September 14, 2016
hughjodonnell
Hugh Likes Podcasts, Review
Hello From The Magic Tavern, HLP, Hugh Likes Podcasts, review
Hello From the Magic Tavern
Produced by Arnie Niekamp, Evan Jacover, and Ryan DiGiorgi
Hosted by Arnie Niekamp, Adal Rifai, and Matt Young
hellofromthemagictavern.com
Hello From the Magic Tavern is a difficult podcast to explain. It’s kind of like The Lord of the Rings with less wandering and more poop jokes. Half improv, half interview show, the podcast is hosted by Arnie Niekamp, playing himself. The premise is that he fell through a magical portal behind a Chicago Burger King and landed in the magical land of Foon. He still gets wifi through the portal, and hosts a podcast interviewing locals along with his co-hosts, a talking badger/shape-shifter named Chunt, and Usidore, a wizard of less than legendary talents.
The interviews with guests are improvised, but each one becomes canon for the podcast, and episodes build to form a larger story. It’s a neat premise, that has resulted in a lot of pop culture jokes and references becoming ongoing bits.
The producers are also a part of the creative team at Jackbox Games, who create indie party video games like “You Don’t Know Jack” and “Fibbage.” The signature humor of those games is on display here as well, so fans of their video game work will be well at home with “Hello From the Magic Tavern.” The ongoing story line, which involves Arnie’s fervent wish to return home, but utter lack of action, and the land of Foon being menaced by a Dark Lord simply referred to as “The Dark Lord,” get stranger and more complex with every episode, but it is one heck of a trip.
You can stream Hello From the Magic Tavern online, or find it in iTunes or your favorite podcatcher.
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August 29, 2016
hughjodonnell
Hugh Likes Video Games
Game Boy, HLV, Hugh Likes Video Games, Metroid, Nintendo, review
Hugh Likes Video Games-Metroid II
Metroid II: Return of Samus
Nintendo Game Boy
Published 1991
The Nintendo Game Boy was a little system that could. Propelled to success by its classic version of Tetris, the monochrome game system boasted a wide variety of games despite its low resolution and hunger for batteries. Being a child of the 80’s and 90’s with a limited budget, most of my gaming nostalgia goes back to the original, which still holds a place of pride on my display of gaming systems that have since gone to pasture.
One of my favorite games of the era was Metroid II: Return of Samus. This handheld sequel to the original NES game follows space bounty hunter Samus Aran as she traverses the caverns of an alien world to destroy weaponized aliens called Metroids.
While not narratively complex, the Metroid series offers plenty of exploration, tricky platforming, and the most badass woman in all of gaming as a protagonist. II is a bit shrunk down and more linear than its 8-bit predecessor, but the thrill of actively hunting rather than simply exploring is an improvement on the original.
The maze-like interior of planet SR388 is divided into sections, each with a number of metroids. Each section is cut off by ‘boiling acid’ which conveniently recedes when the required number of metroids have been killed. This replaces the standard Metroid mechanic of requiring upgrades to proceed, although the game is still littered with toys for Samus to collect. But the metroids Samus encounters aren’t simply the jellyfish-like floating aliens encountered in Metroid. On their home planet they havea multi-stage life cycle, and become larger and more difficult as the game progresses.
While the game is a bit linear, and, if you collect everything, easier than other Metroid games, it is still a standout of the original Game Boy library. You can find it fairly easily in used game stores, or digitally in the 3DS eshop.
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August 24, 2016
hughjodonnell
Hugh Likes Comics
Chris Hastings, HLC, Hugh Likes Comics, Loki, Marvel, review
Hugh Likes Comics
Vote Loki #1
Written by Christopher Hastings
Drawn by Langdon Foss
Published by Marvel Comics
Over the course of his publication history, the Marvel Comics version of Loki has been a god, a super-villain, a king, and a storyteller. He’s gained it all, lost it all, died, come back to life, and opted out of the end of the world. After all that, where do you take the character? Have him run for president, of course!
Writer Chris Hastings and artist Langdon Foss take over the character following Al Ewing and Lee Garbett’s run of “Loki: Agent of Asgard,” and they are taking a few notes from that version of the God of Mischief. Issue one is mostly setup, with Loki stopping a terrorist attack and ‘coincidentally’ becoming interested enough in the political process to throw his horned-helmet in the ring. But with a trickster like Loki, the setup can be just as much fun as the reveal.
Hastings, the writer and artist of the webcomic “Dr. Mcninja,” is a part of a wave of new independent creators at Marvel. Spearheaded by Ryan North and Erica Henderson’s “Unbeatable Squirrel Girl,” the superhero publisher is banking on a new selection of titles helmed by artists and writers who got their start on the internet instead of the bullpen.
Foss’s art is well suited, and the coloring by Chris Chuckry lends a nice atmosphere to the comic. The only real flaw here is that the attempts at political commentary come off as broad and toothless. ‘Politicians sure are liars’ is hardly a new take in 2016, and with a series of stock fictional characters mostly hanging out in the background, “Vote Loki” doesn’t bring anything new or incisive to the table. But the reason most readers will pick up this comic will be just to watch Loki string along whatever con this turns out to be.
Vote Loki # 1 is available from your local comics shop, or digitally through Comixology.
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August 22, 2016
hughjodonnell
Podcast
CCR, hugh, JRD, Opopinax, Podcast, review, Rich The T T, The Last Man on Earth, Vincent Price
Join the Chrononauts for a spirited discussion of the 1964 Vincent Price classic, “The Last Man on Earth!”
Click HERE to listen online!
And HERE to watch the film, thanks to the magic of Youtube!
Chrononaut Cinema Reviews is presented by http://skinner.fm and Way of the Buffalo, and is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 Unported License.
This podcast was originally posted at Skinner.FM on August 17, 2016.
Thanks for listening! If you enjoyed this podcast, please share it, or review this feed on iTunes. You can also support the show on Patreon!
August 6, 2016
hughjodonnell
Hugh Likes Podcasts, Review
Comedy, Gaming, Gosh Darn Fiasco, HLP, Hugh Likes Podcasts, Improv, Podcasts, review
HLP-Gosh-Darn Fiasco
Hosted by: Angela Webber, Richard Malena and guests
Goshdarnfiasco.simplecast.FM
Gosh-Darn Fiasco is a live-play role playing game podcast hosted by musician Angela Webber. But where most of these kind of gaming shows feel like audio dramas, this one is more like improv. The difference lies partly in the source material, and partly in the rotating team of talent that comes to play.
“Fiasco” is a GM-less roleplaying game in the style of classic caper movies. Written by Jason Morningstar and published by Bully Pulpit Games, it is a storytelling RPG. This means the goal of the game is to play out a scenario, rather than winning a battle. As the name implies, the fun isn’t in winning, it is in snowballing the story from a small problem into a huge catastrophe.
Each episode, Weber and her guests play through one single play Fiasco game from beginning to end. There are a variety of settings, or ‘Playsets’ that they have gone through, from a Colonial Salem to McMurdo Station to a heist at the Jim Henson Workshop. Each episode takes the Cohen Brothers aesthetic of the game and turns it even more towards the comically ridiculous.
Frequent guest such as Lucia Fasano and Kevin M. Arnold add improv chops to the game, making it a lighthearted, gonzo joy to listen. Gosh-Darn Fiasco is a monthly podcast that runs about 90 minutes per episode. It’s not something you’re going to get through in a single commute, but it is a heck of a lot of fun. Find it at Website, in iTunes, or in your preferred podcatcher.
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July 24, 2016
hughjodonnell
Podcast
CCR, Chrononaut Cinema Reviews, hugh, JRD, Monogram Pictures, Opopinax, Racism, review, Rich The T T
Join the Chrononauts as they review 1941’s “King of the Zombies.” Which goes about as well as you’d expect.
Click HERE to listen!
You can watch the movie on Youtube. (NOT RECOMMENDED!)
Chrononaut Cinema Reviews is presented by http://skinner.fm and Way of the Buffalo, and is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 Unported License
This podcast was originally posted at Skinner.FM on July 22, 2016.
Thanks for listening! If you enjoyed this podcast, please share it, or leave a review on your podcatcher. You can also support Hugh on Patreon for exclusive stories and bonus content.
July 20, 2016
hughjodonnell
Hugh Likes Comics
DC Comics, Gene Luen Yang, HLC, Hugh Likes Comics, review, Superman, Viktor Bogdanovic
New Super-Man #1
Written by Gene Luen Yang
Penciled by Viktor Bogdanovic
Published by DC Comics
Superman is a cultural icon that carries a lot of cultural baggage. A staunch defender of Truth, Justice, and The American Way, DC Comics has often struggled against the massive amount of inertia this creates for a character. Superman as a flawless, heroic figure who rescues kittens from trees and never steps a toe out of line becomes dated, boring, and even corny. But attempts to ‘modernize’ the character can likewise be criticized as feeling forced, too dark, or just plain not fun. Which is why I find Gene Luen Yang and Viktor Bogdanovic’s “New Super-Man” so interesting.
The eponymous character isn’t Clark Kent at all, but Kong Kenan, the teenage son of a Shanghai mechanic. Kong isn’t quite the heroic figure we’ve come to expect. He’s a downright selfish, arrogant bully. But when a video of him standing up to a super-villain goes viral, he’s recruited by a secretive government ministry to become a superhero.
The story itself is a bit rushed in the first issue, but Yang lays down a lot of groundwork for future stories. Mostly we get a character sketch of Kong, but the Shanghai he inhabits feels vibrant and authentic in a way that seems like a step forward for comics, even if it is literally the least they could do. Bogdanovich’s expressive, detailed art is outstanding, and really keeps the otherwise basic origin story moving along. He’s helped by gorgeous, eye-catching coloring by Hi-Fi.
“New Super-Man #1” is a somewhat cookie-cutter first act of a super-hero origin story, but there are enough neat twists to get me looking forward to where the story goes next. You can pick it up now from Comixology or your local comics shop.
July 12, 2016
hughjodonnell
Hugh Likes Podcasts, Review, Uncategorized
Alice isn't dead, Disparition, HLP, Hugh Likes Podcasts, Jasika Nicole, Joseph Fink, Podcasts, review, Welcome To Night Vale
Alice Isn’t Dead
Joseph Fink/Jasika Nicole/Disparition
nightvalepresents.com
America can be a weird, lonesome place. This is something the creators of ‘Welcome to Night Vale,’ no strangers to weirdness themselves, learned firsthand while touring with a live version of the hit podcast. Co-writer Joseph Fink was inspired to write a new show based in part on his experience of traveling across the country. But like the original, ‘Alice Isn’t Dead,’ takes place in a world much stranger and scarier than our own.
While ‘Night Vale’ uses its off-kilter atmosphere for humor, Alice is a straight-up horror story, with a fair bit of mystery thrown in. The podcast follows a truck driver, played by Jasika Nicole, as she travels the country in search of her missing wife. Along the way, she tells her story into her CB radio as though it were a letter or a diary. At first she just wants answers, but she quickly becomes embroiled in an inexplicable conspiracy, and attracts the attention of The Thistle Man, a supernatural impossible serial killer. From there, things only get worse.
Produced by Disparition, each episode is a rich soundscape. I expected the CB chirps and engine hum that provide the basic sound floor to take me out of the story, but they are expertly mixed, and rather than distract, they provide a sense of realism and tension to the performance. Set on the lonely highways and the weird nowhere towns of the American imagination, “Alice Isn’t Dead” is a creepy mystery that proves that the Night Vale creative team have real chops behind their satire. You can find the show in iTunes, or at nightvalepresents.com.
Thanks for reading. If you enjoyed this article, please share it. You can also support me on Patreon for short fiction, podcasts, and more!
June 21, 2016
hughjodonnell
Podcast
CCR, Chrononaut Cinema Reviews, hugh, JRD, Opopinax, Podcast, review, Rich The T T, The Killer Shrews
Your hosts, Hugh of Way of the Buffalo, Rich the Time Traveler, Opopanax, and Jurd, have gathered this evening to consider 1959’s The Killer Shrews
Click HERE to listen!
Click HERE to watch the movie!
Chrononaut Cinema Reviews is presented by http://skinner.fm and Way of the Buffalo, and is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 Unported License.
If you enjoyed this podcast, please share it or leave a review. You can also support me on Patreon!
May 15, 2016
hughjodonnell
Podcast, Uncategorized
Bad movie, CCR, Chrononaut Cinema Reviews, hugh, JRD, Opopinax, Podcast, review, Rich The T T
Join the Chrononauts as they discuss 1941’s “Invisible Ghost,” the movie whose title is wrong twice!
Click HERE to listen!
This podcast was originally published at Skinner.FM on May 14, 2016.
Chrononaut Cinema Reviews is presented by http://skinner.fm and Way of the Buffalo, and is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 Unported License.
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