Yeah, I enjoyed this. There's no way it could have the same impact as the first - I was 7 when it first came out, and as soon as we stepped out the cinema after the credits I asked my mum when we could see it again. Turns out we didn't go back, but I did eventually get it on VHS. It's probably one of my most vivid memories of a cinema experience!
Now that I'm older, though, and really into animation, I can fully appreciate Pixar and therefore this movie. I thought it was funny, and satisfying, and Night and Day was also very good. I'd love to see what Pixar could do if they made a film that was rated a 12 or 12a. Just go a bit edgier. The cymbal monkey in the film made a poor little girl cry her eyes out, and I don't blame her! Me and Lynsey both found it reminiscent of Judge Doom from Roger Rabbit, and he was so scary they had to cut out his best scenes for television screenings.
I loved the inclusion of Totoro in this film. No noises, no exaggerated or token acting, just his trademark smile. He looked ridiculously cute in 3D (or CG as it's now called - thank you 3D glasses). I guess that's another point, Lynsey and I decided to see it in 2D. I still feel that 3D is a gimmick, the only form of it I am excited about is the upcoming 3DS. Separate post about that when the time comes.
Back to the point, the film was suitably grand for it's finality, and the death of the series was satisfying and as well written as any Pixar production. I was excited to see the first film, missed the second one in theaters totally (damn teenage years) so it was nice to feel that excitement about the third. I think my favourite part was the very beginning, with all the lines from the first movie. The worst part....probably Lotso, as he was almost exactly the same as Stinky Pete. Still - better than Toy Story 2, in my opinion.
Completed it last night, this remastered version of the classic point and click adventure was excellent. There is always going to be a certain charm about the pixel art of the original, but the lush painted backgrounds and characters in this edition are just superior, and a lot easier on the eyes. The inclusion of voice acting just adds to the quality of the game. If there is something that a text heavy adventure game needs, it's voices. And they did a really good job, just as they did with the first remake.
In this special edition you can use object highlighting and a hint system, to help you progress more swiftly without the aid of an online walk-through. Admittedly, I had to use the hint system a couple of times because I'd forgotten what to do at certain points in the game...mainly it was what order I had to do these tasks in.
The only problem I found with the game was the controls but they can be changed at any time between point and click style and analogue control. I'm not sure if you can use a mouse for the Xbox version, if not that is literally the only downside from the original.
Playing through the game also unlocks some excellent concept art, which to be perfectly honest, all games should consider including. There are few things that feel as rewarding as unlocking a nice bit of development stage artwork - the sketchier the better!
I still find the ending to this game to be one of the most unexpected and odd of any game I've ever played. I can't even work out whether or not I'm satisfied with it, or if it's real, or just a joke. But still, the rest of the game itself is highly enjoyable and funny. Great characters, design and puzzles.
I guess that they just hit all my sweet spots with this show. Cute and wacky characters, crazy stories, funny dialog (including voice acting from John DiMaggio), my taste in bizarre disturbo-humour, very monged out music (often chiptune), it being made by Pendleton Ward who has worked with John Burgerman... There are just too many things in this show for me NOT to like it. I generally don't read reviews of certain things I enjoy because I don't want other peoples opinions to change mine. I have suffered from this before, e.g. theSpoonyOne's playthrough of Final Fantasy VIII. I used to like that game, and now...I don't! Damn my easily remoulded brain!
So Lynsey told me that people either love or hate this show, in a sort of Spongebob Squarepants way. And I personally used to like that show (the newer episodes have dropped in quality of writing), season 2 being excellent. But still, I didn't like the character design in Spongebob, so although the humour was often laugh-out loud worthy, the appeal factor and overall design strength was pretty weak. Bob himself is a pretty lame character, to be perfectly honest.
Adventure time has immensely appealing characters to me - it's almost like watching a John Burgerman cartoon at times. Even though it goes against many animation principles I have had drilled into my head, I still really enjoy the way it is drawn and brought to life. For instance, the characters have no recognisable anatomy, their limbs move like tentacles, they have no bones and appear squashy. To be honest, this actually works to the shows style rather than realistic anatomy and structure.
What people hate or love is random humour, and I think it works in Adventure Time. Jake and Finn (the main characters) approach all zany encounters with a feeling of familiarity, at times even boredom, that I find amusing. It's just accepted - their world is just one chaotic encounter after another, which is enjoyable for a show that lasts only 10 minutes an episode.
When I first heard of this show back in 2005, I dismissed it like the awful, cheesy, hackneyed Nick cartoon it could have been. How was I to know it would be an excellent series? Well, via word of mouth, I suppose. I've never heard a bad word about this show, in the last couple of years that I have been aware of it's genuine quality. And when Lynsey told me it was good, then I knew it was just a matter of time before I sat down and watched the whole thing.
So for the last 2 weeks, Lynsey and I watched the whole series, and well yeah there were parts that were cheesy, and cringe-worthy, and immensely obvious, but it's for Nickelodeon, and therefore, children. There are parts where characters go in huffs with each other, run away from their friends, doubt their potential in the ways I've seen so many times before. You always have to realize what channel it's aired on, that there will be no blood or murder, or senseless killing, but it's easy to forget just because how well it is written and animated.
I doubted Avatar at first because of the character designs and the voices. Pseudo-Anime, or Americanime, was a really popular thing when it was made, (or it started a new trend of it) so when I saw clips of the show it just didn't stand out enough. I didn't even bother to read reviews, and no-one I knew had ever watched any of it; I'm guessing they all thought the same thing as I!
Avatar comes highly recommended from me. It just gets better as the series advances - more likable characters, excellent animation especially in fight scenes, genuinely funny humour, and exciting climaxes - more of this please!
This game is an under-played gem of a title, and is an example of the reasons why I prefer Nintendo Wii over any other console at the moment; Not afraid to have cute graphics that suit the gameplay, lack of unnecessary violence and guns, short load times, and gameplay that is genuinely funny and carefree. It's certainly not underrated - all the reviews I've looked at for this game give it ratings of over 90%, which should make it an instant classic. It has a permanent place in ONMs top Wii games along with Okami, also left untouched by the majority of gamers.
I picked this game up for £6 yesterdayin HMV, although I have wanted to buy it since it came out, I'm now glad I waited for it. The past few months I've just seen in plummeting in price - clearly, nobody is buying this game! I suppose that's due to poor advertising, which goes for many excellent Japanese games (Okami, Monster Hunter on PS2). It was developed by Rising Star, also responsible for Muramasa: The Demon Blade, another Wii exclusive, one with exquisite graphics and hardcore gameplay. In LKS you control a king who controls his subjects. It plays quite similar to Pikmin, and also has elements of Animal Crossing, and Warcraft 3. You Convert your ordinary, lazy citizens into different job classes such as farmers or hunters, each suited to different purposes and obstacles. These hand-picked men and women follow you into the field to dig up treasure, collect resources and hunt UMA, the enemies of the game.
As you can tell from these images, the game is an absolute charmer. Your residents make sounds of their own language, much like the Sims, and it's amusing to watch them go about their daily business. Hunters practice their Archery, guards patrol the Kingdom, and Carpenters sit on a rug and smoke. Beat a boss and the next day a festival will be held, like when you defeat Cow Bones, everyone dances ritualistically, wearing skulls on their noggins. So far, the game hasn't been too challenging for me, except for a poisonous frog boss who ate most of my men, we only just managed to take him down. It was exciting. I'm looking forward to playing more of this game, it's not only addictive, it's NINTENDO addictive.
A film about dream invading agents, used to extract information from political honchos, they now have to implant an idea into the mind of a business super-power. Apparently, it's quite a difficult thing to do!
Inception was a good film, but I know that it's going to be one that some people just hate. Many people will ask, why is it special? Well apart from Toy Story 3, there really aren't any decent films out yet. And it is more than enough to satisfy a movie night out. It's a not a really long film at 148 minutes, but it's a jam packed 148 minutes, and alot of confusinating and expositionising (new words) happens within that duration. The latter half of the movie is one of the most intense movie experiences I've ever had, although admittedly I don't watch that many thrillers.
I feel that for a psychological thriller, one that is literally based in the human mind, it's just not complex enough to accurately reflect that state of consciousness. I feel that Chris Nolan invented his own idea of what dreams are just so it works. And it does work - but It's not quite familiar to what I see as a dream. I have no doubt that it's a hard thing to pull off, since everyone's dream experiences can be different or even constantly changing. In some cases I don't think the movie really got deeply psychological - the main character had his problems, but they were almost too physical, and I can't believe that none of the others in the group had similar, dream invading secrets.
As for the acting, it was great to see these guys altogether, and Leonardo did an especially good job.
If you want to see a more fresh, bizzare dream-o-logical thriller, watch Paprika.
In games I find one of the biggest turn offs is the feeling of loneliness - like you're the only one doing anything. It's present in pretty much every single player game, which I guess is what often attracts me to MMORPGs. I hate the knowledge that you are the only one pushing things forward, it's not engaging and it certainly doesn't reflect real life. What I want from games is something that I can compare to the Lord of the Rings - the seperation of characters who are all doing different things at the same time, it's also present in the hobbit and is immensely satisfying to read.
A prime example of a lonely game is Fallout 3. The world is sparsely populated as it is, and your only companions have very poor AI and are pretty much totally unresponsive. I like the Tales series of games, especially Tales of Vesperia, because the characters will converse with each other in totally optional skits. You don't have to view them, which makes them all the more watchable! There were similar interactions in Baldurs Gate 2, but those were even better; you could have a party mixed with good and evil aligned characters, and they'd be constantly at each others throats! The tension made it dynamic and the fact that it wasn't forced (you chose who you want to join your party) made it all the more real.
A game that tried really hard to stave off this lonely feeling was GTA IV, and that is one of the reasons why I think it was so successful. Every 20 minutes or so you'd have a friend calling you up and asking how you're doing, if you want to go for a drink, bowling, or just a drive. I'd often phone them for a date, turn up in a helicopter, and cause total mayhem. The least lonely game I ever played was Legend of Mir 2, because it felt like it was a local game, very tight community, it was something special that I doubt will ever be possible ever again. I miss that game, if just for the friends I made!
I'll have to make a post about this classic MMO sometime.
I have started this new blog to talk about video games, movies, cartoons, music etc. It will mostly be about things I like. And so to start, I'm going to talk about Monster Hunter Tri.
So far I have spent over 50 hours enjoying it. Truly, a very manly sounding game on the surface, you-hunter take big smash-stick and crush scary monster. Then you mannishly retire to your rugged man-room, maintained by your personal feline housekeeper, or perhaps you pay a visit to your farm (also maintained by cats) to (manly) snuggle your pet pig. The premise of the game is to hunt monsters and carve items from them so you can forge armour and weapons strong enough to fight the next, inevitably more difficult, monster. And it is difficult...battles can last for a while, and there have been many times where I've been totally spent and an inch before death when I finally land that killer blow.
I have yet to try what is actually the major selling point for the series which is it's multiplayer mode, mainly because no-one I know owns this game. In fact, very few people I know even own a Wii. Sad face, however, although the Wii's online facilities are poor, for once you can play with strangers!Now I'm hooked on the series, it's more than a little bit tempting to buy a PSP for the upcoming Monster Hunter Freedom 3, which sounds delicious.Perhaps Capcom should do the right thing and release Monster Hunter frontier to us Westerners (currently out on xbox 360 in Japan - the least successful console in their market.)I especially enjoy the part at 5:50, that sense of impending of doom is part and parcel of the series.
In tri's single player mode, you meet a little tribal guy called Cha-Cha who helps you out. He is a Shakala, who are a race from previous versions that have been hostile to the player. In Tri, he dances to heal or power you up, and gathers items for you. Equipping him with different masks will change his actions, such as making him more aggressive or use nothing but barrel bombs (A risky choice, since they can and will explode in your face quite often). You can change his dances, and certain abilities, such as giving him a useful paralysis attack, or increasing his defence. I like to give him the fluffy mask - he avoids danger, but gets you more lovely, lovely loot.
Once I try multiplayer, I reckon I'll make a post about that, or just edit this one.
