Buttons and dials

EU vehicle safety to require buttons and dials over touchscreens for best safety ratings. Controls you don’t have to look at, a good move, and also a vital part of making Star Trek technology make sense.

Once More With Feeling

Watching Once More With Feeling again, and one of its appeals is that it’s a rare episode where Dawn is in a good mood most of the time.

Michelle Trachtenberg

Michelle Trachtenberg has died, age 39. Obituary at Empire. 39 is no kind of age.

Character Creation Jam

A fan of the Character Creation Challenge is doing it again at itch for March. That is too quick for my batteries to replenish, but maybe someone here is missing it?

V5: City Of Angels 1.29

Tonight in Vampire: The Masquerade - City Of Angels, my PC actually did the thing she’s good at! Which is events promotion so it doesn’t make for an exciting scene but hey.

(She also tried to explain Instagram to an elder. This is her unlife now.)

Consider Phlebas: The Series?

Consider Phlebas, the opening salvo of the Culture, with Charles Yu (Interior Chinatown) writing and producing for Amazon MGM. Fingers crossed. News at Reactor.

Eggs-port

Massive import of eggs from Turkey to the US.

(jazzy baseline underneath)

“The score will be moving in refrigerated 20 foot storage containers on the Liberian flagged freighter, it’ll be too far from aid three days past the Straights of Gibraltar, that’s when we jam the cells and hit it.”

“We blow the locks on the containers?”

“Wellll...”

John Rogers

Twin Peaks Day

A damn fine Twin Peaks Day to all who celebrate.

Please enjoy my Character Creation Challenge contribution of Quieter Weirdness responsibly.

Andor season two trailer

The second season of Andor (trailer and talk at Empire) covers his time in the Alliance up to Rogue One.

I stand with Ukraine.

Wimdy level heckin

Cancelled this evening’s session due to horrible weather. My “the show must go on” ethic is unhappy, but my “don’t go out in 40mph winds” sense is probably right.

The Power Fantasy issue 1 free

The Power Fantasy by Kieron Gillen and Caspar Wijngaard, issue 1 free, online at Image.

There are six beings with superpowers on Earth. The worlds continued existence relies on them never coming into conflict.

Primer for the series

Star Trek toys update

Master Replicas prototyping and pre-ordering figures for the modern Star Trek series, aiming to get core crews out, in the 4.5” scale of long-running line by Playmates though not in their top-heavy style. Although the figures still look a bit top-heavy due to skinny legs. The Lower Decks ones look really nice, however.

Not sure why we have Raylan from Justified as Riker though...

(Another company is making high-end Star Wars scale Kelvin figures, and another company is prepping a 6” line of mostly frankly baffling characters like Jellico and Tuvix. Don’t look at me, I had some of the Megos.)

Also looking to be making prop toys like phasers and tricorders for the first time at toy prices since 2009. Which would be nice.

Edward Gorey

Edward Gorey was born on this day in 1925.

If I could get a time machine and a video camera I would record the production of Dracula he designed in the 70s.

Companion

Sophie Thatcher continues a run of entertaining horror films. Jack Quaid continues a run of playing surface-likeable assholes. I could say more, but come back later.

What would my take on James Bond be like?

Given how fast and loose a lot of the adaptations are, you could go back and do much closer versions. Cold War setting and all. Lose some of the not-okay-then-let-alone-now opinions. Have a black and white version streaming along with the colour one.

Maybe start with Moonraker, where the film kept the villain’s name and that a flying machine of some kind was involved.

Want new stories? Look at the new novels, comics and so on.

Or buy another spy series and use them, like the Die Hard sequels use unconnected screenplays and in one case an article about computer security threats.

Include a really cool stunt in the first scene. I remember the audience reaction to the jump in GoldenEye, and we’d already seen the start in the trailer.

Personally I’d follow the Daniel Craig films making him a miserable bastard. Everybody else at MI6 has a better work-life balance. The villains are having a great time. He’s held together with vodka and painkillers. But he keeps going because someone has to do this. Not because he enjoys it.

(Which would be cool for a prestige-y streaming take, a movie might need him to be more fun to watch even if not a fun person to be around.)

No nodding towards James Bond being a codename or a Time Lord or anything like that. Until the first actor leaves anyway.

Bond And Buy

The longtime executive producers of the James Bond films have moved on, ceding creative control to Amazon MGM. Until the books go into the public domain... possibly as soon as 2035.

I look forward to a wonky prequel series or something. And lots of product placement. Personal rather than political enemies, or vague made-up terrorist groups. And - I’m being handed a note

Heart Eyes

Heart Eyes from director Josh Ruben (Werewolves Within) and writers Phillip Murphy, Christopher Landon (Happy Death Day, Freaky) and Michael Kennedy (Freaky) works as both a postmodern romcom and a postmodern slasher, probably better for fans of the latter than the former as the kills are on the gnarly side. The overall light tone means there’s not much suspense but there is one great bit. Olivia Holt (Cloak & Dagger) and Mason Gooding (Scream 2022 and VI) are suitably funny and charming as the meet-cute not-a-couple in principal jeopardy, and it did some fun things with the genres at play.

Fighting Fantasy reprints

Some of the early classic Fighting Fantasy books to be reprinted in a Kickatarter from Steve Jackson Games particularly for the US market.

(That’s Steve Jackson US of course, not FF cocreator Steve Jackson UK, as we were confused by in our youth, especially when he wrote an FF book.)

Some or all have been reprinted here, but these are mostly going back to the original art (with a new cover for Warlock Of Firetop Mountain, which got a new cover at least once in the original run) and the first five will not be the actual first five, but 1, 2, 3, 5 and 6, Deathtrap Dungeon being more traditional than Starship Traveller.

A larger reprint of City Of Thieves is tempting by itself, but it looks like you can only get Warlock separately.

Batman: The Fun Halloween

Bruce Wayne’s first attempt to do Halloween after returning to Gotham doesn’t go well, he’s not used to dealing with kids, Alfred does most of the heavy lifting and he goes to brood on a rooftop.

Having thought about it because he always gets better with a plan, his second Halloween goes great. The trick or treat station by the gatehouse means kids not having to hike up to the front door.

His third is a bit weird for him because of all the kids in Batman costumes, but he deals. He does get to see the Gotham-version-of-Greenwich-Village parade go off without a costumed maniac attack for the first time, which helps.

(A small example of someone making a difference and getting to see it.)

Clark Kent gets that Metropolis doesn’t do the corn maze thing but still misses it so goes to Smallville at least once while it’s on.

Diana doesn’t really get to enjoy Halloween because she’s busy fighting ghosts escaping the underworld.

Concept, Aim, Tone, Subject

And also Stars and Wishes, and other same page talkthrough systems.

Warhammer: The Old World: The New RPG

Warhammer: The Old World, with a new system with d10 dice pools, set a couple hundred years before Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay.

V5 Empire 2.02

Tonight in Vampire: The Masquerade, the PCs questioned the surviving human servant of a dead vampire and didn’t answer his questions about what happens to him now, as dozens of other vampires know what he looks like and that he knows too much.

They also realised that they might not be the only vampires in the city with a common first level power...

Uncharted (2022 film)

Uncharted is nice enough to include an Indiana Jones joke.

Captain America: Brave New World

Captain America: Brave New World is a pretty fun sequel to The Incredible Hulk (2008) that also gains heavily from having watched the more obviously relevant The Falcon And The Winter Soldier, once I stopped cringing at the fictional presidential message of togetherness.

The first appearance heavily shown in trailers and on the main poster takes a long time to arrive.

Another character was reworked pretty heavily from the comics version, likely for other real-life political reasons, and possibly adjusted during filming based on one appearance in a costume we never see without a coat covering it.

Nice work making the new Falcon a likable goof in-character instead of just a comic relief.

The phrase “even more indestructible.” Ouch.

Underwhelming end credits tease. But I also liked the kids in the audience rocking out to Kendrick Lamar over the end credits - he’s having a good 2025 so far.

Valentine's Day

The 21st anniversary of our first 24 hour charity RPG marathon.

The World Well (And Friends)

Three decidedly different zine sized games from Tin Star, now on Kickstarter and already funded.

The Last Voyage Of The Demeter

The Last Voyage Of The Demeter arrives at port on disc a year and a half after it was due to sail into cinemas but was lost in a storm of financial woes.

A pretty good expansion of a notable chapter of Dracula, well made, darkly but mostly clearly lit. and brutal (the dog dies) though I think let down by how much the Dracula actor in makeup is replaced by CG and some wobbly continuity.

Glad to have finally gotten to see it, and appreciate that the disc has proper extras like deleted scenes, a commentary and some behind-the-scenes bits.

Terraforming Mars: The RPG

Terraforming Mars getting an RPG, written by Kenneth Hite and Gareth Ryder-Hanrahan. My interest level is now greater than zero.

Super Bowl trailer and ad highlights

At Empire. Unusually some of the ads actually showed here, Doritos spending an extra fifty quid to get theirs on ITV at one in the morning.

Kendrick Lamar's halftime show

Also Uncle Samuel L. Jackson and forty acres and a mule.

Thunderbolts* Big Game Trailer

With a look at the main threat and all.

Important news

World Pizza Day on Super Bowl Sunday. Hmm. Time to get... something. Popcorn maybe?

Plotting And Scheming

Met one of my current V5 players today...

Conpulsion seeks GMs!

Game submission form up now!

Magic: The Gathering movie(s)?

Hasbro and Legendary spinning up Magic: The Gathering for a cinematic universe with movies and possibly TV. News at Empire.

What does that have to do with the price of eggs?

100,000 organic eggs worth $40,000 stolen in Maryland.

National Werewolf Day

National Werewolf Day, as I discovered last year due to Film4 dedicating their showing of Werewolves Within. Marked since 2016, but I am not clear which nation is supposed to be celebrating.

Play? Time?

Really shouldn’t offer a new game for the five people asking at GEAS right now. As they may not all be together, may not all be interested, and I already have nine players on Sunday evening in the event everybody actually came.

The Fantastic 4: First Steps

First Steps trailer and talk at Empire. Retro 60s scifi world!

A Buffy revival pilot?

A Buffy The Vampire Slayer revival pilot possibly moving with script from Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Poker Face co-executive producers Nora and Lilla Zuckerman, with Chloé Zhao (Eternals) to direct, and I say revival because Sarah Michelle Gellar is in! Probably as the Giles to a new slayer. We shall see. Hopefully.

Final Destination: Bloodlines trailer

Final Destination is BACK baby! Discussion at Empire. More of a clip than a trailer, starring Richard Harmon, Murphy from The 100, as a similarly unfortunate type. On the red band side.

V5 Empire 1.13

Note to self: look up how this Vampire: The Masquerade canon character died officially now that I’ve killed him in my game.

February

Made it. Feels weird.