This weekend I got to see the films Sucker Punch. I'm going to give you a brief run-through of what I thought of this film. From the director of films like 300 and Watchmen I think it's safe to say I was expecting a display of visual effects and intense action and the movie did not disappoint on either front. Whereas while 300 owns it's stunning effects and flaunts them proudly like a red Spartan cape over the nearly-naked bronzed body of a beautiful but essentially rudimentary story, and Watchmen's character-driven, complicated, non-linear story strains at the seams with fountains of action and showiness leaking through the holes in it's silver screen rendition. This time all bets are off, the film is a helpless crash test dummy thrown into the hands of a mad scientist equipped with fight scene generators and lots of TNT. The result is a mixed bag. The story walks the line between the two movies, it's less intricate than Watchmen but the shifting between the world-views of the insane asylum inmates and the factual reality of their world causes it to quickly lose the elegant simplicity of 300 and makes the movie slightly confusing. The acting ranges from Oscar Isaac who is a perfectly sinister and devious character, to Carla Gugino who manages but struggles to act with an accent, down to Emily Browning as the main character who is good at looking sad and badass with extremely limited in between emotions. Of course it would be a crime to omit a mention of the soundtrack from a Zack Snyder film which is of course inspirational, songs from artists like Massive Attack make some of the action sequences little short of thrilling to watch. These portions of the movie are also hit or miss, the WWI battle and the fight at the Japanese temple are some of the best I've ever seen. But the later two, the dragon, and the train full of robots might be a little less exhilarating if not for being worse, then just because at that point my capacity to be wowed has diminished. The movie is almost entirely concerned with action and the sexiness of the girls, if you like that then you will enjoy this film but don't watch it because you're expecting a brilliant story. The two things Zack Snyder needs, simpler plots would make him a great replacement for James Cameron who likes simple stories with pretty pictures but doesn't have the same cinematic deftness and excellent taste in music that Snyder can execute. Two: if action is the main point of your movie, make us want the action, not get tired of it. It's not hard, a little buildup is all I ask for. One of the major successes of Watchmen is that fight scenes are precious few and far between so when we see them they're quite exciting to watch.
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Friday, March 25, 2011
Minecraft
My latest addiction in the world of gaming is the smash internet hit Minecraft. The game is independent, not produced by a major game company. And it is described as a "Sandbox" game which is a word that is new to me, but I interpret as "you are allowed to build what you like" and indeed you can create some remarkable stuff in Minecraft.
The basic premise of the game is that you start out with nothing and have to make everything you need to survive in an empty world. The trouble is, the undead and spiders will spawn every night to come trouble you, so you need to make some safe shelter at least. From there the game is pretty much open to play how you want. The maps are huge, the precious minerals like diamonds and gold are jealously guarded by more monsters deep in the earth. There are rare items to find and build with and you can craft even more interesting objects.
One of the most popular features of minecraft is that you can build complex circuits using a specific item in the game (Redstone Dust) as a wire, coupled with buttons, doors, switches, repeaters, pressure plates, etc. Thes can be very complex and someone even went so far as to create a working computer using input and output.
Minecraft is pretty amazing for having such blocky graphics which at first sight turn a lot of people off, but it's popularity is a testament to its very enjoyable design. Proving the point in the days in which game design companies fight to produce games with the best graphics and leave their gameplay woefully complicated or redundant, that the most important thing for a game is for it to be fun.
Since there's not a lot more to say about this relatively simple game, I decided to include a video to demonstrate the awesomeness:
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Recovery
Well it's good to be back, finally not sick but still have a lot of phlegm and pretty bad breath and typically still wake up in a puddle of my own drool. So needless to say, I feel like a real charmer right about now. I'm here today to talk to you about something that was already blogged but is definitely worth reblogging:
During the tragic Tsunami that struck this month in Japan, 43 year old Hideaki put on scuba diving equipment in order to get into his town which had been covered by the tsunami and rescue his wife and mother. This is some impressive shit right here.
This man: Hideaki Akaiwa
During the tragic Tsunami that struck this month in Japan, 43 year old Hideaki put on scuba diving equipment in order to get into his town which had been covered by the tsunami and rescue his wife and mother. This is some impressive shit right here.
“She is very important for me,”
Is one of the few quotes given in the remarkably scant news article that really stretches what is quite clearly a brief encounter with the man who immediately returns to search for more people.
The story can be viewed here: Thestar.com World News
Sunday, March 13, 2011
The Bahamas
During the last week I went a lot of places with no internet connection and thus am posting here again for the first time since I left. The island nation of the Bahamas is the eighth that I have visited outside of the United States. This trip was my first by boat and I tried many things that were new to me.
At our first port of call, Port Carnival, a Norwegian cruise line stronghold in Northern Florida I saw my first wild dolphins from the balcony of our stateroom. There is little to do at the port itself and Norwegian reaps a great deal of profits from the excursions here which include trips to Disney World and Sea World for the day. My friends and I chose the Kennedy Space Center instead, since it was less expensive. after a short bus ride we were deposited on the doorstep of the headquarters of the American space exploration program. It was a surprisingly chill day and a cool breeze shook the palm trees. March was a month too proud to be ordered about by climactic expectations. The Shuttle storage building was draped with an enormous American flag and the great square building erupted from the flat boggy Floridian earth with every intention of containing an object powerful enough to escape the planet that created it and wise enough to come back. It made me sad to think that the shuttle launch program will soon come to an intermission for an unknown length of time.
Great Stirrup Cay will probably always be the location at which I became the most sun-burnt. A merciless Norwegian encampment, the private island is owned entirely by the company. There is a small swatch of beach developed for sunbathing and swimming, and a buffet building open to the air and intrepid beach flies. There is a restroom, a pair of pavilions full of picnic tables, a collection of shacks full of sunscreen and beach towels and coconuts carved to look like pirate heads presided over by Bahamians who haggle much better than I do. I was not much interested in the fact that the island was home to the world's largest inflatable water slide, tellingly named the "Hippo Slide" which periodically shook violently as overweight young women in expensive bathing suits paid $20 for the brief exhilaration of rocketing towards a beach full of sand and bouncing safely to a halt, dripping wet and laughing wildly. I spent as much time as I could making use of my rented snorkel gear to explore the shallow reef around the island which was a very rewarding decision. Although most of the bathing areas offered little in the way of fish, a short swim into the waters around the "Off-limits" portions of the beach offered a rich variety of marine life. Parrotfish, angelfish, butterfly fish, grouper, snapper, squirrelfish, and colorful varieties of wrasse were present in abundance, alongside many soft corals and some sea urchins. The rest of the rocky island, untouched by Norwegian bulldozers, had been left to the lizards and mangrove trees.
The third day at port brought us to Nassau, capital city of the Bahamas. Here we rented mopeds, an experience I found far more thrillingly dangerous than being prisoner on an island fun camp with six dollar sodas and no sun screen. We navigated Bahamian left-driving traffic successfully, or at least passably enough to remain alive and ate lunch at the fish fry near Andros Cay. The restaurants here serve delectable conch, grouper, and snapper, seafood being unsurprisingly the main delicacy of the islands. From there we explored the ruins of fort Charlotte, a fort built during the age of imperial European power where nothing note-worthy happened until the Bahamas gained independence from Britain there in 1973, an event which also included no battle of significance. From there we took the ferryboat to "Paradise Island" home of the Atlantis Resort, and the beach properties of Nicholas Cage, Oprah, and Tiger Woods, among other celebrities. One of the tour guides on the ferryboats soliciting cash from a captive audience was thoughtful enough to inform us that the island was formerly known as Hog Island due to an abundance of wild pigs. Now that it is home to celebrities and wealthy vacationers, I fail to see what necessitated the name change.
At our first port of call, Port Carnival, a Norwegian cruise line stronghold in Northern Florida I saw my first wild dolphins from the balcony of our stateroom. There is little to do at the port itself and Norwegian reaps a great deal of profits from the excursions here which include trips to Disney World and Sea World for the day. My friends and I chose the Kennedy Space Center instead, since it was less expensive. after a short bus ride we were deposited on the doorstep of the headquarters of the American space exploration program. It was a surprisingly chill day and a cool breeze shook the palm trees. March was a month too proud to be ordered about by climactic expectations. The Shuttle storage building was draped with an enormous American flag and the great square building erupted from the flat boggy Floridian earth with every intention of containing an object powerful enough to escape the planet that created it and wise enough to come back. It made me sad to think that the shuttle launch program will soon come to an intermission for an unknown length of time.
Great Stirrup Cay will probably always be the location at which I became the most sun-burnt. A merciless Norwegian encampment, the private island is owned entirely by the company. There is a small swatch of beach developed for sunbathing and swimming, and a buffet building open to the air and intrepid beach flies. There is a restroom, a pair of pavilions full of picnic tables, a collection of shacks full of sunscreen and beach towels and coconuts carved to look like pirate heads presided over by Bahamians who haggle much better than I do. I was not much interested in the fact that the island was home to the world's largest inflatable water slide, tellingly named the "Hippo Slide" which periodically shook violently as overweight young women in expensive bathing suits paid $20 for the brief exhilaration of rocketing towards a beach full of sand and bouncing safely to a halt, dripping wet and laughing wildly. I spent as much time as I could making use of my rented snorkel gear to explore the shallow reef around the island which was a very rewarding decision. Although most of the bathing areas offered little in the way of fish, a short swim into the waters around the "Off-limits" portions of the beach offered a rich variety of marine life. Parrotfish, angelfish, butterfly fish, grouper, snapper, squirrelfish, and colorful varieties of wrasse were present in abundance, alongside many soft corals and some sea urchins. The rest of the rocky island, untouched by Norwegian bulldozers, had been left to the lizards and mangrove trees.
The third day at port brought us to Nassau, capital city of the Bahamas. Here we rented mopeds, an experience I found far more thrillingly dangerous than being prisoner on an island fun camp with six dollar sodas and no sun screen. We navigated Bahamian left-driving traffic successfully, or at least passably enough to remain alive and ate lunch at the fish fry near Andros Cay. The restaurants here serve delectable conch, grouper, and snapper, seafood being unsurprisingly the main delicacy of the islands. From there we explored the ruins of fort Charlotte, a fort built during the age of imperial European power where nothing note-worthy happened until the Bahamas gained independence from Britain there in 1973, an event which also included no battle of significance. From there we took the ferryboat to "Paradise Island" home of the Atlantis Resort, and the beach properties of Nicholas Cage, Oprah, and Tiger Woods, among other celebrities. One of the tour guides on the ferryboats soliciting cash from a captive audience was thoughtful enough to inform us that the island was formerly known as Hog Island due to an abundance of wild pigs. Now that it is home to celebrities and wealthy vacationers, I fail to see what necessitated the name change.
Friday, March 4, 2011
Top Six Free Flash Games
Flash games have been popular since the dot com era in the mid 90's. I remember playing them constantly on the Nickelodeon web page as a kid when there was not a lot for kids to do online. Back when "Ask your parents before using the internet" was a warning I ignored on a more regular basis than the Q-tip classic "Do not insert into ear canal" It was a good time. Since then I've played more flash games than I care to remember, here are a few that stuck in my memory.
Number Eight: Fancy Pants Adventure
Play Fancy Pants Adventure
The highest number on our countdown but certainly not a bad game, Fancy Pants Adventure from Armor Games is set in a Dr. Seuss-ish landscape backed with some funky music and a cute sketchy art theme. The hero has huge orange parachute pants and the last boss is an angry penguin. But the most awesome part of this game is obviously the ease with which the animations of the main player character flow from one into the next. He rolls, braces himself after jumps, pushes against the wall if he runs into it, does backflips, runs upside down and makes it all look effortless. Not to mention the baddass hair. This game is all around awesome but it's short, and there is not a lot of replay value as there are no upgrades or rewards that you can unlock that really help.
Watch out for those spiders
Number Seven: Rainbowsphere:
Controlling a ball doesn't sound very exciting, but the primary-color-heavy "Rainbowsphere" from Gamecubicle is actually a great platformer. You can only touch gray blocks and blocks the same color as you to get to the portal at the end, and of course you can change colors. It's got clever puzzles and a good challenge to each map. The controls are not hard to master and once you've perfected them you'll be able to see how complicated this unassuming game can get. The reset after death is instant, which is one of my favorite parts of the game. It can be frustrating and difficult but it's still a classic for me. The fact that you have to change colors so frequently means each puzzle is actually many in one.
A complicated early level in Rainbowsphere
Number Six: Fishy
The little wet piece of silliness from Xgen studios is a simple adventure game, a very simple adventure game actually. You're a fish. you eat smaller fish to grow bigger, but don't let bigger fish eat you or it's back to the beginning! Fishy looks cute and charming but it's quite a challenge. You only have one life and there's nothing stopping bigger fish from gobbling you up. On top of that a lot of momentum can make it hard to change directions, but the reward for beating the game is quite amusing to see. I always had this game up every time I was in the high school library. Easy to fail but hard to quit.
Another one bites the dust
Number Five: DICEWARS
From a Japanese website called GAMEDESIGN, this game is sleekly simple and wordless. But deceptively challenging. It's a lot like a very boiled down version of Risk. You try to take over all the spaces by beating the AI players and conquering their land. At the end of each round you receive additional dice based on the number of spaces you have touching each other. But don't spread yourself too thin or the enemy will easily retake your squares with too few dice.
The beginning is the most crucial part
Number Four: Vertical Drop Heroes
This game is fun. Really Fun. The upgrades, the level design, the head nod to classic RPGs and platformers alike. and the great (and adorable) character art make Ninjakiwi's "Vertical Drop Heroes" easily one of the best on this list. The objective is simple and the game is not hard, but you could still find yourself playing it for a long time. The objective is simple, reach the exit at the bottom of each map without dying to get a key to rescue the princess from a temple level. My favorite is the shadow clone barbarian and the a couple of the archer upgrades.
I love everything about this game
Number Three: QWOP
It's barely a game but it's still impressive and encouraging, reset is fast, the music is inspiring and they don't taunt you for failing, which you'll do, and you'll do a lot of. "You are Qwop, our nation's sole representative at the Olympic Games." The game tells you. Unfortunately, as it says, the training program was underfunded so it's up to you to control Qwop's legs. using the Q, W, O, and P keys you are supposed to make him run 100 meters. Good luck with that by the way, it's nearly impossible but hilarious to try with friends.
You'll fall down a lot.
Number Two: Pixel Purge
It's fun, it's addicting, it's well done, Pixel Purge is one of the best games out there but it's nothing new. The gameplay is based on a precedent game but that doesn't make this any less fun. The enemy design, the short storyboard, and the cool sounds and upgrades make this game very addicting. This is another hit from the people at Armor Games who are always making something good. They continue to impress me with their work.
Don't let them catch you.
Number One: Grow Cube
All the games over at Eyezmaze are impressive. But this game is one of the best. Grow Cube is curious and extremely unique. It's also really really hard. It will take you a long time to figure it out but doing so will make you feel really accomplished too. Much like a complex puzzle box, it's really fun to do with other people. Just add all the objects to the cube, the trick is you have to do it in the right order to make everything work. But can you remember all the combinations you tried?
Of course I won't give away the ending!
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