Fall TV Thoughts - 2013

It is that time of year. We are, in some cases, almost a quarter of the way (or more) through the season run of TV shows for this year. As is the usual case in our family, we have purchased Season Passes for some shows and checked out the free pilots for still others. Below is a brief summary of my thoughts on the shows we have sampled so far.

The Big Bang Theory - If you checked out my Fall TV post from last year, you are aware that we have been watching BBT for several years and last season we started to see a drop off in our enjoyment of the show. Sad to say that is continuing into this year. The lack of character development for Sheldon - at times he is infuriatingly mean to other characters (and doesn't need to be). The flip-flopping for Raj - sometimes sensitive and then sometimes a jerk and then a complete disaster in front of women. They might as well just have Raj and Stuart start dating as at least that would be funny. Amy's character just continues to be the long-suffering girlfriend who has to roll her eyes at Sheldon. What can be done to raise the bar for this show is more episodes like The Romance Resonance, which was clever and sweet. They should also mine more geeky tropes like in the The Raiders Minimization (albeit without the subsequent lame response from Sheldon). Is the show bad, no. Is it as good as it has been, no. Worth watching, but not nearly as must see as it has been in the past - 3.5 Mick Happies.

Elementary - The show continues to mine the Sherlock mythology and provide insightful mysteries for the duo of Holmes and Watson to solve. If you have liked the show's first season, there really is nothing to keep you from liking the second season. The one concern I have is that the show seems to be modeling some of the episodes off of headlines from the news. While this has worked in the past for shows like Law & Order, it takes me right out of the story with Elementary. This is probably due to the mysteries seeming so unique in season one. We'll have to see if this is a trend of just a couple one-off episodes. - 4 Mick Happies.

Grimm - Coming off a big cliff-hanger from the end of season 2, Grimm could have gone seriously wrong with the start of season 3. Happy to say that the show runners quickly resolve the main story line from the end of last year. There are some long-term concerns that Nick and crew need to deal with and the writers probably need to stop trying to find relationship tension for Nick and Juliette, but overall the show is still fun and action-packed - 4 Mick Happies.

The Goldbergs - A 1980s-based sitcom covering the real-life antics of show runner Adam F. Goldberg's family. I made it through 2 episodes before deciding to not buy the complete season pass for this show. The nostalgia is there and it is funny, but not funny enough to sway me to vote with my dollars to watch the full season as it airs. What you get here is big hair, leg warmers, bright clothes, the start of rap hitting mainstream, teen angst, family bonding, etc. All the hallmarks of a family sitcom from the 80s. Oh, did I mention the roller rink? Look it up, think indoor skate park without the jumps (and most of the bruises). - 3 Mick Happies

Last Man Standing - Over the summer, we took advantage of Netflix to start watching the first two seasons of the Tim Allen, Nancy Travis starred family sitcom. Tim Allen plays Mike Baxter, the marketing head for an outdoor sports equipment chain. He handles work and his family consisting of wife and 3 daughters. The show also stars Hector Elizondo as Mike's boss and one of the standouts is Christoph Sanders as Kyle, a nicer than smart employee at the sports store who dates one of Mike's daughters. It is fun and easy to get into type of show. If you liked Home Improvement, there are shades of that here but doesn't feel like a re-hash. Note that there was a casting change in the oldest daughter between seasons one and two, but you will get past that quickly. Catch up on Netflix and then dive into season 3. Fun - 4 Mick Happies.

Super Clyde - This is the failed pilot from Gregory Garcia (Raising Hope, My Name is Earl) starring Rupert Grint (Harry Potter) and Stephen Fry. The show is about Clyde, who inherits a lot of money from an eccentric family member. Eventually he finds out what his (I think) uncle was doing, dropping wallets of money and helping those who returned the wallet. Clyde, with the help of his butler (played by Fry) becomes a super hero of sorts when he takes up where his uncle left off. This seems to follow in the same vein as My Name is Earl, helping people who need it on a weekly basis or at least it would have if picked up. You can probably find the pilot online and it is worth a view if just to see Rupert Grint in a part other than Ron Weasley. - 3.5 Mick Happies.

Almost Human - I have been waiting for this show since I heard about it. Karl Urban as an acerbic cop in a crime-riddled future who has to work with a android partner? Sign me up. Urban is partnered with an outdated android model that is programmed with empathy and feelings named Dorian (Michael Ealy). The show has action, funny dialogue and will have you wondering who is more human, the driven cop with regrets and bad interpersonal skills or his sympathetic android partner. Two episodes in and I can't wait for number 3. - 4.5 Mick Happies.

Those are the shows we are watching so far this season. Can't wait for Lost Girl to start up again and I did get to see the 50th anniversary episode of Dr. Who, but the ones above are where I have spent most of my TV show viewing time. Hope you enjoy one or more of them too.

DVD Quick Reviews - Attack of the 3.5 Mick Happy Movies

Feeling a bit lazy this week, probably due to too many hours playing Path of Exile, so here are some quick reviews of movies I have seen on DVD lately. All of the movies are out and available in the US through Netflix (and other sources).

I don't know about your house, but in our house we like to tease each other regarding our celebrity "girl/boyfriend" - those celebrities we think each of us secretly wants to end up with. This game tends to be more fun for my wife who has decided that there are several actresses I secretly want to date and there are very few actors that she cares about. Her ideal man would be Al Giordino from the Dirk Pitt series of novels by Clive Cussler. Basically a capable, no-nonsense, hands on guy with snarky humor who helps get the job done without having to have all the ego of the main character.  Which brings me to this week's movies - two of which star one of our girlfriend/boyfriend celebrities.

Byzantium - Neil Jordan's (The Crying Game) 2013 vampire movie starring Gemma Arterton and Saoirse Ronan. In modern day, we follow two woman, who look like sisters, as they move from one town to another avoiding discovery. This is a moody and sometimes violent movie that plays with the vampire idea (yes they can walk in the daylight - though they don't seem to like it). It is an interesting film, but a little angsty. My wife thought I only got this movie since it had my "girlfriend", Gemma Arterton, in it. Byzantium gets 3.5 Mick Happies. P.s., if you want to see more of Saoirse Ronan doing a fantastic job in a really good movie, check out Hanna.

The Heat - Paul Feig's follow up to Bridesmaids stars Sandra Bullock as an up-tight FBI agent who has to work with a shoot from the hip detective played by Melissa McCarthy. This straight-up buddy comedy takes us along for the ride as these two learn how to work together to stop a drug ring in Boston. There are laughs here and awkward moments but overall a fun movie. Not as funny as say The Proposal, but worth watching. Doesn't hurt that it had my wife's "girlfriend", Sandra Bullock, in it. The Heat gets 3.5 Mick Happies.

Pacific Rim - We round out this post with Guillermo del Toro's homage to the Japanese Kaiju (monster) movie. Here, gargantuan monsters invade Earth from a inter-dimensional portal under the Pacific Ocean and wreck havoc on the countries in the Pacific Rim. Enter the Jaeger (hunter) program consisting of giant robots piloted by two humans who have melded their consciousnesses to allow them to work together to run the huge machines. The rest of the movie is about mankind's fight to stave off these monsters and save the world. Standard science fiction fare here with some humor, an obligatory love interest story line and a guy who was a cocky hero, fell out and has to come back to try to save the day. There are some cliched bits to the story and nothing here is overly surprising. But it is a visually great film and there are lots of fun battle scenes if that is what you like. All in all, I give Pacific Rim 3.5 Mick Happies.

There you have it. A post full of celebrity girlfriends, action, comedy, vampires and giant robots. What more could you ask for?

Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft Beta Review

In honor of Blizzcon 2013, I thought I would share my thoughts on Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft, Blizzard's in-development digital-only collectable card game for Mac, PC, iOS and Android. I was lucky enough to score a closed beta code to access the game prior to release and have been enjoying kicking the tires on this free-to-play tactical/strategy game. As noted in other posts, I have some experience with the CCG genre from Magic the Gathering to Wheel of Time and others, so I may use some jargon in the rest of this review.

Earlier this Summer, Blizzard announced what I think is their first free-to-play offering, Hearthstone. At it's heart, Hearthstone is the digital evolution of collectible card games (though not the first given the release of Mohjang's Scrolls). The object of the game is to use a deck of 30 cards to defeat a computer or human opponent by reducing their avatar (a character from Warcraft) to zero life.

Each player in Hearthstone starts the game with the tutorial where you get to try the game as one of the nine avatars that are available in the game. Each avatar has a unique set of cards (as well as shared cards) they can use to build their deck - during the tutorial the deck is pre-set. To play you start with a hand of 3 cards (4 if you go second) and "cast" cards from your hand using the mana you get from mana crystals. Each turn you can take as many actions as you like from casting cards from your hand to attacking with minions (creature cards) or using your avatar's special ability (such as a fireball that does 1 damage to a specific target for 2 mana crystals). Creatures have the usual health/attack attributes as well as abilities that trigger when they are cast or based on certain actions in the game. There are even abilities and cards that give your avatar attack and armor allowing them better protection and the capability to attack your opponent directly.

Unlike other CCG, the resources used to cast cards is relatively fixed starting with 1 mana crystal and gaining another every turn until you reach a maximum of 10. This takes the randomness of drawing resource cards from your deck out the game, meaning that decks are smaller (30 cards) and games are typically played much faster than other card games (5 - 10 minutes on averages - sometimes longer). It also allows the player to focus on tuning their deck to the strategy they want to follow.

At the start of the game you have a single avatar to play and a deck of 30 basic cards. As you play, you gain experience that levels up your avatar, unlocking new basic cards until by level 10 you have unlocked all basic cards for that avatar. There are 3 play modes, Practice, Play and the Arena to choose from. When first starting out, you can play practice games against the AI and when you beat a given avatar opponent the first time you unlock that avatar and deck to play. Practice is also the place where you can test decks before trying them against human opponents.

The Play mode is 1 v 1 games against human opponents that the game tries to match you agains skill wise for a competitive game. You gain experience from those games as well and can also earn medals over time to help rank you for future matches. In the Arena, you pay gold (the in game currency) to get to basically build a sealed deck where you pick 30 cards one at a time from a selection of a few cards each pick. You then play with that deck until you have lost 3 times. The more game wins you have with your Arena deck before losing the last time, the bigger reward you unlock at the end. Also, Arena games do not have to all be played at the same time, allowing you to start an Arena game and then go back to it another day if you don't have time to keep playing.

The reward system, including Arena rewards, is based around gold, which can be used to start Arena games or to buy new packs of cards. Arena rewards can also offer packs of cards, gold or arcane dust. Each pack of cards (also available for real money purchase) give you 5 new Expert cards for your collection with at least one of them being guaranteed rare, epic or legendary (more valuable). The arcane dust reward can be used to upgrade cards into other, often more powerful cards - Expert common, rare and epic cards can also be disenchanted (destroyed) for arcane dust. All of which can be used to expand your card collection and thus allow you to build more powerful decks.

The gameplay of Hearthstone will be familiar to any Magic the Gathering player while removing a little of the randomness that game suffers from due to the reliance on land cards for resources. All of the common strategies are present in Hearthstone - overwhelming creatures, control, card advantage, removal, etc. What makes Hearthstone a potentially great game is how simple it is to pick up and play alongside all of the depth of deck building, avatars, card crafting etc. The crafting mechanic, the ability to always find a human opponent and the quick game play is great.

How Hearthstone will stand out from other games like it will be the cross-platform access that is coming. The game seems built for a touch interface. I imagine I will be playing a game or two before bed every night once the iOS tablet app is available. During the beta I have also found no need to pay for anything as long as you don't mind grinding out games to earn gold (you get gold for every 3 competitive game wins against a human opponent) or completing daily quests (win a few games with a certain avatar deck or kill a specific number of minions). The free-to-play model (as implemented right now in the game) seems to fit very well, where you can wait to get more powerful cards/decks if you have the patience or, for those who want to be more competitive fast, you can spend to get the cards you need now. Hearthstone will be a hit and if you like physical or digital card games, pick it up immediately when it becomes available to you. Hearthstone gets 5 Mick Happies. See you in the Arena.

Ender's Game Movie Review

Original Ender's Game story didn't even make the cover page of Analog

Today, after over 30 years, I got to see the Battle Room from Ender's Game. For those who don't know, the new movie, Ender's Game, written and directed by Gavin Hood is based on a novelette and later book by the same name. Ender's Game the novelette was written by Orson Scott Card and first published in Analog Science Fiction and Fact magazine in August 1977. The novelette was expanded to a full length novel published in 1985, winning both the Hugo and Nebula awards.

In the future, some 50 years after contact and war with an alien race, the Formics (or Buggers), mankind is training for another conflict. To prepare, children are monitored in their early childhood and then the most promising are chosen to go to battle school (and later command school) to train for the future conflict. What follows is the story of children, including Ender (played by Asa Butterfield), training into soldiers and commanders. Training that mainly takes place at the space-based Battle School run by Colonel Hyram Graff played well by Harrison Ford.

Hard to see here, but in the future there are still Audi cars

My ten-year old and fifteen year-old self really connected with this story. For many years it has been one of my favorite stories. There are details of the plot and backstory that I won't spoil in this review. My most favorite part of the story is the Battle Room, a zero gravity space where cadets in suits battle with "freeze rays" against other students in mock battles. I could imagine what it would be like flipping, flying and floating in that room while firing on opponents. Even back then I thought that this would make a fantastic team-based video game. I am happy to say that Ender's Game the movie nails the Battle Room in every detail (which unfortunately the picture of the room is blurry).

Ender's Game the book is a dense story with many plots and sub-plots that can't all fit into a movie (naturally). Some threads are cut entirely from the film, but are not central to the plot of the story. What I think is a detraction for those going to see the movie is that everything seems a bit rushed. I don't know if someone not versed in the story of Ender's Game will get the same detail and sense of character development in the movie that happens in the ~300 pages of the book. This means that some details of Ender's development at the Battle School don't have the impact or depth that I hoped to see.

Where's my damn holo display tablet?

The movie is visually stunning with terrific special effects. All of the story elements that matter are present, if not told in the same way as the book. What I am left feeling at the end of the movie is a little sad over how brilliant this story could have been as a three season run of 11 episodes TV show from the BBC or HBO. There the sub-plots that were dropped and the depth of the character development could have been fully realized along with more Battle Room and other training scenes. Instead we have all of the pieces, beautiful to look at, put together well with good acting but not the depth the whole could have had with more time.

Yeah, this looked pretty awesome on the huge IMAX screen

Ender's Game is worth watching and in IMAX looked great. The film, however, feels rushed and some of the details of the story lost their impact by fitting them into the 1 hour 50+ minute run time. Overall, I give Ender's Game 3.5 Mick Happies. Well worth seeing, but I recommend seeing it after reading the book to get the full impact of the story.