Welcome to September, the blog hibernation month. This will likely be my only post until the end of the month so I can focus on cranking out 31 posts for the annual Countdown to Halloween starting in October!
With X-Men 97 coming soon, I thought I'd revisit the series since I never
watched it all the way through. The animation doesn't seem to have held up
well in places. Some shots are done with weird angles and characters can have
funky proportions. But, I still enjoy the stories and was surprised just what
they packed in with plots, villains, and guest characters.
This show is quickly on its way to becoming an all time favorite and it's just getting better season after season. The writing is so damn funny and I would love to hang out with these characters.
I am usually up for a good grindhouse exploitation flick but this one had a
hard time keeping my attention.The sex scenes look like they were done by an
alien that's only had the concept of human sex described to them. The only
thing that really kept me watching was Colleen Camp, who played Yvette the
maid in Clue.
This week in random fun things I found out on the internet: The Newsletter of the Lincoln Middle School D&D Club.
If you recall my somewhat recent post about my history with D&D (if not, you can read it here), I got my first books when I was in middle school. Unlike the kids at Lincoln Middle, I didn't have a club to play with so until I got to high school, it was just me and these arcane rulebooks making up characters, studying the spell section like it was an actual spellbook, and using random tables to have solo dungeon crawls.
It looks like the club is mostly playing "original" Basic D&D, the same system I cut my teeth on way back when! The first newsletter does say they play other games and mentions Labyrinth Lord by name. LL is what they call a retro-clone or OSR (Old School Revival). There's quite a few systems out there now that emulate the OG D&D rules with some minor tweaks. While I pretty much understood the rules back then, if I were introducing middle schoolers to role-playing, I'd probably start with something a little less rules intensive.
I found these newsletters particularly interesting because they're a snapshot in time and, at the same time, timeless. If not for the dates listed on them, they could almost be from any time after 2007 when Labyrinth Lord was published. It seems like they're intended for GameMasters and players alike but there's also stuff in there that seems to be exclusively for GM eyes only. This also makes me curious about who ran the games. Were they teachers, students, a mix of the two?
Today's post comes to you courtesy of Archive.org, where I found today's topic: a Krull coloring book from Marvel Comics! Marvel did quite a few coloring books back in the day and not just their own characters. They also did movie based ones and a few Dungeons & Dragons ones featuring characters from the LJN toy line.
Krull is one of my absolute favorite 80s fantasy flicks. Not only did thy cram in typical fantasy stuff like a Cyclops, Fire Mares, and a giant crystal spider but the bad guys were aliens with laser weapons. It was an odd mash-up for sure but that's why I love it.
I did some poking around and it looks like there was one other coloring book and two coloring/activity books for Krull. At least that's all a quick search turned up. You can see the covers, and get digital versions, at Retro Reprints. A Puppy for Titch can be found in its entirety at the Internet Archive.
As you might guess by the title, A Puppy for Titch is not exactly a rip roaring adventure in the world of Krull but there are giant spider and Slayers. Due to the presence of Slayers, I would think this takes place somewhere off screen during the events of the movie. But Lyssa is in the story and Corwin meets the Cyclops. Who cares about continuity in a coloring book?
During my poking around, I also found that Alan Kupperberg did the pencils for the book. He was a comic artist and writer that worked on various issues in my collection including DC's Blue Devil and Fury of Firestorm, Marvel Tales, What If, Crazy and one of my favorite books at the time, Obnoxio the Clown vs the X-Men. You can read a scathing review of that book here.
To be fair, I haven't read it in decades, who knows if I'd even still find it funny. It was probably a favorite because this early 80s X-Men team is my ride or die. They are what launched me into collecting comics.
This go round has a dying patriarch gather his very dysfunctional family on
his island home for a deadly competition to see who gets his inheritance. And
just to make it more interesting, there's a killer on the loose. Four
seasons in, the storytelling is still fantastic and the kills are deliciously
gory.
Marvel's Secret Invasion (Disney+)
Why wouldn't you want to see Sam Jackson in his own limited series? When it
needs more episodes to dig into the story. I'm well versed in Marvel, even
recently read the comics this is based on, and I still felt like I wasn't
getting why they did this. I can't imagine how people that only follow the
movies/shows are digesting this. Will we even see [spoiler] again and why'd
they do [spoiler] dirty like that in this tiny series?
Muscles & Mayhem: An Unauthorized Story of American Gladiators
This was my weekend ritual when it was airing so this was a ton of fun to
watch and catch up with the Gladiators. It was also really interesting to see
all the behind the scenes stuff that was going on both with the show itself
and the Gladiators' personal stories.
I first heard about Star Wars Rivals during the lead up to this year's May the
Fourth "celebration." (May 25th will always be Star Wars Day for me!) From
what I saw it was going to be a Walmart exclusive and in conjunction with the
Fourth, they were supposed to have events or something to kick off the
release.
Now that I'm actually reading the
Funko game site, the starter set was available for pre-release online at Walmart starting
5/4 with wider availability in June. Still doesn't explain why I haven't seen
any until a few weeks ago. Update: I stopped in Walmart today (7/27) and they had the starter set next to the action figures but the boosters are still in the game section...two aisles apart!
No Starter Sets to be found, just a lonely, single box of booster packs
near the board game section. Luckily, you only need one Light Side and one
Dark Side to play the game.
It feels like it's been more than a few months since I first caught wind of KidRobot's Dungeons & Dragonis Mystery Mini series. After waiting and waiting to see them pop up at a local store, I deicded to snag a couple online.
As far as blind packed figures go, I felt they're a little pricey. But I say that as someone that has no clue what KidRobot figs are going for right now. Most places I found online have them around $15. I ended up ordering from ToyWiz who had them at $13.99. Plus they gave a first time sign up bonus of 5% off. They also have series 2 up for pre-order so I guess I'll be grabbing a couple more!
Here are the contents and odds for Series 1. If you're not familiar with these creatures, they're all based on the artwork from the original AD&D Monster Manual. That original art is what gives them their interesting, slightly weird style. As you'll see, they basically took the illustration and turned it into a 3D figure. And if I had planned this post out better, I would have taken the pics from the same angle as the illustrations.
Personally, I was hoping for the Dragon or Rust Monster as those stand out for me and take me way back to flipping through the Monster Manual when I first got into D&D . They're just certain ones that have stuck with me. I also like Mimics but prefer them showing off a lot of teeth. So, what did I get?
Initially, I wasn't even going to do a celbration post this year. Twelve
is one of those weird tween years where you're a couple years into double
digits but not quite a teenager. Thirteen is where it's at! But, once I
decided to do this post, there was only one image that would be worthy to kick
it off.
If you can't hear this image, you probably had a terrible childhood.
Over the years, I've made 1324 posts which averages to 110 per year! I try to
do one a week and every day in October, taking most of September off to prep.
The all time Top 10 posts stayed the same but the order shook up a little bit.
I do actually enjoy doing these annual posts because I'll always remember certain things about my life at the time I started the blog.
Mrs Dex has been telling me for years that I would love this show and she's
100% correct! She recently found two of the stars are doing a rewatch podcast
where they go episode by episode and talk about them. Since she was going to
watch anyway, I figured it was a good time to jump in. It is incredibly funny
and I think it's only improved by listening to the podcast after each episode.
Slasher: Solstice (S3, Netflix)
This season is focused on the occupants of an apartment building that are
being stalked by a masked killer known as the Druid. I have to applaud the writers for having so many characters with interconnected story lines. The series continues
to impress me with the brutality and gruesomeness of the kills.
Muppets Mayhem (Disney+)
Thank you, whoever had faith that you can make an entertaining Muppet thing
that doesn't include any of the "big name" cast. I've always liked the Mayhem
(who doesn't?) and it was really cool to see them center stage for an entire
series. The celeb cameos were all great too.
Black Mirror (S6, Netflix)
I can't believe it's been four years since the last season! This group of five
new shows is branching out a bit from what we've come to expect and I'm here
for it. The final episode, Demon 79, is a testing ground for possible
companion series called Red Mirror that would lean more towards horror.
Indiana Jones month is rolling to a close like a giant boulder chasing you out of a temple with the Marvel Comics series that gave us more Indy action between the first two movies and just a little beyond.
The series was published between 1982 and 1985 and lasted for 34 issues. The fact that it lasted as long as it did before Temple of Doom came out I think is a testament to just how much people love Indy! Each story usually lasted 2 issues and there was an ongoing continuity where allies and enemies would return.
In order to talk a bit about the series, I went back over the past month and read them all. I wasn't sure I was going to make it in time for this post because halfway through the month I realized the new MCU show was coming out and I wanted to read that source material before the show. I'm still reading Secret Invasion but I got all the way through Indy, just for you guys!
Maybe role-playing games aren't your thing, maybe you don't like complicated rules, or can't strong arm enough of your friends to sit down to play. Maybe you don't have any friends (it's ok, we've all been there). There was still another way you could go on a globe trotting archeology adventure aside from, you know, actually going outside to play: the Find Your Fate series of books!
As a pre-teen, the Choose Your Own Adventure books had a big imapct on me. Over the years I'd try out any CYOA style book series that came along. When you add a pop culture icon to that style of storytelling, you've got an instant buy from me!
In 1984, TSR acquired the license to produce a role playing game based on
Indiana Jones. Seems like it would be a sure fire thing, right? In the mid-80s
Satanic Panic was in full swing and you couldn't mention RPGs without people
immediately going back to D&D. I don't have any supporting
evidence that this was responsible in any way for the poor sales but it
probably didn't help.
Like all of TSR's RPGs of the day, they released everything you needed
to start playing in a boxed set. It included: the rules, dice, world map, a
Referee screen, fold-up paper miniature figures, and character sheets for the
heroes. A set of metal miniatures was also released for the game.
The rule book has a short adventure to introduce you to the game
mechanics as you read each chapter. It was called the Ikons of Ikammanen and
the story was actually taken from the first issue of Marvel's The Further
Adventures of Indiana Jones from 1983 (more about those in coming weeks!). One
of the Adventure Packs, The Fourth Nail, was also based on a couple comic
issues.
Whew, this is quite possibly the longest post title in the blog's
history. All June, we'll be counting down the days until the man in the hat
comes back for one more hurrah with posts about everyone's favorite
archeologist, Lara Croft. No, of course it's Indiana Jones! You ever notice
when the phrase "everyone's favorite" is used it's almost always the only one
that comes to mind?
Anyway, set your Dial of Destiny (or WABAC Machine) to 1985!
Video game adaptations of movies usually get a bad rap in the home console
arena, but arcade games based on movies are on the opposite end of the
spectrum. I was lucky enough to be able to play Temple at my local arcade and
would keep coming back for more adventures.
Or as Mrs Dex has started calling it, Karate Soap Opera...and she's not wrong.
I really enjoyed it when it started out but it's just getting a bit silly with
all the drama now. How has no one called the police? Hopefully the series will
go out on a high note.
Slasher S2 (Netflix)
The story this season revolves around an incident that happened at a summer
camp five years prior. The way it unfolds between modern day and flashbacks is
really well done and keeps you guessing. The kills are on par with some some
of the best movies and they don't shy away from showing the violence.
Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies (Paramount+)
I'm an easy mark for anything involving 50s/60s culture but even I was thinking "Do we really need a Grease prequel series?" The answer is yes, yes we do! There's a couple of fun callbacks to the movie as well as the requisite teen high school drama and musical numbers. My minor complaint is that some of the songs sound like modern pop which feels odd in the time period. Not that the songs aren't good, just kicks me out of the setting a little.
Star Wars Visions S2 (Disney+)
I really got into this run of episodes. There were some I didn't like as much
as others but there was always something good about each one. This is a great
concept and I hope they keep doing new things like this to expand and freshen
up the Star Wars brand.
I hit the toy aisle at Target about once a week, sometimes there's new stock but it's not what I'm looking for. Shockingly, my local Target got in zero Guardians Legends figures, like there isn't even a hint that they got anything. But, I did have a little squee moment when I spotted this on an endcap.
Dr. Strange is one of my all time favorite comic characters and while I do have the set from his first movie, I couldn't pass up this little set to have another LEGO Strange that I can keep on my desk.
After it opening about two years ago, I finally stopped in to Had That, a toys/collectibles shop in Salem. It's not like it's out of the way, it's only about a 15 minute drive from my house but it became one of those things where you drive by and say "Oh yeah, have to check that out some time" and then you don't. Mrs Dex and I had a day off during the week and were in the area so we decided that was the day.
It's not a large place but it is packed with all kinds of nostalgia! While it's mostly toys, they do have a few short boxes of comics and a display case with the latest Pokemon cards.
For the past five years, Salem has been hosting an annual Horror Fest that's
two weekends of independent horror films and shorts along with a few special
events and celebrity appearances. They get hundreds of submissions from around
the world, somehow narrow them down, and squeeze them into two weekends.
The festival organizer is an amazing trans
woman and Salem is super LGBTQ+ friendly so a lot of the selections feature themes and/or creators that are LGBTQ+. Part of what I love about SHF
is that it gives me the chance to see things that wouldn't usually hit my
radar and that are usually very different from what the big studios are putting out.
Prior years have been virtual which is great because you can watch the movies
on demand on your own schedule. It's not as easy to sit in a theater for
several movies a day, especially when the movies you want to see are back to
back and don't leave time to duck out for a bite. But I have to say, it's so
much more fun to see these movies with an actual audience and to have the chance to chat with other like minded folk!
Welcome the to the first ever two-part Monthly Media Recap! With Salem Horror Fest at the end of April, I had to break up my "regular" viewing and the stuff I saw at the Fest to keep this post from being way too long. I'll chat more about that event next time, so stay tuned.
Streaming
The Mandalorian S3 (2023, Disney+)
If online reactions are anything to go by, it seems people were down on this
season because "Andor ruined Star Wars" for them. To me, that's like biting
into an apple and saying it's a terrible orange. This show has always been
more inline with the original movie where it's a fun space adventure. And it
definitely delivered for me on that level.
I feel like this is the Scream sequel I always wanted sprinkled with a little Se7en and Silence of the Lambs for good measure. It's a good mystery with plenty of red herrings and grisly murders. My only complaint is the opening credits are trying too hard to be American Horror Story. If you enjoy slasher flicks, highly recommend this series!
Murduagh Murders: A Southern Scandal (2023, Netflix)
A scary documentary that shows just how much you can get away with if you know
the right people, or if you are the right people. I watch the occasional crime
documentary and I have never felt as bad for anyone as for the boating
accident victim and her family.
This was so much fun! While it feels like a Marvel movie, I'm okay with it.
Anyone that tells you this isn't serious enough is not someone I want to play
D&D with. It was a real treat to see places I've only read about or
visited in video games on the big screen. And I'm definitely in favor of
cinematic license being taken over strict adherence to the game rules. There's
a cool cameo with some familiar heroes that I'd be shocked if was still a
spoiler to anyone online but won't say anymore. I'm all for more of these even
if it's new characters/stories. I may check out the prequel comic and
novels that are
out.
Spun out of a segment from V/H/S 2, this was a lot of fun! It blends 80s-style kids on an adventure and teen
coming of age with a definitely not for kids alien attack. While the aliens
feel like people in suits, it just adds a little something for me. The
practical effects are pretty well done and definitely gross (in a good way)
Close encounters of the slime kind!
Last month, I mentioned part 3 had too many celebs that took me out of it.
There are some here but when this came out the only one I knew was Hayden
Panettiere so it was fun to see Emma Roberts and Allison Brie popup before I
knew them. This one felt more in line with the original, I liked the cast and
it gave us more blood. Unfortunately, the series is just going on too long.
How many times can you have a copycat killer trying to kill the same person?
Maybe that's part of the joke?
This seems like it took a few pages from the recent Halloween but it works
really well. We finally get some worthy slasher violence! It was a nice
breath of fresh air after the last couple. While I'm interested to see where
it goes from here, I also feel like it's time to hang up the mask. I did enjoy the modern meta movie commentary.
Yep, it's time to hang up the mask and this would be a great place to do it. I liked it a lot up until the killer reveal. This is why the series needs to move on from Sydney/Westboro. I felt it was kind of silly how they had to jump through hoops to tie it to the last one. Also, I know the final girl has to beat the killer but this one feels less of a hero the way she does it. Maybe that will get explored more in a sequel. Otherwise, there were some good kills and a few really great, tense moments.
This was stuck in development hell in the 80s and it feels like something Full
Moon might have done when they were still decent. If you like exposition in
movies, you are in for a treat! The background story feels a little over complicated
and if not for Peter Weller, I think this would be one for the scrap pile.
It's not terrible but it's not great either.
I had a theory as to what this was about and I was way, way off! I'm a little
sad I didn't get to see this in the theater. It's that rare kind of movie that
delivers that ol' movie magic. It had some Shyamalan and King vibes to it but
in the best ways.
I'd like to thank blame the folks at the Halloween is Forever podcast for getting me to watch this so I could listen to them talk about it. The lead actress gave a good performance and I hope she goes on to do something better than this. I'm not sure if I didn't get the plot or if the movie is just that bad. I guess it could be both?
How do you remake a fun creature feature with a bigger budget and ruin it? Take out what made the original fun and re-use as many effects shots as possible from the 17 year old original. Not even the Greatest American Hero and Mila Kunis' screen debut can keep this afloat very long.
Now, this is how you do a remake! Good nods to the original, satisfying kills and some surprises along the way to keep it fresh. It did feel like it cut to credits a little quick at the end but I can forgive it that because I had a good time watching it.
Finally getting around to wrapping up wave 1 of Hasbro's Dungeons & Dragons animated figures and we've got the biggest for last: Venger and DungeonMaster.
Two figures for double the cost, how can you go wrong? If you're lucky, you might be able to find them at 50% at Target. I learned my lesson with pre-ordering all these figures. I could have easily gotten the entire wave at clearance price so no pre-ordering wave 2.
DM is a solid figure and I mean that quite literally! He has no legs and his torso just kind of goes all the way down to his feet, which are also melded into the body. No issues with the shoulder or wrist joints which are the only articulation. He's a cool little figure that I'd keep on my desk at work if that was an acceptable thing to do. Now I feel like I need to get a Black Series Yoda so they can hang out together.
At one point in my teens I started experimenting with painting
miniatures. Technically, I don't think any of these are specifically D&D
branded figures but I think it makes for a clearer post title then "Little
Meal Fantasy Figures." I got my feet a little wet at an even earlier age by
messing around with some of the figures from my
Dragonriders of the Styx Tower of Night playset.
For the most part, the games I played in were "theater of the mind" and we
rarely used maps and minis. If a map was needed, it was usually a quick sketch
of the area to give the players a better idea of how things were laid out.
These are by no means high art and were done by a total novice decades before
you could go online and find a tutorial for everything under the sun. The
paint is old and wearing off in places. Partially because I had no clue about
sealing them once done and them all being kept in a long, thin jewelry box
like you'd use to keep a watch or bracelet. I should probably give them a better home.
With these being generic figures, it's up to you to decide how to paint them.
Since it was so long ago, I can't say what I might have been thinking except
black and red look really cool together. I can definitely see this dude
cracking some monster skulls.
With the release of the new movie (it's fun!) and having a few figures I wanted to post about, I figured why not post about D&D the whole month? To kick it off, I'll be sharing my memories (what's left of them) on getting into the whole D&D thing.
My intro to D&D goes all the way back to the 80s when you'd rarely hear it mentioned without some kind of reference to the devil, black magic, and/or animal sacrifices. The infamous Satanic Panic of the 80s that hit everything from D&D to comic books to metal/rock music. Ah, the good ol days.
This is what got me into the game, the boxed Basic Set, complete with a set of dice and a crayon that you used to color in the numbers. Before I go any further, I have to give a shout out to Erol Otus who did this cover and lots of other art for D&D. I absolutely love his style! Look him up, you won't be disappointed.
Movies were a bit on the lighter side (in number, not genre!) this month thanks to a couple of Netflix docu-series. I'll be making up for it next month when Salem Horror Fest rolls around and I plan on taking in as many flicks as possible.
Sure, there's a couple filler/adventure-of-the-week episodes but there's also some really great ones that tie into the greater galactic story. And there's one that was so good that Mrs Dex, knowing nothing about the series, really enjoyed.
This docuseries explores the Malaysian flight that went missing in 2014. It's
more than a little freaky to think with all our tech that a plane full of
people could vanish leaving behind very little evidence as to what happened.
There's
plenty of theories out there
but we may never know.
Don't Pick Up the Phone (2023, Netflix)
Sounds like a horror movie and I'm sure for the victims, it was. I can't
believe this person got managers to strip search employees over the phone
while impersonating a police officer. Mostly, I can't believe people went
along with it. Don't want to watch the documentary? You can
read the wiki page
on it.
Hail, Adventurer! Are you looking for a good ol' fashioned dungeon dive in search of an Artifact of Incredible Power that's inconveniently located on the bottom floor?
If so, then The Labyrinth of Legendary Loot (henceforth known as LLL) is for you!
And the best part is...it's FREE! Read on (or just skip to the bottom).
Let's get this out before starting our journey: this is, in fact, a dungeon with twisty corridors and is not an actual labyrinth. You will not be bumping into a tight-panted David Bowie here. Although I haven't reached the bottom floor yet, so I can't say that with 100% accuracy.
LLL is a turn-based dungeon exploring, monster smashing, loot finding adventure. Your goal is to get to the bottom of the dungeon and recover the Thing. You start your quest as a generic hero with a basic weapon for killing, some Health for living, and some Mana for abilities. Unlike other Rogue-like games, there are no mystery potions or scrolls that you have to aid you. Nor does your hero level up.
How do you keep your hero alive while the monsters get stronger every level?
I went to my first ever estate sale this past weekend. Truth be told, it wasn't really an "adventure" but My First Estate Sale just didn't sound as catchy a title. Every time I hear the phrase estate sale, my brain instantly brings up images of a huge, mansion like home. Maybe it's Batman 66's fault for using "stately Wayne manor" all he time. But no, this was a two story house just down the street from me.
Along with the mansion, I always pictured it being some kind of high falutin event. What it actually is, is random people walking through and scouring the house for items. Imagine one day, something unexpected happens to you then people walk into your house. That's it. No pomp, no circumstance, just strangers looking at your stuff. Now, I don't know what happened to the owner(s) of the house but they were obviously older folk(s) based on the contents of the house.
Last year the Cybertronic Spree did a Kickstarter to fund a brand new album of original songs and it was successful! I got my rewards recently so I had to share them. But wait, do you know who The Cybertronic Spree are?
They're a band from the planet Canada made up of various Transformers! They put on a heck of a live show. This shot is from when I saw them in 2021, my first "post-pandemic" concert. Prior to this album, they mostly played covers but also had a couple of original songs. Back in 2019, they released a cover album of The Transformers 1986 movie. That's right, the covered the entire soundtrack album!
Let me tell you something about me...this soundtrack is one of my all time favorite albums. It came out just before I started my junior year in high school. I'd been into hard rock/metal and this album led me to new artists like Stan Bush and Lion. As you may remember, high school is a weird time and this album was there for me. Between Stan Bush's "Dare", "The Touch" and Spectre General's "Nothin's Gonna Stand in Our Way" this was my go to pick-me-up album.
Anyway, back Ravage, the new Cybertronic Spree album!
Another glorious 5 hours spent discussing 80s horror flicks. With this being
the third installment, there were a lot more movies I wasn't familiar with.
It's also got some nice mini-segments featuring horror stars talking about
their careers.
This was mostly pretty good. A couple of the song arrangements were so different from the originals that they lost the catchy bit which makes them easy to remember. Kermit & Fozzy drop in to Unpack their Adjectives and I am 100% behind a Schoolhouse Rock/Muppets crossover!
Red Rose (2022, Netflix)
Me on Friday: Hey, let's check out this BBC 8 episode teen horror looking
thing. Me on Monday: Wow! That was not what I was expecting. I love all the
young actors in this, they feel like a real group of friends and I was pleasantly surprised to see Isis Hainsworth from last year's Metal Lords on Netflix.
A cartoon based on a successful D&D podcast/campaign. While I will
probably never listen to the podcast (it's been going for years) I was really
surprised by the animated adaptation and greatly enjoyed it! It definitely has
the feel of playing D&D. It may be animated but it ain't for young
kids!
Obviously worth watching if you've seen the movie but man, who thought a
making of documentary could get you teary eyed? There were a few spots in the
movie where it looked like it was shot on a stage but seeing just how much
they shot on stage where I didn't think that was is amazing.
I was going to hold off on the next D&D figure installment but since the second wave just went up for pre-order (affiliate link) I figured it would be a good time to post.
Hank the Ranger is my second favorite kid in the series. Not so much because he's the leader but because he's got the coolest weapon, a bow that shoots endless energy arrows!
For those of you that haven't yet experienced the new windowless boxes, here's how the figures and accessories are packed.
Every year there are 25-30 ice sculptures put up in the downtown area and at
night, they're illuminated. I've never seen them lit up because it's February
and it's usually cold enough during the day to be out and about walking.
Although, this year was pretty comfortable.
Come, traveler, let us return to the realm of Dungeons & Dragons to meet a boy and his dog...uh, unicorn.
Today we're joined by Bobby the Barbarian and his unicorn friend/pet Uni. Good job with the naming there, kid.
Again, loving the external package design even if the contents are wrapped in thin paper with nothing really to keep them from getting tossed around inside. Remember last time when I said how much I liked the way they were making a larger image with the box sides? Well, someone fell asleep on that.
Where is the top of Hank's bow or Diana's right foot?? I swear this line just gets more disappointing the further down the rabbit hole I go. I can't overstate how much I want to truly love this line but keep feel like I'm getting kicked in the teeth. Oh well, let's see what's in the box.
Welcome to the first Media Recap in the far flung future of 2023! January was shockingly packed with a lot of movies for me. As always, movie titles below are Amazon affiliate links. And hey, Valentines Day is coming up so buy your sweetie a new horror flick! Or you can just use the link on the right to buy anything else.
Series
Wednesday (2022, Netflix)
A little late on the train but I mostly loved it. I feel it captured the
"Addams vibe" very well and it was fun seeing that the family exists in a world where there are supernatural beings. I saw a lot of complaints that the show was like a CW show but what would
you expect from the two guys that basically created the CW DC universe? Can't
wait to see what the next season brings! RIP original Wednesday, Lisa Loring. I was hoping she would show up at some point.
That 90s Show (2022, Netflix)
I enjoyed this a lot more than I expected. Aside from Kitty and Red, they
limit the original character appearances and establish a new group of kids
pretty well. Thankfully, they're not bashing you over the head with 90s culture. One thing I'm not a fan of is the 90s-fied version of the theme. If you liked the original, you'll probably like this too.
Back in October of 2021 (has it been that long?!) I backed this project on Kickstarter. If you've been hanging around here any length of time, you know I LOVE Halloween. So this was a no-brainer!
Just looking at the art on the Kickstarter page was enough to sell me on this.
But, of course, it's more than just the art, it's also a sort of a mini-treatise on celebrating Halloween.
Well, it took almost 40 years but we are finally getting action figures based on the 80s Dungeons & Dragons cartoon! As soon as it was announced, I knew I was going to go all in on the line...even if I have no idea where I'm going to display them.
We're starting it off with the group's most agile member, Diana the Acrobat. By the way, if you're not familiar with this cartoon, you may at least want to watch the intro to get an idea about the series and characters.
Now, Acrobat itself wasn't really a class in D&D and I always thought it was an odd thing to be when you have Fighters, Thieves, Magic-Users, etc. Earlier the same year the show debuted, the class Thief-Acrobat was introduced in Dragon magazine. I'm guessing having a character be even part Thief was frowned on for a kids cartoon so they went with Acrobat.
This is my first purchase with the plastic-free packaging and I have to say, I like the look of it! The box art is fantastic. I understand some people's gripes with it and I think it's definitely going to lead to an increase of scumbags buying them, tossing some other figure in, and returning it. One thing I'm not a fan of is the figure and accessories are just wrapped in a thin paper and not held down inside the box. It feels really cheap.
Back from the holiday break with the annual showing off of holiday loot!
We'll kick it off with the Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special Funko Pops.
First up we have Groot and Peter Quill. Groot is looking better here than he did in the actual Special itself, I am not a fan of that costume. Quill's got a Santa hat (which you can't see much of here) and a wrapped gift. I'm glad they did these so I can bring them out every year to give a Guardians tweak to the holiday decorations.
Drax has his "little man" lawn ornament and I just love it! Also loving Mantis' festive headband. What I'm not loving? The fact that you can only get Holiday Rocket in an Amazon exclusive 5-pack. Booooo!
It's time again for the annual tradition of cramming in as many holiday horror
flicks as I can...no matter how bad they may seem. There are a ridiculous amount of Christmas themed horror movies and a lot of them are the visual equivalent of
coal in your stocking. I found
this list
of what's on Tubi and after watching a couple, I don't think the author and I
have the same taste.
I've said this before and it's worth mentioning again given the upcoming
reviews. Indie, low budget horror can be a hard sell for me. I can get by bad
effects and/or acting if there's something for me to grab on to.
It's Christmas, it's got Muppets, guest stars, and most importantly, Pepe the
King Prawn. How can you go wrong? You can't!
Beauty & The Beast 30th Anniversary (2022, Disney+)
This was pretty cool! They showed the original movie intercut with live action
performances when the musical numbers come up. It was very well done,
especially the opening which looked to be done in a single shot while
traversing a backlot.
It's been so long since I first saw this, it was basically like watching again
for the first time. Murray is good but feels like he went off script a lot. By
far my favorite performance here has to be Carol Kane. She steals her whole
segment! The TV movie within the movie is great too. As a Christmas Carol
adaptation, I don't know that Murray's character quite experiences enough to
make him change his ways but it's still a good time.
