Controversy? What Controversy?

The Da Vinci Code

Hey everyone, long time no see eh? I hope your Memorial Day was good. Mine was. I went to see two movies. Yes; TWO movies! Both stared Ian McKellen. That is enough of a give away when letting who know what I saw. I "X-Men 3: The Last Stand" and "The Da Vinci Code." Since I will most likely write a review for X-Men on my website, I'm going to talk about "The Da Vinci Code" today. Which, if you guys are seeing this movie expecting a controversy, you are going to be EXTREMELY disappointed, as "The Da Vinci Code" is basically a remake of Indiana Jones!

Both movies feature college professors that are out to find artifacts from the Bible, both films have a beautiful lady following them on their journeys, and both movies have stupid storylines that redeem themselves with the cool action sequences. When I saw "The Da Vinci Code" yesterday, it was a pretty packed theater. The protestors were still in front of the theater. Guess the controversy is still strong. The problem began once the movie started. The movie starts out cool enough, with an old guy being chased by a monk with a gun, and ends up being shot.

Before he dies though, he manages to run to various places around the museum, hide keys, write sentences and codes with his blood, and then strip himself naked and positions himself in the shape of one of Da Vinci's famous drawings (the one with the naked man). This is all cool, until you realize that if this man conserved his strength, he might have lived long enough for the police and doctors to arrive at the museum and take him to a hospital (he triggered the alarm see). Meet Robert Langdon, a researcher of symbols and paintings.

He is called to the scene of the crime to see if he can discover why the old man wanted to be seen nude in the papers, when Langdon finds out he's really being summoned because he's a suspect. Once he finds that out, he starts running. And following clues. And running some more. Oh, there's a girl...running with him. In high heals. That can't be comfortable. Anyway, somewhere in all this running, they discover that Jesus might have gotten married to Mary Magnolon, and birthed a daughter...or something like that. Once the revelations started coming through, people started laughing. I mean REALLY laughing!

I guess most of the people walking into this movie were expecting something offensive. This idea could be offensive to some people, but it's just so silly that very few people could possibly entertain the ideas presented in the movie. The people that do entertain them, however, probably also still believe that there are alligators in the sewers. "The Da Vinci Code" is basically a chase movie. One that is decently made, but not particularly memorable. Heck, I can't really even see myself seeing the movie again. After two and a half hours of car chases and solved puzzles that seemed to difficult to even comprehend, I just had enough.

"The Da Vinci Code" is not a great movie. It's kind of fun, if you watch it knowing that it isn't going to be anything major, but it's too long, the story is pretty weak, and the acting is stiff (except for Sir Ian, God how I love that man). Of course, I don't really blame the actors for this, the characters themselves aren't very interesting or deep. All they do is run and solve puzzles. Not really much you can do there. In the end, I didn't really like "The Da Vinci Code" all that much. It had it's moments, but the movie was just so silly and trite. And long. My goodness, why on Earth was that movie almost three hours long when it was nothing but puzzles?

I'm just glad the movie ticket was bought for me. Thank God for promotional tickets inside discounted DVD's. Anyway, catch you guys later.

Currently Listening To: Michael Card - Joy In The Journey

Sony E3 Conference

IGN PS3: Cheats, Previews, Reviews, Trailers and Screenshots for PlayStation 3 Games

I'm about 35 minutes into the conference, and I'm going to be commenting on Sony's E3 comments.

1. Kaz Hirai is talking about offering future online content for PS3 for free. Nobody cheers. I think everyone knows exactly what "free" means these days.

2. You will be able to download onld PS1 games on PSP, via Revolution...excuse me, WII!

3. Sony has an online music store for PS3. I thought we had this perfected with iTunes and Napster.

4. The new fighting game from Team Ninja looks unimpressive, but they've surprised me before.

5. Sony is showing off a bunch of clips from (supposingly) real games they are making. I don't see actual games though. I see pre-rendered CGI and FMV. Once I see actual gameplay I'll believe in the Playstation 3 revolution.

6. I must admit though, that tis game Naughty Dog is making looks very, VERY cool!

7. "Ressitence: Fall of Man" looks a little impressive, but they still have to compete with "Halo 3."

8. I'm going to note that VERY few people have clapped! Is no one impressed by these supposingly real time game footage?

9. Man that "Sonic The Hedgehog" clip looks SWEAT!!

10. Another "Dynasty Warriors" game. Maybe this one won't have any fog in it?

11. You know, it's funny, because I've criticized Sony in the past for not showing enough games, and now they are doing it, and still managing to look boring and barely register any emotion.

12. One person claps after the clips are shown, and only because Kaz asks him to. I notice Sony people keep asking for applause, but that's the only time they're getting it.

13. EA is showing some clips now. Since I don't buy EA products, comments on these clips will be non-existant.

14. Geez, the reception "Metal Gear Solid 4" got a poor reception. Only a handful of people clapped? Geez.

15. The controller design is the same as the PS2 controller. Evexct now it's wireless. Big whoop.

The presentation is over. Dear God that was boring. I mean, Sony's conferences are normally pretty dull, but this one took the cake. I don't know how they managed to create such a boring presentation when they had a new SYSTEM to unveil! Oh, and Kaz is kidding himself if the dead silence over the PS3's price is not very agreeable with anyone.

Multitasking

E3 2006 - E3 06: PS3 launches 11/17--$499 for 20GB, $599 for 60GB - News at GameSpot

So here I am setting up "Final Fantasy XI" to play on my XBox 360. The first thing I want to say is that anyone who installed this thing on their PC and PS2, you were right: It takes freaking FOREVER to set this game up! I'm hoping to have lots of gaming hours from this game. At more playing time then installing time. Since it is taking a long time to install though, I got a Pepsi, and I'm blogging while watching Sony's E3 press conference and installing FFXI. Multitasking, as they say. I'm going to take this moment to make a few comments about about some things I've been thinking of since I've been gone.

1. Kaze Hirai - the father of the Playstation - is still a moron who cares more about statistics then he does games. Right now he's talking about PSP, and how great it plays MP3's, TV shows, and UMD's. Which is nice and all, but if I'm going to buy a PSP I want to play GAMES!

2. Wii is a stupid name for a game console.

3. Microsoft is pushing HD-DVD and Sony is pushing Blu-Ray. My prediction: Both companies are going to be let down by the lack of demand for either formatt.

4. The book is coming along fine. I'm in the middle of chapter ten. My whole thing is that I want to finish the first draft in three months, so I'm writing like I only had two months to finish it. Don't worry, any bugs will be tweaked out in the second draft, and most of you will never see the first draft.

5. "Mission Impossible III" was much better then I thought it would be.

6. Wii is a stupid name for a game console.

7. Even though I've got more stuff to work on then I know what to do with, I've toyed around with the idea of making a commentary site for the Academy Award winning films. This means there would be reviews for all the movies that won an Oscar for Best Picture, as well as commentary on performces, losses, and visual effects. With all I have to do this site is not likely going to be made, but I've been toying with it non-the-less.

8. My blog link has been removed from "Yu-Gi-Oh! Uncensored!" More proof that life goes on.

9. Kaz Hirai is trying to push Blu-Ray, saying that Blu-Ray will not limited the filmakers imagination. Of course, DVD never limited their imagination either. After all, DVD's are just display items, they aren't used in actually making the movies.

10. At $599.99, I think the Playstation 3 will have an uphill battle.

11. I should probably make a point that almost no one at Sony's conference have clapped yet at any of Hirai's announcements.

12. Fifteen minutes before FFXI is installed.

13. Wii is a stupid name for a game console.

14. Been reading Dan Brown's "Angels & Demons." This is after I read his over-hyped "controversial" thriller "The Da Vinci Code." Despite all the stupid facts this guy seems content to throw at the reader, I can't help but love his stupid books, because I just want to see what shocking "revelation" Brown will throw at me next. Something tells me these books will make better summer movies, since the stories live up to all the dumb expectations people have when seeing movies in the summer.

15. Part of me is iching to to finish chapter ten right now, but my attention is divided with the installation, so that will have to wait until tonight.

16. I just realized I need to write two reviews for my comic site next week. Man, my site has been hurt by this book I'm writing. I need to be careful to not abandon it.

17. "Grand Turismo 4" looks super realistic. Too bad I hate the games.

18. Wii is a stupid name for a game console.

19. The more I write for my book, the more excited I become. It's starting to become it's own little personal masterpiece. I'm not sure if what I'm writing will ever be considered the greatest thing ever written by man, but so far I'm enjoying it. Of course, I was originally afraid that it might not have enough story for three hundred pages, and now it looks like it will have well over four hundred. I love writing evolution.

20. I have some more DVD's for sale. eBay link in the post below.

On a final note, did I mention that Wii is a stupid name for a game console? If I didn't, then it is. Anyway, installation have seven minutes left, so I'm going to finish it now. We need to play sometime. Catch you all later.

Currentlly Listening To: Sony E3 Press Conference *snoore*