Symposyum

Review: Toy Story and Toy Story 2 Double Feature in 3D

2009-10-09T13:29:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, October 3, I decided to embark upon an epic filmic journey. I stayed at the movie theater from 11 AM until nearly 1 AM the next day and paid for every film that I saw.

The first film that I watched was the Toy Story Double Feature in 3D. Having seen "Up" in 3D, I knew what to expect from a Disney Pixar 3D feature. A large part of the 3D process for a film like this that was made to be 2-dimensional involves going into the original movie, creating a second animation camera, toying around with what looks good in 3D, and reconverting an old film to suit Pixar's modern equipment. This extensive process paid off in the end, as Toy Story looks beautiful. It had been more than ten years since I had seen either film, so being exposed to them in a 3-dimensional way after all those years was a glorious return to my childhood. Disney's method of 3D is not using gimmicks but rather creating depth of the frame. This added an artistic value to each film and set certain aspects of the frame apart, drawing the attention of the viewer to certain details. Each film was astounding in this regard, sometimes using 3D in an incredibly subtle manner that made all the difference. Other animation studios and live-action studios should take note of this and follow the trend that Disney has been perfecting.

As for each film's storyline, I was impressed and baffled. The films each held much more gravity than I had remembered and continue to be significant stories. The dialog was incredibly well-written and beyond that of what one should expect from a "family" movie. This double feature re-release is also a good opportunity for those who are younger and unfamiliar with Toy Story to be exposed to the movies, or at the very least those who never got the chance to see them in theaters.

Disney has made a name for itself by walking the fine line of entertainment and business in film. Toy Story exemplifies the film-industry savviness that Disney possesses and helps to justify the release of a third Toy Story film. Animation aficionados can look forward to Toy Story 3 in 3D next summer.

September is the New August (And Vice-Versa)

2009-10-02T19:01:00.001-07:00

For years the month of August was a dumping ground for studios to filter out all of their garbage films into. This August, however, saw several powerhouse flicks, from Inglourious Basterds to District 9. September, on the other hand, was incredibly lackluster. It was much more hit and miss than any previous September, and if I didn't know any better, I'd think this would be a sign of a paltry fall film season. This happens to be the opposite of what is true, as I am saving every dime just to get to see the more than twenty films I want to throughout the months of October and November. So why the shift to September, studios? Was it the extension of the summer movie season, which now spans from the beginning of May until the end of August? This blogger is nearly sure of it. With so many movies coming out during June and July, some films simply have no room to compete, and now the movie-going public is being rewarded with a better August. But there still needs to be an obligatory month of paltry films; this is now September. It is quite unfortunate, but serves as a better break into the supreme autumn movies that we are receiving an especially large serving of this year. Regarding whether this is a trend that will continue on into the future, I believe that September will become what August once was and that August will transition into just another month of big blockbusters and cool indie pics.

Also, in order to "break the (movie) fast," I will be seeing five films in theaters tomorrow, getting head on into the deluge of prestige motion pictures heading our way. Expect reviews of them to roll out on Symposyum in the coming days.

Emerson

Review - Batman: Arkham Asylum (PS3/360)

2009-09-06T21:14:00.000-07:00

Superhero games have somewhat become known for being not a very good idea. The known good superhero games have either a movie tie-in (Spiderman 2), or a mashup with a plethora of diverse characters (Marvel vs. Capcom). But not all superhero games have to be like Superman 64 or Aquaman. For example, games like Amazing Spiderman and Hulk: Ultimate Destruction weren't bad games, yet didn't quite receive critical acclaim. This is where Batman: Arkham Asylum comes in. Metacritic shows that Arkham Asylum received an average score of 92 out of 100. And the game is completely deserving of that score.
The story of Arkham Aslyum starts with Batman, once again, taking Joker back to Arkham Asylum. But this is all a part of a ruse set by the Joker. Joker, with the help of some freed inmates and an obnoxious Harley Quinn, take over the Asylum and Batman travels the asylum to try and stop them. The writing feels just like any Batman comic you've ever read, although it does sometimes make you wonder how the game pulled off a Teen rating.
Graphically, the game looks great. Textures are almost overly detailed and the characters look like their comic book counterparts. The only time where a hiccup was noticed was when Batman's arm looked as though it went through an inmate's head during a punch. What may take some getting used to is the third-person over the shoulder viewpoint that most of the game takes place in. The environment of the game reminded me a lot of Bioshock. There are also references to a plethora of Batman characters, which makes exploring the environment well worth exploring. As far as the sound goes, the characters are all voiced by their counterparts from the animated series. All of the sound effects are well done and the soundtrack suits the feeling of the game.
Throughout the development of this game, what's pulled the most attention is the combat system. The game uses a freeflow combat system, allowing Batman to jump from enemy to enemy. The combo system is fairly simple (you have one button to strike and one button to counter) yet it still feels like you are fighting like Batman. Batman is also armed with gadgets, like the batarang and explosive gel, which aids in opening new areas and disarming enemies. Other than combat, the game fulfills the Batman experience with stealth rooms and Detective view. As you explore the asylum, some rooms will have inmates armed with rifles. In true Batman form, you're required to take out these enemies without attracting attention. You can do this either by sneaking up behind the enemy and taking them down, glide kicking them from your perch on a gargoyle, or hanging from a gargoyle and snatching them up as they pass below you. The Detective view allows you to see things as Batman does. When activated, a blue tint comes over the screen, and enemies are highlighted. The Detective view also highlights possible escape routes, alternate paths, and clues. The only gripe I have with this is that the game requires the Detective view so often, that the actual view of the game isn't seen as often, which is a shame since the game looks so good.
Overall, Arkham Asylum is a fantastic game with minor flaws. The story mode took about 10-12 hours to complete and there is a Challenge Mode that gives the game some replayability. Whether you're a hardcore Batman fan or a casual fan of the movies and/or comics, the game will entertain you. Developer Rocksteady has said that if the game does well enough, a sequel may be in the works. So please, at least check out this game, because it really is one of the best superhero games out there currently.

9.0/10

Jordan

Sidenote: If you have a PS3, the PS3 version allows you to play as the Joker. Xbox does not get any exclusive characters, but that might change with downloadable content.

Movie Review: Inglorious Basterds

2009-08-21T19:51:00.000-07:00

Never fear, no spoilers are here.

After doing some thinking, I have come to the realization that Inglorious Basterds is far and away Quentin Tarantino's best film. This does not make it my favorite, as that space is reserved for the Grindhouse double-feature. The writing of Basterds is perfect, far better than that of even Pulp Fiction. And why shouldn't it be? Inglorious Basterds is years in the making, as Tarantino was working on the script around the time Kill Bill came out. But before I delve further into the glory of Basterds, I'd like to share a bit about Tarantino himself:

Quentin Jerome Tarantino was a high school dropout who lied about his age at sixteen to work in a porno theater just so he could always be around films. Eventually, he moved out to California, where he wrote Reservoir Dogs and befriended Roger Avary, all while working at a now defunct video store. The director's picture ended up getting some funding and people started to notice how good it was. Tarantino was invited to Cannes Film Festival and screened dogs their, cementing his directorial fame. That was 1992, and a little more than 17 years ago. Yesterday, I turned 17 years of age and knew my first legal R-rated movie would be a Tarantino flick: Inglorious Basterds.

Inglorious Basterds begins simply enough, which is perfect and completely necessary for the film. The screen takes us to France and it is evident right from the get-go that this is picture is heavily influenced by Spaghetti Westerns. At first I was worried, as the first several minutes didn't feel like a Tarantino film, but as the entry conversation rolled on, I fell right back in and knew that this was one of QT's. The picture becomes very talky at points as it wears on, but unlike some of the frivolous talk in Death Proof, the dialogue is intriguing, even engaging with the audience. The Spaghetti Western feel to the film continues throughout, as Tarantino's score is influenced by the now-endangered genre, and his soundtrack is just as hip as any of his other feature films. One aspect of the film that I really enjoyed was the lack of Brad Pitt in a majority of scenes, that is to say that even though the actor received top-billing, all of the actors and actresses had about equal screen time and the part of Lieutenant Raine was no more important than anyone else, nor was Brad Pitt too overbearing as he sometimes can be. The one person whose presence can be felt the most during the film is of course Tarantino himself, who for the first time played no on-screen role and solely acted as director, something that I feel helped the film to an infinite degree.

First time actor Eli Roth is very capable and has a very likable part, especially as the film comes to a close. Actor Daniel Bruhl, my personal favorite German actor, plays a recent star among the Third Reich very capably and with much depth. Those interested in seeing the film for B.J. Novak will be sorely disappointed, as he is a bit part, as is Mike Myers (although if you're seeing a movie directed by Quentin Tarantino just to see one of those two, you have no place in a movie theater). The women in the film prove to be very important, as Tarantino always is aware of giving women empowerment in his movies and casting these roles as genuinely talented actresses (and yes, he does embellish in the foot fetish).

From a cinematographic standpoint, the film is excellent, however with Basterds editing proves to be where many of Tarantino's tricks lie, as the action is sped up to light speed while still remaining enjoyable. The violence is necessary, albeit completely different from other World War II films such as Saving Private Ryan, as this film definitely has a lighter side to it. The film's overall structure was wonderfully crafted and many conversations roll on in 'real time', as opposed to the usual 'reel time.'

I would never spoil a movie's ending, but I must say that the best part of Basterds is far and away the second half, as the main conflict is further revealed, which brings me to my next point:
The scope of Inglorious Basterds is much larger than any of Tarantino's other films, maybe any film this summer, and that says a lot of a director who has done a film on an international group of assassins that crossed several continents. The ending of Basterds particularly is important and has many great ideas to it hidden beneath. Film also plays a large part and is a crucial part of the story, which made me come upon the idea that this is ultimately Tarantino's most personal film.
If you enjoy a lot of blood and gore or can at the very least handle it, then Inglorious Basterds is definitely a film worthy of your dollars. With the Academy Awards Best Picture Category extended to a field of ten nominees, I would love to see Basterds at the very least nominated, as it is very deserving of merit for tackling the oft-covered World War II in a completely new way.

Emerson

Comics Review: Terror Inc. - Apocalypse Soon

2009-08-08T14:09:00.000-07:00

I am almost positive that very few people are aware of who Terror Inc. is. Having been first introduced in the 80's by Marvel as a character from a limited series and appearing in several crossovers, the character has lately been revived as part of Marvel's MAX imprint. Terror has been reimagined slightly; rather than being a detective-for-hire, he is now an operative-for-hire and no longer bears the spikes on his cheeks. Those familiar with the MAX imprint will recognize this as the perfect place for a character who is immortal, as long as he uses the body parts of other; Terror is basically a bad-ass, ever-changing Frankenstein. The first volume of the MAX series reintroduced Terror and was the character's best appearance ever. Apocalypse Soon is the sequel to that story and delves deeper into Terror's past. The story is interesting and engaging, and the MAX imprint brings all the nice violence and language that can't be afforded in the 'regular' Marvel series. Terror Inc. Apocalypse Soon suffers from one thing and one thing only, the art. While I am not usually critical of comic art, I feel that it made the comics in this case nearly unreadable. By the final issue, another writer was brought in to finish the second half of the comic. At least this shows Marvel knew there was a problem, but penciller Koi Turnbull creates Bourne-like fast-paced images that can hardly be made out in a format that this is simply wrong for. Comics have their visuals, movies have theirs, and Terror Inc., although somewhat cinematic in scope, will probably never see the big screen (as much as a fanboy can dream). So, when choosing a comic, stick with reading the previous volume of Terror Inc., but if you yearn for more on the character, than check out Apocalypse Soon just to satiate your desires.

Emerson

The Future of the Caped Crusader

2009-08-05T13:37:00.000-07:00

MAJOR SPOILERS THROUGHOUT:
Batman is dead. Bruce Wayne is dead. These are the issues that are played with in Battle for the Cowl. It can certainly be said that this run is a big change to the Batman lineup. Jason Todd returns, with a vengeance. Nightwing wants to be the leader without resorting to overtaking the mantle and having to live in the shadow of his master. But one of the most important aspects of the comic is the return of Black Mask, a character thought to be dead. His resurgence into the Gotham underworld proves to be a large threat and will continue to be. The question is whether or not this is the same Black Mask that was killed or someone new donning the cowl of a fallen villain in the same way that Batman has.
Thematically, Battle for the Cowl is an astounding series, detailing many characters through their cyclical journey as Gotham falls to pieces. Through one shots and limited runs, the experience delves deeper, into mysteries and stories that are quite fulfilling to create the entire experience. As a big Batman fan, I am glad at the death of Batman, as it brings issues about to make this timeless character all the more fresh. I will admit to not being as well-versed in the comics as I would like, but I definitely have a good enough sense to judge that Battle for the Cowl is an important step in the evolution of the comics. It is obvious that DC will bring back Bruce Wayne as Batman one way or another, but it is still good to see the comic industry making big changes to capture reader attention. As of this writing, the series has been done for three months, but these issues are still pertinent. Those interested in reading more can got to their local comic shop and indulge themselves in this great comic event.

Emerson

Rant: Explicit Content in Games and Why It Should Be There

2009-08-04T10:36:00.000-07:00

Since the dawning of games like Mortal Kombat, the ESRB rating system has kept a close eye on the content shown in video games. But still, 15 years after the ESRB was formed, video games still get criticized for showing explicit material such as over-the-top violence, sex, and drug use. Why is that true? Some may argue that this sort of content does not belong in a video game regardless of what the rating on the box says, because kids under the age of 17 will inevitably get their hands on it. But who's fault is this really? Should game developers be doomed to strike out content from their games just because parents are unable to understand how the rating system works? Also, it's almost as easy for kids to be exposed to the same type of material in mediums such as movies, especially with the internet making explicit material incredibly easy to access. Now, I'm in no way advocating that explicit material needs to be placed in games. Personally, I don't find gratuitous violence incredibly entertaining, but who am I to criticize what other people find enjoyable. I just thing it's ironic that an incredibly tame "sex scene" in a game like Mass Effect can cause an uproar amongst the media that the game is immature and disgusting. Parents just need to stop pointing fingers at the game developers and spend more time keeping an eye on what their kids are getting into. But let's face the truth, if your kid wants to see the sex minigame in God of War or the Hot Coffee scene in GTA: San Andreas, all he has to do is enter a phony birthday into the video player. Blaming game developers is not going to fix that problem. In this day and age, there really is no true solution to the problem, but if parents are really worried about what their child is being exposed to when they're playing video games, just read the back of the box. It says EXACTLY why the game got the Mature rating. And if you still have doubts, talk to the people at your local game store. They'll give you the full details on what's in the game and whether it's appropriate for your child to play.

Jordan

Preview: Borderlands (PC, 360, PS3)

2009-08-03T21:35:00.000-07:00

Earlier this summer, famed game designer CliffyB (Gears of War, Unreal) stated that role-playing games are the future of shooters. We've already seen the first few steps in this direction with games like Fallout 3 and Mass Effect, but 2K Games' Borderlands looks like exactly what CliffyB was talking about. When you start out the game, you are given the choice between four characters, each with a respective class. Roland is a Soldier, who plays more like a traditional paladin in that he has good combat skills and can also be a healer. Lilith is a Siren, a mage-like class with psychic abilities. Mordecai is a Hunter, equipped with the standard hunting sniper rifle and a pet eagle. Finally, rounding up the group is Brick, the powerhouse Berserker with great melee abilities and is basically the group's tank. The game plays with standard FPS controls (left trigger is the scope, right trigger fires your gun) and features beautiful cel-shaded graphics to portray the post-apocalyptic setting.
The single-player game plays like an RPG in that you go into town and the people will give you quests. These quests are a lot like those you see in any MMO (Kill X amount of creatures, loot X amount of items, etc.) and as you complete these quests and kill monsters, you're awarded experience points. Rack up enough and you'll level up (wow!) which will award you points to allocate in your skill tree. Each character has three different trees in which they can place their points in. These skills will enhance each character's special abilities. For example, Roland can spend his points in the healing tree that allows him to fire his bullets at his teammates to heal them, or he can spend them to enhance the turret that he's allowed to place as support fire and cover. You also level up your proficiency with different weapons the more you use them, which increases your accuracy and damage with that weapon.
Where this game really shines is the co-op multiplayer. The game features four-player multiplayer, allowing each player to control one of the four characters. This way, each player has a specific role in the group, whether it's DPS or tanking or healing. The game also allows two players in game to duel, allowing players to test their abilities with their class. Along with voice-chat, this game may just bring the MMO experience to consoles. It's going to be exhilirating to discuss strategy with your teammates as you come upon a boss or fighting over loot that drops. Hopefully, this game will fulfill it's expected drop date of October 23, 2009.

Jordan

Youtube Rant!: Gaming and Girls.

2009-07-28T20:30:00.000-07:00

I don't really know much about this guy Daniel Floyd. I just happened to stumble upon his video and thought it was well orchestrated and just made a lot of sense. So I thought I'd share the video with you and maybe you'd like to weigh in on the topic:

Personally, I also feel like this hyper-sexualized version of females in video games has gone a little too far. I'm okay with some sexual humor in my games a la MGS3, and I understand the old marketing adage that sex sells, especially to a market with a large population of teenage/young adult males. But I would like to see more games with a strong female role model. Then again, I don't really understand the female mind, and therefore am not sure if it would be enough to pull in a larger female audience. But I will tell you straight up, going "LAWL YOU JUST GOT PWNED BY A GIRL!" and "ZOMG! YOU'RE A GIRL?!?!" in a game of Halo is not helping the situation. I understand that this reaction stems from a history of video games being primarily a guy thing, but why is it like that? If video games are just what they say they are, games produced via video, then what is it that makes it primarily a guy thing?

Jordan

The Wrath of Con: A Mega-Wrapup on Comic Con's Movie News

2009-07-27T10:17:00.002-07:00

For the uninitiated, San Diego Comic Con, or SDCC, is an annual event occurring every summer. The event brings thousands and thousands of nerds from all over the country into San Diego's convention. Some even dress up as superheroes, Jedis, or Klingons. However, with the influx of superhero movies, Comic Con has recently become a venue to debut footage of the hottest movies in the coming year. And with that, we begin:

Robert Zemeckis showed off footage of A Christmas Carol, an animated 3D movie, which seems to be dark. A Christmas Carol seems to be a somewhat innovative style of 3D movies.

Zemeckis, who directed Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, stated that a sequel may be on the way. Zemeckis said if a sequel were made, the original characters would all remain 2D.

“I will tell you this, if that ever does happen, the 2D characters from the original movie will remain 2D. They will not be dimensionalized. Not to say there wont be 3D [in the movie].”

Tron 2 or Tr2n, the sequel to the movie Tron, has gotten the new name of Tron Legacy. The movie also has a wonderful new teaser trailer, which instantly piqued my interest in a film I was previously uninterested in. Tron Legacy is also part of the film industry's new 3D initiative.
The trailer can be viewed here.

The Green Hornet movie seems to be coming along, with Seth Rogen set to star and visionary Michel Gondry directing. The Green Hornet's ride, the Black Beauty was revealed and looks quite awesome.

Also making a very grand appearance was Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland. Burton debuted a trailer, which had already leaked the previous day. Johnny Depp came to surprise everyone as well. I at first had high hopes for this movie, but the trailer was incredibly unimpressive. The trailer can be viewed here.

James Cameron previewed about 25-minutes worth of Avatar footage. (Note: It is not M. Night Shamaylan's Avatar and has nothing to do with that series.) Cameron's epic will supposedly change film with it's vast 3D environments and creatures. With a release date of December, the filmmaker is going to have FREE 15-minute preview screenings at IMAX and 3D equipped theaters on August 21, which will be "Avatar Day". (And while at the theatres why not check out Quentin Tarantino's Inglorious Basterds?)

Cameron also stated that he is currently working on converting his Academy Award-winning film Titanic into 3D. Peter Jackson joined Cameron in a panel on the future of film and stated that if the studio would let him, he would like to convert Lord of the Rings to 3D.

Peter Jackson gave an update on The Hobbit feature, stating the project was a good ways away and casting had not even begun, letting down fans who thought Comic Con would yield announcements about the project.

Jackson is producing Neill Blomkamp's District 9. The film, which is getting an August release, had a screening at Comic Con which has brought positive feedback. The film looks awesome and was Blomkamp's feature debut. Blomkamp was originally scheduled to direct the Halo movie before plans for that fell apart. Trailers can be viewed here.

In other video game adaptation news, Asteroids is apparently coming together. A strange idea for a film, but not nearly as strange as the Joust movie. Asteroids will be about two brothers on an epic space journey. Expect explosions and an inflated budget.

Modern gaming legend Cliffy B and Live Free or Die Hard director Len Wiseman talked briefly with G4 about the in-development Gears of War motion picture. Fans of the series can rest easy, by the way, as Dwayne "the Rock" Johnson won't be involved because of his involvement with Doom. Catch the whole interview here for more info.

Kick-Ass, an adaptation of Mark Millar's (Wanted) comic of the same name, previewed at the Con and blew many away with its over-the-top violence. It is already being hailed as a geek classic. The film is directed by Matthew Vaughn, whose debut film Layer Cake is astounding.

Millar is also at work writing a Wanted sequel. Not many details have been confirmed but

SPOILERS AHEAD.

They may want to find a way to bring Jolie back.

END SPOILERS.

Diablo Cody's next picture, Jennifer's Body, had fifteen minutes screened. It has been given comparisons to Drag Me to Hell, which bothers me because that movie was unsuccessful. View the Red Band trailer here.

Fans of the original Boondock Saints can get excited, as the trailer for the sequel, Boondock Saints 2: All Saints Day, has generated a massively good response from diehard fans of the original.

A Nightmare on Elm Street is getting a remake. The Warner Bros. panel screened some footage, which seems to have a good deal from the original. Jackie Earle Haley, who played Rorschach in Watchmen, will play horror icon Freddy Kreuger.

Jonah Hex, a comic adaptation starring Josh Brolin and Megan Fox, screened a trailer. The trailer had an apparently very Western feel to it and lacked some of the magic that the comic has, but still looked good.

Iron Man 2 is looking very good and only recently wrapped filming, so the fact that director/actor Jon Favreau had some footage to show was astounding. Attendees got a look at sequences from the new film, including War Machine. (Fans of Iron Man will know what I am talking about and will probably fangasm.)

Zombie pic Zombieland debuted a good deal of footage at the Con. The film is being compared to Shaun of the Dead. A previously released trailer can be viewed here.

Twin brother directors Allan and Albert Hughes are returning after an all-too long hiatus from film. The directors showed a trailer for their new film The Book of Eli, starring Denzel Washington and Gary Oldman. See the trailer here. Fellow Symposyum blogger Jordan likens it to Fallout. I love the cast and directors and personally can't wait for the film to drop this January.

Speaking of Gary Oldman, the actor stated that director Christopher Nolan should begin filming next year for the next Batman pic. Oldman later tried to cover up the quote. Is he building hype? Or is what he saying true? Or maybe he's just guessing?

Surprisingly beating out Avatar for viewers of the panel, Where the Wild Things Are is supposedly the greatest film out of all at the convention. I can believe it. Previously unscreened footage was shown at the convention, but you can see prior trailers here.

Jason Bateman stated that the Arrested Development picture is not dead, but rather series creator Mitchell Hurwitz has been busy with various television projects and is only now able to get things going. Bateman said we can expect to hear something in the next six to eighteen months.

Richard Kelly's The Box looks incredible. Many will know him as the director of Donnie Darko, but I personally prefer Southland Tales. The Box is an adaptation of an old Twilight Zone episode. View a trailer here.

Kelly also said that he has finished writing his next feature, which would be quite expensive, utilizing motion capture and taking place in Manhattan in the year 2014. Apparently James Cameron's Avatar is already influencing the way some movies are made.

Solomon Kane, a comic adaptation, held a panel at comic con. Although bloggers are saying that it looked average, it sounds pretty BAMF to me. It's basically about a guy that fights all different kinds of evil to avoid going to hell. Solomon Kane will fight a guy on fire in the movie. Sounds good.

Hot Tub Time Machine. Where to begin? Although this wasn't at the Con, it deserves a place here. The trailer looks awesome. The story sounds awesome. The cast is awesome. Enjoy the trailer here.

Another film that wasn't at the Con but sure as hell should have been was Ninja Assassin. It comes from the director of V for Vendetta. Check the trailer here.

Emerson

Movie Review: (500) Days of Summer

2009-07-25T20:40:00.000-07:00

Alright, let's not cut any corners here. I love this movie. I love this movie so much it makes me question it's existence. I have loved this movie from the moment I saw the trailer and I loved this movie after the credits rolled and I still love this movie while writing this review. I will probably continue loving this movie in the years to come. (This opening paragraph may be a sign that I'm a little biased and you may not take the review seriously now, but hold on, I'm going to explain myself.)
The plot of (500) Days of Summer at first seems like the standard indie romance comedy: Average guy meets quirky girl. Guy falls in love with girl. The girl changes the guy's perspective on life. But where this movie differs from other indie romance films is what the narrator tells you up front; it's not a love story. It's a story of relationships, of feelings, and of fate. The acting was superb. I'm not saying that the acting will win any awards, but there was not one character that I thought was miscast at any point in the movie. The lead male role of Tom Hansen, played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt, is a character that all men can relate to at one point or another. I found myself predicting exactly what Tom would say or do because that is exactly what I would have said or done in the same position. The chemistry that Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel, who plays Summer Finn, is astounding. Deschanel's role may seem like every other role she's played in every other movie, but the way she connects in this movie with the other characters makes this her best performance yet. The jokes were incredibly funny, and I found myself laughing more than I have watching any Judd Apatow movie. A great move that was made with this film was that it's not completely linear. The movie jumps between days, letting the audience piece together what went wrong and how Tom develops his feelings of love. Another thing I love about this movie is how it takes the city of Los Angels, which is primarily seen as the center of star life, and portrays it as a city of beautiful architecture and everyday people.
I would also like to point out that the soundtrack to his movie is phenomenal. Essentially, it does with The Smiths (one of my favorite bands) what Garden State (One of my favorite movies) did with The Shins. The soundtrack album also features a cover of The Smiths song "Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want" done by Zooey Deschanel's band, She & Him. I'm sure that this movie will sell a lot of The Smiths records and possibly cause another uprising in popularity for the 80's British pop band.

Jordan

The Loss of a Legend: Michael Jackson 1958-2009

2009-06-25T18:08:00.000-07:00

As all of you probably know by now, the world has lost a king. The great Michael Jackson passed away today due to cardiac arrest. He was rushed to the UCLA Medical Facility, where his death was officially announced.
Despite his strange behavior in recent years, you cannot deny the impact this man had on the music industry as well as American culture. His work defined a generation and there are millions around the world with memories of his music. Personally, I remember sitting in my cousin's apartment in China as the "Black and White" music video played on TV. My dad used to tell me that when he first came to America, he worked as a construction worker and they would listen to the radio play Michael Jackson all the time. I can also recall the first time I saw the "Thriller" music video and being astounded at what this man was capable of.
Like him or not, Michael Jackson was a man of great talent and will be greatly missed. He was preparing for a great comeback this July in London and it's a shame that people will never be able to experience the magic that Jackson was known for bringing to his shows. He will be greatly missed.

Review: Transformers Revenge of the Fallen

2009-06-25T16:28:00.001-07:00

I will start this review out by making it seem fair: the first Transformers movie, although a mindless action flick by a hack director, was enjoyable. Transformers Revenge of the Fallen took the franchise in the opposite direction.
I am personally very worried about the trend of toy-based films. Comics and video games are okay because they at least have a story and have canon, but toys almost entirely lack this. Sure, Transformers was a television show, an animated feature (trivia: that animated Transformers flick was the last role Orson Welles ever played and Scatman Crothers's second-to-last role), and brought about the song The Touch, but I am of the opinion that the series never belonged on the big screen. And Michael Bay proved me wrong in some ways with 2007's Transformers. Then the sequel was in development. Bay proved himself with sequels before in Bad Boys 2, so what could go wrong? Well, let's just say that 146 terabytes of information are not enough to make a good movie. Unfortunately, Transformers will make a lot of money from the people wowed by the special effects (and Megan Fox). And it for that reason that this movie was one of my worst theater-going experiences. The immature audience that the film attracted, texting and incessantly clapping at Megan Fox's appearances throughout the film, really showed me that Michael Bay was wrong about marketing for the movie. In fact, I believe that the marketing is the only reason people went to see such a horrid film.
The acting was not something I expected much from, and I was even shocked at how poorly Shia LaBeouf and Megan Fox performed. The two do not create any real connection, to the extent that when one comes up against fate, I do not care in the least bit for him/her(for spoiler purposes). Immature jokes upon immature jokes and racist stereotypes reflected in robots seemed to amuse many audience members, and that scares me. Michael Bay has directly contributed to a dumbing-down of filmmaking with the release of the latest Transformers film. The cinematography is decent, but a large number of special effects, which I admittedly had high expectations for, reminded me of original Xbox graphics. The sound editing was ineffectual and not a big enough boom to make me genuinely surprised at a 1000 gallon of gasoline explosion. The sound was, however, very briefly amusing because I could swear they threw in a Doom sound effect during a fight scene. The writing was what pained me the most, moving back to the whole idea of canon. The script was penned by duo Kurtzman and Orci, who were responsible for the mildly-amusing Star Trek. The two must have not known what they were getting into when developing robots that are black caricature Transformers that can't read or writing in over 40 Autobots and Decepticons, so many that it is hard to discern between an overwhelming majority of them. Please heed my warning and do not see the film that many critics are calling the worst film of 2009 (I reserve my judgments until the end of the year). Do not support a movie franchise that seeks to make big bucks through stereotyping and lowering the quality of film as a whole, as the film holds no value, whether it is entertainment, action, explosions, heroism, or even Megan Fox.

Emerson

Album Review: Far - Regina Spektor

2009-06-24T09:38:00.000-07:00

Last summer, I went through a phase where I would listen to nothing but Regina Spektor's Soviet Kitsch album. Her style seemed so unorthodox yet so carefully engineered that it creates the perfect blend of innovation and classical poise. But when Begin to Hope dropped, it showed that Regina was starting to stray towards the pop scene. While this was not necessarily a bad thing, I did feel myself wishing I had more of the jazz singer side of Regina Spektor. The song that I listened to most off Begin to Hope was her tribute to the great Billy Holiday, "Lady". I remember listening to that song and thinking "This is what I love about Regina Spektor." So when I heard that she was coming out with a new album this summer, I had my fingers crossed that I might get more of the old Regina back. This did not happen. Far is even a further deviation from her classic style into the realm of pop music. Now, I must stress again, this isn't a bad thing. There are a few tracks like "The Calculation" and "Eet" where it works nicely for her, but feels like she's becoming more of a Yael Naim or a Sara Bareilles. "Blue Lips" is a little darker in tone but feels too orchestrated that it puts off the balance so it doesn't really feel like her stuff. Then we get to her juvenile songs, "Folding Chair" and "Machine", where in the former, bubbly melody and improvised dolphin sounds take the reins, and in the latter, Regina pretends to be a robot with a mechanized dark sound that just feels out of place on the album. The single of the album comes next, "Laughing With", which talks about how much of a bummer life can be sometimes. This is more fitting on the album but once again, it feels more like a Yael Naim song. The rest of the songs on the album seem so cookie-cutter piano-pop that I don't even feel like mentioning them. That is except for the song "Genius Next Door". With this song, Regina gave me one little ray of hope that she had not forgotten of the days of Soviet Kitsch and Eleven Eleven. This is the clearly the "Lady" of this album. The piano is absolutely beautiful while the lyrics portray a boy and the solitude he finds in this lake. In the special edition of the album, Regina gives another song that's reminiscent of the older albums with "The Sword and The Pen". It's a beautiful song about the fear of a loved one embracing death. It's songs like these that remind me that Regina Spektor has the ability to put out mature songs that tug at the heartstrings.

Score: 5.5/10
Key Songs: "Eet", "Laughing With", "Genius Next Door", "The Sword and The Pen"

Jordan

Review: Dead Snow (DØD SNØ)

2009-06-19T08:10:00.000-07:00

If you can't tell by the poster what Dead Snow is, I'll let you in on a little secret, which is a bit of a spoiler, but more of a synopsis: Dead Snow is a Norwegian movie about Nazi zombies. This review should practically write itself:

Dead Snow follows a group of young Norwegian med students on their Easter holiday. I won't give away any more than that, but I will let you know that Nazi zombies somehow figure into it all. Dead Snow's first act is the standard horror movie, which made me a little disappointed at first, but it ended up pointing this out in itself and the second and third act were so very outstanding that it made up for it. Dead Snow is not exactly a scary horror movie, at least it wasn't for me, but is rather filled with blood and gore enough to disgust and repulse audiences in a scary, beautiful way. The acting is at some points not very good, but this is a horror movie, so I wasn't expecting much in the way of acting anyways. Against the backdrop of the snowy mountains, the blood is all the more gruesome. Dead Snow also has some sequences that I will never be able to forget and are truly innovative, reminding me in a way of David Cronenberg's Scanners. The wonderful thing about Dead Snow is how amazingly original the story is and how campy it remains. Some shocks and surprises do exist, with some definitely more predictable than others. Horror fiends should leap at the chance to see Dead Snow, but those that are afraid of blood and "holding your intestines in your hands" should probably pick something else to see.

Emerson

WWDC: Predictions

2009-06-07T09:22:00.000-07:00

Apple annually has a huge conference towards the beginning of summer called the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference, or WWDC. The event generally goes through Apple's product plans for the next year or so. For example, in 2007, the iPhone release date was announced. In 2008, the app store was announced along with the iPhone 3G. This year, with Steve Jobs out on medical leave, Apple will need to pack a punch. My predictions follow as such:

Apple introduces OS X 10.6 and Provides a Release Date

At last year's WWDC, Steve Jobs announced Snow Leopard, Apple's next OS X update. He said that in about a year from that time, the OS would begin to ship. Well, here we are, one year out. It should seem fairly obvious to have WWDC as the place to make the announcement, particularly this year without Jobs.

We get an update on Jobs' health

Apple's frontman is just as important as the products. He is the man that brought the company back after leaving. Apple will want to reassure customers about the man who made the company what it is. Maybe even expect an appearance by the man himself.

Apple announces new iPhones

Rumors are floating around the internet about new iPhone models. It is my guess that the new iPhone 3.0 OS (which finally introduces Copy and Paste!) will be released during WWDC and the new iPhones, going up to 32 GB storage, will be dated during WWDC with a release within the next month. Also look for a new Compass app (which I hardly see a point in because of Maps).

Apple announces a new iMac, Mac Pro, or Mac mini

This is a risky pick, but without Jobs Apple will do something unexpected. With so much slated for sure, fitting in a new iMac will be challenging, but a move Apple could make that no one would expect. I am predicting a September release for a new Mac. Maybe even expect a new Mac mini, as it would be a real shock.

I feel there is not much more that Apple could introduce, however they have surprised before. With Apple I would say it is best to expect the unexpected. Also, be sure to stop by throughout the week for WWDC announcements.

Emerson

Review: Up

2009-06-03T19:00:00.000-07:00

Up begins with Pixar's trademark pre-movie sequence. This time is just as good as all the previous ones. But Pixar is going for even more of an emotional appeal than ever in Up:
Up begins with a 1.33:1 newsreel from a movie theater in the early days of cinema. The camera pans out, revealing a larger audience and bringing us into the modern aspect ratio world. It is for this and other reasons that I believe Up to be Pixar's Citizen Kane. The film's opening spans the life of the main character and gets us to really like him, something I enjoyed because in the trailers he just seemed like a crotchety old man. The film's story progresses in a rater obvious way and is very predictable to an infinitesimal level. I do understand that this is a movie whose target audience is much younger than myself and much older than myself, but I can't help but feel as though Pixar should subvert some of the cliche's found in cinema today. I was very impressed with the animation of the movie, as it was all very serene and guided by colors. Having seen the film in 3D, I am not sure as to the differences, but the film definitely felt less "flat" this way. Up is an ultimately heartwarming, funny movie that is worth the watch. I would highly recommend it and predict it right now in the running for animated feature film of the year alongside The Princess and the Frog and 9.
Pixar is far and away the pinnacle of animation in film. Having seen Monsters versus Aliens in 3D, a Dreamworks film, and now Up in 3D, I feel that Dreamworks has to really reform in order to make films at the level that Pixar does.

Emerson

Day 2 of E3 09: Sony

2009-06-02T14:41:00.000-07:00

Oh Sony, where do I even begin with you? Having what seemed to be one of the longest presentations this year, Sony had a lot of announcements for E3 09. Not being a PS3 owner, it was hard for me to really get excited for most of these announcement, but Sony did keep me entertained during the 2+ hours they had the stage.
Once again, CEO Jack Tretton came on stage saying that 2009 is going to be the best year ever for Sony. According to Tretton, there are 364 games set for Playstation platforms this year. He went on to name some big titles set for PS3 and claim that Sony will remain committed to the PS2 as long as there is consumer interest in the product.
This first game shown in Sony's press conference was Uncharted 2: Among Thieves. The first Uncharted was known for it's gorgeous visuals and Uncharted 2 remains committed to the same cinematic quality. A demo of the single player game was shown, where the main character climbed buildings and engaged in combat with a helicopter.
Last year, Sony announced their 256 player game, MAG (Massive Action Game). No real in-game footage of the game was seen until today, when the developers showed off a real live 256 player skirmish. Players are divided into platoons and squads, and each squad has a leader. The leader can assign objectives and look at a top-down tactical map to see where the squad should move for best tactical advantage. With such a large amount of players in game, you can expect that the maps are massive in size. The game also has an XP system similar to that of the latest Call of Duty games, where kills and successful objective are rewarded. Expect to see MAG in stores this fall exclusively for PS3.
Prior to E3, a lot of rumors of possible Sony announcements were leaked out online. One of which, the PSP Go, was confirmed today by Sony. Called "the worst kept secret of E3", the PSP Go centers around digital distribution of content and eliminates the need for physical UMDs. It's 50% smaller and 40% lighter than the original PSP, slides up to reveal all the same buttons and nub (singular), carries 16GB of internal flash memory, has built in wi-fi, and allows bluetooth and memory stick integration. The PSP Go will not, however, replace the PSP 3000, as Sony understands that there are gamers who prefer having tangible software in their hands. PSP Go will be released October 1 in North America and Europe, priced at $249.99. Sony also announced Media Go, a program that will allow faster, intuitive download and transfer of content from PC to PSP. The PSP will also be able to download apps like SenseMe, which will analyze your personal music library on PSP and create playlists according to moods.
Going along with the confirmation of PSP Go, 2 new PSP games were announced: Gran Turismo PSP and Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker. Gran Turismo is a full GT game with 800 different cars, 35 tracks, and 60 different layouts of those tracks. The game runs at 60 frames per second, making it look like the best driving simulator on handheld consoles so far. It will also allow players to trade cars between garages and supports adhoc multiplayer with up to four players. It's set to release along side the PSP Go on October 1st. Hideo Kojima came on stage to talk about the new PSP game Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker. Set 10 years after the events of Metal Gear Solid 3, Kojima promises that this is not just another spin off or side story, but another step in the Metal Gear saga entirely. It's being developed by Kojima himself along with the MGS4 team. Expect Peace Walker to appear in 2010.
Tretton came back on stage to give a glimpse of the PSP lineup of 2009. Some highlights seen include LittleBigPlanet, Jak & Daxter, Dissidia, Soul Calibur, and Motorstorm. Tretton also announced that Final Fantasy VII will be on sale on the PSN Store starting today. After boasting some stats and another montage of PS3 games, Tretton announced the PS3-exclusive Rockstar title, Agent. Set in the 1970s, Agent will bring forth the world of espionage and assassination of the time. No footage or screenshots were shown.
The people from Ubisoft came on stage to show off a demo of Assassins Creed 2. Why they didn't do this during their own press conference, I don't know, but the game looks beautiful. It stars another ancestor of Desmond, Ezio. As mentioned in the Ubisoft conference, it's set in Renaissance Italy. Shown in the demo, Ezio befriends Leonardo Da Vinci, who provides Ezio with upgrades, gadgets, and inventions. For example, Ezio was shown utilizing Da Vinci's flying machine to swoop from the skies. The game will have more assassination techniques and 30 different weapons (with a bonus 6 if integrated with the Assassin's Creed Bloodlines game on PSP). It will be on shelves this holiday season.
Another trailer for Final Fantasy XIII was then shown, this time showing a little more gameplay footage but still focusing on the cinematic quality of the game. Afterwards, Tretton announced that the SquareEnix people have prepared a video of Final Fantasy XIV to show the audience. Not only that, but the game will be released in 2010, the same year as the release of Final Fantasy XIII. After the video, it became clear that Final Fantasy XIV will be another online RPG, thus reducing the amount of shock of it being released so close to FFXIII.
Keeping up with it's competitors, Sony announced that it has been hard at work in developing a motion controller. They came on to demonstrate their prototype, which appeared to be a microphone-looking device along with a Playstation Eye camera. Keeping in mind that the controller is still in development, what was shown was somewhat impressive. The controller does have buttons, such as a trigger button for integration with shooters. It's motion detection is amazingly precise and it will be interesting to see which company will end up having the superior motion controller.
Expanding on the motto of LittleBigPlanet (Play. Create. Share.), Sony showed a demo of the new kart racer, ModNation Racers. The characters are customizable, so each player can create a racer to fit their personality. The game will supposedly harness the full power of the PS3, graphics and physics-wise. It contains a track creator mode, which appears to be very user-friendly; the demonstrators created a fully-playable track within 5 minutes. Look for it around 2010.
Sony officially announced the next game from the Ico team, although it was leaked weeks earlier. The game is called The Last Guardian. If you haven't already seen the trailer, I suggest you look it up as the game looks gorgeous (most of this team's work is). The game is a PS3 exclusive; no release date yet. Next up was a trailer for Gran Turismo 5. Not much to say about it other than it's still the same hardcore driving simulator.
To close the show, a demo of the God of War III gameplay was shown. This game will be the last of the trilogy, as Kratos attempts to gain revenge on Zeus and the gods of Mount Olympus. The demo showed the brutal executions that all God of War fans are familiar with. Kratos also has some new weapons, such as gauntlets which he can pound the ground with. The final chapter is set for a March 2010 release.
Sony's presentation showed some really cool games and innovations. It's a shame that some of their shock value was reduced due to press leaks. Overall, Sony gets a B+ from me this year. I will agree with CEO Jack Tretton in that 2009 looks great for Sony.

Jordan

Day 2 of E3 09: Nintendo

2009-06-02T10:52:00.000-07:00

Last year, Nintendo left us questioning the historic game maker as we were sorely disappointed with a lack of strong announcements. The presentation was laden with big numbers, "paradigm shifts", and unexcitable casual games that left the hardcore audience with their tail between their legs. This year, Nintendo attempted to fix all of that.
They kicked off the presentation with what seemed to be a huge announcement; a new Mario game for the Wii. This time, Mario reenters the 2D side-scrolling platforming genre with New Super Mario Bros. for Wii. Looking very much like the same game released on the DS years earlier, the Wii adaptation has enhanced graphics, boasts new items and enemies, and supports up to 4-person multiplayer. While somewhat interesting, the game seemed to lack real depth and appeared to be fun for a couple of minutes here and there. It's set to launch this holiday season.
Building upon the success of Wii Fit and the balance board, Nintendo upped the ante on competing fitness games with Wii Fit Plus. Being more of an expansion on the first Wii Fit, Plus adds new exercises, new minigames, and a choice of where players want to focus their workout. It's set to release this fall as a bundle with the balance board and as a standalone game.
Last year, Nintendo also gave a glimpse of their new addon, Wii MotionPlus. This tiny cube attaches to the bottom of the Wiimote and provides enhanced precision control. To help demonstrate this, Nintendo gave a further look into Wii Sports Resort, which was also shown briefly last year. This year, archery and basketball were displayed on stage. President of Nintendo America Reggie Fils-Aime also shared that third party developers like EA, Sega, and Ubisoft were also working with the MotionPlus technology.
Nintendo brought out some videos of upcoming RPGs from SquareEnix, including Final Fantasy: The Crystal Bearers for the Wii and Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days. Final Fantasy wasn't much to talk about but Kingdom Hearts seems to bring the action RPG to the portable DS, instead of the card-based action seen previously in Chain of Memories for the GBA. Nintendo also displayed their own contender in the RPG genre, Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story. In this branch of the Mario & Luigi saga, the dynamic duo go inside the Koopa King himself. Currently out for the Japan, Bowser's Inside Story will hit North American shores this fall. Nintendo then announced that they were reviving another RPG name in their arsenal, one that hasn't been heard from in years. While most people, like myself, were expecting this to be a new Earthbound game or at least a Mother 3 port, the game they were talking about was Golden Sun DS. Although somewhat of a disappointment, I did enjoy the Golden Sun games for GBA and am excited to see what the game brings to the DS.
From here, the show started to go downhill. Nintendo tried to show off their diversity in games pandering to different target markets; Women's Murder Club, C.O.P: The Recuit, and Style Savvy. They talked about some upcoming downloadable programs for the new DSi. Some interesting things shown include FlipNote Studio (a mini-animation program available this summer) and WarioWare DIY (create your own minigames in true WarioWare fashion). This summer, DSi owners will also be able to upload their edited photos taken with the DSi to their Facebook profiles. Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks was also mentioned, but no new information was distributed.
CEO of Nintendo, Satoru Iwata came out to talk about Nintendo's goal in further expanding their gamer population. And just as I predicted, he had another new peripheral to show off. This time, he brought out the Wii Vitality Sensor. What this essentially does is measure the pulse from your finger and it can tell how nervous you are, your focus level, etc. Iwata's goal with this device is to help gamers achieve greater relaxation, but he failed to show the device in action or any games that would utilize such a device.
Nintendo had another trick up their sleeves this year. They unveiled yet another new Mario game; Super Mario Galaxy 2. The game builds upon the first game, but adds new levels and everyone's favorite little green dinosaur, Yoshi.
Reggie attempted to get the audience pumped about the future third-party games in development for the Wii by showing off Sega's sci-fi shooter The Conduit, Capcom's Resident Evil: Dark Side Chronicles, and EA's Dead Space: Extraction. Yet no one seemed too intrigued since these games have already been revealed earlier.
To wrap it all up, Nintendo came out with a big announcement. Teaming up with Team Ninja (Ninja Gaiden, Dead or Alive), Nintendo announced Metroid: Other M. The new Metroid game returns to the 3rd person, something we haven't seen on consoles since the SNES. It's set for a 2010 release. Great ending that I'm sure not many in the audience were expecting.
Overall, Nintendo's press conference this year gets a C+. Though they did have some exciting new announcements (Metroid: Other M, new Mario games, and Golden Sun DS), the lackluster games overwhelmed the extraordinary. I will commend Nintendo on at least attempting to satisfy hardcore gamers while still concentrating on the casual gamer market, but the process of achieving a perfect balance between the two has yet to be perfected.

Jordan

Day 1 of E3 '09: Ubisoft

2009-06-01T19:05:00.000-07:00

Day 1 of E3 2009 ends with Ubisoft's press conference, which was laden with French accents. To start, CEO Yves Guillermot announced the UPlay service that comes bundled in Ubisoft games; it's basically an XBox dashboard but exclusively for Ubisoft games. They talked for a long time what they're doing to advance in the media realm to become more than a game developer. From here, they transferred to introducing film director James Cameron, who talked for what seemed to be an eternity about his new movie Avatar (not based on the nickelodeon show, but his own creation) in great detail. Once everyone woke up, they finally brought out the games, starting with Red Steel 2. This time, the game is set in a Samurai Western setting. The first game had serious problems with controls but this time, they're utilizing the Motion Plus Wiimote addon. Hopefully, this will fix the problems that made the first game so unplayable for me. From there, they went on to the sports games in their arsenal which include Shaun White Snowboarding: World Stage and Academy of Champions, which is an arcade soccer game introduced by the great Pele. After sports, the men behind Splinter Cell: Conviction came out to show off what Sam Fisher has gotten into now. The game boasts a fully interactive environment for interrogation, Mark & Execute (Sam is able to target an enemy and stealthily assassinate them, allowing for quick execution of multiple enemies), and Last Known Position (shows where enemies think Sam is so he can gain tactical positioning). The game has revived my interest in the series as it comes with an aesthetically appealing design (the game turns into a B&W filter when you are hidden and objectives are projected onto the environment).
A little known project teased during the presentation was the touch based RTS Ruse. From what they showed, units are moved by hand movements on a touch screen table, although I think the table will be replaced by the iPhone/iTouch.
Then, a few statistics were shared. Ubisoft claims the biggest selling IP in 2008 was their Imagine (yeah right) and that the biggest growing genre is fitness games. Supposedly, Ubisoft is making big steps in ensuring that tween girls have plenty to play as well as weight-conscious people. They announced their contender in the fitness genre, Your Shape for Wii, which will come bundled with a camera that will track all movements.
Other games shown include Rabbids Go Home for Wii, which is basically Ubisoft does Katamari Damacy, and the TMNT Smash-Up, basically another Super Smash Brothers clone.
Ubisoft closed the evening with the Assassins Creed 2 trailer. Set in Renaissance Italy, the game looks like more Assassins Creed but with more weapons and assassination possibilities. It's set for a November 17 release date.
Ubisoft started off the evening very slow and though they did gain a little momentum later on, they failed to really get me excited for Ubisoft games. A couple final questions for Ubisoft: No Beyond Good & Evil 2? And no Jade Raymond?

Jordan

Day 1 of E3 '09: Electronic Arts

2009-06-01T16:14:00.000-07:00

EA started off big, showing a trailer for the God-Of-War-esque Dante's Inferno. Following the book of the Divine Comedy, the game follows Dante (is it just me or is it weird having another protagonist named Dante?) as he journeys through the depths of hell. Very ultra-violent and in no way putting down the remarks of it being a God of War clone. Out of nowhere, EA pulled a complete turn going from the bloodbath of Dante's Inferno to Littlest Pet Shop and Charm Girls Club, leaving everyone with a confused look on their faces. They also talked a little about the upcoming Sims 3, which carries several upgrades but all in all just looks like more Sims. From there, they switched gears to Need for Speed: Shift, which has stunning visuals along with an interesting take on the racing genre that seems to mix the more simulation aspects of Forza to the arcade-like gameplay of Burnout. The people of EA Sports came out with a multitude of new games including Fight Night Round 4, a MMA game to rival the recent UFC game from THQ, NCAA Football and Madden 10 which both carry integration with the EA Sports website (NCAA allows you to build your own team, while Madden will allow you to manage an online franchise), EA Active for the Wii, and Grand Slam Tennis (with Pete Sampras showing his moves with the Wiimote). Tim Schaefer came out to talk a little about his new game Brutal Legend, a game starring the voices of metalheads like Jack Black, Lemmy Kilmister, and Ozzy Osbourne. EA closed their set by showing their two MMOs in the works, Realtime Studios' All Points Bulletin and BioWare/LucasArts' Star Wars: The Old Republic. All Points Bulletin is an open world city in which players can choose how to achieve their rise to fame; either by crime or by upholding the law. Gameplay looked very Saints Row and all in all was not very appealing to my tastes. On the otherhand, LucasArts came on with an entourage of Jedis and Sith Lords to debut the first cinematic trailer of Star Wars: The Old Republic. Being a recovering WoW addict, Star Wars: The Old Republic may just be my new drug of choice.

Jordan

Day 1 of E3 '09: Microsoft

2009-06-01T13:42:00.000-07:00

Wow, this year my Microsoft predictions weren't as accurate as a I thought they would be. It seems as though Microsoft knew what people were expecting (motion controller, avatar stuff, etc.) and went a step further with it.
In response to the motion controller rumors, they showed off Project Natal with Steven Spielberg, which is a camera that detects faces and motion and responds to voice commands as well. They demoed the new camera by showing several games as well as Peter Molyneux (Fable, Black & White) showing off Milo, an interactive character that responds to real-life actions through Natal.
As far as avatars go, they will be upgraded with the ability to earn awards and props that allow you to further customize your avatar. They will also be further integrated into the NXE; both games and interface-wise.
Microsoft made, in my opinion, a great move when they announced that the 360 will support Last.fm, Facebook, and Twitter. Last.fm will allow Gold members to use the free listening/music discovery service. No word on whether you will be able to use it while in-game. The Facebook integration allows users to take game snapshots and automatically upload them to their profile. Users will also be able to update statuses and view photos and friends via Facebook Xbox. Twitter allows the same twitter service to be used on Xbox. Nothing too special there.
More importantly, Microsoft gave an excellent view of what games they have lined up for the upcoming year. First off, they had a diverse cast of celebrities come up to help present what Microsoft has to offer. They started out with Rock Band: The Beatles, where the families of John Lennon and George Harrison as well as Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr came on stage. This was followed by Tony Hawk showing off the new Tony Hawk Ride game, which is controlled by a skateboard deck peripheral. The Square Enix people gave a glimpse of FFXII running on the 360. Shooters shown include Left 4 Dead 2 and Modern Warfare 2, both looking badass as expected, as well as Halo: ODST and the announcement of Halo: Reach, which is a prequel to the first Halo. A sequel to Crackdown was announced for 2010, supporting both competitive and co-op multiplayer. Finally, following on the heels of the FFXIII announcement of last year, this year's shocker was the appearance of Hideo Kojima who announced that the Metal Gear Solid franchise would be coming to XBox 360 with Metal Gear Solid: Rising. It stars Raiden from MGS2 and MGS4 fame.
Overall, great press conference from Microsoft this year. I give it a B+ on the grounds that they do have some great games lined up and some great ideas, but how well those ideas will be executed in the mass market is debatable. Also, no price changes or even possible bundles were announced for the upcoming year. While the MGS announcement came as a bit of a shocker to some, it is not the first time the franchise has come to Microsoft consoles as MGS2 was released for the first XBox. Microsoft has certainly set the bar for Sony and Nintendo and it will be interesting to see if they'll be able to compete.

Jordan

Review: Star Trek

2009-05-31T10:16:00.001-07:00

Star Trek is a series I am barely familiar with. I have seen only a handful of episodes and none of the movies until now. And I think that is why J.J. Abrams made this film: to usher in Star Trek for a new generation. As always, never fear, as there are no spoilers here.

J.J. Abrams has made quite a name for himself over the past few years. Last year the hype for Cloverfield was unparalleled. This year he presented us with a reboot of Star Trek, a very ambitious move if you ask me. Despite having not seen the old movies, any film buff could tell you that there was quite a problem with the last few entries. J.J. Abrams has taken character I was vaguely familiar with and caters them to a new audience. At the same time he keeps them basically the same to keep the fans happy. Abrams does a good job with setting up a Star Trek franchise and assembling the Enterprise crew, but if this were a standalone film, I really would not have enjoyed it as much. My biggest problem was that Abrams was way too eager to use lens flares. It seemed without a purpose or only to make it "look cool". Also, fellow Symposyum blogger pointed out that there were some noticeable plot holes, which can be forgiven with some suspension of disbelief in sci-fi. Chris Pine offered a good performance, but the support of Zachary Quinto, Anton Yelchin, and Simon Pegg was invaluable. The characters were also developed well and fluidly, as the script was well written, especially for a sci-fi blockbuster. I would say that the film left me feeling unsatisfied, as the action was Bourne-like and way too unintelligible for my liking, but to each his own. If it is fast, jumpy visuals that you enjoy, Star Trek is a good option.

Emerson

Review: Powder Blue

2009-05-31T09:52:00.000-07:00

Many people shun the bargain bin of straight to video and attach a stigma to it. Personally, I have found some good ones over the years in films such as Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon. When I heard Powder Blue was coming straight to DVD, I knew I would have to see it, as the trailer was one of the best of 2008. Now that I have seen it, I present you with a review (spoiler free as always):

Powder Blue is a very deep film. It tracks the lives of four residents of L.A. during Christmas-time. The film as a whole is great, as each individual cinematic aspect was quite obviously paid close attention to. Upon reflection, I have realized that this film uses some of the best mise en scene (for the uninitiated that would be character placement, or blocking, color usage, framing and whatnot in a shot) and makes very good use of its ensemble cast featuring performances by Forest Whitaker, Jessica Biel, Patrick Swayze, and Ray Liotta. The best performance in this reviewer's opinion, however, was that of newcomer Eddie Redmayne. Redmayne plays one of the four main characters and is a very complex character, especially contrasting the extremes of the other characters and bringing them all together in a sense. Cinematography was excellent, and I really wish that I could have seen it in Blu Ray, as it would have been a real treat. Powder Blue is for anyone that appreciates drama or the culminating plots sub-genre, a favorite of mine. Whether Powder Blue is right for everyone, I am not quite sure on, but it is definitely worth a watch and is the kind of movie that can bring about much conversation. Ultimately, I would highly recommend Powder Blue and even consider one of my new favorite films and the best film I have seen in 2009 so far.

Emerson

Possible E3 Predictions?

2009-05-29T14:34:00.000-07:00

Ahhh, it's finally here. We're officially on summer vacation. While summer often means swimming pools, cookouts, and beach trips, to the gamer it also means E3 is upon us. This year, the granddaddy of video game shows arrives a little early, hitting the LA Convention Center from June 2-4. And every year, I like to make some predictions on what the Big Three (Nintendo, Microsoft, Sony) might bring to the show floor. But first, let's recap last year's E3:

Microsoft went on the first day of the show, showing off the new 360 interface with avatars and all. They also talked about the new party system that allows players to join up together but play different games at the same time. A big advancement for the 360 interface is the addition of Netflix, allowing owners to stream videos via their XBox. They showed off a couple new games like Lips and Gears of War 2, but the real big announcement was the addition of Final Fantasy XIII to the lineup.

Nintendo's press conference was sadly disappointing, giving us nothing too big to talk about and pandering mostly to non-gamers. Their big game for the holiday season was Animal Crossing: City Folk, which they bundled with the Wii Speak apparatus. The game ended up being...just more Animal Crossing. They also showed off Shaun White Snowboarding with the Wii Fit balance board, Wii Music with a crazy drummer dude, and Wii Sports: Resort with the Wii MotionPlus attachment. No real strong first person title was showcased, leaving the hardcore gamers empty-handed.

Sony came in claiming 2008 to be the "year of the PS3". They showed off their social interaction program Home, once again adding avatars to the mix. While people clamored for a price drop on the PS3, Sony instead gave them twice the amount of memory for the same price; an 80 GB PS3 for $400. Games shown included Ratchet and Clank: Quest for Booty, Little Big Planet, and Resistance 2. They closed off their conference with MAG (Massive Action Game) that supports up to 256 players per game.

Now for my predictions for this year's show:

Microsoft
- Main showcase shows off shooters (Modern Warfare 2, Halo 3 ODST, Bioshock 2)
- Bioshock 2 will attempt and fail at multiplayer
- More bundles released.
- Half Life 2: Episode 3 is shown
- Show a motion controller to compete with the SixAxis.
- Sega revives the Jet Grind series on the 360.
- More XBLA games utilizing the avatars are announced

Nintendo
- Once again, more "celebrity" guest stars make an appearance
- The DSi gets downloadable Game Boy, Game Boy Color, and Game Boy Advance games.
- They play with virtual dogs via Nintendogs for the Wii
- Big holiday title is Kid Icarus.
- Will appease hardcore gamers by finally porting Mother 3 to the DS.
- Another expensive peripheral is announced.

Sony
- No price cut, but another better deal appears.
- The new PSP has a touch screen and slides up to reveal buttons and two nubs.
- The new Kojima game is not Metal Gear Solid 5, but Metal Gear Solid 4: Substance.
- Square Enix tries to make up for expanding FFXIII to the 360 by giving more useless titles to Sony exclusively.
- God of War 3 is the big title for Sony this year, and they milk it for all it's badassery.
- MAG is given a distinct release date.

Jordan

Review: Terminator Salvation

2009-05-23T06:44:00.000-07:00

And we're back! Although busy, summer is nearly here, and my first summer blockbuster was Terminator Salvation. As always, never fear, as there are no spoilers here.
The first thing to begin with is the title. Several news outlets have stated that the title makes no sense without a colon. Clearly they haven't seen this movie. Moving on. Terminator Salvation's trailers showed a very dark film, including Nine Inch Nails music and all kinds of existential quandaries. Well, Terminator Salvation is not quite that same movie. It does stray from the usual sci-fi fare which actually made me proud of it, as it presented some interesting ideas within the Terminator world, however, it did not create any thought on a larger scale. This ended up being okay because Terminator is ultimately the most bad-ass of sci-fi action films. If there was one thing that I was disappointed about in Terminator, it would had to have been Christian Bale. He is one of my favorite actors, and I don't always expect much out of him, but in Terminator Salvation, Bale left me wanting more from his performance. Maybe someone was messing with the lights during his scenes, but in all seriousness the cinematography was excellent. The film has a darkly beautiful tone which is helped by the rich, obliterated environments. I must say that it was not visually exciting most of the time, as it just looked intriguing. A performance I was shocked at was that of Sam Worthington, whose character bears a great deal of significance throughout. Worthington also pulls out all the stops and his character Marcus becomes the bad ass that he was meant to be. Terminator is a very good movie, although I have yet to decide where it fits in the series. It is an enjoyable experience, having both the cheap thrills and memorable moments that we expect from the series, Terminator is quite satisfying for anyone looking for a great action movie. I must conclude with a warning that if you see Terminator, you must not expect the darkest of movies (tonally anyways, as the lighting is pretty damn dark) or you will be somewhat disappointed.

Emerson

We've Taken a Hiatus!

2009-04-20T19:57:00.000-07:00

Hello Readers! As you may have noticed, there's been a bit of a drought of reviews on this site lately. The reason for this is that it's coming to the end of the school year for us and our classes are starting to really buckle down. Thus, we haven't really had the time to review anything. But hold fast, the site is not closed. Once things start to cool down, which will probably be sometime after AP exams, the site will get buzzing again. Stay tuned, I've got a lot of good stuff planned for the future.

Jordan

Script Review: Balls Out

2009-03-31T13:29:00.000-07:00

I haven't read very many scripts, but I do every once in a while. I am aware of the entire practical subculture of unproduced scripts that read anything that can be found. I look for the unproduced gems. And the few I have read are beautiful. Balls Out is far and away the best. Balls Out is rude and raunchy and knows it. It was a pretty short read, about an hour and a half, but worth every part. The dialogue is witty and the script is filled with plenty of allusions, to itself and other works. A good number of the jokes are very offensive and politically incorrect, meaning it will stay unproduced until society doesn't care as much about censorship. The script was written by "The Robotard 8000", and I'm pretty sure there is some talent in there. The script flaunts its jokes, without being too flashy. It is very simple. A good portion of the laughs come just from the scene headings and action. If this were ever made, it would probably not be as good as the script. If it was, man would lament over its beauty. Whoever "The Robotard 8000" is, they are either a genius, or just very, very bored. Either way, I look forward to hearing more of this screenwriter(s). The script may be read in its entirety here:
Balls Out

Emerson

Album Review: Klang

2009-03-28T15:00:00.000-07:00

The Rakes are a band that I've been watching for a good deal of time, knowing them from their first album, Capture/Release, through Ten New Messages, and now Klang. Klang presents The Rakes the same way they have been, but modifies the formula a bit. The band took off two years after Ten New Messages, and I feel it was well advised as that album is hit and miss. But Klang returns to the joys brought by Capture/Release. Klang's beautys include "The Woes of the Working Woman" which seems like a modern Talking Heads song, "1989" a very upbeat song with a history lesson to it similar to Strasbourg from their first album. "Muller's Ratchet" is helped by a piano background, and squeaky, at times ballad like, guitar. "You're In It" builds itself up and creates the climax that the song's lyrics imply. It may be admitted that there are songs that only aspects of them are enjoyable, such as "Shackleton," but this album is much more consistent than Ten New Messages and is an overall great experience. All of the tracks from Klang, as well as selections from earlier albums, may be listened to at myspace.com/therakes. I would suggest buying this album, but listening online works well.

Emerson

Album Review: Dark Was The Night

2009-03-28T09:05:00.000-07:00

Just by purchasing this album, I had a good feeling about myself. Why? Well, I'll get to that in a second. First, let me explain what Dark Was The Night is exactly. It's a two-disc compilation album of new original works as well as some covers by some indie rock greats. It was put together by The Red Hot Organization, a group that has put out several charity albums in support of AIDS/HIV research. In 1993, they put out No Alternative, which featured Nirvana, Sonic Youth, and Pavement. Dark Was The Night is no exception. But besides going to a great cause, the album is absolutely magnificent.
The first disk is relatively mellow. Some key tracks include Bon Iver's "Brackett, WI" (named after the town Justin Vernon retreated to to create his debut album), The National's "So Far Around the Bend", My Brightest Diamond's rendition of "Feeling Good" (which I find to be much better than the Muse and Michael Buble covers), and Grizzly Bear's collaboration with Feist on "Service Bell". Other notable artists on the first disc include The Decemberists, Sufjan Stevens, and Iron and Wine. The Books along with Jose Gonzalez do a cover of Nick Drake's cello song, adding electronics to the cello sound. Dirty Projectors and David Byrne kick the album off with "Knotty Pine" which holds the fastest rhythm on the first disc.
The second disc is more of a mix. It starts off with Spoon's "Well Alright", which like the first disc starts the second disc with a fast pace. From there on out, it alternates between highs and lows. It's got some big names such as The Arcade Fire, The New Pornographers, Cat Power, and Beirut. But none of the tracks really do anything to wow the listener. About midway through the album, it gets progressively slower, starting with Yo La Tengo's "Gentle Hours". Continuing with this is Riceboy Sleeps' "Happiness" which features many of the members of Sigur Ros. Andrew Bird adds on with "The Giant of Illinois" whose strings and lullaby guitar playing induces a state of calmness. This is followed by Connor Oberst who does a rendition of his own song "Lua" with Gillian Welch. Finally, Kevin Drew of Broken Social Scene fame ends it with "Love Vs. Porn" which provides a light, airy finish. One track that does seem a little out of place is Buck 65's "Blood pt. 2" which is a dark hip-hop track. Maybe the track wouldn't feel as foreign if the album featured a little more variety and added maybe another hip hop track as well as some electronica. But overall, Dark Was The Night is a fantastic album and well worth every penny.

Jordan

A Different Way of Looking at the World

2009-03-23T16:43:00.000-07:00

As I was browsing the internet, I found a website, a beautiful website at that, which showcases videos on futurists and the top people in all kinds of fields giving talks on our future, our culture, and our past. The website I am referring to is one TED.com and is quite informative. TED is a kind of conference, offering up all kinds of knowledge that is out there in the world on subjects such as why the economy is the way it is, simplicity, the pressure of genius, and applications for new inventions. It is astounding to hear the bioeconomy we are shifting into or how Benjamin Button was done and all of this can be found in one place. The videos are categorized in such a way that a user may browse based on a specific topic and delve deeper if they are intrigued. The videos range from about fifteen to twenty minutes. TED offers insight into the importance of technology and innovation in our society and offers its videos up to the general populace for no charge. I say it is best to embrace this newfound knowledge, and it is best to share this knowledge rather than horde it, so whether you are already aware of it or not, please spread the word about TED.com as I have tried.

Emerson

The Most Significant Musical Event in Years

2009-03-13T15:14:00.001-07:00

Forget Michael Jackson's farewell tour. Don't worry about those up-and-comers in the music world because, ladies and gentlemen, the greatest band of our time, Pixies, is reuniting for a festival gig in London. They also plan on a tour. When I say this, I say this as the biggest Pixies fan I know. I've been checking out the careers of Pixies band members since for years on a daily basis. I was listening to a Frank Black song when I found out they were touring. I even checked some stuff out just yesterday about some quotes Frank made last year about a possible album. I am psyched. For the uninitiated, Pixies basically influenced all modern rock in one way or another. Usually I would not be so anecdotal in an article, but this situation is very emotional for me. I admit that I cried upon reading the news. If you live in the UK the only chance to check them will be at the Isle of Wight festival, so please take the opportunity to see this fantastic band. The band had a reunion tour back in 2004 and released a single entitled "Bam Thwok." Who knows, maybe this reunion will be for good?

Emerson

Review: Watchmen

2009-03-06T19:26:00.000-08:00

Never fear, no spoilers here! I went into Watchmen hopeful, optimistic even. I wanted Watchmen to be good. I really did. I am not even that much of a finicky fanboy. My moviebuff-self always comes before my nerdy self. I tried hard. And honestly, it was not terrible, it just was not good. It got off to a good start. I even thought about the great review I was going to give it as I watched the opening scene and the title segment. But, unfortunately, that's about the highlight of Watchmen. Aside from a few other scenes spread out that honestly would have been impossible to get wrong, it was bad in all aspects. First off, the acting, particularly that of Sally Jupiter and Nite Owl, were borderline bad, delivering lines a bit too dramatically. A majority of the characters were oversimplified as well to fit whatever vision Zack Snyder was trying to achieve. I believe he was going for something about good vs. evil and the lines drawn between them, which at this point is a bit too standard for super hero movies if you deviate from the source material. Snyder could have won me over easily if he had either stuck entirely with the novel shot-by-shot or had completely strayed away from the beginning. But Snyder's changes to the story leave plot holes, multiple ones at that. Alan Moore has every right to despise adaptations of his stories, and Watchmen only adds to the list of botched graphic novels. The movie is sloppily put together at the ending, and a good beginning cannot make up for a paltry ending. The action was good, as was the cinematography, but I cannot seem to get past the poor writing of the end. Alan Moore practically storyboarded the entirety of a movie for Zack Snyder, and he could have just adapted it directly, but he instead had to steal most of it and then contort the ending for his own needs. Zack Snyder's additions to the story are pointless and feel extraneous, as the exclusion of other scenes for these scenes feels like it is cheapening the work. Snyder also was forced by the studio to leave out some parts because of time. This is a massive setback, as Rorschach's origin is never discussed and many things are left unanswered or appear confusing to the audience. By limiting time, there is a strained connection with the characters and this creates no emotional appeal to the characters, so when something happens, no one will care when they are gone. What Zack Snyder should have done is not resorted to compromise even in the face of armageddon. For a movie that is 2 hours and 45 minutes in length, Watchmen feels rushed. If you are searching for cheap thrills in an action movie on the other hand (which is basically the opposite intention of the comic, but whatever floats your boat), then see Watchmen in IMAX. I firmly believe this is the only way I found it to be remotely good and I find IMAX to be crucial in the future of film viewing. Overall, see Watchmen if you want cheap thrills, blood, and sex, but if you are a fan of the graphic novel, only disappointment awaits you.

Emerson

The Good Trailers

2009-03-05T13:13:00.000-08:00

Maybe it's just me, but the trailers for movies this year seem astounding. They blow away trailers from any previous years. Maybe, I'm just getting to be more of a movie nerd, but I've seen some fantastic trailers and teasers. I thought I could share some that I feel are not getting noticed as much and that are getting a lot of attention.

Watchmen- The Watchmen trailer from last year was shocking in front of The Dark Knight. After I saw that in IMAX, I told my dad, "We are seeing that in IMAX." And so I'll have a review as soon as I see that. I found the trailer with the Smashing Pumpkins music in the trailer to be very effective. (If you must know the song is The Beginning Is The End Is The Beginning.)

Powder Blue- It's been a long time since I've cried during a movie. I've never cried during a trailer, but Powder Blue makes me want to. It is simply beautiful, what it shows with color and despair of the characters with such little dialogue and even information of any plot synopsis. This is a film that I highly look forward to in the coming months.

The Perfect Sleep- I wish I lived in LA for many reasons. But next week, this will be the only reason, as it gets a limited release in only LA. The Perfect Sleep reminds me of the underrated masterpiece that is Miller's Crossing combined with some creation of David Lynch. The resurgence of film noir is a subject that is near and dear to me and this seems true to the genre.

Inglorious Basterds- I love Grindhouse. It's not quite Quentin Tarantino's usual cool style, but it remains a favorite of mine. The trailer for Inglorious Basterds demonstrates QT's return to cool and ability to put it into a war movie. This has been a project of his for years, so I have faith that it will be good.

And some others that I don't have time to talk about (but are still good):

This looks righteous, but was not embeddable: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNPSxqbPLPQ

Emerson

Comic Review: Scott Pilgrim

2009-02-15T16:20:00.000-08:00

Growing up, I've unintentionally grown fond of all things Canadian. Canadian bands (Broken Social Scene, Stars, The Unicorns), Canadian women (Evangeline Lilly, Rachel McAdams, Sarah Chalke), and more recently, Canadian comics. The Scott Pilgrim series comes from Canadian cartoonist Bryan Lee O'Malley, and is published by Oni Press. The basis of the story is of a 24 year old Canadian bassist who falls in love with an American delivery girl, but in order to date her, he must fight and defeat her 7 evil ex-boyfriends. The latest trade book that came out is the 5th volume (shown in the picture). The writing is cleverly humorous and develops the story without long weary dialogue. It's very cute at points and unique in the way that it shows the relationships that each of the characters have with one another. The fights between Scott and the ex-boyfriends are fun to read and hyperstylized in the manga fashion that it kind of pokes fun at the way Japanese comics do combat. Speaking of which, all of the art is also done in the manga fashion but it's also very unique to O'Malley's style. The characters are drawn in a simple style in some panels and in great detail in others. All in all, this series is very much a bridge between the Western comics and Japanese manga. Reading each volume is an enjoyable experience unlike any other. When I picked up the first two volumes for the first time, I read through both of them non-stop. The books are about 200 pages each and run for $11.95.

Jordan

Emerson's Academy Award Predictions

2009-02-08T07:29:00.000-08:00

Oscar turns 81 this year. From Wings to No Country for Old Men, many movies have gone through the Academy's ballot. Now it's my turn to provide my predictions of this year's winners.

Leading actor: Sean Penn "Milk"

Supporting actor: Heath Ledger "The Dark Knight"

Leading actress: Kate Winslet "The Reader"

Supporting actress: Penelope Cruz "Vicky Christina Barcelona"

Animated film: "WALL-E"

Art direction: "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"

Cinematography: "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"

Costume Design: "Revolutionary Road"

Directing: Danny Boyle "Slumdog Millionaire"

Documentary: "Man on Wire"

Documentary short: "The Final Inch"

Film editing: "The Dark Knight"

Foreign Language: "Waltz with Bashir"

Makeup: "The Dark Knight"

Original score: "WALL-E"

Original song: "WALL-E"

Best picture: "Slumdog Millionaire"

Animated short: "This Way Up"

Live action short: "New Boy"

Sound editing: "The Dark Knight"

Sound mixing: "The Dark Knight"

Visual effects: "The Dark Knight"

Adapted screenplay: "Slumdog Millionaire"

Original screenplay: "Milk"

Jordan's Picks for 2009 Oscar Winners (Subject to Change)

2009-02-07T20:11:00.000-08:00

As many of you know, it's film award season. And so, in the spirit of the moment, I would like to present my predictions for the Oscar Winners of 2009. Hopefully, my fellow staff members will post their predictions up shortly as well.

Actor in a Leading Role: Mickey Rourke - The Wrestler

Actor in a Supporting Role: Heath Ledger - The Dark Knight

Actress in a Leading Role: Meryl Streep - Doubt

Actress in a Supporting Role: Viola Davis - Doubt

Animated Feature Film: Wall-E

Art Direction: The Duchess

Cinematography: Slumdog Millionaire

Costume Design: The Duchess

Directing: Slumdog Millionaire

Documentary Feature: Man On Wire

Documentary Short: Smile Pinki

Film Editing: Slumdog Millionaire

Foreign Language: Waltz with Bashir

Makeup: Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Music (Score): Slumdog Millionaire

Music (Song): "Down to Earth" - Wall-E

Best Picture: Slumdog Millionaire

Short Film (Animated): Presto

Short Film (Live Action): The Pig

Sound Editing: The Dark Knight

Sound Mixing: The Dark Knight

Visual Effects: The Dark Knight

Writing (Adapted Screenplay): The Reader

Writing (Original): Wall-E

Reviewing A Classic: The Killing

2009-01-31T17:38:00.000-08:00

I've had a day or two to reflect on Stanley Kubrick's The Killing. Within this time period I've seen about four or five other movies, some better than others. The Killing was far and away the best of them. Stanley Kubrick's early work challenges even many modern films in it's impact and ability to make the viewer feel some emotion. Now, I must say that spoilers are a pet peeve of mine, and it is for this reason that I won't divulge any myself. I must say, however that The Killing is not only a great heist movie, it is the perfect heist movie. If you know me well, then you know I have aspirations to be a film director. I recognize how difficult it is to pull off this genre, much less pull it off well. If I were to make a heist movie, I would either not because it would not live up to the standards of The Killing or directly rip it off. The Killing, however is what I like to call a travesty movie, as it is a travesty that more people do not know about it. It also deals with the travesties that befall normal men and what the must go through to make their given situation better. The Killing also proves that voiceovers in film do not have to be lazy writing, but just be informative. I also doubt that Stanley Kubrick was a lazy writer. I highly recommend The Killing to anyone and everyone, as it is a caper film that seems to be the basis for even Tarantino's work. The acting in the film is quite good, filled with bit parts that prove interesting. I don't want to sound like a cheerleader for the film so I must say that the pacing at the beginning just did not feel good. The movie messes with its sequence of storytelling, which eventually gets the viewer to relate to the character, but proves to be initially somewhat confusing. If you enjoy a good crime thriller, then please check out The Killing.

Emerson

Symposyum Presents: Broken Social Scene Presents: Brendan Canning

2009-01-27T17:14:00.001-08:00

Ah, Toronto. Home of the CN Tower and the Toronto Maple Leafs, but more importantly, home to the indie supergroup, Broken Social Scene. If you know me personally, you will know that I am a huge fan of BSS. Founded by Brendan Canning and Kevin Drew, the band is composed of several members of bands signed to the prestigious Canadian indie label, Arts & Crafts. Some people who have lended their musical talent to BSS include Leslie Feist (aka Feist), Amy Millan and Evan Cranley from Stars, Emily Haines and James Shaw from Metric. Needless to say, this culmination of minds never ceases to produce mystical musical magic.
BSS have released 4 albums as a group, including a collection of B-sides; but more recently, the two founding members have produced respective solo albums with the band backing them up. These albums include Kevin Drew's Spirit If..., released in 2007, and Brendan Canning's Something for All of Us, released last year. I'd like to bring the focus to the latter album.
Throughout the entire album, Canning channels the BSS feel, with the uptempo songs like the title track Something for All of Us, Hit the Wall, and Churches Under the Stairs (which feels very Fire Eye'd Boy-ish). After Churches Under the Stairs is the track Love is New, which starts to bring the tempo of the album down a notch. The song carries a 70's disco feel, while still being reminiscent of Hotel off BSS' title album. From there, the songs dive into pool of mellowness, with the synth and brass-driven All The Best Wooden Toys Come From Germany, and the lite collaboration of voices on Been At It So Long. Canning's solo album has me salivating for a new BSS album. Till then, you can always catch Broken Social Scene on tour, since they seem to be touring 365 days a year.

Jordan

Broken Promises and Bon Iver

2009-01-14T20:03:00.000-08:00

Hey everybody! So I know I promised everyone a CES update, but I never actually got around to it. I'm really sorry about that. This blogging thing's a lot harder than I imagined (go figure!).
But do I have a treat for you all:

http://www.scjag.com/mp3/jag/bloodbank.mp3

That, my friends, is the link to where you can listen to Bon Iver's latest track off his upcoming EP.

For those unfamiliar with Bon Iver, allow me to shed a little light. Bon Iver is actually a guy named Justin Vernon. He released his debut album, For Emma Forever Ago, with Jagjaguwar Records on February 19, 2008. I first discovered Bon Iver from a recommendation from my older sister. After listening to Skinny Love one time, I was absolutely enthralled by his voice. There's a certain appeal to the mix of folk guitar and falsetto singing. A perfect album for the bitter cold, it almost feels as though he's singing through the malaise of winter. Could it possibly be that the album was recorded in a cabin in the woods of northern Wisconsin? Or maybe the fact that "bon hiver" means "good winter"? I'm not sure. All I know is that For Emma Forever Ago was one, if not the best, album of 2008 for me. I'm expecting to hear some great stuff in the future from this upcoming artist.

Jordan

Resident Movie Addict

2009-01-08T14:05:00.000-08:00

Hey, this is Emerson here, the local movie reviewer. I am a bit of a film nerd/buff/junkie. I'll be posting reviews of the classics and honestly anything I see. My reviews will cover films from different perspectives, as a horror movie, a comedy, and a drama must all be taken differently, at least to preserve each director's intended message or lack thereof. And if you disagree with me, be neither daunted nor dismayed to confront me head on to discuss or argue or flame me. Things about me to know as a movie lover: I don't like The Godfather, I have about 100 favorite movies (all of which will recieve a review), the Coen brothers comedys are not funny, my pet peeves are having a movies spoilers revealed prematurely as well as when people don't pay attention to a movie but say they don't like it, and the greatest travesty of all time is that all people are not forced to watch Citizen Kane. Whether you agree with me or disagree with me, I hope you enjoy reading and find insight in what I have to offer.

Emerson

CES 2009

2009-01-06T21:56:00.000-08:00

It seems as though the Consumer Electronics Show has creeped upon me once again. What I know currently is that there's been a decent amount of information from the Macworld Keynote about Apple's lineup for 2009. A full report will be posted here shortly. As for other company conferences, I will try to keep up with them to the best of my ability and report back what I hear. I also realized I failed to add our contact info in case any readers wish to make requests on reviews or have a question to ask us.
So, any requests/questions can be sent via e-mail to Symposyum@gmail.com

Jordan

Welcome to Symposyum!

2009-01-02T07:22:00.000-08:00

If somehow, you've stumbled upon this blog in it's premature state, welcome to Symposyum. What we here at Symposyum are about is geek-culture media and news. What that means is that here at Symposyum, we're devoted to bringing you reviews of top movies/video games/comics/music as well as sharing opinions on matters of the tech/media industry. Currently, we are a bit short on writers, so it will be a few days until the first review is posted.
A quick word of warning. The reviews written on Symposyum will be from mostly teens. The reason for this is because more often than not, teens make up a huge percentage of the target market for media. Thus, what better review can you get than that of the target customer? Additionally, I hope Symposyum will help more teens (as well as any other reader) make a judgement on what to seek out media-wise.
Concluding this short introductory post, I hope you continue to follow up with Symposyum. I feel as though great stuff is gonna happen here. Happy reading!

Jordan

The Entertainment Industry in a Slump

2009-01-01T22:35:00.000-08:00

The recent economic problems within the United States have caused people to become more frugal. It is apparent that cutting back on entertainment will be necessary to make it out alive. Will the entertainment industries adapt to suit the needs of the people, or will the people need to stick it through. With so many medias at everyones disposal people will more than likely resort to illegal behavior. Watching movies on the internet will probably become more popular, as will downloading music illegaly. But what can the industries do to prevent this? Should they publish more amature media or tighten budgets. Can movie studios even afford to produce or distribute bad movies. Could this economy be the death of horror remakes and sequels? Video game developers are closing like crazy or at least suffering layoffs. Video games are an expensive media and the industry is supposedly recession-proof, but can it truly stand strong? Movies are getting more expensive. I payed $9.75 the other day to see a movie. I considered leaving my friends and watching The Curious Case of Benjamin Button from the comfort of my own home, but decided $10 was not that much, at least for now. People are making sacrifices. I did not have enough cash for a consession. Where does the line get drawn? It is up to you to decide if cheap thrills suddenly are not cheap anymore, but please, before you go out and buy a new entertainment center, mind the economy.

Emerson