theSCENE Issue 22 / September 2010 / Warez-bb.org
Iron Man 2
Exclusive Movie Review
Red Dead Redemption
Game Review
A World of Words Part 6
The Lovely Bones
Movie Review
A Token of Love for you
Poem
The Scene
CONTENTS ISSUE 22 | SEPTEMBER 2010
General
03. A World of Words Part 6 05. A Token of Love for You 06. The Cure Was Me 07. Law Of Attraction 09. The Forgotten Adobe 10. Flying Thoughts 11. 2M Essay Winners
Movies & Music 12. Iron Man 2 Nightmare On Elm Street 15. Nightmare On Elm Street 18. Alice In Wonderland 20. The Hurt Locker 23. Date Night 25. The Losers 27. The Lovely Bones 29. Kickass 31. Clash of the Titans 33. Shutter Island
Tech & Games 35. N900 Review 49. Gaming Revoltuions 51. Red Dead Redemption 53. Just Cause 2 55. Super Mario Galaxy 2 56. Metro 2033 57. Football Manager 2010
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Contents
The Scene
EDITORIAL ISSUE 22 | SEPTEMBER 2010
Editor ENIGMA Co-Editor .:Nvidia:. Writers Team Leader feenzie Artists Team Leader Surferdud3 Proofreaders Team Leader Daniel.Blaze Writers Team Assistant spiderman120988 Artists Team Assistant Proofreaders Team Assistant ~EvilBaby~ Writers BlueMaxima Warez Calum Die-Schweig Kartnite Dzash Smit jackoneill123 heavy11 morgan_ Net-Mate mayiru Agent of Chaos Seashock Artists Herinjo grafreak dingo_d Papichoolo Prendy Quality Assurance Team ktownty druid101 AceR .Speirs Cadavari Shoadow56 __V___ Magazine Team Compiler Surferdud3 Cover Design Surferdud3
Editorial
Hello everyrone! I’m glad to welcome you all to yet another issue of theSCENE. This release has not been esay at all. The team has faced many challenges (hence the delay) but we managed to pull through together! I would like to thank everyone who participated in the making of this issue of our magazine, you will find a lot of interesting articles. I would also like to annouce that the press team is always looking for talented designers with indesign experience. If you are interested please PM surferdude. Finally, as Warez-BB is celebrating its 2 million members milestone I would like to thank the admins and the moderation team for their great work over the years. Keeping a community this big clean and friendly is no easy task. I would also like to thank every member of this board for making this possible. You know who you are! I hope you enjoy this issue as much as we enjoyed making it! .:Nvidia:.
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A World Of Vog Words (Part 6) ue words of t oday WRITTEN BY Kartz DESIGNED BY Herinjo Continuing from where we left in the previous issue… So, what makes a vogue word?
Pretty much the same forces that create vogue in clothes, hobbies, dances, entertainment, etc. Someone influential plays it, Madison Avenue (or any equivalent!) runs the word up a flagpole and everybody who’s anybody salutes it!
As explained in the previous issue, we do not feel that such words are merely passing fancies. Most of them are viable, because when used discriminatingly, they often offer a shortcut in communication. They are able to express in one word what might have taken three or four words to express as forcefully. They contribute a little something that wasn’t in the word or words they replace.
If you noticed, most words listed as examples in the previous issue were “borrowed” from the French. Now, we will look to other sources such as medicine, et al.
From its Greek elements, syndrome means “a running (drome) together (syn)” – in other words, a concurrence, a cycle of symptoms or manifestations that occur together. It is used loosely, as mentioned in the example that follows, to mean any cycle, combination or complex; a careful examination of the Horatio Alger syndrome would be illuminating.
The Greek word for wound is trauma. But the words trauma/ 3 \ theSCENE \ WAREZ-BB.ORG
traumatic are now used chiefly and loosely for emotional wounds – any scarring or scary emotional experience.
The words viable/viability once referred only to the chances of an organism’s survival, but their use has burgeoned, escalated, and proliferated. As used so frequently, viability is a synonym for durability, and even success, as well as survival.
Alienation is a word seen much these days, when novels are written about non-heroes who feel lost in the troubled world outside them and can find no identity in the turmoil inside them. The use of the word in this sense is beautifully illustrated in a description by a former resident of the New York City Women’s House of Detention as quoted by James A. Wechsler in the New York Post ( June 8, 1965):
We had friends outside, we had lives to go back to – yet we feel an immediate loss of identity… Everything done seemed almost designed to create a feeling of alienation and hopelessness and humiliation.
The word alienate does not always have this psycho-sociological extension of meaning as can be seen from the following excerpt from a letter in The New York Times:
On a continent seething with social unrest and rising nationalism, such a policy can only alienate us more from those who are most anxious to bring about social change within a demo-
cratic framework.
Arcane, from the Latin word arcanus (meaning “closed”, “secret”) is used today to mean anything that seems or is mysterious, hidden, recondite, as contrasted with something clear, lucid and discrete.
To get something off his chest, he invariably chose the most devious and arcane expression conceivable. Bellwether is a word beloved of writers for the sports and financial pages. It’s another way of identifying the leader in a particular sport or a stock market trend. The word itself identifies the male sheep (wether) which has a bell tied around its neck. The others, being sheep, follow the male.
It is interesting to know that the word bellwether is gradually developing an additional meaning (probably influenced by the word weathervane) to indicate which way the wind is blowing – a kind of barometer, something from which a prediction can be made, as seen in the following tidbits:
One of New Hampshire’s two weathervane counties could lose its reputation for pointing to national trends after the election on Nov. 3.
On the trading floor of the New York Stock Exchange, brokers like to keep their eyes on several bellwether issues in order to judge the tone of the general market.
This meaning, however, has not reached the dictionaries.
Charisma/Charismatic is a relative newcomer and it is probably the vogue among the vogue words today. It cannot be found in Webster’s Second, where only charism appears and is there defined as “a special, divine gift”, along with its adjective charismatic, which has the same restricted meaning. In Webster’s Third, charisma has the additional meaning that we find so frequently today of personal magnetism, people appeal, charm (if you consider both its meanings). Indeed, charisma breaks down anagrammatically in “is a charm”.
-cum- is the Latin preposition meaning with. It is stylish to make it a connective between two words with a hyphen on each side, thus replacing two words – combined with. In England it is found in local combined parish names such as Stowcum-Quy.
A heritage trail leaves Hartford for two weeks of sightseeing-cum-luxury.
It is a mystery-cum-comedy affair.
We can see little except ostentation in the use of –cum- except that with the hyphen on each side, it makes a tie-in or package deal where with would form a three-word sequence.
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Quick Quiz: Complete the sentences with the word that best completes the sense. You have the following ten words to choose from – proliferate, proliferation, trauma, traumatic, syndrome, viable, viability.
Answers will be published in the next issue.
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1.
Mia Farrow dresses in Greenwich styles that an ordinary actress would find _____.
2.
Although the Communist regime opposes _____ of private cars, the streets of Moscow now feel the beginning of a traffic problem.
3.
The ambassador is said to have considerable reservations about the political _____ of the South Vietnam regime.
4.
Picture
postcards
are
still
part
of
the
summer
travel
_____.
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POEM
WRITTEN BY djMusA666 DESIGNED BY Prendy
A token of love for you Deep dark mysteries lie within this ever shattered heart of mine. Walking down the path covered with snow and frost, I turn back to see what I have left behind. I see nothing but a blurry image of my dark past, a past that will haunt me forever. The more I try to run away, the faster I land myself in the wretched, blood drenched memories. I know I am not perfect for you. I know I have caused you a lot of pain and suffering, but believe me if you can, I never dreamt to see you soak yourself in tears. I honestly tried a lot to bring you out of that dark corner of your room where you used to sit and smile to yourself. You were completely convinced that this loneliness is for you. This is your life. I tried a lot to show you the sunshine, but I never saw a reflection of hope and sunshine in your eyes. As time passed, I never knew when I became a part of your lonely world and we started staying in that same corner of the room, smirking madly, pondering our fates. Still you were everything for me. I have loved you more than I loved anyone. Then one day you decided that this life is not working out for you and never thought about me. You left me forever. Now I hold your ever silent body and pray to the almighty that your soul rests in peace. That room and that dark dilapidated corner matters to me no more. You were everything to me. I wish you had thought about me and took me along with you. The world matters to me no more. So I will leave someday and vanish into nothingness. It’s snowing now. Is that you who is weeping my love? You may have left me, but I will be there for you by your side soon.
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The Author: Cure Was Me Heavy11 ~ Layout: Papichoolo
WHILE
I’m stuck between love, anger, sorrow and denial, I am constantly blaming myself for it. I was the one she needed and I wasn’t there! It all began when I met her, a strong and beautiful creature with mesmerizing yellow eyes that sparkled into the sky like the sun’s beams that shine on earth. From the moment I saw her, I knew she was special and from then on she was dear to me and immediately had a special place in my heart. She was so weak when she was born, the only one of eight that survived, imagine that! Her mother was so happy that one of her children had survived. We called her Betty. As she grew she was full of joy, the happiest thing around. She always wanted to be near someone, especially me. She was always waiting for me. When I came home from work she would jump into my arms and cuddle. Sad to say that shortly ended. Doctors were puzzled and I was worried. Poor thing became so ill that she couldn’t stand on her feet and her depression was so strong that she barely wanted to look me in the eyes, as if she didn’t want me to see her in pain. Every day I was with her at doctor’s trying to bring her back to life and happiness, but my attempts were of no use. Every day she became more depressed and ill. The time had come for me to go away for a couple of days. I wasn’t happy about leaving her but the situation forced me to do so. The next day when I woke up I received a phone call from my mother and she said,” Betty is gone!” I was devastated. How could she escape? She was so sick and weak. When I arrived home the situation was the same, she was still missing. On a beautiful Monday morning as I was leaving my house there she was, weak and lying on the ground all dirty and exhausted. I picked her up and warmed her. She’d come to
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see me and for the first time in days, she looked me in the eyes, those yellow eyes were full of sorrow, sorrow that she is leaving me.
Today, May 5, 2010, my beloved friend Betty died. Today, May 5, 2010, my beloved friend Betty died. At the end I was not sure if she was keeping herself alive for me or her. Rest in peace and know that I will always be here and that I will find you. Wherever you are! This text is devoted to my friend Betty, the little black and white cat with mesmerizing yellow eyes and an angel-like soul. May only good follow you.
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Law of Attraction Not so legit is it?
Early Monday morning I decided to get on the PC and surf the web like I usually do, when out of nowhere on my Firefox page I received a pop-up ad. It was very amusing to see this lady with wavy hair sitting with her legs crossed, so I decided to watch. She then started to speak with a hypnotic voice that began to frighten me: “….With our minds, we can make prisons or palaces, wealth or poverty. The thoughts we think are like a personal mantra that enhances our lives, and how we attract ourselves to the material things and the people in our lives….” She then kept bantering about how the Law of Attraction worked “miracles” in her life and others. When she finished talking she then disappeared silently into the page—because I had accidentally closed the pop-up. Just recently, this woman (whose name happened to be Kelly Howell) has been appearing in my dreams speaking to me. As crazy and unreasonable as it sounds, she wants me to “look within” and learn The Secret of Attraction. Today I did a little research on the Law itself and using a little logic, I realized it was another stupid scam online with people trying to line their pockets. In a nutshell, The Law of Attraction states that “I can have anything I want”, but all I have to do is to “think”. That means if I need cash, I just walk around “thinking” about money. Sounds cool right……but here is where it starts to get funny. It seems to me that the refugees suffering in Sudan and Kenya are suffering because they are thinking and meditating on suffering, hence attracting nothing but sheer pain and affliction to themselves and everyone around them.
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General
I love attracting wealth and goodies as much as the next guy, but I see fallacies being thrown everywhere. I absolutely respect everyone’s rights to believe and value anything they wish, but I am currently viewing this as more of a scam than anything else. Even though I receive countless testimonials from friends and relations, I am still a skeptic because of what these beliefs and ideas cause in the world today. Sure, positive attitudes help us reach our goals much quicker, but what about those that have given up hope or those whose circumstances are as good as death itself? So, Kelly, maybe you should have had a couple more brainstorming sessions prior to making your products. I would have loved to buy your “lovely” tapes, CDs, and scented oils, but not if they are going to line your pockets with cash. Why don’t you go over to Kenya and give them a chance to Create Success.
Text by: Die-Schweig Design by: dingo_d (with the kind help of ~EvilBaby~) General
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The Forgotten Abode Starlight glimmers the lusty waters, Where lyre plays the silent notes,
Not only to the dead, but to the living, Is offered the undying love,
The silver circle narrates,
As mother’s duly favor to child,
The martyrdom of friends and foes.
Won’t hide in the deepest hub.
There with a stealthy pace,
So why don’t mix the dark and pure,
My heart finds scratches of memory,
As light and dark when mix,
Paed are they but on an olden face,
Do not down the brightness,
Hid in the pages of a profane story.
But removes the marginal nicks!
The mimics of the time suggests,
Humanity, then I do feel,
Legends of once lived creatures,
Bears a favor to return,
Whose lives went on pranks and quests, Not balancing over dream-weavers.
“Crave out of caverns unduly, And love her in the shine of the sun.” - Net-mate
Framed in immemorial shrines,
Layout By Grafreak
Where parakeets and none do visit, Who turned glory to dark ends, Their fire burning in funerals fit. Yet, the living-dead’s remembrance, Talked among the nature’s bliss, Bound by the eternal relation, Broken not even by the heartiest wish.
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Flying Thoughts
Cartoon by : Red Panther
Layout by: Surferdud3
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2M ESSAY CONTEST WINNERS!
1st place - Sozay!!
Designed By: Surferdud3
A long time ago, in a country far far away, a young geek started to share his warez on BBS... At that time, he spread Amiga Gamez from US BBS to “tHe DeaDLinE” with his friends. It was such a great community that when it closed in 1998, he left the Scene to enjoy his real life... He met a wonderful woman and fell in love with her. Our geek finally found the right path to follow: They lived happily until their deaths... Well, that’s just the ending we all wish for our favorite geek, but the essay can’t stop here because it would be too short and irrelevant, so let’s add some substantial details. As you all know: “A G33K remains a G33K”, so he created a warez forum with old friends and ran it for years until it closed for legal issues. Here are the villains of this story: French authorities that enjoy destroying communities with a lethal weapon called “law”. His crew was decimated, so he drank a coffee, took his mouse, opened his browser and googled like his life depended on it. Our geek survivor finally found a very attractive site and registered as a guest. At first, he thought he was dreaming so he pinched himself (unfortunately, he got hurt and spilt his coffee, what a jackass...). It was not a dream, he had just found heaven on the Internet! After washing his “coffee pants”, he put a lot of himself into the community. First, he did the only thing he knew: sharing. Then, he met awesome people and became more and more involved in the site: he helped the staff reporting dead links, solved requests, settled down in Helpdesk and kept uploading. Our old and tired geek gave to the community what it had given to him. Indeed he stayed as family! Legend has it that he’s still hiding among us, and even tries to win an “essay contest” although he can’t speak English properly... Sozay, one two-millionth of the Warez-BB family.
2nd place - valorben
A perpetual sanctuary for content-hungry souls. When real world fails me in many ways, walk into your always open arms and peace of mind will follow. Be it a sad song snatched or playing on Wadio, Be it an app costing an arm and a leg in a third world country. Be it a joke cracked at off-topic. Load lifted off my shoulders. It’s not only warez we share but also hearts, wits, guts, tears, and laughters, which all paint a legendary color on the sky of this otherwise dull-living individual.To the world you maybe just a forum, to me you are the world.
3rd place- skumole83
Warez-bb.org, come as guest, stay as family. You don’t have to do the secret handshake to understand what this means to all members. From the point we stumbled in here, we don’t have to prove ourself here. From the contributions you make, just be yourself, and talk to the rest of the members. People bond by being in the same place and doing something together. That usually means talking, in the chatrooms, forums, irc etc. Warez-bb.org. It empowers the community to do amazing things. Sharing is caring and caring is love: So goes a famous saying. This basically means a joint or alternating use of inherently finite good resource such as software, music etc. It can also mean giving something as an outright gift. Creativity. The more people that participate in this community, the less likely it is that you’ve got the best ideas or the best execution. We embraced them because all of us collectively are wittier than the handful. We’re wildly open to ideas from outsiders, and we do our best to deliver. I believe that we can serve the community by being an enabler – connecting ideas with resources. Crediting Contributors. I believe that the community needs to know exactly who came up with every gem of an idea. Brilliant ideas don’t come out of committees – they come out of people. I want to give every member every single minute in the spotlight that I possibly can, because I know that I can. I do my best to keep pointing out the people who come up with the great ideas and who do great work. Choices. We’re not always going to agree. There are members out there right now who don’t agree with the board. If we don’t stand up and participate in the community, these people will be happy to plan out the community for us, decide how the community will work, and decide how much say you get in your community interactions. I like living in a vibrant board as that I’ve got a choice to who I can reply to, what to download, what host to use. Yes, I love choices. Warez-bb.org, come as guest, stay as family.
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General
Author: spiderman120988
Designer: Papichoolo
Cast: Robert Downey Jr.-Tony Stark/Iron Man Gwyneth Paltrow-Virginia ‘Pepper’ Potts Don Cheadle-Lt. Col. James ‘Rhodey’ Rhodes/War Machine Mickey Rourke-Ivan Vanko/Whiplash Sam Rockwell-Justin Hammer Scarlett Johansson-Natalie Rushman/Natasha Romanoff/ Black Widow Samuel L. Jackson-Nick Fury John Slattery-Howard Stark Jon Favreau-Harold ‘Happy’ Hogan Garry Shandling-Senator Stern Clark Gregg-Agent Coulson Paul Bettany (voice)-Jarvis Leslie Bibb-Christine Everhart Directed by Jon Favreau
It has officially begun! The 2010 summer movie season kicks off with one of the most highly anticipated sequels ever, “Iron Man 2,” based upon the Marvel Comics character created by Stan Lee, Larry Lieber, Don Heck, and Jack Kirby in 1963. The film is currently in limited release for IMAX theaters so if you’re a hardcore fan like me, make sure to pre-purchase those tickets now because “Shrek Forever After” is taking those screens away once it is released into theaters on May 21. The original “Iron Man” was a critical and commercial success in 2008, grossing $585 million worldwide, thanks to the charismatic and hilarious performance of Robert Downey Jr. With the obligatory origin story out of the way, director Jon Favreau can finally let loose and create a better film. “Iron Man 2” largely succeeds in surpassing the original: the stakes are higher and the action is more explosive but it is by no means a perfect film as it does not approach the emotional resonance of other comic book films such as “Spider-Man 2” or “The Dark Knight.” Action scenes often fly by too quickly and the story can sometimes feel over-plotted with too many characters but everything comes together nicely at the end, making “Iron Man 2” the most fun you’ll have at the movie theater. Movies & Music
As the opening credits roll, Ivan Vanko (Mickey Rourke) witnesses the death of his father while living in a dingy apartment in Russia. Vanko, using blueprints from Stark Industries, manages to make a duplicate arc reactor chest-piece and begins to plot his revenge against Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.). Six months have passed since Tony has revealed to the world that he is Iron Man and the public adores him for it. However, he is slowly suffering from excess palladium in his blood and the chest-piece that keeps him alive is also killing him. Since there is no way to slow the process, Stark begins to give away his possessions and appoints his trusty secretary, Virginia ‘Pepper’ Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) as CEO of Stark Industries. Meanwhile, a United States Senate committee led by Senator Stern (Garry Shandling) wants Stark to hand over the Iron Man suit as they do not trust him to use it responsibly and are worried that the technology might fall into the wrong hands. At the Monaco Grand Prix, Vanko, as the energy whip-wielding Whiplash attacks Stark but is quickly dispatched. However, rival industrialist Justin Hammer (Sam Rockwell) of Hammer Industries wants Stark out of the way by any means necessary, seeing Vanko as a potential ally to achieve his goals. WAREZ-BB.ORG \ theSCENE \ 12
“Iron Man 2” is loosely based upon the Armor Wars storyline that had various villains managing to get their hands on Stark technology. If the first film was about Tony having an epiphany about the consequences of manufacturing weapons that caused a never-ending cycle of violence, than “Iron Man 2” is about legacy, leaving behind something good that people will forever remember you for. Tony Stark finds out the hard way that he’s not invincible and this causes him to have a death wish, acting out in destructive ways that begin to alienate his closest friends. In a way, Tony feels obsessed in making his mark on the world, something his father, Howard, played by John Slattery, tried to do. The mid-section has Tony going on a journey of introspection and he comes to understand that his father was decades ahead of himself. You already know that Iron Man won’t die but what eventually saves his life owes much to what his father tried to pass on. Unfortunately, most fan-boys will end up fidgeting in their seats since there’s a noticeable lack of action during these scenes but this isn’t a Michael Bay film. At times, there seems to be a lot going on in “Iron Man 2” but nothing ever feels cramped like in “Spider-Man 3.” However, I do feel that due to the pressure of pleasing the fans, the cast is slightly unwieldy and certain characters don’t really figure into the main plot until the end. The biggest asset that “Iron Man 2” has is Robert Downey Jr. and he continues to excel as Tony Stark. Stark, for lack of a better word, is a dick and rather annoying to hang around with but his heart is in the right place and he is sincere in helping the world. He prances around without a care in the world but it’s all a mask; deep down, Stark is scared to death that everything he built will be taken away or worse, used for destructive means. There’s a scene where he recklessly gets drunk during his birthday party and he starts using his repulsors in a dangerous manner. You’ll get a laugh but it also serves as a turning point, especially for Stark’s friends who just decide to give up on him as they see him spiraling out of control. The cutesy, awkward chemistry between him and Paltrow is intact and though they bicker constantly, it becomes apparent that the two belong together, for better or worse. Replacing Terrence Howard is Don Cheadle as Lt. Colonel James ‘Rhodey’ Rhodes due to a salary dispute with Marvel. There was nothing wrong with Howard’s performance in the original but his soft-spoken nature made it hard to see him as War Machine. Cheadle’s Rhodes is more assertive as he’s not afraid to put his friend in place, even if it means sacrificing their friendship. Of course, once he dons the War Machine armor, it’s very hard not to explode in a nerdgasm as he blazes away at Hammer’s goons. Playing the Anti-Stark is Sam Rockwell as Justin Hammer.
“Iron Man 2” is about legacy, leaving behind something good that people will forever remember you for. He’s like a cheap imitation but lacking all of the morals. Rockwell chews up every scene with glee and it’s a shame that he isn’t on13 \ theSCENE \ WAREZ-BB.ORG
screen more with Downey Jr. The main villain is Ivan Vanko played by Mickey Rourke, an amalgamation of the Crimson Dynamo and Whiplash. Rouke is not as developed as you’d wish him to be but much of his fearsome attitude comes from the ‘I can snap your neck with one hand’ stare. Finally there’s Scarlett Johansson as the ultra-sexy, tight leather wearing Black Widow. Her character ends up doing little, other than being eye-candy for the fans but damn is she badass during the fight scenes in the last hour of the film. For a summer film, there’s very little action to be had, which I feel is a good thing. Often times, directors feel the need to have an explosion every minute and that everything from character to story is left on the cutting room floor. The most advertised action scene is when Whiplash attacks Stark at the Monaco Grand Prix. Of course, Stark comes prepared with a special variant of his armor that’s the size of a briefcase and after some fisticuffs, depowers Vanko. Later on, Rhodes, afraid that his friend will hurt himself or worse, innocent bystanders, takes one of Stark’s suits and dukes it out with him. Favreau lets loose at the end as Iron Man flies across the sky while evading an army of Hammer’s drones until finally facing off with Vanko, only this time he’s backed up by War Machine. Unfortunately, these scenes often go by too fast and feel like an afterthought, making “Iron Man 2” a more character driven film than you would expect.
“The biggest asset that Iron Man 2 has is Robert Downey Jr. and he continues to excel as Tony Stark.”
“Iron Man 2” was released internationally on April 28 (earning $139 million already) but May 7 for North America. Critical reception has been positive but many felt that it didn’t quite stand up to the original film, something I humbly disagree with. It currently holds at 73% on Rotten Tomatoes with critics concluding that ‘it isn’t quite the breath of fresh air that [the first film] was, but this sequel comes close with solid performances and an action-packed plot.’ The entire IMAX theater was packed and it will easily surpass the original’s weekend gross of $98 million. It will most likely not surpass the $158 million record from “The Dark Knight” so my guess is that it will end somewhere at $130 million. Its main competition will be “Twilight Eclipse” but that film will burn through its business during opening weekend and drop off. If you’re expecting a third “Iron Man” in 2012, don’t, because “The Avengers” is scheduled to be released on May 4 and will serve as the ultimate nerdgasm as Marvel will have achieved the impossible, bringing Captain American, Iron Man, Thor and the Hulk in one movie. “Iron Man 2” may be too ambitious in terms of story for Favreau but the whole experience is so fun and enjoyable that it’s hard to really nitpick on anything. The performances are uniformly excellent, the effects are stunning, the action is bigger and it overall succeeds in kicking off summer 2010 on a high note. Movies & Music
Rated PG-13 (Sequences of Intense Sci-Fi Action and Violence, and Some Language) Running Time: 2 Hours & 5 Minutes Final Rating: 4.5 out of 5
. chers t u b and r eves, write you i h t f re y yo famil you try to tark famil a m , fro eS en come ves th ilty m “You like all gu t all the li d.” And y, to forge s destroye r ha histo
Note: Don’t leave during the end credits as there is a very special scene about a particular Marvel character whose film is being released on May 6, 2011! Movies & Music
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MOVIE REVIEW
NIGHTMARe ON ELm STREET RELEASED 30th April(US)7th May (UK) Rated R: (Strong Bloody Horror Violence, Disturbing Images, Terror and Language) Running Time: 1 Hour & 35 Minutes Cast: Jackie Earle Haley - Freddy Krueger Rooney Mara - Nancy Holbrook Kyle Gallner - Quentin Smith Katie Cassidy - Kris Fowles Thomas Dekker - Jesse Braun Kellan Lutz - Dean Russell Clancy Brown - Alan Smith Connie Britton - Dr. Gwen Holbrook Directed by Samuel Bayer 15 \ theSCENE \ WAREZ-BB.ORG
Movies & Music
W
Written By spiderman120988 Designed By Prendy
hen it comes to horror icons, nothing trumps the “big three”: Jason Voorhees, Freddy Krueger, and Michael Myers but if you ask me, they don’t compare to Pinhead from “Hellraiser.” A remake of “A Nightmare on Elm Street” was inevitable; it was just a matter of when it was coming. Freddy Krueger was introduced to moviegoers by Wes Craven in 1984 and endured six films in his franchise. Like clockwork, each one became progressively worse. The seventh installment, “New Nightmare,” wasn’t part of official continuity and 2003’s “Freddy vs. Jason” was a disappointment despite its potential. It also didn’t help that Freddy devolved into a comical farce spewing lame oneliners rather that a horrific evil force. So now we have the remake, courtesy of Michael Bay’s Platinum Dunes but unfortunately, it would’ve been better if Freddy was locked away in Hell and forgotten. The film defeats the whole purpose of being a remake since it just mimics the original film, only with a fresh coat of paint. Jackie Earle Haley is an effective replacement for Robert Englund but he is unable to save this film from being a total bore. At the Springwood Diner, Dean Russell (Kellan Lutz) falls asleep and is attacked by a horrifically burned man wielding a clawed glove in his dream, who forces a knife through his throat but in reality, it looks like he is killing himself. At the funeral, his girlfriend, Kris Fowles (Katie Cassidy) shares Movies & Music
her concerns with her friends, Nancy Holbrook (Rooney Mara), Quentin Smith (Kyle Gallner), and Jesse Braun (Thomas Dekker). As all of them fight the urge to fall asleep, it soon becomes apparent that they are now suffering from the same dream of being stalked by a burned man and that if you die in the dream, you die in real life. Nancy and Quentin learn that the burned man is Freddy Krueger ( Jackie Earle Haley) and in a race against time, must find a way to stop him and uncover his origins or succumb to exhaustion.
“This is the same film we saw back in 1984 and there is absolutely nothing new here. “ This is the same film we saw back in 1984 and there is absolutely nothing new here. All the iconic shots are here from Freddy’s clawed hand coming out of the bath water to him lifting Kris’ (Tina in the original) limp body and flinging it around like a ragdoll before she is bloodily eviscerated. The remake does try to explore some new territory by making it more apparent that Freddy was a pedophile and was sexually abusing children. In the original films, this was only vaguely hinted at but never explored. Unfortunately, the writers aren’t equipped to handle such mature subject matter, making its inclusion a wasted effort.
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E
xploring the psychological depths of Freddy might be the jump-start this franchise needs but it needs to go to someone who can do it in an intelligent manner whose name isn’t Michael Bay. Firsttime director Samuel Bayer, who was hand-picked specifically by Bay (no surprise this movie is terrible) is effective in making a visually goodlooking film and there are some noteworthy scenes, such as when Kris tries to force herself to wake up and everyone around her explodes into a pile of ash. Still, the majority of “Elm Street” looks generic, uninspired and stale. Worst of all, it’s simply NOT scary at all, using all the tired clichés in the horror playbook. All of it is composed of ‘boo’ moments and sudden loud noises but when you can predict what happens with 100% accuracy, there’s just no surprise at all.
from nightmares when she was fine twenty minutes ago. Near the end, Nancy rips a piece of Freddy’s sweater and brings it to the real world. She suddenly exclaims that she knows how to stop him but how she leapt to that conclusion is unexplained, a victim of lazy story-telling. Rooney Mara is supposedly playing a lonely and timid girl but she just looks dazed and confused. The rest of the teen characters (some of which look too old to be playing high school kids) are disposable body-bags and you’re just waiting for them to get offed by Freddy. The kills are gruesome enough but it’s nothing we haven’t seen before; in fact it looks really The acting is atrocious (and that’s be- tame compared to the “Saw” films. ing too kind) with the exception of Jackie Earle Haley but even his Freddy “The acting is atrocious can’t compare to Robert Englund’s. (and that’s being too The makeup was made to resemble more closely to a real burn victim but kind)” all it does is restrict Haley’s expression, and he ends up just snarling and Released into theaters on April 30, screaming like Rorschach. Hell, even 2010, “A Nightmare on Elm Street” Rorschach had more personality and has received an overwhelmingly negthat was with a full-face mask! With ative reception with 15% on Rotten better material, I do believe that Hal- Tomatoes. Critics concluded that ey could’ve done an excellent job but it was ‘visually faithful but lacking here, it’s merely good. The rest of the the depth and subversive twists that cast is full of good looking men and made the original so memorable, the women playing two-dimensional, [film] lives up to its title in the worst high school stereotypes. I know that possible way.’ The original scores they were all supposed to be sleep 95%, a huge difference. There was a deprived but the film’s logic makes sizable amount of people viewing the no sense when Kris begins suffering film and I was surprised there was 17 \ theSCENE \ WAREZ-BB.ORG
a reaction at all the jump moments given the film’s ‘lethargically lifeless’ (Michael Rechtshaffen, The Hollywood Reporter) nature. So far, it has made $16 million and might end up with $35 million for the weekend then drop hard with “Iron Man 2” next week. This new “Elm Street” looks slick and is competently put together but the effort is so workmanlike and by-the-numbers. Why even bother with re-inventing Freddy Krueger if you’re not even going to try? Since it’s essentially the same story but with much worse acting, you might as well go back and watch the original rather than waste 90 minutes on this unremarkable and totally forgettable film.
Final Rating:
“Why are you screaming?! I haven’t even cut you yet!” Movies & Music
Author: Spiderman120988
If
there was a director who was suited to do a modern reimagining of Lewis Carroll’s famous novel, “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland,” it would be Tim Burton, who has made a name for himself doing weird fairy tales with a darker, more macabre edge. Although most people treat Carroll’s classic as nothing more than children’s literature (mainly due to Disney’s 1951 animated film), the book was always more mature than what was intended. It is, after all, about an innocent little girl meeting a group of talking monsters and an off-the-rails adult dressed in a garish costume. Burton’s “Alice in Wonderland” is less weird than his previous films but it offers a gothic, dreary, and visually impressive version of Wonderland. Unfortunately, the pacing of the film is too fast, and the story devolves into standard Hollywood fare, complete with an obligatory battle at the end. Nonetheless, the film remains enjoyable and often includes some nice humorous touches that will appeal to everyone. Six year old Alice Kingsleigh is suffering from nightmares which last well into her late teens. The dream is always the same where she visits a mysterious world filled with various talking animals. Now 19, Alice (Mia Wasikowska) is attending a party at a Victorian estate where she is to be wed to a snooty English lord (who suffers from indigestion, of all things). When he asks for her hand in marriage, she panics and encounters the White Rabbit (voice of Michael Sheen), whom she chases to a nearby rabbit hole. Alice loses her grip and falls down the hole, arriving at ‘Underland’. She encounters Tweedledee and Tweedledum (Matt Lucas), and the Dormouse (voice of Barbara Windsor) who question her about being the ‘right Alice.’ They bring her before Absolom, a hookah-smoking Caterpillar (voice of Alan Rickman) and reveals to her that they are looking for an Alice who once visited Underland as a child and now need her to slay the fearsome dragon called Jabberwocky (voice of Christopher Lee) and free
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Layout: Papichoolo everyone from the evil reign of the Red Queen (Helena Bonham Carter). Alice, convinced that this is all a dream, is reluctant to get involved but after meeting the Mad Hatter ( Johnny Depp) and slowly befriending Underland’s freakish inhabitants, she grows more confident and decides to fight for their cause in the hope of returning home. “Alice in Wonderland” delivers a rather disappointing story with much of the fat being trimmed out since the higher-ups decided that kids can’t sit through a twoand-a-half-hour film. Burton stated that he wanted to ground the film emotionally but he fails in this aspect because everyone is constantly moving from one place to another. While the idea of an older Alice visiting (or re-visiting) Wonderland is a nice touch, it ultimately devolves into one of those hero’s/heroine’s journey films and feels like “Lord of the Rings” for kids. The final act features a run-of-the-mill battle that seems tacked on for the sake of having an action sequence. Alice’s transition to warrior woman is also too quick, and she decides to rescue the Mad Hatter from the Red Queen even though she just met him ten minutes ago. The running time should’ve been longer as you feel that there was much more to explore in Underland but it’s mired by the limitations of its target audience. “Alice in Wonderland delivers a rather disappointing story.” Without question, the visuals are the best in “Alice in Wonderland”, but it has the unfortunate side-effect of overwhelming the story. Underland is a rather foreboding place with sharp branches sticking out everywhere and the sky is always a depressing grey. It is contrasted with a vibrant array of fwlora and fauna, similar to Pandora from “Avatar” (Robert Stromberg worked on both films as Production Designer). The CG characters all look amazing, especially the Cheshire Cat (voice of Stephen Fry), who looks cute as it floats around and blinks
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its watery green eyes but then grins with numerous rows of razor-sharp teeth. The effects team also did a great job with the constant size changes with Alice, who sometimes appears six inches tall, and other times, a giant, altering her perception of the environment. The Red Queen’s castle and army feature deep, inky reds while the White Queen (Anne Hathaway) is all glittering white and angelic. Make up and costumes are impeccably detailed and sometimes frightening, such as the Mad Hatter’s chalk-white skin and glaring yellow-red eyes. The acting is solid and can get a little over-the-top but never annoying. Mia Wasikowska, an Australian actress, is attractive with her golden locks but sometimes appears a little too passive, especially with all the things happening around her. She does manage to show off Alice’s odd eccentricities, which makes her endearing. Johnny Depp once again gets crazy as the Mad Hatter, talking incessantly sometimes in a lisp, a perfect British accent, and finally a Scottish brogue. The Mad Hatter also shares some traits with Depp’s more famous alterego, Captain Jack Sparrow, with their obsession of hats. Burton also hints that the Mad Hatter might have some feelings for Alice, as evidenced at the end when he asks her to stay in Underland. Some critics have complained that Depp’s interpretation is hard to sit through but I enjoyed it, though sometimes it’s hard to hear what he says since he changes accents so often. Helena Bonham Carter also goes off the deep end as the Red Queen, whose head has been enlarged three times its size and is sporting a red afro. Her constant screams of ‘OFF WITH THEIR HEAD!’ or using pigs as footstools drew laughs from the audience. Anne Hathaway is the White Queen, who is one minute walking around daintily and the next spitting into a large pot full of severed fingers when making a potion. Finally there’s Matt Lucas as the
Final Rating
squabbling twins Tweedledee and Tweedledum, and Crispin Glover as the Knave of Hearts, whose gangly appearance compliments his turncoat nature. Released on March 5, 2010 in regular 2D, 3D and IMAX 3D, “Alice in Wonderland” has received mixed reviews with 54% on Rotten Tomatoes, with critics remarking that Burton ‘sacrifices the book’s minimal narrative coherence—and much of its heart—but [remains] an undeniable visual treat.’ I saw the film in regular 3D and I have to say that it was disappointing. It was very obvious that the effects were applied in post-production. Hell, even the trailer for “How to Train Your Dragon” looked more 3D than the entire film! The image just looked too clean and processed so you’ll be better off saving those extra dollars by going with the 2D version for a more cinematic feel. “Alice in Wonderland” takes away much of the 3D and IMAX screens from “Avatar” and should have no trouble reaching #1 at the box office this weekend. In fact, it has earned approximately $41 million so far and will exceed Zack Snyder’s “300.” Tim Burton’s take on “Alice in Wonderland” isn’t perfect and has its fair share of flaws, particularly with its somewhat dull plot, but the film remains a joy to watch thanks to its grand production design and kooky characters. Still, we never did find out ‘why a raven is like a writing desk.’ “You’re entirely bonkers. But I’ll tell you a secret. All the best people are.”
Cast:
Mia Wasikowska-Alice Kingsleigh Johnny Depp-The Mad Hatter Helena Bonham Carter-The Red Queen Anne Hathaway-The White Queen Crispin Glover-Stayne, the Knave of Hearts Matt Lucas-Tweedledee and Tweedledum Stephen Fry (voice)-The Cheshire Cat Michael Sheen (voice)-The White Rabbit Alan Rickman (voice)-Absolom, the Blue Caterpillar Barbara Windsor (voice)-Dormouse Paul Whitehouse (voice)-The March Hare Timothy Spall (voice)-Bayard the Bloodhound Christopher Lee (voice)-The Jabberwocky Marton Csokas-Charles Kingsleigh Lindsay Duncan-Helen Kingsleigh Directed by Tim Burton Running Time: 1 Hour & 48 Minutes Rated PG (Fantasy Action/Violence Involving Scary Images and Situations, and for a Smoking Caterpillar) “Alice in Wonderland” will be released on DVD and Blu-Ray on June 1, 2010.
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TEXT LAYOUT
SPIDERMAN120988 GRAFREAK
‘T
lethal adhe rush of battle is a potent and often Chris from is line diction, for war is a drug.’ This ‘War k boo ion Hedges’ best- selling 2002 non-fict es argu ch is a Force That Gives Us Meaning ,’ whi of ause e of conflict bec that society is trapped in a perpetual stat t Locker,” Kathryn Biglies and half-truths. Thus begins “The Hur ual Academy Awards Ann d elow ’s masterpiece that swept the 82n uding Best Picture and with nine nominations, winning six, incl ’s gargantuan blockbuster, Best Director, beating James Cameron under my radar when it “Avatar.” To be honest, this film went
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Michael Bay ’s dumb-as-a was released on June 26, 2009, when en” also opened on that rock “Transformers Revenge of the Fall ie ever yone went to see. weekend. Take a wild guess which mov “The Hurt Locker” the Now I’m here to right this wrong and give emotionally draining and review it deserves. Bigelow ’s film is an er entirely sure if ever ysuspenseful experience where we’re nev bold political or heavyone will make it out alive. There are no throats; it presents war as handed statements jammed down our it is: a dirty business that you have to do.
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After the post-invasion period in Iraq in 2004, Bravo Company, led by Staff Sergeant Matthew Thompson (Guy Pearce), is attempting to disarm an IED (improvised explosive device) in Baghdad but Thompson is killed when someone remote-detonates the bomb. Specialist, Owen Eldridge (Brian Geraghty), is consumed with guilt since he was unable to take the shot and save his commanding officer. To replace Thompson, Sergeant First Class William James ( Jeremy Renner), who has disarmed a record 873 bombs in the field, is brought in. He is teamed with Eldridge and Sergeant J.T. Sanborn (Anthony Mackie), who helps communicate with James and provide cover support as he examines and attempts to disarm IEDs. However, James’ reckless disregard of protocol puts him into conflict with Sanborn, who does everything by the book as it’s the only way to keep them alive. As the three of them try to wrap up their tour of duty, the constant
pressure where any minute they could all die begins to take its toll, both emotionally and physically. “The Hurt Locker” does not have any real story to speak of; it’s more of a ‘day-in-the-life’ of the bomb squad. The script, written by Mark Boal (who was a journalist embedded in an American bomb squad during the invasion of Iraq), is not concerned with sparking any anti-war debate but shows that war, despite all of its claims of heroism, is nothing but a dirty business thrust upon young men and women because no one else would do it. Due to their profession, everyday is matter of life-and-death for Bravo Company and matters are made worse when anyone can be an insurgent. The constant horrors of war which include suicide bombings, young children who are sliced open with explosives shoved down their ribcage and innocent bystanders with their 21 \ theSCENE \ WAREZ-BB.ORG
limbs blown off begins to make all three soldiers crack under the pressure and they wonder what’s the point of it all. If there’s one theme that really sticks out, it’s the fact that we, as a race, have become addicted to war for whatever reason it is fought. We may speak of it as terrible but deep down, whether for ideology or other petty differences, everything ends in a neverending cycle of conflict. Maybe like James, war has become a drug that we cannot live without. Part of the reason that makes “The Hurt Locker” so enthralling is the way Bigelow has filmed it, with shaky cameras following close to the action, making you feel like you’re part of Bravo Company. This is not an action film in the traditional sense where there are an orgy of explosions and an incomprehensible melding of special effects but when the action does come, it hits with
explosive force (no pun intended). Insurgents spring from hiding spots and rooftops spraying AK-47 fire, sniper fire may suddenly pop up in the middle of a burning desert and bombs can go off with wrong one step. The most nerve-wrecking scene is when the squad encounters a group of British soldiers from a private military contractor and suddenly one of them falls to sniper fire. Everyone scrambles to take cover and since trying to escape means instant death, they have to take down the insurgents one by one as supplies dwindle under the fire of Iraq’s desert. The three main characters fit the usual war stereotypes but it’s the performances that make each of them feel like real soldiers. It helps that the actors aren’t really well-known outside of a small dedicated fan base but there’s also some big-name talent making small cameos. Jeremy Renner’s, William James, at first appears to Movies & Music
be a cocky SOB with a disregard for his own life and others but we slowly learn that does care; he just doesn’t know how to show it besides getting drunk and punching his squad-mates in the stomach. James is an expert at disarming IEDs with surgical precision and becomes almost obsessed with trying to find a way to defuse these bombs rather than just letting them go off from a safe distance. Back home, he has a wife and son waiting for him and any other soldier would be overjoyed to be back with them but not James. He leads a purposeless life and only feels alive under the pressure that he may die.
tary uniforms look heavy with so many pouches and assault rifles they look like they’ve leaped from “Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2.” Audio is just as strong with James’ heavy breathing and footsteps dominating while he defuses bombs. Action scenes crackle with assault rifle and sniper fire and let loose when IEDs explode, scattering debris. Special features are rather bare but still interesting. There’s a commentary with Bigelow and Boel where they talk about challenges shooting in Jordan and keeping the film authentic, a twelve minute look at the making of the film and an image gallery where you can listen to a Q and A when the film was screened in London.
“There’s enough bang in there to blow us all to Jesus. If I’m gonna die, I want to die comfortable.” J.T. Sanborn, played by Anthony Mackie, is a foil to James and makes it known to him that he disapproves of his reckless ways. Sanborn believes by following protocol, everyone gets home safely, but in a foreign country where danger lurks at every corner, nothing ever goes the way it’s supposed too. By the end, Sanborn is burnt out from the experiences in the final days of his tour of duty and tearfully admits to James that he envies the fact that he has a son and looks forward to leaving Iraq to start his own family. Finally, there’s Brian Geraghty as Owen Eldridge, who is already on the verge of a breakdown when his commanding officer dies because he didn’t take the shot. Eldridge is something akin to the squad’s ‘water-boy,’ supplying ammo and backing his team when necessary. He sarcastically says to the head psychiatrist that his ‘field experience’ is from nothing but textbooks and can never know what it truly feels like to be on the battlefield. The rest of the cast include some big names such as David Morse, Ralph Fiennes, and Evangeline Lily but none of them appear for more than ten minutes. Released on Blu-Ray back in January, the picture quality features a drab and dull color palette yet detail is incredibly strong as we can see every fine grain of sand during low-ground shots. Mili-
Rated R
(War Violence and Language)
Running Time: 2 Hours & 11 Minutes
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Jeremy Renner Anthony Mackie Brian Geraghty Christian Camargo Guy Pearce Ralph Fiennes David Morse Evangeline Lilly
Cast
Directed by Kathryn Bigelow
“The Hurt Locker” was first released in Italy in 2008 but wasn’t released in the United States until last year in June where it couldn’t have picked a worse date: the weekend debut of “Transformers Revenge of the Fallen.” Add to the fact that it was only playing in four theaters in New York and Los Angeles, the film was in danger of getting lost in the shuffle but thankfully, thanks to its critical acclaim, it maintained the highest per-theater average out of all the films currently playing. Later, the film expanded to 500 theaters and earned $21 million worldwide ($15 million domestic), barely recouping its production budget. It is still playing in theaters now, though only in four theaters so if you don’t want to fork over $30 for the BluRay, pay the $10 at the theater. “The Hurt Locker” has a stunning 97% on Rotten Tomatoes and is one of the highest rated films of 2009. Consensus among Iraqi veterans has been negative, with the most common complaint being that it is ‘unrealistic.’ Going up against “Avatar,” it was always apparent who the winner was going to be, even if some people refused to see it. “Avatar” is a great film and its visual effects are extraordinary but anybody can use a computer and make a film. It takes real guts to tell a story, to provide characters that we can relate too with emotional depth. It doesn’t matter whether the film made $2 billion dollars or $21 million because these are just numbers. Whether its depictions of bomb squads are realistic or not, “The Hurt Locker” deserves all of its accolades and more with its taut direction, nerve-wracking action scenes, and honest performances. If you still haven’t seen this film, do so now.
Sergeant 1st Class William James Sergeant J.T. Sanborn Specialist Owen Eldridge Colonel John Cambridge Staff Sergeant Matthew Thompson Contractor Team Leader Colonel Reed Connie James FINAL RATING :
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Have you ever felt like you’ve lost that spark in your marriage and you’re just going through the motions? Well, this guy hasn’t since I’m barely in my twenties and have never had a girlfriend (yeah, go ahead, make fun of me!). Two of today’s top comedians, Tina Fey and Steve Carell, team up for “Date Night,” about a bored suburban couple who takes a walk on the wild side and get more than they bargained for. Fey and Carell are enjoying much success with their respective television shows on NBC so it’s a little surprising that it’s taken them this long to finally appear onscreen together. Despite its formulaic plot and filler action scenes, “Date Night” exceeded my expectations thanks to the natural and hilarious chemistry between its two leads. As an added bonus, Fey also works a stripper pole wearing nothing but a skimpy corset!
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Phil and Claire Foster (Steve Carell and Tina Fey) are your typical suburban couple living in New Jersey, but due to pressures from their respective careers and two children, they find that they simply aren’t spending enough time with each other. They opt to go on weekly ‘date nights’ but even this has become routine. After learning that their friends are getting divorced due to a loss of intimacy, Claire decides to dress up on their upcoming date night, which impresses her husband so much that he wants to take her to a new trendy Manhattan restaurant called ‘Claw.’ Unfortunately, they didn’t make reservations in advance but Phil is adamant that they’ll get a table…by impersonating a no-show couple known as the Tripplehorns! Everything is going smooth until they’re forcibly removed by two armed thugs, Collins and Armstrong (Common and Jimmi Simpson), who demand to know where the ‘flash drive’ is. Phil and Claire end up running around Manhattan meeting a multitude of eccentric characters, due to
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a simple case of mistaken identity. “Date Night” suffers from being another predictable romantic comedy that Hollywood sees fit to recycle every week. What makes it stand out from the pack is how excellent both Fey and Carell are as they get themselves into one outlandish situation after another. Much of the plot is really throwaway, involving a mob boss and a corrupt district attorney. Along the way, the drifting married couple manages to rekindle their romance despite their predicament. The film is at its best when it’s only the leads delivering their timely quips and ad-libbing their way through, such as their shtick of poking fun at other couples by making up stories for them. At one point, they sneak their way back into the restaurant wearing their clothes backwards to disguise themselves and confuse the hostess by continuously yelling, ‘Hey, eyes up here!’ or ‘Look at me!’ When I write it like that, it sounds lame but once you see it in action, you can’t help but laugh and go along with the
“Honey, If I’m gonna get whacked off, I...What are you smiling about?!” perfect comedic timing that Carell and Fey share. Later on, for reasons that probably won’t make much sense, they infiltrate a seedy strip club where Fey is forced to trade her blue dress for a skimpy corset and gyrate around awkwardly on a stripper pole. It goes on for a little too long but no doubt her male fans will leave the theater with a smile. When I initially heard that Shawn Levy was directing, this didn’t exactly inspire confidence due to his prior work, which includes “Night at the Museum” and its sequel, but he surprised me, though much of the film’s success owes more to his cast rather than his skill. Action scenes are sprinkled throughout and there’s a crazy chase involving two cars stuck together but they often come off as unnecessary to pad out the running time. “Date Night” would’ve been a much stronger film if it kept its focused on Carell and Fey’s interplay.
the film and without them, none of the scenes would’ve worked or turned out as funny. However, the two don’t quite pull off a married couple completely in some of the quieter scenes as it feels forced, coming off as two really close friends reconnecting. They are joined by an eclectic cast that mostly play bit roles such as Kristen Wiig, as a soon-to-be divorced friend who accuses Phil of never being able to understand what it feels like to get your first period at Claire’s book club. Mark Wahlberg is security contractor who spends most of his screen-time with no shirt on and has an Israeli girlfriend hungry for a foursome. Carell deadpans that ‘it was nice of her to ask us to have sex with you guys’. However, Wahlberg tends to look spaced out at times. James Franco and Mila Kunis is a slacker couple who strangely bicker like the Fosters. Taraji P. Henson and Ray Liotta portray the token detective and mob boss, while William Fichtner is the sleazy district attorney with a fetish for watching couples dance on a stripper pole. Released into theaters April 9, 2010, “Date Night” has received a mixed, though positive, reception with 66% on Rotten Tomatoes. Critics noted the film had ‘an uneasy blend of action and comedy [and] doesn’t quite live up to the talents of its two leads, but Steve Carell and Tina Fey still manage to shine through most of the movie’s flaws’. Being the sole major release, it has a high chance of overtaking last week’s “Clash of the Titans,” whose tacked-on 3D effects have received negative word-of-mouth. “Date Night” may have the same pitfalls of formulaic romantic comedies that are released every week but it is certainly better than most, if not all of them, thanks to the on-screen antics of Carell and Fey and the natural chemistry that they exude. It’s not a particularly memorable film (save for the stripper scene) but it’s not a bad way to spend Saturday night with a loved one. Rated PG-13 (Sexual and Crude Content Throughout, Language, Some Violence and a Drug Reference) Running Time : 1 Hour & 28 Minutes Cast : Tina Fey-Claire Foster Steve Carell-Phil Foster Mark Wahlberg-Holbrooke Grant Taraji P. Henson-Detective Arroyo James Franco-Chase ‘Taste’ Tripplehorn Mila Kunis-’Whippit’ Tripplehorn Common-Collins Jimmi Simpson-Armstrong William Fichtner-District Attorney Frank Crenshaw Ray Liotta-Joe Miletto Leighton Meester-Katy Kristen Wiig-Haley Sullivan Mark Ruffalo-Brad Sullivan
Both of the leads aren’t exactly playing new roles; Fey is channeling Liz Lemon from “30 Rock” with her neurotic demeanor and Carell doesn’t veer too far from the other bumbling, awkward Final Rating : characters he’s played. They click so well that they make Movies & Music
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T E X T | SPIDERMAN120988
Comic
book movie madness continues this weekend with the release of “The Losers,” based upon the DC Comics/Vertigo series of the same name written by Andy Diggle and illustrated by Mark Simpson (known by his pen name Jock). “The Losers” is entertaining for the most part and features the requisite explosions, but the whole affair feels surprisingly generic and lifeless, saved only by the hilarious banter between its main characters. Ultimately, this is what I call a ‘junk food movie:’ easily digestible and equally forgettable. An elite United States Special Forces team dubbed ‘The Losers,’ led by Colonel Clay ( Jeffrey Dean Morgan) and consisting of members Roque (Idris Elba), Jensen (Chris Evans), Pooch (Columbus Short) and Cougar (Óscar Jaenada) are sent into Bolivia to take down a local drug-lord, but when innocent children are caught in the crossfire, Clay defies orders and decides to save them. Although they succeed, the children are killed anyway on orders from the enigmatic Max ( Jason Patric). The Central Intelligence Agency deems the group as killed in action and their existence is plausibly denied. Meanwhile, the Losers are left stranded in Bolivia and keeping a low profile, they decide to bide their time until they have enough money to sneak back into the United States and find Max. Clay catches a big break when he encounters Aisha (Zoe Saldana) and after a short brawl that causes a motel to burn down, reveals to him that she can help them find Max, except there’s one catch: it’s practically a suicide mission.
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L AYO U T | GRAFREAK
Personally, I’ve never read “The Losers” and I doubt most people going to see the film have either since it’s not a well-known series outside of its fan-base. Even if it wasn’t based on a comic book, the plot is not terribly original and features the standard ‘betrayed special ops team out for revenge.’ Everything moves at a brisk pace with brief pauses to deliver the necessary exposition for the next action sequence. “The Losers” often feels very tongue-in-cheek and certain elements seem to work more in a comic book than on film. Max wants to sell some sort of doomsday device dubbed a ‘snuke,’ which can destroy land masses without the pollution, which is ironic considering yesterday was Earth Day. There’s really not much to say about the story as it often makes little-to-no sense and most people won’t care for it anyway.
“You want your life back?! You’re gonna have to steal it!” The major saving grace of the film is the cast and the unending quips they seem to have despite the life-and-death situations they get into. The standout is definitely Chris Evans as the tech expert Jake Jensen, who steals every scene with his snarky one-liners and t-shirts. At one point Jensen infiltrates an office building of a major corporation, singing Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’” in a loud and hilarious manner. In the elevator, he gets caught literally with his pants down and all the female workers seem suitably impressed with his endowment. He asks, “So, you like the angle of the dangle?” Later on, his attempt to escape goes wrong but he manages to pull off some sleight-of-hand courtesy of sniper exMovies & Music
pert Cougar. His explanation of his ‘telekinetic powers’ will have comic fans laughing since he was recently cast as Steve Rogers in the upcoming “Captain America” film. Evans was one of the few high points of the mediocre “Fantastic Four” films and it’ll be interesting to see what he brings to the table with the Star Spangled Avenger. Columbus Short and Óscar Jaenada share great chemistry with Evans and during the climatic shootout, Pooch is wounded in both legs and Jensen asks him if he can stand. His response: ‘I just got shot in both legs so what kind of dumbass question is that?!’ Jason Patric, as Max, hams it up to such an unbearable degree that it’s hard to take him seriously as a criminal mastermind. He revels in the fact that he’s evil and most people will wonder ‘just what the heck is wrong with this guy’. Jeffrey Dean Morgan lacks the charisma from “Watchmen” when he played the Comedian, mostly trying to look cool wearing the same white shirt and tux throughout the entire film. Zoe Saldana (who seems to be in every film these days) oozes sexuality as the mysterious Aisha, engaging in fist fights, wielding a rocket launcher and wearing skimpy clothing. Her secret isn’t that hard to guess though. Finally, there’s Idris Elba as Roque and it’s made fairly obvious what his eventual role would be since he often butts heads with Clay and insists that they kill Aisha.
Released into theaters on April 23, 2010, “The Losers” has, not surprisingly, received negative reviews with 36% on Rotten Tomatoes. Many critics found the film too by-the-numbers and devoid of intelligence, but strangely Ebert gives it a 3.5 out of 4 after only giving “Kick-Ass” one star. I must admit, he’s not very consistent these days and I don’t really take his reviews seriously anymore. Attendance wasn’t very high at the theater so it’ll probably settle for third or fourth place at the weekend box office. I also want to thank the colorful commentary I received from the young couple who sat behind me, which consisted of ‘That was awesome!’ or just breaking out in obnoxious laughter. Some people should not be allowed to go to the movies or at the very least, have their mouths sewn shut. “The Losers” provides some adequate entertainment with fun-to-watch characters but it’s just so forgettable. If you want to pass some time, catch the film at matinee price or better yet, go see the vastly superior “Kick-Ass” and wait for “Iron Man 2.”
“The Losers” has some nice action scenes but none of them really stand out and feel generic. The final battle isn’t as impressive as it’s made out to be because it just looks too similar to other action films. Director Sylvain White also falls into action clichés when he frames the entire group walking toward the camera in slo-mo and introduces each of them using freeze-frame title cards ala “Inglourious Basterds.” The lifeless and uninspired action will only thrill thirteen-year-old boys, of which I saw many.
(Sequences of Intense Action and Violence, a Scene of Sensuality and Language)
Directed by Sylvain White Rated PG-13
Running Time: 1 Hours & 38 Minutes Cast Jeffrey Dean Morgan Zoe Saldana Chris Evans Idris Elba Columbus Short Óscar Jaenada Jason Patric Holt McCallany
Lt. Colonel Franklin Clay Aisha al-Fadhil Corporal Jake Jensen Captain William Roque Sergent Linwood ‘Pooch’ Porteous Sergent Carlos ‘Cougar’ Alvarez Max Wade
FINAL RATING :
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The Lovely Bones Directed by Peter Jackson “I was in the blue horizon between Heaven and Earth. The days were unchanging and every night I dream the same dream. The smell of damp earth. The scream no one heard. The sound of my heart beating like a hammer against cloth and I would hear them calling, the voices of the dead. I wanted to follow them to find a way out but I would always come back to the same door. And I was afraid. I knew if I went in there I would never come out.” Adapting J. R. R. Tolkien’s “The Lord of the Rings Trilogy” into one of the greatest fantasy epics of all time, it seems that director Peter Jackson can do no wrong. After a brief detour in 2005’s “King Kong,” Jackson has adapted Alice Sebold’s 2002 critically acclaimed novel “The Lovely Bones.” Unfortunately, the success he had with “Lord of the Rings” eludes him this time, as “The Lovely Bones” ends up being a meandering mess with abrupt tonal shifts. It seems the novel’s mature subject matter has been sanitized to avoid controversy. Blueeyed Saoirse Ronan and Stanley Tucci give great performances but ultimately, the film becomes too much about the visuals rather than dealing with the tragic loss of a loved one. Susie Salmon (Saoirse Ronan) is your typical 14-year old girl living in Norristown, Pennsylvania in 1973. She lives with her loving parents, Jack (Mark Wahlberg) and Abigail (Rachel Weisz), and has two siblings, Lindsey (Rose McIver) and Buckley (Christian Thomas Ashdale). Susie dreams of becoming a photographer one day but on December 6, a chance encounter with her introverted neighbor, George Harvey (Stanley Tucci) changes everything. Due to her naïveté, Susie is lead to an underground den where she is raped and then dismembered. The police, led by Detective Len Fenerman (Michael Imperioli) find Susie’s hand-knitted hat with traces of her blood, confirming to her parents that she is dead. Jack at first reacts with anger and disbelief, eventually becoming obsessed with finding his daughter’s murderer. This drives a wedge between him and his wife, and she leaves for California. Meanwhile, Susie’s spirit is now trapped in the ‘In-Between’ where she must come to terms with her murder and allow her family to move on. Personally, I have never read “The Lovely Bones” but I am familiar with the general plot. Jackson more or less adheres to this, condensing everything into a neat two hours, but the problem is that while Susie viewing the aftermath of her murder from her own personal
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heaven allows her to function as narrator in the book; this is pointless in a film because her character is given little to do. It would’ve been better that she was written off after the first thirty minutes, allowing us to focus on the grief and turmoil that her family feels. It is they who must come to terms with her death and move on, not Susie, because she’s already dead! “The Lovely Bones” also suffers from abrupt shifts in tone. We get scenes where Susie is happily running around in green fields and imagining herself as a world-famous photographer and then it suddenly jumps back to her family slowly falling apart. It’s marketed as a life after death story, but the film also wants to be a murder mystery yet that doesn’t work either because we already know who the murderer is. There are also some lapses in logic such as when Jack realizes that Harvey is the one who killed his daughter. He comes to know this by looking at a bunch of photos that Susie took before her death. How he leaps to that conclusion is poorly handled. The only part which stood out is when Susie’s younger sister Lindsey breaks into Harvey’s house and finds some incriminating evidence. That’s when Harvey comes home and there’s this suspenseful moment where he’s standing there and suddenly dashes upstairs to try and silence her. James Berardinelli of ReelViews pointed this out already but I also want to note that “The Lovely Bones” is rated PG-13 but the subject matter of rape is for mature audiences only. Not once do we hear the word ‘rape’ or ‘sexual assault’ and while we get scenes of a bloody aftermath, it’s all sanitized to avoid any controversy and appeal to what Ebert calls ‘the Twilight crowd,’- who will prob-
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Movie review by: spiderman120988 Design by: dingo_d ably find this film boring anyway because Taylor Lautner is not walking around half-naked. No, we don’t need a graphic depiction of the rape and murder but ‘the near-total avoidance of the horror of what happens in the underground room undermines the production’ (James Berardinelli, ReelViews). We just never become emotionally invested in the film. The afterlife avoids adhering to any denomination and for the most part, looks stunning. There are lush green fields and trees whose leaves flutter into a flock of birds but ultimately, such scenes come off as pointless. In fact, I would go as far to say that the film is most boring when it focused on Susie’s personal limbo because nothing actually happens.
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The acting is a mixed affair. Saoirse Ronan (last seen in “Atonement”) looks beautiful with her bright blue eyes, showing that awkwardness when experiencing her first crush. Even after what has happened to her, she still exhibits energy and imagination but also comes to accept the fact that she will never experience growing up. However, she is unable to save many of the effects-heavy scenes from becoming a snore-fest. Mark Walhberg however, comes across as a whiny character, similar to “The Happening.” The scene where he begins breaking apart his ships in a bottle is handled well but later on his obsession in catching the killer ends up being unintentionally comedic. He tells the detective that you can tell a lot from a person by their taxes, which drew laughs from the audience. Rachel Weisz is all right, but she doesn’t feel like a motherly person and comes off as rather selfish when she abruptly leaves her husband. Susan Sarandon is Susie’s grandmother
and she’s played up for comic relief, which seems out of place given what the film is about. Michael Imperioli is the inept police detective who, even after Lindsey has revealed that Harvey is the killer, does not use every resource in catching him as he’s a serial killer. The best performance, aside from Ronan, is Stanley Tucci as George Harvey. He displays all the classic signs of a serial killer and his work with dollhouses hints at the darkness that lurks in his soul- something that could’ve been explored more if the running time was longer. “The Lovely Bones” has been in limited release since December 11 and expanded on January 15, 2010. Reviews have been negative, the worst for Peter Jackson with 36% on Rotten Tomatoes. Critics noted the visuals but found the film ‘suffers from abrupt shifts between horrific violence and cloying sentimentality.’ There is still strong interest in the film as it landed third at the box office last week, owing to the popularity of the novel. It has made $23 million domestic and $30 million worldwide. Ultimately, the greatest failing of “The Lovely Bones” is that it never resonates emotionally and we end up like Susie, watching the proceedings as a remote viewer. This is not a terrible film at all, but whether you believe Jackson is just not equipped to handle a family drama, or that the book is unfilmable, you’ll still be disappointed by the end result. “The Lovely Bones” is now available on DVD and Blu-Ray. Rated PG-13 (Mature Thematic Material Involving Disturbing Violent Content and Images, and Some Language) Running Time : 2 Hours & 15 Minutes Cast : Saoirse Ronan-Susie Salmon Mark Wahlberg-Jack Salmon Rachel Weisz-Abigail Salmon Stanley Tucci-George Harvey Susan Sarandon-Grandma Lynn Michael Imperioli-Detective Len Fenerman Rose McIver-Lindsey Salmon Christian Thomas Ashdale-Buckley Salmon Carolyn Dando-Ruth Connors Nikki SooHoo-Holly Golightly Reece Ritchie-Ray Singh Amanda Michalka-Clarissa Final Rating :
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KICK-ASS
Written by: Spiderman120988 Designed by: Surferdud3 How many of you comic book reading geeks have dreamed of suiting up and helping people? “Kick-Ass“, based upon the comic of the same name, written by Mark Millar and illustrated by John Romita, Jr. arrived into theaters April 16, taking a hilariously satirical, often bloody look at what happens when regular folks like us dress up in garish costumes and call themselves superheroes. In a way, it reminds me of Alan Moore and Dave Gibbon’s “Watchmen,” which was also turned into a film adaptation last year courtesy of Zack Snyder. The main difference is that Moore sought to make a philosophical statement about superheroes while Millar is poking fun at the genre’s clichés. Some people will decry that the film is ‘morally reprehensible’ but for everyone else, “Kick-Ass” is the best film of 2010 so far and the first comic book film to rival “The Dark Knight” thanks to its gleefully sharp dialogue, sickening bloody violence and an incredibly memorable Chloë Grace Moretz as the purple-haired, katanawielding Hit-Girl. Dave Lizewski (Aaron Johnson) is your typical, everyday teenager. He loves reading comic books and, like any geek, has few friends, no girlfriend, and tends to masturbate a little too much. One day, his love of comics inspires him to become a real-life superhero, donning a green wet suit and mask, he becomes Kick-Ass! However, his first attempt to stop a crime goes horribly wrong. Two thugs beat him to within an inch of his life and stab him. As he struggles to remain conscious, Dave is hit by a car. After intense rehabilitation and surgery, Dave finds that he can’t resist being Kick-Ass and is soon back patrolling the streets. . While looking for a neighbor’s cat, he comes upon a group of thugs beating up a man. Without hesitation, Dave leaps to his rescue and the whole event finds its way to YouTube. Kick-Ass has become an internet sensation and overnight celebrity. His heroics soon inspire other people to don costumes. Big Daddy (Nicholas Cage) and his 11-year old daughter, HitGirl (Chloë Grace Moretz) are going after mob boss, Frank D’Amico (Mark Strong) and Kick-Ass soon finds himself way over his head. I finished reading the comic mere minutes before the film started and for the most part, director Matthew Vaughn doesn’t veer too far from the source, although certain events are rearranged or cut for pacing. I found “Kick-Ass” to ask several interesting questions, one of which is why people often stand and watch when someone is hurt rather than actually helping them. Early in the film, Dave and his friend are mugged and although a man living nearby sees this, he does nothing to stop it. As Kick-Ass, Dave saves a man from being brutally beaten and one of the thugs ask him if he’s crazy for saving a total stranger. He retorts that everyone is just watching and doing nothing yet he’s the one pegged as crazy. Most won’t admit this but it’s human nature that people are apathetic of other’s suffering when it does not affect them. Reallife superheroes are not as unusual as you might believe, but what motivates people to dress up in ridiculous tights and lend a helping hand to their fellow man? Dave’s intentions are both noble and selfish as he’s tired of watching people like him getting pushed around but he also wants fame and a girlfriend. Of course, he later finds out how life threatening and crazy being a costumed avenger really is but gets addicted to the thrill of it, comparing himself to serial killers! There’s also the fact that today’s technology connects us in such a way that information is literally at our fingertips, allowing attention seekers to become overnight sensations due to YouTube, Facebook or MySpace. For the most part, the plot is really nothing special; the way it’s presented is what sets it apart from typical comic book films. The dialogue is sharp and witty, including humorous nods to popular superheroes such as Batman, Spider-Man and Wolverine. The language is often vulgar but oh-so hilarious.
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“Okay you cunts...let’s see what you can do now!” Despite much of the cast being unknowns, the acting is superb. Aaron Johnson is made to look like Peter Parker and his character speaks to the inner geek that exists within all of us. His role is the most difficult because any number of things can make his performance not seem genuine, but right from the start we empathize with his frustrations and root for him when he is being brutally tortured to a bloody pulp by D’Amico’s thugs. Of course, he (and everyone else) is overshadowed by the amazing Chloë Grace Moretz as the foul-mouthed Hit-Girl. Her introduction is wildly over-the-top and reminiscent of the Bride from Quentin Tarantino’s “Kill Bill.” She slices her way through numerous bad guys, hacking off limbs and wielding enough weapons to take on a small army! There’s been some controversy about depicting an 11-year old girl killing people without batting an eye, with one UK review describing her as ‘one of the most disturbing icons and damaging role-models in the history of cinema.’ Look, children shouldn’t even be viewing this film in the first place and if they are, it’s the parents being irresponsible. Playing her father is Nicholas Cage as Big Daddy, whose origin is reminiscent of Batman, going so far as to don a costume very similar to the one from “The Dark Knight” and emulating Adam West. Forever known as McLovin’ from “Superbad,” Christopher Mintz-Plasse is Red Mist, another homegrown superhero who revels in his newfound celebrity and in classic comic book fashion, ends up as Kick-Ass’ nemesis. Finally, there’s Mark Strong as mob boss Frank D’Amico, who continues to excel in playing villain roles (he was last seen in last year’s “Sherlock Holmes”). The action is bloody and not for the faint of heart; Kick-Ass gets stabbed, punched and kicked throughout the film. Hit-Girl is later brutally beaten around in the film’s climax. Yet all of it still screams ‘awesome!’ Released into theaters on April 16, 2010, “Kick-Ass” has received largely positive reviews with 77% on Rotten Tomatoes. Critics described it as taking ‘the comic adaptation genre to new levels of visual style, bloody violence, and gleeful profanity’. Some wrote off the film as tasteless and Roger Ebert gave it one star out of four. I love Ebert but this time I vehemently disagree with him. The comic and film script was written at the same time and had to be independently financed because studios wanted the violence toned down. Filmed on a budget of $30 million, “Kick-Ass” has the potential to hit the $100 million mark due to strong word-of-mouth. The audience response when the credits rolled was highly enthusiastic. I haven’t watched a comic book film this good since “The Dark Knight” and “Kick-Ass” definitely kicks the ass out of other movies featuring more recognizable superheroes. Looks like “Iron Man 2” has found a worthy challenger! There’s really nothing more I can say about this film except that you HAVE to go see it and for those people who are worried about being ‘morally righteous,’ shut the fuck up and go KICK ASS!
Final Rating: 5 out of 5
Rated R (Strong Brutal Violence Throughout, Pervasive Language, Sexual Content, Nudity and Some Drug Use--Some involving Children) Running Time: 1 Hour & 57 Minutes Cast: Aaron Johnson-Dave Lizewski/Kick-Ass Chloë Grace Moretz-Mindy Macready/Hit-Girl Christopher Mintz-Plasse-Chris D’Amico/Red Mist Nicolas Cage-Damon Macready/Big Daddy Mark Strong-Frank D’Amico Lyndsy Fonseca-Katie Deauxma Clark Duke-Marty Evan Peters-Todd Sophie Wu-Erika Cho Xander Berkeley-Detective Gigante Omari Hardwick-Sergeant Marcus Williams Garrett M. Brown-Mr. Lizewski Directed by Matthew Vaughn
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CLASH
OF THE
TITANS 3D
‘RELEASE THE KRAKEN!’ That’s pretty much the marketing campaign in a nutshell for “Clash of the Titans,” a remake of the 1981 film released into theaters in 2D and 3D today. Critics have already ripped it apart for its thin plot and characters but “Clash of the Titans” ends up being a rather entertaining event-film. The pace is frenetic and never lets up, the action scenes get your adrenaline going and yes, the Kraken was simply epic, which makes it more disappointing that it’s only on-screen for a few minutes. However, the quickand-dirty conversion to 3D is an obvious money grab by Warner Brothers, so it is highly recommended that you view this film in plain-old 2D. After a short prologue, narrated by Io (Gemma Arterton) about how Zeus (Liam Neeson) and the rest of the gods overthrew the Titans, a hard-working fisherman named Spyros (Pete Postlethwaite) finds a crate floating at sea and upon opening it, finds the body of a young woman and a wailing baby. Spyros adopts the baby as his own and calls him Perseus (Sam Worthington). After coming upon a group of soldiers from Argos desecrating a statue of Zeus, Hades (Ralph Fiennes), God of the Underworld, appears and makes short work of them, in the process killing Perseus’ family. Meanwhile in Mount Olympus, Zeus is distressed by man’s defiance and reluctantly agrees with Hades that an example must be made. When the king and queen of Argos speak ill of the gods, Hades appears and delivers an ultimatum, sacrifice Andromeda (Alexa Davalos) to the mighty Kraken or Argos will be annihilated. Perseus is eager for revenge against Hades but is shocked to learn that he is the bastard son of Zeus. Conflicted, he must now choose: fight as a man or be overcome by hubris as a demigod. The plot of “Clash of the Titans” is paper-thin and won’t win any awards but it gets the job done in setting up Perseus’ motivation for going against the gods and having him swing a sword. It’s a classic good vs. evil tale where all the character roles are clearly defined at the get-go. That being said, the pace is very fast, with Io providing much of the exposition when needed. However, there are some inconsistencies, we’re constantly reminded that humans are tired of being the gods’ playthings but then a soldier angrily tells Perseus that he should use his gifts. For all his talk of fighting as a man, Perseus eventually wields a gleaming sword (practically a lightsaber!) and rides a winged steed, Pegasus (though according to the original Greek myth, Bellerophon was the one who rode the horse). The characters themselves aren’t given breathing room to develop due to the pacing and much of the dialogue is mostly shouted in short sentences. There’s a romance subplot between Perseus and Io but it’s so underdeveloped that I have to question why the writers even bothered. Like the original myth, they should’ve stuck with Andromeda to keep it in line with the film’s themes of man standing up for themselves. The acting is nothing to write home about and like the story, is adequate. Sam Worthington is now the go-to guy for big budget blockbuster spectacles, which is all right but if he wants people to take him seriously as an actor, he should choose some different roles to diversify. His Perseus has some personality and displays the right amount of conviction in avenging the deaths of family but it mostly boils down to staring at the camera in a grimace. As his love interest, Gemma Arterton doesn’t do much besides look pretty and provide the necessary back-story, which she succeeds in doing. It’s strange seeing respected actors like Liam Neeson and Ralph Fiennes in a film like this but they handle their roles quite well. Neeson is decked out in shiny armor guaranteed to blind you and has a commanding presence as the king of the gods. Fiennes is basically channeling Voldemort from “Harry Potter” but his grand entrances are very visual and I liked the scorched armor he wears which gives him a more imposing frame. The rest of the cast are playing roles similar to an “Alien” film; you just know that they won’t survive to the end credits. Sadly, Mads Mikkelsen is one of those characters, playing Draco, the stoic leader of the Argos army. He’s pretty much the Jedi Master, although the training he gives Perseus is two minutes long and sometimes it’s hard to make out what he says due to his accent. 31 \ theSCENE \ WAREZ-BB.ORG
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“If I do this, I do it as a MAN!” Most people won’t care for all of this; they paid to see the special effects and they certainly deliver your money’s worth. Demonic harpies race across the sky and Medusa slithers across her lair with lightning-quick reflexes, wielding her bow. Perseus battles giant scorpions and engages in an amazing sword fight with the deformed Calibos. Finally, there’s the Kraken, which has been heavily used in promotional material. This beast towers over a city and has numerous rows of teeth that make the shark from “Jaws” look like a teddy bear. The final act has Perseus riding his trusty steed, evading numerous tentacles and harpies with Ramin Djawadi’s bombastic score playing in the background. Granted, all of these effects don’t exactly set a new standard but they help reinforce the film’s epic scope. As for the 3D, it’s like when game companies take a console game and port it over to PC with absolutely no optimizations. Like “Alice in Wonderland,” it’s very obvious that it was done in post-production quickly and suffers from too much motion blur and a processed image. “Clash of the Titans” is about a mythological ancient Greece, and it is better to just save that extra $5 and experience the film in the more grainy 2D option. Released into theaters on April 2, 2010, “Clash of the Titans” has, not surprisingly, received overwhelmingly negative reviews with 30% on Rotten Tomatoes. Critics noted that it was an ‘obviously affectionate remake of the 1981 original [but] doesn’t offer enough visual thrills to offset the deficiencies of its script’. I believe most people will still enjoy it though; Roger Ebert sums up my thoughts best: ‘I like the energy, the imagination, the silliness’. There is no question that the film will reach #1 at the box office this weekend, helped by the more expensive 3D ticket prices but it won’t reach the $116 million from “Alice in Wonderland.” So far, it has made $4.2 million from early Thursday screenings. “Clash of the Titans” is a film I was ready to write off and yes, story and character plays second-fiddle to the visuals but the spectacle is so grand and epic that you’ll find it hard not to enjoy the film. The humor is just right and never devolves into the juvenile depths of “Transformers Revenge of the Fallen”. Just seeing the Kraken shatter your eardrums is worth the price alone.
Final Rating: 3.5 out of 5 Rated PG-13 (Fantasy Action Violence, Some Frightening Images and Brief Sensuality) Running Time: 1 Hour & 58 Minutes Cast: Sam Worthington-Perseus Gemma Arterton-Io Mads Mikkelsen-Draco Liam Neeson-Zeus Ralph Fiennes-Hades Jason Flemyng-King Acrisius/Calibos Alexa Davalos-Andromeda Liam Cunningham-Solon Hans Matheson-Ixas Ashraf Barhom-Ozal Mouloud Achour-Kucuk Ian Whyte-Sheikh Sulieman Pete Postlethwaite-Spyros Polly Walker-Queen Cassiopeia Directed by Louis Leterrier “Clash of the Titans” will be available on DVD and Blu-Ray on July 27, 2010.
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T E X T L AYOU T
SPIDERMAN120988 GRAFREAK
question whether the film is terrible. In fact, there’s nothing seriously wrong with “Shutter Island,” other than the fact that this is not awards-worthy material due to its genre. Martin Scorsese has crafted a taut thriller with high production values and fine performances but much of the suspense is taken away due to the reality that most people will see the film’s twist coming by the end of the first hour. In 1954, U.S. Federal Marshall Teddy Daniels (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his new partner, Chuck Aule (Mark Ruffalo) arrive on Shutter Island, located on an island in Massachusetts surrounded by jagged rocks. Shutter Island is home to Ashecliffe Hospital, an asylum for the criminally insane run by a Dr. John Cawley (Ben Kingsley). A patient named Rachel Solando (Emily Mortimer) has mysteriously escaped from her cell and seems to have ‘evaporated straight through the walls’. Teddy runs into a brick wall when Cawley and the hospital’s top physician, Jeremiah Naering (Max von Sydow) refuse to hand over the staff’s personal records, arousing his suspicion that something sinister is going on at Ashecliffe. As his investigation continues, Teddy begins to suffer nightmares involving his deceased wife and becomes obsessed with finding the truth of Shutter Island.
After
being pulled from its original October release last year, “Shutter Island,” a psychological thriller based upon Dennis Lehane’s 2003 novel of the same name, finally arrived into theaters February 19, 2010. For a film directed by a big-name director starring an equally big-name actor, it’s unusual that Paramount would plop this movie in the middle of February, where studios dump films that have weak prospects at the box office and will surely get ripped apart by critics. This begs the 33 \ theSCENE \ WAREZ-BB.ORG
Right from the first minute, we know that something is off thanks to a creepy horn-blaring score. “Shutter Island” feels like something you’d read about in a 1950’s pulp magazine and adheres closely to Gothic clichés complete with a gloomy fortress-turnedmental hospital and dark skies, set on an island with an imminent hurricane to prevent anyone from escaping. The first half is strong as we’re left wondering what is or isn’t real but as the clues begin piling up, you’ll soon get a hunch on where the film is heading and spend the next hour to see yourself proven right. Teddy suffers from many demons as we learn through flashbacks and many of them are heavy on symbolism that feeds into the final act. His wife, Dolores Chanal (Michelle Williams), who died in a fire, continuously haunts him, along with a little girl who accuses Teddy of being unable to save them. However, Teddy’s tragedies don’t often resonate emotionally because we’re always kept at arm’s length, trying to figure out the significance of these flashbacks. We know what he is going through but we never empathize with his situation. “Shutter Island” also suffers from some pacing issues as some may find it too slow and grow frustrated with its numerous red-herrings. The truth about Ashecliffe and Teddy is also dumped into a heavy exposition scene where everything is neatly explained and laid out. While the film’s plot may not be Movies & Music
particularly strong, it benefits from Scorsese’s confident direction and top-notch production values. The mental hospital is built from an old Civil War fort, overlooking ominously over the other buildings and concealing the horrors that lie within. There are dark hallways with dimming lights, complete with violent inmates with mutilated bodies. The minimalist score helps ratchet up the tension when Teddy’s already fragile mind begins to fall apart. Many of the flashbacks feature some strong visuals with people melting into a pile of ashes or emaciated piles of bodies frozen in a Nazi concentration camp. Papers flutter slowly in the air when Teddy arrives to liberate Dachau during World War II and encounters a Nazi officer who tried to commit suicide, blowing out his jaw. Every effort has been made to create an atmosphere of uncertainty. Leonardo DiCaprio turns in a strong performance in his fourth outing with Scorsese. In the beginning we learn that his character has been through a lot and has molded him into the man he is today but slowly, the cracks begin to appear as he descends toward madness. The supporting cast is no less impressive. Ben Kingsley is the asylum’s administrator and though his character is a cliché, his mannerisms always present a slight air of menace, particularly when he smiles. Mark Ruffalo doesn’t do much but becomes pivotal to the plot once the truth is revealed. The rest of the cast only appear in a handful of scenes but make the most of it, especially Jackie Earle Haley as a tortured patient and Elias Koteas, whose makeup bears a fearsome-looking scar. I must say, he bears a strong resemblance to Robert De Niro and it was rumored that he was going to have a cameo in the film but these were proven false. Released into theaters on February 19, 2010, “Shutter Island” has received mildly positive reviews with 68% on Rotten Tomatoes. Critics praised its ‘gleefully unapologetic genre thrills’ but find it a minor entry in Scorsese’s body of work. Most will point to this film as not being the director’s best but even his worst still ends up being quite enjoyable. Since this is the only major release this week, it should have no problem reaching #1 at the weekend box office. Audience attendance was high but I found some didn’t really take the film all too seriously. “Shutter Island” is a greatMovies & Music
looking film and Scorsese proves once again why he is still one of the most respected directors in Hollywood. Unfortunately, it suffers from being too predictable and adds nothing significant to the thriller genre. Still, it is miles away from other thrillers that employ mind-numbing visuals and confusing camera edits. Enjoy “Shutter Island” for what it is but don’t expect anything more.
“You’ll never leave this island.” “Shutter Island” will be available on DVD and Blu-Ray on June 8, 2010. Directed by Martin Scorsese Rated R
(Disturbing Violent Content, Language and Some Nudity)
Running Time: 2 Hours & 18 Minutes Cast Leonardo DiCaprio Teddy Daniels Mark Ruffalo Chuck Aule Ben Kingsley Dr. John Cawley Max von Sydow Dr. Jeremiah Naering Michelle Williams Dolores Chanal Emily Mortimer Rachel Solando Jackie Earle Haley George Noyce Ted Levine The Warden John Carroll Lynch Deputy Warden McPherson Elias Koteas Andrew Laeddis FINAL RATING :
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freak a r G : t Layou
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neill o k c a :J
The Nokia N900 : A mobile (r)evolution?
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hen Nokia launched their series of internet tablets back in November 2005, little did they know how it would shake (and eventually shape) the market just four years later. In the early days of the Maemo operating system, which powered the very first “experiment” - Nokia 770, things weren’t as “hot” as one could hope. Maemo was a new platform and a completely new approach from Nokia, which didn’t receive that much attention and was considered more of a side project to the mobile Symbian, thus more impressing “geeks”, rather than the common callers. But, as time passed by, the platform evolved with each new tablet released (N800, N810) and more and more people started paying attention to what the giant company had up its sleeves. Then it happened, the fresh N900 was introduced at Nokia World last September and the media went simply wild since then Nokia literally underestimated the power and potential of their new toy and it took them a 35 \ theSCENE \ WAREZ-BB.ORG
few days to shake off the entire buzz the device generated online. It became the most preordered device on Amazon worldwide for some time. People, who earlier bought Nokia’s flagship phone, the N97, felt betrayed and regretted it. Others celebrated, even though the retail shipment of the N900 was postponed a few times due to firmware tweaks and because Nokia was literally out of stock. Nokia simply didn’t want the device to end up being a letdown and getting low ratings in reviews, they knew if they wanted to remain a strong player on the market that the N900 had to be a success, especially since the reception of the N97 wasn’t very warm at all, it being more of a disappointment. People wanted something unseen, something with top notch parameters that would blow their mind, yet actually be usable and work. Has Nokia managed to maintain the attributes and heritage of the previous tablets and expand them to meet the requirements of today’s customers? Let’s take a look! Tech & Games
The design of the device is pretty simple. Some people refer to it as a “brick”, but its curved slick edges say otherwise. Sure, the device isn’t the smallest (11cm x 6cm x 1,8cm) and the approach isn’t very original, but when you try it and hold it in your hands, you’ll immediately notice it is actually much smaller than it looks on photos and quite frankly, excuse me if I use the word “sexy”. It’s entirely painted in black, pitch black to be exact. That very well may be the reason why it feels so small. Despite that, it has a large 9cm (3.5 inches) touch screen which sparkles basically the whole front of the device. Now, you may ask: “Wait, so it doesn’t have any buttons?” My reply would be: “Guess again!” Inside (or rather underneath?) lies a 3-row full QWERTY keyboard and the best part is, it slides out, yup! But that’s not all folks, it glows nicely in the dark too so that you will be able to see the letters properly. Imagine how much fun you can have with the N900 already and I haven’t even started yet! But humor aside. Apart from that, the front of the device also has several sensors, one of them being the proximity sensor Tech & Games
which deactivates the display when the device is brought near the face during a call. Another useful feature is the miniature flashing diode which indicates what’s going on with the unit. Orange light – charging, green light – fully charged, blue light – incoming (unread) message or missed call, white light – booting up/working. It’s simple, but synoptic. The last thing located on the front panel is a small camera (0.3MP – 640x480), which can be used for video calls, but is currently disabled. Along the sides of the device you will find a MicroUSB 2.0 connector, an IR port (transceiver), a 3.5mm jack used both for headphones and TV-Out (PAL/NTSC), stereo speakers, the power button, camera shutter button, button for volume and zoom control and last, but not least, a long accurate stylus, which is smartly inserted into the body of the device. On the back we have the main 5MP camera with a Carl Zeiss lens and a useful kickstand which will proof comfortable if you want to, for example, watch a movie or browse the web. The construction of the device as a whole feels very solid unlike many other phones, no creaking parts. Only possible downside could be for some people the weight – 181g is noticeable, especially in the pocket. You might miss a bus or two if you try to run. Should we blame the keyboard? Obviously without it the unit would weigh less, on the other hand you would be stuck typing only on the touch screen. It all comes down to what you prefer and how big a sacrifice you are willing to make.
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“Power Extreme!” No, I’m not referring to the 80’s “Centurions” cartoon series (even though it rocked), but the raw power of the N900 cannot be simply ignored. Without good hardware the phone wouldn’t be capable of doing what it does, plus it would be easily eaten by competition. Let’s take a look what it’s made of. One of the things you will notice with this device is the fact it is extremely fast, whatever the task (yes, task – I will get into that later on). That wouldn’t be possible without the OMAP 3430 – a system-on-a-chip composed of three microprocessors: the Cortex A8 clocked at a frequency of 600 MHz (used to run the operating system and applications), a digital signal processor running at 430 MHz (basically it offloads the Cortex A8 from having to process audio and video signal) and the PowerVR SGX 530 GPU which supports OpenGL ES 2.0 and will come in handy when playing 3D games. In addition to this, the N900 possesses 256 MB of dedicated RAM and 768 MB of virtual memory for swap. The specs alone are quite impressive if you think about it. Eight or ten years ago it was all in your desktop computer, now it’s in your pocket!
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Someone more technically oriented could dispute that the hardware powering the N900 is similar to the Apple iPhone 3GS or that the new HTC’s HD2 Snapdragon CPU has a few hundred Megahertz more. Though perhaps true, how you make use of it matters most. And that gets us to the very question: “What makes the Nokia N900 so unique?” Maemo 5 – the mobile operating system of tomorrow. Some of you have probably owned (or own) a Smartphone of some kind, so you have surely come across (or at least have heard of) various operating systems - be it Symbian, Windows Mobile, Android or the iPhone OS. I have been using Symbian for many years myself (since late 2002 when I got the Nokia 3650) and throughout the years I’ve had in my hands and played with literally dozens of phones. However, the N900 is not a usual phone. It is a mobile computer with the “ability” to phone, all because of Maemo.
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After you power on the device for the first time and go through the initial setup, you are free to do whatever you want, whenever you want and how you want, right out of the box. You see, Maemo 5 is based on (Debian) Linux – the “penguin”. It is an open source environment which means anyone can do literally what they desire and adjust the OS to their needs, just like that. If there is an application missing, you can write it directly yourself if you want. And thanks to X-Terminal (the Linux equivalent of the famous “Windows command line”), you can do it directly on the phone. Not saying that if you get the N900 you have study code, no, not at all. Just pointing out that the option, if you have the skill and need, is there. Based on that it may seem this phone has “for geeks only” written all over it (at first I thought that as well), but the opposite is the truth. As I have pointed out earlier, Nokia have tried to make this device more accessible and user-friendly to the mainstream consumer. The tablet part
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remained, but the unit got smaller, there were a few cosmetic changes here and there and new hardware parts were added to support the updated and reborn OS. Plus the phone functions were added as well. I have already outlined a bit how it all works, but let’s dig down the rabbit hole a bit deeper. You have four panoramic desktops ready to accommodate your needs. That means four large work spaces which you can perfectly adjust. Apart from the basics like changing the background separately for each home screen or changing the theme, you can also add widgets, shortcuts, contacts and web links (bookmarks). You may be familiar with this system from newest Symbian devices (5800XM, N97, N97mini) or from the Android for that matter, but the N900 takes it to a whole new level. As I have said, you have 4 active desktops, not just one (although you can disable them and use just one, it’s up to you). You can decorate them with all the small “gadgets” listed above. If you want, you can put several shortcuts or contacts on top of each other, leave the area simply empty or turn your home screen into a wild jungle for that matter.
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Let’s look at examples. I have enabled all four desktops, all with different backgrounds. As you can see, I’ve decided to fill my first one purely with shortcuts to random applications I often use – the phone application, conversations (messaging), the calendar, the media player, sketch, Word application, PDF reader, web browser, notes, photo gallery, applications manager and contacts. Of course I use other features as well, but since I use these often, I save my time from going to the menu and simply launch them from the desktop. It’s comfortable. By the way, the grid pattern wasn’t preset, I made it myself.
I can go to the next desktop by simply swiping my finger left or right. The icons kind of flow in the air when you move between the screens and it creates a pretty cool effect. The next one is more interesting. In the upper part I have four bookmarks linking to pages I visit often. By tapping on them, the browser opens up and the page starts to load. Beneath them I’ve got contact shortcuts to some of the people I call the most. I could have added a photo to them, 39 \ theSCENE \ WAREZ-BB.ORG
but I couldn’t find any at the moment. Tapping on the contact brings up a list asking what you want to do – call/text, to what number, etc. In the bottom left corner lays a simple CPU and memory usage applet. Next to it is a “Touch Search” applet capable of quick searching for things on sites like Google, Wikipedia, eBay, Amazon, YouTube, and IMDb and lastly, the music mini-player on the bottom right. Tech & Games
The third desktop is not that special – just three bookmarks in the center, a funny eyes widget above them and a data plan monitor and IP address indicator. Comes in handy when Wi-Fi isn’t available and I have to go by with GRPS/EDGE/3G. I tried to keep this screen “clean”.
The last one I like the least, because it reminds me what’s going on or what is my schedule. I’m not the person who likes being reminded or told what to do, but for purpose sake I decided to put up a name day applet reminding me if I should wish someone all the best or not, the calendar widget and a weather forecast widget which informs me what’s it like outside. When you open it up, it’s pretty detailed and accurate with more settings to choose from. Tech & Games
As you can see, just based on the four desktops, the N900 is very customizable and there are a bunch of random widgets you can use, even a Facebook or Twitter one. But that’s not where all the fun ends. Here it actually begins!
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One of the key features of this device is multitasking. In other words, running multiple applications at once and switching between them. Hence, why I previously mentioned the word “task”. It is actually simple to use, but very fast, effective and good looking. Of course this isn’t the first phone with multitasking on the market, but it’s the best solution you’ll probably ever see. As mentioned before, applications can be launched either from your desktop or from the menu as you are commonly used to. The important “button” here is the icon in the upper left corner of the display (next to the status bar), which directs your actions. Tap on it once and you bring up the menu. Open any application, tap on the button again and you get into the “dashboard mode” where you can see all running tasks at once, each having its own window with a preview in realtime, something like you see on Windows 7. Here’s a picture so you can imagine it more vividly: 41 \ theSCENE \ WAREZ-BB.ORG
I have to admit it takes a bit of practice, but once you master it, you can have a true desktoplike experience. I’ll give you a small example. The phone alarm clock wakes you up in the morning, you check your phone if you have received any new messages over night. You load the incoming messages and you notice there’s something you need to check online in order to reply. You minimize the “conversations” app, open up the browser and you google let’s say “Vancouver Olympics 2010”. You end up with hundreds of results and decide to open a few links in a new window. To make it more entertaining, you launch the media player and play some songs. While you’re at it, you decide to resume the torrent you started downloading yesterday. You get back to the web and start reading. After a few minutes a link takes you to YouTube, a five minute video report. Three minutes into the video you receive a message from a friend on Skype and
you find the answer you were looking for. You minimize this window and you can see the YouTube video still playing in the preview window. You close it and start writing the reply. You can also copy & paste a few sentences from the web which you found useful. After you’re done with all of that, you can check how the download is progressing and you can launch a game. While you play, the songs are still playing. When the download has finished, you can simply minimize the game, go to the torrent application and immediately play the movie, just like you would on a PC. Maybe it doesn’t sound so amazing on paper, but you will be amazed when you see it. So far it took me to open up 31 different applications before the N900 froze. Whether that is a good or bad result you can decide yourself…
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Moving on, the media player is an application you will likely find useful on the road when traveling long distances or perhaps when making a party. When you start it up, you initially have three options. You can either listen to music, watch videos or you can listen to internet radio. The features look somewhat basic on the outside, but they work well. You can order songs by albums, interpreters, genres or simply all songs. The album image thumbnail and playlist is available too and you can skim, shuffle and repeat tracks. Thanks to the stereo speakers the audio is not only fairly loud, but pretty clear. The sound quality actually surprised me, but it’s a shame that the default music player lacks an equalizer of some kind. Supported audio formats include: .wav, .mp3, .AAC, .eAAC, .wma, .m4a and .ogg – after installing the Ogg codec. Thanks to the enormous internal storage (32 GB) and the option to expand it with additional MicroSD memory cards (up to another 32 GB), it’s pretty safe to say you will fit in your entire music collection and whatnot. Apart from listening to your own music, you can listen to the internet radio, which has several preset stations for each country and new stations can be added easily. I do recommend a faster connection for this though, as the streams tend to lag if you’re not on Wi-Fi or 3G. If you don’t have a connection available, you can listen to regular radio as you know it – FM radio. Despite the fact you will have to download the application for it and you will have to use the headset (included) as an antenna, it’s not bad at all. Last thing regarding music - the device also has a built-in FM transmitter which you will surely make good use of in the car for instance. You surely remember the song “Video Killed the Radio Star”, right? Well in the case of the N900 it’s no exception, because the video playback capabilities are truly exceptional. Watch! Firstly, the wide display Tech & Games
(16:9) measures large 3.5 inches. That alone will provide you with enough space to watch some films. But it gets better, because the resolution of the screen is 800x480 pixels! That enables you to play any video up to that resolution which is a bit higher than regular PAL (720p HD is supported by hardware, but it is currently locked). Now, with these two aspects settled, the only thing you need is content. Luckily enough the N900 supports many popular formats: .mp4, .avi, .3gp, .wmv, .mpg, .mkv - partially, will be updated in future along with some compatibility issues with some videos. There are some supported codecs as well: Xvid, MPEG-4, DivX, H.263, H.264 and WMV. If you want to play video files with AC3 audio, it will be possible, but you will have to download and install the extra codec pack for that (as well as MKV and MPG). Maximum supported video bitrate is around 5000-7000 Kbps. One thing I still haven’t mentioned out loud, but you have probably figured it out by now, is the fact that the N900 plays all these files without any conversion. You can simply copy over your videos from the computer and play them. No more converting files! Of course nothing is perfect, so you may encounter a file time to time which won’t want to play, but overall it is a major step forward which many phones still lack. Thanks to the fast write speed (16 Mb/s), you’ll have your movie collection transferred in no time! Not to mention you can play the videos (and do everything else) through the included TVOut cable (CA-75/RCA), so hooking up the phone with a large TV or projector shouldn’t be a problem. The picture quality of the output isn’t the best and HDMI would have been better, but it is usable and certainly useful (not only for video). I almost forgot – soon you will be able to choose from two more video players that are currently under development: MPlayer (with KPlayer GUI) WAREZ-BB.ORG \ theSCENE \ 42
and VLC (an official port). Moving on, the online experience is what really makes this device stand out. After all, the Nokia N900 comes from the family of internet tablets so it shouldn’t be much of a surprise. Both the display and screen resolution are big enough to provide a satisfying experience when surfing the web. The default browser titled “MicroB” is based on Mozilla technology and it handles all of the websites very well. It supports for example JavaScript, AJAX and a whole portion of other things, but most importantly full Adobe Flash 9.4. That means no give and take, from now on you can view the web how it was meant to be viewed, just like on a computer. YouTube.com, along with other flash sites – yes, you can play Facebook games, works like a charm (directly on the site, no side apps) and with the upcoming update to Flash 10.1 (sometime this year), not even Hulu will pose a problem. Plus it will enable you to view video content in high quality or even 720p HD. Hopefully Adobe releases it soon. Regarding the browser I should also mention that it supports some things you are used to, like: history, visual history of recently open pages, address suggestions, a password manager, a download manager, page saving, a pop-up blocker, copying text, fullscreen mode, cache (up to 40Mb, except HTML), auto filling and portrait mode (partially). 43 \ theSCENE \ WAREZ-BB.ORG
Zooming is done in three ways. Either by double tapping or spiral gestures or by using the volume button on the side of the device. The only minus I could see here is the poorer implementation of portrait mode, which will need some fixing in the future (adding a virtual keyboard and better page layout rendering). Something I haven’t mentioned yet is the fact the N900’s touch screen is resistive. Before someone starts whining, I have to say you won’t really notice. It’s fast and responsive, generally one of the best resistive displays out there. Personally I prefer it more than the capacitive, because it is more accurate, not only thanks to the stylus (which to be honest you won’t need, unless you want to draw a painting or work with small text/links). Kinetic scrolling is enabled in the whole OS and it really makes not just the browsing a lot faster. I have to say it is a relief, because without it going through long lists or pages would be a pain. One thing that saddens me though, is the poor official port of Firefox. For some odd reason it’s overall a lot worse than the default browser. The GUI is interesting, that’s for sure, but the page loading speed is a slower and though having add-ons (a few) and interconnecting your computer with the mobile version sounds nice, it all in all feels still a bit unpolished. Definitely worth trying out, but I wouldn’t use it as my default browser anytime soon. If you like experimenting, the Google Tech & Games
Chrome browser is a possibility as well, but it takes a bit more skill to get it running. With the internet obviously ties in also the type of connection you will be using. The N900 supports every data connection you can think of: GPRS (class 32), EDGE (class 32), WCDMA, HSPA and WLAN IEEE 802.11b/g. For general browsing you will be fine with EDGE, but it you want to download (stream) or upload a larger amount of data and have the full experience, using something faster like WCDMA (UMTS/3G network) or HSPA (3.5G) is more reasonable. Of course a Wi-Fi connection is always the best, but it’s not everywhere. You can setup the phone so that it will connect to Wi-Fi automatically if there isn’t a network connection available. So to speak, downloading a 20 Mb file can take you anywhere from a few minutes to just a few seconds. The thing I had to get used to on the N900 the most is the way how messages and contacts are solved. This phone is the first ever to have full integration of VoIP (voice over internet protocol) and IM (instant messaging). Everything is interconnected and in one place. Actually all the IM protocols and Skype itself are so deeply integrated within the system, you won’t find an application for them, because they are all part of “conversations” and “contacts”. Out of the box you can set up accounts for: Skype, Google Talk, SIP, Jabber and Ovi Chat. If you install the additional protocols package you can get also: ICQ, MSN, GaduGadu, AIM, Yahoo chat, IRC and more. They are automatically added, you just basically have to log-in. You can disable/enable them one by one and if you have a connection, you simply change your online status to “ON” and you are ready to chat. It works amazingly well I have to say, but Skype does tend to freeze for a few seconds if you have somewhat 300 unread messages in Tech & Games
a conference chat (don’t blame me, I’m too lazy to read them all). Skype calls, just like regular calls, are very clear and the quality of the speakers is very good, but without a 3G connection it won’t perform that superb. You might ask if the front camera works for video calls. Sadly I have to say it doesn’t. The hardware is obviously there, but it seems that
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Skype doesn’t see a need to update their Maemo 5 application soon. Thankfully video calls do work with the external application called “Fring”. The way the messages work (both IM and normal) is simple. For each contact/number you have a separate conversation. Let’s say I would get a reply from Fred, I open it up and I can see the whole history of our talk. It in my opinion makes things much easier than if I were to go through each message separately. This way I have them all in one place and I can simply oversee the whole thing. The contacts have been solved nicely and you can add over 30 details for each of them, along with a photo. For example if you add someone’s birth date, you will be later on reminded in the calendar it’s their birthday. What probably won’t make some people happy though is the absence of MMS, SIM Toolkit and voice dialing. I personally don’t have a problem with that, because I don’t use any of those, but I know some people will be disappointed. Hopefully these
things will be added in a future update. “And action!” If you look at the N900 from the back, you will notice the main camera. It is protected with a sliding hatch and the camera itself has a nice resolution of 5 Megapixels with a Carl Zeiss lens. It has an autofocus feature, dual LED flash, 4:3 (5 MP) and 16:9 (3.5 MP) aspect ratio options, and 3x digital zoom. You can adjust also the balance of white, ISO level, exposition and flash. It’s not that much frankly, but in the upcoming update, night mode will be added to the list. Though the image quality is generally pretty good and a slightly better than on the N97there could be less noise in pictures taken during low light conditions. If you have a moment to play with the settings, you can come up with some very well looking impressive shots, just like the ones below: The video quality is decent considered it is “just a phone”. The N900 captures videos at 848x480 pixels and 25 fps. Very usable and limited only by free memory. As usual with Nokia, videos are saved in .mp4 format. Audio in recorded videos is 45 \ theSCENE \ WAREZ-BB.ORG
clear, again thanks to the stereo speakers. One thing which is thought out is the sharing possibility. Any picture you take or any video you capture, can not only be geo-tagged with coordinates thanks to the GPS, but also immediately shared with the rest of the world. With an additional application called “Pixelpipe” it’s a matter of a few clicks. Apart from sending the files to someone via email or Bluetooth, you can “share via service”. What that means is that once you setup and connect your online account on sites like YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, Flickr and others, with the phone, you can instantaneously share content. It’s really easy, but make sure to have a good data plan or be on Tech & Games
Wi-Fi when uploading, the files can be big. The N900 has an autonomous GPS with A-GPS functionality (Assisted GPS) and comes preloaded with “Ovi Maps”. The application went through some changes with the firmware update and it is much more usable now. I’m not a hardcore navigation user, but from my point of view the app comes with most of the functions I would normally use: alternative views (3D landmarks, satellite and hybrid maps), address/ places of interest searching, route planning (by car, foot, and plane). The launch of the program is fast (10 seconds) and it can track your location within seconds when outside. Some people would welcome a more complex application. Sygic has released their navigation recently and overall the general reception is firmly positive, so if there are any drivers reading this, take a look. In the meantime you can also try “NavIt”. Also, Nokia have released a new version of Ovi Maps for Symbian with free turn-by-turn navigation, so perhaps we can expect that in the future for Maemo as well. What upset me was the absence of a magnetometer, which was speculated for a long time to be there. One thing I’ll mention just briefly is the support for various document types. The N900 comes with a preloaded 30 days trial of an office pack called “Documents to Go”. It works with .doc, .xls and
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.ppt. It actually works very well, but the full version will cost you $9.99. KOffice and OpenOffice are said to be under development and should come out this year. One other preloaded application, this time free, is a PDF reader. Aside from these typical formats you can install thirdparty applications for example reading comic books -“Comix” and “Cbrpager”. Other notable applications worth checking out are “Notes” and “Xournal”. Now I’m getting to one thing which you may have thought about – How do I download applications and are they free? Well, additional applications can be downloaded directly through the phone via the Applications Manager. They are free and you can access them through catalogs known as repositories. There are several types: Nokia, Software Updates, Ovi and Maemo.org. These are the basic ones where you will find all safe and tested applications, usually final versions. If you want to gain access to a couple of hundred more apps, which do work, but aren’t finished yet, you can enable two more repositories: Extras-Testing and Extras-Devel. Of course this isn’t an Apple Store, but like I said, you can find many useful programs and many you generally don’t need, because the N900 comes with many features out of the box. Maemo is an open-source OS, so it’s mostly up to the community to develop the apps, but
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companies are paying attention and could give a hand at some point. Though games are part of the N900 as well, they shouldn’t be the main reason why you purchase the device in the first place. Though good hardware under the hood, big corporations like EA, Ubisoft, ID Soft and others haven’t made any titles for the N900 so far. Likely because of iPhone’s domination in that area which became a trend if you will, but this doesn’t mean you can’t have some fun on the N900 as well. The unit comes with 4 pre-installed games: Marbles, Mahjong, Blocks and Chess. Though simple games, they can be fun. If you would like something more “serious”, here is a list of the better titles: Bounce Evolution, Doom, Transport Tycoon Deluxe, Angry Birds, Super Tux, Quake 2, Quake 3: Arena, Open Arena, Hexen 2 and others. Sounds better, doesn’t it? If that wouldn’t be enough for you, there are plenty of emulators available too: Vgb (Game Boy Color), Vgba (Game Boy Advance), iNES (Nintendo Entertainment System), Pico Drive (Sega Mega Drive/Genesis), Mastergear (Sega 8-bit consoles), and DOSBox (Windows). DrNokSnes (Super NES) and other ones like a Playstation or Dreamcast emulator are in the works. It’s even possible to connect your N900 to a WiiMote (Wii) or SixAxis (PS3) controller! As you can see, Maemo 5 isn’t that boring after all. Slowly but surely it will
Bounce Evolution Doom Angry Birds
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Tech & Games
get only better, hopefully not only because of the fairly recently launched Ovi Store. The battery coded “BL-5J” has a capacity of 1320 mAh. It’s not the highest number, that’s for sure. But the battery life has improved since the last update quite a lot and it will be slightly tweaked once more in the future. It takes about 2 hours to charge the unit and on an average day it will last around 12-14 hours of work. It really depends what you do, on the display brightness level, etc. It can be more and it can be a lot less. In stand-by mode it can last days. If you connect the device with a PC, it starts charging automatically and you can choose between “PC Suite mode” and “Mass Storage mode”. Copying data is fast as I have mentioned earlier. I recommend you get the latest firmware if you are considering getting the device, either through Nokia Software Update or over the air directly from your phone. What’s included in the retail package? The phone with a stylus, a battery, a charger, stereo headset, TV-out cable, USB cable, charger adaptor and cleaning cloth. “To get or not to get?” The Nokia N900 is a remarkable device and a remarkable achievement for Nokia. It has an open, stable, fast, innovative and efficient operating system, a good community and hardware to support it. Hardly will you find another phone with a desktop-like online experience with full VoIP and Tech & Games
IM integration, true multitasking and great customization. It does have its flaws and a few minor bugs here and there, but that can be solved with future updates. It functions mainly in landscape mode and the support of portrait mode is quite poor due to its nature, but it is a perfect all-in-one gadget and computer that you can carry with you in your pocket. You don’t have to be a geek to appreciate this device, but if you are looking for something less high-tech and fancy, or you mainly want to play games, this might not be for you. It definitely is not for everyone, so you should try before you buy. But if you like freedom and love to explore, hop right in.
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GAMING
N
Written By: Smit Designed By: Prendy
Gaming Revolutions
“It’s not the market that evolves the games but the games that evolve the market, well except for India.”
o, the title has nothing to do with the Matrix series! Although I must confess- I am a big fan of the trilogy. This article tells us a tale of how the gaming scenario in India has changed rapidly over the years. Yes, the word rapidly has been intentionally highlighted. If you have better things to do now is the right time to leave. For those of you who have more time to kill, sit back on your pot and enjoy!
Then came the PC, and with that my first PC title the Half Life demo. Things changed completely after that. It was the year 2000 and there was an explosion of great titles to come. My life was opened to graphics cards, modem based multiplayer, and the incessant need to find cheap titles. Games were always expensive and unfortunately in India even more so! A decent game could set you back INR 2500($54). Thus piracy was born. Your next-door vendor would get you As far as I can remember it all started with the same title for about INR 100($2), with my first Nintendo Entertainment System! smash hits probably costing more based on I was a wee lad of 10 years; and boy I sure the amount of demand. loved my Mario. The endless levels of fun in an attempt to reach the princess of the castle, Putting all of this behind I went on to do enthe addiction nearly led to me failing in al- gineering, only to open the doors to LAN most all my classes. Much to the chagrin of gaming. I got introduced to Quake 3, Unmy parents, the gamer in me flourished with real Tournament, and wait for it….Counter the advent of Mortal Kombat, Contra, Street Strike. I couldn’t get enough of it, the incesFighter, and of course Sonic. sant strategizing, the late night sessions, the name calling, and of course the sweet taste The Sega Dreamcast machine was still tout- of fragging your opponent. I was in my own ed to be launched in India, and a few rich small world believing that my Clan was the kids had the Sega Genesis. Most of us were best there was! We were soon brought down envious of the colors and the great titles to the ground after we participated in a few that Sega had at that time. tournaments on the Internet. I remember playing Teenage Mutant Ninja Then I grew up (yes, it will probably happen Turtles and will always to you too!) and gaming stopped altogether. have a fond memory of Of course I was as excited as a little girl when that title. It was an in- I heard they were going to release the Xbox spiration! 360 and the PS3 in India. Like a diligent squirrel I started saving up for one. Can you believe it? Ten years down the line games and gaming games consoles are still very expensive. A good Xbox 360 game can still set you back INR 2500($54). The gaming industry in India cannot seem to evolve. Just six months back I bought my first Xbox 49 \ theSCENE \ WAREZ-BB.ORG
Tech & Games
360, what a hassle. The electronics store (“Croma” for those of you who are Indian) that I went to purchase it didn’t make it any easier. The “helper” could quote me specs of the brand new LED TV, and knew all about the latest configuration of the latest Toshiba laptop in the market, but when it came to quoting Xbox titles he drew a blank. For two minutes he looked at me as if I was speaking alien, then pointed to the small dinghy aisle and walked away- So much for all the help.
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find this habit even more disgusting than masturbating. People have tried changing this mindset. Gaming magazines were introduced in India. The tech part of the magazines always did well, but the gaming parts did not. SKOAR was one such terrific effort. It was put into production then was stopped. Then restarted, and then brought to a halt again. Blame it on lack of advertising revenues, lack of readers, etc. It reminded me of a magazine called CGW and my idol and hero Jeff Green. My aunt had brought 3 issues of these from the US and I forever worshipped them. (Sadly they are now lost somewhere)
ever the market here isn’t ready to take it. The response just wouldn’t be the same. People can’t even imagine making a living by designing games- forget playing them. Believe me people there is no shortage of talent, it’s just the will to sustain such a lifestyle dies a natural death. Companies though are venturing into a new untapped segment called mobile gaming. I don’t know how long before that fad dies too. To me games have yet to become affordable and until that happens the vicious cycle will never break. Alright, now I’m off to play Gears of War 2 on my Xbox 360. I can’t even play multiplayer since the stupid store doesn’t sell the wireless kit required for it. Life moves on. Red pill, blue pill chuck it, I’ll just take them both!
hat I can’t understand is that if the product costs roughly INR 17000($370) here, shouldn’t store managers be more proactive on making sure people are satisfied with what they get? I’ve seen peo“ The gaming industry in India ple fawning over customers who are buying tit-bits worth less. The attitude cannot seem to evolve. “ towards gamers and gaming consoles just doesn’t change. Unlike any other art form gaming is still not considered We can’t blame it all on the big bad coras an “entertainment” per se. It’s just porate world. Much of the blame is on a sheer waste of time. Mothers will us as well. We were so wrapped up in frown upon it. Dads will thwack your buying pirated versions that the gamhead for playing too much. Girlfriends ing industry never felt that India was a will laugh at market they could invest in. Growths you, and were poor and sales dismal to say the l a t e r least. A lot of big players jumped onto the multiplayer bandwagon hoping to make money. But, let me tell you some facts: the World Cyber Games started off in 2000, and to my knowledge India started participating in it around 2001 through IndiaGames. IndiaGames sponsored gamers to go out and participate. It didn’t matter whether we won or not as long as we got to play. Well, this year due to lack of funding IndiaGames is unwilling to host the preliminaries in India. It’s a real shame. We in India can only dream of hosting premier events like the WCG or the E3 Expo, as the howTech & Games
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GAME REVIEW
WRITTEN BY BlueMaxima DESIGNED BY Prendy
Publisher: Rockstar Games Developer: Rockstar San Diego Platforms: PS3, Xbox 360 Genre: Action Adventure Release Date: May 21, 2010 ESRB: M
Yeehaw, welcome to the old West, buckaroo!
R
ed Dead Redemption is a Western shooter in the same sense of Grand Theft Auto 4. The main problem with Red Dead Redemption though, is it’s too much like GTA4. Red Dead Redemption is a third-person shooter (ala GTA4). You have your slightly overwritten but still great story (again, like GTA4). Immersion levels are fantastic (need I say it?)The missions follow the same sorts of goals as GTA4. Even riding horses feels close to the same (even though it’s handled differently). There is a lot of new content though; random strangers that you can find in the middle of nowhere that have extra missions for you, lots of challenges to go through, and plenty of mini games to master. A new sys51 \ theSCENE \ WAREZ-BB.ORG
tem called Dead Eye allows you to turn on slow motion and fire super-fast shots allowing you to get loads of headshots.
“ Too much like GTA4. ”
The main game is pretty glitchy though, which is a big disappointment. Sure, it’s a big open-world game, and bugs are to be expected, but some of them weren’t even around in GTA4 – horses and players stuck in walls and black screens are to be expected. The multiplayer is good and bad. Free Roam is great – there are co-op missions, more challenges, and general activities to run around and do. Head to head is OK too; the general Deathmatch and Capture the Flag modes are here, but the unique part of this game’s multiplayer is that a Mexican standoff occurs at the start of Tech & Games
each round, with the survivors getting the opportunity to fortify them. The multiplayer works off an XP system, with 50 levels to conquer. This is where the multiplayer falls down – it feels way too much like the familiar WoW grind, and of the “rewards” for levelling up are just skins. After you reach level 50 or finish the main story, there’s no real motivation to move forward from there.
All in all, Red Dead Redemption is a familiar, grind-ish-glitchy sandwich. There’s a good game in here, somewhere – if you can ignore the problems, or you like Grand Theft Auto style games, you’ll feel right at home here. Otherwise, I would suggest looking elsewhere.
“ A familiar, grind-ish-glitchy sandwich. “
PROS + + Plays like a good Rockstar game – immersive and realistic + Plenty of content, both single and multiplayer
CONS - More-than-average amount of glitches - Multiplayer feels like a grind - Feels too much like Grand Theft Auto 4 for its own good
Final Rating:
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GAME REVIEW
Review of Just Cause 2
Written by : BlueMaxima ( pc) & Calum901 ( ps3) Designed by : dingo_ d Welcome to Panau. We have a review for Rico Rodriguez and his newest outing in Just Cause 2 waiting right upstairs. Let us lead the way.
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ho would have thought all this destruction could look so good? The Avalanche Engine 2.0, minus one or two slight graphical issues, creates one of the most detailed game worlds to ever exist. Consisting of several hundred square kilometers of deserts, forests, cities, and snowy mountains, there's always something to look at around Panau. The draw distance on the game is absolutely fantastic to boot, standing on one corner of the island looking at the other corner of the island actually works. The gameplay area is so large that even the game's fastest fighter jet will take at least EIGHT minutes to get from one side to the other. The general sound effects are par for the course (the base jumping is actually REALLY well done), but the voice acting reminds me of the original Batman show. It goes from adequate, down to cringe-worthy, back up to hilarious in its wake. The accents are so stereotypical that it's worth having a laugh at the voice actors every now and again. Sometimes the voice acting tends to desynchronize as well; at least they get the job done.
Look at me I’m flying! Hey, Where’s my parachute? When controlling Rico Rodriguez you will undertake many experiences in Panau.
Do not try to play with the default controls for PC. Your life is at stake. Either get a gamepad or spend an hour configuring the keyboard to Just Cause 2 is an adventure, a sandbox in which you choose what you work best for you. - BlueMaxima want to do. Missions are specifically located in different parts of Panau, but the real question coexists in the journey just as much as the opera- Whether it be a light jog into a settlement and sneakily taking weapons tion in hand. Different variations of vehicles and items allow Rico Ro- and vehicle parts, or an all out massacre involving missiles, bullets and driguez the capability to glide, fly and fall, to name a few. For an action plenty of explosions – this game will have you playing for hours on end. adventure game Just Cause 2 expands its border in terms of scenario Countless hours of enjoyment and funny moments will keep the game and environment, therefore allowing a huge intake of different designs fresh and entertaining. which in turn compiles into a masterpiece. 53 \ theSCENE \ WAREZ-BB.ORG
Tech & Games
GAME REVIEW In a matter of seconds, you can find your character falling from a large building, grappling to a nearby statue and maybe even landing on top of a vehicle where you can perform stunts and different styles of movements. The enormous and gorgeous islands of Panau perform at a very comfortable frame rate no matter what you try and conjure up.
to a helicopter and have a metal kebab flying through the sky, then bring them down on the first radar dish or crane you come across.
Just Cause 2 has The game's definite magnum opus is in the enough options availamount of ways it's possible to take on any as- able to cause chaos signment. that any wannabe action hero can live his Because riding on a passenger seat makes you less cool. In one particular mission I had to capture a fantasies tenfold. limousine and take a hostage two-three kilometers down the road. I first attempted using a Raid a city with a chopper? Do it. String some- Over the top action. Explosions. Big things jet to destroy the escort before I jumped onto one up by the balls and have some target prac- falling down. Gunfire and more gunfire. Base the car and blew the car up in the process. Then tice? Done. Base jump from five thousand feet jumping. Cars, boats and planes. Romance (or, I stood in front of the whole group of cars and and nick a car before you hit the ground? Go at least, my love for this game). If you're looktried to attach them to the ground, it didn't for it! ing for a game where it's all action all the time, work too well, they killed me quite quickly. come and take a holiday with Rico Rodriguez. Finally, I base jumped from a nearby bridge Rico will keep you entertained through sand, Wish you were here! and hooked onto a guard car, stunt jumping snow and rainy showers twenty four hours a day (believe me, he will). At first the idea of Developer: capturing settlements and locations may seem Just Cause 2 is an ad-Developed by Avalanche Studios and a little tedious (every game has its moments) venture, a sandbox in published by Square Enix but Just Cause 2 allows so many different variawhich you choose what tions of success it really is difficult to be bored Game type: when playing. Repetition will only occur if you -Third person shooter you want to do. choose to do so. Why walk into a settlement around from car to car and eliminating them and start shooting countless times when you Min. requirements: one at a time, even attaching a few cars to the can just as easily hijack a hot air balloon and - Windows 7 / Vista ground. There's a lot of ways to attack an objec- kamikaze into the local high ranking colonel? - Dual-core CPU with SSE3 tive. They might not all work, but they're still Through different methods of entertainment, - 2 GB RAM-a great fun to try. opportunity and actions, Just Cause 2 is a - GeForce 8800 series/ATI Radeon HD game that will keep you coming back for more. 2600 Pro While the PS3 version has its own YouTube uploader, PC users have their own individual As well as capturing settlements, the game Positive: tricks. Using a trainer can give you unlimited gives you the ability to instantly explore every -Amazing graphics and draw distance unbreakable ropes. Imagine stringing five cars location whenever you want. Hidden secrets for its requirements and items remain -Some of the most varied, GTA style in the shadows on gameplay since San Andreas Panau: can you find -Hundreds of objects and hours to be them? Downloadable destroyed and wasted content has already been on the brink Negative: from Square Enix, a -Story acting is just downright horrible nice pink fortified Ice on average Cream Chevalier vehicle for you to bash Final Rating: down your enemies with – a wonderful When you’re in a hurry, you don’t look if it’s a car or a plane. treat.
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Author: BlueMaxima
Designer: Papichoolo
ell, the sequel to the best game on the Wii has finally fallen us. Mario takes us on another journey t best Wii game been dethroned by its own sequel? I, as of writing this, got one hundred and twenty stars, and beat Bowser.
But the magnum opus of Galaxy 2 is not the sights, or the sounds, or the ease of controls, but everything that’s brand new. Yoshi is controllable and has his own sets of power-ups. There are new mushroom types for even more play time. And every world is brand new. Don’t be surprised when you go through and get 120 stars…wait, I’m not spoiling it here. To put it spoiler-free, it’s going to take you a LONG time.
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Super Mario Galaxy 2 is arguably the most epic, most badass, fantastic Wii game, Mario game, Nintendo game, and it is a very good contender for game of the century. The game’s basic mechanics, compared to its predecessor, are exactly the same. Take the nunchuck and Wiimote into your hands and control Mario in full 3D environments, spinning, jumping, collecting coins and ‘shards’ and power stars, just like in the previous game. Compared to the 1st Galaxy’s hubworld, which was dazzlingly huge and scattered levels all over the place, Galaxy 2 has a new 2D, OldMario game style map, which fits almost perfectly and streamlines navigation between levels. “Super Mario Galaxy 2 is arguably the most epic, most badass, fantastic Wii game, Mario game, Nintendo game.” Based on the 2007 engine that made Galaxy 1 such a shining flower, the sequel stands tall with its older brother, still boasting beautiful starscapes and glowing levels that feel so real you could reach out and touch them.
“Nintendo
has pulled out Banzai Bill cannons here..”
the
Nintendo has pulled out the Banzai Bill cannons here. The same unique titan that was Galaxy has been made bigger and given invincibility. The little problems that plagued the shining case of Galaxy 1 have been scraped off, and now we have a purely perfect game. What’s the only game that could possibly, ever dethrone this for the rest of eternity? Super Mario Galaxy 3. For the Wii Published and developed by Nintendo
Pros
+Looks and sounds like heaven’s heaven +Still plays as perfect as its predecessor +Enough content to the point where you will be fully decomposed by the end
Cons
-It’s too long a wait for Galaxy 3
The full orchestra soundtrack = MIND BLOWING. Such a varied, up-beat, dramatic feel follows you all the way through the game, level by level. And during the final battle, I swear I had to stop myself from jumping up and yelling like an animal. (it’s too bad I can’t put it higher.)
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Tech & Games
CO -WRITTEN : PLATFORM : DEVELOPER :
BlueMaxima and .TheExile. PC/Xbox 360 (reviewed)/PS3 4A Games and published by THQ
Metro
2033 is a game developed by part of the team who made S.T.A.L.K.E.R. (the group, 4A Games, split off a year before release), and it had started leaning towards being a S.T.A.L.K.E.R. style freeform RPG that we’ve all come to love. Unfortunately, the number of issues in the game makes it less of a bang, if not a whimper. The story involves a 20-year old man, Artyom, venturing out from the Moscow subway system after a worldwide nuclear event has left the planet uninhabitable. The story is good at what it tries to do (minus scary elements which I’m not sure are even supposed to scare) with unexpected general plot twists, but it just isn’t interesting enough for a secondary play through. The story only took about 10 hours to play through; which was a disappointment for a full price, single player game. Single player games need good length, something this lacks. While the majority of the graphics are good, there are a lot of problems with pop-in graphics. It takes the start menu five seconds to load in. Taking five seconds to load the start menu is a bit… off. The external environments aren’t as well done compared to the underground ones, with some blurry, stretched textures, which tends to break the immersion quite easily. However, some minor details, such as the crystals that appear on the gasmask are very pretty. The sound doesn’t suffer, with the ambience quite fitting to the atmosphere, and the guns while sounding average, aren’t too bad. FINAL RATING :
Games
LAYOUT
GRAFREAK
The game is a basic first person shooter. While the gameplay is solid in most areas, many balance issues exist. For example, a headshot with an advertised high powered, high damage rifle doesn’t kill. You need at LEAST 3 shots. Another example – the same rifle can’t be used to take down arguably one of the strongest monster in the game, without using hundreds of shots. One of the revolvers in the game needs 12 shots to kill. These balancing issues are what change the game from tactical to run and gun. Not to mention the stealth, which is totally and utterly useless; stepping on a small piece of glass can result in an enemy on the other side of the level hearing and respectively charging you with all his might. When this game was announced I had hoped it would be as fun and enjoyable as S.T.A.L.K.E.R, but it feels like a half assed port that is only part-S.T.A.L.K.E.R.; a potentially good game unfortunately reduced to mediocrity through a few bugs, gameplay balancing issues, and short playtime for a full price game. If Metro 2033’s slogan is to be believed, we probably should fear the future – it will be short.
Interesting story – on the first run through • Strange balancing issues • Graphical glitches • Short game time WAREZ-BB.ORG \ theSCENE \ 56
Author: Warez Calum
GAME REVIEW
THE
Football Manager series was first launched in 1992, originally as Championship Manager. Unfortunately, due to partnership difficulties, the two controlling companies parted ways, Eidos Interactive (original owners) keeping the brand whilst Sports Interactive were forced to find a new name. A new age of football management was produced - Football Manager. Its debut game landed on the PC in November 2005, making rapid progress compared to its competition. As years go by, the game simply stands out from other management games; every year that passes contributes to a better and more beautiful game. I have yet to try out Football Manager 2010 on the computer, however when I first heard that Sports Interactive was creating a portable version for the iPod (for me, the iPod touch) I knew I had to get it. Allowing yourself to take on the role as Manager to your favoured team and to then participate in different leagues, tournaments and other events has always been a personal favourite of mine. Football Manager keeps this system updated, fresh, and most importantly it always improves every year (or at least so far).
“Still, Football Manager Handheld 2010 manages to avoid major problems and successfully delivers an entertaining and long lasting game.” Football Manager Handheld 2010 reminds me of when I used to play the game on my old computer back in 2005. Considering the iPod version is pretty light, it keeps the game both simple and entertaining. Obviously there are different aspects of the PC game that aren’t included in the iPod version; for example you cannot click on players names/club names in your news as they 57 \ theSCENE \ WAREZ-BB.ORG
Design: Papichoolo
have removed hyperlinks to reduce size and performance. The option of watching commentary or highlights in a match is still available in this version. However, I find myself going back to my old school Football Manager roots and ignoring the highlights - that’s right, I sit there and watch lines of commentary. In case you are not ‘user friendly’ with Football Manager, highlights are shown in an overhead view of the pitch, players are portrayed as small circle symbols representing both their team and team number. My emotions tend to run wild when playing this game. In important games you may even hear me chanting or screaming when my team (Chelsea) scores, other times I will frisbee my iPod across the room in anger (How can I lose against Stoke?). I can beat Man United 3-0 and Arsenal 2-0, but when it comes to Stoke and Portsmouth I lose 1-0. Great. Game functionality has been constructed fairly lightly, although moving about different menus is extremely simple and I have really grown to enjoy it. Team funding I found to be a bit strange. I felt that some teams I chose had incorrect funding, and the majority of the teams I tried had less money to spend on players then what they realistically have. Game tactics and formations have been created very basically too- not a lot of freedom of choice, especially when it comes to the tactics. Still, Football Manager Handheld 2010 manages to avoid major problems and successfully delivers an entertaining and long lasting game. Through its simple database, cut down rosters and narrow choice selection of team options, the incredible small sized iPod application manages to push through its limited capabilities and still provide users with portable football management. Hopefully they will continue with the iPod saga with Football Manager 2011, and hopefully then I will beat Stoke. Tech & Games
theSCENE Thank you for reading theSCENE issue 22. We look forward to seeing you again next time!