According to Urbandictionary.com, a "man date" is defined as: Two "straight" guys doing something that would be your standard date, eg going to a film, out for a meal.

So it was only fitting that I went on a man date to see a movie about man dates.

I Love You, Man is about a real estate agent named Peter who is newly engaged, but comes to the quick realization that he has no close male friends and therefore, lacking a Best Man at his own wedding. Peter then goes on a series of man dates seeking male companionship and is pretty much down on his luck until he meets a guy named Sydney at one of his open houses (the home of The Hulk, Lou Ferrigno). However, as Peter and Sydney bond closer, his relationship with his fiancee Zooey begins to draw some distance.

The movie ended up being only 'okay'. You'd think that given the subject matter, that they would have aimed to produce an R-rated comedy. Instead, we get a very 14A comedy, and the watered-downess is clearly visible here; all the jokes are pretty tame and safe. The movie was pretty funny, but not laugh out loud funny (or not enough I guess). The best parts of the movie for me was all the comedy relating to Zooey's friends (ie. the tension filled couple and the single 30's female friend). I almost wish that the movie were about them instead. The movie itself starts off kind of dull and typical, but as soon as Sydney is introduced, it's like a whole new flavour is added.

I think if this movie were in the hands of the Apatow-crew that it would have been a knockout. I saw all the positive reviews beforehand and I assumed that I was in for another Forgetting Sarah Marshall.

If anything though, this movie proves that Paul Rudd (as Peter) is more than capable as a leading man, rather than a supporting member. If you've seen him do the late night runs, then you've seen how funny he can naturally be. Jason Segel (as Sydney) is quickly becoming one of my favourite comedy actors. Sarah Marshall was the first time I was "exposed" to his work, and in this movie, he's clearly the saving grace.

Anyhow, check it out if you want a light-comedy. It's not too raunchy (perhaps at least not to my standards) but its still fun for what it is. Later geeks.

Categories: comedy , i love you man , jason segel , movies

YAY!

Much thanks to all my faithful readers and fellow geeks! You've championed my heart!

I'm going to do a fireball shot now! LATER GEEKS!

Exclamation mark!

Categories: other , partying

(At the time of writing, it is March 23, 2009, but I set the publish date to March 27, only because I have some close friends that read this blog that may not yet know the situation at the time of writing).

I write this posting not to condemn anyone, but I write in full respect, just to show how folly and broken we are as humans sometimes.

A few weeks ago, a friend of mine decided that he wanted to get baptized on Easter at my former church. He is a solid christian dude, has been so for many years and one of the few friends that I would honestly describe as wise. For whatever reason, he just never to pulled the trigger on getting baptized until now.

So he got word this weekend from the church committee that his request for baptism had been rejected. They felt he has been too inactive at the church, in serving and in attendance.

The whole situation fills me with anger and vitriol. It's all bullshit. For some reason, it's as if the church thinks that when you're baptised, that it's to the church or the denomination. When you're baptized, you're baptized into the Body of Christ! It's between you and God. I'd like to see the scripture where Jesus says, "Go out there and baptize people in my name... uhhh... but only if they show up to Sunday service every week... and only if they're serving every week". It's lunacy.

In the Great Commission, Jesus tells us that all the authority on earth and in heaven is given to him, so we as his followers, are to go out amongst all nations and baptize people in His name. In this case, half the work is done already. Here's a young man coming to your door steps and asking you to baptize him, yet you have the audacity to say no?! I thought the authority was Jesus'?

It's not like my friend is a stranger to this church or a newcomer. He has been with them for years. But what if he were a stranger... Let's put it in a different context. If say a newcomer were to attend your church's service one Sunday and made a request to be baptized, would he be rejected? What if afterward he revealed that he was Jesus himself? " 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.' "

Honestly, this is a miscarriage of justice. It infuriates me when human ways and humanly developed patterns trump the word of the bible for Christians.

Amidst my frustration last night though, I just had to stop and pray. Not only for my friend, but for those in the church's committee who may have forgotten what we are called to do.

Anyhow, I openly welcome your opinions or views on this topic.

"You are baptized into the Body of Christ....and if I were sitting on a committee that was
turning people away I would be very worried for the ultimate judgement that would fall on my head."
-Anonymous

Categories: baptism , christianity , religion

Prince of Persia is Ubisoft Montreal's 2008 action adventure platformer.

You play as a man only referred to as The Prince who at the beginning of the game is lost in the desert searching for his donkey who is apparently carrying a fortune in treasures. He comes across a damsel in distress, a princess as it would be, and together the two work together in trying to stop the evil king from unleashing an evil-er entity.

Prince of Persia is a game that focuses more on the platforming and interacting with the environment. You'll be spending 90% of your time leaping across canyons, running up walls and flying through the air. If you want a game that's combat heavy, then Prince might not be what you're looking for.

The game is designed in a non-linear fashion. There are 24 different territories that you will have to travel through and complete, but the order in which you complete them is in your hands. In addition, every time you complete or "heal" a land, you essentially have to re-run it and explore other unlocked areas in order to find spheres of light (called light seeds) that empower Elika. So look forward to lots of running back and forth.

The overall difficulty of the game is too easy, but after playing Dead Rising I more than welcomed this relaxing playthrough. Part of what makes it so easy is that you can never lose. Thanks to Elika's magic powers, anytime you take too much damage from enemies or make a wrong jump into a pit, she will save you before you meet your end where you can try again. This does take a lot of the challenge away.

Prince of Persia is definitely ambitious in design with quite high production values. The cel-shading graphic style is definitely pleasing to the eye balanced by backgrounds that are fully rendered in the 3D with lush colours.

The score for the game is beautifully done often giving it a really majestic and Arabian feel. As you're running up walls or jumping across chasms, the music makes it truly feel like you're in some grand adventure like in Lawrence of Arabia or something.

Besides the difficulty of the game, the only other thing to complain of is the the voice work. The voice of the Prince sounds like that of a modern day American man and kind of ruins the feel of being in a mystical place and time. However, on the plus side, the witty banter and dialogue between Elika and the Prince is charming and funny, definitely something to look forward to. It's also amusing to see their attitudes change as the game progresses; they are more attracted to each other, and it plays out in the dialogue. They even throw humourous sexual innuendos in there, which I thought was hilarious.

For example, after a boss fight where the monstrous beast is sent flailing into a pit:

Prince: "You know what they say, the bigger they are..."
Elika: "...The more they boast about it."

Awesome.

The replayability of the game leaves more to be desired, given that the game's difficulty is low and that the achievements were too easy to complete (in one playthrough, I was able to unlock 48 of the 50 achievements, definitely too easy). For this reason alone, I can't recommend buying the game brand new, but perhaps wait until you can find a used copy for around $30.

Check it out if you'd like, if anything, just to see the beautiful graphics as well as to hear the witty dialogue. That's it for now, later geeks!





Categories: gaming , prince of persia , xbox 360

It's been a while since my last DTV Madness posting. It just goes to show how bad Gingerdead Man 2: Passion of the Crust was. Actually I watched a few DTV movies since then, but they were nothing worth reviewing... well, that and I didn't want to blow a gasket.

So this segment has returned in full force with an absolute surprise in the form of Babysitter Wanted. But... was it a good surprise?

The story follows a young girl named Angie who moves to a new town to pursue her studies in art history. She is the typical horror movie archetype for a lead female; she's innocent, a devout catholic and she's a schoolgirl (well, college girl). She accepts a new babysitting job at a farmhouse in the middle of nowhere, to help make ends meet but slowly realizes that she's being stalked.

This movie is quite deceiving in that the trailer makes you think you're seeing one kind of movie, but then they swerve you and the movie becomes something else entirely. The first half is your run of the mill slasher horror, nothing too special. As I was watching the movie, I thought to myself, "okay, I think I can see where this is going but something seems too fishy".

I really like what they did with the gore in this movie. They keep most of the kills offscreen and you do get to see a lot of blood and guts, but at other times they'll focus on the eyes of the victim to show the terror and they'll let you hear all the gritty sound effects to let you know something disgusting and diabolical is going on.

Sarah Thompson takes the main lead as Angie and does quite a good job in the role, all things considered. I wasn't too faimilar with her but she's got quite some work under her belt. Horror vet Bill Moseley plays the town's chief and is just a natural in the role. He's a welcomed addition in any horror flick, with this one being no different.

My only real qualm with the movie is that the twist came too early, at the halfway mark. I think it would have been better served in the last 10 to 15 minutes. It takes some of the tension away, but thankfully, not all of it.

On a more minor scale, after the swerve has been revealed, there is a bit too much exposition from one of the characters. It makes it really cheesy. But hey, it's a DTV movie, so I can forgive it in that sense. It didn't spoil my experience, but it just felt odd.

Anyhow, for a DTV movie, this was well worth it. It entertained me, it grossed me out, and it made me say "what the fuck" out loud... a winning recipe for a movie! Check out the trailer (Youtube / Quicktime). That's it for now gorehounds! Later geeks!

Categories: dtv madness , horror , movies

So after 2 decades of trying to get The Watchmen on the screen, they finally did it.

I read the comics a number of times in the past and grew more fond of it after every read, so I was really anticipating this movie... sort of. Actually as the release date crept closer and closer, I almost decided not to see it at all, in fear that I would end up disappointed in the end. I knew that the source material was just too layered and dense to be transferred properly into a 2.5 hour movie. And so I feared.

Well, in the end I can say that I came out of it not gravely disappointed... but nor was I thoroughly impressed. I saw a movie, that's all I can truly say.

Director Zack Snyder was given the reins after the success of his efforts on The 300. It was a testesterone-filled action epic, but one criticized for being too much style over substance (a criticism that would become commonplace to his work).

The main story is in essence a murder mystery taking place in the 80's revolving around superheroes. It takes place in a bizzaro-world earth, where Richard Nixon is in his umpteenth term as the president, where the US won the Vietnam war and at a point in time where the Russians are at a heated point in the nuclear arms race. It is a time in history where superheroes are outlawed and considered vigilantes and so many of the former heroes live again as civilians. Rorschach, a hero who refuses to live in hiding, investigates the murder of his former companion The Comedian. Along the way, he meets up with his former teammates: Dr. Manhattan, Silk Spectre II, Nite Owl and the millionaire playboy, Ozymandias. As Rorschach digs deeper and deeper into the mystery, he uncovers more than he was looking for. (That's as short as I can get it to and it doesn't do it justice.)

As you can hopefully tell, there is a lot of ground to cover, with trying to cover plot as well as introducing us to the characters. The main problem I have with the movie is the pacing. They suffer from the same problem that TNA Impact does every week: cramming in too much stuff within the allotted time. I read other fan reviews that complained that it felt too hollow and I completely agree. We're not given enough story on the main players to give a shit about them. It's all plot, plot, plot!

And really, that's the main thing that disappointed me. There are a lot of the relationships, histories and substories are only hinted at, marginalized or omitted all together. I understand that they were trying to fit the story in under 3 hours, so I can forgive Snyder for this. But what is cool for those who are more familiar with the comics is all the little easter eggs he hides in the background or in certain shots. He doesn't get a chance to explore them but he teases the viewer with these short glimpses.

Fanboys around have been complaining about the change to the ending, but after watching it, I personally have no problem with it. Here's why. [Spoiler Inviso-Text (highlite to reveal): Ultimately, Ozymandias is revealed as the culprit behind the whole fiasco. His point in doing all this was to bring world peace in a world with such high tensions. In the comicbook version, he fakes an alien invasion to destroy half of New York City, with the hopes that the world would unite together on this common issue and drop the arms race altogether. A lot is pinned on to Dr. Manhattan because he does have the power to stop it from happening altogether, but decides that Ozymandias is right, it has to happen to reclaim peace. The movie version takes a different approach. Ozymandias and Manhattan have been working on free energy projects situated in key cities around the world. However, these projects were actually atomic bombs in disguise. He triggers their explosions and millions die around the world. Manhattan's signature is attached to these explosions, so the world blames him that it was his plan all along. Manhattan decides to leave the galaxy altogether.

I am fine with all of this because basically it gives more of a legit reason for Dr. Manhattan to not return to earth than it did in the comic version. And having destruction across the world seems like a better way of unifying the world, than just an isolated attack on New York.]

In terms of the acting, with the exception of Malin Ackerman (Silk Spectre II), I thought that it was topnotch all around. Everyone was perfectly casted especially Jackie Earle Haley (Rorschach), Matthew Goode (Ozymandias) and Patrick Wilson (Nite Owl). I know people gave shit for Goode's performance but I just know that were he given more screen time, he would have been fine. What he did worked for me anyways.

The scoring by Snyder regular Tyler Bates is excellent. However, they decided to add an absurd soundtrack throughout the film which ruined his work. I know they were trying to make it feel like the 80's, but it didn't help that tracks from the 70's and before it were used (where's Huey Lewis and the News or Flock of Seagulls?!!? Come on!). Needless to say, there were some moments that were ruined by these poor song choices.

Snyder really nails down the tone of the movie; it's gritty, violent and beautiful all at the same time. The artistic style and all the special effects were really well done. They did a good job of making everything look good on screen. That said, I can't honestly say that there were any memorable scenes in it. It's the case of style over substance. Snyder focused too much on transferring the artistic style from the comic book panels to the screen but forgetting to bring in the heart with them. When I compare it to The Dark Knight (let's face it, TDK set the bar as far as comic book movies go), the last time I watched it was 5 months ago, and off the top of my head I could think of at least 5 memorable scenes. It's only been a few days since I watched The Watchmen and I can't say the same... it's just another movie.

So in the end, this movie was fine, but I'm going to guess that in 10 years, this movie will not come up in conversation but The Dark Knight still will. If you haven't already, try and read the comics before you see the movie. I realize that it might be too late now, but on the offchance that you haven't seen either, you'd be doing yourself a favour. Later geeks.

Categories: alan moore , comics , movies , the watcmen

The Ting Tings graced Toronto (at The Mod Club) with a show as part of Canadian Music Week this past Saturday. If you're not familiar with who they are, there's a good chance that you've heard at least one of their songs either in a commercial, radio and/or movie (they used one of their songs in the Slumdog Millionaire trailer).

The show opened up with a band called Spirits who really tried their best to raise the mercury level in the club, but clearly, the Torontorians were there tonight to see the headliner. After a lengthy wait between the two sets, the Brit rock duo exploded onto the stage with energy. Katie White had the crowd around her fingers as she rocked out on the guitar and as Jules wailed away on the drums. As far as I know, they played every song from their LP with the crowd jumping, dancing and drinking it all in. Their set lasted shy of an hour, but it moved much quicker than that and I was sad when it was over. It was the best show I've seen in a while. If you like pop indie rock, then check them out if they cruise by your city.

Anyhow here are a few pics that I snapped.

You can see the rest (here). I recorded a video of them playing "Great DJ" which you can view below. Have a look and a listen! Later musical geeks!



Categories: brit rock , concerts , music , the ting tings

Well, fuck! Why not!

I actually wanted to review this while I was mid-game, during the peak of my anger. Cooler heads prevailed and I decided to wait it out until I actually finished it.

This was such a huge disappointment mainly because I was looking so forward to it. I mean, it's basically a Dawn of the Dead game; you're stuck in a mall amongst a horde of zombies with everything in the shopping mall at your disposal, how could this not rule? It's a dream come true... or so I thought.

You play as Frank West, a photojournalist who's hoping to be the first to get the scoop on the hottest story in history. After flying into town on a helicopter, he is ordered to land at a local shopping mall where he tries to unravel the mystery of the undead outbreak. Through your adventure you'll meet various government agents, scared survivors and loony psychopaths.

The game plays out as a third person action/adventure. Your main goal is to follow the case files which maps the main story of the game. Completing these case files reveals more about the mystery behind the zombie outbreak. Every now and then, you'll get calls on your radio from your good friend Otis about certain scoops that you might want to check out. These scoops lead to either survivors in trouble or psychopaths who have gone nutty amidst the zombie invasion. However, scoops are optional, and you can skip out on them willingly to focus on your case files.

I'll start off with the good (it's a shorter list). The design of the mall is really well done, from the variety of different stores to all the details within each store. Capcom did a really good job making it feel like you're in a mall complete with mall-type music. The variety of weapons at your disposal is also a plus. There's all the usual ones that you'd expect like handguns, machineguns and rifles, but being in a mall, you also get to play with other random things like lawnmowers, bowling balls and parasols, just to name a few. The amount and variety of weapons never runs short and at least in this sense, never gets boring.

Now for the bad parts.

Timed scenarios. The whole game is based on a 72 hour story (it converts to 6 hours realtime). You can only complete the case files during certain times, and if you find that your low on time to do your scoops, then you'll have to forfeit those. This is frustrating for gamers who like to explore their environments before they tackle down missions. I hardly got a chance to explore any of the stores unless I was required to for a mission. I had to miss about 60% of the scoop missions because there was just not enough time. I wish there were an option to play a version without a timer, where you can complete the missions at your own pacing.

Poor AI. When you're not completing case files, 90% of your missions are to rescue survivors hiding inside the mall. Once they join your party, they completely have a mind of their own. All you can do is arm them with a weapon (maybe) and tell them to follow you. Often times they'll do their own thing, fight when they want to fight, stop when they don't want to go. It's very frustrating for you because you only have a limited amount of time that you can devote to these survivors. Often times they'll get themselves killed and you'll have to restart over and over. This is by far the most frustrating part of the game for me. At one time I almost hurled the controller at our TV.

Save system. The save system is primitive. You're only allowed one save slot. That doesn't really help in a game where all your missions are timed. Essentially, you can fuck yourself over if you happen to save before you realize that you don't have enough time to finish the next mission. Multiple save slots would have been helpful.

Controller scheme. The default controls in the game were not optimal. You'd be using the opposite trigger buttons to aim with your weapon and to aim with your camera. Allowing an option to customize the mapping of the buttons would have fixed this.

Lastly, and more of a minor issue is the tiny onscreen text during dialogues. Not all of the dialogue is accompanied by voiceovers, so you'd have to quickly read the tiny text that would flyby.

I can only hope that they fix these issues for the sequel due later this year. But even then, I feel hard pressed to purchase it after this dismal experience. We'll have to see how that pans out. Later geeks!


Categories: dead rising , gaming , xbox 360

If you ask my close friends they would tell you that Friday the 13th is my favourite series of movies (note favourite series of movies, not favourite movie). I've got the series on VHS, DVD, I've got posters, dolls and books... I just love it. Something about that hockey-masked killer makes me giddy inside.

After a few weeks of delay, me and the boys got our act together to witness this spectacle in film making. Yes, Friday the 13th... the remake! Well, it's not really a remake at all, more of a reboot. The story of the original F13th is summarized in the first 3 minutes, and with this movie, it akins more to an alternate take on parts 2 & 3 together, ie. concentrating on Jason.

The story focuses on a dude named Clay who is searching for his missing sister in the Crystal Lake area, the place she was last known to be in. He comes across a group of young debauchers, who don't really care, except for one girl who happens to be a main douchebag's girlfriend. Oh yes, and Jason is lurking in the woods with his trusty machete.

That's all you need to know, you can guess the rest.

Jason does a pretty quick job of dispatching the pot smoking, bed romping no-goodniks. Usually in slashers, they'll introduce you to a black dude, and you just know that there's no way in hell the brother's getting out of this adventure alive. This time, not only do they introduce a brother, but a chinese dude as well. I just thought, "oh boy, how did my asian brother get tied into this". I'll give you one guess as to whether he survives.

Near the end of the movie, it comes down to 3 survivors: 1 guy and 2 girls. Now, the Horror Movie Law of Ratios tells us that this cannot happen. The ratio must be either 1:1 or 1:0 (for either sex) [side note: I think the only movie I've seen that actually ends breaking this law is Leprechaun 4 - Leprechaun In Space, where 2 men and 1 girl lives, and one of the men is a black man in fact]. Anyhow, it's quite a conundrum because neither girl really deserves to die. Neither were sleeping around or consuming narcotics, and both were generally nice girls. But in the end, Jason makes the tough choice for us. He knows how to obey the law.

The only minor complaint I have with the movie was that I wish he had used more ingenuity with the kills. Most of the kills are old hat, nothing you haven't seen before. And in a slasher movie, that's what it's all about: the kills. Nothing here is too creative, but there are 1 or 2 that are fun (our arrowed friend and our poor bear trapped friend).

I also hope that they would create a companion film to this movie, maybe for the DVD release, from Jason's perspective; a movie that just shows him doing mundane things, because I think that would be interesting in its own way. I mean in this movie, we get to see his home and all that cool junk he has lying around, I'd like to see a movie where he plays with that stuff, takes a nap or goes for a ride on the bike, because I really don't think he's training to kill people 24/7. Also, the sister in the movie is kidnapped for a month which would imply that Jason sustained her life by feeding her and taking care of her. I'd like to see scenes of him cooking and the kinds of foods he likes to eat. The guy must have some pretty wacky recipes because he's 300 pounds of pure muscle. Instead of killing, maybe sell that recipe to the world and rake in millions instead?

After watching the movie, me and my friends came to the conclusion that Jason must have been trained in the art of ninjitsu. There's no other possible explanation how this near 7 foot and 300 pound man could possibly move as covertly as he does. He's like a human panther or something.

We also concluded that this movie must have been sponsored by Abercrombie & Fitch because all the characters looked like those douchebags in their store posters. They fit every stereotype you could think of when you see them at an A&F or Hollister store. However, this just added joy for us as one by one these scoundrel's were slayed.

A good time was had by me and the boys. The theater was mostly empty, and after each kill, our group erupted in laughter, clearly a sign of triumph on the movie's behalf. Check it out you gorehounds! Later geeks!

Categories: friday the 13th , horror , movies