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Contact: Cheryl Minns, Art Editor
™ arts@theotherpress.ca

Remembering
Alan Rickman

A look at his magical movie career

 

Charlene Minns
Contrioutor

he late Alan Rickman, who

passed away at 69 on January
14, was a beloved British actor and
director with a career spanning
nearly 40 years of television,
film, and stage productions
covering a variety of genres.
From blockbusters like Alice in
Wonderland to period dramas
such as Sense and Sensibility,
Rickman brought a severity
to roles that he used to make
us laugh, cry, or even hate his
characters. While featured in
many leading roles, Rickman’s
critical and commercial success
was found in playing smaller

supporting roles in larger pictures.

: Die Hard (1988)

Rickman’s first American

: film role saw him as the villainous :
: Hans Gruber, a German terrorist
: set on blowing up the Nakatomi
: Plaza, an office building where

: NYPD cop John McClane (Bruce
: Willis) is attending a holiday

: party. Rickman was offered

: the role after only two days of

: being in Los Angeles. He also

: lent his insight into creating the
: character, suggesting Gruber be

: well-dressed to pose as a hostage
: ina memorable scene where he

: uses an American accent to pose}
: as one of the hostages. Rickman’s :
: calm and collected performance

: adds to the suspense of the film

: and showcases his strong ability

; to portray a conniving antagonist.

: Galaxy Quest (1999)

In the 1990s, Rickman
appeared in a few more comedic

: roles, the most notable being

: Alexander Dane in Galaxy

: Quest. He played a washed-up

: Shakespearean actor who despises
: his former TV character, an alien
: akin to Star Trek’s Spock. As the

: most serious character, Rickman
: makes use of sarcasm and dry

: humor, incorporating it well with
: the more comedic performances
: by the rest of the cast.

: The Harry Potter Series (2001-11)

In Rickman’s most

: recognizable role, the Harry Potter
: series featured him as Severus
: Snape. Being one of Rickman’s
: only film series, it allows us to

This issue:

(¥Y Comic Corner: The ultimate bromance

(¥Y Flawed by Design: The cinematic arcade

(¥Y The return of the roadshow

And more!

: see how he plays the longer

: progression of the character

: from villain in Harry Potter and
: the Philosopher's Stone to well-
: intentioned but misunderstood
: by Harry Potter and the Deathly
: Hallows Part 2. Rickman’s portrayal :
: led the character to become a fan
: favourite and won him several

: award nominations from the last
: film, culminating in him winning
: the fan-voted MTV Movie Award
: for best character portrayal in

: the Harry Potter franchise.

Love Actually (2003)

Once again working with

: frequent collaborator Emma
: Thompson, Rickman portrays a
: design agency manager named
: Harry, who cheats on his wife

Image via www.blastr.com

: Karen (Thompson) with his

: new secretary Mia (Heike

: Makatsch). When Karen finds a
: necklace Harry bought for Mia,
: she assumes it is for her and is

: hurt when, on Christmas, she

receives a Joni Mitchell CD. The

: storyline’s open ending left fans

: wondering for years if the couple
: made it, until the script editor

: revealed last month that the

: fictional couple is still together.

While we are celebrating

: his most successful films, there

: are still two upcoming Rickman

: films to look forward to this

: year: Eye in the Sky, a thriller

: following a drone operation,

: and Alice Through the Looking

: Glass, a sequel to 2010's Alice in

: Wonderland where he will reprise
: his role as the blue caterpillar.

 

The superior war game

» Comparing ‘Memoir ’44’ and ‘Risk’

Benjamin Howard
Columnist

EF played Risk? It’s one of
the most popular board
games out there, perhaps second
only to Monopoly. It’s easy to
understand its popularity:

who doesn't like a simple

game of world domination?

My first play-through of Risk
was incredibly fun, but it gets old
pretty fast. After multiple play-
throughs, I was disappointed to
find it terribly flawed. There’s only
one viable strategy in Risk: secure
a continent, stack troops, and wait
until you have enough troops to
conquer with. By the end of the
first play-through this is no secret,
and everyone will be employing
this strategy. As if that didn’t make
things boring enough, the game
is often a foregone conclusion, yet
simultaneously down to luck.

Let me explain: the first

: continent a player takes will

: decide that player’s fate for the

: rest of the game, because some

: continents are much better than

: others to start with. Asia is flat-

: out impossible to secure until the
: end of the game, so don’t even

: bother. South America has the

: smallest bonus and is sandwiched
: between North America and

: Africa, meaning that once those

: continents are inevitably secured

: by others, the South American

: has no options. Players starting in
: Africa or Australia could win, but

: only through genius diplomacy

: and dumb luck. Europe is viable,

: but North America is clearly

: the better choice. It has the best

: bonus, and it only has three :
: points that need defending (two if:
: you're smart), yet it’s not trapped
: like South America. Whoever is

: lucky enough to start with more

: troops in North America is likely
: to take it, and once it’s taken, it’s

   

: almost guaranteed that the North
: American will win. It can take

: six hours to finish—and I’m not

: exaggerating, that’s the average—
: yet the outcome can be predicted
: within the first 20 minutes.

If, like me, you loved your

: first game of Risk but loathed

: the 10th, then you'll enjoy

: Memoir ’44. Like Risk, it has toy
: soldiers, military strategy, and

: dice-rolling. But it only takes an
: hour to play and only requires

ae

: two players. The gameplay is fast
2 i and aggressive. There are many

: viable strategies, and, unlike

: Risk, biding your time is not

> one of them. Luck is present,

: but never insurmountable.

: It’s very re-playable.

The map is not defined and

final like in Risk. Memoir ’44’s
: game board is modular, meaning
: that there are many objects and

: terrain hexes to be placed, each of : ~. o} -
: : history: it’s Memoir 44.

Image via boardgamegeek.com

: which significantly changes the

: nature of the game for each play-

: through. There are 16 scenarios

: provided, all based on real battles
: from the Second World War, but

: new scenarios can be created

: even by the players themselves.

: Attacking with infantry is already
: more interesting than in Risk, but
: on top of that, there are tanks and
: artillery to play with, each with

: their own unique mechanics.

There’s a lot to this game,

but playing it is pretty intuitive.
: Teaching someone the basics

: of Memoir ’44 won't take much
: longer than explaining Risk

: would. It has a quality that all

: games should strive for: easy

: to learn, but hard to master.

If you find fun in the

: simple act of placing soldiers

: ona battlefield, this is the game
: for you. An irresistible medley

: of strategy, competition, and