sethos

well, that wasn't what I thought would happen with Seppia.

Give voice to confusion brother and see it lifted like slave to free man by Spartacus!

well spoken, brother! Free words from throat and cut air with their questions!

I'm a little worried that the pieces are being put in place to shuffle Annie off screen, especially with the appearance of a new ghost this week - she can be proper annoying but she's always been the heart of the show and I think they'd really have their work cut out going forward with none of the original cast around.

 

Good episode though, sets up the finale nicely - I do wonder if that pile of bones at vampire HQ is actually there for any particular reason.

I was wondering the same thing about Annie and new ghost girl. I hope that isn't where they are headed.

He's Mister Gone.

indeed! you manage to rock every look, Kate!

and Pooka, that's a fantastic haircut.

Lou! those are great masks!

several xenomorphs on display in that trailer, if you look carefully. GOOD. I want them to be scary again.

Another great episode of Spartacus. that was a pretty brutal beheading, but hey, at least it wasn't done by a Roma-*CHOP*.

well, apparently these were retired race horses which weren't fit for races anymore, but were used in the racing scenes in the series. if you read the reports it seems that there were very lax safety rules for the horses, with many racing experts having said they shouldn't use these animals. So it seems pretty damning.

hah, that's great!

Luck's been cancelled thanks to a third horse death on set. rumours say the low ratings also might have something to do with it, but I doubt it, HBO rarely cancels anything after one season. the production was already under heavy fire after the first two deaths, and I guess this third one just made them decide to get out of it. understandable, but the show really was/is (two more episodes of season 1 to go, and it's likely the two season 2 episodes they've shot will be shown) pretty great.

btw, I do hope other countries get the deal we got on HBO: 15 bucks a month for three channels, HBO Go and HBO On Demand (which includes pretty much all their series, in HD when available, with new episodes added right after broadcast in the States). I'm really enjoying it.

yeah, what's the Malazan shoutout?

Another good episode of Spartacus this week, I'll probably regret saying this but I'm pretty sure they hit the gore ceiling with [ Spoiler : a poor German chap getting his face sliced clean off and his brain sliding free to plop onto the ground ].

I'd agree with you, if they hadn't been upping the gore throughout the series.

someone should convert that Westwood Studios Blade Runner game to either smartphones/tablets (but then, I wish they did that with so many old school adventure games) or Steam.

 

Seconded, seconded to the max.

 

Although according to an article I read somewhere recently, issues with the guys who own the Blade Runner rights will probably prevent this from happening.

yeah, I remember reading somewhere that Good Old Games tried to get it on their website but were endlessly frustrated by the rights issues. sigh.

I really, really enjoyed it. It's very old fashioned, I liked the framing device of the film, and I thought the leads had great chemistry. Also, I liked the fact that there werelots of homages to/influences from Lawrence of Arabia.

Willem Dafoe is just great in everything, isn't he?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-pF56-ZYkY

yeah, it looks amazing, but Heavy Rain was only a so-so game thanks to the teribble script (I really do appreciate what they were trying to do though), so I'm not sure I'm really looking forward to whatever this tech demo will turn into. I guess something Blade Runner esque? which reminds, me, someone should convert that Westwood Studios Blade Runner game to either smartphones/tablets (but then, I wish they did that with so many old school adventure games) or Steam.

I think my awesome bone broke clean in two when Spartacus [ Spoiler : caught his sword by switching his grip in glorious slow-mo ] in the latest episode.

YES.

Also, Glaber's killing of his father-in-law was apparently very cathartic for him, as he's now into Batiatus-style bloodletting to get what he wants. and Ashur is becoming more of a bastard with every episode. Didn't think I could ever feel sorry for Lucretia, but that asshole managed to do it.

Do you mean I'll keep getting lags once I've reached 12 MB or that it'll be fixed and my saegame wont' exceed 12 MB?

the second, kind of: once you install the patch you need to start the game, save your game, and then restart the game and play from that savegame on. it'll be slightly smaller than your previous savegame. I haven't had any big lags since, and pretty much all the previously broken quests have been fixed.

Edit: I have now finished all the major story and side quests, I think, and am now down to the misc. quests, which sometimes turn into big quests. I'm still impressed by all the content!

With a now 11 MB save file, Skyrim has grown pretty unplayable. I was just getting into the civil war quest, too.

 

How's that PS3 patch coming along?

uh.. the patch is out, has been for a few weeks now. after installing I haven't had any probs, savegames are now max. around 12MB.

Can anyone confirm that the latest Justified ended with [ Spoiler : Duffy surprising Gary at the bar ] ? Seemed like a real sudden end but that's been something of a thing this season.

Yep, and the fact that it went directly into a preview of the next episode which gave a away a HUGE SPOILER pissed me off. really short episode, very strange, but the season really is excellent so far. but yes, it seems like they've been cutting parts from episodes these last few weeks.

 

My only concern going forward is that they might struggle to give everyone fair screen time - Crixus, Gannicus and Oenomaus could all carry a show on their own and the new Spartacus has settled in quite well.

This is true, but (blanked for Historical Spoilers) [ Spoiler : Oenomaus and Crixus should both be around for quite a while if they even follow history a little bit. Gannicus is fictional so who knows what'll happen there. Glaber, well, with the camp being at Vesuvius I think I know where they are going with this, but I have no idea whether or not he survives it all. ]

The fourth Blacksad book is getting an english language release from Dark Horse this summer, complete with sketch files, etc. should be good.

Also, next month Archaia is launching Siegfried by Alex Alice. If you an amazingly draw, very loose adaptation of Wagner's Nibelungen cycle, you should totally get it. the artwork is amazing.

Also, I think Brecht Evens' new book is coming sooner rather than later from Drawn & Quarterly. it's called "The Making Of" in english.

Finally, I hope Judith Vannistendael's second major book (after her excellent "Dance By The Light Of The Moon") will be coming out in english eventually as well, as it's one of the most moving graphic novels I've ever read. the dutch language title translates as "When David Lost His Voice" and is all about a family coping with a father dying of cancer.

Actually, I didn't like the first Phonogram series that much, but I thought the Singles Club was excellent, so I'm hopeful the third series will be more like that one and less like Rue Brittannia.

I hope everybody is reading Prophet? greatest homage to 80s Moebius and other Euro weird scifi ever. great art too.

Also, that Brian Wood/Becky Cloonan Conan series that just started is fantastic. love Cloonan's lean, young Conan.

I am really, really looking forward to this.

Holy shit, that latest episode of Spartacus did not disappoint. some dubious effects work on the [ Spoiler : destruction of the arena ], but overall, very good. loved Glaber [ Spoiler : taking out his father-in-law (quite brutally too). ] and yay, Gannicus! I hope he's going to stay on for a while, he was my favourite part of Gods Of The Arena.

between the heightened Shakespeare-light language, the excellent plotting and the pulp values, I think this is my current favourite series. hope they stick the landing for the rest of the series.

Image comics is really on a roll, right? between Prophet, Fatale, the re-launched Glory, the upcoming Saga (looks great) and the just announced third Phonogram, new Grant Morrison/Darick Robertson series and others they are my number one publisher at the moment.

If you like truly disturbing stuff, I recommend getting your hands on Al Columbia's Pim & Francie book. it's all fragments and shards of unfinished comics, that look like classic thirties Fleischman or Disney cartoons but they go to truly, truly disturbing places.

do Hellboy and the BPRD books count as horror? because they are excellent.

there's a new fantasy/horror series by Jan Strnad and Richard Corben starting next month from Dark Horse, Ragemoor. I'm a huge Corben fan so I'm greatly looking forward to that one, especially since most of his work with Strnad is awesome.