The Other Side blog

Wednesday, October 2, 2013

October Movie: Jack & Diane (2012)

I didn't get to this one last year so it is one of the first up this year. Of course the question here is whether or not this is a monster/horror movie. Yeah there are a lot of horror elements to this story and there are even some horror like scenes. The movie is a touch slow, but it kept my attention. Partly because Riley Keough and Juno Temple are both fantastic actors. Partly because I was expecting some sort of monster reveal at the end. And partly because I was also was hoping to hear the John Mellencamp song. Didn't happen.

It was a fun movie and if you like a psychological type of horror where the monsters are mostly metaphorical.

Tally: Watched 2, New 2

What are you watching?

hosted by Krell Laboratories

Tuesday, October 1, 2013

Threshold #1 is out

It is no great secret that I love Mystara.

So imagine my joy to discover that Threshold, a Mystara Fan-zine has published issue #1.

Threshold Issue #1 (pdf)

And it is a big one.

Thanks to everyone that made this possible. I have often said that the online Mystara groups have been the most consistent in terms of their fandom and their creative ways of keeping their "dead" world alive and well.

October Movie: Thale (2012)

The theme of this October Movie Challenge is "movies I have been wanting to see forever but have not had the chance". Thanks to Amazon Prime, Xfinity On Demand and a bunch of other services for on demand downloading I have an embarrassment of riches here!

Thale (2012)
I wanted to see this one last year but there were no copies to be had. So it's first up this year.

Thale reminded me of another Norwegian import I saw a while back, Trollhunter. The movie focuses on two crime scene clean-up guys, Elvis and Leo. On a job they discover an odd naked girl lying in a tub full of milk (or something). Oh. And they find her tail in a freezer. While going through some cassette tapes of the man who had lived there they discover that this girl isn't at all what she seems.

The movie takes a bit to get going and it might be be a classical horror movie per se, but there are all the elements and it is a great introduction to a myth I only know a little about.

I have to give actress Silje Reinåmo credit. She has no lines, spends 90% of her screen time completely nude and still manages to deliver a character we believe. It is easy to do scared like thins, it is a bit harder to do violent-force-of-nature.

So far I think my month is off to a good start!

Tally: Watched 1, New 1

What are you watching?

hosted by Krell Laboratories

Monday, September 30, 2013

October is nearly here!

October is a big deal here at the Other Side as many of you already know.

First off there is the October Horror Movie Challenge I participate in every year.
Hosted by Krell Laboratories I am planning on hitting movies I have been wanting to see for ages and just never got around to. A really bucket list if some of the movies wen't terrible.
You can watch my progress here and on the Horror Movie Challenge Facebook page.

I am also gearing up to get Eldritch Witchery into your hands. I am quite excited about it.
It is predominantly for the Spellcraft & Swordplay rules. If you already own The Witch then there might not be much more in it for you, but it does cover my very first Warlock class and OSR stats for a number of demons that have never seen print (or PDF) before. So I am quite excited about that.

There was a request to revist Monster Mondays. But I have a few projects I need to get done in October so I don't think I can do that. BUT that all being said there is no reason why you all can't do that one on your own.

I'll have some other things happening in October that I can't quite talk about now as well.

But here is to a great October!

30 Day D&D Challenge, Day 30: Best DM You've Had

Day 30: Best DM You've Had

Here we are at the end.
What an interesting little trip this was. I enjoyed reading everyone's postings all week and congrats if you made it to the end.

Best DM. Wow. I have had a lot of great ones over the years. Restricting this just to D&D though makes it easier.

I have had a lot, but I have to give the nod to my hometown DMs for 1st Ed.
Jon Cook was my first DM and his style was what we might call Gonzo these days. Everything, all over the place and all at once. Just crazy ass shit all the time. If we didn't know a rule we just kept going. Jon just had solid love of the game and that what made his games fun.

My next DM was Bob Grenda. He was in High School with me and that man created worlds on worlds. His campaign was so layered and detailed that every game was epic. I have been begging him for years to clean up his "Mad Wizard Killian" series of adventures (Killian's Tower, Killian's Castle, Killian's Maze...) to publish for OSRIC. It's not just my memories, those adventures rocked and I will take the Pepsi challenge on them verses the best of the old school any day of the week.
Until then the loss is ours.

I hope you all enjoyed this little ride!