Category Archives: Views

Opinion pieces and recommendations on Sketchy Details

Destiny

Games I Can’t Stop Playing: July 2014

There’s a good reason I held back on the publication of this by a week. I thought there was a \chance I would acquire a PS4 this weekend and I was right. The significant bump in pay from the camp job gave me enough to get a PS4 and squirrel away money for the fall convention season.

That means there are quite a few new games appearing on the Games I Can’t Stop Playing list this month, and one insidious game that has reared its ugly head again in a mockery of my two month moratorium on playing.

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ConnectiCon 2014: Crowd

ConnectiCon 2014 Gallery

I have a lot to say about ConnectiCon 2014. My second year at the convention cements it as my favorite. Period. It is just so well run, packed with great people, and layered with so much diversity in fan content no one could go home disappointed.

Below the jump is a modest gallery of some of the insanity from the weekend. Yes, that is a life-size Monopoly board in the game room. No, I did not get to teach a masterclass in how to manipulate people and win every game you play.

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Blast of Tempest Hakaze

The Play’s the Thing: Shakespeare in Anime, ConnectiCon 2014

At ConnectiCon this past weekend, I debuted two new panels. The all ages panel was The Play’s the Thing: Shakespeare in Anime. It’s, as you can imagine, about anime adaptations of Shakespeare. I will be broadening the focus in the future to include manga so there is more territory to cover.

The panel was well-attended and led to some lively discussion about Shakespeare, anime, and the nature of translation/localization. I’ve embedded the full presentation below as well as video references (not the exact cuts due to copyright issues).

Unfortunately, the alternate video references are NSFW. I made it a point to selectively choose all ages-appropriate references for the live presentation, but I do not have the luxury when working with the available clips online. The Power Point is still safe for all ages, but the videos get more violent and sexual.

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Lovecraft on the Silver Screen

Lovecraft on the Silver Screen Panel, ConnectiCon 2014

This weekend at ConnectiCon, I debuted two brand new panels. The 18+ panel was called Lovecraft on the Silver Screen. It was an exploration of the best and the worst attempts to bring H.P. Lovecraft’s stories to film.

Unfortunately, there were some major tech issues during the panel and the projector kept freaking out, preventing any of the full videos from playing. I want to thank everyone who came and stuck with the panel that largely turned into a lecture with guest appearances by convention A/V staff trying to fix everything from muted audio to the blue screen of death.

Below the jump, I’ve embedded the full PowerPoint presentation as well as the videos from the panel in order. You can read along if you choose or just jump straight to the videos for NSFW Lovecraftian madness.

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The Halfies: Best Films of 2014 So Far

The Halfies: Best Films of 2014 So Far

I always find this an interesting exercise. If the cinematic year ended 30 June instead of 31 December, what would the best films of the year be? Even more interesting is seeing how many of these films hold up at the end of the year once all the big awards contenders come out.

I have not been reviewing as many films here because I just haven’t felt the desire to. Now that I’m not trying to get into the Online Film Critics Society anymore, I can focus on quality instead of quantity. I still see just as many films as years past; I just don’t review them all.

The best films of 2014 so far, in no particular order, follow after the jump.

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