I have superhero movie fatigue

I remember how excited I was last year when I saw Captain America: Winter Soldier, and Guardians of the Galaxy. I loved both movies, but for very different reasons. But the fact is, they were excellent movies that Marvel made in their never ending pursuit to have you give all of your hard earned money to them.

But those were the last I really got excited about. Yes, Avenger’s 2 came out this year, and I enjoyed it. But that movie has started my superhero fatigue. Hell, part of me wanted to see Ant Man, and I even heard it was good. But I just cannot get excited enough about it to watch it. And the Fantastic 4 movie? Please. This isn't even taking into consideration all of superhero tv shows out there now!

So, what changed?

Is it just that there was too much of it? OR is it something else? For me it is a few different things. 1. I was bored with Age of Ultron before the movie even premiered. Mostly due to the fact that there was a trailer/teaser every fifteen second either on tv or the interwebs. There was TOO DAMN MUCH OF IT. I made a comment to a co-worker today that I finally wanted the movie to show so it I could go see it and not have to deal with all of the damn promotion of it anymore. He laughed, and then agreed.

That is sad, cuz the second movie never had a chance of being as good as the first one anyways. That isn’t a bad thing, but the first had been built up with previous movies and it had a feeling of satisfaction to see it all come together. Ultron did not. But I digress.

Then there is word that there is almost 20 movies coming out between now and 2019 I think. Holy fuck. Reallly? Do I need to see another lackluster Thor movie? Yet ANOTHER Spiderman reboot? Or an Aquaman movie? I mean who is that movie for? Wow.

I will say this, I am at least intrigued by the Batman vs. Superman movie, and it will probably be the next one I see. Love me some Wonder Woman, but am afraid they will try to do too much and it will end up a mess. Suicide Squad? I don’t know many of them and don’t know what to make of that one yet.

My point is that is that too much? I mean it is great that we live in a world where these movies can be great. But with this many movies coming out in the next few years, will people just get tired of them?

I already am a little, but I know I can be brought back into it with the right movie. Here is how I feel about each movie.

Ant Man-meh

Fantastic 4-god no

Deadpool-meh

Batman vs. Superman-they are winning me over

Civil War-excited!

X-men Apocalypse-a little excited

Doctor Strange-nope

Suicide Squad-jury is out

Gambit-meh

Wolverine 2-meh

Guardians 2-a little excited

Wonder Woman-hell yeah

Spiderman-Jesus, again?

Fantastic Four 2-see previous

Thor-see previous again

Justice league-depends on how movies do

Flash-more into the tv show

Avengers: Infinity war-not really

Black Panther-know nothing about him

Aquaman-is this a joke?

Captain Marvel-mildly interested.

Shazam-Wait. What?

Yet another avengers movie-ugh

Justice League 2-don’t know

Inhumans-meh

That is not really inspiring. Of the 20, I may go see 8. I know there are people out there that may be excited about a lot more than this, and that is cool. Go see what you love and I really hope they are all amazing. 

Why Proven Guilty may be my favorite novel of all time.

So many spoilers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anyone that knows me knows how much I love the Dresden Files by Jim Butcher. There are a lot of reasons as to why this is the case, but mostly I just want to talk about the awesome things in this particular novel.

It started with the opening lines of the book, which are among my favorite, ever. “Blood leaves no stain on a Warden’s grey cloak.” Wow, do I love the symbolism of this. Combine that with the fact that the first scene of the book is the Warden’s of the White Council was executing a young man that had broken the laws of magic. Obviously Harry felt sickened by this as he was in the same position as a child. What an awesome way to start the story.

That is crazy. The parallel of how he went through that, and then at the end when he was willing to die to keep any harm coming to Molly?? That is some powerful stuff right there. Standing up against things knowing that odds are that you will not succeed? Wow.

But not that that, also realizing that he had to forgive Mccoy for what he did. The end of the book ended with him and his mentor going to get some food. But before that it was just kind of emotional realizing that Mccoy did what he had to do with the Ortega in Death Masks. He is the Blackstaff after all.

But more on just themes on how his friendship with Murphy has grown over the year to the point where she is there battling with him every step of the way. Them realizing why they have never been together as Harry cannot casually commit to anything. Realizing how sad that moment was.

The moment when he found out why Charity despised him all those years? Wow. Afraid of her own magic and he was always a reminder of it? Her accepting this and then lowering those walls between them and the actually became closer.

I cry so many times when I read this book.

Other awesome things:

Them attacking heart of Winter, trying to get Molly back.

The phobophages being from horror movies. Awesome.

Harry almost getting sold on Ebay.

Michael just being Michael and awesome.

Splattercon!!!

The master/apprentice thing that starts here

Murphy losing SI, and finding out there are consequences.

Harry's relationship with the fallen angel Lasciel. 

Molly. Fucking love Molly so much. 

I don’t know if this is my FAVORITE books of all time, but is up there. The pleasure I get in reading this each and every time never gets old and it always gets me in an emotional. There is a reason this is my favorite series of all time.

I will leave you with this. It gets me every damn time. 

We looked at each other for a long moment and my old teacher bowed his head to me. It conveyed a lot of things. Apology. Gratitude. Happiness. Forgiveness. Affection. Pride.

Is the Witcher 3 my favorite rpg of all time?

There are some light spoilers of Witcher 3 here. Be warned.

This is hard to answer, as video role playing games have changed quite a lot in the last 10 years. Think about those games you used to love? For me it was Final Fantasy 7, way back on the PlayStation.  It was the first time got truly lost in a world and it is something I still love to play to this day.

But now? These rpg’s can last over 150 hours if you have no life and just want to find everything.

It started (at least for me) with Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. That was the first game I played for soooooooo many hours. Over 150 easy. Then came Fallout 3, Skyrim, Fallout New Vegas, Dragon Age Inquisition, and lastly, Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt.

So, yeah, things have changed quite a bit, and for the better if you ask me.

But the Witcher may already be my favorite game of all time, and I have just scratched the surface of the game.

Let’s start with the company. CD Projekt Red. They are awesome. The game itself came with: the game, a map, a small compendium, two stickers, the soundtrack from the game, and a thank you note for buying the game. Really? That is so awesome.  In an age where some companies do not seem to give a shit that you buy there game, they stand out Oh, and they have already had like 5 patches to fix things and you also get 16 free DLC from them. What more do you want from a company?

Let’s start with graphics, as it is the most amazing looking I have ever seen on a console (I have a ps4). I love that you can create screen shots of the game and have a few really pretty ones on my computer. Including one that is the background for my pc. There are times I have to stop what I am doing cuz what is on the screen just amazes me. Love it. Yes, some people are annoyed that it doesn’t look as good as the trailer of a few years ago, but the game loos amazing. I have to stop sometimes just to take in the scenery and that is something that doesn’t usually happen.

Gameplay. This was hard at first. I was so used to the sword and shield method in oblivion and skyrim. Attack, block, retreat, attack. But you have two swords and five different types of “magic”. Fire, shield, telekinesis, slowing them down, and confusion. They are handled well, and you can use them in most situations. BUT not all. See, that is one of things I love about the game play.  It did take some getting used to, but once I did I felt like a real badass.

The setting is amazing. The world is in chaos and you can see that everywhere. Villages burnt to the ground, and people that are desperate to find anything they can to survive. You go from place to place only to find people that are starving and bandits trying to take advantage of people. The setting is handled very well in this game and they do an amazing job of making it feel like the world in the books. Love it.

When you get to Novigrad? That size of the city is astounding and i spent like 15 hours there. Crazy how big it was. 

It is really hard sometimes.

I die like ALL the time. Mostly cuz you can come across monsters/bandits that are 15-20 levels higher than you. But even more that, you are always getting hit. Always. Yes, you can dodge, roll, and use your shield, but eventually they hit you. You do NOT have healing magic, but a wide array of potions, and things you can eat/drink to give you health. That was also hard to get used to, but I like it now.

The other thing is they swarm you. One or two drowners (I HATE drowners), sure no problem. Then 4 more show up and things get crazy. Same thing with wolves, bandits, etc. They just keep coming and you can find yourself dead really quickly. You have to plan sometimes and try different tactics depending on what you are fighting. This is even more shown when you fight the monsters in the witcher contracts. 

Some of these creatures are HUGE. Or they cannot be hurt unless they are within small field created by one of our signs. Either way, you have to plan a bit sometimes for them. Luckily there are potions and bombs and such to help you.

The story. I really like it. You are trying to find Ciri, a woman that is like a daughter to you. The story itself is a huge portion of the game, and although I have not finished the game yet, it does a good job of keeping me interested. Which is hard to do considering how much you can just explore the world and do side quests. The characters are interesting, and you don’t really have to read the books or played previous two games. I have read the books and it does help, but nothing that I feel would take away from someone that comes into the game without having done so.

So many side quests. SO many. There are only a few fetch type quests, and the rest are very interesting for the most part. Having you make hard decisions that affect not on the quest, but the world itself. I also like that not all quests are happy ones. You can be searching for a woman’s son, only to have to tell her was hung. This is not a happy world.

 This is also true in the main story line as you have to make very difficult decisions that can have HUGE ramifications in the main story. Wow, I was stunned by some of the things that happened. One decision can cause multiple changes in the world. Hell, the game has like 38 endings or something.

There is also a huge element of crafting both in weapons/armor, but also with herbal and witcher’s potions. Those are potions that help you in some of the harder fights. A lot of awesome here.

The not so good?

A lot of naked women for no real reason sometimes. I don’t care that you can have sex in the game. They aren’t the first to allow that, but occasionally the naked women everywhere was a bit awkward. I don’t go and have sex with a prostitute, cuz I don’t understand why someone would do that in a game. So, I was able to avoid a lot of that nonsense. But the interesting thing is before you think that the world is really sexist, you find out the most powerful people in the world are the sorcerer’s. They wield so much magical power, it is a bit crazy at times. So, it was a mixed bag when it comes to that.

The other thing is a game this big could just be overwhelming for some. I can see that easily. There is so much to do that it can be too much for some people.

Overall, I love this fucking game. It does everything I love right and although there are a few nitpicky things, I think it may be my favorite rpg of all time. Well, until the FF7 remake comes out. J

The rise of comic book tv shows

I find it interesting that super hero shows are gaining popularity now. I don’t mind this at all as I have enjoyed Agents of Shield, Agent Carter, Arrow, Flash, and more recently Daredevil. You may not agree that all of these shows are great, and that is fine. Hell, my soul still hurts knowing that I watch two shows on the CW. The horror. 

Now comes the trailer of Supergirl, which I really liked btw. I am just reminded of a time not long ago where could even imagine having five at least five of them on at the same time. Yes, the movies that Marvel make have something to do with this, but since DC doesn’t make a good movie (Batman aside), it is interesting that two of the more popular ones are minor DC characters (at least compared to Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, etc.). Now don’t get pissy comic book person, just saying compared to the big three. Breathe, it will be ok. 

My point is that I remember them saying this kind of show would not work on tv. Now, I don’t think they are necessarily dominating when it comes to ratings, but that is just a bullshit thing anyways. Remember when Wonder Woman was supposed to be a show for like 8 seconds? No one would watch it right? Well, here comes Supergirl. I would still love to see a WW show too, but from what I saw of this it has me excited. The most interesting thing is that it will be on CBS, a network actually known sometimes as the network for older people. That seems very unlike what they normally want to put out there. 

It doesn’t hurt that they seem to be done better as well. Daredevil was one of the better shows I have ever seen before and even the ones on network tv are at least trying to find ways to be better. Hell, AoS was much better the second season than the first. 

And you hear of other shows that are coming, especially on Netflix. 

So, here we are watching really nerdy tv shows. I have never been a comic book person that much, but I love the idea of them and have always been fan of the movies.  I hope more are coming, and I truly hope that the people making them are going to put real effort into them and make them quality shows, as opposed to just throwing yet another out there to cash in on the popularity. 

Let’s face it, that is possible. But let's hope for the best. :)

How my faith in Star Wars has been restored

Yes, that may seem like a bold statement, but it is true.

It isn’t even that my faith in SW had been destroyed, but after years of nothing all that exciting (at least to me), the sudden surge of it has made me very happy.

I find myself more excited by The Force Awakens, than I have been since I was a child. I was only marginally excited by the prequels before they came out, but that is mostly cuz I don’t like prequels in almost any form. That doesn’t mean there wasn’t excitement, but they were telling the story I already knew the ending to and I could only get so excited about that. This may go a long way as to why I really did not enjoy those movies. Hell, Revenge of the Sith bothered me so much, I walked out of it.

I could go on and on about how much I don’t like the prequels, but I don’t want this to be about that. Some people like them, some people did not. That is just how it is and everyone has the right to their own opinion, whether I agree with them or not. This is more about the awesome of Star Wars and not the negative.

I have been a HUGE fan since I saw A New Hope at age 6. It was what started me on my nerd path and it is something that will stay with me forever. But over the years it has diminished quite a bit as mediocre movies and books have been made and Star Wars just seemed enter an age of indifference. Now, that is only how it felt for me and you may not have had that feeling at all.

The biggest part of the SW universe I held on to where the books and the tabletop rpg’s. Now the books in the Star Wars universe are a mixed bag s there are great ones (than you Timothy Zahn and Rogue Squadron), and too many awful ones to even mention. But they did give me another window into a universe that I loved. The rpg’s were another window and getting to play a Jedi, or an x-wing pilot have been some of my favorite rpg’s moments.

But now, Marvel took control and over time I have seen things they do that have slowly won me back over. Things that have made me so damn excited about the setting again. Here is what they have done right.

Star Wars Rebels. This is such a great show. Taking place before a new hope, it is about the beginning of the rebel alliance. New Jedi, likable characters, and the inclusion of existing characters in the sw universe (yoda, darth vader, etc.). Yes, it is on the Disney channel, but the show has been great, and the trailer for the second season seems even more awesome.

Star Wars comics. I have never been a comics guy as I did not have access to them as a child. But lately I have been reading them and there are four different series. Star Wars, Princess Leia, Darth Vader, and Kanan (I have only read some of SW, and Princess Leia but will get out to get the rest).

Star Wars novels. Since the old books are not considered canon anymore, they area writing new ones. It is an odd mix to look at so far. There is one about the origins of Star Wars Rebels. One about Tarkin, and one where Vader and the Emperor kick some ass. Sadly, I did not like the one about Kanan from rebels, but you take the good with the bad. A LOT more coming later in the year as well.

Star Wars Battlefront. How good did THIS look. Wow. I wish there was a single player campaign as I don’t do online games, but there is at least as single player mode. Not to mention this game is canon and you get the DLC of the battle of Jakku, which is where a lot of the last trailer took place. Not to mention the crashed star destroyer!

The Force Awakens. Wow, this looks amazing. One, I love how they are going back to practical props instead of everything being CGI. I always felt like the prequels were TOO dependent on cgi. But beyond that, it just looks amazing and it just FEELS like Star Wars. Love the people that are cast in the movie and the trailer blew me away. Could be a female Jedi. OR a black Jedi, either way it is nice to see some diversity in the world. That first scene where you see the Star Destroyer embedded in the sand of Jakku? HOLY HELL. Was not prepared for the Han/Chewie scene at the end. Teared up a bit.

I know it is a gamble to be this excited, but I cannot help it. Love everything I have seen so far and cannot wait to see more.

Rogue One: Anthology I love the idea of this movie being about getting the plans for the death star. I also love the fact there are no Jedi in this story, which is a gamble. It is about what is the heart of the rebel alliance, the soldiers. Not much info on it yet, but I am ridiculously excited about this, almost as much as for Ep 7. Yeah, I know.

In conclusion. I just feel like Marvel has done a masterful job since taking over Star Wars. Does that mean the movie still could be awful? Yes. It could. If that happens, it will crush me. But I feel so much better about it with each day that passes. The love I have always had for this universe is coming back stronger than ever, and I have to say that brings a smile to my face.

How good is Daredevil?

I feel like I say this a lot, but I am not a comic book person. Being a teenager in rural Oklahoma in the mid 80’s, I did not have access to comic books without driving an hour to Oklahoma City. So, I turned to novels and other things to start my road toward nerd.

Hell, the first time I actually bough a comic book was last week when I bought a handful of the new Star Wars comics that they have done recently. I have bought stuff in graphic novel form, but not actual comic books. My nerd is evolving! 

So, I know almost nothing about Daredevil at all, other than what I learned in the previous movie that EVERYONE hates.

So, my expectations were not high going in, even though they started to raise a bit when I saw how much IGN loved the show. This will be as spoiler free as I can make it, but there are minor potential spoilers, so beware. 

First of all the setting. I have a pet peeve about how things that are supposed to take place in NYC, rarely feels like the city. Whether it is spiderman movies, or even just sitcoms. It feels like the people that created said thing has never even been to the city before they started filming. I have spent a bit of time in Hell’s Kitchen and the show felt like NYC to me. But setting was just dark, which really worked for this kind of show, especially with it being on Netflix and not having to worry as much about reigning it in. 

Superhero shows can be really over the top. Cuz of the fact that some of them have such outlandish powers. That isn’t a bad thing, but realism is always a good thing as well. Yes, Murdock has heightened senses, but it isn’t like he can fly, or has super strength. I am not saying that to diminish what he can do, but to explain how grounded it felt.  The show is about his struggle to take down Wilson Fisk (aka the Kingpin). How far across the line is he willing to go before losing himself in the process? Morality is not exactly a new thing in super hero stories, but this one was handled really well. Especially later in the season when shit really starts to go down. 

The other thing I like is that people die. Characters in the show. You never really feel like anyone is safe (other than maybe daredevil, but it is HIS show). Saying that, he gets his ass kicked. I love that. He isn’t just some vigilante that beats people up and never suffers. The show was really smart in showing that no matter how badass he was, there was someone that could hurt him. The fight scenes were also a highlight of the show. Very well done. 

What made the show great were the characters. Karen was a lot of fun to watch her grow. The show could have easily thrown her in and made a very typical tripe and make her the damsel or just a love interest, but it did not do that. She added something to the show and her own sense of right and wrong pushed others as well. Foggy was there for comedic relief as Murdock’s business partner, but he shined too as someone that wanted justice. He got much stronger as the show went along.

The other thing that made it great was Fisk. They spent a lot of time with him and you got to understand that he truly felt like he could make the city better once he had his way. He was not a typical villain in the sense of how kind of shy and awkward he was and it made him look vulnerable. Also, things did not always go smoothly and the sheer rage he would unleash was kind of terrifying. But his arc was done so well and there were times you actually felt for him. I think that is a damn hard thing to do to get you to sympathize with the villain, but they made that work. Also, how often do you get to have a villain that has his own sort of love story? Bizarre, but awesome. 

Overall, this show was amazing. The stories were done very well and it was just written so masterfully. Murdock’s need to take out Fisk was challenged by his faith and trying not to become the darkness he was fighting. I love that shit. Also, you eventually got to the suit which was both ridiculous and awesome at the same time. 

Is this the best show I have ever watched? Maybe not. But it was amazing enough and they had my jaw drop the floor on numerous occasions, and that makes for it at least being in the conversation.

My thoughts as I finish the Wheel of Time

So, after so many years of reading, I am finally finishing the Wheel of Time started by Robert Jordan and finished by Brandon Sanderson. As I sit here right now, I have just started reading A Memory of Light. The 14^th and final book in the series. Other series have ended like this…series that I love.

Harry Potter and the Dark Tower…to name a couple

Now, not everyone loves this series as much as I do. I get that. I even get why. Hell, there are more than a few things I don’t love about the series as well. But overall?

I started reading this series about twenty years ago when I stumbled across the Eye of the World in Barnes and Noble. As someone that lives for epic fantasy, I immediately was drawn into the world and the characters. Rand, Mat, Perrin, Egwene, Morraine, Lan, and even Nynaeve (sometimes). From the beginning I loved their journey.

The good points

The world itself is handled very well. The different countries and cultures that are displayed were always done very well. From Tar Valon, the waste, to the small village of the Two Rivers.

I also loved the Aes Sedai. Morraine started it with how great she was. But once the Black Ajah became more apparent. Once the fight with them started, it was always one of the more interesting aspects of the books. Sprinkle in some forsaken and it was usually golden. Egwene become much more interesting and Nynaeve eventually got to the point where I stopped hating her as a character.

The threads in the pattern. Mat, Perrin, and Rand. They were Ta’veren. Able to have influence the weave of the pattern. I always loved these three and they got better later in the books. Love how different they were. Mat had his luck and his mouth. Perrin had the wolves and his determination. Rand was the Dragon Reborn and had the fate of the world on his shoulders. Especially loved the moment where things changed for him. They are tied together and since I have not finished the book, I am wondering which of them will live?

Brandon Sanderson. Yes, I appreciate what Jordan started with this, but Sanderson has done an amazing job in the two books that I have read that he wrote. Yes, he had all of Jordan’s notes and such, but I like how he condensed the chapters and got more people involved. Jordan did not do this often and some of his chapters for each character were HUGE. But it felt like the world that Jordan started and that is all you can ask for someone to come finish someone else’s epic story.

The Forsaken. Thirteen of the most powerful in the world. They bicker, they fight, the try to kill all of my favorite characters. But they were a lot of fun and each had its own way of trying to gain power.

Emotion. There were a few moments in the last few books that made me cry. I have been with these characters for years and there were just moments of pure joy. Now I am on the last book and I am both excited and sad that is ending.

The bad points

Women.  It drove me nuts how he wrote women in this series.  On one hand, women were powerful rulers and mighty masters of the one source…on the other hand they were scatterbrained and almost always ridiculously irritable. Just so damn inconsistent and it drove me insane.

If I read Nynaeve pulling her damn braid one more time due to her being stubborn, I was gonna stab someone. Yes, she was stubborn and was the wisdom, but god she argued with EVERYONE, and always thought she was right. Her character has annoyed me more than any other character in a series I have loved this much. UGH. Now, she got better toward the end, to only be replaced in annoyance by Elaine.

Elaine. How many times does one character have to blindly go into a situation a situation and get themselves in trouble? Jesus. Also, we get it; you are the daughter-heir of Andor. You don’t have to say it every 13 seconds. It was just annoying sometimes. Did love Birgette though.

Why did every woman in this world think men were useless? Was an odd bit of sexism, especially since it was written by a man.  Also, I found the Aes Sedai method of switching as penance to be really creepy.

Avienda was just boring. I hate the dragon reborn. I love the dragon reborn. Ugh.

Luckily, Sanderson did not do nearly as much with these characters this way.

Overall

Despite the way women are written for a good portion of the book, I still loved this series. Luckily, the women were strong enough and did amazing things to counter some of the confusing ways they were written. The story is what I love. A story about how you have to stand against the darkness. I feel like enough people don’t do this in real life. Is why I love fantasy so much. Yes, it can be dark, but it also is about hope and overcoming.

I cannot wait to get back to reading. Which I will do now.