DreamTheater

You guys want to wait 5 years for the full FF VII to appear, or rather have one episode every year? Square Enix, not the fastest developers in the world...

Bespin, I have that last one, the double-disc set. It sounds tremendous! I especially love Williams conducting The Planets, what a performance ! For me, it beats the other one I have (Dutoit, Montréal Symphony).

It's a bit like when The Final Destination came out, and we thought, hey it must be the last one, because there's no number at the end, and the title is preceded by The. A couple of years later, a fifth movie came out anyway. But yeah, Square Enix invented the concept, the never-ending finite franchise.

MGS V is completely unrecognizable as a sequel to the first one, they're like two completely different games set in different worlds. But there's the boxes to hide in, the tranq gun, Big Boss, and numerous other references to the first one and the sequels. The first one was a straightforward stealth-action-adventure game with a gripping twisting storyline. And the sequels evolved from that, each new one holding some radical changes. TPP is the most open-ended game of the series, the freedom is simply spectacular, and the combat and sneaking tremendously exciting. It's also very low on cutscenes (at least so far), has no codec transmissions, and most of the story is told through optional tape recordings, which you can listen to while sneaking / going about the environment. Yes, there's a ton of missions, side ops and quite a bit of managing your base. But I happen to like that aspect, as the mechanics of it all are just so well done. It all gels tremendously well together. However, I'm thinking this might be another game that is just too damn big for its own good. So far I'm loving it, but I can already see the repetitive nature of it. I would advise against TPP unless you're a die-hard MGS fan.

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs is a charming and fun film, but for excellence in film-making Empire Strikes Back is untouchable bollemanneke. You'll just have to deal with that fact.

Yep, me too... A few years back I tried to play the PC version, I got about halfway through and then I became bored with it. Couldn't understand why everyone praised this one to high heaven. Had I played it in the 90s, I'm sure I would've loved it. So this remake's on my radar as well. Anyone else here enjoying MGS V? I'm totally addicted to its open world design, awesome missions, and fluid combat mechanics, but it has Far Cry 2 type respawning outposts, that isn't always the most fun. Also once I find vehicles in the environment, I abandon my horse, since it's slower than when the Boss runs. Don't know why this hasn't been patched yet. I'm also currently on my first run through the new Starcraft II: Legacy of the Void. Only the campaign though, the multiplayer is for superhumans that know every keyboard shortcut by heart. It's good fun. And the music's fantastic as well.

Even though I have The Planets with another orchestra / conductor, to have one conducted by JW is something I couldn't pass up.

Comedy cannot be funnier than what happens in that film (thanks to those 6 geniuses).

I love this one... I actually prefer the complete score. Just the right amount of gothic excellence and batshit-crazy shenanigans. The way LLL organized that made me appreciate the OST more as well. Because I wasn't that big a fan of it 15-20 years ago. But with age comes wisdom and appreciation.

Was never into him, or his band(s). Still 48 is way too young. R.I.P.

Bought it on iTunes, made my own playlist, burned it to CD-R, made some custom covers. Voila, I have a physical copy.

Yep, sure do! I program out the piano cues (not my thing), but everything else is fantastic. So can we expect Volume II soon?

They've been listing $5 per CD for the last few years for me. Which usually amounts to something around $50, i.e. above the limit, yet the last time I was actually taxed was at the time of the Spartacus set. I've received confirmation they are only obliged to put the full amount of the order whenever they need to ship it registered, with additional security, so they can put in a claim when it becomes lost and get refunded. But then the customs tax office may intercept it and 'fine' what they think the recipient should pay. Otherwise with normal overseas shipping, they just put what they want on the box, as little as possible, but when the package becomes lost, it's impossible for them to put in a claim. Luckily I've never had an order missing in the 15 years I've been buying from them. So I've learned another lesson today: just go for the cheap shipping option.

Yeah it would really suck if somehow SAE were obliged to do that now, because until now they were making the customs office losing a lot on funds coming in. But to be honest, it shouldn't matter where I buy my products, in this case music CD's that aren't sold anywhere else than the U.S., so I have literally no choice to order them overseas. To punish me for that lack of choice with this import tax bullshit is just not right. Bunch of thieving bastards... Or do they want me to pirate my music, that would be easy thing to do... No it's us, paying for the music, that get screwed over.

My latest batch ordered from SAE has finally arrived (BTTF II & III, Chain Reaction, Stargate SG-1) But man, my excitement took a dive when I learned I had to pay a sizeable amount due to import taxes (U.S. to Europe). It was the first time SAE printed the full amount (about 100 dollars) on the box, in the past they have ALWAYS put a very small amount on the slip, so it wouldn't be intercepted by customs. I've sent an e-mail to ask if this is just a one time thing (because I paid an additional 20 bucks for secure shipping). I hope it won't be the norm from now on. Man this one order of 4 releases (including one cheap) has taken a big chunk out of my wallet.

BTTF part II - Silvestri (Intrada) Really liking this new release... The hugely improved sound quality and added material really do it for me, I would even dare call it fun & memorable, even the darker middle part. Back in the day this was called an uninspired effort from Silvestri. But nowadays it shows more creativity than most of his recent output.

Where's that image of the three musical bears... Cracked me up !

How did you insert those in your post? I just do copy image, and paste it here.

QFT

All I see are are JPG filenames in little boxes... When I click on one I get an error message. "Hackers are possibly trying to steal your data from images.sae-cdn.com"

Already ordered, samples or not.

MGS: The Phantom Pain, a couple of hours and missions in. Design-wise it's really quite ingenious. How all the different elements and mechanics work together, I love this aspect. Snake has never gotten a more detailed and diverse playground to do all his elaborate tricks in. The environment (Afghanistan) is a little monotonous looking but the constant varying heights in terrain make up for that, and it's really fun to approach a site in full stealth mode, try to take down the guards and just be hiding for as long as possible, until inevitably you get caught and all hell breaks loose. There's also a whole system of base building and expanding and soldier hiring that was already in Peace Walker, albeit in simplified form. Here it's more streamlined but still as ridiculous. In a fun way. For example the Fulton parachute lets you 'transport' knocked out guards to your base in 5 seconds, where they can be put to good use for the good guys. It also works on animals and base equipment like cannons or mortars. Hilarious to see this system in action. And why does the horse have to be so slow !!! Snake can sprint faster than this horse... Other than that I love this new Kojima game.

Why of course I do, but mostly the orchestrated versions (Distant Worlds 1-3), FF VIII Fithos Lusec Wecos Vinosec which is the perfect FF album (except for that annoying vocal in one particular cue). I also love the soundtrack of FF XIII (some superb orchestral cues and lovely themes in that one).

It's a cool film... typical Joe Dante 80s Fun with a capital F.