Thursday, December 26, 2013

Mynxie: Gingerbread





Merry XXXmas! Hope you all had a great holiday. Mynxie did of course. Spent the whole day in the kitchen getting covered with batter. It's 28 pics of wholesome holiday goodness at mongo-bongo-art.com. And of course the set download is free for members for the next month(-ish).

Some silliness for Christmas. Cuz it's just that time of year. Had hoped to get it posted faster, but holidays and all that. Whatev. But only gives me a few days to get the next Mynxie set done, so that should fun in a hectic "work my ass off" sort of way.


And of course movie review time. 47 Ronin... Welp. It's a Keeanu Reeves movie. There is no doubt about that. And love him or hate him, nobody can deny that he plays a damn decent Keeanu Reeves. He's had alot of practice at it. After all, he plays the Keeanu Reeves character in every single movie he does. Oh sure, there might be some people out there that can actually do a better Keeanu than Keeanu can, but they have like actor skillz and shit. So it's hardly a fair comparison. In any case, it's pretty much what you'd expect it to be. Think of the 2nd and 3rd Matrix movies. It's about that quality. Not terrible, but not particularly good either. And I can say that as a true devotee to the shrine of the Keeanu. I think I've had the misfortune of seeing pretty much every movie he has ever done. Hell, I even watched all of Johnny Mnemonic (cybernetic dolphins & Dolph Lundgren 4tw!) - and 47 Ronin is nowhere near that bad.

So the movie is the standard ronin/kung-fu tale - they must avenge their master. Except it kinda suffers from the same problem as the recent Lone Ranger film did. It's a revenge tale without the feeling of revenge. In this case it seems more like duty. They do it cuz they have to, not cuz they want to. Which of course is still legit in the framework of the classic ronin tale - but it doesn't do a whole lot to draw you in. So it's lacking some emotional depth. Which is also totally legit within the framework of a Keenau Reeves film.

The rest of the cast is your standard asian actors that you've seen in every film. Apparently, there are only like a handful of asian actors in Hollywood so they have to be recylced over and over again, until they become your standard impression of what asians are like (*eyeroll*). Most notable is the badguy in the film. Yeah he's the same asian badguy from every other film you've seen. You know, the spoiled son of the Yakuza boss / rich Corp exec that forgoes the "traditional ways" and "acts without honor". Yeah that's him. Sadly he's pretty much lacking in character development. Which is another problem of the movie. You kinda need a good villain to make the hero shine. And the closest you get to that is the witch chick. and even she is "meh". Which is another thing - you think they coulda gotten some slightly better looking actresses. I mean if you aren't gonna give them any character or personality whatsoever, at least make them look good. They'd have been fine as they are if they brought any depth or drama to the film. But they didn't. So they should have at least looked a bit better.

Let's see, what else? Went to see the movie in 3D. Not my first choice, but it was the most convenient time. and gotta say the 3D was not terribly well done. Was no gradation in depth. So everything was like moving cutouts on top of each other instead of an immersive 3D experience. Eventually just ditched the glasses and watched it blurry. So my suggestion is stick with the normal movie.

Oh! And the guy with all the cool skull tattoos and the flintlock from the preview pics? He is only in like 15 seconds of the movie. Shit you not!


And in other news, picked up Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition the other day. Spent more than a few hours revisiting that life-killing timesink. Have a soft spot for the game - was the first CRPG I ever played. No joke. Well actually BG2 Shadows of Amn was the first, and then got the original BG. But whatever, it's all the same. Especially since I had no fucking clue what was going on in the game since I had zero familiarity with Forgotten Realms setting. Which is just as well, cuz Ed Greenwood is/was a complete and utter freak. More I read up on it, the more it felt like ants were crawling inside my soul. If you no nothing of which I speak of, then you are lucky. Just stick with the sanitized version that WotC produces. The original version is just creepy - in the sort of "old people dressing up in dominatrix outfits" creepy.

Anyway the game re-introduced me to the old school AD&D rules. How did that shit ever spawn an entire industry? I mean seriously?! Those fucking rules are a byzantine morass of unneeded complexity. Your +2 sword gives you a -2 bonus. Millions of different charts. WTF? Ugh. Greatly prefer the subsequent d20 rules, which frankly made a hell of alot more sense.

In any case, it's all about the story. And the story is still good. The new NPCs are pretty cool. I highly recommend Dorn Il-Khan, the half-orc blackguard that in no way comes across as an evil blood-thirsty Klingon warrior inspired by Worf / Michael Dorn (his actor) - I blame Jenny for the fact that I actually know that now. But yeah, Dorn + Korgan + Viconia + Hexxat = awesome evil win. Especially if you are playing a warrior type. Trust me, make a strapping oiled-up male fighter in BG2 and by Day 14 you will thank me (*snickers*). But so many party combinations I wanna go back and try. Especially wanna do Dorn + Aerie + Keldorn, should be a barrel of laughs. Though suffering thru Aerie's continuous whining would be a pill.

But whatever. If you played the original many moons ago, you should check the new version out. If you've never played it at all, then give it a shot. Two things though. First the graphics are pretty terrible by today's standards. And second, a familiarity with the Forgotten Realms setting will help ALOT. Regardless still a great fun story.


Credits:
Alice 4.0 Faerie by Aery Soul (see Alfaseed for similar)

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

I love it!! take my money!!!!!

iberios said...

am I misreading or are you posting a second mynxie set this current holiday season? you did that once before which was great, I just don't wanna get my hopes up!

47 ronin...meh...like you said...

LOL on comments regarding ed greenwood and ad&d rules of yesteryear! greenwoods fluff writing in the 3.5ed was awesome however and those books read like novels...too bad his actual novels don't lol. anyway
please let me know bout second mynxie set

Jenny Poussin said...

did you just say you "blamed Jenny"??!! giggle
As in poor lil helpless me??? :)

If its the case I am super flattered Mongo!! ♥♥♥

and a super merry Xmas a Naughty Holiday time to you!

Keep up the AWESOMENESS!!! ♥♥♥

Big Kiss

Jenny
http://realjennypoussin.blogspot.ca/

Anonymous said...

Well, that's one way to ice gingerbread men :) Your best Christmas set so far, Mongo!

- G

Anonymous said...

Mongo, what about set with Ben 10 and his sister Gwen from "Ben 10: alien force"? Ben has a lot of aliens, where it can turn to fuck Gwen! If you like the idea, what I really want to do a set with Diamondhead and Fourarms characters! They are my favorite characters!

joeannie said...

Wohow! Mynxie rides again. Good thing she gets dusted off once a year :)

joeannie said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
joeannie said...

If Mynxie does any more baking, you might want to check out the free 'kitchen utensil' for poser here, which includes bowls, knifes, various spoons and strainers: http://inlitestudio.com/3d/product/kitchen-appliance-pack/

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