Redux's Reviews

Captain America: The First Avenger

2011-07-26T23:01:00.000-07:00

Finally, the long awaited Captain America movie has arrived and to my delight not only does this movie deliver a spectacular performance by the whole cast, it also finally does justice to one my favorite superheroes of all time. I do have to say, that the previous attempts at making Captain America movies have been terrible and were so campy and poorly written that they did not give proper homage to a superhero who is the symbol of America. I am very pleased to say that the latest attempt of Captain America as a movie does not disappoint.

Set in post Pearl Harbor United States, the movie follows a scrawny boy from Brooklyn who has a penchant for getting into fights with people bigger and stronger than himself named Steve Rogers. He attempts to join the military 5 times and each time he is rejected. This, however, doesn't stop Rogers as he finds his way into the military through the Super Soldier Project. From there, fate takes rogers for the ride of his life.

This movie is very patriotic and poetic at the same time. Steve Rogers is the epitome of a selfless hero, willing to sacrifice his own life so that others may live. On top of that, Rogers is constantly trying to do what is right, standing up to bullies no matter what odds are stacked against him. These are all values that run very deeply in the traditions of American society, as much as the rest of the world may not like to think so. However, the movie doesn't just make it seem that this creedo of standing up and doing what's right is only American as shown when Captain America puts together his team of elite soldier to help him take out Hydra.

Without trying to spoil too much of the movie, Captain America: The First Avenger is wonderful movie capturing not only what it means to be an American hero but, a hero that any man of any faith or any creed can adopt. The idea of selflessness, protecting others, and standing up for what a person believes is right runs deeply through this movie. It is a must see movie for everyone. This movie is very violent, the characters are fighting a war and it is shown in very high detail that they are in a warzone. However, looking past the violence, it all has a poetic purpose and ties everything together into a movie that I consider better than Iron Man.

The Green Lantern

2011-07-13T00:32:00.001-07:00

So in my pre-July 4th boredom I decided to go hang out with some friends and then see the ever so hyped, Green Lantern movie. To say the least, this was everything I could have expected from a movie based on a character who is about as overpowered as a god and who really has no where to go in terms of character development.

The movie is essentially the back story for the Green Lantern named Hal Jordan. Namely, his rise to being supposedly the most famous and powerful of all the Green Lanterns in the Green Lantern Corp. Obviously, this age of writing superhero movies for the people of the age of five. The movie has very little plot and was obviously targeted at a crowd that can't watch big scary monsters without giving their parental units a loving cuddle.

The acting in this movie is mediocre at best. Now that I think of it there was only one memorable performance in this entire movie and that was Blake Lively's, and only because she was the only one that put any kind of a performance on the screen. Through granted, when she was on the screen she was the only thing I was paying attention to. I'm sure it was her blue eyes.

Anyways this movie is definitely something for the kids. Past that don't expect much...

Oh yeah there are some post credit things that also don't make any sense either!

Thor

2011-07-08T03:43:00.000-07:00

So this summer's comic book movies started out with the Avenger Thor. I took it upon myself to see this movie on principle that I was going to see the Captain America movie. I'll be honest I have never had an interest in Thor mainly because he falls under the "overpowered superhero" category. Now before you fan boys star pouting and trolling me like I know you will allow me to preemptively strike away at your cold dark non-social skilled hearts.

First of all, Thor is a god of Norse mythology to which even the comics written by Jack Kirby and released by Stan Lee's Marvel Comics are loosely based upon. Now because he is a god, his power level, no matter how specialized it may be, will go as high as the imagination can carry it! It is here where the inherent flaw of the god character comes in. There is now nothing that can be done with this character to challenge him. Now people might point out, "Wait Redux! Thor is fighting other gods and Norse gods can be mortally wounded!" To which I reply, "Yes, but even then there is still really no way of challenging the character to the degree that would actually be a threat to him!"

I digress, Thor as a movie can be best described as mediocre at best. Even with the big star support of Natalie Portman, there was still not enough well-paced action to keep my scatter-brained psyche engaged long enough to want to care about the character. It felt more that marvel spent too much time telling Natalie Portman and cast to act confused then rather movin along to any action that was meaningful to he main plot. To be to the point, this movie was just plain boring! Nothing really stood out a out it. It was just average.

This movie did not get me to actually want to read the comics. My recommendations are to rent this movie there are a million things better to spend your mobey on than to see this in the theatre.

The Battle for Los Angeles

2011-03-14T10:55:00.000-07:00

Wow. Talk about not reviewing anything for a while... real life tends to get in the way. I know it's been a while but let's see if I still have it in me to write some reviews. In this case it will be the movie Battle: Los Angeles.

Battle: Los Angeles, is what happens when an alien race decides to invade the earth today. The movie is shot from the point of view of a person that is following a United States Marine Corp. platoon as they are deployed to the coastal areas of Los Angeles. The movie's first fifteen minutes set up the story, and gives a short look at each of the Marines' lives, the movie takes the viewers on an hour and forty-five minute gunfight.

The best way to view this movie is view it as a war movie. The action ramps up with just enough cool down to develop story just enough so that you are itching for more. Though filmed with a very shaky camera the movie does a superb job of submersing the viewer in the middle of an alien assault on Earth. The action is intense with bullets and plasma bolts flying by the viewer's ears at every moment.

There is very little gore in this movie but it can still be classified as very violent. Many of the scenes are not gruesome but they do involve watching as soldiers either are shot or fall to their deaths.

The story is very well put together. There is a lot of thought put into the story and very little is left out. The moments of pure and utter hopelessness are filled very well in the moments where the soldiers are not fighting. This movie seriously felt like playing Modern Warfare with an alien invasion at its backdrop.

With everything said, this is a movie to definitely see. It is better than Independence Day and way better than Skyline. This is not a movie to take the kids to see but definitely one that people will enjoy.

Iron Man 2

2010-05-08T20:25:00.000-07:00

So other than my professional life as being a first year high school science teacher, nothing really has been able to catch my interest in books and movies. Actually, that's a half lie. I have really just been very busy with school stuff to bother with other things. Fear not loyal followers! I HAVE RETURNED to give you the snarky reviews that I usually give for epic nerdiness!

If you haven't figured out what this review is about, read the title again! I will say this movie was made of pure awesome... and then some. Good cinematography, great delivery of well placed sarcasm, and all-star cast, and excellent choreography make this movie BETTER THAN THE LAST! Sorry Dark Knight and Iron Man, you just got replaced by the new kid on the block.

Iron Man 2 starts about where the first one leaves off. Though, the previews literally stole scenes from the first 20-30 minutes of the movie the other two hours of the movie make up for this Hollywood teaser mishap. Don't worry the previews actually don't show you the whole story! I know! It's a first! Anyways, Tony Stark, the man in the iron suit, assures Congress and the public that no one is going have the armored suit to the point that he has developed it himself. Unfortunately for Mr. Stark, he's not the only one that knows how to build his precious arc reactor!

I can't really write this interview without spoiling the movie. There is a lot that goes on in it. All the characters are brilliantly presented in most of their comic book glory! Scarlet Johannson NAILS Black Widow with the exception of the lack of a Russian accent. Robert Downing Jr., as always give a brilliant performance as Tony Stark, being the playboy and a rich bastard. OH how we love and hate you! Mickey Rourke, brings another wonderful performance as a psychopathic villain on a vendetta. The dialogue was superbly written! Sarcasm and sexual tension performed by very talented actors and actresses. I seriously could not stop laughing at the wittiness of Stark, the nervousness of Pepper, and the references to the other characters in the Marvel universe.

I recommend watching this movie! THIS MOVIE IS A MUST SEE! It exceeds my expectations for a second superhero movie being bad and it continues to feed my fanboy fire for the Iron Man series. There is quite a bit of strong language however, so just be forewarned parents when you take your kids to see this movie. Other than that this movie is worth EVERY PENNY SPENT for a ticket! Cars, girls, guns, and superheroes... I don't think it could get any better!

I Have Only Begun to Fight!

2010-01-06T22:03:00.000-08:00

Well it has definitely been an interesting first three days of school. I will have to say, this is not easy and teachers sure make it look like it. However, I'm hanging in there. Keeping a journal and writing in this blog is helping me unwind and keep my sanity. Within the past few days I have been able to determine what caused the last teacher to leave. I won't go into the details but I intend on following through with what I tell them I'm going to do.

So many things can make a person jaded at this job. I will admit, when I get to the end of the day, I am physically exhausted and ready to go home. But all it takes is about an hour to unwind and reflect in my journal and blog and I feel okay again. I am learning a lot about dealing with students of different attitudes, some who WANT to learn, some who don't want to do anything, and some who just don't care about what happens to them. I am coming to the realization that I have came in on some of the worst conditions an educator can possibly enter into. My job has become a salvage operation.

I am pleasantly reminded, however, of all the inspirational teacher movies I've seen. Even the ones that make fun of teaching. The one thing that made all those teachers work was that they didn't give up on their students no matter what! I have to follow in their footsteps. I have to be the students' teacher first and not worry if I'm going to be liked by the students. The ones that will like me will like me, the ones that will hate me will hate me no matter what I do. This is a fight for the future of the world... and yes the future of the world is at stake!

Day 1: Getting the Ground Rules

2010-01-04T18:14:00.000-08:00

Okay so I started my teaching job today. To be 100% honest... I have a long way to go with these students. The students are so used to inconsistency that I have to maintain and retrain all of the bad stuff out of them while at the same time teaching them the material they need to know for the state mandated test and teach them how to make observations scientifically and think critically.

Luckily for me, the administration and my fellow colleagues have been very supportive and helpful in giving advice in trying to maintain the classes that I teach. I let the students know that I hold them all to high standards and that if they wanted to do anything fun, they were going to have to prove to me they have the discipline to do the more hands-on types of science.

The students are everyday high school students from a smaller town. They all have their likes, dislikes, and I even share a lot of the similar interests with my students in gaming, movies, and reading. Though I am usually concerned more with the ones I can't relate to. Those are the ones that are going to find me boring in class and will probably act up. But I firmly believe I can still help these students get the skills they need to reach the goals they gave me. They are all genuinely good students that have SO much untapped potential. I get the feeling I'm going to have to egg them on and push them to do better. Most of those students earnestly felt like they had been cheated and given up on. I can't do that. Not now or ever.

Allow Me to Catch Everyone Up...

2009-12-18T21:52:00.000-08:00

I know it has been a long time since I have posted anything. The last few months have been completely nuts, but I am ending the year of 2009 on a very good note. I have finally been able to attain one of my goals in life, to become a high school science teacher.

I am going to start changing the tone of my blog for a little bit logging the daily activities of my days as a high school teacher for one year. At the end of the day I will write the happenings of what goes on in my classroom and school while keeping everything everyone else, except for myself anonymous. My commentary will primarily focus on the students and not the staff or the administration as they have been very kind to me and have shown so much support for me.

I now teach in a town called Forney in Texas. This past week I went to the school to assess what the situation was in my classes. To be honest, the previous teacher had very poor class management. As a result, the students had little discipline and didn't have the opportunities to do labs. They were, instead, doing worksheets and obviously NOT learning the material.

However, this was only a single period of the day. It WAS enough to show me how much damage had already been inflicted on the students' academic and intellectual lives. I'm going to have to first establish some discipline into the class and then I'm going to have to work on getting the students to think critically. Things that will helps them in the long-term and later on in life.

I will try to still keep movie and video game reviews coming but I feel this is more important at the moment. This will allow me to share my experiences with other teachers and future teachers.

Dissidia Final Fantasy

2009-11-05T21:48:00.000-08:00

Whoa! It's been a long time since I last posted! Sorry folks, real life has been busy and currently it stinks. Luckily, I have been able to at least keep up with some of my normal routine like playing the PSP game Dissidia Final Fantasy. Yes you heard me, I finally broke down and bought a PSP on the account that it looked so professional to have one! Realistically, no, it's still a pocket gaming system but it has so many games on it that I want to play that I just had to get one.

ANYWAYS, Dissidia Final Fantasy is the latest in Square-Enix's line of games that milk the legendary Final Fantasy franchise. As if they needed to they have pulled the most memorable character from all the Final Fantasy games starting with I and ending with X and not including X-2. At first I was a little apprehensive to get the game, mainly at the fact that the fandom for Final Fantasy VII should go set themselves on fire. But enough of my ranting on my hatred of the most maniacal of fans. Dissidia is a solid game.

The story takes place in the Astral Plane where the goddess Cosmos and the god Chaos duke it out perpetually in the ultimate epic battle. Well unfortunately for the characters of the Final Fantasy universe, Cosmos loses the battle and it is up to them to restore order back to their own worlds.

The game is very well designed perfectly mixing the RPG and fighting game elements in a way where if your a fan of either genre you will have lots of fun. The game works on a bravery system. Each character starts out with a certain number of bravery points. When you land an attack on your opponent you steal bravery from them and yours goes up. To make your opponent lose HP you attack them with a standard attack. If the conditions are met and you have very good timing you can initiate the limit breaks for each of the characters. The combat is very fast paced. When you knock an opponent a quicktime even pops up for you to give chase, however the opponent can time his dodge well enough so that you can end up in a perpetual dodging fight where literally no one get anywhere. The graphics are PS2 quality and every fight is animated beautifully.

Even if you're not a fan of the series or genre, this is a good game to get. It is fun and will keep you playing no matter how frustrated you will get in the fights. Even if you don't like Japanese RPG's or fighting games this is a game that is entertaining enough that you might even change your mind. This game is better than Kingdom Hearts in gameplay, action, and story and is how Kingdom Hearts should have been made and the most innovative game I have played to date.

Valkyria Chronicles: The Animation

2009-10-08T21:20:00.000-07:00

I know I haven't posted anything in a long time. Real life tends to do things where I'm in capable of working on stuff that I would like to work on. But now that I have some extra time, I decided to finish an anime called Valkyria Chronicles.

Valkyria Chronicles is an anime based off of a PlayStation 3 game of the same name. The anime takes place on a continent in an alternate Earth called Europa. The Second Great War has started and the two major powers, the blue Alliance and the red Empire, square off. The game follows the militia squad of a small nation of Gallia, who is invaded by the Empire at the peak of hostilities. Left with no choice but to fight, your militia squad is put into combat and the main character, who, to quote Yahtzee, is the only one with enough sense to bring his own more advanced tank with him to the war. I don't like spoiling anime for people so I won't go into too many details about the plot. Let's just say there is so much sexual tension between characters it puts Han and Leia from Star Wars to shame.

Stereotypical Japanese story for video games aside, this anime was pretty good. The character design did differ enough from the game for me to recognize them, but the basic style was similar to the actual game enough that I didn't really care. I don't like spoiling anime for people so I won't go into too many details about the plot.

Valkyria Chronicles is an average anime. It's enjoyable but if you're looking for something different this isn't the anime for that. You will be genuinely surprised at some of the stuff they throw in the anime if you haven't played the game. All in all this is a good series overall, however the ending isn't very imaginative and is very predictable.

Company of Heroes

2009-08-26T16:48:00.000-07:00

In between my boredom at work and my attempts at launching a new career, I decided to catch up on some older video games that I never had the opportunity to play, either because of my school and sleeping schedule, or because I didn't have the computer needed to run and process the information. In the case of Company of Heroes, it was both.

After successfully passing a test that allowed me to start my training as a science teacher, my wonderful parents purchased for me a rather nice Compaq computer. This computer was outfitted with the latest in gaming technology and was a laptop that allowed me to take my games no matter where I went. But I'm getting off topic.

Company of Heroes is a World War II real-time strategy game that has some of the innovative gameplay I have ever seen. where in most RTS games focus on building a base and army large enough to take out the other enemy base, Company of Heroes focuses on frontline combat through territory control.

All RTS games are resource management games. If you can out produce and out gather your opponents in resources and units you will win most battles. Company of Heroes is unique in that inorder to get resources you have to control territories. The more territories a player controls, the more resources the player gains to achieve their goals.

Company of Heroes can also be noted for the programmers attention to detail. Each indivual model of infantry and armor are all fully destructible and fully rendered. Tanks and jeeps have parts that can be destroyed to gain an effect. For example, a bazooka round can hit the main gun of the tank and the tank will not be able to fire its main gun on other tanks or infantry. The environments are also fully destructible as infantry can gain protection from mortar craters and buildings. The artificial intelligence also know exactly what to do tactically in a situation, like taking cover from enemy fire.

This game is worth every penny that I paid for it. There is a lot of strong language and is very violent. It is definitely not a game that is mean to be played by kids but it is a game that is fun, entertaining, and challenging.

No Aliens Allowed!

2009-08-19T20:57:00.000-07:00

From the producer that brought you The Lord of the Rings Trilogy and King Kong, Peter Jackson tackles the political and social problems that plague modern day Africa in the movie District 9. Yes, you heard me, District 9 is a movie that tackles the current problems Africa is having, but instead of using actual humans, the movie uses aliens.

An alien race appears all of a sudden one day above the city of Johannasberg in South Africa, which is later on revealed that they simply ran out of fuel. After the aliens are found to be living in very inhopsitable conditions on their mother ship, the human race organizes a humanitarian effort to temperarily help out the aliens until they can get back on their feet.

As aliens are allowed to mingle among the human populace, the cultural differences begin to take hold and eventually tensions between humans and aliens are so great that violence breakes out between the humans and the aliens in riots and gunfights. The violence eventually gets so bad that the aliens are force to live in a paramilitary lockdown area called District 9. From that point on a megacorporation called Multi-National United undertakes a project to move all the aliens to a more hospitable place while secretly doing research on alien weapon technology and many other nefarious things.

The main story, however, centers around a man named Wikus Van De Merwe, who has recently been appointed as head official of the eviction operation. During he first sortie out into District 9, however he becomes infected by a strange alien virus that begins to painfully turn him into one of the aliens. What follows are the last three days of him being a human and what he does to try to right the wrongs he has committed against the aliens.

The cinematography on this movie is shot very much like a documentary. Yes, it is the dreaded "shaky cam" again folks. However, as most of the time I tear movies apart for using this method, this falls under the few movies where the shaky cam actually works out to be very effective at portraying the chaos that goes on in the movie. This movie is very multifaceted as the lead actor does a very good job in portraying the pain that this man is suffering as he slowly realizes what atrocities he's committed in the very fascist, dystopian system. Much of the scenery is taken from actual slums in Africa and though the aliens are computer generated into the scenes, it still shows the conditions of how some Africans live like over there today.

This movie is a must see. I thoroughly enjoyed this movie as it made me think about a lot of the social issues we humans still have left in the world. Though there is no nudity, the F-word is dropped quite frequently along with probably the most violent human vaporizations I have ever seen. Go see this movie, it is a real eye-opener.

Ahh Fanboys...

2009-08-10T07:36:00.000-07:00

As a Star Wars fan, I always enjoy watching parodies that poke fun at one of my favorite movies of all time. I'm not a big fan of comedies, though there are a few that I do find to be entertaining once in a while. One in particular that I recently watched was the movie Fanboys which did poke fun of the geek world and geek fandom.

Fanboys is about a group of geeky Star Wars fans, a few years after they have all have graduated from high school and six months before the release of Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace. One of the five friends has terminal cancer and is given 4 months to live. His loyal friends decide to make a road trip to California from Ohio to break into Skywalker Ranch and let his friend see the movie before his disease takes. What ensues is a typical road trip comedy of awkward social situations, bathroom humor, and the showing of the eternal war between Star Wars fans and Trekkies.

The dialogue of this movie consists of much of the Star Wars dialogue from Episodes IV through VI. The story is very predictable. The jokes are setup in a manner that anyone who has watched Star Wars will see them from a mile away. However, with all the obvious problems in this movie it was genuinely funny. The fight scenes with the hardcore Trekkies and the Star Wars fans was done in such a way that a Trekkie would make a Trekkie proud. So much is this movie a Star Wars shout-out that they even have a few cameos from Star Wars actors and other Star Wars parody writers.

There is something very heart-warming with this movie. It really stuck out in my mind as a decent movie being a geek myself. I found myself laughing at myself and thinking how sad it was that I even knew some of the vague Star Wars and sexual trivia that was presented in this movie... and finding it sad that I was also one of those virgins being portrayed.

If you want a good laugh this movie is definitely worth the rental. You're not going to get much out of it as the story is simple and the jokes are bad. But if you're a geek who is socially inept, or isn't this is a movie that you watch with your friends if you're out to have a good time. I recommend that you buy some drinks, invite some friends over, and watch this movie just to laugh at it.

Terminator: Salvation

2009-08-07T15:24:00.000-07:00

To start, I would like to give my two cents on the latest Terminator movie starring Christian Bale. As far as Terminator movies go, this one is still not as good as first two. This one, however, IS better than the horrendous third one. Terminator Salvation continues the tradition of "One cannot escape his destiny." but makes it a point that "There is no fate for which the one we create ourselves..." Both themes can be seen in this movie as man hasn't escaped the apocolypse of Judgement Day.

To summarize this movie's plot, a criminal on death row, before the stars start falling, gives his body up to science in hopes of helping a dying woman find a cure that will save the rest of humanity. After all the bombs have stopped falling, John Connor, played by Christian Bale, finds a bunker where humans are being held as prisoners. In this bunker the human resistance finds a signal that is capable of disabling the Terminators and "experiments" that the machines were running on human test subjects.

To be completely honest, I enjoyed this movie more than I enjoyed Star Trek. I know to all you who loved Star Trek this comes as a travesty and in a way contradictary to what I had said about time travel and alternate universes. To explain myself, I'll first say I still don't like time travel. Terminator is one of the worst stories when it comes to this aspect. Secondly, Terminator, is more themed then Star Trek. When I watched Star Trek, I felt that the movie was more about appeasing the fans and giving them what they wanted in terms of what Star Trek had become because of the fans. I didn't feel that way with Terminator Salvation. Yes, there were lines that were taken out of the other films, but Terminator is more about what can possibly happen if we're not careful. Mainly, I could relate to the doom of robots taking over more than I could with the characters in Star Trek.

Terminator Salvation was filmed in a manner that captured the chaos of battle. Like Saving Private Ryan, much of the action sequences are filmed with "shaky cam". This movie, like Saving Private Ryan, uses this technique PROPERLY! Many times I felt as if I was actually there fighting along side John Connor in the Resistance.

This movie is definitely one to see if you're a Terminator fan. If you're not a Terminator fan I do suggest this movie is at least worth a rental and a nice action packed evening with your significant other. Nicely too, this movie also is rare of swearing and gore so the kiddies can watch with Parental supervision.

Guilty Gear XX Accent Core Plus: Heaven or Hell, LET'S ROCK!

2009-08-02T16:50:00.000-07:00

In an effort to get at least one Guilty Gear game for the PS2 I picked up Guilty Gear XX Accent Core Plus. Needless to say not only is this supposedly the last Guilty Gear game they will ever release, but ARC System Works apparently ran out of possible suffixes they could have put at the end of the name. Regardless, this game is definitely the best in the the entire Guilty Gear series.

For those of you who don't know what Guilty Gear is, Guilty Gear is a fighting game originally created by ARC System Works as a fast-paced, combo-technique based fighting game. This particular version of the game includes all the normal playable characters as seen in the previous ones including Kliff, Justice, and Order Sol Badguy.

There really isn't much to this game's story. Much of it is as convoluted as the various characters' unique fighting styles. Eventually it all comes down to if the player can mash enough buttons fast enough to beat the other player.

Each individual character's unique fighting styles, however, are what make this game entertaining. They include everything from demonically possessed zombies and keys, to one armed samurais, to guitar wielding witches, to nun boys who are obviously confused about their gender, to doctors wielding giant scalpels and wearing paper bags over their heads.

Guilty Gear is just plain fun from its pure insanity. The game does not disappoint its fans or even new players that are willing to play a game that is certainly different from the rest. Even the soundtrack, which is filled with instrumental metal songs, is wonderfully done and keeps the player paying even if it is just to hear the soundtrack or a particular song.

This game is however rated T for the fact that it is a fighting game and that the majority of the female characters are rather scantly clad in metal, fetish, or gothic outfits. Not a game for the kids but definitely a game worthy of much praise.

Kingdom Hearts

2009-07-29T16:13:00.000-07:00

In an effort to keep an open mind about everything and bettering my life I decided to pick up and play (about 7 years late) the Square Enix game Kingdom Hearts. Yes, I know it's Disney and yes it is a tad bit childish but this was definitely a test in both patience and keeping an open mind the entire time. I'll admit I'm still playing through this game but, at least I'm going to review what I have done in game thus far.

First off, this is definitely a game that you have to give a chance and play through a ways before it becomes enjoyable. This isn't the world's best game, nor is it very well designed but the point is always about fun. and this game is fun.

Kingdom Hearts takes place in the Disney Universe between the different worlds of various Disney classics such as The Little Mermaid, Tarzan, and The Nightmare Before Christmas. A evil force called the Heartless, commanded by some of Disney's most memorable villains, is corrupting the worlds as they look for the princesses of each repective world to open some door of ultimate power (so I haven't gotten that far in the story yet). The player plays as a prepubescent kid named Sora, whom is looking for his friends that have also been taken to the Disney Universe.

This game doesn't have a very steep learning curve, but it does seem like a struggle to get through the earlier parts of the game. For the first twenty hours, I spent most of my time looking for the different sections and wondering where to go with an attack combo that didn't chain very well. The platforming elements are a little annoying as when the character goes to jump, there is a momentary stick at the beginning and at the end of the jump.

Ironically, these problems are fixed the more you play the game. The jumping issue is resolved when the high jump ability is acquired and equiped. The more you level up the more the combat combos begin to flow together better. There is still something to be said about the camera angles but those plague almost every game nowadays.

As far as I'm concerned, even with all its problems, Kingdom Hearts is still an enjoyable and fun game to play. Even when I found it annoying finding the next areas, I still found it fun in just the pure hacking and slashing of what can seem like hordes of enemies that the computer decides to throw at you. I highly recommend this game for everyone to play at least once as I because frustrated in more than one place but stuck with it. It is very enjoyable and even with the Disney backdrop as everyone can still enjoy the classical shennanigans of Goofy and Donald.

Marley and Me (Movie)

2009-07-20T16:58:00.000-07:00

I know it's been a while since the last time I posted anything on my blog but with much of the drama that has been going on in my life I haven't had the time to actually get around to getting some of my reviews actually posted. To this end I have finally gotten around to writing my review of the family movie, Marley and Me, starring Owen Wilson and Jennifer Anniston.

Marley and Me is about John and Jennifer Grogan's family as they go through some of the most important parts of their life from just after marriage. The plot focuses on John as he gets the runt "discount puppy" from a puppy farm. What ensues is a dog's lifetime of mischief, hilarity, sorrow... and very reminiscent of Old Yeller.

This movie is just plain fun. It does a very good job of depicting the drama that a person goes through at each stage of life from post marriage, to pregnancy, to the change of plans for doing what's best for your family. At each stage of life that is depicted there is one character that ends up not changing, and that is Marley.

Marley and Me is a wonderful family movie that I recommend for everyone. It is enjoyable even up to the very sad and tear jerker end. I definitely suggest this movie for the whole family and definately a movie for a nice romantic evening snuggled up to a significant other.

Taken

2009-06-14T05:28:00.000-07:00

What happens if you get in between a mammalian animal and its offspring? If that mammalian animal happens to be a retired intelligence agent, then you have a person that will stop at nothing to get to their offspring. This is the premise of the movie Taken.

Taken takes place in the modern day and follows the story of a retired intelligence agent whom after a long career in the intelligence game has to call on all his skills again to save his teenage daughter from a life of sexual slavery.

As basic and as simple as the story is for this movie, it is very well executed. The fight scenes are not drawn out and are quick and dirty. The movie uses very little shaky cam and captures what happens when a fight goes down, almost realistically. Leeam Neeson delivers a superb performance as he fights his way through the vice masters of Paris, killing everyone in his path.

This movie offeres more than just the lesson about getting in between parents and their children. It is also a lesson on how difficult the job of being a parent can be and the cost at which parents will take to protect their children. It is also a movie about being a wise traveller when in foreign countries. This movie really hit home for me. I could feel the pain of the parents and the worry going through their minds as my sister is going to be going to a foreign land this summer and that I have friends that I care about very deeply that have travelled abroad.

As hard as this movie was for me to watch I thoroughly enjoyed it. It feels realistic enough to suspend disbelief, it has a simple plot so people can focus on the action, and the story is good enough to make it an enjoyable action filled evening. I definitely recommend this movie. Maybe not for the whole family but definitely something that everyone should see at some point.

Burn Notice Season 3 Episodes 1 & 2

2009-06-12T10:35:00.000-07:00

Ah! Summer time is definitely one of my favorite seasons. The warm weather, the pretty girls and some of the most best TV shows start their seasons during this time of the year. One of best shows on the air during the summer has to be USA's Burn Notice. Burn Notice is what happens when James Bond meets MacGuyver and you take out all of the silly campy 80's stuff that plagued the MacGuyver series. Since I really don't watch real TV, however, I'm reviewing these late due to the fact that I generally watch them on Hulu.com. But I have to say, the third season openers for Burn Notice do not disappoint fans of the show.

Burn Notice is the story of a burned CIA agent named Michael Weston, played by Jeffery Donovan. He's dumped in the city of Miami and is left with out a job history, without any credit, and all of his financial assets have been placed on hold. To get by, Michael has to trust a trigger happy girlfriend and also former CIA agent, Fiona Glenanne, played by Gabrielle Anwar, his mother, played by Sharon Gless, and an old friend whom is an informant to the FBI named Sam Axe, played by Bruce Campbell (yes that's what I said, Bruce Campbell). While trying to find the people that burned him, Michael does jobs that can be considered to be, freelance work, for people in trouble with some extra cash on hand to help Michael pay the bills.

The story thus far...

Season 1 followed Michael as he tried to find the people that burned him.

Season 2 followed Michael as he found the people that burned him he begins to do some jobs for the people that burned him.

This season, Micheal has left the organization that burned him, and the protection they provided him from hostile countries and the domestic law enforcement, and he is now trying to get back into the intelligence game with only one problem... a psycho-stalker detective is now hot on his trail.

The quirky character, witty dialogue, and the very well done logically placed spy "How-to" shine even more with this season. Each of the actors makes their respective parts seem as though they were all born for the roles. Bruce Campbell is especially funny in this series as he is the one that has to do most of the dirtywork to help Michael out. The sexual tension between Michael and Fiona is well executed as Fiona wants Michael to realize that there is more to life then being a spy.

The Dearly Departed

2009-05-26T09:55:00.000-07:00

While sitting in the delinquent adolescent treatment home that I work at I decided to watch the movie The Departed by Martin Scorsese. To say the least, I was rather interested in this movie especially since I had heard it was based off of some gun-fu Hong Kong movies, and my interest was triggered when I studied the styling of Scorsese and his movie Taxi Driver. The Departed follows two Boston police officers. One is in the pocket of the mafia, the other is an undercover police officer working for the mafia boss of the former. The two men go around trying to discover and reveal each other to their superiors before the other one finds out and reveals them. The plot takes very interesting twists and turns as the two main characters play a dangerous game of cat and mouse trying to find out who's leaking what to their respective sides.

Scorsese's style shines very well in this movie. There is a lot of use of the free-roaming camera that can be found in many Scorsese's movies. Not shaky documentary camera shots but more of the free moving camera on a steady-cam frame. There is also a large amount of long scenes with lengthy dialogue that captures the feelings of each of the characters as they develop the story along with an ending of "everyone deserves what's coming to them in the end".

Second only too Boondock Saints, The Departed has some of the interesting uses for the f-bomb that I've ever heard and definitely some of the most colorful yo-mamma comebacks I have ever heard in a movie. Though I don't like DiCaprio he does do a very good job acting in this movie. I do say that I thoroughly enjoyed this movie and highly recommend it to a very mature audience as there is a lot of violence, language, and sexual themes. Mr. Scorsese, you win epically.

Girls, Guns, Cars and Sex: Gunsmith Cats Revised Edition Volume 1

2009-05-19T06:17:00.000-07:00

As a self-reward to myself for graduating this semester I decided to pick up the omnibuses for the Gunsmith Cats revised editions for myself to read. I have always wanted to read them and the series came highly recommended by a few friends.

So I’m thinking, “Hey! Why not? Who could go wrong with sexy girls, guns, and totally awesome cars?”

It worked for James Bond, Iron Man, and many other notable literary characters. Why not have a manga centered on a couple or women who are gun enthusiast and car lovers?

The answer doesn’t come to mind but I’ll let you in on a secret… this manga is pretty cool!

The story centers around the escapades of a gun store owner/bounty hunter named Rally Vincent and her rather promiscuous, bomb-loving, seventeen year-old, friend Minnie-May. The two get into lots and lots of trouble while hunting down the Chicago underworld’s criminals. One day Minnie-May’s thirty-five year-old boyfriend shows up in town doing a job for the mob and all Hell is turned loose on the quiet city of Chicago.

This manga is very well written with nice character quirks for each character. Rally Vincent is a gun and car enthusiast that knows her stuff when she drives her Shelby Cobra GT500 (GOOD GOD I LOVE THAT CAR!). Rally’s friend Minnie-May has a nose for bombs... literally! She can smell the components of an explosive device with no problem. Minnie also is, to say the least, very… sexually out going for a girl her age and has a sexual stamina that is unrivaled.

The manga itself is beautifully drawn. Much detail is given mechanical and electrical components for guns AND the cars. There is no limit to the amount of shooting that goes on in this manga. Much of the shots, as in gunshots, made in this manga are highly improbable. But the witty characters and just plain fun stories make up for any lack of realism in the action scenes.

I do have to say, however, that I was rather shocked at some of the content that was in this manga. Granted it did have a parental advisory sticker on it the amount of violence, gore, and highly adult themes was just short of a Punisher comic written by Garth Ennis! But past the single after rape scene and other very censored sexual actions, this manga is still good and like Ennis, Sonoda isn’t afraid to pull punches and show the darker side of society.

Graduation and Star Trek

2009-05-17T07:48:00.000-07:00

So here I am, finally after five years I've accomplished what two years ago I wouldn't even have dreamed of doing, I'm now a graduate of the University of Oklahoma. I'm still coming down from my adrenaline rush, and to be honest, I've never been more terrified in my entire life. After high school there was a lot of certainty in what was next. Now, not so much. I know what I would like to do but I don't know if I'm going to be able to accomplish it. I don't have any regrets about college. I survived it and now I'm done with school for good.

But enough about how nervous I am about graduating~! Star Trek, that's the topic of the last movie I watched. To be 100% honest EVERYONE I talked to about this movie liked it and most of them were not Star Trek fans. I don't consider myself a Trekkie, I do know stuff in detailed that I shoudn't know about he series, but that's another story all together.

Star Trek is essentially a reset of the Star Trek story. Yes, you heard me, a reset of the story, granted with the Star Trek universe it's fully possible. Not to spoil the plot but there is a lot of time travel going on in this movie. I'm just going to leave it at that for the plot.

Anyways, this movie was definitely entertaining. The actors did a good job being the characters that they were. Scotty, Bones, Kirk, Uhura, Zulu, and Chekov were all pretty much on the nose when it came to how they were in the original series. The dialogue was wonderfully done, witty and funny and captured the essence of what Star Trek is about. But before you start running off to the theater to watch this summer blockbuster, I'm going to pick at it.

First off, I usually never get sick with shaky cam, this movie uses WAY too much of it. I mean seirously... if I, of all people, get motion sickness from watching a movie, then it's too much shaky cam. Secondly, everything looks really shiny, in this case it's a bad thing. Everything is so shiny that everytime you're on the bridge of the USS Enterprise, it leaves a lot of lens glare. Now this might be used for dramatic effect but the problem becomes with the addition of the shaky cam it just becomes a lot of flashing lights to the point I thought I was about to have an epilectic seizure.

This movie gets good marks for being every fun and entertaining. My suggestion is to go see this movie in theaters. You will like it even if you're not a Star Trek fan. I personally didn't like the way the plot was presented but I enjoyed it for its entertainment value at least.

A Clockwork Orange

2009-05-10T21:21:00.000-07:00

So in my rush to study for my final exams I decided to take a small 2 hour 16 minute break and watch A Clockwork Orange. By all accounts of what I had heard from my friends about this movie, they had essentially told me that this was the most screwed-up movie they had ever seen. To some traumatizing, to others it put Neon Genesis Evangelion, in terms of pure and utter mind frakery, to shame.

A Clockwork Orange is a movie about a young teenage boy, a gangster, who leads a gang to do things that a rapist, murdering felon does with his other rapist, violent friends. After murdering a woman one night and then becoming betrayed by his gang and is arrested, tried, and convicted. He is then sentenced to 14 years in prison but then is transferred to a program designed, for a better lack of terms; resocialize convicts into never doing anything violent ever again. After his release, the mental conditioning takes hold and he is unable to fight back against his assailants who haze him.

The movie itself is filmed in a very European style. It is heavily influence by the French New wave (thank you Dr. Boyd and my Introduction to Film and Video Studies class) and carried with it an interesting way of storytelling with the typical random cuts, very short average shot length, and violence that you would only find in a movie made by any European country.

To be honest, and this just could be me as I’m desensitized to such kind of movies after seeing what I’ve seen in many animes, this movie wasn’t as messed-up as my friends were making it. Now I’m not saying I don’t respect my friends opinion, but when I watched End of Evangelion or Elfien Lied my mind was genuinely put in “What the frak!?” mode. I thought some of the stuff I was seeing in those animes was very mind blowing, in the sense that I was along the lines that this is one really messed up world the directors had create.

A Clockwork Orange isn’t that kind of messed-up. It’s an interesting movie and yes I do have to say I enjoyed the movie. However, I would have to say, this movie has the absolute most nudity I’ve ever seen just short of a pornographic film. Not that I’ve seen any pornographic films, just that there is a lot of nudity in this movie. The rape scenes are what I’d consider to be a little on the excessive side. I get the point that they are trying to drive across, I just felt that the amount of nudity could have been cut down dramatically.

The creepier part of A Clockwork Orange is the parallels I see with my work. I work at what can be best described as an delinquent adolescent treatment facility. While where I work we do not do anything as extreme as what they did in movie, it parallels very similarly.

All in all, I’d say watch this movie. See it once and only once because it’s you’re only going to need watch it once.

DSi, Graphic Novels, Foam Sword Fights, School, and A Night at the Museum!

2009-05-05T06:46:00.001-07:00

I know it's been a while since I've posted anything but between school and my really wierd sleeping schedule for my work I haven't really had the time. So lets get started on what's been going on in my life.

First off I actually have a budget now to get a DSi. I purchased a light blue one and I've so far really liked it. The best way to describe it is essentially a mini-Wii. I can access the internet from it and Nintendo was even nice enough to give out 1000 DSi points to purchase games with. As soon as I got my DSi the first thing I did was to put the internet application on it. I find it highly amusing that I can now surf the net on something that was originally designed as a gaming platform only. I found myself losing time on just sitting on my DS surfing the internet and wikipedia seeing how far I could push my new toy. Then came the rather nice camera that is on board on the DSi. It's amazing to see that he DSi can now take pictures of a fairly decent quality and save those images to an SD card. Bravo Nintendo, the DSi rocks.

Secondly, I've been getting out in the sun more. Yes it might be a shocker that a geeky guy like me would actually like outdoor activity and not be glued to my computer as I usually am for a good majority of the time. I do find time for some physical activity, however. Though I do have to say it is possibly the geekiest way I could get excercise. Yes, it's the dreaded foam sword fighting. No, I'm not part of Amtgard, or however you spell it, nor am I part of the SCA, nor am I part of any LARPing group either. I'm part of Dagorhir where I fight to have fun. I find that people in Dag are much nicer and getting stuff to fight with is much cheaper. This includes my favorite aspect of medieval warfare, combat archery.

Between all this activity I still end up finding time for some reading. I'm currently reading Dragon by Clive Cussler and would actually be getting through it if it weren't for the fact that I have a 30 page Capstone paper on the influence of science and technology on comic books due this week. No matter, I'll get them done and continue to finish reading that novel. More importantly is my sudden obsession with Iron Man and War Machine. This started a long time ago with the release of the Iron Man movie. As kept up as I am with the Iron Man comics, I've seen that post movie Iron Man comics have been much better in quality than those written prior to the movie's release. Iron Man has more personality and his villains are more realistic. Even as the new story arc, Dark Reign, evolves, Tony Stark is pitted up against one of Spider Man's old nemesis, Norman Osbourne. Pepper Potts even gets an upgrade but that I'll leave for you folks to read on your own.

Finally, Night at the Museum is a fun movie good for the whole family. The plot if fairly predictable but for a history geek/nerd like myself it's a lot of fun. Go rent it and snuggle up with a significant other for this movie. You'll definitely have a blast.

Yes Man

2009-04-08T07:55:00.000-07:00

So in my boredom at my work place I had the opportunity to watch the movie Yes Man, featuring Jim Carey.

The story surrounds a man named Carl whom lives his life in the same routine until one day he goes to a conference where the theme was saying yes to life. From that point on he makes an attempt to live out his life by saying yes to everything after missing the perfect opportunity with a really lovely woman named Allison. He eventually meets her by chance in his yes-cipades and a rather powerful love story blossoms from there.

This movie is very reminiscent of Liar Liar and Bruce Almighty but is very funny and romantic at the same time. There are a lot of powerful scenes that really just stood out in my mind and the final scene is very memorable and hilarious. Jim Carey does a wonderful job at physical comedy, as usual, and his antics make this movie very enjoyable. Zooey Deschanel has a wonderful voice and for those of you who are Journey fans you'll enjoy a particular treat in the soundtrack. There really isn't that much to the plot, it's predictible and feels like they smashed Liar Liar and Bruce Almighty together.

All in all this movie is definitely a must see and is worth the rental. it is very enjoyable for not the plot but the crazy stuff that happens to the main character. I would recommend Yes Man as a popcorn movie that is worth a rental and definitely a movie for a nice evening with a significant other.

Never Compromise, Even In the Face of Armaggedon!

2009-03-13T04:33:00.000-07:00

For the sake of this one post only I'm going to leave my professionalism behind and really stick it to this. First off, let me say that as far as a graphic novel to movie adaptation goes, Watchman is one of the best I've seen. With that said I'll begin the gritty task of how much I think this movie is very mediocre. This is one of the few movies where I've read the book long before the movie came out. The story was almost exactly the same story out of the graphic novel, really long, really boring, and lacking in point. I'm tired of the hype that everyone puts on this movie and book. Honestly it probably would have had a better effect if I wasn't in my first year of being born when the original graphic novel came out.

This movie is filled with good acting but falls short because of some of the "artistic liberties" that were given to the director. For instance, there seriously was too much sex in this movie! and the sex scene wasn't even that good! The ONLY redeeming factor of watching the sex scene (which may I add in the graphic novel was only THREE PANELS LONG but in the movie was AN ENTIRE FIFTEEN MINUTES!) was that you got to see Silk Specter's breasts... and even then it's not that redeeming either. By no means am I saying the actress isn't attractive, but seriously, sex has no meaning if it was done the way Watchman did it!

The studio also needs to fire the person who put the music together for this movie. Not a single song was original nor appropriately fit the situation that was going on! Yes, even the song for the sex scene was NOT appropriate! Troll me if you want. But seriously, the only thing that made this movie stand out from anything else was that it was really boring, just like the graphic novel.

I can think of no way to truly describe this movie except 2 hours and 43 minutes of blue atomic penis.

I will give another redeeming factor, Rorschach was done correctly and well. Give that man an Oscar because he deserves it! Don't take your kids to this movie, it is NOT age appropriate and if you REALLY REALLY REALLY want to see it, go for it. I personally suggest renting it. It's not worth the money you'll spend in the theater for it... but hey I'm biased and I hate hype for nothing!

Hero - "All Under Heaven..."

2009-03-11T10:33:00.000-07:00

I should have done this review a LONG time ago. But then when I first saw this movie, I didn't write reviews. Nothing is better than a movie with a good message, a tragedy, and martial arts action with the shifting colors of costuming and environment to better the narrative experience. All this is the movie Hero with Jet Li.

Hero is a martial arts movie about the assassins that were sent from the nation of Zhao to kill Emperor Qin (pronounced Chin in English), the first emperor of China. THE man who unified China during the Chinese Warring States Period. Three assassins have made attempts on the life of Emperor Qin when Jet Li's Nameless character attempts to deceive the emperor that he's slain the other three assassins. Turns out the emperor isn't as easily deceived as the assassin thinks.

This movie is a wonderful work of art. Each section of the plot is beautifully themed in a single color type reflecting the mood. More importantly is the message in this movie; the calligraphy of the word sword, the goals of a man with ambition, and the idea that there s something that is truly greater than all people.

Sit down and watch this. If you have kids wait until they are a little bit older as there is a sex scene that shows nothing. It is an epic that everyone must see for purely the message of the movie.

Shinobi: Heart Under Blade

2009-03-09T01:34:00.000-07:00

I come from a very heavy Asian background. Granted I'm American born Chinese but that is a completely different story all together. I took it upon myself to watch the movie Shinobi: Heart Under Blade; a Japanese Romeo and Juliet story. as like most of the good Asian films that come to the United States are generally tragedies. This movie is no exception.

Shinobi: Heart Under Blade is a movie based off of a manga series called Basilisk. If you can't figure it out by now. It's a movie about ninjas. The story takes place during the end of the Warring States Period of Japan. Two ninja clans, the Kouga and the Iga, are bitter enemies feuding back 400 years (Sound familiar?). The shogunate has lifted the ban on war between these two clans and the heirs, Gennosuke of the Kouga and Oboro of the Iga must choose between their love for each other or their responsibility to their families.

This movie is very campy even by martial arts movie standards. Granted, it is expected since the original story was a manga turned anime turned live-action movie. The fight scenes are fairly well done though anyone watching will be able to see the anime-esque influences in it. There isn't any sex in this movies, surprising as our society is today, and the acting and special effects are obviously CG. All in all it's a mediocre movie. Not the greatest movie I've seen but definitely good enough for a sitting with one's significant other.

Singin' in the Rain

2009-02-27T00:34:00.000-08:00

The majority of time I'm not a fan of musicals. This may come to no shock to most of my readers but for the people that know me, I have my exceptions: The Producers and Rent. Well I'll have to now add another title to that very short list of musicals...

Singin' in the Rain is a musical set in the transition period between the eras of silent film and films with sound. Using this as the backdrop for the plot Singin' in the Rain tells the story of actors trying to make the transition into the new age of movie making. Along the way, some actors and actress's are left behind as it was in real life.

With the historical stuff out of the way, this movie is a brilliant show of talent in both the singing and dancing departments. Gene Kelly, Donald O'Conner, and Debbie Reynolds glide across the stage and silver screen effortlessly in many memorable numbers. I've never heard a fully grown man sing that high of a note nor seen so many talented dancers make some very technical tap seem so effortless. The acting itself is superb and you can tell that the actors and actresses genuinely had fun making each musical number in the movie.

This is a timeless classic that's good enough for the entire family to watch. Though some of the customs are dated and borderline on sexual harassment, no child would be able to pick up on it and is definitely safe for the entire family.

The Maltese Falcon

2009-02-22T17:43:00.000-08:00

In my film class at the University of Oklahoma we watched a little bit of film noir with the movie Double Indemnity with a clip of the Maltese Falcon to show us the example the machine-gun dialogue that was found in both movies.

I've always been a slight fan of the noir-ish feel for movies and I decided to finally pick up and watch the Maltese Falcon. Turns out this movie is really good and I'm starting to feel that older movies have more of an appeal than most of the modern remakes or modern movies Hollywood is making. This movie I feel is the original, ground-breaking, mystery movie.

The general plot starts out with the murder of Humphrey Bogart's character's partner's murder and the murder of the person he was supposed to follow. With that Bogart's character now has to find out who the killer of his partner is before the police do.

This movie had just the right amount of adventure that I completely adore. The McGuffin for this movie is a statue called the Maltese Falcon. Though it may have been made up for the movie, the writers actually took time to add in a little bit of history that was slightly believable to further push the plot. Something I enjoy in movies such as Indiana Jones and other movies with and adventure-esque backdrop.

This movie is definitely for the whole family with exceptions of some sexual innuendo that no kid will ever pick up on, and it is most certainly a must see for anyone if they want to see a good classic.

Living In the Boondocks

2009-02-10T06:55:00.000-08:00

So this review may be a little late but I feel that this movie is good enough to write about regardless. For those of you who don't know me, I'm a big fan of the gunslinger hero/anti-hero. The Punisher, Deadpool, V, Malcolm Reynolds, Han Solo, and Spike Speigal are some of my favorite gun toting characters in almost every aspect of visual media. So it shouldn't be a surprise that I enjoy the movie Boondock Saints.

Boondock Saints follows two Catholic Irish brothers whom live in the boondocks in Boston. The movie starts out with their weekly routine: Going to church, then to work, and then hanging out in the bar (like any self-respecting Irish person). It's Saint Patrick's day and the local Russian Mob wants to buy out their favorite bar. Bad move Mr. Ruskie, did no one ever tell you that the fighting Irish come in packs? The brothers get into a bar fight that would lead to the mob retaliation and a near death experience that would change the brother's lives. After sharing the same dream about good men doing nothing, the two brothers decide to make life a living Hell for the members of the scum of society...by dispensing a very lethal brand of justice with 9mm pistols.

Though this movie has a very Indie feel to it, it's on the must-see list of movies that everyone should watch in their life. Each scene is very well plotted out and done in a way that keeps your attention. This movie, though very dramatic, is also very funny in the dark situational humor department and had the most creative uses of the f-word you'll ever hear. Definitely not a movie for the kiddies as there is a lot of f-bombs being dropped, a scene with nudity in it, and lots and lots of blood...more than a movie with vampires in it. However, this movie is worth every minute including the deleted scenes.

Hey Eastwood, Nice Gran Torino!

2009-01-12T20:12:00.000-08:00

I'd say that the Gran Torino is one the nicest cars I have ever seen. With that said, Gran Torino, directed, produced, and starring Clint Eastwood is one of the best movies I've seen in 2009 or 2008.

Gran Torino is the story of Walter Kowalski, a former 1st Cavalry soldier who served in the Korean War, who's time has passed on and is replaced by the drudgery of modern life. The movie begins with the funeral of his wife. Standing at the front of the chapel in a Catholic church he sees what is to be considered detestable behavior by many of his grandchildren. Throughout the movie Walter is attempting to find his place in a brand, and brave, new world.

This movie is, in my opinion, if very artistically done. The dialog in this movie is very well written and Clint Eastwood presents the "Old Get Off My Lawn Man" in a manor that is realistic. There were many points in this movie I couldn't stop laughing in the social awkwardness of the situations that were clearly racist of a character still stuck in the time period. Walter is a very dynamic character that makes you want to hate him at the same time like him as well.

This movie isn't for the kids. There are several scenes at which were fairly graphic and the language is definitely adult language. The message, the story, isn't sugar coated but I feel that this movie wouldn't have been the same if it was. Everyone should see this movie. It is a very gripping story about doing the right thing through tough love.

The Last Samurai

2009-01-03T22:26:00.000-08:00

The Last Samurai was definitely the most interesting movie I've seen in a long time. Though I'm not a fan of Tom Cruise for the sheer reason he's a Scientologist I will review this movie on the basis of just a movie. That ranting set aside, let's get down to the nitty-gritty of it all.

The Last Samurai is follows the story of an American Solder that has seen better days and drinks his way out of his troubles. He is sent to Japan during the Meiji Restoration era to consult on suppressing a rebellion consisting mainly of samurai. The American Soldier proves himself by killing a samurai in combat and is then taken in by the head samurai. He is then taken on a trip of detoxification and introspection while he stays and lives among people in the samurai warlord's village.

This movie does a good job of depicting the changing times and the problems faced by the slowly dying way of life. The acting was very well done and the inner conflict portrayed by Tom Cruise, as much as I don't agree with his philosophical followings, is done very well. The whole movie is set up in such a way that clearly portrayed the struggle that was going on and it should be used as a lesson to everyone of any ethnicity. Not one for the kiddies but definitely something everyone should see at some point in their lives.

The Shining Spirit

2009-01-02T23:04:00.000-08:00

2008's holiday season movies seem to be a little lacking in actual substance. The Spirit is no exception to this rule. Don't get me wrong, I found it to be a rather entertaining and good enough to satiate my noir craving. If you can't tell from the previews, this film is highly stylized to what seems reminiscent of a Frank Miller's Sin City. Seeing as how Frank Miller directed this movie it's no surprise. Though I do have to add that there is significantly more color in this movie than Sin City or any noir film I've ever seen.

The main plot of this movie follows the life, well more like the in between life and afterlife, of a fallen police officer turned vigilante that is hellbent of stopping a twisted gangster aptly name the Octopus for the reason that well he has eight of everything he owns. This being the source of the primary conflict is the spiced up Frank Miller style with lengthy and verbose monologues, that should be going on inside the head of the character but he rather feels better by spouting out his entire life's story to the audience, and fights and gunfights, where the characters ability to soak damage makes a tank seem like a mere tin can.

The movie seemed like I was watching a mix of a zombie movie and a Batman movie. At times I found myself leaning over to my friend and jokingly whisper, "I'm Batman with a tie!"

Samuel L. Jackson seriously saved this movie from a very very horrendous review by this movie goer with the VERY well written dialogue that was perfectly timed to break the tension in the movie, though the rest of the dialogue at times seemed a little strained. The witty dialogue in conjunction with my personal favorite element of character development, the good old sexual tension card, made seriousness of the movie disappear into a dusty cloud of cartoonish slapstick...with a lot more blood.

All in all I will say that this movie was average. It's no Sin City and it's definitely not the next blockbuster. It was entertaining and indeed worthy of at least a rental to sit down with the girlfriend or wife for viewing pleasure but only that much. I wouldn't suggest everyone go out and see this movie as it ruined by the feeling it tries to take itself a little too serious.

BURY ME NOW!

2008-12-22T21:33:00.001-08:00

Good God! I must have been really bored to watch this movie but man this is the biggest piece of junk I have ever watched. We'll I've seen worse, but this pretty bad. THE MUMMY: TOMB OF THE DRAGON EMPEROR is by far not what they advertise and does a horrible job even butchering the genre of adventure movies. Let me start out by saying that I'm really fed up with movies filmed in shaky cam. FILMMAKERS SHAKY CAM IS ONLY GOOD IN WAR MOVIES WHEN GIVING THE EFFECT THAT WE ARE ACTUALLY THERE IN THE FOG OF WAR! It isn't a good way to film adventure and action movies.

This movie seriously is a repeat of what you saw in the first two. Only there's kungfu, ninjas, Jet Li, and random action. By far could you seriously have ripped of Indiana Jones ANY more closely! Seriously! Lets almost kill the father and have him drink from the fountain of eternal youth. Good God! Seriously writers, if you want to do something good for a movie series that's dead, LEAVE IT DEAD!

And seriously guys, YETIS! You have got to be kidding me!

Stardust

2008-12-22T13:04:00.000-08:00

So upon my boredom during winter break I decided to catch up on some movies of interest. One of these movies was Stardust. I do have to say that Stardust is very well made movie with everything from a GOOD love story to just enough action to keep almost anyone's attention. Though simple in plot and the dialogue is sometimes cheezy it over all has a decent storyline with very few plot holes and loose ends that usually end up becoming resolved.

The characters are likable and fun, including Robert DeNiro's role as the notorious Captain Shakespeare, and when you want to hate a character the story is so well written that it really does make you want to hate them.

I've also heard that this movie was the next Princess Bride, as I have seen that movie and didn't think much of it. But in my opinion I think that Stardust has a very different feel and does its humor with a little more finesse. Even the references to sex and nudity are very tastefully done to the point where only the most intelligent children would be even vaguely able to understand what's going on. All in all this is a good movie and fun for the whole family.

Iron Man

2008-12-22T13:01:00.001-08:00

With the recent wave of comic book hero movies that either are really bad or really good I took it upon myself to see the Iron Man movie after my finals were over. Now usually the previews are a horrendous way of determining how good the movie is because they usually only show the good parts, and I'll admit that Iron Man was never my favorite hero. However, I will have to make HUGE exceptions for this movie.

To put it tersely, IRON MAN KICKS ASS. The movie actually was very well thought out, the CG was actually BELIEVABLE (total shock), story was superb, and the they chose VERY appropriate actors for each of the roles. Robert Downing Jr. does a wonderful job depicting the playboy Tony Stark and his rich antics.

As good as this movie was it did however have some minor flaws primarily with the character that was Tony Stark's girlfriend. She seemed very weak willed like some of the girls in the animes that I occasionally enjoy. Personally, I thought she could have had more depth then being emotionally attached to Mr. Stark.

But that aside, the movie is really good and has something for everyone, and I do mean EVERYONE. Even women who love campy and cheesy love tokens.

Oh not to spoil anything but STAY AFTER THE CREDITS. It's important.

Ahh the Curse of the Golden Flower...wait I'm Allergic to Flower Pollen!

2008-12-22T12:43:00.000-08:00

In my boredom between looking for a job and my graphic novel, I decided to catch up on some movies. From the Oscars a few years ago I had heard of an interesting movie called Curse of the Golden Flower and I decided to watch it this winter break. Turns out this movie isn't horribly bad just very artsy. The best way to describe this movie is an acid trip with more cohesiveness and plot. The story surrounds the Chrysanthemum Festival held in honor of the dead empress of China. The movie is filled with intrigue and twists as the movie builds to a climactic moment in the end.

The movie starts out really slow and makes it a point to keep you guessing what's going on throughout the movie. The climatic end of the movie came more as a relief of the tension. It is set as a tragedy but really does a poor job of getting any tears. If I were to pick one good aspect of this movie, it's the pretty colors. Even the violence with all its blood and gore is done in such a way the blood flows rather artistically. Definitely worth at least a rental.

A Change of Pace

2008-12-19T20:25:00.000-08:00

So what do you do if what you've been working for during the past five years is suddenly stripped from you? Well that's a good question. Anyone else would give up on it. In my case I can no longer be when I always wanted to be, an engineer. Am I discouraged? Do I have a broken heart? Am I upset? The answer to all these questions is yes. However, I am looking at other alternatives to a major at the current university I am attending. One of my options is becoming a Science Education Major. I've always been intrigued by teaching. It's something I've always liked doing. I feel that this will definitely be a change of pace. It incorporates my science heavy background at the same time I get to be relatively social, being the extrovert that I am.

Those of you who personally know me have told me that I would make a good teacher. I'm flattered. This new plan does however set me back in my plans for a few years though. I still have to see if most of my credits from my mechanical engineering major will even transfer over into a science education major. All I can really say is pray for me. This is a new path for me and it feels more like my calling than engineering did.

And It Hit Me...

2008-12-16T20:52:00.000-08:00

This post very well maybe the product of studying for very difficult exams and the fact that I'm going nuts during finals week... so I'm going to post it anyways. I realized today that in probably a caffeine powered high, while studying for my Solid Mechanics exam that will be held at 8:00 AM tomorrow morning, that, though this sounds highly idealistic, people need to be able to listen to each others opinion better and still be CIVIL about it.

You can be very surprised when you have a conversation about politics and religion when it is civil, people listen to each other without being complete jerks and, guess what, you may even convince someone that you're point is right. Whether it is or not is a completely different story, but civility goes a very long way. If you're like me, a person whom can get riled up very easily, and you find yourself in a position where you want to smash the other guy's face in for being that way, take a deep breath, count to ten, and even if you don't like it take in what the other person has to say. When the person is finished, then attempt to make your counter point. I have been known in the past to not follow this particular doctrine, but I will say that when I did follow it, people were more willing to listen to what I had to say regardless if we were on different sides of the fence.

Lucky Number Sleven

2008-12-14T22:08:00.000-08:00

So in some finals week laziness I decided to watch the movie Lucky Number Sleven featuring Bruce Willis and Josh Hartnett. At first the movie started out rather slow with a sudden hit on a gentleman entering his car is some urban parking garage. The story then progresses into a very out of order and very well thought out story to which you are seriously left guessing what's going on. There are many twists and turns that keep you watching even through some of the more boring parts.

Moreover, the very simplified logically styled arguments are not horribly difficult to follow as the main character makes mundane arguments seem philosophical. In the end this movie has some very well written dialogue, great camera work, and is very poetically done. Anyone watching this movie will not be dissappointed. However this movie is rated R for some fairly gorey scenes and some rather terrible language so definitely don't take your kids to it!

Ahh... the Oklahoma Weather

2008-12-14T18:03:00.000-08:00

I've heard many people tell me that the weather is always so strange no matter where you are in the world. Now to disagree the weather is probably the strangest in Oklahoma. I say this because I wake up in the morning today and the weather is fine. Nice, warm, and sunny with temperatures probably around the mid seventies. It's nice, right? WRONG! Turns out about three o'clock there was a cold front that actually pushed it's way down to nice old Norman, Oklahoma.

Boy, did the temperature change quickly. Granted, I should be studying for my final exams on Wednesday and Thursday, but this is so much more fun. The temperature suddenly dropped to about freezing cold! To make it even worse, my friend lowered the non-working window to my car that doesn't come up. So at the current moment, my passenger side window is stuck in the lowest position. Which is highly irritating.

It's okay though it's only going to be like this for the entirety of finals week.

Comics in Progress

2008-12-13T21:01:00.001-08:00

Hi~! I would like to first talk about my current work in progress called Treasure Hunters: The Crown of the Forgotten King. The story follows an archeologist named Janice Schultz and her best friend Maxwell Hurricane who is an engineer by trade. They are working with a group of knights known as His Majesty's Holy Order of Protestant Knights whom are a part of the intelligence community and work with other very similar organizations.

I haven't gotten very far with this yet so please pardon.

Starting Out

2008-12-13T20:33:00.000-08:00

Hey Guys! I'm Alex Chen. I'm a Mechanical Engineering undergraduate at the University of Oklahoma. Allow me to tell you about why I'm starting this blog really it's where I can put my opinion about my favorite comics, anime, manga, books, movies, table top gaming, video gaming and even sports... maybe. In a way it's also going to be doubling as a review site and a place where I can rant about random happenings in my rather boring life!

First off, I'd like to start by telliing you something about me. Other than the afore mentioned Mechanical Engineering undergrad part, I am also an amature writer for novels and graphic novels. I am self taught in sketching and I enjoy video games and playing in roleplaying games. I am a fan of the martial arts and I always look for the opportunity to expand my mind in both the ways of fighting and that in academia. I am always welcoming of constructive critisim and I keep a very open mind to new ideas.

I invite everyone to drop me a message sometime or comment on any of my writings.