Chindie

I think I know the shot kurtsimonw means. It's really obviously CGI, the very very end of the prolonged chase that makes up the movie, probably 3 minutes before the credits roll at most. It's definitely, 100% cgi, one of the few shots that is in the movie, and it's noticeably poor CGI. Sticks out like a sore thumb, looks awful.

I'm not sure theres anything that really makes a good comparison with it. The temptation (and I might have even done this myself) is to say it's Red Dead Redemption crossed with Skyrim. But it's not really. Theres elements, sure, but that won't really give you a good impression of it. It's a series of (very large) open areas, which exist in a connected wider world, that you traverse on horseback (if you want) doing some traditional RPG questing. You visit different places, be they random points of interest in the wilderness or one of the many settlements (including whole and sizeable cities) in the area and pick up a variety of quests (save this guy, kill this thing, etc etc), you do the usual RPG loot and craft and upgrade... The combat is on the surface very basic but opens out. You have two swords, one for men and beasts, one for monsters and ghouls, a light and heavy attack, 5 basic spells (a shield, a trap, a force push, fire, confusion), and secondary weapons like grenades and crossbows. You can also buff yourself with potions (improve stamina regen etc) and oil for your swords (spectre oil for ghosts etc). On higher difficulty levels the game rewards preparation above all else, and even on lower levels the game will punish you for rushing or trying to blunt force your way through things. It's all wrapped around some very well written plot lines and it's all well acted and designed, often quite beautiful. The world is a slightly more realistic take on a medieval environment with fantastical creatures and abilities in it, often with a slight darker take on the usual fantasy tropes - the game is based on a series of Polish fantasy novels that have weaved the traditional Western fantasy furniture with Eastern European folklore, leading to some quite grim twists and turns. Some of the creatures, for instance, have quite horrible origins. It's not flawless (it's buggy, for a start, more being found all the time), but it's certainly in GOTY territory, and stakes an early claim for game of the generation, imo, and I'm not that far into it. By all accounts its a pretty massive game.

Awful, awful half. Arsenal are tearing us to shreds. That XI should be ashamed of that performance, as should the man in the dugout, whose tactics appear to be nonexistent.

I've has a **** terrible year, Villa, let it end with one of the best of my life.

You might be waiting awhile. Emilia Clarke's roundly believed to have a no nudity clause on her current contract, and you can bet Natalie Dormer has similar, along with all the other main female cast members. And who can blame them? Besides which, earlier seasons have them both get them out iirc so you've nothing new to see.

Started to really click with it now although I'm still not out of the starting area, had little time for a proper session. Saying that, it's got the usual CDPR buggy nature, already for a glitches quest meaning I can't complete a minor side quest, and also got the unintentionally hilarious sight, during the cutscene after the griffon quest, of Vesemir's hairless disembodied head and floating sword addressing me and then bounding off into the distance. Still, it's a bloody good RPG and has all the hallmarks of something quite, quite special.

It's not just me that thinks this is really obviously lip synched, is it? Wondering of it really is that bad or I need to calibrate the sound on the telly...

Series 2 of Arrow is definitely the highlight so far. The third series is... Well, yeah, ropey. The elements are there and it just squanders them. Too many episodes, far too many characters, a bizarrely weak villain, overly convoluted plot that appears to not know what to do with itself so spends episode after episode spinning it's wheels. The finale goes out with a splutter. The Flash ideally should be watched at the same time as Arrow series 3, the shows cross over directly (on 4 occasions being very straight crossovers with each star appearing in the others show) but with other minor crossovers - supporting cast appearing in both series etc. I don't think you'd lose much keeping then separate in truth, as its usually fairly inconsequential (there's a spoiler for Arrow in the penultimate Flash episode, and that's hardly huge, and I think that's it) but the series are made with watching both concurrently in mind.

I found Arrow pretty poor. Will i like The Flash better. The times when Flash entered the Arrow series, he just seemed really pants. The Flash this year has been a far better skew than Arrow managed. It's a different type of show, a lot more light hearted and fun and more straightforward in it's plot. The series is heavily based around a basic monster of the week set up with an overarching plot. I'd give the show a few episodes. Barry's appearances in Arrow doesn't really do it justice. Once it finds it's feet it's enjoyable fluff with a decent villain and decent characters.

But fighting ISIS doesn't do that. The token effort made in Syria and Iraq isn't putting enormous cash in anyone's pockets. I don't deny that war can make good money for the right people, although I'd stop short of the more conspiracy leaning angle you have there. Its just that what we're doing to ISIS is so small scale for military action the benefit to the right parties is so small it's likely outweighed by the downsides of ISIS existing at all.

It's not all that similar to Skyrim in truth. What was it about Skyrim that you didn't get on with?

No. Not that. Not that, at all. Unstable middle East is very bad for everyone. Politicians, arms companies, the people who live there, Oil companies, Shareholders....outgoing and incoming Presidents, Israel, Despots, Palestine... The only part I agree with is the situation has resulted in part from the intervention of Bush and Blair, which unleashed the genie from the bottle. This. The Middle East has just about survived in recent years on the basis that, whilst it's unstable and tense, the instability is predictable, controllable, and (counterintuitively) 'stable'. ISIS is a wildcard that threatens that, and big business hates uncertainty. What affects big business ultimately affects everything else, and as the world is now globalised, ISIS are costing everyone money, making everything infinitesimally more difficult at every stage... Etc etc. Arms manufacturers benefit more abruptly from wars, because wars for all their horror tend to be slow and predictable ACD large scale. Fighting ISIS, in the little that the West is, isn't going to be swelling the coffers of many, and isn't going to massively benefit anyone from a pure greed or power perspective.

The new editions of Football Manager genuinely aren't as fun anymore. They've ratcheted up the complexity year on year to the extent that the thing is now basically a plate spinning simulator. I played one of the latest editions recently and couldn't make it past a preseason, it's just no longer fun. They hit a great compromise with the early FM releases, more realistic than the old Champ Manager games, but not so daftly complex it's life a second job.

I enjoyed Kingsman as well. It's a fun modern take on a Bond spoof, less overtly stupid than the likes of Austin Powers, but still funny and with some disarming violence. Oxfords, not brogues

The Flash ended what has been a great debut season with a cracking finale. Has absolutely put it's stablemate, Arrow, to shame this year, and barely broke a sweat doing it.

Ex Machina is a fantastic little modern fable. Think I said this when it came it initially, it also appears to have been filmed in a small section of Paradise. Love the look of it all too. The design, the way it's shot and framed... Simple but elegant and beautiful. Alex Garland is very talented. He was behind Dredd a couple of years back and that sowed the seeds for me being very excited by anything he's involved in.

Controls taking a little getting used to and it has the same finicky registering of picking up loot I found Dragon Age Inquisition to have, and have to agree with Ingram that the text is too small in many cases. Not unreadable at the distance I play at but still a strain. Otherwise, with an hour or so in the clock... All the elements are there for this to be an absolute copper bottom classic. The Red Dead Redemption feeling is definitely there. At first I thought it was just the horse riding but there's that intangible feeling of exploration and beauty to the landscape that RDR had in spades the moment you get going proper. Genuinely exciting to have it all there ready to open up in getting of me in the coming days.

Offered the change of path role today. Great! But... Had that chat and that went very differently to how I expected, and if he can deliver what I hope I've no idea what I'm going to do. The other role wants me to have decided by Friday but are seemingly desperate for me to join, the other guy I chatted with for the other company might not be able to put anything in front of me by then as well as may not be able to deliver regardless. I'm meeting another of their top men tomorrow. ...Shit.

Everything about the entire Dorne plotline in this series should have been put in a bin on the far side of Mars. It's been hopeless, bar Jaime's special move and more Bronn. The Sand Snakes fight scene was embarrassingly bad, to the extent I'm actually amazed someone signed that off as alright for broadcast. At this point they haven't actually even added anything to the storyline. This series appears to be suffering for the source materials sudden downhill turn that everyone talks about once you've got the story of the first 3 books done. I'm lead to believe it doesn't improve. Let's hope the TV writers are better than GRRM appears to be these days.

Came home to the dreaded red card saying it's at the depot. Every **** time in the last few months they left out with the neighbours, but today! words removed!

Potentially got a few things going on work wise. Had a couple of interviews with one company with a view to shifting to something a little different, which have gone well I think and been told they wanted a decision made on Friday. Heard nothing. Which is a bit annoying. I also have a chat lined up with a very well respected person following a recommendation, but whatever they might offer is likely to have issues putting me off it... But would represent a simple move and potentially more. Could be an interesting week. If both avenues open it's potentially a difficult choice that all being well could develop in the coming days. One is a step up in status, and cash, but would push my work in a different direction, not one I feel completely comfortable with right now, but would also broaden my horizons significantly. The other would likely keep me on the same path, broaden it slightly, and have a good environment with a very respected group around me, but is currently awkward for me to get to the office, likely to be on a temporary basis to begin with no guarantee it'll develop, and no idea what pay would entail. Or neither come off and I'm left where I am on a skip heading dangerously close to the rocks, and where I wasn't happy before it all started going wrong. Oh well, fingers crossed for an eventful week.

The first episode of this is on right now. Hasn't grabbed me at all :/.

5-4?

Cricket score incoming.

This is **** disgraceful.