Tyson - From Dynamite To Nitroglycerin

Tyson, the movie, was kind of brilliant. It's a long interview with the man himself and several portions of the movie use large chunks of it as narration along with stock footage of his fights and past interviews. It really provides a lot of insight into the man, why he rose, why he fell, and why he is the way he is. I was in grade school when he was making his rise and he will always be my champ just as Ali will always be the champ to people from that generation. It was good to see footage of how good he really was. The movie reminded me a lot of the Being Bobby Brown show that aired a few years back when everyone assumed Bobby was making Whitney crazy only to have the curtain raise to reveal he was the more sane of the couple. There's insight into who he was as a child getting picked on and beaten up, then falling in with the wrong crowd, eventually finding redemption in boxing and realizing that no one would be able to hurt him again. By the time he'd become a champion he'd already been through what seems like one lifetime. His second lifetime didn't turn out so well. It was amazing to hear him in his own words describe his career and see it unfold on camera. A-/92/9.0

For those that didn't get the reference, as dynamite ages it sweats nitroglycerin and becomes all the more combustible.
/science

The Girlfriend Experience - Old Economics

The Girlfriend Experience, if you haven't heard anything about it already, is Soderbergh's new movie which stars porn star Sasha Grey. It features mostly non-actors and is more about people in power and how they use/abuse it more than sex and selling yourself. Several comments are made about the economy but there was a scene I found very striking which was between the protagonist and a guy who runs a message board that reviews call girls that really shows what the lower depths are all about.

Since Soderbergh made the choice to cast Grey as the star of this picture there has been much speculation about what the content of this movie would be. Soderbergh likes to cast people who actual are in the business of whatever subject matter he’s exploring and I think the choice is perfect here. While Grey may not be a real life call girl, her commodity is her body and this movie is all about how we sell ourselves and who we sell ourselves to. He boyfriend in this movie is a personal trainer trying to sell himself to get a raise and get his line of clothes in stores in this tough economic time. Meanwhile men still pay for high priced escorts, buy gym memberships, and book expensive trips to Vegas while everyone is struggling.

This movie is in select cities only, but fortunately Soderbergh is one of the few forward thinking people in Hollywood and made the movie available on Xbox Live and On Demand through some cable and satellite providers for people who’s cities never seem to get selected. He did something similar with Bubble and released the DVD the same week it appeared in theaters. This movie is still a bit of an experiment and isn’t for everyone just as escort services aren’t for everyone and you know what your getting into when you pay the admission price for either. B/77/8.0

The Brothers Bloom - Real Fiction

This movie has been pushed back a few times. I don’t think it was wise to put it out to die against Star Trek, Angels and Demons, and Terminator as it’ll probably get lost in the shuffle of summer films which is a shame as it’s a great second movie from the director of one of my favorite all time indi movies Brick, Rian Johnson. It’s about two brothers who grow up to be con artists. The older brother Stephen, played by Mark Ruffalo is the brains of the operation and writes the story of the con while his younger brother Bloom, Adrien Brody, plays the main character in the cons. Bloom gets angry with his brother always writing him as the troubled hero type character and finally leaves. Years later he is tracked down by Stephen and convinced to perform one last con to swindle a wealthy New Jersey shut in, Rachel Wiesz out of a few million.

It roped me in and kept me guessing until the end and managed to shock me. It was very well acted. This is probably my favorite Rachel Weisz role ever - she's just so damned cute as the character she was playing, and Rinko Kikuchi was the definition of sexy in this movie. Brody and Ruffalo sold their roles well and all the parts of this movie were working together nicely. This movie like the first Soderbergh Oceans 11 is one where everyone in the cast appears to be having fun which I believe is because the actors know who they are portraying and it doesn’t come off as acting. As with any con the mark is always willing to part with their money and I was certainly willing to part with the price of admission. I hope to see more from Johnson as his style is something the industry needs more of. B+/87/8.5

My Weekend Of Movies

In addition to the Terminator flick, I saw a trio of movies this weekend. One was more of a traditional Hollywood medium budget film with know actors, one was an indipenendant film cast with mainly non-actors, and the third was a documentary about the life of someone once famous now infamous. The interesting thing was that on some level, they were all about money. The films were: The Brothers Bloom, The Girlfriend Experience, and Tyson.

Patapons Are Driving Me Insane

I am a huge fan of rhythm games. I played Dance Dance Revolution until I got shin splints, and then I played some more. I would go to sleep and see arrows scrolling in my head. I have over 400 songs in Rock Band and have a total of 4 drum kits for it including the Ion kit I bought late last year. I loved the first Patapon game as well and played it to completion, but the sequel is indeed driving me mad. It is a better game in every aspect. You don’t have to grind nearly as much to be able to advance. The game is no longer stingy with loot drops and leveling up you squads has become much less of a chore, but every time I turn it on and hear the endless pata-pata-pata-pon chant I go bonkers.

Part of this is because I’m used to the grind. The original PSP game was quick to let you know that you weren’t going anywhere unless you were willing to replay every mission at least 3 times. Then and only then did you have a chance to defeat the boss waiting for you. After that you would have to play the mini-games over and over to get one slightly rare item to level up a few of your guys and do not expect to have an entire squad made out of legendary Patapons. Yet I powered through, mostly because JRPGs have been preparing me for games like this my whole life with their required grinding. Nothing is as awesome as making the trek back to an area you’ve already been and coming across a level 5 enemy who used to leave your entire squad nearly dead at every encounter and slaughtering it in one blow now that you’re level 50.

Patapon and Patapon 2 don’t give you that satisfaction. When you replay a level, the enemies level up with you, so it’s just as hard as it was before. Also since you’re playing a level you’ve cleared already, you’re not going to get a new more powerful weapon to ease things up a bit. Your squads don’t even level up in the traditional sense. Instead you have to gather items like stones, fangs, and cabbage from battles and min-games to increase their levels. It can be an awful lot of work for little result but it is required to advance in the game.

Despite all this, I do love this game. It’s like a song that gets stuck in your head you’re super annoyed with but a few days later you find yourself blasting it on your iPod. I appreciate every improvement that was made, and look forward to beating it soon. Sometimes you just need a break. Fortunately I have a brand new copy of inFAMOUS to keep me busy.

inFAMOUS - My Speed Is Electric

I had a lot of fun with this last night. I think I played it for like 8 hours straight and had just finished 100% of the side missions for the first island and beat the boss to unlock the 2nd. The boss fight was pretty good to. The game had an interesting way of fighting the boss which isn’t done too often. Doing all the side missions wasn't necessary, but the game gives you great incentive to do them as they keep enemies from spawning in the areas you take over after you do.

I'm doing this playthrough as good, but I really want to play through again as an evil character to use the evil powers. The game is very sly in making you want to do that by showing you what the leveled up powers of each side does when enter the power menu to upgrade them. The story is decent so far, but I'm having tons of fun scaling buildings with ease and jumping off the top of sky scrapers to land on the ground and make a huge explosion. It looks really cool when you do that and gives has the exact same feeling of falling Mirror's Edge had when Faith falls off a building.

The other thing it does super well that I wish GTA did is make finding all the secrets doable. There are 32 locations spread between the 3 districts where you can locate these transmitters and find hidden messages. Every time you tap L3 the it points you in the direction of the nearest one if your within range and lets you know when your getting closer without holding your hand. Also there are these shard things you can collect that'll give you more special attack energy and when you tap L3 if any are near you it'll flash the locations on the mini map. If GTA did this I'd probably find every package every time.

The game does have some flaws though, namely the people who inhabit the city. You can save them from an assault from enemies, even bring some of them back from the brink of death and they’ll celebrate you for about 10 – 15 seconds, then they’ll go right back to cursing you for being a terrorist. Also you will do the exact same side mission over and over again with the only variable being the location is slightly different. Also, you have to keep returning to the sewers and do the same mini-mission multiple times to gain new powers and restore electricity to the city.

This'll probably be a 20 hour game for me considering how long it took me to complete the first act, but you can probably run through it in 10 if you don’t spend that much time exploring and doing all the side missions like I did. If you like jumping off skyscrapers, gliding through the air on beams of electricity, and blowing stuff up, this is your game.

No score due to me not completing the game as of this writing.

Terminator Salvation - Future Time!

I like the Terminator series. The first was pretty revolutionary for its time with the story of a robot from the future sent back in time to kill a female protagonist who is going to give birth to a child that will one day lead the resistance to victory. The second was the perfect summer action movie and pushed movie special effects further than ever before. The third one, not so much on being revolutionary, but what it did well was set up this summer’s 4th installment of the franchise. There are no more time traveling robots, trying to change the future. There is only hope and hopelessness as the decimated human civilization fights back against its artificially intelligent enemies.

Marcus, a death row inmate who donates his body to science in the 90’s wakes up 30 years in the future to find the world is completely different and not in a good way. He seeks answers and runs into a young Kyle Reese a teenager who will eventually become the father of John Conner the leader of the resistance. Meanwhile Conner discovers a mysterious signal which they believe is the answer to their prayers as it appears to be an off switch for the robots. And of course all these elements come together in one action sequence after another until we reach the conclusion.

That’s all I can say about the movie that was made without spoilers. What I will talk about is the movie they didn’t make. We don’t actually see the machines taking over. We don’t actually see humans trying to put up a fight and failing against an enemy that took them completely by surprise and was frankly too smart for them. After the first scene we’re dropped off well past Judgment Day and just have to accept that these things have happened. I’d have preferred to see Conner in that bunker they left him in at the end of the third movie helping to sort things out and eventually coming into his own as the leader of the resistance.

For the movie they did make, I have issues with it. I didn’t mind the “plot twist” with Marcus being a cyborg. That was to be expected with the price of admission. I do have trouble with the epic T-800 fight where he survives something that killed the old T-800 and T-1000 in the 2nd movie. I have issues with Marcus being a cyborg and not having cyborg strength until it was convenient for him. And I have issues with Conner who is has worked with robots twice trying to destroy something like he’s never seen before. The acting is ok, the action is ok, the effects are ok, the movie is ok at best, but not the movie anyone was hoping for. 6.5/72/C+

On a side note, I did grow quite partial to the Sara Conner Chronicles series that recently was cancelled. The writers of that show did some very interesting things which fit nicely into the Terminator universe the greatest of which being the introduction of the T-1000’s being sentient. If you think about it, the T-1000 model, introduced in Terminator 2, is living metal. It has programming, but no chip, and is self aware and therefore would be able to choose its own path. I can definitely imagine a future where that model decided that maybe trying to destroy all the humans wasn’t the best thing to do. Too bad we’ll never get to see how that would play out. I guess there is hope it could resurface in a future 5th movie.

Punch Out!! - Racism Rebooted

Over 20 years ago an arcade machine taught us all to be raciest. It featured a green wire frame boxer fighting one stereotype after another until finally you went up against the final boss (which could have been Mike Tyson, Mr. Dream, or Mr. Sandman depending on what version you played). I was never good at the arcade versions of the game, but liked my uncle's version of Mike Tyson's Punch Out!! so much that I begged my mother to get me it. When I did get it Tyson's contract had run out and he was replaced by Mr. Dream. He fought exactly the same as Tyson, but it just wasn't the same to me. I could always get to him after hours of playtime taking down all the boxers on the way, but could never manage to put him down. My uncle beat him for me and autographed my copy of the game. I'll never forget the inscription, "Charles has beat Mr. Dream." It's been 22 years since that moment and aside from feeling really old now, I am happy to see the game make a return to the Nintendo console after a more than 10 year hiatus.

The new Punch Out!! for Wii is what retro dreams are made of. It is the same game those of us in our upper 20's and beyond grew up playing but completely redone in a 3D engine with stylized graphics, tight controls, and lots of love. Little Mac is back and so are 13 of his most worthy opponents in this new version. It is very much done in the old style of game play where you advance by trial and error (or muscle memory) and when you fail (and you will) you know it's your fault, not the game's. You would think figuring out a guy's tell and getting out of the way of whatever punch he was throwing would be easy, but just like my 8 year old self, I twitched, or missed the just frame body blow and ate big damage. And since this is 2009, the game makes sure you know you're hurt.

There are some really nice little touches here and it feels like stuff the original developers always wanted in the game but the technology at the time wouldn't have allowed them to do. Every character speaks in their own native language. Glass Joe speaks French, Piston Hondo (why Nintendo, why) speaks Japanese, Soda Popinski (or Vodka Drunkenski if you remember the arcade version) speaks Russian, and so on. And it now features more racism as baguettes float over Glass Joe's head when he's dizzy now and croissants fall out him when you knock him out. Hondo sees sushi rolls when dizzied, and Hippo sees pineapples. And the most hurtful stereotype is none other than Mac's trainer and his Bagger Vance-esc comments "come on Mac baby, you can take this sucka." I am not making this up. Still it's all in good fun and quite frankly I don't think I want a Punch Out!! without racism. It's part of what made the game fun. After you've put down the World Circuit champion, Mr. Sandman in this version, you unlock Title Defense Mode. In this mode you get to fight all 13 fighters again but this time they don't have their normal weaknesses. Glass Joe wears headgear which makes him harder to put down and you actually have to use more skill to figure out how to beat him and the 12 other guys waiting for a rematch. The game also has multiplayer verses which I have not partaken in yet. You can play it classic style with the wii-mote turned sideways or with the nunchuk. It also supports the balance board if you want to dodge along with Mac. It took me about 3 hours to finish the world circuit and will take much longer to finish the harder mode so there are loads of hours of fun and frustration to be had with this game. If you ever play the original, you owe it to yourself to pick this game up as it is everything you could have wanted and more and that's something you can't say too often about anything you feel nostalgia for. 10/100/A+

On the Rhythm Game Front...

So I beat Rhythm Heaven last night. It’s really short. After you complete the 30 regular challenges and the credits roll it opens up more difficult versions of some of the levels for you to play. The music is slightly different and the speed is faster, but for the most par it’s returning to what you’ve done before. It was a cool little mini-game collection but I wanted more length from it. There is some replay value in trying to gold and perfect every level, but I don’t love it enough to attempt that.

I’m still pata-poning away with Patapon 2 on PSP. I can get loads of battery life out of it because it’s on a memory stick which means hours of driving myself crazy. And that’s exactly what I did a few days ago. If there is ever a Patapon 3 someone seriously needs to tell the developers to at the very least give the bosses a visible power bar or hit point gage so you can judge how well your squad is doing. It took me nearly 2 hours to clear a challenge level that I would never have started if I’d have known the boss had way more HP than my squad could handle at the time. Also, the loot drops in this game are much improved over the first. Rare items are fortunately less rare which makes it so much less of a headache to level up you squads and create legendary patapons. I’m still pretty early on as far as the story of the game is concerned but that is only because I’m used to grinding in the first game and am finding this habit hard to break as it’s not as necessary in this one.

I'm still considering Elite Beat Agents for DS as well. I need the Club Nintendo points so I can get the Game 'n Watch collection on DS. I'm getting Punch Out later today and buying another DS game should put me over the top. I hope my gift for being a "platinum member" is cool. Stay tuned for my thoughts on Punch Out, a remake of the most raciest game ever. I should have something to say about it tomorrow.

Angels and Demons - Where’s Da Vinci when you need him?

I think my love of video games is making me a little more cynical toward movies. Years ago I could enjoy a mystery movie I could predict the ending of in the first few minutes. Not so much anymore. Currently the stories of video game narratives are insanely telegraphed and “ride” it takes you on is full of predictable twists and turns. I give them slack because as a medium it’s still young and bad storytelling is to be expected. Angels and Demons however, gets no slack from me. There’s a plot to destroy Vatican City and only Dr. Langdon can stop it. Then we watch Langdon “discover” the path that takes him from old church to old church looking for ancient statues of angels which point to what he should look for next. This plot is cool if you’re actually learning something about the source material like the whole Mary Magdalene thing in the first movie. It sucks when it’s “look, his spear is point toward the basement, the clue must be in there.” All the while you know who is behind the whole plot and you have to wait for Langdon to figure out he’s being played which takes nearly the entire length of the feature to figure out. The movie is well acted, but the story has no substance. It’s like someone left the chicken base out of a bowl of chicken soup and all your left with is noodles, a few bits of chicken, and water. And I could have bought a few cans of good chicken soup instead of this ticket. Angels and Demons actually needed angels or demons in it to make it the least bit interesting and it had neither. 5.0/53/C-

Rhythm Heaven - Fun With Flicking

Since my copy of Elite Beat Agents didn't arrive and I had to file an Amazon A-Z claim for a refund I decided to go with the new rhythm game making waves on the DS, Rhythm Heaven. It reminds me a lot of Wario Ware. It involves either tapping, holding, and flicking the stylus on the touch screen. The games encompass all types of music (Russian, tropical, pop, weird) and have you doing crazy and interesting things that are hard to put into words. The kind of sad part is that the touch screen isn't actually used. It changes colors but no action takes place on it. The music is pretty fun and the games are challenging. Every 5 games there's a remix level where the rhythm changes and you have to figure out how to solve the puzzles with the new music. At this point, I think I still like the DS version of Wario Ware better, but that's not to say the game won't grow on me and it is a good game. I'd probably give it a solid B or B+ based on what I've played so far.

Ikigami - 24 Hours To Live

I forgot to mention that when I was flying back from London trying not to cry from watching Marley & Me there was another movie that got me started welling up. That was the Ikigami. It's not on Netflix and I don't think the movie has a US distributor yet but when it does, watch it. It takes place in near future Japan where there is a "prosperity law" in effect. During childhood inoculations random children receive a poison capsule that is set to go off and stop its host's heart at a set date between the ages of 18-24. People who are scheduled to die are informed 24-hours before the time comes and receive free food, transportation, and a lump-sum payment courtesy of the Japanese government. If the person commits a crime after they have been informed, the payment goes to the victim of that crime. The law is meant to promote the idea that life it to be lived to the fullest among the youth of Japan and to counteract the high suicide rates of the past. The movie's protagonist is a 25 year old who has just been hired to be one of people who deliver this news. It features the stories of 3 recipients of this news and how each reacts to it. The first story had me wiping my eyes. While I generally don't like remakes, I do kind of want this one to get remade. It was a great movie, but I didn't really have a resolution. A lot of Japanese movies are weird for the sake of being weird and some don't bother to make any sense at all, but this one really had something and I get a sense that the director or writer didn't know exactly how to end the story. It should still be seen and if this is the only version of Ikigami to see outside of the manga, then I am happy with it.

Star Trek - It All Really Happened, Didn't It?

I am not going to review Star Trek. It’s hard to review Star Trek without spoiling anything and there’s not a whole lot I can say about it that hasn’t already been said. It’s good. It’s as good as I could hope for. I believe when the credits rolled I thought to myself “that was delicious.” What I want to touch on is that they were able to pull off a re-imagining of the story that was more than 100% faithful to the original. If you want to know how they did it, go buy a ticket. It’s worth a few frozen pizzas, I assure you. The homages to the original were great. When Simon Pegg screams “I’m giving her all she’s got captain,” everyone laughs, but it absolutely fits. Eric Bana is an excellent villain. I didn’t even know it was him until the credits rolled. And to completely steal what was said on The Totally Rad Show, Chris Pine is on his way to being this generation’s Harrison Ford. His Kirk was spot on. He’s at home with the humor and the action bits as well. Go see it and enjoy it.

Patapon 2 - Pon-Pon-pwn!

In keeping with this trend of what game/movie is worth what grocery item, I decided to go with a good value buy of a game. Patapon 2 is the sequel to the mostly unnoticed Patapon which came out early last year I believe. It’s a rhythm based strategy game with cartoon stylized graphics and hours upon hours of play. You command an army of units and use the rhythm of 4 different drums that correspond to the PSP face buttons to tell them to attack, defend, or march. There are obstacles in you way, some are walls you must destroy, some are the restless natives that don’t want you there, and some are giant monsters who mistake your squad for dinner. While your marching your people over the river and through the woods (and the desert) there is an enormous amount of loot to pick up which will help you level up your weapons and units. There are also mini-games you can unlock which give you loot as well.

As a sequel, Patapon 2 helps smooth over several of the problems I and several others had with the first game. Patapon is a grind. To advance in the game you are going to have to go back and replay past levels to get more loot and weapons to help level up your units so they won’t get crushed by the increasingly difficult stages ahead. In the first game you would have to replay levels for hours without getting anything useful, and the mini-games never gave you a truly rare item. Patapon 2 has much better loot drops, and while you’re still going to have to grind, you’re not going to drive yourself as crazy doing it. You will go a little mad though considering you’ll hear “pata-pata-pata-pon” at least 30 times every level you play. And the best part is it’s only $20. You can download it directly to the PSP or transfer it from your PS3 and run it off the memory stick. There is no disk version for sale in the US, but if you must the Euro version is on disk and can be imported. This game is definitely worth a couple of rib-eye steaks. 8.5/85/B+

X-Men Origins: Wolverine: His Claws Are Sharper Than His Film

Sorry I couldn't think of a proper pun, my mind is somewhere else. That's probably why I didn't hate the movie as much as I could have, but I'm working on it. I debated whether or not I should see this film. I see movies all the time. I see bad movies all the time. Put knowingly paying good money to see a bad movie just after you've been laid off by your employer was one hell of a conundrum. That's why there's no review of Fighting because I've seen Lionheart and I don't want to pay money for a bad rehash of that movie unless Van Damme is in it and he wasn't. Sorry for getting off topic. I decided what the hell and went to the Sunday matinee showing which knocked the ticket price to $8.50 (yea?). There will be spoilers:

As I've told everyone who's asked me about it in person so far, it's an alright movie as long as you don't think about it too hard. The minute you apply the most rudimentary logic, it falls apart. How can a guy with kitana blades up his arms bend them? FAIL! Why would Gambit stop the guy he wants dead from being killed? FAIL! How did the scientists figure out how to turn laser eyes on and off when the mutant they stole the power from has never done so in his entire life? FAIL! If you want to see the most predictable action movie that will probably come out this summer AND you have never picked up an X-Men related comic book within the last 15 years "just to see what all the fuss was about" then you may enjoy it. Oh and you have to like predictable movies too. Or if you're capable of turning off your brain for 2 hours and not thinking about what you're seeing, you may enjoy it. Usually I can do the latter, but even I had to throw in the towel.

I know this isn't an objective review therefore I won't give it a score. Maybe it's because I know I could have used that money to buy a bag of chicken and feed myself for a week with it. Star Trek is out in a couple days. Hopefully my it's worth a bag of rice and some canned soup.

When Life Gives You Lemons...

Add the juice to some rum. That's what navel captains used to do. I know, I read it on wikipedia, it must be true. Seriously do not put two and two together and begin to worry that my last post was about getting laid off and the first thing I mentioned in this one was about drinking alcohol. I am not drowning my sorrows with a bottle of rum. Bottles of liquor are expensive. Seriously though, I am taking it in stride. My boss and I have a new bond now that we've both gotten the boot. We're arriving late and leaving as soon as the clock hits closing time. I have to say this is a learning experience.

So I lost my job today...

They wanted us all there at 12:30 for a big meeting with one of the higher up people from the company. And then the time came and nothing happened. Several of us had no clue what was going on. I surely didn't. Time kept going by. I kept working. Then I got a call on my office line and I saw the person's name come up on the caller ID and instantly knew the only reason they would be calling me instead of just coming to my desk to ask me a question is if they had something "serious" to discuss with me. Sure enough I was asked to come to the office and seeing that closed door waiting for me was all the confirmation I needed. My time at this place is over. I entered and there sat the branch supervisor welcoming me with a smile that was only there to hide the pain of having to tell several of her co-workers their services are no longer required. "Your position has been eliminated" was the phrasing they used. A man whom I have never met before but who wore the face of someone who's seen this thing all to many times before presented me with the job termination form for me to sign and explained that I have 60 days to secure other employment. If I cannot within that time I'm forced to take the severance they offer. They were surprised I took it well. I'm not the crying, whining, groveling type. I know the stakes. I know it's time to hustle. I know there is nothing I can possibly say to them that will allow me to keep my job. It's the bit where they ask me if I have any questions that gets me. What question could I possible have that would bring more understanding to this situation? No I don't have any questions. I just want to get to a device that has my most current resume on it and get my name out there. I was told I am excused from the ensuing meeting. Which is a good thing on their part because why would anyone want to stick around to hear about the new and exciting things that are happening at the company that just told you they didn't need you any longer? I tell my boss who I found out is in the same boat as me that I'm not going to stick around and I walk out of the place. My leaving tells everyone what has happened to me, and I don't care. And I do care. I place a call to a good friend of mine and vent my frustration. We have a laugh about it. We have a discussion of the future.

I don't know what my next move is beyond throwing resumes around physically and electronically. I'm hoping maybe this was for the good as I wasn't really using my degree or doing something I truly enjoy and want to do for the rest of my life. This blog will continue. And know that I'll sort something out for myself. I'm not going to take any more time feeling sorry for myself beyond spell checking this post and pushing the publish button.