Friday Night…They Dine In Hell!

Written by Aaron on March 5, 2007 | 1 Comment

Anyone want to meet up to go see “300” on Firday?

That’s really all I got

I’m indescribably psyched for the movie.

Ben, Corey…I can already see you smiling and nodding…through the internets I see it. (What the Fuck am I? Yoda?! Mmm through the internets I see it yeeesss Rock Ass it will!)

I am thinking of seeing it in the O.C. of course…I would be willing to brave the spectrum for this but as I said I am super-excited.

Who’s in?

More

Written by Moe on September 5, 2006 | Comments Off

My buddy Jin sent me this link to a short movie called More. It was made in 1998 and is a little weird. I dunno I liked it, maybe you will too.

More

Firefly and Serenity Documentary

Written by Ben on August 30, 2006 | Comments Off

Done the Impossible is the title of a documentary about how my favorite canceled show (Firefly) turned into a movie… Free download!

BitTorrent Link: http://www.legaltorrents.com/bit/done-the-impossible.torrent

S.O.A.P.

Written by Aaron on August 17, 2006 | Comments Off

It’s here well… here rather.

Go see it tonight!

Go Go GO!

Me and some friends are hittin’ the 10:00 show if any of y’all wanna meet up.

SOAP

Written by Moe on August 10, 2006 | 4 Comments

Have you ever watched a movie that is so bad it is good? The serious films that have such bad acting and story line that you can’t help laughing. Think of any scene in a Jean Calude Van Damme movie where he is not fighting. This also works with Governor of California, Steven Segal, and Schindler’s list. Well Snakes On A Plane is going to be that good by being that bad. I personally am quite excited that the movie comes out in less then two weeks. I want to show up to the theaters hours early, wearing a t-shirt of Samuel L Jackson fighting a snake.

“Yes hello I would like to buy a ticket for the first showing of SOAP”

“SOAP?”

“Um mm Snakes On A Plane, wow I can’t believe you work here”

“Wait, so you are saying SOAP like people say LOTR? First of all, you said the word soap and expected me to know.”
“Why did you use the phrase ‘first of all’ when there wasn’t a second?”

“Just take your tickets”

“Thank you. Where is the line?”

“What line?”

“for SOAP”

“There isn’t a line.”

“Am I to understand that I will be beginning the line?”

“No, you are to understand that there is not a line”

“Where…is….the….fucking….line. I know what you are doing. You don’t want me to see this movie or get bad seats because all the other fans. You bitch. Fine, you know what. I am going to go get a snake and throw it in that booth….then we’ll see if you respect Sam the Man in SOAP”

Sorry I got a bit carried away with that. Yea, so the movie is going to be great. At some point of the movie Samuel Jackson says, “I’m tired of these fucking snakes on this fucking plane.” Please visit the official website for snakes on a plane at, snakesonaplane.com. Yes, I couldn’t believe that the URL was available either. It gets better. There is actually a music video for SOAP. Let me give you some of the lyrics.

Snakes on a Plane (BRING IT)

Times are strange
We got a free upgrade for
snakes on a plane.
Fuck em, I don’t care.
Bought the cheap champagne,
we’re going down in flames, hey.

Oh, I’m ready for it
Come on, bring it.
Oh, I’m ready for it
Come on, bring it.
Oh, I’m ready for it
Come on, bring it.
Oh, I’m ready for it
Come on, bring it.

Watching this movie will be the turning point of your life. Until now you were living, waiting for the moment that defines you. You did not expect it to be Samuel L Jackson on a plane with a bunch of snakes, but then again you didn’t expect the new Star Wars movies to suck either..yes i said it! This movie will be the pinnacle, paramount experience of your life. We as a society need to get our priorities straight. Who cares that over 1000 civilians have died in Lebanon, the seemingly unending war in the Ivory coast…oh wait Americans don’t care… Ok….um how about. Instead of watching the “the hills” we go watch SOAP. I heard that chick broke up with that Jason dude…fucking crazy.

Gamers-The movie

Written by Aaron on July 13, 2006 | 1 Comment

 

Finally, a movie for my people…the D&D geek.

The reviews and clips make me indescribably excited to see the movie. Which explains why I purchased it.

After purchasing the movie, the funniest thing happened: I was sent this thank you mail from the writer and director-

“

Aaron Adams your sir are a rock star.Thanks so much for ordering the movie “Gamers” We really appreciate it.

Now it may have been a form letter…it may have even been automated… But Amazon and BestBuy.com have never called me a rock star! 

Thank you Mr. Folino, I assure you that you also are a Rock Star!

I will be posting a review of the movie as soon as it arrives, but if it is even half as good as the trailers imply then I will be able to confirm it as “Spinal Tap for Geeks”.

 

 

The PS3 and BrokeBack

Written by Aaron on March 6, 2006 | Comments Off

I assure you that the title of this post will be made abuntantly clear shortly…

I’m afraid I should preface this post with some backstory…but I won’t, I’ll just fill you in as I go. It should work out just fine.

I and most of my friends pay sorta close attention to the game industry, and we were discussing the possible price point of the PS3. I mentioned the bit I just linked to and voiced the arguments for a near $1000 price point. My good friend and former roomie Adam said that this was ridiculous, that his heroes at SONY were too smart and had penises much too large to charge that much…well that’s what I heard at least, but the point is he called for a bet.

He’s $500 or less, I’m $700+…and while I was away from the conversation getting some more Mongolian BBQ, he brings in a third. The third is our buddy Mark who calls $600.

It was at this time that the terms were decided…

How do I explain this?

We’re all a little bit homophobic. We’re not hateful or reightous about it, it’s just that we were raised in Orange County…in the 80’s. It’s kinda like house-cats and water…they don’t have anything against water…they just avoid being…you’know…in it. That didn’t come out right…

 

Anyway. The terms of the bet are this: The two losers of the bet have to watch the BrokeBack Mountain…together…in their boxers.

Yup.

Shortly after this I remembered the cardinal rule of gambling “Dont bet if you can’t afford to lose”, I also remembered why I rarely gamble…I have a gift for losing wagers, it would appear that I am doubly blessed in this case huh?

BTW, the later the PS3 is released the more likely that I lose as the components will drop in price…We might have to document the results of this wager and post highlights.

Spartan

Written by Ben on January 26, 2006 | 2 Comments

How did I miss Spartan in 2004?! Val Kilmar and Kristen Bell were incredible in this movie.

Underworld: Unevolved Story

Written by Ben on January 21, 2006 | Comments Off

I had no expectations about the first Underworld (2003) movie when it first came out. The movie surprised me by actually being entertaining and having a pretty decent, although predictable, storyline. There are few movies that I can say that I would just stop and watch, at any time, while flipping through cable of tv. Underworld is one of them.

I’m not sure if it can be said about its sequel, Underworld: Evolution. Although it has the same style of visuals and action, the movie’s story just took a “blah” direction (no spoilers here). I think that producers made the standard sequel mistake by matching the protagonists against an even more powerful enemy, in a situation that seemed contrived an undeveloped, in the end only making Selene (Kate Bekinsale) even more powerful for a possible third movie. I think that they missed a distinct opportunity to take create a very different storyline, with the Underworld mythos and setting, without turning it into another plain “Hollywood” “larger than life” epic.

A side note: They did, however, do a great job in covering the original movie’s backstory, for those that missed the first movie, by integrating the “blood memory” mythos element into progressing story.
Even though the story elements blew chunks, it didn’t do anything to make me think any less of Kate Bekinsale’s performance. She continues to do an excellent job; this time as an action hero; this role shows how adept an actress she is, from playing a love interest to a just confused Alice in Wonderland.

For The Last Time…Entertainment is Neither New Nor Evil!

Written by Aaron on December 19, 2005 | 1 Comment

So I’m a fan of the Kotaku and while perusing the site recently I saw this thread.
It’s bad enough to have all the politicians and reactionaries, calling Television or video games dangerous…but now it’s gamers doing it! I understand limits for children, and I don’t merely love the idea, I am in fact In Love with the idea. I just want to make a few points about some arguments for those limits that I disagree with.

I understand that many people believe that Television/Video games “Rot your brain”(I don’t even like typing it), and many people also believe that gaming and television hamper a child’s social abilities. I do not intend to demean or belittle either these beliefs, or the people who hold these beliefs. What I intend to do is give some food for thought to those that might not recognize a few real benefits of being well versed in modern entertainment. I assure you the situation and results of media consumption are not as simple as Black and White.

I would like to start off with the “Television will Rot your Brain” outlook on Entertainment. I am probably simplifying this outlook some due to lack of understanding and time/space constraints, for this I apologize, once again I do not mean to attack…merely to bring to light a contrary possibility.
Now entertainment has existed for as long as humanity…and most of it is far from new…Television is mostly a digital version of ages old morality plays and news reports. Have you ever noticed how being gathered around a television would be similar to being gathered around a glowing fire listening to an elder spinning mythical tales or retelling the events of a hunt? Seriously folks…it’s not that new, it is less interactive and personalized…but that in and of itself is not bad and I will argue later as a bonus.

Now Video games are essentially an amalgam of T.V. and just straight up Play. The T.V. brings the visuals…which it took from plays, ballet opera or any other visual performed art, and combines it with action, and interactivity of say, tag or catch. The themes and gameplay used in modern video games tend to be addictive because they are built on an ancient tradition of crafting rich entertainment. God of War’s respectable story was obviously enriched and inspired by Greek Mythology…so does reading it in a book make it any more valuable, worthy, or enriching than seeing it on a screen? How is analog more wholesome than digital when it comes to entertainment?

If the argument is that entertainment makes humanity, and specifically children lazy…then the “Rot your Brain” line is an improper phrase and “Rot your body” is more appropriate…and I believe a much stronger argument…though I believe the comfortable sedentary lives most of us lead are much more powerful tools in making us lazy than Entertainment alone.

If the argument is that Games/TV make humanity or children less thoughtful or creative…well that is in my opinion “poppycock”. Studies have shown that gamers have better reaction times, are better problem solvers, and are better at tasks involving “Spatial relations” than non gamers…now about creativity. There is a funny thing about creativity…most people think of the act of creation(I mean imaginative not religious) as being revolutionary and not evolutionary. Any literature student can tell you this is not the case, old mythologies were used as the basis for new ones, all the way up to the present day. From George Lucas to Stan Lee, modern storytellers are admittedly inspired by the old, each new iteration adding it’s twist, Romeo and Juliet becomes West Side Story becomes Grease, and Norse mythology’s Volsung Saga becomes The lord of the Rings, becomes D&D the game becomes D&D the movie. So yes some times good things get ruined but the cost of inspiration is the acceptance of imitation.
BTW the fact that we have phrases like “Art imitating Life” and “Write what you know” in our cultural lexicon does not give much weight to the “Eureka” instant moment of solitary creativity belief either.

—

Now on to my argument against the damaging social skills aspect and the argument that the non-interactivity of TV is actually healthy for society…I know it sounds preposterous, but please hear me out. Have you ever been in conversation with a stranger feeling awkward and clumsy until one of you said “Duck Tales” and without missing a beat the other filled in the “woo-hoo”? Well probably not that exact scenario but most of us have had a moment when we were instantly able to share a connection with a stranger over some shared childhood or entertainment or even modern entertainment.

Now you might be thinking “So What? What does is matter if we watched the same show as kids?” Well it matters a lot, shared or similar experiences create powerful bonds, and since these shows were not interactive, we all had the same experiences. Have you ever been traveling abroad and met someone from your home town? or even state? It creates a true and meaningful bond…the bond may be shallow, but even the Grand Canyon was shallow once, you have to start somewhere.

Sharing bonds and culture–Even Pop Culture–with each other is what makes us a society. The funny thing is as we assimilate more and more entertainment from other cultures(Anime, Foreign Films, Monty Python), we will have more and more in common with the cultures that created the entertainment, and more understanding of the culture and their society.

Through these unintentional cultural exchanges the entire world will begin to gain understanding of and bonds with each other. Yeah I just said that Popular Culture could lead to world peace…and I refuse to un-say it.

BTW just another tidbit for the entertainment haters out there.
Researchers find that people serving time for violent crimes typically consume less media before committing their crimes than the average person in the general population.