Too Many Ideas - Author Archive

The Woman in Black Review with Notes for Roleplayers

The Woman in Black is a solid attempt to make a classic ghost story from the revived Hammer .  The film making combines the best of the old school Hammer with 21st century production values.  It takes a classic approach to horror eschewing the slasher / blood and gore school of horror. The cinema I […]

Building Maps for Role Playing with Vue

I quite often make maps and other diagrams for games I’m running using Vue and other computer graphic software.  Over the weekend I was messing around with GeoControl2 and it randomly produced a landscape I quite liked the look of but I don’t have a game it fits with at the moment.   So I thought […]

The Grey Movie Review with bonus Role Playing Thoughts

Its BAFTA weekend and I’m not expecting The Grey to be getting any nominations other than for film shot in the coldest location (and Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy may beat it in that category too).  As is pretty obvious from the poster above it’s another Liam Neeson vehicle trying to find the ingredient that he […]

Underworld: Awakening Movie Review

If you know the original Underworld you’ve a pretty good idea what you’re getting here: Vampires, Werewolves, action, a palette of blacks & blue, a certain amount of gore, a British character actor of a certain age, a gut shaking thump to the soundtrack and, of course, Kate Beckinsale in that outfit. Yet for each […]

Margin Call

If you’ve ever stood on the side of a road and seen a car about to crash you’ll understand this film.  If you’ve ever sat in a car that is likely to crash you’ll understand what is staring the characters in the face in Margin Call. Margin Call is the story of 48 hours in […]

The Open Eye Gallery: Painted Photographs

I went to see the Painted Photographs exhibition at the Open Eye Gallery in Liverpool today of photographs that have been retouched for use on TV and in the Press. Due to my own stupidity and incompetence I never made it to the Open Eye Gallery before its new venue so I can’t compare it […]

Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol Movie Review

They say football is a game of two halves: and so is my review of Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol. Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol is an enjoyable movie.  It’s populated by beautiful people in exotic locations.  It has guns and gadgets.  It has explosions.  It has chases.  It has spectacular high places.  It has all the […]

Happy Christmas!

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows

While Sherlock Holmes: A game of Shadows won’t be my favourite film of the year (Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy is still the lead contender for that) it’s one of my favourite action films of the year. One critic I saw pretty much said it was more of the same as Sherlock Holmes from 2010 as […]

The Cold Soap Window Sill Steam Phenomenon

In the winter a slightly odd phenomenon sometimes happens when I do the rather mundane task of doing the washing up. When its cold outside and I fill the bowl with hot water steam produces tiny water drops all over the bar of soap on my window sill. I’ve normally only seen this at night […]