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Pitch, Please! S02 Ep 07 – Sci Fi

In the season finale, Ben and Mike try to win Callum over with a lovely Pitch about Sci Fi.

Don’t forget that all Geek Pride Podcasts, including this one and the Geek Pride Cast can be found on Itunes, Google Play, youtube, spotify and our website for download.

If you would like to see live streamed podcasts, then please check out our Facebook, Youtube and Twitch channels.

Http://www.youtube.com/geekpridetv

http://www.facebook.com/geekpride1

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D&D is Evil!

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A friend of mine sent me this video from youtube and within, and this is dead serious, is an episode of 60 minutes, from 1985, investigating if D&D is in fact… evil,  and causing kids to kill themselves and each other… Seriously, take a look.

And here was me thinking it was all down to Heavy Metal, Rap music and computer games; how wrong I was.

Battletech – A game about loss

Battletech is the latest game from Harebrained Schemes, the developers behind the critically acclaimed Shadowrun trilogy.  Battletech is based upon the mech-themed board game of the same name, which follows the ongoing wars between competing interstellar dynasties that are fought using towering battlemechs.

Whilst the board game evoked the grandeur of colossal mechs warring against each other, a common complaint was that it often boiled down to endless series of dice-rolling and number-crunching.  Thankfully in the Battletech video game, much of these mechanics are undertaken by the computer.

Given that Battletech creator Jordan Weissman (interviewed here) is the founder of Harebrained Schemes, it should come as no surprise that Battletech is a faithful adaptation of the board game, retaining all the key elements that made the boardgame so unique.

There have been various video game adaptions during Battletech’s thirty-four-year history.  The MechAssault series were first-person shooters whilst the MechWarrior games were more akin to a mech simulator.  Meanwhile, MechCommander delivered the epic-scale real-time strategy of the games, whilst The Crescent Hawk games were turn-based tactical roleplaying games.

It is these latter games that Battletech is closest to, with the player leading a mercenary company of four mechs (known as a lance), through a series of turn-based missions.  In between these missions, players need to manage resources, repair damage and choose the next contract for their mercenary company.

It is in this regard that Battletech has been compared to the XCOM, but the similarities end there.  Whilst XCOM units have endless resources – grenades and ammunition are seemingly infinite – everything in Battletech comes with a cost.  Firing energy weapons generates heat (which can lead to a mech overheating), missiles and ballistic weapons use ammunition that needs to be resupplied, whilst armour needs to be repaired and replaced, which agains costs money.

Furthermore, there is no such thing as a flawless mission in Battletech.  Given the size of the mechs, cover is not an option, except in terms of the environment.  Every time a mech steps out to fire at an enemy mech, it is leaving itself exposed to incoming fire.

Battletech is all about attrition, balancing the cost of shooting an enemy mech with the benefits it will bring.  This is further reinforced when it comes to salvage – recovering resources afterwards – a downed but lightly damaged enemy mech can be salvaged and repaired by the player to use in the future.

There is saying in Battletech that “meat is cheap, but metal is expensive”, and that is just as true in the video game.  The player may lose a pilot who has been gaining experience through several missions, but they can be replaced.  If a mech is destroyed, or so damaged that it needs to be repaired over several weeks, then the game could well be over as the player will find themselves fielding a smaller force.  Death will not lead to game over, but bankruptcy will.

Each mission in Battletech takes approximately half an hour, as the player’s mechs stride into position, searching for the enemy and finding the optimum position from which to attack (whilst the enemy does the same).  There have been some complaints that this can take too long, but there is something to be said for Battletech’s building of suspense – when the crunch comes it feels akin to an epic battle between titans.

However, this also where Battletech’s flaws appear.  Often, after orders are given, the game will enter a cinematic mode, following the mech as it completes it orders.   Generally, it looks amazing, with the camera shaking as the mech strides past, but it is not uncommon for the view to be obscured by environmental features, such as buildings or mountains, leaving the player wondering if the mech was hit or not.

That being said, this is a relatively minor complaint, considering what is an otherwise incredibly satisfying game.  Unlike other strategy games, where the story is perhaps the weakest point, Battletech delivers an epic tale that fits within the existing Battletech setting, yet at the same time being an intensely personal story that the player becomes invested in.  Alongside this, the accompanying artwork is amazing, and whilst it is not CGI, the story more than compensates for this.

Fans of the Battletech board game will be delighted to find that the mech customisation has been retained, allowing players to tweak each mech to suit their preference.  Whilst it may not encompass the detail that early MechWarrior games allowed – to the point of choosing engine size – there is sufficient detail here to satisfy the most avid Battletech fan.

The Geek Pride Cast #Mattails

This week, Matt, Mike and Bev talk Podcasts, swimming in money, films we’re just seen and what we are expecting from Infinity War.

Don’t forget that all Geek Pride Podcasts, including this one and Pitch, Please! can be found on Itunes, Google Play, youtube, spotify and our website for download.

If you would like to see live streamed podcasts, then please check out our Facebook, Youtube and Twitch channels.

Http://www.youtube.com/geekpridetv

http://www.facebook.com/geekpride1

http://www.twitch.com/geekpridetv

Avengers: Infinity War – Review

WARNING, SPOILERS AHEAD!

“Can you feel it, see it, hear it today?
If you can’t, then it doesn’t matter anyway
You will never understand it ’cause it happens too fast
And it feels so good, it’s like walking on glass
It’s so cool, it’s so hip, it’s alright
It’s so groovy, it’s outta sight
You can touch it, smell it, taste it so sweet
But it makes no difference ’cause it knocks you off your feet ”

Faith no more – Epic

10 years in the making. 10 years of build up and 10 years of setting the stage for a War to end all Wars in the marvel cinematic universe..well until the Skrulls show up but that’s a story for another time.

Starting in 2008 with Robert Downey Jnr appearing on screen as Tony Stark/IRONMAN and the words uttered by Samuel L Jackson “Nick Fury Director of S.H.I.E.LD, in the post credit scene, “I’m here to talk about the Avenger Initiative!” and ending in 2018 with the click of two over sized fingers.

We as Geeks have been provided with a proverbial cavalcade of action packed awesome, with Norse Gods, Super humans, Sorcerers, Magicians, Green Monsters, plucky misfits, Government agents and Space Cowboys. And in every instance we’ve come back for more, knowing that deep down everything will be alright…. or would it?

Many great enemies have fallen for Sure: The Red Skull, Loki, Ultron, Hela and many more but since the Avengers there has been an underlying menace tying all the films together and one that, until now we weren’t expecting how devastating it would be; Thanos and the Infinity Stones.

As the movies progressed we were made aware of Thanos and then 5 of the 6 infinity stones:

  1. The Space stone – Captain America The First Avenger
  2. The Reality Stone – Thor Dark World
  3. The Power Stone – Guardians of the Galaxy
  4. The Mind Stone – Avengers Age of Ultron
  5. The Time Stone – Doctor Strange

For those not aware of the Comics this may not have been too much of a concern but for those who have read them or, at least, know the canon, this was something big and potentially cataclysmic, all that was left was the Soul Stone and within Infinity War we find the last stone and with it a crescendo of our 10 year Journey.

This will be the Russo Brothers third time out into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, with Captain America the Winter Soldier and Civil War only 2 years later.  With those two great films behind them and an incredible arsenal of Talent the two brothers stepped forward to give us the first instalment of the infinity War.

The film in itself is a work of art, a tragic tearful work of chaotic art. With a runtime of 156 minutes the Russo Brothers elegantly filled every single minute with as much action and storyline as they possibly could. Every member, every Hero had an equal amount of screen time during the segments throughout and quite like a Tarantino film infinity war was cut up into segments, with each segment being dedicated to a small group of Heroes. This plot mechanism enabled the Russo Brothers to tell the story from three points of View without it feeling rushed or bogged down.

Even at the very beginning we are thrown directly into the fire,  we start off where Thor Ragnarok left us, and by that I mean the after credit scene where Thor and Loki are having a discussion about returning to Earth and THANOS ship appears in front of them,  during this opening sequence we are introduced to Thanos and his Black Order. Corvus Glaive, Proxima Midnight, Obsidian and Ebony Maw stand looming over a decimated ship while a distress signal still Echoes in the background,  Ebony Maw starts conducting a sermon of his master and how the Asgardian people have given their lives in service of Thanos,  we see here a beaten Loki, a battered Heimdahl  and Thanos walking the Deck of the ship in full battle armour.

Probably the most appealing moments of a very tragic first opening sequence where Loki gets to say the immortal words “we have a Hulk”  unfortunately for our a jolly Green angry giant it’s a short lived attack as Thanos lays proverbial Smack down on him,  beating him so badly it knocks him unconscious,  leaving Heimdahl no other alternative but the summon the last of the dark magic and Bifrost him to Earth and so  leading us to our first death as Thanos uses Glaives own staff to impale Heimdahl.

As you can imagine this left most of the cinema Auditorium I was sitting in with a gasp as we had not imagined this would happen so soon,  to be honest we all walked in a little naive, a little hopeful; boy were we wrong.

The decimation does not stop there though and as we watch Loki try to save his brother, as only Loki can, his attempts are fruitless and  not only does he have to give Thanos the Tesseract, but he is also the second casualty. Thor rages in sorrow as he is both restrained and powerless having to bear witness to his brother’s death and left to the ships Destruction all around him, casting him off into the cold emptiness of space.  I just like to point out at this point Thanos has the power stone already in the infinity gauntlet,  now he must have got this from Xandar,  which means Xandar has already been decimated.  luckily we will find this information out a bit further on in the film but it would have been great if we could have had a flashback to Thanos acquiring the power stone from the Nova corp.

Next up we arrive on Earth at the home of one Dr Stephen strange and Wong,  unfortunately for them their peace and quiet lasts a fraction of a second as Bruce Banner comes crashing down through the ceiling and through the staircase, both Strange and Wong look on in disbelief as Bruce Banner changing back from the Hulk announces “Thanos is coming”.

Cut to Tony Stark and Pepper Pots, walking in a park, happily engaged! Tony has an arc reactor in his chest but it’s actually nanotech for his Bleeding Edge armour, which thank god looks utterly fantastic on screen.  Doctor Strange uses his slip ring to bring Tony to the Sanctum Sanctorum  much to Peppers disapproval,  there old friends reunite and Tony is brought up the speed on Thanos  while Bruce is brought up to speed on everything that happened in the past couple of years he’s been gone (civil war and the breakup of the Avengers).

I’d like to say this is the part of the film where we can take a breather and relax for a spell, but no, I would be lying. Just as we start to gain any type of a step forward, the Black order turn up to push us two steps back. Ebony Maw and Obsidian show up to claim the Time Stone from around the good doctors neck, here we get to see the full prowess of the Sorcerer Supreme and Tony’s new Bleeding Edge nanotech armour. It is glorious. The CGI work that’s gone into this film is delicate but profoundly intricate in detail and appearance.

Time for everyone’s favourite Web slinging wall crawler to show up and does so with a giggle thanks to the ever wonderful guy in the chair, Ned, while not forgetting the Stan Lee cameo. The Russo brothers took everything Homecoming was and brought the same plucky attitude Peter has and let it run in Infinity War.  We get to see both Doctor Strange and Wong using the full Force of their mystic arts which on screen in an IMAX theatre looks fantastic.

The battle raging and Doctor Strange being captured by Ebony Maw who escapes in his ship,  Spider-Man gives chase unbeknown to him the ship has begun to leave orbit,  Peter finding it hard to breathe struggles to give chase. Tony feels our favourite wall crawler could use an upgrade,  so cue iron spider armour. This giving Peter a well deserved  fighting chance both him and Tony enter Ebony Maws ship,  the race Is on to rescue Doctor Strange.

Back on Earth, Bruce Banner having some performance issues due to the Hulk having his ass handed to him by Thanos says goodbye to Wong as he is left to guard the Sanctum, finds Tony’s flip phone that was given to him by Steve Rogers in Civil War and makes a call.

Now we come to probably one of my favourite moments of the film, we’re back in the galaxy. The Rubber band man playing in the background, we’re reintroduced to everyone’s favourite Guardians. Star Lord, Gamora, Drax, Rocket and a very adolescent Groot all singing along to The Swingers 70s hit. We find out the Guardians of the Galaxy are actually coming to the aid of the Asgardian distress signal, for a prophet of course. Instead they are welcomed by debris, floating bodies oh and a floating Thor! who ends up on the cockpit window with Rocket screaming “wipers, get it off!”. With the Guardians you’re always sure of a few chuckles and uplifting moments,  these are few and far between and during the course of the film a welcoming break It’s here, Thor sets off to Nidavellir to retrieve a weapon capable of killing Thanos but he’s not doing it alone he’s accompanied by Rocket and Groot.

We find out that Vision and Wanda have been together now off grid since Civil War and living very happily in Scotland,  unfortunately  they are ambushed by Proxima Midnight and Corvus Glaive. Luckily for them Bruce Banners call got through to the Secret Avengers, the name given to Steve Rogers covert team consisting of Black Widow and The Falcon. They arrive just in time and rescue both Wanda and Vision.

Each team has a specific goal throughout the film and it usually consists of tracking down, keeping safe or destroying and infinity stone. The Teams have an equal amount of screen time and all with their pacing and story laid out and easy to follow.

The next step in our journey leads us to the Soul Stone.

Gamora having been captured by Thanos is forced to provide the whereabouts of the last stone, where in we are reunited with an old villain from the First Avenger. Yes boys and girls the Red Skull is back,  he’s back but not in any shape or form that could threaten our good captain. He is actually back as an oracle type character and explains to Thanos that to gain the soul stone a soul must be offered in sacrifice. So with a heavy heart, if you can believe such a thing Thanos sacrifices his own favourite daughter to retrieve it; something you can actually see him struggle with.

I came into the film wanting to hate Thanos, he has always been a character of evil, Terror and dread but during the course of 156 minutes  I saw a different side. I was not expecting the concerned father figure, not for any of his other children I might add but only for Gamora, we saw the fatherly Instinct in him which was odd to say the least.

Let’s talk about Peter Dinklage,  now for months there’s been a lot of debate especially with Nerdist ‘Jessica Chobot’ on what character he could be, alas it seems Jess and Nerdist were wrong and I, having said from the very beginning, knew he would be  Eitri the great dwarf blacksmith. He would be the one to forge Stormbreaker.  Before anything is said, I know Stormbreaker is Beta Ray Bills hammer of choice and this axe hammer being more Thor’s Ultimate Marvel Universe weapon with a subtle nod to JarnBjorn but you have to have some creative licence and it was great to see.

Infinity War Is a Rollercoaster and I don’t mean the one where you  just put your hands up in the air, you scream and you’re having a good time, NO! This is a rollercoaster that makes you grit your teeth and hold on for dear life because you’re about to pull a couple of G’s. The pinnacle of this being the  big battle in Wakanda and the fight with Thanos on Titan.

Our Secret Avengers seek the help of Black Panther and his sister Shuri  in the removal of the mind stone from Visions head. luckily Steve Rogers now has a Hulk and the war machine to back him up. In similar fashion Black Panther has a White Wolf aka Bucky Barnes with a new shiny Vibranium arm to back him up. The tasks to remove the Mind stone from visions head can only be done by one person and that’s Shuri,  this girl could give Tony Stark a run for his money. During the process that could destroy Vision, Thanos’s army of Outriders invade Wakanda,  “Yibambe!”

Now I was talking about Titan.

On Titan the trio of Doctor Strange, Stark and Peter come up with a plan to remove The Gauntlet from Thanos,  luckily they meet up with Quill, Drax and Mantis. In this time Doctor Strange uses the time stone to view all the possible futures, all 4 million of them and tells the others that there is only one future in which Thanos loses.  Thanos arrives to explain that this is a necessary act to guarantee the survival of the universe he has to destroy half.  While the battle ensues  Nebula arrives, having escaped capture aboard Thanos’s ship, she helps the group and manages to subdue him.  Nebula and Quill briefly interrogate Thanos while Mantis tries to keep him at docile. They learn that he’s killed Gamora, Quill goes into a rage which breaks the groups hold on the Titan, just as Spider-Man was about to remove The Gauntlet from his left hand.  Thanos defeats them by launching a cluster of moon debris onto the planet surface, in exchange for sparing Stark’s life Doctor Strange offers up the time stone.

Now Thanos has five stones and leaves for Wakanda.

This being the moment I was cheering in the theatre, the Outriders are decimating the Wakandan armies and our Secret Avengers all hope seems to be lost, Until. Thor, Rocket and Groot return to Earth via the Bifrost in a Symphony of lightning and thunder with Thor holding the newly forged Stormbreaker And a promise to keep the Thanos.  Midnight, Obsidian and Glaive are killed leading the outriders retreat.  Thanos then appears, with all of us thinking that the Avengers had won with Wanda destroying the mind stone, little do we know with the use of the time stone,  Thanos is able to turn the clock back to retrieve the final stone. Out of nowhere though, the god of Thunder launches a final attack with Stormbreaker piercing through the gauntlets energy blast and plunging Stormbreaker directly into his chest,  Thor’s promise of it ending with Thanos’s death comes to light, until the mad Titan utters  the words “you should have aimed for my head” and Snaps his fingers. The mad Titans plan comes to fruition and probably the most gut wrenching moment where everyone in the Auditorium that I was sitting in felt like we’ve been punched in the dick.

Bucky, Drax, Groot, Mantis, Wanda, Peter, Quill, Strange, Black Panther and Falcon all disintegrate in front of the remaining Heroes.  Peter’s disintegration I think got me the most as even though previously Tony had knighted him an Avenger, a very proud moment for every wall crawling  fan,  we’re reminded cripplingly that he is just a teenager and scared, Grasping onto Tony asking for help knowing that Tony can’t do anything to save him. Our surviving heroes Nebula and Stark, separated and stranded on Titan,  Steve, Thor, Banner, Widow, War Machine and the remaining Guardians are left in Wakanda. Thanos now healed awakens on a planet, sits in satisfaction and watches the sunset.

I was gutted, distraught, upset.. in one click of the fingers we lost half of the Marvel Universe and I wasn’t sure how i felt about it and had to keep telling myself that it was a two part film really and that there was still hope… I think?!

On to that post credit scene.

We see a black SUV,  it’s clearly and old S.H.I.E.L.D vehicle inside Nick Fury and Maria Hill are discussing the situation when chaos ensues around them,  they both leave their vehicle to survey what’s going on.  Maria Starts to disintegrate,  just as the same thing starts to happen to Nick Fury he starts to transmit a distress signal from what looks like a pager as his body dissolves  Samuel Jackson utters his  famous one-liner “mother fu…”  we see the pager  fall to the floor and an insignia appears on the front,  it belongs to Captain Marvel. With her film coming up soon, this will tie her in well to the second part of Infinity War

I’ve many words to describe this film, epic is one of them, magnum opus  are two others, it was a roller coaster ride of highs and lows, action packed and well thought out. Everything tied in beautifully and left you feeling numerous emotions. Sure I was upset but I knew there was a second part and it just made me long for that to come out; long being the operative word as its not for another year!

The Russo Brothers have set up for a winning goal with Infinity War; one that befits the grandeur of the Marvel universe.

 

Under the Lid – Cast Quest Kickstarter Preview

Our First episode and Bevan has a look at , soon to be Kickstarted card game by Whimpendium, Cast Quest.

Follow them on Facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/castquestgame/

 

 

 

Life After The Navigator – “See ya later Navigator!”

The 1980’s gave birth to so much amazing cinema. It’s filled with fantastic storytelling and imagination that would capture the hearts and creative juices of every geek, child and dreamer to ever retain their cinema stub. This era would also boost the genre of Science Fiction especially the Time Travelling side of it.

Robert Zemekis already dominated with Back to the Future as the forerunner of any Time Travelling adventure, then in 1986 Walt Disney gave us a coming of age cinematic experience that gave us 80’s hair, The Beach Boys, NASA and an Alien Life form named MAX!

Flight of the Navigator was Disney’s stab at the Time Travelling experience that propelled a teenage David Freeman into the cockpit of an alien spacecraft and his journey to get back home!

With the announcement of Lucifer show runner Joe Henderson, whose other credits include 11.22.63 and White Collar, being tapped by Lionsgate to write the script for a reboot of the 1986 film. The Henson Co. is set to co-produce the film with the studio, a plucky young director with her trusted co-pilot are ready to take us back 32 years and ask the question about …..Life after Navigator.

“Life After The Navigator” is a feature documentary that not only celebrates the 1986 classic “Flight Of The Navigator”, but also takes an in depth look at the life of it’s star Joey Cramer since that breakout role. Lisa Downs and Ashley Pugh, the Dynamic duo behind “Life after FLASH” (Flash Gordon Documentary) are back to show us exactly what happened after the Navigator returned home. the highs and lows of a child actor and some would say a redemption.

I will be glued to this project as like most of geeks out there, Flight of the Navigator is cemented in our childhood and earned itself a cult status and a must see watch in anyone’s top 10 favourite films of all time. I dare you not to sing-a-long “i get around” with MAX and David!!

 

To Keep up with the goings on of this adventure through time check their media out.

www.lifeafterthenavigator.com , https://www.facebook.com/pg/lifeafterthenavigator

 

“See ya Later Navigator”

Ghost Stories – Film Review and Analysis

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A Quick none spoliery review

First up, for those of you who don’t want spoilers and just want to know if the film is good or not, here’s a quick round up for you :

Celebrity paranormalist and skeptic, Professor Phillip Goodman (Andy Nyman),  is sent to investigate three incidents of supernatural sightings. Including a night watchman (Paul Whitehouse) working in an old women’s refuge, a teenager (Alex Lawther) whose car breaks down in the middle of a forest and a business man(Martin Freeman) who is awaiting the birth of his child.

All the stories are linked by Goodman and as they move forward his scepticism is put to the test culminating in an unusual and unexpected, if emotional, finale.  Acting is solid, It’s beautifully and atmospherically shot, Scary as hell, psychological, thought provoking and has an ending that I can only say will be divisive for a lot  of people. If you are looking for a mindless scarefest then Ghost Stories isn’t the film for you but if, like me, you like a bit of mental sparing with your sudden jumps, then you’ll be in for a treat.

Not enough? Want to delve deeper then follow me.. but be warned, there be spoilers ahead!

Analysis and Spoiler filled commentary

Leaving the Cinema, myself and my Girlfriend,  Louise, weren’t exactly sure what we had just watched.

“it was really good until the ending.. it was just a bit weird and silly.” She turns to me and says

Now I’m not sure if it was silly, but it definitely was weird and to be honest I could understand why she felt that way. For 3 quarters of the film you had a normal British horror film, replete with atmosphere, mind tricks, jump scares and a smidgen of humour. Then, suddenly, and when you feel you are going to get closure, the tone and mood changes and you find yourself on this slippery slope to an ending that you’re not overly ready for, and in my girlfriends case one she didn’t want.

It was either a genius way to end the film or a huge mistake and I wasn’t sure, as I left, what I thought. It was only after, while talking it through with Louise and going over all the parts in my head that things started to click together and clarity prevailed. But to explain we need to start at the end.

Ghost Stories ends with Professor Goodman going back to the trailer of Charles Cameron (the reason for his Journey in the first place)  to tell him, despite what he has seen and been told, that its all bull shit and can be explained by mental and family traumas (an important concept that is overlooked due to the context of the film thus far). We as the audience know this is him lying to himself, he’s actually seen things himself, he’s scared, he knows it.. there is going to be a payoff soon; a payoff that’s starts straight away but goes in a direction few expect.

Cameron starts to put his finger into his eye and then we soon realise it’s a disguise and he’s wearing a mask. Low and behold we are confronted with Mike Priddle (Freeman) who killed himself in the last scene. The Prof is so taken back by this that he asks the camera to cut and stop filming, to which Priddle asks, “where do you think you are? ” ( I am not sure if this was intentional by the film makers or just a mistake that was kept in, but either way it works)

From this point on the entire dynamic of the film changes and Priddle leads us / Goodman through his own story. A story of a young bullied kid who lets a mentally handicapped boy “Kojak” die after taking a fit in a prank that goes badly wrong and Goodman’s younger self does nothing to stop or help. Finally, after the moral of the film is seemingly revealed Goodman is assailed by a ghoulish Kojak and dragged down a narrowing corridor to a hospital bed, wherein we soon realise that this entire thing has been in his mind the whole time and he has Locked in Syndrome, after a failed suicide attempt…..

WTF?

I have no doubt this will be the reaction for a lot of people because it would, on the face of things and without any other thought into the matter, feel like a pretty lame and frustrating way to end a pretty scary film. But it is this very ending that, in my mind, makes Ghost Stories smart; but only after connecting the dots.

Let me connect some of them for you:

  • First thing you have to know is that Andy Nyman, who plays Prof Goodman, co-wrote the play of the same name, as well as adapting it for film. On top of this what some people don’t know about Nyman is that he writes a lot of the stage shows for Derren Brown, who is in the film briefly as “Betty” .This in itself is a revelation and starts to make you think about the film in a different way. Derren Brown after all is the epitome of skepticism and mind play / tricks and Nyman writing his stage shows basically impregnates the concept of Ghost Stories with another meaning; one that was staring us in the face from the very start.
  • Even before the film was released, mind tricks were being played and the title of the film was spelt wrong, with not many people noticing. It was spelt ‘Ghost Storeis’ and had the tag line of “The Brain sees what it wants to see” the I and E being placed the wrong way round was a simple way to prove the premise. Most people, in their minds eye, will just read it as it is meant to be; as I did.
  • At the start of the film we are introduced to Goodman, his religious upbringing and a statement that his fathers religion ruined his family’s life. Trauma that is reflected upon briefly but not shown in great detail and a plot devise to explain his beliefs and profession.
  • Mental trauma is a point referenced numerous times. Paul Whitehouse’s character with the loss of his daughter to Locked in syndrome feels guilty and is traumatised by the event, Alex Lawthers Character is a young man, with learning difficulties and over bearing, unsympathetic parents and Martin Freemans character works in a stressful job and loses his wife in child birth. All explanations, as Goodman tells Cameron, to why they might be seeing things and in Goodman’s case, his own trauma being the reason he is seeing things.
  • From the start Goodman is seeing things, the boys messing around on beach with the dead bird are the bullies from the end, the hooded figure and the bullies are in the picture in the house from the second story. The hooded figure follows Goodman when he is with Priddle in last Story and even the name of the pub he meets Paul White House’s character in ’10 Numbers’ is the name of the game that ended in the death of Kojak. Goodman’s trauma followed him throughout.
  • The stories themselves are very abrupt and in each case when the story teller comes face to face with the subject of their story, it ends and cuts to the next scene, with little or no explanation on how they escaped and what happened next. I read a review stating this as a flaw, making it look unfinished, but in context to what was trying to be portrayed I feel the abruptness and lack of elaboration perfectly explains how Ghost Stories work and effect the mind.
  • The Shot of the window is the view from his hospital bed, that he can see with help from the mirror; the doll on the chair is the doll from the Third Story and represents the manikin girl in Story 1; the 3 story tellers are 2 doctors and a janitor in the hospital; the Scottish professor (Cameron) is just a composite of Priddle’s( the doctors version) old university professor; Priddle’s choice of killing himself with a shotgun in the last story is how he (as the doctor) tells Rifkind how he’d have killed himself instead of gassing himself in a car like Goodman. The fact Priddle can’t get Rifkind name right, which is what happens when he phones the AA in the second story; Priddle shining the light into Goodman’s eye, the bird hitting the window is the dead bird the bullies play with and also is represented by the Birth the ghost girl carries in the first story, the radio and the janitors response to it is the same as it was in the first story and of course the fact that the first creature puts its finger in Paul Whitehouse’s mouth and the Ghoulish Kojak does the same to Goodman represent the tubes in his mouth.
  • Goodman seeing something behind Cameron in the caravan park, him thinking he saw and heard someone on the top floor of Rifkinds house, the spectral face in the woman’s refuge all tie in with you mind playing tricks on you, or as has been mentioned a few times within different Derren Brown documentaries, the mind tries to make sense of the unexplainable things with familiarity; hence why you see things in clouds and at a first glance might see a face or something similar in an object you aren’t sure about.
  • The constant referral to Keys, locks and doors. About people not listening and about being trapped in a situation you can’t escape from all tie in with Locked in Syndrome and are percolated throughout the film.

So the film telegraphs its intention and direction throughout but it is the end that ties it all together and is a necessity to get the entire point across; a point aptly made when Priddle, trying to open a gun locker, in the middle of nowhere, states “It’s funny, isn’t it? How it’s always the last key that unlocks everything.”

As it is, everything that happens is a fabrication of Goodman’s mind, formed by Religious, mental and physical trauma, combined with every day memories. Like a dream, or in this case a nightmare, they can be lucid, abrupt, jolting you from one place to another and tie in random things that you have heard and seen in your day to day life, therefore the tag line of “the Brain sees what it wants to see” is very much apt and if you think about it, how often are your dreams coherent and not kinda messed up?

Ghost Stories therefore isn’t really a Horror, the façade is there and in that guise people are sucked in, but really its an allegory for the human mind and condition. Sure if you are wanting just a fright with the generic horror tropes of Evil is defeated (but maybe not wink wink), or evil wins and no one is safe, then you won’t enjoy this and I can kinda understand that, sometimes you just want a mindless scare but if you accept it for what it is, and understand where it is coming from not only do you get a fright but would will be rewarded with an even scarier prospect; you own mind.

In the end, what is more terrifying than what you conjure in your own minds eye and being helpless to prevent it.

Definitely worth the watch, but with an open mind.

**UPDATE**

The West End’s Ambassadors Theatre will be showing the play from the 8th October 2019, you can book seats HERE

 

Pitch, Please! S02 Eps 06 – Marvel

This week @The_Dark_Mike and others have a crack at a free-reign Marvel movie. It gets odd, but we do get an excellent new sign off that will definitely always be used.

06

Don’t forget that all Geek Pride Podcasts, including this one and the Geek Pride Cast can be found on Itunes, Google Play, youtube, spotify and our website for download.

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The Geek Pride Cast #ReadyPlayerone

This week, Matt and Mark Talk a bit about Warhammer 40k, ALOT about Ready player One and then a bit more about Warhammer 40k.. oh and some X-wing.


Don’t forget that all Geek Pride Podcasts, including this one and Pitch, Please! can be found on Itunes, Google Play, youtube, spotify and our website for download.

If you would like to see live streamed podcasts, then please check out our Facebook, Youtube and Twitch channels.

Http://www.youtube.com/geekpridetv

http://www.facebook.com/geekpride1

http://www.twitch.com/geekpridetv