Escape Room Reviews: Mortuary Mystery

Company: South Bay Volunteer Center
Room: Mortuary Mystery (Beta Test)
Date Played: 9/24/17
Player Count: 4 (2 and 2 strangers)
Success:  Eventual Success! (as part of the testing process, we completed the room, but it took us longer than 60 minutes)

Premise: The South Bay Volunteer Center’s annual fundraiser this year is an escape room. There’s some kind of plot about employee malfeasance, but the real story is that this is an excellent pop-up room escape.

Immersion: The center itself was once the county morgue, and so the setting of this room (a morgue) is strikingly realistic!

Highlights: Interacting with real mortuary-ish props is neat. One of the most creative uses of a key I’ve ever seen.  

Lowlights: The flow of the room is kind of confusing. Both from a plot perspective, becuase I’m pretty sure the story doesn’t make sense, and from a puzzle perspective. I was unclear of what our ultimate goal was, and it kind of snuck up on me. Also, I got tricked by a thing that has fooled me before in other rooms. I need to learn!

And Finally: I played this room as a tester, so there is a very good chance things will change by the time you play it. The testing experience itself was great though - the designers were excited to see us run through it all and cheered on our successes. Story gripes aside, this is a pretty neat room. It’s more inventive and more physical than a lot of “pro” rooms we’ve played, and definitely worth checking out while it lasts. Which is only 5 weeks!   Out of the 34 games I’ve played, I’m ranking this one #14.

How to book this room yourself: Visit https://www.volcenter.org/escaperoom before October 29, 2017! Hurry!

#2,391: Kingsmen: The Golden Circle

Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me - ★★★☆☆
After wrapping up The Return, it was time to go back to the movie and look for clues. I thought the insights of the new show would make the movie more palatable. What I'd forgotten was that the chunk of the movie that relates to The Return, the first part with Chet Everett, was always the good part. Then they stick you with hours and hours of garbage about Laura Palmer. I've never cared about Laura Palmer. She's an impossible character with an insane, retroactively engineered to do list.

Logan Lucky - ★★★☆☆
I was clueless about this one. I didn’t know who was in it, what it was about, or that it was another experimental Soderbergh project. Which is a shame, because I like experimental Soderbergh projects. So it was only chance that I got to see this one. And I liked it! I’m a little suspicious that the logic might not exactly hold up, and there was a part where I got all distracted wondering if people in the Carolinas refer to freeways with a "the" in front of their names. Other than that, a fun heist.

I just need to see Lucky now, so in case the awards season is lousy there’s a chance that my top ten list for the year might include Logan, Lucky, and Logan Lucky!

Kingsman: The Golden Circle - ★★½☆☆ I didn’t love the original but this one clicked for me. You know right from the opening that it’s all nonsense and somehow I felt free to get on board. Like you know it’s Brave and the Bold, not Batman Begins, so don’t worry about what the grappling hook is attached to.

When I saw the original I wondered how they were going to do a sequel without the most / only interesting character. Then, as though out of spite, he’s both a) in this movie anyway, just because, and b) bland.

I bet that people making spy movie sequels just love doing that meta joke of repeating gags from the first one, because it’s like getting paid again for the same screenpla–I mean, because it’s a bitingly satirical look at the formulaic nature of classic Bond movies.

Also, I wonder if action scenes where everything is played back a little too fast (see: Civil War, Fury Road) read as sped-up to ‘normal’ viewers. (Normal used in this case to refer to people who aren't editors doing tricky things to video all day.)

Not Art Issue 3 Cover Sketch

Here's a new zine for a new day. And a time-lapse of drawing the cover to issue 3. 

Get yourself a copy including a handsome photocopy of the art above, and hundreds of tiny words arranged into something like a spy story with jokes, by visiting www.patreon.com/notart.

This month I'm running a special, get a full year's subscription for full price! That's 12 issues! Wow!

#2,389: Atomic Blonde

What Happened to Monday - ★☆☆☆☆
Netflix is taking the reins from the Sci-Fi (ahem, Syfy) channel for goofy, cheapo SF movies.

Noomi Rapace is, somehow, the discount Tatiana Maslani in this dystopic vision of the future brought about by a clumsy understanding of science that already exists and works in our world.

Death Note - ★★½☆☆
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy taught me that when you adapt something into a different medium, you don't have to make the same thing. It's an opportunity to make something new! Well, newish. So I can see how purists, or even casuals, might have a bone to pick with this version of Death Note by way of American YA. But it does seem like the movie they wanted to make, and clearly they're not taking themselves too seriously. Also, what high school has so many jars of stylish debris everywhere? And also also, what kind of deal does Netflix have with Willem Dafoe? Is he going to be in all of these?

Atomic Blonde - ★★½☆☆
Fan chatter on the internet called this movie "Joan Wick," and while Theron's character is legitimately badass in her own right, the movies differ wildly. A big part of what makes Wick work, aside from all of the Star Wars-style hints at a broader universe, is the dead simple plot. Atomic Blonde loves its plot. Loves it loves it. If I had to guess, this movie will be most remembered for its knock down, drag out brawl near the end.

Escape Room Reviews: The Smugglers' Tunnels

Company: Escape Chronicles
Room: The Smugglers’ Tunnels
Date Played: 9/4/17
Player Count: 4, a good minimum for this room.
Success:  Success!

Premise: As part of an elite crime ring that’s been burned, you need to get the goods, finger your traitorous partner, and get out!  The more work you do and the more puzzles you solve, the more stolen artifacts you can recover and the more cash you get to split with your crew.

Immersion: Escape Chronicles’ first room is well designed, but it’s an office theme, so that’s almost a gimme. This room looks as much or more like a cavern hideout than the Testing Facility looks like an office break room. 

Highlights: The Smugglers’ Tunnels has a wonderful system for giving each member of your ring of thieves secret, specialized knowledge. You’re not a bunch of henchmen, you’re hand picked for your unique skills, all of which are necessary to pull this thing off. The room features a non-linear series of tasks befitting each specialist. This room has fun interactions, some cool reveals, and plenty of things to keep everyone busy. 

Lowlights: I wasted some of my loot on calling a criminal mastermind for a hint when I should’ve totally seen the thing the hint was about. Also, we got suckered by a forgery instead of one of the real valuables. 

And Finally: I loved this room. With two excellent rooms, Escape Chronicles is officially my favorite escape company in Los Angeles (or anywhere). It may be neck-and-neck with Evil Genius, but so far I’ve only seen one room from them. The North Hollywood location might make Escape Chronicles seem a little off the beaten path, especially for visitors and tourists, but this should be considered one of LA’s can’t-miss games. Out of 33 games played, this one is practically tied for first. I'm going to call it #2.

How to book this room yourself: Visit https://www.escapechronicles.com/rooms/smugglers-tunnels/