January 2011
1 post
Game of the Year 2010 - Feature - PlayDevil →
Finally for this glut of blog posts, I was among the writers who contributed to PlayDevil’s Game of the Year 2010. Click below to see which five I selected, with a little blurb to explain…
December 2010
2 posts
DeathSpanks: Thongs of Virtue - Review - PlayDevil →
Despite the curious title, this isn’t some kind of bizarre sex game, but the latest computerised offering from Ron Gilbert - of Monkey Island and general LucasArts fame. In the much-aped…
Comic Jumper - Review - PlayDevil →
Twisted Pixel have just announced Ms. ‘Splosion Man, a sequel to their debut XBLA title, ‘Splosion Man. Sandwiched between the two combustibles is Comic Jumper, a sidescrolling shooter…
November 2010
5 posts
The Problem With Sex as a Video Game Goal →
Over at the mighty Kotaku, an editorial of mine has been posted on the subject of sex in video games. More specifically, the way in which video games that attempt emotional narratives often…
Super Meat Boy - Review - PlayDevil →
This is a game that makes me happy to be living in 2010. A world in which indie developers can invent a ridiculous piece of entertainment and have it distributed on a major console…
Sonic Adventure - Review - PlayDevil →
I’m now writing video game reviews for PlayDevil.com. Getting a regular game writing gig is something I’ve wanted to do for a while, so I’m glad to have been given this opportunity. Here’s…
Los Olvidados - Review - Den of Geek →
I must offer you my sincerest and most apologetic apologies, oh follower(s). I prostrate myself at your sweet-smelling feet, writhing around in the dust making a face-down snow angel. I’ve…
Serious Sam HD: Second Encounter - Review -... →
Next up for PlayDevil is this review of Serious Sam HD: The Second Encounter. The Serious Sam games are a turn-of-the-century love letter to the first person shooters of the mid-nineties….
September 2010
2 posts
Dogtooth - Review - Den of Geek →
This film did really strange things to my head. I’m not exaggerating when I say that I felt messed up for the whole evening after watching it. It’s a quality piece of cinema, but not a…
I'm Still Here - Review - Den of Geek →
Chances are you might have heard about Joaquin Phoenix’s high-profile retirement from acting in 2008. The two-time Academy nominee quit the profession to embark upon a career as a hip-hop…
August 2010
2 posts
The War Lord - Review - DVD Outsider →
For some reason I forgot to post this review when it went up. Luckily the film is a good 50 years old, so I’m not sure a weeks delay in reading the review will do it any great disservice….
The Sorcerer's Apprentice - Review - Den of Geek →
Hey! You remember Fantasia right? And I bet, when I mentioned Fantasia, you thought of that really famous bit with Mickey Mouse and some unruly mops. Well, Disney, the clever chaps that…
July 2010
2 posts
Le Grand Jeu - Review -DVD Outsider →
The 1934 French classic Le Grand Jeu recently fell under my beady eye and a review of the film is now up at DVD Outsider. I loved it, perhaps more than many other critics. Wikipedia tells…
Henri-Georges Clouzot's Inferno - Review - Den of... →
My second review for the wonderful Den of Geek is another DVD release, this time a documentary about the film Inferno (L’Enfer). The endless perfectionism of renowned French director…
June 2010
2 posts
The Lovely Bones - Review - Den of Geek →
My latest review has just popped up on Den of Geek, covering the DVD release of The Lovely Bones. This is the first full length feature from Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson,…
Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors - Review - DVD... →
My review of Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors by Sergei Parajanov, a Soviet filmmaker who rebelled against the communist cinematic conventions of the 1960s. He faced persecution and…
May 2010
2 posts
1 tag
Spring 2010
Professionally speaking, it’s been a busy few weeks for me. My work at DVD Outsider has been ticking along quite nicely, checking out new DVDs and attending the odd press screening. I covered Robin Hood for the site a few weeks back, which was great fun. Despite the fact that the film hit screens the very next day, the screen at the Empire, Leicester Square was packed. I spotted the likes of...
What Comics Can Learn From Video Games →
An article I wrote for Den of Geek, exploring what comics can learn from video games in their attempts to shed that geeky stigma, while making a push for mainstream cultural acceptability….
April 2010
1 post
Joe’s Dictionary of Words that sounds like they should be onomatopoeia but are not - Entry 1:
Flunk
March 2010
3 posts
Joe's Guide to Being Pretentious in 2010 - Part 2...
When talking about the latest console or PC release, take a moment to consider if the game involves collecting items which grant you new abilities, exploring a variety of different rooms, or a side-scrolling view. If any of these features are evident, make sure you cite it as an example of ‘Metroidvania’ at every possible juncture.
Don’t worry if the game in question seems to...
Joe's Guide to Being Pretentious in 2010 - Part 1:
Instead of using the word ‘space’ to refer to an area, say ‘real estate’.
For example: I’m going to cook this frozen pizza, because it’s taking up a lot of freezer real estate, and I have frozen peas I need to put in there.
3 tags
Review: Alice in Wonderland 3D (2010)
Ever since the 1989 Batman reboot, Tim Burton has been Hollywood’s most bankable twisted imagination. He has consistently produced break-out cult oddities like Edward Scissorhands alongside box-office golden tickets Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Sweeney Todd. Through a policy of auterish control and selectiveness he has managed the near-impossible task of remaining an artistic...
February 2010
3 posts
The Uffizi
I recently paid my second visit to the Uffizi in Florence, unquestionably one of the greatest art galleries in the world. Although they had shut off or loaned out the works of some artists I was specifically hoping to see (Rubens, Goya, and Caravaggio in particular), there were still plenty of paintings that stood out amid the crowd.
...
20 Films
This is a little something a film editor asked me to write, not for publication. I enjoyed doing it so much, I thought I’d spruce it up a bit and post it here. It’s a list of 20 films I have a passion for. Not my 20 favourite films (although some of these would definitely make that list), just a group of films I think are great and why I think so.
...
Saw ‘The Book of Eli’ this afternoon. Might write more about it later, but it seemed like the Hughes brothers had spent some time playing Fallout 3 before they started filming.
January 2010
10 posts
Listening to Incubus’ S.C.I.E.N.C.E album seriously reminds me of being 15. Seems like I’m stil enjoying it, even if it doesn’t seem as earth-shattering as it was seven years ago.
4 tags
Review: Avatar IMAX (2009)
The crowd at the IMAX theatre shuffle into their seats with a little more a priori knowledge than the average cinema goer. They’re fully prepared to sit back, strap on some ridiculous 3D glasses and have their brains exploded by roaring sound systems and eye-bulging special effects. It is with this attitude that I approached Avatar IMAX. In fact, from the moment Cameron’s latest epic...
Excitedly compiled my list of games to be rented from LoveFilm this morning. Anything slightly less well known that I might of missed, that perhaps you could recommend? For 360, Wii, or DS.
Just finished the story mode of ‘Anno: Create a New World’ on the Wii, in about 14 hours. Enjoyed it, but ready to play Dragon Age now. I expect I’ll go back and play a Continuous game of Anno at a later date.
Brian Butterfield →
The informative and fantastical business portal for renowned entrepreneur Brian Butterfield.
Courtesy of Peter Serafinowicz.
What is up with cricket? Why are teams really good and then all of a sudden really bad. It makes it very difficult for someone with only a modicum of interest to follow the sport.
3 tags
Writing: The People and The Faun
Far beyond the neighbourly confines of bending pines, wild hedges cramming in tiny green space. Deep beneath the assigned areas of watery relief. City oasis with spirals of upward liquid. Way away from wandering purpose with a schedule of bricks.
Exploded people spread their bodies wide across the free-fields. Flayed beauty emerges from eyes and ears in a vista. Uncaged ideas merge and copulate...
Nic Cage as Everyone →
Hilarious Photoshops turning a variety of celebrities and film stars into Nicolas Cage. Occasionally ropey, but there’s some real gems in there.
4 tags
Review: Sherlock Holmes (2009)
Guy Ritchie is not a director well known for his lightness of touch. He has never been accused of teasing out aching performances or marshaling the portrayal of some creeping emotional narrative. And sure enough, his take on the much re-hashed Sherlock Holmes is less a cerebral study of brilliant but flawed genius and more like a tweed-clad punch in the face.
But not a wholly unenjoyable punch in...
The London in Guy Ritchie’s ‘Sherlock Holmes’ felt like a parred down version of the city as depicted in Moore’s ‘The League of Extraordinary Gentleman’ graphic novel.
But not as good.
December 2009
6 posts
How long could a band go on making emo records? Is it a style of music that you will inevitably grow out of?
Any emo bands on their 4th/5th proper emo albums that you can think of?
Please enlighten me.
Phil and Phil's Perfect 10 →
An apparently popular podcast featuring Phil Jupitus and another Phil of whom I am unaware. Listening for the first time at the moment. Lots of swearing but pretty funny. It will probably be added to my ever expanding work podcast/radio box.
Accepted standards of Culture:
Works of Art must have a point, else they are worthless.
Films should have a point, if they want to be taken seriously.
Video Games don’t need a point and it sometimes confuses people if they do. Sometimes this makes them feel a little filmsy and throwaway.
Christmas Bonanza Mini-Blog Part Deux.
Fiancée’s friends came over, replete with various food stuffs. Good time meeting new people and not managing to eat all of the turkey, samosas, things-in-blankets, and cheese. Fun cut short by work that needed to be finished.
Now polishing off some writing and feeling the effects of last night’s fun-prompted sleep deprivation.
Christmas...
Proper hectic Christmas times. Parents drinks evening preceeded trips to two different grandparents over the weeked. Now up one water filter, a nifty hand blender, and some chocolate.
Currently enjoying an evening at my friend’s new flat in Cambridge. Last night and this morning, had a Sheffield pal stop by on route to the ailing Eurostar. Got my xbox fixed for free on the way over to the...
Giant Bomb: Quick Look Throwback: Indigo... →
Looks like the sort of naval gazing game that I’d enjoy, just one of the many inexpensive-ish games that tempt me daily.
A precursor to the upcoming Heavy Rain, which has just about caught my attention over the past few months.