Gentlemen... Dead Cells has blown my skirt up.

What sweet madness.

When early access games start getting 9/10 reviews and cost less than $20 what do you have to loose? So I got it... and I played it. And I absolutely goddamn love it. After blood borne I didn't think a randomly generated souls game could work. That the level design was integral to the combat somehow. Dead Cells has spent 3 hours showing me how wrong I was. If you ever loved Castlevania this is worth your time and money.

Wreck it Ralph 2.

In the wake of The Incredibles Ralph loses a bit of thunder. Both being the only two animated films I can think of that actually deserve a sequel. Getting John C. Reilly and Sarah Silverman to be the leads in anything deserves sequels.

It's been 5 years, with Zootopia  by Rich Moore made in the interim. That was the first CGI Disney film that can go toe to toe with Pixar's best and while I have high hopes Ralph Breaks the Internet delivers; I'd be happy with it being just ok. But who knows? Maybe this is their Toy Story 2 moment where the laws of sequel gravity are defied. That "bunny gets the pancake" bit is f*%ing gold.

The Voice of Cree Nation

I'm playing a lot of Civ VI. Which means I'm listening to a lot of Civ VI. Which means I'm still gushing over Geoff Knorr's soundtrack. Vocals are one of the most radical departures for Rise and Fall and I was wondering if actual members of the Cree sang for Poundmaker's theme. According to Knorr's Facebook, several of them were even part of the man's extended family.

It gets neater. They all refused money and insisted on a unique form of payment, Poundmaker souvenir jackets:

 

Who needs a pick me up?

Shaka is not a man with which one "f%$ks."

Let Shaka Zulu's atomic era theme get you through this foggy n' drizzly Tuesday. If Geof Knorr keeps this up he might get my OST of the year twice in a row.

Ok, Holland. JESUS.

You're just mad I'm poaching all the great writers.

Happy belated Galentines day.

So Rhetta couldn't make it?

Yes I know it's the 18th. Yes I know it feels like I've ghosted the crackpot... I'm still working 6 day weeks and I don't know how to get off. But this sh*t right here makes it all better. Creating the facade that every cast in every production is the best of friends is part of doing business. The sad fact is all those people can't actually like each other that much.

But this is different. Parks and Rec ended years ago. Each gal in this picture has bigger stuff going on. Hell, Kathryn Hahn was only in a handful of episodes. The evidence for P&R being one of the greatest American comedies of all time grows ever stronger. I mean, have you actually seen Aubrey Plaza look so f*&king content? Lighting in a bottle, folks.

C&C Ep:109

The comfort of a good game

 

 

It Begins.

My favorite Civ ever is growing up. I may only have 20 minutes to poke around until work but I can't remember the last time a game made me even consider hooky.

Oh... hey Westworld!

Whatcha been up to? Those are some beautiful robo-bulls you got there. And I think we both know Hopkins isn't really dead... though I'd get that cameo sooner than later. The man is 80 after all.

Hollow Knight nears it's end

New Bosses, a new storyline, and a new game mode. Whether that's a boss rush or something original we do not know. But we do know that this last update isn't simply the last one for free but in perpetuity. This was my favorite new game last year and while the switch port still languishes in QA testing for the foreseeable future I will  pester everyone I know (that games) to give it a shot.

Please play Hollow Knight, Ya'll. It's the best $15 I've spent all year.

Let Detective Pikachu be the weirdest thing that's ever been.

I'm so confused. About all of it.

So there's a live action film being made staring a CGI Pikachu. Who talks and solves crimes. Played by Ryan Reynolds. I feel high just describing this thing. Now Bill Nighy's in the mix though the nature of his role is unknown. He does seem to pop in and out of live/CGI roles so for now I'm hoping he's Chief Constable Butterfree.

5 Straight Doubles

I've started a new job. Until I've settled in that place and worked out a more equitable scheduling treaty between the two of them I've no choice but to do everything they want. Which is a 65 hour week. Don't get me wrong, I need the money, but I am sorry the Crackpot is left in such a state. I shall return Tuesday!

God of War: The DADening

In which Kratos looks back on his past and goes "...yeah I was a real piece of sh*t." I pictured a self  loathing father figure emerging from him as likely as a feminist deconstruction of Duke Nukem. I'm REAL damn hyped over it now. They're gunning for The Last of Us in terms of story quailty. They won't land anywhere near it but the fact they tried this hard really makes me smile.

A Billy Joel collaboration 100 years in the making.

 

There's an 100 year old poem written by Lovecraft that the internet just realized is the exact same meter as piano man. Being the age of information it took New Yorker musician Julian Velard less than a week to set it to music. It ain't half bad!

C&C Ep: 105

Undocumented Nerfs

 

The Terror!

What could fill the vacuum left behind by the end of Breaking Bad and the hollowing of The Walking Dead? This. This sh*t right here. A Napoleonic Jaws but with a Yeti. Or maybe they just want you to think that's where they're going. Seriously, the book it's based on has rave reviews and this cast is bonkers. I'd follow Jarred Harris into the 9th circle but Ciaran Hinds and Tobias Menzies?! Ok, AMC, enough! I'll take you back.

Cosmos Continues.

 

Not content to having made just one of the best science documentary series in existence, Fox and Neil DeGrasse Tyson are back for Cosmos: Possible Worlds. Yes. PLEASE. Roll that gorgeous CGI and silvern orchestral soundtrack:

C&C Ep: 104

Hype Watch: 2018!!!!

Crackpot Theory:

If Edward VIII's mother had a boy with another man... would he be called a Half Windsor?

C&C ep 103

In which you find out how we spent/squandered our winter hiatus!

The Spark of Hope

 

I'm gonna like The Cree

A suit so dope I wish I could make it for Halloween. But I can't. That would be... foolish.

Early trade routes, super scouts, and food bonuses to foreign traders. Poundmaker is exactly how I want to play Civ. See, the trick to surviving the early game is playing nice, building a massive financial war chest, and setting off to the undiscovered country before anyone else. Eventually the people you want to go to war with will do so on their own out of what I assume is pure digital jealousy.

They'll regret that.

Happy New Year!

Tis but a scratch.

I managed to get into my first ever fender bender. 12 years behind the wheel... had to happen sometime I guess. No one was hurt, no witness or red light cameras, (which according to my DPD sources wouldn't be on anyway shhhhhhhh) so it's a "no fault" situation. Not great, could have been worse, any crash you walk away from, right?