Friday, 29 January 2021

The Roman Pod And Cast - Episode 253: Vaccine Bernie

The following presentation is Emotionally14 Endorsed. We didn't make it ourselves, but the people that did are fantastic and we think that you'll like it!


This week Roman and Rob discuss the Bernie meme, the new vaccines, unsolicited advice and much, much more. A proud member of the Emotionally 14 Family, the EMC and The Tangent-Bound Networks.


Roman Pod And Cast

Roman LeBeau and Robert Cast are just a couple of Canadians 🇨🇦 that put our own twist on headlines and trending stories. Not to worry. We try to keep the "eh's" and hockey talk to a minimum!

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Thursday, 28 January 2021

The Nerd Room Episode #255. GODZILLA VS. KONG, SUPS & LOIS, MARVEL’S HEROES REBORN

The following presentation is Emotionally14 Endorsed. We didn't make it ourselves, but the people that did are fantastic and we think that you'll like it!


Join the crew to breakdown the latest news from the NERD world including; Godzilla vs. Kong trailer, Superman & Lois Trailer, Marvel's Heroes Reborn comic series, WandaVision Episode 3, and much more!


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Be sure to check out more from the Star Wars Commonwealth and follow Talk Star Wars, Tumbling Saber, Generation X-Wing, Rogue Squadron Podcast, San Diego Sabers Radio Podcast, and Sandcrawler Podcast!


The Nerd Room

A Star Wars, Marvel, & DC Podcast
A weekly podcast bringing you the latest Star Wars, Marvel, and DC news and reviews!

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Bring on the Bad Guys: Marvel Crisis Protocol Round-Up

Hello, once again, and welcome to Bring on the Bad Guys.

Sort of.

If you’ve been paying attention to the news, you’ll be aware of that whole ‘pandemic’ thing that’s going on at the moment, so it’s not actually possible for me, your host as always, Brad Harmer-Barnes, and my constant compatriots Ian and Dave to get together to make an episode of your favourite superhero themed tabletop gaming show. It’s a sad time, but the time when we can get back together gets closer every day.

However, that’s not stopping Atomic Mass Games, Knight Models and the producers of all the other wonderful games we play from releasing all sorts of wonderful new stuff for us to play with. We’ve decided that the best thing to do it let you guys know all about it, here, and then get them on the table for a test drive and a gameplay video as soon as government guidelines allow. So, here we go.

VENOM

The sticky, manipulative, multi-fanged Venom has been a fan favourite since his introduction in 1988, and the work of artist Todd McFarlane was largely responsible for making him so recognisable. The symbiote suit has been worn by a few different characters over the years, but it always makes the person it bonds with stronger, faster, more resilient, and slightly more insane.

All Marvel: Crisis Protocol sculpts are incredibly detailed, and this one is no exception. The musculature on the suit looks great, and the level of detail on the teeth and facial sculpt is insane. With a bit of effort on the paint job, this is going to look great on the tabletop alongside the rest of your team…or preparing to eat the brains of your enemy.

There are a couple of nice, narrative touches in the powers and upgrades, which – obviously – we’re huge fans of. There’s “Uneasy Allies”, which allows a team featuring Spider-Man and Venom to enhance each other’s fighting abilities, making Venom more of the anti-hero he’s become in recent years. Another nice touch is in “Symbiotic Instinct”, which stops your enemy from being able to modify or enhance their defence dice against Venom’s attacks, nicely representing Venom’s ability to bypass Spider-Man’s spider-sense.

This is a great figure, and they’ve really done a great job of making him feel like Venom. The ability to have him run as either a Sinister Syndicate villain or a nicer “Agent Venom” type is a really good touch.

GREEN GOBLIN

Possibly Spider-Man’s most famous long-running nemesis, Norman Osborn has arrived in Crisis Protocol, complete with the Goblin Glider and an array of pumpkin bombs. This model kit has absolutely astonishing levels of detail, and – in a nice change from Atomic Mass Games’ normal approach – it looks like it won’t actually be that much of a pain to put together.

“Blind Obsession” is a fantastic skill, allowing you to get an attack bonus after declaring an enemy character to be one that the Green Goblin is “obsessed” with, but it is something of a double-edged sword. The focus comes at the cost of making him more susceptible to be attacked and blind-sided by other characters in his single-minded quest for destruction.

“Well Laid Plans” allows for some great tag-teaming if you’re smart enough to put him in a team with Doctor Octopus, and I think it’s fair to say the temptation to run a lot of Sinister Syndicate teams in the near future is going to be pretty hard to avoid.

SHE-HULK

The newest release comes in the form of single female lawyer Jennifer Walters, who can turn into the mean, green smashing machine She-Hulk! I have to say that this is the first Marvel: Crisis Protocol sculpt that I’ve been a little disappointed by. It’s not bad by any stretch. In fact, it’s perfectly fine…but the rest of the series has been so outstanding it’s just making it look a little lacklustre by comparison. It’s just a little basic and uninspired. The pose and costume aren’t anything you haven’t seen before on a hundred Heroclix. Heroclixes. Herocli.

On the table, however, I think she’s going to be another absolute tank, on the same level as Hulk and goddamn it when are we getting Red Hulk and Abomination I want to have big smashy smashy fest…Sorry. There is a card in here which allows you to form an impromptu team up of Hulk and She-Hulk, with all the vehicle and building throwing that that entails. Time to invest in some new terrain.

Actually, you know, She-Hulk doesn’t just look like she’s going to be a tank. I’d go so far as to say that it looks like she’s going to be a tank destroyer. She has several abilities that are built to fight against larger and heavier enemies, so Black Dwarf or MODOK could find themselves taking a pasting if they’re not too careful.

There’s also now an A-Force faction, which is the biggest faction available so far, comprising twelve characters (at time of writing). Maybe that’ll help balance out the Sinister Syndicate a tiny bit.

Join us shortly for more quickfire superhero reviews!

Follow the show on Instagram @bringonthebadguys and Facebook @BringBadGuys


Brad Harmer-Barnes is a writer and comedian who has been into tabletop gaming since he was eight years old. He is the host of Fire When Ready on Emotionally14.com, co-host of Talk Star Wars, and a frequent guest on The E14 GameCast. His latest novel Fog of War is available now in paperback, Kindle and Kindle Unlimited. You can follow him on Twitter and Instagram @RealBradHB using the buttons below!




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Wednesday, 27 January 2021

Rob's Movie Night Roundup - "A" (About Time, Aquaman)

At the beginning of the year, my wife and I decided that we'd like to watch more movies. There are 52 weeks in a year, 2 of us, and 26 letters in the alphabet. What better way to choose some movies than to go alphabetically? The only rule: Where possible, it should be a movie that one or more of us had never seen before. Oh, and ideally it should be part of one of the copious online streaming services we're already subscribed to, because why bother paying for a rental when we're not short of options?

Incidentally, if anyone from the big online streaming service providers is reading this (your Notfluxes or your Prims, for example), please make it easier to search for/sort movies alphabetically. Thanks.

Anyway, we just finished our first letter of the alphabet (A, for those playing at home). Even though we didn't start this off with blogging in mind, I thought I'd jot some thoughts out about my impressions of the two movies we watched. For an added bit of fun, as we go along from A-Z, try to guess which of the picks was mine. It's not always as easy as it looks (hopefully)!

Also, fair warning: There may well be movies that appear on this list that you'll find hard to believe I haven't seen before. It happens.

About Time
Directed by Richard Curtis
Starring Domhnall Gleeson, Rachel McAdams, Bill Nighy

Synopsis via IMDB: At the age of 21, Tim discovers he can travel in time and change what happens and has happened in his own life. His decision to make his world a better place by getting a girlfriend turns out not to be as easy as you might think.

I think it's reasonable at this stage in the year 2021 to acknowledge that if you watch a film by Richard Curtis, there are going to be certain things that will be unquestionably true. The subject matter, even if quirky and unorthodox, will be emotional and funny with strong performances in many places and generally make use of a particularly cracking tune or two to punctuate the subject matter. Increasingly, these movies will also feature the wonderful Bill Nighy.

Seriously, the guy's a bloody treasure.

Anyway, as the synopsis outlines, the primary mechanism of storytelling here is Tim (played by Domhnall Gleeson) travelling back in time to alter stuff about his past while trying not to drastically alter his future. Time travel in movies is always a risky gambit but the premise here is simply and effectively delivered, and doesn't tie itself in knots to any great degree. What's nice is that the time travel mechanic, while used to obviously tell the story in a certain way, doesn't take the easy route as often as it could. On the contrary, there are a couple of moments in the movie where there were really obvious plot paths that would've been easy to take and somewhat easy to justify, and I was pleasantly surprised when they didn't occur, because it allowed us to continue to root for certain characters which we might have otherwise not been able to do as much.

What I really enjoyed about this film, besides the stuff I gush about in the next paragraph, was how despite being a movie about how Tim's choices could theoretically be frivolous if he can just redo them (and there are a few moments of it during the film which are pretty funny), you somehow come out of this movie with the opposite feeling - that choices are powerful things, and that sometimes the alternative to what we chose could have been very different indeed to the idealised one that might cause us to fixate, so why worry? Great stuff.

In short, I bloody loved this film. It was funny, the soundtrack is great, the performances were top-drawer from all involved, and as someone who has been labelled an "emotionless robot" in the past when it comes to sad or emotionally powerful movies, I can say that this movie had at least one scene that had me as close to tears as I've been since my wedding day (out of happiness, to be clear). Entirely possibly, it made me think a lot about my own life and relationships, but nevertheless a powerful and effective scene for perhaps that exact reason.

Also, the song "The Luckiest" by Ben Folds is a belter, and used to great effect here.


Aquaman
Directed by James Wan
Starring Jason Momoa, Amber Heard, Willem Dafoe

Synopsis via IMDB: Arthur Curry, the human-born heir to the underwater kingdom of Atlantis, goes on a quest to prevent a war between the worlds of ocean and land.

Speaking of things that are pretty well established in 2021, the Superhero origin story is a path well-trodden. Aquaman, it has to be said, is one of the more enjoyable origin stories I've seen. For full context, besides the odd comic book (which I've found generally pretty enjoyable) and a couple of Heroclix models that you need a water-heavy map to really appreciate, I have no real connection or emotional resonance with Aquaman as a character, which depending on your point of view might either make me ideal to weigh in or the worst possible choice. Whatever, I'm a movie-goer, it's a movie. We move on.

The setup for this movie is a little weird, as I'd have imagined that the Aquaman origin movie would come in before his appearance in Justice League, but actually the chronology is the other way round and the events of JL have already happened when we are introduced to Aquaman in Momoa form - there are a fair few scenes at the very start of the film that establish the timeline up to that point, including Temeura Morrison which was a pleasant surprise to me as I'd managed to miss that he was in this film until he was on screen. I have no idea how.

Another nice surprise was the visual style and the audio stuff. I was sort of expecting something a bit more..."drab" would be the wrong word, but something grittier and grimier, more in line with the DC colour schemes from movies like Batman Vs Superman: Dawn of Justice or Wonder Woman. What I got from Aquaman instead was more like what I've come to think of as the Guardians of the Galaxy colour palette, a lot of bright and neon-style colours. It served the film really well, too, as they were able to present Atlantis in a really futuristic light (no pun intended) this way. It seems like DC are moving more into the neon space here and there with things like Wonder Woman 1984, and I think where it's used well it will serve to highlight the contrast of different characters, locales and time periods.

On the subject of things I found a pleasant surprise, the soundtrack surprised me in a good way. I was expecting orchestral scores, more of a John Williams vibe, and while there was a sense of grandeur to some of the movie in this vein, it was much more synthy than I thought. Again, a good thing.

A few things didn't surprise me about this film. There are quite a few plot threads that I called early on, but I'm not by any means saying that to brag as they were pretty easily telegraphed even if you didn't possess my formidable mind. Certain story beats left me thinking "Ok, well that'll turn out not to be true by the end" or "Well, that'll resolve this way" and sure enough, I was right. Perhaps this is just a symptom of the superhero origin story format being well-trodden, if not played out completely, but nevertheless not the most thoroughly satisfying experience.

In summary, I was hotter on About Time than Aquaman, but that's not to say that by any means I thought the latter wasn't an enjoyable movie. It was well-shot with exceptional visuals and music, the performances were good all round, it had a few comedy moments but didn't overdo it and the action set pieces were solid. Glad I watched both.


And that's A! I don't intend to write an essay on each movie, not least of all because it's been probably 15 years since I did any Film Studies and 10 years since my last movie review of any depth (mostly underground fighting movies on here). However, I do plan to revisit the subject matter once each letter is finished. At the time of writing, we're halfway through B and off to a fun-filled cheesefest start! I'll leave you to speculate.

Did you enjoy the roundup? Let me know! If you have thoughts on the movies chosen and their respective writeups above, you know where to find me. Maybe you don't, but there are buttons everywhere to make that happen. Comments, Twitter, you name it. Moreover, if you want to make use of this movie night format, bearing in mind you're a few weeks in and might have to double up to get up to speed, feel free to do the same - I'd love to know what you chose too!

Rob Wade


Rob Wade blogs about stuff he likes. Whether it's video games or geek media for Emotionally14 or writing about speculative theories for future films on Talk Star Wars, the focus has always been on the stuff that brings the most pleasure to his life within media.

Rob is the editor of Emotionally14, and showrunner of the E14 podcasts "The Crazy Train", "The E14 Gamecast" and "Talk Star Wars", as well as the host and guest of a number of pieces on E14's Youtube channel over the years.


Tuesday, 26 January 2021

SWC+ Round Table with Robert Cast - Rogue One Retrospective

This month on the SWC+ Round Table we finally tackle our Rogue One Retrospective. Rob is joined by Mike (Sandcrawler Star Wars Collecting Podcast), Carlos (Tumbling Saber Podcast) and Marc Godsiff to discuss one of our favourite Star Wars films.


Talk Star Wars

The official podcast of TalkStarWars.co.uk The latest Star Wars, Rogue One, Episode VIII and Star Wars Rebels news and rumour.

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Friday, 22 January 2021

The Roman Pod And Cast - Episode 252: Boomer Be-Dazed

The following presentation is Emotionally14 Endorsed. We didn't make it ourselves, but the people that did are fantastic and we think that you'll like it!


This week on the Roman Pod and Cast, Roman and Rob discuss the boomer forwards, bidets, unsolicited advice and much, much more! A proud member of the Emotionally 14 Family, the EMC and The Tangent-Bound Networks.


Roman Pod And Cast

Roman LeBeau and Robert Cast are just a couple of Canadians 🇨🇦 that put our own twist on headlines and trending stories. Not to worry. We try to keep the "eh's" and hockey talk to a minimum!

iTunes

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Thursday, 21 January 2021

The Nerd Room Episode #254. WANDAVISON, DC FUTURE STATE, CAP'S MCU RETURN

The following presentation is Emotionally14 Endorsed. We didn't make it ourselves, but the people that did are fantastic and we think that you'll like it!


Join the crew to discuss the first 2 episodes of WandaVision, DC Future State, and the return of some MCU fan favourites!


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Be sure to check out more from the Star Wars Commonwealth and follow Talk Star Wars, Tumbling Saber, Generation X-Wing, Rogue Squadron Podcast, San Diego Sabers Radio Podcast, and Sandcrawler Podcast!


The Nerd Room

A Star Wars, Marvel, & DC Podcast
A weekly podcast bringing you the latest Star Wars, Marvel, and DC news and reviews!

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Wednesday, 20 January 2021

Woo Long Talks - Episode 81: WandaVision review feat. Verbal Diorama & Dan's Distillery!

The following presentation is Emotionally14 Endorsed. We didn't make it ourselves, but the people that did are fantastic and we think that you'll like it!


What the Dickens is going on?? 'WandaVision', Marvel Studios first web television series is finally here and it is an enigma wrapped up in a mystery! We are joined by special guests, Em from 'Verbal Diorama' and Dan from 'Dan's Distillery' to give our thoughts on the 1st 2 episodes of the series, as well as try to unpack the many clues and puzzles the show presents us with. Needless to say, SPOILERS AHEAD, so watch the episodes before listening.

You can follow 'Verbal Diorama' on Twitter at: https://twitter.com/VerbalDiorama

You can also follow the 'Verbal Diorama' podcast from here; http://verbaldiorama.com and you can check out Em's written work at; http://filmstories.co.uk

You can follow Dan on Twitter at; https://twitter.com/Dan2Di2 And check out Dan's YouTube channel here; https://www.youtube.com/c/DansDistillery

Don't forget to find other great podcasts like us over at Brit Pod Scene, a collective of great British, independent podcasts; BritPodScene

Want to be a guest on one of our shows? Are you an independent artist, comic book writer or film maker and want a platform for your work? Get in touch with us at woolongtalkspodcast@gmail.com


Black, British and Nerdy! This is the home of our podcast, where we talk Movies, Comics, TV, Gaming and more. New podcast available every two weeks. Check us out!

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