Olympus has Fallen

I've been following the production of this movie for a little while now and I just arrived home after seeing it. It seemed to me like it was going to be a flashy, blockbuster-esque sort of flick where you turn off your brain and enjoy. Surprisingly, the movie wasn't quite what I was expecting.

It was actually quite grounded in reality. I didn't have a hard time suspending my disbelief because I never really had to. The only part that could probably raise speculation is the first action sequence, the siege on the White House, which serves as 'the big action scene.' It's got a bunch of flashy CG, a bunch of explosions and a bunch of death/destruction yadda, yadda. It's a pretty cool scene, but some people will undoubtably berate the film for being unrealistic in the ten minutes or so that it lasts.

Surprisingly, subsequent to that, the rest of the movie's action is quite tame. Gerard Butler goes around stealthily kicking ass with hand-to-hand combat, one terrorist at a time. The movie has itself an R rating, which is deserved. Fortunately, it's not one of those R action movies that throws in senseless violence, language and sex just to attain the rating; the violence in this movie is realistic and necessary. There's a disturbing scene where a woman is executed that effectively captures the grittiness of a terrorist situation and reminds the audience that this ain't no G.I. Joe: Retaliation and we're not fucking around. The film is successful in being suspenseful, rather than relying on cheap special effects, which did happen occasionally but mainly just in that one action scene. Unfortunately, some of it looked pretty bad, specifically the one shot where they throw the flag off of the White House. Y'know, that shot that made all of the posters?

But back to Gerard Butler, who is the main character as well as the co-producer. I'm quite fond of him after seeing his role in Law Abiding Citizen which is one of the best screen performances of the previous decade and in this he gives his usual job which is strong and believable. Needless to say, not even close to being on par with Law Abiding Citizen, but here it's not so much an emotional role as it was before, so it's not a fair comparison. The rest of the cast is strong too. No complaints as far as the casting goes.

The movie succeeded in investing me in the characters. It wasn't long before I genuinely wanted to see the good guys win and the bad guys lose, which is probably the most essential part of any film. If I can't get behind the characters, I'm not going to enjoy the movie, it's as simple as that.

While I'm on the subject, I did like the villains in this movie. They were North Koreans, which intrigued me, personally, because I've been heavily following North Korean politics for a lot of years now and it's a topic that piques my interest. But again, this film's bad guys are fun to hate.

After the disappointment of A Good Day to Die Hard, this movie is a breath of fresh air. Matter of fact, I'd say that this movie is more deserving of a spot in the Die-Hard franchise than it's most recent installment. It's clear throughout the film that it's very inspired, there are several nods to the first Die-Hard in particular that I'm guessing were quite intentional. I half-expected Butler to shout "Yippie ki yay!" in one scene (Spoiler! He didn't!).

So, overall, a good action film that slightly exceeded initial expectations. I enjoyed it. Matter of fact, I'll watch it again when it releases on home video.

8/10 - Above average action flick.

Changing Tastes

I think most people would say that they haven't always liked the same genre of music they're entire life. We have transitions through our preferences, they never really stay the same. That being said, it's rare for taste to pull a complete 180. Generally it's specific albums or artists that guide the listener through their phases.

The same goes for me. I've said before that I fancy myself an elitist metal fan. I try not to be; I try to be open to other genres, but I often just can't adapt; I like to stick close to my music. And by stick close, I mean if I go more than a few days without listening to my music, it'll have adverse effects on my mood. Really, I actually put that to the test once ( I was in a pretty shitty mood after the third day).

What can I say? I love music and even despite my elitism, I have not always been a full-on metal fan. Only for the past seven years or so. I've decided to talk about the three albums that got me into metal and thus, where I am today. I'll order them according to how much they influenced me.

Killswitch Engage - As Daylight Dies

This is an album that has diminished in my eyes slightly over the years, but only because my personal taste changed, it's still a great album from beginning to end. Every single song is solid. Great complicated and light guitars and very unique sounding clean vocals. It's metalcore, sure, but it remains as a great album to blast at full volume, especially when My Curse rolls around.

I listened to this album so many times that had every riff memorized. Great stuff. While I did like the following album, End of Heartache, I don't think it truly topped As Daylight Dies and I know I'm probably alone in that opinion, but hell, my opinion is my own.

In Flames - Come Clarity

Here's one that the elitists on forums wouldn't scold me for listening to. Interestingly, the only reason I ever found this band was because I liked the artwork and clicked on it while browsing music on Youtube all those years ago. Everyone can agree, In Flames is one of the greatest metal bands to grace the ears of mankind and Come Clarity is their indisputable best work. Some people prefer their earlier stuff, but to me, it's a no brainer. It has to be Come Clarity. Every single song is distinguished and exceptional.

The tunes are melodic and complex, the vocals are, again, quite unique as is the screaming. This is an album that I still cherish. It's certainly nothing short of a "God-tier" album.

Demon Hunter - The Triptych

This was an album that I found on the shelf of a record and CD store and the album artwork was so rad that I had no choice but to purchase it right then and there. I was blown away by this album. It was probably the first real metal I had taken the time to listen to. I was already dabbling in the areas of hard rock like Godsmack, but was ultimately bored by the genre. This album opened my eyes.

At first, I was utterly mystified by the album title, The Triptych. I did some research on this topic and found that a triptych is piece of art that features three panels next to each other. That didn't really help much until I finally realized that this album had alternate artworks.

And if that weren't enough...

The last one puts all three together. Spiders, snakes and crows. It's some amazing artwork that was done just for this one album. When I eventually started looking at their other albums, I found that every single one was like this, with the same logo but with a different design and no words anywhere. I thought and still think that that's really cool. I also discovered during my exploration of their discography that as amazing as I thought The Triptych was,  it's actually one of the weaker albums this band has put out. So, fuck it, what I'm getting at here is that Demon Hunter is an amazing band and may actually be of my favorite band of all time. Maybe.

Well, that's all I have to say on the subject. Try thinking about this yourself; what albums got you to where you are today? Not like anyone actually comments on anything here, but I'd love to hear about it if you feel like sharing.

Dead Snow

What makes a good zombie movie? Most of the time, I'll walk away from this type of movie feeling it was a solid meh. A good zombie movie has to either be doing something really unique and different and/or be backed up by and very solid cast. Everyone seems surprised that I don't watch The Walking Dead. Well, that's why, the cast is terrible in that show. Let's be honest, the plot-line of a zombie apocalypse is not very interesting in of itself. It has to focus on the trials the characters have to overcome inside and out. So, where does the movie Dead Snow fit into this? Well, it doesn't. Remember that and/or statement back up there? Well, Dead Snow falls into the former of those two. It's fucking different.

The Norwegian film, Dead Snow, effectively shook up the western audience in 2009 after it's mild success in it's country of origin. I think it goes without saying for any film that depicts half of a severed head on the ground right on the poster, that it's balls to the wall, blood and gory-guts and this movie has no shortage of the good stuff.

No, sir.

This movie is a wet dream of badassery. A bunch of assholes go off into the mountains and Nazi zombies commence fucking their shit up. What else do you need to know and furthermore, how can you go wrong? This movie has it all from hanging off of a cliff by a line of intestines and fist fighting a zombie at the same time, to snowmobiles with mounted machine-guns, to improvisational chainsaw weaponry. It's definitely the sort of movie where you're expected to turn your brain off and just let it happen and people often forget that and critique the shit out of movies like this which is all wrong, it's just a drive in, grindhouse. With that kind of film, there really isn't much that can be said about it without talking about individual moments. It's just a movie about Nazi zombies in the cold, secluded peaks of Norway.

Red shows up nicely on white

So, gather some friends, find this movie, sit back and enjoy. It's one hell of a ride and I'd highly recommend it to any zombie fan.

7.5/10 - Check it out

Double Standards

The perceptions and standards of different forms of media

Can you remember all the way back to two and a half weeks ago when I posted about Mass Effect 2? I had briefly talked about how the sex scenes in that game were considerably less explicit than in the first game. This was because somewhere during the three year interval between the games, the first had come under fire from the media which was claiming that the game should be banned due to it's "graphic depictions of sex, nudity and sodomy." One blogger, Kevin McCullough, said about it,
"Mass Effect can be customized to sodomize whatever, whomever, however, the game player wishes," and "with it's 'over the net' capabilities, virtual orgasmic rape is just the push of a button away."

Now, obviously, this is a load of bullshit. After the media had been met with outrage from the fanbase and the devs, they retracted their statements. It turned out (not surprisingly) that not one of these accusers had ever once played the actual game. When they were shown the footage, one of them, an author named Cooper Lawrence, stated that she "has seen episodes of Lost that are most sexually explicit."

So, why the uproar over something that a public channel rated for ages 14 and up could get away with? Mass Effect is rated M for Mature. As the "Mature" part implies, it expects it's audience to actually be mature. But what that rating means, is that the content in the game is not appropriate for gamers under the age of 17. Keep in mind that that rating is equal to the film rating, R. Furthermore, Mass Effect is a video game. The characters, and anything, depicted within the game is digitally rendered, AKA not real people. Now, it's true that animating technology is quite amazing these days. We've come a long way from...

Yeah

But that still doesn't excuse the brazen disparity in treatment between the two mediums. Why does the media hold the video game to a different standard? No one ever had an aneurism over the sex or other such graphic content on TV or in the movies; parents bitch about it every so often, but there's generally not a huge upheaval.

The true issue at work here is simply a double-standard and in this case, it happened because something is defying a preconceived notion which, conscious or not, is deeply-held. Someone got word that Mass Effect had some sexual content and ran with it, probably sensationalizing it somewhat and everyone freaked out.

Trust me, if these games were half as graphic as people claim, they'd be much more successful.

So, where is the conflict here? It comes down to the fact that the older generation, the one making all of these accusations, grew up in a time where their kid's games looked like some obscure little bricks and you had to use your imagination. Games were generally aimed at a young audience and the content of those games reflected that. Over the years, as games became more advanced, they could flesh out and try to reach older generations as well. Nowadays, games have the power to shoot for any audience, there's no taboo on an M rated game, but despite this, the generation that knew the first games still holds that image in their mind. They unconsciously expect games to still be for kids. Therefore, the idea of explicit content seems abhorrant.

It begs the question, if the older generation can't handle some sex, but the younger one can and can just move on with their life, which is the more mature?

Behold, the most explicit frame in the entire trilogy.

This doesn't apply just to the realm of video games, although that is one area where it may be the most prevalent. Another area that a censure is held is anime. It's quite true that these days, anime has much more freedom than it did. There are plenty of no-barred, TV-MA shows that you can find.

Fucking ahem

Of course, it wasn't always this way. Back in the 80's, Dragonball Z had first came to the states. The infamous Canadian crew, Ocean, was responsible for the atrocious original english translation and dub of the show. Considerably less admonished, but still prevalent, is the horrible censorship of it; my personal favorite example is in one of the movies, Bardock's entire squadron was murdered by traitors and all he has to say is, "Those... meatheads!"

The older generation at that point was familiar with children's cartoons. The thought of having an animated show aimed at adults seemed silly. In other places, namely Japan, the medium had already reached an older audience, so shows like Dragonball Z were designed accordingly. If you've ever seen DBZ subbed, then you know that just about every other word is "damn". Regardless, the American culture refused to recognize that and the script was rewritten and scenes were cut to accomodate the young audience.

Now, I'm not condemning children's cartoons. Over time, people were slowly able to adapt to the idea of having a sophisticated and mature anime. It took anime a very long time for it to be taken seriously in the western hemisphere and it still isn't truly respected; most people assume it's all powering up and screaming, ignorant of shows like Eden of the East or Death Note.

On that note, this sort of standard is not simply for violence and sex, it also applies in the plot. Video games are at a point where they're finally starting to be taken seriously. That's why games like Heavy Rain can even be made.

That's a very high-brow and adult game. Games have come very far from charming fantasies like Mario or Zelda. Now, those games are great, no one disputes that. They're kids games but can be enjoyed by any age group. This generation of gaming is significant because it's debatably the first where sophisticated games like Heavy Rain and Mass Effect, that are geared towards a mature adult audience, can also see commercial success.

So, is this standard exclusive to anime and video games? No. It applies to cinema as well only in this case it's in reverse. In the modern day, movies are generally rather grounded in reality. Even the ones that aren't, the science fiction and fantasy, moviegoers have a hard time suspending their disbelief. They'll endlessly nitpick at films that have even trivial "mistakes" such as an unrealistic moment. Movies like Godzilla are unwatchable to a western audience; they just can't let themselves enjoy it. It's great to see that movies today can be as intellectual as they are, but it seems that you can never have both ends of the spectrum.

What could be done to refine the gaming standards? Making more games like Mass Effect and Heavy Rain. Over time, the generations will change, and the ones who are familiar with games such as this, will be used to the idea of a mature game and no one will freak out over trivial things like they did with Mass Effect.

Am I saying that all games should be full of violence and sex? No. Am I saying that all movies should be dumbed down? No. I just hate the idea of any medium being limited due to any sort of established precept. You shouldn't have to be forced to restrain a story based on some set of unwritten parameters. These mediums are often about expression. I'm not begrudging those "rules" because I want to see more graphic alien porn. The bigger picture is about the freedom. Throughout history, things like art and literature have been shunned due to this sort of conduct. It's unfortunate that similar things happen today. It's the kind of thing that can only be changed over time.

Mass Effect 3

Damn...

Occasionally, I won't follow a game series at all. I'll know next to nothing about them, maybe I hear a few people chatting about it, it pops up in forums periodically, but ultimately, I lose track of it. But then I turn around a few years later and

This shit happens.

It becomes an extraordinary trilogy of epic proportions, with a badass tagline like "TAKE EARTH BACK", and I'm always like, "How the fuck did I miss out on this?"

That's precisely how I felt when I first saw that trailer. I knew of Mass Effect, but I didn't know much about it. I deeply regret not getting into it sooner. Over the short time I've been playing Mass Effect, it already means a lot to me. It's all I do with most of my free time (besides writing the reviews for my devoted readers), my friends hate me because it's all I talk about... y'know, standard addiction stuff.

Mass Effect 3 was an exhilarating blockbuster of gaming. Everything that was great from the previous titles came together and was polished to perfection. From beginning to end, it's a high-staked, action-packed blast.

The game starts off on Earth for the first time. Right in the first cutscene, the shit hits the fan and the Reapers attack Earth. As Shepard reluctantly flees the dying planet, you see a kid climb into an escape shuttle that is immediately shot down and ignites into a fiery explosion, letting you know right off that this installment is not going to be a blissful, deep-space romp. It's gloomy, it's dark, it's doomy. I don't think it's any real spoiler to say that a lot of people die, both the unnamed and the named. It's a much more emotional game than the others which is, I think, where this game excels beyond most. Most games are about the action and yadda yadda, but I can't think of a game of this type that's as emotionally driven as it is. It makes you feel for what's going on and actually drives you to form a veritable hatred toward the Reapers, which then only further heightens the emotions. After following these characters for 50+ hours, you start to really care about them and want to see them live which makes it all the more painful to see them die. I dove through the story, not desperate for the gunplay but to find out what would happen next.

One of my favorite things about this game is the sound. Playing this game warrants the use of a surround-sound, badass stereo-system. The sound effects are amazing. Bullets cut the air and whizz by, spaceships blast into hyperspeed like never before and Reapers produce an earth-shuddering rumble.
And speaking of which, the fully-orchestrated score in this game is immaculate and perfectly heightens the action as well as reminding you of the dark and emotional undertone. My favorite piece being the one that plays as you helplessly watch the Reapers ravage your home-world.

See this for reference.


It all makes for one hell of a cinematic and gripping experience which is hard to describe until you're playing it yourself.

And yes, the game is as badass as all of this promotional artwork.

The cutscenes are as great as ever, but the coolest thing about them is that every cutscene flows seamlessly with the gameplay. Never is there a loading transition. It's somewhat amazing. I can't think of many other games that are like that, and it doesn't break up the tension nor does it the combat.
And speaking of the combat...

It's fucking incredible in this game. The battles feel so much closer than they ever did. Diving out of the way of incoming brutes is enough to get your adrenaline going.

Severe amounts of pain in 3...2...

The combat just flows so well. The gunplay is tuned up and perfected. It doesn't feel like I'm sporadically flinging bullets towards my enemies, but rather like I'm taking my targets down with precision and tactics. I also love the addition of the "heavy melee" which is just plain radical. Plus, you can finally curb stomp those fucking Husks.

Do you have any idea how long I've ben waiting to do that?

Unlike the previous installment, this one succeeds at changing up combat more effectively with levels that have intermittent shockwaves exploding down the hallways or ones with giant flashing lights that obscure the battlefield every few seconds. It's awesome and it keeps the game from feeling repetitive. As for the Reaper fights...

Holy. Fucking. Shit.
I can honestly say that the one on one Reapers battles were among the best moments in gaming I've experienced over the course of this generation. Frantically rolling out of the way of massive blasts that annihilate anything it touches as the behemoth utters it's haunting groans. These battles are of apocalyptic proportions. I was on the edge of my seat, completely wired during each encounter.

As far as technical shit goes, for one, the graphics are phenomenal. The controls feel better than the previous installments, taking cover isn't finicky as it would sometimes be in the others. The navigation is improved again from the second one. When I was first using it in this, I thought it made it almost too easy, but I think it works very well, overall. Also, the maps are easier to read too. As well as labeling every area, it also lists significant characters under each area's name. That way, you spend little time combing the area, trying to find that one guy that you want to speak with or forgot the location of.
Not to mention, this game has one thing that every RPG should have: a hot-keyed save feature. All you have to do is hit the back button and 'ping!' game saved. It's interesting because I saw that exact idea printed in a Game Informer article awhile back in a list of "Things Every Game Should Have". I guess someone was actually taking notes.
I generally had little frustration upon death. For the most part, I felt like I deserved it whenever I died, not like I was cheated by some bullshit mechanic or glitch which tends to be the case frequently in other games.
Speaking of glitches, in my experience, I found that this game was surprisingly devoid of them. Not once did I see so much as a clipping limb. That's pretty impressive for a game on this scale. I can stomach the graphical issues, but the ones that involve losing significant amounts of save data...

>mfw

Not surprisingly, the characters aren't elaborated on much in this game. That's generally expected of a third installment in a trilogy. The first is where they're all introduced. the second is where all of the character development takes place and the third is where all of the action goes down.
I didn't see every character from the last game reappear, but that was probably due to something I missed on this play-through... oh well, there's always next time.
Something that is pretty nifty in this game is the dialogue that happens between the characters that actually exclude Shepard. Rather than just stick to their respective posts all of the time, characters will venture about the Normandy and there are plenty of times where you can walk in on a conversation and just listen to it play out. These interactions range from hilarious to dead serious and are not limited to just the normandy, it occurs during combat as well.
One of the most poignant moments in the game is right before you start the final suicide mission. Rather than just the usual "it was an honor" sort of thing, each character gives a unique speech, my favorite of these being the one from Garrus ("Meet me in the bar"). Again, this is only effective in even the most remote way if you're invested in the characters, which, after playing through all three games, I don't see not happening. To invoke that sort of feeling can only be done by master writing which is backed up by what's among of the most solid cast I've ever seen in a video game that improved with every succeeding game.

So, is there anything I disliked about this game or is this just some sort of overselling of it because I just picked up a new sponsor? Well, there were a few nit-picky things that I didn't like, but they're almost not worth mentioning. But, hey, since you've read this far, you probably care at least a little, so I'll speak my mind.
I found that when I imported my female character from ME2 she looked pretty weird. I have no idea why that is, but she looked quite different from the face I'd gotten used to over the course of the first and second game. The game gives you the opportunity to touch it up, but I wasn't able to get it to look quite right. This was only a one time issue though, my male character looked fine.

And in case you were wondering, she had sex with this.

Probably the only real complaint I have is that the game takes too much narrative away from the player. In the other games, Shepard very rarely spoke without first being orchestrated by the player to tweak the conversation in certain directions and shape your attitude. In this one, it's much more limited. I guess the game assumes things based on the personality you've already established, but I'd prefer to have total control like before.

The Ending

Ah, yes. The highly controversial conclusion to the franchise. Do you really want to know what I thought about it?

Satisfying.

Yep.

Not giving anything away here, but you can all suck my dick because I thought the ending was fine just the way it was. I'll admit it was somewhat disappointing not fighting Harbinger, but the fanbase went way fucking overboard with the hate for it which morphed into pure antipathy. I think it stemmed mostly from over-analyzation, which is when plot holes can emerge and then from there, it just became a trend (like people that hate Twilight). I suppose I may have felt different had I been following the coverage of Mass Effect 3 before it was out and seeing all of the promises, but I didn't because I wasn't into it back then and thus, my opinion is my own.

I didn't necessarily like the ending, but I approved of it and, honestly, if I'd never heard anything about how much of an inhumanity to man it was, I never would've thought twice about it.

Besides, I was far too wrapped up in the exhilaration of the last act and excitement on completing the trilogy to care. I was practically shaking as I walked up to the terminal.
I looked around on the internet to try and understand what it was that was so abhorred because when I beat it, I honestly had no idea what the issue was. Much of what I found was pleb; either over-analyzation or just nit-picky, like, "Well, I didn't like it!"

As for people bitch that it didn't have enough closure, I say fuck you. Too much closure demystifies it. It'd be like if at the end credits of Inception they just showed the top fall over. Moreover, these same people were also saying that the ending demystifies the Reapers mythology too much. So, please make up your mind before you open your mouth.

Furthermore, an Extended Version DLC and one exact year later, this issue is somewhat dead and no one seems to care anymore, which stands to reason that it was indeed an overreaction.

All in all, this game is a masterpiece and the fact that I've got the thesaurus open here, looking for synonyms for "amazing" is testament to this. Any complaints in this game I could voice are inconsequential and are overridden by the greatness of everything else in it. Bioware really went all out on this game and it shows. Games don't get much closer to perfection than this. Well done. This is one of the best games to come out on this generation and I'm kicking myself for not getting it sooner.

10/Fucking 10 - Just about flawless

I'm going to take a moment here to reflect on the trilogy as a whole, considering how tightly wound they all are and I'll grade it accordingly.

Mass Effect is essentially the fusion of already well-loved genres such as shooters or RPGs. It takes the best of other genres and combines them to achieve perfection. If that's not enough, throw in fantastic writing and some of the most likable and believable characters in gaming.

These games go above and beyond and stand to represent everything that a game can be. It's an intelligent and heavily story-driven plot that could be used to silence any allegation claiming that video games are all violent, murder-fests.

Games that are done similarly are few and far between, but I tend to prefer them immensely  I've always been partial towards games where the plot comes first and the gaming, second and Mass Effect is just that. Games of this caliber are always classier and more memorable as it's story-lines stick with us and we become emotionally invested in it rather than just wired in, wasting some aliens, which, don't get me wrong, I'm fine with, but those generally lack a lasting impression.
Bioware never decided that what they had was "good enough." They knew there was always room for improvement and didn't play it safe by sticking to what they know works. It comes off as being a game that exists for no other reason but to communicate a compelling story, not just so someone could get rich, which is amazing considering they're now owned by EA.

Where did we go wrong?

So while people on the internet will be whining about how they "deserved" a better ending, I will give Bioware a sincere thank you for giving me one of the most memorable gaming experiences of this generation. Mass Effect is a monument of gaming, through and through.
Now, if you'll excuse me, there are some Reapers who require my bullets.

10/10 - Would put high on a list of best games this gen