I can't sleep. Weird. Normally, I would be up right now on Xbox LIVE, but as you know, my Xbox is dead, though I do believe I will be getting a new one very soon. Or I pray that I will.

Shortbus215 is currently on LIVE playing Halo 3 for Overkill and Two For One (weird we both don't have those).

Since I'm here though, I thought I might enlighten you with my top 3 films of the year so far, I guess:

1: The Dark Knight: This film blew me away on so many levels. Great acting, direction, writing, and over all thrills and chills. This is a must see for ANYONE. This is mindblowing that Christapher Nolan could turn what was once laughed at by many as a stupid series with a man in a Bat suite, nipples and all, (Besides the first Tim Burton film, and most of 'Forever'), into a movie worth a shower of Oscars. Bravo, and see it twice. ****

2: WALL*E: This is one of Pixar's best films, and it does it in such a way that no children's film would: nearly dialogue-less. There is huge chunks in the movie (like the first 40 min.) without dialouge, and their great. Don't give in to Rollig Stone, who say the first 40 min. are perfect, because they aren't, they're jsut a bit artsy (that's the reason for Peter Travers of Rolling Stone to say that). But this is a great film. ****

3: In Bruges: Very funny, black (at times Pitch Black) comedy that is played to perfection by Collin Farrel. Very violent though, so don't go in lightly. Very worth your time, but unfortunately I can't say much without giving anything away. Trust me. ***1/2

Thanks for reading, and don't be afraid to message me.

I ahve returned from Vacation so no more....umm....no posty.

Sure, let's go with that. Anyway, I actually don't have much to say right now about anything except I'm getting a new Xbox soon (thank god) and then i'm going all out on Rock Band, Halo 3, and BioShock. Why you ask? Well, allow me to to tell you:

Rock Band: Download more songs, play mine (with + w/out friends), and Acievements (Still haven't beatin it on Expert [Guitar], or anything for the other instruments)

Halo 3: Tournament prep and just to play the damn thing. Not to forget leveling up (just a Major now) and get the last 2 Achievments (Two For One and the Overkill - I hate these!!!)

BioShock: Fun as hell and I haven't played it in awhile, and Achievments (Didn't like Achievments when the game came out, so I kind of didn't try getting 'em, but my friend Shortbus215 (message him saying I told you to just to annoy) borrowed it and now has all but 2. He went from about 1700 gamerscore to 3160 (that's with my games: Orange Box, BioShock, Viva Pinata and Turok; and his: GTAIV, Gears of War), while I am stuck at 8876, though I am very happy with that number...for now.

By the way, some new info for ya: I'm gonna do a 'contest' of sorts, and though you can't participate, you can watch (and join teams) as we all - you guessed it - try to get the most gamerscore. Everything counts (even Avatar), except cheating (if it's in a game, and not a glitch that gives you the same achievment multiple times or something, then it counts).

The Participants: DorkaDorka (me), Shortbus215 (my friend), Killjoy185 (my younger brother), and Crosssacrifice (my brother's youth minister and a friend of all of ours.)

Current scores (in order):

DorkaDorka: 8876

Shortbus215: 3160

Killjoy185: 2010

Crosssacrifice: 200

Obviously, Cross doesn't play much but Halo 3 and doesn't care about achievments (I put him in to have a low number). But, my brother, Killjoy185, shares the same xbox I do, so he obviously hasn't been able to play, and only recently got an account, so he hasn't gotten to get many points. Oh well.

Let's see how it goes, shall we?

PS: Movie to watch: In Bruges, ***1/2; Funny, black humor throughout. Story a bit weak, but it makes up for it. [R]

As promised, I will review The Dark Knight .

Last night I got to screen The Dark Knight, the new Batman movie from Director Christopher Nolan, and it is amazing. This film is much more than a superhero movie, it's a crime epic. Interweving storylines where every character gets equal time, this film not only gives you a great popcorn flick, but also makes an oscar worthy, dark and twisted thriller that will have you on the edge of your seat throughout, making the 2-and-a-half-hour movie feel like five minutes.

To start, let's talk about Heath Ledger. His Joker goes way beyond Jack Nicholson's (And I LOVE that one) and even the advertising trying to show how Heaath plays the psycho-villian doesn't do it justice. Rather luckily, the advertising for themovie makes you expect one thing, but than deleveres on that promise, and a lot more. Heath is way more than oscar worthy with his Clockwork Orange + ...well, what else am I supposed to say? This character is just too original. Heath's Joker is also not over exposed at all, being in the film less than any other character in the movie, but this turns out to be a good thing when you find out that Heath dominates every scene he's in, and putting him in only a small amount makes it so he doesn't dominate the film, and it balances perfectly.

Now for everything else: the direction is first rate, as is the writing, and the acting on every front is amazing, and everyone deserves credit for making such a masterpiece (yes, it is a masterpiece). At the beggining of the film, you may feel like it's a Batman movie, but you won't feel like that for long. If you don't really like it at first, just waite for the last hour of the film and you will get blown away. This by far surpasses everything I've seen from a big budget ever, and it goes so muchfurther than anything you couldexpect. See this anyway you can, and then see it again.

**** (of 4) Clasic. (it bleeps out two s in the word)

I have the tickets. I have them. I'm going tonight to the 7:45 showing, and I can't waite. On imdb it is currently rated (can you friggin believe this?) 9.7/10, putting it at NUMBER 4 ON THE TOP 250 LIST! That is rediculous. Check it out for yourself, mister Joker.

As I promised, I will review it (without spoilers) when I get back. The next time I post, if nothing goes horribly wrong (which it will, knowing me) I will review the film.

Why So Serious?

Is anyone else like really excited about this as I am? I've loved Batman since I was like 2, and now I am hardcore on movies (VERY critical; most people say I should be a critic for a paper of some sort), and on both fields i am very excited to see this. And in case you missed it, the critics have been raving. Rolling Stone gave it ***1/2 of four, saying it's like a lightning bolt. Ropert said not only Heath Ledger deserves an Oscar, but the whole film should merit a Best Pic. Oscar, also stating even though the leading character is in a batsuit, this is a true and realistic as a crime epic like Heat or The Departed (Love the Departed).

Now I really can't wait for this movie. I'm currently trying to Fandango my tickets for Friday, but we'll see. If I see it, I'll review it both here and on imdb.com.

See ya when I have stuff for video games to talk about.

PS: I am VERY close to buying another Xbox 360, but I'm gonna wait a little longer...and this time not take it apart.

The H3T (Halo 3 Tournament) now just got a step farther. My good friend Shortbus215 came over to my house and we abused his Xbox 360, and by that I mean tweaked Halo 3 maps to fit the tournament. We tweaked only a few, seeing as we where very happy with most (We tweaked Cold Storage, Gaurdian, Narrows, etc.) and tested them out and now all we need are the games to play per map (I have a huge list of usable gametypes, but am only going to use a few, and possible deleting not-so-great maps from the tournament (Isolation, Rat's Nest, etc.))

And, I would like to add, I have now played GTA IV, and it is amazing, and will be on a future Top Ten list of mine, gauranteed. It's great. I am debating between two VERY high numbers, but I won't spoil it for you. Can't wait to play it again.

Unfortunately, with my Xbox beign broken and all, I haven't been able to play the new map, but so far that I have seen, am thinking about putting it into my first (and LAN) Halo 3 tournement. That would be neat for some Free-for-All and Two-on-two-on-two. Well, we'll see.

By-the-by: I'm not going to stop at Halo 3 Tournaments. These are the list of games I'm thinking about putting into a tournament:

Halo 2

Halo: CE

Call of Duty 4

Gears of War

These are the games right now, but expect more, but they won't be any time soon (with the exception of the Halo games, and also expect multiple Halo 3 tournaments, seeing as it's quite popular with my friends), but I think they all have good chance of being a tournament soon.

I've decided to, occasionally, introduce to you a movie that you may have not known about that you'll probabely (or maybe not) like, or at least deserves some more recognition. So here we go.

Brick (2005)

This is a little known film that brilliantly fuses together teenagers and an old '50's detective story. Now, don't let that scare you away. It's about a teen who's ex-girlfriend is killed and he makes it his business to figure out just what happened. Yeah, I know, it isn't exactly the best sounding film, but it goes above your expectations. This movie isn't the most realistic film (teens getting into things with absolutely no parents to be found, even though there is a death, teen pregnancy and teen drug use/smuggling), but every unrealistic element has a bit of truth. Surprisingly, the most unappetizing part (for me), the teenager part, is what makes the whole film work. The very unique, 50's detective-****lingo (much like that of Sin City, but executed much better) is a bit hard to understand, yet alluring all the same. You have to understand that this film isn't going for realism to be able to get it, but once you do, this is one you can't miss.

***1/2 (of 4)

Related Movies: Sin City;

My 360 is most likely offically broken, meaning I'm going to have to get a new one. Crap. Especially when a new Halo Map is coming out tomarrow.

Oh well. Now I get to waite until my friend coming home from Florida to play 360 (i think it's Wendsday). Oh well.

It seems my 360 isn't completely fixed, as it keeps having the GPU overheating. Hmm...I realy hate having to take the thing apart. I'm so tired of doing this. It still runs, but I don't know for how much longer. Hopefully enough to be able to download the new Halo 3 map on the 7th.