Movie Review: Pokemon - Detective Pikachu

Hey guys, I saw Pokemon: Detective Pikachu a day before its wide release and did up a video review of it. I normally will be relegating Pokemon content to my Youtube channel rather than here, but there is a bit of cross-over here since I often do movie reviews on my blog so I figured I would post it here. Check it out (note: there are some very minor spoilers in the video, just so you know)!


A few additional notes that I have thought since I recorded this:

• The opening scene feels like it was either added in reshoots or was all that remained of a longer opening act - it feels at odds with the rest of the film, introduces a character that we're never going to see again, and only really matters in that it introduces Cubone.
• Having thought about it a bit more, the villain's plan is even stupider than I realized. In addition to the fact that he probably could have initiated it earlier than he does, it's also just extremely contrived writing.
• The writing in general is easily the weakest aspect of the film. There's a big action set-piece near the end of the second act which doesn't really have any bearing on anything, it just happens and goes on longer than nearly any other action scene in the film. It's fun, but when you give it some critical thought it isn't particularly satisfying.
• I geeked out at the soundtrack, there are some classic Pokemon music call-backs in here.
• Where the hell are Jolteon and Chikorita? I saw an ad with Jolteon in it, but we don't see one in the flesh? 1/10, would not recommend.

Game of Thrones, Miguel Sapochnik and the Devolution of Battle Strategy

Last week Game of Thrones fans were finally treated to the battle which the series had been building towards since the very first episode, the biggest battle put to film, the most important battle in Westerosi history: "The Long Night"... and it was, um, something. The battle itself is undeniably a visual spectacle, with incredibly tense moments as our heroes get put in danger and an overwhelmingly bleak tone as all of their efforts to stop the horde of the dead are met with failure after failure. However, if you give the episode any sort of critical thought, the whole facade begins to quickly crumble, assuming that you could even see what was happening (for my part, I watched it on a 10" tablet with max brightness and could see well enough, but can still acknowledge that the lighting was too dark and lacked necessary contrast to be able to tell what's going on). The way that this battle was directed and written just makes absolutely no sense from the characters' perspectives and was obviously designed solely to elicit the reactions that the showrunners wanted at any particular moment. This kind of writing wouldn't be an issue if it was done well, in such a way that you won't notice and can justify it easily. "The Long Night" is not that kind of episode, unfortunately, and it really got me thinking about how Game of Thrones' battle sequences have nosedived since Season 6.

There are a couple elements which are key to the drop in quality of the writing and direction of Game of Thrones' battle sequences. First, and most obviously, the show caught up to and overtook the books in Season 5, meaning that showrunners Dan Weiss and David Benioff have been having to make up the rest of the story themselves ever since. Secondly, the directing duties on the show's big battles have been passed on from Neil Marshall, who helmed "Blackwater" and "The Watchers on the Wall", to Miguel Sapochnik, who helmed "Hardhome", "Battle of the Bastards" and "The Long Night" (among other, smaller episodes).

With this in mind, I want to take a look back at Sapochnik's battles, analyze the writing, the strategies of the characters and then compare them to Marshall's battles. Oh, and I really shouldn't have to specify this, but in case you've gotten this far without realizing, this article is going to contain SPOILERS!

Listening to Bands That Followed Me on Social Media

I love to follow my favourite bands on Twitter and Instagram, it's such a convenient way for me to stay in the loop on new music, nearby concerts and other goings-on in the band members' lives. However, I have also noticed a side effect to this: every time I follow a major band, I will get followed back by a couple other, smaller bands trying to make a name for themselves. It's a pretty clever strategy I must say - it's free advertising, it immediately gets them into your good graces and it lets you know that they're making music similar to the stuff you already love, so why not check them out? As a show of good faith and because I like to support independent artists, I keep a list of all the bands who have followed me and check them out when I get a chance. I've gotten enough piled up now that I thought that I would do a list of the bands that have followed me, listed from my least favourite to favourite. This is, of course, super subjective so I would recommend checking out all of the bands here regardless rather than just taking my word as final for how good any of their music is. Oh, and if more bands follow me in the future then I'll probably do a follow up article, so I hope that happens!

Honourable Mention: Brian "Head" Welch of Korn and Love & Death followed me at one point and even slid into my DMs with a message of encouragement (very much on-brand for him based on what I've read about the man). He has since unfollowed me, but that's probably because I have a real potty-mouth on Twitter since that's where I post my most passionate political opinions. Anyway, I don't really count him since he followed me in response to me following him rather than because he was trying to market himself, but I thought that it was worth a mention at the very least.

7) September Sky
Genre: Metal
Followed Me Because I Liked: Breaking Benjamin on Instagram
Favourite Track: "Fallacy"

Of all the bands that have followed me, September Sky have the biggest catalogue (2 EPs and 1 album) and longest history, having released their first EP back in 2011. They also have a pretty strong marketing push for the band, having followed me twice (!!) on Instagram in order to make sure I definitely noticed them and very promoter-friendly bios on their website and Spotify which make such claims as "In a sea of mediocre alternative metal, September Sky stands out not only with their magnetic twist of alternative grunge rock and thrash metal influences, but also their well-known empowering and inspiring vocals and refreshing guitar solos." They also claim that fans describe their sound as "Disturbed meets Tool and Alice In Chains". If that sounds like a strange mixture, well, September Sky doesn't really live up to it. Their first EP, Bright Sides to Dark Days, sounds very much like Tool but without the same level of craft and refinement. Tracks like "Ted" sound very much like "Aenima" or "Eulogy", to the point where it feels like their sound might be just a little too derivative. The only song which breaks out of the Tool mould is "Freakshow", a non-conformity song which is probably their only track which reminded me of Disturbed... and not in a good way at all. I really disliked "Freakshow", it felt like a black mark on an otherwise decent debut. Bright Sides to Dark Days might feel a little too familiar, but I was really digging tracks like "Disappearing Friend". There was some promise here and with time and maturity September Sky could carve out their own niche.

Love/Hate: PS4

Love

• The Games - The PS4 has been a massive success and that mainly comes down to one thing: Sony have done an incredible job of cultivating high-profile exclusive games in a variety of genres. God of War, Detroit: Become Human, Gran Turismo, Until Dawn, Horizon: Zero Dawn, Ni No Kuni... I'm just barely scratching the surface, but that gives you an idea of the variety of games available to satisfy various tastes.
• Social Features - The social features built into the PS4 are possibly my favourite PlayStation innovation of all time. Being able to automatically capture the last fifteen minutes of gameplay and then share videos and screenshots from it is a revelation and instantly made me regret buying an Elgato HD months before the PS4 came out (although I'll finally be putting it to use with the Switch soon enough when Pokemon comes out).
• Rest Mode - I already loved rest mode on the PSP and PS Vita, but when it came to the PS4 it was better than ever. Not only can you suspend your progress in games, but the system will download updates while in rest mode, meaning that you no longer have to wait for lengthy updates when you turn on the console!
• Controller Innovation - Finally, after the questionable PS3 controller, Sony really nailed the changes to the PS4's DualShock redesign. The sticks feel more precise, the touch pad is awesome, the triggers are great and the overall weight and feel is perfect. It's easily the best PlayStation controller and I hope that the PS5 only improves upon it.
• My Favourite PS4 Games - As usual, here's my list of favourite games on the PS4: God of War, Bloodborne, Dark Souls III, Uncharted 4, Nioh, Metal Gear Solid V, Battlefield 4 and Rainbow Six Siege.

Love/Hate: PS Vita

Love

• Amazing Hardware - The hardware of the PS Vita is, simply put, fantastic. In fact, I'd argue that hardware-wise it's probably the most perfect PlayStation product in terms of power, function and design. Power-wise, it's pretty comparable to the PS3, the screen looks fantastic (especially on the older, OLED models), the battery life is pretty decent and the interface works very well. Many people say that the PS Vita was basically the original Nintendo Switch and they aren't wrong. The system's hardware is certainly comparable and could have found similar success with better support.
• Great Indie Machine - People have written off the PS Vita for years now, but even to this day, the system still gets releases from indie developers who have helped keep the system afloat. Having a PS+ membership carry over from the PS4 also helped with this, since it basically meant that you were getting a free game every month to try out. I actually got Gravity Rush and freaking Hotline Miami through this system and am even hoping that Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night still comes to Vita because that's where I'm planning on playing it.
• PSP Backwards Compatibility - The PS Vita basically ended up aping the PSP Go's functionality, because you can go back and play most of the PSP's digital library on the go. I actually ended up selling my PSP to a friend because of this, although I do have some regrets now since games like Metal Gear Ac!d aren't on the PSP online store. Some PS1 games are also available here, although the selection isn't as good as it was on PSP.
• My Favourite PS Vita Games - As usual, not a comprehensive list, but I loved: Gravity Rush, Hotline Miami 1 & 2, Dynasty Warriors 8: Xtreme Legends, Ninja Gaiden Sigma 1 and 2 and Guacamelee!

Love/Hate: PS3

Love

• Trophies - Probably my favourite innovation that the PS3 brought was the advent of trophies (which, to be fair, were modelled after the Xbox's achievements system). These things are so addictive though. Basically, as soon as I start a game I head over to the Trophies section to see what trophies I could realistically go for and whether I actually want to bother going for the Platinum.
• Blu-Ray Player - Like the PS2 and PS1 before it, the PS3 came with a new media format innovation, this time with a blu-ray player. Also similarly, the PS3 was cheaper and better than most blu-ray players at the time, which helped to tip the format war between blu-ray and HD-DVD into blu-ray's favour. Like DVD's, the PS3 was my first blu-ray player and was the reason I stopped buying DVDs and made the switch to HD media.
• Free Online Play - While it was widely agreed that Xbox Live had the more robust and reliable online system, you did have to pay an annual subscription for it, whereas online play was free on PS3. There was an optional ability to get PS+ if players wanted additional perks, but leaving it free by default was honestly the better move, since there really isn't a good excuse that online play is a paid-for service on modern consoles.
• Strong Hardware - While the PS3 was thought to be difficult to develop for early in the console's life-cycle, by the mid-to-late period of the PS3's stronger hardware was allowing the system to run games much easier and smoother than the comparatively underpowered Xbox 360. In addition, the PS3 did away with region locked games, meaning that you could play games from other regions out of the box (this was good for gamers who wanted to play Japanese-exclusive games, for example). When you consider that the PS3 also had a built-in wi-fi adapter and the blu-ray drive, whereas the Xbox 360 had to get a wi-fi adapter as an add-on, had only a DVD drive, and you had to pay an annual subscription for Xbox Live, the higher cost of the system was actually quite comparable.
• My Favourite PS3 Games - Not a definitive list of the best games on the system, but my favourite games include: Uncharted 1 and 2, Dead Space 1 and 2, Battlefield Bad Company and 3, Bioshock, The Walking Dead, The Last of Us, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, Fallout 3 and Dark Souls.

Love/Hate: PSP

Love

• Great Hardware - The PSP was a really great little handheld. It was very well-designed, felt great in your hand and had some great features, even outside of gaming. Having played only Gameboys up until this point, having a wi-fi capable system with an internet browser made this thing basically my first cell phone in terms of its functionality. It was also quite powerful, able to put out near-PS2 graphical levels in the palm of your hand. Compared to its competition, the Nintendo DS, the PSP won the hardware comparison, easily. I also loved that you could suspend games by putting the system into sleep mode, it was such a good feature.
• Strong Support - People don't remember it very well, but the PSP had strong support from first and third party developers, and even outsold the Nintendo DS for years, until that system's cheaper price and stronger support ended up winning over in the end (the presence of Pokemon games certainly helped as well). Still, this allowed the PSP to have a very strong stable of games that you can look back on fondly.
• PS1 Classics - One of the genius moves for the PSP was to allow you to play PS1 games on the go. Sony ended up releasing quite a few major titles for the system, including Metal Gear Solid, Resident Evil and Final Fantasy VII (in fact, I had never played FF7 until I downloaded it on my PSP).
• My Favourite PSP Games - The usual deal: this isn't a comprehensive list, but here are some of my favourite PSP games. These include Resistance: Retribution, Soulcalibur: Broken Destiny, Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops, Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, Metal Gear Ac!d 1 and 2, God of War: Chains of Olympus, Patapon and Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories (mainly because, holy shit, a GTA game running on PSP hardware!?!).