Let the unfounded controversy begin

Wow. GTA IV just came out and is getting rave reviews across the board! GameSpot gave it a perfect 10.  I can just see the thrashing they’re going to take for that.

It should be noted however, that many other sites are touting it as one of the best games ever, including IGN, Game Informer, GameDaily, and GameSpy.  Yes, I realize that IGN was allowed an exclusive review, thus causing suspicion in todays gaming world.  But I think this just adds to GS’s credibility since they don’t do exclusive reviews, simply to avoid this type of situation. Besides, with no less than 13 perfect scores, its a difficult argument to make anyway.

I plan on picking up my copy as soon as the GameStop near my work opens in about 5 mins.  I am definately looking forward to playing it when I get home!  The only part that is going to suck is having to look at it on my desk all day at work.

The good, the bad, and the ugly

Ok, good news first.  I recently met by sheer chance an old friend of mine from high school that I hadn’t talked to since then.  Turns out he is head of the computer dept at the Lakewood library.  He is trying to get people together to plan our 10 year high school reunion.  My god, has it been that long???  I feel old.  Anyway, he’s set up a website with news and a message board and I’ve already exchanged messages with a few people that I haven’t talked to in ages.  I was never a very social person so I didn’t really keep in touch with anybody but he’s already heard from about 50 people, which is a suprisingly large percentage.  I’m looking forward to seeing what we can come up with.  It’s wierd though, I didn’t realize that we were the ones that had to put this thing together.  Apparently, the only help the school offers is providing a contact info list for our graduating class, which may not even be all that up to date.  We haven’t heard from our class treasurer yet either, so we don’t know how much, if any, financial help we have available to us.  We’ll see what happens as the weeks go by and we continue to talk about it.

In other news, Devon’s car needs over $400 in work done to it.  It seems that days and days ago, the splash guard/mud flap thing on the bottom front of her car started dragging.  Well, this morning it actually snapped off as she was leaving for work, so its pretty clear in hindsight that something has been amiss for a while now.  Still, “no big deal” I thought.  Its just a piece of plastic.  Well, a few blocks away, the car started smoking really bad and the front drivers side of the car buckled up and blew the tire, bottoming out the shock in the process.  We call AAA, tow it to the shop, and find out the base plate or something broke and caused the strut and spring to go along with it, which in turn combined with the drop at 30mph to blow the tire.  Dammit.  $430 some bucks; $350 if we skip buying a tire for the time being and just use her donut.  I think thats what we’re going to do for now, and just shop around for a tire when we build our funds up a bit more.  Still though, that’s a decent chuck of change that we could certainly use elsewhere.  I hate used cars.

Ironically, I also had my car in the service station of the dealer today.  For the past few weeks, my car has developed an increasingly painful sounding clunk/rattle from the front end whenever I go over bumps or let up on the brakes after a red light.  Going over smooth roads or turns, it was fine; just bumps, which in Cleveland are a dime a dozen for any given street.  The guy at the service desk chalked it up to my front control arm bushings popping out and said Cobalts are notorious for this.  The good news is that it was completely covered under my warranty, so an hour and a half later I was on my way with brand new front bushings and not a penny less in my wallet.  Its good to know my monthly payment is getting me something beyond basic transportation.  I should be getting a free oil change next saturday for my birthday as well.  It’s some kind of special the dealer gave me when I bought the car.

Now if I can only get the parts I ordered for my motorcycle here faster I’ll be in some serious money saving business!

Are you afraid of the Darkness?

I’ve had my GameFly copy of The Darkness for almost a month now and I think I’m gonna keep it. This game is frickin awesome!

As a first person shooter its simply average. But once you get into the story, learn more about the demon that is possessing you, and learn to use its powers, this game really sets a great atmosphere. The voice acting is great, the story is mysterious and interesting, the graphics look excellent, and everything has a very dark look to it. You are constantly having to shoot out the lights wherever you go to keep up your darkness energy and it makes for a really cool environment. It’s also creepy as hell! The Darkness speaks to you in a really freaky and demonic voice that never fails to send a shiver down my spine. Also, every so often (especially when you tour your old orphanage early in the game) ghosts appear in your presence to enhance the atmosphere and never let you forget that your situation is far from normal.

I think I’m a little more than a third of the way through the game and I intend to stick with it. Anybody who hasn’t played this one yet would definitely be doing yourself a favor by giving it a try!

UPDATE: I just finished the game last night. The last few scenes are really kick ass. Ending was a little disappointing though. Didn’t really close things up with the Darkness. Can’t wait for the sequel!

Mario theme with an RC car and bottles

As awesome as this is, this guy has WAAAYYY too much time on his hands!

MK vs. DC

Sooooo, the news broke today that the new Mortal Kombat project will be a cross between MK and the DC characters.

I don’t know man. I gotta say I’m initially skeptical.  Not only do the DC characters not fit in with the MK mold, necessitating the need to not have the game be M-rated, but the MK series has been in a slump for quite a while now.  The Wii game was disappointing.

Part of me thinks that Ed Boon realizes this and is a little desperate to join with DC to boost populatity and make some headlines.  Kind of like Soul Calibur 4.  But with a complete merge of worlds (literally apparently) instead of simple cameos.  I guess we’ll see when it finally comes out, but right now I’m merely curious instead of stoked.  Check out the preview and interview and see for yourself.

She broke her legal cherry, I’m so proud!

Devon got her very first ticket on Wednesday. $140 down Uncle Sam’s toilet. It was pretty ridiculous of her, actually. Not only did she run the red light, but she was on her cell phone when she did it and the cop was following RIGHT behind her.

Yeah.

I thought it was funny. Honestly though, I’m really surprised that the first time she gets pulled over she gets a ticket. A lot of cops won’t give someone their first ticket. I got pulled over like 4 or 5 times before I got my first one, and I was a madman when I first got my license. Of course once I got that first one, I pretty much had a steady stream of them coming every few months for about 7-8 years (not counting the 2 yrs I spent sans driving privileges, thanks to Lakewood’s boys in blue). Honestly, there were a couple times there when I don’t know how I managed to keep from getting arrested on the spot. But I digress.

Devon did say that the cop was kind of a dick. Maybe he was a little upset she did three bonehead things at once and that pushed him over the edge. To her credit, she didn’t cry. I was a bit surprised and proud of her for that. In retrospect, she probably should’ve started bawling her eyes out. Might’ve helped her get off. Girls can do that.

Oh well, there’s a first time for everybody. I guess you could say that since she didn’t get her first ticket until she was 24, she’s probably doing better than most people. Technically though, she’s only had her license for about 10 months, so…..  But that’s a blog for another day.

Non stop thrills

I beat Call of Duty 4 last week.  All I can say is wow.  What a powerful game.  This is one of those games that is more than just a fun game, it is an experience.  Every single level has something in it that makes you go “Holy s**t!” and the story is extremely powerful.  Unlike the usual happy endings and fantasy stories, COD4’s tale is realistic, believable, and like life, not always pleasant.  I think its this last thing that makes it so amazing.

Weather its escaping a sinking ship in the first level, sniping enemy forces from a circling plane, the last level where you play as the American soldier, creeping right past enemy tanks in a camouflage guile suit, the scene when you capture the main protagonist’s son, or the last scene of the game, the things that happen hit you in the head like a ton of bricks and leave you in awe.  A little too short yes, but the journey is definitely full enough to make it worthwhile, even if you don’t play online.  They need to keep this trend for the next Call of Duty game.  Anybody who has any interest in shooters NEEDS to find a way to play this game!  It deserved every single Game of the Year vote it received.  Its that good.

Phone Booth review

Released in 2003, Phone Booth stars mainly Colin Farrell, but also includes several other relatively big names. Farrell plays a cocky, smooth-talking publicist with no conscience. At the start, we see him working several of his “clients” to get what he wants out of each one, lying and deceiving anyone he can and stringing along some young kid as a trainee. He has no cares except keeping up his facade. Soon after, he goes to a phone booth in the middle of Times Square and gets a phone call that will change his life. The person on the other end of the line tells him that if he leaves the phone booth or hangs up, he will be shot via sniper rifle.

Almost the entire film takes place in this one location and is only about an hour and a half long. While this may sound limiting, suspense and mood are the name of the game here, and these are done extremely well. The cinematography, music, and the haunting voice of the faceless caller (who is recognizable, but not immediately so) are all used to maximum effect as the tension is ramped up a notch every few minutes. At first, Farrell is convinced he is being messed with and was randomly chosen by some psycho. We learn that this caller knows quite a lot about who he is and how he lives his life. Eventually, a quarrel over the use of the phone booth ensues and someone is killed. Once the cops show up, the suspense is taken to a whole new level as the police are clueless about who is on the other end of the line and attempt to negotiate with Colin as a killer. Finally, it is revealed that the caller wants to teach Farrell a lesson and confess to the rest of the world that his life is a lie and he does not appreciate what he has.

The movie keeps you interested the whole time and the acting is excellent. Farrell, the caller, and the police chief that runs the negotiation are the three main actors but they play their parts well. The caller’s voice is perfect for building tension and walks the line between calm and calculating and slightly insane. Farrell is on the hot seat the whole time and acts his part very well considering that the only way he can interact with his adversary is over the phone. At the end, his character goes through a complete breakdown as the image that he has dedicated himself to maintaining comes crumbling down. Without saying too much, when he finally bares his soul to the world it is truly memorable, some great acting if you ask me.

Sadly the DVD has only one special feature, an audio commentary track. It is a good one however, as the director explains the process of filming a movie on location on only one set. This one should be easy to find on store and rental shelves and I definitely recommend it. One of the most suspenseful movies Ive ever seen!

AVP: Requiem

I certainly was not expecting this movie to be as good as the first AVP, mainly because it is directed by people other than the previous director and I wasn’t really impressed with what they had expressed to the media about the vision and direction they were taking. Pretty much, I was right. I did, however expect Requiem to be better than it turned out to be. Its cool scenes are too few and far between and it is marred by a setting and events that either don’t make sense or don’t jive with the established formula for these iconic sci-fi characters.

AVP:R starts out pretty cool. It picks up immediately where the first AVP left off. We get to see the alien/predator hybrid burst out of the chest again. This new creature kills the crew of the spaceship and it crash lands somewhere in Colorado. As expected, the alien face huggers and eggs that they were experimenting on are knocked loose in the crash, infect a few locals, and are soon running all over the city. In a cruel tease, we see some sort of elder or king of the predators on their homeworld. He has been notified of the crash, quickly collects his hunting gear, and departs in his own craft to clean up the mess.

The rest of the movie involves the townsfolk running from and trying to defend against the aliens while the elder predator goes around camouflaged and cleans up evidence with some kind of neon blue glowing juice that is able to dissolve all the questionable bodies.

The best parts of the movie are, like the first time around, watching the alien and predator duke it out. The elder predator is able to easily dispatch grunt aliens one after another. He is clearly very experienced. The hybrid is more than a match for him though, mixing alien speed and physiology with predator strength and hunting skills. Its a shame then that so many other things detract from this. We are introduced to a few human characters to try to get us to feel for them, but things pick up quickly and the character development is poor so you end up not really caring about what happens to any of the humans. Maybe its just me, but I find it completely uninteresting to watch people from our own time try to fight the aliens when they are so obviously mismatched with our primitive weapons. Most importantly, don’t tease us with 5 seconds of the predator homeworld only to have the entire movie take place in Colorado!!! GAAAHHH!

As far as the new stuff, I guess I can accept the blue glowing goo that dissolves stuff, but late into the movie we see that the hybrid creature has somehow gained the ability to start sucking on a pregnant womans face and plant something inside her that turns the baby into aliens. Whuuuuttttt????? Where the heck did THIS idea come from? It seems out of place and untrue to what either the alien or predator is supposed to be. Lastly, during the humans escape from the town, one of them picks up the predators shoulder gun that has fallen off. Without any knowledge of technology from another planet or how to use it, he proceeds to shoot the gun at any alien that comes near him. I dont think those guns even have triggers!

The reason the first AVP worked so well (especially set in current times) is that the location was so remote and unique it might just as well have been on another world. It also gave the aliens and predators a good, believable reason for being in the same movie together that made sense. The human characters were obviously only along for the ride, caught in the middle of something bigger. This movie feels more like a rehash of Alien Resurrection with a predator cameo than it does an AVP sequel. I am willing to forgive a lot if a film makes up for it with cool stuff. I’m afraid to say though that Requiem’s problems are too big and the cool stuff not nearly plentiful enough to overcome them. One of the biggest sequel screw-ups Ive ever seen, and thats saying a lot coming from me. If you’re an unwavering fan, wait for DVD and put it on your Netflix list. If you spend actual money on it, you will be let down. I was.

I Am Legend review

For those of you that don’t already know, this is actually a film version of a book. A pretty old book in fact, I believe it was written in the 50s.

The premise here is that the year is 2012. Several years before, scientists had invented what was supposed to be the cure for cancer. Much to everybody’s dismay, once injected with this “cure,” people eventually started either dying or turning into some sort of mutant zombie/vampire creature. Three years later, Dr. Robert Neville remains the last man on earth. He lives his days building up supplies, broadcasting his existence on the radio, and waiting for any other people that may have survived this viral holocaust. He also conducts experiments in his basement laboratory, hoping to eventually find a cure. At night, he bunkers himself up in his home and waits for morning, as nighttime is when the creatures are free to roam the streets.

I had started reading the book before seeing this movie to try and get some context. While I didn’t finish it, I can say that Will Smith portrays his role quite differently than the character in the book. In the novel, Neville is not directly referenced as a scientist, nor does he own a dog as he does in the film. Instead, he is established as a hopelessly depressed alcoholic who uses liquor as an escape to cope with the nightly taunting of the “vampires” banging and shouting at him outside his door. This behavior is only alluded to here. He doesn’t really drink, however he is shown frequently talking to his canine companion and having conversations with various mannequins he finds in the city. As the movie progresses, one senses that the endless days of isolation are making him lose his mind a bit.

This movie is a bit slow in its first half but there are a couple of tense moments. The creatures are a little different than other vampires or zombies we’ve all seen before. The backstory of the main character is filled in slowly and you start to really feel for him. The ending is slightly disappointing and some may be put off by its slow start and lack of action moments until the last few scenes. If you go in without too many high expectations I think you can enjoy it. I wouldn’t recommend full price though. Either see a matinee or wait for DVD.

Oh, and if any of you ladies enjoyed seeing Will Smith’s naked butt in I, Robot, you will enjoy his topless work-out scene in I Am Legend. Personally though, I think it just shows that hes getting a bit old. You can tell.