The Magicians Review

There I am, reading on my iPad. That is how I read most books these days. Having a light at night to read a paper book happens to bother my wife (in my mind) so there you go. A device to read is brilliant. Recently, I loaded up that iPad mini with The Magicians, Lev Grossman's first novel in his Magicians trilogy from Viking Press. (By the way, it is still discounted in e-Book form if you want to check it out).

I was interested in picking up the book because I had heard reviews that liked it very much and also that a TV series was going to be made by SyFy. I don't know if it is better to read the source material before watching a TV show, but it has worked for Game of Thrones, so there you go. Very primitively, you could say this was an urban fantasy about a collegiate Hogwarts and the students who go there. That would only be scratching the surface. Below is my non-spoilery review.

The main character of the books is Quentin Coldwater, a Brooklyn teen who is brilliant but self-centered and doubting. Quentin is going out for interviews with college recruiters when he is whisked away to a very special exam for entrance to Brakebills, a college of magic on the Hudson river. What follows is Quentin's immersion into the hidden world right outside our normal sight, of magicians.

Obviously there are other students we meet and characters from Quentin's pre-Brakebills life that are interspersed within the story. In the background of the narrative is Quentin's love for the fictional series of children's books about a magical land called Fillory (similar to Narnia). The Fillory books are an obsession for Quentin and thus he is well primed to jump deep into his new Brakebills life.

The best parts of The Magicians involve the reader's discovery of this magical world along with Quentin. All of the best parts of Harry Potter series with a more modern take and geeky references to games and books that any fan of fantasy will notice. There are several make you smile moments there. What I found disappointing is that Brakebills and the years that Quentin spends there is only a portion of the book. The last third of the novel deals with Quentin's life after completing his studies at Brakebills and is a little poorer for feeling rushed and like it could have justified its own book by itself.

Be warned, you will get a lot of teenage/early twenties angst and petty behavior here as well. I can't say that the behavior didn't fit the story, though, it just makes you want to smack the backs of some character's heads. The other two books in the series are already available and I have read The Magician King the sequel to The Magicians, which is also good. Lev Grossman has a deeply thought-out world for the series and takes what readers who grew up on Harry Potter loved and made it fresh, more grounded in the world the reader is familiar with and added more modern sensibilities in the character interactions. If you are looking for a fantasy set in the modern world, give The Magicians a try, it gets 4 Mick Happies.

Silicon Valley Season 2 Review

It was only a couple months ago that I posted my review of Silicon Valley season 1. Silicon Valley is Mike Judge, John Altschuler and Dave Krinsky's comedy from HBO about tech entrepreneurs trying to achieve success in the tech Mecca of America, Silicon Valley. In the first season we saw Richard Hendricks (Thomas Middleditch) and his team at Pied Piper working to get funding and that their app had what it took to be successful. Season 2 shows many of the challenges that come with (modest) success - more funding issues as they seek Series A financing, lawsuits, competition and growing pains.

One of the highlights of Season 2 is the new character of Carla who joins the team. She is a friend of Gilfoyle and Dinesh (who are both still the funnier parts of the show with Jared) and has the chops to stand toe-to-toe with both of them when it comes to the game of pranks they like to play. She also provides plenty of awkward moments as Jared (Zach Woods) tries, unsuccessfully, to integrate a woman into the team. Another is the continuing journey of Big Head (Josh Brenner) as he continues to demonstrate no discernible skills other than his honesty as he rises at Pied Piper competition, Hooli.

Unfortunately, after those positives, there is not nearly as many funny or interesting highlights as you would expect from Season 1's success. The jokes are couched in incompetence and stupid actions by the Pied Piper team members rather than on awkwardness and naiveté that was prevalent in Season 1. I can only watch the team shooting themselves in the foot so many times before it just becomes painful. Plus there is not enough of Monica's character this season and probably too much of Erlich and Jian-Yang.

If you have HBO and some free time, you will find some laughs in Silicon Valley Season 2, but not nearly as many as Season 1. For our house, my wife is out and stopped around episode 6 unable to take any more. Given how the season ends, there is only about one way that the writers can get me back on board with the show and I doubt they will go there. Silicon Valley Season 2 gets 2 Mick Happies. Really bums me out as Season 1 was one of my favorite shows.

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.

Jamiroquai Game

My daughter rocks as a furniture dodger

It isn't often that some game comes along that my wife actually asks me to download for her. Yesterday, the Jamiroquai Game by Buncho Games came across her Twitter feed. Being a big Jamiroquai fan, she was intrigued. A half hour later both she and the daughter were dodging blocky furniture in a sterile white room as Jay Kay from the band just like in the Virtual Insanity video. Laughter ensued.

The free indie game is available via Game Jolt for PC computers - here. It is a recreation of the video mentioned above in that you walk around the room as black furniture comes sliding along at your (from the back or left or right). You just need to dodge as long as possible. The game keeps score of how many pieces of furniture you dodge.

It is a very simple game and uses the Virtual Insanity song as the sound track. You can move using the WASD or arrow keys and can restart the game anytime by hitting the space bar. It's that simple. Where it becomes brilliant is the crashing sound and physics of the avatar once he is mowed down by one of the sliding black seats. He flops to the ground in a broken heap still twitching.

The game is simple and addictive and fun. It won't hold your attention long, but you will have fun with it. I imagine a swipe or tilt powered mobile version would be downloaded millions of times just because it is that type of easy to play type of game. Good work on Buncho Games for making this one. If you have a PC, go give it a try. I give it 5 Mick Happies for the laughter it brought at our house. Here is a recreation of my wife's first game.

Daredevil Season 1 Review

2015 is turning out to be a big year for Marvel properties. With an Avengers movie, Ant-Man, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Agent Carter and two new series via Netflix, A.K.A. Jessica Jones and Daredevil. You can't find a place to avoid superheroes these days. I am actually getting a little burnt out on the genre and formula. Why does everything have to culminate in a "Save the World" level climax? Luckily, Daredevil is a little bit different on that account.

Daredevil is a 13-episode series from Netflix, Marvel and series creator, Drew Goddard, is based on the comic of the same name starring a blind lawyer with exceptional senses who fights crime in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood in New York City. Matt Murdoch, Daredevil, is played by Charlie Cox (Stardust) and is joined by his law partner, Franklin "Foggy" Nelson (Elden Henson). Together they work to be scrupulous lawyers in a town fraught with criminals. They are helped by their assistant, Karen Page, who is played by Deborah Ann Woll (True Blood). Karen also gets help during the series from a reporter, Ben Urich, who is played by Vondie Curtis-Hall. Okay, enough introductions.

At a young age, Matt Murdoch saves a man from being hit by a car but is hurt himself in the accident, which leaves him blind due to a chemical spill. Murdoch's father is a bruiser of a boxer who does his best for his family while having to deal with the corruption around his sport. This is all seen in flashbacks in the first two episodes. When we first really meet Murdoch, he is preparing to defend his and Foggy's first client, Karen Page, who is accused of murdering a co-worker.

From there the story twists and turns through 13 episodes where we find that the city is being overrun by criminal elements all associated with one Wilson Fisk played by Vincent D'Onofrio. Fisk has pulled together a coalition of heroin producing Chinese, drug dealing Russians, Yakuza and a money-laundering business man. Together they are working to re-make Hell's Kitchen into a better future. What isn't clear is who's better future that will be. Maybe the drugs and crime are just a means to an end.

Over the course of the season, we get to see Murdoch become a vigilante hero who uses his martial arts training and heightened senses to do some truly amazing things. They even provide an explanation of sorts as to how it happens. We also get to see the motivations of the criminal element, who are just as deep and flawed as some of our heroes. The entire season is essentially one big story told in 13 parts. There are ups and downs in how well the story is told, but it comes to a satisfactory (if a little rushed) ending.

One of the challenges of the show is that it is very dark and gritty. Probably best watched in a dark room where some of the black edges of each frame will be a little more visible. Watching on my iPad mini in a bright room wasn't always the best choice. Daredevil also has more than its fair share of violence, but it seems to fit the grounded, not over-the-top powers of the main hero. On the plus side, D'Onofrio is fantastic as Fisk and truly scary at times. One of the other standouts is Rosario Dawson as Claire Temple, a nurse who saves Murdoch a time or two. Toby Leonard Moore as James Wesley, Fisk's right hand man, is fantastic and cultured and stable while his boss seems complete unstable at times. Another great thing, which is funny to say, is the opening credit sequence (seen in the photos here) where parts of the city are drawn with flowing blood. Amazing stuff right on par with Game of Thrones' intro.

When I started watching the show, my wife asked me "Why do you like these superhero shows?" I really don't have an answer. Maybe it is the escapism or the idea that a flawed person can overcome those issues to make a difference. In the case of Daredevil, I liked that it wasn't solely about destroying everything (though there is a lot that goes boom). Hard to say what it is I like, but I did enjoy it and will be back for more.

If you are looking for realism, you will need to suspend disbelief a few times as Daredevil chases cars by running over rooftops or heals quickly after taking beatings. What you do get is a more grounded story than most superhero shows/movies and while there is an ultimate battle for Hell's Kitchen, the whole world isn't at stake. In the next season, I hope we get even more of Nelson and Murdoch as lawyers and broaden the story to encompass more than one main villain. At the end of the day, this is a very good show. It won't be for everyone, but it has a lot going for it and Cox is convincing as the blind lawyer and ultimately, hero. I am hopeful for the other Netflix/Marvel shows coming in the next year or two. Daredevil gets 4.5 Mick Happies.