Review: Scott Pilgrim’s Finest Hour
You know that saying: “The comic is better”? Well, in this case, I have no choice but to sadly inform you that this is true once again. Looking back at the six books of the Scott Pilgrim series, I have to say… I really really liked it. For those who watched the movie, it was made during the writing of the fourth book. Thus, the first three are very similar to the movie, the fourth has some similarities (that is about the point where Scott meets Ramona’s evil ex-girlfriend) and the last two (the twins and Gideon) diverge quite wildly. I wouldn’t say the movie is bad, I also like it very much, but the comics is deeper, explores more of the characters’ relationships and explains many things that the movie left open, such as those subspace tunnels Ramona takes. It also rewrites Ramona’s disappearance (which makes more sense, I think) and makes Gideon’s obsession a bit more reasonable, if still a bit whacky. But what really resonates is the fact that Brian O’Malley is telling a story here. No, it’s not like he wrote a story from above and now you are reading it. It’s like he’s telling you a cool story he witnessed. Complete with references, characters breaking the fourth wall, meta-explanations and Scott being an almost complete douche. Making his evolution much more compelling. Since this is my first foray back into reading comics since I stopped several years ago I have to remark on comics in Continue Reading →
Posted in No Category by Eran with comments disabled.
DOTA 2 will be free to play
After conducting the Torchlight vs Diablo discussion for a bit and after reading this, I have to say that Valve, despite being insanely tardy and negligent on the side of their Half-Life property, still know how to release a game. In summary, it goes like this: “Here is a game, it is of one of the most popular yet least populated (by major releases) genres today. This game is completely free to play. As soon as it launches, you can just go play it. There is an in-game store where you can pay real money for stuff that will make you cooler than others. But if you don’t want to spend money, you don’t have to. The items for sale are just cosmetic, they don’t affect the core gameplay. And you have a creation tool in there where you can extend the game by yourself. We will make your extension official and you will get paid for it if it is good enough.” And they also have a matchmaking multiplayer system, an AI mechanic in case your opponent accidentally disconnects, and tutorial line ups where masters can teach the newbies. I think the only thing missing from this release is a big fluffy bunny you can put on your lap and pet for the enhanced experience.
Posted in Gaming, Less Interesting News, Practice, Thinking Out Loud by Eran with 3 comments.
Review: Journey 2 – The Mysterious Island
Some years after the original Journey to the Center of the Earth, Josh Hutcherson returns (without Brendan Fraisier or whoever played his sister) to the second movie. This one is about finding Verne’s mysterious island, also known as the island of the Liliputans, Treasure Island and probably Laputa as well. I have to say, I kinda liked the previous Journey. It was kitschy and kiddy but kind of cute and fun and a good use of the 3D tech. This one however was so silly and dumb that I wanted to punch pretty much every single character. The motivations and mechanics of plot are illogical. It seems that every character is more stupid than the last and pretty much nothing makes sense. It basically looks like they had great fun writing it and great fun making it but nothing else. Skip it. And probably the one that will be coming in 2014.
Posted in Reviews by Eran with comments disabled.
How to Prevent Unfounded Assumptions?
My brother answers people very literally. I tend to do that to. It’s a sort of defense mechanism against assumptions. People tend to make a lot of assumptions in conversation. They assume you’re a friend who’s willing to help, they assume you are in the same group, they might assumee you’re stupid, but the biggest is the assumption you know what they are talking about, you know what they are thinking. And that tends to be very annoying, especially when I have no idea what they want. When I do, I try a reply that will demonstrate their assumption is incorrect. Example: I’m sitting in a class after the lesson ended wrapping up some things. A guy walks in. He asks: “Isn’t there a lesson today?” His wrong assumption: I’m in the class where his lesson should be and thus I know about it. This is a logical fallacy. He should have asked specifically about his lesson and if I knew anything about it and I would have truthfully responded I have no clue. But to that question I could only come up with “There are lots of lessons today!” but I chose the more subtle “I don’t know about you but I had lessons today.” But, for some reason… I think this isn’t working. Is there a better system or should I just go wilder with my responses?
Posted in No Category, Practice, Thinking Out Loud by Eran with 10 comments.
Review: Act of Valor
Act of Valor began as Navy only movie about seals in an attempt to show actual operations and procedures. It evolved into a Hollywood-sized production including some known actors and an actual storyline. First of all, Act of Valor includes actual Navy seals and actual seals hardware and techniques. This means two things: The acting is flat and unconvincing and feels like they are reading plaques more than actually acting. And the story is no better than your average counter-terrorism plot of a modern-day first person shooter. But, the action sequences are one of the best modern warfare scenes seen on film in, probably, ever. They are realistic, brutal and highly professional which makes my inner child’s OCD very happy. So, if you can stand the cliched plot, the almost-non-existent acting, the characters who are barely relate-able and have almost no back story, then this is one of the best modern action films available.
Posted in Reviews by Eran with comments disabled.
Review: Terminal Velocity
Terminal Velocityis about a not-so-stand-up skydiving instructor who takes up a strange client and ends up being involved in some Russian smuggling conspiracy. Basically, it’s a standard nineties action flick centered around high-flying escapades. The premise is very basic, the start off point is kind of silly, the acting is decent, the action is… well, nineties. But still, even 18 years after the making, it has some exciting scenes. The parts involving free falls are especially great. I mean, I can see the stunt doubles and the puppets but when you fall off a plane in a car, it’s exciting. I wouldn’t call it a must, I wouldn’t compare it to The Last Boyscout, I wouldn’t even call it a keeper. But if you’re fond of nineties action, this is one of the good ones.
Posted in Reviews by Eran with comments disabled.