Filmspot, was thinking about blogging about movies I see this week and now I find this.  Pretty nice, looks like CNet has provided us with everything we need to boo and hissss or cheer for movies that we hate or love.

Saw Volver two weeks ago.  Last thing I saw.  Good movie except for the unbelievable dead husband stuff.  Would have liked a little bit more surreal movie though, more haunting.

Wanting to see Idiocracy.  I've been watching clips of it on youTube and it just looks like lots of fun.

I think i might point some friends to this site.  I would be interested to see how many people from gamespot actually make up the group of people the sign on to CNet's other sites. 

Ok. So my last blog was about television and why I don't have one. And I mentioned the fact that I use YouTube. I have been watching Bleach. I guess no one has the rights to it in the United States and so it can be dubbed with no problem and posted without any chance of being taken down.

Anyway, the show is pretty cool. I am still not sure whether I get it, but one of the things I appreciate is that there are none of those goofy cartoon faces that are so popular in Japanese cartoons. The quality is also pretty high, though I am not entirely sure what the show is about, even after having read the Wikipedia summary.

I also have to admit that I am not entirely sure what is so appealing about action anime programs. I think part of what is appealing is that most of the characters are actually a lot like you would imagine RPG characters. They have an ability, like in Bleach or Scryed, and then essentially they level up from facing adversities and become more powerful.

For right now this is free entertainment.

So.... I don't own a television. I mean plenty of people do not, but I what are the statistics? Something like 3 tv's per american household. I guess that also tells you that I don't actually get to play any fabulous games do I.
The internet is actually my new tube. I can watch the Daily Show on Comedy Central's site. Almost commercial free, except for the blipping ads. And they don't even make you watch a commercial before the video. Pretty sweet.
I can catch South Park on YouTube. I mean that pretty much covers my comedy needs. And I can do without the drama TV. CSI is like a story with no characters just symbolic representations of things. None of the characters actually discuss things that aren't germane to the case and so its just a bunch of objects floating around and talking or being gruesome. I don't get it.
So maybe someone could tell me why I need a television.

I hear some of my fellow students discussing Second Life as though it were a game. I don't play any MMORPGs (except for a brief look at Knight Online), and I have to say that I don't have the faintest idea how people can confuse a really complex and variable avatar environment with playing a game where there is some skill involved. They are interested in social networking and that sort of thing but it just irritates me that as soon as people see something 3D on a computer screen they almost automatically assume its a game, and once more that it is essentially for "those sorts of people".
I know there are islands within Second Life that are for playing games, but this seems to me to be contrary to some of the things one wants from a game, like immersion and fun.
I myself am not a big fan of MMORPGs because there doesn't seem to be a nice arc of story and tension and glory that keep one playing. Its all about item collecting. And yes that can be fun, but doesn't it just eventually feel empty. How many Legos do you need to actually have fun playing with them? What is the point?
Maybe "what is the point?" isn't the right question though. I am sure you've read good stories. A good story is not just about meaning but the wholeness of it. Or maybe even the parts that make you think after its over. I want games that have give me a sense of completion when they attempt to have a story, not an endless set of tasks.
That is unless I am playing a strategy game, but that's a whole other animal altogether.