Riddick(2013)

As a fan of Pitch Black I was more excited than I probably should have been that the Riddick series was getting a new installment. Mildly disappointed after Chronicles of Riddick, I should have kept my expectations low, but something in the trailer made me believe again.
Riddick is plauged with awful dialogue, terrible CG and a lack of character development that leaves audiences wanting.
The films dialogue as previously stated, is atrocious, the actors deliver their lines with little to no conviction and there is a kind of mental dissonance between their actions and their delivery. It's almost as if someone forgot connect the mic and decided there wasn't enough time and they would edit in a recorded table read. The problem is not so much that the dialogue was cheesy, because this was an action movie and I expected it to be cheesy, predictable and a cliche like most action movies are, but that's sometimes what makes action movies great.
Remember when I said I liked Pitch Black, it's still true, I like that movie, but remember how Pitch Black is getting on in years? Yea me to, but you should watch it again because it holds up surprisingly well. Do you want to know what doesn't? This movie, the CG looks like it came out of a SyFy original TV series and I mean no disrespect to SyFy shows, because I watch some of them, but this movie, had a larger budget. The beasts on the planet were definitely serviceable, but once Vin Diesel gets his pet zebra/hyena/wolf/lion and whatever other animal hybrid, it's as if he is talking to a marker on a stick. All of the flight scenes are terrible and look like they came out of an FMV sequence from a PlayStation 1 game. If I were 12 and this movie came out 15 years ago I would have been pretty impressed, but it didn't, and I wasn't.
Speaking further on Riddick speaking to his pet hybrid creature, there is no development of the bond the two are supposed to share. So when (GIANT SPOILERS TO A MOVIE YOU SHOULDN'T CARE ABOUT AND ITS NOT EVEN REALLY A SPOILER BECAUSE YOU SEE IT COMING FROM MILES AWAY) this thing dies I didn't even care, because the movie let me know that it was going to die, because it's garbage. There wasn't a clear antagonist in the film so when (GIANT SPOILERS TO A MOVIE YOU SHOULDN'T CARE ABOUT AND ITS NOT EVEN REALLY A SPOILER BECAUSE YOU SEE IT COMING FROM MILES AWAY) the person you think is supposed to be the main antagonist of the film dies at about the half way point, you're left scratching your head wondering how the movie is going to have an hour of resolution.
Some of the enemy deaths almost make this movie worth fast-forwarding so you can see them, but I wouldn't even tell you to waste your time on that. Skip to the slide-cut scene (sword goes through something it looks whole for a couple of seconds then slides and falls off) and call it quits.
Riddick really has no redeeming qualities and be glad that I watched it so you don't have to. Riddick will probably see one or two more films as the end of the film has that open ended ending that I am beginning to hate in Hollywood, because sequels used to be delightful rather than expected.

My Rating: If you have a hankering for some Riddick pop Pitch Black in your preferred media player and watch it again and find that sweet spot between the fourth and fifth vertebrae

Rust Adventure Journal: Day 1

Blinded by the light I awoke and found the whole world had changed, what was once a living breathing organism is now a desolate, barren wasteland. I was lucky enough to find a torch and some bandages next to me as well as a sharp enough rock to use as a makeshift tool.
I found myself near a road that stretches for what looks like miles in both directions and I had to decide which way to travel. I thought of my friends and trying to get my bearings so that I might find them. I know the sun rises in the East and sets in the West and the sun looked as if it was setting. I decided to try and find my friends who used to live out on the West side of town, but God only knows if I will be able to find them.
After several hours of traveling the road I started to feel hungry, luckily there was a pig near the road and I did what needed to be done. This is the first time I had to kill for my own food, I felt sick, the work is messy and I realized I need to fashion myself some sort of tool using the sharpened rock. Skinning the pig I found several chicken breasts along with some cloth, relying on knowledge that must have been passed down through the ages, my primal side takes over and there I was crafting a hatchet I feel accomplished.
I built a sorry excuse for a camp and I lit a fire so that I could cook the raw chicken that the pig for some reason had. I sat with my hatchet by my side as I stoked the fire and allowed the food to cook. Devouring my food I decided it best to wait for day and watch the sunrise. I heard footsteps and before I could do anything a voice called out, "leave what's cooking and we'll let you live!" startled and struck with a fear I have never known, my heart beat hard in my chest, fear took over and I felt ashamed I let what was mine go and I didn't even fight for it.
I made my way by the light of the moon further down the road and in the distance and saw a town with a giant, dormant smoke stack. I am drawn toward it, it gives me hope modicum of civilization remains and that we will make it through whatever it is has taken our way of life. I continued my walk along the road and I heard screams of agony and moaning. I figured this was ground zero and I ran toward it trying to see if I could help, what I saw next will stay with me for the rest of my life.
I saw a man stuck between life and death who couldn't decide whether he was staying or going. He and I locked eyes and his face contorted with rage as he let out a primal shout and started to run at me arms flailing.
Back-peddling and almost falling over, I found my feet and ran as fast as I could and as I did I heard a whiz and then a splat as an arrow struck the man down his decision made for him, he was going and the arrow was going to take him there. A hooded man emerged from the shadows into the light of the breaking dawn and introduced himself.
"My name is Pnutz," he said.
"I'm Lancernemo," I replied.
"You better watch yourself out here, you know how to--"
"Friendly?" a new voice interrupted.
"Friendly," Pnutz said
"Good," said the voice and a man with a rock much like my own started to beat Pnutz, all the while Pnutz screamed friendly. Pnutz tried to loose three arrows and none found their mark, with his dying breath he told me to run. So I did...

KMK Ep 4

I just posted a new episode of KMK. You probably all check it out. It's our most off topic podcast yet. It's over at kmk.podbean.com

Respawn Entertainment

According to GameRadar.com EA has signed on to work with former Infinity Ward heads to create a new studio.
If I understand this correctly, I can only assume that Activision is kicking themselves in their teeth right now. Let's let go the people who helped create one of our greatest franchise only to have them picked up by our rival game publisher...Smooth move Activision.
This comes at a time where both parties are suing one another and at least now the former Infinity Ward heads have something to put them in a positive light instead of a legal battle with one of the biggest game publishers around.

On a much lighter note, I have been sitting on a link for a while and then a friend sent it to me so I decided to check it out. It's grooveshark.com. It's an internet radio like Pandora, but from what I can tell it's a hell of a lot better. There is more variety and you can pick the music that you want to listen to, as in full albums streamed at good quality. Check it out. Thanks to TJ.

And on a final note, KMK episdoe 4 will be coming soon as I find the time to edit it and put it up on podbean.

Nigel

A break from games

Whoa, it's been awhile.
Alright let's get to the meat of the message here. Since last week I have been listening to two artists almost exclusively. These two artists are Pomplamoose and Ronald Jenkees.

Let's start with Pomplamoose as they have almost taken over my ears. In all honesty, I have no idea why I didn't start listening to Pomplamoose sooner than I did, only because I have heard some of their stuff before and thought it was pretty incredible. Pomplamoose has some really awesome covers, but they are much more than just a cover band with creative and original songs as well. The band consists of two people Jack Conte and Nataly Dawn who play a variety of instruments and edit them into very awesome music videos.

Nataly's vocals are among some of the best I have ever heard. There is something soothing and relaxing in the way she sings. Jack and Nataly have an impressive repertoire of instruments that they play. The sound is so hard for me to describe just go check their videos at http://www.youtube.com/user/PomplamooseMusic or buy their album on iTunes.

Recommended Tracks: Pomplamoose - Little Things
                                    Pomplamosse - If You Think You Need
                                                           Some

Ronald Jenkees is a keyboardist with incredible talent, he also knows how to lay a pretty rad back beat to his music. My only problem with Jenkees is that he has this online persona for youtube that kind of bugs me...at least I think it's an online persona if not he doesnt' bug me at all. Jenkees is also one of those musicians you go back to and wonder why the hell you weren't listening to them all along.

You can also check out Jenkees' youtube page at http://www.youtube.com/user/ronaldjenkees?blend=1&ob=4

Recommended Tracks: Ronald Jenkees - Throwing Fire
                                    Ronald Jenkees - Guitar Sound

Mass Effect 2 and what this means for gaming.

Mass Effect 2 revolutionizes what a sequel should be in the western RPG market.
I finished Mass Effect 2 and I can safely say that it is the best western RPG I have ever played. It now ranks in my top 10 favorite RPGs of all time and I am venturing a guess that this game will have no rival in terms of what a sequel does to evolve a storyline.
Mass Effect 2 as stated in my last post, is the follow up to Mass Effect...duh. In Mass Effect there are tens of hundreds of choices a player can make that shapes the plot of Mass Effect, but as the saying goes "all roads lead to Rome" so to do all choices in Mass Effect lead to the end goal of the game. Regardless of how players chose to get there, the end destination is the same for every player save a couple minor details.
That is, until Mass Effect 2 game along. Never in my life as a gamer have I ever been shown the consequences of my actions on a longer time-line. I will say that it is one of the most awe-inspiring moments to see that all of those good choices I made in Mass Effect are so far reaching that they even help countless others in Mass Effect 2.
Knowing now that my consequences have actions, choices became even harder to make and had more impact. Choice no longer became "Do you skin this family alive for lying to you, or do you let them go?" I now had to debate on what the consequences of my actions would have to be in the long run.
Perhaps my next statement is a tad to early to tell, but it could be that BioWare is making a statement to the players of the game. Saying "Wake up gamers, choices do exist and they have consequences."
While this statement may seem an obvious one, how often do we see gamers choosing games over family or other obligations. I love games and always will,but a problem with my peers seems to be a general separation from the choices that they are making. Even now as I write this blog, I wonder if this would not be better a discussion to have in a public forum open for debate and the kind of feedback that one can only receive while having genuine human interaction. But, I guess that's a topic for another day.

Quick hit reviews

"Mass Effect"
I just recently beat Mass Effect and despite it's physics flaws and chugging frame rate, I felt a need to finish this game.
"Mass Effect" does a lot of things that were refreshing during my play-through. Namely, "Mass Effect" had a story that was engaging and created a bond between my characters and me. The choices were very basic and binary at the beginning, which led me to believe that I was going to have to trudge through "Mass Effect" making choices that had no real consequences or bearing on what would happen later in the game. Yet, late in the game there is a choice that really affected me. I was totally blindsided and wasn't ready for the ramifications of the choice I was going to have to make. Everything considered, I finished "Mass Effect" which says a lot about what the game does as I normally can't be bothered to finish a game.

"Mass Effect 2"
Finishing "Mass Effect" I felt the need for more, and I was blessed that BioWare was going to release "Mass Effect 2" the day after I have finished. "Mass Effect 2" is one of the most beautiful games of this generation. BioWare polished out the frame rate issues of the first "Mass Effect" was plagued with. Importing saved games from the first allows for continuation of the narrative and allows for even more connection to even the most minor characters from the first. I have not finished my first play-through but thus far the story seems to be every bit as driving as the first.