Assassin's Creed: The American Saga (2012-14)

Assassin's Creed III (2012)  |  Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag (2013)  |  Assassin's Creed: Liberation (2014)  |  Assassin's Creed: Freedom Cry (2014)  |  Assassin's Creed: Rogue (2014)

Judge Anderson: The PSI Files: Volume 02 (2012)

Judge Anderson: The PSI Files: Volume 02 (2012)

Authors: Alan Grant / John Wagner  |  Illustrators: Arthur Ranson / David Roach / Kevin Walker / Mark Wilkinson / Charles Gillespie / Xuasus / Ian Gibson / Enric Romero / Mike Collins / Steve Sampson / Tony Luke  |  Page Count: 304

'Nine years old and already they're learning they're a breed apart. [...] They don't take part in life. They watch it. When they grow up, they'll judge it.'

Volume 2 continues the Judge Anderson stories in (mostly) chronological order, and unlike Volume 1 (2009) the majority of it is now in colour.

Cassandra has proved that she can kick ass if she needs to, but a physical response is just a small part of her repertoire. Her stories tend to deal with subjects that are more emotional, cerebral and far-reaching than Dredd's. Old Stony Face pops up occasionally but it's either as fan-service or simply as a device to keep alive a connection to the judicial system. Everyone's favourite asshole, Judge Goon, also pops his ugly head up when least wanted.

Up until now we've primarily viewed Anderson as something that didn't fit comfortably into the world, she was at cross-purposes with her calling and an affront to the times. The book shifts more to her perspective and shows that it's the world that's gone to hell, and in reality she is perhaps the only free thinker in a sea of oppression.

John Carpenter: Films: Part II (1980-84)

The Fog (1980)

Dir. John Carpenter

The fictional Antonio Bay is the setting for what's basically a traditional ghost story that's been granted a John Carpenter twist.

The plot is pretty simple: as the townspeople prepare to celebrate the centenary of the Bay, a scary fog with an accompanying green light rolls slowly but menacingly in from the sea, bringing with it something aged and angry. It's the atmosphere, the suspense and the overall eerie vibe that raise it above its B-Movie origins.

Trivia fans might like to know that two of the stars, Janet Leigh and Jamie Lee Curtis, are real life mother and daughter, both of whom starred in classic horror/suspense films previously. Janet was in Hitchcock's Psycho (1960). Jamie Lee was in Carpenter's Halloween (1978).

Diabolos Rising: Blood, Vampirism, Sadism (1996)

Diabolos Rising: Blood, Vampirism, Sadism (1996)

Dir. David Palser

Within a larger framework of esoteric and religious imagery cut together at seizure-inducing levels, an attempt was made to give each song its own aura. It doesn't always work but was a commendable idea.

The first is the least interesting unless you have strong feelings about Mika Luttinen's moustache.

The video for Ilsa is as you'd expect.

There's one that reminded me of Hellraiser III (1992).

The most unusual is perhaps the gothic period piece that never quite manages to convince; wedged between the sensory overload like it is means it feels like a visitor who arrived at the party a few decades too early.

The final entry had the potential to end with something visually hypnotic and emotionally lasting, but they chose not to go that route. It's as if they'd simply run out of ideas by that stage. Nevertheless, regardless of highs and lows and missed opportunities, that it exists at all is something to be praised.

Scanners Trilogy (1981-92)

Scanners (1981)

Dir. David Cronenberg

The eponymous individuals are able to kill with just a thought, and the film wastes no time in showing us one of them in action.

When a powerful corporation that wishes to control the Scanners no longer can, they need the help of a Scanner to stop the others. Yay for dramatic irony! It's kind of like needing your glasses to find your glasses, with the added danger that your glasses can telepathically kill you any time they like.

Patrick McGoohan is excellent as the fatherly psychopharmacist; Michael Ironside is unquestionably good as a menace; but, I'm sorry to say, while Stephen Lack did okay as a lost soul, he didn't have the acting experience at the time to make the inner conflict of the lead role hit as hard as it needed to.

If you're familiar with Cronenberg's early works, such as Stereo (1969) and Crimes of the Future (1970), you'll recognise trace elements of their structure in the film's settings and concerns, helped along by a budget that frees the production from being tied to an institute environment.

The Marriage of Heaven and Hell (1793)

The Marriage of Heaven and Hell (1793)

Author: William Blake | Page Count: approx 48

"As the air to a bird or the sea to a fish, so is contempt to the contemptible."

Marriage… is William Blake’s romantic (in the poetic sense) and satiric attack on orthodox religious beliefs presented as a kind of biblical passage, with a socio-political and historical binding holding it together. It describes the poet’s visit to Hell and the knowledge and assumptions he receives whilst there.

It's a short book but one of the most complex pieces of literature I've ever read. I've read it three or four times a year for about five years now and I still feel like I've barely scratched the surface of its esoteric, complex and iconoclastic mysteries. That's why I love it.

Blake reverses the traditional standings of good and evil and the beauty and hideousness of Heaven and Hell, blurring the line between what is perceived good and proper and what is believed to be controlling and bad for the individual. It’s the poet-prophet ideal in its most scathing and reverential form, told from a number of perspectives and in more than one voice. He references Dante and even playfully(?) mocks Milton.

Nine Inch Nails: With Teeth Lyric Poster (2005)

NIN: With Teeth Lyric Poster (2005)

The Lyric Poster (as pictured right) was made available free from NIN.com as both a regular image file and as a higher quality PDF for printing. However, for whatever reason(s), it's no longer on the official site. So, for those folks that wanted it but missed out, take advantage of the MEGA link below. I embedded it in the post initially but it was too large and took forever to load.

*** With Teeth Lyric Poster ***

You can take the image from this page if it suits your needs, but it's a resized and scaled down jpeg. The link above will give you the superior quality PDF (size 20.1 mb). The link should remain active for as long as MEGA continue to host stuff for free. But if for some reason it's not working, tell me in comments and I'll re-upload it when I'm able.