"Walk the Line" // "Harry Potter 4"

I was exceedingly bored this weekend so I decided to blow a good deal of money on several trips to both Taco Bell (for a combined consumption of six cheesey gordita crunches and one chipolte grilled stuffed burrito, I decided to take a lil break from eating healthy, and what an unhealthy hiatus that was =D) and the cinemas. I made a point of seeing Walk the Line, the new Johnny Cash biopic starring that guy from Hotel Rwanda and The Village (Joaquin Phoenix) and Reese Witherspoon playing yet another blonde southern bitch (though shes pretty good in this actually >_>). Needless to say, this movie kicked ass. I thought anyways. I always really liked the idea of being into Johnny Cash but never really pursued his music until recently. I'm not a fan of country music because I see it as phoney and shallow, but Cash is from a time before all there was to sing about was the Rodeo and "goddamn"ing the Taliban...and of course Honkey Tonk Badonkadonk...that's an entirely different story. So yeah, I dig Cash a lot, and even more so after seeing this portrayal of his life (based off his autobiographical writings). The drama isn't cheesey, you really get a feel for the darker parts of his life of which most of the movie is based around (drug addiction, dur), but humor thrown in the mix lightens it up so its not too depressing. And I actually found myself happy for the guy when he bagged his girl in the end, though I found it kinda funny how the flik pretty much condones abandoning your loved ones if you have the hots for some someone else =P But whatever, Johnny Cash was a pimp. On an unrelated note, it was really amusing to see how many old folk turned out to see this movie, being long time fans I suppose, especially considering it was obvious 90% of them hadn't been out of a nursing home for ages. What topped it off was one disgruntled old man hollering out at a climactic scene "I can't see shit!!" shortly followed by "Oh shit I have to go up stairs now!", completely oblivious to the fact he was in public. Silly old people =) So anyhoo, I highly recommend this movie when it comes out on DVD if you are not a particular fan of J.R. Cash or country music in general (this movie is chock full of it), because it is a very good film with, I think, admirable performances by Phoenix and Witherspoon (whom both sung all of the songs in the film, very well I might add) and overall good direction. If you like Johnny Cash at all, or enjoy country music but are detached from its roots, see this damn movie as soon as you can because it rocks ass.

As for Harry Potter. Eh, anyone who knows me knows that I have a grudge against the whole series. I've read only two installments; detested the first and mildly enjoyed the third (Prisoner of Azkaban). I hadn't seen any of the movies until this point but I wasn't expecting anything too great. I admit it was amusing at times, though I say this with some bias because I'm a fan of several of the actors (Alan Rickman and Ralph Fiennes, Snape and Voldemort respectively). The art direction, CGI, costumes, blah blah all the cosmetic stuff: pretty stunning. The only acting that got on my nerves was that of Emma Watson, which I won't even start on. She just annoys the piss out of me ::cringes::. But yeah, it was a well made movie, but the story line had gaps, and you shouldn't make a movie that if you have not seen the previous installments or read the books you have absolutely no clue what is going on at times. And also I'm convinced the entire British nation has a speech impediment. In conclusion, yeah alright I sort of liked it, though heckling particularly corney scenes was half the fun. =) I might see it again just to see Rickman kill off Dumbledore >_> or is that in the one after that? Fuck I have no idea.

But yeah, $40+ well spent. Movies are expensive =D

House of Wax + Update

Starring: Elisha Cuthbert, Chad Michael Murry, Paris Hilton
Director: Jaume Collet-Serra
Tagline: "Prey. Slay. Display"

Ok so this flik came out quite a bit ago and I think it's been out on DVD for a time as well, but I finally got around to seeing it and to my upmost surprise, I enjoyed it a great deal. Despite many things that went wrong in the creation of this film (such as the hiring of the casting director: Paris Hilton and the guy from Cousing Skeeter ftw!), I think it did a lot of things right that are absent in the surge of horror films plaguing the box office recently.

It has a fairly creative story line. The main villain, albeit the archetype horror movie antagonist (torn past, deformed in some way, slight rip-offage of leather face), is one of the more refreshing of the pack of forgettable, faceless (har har, get it?) killers found in most horror fliks. But then again, I may have just enjoyed this movie because it had a lot of the appeal of old 70/80's horror fliks (particularly Texas Chainsaw Massacre). The enemy is not indestructable or supernatural in any way, the lame ass characters are so queer you enjoy seeing them die (in fact, yearn for it), and a plethora of unforgiving, grotesque imagery, unmatched in my opinion in comparison to other films. Many kudos to the prop/effect designers on this flik (my particular favorites being the all to random heaping pile of dead animal carcasses and Paris Hilton being javelined in her puckery, slut face). This movie, like almost every horror movie ever made, is plagued by pacing problems, boring, empty, and needless character development, and about 45 minutes of fluff and conventional "jumpy" scenes before anything interesting happens. No real twists here, just pretty straight forward teenage slaughter fest without trying too hard. This isn't exactly a hidden gem, but anyone who is a fan of horror movies and avoided this film thinking it was just another piece of crap in the larger pile of crap may want to check this one out.

7/10

On another note, I've been playing Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrows and will report my thoughts on that soon enough. I haven't touched it in a few weeks, with personal crap impeding my progress to...wait...you don't kill Dracula this time! Score! But anyways, been spending most of my spare time watching DVDs of Curb Your Enthusiasm, which is the greatest show ever concieved by man since Seinfeld (ironically). Check that show out, or I may be forced to rant about it at length, and you'll have to read it. Whoever "you" are >_>. BTW, if anyone really reads this and cares about my personal life, I'm now single, meaning I can devote more time to rotting my brain on video games...erm...and that school thing. I also have a job, i.e. an income to blow on media! Woot! I also am going to be purchasing a new music playing device (not an iPod most likely), so drop me any suggestions if you'd like. I'm leaning towards the Creative Labs products (Zen Micro, Neeon Micro, Nomad). Leave some comments if you actually are getting any of this =D Later.

Movie: Doom

Starring: The Rock, Karl Urban, Rosamund Pike
Director: Andrzej Bartkowiak (Lethal Weapon 4, Devil's Advocate, Dante's Peak)
Tagline: "Hell Breaks Loose"

Doom was a really confusing experience for me. I was torn trying to point out reasons it sucked, but at the same time I couldn't help but enjoy and appreciate many aspects of it. When I first heard they were coming out with a movie based off of a game series which albeit, is badass, though not particularly my fancy, I was uninterested especially given the leading role of the Rock (big money there). I expected just another seemingly half-assed production based on some director's (who in this case despite his respectable record, has a frustrating lack of vowels in his name) interpretation of a game he probably didn't play until he signed on to the script. But I was fortunately proven wrong.

Up until this point I think it is grudgingly understood that the best movie adaptation of a game would have to be Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, a.k.a. "Plastic actor gets plastic boobies to fill studio's wallets with fan-boy hardons". Thankfully, Doom knocks it off the top of the pile, and leads me to honestly conclude it is the best video-game movie I've seen thus far.

O.K. The beginning is pretty boring, filled with its fair share of corny one liners (not exclusive to beginning of movie) and half-assed, shallow introductions to the main characters. This didn't bother me however since I was pretty sure three-fourths of them would be disemboweled within the next half an hour anyway. But NO! You have to wait a good hour or so into the damn flik before there is any significant bloodshed, save the beginning sequence. On the plus side, the characters, although cliche across the board (tough black guy, conveniently named "Destroyer", comical black guy, timid youngster, troubled lead character with an ambiguous, traumatic past, and...well the Rock), are pretty entertaining. The only two characters that seemed to have potential for some depth end up being blatant plants to drive the B.S. story (get to that in a second).

The props and scenery are straight up rips of Doom 3, which is not a bad thing persay, being as it stays very true to that aspect of the game. But on the other hand, one of the big problems with the disappointing last installment in the series was that the environments felt too dark and claustrophobic, which translates into the film. Now this does add to the creepy atmosphere, but since there is a surprising absence of constant action, it starts to get tedious and boring after they revisit the same closed, clanking metal corridor or inspect the same dark room with conveniently placed ceiling vents every 3 steps for a demon to reach down and rip your head off.
But still, you have to give them props for executing it well and giving it the same feel as the game, whether you feel that is a positive or negative thing. My personal sentiments are, it felt more like a movie based off of Resident Evil (though a far superior one than the actual Resi movies): Too much back tracking and zombies. Now on to the zombies.

So once the action finally picks up, you start to realize this is more of a zombie flik then fighting off a horde of hellspawn demons, which is at the heart of the Doom storyline (erm, or lack thereof). That is what irked me the most, and what really ticks me off about all video game adaptations. The writers/directors try and build their own story line instead of staying true to the plot of the game. In this case, there is too much plot, and it is way off from the games shallow story. However, this is necessary (pfft, I guess...) to make it appeal to both fans of the game and those who don't play games, though I don't know anyone who is a fan of gratuitous violence and hasn't played a Doom game. I won't spoil the sup-par plot for you, but basically there is too many zombie motifs for a movie based on a game about scourging hell-born demonoids. But to be fair, and so I don't get lynched by zombi-enthusiasts who may read this, they also clumsiley tie in this whole "moral selection" dealy, wherein previously mentioned characters that actually had...character turn out to just be quintesential good guy and bad guy models, one that can be infected and the other that can't based on whether they are evil or not. This just comes off as sort of rushed and cheesey and is pretty far fetched even for zombies. Zombies don't care what brains they feed on, they simply MUST FEED!

Anyway, the best part of the movie is definitely the first-person sequence, which I predicted to be just a gimmick, which it is, but one with redeeming qualities. This 5 minute affair is the only part completely true to the game, by actually emulating the gameplay to a tee. I mean, there is laughing zombies wielding hand axes. Where the hell did they get hand axes?! No one knows, and it doesn't matter, and that is what is great about it. There is also a demon wielding a chain saw which, upon being disarmed...well...if you are a fan of the series you know where this is going. I'll also take time to say completely out of place that the B.F.G. was definitely a treat to see and resulted in my favorite line in the movie, which was simply "Big fucking gun...".

If you are a fan of Doom, see this movie. You may be far more critical of it than I, but if you go in it with an open mind and take in the good parts and ignore some of the bad (e.g. plot, shallow characters, pacing, dialogue, etc.) and accept it for what it is, you'll enjoy yourself (after the first 45 minutes or so anyways). Doom the game is about running around and blasting guys that are trying to gouge at every orifice and appendage on your body, which this movie captures quite well at some points, and lets up in others. If only they could cut out the fluff, build the characters a bit more, and...hell who am I kidding, I'd much rather just have 2 hours of the first-person goodness =)

6.5/10

Advanced Wars: Dual Strike

Platform: Nintendo DS
Developer: Intelligent Systems
Publisher: Nintendo



I picked up this game, and after all the hype and praise it's recieved, I conclude that it is so deserving. I never played the original for the GBA, so I really can't give a comparitive analysis between the two, but I'm loving this game. To give a basic overview of the how the game works, it is a turn-based strategy game, that is a lot more strategy than most other games in this genre; building up an unstoppable military force won't get you anywhere fast. The gameplay, although fairly simple in presentation and execution is surprisingly very complex when taking strategy into consideration. The depth of the game really astounded me to be honest, having to take into account: Weapon types, fuel, power, funds, forts, terrain types, and weather conditions, to name a few key elements. Even more engaging is the plethora of different Commanding Officers (CO's) in the game, all with their own unique advantages and shortcomings on the battle fields, in addition to multiple skills that can be used during battle. I'd also like to give many kudos to Intelligent Systems for living up to its name and producing very challenging and smart AI. Really refreshing, especially since I only own one cartridge and I can't get the DS connectivity to work, so playing against the computer in Versus mode is still very enjoyable.

The only downfalls that I find are the graphics and sound quality are slightly below par for a DS title, but are fitting to the style of the game. I also find the extensive dialogue in the (lengthy, but excellent) campaign mode to be slightly erking at times, but I could put up with Golden Sun so I can deal. This game is a must have for DS owners and if you don't currently own one, I'd recommend picking up this and a copy of Nintendogs, it'll be well worth your money (especially after the price cut to $130) for these two titles alone.

9/10

Update + College stuff

I haven't updated this thing in a long time. I think I'm going to start keeping it because I am sick of goddamn Xanga and MySpace. Thing is I don't think anyone is reading it besides my girlfriend =D I'm a loser. Well whatever, it'll just give me an outlet to ramble and what not.

So school is starting up soon, I'm not sure exactly what my schedule is but assuming I get all of the classes requested, I'll get my Comp Sci and Java VHS classes. With VHS I get to work on stuff over the internet on my spare time and mail it to a teacher who lives in Connecticut. Sounds fun eh? I'm kind of excited because it leaves room for me to procrastinate, it's supposedly fairly easy, and the grade is weighted the same as real classes. This will also help me build on what little knowledge I have of Java and programming in general; preparing me for college.

So I think I have made up my mind and I'm not going to potentially throw my life away by seeking a degree in "Interactive Media Design" or "Electronic Gaming and Interactive..." yada yada, whatever long name they wan't to give it to make it sound professional. My dream would be to get into the gaming industry, but I realize the competition and will be content if I don't make it. But I can still try. So yeah, I'm definately going to take a wiser path and major in Computer Science or Information Technology. Both would give me a good background in programming but Comp Sci really covers the entire spectrum of computers: programming languages, algoriths, computer theory, etc. My top college choice is Rochester Institute of Technology. They have concentrations in game design as well so that'll give me some experience in that while I still earn a respectable degree that could land me a decent job. I just hope my grades will cut it. God I regret slacking in high school...

I'm also working on building my artistic skills...going to try and get Art II added to my already loaded schedule, fool around more with Photoshop and draw/sketch more. Going to try and pick up a drawing tablet for my PC as well. We'll see how that goes. Here's something I whipped up a few days ago for the Moz La Punk forums (click to get actual size).


Well that is about it, if anyone reads this leave a comment and let me know, eh?