Before you get to reading this, there is one thing I ought to let you know.

I am an enormous fan of Transformers.

The first movie? It’s an instant classic. It’s full of campy dialogue and wacky plotholes, and even features songs by plenty of awesome artists.  There’s one of the most shocking moments in cartoon history, and the introduction of new characters was fast and enjoyable. Rodimus Prime? Awesome. Matrix of leadership and Energon cubes? Epic.

Yeah, that’s right. I’m not talking about the 2007 movie. I’m talking about the 1986 movie.

You see, there was a definite charm about the classic 80’s Transformers. Sure, it was cheesy. Sure, the plot was ridiculous. And sure, Optimus Prime didn’t have to state his name that many times. But even so, it was classic. It was childhood. To put it bluntly, had it been an epic explosion filled actionfest, it just wouldn’t have been as memorable.

About a year and a half before the first of the modern Transformers movies, I had heard the news that the series was coming back for more. I was excited. Mostly, I was excited because I had followed the movie’s blog updates as well as the official forums, and for the most part, it looked as though, despite some irritating vehicle changes, it would hold true to the classic 80’s show.

It really didn’t.

But that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It was like a new Transformers for a new generation of youth. And there’s nothing wrong with that. I, as well as the midnight showing theatre crowd I was with, cheered at the line from the original movie, as well as every time Optimus Prime spoke (the same voice, Peter Cullen from the 80’s show, was used). In a sense, it was fun for everyone. New and old alike.

There is still an issue with that, though. Sure, it was catered to an audience of all kinds, but true hardcore classic Transformers fans missed a lot of what made the classic so good. For one, Bumblebee was changed from being a Volkswagen Beetle to being a Camaro. A Camaro? Really? There’s not even a pun in that! Starscream wasn’t nearly as wacky as he was in the show, and barely had any dialogue at all, leaving for no witty Megatron arguments. Optimus Prime wasn’t even a flatfront truck anymore. But probably worst of all, there’s really not much of a war going on between the Autobots and Decepticons. It’s mostly just “Robots are on earth. Let’s take a whole movie to get used to them.” Well, we’re used to them. And we miss the good old days.

Enter Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen.

Essentially, my initial thought when the credits began to roll was that Michael Bay probably said, “You know what? There are a lot of classic fans complaining. I think it’s about time we give them what they want.” And bam. Here it is.

I’ve said to quite a few people now that there’s a distinct difference between the two modern movies. That difference is simply this: The first movie was “Michael Bay presents: Transformers the Movie.” This new one? Well, it’s something more along the lines of “Transformers the Movie.”  The first movie was filled with over the top explosions and lots of yelling and slow motion. It felt like watching generic action movie and, no matter how much I loved it, did not live up to the old movie. This second movie takes as many elements as possible from the ‘86 movie and makes them nice, flashy, and live action for us. In 2009. How stellar.

Energon? It’s there. Matrix of Leadership? It’s there too. Constructicons? You got ‘em. Starscream being awesome again? Sure thing. The most unexpected tragic downfall of all time? Oh yes.

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is basically “Transformers: Fanservice.” Every aspect of the movie held true to fans of the classic. A convoluted plot was present as ever, focusing strongly on the war between the Autobots and Decepticons. The lines spoken by several Transformers were campy and awesome, and helped make the robots seem far more human, much like their cartoon counterparts. Sure, it still had a lot of explosions and ridiculously unnecessary Megan Fox camera angles, but everything is overshadowed by the rest of the movie. For a change, you view the Transformers as the main characters instead of just Sam Witwicky. And that’s just what the series needed.

For a change, I’m not going to do a brief summary in a movie review, but instead will say this: If you’ve seen the 1986 Transformers the Movie, this one is for you. Grew up with it? It’s for you. Perfect. End of line. Rollout.

An initial thought of mine was, “Boy, critics are going to hate this just because it’s so much like the good old show and not enough like the flashy special effects party that was the first one.” I haven’t read any other reviews yet, but I can safely say this: The 2007 Transformers movie was one of the best of the modern action movies. And Revenge of the Fallen is fifty times better. The real issue at hand is that people will likely watch this because they hopped along the bandwagon. Basically, they saw the first and thought “Man that was excellent. I’ve never seen the show before, but that was great, so the sequel must be stellar, too!” Because of that, the classic feel might cause several to be upset that it wasn’t much like the first. Those people are stupid.

Anyway, all the standards of today’s movies are present, so don’t worry. We get some excellent music, wicked special effects, a plot worth paying attention to, fantastic dialogue, and fast-paced fights. The difference between this and others, though? This is Transformers. And it feels like it from start to finish.

In conclusion, I’m sure you can tell I really liked this movie. It was such a treat to see, and I’d love to see it again and again, just like I did with the ‘86 movie. Transformers fans, this one is for you. If you’re not a Transformers fan… Well, I suppose you’ll like it as well. It has all the silliness of the first movie, jokes and special effects and what not, but also does its best to cater to the classic fans. So, I guess you could say this one is for everyone just like the first, but… Well, just give it a watch and you’ll see what I mean. I guess one can argue that the Transformers theme isn’t in the movie, but it feels so much like the classic that it doesn’t even need it. Revenge of the Fallen has “Transformers the Movie (1986)” written all over it. And it doesn’t disappoint.

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen greatly exceeded my expectations. This is exactly what I, as well as any old Transformers fan, could possibly want in a modern Transformers movie. I give it a 4.8 out of 5.0.

The Twisted Tales of Spike McFang is one of my favorite Super Nintendo games. It’s an action RPG starring a vegetarian vampire prince that can cast spells from magic cards and attacks with a cape and floating top hat. I started playing it again and figured that you should check the game out since it’s pretty high on the ‘obscure-game-o-meter’.

QUICK GOOGLE FACT:

The developers of Spike McFang, Red Company, teamed up with Matrix Software, the group behind the DS Final Fantasy remakes, to work on the upcoming DS RPG ‘Nostalgia’, that “hearkens back to the classic RPGs of yesteryear with its unforgettable characters and universal narrative themes” and looks pretty sweet.

Click here to read the rest of this entry »

Hey guys, the 2009 E3 expo starts tomorrow. They’ll probably announce new games and shit, so Geoff and Stephen (and myself), let’s try not to make an excited blog post for each new game they show and keep it to this posts comments section. Treat the comments like a chat/opinions section if you need to. I’ll probably type up my thoughts on some stuff. And once E3 is over I’ll make the comments their own blog post or something.

Also, read Geoff’s superb Up review.

I watched Drag Me To Hell recently. It’s just plain ridiculous. There’s a part where an anvil lands on an old ladies head and her eyeballs pop out of her skull into the other persons face. It’s completely silly but at the same time pure Sam Raimi. Pretty good flick if you’re in the mood for something different.

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Also, here’s part of an Amazon review of The Lion King and someones comment that made me laugh pretty hard.

“The advertisements for this film that you see on other DVDs and videos are purposely and horribly misleading. You buy this video expecting a joyous musical romp with animals of the Serengeti for your children. Plain and simple this is a movie of death. The lead character dies a horrible death and there are fights to the death. This is not a children’s movie.”

“I’m sorry that your children will never learn to cope with death until it strikes someone close to them.”

Being a huge fan of Pixar, I can happily say…

They’ve done it again.

It would seem that even when expectations are in the clouds, Pixar manages to go above and beyond the call of duty. Up is a remarkable movie that had my attention from start to finish, as strongly as many of you know Wall·E did for me. I can proudly say that this is the first movie to make me shed a tear, and as I never have done so during a movie in my entire life, you can imagine what a strong impact it made.

Up is the story of Carl Fredrickson. The first several minutes of the movie show him as a child, playing about pretending to be his hero, only to hear a young girl, Ellie, doing the same in an abandoned house along the street. He walks in, shy, and Ellie is quick to make his acquaintance. She shows him a book of her “adventures”, walking him through everything she wants to accomplish in life. The priority on this list is to follow in the footsteps of their hero and live on top of a canyon with a large waterfall, aptly named Paradise Falls. The intro goes on to show them get married, and their life together growing old, ultimately leading to the heartwrenching death of Ellie.

Carl, distraught, sees little left to value in life aside from his home, which has become a symbol of Ellie to him which he can still talk to. When people continuously try to get him to leave his home in order to pursue with construction tasks, he launches himself into the air with a contraption he built similarly to a blimp. Millions of balloons are released, and the house is on its way. He has one goal in life now, to bring Ellie, by means of the house, to the place she’s always wanted to go. Atop Paradise Falls.

And that’s where the real adventure begins. I won’t spoil anything at all, as I typically don’t, but as audience members, we are taken through a grand scale story of love and loss, discovering the inner-warmth of Carl’s heart as he, as well as a boy, dog, and bird, move a house to a place that seems practically unfathomable. The soundtrack is also a joy to the ears, and I can guarantee you’ll have the theme song stuck in your head when you exit the theatre.

I can’t honestly say anything without spoiling this movie (in typical Pixar fashion), but what I can say is that from beginning to end, you’ll be smiling. Granted, you may cry, you may laugh hysterically (as I did as well), but in the end, you will definitely feel fantastic. Up brings to mind so many things that we take for granted: the lives of those we love, the meaning of newfound friendship, and what truly gives a human happiness. It is a treat, both visually and otherwise, that cannot be missed, and is sure to win the hearts of anyone willing to watch.

I’m honored to give Pixar yet another 5 out of 5. They won my heart yet again, and hopefully they will for you, too.

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‘Boarder 70 [Somethin' Jazzy for Your Mind Mix]‘ by Hideki Naganuma

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‘meatpotatoes’ by Dan Paladin

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source: husdon stream

(Here’s a ridiculously cute picture of two pikachus from the internet

because I hate blog posts without pictures.)

2:30 am blog post.

So high school is completely over for me.

Or it should be. I failed my government final, so I have to make up a mere .5 government credits. fml

It’s all peachy though, life is wonderful. Still working 2 days a week at the Arbys connected to Circle K, the fam and I cleaned our pool this week, and I bought new shoes and the last Gurren Lagann dvds yesterday. I have a lot of extra time for video games now, too! I need to finish Fallout 3 and Excitebots.

Oh, I recently whipped up some quick sprites for a video game I might make.

I think I get exposed to too much EmThree and Andrio. You admire their work long enough and it makes you want to open up mspaint and screw around. Contagious. I’m going to see how far I can get with programming or game maker, but I can always fall back on flash as a cheap way out. I definitely won’t have anything remotely playable for months though. So I won’t talk about it any more.

Oh man is the Sonic Rush soundtrack the best or what?

Hideki Naganuma makes the catchiest music. I need to find some more artists in that style. I always see people saying they’d like a Jet Grind Radio 3, and sure, that’d be fun… but I’d want Sega to make it just so there could be another Hideki-filled soundtrack.

‘Right There, Ride On’ from Sonic Rush, by Hideki Naganuma

‘Ska Cha Cha’ from Sonic Rush, by Hideki Naganuma

‘Vela-Nova’ from Sonic Rush, by Hideki Naganuma

‘What U Need is Remix’ from Sonic Rush, by Hideki Naganuma

Still waiting for Cave Story Wiiware. Space Invaders Extreme came out on Xbox Live Arcade! It’s just like the great DS game, only in HD and half the price!

Oh, and Tatsunoko vs Capcom localization rumors!

Even though it’s full of assholes, there’s an ace thread on /v/ that I had to copy and paste some of here. Sometimes the community ignores bullshit and insightful, worthwhile conversations pop up. I still visit the site for threads like these, and they happen much more often than you’d think. Anyway, there was one a few months ago where some people were talking about the motivations of Kirby characters like Marx and Dedede and their relationships. Yeah, it’s nerdy but at the same time completely rewarding. And there was a thread just now about Pokemon Gold and Silver that I had to post here, because it’s fantastic.

“What the hell is with all these fanarts of classic Red with the CRRAAAWWLLLIINNNGGG IINNN MYYY SKIIIIINN bullshit?”

“I always got that impression from him whenever I fought him. Hes the strongest trainer in all of Kanto and Johto, theres nothing for him to do but hide away in a cave, far from all his loved ones and live out the rest of his days.”

“Shit feels sad man”

“…And then you barge in and fuck his shit up.
Good job, faggot.”

“Its kinda sad when you think about it.
He stopped the worlds most evil and strongest organization. Captured and fought the worlds most powerful pokemon, what else is there left for him to do in this world.

He is number one, but being number one was his life goal and dream that he achieved in less then a year. He has reached the top of the mountain in his entire universe. There is NOTHING left for him in the entire world to please him or entertain him.

Days go by and finds the world a dull and boring place. He is a hermit at the age of 13.”

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“MORE LIKE GIVE HIM REASON ONCE AGAIN TO LIVE. You think you’re the best and then some random fucker with a backwards cap shows up and defeats you? You think this broke Red?
FUCK NO.
It revitalized him, pulled out from the pit he had allowed himself to sink into, sparked the flame within that had gone out. There was another mountain to climb, probably harder than all previous mountains combined. And Red would rise up to the challenge, for once again, he would find himself in the Eye of the Tiger.”

Also, I renewed the viewtiful.net domain name recently.  Here’s to at least another year of personal blogging silliness! I love you for reading this. You’re crazy.