Western Weekends - Blazing Saddles

I could use some laughs right now. With this in mind, I decided to take a look at Blazing Saddles. Directed by Mel Brooks - which he co-wrote with Richard Pryor - this 1974 comedy relentlessly mocks many of the tropes and cliches used in Western films, but also puts emphasis on the racism which was prevalent in the American West.

The ruthless attorney general Hedy Hedley Lamarr, played by Harvey Korman, is intending to profit off an upcoming railroad as it's diverted to the frontier town of Rock Ridge. His henchman Taggart, played by Slim Pickens, is sent to sack the town in a bid to drive the townspeople away. The townspeople (whose collective surname is Johnson) respond by petitioning Governor William J. Le Petomane, played by Mel Brooks, for a new sheriff. When Lamarr hears about this, he decides to appoint Bart, a black railroad worker played by Cleavon Little, who was due to be lynched for fighting Taggart. He believes that when a black sheriff is appointed, the townspeople will be so offended that they'll leave. After befriending The Waco Kid, an alcoholic gunslinger played by Gene Wilder, Bart slowly overcomes the hostility of the townspeople and moves to foil Hedy's scheme.

Let's be honest; the Western is a very whitewashed genre. In fact, it's estimated that a quarter of cowboys working on the cattle drives were African-American. So it's quite refreshing to see a western film with a black protagonist. Yes, there is hefty use of racial slurs. But it also depicts the racist characters as...well...morons. Those who don't change their attitudes get their comeuppance.

The characters are all a blast to watch. Bart is a quick thinker, and devises all kinds of zany schemes to solve the problems he faces; including taking himself hostage to avoid being shot when he arrives at Rock Ridge. The Waco Kid is battling the personal demons which accompany his mythic reputation, with a tragic backstory that's side-splittingly hilarious. Mel Brooks even steals the show with his cameos: the lecherous, cross-eyed, and incompetent governor; and a Yiddish-speaking Sioux chieftain.

The climax is fantastic. The battle between the Rock Ridge residents and Hedley's private army (which includes Mexican bandits, Ku Klux Klansmen, Nazi soldiers, and according to his demands, Methodists) spills out into a neighbouring set where Dom DeLuise is shooting a top-hat-and-tails musical number, and then into a commissary where it becomes a pie fight.

All in all, it's a funny movie, and worth seeing.

Western Weekends - High Plains Drifter

Content Warning: This post will contain a brief discussion of sexual assault.

Last week I looked at High Noon. This week, I'm going to look at something more in line with the return of Deadlands which inspired me to revive this series. Released in 1973, High Plains Drifter is the first of several western films to be directed by genre icon Clint Eastwood. It combines High Noon, The Magnificent Seven, and A Fistful of Dollars, but also combines a possible weird element.

Eastwood plays a wandering gunslinger known only as The Stranger, who has recently arrived in the frontier mining town of Lago. Not long after arriving, he kills three local toughs who harassed him. Instead of being charged, he is given the job they had; to protect the town from a reprisal by Stacey Bridges and the Carlin Brothers, who are due to be released from the territorial prison where they were sent for murdering Lago's marshal, Jim Duncan. Through a series of flashbacks, it's revealed that the outlaws whipped the marshal to death in the street, in full view of the townspeople (which is only the tip of the iceberg). The Stranger initially refuses to help, until he's offered "anything" and takes the offer literally. He takes over the town and makes peculiar demands, up to and including having the town painted red.

While High Noon and The Magnificent Seven utilised heroic protagonists, this one doesn't. After arriving in the town and killing the three gunfighters, The Stranger rapes a woman who deliberately bumps into and provokes him. That does make it difficult to root for the protagonist, and it doesn't really contribute to the story (although the same woman does later sleep with him willingly as part of a plan to ensnare him when some of the townspeople rebel against his rule). Granted, the whole point of the story is that Lago's residents are all terrible people, but nobody deserves that.

That aside, there is still a lot of speculation about who The Stranger actually is. Some claims are that he's Jim Duncan's brother looking for revenge. It's also strongly implied that he is Jim Duncan, who has come back from the grave to punish the town for their role in his murder. As stated above, they're all terrible people, with only two exceptions: Mordecai, a barbershop employee with dwarfism who's bullied by everyone around him, but is made both the sheriff and the mayor by The Stranger; and Mrs Belding, the hotel owner's wife, who is revealed to be the only person who tried to intervene in Jim Duncan's execution.

The film does feel slow and kind of silly in some places, like The Stranger's initial arrival in town being something akin to the West's biggest staring contest. But I like how The Stranger's demands on the townspeople create an uncomfortable atmosphere. And the eerie soundtrack, combined with the subtle and implied paranormal element work together to present something that's actually quite haunting.

I'd say it's worth at least one viewing.

The Job Interview

It’s been a while since I’ve had a job interview. I’m not cut out for 9 to 5 life, and kind of disreputable after my spectacular exit from my last job. I’d seen an ad for a company called Kronos and sent them my CV. Now they’re offering a virtual interview.

I’m a little nervous; I can’t find much information about the role, or the company.

I’m all set up for the video conference, and the interviewer’s webcam is misaligned. Their face is out of shot, and focussed on the Persian cat sitting on their lap.

“Good morning Mr Roberts,” he says with a smooth voice and an accent I cannot determine, “I’ve been expecting you.”

“Nice to meet you.” I try to keep a straight face, “Thank you for taking the time to see me. I’ve been intrigued by your employment packages. What kind of company is Kronos? I couldn’t find much while researching you.”

“We diversify into all manner of fields. Our biggest is tourism. We operate companies in London, New York, Hong Kong, Mumbai, St Petersburg, and Cairo. If you’re successful, you’ll be based at our head office in the South Pacific.”

“Wow,” I say, “Sounds like an impressive empire. Are you seeking to expand further?”

“Oh, we intend to go worldwide.”

“Considering the political climate, it’ll be nice to get away for a bit.”

“I understand that you were dismissed from your last job, and then took some time out to go to university.”

“That’s correct.”

“Your background is in finance, but your degree is in Creative Writing.”

“Yes, I wanted to expand my creative network and dedicate more time to what I enjoyed.”

“And you’ve listed table-top roleplaying games as your hobbies. I bet you love designing lairs for players to go through.”

I can’t help but laugh.

“You’re a role-player too? Yes, I love designing lairs.”

“I think you’ll fit in nicely,” the interviewer says, “You’re smartly dressed for this interview. Don’t worry; we provide uniforms at the site. Boiler suits, specifically.”

I feel my heart race. It’s looking hopeful.

“One final question, to gauge creative thinking; if you’re a villain and have captured a secret agent, what kind of death-trap would you put them in?”

“I’d probably just shoot them,” I’d say.

The video screen goes black. Something tells me they won’t be in touch.

Western Weekends - High Noon

I've been trying get back into a writing routine lately. Since I've been doing another playthrough of Red Dead Redemption and received early access to the new edition of Deadlands: The Weird West, I thought I might start by reviving my old "Western Weekends" series. The other day, I watched Trumbo, a biopic about screenwriter Dalton Trumbo who was blacklisted for being a member of the Communist Party. With this in mind, I decided to take a look at High Noon. This 1952 classic Western was written by another blacklisted screenwriter, Carl Foreman.

Gary Cooper stars as Will Kane, the marshal serving the frontier town of Hadleyville. It's both his last day on the job and the day of his wedding to Amy Fowler, played by Grace Kelly, and they have plans to move to another town to set up a shop. Unfortunately, the wedding is interrupted by the news that Frank Miller, an outlaw whom Kane brought to justice, has been pardoned and is due to arrive on the noon train. Frank's old gang are waiting for him at the station, and it's clear that he's looking for revenge. Kane is sent away, but since he's still marshal and believes fleeing will delay the inevitable, he opts to stay and confront the past; over the objections of his new wife, who's a devout Quaker and pacifist.

The film takes place in real time, as the clocks tick down towards noon, during which Kane tries to recruit a posse to help him confront Miller's gang. But nobody is willing or able to help him, for every conceivable reason: The judge who sentenced Miller is also fleeing; Kane's own deputy is embittered over Kane not recommending him as the next marshal; some townspeople were Miller's friends, or were bitter that Kane cleaned up the town to begin with; others are afraid that a gunfight would discourage investment in the town; even one person who willingly stands by Kane has second thoughts when he finds out that nobody else has volunteered.

The build-up is great, especially one scene in the church. Kane tries to recruit people from the congregation, and even gets some willing people until someone initiates a debate. By the time the noon train arrives, Kane realises he's fighting alone.

I've read that John Wayne turned down the role because he saw the story as an allegory for the blacklist. Will Kane is going against popular opinion, like many people in the film industry who were dealing with the witch hunts of the Red Scare.

It's not action-packed, and it doesn't need to be. It's all about the build-up.

No Swanwick This Year

Well, I finally received the news today. My annual visit to the Swanwick Writers' Summer School isn't happening this year. I suspected this would be the case for some time, but I'm still saddened by the announcement.

I can't imagine how stressful it's been for the committee, especially because the ball hasn't entirely been in their court. The Christian Conferences Trust, who manage the Hayes Conference Centre where the retreat is held, had been intending to re-open by July with social distancing measures in place. If the school committee had intended to cancel when the venue was still willing to accommodate them, they could still be charged for the booking. Such a move, combined with having to refund everybody, would potentially result in the school going into liquidation. In other words, no more Swanwick, and another institution to hold a grudge against.

Fortunately, the Hayes have said they wouldn't be able to implement social distancing. That also means they're not invoking the cancellation clause, and there'll still be a Swanwick in 2021.

Swanwick has had a major influence on my life. When I went for the first time in 2016, I left thinking "I just want to write". I've gone back every year since, and it influenced my decision to go to university. In fact, last year it was the highlight of my summer. Pandemics aside, I live in a small town where there isn't much to do, and I don't have a lot of friends who live locally. Even my writers' group was two towns over. Being a mature student means that most of my friends from my school days have already finished with university and are living further afield. Even if they aren't, most are working full-time now. Some have even got kids. I got more social contact in the one week at Swanwick than I did for the whole three months I was home for the summer holidays. In other words, summer gets lonely, and I feel like a kid being told that Christmas is cancelled.

2020 would have been my fifth Swanwick, and I hoped to commemorate this milestone by running a course. Now that my assignments are finished, it would have given me something to work on with an external deadline.

The school's committee have previously stated that in the event of cancellation, those planning to attend had the option of a refund or their booking to be carried over. Personally, I think it's probably better for it to be carried over (this is something most festivals are encouraging people to do).

Well, maybe I'll be able to run my course next year.

Quarantine Life: Jackbox

A couple of weeks ago, I handed in my last assignment for my second year of university. And since the pubs are closed and most people are at home, organising a celebratory piss-up is kind of difficult.

Anyway, something I discovered while quarantining was Jackbox Games, who develop what can best be described as virtual party games. The idea is to run the games off a big screen, and players use a phone or tablet to take part by going to website and entering a four-letter code generated by the host. While the games are intended to be played by people in the same room, the game can be live-streamed via services like Discord or Twitch, allowing the host to share their screen with players elsewhere.

I was introduced to Jackbox by a member of a university society, and promptly picked up Jackbox Party Pack 3 on Steam so I could host my own games (and introduce it to my parents). The pack includes the following games:

Quiplash

This is a Cards Against Humanity-esque game. Players are given two prompts, and have to come up with a funny answer for each. Each prompt has answers from at least two different players, and the other players vote on which answer is the funniest. Points are awarded based on how many players voted for your prompt, with bonuses if everybody voted.  This is usually played for two rounds, and then in the final round, all the players are given the same prompt. This could either be an acronym or a comic with a blank speech bubble. Everyone else votes for their three favourite ones.

While you need a minimum of three players, it's better if you have more.

Trivia Murder Party

When I introduced the game to my parents, this ended up being their favourite. The players have been captured by a serial killer, who wants to host a trivia night. The killer asks questions with multiple choice answers, and any player who gets the questions wrong is forced to partake in a random mini-game. If they lose the mini-game, they die, but their ghosts can still take part. 

Once there is one player left, they must escape. During the escape phase, each round the player is given a topic and two answers. They have to tick which answers fit that topic, whether one, both, or neither. They go forward a space for each correct answer. However, the ghosts join after the second round, and are given a third option for the topic, meaning they can move faster. If a ghost overtakes the living player, they steal their body and become living. The first player to reach the exit wins.

While a lot of the questions relate to American pop culture, I think that can be part of the fun in not knowing the correct answer.

Tee K.O.

This one's a drawing game, in which the players compete to design t-shirts (with a host who sounds an awful lot like Matt Berry). The players draw two sketches, and then come up with as many slogans as possible. These are then shuffled and given to another player, who designs a shirt using the sketches and slogans. The players then vote on their favourite shirts, with points going to the player who designed the shirt.

Again, this is one best played with more than three people.

Fakin' It

I didn't really get this one, and neither did my folks. I think it's one which everybody has to be in the same room for.

Guesspionage

This is one which involves guessing percentages of an anonymous survey. One player gets how many people have done a certain thing, and the others have to guess if the correct answer is higher or lower than the player's guess. The player who guessed scores points if their guess is within 30% of the correct answer, depending on how close they are. The other players get points for correctly guessing if the correct answer was higher or lower.

If you have enough people, the audience can answer the questions in the survey.

Other party packs include Fibbage, in which players have to provide a wrong answer to a question, and then everyone has to determine the right answer, gaining bonus points if someone picked their lie.

It's a fun collection of games, and I definitely recommend giving them a go. You don't have to buy the games to take part, providing you have access to someone who does have them. It's good for a virtual game night.

Quarantine Binge-watching: Star Wars Rebels

The Force is definitely strong with this one. While procrastinating during this quarantine, I've recently finished binge-watching Star Wars Rebels on Disney+. First aired in 2014, this animated series was Disney's first contribution to the franchise, after re-branding the Star Wars Expanded Universe as Star Wars Legends. This basically meant that all the books, comics, video games, and other media produced up to that point is no longer part of the series continuity. The official "canon" would consist of the theatrical films, the Clone Wars animated series, and anything subsequently produced under the new management, starting with this series.

Star Wars Rebels takes place roughly fourteen years after Revenge of the Sith, and five years before Rogue One and A New Hope. We follow Ezra Bridger, a teenage con artist getting by on the Outer Rim world of Lothal. While attempting to steal supplies from the Imperial garrison, he ends up competing with a band of freedom fighters after the same supplies: Kanan Jarrus, a Jedi who escaped the Imperial Purge; Hera Syndulla, a Twi'lek ace pilot and captain of the Ghost, a freighter which serves as their base of operations; Garazeb "Zeb" Orrelios, a Lasat warrior who acts as the team's muscle; Sabine Wren; a Mandalorian gunslinger, mechanic, and artist; and "Chopper", an irritable astromech droid. Ezra promptly joins the crew as they sabotage Imperial operations on Lothal and further afield, while also studying the Force under Kanan's tutelage. They also make friends with various other freedom fighters, gain new ships to form "Phoenix Squadron", and eventually help to establish the Rebel Alliance.

This show is like a blend of two of my favourite TV shows: Avatar: The Last Airbender, and Firefly. The show's creator, Dave Filoni, actually worked as a director on the first series of Avatar. The crew of the Ghost are a rag-tag bunch of misfits, but also fit a family model, with Kanan and Hera having an almost parental relationship with the others.

The show's animation helps produce some great action sequences, while some episodes provide a chance to delve into the emotional depth of the characters. For example, Kanan has had Jedi training, but he's not defined by it (a pitfall for a lot of Jedi characters in the prequels). There's also a chance to have encounters with characters from the films. I especially like the fact that it doesn't present the characters as entirely black and white. For example, the Ghost crew have several encounters with Saw Gerrera, a Clone Wars veteran who leads a band of rebels whom the Rebel Alliance actually regards as too extreme.

All four seasons are on Disney+, and I recommend checking them out.

Star Wars in Role-playing Games

Happy Star Wars Day! A holiday observed today because some once said "May the fourth be with you."

Anyway, to commemorate this, I'd like to discuss Star Wars in relation to role-playing games. I've often made the argument that role-playing games was what got me into writing in the first place. And my first experience of running a role-playing (as a host rather than a player) was the Saga Edition role-playing game developed by Wizards of the Coast (the company behind Dungeons & Dragons). First released in 2007, to commemorate 30 years of Star Wars, the Saga Edition provides baselines for running campaigns in any era of Star Wars. Unfortunately, the product line was discontinued in 2010, as Wizards of the Coast gave up their license.

While spending this lockdown at home, I found my old source-books, including my favourite; Scum and Villainy. This has material and adventures for working on the fringes of society, creating a Firefly-esque campaign where characters attempt to get by, while dealing with the Galaxy's criminal elements.

I'm interested in running such a campaign once I finish my assignments. However, instead of running them using the d20 system they're made in, I'd like to use my favoured Savage Worlds system. This is because that system is good for handling more cinematic adventures. There isn't an official source-book for running Star Wars in Savage Worlds, but there are plenty of fan-made guides, the most comprehensive of which is this video from The GM Table.

The main struggle with running such a game is the races. There are far too many to make a dedicated race list, so I'd follow GM Bobby's advice and just build them during a dedicated session zero. While he's teaching how to run with just the core rulebook for the Adventure Edition of Savage Worlds, I'm also looking at the using the Science Fiction Companion to help develop equipment and other setting rules. I'm also using a blog post by Rodney Orpheus to convert non-player character stat-blocks from d20 to Savage Worlds.

Well, it gives me something to look forward to once I finish my second year work. And thanks to the move to virtual tabletops, I should have no problem finding interested players.

Happy writing, and may the force be with you.

The Mandalorian

Yep, I'm still around. Still writing. Still procrastinating. I must admit that I've been getting a bit of a Star Wars vibe recently, especially after getting hooked on Star Wars Rebels (at the time of writing, I've just finished the second season). It's Star Wars Day on Monday, and Disney are planning to commemorate this by releasing Rise of the Skywalker on Disney+. Which reminds me, I never did that review of Solo.

Anyway, today I finished the first season of Disney's live-action series, The Mandalorian. Finally we Europeans can get some context to all those "Baby Yoda" memes of yesteryear. So, I figured I'd share my thoughts (I'll try and keep spoilers to a minimum).

The Mandalorian takes place roughly five years after Return of the Jedi. The Emperor is dead, the New Republic has been established, but there are still plenty of Imperials around. Pedro Pascal stars as the eponymous Mandalorian, known colloquially as "Mando". A member of a proud warrior clan, Mando travels the Outer Rim in his ship, the Razorcrest, and predominantly makes his living as a bounty hunter for a local guild chapter on the planet Navarro led by Greef Karga, a former magistrate played by Carl Weathers.

In the first episode, Mando is recruited to find a valuable asset for an unnamed Imperial client played by Werner Herzog. Said asset is The Child an infant who hails from the same race as Yoda. Mando soon finds he can't hand The Child over and goes rogue. The rest of the series follows him as he travels the Outer Rim looking for work, while also trying to keep The Child safe from the Bounty Hunters' Guild and opportunistic criminals.

Pedro Pascal does a great job as Mando. He doesn't say much, and his face is concealed behind his helmet, but it's still fun to speculate what's going through his head during his dealings with people. It's also nice to see that The Child is an actual puppet and not CGI. It's almost like a Mogwai from Gremlins.

I love the visual style, which adopts a "Space Western" aesthetic. There's even an episode lifted right out of The Magnificent Seven, in which The Mandalorian is hired by villagers on a backwater planet to protect them from raiders who have access to an old Imperial walker. Also hired is Cara Dune, a former Rebel shock trooper played by Gina Carano, devises a plan to disable the walker. The episode is actually quite poignant, because Mando contemplates leaving The Child at the village where they can grow up amongst other children whom they befriended. But then Cara ambushes a bounty hunter who's been tracking The Child, meaning they can't stay.

I also love some of the humour the series incorporates. You can tell that the writers are long-time fans. Another episode has Mando being recruited for a break-out job by his old associate Ran Malik. Malik's point man for the job is Mayfeld, a former Imperial sharpshooter. Upon learning this, Mando quips "That's not saying much." to which Mayfeld snaps "I wasn't a stormtrooper wise-ass!" What makes the scene funnier is the fact that Mayfeld is played by Bill Burr, who has openly stated he isn't a fan of Star Wars. The show's creator, Jon Favreau, stated that's why they cast him.

Well, I feel like I've caught up now. It was worth the wait, but I'm not in favour of such long gaps between American releases and European releases. It creates a demand that's potentially ripe for piracy. Making the wait a little more painful was the fact that they only released the episodes gradually, putting up the first two when Disney+ was released in Europe, and then releasing new episodes every Friday. Although that does make sense: it stops people from getting a free trial, watching all the episodes, and then cancelling. I think Disney+ needs to be a little more clear about when they're going to post the episodes.

Overall, I enjoyed The Mandalorian, and am looking forward to the next season, which premiers in October.

A "Trip" to Savagecon

One thing I had planned on doing during the Easter holidays was to go to Savagecon. Held in Redhill, this is one of the only UK-based conventions dedicated to the Savage Worlds role-playing system. I figured it would be a good opportunity to try out new settings and experience my favourite system as a player rather than a GM. After the quarantine led to the event being cancelled, the organisers decided to run a virtual convention via Discord and virtual tabletops such as Roll20 and Fantasy Grounds.

Session 1 - Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Jackets

Cockney accents and profanity were abound in the morning session hosted by Harrison Hunt (one of the principal organisers of Savagecon), running a gangster rpg called TuffGuys. An expansion of another game called Wiseguys by Eric Lamoureux, TuffGuys moves the setting from Las Vegas to London, and draws heavily from films like The Long Good Friday, Snatch, and Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels. 

The characters are members of The Holloway Firm, who come into contact with another organisation who are expanding on the Firm's territory. I assumed the role of "Crazy Dee", a football hooligan who does the occasional odd job for the Holloway Firm. 

Now, I don't actually follow football (which technically makes me a Stoke City fan, according to my flatmate's dad). As a quote on the character sheet identified Crazy Dee as a West Ham supporter, I ended up having a tab open with the Wikipedia article for West Ham so I could reference it. He was meant to be a brawler who mainly fights with his fists or improvised weapons, but I didn't get much opportunity to use that (the other heavy character went berserk during the main combat encounter, and pretty much wiped out the bulk of the enemies before I could close the distance). However, the GM (known in this setting as the Guv'nor) had decided that West Ham had won their last match, which gave me a free re-roll whenever I used my taunt skill. This ended up being used against several foes wielding sawn-off shotguns, with taunts so scathing they couldn't act.

This session was hosted on Roll20, but used physical die rolls. It looks like there are a fair few macros which need to be coded, and finding character sheets for the newer version of Savage Worlds can be tricky.

Session 2 - Devil Knows You're Dead

The second session was a setting call S.P.I.E.S, hosted by Owen Lean. This setting deals with all manner of occult and supernatural horror, combined with modern-day espionage. Forbidden tomes and bullet-proof tuxedos are abound in this one.

For the one-shot, the players are agents of the Supernatural and Paranormal International Espionage Service (S.P.I.E.S), an independent intelligence agency which deals with supernatural threats. My character, Destiny Tsang was a gunfighter from the American West, who ended up in the present day after a time warp. He was good at duel-wielding firearms, and also had a steel-rimmed cowboy hat.

This one was a lot more action-packed and cinematic (something Savage Worlds is built for), but I did end up wrapping up the story prematurely after shooting down the villain's helicopter with a six-shooter loaded with explosive bullets. Apparently the actual climax involved fighting a giant worm summoned in a ritual at the Giant's Causeway.

Like the previous session, this one was run on Roll20, but used macros for dice rolls and keeping track of resources. One thing I did like was the fact that the GM (or for this setting, the Director) had an "X-card" system in place; a card which anyone can anonymously play if they're not comfortable with campaign content or they think another player is being inappropriate. It's something I utilise in my own games, and a good way to make role-playing games more accommodating.

Session 3 - Trouble in Tripoli

The final session was Allen Wroe's pulp setting, Secret Files of Section D. This is another action-espionage one, which takes place in 1938. The players are members of a newly-established Section D branch of the British Secret Intelligence Service, dealing with unusual phenomena (similar to the S.P.I.E.S setting). This one definitely had a strong Raiders of the Lost Ark influence.

My character in this one was Franco Giovanni, a former associate of the Chicago Outfit who moved to England and became an independent consultant on organised crime for Scotland Yard before getting recruited by the SIS for missions in Italy or their colonies.

Unlike the other two settings, this game was hosted on Fantasy Grounds Unity. Unlike Roll20, which is browser-based, this one is software which needs to be installed. It took several attempts to connect to the game, and it seems to use a lot of processor power. Technical difficulties prevented the GM from sharing the battle-maps, so the climax of the game had to be done through theatre-of-the-mind and liberal use of the system's new "Quick Encounter" mechanics. Which was fine, because the climax of the game was spectacular. It's just a shame it wasn't so easy to utilise Franco's combat capabilities.

All-in-all, I had a lot of fun taking part in the sessions. I look forward to coming back next year, and taking part in more settings.

Toy Story - Wrap-up

Well, that was an interesting way of passing the time over the Easter weekend.

I think all of the Toy Story films are strong films, and the release gaps between them allows ample breathing space.

The first three films make a pretty solid trilogy. It's almost as if we as an audience are growing up alongside Andy Davis. In that regard, the fourth film could be a fresh start and a chance to get a new audience.

Overall, I think Toy Story 2 is probably the strongest film in the series. The theme of lasting forever is one I can identify with. Stinky Pete believes that when they're donated to the toy museum in Japan, they'll spend eternity admired by countless children. And while Pete was never played with, Jessie did have an owner who outgrew her. Pete warns Woody that such a fate is inevitable, while Buzz warns him that being in a museum means that he'll be admired but never played with; a toy's real purpose. In the end, he accepts that such a fate is inevitable, but he'll enjoy it while it lasts. Speaking as someone who went from 9-to-5 life to student life, which will inevitably end, I identify with this theme strongly. Nothing lasts forever, and I hope to be able to get a fresh start after finishing my degree.

Things have been pretty rough at the moment, with this quarantine and the gradual loss of things to look forward to. But these films are excellent "feel-good" movies, and a useful source of comfort through these hard times.