Atomic Blonde

This week we're continuing our look at interesting movies.

Released in 2017 and based on the graphic novel The Coldest City, today's entry is:

Atomic Blonde.

Starring Charlize Theron, James McAvoy, Eddie Marsan, John Goodman, Toby Jones and many more.

Essentially, Atomic Blonde is an espionage, well not thriller exactly. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is an espionage thriller. Atomic Blonde has elements of the thriller, the drama and quite a bit of action, but I don't know that I would really classify it as any of those genres as such.

When you really peel away the layers, Atomic Blonde becomes pretty fascinating.

The fact that it is based on a graphic novel shows, it shines through in every scene, something the director David Leitch seems to have a good eye for. He's mostly worked as a stuntman, in fact he has 82 credits for stunt work on IMDB, but he seems to have switched tack, and with success.

So, I hear you ask, what is the movie about? The end of the cold war is my answer. The scene is set in Berlin 1989. The wall is days away from coming down when Lorraine Broughton is sent to Berlin by her masters in MI6 to retrieve a list of agents on both sides of the cold war.

Once there, she must navigate the treacherous city, dodging enemies from all sides.

The action is amazing. Sure, Lorraine is pretty much a one woman army, but she takes so much damage. This isn't a Steven Seagal movie where one goon may, perhaps, land a blow on him. Lorraine gets her ass beaten hard, but she won't stay down. Loved the action, A+. I assume that the directors stunt experience payed off in spades.

The score is worth noting. If you, like me grew up during the 80's, you're going to recognize a lot of songs, and I at least got a pretty nostalgic trip out of it. Overall the acting is great, I'm in fact hard pressed to find anything really wrong with it. IMDB lists it's usual array of minor errors like how the Porsche McAvoy drives is a nineties model, or how the trendy nightclubs in West Berlin at the time would never have played a six year old song, but who cares? I don't.

As I was watching I was struck by how pretty this film is, and how simplistic the writing was. The phrase “Style over Substance” came to mind, and it's apt. But in this case it's not a bad thing, not even close. It is a very elegant film, with scene after scene, shot after shot framed like a painting in a comic book. It really worked. And besides, the script is smarter than you'd think, that's all I'm saying. I refuse to spoil anything.

This isn't James Bond. It's not Jason Bourne. Atomic Blonde is it's own thing, and yes it's not going down in cinema history as a great classic, but I loved this film, and if you're in the mood for some cool action, smooth scenes and great atmosphere, then watch this film!

That's that. Until we meet again, have a great week!

Who can catch him?

Finally, I finally sat down and watch Catch me if you can (2002).

Based on the true story of Frank Abagnale Jr. who in the late 60's swindled millions of dollars through mostly check fraud, so I can confidentially say, this is one fascinating movie.

First up, it's directed by Spielberg, so you know it's quality. Even if you don't like the man, he makes good movies, and Catch me if you can, is no exception.

Starring as Frank Jr. is Leonardo DiCaprio in yet another amazing performance. His command of smooth and suave manners as well as deep hurt and despair is always a treat to watch.

Then we have supporting cast from Christopher Walken, Martin Sheen, Amy Adams and many more all up to and including Frank Jr.'s enemy: FBI Agent Carl Hanratty played by Tom Hanks.

Much like Wolf of Wall Street, DiCaprio is so damn good you automatically root for him, which kind of makes the FBI the bad guys. This is helped by the fact that Frank cheats banks and not people, so he feels more like a slightly selfish Robin Hood, rather than a true villain.

Hanks is also really good here. Probably one of my favorite roles he's ever done, and a large part of that is because he isn't meant to be sympathetic or endearing like most of his roles. Hanratty isn't a very likeable person at all, but he is right. But you still resent him a bit when he chases Frank. You could almost say Hanratty is an anti-Hanksian role.

Catch me if you can is one of those movies that you can't talk about without ruining the fun. It's not so much what he does, it's how he does it. The confidence, the nerve and skill it takes to rob millions without ever using a gun, and in person no less. It's not a modern day hacker stealing a penny out of every account in a bank, it's a teenager cashing checks he has created himself.

Is it a great movie? No, it's a solid movie. It's made with skill and attention and sometimes that is better. Most of the complaints IMDB has are anachronistic, meaning a car came out a yea later, a logo is wrong etc. There are two major things the movie changed, but I'm not spoiling anything here, look it up yourself after you see the film.

That's that and all that. Until next time, have a great week!

E3 2018 so far

Okay, so I'm typing this at 6.45 in the morning after having staggered out of bed at 4.15.

I had to catch Bethesda's E3 show live, and living where I do, meant getting up at this frankly ungodly hour. And on top of that, I didn't exactly get to bed early, which is Microsoft's fault.

Alright, lets break this down. I blame any typo's on my foggy brain.

EA started off E3 first, and apart from Unravel 2 (adorable) and Sea of Solitude (interesting), their entire show was complete garbage. And I'm not saying that because I despise EA, which I do, but their show was lackluster, cringy and a little bit insulting. Their CEO Andrew Wilson had the unmitigated gall to claim they are “concerned about players having an unfair advantage”. After all the BS they pulled with pay to win nonsense...

But enough about the sad trolls.

Last night (my time) was Microsoft's conference, and I was legit exhausted afterward. It was non stop roller-coaster of amazing titles after amazing titles. I'm not even really interested in playing any of them bar two, but the trailers were so good. They showcased fifty titles in ninety minutes. After forty minutes, I glanced at the clock thinking that it was about done, and it just kept going. Utterly incredible. If you have the time, give the show a look, it was incredible. I can't list them all here, but a new Ori, a new Forza, three Gears of War, Kingdom Hearts 3, and my favourite non Bethesda title: Cyberpunk 2077! My mind is still reeling.

Then, just a couple hours ago, Bethesda took to the stage. At first I was a bit confused. It wasn't very good, but then... then Todd Howard took to the stage and stole the show.

Fallout 76 is a online Fallout game, BUT, you can play it alone if you prefer. What we don't know yet, is whether you can play PVE with friends, or if it's either solo or co-op/PVP. We'll probably know soon.

The game is four times bigger than Fallout 4, you can build anywhere, Howard called it “softcore survival”, meaning you loose nothing by dying, and their dedicated servers are going to feature dozens of players at once not hundreds, “it's the apocalypse not an amusement park”.

We're still missing a lot of details, but my sleep deprived brain is very optimistic.

They also announced a cross platform Elder Scrolls game called Blades that will work on everything from phones to VR. They showed a teaser of their first new IP in 25 years, Starfield as well as a screen for Elder Scrolls 6!

And then smaller stuff like, new content for Prey, a new Doom game and a new Wolfenstein game. The new Wolf is the first that doesn't feature good old B.J. It's set in Nazi occupied Paris in the 80's and you play as B.J.'s twin daughters and it's both soloable and co-op. All really really cool.

Then, Devolver Digital was just as bizarre, vulgar, bloody and amazingly weird as last year. They don't make games for me, but kudos for the show.

Still to come are Square-Enix, but I think most of their stuff was shown by Microsoft. Ubisoft should be interesting, and then the PC gaming show. Whew.

Finally, here's the links. Last week I received a complaint about my lack of links, so here you go. I recommend skipping EA, but Microsoft's an Bethesda's are gold.

So that's that, have a great week!

EA. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ekKth75c4bg

Microsoft: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=phw8aU02zGQ

Bethesda: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HCDIDOMc948

Devolver: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ku5DjH8vAtc

Those wicked geniouses

Well, Bethesda has done it again.

Back in 2015, Bethesda stole the show at E3 by not only announcing that Fallout 4 was coming out that Autumn, but that the mobile game (it's on Steam as well) Fallout Shelter was available as Todd Howard, the director and executive producer at Bethesda Game Studios, was speaking.

The crowd and the web went nuts with excitement.

Now, three years later, they're at it again. Last week an odd live stream appeared on Twitch. It featured a test pattern in the background and a table with a Vault Boy statue in the foreground. Some very minor things happened in during the 24 hours the broadcast was happening. Then a wrist watch showing 9:45 appeared and people including me tuned in to that time. Eventually Todd Howard appeared and after some words of appreciation, played the trailer for Fallout 76.

The trailer has since been scrutinized with a level of dedication that would make any CSI show jealous, and for good reason. There is nothing in that trailer that is there by chance. Everything means something, and people are going nuts trying to figure out everything.

Naturally rumors, hopes, dreams and fears are flying high, and for a good day or two, Fallout 76 was all Reddit could talk about when it came to games.

A journalist from Kotaku who seems to have terrific contacts have leaked some information, and I believe what he has to say, but only so far. To get the whole story, to find out what this game is really about, we have to wait until this upcoming Sunday the 10^th, when Bethesda has it's E3 conference. Then, apparently, all shall be revealed.

Until then, everything you hear and read is nothing but rumors and speculations. Even the leaks can be outdated information, or subject to change. It's important to remember that a rumor that was widely believed about Fallout 4 was that you couldn't play as a female. This was blatantly false, but everyone lapped it up.

What we do know from what actual Bethesda employees have tweeted is that Fallout 76 is not Fallout 5. It is something else, probably something to do with multiplayer and building, but nothing is certain.

Todd and co, has repeatedly said that they have two big projects in the pipeline that are something they haven't done before. Until these two games are released, they won't be making Fallout 5 or Elder Scrolls 6. If Fallout 76 is indeed something multiplayer related, then yes, that would be something they haven't done before. But we have to wait and see.

If you want to see the trailer, go to Youtube and search for Fallout 76 trailer. I'd link it, but I'm quietly melting into a puddle, and to be honest, I'm not in the mood to fight with blogger.

That's that, next week we'll know more, and I for one am cautiously optimistic, but until then, have a great week!