[Movies] The Martian (2015)

I often make fun of the movie awards season - you know that period towards the end of the year when different studios shift to releasing much more serious movies that are clearly designed to stand a chance at getting nominated for an award or to. It's a weird quirk of Hollywood in order to ensure the movie remains fresh in the minds of votes when it does come time to make a decision.

The Martian came out a little earlier than that period, but you'd be foolish not to consider that this movie was right up there with the other Oscar hopefuls. but to be fair, it's a pretty epic movie and one that felt like it wanted to put a bit more effort into getting the science more or less right, which reminds us of other heavy science fiction movies like Gravity and Interstellar.

It took me a while before finally getting around to watching this movie for no particular reason. We missed it when it came out in theaters and so we ended up waiting for the home video release.

And no I rather regret not having watched this movie sooner.

[Pink Culture] Alter Twitter

Almost a year ago I decided to create a secondary anonymous Twitter account. It started as an experiment in freer expression when it comes to talking about LGBT-related subjects, sex, and of course politics. And the fact that the account is still alive says something, right?

Alter is the local term for such anonymous secondary Twitter accounts that people create for various reasons. The most readily visible use of course is for hooking up and you'll find a lot of headless chest photos asking if people want to Skype or meet up for whatever like an extension of Grindr and other gay dating apps. Then there are just that are deep in the closet and hoping to explore being LGBT without getting into trouble.

There's also an interesting section of the alter world devoted to People Living with HIV (PLHIV) who use the anonymity of the internet to talk about what they're going through, seek help for dealing with the side-effects of medication and basically just find people who understand them. It's more of the somewhat more endearing parts of Alter Twitter, in my opinion. They're really just a lot of people wanting to feel loved and valued despite how society seems to treat the PLHIV community.

There's a lot to be said about the Alter folks and I think I might try exploring that further in future blog posts. How about you guys - do you have an alter? What do you use alter for? Why do you think you need anonymity to say the things you say?

[Games] Star Trek Wrath of Gems (Android)

I'm typically game to try any Star Trek game that comes to mobile, provide it's free. I'm pretty easy that way given I'm the sort of fan who loves the franchise enough to be willing to explore reskinned games just to pass the time. And you can't get more basic than the franchise-aligned Match-3 game. Just look at ventures like Doctor Who Legacy and Marvel Puzzle Quest.  Same basic game mechanic but somehow themed to the franchise.

And let's face it, Puzzle Quest was pretty genius when it first came out and we're all the better for it. We moved away from match 3 games simply being match 3 games and going towards creating a greater goal and the possibility of linear narrative progression. Life is funny that way.

But back to Star Trek Wrath of Gems, the latest franchise reskin of a match-3 game from the same people who created Frozen Freefall.

[Movies] Everything Wrong with Star Trek the Motion Picture (CinemaSins)

I'm a proud Trekkie but as much as I love the franchise, I'll be the first to recognize the little problems we've had here and there with silly writing, campy dialogue and special effects that just don't quite execute.

So I figured that it was only a matter of time before comedy channel CinemaSins would finally tackle the classic movies and have fun with them. And I do enjoy CinemaSins - it's not about nitpicking but more about a reminder that even the  best movies are never 100% perfect. But we see past those imperfections and focus on the positive cinematic experience as a whole.

So here we are with the CinemaSins' Everything Wrong with Star Trek: The Motion Picture!



But I'm sure every fan is waiting for what they're going to do once they get around to Star Trek V: The Final Frontier.

[TV] Daredevil: Season 2

The first season of Marvel's Daredevil was a refreshing shock to the system. It was a living testament to the fact that you can create a good superhero series that is serious and gritty and yet not hammy and cliche at the same time. They manage to make a show that felt quite real despite dealing with characters with superhuman abilities. And they didn't need to resort to a crazy amount of CGI to get it done either.

The second season of Daredevil made sure to build on the already established world of Hell's Kitchen and took things further by advancing individual character arcs while carefully introducing new characters into the mix of things. We saw a lot of familiar names come into the story throughout this season but even for non comic book fans the narrative was sufficient to still make sense. And I don't mean to belittle the show in any way with that statement.

I really enjoyed how this second season really took the characters forward and pretty much raised that flag that says, "Marvel has truly arrived on TV." The decision to focus on the so-called Marvel Knights characters given their street crime level stories and experiences was truly the right thing to do to create a series this engaging.