January 2026 Reviews
A collection of all my reviews written and posted in January 2026:
Video Games (Commercial/Professional)
Gnog (2017) - 9/10 - "no clicks, no clacks"
Slouching Towards Bedlam (2003) - 9/10, "thinking of something bad and grinning"
Rendezvous With Rama (1984) - 4/10, "still disappointed after 41 years"
Far Cry 2 (2008) - 8/10, "wild fire in Plato's cave" (an updated review after an in-depth discussion)
Audiosurf (2008) - 8/10, "make your own kind of music"
Below The Root (1984) - 8/10, "A Green And Pleasant Land"
Thief Gold (1999) - 10/10, "tap tap tap"
Dungeon Keeper (1997) - 10/10, "hero shooter"
Idle Champions of the Forgotten Realms (2018) - 1/10, "head of vecna"
Conflict: Desert Storm (2002) - 3/10, "like watching autopsy footage"
Video Games (Fan)
Film
House of Bad (2013) - 1.5/5, "not a movie"
The Fantastic 4: First Steps (2025) - 2/5, "...the movie doesn't seem to know what to do with what it's got."
Wake Up Dead Man (2025) - 5/5, "...the best of the trilogy so far."
Raw File (2025) - 3.5/5, "...a good use of limited resources."
Spaghetti Junction (2021) - 4/5, "You desperately want the best for her..."
Hypnotic (2021) - 1/5, "...amazing how miscalculated it is."
Gush (2025) - 1.5/5, "A misfire."
Feral (2025) - 1.5/5 - "...around and around..."
Keeper (2025) - 3/5 - "a bit repetitive for someone of Maslany's talent"
Barbie (2023) - 4/5 - "a personal discussion"
Cloud (2024) - 4.5/5 - "Why not ask the syndicate?"
Resident Evil: Death Island (2023) - 2/5 - "Oh well."
The Kid (1921) - 4/5 - "We aren't supposed to be devastated"
It Ends (2025) - 5/5 - "Bleak and wonderful"
Within The Pines (2024) - 4/5 - "An absolute find."
Everyone is Going to Die (2025) - 1.5/5 - "Doesn't seem to fit the characters as presented"
The Conjuring Tapes (2025) - 2/5 - "Short films need a punch."
Dark Places (2015) - 2/5 - "Can't sustain the double act"
The Soviet Sleep Experiment (2019) - 1.5/5 - "there's not a good lead-up either"
Books
The Labyrinth House Murders (1988) by Yukito Ayatsuji - 4.5/5 - "a Great Detective"
Kill Once, Kill Twice (1956) by John Creasey (writing as Kyle Hunt) - 3.5/5 - "Hard to beat Dostoyevsky"
Madrigal for Charlie Muffin (1981) by Brian Freemantle - 2/5 - "...well past the halfway point by the time anything happens..."
The Corn Maiden and other Nightmares (2011) by Joyce Carol Oates - 4.5/5 - "Oates can't be beaten."
The Roman Hat Mystery (1929) by Ellery Queen - 4.5/5 - "it's in the frickin title"