rodiziorobs

Solo, which I suspected would be total dreck after all the behind the scenes drama and such, but was actually pretty good. I'd even watch it again sometime. Yesterday with the kiddos was Nutcracker and the Four Realms, which was enjoyable enough despite itself, and a few days ago my wife and I saw Robin Hood (2018) because we were in a mood to be entertained watching a crappy movie. It was crappy, but we were definitely entertained. Also, we were able to watch it free, and there was no way we were going to pay for that.

The past three weeks: Raiders of the Lost Ark, Hairspray, Spaceballs, and Ant-Man and the Wasp. I also started a Bond flick on Netflix but doubt I'll finish it.

Once again, your Discworld builds are impressive. The plain beard looks like a conscious choice, but even so some details like the whiskers are very well put together. The simple nature of it really does serve to not overload/overwhelm the build, and the expression in the face is just amazing. Thanks for sharing!

I saw this on TBB recently, but seeing it again here was a real treat. You've certainly packed a lot of details into a relatively small space. The building interiors are all wonderful (the rug on the bedroom floor is a nice little touch) but the façade is stunning. Amazing work

The incredible parts variety in the coral is something to be celebrated all on its own...but the display method really makes the whole creation look amazing. The lack of trans-clear supports doesn't seem like a big difference until you see it without them. Very cool, thanks for sharing!

My suggestion was similar to @TimeCruiser's above, but with brackets that are 2 studs wide instead of 1x1, since they are more common. Either way, you'd have to build them off to the side or front, though, but I think you'll find that's the case no matter what. You can always add something decorative there, or hide them behind an adjoining wall section. Another idea is to put a 1x1 modified plate at the end of each pillar (four total) and hold the side studs together with a 1x2 tile. The side studs won't be an exact stud width apart, but since the 1x2 can span odd gaps it shouldn't be a problem. You might need to put a 1x1 plate on the underside of one set of modified plates so they don't bow out. Again, you'd need to build it off to the side and hide it.

I really like this! I myself have used those planet pieces as a steampunk hot-air balloon before (but it was very different than yours), but the other details about your little contraption I really appreciate--the Bat-Rudder among them. Well done

The phoenix is really well done, and nicely posed, but the whole scene is completed with the pyre and temple/pedestal. Good designs all around, and it really succeeds at telling the story

Thanks for posting this here, it nice to see some true-to-life models, and these are really nice. They look simple enough and the designs don't make them appear cluttered or overwrought at all. The hair for eyes is a nice touch. My only nitpick would be the same that @jamesn named about the dragonfly wings, but I think you've got a great thing going here.

Another alt-build fan here *waves*. This is incredible! Even if you hadn't been trying to replicate a specific look, the shaping and coloring is absolutely tremendous. But to top it all off, it really resembles the inspiration behind it--a hard task even when not limited to pieces from a single set. Many kudos to you

It's all so good, with enough details to fawn over in every corner. One quibble though: why isn't anyone out with a picnic blanket, eating cheese Wallace and Gromit style?

I like how the first model looks more agile: by the third iteration it seems more heavy-duty and slow, more tank-like. For that reason, the second version is probably my favorite--it adds in some of the chunky aesthetic while still looking nimble. The cockpit is a huge improvement on the second model as well, and the overall shape I think just fits together really well, its very coherent. The color on all three is nice, with the orange pack to contrast the monochrome. It's not always easy to revisit a model and break it down in order to improve it. Great work, though, thanks for sharing!

I prefer the alternate wing design (with them angled forward), but also like the classic wing with fins. They are both great! But the standout is definitely the stripes and the sleekness of the ship/cockpit area.

They definitely qualify as alt-builds, and they are awesome. The Ice Planet diorama is my favorite, but it's easy to find things to love about all of them.

The vignette from The Tempest is definitely my favorite, but all the scenes are identifiable (most of them--I don't recognize every play) and fit well together despite being so different. Very well done

Woah, the wall technique is amazing, while also being very sturdy to build on. I like the tree, but prefer the bush at ground-level, TBH. I am unfamiliar with the game, but think that your usage of the magic blast pieces is ingenious. Well done, thanks for sharing!

Lookin' good! I haven't built much Castle myself in ages, so I feel like a noob, too. I'll definitely be keeping an eye on this space.

I don't either, but I don't think that's what @Aanchir was saying; rather, that they share a lot of the same visual design language that your typical space theme would have: Ultra Agents had the jetpacks and ludicrous sci-fi villains--kind of like a Space Police, but on earth. Nexo had the brightly colored trans-color cockpits, a definite visual throwback to classic space, as well as downloadable powers (again with the bright transparent colors). Were these themes capital-S Space themes? No; the characters never visit space, don't talk about visiting other planets, etc. Do they share a lot of the same characteristics and elements? Of course. Its like the difference between the Avengers and Guardians of the Galaxy--one is most definitely space-going, and the other, while being sci-fi/futuristic, remains largely earthbound. What all this has to do with Elves and Nexo and Star Wars (IMO) is that that kind of futuristic aesthetic allowed Lego to make themes parallel to SW without competing with them. (An explicit space-going theme concurrent with SW might not even be possible depending on contractual agreements, for all we know.) Rather than put out a Space theme, Lego released a few themes that filled that high-concept, brightly-colored sci-fi void that SW didn't cover (by itself, SW is decidedly grounded and monochrome), leaving another gap in their lineup (medieval fantasy) that happened to coincide with another gap in their repertoire: a non-Friends (non-city) "girls'" theme. My personal opinion is that since the minidoll was introduced, Lego and its designers has been itching to stretch their legs and see how the 'dolls could do in other settings. Given a few years of solid Friends sales, they put out others, first Elves, and then DC SH Girls, while also expanding the Friends line to atypical settings like go-cart racing, and now a hybrid 'doll-'fig combo with TLM2. Additionally, I think that--since Lego loves their data so much, and that has by all accounts worked out for them--they wanted to get a good solid grip on how minidoll themes actually performed if they left the consistently well-performing arena of City. City has always been a top seller--jokes about the umpteenth Police Station aside--so TLG started there with Friends to be able to compare it to City theme sales (and prove their data that girls related more to the 'doll-as-avatar). To solidify their sales data, they needed to branch out, but wanted to see if they (the minidolls) could do the heavy lifting of carrying a fantasy theme. Do I think they deliberately avoided making a minifig-based fantasy/historic theme so they could leave the slate open for Elves? Yes, but that decision was made in tandem with the decision to go ahead with a non-traditional sci-fi mashup (Nexo), another theme I get the feeling TLG's designers had been itching to try for awhile. In short, I agree largely with what @x105Black says below (sorry, I couldn't get the quote to attribute properly): The concurrence of Nexo and Elves with a Star Wars resurgence was probably planned (at least loosely) out back in 2012 when LOTR/the Hobbit was supposed to be entering its final year of a two-movie deal. Harry Potter had finished the year previous (but had been on its way out for awhile), the minidoll had just been introduced, and Ninjago was projected to end the next year or so. Looking ahead, TLG didn't know Ninjago would persist and that Chima would prove itself and unworthy successor, that The Lego Movie would take off and produce spin-offs, but in those planning stages I bet they wanted to give their minidoll themes their best chance at success, so left a fantasy/historic slot open in case the minidoll sales bore out. They obviously have, and the rest is history. Personally, I feel like Elves could keep going, even with Harry Potter and whatever other fantasy minifig theme comes up next, but I don't have all of TLG's sacrosanct data, so what do I know. I'm just glad we had Elves while it lasted, I look forward to whatever comes in the future, and hope Friends-in-Space becomes a major theme. I also hope to find someday the Elves sets I missed at a reasonable price on the secondary market, but that's an entirely different discussion.

The balloon piece for the belly has the strange distinction of being so brilliant (amazing!) yet so obvious--but I've never seen it before, and I for one would never have thought of it. I love it, and I'm definitely going to use that in the future. The whole thing is just wonderful. Many s to you.

Wow, this is really something! I'm not familiar with your other modulars, so I'll just comment on this one. I love the colors, it looks bright and inviting. The greenhouse on the back is a nice touch that I hadn't expected. I really like the angled window, it's one of my favorite parts. I do feel like it seems a bit out of place, though, probably because of the rounded balcony and steps in the same vertical space. If the jutting angle were present from top to bottom it might feel more coherent, but it also might feel like too much. Anyway, it's a minor quibble; overall, I really do like it. The whole building is quite eye-catching.

I like the contrast of the skyline above with the bright colors and composed shapes versus the dark hard-edged hellscape below. I've seen similar kind of things before with minifigs and such but I think the microscale is a smarter choice--it really focuses the build around the concept better and centers it. Great work all around

In the past week I've seen: The House with a Clock in its Walls: I liked it. I'm a professed Jack Black aficionado though, so if you're not, maybe YMMV. I also read John Bellairs when I was little, and thought this had a good amount of creepy horror stuff while still being suitable for kids. Also, that scene-stealing Cate Blanchett strikes again! The Dark Knight: well, half of it. (Feel free to skip ahead if you want to avoid reading my heretical views) After seeing it in theaters back in '08, I didn't care if I never saw it again, but it showed up in my Netflix queue and...here we are. I still don't care for it. While Christian Bale's Bruce Wayne is one of the better portrayals of the character, his Batman is sorely lacking. Some aspects of the movie are quite good, but so much of it is clunky or ill fitting, or poorly written/choreographed/shot. One of my biggest pet peeves is how it insists on delivering the audience this kind of gritty realism but then tears that down with illogical plot and character contrivances (granted, this trait is distinctly Nolan). Also, bad sound editing, another Nolan hallmark. Not Inception or Interstellar levels of bad, but bad. I loved Batman Begins, which had the same issues, but I felt (feel) like in TDK they are too numerous and major to forgive so easily. I'll probably finish the movie anyway, but I still don't understand why it's so highly rated. And finally, Mortal Engines. I wanted to like this one, I really did. I enjoyed the book immensely, and the high concept is definitely appealing, but other than the visuals (which were beyond any doubt remarkable, eye popping, memorable, maybe even near perfect? Definitely worth the price of admission), the movie was frustratingly bland. Not bad, just..flat. Granted, there was a lot to do, building up a future fantasy setting and then laying a complicated plot structure within that, but in trying to do so much, the story leaps along in a way I'm not sure I could have followed if I hadn't already been so familiar with it. It's one I'll see again, probably, but mostly just for the visuals. Coming up I've got Aquaman and Spider-verse in my sights. Probably not this week, but soon.

The shaping of feathers using more standard-fare slopes is really well done, its quite realistic. Then I look around the eyes and beak and see the incredible parts usage and technique to achieve the same effect, and its really mindblowing. The anchor in particular took me a good while to recognize. Fantastic

I really like the understated look of the mill. The walls and roof have great textures (and angles) but aren't falling down or busy looking. The whole building, with the sails and the railing fits together really well. The rest is also great--minifig positioning especially--the the mill really caught my eye.

I think it works wonderfully! It definitely shows off the shape of the ship better and is more coherent color-wise. I love it. Good point. While I don't have much of an opinion on NK's specific classification as far as theme goes (nor do I think we really need to go into it here), the look really pairs well with a deep space design, as seen here. Thanks again @TheNerdyOne_ for sharing your design here!