after reading those posts, it's been a very long time and it's so damn good!

Watched The Gift there, I'm not sure why I went in expecting a horror movie (I forget how it was marketed but maybe that plus Blumhouse doing a lot of horror set that expectation) but it was quite different and I'm glad I went in not really knowing what it was. I mean, it deals with horrible things and definitely plays on some horror movie fears, but it's much more interesting than the scary stalker movie I thought I was getting into. Interesting film and really good performances all round!

[Mandroid]

Watched a film called Mandroid last night, one of those things that's clearly been made with no money whatsoever over a number of years by some pals (think Bad Taste but much lower budget. No, lower. I find some of those films a bit painful and try-hard but this one was really likeable. It might have helped that we have a drinking game with our B movie nights where you have to take a drink if someone in the film says the name of the film and in Mandroid people say Mandroid a LOT.

One problem I have with Nemesis is that they had to get one last space rape of Troy in there.  There are many other problems with the film.  I remember enjoying it for the most part as a dumb space opera action film.  Tom Hardy is always value for money and Ron Perlman can be good as well.  I don't think I'd go out of my way to rewatch it, though.

Yeah that scene is pretty iffy, especially because when she tells the rest of the crew Picard's response is something along the lines of 'well if you don't mind the probability of being psychically raped again I'd appreciate if you got back to work'. Starfleet sensitivity training obviously not what it should be.

I know what you mean about the weirdness becoming a bit overpowering with Legion, it never quite started to grate on me although I often felt like it might. All said and done I look back on the show with incredible fondness, because as bonkers as it might have been I can't think of another show that's anything like it and I've come to really value that these days. I put it up there with Mr Robot in that regard, where even if it doesn't always quite work it's still doing something you don't get anywhere else and that's a pretty special thing.

[The Vast of Night]

Big fan of Predator 2, even as a kid I wasn't disappointed, remember me and my friends thinking it was cool as hell that it was in the city so had a different vibe. Saying that, I thought The Predator was perfectly fun and have enjoyed it both times I've watched. The only Predator movies I've really actively disliked are the AvP movies but even then they didn't particularly bother me, I just kind of shrugged and kept eating my popcorn.

We watched some stuff over the weekend, best of which was The Vast of Night, a really neat sci-fi movie on Amazon. As far as I'm aware it's the director's first movie and made on a really low budget, but it's got flair for days, some brilliant stylistic choices and some really impressive sequences. Bags of atmosphere, really enjoyed it.

How To Build A Girl was pretty decent, I thought some of the comedy felt a bit awkward in places but very funny in others and quite often the writing really shone through for some very touching moments.

And got Star Trek: Nemesis watched, which I understand people really didn't like on release. If I did see it at the time then I must have blanked it out because it was one of only a couple on this rewatch that I found myself totally unsure about whether I'd ever seen it before. I enjoyed it though, Hardy makes a great villain and while it's not up there with my favourites it's not in the lower leagues either. Worth it for a couple of really great and very touching moments, mostly involving [spoiler]Data[/spoiler].

[Star Trek: Insurrection]

I was on a Kurosawa kick last year, but got distracted by the Zatoichi film series... which I didn't finish.

Maybe I'll revisit them both again soon.

The only Zatoichi film I've seen is the Takeshi Kitano one from the early 2000s, went along to the cinema for that and remember really enjoying it. I really haven't seen much in the way of samurai films so all these recommendations are very welcome!

Today it was time for Star Trek: Insurrection though, which I thought held up great. Surprised because it seems like one of the worst-reviewed of the series, but I thought the story was great and it looks excellent. The space scenes in particular are really beautifully handled and other than one or two shots the effects stand up to more modern CG no bother. Didn't realize Frakes had directed it until this watch, I reckon he did a good job.

I haven't! I should get on those soon too.

[Seven Samurai]

Playing Ghost of Tsushima (and loving it) has made me realize I've never actually watched Seven Samurai so I sorted that! It's great, but everyone else already knew that.

[This Is Where I Leave You]

This Is Where I Leave You, which I'd never heard of but has a great cast of recognizable names so I'll assume it bombed on release. We really enjoyed it, it's the kind of indie dysfunctional family drama that often lands for me, and we laughed a lot and found the right bits emotional.

Reached Star Trek: First Contact on the rewatch, and it's still one of the best. Great time hopping story, lots of good Borgy peril and the TNG cast getting fully into the swing of the movie thing after Generations feeling like a bit of a baton-pass. Watching them all now I did miss the OG crew, but that's just a symptom of watching them all so close together like this.

Oh and I finally finished off Deadwood by watching the movie, and it was fantastic. It really is the perfect send-off for the characters and I was surprised how much it felt like seeing some old pals considering I only started watching the show relatively recently. It must have really felt particularly special for people who had watched it as aired and gone through the cancellation and waited years for the hope of some closure!

It felt like a great way to do it justice and while there's always the worry that going back to something like that so long after the fact won't work, I thought it was a couple of the best hours of Deadwood that exists so it definitely didn't disappoint. Big thanks to CrazyFoxMachine whose recommendation was what finally got me to watch the show, it was every bit as good as you said!

Really enjoying this too, and it is indeed beautiful. It has a great photo mode and I find I'm constantly bringing that up because the scenery is so gorgeous.

In a lot of ways it's structurally what you expect from an open world game these days, but it's a very good one of those, and with much more engaging and deep combat than I'd generally expect from the genre. It leans towards something like Sekiro or Fallen Order in the fighting but has its own identity, and doesn't give me the same levels of frustration that Sekiro has done in the past (still not finished that damn thing).

My favourite innovation though is the removal of the traditional on-screen mini-map and route, in most open world games there's a tendency to 'play the minimap' more than pay attention to the world, but the way the path of the wind will always blow in the direction of your next objective here is a really smart solution to that. It also gives them an excuse to have tons of leaves, blossoms and other particle effects blowing around all the time out of necessity which adds to the beauty of it.

Loving it, but going through all the side stuff so can see me taking a while to get it finished (I can easily spend a couple of hours just following the wind to fox dens or the bamboo cutting spots and never progress the story)!

[Carrion]

Carrion on Switch. I saw a review of this and quickly reached for my wallet. A brilliant metroidvania explorathon where you take the role of a disgusting flesh beast, squeezing its way around a military complex eating everyone you find. Great looking, great feeling, but the lack of map is annoying. Stil highly recommended.

I really like the look of this, spotted it on Game Pass and was looking forward to giving it a go so good to hear it's decent.

[The Old Guard]

The Old Guard, which everyone I know seems to have disliked. We enjoyed it, action was well choreographed and it was shot in a way that said action could actually be seen which is always quite refreshing when it happens. Liked the idea, Charlize Theron beating people up is incredibly watchable, and I'd watch a sequel if it happens (which given it's apparently been wildly successful for Netflix seems likely). Literally my only complaint (and it was a biggie) is that there are a lot of what I found to be very poor choices musically. Too many vocals incorporated into the score gave it the feel of a videogame trailer at times, and the music rarely felt appropriate. Other than that it was a fun action romp.

Also watched Mayhem on Shudder and it was great fun. Basic idea is a virus that increases aggression breaks out in the office block of a law firm who incidentally had a hand in setting a legal precedent for murderers not being liable while infected, and the titular mayhem ensues. It's played for laughs (albeit very dark and gory laughs) and the two lead actors (Steven Yeun and Samara Weaving) are really great fun in it. Always liked Yeun in The Walking Dead and after this and The Babysitter and I think Weaving is fantastic so I'll be watching anything she appears in now I reckon.

[Howl's Moving Castle]

Loved Dead Set! I remember it feeling like a really cool bit of event telly at the time, I was so excited that Charlie Brooker was making a zombie show.

I saw Howl's Moving Castle when it came out but it didn't leave much of an impression on me, so gave it another go today. It looks gorgeous for sure and that's enough to warrant watching it I think, but I have to admit I didn't really get engaged in what was going on particularly. Can see why people love it though.

[Sleeping Dogs]

Had been playing the remastered version of Sleeping Dogs on and off and finished it this morning, I really liked it when it originally came out last gen and while some of it definitely feels a bit clunky and aged now it's still one of the better attempts at a GTA-style thing. The combat in particular feels pretty great when you're in full flow vaulting cover and getting those slo-mo headshots, plus the melee system is a decent enough stab at the Arkham style (albeit nowhere near as fluid as something like Mordor or Spider-Man then took it).

Seems like it's pretty overlooked (and the studio unfortunately doesn't exist anymore), but worth a play if you like that sort of thing, especially as it'll be dirt cheap no doubt.