Top Hat Sasquatch

Last night it was between The Tourist and The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, and we chose Narnia. I enjoyed the first two movies, thought they were well done for what they were (children’s fantasy stories), and hoped the latest installment would be similar. Needless to say, I was not transported to a dreamworld of magic.

It’s one thing to get let down with a film when you had high expectations for it, but it’s worse when you only expected the movie to be decent and it turns out to be awful. I knew I liked Narnia enough to enjoy two movies full of it’s thinly veiled Christian allegories, stiff child acting, and bad writing, and I was just hoping that Dawn Treader would be interesting enough that my wife and I wouldn’t feel like we wasted our money or our evening. That’s all I wanted.

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Tron was one of those movies I would occasionally rent from the local Library as a kid of about 7 or 8 years old. At the time I viewed it (the early 90s) the 1982 movie already seemed dated, but it had a special charm and an interesting cast of characters including Kevin Flynn played by the “Dude” himself actor Jeff Bridges. It also presented some interesting concepts centering around artificial intelligence and how computers (and humans) connect to each other. Now, almost 30 years later we have the sequel Tron Legacy. How does the sequel compare with the original? Does it improve on what made the original still loved as a cult classic to this day?

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When it comes to comics, I’m much more of a Jack Kirby devotee than a Stan Lee guy—it’s the visuals that excite me more than the story itself. That’s why I was immediately drawn to Abduzeedo’s picks for this year’s best illustrations.

The site for visual inspiration features a dozen or so excellent creations from artists like Dustin Nguyen, Jason Seiler, Dave MacDowell, and Dave Johnson. I particularly liked the last one above by Rafael Albuquerque. Fans of DC’s Superman/Batman will know his work.

Head over to Abduzeedo to see all the fantasy and comics-inspired selections.

Now Yoshi can finally get his revenge on that Italian bastard for riding him all of these years!

Seriously though, this Yoshi Mech from Kodykoala looks amazingly detailed, just look at the rust texture, bolts and a little map likely displaying GPS coordinates where Mario sleeps.

Revenge is at hand …

Check out Kodykoala’s Custom Yoshi Mech on Flickr.

Looking for a last minute gift or stocking stuffer for someone? Get them a game. While board and card games might not top many wish lists; excellent games can be found for recipients of all ages and price ranges. Find the right one and it just might be your recipient’s unexpected favorite.

Picking out a game that does more than collect dust on a shelf can be difficult. Don’t assume any game will do. With so many games out there, it can be difficult to tell the good from the bad. On top of that, some people can be turned off from an otherwise good game if they feel production value is too low, the rules appear too complex, or the genre is not to their liking.

To match the right game to the right gamer, resist the urge to immediately look for the right title. Instead think in broad categories. What situations do you see them using the game? Do they enjoy complex problems? Are they visual thinker? Maybe they are obsessed with a particular genre. Use the categories below as a starting point. Once you have a category or two in mind start looking at titles; we have seeded a few of those too.

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