Tragically little to say today, so I thought I'd muse (Bad Puns FTW) on The Resistance, the new album by my sometimes-favourite band.
It's really good.
...
....
.....
Um ... okay, I suppose I owe you more than that.
It's alot more orchestral/piano-filled than Muse's other work ... and that's REALLY not a bad thing. It feels quite rock-opera-y ... a undertone that is complimented by Exogenesis, the three-part symphony that the album ends with.
I highly recommend checking it out, if not buying it. You'll be happy you did.
Wishing he could think of something deep to say,
- Rude
Sunday 4 October 2009
Wednesday 23 September 2009
Neophobia! (I suppose ...)
Muse has released a new album.
For those of you who don't know, Muse currently competes with Gorillaz as my Greatest, Most Favouritest Band of all Time, Ever, a title I do not hand out frivolously, and so, when I heard that their new album, The Resistance, had arrived I jumped for joy.
I have not purchased this new GlitterDisk (ATOP) and so, being the cautious buyer I am (hur, hur hur,) I decided to see if I could here any of the new songs. After all, legitimate CDs are (relatively) expencive out here in the third world. I don't want to buy anything that's CRAP. Luckily, YouTube is packed to the brim with such videos.
So, here we go; Uprising.
Stop reading. Just ... listen to it.
Done? If so, good. If not, you're a disobedient little swine and I pity your inability to follow simple instructions. Of course, if you have good REASON not to listen, I guess you're forgiven ... just ... don't let it happen again, okay? Good. Now, have a cookie.
Anyway, wasn't that AWESOME!? I certainly think so. It's a strange mix of 1984, Dr. Who, Night of the Living Dead, V for Vendetta and the Teddy Bear's Picnic.
Now, I'll admit, at first I was a little taken aback by how techno it all sounded, but my fears were quickly put to rest by Matthew Bellamy's crooning and the piercing crash of his electric guitar.
Hey, Rude! I, once again, hear you shout, you're a slightly philosophical video-game/movie-nerd, you're not allowed to write about MUSIC!
Well, never fear, darling reader, for that's not the main topic of this little rant is not the song itself, (though it IS awesome,) but the general reaction to it. While YouTube comments are generally ... well ... shit, the ones for this song are unusually coherent. If you take a second to read a few, you'll notice another pattern emerging; they're mainly negative.
This is funny, as it reminds me of the reaction to some of the comments about Muse's LAST album, Black Holes and Revelations, with the masses screeming that it's not enough like Muse. I believe we can safely disregard these comments, as Uprising is MUCH more like Muse's early work than Revelations, and, to be frank, Muse is like whatever Muse wants Muse to be like.
So, why all the fuss? The answer is simple my friends: Neophobia!
I'm pretty that's what you'd call it, at least.
People do not like new things ... this is a fact. From the earth revolving around the sun to flying machines, new inventions, new versions of things and new editions of the same old thing annoy and frighten people.
I would go on a rant about how true and annoying this is, but, I see little point. It's well documented, and I'm sure you've experienced it at SOME point in your life. So, instead, I leave you with a thought: Next time you see or try something new, try going at it with an open mind. Who knows? It might be good ...
On a partially related note, how do you like the new look? I think the pink really suits ... but ... that's just my opinion.
For those of you who don't know, Muse currently competes with Gorillaz as my Greatest, Most Favouritest Band of all Time, Ever, a title I do not hand out frivolously, and so, when I heard that their new album, The Resistance, had arrived I jumped for joy.
I have not purchased this new GlitterDisk (ATOP) and so, being the cautious buyer I am (hur, hur hur,) I decided to see if I could here any of the new songs. After all, legitimate CDs are (relatively) expencive out here in the third world. I don't want to buy anything that's CRAP. Luckily, YouTube is packed to the brim with such videos.
So, here we go; Uprising.
Stop reading. Just ... listen to it.
Done? If so, good. If not, you're a disobedient little swine and I pity your inability to follow simple instructions. Of course, if you have good REASON not to listen, I guess you're forgiven ... just ... don't let it happen again, okay? Good. Now, have a cookie.
Anyway, wasn't that AWESOME!? I certainly think so. It's a strange mix of 1984, Dr. Who, Night of the Living Dead, V for Vendetta and the Teddy Bear's Picnic.
Now, I'll admit, at first I was a little taken aback by how techno it all sounded, but my fears were quickly put to rest by Matthew Bellamy's crooning and the piercing crash of his electric guitar.
Hey, Rude! I, once again, hear you shout, you're a slightly philosophical video-game/movie-nerd, you're not allowed to write about MUSIC!
Well, never fear, darling reader, for that's not the main topic of this little rant is not the song itself, (though it IS awesome,) but the general reaction to it. While YouTube comments are generally ... well ... shit, the ones for this song are unusually coherent. If you take a second to read a few, you'll notice another pattern emerging; they're mainly negative.
This is funny, as it reminds me of the reaction to some of the comments about Muse's LAST album, Black Holes and Revelations, with the masses screeming that it's not enough like Muse. I believe we can safely disregard these comments, as Uprising is MUCH more like Muse's early work than Revelations, and, to be frank, Muse is like whatever Muse wants Muse to be like.
So, why all the fuss? The answer is simple my friends: Neophobia!
I'm pretty that's what you'd call it, at least.
People do not like new things ... this is a fact. From the earth revolving around the sun to flying machines, new inventions, new versions of things and new editions of the same old thing annoy and frighten people.
I would go on a rant about how true and annoying this is, but, I see little point. It's well documented, and I'm sure you've experienced it at SOME point in your life. So, instead, I leave you with a thought: Next time you see or try something new, try going at it with an open mind. Who knows? It might be good ...
On a partially related note, how do you like the new look? I think the pink really suits ... but ... that's just my opinion.
Sunday 20 September 2009
Brad Hookman? REALLY?
Today on the Blog with a Memorable Name; an experiment!
It's tradition that, during their final year, students at my place of education write two essays on a subject of their choise, and give an accompanying presentation. True to geeky-form, I did mine on Role-Playing Games, and the stereotypes associated with them. Specifically, why these stereotypes hamper the popularity of these games, and stop them from being accessed by a less geeky audience.
On a side note, have you seen some of the crap people think about RPGs!?! Check it out. You WILL be scared.
Anyway, inspired by this "Senior Project," I desided, "Hey, why don't I put my money where my mouth is and get some noobs to play an RPG?"
So, after some quick talks with a few people, I got a group together who had never played a Role Playing Game before. It consisted of an adult male (AM), an adult female (AF), a teenage male (TM), and a teenage female (TF). Yesterday, we played about 75% of the "Ill Tidings" adventure of Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay with me as the GM, and each of them as a PC. My friend, with about as much RPG experience as myself was also there to help out, taking the role of a 5th PC. It's in the "Knights of the Grail" sourcebook, if you are inclined to look it up. I know you're not, but, hey, I try to be considerate.
The game itself went ... okay. Character creation took a LONG time due to me having to explain everything five times, but, really, you'd expect that, even with a group of experienced RPers using a new system. AF created a haughty Elf Envoy called Gythithy (I love randomly generated names! XD) TM, a tough Dwarf Pitfighter called Noragund, and TF, a crafty Halfling Knife-Thrower/Acrobat (Entertainer Career) named Agnes. AM, who was rather counter-productive throughout the whole game, created a none-descript Human Fisherman called Fisherman. After Vetoing this, he changed his name to Hookman. I told him to get a given-name, and he chose Brad (Which really fits with the Medeival Europian feel, doesn't it?). Brad Hookman.
This became a pattern throughout the game.
Being pressed for time, due to the lengthy character creation process, I rushed my introduction to the world. This, as any GM/DM will tell you, was a BIG mistake. This gave my players very little idea about their overall goal (Fighting Chaos) and so, when they found their first Chaos Mutants, rather than fighting, they wanted to run away. More my mistake than theirs, but, it's interesting to note that they felt such strong self-preservation insticts for their characters at such an early stage.
At the end, they all shared similar views about the game:
Character Creation: Way too complicated and WAY too long. They wanted to play the game, not spend an HOUR setting it up.
Story: They thought it was fun to play the story out, and enjoyed play with their characters, though, as above, they would've liked a little bit more background. My fault, and, therefore, not a great representation. They also liked the investigation elements, and seemed pleasently surprsied that we weren't just going around cutting down monsters.
Out-of-Combat actions: Everyone (other than AM) took to these quickly, and enjoyed the roles their character had to play.
Combat: Similar to Character Creation, though, there were parts that they enjoyed. I could tell TF was taking great pleasure in knifing everyone to death, and TM's joy was palpable when he finally killed the choas cultist he's been fighting.
The general consensus was that, if we had a little more time (I.E. more than one session,) it'd be more enjoyable, as the rules confusion and character-creation process wouldn't be a problem.
AM - Unenthusiastic, wasn't paying attention, didn't seem to enjoy it. When he DID have input, it was (for the most part) unconstructive. I explained to him several times that he only determines the actions of his character, not the results, yet he INSISTED on saying "I hear the wizard inside the building killing people!" *Shakes head with dismay*
AF - Was involved, enjoying them game and really getting into it. I was impressed!
TM - Seemed slightly bummed that he didn't have great success with his character (Bad rolls) but, other than that, liked the game.
TF - The real success story of this game. While she wasn't as enthused as AF, her enjoyment far exceeded my expectations.
So, our verdict? Role Playing isn't for everyone, but, the "Not everyone" isn't nessicarily confined to gamers/geeks. Success? Partially. Am I going to do it again? I would like to. Not just so I can verify what we've seen here, but also to show more people that RPGs don't turn you into a bloodthirsty killer.
In closing, Jack Chick rhymes with dick.
It's tradition that, during their final year, students at my place of education write two essays on a subject of their choise, and give an accompanying presentation. True to geeky-form, I did mine on Role-Playing Games, and the stereotypes associated with them. Specifically, why these stereotypes hamper the popularity of these games, and stop them from being accessed by a less geeky audience.
On a side note, have you seen some of the crap people think about RPGs!?! Check it out. You WILL be scared.
Anyway, inspired by this "Senior Project," I desided, "Hey, why don't I put my money where my mouth is and get some noobs to play an RPG?"
So, after some quick talks with a few people, I got a group together who had never played a Role Playing Game before. It consisted of an adult male (AM), an adult female (AF), a teenage male (TM), and a teenage female (TF). Yesterday, we played about 75% of the "Ill Tidings" adventure of Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay with me as the GM, and each of them as a PC. My friend, with about as much RPG experience as myself was also there to help out, taking the role of a 5th PC. It's in the "Knights of the Grail" sourcebook, if you are inclined to look it up. I know you're not, but, hey, I try to be considerate.
The game itself went ... okay. Character creation took a LONG time due to me having to explain everything five times, but, really, you'd expect that, even with a group of experienced RPers using a new system. AF created a haughty Elf Envoy called Gythithy (I love randomly generated names! XD) TM, a tough Dwarf Pitfighter called Noragund, and TF, a crafty Halfling Knife-Thrower/Acrobat (Entertainer Career) named Agnes. AM, who was rather counter-productive throughout the whole game, created a none-descript Human Fisherman called Fisherman. After Vetoing this, he changed his name to Hookman. I told him to get a given-name, and he chose Brad (Which really fits with the Medeival Europian feel, doesn't it?). Brad Hookman.
This became a pattern throughout the game.
Being pressed for time, due to the lengthy character creation process, I rushed my introduction to the world. This, as any GM/DM will tell you, was a BIG mistake. This gave my players very little idea about their overall goal (Fighting Chaos) and so, when they found their first Chaos Mutants, rather than fighting, they wanted to run away. More my mistake than theirs, but, it's interesting to note that they felt such strong self-preservation insticts for their characters at such an early stage.
At the end, they all shared similar views about the game:
Character Creation: Way too complicated and WAY too long. They wanted to play the game, not spend an HOUR setting it up.
Story: They thought it was fun to play the story out, and enjoyed play with their characters, though, as above, they would've liked a little bit more background. My fault, and, therefore, not a great representation. They also liked the investigation elements, and seemed pleasently surprsied that we weren't just going around cutting down monsters.
Out-of-Combat actions: Everyone (other than AM) took to these quickly, and enjoyed the roles their character had to play.
Combat: Similar to Character Creation, though, there were parts that they enjoyed. I could tell TF was taking great pleasure in knifing everyone to death, and TM's joy was palpable when he finally killed the choas cultist he's been fighting.
The general consensus was that, if we had a little more time (I.E. more than one session,) it'd be more enjoyable, as the rules confusion and character-creation process wouldn't be a problem.
AM - Unenthusiastic, wasn't paying attention, didn't seem to enjoy it. When he DID have input, it was (for the most part) unconstructive. I explained to him several times that he only determines the actions of his character, not the results, yet he INSISTED on saying "I hear the wizard inside the building killing people!" *Shakes head with dismay*
AF - Was involved, enjoying them game and really getting into it. I was impressed!
TM - Seemed slightly bummed that he didn't have great success with his character (Bad rolls) but, other than that, liked the game.
TF - The real success story of this game. While she wasn't as enthused as AF, her enjoyment far exceeded my expectations.
So, our verdict? Role Playing isn't for everyone, but, the "Not everyone" isn't nessicarily confined to gamers/geeks. Success? Partially. Am I going to do it again? I would like to. Not just so I can verify what we've seen here, but also to show more people that RPGs don't turn you into a bloodthirsty killer.
In closing, Jack Chick rhymes with dick.
Tuesday 21 July 2009
Wednesday 1 July 2009
Humans: Revenge of Michael Bay
I saw Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen on Monday and ... WOW. I'm not going to spoil anything for anyone (Despite the fact that only three people will ever read this, and they probably don't care) but, I have to say, nothing's changed. Michael Bay (I hate to place the blame solely on him, but, as far as I can tell he's in charge of the whole thing) has made exactly the same mistakes as he did in the original film. What ARE these mistakes, I rhetorically hear you cry? Well, allow me to explain ...
At it's core, what is the plot of the Transformers cartoons?
The heroic Autobots, led by Optimus Prime, attempt to stop the villainous Decepticons and their monstrous warlord, Megatron, from taking over the world/galaxy/universe/planet cybertron. They disguise themselves as vehicles and wage a war on earth, befriending humans and getting into all kinds of trouble and intrigue. They normally end up fighting over some series-specific artifact or Energon source, but, generally speaking it all goes in a similar direction.
Now, in contrast, what is the plot of the first Transformers film?
Sam Witwicky buys a car in an attempt to meet girls, which steals itself, while an air force base in Afganistan is attacked by a mysterious helicopter-transformer. Some hackers do some things, some soldiers get attacked by a scorpion, and, after being attacked by a police-car Transformer, Sam's car takes him to meet some other robots who tell him the plot of the Transformers cartoon.
Instantly, you can see the shift in focus from Autobots to humans, and did you see how long it took us to get to the robots? There is far too much focus on the fleshlings. All we need is a human protagonist, like Sam, to introduce us to the Autobot/Decepticon war, and maybe a supporting character to get a second opinion on everything. Sam and Mikeala ... or however you spell that ...
You can pretty much copy and paste that last paragraph, and you'll have a fair review of the new movie.
A lot of critics have been complaining about mindless CGI-flaunting and and racial stereotyping, but, as someone who understands that showing off CGI is what you should expect from a CGI-film, and who doesn't really know what a black-stereotype is (I thought they were hillbillies. o.o) I'm not really all that bothered. But, what I AM bother by is the fact that movie-makers seem incapable of learning from their mistakes. The universal feeling among Transformers-fans was that, frighteningly, we needed more from the Transformers. Bay had a chance to reconcile himself with the fandom, but, instead, he wiped their hopes on his arse while saying "Arcee has one line! What more do you people want!?" (What does he mean "You People?")
Basically, this film isn't what it should be; a film about the Transformers. You're still going to go out and watch it, I know you are. It's a movie where shit blows up and giant robots kick the capacitors out of one another! That's awesome!
But ... it's not as awesome as it could be ... not by a long shot ...
This has been Rude Rabbit ... eternally disappointed.
At it's core, what is the plot of the Transformers cartoons?
The heroic Autobots, led by Optimus Prime, attempt to stop the villainous Decepticons and their monstrous warlord, Megatron, from taking over the world/galaxy/universe/planet cybertron. They disguise themselves as vehicles and wage a war on earth, befriending humans and getting into all kinds of trouble and intrigue. They normally end up fighting over some series-specific artifact or Energon source, but, generally speaking it all goes in a similar direction.
Now, in contrast, what is the plot of the first Transformers film?
Sam Witwicky buys a car in an attempt to meet girls, which steals itself, while an air force base in Afganistan is attacked by a mysterious helicopter-transformer. Some hackers do some things, some soldiers get attacked by a scorpion, and, after being attacked by a police-car Transformer, Sam's car takes him to meet some other robots who tell him the plot of the Transformers cartoon.
Instantly, you can see the shift in focus from Autobots to humans, and did you see how long it took us to get to the robots? There is far too much focus on the fleshlings. All we need is a human protagonist, like Sam, to introduce us to the Autobot/Decepticon war, and maybe a supporting character to get a second opinion on everything. Sam and Mikeala ... or however you spell that ...
You can pretty much copy and paste that last paragraph, and you'll have a fair review of the new movie.
A lot of critics have been complaining about mindless CGI-flaunting and and racial stereotyping, but, as someone who understands that showing off CGI is what you should expect from a CGI-film, and who doesn't really know what a black-stereotype is (I thought they were hillbillies. o.o) I'm not really all that bothered. But, what I AM bother by is the fact that movie-makers seem incapable of learning from their mistakes. The universal feeling among Transformers-fans was that, frighteningly, we needed more from the Transformers. Bay had a chance to reconcile himself with the fandom, but, instead, he wiped their hopes on his arse while saying "Arcee has one line! What more do you people want!?" (What does he mean "You People?")
Basically, this film isn't what it should be; a film about the Transformers. You're still going to go out and watch it, I know you are. It's a movie where shit blows up and giant robots kick the capacitors out of one another! That's awesome!
But ... it's not as awesome as it could be ... not by a long shot ...
This has been Rude Rabbit ... eternally disappointed.
Tuesday 23 June 2009
Gob, be FREE!
Okay, after far too much belating, I'm going to go ahead and write about what my first post was supposed to be; Fallout 3.
Now, I love this game. I can't really think of any other way to explain it ... it gripped me right from the beginning with it's "gritty, apocalyptic realism meets optimistic futurism" style, as well as it's cool storyline and it's humourous tidbits. Put simply, it's got Gatling lasers, techno-knights, and a talking tree called Harold.
Anyway, I have one gripe with this game, and I think it's pretty representative of free-roam games across the board: Depth.
For me to enjoy a game I have to be involved, I have to like the hero, like/dislike the bad guy, and want to find out what happens. Games, like movies, have to make you care, but in free-roam games, because there's just so much stuff going on, minor characters and sub-plots can seem flimsy, so much so that, sadly, I just don't care.
Allow me to give you a for-instance. Of course ... I really didn't have to ask, considering it's my blog and I can do whatever I want ... but ... anyway.
In the first town the player encounters, Megaton, there is a bar called Moriarty's, owned by Colin Moriarty, a rather shifty criminal type. Now, the barman is a Ghoul (Radioactive zombie!) by the name of Gob, who is basically a slave who is regularly abused and beaten by Moriarty and his customers. He longs to be free, many of the people in town feel sorry for him, and the general consensus is that Gob not being there would be a good thing ... so, can you do anything about it? No. Not a thing.
You could kill Moriarty ... but ... really, that doesn't change anything ... the Bar's name changes, but, a lot of people still talk about him in the present tense, and Gob remains in Megaton.
It's not a big deal, and Fallout's still a good game, but there are many places where things feel incomplete ... Vampires go unpunished, Aliens go unexplained and lonely Goth-girls never get their man (or woman, as the case may be)
Free roam games such as Fallout 3 and The Elder Scrolls series are good fun, but it'd be nice if the freedom they provide extended to the characters, rather than just the game-world, and whether-or-not you're going to bother with the main plot.
On a totally unrelated note; I hope Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen doesn't suck.
This has been Rude, shouting at deaf ears.
Now, I love this game. I can't really think of any other way to explain it ... it gripped me right from the beginning with it's "gritty, apocalyptic realism meets optimistic futurism" style, as well as it's cool storyline and it's humourous tidbits. Put simply, it's got Gatling lasers, techno-knights, and a talking tree called Harold.
Anyway, I have one gripe with this game, and I think it's pretty representative of free-roam games across the board: Depth.
For me to enjoy a game I have to be involved, I have to like the hero, like/dislike the bad guy, and want to find out what happens. Games, like movies, have to make you care, but in free-roam games, because there's just so much stuff going on, minor characters and sub-plots can seem flimsy, so much so that, sadly, I just don't care.
Allow me to give you a for-instance. Of course ... I really didn't have to ask, considering it's my blog and I can do whatever I want ... but ... anyway.
In the first town the player encounters, Megaton, there is a bar called Moriarty's, owned by Colin Moriarty, a rather shifty criminal type. Now, the barman is a Ghoul (Radioactive zombie!) by the name of Gob, who is basically a slave who is regularly abused and beaten by Moriarty and his customers. He longs to be free, many of the people in town feel sorry for him, and the general consensus is that Gob not being there would be a good thing ... so, can you do anything about it? No. Not a thing.
You could kill Moriarty ... but ... really, that doesn't change anything ... the Bar's name changes, but, a lot of people still talk about him in the present tense, and Gob remains in Megaton.
It's not a big deal, and Fallout's still a good game, but there are many places where things feel incomplete ... Vampires go unpunished, Aliens go unexplained and lonely Goth-girls never get their man (or woman, as the case may be)
Free roam games such as Fallout 3 and The Elder Scrolls series are good fun, but it'd be nice if the freedom they provide extended to the characters, rather than just the game-world, and whether-or-not you're going to bother with the main plot.
On a totally unrelated note; I hope Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen doesn't suck.
This has been Rude, shouting at deaf ears.
Sunday 14 June 2009
The Un-caped Crusader
I dunno if I said this post would be about my original topic; which was Fallout 3, if i haven't said that already ... but, if it was, I lied. It's not about Fallout at all. There's no hidden subtext, no reading between the lines, nuttin'.
What this post is really about is movies. To be precise, Superhero movies.
Traditionally, costumed do-good-ers wear their signature mask to hide their identities, so that their super-powered enemies can't track down their friends and family. This is all well and good, but, y'see, I've noticed a pattern. In most Superhero motion pictures (with the notable exception of Batman Begins and Dark Knight; well done Christian Bale ^^) the heroes shed their masks during the final scene.
This happens in all three Spiderman films, Iron Man, and even Ghost Rider, who doesn't WEAR a mask.
Many may wonder why this is so. (Other than giving Peter Parker an excuse to execute all-but-one of his enemies. "He'd hurt Aunt May! It's not my fault!" ... jerk.) But, as far as I'm concerned, the answer is all too clear: Movie Stars.
Don't get me wrong, I love Robert Downy Jr. as much as the next guy, but, he's an actor, who's job it is to play the part he is given. The problem is, studios and agents want to make such a big deal of their clients, whether it's to make them happy or to boost the film's popularity, that it interferes with the film, and it's believeability. Would Spiderman keep using a mask that falls off at the first sign of trouble? Tony Stark can really remove armour manually that had to be put on by a large robotic putty-togethery machine? Bruce Banner's head was conveiniently the only part of his body not to hulk out during the final battle with the Abomonation?
Okay, so I exaggerate a little, but, I fear this is what it is coming to.
So, actors, how about leaving the masks on? We all know you're the one behind it, and it'll make all us comic-book nerds very happy.
And, movie-writers, how about leaving the mask on when you make the Captain America movie? (We'll see how that one goes at the international box office. >.>)
I end with a thought for the day: Give the "Merc with a mouth" A MOUTH.
What this post is really about is movies. To be precise, Superhero movies.
Traditionally, costumed do-good-ers wear their signature mask to hide their identities, so that their super-powered enemies can't track down their friends and family. This is all well and good, but, y'see, I've noticed a pattern. In most Superhero motion pictures (with the notable exception of Batman Begins and Dark Knight; well done Christian Bale ^^) the heroes shed their masks during the final scene.
This happens in all three Spiderman films, Iron Man, and even Ghost Rider, who doesn't WEAR a mask.
Many may wonder why this is so. (Other than giving Peter Parker an excuse to execute all-but-one of his enemies. "He'd hurt Aunt May! It's not my fault!" ... jerk.) But, as far as I'm concerned, the answer is all too clear: Movie Stars.
Don't get me wrong, I love Robert Downy Jr. as much as the next guy, but, he's an actor, who's job it is to play the part he is given. The problem is, studios and agents want to make such a big deal of their clients, whether it's to make them happy or to boost the film's popularity, that it interferes with the film, and it's believeability. Would Spiderman keep using a mask that falls off at the first sign of trouble? Tony Stark can really remove armour manually that had to be put on by a large robotic putty-togethery machine? Bruce Banner's head was conveiniently the only part of his body not to hulk out during the final battle with the Abomonation?
Okay, so I exaggerate a little, but, I fear this is what it is coming to.
So, actors, how about leaving the masks on? We all know you're the one behind it, and it'll make all us comic-book nerds very happy.
And, movie-writers, how about leaving the mask on when you make the Captain America movie? (We'll see how that one goes at the international box office. >.>)
I end with a thought for the day: Give the "Merc with a mouth" A MOUTH.
Sunday 7 June 2009
John Rambo ... has been pussified
I was going to use this post to write about Fallout 3, a game I have some gripes with, but, something has recently got my proverbial goat, so it looks like that particular rant will be belated yet again.
A while back, I was watching the movie channel we get out here in Asia, when I saw Rambo 4 advertised ... or was it just Rambo? ... or John Rambo ...?
Well, whatever it was called, it was the newest addition to the Rambo movies series, featuring Sylvester Stallone as one of his two most famous characters, John Rambo, Vietnam veteran, ultra-commando, and all around psycho.
While I was skeptical, I gave the film a chance. Stallone looked slightly pudgy, and was wearing a shirt, but, c'mon ... it's Rambo. Freaking Rambo! They COULDN'T mess RAMBO up, right?
The end credits began to roll and I couldn't help but say, "That's IT?"
It just seemed like they hadn't put any effort into the action sequences. In most cases that might not have been such a big deal, but this is an ACTION movie. And not just ANY action movie, this is RAMBO.
First Rambo killed some guys on a boat, then he shot a couple of people with arrows, blew up a fairly terrible CG bomb, and had a large, yet strangely empty fight on a beach. Only the last fight scene had a respectable body-count, and it paled in comparison with the earlier films' climaxes, such as First Blood, or Rambo 2.
This upset me, and I didn't hesitate to let everyone know.
Time moves on, and a few months later I found myself watching Cinemassacre's "Top 10 Shoot 'em ups," the favourite gunfight-films of movie-boffin, James Rolfe. All in all, it was a pretty standard top-10 video, but one of the entries surprised me; Rambo 4.
At first, I was totally baffled. Then, I saw it. Footage of Rambo 4.
It was AWESOME.
There were body parts flying, blood spewing, and generally havoc being wrought. It struck me that this wasn't the film I had seen.
The point of this entry (a subject which isn't usually brought up half-way-through) is censorship, something that this example demonstrates.
Pretty much everyone who stumbles upon this blog will live back in the west, and so won't have come into contact with TRUE cencorship, but, anyone who's spent time here should know what I'm talking about. It's inescapable. Almost any movie you watch in the cinema, on the satellite, or rented from a video store will have some content cut.
Usually this is extreme violence or nudity, but at times relatively tame death, sex and swearing can disappear, along with any accompanying plot-points, artiness, or quality editing. In one movie, I didn't even realise a character was dead, until someone mentioned his "unfortunate demise" at the BEGINNING of the movie.
While, in most cases, you can listen through the bleeping, or imagine what is cut, and get a good idea of what the movie should be like, sometimes you can be severely disappointed, like me with Rambo.
Censorship is stupid, and altogether pointless. If you are watching a violent gore-fest, there's no doubt what you want to see, so why cut it?
I've seen the most clean-mouthed people I know watch swearing on TV and be unfazed, so why blank it out?
We're buying products, and not getting what we payed for.
Altogether, the whole business baffles and astonishes me, and, while my little opinion matters little, I wish it would stop.
Oh, and please take back anything I have ever said about Rambo 4, because I haven't actually seen it yet ...
***
Next time on The Blog with a Memorable name, some other random crap that may, or may not be about Fallout 3!
A while back, I was watching the movie channel we get out here in Asia, when I saw Rambo 4 advertised ... or was it just Rambo? ... or John Rambo ...?
Well, whatever it was called, it was the newest addition to the Rambo movies series, featuring Sylvester Stallone as one of his two most famous characters, John Rambo, Vietnam veteran, ultra-commando, and all around psycho.
While I was skeptical, I gave the film a chance. Stallone looked slightly pudgy, and was wearing a shirt, but, c'mon ... it's Rambo. Freaking Rambo! They COULDN'T mess RAMBO up, right?
The end credits began to roll and I couldn't help but say, "That's IT?"
It just seemed like they hadn't put any effort into the action sequences. In most cases that might not have been such a big deal, but this is an ACTION movie. And not just ANY action movie, this is RAMBO.
First Rambo killed some guys on a boat, then he shot a couple of people with arrows, blew up a fairly terrible CG bomb, and had a large, yet strangely empty fight on a beach. Only the last fight scene had a respectable body-count, and it paled in comparison with the earlier films' climaxes, such as First Blood, or Rambo 2.
This upset me, and I didn't hesitate to let everyone know.
Time moves on, and a few months later I found myself watching Cinemassacre's "Top 10 Shoot 'em ups," the favourite gunfight-films of movie-boffin, James Rolfe. All in all, it was a pretty standard top-10 video, but one of the entries surprised me; Rambo 4.
At first, I was totally baffled. Then, I saw it. Footage of Rambo 4.
It was AWESOME.
There were body parts flying, blood spewing, and generally havoc being wrought. It struck me that this wasn't the film I had seen.
The point of this entry (a subject which isn't usually brought up half-way-through) is censorship, something that this example demonstrates.
Pretty much everyone who stumbles upon this blog will live back in the west, and so won't have come into contact with TRUE cencorship, but, anyone who's spent time here should know what I'm talking about. It's inescapable. Almost any movie you watch in the cinema, on the satellite, or rented from a video store will have some content cut.
Usually this is extreme violence or nudity, but at times relatively tame death, sex and swearing can disappear, along with any accompanying plot-points, artiness, or quality editing. In one movie, I didn't even realise a character was dead, until someone mentioned his "unfortunate demise" at the BEGINNING of the movie.
While, in most cases, you can listen through the bleeping, or imagine what is cut, and get a good idea of what the movie should be like, sometimes you can be severely disappointed, like me with Rambo.
Censorship is stupid, and altogether pointless. If you are watching a violent gore-fest, there's no doubt what you want to see, so why cut it?
I've seen the most clean-mouthed people I know watch swearing on TV and be unfazed, so why blank it out?
We're buying products, and not getting what we payed for.
Altogether, the whole business baffles and astonishes me, and, while my little opinion matters little, I wish it would stop.
Oh, and please take back anything I have ever said about Rambo 4, because I haven't actually seen it yet ...
***
Next time on The Blog with a Memorable name, some other random crap that may, or may not be about Fallout 3!
Friday 5 June 2009
I was looking over my first entry, when I came upon the sudden realisation that I had only told half a story. Here, dear reader (take that designation with a pinch of salt, as I may not even like you) is the conclusion.
After receaving my conformation Email, typing in my propostorous password and logging into "BayWords," I was greeted by this message.
"August 7, 2008
Due to some problems with some software we’ve decided to not add to the problem by letting new users register blogs for a few days. We’re upgrading the software hopefully this week and that would sort the problems out, however it might take some more time so we just want to inform you guys.
Thanks!"
If you've checked the date, you can imagine my dismay. (If you haven't, you cannot, or you WILL be executed)
Anyway, long story short, (words I doubt you hear often in a blog) I ended up here, typing, with you reading my words some time later.
I will talk about what I REALLY wanted to talk about in the FIRST post tomorrow. Damn me and my uncontrollable appitite for complaining.
After receaving my conformation Email, typing in my propostorous password and logging into "BayWords," I was greeted by this message.
"August 7, 2008
Due to some problems with some software we’ve decided to not add to the problem by letting new users register blogs for a few days. We’re upgrading the software hopefully this week and that would sort the problems out, however it might take some more time so we just want to inform you guys.
Thanks!"
If you've checked the date, you can imagine my dismay. (If you haven't, you cannot, or you WILL be executed)
Anyway, long story short, (words I doubt you hear often in a blog) I ended up here, typing, with you reading my words some time later.
I will talk about what I REALLY wanted to talk about in the FIRST post tomorrow. Damn me and my uncontrollable appitite for complaining.
Thursday 4 June 2009
And so it begins ...
Well, after a good half hour of searching, a few minutes of setup-time, one bathroom-break and a lot of goading from my best friend, I have done it. I have claimed a patch of my own in the wild, untamed lands of blog-topia. Admittedly, this isn't too much of an life-changing event for you, considering blog-topia is an overcrowded and congested little burg, but hey, humour me.
I haven't got much of a purpose for writing this, which doesn't really give you much incentive to read it, so, altogether, we're off to a bad start.
After complaining about stuff to my afore-mentioned best friend, Wrince, I have decided to open my rants to the whole wide world for EVERYONE to ignore, not just him.
What is this post about? Well, allow me to start at the beginning ...
After the initial architectural plan had been set forth, I needed a plot of land for my blog. Wrince, being the Internet-master he is, pointed me in the direction of "BayWords," for an unknown reason. I dropped the strained building-metaphor, created an account, played the usual game of Internet tag, and was then told two pieces of information; my username and password.
Now, the username I had picked out for myself earlier in the process, but the password was, I assume, a randomly generated pile of garble, somewhere along the lines of "CL34BEE9."
What on EARTH is THAT!?
I thought the idea of a password was security. Y'know, so no one gets into your account and messes around with your stuff. The password aids in this by acting as a quick safeguard against strangers. Now, no-one's going to remember THAT, which means, for the first few logins at least, you'll have to have it written down, or saved in a text-document on your computer-box. All someone has to do is read your stray piece of paper/.txt file and they've gained access to everything!
From a purely n00bish "I-don't-know-how-such-things-work,-electronically-speaking" standpoint, (boy, my quote-mark fingers are tired) I must say this is a flawed system. I think it would be much better if they randomly generated a WORD for you. Like "Donkey." It's easy to type, can be associated with something of-this-earth, and, is memorable, if only for the "ha ha ha, that's a funny word for a password," factor. Also, no-one could guess it. I have no relationships with any donkeys at all, so it'd be perfect for me. (Does that make me a mule-ist?)
Admittedly, you might not like it so much if your randomly generated word was "Xenarthra," or "Password," but, hey, it's better than "H475JE8"
I haven't got much of a purpose for writing this, which doesn't really give you much incentive to read it, so, altogether, we're off to a bad start.
After complaining about stuff to my afore-mentioned best friend, Wrince, I have decided to open my rants to the whole wide world for EVERYONE to ignore, not just him.
What is this post about? Well, allow me to start at the beginning ...
After the initial architectural plan had been set forth, I needed a plot of land for my blog. Wrince, being the Internet-master he is, pointed me in the direction of "BayWords," for an unknown reason. I dropped the strained building-metaphor, created an account, played the usual game of Internet tag, and was then told two pieces of information; my username and password.
Now, the username I had picked out for myself earlier in the process, but the password was, I assume, a randomly generated pile of garble, somewhere along the lines of "CL34BEE9."
What on EARTH is THAT!?
I thought the idea of a password was security. Y'know, so no one gets into your account and messes around with your stuff. The password aids in this by acting as a quick safeguard against strangers. Now, no-one's going to remember THAT, which means, for the first few logins at least, you'll have to have it written down, or saved in a text-document on your computer-box. All someone has to do is read your stray piece of paper/.txt file and they've gained access to everything!
From a purely n00bish "I-don't-know-how-such-things-work,-electronically-speaking" standpoint, (boy, my quote-mark fingers are tired) I must say this is a flawed system. I think it would be much better if they randomly generated a WORD for you. Like "Donkey." It's easy to type, can be associated with something of-this-earth, and, is memorable, if only for the "ha ha ha, that's a funny word for a password," factor. Also, no-one could guess it. I have no relationships with any donkeys at all, so it'd be perfect for me. (Does that make me a mule-ist?)
Admittedly, you might not like it so much if your randomly generated word was "Xenarthra," or "Password," but, hey, it's better than "H475JE8"
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