Movie Catch Up

There are three recent films we watched, all of them on Criterion.  For now we gave up our MUBI subscription since we are so far behind on Criterion films.  It truly is the very best channel in the world today for lovers of film. It's the kind of channel that even in one's wildest dreams could never have been conceived not so many years ago.  And yet here it is, with the world's finest films (and some lousy ones, too), for less than $150.00 Can. per year.  Wow!

 

Most recently we watched another Martin Scorcese rescue called Kamatty (Bogeyman).  It is from India in 1979 and was directed by G. Aravindan.  It is a low budget children's fantasy film from the very south of India.  The film is quite slow moving and at times quite hypnotic.  Chanting is used throughout the film, with landscape photography enhancing the timeless effect.  It seems that the film could be taking place almost anytime, except for a few later touches of more modern times.  When Kummatty arrives in a village the children are immediately attracted to him, following him on his local travels and singing and dancing along with him.  Kummatty carries bells which he jingles while he sings and dances, but he also carries several folk art animal masks.  Once the children know him and are used to him they wish to see him do some magic.  The children put on the masks and are briefly turned into various animals.  They frolic or panic according to their nature, but are soon turned back into themselves again.  However, one boy, who was turned into a cute little dog, gets chased from the scene by another dog and misses his chance to be a boy again.  The film is quite charming, with a happy ending for all, even a caged parrot that we have felt very sorry for during the film.  I don't think kids today would enjoy the film, as it is very slow moving.  It isn't a long film, though, and is definitely worth a sit through.

 

Restored by the World Cinema Project's Film Foundation, the film is 

showing on Criterion.  As usual, Scorcese gives a short intro to the film, 

and there is a 'making of' short to go along with the package.  

 

Before that came an epic film once again rediscovered and restored by Martin Scorcese and his World Cinema Project.  The Fall Of Otrar is an historical film from Kazakhstan released in 1991.  It tells the story of how Genghis Khan was able to conquer a highly fortified and strongly defended Moslem city on the steppes of Central Asia.  There is much brutality, some of it over the top, as the story is told in often breath-stopping detail.  Essentially, a scout from Otrar is sent out to investigate Genghis, and returns seven years later with some grim news.  Though he lays out before his leader exactly how the attacks will come, and who within the walls of the city is aiding the conqueror, he is not believed and is tortured for lying.  Alas, what was foretold comes to be and the great city is left abandoned and in ruins.  Based on historical documents this is like the Kazakhstan version of Russia's Alexander Nevsky.  Otrar is even more captivating with its stronger use realism and remarkable use of sepia for much of the film, with sudden leaps into full colour, usually at night in a scene by firelight.  A major film and well worth seeking out.  Introduced by Scorcese there is also an excellent 'making of' film.

 

Now showing on Criterion. 

 

Four Nights of a Dreamer is a Robert Bresson film from 1971.  Adapted from Dostoevsky's "White Nights", the film is about a young man who prevents a young girl's suicide on a bridge at night.  They meet again the next night and become friends.  On successive nights they each tell their life story, and we learn why she was about to jump.  They become better friends and then lovers.  The story is very cynical but well worth watching.  Hailed by Criterion as Bresson's great forgotten masterpiece, this restored version is engrossing and much better than many French films from the time.

 

Now showing on Criterion. 

 

In local news, we both had phone call check ups with our physician, Dr. Alex Shen.  Deb needs some more vitamin D, but other than that we seem to be doing well if recent blood work is any indication.  We are just awaiting Deb's latest iron test results to be certain that she is still on a steady course.  We are both exercising daily, eating better than ever and getting enough sleep.  Other than our recent jaunt to London our alcohol consumption is low.  So all seems well....

 

I enjoyed one clear night recently, the first and likely only one of the June session.  It was a late night as I can only begin observing at 10:45 pm.  But I made it to bed by 3:35 am.  Summer Solstice is just around the corner (Sunday morning for us).  No definite plans have been made, though we might do a day excursion out to some small towns nearby, and to Lake Erie.

 

In piano news it has now been about six months on the new pieces.  Progress was stalled by just over three weeks of travels recently, but I am trying to continue memorization of most of my pieces.  Now that daily practice has resumed I hope to have pieces memorized by sometime in August. 

 

Mapman Mike 

 

 

 

Zork Nemesis: A Replay Review

I first played Zork Nemesis, a PC game from 1996, in June and July of 2000.  I finished it, with hints, in just under 26 hours of total game play.  It instantly became one of my favourite games, scoring 86%.  This put it ahead of the original Myst for me, but behind Riven and Obsidian. Thus it became my third favourite game back in the day.  How does it stand up today?  Deb and I played it as a team, and we took just under 17 hours, using my notes from 2000 to help us out.  There are spoilers, so beware.

We played it on Steam, beginning in April and concluding in June of 2026.  The original CDs (three of them) sometimes got stuck during game play, though I also found some problems with the Steam version.  At the very beginning I was unable to use the cursor to guide us through the game.  It would spin or move far too quickly.  Luckily a previous gamer had posted a solution on Steam, and for the most part it worked like a charm.  Each time the game was started (including after any save) players have to hold down the Ctrl key and then strike the F11 key 18 times!  That seemed to slow down the cursor just enough to allow the game to progress normally.  If that is too many and the cursor gets stuck, use the F12 key to back off a bit.

 

The second problem with the Steam version is that it gave me such a large window that the movies were quite pixelated and the backgrounds were not as sharp as I remember.  Screenshots were also a pain, as the Win and PS keys need to be used, meaning that only a single screenshot at a time can be taken.  But I quibble.  Let's get to the game itself.

 

Use headphones.  The music and sounds are just fantastic, and hold up as well today as ever.  The game grabs the player from the very moment of arrival.  The courtyard of a great Cathedral sets the tone for the whole game--dark, gloomy, mysterious and enveloped in faded decadence.  There is very little sunlight, and many gradations of shadow.  This is an enhanced slideshow game, with 360 degree motion, so that looking all around is essential.  Sometimes up and down options are also available, but not always.  Gothic effects intensify once inside the vast interior.  The building turns out to be a kind of Myst Island, in that there is much to see, do and solve before access to four other worlds can be gained.  Most puzzles are based around alchemical procedures, some hard and some easy.

 

A lot of playtime will be spent in the main building, until one solves the mystery of using the orrery, a device which will enable the player to visit four other worlds.  But before that happens there are four main puzzles to solve within the main temple.  Some of these puzzles are quite hard, while others can be solved in time with patience and some careful thinking.  Note-taking is essential.  My favourite initial puzzle was in the room with the paintings, and though far from logical I found it to be quite an ingenious and highly original addition to game puzzles.

 

A map came with the original guide showing the location of all the travel areas.  

 

A fun door puzzle.

 

The cathedral library.

 

The library again.

A map of the entire cathedral/temple can be helpful and will be found in the library. 

 

The room of paintings puzzle, mentioned above.  Great fun!

 

There are four allies to awaken near the beginning.  Solving an early puzzle will awaken one each.  But are they allies? 

 

Sophia's (Venus is her planet) awakening requires solving a water puzzle.  This remains one of my favourite puzzles of all time.  Ice must be melted into water, using the paintings in the room and the chair provided.  Good luck!  Sartorious (Jupiter) requires his upstairs air puzzle to be solved.  Kaine (Mars) involves a terrifying ride in a mine car, which will lead to many deaths before a solution is found.  Save before riding!  Malveaux (Saturn) involves sliding screens in the library, and finding a sun to place in the orrery.  Once these preliminary puzzles are solved, a pretty big task, it's off to other worlds.

 

Solving the orrery puzzles allows travel to four other worlds. 

 

There is an in-game hint system in the game before accessing the other worlds.  Look for the painting of Venus and Cupid for some assistance, which will likely be required from time to time.  Once in the four new worlds, the object is to find a secret lab in each and manufacture a unique symbol, one for each imprisoned mage.  The story is quite good, at its heart a love story thwarted by the mages.  It is up to the player to set things right for the young couple, who have been grossly wronged.  It is highly probable that players will die during the game, so save often.

 

Once the orrery is mastered, the four worlds can be visited in any order.  If players get stuck they may leave the world to visit another, thus working on several levels in shifts, if desired.  However, each world is a closed unit and the puzzles within can all be solved without traveling elsewhere.  I much prefer this kind of game to ones where a player must travel far outside the main puzzle area.  Once a new world is solved, the game brings the player back to the cathedral for a cut scene, and to place the newly acquired metal symbol in its proper place on the the central altar.  Then it's back to the orrery for the next adventure.  Once all four worlds all solved, a final major puzzle must be solved, and the four nitwits outwitted.  Hint: do not drink their offering when it comes.

 

The first world we chose was Saturn, the realm of Malveaux's great monastery. This is a vast place with much exploring to do.  Although the four worlds always begin outside, all of the main events are indoors.  There are maze-like hallways that lead to a library, and from there through to a museum, which holds the key to solving this world.  There are upper and lower levels everywhere, but one of them, the bedroom, is particularly difficult to reach.  Players have to grab a bell rope that moves much too quickly.  It can be done, but patience is required.  Overall this is a fun segment with good puzzles and plenty of areas to explore.  The music is a highlight of the game overall, and we hear it a lot in this world.

 

Saturn is the world of fire.

 

An important book from the library on Saturn.

 

The library on Saturn.  The museum can be reached through here.

 

Part of the fire puzzle.

 

Malveaux's cozy bedroom, if you can reach it. 

 

Opposite side of the bedroom, with an important bookcase.

 

Two items from the museum are needed to defeat a fire monster.  But the museum has an alarm system.

 

The final puzzle on Saturn. 

 

Next we traveled to Mars, the world of Kaine and his on-going war.  Again there is much to explore in Irondune Castle.  We were able to get into all areas without aid, but we needed help towards the end.  To open a gold chest we searched everywhere for a key.  Nope.  You have to blow it open with a stick of TNT. Okay, not so great a puzzle.  If you get far enough you get to drive a tank, though getting it to work is very tricky.  An air freshener and fuzzy dice hand from the windshield, and a girlie calendar decorates one wall.  The tank leads to the final puzzle, again a 2-storey event involving a secret lab.  Overall the puzzles are good, though the radio code is pretty hard to figure out.  There is a very gruesome dungeon in which I don't recommend spending much time.  In fact, despite many light touches and funny moments, the game is pretty intense and dark, culminating in the asylum sequence (see below).

 

Upon first entering Irondune Castle.

 

Stained glass panels related to war and battle.

 

The central hall is decorated with war paintings and weapons.

 

The staircase leads to two bedrooms, father and son, and a game room and weapons museum.

 

The game room has a pool table with an important puzzle solution hidden in its game. 

 

Kaine's bedroom, with that damnable chest. 

 

Venus (Sophia's realm) is the music academy, with a very fun series of puzzles involving Zorkian musical instruments of the orchestra.  Records can be found in the music library room (with a grand piano), and when played on the gramophone will help players solve the auditorium puzzle.  Upstairs is the dormitory, where a poster is to be found, as is Sophia's exquisite bedroom.  A lot of design work went into this game.  While the dormitory and Sophia's bedroom exude nouveau charm, the piano room is distinctly Victorian.  Once in the auditorium, the fanfare must be conducted by the player.  Good luck!  Then the backstage area can be accessed, leading to the basement and the secret lab.  This is probably the least violent among the four worlds, and quite fun to visit.  Puzzles are hard, though.  

The music room and library contain minor but important puzzles.

 

The first music puzzle awaits. Remember to return the instruments afterwards, or you will carry them needlessly for the rest of the game.

  

Girls Dormitory at the music academy.

 

Sophia's bedroom balcony door.

 

Sophia's bedroom with art.

 

Sophia's bedroom, third view.

 

Near the entrance to the academy, at the famous Zork dam.  No explanation is given for the damage.

 

Lastly comes Jupiter, Sartorius' domain, with a final air puzzle to solve at the end of this grim scenario.  The asylum is designed like a 21-storey syringe, and it is not a nice place to visit.  Institutional gray colours dominate, and evidence of horrible experiments on inmates abounds.  The touches of humour seem out of place here.  We must use a guillotine to gain a severed head, which will then give us a puzzle clue and tell some jokes.  To avoid electrocution later we must use a cut off hand to unlock a door.  And players must sit in an electric shock chair and endure a disorienting jolt, which is needed to gain access to the final secret lab.

A small model of the museum building is found in the museum room.

Players will eventually have to get to the penthouse from the basement. 

 

Inside the asylum.

 

The bed of Sartorius, the only "cheerful" place in the asylum.

 

The secret lab is in the penthouse, with a doable but tricky puzzle.  I found it a bit Rivenesque.

 

Once the four worlds are complete the player will be whisked back to the original cathedral again, this time to face the four mages.  A ring will eventually be acquired and the final puzzle will commence soon afterwards.  It isn't a difficult puzzle, but will take some time.  The puzzle won't accept wrong answers, so it's just trial and error, putting the rings (there are two now) in various containers and pushing buttons to see what works.  The good ending sees the two lovers reunited and freed, the cathedral blows up, thus forever sealing the doom of the four worlds it held.  So there is no Myst-like ending, where we can roam around afterwards.  Once we click on the Venus and Cupid painting outside the gate the credits roll.

 

The setting for the final puzzle, which is followed by the end game movie. 

 

Zork Nemesis is a humdinger of a game, and should not be missed by adventure game enthusiasts.  The story, based on love and alchemy, is first rate.  The music is excellent, and the orrery as a means of inter-world transport is original and a brilliant touch.  Puzzles are mostly fair and doable, though impatient players like myself will want hints and a walkthrough at times.  This is a game badly in need of a complete update and freshening up.  The actual game will never be dated as the story is timeless and involving, but in its current state it hampers the immersive experience.  So much work went into this game.  At least it's available in it's current condition on Steam.

 

One quibble (spoiler alert).  Like in Myst, when trying to decide which brother is evil, this game sets up the player for defeat.  There is no hint that the character with the voice of Satan is actually the good guy.  This is done simply to misdirect the player into making wrong choices at the end.  Boo, hiss.  After solving so many hard puzzles and dying so many times, players deserve a break at the end, not more punishment for their "wrong" choices.

 

A great game, and I now raise it's mark to 88%, higher than when I first played it.  Happy gaming!!

 

Mapman Mike 

 

 

 

  

A Trip To Sudbury

We are just back from an 8-day visit north to visit family.  We drove a total of 1001 miles!  My mom has had some back problems but seems to be doing much better now.  Last Sunday we drove north as far as Collingwood, staying over before continuing on next day to Sudbury.  We came home express yesterday.  There is road construction on Hwy 69 north of Parry Sound, so we opted for an alternate route north on Monday.  Our return was on a Sunday and there was no construction delay.

We visited a lot of breweries and cafes, some of them new to us.  Our trunk carried a fresh supply of good ales back home, now chilling in the dark basement.  Munro Meadery is closed on Sundays (!??!), much to our surprise.  So we moved on and made our first visit to St. Mary's, a small city north of London.  Known for its rock quarries, the small downtown is thus known for its historic stone buildings.  We stopped at Snapping Turtle Coffee for lunch and a pound of beans.  We strolled the downtown on a quiet Sunday, with only restaurants open.  A small railroad station building just outside of town serves as home base for Broken Rail Brewery.  We made a quick stop before moving on towards Collingwood.

 

One of several impressive historic buildings in downtown St. Mary's, made from local stone.

 

The Thames River passes beneath a bridge in downtown St. Mary's.
 

 

Broken Rail Brewery, St Mary's. 

 

Collingwood is home to several breweries.  We are familiar with two of them, and added a third on this trip.  Side Launch Brewing is an enormous place, and their live music event this Sunday afternoon was very well patronized.  They were selling plenty of beer on a magnificent day of weather.  We picked up some ales before checking into the Comfort Inn, perfectly situated for our next two breweries.  Endswell Beer might be our favourite Ontario pub, with real English style ales on hand pull and excellent vegan pizzas.  We settled in for a late afternoon session, greatly enjoying the atmosphere (it's very small and cozy) and summer breeze from the open doors.  100 meters away is Northwinds Brewhouse.  We had a flight here and left with a few cans.

 

Two home brews were on hand pull. 

 

Next day we headed off to North Bay, with Trestle Brewery our first stop.  Here we had to decide whether to take a roundabout route to Sudbury or try our luck with road construction delays.  We chose the roundabout route and scored big.  Hwy 124 between Parry Sound and Sundridge is a beautiful rural drive, passing many lakes and a most impressive dam and waterfall. We joined Hwy 11 and followed it to North Bay, discovering Gateway Brewing, an-all vegan brewery.  We picked up some cans of ale and pushed on towards Sudbury, following Hwy 17 (Trans-Canada Highway) west.  We stopped for coffee and some sight seeing at Sturgeon Falls before arriving at the Maple Street family home.  My brother Steve lives there with his wife Lynne and daughter Emma-Lee in a downstairs apartment, while Mom lives upstairs.  She is very well looked after by the family.  She was still in hospital rehab when we arrived, so we went next day to visit her with Emma-Lee.  Mom was ready to come home and had been promised to be released on Wednesday.

 

For the first time ever we saw a train crossing the Parry Sound Trestle, from Trestle Brewing.  A truck on rails (not shown) was pulling a work train, with caboose!

 

Highway bridge on 124 crosses the dangerous rapids of the Knoefli Falls.

 

Looking upstream from the bridge towards the dam.

 

Deb spotted trilliums growing near the waterfall.

Sturgeon Falls coffee stop was at Twiggs.

 

View of the Sturgeon River from the dock at the cafe, which sits below the local waterfalls.

 

Sturgeon Falls and dam, along Hwy 17 between North Bay and Sudbury. 

 

Mom did come home Wednesday morning and we got to visit with her there for four days.  We watched some TV with her, including two movies and a 7-part series on Netflix.  We also managed to get her to play a round of Carcassonne with us, and she easily beat both me and Deb.  Deb and I enjoyed daily walks, largely uphill and downhill in Sudbury, as well as coffee at Beard's Bakery (all vegan) and then downtown at Kuppajo Espresso Bar.  We paid a quick visit to 46 North Brewery for some take home cans.  We also had some interesting talks with Emma-Lee, who will be a high school senior next year and is trying to decide what to do with her life.

 

Our only Sudbury photo shows the underside of the famous west end train trestle near the family home.  It is still well used by mining trains. 

 

All in all it was good to get back home to Amherstburg.  Of the past 6 weeks we have been away for 3 of them.  Deb is in the middle of a new film and I am trying to memorize a piano program.  We both need to focus for the next month at least.

 

We got some news from Amanda, who is moving into her own apartment for the first time.  She lives in Toronto and has finally had enough of house sharing, at least for now.  Wishing her the very best with all that extra room she will soon have all to herself!  I would expect some book collecting might commence, among other things.

 

Turning finally to recently watched movies, we saw A Haunting in Venice from 2023, one of three Poirot films directed by Kenneth Branagh.  He also plays the role of Poirot.  Though it's a typical Agatha Christie mystery plot (choose the least likely suspects and they will turn out to be the criminals), it is very stylish with beautiful photography in Venice.  Though we are promised a haunting, what we get is a pretty much down to earth murder mystery story.  It's still fun, if not too memorable.

 

Now showing on Prime. 

 

Next came the 4th Ghostbusters movie, Frozen Empire from 2024.  It's not a great entry in the series, being mostly standard by now.  New York is threatened by an ancient evil spirit that talks very much like most ancient evil spirits, and even acts like them, too.  The city is also threatened by a mayor who wants to be rid of the Ghostbusters.  I wish they had left and gone to Cleveland for awhile, leaving New York on its own to fight the great evil.  Fun effects, a few snappy lines, with appearances by three of the original cast members to liven thing up even more.  Not a favourite with this writer.

 

Showing on Prime. 

 

Because they get Netflix and we don't, I searched and searched and searched for something to watch that wasn't 9 seasons long.  I discovered Queen's Gambit from 2020, an award-winning 7 part series produced by Netflix about a female chess player.  Based on a 1983 novel by Walter Tevis, the series was directed by Scott Frank.  Anya Taylor-Joy stars as the female chess player out to conquer the world.  We follow her progress from ground zero (9 years old and taught how to play by the janitor at the orphanage to which she is sent when her mother dies) to when she wins the world championship in Moscow.  It is quite a journey.  Though the actual story is somewhat realistic, her win at the end once again proving the superiority of Americans over the rest of us poor shmucks is a bit hard to swallow.  Still, we both loved the series and especially the actress.  Watch for her outfit near the end, as she dresses like the white chess queen.  Highly recommended, even for non chess players.

 

Showing on Netflix. 

 

Mapman Mike