The Billionty-Oneth Geek: Older Than 8 Since 1991

Perhaps timed with the release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens and to ride on its publicity train, Star Wars Battlefront was released in November of last year. Star Wars Battlefront is a predominantly multiplayer shooter.  It features a wide variety of modes focusing on player versus player content.  It includes a “Fighter Squadron” mode where Tie Fighters pit against X-Wings, “Heroes VS Villains” where some of Star Wars’ iconic characters do battle, and “Walker Assault”, probably my favourite mode where the Imperial soldiers protect the AT-ATs from being taken down by the Rebel scum.  It also includes the standard modes that one would expect from a multiplayer shooter like a team deathmatch (which they call Blast), capture the flag (which they call Cargo) or capture the point (either Droid Run or Drop Zone).  There are also offline “Mission” modes where you and one friend can do more simple missions, like ward off a squadron of Stormtroopers or… ward ...

Like many of you out there, I’ve started watching more hours of TV series/seasons than I have movies over the past few years.  As some say, it’s the golden era of television, with strong and impactful stories told across the long form medium that is television.  I’ve watched and caught up (and am still catching up in the case of Sopranos) on a number of great series the past few months, so I’m hoping to write a short little write up for each of those.  The good thing is because I’ve had so many shows on the backlog, it becomes easier to filter out the shit, as I can see others reviews and public reaction to these shows. I need to start somewhere, so I’m going to start with the best.  Ash vs Evil Dead .  This is the best show ever.  But I am biased.  Evil Dead 2 is my favourite movie and has been since 2001 (at the time, I was a late bloomer).  It is the perfect mix of horror and slapstick comedy.  The franchise solidified Bruce Cam...

Ed Brubaker is my favourite comic book author, and perhaps in contention for my favourite author across all mediums.  Whenever I see his titles on the store shelf, I purchase them sight unseen.  The last series he did, Fatale , with frequent collaborator, Sean Phillips, was a favourite.  Blending in noir with mystery and horror was a joy to read. With Fade Out , he returns to the noir genre with a murder mystery.  Gone are the fantastical and horror elements of Fatale.  Instead, it’s a story about 1940s Hollywood centered around a murder of a hot leading actress.  The story mostly follows a young script writer, named Charlie Parish, who wakes up one morning and discovers the body of the actress his hotel room after a night of partying.  His memory is hazy and fragmented and he doesn’t remember how he got there.  He covers up his tracks and it’s soon revealed that a bigger cover up may be going on; this one murder may be tied to the large...

Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 is Activision’s latest entry into the bestselling Call of Duty franchise.  Developed by Treyarch Studios, the Black Ops subseries of Call of Duty games has been considered by many as the best of the COD games.  Whereas Black Ops 1 and 2 were direct sequels, BO3 seems only to be a spiritual sequel to its predecessors.  There is no direct or clear continuation of story from the previous entries.  Rather it takes the ideas of mind control and manipulation, and spins off its own story. It’s a futuristic world, where humans are infused with technology (much like Robocop!) and fight alongside and against robots.  This time around, you assume the role of an unnamed soldier, who together with your partner Hendricks and a CIA agent named Rachel Kane, track down a former Black Ops commander named John Taylor as he and his former squad appears to have gone rogue destroying CIA sites around the world.  The story will take y...

The Hateful Eight is Quentin Tarantino’s latest masterpiece and is somewhat more akin to chamber theater.  The movie opens off following a stagecoach that’s rushing through the harsh winter terrain avoiding a torrential blizzard that’s on its tail.  Within the coach is a rugged bearded outlaw named John Ruth, also known as the Hangman, and his captive, a feisty woman named Daisy.  An route to collect his bounty, they come across Major Marquis Warren, another bounty hunter, and Chris Mannix, who are stranded in the cold and request a ride from John Ruth.  Not knowing if they can be trusted, Ruth grudgingly gives them a ride, keeping his fingers hovering closely over the triggers of his firearms.  As the blizzard becomes more perilous, the band arrives at a lodge, where they meet the remaining eight.  However, everyone looks a little too greasy, and smells a little bit too much like gunpowder.  Who can be trusted?  It’s not too long aft...