review – Page 6 – rgbFilter

Black Death – film review

August 25, 2010August 25, 2010 Peter Brunton Black Death, Christopher Smith, review, Sean Bean, TADFF, Toronto After Dark2 Comments

In Black Death, screened this year at Toronto After Dark, Sean Bean plays a grizzled dark ages knight who leads a small band of Agincourt veterans, torturers and murderers, plus one world shy monk, on a mission to a investigate claims of a small village that is free from the plague, because a necromancer has been using Satanic power to keep the sickness at bay. Now, show of hands; how many of you gave out a little “squeeee!” at the words “Sean Bean” and “grizzled dark ages knight”? Good. Go…

The Last Exorcism review

August 18, 2010August 18, 2010 Doug Groves Eli Roth, Film, review, TADFF, The Last Exorcism, Toronto After Dark Film Festival2 Comments

When going into The Last Excorcism, which played Monday night at the Toronto After Dark Film Festival, I wasn’t sure what to expect. I had seen the trailers, and at first blush it seemed to be treading the same ground as other documentary style horror films, from Blair Witch to Paranormal Activity, and it was also tackling the exorcism sub-genre that The Exorcist still holds the crown after almost 40 years earlier still holds the crown for. All this, combined with the name Eli Roth, made me wary. Though not…

The Last Lovecraft – Opening night at Toronto After Dark

August 14, 2010August 17, 2010 Doug Groves comedy, Devin McGinn, gala, H.P. Lovecraft, Henry Saine, horror, Lovecraftian, premiere, review, TADFF, Toronto After Dark Film Festival5 Comments

The Last Lovecraft: Relic Of Cthulhu kicked off the opening gala at the 5th annual Toronto After Dark Film Festival last night, and also marked the film’s international premiere. The film a horror comedy that sits in the same space as Jack Brooks Monster Slayer and, reaching back a bit, the original Tremors. While I’m not sure it’s bound for cult classic status, the film does have it’s moments, and offers a humourous take on the Lovecraftian mythos, including an opening credit sequence that was reminiscent of the 80’s cult…

Box 13 comic review

August 11, 2010August 16, 2010 Peter Brunton Box 13, Comics, Dave Gallaher, digital comics, Red 5 Comics, review, Steve Ellis7 Comments

Box 13 Publisher: Red 5 Comics Review based on the trade paperback, original published on Comics by ComiXology iPhone app Writer: David Gallaher Art: Steve Ellis (inks), Mike Paar (colours) & Scott Brown (letters) Technologic OK, let me start by saying that Box 13, if nothing else, is a noble experiment. Conceptually, a comic book divided up into mini issues, just 8 pages long (including cover), designed to be read on your phone is pretty freaking cool. After all, in so many ways the comic book format seems ideally suited…

Steelseries 6G V2 keyboard review

August 10, 2010August 10, 2010 Doug Groves 6Gv2, gaming keyboard, heavy, keyboard, pro gaming, review, Steelseries6 Comments

Whether you build your own PCs, or buy a computer off the shelf, the keyboard is often the last thing on your mind. Either the new machine comes with one, or you probably have one (or several) lying around that’ll do the trick. I know I’m that way. On one of my systems, I’m still using the keyboard from the PC manufacturer, which looks nice enough, but for extended use is actually pretty annoying. I’ve generally steered away from most gaming keyboards, because although I do game on the PC…

Virgin HTC Legend review

August 3, 2010August 3, 2010 Doug Groves Android, Bell, canada, Eclair, Friend Stream, google, HTC, HTC Legend, HTC Sense, review, Sense, Sense UI, Virgin Canada3 Comments

HTC, once known as the go-to company for Windows Mobile devices made a wise business decision to embrace Google’s Android operating system from the very beginning, with the original G1. Since that time, they’ve put out an almost dizzying array of phones on the platform, many of them running HTCs custom Sense interface, which first appeared on the HTC Hero. The HTC Legend, currently available on Bell and Virgin in Canada, is very much an updated version of the Hero, with a more polished design and a more current version…

Hydro Thunder Hurricane review

July 27, 2010 Doug Groves Arcade, game, Hydro Thunder, Hydro Thunder Hurricane, review, speedboat racing, Summer of Arcade, Vector Unit, XBLA, Xbox 360, Xbox Live3 Comments

For those who may not recall, Hydro Thunder was a Midway Games sit down style arcade speedboat racing game from 1999. It also spawned versions for the Dreamcast, N64, Playstation and the PC, though I’m only familiar with the arcade version, which probably still haunts more than one Dave & Busters outlet across North America. Though I haven’t played it in years, it certainly delivered on over-the-top speedboat racing back in the day. Now, Vector Unit, a small developer, has resurrected the franchise for Microsoft Game Studios as Hydro Thunder…

Limbo game review

July 22, 2010July 27, 2010 Doug Groves Achievement perfect, Limbo, Limbo game, Playdead, review, XBLA, Xbox, Xbox 3609 Comments

Unlike most platform puzzle games, Limbo isn’t going to put a smile on your face, unless you have a slightly dark sense of humour. The official summary of the game is “Uncertain of his sister’s fate, a boy enters LIMBO”. Like that austere and sparse description, the game world is full of empty space, leaving a lot of room for the player to imagine the world behind the game, rendered in what can be described as a beautifully layered charcoal sketch, with a silent film era grain. As the boy,…

Crackdown 2 review

July 16, 2010July 16, 2010 Doug Groves Billy Thomson, Crackdown 2, review, Ruffian Games, Xbox 360, Xbox Live1 Comment

When we got an early hands-on with Crackdown 2 back in May, I was enamoured with the game. You see, I was a huge fan of the original, and everything seemed in place to make Crackdown 2 bigger and better. In a lot of ways, Ruffian Games did build upon the original, but in their quest for pure gameplay, I couldn’t help but feel something was lacking.

Cowboy Ninja Viking review

July 13, 2010July 13, 2010 Peter Brunton AJ Lieberman, Comics, Cowboy Ninja Viking, Image Comics, review, Riley Rossmo3 Comments

Writer: AJ Lieberman Artist: Riley Rossmo Publisher: Image Three Kinds of Badass… Literally… When a man tries to sell me a comic book called Cowboy Ninja Viking – about a hero who is a cowboy, a ninja, and a viking, at the same time – you might say that he is working from an advantaged position. When said comic is about a secret project by the US government to weaponise multiple personality disorder in order to create super-soldiers for the war on terror… well, I’m fairly sure my wallet was…

Superboy – The Boy Of Steel review

June 27, 2010June 27, 2010 Peter Brunton Boy Of Steel, Francis Manapul, Geoff Johns, review, Superboy6 Comments

Publisher: DC Comics Writer: Geoff Johns Artist: Francis Manapul A Brief History of The Boy Redundant OK, so for those not in the know, the current incarnation of Superboy was conjured into life as part of the “Death of Superman” storyline, and his “big reveal” was that he’s a clone of Superman, but with powers based on ‘tactile telekinesis’ (it’s comic book physics dude, live with it). Of course, the whole clone thing naturally resulted in several years of “Oh my god, I’m a clone” moping, which Superman tries to…

Gigantic Review

June 14, 2010 Peter Brunton Dark Horse Comics, Eric Nguyen, Gigantic, review, Rick Remender1 Comment

Gigantic trade paperback Writer: Rick Remender Penciller: Eric Nguyen Colorist: Matt Wilson Totally Not Based On A Song By The Pixies Sometimes a comic book just leaps off of the shelf at you, for no good reason other than the sheer look of the thing. Gigantic is a great example. The cover art is gorgeous, deftly shaded pencil work picked out in bright colours, with a washed out light bloom effect, and, most importantly, a fucking huge robot dude being attacked by aliens with kanji script thrown all across the…