Lucifer: Volume 11 (2007)

Evensong (2007)

Author: Mike Carey | Illustrators: Peter Gross / Ryan Kelly / Dean Ormston / John J. Muth / Zander Cannon / Aaron Alexovich | Page Count: 216

"If mercy's your aim, be relentless in your mercy. Be absolute. Be yourself, until you bleed."

The final volume. It's time for Lucifer to put his affairs in order before taking what he feels is the best course of action. Carey wraps up the series with some single issue stories that pick up the pieces and suggest potential futures of many of the main characters and a few of the more memorable secondary ones.

In many ways the women of the series made the toughest choices and underwent the greatest change. Their growth is explored beautifully. In a perfect world that story would never end. It's a bitter-sweet experience; particularly for my favourite character.

On first reading it surprised me to find that I'd miss the Lucifer cast just as much (and in some cases even more) than I had missed the Sandman cast, but having gone through both series more than once now, I think I favour Lucifer, even if it's not as ground-breaking as its predecessor, objectively speaking.

Godzilla: Millennium Era Films (2000-04)

23. Godzilla 2000: Millennium (1999)

Dir. Takao Okawara

NOTE: numbering continues sequentially from the Heisei Era. I've used English titles, but it's Japanese language versions of the films that I refer to.

Unlike the previous eras, i.e. Shōwa and Heisei, which had their own continuity within their respective timelines, the Millennium era films are mostly standalone stories, functioning as alternative sequels to the original 1954 film. As such, the only Godzilla film one needs to have seen prior to Godzilla 2000: Millennium is the aforementioned 1954 original.

In G 2000 the military want to kill the kaijū with their modern day bad-ass weaponry. Meanwhile, a father and daughter team (Takehiro Murata and Mayu Suzuki) want to study Godzilla. But not just from afar, like storm chasers they dare to get up close and personal as it heavy-foots through the city.

Nine Inch Nails: The Slip (2008)

Nine Inch Nails: The Slip (2008)

The Slip does what many of the post millennium NIN albums basically do: it mixes the angry and the serene, and after repeated listens it's the serene tracks that prove to have the most depth musically and emotionally.

It was reportedly created in just three weeks, being an experiment in 'working with a compressed timeline'. It adheres to a mostly paint-by-numbers formula, but at least none of those numbers are (Year) Zero.

The end result does sound kind of rushed, but the enthusiasm for both the music and the project is definitely evident in the compositions and there are some quality tracks to be found.

It was FREE from the official site, released under a creative commons license (although a physical release did follow). Curiously, it no longer seems to be on the official website, at time of writing, but is still available from the Internet Archive in both lossy and lossless formats.

Stargate: The Ark of Truth (2008)

Stargate: The Ark of Truth (2008)

Dir. Robert C. Cooper

The weekly SG-1 series ended with Season 10, but the story of the Ori didn't - there was some ambiguity over whether or not the Tau'ri's plan to destroy the aggressors was entirely successful or not. TV Movie Ark of Truth remedies that. I don't know why it drops the SG-1 designation from the title, but it's SG-1 in every way.

There's an optional catch-up prelude (approx nine mins) to refresh the memory of anyone who may need it, but seeing as how I went from S10 to TAoT in less than 24 hours, I didn't watch it. 

The opening music turns much more dramatic as it leads into the opening scene, which was a nice touch, familiar but different at the same time.

After a short scene set many, many years before present day, we catch up with some members of the team as they hunt for the titular ark. The location is clearly a soundstage pretending to be an outdoor location, but it looks pretty.

Lucifer: Volume 10 (2006)

Morningstar (2006)

Author: Mike Carey | Illustrators: Peter Gross / Ryan Kelly / Colleen Doran / Michael Kaluta | Page Count: 192

"Fight. Win, or be defeated. Die. Make your own arrangements. I'm not your keeper."

Volume 10 of 11 in the Lucifer series. After an emotional opening, picking up a thread that may have seemed done and dusted in one of the earlier books, the apocalyptic conclusion to the shit-storm that has built around the Lightbringer for the past few books gets underway. What follows is conflict on a grand scale - chaos unleashed in a place unprepared for it... again.

While some fight for victory, some for honour, and some simply for the joy of fighting, Lucifer knows that to craft the New he must first destroy the Old, and not just in the physical sense. The victor may win the battle but it's not just Above and Below any longer; the whole of Creation itself is at stake. So what if the collateral damage is a few billion souls? In such a crusade, his rules are the only rules that matter.

Godzilla: Heisei Era Films (1984-95)

16. The Return of Godzilla (1984)

Dir. Koji Hashimoto

NOTE: numbering continues sequentially from the Shōwa Era. For simplicity's sake I've used English language titles for each of my Godzilla reviews, but it's always the original Japanese language versions of the films that I refer to.

The Heisei Era is almost exclusively a case of Godzilla vs [ANOTHER] kaijū; the exception is the first film, which is a reboot of sorts, being a sequel to the original 1954 film that ignores the other fifteen Shōwa films. It was a deliberate attempt to return the series to its origins. It successfully made Godzilla scary again. No longer something to be mocked, Godzilla is total fucking destruction.

The first proper reveal of the rejuvenated beast is impressive, with newly added facial animatronics that enabled it to have nuances like never before.

AER: Memories of Old (2017)

AER: Memories of Old (2017)

Genre: Adventure | Players: 1 | Developer: Forgotten Key

AER: MoO deserves praise for a number of things, but perhaps not so much as an actual game. That doesn't mean it's a joyless experience, though. I enjoyed much of it, for the brief time that it lasts.

Its biggest influences are Nintendo's The Legend of Zelda, specifically Skyward Sword (2011), which is the least fun I've ever had with a LoZ game, and Thatgamecompany's majestic Journey (2012).

It has a similar setting and makeup as SS, (i.e. set upon floating land masses in the sky, with a few dungeons/temples that must be visitied in order to progress) and attempts the same kind of soulful pilgrimage that Journey handled so perfectly.

Both the aforementioned games feature a wordless protagonist, as does AER. Her name is Auk.

Auk is a shifter, able to transform at will into a large bird, enabling her to traverse from one floating island to another with ease. The actual transformation is fluid and pleasing to do, performed by a single button-press, both ways.