I've been kind of busy these past couple of months and I haven't made any time to blog about anything so I think now's a good time to just kind of sum up my summer and the things I was looking forward to.
First and foremost lets talk about some Movies.
THE DARK KNIGHT: The single most anticipated movie of my life-time and it in absolutely no ways dissociated. Right from the opening scene where you see two men in clown masks, kicking open a office building window before rappelling down a impromptu line to a bank across the street. To the very end where Jim Gordon is summing up what Batman means to Gotham City. To every single little moment where Heath Ledger flawlessly portrays The Joker. This movie was a complete home run. Christian Bale's raspy Batman voice aside, and maybe one or two little nitpicky plot points. The movie is a virtual 10/10
HELLBOY 2 THE GOLDEN ARMY: This movie was pretty cool just because I was really expecting it to be saturated with the mood of Pans Labyrinth. Director Guillermo Del Toro's foreign language masterpiece. Its impact isn't unnoticed as Hellboy finds himself going up against a prince of an ancient tribe of elves who have upheld a truce with mankind for generations. Ron Pearlman's spot-on casting as Hellboy shines through again as he delviers to us a very human portrayal of a character that's supposed to be a demon with a hellish destiny. You get the feeling that Hellboy could even be your best friend if he wasn't kicking supernatural ass. Abe Sapien get's a larger role in this movie which makes it even better. Beautiful moments keep this movie going strong. 8/10
WALL-E: Yeah, yeah, this little robot's got everybody talking about what is considered already a Pixar Masterpeice. It's a masterpeice I didn't enjoy as much as everyone else seemed to. The thing that makes Wall-E special first and foremost is that the movie has very little dialog, for the interaction in the most part is between robots who beep and squeak and humm, there isn't a lot of actual talking until Mankind comes into the fold. I think the Kids will get a big kick out of this but I enjoyed Pixar's last effort, Ratattouille a lot more. 7/10
STEP BROTHERS: The newest pic from the Will Ferrel/Adam McKay camp, co-starring Talledegah Night's standout John. C. Reilly. This movie is about a couple of single parents who get married, and they both happen to have sons that still live at home with them. One of these sons, is named Brendan, (Played by Ferrell) a 40 year old who is unemployed. And Dale, (played by Reilly) is a 39 year old, also unemployed. As Brendan and his mother move into the house that Dale and his Father reside in, an immediate rift is formed between the two step-brothers that begins to tear the relationship of their parents apart. If you're not a Ferrel fan you probably won't enjoy this outing but I think the humor will translate well to anyone that's had a sibling rivalry of any kind. There's too many moments in this movie that I'm sure one of them will have your side splitting! (Or if you hate Ferrell, maybe this movie will just make your head split.) 7/10
PINEAPPLE EXPRESS: Seth Rogen might as well be given a crown because he's, in my opinion, the new king of Comedy in Hollywood. After re-inventing coming-of-age comedies with the super-hit Superbad. This summer he re-invents stoner comedy with Pineapple Express. Rogen plays Dale Denton, a Prosess Server who has an affinity for his job, and for smoking weed. Having a hoot before handing a subpoena over to someone he witnesses the person in question commit a murder with a crooked cop. Startled and sure that he's good as dead, he immediately runs, stopping to make sure his Drug Dealer is with him and together they embark on a journey that well, you pretty much need to be stoned to believe. The movie is hilarious and I only give it a 7/10 because I thought it was as good as Step-Brothers but If it's better for any reason. It's for the scene at the end with the Belt Buckle and The Duct Tape and you'll know what I mean when you see it. 7/10 if you like Will Ferrel 8/10 if you like weed more.
The Summer hasn't been all movies though. Well, It for the most part has. I did get my hands on Madden NFL 09, after waiting in Wal-Mart for over an hour due to employee ineptitude (That's how badly I wanted the game) I have to say that without a doubt, Madden is back baby! The presentation is off the hook and the game actually has announcers this year so you're not stuck listening to that boring nameless radio guy. They've got real NFL commenators Tom Hammond and Chris Collinsworth.
The graphics are a step up from last years verson, and a complete overhaul of tackling cinematics ensures that your gameplay experience won't be so linear. Gone are the days when the players on the field would just kind of un-realistically bump into each other. Now they'll group tackle, hop over diving tacklers, drag you down by the uniform. The Audio quality is no slouch either, if you got that TV turned up loud enough you might just believe that those bone crunching hits are happening to you.
The Superstar mode, yet again, misses the mark. I hope they get rid of it in next years version for something a bit more interesting. The Superstar Mode is a good idea, except that every year they seem to get further and further away from anything about it that's good. While dragging along the nagging problems I have with it. There needs to be a better system for getting a decent stat set for your player off the bat. The drills are faulty and you shouldn't be surprised if your Superstar is a little below average coming into the NFL draft.
Franchise Mode is relatively unchanged from last years game which is a good thing. The improvments they have made tot his years madden game. Which includes Touchdown Celebrations (although, if you decide to jump into the end zone fans don't be surprised if your player jumps through them) and a new "Back Track" mode, where Chris Collinsworth will show you in an instant replay where you wen't wrong, and what you could've done to make that play a bit better. It's kind of cool but it gets annoying seeing your horrible mistakes over and over again. And the Commentators, although cool, aren't given a whole lot to say and even after playing a few games its really difficult not to notice how little those guys are given to say as you hear things over and over and over again. Overall, if you passed on Madden now is the perfect chance to jump back on board. If you're a sports gamer, they've made it worth your while this year.
I've got nothing else to really talk about. I hope that September is a much more opinionated month for me and judging how August is ending, I think it might go that way, especially if smarmy Stephen Harper calls an election.
Stephen Harper, you're smarmy and I don't like you! Why don't you move to America since you love them so much! (and they obviously, love you or you probably wouldn't be Prime Minister) Okay I'm getting distracted again, it's time to go
- PEACE!
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