tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-69544127566928522902024-03-05T02:39:31.640-08:00Devi Reviews StuffA blog where I review movies, games, comics, and occasionally other things.busterkurihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03103295464266357040noreply@blogger.comBlogger243125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6954412756692852290.post-25484812321813369132014-12-06T11:14:00.003-08:002014-12-06T11:14:53.326-08:00The Penguins of Madagascar<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_RunxNoDdA8s4MMeoPSZg8T3f3QNdXt3K7OsUswKWXn3U-PQ1tJ6HeHgJgWfQ7dTTDK_Tztt1AbLuT01-icqxanOLeJleOdYduw1MtMCZiHMFoemRquBFNN1uqxlJ0-7kcULH8rYWZKw/s1600/The-Penguins-of-Madagascar-Official-Trailer.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_RunxNoDdA8s4MMeoPSZg8T3f3QNdXt3K7OsUswKWXn3U-PQ1tJ6HeHgJgWfQ7dTTDK_Tztt1AbLuT01-icqxanOLeJleOdYduw1MtMCZiHMFoemRquBFNN1uqxlJ0-7kcULH8rYWZKw/s1600/The-Penguins-of-Madagascar-Official-Trailer.jpg" height="180" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Directed by Eric Darnell and Simon
J. Smith</b></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Written by John Aboud, Michael
Colton and Brandon Sawyer</b></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Based on characters created by Eric
Darnell and Tom McGrath</b></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b></b> Ever
since the first movie, it was almost inevitable that there would be a
Penguins of Madagascar spin-off. From day one they were the ensemble
darkhorses, and while the TV series was surely nice for
merchandising, we all know that's nothing compared to box-office
money. And it certainly would've been easy to make this a quick
cash-in, but Penguins is a lot of fun, if light on drama.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
When the penguins
– Skipper (Tom McGrath), Kowalski (Chris Miller), Rico (Conrad
Vernon), and Private (Christopher Knights) – get kidnapped during a
break-in to Fort Knox, they end up in the hands (or tentacles) of Dr.
John Brine, aka Dave the Octopus (John Malkovich). He has a plan to
get revenge on the world's penguins, and it's up to our group of
heroes to stop them, even
as they butt heads with the secret agent group North Wind, led by the
wolf<b>,</b> Classified (Benedict Cumberbatch).</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
It's easily the
most absurd plot so far in a series that almost prides itself on its
absurd plots, but it works, mainly in the sense that it means the
movie spends less time caring about the plot and more time throwing
every possible gag it can at the audience. The movie makes puns any
chance it gets, switches to an energetic action sequence that keeps
you laughing along the way, and then goes to some silly slapstick
(Rico's habit of eating everything is a regularly used one). It
rarely settles down for even a moment, layering things wall-to-wall
with jokes and excellent voicework. We knew how good the penguins
would be, so it's especially great to have Malkovich and Cumberbatch
being given a chance to stretch their voice acting abilities, with
Malkovich clearly having a lot of fun playing an evil octopus.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
All the comedy
does mean that there is little to no room for drama or morals. Maybe
Dreamworks thought they should have a breather after the particularly
intense How to Train Your Dragon 2, or maybe it was just a decision
to keep Penguins light – even lighter than the main Madagascar
movies. It works, in that there's little slowdown of plot or any
hint that they don't just want you to have fun. But
it does result in a third act that
shoehorns in a moral at the last second. And you can get one
or two (looks aren't everything, accept help when it's given), but
it's less like the movie is leading to a moral or something to think
about afterwards, and more like an optional thing you might pick up
or leave behind at your choice.</div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Penguins' success
is being light fun and never trying to be anything but. It leaves
itself as one of the fluffiest animated movies from a major studio in
a while, but it's hard to argue with its comedic success.</div>
busterkurihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03103295464266357040noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6954412756692852290.post-79828457617070675492014-11-21T15:33:00.002-08:002014-11-21T15:33:54.851-08:00Kinski<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0hTIxJgSUIWUdyxkCJtvbKwjSHet2SwJxFSZNXWdo36n878i98EKM-s6Ne6l4iq41aMwrkqpn6pmTiKcOw0W3D233DT0XJMyNGs1JIkVKDN9-Cxzm1sLN6wQYpqoY14GzMsm6hS_sH6s/s1600/cover55988-medium.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0hTIxJgSUIWUdyxkCJtvbKwjSHet2SwJxFSZNXWdo36n878i98EKM-s6Ne6l4iq41aMwrkqpn6pmTiKcOw0W3D233DT0XJMyNGs1JIkVKDN9-Cxzm1sLN6wQYpqoY14GzMsm6hS_sH6s/s1600/cover55988-medium.png" height="320" width="229" /></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Writing and art by Gabriel Hardman</b></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
I'm going to be
up front on this: I enjoyed Kinski. It was a thoroughly enjoyable
comic from start to finish. There's just one problem that can't get
out of my head: what does it mean?</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Kinski is about
Joe, a man who, on a business trip, finds a stray dog by the hotel.
What starts as trying to take care of the dog turns into obsession as
he steals the dog back from its owners and is even willing to
sacrifice his job...all in the name of a dog he doesn't own.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Needless to say,
Kinski is a little weird. It's not bizarre-weird, it's not
mind-screwy weird. It's just weird in the sense that the story is
decidedly offbeat. Joe's clearly obsessed with the dog, but the
obsession never becomes entirely creepy, just obsessive. There's
never any reason given for his obsession, either. It's not
supernatural, there's no backstory. His coworker asks “Did you
have a dog as a kid?” but there's no response. We're just thrown
into this story and we're told to deal with it.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
And maybe that's
what makes this comic so enjoyable. It's not lingering too hard on
the symbolism or the meaning behind things. Everything that happens
is moving forwards in the story. If Joe talks to someone, they have
a meaning in the story. When the dog gets lost in a trailer park, he
climbs up on a roof, which leads into an argument that distracts him
from his search. Hardman's art is similarly straightforward.
Detailed as much as it needs to be, the lack of color showing just
what it needs to show. He's telling a story, and anything the reader
gets out of it may just be inconsequential.</div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
So I'll admit
that if there's further meaning here I don't know it. But I guess I
don't care. Kinski is wholly unique, neither dark nor light, neither
deep nor shallow. It's a story and you either enjoy it or you don't,
and I happened to enjoy it.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
busterkurihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03103295464266357040noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6954412756692852290.post-27889113977531256532014-11-10T13:28:00.000-08:002014-11-10T13:28:21.682-08:00Half-Life<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhUq1x1X9NYKPHNVEmZxkDG7OHoRmYnNPvNRb2fJ5qh9hYFSOhnYhU04RcPAiyE1NayXh1BNNoFvSb-Ko3OkqJt8v12JYubCDjlv6tftCtmcJT4LZKKjaJvJuZgwy1lsg0hzpm2ytHehU/s1600/half-life_1473052i.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhUq1x1X9NYKPHNVEmZxkDG7OHoRmYnNPvNRb2fJ5qh9hYFSOhnYhU04RcPAiyE1NayXh1BNNoFvSb-Ko3OkqJt8v12JYubCDjlv6tftCtmcJT4LZKKjaJvJuZgwy1lsg0hzpm2ytHehU/s1600/half-life_1473052i.jpg" height="206" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Developed and published by Valve
Corporation</b></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Played on PC</b></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Playing older
FPSes tends to be a very different experience. The generation of
Doom and Quake was less focused on story or any sensible cohesion of
level design, more focused on blowing monsters up. Half-Life was one
of the first FPSes to actually make a story, with levels that
naturally transition into one another. And surprisingly, all the
years have not hurt its playability.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Gordon Freeman is
a physicist on his first day at the Black Mesa facility. And in the
middle of an experiment, something goes terribly wrong, unleashing a
connection with an alien world. Now Gordon has to make it out alive
in the middle of both aliens and the military looking to clean things
up.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
One of
Half-Life's greatest strengths, something that remained in the
sequel, is its ability to switch genres on a dime. The game starts
off closer to a survival horror game, giving you nothing but the
iconic crowbar and pointing you towards the many zombies and
headcrabs that want to kill you. As the military comes in, though,
it becomes more of a shooter, building up your arsenal. While the
aliens are fairly straightforward, the military will use tactics,
flushing you out of cover or using pincer maneuvers to make things
more frantic. And in the middle, you're having to figure out puzzles
and platforming. There's very little direction given to you, but it
also always manages to push you in the right direction, losing the labyrinthine maps of Doom for a more straightforward but still exploratory experience. You might
wander around a room for a little bit, but then you'll say “Ah,
that pipe up there looks suspicious, I should get to it”.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Half-Life's form
of storytelling also remains strong. There's no true cinematics in
the game, never breaking from the first-person viewpoint of Gordon.
But you still pick up the story going on from the short conversations
with scientists and security guards. And you also pick up the story
as you go through the environment. The labs you walk through hint to
exactly what's been going on, the new enemies that come after you
show how much opposition Gordon is up against. And you always feel
like you have a goal, not that you're just wandering wildly. And
sadly, this all falls apart in the final levels. The infamous finale
loses any sense of story and feels more like you're just wandering
around aimlessly until the game ends. It does show exactly how
strong Valve's games normally are that this only becomes a problem in
the end—not that it stops it from being a problem.</div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Half-Life remains
an FPS giant, aging well and standing as one of the strongest debut
games of a developer. It's rare to play an older game that stays
this fresh today.</div>
busterkurihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03103295464266357040noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6954412756692852290.post-22819900796668802402014-10-28T16:08:00.002-07:002014-10-28T16:08:43.914-07:00The Book of Life<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEide_LlXEgbeEFQFdJO7NnocYdshTknmlGKzGnlMwjx_6LKIrE6dAOmYQ3Bixk18J6Ik_K8hMmoJaIouUzRSfkoovPdabh4XBpYDVBgD-sHEcofwLXIOtfTi5mJU-Mk2TpVVPixo9pP72E/s1600/the-book-of-life-99413985.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEide_LlXEgbeEFQFdJO7NnocYdshTknmlGKzGnlMwjx_6LKIrE6dAOmYQ3Bixk18J6Ik_K8hMmoJaIouUzRSfkoovPdabh4XBpYDVBgD-sHEcofwLXIOtfTi5mJU-Mk2TpVVPixo9pP72E/s1600/the-book-of-life-99413985.jpg" /></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Directed by Jorge R Gutierrez</b></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Written by Douglas Langdale and
Jorge R Gutierrez</b></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
It can be
incredibly difficult for animated movies not made by a major studio
to get a foothold. Never mind not being Disney, Pixar, or
Dreamworks, even Sony Animation and Blue Sky at least have some push.
Book of Life is done by a first-time feature length director (he's
done TV work before), and his vision shines through clearly, even if
it gets a little muddled along the way.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Manolo (Diego
Luna) and Joaquin (Channing Tatum) are best friends who have also
been in love with the same girl, Maria (Zoe Saldana), since they were
kids. What none of them know is that the love triangle is also being
watched by the death gods La Muerte (Kate del Castillo) and Xibalba
(Ron Perlman), who've put a bet that whoever wins will get to rule
the vibrant Land of the Remembered, while the loser rules the
desolate Land of the Forgotten. And Xibalba is not above cheating...</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Book of Life's
greatest strength is its visuals. The movie takes place as if it's
being told with wooden figures, and it shows with the character
designs. They exaggerate features, giving war heroes chests full of
medals, making round mariachis who can just roll around, and having
characters who look like 2D paintings given life. The wooden
features give the characters visible joints, older characters will
have more visible wood grain, stubble is just a different layer of
wood. It's truly remarkable from start to finish, and gives the
movie plenty of visual gags to work off of. And once it hits the
Land of the Remembered, it's easy for your jaw to drop completely.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Sadly, for its
dazzling visuals, the writing has issues. The story and themes are
so standard as to be cliché, with no real surprises along the way.
This doesn't mean it's not enjoyable to watch, it's just not going to
throw any twists your way. The pacing is also off. Trailers made it
seem like a majority of the movie would take place in the Land of the
Remembered. Instead, about 10 minutes are spent there. Considering
how awesome the skeletal character designs look, you'd think they'd
give that part of the movie the majority. But the biggest problem
comes from the movie's framing device: a story being told to a group
of kids in a museum. It means the movie constantly stops to narrate
what's going on or give exposition. Or just cut away to the group of
white kids. It reeks of executive meddling, the studio getting
terrified that a movie full of Mexican characters won't be watched,
so they tacked on some white characters at the last minute.</div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Regardless of
faults, Gutierrez gives a solid effort here, and if he can follow the
movie's moral and get out of the studio's shadow, he can do something
truly incredible. As it is, Book of Life is enjoyable, but its
visuals don't match up to its story problems.</div>
busterkurihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03103295464266357040noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6954412756692852290.post-89515767463728423042014-10-13T15:16:00.001-07:002014-10-13T15:16:16.934-07:00Southern Bastards Volume 1: Here Was a Man<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrrG1HlBsL-iRYwYoWSMlNttymMfSn24gzk3RwpVRVQW1tBqGYExwD8tAfgX4Q87cI7OdqCwhEqCwJcUHcLn4DM6v_IwRrJ_702y7MgWwWk3_PafmVJQurDhuMPsyd5pxVo7vmxDP-G5Y/s1600/cover54501-medium.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrrG1HlBsL-iRYwYoWSMlNttymMfSn24gzk3RwpVRVQW1tBqGYExwD8tAfgX4Q87cI7OdqCwhEqCwJcUHcLn4DM6v_IwRrJ_702y7MgWwWk3_PafmVJQurDhuMPsyd5pxVo7vmxDP-G5Y/s1600/cover54501-medium.png" height="320" width="210" /></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Written by Jason Aaron</b></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Art by Jason Latour</b></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
My first
introduction to Jason Aaron's work was with the dark and gritty crime
comic Scalped. With his transfer over to Marvel, it's hard to
remember that he once wrote hopeless, realistic stories. But now
Southern Bastards is here. And he is right back to classic form.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Earl Tubb comes
back to Craw County, Alabama, 40 years after his dad died to finally
pack up the old house. But he quickly gets caught up in crime and
corruption that all seems to link to the high school football Coach
Boss. And he has to make in choice whether to get swept back into
the town he left years ago or get out while he still can.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
The main
characters here are atypical. Earl isn't the picture of the crime
comic antihero. He's old, worn down, and wearing a flannel shirt.
Coach Boss is...well, a high school football coach, gruff but not
exactly the pinnacle of crime lord. We're not even told what exactly
Boss is doing, but the actions of his men tell plenty, and it
provides a nice mystery for the book to continue with. In many ways,
we start the same point that Earl starts: we know something is wrong
here, but we don't know what. But it becomes obvious from the
whirlwind of violence that this is not good, and while we ultimately
know the choice Earl has to make (it'd be a short comic if he left,
wouldn't it?), it never stops feeling like a problem he won't be able
to fix.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Latour's art fits
the book perfectly. His art is as dark as the story that Aaron is
telling, and the character designs are so spot-on that it's instantly
obvious that he spent his childhood in the south. There's no other
way you can make characters that I can go to the Wal-Mart and see.
And he is also the perfect choice for the book's violent moments,
providing the right amount of shock every time they happen.</div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Here Was a Man
ends with a twist to make sure you come back. It doesn't matter. If
you love crime stories full of purely evil villains and unlikely
heroes, then Southern Bastards will have you hooked by the end of the
first issue.</div>
busterkurihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03103295464266357040noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6954412756692852290.post-70000814469658804322014-10-12T07:18:00.001-07:002014-10-12T07:18:09.263-07:00Ittle Dew<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-tEGaQGJeQrKeqcyyv_yfi-vzUXgELm0L8s05jmtVlf9mRTu0hc9eVwnNJ3J5SKqvxYkEEna6Abm0NGmI7_nvwgtXguVUvmbaa6ZvNM4OV7b5nYGtD3JxPYoWepH9qSWAK7JneS_ANMA/s1600/screenshot.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-tEGaQGJeQrKeqcyyv_yfi-vzUXgELm0L8s05jmtVlf9mRTu0hc9eVwnNJ3J5SKqvxYkEEna6Abm0NGmI7_nvwgtXguVUvmbaa6ZvNM4OV7b5nYGtD3JxPYoWepH9qSWAK7JneS_ANMA/s1600/screenshot.jpg" height="186" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Developed and published by Ludosity</b></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Played on PC</b></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
As great as the
Zelda series is, sometimes the wait between games can get a bit much.
We haven't even seen any of Zelda U besides a small teaser trailer.
Ittle Dew looks to fill that gap by being a definitive Zelda clone,
and it is, for better or worse.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
The basic plot
has Ittle and her flying ferret (?) companion, Tippsi, washing up on
an island where there's surely adventure to be had! The game itself
doesn't care so much about plot as it does its sense of humor, and it
delivers there. Half of it is winking at standard Zelda conventions,
while the other half is an absurd, morbid sense of humor that made me
laugh out loud. The high points are the conversations with enemies
that you have when you encounter them for the first time. Let's just
say that a sentient moai head with wings does not have the most
pleasant existence.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
The gameplay is a
match for the 2D Zelda games. A top-down adventure where you fight
enemies, trek through dungeons, collect items, and solve block
puzzles. Block puzzles may not be the most exciting puzzle ever
devised in video game history. The difference here is the game's
focus on them. Pretty much any puzzle to get through a door comes
down to “push these blocks on to the switches”. It then quickly
throws as many elements as it can into the puzzles, and once you get
the items, even more elements. Figuring out exactly what you need to
do for each puzzle is tricky and satisfying, and the game's “reset
room” option means that you're never afraid to experiment.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
The items
themselves don't shock, with a fire sword, an ice wand, and a
teleport wand. That's it. The game opens up more once you look at
the achievements and realize you don't even need all three to beat
the game. In fact, the game constantly encourages you to look for
ways around the puzzles, with professional routes in each dungeon and
an achievement for beating the game in 15 minutes. It wants you to
go through again and skip a third of the game. 100% players and
speedrunners will have a lot to look forward to here. Those who just
want to beat the game might be disappointed. I was able to beat the
game in about 2 hours with exploration of the various side-caves.</div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Still, the game
remains high quality throughout. It doesn't reinvent the wheel, but
it makes the wheel as smooth and polished as it can be. It's not
quite a Zelda game, but like the title says, it'll do.</div>
busterkurihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03103295464266357040noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6954412756692852290.post-434694412715871382014-10-10T12:00:00.000-07:002014-10-10T12:00:11.213-07:00Nailbiter Volume 1: There Will Be Blood<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjhmEmAbgseRGckgfGqHDXlGYwlvQRmf3a2JyZZEp3thVmQDZl1PqpIzumx5lNRbi3w-blqJpH0Y56mYwIgna2T5r8UATE1WHpPGAveqFiIUS8dj2rM09dnyeQaTwWxPXjUCq-mjtP1Rs/s1600/cover54500-medium.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjhmEmAbgseRGckgfGqHDXlGYwlvQRmf3a2JyZZEp3thVmQDZl1PqpIzumx5lNRbi3w-blqJpH0Y56mYwIgna2T5r8UATE1WHpPGAveqFiIUS8dj2rM09dnyeQaTwWxPXjUCq-mjtP1Rs/s1600/cover54500-medium.png" height="320" width="212" /></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>WARNING: The following review
contains descriptions of a disturbing violent act. Please read with
caution.</b></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Written by Joshua Williamson</b></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Art by Mike Henderson</b></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b></b> Nailbiter
focuses on the town of Buckaroo, Oregon, home to a whopping 16 serial
killers. Nicholas Finch gets a call from FBI Agent Carroll, who
tells Finch he's figured out the mystery as to why there's so many
from one town. But when Finch gets there, Carroll is missing, and
the only lead he has is Edward Warren, aka the Nailbiter, an
acquitted serial killer who bit the fingernails off of his victims.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
A
book that builds itself around a mystery like this has to pay off
big, which unfortunately means it's too early to tell anything about
the long game. The plus side: there are enough other mysteries being
set up that there is plenty to keep you coming back. Every small
detail and every new plot twist seems like it's building up for
something bigger and bigger. While this leaves the first volume as
primarily setup, it's a fantastic setup. And we also get introduced
to the town of Buckaroo as a whole. There's support groups for
people who were relatives of the serial killers. There's a man
running a gift shop of killer memorabilia and trying to get a
convention to come to the town. And then there's the people who just
want to go through a normal life in an abnormal town. It's a
fascinating locale that I want to see more of.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
And
Henderson's art brings it to life. The best word I can think of for
it is dynamic. His less realistic art style means that the book
stays vibrant, but when there's acts of violence he brings blood and
darkness to it. And the character designs bring extra to the
characters' personalities. Warren's so carefree that it's hard to
believe he's a killer, and Henderson's art makes him charming and all
the more dangerous.</div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
There
Will Be Blood is creepy, unsettling, and fascinating. If the book
can keep up its level of personality, Nailbiter will be a winner of a
horror comic.</div>
busterkurihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03103295464266357040noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6954412756692852290.post-87067959037858135992014-10-09T15:23:00.001-07:002014-10-09T15:23:34.726-07:00Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode I<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-0sedAGITyH2k88PX9ZwfZ7ciOhNZoVtEGXo7NeAGXA-F2pvdoc4iummu7b9VD9oTDVxXkFfmKJ9dSpvgACMctUfsoHHdXBy-I33sQ1Ftt92FEBKl6CJUo7oJsmuYeCeiySjmQvMT2DE/s1600/unnamed.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-0sedAGITyH2k88PX9ZwfZ7ciOhNZoVtEGXo7NeAGXA-F2pvdoc4iummu7b9VD9oTDVxXkFfmKJ9dSpvgACMctUfsoHHdXBy-I33sQ1Ftt92FEBKl6CJUo7oJsmuYeCeiySjmQvMT2DE/s1600/unnamed.png" height="180" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Developed by Sonic Team and Dimps</b></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Published by Sega</b></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Some games exist
in such a wave of controversy that it can be impossible to remove the
game itself from it. Sonic 4 was simultaneously loved and hated on
its release. With the dust settled and both episodes out, how
exactly does Episode I stand on its own? To be short: not well.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Not to say that
it's bad by any means. In many ways, it's very nice to go back to a
pure Sonic experience. There's no characters besides Sonic and
Eggman. There's no gimmicks like Colors' aliens system. There's no
cutscenes breaking things up. It's just a 2D experience as you speed
through robots and loop-de-loops. While Sonic does have some
definite acceleration problems (he seems so slow from a standing
start), when he takes off, it's the same exhilarating experience you
know and love. And when the game brings some new mechanics to the table, it's always entertaining.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
There's two
problems here that take away from this game. The first is its
length. There's only 4 zones, each with 3 levels and a boss. You
can easily blast through this thing in an afternoon, and while
getting the chaos emeralds may take a little longer, it's still not
much. The other big problem is that it is near-impossible to get
past the “been there, done that” problem. The enemies are all
copied from the Genesis games. The level themes are so same-y that
there's no shock. Pieces of the levels are even taken directly from
the original games, and the bosses are just classic bosses with small
tweaks. If this game had been, say, Sonic 2 Remix it would've been
acceptable. But there's that big 4 there that you just can't ignore
while you play. At the end, the worst thing I can say for it is that
Sonic Generations was a game entirely based around taking levels from
the older games, and even it didn't feel as redundant as this game.</div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Sonic 4 is $10 on
Steam. For that same price, you can get Sonic 2 AND Sonic 3 and
Knuckles. Unless you're a hardcore Sonic fan, there's little reason
to play this, and fans will only get mild amusement from it.</div>
busterkurihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03103295464266357040noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6954412756692852290.post-16146855267782170862014-10-08T14:00:00.000-07:002014-10-08T14:00:02.226-07:00My Top 10 Favorite Comics and Graphic Novels<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
The format for this one is going to be
a little different. Directly comparing graphic novels (or comics
which have been collected in one or two volumes) to long, on-going
series is near impossible. To solve that, I'm going to list my five
favorite comics and five favorite graphic novels separately.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Top 5 Comics</b></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<ol start="5">
<li><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Fables</b></div>
</li>
</ol>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Fables' take on
the fairy tale mythos is slowly becoming less and less unique, with
the idea of combining many different fairy tale people into one
universe taken over by (the also great) Once Upon a Time. But Bill
Willingham brings Fables to life with his unique characterization and
sweeping plotlines. It takes a lower place here for its fall after
the first major climax from “excellent” to “good”, but
considering that you still have about 11 volumes of excellence if you
ignore the later ones, I'd consider that a fair warning.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<ol start="4">
<li><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Green Lantern (by Geoff Johns)</b></div>
</li>
</ol>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Geoff Johns'
reinvention of the Green Lantern franchise, starting with bringing
Hal Jordan back to life in Green Lantern: Rebirth, not only brought
me to the character but engrossed me in how deep a creator can
completely change a book. The addition of the whole color spectrum
for rings. Huge event comics like The Sinestro Corps War and
Blackest Night. Introducing memorable characters like Larfleeze. A
cosmic adventure that's well worth reading.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<ol start="3">
<li><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Daredevil (by Brian Michael
Bendis)</b></div>
</li>
</ol>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Up until Mark
Waid's run, Daredevil was generally considered a character who was
best when terrible things were happening to him. And boy, did Bendis
give him plenty of terrible things. Starting with making his
identity of Matt Murdock from best-kept secret to entirely public,
everything in Bendis' run is a sweeping destruction of Murdock and
Hornhead's life. And with Alex Maleev's dark art as a constant
companion, Bendis did some of his best work with it.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<ol start="2">
<li><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Invincible</b></div>
</li>
</ol>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
I find it hard to
classify Invincible. At times it's a deconstruction or parody of
superheroes. Other times, it's simply a pure comic. Whatever it
chooses to be, it entertains as Kirkman creates a superhero universe
all his own. Long-time Marvel and DC characters can struggle to
stand up to some of the heroes and villains that Kirkman has created.
From its darkest moments to its funniest, Invincible is a work that
shines against entire comic universes.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<ol>
<li><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Swamp Thing (by Alan Moore)</b></div>
</li>
</ol>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
The first thing
you should know about Swamp Thing is that its early issues were so
filled with creepy horror that it was one of the comics that helped
to create DC's Vertigo label for mature comics. The second thing you
should know is that it's a romance. Yes, it may feature demons and a
creature made out of plant life, but at its core, Moore wrote a love
story that keeps you going, creating arcane worlds and strange flora
as it goes. Alan Moore may have left some huge marks on the comics
industry, but he never did better than Swamp Thing.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Top 5 Graphic Novels</b></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<ol start="5">
<li><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Persepolis</b></div>
</li>
</ol>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
This and the next
one on the list I saw as movies before I read the graphic novels.
Both share one thing in common (as little else as they share): the
details they add. Persepolis in either format is wonderful, but the
extra details that the graphic novel has enhance the true story of a
feminist woman growing up in Iran, finding herself trying to get
every small victory she can. Endearing, charming, and heartbreaking,
Persepolis is simply wonderful.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<ol start="4">
<li><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>V for Vendetta</b></div>
</li>
</ol>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Alan Moore is the
only author here to show up on both lists. No wonder. V for
Vendetta is a stunning look at both a fascist dictatorship that's
sprung up in London and the anarchy that wants to overthrow it if it
can even sustain itself. And where the movie deals in absolutes,
everything in the graphic novel is so grey that the villains are
given sympathy even as we're so sure they're evil. As much as I
enjoy the movie, it's a cliff notes version of the incredible world
and characters that the graphic novel has.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<ol start="3">
<li><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Daytripper</b></div>
</li>
</ol>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Daytripper shocked
me the first time I read it. I happen to flip through books a lot
absentmindedly, saw the main character dying, and figured I had just
seen a spoiler. And then I start reading it and...he dies at the end
of the first issue. And the second. And the third. Ultimately the
point of the series is not shocking you at how he dies or making you
guess. It's about the moments that make up a life, the pieces that
come together as you go and see how everything makes up the man whose
life you see the individual days of.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<ol start="2">
<li><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>The Life and Times of Scrooge
McDuck</b></div>
</li>
</ol>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Never in my life
did I think a Scrooge McDuck comic would make a top 10 list
of...anything. Especially Don Rosa's tribute to Carl Barks' work, a
tribute that meticulously looks to put together the details of
Scrooge's life that Barks wrote. But even if you've never read any
of Barks (although if you've seen Ducktales, you've gotten pieces),
Rosa gives a great story, showing how Scrooge went from an idealistic
young boy to a miser, his successes and his failures, his triumphs
and his mistakes. It's fantastic...and it's all about a cartoon
duck. Who would've guessed?</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<ol>
<li><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>All-Star Superman</b></div>
</li>
</ol>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
The All-Star line
is one of the weirdest things ever thought up in comics, producing a
whole two comic series, with one being one of the worst comics ever,
and the other being one of the best. The idea of giving tribute to
Superman was given to Grant Morrison, who all but dropped his
trademark surrealism and metacommentary for a love letter to the man
of steel. It's fun one moment. It makes you cry the next. It winks
and nods at the silly silver age tropes, and then fully embraces
them. If you've never gotten the big blue boy scout, it's the
perfect place to start. If you've never read a comic before, it's
the perfect place to start. </div>
busterkurihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03103295464266357040noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6954412756692852290.post-62762456612961386262014-10-01T14:00:00.000-07:002014-10-01T14:00:00.652-07:00My Top 10 Favorite Video Games<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
As with the
movies, these may not be my absolute favorite games of all time. But
they're 10 excellent games that I could pick up again and play at any
moment, and I consider that to be just as important.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<ol start="10">
<li><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Sonic 3 and Knuckles</b></div>
</li>
</ol>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Alright,
so this one is closer to 2 games. After all, they were released as 2
separate games...because of the holiday rush to get Sonic 3 out. Put
them together, though, and you get one of the most epic platformers
put on a 16-bit console. Three playable characters, with a different
story between playing as Sonic or Knuckles. Innovative and fun
levels that push the 10 minute time limit. And easily the last
agreeably great Sonic game. Nothing since has quite compared to it.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<ol start="9">
<li><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Team Fortress 2</b></div>
</li>
</ol>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Very rarely am I
even barely interested in a multiplayer only game. Maybe it was the
inclusion in The Orange Box, maybe it was the cartoony graphics, but
Team Fortress 2 hooked me so much that it's easily the game on this
list I've put the most time into. The basic hyperactive, often
hilarious, gameplay hasn't changed since launch, but its many
additions with new game modes and weapons have only made the game
more complex and a good reason to pick it up again when it falls off
my radar.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<ol start="8">
<li><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective</b></div>
</li>
</ol>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
To my knowledge,
the only game on this list that I've also written a review for. Take
the intriguing and twisting writing of the Phoenix Wright series, mix
it with adventure gameplay that's simultaneously challenging and fun,
and give the game a style all to its own. Ghost Trick might very
well be one of the best adventure games of recent years, and its
unique gameplay style may be imitated in the future, but it can never
truly be matched.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<ol start="7">
<li><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Super Mario Galaxy 2</b></div>
</li>
</ol>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Flip a coin
between the first and second Galaxy games and you've still got
perfection. 2's additions (Yoshi being the biggest one) make it the
choice for this list, but either way, there's an incredible galaxy of
worlds awaiting, where you never quite know where you're going to end
up next or what the challenges are going to be, but they're always
exciting and vibrant. Nintendo showed off exactly what the Wii could
do with this series.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<ol start="6">
<li><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater</b></div>
</li>
</ol>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
When Kojima
doesn't want to make a sequel, he makes a story that's incredibly
confusing (MGS2) or overloaded with exposition (MGS4). When he does
want to make a sequel, hell freezes over and we get Metal Gear Solid
3. The story is straightforward but emotionally complex, dealing
with themes of betrayal and patriotism. Meanwhile, the gameplay is
tight, with the camoflage, stamina, and healing systems all adding
great new elements, and the boss battles being some of the series'
best—especially when you learn their secret tricks. The
Subsistence and HD re-releases fixed the camera and made things even
better.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<ol start="5">
<li><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>LittleBigPlanet</b></div>
</li>
</ol>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
LittleBigPlanet
positioned itself as the 2.5D platformer to end all platformers.
Maybe not, but it was close. The fun and simple gameplay has its
faults, to be sure, especially in the story mode. But when you went
into the user-made content, suddenly the sky's the limit. From a
recreation of the Titanic to tropical resorts, from tales of
espionage to a trek through a pyramid, my favorite moments of
LittleBigPlanet are the ones that people came up with. The second
game gave more to do—sadly, the platforming potential ended up
pushed to the sidelines.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<ol start="4">
<li><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Rock Band 3</b></div>
</li>
</ol>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
The only rhythm
game you ever need. Adding the keyboards did wonders for its
gameplay, with the pro keyboard mode being some of the most difficult
fun I've had in a rhythm game. That may be the only thing putting it
here over the first two Rock Bands, but with the full store at your
disposal (sadly diminished now thanks to expiring licenses), there's
plenty of songs to find for your next get-together, and the no-fail
mode means that you can all play the hardest songs and not have to
stare down the person who fails out within 15 seconds. The most fun
you can have with your favorite songs outside of drunk karaoke.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<ol start="3">
<li><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Ace Attorney: Trials and
Tribulations</b></div>
</li>
</ol>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
The visual novel
genre has never really taken off in America like it has in Japan,
likely due to the lack of any gameplay besides making decisions. Ace
Attorney is one of the few series to have any real gameplay, which
let it gain a foothold, and as much as Capcom wants to keep it down,
it has continually provided some of the best stories in video games.
Trials and Tribulations is the high point with memorable characters
and plots that twist so much that you never know what's going to come
next. This also marks the end of the original trilogy in a huge way,
wrapping up many of its plotlines and providing some truly great
scenes. The Phoenix Wright games don't leave much to replayability,
but the excellent story can be experienced over and over again.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<ol start="2">
<li><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Sly 2: Band of Thieves</b></div>
</li>
</ol>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
The first Sly game
entertained me with its Saturday morning cartoon aesthetics and mix
of platforming and stealth. The second Sly game blew me away. The
straightforward levels became miniature open worlds, free to explore
and find their secrets as you set up for incredible heists. Each
mission you completed starting putting the pieces together, but the
heists themselves provided the real excitement, as every skill you've
learned comes together until you hit the great boss battles. Adding
Murray and Bentley as playable characters gave the game more variety,
and the story, while simplistic, touched on some real emotions
towards its climax (although closure would not come until the
also-great Sly 3). The closest to Ocean's Eleven you're going to get
in video game form.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<ol>
<li><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Prince of Persia: The Sands of
Time</b></div>
</li>
</ol>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
The first time I
played Sands of Time...I didn't get it. The combat was awful. The
platforming was difficult. The time mechanic seemed pointless.
Something drew me back to it, and then something clicked. The
parkour-based platforming is smooth and fun, with the time mechanic
reducing some of the harshness while making it no less satisfying
when you wall-run and jump across a room. Navigating around the
palace's traps is exciting and difficult. The story is developed and
stunning, based not around the sand monsters that roam the palace,
but among the subtle changes in the relationship between The Prince
and Farrah. The combat...is still not that great, but hey, even
perfect games are a little less than perfect.</div>
busterkurihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03103295464266357040noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6954412756692852290.post-7433731152995250362014-09-28T08:34:00.001-07:002014-09-28T08:34:45.981-07:00Blackwell Unbound<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7_QKZ3KIhTY57p_jk5DgmQ2niwngBDzvGzt0ZHewTb3lCbZmNh3IRRqUMJq9t-RlGntQbcKrCbBOcX8bJxn0gSnH0RojyPTmdd_9uGpEvhrV0gz6NfuKyyEEVhnb1DS_jZiPGXjRUZQU/s1600/blackwellunbound-walkthrough.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7_QKZ3KIhTY57p_jk5DgmQ2niwngBDzvGzt0ZHewTb3lCbZmNh3IRRqUMJq9t-RlGntQbcKrCbBOcX8bJxn0gSnH0RojyPTmdd_9uGpEvhrV0gz6NfuKyyEEVhnb1DS_jZiPGXjRUZQU/s1600/blackwellunbound-walkthrough.png" /></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Developed and published by Wadjet
Eye Games</b></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
I've played
several Wadjet Eye games now, and they all fall into the same
category – retro-styled point-and-click adventure games with
extremely strong, serious stories. The Blackwell series, the
masterwork of the developer (with 5 different games, Unbound being
the second) is no different.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
A prequel to the
original, you play as Lauren Blackwell (Dani Marco), a medium who,
along with her spirit guide Joey (Abe Goldfarb), has to help ghosts
move on. This game features 2 different cases, a man who won't stop
playing the sax and a woman who believes she's still in her
apartment, and naturally, the more things go on, the more it seems
the cases may be connected somehow.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
While this is an
adventure game, it doesn't have puzzles in the traditional sense.
Which is to say that your inventory exists, but rarely will trying to
combine everything with everything result in anything. There's only
a handful of inventory puzzles throughout the game, even. Instead,
the puzzles revolve more around the dialogue. You have to use each
new little piece of information to figure out how to get the next
piece, and so on. You might have to look up a name in the phonebook,
or combine two clues to get a new one, all so you have a new topic to
ask someone about. It can sometimes feel like you're wandering
around without a clue, but once you get that clue, the pieces quickly
fall together.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
And having
everything based around dialogue means that you're constantly
invested in figuring out the mystery. You want to know who these
people are, how they died, and what you need to do to help them move
on. By tying the game so strongly around the story, you're that much
more interested in the story. It's a loving care that shows
throughout the game. The graphics are spectacular, showing so much
detail with so little, and small details (Lauren will pull out a
cigarette when she's not doing anything) give the game a lot of life.
It's a fairly short game (2 hours max), but it's satisfying to play
through. My only complaint is small, but still fairly striking—the
voice acting occasionally have microphone pop. Again, it's a small
thing, but it takes you so thoroughly out of the game that it's very
disappointing.</div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
</div>
<br />
<div style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
In a way,
Blackwell Unbound is like an episode of a TV show (maybe not
surprising, considering the series was meant to be 10 games long).
It's short but engaging, with a strong story that makes you want to
come back for the next one.</div>
busterkurihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03103295464266357040noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6954412756692852290.post-10958765538923847982014-09-24T14:00:00.000-07:002014-09-24T14:00:03.539-07:00My Top 10 Favorite Movies<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
A list of my favorite movies can seem
near-impossible at times. The list fluctuates so much and can easily
change depending on what I've seen most often and how I'm feeling
that day. If anything, consider these my desert island movies at
least, the ones I could watch a hundred times and not get tired of
them. I've also tried to be representative of different
directors/creators to avoid filling this up with Pixar and Ghibli
movies.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b> 10. Sherlock Jr.</b></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
As a general rule,
if somebody likes silent films, they lean towards either Charlie
Chaplin or Buster Keaton. There's little middle ground here. To me,
Chaplin's stories are always better...but Keaton can run around him a
million times in terms of comedy. Sherlock Jr. is brief in its
runtime (less than an hour), but filled to the brims with great
comedy moments. Keaton's wild ride on the handlebars of a motorcycle
is one of his best stunts, and his trick pool shots around an
(in-story) explosive pool ball would impress Bugs Bunny. Short but
flawless.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<ol start="9">
<li><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Beauty and the Beast</b></div>
</li>
</ol>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
It's incredibly
hard for me to choose one Disney animated movie here. Lion King,
Aladdin, and Bolt could easily take this spot. So why Beauty and the
Beast? Because it's filled with plenty of flawless songs, gorgeous
animation, and one of Disney's best reimaginings of a fairy tale (the
servants being turned into talking objects? All Disney). Disney has
had their highs and lows over the years, but it rarely gets anywhere
as high as this.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<ol start="8">
<li><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Up</b></div>
</li>
</ol>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Another one that
could easily be replaced by...well...throw a dart at Pixar's
pre-Cars-2 lineup. But I come back to Up every time for showing how
Pixar's pure skill in their craft. Few movies put as much plot into
them as Up has in its famous opening montage. And as you dry your
tears from that, you're thrust into a world where a house can fly
using balloons and one of the main characters is a talking dog.
There's never any mood whiplash here, just a pure range of emotions,
tied together with a catchy leitmotif and a villain who's a dark
reflection of the main character, a perfect example of showing the
dangerous path that he's on.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<ol start="7">
<li><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Singin' in the Rain</b></div>
</li>
</ol>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
My musical of
choice. No matter how many times I see it, it takes seconds to start
enjoying the songs and choreograhy, to smile at the historical
premise turned as ridiculous as possible. I find myself having
trouble coming up with things to say about it, possibly because it's
just a pure feel-good pick-me-up movie, but it is the feel-good movie
for me.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<ol start="6">
<li><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Airplane!</b></div>
</li>
</ol>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
One of my favorite
jokes in Airplane is when the control tower says “They're on
instruments!” Cut to the crew playing instruments raucously. It's
ridiculous, it's simple, and it makes me laugh. Where so many
parodies feel the need to wink towards the camera, Airplane has its
actors straight-faced in a world where the absurd is a step away.
And where some movies carefully set up a big joke, Airplane fires
them off so fast that by the time you're done laughing at one, five
more have just happened. A movie that rewards rewatches and is
endlessly quotable.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<ol start="5">
<li><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Pulp Fiction</b></div>
</li>
</ol>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
What exactly has
drawn me to Pulp Fiction is so hard to say. In theory, it's a movie
about almost nothing. Three events happen. At the end, half the
cast is dead and the other half is changed. But that's where
Tarentino's script changes things. The sudden and dark violence
happens around conversations about religion, redemption, and yes,
what they call a quarter pounder with cheese in other countries.
While some movies make everything seem so big, Pulp Fiction's events
ultimately feel just like another day in the life. Somebody getting
shot in the head and somebody else overdosing on heroin is the chaos
breaking up business as usual.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<ol start="4">
<li><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Star Wars Episode IV: A New
Hope</b></div>
</li>
</ol>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Let's get it over
with: there's about a thousand versions of A New Hope out there, and
there are some people who could argue for ages about whether Han
shooting first or not matters. To me, it doesn't. Ever since I was
a kid, what's gripped me about A New Hope has been its witty
dialogue, its great atmosphere, and its stunning alien makeup. Some
movies you look at and immediately know that the alien is CGI, the
planet they're on is a greenscreen. When I watch Star Wars, I still
have that belief somewhere in me that George Lucas flew off to
Tatooine and filmed a real Jawa. His later actions aside, the vision
on show here remains epic close to 40 years later.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<ol start="3">
<li><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Princess Mononoke</b></div>
</li>
</ol>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Generally, when I
think Ghibli, I think lighthearted, fun movies that mix their
melancholy with magical worlds and optimism. But there's a few
exceptions to that rule, and Princess Mononoke is a big one. There's
no fun fantasy world here. There's darkness, there's violence.
There's a classic fight of man vs. nature here. But there's no quiet
acknowledgment that the right side is going to win. The further it
goes, the more doubtful it becomes that nature will remain, and that
even if it gets defeated, man will still be alive afterwards.
Miyazaki's darkness is unleashed here, and it's powerful.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<ol start="2">
<li><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Who Framed Roger Rabbit</b></div>
</li>
</ol>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Most creators
would use Who Framed Roger Rabbit as a chance to parody the film noir
genre, turn it to absurdity. Robert Zemeckis instead used it as a
fitting tribute, taking classic film noir themes (the hardened
detective, the femme fatale, the over-the-top villain) and injecting
it with fantastic animation. There is never any doubt that Bob
Hoskins is actually talking to a cartoon rabbit. Its jokes
consistently work on every viewing, and its smart storyline is so
well crafted that the rumor it started as a Chinatown sequel is
doubtful (the dates don't add up), but always believable.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<ol>
<li><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>City of God</b></div>
</li>
</ol>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
When I first
watched City of God, that was when I knew that whatever I did later
in life, it would have something to do with movies. Nothing in my
life before then told me that you could have three scenes leading up
to the same scene--one of which just being a single shot telling the
backstory of the apartment where the scene takes place—but once I
saw it, I knew it was right. Its narrative hops over time but never
loses you. And as much as it loves its style, it hits hard with its
story. The dual narrative has one man looking for the glimmer of
hope in a dark and violent world, while the other embraces the
violence and creates a cycle that seems unbreakable as the movie goes
on. One of the few movies I could actually say is perfect.</div>
busterkurihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03103295464266357040noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6954412756692852290.post-52872306539388528072014-09-23T14:31:00.000-07:002014-09-23T14:31:00.485-07:00The Bicycle Thief/Bicycle Thieves<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdE_ZhkwKYaEnGZgreSGzX8IKDqczeP6BOBZ1-6qkhN9pXteFTYC4bNhatAhPWfnUrwUwMBMin3sEGkIFkj6iT7v7gJ3qY7-shoCZ3YibnZkhe1Ka10XWMcAdeCzE9kjoda-YV1HA0nq4/s1600/bicyclethief-9849.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdE_ZhkwKYaEnGZgreSGzX8IKDqczeP6BOBZ1-6qkhN9pXteFTYC4bNhatAhPWfnUrwUwMBMin3sEGkIFkj6iT7v7gJ3qY7-shoCZ3YibnZkhe1Ka10XWMcAdeCzE9kjoda-YV1HA0nq4/s1600/bicyclethief-9849.jpg" height="231" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Directed by Vittorio De Sica</b></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Written by Vittorio De Sica, Cesare
Zavattini, Suso Cecchi D'Amico, Oreste Biancoli, Adolfo Franci, and
Gerardo Guerriri</b></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Based on the novel by Luigi
Bartolini</b></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
If you like dark
and depressing movies set in postwar Italy (because they were filmed
in postwar Italy), then the Italian neorealism movement is for you.
The Bicycle Thief went on to win an honorary Oscar for good reason,
showing off how the movement could be both thought-provoking while
creating downright hopeless stories.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Antonio Ricci
(Lamberto Maggiorani) gets a job putting up posters around Rome, but
he needs a bicycle to do it or he'll get fired. When his bicycle
gets stolen, he and his son Bruno (Enzo Staiola) are forced to look
all over Rome for it.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
The plot seems
almost simplistic, but it's the interactions of the characters that
develop the richness here. Antonio is a desperate man, and he so
badly wants to do right for his family with this job. He has these
small sparks of hope that get destroyed as he gets beaten down by a
world he simply cannot win in. And while child actors are always
hit-or-miss, Staiola is perfect as Bruno. His expressions tend
towards being flat, but the directing makes sure we know exactly
what's going through his mind. The more he has to look for the bike,
the more he begins to realize that it's hopeless and the more he
loses his respect for his father. Wordless scenes still show so much
by his simple actions. De Sica actually chose him by how he walked,
and it's a simple thing that brings a lot to his character.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
And while we
focus on Antonio and Bruno, the movie does not give protagonist
focus. This is not a movie where the protagonists alone have some
bad luck. This is a movie where we simply focus on two people who
happen to be experiencing problems everybody is experiencing. The
scene where Antonio gets his job has other men complain that they
didn't get a job. A powerful early scene has Antonio's wife Maria
(Lianella Carell) trading in the family's sheets so they can get back
the bicycle—and we see hundreds of piles of sheets all stacked up.
We're always reminded that the protagonists aren't alone in this
world, and the tragedy is that Antonio never realizes it. He pushes
and bothers people who have their own problems, people praying in
church to get meager food afterwards, bicycle sellers trying to make
a living. Antonio is in a bad place, but he's one among many.</div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
</div>
<br />
<div style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
The Bicycle Thief
is stark and can be a hard watch. There's little lightness here and
the ending is bleak. But then, considering the state of things at
the time, it creates a completely understandable picture of postwar
Italy.</div>
busterkurihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03103295464266357040noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6954412756692852290.post-35164517216572813312014-09-21T15:17:00.000-07:002014-09-21T15:17:00.028-07:00Metro: Last Light<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSbvLQTA8aGg1MnXNCaVgG_SrwuR8ghkWpUyP3li0dlQNjcoPw5WnTd0PGZyU6K-QWPSMAekyCAhNGGi8itvH5FJc9neBweuTe50QPSHO8a1WMlV2O-xQt9lCtoO9j4l5P2akcIGOCOa8/s1600/metroll_surface.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSbvLQTA8aGg1MnXNCaVgG_SrwuR8ghkWpUyP3li0dlQNjcoPw5WnTd0PGZyU6K-QWPSMAekyCAhNGGi8itvH5FJc9neBweuTe50QPSHO8a1WMlV2O-xQt9lCtoO9j4l5P2akcIGOCOa8/s1600/metroll_surface.png" height="180" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Developed by 4A Games</b></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Published by Deep Silver</b></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
There is
something to be said for games which are deeply immersive. Not just
attempting immersion, but putting elements into every part of the
game. Last Light drops you in the middle of post-apocalyptic Russia,
and you never stop feeling it.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Taking place a
year after the events of Metro 2033 and following that game's bad
ending, the Dark Ones have been destroyed and the Rangers have taken
over the former military bunker D6. However, the news that a single
Dark One is still alive leads Artyom in pursuit of it—and along the
way, uncovering enemy plans to take over D6.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Where Last Light
immediately hooks you is in much the same way that the original game
did so. Your objectives are shown on a clipboard that Artyom
carries, allowing you to pull it up at any time (and turn on your
lighter in the dark). Trips out on to the surface require gas masks
and air filters, and you have to wipe water and gunk off your mask if
you want to see. It brings you into the game before you even get to
the superbly crafted gameplay. Running and gunning is certainly a
tactic, but not a satisfying or smart tactic unless you enjoy dying
and watching your resources run out. Meanwhile, it's much more fun
to sneak around, turning off lights, hiding in the shadows and
darting past patrols. Stealth here is fun and rarely frustrating.
If it seems like you can't possibly get past a group of people
without getting caught, chances are you just need to look more to
find the way on. And it also rarely requires killing.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Which is good for
people trying to get the good ending because, as with the previous
game, it's extremely difficult. Even if you do every good action you
come across and try for a pacifist run, it's still very likely you'll
get the bad ending, thanks to the laundry list of morality points you
need with many well-hidden. It encourages exploration and thinking
to get them all, but it can still be annoying when you play the game,
look around plenty, and still find the bad ending at the end.
There's also some serious flaws in the story, the biggest one being
Anna. When you first see her, she's a pure badass that immediately
became my favorite character. Naturally, she quickly gets shunted to
being a secondary character who by the end has completely just fallen
into a woman for the male gamers to stare at. Even when there's a
big final battle towards the end, she gets left out for the all-male
generic soldiers. I get used to games being male-centric, certainly,
but it just really rubbed me the wrong way here. This, combined with
the often rambling nature of the story (at times it feels like you're
just going from location to location), made me enjoy the gameplay
more than any time that focused on story.</div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Metro: Last Light
is worth playing for the top-notch stealth gameplay and atmosphere.
It's just a shame that, with a game so obviously built around a
story, the story is more cringe-worthy than anything.</div>
busterkurihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03103295464266357040noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6954412756692852290.post-17988577566810780492014-09-20T14:00:00.000-07:002014-09-20T14:00:01.448-07:00Tomb Raider (1996)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-TSt8lSusjr81LInvs37geVqux5_Ai_hP7-bu5pPHkCvbJHqajfnw8HE8AzTVqUUZszDJbacZlTFv6LJex4XzbQCYjhC04LPIRItj6XRPR7RT-tchGP8cq_z0xrshE1MJFMeWqmfOWEw/s1600/Tomb-Raider_1996_001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-TSt8lSusjr81LInvs37geVqux5_Ai_hP7-bu5pPHkCvbJHqajfnw8HE8AzTVqUUZszDJbacZlTFv6LJex4XzbQCYjhC04LPIRItj6XRPR7RT-tchGP8cq_z0xrshE1MJFMeWqmfOWEw/s1600/Tomb-Raider_1996_001.jpg" height="180" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Developed by Core Design</b></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Published by Eidos Interactive</b></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
I'm a pretty big
Tomb Raider fan, but only a recent one. I've surely committed one of
the fandom sins by only coming in with Legend. While I played the
originals a little when I was younger, I didn't get them and quickly
became disinterested. Playing the original Tomb Raider now, it's
easy to see why young me didn't enjoy it: it's slow, methodical, and
precise. And that's why it's so much fun to finally play it.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
The plot is
there, but not exactly meaningful: Lara gets hired by Natla to
retrieve an artifact for her. The little advancement that happens is
through clunky FMVs between the acts. It's there for one reason: to
provide an excuse for Lara's globetrotting adventure. Taking you
from Peru to Greece to Egypt, the environments stand out as a
high-point in the game. They feel unique, with the snowy cave of
Peru opening into a hidden jungle, and Greece going from a temple to
a giant coliseum. The game is limited by only having interior
environments, but only “limited” in the sense that you're never
outdoors. The levels are huge, sprawling, and atmospheric. There's
no witty quips from Lara or cuts to cinematics. It's just you, all
sorts of animals trying to kill you (a good alternate game title
would be Lara Croft: Endangered Species Killer) and plenty of
exploration along the way to the next level.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
The controls can
feel odd at first. You don't run and press the jump button right as
you hit the edge. You'll just fall if you do that. Lara won't hang
on to ledges unless you tell her to. And she'll freely run off
ledges unless you're holding down the walk button. It is very easy,
especially early on, to find the muscle memory of modern platformers
killing you left and right. But then it clicks and suddenly it's
perfect. The basic rules of the game never change, meaning that it's
easy enough to figure out “Oh, as long as I press jump and then
forward, I'll do this kind of jump”, and that will get you through
many situations. And once the game starts throwing traps at you,
you've gotten the feel for things enough that the traps are tough,
but fair. Oh, you'll die plenty, but there's only a few times when
you'll die to platforming because the game didn't work right.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
And I want to
emphasize “to platforming”, because while the controls have aged
well in this charming, clunky way, the combat is awful. Trying to
run around enough to avoid enemies while dealing with the tank
controls is near impossible. At some point, the strategy is either
“stand on a ledge and shoot” or “shoot and keep jumping
backwards”, because otherwise you either die quickly or spend
plenty of time shooting at walls. In the quiet immersion of most of
the game, combat is almost always just a frustration.</div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Tomb Raider may
show the flaws that a game nearing 20 years old is going to show, but
it also shows the big dreams of the time: environments as packed with
puzzles and platforming as with action, a heroine able to take down
almost any foe who comes her way, and an around-the-world trip
without having to leave your computer. For someone who only knows
the newer games, it's a lot of fun to see how things were when
everything began.</div>
busterkurihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03103295464266357040noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6954412756692852290.post-62584077473503730902014-09-19T16:45:00.001-07:002014-09-19T16:45:41.839-07:00State of the Stuff (aka "Is This Still Updating?")<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
It's very likely you may have noticed
a sudden lack of content for about a month now. Between starting a
job and a general lack of anything within my interest coming out (I
seriously haven't gone to the movies since Guardians of the Galaxy,
and haven't particularly wanted to with the crop of movies out
there), I've definitely used it all as an excuse to slack on content.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
However, don't think at all that I
want to stop doing Devi Reviews Stuff. I'll take the last month as a
hiatus, but now I'm going to go back into full gear. And I do mean
full gear.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
For when, I want to get back into what
I was doing when I started the site: reviewing every movie I watch
and game I play. I'm still not going to put up a review that I'm
unsatisfied with, but I'm at least going to try reviewing things and
if I find myself running around with nothing to say, I'll drop it,
whereas earlier I simply haven't even tried at reviewing more
difficult things.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
The other thing I want to start doing
is setting a schedule. At least twice a week, I'm going to be
putting up reviews (and hopefully more often than that). And on
Wednesdays, I'm going to put up either top lists or opinion pieces.
I've always wanted to keep things focused on reviews, but I also want
to provide content that can hopefully also give a better look at me
and my tastes, starting with going over some of my all-time favorite
movies, shows, games, and more.</div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
So short version: sorry for the delay,
but get ready for plenty of reviews and more on the way.</div>
busterkurihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03103295464266357040noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6954412756692852290.post-74114648666285436362014-08-04T16:32:00.001-07:002014-08-04T16:32:35.462-07:00Guardians of the Galaxy<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2n0GbjRUEnajmcmtpvT-kgYwwF1axZdicKwLBtG5-L5VOG8GlggLELj6YZs7CyfdD6v_jxPUwskUJNF2DDUVf6ovc5v793quSMtcPq1d9sqPj46TQF4w96cBNs61sTGiI79jMc_u4XOg/s1600/3650073-guardians-of-the-galaxy-hi-res-photo-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2n0GbjRUEnajmcmtpvT-kgYwwF1axZdicKwLBtG5-L5VOG8GlggLELj6YZs7CyfdD6v_jxPUwskUJNF2DDUVf6ovc5v793quSMtcPq1d9sqPj46TQF4w96cBNs61sTGiI79jMc_u4XOg/s1600/3650073-guardians-of-the-galaxy-hi-res-photo-1.jpg" height="161" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Directed by James Gunn</b></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Written by James Gunn and Nicole
Perlman</b></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Based on the comic by Dan Abnett and
Andy Lanning</b></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
In a way,
Guardians of the Galaxy is the most un-Marvel movie so far. Not in a
sense of tone, but in a sense of location. Earth is barely onscreen
for 3 minutes, there's no familiar characters around (besides a
couple minor ones, two of which appeared in credits scenes before),
and the characters are aliens and rogues—decidedly not super, and
barely qualifying as heroic. And all of this makes it stand out
higher in Marvel's universe.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Peter Quill
(Chris Pratt) is a rogue-type who discovers an orb that he thinks is
just a normal artifact, but it ends up attracting the attention of
Ronan the Accuser (Lee Pace) and his Kree army. Peter has to team up
with Gamora (Zoe Saldana), Drax the Destroyer (Dave Bautista), Rocket
Raccoon (Bradley Cooper), and the alien-tree Groot (Vin Diesel) to
figure out what the orb is and stop it from getting into Ronan's
hands.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
The comparisons
between the Guardians themselves and the Avengers are obvious. After
all, the worst the Avengers have is Tony Stark, who's deeply
sarcastic but still heroic. The Guardians practically define the
ragtag group of misfits, constantly at odds with each other in their
goals and morally. They seem like any minute they're just going to
turn and kill each other. When the Avengers fight like that, it's a
tense atmosphere. When the Guardians fight, it's closer to
hilarious. The focus on humor here is big, and there's plenty of
bickering remarks as they butt heads, held together by some fine
acting all around. Zoe Saldana is still in her niche of “no-nonsense
badass”, but it works all the better when she's surrounded by
nonsense. Bradley Cooper takes the role of a bitter talking raccoon
as seriously as he can, cracking plenty of jokes while showing the
small shades of his backstory when you least expect it. And Chris
Pratt swaggers on-screen in an opening scene that defines his role
better than anything: a quiet trip into a ruin that then turns into
Pratt dancing and kicking space-rats to Come And Get Your Love.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
The atmosphere
here ties things together. It plays to pure sci-fi. The pristine
planet which holds the galactic police corps Nova, the space jail
filled with tough aliens that the Guardians have to break out of.
And then it plays to the Marvel universe's bigger weirdness with a
planet which is actually the head of a long-dead giant alien. If you
want the 101 to Marvel Cosmic, this is it: there may be a talking
raccoon, but you're still getting an honest love of science fiction
that's just done without boundaries. Space battles are huge and fun.
An early fight over the orb is humorous while also showing off
plenty of sci-fi tech. The CGI is flawless, from the spaceships to
Rocket's smaller details and expressions making him actually look
like a raccoon is just walking around with a giant gun.</div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Guardians is
another winner in Marvel's line-up (big surprise), but it's also a
huge dose of sci-fi fun. It goes over the top and then some, and it
never pauses and says “Should we back off?”, but instead just
looks to entertain as much as possible.</div>
busterkurihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03103295464266357040noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6954412756692852290.post-80471710046027224362014-07-20T11:46:00.001-07:002014-07-20T11:46:15.959-07:00Rocky & Bullwinkle Volume 1<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHuE9aIf9FwbM2gIH3XVd66GtEVWZDh4aO0UIFrYQhWBuAqfoZBkJ5seqBXC2_in19Otw4oQWU9Q2jHdtPonOFsScYkNiKyUGuD2eRl5GykbB1HGu_80IhJRJOIQirbuf5ELgbgYZumkI/s1600/cover50042-medium.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHuE9aIf9FwbM2gIH3XVd66GtEVWZDh4aO0UIFrYQhWBuAqfoZBkJ5seqBXC2_in19Otw4oQWU9Q2jHdtPonOFsScYkNiKyUGuD2eRl5GykbB1HGu_80IhJRJOIQirbuf5ELgbgYZumkI/s1600/cover50042-medium.png" height="320" width="209" /></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Written by Mark Evanier</b></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Art by Roger Langridge</b></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
IDW has done some
fantastic revivals of licenses, and with the recent Mr. Peabody and
Sherman movie, now's a great time to bring back the Jay Ward cartoons
in comic form, right? Sadly, Rocky & Bullwinkle stumbles far too
quickly and never recovers.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
The four issues
here are all standalone stories, with the moose & squirrel going
against Boris & Natasha's various evil plans. The elements from
the cartoon are here in essence. There's the omnipresent narrator
and the dual “Next time” cliffhanger titles, and just a feeling
like these could've been actual stories on the show. But then the
comic ends up relying too much on references rather than actual
humor. It's funny when Bullwinkle asks a magician “How did you do
that?” after he pulls a rabbit out of his hat, it's painful when
Bullwinkle starts explaining what normally happens. It gets worse
when modern-day references start getting put in. They just don't
work in context. You've got a 60s, Cold War style plot of Americans
vs. Russian expies, and then suddenly Bullwinkle starts talking about
the Kardashians and reality shows. And finally, there's a lack of
the self-deprecation that made the series great. Hell, even the
movie got that one right. Instead, the comic almost seems to put the
show on a pedestal, and that's just not a good place for a licensed
comic to be.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
There are a few
good points here. The idea of cutting from the main story for a
Dudley Do-Right “short” is perfectly in the style of the show,
and the shorts tend to be better than the main feature. Sadly, it's
nothing BUT Dudley Do-Right. No Aesop's Fables, no Fractured Fairy
Tales, just Dudley Do-Right. But I'll take what I can get.
Bullwinkle's awful puns throughout are perfectly in style, and
they're so bad that they at least put a smile on my face. The final
issue here is also fairly good, the closest to what I was hoping for
when I started reading, but it was a serious case of too little, too
late. And Langridge's art is in top form, a simplified style that
works for a similarity to the show. My main question is why he
didn't also write the comic. He did an excellent job on the Muppet
Show comic, and with how stylistically similar they are, this would
seem like the perfect fit for him.</div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Overall, Rocky &
Bullwinkle is just disappointing. IDW has done plenty of quality
licensed work, so to see something that uses the license so poorly
just seems out of place for them.</div>
busterkurihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03103295464266357040noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6954412756692852290.post-68387200948442620042014-07-01T13:29:00.000-07:002014-07-01T13:29:00.191-07:0012 Years a Slave<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwWko9yTMxzpbn2Ev783P0tg4Frfr4srstkWMzgSNRd2ZPVdLV7Phcf0d7SywqawN27oBea9e64cGO2V2412dtDO4ck6fwYGqvKSP-VjYvUK-XjCJmFo8GhmRaGS2Cd4knlhN9WASvWf4/s1600/12-years-a-slave-trailer-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwWko9yTMxzpbn2Ev783P0tg4Frfr4srstkWMzgSNRd2ZPVdLV7Phcf0d7SywqawN27oBea9e64cGO2V2412dtDO4ck6fwYGqvKSP-VjYvUK-XjCJmFo8GhmRaGS2Cd4knlhN9WASvWf4/s1600/12-years-a-slave-trailer-2.jpg" height="163" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Directed by Steve McQueen</b></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Written by John Ridley</b></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Based on the book by Solomon Northup</b></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Some movies take
the easy way out on hard topics, implying the harder parts or making
soft messages like “slavery was bad”. 12 Years a Slave does not
go easy. 12 Years a Slave lets you know from the opening that there
is going to be nothing held back.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Solomon Northup
(Academy Award-nominated Chiwetel Ejiofor) is a free man living a
decent life in New York. When two men give him a job offer and take
him out drinking afterwards, he wakes up in slavery, with nobody
willing to listen to him. And over his 12 years in slavery, he has
to do what he can both to survive and to become free again.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
This is
undoubtedly a brutal and intense movie. The fact that there's
violence as soon as Solmon gets put in slavery sets the tone for how
things will go. And things get worse from there. The shock factor
is there in a sense, seeing what Solomon had to be put through, but
it goes beyond simple shock to show the kinds of cruel people that
were involved. The early slavers seem cruel for having slaves,
beating them, and simply treating them as property. This is not a
movie that gives a pass to white people or tries to say “But that's
what happened back then”, it shows in full that there was simply
nobody who cared. But they just barely qualify as generous compared
to the eventual slavers of Solomon for the movie's latter half. The
Epps (Academy Award-nominated Michael Fassbender and Sarah Paulson)
aren't just cruel, they're vicious. Edwin is an alcoholic who will
whip his slaves for no reason, while Mistress Epps verbally abuses
Patsey (Academy Award-winning Lupita N'yongo). While Patsey only has
a handful of scenes, the Oscar for N'yongo becomes obvious in a
heartbreaking scene where Patsey begs Solomon to mercy-kill her.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Everything gets
held together by the incredible cinematography. The lush green of
Louisiana is directly contrasted with the horrors that happen
on-screen. And several silent long takes throughout show more than
dialogue ever could. When Solomon barely survives being hanged at
one point, it would have been easy to have the aftermath scene last a
few seconds. Instead, it's a full minute as Solomon simply stands on
his tiptoes while behind him, all the other slaves continue on with
their work. And when McQueen does nothing but focus on Ejiofor, his
acting ability shines through. A scene of him simply running through
emotions at the mere chance of being free is one of the most powerful
scenes in the movie.</div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Visually striking
and incredibly acted, 12 Years a Slave takes the issue and the story
on in full and doesn't falter for a second in showing what happened.</div>
busterkurihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03103295464266357040noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6954412756692852290.post-36524286162983691062014-06-30T13:20:00.000-07:002014-06-30T13:20:00.097-07:00Pitch Perfect (Guest Review by Aria!)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigIpd43G7aHVOO9LicrHWC2lrrESe_Q_Qy9CE6uSo1lmnxZLJzQvQAksiJkeugLSqUoZQDwyLhuGOKnwyAUYd4DbHpUUlTt3XrVyUrdtSgVIbHx2LSZ9wo6rH-UrUVkmKX_9JClnGZAYg/s1600/pitchperfect2_wide-ff3672e0e4337f8267689cc9ec59338ba2a5dab6-s6-c30.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigIpd43G7aHVOO9LicrHWC2lrrESe_Q_Qy9CE6uSo1lmnxZLJzQvQAksiJkeugLSqUoZQDwyLhuGOKnwyAUYd4DbHpUUlTt3XrVyUrdtSgVIbHx2LSZ9wo6rH-UrUVkmKX_9JClnGZAYg/s1600/pitchperfect2_wide-ff3672e0e4337f8267689cc9ec59338ba2a5dab6-s6-c30.jpg" height="179" width="320" /></a></div>
<b><br /></b>
<b>Directed by Jason Moore</b><br />
<b>Written by Kay Cannon</b><br />
<b>Based on the novel by Mickey Rapkin</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
I had such high hopes for Pitch Perfect, but it let me down with
more of the same.<br />
We have here the story of a special snowflake hipster chick with
an intense passion for music and a father who doesn’t understand
her.. She has her own dreams, but her father doesn’t approve and
makes her go to college. The message is clear: she needs to stop
being so cool and join a defunct, all-girl a capella group that
doesn’t know when to quit.<br />
That’s great and everything, but the main plot is soon engulfed
by the unnecessary and contrived romantic subplot. The story of a guy
who just kinda forces himself into a girl’s space and is *sob* so
heartbroken when she doesn’t take too kindly to that. Oh, well. The
important thing is how self-aware they are, predicting and bashing
the ending to their own movie.<br />
The main problem seems to be that the movie doesn't understand its
own strengths, choosing to focus on the least interesting characters
and turning everyone else into offensive caricatures and mere props
for a cause that their depiction betrays. The whole movie seems so
ready to subvert all of this and by the end reinforces that
everything is exactly as it appears. Look at us subverting
subversiveness! We're so original you guys!<br />
<strong> *spoilers*</strong> The girls’ victory at the end is
undermined by the fact that the main villain leaves before the final
battle. Yeah, they were awesome and stuff, but without the sweet,
succulent tears of the bad guy, how am I supposed to balance my
breakfast?<strong> *end spoilers*</strong><br />
While it has its moments (Rebel Wilson gets a couple of good
lines; Elizabeth Banks steals every scene she’s in; and the music
is indisputably awesome), the seemingly girl-power plot-line is
tarnished by out-of-date tropes and straw-man misogyny that serves to
obscure actual male entitlement as a quirky, lovable character trait.<br />
Also, <em>vader</em> is Dutch, not German.<br />
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
busterkurihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03103295464266357040noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6954412756692852290.post-71200496174168851102014-06-29T13:02:00.000-07:002014-06-29T13:02:20.998-07:00A Matter of Life and Death<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIHyEHgf6CndDYbn7wB1sy_Q3WqnB6ekEuc-snqOA2aeRWAKBQnW-dX7KulAisb_4KjUuhRP0ICUP37OuK1tvI_C4i3sQqiOYkl9thhB7lI-SXdsC0lTtw0hJo4LqEt3ZfVPEZ68XyiaI/s1600/powell_pressburger_a_matter_of_life_and_death_gallery_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIHyEHgf6CndDYbn7wB1sy_Q3WqnB6ekEuc-snqOA2aeRWAKBQnW-dX7KulAisb_4KjUuhRP0ICUP37OuK1tvI_C4i3sQqiOYkl9thhB7lI-SXdsC0lTtw0hJo4LqEt3ZfVPEZ68XyiaI/s1600/powell_pressburger_a_matter_of_life_and_death_gallery_2.jpg" height="212" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Written and directed by Michael
Powell and Eric Pressburger</b></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Let's face it,
the older a movie is, the less that's expected out of its special
effects. You may see the zipper on the monster, but if the costume's
good, you'll give it a pass. You may be able to tell that the
sweeping city is a matte painting, but the sheer scope of it can
still impress. While A Matter of Life and Death has a little more
going for it than just its special effects, they shine out over the
rest of the movie.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Peter Carter
(David Niven) is a pilot in World War II whose plane gets shot down.
He's meant to die and go to heaven. However, the angel who's
supposed to take him there, Conductor 71 (Marius Goring), can't find
him in the English fog. And by the time he actually finds Peter,
Peter has fallen in love with June (Kim Hunter), and now that love
may be the only thing that can keep him from going to heaven.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
In an interesting
stylistic choice, real life is portrayed in Technicolor, while heaven
is in black-and-white. You'd think the majesty of heaven would've
been portrayed as more colorful than real life, but then, this is a
film about wanting to stay alive, making real life look far more
appealing (71 even snarks when he goes to Earth for the first time,
“I missed Technicolor”). Instead, heaven is dream-like, almost
surreal, seeming to stretch on forever. It's done with simple and
obvious matte paintings (in one scene panning down a building, you
can even see the seam), and yet it works. The zoom-outs to endless
environments are impressive. The climactic courtroom scene seems to
have a cast of thousands watching over it. Even simpler special
effects on Earth are incredible for 1946. When everybody walks
through a door while time is stopped, the effect not only works, but
makes you wonder how they did it.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Of course, this
should not be mistaken for simply a pretty movie. The plot here is
fascinating. The ticking clock as Peter has to prepare for the trial
for his life works well, especially as he desperately looks for the
lawyer who can defend him, being able to choose from anybody from all
of history. And the trial scene itself is suspenseful, although it
starts to veer a bit into a battle between the English and the
English-hating Abraham Farlan (Raymond Massey), the first American
who got killed in the lead-up to the Revolutionary War. It makes
sense as the movie was meant as propaganda to show how the English
and Americans should work together, but it makes the movie's main
plot get pushed aside for a while. The scene is interesting to
watch, but you can't help but wonder what happened to Peter in the
middle of it.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
And then there's
the movie's big problem: the romance is too sudden. This may easily
be values dissonance, a case of something that would've been
acceptable in the 40s but not in 2014. Regardless, it's a little
ridiculous to watch Peter come up to the woman he talked to on the
radio before he died, say he loves her and kiss her, and...they're in
love now! And their romance never becomes more convincing than that,
you just have to go with it. This can easily be a deal-breaker for
people who want their romance plots to make sense. If you're willing
to ignore it and just imagine there's a bunch of off-screen stuff
that happened, the movie will probably work better.</div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Even with that
significant misstep, A Matter of Life and Death has great visuals and
a tense story, with fine performances by Niven, Hunter and Goring
that keep it all together.</div>
busterkurihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03103295464266357040noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6954412756692852290.post-47182463974115410922014-06-14T11:00:00.000-07:002014-06-14T11:00:03.645-07:00The Amazing Spider-Man 2<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDSx141HsybPnIVzEQ9Z1utGaU5S1AkSQPgZBIgFPDtlUI8dP_kB5JdITUDlXf6hCKU1yt5LwZhAKnBP_ol0P-nzE2XUwUp1CvsdJ8E04DXvAUCw_NL31ZSrk401hT-o5tVudUz6Kf84U/s1600/mdrgybgnmlb9aory6upk.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDSx141HsybPnIVzEQ9Z1utGaU5S1AkSQPgZBIgFPDtlUI8dP_kB5JdITUDlXf6hCKU1yt5LwZhAKnBP_ol0P-nzE2XUwUp1CvsdJ8E04DXvAUCw_NL31ZSrk401hT-o5tVudUz6Kf84U/s1600/mdrgybgnmlb9aory6upk.jpg" height="177" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Directed by Marc Webb</b></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Written by Alex Kurtzman, Roberto
Orci, Jeff Pinkner, and James Vanderbilt</b></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Based on characters created by Stan
Lee and Steve Ditko</b></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
The first Amazing
Spider-Man movie looked like a step in the right direction for the
reboot. Its decompression of the origin events, addition of wit and
humor that had always been missing from the original trilogy, and
great use of a villain all made it a winner. And that all makes it
so disappointing to see it all fall apart so quickly in the sequel.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Peter Parker
(Andrew Garfield) is reeling from the events of the previous film,
but has also quickly become the people's hero as Spider-Man. But
things go bad as he has to deal with his fractured relationship with
Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone), the emerging supervillain and Spider-Man
fanboy Electro (Jamie Foxx), and mysteries about his parents
connected with Oscorp.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
There's a lot of
weak points here, but praise is deserved here for several points.
The action sequences are very well done, tightly filmed and with
excellent special effects. They're the easy high point of the movie
as a whole. There's also Jamie Foxx's performance as Electro/Max
Dillon. While there's problems with the writing that I'll get to,
early on, we see him as someone pathetically sympathetic, even as he
gets transformed. His scene of “attacking” Times Square shortly
after being transformed isn't this big first fight against the
villain, it's a sad moment of a normal guy who really doesn't want
the power he's suddenly stuck with. And finally, the score here is
excellent. The character's leitmotifs are done well, and the dynamic
nature means that triumphant Spider-Man swinging music gets suddenly
turned into heavy electronic beats when the villains come in.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
But sadly,
nothing can fix the narrative problems here. The film doesn't really
move, it lurches around randomly. The first half of the movie even
feels completely different from the second half. None of the Oscorp
plotlines become relevant until later, and they just don't spark any
interest. Electro's interesting nature as a sympathetic villain
definitely seems like it could work, but his sympathies are lost by
the end. There's no “redemption equals death” or anything, he
just becomes a standard villain. The same goes for Dane Dehaan's
Harry Osborn, whose transformation from diseased boy with a father
he hates to outright villain is almost ridiculous. It even hinges on
Peter and Spider-Man being a jerk to him for no reason—not really
something you want out of him. And then there's the Gwen Stacy
subplot. You can literally hear the movie grinding to a halt any
time it stops to focus on Peter and Gwen's romance, which is
uninteresting, creepy (at one point Peter admits to stalking Gwen
while they were broken up, and Gwen just laughs at it) and poorly
written (this is a movie that actually contains the line “It says I
love you because I love you” with no irony). And as if that wasn't
bad enough, the chemistry never really hits between the two. Which
is weird when Andrew and Emma are dating in real life. Instead,
Peter and Harry have more sparks flying between them (and in all
honesty, would've explored a much more interesting dynamic that comic
fans haven't seen before).</div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
ASM2's exciting
action scenes can't gloss over a story that's just plain badly
written. And when you compare this against the Marvel Studios
output, it gets obvious that Spider-Man already needs another reboot.</div>
busterkurihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03103295464266357040noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6954412756692852290.post-85152139006612087992014-06-09T20:35:00.003-07:002014-06-09T20:35:57.126-07:00Black Science Volume 1: How to Fall Forever<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJPsG6_cUROOy38zE7y8pg3o9VlpJgJyY0uQnIv7RmMLZPGgvVnP_WQESm8iVVB4WA6HmvhzQlcNAZUMIkaB42hbA0O5dpfviV5gT4yn-lRshSDtav52RS-k6edir_owgk3o3SOy7a6Mw/s1600/cover48667-medium.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJPsG6_cUROOy38zE7y8pg3o9VlpJgJyY0uQnIv7RmMLZPGgvVnP_WQESm8iVVB4WA6HmvhzQlcNAZUMIkaB42hbA0O5dpfviV5gT4yn-lRshSDtav52RS-k6edir_owgk3o3SOy7a6Mw/s1600/cover48667-medium.png" height="320" width="209" /></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Written by Rick Remender</b></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Art by Matteo Scalera</b></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
While I've only
read bits and pieces of Remender's work, I think his run on Secret
Avengers (which I have read) defines him well: lots of big,
high-concept stuff going on. He turned the espionage team of
Avengers into a team that had to take down an evil empire of robots.
And it was wonderful. Black Science takes the path of excitement
right off the bat, and doesn't really let up.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Grant McKay and
his team of scientists have successfully made a device called The
Pillar, which lets them reach into other dimensions. Food? A cure
for cancer? If it's out in some dimension, then they can bring it to
our Earth. Unfortunately, it gets sabotaged before they're able to
do more testing, and now the team, along with Grant's kids and an
executive, are stuck hopping between dimensions filled with stuff
trying to kill them.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
And there is a
definite fear that things will kill them. It's established in the
first issue that anyone can die, and Remender does not let things
feel safe, bringing the axe down several more times in this first
volume. It could feel cheap, but it works. It leaves you on edge,
not knowing when or if someone is going to die, and effectively
making every danger feel like it could be a character's end. And
this is kept up with a generally frenetic pace. There is always
something going on, and even the one breather spot is just a gasp of
air before it kicks right back into action.
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
If that wasn't enough, there's
always the ticking timer until The Pillar warps again. It's similar
to Sliders in a way, except instead of alternate Earths, there's
worlds of frog men and wars involving technologically advanced Native
Americans. Scalera's art brings it all to life, with plenty of big
panels to give the full view of the environment. And while the
effort to fix The Pillar is there, and get back to their Earth, you
obviously don't really want them to. When each dimension is
something new and exciting, you just want to see what else Remender
and Scalera have cooked up. The one problem being that between the
focus on the worlds and the anyone can die attitude, character
development is a bit light and sometimes feels pointless. But then,
a lot is also said just by how the characters react to each new
situation they're thrown into.</div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
How to Fall
Forever is a solid first volume that has plenty to keep you reading.
Even if the overall story is clearly developing, you want to get on
now just to see where things go.</div>
busterkurihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03103295464266357040noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6954412756692852290.post-28721388477535254002014-05-18T18:24:00.000-07:002014-05-18T18:24:17.276-07:00Godzilla (2014)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggmpAK8EbOgH6o0YoDdmFZxNKQyeMz3sK12i9RsrOrhlP9q06Qd2lWd_CA1UgUDhR6QUn665KFx-SzqIVg6wkq6bLs15NV7LLsIS10ahpUuDKU7YIhk5LSI2RHJtWDBtRiwR_Lk-iX1Rw/s1600/godzilla-attacks-golden-gate.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggmpAK8EbOgH6o0YoDdmFZxNKQyeMz3sK12i9RsrOrhlP9q06Qd2lWd_CA1UgUDhR6QUn665KFx-SzqIVg6wkq6bLs15NV7LLsIS10ahpUuDKU7YIhk5LSI2RHJtWDBtRiwR_Lk-iX1Rw/s1600/godzilla-attacks-golden-gate.jpg" height="205" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Directed by Gareth Edwards</b></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Written by Max Borenstein and Dave
Callaham</b></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
While it's been
years since I've seen the Matthew Broderick-starring Godzilla, its
legacy is well known: it was awful. A stain on the franchise, so bad
that Godzilla's creator declared the creature to be called “Zilla”
in canon because they took the God out of it. The dust seems to have
settled enough for them to attempt it again with the new (also
subtitle-less) Godzilla, and while there's some flaws here, this is a
definite step in the right direction.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Ford Brody (Aaron
Taylor-Johnson) is a soldier who's just gotten back home when he gets
a call that his dad, Joe (Bryan Cranston), has been arrested in
Japan. When Ford goes to get him out, Joe convinces him to go into a
quarantine zone, where they find that the organization Monarch is
watching a larva that hatches into a MUTO (Massive Unidentified
Terrestrial Organism). Now, it's wrecking havoc on its way across
Japan and the US, and the world's only hope may be Godzilla.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
The movie's story
alone shows how there's a closer adherence to the classic Godzilla
formula. Instead of a bunch of humans running around while Godzilla
wrecks stuff, Godzilla is the hero here, fighting another monster.
This doesn't stop humans from trying to interfere, leading to the
main theme of man vs. nature. The military wants to use bombs to
take out all the creatures, while Dr. Ichiro Serizawa (Ken Watanabe)
urges them to just let Godzilla take them out, and then Godzilla will
leave again. And indeed, Godzilla is generally shown to be less
destructive than the MUTO. But you can't help but feel that it's a
struggle mankind will not win throughout. It's explained that the
MUTO resembles prehistoric life, feeding off radioactivity, and
constantly, there are scenes of wild animals either running away or
just not caring about the monsters. Like even if mankind were to get
wiped out by everything, it was our playing with nuclear power and
weapons that caused it. This may not touch as hard on the themes as
the 1954 original, but the themes are still there in a sense.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
The movie's major
stylistic decision is to show Godzilla and the MUTO as little as
possible. This may seem disappointing at first, and indeed, it
leaves you wanting more. Fights will cut off to only be seen on TV
or through closing doors. You're trying to get your best glimpse of
what's going on. But it's not until the very end that you get to see
it in full. Even then, the movie is almost shot like a found
footage. Not from shaky cams with battery indicators on-screen, but
from street level or through a dirty office window. Wide shots are
only used to establish. It puts you right in the middle of the
destruction, and indeed, as much as it holds off on showing the
battles, the aftermath where everything is destroyed is always shown
in full. You think it's awesome to see them destroying stuff, and
then it cuts right to the many people evacuating.
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Sadly, for the
human perspective the movie wants, the one big misstep is likely with
Ford Brody. He's just not a very interesting character, and he's
barely distinguishable from every other white soldier in the movie.
Dr. Serizawa and Joe Brody would have been more interesting
characters, or even ditching a viewpoint character entirely and
simply showing how people in general have to deal with it. And for
how effective holding off on showing Godzilla is, I do hope that the
inevitable sequel won't shy away from giving us more battles full-on.</div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Still, if you
want to reboot a franchise, this is how to do it. With smart
direction and dark themes, Godzilla is exciting and full of great
special effects.</div>
busterkurihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03103295464266357040noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6954412756692852290.post-59867541994963387582014-05-14T15:20:00.000-07:002014-05-14T15:20:04.002-07:00The Wolf Among Us Episode One: Faith<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6FXbiusaUmzAaNWvSxjP8sbjRjUPMr4tEn8zO019zMl8PE6YcnaVCzeXvRRjlM3O3wh_phyphenhyphenYFu8go-I4siw0bQePq5hAbmFAq3SCM2955fVK9U-xt-bCegZp_fQRiSvnTym1kd2V8t_I/s1600/The-Wolf-Among-Us.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6FXbiusaUmzAaNWvSxjP8sbjRjUPMr4tEn8zO019zMl8PE6YcnaVCzeXvRRjlM3O3wh_phyphenhyphenYFu8go-I4siw0bQePq5hAbmFAq3SCM2955fVK9U-xt-bCegZp_fQRiSvnTym1kd2V8t_I/s1600/The-Wolf-Among-Us.jpg" height="179" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Published and developed by Telltale
Games</b></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Based on the comic series Fables
created by Bill Willingham</b></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Played on Xbox 360</b></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
As great as The
Walking Dead was, I was a bit skeptical about The Wolf Among Us,
simply because taking Walking Dead's choices and throwing it on
Fables didn't seem like it would work. After all, Fables has been
less about hard choices and more about grand schemes. And yet, to my
surprise, Faith immediately shows how Wolf Among Us can combine this
gameplay with a new look at the Fables world.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Taking place
before the comic series, The Wolf Among Us has you playing as Bigby
Wolf (Adam Harrington), the sheriff of Fabletown. When a woman ends
up dead on the doorstep of the elite apartment building The
Woodlands, it's up to Bigby and Snow White (Erin Yvette) to figure
out who she was and who killed her.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Don't worry if
you don't know Fabletown from Storybrooke, or anything about Fables
in general. The basic premise you need to know is just that all the
people and creatures from fables and fairy tales used to live in
their own lands, but now they're hiding out in New York City. Not
only is it helpfully summarized at the start of the episode, each new
Fable you meet gives you an entry in the Book of Fables that tells
you who they are. The game is made to be friendly both to newcomers
and long-time fans, with plenty of classic characters mixed together
with all-new ones. This does come with the problem that people who
have read even just the first arc of Fables know who's expendable and
who's not.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
This doesn't hurt
the game's story, though. And tonally, Fables shows once again how
it can branch out by taking on more of a noir-ish feel. The
cel-shaded graphics are covered in darkness and shadow. The bright
coloring of the comics is replaced with poorly-lit rooms and bars.
It gives the game a completely different atmosphere from the comics,
and it also shows the difference of the choices here compared to
Walking Dead. You're not deciding who survives or who eats. You're
deciding where to investigate first, who to question, who you suspect
is the murderer. It's a great feeling, and as before, the choice
system makes even simple conversations intense as you decide whether
you're playing good cop or big, bad wolf.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
The game does
have a couple problems that pop up in this episode. For one, on the
360 version, there's a lot of loading and some lag. Nothing
game-breaking or anything, it can just be disappointing to have to
wait for a while between scenes. There's also the fact that the
Telltale engine badly needs an update. It still looks good
graphically, but the animations are old. Bigby's tie-straightening
is clearly pulled from Sam in Sam & Max, and a look from a
bartender gave me deja vu from the many female characters she
resembles. Even just a change in art style would help make the
engine feel fresh again, instead of borderline punishing Telltale
fans.</div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
A few hiccups
don't hurt a solid start to a new series. Telltale has finally
perfected the “interactive movie” style of gameplay, and it's
everything we knew it could be.</div>
busterkurihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03103295464266357040noreply@blogger.com0