Month: February 2022

Patience is Required to Advance in Castle Morihisa

Castle Morihisa Review - Grueling But FunAvailable for PC (Steam) and Nintendo Switch

Coming from the world of collectible card games, Smokingbear Studio’s Castle Morihisa is a familiar product. The artwork reminds me of the early days of Magic the Gathering and not only is this game a deckbuilder type product but also include rogue-like battle elements. There’s more than a few cards that resembles popular ones from the Revised set, and here, players have to finessee their deck so that your character can take down foes with ease. Finding those rares are tough, and it requires dedicated weeks of play to find them.

Instead of button smashing, you are card slashing your way through various yokai and natural predators while headed to the tower. The goal is to banish evil from the land. There’s a rebellion brewing somewhere, and it’s up to players to stop that from happening.

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From Beyond the Grave, Spiritbox’s Eternal Blue Gets a Graphic Novel!

This adaptation of the concept album tells the eerie tale of Eva, a brilliant painter on the verge of unbelievable acclaim and success.

Eternal Blue: A Spiritbox Graphic Novel – Z2 ComicsZ2 Comics
Eternal Blue Slated for Late Spring 2022 release
Available to preorder online.

Following their formation in 2017, in Victoria, BC, the heavy metal quartet Spiritbox found a different way to haunt the charts. Although they’ve moved to Joshua Tree, California, let’s hope they’re still “Victorians” at heart. One of their singles, “Secret Garden,” may well allude to Frances Hodgson Burnett book of the same name, and suggest where a few of their tracks draw inspiration from.

But the pandemic stalled their plans for a proper debut in the tour circuit. Online, heavy metal fans took notice. This band’s debut album is getting the Z2 treatment and their debut LP, Eternal Blue will soon come out as a graphic novel. This was co-created with comic book writer Jim Krueger (Earth X, Justice) and artist Amilcar Pinna (Poppy’s Inferno, Generation X). Deluxe editions include a vinyl record and a spooky keepsake, a replica ghostbox!

This adaptation of the concept album tells the eerie tale of Eva, a painter on the verge of unbelievable acclaim and success. But her inability to reconcile her public perception with her true self allows a Spiritbox—a device used to communicate with the dead—to transport her to an ethereal world. Here, she finds herself trapped in a realm where false shadows become real and dangerous.

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Video Game to Movie Adaptations ‘Uncharted’ Future…

Right now, Uncharted is no better than the Tomb Raider reboot, and I’m still waiting for news about where that other franchise is going.

Uncharted: New Movie Poster and Images Revealed - IGNNow Playing in Theatres

Tom Holland still has his Spider abilities when playing Nathan Drake in the live action adaptation of the video game Uncharted and it doesn’t help make this film exciting. He’s still Peter Parker at heart and unless he can play against typecast, it’ll be difficult to see him play anything else.

Fandom has forgotten about the fan-film with Nathan Fillion as the lead. The screenplay by Rafe Lee Judkins, Art Marcum and Matt Holloway acknowledges the game in a way which I don’t recall from the games and it just feels odd. The cinematic take considers how maps can point to treasure and quite often, that’s not the case. It can lead to disaster, or perhaps to landing in Davy Jone’s Locker. In this movie’s case, it’s about setting up Nathan (Holland) and Victor Sullivan’s (Mark Wahlberg) relationship and how it’d play out when they’re in the field. These two aren’t exactly perfect for each other.

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Black’s Myth Gets a Series Two and TP News

Black's Myth #1 - Comics by comiXologyAvailable to order on Amazon USA
Release Date: Februrary 15th 

Ahead of the trade paperback release of the acclaimed Black Myth graphic novel by writer Eric Palicki (Atlantis Wasn’t Built For Tourists) and artist Wendell Cavalcanti (BlackAcre), Syracuse-based comic publisher Ahoy Comics has announced that the creative team, including star cover artist Liana Kangas (Trve Kvlt, Star Wars Adventures, She Said Destroy, BLACK AF: Devil’s Dye), will return for an all new series, to be released later this year.

The acclaimed, punk rock horror comic follows the adventures of werewolf PI Janie Jones “Strummer” Mercado and her charming djinn assistant Ben Si’lat as they solve crimes in the “supernatural underground” thriving in Los Angeles. 

The collected trade paperback will feature an introduction by CHEW co-creator, writer John Layman. In this volume, when the case of a lifetime falls into Strummer’s lap, it’s up to her and her charming djinn assistant Ben Si’lat to figure out just how many silver bullets have been used. (And just where do silver bullets come from, anyway?)

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Wei Xiang’s Too Cool To Kill is Hot and in North America!

Not everyone knows Too Cool to Kill is an adaptation of the Japanese film, The Magic Hour.

Too Cool to Kill Official Movie PosterWell Go USA
For showtimes and locations in North America, please visit the official English website.

Too Cool To Kill (这个杀手不太冷静) is too hot of a movie to handle. After its debut during the Lunar New Year in China as This Killer Is Not Too Calm–with terrific box office results–it’s coming to North America so Wei Xiang‘s comedic talent can be recognised.

The joy is in how this zany film pulls you into the life of Lyingtown with its sweeping Tim Burton style cinematography and iconic Euro style setting. The name of this sleepy seaside hamlet is intentional, as it foreshadows everything to come! Even the soundtrack establishes a Henry Mancini style tone.

After meeting the supporting cast of Mr. Harvey (Chen Minghao) nearly shot by the assassin Karl (Allen AI), we are introduced to Wei Chenggong (Xiang), a hasbin stand-in and part-time actor who hopes to make it big in Chinese Hollywood. But after the director MIller (Huang Cailun) chides him for his overacting, he’s asked to star in a bigger movie by the star of the show, Milan (Ma Li). The two happen to be siblings. But there’s a secret, the cameras will be hidden, and her agenda isn’t all that pure.

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Channing Tatum’s Back or Should That Be Bad, in “Dog”?

This film is Tatum’s most personal work to date; not only did he contribute ideas to the screenplay by long time writing partner Reid Carolin (with additional credit to Brett Rodriguez), but also directed.

Dog (2022 film).jpgChanning Tatum hasn’t been forgotten after appearing in films like G.I. Joe and Kingsman: The Golden Circle. He did voice-over work and in recent interviews, he said the break was needed. He also talked about the life ahead, much like his character Briggs in Dog.

This ex Army Ranger with PTSD struggles to live day-by-day. He wants to return to duty, but after we learn he took too many hard blows to the head, getting another tour is difficult. After learning one of the team passed because of similar issues, the trauma isn’t over. But he has a second chance if he can bring Lulu, a dog, to Riley, her first owner’s funeral. Flying her over isn’t an option. Instead, it’s a trip from Washington State to Nogales, Arizona.

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