Spot Reviews 08/08/25
Aug 08 2025
Circuit Breakers (2022) [+] Teen-oriented science fiction anthology show with seven episodes each less than half a hour long. In each episode teens at this high tech suburban private high school (I guess maybe this show is set a few years in the future with cutting-edge tech) experience different things. Episodes one a teen gets injected with nanobots to help him grow taller and be more athletic; episode two a teen uses a robot plus AI assistant to impersonate him and do all the boring schoolwork while he concentrates for a dance audition; episode seven a bit different as it's set on a Mars base where a teen and her parents handle the isolation and then an emergency… Series is fairly good and thoughtful and better than I expected. It's nice that each episode has one to three main characters but characters from other episodes also make appearances since they're in the same high school.
The Doorman (2020) [/] Former Marine Gunny Ali Gorski (Ruby Rose) with PTSD gets an easy job as a doorman at a building undergoing renovations so most of the tenants are gone except for an old couple and it turns out her dead sister's husband and two kids. She is invited for an Easter dinner and while there a group of thugs takes over the building looking for stolen paintings from the Eastern Bloc when the Wall fell… Kind of a standard action movie where the bad guys die in different ways. But worth it for Ruby Rose in Marine fatigues.
Dead Cells+ (2022) [/] Apple Arcade version of this action platformer rogue-like. You explore a dungeon defeating monsters and collecting items and treasure. You can of want a controller since there are multiple combat options (sword, bow, dodge, throw, jump are all different buttons and you need to use them in combinations). If you die it's over and restart from zero, though apparently you also connect Cells which are used for permanent improvements. One of the few good controller games on Apple Arcade.
Old Man's Journey+ (2022) [/] Apple Arcade version where you play an old man making a hiking journey, stopping at various places, and having recollections of his life. It's a side view game and you're walking on a hill with other hills in front or behind. You can't jump but you can move hills up and down (and the buildings on them) except for the hill you are standing on. Move a hill so that it connects and have the old man walk to it then move another hill and so forth and in general you are moving either up the screen or down it. Not terribly complicated and maybe not meant to be puzzles but more something to do as you watch the old man travel. I suppose the puzzle stuff gets more complicated though I found the game itself not for me. It's a good polished game though just not my type of game.
Deadlands: Rise of the Black Circle (2024) [/] Three-issue limited series released as a graphic novel. The GN has a Bad Luck Betty McGrew short story plus Savage Worlds writeup for the five main characters. The story is four heroes tangling with La Bruja and then having to fight zombies and a giant zombie thing. Unfortunately it ends in a cliffhanger and I guess we’ll see when the sequel appears… I found the story kind of bland though, even allowing for already knowing the characters (and If you don’t know the characters they’re not really explained here).
The Doorman (2020) [/] Former Marine Gunny Ali Gorski (Ruby Rose) with PTSD gets an easy job as a doorman at a building undergoing renovations so most of the tenants are gone except for an old couple and it turns out her dead sister's husband and two kids. She is invited for an Easter dinner and while there a group of thugs takes over the building looking for stolen paintings from the Eastern Bloc when the Wall fell… Kind of a standard action movie where the bad guys die in different ways. But worth it for Ruby Rose in Marine fatigues.
Dead Cells+ (2022) [/] Apple Arcade version of this action platformer rogue-like. You explore a dungeon defeating monsters and collecting items and treasure. You can of want a controller since there are multiple combat options (sword, bow, dodge, throw, jump are all different buttons and you need to use them in combinations). If you die it's over and restart from zero, though apparently you also connect Cells which are used for permanent improvements. One of the few good controller games on Apple Arcade.
Old Man's Journey+ (2022) [/] Apple Arcade version where you play an old man making a hiking journey, stopping at various places, and having recollections of his life. It's a side view game and you're walking on a hill with other hills in front or behind. You can't jump but you can move hills up and down (and the buildings on them) except for the hill you are standing on. Move a hill so that it connects and have the old man walk to it then move another hill and so forth and in general you are moving either up the screen or down it. Not terribly complicated and maybe not meant to be puzzles but more something to do as you watch the old man travel. I suppose the puzzle stuff gets more complicated though I found the game itself not for me. It's a good polished game though just not my type of game.
Deadlands: Rise of the Black Circle (2024) [/] Three-issue limited series released as a graphic novel. The GN has a Bad Luck Betty McGrew short story plus Savage Worlds writeup for the five main characters. The story is four heroes tangling with La Bruja and then having to fight zombies and a giant zombie thing. Unfortunately it ends in a cliffhanger and I guess we’ll see when the sequel appears… I found the story kind of bland though, even allowing for already knowing the characters (and If you don’t know the characters they’re not really explained here).