So, I just caught Olympus has fallen with my girlfriend (yes she actually wanted to watch it too), and I had pre-empted myself to leave my brain at the door with the expectation that this might be a B-grade flick, hell, am 80s storyline flick. Needless to say I was not disappointed and not surprised at the movie either. Special effects were decent, although its definitely easy to see the composited scenes and 3d models of aircraft or buildings in the movie. Avater quality 3-d, it certainly was not. But, it was actually entertaining and fun to watch despite the many moments that caused me to grimace at the dialogue or logic of the scene. Without giving away too much, I would recommend this film as a popcorn flick to enjoy with ur mates to enjoy, if you can leave ur brain at the door. Three words: 80s era movie.

*ANYWAYS, on with my ranting! Spoilers ahead, ye be warned! Oh, and I would really recommend one reads this after watching the movie. My writing maybe rather disjointed and confusing if you have not watched it, but if you have, then you probably know what parts im talking about.*

SO, as I have mentioned, the movie trailer itself gave me an impression that it was rather '80s' themed as it goes with the whole 'one man army' story, save the president, save the world from nuclear disaster. Wheres Seagal or Arnold when you need them? Granted that this time, the enemy came in the form of the North Koreans than the traditional Communist Reds. When the movie/trailer has a character that goes, "He's ex-Special Forces" then you KNOW you are in for a treat. 80s-Commando-One-Man-Killing-Machine-BADASS-mofo style! Enter Mike Banning. Ex-SF, ex-Secret Service, ex-loving husband, and current desk job bound paper-pusher. "Wads da madder Dillon? Agency god yuu pusheeng too maneee penzils??" Emotionally attached SS operator who has been shuffled out of his job for saving the President (Aaron Eckhart) during a car accident which unfortunately (and through no fault of his) results in the First lady going for a swim in the icy depths. Needless to say, she didn't warm up to that idea and hasn't been seen since. Seriously though, all those SS men and only 3 guys jump on the car to try n weigh it down? Wheres everyone else? Also, why the HELL are they mulling about staring at each other when the car goes down into the drink. I mean, they are supposed to be professionals no?

Anyways, skip to present day and the North Koreans and the South Koreans, 'Kims' and 'Parks' all, are posturing for all out war. Somehow they manage to infiltrate an agent, no scratch that, a FULL TACTICAL team of agents into the South Korean delegation without anyone else knowing into the White House for a meet and greet with the POTUS. As this is happening, an AC-130 (scriptwriter clearly enjoyed the AC-130 sequence from Call of Duty 4 very much) flies into Washington DC, and is NOT shot down. Really. You expect me, ME! A foreigner to believe that after 9-11 a un-identified MILITARY aircraft flying into DC is not going to be taken as a threat and shot down or forced out of the sky. Well, I'm ranting, to cut this short: AC-130 flies into DC, shoots down 2 F-22s, blasts the CRAP out of downtown DC, is finally destroyed by another F-22 as a ground contingent of N-Koreans attack and force their way into the White House killing ALL, I say again, ALL the security in place. Police, Secret Service, Marines, and other US security Forces stationed on the ground. Amongst all this, Banning (Butler) somehow manages to slip into the action by entering the fiasco BEHIND the enemy forces killing many of them with his manly pistol and somehow getting in FRONT of them into the White House. "This is MADNESS! -- No! This is BUTLER!" That's some Chris Angel mindfreak stuff right there.

Anyways, so the suspicious looking people in the S-Korean delegation spring their trap and are revealed to be *gasp* from the North! They lock themselves in the presidential bunker under the destroyed white White House and take POTUS and his staff hostage. They are after some Top Secret Nuclear Codes to detonate all the US Nuclear Stockpiles and ICBM missiles, yada yada, as well as the removal of all US forces in the Korean Peninsula and surrounding territorial waters (Probly so that the North can invade the South without hindrance from those pesky Yanks. Get the codes, blow up the states, NK wins, US and friends lose. Simple as that. One by one they go on kill, torture to get the codes from the 3 top staff of the US Govt. They get the first and second, because the President gives in to them. The PRESIDENT gives in to them, not the staff members themselves! Heck, he seems more like hes colluding with the N-Koreans! Hell, the lady Secretary of Defence had larger balls than he did. And dont even get me started on POTUS's son, Connor. He was supposed to be the reason the NKs were looking for him to get the Prez to talk, but the Prez still gave up the code WITHOUT the son being found. Like huh?

After the White House and the Presidential Staff are lost, Morgan Freeman, God, takes over the reigns as acting President. He mainly spends his time asking about whats happening, looking rather moody and lost, "Who IS THAT guy?", and asking for that one cup of coffee. Chalk up a failed Navy SEAL raid, indecision and brooding looks from him, I think this is certainly not one of Morgan's finer acting roles. The emergency government that are in place as the crisis goes on are terribly useless. Everyone in the background seems to be just looking happy when something good happens, and more often than not, sad and disappointed as tragic situations befall them. Be it a failed Navy SEAL insertion by a rambunctious general, to finding out that Cerberus has been activated (Morgan Freeman went "Oh God." when he should actually have said "Oh, Me."), gleeful thumbs-up as Connor is saved, and finally all back slappy-huggy as they find out that POTUS has been saved.  

So, as all that went on, Manning (Butler) is topside in the crippled White House, destroying the Persians single-handedly with his manly fists and - Wait. What? Oh, that's another movie? Sorry, I mean that he is single-handedly destroying the North Koreans with his manly fists and his guns. He even stops to chest bump with the main NK baddy: Kang. The good-ol, 'Whose-balls-are-bigger' swagger and trash talk each other scene. Thumbs up. So either way he saves POTUS's son, kills more baddies, and basically saves the White House, with the climax ending in a mano-a-mano fist-fight to the death. Throw in a couple knives, and Kang ends up shish-kebab. Manning saves the day, and gets his good ol job back. "'MERICA!"

The movie at the end of the day certainly entertained and had a few edge of your seat moments. Given the cheesy dialogue, and some rather genuinely funny moments, as well as awkwardly laughable scenes, Olympus has Fallen is a movie to escape from reality for awhile and just go along for the ride. It does however bring to mind questions of how a real world scenerio like such might unfold if it took place, or if things could get that far, as well as the parallels with the current North Korean situation.

Lastly, that expression of the North Korean commando who went down into the basement to search for Connor was simply hilarious! ( : o)



-Marc

Hey all, Merry Christmas~!

Well, its that time of the year again folks. And the Holiday Cheer and the food and what not that go with it. World's still here, and so am I. (Fortunately or unfortunately on that last bit...)

Anyhow, heres wishing you and yours a lovely Holiday Season! And whether you celebrate Christmas or not, hey, at least enjoy the festive mood and eats and treats.

Merry Christmas folks.

-Marc

Hey folks, firstly heres wishing everyone a Happy 2012, yes the world is ending, Aliens are coming and French Fries are soon to be known as Hungarian Fingers! Heres to an excellent 2012 ahead~

Secondly, would be nice if anyone reading this gives this website a hit: [link]

The editor in chief for the site was kind enough to feature a few of my works so some airtime for his site would be much appreciated! Cheers folks.

-Marc

Heyya Ladies and Germs,  

Heres Wishing u a very Merry merry Christmas to you and yours wherever on this Big Blue marble you might be at.

Marc signing out~

I must admit, I wasnt really interested about this movie at first, despite the fact that Colin Firth and Geoffrey Rush graced the cast. I mean, who is interested to watch a movie about a stuttering royal monarch learn about the finer points of public speaking...?

And then, I caught the trailer for The King's Speech while waiting for The Green Hornet to begin (strange movie to have a trailer in, since i assume trailers all fall under similar genres to interest the crowd watching the current movie...) Anyways, needless to say, the trailer piqued my interest in the this movie! So I had to watch it.

  Im not well read on UK history, and thus not very well acquainted with the players involved or how accurate it is historically, needless to say even if it WAS accurate to an extent, it would have been sexed and jazzed up for the silver screen audience. But I digress, this is a story about a man's struggle to find his voice, and what a story it is: Nothing really remarkable actually if I may be honest, but the human drama between Colin Firth and Geoffrey Rush is really entertaining and you can feel the emotion and frustration, happiness and anguish that passes between them on screen. Colin Firth is nothing short of amazing at portraying this stuttering man, desperately trying to find his voice, for the sake of himself, for his family, and for his people. God save the King eh? And Geoffrey Rush, well it is mildly unnerving to see Captain Barbossa all clean and gentleman like without his pet monkey. "It be a strange thing...!" And with proper dental work too~!

Helena Bonham Carter plays the wife of The King in the movie, and she does a pretty good role of it in my opinion, playing the supportive but strong wife. Also its also mildly unsettling having recently seen her in Fight Club again recently...I love the part where she meets the wife of Logue.

For the most part, the script is naturally unsurprising in the direction the characters would take for a movie, and thus the rather mundane predictability of it all. But the acting and soundtrack make it so much more. The classical and regal tunes from the score that accompany the movie compliment the mood and atmosphere of the movie very well.

For those of you who love British Cinema, this is a very enjoyable and entertaining movie, of which I would say go watch it! :]

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Hey all, its that time of the year again, so heres wishing you a Peaceful and Merry Christmas to you and yours~! :]

P.S.
To the person who gave the Premium Membership for DA, thanks a bunch~! :]

Well, I have to say been awhile since I ranted on a movie:

Chris Nolan's Inception this time around. I had heard MOSTLY good things said about the movie from friends who had already watched it before, and also the constant ravings on the internets and facebook. Nonetheless, I was keen to see it, so I went down to watch with two lovely ladies, my girlfriend and our friend, and a not so lovely guy (calling him lovely would be rather...unusual, to say the least if you knew him.) Anyways, so 2 and a half hours LONG, remember folks, PEE before you go in, lest you have to get up to go to the washroom in the midst of the movie, which would be a grave mistake to have to miss any of it. Finally, it ended...to the sound of a rather perplexed and collective intake of air and gasp from the audience...and resounding applause. I loved it as much as they did!

First thing I should say though, that this is not a breakdown, or an analysis of the movie. I think, over analysing and trying to figure out what works and what doesnt for a movie like this, is simply taking away from the intentions of what Nolan wanted the audience to watch and experience. Yeah I know you either love or hate this movie, but with so much to contemplate and see (the special effects themselves are really amazing), the movie does hold quite abit for everyone: There's gunfights, suspense, romance (albeit a pained one), humour (I really liked Eames and Arthur), fear, etc.

Admittedly, I was pretty confused as hell for the first 30 minutes trying to wonder if I was plain stupid, or did everyone else understand what was going on. What was real, and what was a dreamscape. Its all very fantastical, but eventually the story unravels itself within its course, and slowly draws you into this world that Nolan has crafted:

A world where people known as 'Extractors' are hired to seek out the deepest darkest secrets in a person's mind via their dreams, or to plant a seed of an idea to manipulate that person into doing something they would never have dreamed of.(pun intended!) Cobb (Dicapaccino) our protagonist with a tortured past, is given one final job by a very powerful business man: Saito (Watanabe), who has the power to clear his name and allow Cobb to return to a normal life once more, if he completes it. I hope this about correctly sums up the premise of the story.

Without giving out too much away to people who might not have yet watched the movie, needless to say its about dreams, and dreams within the dream...and yet ANOTHER dream within those dreams...! Confused? Shouldnt be. Its pretty much like those babushka dolls: one within each other. The thing, which most people end up debating, is how much of the movie, or at least which parts are the 'reality', and which parts are the 'dreams', if the suspenseful ending is anything to go by. Personally, I think that question which is forced upon the audience IS the answer. Whether what is real or not is irrelevent at that point, simply that it is open to interpretation and the individual. There are many little hints and suggestions dropped by the director within bits of the movie to lead the audience to make their own assumptions on what is real, and what isnt....and of course the ever controversial spinning top.

But I digress, the movie's special effects work was simply amazing. The scenes that stood out for me were the Explosions outside the cafe bit, with all the bursting and exploding stuff around the people; the zero-g hotel scene which although im sure its wire work, was done pretty damn well unlike most cases where its very obvious the actor is being moved about on a string. The snow base, just shouted 'METAL GEAR SOLID' to me...(was expecting soldiers in white balaclavas with FAMAS rifles to be standing around, and a Mi-24 to be sitting on a pad somewhere...XD), and is one of the amazing sets I think they built in addition to the fancy 'Dining Hall' building in limbo that Saito is seen at the beginning. Simply amazing that they have all these fantastic sets on site. The apocalyptic destroyed bayside city at the end, was of course, something that appealed to me much. It looks like something that could be, at the end of civilization far into the future when mankind has breathed its last, and all that's left standing are the steel and concrete sentinels we have built.

Sound effects and music were not really overly memorable, but certain scores in the movie do strike a chord with me. In terms of sound effects...I dunno about you people, but I bloody well jumped in my seat in the scene where the wife (Mal) turns to stare directly into the camera/Ellen Page, who was spying on Cobb and Mal through the elevator grate. GAH, I just really saw that coming, but the damn sound really just set me off still! Horror movie glare, right there...riiiight...THERE.

Overall I think the pacing and story were very satisfying for me(another friend told me she fell asleep during the movie), and left me wanting to watch it a second time, just to have a more relaxed viewing. The first time you watch, you are eagerly trying to absorb all the information presented so as to make sense of what is going on, and at the end of it all, it eventually falls into place, like a jigsaw. I read somewhere, that Nolan's genius behind this movie, is not so much the story(and that he took roughly 8 years or so to mess about and complete the script), but his ability to lead the audience. That being the movie and the story itself are not complicated, but the audience is led to believe that it very much is so, and that by the end of the movie, we were able to unravel the mystery and solve the complicated story. It makes us feel good...and smart too! And heck, we all like feeling smart.

All that said and done, I think this is one of the best movies I have watched in recent years that I actually want to go back to the cinema and watch AGAIN. This definately should win some awards in the near future, for the story and acting and all. Love it or hate it, Inception is definately one of the better, if not best movies of this year. Oh wait...by the way, did someone say, 'Paprika'? XD

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If you're still here, thanks for reading.

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*OPEN FOR COMMISSIONS & FREELANCE *
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Hey folks, I'm taking commission and freelance.

Anyone interested may drop me a note here on Devart, or alternatively email me here: the_saint_iz@hotmail.com

Cheers~

-Marc

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*OPEN FOR COMMISSIONS & FREELANCE *
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hey folks, I'm gonna be taking commission and freelance from here on, and will update the details soon. Anyone interested may drop me a note here on Devart, or alternatively email me here: the_saint_iz@hotmail.com

Cheers!

-Marc

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Not quite sure what to make of this:


[link]

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Art theft, why the hell do some people do it? I just stumbled across one of DA's members holding my friend's works in his gallery and claiming it as his own. The nerve!

But basically, what would drive people to do it? Fame and fortune? Gold and silver? I mean, why the hell try and smoke others into thinking you did a piece of art when you did not, theres nothing much to be gained besides some temporary false pleasure and maybe a twisted sense of pride. I mean, sooner or later, someone is going to suss out that work belongs to someone else, not now, not tomorrow, but someday, one of you, the ever vigilant public would.

With the growing community on the internet and each of us putting up our own works, i just wish there was a real way to protect our stuff. I'm sure some of my stuff might have been lifted and used somewhere, just that I dont know of it, just like the thousands of other artists out there. Well, you just cant win em all anyhow, but we all try to keep an eye out i guess.

End of the day, art theft is just plain immature. Sheesh.

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One a random note, anyone else here on the PC Battlefield Bad Company 2?

Hey guys...

just wondering, if I started commissions, would anyone be interested?

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First things first, this isnt my personal review of the Hurt Locker. I enjoyed the movie enough to remember it for what it was. That said, im curious, as to what most people thought about the Hurtlocker. Seems like some people are totally blown away by it, some people are mesmerized, and some are just meh with it. It seems to have pulled the rug out from under Avatar at the recent slew of award events...

Personally, I had already seen the Hurtlocker last year (dont ask me how...), and honestly I was not really overly blown away by the movie at all. I just thought it was a good excercise in showcasing the kind of stress that goes through the mind of people who put their lives at risk and tremendous pressure in dealing with such a job. But other than that, I didnt really feel anything was overly groundbreaking nor what would make it such a film to be talked about. I did watch it a second time a couple months back over dinner, but still, not overly taken with the movie. Its a good movie, without a doubt, but what I dont understand is why so many people are suddenly talking about it as if its the new 'Apocalypse Now'. Or am I just missing something here?

I feel that altho we all differ in our tastes for movies and entertainment, to an extent it is very much a proconceived impression from what we have heard from others and the media. To each his/her own, but also I think we should be able to know whether a movie, in this case, is really worth the kind of reputation that we build it up to. Sometimes we talk to people, and are only too ready to agree with their opinions, instead of making up our own, even if it should contradict with theirs. Of course, I dont mean that we should purposely find a reason to disagree!

Take Avatar for example: It has probably generated as much negative impressions as it has positive ones. I know enough people who like it very much for the experience it has given them in the cinema, and gush about it even more when placed with other people who like it just as much, to the point where they agree to AGREE on the movie. Like how much the story ISNT like pocahontas when I have pointed it out, or how the enlarged and oversized plants are not very alien like. (Then again, this also was probably done with consideration for audiences sensibilities, so not to have something totally out of this world and people wouldnt be able to connect with the environment at all, but thats another story altogether.) My point is, I think each of us should be able to distinguish the good stuff, from the mediocre stuff, and then be able to put out ur opinions without them being tainted by what others feel. Like even now, I may not have been blown away by the Greenzone, or Avatar, Paris with Love etc etc, but im sure there are many more people who felt these movies were the most AMAZING and FANTASTIC movies they have ever watched.

But enough of my mindless rambles, if anyone is still reading this, penny for your thoughts...?

So I just caught Matt Damon in The Bour-- i mean, the Green Zone. It was an interesting movie to say the least, although I fell asleep at the 15 minute mark i think...or somewhere around the time 'Miller', the character Damon plays, along with his team goes to capture a band of Iraqi HVTs. I woke up just up just about the time the shadowy SF squad comes in to blackbag them away...

So far so good right? Without giving away too much of the plot, Miller and his team are in search of WMDs in iraq, but always come up hands empty due to bad intel. On his own initiative, he uncovers more about the WMDs, and all isnt what it seems...

Surprisingly, this is a movie where i went with 3 other guys, and each seem to have a varying degree of how good or bad this movie is. But my honest opinion, if I had to give it a rating, is a high 6.5/10. Now now, dont let my rating be the judge of ur decision to watch the movie or not, as usual, these are my own opinions and I am merely putting it out.

Having no preconception or notion of the movie since no one else I knew had seen it, I walked into the cinema with an open mind. I'm going to place the whole movie squarely into 3 main factors, since this was what I felt connected with me the strongest: Action/ Pacing/ Storyline or Plot.

Action:

Iraq. Guns. US Army. Matt Damon. It just seems like an action/thriller sorta movie to me. The boots on the ground/actors seem to take their parts well, and seemed well learned in the ways of the grunt. They moved like soldiers, and spoke enough like soldiers without overly having tt 'Oscar Mike Syndrome' reminiscent of Modern Warfare 2 having been inspired from Generation Kill. There are thrills and edge of your seat moments when the gun battles take place and the ordnance starts flying, but nothing overly stupendous. Loud and banging gun battles, tensione filled foot chase parts were the order of the day.
Insert your token car chase near the end of the movie, and we're good to go. Although my friends felt that the action sequences were not enough, I felt that they wernt too numerous to be superficial and uneccesary to drive the movie forward. Well, it isnt exactly a Michael Bay movie either...

Pacing:

Wellll, overall it felt a little like a car with a spluttering engine at times, and occasionally it felt pretty much like a smooth ride. The dialogue at times felt really kinda slow for me, particularly the bits around the first 30 mins. But then, the actions sequences really rev up the pace, and jump start the engine again. Yeah this bit seems strangely short, I dunno what else to put in...hrmm.

Storyline/Plot:

Ok, heres where it just really petters out and doesnt do it for me. The trailer pointed to some sort of conspiracy with regards to the WMDs in Iraq(We all know that they found two things besides WMDs in Iraq: Jack and Shit.) at some point I wasnt sure whether this movie was going to be 'historically correct' or just some crazy plot twist. Perhaps I was expecting something more, and was left wanting by the time they revealed what I had already surmised. The point at the end where *SPOILER ALERT! YE BE WARNED!* the general gets killed by the iraqi dude, I totally went "huh...? Aaaaandddd...?" I guess that isnt fair to say, since the main plot was concerned with the WMDs. But still! I thought with the way the story was playing out, he was going to be some kind important piece of the puzzle. Could have fooled me.

Although, what I do appreciate is the way they referenced the objective of oil, without saying it at the end, with the dialogue which leads to a infered idea, and that itself leads onto the next shot of the movie, which was the oil wells. Anyways, perhaps im thinking too much into it. Also about having extarnal factors in trying to decide how Iraq could right itself, rather then LETTING the people of Iraq right itself was a mistake. Trying to implement a supposed US backed Iraqi leader into power. Nicely done with the whole scene of the US politician dude walking out of a perfectly calm and peaceful room filled with Iraqi leaders at the start of a meeting, and then returning to a chaotic mess of voices and bickering men.

But anyways, my ramblings done, Jason Bourne lives to fight yet another day, and I should get some sleep. Cheers~

Its that time of year again, where all them asian folk gather together with their families to celebrate the Chinese Lunar New Year. Oranges, red packets (that contain moolah!) and good food, eats and treats are the order of the day! So Gong Xi Fa Cai to all y'all in particular the Chinese Devart peeps~ Hope you have a good 'un with ur family.

Coincidentally, its Valentine's day as well this year~ An overly commercialized 'special day' where its mainly the guys who have to shell out and stress over what to do for that special someone. Girls, I know some of you out there make the effort, kudos to you! How are you peeps spending it anyways? Renting a hot air balloon and having a candle light dinner above the Grand Canyon? Or just a simple movie and dinner at the local Maccas...?   Roses are red, violets are blue, flowers are expensive, girlfriends are too~! Haha, anyways, its just any other day, albeit restaurants and retailers earn a shitload more from the couples. To the happy couples, and the swinging singles, Happy V-day too, folks. :]

Cheers~

Space Opera. Aliens. Mechs. Guns. Oh my. Personally, im not much of a rpg gamer, but a couple weeks ago, one of my friend's was gushing repeatedly about a certain game known as Mass Effect, and the soon to be released (at that point of time) ME2, piqued my interest a little. I figured I'd try and get hold of it one day....if the winds should blow the title across my path. All i heard about ME1 was to do with alien lesbian sex. XD

Lo' and behold, another of my friends had a copy of ME1 in addition to ME2, so i decided, hey, with all this hype, lets give it a go. BAM! Just like that, i was sucked into the world of Mass Effect. I played ME1 and then jumped straight into ME2 back to back. Its such a immersive world that the player is drawn into, and the way the characters are driven, you are decidedly connected to each of the interesting and varied cast.

ME2, well, the first thing that I noticed was the graphics overhaul. Beautifully rendered characters and scenery. Sharp and detailed environments and great character models. A slightly new and improved (i guess depends how you see it) combat system revolving around thermal clips and a cover system reminscent of Gears of War and other modern titles. Although in addition to these new improvements, also there were some discrepencies which I was rather disappointed to see: Gone is the inventory! Yes, there was a crap load of junk in ME1, with the ammo stashes, weapons, and various armor types, but now in ME2, there is almost none at all! No more scrounging arnd the weapons loadout, and upgrading with Mod parts and ammo types, no more balancing the diff armor loads for the squad. (Which in the early part of ME2 are called Henchmen! XD "Press E or Q to position your henchmen." Henchmen??? Might as well say Minions!)

Gone is the old rpg style of gameplay from ME1 where ur extensive conversations are rewarded with exp points. Now you simply occasionally get Paragon/ Renegade points depending on your convo choices. No more fiddling around with the inventory and having stocktake sales every now and then to free up slots for new junk, for better or worse, these elements from the original are gone. Now alot of emphasis is placed on the action, which does improve the pacing of the game somewhat. Less time is spent roaming around finding which places to go to, and gone are the Mako landings where you traverse crazy slopes with the apc.

Many familiar characters from ME1 return, albeit not all your teammates are here to stay on your second epic adventure. The voice work is pretty top notch as per the first game, although the character acting still has some to be desired...for heaven's sake, they can make the characters blink, at least animate the eyeballs. Theyre all more or less usually staring at an invisible object 5 feet in front of their heads. I must admit tho, Miranda has a killer body...! Mmm...shiny latex. Although Thane Sapien...err...i made Thane looks like a dead ringer for a certain amphibious human creature from hellboy...maybe theyre cousins eh?

Anyhow, whats left after all is said and done, is a highly polished and amazing looking game (though a somewhat less intensive rpg experience) and altho ive already clocked 20+ hours on a first play through over several days, it all feels like its over too soon~! Im simply keeping my fingers crossed that whatever improvements are implemented in ME3, they would have a nice mix of rpg & inventory elements from both 1 & 2 to balance it out. For anyone considering whether to give this a go, even if you arnt a fan of space opera/scifi, and rpg games, I would highly recommend this title.

Bring on ME3!

"I have to go."

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I got hold of a copy of Halo Legends...and i must say, originally already from the looks of the trailers and bits I have seen on GT.com and other sites...i wasnt impressed. But, it couldnt prepare me for just how piss poor the animation quality was...!

If i have insulted the millions of Halo fans out there, well, I'm sorry. To me, its just another teat for Bungie and Microsoft to milk money from the legions of Halo fanboys and fangirls.

The whole thing is a poor attempt at a Animatrix style collection of stories. From the Origins to the other stories of various Spartans, etc etc. What really just irked me was the overly anime-ish tones of the characters. No doubt there are Japanese animation stidios at work here, but the big eyes just dont work here. The Origin stories were the only saving grace from the dvd, but even then, the animation looks like it was done on a budget.

Even at this point, this being a mindless rant...im not quite sure what to say about it all. I cant really find something good to say about it. No doubt im being overly critical about it perhaps, but I do understand that hard work and effort was put into each of the clips. I just dont think its reflected in the animations.

Im sure there are fanboys out there who really enjoyed Halo Legends, but it just doesnt do anything for me. If the stories were as captivating and engrossing as the Halo universe is, I might have overlooked the quality of animation. But it all seems very mediocre. Origins was the only serious note and even then, it all goes downhill from there.

6.0/10

If you want some really solid animation, go watch something else. If you want a good Halo story, well, play the games. This doesnt quite do either too well.

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Hey folks, as some of you might know, I'm a huge Metal Gear Solid fan...and I, like many others also collect the art books that are associated with the games. Unfortunately, after MGS 1, and MGS 2, there was no real artbooks with regards to MGS 3 and the other spinoffs, ala Portable Ops or Peace Walker etc etc.

So obviously I was not anticipating any release with regards to MGS 4 either...but...lo and behold!

[link]

I stumbled across this puppy a few days ago, and thought perhaps for those other crazies that also are MGS freaks, you might want to grab hold of it when you can. Just released in december!

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"Metal Gear?!"

Remember when I said that if i had to sum up Avatar: Pocahontas vs Starship troopers...?

[link]

'Nuff said.

So what did you guys think about this new generation Sherlock Holmes? Personally, I rather enjoyed the movie, if abit heavy on the dialogue.

This new Sherlock holmes, is rather quirky , has abs of steel, possesses intimate knowledge of how to disable an opponent with martial arts and jujitsu, and also comes with a rather interesting social disability to connect with people. Which is a nice touch in my opinion: someone with such a genius mind naturally would have a certain disconnection with reality and a unusual disposition towards everyone and everything else around him...a little eccentric if you will. Robert Downey Jr seems to just give off this aura of Tony Stark whenever I see him tho, and its hard for me NOT to envision him donning his red and gold armor actually.(Just a few more months...!) His few recent movies, Since Iron Man: Tropic Thunder, err..The Soloist and now Sherlock Holmes have him acting in a certain specific style. Or maybe, he just brings his personality to the on screen characters, im not sure which, but I sure as hell like it! He's the 'Dude playin a dude, disguised as another dude!'

Dear Dr Watson on the other hand, is an ex military man, with a specialty in medicine. "Relax! Im a doctor." He provides the main muscle, you could say, behind Holmes, as well as being his ever present companion and confidant. Jude Law as always, gives off this sophisticated and charming demeanour, which I felt was a little more 'British' than RDJ, who, of course is a Yank. Watson, then has to mix and make calls on his loyalty as a trusted friend to Holmes and juggle his time with his wife to be...Mary was it? He tends to lean more towards the whole err...'Bros before Hoes' syndrome, if you will pardon the term although that tends to lend a nice little close almost 'brotherly' affection for Holmes.

The antagonist for the film, which is some Evil dude, with an apt name of Lord Blackwood, wants to take over the governement with some fancy schmancy plot utilizing the Dark Arts, and Magic. But without giving away the rest of the plot twist...(i dont know if you can call it a Twist in the story, since it IS a Sherlock Holmes story after all, everything is solvable, so you might understand where I'm coming from) the Detective and his trusted Doctor are faced with confounding and ever more bewildering circumstances to various murders that all tie into this one big Evil Plan...to rule the err known world. Starting with Britain. There. In a nutshell.

On a seperate note, if you will excuse my ranting, EVERY badguy wants to rule the world, but have they considered the baggage that would come with it? Think about the bills and taxes that you would have to enforce. Nameless evil henchmen you would have to hire, not to mention the cost of the ads that you would have to place in the newspapers, what about food and lodging? Err...anyways...back to the movie~

The sounds and music were well integrated into the movie, with the slight Scottish..Irish (?) strings to give it a feel reminiscent of (Forgive my ignorance, but Im not familiar with the major differences between the two in terms of music.) The special effects and compositing of the backgrounds are generally seamless, although there are times when you can clearly tell that the actors are composited into a very CG-ed background. No where near as stunning as Avatar in terms of sets and stuff, but it does a very admirable job of transporting you back into the 1800s.

Its a movie well worth watching, with its new and interesting take on the old Sherlock Holmes, and I have yet to hear negative reviews on it just yet. Although, I must admit, that my knowledge and experience with Sherlock Holmes, is limited to just vague foggy snatches of memories of one of the old movies of Sherlock Holmes. And I believe it scared me as a kid...! I havnt read any of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle' stories of him either, so I can assume this might outrage any SH purists out there...somewhere...if there are any. Cant be as bad as the Avatar fanbase I think...

Anyways, heres wishing all you guys and gals out there a Happy and Great 2010 ahead! Good health and happiness. Stay Frosty folks.

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Well, what can I say that hasnt been covered by the countless myriad of other people that have watched the movie already?

There are things that I liked and seriously disliked about the movie, which to me...well, if you want me to sum it up, its sorta 'Pocahontas' meets 'Starship troopers'.

Firstly, the storyline, which, any GREAT movie, should have something that would sparkle and shine and pull the audience into it. Avatar's plot is very basic and predictable, and as much as I hoped for something to surprise me, there wasnt anything to do so. Its not that the story was bad, but it just wasnt too fantastically unique, it just feels like a 'been there, done that'. Also, there are moments in the movie when you can juuuuusst see what is gonna happen, coming from a mile away. Take the 'Jaksoolly' and big skeletal head of giant-fearsome-creature moment. Im sure those who have watched will know what im talking about. Too predictable.

Art direction for some of the hightech stuff, was mixed in my opinion. I loved some of the techinical designs for the shuttle and the large gunship/'Dragon', which kinda reminded me of some of the mecha platforms in the Gundam 0080 'Dogs of War' comic. I love the detail in the set designs of the facilities, and you cant really see any 'cheapo' props, short of the funky little grey plastic frame in the sleep/avatar mind link pod. (The one that he often has to pull over his body.

The interface screens/ dataslates have really nice and cool layout and designs, and were really well done! But heres the stuff that REALLY just bugged the crap outta me everytime i saw them: The APU/walker mecha design. I just really dint like it at all...! Who on EARTH was the mechanical designer for that? Firstly, that GIANT...glass...canopy. Bullet proof glass maybe, but it SURE as hell isnt gonna stop anything smaller than a .50 cal im sure! Unless in the future theres this new 'Magicglass! Stops penetration from 9mm to 25mm! And you never need to clean it!' product. I mean, come on, mounting a giant piece of glass on a warmachine that is EXPECTED to receive and take punishment, on the ground no less. It says SHOOT ME HERE if you ask me...just not a tactically SOUND design for a warmachine.

Then the troops/marines/PMCs, whoever they are. Feels all too 'Nam for me...the sleeveless look, lack of helmets and ballistic armor. Dont they issue helmets in the future? I mean, if Mr Colonel over there got his face shredded on day 1, dont you think helmets or some protective armor of sorts would be wise?

Oh well, enough about the humans...puny humans. The alien Na'vi...Navii? are quite interesting to say the least, although they do make me think 'African tribe'. Some of the aspects of the environmental designs of the natural forestry and places on the Pandora homeworld are really surreal and awesome...! I loved the giant curving wooden rings part of the forest with their ancestral tree, it made me wonder what it was part of when it was still a living thing. Then, the floating mountains, which although hardly original, since i've seen it in many a Japanese manga/anime, was a nice touch to add into the environments as well. Although my favourite by far, has to be the glowing natural plants and stuff at night. Its so surreal and magical...! Strangely I have dreamt something of th sort many years ago, so maybe thats why it holds a certain strange appeal to me.

Gawd, im actually getting sleepy while typing out this thing as well~ Its 3.30...theres more i actually want to bitch about Avatar...but my nogin is starting to shut down... I guess I'll just leave it here.

Lastly, Avatar = Pocahontas x Starship Troopers.

zzz...