thewritermuses

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Stone Age

Stone Age - Bernd Brunnhofer This is a typical worker placement game that focuses on probability. Unlike many other worker placement games when you place your worker somewhere an outcome is guaranteed.Here it is not. This is only true with resource gathering.All the other locations operate as you would expect. The rounds are very quick. My version had a cool cup of leather that was stitched together for rolling the dice which gave it an ancient vibe. I'm a sucker for great game pieces like this. The concept of tools to increase the dice rolls is a great way to show your society focuses on advancement.This is at the cost of population increase or resource gathering.The same is true for agriculture. You can spend workers to develop your agricultural advancement which will make food automatically produced in later turns.The cost here is the same as for tools. There is also an interesting move where you can block the purchase of a point card by spending a worker to stand on it.This is a fairly original idea and it can make tight games more interesting. It is great that there is no clear 'best' way to play this game. A combination of technology, population, and agriculture all seem to work as well as focusing on a single one of these. The game is enjoyable but there is not much depth here so it won't be to everyone's liking. It's good for a quick pick-up and play. Read the full article

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A Time To Kill

A Time To Kill - Joel Schumacher

You think this is a trial thriller. Think again. This has to be one of the most bizarre films set in a courtroom ever made.Jake, Matthew McConaughey (Sing, The Gentlemen) is a weird lawyer. As we are slowly introduced to him and his situation we learn what he is about.He is a good guy. He loves his family. Is friendly with his degenerate contemporary. He is also very glass-half full. Constantly behind on his bills at the law firm. And he isn't worried. This paints a picture of a young lawyer who is keen to see justice done.You would be mistaken. He doesn't believe in the law. Not as it is. He believes in what he would make it.He sees his role in changing the law as his mentor, Lucien, Donald Sutherland (Fallen, Kelly's Heroes), puts it, "win the battles one case at a time" (sic).

Jake gives Ellen, Sandra Bullock (Gravity, The Blind Side), a lecture on how he doesn't believe in rehabilitation. I do bring a lot of personal bias to this argument. 

I just wanted to flag that I think that if we as a society do not believe that a person can be rehabilitated then the legal system is pointless. It becomes an arm of retribution. Interested in dealing out revenge only.The U.S. legal system is based on rehabilitation. The place of the death penalty in that system is somewhat contrary to this basis. If Jake does not believe in rehabilitation I do not understand why he is a lawyer.The basis of the system that he is so passionate about is one of rehabilitation yet he doesn't believe in it. Doesn't make any sense to me.

The way the story is told is so basic on the surface but is much more complex when you dig a little deeper. The basic plot is: a black girl gets raped by two racist rednecks.

The girl's father takes the law into his own hands and kills them both because he doesn't believe the legal system will deal with them appropriately.We then see the trial of the father. Underneath this story are racial tensions. Pressure from racial groups over the case.Both the Ku Klux Klan and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People make an appearance. The impact and attempt at the influence that both these groups have are also complex. Both are out for themselves and simply want to use the case to their advantage.Carl Lee, Samuel L. Jackson (Django Unchained, The Avengers), plays the NAACP and his pastor as their proxy to get money for his family. An inside man in the KKK tips off the Klan's targets and saves their lives.

I guess the point here and throughout the rest of the complexity of the characters is that nothing is as simple as it seems.

Jake green light's the murder when Carl Lee comes to him right before he does it. Jake tries to convince himself that he didn't think Carl Lee would do it.Only at the end when Jake gives his final brilliant speech to the jury do we realise that he is just as racist as the rest of them. He wins the case because of it.Carl Lee knows it from the start which is why he chooses Jake as his lawyer AND why I think that he sets Jake up to be in on the crime.Kevin Spacey (Moon, The Usual Suspects) plays sleazy D.A. with aplomb. He breaks the rules and doesn't care.He tears Jake's case to pieces and relishes the humiliation. It was odd to see Keifer Sutherland playing alongside his dad here. It is a small part, but I found it a bit odd.I was perplexed by Jake's wife's behavior throughout. She runs away to her mother's when the threats to them become intense - fine.But the reason that she gives for coming back is that she finally could imagine Jake reacting the way Carl Lee did if their daughter was the one who was raped. We can empathize with Carl Lee.

The audience's ability to empathize with Carl Lee is what makes this story viable in the first place. 

If we didn't we would want him to lose and the whole court case would be a boring and frustrating wait for the gas chamber. Placing Jake's wife at odds with this makes her look like an idiot - a bizarre decision.Carl Lee's speech at the end that leads to Jake's speech is just brilliant. Spectacular stuff. Great writing great performances. Read the full article

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The Blue Planet

The Blue Planet - David Attenborough

Another great series from Attenborough. Each episode looks at a different "type" of sea.We get to spend significant time with each of the creatures that are chosen in these different biomes.There is some truly magnificent footage at the microscopic level of tiny creatures.The standouts for me were: the killer whales; the puffins (of which there were many); and the walruses.The killer whales featured a few times but the most iconic was the taking of the seal cubs from the beach. They then played with it in the deep before it died.The easy option here would have been to personify the whale and criticize its cruel behavior.But whales aren't people and Attenborough's comments are on point. "What the purpose of this bizarre behavior is can only be guessed at." (sic.)

It was so important to remind us that we cannot treat the animals around us as if they have our moral codes.

I enjoyed the puffins in the 'Shores' episode. They were just so interesting to watch.They were also so very varied in their coloration and decorative growth.The walruses were spectacular as we got to see and understand their skin change to red from the dark browns and blacks they had been. This is because of the way they control their body temperature when in the icy water. When they are in the colony they don't need to regulate and they turn red.Some of the vision throughout was a bit grainy but it is older now.

Tidal Seas was my favourite episode. We see sharks and stingrays moving in and out of the shallows to hunt with the tide. 

Seeing them all laying out of the shallows while the tide was out was amazing. Read the full article

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The Underground Railroad

The Underground Railroad - Colson Whitehead

Overall this is a boring story. There are very few beats to the plot. When nothing is happening with the characters nothing is happening at all.I did enjoy the construction of the novel. The story is broken up into separate parts for the different characters. This works especially well for Cora's mum Mabel. She has been immortalised and hated by the other characters in the story and it is only when we see her part towards the end that we learn the truth.The rest of the story is broken into a few locales. The Randall farm and the escape. North Carolina and a new life. The attic and Valentine's farm. There is minimal action and Cora isn't interesting herself.It isn't exactly that though. Cora is interesting. We only get to see her real emotions a few times.

The railroad itself is disappointing. It's an actual railroad - it left me thinking: Was that real? Amazing if so. But I'm sure it wasn't - so what was the point? Very strange.

The story is punctuated at every turn by brutality. I am so dead to this treatment of African Americans in popular culture.I have a seething hatred of the US because of the systemic racism that so many generations have done nothing about.How much more racial inequality do I need to witness? Read the full article

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Planet Earth II

Planet Earth II - David Attenborough

Technology has come a long way since Planet Earth. We can get closer and see more rare species than we could before.This is just a re-visit to the biomes of the first series. We see a whole new array of animals and conflicts now. Even though we return to much of the same areas as before.The standouts were the blind Amazonian dolphins and the Himilayan snow leopards.If it wasn't for the brilliant narration of Attenborough you could almost just watch the spectacular visuals by themselves.The camera work is wonderful and takes into the animal's world. There was a new biome this time that we didn't see in the first series and that's Cities.

We got to see some very interesting dynamics and behaviors on display. The Leopards hunting boar in a large Indian city and the Hyenas in a city in Ethiopia were something else. 

It was terrifying to see these wild predators up close to people.I love this show and Attenborough is brilliant! Read the full article

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Mythical Beasts

Mythical Beasts - John Cherry

This interesting book is a cross between a bestiary and something else altogether. While it is divided into creatures like a normal bestiary the chapters on each creature are very long. They focus on the historical origins of the creatures. These discussions are illustrated by fantastic images of paintings or artifacts that demonstrate the point Cherry is making.So not only do we get to see Cherry's tracking of the creatures through time, but we also get to see how their depiction changes. The changes and differences on display are both over time and cross-cultural.I liked this book so much because of the wealth of detail in the origins and stories around these creatures.I had originally purchased this to aid the development of a TV series I was writing on and the detail and historical accuracy was key for that purpose.

In parts, it does get a bit academic and rambly. If you are keen to see what people thought about Griffins; Dragons; Unicorns; Sphinxes; Centaurs and other half-humans throughout history this is fantastic. Read the full article

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Here Comes Mr. Jordan

Here Comes Mr. Jordan - Alexander Hall

Joe's soul is taken too early and this is heaven's attempt to set things right. The angel sent to collect his soul is on his first mission and plucks him from his plane too early.There is a debate that follows and it turns out that Joe wasn't supposed to be taken for many years. A senior angel, Mr. Jordan, is placed on the case.They return to earth and the investigation about where his body has gone ensues. It's all very funny because Joe spends the entire film forgetting that he can't affect the world and people cannot hear him when he is in spirit form.His body has already been cremated once they find out where it is. The new offer is for anybody they can find.Joe doesn't love this because he still wants to be a world champion boxer. The other issue is that they have to put him into the body exactly when he dies.

Joe doesn't love the idea because he wants a particular body - he wants to be in tip-top shape to become the next boxing world champion. While they are searching for that Mr. Jordan convinces Joe to become Mr. Farnsworth, who his wife and secretary have just murdered.

The way the transfer works is that Joe has to go into the body right as it dies. We still see and hear Joe. The rest of the world sees and hears the old Mr. Farnsworth. Hilarity ensues.Joe saves the girl by buying back a lot of stock which makes his board of directors super mad. Joe doesn't care. He sees ads for the title fight he was supposed to be having and decides to get in shape.

He gets his old manager back and convinces him of the truth. Another great scene. So they make plans to set up for the title fight.Unfortunately, Mr. Fansworth gets murdered again and Joe has to move on to another body. And the other body is the old world champion - Murdoch - who gets shot while he is in the ring.Joe wins the fight and gets his dream. Now everything that is set earlier on becomes important. Joe is now going to become Murdoch and lose Joe. This is the demoneaux so not part of the story per se.The loss of self through becoming Murdoch isn't a terrible plot point because the story is finished when that happens. It's an exciting way to end the film because Joe doesn't become the world champion - Murdoch does but Joe is Murdoch.

He has told the lady he saved as Farnsworth that she may know him as a different person when they meet by the way his eyes look. So he bumps into her right after the fight before he has lost himself completely and she sees the thing in his eyes. Great idea and well played with. They set up the rules of how this could all work and go to town on it—really great film making. Read the full article

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The Talk of The Town

The Talk Of The Town - George Stevens

This unsuspectingly simple plot turns out to be very interesting. This is primarily due to the zippy and funny dialogue.The whole opening of the story is told through quick flashes of scenes and newspaper articles. A factory burns down and a man called Leopold is blamed for it. There is a casualty due to the fire and they are after the death penalty. So Leopold escapes jail - yet his trial hasn't even begun yet.During his flight he comes across a house, Nora Shelley's. She takes pity on him and hides him in the attic.Then another man arrives, a professor of law, who has rented the house for the summer. This quickly becomes a comedy - though modern audiences may not recognize it as such.

Leopold snores loudly and Nora has to take the blame for it to keep him hidden. Many similar things happen. She gets herself hired as a cook and secretary for the professor so she can stay at the house and keep Leopold hidden.

We quickly learn that the Professor is going to be appointed to the Supreme Court. This raises the stakes for all involved as he cannot be seen as a criminal.Leopold pretends to be the gardener and he and the professor have many discussions about the case. The professor is on the side of the law until Nora gets him out to a baseball game.At the game the professor meets the judge of the case - not a coincidence - Nora knew he would be there. The judge tells the professor of Leopold's guild and the professor is shocked.Many events tip off the locals to Leopold being at Nora's house and this leads to the Professor having to lie to protect all three of them when he finds out Leopold's true identity.

The professor gets involved with the case at this point and is convinced of Leopold's innocence and refuses to see justice miscarried. He finds out that the man who supposedly died in the fire is alive.

He also learns that this man was in league with the owner of the factory to get the insurance money and this all comes and Leopold is freed.These hilarious events are well-constructed and believable. The dialogue is great. I highly recommend it for an easy-to-follow film with some great performances. Read the full article

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Hamlet

Hamlet - Laurence Olivier

It's a great story - it's Shakespeare. The performances are a bit over the top, with some very strange directions taken.There is an odd title at the start explaining the play in layman's terms - this feels very pointless because if they feel that you need this title card to understand then you are not going to understand.Overall I like this story but Hamlet undermines himself by putting additional criteria on the revenge. First, he has to be sure - to show the guilt. Then he has to ensure that his uncle goes to hell (or purgatory) where his father is. All of these steps cause chaos and destruction around him - but I guess we wouldn't have the play otherwise.And it does make sense for Hamlet's character to act this way. The intro title screen is also read out aloud - and ends with this is a story about a man who could not make up his mind.

There is a little more to it than that. Once again it is dumbing it down and I can't understand who they think their audience is if they are watching Hamlet but also need those titles to make sense of the story.

The first time we meet all the characters is at a council meeting and Hamlet's mother is a super bitch - wondering why he is still so upset about his father's death.The scene ends with them having a full-mouth kiss in farewell. This is one of the weird decisions that was made. It is not the only time that Hamlet kisses his mother full on the mouth.The Laertes and Ophelia scene is fantastic as he lectures her on how to behave in an honorable manner with Hamlet and she gives it right back to him. Jean Simmons gives us one of the best Ophelia's I've seen. The ghost scene was impressive because they would have had little access to anything resembling special effects. But the mist and sound design work great in creating a spooky ghost.The hard use of Ophelia by her father to prove Hamlet's insanity is heartbreaking to watch. Unfortunately, the soliloquy was meh.

The play within the play was good as usual but what was interesting in this interpretation was the whole court was focused on the king's reaction rather than just Hamlet and Horacio.

The next interesting direction is during the duel at the end between Hamlet and Laertes. The king tries to serve Hamlet the poisoned cup and it looks like his mother realizes that it is suspect and drinks it herself.It is almost as if she has decided that all is up and she will now commit suicide to save her son. But it is all in vain. This is an interesting take as most of the time she ends up with the cup in error.I'm not sure what the goal is at the end of Hamlet to carry his body off at the end. In this version, it is way too long. We see him taken through the castle and up onto the parapet where he meets the ghost - completely unnecessary. Read the full article

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Retribution

Retribution - Jilliane Hoffman

This murder-mystery thriller opens with the main character getting murdered. But she survives.I haven't read a lot in this genre of fiction so I'm not sure what the norms are.There was a big time jump and we are watching the investigation of another serial killer - we assume the same guy as the first because otherwise why have they started?But the prosecutor is the lady from the start. We don't recognize her at first as she has changed her name and is very different from when we originally met her.We also aren't sure we are looking at the same guy until he is arrested and she recognizes his voice and scar in court.Then the twists and turns began and I found them great. They fitted the writing style which was punchy, short, and easy.It looks like they may have the wrong guy as the murderer of the body that is found in his car. CJ proceeds with the prosecution anyways out of revenge.

The characters are all well-drawn and interesting. We jump back and forth between characters' point-of-view as required.

Photo by Hamid Tajik. Apart from the central characters many of the secondaries appear almost caricatures.But they aren't. They are slightly two-dimensional but that is fine for the sort of story this is.This is a plot-driven narrative, not a character-driven narrative. We need CJ's secretary to be a secretary and as a possible love interest for one of the detectives, nothing more.The whole last third of the book is an attempt to find evidence that proves Bantling is the killer.  And this arrives in the same way he was originally arrested - random tipoff.The story is a balancing act between justice and revenge. As the reader we are upset for CJ and what has happened to her but does this give her the right to break the law herself for revenge?CJ ends up being captured and killing the real killer & Bantling is still found guilty of the crimes.We are pretty sure that the evidence against him has been falsified.Great storytelling and you will either love or just like it based on how happy you are for the law to be bent.It also has very graphic violence. So be aware if you are unable to read this sort of thing.

Photo by Farzad Sedaghat. Read the full article

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Dune: Part Two

Dune: Part Two - Denis Villeneve

We pick up right where part one ended. The story starts with Paul and Jessica Atreides trying to be accepted by the Fremen.The stories run parallel but take very different paths. Paul is trying to get them to accept him by learning their ways and joining their fighting efforts against the Harkonnen.Jessica is trying to dominate them through fear and coercion. In her defense, she has little choice when she is offered the job of reverend mother.It's either that or die. So not a choice. But what she does after that is vastly different from Paul's approach to the Fremen. We also see two other stories playing out. The first is Feyd taking over as govener of Dune and trying to subdue the Fremen. The second is the Emporer and the Princess trying to deal with the fallout of the eradicating House Atreides.Both stories are interesting and give us different intrigues into the political system in the galaxy.

Through Feyd we see the Bene Gesserit looking to use him as another option for the chosen one. Easier to control.

We also see his uncle, Baron Harkonnen, explaining their positioning to take down the emperor. Through the scenes with the emperor and the princess, we see two very different ways of looking at the turmoil unfolding around the House Atreides massacre.She feels much more pragmatic about the whole affair. Interested in what has happened to Paul and what all of this could mean. As soon as she sees that the emperor has lost she sides with Paul. Paul's story amongst the Fremen is much more linear than his mother's. We see him rising through the ranks of fighters as more and more people accept him. It's not only accepting him, they are beginning to believe.

Jessica's story is much more insidious as she takes up the propaganda role of the Bene Gesserit. She uses fear to turn the Fremen into believers of Paul as Muad'dib.

Chani can see the manipulation and faith as control and wants no part in it. This causes a huge rift between her and Paul. Paul starts this way but shifts when he sees that there is no further course of action. He begins to have visions of the horror he will cause if he takes up the mantel.This is such an amazing story to see unfold. Paul can see himself becoming the villain but feels that there is no other option available to him. And this is exactly what happens at the end of the film as he launches the holly war across the galaxy. The use of Stilgar as a mentor figure and the face of the fundamentalists gives us a way to identify with them that we wouldn't have been able to otherwise.

The visuals continued to be spectacular. Some standouts for me were the wells in the desert. The Harkonen world was great as well. 

Almost sepia with burning black and white. It has been a long time since I've seen colour used in such a great way.There is one further creepy part of the film. Paul and his mum can talk to his unborn sister and it is very off-putting.The film is very long but there is nothing that can be cut. It is all vital. Great stuff and I highly recommend watching it. Read the full article

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The Bridge

The Bridge - Måns Mårlind, Hans Rosenfeldt & Björn Stein

Season Four This season's meta-plot flows the unpredictable twists and turns of the previous ones but the writers make the mistake of giving us too many hints about the killer too early on.These twists and turns are harder to follow and it feels like there are more sub-plots happening than in the previous seasons.This just makes it very hard to keep track of what is happening. To make matters worse we are missing our hero for what feels like half the season - probably more like a third.

We start with Saga in jail which is just terrible given we know there is no way that she would ever do this. We have seen her destroy the relationships around her to do the right thing.

Coupled with this is her boss, unsupportive as ever. But Linn's perspective in this case perplexes me. She is cold and uncaring but gives Saga so much space when she returns.These two positions don't fit. The writers seem to have forgotten that the reason we are here is for Saga.But just putting her on screen and showing her idiosyncracies is not enough. While this sort of ham-fisted writing might have worked during the first season when we were getting to know her it does not fly now. We know her and we want to see her being an amazing police officer.We do not get to see this until the final episode where her brilliance returns and she figures out that there were two killers and she saves Henrick's newly found daughter's life.The rest of the season we see her struggle with self-doubt and panic attacks. I don't think that this is plausible now more than in the first season.

The trauma that triggered the attacks happened before the first season and for them only to be manifesting now makes little sense. The show ends with Saga leaving the police force because her psychologist said that she did it all out of guilt.

While I don't disagree with the psychologist per se, just because Saga's original motivation for joining the force is guilt it doesn't mean that there are other reasons she should now stay.The whole episode feels like Saga is manipulated rather than helped as we have seen the same thing happen to her in earlier seasons. A person wanting to help her suggests a course of action - she does it and it blows up in her face. It also cheapens her whole character and life in the force.The rest of the surrounding story is good and the plot is interesting if somewhat hard to follow. The great supporting characters are back and I think that they made the right decision to base this season on the Danish side of the Bridge so we didn't have to see Linn.The season wasn't all that bad. It was just such a huge disappointment compared to the first three and knowing that we will see no more Saga is just really disappointing.They did well closing off all the plots that had been bubbling along. I would highly recommend watching the first three seasons but this one is only good if you need the closure.

Read the full article

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Fargo

Fargo - Noah Hawley Season Two This season is set before the first season and we immediately get the references to Sioux Falls. We are finally going to find out what they were all talking about in the first season!This season follows a large organized crime operation attempt to take over a small family-run one.Thrown into this is the unlikely murder of one of the family crime members by a hairdresser. Her and he hapless husband try to cover it up and if the first season taught us anything this will not end well.

The cops are great in this and we get to see Molly's dad in action as the lead cop. I was surprised to see the two main actors from Burn Notice here. Jefferey Donovan plays the eldest son of the family crime gang and Bruce Campbell plays Ronald Regan. Jefferey is fantastic.

The characters in this are brilliant. They are all believable and complex. Even Kirsten's crazy Peggy fits in here. I think that this is what makes the series so great that while you wouldn't do what the characters are doing you can see why they think it is a good idea.The two lead cops played by Ted Danson and Patrick Wilson are standouts for me. They carry the season.The performance that Zahn McClarnon gives as the native American, Hanzee Dent, is unforgettable. The writing and performance of this character left me on his side as he guns down locals in the street - really hard to get onside with the villain.The representative of the big syndicate, Mike Milligan, gets promoted to an office job at the end which just seems surreal but is fantastic as well.Several scenes refer to UFOs and we see one for real during the last shootout. I found this very strange in a series that opens every episode with 'This is a true story'.

Now this isn't a question about if UFOs are real or not. The detectives felt that was exactly what they saw. My issue is that it changes the tone of the whole piece which is supposed to be the true crime schtick. 

I enjoyed getting to see Molly's family when she was a kid. Molly is such a great character from the first season and has such a fantastic relationship with her dad that it was great to see where that came from.The same slowness from the first season is here again and is just as brilliant. You get to see things ticking over in people's minds. Great stuff.Last but not least, Nick Offerman's performance as Karl Weathers, the anti-establishment lawyer is excellent. Can't wait to see the next season and I highly recommend that you see this one.

Season Four

There is no hero in this season. Every episode you have to try to latch on to one.But then the next episode is about something or someone else. You feel for each of the characters. Each has its own small part of the narrative.None of them have a central through line. Cannon (Chris Rock) is the closest but his failure at the end is a great example of why true stories often make bad shows.He has gone through so much and paid such a high price to get where he is but in the end, he is murdered and left with almost nothing.

The multi-generation setup at the start is great. We get to see the history of the town's underbelly clearly and succinctly.

Oraetta Mayflower (Jessie Buckley) is fantastic—just the right level of crazy for a ring-in serial killer.I could've watched her all season but she was merely a bit player in this story.The feud between the two brothers at the head of the mafia family is great. Both of the actors give spectacular performances.The boss secures his brother's release by trying to get him killed. This in turn cements their relationship because his brother thinks he is brilliant.Fantastic writing. It's a great story of redemption between those two.

I don't care for the undertaker family and their outlaw relative. The family ghost is a cool idea.

The tornado scene was it for me. A tornado kills multiple characters that we had been following all season...There was way too much coincidence at the end. In real life, coincidences happen all the time.But they feel off in a story, film, or TV show. They feel cheap and lazy, which is another reason why I'm not a huge fan of true stories as films. Read the full article

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The Number One Ladies' Detective Agency

The Number One Ladies' Detective Agency - Alexander McCall Smith

Such an easy read. The simple language should not be confused for a simple story - it is anything but.There are many many cases in this book but it is not your typical detective story where you get stuck in the minutiae of the detail.The lead solves a case and moves on.The language reminds me a bit of Paulo Coelho and the sense of place reminds me of Gabriel Garcia Marquez. The scenes when she was a young girl near the desert put you there in a similar way that Marquez does in Love in the Time of Cholera.The lead character is revealed slowly throughout the novel through flashbacks to her childhood and earlier life. Such an interesting way for us to slowly meet the character.I cannot wait to read more in this series.

Read the full article

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Malcolm X

Malcolm X - Spike Lee

Bio-pic of the controversial spokesperson for a radical Nation of Islam group in the US in the 50s and 60s.The film charts everything about Malcolm's life from his early childhood; early adult years; the time he spends in prison through to his assassination.There is so much going on in this film and to be honest, it was way too long. I understand wanting to be true to the source material and everything here is important but the run time is 3 hours and 22 mins.There are six main phases to this story. The film is linear apart from the stuff when he was a kid which is interspersed throughout the film - generally in the early part.Then we have his early life as a hoodlum. The third is his time in prison. The fourth is when he first gets out and finds his place in the Nation of Islam.

Then we have the conflict with the other leaders and the figurehead. The final is him breaking away and forming his group which leads to his assassination.

All of these phases of the story are important to inform the outcomes and have threads throughout. But when you get to this run time you have to cut something.So first of all - the ordinary world setup is way too long. It tries to tell too much. The scenes when he is a child see the trauma that his family went through and his dad's life parallels his trials. But they are probably not needed. It's cool but unneeded.The film also spends too much time setting Malcolm up as a flawed man in the ordinary world. We needed some of these key points but Roberry and the dispute with the head of the gambling ring could have been cut.The underlying story with Lorna & Sophia is much more interesting.

Because of the length as I am looking at my notes so much of what I was thinking about is what could have been cut rather than focusing on what was done well.

I found the scenes in the prison some of the best in the film. The road to conversion was very interesting.The final thing that they should have cut was the dream-like sequence as he approaches his assassination. This is a very cool slow-mo sequence watching Malcolm from an odd angle but right at the end when we are three hours in you just need the film to end.The absolutly disgusting things that his family had to put up with when he was groing up were something. You can see why he wanted to get back at the white man.The tenor of white hatred continues in jail as Baines convinces him to join islam.

There is a truly spectacular sequence when one of their congregation is brutalized by the police and then through militant control of the men of the Nation of Islam he has the brother taken to hospital and this culminates in the formation of a mob - the police are worried. 

The clinical way that Malcolm bends the police to his will in a period where they were just as likely to shoot them all was something else.The downfall of the group and the splitting up of the leadership is so sad to see. The way that we can see that Malcolm is going to fall for it is set so well in the way he parrots everything Elijah Mohammad - the leader says. This is another great part of the film as we see a piece of information being imparted to Malcolm and then we cut to him saying it to his wife or the congregation. Great stuff.

Malcolm is a super interesting character and his story is of real significance to the US and the world. I would probably suggest reading a biography rather than watching this. Read the full article

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Nicholas Nickleby

Nicholas Nickleby - Charles Dickens

This is Dickens at his best - fantastic. This is a move away from the boy hard done by in the world to that of a young man.The story is mainly Nicholas' but Kate and his mother are also heroes in their own right.The story is so long because all the main characters have full arcs and we see the ends of many secondary character's arcs as well.Mrs. Nickleby is one of Dickens' best characters. She thinks she understands exactly what is happening and relates this in unending tales to anyone who will listen.Then when she is wrong - as she often is - she makes a big deal about being hard done by and no one should ever listen to her.

This would be very sad and distressing if it was so funny. It is all delivered to Kate and Nicholas who love her very much and listen and placate her views while not contradicting unless they must.

All of the characters are on point - very funny.It is very long so if you aren't up for a Dickens' epic then it isn't for you. My copy is 934 pages.You have to go into reading some material knowing what you are in for so I wouldn't start my journey with Dickens here but if you are a fan you will love this. Read the full article

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Betrayal At Baldur's Gate

Betrayal At Baldur's Gate - Chris Dupuis & Mike Mearls

This game is a reskin of Betrayal at House on the Hill. The reskin works fine and game play is similar. It is a group co-op game until the haunt begins. At this point, a player generally becomes the bad guy.The triggering of the haunt can take a while to figure out what exactly has changed. Generally, this is fine because the game pauses at this point and the good guys and the bad guys have to read their new rules.

In my last game, we got a haunt where there was no bad guy. This was not great as it wasn't a simple pause of the two groups reading their rules it was a bad break in play where everyone but the people reading the rules had to sit around and wait.

If you focus on your character alone rather than what the group is doing you will have a very boring game.It is a game on rails. Your decisions don't matter until the haunt begins.Before this, you are just moving your pieces around the board to a pre-generated story.It's a beer and pretzels game where you don't have to pay much attention if you are familiar with the rules. So if a hands-off game where not much is happening until the haunt is your cup of tea then you will love this. Otherwise, it will be terrible.I enjoy the story and the setting so that helps a lot. Just make sure your group enjoys it or you could be in for some groans when you take it off the shelf.I think it is better than the original as I enjoy the setting more and I think that the tiles are more interesting as is the framing story.

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