Reviews

Movie and Game Reviews, and Such

  • February 18, 2006

    24

    God

    My new obsession. Before 11 days ago, I have never seen an episode of 24. I have been missing out. I took the necessary time over those days to watch the entire 1st season and start the second one. Before I make my comments, I would like to apologize to anyone that I have made fun of 24 too. I, before watching any episodes, felt the concept about a show’s whole season taking place over 24 hours was dumb. Boy was I wrong.

    The show is non-stop, heart-pumping, completely unpredictable action. Believe me when I say I am usually good at picking up what will happen next, and was wrong every time. There is no lame dialogue, no stupid parts (maybe one, which was quickly fixed) and a whole lot of plot. Not too much to not know what’s going on, but enough to keep you very entertained. And it’s all tied together quite nicely.

    Then, of course, there is Jack Bauer. The man. He thinks of everything. It’s really the epitome of what most guys want to be. Kiefer Sutherland does a great job- making every on screen moment as believable and entrancing as the last. If you have not seen 24, I highly recommend it. Start with Season 1 and work your way up. Later.

  • January 28, 2006

    Underworld: Evolution

    Kate Beckinsale

    Underworld: Evolution, the sequel to Underworld, is about Vampires, Lychans (special werewolves) and a whole lot of action, blood, sex, blood, action, blood. Don’t get me wrong, I liked the movie, it just wasn’t good.

    The movie has some cool fight scenes, graphical effects, and of course, Kate Beckinsale, who could make anything worth watching. As for the movie, it was kind of predictable, had shotty dialogue, and has been done before…I didn’t see Underworld, so I can’t say it was the same, but I’ll go with Van Helsing (which Kate was also in, where Kate also played a character sworn against some evil power). One note about the dialogue: everytime there was some important question asked, there was a long pause, staring and a cut scene. The scene that was cut to was only like 30 seconds long, and then back for the answer. If you like action, blood and a sex scene with Kate Beckinsale, this is the movie for you. If you are looking for some completely original, life changing movie, i would suggest Eternal Sunshine or A Clockwork Orange. I know there are better ones, but I haven’t seen them or are forgetting them at the moment.

    On a final thought, I would like to know why every time a movie is made taking place in an early, we will say post Revolutionary War, era, the people have British accents. Kate actually does have one, but i doubt they entire cast did. But every movie like that: Lord of the Rings, King Arthur (I guess that’s ok…), Alexander, Kingdom of Heaven to name a few. Kingdom of Heaven took place in Rome and Jerusalem (i believe). Just something I thought I might mention. Later!

  • January 19, 2006

    [Scrubs]

    I have been meaning to write this post for a while. A couple of weeks ago, my friend got my into Scrubs, a show on NBC about residents at a hospital and the angst they have about being doctors. The main character is John Dorian (J.D.), who starts off an as intern and is currently an attending in the 5th season. His friend Chris Terk is a surgical doctor who went to college and med school with him. There is also Elliot, the cute female doctor and JD’s on and off ‘girlfriend’ and Carla, Terk’s girlfriend, who is a nurse at the hospital. My favorite character, however, is Dr. Perry Cox, JD’s mentor. He is mean to the point of very funny, but you can tell actually cares when the moment calls for it.

    I’ve linked the first 2 seasons, which are currently the only ones out on DVD. Rumor has it Season 3 is due out next month. Scrubs is aired on Tuesdays at 9 and 9:30pm on NBC. Later!

  • January 8, 2006

    Hostel

    Hostel

    I wrote the same review over at Newsvine:

    My view of Hostel going into the movie was very different that what the actual film was. I thought it would be more ‘Saw like’, partially because I saw my first preview during my viewing of Saw II. But, the story actually focuses on 3 college aged guys who are back-packing through Europe and end up in a town east of Amsterdam. They went there looking for girls and a good time. Well they found the girls. Now I don’t want to give too much away here, but one by one they find their way into this place that is used to torture and kill people. People pay to do this.

    A couple of the things I liked about the film are the transformation of characters throughout the movie, based on their decisions, and the more we find out about them. Also, anyone we met or anything we saw was tied in one way or another. There were no real pointless parts of the movie. You can tell that some though was put into the movie as well. What was seemingly pointless banter at times ended up playing a big roll in the plot.

    However, I don’t think the movie lived up to the hype of being this gore fest that gives people panic attacks. Over all, the film did make me squirm, scared me at parts, and left me for the most part, satisfied. I give it a 3.5/5. Later!

  • December 27, 2005

    King Kong

    King Kong

    Another Peter Jackson film. Another 3 hour marathon. I haven’t seen the first one. Therefore, I cannot draw comparisons. However, I thought it was good. Not amazing. Not LotR status. Then again, not much is. But this movie definitely had its great points, and its ehh points. *Warning: there are some spoilers, but if you know the story of King Kong, you already know what happens.*

    First of all, Naomi Watts- beautiful and a great performance. And beautiful. But anyway, at first, I tried to rationalize the film. Some parts were really ridiculous. But, you shouldn’t try to rationalize a movie about a giant gorilla. Look at the big (excuse the pun) picture. The message of the film. That’s what made the movie great. I mean, Kong was a lonely guy, looking for a companion which he found in Watt’s Anne Darrow. So the beast had feelings. He wasn’t just a blood thirsty monster. You felt bad for him when he got hurt and then captured trying to protect Darrow. And at the end of his movie, his final goodbye on top of the building was touching. He started to feel like a friend in that pet sort of relationship.

    But getting to these points were very long and drawn out. Everything seemed to be in slow motion. That’s because a lot of it was. It was unnecessary. Also, the finding of skull island took way too long. The whole ship getting tossed around was really drawn out. And there were some ridiculous parts, with giant bugs, dinosaurs and whatnot.

    Jack Black was very good, to my surprise. This was his first major non-comedic roll, and he was a bit of an antagonist. He took them to skull island, he put them in danger, he captured kong, which led to kong’s death. He did a really good job of making us hate him in the movie. Over all the movie could have been shorter, but it was good- it had some good action (watch Kong fight off 3 T-Rexes) not too much of a love story (but just enough) and a companionship that really played to the crowd. Later!

  • December 5, 2005

    Some Recommended Listening.

    I’ve gotten some new CDs over the past couple of weeks that I think are pretty awesome. I’m thinking about adding a recommended listening section and I seem to do these on a somewhat regular basis.

    SkinDred: Babylon: They opened up for HIM when I went to the show a couple of weeks ago. They have a cool sound and had a lot of energy on stage. I would describe them as “Rosti-Rock”. They have the heavy rock/metal riffs and drums, and the vocalist gives it this kinda Rastafarian sound. A cool album to move too. #

    The Darkness- One way Ticket to Hell… This album is as great as their first, with a very different sound. It is more mature, you can tell they have grown up a little bit. The songs have a great sound to them, and there is a good mix of hard and soft. My favorites include “Hazel Eyes”, “One way ticket to hell and back” and “English Garden”.#

    System of a Down- Hypnotize: This CD is better than Mesmerize- same message they have with crazier songs and a really cool sound. It hooks you in and you want to hear more. It picks up right where the last one left off- it’s crazy, melodic, and fun.#

    Well that’s it for now. Hope you enjoy! Later!

  • November 3, 2005

    Saw II

    See Saw II. You will not be disappointed.

    —Hello, Michael. I want to play a game. So far, in what mostly could be called your life, you have made a living watching others. Society would call you an informant. A rat. A snitch. I call you unworthy of the body you possess. Of the life you’ve been given. Now we will see if you are willing to look inward, rather than outward, to give up the one thing you rely on in order to go on living…

  • October 10, 2005

    Waiting…

    waiting

    I’m going to start by saying this: The critics didn’t like it. They thought it was a putrid pile of steaming shit. But guess what. I’m not a critic. I simply have an opinion. My Opinion: I thought it was funny. I laughed. That’s what the entire theater did. It’s getting ridiculed for it’s toilet humor and cliche jokes- but you know what- it’s still funny. And if you work in a restaurant, you will see a lot of it is true too. They say no characters were formed. But I saw characters- they were the stereotypes- but they were pretty accurate. The most value you found in this movie was in the banter. It was friends/co-workers having normal everyday talks, complaining about their shitty job. They all tried to make the shitty job fun, and they accomplished it- it’s what you have to do to stay sane.

    Any college student could probably relate to Dean, who doesn’t know what he wants, except he doesn’t want to work there for the rest of his life. And everyone could probably identify with one of the characters or knows someone like them. And there were definitely parts in the movie where you could say “Yes, I know what they are talking about!” It’s funny because it’s true. The thing you hate most when working in a restaurant is when it’s 5 mins to close, and some asshole comes in to sit down. Wherever you work, you have to deal with that person who is out to make everyone feel like shit because they have issues.

    The best part of the movie, I think, is that nothing was really resolved. It was just a day in the life of. Nothing was happily ever after, and while you look for that in a chick flick, you don’t really care in a comedy. It made the characters more real i think- you feel closer to them because they are easy to relate to.

    So, let people say what they want, but this was a funny movie- and something real. Too many movies now are concerned with how cool they can make a movie look, and while it’s cool to see extraordinary stuff, sometimes things go overboard. This is a down to earth movie that people might not like because of the toilet humor, but it’s hard not to watch it and say “This is so true.” Later!

  • September 13, 2005

    Football

    Tom Brady
    Tom Brady

    Well the football season is now well under way, and I’ve got to say, I was quite happy with Week 1. The huge news is that The Giants won 42-19 vs. Az. I did miss most of the first half, but the secord half is what mattered. Eli has 2 TD passes, Tiki had one, and 2 came from a punt return and a kick return. If thier season stays like this, I will be a very happy person. Also, The Eagles lost, as McNabb played less than stellar. I don’t mind this week, or any week where it will not matter, but TO, Westbrook and LJ Smith are on my Fantasy Team, and I’d like them to do well when I need them too.
    This was the other reason I was very happy. I knew I would beat the team I played this week and he made subpar picks durring the draft, but I placed 4th in overall scoring for the week, just 3 points shy of 3rd. (maybe if TO could wrap is hands around the ball, I would have placed 3rd). This is huge for me because the last 2 years my seasons/teams were not very good. But I made a vow that would change this year, and it’s good to see I’m off to a good start. Tom Brady is pictured because he was the high scorer on my team with 24.14. Sort of to my dismay, I did not have RB Larry Johnson of the Cheifs playing, and he scored 24.10. But, who would think he would so so well when the other RB on the team is Preist Holmes? Later!

  • August 28, 2005

    Boys Night Out- Trainwreck


    Buy the CD

    This CD…Wow. Some background information: It is a concept CD- it tells a story. About a man who

    “Was plagued by violent nightmares. And one day those nightmares overflowed into reality. He murdered his wife. In his sleep. These people were in love…”

    From the introduction (track 1), it goes right into the dream sequence. From there we go through his trials and tribulations- the murder, getting help, realizing what he has done and how he is coping with it, and how he is healed. Each song sets a different mood that fits how he is feeling. You can hear it in the music. Dreaming, for example, is a chaotic song with a lot of heavy guitar riffs where you wouldn’t really expect them, but they fit. You need to listen through the entire CD, more than once, to get the story. That is what makes the CD amazing more than anything- it does sound good, but it takes you through a progression if you listen. I highly recommend it. This ranks up there with “Best CDs of the Summer.” Later