Random Thoughts That Nobody Cares About

Deleting Blog

2008-08-23T11:43:00.000-07:00

Well everyone, it's been a fun ride, but on September 1st I'm going to be deleting this blog. Considering that I have two other blogs and two personal websites, still having this thing seems redundant. So you've got till September to save any posts you want and then the blog will be gone. Thank you to those who've read and commented on anything.

Book Progress

2006-10-25T01:32:00.000-07:00

Wow, I didn't mean to leave this blog vacant for so long. I'm been hanging out at MySpace a lot recently, so I kind of forgot about this blog. But after reading some old Yu-Gi-Oh! Uncensored! stuff I worked on (which I secretly still miss that site), I remembered that I promised I would use this blog as a status update for the progress of my book.

So here I am, and feel free to pass this information along: I have 244 pages of the book finished. Oh sure there still needs to be proof-reading and spell checking, but the bottom line is that I will have the first draft of the book finished in about 100 pages. Give or take a few pages. This means that I won't be publishing this year, but next year should be the year I publish either proffesionally or otherwise. Keep an eye on this page for more updates I continue to progress. Bye!

Goodbye Crocodile Hunter

2006-09-04T18:33:00.000-07:00

Steve Irwin Tribute - NothingToxic.com

Oh man, I don't know what to feel right now. The day started out so great, and now I feel miserable. I woke up early, hung out with some friends I hadn't seen in a long time, went to see "Cars" a second time, and the day was going great. Then I got home, turned on the TV, and was shocked to see on the news that Steve Irwin, AKA The Crocodile Hunter, was killed by a sting raye late last night/early this morning. Now, my wonderful day, all of a sudden just took a wrong turn. Now I'm devisated. See, I liked Steve Irwin. I really did. I'm not going to go through all the sentimental crap on why I liked him either. Most people are using terms like "nicest man alive," "great inspiration," and "wonderful father."

Me? I didn't know Steve personally, so I won't use any of these artificial terms to describe why I liked him so much. Instead, I'll tell you the truth: I liked Steve Irwin because he was funny. No really, that's all there is to it. Steve made me laugh...a lot. When I first saw him on TV, I watched in total disbelief and shock when he wrestled a crocodile to the ground, set him free, and then smiled as he said "wasn't she the most beautiful thing you've ever seen mate?" Honestly, I thought the guy was a few loops short on a bowl of Fruite Loops, but it was the best thing I'd seen in a LONG time! Then I saw him wrestle a snake, and what made me laugh was that Steve kept swatting the flys off his back. The guy was wrestling with a snake, and he was more bothered by the FLYS then he was the snake!

I'm telling you, once you see something like that, you can't help but fall in love with the guy. So my whole thing with Steve was that he was very funny. I thought the guy was completely nuts most of the time, but it didn't matter to me, because he made me laugh. That's all that really counts sometimes. I didn't know Steve personally, but he made me laugh, and that's good enough for me. I'll miss that guy, and all his "crikey's" that I'll never hear him say again (although there are reruns I guess). On a final note, here's a memorial music video I found. God bless you Steve, I hope God saved your own personal animal zoo for you up in heaven.

Currently Listening To: MercyMe - Almost There

Nostalgia Fun: The Little Mermaid TV Series

2006-08-28T03:32:00.000-07:00

Amazon.com: The Little Mermaid: Stormy Wild Seahorse

While I should probably keep this to myself, there are two movies that I'm REALLY looking forward to buying DVD this year! "United 93," which I still believe is going to be our next Best Picture winner (thus far), and "The Little Mermaid" Platinum Edition DVD. "United 93" will be on DVD next week, but "The Little Mermaid" won't be here for another month or so. Even though I could watch the entire movie on You Tube, I won't in favor of being able to watch the movie with great picture and surround sound. Two days ago at the local Goodwill store, I found "The Little Mermaid" on VHS for $3 bucks. I didn't buy it, because why waste the money on the tape when I'm getting the DVD in a month (besides, I think I have the tape somewhere in my house anyway).

But I DID find a Little Mermaid item that was worth picking up: "The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Undersea Adventures Volume 2" on VHS. Well, THAT was something I wasn't expecting to see there! Some of you may be reading this post with raised eyebrows. Aside from the fact it must be driving some of you guys up the wall trying to figure out why a twenty year old (single) male would logically be waiting for "The Little Mermaid" to come out on DVD, most of you are probably thinking "Disney MADE a Little Mermaid TV show?! Why haven't I heard of this?" That's a good question really. After "The Little Mermaid" became a surprise box office success, Disney wanted to continue what they considered there next "big" franchise. Disney sold a lot of Ariel dolls during the movies release, and they didn't want to see that end.

So they made this TV series to continue watching the money flow. The first thirteen episodes premiered Saturdays on CBS (when CBS aired kids shows on Saturday mornings), and then a second season of thirteen episodes aired before the show got cancelled. I think Disney was expecting the show to last a little longer, but weren't disapointed to see that they could still sell Ariel dolls without a product on the market. So what was the show itself like? To be honest, I didn't remember. I only remember seeing the show once or twice when I was a kid, and then the show disapeared. Keep in mind, this show aired LONG before there was Kazaa and Bit Torrent, so if you didn't tape it, the show was practically lost forever!

However, like all common practice with kids shows back then, Disney did release three tapes of the show with two episodes on each tape. I got Volume Two, though I wonder what the point of numbering these tapes were since they just threw on random episodes. Anyway, the show takes place before the events in the movie, in a time where Ariel *gasp* LIKED living in the sea! The first episode on this tape opens up with Ariel barging into her sisters room and happily singing, "It's a beautiful day outside today. Let's go swimming." Well, I certainly wasn't expecting THAT! Actually, now that I think about it, I wasn't really sure what to expect when I popped this tape into my VCR, but I think it was fair to assume that the characters would at least be acting like themselves. I checked the box again just to make sure I really picked up a Little Mermaid product.

Yes, the depressed Ariel in "The Little Mermaid" that sulked while singing a song about how much she hates her life and wants to live another life is nowhere to be found here. I can't tell you how weird this is. It was nice to see Flounder, Sabastian, and King Tritan all acting the same as they always do (as well as having the same voice actors from the movie), but this certainly is a different product. Ariel does sing a song about freedom in this episode, but it's about freeing a tied up horse. Speaking of which, the first episode revolves around Ariel wanting to ride a horse that would rather kick her teeth out, and the second episode revoles around a kingdom known as The Sharks wanting to detroy Atlantis.

Sheesh, children's entertainment sure was different back then. Watching this tape was a strange experience for me. I don't know whether the feeling I had watching this tape was that of nostalgia, seeing as how I didn't really remember watching the show all that much as a kid, but it did bring me back to 1992, when kids shows really were for kids. I also realized something else that was nice about this show: little girls would LOVE this show! Really, they would. I know this isn't a show I would neccisarly watch if it was on TV today, but girls of the age eight and under would just adore this show. It features a lead character that they could relate to, as well as storylines that aren't too complicated or violent. Kids shows today kind of make me blush.

While I do enjoy watching shows like Spongebob Squarepants, Samuri Jack, and Teen Titans, I'm also kind of bothered by them. The first reason is because almost all the shows on TV are made with boys in mind, and none of the shows are really that friendy to little girls (or little kids in general now that I think about it). If this show had aired today I think it would be a huge sucess. It's an innocent, cute, and adorable show for young girls that is sadly missing from today's kids shows. It's not violent, vulgar, or crude. It teaches good values. I don't think it will hold much attention for older people, but then again, I don't think kids shows have to entertain older people as much as the networks seem to think they do.

That said, watching the show, I couldn't help but wondering what I would have done with it. Well, I guess I would have delved into what exactly happened to Ariel's mother, and questioned why King Tritan is so protective of his daughter (more so then he needs to be sometimes). I would show glimpses that would show why Ariel gets so interested in the human world. If given a heads up, I would even end the show with her craving to be 'part of our world' (the show was cancelled before this lead in was esablished most likely). For $1 dollar, I think this was an interesting purchese. That said though, I can't say I'll watch it much, and it certainly didn't wet my appetite while I'm waiting for the REAL Little Mermaid to come to DVD, but it was fun none-the-less!
Also, since there are no plans to bring the TV series to DVD in season box sets, this might be the only episodes of the show I'll ever own. With that said, only thirty-seven more days till "The Little Mermaid" comes to DVD.

Currently Listening To: Collin Raye - Tracks

eBay Blues

2006-08-13T13:55:00.000-07:00

eBay Seller: comicbookreviewer: Comics, Accessories items on eBay.com

Okay, so everyone here knows I love eBay. What's not to love? eBay is revolution in online selling that is not going anywhere anytime soon. You can sell anything on eBay. ANYTHING!!! Heck, you can sell a rock on eBay so long as you call it special. No other website lets you do that. There is, however, one major problem with eBay, and it's a problem I thought they would have fixed by now. Now, eBay is supposed to be a auction site, but ever since Snippers have entered the site, bidding has taken a back seat to cheating jerks who basically steal items. See, eBay maes it so that if you post an item, you're item will stay up for a certain period of time. It makes sense, but the problem comes when someone bids on an item at the last minute, and outbids someone on something.

Essentially, this is cheating, because in a real auction if you make a bid, regardless how big it is, the auctioner always asks if someone wants to top it (because you just never know). The problem is, this is not something eBay does. If someone outsides you in the last ten seconds of the auctions end, you lose the item, and you have no way of getting another bid at it. People realized this, and so now you don't see too much bidding on eBay, but snipping. I sell items on eBay all the time. Right now I have several old comic books up on eBay. OLD comic books! These things are worth a ton of money, and I started them out at $0.99. The problem is, I have more then ten people watching several of the comics, yet no one is bidding.

No one really bids anymore, because they would rather snipe the item instead of fight for it (which makes the proce go up). It's gotten to the point where I might as well start the auctions and make them only last one day, seeing as how the last day is the only day you'll get bids on an item these days. It's annoying to seeing 47 people watch an item that you know is in high demand, yet have absolutely no one bid on it. It's also unfair because if someone outbids someone else on an item I'm selling, I'd like the person who got outbid to get another chance at bidding on the item, because that person might big more. Yahoo has it where if someone bids on an item in the last five minutes of the auction, five minutes is added to the auction. If eBay implanted this one basic feature, then the problem with snippers would basically go away.

At the moment I've got some items up that are rare. A signed Rurouni Kenshin book. Everyone wants that. Too bad it probably won't sell. Instead of bidding on it to reach the reserve, people are watching it, most likely hoping to put in one large bid at the last minute and hope that's the magic number.

Currently Listening To: Peter Cetera - One More Story

Warning People: We Are In A State of EMERGENCY!!!

2006-07-31T23:11:00.000-07:00

Anime On DVD Community Forums: Midori Days volume 7 edit

From what I've read, Viz has editing one lousy nipple out of book seven of the extremely adorable and funny "Midori Days," and like clockwork, everyone is screaming like it's the end of the world. Here are some of the mroe memorable quotes to prove that these people need a life:

I don't have the Japanese GN on me to do a scan comparision, but I do recall these panels exposing the nipples when I looked through them a few months ago.

This makes me glad I buy next to nothing from Viz. . .sigh. .

I HATE it when any company releases an un-edited manga and then decides to edit one the last vols. They know we're still going to buy the next vol. I think that there should be a company that never censores their manga, that way we wouldn't have to guess if it's an edit or not.

those of us who despise censorship are in the minority and will never win. perhaps the forum should be reversed - lets talk about titles that are 100% edit free and just assume everything else has been censored.

Someone help get these people REAL lives! It's only a nipple. Even I can point them in a special direction if they really want to see some of those.

Currently Listening To: Billy Joel - The Essential Billy Joel

It's Alive! IT'S ALIVE!!!

2006-07-27T01:31:00.000-07:00

Sony Pictures - Monster House

Title: Monster House
Director: Gil KenanRated:
PG (For scary images and sequences, thematic elements, some crude humor and brief language)

There's been so much animation released this year, that it's almost been hard to keep track it all. We've gotten cartoons about monkey's, cars, and teenagers who drift in mountains in Tokyo (oh wait). Keeping track of them can be a bit of a chore, and I had no reason to be really excited about "Monster House" in any way. I mean, the story seems simple enough: Old man across the street lives in a house that is secretly haunted and READY TO EAT YOU IF YOU STEP ON THE LAWN!!!!!! Yeah, okay, that sounds pretty lame. Oh, and this movie is being made from a guy who has never made a movie before and just got out of college? Gee, this all sounds so...fun. I'm sorry, but when I can sum up the storyline in one sentence, it gets hard to get into the idea behind the movie.
But I am here to tell you, I was wrong in my assumptions. Dead wrong. From the way the movies looked, this looked like a movie for little kids prying on their fears that old houses will eat you while spitting on you, or something like that. But "Monster House" not only ends up being far more complicated and deep then the previews suggest, it actually ends up being scary. The story revolves around a twelve year old boy named D.J. D.J. is growing up, his voice is starting to crack, and he's starting to notice girls. When his best friend, a boy with the strange name of Chowder, comes over to inquire about Trick or Treating on Halloween the next day, D.J. says that he doesn't intend to Trick or Treat, as that sort of thing is beginning to feel very silly to him as he gets older.

The only possibly reason D.J. would have to going Trick or Treating would be if the babysitter he was being stuck with all weekend got on his nerves to a certain extent (when we meet her, we find that she might be all the motivation he needs to go out). But while the two boys are playing basketball, their balls falls on old man Nebbercrackers lawn, who died the previous day of a heart attack. When D.J. goes to retrieve the ball, the windows become eyes, the door becomes a mouth, and the trees become hands, and the house comes alive as he attacks young D.J. in a sudden and surprising attack sequence. The boys report the house to the police and the babysitter, but no one believes their story. Well, two people do. A pizza delivery boy named Skull believes them because of things he's seen between his journeys to his comic book conventions, and a girl named Jenny (who believes them mainly because the house tries to eat her).

When the house actually attacks and manages to eat someone, the kids realize they must do what they can to destroy the house before Halloween night comes, and tons of kids are put into danger. From this point on, we get a complicated film where secrets about the house are discovered, characters feelings are dived into, and some surprisingly scary moments lurk around every corner. This is one of the few animated features to actually set a mood and aura to create suspense and fear, instead of just making things jump out of shadows, which results more in cheap jumps then actual fear. One sequence where the kids launch in a plan gone wrong in particular gets very intense, very scary, and keeps you on the edge of your seat.

In fact, the whole movie does an extremely good job of balanced these terrifying, scary, excellent action sequences with these slow, somber, and intelligent scenes of dialog and character interaction. There is some humor spread out that feels like it was tacked on so that kids have something to laugh about (and I can't say they won't need these moments), but overall this is a thriller crossed with a character drama. Of course, you wouldn't know any of this is you watched the previews, but that's okay. This is what reviews are for. Reviews are also helpful because there might be a good movie that you wouldn't really know was good unless you read a good review. One of these movies if "Monster House." From the people I've talked to, no one has really been interested in this movie.

Either the story from the previews sound lame and boring. Maybe people are having a hard time keeping track of all the animated films out there. The biggest star in this movie is Jon Hedar, and he less then fifteen lines of dialog. The biggest reason though, from what I hear, is that it sounded like a kiddie film. Trust me folks, this is NOT a kiddie film! In fact, I'm going to venture to say that this film is scary enough, that I think kids under the age of ten are going to be scared by this film, as it really does become quite trippy (if you know what I mean). I also have to admit, this film gets quite sad near the end of the movie, to the point where I was on the verge of tears (of course, I'm a sucker for sad stories).

In fact, if it weren't for the fact that "A Scanner Darkly" came out this year, I would say that "Monster House" would have been the front runner for Best Animated Feature Film at the Academy Awards. If "A Scanner Darkly" doesn't win though, I'm sure this wonderful film will win. "Monster House" took me completely by surprise, as I wasn't expecting anything more then a simple kids movie. Instead, I got one of the most scary, action packed, emotional animated films I've seen since 2002's "Spirited Away." Here's hoping people take the time and take a chance on this wonderful film. Just leave all kids under ten at home, because this film is scary. I can't stress that enough, if you have kids under the age of ten, LEAVE THEM AT HOME!!!!

Side Note: Some theaters are showing this movie in 3D using the Real Cinema 3D process. Having seen the movie in 3D, I can testify that the 3D adds to the whole experience, and if the option to see it in 3D is available to you, then take it.

The MPAA Get's Reviewed

2006-07-25T17:33:00.000-07:00

This Film Is Not Yet Rated

Title: This Film Is Not Yet Rated
Director: Kirby Dick
Rated: NC-17

What is the MPAA? The MPAA stands for the Motion Picture Association of America. What is the purpose of the MPAA? To inform parents of content in movies that would potentially be objectionable if viewed by children. Is the MPAA self-owned or sponsored by companies? The MPAA is an independent, self operated company that deals outside of Hollywood to rate films. All of this, is brought under the light in Academy Award winning documentary film maker Kirby Dick's new movie "This Film Is Not Yet Rated." For years the MPAA has been a staple of the movie industry. Whether you love or hate the ratings system of the MPAA, for better or worse the ratings are as basic a feature of the movie as the director.

People depend on the ratings to inform them about potentially objectionable content in a movie they want to see. If you know me, then you know that while I love the idea behind a ratings system, I have found myself questioning some of the choices of the MPAA. Why does one movie get a PG-13 when another movie gets an R, when it turns out the R rated film is much tamer then the PG-13 rated film? Why is a film with mild sex like "The Dreamers" and "Kids" given NC-17 ratings, while graphic movies like "Hannible" and "The Passion of the Christ" receives R ratings? I personally remember finding it strange that "The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King" got a PG-13, while "Kingdom of Heaven" got an R rating with the same amount of violence, with the only difference being that the blood in "Kingdom of Heaven" was red while "Lord of the Rings" blood was black.

These are some of the questions I have, so I was looking forward to seeing "This Film Is Not Yet Rated," a documentary that promised to study the MPAA with great zeal. And what zeal there is. The movie opens with an explanation of the MPAA, how it was created, and what it does. They explain how the ratings work, and then they explain the impact the ratings have on films. G's are for children's films, PG's are for family films, PG-13's are for teenagers, R's are for adults but kids can see them if a parent is with them, and NC-17's means no kids regardless of whether or not parents are there or not. Then the movie goes on to talk to Kimberly Pierce, the director of "Boy's Don't Cry." She admits with sadness that her movie, which she worked so hard to make, got an NC-17.

Kimberly expresses frustration with the rating as getting an NC-17 means her film will not be advertised on TV, in newspapers, or on most internet sites. When she asks what she could change to make her movie an R, she is told to cut a sex scene and a rape scene. She reluctantly agrees to trim the sex scene, but without the rape scene there would be no movie. Even more puzzling is that the main character gets beaten almost to death several times in the movie, yet the MPAA has no problems with the violence in the film. Kirby Dick wonders whether or not the MPAA is more strict on sex then they are with violence. A study with films that got NC-17 ratings show that out of all the movies to receive an NC-17 rating, only one of them had no sex in it what-so-ever (Kevin Smith's "Clerks," which was appealed and lowered to an R without any changes made to the film).

When Kirby tries to get into the MPAA to ask them some questions about how they rate their films, even more disturbing news comes up: No one from the MPAA building speaks to anyone. As it turns out, the MPAA is the most secret organization in the world, second only to the C.I.A. Even more disturbing is the fact that when attempting to talk to people who rate films, Kirby discovers that you never actually know who rates your films. Determined to get to the bottom of the MPAA, Kirby hires Becky Altringer, a private detective to help him find the names of people who rate movies. As the investigation goes on, film makers tell their stories of horror in dealing with the MPAA. Kevin Smith says he was shocked that his film got an NC-17, but was lucky enough to have one of the lawyers defending O.J. Simpson appeal the rating to an R.

Matt Parker expresses a very interesting story where his movie "Orgazmo" gets an NC-17, but the MPAA refuses to give him notes on how to get the movie lowered to an R. When his next film, "South Park: Bigger, Longer, & Uncut" gets an NC-17, the film is sent back with notes on how to get the film lowered to an R. The difference between his two films: "Orgazmo" was an independently produced film, while "South Park" was a studio produced film. Does the MPAA help out studios more then they do independent film makers? Further interviews suggest that they do, as every independent film maker gets no notes on how to lower any ratings they don't want to lower ratings, while studios get notes on how to lower high ratings they don't want.

One independent film maker decides to make a comedy about a teenage girl who is sent to a homosexuality center after her parents find out she is a lesbian. The film makers thought they were making a funny teen comedy and expected a PG-13 rating. The movie gets an NC-17, with no reason as to why. When they found out the reason for the rating, everyone is a little puzzled. The reason for the NC-17 is that a fully clothed girl is shown masturbating. But if masturbating is NC-17 rating material, then why is masturbating so frequent in the R rated "American Pie?" An even bigger question ends up being if masturbating is NC-17 rated material, then why is masturbating shown in the "American Pie" PREVIEWS?!?!
You know, those commercials for the films that are approved for all ages by the MPAA. Those previews that are going to be seen in front of PG-13 rated films? All of this just scratches the surface of the fun debates that go back in forth about the rating system. As the search to find out the identities of the raters of the MPAA grows more and more hopeless, Kirby continues to question the system. The MPAA claims that their system is not a necessity, but if your film has no rating on it, then people don't go to see it. If this is the case, then is the MPAA considered a monopoly? Once Kirby gets all the interviews he feels he can get, he calls the MPAA to get his film rated.

In an ironic twist of events, "This Film Is Not Yet Rated" receives an NC-17 for "Some Sexual Content." When Kirby inquires about an appeal to get the rating lowered (seeing as how the MPAA refuses to give him advice on what to cut to get the R rating), he is shocked to discover that one of the rules is that he can not make comparisons of his film to other films. With no way to make an argument and no way to know who's rating his film, Kirby Dick accepts the NC-17 while his investigation comes to a close. "This Film Is Not Yet Rated" is a mixed bag. On one hand, as entertainment, the film is WILDLY entertaining! Using various interviews, stollen notes from the MPAA trash, and satire, "This Film Is Not Yet Rated" attacks the MPAA with great zeal and passion.
By the end of the movie, you will most likely feel that the system is, more or less, broken. The problem comes in with some of the agreements the people make. They claim that the MPAA does not care about artistic freedom, and thus are putting a limit on their art. This is not true. While the MPAA is a flawed system, one that definitely needs to be fixed, movies as art are still free in many cases. The intent of the MPAA, as one catholic priest points out, is that film makers are free to make the movies they want, it's just that if they go too far down a certain road they will be cutting off some of the audience, and that they need to know that they are doing that. This is a valid point. I think we need to admit that the MPAA is not here to promote or care about the art of film making.

Why should they? That's not their job. Their job is to rate the movies based on objectionable CONTENT! By making this look like a sin, the film makers have completely missed the point of the MPAA. So while its frustrating that the MPAA doesnt really consider why certain scenes are filmed for in an artistic sense, we shouldnt expect them to. The film makers make it sound like the MPAA system should be destroyed so that the artists can run free with their art, but they dont really think as to why this would not be a good idea. If the MPAA was torn down and there was no rating system, then no one would go to the movies anymore. Its as simple as that. People like to be warned about what it is they are seeing, and even though lots of movies have been rated inappropriately recently, they are still a warning of some sort.

As much as people hate the DMV, we all realize that even though the system doesnt work as well as it should, there needs to be a system of some sorts at the end of the day or else everything would fall apart. So while the film makers in this movie can complain about how their art is being censored (in a way) by the NC-17 rating, ultimately they are responsible for what they put in their films, and if their movie is slapped with an NC-17, then its their own darn fault. [Editors Note: Just for the record, having seen the R rated version of "The Cooler" and the uncut scene of the sex scene from the NC-17 rated version, I think I can calmly and sanely tell the director that the two seconds of pubic hair that had to be cut to achieve the R rating was not a fatal blow to the story, characters, or your art.]

However, even though some of the requests these guys make are pretty unreasonable, some of the points they make are good. The fact that you can have tons of violence, language, and crude humor and never get an NC-17 is an absolute joke, and its discouraging to see sex scenes that show women getting abused get R ratings, while sex scenes showing that show love as something truly beautiful get NC-17's. As Kevin Smith points out, the thing that he would get tough on with harsh ratings in movies is abusement to women, yet that stuff just slides, appearing frequently in PG-13 rated movies, and even in many PG rated films. One director wonders why action movies that glorify violence get PG-13 ratings (like "Fast and The Furious" and "Stealth"), while movies that show violence as horrible get R ratings (like "Saving Private Ryan" and "Mystic River"). That same director suggests that the mentality should be reversed, as movies that show violence as something fun can be more harmful to kids and teenagers then movies that show violence as terrible.
After seeing some comparisons, we find ourselves agreeing with this man. The big issue that is worthy of digging deeper into is why the raters names are never revealed. Why is this? The MPAA claims that they dont want people to try and persuade their raters to give films lower ratings, but when the MPAA GIVES the studios notes on how to get their films lower ratings, this argument doesnt hold a lot of water. Its even more puzzling that during appeals to get ratings lowered you cant compare the content of your film to another films content. This makes making an argument for your film almost impossible, and its inexcusable that the MPAA is allowed to get away with this.

When the movie is finished, chances are "This Film Is Not Yet Rated" will come off just as flawed as the MPAA itself is. As entertainment, this is one of the best films Ive seen all year. Its a comedy, drama, crime investigation, and revenge film all rolled into one. Kirby Dick uses a lot of bully techniques that Michael Moore likes to use, and some of the results are absolutely hilarious, especially when comparison clips show how biased the MPAA is when it comes to ratings. The interviews of various directors are all very interesting and deep, and while I think some of them may be missing the point of the ratings system to a certain extent too, it is interesting to hear stories of their dealings with the MPAA and what a headache it all was to basically be editing your film to be judged several times with raters whose faces they never see.

As an argument, the film has some flaws. While some of the argument this film makes are well thought out, the fact that it misses the point on several key issues they brought up makes them look extremely ignorant at times. The fact that no one in the film offers a real good solution is also troublesome, making it feel like these guys can pick apart flaws in the system, but they cant actually come up with any solutions to the flaws they pick at. There is one way where an NC-17 rating wouldnt hurt a movie, and that one thing is if there was an NC-17 rated film that made money. But every time a studio edits a big profile release down to an R ("Team America: World Police," "South Park," and "Clerks II"), they are cutting off a chance to break the NC-17 curse that has plagued movies for years.

I think one of the points that the movie fails to realize is that most NC-17 rated films are low-budget films that no one wants to see. But if you released a NC-17 rated movie that people actually wanted to SEE...well then, I guess the rating wouldnt be a big issue anymore! As entertainment I can easily recommend this movie. As a documentary I cant recommend it quite as much, but it will still start a lively conversation. Now all we got to see is if people will see this movie or not.

Entertainment Value: ****
Documentary Value: **

Currently Listening To: Frankie Valli & The Four Seaons - Anthology

Some Thoughts On "Pirates of the Caribbean's" Box Office

2006-07-18T19:16:00.000-07:00

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006)

Okay, I'm assuming by now everyone's seen "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest," right? I guess everyone would have to, seeing as how this film is breaking all these records. The highest grossing pirate film ever. The biggest summer blockbuster. Heck, it even dethroned "Spider-Man's" five year record for the most money made in a single weekend. It is this last claim that has me a little skeptical. Now I'm not sure how many of you read the box office reports, but if you don't, and are a fan of movies, you should really get into that habit. Does it mean anything to you? Probably not. But much like baseball fans find glee it watching the sports statistics running across their TV screen, there is a certain amount of fun to keeping track how much tickets a movie sells.

It's also fun to see how much money a movie makes compared to how much it costs. For example, reading the box office reports shows an amusing little statistic in the form of "Garfield: A Tale of Two Kitties." The movie was NOT a box office hit! The opening weekend showed the movie make around $5 million dollars and open at number eight. Hardly worthy to be called a hit right? Well the thing is, even though the film was deemed to be a flop, the film appeared to have legs as it made a steady $5 million a week for three weeks before it was pulled from most theater chains. This normally doesn't happen, and Fox might have made some money off the film if they had kept it in the theaters for several months (ah, but I guess there's a DVD release to be made to waste time on THAT).

Recently though, people are going gah-gah over "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest" record-breaking opening weekend of $134 million dollars, saying that "Spider-Man's" record-breaking $113 million opening record had finally been broken. But honestly, were they expecting anything else? As always, there are factors to take into account for everything, and since you won't ever see Hollywood looking at factors, I guess I'll have to do it for them. Now, I hope this doesn't come off as a pirate hating blog to all of you, but I admit that simply sitting back and "accepting" this record breaking weekend has been a bit difficult for me. See, I'm a cynical person. A VERY cynical person! I look at factors, I look at variables, and I look at cause and effect.

First of all, let's look at "Spider-Man's" box office report:

http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=spiderman.htm

A look at the daily report shows that "Spider-Man" opened on 3,165 screens on opening day. We also look at the fact that it had been years since we saw any kind of superhero movie, and the last one we did get was "Batman & Robin" (a movie that is so bad, that every movie director should just point out that they didn't make THAT movie whenever they get a complaint about a movie they made). We also notice that there were no midnight showings for "Spider-Man." Moving on, let's look at the box office report for "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest":

http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=piratesofthecaribbean2.htm

Well, well, what do we have here? I see "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest" had the fortune of having some midnight showings of the movie. On tope of which, it opened on 4,133 screens. 600 more screens then "Spider-Man" opened on. Oh, and HERE'S something you won't here from too many other people: Tickets cost $8.50 when "Spider-Man" came out but now cost $9.75. Well gee, isn't THAT a wake-up call! Taking all that into consideration, I'd say that about the same about of people went to see both movies, and that "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest" is no more a success then most other action films. If you want box office results that REALLY impress, check out the box office report for "Gone With The Wind" (one of the movies we'll be watching for the Oscar discussion):

http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=gonewiththewind.htm

Now you guys might be wondering what the big deal is with this report. $198 million is a far cry from record breaking. But keep in mind, "Gone With The Wind" came out in 1939, when a movie ticket would literally cost you a dime. If the same amount of people bought tickets to see this movie with today's price's, then "Gone With The Wind" would be the record winner with $1,293,085,600 in tickets sold. How's THAT for a wake-up call! So not to rain on Disney's publicity parade, but once they manage to sell THAT many tickets, I'll take their record breaking stunt more seriously. Oh, as for the movie itself, I admit it IS good! I liked it just as much as the first, no more, no less. There's just one thing that would have made the movie better then the first: The other half of it.

Currently Listening To: Michael W. Smith - "The Second Chance" Soundtrack

To The Comic Book Guy.com Visitors

2006-06-27T13:15:00.000-07:00

I'm sorry that this is not on the main homepage, but I forgot to mention that I am current'y housesitting for some friends, and won't be able to update the site for the next week and a half. That's the bad news. The good news is that I have access to a computer, which means I can still write reviews. The bad news is that I'm on 56k again, so I can't upload any of these reviews until I get back home. The good news is, updates should be frequent for awhile. Oh, and I now have a MySpace account, which I WILL be updating every few days, so check it out if you haven't yet at www.myspace.com/kevintrodriguez!

Again, sorry this is not on the homepage, but this is the only sane way I can post this update. I hope you understand. Anyway, got to get back to working on my book, as the lack of broadband is making it easier to write. Later guys!

Currently Listening To: James Horner - "Casper" Soundtrack

AWESOME!!!

2006-06-23T17:02:00.000-07:00

IMAX, Warner Bros to release 5th Harry Potter film on July 13 2007 in US - Forbes.com

Not that I was thinking this wouldn't happen, but seeing as how I just LOVE IMAX, it makes sense that I would be very excited to hear that "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" will be released on IMAX. My IMAX probably won't get it until a month or so after the initial release, but that's okay, it's not like I don't know how the movie is going to end anyway.

Currently Listening To: Erin O' Donnel - Wide, Wide World

Wow!

2006-06-18T02:27:00.000-07:00

You see that comic strip above this wonderful body of text? That is an official Garfield comic strip. Know what's amazing about it? Well, how about the fact that it's actually FUNNY?! I guess that old saying is true: Even a blind dog hits the hydrant every once in awhile.

Currently Listening To: Michael W. Smith - "The Second Chance" Soundtrack

It's A Sin To Kill A Mockingbird

2006-06-16T17:33:00.000-07:00

"Scout, you can never really understand a person unless you see the world from their point of view. Walk around in their shoes and live in their skin."
-Atticus Finch, To Kill A Mockingbird

The above quote is one of my favorite quotes of all time. It conveys a truth that is very powerful, yet one I find myself easily forgetting. I have three jobs. One of my jobs is delivering pizza. Laugh at you will, but I make $500 or more a week delivering pizza to obnoxious strangers. I've been doing this for awhile now (though I plan to move on soon). When you deliver pizza in a small area for awhile, you get to know some people. There's John the security guard who works at the bank across the street. Everyday he orders a personal pizza to be delivered, and never tips. He always gives exact change. A real cheapskate if ever I saw one.

Then there's Tina who works at the Marriot Hotel on Taylor RD. She always buys a pizza with just one topping and nothing else. Every week she gets either Pepperoni, Sausage, or Ham on her pizza. She tips $5 dollars every time, regardless how long it takes. Once every couple of weeks, I see Jessie at the Barnes & Noble store. This woman is the only Christian I know who orders pizza from us, and we have actually gotten to know each other fairly well. She tells me on a weekly basis of her struggles to talk to her un-saved husband Bill, and I always take time out of my schedule to talk and pray with her. Her manager frowns on us when we pray in public, but I simply replay "Lady, ask anyone who knows me, and they'll tell you I don't care about making good impressions."

The one person who I hate to see though is Joanne. Joanne is some forty something lady who lives in an apartment complex. She is dying of cancer. She's been fighting it for years, but it looks like that battle is coming to an end, and she's not winning. Whenever she buys pizza, I can tell I'll be seeing her a few days in a row, as she doesn't buy pizza unless her doctor orders her to stay in her house. I asked her out of curiosity why she doesn't go to the hospital, and her simple replay is "I hate hospitals. I'm going die sooner or later, and I don't want to die in a hospital." She only buys small pizza's, sometimes a salad, and she always gives me $20 or more tips. I love getting large tips, but it hurts me to see a good person rotting away because of cancer.

I knew two people in my life who died of cancer. I don't want to know a third person. She's been ordering more frequently now, which means she's been stuck at home more and more these days. My biggest fear will be once the deliveries to her apartment stop coming. Working in a food place is not much fun sometimes. You have to put up with stupid customers, dumb complaints, and the pay is abysmal. Yet, over the last couple of years as a delivery boy, I've met people. Most of the people I meet simply pay me and I leave, but every once in awhile I get to actually know someone. You go there enough times, and you learn something about them. Sometimes they share their view on something going on in their life that helps me realize something in mine.

I saw Joanne today, and she looked so weak. She was using two crutches to walk around, and I get the feeling I won't be seeing her too many more times. She gave me a $30 tip today. That worries me. As I look back on this whole situation, I can't help but wonder about life in general. There are so many people out there. Nice people too. I meet some of them as I delivery, and I wonder why I don't know these people in my personal life. And when I meet these people, I desperately want to see things from their point of view, and understand them, so I can pray for them better. Right now I'm going to work on taking some steps to getting to know people better these days. Hopefully when I take those steps to getting to know someone, they'll see me as more then a snoopy pizza guy, but as a person who wants to get to know them better.

Currently Listening To: Michael W. Smith - The First Decade

The Problem With Studio's And TV Sets

2006-06-14T17:09:00.000-07:00

Amazon.com: Everwood - The Complete First Season

There has been a disturbing trend in TV on DVD I've noticed recently. As you all know, TV is not worth watching these days. At all. "ER" used to be a forty-five minute motion picture every week, but these days it's more of a prime time soap opera. "Veronica Mars" and "One Tree Hill" are terrible shows that get terrible ratings, but got renewed while "Everwood," a show that is extremely intelligent and got better ratings than the last few episodes of "The Apprentice" got canceled. "7th Heaven" got saved from the grave due to some seven million viewers watching the series finally, but still managed to lose The WB fifteen million dollars. The family sitcoms like "I Love Lucy," "Home Improvement," and "Boy Meets World" is dead.

Heck, scratch that: ALL sitcoms are dead, because we are no longer allowed to laugh and watch stupid (but fun) shows! Men and woman are on all these reality shows trying to win a million dollars by marrying into wealth. There is nothing rated TV-G on TV unless you watch Cartoon Network or Nickelodeon. Sex, violence, and language have go so high, that "The Simpson's" looks like a family show these days (it's not). I mean, gees, is it any wonder TV shows on DVD were one of the best things to happen in a long time? Now we had the opportunity to not only buy some of our favorite shows on DVD, but we could also catch shows that we didn't catch the first time around, or watch shows that never got a chance to find an audience (I've pointing at "Clerks" here).

At first, this was a wonderful thing. The chance to be able to buy every episode of "Home Improvement" (one of my favorite shows) was a dream come true. Story oriented shows like "Smallville" are a dream come on DVD, because you can spend long weekends watching an epic story unfold in your living room. And DVD like the "7th Heaven" DVD's remind you why the show became popular in the first place. Which is why these movie studios are really ticking me off with their new TV show on DVD policy. When this first started, the general idea was that if you started releasing a show on DVD in season box sets, you released the whole series sooner or later.

The reason was because there's an audience for everything. If the series only sold a few hundred thousand copies instead of the million you made, you just made less copies of the DVD come the second time around. On top of that, it was in the studios best interest to keep the sets of a show coming because poor sellers could sell tons in the long run if later seasons were released, and there were deals from stores that would give consumers a deal if they bought more then one season. That is no longer the case. Now the new policy is this: If the show doesn't ship a million copies the first week, then it's not in the studios best interest to continue releasing the sets.

Okay, now that might not be the official policy, but I can't imagine the real policy looking much different. The problem started when TV sets of recent series began hitting store shelves, like "Smallville," "24," and "One Tree Hill." After the first season of "Smallville" premiered, Warner Bros. released the first season on DVD a month before the second season premiered. This DVD sold like hot cakes because of the people who watched the first season, and from the people who didn't watch the first season, but bought the DVD after hearing from other people how good the show was. Then shows like "24," "Gilmore Girls," and "ER" started selling like hot cakes too. The reason was simple: The shows were still being produced.

Since TV shows started break the million units sold line, TV on DVD has been forever changed. Now the studios only want to release shows that can sell one million units in a short amount of time. This policy has put several shows on DVD in danger of not being released fully. For example, let's start with an older show that is a classic, but not a huge classic. The show is called "Mork & Mindy," and this is the show that introduced us to a comedic actor named Robin Williams, who, far as I can remember, became famous for voicing some blue genie in a Disney cartoon. Anyway, this is a funny show. A VERY funny show! It's also from the year 1978. That certainly isn't from the last ten years.

The first season was released on DVD. Despite the fact that there are only four seasons in this show, Paramount has no plans to release any more season of the show. The reason? Because the show "sold poorly." Now, they'll need to forgive me for being ignorant here for a few minutes. I'm not a studio executive, and I know that ultimately a studio releases something with the hopes of making some money on the product, but I have to wonder how "Mork & Mindy" could have POSSIBLY sold poorly! The show is almost thirty years old. No offense, but how many copies of this DVD were they hoping would sell? One million? Two million? Five hundred thousand? How many?

The reason I ask this is because this is an old show, and to expect it to be a million unit seller is kind of crazy. Of course, the other problem is that if fans want to get more seasons of a show released, they are at the mercy of the studios. "Mork & Mindy" fans want to know how many units of season one sold, and how many more would have to sell to get season two released. Paramount has not revealed the numbers to either of these questions, they've just stated that the series sold poorly, which doesn't really help the consumer out much. Another couple of shows that are in limbo are "7th Heaven" and "Party of Five."

Now both of these shows had to sell well enough to make some money, because they both got season two releases, but now the word is future releases have been canceled due to...you guess it; poor sales. But the question remains, how many units did they plan to sell to warrant another season, and how many did sell in the long run? And not only that, has the show has been selling decently over time, or does it only matter if it moves a certain amount of units during the first three weeks that determine whether a show continues to get future releases made? Whatever it is, you won't hear any of these answers answered by a studio executive.

My final example of how horrible this system is is with the release of the first season of "Everwood." Season one of one of the best TV shows came to DVD, but no future releases were made. The reason was that sales for the first set were too poor to warrant continuing the series. During a recent chat when people asked about future releases, Warner Bros. just said that more people needed to buy season one should they make season two. Since then, the season one sets have been selling like hot cakes. No one has any numbers to show how much sets have been sold the past few weeks, but Amazon.com has shown the set in the top ten for quite awhile now.

It briefly went to number 28 on the list when the new releases came out on Tuesday, but then it crept right back up to number 8. Surely this means the set is selling well, yet there is still no word on whether or not they've sold enough copies to continue the show, how much more they need to sell, or whether it's too late anyway, and it doesn't matter how many sets they sell, there won't be any more seasons of "Everwood" released. As you can see, what was once a great hobby has quickly become a big nightmare for fans. I can almost see why some fans wait until a company proves themselves by releasing the whole series of a show on DVD before they buy the sets.

Sure they may be shooting themselves in the foot, but at this point in the game, that almost makes sense. After all, why buy season one of a show, only to find out that you won't be able to buy the other nine seasons? It almost makes buying the first season feel kind of pointless. So what can be done here? I honestly don't know. A boycott won't work, because then the studios just simply won't release anything, and petitions are a waste of time because money does the talking. The main problem is we just don't know how much the studios want to continue producing sets.

It's a problem that needs to be addressed by some big DVD site, and hopefully it will be. Until then, all I know is that my first two seasons of "7th Heaven" and my first season of "Everwood" are begging for the rest of their family, and I don't know what to tell them

Currently Listening To: Angela Aki - "Final Fantasy XII" Soundtrack

Testing

2006-06-14T14:31:00.000-07:00

Just testing something out. This post will mean nothing to anybody else.

Books I've Been Reading

2006-06-06T14:49:00.000-07:00

As you all know, I'm an avid reader. And not just of comic books. I read novels, self help books, and political books. I've decided to write down some thoughts on some of the books I've been reading.

Deception Point by Dan Brown

Ah yes, another Dan Brown book. I can tell you right now, I'm getting just a little tired of Brown's superficial novels that have shallow characters, lots of action, and totally impossible conspiracies (though the book claims they have merit). This book started out as an interesting political thriller, of which the book became about two men battling to win a presidential election, and using whatever tactics they could to hurt the other candidate. This is an interesting idea for a book, one that I would love to read. Sadly, the book becomes completely uninteresting when Brown switches gears a quarter way into the book and introduces an ALIEN in the story!

No joke, this book goes from being about political power, and becomes about life on another planet. And the book just lost me right there and then. I do read a couple of chapters of this book whenever I have to go to the bathroom, but I find my interest in this book waning. I'm more then halfway done with the book, but something tells me I won't be finishing this journey anytime soon (if at all). Dan Brown has to be one of the most overrated authors of our time.

Bush Word by Maureen Dowd

Switching gears just a bit, I now to an unusual book entitled "Bush World." This is a strange book for me. I voted for Bush. I admit he's not the best president in the world, but I agree with some of his morals when it comes to war, homeland security, and same sex marriages. That said, I did not expect to be so entertained by a book that does nothing but tear Bush apart like he was a toothpick. The writing in this book is pretty good. It's certainly not the best political writing I've ever read. It's better then Michael Moore but not as good as Michael Savage.

Actually, I think Maureen Dowd is on par with Ann Coulter. Both authors write columns that are extreme, sarcastic, and extremely biting. Sometimes the opinions come off as either too extreme, too cartoony, or both, but they are entertaining to read whether you agree with them or not. I don't completely agree with all of Dowd's opinions on Bush or what he's doing, but I can't deny that this is a very entertaining book. Of course, I found this book at the Dollar Tree Store, so I didn't break my back paying for it either.

To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee

This book will ring more familiar to a lot more people then the above books will. There is really nothing more I can say about this book that hasn't already been said before. Everyone's read this book, it's critically acclaimed, one of the best books of all time, blah, blah, blah. I will say one thing though: Now that I've read it, I can say that all the praise this book has received is absolutely true. This IS an awesome book! Highly recommended.

This was fun. We'll have to do this again sometime. Oh, and help Save Everwood at www.everwoodonline.com.

Currently Listening To: Starship - Greatest Hits

Controversy? What Controversy?

2006-05-30T23:25:00.000-07:00

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

2006-05-16T15:08:00.000-07:00

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

2006-05-16T13:58:00.000-07:00

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*

Need Money For Book

2006-04-29T00:46:00.000-07:00

eBay Seller: comicbookreviewer: DVD, CDs items on eBay.com

Hey everyone. I'm selling more anime CD's and DVD's. Thanks for everyone who bought (most) of my stuff with the last sale. This one has more items for sale, so hopefully you guys will find something you like (and if you buy everything, I'll personally write you a "Thank You" card). Now, you guys may be wondering why I'm selling this stuff. Well, you know that book I'm writing? Well, before I shop the book to publishers I'm going to self-publish it. This way I can promote the book and create a fan base for it while I try to sell it. I figured if it worked for Christopher Paolini, then it may be worth it for me to try too.

However I need some money to do this. That's why I'm hoping you guys will bid on some of the items I'm selling. All the money is going into a big jar to help pay for the publishing of the book. So please, please, PLEASE bid people! You don't like to see me beg right? Of course you don't, because it looks silly. I know it does, I've practiced in front of a mirror. Anyway, good luck bidding.

Selling LOTS of Anime DVD's and CD's

2006-04-21T23:45:00.000-07:00

eBay Seller: comicbookreviewer: DVD, DVDs Movies items on eBay.com

Hey everyone, stalling for cash. I'm selling a ton of brand new, factory sealed, anime DVD's and CD's. Remember, you save on shipping, which means you can get five anime soundtracks for about $31. How's THAT for a deal?!

Currently Listening To: Diana DeGarmo - Blue Skies

Retirement Afterthoughts and Book Progress Reports

2006-04-15T01:27:00.000-07:00

Yu-Gi-Oh! Uncensored: Editorial

So chances are if you visit "Yu-Gi-Oh! Uncensored!" you have read my goodbye editorial by now. If you haven't read it yet, then surprise, but I've retired from "Yu-Gi-Oh! Uncensored!" Maybe some of you reading this didn't know I ran "Yu-Gi-Oh! Uncensored!" Maybe some of you don't even know what the heck "Yu-Gi-Oh! Uncensored!" even is. Oh well, regardless of the situation I've retired from the site. I tell you, it feels weird. VERY weird! I know I haven't really updated the site all that much recently, but that doesn't mean it hasn't been part of my life since I opened it on January 14th 2003.

Three years. Yep, that seems to be about the average amount of time to run a hobby website. Guess that means we can expect The Comic Book Guy.com to go belly up January 9th, 2007. Heh, just kidding...though with that said I do need to update that site with a review soon. If I don't, chances are I'll lose some weekly visitors. Oh but I'm going on vacation for two weeks starting April 30th, so I'm going to disappoint anyway. Maybe I'll just start my vacation now and be fully rested when I get back May 18th, ready to write reviews again. One thing I HAVE been motivated to work on is my book!

For those who don't know what I'm talking about, I explain it in detail in the editorial above. The long story short though is that I'm writing a book. A novel. Hopefully it will be good. I've actually been working on it for awhile now, but I've just kept it a secret. Why I've kept it a secret I don't know. If I want to get people excited about it, I need to start promoting it now. So what do I need to share about the book now? Well, so far I've written over seventy pages of the book, and am on Chapter Eight. Yes, a couple of the chapters are short. Keep in mind "The Da Vinci Code" had multiple chapters that were less then three paragraphs long, and that's a best seller.

The book is going to be a fantasy book set in modern times. This works out well for me because I can have wizards and witches blowing the crap out of each other with powerful spells in the middle of Sacramento. You won't see that in the upcoming "Eragon" movie that's for sure. Not only that, but I don't have to create different races and species for my series. I can just have the book feature everyday cops, homeless men, and crime lords with some wizards thrown in for the mix. Oh, and swords. I've got swords in the book too. So what good will swords do in modern times when people have guns and nukes to play around with?

Well, you'll find out in book two. Oh by the way, this book I'm writing, it's book one in a series of ten. You heard me: TEN! Yes, I'm insane. While this may be aiming a bit high (and I might chicken out of it at some point), but I want the series to be kind of like Harry Potter, in the sense that things develop over time, and that the main conflicts aren't known until later on in the series. While my book won't feature any kids as the protagonists, years will have passed by the time the series ends. The main characters name is Bruce. I know, Bruce is a plain name, but I like it. So deal with it.

As I write this I just finished writing the first half of Chapter Eight. I cut off from a scene. If I didn't have to work this morning I'd just stay up late until I ran out of juice for the time being. Actually, considering that my cousin got into an accident and broke his neck, I'm surprised I have any juice to write at all. I keep thinking of him in bed, in pain. He got into a motorcycle accident. I'm so thankful to God that he's not paralyzed. And people say that there is no proof God exists. He exists and works miracles everyday. Heck, he worked one yesterday with my cousin.

The doctors are perplexed because at the speed he was going, and at the height he flew off the motorcycle, he very well should be paralyzed by now. But he's not, and I'm so thankful to God for that. Wow, this part wasn't planned to be part of this post. Eh, just goes to show how much I love spreading good news. I'll catch up with you guys later. Hopefully with more progress reports.

Currently Listening To: Kylie Minogue - Greatest Hits 87-97

What I've Been Up To

2006-04-04T01:40:00.000-07:00

Even though I have a review and Yu-Gi-Oh! site I run, this Random Thoughts blog is actually the one thing I have the most fun writing. Mainly because I can write whatever the heck I want to write, and no one will protest because there is no reason to. The purpose of this blog is for me to write down random thoughts I have. Articles that wouldn't fit in with The Comic Book Guy.com website. And strangely enough, this blog gets more hits then either my comic OR Yu-Gi-Oh! site! It's quite bizarre actually. I've been working on a behind-the-scenes project recently. This project may be the reason I haven't updating anything for awhile.

This project, which shall remain nameless for the time being, is something that I've wanted to work on for many years now. I just never had the courage to attempt to make it...until now. Now that I'm working on it, I'm loving it, despite the fact that it is taking a tole on my personal life. When it's finished I know I'll be happy with it, but until then it does take up quite a bit of time. Makes me realize that I'll have to make some changes when it comes to the amount of time and commitment that I want to do on my websites. Today I made a list of all the features I had planned for my two sites.

I made the list so that I could look at what I was planning, and cross out the things that didn't mean too much to me, or I just simply didn't have the time to commit to. There was one feature on my YGO! that I planned to write a couple of months ago. It would have been big. It might have even improved my traffic for that site a bit. But alas, I starred at how much work and research I had to put into the darn thing (which turned into many, many, MANY hours), and I crossed it off. Then cried just a bit. It made me kind of sad because just two years ago, this feature would have been a top priority for my site.

Now? Now all I could see was how much time I was going to put into it, versus how little I was going to receive for doing it. I also planned to finish my San Diego Comic Con 2005 report, but I just couldn't justify doing the full length report I had originally planned. So that feature got crossed off, and for a site that I practically look forward to updating. But the response to my first two installments of that feature were non-existent, and I didn't want to waste my energy finishing a report that no one really cared about in the first place. Not to mention my big project is taking so much of my time, I may have to cut back to writing one review a week instead of two.

But don't quote me on that last one, as I haven't completely decided on that one. I'm also buying all the DVD's of films that won an Oscar for Best Picture. I think once I have seen them all, a satirical list of the "Ten Films Least Deserving of An Oscar" would be great fun to write...I'm just wondering if that energy would be better channeled somewhere else now. Ah, but that list is too tempting to refuse, so I'll probably write it anyway (though in several installments most likely). Gee, this post is sounding more grim then I originally intended it to be. In fact, the more I look at this, maybe I should post this on my websites too?

Just so that everyone knows what's going on. Nah, everyone will find this sooner or later. Everyone checks out blogs whenever I miss an update, just to make sure I'm not having computer problems or something. Well, anyway, with all that said I'm surprised to discover this blog might be updated more then the websites. If I write something for a website, I have to re-write the HTML, edit pictures if need be, and FTP everything. With blogs, I just click the blog button, write what I want to, and publish it. No one even holds it against me when I misspell something in the blog, since no one thinks highly of blogs (though people probably find them more interesting then anything you'll find on MySpace.com).

There is one thing I will promise: Things are going to change for me. I'll talk about the project I'm working on when it's time, and hopefully it will catch everyone's attention when it gets finished. Remember, I can't talk about it yet, but you're all welcome to speculate a little bit about it on my message boards if you want (just don't expect me to participate, seeing as how I hate message boards). I'll reveal more details on my respective sites when I iron everything out, but for now, I'm signing off. Catch you all later.

Currently Listening To: Daniel Powers - Daniel Powers

Oscar Winning DVD's For Sale

2006-03-29T15:33:00.000-08:00

eBay Seller: comicbookreviewer: DVD, DVDs Movies items on eBay.com

Hey guys, I ended up discovering that I had multiple copies of certain DVD's, so I'm selling them on eBay. Good luck bidding.

Currently Listening To : Peter Cetura - "The Karate Kid Part II" Soundtrack

Why People Don't Go To The Movies

2006-03-20T14:28:00.000-08:00

Hooligans - Directed by Lexi Alexander

During the "78th Academy Awards," the president of the Academy (as well as Jake Gyllenhaal) made attempts to make it a point that the best way to see a movie - ANY movie - is to see it in the theaters. This fact is pretty true. There are a few problems with seeing movies in the theater though. The fact that buying the movie on DVD costs the same as two movie tickets, the fact that there is (at the moment) no real way to force people to turn off their cell phones and stop text messaging, but there is only one real reason that is keeping people away from the theaters: DVD's.

DVD's will not only cost you the same amount of money as two movie tickets will, but the DVD's come out so soon. Strangely enough, one recent movie that didn't make a huge box office smash may have proved the answer to getting people back in the theaters. The movie is called "Green Street Hooligans." The movie stars Elijah Wood of "Lord of The Rings" fame as Matt Bucker, who moves to London and gets introduced to the violent underworld of soccer hooliganism. Without spoiling too much of the story (which is something I personally hate), let's just say it is a dark and brilliant film. A bit on the controversial side, but still great. It's also not on DVD. This would not be strange if it were not for one little fact: This movie opened in theaters in May of last year. There is still no DVD announced, and the movie still rotates theaters around the country. Now keep in mind, this is not the greatest film in the world. It's very good, but it might not go down as a classic. But the lack of availability has had one huge effect on people: People are REGRETTING not seeing the movie in the theaters!

People have gotten so used to a movie coming out on DVD ninety days after it's theatrical release, that the fact that a movie that looked marginally interesting to them isn't on DVD is making people have second thoughts about passing it up when they had the chance to see it in theaters. Come May, it will have been a whole year since this movie was dumped into theaters. The same thing happened with another film (though to a lesser extent) called "The Greatest Game" ever played, which is coming out in June, but by then it will have been about six months since the film went to the theaters.

But movies like "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" - which went to theaters in November and came out on DVD in March - and "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe" - which came out in late December and will come to DVD in early April - have about four month time spans before the DVD release. This simply will not do. Does anyone remember the release of "Toy Story?" Remember how long that movie played in theaters? More then six months. The reason for this is because good movies tend to make money for long periods of time.

But there is another reason for this. In 1995 companies didn't feel terribly rushed to get their movies on VHS (I'm not completely sure if DVD was around at the time), so they would keep movies, even the flops, in theaters for a good amount of time. Then once the movie left the theaters it would be between three to five months before the movie showed up on video. This was genius because it meant that if you were interested in seeing a movie, you almost HAD to see it in the theaters, otherwise you'd have to wait almost a whole year before you'd have the chance to see it again.

Heck, if you really liked the movie, you'd see it multiple times because the wait for video could be so frustrating at times. These days whenever a movie comes out, big or small, seeing it in the theater is not a priority. "Brokeback Mountain's" and "Capote's" Oscar nominations didn't do a darn thing for their box office. Why? Well, when movies got nominated for Oscars people used to rush to the theater to see them. This year when the Oscar nominations were announced people just said "I haven't seen these movies, but I'll see them when they come out on DVD."

Heck, it's almost sad because people know there's no rush to see a movie in the theaters. They can buy it in a couple weeks, so why rush to the theaters. "Tears of the Sun" made big news when one week after it was released it theaters, it was announced to be coming to DVD in three weeks. It was a flop in the theaters, but it was a hit on DVD. This is the film that started the trend. This is the film that started the ruin of the theater business. A recent film has also proposed a dangerous idea, with a film called "Bubble," that went into theaters one week, where the studio released the DVD of the movie the same day, and on the following Monday aired the movie on HBO.

Words are not needed to express how stupid this move was. If this is the future of movie releases, then why go to the theaters at all? It would also help if the theaters would do a better job at handling their films. As much as I loved "King Kong," it does not need to be on four screens for the first three weeks of release in a theater of twelve screens. Here are some suggestions for the studio systems to help bring people back to the theaters:

1. All the studios need to come to a mutual agreement to have, at minimum, eight months between the films theatrical release and DVD release. Regardless if the film is a hit or miss with audiences, there needs to be a long wait between being able to see the films in the theaters and being able to buy them on DVD. Even movies that don't do good initially might make a lot of money if word-of-mouth is good enough (see "My Big Fat Greek Wedding").

2. Theater chains need to commit one movie to one screen. Yes, this means that not everyone will be able to see "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" on the first weekend (seeing as how it would be on one screen instead of three), but this is not a bad thing as people will most likely buy a ticket to another movie and come back a week or two later to see the film. Plus if people are REALLY serious about seeing a movie in the first week, they can use Fandango! Remember folks, Fandango is your friend, regardless how annoying you find their commercials to be.

3. There needs to be a contract when selling video rentals. One thing that is a dying art is re-releases. Let's face it, people love seeing an old movie for the first time on the big screen. The problem is re-releases don't make that much money anymore because when a movie is re-released, the first thing people do is go to stores and either rent it or buy it. There needs to be a contract that states when a re-release of a movie is announced, these stores need to forced to pull any copies of the movie still on sale and Blockbuster can't rent the movie until it comes out of the theaters.

Unfair? Maybe, but it's the only way to do this. Of course, studios also need to accept that while this tactic might help, re-releases of old movies won't make more money then the new movies, and thus they shouldn't waste $50 million on a huge marketing campaign. A modest $10 to $15 million would do just fine.

4. Hollywood needs to make DVD's of movies for a "limited time only." How is it that Disney continues to make tons of money of theatrical re-releases of old movies like "Cinderella" and "Beauty & The Beast?" Because when they produce the DVD's, it is only for ninety days, and then they wait an aditional ten years before re-releasing it. This strategy has helped create a constant flow of money for most of Disney's films. While movies like "Battlefield Earth" and "Fear.com" will never be in high demand, if you have a movie that has the potential to be a real classic, then you need to treat it as such. Let's take "Titanic" for example. This movie became an instant classic, and therefore re-releasing it in theaters every ten or fifteen years seems like a logical thing to do (kind of like "Gone With The Wind").

Of course, consider the fact that the "Titanic" DVD has been in production since 1998, and by the time a re-release comes to frutation, no one will care because the movie has always been available to them. If you've got something special, you need to pick up Disney's plan and produce the DVD for only three or four months, then take it out of production for ten or fifteen years, where you can re-release it to theaters and eventually HD-DVD for a whole new generation to appreciate it.

Now to some credit, what I've proposed would take a great leap of faith by the studios. But hey, I'm sure the studios wouldn't mind being able to make an extra $90 million or so on re-releasing the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy every ten years or so. The bottom line is that if you make the wait for DVD long, then people WILL come back to the theaters! They will because they have no choice. Don't let their complaints fool you, that they will boycott movies if they cn't buy the DVD within four months of the initial release. There was a time there was no DVD (or VHS even). Just remind them that a DVD IS coming, it just won't be for awhile! In the meantime, you can see it in theaters. Twice if the wait is too long (which is something many people used to do with movies they really liked).

Maybe with that in mind, people will also shut up and stop text messaging during the movie and actually watch it for once. Oh, and "King Kong" is coming to DVD in a couple of weeks...about four months after it came to theaters. Makes you want to scream doesn't it?

Currently Listening To: John Stevens - Red

Best Animated Feature Films

2006-03-02T14:03:00.000-08:00

I was supposed to comment on the animated films that were nominated for Oscars a couple weeks ago, but it is just now that I am getting around to it. Since there are only three films being nominated this year, this won't take too long. For me, the movie that seems like the obvious choice to be the winner is "Wallice and Gromit: Curse of the Were-Rabbit." Even if you never liked W&G cartoons (and if you don't, check yourseld into a clinic, because you are one deluted person) this movie is an easy win with it's likable characters, old fashioned story telling, great humor, and a nice twist to help shake the story up a bit in the middle of the movie.

Some people have claimed that this might not win because it doesn't look very artictic or complicated. But hey, neither was "The Sound of Music" when you stop and think about it. No, "Wallice and Gromit: Curse of the Were-Rabbit" will win the Oscar not because it's super complicated, but because it's GOOD! Gee, what a novel concept, a movie winning an Oscar because of its enjoyment factor over its artistic merrits. The movie that is going to give "Wallice and Gromit: Curse of the Were-Rabbit" a run for it's money is Hayao Miyazaki's "Howl's Moving Castle." Now I admit, this is NOT my favorite Miyazaki movie!

I enjoyed the movie, but I only enjoyed the first eighty minutes. The last thirty minutes were too confusing and the story seemed to fall appart just a tad bit. If it weren't for those last thirty minutes, we may be singing a different tune, as "Howl's Moving Castle" is both artistic and enjoyable. The problem is, it just doesn't keep steam the whole movie, and the ending is just weird and confusing. I'm sure it will help Disney if "Howl's Moving Castle" does win though, seeing as how the DVD will be released two days later, making it easy for people to buy it after it wins an award.

The odd picture is "Tim Burton's Corpse Bride," which is not terribly complicated or deep in too many ways, but man it sure is artistic. The thing with "Corpse Bride" is that, except for the love triangle and the ending, the movie is really very typical of most romantic comedies (yes, "Corpse Bride" is a comedy). Boy meets girl, boy falls in love with girl, third girl who guy is also attrachted to comes into the picture and stirs things up. Throw in a murder, and you've got the movie in a nutshell. This movie is not Best Picture material. Still, I think it is Best Picture NOMINATION worthy!

If nothing else because the story, standerd as it is, is very enjoyable, and the animation is breathtaking. This movie makes a strong case for animation being nominated for "Best Visual Effects." So now that we've actually got an interesting batch of nomination.

"Wallice and Gromit": Light on artistic technicalities, but high on enjoyabiliy.

"Howl's Moving Castle": Contains a great mix of enjoyment and artistic merrits that falls appart at the end.

"Corpse Bride": Light story but very high production values.

Gee, wonder how THAT happened! Oh well, either way I must say these nominations are much better then having "Madagascar" and "Chicken Little" being nominated. I'd like to make an Oscar post on the actors, but I realize that I am surprisingly ignorant of the Best Actress catigory, as I've only seen two of the films the actresses have been in. Oh well, "Transmerica" is playing at a theater near me, maybe I'll check that out tonight and rent "North Country" afterwards.

Currently Listening To: Dolly Parton - "Transmerica" Soundtrack

Dead or Alive 4: Don't Bother Blocking

2006-02-28T14:02:00.000-08:00

IGN: Dead or Alive 4 Review

The "Dead or Alive" series is one of my favorite fighting games. It has a good fighting system, great characters (and not just the ones with...um, bounce), and above all else an awesome blocking system. The name of the game with "Dead or Alive" has been the counter system. With carefully timed presses of a button, you could make all your characters stop an attack and counterattack the enemy. It didn't always happen, but it was pretty well balanced, and you could learn to perfect it. With "Dead or Alive 4" for the BOX 360, that unique feature has been thrown out the window.

No, it wasn't taken out of the game, but it may as well have been. Apparently someone at Team Ninja decided it was too easy to use the block button, so they made it harder to use it. They made it so that you could only use it at certain times. If you are right in your timing, you can stop an attack, but oh how difficult it is. Now you have literally0.1 second time periods to be able to properly block. If you don't press the button at these proper times, your character will do nothing. These are easy to pull off when the enemy isn't fighting at all, but once the combo's start coming you are at your enemies mercy.

Seriously, it gets to be pretty maddening when the computer A.I. can block against your best moves, yet you can't do a thing about his basic attacks. Note to Team Ninja: I respect you wanting to make your games more challenging, but you shouldn't make executing something so hard that you might as well not bother doing it at all. With how difficult it is to block, the block button is practically broken now. Maybe it's just me, but that seems like missing the whole point of "improving" this particular gameplay mechanism. Oh, and just for the record, people online aren't really using the block button either, do to the stupid difficultly in making it work properly. Just some advice.

Currently Listening To: Jon Secada - "Pocahontas" Soundtrack

I'm Going To Make A Quick Withdraw

2006-02-14T18:19:00.000-08:00

IGN: Shadow the Hedgehog Review

Game review sites tend to all read the same way. If one site loves a game, then chances are all the other review sites will love the game. Likewise if one site hates a game, then all the other review sites love the game. I don't know why this is, but I'm going to guess the reason is because unlike movies, most people who buy games agree on the same thing: They want fun games. And while there are different genre's, if someone reviewing "Final Fantasy X" loves RPG's, then anyone who likes RPG's will likely love "Final Fantasy X." I normally agree with reviews.

Sometimes I'll differ a little bit on a grade, but otherwise I usually see eye-to-eye with most of the reviews. One of the biggest conflicts with a review I've had recently is with "Shadow The Hedgehog." Now I am a huge Sonic The Hedgehog fan. Screw Mario and his mushroom jumping games (which are fun, I'm not saying they are), I've always preferred the Sonic games for their speed, loops, and eventually great gameplay inovations. While most of the Sega Saturn Sonic games left quite a bit to be desired, I've enjoyed pretty much all the Dreamcast and Gamecube Sonic games ("Sonic Shuffle" being an exception to the rule).

The latest Sonic game is "Shadow The Hedgehog," which takes place after the events of "Sonic Hero's," stars "Sonic Adventure 2" show stealer Shadow, and sports a darker world and storyline, originally earning the game a (what would have been very controversial) Teen rating, but thanks to the ESRB adding a new rating, the rating got appealed and received an Eveyone 10+ rating (which is still kind of high for a kids game). I didn't really get a chance to play this game till January of this year, and despite all the absolutely horrible reviews this game has received, I find myself disagreeing with them, as I feel this is a fun game.

This isn't a great game, but a fun one none-the-less. One thing I do find strange though is that I agree with most of the points made in the reviews. Yes, the graphics should be better by now. Yes, the camera is still a little whacked. And yes, since there is the whole "good/evil" choice you can make, it would be helpful that to not kill the good guys if you on there side (and vice-a-versa). Yet, I still find the game fun. I was thinking about this, and I think I understand why: I'm used to these problems. Seriously, while it is annoying that most of these problems have been present since "Sonic Adventure" came out in 1999, and I would love to see them fixed, the bottom line is that I'm used to the problem. So when the camera went all crazy on me the first time I played this game, it didn't raise a red flag because I was used to it. I know, it's sad but true. And since I'm such a big fan of the Sonic series, I guess I'm not marking these things against the game itself. This proves one thing about game reviews: They are not always right. They usually help greatly, and when a game magazine dings a game it's highly recommended you take them seriously to a certain extent since you stand to lose $50, but they aren't always right.

If you are a big Sonic fan, "Shadow The Hedgehog" should do wonders for you. Unlike "Mario Sunshine," some of the added stuff in Shadow really works, and it makes the game more interesting then it would have been otherwise. Now if you'll excuse me, I still have about seven endings that I want to unlock, and those endings aren't going to unlock themselves.

Currently Listening To: Peter Cetera - One Clear Voice

Note To Self

2006-02-13T02:35:00.000-08:00

Remember to go see "Top Gun" on Thursday at 10:00pm. That's all, this message isn't for anyone else but me. For a more interesting post, you can read my thoughts on the Oscar nominations below.

It's Oscar Time: Part One

2006-02-12T12:26:00.000-08:00

OSCAR.com - 78th Annual Academy Awards - Best Motion Picture of the Year

Even though the Best Picture Oscar nominees were anounced a couple of weeks ago, I didn't want to comment on them until I saw all the films on the list. Just for the record, that turned to be easy as the only film on the list I hadn't seen yet was "Munich," which I remember wanting to see when I first saw the previews, but kind of forgot about it shortly after it was released. Since I saw "Munich" four nights ago, I now feel comfortable talking about the nominations. I'll start off by saying this was an extremely good year for movies.

Even though a couple of my top ten films weren't nominated for Best Picture ("Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" and "King Kong"), a few of the films were. Of the five films that were nominated, I'll be rooting for "Capote" to win. I love that movie. It may be because it deals with writing - which is a passion of mine - but it's also a great autobiagraphy film, mystery, and human drama. I loved every aspect of this film, and it's one of those movies where you ask people "Why haven't you seen this movie?" If "Capote" doesn't win - which is looking like a real possability - then my second choice would be "Good Night and Good Luck."

"Good Night and Good Luck" was a good old fashioned movie. It takes place in the fifties, looks like it was filmed in the fifties, sounds like it was made in the fifties, and some of the actors both look and sound like it was from the fifties. Oh, and the film is in black and white, which just rocks. But the way the film looks and sounds is only part of the appeal, the rest of the appeal comes from the great storyline about a small news station who, despite what everyone else told them to, decided to publicly oppose the illegal methods of Senater McCarthy and his anti-communist ways.

Long before there was Michael Moore and Al Franklin, there was CBS and veteran news reporter Edward R. Murrow, the first real outspoken activist (and also much better then the affore mentioned "activists"). After that we have "Crash," a film about racism and how it still exists today in ways we normally have no idea it does. Some people have criticized the movie for being to forceful in it's message (and maybe they are right), but it is still a very interesting and compelling film with a message that is worth listening to. Strangely enough, I don't have much of an opinion on "Munich."

Don't get me wrong, it's a good movie and I love it, I just don't have much to say about it. Definetly worth seeing though. And that leaves us with "Brokeback Mountain," the film that will most likely win the top prize. If you've been reading this blog, you know I don't like this film. Save for a heartbreaking performance by Michelle Williams (who deserves to win Best Supporting Actress) this movie is garbage. However the film will win Best Picture, regardless of the quality of the film. Hollywood has an agenda to push, and they will push it with this film.

For people who keeping telling me that they were moved by this film I always ask them if the cheating couple had been a guy and a girl, would they still think the romance is beautiful. This question stops people dead in their tracks because they know that if this were the case, they wouldn't like the movie as much because it would make the affair more despicable then it already is. Women get hurt by husbends who leave them for other men in real life too, so I don't know why this movie is a example of a true love story. To me it's liberal garbage. Not to knock on liberals, but the message doesn't hold enough water to make a good movie.

So yeah, while I would rather see "King Kong" in the running for Best Picture over "Brokeback Mountain," I am quite happy with most of the nominations. Even though the Oscars are more about money and promotion then real awards these days, I will be looking forward to watching them on ABC this March. Well, this was a fun post to write. Come back in a couple days when I have my opinion on the Best Animated Feature Films. Hey, for me, animation requires a whole seperate catigory.

Currently Listening To: Phil Collins - "Brother Bear" Soundtrack

Monkeying Around

2006-02-07T18:34:00.000-08:00

calendarlive.com: Real monkeying around

As you all know, I love animation. I'm looking forward to seeing "Curious George" on Friday, but that was before I read the article I linked to above. After looking at all the problems this film has had over the years, I'm even more curious (no pun intended) about the final results of the film. There is one thing to celebrate though: The movie is hand-drawn 2D animation. Now THAT'S something to get excited about! Hope I see some people in the theater when I go check out the movie this Friday (I'll catch "The Pink Panther" another day).

Currently Listening To: Steven Curtis Chapman - All About Love

Best. Commercial. EVER!

2006-02-07T18:18:00.000-08:00

SteelCitysFinest.com

This has got to be the best car commercial I've ever seen. If this hasn't sold me on a Honda right now, nothing ever will. Totally cool.

Currently Listening To: Ricky Martin - Sound Loaded

Note To Self

2006-02-07T00:24:00.000-08:00

This post is nothing more then a personal reminder for me later this month. Note:

Cancel Gamefly Account on February 15th. That is all.

Currently Listening To: Puffy AmiYumi - Nice

Rocking Out In A Coffie Shop

2006-02-01T15:38:00.000-08:00

www.myspace.com/building429

One of the breakout bands in music in 2004 was the Christian rock group called Building 429. Their hit song "Glory Defined" become a number one hit on various charts, winning the band four Dove award nominations, and them actually winning the Dove award for "Best Breakout Artist of The Year." This morning, at 7:00am, thanks to the sponsorship of my local radio station The Fish (103.9 FM if you are ever in Sacramento or Citrus Heights), I was able to see the band play, for free, at a local coffie shop this morning. It wasn't a huge performence mind you. The whole band showed up, but only two of the members actually played.

There were two guitars, but no drums or bass. Still, it was a treat to be able to see these guys play. I missed them while they were touring with Casting Crowns, but that doesn't matter anymore. I'll make sure to catch them in a real concert when they go touring again (which might not be long, seeing as how their next CD comes out in March). I have taken some pictures of the concert for your viewing pleasure. Keep in mind the pictures came out horrible dark, so I had to brighten the images. They still don't look all that great, but they are better then nothing I guess. Well, these are better pictures then I'm going to get at any concert, THAT'S for sure:

Setting everything up.

Just because you are in a coffie shop doesn't mean you can't put out a great performance.

Me and the guys. They were very cool guys. Signed my CD, posed for me for this picture, and they didn't comment on my horrible haircut. Really nice guys.

Whew, What A Day THAT Was!

2006-01-31T18:17:00.000-08:00

I would just like to humbly request that no one read the below post. If you do read it (and asking you not to is most likely seen as an invitation TO read it), just keep in mind that I in a VERY foul mood, and didn't mean most of the things I said! I'm still having some problems, but the shock of it all has slowed down, so I'm better now. I'll start talking about fun things again in starting next month (which is tomarrow I guess).

Ever Have One of Those Days?

2006-01-30T15:15:00.000-08:00

These past few days have been a nightmare. Lack of work hours, friends doing things I don't think they should do, a school glitch that makes is so that I have to sit this semester of school out, yet another damn car repair, and this is ALL in the time frame of one and a half days! I'm so stressed I feel like my heads about to explode. I'm looking at summer school new (which puts some summer projects on hold till next year), I don't know how much it's going to cost to repair my car, but I know I can't really afford it. The lack of hours I'm working is making it hard for me to save money.

I need a new car. This much is obvious. What I don't have is any means to save for it. A couple of weeks ago I got new brakes. I didn't want to get them because I do have an old car, but I couldn't afford a new car either, so I was stuck. I don't know what's wrong now, but I only have around $700 in the bank, and I'm praying that either the bill will be less then $200, or that the repair will fall under the warrenty (someone at Costco said the problem was with the back breaks, so I may be getting off easy this time). Still, even if the bill isn't that expensive, it still sets me back even more. How am I supposed to continue to save money on eight hours a week?

I do have bills to pay, and even if I don't save any money for a new car this month (which would be torture at this point), then I still have barely enough money to live off of. I've been in the red for awhile now. I made an attempt to sell a lot of stuff on eBay to help pay for things. Nothing sold. None of the anime DVD's (some of which were brand new). My signed Harry Potter book (which I refused to sell for under $300). Nothing sold. I spent about $45 is eBay fees, and not ONE THING SOLD!!!!!!! WHAT AM I GOING TO DO?!?!?!?! Oh man, I'm so desperate I'm complaining to random people reading a blog. Man I'm pathetic.

I look at my website. I look at it at times like these, stare and it, and almost resent it. While I've always updated it because I enjoy writing reviews, it doesn't pay anything. At times like this, I really wish it did. Chris Beverage makes money off Anime on DVD, so why can't I? Oh yeah, because virtually no one reads my site. I'm just a spoiled kid, sitting around reading and writing about comics, hoping that I'll be able to make money doing this someday. I think I need to realize, that that's not ever going to happen. I should also admit that I have no future at school. I should admit I'll never make a lot of money.

I should admit my cars a piece of junk and not worth $5.00. I SHOULD REALIZE I'M BEING A PATHETIC CRYBABY AND MAKING MYSELF LOOK FOOLISH ON A BLOG!!!!!!!!! Man, I'm having a VERY bad day! Well, as you can probably figure out, this post is supposed to be nothing personal. I know I love my site, I know I'll get more work hours, I know I can go back to school in the summer, and I know I probably don't really mean half the things I'm saying. But I'm mad, and frustrated, and need to vent. Unfortunetly for you guys, this blog is the easiest way for me to do that.

My frustration is starting to go down a little, and my angers lowered now that I've released some of my anger. Chances are a couple days this post will even be gone. So forgive me that I write this in the first place, but I REALLY needed to vent! I might vent again later. If this post has offended you I want to apologize, and warn you to stay away from this blog for the next couple of days. Things could get ugly.

R.I.P: Johnathan Kent

2006-01-26T21:24:00.000-08:00

"Smallville" (2001)

Okay, turns out I was wrong about who was going to die on "Smallville"...twice. If you watched tonights episode, you will know that we had a "fake" death for Lana Lang, before the real death went to Johnathan Kent. This shouldn't surprise me too much. After all, Johnathan died in the comics and the first movie, so why should he live here? I honestly thought Chloe would die though, mainly because she's the only character who feels extendable in the show. If she died, no big deal right? Well, nice to see the producers of the show didn't take the easy way out by killing an extendable character, and instead killed a major character.

It would have been a bigger "holy crap" if Lana had died (and would have given Lex a bigger reason to turn all dark and evil), but overall we were in a no win situation here. We knew someone had to die. We've known since the beginning of the season. If you're going to put so much focus on someone dying all season, you might as well make the death significant. My main problem with Harry Potter books four and five were not that they were bad books, but that J.K. Rowling put so much emphasis on the upcoming deaths, only to kill minor characters that were expendable (until book six anyway, where one of the biggest characters met his/her fate).

At least the Johnathan Kent death meant something not only to Clark, but to us, the viewers as well. So yeah, while I would have been able to have lived with someone like Chloe dying, I'm glad that the character they killed held more weight then her. While Johnathans death makes me sad, it makes me glad to know that I care enough about the characters to worry about them in the first place. There was a little lap of logic Clark overlooked where he could have prevented Lana's death WITHOUT making her mad at him, but I'll let it slide seeing as how all WB shows rely on their love triangles to a certain extent!

I guess there's only one more thing to say: Johnathan Kent, you've raised a wonderful son, and you will be missed. Truly.

Currently Listening To: Nobuo Uematsu - Aerith's Theme ("Final Fantasy VII" Soundtrack)

"Smallville" Predictions

2006-01-26T20:16:00.000-08:00

Without having seen tonights episode yet, I am predicting that Chloe Sullivan will die. I am now going to go watch the episode to see if I'm right. Be back later with the results.

Banging Was Never More Hilarious

2006-01-25T21:27:00.000-08:00

Be Brave When Clicking This Link

I mean, come on, "American Idol" produced THIS GUY!!! Comedy gold man.

(Still) Currently Listening To: Brooks & Dunn - The Greatest Hits Collection

Just For The Record, I Voted For Clay.

2006-01-25T21:25:00.000-08:00

American Idol

I just want to point out that I while I think reality TV is vile trash overall, "American Idol" can be one of the funniest things on TV. Seriously. I mean, come on, it's funnier then "Joey" at least. Hmm...wonder what I should write about next. Oh, I know: The Disney Pixar deal. Oh, that should be fun.

Currently Listening To: Brooks & Dunn - The Greatest Hits Collection

DARN YOU KOJIMA!!!

2006-01-25T16:33:00.000-08:00

Konami preps Metal Gear retrospective - PlayStation 2 News at GameSpot

"Metal Gear Solid" is one of my favorite game series of all time. Yes, I even loved "Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty," despite that mind boggling ending Kojima delivered us. I love MGS so much, that when Konami released "Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance" for the XBox, I bought the game even though I had already bought it once for the Playstation 2. And when Silicon Knights gave us "Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes" for Gamecube, a remake of the original Playstation game, I bought that too. Here's the thing though: I can't justify buying "Metal Gear Solid 3: Substance."

At least, not when it's on a system that I already own the game for. For some reason I was late buying "Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater" the first time around for Playstation 2. Blame "Kingdom Hearts" and "Final Fantasy X-2" if you want (I sure as heck do), but it wasn't until January of 2005 when I finally got the game (and on sale for $35.99). I still really love the game, but I can't justify re-buying a $50 game when I already have it on the exact same system. If "Substance" was being released on XBox instead (like it was for "Sons of Liberty") then maybe I would be more for this.

But two same games for the same system? That just doesn't make sense. I'm sorry, but it doesn't. Now I'm hearing that there will be some sort of DVD "Making of" bonus for those who pre-order this thing though? Man, tempting. VERY tempting in fact...but I can't! I'm frustrated, I want it, but it just doesn't make sense in the long run. Chances are because of how rare this is going to be though, I guess it should be noted that these disks are going to skyrocket on eBay within the next year or so. Darn you Kojima. DARN YOU!!! Someone at Konami America needs to make their own multi-disk DVD "Making of" set.

Why not? I'd buy it. I'd buy this sort of thing for "Final Fantasy," "The Legend of Zelda," and "Sonic The Hedgehog" too. Darn, I REALLY need to get into one of these companies and start making these plans become a reality! Oh well, until then, they shall be written down in this blog. On a side note, "Metal Gear Solid 4" may just be enough of a reason to buy a Playstation 3. Not on launch day mind you, but eventually.

Currently Listening To: Paula Abdul - Greatest Hits

Movie Reviews: Two of Four

2006-01-21T23:22:00.000-08:00

Zathura

Yep, I still go to kids movies. By myself. I know, my life is pitiful:

Zathura
Director: Jon Favreau
Staring: A couple of annoying kids.
Rated: PG (For fantasy action and peril, and some language)

I like the movie "Jumanji." I don't think it's a great film, but it was a fairly decent movie. The special effects haven't held up quite as well as they used to, but that's okay, that's just the way things work sometimes. With that in mind, I wasn't particularly looking forward to seeing "Zathura." Like "Elf," the movie just looked too dopy and childish for me. However, like "Elf," I walked away from "Zathura" quite surprised. I only then learned that the guy who directed "Elf" directed "Zathura" too.

The storyline is simple: Boys who hate each other find board game, start playing, weird stuff happens, boys must learn to love each other if they are to survive. In this regard, "Zathura" is nothing special, as this story has been told multiple times before. What makes this movie worth seeing is that it is told in a very fun way. While "Jumanji" was a good movie, calling it a family film (and giving the film it's too flexible PG rating) was a joke, as that film was capable of terrifying kids. "Zathura" makes this a fun ride by establishing very early on that this is going to be a fun fantasy ride.

The first thing that happens is a huge meteor shower takes place in the living room. The meteors fall everywhere, destroying the room, but the kids are unharmed. So while it looks like the kids are avoiding the meteors, it's really the meteors that are avoiding the kids. This scene does a great job in setting up the fact that this is all just going to be fun. As more disasters show up, there is always something to protect the kids, and (in a brilliant stroke of genius) some of the special effects are old fashioned. The old fashioned special effects (like the robot) helps establish the fantasy setting we are in.

The actors all do a commendable job in the movie. There is no Oscar work to be found here, but what is in here works. Save for Tim Robbins in a very minor supporting role as the dad who doesn’t have for his kids, the cast is made up entirely of unknowns. This is also okay, as we don't want anyone mistaking this movie for art. Still, it's a great family film, and even if you don't have kids it is quite and enjoyable ride in itself. Just remember: It's only a game.

Grade: B-

Currently Listening To: Ricky Martin - Life

Random TV Ramblings From A Guy Who Can't Sleep

2006-01-21T01:31:00.000-08:00

"Party of Five" (1994)

Seeing as how the TV scheduel will NOT be changed until fall (and doubtful it will be much better then it is now), my TV on DVD raid continues. This time it's with "Party of Five," a show I (surprise, surprise) missed during it's initial airing on Fox. Seeing Scott Wolf on "Everwood" playing thirty something doctor made it kind of weird seeing him play sixteen year old Baily in this show, but there you have it. I'm on the forth episode right now, and while it is not a great show, it is a good show. This must be one of those shows that gets better as it goes on.

Seeing as how this show is so critically acclaimed, I'm hoping it does. Strangely enough, so far this isn't "Dawson's Creek." Mock that show all you want, but for some reason that show COMPLETELY sucked me in with the first episode! "Party of Five" got me interested in the characters and where they are going, but so far this show is no masterpiece, just enjoyable fluff. But heck, it's still better then almost anything found on TV these days. On another note, it was decided that James Van Der Beek's (Dawon) new TV show, "Three," was not going to be picked up by the network as a full length TV show.

Darn, it looked interesting too. What's maddening though, is that this show (which was going to be a real TV show with an actual storyline and characters) was most likely turned down to make way for another reality TV show. Disney's new Muppet sitcom can't come here fast enough. Oh, and "American Idol's" new season just started. While I am looking forward to seeing who becomes the next idol, I'm personally enjoying the bad singers much more then the good singers. Hey, what can I say, we might see another William Hung this season. Yeah, I know the guy is talentless, but he was funny.

Yes, I said it: He was funny. Bite me. Though on that note, Ricky Martin most likely has Hung partly to thank for his reknewed career in the US (in Mexico he never went away). Hmm...something tells me this post would not only make more sense if I was wide awake, but I'd probably have a flow and point too. Well, on a final note I have this to say: PETERT CETERA RULES!!!! Don't know who that is? Napster him. I'm going to make an attempt to go to bed now. Night, night.

P.S. Dani, if you're reading this, will you go out to the movies with me?

Movie Reviews: One of Four

2006-01-18T21:53:00.000-08:00

I've seen four movies this past week, so I better start reviewing them:

Casanova
Director: Lasse Hallstrom
Staring: Heaith Ledger, Sienna Miller
Rated: R (For some sexual content)

"Casanova" was not what I was expecting it to be. For some reason, I was thinking "Casanova" was going to be a movie that was about a guy who spent the who movie activly trying to sleep with as many women as he could. This is true for the first ten minutes of the film, but then the movie shifts focus. "Casanova" is based (loosely) off the life of the real life Giacomo Casanova, who wrote many books in his life but only found real success with his autobiography. In it he claimed to have have 122 "conquests" with women. This fact is also hammered down in this movie.

The movie follows this part of the story, showing Casanova claiming another prize, when he is arrested by the church for being quite a scumbag. He is given one more chance though: If he can find a wife withen the next three days and get married, he will be cleared of all charges. Casanova imediatly gets engaged to the virginal Victoria, but shortly afterwards meets his real true love, a feminist writer named Francesca. As is always the case when you meet "the one," Casanova drops his old ways and starts scheming to win Francesca's heart.

He finds out that Francesca has a fiancee (one she has never seen, just so that we are aware she is not attached to him), edbut nothing as minor as that is going to stop Casanova. Oh, all the while, an out of town catholic is trying to have Casanova hanged. I hope I'm not making "Casanova" sound like a drama, because it's not. In fact, "Casanova" is more of a fun romp then anything. It's a little unrealistic, it's a little stereotypicle, and some of the characters are so one sided they might be considered offensive (horny nuns who like to have sex), but overall "Casanova" is just a fun romp.

It's NOT historically accurate! The movie may get a few things about real life events right, but overall this was made as sort of a date movie rather then a historical representation. Historians may frown on what they may consider a wasted oppertunity, but for those who don't go to the movies to be educated, this may be the fun kind of movie they are looking for. A small note on the R rating, this is one of the tamest R rated films I've seen in a long time. There is no bad language, no violence, no nudity, and the sexuel content mainly reffers to some very minor off color jokes.

In other words, even if you are easyily offended there is very little to offend in this movie, so I would take that R rating with a grain of salt. Right now you've got a serious but sour film about gay cowboys to see, and a movie about a womanizer who changes his ways when he falls in love. I think you can guess which of these films I'm recomending.

Grade: B

Currently Listening To: Justin Guarini with Kelly Clarkson - Justin Guarini

Well, You Said You Wanted Excitement

2006-01-10T23:57:00.000-08:00

I hope this review doesn't get me some 'gay' in my mailbox:

Brokeback Mountain
Director: Ang Lee
Starring: Heath Ledger, Jake Gyllenhaal
Rated: R (For sexuality, nudity, language and some violence)

Every year the world gets at least one controversial film that is hailed by critics, and usually wins a lot of awards. "Brokeback Moutain" has been labled as "the gay cowboy movie," which sounds about right to me. It may be me, but I'm more likely to side with the hecklers in this case then with the critics. When "Fahrenheit 9/11" came out the critics hailed it as a "revolutionary film," one that apparently was so good that it was said that "it [didn't] matter whether you were left or right, ["Fahrenheit 9/11"] is a great film." Of course, we all know these statements to be complete lies barely two years later.

But maybe the critics are right in this case. Maybe "Brokeback Moutain" IS a movie that can change the way we think about gay lovers?! I went into the movie with an open mind, ready to have my beliefs challenged. Strangely enough, I can sum up what "Brokeback Moutain" is in brief, simple summery: "Brokeback Moutain" is a glorified affair. As you all know, "Brokeback Moutain" revolves around two sheep herders (Ennis and Jack) who get drunk, have sex, and (supposingly) fall in love. Then they get back to the real world, they both get married, they have kids, but they still remember the nights they shared on Brokeback Mountain.

Then one day, Ennis receives a letter from Jack, suggesting that they go back to Brokeback Moutain for another fling (although he doesn't say it like that per se). They both know that they can never be together, but they do make a choice to keep seeing each other at Brokeback Mountain every few months. Through the years Ennis and Jack spend continue with their real lives, with those few days a year they can see each other when they are in total bliss. All the while they hurt their wives, they neglect their kids to a certain extent, and they hurt friends.

Some people see this movie as a great tradgedy because these two men love each other but can't be together. I, on the other hand, saw two men who lusted for each other, and ended up being complete jerks who did nothing but cheat on their wives and have no problem with this. Ok, time for the sarcasm to end and it's time to get serious. Despite all the praise this film gets, despite all the things that are being said about this series, at the end of the day this is about two men having an affair and hurting the people they are married to. This fact seems to have went over almost everyone's head. The fact that these two characters are hurting their loved one's doesn't seem to matter much to the people praising this film.

I have to wonder, if the coupld had been a man and a woman, would all this deception and cheating be as overlooked as it is here? It's also hard to believe in the romance itself, seeing as how it was birthed from a night where the characters had one too many drinks, not because they actually fall in love. They just have a hard night of sex and before you know it they're a couple. Sorry, but I'm not convinced. Throughout this whole film there was only one believable character in the whole movie, and that character is the Michelle Williams character. When Williams character discovers that her husbend is cheating on her, we truly feel sorry for her as her marriage falls apart.

The scene where she finally confronts her husbend about his affair with another man, I almost started to cry for her, as she was outright lied to, and her life was, more or less, greatly damaged. For some reason, some of the people I saw the film with sided with Ennis during this scene, because the Williams character "didn't understand what Ennis was going through." I couldn't help but wonder what any of the other characters had to do to get sympathy. The boys boss (played by Randy Quade) has been said to be a biggot, when in reality he couldn't care less about the two boys sexuality, he's just mad that they let his sheep get eaten while they were keeping themselves busy.

I will admit that the acting is good, and the cinatography is beautiful, but I can't in all honesty recommend a movie where the main characters seem to okay with hurting people they care about, with very few consequences. I've never cared about movies that are about glorified affairs, and this one is no different.

Grade: D-

Currently Listening To: Celine Dion - A New Day Has Come

Need Money: BADLY!

2006-01-07T23:46:00.000-08:00

eBay Seller: comicbookreviewer

Hey guys, to make a long story short, I have a HUGE expense I need to pay off, so I am selling quite a bit of anime DVD's, manga, and a few collectables on eBay! Of noteworthy mention is a Stan Lee autograph (a real one), and an original Penny Arcade and PVP sketch. If any of this stuff interests you please bid, as I could REALLY use the money right now (I wouldn't be selling some of these things if I didn't)! Later guys, good luck bidding.

Run, Dick, Run!

2006-01-05T23:36:00.000-08:00

I got into a fender-bender this morning and my consolation prize was this movie:

Fun With Dick And Jane
Director: Dean Parisot
Starring: Jim Carrey, Tea Leoni
Rated: PG-13

"Fun With Dick and Jane" does not end up being as much fun as we'd like it to be. The movie revolves around the title characters and their fun filled life. They both have high paying jobs, when the amazing happens: Dick gets promoted as the new VP Chairman of a big business. Because of the new promotion, Jane quits her job, Dick orders some new things for the house, and life is just perfect. Unfortunately, it turns out Dick was promoted to be a scapegoat for the corporation, and Dick is thrown on TV to explain to the world why the CEO (played by Alac Baldwin) has just cashed in on all the stock he owned, and why the company has gone bankrupt.

Dick has no answers, and suffers all this humiliation just to wind up without a job. A few months later, both Dick and Jane can't find work, and they are reduced to crime to make themselves money so they can live. Strangely enough, this is where the movie takes a dive. Instead of being like Robin Hood and taking from the rich and greedy, they steel from the poor and good people who work hard to make an honest buck. Kind of hard to root for the main characters when they are robbing an old-timer who runs a gift shop store. I won't deny that "Fun With Dick and Jane" isn't funny.

This movie does contained some laughs, and there are even a couple scenes that are gut-splitting funny. However these moments aren't frequent enough, and most of the laughs are mere chuckles then genuine laughs. This also isn't Jim Carrey's best work to date either. Considering he made this movie after making the very intriguing (and strange) "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind," this movie seems like going back to the basics for him. Tea Leoni is also annoying, playing the same hyperactive mom she's played in the last five or seven films she's made.

Dick and Jane eventually do make an effort to get even with the evil CEO who put them (and other families) in misery, but by then it feels like too little too late. By now we've gotten the message that corporations are evil, and we don't like Dick and Jane very much at this point. This movie tries to make a point that people with money are evil and selfish people, but then the movie contradicts itself by saying the same thing about poor people who live an honest life. Oh, and according to the banners in this movie, Gore won the election. Ho, ho. While it may be worth a rental, "Fun With Dick and Jane" isn't very fun when you have to pay $10 to see it.

Grade: C-

Patrick and Jessica: Don't Read This Review

2006-01-04T21:41:00.000-08:00

Starting today, I'm going to make it a point to share my two thoughts on the movies I see. Movie reviews will most likely become a regular feature on this blog. This is the first:

The Squid and the Whale
Director: Noah Baumbach
Starring: Jeff Daniels, Laura Linney
Rated: R (For strong sexual content, graphic dialogue and language)

"The Squid and the Whale" is a movie that shows us something we'd rather not see: The ugly side of divorce. I've always been fascinated with the way Hollywood portrays divorce. They never really portray it as something that is truly horrible, just as a "touch luck/too bad" thing that happens to many people. In other words, divorce is a part of human nature, and you might as well get used to it. Of course, people who have been effected by divorce will tell you otherwise. The fact that so many divorcees can watch Hollywood movies about divorce shows just how timid and kind Hollywood is to the subject.

This is not one of those movies. This movie will not hold your hand and demand you not be scared by divorce. This movie does no less then get in your face and practicably beats you over the head with the horrible consequences of divorce. You may actually feel yourself worn out by the time the movie is finished. If you couldn't guess by now, the movie is about a married couple named Bernard and Joan, and their two kids Frank and Walt. Bernard and Joan have a rocky relationship. Bernard used to be a huge author, but now has trouble getting his books published. Joan used to have little interest in writing, but was inspired by her husband to try writing herself.

Now the tables have turned some twenty years later, and now Joan is the successful writer and Bernard is the one with no career. They now fight all the time, with Bernard getting frustrated that he seems to be losing his power status with the family, and Joan feeling like her husband would rather have her on a leash. Soon the parents decide to divorce, to the surprise of no one (even to Frank and Walt). The kids aren't really surprised when their parents announce that they are splitting up, but they still can't really comprehend how things came to be this way. What's worse is that both kids have a parent he likes better, and the parents use this to their advantage.

In what comes as the biggest blow to the audience, each of the grownup's start telling their kids stories about the other parents and giving that kid special privileges. Bernard tells Walt about an affair Joan had while they were married, and Joan lets Frank drink beer and read pornographic magazines. The bait serves it's purpose, and before you know it Frank and Walt have become pawns in their parents bickering match, and neither side will waver. A particularly heartbreaking scene comes in when Walt starts dating a girl. Both his parents have advice for him, but none of the advice he receives in on the same level, and Walt messes up with the girl because he can't decide which parent to listen to.

Meanwhile, Frank picks up a couple of (truly disgusting) bad habits in order to get his parents attention, only to find out that his parents aren't really interested in solving the problem, but are rather more interested in seeing how they can put the blame for this behavior on one another. The squid and the whale is a metaphor, but what the metaphor is I won't tell you. As stated before, "The Squid and the Whale" is a tough movie. It takes a problem we are all too familiar with, and it presents it to us in away that many of us are unaware exists. The movie has some problems (the dad's affair with a student could have been handled better), but it is an excellent achievement in film (though not major mind you).

The movie has been playing in limited release, and it is definitely worth hunting down. It may be something you don't normally expect to see from your movies, but it does pay off quite well.

Grade: B

Hey Everybody, It's Mr. Bill!

2006-01-02T22:40:00.000-08:00

As I promised earlier this week, here is a picture of Bill Waterson, creator of "Calvin & Hobbes:"

Okay, so it's a little fuzzy and grainy, but with how anti-social this guy is I feel lucky to have his picture at all. Oh, you know this is so leading up to a "Calvin & Hobbes" review in the coming weeks. Maybe I'll even integrate this picture into the review. Hmm...

Currently Listening To: Faye Wong - "Final Fantasy VIII" Soundtrack

Awesome Show

2006-01-02T02:37:00.000-08:00

Amazon.com: ER - The Complete Fourth Season

I should be going to bed, but I'm watching "ER: Season 4," and the storyline is so good I just can't go to sleep (and those horrible cliffhangers that make stopping VERY difficult). I'm typing this while I watch. Darn good show. I wish the new episodes were as good as these older episodes. Okay, got to go, a patient it coughing up blood for the hundreth or so time since the first episode.

Currently Listening To: Nothing (I'm watching the show, so maybe the "ER Theme" counts)

My Top Ten Best Films of The Year

2006-01-02T00:32:00.000-08:00

Seeing as how "Ebert & Roeper" just finished telling the whole world what their top ten favorite films of the year were, I figured I'll spill the beans on mine. Though just as a heads up, a certain movie about "gay cowboys" won't be on this list.

10. Wallice & Gromit: The Curse of The Were-Rabbit (G)

Proving once again that claymation isn't dead, "Wallice & Gromit: The Curse of The Were-Rabbit" is charming, funny, sweet, and even a little dramatic near the end. Oh but what a great chance sequence in the Fair. You just can't beat animation and it's limitless reach for great scenes.

9. Mysterious Skin (NC-17)

A very little seen film, the movie of two boys with tramatic pasts is very disturbing, sad, and heartbreak. I can't even say it's very enjoyable, but it has excellent performances, and it will have you in deep thought about how certain things in the world works for hours on end. Reminder: This movie is for mature audiences ONLY! Even if the message is helpful, like "The Passion of The Christ," the message will still be there when your teenagers turn eighteen.

8. Good Night, And Good Luck (PG)

If you want an old fashioned political thriller, then look no further then George Clooney's opus about a small time news program that was the first program to seriously question Seniter McCarthy's "tactics" in dealing with communists. The most is not lefttist propiganda, but a smart movie that looks at a news program that fought the good fight and won some big battles while losing others.

7. Batman Begins (PG-13)

Still have nightmares about "Batman & Robin?" I know the feeling. Thankfully, my nights have been nightmare free since this (ironically) much darker, but far better Batman film opened in theaters earlier this year. With great performances, a steller story, and some really nifty chase sequences, "Batman Begins" is a return to the glory days of Batman movies.

6. The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe (PG)

Now that Disney has done a surperb job on this fully realized movie version of C.S. Lewis's classic novel, I can finally wipe that horrible BBC mini-series out from my memory. It's good to see the beavers have some justice done at long last.

5. King Kong (PG-13)

Would you believe that an action movie about a giant ape who falls in love with a pretty girl would also be one of the best on-screen friendships in recent memory? Hard to believe, but it is true. "King Kong" may be an action film, but it becomes so much more thanks to Jackson's excellent direction.

4. Syriana (R)

A political thriller that comes up with this great idea to include you in the guessing game, as confused characters try to figure out what is really going on in the grand sceme of things when a serious bidding war for oil breaks out between America and China. "Syriana" might not be "kick back and relax" entertainment, but if you are willing to think just a little bit harder then you usually would, then you will find a very rewarding film at hand.

3. Capote (R)

I love writing (as you can probably tell), so this movie about how Truman Capote wrote the famous novel "In Cold Blood" (which I am ashamed to say I haven't read yet, but am making plans to). While I'm sure the book is quite facinating, sometimes the story behind the book is just as interesting, and this movie proves that. If anything I now have interest in reading "In Cold Blood."

2. Wal-Mart: The Cost of Low Prices (NR)

Wal-Mart is not my favorite store, so it should come as no surprise that this movie totally won me over with how much it just TEARS Wal-Mart appart, and exposes (most) of the terrible truths to Wal-Marts practices! It may be biased, and I'm sure some of the facts are skewed just a little bit, but it nails most of the problems spot on, and it's worth checking out (esspecially if you shop at Wal-Mart).

1. Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire (PG-13)

I know, I know: I'm a fanboy. But even so, I was more entertained by "Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire" then I was any other film this year. Of course, the chances of me NEEDING to recomend this movie is laughable, as you've already decided whether you are going to see it or not! I recommend you see it.

And tha's my list of the best films of the year (in my opinion). Come back next week for my worst list. Later.

Currently Listening To: Casting Crowns - Lifesong

Happy New Year!

2006-01-01T00:05:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year everybody! Now that we've gotten the new year finished, it's time to start preparing for taxes. When I told that joke to some of the people at my family reuion last year, they threw me out of the house. I'm perplexed sometimes, as I find myself being related to people that I don't relate to. Oh well, here's to 2006 and to the idea of having an XBox 360 on every store shelf in America.

Remember Trading Cards?

2005-12-31T00:24:00.000-08:00

eBay Seller: comicbookreviewer

I do. I remember one of the greatest things was to get a pack of trading cards for a movie or TV show I loved. "The Lion King," "An American Tale," "Garfield," "Star Treck: The Next Generation," I had tons of them. Somewhere along the line though trading cards didn't matter all that much anymore, so I stopped buying them. Recently though (thanks in part to companies including autograph and prop cards in random packs) I've been getting into trading cards again. Yeah, you can't really do anything with the cards except put them in a binder and admire them, but they still look cool when made properly. My favorite trading cards to buy these days are (surprise, surprise) Harry Potter cards.

Of course, I must admit that Artbox's whole lineup is pretty impressive. They made trading cards look cool again, and so far (with lots of purcheses mind you) I've gotten two prop cards and one autograph card (from the guy who played Uncle Vernon). Oh course, the downside that trading cards have and game cards don't is the fact that should you get a duplicate, you can't really do anything with it but trade it with someone else. Well, who the heck can I trade these with, I'm the only person I know who is buying these things? So I decided to sell them (as well as several strategy guides) on eBay, through the link above. So yeah, this post is basically one huge ad for my eBay sale. I know, I'm pathetic (but hopefully I'll be a few bucks richer by being so).

Watch This Space

2005-12-29T01:39:00.000-08:00

A rare "Calvin and Hobbes" comic drawn by Bill Waterson and rarely seen by the general public. Keep an eye on this space, as I have something even cooler I'm going to post this week: An actual picture of Mr. Bill himself. Oh yes, I actually have a picture of Bill Waterson. But when will I post it? Hmm...guess you'll just have to keep checking back this week to find out.

The Hills Are Alive!

2005-12-26T20:29:00.000-08:00

Amazon.com: The Sound of Music (40th Anniversary Edition): DVD

So I'm in Costco today (yeah, even the day after Christmas I practically live there), and I notice that one of the all time classics, "The Sound of Music," has been released on a brand new two disk DVD released, fully restored and in widescreen. So naturally, I have to get this. It was one of my favorite movies growing up as a kid, and the chance to see it again in widescreen for the first time is too good of an opportunity to pass up. And the DVD is only $16, which is a steal. When I get home I decide to watch it right away. I don't plan to watch the whole thing though. I remember that there is an intermission in this three hour film, so I fully intend to only watch half of it today and half tomorrow. I end up watching the whole thing today.

What a fantastic movie this is. It has been some ten or more years since I really sat down and watched this movie, and I regret that now because I felt like I had forgotten how good it was and how much I enjoyed watching it. The characters are all very memorable. Especially Maria. I know this may sound silly, but I feel in love with her all over again. I remember seeing her as a great mother figure as a kid, and I see her as that and much more now. Some people may not like Maria much anymore because she is a housewife, and the ultimate goal for her ends up to be married and to be a mother for these kids...but you know what? There is nothing wrong with that. People act as if being a housewife is boring and degrading, but in this movie I actually have a lot of respect for a woman who loves these kids to death, and is fulfilled because she receives their love in return for hers.

I love about Maria. Very few things warm my heart then seeing a mother bonding with her kids (Especially when the kids in question aren't even her biological kids, but her adopted kids). I think I also have a better understanding of "The Captain" now then I did when I was a kid. When I was a kid I saw a jerk, pure and simple. Now I see a man who has sheltered his feelings for so long, that when he hears his kids singing for the first time, and I mean truly singing, his eyes are opened to what he's been missing all these years by shutting down his heart. Seeing as how I went through a time in my life when I shut other people out of my life, the talk he has with Maria where he thanks her for bringing music back into his house made me tear up a bit, because now I could relate to that speech and the meaning behind it.

I also have a new respect for the cinematography. Since some of the sequences in this movie have been spoofed many times in other movies these days (the opening hilltop scene for example), I was amazed at how much these scenes took my breath away. There is a reason so many movies spoof some of the scenes in this movie: The scenes are fondly remembered by film makers. And, of course, I have a new love for the music as well. This must seem like a stupid thing to say (seeing as how this movie is called the "The Sound of MUSIC"), but the music is really quite excellent. When I was a kid my favorite song from the movie was the fun "My Favorite Things," but now that I'm older I think the inspirational "Climb Ev'ry Mountain" is now my new favorite song from the movie, for it's beautiful melody and lyrics.

Oh, and I DID spell the name of that song correctly, so don't send me e-mails trying to correct my spelling on this one! Another thing I noticed is how great of a movie this was. "The Sound of Music" is a musical. I know it must sound like I'm stating the obvious, but it's important I point this out. Musicals from the old days aren't thought of very highly. It's not that there's anything wrong with them, but most kids consider them to be movies for old people. I think this would be the one exception to the rule. Even people who don't tend to like musicals would like this movie, in the same way that people who don't normally like horror movies would like "The Sixth Sense" and "JAWS" (yes, "JAWS" is a horror film, look it up). The movie is not forty years old. I know this because my DVD cover proudly proclaims to be the "40th Anniversary Edition."

Like "The Wizard of Oz," this film doesn't feel like it's aged a day. Oh sure there are a couple of noticeable graphic effects that don't hold up, but the overall package still feels fresh even to this day. I know the movie is so popular (and to lesser extent, old) that those who haven't seen it yet would possibly not want to watch it for a variety of reasons. Either it's too old, it's a musical, or it's rated G (since when did G rated movies start getting classified as "bad"), it's not an action film...I don't care, it's a good movie. Even if you think you've figured out whether you'll like this film or not I'm here to tell you that you have no idea. This is one of the greatest movies ever made. Oh, and did I mention the movie has Nazis in it? Any movie with Nazis in it has to get props for THAT much at least! Right?

Read My Previous Post First

2005-12-19T14:07:00.000-08:00

Amazon.com: Change Your World: Music: Michael W. Smith

Just for the record, if anyone wants to now check out Michael W. Smith and want to know where a good place to start would be...well then shucks, I don't know. With all the great songs he's written, how do you choose his best? However I have (somehow) managed to narrow it down to "Change Your World," which won Smitty his Grammy and his fame. It's easily one of his best albums, and it would be an excellent place to start. Of course, you could also cheat and buy his two Greatest Hits CD's too. Just beware of the black sheep album "Freedom." While it is a good album, it's not a CD to get if you want to sample his songs, as there are no songs on that CD, only instrumental scores. Hope this helps the two people that e-mailed me today.

I'm SO There!

2005-12-19T11:54:00.000-08:00

The Second Chance Movie - February 17, 2006

Forget "King Kong" and "Narnia," because (despite the fact that those to films are out and I've seen them) the movie I'M looking forward to the most is "The Second Chance" staring Michael W. Smith and Jeff Obafemi Carr. Now I have no idea who Jeff Carr is (and his iMDB resume shows that this is his first film), but I've been a HUGE Michael W. Smith fan for quite some time! For those of you who don't know him, he has been one of the biggest pop/rock stars for the past twenty three or so years. Not only has he won several Grammy's (including a couple for his big hits "Do You Dream of Me" and "I Will Be Here For You"), but he has won countless Dove awards and his concerts are almost always sold out.

He has worked with such artists as Amy Grant, Jim Brickman, Steven Curtis Chapman, and Sixpenth None The Richer. The guy is a Christian artist, but most of his songs are of such great quality, that most people (and radio stations) like his music even if they don't completely agree with it (kind of like how some protesters find Eminem to be quite catchy at times). Now I don't know whether Smitty will be able to act or not (by the way, Michael's fans call him Smitty for short), but this feeling of anticipation must be kind of like seeing a Beatles movie back in the 60's: Who really cares if The Beatles could act or not, you just wanted to see them in a movie. Yeah, I'm a fanboy. Sue me.

My biggest fear was that this movie was going to open in less then ten theaters and that I would never see it on the big screen. Well, putting in my zip code at the official movie site revealed that it would be in four theaters near me when it opens, so I guess it will get a decent sized release (although most likely less then 3,000 screens). The movie is rated PG-13, which means the story about the suburbs is most likely going to be just a little rough around the edge (kind of like how the "Left Behind" and "Apocalypse" movies were). Of course, since Smitty IS a singer first and foremost, the highlight of the trailer for me was one of the (hopefully) multiple new songs by Smitty himself.

The song in the trailer is called "All In The Serve," and it's just a great sounding tune. Chances are the Soundtrack sales are going to help sell a good portion of tickets for this movie. Anyway, I was browsing Rhapsody today, and hidden near the bottom of Smitty's artist page, I found "The Second Chance Soundtrack Preview" page, where I could listen to two of the songs from the movie in advance. One of them was "All In The Serve." These songs are making me even more excited about the movie then I am now, and I'm listening to their sweet melodies like they were candy. Luckily the movie is opening in February, so there shouldn't TOO much competition, and maybe the movie will actually make some money at the box office!

Still, if a movie like this gives Smitty another reason to make another CD then I'm all for Smitty making more movies. Oh, and seeing a movie where the Christian community in shown realistically (both the good and the bad parts) doesn't hurt either.

Sad, Isn't It?

2005-12-13T19:29:00.000-08:00

Xbox 360: Japanese launch sales figures - Xbox 360 News at GameSpot

So XBox 360 isn't too hot in Japan right now. That's not too much of a surprise, seeing as how the Japanese would rather buy Japanese products over American products, but this just proves that maybe, just maybe, Microsoft would have been better off holding off on launching the system in Japan, and instead focus on getting more systems made in America and Europe. Great planning Microsoft, hope this all pays off in the long run (seeing as how any kid who wants a 360 most likely won't get one until next December).

NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2005-11-30T00:05:00.000-08:00

Toon Zone - Your Source for Toon News!

Well, looks like "Teen Titans" is canceled. Another one bites the dust. I am at a loss for words. Once I get over my disbelief, I'll DEFINETLY have something to say about THIS!!!!!

My XBox 360 Story

2005-11-25T20:45:00.000-08:00

IGN: Did You Feel Lucky, Punk?

As listed above, everyone who attempted to get an XBox 360 on launch day has a story to tell whether they got one or not. Like many, I have one to tell too. It started on the Wensday before the week of the launch, when I went into my local Gamestop to finish paying off a couple of games for the 360 launch day. The manger (who I know so well is practically a good friend now), says "Kevin, since you're here I think we need to talk about your XBox 360. Our shipment got cut in half, and you won't be getting it on the launch." For a second I am mad. How could that be? I have thing PAID OFF!!! Does that count for nothing? He tells me that it was first come first serve. They're only getting ten systems. I'm number seventeen.

I'm stunned for a minute, but then I regain my composier. This isn't HIS fault, and for that matter I still haven't finished "Xenogears" yet?! I pretty much tell him thanks for being honest with me. I tell him I will attempt to get a 360 from somewhere else, but just the same I am NOT cancelling my pre-order! I want that as a back up just in case I fail in my quest. This way I at least get one before Christmas. I make a desision that while I will NOT camp out in front of any stores, I will wake up at 6:00am on Tuesday morning in an attempt to grab me a system! So I wake up at 6:00am (more like 6:17am), and I go out into the world in an attempt to get my 360.

But first I go through the drive thru at my local "Jack In The Box" (which is open 24 hours), as I know I'm going to be hungrey when I settle on a destination. For some reason I decide to first go to Sam's Club. Why? I don't know, maybe it's because whenever I buy games that's the last place I go, and maybe it would be the same situation today. I get there and while there IS a line, it only consists of about ten people, with a mother and her two children in the front (who decided to wait in line the previous day starting at 3:00pm). Shortly after I get in line, a Russian guy comes next to me, and we start chating a bit. In fact, sometimes I'm proud of these system launches, as they unite all sorts of people together for one noble goal.

Only about ten minutes pass before a lady comes out and tells everyone that she only got thirteen systems, and that people who have BUSINESS cards ONLY have first dibs on the systems!!! Unfortunetly (and this was, surprisingly, the most disapointing thing I saw all morning) the lady who sat outside the store with her two kids (who were around 7 or 8 years old) had a regular membership card, which meant that she didn't get her system. As she starts arguing with the manager (and for good reason too in my opinion), I sneak inside the store. If anything, I'm going to be getting a copy of "The Polar Express" if nothing else. I get my DVD and head out to try another store. The radio claims that Best Buy is getting a huge number of systems in stock.

I wanted to avoid going to Best Buy since that's where everyone was going, but it was only five minutes away, so what harm could I do by just driving by right? On the way I notice Toys R' Us only has seven people in line, and I figure maybe God has smiled favorably on me with this store. I get there and I see a sign that says they are only getting seven systems in stock, and there are seven people in line. Oh well, no problem, Best Buy is right next door. I get to Best Buy and not only is there a semi-long line, but employes are already counting people to see if they have enough systems to sell to all the people in line. Two people in front of me is the cut off point, and I don't get a 360 from them (although I wasn't expecting to).

I decide to stop off at one more place: Costco. If I don't get one there, then I'll go home and go back to sleep. I get there and there is no line. I figure this must mean all the systems are sold out, but it turns out there is a lady there giving people numbers, telling them to come back later with the number. I'm number 65. I go home, sleep for an hour, and wake up to go back to the store. I get in my proper place, I have my system in hand, and I swipe my card...and the total price is $17.39 above my limit, and the only type of credit card Costco accepts is American Express (I have Visa). Luckily for me, the store gives me one hour to go to the back, get the money, and come back to pay for it. I go to the bank, get back to Costco, and finally buy my system.

And that's my XBox 360 story. What's yours?

Sorry Guys

2005-11-23T19:14:00.000-08:00

eBay: Microsoft Xbox 360 - Game console *MINT* (item 8236806775 end time Nov-24-05 19:06:40 PST)

Here's the link. That last one is dead.

Want An XBox 360?

2005-11-22T22:07:00.000-08:00

eBay: Microsoft Xbox 360 - Game console *MINT* (item 8236546443 end time Nov-29-05 20:50:48 PST)

Well, I'm selling mine now. Bidding starts at $1.00, good luck.

P.S.

2005-11-19T06:23:00.000-08:00

Looking at that last post I have one question: Why isn't Tim Burton's "Corpse Bride" nominated? Surely THAT would have been a far more logical movie to consider for nomination then "Valiant!"

The Nominations Are In

2005-11-19T06:22:00.000-08:00

Okay, so the list of films that can be nominated for the Academy Award for "Best Animated Film" have come in, and they are:

Chicken Little (Disney)
Howl's Moving Castle (Disney)
Valiant (Disney)
Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (DreamWorks)
Madagascar (DreamWorks)
Robots (Fox)
Steamboy (Triumph Films)
Gulliver's Travels (Pentamedia/Weinstein Co.)
Hoodwinked! (Pentamedia/Weinstein Co.)

Looking at that list I realized something: This has been a REALLY sucky year for animation! I'm sorry, but practically none of these films are Oscar worthy material. Out of all those movies, "Wallace & Gromit" is easily the best movie of the bunch, so I guess I'll be rooting for that one to win. Of course, "Howl's Moving Castle" may also get nominated, simply because it looks artistically good (even though the movie falls apart in the last twenty minutes). I guess either "Chicken Little" or "Madagascar" will get nominated just because they both made some serious money (and the Academy LOVES films that make money). Of course, I'm not getting any hopes up for these films.

Call me crazy, but last year the Academy SEVERELY screwed up when they nominated "Shark Tale" for an Oscar and not the Oscar worthy "The Polar Express!" That slip up made me so mad, I almost didn't watch the Oscars last year (and if "Fahrenheit 9/11" got nominated for Best Picture, then skipping the Oscars would have been a sure thing). If I had to pick three of these films to nominate, it would be "Wallace & Gromit," "Howl's Moving Castle," and "Steamboy" (with "Wallace & Gromit" winning the gold statue). Somehow, I think the award is going to go to "Madagascar." It just seems like the crazy type of thing the Academy would do. Here's hoping I'm wrong though.

Can't Sleep

2005-11-19T05:58:00.000-08:00

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

For some reason, I'm just not sleepy right now. It's currently 5:43am, and seeing as how I need to wake up at 7:00am to meet someone for breakfast, I see no reason to go to bed now (I'll take a long nap once I get back or I'll actually go to bed early for once). Since I'm awake though, I guess now would be a good time to make some comments on "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire." However instead of doing a full blown review, I will simply make highlight points that I think everyone else is forgetting to mention:

1. Lots of stuff from the book are cut. If you are going into the movie with the intention to compare it to the book, then you might as well not even bother to go, as the movie's butt will get kicked like you wouldn't believe it. That said, most of the stuff that was cut would have probably dragged the movie down a bit, and as a movie I found that I didn't care so much that a good 40% of the book was missing.

2. I'm not sure what to think of Voldemort. On one hand he looks creepy, but on the other hand he looks like a Star Trek villain with lots of make up on. Not to bag on Star Trek, but I never did like the aliens who looked like they had too much make up on most of the time.

3. The "dating" scenes were more entertaining then any of the action sequences. There is nothing wrong with the action sequences, it's just I think most people will agree that the action has always taken a back seat to the character interaction in all the other installments, and this one is no different.

4. I'm glad that Ginny Weasly (Bonnie Wright) was given more to do in this movie then she was in "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban."

5. The music in the movie wasn't as good as the music in the trailer.

6. This is NOT the darkest Harry Potter film made! Granted, it IS the most violent, but "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban," with it's high tension throughout the film and all those night scenes that had snow (which made the film look gothic at times) had, in tone, a much "darker" edge to it then this movie does. But you DO get to see blood in this one, and there IS enough violence to warrant the PG-13 rating, so don't worry too much.

7. I'm getting used to Michael Gambon as Dumbledore.

8. Alan Rickman is still the best Snape.

9. I think the fire effect they used with Sirius Black was really cheesy and cheap looking.

10. Either way you slice it, this is a GREAT movie!

Now we just have to wait till 2007 for "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix." Hopefully we won't have to wait as long for the final book to come out though.

No Update Friday

2005-11-16T01:04:00.000-08:00

I won't be updating CBG.com on Friday. Why you ask? Well, me and my brother are catching a 12:10am showing of "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" that morning, and I will be sleeping for a good portion of the day, and most likely won't be in any mood to post a review. Don't worry though, I'll update Monday (and maybe I'll comment on the movie sometime during the weekend).

Clearing Something Up

2005-11-15T23:26:00.000-08:00

I am NOT a dad! When I said "I feel sorry for my kids" I meant to say "I feel sorry for my future kids." Somehow I forgot to write down "future." Sorry for the mix up.

The Best TV Shows STILL Aren't On TV!

2005-11-15T17:28:00.000-08:00

Amazon.com: Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers - Volume One Collection

A week and a half ago I wrote in my review/rant of Disney's newest animated film "Chicken Little." While it may still be easily readable if you scroll down, the basic idea is that "Chicken Little" was a poor attempt to copy the competitions (A.K.A.: Dreamworks) successes, and that I wonder whether or not we'll still want to watch "Chicken Little" twenty years from now. I could say the exact same thing about their TV shows. Last week "Ducktales" and "Chip & Dale: Rescue Rangers" were released, at long last, in season box sets for the DVD format. These shows are both about fifteen years old, maybe more, and I swear to God these shows are still very good. Some of the animation may seem a little dated, but that is a rare case. These shows have great storylines, wonderful characters, and lots of humor and drama that works for both kids and adults.

Fifteen years old, and if Disney started to re-air these today on basic TV kids would still watch them and enjoy them as if they were brand new shows. Heck, they may even like these shows BETTER then most of the kids shows that are on TV now! Much like "Chicken Little," I watch some of the animation Disney produces for TV now. I think their most recent creation is "Dave The Barbarian," and compared to "Chip & Dale" and "Ducktales," "Dave The Barbarian" is a steaming pile of monkey crap. I watch most of the recent animation Disney has produced in the past seven years, and of ALL the shows Disney has made, the only two shows that I see holding up are "Recess" and "Kim Possible!" The reason Disney doesn't get too much respect is that for every good thing they produce, they produce five turds to match that one quality product.

While Disney may have made a great show in "Recess," at the same time they produced "Pepper Ann," "The New Adventures of Doug," and "The Weekenders." Maybe not all at the same time, but within the same two years. Compare THAT animation block (which was 1 Saturday Morning) to the four shows on Disney's old block (which was The Disney Afternoon) to "Chip & Dale," "Ducktales," "Tale Spin," and "Darkwing Duck," and there is NO question which block most people would rather spend time watching! I truly feel sorry for my kids. The shows on THEIR Saturday morning are going to be so poor, that they may just grow up thinking that cartoons really are just for kids! Oh well, at least I can always show them the good stuff on DVD. Thank God for season sets, otherwise there would be nothing on TV worth watching.

Of Course, I've Never Even BEEN To Kansas Before!

2005-11-13T21:44:00.000-08:00

Amazon.com: The Wizard of Oz (Three-Disc Collector's Edition): DVD

So I picked up the three disk DVD set of "The Wizard of Oz" yesterday. I doubt I'll watch many of the special features (if any), but since I'm a collector I just have to have the big set every single time. Plus this was "The Wizard of Oz," one of the all time classic movies. If you're going to make a classic part of your collection, you may as well get the premium set right? Anyway, big sets aside, it has been quite a few years since I've seen the actual film itself, and I am amazed by it all over again. Not just because Warner Bros. did an excellent job with the restoration, but because this is just one darn good film. Period. "The Wizard of Oz" has been spoofed and quoted so many times, that somewhere along the lines I forgot what the actual movie was like.

The movie truly is a wonder to behold. Yes, I know it's an old movie, one that people role their eyes at because EVERYONE'S seen it, but sometimes you just have to rewatch something one more time in a long time to remember how great it was! So "The Wizard of Oz" is now on new two disk and three disk DVD sets, and regardless what your taste in DVD's are, you need to get one of these editions and rewatch this wonderful movie that I'm sure you'll fall in love with all over again. Oh, one more thing about the movie: Rewatching it I'm also reminded why the movie scared me so much as a five year old. Seriously, that witch really is quite scary.

No Dad, The Sky Really IS Falling!

2005-11-05T11:05:00.000-08:00

Chicken Little

As you all know, Disney layed off all their 2D artists to go from making such classic films like "Beauty & The Beast" and "The Hunchback of Notra Dame" to making CGI comedies like "Shrek" and "Shark Tale." You know the story: Disney makes a couple of bad films that flop, and decide to play copycat with the competition. So hand drawn animation is out, 3D animation that shouts out pop culture references is in. As you all know, "Chicken Little" is the first of these films. This is the film that is supposed to establish Disney as a solid contender that can make hit CGI films without Pixar's help, and movies that could damage some of Dreamworks best films.

I went to see the movie yesterday, and let me tell you something: If this is the best Disney can do then they are, in a word, doomed. "Chicken Little" is not a terrible film, it's just not a very good one. As an hour long special I could see myself liking this, seeing as how I liked the first fifteen minutes of the film and the last forty minutes of the film, but other then that this film is such a bore. This movie takes the most basic approach to story telling you can imagine. Basic characters, basic jokes, and the most useless cast I've seen in a Disney film. There are over ten principle characters in this film, but only five of them do anything of importance. Of the five characters that do get significant screen time, I only liked three of them (Chicken Little, Abby Mallard, and Buck Cluck). Fish Out of Water never says anything so you can't relate to him, and Runt of The Litter is so annoying you wish he wasn't there at all.

As with most CGI films, there are several pop songs that may or may not age the movie faster, and while I did buy the soundtrack, I'm going to venture to guess I'll mainly be listening to score (and three of the seven songs). Right now the film is doing decently at the box office, but I'm guessing that reason is mainly because a lot of people were going just to see how Disney would do on their first CGI film apart from Pixar. But if the people are to be believed, it will be a short success. Poor reviews and early lackluster word-of-mouth is threatening to doom this film, and I'm kind of hoping it will.

Not because I have a grudge against the film, but because it would prove to Disney what we've known all along: Hand drawn or computer animated, it doesn't matter. We don't care about the technique, we care about the story. Hopefully this is a lesson Disney is going to learn (though hard they may have to learn it). I also saw "The Weather Man" yesterday, but maybe I'll talk about that in another post.

I Am SO Sick of All The "Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire" Previews!

2005-10-27T22:36:00.000-07:00

Seriously, not only is there a preview during every show I watch on TV (all three of them), but each preview SOMEHOW manages to spoil something in the movie! I've seen enough previews that I feel like I can roughly piece together the movie. Granted, I HAVE read the book, so it's only natural I know where everything is going to go, but there should be SOMETHING that I can enjoy experiencing for the first time when I go to see the actual MOVIE!!! From now on I will be actively avoiding any more "Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire" previews. It was fun at first seeing all the new footage and what not, but now that I've seen pretty much every critical scene before I've seen the actual movie...well, now I'm sick of those previews. Hmm...only twenty one days, twenty three minutes, and fifteen seconds before the movie is released. I can hardly wait.

Pointless Post

2005-10-25T23:18:00.000-07:00

Did you notice that the last three posts all started with the letter 'P?' Oh, this one started with P too? Interesting. I wonder how that happened?

Pacing Myself

2005-10-25T23:17:00.000-07:00

Today I got a HUGE package from Right Stuf in the mail! It had over twenty one different mangas, the "Love Hina: Best Song Collection Vol. 2," the second DVD for "Jubei-chan 2" (if you're not watching this then I have to ask what is wrong with you), and the two movie set of "Evangelion." So I've paced myself today. I've read four of the manga books (about to read the fifth one), I watched "End of Evangelion" (what an acid trip. I'll need to revisist that movie in another blog entry one day), and I wrote TWO reviews for my website (finally, I think my visitors were starting to grow impatiant with me). Oh, and my "Penny Arcade" lithograph is already at $200. Yummy. Oops, it's almost midnight, and I still have about an hour or so to waste before it's bedtime. Later.

Pointless Rambling

2005-10-25T12:26:00.000-07:00

I only really watch four TV shows these days: "7th Heaven," "Everwood," "Smallville," and "ER." I watch "7th Heaven" and "ER" more out of tradition then enjoyment (I've watched every all new episode of "7th Heaven" since it premeired, and it feels like something is missing when I miss a new episode). I also catch "Naruto" and "The Batman" when I can, and I'm sure I'll check out the "Boondocks" when it premiers (me and my brother are having a bet to see whether or not it's more controversial then "Family Guy." Something tells me I'm going to win this bet). So most of the TV shows I've been watching have been on DVD. I just bought the first two seasons of "Gilmore Girls," and I am shocked with how much I've been enjoying it so far.

This show is not realistic in any way, but the dialog is VERY clever most of the time! If it weren't for the fact that I was so far behind in the storyline, I would start watching the new episodes on WB now. On the anime front I'm in the middle of watching "Planets," "The Big O," and "Maison Ikkoku," and I can recomend every one of these shows (so far). On the gaming side of things I've been playing "Xenogears" whenever I've had time...just for the record, this is a weeeeiiiiirrrrrdddd game! I also picked up the tickets to see Keith Urban and Steven Curtis Chapman in concert. Both in December, both less then a week apart from each other. I will be amazed if I can still hear after I see the two shows.

While I am still waiting patientially for the next Harry Potter and Inheritence books to come out, I have started reading Koushun Takami's controversial "Battle Royale." I've been enjoying the manga, and the book is also good, but dare I say the manga's execution of this story is just a tad bit better then the novels execution. On a final note, the president of Nintendoof Japan, Mr. Satoru "I think I'm good for the company" Iwata says that if the Revolution doesn't sell more systems then the Gamecube it will be a "complete failure." My response: Nice knowing you buddy. Don't let the door hit you on the way out.

Penny Arcade Fans Look Here

2005-10-24T18:58:00.000-07:00

eBay: Penny Arcade: CTS Lithograph *RARE OOP* (item 6573014712 end time Oct-31-05 17:56:49 PST)

I know I must be starting to sound like some sort of advertising tool, but I'm selling one of those super-rare and super-cool "Penny Arcade" lithographs on eBay right now (along with my signed "Eldest" book). Check it out.

Selling Another One

2005-10-22T18:23:00.000-07:00

eBay: Eldest by Christopher Paolini *SIGNED FIRST EDITION* (item 8346129891 end time Oct-29-05 18:17:30 PDT)

In case you missed your chance the first time, I'm selling another signed, first edition, first printing copy of "Eldest" by Christopher Paolini. Good luck bidding.

Eldest

2005-10-20T23:10:00.000-07:00

eBay: Eldest by Christopher Paolini *SIGNED* (item 8342951605 end time Oct-21-05 23:32:01 PDT)

I bought "Eldest" about a month ago, shortly after I had finished reading "Eragon." When I finished "Eragon" my final judgment of the book is that it wasn't a GREAT book, but it was a very good book nonetheless! I bought "Eldest" in hopes that it would become a great book, as the potential was definitely there. Well, I bought and read "Eldest," and my thoughts on this book is more divided then those I had for "Eragon." The first couple hundred pages of "Eldest" are great. I loved the book, it was greatly entertaining, and there were a few twists that definitely got me wrapped up in Eragon and Saphira's continuing quest. The story also showed us what was going on back home with Roran, and his sub-story was so good it was threatening to take over Eragon's story in terms of quality.

Then (without giving too much of the book away) Eragon started his training to become a rider...and the book started falling apart. At first it was kind of interesting to see how Eragon started to hone his skills in various forms of magic and sword fighting, but either Paolini didn't have a flair for writing training that was interesting, or he just spend too much time on the training period. While Eragon continues, the story keeps revisiting side characters like Roran and Nasuada, and the book started to frustrate me because THEIR side stories were becoming a heck of a lot more interesting (and, might I add, entertaining) then the main characters story! I know that the kind of training Eragon has to go through would realistically (in this universe anyway) take a long time to complete, but there's only so many scenes I can read where Eragon "closes his mind so that all the voices of nature could be heard" before I just get tired of it.

You don't see J.K. Rowling explaining how Harry failed a potions exam every single time he fails one. She just says "after several failed attempts." See, how hard is that? Luckily, the middle portion of the book wasn't a total bore. There were some good moments, a couple of neat twists, and a certain relationship with a certain female elf that all works very well in my opinion. Then Paolini seems to get back on track with the final hundred or so pages, that are very intense, gripping, and includes yet one more twist that truly came as a shock to me and now has me hungering for the third book in the series to come out as SOON as possible! But I guess the real question is whether or not I ultimately recommend "Eldest," and how good is it exactly?

My final evaluation of "Eldest" is that it's a good book. It's not an excellent book, it's not a very good book, it's a good book. This book does have problems. While not all the stuff in the middle of the book was a bore, I think publishers of this book could have edited a couple hundred various pages in the middle of the book to help with the pacing a bit (because, let's face it, some of those middle chapters REALLY sag). I also think that when the third book comes out, when Eragon goes back to his training (we know he will have to since he hasn't completed his training yet), Paolini needs to give us more glances at the training then going into so much detail of the training. As it stands now, "Eldest" may be a flawed book, but you could still find worse fantasy books. Also forgive my shameless plugging, but there is still time left to bid on a signed copy of "Eldest" on the above link. Good night everybody.

Good Deals At "Sam's Club"

2005-10-17T01:49:00.000-07:00

So I was at Sam's Club today, and found a ton of great TV sets on DVD at great prices. This included:

"Everwood" Season 1
"The Jetsons" Season 1
"Tom & Jerry" Spotlight Collection 1
"Top Cat" Complete Series
"Wacky Races" Complete Series
"Smallville" Season 1
"ER" Season 2

What's the best thing about all these DVD's? They were all $12.49. Now THAT'S a deal!

I Want To Relive Memories

2005-10-12T22:43:00.000-07:00

One of the downsides of having a "To Review" pile is that most of the stuff in that pile is stuff I haven't read yet. This happens with anyone who has a review site (really, ask anyone), where the reviewers are almost always behind in the stuff they have to read. One of the things comic collectors have to deal with is storage. What I do is whenever I have a complete set of an entire series, I put those in a box, close the box, write the names of the series on the box, and I store them in the garage (don't worry, they're all wrapped in plastic, so they're fine). Today I decided to look through a couple of those boxs as a trip down memory lane, and I found myself longing not to read the stuff I haven't read yet, but to re-read some of the stuff in the box full of old stuff.

If I had the time to re-read any of these old series, I would want to start with "Kodocha" and then move onto "Love Hina." Despite the fact that the latter had some minor story issues for the first three books, I think these series are a couple of my favorite series. I also noticed my collection of "Sonic The Hedgehog" comics (which I still buy to this day). The series has evolved so much through the years, that I'm kind of interested in re-reading the whole series to see how it got to the point it is at right now. And what's this? Comics of "Darkwing Duck," "Chip and Dale," and "The Disney Afternoon?" Man, re-reading THOSE would bring back memoried! Whats more, I wonder how all those "For Better or For Worse" comics would read if I read them all in order starting from the very first book.

And with that, I close the box to several of my memories. I'm sure I'll re-read them again someday, but finding any free time to read comics now is becoming harder and harder to do, and when I do have the time, I normally have to read some of the new stuff so that I can write my review. I still love writing comic reviews, and chances are I always will, but part of my wishes I could go back to the days where I didn't have to worry about getting a review posted on time and just bask in a hamick reading the good old stuff. Oh well, enough remenising, I've got a copy of "Dr. Slump Vol. 4" to read now.

Dude!

2005-10-12T00:07:00.000-07:00

eBay: Eldest by Christopher Paolini *SIGNED* (item 8342951605 end time Oct-21-05 23:32:01 PDT)

Okay, so get this: I am visiting my local bookstore (which is something I normally do in my spare time), and something cool happens. Want to know what it is? Well, they have gotten a shipment of signed "Eldest" books in. REAL SIGNED "ELDEST" BOOKS!!!! I am freaking out at this point, as I am really beginning to fall in love with Christopher Paolini's Inheritance trilogy, and I pretty much buy out the whole stock of books they get in. Now I have some Christmas shopping done, as well as have some books to sell on eBay for the holidays. But in case none of you want to wait until November when I do my first annual (hopefully) "Comic Book Guy's Cool Stuff Auction," you can start bidding on one of these books right now.

Just click on the above link and start bidding. I can't tell you what the reserve price is (that would be cheating), but don't worry too much, because it's not very expensive. Oh, and if you do win the auction, just tell me that The Comic Book Guy.com is one of the coolest sites on the internet in the comments box of the payment details, and I'll insure the book for free. How's that for a sweet deal? Now if you'll excuse me, I need to be a good salesman on my personal site.

You Had Me, And You Lost Me: "Yu Yu Hakusho"

2005-10-10T19:37:00.000-07:00

The Comic Book Guy.com: "Yu Yu Hakusho" Review

Thanks to the ever arising expenses that must be delt with, I have decided that "Yu Yu Hakusho" must be cut from my budget. I just don't like the series that much anymore, and I can read it in "Shounen Jump" if I want to, so I see no reason to continue to buy the series anymore. I'll keep the first two books, but the rest I'm eBaying, and I'm cancelling my pre-order of volume eight. I'm sure the adventures of Yusuke will continue, but they will continue without me. He had me, and he lost me.

I Don't Object To This

2005-10-09T14:23:00.000-07:00

Schwarzenegger signs game-restriction bill - News at GameSpot

I know there are a TON of gamers that are upset that the Govenator has signed a bill that basically states that minors can't buy violent video games without their parents permission, but I'm not one of them! I love video games, and I don't agree that video games are the source of violence (for some people I do, but not for all), but I do agree that if a game is rated in a way that means it isn't safe for all kids to play them, then there needs to be a law that prevents kids from being able to get a hold of them. You know how many parents excuse for letting their kids play violent games is because the kids would just buy the games even if they said no? A law like this will give the parents a better grasp of being able to say no, knowing that their kids CAN'T buy a game unless it's rated E!

Wal-Mart recently started a new store policy where if you are buying any movie that is rated PG or higher, you need some sort of identification before you can buy that movie. Some people think these things are taking away freedoms, but it's really just giving parents a better fighting chance. If you are of legal age to make your own decisions, then this law shouldn't be of concern to you. If you aren't of legal age though, then I guess you're going to have a problem with Arnold's new law. I wish I could say I sympathize with you, but I can't. I think these laws are a great idea; they give parents more power and it takes away no freedoms. Personally, I'm all for more power to the parents, since most kids think they are more mature then they really are. Thanks Arnold, glad I voted for you.

Setting Myself Up For A Fall

2005-09-28T00:49:00.000-07:00

I know I'm setting myself up for a fall here, but the review I wrote today (which will be posted on The Comic Book Guy.com this Friday) is one of my favorite reviews I've written recently. I can't wait for you guys to read it. I almost posted it right away, but I know that if I did that I might not have an update for another week-and-a-half. No, definetly better to hold onto for a few more days. Anyway, here's to setting myself up for a fall, hope you all enjoy Friday's review.

Quick Question

2005-09-20T23:04:00.000-07:00

I have a question for you readers of this fine blog. I picked up a copy of "Harry Potter and The Half-Blood Prince" from Cosco today. Why did I pick up another copy of a book I already own? Well, I noticed that the first twenty pages were missing, which makes this a "misprinted copy" or something. So answer me this question: Will this actually be worth something, or should I try to get my money back? You can answer in the comments box. Thank you.

Way To State The Obvious

2005-09-14T00:25:00.000-07:00

USATODAY.com - Potter's 'Fire' glows darkly

Here is the news articles most memorable quote:

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, the first Potter movie to be rated PG-13. "It's probably not for 4-year-olds," says producer David Heyman

My response to Mr. Heyman: Well DUH!!!

Just Disgusting

2005-09-13T23:28:00.000-07:00

The Webcomic Hurricane Relief Telethon - Presented by Blank Label Comics

The "Webcomic Telethon" is a good thing. Any event that encourages people to donate money to help the victims of Hurricane Katrina can only be viewed as a good thing. However with that said, it should be noted that if you are going to make a bunch of hurricane relief based comics, there needs to be some common sense applied. Comics that attempt to cheer you up or say a few kind and heartfelt words about the situation are certainly a step in the right direction, however the comic I've linked to above is NOT something you post on a charity event! And not because I believe that shouldn't disagree with your president, but because I think a comic like this is disrespectful and disgusting.

The above comic does not encourage you to donate money, it does not share comforting words to people, it does not try to make them feel better...heck, this comic isn't even about the victims themselves. All this comic is here for is to point fingers and spew some propaganda. The ending of the comic sends the message that America is inhuman for letting this happen, and that this whole situation is Bushes fault. Whether you agree with the message or not (I pray for not, as this whole situation was a NATURAL DISASTER, nothing more, nothing less) most people will agree that this is an inappropriate comic for an event that is supposed to raise money for those who were impacted by this disaster, and the fact that this artist decided to use this opportunity as a chance to speak his public opinion is disgusting.

Hey buddy, I could voice the problems I have with Bushes response to this situation during a charity event too, I just choose not to be because now is not the time to voice such words. Well, just for the record, this drive will not see a penny of my money. I'm going to donate my money to other charities that aren't so concerned about making a statement as they are helping out the victims. Later dudes.

J.K Rowling Vs. eBay

2005-09-12T19:44:00.000-07:00

MuggleNet.com | The ULTIMATE Harry Potter Site

For those who are looking for the news posting I'm referring to, scroll down to the 09/12 date. Now then, as many people here know, I love shopping on eBay. Heck, almost everyone likes shopping on eBay. Whether it be for antiques, cheap used books, video games, or sought out collectibles, eBay is a place of fun (for most people). Sometimes the fun is getting something for one fifth of the normal cost, while the other fun thing is getting into a huge bidding war and winning something very valuable (the item may not be cheap once the bidding is over, but you feel relieved to know you won it in the end). One of the things I love to shop for on eBay is autographs. Particularly autographed items like books, CD's, and posters.

There is also at least one book that almost everyone wants: Their very own signed Harry Potter book. This is a something that is very highly sought out, and its even more sought out now that J.K. Rowling doesn't really do book signings anymore (there are only, like, three real signed "Harry Potter and The Half-Blood Prince" books). Since Jo doesn't do book signings anymore, it just seems like the next logical step for people who want one to search for a signed book on eBay. However ask anyone who shops for autographs on eBay (me included), and they will tell you that you are ALWAYS taking a VEEERRRYYYYYY big chance when you buy autographs on eBay!!!

Aside from people who will fake an authors/actors signature, some people will sell a pre-printed autograph off as the real thing, and unless you know how to tell a pre-print apart from a real signature, most of the time the buyer has no idea they've just been scammed. And sometimes, it's nearly impossible to see if the signature is the real deal or not. I say sometimes because, unlike what some people will claim, you can usually tell the real signatures apart from the fakes...if you know what you're looking for. Which brings us to todays topic, in which J.K. Rowling has finally opened up to her fans and told them that it would NOT be a good idea to buy signed books from eBay because there is a good chance that the signatures are fakes!

eBay defended themselves by saying that people should be knowledgeable in what they are buying online, and that they constantly do what they can to make sure people don't get scammed, but that at the end of the day the sellers AND buyers are the ones responsible for what they sell and buy! J.K. Rowling has responded by saying her lawyers have been contacting eBay's for quite awhile on their security measures on signed merchandise. After reading both sides of the story (and I'm sure there will be more to come), I am ultimately going to side with eBay this time. No offense to Jo, I know she is looking out for her fans (most of which are children, who probably can't tell the difference between fake and real signatures), but there really isn't much eBay can do about this.

Without having each signed item that is list inspected by the author herself to insure authenticity, there is no other way to insure the sellers complete honesty in selling these items. And lets face it: This ISN'T eBay's fault! This is just the natural danger of doing ANY type of shopping online! People need to be educated about these things before they buy them, and eBay already provides tons of information on their website in helping people know what to keep an eye out for when it comes to buying autographs, with a warning shown before every bid that there is "no guarantee" that this is real. The customer has been warned, and once that bid is placed all bets are off. But aren't children mainly looking for these signed books?

Aren't they the ones who have trouble telling fakes from real signatures? Well, yes that is true, however there is one thing people over look with the whole "kids can't tell the difference" argument: Kids have parents. Now parents themselves might have trouble telling the real thing from the fakes, but then it is their job to turn the kids down and tell them "no, we can't bid on this because I can't be sure this is the real thing." On top of which, most of these signatures (whether real or fake) end up going for a lot of money on eBay, money I'm sure most kids have in their piggy banks. So with that in mind, should a kid make a huge bid on a signed book, the parent has the responsibility to inspect the auction, the sellers history, and feedback, and make a decision about the book in question.

If the parent is even the slightest bit worried about the signatures authenticity, then the parent has the chance to say no. Older fans don't have parents, but if they are serious about getting a signature, then chances are they can (or have) done their own research, so they're on their own. But as you can clearly see, there is QUITE a bit of things going on, that should a child wind up with a fake signature, then it was because too many people weren't doing the jobs they were supposed to be doing! Then, oddly enough, the person I blame most for this mess is J.K. Rowling herself. No offense to Jo, I know that Harry Potter is this HUGE thing now, and signing books must not be her top priority, but for all the warnings she gives people about signed books, I think that maybe people wouldn't get scammed as much if there were easier ways to GET a signed book!

There hasn't been a real book tour for Harry Potter since "Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkaban." Since then, there have been even fewer signings. Jo doesn't really want to do signings anymore, and that contributes more to the problem then it does solve it. If Jo wants people to not go to eBay to get signed books, then she needs to work on an alternative way for people to get signed books. For example, Scholastic released a limited, leather bound editions of "Harry Potter and The Sorcerer's Stone" and "Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets." They only made 75,000 copies of these books and they retailed for $75.00. Why not (as a start) plan to make a limited, leather bound edition of "Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkaban" with one small twists: That these books will be signed.

Yes, I know it must be painfully boring to have to sign 75,000 books, but this would guarantee fans that if they wanted a legitimate signed book, then they need to buy a copy of this particular book. Not only that, but make this edition of the book an online exclusive, which would make it a fair game with people trying to get the book. How's that for a start? And how about more signing tours? I know not everyone could get their books signed, but what you could do is make it a charity event, where people will have to buy a $40/$60 ticket, which would guarantee that person meet J.K. Rowling, have her sign her book, get their picture taken with her, and the money would go to charity. This could be an all day thing or a weekend thing.

Either way though, Jo's got to have a better response to her fans then "don't shop on eBay." Quite frankly, her refusal to do book signings is not only annoying, but it is one of the contributing factors for all the fakes out there. I know it's unreasonable to expect her to be able to provide a signed book for everyone that wants one, but there are several things she could be doing that would prevent people from going to eBay in the first place. So (at the moment anyway) I'm siding with eBay. Oh, and just for the record, I'm going to lend you my personal autograph expertise and let you know that this auction right here is selling a genuine J.K. Rowling signature. Happy bidding.

What I'm Listening Too (Not Like You Care)

2005-09-07T00:27:00.000-07:00

Holy crap, did you know that Costco has started to sell Christmas decorations and wrapping paper?! I'm not kidding you, they are selling Christmas stuff, and it's...SEPTEMBER!?!?! Christmas isn't even going to be here for three more months. That's a quarter of a year. Does this mean that next year the decorations will be going up in August then? Maybe I should start breaking out my Christmas music now? Nah, better not, I'll be hearing enough of it come November/December, so I'll wait. Instead, here are some songs I HAVE been listening to that I've found quite addictive:

USA Today - Alan Jackson

While I wouldn't place Alan Jackson as one of my all time favorite singers, when he hits, he hits pretty good. A breakup song is nothing new for country music, but it's still enjoyable when the singer questions why his love life is more popular then terrorist attacks in foreign countries.

Every Little Thing - Carlene Carter

This song is from 1993, and from what I understand it was never a big hit. I just happened to catch it by some freak chance on the radio, as this was one of their "lets play a song that we normally play at 2:17am right now," and I've been listening to it on Rhapsody almost all day. This is one of those cool toe tappers that isn't very original, but it sure is fun.

Father, Spirit, Jesus - Casting Crowns

In 2002 there was a wave of "oh my GOD, the Christians are coming" in the music industry. Not only did famous country singer Randy Travis make the move to singing Christian music, but that was the year when a brand new Christian group named Mercy Me came onto the scene, and released the hit song "I Can Only Imagine"...and out of freaking nowhere, this song (which is blantly religious and makes no attempt at hiding this fact) starts hitting the charts, and appearing on radio stations that normally wouldn't play Christian music! And people who normally don't like Christian music (or even agree with most of it)...well, they liked the song too. It's not hard to see why: Despite the obviousness of the song, the song was too beautiful to not love.

Now Casting Crowns is another band that became a surprise hit two years ago, though not quite to the same extent as Mercy Me was. However this new song "Father, Spirit, Jesus" is starting to make the same splash "I Can Only Imagine" made three years ago, and it's not hard to see why: This is a HIGHLY addicting song, one that brakes the barriers between "Christian music" and "mainstream music." Keep an eye out on this song, I see it going places.

One More Minute - "Weird Al" Yankovic

The most twisted breakup song EVER! And it comes from "Weird Al" himself. Need I say more?

Anyway, if you're looking for new content to fill your iPod up with, those are some of my personal suggestions. Next time I write something, I promise it will be something worth reading.

New Addiction?

2005-09-04T01:13:00.000-07:00

Amazon.com: Books: Eragon (Inheritance, Book 1)

So my dad got me this new book called "Eragon" by the young author Christopher Paolini, soft-cover edition, bought it from Sam's Club, probably cost less then $6 bucks. This is a book that broke all these sales records, and now the sequel, "Eldest," is available. I am a bit behind though, and I am reading the first book "Eragon." I started at 1:37pm yesterday (Saturday), right after I finished reading "Harry Potter and The Half-Blood Prince" and completing my goal to re-read the entire series (it took about two months to read all six of those bricks, but it was worth it). I have now read over one hundred pages of "Eragon" in less then twelve hours, and I'm not letting up.

Strangely enough, the book isn't brilliant just yet, but it's really addictive. I've felt this way before with another book called "Harry Potter and The Sorcerer's Stone," which I had read in one night, not thinking it was a classic, but good enough to continue the series. Now Harry Potter is one of my all time favorite series. Now all the signs I had with Harry Potter are showing up while I'm reading "Eragon." Uh oh. If I'm not careful, I may have a new addiction before you know it. Well, catch you later, I'm going to read another chapter or two before I go to bed. Or three. Or four. Or five. Or six. Or...

Crazy Gas Prices

2005-09-03T22:58:00.000-07:00

So gas in my area has reached $3 per gallon. Yikes. There is no other point to this thread then to claim that. Okay, back to donating money to the Red Cross now.

I'm Getting An XBox 360

2005-09-01T23:01:00.000-07:00

Ignoring the stupid name Microsoft has labeled their new system (XBox Next sounded much to me personally), I'm really looking forward to playing the XBox 360 and few games I reserved (Kameo, Perfect Dark Zero, King Kong, and Dead or Alive 4). Now I just need to get used to my games costing $60. *sigh* Things are just too expensive these days.

Yes! Finally!

2005-08-27T22:53:00.000-07:00

Just to let everyone know, I just finished a review. I'll actually begin updating my site again on Monday. Oh man, it feels good to be back in the game.

Duel of The PotterCasts

2005-08-25T22:37:00.000-07:00

Much like blogging used to be the "hip" thing for people with no lives to do (and still is...for awhile longer anyway), a new sensation is sweeping the teenage nation: Podcasting. So what is Podcasting? Basically they are online radio shows. However, Podcasting can be done by anyone who has the means to put together a show, not just professional companies. And the best part of all this is that listening to Podcasts are FREE!!! Now there are two new Harry Potter Podcasts online, MuggleCast and PotterCast, and now that I've listened to both of them, I can honestly say that both of these shows show people exactly what you should do when you make a Podcast, and what you should make sure you avoid when making a Podcast.

Just to let you know right now, if you are not a Harry Potter fan, don't worry, this blog isn't really about Harry Potter (which means you can continue reading this, oh wonderful, extremely patient editor of mine). First lets take a look at MuggleCast, which is the brain child of MuggleNet.com. This Podcast mostly features young, American teenage boys, talking about book theories, news, and answering fan mail. In many ways, MuggleCast is nothing more then a "Ebert & Roeper" with a Harry Potter twist, but I'll be darned, "Ebert & Roeper" is fascinating to watch and so is this...er, except we listen to this. MuggleCast will look at some (seemingly) very minor topics, then the three members will share their theories on the topic, they will talk about rumors, and they will dissect this topic like it was a science frog.

And the results are fabulous. Not only do they make you want to look closer at every single twist in the books, but they sometimes make it so that you'll want to read the books over again. It's fun to listen to these people share their theories, answer fans questions, and act as if this is something anyone can do. Oh sure, anyone can talk about the exact same things these guys do, but very few manage to make it as interesting as these guys. One would think that being almost nothing more then one long discussion, that the shows (normal) running time of around an hour would get tiring, but these guys are so lively that they manage to keep you interested throughout the whole thing (and even leave you wanting more). On top of that, the sound quality is GREAT for a fan made Podcast!

While it is not perfect (some of the fan voice mails are hard to understand), it is more then what I expected it to be. And then we have PotterCast, which was birthed from the first "real" Harry Potter fansite The Leaky Cauldron. Now PotterCast is definitely a different beast from MuggleCast. Since The Leaky Cauldron was the first major Harry Potter fansite to make it big, they have access to things that MuggleCast might not. PotterCast has a news section, a debate section, some advertisements (which means someone must be getting paid to do this Podcast), and the first episode even had a telephone interview with Bonnie Wright (who played Ginny Weasly for both of you people reading this that don't know who Bonnie is).

Oh, and the hosts are several adult British women (just for the record). From the sounds of things, PotterCast really should be kicking MuggleCasts butt...and yet, PotterCast looks like a big failure in comparison, and it's for various reasons. For one thing the audio for PotterCast sounds like complete garbage most of the time. Sometimes it's too loud, sometimes it's too quite, a round the table conversation had all the women at different sound levels. My sound knob received a workout like it had never had before, and I was constantly tweaking the sound for the whole hour of the show. On top of the various sound drop outs, some of the sound during interviews and stuff you can't make out. I should have been very happy being able to listen to Bonnie actually have an interview (which is something I've never seen), but the sound is so messed up I couldn't hear what Bonnie was saying 75% of the time.

Seriously, I know this interview was done over the phone, but the audio sounds like it was recorded in a trash can with a portable cassette recorder. Granted, I know I'm getting to listen to this for free, but since there was at least one advertisement, I would hope that some of that money would go to some good sound recording equipment. PotterCast also had a discussion on book six, but the discussion was SEVERELY lacking! Except for a couple of cute moments (two of the girls having a fangirl moment when Harry and Ginny finally kissed on page...something), but the discussion was just a little, I don't know...boring. They were doing the exact same thing the guys at MuggleCast were doing, but somehow they were doing it in a way that just made me drowsy. If it weren't for the fact that I had to constantly tweak the volume, I might have fallen asleep during the show.

Granted, I should point out that while MuggleCast has had three episodes in the can (with a forth coming out this weekend), PotterCast only has one, and there's a very good chance that PotterCast could iron out many of its problems in the future. Still, it's just strange that PotterCast, with all it's resources, turned out to be quite a dud, while MuggleCast got everything right right out of the box with very limited resources. So for all you Harry Potter fans out there, MuggleCast is the Podcast to listen to. And if you are not a Harry Potter fan but the idea of Podcasts intrigues you, then just download iTunes and check out their selection. I'm sure you'll find something there that suites your needs.

One of Those Nights

2005-08-17T22:39:00.000-07:00

Sometimes you just aren't motivated to write anything. My computer has been up and running for several days now, but for some strange reason I have had no desire to write any reviews or anything. It's like a job almost to write them right now. I'm not even completely sure why. Is it because school just started and I'm stressed? That may be it. Maybe all the stuff I have to review at the moment just doesn't lead itself to a good review? That may be it too. All I know is that when I forced myself to start to write a review for "Tokyo Boys & Girls," I stopped half-way through the review, as this was some of the worst crap I had ever written, and there's a good chance you'll NEVER see it on my site...ever!

I know I have to update soon, or my loyal readers will get frustrated with me, but I would rather not update with anything then update with a horrible piece of writing. My reviews may not be Pulitzer winners, but they must be entertaining on some level or else I wouldn't have readers at all. So here's my vow (however frustrating it is): I will not update the site until I get that "spark" that I feel I've been missing back. Hopefully this won't be too long though, as I hate taking long vacations from writing. Hmm...Borders is having a "Buy 4 Get The 5th Free" sale. Maybe picking up something there will inspire me with what I need to start writing again. I can only hope.

I Need Cash

2005-08-16T22:51:00.000-07:00

eBay Seller: comicbookreviewer

If you would love to help me pay for school books this year, feel free to check out the various books, manga, and DVD's I'm selling on eBay right now. More to come soon.

Read Em' And Weep

2005-08-16T21:46:00.000-07:00

The Official Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire Website

Warner Bros. has updated the forth Harry Potter movie website with the lovely PG-13 rating in the lower right corner. I can hardly wait to see this film.

Hi Mom

2005-08-15T11:47:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to give a shout out to my mom, who I found out has been reading this blog.

Darn It

2005-08-13T23:49:00.000-07:00

eBay: BONNIE WRIGHT Autographed 4X6 with coa (item 6551898852 end time Aug-14-05 11:54:20 PDT)

And yet another one gets away. There's GOT to be an easier way to get autographs then this!

Don't Say I Didn't Warn You

2005-08-13T18:56:00.000-07:00

IGN: Madden NFL 06: Where Do You Stand?

Here's the deal: I hate sports. Since I hate sports, it should come as no surprise that I hate the Madden games. When EA Games announced last year that they had acquired a five year exclusive rights deal with the NFL, I was mad as heck. While I do not play Madden, I was furious because this deal essentially created a monopoly on football games, and it was as bad as if Valve had acquired exclusive rights to the FPS genre. It just didn't work for me, and this meant that companies like Sega and Microsoft XSN were, all in all, screwed. EA made this deal shortly after "ESPN Football" started to steal some of "Madden 2005's" thunder. What happened shortly afterwards is pretty obvious: EA bought out the competition.

Some of my friends and brother were excited, saying that EA made the best sports game ever, so this deal wouldn't effect them at all. I warned them that it would, saying that EA will have no reason to make the perfect football game anymore, as they have a monopoly. After all, why worry about quality when you have the only product on the shelves? Well, "Madden 06" (as they're calling it now) is out, and the reception has been lukewarm at best, with people claiming its still a good football game, but that it offers no improvement over previous Madden games. Gee, I wonder why THAT is?!

Nightmare In Computer Land

2005-08-10T13:07:00.000-07:00

So I blow out my computer, reinstall everything, I figure everything's cool and I'll be able to start updating my website again sooner then expected, when low and behold I find out I can't find my Dreamweaver disk. For those who don't know what Dreamweaver is, it is basically a website creating program, one that makes updating websites a bit easier for me since I only have to copy and paste the review (as opposed to the earlier days when I would type in the review, and then go through the whole thing and place brackets in the proper places). Hopefully I'll be able to find the disk soon, but until then updates for CBG.com will most likely be put on hold.

On a brighter note, until I DO find the disk, I'm writing my reviews with Word Perfect, so I'll have something to post on my site when I do get around to updating it again. Man, that program cost me $125.99. I hope I didn't lose it for good.