Snake Plissken: The Video Game

Sweet baby Jesus...I am depressed that this never came out.


How much would I pay to play as S.D. "Snake" Plissken?

$60, easy.

The New Tomb Raider Game After a Couple of Hours

On Monday I took writer Adi Tantimedh to task over his comments on the new Tomb Raider game before either of us had played it.

Well, I picked up the game yesterday, and managed to play a couple of hours of it last night. Now, I certainly can't comment on the entire experience of the game, but I can comment on some of the tonality that Adi was pointing out.

The game is very violent. much more so than any other Tomb Raider game has been. I do not, however, feel that it crosses over into "torture porn," as Mr. Tantimedh inferred. It's more violent than I'd like, but it's also not so violent that I'm sickened. Laura is attacked by men, yes, who clearly have bad designs on her, but it's not overt, so far. She is also not "tortured," though she does sustain a lot of  damage from the environment. There are realistic gunshot wounds and mauling by wild animals. It's pretty standard action-adventure gaming tropes, from where I'm sitting. I wouldn't call it a "horror" title, as Adi did, but it's not for kids, as the "M" rating would indicate.

Laura Croft is younger, but still as capable and resourceful protagonist. The story is, essentially, the "origin" of Laura Croft, and, even just a few hours in, I see her confidence and self-reliance growing. That, really, is what's smashing about this game, it very skillfully depicts someone becoming a hero, or "survivor," as the marketing reads. It's pretty masterful at evoking mood and ambiance, as well as letting you get inside Laura's head.

...And Laura is very scared, and racked with guilt, as she lead her expedition into this disaster, when the game starts. The perfomance, by Camilla Luddington, is quite effective at letting us "feel along," as Harrison Ford would say, with Laura. The game binds you to it's heroine, and you feel her peril, and want to see her triumph.

So, while my opinion may change as the game progresses, I don't feel Mr. Tantimedh was really giving it a fair shake in his comments. It's a solid gaming experience, and while some people may want to ogle our digital heroine, or find her getting slathered in blood and gore sexy, it's pretty clear that Crystal Dynamics simply set out to create a intense action-adventure experience for gamers. It seems, so far, they have succeeded.

Adi Tantimedh Comments on the New Tomb Raider Game

Read it here. Then come back.

You can't call it a review, because, by his own admission, he hasn't played the game, yet. Mainly it's a collection off impressions and thoughts from reading other reviews, and various marketing materials. I admire Adi greatly, enjoy his writing, but this piece has a big problem. The problem is that it seems to want to apply a different set of criticisms and rules to this game, because it features a female protagonist. Elements that would either be commonplace, or considered strengths, in a male-centered game, are questioned, just because this game is centered on the female Laura Croft.

For the record, I'm excited about the new game. I've been a Laura Croft fan for many years. Yes, I have to admit, the attractiveness of the character was an initial draw, I am a red-blooded, heterosexual, American male, but I wouldn't have stuck around if the games weren't good. Ultimately, being a life-long Indiana Jones fan, it's the adventure tropes that Laura trades in that keep me coming back. I really like playing third-person games where the main character runs, jumps, and fights through ancient ruins. I love the Indiana Jones games, proper, for the same reason, and I'd probably love Nathan Drake in the Uncharted franchise, too. If I had a Playstation.

First off...I have not played the game. Part of Adi's issue seems to be that Laura Croft endures far more physical punishment and "torture" than any male video game hero ever would. Maybe Laura does endure torture, but the description Adi offers doesn't really seem to be "torture," but "damage." To wit:

Lara Croft suffers enough injuries in the first 20 minutes of the story alone to put a real life person out of action for weeks with PTSD. She should not be able to run or jump after getting a spike through her side, even if it missed an artery or major organ. A twisted ankle would not have let her run or jump minutes later.

He points out how unrealistic it is that Laura could function as she does in the rest of the game with these injuries. So what? I mean, every action adventure movie I see has characters (male and female) shrugging off wounds that would incapacitate a real person for at least weeks. Hell, I just re-watched Skyfall last night and Bond is shot, falls off a bridge, and not only lives, but seemingly does so without medical aid (which I base on the fact that he digs bullet fragments out of his chest later on in the film).

Then there's this:

It takes Lara Croft over an hour of the game, where she’s bloodily impaled, repeatedly assaulted, brutalised and defenestrated before she becomes a relentless killing machine. No male hero in a movie or video game gets put through the wringer as much as she does in this game. 

Really? None? Not one ever? Not only do I think that's unsupportable hyperbole, I think it's probably an outright lie. I MAY BE WRONG, as I have not played the game, yet, and I don't presume to judge it before I do. That said, I have a hard time believing that what Tantimedh wrote there isn't simply yellow journalism. I mean, it's an action adventure video game, isn't the whole point that your character (male or female), not just repeatedly, but constantly being assaulted and brutalized?

I mean part of my love for the Tomb Raider franchise was that, outside of her appearance, Laura's sex was pretty much irrelevant. She was just as capable, intelligent, and strong as any man. She overcame all obstacles, same as any male central character. Just as Adi describes her:

The Lara Croft of the old games had no anxiety at all. In fact, she was so posh and unflappable that she was afraid of nothing. She had no fears, no doubts, no remorse, no hesitation in doing anything. Even in the two movies with Angelina Jolie, you never got the sense that she was ever in any danger. This was great for introducing an empowering fantasy to girls...

Of course it was, but then he takes issue with the idea that the new game makes Laura a bit more, well, human...

The new Lara Croft, on the other hand, is beset with fears and anxiety. If you want to be meta, you could say the old games are fantasies, games that the current Lara Croft reluctantly agreed to lease her name to in order to earn some money to pay off debts, lawyer’s fees and medical bills incurred from her ordeal on the island in the new game.

I fail to see how introducing some human failings and fears, which she has to overcome for victory, into this character is weakening her. Which Tantimedh never outright says, but certainly infers. If the cast-iron, unstoppable Laura Croft was a good role model, couldn't a Laura who acknowledges fear and uncertainty, yet still moves forward, still survives, be equally inspiring, maybe even more so? It's like Rambo vs. Indiana Jones. I wanted to be Indy Jones as a kid. I didn't want to be Rambo. I bonded more closely to Indy, and saw more of myself in him, because Harrison Ford allowed him to be fearful, and then still fight through to victory. It the fear, the human emotion, that allows us to see ourselves in any character.

Plus, who the heck wants to play a game where, to paraphrase Tantimedh, you play with the sense that your avatar is never in any danger?

Then there's this:

In the old games, when you failed and she died, Lara Croft would just lie down like she decided to take a nap right there, even in molten lava, with a disappointed sigh that sounds like she just remembered she left the lights on when she left the house. Now the death animations have the feel of full-on 80s Italian horror movie deaths in all their gruesomeness. They’re truly horrible to watch. We’re talking almost Dario Argento, Lucio Fulci levels of nastiness here.

While I agree with Adi that video games have gone over the pale of good taste when it comes to appeasing the bloodthirstiness of the average gamer, I can't imagine that the death scenes are nearly as horrifying as he implies. It is a problem, going back to Mortal Kombat, but it's also hardly reserved for female protagonists. It seems every game, no matter if they feature a male or female hero, goes to great lengths to make a failure on the players part hurt. Usually with a much gore as can be amassed.

I should point out, again, I have no played the game, yet. Perhaps Mr. Tantimedh is correct. Perhaps the death animation are as truly horrifying as he claims. If so, I won't be playing the game long.

Then there's this:

What I’ve seen of the game has done its best to avoid sexism but it’s almost impossible to prevent the Male Gaze from intruding, especially when players spend the whole game close up behind and with a full view of her bum whole she moans and groans more than most pr0n videos do. For every Lara Croft fan who celebrates her strength and heroism, there are a lot of creepy dudes who fantasise about seeing her suffering and “getting her comeuppance”. She has been a symbol for both female empowerment and male resentment for as long as her games have been around.

 I agree with Adi in a lot of ways on this, but, listen, he's set up a situation here where game developer Crystal Dynamics cannot win, ever. Virtually every pop culture medium presents their leads in the most attractive way possible, particularly games, where the character is an alternate version of yourself.

Most people, when crafting a wish-fulfillment avatar, like to portray themselves as attractive. I rarely played Dungeons and Dragons with people who specifically set out to create unattractive characters. The Uncharted series Nathan Drake might as well be a male model. The Mass Effect games allows players to choose a male or female avatar, and, while you have a lot of leeway with their appearance, the result is generally attractive, either way. Only HALO, with it's faceless, robotic, Master Chief, really avoids the whole issue.

Yes, there are creepy scumbags out there who will take any physically attractive female celebrity or character and turn her into a object of lurid, violent S&M fantasy. However, I no more blame Crystal Dynamics for that than I blame Jennifer Lawrence that you can find faked porn pictures of her on the internet.

I also feel it's weird that Adi's reaction to a third-person camera game is to fixate on the character's ass. Third-person gaming is actually my favorite format, just because I like the mechanics of it, and I rarely find myself thinking of it in a sexual way. I guess maybe I'm not wired that way, and I refuse to be forced to re-asses something I enjoy because somebody else can't keep his (or her) mind above the waist.

Ultimately, I'm a guy who loves good stories. I honestly don't care if the hero is male or female, but rather if their journey is compelling. I think what bothers me the most about what Tantimedh has written is that it seems to position itself toward the idea that it we have to question, because somebody, somewhere, might be aroused by it, placing a female protagonist in a violent storyline. Personally, I found Katniss Everdeen in Suzanne Collins' Hunger Games books a vastly more interesting central character than Harry Potter in J. K. Rowling's series. I think that's in part due to the fact that Collins allowed the violence to be violent, scarring, and to have repercussions on Katniss' psyche.

My point there is that Collins' held her characters accountable for the genre they were existing within, that of the action-adventure. I fully and truly believe that female characters can function in any story, but that cannot be license for critics to question the tropes of those genres. Laura Croft endures pain, danger and vile antagonists because she is the hero of an action adventure story, and what's good for the gander is good for the goose.

So there you have my reactions, as a guy who hasn't played the game, to Adi Tantimedh's, a guy who hasn't played the game. Your mileage may vary.

Captain America: Super Soldier for XBox 360

Little video game review action today.

This morning I finished the story portion of Captain America: Super Soldier on the XBox. It took me a little over nine hours to complete, which, based on the reviews I'm reading, is really slow. They say about six. Whatever.

Superhero and movie-based games each have a poor, poor history, and when you combine them...Hoo Boy! To this day, I blame my Three Rings of Death experience on the fact I was playing the Iron Man game at the time. The flying controls, alone, in that game were enough to make you want to kill someone, and not a vido game avatar, either.

There have been exceptions. Batman: Arkham Asylum being the best of the lot, and, as I've written about, my pick for the best video game, ever. The sequel is set for release in October. Of course, that game had nothing to do with a movie. Still, the development team got all the elements in place, and well executed, to make you really FEEL like you are Batman.

I bring that up because Captain America: Super Soldier was clearly developed by a team that spent a lot of time looking at Arkham Asylum. A third-person action game with a super hero character in a confined (if sprawling) location. Instead of Arkham, Cap is exploring Castle Zemo, the family home of classic Cap villain Baron Zemo.

The pros are pretty extensive. The combat system is really responsive, and intuitive. Again, the clear inspiration is Arkham Asylum, but that system is spectacular, so why not? I only had problems with shield-slinging, when you do a "quick throw" the shield will occasionally fly off in the...well in not the direction you wanted to throw it. There's a "aimed throw" process that works pretty damn well.

The character models are pretty sharp, and there's two unlockable alternate skins for Cap, the "Ultimate Universe" (WWII) version:

And the "Classic" uniform:

Of course, the default uniform is the one seen in the Captain America: The First Avenger movie.

The villains/bosses and Hydra soldiers all look good, as well. The character animations and cutscenes are all exactly what I expected, solid, but not spectacular. I've read a number of reviews that docked points for the backgrounds not being very detailed. I'll admit that I didn't have my eyes popped out of my head by them, but neither did they diminish my enjoyment of the game.

The vocal performances, with Chris Evans and most of the cast reprising their roles from the film, were really decent. The cast seemed committed, and frankly I've seen too many of these games where the vocal work (if they can get the actual cast) comes off as exactly what it is, a contractual obligation. Evans gets to do more speechifying than in the actual movie, and, I think, it proves what a solid handle on Steve Rogers he has. The villain cast, sadly, is not the original actors. For the amount of actual time the Red Skull is in the game, you think they could've talked Hugo Weaving into doing it. Alas...

Arnim Zola movie/game-style

That does, however, bring up a...well, I wouldn't call it a complaint, but a disappointment. You never actually clash with Herr Skull. Oh, there's a whole passel of classic Captain America baddies you do get to smash in the jaw, but the Skull remains elusive. Baron Strucker, Madame Hydra and Iron Cross all appear.

The ultimate battle is with Arnim Zola, in a very nicely realized "movie version" of his robotic, "face in his torso" look, which was nice to see after Toby Jones remained human for the entirety of the film. Alas, Jones doesn't provide the voice for the game, either.

I was a bit surprised that I didn't ultimately square off with Baron Zemo, given the location, but the game, via hidden "Zemo diaries" (Think the "Chronicles of Arkham" from Arkham Aslyum), ultimately paints a noble and somewhat sympathetic portrait of the Baron.

Oh, and they bring The Sleeper into it, which make my inner fanboy happy.

There's extras, once you finish the story, some challenge levels, etc. Stuff I haven't really dug into at all yet. I think it'll have more replay value for me, being a Captain America fan, over a strict gamer, and I'm probably overlooking some faults for that reason, as well. Still, I had fun with this one, and I picked it up for significantly less than a full-price new game (thanks, Amazon!, so I'm happy.

The game is good, but not REALLY good. There's an undeniable thrill to tossing the shield and seeing it ricochet around and nail 5 guys, and it provides that thrill. At the end of the day it's an Arkham Asylum clone, and, no matter how well executed,  it does pale against the original. It is, in my humble opinion, in the top-tier of the superhero/movie/video game genre. It's certainly a hell of a lot more playable than Iron Man, which just frustrated me too much to even deal with.

So, there you go. Your mileage may vary.

A Second Run at the Best Video Game Ever

I love Batman. I love Batman a lot. Batman is, in my mind, one of the greatest fictional characters of all time. I mean, right up there with Hamlet. I think Bruce Wayne, and his masked persona, are a pool of character elements that are rife with potential and can be exploited in myriad ways.

I really think this is part of the reason that Batman has, by my admittedly possibly wrong memory, been exploited in other media more than any other superhero character. Seven feature films, a live-action television show, and 4 animated series, not to mention several attempts at a video game version. The character, I think, just feels more realistic, and the motivations are easily understood.

 So many super heroes have had games attempted. Some work better than others, but, in general, the track record has been miserable. Most games are slapped together monstrosities designed only to cash in on a movie, or other media. The hardly ever capture the feel of the characters, even remotely. This is especially true of Batman, where you have so many disparate elements.

Batman is a powerful fighter, a honed martial arts expert and fighting machine. He's also a creature of stealth and darkness, emerging from the shadows to eliminate enemies, and then sliding back into the night. He's equipped with an arsenal of gadgets and weapons, which he can wield with expert precision. Add to that his brilliant mind and incomparable detective skills.

Any of those elements can fulfill a complete gaming experience. Most games would only tackle one of them, and most games, lets be honest, wouldn't even exploit that one element to the fullest. (The shelves are filled with games that fit that description.) The idea that one game could encompass all of those parts of the character, execute them in an excellent manner, and balance the experiences against each other to make a well-rounded game is almost a miracle.

It's a miracle that Batman: Arkham Asylum pulls off with style, wit, and a storyline that feels completely organic to Batman and the world he inhabits. It's simply the best Batman game, ever, and I'd even call it the best superhero game ever.

I've finished the game once, on "normal" difficulty, probably about a year ago. I just loved the experience, and knew that I would play the game again. Likely several times, honestly, but I wanted to put it away for a while, so as to make the experience fresh again. So, a week, or so, ago I popped the disk in and started in on "hard" difficulty. I can honestly say this is a game that simply does not wear out it's welcome with me.

It's a matter of feel. I start playing, and I feel, immediately, like Batman. The game play is an exercise in total immersion in a world that, as a fan of the character, always feels exactly right. There's a neat trick the designers of this game pulled off, in that their Batman, and his world, feel like an amalgamation and extension of  all of the versions that have appeared in various media over the last couple decades. A fan of the Christopher Nolan movies? This feels connected to that. The Tim Burton films? Ditto. The Bruce Timm animated series? Fits in there, as well.

The latter version, Batman: The Animated Series, is probably the closest connection. The wonderful voice actors for Batman (Kevin Conroy), Harley Quinn (Arleen Sorkin), and the incomparable Mark Hamill version of The Joker are a part of this game. We also have a story and script by the wonderful Paul Dini, who worked on that show.

Batman: TAS is likely the best adaptation of the Batman comics that will ever exist, capturing all the facets of the character, from the most juvenile and outlandish, to the most serious and noir-derived. What the game does so well is take that version, and make the visuals a bit more realistic. The version of the Batsuit in this game is probably the most "realistic" looking ever presented, outside of the Nolan films. It also makes the action and tone a bit more adult. The series had numerous network censor problems involving physical violence and fight scenes. Notably, Batman could never punch a crook in the face.

(Amusing side bit...When The Animated Series crew were tasked to create a feature film from their series, without network censors, the result was Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (so far, the only animated Batman film to actually appear in theatres). I was always amused that the very first time Batman strikes a crook in that film, it's a close-up of his gloved fist slamming into the poor sap's face. Take that Fox network censors!!)

Having Conroy and Hamill, especially, doing the voices is a real boon to the game, it attaches an immediate familiarity, and, again, helps with immersion into the world. Your avatar certainly looks like Batman, it moves like Batman, and does all the things you expect Batman to do, that it also sounds like a Batman you're familiar with is the cherry on top.

Dini's plot is pure Batman. The Joker is captured yet again, and we join Batman in the midst of transporting him back to Arkham Asylum. Of course, it's not all as it seems. Joker manages to manipulate the situation to have his gang moved to the asylum from Blackgate prison, and then take violent control of the island where Arkham is situated. It's a nod to Nolan's Batman Begins, where Arkham was situated in "The Narrows," which was some sort of island portion of Gotham. The game takes it further, with the institution being an entire island, much like Alcatraz, in the middle of Gotham Bay.

That geography is unique to the game, and honestly, it something that might be really cool to use in the comics. It effectively places Batman in a "Die Hard" situation, he's trapped in a (relatively) confined space with dangerous criminals and psychopaths on the loose, and innocents (guards, doctors, Commissioner Gordon) to protect. It's a pressure cooker plot, and as you travel around the grounds, you're more than aware that you're completely outnumbered.

The location being Arkham Asylum also allows many of the classic rogues gallery to be used at will, as well as some of the not-so-classic (*sigh* Bane). The game makes liberal use of Harley Quinn (almost a given with Joker and Paul Dini involved), Killer Croc, Poison Ivy, and Scarface (no Ventriloquist, however). Special notice must be given to the clever sequences involving The Scarecrow, which, in a lovely little meta touch, have a moment that simulates a "3 rings of death" XBOX meltdown (really scary, believe me). The Riddler is also very prominent in the game, but never appears on screen, having scattered various riddles and prizes about the island for Batman to collect, he taunts you repeatedly as you progress.

I was sad that my personal favorite, Two-Face, was nowhere to be found, well, aside from a couple of riddles. Although, he's already announced as part of the sequel, due next Fall, Arkham City. Kudos to that.

The action beats of the game fall into two basic types, straight hand-to-hand combat, where Batman will square off against a bunch, sometimes dozens, of the Joker's goon squad, and "predator" sections, where you use stealth and strategy to take out your enemies one by one. Both are highly compelling, and the game mechanics are smoother than most.

The hand-to-hand sections have simple mechanics. One button to punch and kick, one to counter blows, and one to evade. It can drive you toward a simple "button mashing" style, but you learn pretty quickly that just jabbing the controller only gets you so far. There is some strategy involved, like knowing when to counter an oncoming hood, or just take a swing. The best thing I can say is that this strategy, the quick decision, becomes pretty much instinctive. You're making the move before you even realize you need to. This makes for very fast-paced fun combat, and the game also offers some really cool, slow motion takedown animations for Batman. It really drives home the physical power of the character.

The "predator" sections can move quickly, or be very methodical. One of the game's strengths in these sections is a real sense, as it would be in "real life," that Batman is controlling the environment and determining the pace of his work. You can rely on physical force, or set traps using elements in the rooms. What's also nice, for a character who's whole gimmick is based on the idea that criminals are "a cowardly and superstitious lot," is that you can get heartbeat readings on your prey. You see them get more and more terrified as you take out their compatriots. There's a real sense of grim victory as you watch the last guy freak out when he realizes he's all alone.

I should say there are also non-plotline "challenge" levels for each type of action beat outlines above. You can compete in score for the hand-to-hand sections, and speed in the predator levels. The challenge levels are a ton of fun, and satisfy my need foe some quick action if I don't want to drop back fully into the game, proper.

I'm solidly back into the storyline, now. I'm just as enthralled as I was the first time. This game is set to have a long shelf life, for me. I can completely see myself pulling it out every six months and running through the story. I can't say that about a lot of games. As a Batman fan, it's just too much damn fun to play a game that gets so much of the character exactly right. There's even sections, admittedly limited, that dive into detective work, where you need to find clues and use them to hunt your quarry.

In my book, this is the best video game I've ever played. It's been out for at least a year, at this point, so I'm sure, if you have interest, you've played it. If you haven't, however, it's too much fun not to encourage you to check it out.

Video Games | Batman: Arkham Asylum | Welcome to the Madhouse Trailer

XBox 360 | Playstation 3 | Nintendo Wii

2009 Round up....

Every year I write a blog like this. I enjoy it, even if I understand implicitly that my opinion is hardly one with an critical weight behind it. I like what I like, and I don't always see everything I want to...The Hurt Locker, would be the glaring omission this year, I think. However, this list has always pretty much been the best of what I saw/read/played/whatever.

So, here we go:

Movies - The Best

1: Anvil!: the Story of Anvil
Once again, a documentary tops my list. I was just blown away by this film, and the obvious love that went into it's making. What it has to say about perseverance and creative desire is something a lot of "artistic" types might do well to think about.

2: Up
Pixar, it seems can do no wrong. I thought last year's Wal-E would be high point, but then they go and blow me away again. The first 10 minutes of this movie might be the most beautiful dramatic interpretation of a long-term relationship ever put on screen. Beautiful.

3: An Education
A beautiful little movie about a teenage girl that never seems stupid, or cloying. The performances are exquisite (ahh, Alfred Molina), the script by Nick Hornby is smart enough, but not too smart, to always seem real. Not to mention Carey Mulligan's star-making turn.

4: Star Trek
Making a film for pure entertainment that is this good ought to be celebrated. JJ Abrams really pulled it all together from casting to the energy of the whole affair. Yes, (arguably) it didn't quite get the "big ideas" of the original series, but it pretty much nailed everything else.

5: The Informant!
Criminally forgotten, it seems. A film with something to say about corporate culture, that had me laughing more than almost every comedy I saw this year. A performance from Matt Damon that really is astounding in it's execution and conviction.

6: Adventureland
I liked it a lot when I saw it, but the more it lived in my mind, I remembered how accurately it captured the feel of being a teen in the late 80's. (I can quibble on the details, but what's the point?) The comparisons to American Graffitti are earned.

7: Up in the Air
Another peek into the America we live in right now. At turns amusing and hilarious, and anchored by yet another utterly perfect George Clooney "movie-star" performance.

8: District 9
The low-budget wonder. Allegory with kick-ass action, the same formula that gave us Avatar, but, frankly, Neill Blomkamp did it better with a tenth the budget. (Not that Avatar was bad...more later.)

9: Where The wild Things Are
How do you adapt a 10-page children's picture book into a 2 hour movie? By remembering how it FELT to read that book, aimed more at adults, and I really don't care if your kids were bored.

10: I Love You, Man
My favorite pure comedy this year. Why? Because it took the time to really understand the reasons behind a "bromance," and why it's important in a guy's life. I'll take that over a simple collection of fart and dick jokes, any day.

Movies - The Worst

A note here...I rarely see a movie if I have any feeling at all that it will be awful, so I only pick one film. This year was a doozy.

Crossing Over
Not only the worst film of this year, probably the worst movie I've seen since 2000. Why would I see it? Harrison Ford. I'm a fan from way back, and I can honestly say I usually can find entertainment in any movie he makes...but this is just an endurance test. A didactic, booring, illogical, pretentious endurance test. I could watch Crash after this and think it "wasn't bad."

...And I DETEST Crash.

Movies - Best Actor

(Tie)
Jeff Bridges in Crazy Heart
Matt Damon in The Informant!
Two beautiful performances, for very different reasons. It's the "inside out" versus "outside in" clash again.

Crazy Heart is nothing overly special as a film, you've seen it a dozen times, but Bridges brings his magic to bear. What magic? That special quality that Jeff Bridges has, wherein you never catch him "acting." He just IS whoever he plays, and I hope to God the Academy finally recognizes how utterly brilliant this man is.

Damon has no chance of a nomination at this point, but the performance is sort of the brilliant polar opposite of Bridges, he's acting all over the place. He's changed his look, his voice, his walk, and it's utterly entertaining and utterly committed, and therefore believeable.

Movies - Best Actress

Carey Mulligan in An Education
It's a very tricky thing to play a character that seems worldly and innocent at the same time, and Mulligan pulls it off with charm to spare. She manages to convince not only as a regular teenager, but also as she fits comfortably into a more adult world. The bottom line? I fell in love with her.

Movies - It really did change cinema award

Avatar
It's not hype. This is a movie you MUST see in a theatre, and MUST see in 3-D. The story is simple allegory, emphasizing emotion and spectacle over narrative completixty. Some people want to tear it down for that, but frankly, Star Wars or Dances With Wolves are just as simple, and we regard them as compelling filmmaking. Top that off with visuals that, while not "f*cking my eyeballs," played as the amazing event they were meant to be.

Movies - Flash in the pan award

Watchmen
I enjoyed it, I can't say I didn't, but the whole time I knew that was mainly because I knew the story and the characters backwards and forward. Without that, it's really just an empty experience, and I've had a LOT of people who don't know the book, but know I do, contact me after seeing the film and the gist is "what's the big deal?"

It just kind of slightly pisses me off how much this illuminates the lack of critical thinking on the part of so many comic book/sci fi fans (a group I most definately am in)...Far too many people just have this idea that fidelity to imagery, design and plot minutia=quality, and it's just not the case.

Music - Best Albums

1- Them Crooked Vultures by Them Crooked Vultures
A "supergroup" that lived up to the name. Feels like a modern Cream, to me.

2- Crack the Skye by Mastodon
Prog Metal reached a mass audience? Color my mind blown, and it's actually good!

3- Black Gives Way to Blue by Alice in Chains
Layne, RIP. However AIC and Jerry Cantrell show us they are very much alive.

4- The Blue Ridge Rangers Rides Again by John Fogerty
A good-fun, well-made, fun covers album. Songs that are made for Fogerty's voice.

5- 11:11 by Rodrigo y Gabriela
I have grown a bit bored with instrumental music, until I discovered R&G. Beautiful, powerful guitar work.

Video Games - Best

Batman: Arkham Asylum
Literally, the best superhero game ever made. Take all the elements that make Batman work as a character, and Rocksteady and Eidos have figured a way to put them all in this game. Not only that, but the elements feel unified, and work well together. The graphics also find just the right tone for the story beiong told, invoking the grime and dark shadows of Batman's world, and the voice work, by veterans of Batman: The Animated Series (Kevin Conroy, Mark Hamill, and Arleen Sorkin) is sheer perfection. That term also applies to the package as a whole. The game that Batman fans, and comic book fans, in general, have been waiting for.

Books - Best

1: Manhood for Amateurs:
The Pleasures and Regrets of a Husband, Father, and Son
by Michael Chabon
I love Chabon with every fiber of my being , and this collection of essays did not disappoint.

2: Big Man: Real Life and Tall Tales
by Clarence Clemmons and Do Reo
A wonderfully fun book about what it's like to be "the Big Man," in truth, and in lies.

3: Parker: The Hunter
by Richard Stark, adapted by Darwyn Cooke
Cooke is a genius, and in Stark's "Parker" novel, he found a property ripe for his highly stylized, neo-noir artwork.

4: A View From the Bridge:
Memories of Star Trek and an Life in Hollywood
by Nicholas Meyer
Nick Myer is a wonderful writer, and this book is like spending a pleasant few days with him.

5: Eating the Dinosaur
by Chuck Klosterman
Klosterman is one of our finest pop culture critics, and this collection of essays tackles subjects from ABBA to the Unabomber in ways you never quite expect.

I had no idea this was even out already....

Looking at this article.

I gotta say, I love these games, they have serious replay value for me. I can put in Rock Band 2 and play "Livin' on a Prayer" anytime. It's just FUN. Fun in a very different way than actually playing the guitar. In that, I really don't care if I suck or screw up badly on Rock Band or Guitar Hero, when I'm "really" playing there's certain expectations and levels I hold myself to.

I'm usually working on some song, recording, and I get frustrated when I can't get a section right, or, worse, when what I'm coming up with isn't very interesting.

What's interesting to me, and I stand by this opinion, playing these games is MORE DIFFICULT that playing the actual guitar. Go figure.

It is interesting to hear that sales are not exactly at the expected levels. Then again, I read stuff like this:

"Guitar Hero 5 did move half a million copies in its first month, despite outcries over a Kurt Cobain avatar being able to perform other artists' songs."

...and I want to hit someone. WHO CARES?!!? It's a video game, and when you license the image of someone, the whole idea is to play the game as that person. Sure, it's kind of a chuckle to see Kurt Cobain singing Bon Jovi, but come on...

"Batman: Arkham Asylum" at about 20%

Short version of my thoughts:

I FRAKIN' LOVE THIS GAME!!!!

Longer version:

I'm at about the 20% point, as far as getting through the game, and I'm not rushing. I am savoring the game, and already excited to go back and collect some of the Riddler's, well....riddles that I couldn't get to, or figure out the first time.

The mechanics of the game are top notch, the controls are fluid, and responsive. The camera work is well handled. I rarely feel like I can't see what's going on, or that one of the baddies got the drop on me because of the game. Because I mess up? Oh, hell yeah.

The graphics are excellent, and Batman looks as he ought too. A little too big, for my tastes, but I'm a guy who thinks most superheros ought to look like gymnasts, rather than weightlifters. The Joker is a little odd and plastic looking, but also very creepy and evocative. I'll roll with it.

The one area of gameplay where I can pick a few nits is in terms of figuring out how things work. Specifically, in regards to the Riddler's challenges, I only recently realized I missed solving a lot of them because it wasn't really made clear how to do so. (Essentially lining up day-glo question marks correctly in the "detective" mode.) I'm also curious about messages I see that say "every weapon has a special view, have you figured it out?" Puzzles, clues within the game? I'm A-OK with working those out, even the question mark thing is "fair," but game features really ought to be self-explanitory.

Where the game excels, beyond all my hopes is in the "feel." I feel like Batman when I play, and the game has mastered the multiple elements that make up Batman's skill set. Detective work, searching for clues? Check. Utterly brutal, dominating hand-to-hand combat? Check. Strategy? Laying in wait, planning stealth attacks from above and below? Check. Much like the recent Ghostbusters game, the victory here is in allowing the player to really feel immersed in the world presented. When Keven Conroy and Mark Hamill (from the AWESOME 90's Batman: The Animated Series) spar as Batman and The Joker, you feel like these are the real deal.

Good work. I want a sequel that leaves Arkham Island and goes into Gotham City proper...