The Haul Report #22

Look, I didn`t buy anything!  But that doesn`t mean I didn`t get some additions to the stash...

The deal is, I`m going to be raiding the employee store in Billund in June, so I`m saving up the bucko`s at the moment, in order to magnify the budget by a factor of lots ;-)

But I did get this real gem from Hans at the general assembly last week, one of the numbered (3000 copies produced) The Hobbit Lego posters.

Now all I need to do is get myself a nice, fitting inside the interior, frame for it and it`ll go up on the wall.

We also received a nice little gift at the assembly, consisting of a bag of loose elements and two polybags from the collectible figures series.

The element bags where all random, and this is what was in mine:

While my two minifig bags yielded a rockin` Frankenstein and a ballerina :-)

And that`s it.  Nothing more, nothing less this week for me (though yeah yeah, some things are arriving the coming week, so next week, a new update ;-) )

Jupiter Ascending

When trailers for this movie first hit theatre`s back in 2014, I was in awe with the newest work of the Wachowski siblings.

But then it got pushed back and back and back, and that`s never a good sign...

Plot

The movie starts with a russian immigrant family of the girl Jupiter Jones.  Unaware there is life off Earth, she goes on with her day to day life until she suddenly is attacked by aliens.  A strange guy comes to her rescue, and takes her along, revealing that not only did humanity spawn off Earth originally, but that she is also a Queen and owner of Earth.

Together with Caine (this mysterious warrior) and his pall Stinger, she faces off against the manipulations of the three Balem siblings, each wanting her hand and title to rule the family caste.  In the end, he manages to overcome them all and return to her family, their memories wiped from the events but Jupiter still nowing she is Queen of the world and dating Caine now.

Opinion

This movie fell through heavily at the box office, and I can rather understand why.  For a movie that long, it could have it`s whole storyline narrowed into a single issue comic.  Basically, it`s damsel gets in trouble and pet soldier does stunts to save her time and again.

Now on the other hand, the effects, decors and aliens are fantastic pieces of work, so it is a visually stunning movie.  Just not a very good one...

Rating: 5.5 / 10

Cloverfield

With 10 Cloverfield Lane now upon us, I thought it was finally time to watch the source material.

Released in 2008, and produced by J.J. Abrams, this is like a `first person monster movie`, a bit of like a cross between The Blair Witch Project and Godzilla.

Plot

On the night of friday the 22nd of May, New York is suddenly attacked by a massive monster that came in through the harbour.  Nobody knows what it is and where it came from, but the populace is unprepared and the beast wreaks havoc, even the army not able to stand up to it.

Some friends where having a farewell party for a friend who would move to Japan when it happens, and find themselves caught up in a struggle for survival.  Unfortunatly along the way, they are plucked off, being it by being smashed with the Brooklyn Bridge et all, or (the cool chick) getting bitten by a parasite resulting in what seems to be her belly exploding.

All this is filmed by a handycam that one of the friends was carrying with him, and we get to see the chaos that happens during the attack, and the government decides to destroy the whole city of Manhattan in an effort to stop the beast.

We don`t know if it works, as the final moments filmed on cam are when the bombs fall (well, we do, because at the beginning the camera is retrieved in what 'used to be Central Park') and then we see a small part again of the movie this was taped over.  And pay attention, in the closing moments it`s origins are revealed ;-)

Opinion

Okay, this was a nice movie.  Not super wow, but different and grabbing your attention, like Blair Witch did.  You have so many questions at the end, because all day citizens don`t get the answers, and you`re just seeing it through a random person`s point of view.

Rating:  7 / 10

Black Sails season 3

Whatever you see written down here, forget everything.  Edward Teach, Blackbeard, has sailed in the story of Black Sails.

Another 10 episodes of cheer piratey goodness, the story really kicks off with the introduction of Blackbeard, and compared to Ned Lowe last year, you know he is going to have an impact.

Add to that the truly grand performance of Ray Stevenson as the character, and we are off.

The series begins as Flint gets hunted by Hornigold, now employed by the british, while Miss Guthrie returns to Nassau with the new british governor, Woods Rogers, and a sizeable british force.  The island swiftly falls... due to royal pardon`s which are taken by most.

Flint gets caught in a tempest and lands on an island inhabited by slaves, whom are actually servants of the king, Mr Scott.  While Scott arrives mortally wounded on the island, Blackbeard seeks to recruit Vane, whom he sees like a son, to rejoin his fleet.

When Flint wants to retake Nassau, and free Jack Rackham, he steals Vane back away from Teach, but the rescue goes sour and Vane gets hanged.  A choice he made himself for starting the resistance in Nassau.

In the meantime, the british forces attack the island of the slaves, but are defeated as Blackbeard sails his fleet in and defeats the anchored ships, while on land a rouse by Silver makes it happen the slave and pirate combined force can throw back the royalists.


It has been a fantastic season once again, with a Flint being haunted by the death of Miranda, with the audience saying farewell to Vane, Scott and Hornigold as the main names, and with a great introduction in two strong characters, and great actors portraying them, being Blackbeard and Rodgers.

The series has long been renewed already for a fourth season, and I for one can`t wait for it to start again... but that will be quite a while still though.

Star Wars The Clone Wars season 2

Slowly but steadily I`m catching up from my backlog, as I finally completed the second season of The Clone Wars.

These cartoons, numbering 22 episodes this season, take place between movie 2 (Attack of the Clones) and 3 (Revenge of the Sith) and tell about what comes to pass between those movies in a universe torn apart by a war between the Republic and the Separitists.

This season has two main `themes` to it`s episodes, on the one hand it focusses on the things that happen within the senate on Coruscant (an assassination, the Zyllo beats, Mandalore`s postion), while on the other hand it goes about how the Seperatists have hired bounty hunters to wreak havoc, leading to a continuation of the Boba Fett / Mace Windu story touched upon in Episode II.

I can`t really put my finger on the `where`, but I had the impression that animations went up a notch as well this season compared to the first, looking a bit less `blocky` now.

It was a nice season to follow, focussing not to much on epic battles but adding some nice character development into the mix, and it went `smooth on the eyes` as I binged through the year.

Classic Lego Build: 6932 Stardefender 200

Today, we are going back to the year 1987 in our classic builds series, and take a look at a really cool set from the Futuron line back then.

The Stardefender 200 was in those days a medium sized set, and it came with a lot of cool `modular` gimmicks.

Add to that that I always loved the uniforms of Futuron, they sort of reminded me of the uniforms of Starfleet in the Wrath of Khan with the half white section, and this particular set came with two of the yellow spacemen.

The first thing we are building is a small recon buggy, that can be stowed in the back of the spaceship.  Nothing fancy being basically a plate with some wheels and a steering device.

The main body of the vessel is build around black plates and one of the `pit` elements that where preliquivalent in those days.

The white bodywork is then build up, including the two short wings where the auxiliary ships will be able to connect with.

Skids and small engines are attached to the bottom of the hull.

As we continue building up the main ship, we also include it`s two big cannons, one on each side of the central section.

To complete the central part, the large printed trans-dark blue canopy us placed on the vessel as well as some detailing.

The auxiliary vessels are two `pod` like vessels.  These are two small ships, build around a base of slopes.

We will remain using slopes to give them a rounded hull appearance, and one of the canopy / airlock pieces make up the front of them. 

The aft section is attached by a hatch element, so they can swivel open as well.

This pod is build a second time, but now mirrored to attach to the other side of the central vessel.

And the full set stands completed:

I loved this set as a kid, as it had all those play features and detachable smaller vessels.  Looking back after almost 30 years, I personally think it has well stood the test of time, and wouldn`t look amiss on any display shelf is Space is your thing, in or outside Lego even.

Mark Your Calendars!

For those being in the vicinity at the time, make sure to pop by.

Lego conventions are great things to have a chat about our hobby, or even to just walk in and have a good look at the various eyecandy on display.

And they might even yield you that one set you have been looking for all the time!

The Hunger Games - Mockingjay part 2

In part to a misunderstanding, in part due to a gazillion other things, it has taken far longer then I wanted to finally watch this conclusion of The Hunger Games series.

Now, I was disappointed in the previous instalment, and when I read the books of the first two after seeing the film, I decided for myself not to read this one before both movies had been seen to avoid any `meeugh` issues.

Plot

In this final instalment, Katniss, the Mockingjay, finds herself in the position of postergirl for the revolution organised around President Coin and Disctrict 13. 

They finally launch their assault on the Capitol, and in order to resist the attacks, President Snow changes it in one big arena with his Gamemakers.  Katniss is added to a `stars unit`, which would follow behind the main offensive to take some snappy pictures, joined by Finnick and a very unstable, recovering from indoctrination, Peeta. 

The team however runs into some traps (pods) and muds on their way to the presidential mansion, reducing their numbers faster then the bag of crisps on your lap.  When arriving at the mansion at last as last woman standing, she witnesses a bombing of all the children present by what appears a plane from Snow`s side, ending the war and the reign of Snow.

Scheduled for execution after making his confession to Katniss, and the fact Coin makes herself now president and wants to organise a Hunger Games herself, she realises Snow indeed didn`t ever lie to her, and she kills Coin on the parade of the victory, moments before Snow is torn apart by the mob. 

However, she is released (and eventually pardoned) as this resolution seems to have been orchestrated by Plutarch, and settles down to a nice and peacefull life with a recovered Peeta.

Opinion

Okay, so even while it lasted over 2 hours, this movie felt like a fast speeding rollercoaster.  Like the first two, it seems the main thing is to survive an arena and this takes up most of the film`s running time.

Was it good?  Well, better then the previous one at least, and certainly better then the Maze Runner series still.  Was it the best movie I`ve seen so far this year?  No, not at all, but it was a good piece of entertainment, put your brain in `zero` modus and enjoy the spectacle

Rating: 6 / 10

Classic Lego Build: 6849 Satellite Patroller

In today`s classic build, we are going back to the era of Classic Space as it is nowadays known, with the Satellite Patroller.

This more then 30 year old set featured a landbased vehicle, which could launch a small satellite, probably for survey purposes as the bad guys hadn`t arrived yet back then.

The set comes with a yellow spaceman minifig, which over the years, due to influences of Star Trek TNG, have usually been considered the `engineers` of the old space range.

The vehicle is based around a hinged plate and four big wheels, to make it a manouverable little car.

The front part is the piloting area, while at the back we put down the platform for the satellite launcher.

That launcher comes with the necessary controls to program it`s mission.

The satellite itself is a pretty simple affair, basically a spaceplane engine with some antenna attached to it.  On top of this some small swivelling plates make sure it`s wing based sensory arrays can be changed of direction.

This is then placed on the back of the vehicle.

And the full set completed:

This was actually a rather nice set back then to `get` as you had, in hindsight, a nice selection of printed pieces with the arrow tiles, the computers and the printed front of the car, so I`m really glad I still had all the old bricks in my collection.