BOARD GAME REVIEW- LORDS OF VEGAS

Lords of Vegas is a game I enjoyed the first few times I played it. And then it started to be less enjoyable. This isn't to say it is a bad game, but there are games out there which I prefer for a board-gaming experience.

In Lords of Vegas, you are trying to build up your Casino's along the glittering strips of Las Vegas. To do this, you draw a random tile, then can decide to construct at this location, sprawl to another location, and gamble to try to get more money (or takeover a casino). If you draw a certain type (colour) of casino, players who have developed that type of casino get points.

The game looks great for what it is, and I think that may be what attracted me to it originally. The random drawing kept the game tense the first few times I played it, especially the choice to do an expensive sprawl just to be taken over by an opponent. Of course, my brain then decided it to compare to Settlers of Catan.

To me, if you took Settlers of Catan and compared it to Lords of Vegas, Lords of Vegas does not stand up well. Instead of trading, you now gamble (roll a dice and see if you or your opponent gets more money). Instead of choosing how to expand, you randomly get told where you can expand. To sprawl, you pay allot and another player can randomly take it without earning it at all. This wouldn't be a problem if sprawling wasn't so expensive to be randomly taken away from you (costs twice as much).

The whole game seems to have party-game type mechanics but, unfortunately, it seems to be far too long to be a party game. There is also an artificial score limiter that seems designed to help the party flavour and to address balance issues (this being that there is limited point to building more than single-tile casinos if they, once again, don't randomly fall on your lap). This keeps scores artificially closer, but once again seems to Band-Aid the game balance rather than truly addressing the issue.

Some people can argue that Lords of Vegas is meant to be this sort of game, but I don't play board games for this much randomness. This may simulate the gambling aspect of Las Vegas, but at the expense of player skill. There is some timing and player luck mitigation, but with so many more games out there that have done this thing better in the past (right back to Settlers of Catan), I will be trying to avoid this where possible.

1 out of 5 glitter-strip waffles.

BOARD GAME REVIEW: KEYFLOWER (2012)

Keyflower is a bit of a funny game. On the surface of it, it shouldn't work. It is part worker placement, part bidding and bluffing, part city building, part resource management, part randomiser. And somehow it does, being a relatively fast paced game that combines just the right amount of these elements so that nothing feels too tacked on.

Keyflower is the story of you trying to establish your colony. Every season, new resources come in and new buildings are available to build. Players then either have the option to bid on these tiles or utilise them. Once everyone is out of moves, winning bidders get to place the tiles in their villages to be utilised and upgraded by themselves (or others) later by moving resources to them. At the end of the 4th season (winter), most points is the winner.

This game has allot of cool mechanics going on. For example, you can move your bidding pieces if you are the losing bid, and your 'secret' victory point conditions are actually things you can choose to bid on (rather than automatic bonus'). For a game with so many disconnected elements, it comes together really well.

There are only two criticisms I have with it. For the most part, the theme of the game comes through really well. However, some mechanics are (by balancing and gameplay necessity) slightly disconnected from the theme. For example, why can you utilise tiles before anyone has built them and why don't workers return after utilising opposing players tiles?

The other criticism is that if a player is prone to 'analysis paralysis', there turn can drag out. This is also true if someone is the first player, not paying attention and planning during other players turn, or if there planned move is taken away at the last minute.

However, these complaints are minor. For the most part, the artwork and elegance of the game match the theme (new workers arrive every turn). The game flows really well and their are allot of paths to victory and options you can take on your turn. The game doesn't drag with allot of players

5 out of 5 Penal Colony Waffles.

MOVIE REVIEW: THE MARTIAN (2015)

The Martian is a movie that goes for 2+ hours and yet feels very short. It is also a movie that has no business in being as good as it is especially seeing as it eschews allot of the modern trappings of current similar movies.

Set sometime in the future, humanity is doing manned missions to Mars. However, during one of these missions, Mark (Matt Damon) is left stranded on Mars after his crew departs. Now it is up to Mark to survive on Mars until he is rescued. And if that sounds simple, it is because it is.

Jumping between NASA and Mark on Mars, this story is a very simple one. It doesn't have a big villain or mystery. All it comes down to is a bunch of people each trying to do their best to save the life of Mark. It also has no tragic backstory or the like, with the filmmakers correctly guessing that surviving on Mars alone is a big enough villain for this movie. Gravity and San Andreas should've taken some notes.

All the actors in the movie bring exactly what they need to. In fact, this whole movie is a bunch of parts (music, acting, etc.) coming together and doing exactly what they need to for the whole to be good. And it ends up being very good.

By the time I got out of the cinema, I was feeling like the movie was very short. This was until I checked the time and discovered it went for 2+ hours. The pace and story of The Martian were that good that it kept me on the edge of my seat the whole time. And that is saying something because this is the sort of movie where the result is never in doubt.

5 out of 5 International Watered Down Martian Waffles.

Movie Review: Self/Less

Self/Less is a 2015 movie that has it's moments, but is an ultimately flawed movie. Starring Ryan Reynolds in the lead role, the film often relies on co-incidences and false mysteries rather than having faith in its story.

The premise of Self/Less is that an old man, a leader in his field, approaches the end of his life. However, he learns of a technology where he can be put in the consciousness of a younger body that has been grown in a vat. This was originally to allow him to continue his good work but instead he starts using his body for a good time.

Instead of exploring the premise of what people would really do with a second chance, it instead switches gears. From a philosophical opening, it morphs into a standard action/mystery thriller which leaves all potentially deeper musings behind (until the climax, where the tonal shift is quite unexpected).

As an action/thriller, it doesn't really hold up. All the mystery's are easily predicted and tend to fit standard tropes. Although this isn't necessarily a bad thing, Self/Less doesn't really offer anything in its place. the action scenes aren't really that engaging and the characters aren't really anything to invest in. A billionaire who can buy his way out of aging and someone who is so obviously telegraphed as being the bad guy aren't really anyone that I could emphasise with.

t the end of the day, Self/Less starts by looking at some of the deeper questions but ends up being a sub-par action/mystery with nothing much to offer.

1.5 out of 5 Selfish Waffles.

MOBILE GAME REVIEW: SAMURAI SIEGE (SPACE APE)

In the world of clone games to the ever popular Clash of Clans, Samurai Siege is an offering from Space Ape games. It follows the usual Clash of Clans formula of training troops and then attacking other players bases while waiting for time-based upgrades and collecting resources.

Samurai Siege has a bright, colourful aesthetic set in feudal japan. Your troops include samurai, ninjas and mongols. Most of these troops fit in a standards trope of the tank, the glass cannons, the heavy but expensive troop. However, there are some characters that add interesting wrinkles in the formula. These include a commander, who can boost or change the targets of nearby troops, or alternate weapon upgrades for some troops.

However, the bright colours also serve to work against it. Newcomers may find it hard to pick different defences out when looking at bases to attack. By the very nature of the game, you don't spend allot of time looking at bases so it is easy to miss things when you are assaulted by a wall of colour. Another hard thing for newcomers is that the matchmaking isn't particularly good, often being matched with opponents who have been at it for awhile.

The things that make this game stand-out are the interesting aesthetics and some of the new ideas behind some of the units. It isn't particularly welcoming of newcomers however, and this is likely to continue as the game is still being updated, leading to bigger gaps between the new players and veterans. Newcomers aren't helped that the waiting times seem to scale quickly. While Clash of Clans tends to have a long time before you feel like you are just waiting around for upgrades, Samurai Siege seems to reach this point allot quicker.

Overall, the game is interesting and you will like it if you like Clash-style games and some of the new ideas it brings. However, it won't change your mind if you don't and the entry level seems to be quite high.

3 out of 5 sword-tapping waffles.

Book Review: Luxe (Anna Godbersen)

Luxe is a novel set in a Victorian-American era. It follows the back story of some socialites as several of their worlds are turned upside-down. All the lies and all the back-stabbing is exposed during the course of the story.

Luxe follows the story of the Holland family, Elizabeth in particular, and the Schoonmaker family. After the death of Elizabeth's father, the family is left in dire straights. To counteract this, Elizabeth must marry Henry Schoonmaker, son of a wealthy soon-to-be politician and notorious local playboy. This is where things start to get complicated. As various lies and crushes come to the fore, as well as scheming, this plan starts to fall apart.

Luxe is well written. It is written in short bursts from multiple characters points of view. No chapter is more than 3 to 4 pages in length and this gives it a real sense of brevity and pace. That being said, some of these chapter definitely feel like filler. Also some plot points are brought up but never resolved or never feel like they go anywhere.

Overall, it is an interesting story. But too often it seems to choose the narrative path of least resistance. I did discover during the end of reading this that it is the first book in a series. So it does build up characters and the world around them quite well. But as a stand-alone book, it doesn't serve too much up except for some lazy Sunday noon entertainment.

2 out of 5 Waffle of High Social Standing.

Board Game Review: Tiny Epic Defenders

Tiny Epic Defenders reminds me most of the hero siege-style games that were made popular by the Warcraft 3 custom maps. That is, without the 3-hour play time. From the same developers (Gamelyn Games) who made Tiny Epic Kingdoms, a game which brought a 4x game down to 15 minutes, Tiny Epic Defenders reduces a long, tower-defence style game down by a similar margin.

In Tiny Epic Defenders, you arrange a series of cards to form outlying regions around a capital city. On your turn, you can move your hero around these regions, healing them or defending them from monster attacks. On the enemy turn, the monsters attack the outlying regions and, if destroyed, they attack the city. Once the city is destroyed, it is game over. If you survive long enough for the boss monster to come out and you defeat them, you win.

That is about it. There are a few special rules about which hero you are using or which monster appears, but the mechanics are very simple. And like Tiny Epic Kingdoms, the simplicity doesn't stop the fun. The randomness in the turn order and the set-up gives it replayability and like all good co-operative games, there are never enough turns. From turn 1 or 2 you are started to put out fires for when the hordes eventually build up. And on top of this, when the big boss comes out, you have to deal with even more effects (like moving regions involuntarily at the beginning of your turn).

Tiny Epic Kingdoms takes up to 4 players but can be played solo. It is fully co-operative and players have nothing to gain by not helping your team. And once you survive, you definitely feel a sense of achievement. And if not, well, it only takes 15-20 minutes to play again.

One criticism is that hero abilities and items gained don't really work to differentiate your heroes very much sometimes. Especially if the draw and enemies means that your abilities may be useless for the game. And if you choose to play on hard difficulty, your abilities need to be used to the fullest. Another criticism is that the randomness can feel very unfair. On one turn, all your actions may be towards the start of the turn. Next turn, all your actions at the end. So it is very quick to go from not having many problems to being in a near-hopeless situation. However, to take away these elements is to take away some of the charm.

4 out of 5 Tiny Epic Pancakes that don't fill you up at all.

BOARD GAME REVIEW: PANDEMIC

 Pandemic is a classic board game with a simple goal: save the world from a deadly disease. It is a co-operative  game (at least the vanilla game is) and it is great fun to be a well-oiled machine in disease fighting. Or just have fun while being a completely ineffectual disease control force- the choice is yours.

 Pandemic (sans expansions) pits you against 4 epidemic diseases in a race against time. Played over a world map, each player moves around the board and uses their actions and special abilities to cure the four types of diseases before one of them kills the world. As per all action-management games, you have to decide what to prioritise your actions on as there is never enough time to do everything you want before one of the games lose conditions is satisfied.

 Pandemic is a co-operative game that plays simply but gives you a great sense of satisfaction when you narrowly avoid disaster. The mechanics are easy to pick up and it is easy to guide new players through the first game or two. However, be warned to pick your gaming group carefully. An alpha-player can easily bully players around until there is little co-operation and the game devolves into just one player playing multiple characters.

 In order to succeed, each player has to use their roles to maximise their actions. Once you get the hang of this, there isn't much more to the game. However, what it does it does very well. It is a very good co-operative game and a good introductory game. The expansions add more challenge and complex mechanics once some regular players are ready for it.

 4 out of 5 disease-ridden waffles.

MOVIE REVIEW: LET'S BE COPS (2015)

Let's Be Cops is a 2015 comedy movie that provides a bit of a shake up to the old buddy cop formula. Featuring a white guy and a black guy who are approaching mid-life and are quite disappointed in life, they each experience what it is like to be respected in the community. And once this happens, there is no turning back for them.

The big downside for this movie is that it just isn't very memorable. I can't really recall the names of the characters. One of the characters is a video game designer and the other character a washed-up former highschool football star. After the games designer gets his latest game shot down, they take some leftover police costumes to a costume party.

What follows next is semi-predictable. They like the response they get and the respect when they are walking home in uniform. They then decide to do it more often. Originally it goes well until they get over there heads. What follows is that true cops show that they are the real heroes they are while the main characters help out and find their self worth.

Being predictable isn't bad, however. This movie keeps up the constant laughs without any sudden tonal shifts. The main characters never turn into action heroes and the situational comedy is constant. Every time they get in over there heads, you wait to see it blow up in there faces. Although at the end it takes some liberties for the happy ending, it makes sense in the context of the movie.

Overall, Let's Be Cops is a surprising movie. It was constantly entertaining with a clear story that never tried to be something that it is not. It also earned its happy ending (for the most part).

4 out of 5  Legal Waffles.

MOVIE REVIEW: FAST AND FURIOUS 7

Fast and Furious 7 is kind-of just there as a movie. Fully embracing it's ridiculousness, this movie feels the worse for it. It definitely feels like a step backwards from Fast and Furious 6 because it is missing the earnestly that number 6 approached it's subject matter with.

Fast and Furious 7 features the return of the all-mighty Vin Diesel and is Paul Walkers final Fast and Furious movie (due to tragic circumstances). It goes on to show that some car drag-racers are really the best people for the job of high-level spywork and security operations for some unknown reason. This time they are being hunted by Jason Statham in revenge for them crippling his brother. The Rock is also in there but it feels like an afterthought.

There really isn't too much to say about this movie. It has removed all pretence of restraint to show cars jumping out of planes and between buildings (as shown in the trailers). And it feels the worse for it. The whole movie is that Vin's crew are glorified and are more than a match for a team of international arms dealers and a globally-feared assassin because of their street-smarts.

Fast and Furious 7 falls down because of this. The action scenes may sound impressive but they fall flat as there is no emotional investment in anything. They keep trying to outdo themselves to diminishing effect and the earnestness it used to have is gone. Fast and Furious 6 was surprisingly good as it struck a good balance. Fast and Furious 7 feels competent and nothing more or less.

2.5 out of 5 Drag-Racing Waffles.

MOVIE REVIEW: RAID 2 BERANDAL (2014)

The sequel to the awesome Raid movie, the question was how do you top the original movie. Similar to Dredd, the Raid was about a bunch of police officers who went to raid a crimelords building. Of course, the crime lord found out they were coming and subsequently slaughtered most of them.

The original Raid movie was awesome because of the tight action sequences set in densely packed corridors. It felt like an action game brought to life well, which is no small compliment to the movie. And it managed to do this with a minimalist storyline. Minimalist doesn’t mean bad, however, as the storyline, like the action movie, was a tightly woven story of betrayal and justice as a rookie cop finally succeeds in his mission.

The Raid 2 begins where the Raid leaves off, with the main character, Rama, being recruited to go undercover to root out more crooked cops. Starting off in a prison, we are once again treated to some slick action sequences before the movie turns into a suspenseful crime drama of betrayal and corruption. This story is surprisingly engaging, and it still works on a minimalistic style. There isn’t a wasted detail or scene.

And then there is the finale. The set-up all leads to a showdown as a one-man army of Rama goes through a bunch of gangsters. Every action sequence is unique and brings something new to the table, from introducing cool new characters (such as hammer-girl) or, my favourite, when Rama is escaping from a car.

In short, The Raid 2 lives up and even surpasses the original in several areas. It runs at 150 minutes, but it feels like every line and scene achieved a point. The storyline was more involved without ever feeling bloated, and the action sequences were just as good, or even better than the original as they had allot more freedom in terms of locations and props.

5 out of 5 machete cut waffles.

MOVIE REVIEW: HERCULES (2014)

Hercules is the latest movie starring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. Based on the legend of Hercules, Son of Zeus, it feels like there was a much more interesting movie hidden away in the story of this movie. Unfortunately, Hercules feels like it is rushed, with several big reveals coming across as formulaic rather than shocking.

The big hook of this movie is that Hercules and his 12 labours are all propaganda for a bunch of mercenaries that Hercules leads. Hercules was once part of the Athenian army and all the labours he accomplished were actually hoaxes (or the like). Hercules than uses his reputation that he gained from these deeds to help him get work until he retires. Added to this is that everyone believes he murdered his family in a “battle-rage”.

And so then we are onto his last job, where he will earn his last amount of gold before he retires to the beach. Of course, things go wrong, he ends up being double-crossed, and he has to prove he is really the legend that the myths make him out to be. Add in a rushed reveal proving his innocence in killing his family, and the movie feels like it has just been going through the motions.

Hercules is a decent action movie. However, I feel like there was a more interesting movie in how Hercules built up the myth of himself. Instead, the movie seems to be trying to be as generic as possible. The twist, the proving of innocence and the big heroic moments all feel like they are being acted off Action-Script 101. It doesn’t do anything special, and all the cool parts in the trailer (Hercules fighting the Hydra and the Boar) are fully shown in the trailer.

At the end of the day, Hercules is a competent action movie. The more fantastical elements or interesting parts of the movie are left by the wayside to produce a generic movie. Hercules could have been so much more special than it was if it was a little less grounded in realism.

2 out of 5 demi-god Waffles.

MOVIE REVIEW: JUPITER ASCENDING (2015)

Jupiter Ascending came after a last minute delay to its release schedule. Starring Channing Tatum and Mila Kunis, this movie is a mixture of space-opera and sci-fi. It has the general story about a chosen one just living a pretty underwhelming life in a world full of wonders.

Mila Kunis stars as the titular Jupiter, a Russian immigrant cleaner. However, she is also the exact genetic reproduction (and this believed to be reincarnation) of the former queen of the universe. He (former) children are each trying to find her so that they can trick her to signing away her inheritance. Channing Tatum is a wolf-soldier tasked with tracking her down. However, once he realises he was tricked, he turns into her superhuman protector and general bad-ass.

And that really is the meat of the story. Jupiter is kidnapped a few times, shows increasing agency in not throwing her inheritance away (which would mean the death of the earth as it is harvested for genetic material), and having Channing Tatum do cool stuff with his futuristic technology (such as rocket boots and temporary doorways) to save her. Which isn’t to say it is all bad.

Jupiter Ascending does an admirable job of keeping the movie pace up and not being caught up to much in world-building. It would have been easy for the movie to get stuck on some part of the lore it is building up. However, a couple of action scenes do overstay their welcome and seem to drag out a bit just to show some cool set-piece instead of letting it develop organically.

Overall there is not much to say about this movie. The lore they build up behind the worlds is quite good, the action scenes are also quite good and the character development of Mila Kunis and Channing Tatum is also good. It was entertaining for its 2+ hour run-time, but not too much stuck with me following the end credits. In the past, it is the very definition of an average movie. Today, however, it is a refreshing movie that is not a sequel/reboot/remake and not a superhero movie.

3.5 out of 5 wolf-spliced waffles.

MOVIE REVIEW: MAZE RUNNER (2014)

Sometimes, you wish that a movie was just made as a stand-alone movie. That is what hamstrings Maze Runner the most. Just when it seems like it has established its world and starts setting up the main story, it suddenly ends. Just when it starts to get really good, they try to leave it open for a sequel which undermines its main story.

Maze Runner is about a group of boys trapped in the centre of a moveable maze, who have had there memories wiped. In the maze, techno-organic reavers roam hunting any kids left there at night. When our main character arrives, Tomas, things begin to change. The reavers start attacking in daylight, the maze doesn’t shut the gate at night to protect the boys and a girl arrives. What follows is part lord-of-the-flies, as the boys fight for trying to escape vs staying put, and then the attempt to find an exit.

It feels like there are several different, interconnected movies stuck together in Maze Runner. There is the lord-of-the-flies type infighting amongst the boys. Add to this the mystery of the maze and the attempts to escape the maze. Both of these movies mesh together quite well. However, towards the end of the movie, it tries to throw in a big twist which doesn’t provide a satisfying conclusion. It tries to set-up a sequel and leave unanswered questions, but instead it feels like it is only sequel-bait as it tries to set-up a franchise.

I have to mention I really liked the design of the maze and the reavers. The maze looks like an imposing structure of metal and stone, having that low-tech feel to it. The reavers also feel menacing as they crawl around, arachnid-like, picking off children. It helps that the movie shows restraint in its first half in neglecting to show them too much, instead relying on the boys speaking about them in awe and fear.

Overall, Maze Runner does allot of things well. I am not sure if they could have fit the whole self-contained story in one movie, but the ending leaves the whole movie down. Instead of feeling like a self-contained story with a satisfying conclusion, the movie instead feels like sequel bait with too many unresolved plot-points to make the journey worthwhile.

2 out of 5 lost-in-space Waffles.

BOARD GAME REVIEW: ZOMBIE 15"

Zombie 15" is a really good Zombie game. My view of it might just be colored by the fact that this is the first time-based game I have played, I am a sucker for a well-themed game or I really like co-operative games, but Zombie 15" has been the stand-out game that I have played in 2014. And there were allot of new games that I have played over 2014.

Zombie 15" is a co-operative game for 2-4 players. It is played on a modular board, with tiles set-up that can be changed to create different scenarios. Each player takes the role of a teenager with some different powers as they try to survive and outrun the main zombie horde. In each game, you have a goal to achieve in 15", often involving cutting a path through some zombies to a finishing tile.

The main strength of this game is right there in the title. Zombie 15" is played over 15 minutes. At certain times (depending on the scenario, every minute or 40 seconds), more zombies appear on whoever's turn it is. There are no traditional turn limits- just however many action you can fit into 15". This encourages the game to keep moving fast and analysis-paralysis is severely punished. It also means that no games ever drag, as you know that each game will last 15 minutes. The set-up time is also only approximately 10-15 minutes.

The artwork and plastic figures for the game are great and really match the exciting, upbeat tone of the game. They are colourful and never take themselves too seriously. The only complaint is some of the Zombie figures seem quite flimsy, but this is a minor complaint. The board, character cards and item cards all look fantastic and are of god quality.

One thing the game could improve upon is the co-operative aspects of the game. Most the scenarios just degenerate into each player leap-frogging the previous player and trying to kill zombies to clear a path. However, with a modular board and custom scenarios, I anticipate that the replay value of this game will go up. I have already been thinking of rules to put the Left 4 Dead Zombies in the game (especially the Witch and Tank) or to modify some of the tower defence-based scenarios, and the game encourages you to make up your own custom scenarios. There is a website where they will post them, although how flexible the core game is to allow custom scenarios remains to be seen.

Overall, Zombie 15" is my stand-out board game of 2014. Although I have played more serious games and games that ran longer, Zombie 15" has a strong, colourful theme to make it stand-out and is always allot of fun whenever we break it out for a game or 4.

4 out of 5 hordes of waffles.

Movie Review: Street Fighter- The Legend of Chun-Li

After the original street fighter movie was generally regarded as a flop and overall horrible movie, there was an attempt a few years back to try to reboot the Street Fighter name with The Legend of Chun-Li. This movie effectively answers the question of what happens when you take a campy-fun movie and remove the camp from it.

This movie is effectively an origin story about Chun-Li. It stars the usual suspects as the villains of Balrog, Vega and M. Bison. Zangief was conspicuously absent as his performance in the original Street Fighter provided ample entertainment. Some other characters are also introduced and I wasn’t sure whether they were from the expanded Street Fighter universe, such as Gen as Chun-Li’s trainer.

The story, however, seems to be very ashamed of the silly-fun that the original movie had and tries to take it too far the other way. There are very few moments of fun and levity in the movie and most the characters don’t seem to be enjoying themselves. The exception to this is Balrog as he seems to be having allot of fun in his role as big, strong guy.

Outside of Balrog and possibly Chun-Li, most of the actors seem to be miscast. Gen as Chun-Li’s trainer looks far too young to invoke the Karate Kid type training vibe they tried to go with. Vega looks menacing but is never really given much to do. Bison doesn’t really have the air of menace or gravity that he is meant to, no matter how many sound effects they play when he is on screen. The worst acting is by far the actor and actresses that played the police inspectors tracking down Bison.

Maybe most of the miscast actors would have been passable if the story was more compelling. They turned a villain who was meant to be insane into a property mogul to try to ground him in reality. Bison also only has one weakness: The White Rose. The White Rose ends up being the good part of Bison’s soul but it is never explained why this is a weakness. When Chun-Li and friends get the White Rose, they don’t even use it to defeat Bison. There is an element of mysticism in what Gen, Chun-Li and Bison can do (i.e. fireballs and super strength) but it is often ignored until it is convenient. In short, the story is a mess that tries to have it both ways (i.e. a grounded story and mysticism) and ends up failing in both departments.

Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li is a bad movie. It is, in effect the worst of both worlds, with none of the silly fun from the original Street Fighter and a poor story that makes no sense. Most of the acting is bad and the actors and actresses are miscast, for the most part. The attempt to reboot the series into a grounded movie feels like they attempted to make it like Batman, and they failed horribly. It’s only saving graces are Balrog and that it is only 90 minutes long.

1 out of 5 Waffle Hadoukens

PODCAST : SERIAL

Serial is an engrossing real world who did mystery. 4 out of 5 waffle detectives

MOVIE REVIEW: THE IMITATION GAME (2015)

Kicking off 2015 with a bang, The Imitation Game seems to be getting things off to a good start. A pseudo-documentary about World War 2 and The Enigma Code, this movie sees Benedict Cumberbatch starring as a troubled mathematician who delights in solving puzzles, including the most complicated puzzles of the time.

Benedict Cumberbatch stars as Alan Turing, a gifted cryptographer and mathematician who is tasked by the Allied Governments to solve the "puzzle" of Enigma, the German code language. Set in three time periods (his childhood, during the war and post war), this movie sets Alan up as a tragic figure, not able to understand much of the world around him and always unintentionally insulting everyone around him.

The movie then follows Alan through his trials of trying to work with his team to solve Enigma by making a computer. This includes his charismatic former boss, generals who are beholden to the chain of command (who Alan uses against them) and being a homosexual in a time that they were persecuted. Benedict Cumberbatch puts in his normal solid performance into this role. The only criticism is in some scenes he seems to overact his part.

This may be a product of the screenplay, however. As the movie moves towards its tragic final note, the writers seem to want to make more speeches and actions by Alan monumental speeches or actions. Where the movie could have used a scene or two more in between of Alan being a bit more laid back to contrast against the rising intensity, instead the next speech by Alan seems to try to outdo the previous one in terms of showing his detachment from the world or being suitable "quotable". This is a very minor quibble and, for the most part, the movie is well paced until its endings.

The endings are where the tragedy of Alan's life plays out. This movie goes the Lord of the Rings route of having about 4-5 different end points. Every ending, however, continues to be more tragic and depressing than the previous one. This movie definitely decided to not end on an uplifting note celebrating post-war Brittain, but the rest of the movie set the foundations well for this depressing ending.

4 out of 5 Mysteries Trapped Within Enigmatic Waffles.

FAVORITE MOVIES OF 2014

The festive season is gone, along with the hangover from New Years. Seem like no better time to reflect back on the year that was. Clearly have a bad memory because there were heaps of good films release this year. I didn't get down with many indie or art house films, sometime feel like a movie bogan. Only sticking to a diet of blockbuster titles. That a subject for another day.

Only doing my top 5 movies for 2014. These are the films that I personally enjoyed.

Guardians of the Galaxy

Every year I over hype myself up or a movie. This year it was Guardians of the Galaxy. It was just pure delightful fun with a soundtrack that I’m still listening to.

How to train your dragon 2

A kids movie where the character actually grow up. Everything about this movie was bigger. From the dragons to the personal moment. After seeing this movie I dream about dragon and vikings for days. 

Noah

 

This movie blow my expectation away. It took artistic liberties with the story of Noah. So glad they did. 

The Lego Movie

Everything is AWESOME !! 

Banksy Does New York

Was actually an HBO documentary. Which explored Banksy New York residence. Showed how crazy people are for art for numerous different perspectives.