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robertdeaniii-1
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Total War: Shogun 2 (2011)
Art in motion
Shogun 2 is a beautiful game. From the details on the troops to the atmospheric ambiance this game, even dated, holds its own. It doesn't start perfect as all the Total War games but the modding community has made so many changes from the mechanics to the aesthetics that you can get a realistic challenge from the game if you have a few minutes to download the programs. Back to the details. The Total War developers did their best work I think with the small aspects of the game I am still discovering years after playing. Even the technically irrelevant areas like remote villages outside the map if it is winter the little hamlets have snow on cut wood and icy rooftops. The troops armor shines in rain. There is the occasional deer romping through the woods. The combat animations are, in my opinion, the best of any Total War series. I could go on about the lovely details but I would rather play some more.
Doctor Strange (2016)
Action/Philosophy/Sci-Fi in one package! Wow!
Without spoiling anything the movie challenges materialism in a way which I didn't think a film could achieve. It was neither nihilistic nor religious and that takes a good deal of creativity. What indeed lies beyond "The Doors of Perception" as Huxley wrote? The film is philosophical at times and pulls back from the seriousness with a lot of artistic action or wit. As one who sighs at the superstitious the introduction of the surreal in the film was more convincing than anything I've yet to see or read. Perhaps it was the film's artistic representation of a world being created fluidly, much like those ever shifting visuals one gets right before falling in a deep sleep. The only reason I would refrain from giving this movie a 10 was the good/evil story line was, for me, too simplistic. Strange was certainly interesting but the lesser characters seemed a bit too thrown together. Overall, superb.
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013)
Exceptional
Desolation of Smaug is a masterpiece and well explains the build up throughout An Unexpected Journey. The acting is top notch and the action is nearly flawless. The visuals were more polished than in An Unexpected Journey; wherefore, it was grittier, darker and at times breathtakingly majestic, and such made the world believable. There were moments when I was gripping the edge of my seat or clapping along with the audience. I reckon the slower moments in the first movie made us care much more for the characters in the second. Without the long dialogue and merrymaking of the An Unexpected Journey we would less understand the Dwarfs of Desolation of Smaug. 9/10.