Random Rambling, May 29

 between Echo and J-Cat

Echo: Aaawww, you got you a new puppy.

J-Cat: Ugh.  It was annoying though.... ‘cause after getting the puppy, we went to king feed, where Mr. Dawkins suddenly appeared, and that was scary.  But he said, "You know, I've heard you say more consecutive words in these past few minutes than I ever have."  My social skills have apparently improved over the past two days.  Actually, no, I'm just much less... terrified when I have animals with me.  Haha.

Echo:  Ha.  Is Mr. Dawkins your teacher?

J-Cat:  Yesss.  He's my Health teacher, only my most hated class.  Well, History might be

worse.... nah... I think health is the worst....

Echo: Ha, well that explains it.  Being in public is almost always more comfortable than being at school.  And being with animals.  Just chilled you out, I bet. 

J-Cat: Yeah, I would've though it'd be worse though. it's always my worst fear-- meeting teachers outside of school.  I'm just weird like that.

Echo:  You're not the only one.  I hate meeting people I know from school in public. 

J-Cat:  I wonder why that is?  Maybe it's because we really don't want anything to do with them, and we feel like seeing them outside of school gives them some sort of glimpse into our true selves, or maybe just because it's so out of context.

Echo:  Indeed.  I think both of those ideas are probably right.  If it's your close friends you don't care, but anyone else you see it's like they're intruding into your life.

J-Cat:  The human mind is such an odd thing.

Echo:  Yeah.  I guess that's kind of a sign of how we put things into contexts, and if things don't follow into those contexts, they disturb us.  You wouldn't care if there's a gun in a hunting club or in a store that sells them, but if you see one in a church it's considered bizarre.  A dog in a park or a dog in a vet clinic is ok, but if it's at a public pool or the lobby of a hotel...wierd.  Similarly the way we perceive death is strange.  If you hear about the death of a soldier, a policeman, or a fire fighter you hardly give it a second thought.  If, on the other hand, you heard about someone like, say, Michael Jackson or a famous child actor who dies, it's a big deal.

But isn't it wonderful at the same time when there are oddities like that?  I think that's how stories are probably born... that, and conflict.  Conflict is the source of pretty much any story.  It would be interesting to do a study on conflict and how it factors into human nature.  We obviously seek it, but why?  For the excitement?  The glory?  Probably both.

Video Game Review: Pokemon Black/White

Echo's Review

In the latest versions of the franchise, the Pokemon Company has taken a refreshing turn from the norm.  Other than adding a fifth generation of Pokemon to the mix, there are several new embellishments to the decade old video game series.

You start out as a young trainer embarking on a journey to explore the Unova region.  After being presented a choice of three new fifth generation Pokemon:  Snivy, Oshawott, or Tepig, you will be able to travel, battle trainers, and obtain gym badges.  Yet while this may sound like the same old gig as before, in reality several aspects of the games have changed.  Though staying true to the basic mechanics, Pokemon versions Black and White boast an entirely re-made battling and leveling system. 

It was apparent as I started playing that leveling up was not anywhere near as easy as it had always been.  There is a harsh new cutoff of how many experience points you gain when defeating a weaker opponent.  The higher the opponent’s level, the more experience you gain and vice versa.  This may seem insignificant at first, but it goes on to affect the entire style of game play.  One can no longer simply rely on powering enemies. Thus, strategy becomes a key component where it was negligible before. 

What this really showed me is a dynamic change in the focus of the Pokemon franchise.  Instead of continuing to appeal only to younger audiences, the added challenge is intended draw in older fans of the series as well.  Frankly, there has always been a stigma attached to the older gamers who play Pokemon.  Over the years it has accumulated the reputation of being for younger kids only, making it the guilty pleasure of patrons like myself.  Therefore it is nice to know that the Pokemon Company is still trying to include the old fans in the picture.  Of course, I’m not under the illusion that all those who ridicule the game series will go away, but it’s the thought that counts.

            Aside from all this though, Pokemon Black and White have received a digital “face lift”.  The designers have incorporated numerous three dimensional landscapes, in-game camera shifts, and fully animated sprites to give a more vibrant visual experience than any of their past projects.  Some new features of the game such as the “Dream World” and “C-gear” also incorporate new online aspects to connect with other players and unlock special features. 

            One thing that admittedly has me upset is the dynamics of transferring pokemon from the older series games such as Platinum, Heart Gold, Soul Silver, Pearl, and Diamond.  Remember the good old days where transferred pokemon would take items that they carried with them to the new games?  No such luck with black and white.  If you were hoping to take your fire stone, unused master ball, or Exp. Share from an old game to Black and White, you can forget it.

            I’m a fawning Pokemon fan for life, so there’s no way I could hate these games unless they were blatantly inferior to the rest, which they aren’t, but admittedly I’m not totally sold on the new direction.  The plot and villains this time around were interesting and asked a lot of big questions that made the game seem deeper as a whole, but I don’t know that I ever got really attached to any of the characters.  One thing the games could strive to do better is create more complex character relationships to make the whole storyline more endearing rather than just an in-flight movie on your way to the elite four. 

            In spite of this, I would like if possible to see more of the character N in the saga.  Out of all the characters, he boasts the most of the kind of complexity I want to see.  Part of what is supposed to make these games interesting is the story after all.  I don’t think (or at least I hope this isn’t the case) that people play these games just to level up Pokemon and battle them until they’ve beaten every person.

            While remaining an appealing installment in a decade old franchise, Black and White can stand to be built upon.  In the future I hope to see the series evolve just like the creatures it portrays.    

Movie Review: Thor

Echo's Review

In the latest movie addition of Marvel’s Avengers saga, yet another super-powered protagonist is introduced to the line-up.  Thor, the god of thunder, is about take his father Odin’s place as the king of Asgard.  However when their ancient foes, ice giants, break into the realm, Thor goes against Odin’s wishes and instigates a fight with them.  By doing this he breaks the age-old peace his father had striven to maintain, putting the Asgardians and ice giants once again on the brink of war. 

As punishment for his eldest son’s defiance, Odin banishes Thor (Chris Hemsworth) to Earth, where he is found by a scientist named Jane Foster (Natalie Portman).  Meanwhile Thor’s younger brother, Loki, plots to steal his seat on the throne in his absence.

Overall there is a lot to like about this movie.  Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Tom Hiddleston, Anthony Hopkins and a host of other strong acting talents really brought the film off the ground from start to finish.  There was a good dynamic balance between all the actors, and their chemistry added significantly to the movie’s zest. 

The CGI and special effects also factored in quite favorably.  In particular the transition from Earth to the extraordinary realm Asgard was masterfully done.  It’s one of those things you have to see for yourself, but the digital scenery aspect easily rivals that of James Cameron’s Avatar (which incidentally I tend to compare the CGI in everything to).  Similarly, a lot of other things went into making Thor a piece of eye-candy.  The producers went all out with the costumes, makeup, and props. 

 Surprisingly, I found the most lacking aspect of the movie to be the plot.  The ending and otherwise general development of the movie was blatantly predictable for anyone who is at all familiar the Marvel comics or Norse mythology.  Also, I couldn’t shake the feeling that Chris Hemsworth was hogging all the screen-time, leaving a host of potentially interesting characters underdeveloped.  Don’t get me wrong, Chris is good-looking and interesting.  These are minor and easily forgivable offenses.

 The only part that really irked me was a number of over-done “god battles” towards the beginning and end of the movie.  As I mentioned before, the producers tried to do a lot with the special effects, with generally good results.  Yet in these battle instances with the characters pulling impossible feats in high speed, there was way too much going on.  The result was an incoherent blur of action, virtually impossible to follow, that just ended up giving me a headache.

As in the Iron Man and Hulk movies, several references were made in Thor regarding The Avengers.  In the movie credits, it was also promised that Thor will appear again in The Avengers, which is currently scheduled for theaters at some point in 2012.  I look forward to seeing what Chris Hemsworth and his fellow actors and actresses will bring to the table when performing with other talents such as Robert Downey Jr., Samuel L. Jackson, and Mark Ruffalo.      

Movie Review: Pirates of the Caribbean-On Stranger Tides

Echo's Review

ATTENTION: MAJOR SPOILER ALERT

I’ll be frank, the Pirates of the Caribbean saga has never been of much interest to me.  Yet, despite this, I tried to go into my local movie theater with an attitude of optimism and unbiased-ness.  It was undeserved. 

As promised in the title, the new waters in which this movie treads are indeed even stranger than the previous premise.  I thought it was bad enough when there were curses on Aztec gold and fish people with octopi for beards.  Yet in comparison to this stand-alone horror, all of that seems very logical.

            First, I’ll try to sum up my critique in one phrase, and then I’ll give the full rundown of problems.  The error in six words:  Too many elements, not enough explanation.  

            Ok, so you’ve got Jack Sparrow, Mr. Gibbs, thankfully William and Elizabeth have been cut out, and old Barbosa from the old series.  So what are these new elements I speak of?  Let’s see, there’s Blackbeard, Jack’s long lost girlfriend Angelica, the king of England, the collective country of Spain, mermaids, the fountain of youth, a rugged, sexy missionary, a prophecy, aaand…am I leaving anything out?  Oh yeah, that’s right.  The fact that suddenly all the pirates seem to be either magical or ninjas.  Yeah.  That pretty much sums it up. 

            And you know, none of that would actually bother me much if I got so much as an ounce of explanation about any of it.  For instance, I never got to learn how or why Blackbeard had voodoo powers or could telepathically control the ship’s rigging.  I also never learned:

            -how the black pearl and other pirate ships could be fit into teeny glass bottles

            -why the heck the Spanish would destroy the fountain instead of use it. 

-who the heck gave Blackbeard the prophecy he’d be killed with a guy with one leg?

-why did Jack leave his old girlfriend abandoned on an island?  Was there a point to this?

-what the heck ever happened to the missionary in the end.  Seriously, did the mermaid drown him or did they live happily ever after???

Oh, the list goes on and on, but the point is that, I suppose, the audience wasn’t supposed to care about these things and just learn to accept them.  Either that or the screenwriters didn’t review the story enough to realize how many loose ends there were to tie up.

I suppose though, at this point my negativity has gone on long enough.  Despite the overall vertigo the movie caused me, there were a few mentionable upsides.  For one, I was rather taken with the soundtrack of the new POTC movie by Hans Zimmer.  While the soundtracks for the first three movies remained more or less the same stagnant melody, there were some noticeable embellishments this time.  Most of the songs have been remixed, often with a little bit of a Latino flair reflecting on the new character Angelica.  On the whole it seems to me like some of the best work he’s done in a while. 

The other noteworthy adornment was the graphics.  Sure, the CGI does not perhaps rival the other great works of this decade like James Cameron’s Avatar, but nonetheless it deserves some credit.  I was very taken with the mermaids in this movie.  Yes, they were bloodthirsty savages for the most part, but due to the attention to detail in the makeup department, they actually came across to me as being part fish rather then being pretty women wearing zip-on fish tails.  One of perhaps the oddest details of the movie for me to pick up on or be impressed with was the fact that after they had one mermaid in a sort of makeshift fish bowl for a few days, the water actually got dirty and foggy looking like a real fish bowl would. 

It’s odd to me that some of the most minute details like this were taken into consideration while some of the bigger questions of the movie were lost, but I won’t deny that this one’s an intriguing watch.  On a scale of one to ten, I’ll give this one a five.

Movie Review: Surf Ninjas

In modern times, most of us cling to the typical, A-class movies that Hollywood puts out on a

regular basis.  Thus, many have forgotten the days when fairly often would come along a low budget

cheese-bag of a movie consisting of mediocre actors and a plot line that could have been written

 by a third grader.  But have you ever felt like escaping from the archetypal movie catalog and

trying something not so widespread?  Well, welcome to the B-list movie segment!  In this particular

column we strive to introduce you, the people so embroiled in mainstream entertainment, to low-budget

Hollywood throw-out pried from discount movie bins.  These cinematic rejects, ranging from mud-caked pearls to gilded garbage are the ideal feast for the world-weary movie junkie.  With this in mind, kick back and let us recommend you to some of the best of the worst movies of all time.  Bon Appetit. 

SURF NINJAS
Echo's Review

What do you call it when teenagers pretend to be surfing while driving, wise masters of the martial arts look like hobo cowboys, and ninjas dressed in blue camo outfits pop up in urban Los Angeles?  I call it Surf Ninjas.  And I know what you must be thinking.  “Really?  Someone actually made a movie about surfing ninjas?”  Well the answer is yes, they did. 

In that Surf Ninjas is set in Los Angeles, California, it is sort of like a long lost relative of the original Karate Kid.  But take it from me, other than the martial arts, these movies have nothing in common.  Surf Ninjas starts out with a pretty generic martial arts prompt:  Two young boys destined to learn from a wise master and defeat an evil menace.  However, the truly novel part of the movie is how this classic idea of karate is now clashed with the laid-back lifestyle of the scenic vacation destination and, you guessed it, surfer dudes. 

            The humor and general charm of this production is drawn greatly from its sheer randomness:  Ninjas turning up out of nowhere, witty one-liners, nonsensical sound effects (since when do people make burping sounds when they get punched in the face?), and those are just a few examples.  And yet, Surf Ninjas is still classifiably an action film.  This fine blend of humor and serious action is so entwined as to have characters delving into toilet humor one second and, you guessed it, being attacked by ninjas the next.  Literally this movie can be summarized by “these people get attacked by ninjas at random intervals”. 

            Surf Ninjas came out in 1993, therefore yes, the effects and such are on the hokey side, and yes, many aspects such as the music and slang are outdated. Yet in all truthfulness this makes up most of the reasons the movie is worth watching.  It is a pleasant way to take a step back and reminisce in the 1990’s. 

            As far as B-List movies go, Surf Ninjas is actually pretty okay.  There’s not a whole lot to make fun of though, because frankly, it does a very thorough job of making fun of itself.  Still, it’s quite worth the watch for anyone wanting to indulge in a little of the corny yet clean humor most modern movies sadly lack in.  I rate it at 4/5 Domo-kuns.      

Movie Review: Arthur

Echo's Review

        When I went to see Arthur with a friend, I fully expected Russell Brand’s performance and character to be exactly the same as it has been in every other movie he’s starred in.  I mean, lets face it.  Russell’s main strong-point as an actor is his ability to out-perform everyone else in the role of the ditzy/drunk/druggy/fanciful playboy stock character.  In this respect, he met my expectations by stepping into the role of yet another clueless and offensive Richy Rich.  Take it from me, there is virtually no character diversity or distinction between his role as Arthur and his former role as rock-star Aldous Snow.  However, don’t go thinking I’m against this.  As in previous films, Russell also shows off his enormous talent for knocking an audience to the floor with laughter.  I’ll say this:  the main character roles in this movie were cast perfectly.  There’s a huge amount of on-screen chemistry between Russell and his accompanying actresses, Helen Mirren, Jennifer Garner, and especially Greta Gerwig.  The moment she first showed up on-screen, she and Russell completely took the spotlight. 

            Honestly though, one of the main reasons I loved this movie was because Russell did such a phenomenal job of transforming from a blasé comedian into a more serious and relatable character.  I didn’t see it coming at all, but it totally pulled me into the story.  In that respect, I would judge this to be Brand’s best performance so far.  He stole the show and turned Arthur into a movie I wouldn’t mind going back to see a few more times.

            All in all, Arthur took me by surprise.  It had a strong plot, was cleverly written, and though spiced up with Russell’s particular flavor of humor still stayed true to its basic premise.  I would rate it as an 8.5/10