Game of Thrones Season Five Review

Jon and Ghost

It is probably fitting that on the fourth anniversary of starting this blog and the 150th post overall, we revisit the same topic as the very first post. I started the blog back in 2011 with a post about the first season of Game of Thrones on HBO. Having just finished watching season 5 on HBO Now, the timing was perfect.

For those who have lived away from media of any kind, Game of Thrones is the TV adaptation of George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series. The story of the political intrigues and conflict for the throne of Westeros, a fictional fantasy kingdom, where magic and violence are all too real. For four seasons, Game of Thrones has followed the story from the books and in season five we finally see the TV show catch up with the source material.

Both Mr. Martin and the show runners, David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, have stated that the show and the book series will tell the same story but will do so in different ways. In season five of Game of Thrones, we see this happening more than ever before. Without giving away spoilers, the TV show tightens up many of the various storylines from the novels by excluding characters from the story and having major events in book 5 happen to other characters. In the changing, the story doesn't lose any of its impact. In fact, some beats in the story are even more horrifying due to the characters involved in them than in the books.

What continues to shine in the story are the landscapes and cinematography, which is beautiful. We get all of the sweeping vistas, castles, ruins and, of course, dragons! Season 5 even brings more new characters to the story, interesting ones who bring new conflicts for fan favorites to overcome. Some of my favorites were the feisty Sand Snakes (daughters of Oberyn Martell). We also get to see epic moments for many of our favorites (both bad and good).

If you are looking for happy, happy, fun time, you should know to look elsewhere than Game of Thrones. If you want a complex story that is gritty and, at times epic and awesome, and in others crushing and horrible, then Game of Thrones will deliver it. Can't wait to see what happens in Season 6 or Book 6, whichever comes first. Both are great and will tell different stories, so I will end up reading/watching both. Game of Thrones Season 5 gets 5 Mick Happies.

Does Not Commute Review

Mediocre AB's Does Not Commute won one of Apple's design awards at the 2015 WWDC. Quite an honor and the game is in some distinguished company with other award winners. I am not surprised to find it winning awards. Let me tell you why.

Does Not Commute is the strategy game based on trying to help citizens of a town get where they need to go on their daily commute. On each level of the game, you are given the top-down view of that section of the town. You are given a commuter, a little bit of their story about who they are and where they need to go and are shown the direction they need to go to exit the screen. From there you help them get to their destination by turning left or right by touching the screen on the left or right. The cars auto-drive forward. If you run into anything, the car will be damaged and slow down. Get all of the commuters to their destinations before you run out of time, you reach the next checkpoint and start the next screen (with any remaining time available from the last screen being your starting time for the next one).

A simple premise, right? Wrong. As you help each commuter, they still drive over the same path you took them down last time as you are trying to drive another car! You will end up with a snarl of traffic and have to plan ahead to make sure each car can get where it needs to be. As you complete levels, you will unlock power-ups that can be used to help each commuter. Faster speed, better traction control, armor are all earned in the first few levels and really come in handy. You can only have one activated at the start of each commuter's run. There are additional time power-ups you can collect during the commute of one of the cars if you drive to the right place.

Beyond the simple gameplay and deep strategy that it brings with the layering of each car moving across the level, Does Not Commute has really nice graphics and a quirky storyline going one. You get a voyeuristic view into the sleepy little town these people are commuting across. Most are funny and weird but all are interesting. All of this comes together into a really fun game.

Does Not Commute is free on iOS (also available on Android) and you can play the whole game free if you make it all in one go. To unlock the use of checkpoints that you earn by completing levels, you will need to make a one-time in app purchase to get the premium version of the game. If you like it after the first few runs, I am sure you will find the couple dollars to be well spent.

For me, driving controls on touchscreen and even console games just don't work as well. There isn't the force-feedback you get driving a real car, so I tend to be awful at them and over-correct or over-aggressively turn. I wish that Does Not Commute had a Draw Race 2 mode where you could draw the route you wanted each car to go rather than real-time trying to drive them. If that mode was available, this would be a 5 Mick Happy game for me. As it is, Does Not Commute if 4.5 Mick Happies. Well worth checking out. See you on the commute.

The Boxtrolls Movie Review

Archibald Snatcher

On Netflix the other night I finally sat down and watched The Boxtrolls. For those who don't know, it is the latest stop-motion animated film from Laika, the production company behind Coraline and ParaNorman. The Boxtrolls is the story of the town of Cheesebridge where the Victorian-esque town is thought to be besieged by trolls who wear boxes and come out at night to steal.

The story really begins with a child being taken away by the Boxtrolls and a man named Archibald Snatcher using that as an opportunity to get what he has always wanted, a white hat, by exterminating the Boxtrolls. You see, people in Cheesebridge wear hats according to their station and a white hat puts you at the top of society and earns you access to the tasting room where you can sample all of the best cheeses. It is a really weird place where cheese and hats are the priority. Beneath Cheesebridge you have a world built by the Boxtrolls that is like a scavenged, recycled Steampunky wonderland. It is in this world that a boy called Eggs grows up and lives with the Boxtrolls all under the specter of the Exterminators, led by Snatcher, who are capturing Boxtrolls to rid the town of their menace.

Like their other two movies, The Boxtrolls has an amazing visual style and to know someone made everything by hand is unbelievable. I mean take a look at this behind the scenes featurette about the making of the film.

That is crazy detailed and I can't imagine how painstaking that work actually is. Oh to be that artistic.

The things that work well in The Boxtrolls, besides the visuals are the interactions with some of the characters. Though they don't talk much, the Boxtrolls themselves are very expressive and interactive and caring with each other. One of the best bits of interaction between characters actually comes between Richard Ayoade's Mr. Pickles and Nick Frost's Mr. Trout who work for Snatcher. They are constantly questioning whether what they are doing would get them seen as heroes or villains. Very self-aware stuff that doesn't quite break the fourth wall.

There are themes of creativity, caring, and empowerment in the story. Especially how Winnie, Elle Fanning, the daughter of the town's lord steps out and takes matters into her own hands when her parents and other adults can't be bothered to think beyond their own needs/wants. Of course there is also selfishness, greed, and malevolent behavior on the part of the bad guy, Snatcher, and his crew. Since this is a kid's movie, the bad guy even looks like a bad guy to make it easier to spot.

Does the story have some ups and down, sure. However, the visually stunning and creative way the movie is shown more than covers those up. You would have a hard time finding something else to spend ~90 minutes watching. Take a break and go get immersed in the world of Cheesebridge, it will be worth your time. The Boxtrolls gets 4 Mick Happies.