FROM THE ARCHIVES

Tag: 5 stars

Movie Reviews

Death to Smoochy Review (Throwback Thursday #12)

Gary Smith

Critics hated it, audiences stayed away, and I couldn't care less. Death to Smoochy remains my favorite comedy ever made, thanks to Robin Williams going completely off the rails, Edward Norton playing the world's most sincere fuchsia rhino, and one very unfortunately shaped batch of cookies.

CONTINUE READING →
Entertainment

We Were Soldiers Review (2002)

Gary Smith

The Memorial Day countdown reaches its last new review at #3. We Were Soldiers covers the Battle of Ia Drang in 1965 with the respect and emotional weight it deserves. Mel Gibson, Sam Elliott, and the entire cast are extraordinary. Full review.

CONTINUE READING →
Wait Until Dark Review
Entertainment

Wait Until Dark Review (1967)

Gary Smith

Terence Young directs Audrey Hepburn in the most underappreciated film of her career — a claustrophobic thriller that ranks among the best ever made, with one of the great villain performances from Alan Arkin.

CONTINUE READING →
Roman Holiday Review 1953
Entertainment

Roman Holiday Review (1953)

Gary Smith

William Wyler directs Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck in the film that made her a star. Charming, beautiful, and honest enough to skip the fairy tale ending. A perfect film.

CONTINUE READING →
Mr. Holland's Opus Review
Entertainment

Mr. Holland’s Opus Review (1995)

Gary Smith

Richard Dreyfuss delivers the best performance of his career in a film that spans thirty years of one man's life and earns every emotion it asks you to feel. The ending alone is worth the price of admission.

CONTINUE READING →
Game Reviews

Assassin’s Creed Mirage Review

Gary Smith

Gary reviews the latest entry in his favorite franchise, Assassin's Creed. Mirage is a return to series roots and a love letter to the first games in the series. But how does it hold up compared to the earlier titles and is it worth experiencing?

CONTINUE READING →
Entertainment

Blazing Saddles (1974) Review

William McPherson

  John Wayne was reported to have been offered a part in Blazing Saddles. After reading the script he called back and said “I can’t be in this, it’s too dirty… but I’ll be first in line to go see it when it comes out.” Imagining Wayne in the Wilder role makes me glad he turned it down. The other casting question that often comes up is why Richard Pryor did not play the part of the black sheriff in the film. That one apparently came down to a studio call, which is unfortunate since Wilder…

CONTINUE READING →
Entertainment

Almost Famous Review

William McPherson3 Comments

Almost Famous is a movie I not only love, but was important to me in my formative years, and my life in general. It tells the story of William Miller (Patrick Fugit), a 15 year old kid on assignment for Rolling Stone magazine. He has to cover an up and coming rock band during what critic Lester Bangs (Phillip Seymour Hoffman) calls the dying days of Rock N’ Roll. Along the way, Miller falls in love with a “groupie” (although she would object to the term) named Penny played by Kate Hudson. Penny…

CONTINUE READING →
Fall Guys
Game Reviews

Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout Review

Gary Smith1 Comment

It's been almost a month since Fall Guys took the world by storm. Since its release on August 3rd, the game has quickly become of the most popular (both played and watched) games on the planet and also is the most downloaded game in PlayStation Plus history. While it's been free on PS Plus, it has still managed to sell over seven million copies on Steam at an MSRP of $19.99. It's been an amazing success story, has become a favorite of many, and shows absolutely no signs of slowing down anytime…

CONTINUE READING →
Book of Demons
Game Reviews

Book of Demons Review

Gary Smith

Book of Demons is the first installment of developer Thing Trunk's series Return 2 Games, which is creating a "Paperverse" of games inspired by the "early golden days" of PC gaming. Return 2 Games is planned to be made up of seven Books where the game world is a pop-up book, paper style. Book of Demons kickstarts the series with a tribute to and parody of a true PC gaming classic, Diablo. Like Diablo, Book of Demons is a hack and slash ARPG and shares a similar theme. Here, you'll make your way…

CONTINUE READING →
Destiny 2 Forsaken Review
Game Reviews

Destiny 2 Forsaken Review

Gary Smith

It has been over one and a half months since Destiny 2's first big expansion, Forsaken, released. I don't even want to guess about how much time I've put into the game during this time, but suffice to say it has been A LOT. I've gotten two of my characters to 600 (and my third is very close), I've completed the raid a couple of times, and I've solo'd the Shattered Throne dungeon. I've seen all that Forsaken has to offer, including the first post-Forsaken in-game event, Festival of the Lost. It's…

CONTINUE READING →
Book Reviews

WWE RAW: The First 25 Years Review

Gary Smith

In January, WWE's flagship program, Monday Night RAW, celebrated it's 25th anniversary. It was a huge milestone and one that came near the 1,300 episode mark. Unfortunately for us fans, the actual program itself was a huge let down. While WWE creative did a poor job of celebrating the event, the folks at DK and WWE Publishing worked on the RAW: The First 25 Years book and to the surprise of no one did an excellent job. Through almost 200 pages, WWE RAW: The First 25 Years looks back on well the…

CONTINUE READING →
Assassin's Creed Origins
Game Reviews

Assassin’s Creed Origins Review

Gary Smith

Assassin’s Creed first released in 2007, and two years later saw its first sequel. After that, fans of the franchise got a new entry every year from 2009 to 2015 with the release of Assassin’s Creed Syndicate. With a technically flawed release in 2014 with Unity, many fans began to feel burned out on the series. Thus, 2016 came and went without any major Assassin’s Creed game releasing. In October 2017, ten years after the release of the first game, Assassin’s Creed Origins released and promised…

CONTINUE READING →
Stardew Valley
Game Reviews

Stardew Valley Review

Gary Smith

Stardew Valley hits all the right notes and checks all the right boxes as a feature rich farming based RPG. If it can be done better, I'd certainly like to see it, but no one person could make a better game for this genre than Eric Barone has done. I'd say it's the peak, the Harvest Moon game many of us always wanted.

CONTINUE READING →