Yesterday I watched Iron Man 2 with a good friend of mine, and only a day later, after chewing over the film a bit more, we both (separately, mind you) arrived at the same conclusion: The more we thought about it, the less we liked the sequel. For me, if a movie doesn’t sit quite well, and I can’t figure out straight away my impression, then I maybe need to sleep on it or drink some coffee or take a shower and think about it. Other times, the very act of writing helps me figure out what I like and don’t like about a movie or comic or video game, et cetera.

My point is, if you weren’t gushing over Iron Man 2 and you can’t figure out exactly why, maybe a line or two of my review with strike a chord:

Two years ago, Robert Downey Jr. charmed audiences with Tony Stark’s smarmy playboy attitude. Jeez, we’re chumps for assholes, as long as those assholes look good wearing Jaeger-LeCoultre and several flirtatious women. If he hadn’t endured months of terrorist torture, developed a knack for responsibility and peace and other heartwarming attributes, and came within minutes of dying horribly, Stark would have gleefully trampled egos like bubble wrap for the entire movie. Thank God those terrorists nurtured some character in him, right? Screenwriter Justin Theroux mulled over these various elements and decided that the “dying horribly” part was most endearing of all because that’s what he ran with for the popular movie’s sequel. And ran … and ran.

Read the full review now at RadNerd.

Another thing: I was just having a conversation about Mickey Rourke the other day. Supposedly he was damn good looking in his younger days, but drugs, wrestling, plastic surgery, and other fun activities zapped all the physical magnetism right out of him. But hey, everything has a silver lining, right? Now he gets to portray fucked-up Russian villains. And man, does he know his fucked-up Russians.

Rourke and Kim Basinger, who both starred in Nine 1/2 Weeks (1986)

]]> http://whatistechnoagain.com/reviews/iron-man-2-hes-good-for-peace-consulting/feed/ 0 http://whatistechnoagain.com/gaming/reminiscing-with-a-couple-of-grenades-and-majinis-new-resident-evil-5-dlc-reviewed/ http://whatistechnoagain.com/gaming/reminiscing-with-a-couple-of-grenades-and-majinis-new-resident-evil-5-dlc-reviewed/#comments Thu, 11 Mar 2010 18:30:13 +0000 WITA http://whatistechnoagain.com/?p=2476

Want more Resident Evil 5 content? Unless you plan on diving into co-op mode, I couldn’t possibly understand why, but hey, more power to you. Just don’t let the year that flew past us distract you from the game’s original flaws, because they stick to the two DLCs recently released.

Find out what “Lost in Nightmares” and “Desperate Escape” have to offer in this RadNerd review.

Hey, remember the days when Chris Redfield and his sassy BSAA partner, Sheva Alomar, crunched those mean ol’ Majinis side by side? I can still smell the blood rusting on the chainsaws, feel the Reapers using my guts as Play-Doh, and hear Sheva’s incessant nonsense about needing more ammo. Not to mention all the cheesy love and hugs (and, erm, Wesker drama) that hitched a ride with frustrating QTAs hogging the steering wheel. My brain can replay all that action as if it were yesterday … maybe because it practically was yesterday. Okay, a year does not equate to the concept known as “yesterday,” but Resident Evil 5 is managing against any non-masochistic odds to surf its fairly sized, “racist” wave of cheap tricks. I mean, did we all just forget how much the AI’s moronic antics bothered us or how much misery the final boss sequence caused us? Oohh, yes. Now the pain smacks you in the face.

If you’re a Fraggle fan like Heather White, you’ll probably enjoy this interview I conducted with her regarding the upcoming Fraggle Rock comic series from Archaia. It’s full of good stuff, including her all-time favorite Fraggle. Check it out over at RadNerd!

Muppets and rock. Whoever conceived that match (Jim Henson) certainly knocked some socks off, and now Archaia Comics has adopted the one-two Talking Puppets punch.

I sat down with writer Heather White, who enthusiastically answered my pressing questions about translating the musical television show to the page. As we chat about the comic itself, Heather touches upon the Henson Company, gives the book’s other collaborators their dues, and discusses what Fraggle familiars and n00bs alike can generally expect from this all-ages medley. You might find that the switch from show to comic is a little more sensible than you might presume.

If you haven’t heard, Asimov fans, there are plans for a 3-D, motion-capture Foundation movie in-the-works. Few details have surfaced as of now, but you can read news of the director, co-producer, and script writer over at RadNerd:

This discussion somehow slipped through my sci-fi clutch, but Roland Emmerich will be directing a three-in-one film adaptation of The Foundation Trilogy, written by science fiction slash professional robot overlord, Isaac Asimov. Under Columbia Pictures’ banner, Michael Wimer (2012 and 10,000 B.C.) joins Emmerich as co-producer.

Good or bad idea? Does Foundation sail for you, or should they be adapting a different Asimov work?

Dark Horse recently passed along A Wind Named Amnesia/Invader Summer, two excellent novellas rolled into one pretty little book. Vampire Hunter D fans will want to grab this one, as it’s written by the series’ creator. Those unfamiliar with Kikuchi’s work will definitely enjoy the two stories, as well.

Most books and comics never make it out of their papery, multi-colored form or burst out of their speech bubbles, and that’s okay—we nerds like ’em just the way they are. Here at RadNerd, we don’t always need fancy pants movie adaptations endorsed by big budget Hollywood mouths or plastered with Nicholas Cage’s face. A little less Nick is good for everyone. We love movies and TV just as much as the next joe, but sometimes going back to to the roots of what we adore just sounds better. You know … all those crazy words and stuff. Letters are like atoms for the literately-inclined.

Vampire Hunter D writer Hideyuki Kikuchi unleashes a science-fiction double feature with the new A Wind Named Amnesia/Invader Summer book. The merry folks of Dark Horse Comics pack two novellas into one paperback collection featuring the sporadic black and white illustrations of Yoshitaka Amano. You can now swipe the English translation and enjoy a refreshing culture switch.

Read the rest at RadNerd.com.

My first Reel Rewind article at RadNerd examined Funny Games, a 2008 film by Michael Haneke. Now Danny Boyle’s Sunshine graces my television screen, a movie I’ve briefly discussed at my old blog. You can view my latest recommendation here.

We all fall prey to the same popcorn-stained habit every once and awhile. We pop in an old favorite or discover a gem that originally eluded us. And while Netflix queues everywhere continue to grow with movies fresh out of the microwaved bag, pausing to explore flicks from years past shouldn’t be a shunned endeavor just because it’s not the latest and greatest on the silver screen. If you’re on the same wavelength, then welcome to RadNerd’s new Reel Rewind movie review feature, brought to you by a whim and the sweet smell of nostalgia.

WARNING: SPOILERS!

Sunshine, which cast its rays on 2007, often struggles under unappreciative response and critical confusion. Simply put, the film could use more love. Danny Boyle (Slumdog Millionaire) directs a visually momentous work in which Earth’s future astronauts, on board the Icarus II, must successfully deliver a payload to our dying sun. The future allows from some comfortable luxuries, such as cooking in space and therapeutic virtual reality rooms. Cruising on solar power and breathing enough oxygen to support the return trip, the crew expects few hindrances besides possible malfunction of the lone payload. Of course, the fate of the previous Icarus fleet remains unknown, and like all science-fiction movies occurring in the inky expanse of space, our merry astronauts aren’t alone in the universe. Chances are, though, you won’t suspect the enemy. Although the film accomplishes impressive visual feats and provides a superhuman aberration, the real strength can’t be found “on the surface of the sun,” as Cassie (Rose Byrne) muses, but within the characters’ souls.

What upcoming games are you eagerly awaiting? Over at RadNerd Beau Ryan and I discuss some of our most wanted 2010 titles, including a few I’ve already covered here on the blog (like 3D Dot Game Heroes, for instance). Click the link or above image to access the feature!

If we missed something good, let us know which games should have made the list. Cheers!

Another year of gaming has rocketed through our memories, dropping new favorites at our feet. Batman: Arkham Asylum brought fans and wary newcomers together in an action-packed, stealthy tour; the smash hit Street Fighter IV echoed the sound of button mashing world-wide; the addictive RPG Demon’s Souls watched proudly, a tear glistening in its pixeled eye, as we coursed toward certain doom. Many games inspired us and woke our systems from the slumber induced by less promising titles, but what cards is 2010 playing close to the chest this winter/spring? Here are a few titles we can’t wait to test run.

Somehow when I posted this article on RadNerd last Friday, I forgot to update my blog with the news! D’oh! Anyway, here’s a toast to my new Reel Rewind, which looks back upon year-plus old movies and reevaluates their worth. Funny Games premieres the ongoing (and occasional) feature, so I hope you enjoy it. And if you end up watching the movie (or have already), let me know what you think!

We all fall prey to the same popcorn-stained habit every once and awhile. We pop in an old favorite or discover a gem that originally eluded us. And while Netflix queues everywhere continue to grow with movies fresh out of the microwaved bag, pausing to explore flicks from years past shouldn’t be a shunned endeavor just because it’s not the latest and greatest on the silver screen. If you’re on the same wavelength, then welcome to RadNerd’s new Reel Rewind movie review feature, brought to you by a whim and the sweet smell of nostalgia.

Warning: SPOILERS!

First up in our DVD tray is Funny Games, a shot-by-shot remake of the 1997 original also written and directed by Michael Haneke (special thanks to a friend of mine for loaning me it). Simply put, it’s a thriller, but it does something a lot of other thrillers are too submerged in their own adrenaline rush to consider. The film savors every tear-enriched second, beating the reader to an uncomfortable pulp. There are scenes that quite purposefully drag on, but even in the deadest moments we’re kept on the edge of our seat as if we’re bound, gagged, and maimed just like the central family. Of course, that’s exactly what Funny Games hopes to achieve. Let’s take a step back.

I almost skipped my RadNerd post this week because of time constraints, but I managed to find something to write about. The topic calls for discussion, so I hope to see your comments there!

Video games and comics afford enough boundless entertainment for me to personally dub them American pastimes—even if they’re not exclusively americano. Sorry, baseball. So naturally, when I opened an email regarding Image Comics’ creator-owned G-Man comic and noticed the phrase “video games” had wormed its way in there somehow, I might have drooled a little on my keyboard. With Scott Pilgrim undergoing the intensive pixel treatment (and a movie … well, look at that), I was eager to glimpse what Mini Marvels inventor Chris Giarrusso could serve fans of both mediums.

Much to my surprise, the cartoonist had already been dipping into the flash-driven world of 8-bit mock-ups. The latest “Escape from Dark Forest,” a supplement to G-Man: Cape Crisis #4, emulates the classic Pac-Man arcade game, but others such as “Cape Crisis” follow the trend ofBreakout and Arkanoid.

Another Bleepin’ Blips article is on the front page of RadNerd—and this time it deals with none other than Final Fantasy. But what’s not to like about Final Fantasy, you ask? Just hop on over to RN and find out, and leave a comment under the tree! I want to know what you think!

Happy holidays! Drink lots of special eggnog!

Do you suffer from uncontrollable, bleepin’ rage at something in the gaming industry? Have you smashed TVs by flinging controllers, or made your thumbs bleed with all that unrewarded determination and mad skillz you’ve been dishing out? Here at RadNerd, we feel your pain. Literally. This new ongoing feature will channel our anger in a healthy way … we hope.

Fans of the runaway savior, Final Fantasy, know its golden past with fervor and pride. Given life by Hironobu Sakaguchi, the original RPG was devised to save Square from what looked like inevitable bankruptcy and doom. But gamers loved the shining NES gem—with its Light Warriors and sleeping elf princes and time conundrums—and the rest is … well, history.

Over the years, Final Fantasy has earned a reputation for more than just stellar graphic innovations and remarkable storytelling: It’s also put on its weight in hours. Each installment seems to bring another clock bursting with minutes that shower down upon gamers in pretty little sparkles, dazzling them with expansive worlds, epic battles, and tear-jerking plotlines. But is it becoming too much? Has the scurrying of feisty Chocobos feet swept dust over that line that begs, “Enough is enough?” Should I make like a Cactuar and flee already?

Need one last gift for the holidays? Or maybe you just want to splurge on a little something for yourself? Put your wallet away, because over at RadNerd we’re giving away a copy of Phoenix: The Fall and Rise of Videogames (3rd Edition)—currently but temporarily available in print until the fourth edition hits shelves. It’s a pretty sweet giveaway, endorsed by author Leonard Herman himself. Entering is easy, so head over, take a gander at the contest rules, and leave your witty comment by 12 midnight (PST) this Friday, December 18.

It would be great if you’d spread the word … just make sure your comment is better than your friends’, right?

Most books and comics never make it out of their papery, multi-colored form or burst out of their speech bubbles, and that’s okay—we nerds like ’em just the way they are. Here at RadNerd, we don’t always need fancy pants movie adaptations endorsed by big budget Hollywood mouths or plastered with Nicholas Cage’s face. A little less Nick is good for everyone. We love movies and TV just as much as the next joe, but sometimes going back to to the roots of what we adore just sounds better. You know … all those crazy words and stuff. Letters are like atoms for the literately-inclined.

In a world of high scores and coin-operated frenzy, there’s more than one way to save the history of video games. Our own records of Italian plumbers and barrel-throwing apes began with our first console or handheld, and for writer Leonard Herman, his passion for the pixelated was kindled by a local bowling alley’s Pong machine and an Atari VCS that he took home six years later in 1978. With a trove of cartridges and magazine articles under his belt, Herman can definitely bring the power of video games to the players—one year at a time.

We all know them. Every time the holidays roll around, we have to face them: Friends and family who couldn’t make a candy cane work with their aura. They’re the ones on our lists we save for last, because when it comes to a fitting gift, we’re left clueless.

Over at RadNerd I’ve compiled a holiday guide that’ll satisfy a variety of tastes—from music to video games, comics to manga, gadgets to cooking, fashion to nostalgia, and movies to books and everywhere in between. You’re bound to find a gift for even the pickiest recipient.

Head over to the website to check it out—and don’t forget to pass it along if you see something you fancy, too. The holidays aren’t here quite yet!

More rage than you can shake a stick at! That’s usually the tone of the ongoing Bleepin’ Blips feature over at RadNerd, but this time the rage really was sculpted in a positive way. In fact, you can barely tell it’s there at all … but it is, trust me. I mean, it’s New Super Mario Bros. Wii. Have you played that game?! It’s brutal—war in the disguise of little Italian plumbers and cute, apple-gulping dinosaurs.

Here’s a preview, but you can catch the full article over at RadNerd.

Do you suffer from uncontrollable, bleepin’ rage at something in the gaming industry? Have you smashed TVs by flinging controllers, or made your thumbs bleed with all that unrewarded determination and mad skillz you’ve been dishing out? Here at RadNerd, we feel your pain. Literally. This new ongoing feature will channel our anger in a healthy way … we hope.

New Super Mario Bros. for the motion-sensitive Wii stomped into living rooms, basements, and dorms this past month, inciting enough fun and backstabbiness to make Bowser take a willing dip in steaming lava just to avoid the quips. The game ropes in players by offering them a slice of the co-op pie and then chucking it in a Goomba’s direction at the last moment. Friends can work together to overcome the latest of Bowser’s princess-capturing antics, but more often than not gamers find themselves kicking their allies in the ye ol’ plumbing. The gameplay physics actually encourage such vicious cartoon behavior by causing an instant bounce reaction when one character collides with another and by allowing players to toss their fellow adventurers into an unassuming Koopa.

The holidays are almost upon us, which means sooner or later we procrastinators really need to start, you know, shopping and stuff. December is always a wonderful time of year for gamers—sure, November starts the race … especially on Black Friday … but the real joy comes in the first real snow-flying month (unless you live in California … jerk).

In celebration of our favorite time of year, I thought it would be interesting to take a look back at December sales and landmark events in the past seven years—that’s the entire 21st-century thus far according to the good ol’ Gregorian calendar. So sit back and read on, and I hope you enjoy. The full feature is up at RadNerd, but here’s a brief preview:

Developers, publishers, and gamers put down their controllers and join hands for that special time of the year when they break fingers and rush out in a mad stampede to buy the latest and greatest of the tie-breaking holiday season. The winter holidays are as big and influential for the gaming industry as summer is for popcorn movies, and this season will fall in line just like a pixel-decorated, shining … okay, insert your own politically correct object here. Let’s just say Charlie Brown would weep with joy and throw that stick figure excuse for an ornament-hanger in the trash with all the annually recycled wrapping paper. Here are the top December games of the last seven years—because 2000 doesn’t technically count (and no one loves it).

2001

One year in and the holiday season has a bundle of soon-to-be favorites to offer gamers in exchange for their merry good cheer. Of course, it was also a year of new tidings: the Game Boy Advance, Nintendo GameCube, and Xbox entered the popularly dubbed console war.

PS: I hope you like the banner.

As you can probably tell from the Books section of this blog, I enjoy spotlighting a few books from time to time. It’s definitely an area of my writing that has gone somewhat unfulfilled—comics, video games, and movies receive the bulk of my love and attention writing-wise, but that doesn’t mean I’ve lost heart for a good book. Quite the opposite, actually.

So I’ve decided to try something new. Keep an eye out for Rad Ink, a new ongoing feature over at RadNerd that promises nerdy book reviews. I’m kicking it off with Peter and Max: A Fables Novel by Bill Willingham. Head over to the website to scope out the full review, but here’s a preview:

Most books and comics never make it out of their papery, multi-colored form or burst out of their speech bubbles, and that’s okay—we nerds like ‘em just the way they are. Here at RadNerd, we don’t always need fancy pants movie adaptations endorsed by big budget Hollywood mouths or plastered with Nicholas Cage’s face. A little less Nick is good for everyone. We love movies and TV just as much as the next joe, but sometimes going back to to the roots of what we adore just sounds better. You know … all those crazy words and stuff. Letters are like atoms for the literately-inclined.

Bill Willingham broke that single medium rule by breaking his popular Fables series out of its panel-defined shell, giving the world Peter and Max: A Fables Novel. Yeah, you heard me. Novel. Got it? Good. Screw comic blockbuster, Willingham and his right-hand, illustrating man Steve Leialoha decided to appeal to the bookworm in all of us … or at least try to coax its shriveled body out into daylight again.