Thursday, September 7, 2023
Welcome to My Nightmare: A Review of Dylan's New Nightmare
Wednesday, July 19, 2023
Tales From The U.S.S. Horizon - Episode 2: "Botanical Intrigue"
Tuesday, July 18, 2023
Tales from the U.S.S. Horizon Episode 1: "Infectious Origins"
Chief of Security, Lieutenant Commander Maxwell Phillips reporting. That's something that I still haven't gotten used to. Hard to believe that it's only been a month since I was assigned to the U.S.S. Horizon.
The U.S.S. Horizon has been sent on a critical mission in the Lysara Sector. It's a sector that not much has been known about. Uncharted territory for the Federation, if you will. I can confirm that there are five planets in this system - Lysaria, Drakalus, Xyria, Aquilon, and Zenthia. There have been rumors of feuds between two of the species, the Xyranthians and the Drakillians. The status of this sector's Federation approval is dependent on this mission.
Upon entering the sector, we received a request to dock at Harmony Station for a meeting- a space station that serves as their neutral ground between the different polities. Captain Reynolds made the decision to split the team - one's objective would be to attend the diplomatic meeting and the other's to investigate the research station.
I ask myself 'Why Starfleet deemed it necessary to send us on this mission?'. But one thing is clear - this sector's Federation approval is dependent on what transpires. To be honest, it feels like a weight has been placed on my shoulders. I don't envy Captain Reynold's responsibilities. But I must stay focused.
Security's Log, supplemental:
The meeting didn't go according to plan. The positive is that we made contact with the different polities: the Lysarians, the Drakallians, the Nalorians, the Xyranthians, and the Zenithians. It's clear that the Lysarians are the peacekeepers as the tensions between the Drakallians and the Xyranthians was very evident. We learned that Korvex Prime had been colonized recently by the Xyranthians. While the Xyranthians viewed this as a sign of their species strength and adaptability, others viewed it as a sign of power and force. Ambassador Valeer of the Lysarians was quick to remind Captain Vosran (of the Drakallians) and Commander Nalos (of the Xyranthians) of what the Lysara Sector was attempting to accomplish - proving to the Federation that they were ready to join them.
Captain Reynolds attempted to reach the away team down on the surface to no response…
To Be Continued...
If this interested you, check out Captain's Log over at Modiphius.
Monday, July 17, 2023
Star Trek Adventures: Captain's Log
Thursday, June 8, 2023
Review: SCREAM VI (2023)
Hello everyone, BlazinBlue's Review has returned once again with a new review. This is one that I know some have been waiting for. It's time to talk about Scream VI (or Scream 6).
When Scream '22 (Scream 5 or 5cream as the internet had decided to call it) released, it was very nostalgic. It was like coming home to a warm blanket that had just been taken out of the dryer. Cozy. It was an interesting re-quel. It was familiar. The first part was very much in the vein of the original film. But then when Dewey's Last Stand happens, the film hit differently. It showed and expressed that it wasn't afraid to not pull some punches. I know for me, I kept hoping that Dewey was going to come out the film on his feet. But then that scene, it knocked the wind out of me. And I wasn't sure what was going to happen next. I didn't know if any of the legacy characters were exactly safe. And that third act is still pretty great.
With Scream VI, I went to see it for my birthday. It's one of those times where the movie gods seemed to shine down as everything had lined up. I went into the theater with a large Root Beer and a medium popcorn. It's honestly something that I don't do very often anymore. Ever since the pandemic, theaters have kind of changed. But there was still that small little spark of being able to escape from the worlds problems and get lost in the story.
After that initial watch, I left the theater floored. I didn't know what I had just watched. Well at the very least, I knew it was a Scream film. But it wasn't what I had expected. I guess I was expecting something more in the vein of Scream '22. But Scream VI is far from in the vein of Scream '22. I knew it was going to be very difficult to try to express my thoughts. And it was going to take time and a few times of rewatching it to fully get it. It honestly put my brain on the back burner with movie reviews for a little bit. First time I had found myself a bit flabbergasted like this.
When first had heard that Scream VI was moving to New York, I was really intrigued. It's always interesting to see the filmmakers take Ghostface and move the story out of Woodsboro. As much as I love Woodsboro, there's only so many times we can have these things happen there. So seeing our survivors of Scream '22 in New York was pretty welcoming. Then there was mention of them being in college. Cool. It firmly established that Radio Silence was gunning for a Scream 2 to their Scream '22.
Then, something interesting happened. They completely subverted expectations. That's honestly one of the best things that Scream VI does, to an extent. It subverted expectations. The kids are going to be in college? Nah, it'll be there for a moment. But just don't let yourself get attached to the idea of seeing them in college. It's going to be set around Halloween? Sweet, nice throwback to Halloween '78 in a way. But don't expect anything too far out of a sequence here and there. Though, if one keeps a keen eye out, there are some small little glimpses that it's Halloween time. Do wish that there would have been more with it though.
The opening was something that definitely caught me off guard. It firmly establishes that this won't be the same type of film that Scream '22 was. Yes, we get Samara Weaving in a fun little homage to Drew Barrymore. She's a fish out of water in the big city trying to meet people. It's our first little play of the idea with the college trope as she's a professor. But then that final slash happens leaving us with Ghostface standing there and staring at what they'd done. At that point, we usually would have had our title credit. But it keeps lingering and then unmasking, were we going to get our first audience known Ghostface? I was very intrigued by this concept. Then the rest of the opening played out.
On a recent rewatch, the opening hit very different this go around. It felt a bit Hitchcockian. Think about it, the first part of Psycho establishes that we were going to be following Marion Crane then twists it with that shower scene. This opening played very similar to me.
The rest of that first act then is fast and loose with re-establishing characters and establishing the newer ones. One of the new characters that I found myself really liking is Danny Brackett, Sam's new love interest. He just felt like a really solid good guy. He understands where Sam's at with everything and wants to be there to help. He never felt like a red herring to me. Then there's "I had econ!" Ethan, Chad's quiet roommate. Ethan never left much of an impression unfortunately. I'm guessing that he may had left that in Econ as well. Quinn, Sam and Tara's roommate, was interesting as she was the embracing her wild side in a sense trope. Then there's Annika, Mindy's love interest. She sadly didn't leave much of an impression either, on me or the ladder scene. Oh, is it too soon? And then we have Detective Bailey. During that initial watch, I felt it too easy for him to be involved. In a sense, it still is but now knowing how the story plays out, it feels a little more natural now. Especially as he quickly lays out the cards in one scene, "You mess with my family. You pay.".
I know that there have been quite a lot of people talking about the story. There are some gaps in logic and may be one or two small spots that feel misplaced. But for the most part, it plays things fast and loose. It hits the ground running and just doesn't look back. It's meant to be a fun thrill ride. It also hit me that the previous Scream films are firmly love letters to the Slasher genre. This film is a love letter to Giallo. It's very much evident with how the film plays against the audience's expectations. Radio Silence had a lot of fun with subverting expectations. This is also the first Scream film to have a lot of set pieces: (the Bodega, the Ladder, the Train, and the Shrine). Each one of these sequences are pretty damn memorable. I know, I'm leaving out Gale's sequence and the opening. While Gale's sequence is pretty great, to me it never felt like they could pull the trigger on killing her off. They were pulling their punch after killing off Dewey in the previous film. It'll be interesting to see if they bring her back and how this experience had effected her.
In this recent rewatch, the film didn't feel scary during that first act. It felt fun and lacking suspense. But then that apartment and ladder scene arrives, and the film switches gears amazingly. The tension and terror arrives in full force. There are two shots in that sequence where Ghostface felt so different to how he'd been shown in the film so far. The stabbing of the knife into the window sill before grabbing the ladder and the last look before walking away. Both of them are pretty incredible. With that first trailer, I honestly was shocked that they had decided to show part of the train sequence. I mean it makes sense as it firmly established we would see Ghostface in New York. But when the scene arrived, I was shocked cause for the most part it didn't play out like it had been shown. There was a lot more tension to it as we find our group separated. It may be one of my favorite, if not my favorite sequence, in the film.
The idea of the Shrine was one that I was all geared up for. It felt different than anything before. In one way, it's very operatic in its approach. It's bold and grandiose. It showcases so many easter eggs so naturally. It's very much a visual representation of the Scream franchise. I originally didn't know how it was going to be used. I just knew it was cool cause it gave us a lair in a sense. Upon rewatches, it's pretty cool discovering more of the easter eggs that originally missed. But by the end of the sequence, it kinda tears down what came before to establish something new. Something fresh. And shows that wherever the story takes us next, it'll be different.
When they revealed who was behind everything, I wasn't as surprised about at least one of the killers. But with the rewatch, it's very clear that wasn't the point. This sequence was more about the motive than anything else. I'd say that it's a great sister counterpart to Scream 2's reveal. It also further builds on Richie's backstory. Though one thing that's pretty interesting is how Bailey and Ethan's performances are. They both had some Stu-isms with how gleeful they were. It immediately reminded me of Matthew Lillard's performane at the end of the original, "I always had a thing for ya Sid!".
Scream VI definitely got better for me with some rewatches and time to think on it. It continued to be entertaining each time. Yeah, there may be a moment here and there that wish we'd get more time. More time with Gale. More time with some of these newer characters. But it plays lean and mean with the time it has. It further establishes the Core Four as well. And I anticipate that Scream 7 will further build on the character of Danny Brackett. This is a film that definitely felt like a reinvention of the films that makes it new and fresh. And I honestly look forward to seeing where they go next.
Rating: 4 out of 5.
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Wednesday, May 10, 2023
Review: EVIL DEAD RISE (2023)
Monday, April 24, 2023
Saber Reviews No. 2: Damiensaber NEW Released XRGB 3.0 Bluetooth Lightsaber
Welcome Back to BlazinBlue's Review! I hope everyone's been doing well. Last time, I started testing the waters with expanding the content that is covered. And it was pretty successful. It also helped me realize that there was a small part of the lightsaber community that wasn't necessarily being covered to its greatest extent - written reviews. If you look on Youtube and enter Lightsabers, you'll find a huge amount of video reviews. Those are nice and all but I know that there are some people that would rather read than just check out a video.
This brings me to today's review. First off, this review wouldn't be possible without Damiensaber. I reached out to a few different companies to see if they'd like to work together. After seeing a couple 'no' or not hearing anything back, I was a bit defeated. I thought that maybe this wasn't something that just wasn't going to work. But then, there was hope. Damiensaber reached back out to me and was interested in collaborating together.
When that happened, I will admit that I was so dang excited. This was one of those cool moments that just feel like they don't happen often. Whenever I have the awesome chance of catching a screening for a new movie or manage to score an interview, I get that same feeling. It's pretty dang cool and makes me realize how lucky I am to get to do this.
So, they gave me the option between two different sabers. There was no. 112 and no. 115. Now, that might not mean much. But when I looked between the two options, I went with the one that called out to me.
Look at how cool that saber looks! Every time that I've had the pleasure of receiving one in the mail, it's been awesome. However, this time felt absolutely different. This was like Christmas Morning all over again. Let's get into it, shall we?
For those that are already interested, you can find the link here:
https://www.damiensaber.com/lightsabers/fx-dueling-12-sound-fonts-custom-saber-no115.html
(Preface: I would like to take the time to say that I was sent this saber from Damiensaber. So, thank you for this opportunity. This will be a complete unbiased review about the saber - no. 115. )
With this being my second official saber review, it's just mind blowing as to how many different options that people have available to them. When I first started looking into lightsabers for my son and I, I was overwhelmed. There are just so many out there.
In my initial research into things, Damiensaber is a company that is at the forefront. It's one of those names that when someone asks for a good place to buy a saber from, you'll probably hear someone say Damiensaber.
After receiving this saber - the no. 115, I can honestly say that their products are pretty solid. Above, we have the image from the product page over on Damiensaber's website. But sometimes when we receive something in the mail, it may differ. Did that happen here? Check out this picture following the unboxing of it.
This is such a beautiful saber. Lately, I've been starting to dive into the High Republic era of Star Wars. From what I've seen in the comics, this honestly feels like it's pulled out of that era. It has the two teeth in the emitter that give it a snake like appearance. It's an extremely distinct design. For those wondering about how many retention screws it uses to keep the blade in place, there are three points. After putting the screws in, it holds the blade in pretty well and very snug.
One small nitpick that I've had with the grip is during dueling. With it being so smooth and bare, it can slide through the hand a little too easy sometimes.
That brings us down to the pommel. When I first started looking at it, something felt very familiar about it. I just couldn't quite place my finger on why that was. Now growing up, I had seen the Original Trilogy quite a bit - SciFi channel marathons being a big highlight. I also had the pleasure of getting to go see Return of the Jedi Special Edition in 1997 - big shoutout and happy 40th Anniversary to Return of the Jedi. So when it was announced that we were receiving the prequel trilogy, I was stoked. It was beginning of my Star Wars trilogy essentially. My favorite character in the film was Obi-Wan Kenobi. Once I thought back on Phantom Menace, it hit me. The reason that this pommel felt so familiar is because this is essentially a slimdown version of Kenobi's Episode 1 lightsaber pommel. And that's just fantastic.
Hilt Score: 5 out of 5
As for the electronics that are featured in this Damiensaber, I didn't look at it closely on initial look. I haven't been collecting sabers for very long. So, I haven't had a lot of experience with the variety that's available. My personal experience has been with baselit sabers. So, I haven't seen many of the fancy features that a pixel one would support. So, I was a little bit underwhelmed at first.
But then, I started realizing what was powering this saber. It's a xenopixel 3.0 board, or it helps to refer to it as the XRGB 3.0. I did a bit of a double take with it. This was something new.
What does this mean? Well, it means that this helps bring you one step closer to what you can imagine a lightsaber would be. This is a board that blows everything that I've previously dealt with out of the water. Honestly, it was a few months ago that I found myself wondering why can't baselit sabers get a board that would support SD cards. Why couldn't us that love to duel have something that we could customize to our hearts content? Make it more seem like our saber.
I can absolutely say that with this board - those thoughts have been answered. This features 16 sound fonts with the ability to add more through an SD card. It supports smooth swing with some beautiful accent swings. Each font can have its own color and blade effect.
In the past, you would have a one button system that would handle all the heavywork of cycling through the various features. With this incarnation, it can be handled through a bluetooth app (Xeno Configurator on iOS and Android). Immediately, I was flabbergasted.
(Above are some images from the Xeno Configurator app. This should help illustrate what to expect from the app. Right now, it's an app that's continuing to evolve. But so far, it's pretty intuitive. There are some features that will be added at some point.)
After spending time with the app, all I can find myself saying is "This is the way.". It's so intuitive and so easy to change features on the fly. If you want to change your sensitivity for your gesture controls, you can do that. If you want to change the timing of your powering up and powering down of your saber, you can do that. If you have a certain color that you had your heart set on (to the point of knowing the color code), well you can do that. You wish to change the sound to a softer volume, you can.
Literally this just kicks down the doors as to what you can do now. Literally you can make it your own.
Electronics Score: 5 out of 5.
Having a variety of sabers now, it's interesting seeing the saber fonts that are available. With this saber, I noticed a good variety in the selection. One of the coolest thing was seeing the variety of Fallen Order fonts, especially a Vader. I've seen Vader fonts before. This one is definitely different and really cool. All of these are incredibly beautiful.
There are probably a few different fonts that feel missing. But with that SD card, it won't be too difficult to add it to the library.
The Saber Fonts are as follows:
The Dark Sword (Darksaber), The Chosen (Anakin Skywalker), Double Agent (Revan), The Princess (Leia), The Son (Luke Ep. VI Return of the Jedi), The Protector (Obi-Wan), The Knight (Kylo Ren), The Fallen Apprentice Magenta (Cal Kestis)
The Master (Qui-Gon Jinn), Truly Lost (Dark Cal Kestis), The Dark Lord Order (Darth Vader - Fallen Order), The Third Hunter (Revan from Obi-Wan), Dark Empress (Dark Rey), The Wanderer (Malicos from Fallen Order), The Assassin (Asajj Ventress).
Sound Score: 4.5 out of 5
With the hilt and sound out of the way, that brings us to the light show portion. That's honestly the best way to phrase it for covering the colors. From what I've seen of other sabers, it hasn't disappointed thus far. Each one delivers a solid job. With each new saber, I've begun to notice a trend. Each one is a step up from the last. I'd say that would showcase a solid job of the way that products are evolving.
With the No. 115, the light does continue to impress. One of the biggest evolution I've seen is that each of the different saber fonts can have its own color. That's pretty frigging cool. I didn't even know that was going to happen till I powered it on and started cycling through.
At first, I was like well it sucks to see that the colors aren't remembered. But with the time I've spent with the saber now, it does remember the color that you set for each font. With each font, it'll also remember what blade effect you apply to it (Unstable, Stable, and Pulse). There may be some features that are not immediately available. But with some tinkering, it may be easy to find them waiting to be unlocked.
Originally, I had a few different pictures showcasing the different colors. But I thought I'd try something different and include a small video that showcases the infinite color changing.
Color Score: 5 out of 5
Now as those who may be wondering what else I could possibly cover in my review? Well, in my opinion, there's the most important feature that a lightsaber has to have. The ability to duel. I mean come on, who doesn't want to recreate a good lightsaber battle that you've seen in the Star Wars films or The Clone Wars and Rebels tv shows?
The blade that comes with this Damiensaber is the standard 36". It's highly durable like the one that came with my Dark Wolf saber. My son and I took the saber out yesterday and had a few rounds with it. It held up to some severely strong beatings that it took. So, his training will begin as the duels have only just begun.
Duel Score: 5 out of 5.
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Hilt: 5 out of 5
Electronics: 5 out of 5
Sound: 4.5 out of 5
Color: 5 out of 5
Duel: 5 out of 5
Overall: 4.9 out of 5 (Highly Recommend)
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Overall, this would be a fine addition to anyone's ever growing lightsaber collection. It is pretty outstanding seeing some of the newer features. The ability to have a color/blade effect for each color is pretty outstanding. For those that are just starting out on their lightsaber journey, well I'd highly recommend this one. It is sleek and elegant, while also being solid for dueling. It's large enough to be able to use two handed comfortably.
For those that are already interested, you can find the link here:
https://www.damiensaber.com/lightsabers/fx-dueling-12-sound-fonts-custom-saber-no115.html
If you are interested in other lightsabers, you can always check out https://www.damiensaber.com/.
You can find BlazinBlue's Review on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
Welcome to My Nightmare: A Review of Dylan's New Nightmare
Hello all, it feels so good to be able to bring you a new review. A lot of things have happened during the hiatus. The biggest t...
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