Gloria Oliver - Unveiling the Fantastic

Mini Movie Reviews 9/29/19

Greetings!

Looks like fall is on its way. But before it gets here, it’s been hotter than a griddle around here. Texas is at a boil. 😛

Mini Movie Reviews

Ad Astra

Ad Astra – a cerebral yet also super action-packed film. It is an external and internal journey for astronaut Roy McBride. Ad Astra is Latin for “to the stars” – around which every facet of Roy’s life has revolved. The cinematography is outstanding. The special effects are fantastic. This film has a ton of layers, from the personal to the weird directions society has decided to follow. Several twists and surprising bits. Rating: 3.75 out of 4. (Hubby’s Rating: Worth Full Price to See Again.)

Abominable – This film was super adorable! A gorgeous movie, full of amazing panoramic shots. Like “Ad Astra” this one is also an emotional journey as well as a physical one for Yi. They too do a couple of unexpected twists, just to keep things interesting. 😛 The Whoop snake is a hoot. (So is Dave. Lol.) Tons of adorable and cute moments. Some tear generating ones as well. You must sit through the credits as they are full of snapshots of things that happen after the adventure is over. The last one definitely tried to open the waterworks. 😛 Rating: 3.5 out of 4 (Hubby’s Rating: Worth Full Price of Admission.)

We frequent AMC Theaters (if you see a lot of movies, their Stubs Program is for you!) IMAX used to be their top screen experience, but it looks like Dolby has now taken that over. What confused us when we first saw Dolby as one of their new movie experience was that back in the day Dolby referred to an enhanced sound system. But now it’s returned as both super-enhanced sound (with some shaking the very air around you) and superior colors and visuals. It just seemed off they’d pick a name from something old for something new. Weird!

Have an awesome week!

Virtual Tourist – Yakuza 0 6/16/19

First off, Happy Father’s Day to all the Dad’s out there!

Happy Father's Day

Mini Movie Review

Men In Black International Men In Black: International – They are back! With more attitude, bigger weapons, and the usual chaos! 😛 The original theme music is back, so the film had a nostalgic vibe to it. There’s even a painting in High T’s office of J and K saving the world. 😛 There’s a recurring theme in the film they pound into you hard – the universe always puts you where you need to be when you need to be there. They stretch this out a bit much! And while some explanations on why things have happened are shown, there are others you have to infer from what’s been presented. (For example: Why H changed so much in 3 years. And no, it’s not the girlfriend. Though if you don’t put it together yourself, it’s gone :P) Cool effects, fast pace, overall a good ride! Rating: 3.5 out of 4 (Hubby’s Rating: Worth Full Price of Admission.)

Yakuza 0

This is another Japanese console game that has been converted for PC. For the most part, they’ve done a good change over, though I have run into one issue on a keybinding that drove me nuts as it trapped me on a fighting style tutorial. Ugh.

It’s 1988 in Kamurocho, a fictional small town/district in Japan. You’re Kazuma Kiryu, one of two orphan boys who joined the local yakuza when they became of age. Kiryu is a straight shooter, who’s gets set up for murder so the shame can be used against his boss in a tangled political power play.

In the middle of the serious storyline, there are substories to get involved in and mini-games (karaoke, pocket racers, baseball batting, etc.). Some of those are far from serious. Watching Kyriu pose with his pocket racer and doing his “I win!” bit are hilarious. Geek fun abounds!

One of the streets in Kamurocho at night. Loads of clubs and adult entertainment. Following my friend Majima to do some drinking.

The opposite side of the same street. Video stores, pachinko, and more.

Majima and Kiryu. Both orphans raised at the Sunflower Orphanage. It’s financed by their boss, Kazama, which is why they both decided to join the yakuza. (He did try to dissuade them, but these two are stubborn.) (I love Kyriu’s sideburns!!!!!!!!)

Look at the gorgeous woodwork! Upper floor on the Dojima HQ. (Dojima is the main Yakuza family in the zone.)

Kuze – one of the three top lieutenants in the Dojima family. He’s willing to do anything to get a shot at being captain. A position currently held by Kazama, Kyriu’s boss, who is currently in jail. (That ceiling is rad!)

Kuze’s Yakuza tattoo – the King of Hell (Underworld). Heh heh.

Kyriu’s yakuza tattoo – work in progress. He’s currently pretty low in the ranks.

I really liked this image — the view from a top floor of one of the buildings in Kamurocho. Tachibana of Tachibana Realty is the man reflected in the window. A non-yakuza group who is also vying for control of the “Empty Lot.”

Of course, I forgot to take a shot of the login screen. Fighting skill tree pic is also probably in order. DOH!

Have a great week!

Mini Movie Reviews – 6/9/19

Life has been super crazy. I doubt it is going to slow down any time soon. Wheee!

Mini Movie Reviews

Godzilla: King of All Monsters

Godzilla: King of All Monster – Hubby and I had been looking forward to this one. We were not disappointed. If anything, I was thrilled! Now that Toho (the company who makes the Godzilla movies in Japan) is on board, we got a few extra excellent bits. First off, the full-fledged traditional Godzilla call (I believe we had it before, but it’s even better now because…) as well as both of the most popular Godzilla themes. They also bring Mothra’s music in as well. Pictures of the original twins and loads of other nostalgic bits (like the oxygen bomb – which was the weapon used on the original black and white Godzilla film.)

We get several familiar monsters back and a few new ones. The makeover on Rhodan was awesome! King Ghidorah also rocks! He’s got some nifty new powers, too! Godzilla still has a move or two up his sleeve as well. Make sure to sit ALL the way through the credits. There is more to come! Booyah! All the monster action you could want. Super acting by everyone involved, too! Rating: 3.75 out of 4 (Hubby’s Rating: Worth Full Price to See Again!)

The Secret Like of Pets 2 The Secret Life of Pets 2: All our favorite pets are back, and we also meet several new ones. They took an unusual direction on this one, starting you off with a quick catch up to set up the new situations, then going off in three different seemingly unrelated storylines that will eventually come back to merge for the final piece of the tale.

Gidget still kicks buns, so all is right with the world! Lol. I do love her. There are so many cute moments in this film. Baby Ian coming into Max’s life and how he ensnares the dog’s heart was so adorable! Loved how everything going great is the reason unexpected problems pop up for Max. Loads of fun stuff to be had here. I liked this one better than the original. 🙂 Rating: 3.5 out of 4 (Hubby’s Rating: Worth Full Price of Admissions.)

Obligatory Marketing Stuff!

Sales channels are finally showing the 2nd editions! Yay! Here’s the list so far (though due to Smashwords, the ebook versions will be showing up in even more outlets! Double yay!)

I still need to update all my website pages for these though. 🙁 Too much to do and so little time!

Inner Demons

Barnes and Novel Trade Paperback

Nook

Amazon Trade Paperback

Kindle

Smashwords

Cross-eyed Dragon Troubles

Barnes and Novel Trade Paperback

Nook

Amazon Trade Paperback

Kindle

Smashwords

Mini Movie Reviews 5/26/19

Morning, all!

Pressed for time, so no Virtual Tourist this week. Instead, we have two Mini Movie Reviews and some news!

Aladdin

This is a live-action remake of the animated 1992 Disney film with Robin Williams (uncredited at the time). They kept the flavor and fun found in the original animated version. Almost all the original songs were included (they left out Jafar’s twisted rendition of Prince Ali. One of my favorites! Wah!), and some had minor lyric changes. (At the time the original was released, there was a lot of push back, so I guess they decided to be politically correct?) There is one new song for Jasmine. There are minor changes in plot, but they wove them in nicely, mainly having to do with Jasmine.

All the characters are represented, and they did a great job with the non-human ones. Abu, Rajah, Iago (Since parrots can speak, he still does!), and carpet (carpet was awesome!). The special effects were great! Costumes were made to resemble those in the animated film. Will Smith did great as the genie. There were also bits of homage to the original thrown in as well.

Overall, they did an excellent job. Should be fun for the entire family. Rating: 3.75 out of 4 (I think I messed up my rating scale a few months ago. Ugh.) Hubby’s Rating: Worth Full Price to See Again.)

John Wick 3

John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum

While Chapter 2 was a disappointment, Chapter 3 makes up for a lot of it. This chapter starts minutes after the end of Chapter 2. The High Table is taking steps to erase John from the world as well as anyone who showed him any mercy or favors. The fact it was one of their own who warped their rules to get his seat, is never admitted to and they want to crush it all away.

The action hardly ever slows — lots of inventive fighting scenes and weird locations. The fight in the stables got extra kudos as Keanu showed horse knowledge – watch John closely in that section, he always lets the horses know he is there. This is a basic bit of horse knowledge that will keep you from startling them and getting kicked! 🙂 They even added a couple of western movie horse trick moments we’ve not seen in years! Nice.

I was super thrilled to see Mark Dacascos – he does an excellent job as Zero. Half fanboy, half ninja assassin. He was a riot! (The song playing at the sushi place is “Ninja Re Bang Bang” a super adorable song. Hubby knew what it was on the first few notes! lol) Some higher graphic violence in a couple of places. Halle Berry as Sofia was fun as well. Her dogs are awesome! Also quite nasty! Guys, you will cringe at what they do. Lol.

Betrayals, alliances, rule-breaking, this film will fill up your action quotient quickly! Left open for Chapter 4! Rating: 3.75 out of 4 (Hubby’s Rating: Worth Full Price to See Again!)

News!

Re-edits on “Inner Demons” and “Cross-eyed Dragon Troubles” are complete! New covers by Charles Bernard are being converted to cover flats, and I will be sharing those with you soon – can’t wait! They are awesome!

Virtual Tourist – Subnautica 5/12/19

Mini Movie Review

Pokemon Detective Pikachu

Pokemon Detective Pikachu – This movie was so cute! It was awesome seeing all the pokemon with actual fur, feathers, etc. The story is more complex than expected. There are lots of red herrings to keep the audience guessing. All the weird stuff, like Pikachu being understood by Tim, all have explanations. This was a fun little film. I just wish they’d given Jigglypuff more camera time! Lol. Rating: 3.75 out of 5 (Hubby’s Rating: Worth Full Price to See Again!)

Subnautica

This freaked me out. You could hear moaning through the water, but seeing it was such a surprise!

There are six or more of them, all different ages. You can tell by looking at the top carapace. This specimen is an older one. He has all sorts of plant life, coral and even some minerals on his shell.

A picture of the beast’s underbelly. They are truly fascinating.

Sunset on the alien world. There is a lot of beauty here.

Glowing life form. Quite beautiful. The fauna and flora changes depending on what zone you find yourself in.

Drooping Stinger – gorgeous but don’t get too close. They pack a bit of a punch. So be careful. (I also got carried away and let my oxygen get too low. Time to panic! lol.)

The still burning Aurora and the reddish moon.

There is more than just water everywhere! Here’s some dry land. Rescue is imminent. A passing spaceship picked up Aurora’s distress signal.

We are not alone! A building of alien origin. Might there be alien lifeforms here as well?

I did want to wish all the Mom’s out there a fabulous and well deserved “Happy Mother’s Day!”

Virtual Tourist – Tales of Bersaria 4/28/19

Mini Movie Review

Avengers: End Game – First off, be aware this movie is 3 hours long! It won’t feel like it, but your bladder will know. So FYI! lol. There was a lot to like about the film. Tons of emotional fodder and we get to see characters that have been gone for a while. Tons of humorous and serious moments. Some fun mixed character interactions. It’s only in the last half hour or so that the plot becomes forced as there are certain things they want to happen, regardless of the fact there are better alternatives. They also don’t take certain facts into account during least one of the time travel moments.

(SPOILERS!!!!!) – Quill getting bushwhacked on the dead planet. They totally ignore the group of bad guys who show up on the planet when he’s there. An unconscious Quill would mean a Dead Quill (by alien rats or by bad guys!). Plus the two picking up this rock would have been ambushed just like Quill. (These guys were acting separately from Thanos’ other peeps.) Doctor Strange/Iron Man – Strange wields power, and like the Ancient One, uses the Eye of Agamotto. So would he not be better able to survive or shield himself when using the five Infinity Stones? Yet that avenue is never pursued in any way. Cap’s decision at the end – while for me it was a squee moment, on further thought there’s no way he could pull it off. Would someone of his moral fiber be able to not fight crime or injustice when he could make a difference? All for selfish gain? I think not. (Plus this also gives the finger to Bucky! He gets left behind!) Also, while the moment with Falcon was very moving, but if you’re not acquainted with the comics, it seems strange, especially since he’s not done any leadership before this or has been shown to have powers of his own.

I was disturbed by the fact they held a funeral/vigil for Tony, but they did nothing for Natasha! Why did they not do both together? They knew all the same people. Why would they shut her out like that? She doesn’t get her own movie and now no sendoff either? Come on!

I was able to ignore some of this stuff way better than hubby. Just be warned! Super build up and awesomeness for convenient letdowns. Rating: 3.5 out of 5. (Hubby’s Rating: Better for Matinee. (Yeah, he was not happy! lol)

Tales of Berseria

Some really nice details! I believe this is an Inn at Loegres.

A super cold winter. Not that Velvet feels it.

Crystal caves. What are those exorcists up to?

Moss filled caves, almost jungle like. The goal is near.

Gorgeous coastal view! Look at that sky!

One of the many ways the Abbey is restricting the populace. Giant lock system restricting trading by ship.

The pirate ship Captained by Airfried. He’s currently missing, captured by the Abbey. Velvet and her companions have joined them as they have similar paths and goals.

Tales of Berseria - ships coming to port

Heading to port. Really love this ship!

View from port out to the open sea. Calming, isn’t it? 🙂

I will say the Abbey does have some impressive churches.

Hope you have a great weekend! Till next time. 🙂

Virtual Tourist – Tales of Bersaria 4/21/19

Morning!

Mini Movie Review

Hellboy – This film is like a reboot of the Hellboy franchise. Think of it as a prequel/retelling. It’s very well done. The cast was great! While Ron Perlman did a great job in the previous two films, it has been 12 years since the last one. David Harbour picks up the mantle seamlessly. Great special effects, loads of action, even some twists and turns. Overall, it was quite enjoyable! Rating: 3.75 out of 4. (Hubby’s Rating: Worth Full Price to See Again!)

Tales of Bersaria

The big betrayal! This is where all the bad stuff truly begins.

Artorious – Velvet’s brother-in-law and mentor. Now turned murderer.

A spell in motion.

Artorious’ Malach companion. Three years later she’s seen enough of what he is doing to know he has to be stopped. She releases and is later consumed by Velvet. (Malach are a spirit race, which until recently couldn’t be seen by humans.)

Velvet is free of her jail cell, but must now fight her way out. Her only thought, revenge.

Velvet and Artorious’ Malach.

Magilou – a witch also imprisoned in the island jail. She’s an enigma of sorts. Is also hardly ever serious and loves to poke at all the members of the group. Yet there’s more to her beneath her odd facade.

A closeup of Velvet.

Typical Magilou. 😛

The first town Velvet and her new companions see after the boat they stole crash lands. Huh, I didn’t take a pic of Rokurou. 🙁

Hope you and yours have a wonderful Easter.

Virtual Tourist – Tales of Berseria 4/7/19

Morning!

Mini Movie Review

Shazam – I will admit, though I love Zachary Levi, I wasn’t too sure how this film was going to turn out. Luckily, it more than met expectations. The kids were fantastic! Plus the film had other elements they did not touch in the previews, which made for some unexpected surprises. The movie has a lot of levity, but it also shows there’s darkness. Evil doesn’t just come from monsters. Rating: 3.75 out of 5. (Hubby’s Rating: Worth Full Price to See Again.)

Tales of Berseria

This is a Japanese console game that has been converted for PC. You have the option of both English and Japanese for the voice-overs, which is nice. Unlike some games out there that have been brought to PC, they did an excellent revamp on this one.

I’ve not played this type of game before, where you have multiple characters that fight in a group, and you switch and maintain all of them. But the learning curve hasn’t been too bad. 😛

This is Velvet. The start screen goes through a small sequence and she walks towards you as the game loads.

There is a demon blight that has spread across the land. One that turns people into monsters. Monsters that attack everyone around them.

This is Velvet’s village. She lives here with her brother-in-law and her younger brother.

This is the forest just outside her village. The graphics are lovely. The little figure on the lower right means there’s a dialogue sequence you can start by pressing ‘T’.

A set of ruins past the forest. They sit a top a cliff overlooking the ocean. It is here that bad things will happen and alter Velvet forever.

Velvet’s home at the village. Places you can enter have the blue dotted ring at the entrance.

Inside Velvet’s home. That’s her younger brother, Laphiset. He’s a little sickly, but very bright. Velvet is rather overprotective of him.

Lovely view, no? Laphiset wants to see the world! Velvet just wants him safe.

A touching moment with her brother.

That night, however, is when everything changed…

Have an awesome week!

Virtual Tourist – GRIS 3/10/19

Well, between the health stuff, company merger, and daylight’s savings time, my plans today were put in peril. But I will persevere!

Mini Movie Review

Captain Marvel – Depending on who you are and how deep you are in comic book fandom will make a HUGE difference on what you’ll think about this film. It’s a popcorn flick, entertaining with a lot of cute moments. As long as you don’t look below the surface, it’s enjoyable. Seeing a young Coulson totally did it for me. 😛 I thought Brie Larson did a great job. There’s been a lot of flack about her not being able to act, but I didn’t see that. If anything, I have to give her kudos for not just acting with words and expressions but her whole body. Carol Danvers’ confident and easy attitude screams from the character just by how she walks down a corridor after the first escape.

While the errors regarding canon are many and various, some of the other problems were just lazy. For example, the Skrull Talos spoke like some punk out of the ’80s and ’90s when, if you take into account the timeline as presented, he had not yet spent much if any time on Earth. (If he had, there would have been several critical bits of information he would have already known about and therefore made the movie moot!). Another big one was with regards to the Kree. All Kree have blue skin, and all the movies and TV shows have presented them that way. The only exception is sometimes some have patches of pure white skin (which makes them looked down on). Rather than try to come up with a plausible reason to tell Carol why her skin was different, they just turned half the Kree population Caucasian. Lazy.

If you can ignore stuff like that, you should enjoy the film. It had a nice pace, cool effects, excellent combat sequences, and Goose. I did love that they let the Skrulls have their super funky chins. Rating: 3.25 out of 4 (Hubby’s Rating: Worth Full Price of Admission.)

Virtual Tourist – GRIS

The gardens are a wonderful area. It is also where you pick up the ability to SING!

Singing affects things and is also visual. The rings you see here are from her voice. It also makes flowers bloom!

Love the luscious colors.

The unknown. Look a the gorgeous pastels!

An underwater hallway in the gardens. You can’t sing as a fish.

The bush is made of water, so I can swim in it. The yellow line flips the gravity. Gliding past the top drops you up to the floor/ceiling of the other side. Lol.

I love the colors, the implied textures, even the depths.

A half inverted area and major singing spot.

The star path to the meeting the tortured self.

It is just darn pretty!

Hope you’ve been staying warm out there. Winter is still trying to hang on, but it is a losing battle. 😛

Virtual Tourist – Deus Ex: Mankind Divided 10/28/18

Morning, all!

Mini Movie Review

Hunter Killer

Hunter Killer – a sub movie! Woot! Hubby has been chomping at the bit to see this one. 🙂 The film has all the submarine movie tropes and then some. Some of the big pieces on the plot don’t quite fit or point you in directions never followed up on, but ignoring those, you’re in for a fun ride. Multiple groups are involved in the mission, so you get action from several directions and by various groups. Rating: 3.25 out of 5 (Hubby’s Rating: Worth Full Price to See Again!)

Virtual Tourist

Deus Ex: Mankind Divided

No subways are running from the station, so Jensen has to make his way over on foot.

The electronic newspaper in the game. Headlines and stories will change as the game progresses. Nice way to give players more info.

Look at the awesome wrap around screen! Sweet!

Close up picture of the augmented troublemaker following the orders from the cabal. 😛

That is one cool chandelier!

The rest of the place is nice, too! This one gives a better view of the room.

A meeting underground

Culinary delights – grilled mouse on a stick.

Aerial view of the city of London!

The DNA strand buildings are too darn cool!

That’s it for this week. Hope you have a marvelous day!

Mini Movie Reviews

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Mini Movie Review

Yakuza 0

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Mini Movie Reviews

Obligatory Marketing Stuff!

Inner Demons

Cross-eyed Dragon Troubles

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Aladdin

John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum

News!

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Mini Movie Review

Subnautica

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Mini Movie Review

Tales of Berseria

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Tales of Bersaria

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Mini Movie Review

Tales of Berseria

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Mini Movie Review

Virtual Tourist – GRIS

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Mini Movie Review

Virtual Tourist

Deus Ex: Mankind Divided

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