Community Post #122 - LEAVE POLAR EXPRESS ALONE!

[size=+1]Double Checked Community List #122[/size]​

I like Polar Express.

Look, it's December now. It's official! I checked it! I stood in a street, put on a Christmas Hat and there wasn't a single strange look. That means we're allowed to watch Christmas movies and I've heard a lot of flax being fired at this one. And, I'm not blind to this. I'm not, honestly.

Firstly, it's just so damn saccharine in places. It may be because I'm English and trained to approach the sorts of sentimentality this film contains with dry wit from an early age. And when that doesn't work, downright miserable complaint. Father Christmas yammering on about the spirit of Christmas, blah blah blah, or that scene were the little kid that looks like Odo from Deep Space Nine starts singing for no reason at all.

Come on! It's like they're father and son! It's not just me is it?!​

And YES! I know! The animation is stiff, awkward in places and could have done with far more tweaks and alterations in almost every department. I know! The Conductor has this doll-like walk, The Boy's movements can flit from realistic to dancing around like he needs to pee and the less said about the glassy expressions of some of the characters.

Lastly, I know! The voice acting can be pretty patchy in quality. Some are pretty good, I like Tom Hanks in this but...well, the most distracting can be summed up like this:

[size=+2]Hello Mandark![/size]
​

And Tom doesn't blend in too well into each new character he voices. It's obvious he plays the Dad, The Conductor, The Hobo and Father Christmas.

But.

Have you seen how beautiful this movie is?! Sure, the animation is a little stiff but the world they're set in is luscious, wondrous and almost always full of colour. It shifts in mood often and doesn't ever feel too jarring despite being confined to one location for most of the movie. They do plenty with just one train. Even a few action sequences that look pretty good, to me anyway. I do always like The Hobo skiing down the train roofs or when the sequence where The Boy and The Girl are with The Engineers. One, The Engineers are goofy but fun, even if they're time in the movie is short. Two, the moment when the train rides through Glacier Gulch is genuinely gut wrenching.

And I usually get to see it on my Uncle's massive 3D TV, making the effect even more nauseating.

And, I like a little of the cutesy bits. The aforementioned seen of Billy and The Girl singing, well...That song does lodge in my brain somewhat. I like it. It's cute. It's sweet. It come right out of nowhere but...Fine! If we must have an interlude, I guess this one makes sense. Plus, it provides a little meat to the bones of both characters as they sing, as the story barely does anything of the sort elsewhere.

And, I like what they tried to do with the story. The whole idea of rational thought being challenged with this world of magic and belief. Agree with it or not, I enjoy some of the conversations here, mainly the first one we get with The Hobo. This strange man that mocks and teases The Boys ideas. After all, he's seen a train just appear out of nowhere and apparently still hasn't changed his views on Father Christmas.

I mean, I'd be more lenient too. You could probably convince me that I was actually a pony in a human suit, or something in that state but this kid seems kinda unshakable right up to the end when a damn bell breaks him. But I like what they were trying. The importance of belief and keeping the ideals that belief entails. Fine. I think it could have been done a whole lot better and maybe not quite so ham-fisted but I've seen worse!

So, while I can't whole heartedly recommend it, I will say that you ought to cut it a little slack. There's some real nuggets of awesome in it, they're just a little muddied in the rest of the movie. I like it. Don't rush out and get it but don't complain if your stuck watching it. You could do worse.

Also, the Hot Chocolate Song? Damn catchy!

[size=+1]- Site News[/size]

Kinda short this week but Dragon is still just as on top of his duties as ever, I see. Don't blame Dragon, blame Brony Musicians not making enough good stuff! To busy with Christmas Shopping, I expect.

Artist - Song

Rarity - Berry Punch
174UDSI - Better Than Ever (174UDSI Remix)
Claire Anne Carr - You'll Play your Part Rock!
Starlight - Forgotten (Ft Mica)
SMOR3S - Viridian (The Midnight's Musician Remix)

Also, a certain Prince Lunar has offered his services to the radio. He'll be doing a little DJing for us, which ought to be fun. I hope you tune in and welcome him aboard.

Oh! And I fixed my computer. Let's Play Thursday is back.

[size=+1]- Recommended Reading[/size]

First up, how about this little thought from Dreamer that raises an interesting comparison between Skylanders and Pokemon. It's like his mind just exploded for a moment there. But I can see his point and it is interesting. Although, whether something is worse or better...I dunno. There's a difference between DLC and Merchandise, mildly, but at least each Skylander's statue adds a character to play with. The Pokemon Trading Card game could bleed you before your deck was worth using.

Eh, a debate for another time.

For now, Frantic Seizure, A.K.A TaKe, is looking on reviving his old Soundcloud account, even giving us a little sample of his work so far. Always great to see new work coming to the public.

Meleeman wants to pull himself one step closer to Macgyver. He seems to want to do this by building a small engine out of some cans, some tubes and a candle. In the mood for some mildly in depth physics and engineering? Then this is your thread.

Give Melee a year and he'll have little roller-skates powered by those things.

Well, I did not think the gushing over cards I wrote about last week would be quite as influential as it would be as it seemed to spark some big time Card Nerd Analysis from Magic: The Gathering player Dilly Star. She not only gave a long look at some of the Mane's of the MLP:CCG (which I added to...at length), but then discussed some Magic bits and pieces too. I think this might be a point of interest for her.

This was awesome. Please! Talk about more stuff like this, please! While the Magic stuff flies right over my head, MLP:CCG talk is likely to draw me in!

And lastly: here's some pretty pictures connected Star Wars: Episode VII. It tells us next to nothing about the movie but hey! It's exciting!

[size=+1]- Survival Guide[/size]

So, I've got some really cool things for this week. Heh heh.

[size=+2]Octgn[/size]
Download Here​

While it's a touch clunky, this free tabletop simulator is an excellent method of playing your favourite card games over the internet. It has special modes for Magic: The Gathering and MLP:CCG as well as plenty of other games. It's worth a look if you want to open up how many people you can play cards with.

Speaking of MLP:CCG, are you bored of the standard rules? How about alternatives? One made by some proper experts. A couple others made up by me and Foxy while we mess around.

[size=+2]My Little Pony: The Collectable Card Game Multiplayer Mode[/size]
Download Here​

This is one of the most complicated ways of playing a game I have ever attempted. It's fun, simply because it's a large group of people doing something complicated and silly. MLP:CCG is already pretty complicated. Now, try multiplying that by 4. Or 5. Or as many as you like. Turns can take an entire age, and it's not just because of that one guy that takes ages thinking everything through. Simply by the fact that your actions could have a massive, catastrophic effect on the entire table, cascading around the various decks until everyone groans with irritation just because you plopped down that one card. It's both fun and stupid. Try it today.

But, it's in beta so, be careful and keep the rules nearby.

[size=+2]My Little Pony: The Collectable Card Game Tag Team Mode[/size]​

Two players, two Mane Characters on either side, four whole decks.

As a slightly less complex version of Multiplayer Mode, this cooperative version is for four players who want to try and make a deck in an unusual way. Here's a few rules but remember, they're not final as me, Foxy and some friends made this up one afternoon.

The board is set up with each Problem Deck for each player set up on their side, a home area for each Mane Character and each player's deck and each Team's point counters.

Each Team have to confront both of their Problem Decks in order to score points from from them. They will only score the highest amount of Bonus points displayed on the pair of problem cards currently showing.

They may move whatever card they like using their action tokens as long as it belongs to their team, or they have a card allowing it. Their element totals from any card count towards costs, from both their own cards and their team mate's.

Each players hands, decks and stores of action tokens are separate from each other and can't be swapped between them.

Faceoffs require flips from both player's decks, as long as they're involved.
​

Got it? Good. I should probably make a more official one but there's the outlines.

[size=+2]My Little Pony: The Collectable Card Game Marathon Mode[/size]​

Play the game normally, except you now extend the required Score to something larger, like 30 instead of 15. Once you have reached 15, you will be able to draw 6 action tokens per turn and won't be able to draw another per turn until the next 15 points have been gotten.

This is for those players that find the game to short or simply want to find out what happens when they push a deck to the absolute, ragged edge.

[size=+2]The My Little Pony Comics Humble Bundle[/size]
Download Here​

This one has a timer on it. You now have 8 days before this one slips by you.

You can pick up a digital copy of every single MLP Comic that has been released thus far for as little as $15

Considering this is worth about $165 all together, it's a pretty good deal. Also, it all goes to The Hasbro Children Fund. So, just as usual, it's all heading to charity and you get something awesome.

Plus, the MLP Comics are fantastic. They're close to the show but do everything the show can't, like slightly more nuts plot lines, world building and some pretty decent jokes. They're pretty damn worth looking into. And here, you can get tones of pony comic goodness.

This is a good thing. I dumped money into this the instant I heard about it.

[size=+2]Top Ten Facts[/size]
Start Watching Here​

Lastly, here's a pick from my Subscribe List on Youtube. I think it's pretty facinating and sometimes pretty entertaining but this little shoot off from Lemmino's other channels is surprisingly well put together and very informative. I adore shows like this were I just devour little nuggets of information on stuff I either liked or never heard of. Every episode is wonderful!

And that's all for this week. I hope you enjoy it and let's dust off some of those Christmas Movies, ay? And, how about you tell me what your planning to watch this year? Anything you think get's unfairly maligned? Or should be cast out?

Let me know! It could be fun!

 

Me too. As I just said, up there. I'm glad I'm not alone.

Lovely signature by the way.

 

[size=+1]Here we only got one rule![/size]

Here we only got one rule!

[size=+1]Never ever let it cool![/size]

Never ever let it cool!

[size=+1]Keep it cooking in the pot![/size]

[size=+2]Soooooon you've got hot chocolate![/size]