coldOne of the things that I'm really enjoying about the gaming sessions of Universe at the moment is the freshness that Joanne is bringing to the gaming group. While Kathy, SteveB, Nick, and Tom have definitely got the feel of the game down at this point, Joanne is experiencing some of the universe I've created from the perspective of one who likes sf rpging, but hasn't done enough of it yet. She told me after we finished gaming is that she likes the 70's and 80's feel of the game, and that she considers this to be well worth the lack of a sleek, trim gaming system such as one might find today. Fortunately, she's not having too many problems with the math of the game and is playing her cargo handler as a, shall we say, "inexperienced noob" off her homeworld. Lots of fun.
After the gaming session last night, the group watched another film noir, this time around No Way Out from 1950. The movie stars Richard Widmark, Linda Darnell, and Stephen McNally, and marks the first movie role for a very young Sidney Poitier. The movie is about racial bigotry and race relations, and pulls no punches in its story and its perspective. It shows the racism from both the black and the white sides, and the characters spend a good part of the movie trying to deal with one another from a racial perspective, with Richard Widmark playing the somewhat insane villain once more to the hilt. Widmark is known for playing the villain, but in this one he is truly mean and nasty, a twisted piece of work, who almost twists Linda Darnell's character as well. The Friday group enjoyed the movie, but both Tom and Kathy said that it left them feeling somewhat uncomfortable afterwards, the movie being very real in terms of its subject matter, and the resolution being one where another couple of scenes at the end would have tied things up a bit more tightly. Overall, a good film, and one the group liked. So, for those who've seen it, please comment here, and for those who haven't, check out No Way Out. You won't be disappointed.