Gaming with Non-Geeks: Board Game Review

Tonight, while at my dad's, I played a "non-typical" board game with my dad, stepmom, and stepbrother (by "non-typical," I mean something you probably wouldn't find at a Target.)

The game, Dread Pirate:
The Good:
It certainly wins points for presentation. The board is stylish and cloth and the ships are detailed (though more color variation would be good--platinum, silver, bronze, and copper can be a bit difficult to distinguish.) Your personal treasure bag has a satisfying weight and clink to it when you are doing well, and is depressingly empty when you are close to losing.

The Bad:
To me, it was very simple. Go to ports, roll a die. Attack another ship, roll a die. It's also entirely player-vs-player. I generally enjoy some cooperation in my games. It felt more like a Monopoly type game than a true geeky board game.

The Non-Geek:
While to me it was really simple, a lot of rules were misremembered by my family and a quick flip through the book showed what we were doing wrong. They seemed to enjoy it, though.

Verdict:
Fun enough, but a bit simple. I directed my dad to a still pirate-themed but more complex Pirate's Cove.

2008 Movie Review, pt. 1

Movies I've seen in 2008:

Forgetting Sarah Marshall: While not as good as other movies made by the same people (Knocked Up, etc.) this was a pretty cute movie that doubled as an advertisement for Hawaii. The musical the main character is writing is brilliant, too. It helped that I already really liked all four of the main actors. Jason Segel is great in How I Met Your Mother (even though I haven't seen it in a few years--no cable/antenna for me!) and he's just as good in this movie. I already liked Kristen Bell and Mila Kunis from their respective TV shows too (Veronica Mars, That 70's Show.) However, the biggest draw for me was Russell Brand. The man is fantastically funny. In the movie, he basically plays a slight variation on himself, but it works. Check out this to see Russell Brand in all his hilarious glory. (Side note: British TV interests me so much more than American TV.)

Iron Man: Best superhero movie I can remember seeing, hands down. It was engaging, and, to quote the popular nerd phrase, it really is amazing they got Tony Stark to play himself. I wasn't sure how much I would like the movie, since my biggest exposure to the franchise before this was the Marvel Superheroes board game (which is actually one of my favorite games.) But the movie did a great job introducing the franchise. Also, I need to congratulate the movie on having a cutesy robot with a personality that didn't feel overdone and stupid. Plus, the movie came with The Dude. The movie also had the best ending line and music ever.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull: I liked it. A lot. And I think a lot of people who talk about how it was a huge letdown built their expectations up too high and are misremembering the intent of the original trilogy. That's not to say there were no flaws--there were. The cast was overinflated. As much as I like the guy, John Hurt's role could have been cut completely and his plot points given to Marion. The gophers were silly and obviously part of George Lucas' love with all things CGI. And the ending was too long. But, I enjoyed the hell out of the movie. Harrison Ford wasn't too old to be in the movie, and they did a good job letting him be his age without making a huge deal out of it. Karen Allen has held up AMAZINGLY well. Cate Blanchett was a decent villian, not as good as Beloch or Mola Ram, but decent. Shia LaBeouf was good, and had some of the best parts in the movie. It was good 50's pulp.

So, that's it. The only three movies I've seen in theaters this year. Possibilities for part 2: Hellboy II: The Golden Army, The Dark Knight, The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, *maybe* Quantam of Solace.

(SIDE NOTE: I JUST SAW THEY ARE RE-RELEASING NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS IN THEATERS!! OMG, I might be able to get it on DVD now!!)