Ok guys, since I am apparently the biggest dick on this site, I felt the need to review Tales of the Black Freighter before the other softees did. I don’t know if it was evident from the most recent podcast, but I was not enamored with Watchmen. It really had nothing to do with what they left out, and what they changed or any of that, it was more a fact that the movie just can’t be made with the source material provided. Now I’m not about to say I hated the movie completely because I liked nay loved certain parts. The way they Snyder altered the ending for example…better than the book. Rorschach was awesome and Jackie Earl Haley was the highlight of the whole move. In fact I agree with one of the commentors that an all-Rorschach movie would have been sick. Nonetheless, I left the theater feeling underwhelmed and under-entertained, but in reality I don’t think it could have been better, unless they made a miniseries…and at that, who knows. Now, onto the supplemental material that was released this week. As a whole, it was much better than the theatrical release. The Black Freighter story is very gritty and dark, it is certainly not for the faint at heart. Snyder and Co. left no stone unturned here and gave me exactly what I wanted…a faithful replication of the story within a story. Gerard Butler’s voice over was ominous and angered. As Chuck and I left the movie we both were wanting more of the MinuteMen back story…well you will get that here with the Under The Hood interview by the original Night Owl. It is done in such a way that it seems like you are watching a 60 Minutes-like show from the 1960s with Seiko commercials included. As such, a lot of Sally Jupiter’s story shone through here as well as the original masked vigilante Hooded Justice. When Watchmen come out on BluRay, I will rewatch both in tandem and I feel that this may change my opinion for Watchmen, even possibly raising it’s iScore for me…nah.
ArchivePage 4 of 19
Ok guys, since I am apparently the biggest dick on this site, I felt the need to review Tales of the Black Freighter before the other softees did. I don’t know if it was evident from the most recent podcast, but I was not enamored with Watchmen. It really had nothing to do with what they left out, and what they changed or any of that, it was more a fact that the movie just can’t be made with the source material provided. Now I’m not about to say I hated the movie completely because I liked nay loved certain parts. The way they Snyder altered the ending for example…better than the book. Rorschach was awesome and Jackie Earl Haley was the highlight of the whole move. In fact I agree with one of the commentors that an all-Rorschach movie would have been sick. Nonetheless, I left the theater feeling underwhelmed and under-entertained, but in reality I don’t think it could have been better, unless they made a miniseries…and at that, who knows. Now, onto the supplemental material that was released this week. As a whole, it was much better than the theatrical release. The Black Freighter story is very gritty and dark, it is certainly not for the faint at heart. Snyder and Co. left no stone unturned here and gave me exactly what I wanted…a faithful replication of the story within a story. Gerard Butler’s voice over was ominous and angered. As Chuck and I left the movie we both were wanting more of the MinuteMen back story…well you will get that here with the Under The Hood interview by the original Night Owl. It is done in such a way that it seems like you are watching a 60 Minutes-like show from the 1960s with Seiko commercials included. As such, a lot of Sally Jupiter’s story shone through here as well as the original masked vigilante Hooded Justice. When Watchmen come out on BluRay, I will rewatch both in tandem and I feel that this may change my opinion for Watchmen, even possibly raising it’s iScore for me…nah.
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Episode 23 kicks off with remembrances of winter, Chuck’s trials and tribulations of owning a dog, and multi-function remotes. Chuck and Jason then eagerly launch into their discussion of the Watchmen movie. The podcast concludes with Jason’s reviews of three new games: Street Fighter 4, Little Big Planet, and Resident Evil 5.
As Episode 22 kicks off with a serious PEBKAC issue and Clive Owen’s penchant for firearms, Jason and Chuck pick up the pieces of their shattered Oscar talk, High Jackman’s performance, and Jay’s shame. On the docket: Slumdog Millionaire, The Dark Knight, Taken, Watchmen, and Coraline.
Links:
http://soleyne.com
http://www.imdb.com/boxoffice/alltimegross?region=world-wide
http://www.boxofficemojo.com/alltime/adjusted.htm
Smodcast
Well… um… we do? I mean it’s out now in theaters.
Luckily that question is not the only one I have answers for today as we were able to catch the Watchmen at a midnight showing last night.
Here’s another question: Was it any good?
Hell yes it was. Brutal, graphic, pretty to look at, well paced, well acted and it hit a very large majority of the books major points right on the head.
Here is where things get tricky. If you did not read the book, you’ll likely be confused as hell at times and you’ll probably be surprised by the overall adult nature of it. You see this is not the Xmen, or Spiderman or any other average comic book. The majority of the ‘heros’ have some heavy pyschological issues, 0 superpowers and are basically masked vigilantes that the majority of society would like to see locked up permanently. The only guy that actually has any real super-type abilities is mostly devoid of emotion and really doesn’t give a shit about the human race.
So if you read the book and loved it and you’re not a detail nazi (ZOMG!!!11!! RORSHACH IS SUPPOSED TO GO HOME FOR HIS SECOND MASK!!! THIS MOVIE IS RUINED!!!) then you’ll love it. They pulled no punches when it came to the graphic nature of the novel, so don’t be surpised to see shredded flesh, attempted rape, a bunch of breasts, compound fractures, blue penises (penii??) and more.
Bottom line is this. It’s not for everyone, but for the fans of the graphic novel it seems like the movie version you could have only hoped for.
BTW: yes the ending has been changed and that entire plotline that goes into the construction of the ‘squid’ has been scrapped, but I think it’s for the best. The movie’s ending not only performs the exact same function, it actually feels more legit.
Chuck and Jason kick off this just legal podcast with tales of Jason’s intimidating presence. LOST is back and in big way and Jason and Chuck weigh in on the total excellence that is the new season and offer their theories of what’s going on. The Superbowl movie trailers and how they completely kicked ass is up next with anticipation (or not) for GI Joe, Transformers 2, Star Trek, Fast and the Furious, Year One, Land of the Lost, Angels and Demons, and Race to Witch Mountain. The podcast concludes with Chuck’s thoughts on Benjamin Button and Jason lays down the newest DVDs.
Associated Links
OK, so we’ve been given a TON of info in the episode. I love the pendulum, very cool 
. Dharma doesn’t seem to be a mystery now (to me at least). I guess they are (were) a scientific organization working on the island doing experiments with biology and electromagnetism. The one thing that I am confused about though, is are they still around? In season 1, there was a Dharma supplies drop, so they must be still around and still think they have functioning operatives on the island (at least until Keamey shows up). But they haven’t been in the story line for a while…or have they?
So here’s my theory…Widmore is Hanso. The Dharma Inititive is his company that he set up to exploit the island in his quest for power. This is why Richard and the Other-Others battled against Dharma in the past and recruited Ben to help them wipe Dharma out on the island. They want Widmore to stop the exploitation of the island. I think that after that Widmore, at some point, was banished from ever returning to the island, which is why he needed the Initiative to get back to it. I think he dedicated his life and resources to finding that Island again, and when he did (using the pendulum)
This theory also explains a little bit more about the confrontation with Ben and the we-can’t kill-each-other pact they have. Ben clearly made a deal with Widmore after Richard assisted him in destroying the Dharma Initiative on the island. What tht deal is, is still a secret, but I am sure we’ll find out.
Think about it, Widmore protects his interests in the island by masquerading as Alvar Hanso. That way he can keep his legitimate enterprises going, while he keeps the more clandestined “Island” business going.
Thoughts?
OK, so if you have have young kids nearby do NOT play this it is riddled with explitives, seriously… EXPLICIT.
I really can’t believe that Sony has actually come out with this. It’s seems par for the course for them, but not sure if now is the right time for this. Well…you be the judge.
Sony Releases New Stupid Piece Of Shit That Doesn’t Fucking Work
Too soon? Sorry for the groaner 
So, I have this love/hate relationship with BSG. I’ve been a fan since the old days and I even watched Galactica 1985 as well (The Starbuck/Cylon episode…none better). I’ve enjoyed the new show with a couple slips in which I just stopped watching altogether. I never put it together until last night, when I was watching this Friday’s episode (on TiVo) and was just starting to get that uncomfortable feeling again. The one where I think “I just don’t want to watch this” it’s too much.
Too much blood, too much anger, too many machinations. It just felt like it went off the track.
But then I realized, I’m uncomfortable because, while this is SF and fantasy, the themes are real – almost too real. I was thrown by Gaeta’s mutiny at first, but then I realized that it wasn’t a shark-jump. Gaeta was always a man of conviction when he felt he was doing the right thing. Even when he was working for the Cylon shadow gov’t on New Caprica – he fed the resistance info. He was always about anti-cylonism.
So if Gaeta’s motivations where sound, then maybe, just maybe the show wasn’t off track as I originally felt. It’s no secret that BSG is actually a very powerful drama wrapped in a SF package and I guess I had to come to grips with that more. BSG is an incredibly layered show with some of the best writing in any SciFi show. Once I realized that I wasn’t getting my escapism from BSG (far from it, BSG makes you think), I gave in.
The fervor I had for the show in previous seasons is back. And just like LOST, I’m excited to see where it goes.
I’ll end with a salute to Saul Tigh (played by Michael Hogan). He started as my least favorite chracter, but he’s steadily become my favorite. Hogan’s raspy growl and colorful language brings an emotionality to the Adama/Tigh pairing that (until recently) was required to balance Adama’s stoicness. He makes the eye patch work (especially as he compensates with the rifle scope – genius!) and his loyalty should be an example to the entire crew. I’m along for the ride with this mother frakker, All hail the XO.
Yes that’s right! Unfortunately he’s stuck back when Russo crashed on the island so this is going to be interesting. It’s funny though how he always gets into situations where language plays a part. All of his main storylines revolve around it (especially Sun’s sneaking around and learning english). I’m excited to see him back and I’m intrigued about this. So is Jin now at the same time as Sawyer, Locke and crew? Has he been shifting the whole time, just out of it?
Also, as pointed out by Doug in a previous comment, Miles is indeed the baby son of the Dharma Initiative instructional film guy (what IS his name?). This was clinched this episode with Faraday’s comment about length of time on the island affecting the neuro-disorder with the time jumps.
I saw Ben being the catalyst for the blood sample debacle a mile away, it seemed like a logical way to get Kate to WANT to leave and go back to the island. Still curious about Ben’s end-game though.
It is also clear now that Jack is back to his old tricks. He told Kate that he “could fix this.” This of course goign back to Jack’s need to fix anything broken. He now has a purpose and that singularity that he exhibits to confront this purpose is back in full swing.
Best line this episode: “Who was that?” asks Syaid…”My lawyer.” says Ben, in a matter-of-fact tone that was perfect.
Good episode.
So I had some downtime recently and I finally got around to playing and completing a couple of games. I’ll try and review some of the others ( Fable 2, Gears of War 2 and Metal Gear Solid 4) but Event Horizon came up in conversation today, and Dead Space became my first target.
Dead Space casts you as an engineer sent out on a rescue mission to find out what went wrong on a mining vessel in deep space. The game sets the story up pretty well, and its not long before you’re seperated from your team and the action begins. It’s apparent from the get go that not is all as it should be on the derilict ship. “Necromorphs” as the game refers to them (essentially the reanimated corpses of the fallen crew) are your main adversary throughout the game. They take on a variety of shapes and sizes and without exception they are all fairly grotesque. They make a great foe throughout the game, giving you a few genuine shocks and scares. In addition an interesting mechanic is implemented, wherein headshots (the defacto killshot in most games) are ineffective and the best way to take down the enemy is through dismemberment. This results in a lot of good-bloody fun.
I’d say the big star is the ship and its atmosphere. It may come accross as a bunch of greenish corridors, but the feeling of dread that the designers conveyed through graphics and sound design really make it seem if you’re in a haunted spacecraft. The designers also mix up a good variety of believable locales while still remaining within the confines of the story. The ship is in total dissaray, and when you’re not looking over your shoulder for necromorphs, you’re preoccupied with zero gravity areas, zero oxygen zones and some nicely scripted cataclysmic type events.
This was a game I couldn’t stop playing until I got to the end. For me, thats the mark I look for. Great Resident Evil-like gameplay, tense atmosphere, interesting story, fun-upgradeable weapons and gear as well as an awesome final boss fight made this one a winner in my book.
One last thing. Before I played the game I watched the set up story on dvd. Dead Space: Downfall is a full lenght animated feature that sets up your characters arrival at the beginning of the game. I love animation. I love movies. I love games. I have 2 things to say about this. (1.) It’s a good thing I got it from Netflix and didn’t buy it. (2.) It pretty much sucked. Not horrible horrible… but for me of all people… the same guy who enjoyed Deep Blue Sea to not really enjoy it, well… that’s saying something.
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