Missing

There will be missing posts for a few days on account of not being around to write them. Don't worry they will return next week. Consider it a vacation of sorts, only for me more so.

Sweet Berry Wine

Okay, so there really is no wine here nor does any of this have to do with wine.

The Blue Beetle test footage doesn't impress me much. Not a big fan, even though it was directed by Bill S. Preston Esq.

The Avengers cartoon however, does have promise. Though with Nickelodeon your not sure what you have.

Natalie Portman AND Kat Dennings in Thor, sweet mother of justice, what fine vixens he doth have.

For some reason this video of Ron Livingston doing keyboard cat is making me giggle. Sure it's not related to anything, still made me laugh today.

Do they even try anymore with the older cartoons as movies. I mean, I suppose Transformers was kinda big, but still looked like shit. Just stop already.

Adding more mutants to X-men First Class. Still waiting on any of the original 4 to be cast. No Cyclops, Jean Grey, Beast, or Iceman. Wait they did cast Beast and Cyclops, still enough with the side cast or mutants that don't belong.

While it has been awhile since I saw Tron and my excitement for a new one isn't exactly perking. That being said this new trailer is changing all of that.

Awwwww, no new Robocop, darn.

This is a short post for today, I have stuff to get done.

Shameless filler

Green Lantern posters are out and making me excited. Not that familiar with Green Lantern history, but he's the part of the starting lineup for the Justice League and those rings are cool. Though I'm not that big of a fan of Ryan Reynolds, but he seems like a good guy.

Okay the trailer for Sucker Punch is up and it looks pretty cool. Props for using Lords of Acid for the trailer, props taken away for putting a dragon in. I like dragons as much as the next guy, but it just really seems like it doesn't belong.

Megamind looks like it might be pretty entertaining. Enough with marketing movies on celebrity voices.

Say it ain't so Steve. Sure you already said your leaving the Office next season, but think of the children.

And several people were banned accidentally from Modern Warfare 2 on Steam recently. Now they get a free copy of Left 4 Dead 2 and one to give to a friend. Still doesn't inspire me to buy that turd. I lack the brosticles.

I love a sexy woman in uniform. So what if their homemade.

Wait, Tony Robbins is getting an NBC program. Won't that put a whole dent in his attendence. Ohhhhh, it's about his daily life. Meh, who cares. I'm guessing he sleeps, eats, and poops like the rest of us.

Now the Rock Band track lists are getting random. Will these be the end for plastic parapanelia that can't be used for much else? Probably not, the Kinect comes out soon.

Speaking of Kinect and PS3 motion thingy, they do realize that's precisely why I don't play my Wii much. It's a lot more work for something that is supposed to be a break.

Anyways Starcraft 2 comes out at midnight, but I'm waiting til tomorrow. Almost bedtime right now.

It's a non-rainey Sunday

Well the San Diego Comic Con is winding down again, but not without a stabbing.

Guess they already have the Avengers lineup cast. Let's just hope their other movies are good, otherwise ????

I think I would pay for a whole movie of this. Too bad it's for a game I probably will wait for a trial and only try it for 2 days.

Thanks for making Inception #1 in the box office again this week. That bodes well for Chris Nolan.

Oh Casey Affleck, you and your antics.

I don't watch American Idol and replacing Simon Cowell doesn't inspire me. Still just a karaoke contest.

Congrats to Saw for making the Guinness book. Sure doesn't hurt to release a new sequel every year.

Wanna know what's gonna happen in V next season. Me neither, but Elizabeth Mitchell is on it, so there is that.

I liked Community and here is the cast sharing a couch and chatting with Micheal Ausiellio. Speaking of Donald Glover, check out the film Mystery Team. It has him and a few others from the NBC Thursday lineup. Unless your too cool to watch NBC on Thursdays.

An entire movie shot in 3D starring Nicolas Cage. It's called Drive Angry and looks bad, but it's all in 3D sooooo double whammy.

Finally I watched Zombieland. It has Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg, Abigail Breslin, and Emma Stone. They kill zombies and try to stay sane. It's a pretty fun movie, but takes a the zombie movie and lightens it up. It's still about survival, but not in a depressing sense. Definitely a movie you watch to enjoy and not think about. The film has the speedy zombies like in the Dawn of the Dead remake. Only their "infected" which seems to be the popular reference in zombie movies these days. This is one of those films that can draw you in and the push you away wondering why they would want to go to an amusement park anyways. And where is all the electricity coming from. And what about food, eventually it will all go rotten then your screwed. It's not a movie to take that seriously, so it's understandable that it avoids those questions. Just somethings bug like that bug me. Anyways, check it out of you want a fun movie to watch with a group or a like minded date.

Life, Links, and Happiness

It's not that I have been avoiding writing anything, it's trying to adjust my sleeping schedule. So, it's been a series of naps and waking up at 4am and staying awake as long as possible. Plus, there is a comic-con going on in San Diego and their showing off too much stuff.

Avengers is lining up with a new Hulk, a Hawkeye, and a possible Ant-Man.

As much as I like the Jack Sparrow character, they should re-title the movies at this point

Monsters looks like an interesting movie. It's like Cloverfield mixed with District 9. Of course, neither one really live up to the hype.

Red is looking pretty entertaining. Didn't have much luck trying to find the comics though.

Honestly, I'm probably not as excited for a new Tron movie as many others, it still seems like a good idea.

Not sure what Sucker Punch is about, but the women are attractive and it looks like it should be all sorts of actiony.

The Walking Dead is a good comic, from what I have read, and it hopefully translates well to television. At least they got cable on their side.

The newest Spiderman game Spiderman: Shattered Deminsions, looks like it might be pretty good. The very least they have some good costumes available. Though they need to knock off they whole pre-order awards and let everyone get them.

Now Darth Vader is just showing off.

The counter protests at comic con is very funny. Keep up the good work young ones.

I don't play Dungeons & Dragons, but this makes me want to start. Now all I need are friends willing to play.

Okay, enough to chew on for now. Enjoy these and try to keep it real. Or at the very least semi-real.

Something to look forward to

So next week, approximately 7 days from now, Starcraft 2 will finally be out. There is much hype and promotion of this game. All of it with good reason. The last Starcraft came out about a decade ago and man did I play the crap outta that game. Basically the game is an RTS where you play roll of three races Terrans, basically humans (in the future), the Zerg, think of the bugs in Starship Troopers, and finally the Protoss, they remind me of those Bionicle toys, but with better looking weapons. Essentially there is a war going on between all three where sometimes they have to team up to defeat the other. That is a very broad overview of it all, but in the end it's all about the war between the races.

This was one of the first games I actually played online a lot. Sure I played a little bit of Quake 2 online before that, but didn't stick with it because it was pretty dull. There were alot of tactics involved with playing the game online and knowing all sorts of otherwise useless information way key. There was the the build order, basically the order and time for when you build a certain structure in order to go the direction your want your attack to focus. Lots of resource gathering and a ton of trial and error. One of my fondest memories of the game was playing as 4 humans players against 4 computer controlled AI opponents. Typically I played them on easy, it was still pretty tough, maybe one or two on normal, but that was my limit. Well whoever set the game up left them all on very hard difficulty. Needless to say we didn't find out about that until one of our partners was eliminated. We all immediately hunkered in and decided to see how long we would last. We each had our own little sectors and slowly but surely we were able to come back from our loss to defeat our non sentient foes. Sadly it was one of my proudest accomplishments, but I still look forward to recreate that joy. Sometimes next week, when the game finally comes out and I can enjoy it again, kind of.

I got something to say

And it's about the need to make old television programs into movies, mostly when they don't even really try to relate it to the program. For example, while I didn't see A-Team I am willing to bet that aside from the character names and a nod to the van, there really wasn't anything that made it the A-Team. Sure, it will draw in that nostalgia factor, but it seems to me that if the movie was any good they could just call it something else and possibly start a new franchise. That should be a hint that the movie might not be that good. Another example is the Honeymooners, another film I openly admit to not watching, but I have seen parts of it. First off there is the whole obvious race thing where the television characters are white and the people portraying them in the movie are black. Next is the fact that aside from their names and I think occupations there was nothing relating to the Honeymooners other than the fact that was the name of the film. That one is astounding because that nostalgia factor of the name would draw them to the theater, then they look at the poster and see Cedric the Entertainer and instantly notice something wrong. Not that either of those films did particularly well in the Box Office. It's just something that bothers me. That and the need to "reboot" everything. It was cool when they did it with Batman, but "rebooting" a franchise three years from when it started doesn't really convince me that any lessons were learned. Oh, and go see Inception because if you support Chris Nolans newest it will help me make a good third Batman film and not the third movies we have been getting. Yea I'm looking at you Spiderman 3.

Date Night

I'll admit I'm a big fan of Tina Fey and Steve Carell, so this movie was kind of sold to be based on the main cast. Throw in Mark Wahlberg, Ray Liotta, William Fichtner, and a small role by Bill Burr and you may be wondering who those last two guys are. Finchtner you have seen in several films though don't know who he is, but is quite funny when he wants to be. Bill Burr is just a comedian who used to write for Chapelle Show and is seriously funny guy. Him and Louie CK are the funniest gingers I can think of, but I digress. The film as a whole had me laughing quite a bit. While not as much as other comedies it kept it amusing thanks to Fey and Carell just being themselves. Sure the story was a little over the top, but that's what movies are for. They expand the imagination and besides it's a comedy and there aren't too many comedies these days with realistic stories to carry them.

The film follows Fey and Carell as the Fosters, a husband and wife married with children. They are living a hum drum married life where they just go through the paces of their days and even have to plan a "date night" in order to have time alone and carry on the sembelance of a marriage. It doesn't take long before one of their married friends decide they are getting a divorce with each party particularly glad about it. As a matter of fact, it was the best decision of their lives. This only makes the Fosters more paranoid about their marriage and the dullness of it all. So, for the next "date night" Mr. Foster decides they are going to go to a swanky New York restaurant that is impossible to get into, which is of course what happens. Deciding to try and spice things up they snatch a reservation made by people who obviously weren't going to show up. The dinner goes well until two guys come in and mistake them for the people who made the reservation. As could be predicted this leads to a mystery wrapped around the Fosters being pursued by cops, mobsters, and DA assistants. They all want a flash drive that the Fosters are thought to have so the Fosters enlist the help of Mark Wahlbergs security expert Holbrook. Holbrook helps them track down the flash drive that all the groups want and setting things in motion to get themselves off the hook from previously mentioned groups. Finally leading to a rooftop showdown where things finally get set straight, though I couldn't imagine this whole ordeal not affecting them in the future. If you watch it you will see what I mean.

Do you need to see this movie? No, not really. I seriously don't see this movie as being a trailblazer or becoming a cult movie where you will consistently hear people quoting lines from the film. Should you see this movie? Once again, I wouldn't say it's mandatory, but if you enjoy the comedy antics of Fey and Carell you would enjoy it. Or if your married and need a good movie to watch together. It's very appropriate for that.

Fabulous Link Friday

It's Friday and here are some links that you should check out and enjoy. If you don't then I'm not sure what's going to happen.

Be James Bond though it might cost some money

Like sweding movies, here is an all female version of Predator

Full cast photo for Walking Dead television program, hope it's as good at the comics

Those Improv Everywhere guys are pretty amusing with Star Wars live shows

Pictures of the main cast for Thor, Anthony Hopkins looking stoic and where are Loki's horns?

First pics of Ryan Reynolds as Green Lantern, looks kind of lasery.

While not totally on topic, this clip from the Espys regarding "The Decision" should make you realize that focusing an hour of air time for Lebron wasn't necessary.

Please don't talk about Ferris Club.

Beavis & Butthead are making a comeback, shouldn't they be kicked out of high school by now?

Terrible superhero costumes, line up.

This article about ROM hacking was both interesting and help me find the sequels I never got to play.

Company of Heroes

I know, I know old game is old, but thanks to IGN for turning me onto it. It's a World War II RTS (real time strategy) so I just kind of shoved it off as being another WW2 game where you shoot at Nazis. Then to psyche myself up for the release of Starcraft II, IGN had an article about RTS games that are pretty darn good, to help perpetuate the excitement for Starcraft II. Browsing through the article brought Company of Heroes to my attention. The game sounded to appeal to me in the way it works and the fact I had not played it yet. Needless to say, I can't believe I waited so long to play this. It isn't as large as Starcraft, it isn't a sci-fi setting, and it came out a while ago, but it was quite a fun play.

Now, I do realize that WW2 has been done to death and adding an RTS style didn't really inspire me to try it out. You have tanks and infantry to run into the grinder and after awhile the Nazis retreat back to base. The story here is no different, but it's an RTS so it's more about the tactics than the story. After the typical first stage of running up the beaches in the invasion, you begin taking control of Alpha company. Nothing really special about Alpha company, just your average band of respawning brothers. This initial beach invasion serves as a basic tutorial though, so nothing too concerning when your soldiers are getting blown up all over the beach. Once you get setup on the beach the game becomes are a series of attack or defend missions, my personal favorites being the defend maps. Most battles are a series of rock-paper-scissor face offs where you use heavy weapons to take out armor and you use your armor to take on infantry. Your infantry consist of riflemen, MGs, snipers, morters, and engineers, with the engies being the most useful. Your armor are heavy tanks, flamethrower tanks, and tank destoryers. I do realize that the tanks have names, but this is what I called them as I played. There are options for a few other vehicles, but I honestly rarely used them. Eventually you open up the ability to start pumping out more infantry and armor to soak of the gun fire and they quickly become your leaders into fire fights. As you progress through each map you unlock various "power-ups" that allow you to call in artillery strikes or enable you to build stronger tanks. These don't immediately become useful but are almost required on some of the later stages. After getting a sampling of everything your build options open up and these upgrades force you to travel down a selected upgrade tree. At this point it's a good idea to have an idea of which upgrade path you want to travel because it would be your only choice.

The goals of each map are laid out for you, but ultimately it comes down to driving the Nazi force off the map or some variation there-of. As you progress through the maps you will be constantly moving your invasion forces up and the bringing up more troops to fortify these newly claimed territories. It operates off a control point scheme similar to the Warhammer RTS's, with each point captured add resources into a your resource pool that you will use to call in more troops or set-up defense for said fortification. Quickly it becomes a running troops back and forth to push forward without losing the captured points. I'll admit there are a few stages which I had to try several times over again to try different strategies if one didn't work and sometimes just to see if there was a better way to do things. The difficulty of the game progressed throughout the game, but nothing that can't be overcome by using what you know works and use your resources smartly. Though the final stage just kind of ended abruptly for me, but it was for the best because I was in a pretty bad situation. Still didn't know what I did to win, but I did it and it was worth the play. Should only take me a few more years to try the expansions.

Batman: Under the Red Hood

This is one that just recently came out and carries on the fine tradition of the DC animated films. The story revolves around the character coming to Gotham going by the traditional name of Red Hood. I say traditional because it was a title and image given to various criminals throughout the history, one of which is show is a flashback. This new Red Hood is taking over the streets from the current mob boss Black Skull, who coincidentaly has just that. Needless to say the Red Hood makes life quite a menace to the Black Skull who eventually has to break the Joker out of Arkham to take on Red Hood. Following several chase sequences Batman begins to recognize certain aspects of the new Red Hood that starts to seem all too familiar to him. Cameos abound in the film, so if you aren't too familiar with Batman lore you may be a little lost on certain parts, but the story is pretty easy to follow. You will get to see various Robins in action, a Nightwing, some Riddler, and a walk on by Ra's Al Ghul. It's a veritable Batman smorgasbord.

It follows a common animated comic formula of using action sequences to lead into the next bit of talking, with more action than talking. While it may not be for everyone, if you enjoy Batman or the other DC comic movies definitely check this one out. It actually is sitting as one of my favorites, but still won't top The Incredibles. Unfortunately, they did bring in alternate voice talent that wasn't Kevin Conroy or Mark Hamil, but you do get Bruce Greenwood, John DiMaggio, and Neil Patrick Harris. Growing up with the animated series over the comics I have become fairly judgmental of my Batman voices, but this one works for me. The Joker voice wasn't Mark Hamil, but nobody has even come close to emulate that. Basically if you enjoy comic movies and/or are a Batman fan, check it out. If you just despise comics, Batman, and that whole thing you can skip it and you won't be the only one.

Same place, same time, different words

This is going to be a (hopefully) daily updated blog about mostly movies, video games, television, and in some cases music. Sometimes it will be a review, sometimes opinions on trends, and other times it would just be miscellaneous. To be honest I am unfamiliar with this site so if something funny is happening or looks out of place feel free to email me. Opinions are always welcome, especially ones that have reasons to back up their feelings.

Now, everything out won't be reviewed and don't be surprised to see reviews of older stuff. I don't watch everything and I don't play every game that comes out. Suggestions are welcome, but there are some things that I wouldn't subject myself to. For films I tend to migrate to films based on comics, something with a creative slant or idea, documentaries, and whatever looks cool. For video games I try to dabble in a bit of everything, especially if there is something unique about a game or it's a good simulation. Love me some sim games. Television is a shady topic, I don't watch Mad Men, Breaking Bad, Doctor Who, or shows that always are in the emmys. I know I'm terrible, but I don't plan on reporting much on them anyways. As for music, you really won't see much, maybe a suggestion, but music is usually based on what the person likes. For instance, I don't like most popular rap or generic pop tunes churned out to cash in on a fad. So read it daily and enjoy it, or don't it's a free country.