Monthly Archives: December 2007

Dec 13 2007
Games

Uncharted: Drake's Fortune

FACT: Joss Whedon is currently reimagining Indiana Jones, starring Nathan Fillion in the starring role!

No, not really. But if there was a movie with the above concept, then Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune would be the videogame adaptation of that movie.

Circuitious introduction aside, when I first saw previews of Uncharted, I blew it off as a Tomb Raider clone with a male protagonist. Granted, the previews were all based on a very early build of the title that even Naughty Dog (the developers) admit was shown too early. I lost interest and it fell off my radar, as many games do.

I didn’t think about it again until the demo showed up on the PSN Store on the PS3.

I watched the first cutscene and I was hooked. After playing it, I was sold. In fact, I went out and bought it on release day. Continue reading →

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Dec 12 2007
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I know, it's the Wachowskis

I haven’t really been excited about going to the movies lately.

By “lately,” I mean “last couple of years.”

And by “last couple of years,” I may actually mean, “a decade.”

Well, there was Serenity, but that was it.

That may change. The latest Speed Racer trailer has me pretty excited to watch the movie, for several reasons.

First is the look of the movie. It’s utilizing a lot of high quality CG which looks amazing in the trailer. The actors filmed primarily in front of a green screen, like 300, but the backgrounds and the overall “look” of the film already has me hooked. The fantastic racetracks, the cartoon look of the smoke, the speed lines, all of it point to visual direction that is updating and modernizing Speed Racer, while remaining true to the source. This could all change once the actual movie is released, but the trailer holds a bit of promise.

Second, the casting seems perfect. I remember watching the series on television, and just looking at the comparisons of the cast with the animated versions, I feel like they’re spot on. Christina Ricci as Trixie is genius. Emile Hirsch looks like Speed. John Goodman as Pops, Susan Sarandon as Mom are great choices. Even Matt Fox as Racer X. I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that that monkey chimpanzee they got for Chim Chim is pretty close as well. I’m not saying that all primates look alike, but damn.

Third, I could watch Christina Ricci all day.

All in all, I would rate my excitement for the movie as, “cautiously optimistic.”

I’ve got a entirely different rating for Christina Ricci.

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Dec 04 2007
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No one to talk to

So I’m walking home on a weekday.  I miss the light at Albemarle and Nebraska so I have to wait a little while.  An older gentleman comes up to the same light and starts talking to me.  Not elderly, just older.

“Did you know those houses go for around one point nine million?  That’s ridiculous.”

I nod.  “Yeah.”  The houses are huge, but right on the corner of a pretty busy intersection with lots of traffic.  I wouldn’t turn it down the house if it was given to me, but if I had one point nine million dollars hanging around, it’s not exactly the house of my dreams.

“That’s the problem with this city,” he continues.  “There’s no one I can talk to, it’s people who live in houses like that or welfare mothers.  Nobody like me.”

“Uh, yeah.”  The light still hasn’t changed, and there are a few more cars waiting for the left turn.  Slowly, I’m disliking the direction that this conversation is going, and I decide to ignore the guy.

“And they’re the ones that keep having babies!  The welfare mothers!  You know, I’ve got two almanacs at home.”

The derailment of  his train of thought jars me internally, but I keep watching the traffic light.

“It’s the same problems with all those other countries in the world.  They’re having babies faster than we are.  Especially those Muslims and Asians.  They’re like cockroaches.”

This is the point in the conversation where, for the first time, I look at the man directly.

We make eye contact for the briefest second.

And he stops talking.

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