Tag Archives: Commentary

Random Film of the Week: Deadlier Than The Male

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(thanks, ohwhatamindblast!)

DTTM_MPOK, I know I haven’t been keeping you guys and gals up to date in terms of this feature, but that’s what happens when one tries the world domination thing – you end up with too much stuff on your plate and some things get dropped. Speaking of world domination and dropping things, this fun to watch James Bond pastiche from 1967 happened to pop into my head as a film I haven’t seen in ages that’s worth tracking down. Sure, it’s not perfect, but it’s great for a laugh or three and some excellent set pieces keep things quite cool. Even better, in terms of all the Bond spoofs on that landed in theaters during the period, it’s one of the more polished efforts.

Granted, Hugh “Bulldog” Drummond is NOT a spy, but an updated version of the classic British detective for the swingin’ 60’s set and thus, sure as heck looks and feels like a fun Bond knockoff. Richard Johnson ably plays Drummond as a Bond not so lite tough guy insurance investigator (that’s longhand for detective for hire) who’s good with his fists, pistols, a snappy quip or two and the ladies (not necessarily in that order). He’s put on the case of a dead oil company executive and soon finds out that there are some sexy female assassins (the drop-dead gorgeous Elke Sommer and Sylva Koscina) and a mastermind behind the whole thing to deal with in his particular (albeit Bond-like) manner…

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The Whitney Museum 2012 Biennial: “Well, I Don’t Know About Art, But I Know What I Like…” (I Think)

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OK, I needed a break from gaming for a tiny bit, so yesterday, I took a trip down to the Whitney Museum of American Art here in NYC to check out the 2012 Biennial. It was definitely interesting to see what’s been going on in the art scene since I hadn’t been to a decent museum in a while and over the past two weeks, I’d been to a few galleries in Brooklyn poking around to see what’s what (and finding some nice surprises).  I was expecting a lot of contemporary art in the usual forms (painting, sculpture, film/video, et cetera), but after experiencing some engaging performance art (of the audience perception challenging kind, especially if you don’t “get” Jaques Tati and dislike nudity, even if it’s cleverly silk-screened on different articles of clothing), seeing a dance rehearsal work in progress (made up of dancers and non-dancers), an entire artist’s studio moved into the museum (with the artist included, happily interacting with attendees) and other stuff you’ll need to go see for yourself, I have to say my brain is cooked up pretty good.I feel like making soemthing arty, but I haven’t a clue just what yet…

A lot of other art there was a bit odd, but really interesting from a few perspectives. I’ll probably go back again next week (Friday after 6pm is a pay what you like admission) and maybe do the life drawing session, as it’s been ages since I drew anything from a live model and I’m supremely rusty. Or maybe I’ll stay home and play some more games, as I need to catch up on a few reviews as well as get through the pile of other stuff I’ve started this year. Speaking of reviews, yeah, the two I’m working on are late, but fear not. They’ll get done and posted over the weekend. Not today, though – I have one more arty stop to make, but it’s kind of game-related, too…

Diablo III Officially Dated: Wake Me When There’s An Offline Solo Mode…

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Yeah, yeah, I was bitching earlier about people bitching about Mass Effect 3’s ending, but this is entirely different and worth it’s own special gripe. Sure, Blizzard wants to be in better control of its long-awaited baby, but shutting out Diablo III to those who don’t have constant online connections, don’t WANT to play nice (or nasty) with others or hell, just want a game they can play when they want to without having to rely on constant updating just blows. Not everyone who wants an offline mode is a hacker, cheater (or whatever is considered “bad” for DIII) looking to bilk Blizzard. We just want to enjoy the story as solo players and not go near the Internet, that’s all.

Yes, Blizzard will make a MINT on DIII pre-sales and launch day sales and based on what I’ve seen of the beta, they deserve every penny of your hard-earned gold. However, YES, you’d better believe there will be such a download crunch-fest on and around day one that a lot of people will be screaming that they can’t get online or download the game or are suffering through whatever other issues that ALWAYS crop up in a big release like this. A lot of you guys and dolls will be doing the happy dance on May 15, 2012, but for me and a lot of other folks, it’ll be business as usual until we hear of some solution that can get us enjoying SOME form of the Diablo universe (even if it’s a console side-story set in the same period as the game).

Tinkering With The Wayback Machine…

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Heh. I’m actually STILL working on updating/fixing those 2010 and 2011 posts, so yes, those articles that are chopped of or oddly formatted WILL be fixed up as time goes on. I still don’t have that typing monkey I ordered from that old comic book, so I blame the slowness of the mail for much of this still ongoing. That and the time machine plans I bought off some stupid website didn’t work at all. I just ended up rewiring the toaster and vacuum cleaner here into a weird thing that shoots sparks and makes a lot of smoke. It also makes random old comic books fall from the sky, but they always arrive all burnt up, so there goes my chances of getting a copy of the first appearance of Superman in a decent condition…

BioWare Doesn’t Need To Do A Damn Thing About Mass Effect 3’s Ending…

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Look, fans are GREAT to have, but I’m sure SOMEWHERE at BioWare, the team poring over all the hate mail feels every negative creak and groan is worse than driving a car full of sugared-up seven-year old kids to the mall on a hot Saturday afternoon. I wonder how many of these people going on and on about wanting an ending they’d LIKE would have done back in the day about books like Camille, Great Expectations, Lord Jim or even The Diary of Anne Frank.

Feh. I say strap all those folks down and force them to watch The Hidden II on a loop for a week until they see exactly what a bad ending is…

Still, I have to at least give some of these guys and gals a hearty handclasp for using this otherwise needless beef to raise money for charity.  These people may not get that alternate ending they crave so dearly, but some very deserving kids out there will get to enjoy their lives a little bit more (and that’s always a good thing)…

Ridge Racer Rolls Onto The Vita: A Bit Of A Bumpy, But Budget Ride

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Another old standby from the original PlayStation days finally skids onto the Vita, and at first glance, it’s pretty much what you’d expect as a RR fan. However, even with the included DLC, there are only a handful of tracks (six) and cars (ten). Sure, you also get lots of speed and that familiar sideways skidding, but in the end, the lack of a focused single player offline mode plus the odd “leveling” system for cars hurt the game significantly.

Even as an arcade racer (this time aiming for the “connected” gamer), There’s just not enough meat on this one for those raised in the Gran Turismo or Forza eras. The $30 price tag, while inexpensive for a Vita game, still feels like five bucks too much. Granted, if you love nostalgia and aren’t too picky about the lack of innovation, you’ll like what’s here. On the other hand, you’d also hope that Namco would have spent a lot more time adding features and content to make the game a LOT more impressive as a launch window title and not hold back what made the first few Ridge Racer games on the PSOne great in the first place.

Ah well, if the game sells well because of the RR name, there’s always more DLC that can be whipped up, I guess…

Games You Just NEED To Play: Yakuza: Dead Souls

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Sure, it’s all about Mass Effect 3 for many out there, but for total goofballs like me, Sega’s just-released wild Tokyo nightmare is going to be more fitting for a few reasons. The mix of horror and humor makes for a wacky bit of balancing, but the game isn’t trying to be “serious” at all (zombies versus Japanese gangsters would make a great Takashi Miike flick, I say!). Those weird Yakuza 4 geisha club mini-games are back (enough said there) and hell, it’s just cool to support Sega and the supremely talented Yakuza team again this year, as Binary Domain was also a really nice surprise that’s worth a buy. Don’t get me wrong, though – I’m not skipping out on BioWare’s latest at all, folks. It’s just that it’ll always be around to dive into on multiple platforms (and will no doubt get some sort of reissue down the road) while this one’s a PS3 exclusive that’s only going to get a limited release and that’s that… unless there’s a Yakuza BOX on the way (note to Sega: hint, hint, hint…)

Woorijip: Well, A Guy’s Also Gotta Eat, Right?

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Yeah, yeah, I’m supposed to write about games here and nothing else, I know, I know. But, sometimes you just HAVE to blab to anyone within shouting distance about something else that knocks your socks off from the first time you experience it.  Finding cheap, good food in New York City isn’t impossible unless you’re determined to make your trip here as pricey as can be because you think it’s SUPPOSED to be expensive. Silly rabbit – avoid that trap and poke around for all sorts of deals, I say. Woorijip appeals to me for a few reasons: it’s got a nicely priced selection of hot and cold Korean meals, you can get some decent alcohol to go with your meal (if you like) and the noodle bar in the back whips mean and spicy bowls of soup for an ridiculously cheap price while you wait…

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Mass Effect 3: “The War Begins” Trailer: Er, You Mean With Folks Who Hated The Ending, Right?

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Yeesh. I haven’t even played the game yet and already I’m hearing and reading bitching about the ending to the game. I guess all those who wanted a happy (or sad) Hollywood ending were shocked to see a door left swinging or whatever, but man, I wish they’d shut up about it and maybe think about great books and films that ended in a similar fashion. Let us adults who don’t mind ambiguity or hell, even an ending that’s bleak and one-way ticket-y as can be play a game like this and get in our knowing nods and perhaps chat up those of you that didn’t get what just happened or something. Eh, what can you do? Everyone wants to make their opinions mean something these days and the internet is “perfect” for just that one thing… argh.

At First, BioShock Infinite’s “Motorized Patriot” Was A Bit TOO Timely For My Tastes…

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When I first heard the name “Motorized Patriot” last night before seeing the video, I laughed for a good two minutes or so. Thankfully, the actual enemy from BioShock Infinite isn’t amusing at all and packs quite a wallop with that “pepper mill” machine gun. Why was I cracking up, do you ask?  Well, I instantly thought of footage from a few Tea Party events that had some cranky old people riding Rascal scooters or in wheelchairs protesting hard and getting it all WRONG about wanting the government here to get its paws off their Medicare benefits. They’d been so brainwashed and willing to believe anything bad about the current president that they thought (and still think) the Medicare and SSI payments they get each month are doled out by someone else (I have no idea who, by the way).

Of course, if you ask these folks who think the government is wasting too much money if they’d love to give that monthly check back to partially pay off the debt, they’d want to roll over your feet a few times. In a motorized patriot sort of way (ouch)…