The Brilliance of Saw

I see a lot of movies, so it's somewhat surprising I guess that I'm not giving reviews of movies when I see them. Props to Dr. Heimlich for always reviewing movies and books he reads, and doing it so brilliantly. Following in his lead I wanted to post a bit about the Saw franchise.

The Saw franchise is a horror movie series created by Leigh Wahnnell (who also starred as Adam in the first installment). I've heard a lot of people dismiss this series in a haphazard way. Now, let me begin by saying that the movies are full of gore and that the gore is not a draw for me at all. If these movies cut away from the scenes of blood I would love them just as much and that gets at the heart of why I think these movies are good. What's great about the Saw movies is 1) the Traps 2) that each movie has its own twist/mystery to figure out and I never really was able to see those twists coming and 3) that with each new installment the story turns out to be bigger and more complicated than the previous movies had you to believe. If you like puzzles and being forced to think, you should give the Saw series a shot.

I saw the latest installment, Saw IV, this weekend and I can honestly say that it was the only Saw movie that left be feeling unsatisfied. The lack of satisfaction was because I didn't understand the bigger picture. I felt it wasn't explained properly. Things didn't seem to "come together" in the end. But at the same time lines and scenes from the movie kept nagging at me. I did some fishing on the web and a key scene was explained by a fan and then everything fell into place. All the clues were there in the movie - from the very beginning in fact. However, the director brilliantly constructed the movie so as to mis-direct the audience away from the truth (or in this case how everything fits together). Stage magicians use the same principle. It's two days after I've seen Saw IV and the significance of random scenes and lines are still coming together. I'm going to have to see Saw IV again.

In Honor of the Golden Compass

Truth

122 W 26th St. No More

No, I haven't been in Hawaii all this time. I got back on the 22nd, but just as I got readjusted I had to prepare for the Lorwyn prerelease. And then, when that ended at 6pm on Sunday, began the closing down of Neutral Ground - for good. Well, that's only partly true. We closed down the store at the 122 W 26th St location. The store had been there since, well, before I first visited in the 90s.

The good news is that the store will be reopening in a few weeks in a much better location on the corner of 5th ave and 37th. The new store will be much bigger and better. Tonight several of us had a special dinner celebrating the move and toasting the future of Neutral Ground - the future of gaming in NY. I'm glad I've been a part of the Neutral Ground family these past 5 years and eagerly look forward to what's yet to come.