Uber Psycho Tom's Private Press

The Shining

2010-10-30T11:14:00.000-07:00

Announcement

I am officially canceling the video games,due to inconsistencies on a site I already do reviews for,which I get comments on,on a style I believe more efficient to the medium. I will however have a link to each review I do on The Video Game Critic under the name of N64Dude.

Anyway for my last review and my Halloween special,I'm going to review one the worlds favorite horror movies,based off one of horror writer Stephen King's first books it is called The Shining,which is famous for the lines "HEEEEERE's JONNY" and "Redrum"all of which were written by director Stanley Kubrick and had no bearing in the original source anyway.

The Shining (1980)

Presentation: 2/20 (Honestly,if I didn't know the premise of the movie from the start,I would've left the classroom I was forced to watch this in,the analyze for homework.It would've made an A harder but initially it would've been worth it. Its starts off with writer Jack Torrance getting a job to oversee a remote hotel for the winter and driving his family through the mountains,unfortunately they aren't all that exciting looking,just a bring green and what's worse the credits take over a good amount of the screen and the camera focuses on the road from a birds eye view.That's not impressive at all nor was the interview itself.I hate spoiling,but it gets better,if you stomach this part)

Plot: 20/20 (Stephen King may not be my favorite writer at execution or genre,but he knows how to make an exciting premise.Basically stuck writer Jack Torrance gets a job at a secluded hotel for the winter in order to overcome writers block.Only the hotel is possessed and slowly screws just about anyone over.However only Jack's little son Danny seems to be wary,thanks to his imaginary friend Tony described as "The Boy who lives inside his mouth".Eventually Torrance is entirely corrupted)

Characters: 12.5/20 (Okay I like Jack Torrance as character,his backstory as father facing drinking problems and writers block okay that's mediocre,but how he resolves to solve both is amazing and he even from the start you know he's going downhill.Still the development is amazing.Arguably I can say the same for Danny who seems to be a creepy child,but becomes a little bit more likable as time goes on.Besides the idea of an imaginary guide,that's novel.Too bad Wendy [Jack's wife] is a screamy unhelpful damsel of a character,she just didn't do anything but scream.Then you have the badass,cool guy Dick Hollaran with similar abilities to Danny,a weird way of talking,and a creepy afro fetish,too bad he dies and ends up being unimportant,what a shame to.Then you have Delbert Grady who is racist ghost at hotel,but its implied he's part of the cursed hotel rather than real.True he unlocks a door,but that's more to add to horror]

Nicholson's Role: 18/20 (Maybe this is because I watched Batman first,but I found this particular work to be a little underwhelming. It seemed a bit stiff,restrained. But that's mostly when Jack Torrance is still mostly there at the beginning.He gets better and better as the movie goes on,really breaking it with the lines "It's always about Danny isn't it! Well what ABOUT WHAT I WANT!",then later there's a part where Jack literally prepares to swing an axe into a door,oh those facial expressions were priceless.The real kicker however is after he sticks his face through the hole and yells "HEEEEEEERE'S JOHNNNNNYYYYY!!!!!" with the most menacing face possible.It's genuinely frightening and entertaining_

Duvall's Role: 10/20 (Wendy was really just a backdrop between Danny and Jack overall,and honestly her acting was terrible when she was trying to be serious and confronting.I did however like her facial expressions which were by far the best part of the movie. For every truly menacing line and face by Nicholson came an attempted "frightened" reaction from Shelley Duvall.Honestly I could not stop laughing every time she made a reaction to the ax or how she was holding the baseball bat. It's enough to give her credit,but not enough to save the otherwise bad acting)

Lloyd's Role: 20/20 (Haley Joel Osment,meet your predessecor. Osment was good as Cole Sear,but he did all that in 1999,Lloyd managed a similar creepy performance in 1980.Anyway he managed to well perform both the role of Danny the creepy child with an eerie monotone and Tony. Crowning line,REDRUM. He always managed to pull of the perfect straight face and startled face when needed.Unlike Duvall)

Set: 20/20 (Great location,beautiful cinematography and you wouldn't expect all the horrors in such a mundane looking place. Nice hotel,it's just flat out beautiful)

Execution: 20/20 (It was well paced,starting off with mundane events that don't seem to add to much,then a random creepy scene like blood flowing out of any elevator,then another random scene,than a connection,and it gets creepier and creepier,until someone dies.It gets to the point that old Jack Torrance is chasing his family with ax in hand through a hedge maze,and he dies.But while it does seem to take a while,it's well built and not thrown out,the acting is alright,and it has a nice anti-climax)

Final:12/20 (Well acting and mostly well executed,but the characters really don't stand out that much,it really could be any bad dad in the same situation but Jack Nicholson was great,however I think Danny Lloyd stole the show. The real downside is the sometimes dragging scenes,the gratuitous amount of blood,and Shelley Duvalls work as Wendy which save the hilarious expressions was really just flat. For a horror fan it's a must have if you have a long attention span.Everyone else it's just watchable)

Google Chrome and Tomb Raider

2010-08-12T09:18:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I did one of these as such I'd like to go after somethings which don't require too much thought as to describe my opinion as that trilogy of Avatar: The Last Airbender did. That being the case I thought,what better than a video game you've practically beat and the browser you use everyday?

As such I will go for these important but low key parts of my life,starting with the quickest done

Google Chrome

Presentation: 10/20 (Honestly it just didn't impress me one bit,it seemed very complicated and ugly but at least it looked user-friendly)

Features: 20/20 (I praised Opera's speed-dial,well this one is even bigger and better)

Reliability: 20/20 (Firefox used seem like a cheetah,now when I use,I feel like I'm stuck with Netscape on dial-up,that's how fast Chrome is)

Searching: 20/20 (I've said it before,I'll say it again because that's just how to describe searching on this browser "Searching is a breeze")

Final: 18/20 (While intimidating at first,it's become my browser of choice quickly,but it didn't make a great first impression)

Next onto the video game that started a phenomenon,that started a movie,that made Angelina Jolie famous,that made a series,that fell into pit of mediocrity.It started out on the Sega Saturn [I reviewed that system earlier and that's the version I will be reviewing],but took off on the PlayStation to become the killer app of the system.

Tomb Raider (Sega Saturn)

Year: 1996

Developer: Core Designs

Publisher: Eidos

Concept: 20/20 (Basically you control a very hot chick named Lara Croft equipped nothing but pistols initially,exploring the world for treasure in nothing except booty shorts and a tank top. That's a whole new level of bad-ass really. What's more she can do all this crazy stuff and look cool [Mario not so much])

Plot: 20/20 (Lara Croft is a thrill-seeker/treasure hunter who plays just for the heck of it. So naturally when businesswoman Jacqueline Natla hires her to seek an age old artifact in an unfound tomb in Peru,she doesn't even need money to get off the duff and get going.But there's a twist,Natla has sinister intentions once she gets that artifact,and what's more that artifact is a part of a powerful weapon. I don't know about you but that sounds better than even an Indiana Jones film and it makes me wanna keep playing)

Graphics: 18/20 (Marvelously detailed worlds for a system that just wasn't that good at 3D graphics,the big T-Rex looks more frightening than anything now,the guns and rocks look fantastic as do most monsters. The two minor problems are the ground [where you can literally see a grid at times] and the untextured characters like Lara herself who look waaaay too pointy and lack detail and the facial expressions are unreadable)

Music:12/20 (The scores are genuinely spine-tingling and anti-climactic,I could listen to them all day,problem is except for the main theme,most of them aren't very long,get easily interrupted in the action and the game favors the noise of Lara jumping and grabbing ledges over anything else,making for a very queit game. That's fine,but sometimes you'll run into a part begging for some music only to be met with silence)

Challenge: 19/20 (It's got a great learning curve.The first few levels aren't too hard at all [and by that I mean the very firs 2 levels] and then they gradually get harder and harder and harder, until you get to the point you just wanna bang the controller at the screen,pout walk, take over THE WORLD MWAH-HA-HA-HA-HA!!!!!!.Seriously though the last few levels become incredibly mind-boggling,but thankfully by that time you're well prepared.The controls are dodgy,but if you switch to the second option,,the levels themselves will be the one problem)

Levels: 20/20 (All them are fascinating from the very first level where you're in a cave with wolf footprints,to the waterfall laden Lost Valley,or the level with 4 rooms [one includes Thor's Hammer].Not only do they look great,but they play out great to with plenty of leaping,shooting and fascinating puzzles that you have to figure out with no help.If that bores you and you've gotten to level 7,just jump into King Midas's hand,die turning into gold,laugh and turn the system off. So even in that aspect the levels are fun)

Final:18/20 (One of the most incredible experiences ever,but Lara looks very dated and the music was too short,reptitive at times and almost never played. Also seeing all the grids from which the levels were designed made it hard to suspend disbelief.Core Designs really nailed the adventure genre)

Avatar The Last Airbender Part III

2010-07-29T12:16:00.000-07:00

Alright on to the final stretch of the series in which Aang must end the Great war between the Fire Nation and the rest of the world. If this chapter in TLA was a movie,it would be the climax like Book 1 was the beginning and Book 2 was the eventful middle.

Okay here goes nothing (If you have not seen this and would like to be suprised do not read on,the spoilers are everywhere)

Avatar: The Last Airbender Book 3: Fire (2007)

Presentation: 20/20 (Once again,same great intro with Mae Whitman taking the helm of narration along with a great montage of the four elements which at this point will always get a 20 in my eyes. Now into the beginning of Chapter 1,Aang wakes up after being defeated at the end of last season to find himself on a Fire Nation ship and everyone in Fire Nation garments and he fains thinking it was a nightmare,when he wakes he finds out he has hair! That's right the bald guy has hair.I really think that was a genius way to start off a new season after those dark and edgy events prior)

Plot: 20/20 (Sokka has devised a plan to end the war,an invasion on the Fire Nation actually during an eclipse which would render all firebenders powerless but in the meantime he along with Katara, Aang and Toph must hide within the Fire Nation. Iroh is imprisoned but has not given hope and realizes that he is destined to conquer Ba Sing Se but no in the way he thought he would. Zuko is wondering if he did the right thing back in Ba Sing Se at the end of last season and starts to wonder if he will ever receive his father's love. Once again Zuko is the second focus after Aang and company and it all comes together so nicely mid-season in which the plot shifts to which Zuko must teach Aang how to firebend before Sozin's Comet arrives and lends too much power to all firebenders.)

Characters: 20/20 (Aang is becoming even more pro-active and more determined after what happened last season to right by everyone he cares about which is such an incredible change from what he was back in Book 1. Don't get me wrong he'll probably still enjoy penguin sledding when he can but he's become the prioritizer. Katara begins to show a much darker side never really examined before and also matures a lot. Sokka becomes a warrior and skilled leader and sheds all rashness from prior books but he still maintains some of the comic relief,but he also shows a tender side. Toph goes to new level in bad-ass in fighting and pushes Sokka out of the comic relief bubble and hogs it,however we finally get a real look into her past in this book as well. Zuko switches sides entirely after having an epiphany in Chapter 9 and becomes the good guy that must redeem himself after all the horrors committed in the preceding Books. Iroh is absent for most of the this section but he is still a mentor figure to Zuko. Azula is put on the side as the secondary antagonist and we see a human side to her at a few points even though she is still a cruel but darkly charismatic character. New to the crew is Fire Lord Ozai,the very demon who scarred and banished Prince Zuko and mentored Azula. He is the villain who like Azula is cunning and merciless but not as vulnerable either to being hurt. Mai becomes Zuko's love interest and plays a very pivotal role at one point,making her more than a goon with personality. Ty Lee however remains a goon. Regardless all characters undergo so much change and that is something you don't see everyday.)

Eisen's Role: 20/20 (Nothing new again,same awesome voice from before. I said his work as Aang at any point is extraordinary and I stand by tha)

Whitman's Role: 19.5/20 (She comes off as a little bit too angry at times when I don't think that was supposed to be the case,but that's barely noticeable and for the record,she's still got the perfect voice for the "motherly" character and still continues the incredible narration)

DeSena's Role: 20/20 (I've said it before and I'll say it again This guy might very well have the coolest and creepiest range of voice pitch,I mean seriously one minute Sokka has the gruffest,most boastful and gusto voice you'd expect from the macho guy he is, but then.....KAZAAM his voice cracks and he's got the most adorable voice when crying at the same time. Sometimes it's the perfect dull other times he's got the most exaggerated reaction to something as simple as "an elbow leach" lets say,this fits incredibly well with Sokka as a character. That can be attributed by a rumor that Jack DeSena actually improvised on the first episode and made him the melodramatic comic relief he his when originally he was going to be much more serious.And that fine print still stands)

Basco's Role: 20/20 (Still great voice,and that tone change I mentioned earlier is even more dramatic and really does wonders to balance out the loudness that is Sokka. I'll never forget how he said "that's rough buddy" to Sokka after they talk about lost girlfriends. No other person could've made that sound so cool and that's what I like about Basco's voice)

Baldwin's Role: 18/20 (He's impressive and really gets into character,but Mako's work in prior seasons is just too hard of an act to follow,for one he lacks the sweet voice Mako could generate when Iroh wanted to relax. However he's fantastic at the lecturing and angry side of Iroh. This switch reminds me of when Michael Gambon replaced Richard Harris as Dumbledore that while Harris was too hard to follow and certainly superior in acting,Gambon brought in a new interpretation. Well same with Greg Baldwin who gave Iroh a more aggressive edge.But Mako's work will always have a place in my heart,may he rest in peace)

Flower's Role: 20/20 (Once again,Flower never ceases to amaze in her work as Toph. Same perfect tough girl voice and now officially one of the coolest laughs too)

DeLisle's Role: 20/20 (Still got the perfect voice of evil that is Azula,but in this book Azula must also have a hard time at regular social life and have a breakdown. On both counts DeLisle is fantastic from the awkward laugh to how she sees everything as an act of war Ex: " Your so good-looking,....your looks could sink a Fire Navy battleship,....that's how sharp you look")

Leigh's Role: 20/20 (Now that Mai has become a more important character,I thought it best to mention her voice actor Cricket Leigh who did a great job at the emo girl that had a secret.Considering Mai has to have a monotone voice,she did a lot to make you feel sorry for her in a way not unlike how Dante Basco did Prince Zuko)

Hamill's Role: 20/20 (At last Luke Skywalker manifests himself unto this crew,except this time he ain't fightin' an emperor that shoots lightning,he is the emperor that shoots lightning.He still manages to capture the evil laughs he excelled at as The Joker and add a very spine-tingling voice as well.Mark Hamill as usual does not disappoint)

Pictures: 20/20 (Even farther improved in this season than before,everything is so well rendered like the colorful flames in Chapter 13, Aang's tattoos, and the stage effects in Chapter 17.But then just when you think it can't get any better,they really go all out in the finale. The battle is so good looking,the water effects are stunning. This show feeds the eyes well before the mind)

Execution: 20/20 (Every episode was perfectly placed. The direction is fantastic once again and the events unfold so well. For example the very end of the series has a well placed dose of deux es machina in which Aang does not kill Ozai after a magnificently done battle,but instead finds a way to strip him of his firebedning.Had Aang killed Ozai he would've compromised his principles. Before the grandiose finale is an episode that is incredibly campy episode in which the Gaang goes to a play based on their adventures but it's horribly potrayed. All in all it's done to prep for the end. Then end is a happy ending yes but's very well written and you've been waiting for it the whole time and it's not forced either which is something few shows are like. Most end because the network tells them to,these guys naturally had one ready)

Final:19/20 (First off all I preferred Book 2's darker premise and I miss Mako's work as Iroh and in both regards,this Book will never be as good as the previous Books. However it's still incredibly executed, the picture quality has increased,and the fun factor never wavers and the dialogue is extraordinary. This truly is the climax if all 3 seasons were a film)

Avatar The Last Airbender Part II

2010-07-14T14:28:00.001-07:00

Now that I have the entire of Book 2 w/Book 1 and I have had a week to watch all 20 Chapters in this ever so exciting saga that just feels more like one long movie than your average run-of-the-mill cartoon. As such I have labeled it as a movie

For those who have either watched the "film" or show or have read the preceding review will know that Book 2 continues right where Book 1 left off in which Aang, Sokka, and Katara have left the North Pole from which a battle took place and are now headed to The Earth Kingdom to help Aang find a master to teach him Earthbending.

Avatar: The Last Airbender Book 2: Earth (2006)

Presentation: 20/20 (The season starts off with [minus the intro with Mae Whitman's great voice and bad-ass display of the bending arts] the gang leaving the North Pole into the Earth Kingdom with Aang and Katara receiving gifts and Sokka once again just getting the "treat them with respect lecture" which ya' know what,it made me micro chuckle. After that subtly humorous part,we see Aang have a nightmare in which he is against himself in the Avatar State which as anyone who watched book 1 would know is very terrifying. Anyway I think it's a very good way to start the new Book)

Plot: 20/20 (Our ever so powerful friend has learned Waterbending and has now set off to find a master to teach him Earthbending with faithful friends Katara and Sokka,once they do find an Earthbending teacher,the Gaang must get to Ba Sing Se,the Earth Kingdom capital in order to tell the Earth King of the one way to conquer the Fire Nation [who started the war] and end the war. Meanwhile Princess Azula [sister of our banished and tormented Prince Zuko] has been sent out on a mission to capture The Avatar along with Prince Zuko and Iroh [who are deemed by Fire Lord Ozai as failures for not capturing The Avatar]. Zuko and Iroh know this and as such are trying to hide within the Earth Kingdom during which Prince Zuko begins to question everything he was taught.)

Characters: 20/20 (There are now 4 new characters to the series,all of them female,but before I get to them,I'll start off with the familiar Gaang and the "villains". Aang is no longer quite as flighty as he used to be,he's much more proactive and willing to do what's necessary but he's still very adamant about not killing people,thankfully he's still the same lovable goofball from the iceberg just a little more matured. Katara is still the same strong-willed character from before but she shows a softer side a little more than last Book. Sokka is no longer the victim of snot monsters or heartbreak [though he does fall into a fissure one chapter] and he becomes the leader for the group and retains the comic relief. On that note comes a new character to the team who is blind. Her name is Toph and she just as brutal as the Earth she bends so well as such Aang picks her to teach him the ways of Earthbending [curiously enough she's also one of the few characters with a surname] and you know what? She can KICK ASSSSSSS while bringin' out the one-liners [somethin' Sokka just can't do. Next you have Prince Zuko who is considered a failure by the Fire Nation and thus is supposed to be rounded up by villainess Princess Azula and thus is forced into hiding which I argue forced him to start looking at things differently and ultimately decide for himself to act not be acted upon [Book 1] so he's an anti-Hero with a troubled past. Iroh reprises his role as the mentor/father figure but he to shows a level of bad-ass never seen before when he takes out a huge team of elite Earthbenders in a few seconds,but he's also a character you just want to give a hug as well. Now that Zuko and Iroh are no longer the antagonists, a new trio are introduced.First you have Princess Azula [I've mentioned her a few times now without much explanation for that I'm sorry] who is THE PERFECT VILLAIN she's inspirational,ruthless,cunning,and skilled and you can't sympathize with her,it's fantastic! Her sidekicks [also girls] are Ty Lee [who is a complete ditz in a way not too much unlike Numbuh 3 {Kids Next Door} or Daphne Blake {Scooby Doo}but incredibly acrobatic and nimble to the point that she can take out 6 people with a few jabs] and Mai [a skilled knife thrower with a very dull,cynical personality. She is like the "IMO/Goth" of the series] who are henchman are very complex despite being goons which is something I love seeing once in a while. Ever character just gets so much cooler and complex as time goes on.)

Eisen's Role: 20/20 (Nothing new here whatsoever,nor does there need to be.I've said what I've wanted to say about his work in the last review. Don't worry his work is still just as impressive and it's hard to follow an act like that let alone top it)

Whitman's Role: 20/20 (Nothing changes once again,she still continues with that incredible narration at the beginning that few can compete with. Still continues to embody Katara in all ways possible)

DeSena's Role: 20/20 (Same great voice change to fit all the great and terrible things that Sokka must undergo)

Basco's Role:20/20 (No longer are there any parts where Basco is to stiff when he shouldn't be. Now he has added another voice to Zuko which makes sense because Zuko himself is undergoing great morality changes throughout this section. He has a much more uplifting tone now but still has the tormented quietness from the first Book.)

Mako's Role: 20/20 (Once again still the great wise man voice that you could believe to be intimidating and at one point Iroh does berate Zuko and this guy pulls that part off well [watch Chapter 17 to see what I mean].Still just as amusing as it used to be. His voice for sad Iroh really makes you want to hug the character [that's alot comin' from a guy who hates being touched].It's so sad he died before Book 3)

Flower's Role: 20/20 (Jessie Flower did in fact voice a one chapter character before and she did great on it [watch Book 1,Chapter 14].Flower returns as the voice of newcomer Toph Bei Fong with her ever so sarcastic,jocky,and brutally honest character. I just love how she pulls off all those insults Toph throws. Make no mistake Toph does have her share of soft and embarrassing moments and Flower still excels at those. Because of the inclusion of Toph and her excellent voice-acting,Book 1 no longer feels complete to me)

DeLisle's Role: 20/20 (Legendary voice-actress Grey DeLisle joins the Avatar gang as the villainess Azula,and well she's got the perfect voice for someone that sadistic. I just love how she says "Zuzu" or how she can make you think Azula is actually being sincere for a split second only to then to do something horrible. Once again DeLisle nails a role)

Pictures: 20/20 (The animation is even better than before,some things were done that I thought I could never see in anime. Those artists really figured out how to make you believe Toph was blind before even saying she was. The green crystals and fire were spectacular)

Execution: 20/20 (Great direction once again,I just love how it actually got darker and edgier and how the ending was in fact a downer.I'm sorry but things have to get bad before they get good and besides you happy ending people got your ending last Book. There were great chase scenes this time around and the battle scenes were made even more epic. But once again it wasn't all action the tender,sad moments return like when Sokka looks at the moon or when Aang looses Appa for the first time.I'd spoil more but then you might not watch it/watch it again)

Final: 20/20 (The greatness continues only this time deeper and darker along with some new characters.This definitely feels like a 10 hour movie rather than a kids show but it still has great slapstick humor.)

Okay it's official I've found a place where I can watch M. Night Shymalayan's hack of a movie and adaptation without wasting my good money but first I must finish Psych Season 4, Start Psych season 5,and finish Avatar Book 3 so can I commence Part 3 in which Aang must prepare to face the Fire Lord and end the war that has plagued the world for 100 years.

Uber Psycho Tom is signing off.

Avatar The Last Airbender Part I

2010-07-03T15:39:00.000-07:00

Alas I Uber Psycho Tom have returned because one of my favorite shows has been assaulted by one director named M. Night Shymalayan (I purposely misspelled it because he couldn't bother to correct the lead actor's pronunciations of the main characters and besides now it sounds cooler) who strangely actually directed The Sixth Sense (which I should put on my Top List along with Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho [Happy 50th birthday Psycho :).]) and Unbreakable and I even enjoyed little known B movie The Happening.

Now I have not in fact seen The Last Airbender at all but I've heard enough negative things about it to know it can't be good along with the fact that live action attempts before almost always fail with few exceptions.

As such I will review the first season of Avatar altogether as if it were a 10 hour film becuase it does at times feel that way and for those who might be reading this,they need to know that that film isn't what Avatar is about and it is bad representation,and for fans who might catch this to restore hope.

Since Shymalayan's attempt focuses on the first season,I will review the original source so hear goes nothing.

Avatar: The Last Airbender Book One: Water (2005)

Presentation: 20/20 (The very first 5 seconds have a montage of 4 people using martial arts to bend the four elements being Water,Earth,Fire, and Air and how they all lived peacefully until the Fire Nation decided to take over the world and that only guy called The Avatar who has the power to master all four of the elements can stop them. It then comes down to that this "Avatar" has returned after beliefs of having vanished but he is only 12 years old and only knows airbending. Also we don't meet him while a journey is happening or by any reqeust. it's just a teenage girl and her brother have an argument and her anger causes the iceberg he [The Avatar] is frozen in for 100 years to crack. This is a lot to take in in a block of text like this I know but I assure you the presentation is incredible and a long way away from all the cliches you'd think there would be)

Plot: 20/20 (So basically like I said above everyone lived in peace until the Fire Nation [specifically Fire Lord Sozin] used a comet which increases their bending power to start a war against all the other nations in hopes of controlling the world and in doing so killed off all of the Air Nomads except Aang the Avatar who ended up in an iceberg for 100 years thus escaping death. He is freed unintentionally by two Southern Water Tribes teenagers named Katara and Sokka. Aang is supposed to save the world with his mastery of the four elements and connections with the spirit world. Problem is he barely learned he was The Avatar before becoming frozen and thus only knows airbending. Katara is the only waterbender in the South Pole and she barely knows how to control what she knows. So Aang and Katara must journey to the otherside of the world where the Northern Water Tribe is so they can both learn how to waterbend. Sokka promised he would take care of Katara to his father as such he to has to come along on the trek to other side. On the other side of things Zuko the Crown Prince of the Fire Nation was banished by his father and the only allowed to return if he captures The Avatar thus he must follow them to North Pole)

Characters: 19.5/20 (I love all the characters all with such unique personalities. Katara is a strong-willed and courageous girl on a quest to get Aang to the North Pole and further perfect her waterbending skills,but she is tormented by grief and becomes the "mother figure" of the group which also extends to others she sees in trouble. But this leads her to be self-righteous at times. Unfortunately she can also comes off as bossy. Aang is slacking,fun-loving,peaceful,and at first innocent guy shouldered with greatest responsibility one could ever get.He does not resort to violence and will not kill anyone unless they do something incredibly grievious to those he cares about. The third contender to the Avatar Gang is Sokka, Katara's older brother who has no bending abilities at all. He instead relies on trying to be the greatest warrior he can be and as such is naturally adept at carrying out and planning important things and using important assets to the best they can. Ironically he doesn't end up in the heat of battle and gets captured. He also serves as the incredibly good comic relief with all the puns and complaints and how he handles the ladies [Ex: Suki in Chapter 4]. He's the one who will mostly likely end up in a monkey trap or covered in gruel. On the villains side of things you Zuko is tormented by his banishment and imprisoned by his desire to regain his honor by capturing the Avatar but he isn't purely just after the avatar he does care about his Uncle Iroh and is going through a lot of changes. He is a skilled fighter in both firebending and swords. Iroh acts like his mentor who has a slightly humorous edge but is mostly just wised and obsessed with tea and Pai-Sho.)

Eisen's Role: 20/20 (Great work,incredible. He's got the perfect tone for being the cute innocent kid,but he also can sound threatening which is just like what Aang is. Usually peaceful,devilish and innocent but intimidating when in The Avatar State)

Whitman's Role: 20/20 (The first voice you hear every epsiode watched,she did a fantastic job as a narrator and as a sensitive,empathetic but very ambitious character. Very good at being the "hell hath no fury" character and laid back character that makes Katara,Katara which from what I hear Nicola Peltz did not do.)

DeSena's Role: 20/20 (This guy might very well have the coolest and creepiest range of voice pitch,I mean seriously one minute Sokka has the gruffest,most boastful and gusto voice you'd expect from the macho guy he is, but then.....KAZAAM his voice cracks and he's got the most adorable voice when crying at the same time. Sometimes it's the perfect dull other times he's got the most exaggerated reaction to something as simple as "an elbow leach" lets say,this fits incredibly well with Sokka as a character. That can be attributed by a rumor that Jack DeSena actually improvised on the first episode and made him the melodramatic comic relief he his when originally he was going to be much more serious. Partially creating one of the coolest characters in all of cartoon-dom,I should give the guy a 21,but that's not fair now is it)

Basco's Role: 19.5/20 (There were a few spots where his voice was just too stiff that it came off as a bit wooden.Still for a guy with only one reason to live,for the most part Basco's dead serious tone definitely works well and certainly does wonders to balance out all the facepalm moments with Sokka,or when Aang gets to cutesy,or Katara feels to self-righteous. Also it adds humor to lines that would otherwise feel corny like say "Well,aren't you a big girl now")

Mako's Role: 20/20 (This is the guy who does Iroh. And,...he FANTASTIC at it. He's got the perfect voice for an old relaxed guy but also believably intimidating which Iroh is. In fact he was one of the greatest Fire Nation generals at one point and still has those skills [Alright I spoiled that part but you'll have to find out the rest]. His voice might be the most fun voice in the series to try to imitate[and fail terribly at] between all those "proverbs" with Zuko,or when he's talking about tea or being Zuko's father figure)

Pictures: 20/20 (I just love how everything is so well rendered from the suspended animation used for the iceberg to how all the fight scenes are so well done, Katara's hair "loopies" look great as they wave. All the locations are incredibly attractive and even the more tender parts aren't choppy. Zuko's scar is really creepy and the color choice for Aang's tattoos are just marvelous. I don't think I've seen a cartoon that's looked so good in so long [Batman Beyond comes to mind on that one and that was 6 years prior])

Execution 20/20 (Every episode was well directed and everything came to together so well and at the same time,there were pockets of laughs in between like the Cabbage Merchant who always gets his cart destroyed or when Sokka becomes a victim to the tiniest things. I just love how Katara always got so angry when someone wronged her and how the first time it actually caused Aang to be free or how Katara can always manage to keep everyone in an alright mood,especially Aang when he finds out his people were completely killed off and he goes into a horrible state destroying everything and yet she did it. That being my point of how well written the relationship between Aang and Katara really was. Also the conclusion is much like Romeo and Juliet in the sense that Sokka fell in love with someone who was to be married and then this person had to sacrifice her life to restore the natural balance of the world. On top of that was the most epic fight scene where Aang joins with The Ocean Spirit and wipes out an entire navy. There are plenty more great scenes in the series but that one scene is is like what we were waiting for for a long time.While there are 20 episodes,18 lead up to one massive battle with tender parts in a way not to different from how The Chronicles of Narnia was done. And what's more it's all clear and I really don't want to give away any more than I already have except there are no visually confusing parts and despite being about war that looks like one they can't lose,they still manage to have a good time. I wish I could do that)

Final: 20/20 (Great characters that work well for a cartoon and a movie,it was written in a way that it feels like the greatest 10 hour movie rather than a simple show with incredibly complex characters,great execution,attractive locations,great voice acting and deep thinking while maintaining slapstick humor to keep children entertained.I'm glad it managed to be as good at the last 5 seconds as it did with the very first 5 seconds with those clips displaying what air,earth,water,and firebending look like.)

I look forward to reviewing part II which covers their adventures in The Earth Kingdom in which Aang journeys to find an Earthbeding teacher

Batman and Dark Knight

2010-01-16T19:06:00.000-08:00

Well since I got Dark Knight for my birthday I finally watched Batman89 and Dark Knight and rewatched Batman Begins [might go into detail a bit more now].Why did I wait? Mostly because both of them have Jokers,both were great phenomenon's for their time and both had dark themes.

So first off I think I'll do the innovative,slight misnomer,humorous,dark and slightly cheesy.......

Batman (1989)

Presentation: 20/20 (Now this is the kind of beginning a movie should have,ok ok the very first scene with a family trying to get around is a bit boring but you don't have to wait to long for Batman to arrive and kick butt in style)

Plot: 20/20 (Ok so basically Gotham is a hell on earth practically in the hands of Carl Grissom,his second-in command Jack Napier pisses Grissom off to the point that he sets up the poor guy.Batman gets in a fight with Jack and co. [after being set up] and it results in Jack falling into a vat of acid thus mutating into a white skinned green haired human. Seeing his reflection he loses his last bit of sanity and calls himself The Joker.Upon becoming Joker,he decides to massacre off the whole town with gas and defeat Batman. On a side story Bruce wayne is trying to get into a relationship but dual identities and torment makes things hard. I just love the sound of that for some odd reason,it's a bit sketchy I suppose but it's still really good)

Characters: 17/20 (All characters feel a little underdeveloped which is a problem.I mean really how did Batman become Batman? I did like the idea of a tormented hero who doesn't truly enjoy doing what he does.The villain is really good,good humor,and almost the perfect mix of killer and clown [The Joker is supposed to be about both but most are too much one or another]. The best chracter initially to me is the reporter guy who has a crush on the love interest,this character is the comic relief in a sense when The Joker gets too over-the top and when the others are too serious.The love interest was a real good character at the beginning but became a cliche damsel-in-distress. Harvey Dent was cool,but he was too underdeveloped)

Keaton's Role: 18/20 (He makes a great Batman,easily the best Batman you could've asked for,then came Batman Begins. Regardless I favor Keaton's voice which is intimidating and understandable,but he didn't have the best script which put a damper on things. As Bruce Wayne he was good at being assertive and good at the wise cracks but he didn't have the obnoxious aura Val Kilmer or Christian Bale would later portray plus he came off as a bit too sad at the same time)

Nicholson's Role: 20/20 (The first time I saw him I couldn't stop laughing,he put out his character greatly,how he delivered the lines,to me Jack Nicholson was and is THE JOKER.Plus he gave The Joker a random twist I mean how many villains would say something like "Did you ever dance with the devil in the pale of the moonlight?" or "Never rub another man's Rhubarb".Keaton was good but like most people out ther I am of the opinion that Nicholson stole the show)

Basinger's Role: 16/20 (At times I felt Basinger didn't deliver the lines right and came off as self-righteous but all the same she was supposed to play the average woman dealing witha boyfriend with some issues frankly I'm gonna have to cut her a little slack)

William's Role: 18/20 (So what if Harvey Dent is supposed to be white,I liked this potrayal of a naive DA just trying to what's right and not stir too much controversy. Considering he was hardly in any scenes his potrayal was good. They should've let him be Two Face in Batman Returns instead of adding that useless 3rd villain Max Schreck or kept him into the Schumacher series so we wouldn't be stuck with Tommy Lee Jone's sorry mistake)

Set: 14/20 (Could've been a bit better but it looked a lot like how I'd picture Gotham,still the shape of some of those building were ridiculuos namely Axis Chemicals plant. I loved the Wayne Manor and the art museum was beautiful)

Execution: 18/20 (Everything fell into place perfectly except 2 things. The first gripe, why the heck do we not get an idea of how Batman became Batman,all we see is one flashback in which we see Jack Napier as a young man kill Bruce's parents in cold blood.I'm all for the idea of using flashbacks to piece together these things but come on how can you piece together how Batman becmae Batman if you only have one short flashback? The other gripe is at the very end when Joker falls to his death? First of all there really wasn't a reason for him to die,next it made Batman a killer avenging his parents which in a way defeats the purpose of Batman.)

Final: 18/20 (Good film,great promise,a joy to watch but the character's could've been better developed.Some argue that the film is more interested in Joker but I'd say they were all a little bit too underdeveloped.Harvey Dent should've either had more to do or not have been in the film. Either way most watch this for Joker,Joker is hilarious and scray. If only we knew more about Batman that would make this film the best Batman.Before Batman Begins there wasn't a betterfilm in the series,sure Batman66 was ok but it wasn't the same)

19 years later we get a huge budget film,with lots of controversy,lots of explosions,and considered one of the best films of all time but is it truly?

The Dark Knight

Presentation: 20/20 (The film begins with a real bizarre bank robbery in which the perpetrators have clown masks and are tricked into killing each other off,then we have Batman taking out Scarecrow and 2 fake Batman's which I thought was intersting.These scenes set me up for an "Oh this is gonna be good" feeling)

Plot: 20/20 (Basically you have a tormented hero ready to give up the throne to a regular hard nosed DA called Harvey Dent who has become the "White Knight" of Gotham but then this robber called The Joker sets up shop in Gotham and starts to manipulate people's minds and scare them causing chaos [The mob included].Throughout the film Batman, Commissioner Gordon, and Harvey Dent make an alliance to clean up crime and stop the wily Joker.Ultimately this should make this a great film but did it?)

Characters: 12/20 (I didn't like any of the characters at all,but at least theyw ere well developed and worked well with the movie. Batman seemed more like a villain causing all the problems in the first place. Joker was more killer and blasphemous than clown sure he had some jokes but they were far and few. Two Face was too much like a cry baby but Harvey Dent was a really good character in this mold.The one love interest was a bit too spineless for my liking )

Bale's Role: 2/20 (He potrayed Batman more as a twisted vigilante destroying, spying, and beating the crap out of anything in the way just to kill Joker rather than that hero trying to be an ideal that can't be corrupted. It truly wasn't until the end with the ferries did I realize which side he was on. As Bruce Wayne Bale while not as good as his work in Batman Begins is still somewhat respectable.He came off as a bit of a wuss giving up when the going got too tough but oh well. Either way George Clooney's Batman was much more enjoyable than what Bale did in this film)

Ledger's Role: 14/20 (Everybody is like OMG! He so awesome,BEST JOKER ever! and all that good stuff.But really he wasn't that good. He did well with the horror,creepy,chaotic and manipulative side of Joker but he did too much talking and not enough action.He wasn't funny and honestly I really think Ledger could've done better {I don't care if he lived in isolaion to do this role,I don't care he still didn't cut it].He came off more as a blasphemous guy in make up playing destructive pranks rather than someone I can take seriously.But he delivered the lines really well.)

Eckhart's Role: 20/20 (I know Ledger was supposed to be the star of the show,but I was more impressed with Eckhart.His Harvey Dent was incredible,I didn't think when I looked on screen "OOOh look there's Aaron Eckhart" no,he fit into character really well.His Two Face came off a little bit too much like cry baby killing off anyone who knew his girlfriend with the flip of a coin)

Oldman's Role: 20/20 (This is what Comissioner Gordon should've been about back in 1989,instead he's a fat shlub who's completely incompetent and only actually does something in one scene.He is the perfect stressed policeman trying to keep things in order not only with joker's antics but inside the departent as well.I might add the score for him in my Begins review down the road. Either way his work was stunning)

Set: 15/20 (Really high budget set but waaaay too over the top for Gotham City,it was clearer than Begins,but I think Begins had the closest interpretation. The lack of Wayne Manor and Batcave were huge bothers)

Execution: 16/20 (Despite being great,it wasn't genious. Joker's plan was too unbelievable,I really think Batman should've sent the Batcycle at The Joker but got off thus making a " I'm not gonna kill you,but it's up to you to live or die" moment,instead of swirving around.Two Face didn't get enough screen time and it's hardly believable that Batman could survive a great fall but Two Face not.It reminds me a lot of Joker's death in Batman89. In truth I think the film should've ended at Harvey Dent getting his face burned thus making for a good 3rd film instead of making ways for it to be longer. With those minor problems everything else fell quite well into place)

Final: 15/20 (This should've been the best film like suggested but the director went in too many directions,overspent,and ruined Batman.If it wasn't for Christian bale this could've been the best movie. The execution was sketchy but not that bad.Overall I'd say in the end it was Aaron Eckhart that stolethe show rather than Heath Ledger)

The Other Batman Set : Batman Returns-Batman and Robin

2010-01-02T21:10:00.001-08:00

About a year ago (and a few months) I reviewed Batman Begins which I loved (I gave it 19/20) but at the time I did not know of any other films [I vaguely knew of Batman and Robin after seeing bits of it]. Now I have seen all the Batman films from the very first Batman in 1966 to The Dark Knight [only saw a bits of Batman 66 off of Youtube so I won't give it a review]

To be honest Batman is the only superhero I could get into so these are the only superhero themed movie reviews you will see all the same I think I'll wait to review Batman89 til' I get The Dark Knight for my birthday because they are so alike and Batman66 when I get the thing on DVD (if that ever happens)

Aww but enough of this time start the New Year off with a review

Batman Returns (1992)

Presentation: 16/20 (I loved the dark beginning with a rich couple dropping their deformed baby into a creek,but at the same time it came off as unrealistic and dark just for being dark with no real 411)

Plot: 12/20 (This is one of the worst aspects of the film,basically that deformed baby I mentioned earlier has grown up into a monster everybody calls The Penguin and he is trying to at first figure out what he can do in Gotham City,steal everybody's babies in revenge for his own fate,then run for mayor as a diversion.I'm all for the first bit but the rest is hairbrained and makes little sense. Then you have a nice timid secretary named Selina Kyle working for a huge tycoon who reads the wrong file and gets pushed out a window to what should've been her death.Jealous of all the attention Batman gets she goes to Penguin for help but at the same time she wants vengeance on her boss for atempted murder.After that she's doing random stuff. The "3rd villain" is the big tycoon simply trying to build a plant that will make him rich while stealing from everyone else. Over all that Batman is simply trying to keep peace. My gripe with all this is,it's too much to follow and makes little sense but it's still intriging)

Characters: 17/20 (I liked the characters especially Catwoman/Selina Kyle. What all the plans weren't realistic the characters [other than Penguin] were.I liked the whole Selina Kyle + Bruce Wayne thing and how it quarreled with the Batman vs Catwoman thing.The Penguin was enjoyable anyway even if he wasn't believable. I didn't like Max Shreck at all though he's too much like a real world tycoon for my liking and he came off as lackluster)

Keaton's Role: 19/20 (He plays Batman,who continues the idea of a tormented vigilante doing what he does only because he feels guilty over his parents death.But in this film he is the voice of reason and still tormented but only this time between trying to start something with Selina Kyle and deal with Catwoman. Not quite as good as Bale in Batman Begins as Batman or Bruce Wayne I felt his Bruce was too assertive and calm but his Bruce was fun to watch anyway)

Pfeiffer's Role: 20/20 (She plays the madly in love Selina Kyle and the vindictive,fiery tempered and wild Catwoman.Some say she comes off as too sexual but honestly I liked how she did her role. She's good at switching emotions)

De Vitos Role: 14/20 (He was good at being the complete maniac Penguin is supposed to be,he seemed perfectly gruesome,but of course he's the star of the show.The real problem was he was a little bit too disgusting and he kept making annoying grunts.I get that he's deformed and raised by penguins but nonetheless)

Walken's Role: 11/20 (I didn't like Shreck to begin with and while I'm all for subtle villainy,I think went too subtle. He made Max Shreck look like a somewhat clueless oaf and didn't seem threatning more like a bother.He redeemed himself at the end when his character shot at Selina Kyle 4 times)

Set:12/20 (The set was horribly mediocre, Gotham looked really weird it didn't look like a city, it looked liked it was in a studio)

Execution: 20/20 (In spite of a few acting flaws and odd plots,everything fell into place perfectly and unlike Batman89,the main villains death made sense.)

Final: 16/20 (This could've been one of the best films ever unfortunatley the director went too far with the main villain and not far enough with another and the plot could've been less complex and hairbrained.If only this film focused a bit more on the whole Selina Kyle+Bruce Wayne and Batman vs Catwoman conflict and less of The Penguin)

After Batman Returns the director was dropped for someone who would make the next film a little bit more kid friendly and a little less grotesque and sexual. Unfortunately the later wasn't dropped. One thing that bothers me most about this one is the title I mean Batman Forever that's confusing and doesn't make an ounce of sense.

Batman Forever (1995)

Presentation: 8/20 (I was not impressed with the beginning one bit which starts off with Two Face taking over a bank the problem now I'd be fine with that if it wasn't for the lack of action and stupid dialogue that no kid would catch [ok fine I wouldn't ctach the important part at age 5 I'd just repeat "Why,Why,Why,WHY???? Luck blind, stupid, simple, doo-dah,clueless LUCK !!!!" without getting the important part] and I didn't like Batman's reaction much either.The tone changed from dark and gothic to campy and colorful. I easily prefer dark over campy but hey if the jokes are good and if well executed I'll be fine.Sadly this movie did not presen itself as the good kind of campy)

Plot: 5/20 (Unimpressed with the plot.Ok so basically 2 years after Harvey Dent became Two Face he robs a bank with Batman trying thwarting him.Meanwhile one employee at Bruce Wayne Industires is tampering with brain waves.So Two Face raids a circus killing off Dick Grayson's family which plants the seed for Dick Grayson to become Robin [their trapeeze ropes are cut and since they don't have safety net,they fall to their deaths] and inspiring this employee to become a villain who names himself The Riddler.After The Riddler becomes a villain he teams up with Two Face to take out Batman and get his brain wave invention into everybodies homes in order to become more and more intelligent. Not only is this waaay to complex,but it isn't intriging and doesn't show any promise plus the whole idea of a brain waave device as the most important item?)

Characters: 10/20 (I liked change in Bruce Wayne from being sort of mentally unstable without Batman to still assertive but a bit more emotional. The Riddler was a fun idea even if his plans were ridiculous.The idea of a tormented Dick Grayson really worked out,I think the new director took que from Batman89 and Batman Returns idea of Batman/Bruce Wayne.So far the roster looks promising but then comes this joke of a Two Face who doesn't look like he's been scarred more like he's a crazy lunatic wearing red make up.The final nail in the coffin is the love interest who is unbelievably inhuman who would fall for Batman over a man who isn't dressed. Most people would be intimidated by Batman rather than fall in love although if well executed it might be ok)

Kilmer's Role: 17/20 (He really improves a lot upon the Bruce Wayne persona like I said earlier.It really shows in one scene where he is talking to Dick Grayson about how he understand the pain Dick is going through.He's not the selfish obnoxious Bruce we see in Batman Begins and Dark Knight but he's a push in the right direction)

Jones' Role: 0/20 (His character he's supposed to play looks like he's wearing make up with a bad suit unfortunately he potrays Two Face just like the make up he wears,which is a gibberish speaking,idiotic,gun happy clown with a "burned" face. After the beginning he went from aperhaps threatning to a "WHAT THE HECK IS DOING?!?" character)

Carrey's Role: 14/20 (At times Jim Carrey sounded and acted just like what Edward Nygma and The Riddler would do which was great. But at other times he was walking goofy,referencing Ace Ventura,and pulling the crotch.Oh well the comic relief from this side is actually fun to watch [except the crotch pulling part of course] unlike Tommy Lee Jones' Two Face)

O'Donnell's Role: 9/20 (With the exception of 2 scenes he came off as whiny wuss who couldn't get a grip which gets on my nerves. Still in one scene in which he is Robin,he makes a nice campy character that is fun to watch when he says "HOLY RUSTED METAL BATMAN".The other scene is when he talks to Bruce about becoming a sidekick after discovering his guardians double life.A shame most of his scenes weren't so beautiful)

Kidman's Role: 0/20 (She came off more as creepy than beautiful.I already thought she had problems after seeing all those Batman posters in her office and her reaction to discovering Bruce's identity is what really drove me crazy)

Set: 12/20 (Unlike Returns,with the exception of a few skyscrapers and Nygma island the set used for Gotham looks more like a city but unfortunately the Wayne Manor looks hideous and most areas were unbelievably green.)

Execution: 4/20 (The plot was not well carried out at all,Two Face agreeing to do something so ridiculous with a coin flip? He should've decided between killing Riddler or beating the crap out of him sure it would be nice to know Batman's identity but it favors Riddler waaay to much. And there's no way Alfred would just let them in if they knocked,besides there's no way a small face cover would jide there identity. How the villains were defeated was the lamest part I mean really Two Face died looking for coin? REALLY? Plus the romance portion didn't work out either)

Final: 8/20 (The movie had promise once it got to the part where Two face raids the circus and kills the Graysons.I really liked Val Kilmer's work and Jim Carrey was good for laughs but everyone else falt out sucked.Chris O'Donnell could've been good if he changed his tone just a little bit and did more things as Robin. Nicole Kidman was useless and unecessary in this movie.It's a shame this movie depended more on the actors [who were half baked at their characters] than on the plot which horribly wrong.I know it was supposed to be a kids movie but there's no way a kid would even stand a villain that looks like Jone's Two Face.Two Face is too ridculous for anyone over 10 and too creepy for those under 10.I like the effort of moving from dark to campy but c'mon at least try to make some sense and not try and fail to make us laugh. The title really works with the plot though)

And then things got worse 2ears later when in another fiend was released......

Batman and Robin (1997)

Presentation: 0/20 (Lackluster doesn't begin to describe how the beginning of the movie went.Nor does stupid. At the beginning we see Batman summoning the now very ugly Batmobile and Robin then whine about wanting a car.After they leave the Batcave they go to the Art Museum where Mr. Freeze is stealing diamonds. Mr. Freeze has the ugliest suit known to man and he starts off his antics with a bad ice pun.While Mr. Freeze is making bad puns.Batman and Robin are fighting a stupid looking hockey team.This makes Batman Forever look kind of dark now.I thought that movie had a bad presentation now I've seen it all)

Plot: 16/20 (Believe it or not I actually liked the plot,it was the first real plot since Batman89 that wasn't going in too many directions.Basically Batman and co. are trying to find a cure for Alfred who is dying from a rare disease that only Mr. Freeze can cure but they also have to stop Mr. Freeze,Poison Ivy,and Bane from taking over Gotham City and turning it into a not-so winter wonderland with plants.That is exactly what a villain should do if they have that kind of power make a place that can enjoy. On top of that Robin is beginning to resent the attention Batman gets. But a plot like this needs good execution)

Characters: 0/20 (Except for Alfred,they are either undeveloped or stupid. Bruce Wayne has gone from being the assertive guy starting to develop a playboy edge with Val Kilmer last film to the bad comedian and the Batman side has gone from smart to dim-witted.Robin/Dick Grayson has lost any bit of humility and has amped up the bratty meter.Poison Ivy is creepy rather than convincing.Mr. Freeze only makes bad jokes. Batgirl is when we first meet her completely dull and undeveloped and we finish the film off and se her as still dull and undeveloped)

Clooney's Role: 1/20 (Ok while he did bomb at being Bruce Wayne he did slightly better at being Batman than Christian Bale in the latest outing. He really turned a once promsing character into a really preachy and/or bad comedian kind of character. Although I did like the 2 scenes in which he was with his girlfriend.Still if I were a Batman acting teacher I'd give him an F on his report card.But since I'm just a critic this all I can do)

O'Donnell's Role: 0/20 (He was only mostly irritating in Batman Forever but he had his moments,now he's completely irritating.He has made Robin a lot whinier than he used to be and he seems like he's about to betray Batman at any minute almost like villain in a way.I'm all for a little bit of animosity between sidekick and hero in fact I like that.It really can't always be a perfect relationship.But he didn't act out his side well at all)

Schwarzeneggar's Role: 0/20 (I never thought I'd be the one to say this but his potrayal of Mr. Freeze makes his work as Governor of California look good.His work as Mr. Freeze is completely embarrassing above all else with all those bad ice puns.I didn't think there were that many ice puns you could make.I liked the puns when I was 4 but now they look real bad.His suit is ugly and what he does eck!!!! He's not even remotely threatning. I was really hoping we'd never see a travesty like Tommy Lee Jones' Two Face again but alas we did)

Thurman's Role: 0/20 (She's more creepy than anything else. Her lines would be great if she could just get the correct facial expression.This kind of thing should be minor but in this case not so.The worst is when she is trying to flirt with somebody)

Silverstone's Role: 0/20 (The only way her potrayal could've possibly been worse was if she took lessons from Lauren Holly. She was about as dull as a character could get. The best line she said in the whole film was in fact "Suit me up Alfred" in the dull tone but nonetheless, it was still her best which is really sad.It's no wonder she got a Razzie Award for Worst Supporting Actress)

Set: 2/20 (It looks fake and uncovincing and since when did Gotham City have so many high bridges or a huge hand? Why they didn't keep the set from Batman Forever is beyond me.On the bright side the Batcave entrance looks almost passable)

Execution: 0/20 (While there were plenty of twists none of them were for the better,when Poison Ivy entered that big crowd and everyone started fighting for her with her love toxins,Batman pulled out a credit card that there is just wrong.How the heck could any of the villains have survived the huge they made when in Batman Forever Edward Nygma killed his boss from a lower height or when in Batman89 Joker also died from a height about that high? The lamest part was how Batgirl became Batgirl. She just infiltrated the cave and Alfred just gave her a suit.Does that mean one of Alfred's old chaps could become a hero,does that mean Alfred's other niece had an equal chance to? How Robin made up with Batman felt like a bad dose of deux es machina simply to end the movie.How they even got away from the capsule that should've turned them to ice at the beginning is really ridiculous. The one well executed part was the dress up of Batgirl in which you got close ups of the butt,crotch,and boobs. But if you're gay or a straight girl that will count negatively and besides they did the same thing for the dress up Batman and Robin which has the opposite effect and they are 2 and Batgirl is one,it cancels out.The plot would've worked well had it been Christopher Nolan in charge or Tim Burton [except with Tim Burton Alfred would've died for certain].)

Final: 2/20 (This movie could've been good if the actors had better lines and the plot was better executed. Even if Schwarzneggar was dropped that would be good.Clearly you can see the director was certain all you needed to make a good Batman movie was good actors)

Other movies these actors have been in

Michael Keaton: First Daughter (2006),Beetlejuice (1988)
Michelle Pfeiffer: Hairspray (2007)
Danny DeVito: Matilda(1995)
Christopher Walken: Hairspray (2007)
Val Kilmer: Willow (1988),Prince of Egypt (1998)
Nicole Kidman: Nothing worth her performance
Chris O'Donnell: NCIS:Los Angeles
Alicia Silverstone: Clueless
Jim Carrey: Ace Ventura (1993), Liar,Liar(1997)
Tommy Lee Jones: None that I know of
Uma Thurman: See Tommy Lee Jones
Arnold Schwarzenneggar: Terminator(1980,1992, and 2003)

I'll get to Batman89 and The Dark Knight later

Battalion Wars and BWii:Battalion Wars 2

2009-12-22T14:46:00.000-08:00

It's been 4 months since I've done a review of any kind and with good reason,no one blogs anymore.It's FACEBOOK this, FACEBOOK that which is really quite a shame

I don't play as many video games as I used to,why? Becuase usually I'm either too busy reading,sleeping,or doing schoolwork.But there is one video game I can't get enough of here it is

One's things for certain,it's worth much more than the $5 I paid for

Battalion Wars (GameCube)

Developer: Kuju Entertainment
Publisher:Nintendo
Year:2005

Plot: 6/20 (It's completely unoriginal in every way possible,but then again it has few nice twists and come on,it's a purposely satire on American warfare,you can just tell by the the cartoony infantry and vehicles and bad accents so while it's not much it's not a total loss.Basically 2 nations (Frontier and Tundra) make a truce that is quickly broken (by Tundra) thus creating war)

Graphics: 20/20 (The graphics are absolutely stunning,very detailed,the environments are very lush and huge. The actual battalions despite being cartoony still look really good.When the Bombers drop their bombs the explosions are really good.No blood though.)

Concept: 20/20 (Basically you are the commander,and though you don't have a physical appearence you can switch between units.You lead the battalion through a great variety of missions whether it's shooting down gunships or capturing flags or bombarding the artillery.If your unit dies the game nicely switches over to another unit)

Levels: 16/20 (Usually they are all very interesting and the objectives are always differ,the real problem is although they differ sometimes they play out the same [Like Missions 18 and 20] other times they are the same [missions 3 and 8] but they're still amusing and addictive and regardless I can't get enough of them)

Challenge: 14/20 (The problem with this game is first it's waaay to easy [the first levels are tutorials but still] then come about Mission 6 it becomes ridiculously difficult,and it just bounces between easy and hard til' the end. And while the first missions are nice they are I found very hard to learn but easy to master. That kind of thinking has ruined many a video game.Of course now that I've played them so many times all them are simple)

Music: 7/20 (At the very beginning I can hear some of the music but it dies down in the action which is very annoying,but at the very beginning it's very nice,the best music is within the cutscenes though,very beautiful)

Final: 14/20 (It is a fun game,but to be honest it isn't perfect. It's too hard at some points and at others it's too easy,I don't get to hear the music becuase it dies away,I should be glad with the effect but I'm not and some of those missions get repetitive. It's a solid title but it's more about the action than anything else)

The sucess of the first garnered a sequel

BWii: Battalion Wars 2 (Wii)

Developer:Kuju Entertainment
Publisher:Nintendo
Year:2007

Plot: 11/20 (The plot is greatly improved,while it's still not original.Basically after a terrible defeat from the last game, Kaiser Vlad vows vengeance by deceiving all other nations into fighting while he can look for a superweapon that he can use to destroy them all,he begins by deceiving the Anglo Isles into attacking the Solar Empire)

Graphics: 18/20 (Everything looks noticeably better than the first game,but I felt like the environments could've had more detail and they could've taken more time on the vehicles while preserving the lovable cartoony look.The most impressive part is the water effects by far in naval battles)

Concept: 18/20 (Only 3 things have truly changed. First you can now play as a naval battalion,next you can capture all sorts of facilities that will resupply certain types of units,and finally there is an online multiplayer,I haven't played that so I won't give a score. Other than those new additions it's pretty much the same formula.It's also nice that I can now play as a bunch of nations rather than just one)

Levels: 12/20 (This game suffers from the same problems the first game did plus adds more like instead of a variety of objectives,instead you're stuck with Capture this Base,Capture those Docks,however there are a few standout levels like Campaign 2,Mission 3 or the final mission)

Challenge: 8/20 (It's not so much that it's too easy,more so that the challenge depends on if you want to capture the facility or not.If you don't capture any except the one that ends the mission,things will be waaay to hard,but if capture every facility in sight,it's waaay too easy plus you still have the same problems from game 1)

Music: 16/20 (The one thing that was fixed was the music,now the music is not only better than the original,it's a lot more intense and it doesn't die away come a batttle. In the cutscenes it's very fitting for the moment.Although sometimes it's repetitive)

Final: 14/20 (It's still a really good game and the new additions are really nice,the real problem is it hasn't addressed what plagued the original and added some new problems. It also comes off as more about the story than the actual missions. Not to mention the game relies too much on facilities. But hey the plot has still improved and for once I can hear the music and besides I haven't been able to try the multiplayer yet. Currently it feels more like an expansion pack with Wii controls rather than a sequel)

The Siren Song

2009-08-01T20:22:00.000-07:00

This one is the sequel to awesome hit (though not too well known by my peers) The Shadow Thieves it continues the saga of frustrated, sarcastic, and smooth talking Charlotte Mielswetski and her cousin not-so-frustrated,sarcastic,nor smooth-talking Zee who always end up taking on the Greek Gods and totally winning at that.

The Siren Song (Ursu)

Year: (2008)
Publisher:Atheneum

Plot: 20/20 (Our hero from the last book finds herself grounded due to leaving to save the world without those parents knowing,on top of that Zee hasn't been acting like himself and a strange new kid has showed up. Her parents then force her on a History-themed cruise but of course nothing goes well when there's Poseidon and vengeful Phil to deal with)

Characters:20/20 (No creepy Mr. Metos, more of the irritating parents cliche,the same vile Phil but with a twist of egotistical Poseidon and of course the same lovable main characters)

Settings: N/A (I didn't pay much attention to the settings this time,I was too busy lauging at all the humor,or slapping my face in exasperation whenever Maddy said anything)

Writing: 20/20 (It's quite scary,this book was actually as well written as the original,something incredibly rare in books)

Final: 20/20 (Ursu has actually managed to keep the series going with no evident decline in quality,of course this score might only be temporary because I need to back and pay more attention to the settings)

Newsies

2009-07-14T20:43:00.000-07:00

I've decided to freeze all those promised ones from all those "Up Next" ones, I think I'm just gonna take requests {At least a week and see where that goes} and while I'll keep the "Up Next feature" it'll work by category rather than by what's in line

Now the one I'm doing right now is a request from Asm,this one is technically a musical but I didn't pay much attention to the songs so I honestly can't comment on that one. Like I said I watched that movie yesterday.And considering it had the dreaded D logo of cheesy fakeness it wasn't so bad.But since it based on real events I shall grade this from a movie perspective rather than as something from the actual thing

Ok enough nitty gritty and onto the real thing

Newsies

Year: 1992

Presentation: 16/20 (The movie actually started off pretty good and kept my attention,it wasn't perfect or near it,but to say it was superb would be an understatement all the same)

Plot: 12/20 (Basically Jack Kelleyleader of the newsie boys {these are the boys that sell newspapers to people and buy from the company for twice that and therefore have to sell a lot of papers to make a living,in this case they sell New York World newspapers} decides to organize a strike when the president of the paper company decides to raise the price for buying the paper to the newsies.While that's a good plot that shows promise it's just barely over modest. The plot is based on a real event and that real event lead to child labor laws so I can't be too critical however)

Characters: 20/20 (All of the characters are well developed,not one seems spineless or lacking,While David does leave some personality to be desired,he good enough besides he's supposed to be "The Brains" anyway. Little Les is a very convincing character,kind of cute {in a less hormonal way thankfully} but mostly innocent which is the real charm of this movie.The villain is just the kind of villain we need,a subtle,nastier,grim one simply putting profits before people.That's the problem with most villains,they're usually psychotic maniacs that set elaborate traps)

Bale's Role: 20/20 (Much more outstanding than his portrayal of Batman,nails his work on being the brawny smooth talker,and kept the charisma the real leader had though the real leader couldn't talk so good,but he was probably smarter)

Pullman's Role: 12/20 (He was really good at being the perfect president in Independence Day (whoops forgot to mention him),but well in this case he seems to portray his character Denton as fuity[the newspaper guy who covers the strike in an important rival paper,then helps Jack make a paper for all children],now I don't know about the real Denton but this guy seems a little to fair-weather and flaky for my likes (I'm not much for the real Denton if the real Denton was like that).But then again he also came off as helpful and willing to do the right thing)

Duvall's Role: 20/20 (He plays greedy,profits first newspaper owner Joseph Pulitzer who in the movie raised the price of the papers making it too difficult for the newsies to be able to feed themselves,he didn't actually make to much of an appearence but for what he did was great,I think he made a cameo in The Godfather as well)

Moscow's Role: 6/20 (He played "The Brains" of it all,but well he just doesn't seem much like the brains either,he seems more like that sidekick that gets in the way and never talks. He seemed to portray the quiet part of The Brains rather than of course The Brains)

Set: 12/20 (It looked old fashioned and sort of like old New York,but all the same it also looked like it could be Paris, Salzburg, or one of those cities on continental Europe.Well at least the old-fashioned part was done right)

Execution: 20/20 (Despite all the misgivings,it was still well executed,the right lines,just the right time to break out in song,all the follies were drowned out by something Kelley said)

Final: 14/20 (Not bad for a post-1970's Disney movie, not only was it well executed,but it also was close to the actual 1899 Newsboys strike.Still the acting left a few things to be be desired but hey when you need a good sleepover movie that leaves you laughing all night this my friends is a good movie.Don't expect too much if want something really boring though or if you want a movie with the most top-notch set.)

Announcement

2009-07-13T16:42:00.001-07:00

Well it was great to have a nice few months off,but I'm back again

I've officially lost the paper telling me what to review so I'm all for requests. All I know is I was supposed to review a movie,oh wait I just got a request to review Newsies from Asm.

If you read this blog,please make a comment, PULEEZE?!? I hate it when my blog is read but there's no comment to tell me so,it's very discouraging when you don't know if you have attention or not,and it takes time out of my summer to do this

That's all

-Uber Psycho Tom

The Shadow Thieves

2009-03-21T16:08:00.000-07:00

Unlike most books this book title is literally what it says.It's actually about shadow thieves but it's not quite that simple and I'll explain why soon

I came across this book when I was bored,Asm had told me about this book so i thought I'd give it a go,so I asked Asm if I could borrow it much to her delight. Now onto the review

The Shadow Thieves (Ursu)

Year: 2007
Publisher:Antheum

Plot: 20/20 (Basically you have a sarcastic,smooth talking girl who has things turn on her when a cat appears out of nowhere,then her long lost cousin from England comes over,and then everybody gets some weird sickness which is believed to be a problem from the Underworld oh yes that's right Greek Mythology isn't Greek Mythology in this book.It turns out some demi god has made an army of clay henchmen who then steal shadows to build an army to overthrow none other than Hades who rules the underworld)

Characters: 19/20 (I liked all the characters in the books, we have smooth talking,sarcastic,nerdy Charlotte Mielswetzky and a polite,calm goody-goody who goes by the name of Zee.Mr.Metos is kind of creepy though.My least favorite character is easily Hades becuase he's too lazy and he doesn't seem to care much about what happens all he cares about is keeping the throne and Persephonie. I pity Charon most of all though and maybe you'll agree when you actually read the book)

Settings: 20/20 (I love how the Underworld is depicted as a gray drabby town rather than hell or a land of ice,and the River Styx in which Charon has to ferry the dead over to underworld very nice,it's not really hot lasva like it's been usually depicted as)

Writing: 20/20 (Only a goddess could write like this,until now! OK,ok a little over-the-top but it's quite amazing style how ell everythings described and the sense of humor left in)

Final:20/20 (If all books were this good I wouldn't be able to hold a job for more than a minute. It's not my favorite book but it's certainly a good book with allusions to mythology certainly more fun than say The Odyssey)

Up Next:

Chronologically: Time Bandits (Movies)
Books: Warriorcats:The Original Set

Star War: Shadows of the Empire

2009-03-14T22:06:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I've done a review of any sorts at all let alone a video game review.But since it's time for a video game review here I go

Most love the movies,some love the video games,some only like Princess Leia's hair do,and some only like the famous lines "Luke,I'm am your faaather" (I fit in all those categories).Either way it's still Star Wars.If there was ever a franchise that had too many video games for it's own good it would be Star Wars. However with that bad there is good I am going to review one of the good.

This game takes places somewhere in between episodes 5-6,............I think.This was one of the many jewels for the Nintendo 64 and one of the many good games actually made by LucasArts.I came across this game when I randomly went through a drawer of cartridges at Leffler's house.Naturally I put it turned th system on and started playing here's my outlook

Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire (Nintendo 64)

Developer: LucasArts
Publisher: Nintendo
Year:1996

Plot: 5/20 (The plot is pretty weird,unecessary and it's more like just another weird chink in Star Wars,in a way it's like a bad fanfic plot,in a way. It starts off after the battle on Hoth in The Empire Strikes back,then stuff happens after The Empire Strikes back I don't care anymore)

Graphics: 20/20 (This game though was an early game actually did not suffer from blurriness. Somehow LucasArts managed to make a game with graphics quality that it seemed only Nintendo could do)

Concept: 15/20 (A pretty straightforward concept,use the lightsaber,use it some more and more.Pretty nice and simple)

Levels: 14/20 (Above average levels yes but they got worse and worse as time went by,I preferred the Hoth stage the most)

Challenge: 20/20 (This game offers something most games really don't have any more,CHALLENGE.The first stage was tremendously hard and you can tell it's a perfect 20 and a good game when it's easy=to-learn,hard-to-master)

Music: 20/20 (I love the music in this game,and it was actually orchestrated which was quite rare back in 1996 plus the music is beyond good and evil [not close to Mario but still beyond good and evil]

Final:13/20 ( While it's not good,it's still one of the best Star Wars games out there and still a very solid N64 game and video game for that matter.Wouldn't recommend playing it all the way through more than once though)

Up Next:

Chronologically: The Shadow Thieves (Books)
Video Games: Sonic Game Gear Collection

PlayStation 2,PlayStation Portable,and Atari 2600

2009-02-28T09:10:00.000-08:00

I've reviewed quite a few consoles since I started this blog practically all of them by SEGA most of Nintendo's, all of Microsoft's and few in between. The few that I have played but haven't reviewed are slowly being put on the list.

And since the last 2 Sony systems and the first real successful console are up now,well here I go.

I always hated the Sony brand,they've made the market for closed-minded hardcore gamers obsessed with blood and guns and they've always seemed corporately arrogant. Alright onto the review

PlayStation 2

Games: 9/20 (There are a lot of games for this system,by now they're should be enough to fill a garden shed and that's just with 1 of each,with all the copies sold you could fill a mansion,but the main drawback is most of these games are crap like Disney:Sing It)

Graphics: 12/20 (Impressive graphics but primitive compared to the likes of GameCube and Xbox,early games look comparable to the Nintendo 64 [Dead or Alive 2]

Design:0/20 (Looks like an ugly skyscraper,too heavy,and prone to breakage plus it can't read discs half the time)

Technology: 20/20 (In a day when DVD's were rare and expensive,$300 was a bargain not to mention backward compatibility which was all but forgotten)

Final:10/20 (Terrible system but no one can deny the technological aspects of the PS2)

After dominating the console industry,Sony went handheld with the unoriginal name of...............

PlayStation Portable

Games: 2/20 (Not a lot,and not a lot of good in fact like the Lynx I can only name 4 good games Grand Theft Auto:Liberty City Stories,Grand Theft Auto:Vice City Stories,Daxter,and Monster Hunter)

Graphics:19/20 (Graphical marvel the PSP is,it's like putting the Ps2 into a handheld,PS2 wasn't great for it's time but considering the fact most handhelds were still 2D and the DS had N64 based graphics,this is a perfect but 2D wise PSP is no match for DS)

Design: 16/20 (I liked the design on this one,compact and well placed buttons but the thumbstick leaves something to be desired and it could have better battery life)

Technology: 20/20 (The first handheld to use discs instead of cartridges,plus web browser and photos and MP3's this handheld is the perfect multimedia center)

Final:14/20 (The only SONY system I actually can respect in any way,but no match for DS)

Onto the first cartridge based system that mattered,the first 30 million seller,the first system with real 3rd party support it is........

Atari 2600

Games: 12/20 (Don't get me wrong this system has a lot of games and a lot of good games like Pitfall!,Adventure,Night Driver,Space Invaders,Tennis,Kaboom!,Tanks,but it also is loaded with garbage like Pac-Man,E.T. the Extraterrestrial,Karate,Custer's Revenge,and Raiders of the Lost Ark)

Graphics: 9/20 (Atari 2600 was never known for having attractive graphics,earlier games look more like pixilated puke but hey some look pretty good[ex:Ms. Pac-Man])

Design:18/20 (I loved the design,the faux wood style gives me a "right-at-home" feeling but it was too big and heavy)

Technology:20/20 (First system with dettachable controllers,first that could support many add-ons and so much more,easily a perfect)

Final:15/20(Good system,best-of-the-best before 1985 but with a huge storm of inexperienced 3rd party developers making games and throwing em' out into the market,no one could tell the good from the bad which of course helped cause the Crash of 1984)

Favorite Games

PlayStation 2: Final Fantasy X
PlayStation Portable: Monster Hunter
Atari 2600: Adventure

Up Next

Chronologically: Star Wars:Shadows of the Empire (Video Games)
Consoles:Sega Master System and Turbo Grafx-16

Ever After

2009-02-21T13:29:00.000-08:00

I've seen this quite a few times with Ma' and if you think it's a regular romance chick flick,you've got it all wrong. In fact I remember one of my 7th grade teachers would always talk about this movie every last time.It didn't mean much learning of Math or anything but hey they're nice little anecdotes that lighten the dullness of class.

I apologize for my slowness,I had every intention of doing this earlier but last time I wasn't too busy or tired.Asm kicked me off to finish her stupid fanfic [alright fine I don't know if it's stupid or not but the point is it's delayed this review]

Alright enough of this ramblin' time to get to the point.

Ever After: A Cinderella Story

Year: 1998

Presentation: 18/20 (Really good presentation,albeit boring but hey few movies have really nailed the beginning)

Plot: 6/20 (The plot was completely unimpressive,but lets face it the whole Cinderella idea is the most unoriginal thing ever,more unoriginal than even fairy-tale spin-offs like Shrek or Hoodwinked)

Characters: 20/20 (The main character was extremely brave,cool,and smart and not the usual damsel in distress and the perfect wife, the prince was the perfect rebel and the perfect "hottie" and he's the clueless one but still lovable.The stepsisters are just like the regular ones well one is the other is simply next in line to slaughter.The stepmom is a much more subtle and secretive villain and quite a lot like the CEOS of Chrysler,Ford,and GM spending too much and blaming the workers and spending like she has it all.The dad we only saw for one scene but the relationship between the 2 was so strong it would make most 5 year old girls cry and captivate most others)

Barrymore's Role: 20/20 (That's right Drew Barrymore,the same Drew Barrymore who played the little Gertie in E.T. the ExtraTerrestrial and Sophie in Music and Lyrics and she totally nailed the role of this daring,intelligent,unfortunate maid who falls for the prince)

Set: 20/20 (They did a bang-up job [yes that's a good thing for those who don't what I'm saying] of filming what's supposed to be renessaince France.They did the best job with the work of the Baroness home though)

Execution: 20/20 (Fantastic,this movie has something for all people willing to look past the title and your treated to humor and romance throughout the film,but the best part was the very end wih the quote "The point gentlemen is not that they lived happily ever after,he point is they lived".Every word and actioon was well timed and nothing seemed slapped in)

Final:17/20 (There is more to it that meets the eye, a good mix of romance of humor get past the unoriginal plot and title and you're in for a treat and I really can't imagine anyone else other than Drew Barrymore playing this role)

Up Next

Chronologically: PlayStation 2,PlayStation Portable, and Atari 2600 (Consoles)
Movies: Time Bandits

Netscape Browser and Persepolis

2009-02-07T11:00:00.000-08:00

It's been awhile since I've posted any reviews.For that I am sorry,but I have recently started posting on a certain video game forum run by another critic,another self proclaimed critic merely called "The VideoGameCritic" or the "VGC ".

It's been quite some time since my last book,then again I haven't done any Browsers in some time either.I figured I might as well combine them since browser reviews are quite short.

I remember for a long time [since I was 5] when Mom and Dad just got an email adrress and Asm used to always play Sesame Street online,of course we had a different computer [which we used for a good decade until we started too need online,for this computer got replaced in 2001 with the one I use now,both were updated to Windows 98 and we used that for quite some time to. However during all these computer changes,one browser stayed the same and was the main 90's browser. Fine I'll get to it already.

Netscape Browser (AOL)

Presentation: 20/20 (Overall Netscape has had a good presentation it looks just like a serious man's browser [unlike Chrome])

Features: 0/20 (If features were strands of hair on guys head,Netscape would be bald)

Reliability: 20/20 (It was quite reliable for sometime but once the computer switched from dial-up to DSL it always got really slow from the router)

Searching: 20/20 (Certainly a good browser for searching at the time,albeit out of date now [sort of like being 16 in this era and still using vinyl records to listen to music instead of iPods and iPhones)

Final:15/20 (Netscape was out of date but it was reliable and workable and quite easy to deal with,but it wasn't compatible with stuff as simple as conforums.Eventually I ended up upgrading to Opera just get things done)

Now onto a controversial,graphic novel that gives one reader an interesting view of the Iranian Revolution and an odd view of Communism/Socialism.Here we go

Persepolis (Marjane Satrapi)

Year: 2003-2005
Publisher: Pantheon Books

Plot: 20/20 (I suppose it's not really fair to give autobiographies a score based on plot,but well the plot is good after all it's about the Iranian Revolution and living in Iran during the times of all those strict standards)

Author's Viewpoint: 10/20 (Rather than scoring by characters I'll score based on authors view because it is an autobiography.I don't completely agree with her view,I agree that it shouldn't be so strict and would probably have the same reaction to all the murders and sexism [It's not really fair when women can't even show any hair or wear sneakers when men can wear stuff so tight you can see everything],then again I don't think she has a lot of morals and she's a bigmouth and quite defiant but then again defiant bigmouths don't really like defiant bigmouths.I also learned quite a bit more aboput Communism and U.S. relations[Were jerks that set up puppets for our interests and we forget that capitalism has made Wal-Mart exist])

Writing: 20/20 (There isn't too much writing becuase it's a graphic novel,but what there is is excellent and i love the metaphors I see)

Pictures: 20/20 (The drawings aren't like traditional Japanese manga but rather in a league of their own,in fact I believe all books by this author look something like these,either way I wish I had her style of drawing)

Final:18/20 (If I wasn't morally baffled by her values I'd give this book a perfect score,oh well it's eye candy and easy reading,I remember reading this 10 times in my Freshman year and 20 times earler this school year)

Up Next:

Chronologically: Ever After or Time Bandits (Movies)*
Browsers: Chrome (Google)

* I think I did an Ever After movie review but if I didn't that's next rather than Time Bandits

Assorted Legend of Zelda Games Reviews

2009-01-26T11:55:00.000-08:00

Let me get one thing straight I love The Legend of Zelda but I believe it to be albeit overrated.I prefer Mario,Donkey Kong,and Banjo-Kazooie series more. But as a video game critic,not "The Video Game Critic" but nonetheless a critic of video games it would be a crime against nature to ignore the greatness that is Legend of Zelda. I've decided to review the 1st,the "best" and the newest.

Our first game was based off of the mountain childhood of Nintendo legend Shigeru Miyamoto which he in turn turned into a video game[of course most top Nintendo franchises were started off this kind of stuff,Pikmin came from his love for gardening,Star Fox came from a Fox statue he saw, it goes on] alright to the point

The Legend of Zelda(NES)

Developer: Nintendo R&D4
Publisher:Nintendo
Year:1987

Plot: 20/20 (Like most NES games of the time, the plot is simple but sound,save Hyrule and Zelda from ganon,it's not a real plot today but in those days it was something)

Graphics: 20/20(The best graphics you get for a NES game in 1987)

Concept: 20/20 (This is one of the few games I know that throws you straight into the lions den with nothing but a knfe and a trash bag[or in this case a sword and arrows],and basically you go around Hyrule and explore and collect,sometimes I wish video games were still so simple.Even the inspired RPG genre isn't so simple)

Levels: 12/20 (I was albeit dissappointed with the levels and found SEGA's counterpart Phantasy Star to have more variety,but at least the levels are fun)

Challenge: 16/20 (I didn't give it this score because it was too easy,no,no,no,NOOOOO!!!!! It was ridicoulously difficult,I wish more video games had challenge but this is overdone)

Music: 20/20 (I liked the music,it was perfect for the game and could put you in the right mood if you needed it)

Final:18/20(Can't grade much else in this game,it is so simle that I must stick with the basics.But sometimes the simple video game is the best video game,which applies to books,movies,and everything to some extent)

11 years later,Legend of Zelda went 3D and the game was released to universal praise,to this day most serious gamers are likely to put his game at the top.Me not so much,I always found it to be too much of everything. But it's still a solid Nintendo 64 title

Legend of Zelda:Ocarina of Time (Nintendo 64)

Developer: Nintendo EAD
Publisher:Nintendo
Year:1998

Plot: 19/20 (I liked the plot but it was somewhat confusing and complicated,it starts off with Link living in the Kokiri Forest waiting to get a fairy which he does but it soon escalates to having to stop Ganondorf from becoming Ganon and taking over Hyrule,oh and then you have to miss childhood,I don't want all this,it was just fine with,SAVE HYRULE FROM GANON!!!)

Concept: 20/20 (The concept is albeit like the original NES game,except rather than getting thrown into the lions den you get thrown right by the lions den with a pocket knife,trash bag,and a pile a prey[or in this case you get some basics done and you get a horse as well])

Graphics:20/20 (Nintendo did a fantastic job turning this into 3D,it's a huge step up from the likes of Star Fox 64 and Super Mario 64)

Levels: 20/20 (These levels were spectalcular,gorgeously animated,completely fun,I really liked the Deku Tree level and that level with Gorons)

Challenge: 14/20 (Not as challenging as I hoped but challenging enough to keep most at ease,Super Mario 64 was harder lets just say)

Music: 20/20 (I love the music,when I first heard it I thought only Mario games could harness such goodness)

Final:19/20(It's a good game but it wasn't as hard as people said it was and the plot was too complicated to completely enjoy otherwise it's amazing)

9 years after ocarina of Time and 20 years after NES hit Legend of Zelda,Legend of Zelda went 3D on handhelds.But rather than starting a mini-saga,Phantom Hourglass completed where Wind Waker left off 4 years ago with even the same graphics.

Legend of Zelda:The Phantom Hourglass(Nintendo DS)

Developer:Nintendo EAD
Publisher:Nintendo
Year:2007

Plot: 10/20 (It's not futile and it's not bad,the problem is it's waaay too complicated for my liking,the plot as I can comprehend is Link ends up on some Island that was once a tall mountain but the sea flooded. He ends up looking for Tetra but instead runs into some mysterious figure,and that's I far as I can understand)

Concept: 20/20 (Basically you use the stylus to create a route for the ship to go while n the great sea and on land it's just like any other Legend of Zelda,except with stylus and touch screen of course,this is in a nutshell all right)

Graphics:20/20(This game really pushes the Nintendo DS to the limits)

Levels: 16/20 (Not a lot of variety but the levels are fun anyway)

Challenge:20/20 (The hardest game I've played so far on a Nintendo DS)

Music:10/20 (The music was extremely mediocre,I didn' care for it at all but at least the music wasn't sinister like Sonic)

Final:16/20(It was alright but it's kind of like the black sheept of the series,and no I'm not counting those CD-i games)

Up Next

Chronologically: Netscape(Browsers)
Video Games: Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire

Genesis and Nintendo 64

2009-01-24T13:54:00.000-08:00

It's been a while since I did consoles my last being a review of the first Nintendo's and PlayStation.I used this order because these consoles had at least 3 things in common

1.All had full support of Squaresoft[now Square Enix](Therefore these were the consoles to come to for RPG's)
2. All sold at least 50 million consoles
3.The other competitors had to mimic with 1st party do o lack of real 3rd party support

However as for SNES and PSX those 2 had bitter rivals that could've come to the top.Because NES was the clear winner with no real competition I shall not compare any of the consoles that attempted to compete but instead the 2 consoles that did.

I already graded the SEGA Saturn(17/20), Dreamcast(19/20) and Game Gear(16/20)

The story of this console began when their 8-bit Master System lost to NES,knowing they had to make a console to take down this monstrosity,becuase NES was 8-bit,they had to make something that was 16-bit[Mattel's Intellivision was 16-bit but you gotta' wonder why no company could make ne like that] but nonetheless they suceeded and called it the MEGA DRIVE but NEC was already marketing the Turbo Grafx 16.In order to take the top SEGA copied Nintendo's policy and made games with celebrity names which ate out TG-16,then to combat the familiar franchises Nintendo and the upcoming SNES they made Sonic the Hedgehog who in America is considered star of...........

Genesis

Games: 20/20 (So much like SNES is has practically the same amount of games and with games like Sonic the Hedgehog,Sonic CD,Phantasy Star 2,Shining Force,Vectorman,Knuckles Chaotix and Golden Axe it was hard to find fault with it)

Graphics:10/20 (This system did not have good graphics,Sonic was alright but really,overall it was mediocre at best)

Design:14/20 (No matter how many revisions,how many sizes, and who knows what, it always looked ugly. However by itself it's also quite durable which is a huge plus)

Technology: 17/20 (Not the best technology,but it was faster at processing games than SNES which is a plus and it was the top man for 2 years,but then SNES came out)

Final:15/20(The system was above average,technologically it was the king for 2 whole years before SNES came out,the system was loaded with some of the coolest games out there,and hey the system was on the market for quite some time,and since there was a flood of system trying to look better,it looked too old within 3 years)

This console is great,so great I named my blog after it most of my favorite games come from it,practically half my top 10 list comes from this system.No console is perfect but this comes pretty damn close to being perfect.This console could've easily won but Nintendo made a few mistakes

1.Cartridges
2.Delayed for too long
3.No real RPG developers were courted

This console was waaay better than anything today and only 3 consoles could even remotely get close to it(Dreamcast,SNES and Nintendo DS)

Nintendo 64

Games: 20/20 (Not a lot of games[especially RPG's] but to make up for it,you've got quality,incredible amount of quality.Legend of Zelda:Ocarina of Time,Ogre Battle 64,Banjo Kazooie,Star Fox 64,Mario Kart 64,Super Mario 64,Diddy Kong Racing,Turok,Perfect Dark,Quake 64,it goes on)

Graphics:20/20(That system had groundbreaking graphics the later games were comparable to early PS2 titles.Super Mario 64 told you about the system capabilities from day 1.Unlike Jaguar this really was 64-bit.)

Design:20/20 (Durable,most beautiful looking,compact,and attractive console,but it always looked like it needed dusting,though the later colors were great,I for one like the Pikachu N64 even though the game that came with it was donkey crap)

Technology: 19.5/20 (I'd love to give it a perfect score,but Nintendo didn't use CDs because of this the games tended to look albeit blurry and they were expensive to produce.However the N64 controller invented the thumbstick and camera made buttons from day 1,and not to far after to advantage of the hole in the bottom by inventing things like the rumble pack,the controller pack[VMU probably came from this].Internally there was the expansion pack which enhanced the N64's power and graphics even farther(Games like Donkey Kong 64 and Legend of Zelda:Majora's Mask to advantage of this))

Final:20/20(Best system ever and will probably never be trumped but hey there's hope that Xbox 720 or Wii 2 or PlayStation 4 could be on the way to being even more outstanding,but only time will tell)

Favorite Games:

Genesis: Vectorman (20/20)
Nintendo 64: Banjo Kazooie(20/20)

Up Next

Chronologically: Legend of Zeldas (Video Games)
Consoles: PlayStation 2,PlayStation Portable,and Atari 2600

The Parent Trap(1998)

2009-01-23T16:18:00.000-08:00

I would've done The Godfather but I don't remember enough about it to do a review,so instead I've decided to replace that movie with a review of The Parent Trap and no not the 1966 Disney hit,rather the 1998 remake.

The Parent Trap(1998)

Presentation: 20/20(Impressive presentation and excellent beginning dialogue)

Plot: 5/20 (This plot has been done and it's so old practically every TV show or book has done some version of it it's like a sibling version of The Prince and The Pauper,but at least it's done in quite a nice style)

Characters:20/20 (Hilarious characters well developed and every character is lovable[except one who is easy to love to hate])

Lohan's Role: 20/20 (This was made back in the day when Lindsay Lohan was actually a good actress not someone known for being drunk,she was maybe 12 at the oldest,either way she totally pulled the dual roles of Haley Parker and Anne James)

Richardson's Role: 19/20 (Almost sound,still she potrayed Elizabeth James as albeit of a dull character at first)

Quaid's Role: 12/20 (Easily the weak one but hey he's always the weak one and somehow he always end up as a father in each movie[of course I've only seen him in The Day After Tomorrow and Your's Mine,and Our's] oh well he does an acceptable job at being the unsuspecting Dad)

Set: 20/20 (Good set work,theleaky cabin was filmed well and the rest was about as good as it gets for 1998)

Execution:20/20 (The plot is a loss but thankfully it's done in a good style,with badass dialogue,and an ending you wouldn't expect)

Final:16/20(It's hard to not like this movie,but it's not without flaws I mean the plot sucks but the movie wouldn't work without it they coulda' found someone better than Dennis Quaid to play Nick Parker)

Up Next

Chronologically:Genesis and Nintendo 64(Consoles)
Movies: Ever After(1998)

C.S. Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia

2008-12-29T09:48:00.000-08:00

For Christmas I got 3 DVD's,personal stuff,and a house key. 2 of those DVD's were Chronicles of Narnia namely The Lion,the Witch,and the Wardrobe and Prince Caspian. Those 2 movies were based off of the books by C.S. Lewis who wrote 7 books in the series. Iwatched both of them on Christmas and how appropraite considering C.S. Lewis is a Christian,you can tell by all the symbolism used in his books,the Narnia septiliogy being no exception. C.S> Lewis wrote his books in a biblical manner to because though it makes sense how it's put it doesn't work chronologically

Alright,to the point

Chronicles of Narnia(C.S. Lewis)

Year(s):(1946-1956)
Publisher:HarperTrophy

Plot:12/20 (From what I can remember I liked the most of the plots,I don't remember liking The Last Battle,The Silver Chair,or Voyage of the Dawn Treader. Book 1 was loosely symbolic of The Crucifixition,Book 2 is symbolic of both Moses and the Israelites and the restoration of a religion[And since C.S. Lewis wasn't Mormon he was probably referring to the Protestant Reformation] All I remember from 3 was only Lucy and Edmund returned then they brought along a jerk of cousin and they went on voyage. For 4 they had to rescue Caspian's son from an evil witch[not the White Witch].Book 5 was a midquel to Book 1 which I like to think is like a slave who didn't belong wanted to escape to the North to be free[Narnia].Book 6 is like Genesis in the Bible. Book 7 was like Revelation[I liked Revelattion but this really,it sucked; Lewis killed all Narnia travelers except Susan literally and mortally wounded her spiritually]Though I'd give Books 1,2,5,and 6 perfect scores,the others sucked so bad that I can't honestly give the total more than 12)

Characters:12/20 (I liked all the Pevensies,except Susan she was a smart-alec,girly,goody-goody tu shus, and eventually too selfish,Eustace was a jerk,Jill seemed kind of 1D, aI liked Digory and Polly,Shasta was cool, Aravis was the perfect tomboy. Since Eustace,Susan,and Jill were terrible and Peter seemed like a smarty,bossy-pants at times,the score goes to 12,Aslan was the perfect Christ-like figure,and Jadis as Satan)

Settings: 20/20 (I lovecd the settings whether it be Telmar,Narnia,Calormen,the world of Charn was well done,but I wish Narnia lasted longer,why did Aslan destroy his own creation????)

Writing: 20/20(Easily some of the best literature out there,and easily classed in same category as Moby Dick or Jack London)

Final:16/20

Up Next:
Chronologically:The Godfather (Movies)
Books:Persepolis

Firefox and Wave Race 64

2008-12-27T18:48:00.000-08:00

I've procrastinated one thing for too long,that being a review of the Firefox browser. I'm actually using such to blog so why not. On the other hand I've also got a video game to do

so once again I must do a dual-purpose. I'll star with the procrastinated

Mozilla Firefox

Presentation:20/20(Awesome presentation,it says " I'm amazing" all over it)

Features: 20/20 (I can't explain but one it in one word:AWESOME)

Reliability:20/20 (Even more reliable than Opera,this browser is fast and has never frozen)

Searching:20/20 (Searching is a breeze)

Final:20/20(Easily one the best browsers to work with,and one of the reasons I have not re-installed Opera)

Now for N64's first games,one of the best racing games and the only way I've experienced a jet-ski and for the record anything Mario that I've reviewed is developed by Nintendo EAD(Galaxy by Nintendo EAD Tokyo) and published by Nintendo. I do not review for lasting appeal as such that should be formed on your own and this game has no need for plot as it is merely racing.Mario Kart is always developed by Nintendo EAD except Super Circuit which was developed by Intelligent Systems.

Wave Race 64 (Nintendo 64)

Year:1996
Developer: Nintendo EAD
Publisher:Nintendo

Concept:20/20 (Jet-ski racing what better can you get)

Graphics: 16/20 (The racers and water look great as do the background,but the jet-ski's look a bit grainy and everything can look albeit blurry which is what most early N64 games looked like)

Average Track Score:10/20 (A bit bland but you can't do too much with water-based tracks,still I think more could have been done,why look at Wave Race:Blue Storm)

Multiplayer: 20/20 (The multi-player was more addictive than chocolate and certainly comparable to Mario Kart 64,I found that multi-player is the games main selling point)

Final:17/20 (For a jet ski racing game it doesn't get much better than this,Wave Race as a series is one of the better games on Nintendo systems,but also overlooked)

Up Next

Chronologically: Chronicles of Narnia (Books)
Video Games: Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (N64) and Legend of Zelda:The Phantom Hourglass (DS)
Browsers: Netscape(AOL)

NES,SNES, and PlayStation

2008-12-26T19:01:00.000-08:00

Yes,yes Uber Psycho Tom here I'm back.No I'm not on some vacation or anything like that. I had a good week so far.However on this blog I am in critique, not personal mode as such I must have something to critique. Thankfully I do have something. It's been awhile since I done anything in the consoles sections so here it goes. The first Nintendo's and The first PlayStation

This console came into the market at a time when homebound video games weren't trusted. All the companies went bankrupt,got sold,divided and so on,if you wanted to play video games you would have to rush off to the arcade. The makers of Donkey Kong were experiencing in Japan a rise in video games. Naturally they decided to expand their market,so they went to once legendary Atari and said " Hey can you help us market our system in America?". However they came at the wrong time; Atari was in shambles,it was a video game crash in America. Finding this out the hard way,Nintendo decide to sell the system themselves. They went to a toy company and made a fantastic deal. Soon enough the system was test launched in New York as a toy an entertainment system(hence Nintendo Entertainment System), no one thought it would work but soon enough it was a success and by Christmas,it was all over. This console is almost always,ALWAYS! put as #1 on best system lists.

NES

Games: 20/20 (If you wnat a system with quality games,and lots of it,this is your system whether it be Castlevania,Metroid,Legend of Zelda,or Super Mario Bros. you're sure to find something you like)

Graphics: 17/20 (Some games look so sloppy and atrocious while others are top-notch Super Mario bros. had very unfavorable graphics in my opinion but Kirby's Adventure looks like almost 16-bit,this coming from an 8-bit)

Design: 5/20 (Ugly,heavy,and though durable on the outside,it often can't fit the cartridges inside and sometimes it kills the cartridge, the cleaning kit is practically useless,get 10 systems if you can)

Technology: 20/20 (Good technology for ime like the lock-out chip that prevents illicit copies)

Final:16/20 (Great system,most influential system in the whole industry but it wasn't very reliable and graphics weren't always pushed,probably because most developers preferred Atari 2600 with it's jurassic graphics)

Eventually Atari came back and Sega and NEC joined the fray trying to take on NES. Atari didn't even try to get 3rd party support,Nintendo made a now illegal rule to make so if they published for Nintendo they could only publish for Nintendo.However that rule only was only applied in America,in Europe NES actually lost to SEGA but Nintendo still won overall. NEC then jumped in making a "16-bit" system(it was actually 8-bit but had graphics that were 16-bit),SEGA then made a successor which took NEC's limelight but failed tyo overthrow aging NES. Eventually NES got to old and out of date so Nintendo released a system technollogically superior to SEGA's Genesis. So eventually Sega couldn't say "Genesis does what Nintendon't" but Genesis had a lead and right before Super Mario World, SEGA came out with...... SONIC the HEDGEHOG which was the perfect defense.To this day there are guys who still remember the schoolyard fights of Genesis vs....

SNES

(Not me sadly,I was born just months after Super Mario Kart and was 3 years old when N64 replaced the SNES)

Games: 20/20 (It's hard to find a Nintendo without this score few exceptions being GameCube,Wii, and Virtual Boy,I mean every Nintendo has quantity and quality.SNES was the place for any kind of game my personal favorites being Super Mario Kart,Super Mario World,Star Fox,and Donkey Kong Country,oh and who can forget F-Zero)

Graphics: 20/20(One word:Deadly! I bet ya' the healthiest guy could have a heart attack looking at the magnificence of it all,Star Fox looks like it's 3D,Bubsy has the best 2D graphics possible[terrible game though] and Donkey Kong Country well,.... you could write a book describing the graphics of it[it would still be better than Twilight])

Design: 16/20 (Durable, lightweight, and reliable but the guys deciding on the color must've been color blind because it's dull gray and sharp tan with purple to top it off,not to mention it's so boxy)

Technology: 20/20 (Mode 7 was supreme,look what it did to early games like F-Zero, F-Zero and early 2-D Jaguar games are graphically similar and the FX chip made Star Fox the first "3D" game without vector graphics)

Final:19/20(This was one of the only systems that lived up to it's hype had the best graphics and best games[the winning systems usually don't have the best graphics and the losing systems often think they can win with graphics])

Ok I don't hate SONY but I hate what they've done to the video game industry. Before SONY video gaming was for kids that enjoyed that played games based on the playability and fun[which is what any gamer would agree with] but then they killed SEGA[when SEGA became a 3rd party publisher,their games went down in quality including our beloved hedgehog] put Nintendo on their knees and then they influenced Microsoft to enter. Also they encouraged adults that only care about graphics to play. To this day it's hard to find real games instead you get a graphics war.This started because SONY was gonna' help Nintendo beat SEGA but SONY ripped them off. Nintendo betrayed the company and eventually SONY worked on the unfinished project and turned it into the PlayStation just as Nintendo marketed NES themselves when Atari failed to help.Nintendo lost support when they decided to keep with cartridges rather than CD's like PlayStation. Square supported all the other systems of Nintendo but left them in favor of PlayStation.

PlayStation

Games: 10/20 (I'll admit I liked Frogger,Iron Soldier 3,Gran Turismo, Final Fantasies,and Spyro,but the others either were mediocre,sucked or had ports that were better on other systems[ex:Tomb Raider on Saturn,Quake II on N64,Rayman on Jaguar,etc.],however there was quantity)

Graphics: 12/20 (Downright ugly graphics,some games were comparable to 64 but they were often washed up and grainy,64 may have been blurry but there's more grainiess in one part of a PSX game than their is blur to an entire N64 game. In 2D N64 still beat PSX and of course Saturn was king of 2D graphics)

Design: 11/20 (Boxy,ugly,looks like a porta-potty bench,unreliable but compact and lightweight[Saturn was a lug])

Technology:0/20 (There was no innovative technology,CD media started in 1992 with Turbo Duo, thubsticks and rumble came out on N64 first,anything multimedia like started on 3DO, and yeah SONY copied everything with no inventing whatsoever)

Final:8/20(PS3 only got a 14 because no one can deny it's technological and graphical proweress but PlayStation the original had none of those edges,it didn't even invent what it had)

Favorite Games:

NES: Super Mario Bros. 2
SNES: Super Mario Kart
PlayStation: Final Fantasy VII

Up Next

Chronologically: Wave Race 64 and Firefox (Dual-purpose)
Consoles: Genesis and Nintendo 64

Independence Day and Milk

2008-12-19T17:15:00.000-08:00

I was originally going to post a dual-purpose review of Mozilla Firefox and Independence Day.However today I have changed my mind mostly because I saw one of the best movies ever.

I'll still do Independence Day(1996) but this time I'll add Milk(2008). No not the liquid that comes from mammary gland and boobs. Uh no,I'm talkin' about the politician who became the first openly gay politician in the entire U.S..His name Harvey Milk

Now this is the second time I'm typing this up,the first time it damn froze up on me so I had to reboot the computer.This time I'm gonna save drafts like heck to ensure that I don't have to type it all up again.Anyway onto

Independence Day

Presentation:20/20 (I love how everything starts off perfectly normal but then it intensifies with weird signals and it gets weirder and weirder til' aliens are everywhere with a plan to destroy all humankind)

Plot:20/20 (It's not really just one plot but 4 plots that converge.One plot being the President trying to boost reputation which of course happens with that speech to resist the aliens.Another is a cable guy with some social issues.Another is about a crop duster who claims to have been kidnapped by aliens 10 years ago[he was right they do exist!].Finally you have a plot about a Captain[Will Smith] who is to be married soon until those aliens land then he's forced to get back to El Toro to fight those aliens]

Characters:20/20 (I like the characters,I wish the politicians in reality were more like these ones,actually working for the people not themselves)

Smith's Role: 20/20 (He's got some of the best lines ever and this is his best,Smith is easily at his funniest,I didn't think I'd say this but this is like Smith's answer to Eddie Murphy's Beverly Hills Cop)

Set:20/20(Look at the spaceship,nuff said)

Execution:20/20 (This film would be extremely weak if poorly executed,not like some of those films that are completely cheesy but funny like Pink Panther,more like the kind that if executed just wrongly it'll be terrible such as Home Alone[I mean we all know what would happen if those booby traps didn't spring right away])

Final:20/20

At last onto the movie I finally saw and looked forward to.Oh great my foots fallen asleep,I'd better do this quick before the rest of me does.I saw this on a class field trip

MILK

Presentation:20/20 (Starts off with the arrests of gays,then Feinstein's announcement of the assassinations and then if this is a sandwhich you've basically gotten past the outer hard part of the bread and reached the inner chewiness of the bread.Then you start hitting the lettuce as it flashes back into 1970 with Milk[Sean Penn] meeting one of his partners Scott Smith[James Franco])

Plot: 20/20 (After meeting Scott Smith,they live a good life in San Francisco until Milk decides to run for Supervisor which strains there relationship.Then he runs again and he has no partner.Both times he fails,then he tries again and he suceeds.He inspired one notorious activist known as Cleve Jones and eventually became "The Mayor of Castro".After Smith leaves him he finds a new partner who eventually hangs himself after feeling ignored and mistreated. Ultimatley, he and mayor George Moscone ge shot and killed by former Supervisor Dan White. I need say no more I don't wanna give the whole thing away)

Characters:20/20 (Good characters,Jack Lira[the guy who hangs himself] was alright a bit crazy but uh whaeva', I'm a crazy guy meself.Milk was hilarious and even Dan White was alright[still shoulda' gone to jail for premeditated murder] I feel sympathy for him.This can only go as far as potrayals)

Penn's Role: 20/20 (Star of the show and obviously the right man for it,and I'm not much for him either but he managed to pull Milk of quite nicely by adding so much emotion)

Franco's Role:20/20 (Very good at being the supporting character,if only I didn't see his butt at at one point[that's probably why it's R rated])

Brolin's Role: 20/20 (He plays Dan White,I like his potrayal of White ,adds a more psycho touch to him that I didn't find when looking up Dan White on Google)

Gabreel's Role:20/20 (Though he plays dumb character Ryan in High School Musical,he also potrays Dan Nicoletta who was a young adult at this time and he worked with Milk and Smith at the Castro Camera and helped Milk with his campagin for Supervisor)

Set:20/20 (It's filmed right S.F. with one shop being redone to film the Castro Camera scenes[don't worry the gift shop is where Castro Camera was so it's appropriate])

Execution:20/20 (I love how the scenes were put together,all the lead actors did what they needed,the ending left you captive with hope despite the fact that Milk was shot at the end,you don't see him get the final wound but you see him instead looking at the opera picture then keeling over)

Final:20/20 (I prefer darker movies than this and usually a little less graphical but,without the graphical stuff you might forget Milk's sexual orientation and it's real in real life I don't like sad,gruesome endings and no one does except of course Satan.This is probably the only R rated movie I'd ever wanna watch again[ok ok Pan's Labyrinth as well))

I've seen 3 R-rated movies (My Life in Pink which was about a transgender person and was only R rated because of tha),(Pan's Labyrinth a bit violent and lotsa' cussing but fictitious so I don't care I could do without the cussing though) and now Milk.

Up Next

Chronologically: NES,SNES,and PSX (Consoles)
Movies: The Godfather (1975)

NUMBER ONE: BEST AND WORST VIDEO GAME MASCOTS

2008-12-06T07:46:00.000-08:00

Well this is it,the moment a video gamer should be waiting for and would be if they read this blog.

Before I get to that lets look at the current list from Worst-to best or Best to worst.

Worst

5.Awesome Possum (Mascot of Tengen[aka Atari Games])
4.Gex the Gecko (Mascot of Crystal Dynamics)
3.Aero the Acrobat (Mascot of Sunsoft)
2. James Pond (Mascot of EA)

Best

5.Bonk(Mascot of NEC)[While they were briefly in the video game industry]
4.Banjo and Kazooie (Mascot of Rare)
3.Rayman (Mascot of Ubisoft)
2.Sonic the Hedgehog (Mascot of SEGA)

That's the list now I am free to get onto.....

NUMBER 1: WORST

I wouldn't know about this guy if it wasn't for Colter or Leffler. He starred on the Super Nintendo,Genesis, Jaguar, and PlayStation.Anyone playing video games in the 0's will remember him.Now some people actually liked him and his games.But a good I dunno NINETY-PERCENT didn't. Why because he had an over-dose of attitudde making him the most unlikeable character his games were tedious and you died on first try and the final game is the worst PlayStation game.Makes 17 on Seanbaby's 20 Crapstravaganza and 9 on my 10 poisonous video games. This guy is a bobcat with a stupid shirt and has stupid puns for everything but yet he can glide.Sadly he was the most successful of these clones.

Bubsy the Bobcat(Mascot of Accolade)

Attitude: -1/20 (That's right 0 is to good for him, most of these guys spoke too much and it sounded bad,this guy started off like that then ended up sounding like Julie Kavner on 500 gallons of Vodka)

Plot Average: 0/20 (The first one had no plot except to beat Rayons who were interrupting his nap,the 2nd one what plot????? the Jaguar game was he just had to fix up fairy-tales and it sucked[SEGA shoulda' thought of that before they made Sonic and the Secret Rings] and the final one was he's stuck on a planet and needs to build a rocket ship to escape the planet.There you have it Bubsy games have either no plot orterrible plots)

Move-Set: 0/20 (Unoriginal gliding,jumping that never works and uh that's it, oh yeah and dying in stupid ways like melting,going down with the ship,being electrocuted)

Items: 0/20 (YARN BALLS? ATOMS??????)

Aging: BEYOND TERRIBLE

Final:-1/20(His games are better than him,he shoulda' been in E.T. the Extraterrestrial instead of E.T.)

I'm glad that's out of the way.Now I can announce better news

Number 1:BEST

Like Sonic he had a very interesting start.Sonic started off as a drawing on a napkin thanks to him.He started off when Nintendo made a failed arcade game called Radar Scope.Desperatley they consulted a newbie to Nintendo called Shigeru Miyamoto[now he's a legendary icon in video game culture].Instead of making new cabinets he converted the current cabinets into what is now called Donkey Kong.With that success he went onto becoming the antagonist in Donkey Kong Jr, then he went onto his own game with Luigi called Mario Bros.. Then he debuted on NES with Super Mario Bros.(considered one of the best games ever)[18/20].Then he made the best 3D transition with Super Mario 64[20/20] and now has made an appearence on Wii. Over the years he has had time to change but he's kept his plumber occupation and overalls for ages.Now known as Mr. Videogame he is more recognized than even Disney's Mickey Mouse.

Mario(Mascot of Nintendo)

Attitude: 20/20 (Humble and willing to help anyone in need he must've been why SEGA wanted a more buff,"I'm so cool" mascot. Like he best mascots he doesn't talk much)

Plot Average: 20/20 (Sonic always has chaos emeralds, Mario's plots don't boil down to one thing.Peach is often the damsel to be saved but in the GameBoy games he has to save Daisy and take back his castle.In Super Mario Bros. 2 he must battle Wart but it's all a dream.Usually he has Bowser but not in that one.in 3 he must save 7 kingdoms.in World he must save Yoshi's Island.In 64 he must collect stars.In Sunshine he must clean up Isle Delfino,bring back all the shines and save Peach.In Galaxy he must save the Galaxies.As you can see the plots never get boring)

Move-set: 20/20 (Move-sets always change and stay interesting,in Bros. you have the basic jump formula,in 2 you pick up vegetables,in 3 you go back to jumping,in World ou can ride Yoshi,in 64 you can punch,kick,backflip,triple jump,sideflip and climb nets,in Sunshine you can squirt with FLUDD and ride Yoshi,in Galaxy you can Spin,Skate,and all sorts of goodies can happen)

Items:20/20 (In Bros. you have Fire Flowers,in 2 you have POW blocks and vegetables,in 3 you have Boots,Suits tha can able you to glide and stuff,in Land 2 you can jump high and fast as a rabbit,in World you can float with a P-Balloon,in 64 you can go invisible,walked underwater as Metal,and fly,in Galaxy you can become a ghost,fly as a honeybee,make ice and so many more. In New Bros., you can become extra huge or extra small, and bash others as a Koopa Shell)

Aging:Incredibly Well (Can hardly belioeve some of them are even old because they still feel intact)

Final:20/20(Even this doesn't do justice)

Hope y'all enjoyed this

The Mascot Countdown Continues

2008-12-04T20:47:00.000-08:00

A week ago the computer was taken to be fixed.Now it is back.I Uber Psycho Tom last critiqued the Top 5 best video game mascots and......... The top 5 of the worst.I completed #'s 5 and 4 on best and worst. I hope to continue onto 2 and save the BEST and the WORST of all time for later.

The current Worsts are

5.Awesome Possum (Tengen)
4.Gex the Gecko (Crystal Dynamics)

Bests

5.Bonk (NEC)
4.Banjo and Kazooie (Rare)

Onto.......

NUMBER 3 : WORST

His games weren't actually that bad,they were below average but somewhat playable.But he himself sucks a bit like Gex the Gecko only much worse.His name sounds even worse. Alrighty then we have........

Aero the Acro-Bat(Mascot of Sunsoft)

Attitude: 3/20 (Oh my this was a travesty,he had so much attitude you might actually pity the "Evil Clown",Could almost rival Bubsy,but at first Bubsy could ignite curiosity,not so for Aero)

Plot Average: 0/20(I don't remember the 2nds plot but the firs one was to keep the circus he works in open from an "Evil Clown" and his sidekick,I looked up stupid in the dictionary and found a picture of this game.Circuses are cruel to animals Aero should be happy but no,besides a clown can't be evil because of that.Clowns are scary but pitiful but this is over the top, and Zero the Kamikaze Squirrel doesn't count)

Moveset: 0/20 (What moveset,gliding????? please any platforming rip-off can do that)

Items:0/20 (What items???)

Aging:Crappily

Final:3/20

Number 3:BEST

Unlike Bonk, he's fairly well known, a bit like Banjo in that sense. but unlike either of those 2 he's better known for his party games on Wii. His games are frickin' awesome and he's so charming. This limb-less hero made his debut on the failed Jaguar on one of my favorite games ever.(19.5) I believe is the score I gave it.Ya'll know him as.....

Rayman(Mascot of Ubisoft)

Debut: Rayman(Atari Jaguar,1995)

Attitude: 20/20 (Honestly, I like his attitude a bit odd but hey he seems like a charming character to get used to)

Plot Average: 20/20 (Awesome plots,in the first one he has to get help from fairies tyo save his world from Mr.Dark[Mr. Dark sounds like a great name for an antagonist because no one expects it to be so blatantly evil.I mean Bonk has King Drool,Bubsy has Esther,Aero has Edgar,Mario has Bowser,Awesome has Dr. Machino,and Sonic has Dr. Robotnik[aka Dr. Eggman].In The Great Escape he must find 4 masks to awaken a titan that will defeat invading Space Pirates. In 3 he must stop a corrupt Lum)

Move-set: 15/20 (Not a lot of cool moves but I like the limbless punch and the edge-hanging,and the hair copter. Where most mascots have quantity he has quality)

Items: 17/20 (He collects blue spheres called tings and lums in the 2nd I don't remember in the 3rd)

Aging: Mediocre(I'm saddened and dismayed to find that few people in this current day remember him for his platforming games,they aren't remembered.Rayman was a rare game for Jaguar but it was on PlayStation and Sega Saturn as well at the early days.Rayman 2 was on all contemporary platforms same with Rayman 3.Like I said his Wii games are the best remembered)

Final:18/20

Number 2 WORST

I always didn't think highly of EA but I never thought they make such an atrocious character. Apparently James Bond got so drunk he couldn't tell a woman from a fish because this is clearly the offspring I mean he acts like James Bond his levels are blatant rip-offs like "Leak or Let Die: or "The Ocean is not Enough" now I dodn't know if that last one is an actual name but it might as well be. I almost put his Aquatic Games game on my Bottom 10 list.

James Pond(Mascot of EA)

Debut: James Pond (MS-DOS,1990)

Attitude:0/20 ( Most of the time I don't even like James' Bond's attitude,you think I'm gonna like a blatant rip-off.And for those that do like his attitude well you wouldn't want a fish tarnishing it)

Plot Average: 0/20 (Ok first of all the first one didn't have much of a plot. In 2 Dr. Maybe[almost as retarded as Dr. Machino or Dr. Eggman{I call the latter Robotnik for that reason} kidnaps some penguins and toys. In 3 he must stop Dr. Maybe from building a stronghold on the moon made out of cheese otherwise the dairy industry will be monopoly[doesn't get any stupider than that,almost makes Aero's plot look....GOOOD????])

Moveset:0/20 (Probably just swimming and running and jumping pretty basic)

Items: 0/20 (Blatant rip-offs of James Bond)

Aging:Terrible

Final:0/20

Number 2 BEST

This one is obvious. Any 90's kid will remember this guy I watched his cartoons on Saturday he was the perfect anti-Mario. When Nintendo had Mario and NEC had Bonk SEGA had nopthing so they came up with him. He's a success with millions of fans,next you know other companies make a mascot and fail Tengen,Accolade,Sunsoft, and Crystal Dynamics I'm looking at you') ( I'd say EA but James Pond came 1st).Made his debut on the Genesis to rival the launch of Super Mario World has had mixed results over the years as he went to 3D.If you play his Genesis,Dreamcast,or SEGA CD games you'll know he desrves this spot.Lets hear for our favorite blue hedgehog.Appeared in 2 of my top 10 favorites(Sonic CD and 8-bit Sonic 2)

Sonic the Hedgehog(Mascot of SEGA)

Attitude: 20/20 (Unlike all those mascots after Bonk, though he has a "Look at my guns" attitude.It's actually lovable and could be considered the first mascot you could play without feeling stupid[James Pond],awkward[Bonk] or wussy [Mario] in the slightest bit.His success brought about some of the worst creations[like 4 of my bottom 5] but also a few good ones [Earthworm Jim and Rayman come to mind])

Plot Average: 19.5/20 (Though the reasons diverse it all boils down to Eggman using the chaos emeralds which means it can't be perfect. In fact only in Sonic CD do I remember seeing no Chaos Emeralds whatsoever. In Sonic Adventure 2 he uses it to make an Empire,in Sonic Unleashed they are corrupted and scattered.Other than that I love the plots)

Move-set: 20/20 (Gotta love the move set,it always varies just like Mario he really was the perfect Anti-Mario)

Items: 19.5/20 (His rings are a perfect response to Mario's coins but after that he has orbs, and Super Sonic that's it)

Aging: N/A (His 2D games never get old and have aged considerably well,but after the Dreamcast games and ports based off them, 3D Sonic doesn't age[Shadow the Hedgehog is an ok game but I can't see the game being a well loved game 10 years later])

Final:20/20

The finals will be posted tomorrow morning until then this is to be continued

Mascot Edition

2008-11-26T08:05:00.000-08:00

I originally intended to to post a review of Independence Day(1996) and Firefox.It keeps getting procrastinated.But I figure this is the perfect time to post an review of video game mascots to be thankful for and to be thankful for their demises. I shall post my top 5 and bottom 5 mascots of all time. I'll start with the the 5's and 4's

And since save the best for last is among my philosophies I shall start with the

5 WORST. I dunno if you could call this guy a mascot or not,I mean the guys only been in one game.But that one game is long,boring,tedious and the guys voice is sooo annoying you might want to commit climate change rather than prevent it just to smite this annoying environmentalist video game character. His name........

Awesome Possum(Mascot of Tengen)

First Appearence: Awesome Possum (Sega Genesis,1993)

Attitude: 5/20 (Sonic' s attitude was charming,this guy won't shut up and it's too much,not unlike Super Mario 64 soundtrack vs Super Mario Galaxy,unlike the next the only appeared in one game,so once you're done with that one game it's over.And for the record mascot attitude was what company's thought made Sonic great)

Plot Average: 0/20 (No plot whatsoever,the only plot is you have the save the forest)

Move-set: 0/20 (All he can do is glide and jump,just like all those other tried and failed clones)

Items: 0/20(I actually like the idea of collecting bottles,I have to give it a zero in order to give it the grade it deserves)

Aging: Never(After his only game he was never to be heard from again and few who remember those days will want to know his name)

Final:5/20

Number 5:BEST

Unlike most mascots in his era,this mascot was a human,not an anthropomorphic animal with attitude(that wasn't always bad though Earthworm Jim was great).the developers of this guy focused on making him fun and lovable. In a time when it was Genesis vs SNES,those dissatisfied with either flocked to TurboGrafx-16 and when Sonic and Mario fanboys fought they couldlaugh at both and use this one as the mascot to poke fun at both.This guy was

Bonk the Caveman(Mascot TurboGrafx-16)

First Appearence: Bonk's Adventure (TurboGrafx-16,1990)

Attitude: 15/20(I like how he's silent and doesn't talk but honestly no clear attitude is detectable,that's not all bad but I'd love a little at least you can tell Mario is humble,caring plumber. Sonic is at least seems hot-headed but willing to hepl when needed.Bonk just doesn't have that)

Plot Average: 20/20 (The plot works with his caveman past,in the first one he has to save a Princess from evil King Drool,a bit of a clone of Mario in plot terms but it's the first game that's a good starter.After that adventure he had to recover part of the moon from King Drool,see it's getting better.I don't remember the 3rd's plot)

Move-set: 20/20 (Mario jumps,Sonic spins,bad clones glide,Bonks bashes with his huge head,I wish I could do that)

Items: 12/20 (Mario has coins and Fire Flowers,Sonic has rings and Chaos Emeralds,Bonk has meat and hearts.Meat is original but hearts come on that's a stereotypical health item)

Aging: Mediocre(Few had the chance to play this series,but those that did would says he aged well)

Final:17/20

Number 4 WORST

A wise crackng Gecko who watches too much TV and has few family values.His name by

Gex the Gecko(Mascot of Crystal Dynamics)

First Appearence: Gex (3DO,1995)

Attitude:4/20 (Many loved his atitude at one point,some still do,I never have or will his wise cracks get on my nerves,but at least there witty unlike most)

Plot Average: 0/20 (Most would like a plot involving a TV,I who doesn't like TV and only uses it to hook up my video game console would otherwise love to see it dumped,I mean all the levels are TV channels)

Move-set: 0/20 (I actually like the move-set but giving it more than 0 would give it more credit than deserved)

Items:0/20 (Once again insects for items is original but more than o is too much credit)

Aging:Terrible

Final: 4/20

Number 4:BEST

This mascot is partnered up with a smart-alec bird,he himself is a bear willing to help all in need.He starred in my favorite video game of all time also he starred in my favorite game of all time.Banjo first starred in Diddy Kong Racing when Rare decided to do a game in Mario Kart and Super Mario 64 manner in order to introduce likely franchise characters,but only Titup the Turtle[who also went into Banjo-Kazooie],Banjo himself,Diddy Kong,Conker,and Krash the Kremling went on.

Banjo Bear and Kazooie Bird(Mascot of Rare)

First Appearence:Diddy Kong Racing[Banjo](Nintendo 64,1997) and Banjo-Kazooie[Kazooie] (Nintendo 64,1998)

Attitude:20/20 (Kazooie is like Sonic has an attitude but a charming character,Banjo is like Mario humble and helpful)

Plot Average: 15/20 (The first one was a stereotypical damsel-in-distress type,the damsel is his little sister rather than his love,the 2nd one is stop Gruntilda from coming alive again,the mid-quel is stop Grunty)

Move-set: 13/20(The move-set is cloned off Super Mario 64,good,excellent,lovable,but unoriginal but I don''t recall Mario being able to super jump)

Items: 20/20 (I like the items,you havemusical notes and jigsaws all being unusual.Honestly I'd rather Banjo-jigsaws over mario's stars any-day)

Aging: Great (Banjo has aged well,only so well because the 3rd game was left for 8 years after Banjo-Tooie)

Final:17/20

J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter

2008-11-22T15:08:00.000-08:00

Not to long ago,the computer had a virus problem it was fixed and Firefox was installed thus replacing Opera and Netscape as the Browser and on my hike on Mt. St. Helena Greg and I were talking a little about Harry Potter. I have often voiced my opinion for the series and the series the talk until Twilight came along.Unlike Twilight,Harry Potter wasn't all bad. Why I put it as I did

Now honestly I used to have respect for J.K. Rowling's work,I actually didn't mind the Half-Blood Prince or Order of the Phoenix but the Prisoner of Azkaban and Deathly Hallows were atrocious.At first I decided Deathly Hallows wasn't that bad but then I read it again and decided ech! how did I convince myself it was ok?

Ok enough rambling.Oh and I'm critiquing the books not the movies

Harry Potter(J.K. Rowling)

Year(s):(1997-2007)
Publisher:Scholastic

Plot: 10/20 (Unlike Fablehaven which continued to have a good plot as my opinion went down,the plot got worse and worse in 1:It was catch the robber of an important stone which would help Voldemort[I guess that's a little bit like The Fellowship of the Stone,but that's good] 2: Save Ron's siter and stop Tom Riddle from coming to life[Quite original] 3: Help a framed guy[where's Voldemort huh? that's very unoriginal] 4: Find out how you got into a death tournament[Ech! getting worse] 5: Find out about Sirius' past and become a secret teacher to stop a bratty teacher [Sounds more like Harry Potter quality] 6: Stop Malfoy from killing Dumbledore [Unoriginal but well written] 7: Traverse through the forest to kill Voldemort and dawdle aorund doing nothing but complain [Oh please what kind of crap is this!]so as you can see the plot slowly drains to nothing)

Characters: 17/20 (Except for Harry and Hermione,most of the characters seem human and realistic. Hermione starts off as a stuck- up nerd but softens up,at the same time she looses a certain muggle gift:Common Sense(Asm would sometimes say "Why couldn't Hermione just shoot Voldemort in the head with a gun I mean Voldemort wouldn't expect that,and why didn't she think of that"[or at least something that implies that],Ron is my favorite character I like how he is smart,a little cocky,funny, and the jealous type,Malfoy is a good rival,Dumbledore was the perfect wise-person who had a dark side[Why J.K. Rowling made him gay idk why,it's not that I hate gays it's just I never imagined him to be gay and I think J.K. Rowling liked the attention,Ginny was so-so)

Setting:20/20(I love the descriptions of everything,well except the forest roamed in 7,the Dark Forest,Hogwarts,Privet Drive,Hogsmeade,Diagon Alley,the Chamber of Secrets,I could go on)

Writing:11/20(Ok the first 2 had 18/20 and 19/20,the 3rd and,4th had 15/20,the 5th and 6th,13/20,the 7th 0/20,so I can give the writing a respectable score,the final book had 200 pages in the forest dawdling the other part was Neville pleaing for help at Hogwarts,I found they were all written prettty well except that one)

Final:15/20(Harry Potter wasn't actually as bad as Asm says not remotley the series was ok until JK Rowling let the fame go to her head,the series overall is great,some of the books simply failed,I enjoyed the majority of them unlike the movies)

Up Next

Chonologically:Firefox and Independence Day(1996)(Dual-Purpose)
Books: C.S. Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia

Mario and Luigi:Partners in Time and Mario Hoops 3-On-3

2008-11-20T20:40:00.000-08:00

Well it's about time I reviewed some video games. I thought I'd review some Nintendo DS I've good times with. Here we go and I'll review em' in the order I encountered them.

Mario and Luigi: Partners in Time(Nintendo DS)

Year: 2005
Developer:AlphaDream
Publisher:Nintendo

I first came across this game at Leffler's house he had 2 new games one was Super Princess Peach (16/20) and this one.I beat Super Princess Peach in one sitting and moved onto this one. I was quite impressed with it

Plot: 14/20 (Not my kind of plot time traveling has been used in video games such as Chrono Trigger for SNES and Sonic CD(20/20) for SEGA CD and Princess Peach is always a damsel except once in Super Princess Peach and sports games.However combine them both add a plot to replace the Mushroom Kingdom with Shroobs and you've got a pretty kickass plot. Not to mention working with your baby selves.Still time traveling is not very original for a series of originalness)

Concept: 20/20 (Basically you work wth your baby selves and do all sorts of cool moves. the babies form a ball and Mario and Luigi can Spin Jump to name a few, and you can solve a lot of puzzles)

Graphics:18/20 (Practically all good graphics for 2005 in 2D but I've still seen better offerings,namely Kirby Canvass Curse and Advance Wars: Dual Strike still the Shroobs and the Marios look good,the Luigis well maybe the green coulda' used a bit of work)

Levels:10/20 (The levels coulda' used a bit of work,Toad Town sucked as did that beginning level,Vim Factory was cool,Thowmp Volcano was noce but mostly unimpressive and leaving much to be desired)

Challenge: 19/20 (That game was hard,the Vim Factory was a nightmare, defeating Yoob was even harder, the firs level was intense, and it kept me busy....until Lefller gave it away to his friend claiming he had nightmares of Shroobs and I haven't been able to find it again)

Music: 9/20 (Leaves too much to be desired,I didn't like it)

Final:16/20(A pretty damn solid RPG,narrowly beating out Superstar Saga,but not quite comparable Legend of the Seven Stars for SNES,the levels and music coulda' used a bit of work but hey for someone who's picky about RPG's this one goes)

Mario Hoops 3-on-3(Nintendo DS)

Year:2006
Developer: Square Enix
Publisher:Nintendo

Unlike White Men Can't Jump,this is actually a good basketball game and good video game.Anyway I remember hearing much about it I wanted it for Christmas along with Yoshi's Island DS(20/20) and being the good guy I eventually got it.It was a bit of a let down for a Mario sports game(In the same league as Mario Tennis and Mario Golf).Still it wasn't atrocious.I enjoyed for quite a while,then I beat it,lent it out to a pal at school never saw it again,claims to have returned but I'm not inclined to believe so,oh well I beat it anyway.

There is no plot I'l go straight to concept

Concept: 20/20 (Basically Mario and co. join up with Final Fantasy characters to play some basketball,with item boxes and and special moves it gets even better,my personal favorite was Diddy Kong and his Jet Shot with a Freezie item.Oh and you were on a team of 3)

Character Score:20/20 (I like the character selection,unlike Sonic R there is variety not clones and it has cool Final Fantasy characters like Moogle or Cactuar.I personally being codenamed as Diddy Kong Lover on Wii's World obviously use Diddy Kong when I can.This is also one of the few games Bowser Jr, and Dixie Kong both appear in,it buigs me why she isn't in Mario Kart Wii or Super Smash Bros. Brawl)

Graphics: 20/20 (At DS' 3D best,these graphics make Super Mario 64 DS' graphics look dated and that was the graphic marvel for quite some time)

Challenge:4/20 (Terrible easily worse than Super Princess Peach,but it was fun while it lasted)

Courts: 20/20(I liked most of courts,my favorite was Wario Factory where you could pick up Bomb-ombs and throw them at opponents)

Battle:12/20(Mediocre at best honestly I prefered the battle without the basketball where you gather items and send them over to opponents,like Mario Kart only without the kart.Dribble Race was terrible)

Music:11/20(Very mediocre,but Luigi's Mansion was pretty good much better than the court itself)

Final:14/20(I'm sorry but it was too easy,the battle didn't feel finished and the music left a bit to be desired,it deserves a sequel,certainly playable Square and Nintendo simply coulda' added more to it)

Up Next

Chronologically: Harry Potter (Books)
Video Games: Wave Race 64

The Current Generation: Xbox 360 vs PlayStation 3 vs Wii

2008-11-15T07:04:00.000-08:00

For any of you who actually read this blog and play video games,I bet you were wondering when I was going to review and compare Wii ,Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3.We'll here they are.I'm probably bash PlayStation to the bone because it is among the worst console franchises ever and only saw the light of day because SEGA saturn was too expensive and because N64 games were too expensive.Seriously who in there right minds would spend $400 on a games console or $70 on game.Oh wait dim-witted SONY and Microsoft fanboys,currently PS3 is $400 and Xbox 360 well,it's gone down yes but at launch it was $400,alright,alright I'll get to the actual review

I think I'll go by launch order

Xbox 360

I usually in my Nintega fanboy crazed state award this console names like ExBox 360 because it usually overheats,sometimes melts and then it was a box but is no more or Xbox Please Fix Me because of it's red ring of death which is notorious on that system.I've taken to Wii's World names to like Xbroke 360.But now I must try to be unbiased

Games:14/20 (This system actually has some pretty good games.Some well received ones are BioShock, Halo 3,Call of Duty 4,and I could go on but no I shall move on after all it'd probably take a good week to finish up the games,stil lit's hard to find any RPGS or kid games it's actually kind of facing the problem most people thought N64 had,as an N64 purist I can't agree.I'm looking most forward to the new Banjo-Kazooie.)

Graphics:18/20 (Great graphics sometimes it looks too real,an idiot might forget it's not real all.Burnout Paradise looked so detailed it looked a bit too mcuh like an actual race.Midnight Club Los Angeles failed,why because LA is smoggy the cars looked great but if really want LA's graphics you might as well put the game on an Atari Jaguar)

Design:4/20(Terrible design worse than it's predessecor,first of all it's off white in color then it often overheats and destroys games and the red ring of death which happens too often.I fear even putting in game into the system)

Technology:14/20 (Mediocre at best,it has Xbox Live which is currently the best online service,it had an HD-DVD add-on but it didn't sell and now it has no playback,the media it uses is simply just dual-layer disc it currently has a detchable hard-drive which I like but that's it)

Final:13/20(You'd think Xbox 360 would actually be better than Xbox,well...it still has a genre problem like Xbox add that with design problems and uh there ya' go)

I might make a fool of myself and I might be ignorant but I try to keep up.I still hate the franchise for killing SEGA and making N64 look bad.But of course it's still a console I've played so I must here we go

PlayStation 3

I still can't believe I'm reviewing this terrible console,the franchise sucks it has no real 1st party and it has more crap than good and the good isn't so good that crap doesn't matter as seen with N64 or Dreamcast

Games:8/20 (Bigger selection than Jaguar yes,but still it faces the same problem plagued by bad games.I can name all the good games now.Assain's Creed,Heavenly Sword,Call of Duty 4,Uncharted:Drake's Fortune,Motorstorm, and Ratchet and Clank Future:Tools of Destruction ok that it the rest sucks)

Graphics:20/20 (Sony actually made this machine have the best garphics after it's best sellers had terrible graphics,but a better game selection,only die0hard Son-ists will actually want sucj a system,other dissatisfied with Wii will get a 360,graphically it makes 360 look like last gen,a real idiot might look outside and think it's a game after looking at such graphics)

Desgin: 9/20 (Much better than 360,it tends to have lens problem and sometimes might have hard ware drive problems,still it's too big I think it could rival Xbox in size and it's ugl looking and carrying it is a nightmare)

Technology:20/20 (Currently has better technology than most computers it's amazing actually,it's cell processor CPU,120 GB Hard Drive I could go on I hate to admit BS3 actually has anything good,not to mention Blu-ray)

Final:14/20(I really don't want to give it such a high score,if technology didn't matter I'd give it a 5/20 like the garbage it really is stupid Piece of Sh#t 3 you got lucky,had Xbox 360 had a better design this crap wouldn't have seen it look better)

Finally onto the one I call best console of genration and staunchly defend against fanboys

Wii

After finally getting through those jokers I can move onto Nintendo's entry.Rather than being a technology beat it's game beast.After seeing it's last to consoles not make despite having better graphics than Sony and more real worth it decided to just steal Sony's idea of having mostly crap and no graphics which apparently wins console wars.Only there's a twist the controller idea is changed and it has real 1st party

Games: 16/20(It faces a serious crap problem,analysts think Wii might hurt Nintendo because of it's lack of real 3rd Party,but hey look at Sony which only had Konami and Rockstar and still only has those 2,Wii has real goodies unlike BS3 I mean lets see Mario Party 8,Super Mario Galaxy,Mario Kart Wii,Resident Evil 4,Legend of Zelda:Twilight Princess,Metroid Prime 3,Manhunt 2,No More Heroes,Fatal Frame IV it goes on,I can't give it a full 20 because once again it has embarrasments like Anibus 2,The Golden Compass, and High School Musical)

Graphics:14/20 (It looks more like late Xbox gmaes graphics wise,developers aren't really pushing it though,most games look to cartoony it's kind of depressing)

Design:17/20 (It's small,lightweight and quite reliable,a famous Nintendo feature that's quite lovable,but it's too damn white,sorta dorky to)

Technology: 17/20(The motion sensing controller was a great idea as was the Wii Wheel and Brawl is dual-layer,Need I say more?)

Final:17/20(A step up from GameCube but nowhere near N64 or SNES or NES,but unlike GameCube it's original)

Favorite Games

Xbox 360: Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon:Advanced Warfighter

PlayStation 3: Ratchet and Clank Future:Tools of Destruction

Wii: Super Smash Bros. Brawl

Up Next:

Chronologically: Mario and Luigi:Partner's in Time and Mario Hoops 3-on-3(Video Games)
Consoles: NES, SNES,and PSX

Silver Post Complete

Batman Begins

2008-11-01T10:07:00.000-07:00

I'm not a real fan of Batman,if DC Comics and Marvel comics are 2 evils,I'd pick MARVEL as the lesser.Marvel always made better comics(The Avengers suck though) but,however Marvel usually hasn't had good movie adaptation(with the exception of Spiderman that movie was good). DC has always usually had good adaptations of movies especially Batman. Eventually the Batman series of movies went down hill until it got so bad the only point to watch Batman and Robin was to hear Schwarzennegar(Better actor than governor times alot).Eventually it got so bad one director decided to change and recreate Batman into something good,the product.........

Batman Begins which was sooo good they made a sequel,THE Dark Knight.I,know,I know of the craze that's probably the first thing anyone who reads this would suggest me to review.One problem folks,I haven't seen The Dark Knight.Will this appease ya' Huh HUh,HUUUUUHHHHH?!?!?!

I came across this movie on the way up to a sledding activity in the mountains and uh yeah I liked it. WHY? Here's why

Batman Begins

Presentation: 20/20 (Good presentation,best presentation off all comic book based movies,sorry SPIDEY you out)

Plot:20/20 (Basically after going to an opera house,he sees bats and gets so scared the 2 parents decide to exit,unfortunatley they exit out into a dark ally where Joe Chill awaits to get they're money he demands they refuse,we all know who dies.Years later he gets a gun and is about to shoot and avenge his parents when a guy working for Crime Boss Carmine Falcone shoots Joe Chill.As he confronts Falcone,Falcone dismisses him. Sensing Falcone is right he seeks mentor ship in the mountains with a sinister mentor.After returning and a few events Ra's al Ghul shows up(Liam Neeson) and reveals a plot to destroy Gotham City in order to cleanse the rest of the Earth he claims to have been responsible for the London Fire and the Sacking of Rome.The plot to use crazy gas made by Dr.Jonathan Crane/Scarecrow which will go into the water supply wiping everybody out)

Characters: 18/20 ( I like the main character I just wish the real him was his non-superhero identity,his non superhero identity is a selfish, obnoxious,bratty,and spoiled jerk who has a benevolent side which is what most heroes start off as and most regular humans at that. His hero side is caring and goes out of the way to save lives.I like the villains they were excellent,Ra's al Ghul shoulda' lived longer.Rachel Dawes was good new character introduced as a childhood)

Bale's Role:20/20 (Beyond superb pretty good at being both the selfish side and the hero side,while I have to admit his Batman growl does get old,it's the dialogue that has my attention)

Neeson's Role:20/20 (Best at the part in the whole movie,seriously Bale is so overrated I'd say Neeson has a slight edge. His quiet,cold voice made my shiver like a good villain should)

Set: 20/20(Good set it looks extremely expensive,like more expensive than National Treasure expensive and National Treasure set was not cheap.The City was very much detailed and realistic)

Execution:15/20 (Leaves a bit to be desired but hey it's mostly pretty damn well executed)

Final:19/20(Good movie certainly a must watch until my eyes droop kind of movie but well it could've been executed a little better,not that I could do so)

Up Next

Movies: Independence Day(1996)
Chronologically: Wii vs Xbox 360 vs PlayStation 3 (Consoles)

The Call of the Wild

2008-10-29T21:49:00.000-07:00

Well so far most of books are modern fantasy books with exception of The Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Sister's Grimm: Michael Buckley
Fablehaven: Brandon Mull
Warriors:*Erin Hunter
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Douglas Adams

Well this one is classic and considered one of the best by Jack London,that's right I mean THE CALL OF THE WILD

The Call of the Wild

Author:Jack London(as mentioned at least once)
Year:1903
Publisher:Macmillan

Plot: 20/20 (Wouldn't seem very original now but I bet for like 1900's that was a good original plot,basically a dog named Buck who is pampered and spoiled rich is kidnapped by his owner's gardner and sold to dog sledders in Alaska during the 1898 Klondike)

Characters: 10/20 (The character's didn't seem to developed,Buck seemed like a hard emotionless dog,not that I blame him in the North at that time life was harsh but come on still he's ok. Spitz seems like an ok nemesis,Thornton was the first real caring caharcter but the other characters like Curly or Dolly or Perrault or Francois aren't o well developed you might completely forget them unless you read the book 10,000 times over and over.Do like Buck though)

Setting: 20/20 (I like the description of the locations like how he originally lived in "The Sun-Kissed Santa Clara Valley" to how the harsh cold ice was when those inexpierienced sledders made Buck lead")

Writing: 20/20(Good writing totally excellent,perfect writing for literature,honestly I"ve never heard of a book by London or Twain that had bad writing)

Final:18/20(It would be 17.5 but I usually round it off unless it's near perfect or it fits inbetween,anway the book is solid,perfect for literature I only wish the characters had more depth)

Up next post-wise is Batman Begins in Movies and book-wise J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series that's it for now

Opera Browser and the Game Boy Marios

2008-10-18T21:30:00.000-07:00

I haven't graded a browser in ages,I said I would and now I might as well I think I'll grade the browser I use at home then the one I use at school aka FireFox

Opera

Presentation:20/20(Good presentation,unlike M.I.E> or Safari things are easy to find on Opera)

Features:20/20 (It has a helpful home page,the speed dial really helps so you don't have to go the tp or right you can just click on one of 9 panels and there you go)

Reliability:20/20(Very reliable,I 've had no problems with it whatsoever)

Searching:20/20 (Speed dial hepls for finding the conviernience,but it also has it's own search of course you'd have to go to the company's page but still,not to mention regualr search engines run quite well,it's not quite as fast at loading as FireFox though)

Final:20/20

Now before I move on I'll record my Scores for the Sonic Racers and Mario Karts

Super Mario Kart:19.5/20
Mario Kart 64:20/20
Mario Kart Super Circuit: 18/20
Mario Kart Double Dash:17/20
Mario Kart DS:17/20
Mario Kart Wii:17/20

Sonic Drifts:5/20
Sonic R:8/20
Sonic Riders: 8/20

Onto at last the first portable adventures of Mario aka Mario Lands 1&2

Super Mario Land

Plot:10/20(Practically the same plot as Super Mario Bros. merely with an alien,a different damsel,in a different kingdom unoriginal bu workable)

Concept:20/20(A concept that runs through the whole of 2D Mario jump,jump and more jumping so far pretty dang flawless)

Graphics:12/20 (Game Boy never was knowbn for good graphics and this game looked worse than NES on the original GameBoy)

Levels:20/20(Spectacular levels nuff said)

Challenge:20/20(Never heard of an easy Mario the early games were hard this being no exception)

Music:12/20(I liked World 1 the rest seemed a bit mediocre)

Final:16/20(If graphics didn't matter tghis game would fare better but the graphics don't look right)

Now for the final real Super Mario Land(the 3rd was really the first Wario game)

Super Mario Land 2:6 Golden Coins

Plot:20/20(Unlike most Mario games,the goal is regain your castle stolen by Wario,rather than save a princess)

Concept:20/20(See Super Mario Land review for reason)

Graphics:18/20(Not perfect,but a least exceptable unlike the original Mario Land)

Levels:20/20 (Even better than the first,these levels were da' bomb)

Challenge:20/20(It's 2D Mario nuff said)

Music: 19/20 (Good music,pretty good but not perfect)

Final: 19.5/20(Nearly-perfect,my favorite game on the Game Boy because it's fun,good repay value and the plot is complertely different,Super Mario Land was Super Mario Bros. gone handheld,this was it's own game).

The first PlayStation,A grill, and an Ambidextrous"handheld"

2008-10-13T09:46:00.000-07:00

If you thought Jaguar was the only failed console in video game history you was completely wrong,in this post you will find reviews of 2 failed consoles and 1 moderatley succesful console.

PlayStation is thought t be the first CD console,not add-on,console,in truth there were at least 2 first.The Saturn by SEGA which I already reviewed(17/20) and 3DO another failed console trying to gain market as a do-it-all machine.It had 3D graphics,it could do everything practically,it was PERFECT yet it failed here is why

3DO

Games:2/20(People will often say it had better games than Jaguar,yes bu it also had a lot more,about 160 games actually but about 16 were actually good where as Jaguar's ratio was 5:6,3DO's was about 1:10,oh sure Jaguar had White Men Can' Jump,but 3DO had games like NIght Trap,Revolution X,Virtuoso,and those Make My Video games)

Graphics: 18/20 (It couldn't quite do what Jaguar did in terms of 2D,but it didn't quite look like bogus in 3D either,just look at Need for Speed or Wolfenstein 3D,as for 2D Gex,Return Fire, and Samurai Showdown did the job quite well,excellent graphics in a time when 3D was just emrging)

Design:9/20(This is the average of allthe designs,most look like ugly dull black boxes(not Saturn shiny) with not much else,they tended to be very durable though)

Technology:12/20(Quite good technology actually,unlike Atari which had technology so good they didn't even know how to harness it,the 3DO makers had technology that was a breeze to use not quite Genesis easy but close,it wasn't cutting edge though at all)

Final:10/20(About the same as Jaguar but Jaguar had better games despite having fewer and that's what really counts)

Next off we have the newbie franchise which entered the foray mainly because Dreamcast failed to overshadow PlayStation,they feared if SONY kept winning they console industry would overshadow and leapfrog PC's altogether.Nintendo was in it,SEGA died,SONY is the antagonist,only one company relies this much on PC's it must be..........MICROSOFT and their.......

XBOX

Games:12/20 (It had many good games,the crap ratio is low but lets face it there weren't any kid games which lived on fun,Xbox was the console for shooters and M-rated games.After Halo,Oddworld,Halo 2,Project Gotham Racing,Doom 3, Dead or Alive 3,and Fuzion Frenzy I can't think of any significant game)

Graphics:20/20(Best graphics for it's time,it made GameCube's graphics look like shit,and PS2's look like PONG graphics)

Design: 9/20 (It's too big,ugly green and looks more like a grill than a console,not to mention it overheats and breaks a lot more than it's competition,well except for Piece of Shit 2)

Technology:20/20 (I only gave it this much because of the hardware drive and a good online service,no offense to Dreamcast but it used Dial-Up)

Final:15/20(Certainly a worthwile console to own......for Microsoft it certainly was ahead of it's time,but lets face it too big,and lack variety in titles can really put a damper on things)

Now onto GameBoy's first competitor,long before SEGA released the GameGear

Atari Lynx

Games:2/20 (Not many good games at all mcuh like 3DO,however 3DO had 160 games,Lynx had about maybe 40,that means only 4 games might've actually meant a thing.I can name my tops right now and I will.California Games,Raiden,Battlewheels, and Road Blasters)

Graphics:20/20(This console had the best graphics for it's time,i looked a bit like Neo-Geo gone handheld actually,left GameGear in the dust on the best color graphics race)

Design:4/20(I like the idea of the cartridge load on the side but lets face it the screen was miniscule,the buttons were far,it lacked real battery life, and it was HUGE,but the flip the console upside down if your left handed was cool)

Technology:20/20(Excellent technology,you could hook up like 16 Lynxs to one,backlit,loud speakers, and tiny cartridges)

Final:12/20(The console wasn't actually that bad,it was quite innovative unlike Game Boy or Game Gear,still no self-respecting Handheld Gamer would call that portable.Fares much better than Jaguar or 7800)

Favorite Games

3DO:Need for Speed
Xbox: Oddworld:Munch's Oddysey
Lynx:Road Blasters

The Legend of Zorro (2004)

2008-10-11T08:49:00.000-07:00

This is of the most recent Legend of Zorro because I have not seen the others.If you like woman-knows-more-than-you-think role. Than this is the right movie.

Presentation:20/20(Excellent presentation,it showsthe Californian entrance to America as despreate and necessary)

Plot: 20/20(It is 1850 and at a voting booth a riot starts when Mr.McGivens steals the voting box in order to prevent California from entering the union,why? Because if it does then Count Armand would have to destroy California as well because he alongs with his Knights of Aragon plan to destroy America through nitro-glycerin bottles which will go to the Southern states which want to secede the union.

Zorro gets caufght in this plot when his wife Elena divorces him and starts seeing Armand he gets suspicious and starts researching Armand thinking Elena no longer likes him,in truth Elena is double-agent working for the Pinkertons)

Bandera's Role:20/20(Basically he is supposed to play Zorro who is in a strained relationship between family and serving of the people.He's supposed to potray De la Vega as a stressed out,heroic,and fighter which he does)

Jones Role:20/20 (Best role in the whole,movie to be correct she is a double agent who must not let Zorro know she is undercover becuase their shared identity will be revealed,she is pretty good at being a woman of deception)

Sewell's Role: 12/20 (He's not good at being a French Count but certainly a worthy opponent of Zorro,he sometimes seems a little gullible and too nice much like Imelda Stuanton's potrayal of Umbridge in Harry Potter,still pretty good at looking nice but not really)

Set:19/20(Mostly perfect but the Bear Point seen doesn't seem realistic nor does the fire when he fights Mr.McGivens's henchmen in the burning barn,but for the most part it's not to bad)

Execution:20/20 (Good execution of plot with some humor well placed,also the kid seemed a bit like his father. I liked it,the prophecy it seemed right,not to mention the smoking and drinking horse to add sprinkles to the sundae)

Final:19/20 (Mostly good movie,it's just that Sewell couldn't act out a French Count quite right)

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

2008-10-09T07:56:00.000-07:00

Well here it is a review for Douglas Adams' classic The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Might as well not much better to do before school starts and since I've done as much studying as I can til' the test at well,here it goes

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy(Douglas Adams)

Year:1978
Publisher: Megadodo Publication

Plot:19/20(Mostly original I mean the idea of a guide to the galaxy and someone not from Earth studying it that's original but come on aliens trying to demolish Earth is kind of old,but for 1978 I'm sure it did the job)

Characters:10/20(Ford seemed like a know it all,Dent seemed stupid,Zaphod seemed like a flake,but I liked Marvin the Robot,and the Vogons seeemed like politicians times two and bad poets)

Writing:20/20 (Excellent writing,it's kind of satirical and humorous like when human smarts are questioned with dolphins plus it has a good plot)

Setting:19/20(I only remember the Vogon ship and Zaphod's ship that's about it pretty well described, the weirdness of the Vogon ship was the coolest)

Final:17/20(Good book the characters left stuff to be desired but it was mostly good)

Up next in Books is....... Jack London's Call of the Wild

P.S. I can take requests mind you there is a bit of a line right now

Yoshi's Island the Original and Super Princess Peach Review

2008-10-04T17:18:00.000-07:00

Well here we are 2 video games,long time no see it mostly been consoles this and books that and movies this and so on. I promised that I'd review Super Princess Peach some time ago so you know it's what I must do.

One day when I went over to Leffler's house I found this odd DS game called Super Princess Peach,by the title it sounds tedious and boring ,I thought that to then I read the back of the case.it turned out to be completely different from what I tought heres how

Super Princess Peach(Nintendo DS)

Year:2005
Developer:Nintendo
Publisher: Nintendo

Plot: 20/20(Yes,yes I know you think I probably label all plots as perfect well I don't just look at Sonic Adventure 2,anyways basically Bowser finds out about a powerful weapon on Vibe Island and basically once he gets his hands on it,he uses it to cause havoc and kidnap Mario and Luigi,wait wouldn't he want to kidnap Peach MORE??? Guess not this time,meanwhile Princess Peach returns from a walk to find that Mario and Luigi are missing with a mysterious umbrella she heads off to find Mario,at last Peach is for once not the damsel)

Concept: 20/20(Basically you control Peach's emotions which have different effects on surroundings and also work with an umbrella that works somewhat like FLUDD or Yoshi in the way that the Umbrella partners up with Peach you got through about6 different worlds so it's basically a 2D Mario game with a twist of fate)

Graphics:20/20(Like Yoshi's Island DS,this game pushes DS' 2D graphics to the limits)

Levels: 15/20(I'm mostly impressed with the level design but let's face it most of the levels are similar and the challenge each lack I mean Hoo's Wood,Ladida Plains are too bland,Bowser's Villa is quite lovable as is Giddy Sky)

Challenge:8/20(This is by far the game's greatest flaw,it's just too easy ok too easy,it could be done in one sitting)

Music:14/20(The music ain't quite Mario quality or even good Sonic but it's still fun to hear Ladida had the best music in this round)

Final: 16/20 (The game is pretty good,it had all the potential too make a perfect but lets face it it adds the stereotype of girls always constantly using emotions,it's too easy,the levels and music need work andwell that's about it.Graphically it's excellent as is the plot and concept and it could use a sequel)

And now for what is considered one of the best games of all time,graphically the most advanced for 1995,SNES masterpiece drumroll......................................

Super Mario World 2:Yoshi's Island(SNES)

Year:1995
Developer:Nintendo
Publisher:Nintendo

Plot:20/20(Baby Mario and Luigi are born,a stork picks em' up but is interrupted by Kamek's lackey's who kidnap baby Luigi,Mario falls onto Yoshi's Island and with Yoshi's help must save Luigi from the clutches of Kamek,Baby Bowser,and their minions,sounds a bit tired but for 1995 it was the beginning of such an idea)

Concept: 20/20(Basically you are Baby Mario and must rescue Baby Luigi on Yoshi who has an arsenal of moves from Ground Pound to Egg making,the concept is clear but good)

Graphics:20/20(Whoever panned this game for bad graphics must be blind or stupid because this game has some of the best graphcs for 2D about at the same level as it's sequel Yoshi's Island DS)

Levels:20/20(Most intense levels ever)

Challenge:18/20(Mostly challenging but some of them aren't)

Music:15/20(The music is mostly good but not as good as the sequel,it's not Mario quality but it's getting there)

Final:19/20(Amazing game,stunning all it lacked was challenge and music I couldn't quite put it in the almost-perfect 20 like Super Mario Sunshine or NiGHTS into Dreams but it rocked,it's no wonder this game has been put on people's Top 10 lists)

Warriorcats Newest Bunch

2008-09-27T13:12:00.000-07:00

Warriorcats in genreal gets a perfect 20/20 like Ender's and Lemony Snicket or Sister's Grimm or Fablehaven.No I'm still a picky reader ok

For example I was frustrated at Fablehaven 3's long amount of boringness or how Harry Potter 7 is just Grim Reaper's list of which Harry Potter characters to kill off (Seriously what did Hedwig do to deserve death,why did Lupin die,did Dobby really need a stabbing?)

So far there are 16 main books,1 stand alone,5 mangas, and 2 guidebooks.

My favorites:A Dangerous Path, Forest of Secrets, Into the Wild,Dawn,Outcast,Firestar's Quest,Cats of the Clans

Least Favorites: Rising Storm,Twilight,Sunset, The Sight,Tigerstar and Sasha,Warrior's Refuge

My problem with Darkest Hour is that all the Deputies die except for one however Tigerstar's death is a huge ironic twist of fate anyway onto................

Rise of Scourge

Year:2008
Publisher:Tokyopop

Plot: 20/20 (A little runt of his litter named Tiny is ignored and unloved by his family,so basically when Twolegs adopt his egotistical siblings and ignore him he runs to the forest where he meets Bluefur,Thistleclaw,and Tigerpaw.After being driven out he finds and old dogs tooth jabs in his collar and earns the respect he finally deserves sadly not from the right crowd and it's not friendship.)

Characters: 15/20 (The potrayal of the most important characters was excellent,sadly the minor characters not so much Bluestar[then Bluefur] is seen as a character who only just has compassion rather than a caring character like she really is,Thistleclaw fared better but he is seen as angry rather than arrogant,Tigerstar[then Tigerpaw] is seen as a character like Darkstripe rather than a ruthless,power seeking apprentice)

Setting: 20/20(One word:Excellent)

Writing: 12/20(It wasn't well written because it doesn't need to be after all it's a graphic novel)

Pictures:18/20 (Amazing drawings,only Marjane Starapi can do better ok ok and Shaman Kings)

Final: 17/20(Like Mario Kart 64 and Super Mario Kart my score is based on average my true opinion would be a perfect but the lack of writing,and not quite perfect characters made the average different from truth,Tigerstar was killed by Scourge in The Darkest Hour which is quite ironic because Tigerstar tried to kill him earlier when he was a wee little cat,and obviously Tigerstar forgot who he was.Scourge is a bit like Puppetmon from Digimon season 1 in the fact that he didn't have to be evil,he simply fell in with the wrong crowd both simply needed friends but never got any)

Now onto the newest of the main..............

Eclipse

Year:2008
Publisher:HarperCollins

Plot:20/20 (Basically,the 3 main characters Jaypaw,Hollypaw,and Lionpaw return from the mountains and leave Stormfur behind when Cinderpaw's leg gets renched naturally she gets depressed so Jaypaw hepls her exercise it by swimming and it helps her leg heal after Honeypaw and Poppypaw get their new warrior status a strange loner comes by and predicts an eclipse and of course it happens hence the title right when things between WindClan and ThunderClan tense up to the point where a battle forms. After hearing that Sol predicted an eclipse and StarClan failed to warn them Jaypaw starts to doubt StarClan's power as does Blackstar of ShadowClan)

Characters:10/20(All characters have made a turn for the worse,Squirrelflight isn't hard,Leafpool is a giver-uper,Hawkfrost is seen as a gossiper rather than a power-seeker,Millie has kits which to me is an inside betrayal,Onestar gets even more paranoid.and Jaypaw lets the knowledge go to his head however some things are kept like Berrynoses' stuck-up nature,Tigerstar's hate for Firestar, and Cinderpelts ambition to become a warrior)

Setting: 20/20 (As usual the setting is top-notch and well described)

Writing:20/20 (Like the redeeimng figure in lower ranking Warriors books,it is so well written)

Final:18/20(The book is a complete and utter betrayal of the first book,in the first book there is a clear hero and antagonist and StarClan's power is unquestioned Graystripe was still in love with Silverstream,it was simple but plot-driven,this book questions StarClan there is no clear antagonist and Graystripe has started a new family,but it is a good book has a good plot and is well written if it wasn't Warriors it might have actually made perfect)

Game Boy,a Dream,and a 64-bit toilet seat

2008-09-19T19:19:00.000-07:00

Console-wise I have done GameCube(16/20),Saturn(17/20), Nintendo DS(19/20), and Sega Game Gear(16/20) reviews. I want tom ention my favorites for each sustem

GameCube: Super Mario Sunshine(19.5/20)
Saturn: NiGHTS into Dreams(19.5/20)
Nintendo DS: Yoshi's Island DS (20/20)
Sega Game Gear: Sonic the Hedgehog 2(20/20)

Now I'd like the review the following Dreamcast,Game Boy, and Jaguar

Now the cream of the crop here is clearly Dreamcast but well let's just see how the other 2 compare

Game Boy

Games:20/20(Like all Nintendo systems[except Virtual Boy and GameCube) just any game you can think of,is there Poof! just like that)

Graphics:15/20(Like Saturn this one is hard to tell Saturn's problem depended on 2D-3D,whereas this handheld grapples with Black and White vs Color for Black and White it has graphics that can excell to SNES but with color the competitors clealry win on this one)

Design:14/20 (Game Gear had a black design that looked like a trapezoid,Game Boy looked like a gray brick with a green screen but a little lighter than Game Gear and and an ok button design)

Technology: 19/20 (At the time only the Lynx had better technology,Game Gear came out after Game Boy anyway it had graphics like NES sometimes SNES but in black and white,it had the best battery life and yeah)

Final:17/20(If it was in color,it coulda' gained a perfect but nothing could match Lynx in technology)

Favorite Game: Super Mario Land 2:6 Golden Coins

Now onto SEGA's final attempt to gain market lead from SONY and most technologically juiced up for the time maybe it really is a DREAMcast

Dreamcast

Games:19/20(Though it only had about 200 games like N64 the games had such quality it almost trumped quantity but it just didn't quite have Game Boy's,NES,DS',Genesis', or Xbox's quality with quantity)

Graphics:20/20(Like N64,SNES,Master System, and PlayStation 3 graphics were top-notch I mean some games looked better than even current PS2 games games like Dead or Alive 2 or Jet Grind Radio,those graphics were a stunning leap from former graphics master Nintendo 64)

Design:20/20 (Like N64 or Atari 7800 this console is one of the most cosmectically atrractive console in existence,it's so pearly white it really is like a piece of heaven[not to be sac-religious] when it opens it looks soo nice mmm)

Technology:18/20(While it had online access and a Game Boy like memory crad it also had outdated media that couldn't hold much,not to mention it had slow loading because of crappy CD and sometimes it was all useless[and you thought PS2 was bad)

Final:19/20(This is by far SEGA's best system beating out Genesis by 1 score and Saturn by 2 it had everything it needed to make the perfect souflet,SEGA just didn't put the ingredients in at the right time nor cook it for the right time)

Favorite Game: Samba de Amigo

Now finally last and this time certainly by far least "64-bit", cartridge using,crappy game plagued........

Atari Jaguar

Games:5/20(Though there are a few killers out there like Rayman,Iron Soldier,SkyHammer,Alien vs Predator,Raiden, and Worms about 5/6 of them were crap that's roughly 50/60 that's right JUST SIXTY GAMES so basically I named all the good ones might I add Fight for Life is the 5th worst game ever,still better than 3D0's average at 2)

Graphics: 15/20(Things look much better for Jaguar here,for 2D graphics this console might be the best after of course Saturn,for 3D except for SkyHammer and Alien vs Predator few games even remotly looked good still Rayman,Raiden,Cannon Fodder, and Bubsy had some good 2D graphics but it was supposed to have 64-bit,3D graphics none of that is there)

Design:12/20(While very creative and not that bad it looks a bit like a toilet seat,I do like the courve though still the middle button and terrble cartridge slot killed it)

Technology: 8/20(Like Saturn,not even the maker itself couldharness such power,oh no it took 10 years for the real stuff to come,it was supposed to be 64-bit but even Sky Hammer didn't look 64-bit oh yes certainly about Crash Bandicoot graphics but still)

Final:10/20(Most people would bash this system down to the bone,I wouldn't put it that far down can't say it's my favorite either still better than 7800,it's graphics could be very good,and the design is ok,but I guess it's games that count and since 5/6 suck well you know)

Favorite Game: Rayman

Up next 3Do,Lynx,and Xbox on consoles

Ender's Books and Finding Neverland

2008-09-13T20:51:00.000-07:00

Ok recently in the past few days I read and completed Ender's Game and Ender's Shadow and yet I haven't done a movie in ages and I've been waiting to give Finding Neverland a score.

I'll get the movie over with first

Finding Neverland

It's basically a loose biography on James M. Barrie during the years when he got the idea to write out Peter Pan.

Presentation:19/20(It's not quite as perfect as I hoped,but the flaws are almost unnoticeable,the beginning was kind of boring though)

Plot: 15/20(The plot was a bit old and unexciting,but kind of original basically it starts off with J.M. Barrie creating a play that completely fails so he is stuck on hard times,but then he meets 4 boys and a mother and quickly befriends them.However his wife and the boys grandmotherr aren't too happy with the arrangement, and basically his adventures with these boys trigger Peter Pan)

Depp's Role: 20/20(Now unlike cousin Sahara who will never find fault with Johnny Depp's acting,I will but this time I quite agree with her.He was good at being a curious,imaginative,slightly childish,unorthodox J.M. Barrie now I don't know if Barrie was like that in real life but for the movie potrayal I like it)

Winslet's Role:20/20(I haven't seen her in other movies, but for playing as Sylvia Lewellyn Davies who is a caring,hard-working,stressed mom who is always over-shadowed by her mother she passes in my book)

Set:20/20(one word:Perfect,Kensington Gardens was a nice touch)

Execution:20/20(It was a perfect execution,the dialogue,the accents,just everything)

Final:19/20(Not quite perfect,but almost there I couldn't give it 19.5 either because the plot was a bit unoriginal)

Now onto Orson Scott Card's #1 hit

Ender's Game

Year:1985
Publisher:Tor Books

Plot:20/20(Perfect plot,basically a Third[a usually illegal 3rd child much like the Shadow Children series] named Andrew"Ender" Wiggin who is taunted by his older brother Peter,ignored by his parents,but trusted by his sister Valentine gets into a fight with a bully named Stilson,thinking fast he beats him up and finishes the job hoping he'll never be bothered again,naturally the creepy I.F. decide he is perfect for Battle School which is a school meant for training to one day deal with Buggers[Aliens that have taken over Earth] along the way he advances up quick;ly and gets extremely smart to the point where he is the perfect commander,the rest is hard to explain)

Characters:20/20(The most important characters are Bean[main character in Ender's Shadow],Peter,Valentine,Bonzo,Alai,and Petra other than of course Ender himself.Bonzo is the antagonist,Peter is like the Longtail/good-natured Tigerclaw of the book[read Warrior to find out those characters],Valentine is the one Ender loves and trusts the most,Alai is his best friend at school,Petra is the one who helps him advance technically he woulda' never gotten the respect he has now without Petra,and Bean is like his apprentice who is also very intelligent.Ender seems to be a violent,troubled kid who is though extremely clever and startegic also has deep emotional gulit wever since beating up Stilson,he has an ok point of view)

Setting:20/20 (Now I don't know what city in America but I think it was Boston which was well described as was North Carolina when it was from Valentine's point of view,but Battle School is excellently described has zero-gravity and high-gravity tha school would be excellent had the creepy teachers not be running it)

Writing:20/20(Some of the best writing I have ever seen,I can't find many better)

Final:20/20(I can't say I have a top 10 like I do for video games or movies but this is one of my tops,personally I prefer the plot better in this book over Shadow but Bean is a better character)

Now at last,but naturally not least........

Ender's Shadow(Orson Scott Card)

Year:1999
Publisher:Tor Books

Plot:20/20(Ender's Game's Plot is slightly better but this plot works,anyway it is about a guy named Bean who escaped some mad scientist's lab by hidng in a toilet tank,but he was gentically altered making him so smart he could compared to planet-brain-sized Marvin from Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy anyway he grew up on the streets of Rotterdam,Netherlands when he met a nice but not-so-bright girl named Poke who lets him into her gang.Eventually Poke is murdered and he trying to get away asks Sister Carlotta to enroll him at Battle School where he meets the notorious Ender Wiggin)

Characters:20/20(Character's of importance are Ender[main character in Ender's Game],Nikolai,Achilles,Poke, Petra, and le gasp Bonzo.Bonzo does not play quite an antagonistic role this time more like the crazy insane guy.Ender is like Bean's mentor who he trusts highly,Nikolai is his best friend,Poke is the stupid girl who helped him survive the streets of Rotterdam who was murdered by Achilles who is the real antagonist who murders anyone who gets in his way)

Setting:20/20(I already described Battle School,but Rotterdam was well described with it's mean streets and the Rhine River,...wow)

Writing:20/20(Some of the best writing out there,just like Ender's Game)

Final:20/20(Once again makes my tops, and sci-fi isn't exactly my favorite genre either)

Sonic Adventure 2 and Safari Browser

2008-09-03T21:56:00.000-07:00

Aw yes a Sonic game and a browser by Apple

This was one of the last good Sonic Games,Shadow was the ultimate.Anyway this also SEGA's last game that was on a SEGA system(Dreamcast,to be precise).In this game you played 2 sides of one story.You also played as Sonic,Tails,or Knuckles(if Good) or Shadow,Dr.Eggman, or Rouge the Bat(if bad) depending on what level and side.

Alright onto the scores and I'll grade the original version because I don't grade ports

Sonic Adventure 2(Dreamcast)

Year:2001
Developer:Sonic Team USA
Publisher:SEGA

Plot:10/20(Quite an unoriginal plot,I mean bad guy gets his hands on something powerful,powered by Chaos Emeralds,intends to conquer Earth come on come up with something original)

Concept: 20/20(You play as 6 characters,3 per side and 1 characters on each side mirrors the other[ex Shadow and SOnic are both speedy linear courses or Tails and Eggman are both 3rd person shooter and linear] but challenges are added)

Graphics:20/20(One of Dreamcast's last games and of course that means,it harnessed some of the best graphical power for 2001,not even Ps2 could match it,Sonic looks great)

Levels:13/20(Impressive level design,but gets a little repetitive and old but lotsa obstacles and challenges to keep it good)

Challenge:20/20(This is one of the most challenging games I've played,not quite like CD or the 2nd but pretty good)

Music:8/20(Terrible music but I can stand it,unlike R or Shuffle,some of the music is ok but it's mostly bad rap or bad pop)

Final:15/20(Good game indeed,but the plot really sucked and the music was horrible and levels seemed unfinshed but it's a solid game)

Up next Super Princess Peach in Video Games

Now for Browsers,2nd time but the type needs catching up

Apple has made some reliable popular products like Apple II or the Mac franchise or iPod,some not so solid like Pippin console or Safari,Safari is one of the worst browsers ever,in fact Microsft actually beats Apple here and Microsoft sucks

Presentation:2/20(Terrible Persentation,it's so screwy, and i looks terrible,not a good impression)

Features:8/20(Lotsa features but not good ones,except keychain password when you own the computer)

Reliability:9/20(A bit less likely to crash than Microsoft's counterpart but,but I still don't trust it)

Searching:6/20(Searching sucks no worse than Microsoft's offering)

Final:6/20(Terrible,terrible browser one of the worst ever,I'll use it only if I have to)

My signature is Opera but I like Firefox and Netscape ain't to bad neitha'

Sega Game Gear Handheld Console Review

2008-09-01T09:54:00.000-07:00

Nintendo is world renown for its hanhelds but, like Genesis vs SNES even the legendary Game Boy had rivals.Only 2 made it to mainstream, they were Sega Game Gear and Atari Lynx.While Lynx was the technology beast,Game Gear was fun.

Games: 14/20 (While here were far and few,most were innovative and fun,but not spectacular like Tetris or Pokemon.While GameBoy had Super Mario Land,Tetris,Pokemon, and Mortal Kombat;GameGear had hits like Ecco the Dolphin,Sonic the Hedgehog 2[one of the 10 perfects],Battletoads,California Games, and Sonic Spinball)

Graphics:18/20 (Unlike Game Boy,Game Gear had color graphics and it had graphics superior to even NES,but it couldn't do what Lynx could graphically)

Design: 12/20 (Pretty basic design,black casing looked like a trapezoid good button lay out though)

Technology: 19/20(Excellent technology,good audio,it was a huge leap from Game Boy,it simply didn't have the marketing might or the games like Super Mario Land or Pokemon, but it wasn't quite like Atari Lynx)

Final:16/20(Heavily underrated,lacking games but ceraintly worth playing and it has excellent games,Tolstoy Kafka Evsky nailed the review just right)

Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unforunate Events and Internet Explorer Web Browser Review

2008-08-30T08:15:00.000-07:00

Well I said I do a web browser review andI need to get 3 book reviews. I'll make this dual purpose.

I'll start with the Browser since other wise I couldn't blog without using one

Microsoft Internet Explorer

Presentation:9/20(The presentation is terible but I can work with it)

Features:12/20(It's gets better and better but still nothing special)

Reliablity:4/20(Microsoft isn't known for making anything reliable,but the current one works,it's fairly good but the average brings it down)

Searching:6/20(I don't like searching on this browser)

Final:8/20(While not the worst,it's pretty terrible,I don't grade browsers on technology)

Now for the better

A Series of Unfortunate Events(Lemony Snicket)

Year(s):(1999-2006)
Publisher:HarperCollins

Plot:20/20(Perfect plot in every way plus the author is a character and i's about 3 orphans who go through thousands of odd and unlucky circumstances such as burning a carnival,stuck in a house on a cliff and so on)

Characters: 18/20(There are alot of characters,but for characters that actually matter,they are great,Count Olaf is a fantastic villain,Esme is a master of deception, and the Baudelaires are quite original,but not perfect and they seem a bit like what Count Olaf said"You guys are just like you were when I set my eyes on you,you think books,inventing things,and biting will do everything" t some extent that is true which is why the score is not perfect")

Setting:20/20(Excellent setting for each book first it is in Count Olaf's house,then Uncle Monty's house,then Lake Lachrymose,then Paltryville,followed by Prufrock Preperatory School and so on)

Writing:20/20(This is one of the best written books ever,it is neither first person nor third,rather both as the author character records the Baudelaire lives in rd person and compares it to his own in 1st person)

Final:20/20 (Most people fins fault with the darkness and mystery I however wish there were more books like that in existence)

Fablehaven

2008-08-29T18:59:00.000-07:00

As a critique of Books, Movies, Video Games, and Video Game Consoles and Web Browsers I must balance it out.

So far I have done altogether on this blog

3 Movies(Matilda, The Pacifier, and Wild Wild West)
3 Consoles(GameCube, Nintendo DS, and Sega Saturn)
4 Video Games[I end to cluster into series for these things](Yoshi's Island DS,Sonic the Fighters, The 3D Mario Games, and The Super Smash Bros. Franchise)

yet all I've done on books is The Sisters Grimm which I gave a perfect score but that's it and since I only just came up with idea of reviewing web browsers I need to catch up on books before I do Web Browsers

anyway I'll start off with Fablehaven

For a while I couldn' t stand the idea of Fablehaven,it seemed to girly and I didn't like fairy's much(believe me I still don't) but then while I was at music camp this year I noticed Mom packed that book Anna nagged her to read.I was bored one day and said heck with it and read it.
At first it was excellent,it was original pretty much perfect but as I wen up in the series it went from excellent to repetitive and too much boring stuff(like the 200 pages of Woods in The Deathly Hallows or the Death list)

Fablehaven(Brandon Mull)

Year: 2006-
Publisher:Shadow Mountain

Plot:20/20(Excellent plot,I mean the idea of 2 teens being sent to there gandparents house where it turns out the estate[which is huuuge] is a magical preserve holding thousands of magical species from fairies to fauns[called satyrs in the book] from centiaurs to malicious water nyphs[called naiads] and then there granfather is kidnapped and they must set off to save Fablehaven from destruction)

Characters:14/20( Kendra seemed too much like a goodie-goodie[like Susan from Narnia],but Seth was perfect he started off curious and learned his lesson,by the 4th Book he hardly seemed like the stupid daredevil and seemed more and more like the one with foresight and courage [like Edmund from Narnia and also like Tai from Digimon],Vanessa seemed perfect for the role of an unpredictable person and the Sphinx too,but Gavin seemed boring,the Grandparents were too strict at the wrong times and open at the wrong times,I'd say I like the satyrs the most.)

Setting: 20/20(The setting is excellent,Lost Mesa and Fablehaven are excellent, Fablehaven is a huge fores with cliffs, a lake, a boathouse and a shack but it's marvelously described. Lost Mesa is also excellent basically a desert preserve in Arizona with cliffs,a cave, and gravestones for zombies.Wyrmroost is described so well with all the castles and cliffs that it actually made me shiver for a few seconds)

Writing:16/20(The first Fablehaven and the 2nd were well written so that they would be top-notch and five star,but the 3rd book is like the 6th Harry Potter or Eldest or Lord of the Flies it had it all set but everything was badly described[except Lost Mesa and the girly dragon],repetitive and falt out boring at parts. But the end of Fablehaven 3 somewhat made up for it. Book 4 was really well wriiten,everything in perfect detail all the right quotes,but it wasn't what the first was however it managed to take the wind outta book 2)

Final:18/20(Overall the series is great despite the writing setbacks)

Wild Wild West

2008-08-23T14:51:00.000-07:00

So you think what you know what this movie is about,do you,do you?????

Most likely no,unless you've seen it like I have

Anyway basically it's about a freed-black(it takes place after the Civil War) who is a Captain named James West who while trying to hunt down his nemesis Bloodbath McGrath runs into a whore who is actually a man in digusie,a federal Marshal name Artemus Gordon to be precise and after a few misunderstandings, President Grant assigns them to the same job putting them at odds.

Presentation:14/20(I'm sorry but the presentation seemed bizarre and out of place)

Plot:20/20 (Yes,yes by the title you'd think it was a Cowboy beat em' up,it's more like Western-meets-Sci-Fi because basically there is a lot of mechanical junk. Anyway like I said basically Capt. James West(Will Smith) is trying to hunt down Bloodbath McGrath and in the process runs into a marshal who is disguised as a whore[Artemus Gordon(Kevin Kline),after a few misunderstandings President Grant assign them the task of hunting down Arless Loveless(Kenneth Brannagh) who plots to destroy America,yet he has no legs.Among there travels they run into a prisoner trying to find her father(Salma Hayek) and uh that's about it)

Smith's Role:14/20(I've seen a few of Will Smith's movies,this is one the weakest ones,he's supposed to play a quick-hit and run-and shoot chracter,the execution is a bit off he sounds more like a gun happy,vindictive cowboy, no to mention the lack of humor,still it's not a total loss)

Kline's Role:19/20(I've seen A Fish Called Wanda and Fierce Creatures, where Kline tops it off.As a marshal of mechanical and espionage talent he plays Artemus Gordon and President Grant. Basically he's an inventor stuck with this black cowboy who uses what he sees as primitive and backwards and doesn't thnk things through.Unlike Smith he actually can be hilarious at times and he plays the part well,but it's not the top)

Brannagh's Role:20/20(Brannagh is at his best as legless,diabolical,racist Arless Loveless who plots to divide America by kidnapping the President and he is the funniest of them all I was laughing til' days end)

Hayek's Role:15/20( Fares better in my book than Smith,I haven't seen any of her other movies,she plays the damsel in distress with tricks up her sleeve and conning the 2 protagonists. But she seemed kinda useless to the plot and her haracter seemed to be an add-on)

Set:20/20(One word:Execllent)

Execution:17/20(I liked how the movie was executed,it was totally unpredictable,some of it was unpredictable for the worse,but most of I never saw coming)

Final:16/20(Recommendable I'd watch it over and over butI's missing something)

Sega Saturn Console Review

2008-08-22T10:56:00.000-07:00

What is Saturn? Most people would say. Those that do know would most likely say something like"Oh yeah that console that was too expensive,had no real games,had terrible 3D graphics, and no 3rd party".

Truly the system didn't deserve such bad press I mean come on the games.You know what I'll star with the games and go on

Games:16/20 (In the first-party realm games were nothing shor of eye-popping,games like NiGHTS into Dreams,Clockwork Knight,Astal,Panzer Dragoon,Virtua Cop,Last Bronx,Sega Rally,the list goes on. After N64 this console was the console to go to for reliable,delicious first-party games. Sadly not so with 3rd party in fact the only 3rd party games of quality I can think of are Rayman,Tomb Raider,Resident Evil,D,Magic Knight Rayearth, and Shining Force III)

Graphics:14/20(This one was hard because it depends on 2D or 3D. with 2D Saturn has the best around along with Jaguar,Neo-Geo,and SNES.But with 3D it looks terrible the system rendered rectangles instead of triangles like it's rivals plus no one could harness it's power not even SEGA themselves so everything looked mottled and grainy.NiGHTS and Panzer Dragoon Saga looked at least like PSX quality)

Design:19/20(Like the DS not entirely attractive like N64,Dreamcast,or Neo-Geo Pocket Color but though the color is plain black it has that cartridge slot in the back and the buttons look cute when he power turns it glows green and the cartidge in that slot looks niccce)

Technology: 20/20(This console was the most advanced console for it's time,it had 2 processors,internal memory,a modem adapter, and a cartridges that could save 100 games on it,plus CD for cut-scenes, if harnessed right it could compare with N64 wih CD)

Final:17/20 (The Saturn is one of my favorites,I've played it once and have always desired to have it as my second,but the graphics really pushed the console down a few scores)

Super Smash Bros. comparison

2008-08-21T10:21:00.001-07:00

Yes I know GameTrailers.com already did a comparison but not to the extent I intend

Alrighty then I'll start with...........

Super Smash Bros.

Developer:HAL Laboratory
Publisher:Nintendo

Platform:Nintendo 64

Year:1999

Innovativeness:20/20 (Sonic the Fighters invented the idea of mascot fighting,but it kept the regular moves and goal,the moves have been changed from things like Upper-Cut or Jaw-Busters to Fireballs and swallowing)

Graphics:14/20(Thes graphics are a total let down you'd think they'd look a bit like Melee and rounder like 64,but nope the characters look like geometric figures rather than characters and the stages look very fake)

Concept: 20/20(I didn't just change goal and move set it added a multiplayer of 4 a single player mode that isn't just fighting and yeah)

Single-player:18/20 (Good yes but it only had one option and Master Hand was too simple evn in hard)

Multiplayer:17/20 (Good multi-player but no option chaging,the rules too make are far and few)

Character Score:16/20(There aren't enough characters and they look cheesy when they do stuff but they are all funto use)

Music:19/20(one word:Splendid)

Final:18/20

Now onto disc based,clone plagued,many optioned.......

Super Smash Bros. MELEE

Developer:HAL Laboratory
Publisher:Nintendo

Platform:GameCube

Year:2001

Innovativeness: 16/20 (It wasn't very innovative,it added more options though like Home-Run conteset and an alternate single-player)

Graphics:20/20(These graphics were excellent it looks like idk 5 years have progressed between the 2 games rather than just 2)

Concept: 18/20(Basically it's Super Smash Bros. with tournament, Melee options like Tiny Melee,Stamina,and Speedy,Home-Run Contest,Event, and All-Star,but the leap wasn't as grea as the originals)

Single Player:19/20(It did everything the original did plus make it harder and added All-Star and Adventure)

Multi-Player:17/20(You'd think with more custom rules it would be better,but lets face it unless you like being stuck wth only one type at a time your sunk)

Character Score: 18/20(I'd give it a perfect but like the title of Star Wars Episode II it really is Attack of the Clones,just too many and not enough original characters,but an adequate amount and they don't seem as cheesy)

Music:15/20(It didn't have the originals Musical luster I liked Final Destination andThe Legend of Zelda theme)

Final:17/20

At last,but not least,dual-layer disc,stage buliding,plot-based adveture.........

Super Smash Bros. BRAWL

Developer: Sora
Publisher:Nintendo

Platform:Wii

Year:2008

Innovativeness:20/20(Whle Melee just added-on,Brawl re-invented by adding things like stage-builder and rotation)

Graphics:20/20(The graphics are amzing,if original to Melee looks like 5 years difference this looks like it's 10 years ahead of Melee)

Concept:20/20(Melee added much but Brawl added multi-player to what was once single-player,plus it added custom controls,stage builder,Masterpieces and improved Adventure Mode)

Single Player:20/20(All-Star was improved so that was chronologically based,Adventure was turned into what coulda' been a platformer for Wii)

Multi-Player:20/20( Now not only are there more custom rules but you can have things like Tiny,Fast-Paced,Metal,Light Gravity Brawl ad what was once one-player only became multi-player like EVent-Mode,Home-Run Contest,All-Star,and even Adventure)

Character Score:20/20(Lovely character variety,clones have been altered some-what plus 3rd party characters like Solid Snake from Metal-Gear or Sonic from Sonic the Hedgehog and everything about them has improved)

Music:20/20(This game has one of the best soundtracks in existence)

Final:20/20

Brawl is one of the 10 games that has made a perfect score

Nintendo DS Hanheld Console Review

2008-08-18T11:47:00.000-07:00

1 down 1 to go,onto reviewing Bi-Screened,Touch Screen,64-bit............

Nintendo DS

Games:20/20 (like many people would say about PS2 any game you need is there from remakes like Super Mario 64 DS to casual ones like Nintendogs,from creative games like Advance Wars:Days of Ruin to M games like Mortal Kombat)

Graphics: 16/20 (Many first-party games look like N64 games or better,some 3rd party ones tend to look really,really blocky,2D graphics look the best though like Yoshi's Island DS or that icky Spongebob game)

Design:19/20 (I like how it looks,it's not all attraction like Dreamcast or N64 but it works,everythong is well laid out and the color pwns)

Technology:20/20 (Good technology,touch screen,2 screens,responsive mirophone,the cards are perfect and it's juiced it can even browse the web)

Final:19/20(Great console,but thegraphics need some work)

Super Mario 3D reviews

2008-08-08T10:00:00.000-07:00

A month ago I compared them,but I didn't give a score.On the other hand I intended to do a movie review of"The Pacifier". I think I'll make this dual purpose

First of all the Mario Kart 64 is a perfect 20/20 not 19/20 and Super Mario Kart is actually 19/20 not 17/20.

Anyway I'll start of with the 3D Mario's

Super Mario 64

Platform: Nintendo 64(For less confusion I'll do 64 but I give DS the same because it's almost the same plus more stars and levels,but odd controls)

Year:1996

Innovativeness:20/20(The idea of turning a 2D-linear platform series to a 3D-exploration series is superb nd few other series have pulled it off[Sonic anyone])

Graphics: 18/20(I love the graphics but you can tell alot of tricks are pulled to make it look smooth like Gourad shading for Mario and the trees are 2D,but still for 1996 that was almost top of the line[NiGHTs sometimes looked better though])

Concept: 20/20(Basically Peach has been taken prisoner in her own castle and you must rescue her and foil Bowser's plan[this is like the original plot turned 3D,but at least the rewad is better] and you must traverse through many,many worlds collecting power stars and gaining power-ups[Metal is my favorrite])

Levels:20/20 (I love the world line up,you start off in a grass land where litttle Bomb-Ombs are at war with each other and you go throught ons of others[like Lethal Lava Land and Snowman's which is my favorite course])

Challenge:20/20 (This game kept me busy for years,DS only took me 6 months though at first,stars like Red Hot Log Rolling and Tricky Trinagles kept me at it)

Music: 20/20 (This is either the best video game music or among the best I've heard,if Koiji Kondo's work hasn't becomea symphony in some part of the world,there is no justice; if you're gonna play a challenging video game,it might as well be easy listening)

Final: 20/20

Now onto GameCube hit............

Super Mario Sunshine

Platform:Nintendo GameCube

Year:2002

Innovativeness:17/20(Though not as innovative as its buddies,it has FLUDD who can do many tricks and the idea of Yoshi and Squid-surfing could be better but,it's still very innovative)

Graphics: 20/20(I love the lighting and smoothness with no easily seen tricks,it looks like an early Wii game,certainly Xbox quality. The hotel looks a little bit too much like a Hotel)

Concept: 20/20 (Basically you're Mario and you've been frammed for vandalism,while the clone perpetrator has kidnapped Princess Peach,you must travesre throughout the island in search of the perpetrator(Shadow Mario) and Peach with the help of your handy water robot FLUDD)

Levels: 18/20 (You start off in at a little windmill village where a huge monster has polluted the lake and the roads from the Biggest widmill, and from there on you face many levels[I liked Noki Bay the cliff level and Pinna Park the Theme Park level,but I miss the Ice lvels and the Sand levels)

Challenge: 20/20( This is certainly challeging,I got through half the game hands down and thought WHAT???? But then I got stuck at all sorts of difficult ones,it only looks easy,the boss was too-easy though)

Music: 19/20( It doesn't uite have 64's charm but I love em' none the less,the Sand Bird theme and Nokis Bay's Underwater Kingdom theme especially.They're all excellent and fun to listen to.If I had them on my iPod I'd listen to them all the time[same with 64])

Final:19/20

Now onto handheld......

New Super Mario Bros.

Platform:Nintendo DS

Year:2006

Innovativeness: 19/20(The idea of a 2.5D game of from 3D/2D games was an excellent idea,not as well pulled off as Galaxy's idea though)

Graphics: 20/20 (It looks a bit like Super Mario 64,without the tricks but considering it's handheld that's top-notch)

Concept: 20/20 (Basically Bowser and Bowser Jr. have kidnapped Peach and Mario must rescue her,this ime he goes through 2.5D worlds)

Levels:16/20(I'm sorry but they seem to linear without much exploration and plus I'm biased about the whole 3D,2D thing. I do like World 1 and World 6 though)

Challenge:20/20(Most challenging Mario game ever)

Music: 15/20 (The music took the lowest nose-dive,it's still good but honestly something's fishy about it)

Final: 17/20

Finally onto space exploring,motion sensing........

Super Mario Galaxy

Platform:Wii

Year:2007

Innovativeness:20/20(The idea of not just turning 3D graphics into 2D platforming like the DS game,but blending 2D gameplay onto a 3D plane with 3D graphics)

Graphics: 17/20 ( The graphics dissappointed me too much,Mario looks whiter than sour cream and it looks like Sunshine with better lighting,no glitches though)

Concept:20/20 (Peach has been kidnapped by Bowser and Bowser Jr., and Mario or LUIGI????? ,must go into the depths of space to rescue her you land inside a Comet observatory where you go into looking ares andfloat o many Galaxies)

Levels: 20/20 (I loved the levels,they were like 64 totally original with even new ideas like Sweet Sweet Galaxy,too bad you start off in a Galaxy of just grass)

Challenge: 15/20(It was too easy for a Mario game,but still hard.I beat in about 3 days)

Music:17/20 (It fared better than New Mario Bros. but it's still overrated.The music is nice,but it's not Mario style. It's orchestrated and would make fantastic orchestra pieces but let's face it. It's like the President holding a gala because his kid just gt toilet trained or having feast because your ex just died(King Henry actually did that))

Final:17/20

and now for the movie

The Pacifier

Presentation:15/20 (I didn't like the presentation,it seemed too kiddie)

Plot:20/20 (Know-all,Handle-all,Hardcore NAVY-SEAL Shane Wolf is sent to watch over a family for a month while the Admiral works on cracking GHOST's code.GHOST's is a microchip that could stop nuclear missiles from working,if rendered into North Korea's hands could do major damage,could this be Wolf's hardest task???)

Diesel's Role: 20/20 (Vin Diesel is always in action movies this is nothing short,he plays Lieutenant Shane Wolf the hard-core"My Way or the High Way" character)

Set:16/20 (A little off,at least it didn't look to much like a studio)

Execution: 18/20(It was fairly well executed,a little corny though but oh well,it was alright)

Final:18/20

Sonic the Fighters Review

2008-08-07T13:02:00.000-07:00

Everybody claims SEGA copies a Mario game with a worser Sonic counterpart.Usually they are right(Sonic Shuffle for one is one of the worst games on Earth while Mario Party is almost to the top).If out of the blue SEGA did another fighting game. People would say "SEGA just made a rip off of Super Smash Bros.".In fact though SEGA invented the mascot fighting idea,it was simply released in Arcades first.Super Smash Bros. simply came out 3 years later on the N64

This game was called Sonic the Fighters.

Sonic the Fighters(Arcade)

Year:1996
Developer: SEGA AM-2
Publisher:SEGA

Concept: 20/20 (Which Sonic character is the best???? Find out with Sonic the Fighters as you select through dozens of characters from Knuckles the Echidna to Fang the Sniper,to even Super Sonic,awesome concept can't help but wonder if Nintendo actually copied this one)

Characters 20/20 (Unlike R,there are many good characters and certainly no lame ones like Tails Doll,there are characters like Bean the Dynamite,Fang the Sniper,Bark the Polar Bear,and even Espio the Chameleon)

Graphics: 15/20(It was made in 1996,it looks a little like Super Mario 64,but some things feel a little fake like Amy's hammer, or the explosion at the end)

Innovation:9/20(The concept rocks,but the fighting game is like any other fighter,you just fight until someone is KO'd,and there are 2 rounds[3 if hey'res a tie])

Challenge:13/20(It's starts off easy but gets harder and harder,unless you break there shields, then it's as easy as pie.Metal SOnic is hard no matter what while Eggman is so easy he makes the first challenger[Knuckles] look hard)

Music:6/20(Sonic isn't known for it's music whatsoever,it's better than Sonic Drift's Shuffles,R's,or Riders though)

Final:13/20(It's an enjoyable game definatley,if I didn't critique video game music this game would actually be about 15 or 16/20,I'm afraid it just doesn't have the luster Super Smash Bros. has but yeah)

The Sisters Grimm

2008-08-06T09:23:00.000-07:00

Before I begin I mention the 10 Poisonous Video Games That Make Better Toilet Paper

10.Sonic Shuffle(Sega Dreamcast,2000)
9.Bubsy 3D(PlayStation,1996)
7.Superman 64(Nintendo 64,1999)
6.Altered Beast(PlayStation 2,2005)
5.Fight for Life(Atari Jaguar,1996)
4.Captain Novolin(SNES,1992)
3.Kabuki Warriors(Xbox,2001)
2.Custer's Revenge(Atari 2600,1983)
1.E.T. the Extraterrestrial(Atari 2600,1982)

further commentary in" The Monkey World of Tom"

alright onto better stuff

and no Twilight is not going to be reviewed because I have no intentions of reading it.

The Sisters Grimm(Michael Buckley)

Year(s):2005-
Publisher:Harry N. Abrams Inc,

Ok so basically when I first saw These Sisters Grimm books, I thought they'd be dopey takeoofs on The Brothers Grimm,when I read the first book I was astounded by the characters and the plot and of course Puck's(yes the mischeivous fairy from Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream)

Plot: 20/20( 2 sisters that just happen to have the surname of Grimm are pulled out of an orphanage and go through thousands of despicable guardians,but are then dumped off with there Grandma who claims hey are descendants of Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm and that the Grimm's Fairy Tales atre historical documents.Naturally and 11 year old girl like Sabrina wouldn't believe such a thing,until of course a giant kidnaps Granny.From then on The Sisters Grimm vow to become fairy tale detectives.Can you call that unoriginal?)

Characters: 20/20 (Ok we have 6 characters of worth in all the series,they are Sabrina and Daphne Grimm,Puck,Granny Relda, and Mr. Canis[aka The Big Bad Wolf from Little Red Riding Hood and The Three Little Pigs] and their magic-addicted Jacob"Jake" Grimm Sabrina is the main character and the adult[the one who doesn't trust and not curious],Daphne Grimm,though 7 she acts like she's 11[mature for her age but still innocent and naive,but the voice of reason when Sabrina goes off the edge],Puck is the Tricksters King who likes to think of himself as the villain[and of course hates books,despite calling himself a villain he has often been found lecturing Sabrina not to do something stupid or saving the others kesters],Granny Relda is the guardian and the person who acts the most like a detective[I wouldn't want her driving though], and finally Mr. Canis,an old man constantly fighting The Big Bad Wolf in him[and assisting Relda to her every need] Jake is completely addicted to magic and a little bit on the reckless side,however you can see he's one that tries to please everybody)

Setting:20/20(Ferryport Landing is described as a sleepy little town that isn't so sleepy,I don't see how a town could run when Jack the Giant Murderer,Rumpelstiltskin, Little Red Riding Hood demented,and The Queen of Hearts are on the lose,I like to picture the town as St. John's,Arizona gone creepy)

Writing: 20/20(A doomed book can be good simply by how it's written like Island By Gordon Korman or ruined to pieces like Eldest by Cristopher Paolini,these books thank goodness are so well written I cannot describe it)

Final:20/20

Matilda

2008-08-05T13:57:00.000-07:00

This is post 3,the past 2 have been video game related and probably most posts will be hence the N64 part. However this blog is for reviewing all sortsa things. I think Ill review Matilda(no not the book,the movie)

So far I've reviewed:Copying Beethoven(14/20),WALLE(20/20), Mario Kart's(16-20/20) , and the Sonic ripoffs of Mario Kart(5-8/20)

Matilda the movie is of course based off of Roald Doahl's classic children's book Matilda, which is about a genius girl(played by Mara Wilson) with psychic"eye" powers who has an intrest in education and reading who is an extreme loner unapprieciated by her parents(Danny DeVito and Rhea Perlman respectively) and finds her way into a school where the principal takes sadistic pleasure in abusing children(Pam Ferris as the principal) but leans how to punish those who desrve it.

Presentation:18/20
Plot:14/20(The plot coulda' been better,I prefer darker plots,but childhood sentiment wwon't let me give it lower)
Wilson's Role: 20/20(Totally nails the role as cute girl with more to her that meets the eye)
DeVito's Role: 18/20(Good and funny,but something just doesn't seem mean enough when he says his lines)
Perlman's Role:20/20(Very good at being a spoiled, rude,but imprisoned mother)
Ferris' Role:20/20(She did by far the best I wish I could give her 30/20 but I can't)
Set:11/20(It's fairly good but could be better)
Execution:20/20(They got the idea of the book perfectly)

Final:17/20

Nintendo Gamecube Console Review

2008-08-04T13:16:00.000-07:00

I own 2 consoles:GameCube and Nintendo DS,but my knowledge extends far beyond what I own

I intend to review the consoles I own first,as the title suggests I'll start with GameCube

Games:17/20(Every console has it's glut of crap,but the ratio for this one is low,unfortunatley I have some of the crap let's see we have........Sonic Riders,Lost Kingdoms, and Tony Hawk's Underground and of course Aquaman:Battle for Atlantis,but the majority are class hits like Tales of Symphonia,Resident Evil Collection,Super Mario Sunshine,Sonic Adventures 1&2,Soul Calibur II,Beyond Good and Evil, SSX Tricky, and Super Smash Bros. Melee to name a few)

Graphics for Time:19/20(Resident Evil 4 and Eternal Darkness have some of the best graphics seen on a 6th gen console ever,Xbox quality no doubt,but few games are like that most are inbetween PS2 and Xbox,unlike N64 where programming and graphics were hard too completely push,Gamecube was a breeze)

Design:14/20 (It doesn't look terrible,the shape was ok, the color......not-so-much)

Technology:14/20(It's not juiced up with technology like it's SEGA and Microsoft counterparts,but the cards are excellent and I'm a dinosaur)

Final:16/20(GameCube is lacking somehing the other Big N consoles have,answer originality)

Yoshi's Island DS

2008-08-02T09:58:00.000-07:00

As an introduction welcome to Monkey Worlds N64 Gate divsion of The Monkey World of Tom which is an extremely monkey world.You won't find posts often unless I feel like reviewing which right now I do and like the title says I feel like reviewing Yoshi's Island DS. If you looked at the"10 games fit for UberPsychoTom"list you'll realize this makes 20/20 but I'll review it anyway

Yoshi's Island DS (Nintendo DS)

Year:2006
Developer:Artoon
Publisher:Nintendo

Plot:Kamek and his evil Toadies are kidnapping babies worldwide in order to find Baby Mario and other threates to Bowser's rule.They catch baby Lugi(as a baby) but don't catch Baby Mario,Baby Pech,Baby DK,or Baby Wario.(the plot is old but better than regular Mario games I give it)

18/20

Concept:Basically Yoshi's has too get through 5 Worlds with 8 levels using Baby Mario(who can bump Mario blocks and run fast),Baby Peach(who can float on wind with her handy parasol),Baby DK(who can make quick dashes and climb and swing on vines),Baby Wario(who can attract coins and metal boxes with his handy magnet), and BABY BOWSER with fireballs,I thought he was evil(guess not)[Excellent concept]

20/20

Graphics:The games 2D and it's looks better than even SNES's old classic Yoshi's Island,sometimes ya' don't need 3D for fun

20/20

Gameplay:I already said it with concept

Levels/Challenge: In World 1,only 1-7 was hard, in World 4,I can only do World4-5&4-6,in World 5 only the final boss.World one is mostly grassland,2 is mostly Jungle and Desert,3 is Beachy,4 is Mostly in the clouds,5 is varied

20/20

Music: Mostly remixed but they are really nice to hear anyway,still a little variety would be nice

19/20

Final:20/20