All posts by Beau

365 Songs, 365 Artists, 365 Days

For 2022 I will be posting a song with an accompanying music video for every day of the year. Each day will be a different artist as to avoid monotony. The only times an artist will appear more than once is if he or she is a featured artist for someone else, or if the person had a band and a solo career. This only will happen a few times as I wanted to make sure the sounds were also distinct. So for example, I decided not to have a song from both Ben Folds Five and Ben Folds as you can’t easily tell the difference between the two.

I don’t like ranking songs, as that would change constantly depending on the mood I’m in. So this list will be in alphabetical order by artist.

I hope you enjoy this list. There are songs from the 1950s all the way through 2021 and every major genre is represented. Please don’t hesitate to give me recommendations for new music!

Favorite Movies By Year

Inspired by a friend. And woah, a lot of white men here. The only female directors are the Wachowski sisters, and there’s only a handful of POC. I anticipate this will get better as I age.

Will keep this updated.

YearMovieDirector
1938The Lady VanishesAlfred Hitchcock
1939The Wizard of OzVictor Fleming
1941Citizen KaneOrson Welles
1946It’s A Wonderful LifeFrank Capra
1948RopeAlfred Hitchcock
1949Kind Hearts and CoronetsRobert Hamer
1950RashomonAkira Kurosawa
1952Singin’ in the RainGene Kelly, Stanley Donen
1954The Seven SamuraiAkira Kurosawa
195712 Angry MenSidney Lumet
1961Judgment at NuremburgStanley Kramer
1962To Kill A MockingbirdRobert Mulligan
1963The BirdsAlfred Hitchcock
1964Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the BombStanley Kubrick
1965The Sound of MusicRobert Wise
1966How the Grinch Stole Christmas!Chuck Jones, Ben Washam
1967The GraduateMike Nichols
1968Oliver!Carol Reed
1969Midnight CowboyJohn Schlesinger
1971Brian’s SongBuzz Kulik
1972The GodfatherFrancis Ford Coppola
1973The StingGeorge Roy Hill
1974Young FrankensteinMel Brooks
1975One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s NestMilos Forman
1976The Bad News BearsMichael Ritchie
1977Star WarsGeorge Lucas
1979AlienRidley Scott
1980The Empire Strikes BackIrvin Kershner
1981Raiders of the Lost ArkSteven Spielberg
1982Blade RunnerRidley Scott
1983Return of the JediRichard Marquand
1984This is Spinal TapRob Reiner
1985Back to the FutureRobert Zemeckis
1986Star Trek IV: The Voyage HomeLeonard Nimoy
1987The Princess BrideRob Reiner
1988Rain ManBarry Levinson
1989Indiana Jones and the Last CrusadeSteven Spielberg
1990MiseryRob Reiner
1991The Silence of the LambsJonathan Demme
1992A Few Good MenRob Reiner
1993Groundhog DayHarold Ramis
1994Pulp FictionQuentin Tarantino
199512 MonkeysTerry Gilliam
1996Sling BladeBilly Bob Thornton
1997The EdgeLee Tamahori
1998RushmoreWes Anderson
1999The MatrixLana Wachowski, Lilly Wachowski
2000Cast AwayRobert Zemeckis
2001Mulholland DriveDavid Lynch
2002InsomniaChristopher Nolan
2003Kill Bill: Volume 1Quentin Tarantino
2004Shaun of the DeadEdgar Wright
2005Batman BeginsChristopher Nolan
2006The Lives of OthersFlorian Henckel von Donnersmarck
2007[Rec]Jaume Balagueró
2008WALL-EAndrew Stanton
2009(500) Days of SummerMarc Webb
2010Toy Story 3Lee Unkrich
2011The MuppetsJames Bobin
2012LooperRian Johnson
2013HerSpike Jonze
2014Edge of TomorrowDoug Liman
2015Inside OutPete Doctor, Ronaldo Del Carmen
2016LionGarth Davis
2017Get OutJordan Peele
2018Spider-Man: Into the Spider-VerseRodney Rothman, Peter Ramsey, Bob Perischetti
2019ParasiteBong Joon-ho
2020Palm SpringsMak Barbakow
2021The Mitchells vs. the MachinesMichael Rianda
2022Everything Everywhere All at OnceDaniel Scheinert, Dan Kwan

Quest For Glory I: So You Want To Be A Hero

Publisher: Sierra
Developer: Sierra
Year: 1992
Platform: DOS, Mac

Rating: 5

Mostly a beat-by-beat remake of the original game Hero’s Quest (changed due to copyright infringement), Quest For Glory I updated the graphics and sound to match Sierra’s SCI engine at the time. While it’s easier to play, it also lost some of the charm in the conversion.

Continue reading Quest For Glory I: So You Want To Be A Hero

Conquests Of Camelot: The Search For The Grail

Publisher: Sierra
Developer: Sierra
Year: 1990
Platform: Windows, DOS, Amiga, Atari ST

Rating: 3

A well-researched labor of love by Christy Marx, Conquests of Camelot takes a fantasy world a lot more seriously than does King’s Quest. While in many ways a nice break from the usual Sierra adventure fare, it unfortunately bit off more than it could chew and is a mess on many levels.

Continue reading Conquests Of Camelot: The Search For The Grail

King’s Quest IV: The Perils Of Rosella Retold

Publisher: Freeware
Developer: DrSlash
Year: 2021
Platform: Windows, Linux, Mac

Rating: 8

Fan-made remakes of games tend to focus on aesthetic improvements such as updated graphics and sound. DrSlash decided that King’s Quest IV was gorgeous just the way it was (and they would be correct) and left all that alone. Instead this version tries to modernize the game play to appeal to younger gamers. The experiment is mostly successful.

Continue reading King’s Quest IV: The Perils Of Rosella Retold

She Sees Red

Publisher: RhinoTales
Developer: RhinoTales
Year: 2019
Platform: Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, Switch, Xbox One,

Rating: 5

After the opening title card in Rhinotales’ FMV thriller She Sees Red, you are boldly told that EVERY CHOICE MATTERS.  I could have done without the fourth-wall breaking advice, especially since this declaration turns out not to be true. A pure example of an interactive movie, the game offers no puzzles or even any real player agency; nevertheless, it’s slickly filmed and a fun if sometimes confusing ride.

Continue reading She Sees Red

1. Purgatory’s Shadow/By Inferno’s Light (5.14, 5.15)

Synopsis: Garak and Worf investigate a message which suggests that Cardassian spymaster Enabran Tain is still alive. Upon their arrival, not only do they find Tain, but also General Martok… and someone they did not expect. The crew tries to defend the Alpha Quadrant from the invading Dominion fleet; Worf, Garak, and the other prisoners prepare to escape from the Dominion Internment Camp.

Memory Alpha SummaryGot it Done

Dax: [of the Dominion ships] There sure are a lot of them.
Kira: That’ll just make it harder for us to miss

Oh boy have they been building up to this two-parter, and it’s glorious from start to finish. That Tain is Garak’s father makes perfect sense and puts together a lot of pieces from previous episodes. But beyond that convenient resolution, there’s just so much character development here. Worf finally gets to kick some ass, beating up one Jem’Hadar soldier after another. In fact, it makes you wonder why he was so useless on the Enterprise. But most importantly, Gul Dukat does a heel turn and becomes the ultra villain he’s been teasing at for years, becoming the Hitler to the evil succubus of the Dominion. Oh, and Gowron is now back on the Federation’s side again?  Oh man, I just love every twist and turn here. I was never that comfortable with Gowron’s sudden turn against the Federation given how much he owed to the Federation for his ascension in the first place. This feels right. 

The only criticism, and it’s mild, is that Julian being a Changeling on DS9 feels a bit too much like they forced it in there, especially since they really didn’t drop any hints in the past couple episodes. Apparently, the writers were afraid to drop hints, but it would have been more satisfying if they had. 

And that’s a wrap. Hopefully the few of you who followed along enjoyed reading this.

2. Duet (1.19)

Synopsis: After a Cardassian man arrives on the station suffering from an illness that he could only have contracted at a Bajoran labor camp during the Occupation. Major Kira leads an investigation to determine whether he is actually a notorious war criminal.

Memory Alpha SummaryThe screaming of the lambs

Review: It only took sixteen episodes, but Gul Dukat finally comes back to play. Unfortunately, Garak is nowhere in sight, given a disappointing singular episode in season one. The star of this episode, though, is another Cardassian. A marvelous performance by Harris Yulin as the personality changing prisoner. I was caught a bit off guard by the ending, which is quite powerful.

Continue reading 2. Duet (1.19)