Thursday 27 May 2021

The Nerd Room Episode #271. ETERNALS TRAILER, DC ANIMATION DOMINATION

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 Nerd Room crew to discuss the new Eternals teaser trailer and the long list of new animation projects announced by DC and WB!


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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 - Episode 23 - X-Men: Mutant Insurrection - Gameplay and Review

Bring on the Bad Guys is back from its global pandemic induced hiatus, and Brad, Dave and Ian are celebrating with a brand new game. "X-Men: Mutant Insurrection" is a narrative dice game from "Arkham Horror" and "Elder Sign" designer Richard Launius, and this session sees Brad (Wolverine), Ian (Shadowcat) and Dave (Colossus) attempt to save the world from Magneto's Brotherhood of Mutants, as well as trying to convince the world that mutants are not to be feared and mistrusted.

Follow the show on Instagram @bringonthebadguys and Facebook @BringBadGuys


Monday 24 May 2021

Fire When Ready - Episode 52 - Star Wars: Legion Gameplay

The mechanised division of the Galactic Empire marches forward under the watchful eye of General Veers. Rebel commander Han Solo strikes from out of nowhere to sabotage their communication lines. Can a small recon force withstand the armoured might of Imperial Walkers?

Brad leads the Galactic Empire, and Ian leads the Rebel Alliance in this full gameplay episode of Fire When Ready: Adventures in Star Wars Tabletop Gaming.

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If you like the look of this game, or even if you're just in the market for a few new bits for your existing set, why not check out our Amazon Affiliate store to do so?




Thursday 20 May 2021

The Nerd Room Episode #270. TNR MAILBAG, DC STUDIOS

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!


Tim and Carlos are joined by Kyle from TumblingSaber to open the TNR mailbag and to discuss DC Film in the context of the AT&T - Discovery merger.


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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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Stitcher

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Rob's Movie Night Roundup - I (Instant Family, Idiocracy)

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.

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.

Previous letters are here: A B C D E F G H

INSTANT FAMILY
Director: Sean Anders
Stars: Mark Wahlberg, Rose Byrne, Isabela Merced

Synopsis via IMDB: A couple find themselves in over their heads when they foster three children.

There's something about heartfelt emotional movies that's really affecting me this year. Maybe the global situation and the accompanying social restrictions have made me more susceptible to human emotions. I mean emotions, of course. Ha ha. Humour deployed.

In short, this movie was wonderful. In slightly more detailed terms, I found Instant Family to be incredibly emotionally powerful, with great performances throughout. It made me laugh a fair bit, and even get choked up in a number of places.

One of the things that I think contributes massively to the enjoyment of this film is the performances from the younger actors. They do this wonderful job of being equal parts little shits and genuinely adorable and endearing, so you feel for them when things are bad and enjoy their triumphs. Mark Wahlberg and Rose Byrne do a good job as the despairing adoptive parents too, striking a good balance of sympathetic and irritating in places. This is by design, from what I can gather, although I guess that might be my read of it. There's a good supporting cast in the mix as well.

There's not much more to say on this one. I loved it, but it's not like a sci-fi movie where I can compliment the visuals, or assert that the orchestral score is top-notch in the case of a superhero movie or high fantasy epic. I think it had a few well-chosen songs in it, and the music certainly didn't offend my ears as I was listening, so that's something.


IDIOCRACY
Director: Mike Judge
Stars: Luke Wilson, Maya Rudolph, Dax Shepard

Synopsis via IMDB: Private Joe Bauers, a decisively average American, is selected as a guinea pig for a top-secret hibernation program but is forgotten, awakening to a future so incredibly moronic he's easily the most intelligent person alive.

I'm going to assume Mike Judge is reading this one. Hi Mike. I want to say upfront that, having watched a number of your TV shows and movies over the years, I feel confident with the following statement:

It's not you, I think it's me. Maybe it's other people. It's certainly not you.

I liked Idiocracy. It made me chuckle a few times. What I don't understand is the hype around it.

I felt this same sensation while watching Office Space. I found it while revisiting anything involving Beavis and Butt-Head as an adult. I've never really done King of the Hill but I'd be willing to bet I'd encounter the same feeling.

If I had to guess, I think it's the level of excitement that surrounds the films/TV series that just becomes impossible to live up to. I had this with a few things over the years. I got told "OH MY DAYS, YOU HAVEN'T SEEN _______? IT'S THE MOST AMAZING MOVIE/TV SHOW EVERRR!" I'd finally watch it and it'd be absolutely fine, but that build up is hard to come back from. Compared to the most amazing work of fiction ever devised, even the most enjoyable movie/TV enterprise isn't going to be able to measure up to expectations.

Idiocracy is a perfectly serviceable movie, but I will possibly *never* understand the magnitude of excitement that places like Reddit attach to it. I think it's become like 1984 (I almost said 'the 1984 of movies' forgetting that they made one of 1984); people use it as a means to say "look at this thing I don't like about the world - the world is becoming exactly like 1984/Idiocracy/Insert thing here. I am very intelligent and above such things." More power to you if you adore this movie, but I really cannot get my head around why it would be so beloved on that 'greatest fiction ever devised' kind of level.

Idiocracy is fine. I'm not going to tell you it's the greatest thing I've ever seen; it's not. I'm also not going to tell you it's the worst movie I've ever seen, because I've seen Birdemic if nothing else.


I (the letter, not the me) was a mixed one but generally an enjoyable time. I thought Instant Family was excellent, to the point of it probably making its way to the top echelons of the movies so far. Idiocracy probably wouldn't hit the bottom unless there's just a huge quality of movies on show. Maybe a ranking is in order once this year is said and done!

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.


Monday 10 May 2021

Bring on the Bad Guys - Episode 22 - Heroclix: House of X Unboxing - Marvel X-Men

Brad and Ian rate, review and unbox the House of X Brick for Heroclix. How many Wolverines will they find? Will the new Team-Up abilities turn out to be game-changers? Could all of them just be Mystique in disguise?

Follow the show on Instagram @bringonthebadguys and Facebook @BringBadGuys


Thursday 6 May 2021

The Nerd Room Episode #268: STAR WARS DAY, MCU TRAILER & WAKANDA FOREVER, THE BAD BATCH

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!


The Nerd Room crew breakdown a big week in Star Wars and Marvel with May the 4th, The Bad Batch, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, and a massive MCU Teaser trailer!


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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!

iTunes

Podbean

Stitcher

Youtube


Rob's Movie Night Roundup - H: The Highwaymen, The Hunted

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.

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.

Previous letters are here: A B C D E F G

THE HIGHWAYMEN
Director: John Lee Hancock
Stars: Kevin Costner, Woody Harrelson, Kathy Bates

Synopsis via IMDB: The untold true story of the legendary detectives who brought down Bonnie and Clyde.

We went into this one a little bit unsure as to what we were going to get. My wife isn't the biggest Woody Harrelson fan, despite his being fantastic in my eyes.

As it turns out, we needn't have worried. The Highwaymen is a really entertaining movie. Dealing with a pair of detectives brought back from the fringes to deal with Bonnie and Clyde, Costner and Harrelson do a great job as Hamer and Gault. They strike the perfect balance between "past their best" and "but their best was *good*...", chasing Bonnie and Clyde across multiple states and figuring out the best way to catch them out.

Bonnie and Clyde, it seems, had somewhat of a cult following during their crime spree. This film does a nice job of bringing that across, with the pair encountering many comments and interactions with people who felt that the pair were virtuous in their deeds. Regardless of where someone might fall on that line of reasoning, it was nice to see the film represent both points of view.

It's a good movie, I'd recommend it. The performances are strong, and there are some fun moments of levity despite the theoretically grim subject matter. I don't really have a lot more to say on the subject.


THE HUNTED
Director: William Friedkin
Stars: Tommy Lee Jones, Benicio Del Toro, Connie Nielsen

Synopsis via IMDB: An FBI deep-woods tracker attempts to capture a trained assassin who has made a sport of hunting humans.

Ok, so I made an error here.

We were browsing the catalogue one evening, about a week before it was my turn at movie night, and I thought "Ooh, I remember seeing the trailer for this and thinking it looked pretty cool."

It turns out I'd gone deeper than that. I'd not only seen the trailer, and thought it looked pretty cool, I'd actually gone ahead and seen the film, and thought it was fine.

I had forgotten having watched it until about twenty minutes from the end. Perhaps it was a university DVD rental that I watched half-asleep. Perhaps I just watched it one day on Netflix among a bunch of other films. Who is to say? The point is that I had seen it, and forgotten all about it.

With all this said, I didn't hate this film by any means. I actually quite enjoyed it. It was short, punchy and action-packed. It was just...a fine movie. Nothing to write home about. Del Toro and Tommy Lee Jones play off each other well, and it's all perfectly well done. It's just nothing incredibly mind-blowing. It looks great though, very well shot and some really nice camera work.


In short, H was certainly a letter whose movies we watched. Of the two, The Highwaymen would be my stronger recommendation, but if you're pushed for time The Hunted is perfectly serviceable. Neither one would occupy my top spot so far of all the movies we watched, but they certainly wouldn't be the weakest.

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.


Monday 3 May 2021

Fire When Ready - Episode 51 - The Worst Game of Star Wars: Legion Anyone Has Ever Played

Do you want to see the worst game of Legion that anyone has ever played?

Wasted Aim actions, terrible vehicle positioning and squads wiped out through general stupidity are the order of the day, as two guys who have been playing the game since launch and really should know better turn in a complete omnishambles of a "Let's Play".

Featuring Jyn Erso, and DTF-16! Not that that will save this absolute clusterfuck of a Skirmish Game.

Follow us on Facebook and Instagram @firewhenreadyuk, though quite why you'd want to after this is completely beyond me.

If you like the look of this game, or even if you're just in the market for a few new bits for your existing set, why not check out our Amazon Affiliate store to do so?