Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="(un)reason" data-source="post: 8528990" data-attributes="member: 27780">Polyhedron Issue 88: October 1993part 5/5Into The Dark: James takes a look at Hong Kong cinema this time. The greater degree of freedom there means the film industry has turned out more interestingly than mainland china, although who knows what will happen after  the 1997 handover. In the meantime, there's a particular set of tropes that mark them as distinct from hollywood and other moviemaking hubs around the world, particularly the fantasy/horror films. James seems quite excited to talk about these, which bodes well for the quality of the individual films he's picked for us. A Chinese Ghost Story 2 gets just as much praise as the first one, mixing romance, comedy and inventive supernatural elements with aplomb. James's only little gripe is that the main character gets sidelined in the final battle by the more powerful new characters. Perils of being a PoV everyman thrown into events above their pay grade.Mr. Vampire also does really well, taking the chinese myths of hopping vampires and building some excellently choreographed fight scenes around them. If you like this, there's a whole load of sequels and spin-offs of various quality to investigate. Seems like a fun thing to binge if you've got a free weekend.Saviour of the Soul gets a second 5 star result in quick succession. It whiplashes from comedic to dramatic at a speed that means you never know what's coming next, but does it with enough style that the overall product holds up excellently. James is definitely enjoying this topic more than the past few.Wolf Devil Woman is still interesting, but not nearly as good as the last three. Being Writer/Director/Lead actor all at once is a bad idea whatever country you're from, prone to results that are incredibly self-indulgent, limited only by budget and technical ineptitude. Still, at least it's not formulaic like a big studio production. Sometimes it's worth going off the beaten path just for the variety.Get Ready For Winter: As if the 4 pages in the middle weren't enough info on Winter Fantasy, we have a 5th one at the end with photos of the guests of honor doing their best sinister smiles. Bruce Nesmith puts in vampire fangs to top off the look, while Bill Slavicsek manages just fine without. Only James Lowder looks a little too wholesome for the gothic material he writes. Don't be scared to talk to them at the convention and tell them how much you love their work. More evidence that this is one of their favourite conventions, almost as important as Gen Con. Does it get a number of attendees commensurate with the critical aclaim?With a high ratio of stuff that's both good and non D&D focussed, as well as more signs of change in how the RPGA enforces it's rules, this is a pretty interesting issue. Not remotely seasonally themed, but It's not a problem if they don't do that every year, particularly with multiple other departments that can take up the slack. Let's head into another winter and see if it's pleasantly cool or obnoxiously frigid.</blockquote>

Verification