Dear friends of GameSpot,

In the light of Haloid fan movie by Monty Oum, I have been inspired to use this medium in order to entertain the masses.

As some of you know, I'm an aspiring visionary director, yet I have little knowledge in the way of animation of any sort.

I have contacted Monty Oum (and I would greatly appreciate if you guys supported me in this - perhaps leave a comment for him that other artists would like to collaborate with him, especially a certain Aaron Lopez :D) to see if he would like to help me with achieving some of my visions.

But I do not think he's the only one that has this skill.

Basically fellow users, I'm calling on all of you who are aspiring to be animators, (voice) actors, script writers, directors etc or anyone who'd like to help in some way to take fan service the next level. I have the ideas - I just need a few friendly people to help make these ideas a reality (trust me, they are achievable). And I by no means am using your talent to achieve only my vision - I have experienced throughout the years that outside input is one of the best around.

If you are interested, add me as a friend and just PM me saying that you may give a helping hand if I am ever in need of it. If we get enough people interested, a Union may be needed. Just think - you could be part of the evolution of fandom :D

 

Hope to hear from you budding artists soon.

-Aaron.

 

EDIT: 

-Shows off 'Popular Badge'-

 

This an excerpt from my review for 300 taken from FilmSpot. You can read the rest at Motion Picture Reviews (a new site that I work at ^^)

"With all the advertisement and hype of 300, I felt obliged to go to one

if the very first screenings in my local area. I only expected a

through-and-through action film, but after watching 300, I realized it

was a whole lot more.

The story may be simple, but what the 3 writers brought out of it (Zack

Snyder, Kurt Johnstad, and Michael Gordon), and of course, Frank Miller

is exceptional. The themes aren't so subtle, but for a movie like this,

they cannot be. Ideas of Spartan teamwork and glory resonate throughout

the entire two hours. The dialogue is sharp, smart, and will be quoted

for quite some time. One of the lines that I felt stood out was one of

God-King Xerxes, who says: "Cruel Leonidas demanded that you stand. I
require only that you kneel." The dialogue would have been nothing

without a troupe of good actors, and 300 does not fail in this

department. Notable performances include David Wenham, Rodrigo Santoro

as Xerxes, and of course, Gerard Butler as King Leonidas. The

characters they portray are powerful and charismatic - the passions

they excite are appropriately over-the-top. At times though, I felt

that Gerard Butler could have said things better than he did, as with

these kind of films, there is a fine line between being melodramatic

and overdoing it..."

 

I urge you guys to read the rest of the review (little no spoilers at all), but, if anything, go see the movie. It'll rock your senses 

 

Hey guys,

My apologies for not telling you guys beforehand. I was actually abstinating from the forums for Lent, as I had to give up something. I really wanted to tell you guys, but before I knew it, the time had already past and I couldn't really touch this place. Ah well, now I'm back, and you guys don't have to be so depressed anymore!

I know I should have, but I did. Elisha didn't make my sexy list, so I'll cry in shame. However, special mention shall go towards her just because she's the best. Her 2006 year was quiet (no pun intended), as she only starred in the indie flick The Quiet. However, that role was edgy and powerful, as she played a daughter being molested by her father. 2007 will only get better for her - see, she's reading my script, and she's just in love with it! Greatness!

In light of the-very-best's list of sexiest women, I've decided to do my own. Bear in mind, these are my own opinions, and you do not have to agree with them. I will however, justify my opinions to the best of my ability. So, here we go:

5 - Angelina Jolie



Leaving Angelina out of a Sexiest Women list is sacrilige.

Also, she's the new hottest MILF ever.

4 - Jessica Alba



Sexiest MTV Movie Awards host ever. Oh yeah, Into the Blue has still left a imprint on my retinas.

3 - Scarlett Johansson



She appeared in many films throughout 2006, including Match Point and the Black Dahlia. She also stars in Justin Timberlake's video clip "What Goes Around.../...Comes Around". Did I mention she appeared nude on the cover of Vanity Fair, alongside Keira Knightley? Hot!

2 - Beyonce



Check On It. Deja Vu. That's all you need to know to see why Beyonce's at the number two spot.
She also gave a passionate speech about Michael Jackson at the World Music Awards - she has a special place in my heart :D

And the number one sexiest woman in the entire world is...

1 - Christina Aguilera



Really - all you need to do is look at that photo and that's justified well enough. But no, I can do better - Christina released her third English album, Back To Basics last year, and it has been very well received the the public and critics alike. She pulled of sexy like no other woman did, as you can see there. Definitely the Queen of all.

Wow... just saw this video on YouTube. Very convincing stuff. Kinda funny though. Basically, they theorize that Michael Jackson wrote the background music playing in most of Sonic 3's levels.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JbVM-l2Oku4

Well, I told you guys before that he'd be back. You guys didn't believe me. Well, ladies and gentlemen, I proudly announce that Michael Jackson has once again entered the music business (although he never stopped), and now features on the song "Gangsta/No Friend of Mine".

Perhaps my reasoning is ignorant, but I feel the reason Michael isn't accepted into the teenage American cohort is not because he's an accused pedophile, but because he's not done any sort of hip hop music. I know many fans of rock who appreciate his work with "Beat It" and "Give Into Me", and some new age R&Bers like his "Butterflies" song, but for a song worthy to be put into The Source magazine, he's done none.

Now he has, and if I say so myself, he sounds brilliant. No, he's not rapping, but he does the hook and chorus whilst rapper Pras does most of the verses. His voice sounds amazing (as many have not speculated) and he just overall sounds great.

Watch out. The King is coming back.

http://www.myspace.com/tempamental - Hit that site, and click "No Friend of Mine", and listen to the sweetness that is Michael.

And no doubt, I'll stay here as much as I do with GameSpot, perhaps even more.

Maybe it will surpass IMDb in terms of popularity?

 

Guys, come over to FilmSpot! It rocks! 

Looking at the CES articles, I must say, some of these games have surprised me.

Crysis, a game which I'm still 'meh' about game play wise, has blown me away once again with its graphics. I really want this game, only to be dazzled by the graphics. It's just so beautiful. The gameplay I could care less about. And this is a sad thing, really. Graphics are only going to get better, and I'm falling for this trick all over again. I want Halo 3 for the 360, which will be ported to the PC soon. Then again, I want it now.

Other titles interest me: Lord of the Rings Online, Gods and Heroes and Supreme Commander.

Then there are those that disappoint me: Hellgate: London. Seriously, who were they trying to kid? Pay per play multiplayer? Utterly ridiculous. I'm appalled. I know they're not going to get that many sales now. It isn't exactly an MMO, so why do this to all the Diablo fans now? Stupid, stupid developers.

So basically, it's either a brand new, ultra awesome PC, or a sweet, decent Xbox 360. The PC won't come cheap, but I need one for post production on my soon to be short films, and having it for games will just be a bonus too. On the other hand, Microsoft are also trying to get us to buy their 360, as there are also some really alluring games coming out for it. I just can't wait years for it to come out on the PC. So yeah. Life sucks this way.

See you guys later.

Usually, when schoolboy bands form and make their own songs, you can tell them apart from the pros straight away. I can't describe it, but you can tell them apart from the professionals. I'm quite proud to say, that "Industry" by Daexis does not sound like something a bunch of students made up.

The band consists of my friends Sam Balzer(there ya go), Glyn Hughes, Jordan Morrison, Michael Molloy, and Michael Bullen (in no particular order). What they've achieved as 16/17 years olds is seriously unmatched in New Zealand. I know one of them may go "Oh no, you're sucking up to us, we're not that great etc etc". Seriously Glyn, shut up. You guys are doing it, and if you continue this way, there really is no stopping talent, is there?

"Industry" sounds very professional. It's amazing. You wouldn't think teenagers would come up with this stuff. Glyn sounds totally in the zone, and the guys on the guitars compliment each other. I don't know who did the solo there, but I must say, it didn't sound overly dramatic - which is good by the way. Yes, there are some flaws in the song, but the positives outweigh the negatives, and besides, this is their first "true" song (I don't consider "Drowning" their debut effort). They will learn from their mistakes and continue to make better and more epic songs. If "Industry" is the standard that they have set themselves, expect a lot from these boys. Now all it needs is a music video - guess they have to find a director or something (HUGE HINT).

Listen to Industry. You won't regret it.

www.myspace.com/daexis
--------------
As for me, it's been a decent start to the year. I'll get you guys up to date:

Although I thought it was futile before it happened, I never thought my close group of friends would help me with film making. Boy was I wrong. James, who really is interested in medicine, was jumping up and down at the idea of creating short films, and really wants to dabble in the special effects area (NOT computer graphics as people always interpret it as, just the prosthetics and stuff). Darren is quite interested in drawing things for future projects, and Shiv, well.... Shiv has a camera :).

We've developed ideas for short films, which range from 30 seconds to 10 minutes. We're basically trying to tell stories within those limits (Peter Jackson would probably need that exercise), then we'll move onto the episodic and feature length stuff - hopefully started by the end of the year.

So, this new year is filled with bright people and bright ideas. The people I associate with are preparing for the big bad world, and if we support each other, we'll get where we want to.

Happy New Year everyone!