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New Music, Kanye West- Graduation
Published by September 13th, 2007 in Music, Reviews, Site Updates and New Music. 0 Comments
Kanye West
Graduation
Release: 2007 Roc-A-Fella/Def Jam
Somewhere beyond all the media hoopla and showman’s ship surrounding the simultaneous release of Kanye West and 50 cents newest albums there is a shit load of new music to enjoy from two of hip hop’s heavyweights. I only had enough cash to buy one album and to be honest there was only one I was ever going to buy anyway, that’s Kanye’s latest titled Graduation.
Virtual Console: Neutopia
Published by August 20th, 2007 in Video Games, Wii, Retro Gaming, Reviews and Virtual Console. 0 CommentsConsole: TurboGrafx-16
Publisher/Developer: Hudson
Price: 600 Points
Players: 1
Release Date: 2007
Possibly the biggest aping of The Legend of Zelda ever made into a game, Neutopia sees a release this week on the Virtual Console. The similarities are astounding— Hudson were clearly trying to ride the coattails of Link’s success, but perhaps they rode a bit too closely. From the overworld map design to celebratory item discovery; from fire-spitting octopuses to bombing for secret pathways, Neutopia is what happens when inspiration turns into imitation.
With all of that said though, The Legend of Zelda is a damn good game, which makes Neutopia enjoyable by default. I mean, if you’re going to rip off a game, you might as well rip off one of the best. The novelty wears off pretty quickly though, once you realize Neutopia really doesn’t bring anything new to the genre, except for a higher frustration due to unpredictable hit detection. Neutopia is fine if you’re a desperate 2D Zelda nut in need of another quest, but everyone else? You’re better off playing the original.
Rating: 
(Avoid)
Virtual Console: China Warrior
Published by August 20th, 2007 in Video Games, Wii, Retro Gaming, Reviews and Virtual Console. 0 CommentsConsole: TurboGrafx-16
Publisher/Developer: Hudson Soft
Price: 600 Points
Players: 1
Release Date:
China Warrior is a side-scrolling beat ‘em up in the vein of a similar TurboGrafx game that stars a martial arts warrior that looks awfully similar to Bruce Lee. So, you’d think playing as Bruce Lee would equal incredible amounts of awesome, but nay, China Warrior is a stiff, boring, uninspired mess that flat out hurts to play. The slow, unresponsive controls hinder any strategic maneuvering, the enemies are as lame as possible (butterflies and stones? seriously?) and the gameplay consists of mashing out kicks and punches towards enemies until reaching a boss fight. It’s exactly like Vigilante and Kung-Fu before it, but instead controls much worse and has some of the most bland graphics ever seen on the TG-16. Mr. Lee would be ashamed — avoid this sacrilege at all costs.
Rating: (Avoid)
Here’s all the movies I know of that are being released today. *
300
Genre: Action, Drama, History, War
Plot Outline: Based on Frank Miller’s graphic novel about the Battle of Thermopylae in 480 B.C.
Huge, sweaty abs and sexiness…
Hot Fuzz
Genre: Action, Comedy, Crime, Mystery
Plot Outline: Jealous colleagues conspire to get a top London cop transferred to a small town and paired with a witless new partner. On the beat, the pair stumble upon a series of suspicious accidents and events.
Brilliant English comedy.
With two amazing films like this, do you really care what else is being released today? I sure as heck don’t.
Gaming Paused 07-30-07
Published by July 30th, 2007 in Video Games, Wii, DS, PSP and News. 0 Comments
I enjoy spending money on games, you (maybe) enjoy spending money on games. Let’s see what we can blow a bunch of cash on this week. This week’s got a pretty huge list so hopefully we can find something decent.
Mario Strikers Charged (Wii)
Is it wrong that I don’t care at all about this game? My poor neglected Wii :(
Glory Days 2 (DS)
Take a seat in the cockpit and become an ace pilot in the most intense strategy action game to hit the Nintendo DS
Picross DS (DS)
Fill in squares using simple hints to reveal the hidden picture. You’ll need both puzzle-solving skills and creativity to earn your picture reward!
Pet Alien (DS)
An Intergalactic Puzzlepalooza…
Brave Story: New Traveler (PSP)
An RPG based on a movie. Yay!
Here’s all the movies I know of that are being released today.
Zodiac
Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Plot Outline: Based on the Robert Graysmith books about the real life notorious Zodiac, a serial killer who terrorized San Francisco with a string of seemingly random murders during the 1960s and 1970s.
Perfume - The Story Of A Murderer
Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Plot Outile: Jean-Baptiste Grenouille, born with a superior olfactory sense, creates the world’s finest perfume. His work, however, takes a dark turn as he searches for the ultimate scent.
The Number 23 (Unrated Infinifilm Edition)
Genre: Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Plot Outline: Carrey becomes obsessed with a novel that he believes was written about him. As his obsession increases, more and more similarities seem to arise.
The Host (Two-Disc Collector’s Edition)
Genre: Action, Adventure, Comedy, Drama, Fantasy, Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Plot Synopsis: The film revolves around Park Hee-bong (played by Byun Hee-bong), a man in his late 60s. Park runs a small snack bar on the banks of the Seoul’s Han River and lives with his two sons, one daughter and one granddaughter. One day, an unidentified mutant suddenly appears from the depths of the Han River and spreads panic and death, and Gang-du’s daughter Hyun-seo is carried off by the monster and disappears. All the family members are in a great agony as they have lost someone dearest to them. But as they find out she is still alive, they resolve to save her.
Renaissance (2006)
Genre: Animation, Action, Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Plot Outline: In 2054, Paris is a labyrinth where all movement is monitored and recorded. Casting a shadow over everything is the city’s largest company, Avalon, which insinuates itself into every aspect of contemporary life to sell its primary export — youth and beauty. In this world of stark contrasts and rigid laws the populace is kept in line and accounted for.
Les Anges Exterminateurs (The Exterminating Angels)
Genre: Drama, Fantasy
Plot Outline: A filmmaker (van den Driessche) holds a series of boundary-pushing auditions for his project about female pleasure.
The Contract
Genre: Drama, Thriller, Crime
Plot Synopsis: Ray Keene (Cusack), a father who wants to redeem himself in the eyes of his son, is trying to bring Cordell (Freeman), a world-class assassin to justice. All the while, he must protect his son and evade the assassin’s team who are methodically hunting them down in the wilderness.
Les Enfants Terribles: Criterion Collection
Genre: Drama
Plot Synopsis: Elisabeth is very protective of her teenage brother Paul, who is injured in a snowball fight at school and has to rest in bed most of the time. The siblings are inseparable, living in the same room, fighting, playing secret games, and rarely leaving the house; though Paul’s friend Gerard often stays with them. One day Elisabeth brings home Agathe to live with them also. She bears a strong resemblance to Dargelos, a schoolboy whom Paul had a crush on, and who injured him. Paul and Agathe become attracted to each other, causing Elizabeth to be very jealous.
Separate The Real From The Lie
Published by July 23rd, 2007 in Discussion, Television and New Music. 0 Comments
Right off the bounce of installment two I’m throwing rule number two out the door (to refresh your memories rule two states that I shall make no further distinction between hip hop and rap). The reason comes part and parcel with a gem of a gift, a dead horse and a new feature that all form today’s entry. Oh and to clear up the issue with what becomes rule two, here it is; rule two don’t be afraid to be wrong, but always actively be. With that cleared up, lets get started.
Here’s all the movies I know of that are being released today.
Premonition
Genre: Drama, Fantasy, Mystery, Thriller
Plot Outline: Depressed housewife learns her husband was killed in a car accident the day previously, awakens the next morning to find him alive and well at home, and then awakens the next day after to a world in which he is still dead.
Factory Girl
Genre: Biography, Drama
Plot Outline: A beautiful, wealthy young party girl drops out of Radcliffe in 1965 and heads to New York to become Holly Golightly. When she meets a hungry young artist named Andy Warhol, he promises to make her the star she always wanted to be. And like a super nova she explodes on the New York scene only to find herself slowly lose grip on reality…
The Hills Have Eyes 2
Genre: Horror, Romance, Thriller
Plot Summary: A team of trainees of the National Guard brings supply to the New Mexico Desert for a group of soldiers and scientists that are installing a monitoring system in Sector 16. They do not find anybody in the camp, and they receive a blurred distress signal from the hills. Their sergeant gathers a rescue team, and they are attacked and trapped by deformed cannibals, having to fight to survive.
Avenue Montaigne
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Plot Outline: Catherine, hugely popular (and wealthy) from her long-running television soap opera, longs for glory on the big screen. She prepares to star in a Feydeau farce about to open on the 17th, but despite all her success she wonders if her work has any value or meaning. Jean-François, piano prodigy with an international reputation, is preparing for a major Beethoven recital on the 17th, yet he basically just wants to be alone. Jacques, a businessman turned art connoisseur, has amassed an extraordinary, highly personal art collection, but on the 17th it will all be sold off. Catherine, Jean-François and Jacques have all devoted their lives to art, yet what kinds of lives has art given them? They sometimes cross paths and nurse their neuroses at a café where they are waited on by Jessica, recently arrived in Paris on her own quest for fame and fortune.
Race You to the Bottom
Genre: Drama, Romance
Plot Outline: Bisexual travel writer Nathan examines his increasingly complex feelings for Maggie as they travel through California’s wine country on assignment.
Yo-Yo Girl Cop
Genre: Action
Plot Summary: Recruited by a clandestine police organization, “K” must stop a plot by student radicals to create anarchy in Japan. Armed with a hi-tech steel yo-yo, and a new name (Asamiya Saki), she must infiltrate an elite high school to find the terrorists but finds an even more sinister plan is about to unfold.
Ace in the Hole - Criterion Collection (1951)
Genre: Drama, Film-Noir
Plot Outline: When a man is trapped alive in a mine collapse, a self-interested reporter and the townspeople cynically create what we now call a “media circus”.
Music Discussion: Radiohead
Published by July 13th, 2007 in News, Discussion and New Music. 0 Comments
Some of us are closing in on the dog days of summer, especially if there is any kind of humidity to our July/August. But, the music industry may provide a little spark to these hazy days. A lot of exciting new releases are starting to pile up or are slated to arrive over the coming weeks (Common’s Finding Forever, in specific, for me). Sentimental whore that I am though, I am really posting to talk about one in specific, one without a release date as of yet, one that may not even see store shelves until the frigid air and white powder blankets the city streets; I am talking about Radiohead LP 7.
It’s been a few weeks. It’s hard to sit down and do stuff in the summer. That’s my excuse. Suck it. Here’s all the movies I know of that are being released today.
The Astronaut Farmer
Genre: Adventure, Drama
Plot Outline: A NASA astronaut (Thornton), forced to retire years earlier so he could save his family farm, has never give up his dream of space travel and looks to build his own rocket, despite the government’s threats to stop him.
The Last Mimzy
Genre: Adventure, Drama, Family, Fantasy, Sci-Fi
Plot Outline: Two siblings begin to develop special talents after they find a mysterious box of toys. Soon the kids, their parents, and even their teacher are drawn into a strange new world and find a task ahead of them that is far more important than any of them could imagine!
After the Wedding
Genre: Drama
Plot Outline: A manager of an orphanage (Mikkelsen) in India is sent to Copenhagen, Denmark, where he discovers a life-altering family secret.
The Last Time
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Plot Outline: A salesman (Keaton) rediscovers a lust for life after falling for the fiancée of his new business partner (Fraser), a Midwest transplant finding his footing in New York City.
Sweet Land - A Love Story
Genre: Drama
Plot Outline: Set in 1920, Inge travels from Germany to rural Minnesota meet the man destined to be her husband. Bureaucracy and social morality cause major complications.
Beck - Mongolian Chop Squad - Starter Set
Read Ian’s review of this series here.
What we’ve missed in the last few weeks kinda* worth mentioning:
The Taste of Tea (Limited Edition)
*Neverwas is sorta terrible. The Taste of Tea is apparently great.
Rock Band - First Gameplay Video
Published by July 3rd, 2007 in Video Games, Xbox 360, Playstation 3, News and Videos. 1 CommentThe battle of the rock gods is set for this winter, but today, things just got a little more interesting. The first gameplay video of Rock Band in full, 4-player action surfaced via Gamespot. You can view a hi-res version of the footage through that link, or watch the lower quality Youtube video below. Either way, prepare to have your jaw dropped for 3 minutes and 8 seconds. Game of the year? Confirmed.
