Fountain of Youth

I am curious about this trailer, for a number of reasons. First, of course, is that it's right up my alley as a treasure hunt story. Second is that I'm only hearing about it now, when it is about to be released. Third is that I like the actors. 

-Nate

I Will Be on a Savage Universe Podcast!

This is a first for me. On Thursday I'll be joining J-M DeFoggi for a SWAGtember podcast episode over on Savage Universe! Here's a link to the announcement on the Pinnacle website, along with a screen capture of the site itself. 

-Nate 

PEG News Update

New Trailer for Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny

This trailer was released almost two weeks ago, and I am finally taking some time to look at it. 

Here are my thoughts: 

• My first thought was that the use of the song "Sympathy for the Devil" by the Rolling Stones was rather jarring. In previous films we've seen the use of music from the time period, such as Sallah singing "I Am the Monarch of the Sea" from HMS Pinafore and Willie Scott singing "Anything Goes." Those were both released before 1936, however, which is the more familiar period in which Raiders of the Lost Ark takes place. Seeing that this fifth film is set in the late 1960s, however, I guess it is appropriate. 
• This trailer really seems to play up the idea that Indy feels out of place in this time period and, in fact, is about to retire from his job as a college professor. 
• The lyrics of the song clearly refer to temptation toward wicked deeds, including the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ, the Bolshevik uprising in Russia and the slaughter of the royal family, World War II and the Hundred Years War. 
• There remains the question of just what the titular Dial can do. Helena clains that it "can change the course of history." Voller takes that a step further when he says, "Hitler made mistakes, and with this I will correct them all. Does that imply some kind of time travel device? I don't love the sound of adding time travel to this setting, but what else could it be? 
• Finally, this film seems to create the potential for Helena Shaw to start her own series of adventures. Could this be a setup for a spinoff series, much like The Mandalorian and other shows build upon the events of the Star Wars movies? 

As usual, only time will tell. 

-Nate

TV Series for The Sixth Gun?

This is interesting. I know that some years ago NBC worked on a pilot for a TV series based on The Sixth Gun, but that it ultimately did not succeed. Now it seems that writer Selwyn Seyfu Hinds has made a deal with the studio UCP to produce a series. 

https://variety.com/2022/tv/news/selwyn-seyfu-hinds-ucp-deal-the-sixth-gun-1235191992/

For that reason, Pinnacle Entertainment Group has an RPG bundle for this game. 

https://peginc.com/the-sixth-gun-heads-to-tv-celebrate-with-a-specially-priced-rpg-bundle/

I also wonder if this might be part of the reason that we haven't seen new issues of Shadow Roads since September of 2020. 

-Nate

Using the THA Archetypes for Young Heroes

 

Detailed below are suggestions for how the archetypal characters from Treasure Hunter Adventures could be used to play kids similar to those in Finding 'Ohana and The Goonies. The chief modification to make is replacing the Archetypes' various Hindrances with Young (SWADE page 28), meaning that they must reduce one Attribute and two Skills. In fact, that's a good opportunity to reduce or eliminate Skills that might be inappropriate for a character of that age. Additionally, they'll need new starting equipment to represent their youthful possessions.

Archetype	Types of Kids	Description	Example
Retrieval Specialist	Daredevil, Thief	These kids are quick and agile, and probably enjoy putting those qualities to the test. This could just be seeking thrills, or it might be to provide for oneself and others.	Pili is a good example of this, having honed her skills in competitive geocaching.
Heavy	Big Kid, Athlete	Some might be big and strong for their age, while others are just older. Either way, they are good at moving heavy things.	Eoannes and Brandon both fit this role as the older brothers.
Pilot/ Driver	Farm Kid, Older Kid	While it might seem unusual, sometimes it's necessary to advance the plot. This could be a farm kid who learned at a young age because it was needed.	Hana argaubly plays this part, even if her skills aren't really put to the test.
Guide	Boy or Girl Scout	This kid knows all about the natural world, and feels quite comfortable being outdoors for long periods of time—even overnight.	Although Casper might initially seem more like a nerd, his knowledge of nature and reverence for Hawaii match up here.
Face/ Dealer	Popular Kid, Natural Leader	Charisma is what helps this kid navigate life. This can play out like a fast-talker, a comedian, or someone who is sincere and idealistic.	Mikey, Mouth and Chunk all play this role in different ways. Mikey is idealistic, Mouth is convincing, and Chunk is funny.
Scholar	Inventor or Nerd	This kid knows a lot about some specific topics, usually ones that are useful in regard to the storyline.	Data fits this role, especially with his gadgets such as bully blinders, slick shoes and pincers of power.

Finding 'Ohana

 Finding 'Ohana was released almost one year ago, and I must apologize for being so slow in writing about it. I'll blame that on having a son who was born in March of 2020, who now is a toddler and makes it hard to find time for watching movies and writing. That, in fact, makes a good transition into the thoughts that I have about this film.

• This movie has lots of references to The Goonies and Raiders of the Lost Ark, which I like. That even includes an appearance by the actor Ke Huy Quan.

• In contrast to those movies, this one has a diverse cast of heroes. That is important.

• Like The Goonies, this is a treasure hunter story. It has less of an edge, though, probably due to the lack of villains like the Fratellis.

• The primary set of clues for this hunt is a journal—written first in Spanish, and then translated into Hawaiian. I think it works well for moving the action forward in this treasure hunt, and the character's interpretations of the text are quite amusing. What is more, I think this kind of device would work well in a treasure-hunting scenario for young players.

• The movie makes good use of its natural setting, both with beautiful cinematography and in creating obstacles for the heroes to bypass. The narrow tunnel, the lava chamber and others would require player strategy and Trait tests, making for action that doesn't require violence.

• This film also has a sense of reverence, both for the natural setting of Hawaii and as a sense of family and community. That is a refreshing change from stories such as Angels & Demons, about which I wrote earlier.

Second Trailer for the Uncharted Movie

 This trailer provides a little more insight into a big action sequence. 

-Nate 

Trailer for The Lost City

I had not been aware of this movie until I saw the trailer today. My first impression was that it's going for a Romancing the Stone vibe, with Sandra Bullock, Channing Tatum and Daniel Radcliffe stepping in for Kathleen Turner, Michael Douglas and Danny DeVito. We shall see. 

-Nate

First Trailer for the Uncharted Movie

We finally have the first trailer for the Uncharted movie, based on the video game franchise. I'll definitely want to see this when it is released. 

-Nate

Angels & Demons: Novel vs. Film

Angels & Demons Novel vs. Film

From the beginning, it's important to remember that Angels & Demons is not a treasure hunter story. It is a thriller, but essentially a murder investigation. With that in mind, here are my thoughts as I watched the film and compared it to the novel.

• The movie certainly streamlines the exposition in the story, eliminating the trip to Cern among other things.

• There are numerous character changes, most notably changing the Camerlengo into an Irishman. I'm not sure why those changes were made.

• All in all, this feels more like watching a Hannibal Lector movie than any kind of treasure hunt, especially with the string of gruesome deaths.

• There is also a general sense of irreverence, especially when the motivation of the main villain is revealed. This really stands out when the film is compared to ones like Raiders of the Lost Ark and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, something that I'll examine more closely when writing about The Da Vinci Code.

RotLA and THA: The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles

Continuing the lead-up to the fortieth anniversary of Raiders, here are links to three different Youtube options for watching the rather short-live prequel series, The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles. Personally, I hope these episodes eventually find their way onto Disney+. 

-Nate 

The Lost Symbol TV Series Trailers

During this pandemic, it feels like a lot of movie and television productions have been put on hold. Over the course of the past year there have been updates about many of them--Indiana Jones 5, the Uncharted movie, a sequel to the Tomb Raider reboot, and even a television series for Disney+ based on the National Treasure franchise--but nothing actually hitting the screen. Today, however, we took a step, with the release of a trailer for The Lost Symbol. 

This series, for NBC/Peacock, is based on the novel by Dan Brown. That book was initially intended to be adapted into a film, but was passed over instead for Inferno. From what one can see in the trailer, it looks promising, although the "Coming Soon" detail doesn't give us a concrete date. 

-Nate 

Update: Here's a second trailer; the series will begin streaming on Thursday, 9/16, on Peacock.