Some more 80s era film goodness, in no particular order
American Werewolf in London
Dragonslayer
The Cannonball Run
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
Prince of Darkness
Red dawn
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Heartbreak Ridge
TV and Movie Chat
-
rredmond
- Level 5: Delver
- Posts: 159
- Joined: December 28th, 2024, 9:13 am
Yay for Raiders and Heartbreak Ridge too!
Hudson was a great character. Have you ever read Jim Kramer's Arachnophobia! OSRIC module? Even though it's based on spider creatures as the baddies, it's such a fun Aliens feel to me. I've DMed it (a bit) twice, and always find keeping Aliens in mind helps me with the creepiness aspect, and the "you are going to be overwhelmed" aspect of it.
Hudson was a great character. Have you ever read Jim Kramer's Arachnophobia! OSRIC module? Even though it's based on spider creatures as the baddies, it's such a fun Aliens feel to me. I've DMed it (a bit) twice, and always find keeping Aliens in mind helps me with the creepiness aspect, and the "you are going to be overwhelmed" aspect of it.
-
Ancalagon
- Level 8: Noble
- Posts: 1691
- Joined: December 5th, 2018, 5:42 pm
- Location: Bellevue, NE
I've not seen Jim Kramer's Arachnophobia! OSRIC module but I was thumbing through the OSRIC core book for a few minutes last night. Nice coinkydink!
“Once you give a charlatan power over you, you almost never get it back.” - Carl Sagan
-
Necron 99
- Level 8: Noble
- Posts: 2038
- Joined: December 5th, 2018, 1:43 pm
- Location: Jacksonville, FL
Well, last night I wrapped up watching season 3 of Stranger Things and to be honest, reflecting back on it all, I think the series has jumped the shark since the latter half of season 2.
For those who haven't completely watched the season, I'll hopefully not spoil anything while giving my opinion on this season, below.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The 80s nostalgia train was running throughout this season, which is fine and fairly enjoyable, though the D&D aspect was really not a thing this season. Overall I felt the cast did a good job in their character roles; seeing Sean Astin in S2 had been a nice addition, this season we see Cary Elwes, which I also thought was a cool throwback to 80s actors. Also, like season two, there was a rather well done nod to a famous, sci-fi movie/character from the 80s which I definitely picked up on in a couple scenes.
But even with all of that I felt like the writers, who in this case I guess are the Duffer Brothers, got either lazy or fell into some of the same old cliche' storytelling traps that are so prevalent in films/tv these days. In season two, I didn't like the way the story shifted when Eleven ran away from Hawkins, it just didn't feel logical or natural and the coincidence of who she eventually met with her new group of "friends" felt even more unbelievable. I also never really cared for the "mind flayer" monster from S2. I thought the demogorgon monster from S1 was much better, along with the portrayal of the UpsideDown. After 3 seasons, I think S1 is still the best season in the series and I wish they had followed through with their initial plan of each season being it's own thing. S2 was ok, though by the end I felt it was pushed in a bad direction, definitely wasn't as good as S1, though I liked the growth of some characters during S2, like Steve and Dustin along with the introductions of Max and Billy. I was ok with the introduction of Robin to the cast this season, but her "twist" at the end of the season really annoyed me. Giving a nod to the Cold War era of the 80s was also a cool idea, but I think they could have done something better.
After all is said and done, I'm pretty meh on this season, though mostly leaning into the negative side. I didn't really like the way the monster was designed or carried out, I just felt like there were too many plot holes and careless mistakes made. Because the intention of the series was to have stand alone seasons and the first did so well, the D Brothers had to come up with some way to continue the story. For me, it really just didn't work.
I own the first two seasons on DVD, I'll probably leave it at that unless there is a 4th season and it turns out to be REALLY good.
Rants with spoilers:
For those who haven't completely watched the season, I'll hopefully not spoil anything while giving my opinion on this season, below.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The 80s nostalgia train was running throughout this season, which is fine and fairly enjoyable, though the D&D aspect was really not a thing this season. Overall I felt the cast did a good job in their character roles; seeing Sean Astin in S2 had been a nice addition, this season we see Cary Elwes, which I also thought was a cool throwback to 80s actors. Also, like season two, there was a rather well done nod to a famous, sci-fi movie/character from the 80s which I definitely picked up on in a couple scenes.
But even with all of that I felt like the writers, who in this case I guess are the Duffer Brothers, got either lazy or fell into some of the same old cliche' storytelling traps that are so prevalent in films/tv these days. In season two, I didn't like the way the story shifted when Eleven ran away from Hawkins, it just didn't feel logical or natural and the coincidence of who she eventually met with her new group of "friends" felt even more unbelievable. I also never really cared for the "mind flayer" monster from S2. I thought the demogorgon monster from S1 was much better, along with the portrayal of the UpsideDown. After 3 seasons, I think S1 is still the best season in the series and I wish they had followed through with their initial plan of each season being it's own thing. S2 was ok, though by the end I felt it was pushed in a bad direction, definitely wasn't as good as S1, though I liked the growth of some characters during S2, like Steve and Dustin along with the introductions of Max and Billy. I was ok with the introduction of Robin to the cast this season, but her "twist" at the end of the season really annoyed me. Giving a nod to the Cold War era of the 80s was also a cool idea, but I think they could have done something better.
After all is said and done, I'm pretty meh on this season, though mostly leaning into the negative side. I didn't really like the way the monster was designed or carried out, I just felt like there were too many plot holes and careless mistakes made. Because the intention of the series was to have stand alone seasons and the first did so well, the D Brothers had to come up with some way to continue the story. For me, it really just didn't work.
I own the first two seasons on DVD, I'll probably leave it at that unless there is a 4th season and it turns out to be REALLY good.
Rants with spoilers:
► Show Spoiler
“He found himself wondering at times, especially in the autumn, about the wild lands, and strange visions of mountains that he had never seen came into his dreams.” - Fellowship of the Ring, J.R.R. Tolkien
-
Necron 99
- Level 8: Noble
- Posts: 2038
- Joined: December 5th, 2018, 1:43 pm
- Location: Jacksonville, FL
While surfing the streams this holiday, I came across a docu-series on Netflix called, The Toys That Made Us. Each episode is a look behind the scenes and at the history of various toy lines from the 70s/80s that became phenomenons. Everything more or less gets covered, like GI Joe, TMNT, He-Man, Star Wars, Barbie, My Little Pony, etc. lots of cool stuff from that era and interviews with people who worked at the various toy companies like Mattel, Kenner, and Hasbro. So far, I've watched three episodes, GI Joe, He-Man, and Barbie (cause the girls).
I have to say, I found the episode on the creation of He-Man to be pretty cool, I had no idea the history behind the line. I'm curious if, at some point, we'll see an episode on D&D, even though there are already some historic documentaries out there. The good thing about the series is, because none of the episodes are dependent on the others, you can pick and choose to watch whatever seems interesting.
I have to say, I found the episode on the creation of He-Man to be pretty cool, I had no idea the history behind the line. I'm curious if, at some point, we'll see an episode on D&D, even though there are already some historic documentaries out there. The good thing about the series is, because none of the episodes are dependent on the others, you can pick and choose to watch whatever seems interesting.
“He found himself wondering at times, especially in the autumn, about the wild lands, and strange visions of mountains that he had never seen came into his dreams.” - Fellowship of the Ring, J.R.R. Tolkien
-
Necron 99
- Level 8: Noble
- Posts: 2038
- Joined: December 5th, 2018, 1:43 pm
- Location: Jacksonville, FL
Normally I would post this in the Trailer thread, but since it's related to an RPG, I figured I'd post it separately. I've mentioned Tales from the Loop in the past, but I think the thread was part of the last forum iteration.
Tales from the Loop is an RPG that came out about two years back and was initially based off of artwork by a Swedish artist. The premise has a "stranger things" vibe, focusing on a strange and unusual take on the 1980s, except instead of a supernatural flavor, it's more robots, machines, and weird science.
Looking forward to giving it a watch (coming to Amazon).
Tales from the Loop is an RPG that came out about two years back and was initially based off of artwork by a Swedish artist. The premise has a "stranger things" vibe, focusing on a strange and unusual take on the 1980s, except instead of a supernatural flavor, it's more robots, machines, and weird science.
Looking forward to giving it a watch (coming to Amazon).
“He found himself wondering at times, especially in the autumn, about the wild lands, and strange visions of mountains that he had never seen came into his dreams.” - Fellowship of the Ring, J.R.R. Tolkien
-
Necron 99
- Level 8: Noble
- Posts: 2038
- Joined: December 5th, 2018, 1:43 pm
- Location: Jacksonville, FL
I was six when this movie hit theaters, never got around to watching it until high school in the late 80s, early 90s. Even so, it has always been one of those horror flicks that stuck with me as having been very well done, for invoking an eerie feeling without having to resort to blood or gore. One of the most memorable scenes I recall is the opening scene, when the old sailor is telling the story to the kids on the beach; this sets up some history of the plot even if a first time viewer doesn't realize it at the time. Then the clock strikes midnight and during the witching hour, all sorts of random phenomena occur. For me, personally, this goes a long way to setting the tone for the rest of the film.
Fun Fact: I was watching this recently and caught something interesting that I'd not realized, prior. There's what I can only assume is, a nod to Lovecraft. There's a scene where Adrienne Barbeau's character is driving out to the lighthouse/radio station and on the radio, they mention the search for the boat which has not yet returned from the previous day out fishing. The announcer goes on to say, "...the coast guard has begun a sweep, south of Whateley, around Arkham reef..." (references to 'Whateley', which I assume refers to Wilbur Whateley, from the Dunwich Horror and then 'Arkham reef', a nod to Innsmouth and devil's reef).
Not sure how others feel about the movie, it's one of my go-to for 80s movies. The remake was not good, imo, and even though I wanted to like it, it suffered from the general trend in Hollywood of messing with the story, more often ruining what would be a good film.
Fun Fact: I was watching this recently and caught something interesting that I'd not realized, prior. There's what I can only assume is, a nod to Lovecraft. There's a scene where Adrienne Barbeau's character is driving out to the lighthouse/radio station and on the radio, they mention the search for the boat which has not yet returned from the previous day out fishing. The announcer goes on to say, "...the coast guard has begun a sweep, south of Whateley, around Arkham reef..." (references to 'Whateley', which I assume refers to Wilbur Whateley, from the Dunwich Horror and then 'Arkham reef', a nod to Innsmouth and devil's reef).
Not sure how others feel about the movie, it's one of my go-to for 80s movies. The remake was not good, imo, and even though I wanted to like it, it suffered from the general trend in Hollywood of messing with the story, more often ruining what would be a good film.
“He found himself wondering at times, especially in the autumn, about the wild lands, and strange visions of mountains that he had never seen came into his dreams.” - Fellowship of the Ring, J.R.R. Tolkien
-
Ancalagon
- Level 8: Noble
- Posts: 1691
- Joined: December 5th, 2018, 5:42 pm
- Location: Bellevue, NE
I enjoy this film and added it to my movie library some years ago. The fact that Jamie Lee Curtis is in it is icing on the cake!
Haven't seen the remake. All I know of it is that upon being reviewed, the only positive the reviewers could give was that it had a "hot cast" so that says about enough.
Haven't seen the remake. All I know of it is that upon being reviewed, the only positive the reviewers could give was that it had a "hot cast" so that says about enough.
“Once you give a charlatan power over you, you almost never get it back.” - Carl Sagan
