Just got back from watching TPM at the cinema and it was awesome to be back in a cinema watching Star Wars! First prequel I've seen in the cinema (finally!!).  Did I nearly fall asleep during the podrace, like I always do? Damn right. The lack of music and focus during that scene on pure sound (for Ben Burtt to have his moment) combined with how boring the action going on is just, urgh, it's frustrating. And so is some of the dialogue.  But the final duel/Duel of the Fates more than made up for it, as did the soundtrack - I was listening to my favourite (now defunct) podcast, Star Wars Oxygen, last night, specifically the TPM episodes, and I just love how much richness is there. Weaving the Imperial March into the end of Anakin's Theme is GENIUS, and there are so many examples of that in the prequels where John Williams is basically going back in time and setting up the archaeological finds we get with the soundtracks in the original films, just brilliant  also Jabba's theme and Qui-Gon's, but of course, nothing topped that final duel musically. Also got to point out to my friends some of my favourite things about the film having watching it so many times, like Mace Windu being an extra when the council first arrive on Naboo towards the end of the film, Vader's solitary breath at the end of the credits, and Jabba the Hutt being played by 'Himself' in the credits (first time he was fully CGI).  What I really enjoyed and went in trying to reframe the film as being is that George went into this film knowing it would be the lightest, and made it the most hopeful and childlike. Do some of the poop jokes go a bit too far with this? Sure. But I think I get the intent a bit better now, even if - like much of the rest of the film - it wasn't executed in the best way. Think I'll be rewatching all of the other films in the coming week, but for now...I think I'm going to stick with my previous rating of 6/10 for The Phantom Menace. It's so close to being a 7 for me, in all honesty, but the fact that the most boring part of the film to me is in the middle of the film is such an egregious sin and it's the closest I ever get to falling asleep in a Star Wars film EVERY. DAMN. TIME. Attack of the Clones is the weakest of the prequels for me, but I'll gladly go and watch it in cinema because, well, it's Star Wars, whenever the time comes (probably 2027 for its own 25th...URGH). Revenge of the Sith turns 20 next year and is by far the Star Wars film I most want to see in cinemas, but I'm likely waiting for the 25th anniversary in 2029 or something 50th franchise anniversary screening I'm 2027 for that? Meanwhile I guarantee The Force Awakens get re-released for its 10th (!!!!) anniversary next year, which, well, I'll go to...but come on!  We then stuck around to watch the preview for The Acolyte, which was only a couple of minutes - basically just the wuxia-like fight we've seen set up in the trailers between Indara and Mae, very heavy Matrix vibes when you get Carrie-Anne Moss saying "we've got an unidentified Force user"  and by the way, emphasis on the wuxia-like nature of the fight: Indara basically floats up the banisters on a staircase in a couple of steps. This was then cut with a few shots we've seen from trailers before and some new stuff as a bit of a stinger, it wasn't AMAZING but it felt awesome to get a preview for a Star Wars thing! Dialogue was CLEARLY cut during/around the fight and so they're certainly hiding something.  Incredible trailer, much better than the preview we got to see following TPM imo. That "Sith"'s helmet looks awesome with the teeth! And also we can see a potentially newer model of Vector starfighter (the Jedi starfighter of choice during the era) than I think we've seen elsewhere in High Republic stuff, unless this is just how it's being adapted to live-action?  I do actually wonder, with us now seeing this helmet-wearing "Sith" – assuming, based on the footage we've seen, Mae is the titular Acolyte and being tested (she tries to steal Indara's lightsaber during their fight which makes me think she's being tested to get a lightsaber to bleed the crystal? Idk) I wouldn't be surprised if this guy is the apprentice and the first season/show ends with the reveal of the master. Or, if this guy isn't for real, he'll get killed by the true Sith at the end. Really curious to see how it shakes out, just knowing any Jedi that come across an *actual* Sith can't really be allowed to survive.  We also got another poster for the series, which again, looks great: Last thing, I've had a theory about a certain character for a while now, but I'll throw it in a spoiler tag just in case I'm right (which doesn't happen too often, but often enough that I know an educated guess I make about Star Wars normally isn't a million miles off)... Super excited for The Acolyte, think I might do a bit more High Republic reading before it drops 

Iggy’s Reckin’ Balls
  PAL release: 1st August 1998 NA release: 27th August 1998 JP release: 28th August 1998 Developer: Iguana Publisher: Acclaim N64 Magazine Score: 56% Iggy’s Reckin’ Balls is a very hideous game. It’s not that it’s low quality, there’s just something ugly about the entire design from it, from the design of the ball characters, the platforms of the world, the dirty-looking water and the blurry background. It’s all very unappealing, especially for a kind of game that would excel from a more adorable design. The game is a 2D platformer racing game taking place on circular platform. you use a grappling hook to bring yourself up platforms, or perform large swinging moves. Sadly, the controls feels far too stiff and imprecise for a game like this, and the CPU opponents often don’t have the same issues (although every now and than, they’re extremely incompetent), so quite often you need a perfect run to win. This is particularly evident in world 3 – which is too dark to see important details, such as metal portions of platforms (which you can’t jump or grapple through) – the CPU has zero problem with visibility here. The grapple can also be used to attack enemies and there are items you can collect – which also means these can be used against you, adding to the frustration. The concept of Iggy’s Reckin’ Balls is a sound one, even if the rest of it isn’t. N+ took a similar concept of multiplayer 2D platforming and made it incredibly fun, and this can sometimes be fun in multiplayer as everyone has similar control issues, but the whole game is just so unattractive from a design standpoint that it detracts even more. Remake or remaster? A new game with a similar concept would be good, but it needs to be designed from the ground up. Official ways to get the game. There is no official way to buy Iggys’ Reckin’ Balls, but it available to rent via Nintendo Switch Online.

OMG yes! Twice I fell through it. 
  Great games some nice wins for myself and lots of laughter over VC

Thanks for the games. Yet another Terry-ific evening of Smash. Here's a link to this week's stream... - - - - - N-Europe Saturday Smash! (04/05/2024) - - - - -

Despite watching videos on these I don't think I ever fully appreciated how big they are! Thankfully it fits but I can't open the wings.