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A justgiving page has been set up for Peter

http://forums.millarworld.tv/t/crowd-funding-to-help-pete-dohertys-recovery-please-read/9205

Lovely - they're nearing the extended goal of £7500. More than happy to chip in.

[Rogue One]

I am super-excited for Rogue One, but the first real kink in the armor has to be Edwards' comments about what the reshoots were actually all about: they went back and reshot scenes in shakycam that were not previously in shakycam.  I am really hoping this is just him trying to downplay 11th hour story edits, because I'd rather that than yet another faux-documentary style action scene.

They wouldn't have needed to hire top-shelf fixer Tony Gilroy or pay him an alleged $5 million to institute some shaky-cam. I think Edwards' comments are nothing more than promoting an image of cohesion. I don't know why they bother lying about these things; at the end of the day no one cares what happened as long as the films are good - additional shooting is never the death knell of any film, it's usually incompetence or not recognising when something needs fixing and knowing how to do it.

My own theory on the (by all accounts very extensive) reshoots is that Rogue One was pitched as a gritty, downbeat war movie, and then Disney decided late in the day that they wanted a more upbeat, crowd-pleasing sort of film.

This sounds a bit worrying:

What followed was a five-minute (or so) stretch that bounced between multiple locations and characters, sometimes to a whiplash-inducing degree. In the moment, I assumed that the parade of locations (each accompanied by an on-screen title telling you where you were now) was a function of the film being sampled from for the purposes of the presentation we were watching, but afterwards I was told that, no, this is how the film plays out. That was troubling, as what was there felt, quite frankly, overly futzed-with.

Secondly: I had issues with a number of line readings and performances, particularly from secondary characters who showed up to deliver exposition and/or move scenes along. A lot of it felt like "first take" stuff, overacted or awkwardly-delivered in a way that caused me to raise an eyebrow on more than one occasion. I've agreed not to get into specifics on the footage which screened, so I'll refrain from providing specific examples here, but ... my guess is that you'll know these moments when you see them.

http://birthmoviesdeath.com/2016/12/05/a-level-headed-reaction-to-the-rogue-one-footage-which-screened-over-the-we

What caused Dredd's doubts about the system?

It was a number of different things; the growing pro-democratic movement slowly got under Dredd's skin (residual guilt for his role in Justice Department's underhand tactics in destroying the democratic march), as did, in a way, his dealings with Chopper.

A brush with death following an assassination attempt (in the post-Oz story 'The Hitman') probably portrayed Dredd in a more vulnerable light than ever before. Add to this feelings of existential angst/midlife crisis brought about by his literal replacement - in the form of his younger, more capable clone brother Kraken. All of this bubbling doubt came to a head with a letter sent to Dredd from a young boy asking questions about the justice system that Dredd could not answer ('A Letter To Judge Dredd'), and the murder of his mentor figure, Judge Morph (Morphy? can never remember), which led to his resignation and taking the long walk ('Tale of the Dead Man').

After Necropolis, when the judges, under control of the Dark Judges, enacted genocide against the population of Mega City One, Dredd - who had been wrestling with his faith in the legitimacy of the judges' rule - called for a referendum; the continuation of the status quo or a return to democracy.

Though it was fiercely opposed - and a cadre of hardline judges, Grice among them, attempted to assassinate Dredd - the vote, as Dredd predicted, ultimately went the judges way (in part thanks to incredibly low voter turnout), and Dredd was able to lay to rest his doubts.

Nintendo's biggest problem seems to be attach rate, platform holders make a lot of their money (and most of their money if they're selling their consoles at a loss, which many do at launch) from their cut of game sales and certification on their platforms, and even when Nintendo do manage to release a console that sells like crazy, that never seems to translate into game sales for them the way it does for the other platform holders and that has to have a big impact on how profitable their console business is.

The difference being that Nintendo are the only console manufacturers who - anecdotally - actually make money on consoles rather than selling them at a loss.

This is the first Nintendo console in a long time that's really got my interest though, because the sheer convenience of being able to take home console quality games on the move like that is massively enticing. Mario aside I've never been that into their first party stuff though, so for me it'll depend on how good the third party support is and if it can compete with my xbox for my attention.

I honestly wouldn't count on much third party support for the Switch, at least not in the traditional sense. If I were Nintendo I would be courting indie devs like crazy for this thing (the Switch seems to be the ideal home for games like NidHogg, Hyper Light Drifter, Mother Russia Bleeds, Owlboy, Drift Stage etc etc), and also the remaining few Japanese devs to secure the other games that are natural bedfellows to Nnitendo's output. It's just possible that with a great online store and a constant trickle of content, they can keep their core audience happy during the inevitable droughts between the handful of big first party titles coming out per year.

[The BFG]

Sing Street.

Well that was just lovely, a really sweet-natured, vibrant quasi musical packed with memorable songs and performances.

It's a little predictable, broad, at times corny, and the ending borderline jumps the shark, but as an unashamed crowdpleaser that goes with the territory, and whats come before is so utterly charming it doesn't really matter. It's also perhaps a little too briskly paced - the first act seemingly having been ruthlessly cut down to 5 minutes runtime, to the point that it feels as if some character development and subplots were lost along the way. And I say that as someone who regularly moans about films being too long.

But overall, a wonderful little film. 5/5.

My favourite film of the year (haven't seen Rogue One yet though)
Just lovely

It's on Netflix too - here in the US at least.

Also saw Disney's The BFG.

It's OK, but total CG overload for me. Very reminiscent of The Hobbit visually, where the artifice is kinda distracting, and even things they easily could have shot on location, like regular city streets, are clearly very fake looking greenscreen environments.

I kinda wished they'd either made it a full cg animated movie, or a more 'real' version with real actors in prosthetics playing the giants and real elaborate giant sets, because for me there was always a pronounced visual disconnect between the weirdly stylised, motion-captured BFG (who frankly looks like a videogame character) and the little girl. Your brain never fully buys that they are inhabiting the same physical space, and for a film that hinges on that relationship, that's a pretty major problem.

While it gets better as it goes, I also thought there was a hard to define problem with the first half of the movie. I dunno, maybe its just me, but I felt like they never go far enough to begin with to make the BFG likable and charming - maybe due to Rylances mumbly performance, he comes across as kinda weird and vaguely sinister until quite late in the film.

For all the visual razzmatazz, I came away thing that the Cosgrove Hall animated version from the 80s was a more succinct adaptation that captured the spirit of the book more.

2.5/5

I'm not so sure - As I understand it, Sega are in dire financial straits, and have been for years - their only regular solid sellers are things like the Total War series.

Sing Street.

Well that was just lovely, a really sweet-natured, vibrant quasi musical packed with memorable songs and performances.

It's a little predictable, broad, at times corny, and the ending borderline jumps the shark, but as an unashamed crowdpleaser that goes with the territory, and whats come before is so utterly charming it doesn't really matter. It's also perhaps a little too briskly paced - the first act seemingly having been ruthlessly cut down to 5 minutes runtime, to the point that it feels as if some character development and subplots were lost along the way. And I say that as someone who regularly moans about films being too long.

But overall, a wonderful little film. 5/5.

It feels to me like Nintendo have a sort of 'magic bullet' for sales success in the form of their back catalogue.
I still think they could have saved the WiiU if they'd done some sort of legacy bundle which came with a pro controller and download codes for 15-20 of the best titles from their back catalogue (which are all eshop anyway). Maybe even a Zelda bundle with all of the old titles along with the HD remasters.
They need to be careful how often they do this sort of thing though, at the risk of devaluing their IP (like SEGA have).

Without wanting to get into a playground argument about it, i think its also the case that, while Sega have undoubtedly released some classic games, Nintendo's software library is a lot stronger than Sega's and always was.

With regards to the Switch, I remember thinking that the 'microconsole' fad from about five years ago (that brought about the ill-fated Ouya and that other usb stick console) had serious potential as a concept, but was hamstrung, as these things usually are, by a lack of good software.

Nintendo might be in a position to fully realise that potential, and thats why I think the Switch has a shot at success. The Xbox and PS become ever more like PCs - there just might be a market for a back to basics console that is small, portable, and hassle-free.

I'd actually thought about that one - that might be a good shout, I've heard good things about it.

Ideally I'd want something that her parents will enjoy too!

[My First Carcassonne]

Anyone have any recommendations for board games for kids? I have a 4.5 year old niece to buy a Christmas present for.

I got her My First Carcassonne for her birthday earlier this year, but suspect that it'll probably be a little while before she has the attention span to really get into it.

So ideally I'm looking for something a bit lighter, perhaps more gimmicky/luck-based?

Tbh, I can totally understand Nintendo's reluctance to release mobile ports of their classic games, or worse still, go all-mobile - imo it'd be a slow, slippery slope to oblivion for the company. But yeah - their backwards thinking when it comes to online stuff is truly baffling.

For example, I have a 3DS, and I'd be far, far more likely to buy digital games for it if I knew I'd be able to carry my library over to the Switch in the same way that my existing library of iOS games will work on the next iPhone - I'd also be far more inclined to buy a Switch if that were the case. The lack of Playstation/Vita style cross-buy between Wii U and 3DS is unforgivable, and yet Nintendo are probably looking at VC sales figures and thinking 'that didn't work, let's not do that any more'.

The crazy success of the NES Mini shows that there is a huge demand for hassle-free retro gaming, and that people will pay a fair price for old titles presented well, even at a time where emulators and roms are freely available.

Maybe I'm thinking more of the big US sites. I can't remember it getting many raves, only moderately favourable notices.

My guess is they didn't know how best to market the film early so that it could be at least moderately successful - like other mid-budget films such as Looper, District 9 or John Wick - and they were surprised by the positive response to the first public screenings, so they panicked and threw more money at the marketing, but it was too late and too ill thought-out to make a difference.

That sounds distinctly possible.

The flaws in the marketing are the same issue as the overall flaws in the film - the lack of money.

Perhaps, but there's also how you use limited funds. I know quite a few people who were totally turned off by the trailer, which was tonally all over the place, and also helpfully spoiled the ending. By contrast, I recall seeing one – I think it was the Japanese trailer – that had a high-octane edit that felt more like the Carpenteresque film Dredd mostly was. Not that a better trailer would have necessarily made any difference.

The Japanese trailer was so, so much better - actually made the film look exciting. The wide release US/Europe one was pretty wretched - which is weird, considering the rumours about how much they agonised over it. As you say, tonally all over the shop, leaden, unexciting, featured lots of lines of dialogue that - out of context - sounded super cheesy, and gave away too many key plot points (I didn't even realise that Ma Ma being behind the manufacture of Slo Mo was actually supposed to have been a third act twist until I saw the film, as the line revealing it was right there in the trailer).

What's perhaps most crushing is the widespread critical acclaim meant broadly little in terms of take and some of the publications you'd have expected to have been more excited posted some surprisingly middling reviews.

Yep, there's something to this. It seemed to get better reviews in non-genre media or arty farty sites like Little White Lies than sci fi/comic book type places, who didn't really seem to come around to the film until DVD release - especially in the US. It's all academic now, but I think a lot of critics went in with the preconception that the film was going to be disposable trash, and only reappraised it after the reviews were published. Case in point, the guy who reviewed it for Empire (three stars) has publicly stated on at least one occasion that he regrets lowballing it.

As to reasons why Dredd, as a character has never really caught on in the US? My own theory is that Dredd, unlike the vast majority of comic characters, has had at least half(?) of his stories written by one guy - John Wagner. And Wagner's writing style, with its eccentricities and oddball sense of humour, is a bit of an acquired taste. I think a lot of people come to Dredd on the assumption that it's much heavier and more dour than it is.

Groovy. Thanks for the input.

I've read to 15, not 16. I lied. 

I liked the fact that things got a bit political but so far my preferred things about Dredd were the crisp b&w art (Ron Smith is my favourite) and the OTT satire on mc1 life. The last few felt gloomy and I've enjoyed the art much less in colour. I've enjoyed the Dredd I've read in the progs I've picked up over the last couple of years, though.

Ill give 24 a bash. Thanks again!

Yeah, go for 24. For me, the time around the release of the Stallone movie - summer 1995 - marked the beginning of a kind of second golden age of Dredd that continued for the next five or so years. After a few wonky years with some legitimately terrible epics (Book of the Dead, Inferno) and even some patchy Wagner epics (Wilderlands), from 24 on it's pretty much wall to wall Wagner, Dredd becomes more soap opera-like, with a run of truly great interconnected stories, and the supporting cast rapidly expands, but there's also an abundance of trademark wacky Mega City worldbuilding and humorous one-offs. This era also includes dozens of great strips that have never been reprinted anywhere.