Category: Geeky stuff

The Empire Strikes Back retrospective: Hitting hard

In 1976, a little-known writer/actor by the name of Sylvester Stallone saw the release of his most critically acclaimed and culturally significant work, “Rocky.” Rocky told the story of a (seemingly) past-his-prime boxer being given the ultimate underdog’s title shot against the champion of the world, and it gave us all the drama one could ever hope for from such a scenario. Moreover, it had the good sense to lean into an incredible score, fast, hard-hitting imagery, a romantic subplot, and against every instinct modern Hollywood will try to bring to bear on any project ever, the hero lost.

That this movie has inspired 800 sequels/spinoffs is merely the cherry on top when trying to draw a comparison to what many consider to be George Lucas’ most inspiring work, his sequel to the smash hit “Star Wars,” “The Empire Strikes Back.”*

* This is where we note that Lucas didn’t actually direct this movie; Irvin Kershner did. While some like to use this fact as a weapon against Lucas in a personal vendetta sort of way (“Hur hur, Lucas didn’t even direct the best movie in the franchise! Hur hur.”), I think it is enough to note that Lucas was heavily involved in the making of the sequel, and that many people contributed to making Star Wars what it is today, Kershner included.

“Empire,” for short, had the unenviable challenge of trying to surpass the most popular film of all time, and it shares a weird amount of characteristics with what is ostensibly a boxing movie in “Rocky.” The most important and obvious, of course, is its total disregard for normal Hollywood endings. But I actually like the thematic comparison as well.

“Rocky,” and especially its sequels, became very well known not only for its incredible synth-scored training montages, but even more so for its over-the-top violence and depravity within the ring. Watching blood and sweat (and sometimes even body parts like teeth) sail through the air in super slow motion may not have meant much thematically beyond “this movie hits hard,” but good lord I couldn’t come up with a better description for “The Empire Strikes Back” if I tried.

This movie hits hard.

Continue reading The Empire Strikes Back retrospective: Hitting hard

The best NES games of all time

Hey, the NES Classic has (somewhat quietly) gone back on the market, which has made the system decidedly less rare. Way to be, Nintendo!

For the uninitiated, the NES Classic is a retro re-imagining of the original Nintendo Entertainment System, wherein 30 of the original games for the system are pre-installed on a miniaturized version (including shorter cords!) for retro-game enthusiasts.

This thing was created and released in 2016, promptly sold out, and then no one could get one. Acknowledging the demand, Nintendo has now re-(re?)-released the system … and I’ve managed to acquire one to bathe myself in the nostalgia … making it the perfect time for me to list out what I consider to be the Top 40 NES games of all time.

Why 40? Because I couldn’t narrow it down to just 30. (And I STILL left off a ton of good games.)

In cobbling this list together, I discovered less than half of my favorites made it onto the NES Classic. That should inform your purchasing decision (as should whether you already own any/most of the games on the device). For whatever it’s worth, I’ve got no regrets on my end. I’m happy to have these games now.

If some (all?) of this sounds familiar to you, I did this same rankings thing with the Super NES last year (and also offered a mini-review of that system). So feel free to check that out to decide how intelligent/dumb I am and/or engage in some Super Nintendo nostalgia.

Yes, it’s fair to say I love both of these systems. They were a big part of my teenage years.

So without further delay, here are my Top 40 NES games of all time.

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Why Transformers: The Movie is better than Avengers: Infinity War

It recently occurred to me that there are an awful lot of similarities between the recent Marvel Cinematic Universe extravaganza Avengers: Infinity War and the animated classic, Transformers: The Movie.

(No, not the Michael Bay dreck.)

While this might seem an insult to compare a gazillion dollar enterprise to a kids cartoon with an 80s sensibility, I don’t mean any particular offense.  Moreover, I’ve come to believe that Transformers might well have done it better when you really start to look it.

Which, okay, you can read as an insult if you want to — but I still hold the deepest respect for the folks who spent countless hours building the Marvel monstrosity that is Thanos’ quest. I think it’s important to state that upfront.

This is really more about speaking up about the quality of the original animated Transformers, which if we’re being completely honest, wasn’t all that great of a television series … it was the movie that elevated the proceedings considerably. And all due credit on this realization to the fine folks (MovieBob!) who produced this video of awesome-sauce.

I mean, this is a really deep dive on why the movie has merit, and I get it if you don’t want to go there. To sum up the video, there are tons of reasons to come to the conclusion that yes, the movie is really that good.

That all having been stated, why do I make the Avengers comparison?

Well, it’s a cultural touchstone and is present on people’s minds right now. That’s definitely a part of it. But more relevantly, they really do have a lot of the same characteristics.

Don’t believe me? Let’s take a look.

Continue reading Why Transformers: The Movie is better than Avengers: Infinity War

Let’s talk “Solo”

I have a tremendous amount of respect for the people involved in making “Solo.”

It was a thankless task. I mean, not literally, but let’s quickly break this down:

  1. Re-cast an iconic character associated with a beloved actor.
  2. Struggle through re-shoots, a changes in director, and a ton of bad press.
  3. Tell a smaller story that will be seen by the audience as not being essential to the overall narrative.
  4. Release the movie just 6 months after the “more essential” movie had sucked up the oxygen (and pissed off a small percentage of the audience).
  5. Attempt to release the movie on the heels of a pair of the biggest movies in history had, well, sucked up the oxygen.

Continue reading Let’s talk “Solo”

The soundtrack of Dave

I got pulled into one of those fun Facebook things recently, wherein you’re supposed to share something about yourself and encourage others to do the same.

So a chain letter, basically.

The upshot is this one was actually fun, as it was all about sharing “10 all time favorite albums that made an impact on you and are still in your rotation.”

Me being me, I chose to channel Rob Gorden from “High Fidelity” and do it autobiographical style, selecting and then listing musical albums that essentially told the story of my life.

Below, I’ve recreated that list for posterity … for anyone that wants to go on a musical journey with me through my life.

These are 10 albums that have a great deal of meaning to me. I hope you enjoy.

Continue reading The soundtrack of Dave

Your Avengers movie cheatsheet

Did you know that there have been EIGHTEEN movies released in the Marvel Cinematic Universe over the past decade?

18. Do you know how many Star Wars movies there are? 10, give or take (depends on if you count that Ewok stuff from the ’80s). And that’s over 40 years.

18.

If you haven’t been trying to keep up, you’re probably already painfully aware that it was a ridiculous number like that. If you’ve been gobbling them all up like a sleeve of girl scout cookies, however, you might have lost track of the madness.

Never fear, however! If you haven’t been keeping up and don’t want to sit through 40 hours of movies (check out this absurd marathon, which I’m pretty sure would kill a normal person), but you still have an interest in checking out one of the newer movies — perhaps the cultural phenomenon that is “Black Panther” or the mega-hyped “Avengers: Infinity War” coming out in a month or so — I am here to help. As a handy reference point, I’ll attempt to break down the major characters/plotlines in as simple a fashion as possible.

Feel free to bookmark and return to this as you need a refresher.

Continue reading Your Avengers movie cheatsheet

Star Wars retrospective: A New Hope

There is a scene in the original “Star Wars” (1977) that is often cited as being most representative of the themes contained therein.  It is of the protagonist Luke Skywalker staring off into the binary sunset as John Williams’ epic score swells.  Thanks to the fantastical sci-fi imagery on display (two suns, not just one!), and of course Williams’ wizardry, the audience is meant to take a breath (or perhaps lose it) in a moment of pure poetry.  Thematically, this is where the renamed movie earns its new subtitle, “A New Hope,” for we are now all in on joining Luke on his hero’s journey from this point forward.  It is deeply relatable, this hope, wonder and ambition of youth.  And truly, the golden boy will end up saving us all (multiple times, in fact).

But this is never the first scene I come to when I recall the movie.  Likewise, I don’t immediately go to the film’s most awe-inspiring sequence, the Star Destroyer rumbling overhead to open the movie and blowing out our eardrums while simultaneously making us question: “How big is this thing, anyway?”*

* Appropriately, this question can be applied to the size of the ship as well as the overall spectacle contained within the movie itself.

I don’t generally go straight to my earliest Star Wars memory either, that of the shoot-out on the Tantive IV or the droids’ subsequent journey through the desert (these images are burned into my subconscious forever).  What about the phenomenal closing space battle winding over and around the Death Star?  Or Jedi mentor Obi Wan’s heroic self-sacrifice?  Or our first glimpses of the outlandish Cantina and all of the bizarre creatures inhabiting it?  Nope, nope and nope.

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‘The Last Jedi’ provides new thrills … and a familiar feel

I think I’m done with the business of ranking Star Wars movies.  “The Last Jedi” has done me in.

I could make a pretty compelling argument for this being one of the three best movies in the franchise.

I could also make a pretty great case for it being one of the three worst movies in the series.

It doesn’t make a great deal of sense to me to spend time or energy trying to come up with a proper ranking at this point, especially with it still being so fresh.  There are probably better pursuits a person can engage in.

Such as ranking porg appearances!

Just kidding, but yes I wanted to put some thoughts about the new movie down for posterity.  And its capacity for keeping folks like me unsure about its place within the saga is as good a place to start as any.

Continue reading ‘The Last Jedi’ provides new thrills … and a familiar feel

The best Super NES games of all time

Ranking Super Nintendo games is basically an impossible task. Go through any “best-of” list around the interwebs and you’ll see an absolutely loaded selection of games, featuring some of the true all-time greats.

Looking through the selection of games for other video game systems, I have little doubt this was the greatest console of all time. There’s just so much depth.

So how do you sift through all of that?

After making my own list, I still don’t know.

I do know my inspiration came about in part because of the release of the Super NES Classic, a retro system release (featuring 20 games from the original lineup … and one new one) which I recently read has been outselling “new” consoles like the Switch and Playstation 4.

That it’s resonating in a major way is no surprise to me. I bought one myself!

Read on for a list of 30 reasons why Super Nintendo nostalgia is at an all-time high.

Continue reading The best Super NES games of all time

Some Super NES Classic thoughts

If you follow me on social media, you know I recently succumbed to my nostalgia and purchased a Super NES Classic, the retro re-release of the Super Nintendo Entertainment System that originally made its debut in late 1990.

It’s been 27 years? Holy crap, I’m old.

Anyway, this was mostly simpler than you might expect given Nintendo’s notorious supply and demand issues. I woke up a little early and hung out at Target for an hour before they opened. The other people in line were all remarkably friendly and the whole affair was civil and organized.

Props to Target! And props to Cait for waking up early and ferrying the kids to school for me!

So I am now in the process of playing all of the games that come pre-installed on the system. This is a treasure trove of some of the best video games that have appeared anywhere at any time. Instead of listing them here, I’ll offer some of my thoughts on a few of them, as well as the system itself. Later on down the road, I’ll do a ranking of the best games on the original system … after I’ve had a chance to play some of these classics I’d never gotten around to before.

So here goes:

Continue reading Some Super NES Classic thoughts