Well, been playing a LOT of Oblivion again. Kind of lost interest in that game for awhile for whatever reason but I suddenly crave it like nothing else, it is just a really amazing game. I became a vampire quite some time ago by accidentally getting infected when fighting some vampires in a cave. Some of the abilities this grants you are helpful but not being able to go outside during the daytime without almost certainly dying gets REALLY annoying. Started the quest to find the cure but acquiring five Grand Soul Gems is quite a task. Another annoying task is having to find twenty bear pelts in order to be re-admitted into the Fighters Guild (accidentally hit one of my dudes and he began relentlessly attacking me and following me everywhere, I had no choice but to kill him).

 Yeah, I really am loving it. So immersive and huge. In real life, however, things are kind of mixed bag. Half of my courses are going well while the other half seem to be getting worse and worse. Have a big test tomorrow I'm not entirely prepared for and another on Friday that I have almost no chance of doing well on. Still, despite all this school work and Oblivion and whatnot I've found some time to watch a couple movies here and there.

 Saw The Purple Rose of Cairo, which is probably my new favorite Woody Allen film (having only seen two that isn't to amazing) but it truly is a great movie. Jeff Daniels plays both parts very well and the whole concept is really unique and funny. A lot of people complain about the downer ending but it didn't really bug me that much.

Also saw Adaptation, Bringing out the Dead and Matchstick Men as a means of changing my negative opinion of Nicolas Cage (previously only really saw him in The Rock and Con Air, neither of which I liked very much). I must say, he can actually act and he is pretty good at it too, particularly in Adaptation but both other filsm featured strong performances as well. Brining out the Dead kind of reminded me of Taxi Driver in a lot of ways (underbelly of society, late shift worker becoming sick of the world, driving profession) and as such is was kind of dark and strange at times. Taxi Driver was just a really unpleasant movie and this one is as well, though not as unpleasant in my opinion. As for Adaptation, really clever, interesting movie. I've had mixed feeling on Charlie Kaufman's writing (HATED Being John Malkovich, loved Eternal Sunshine) but he did a good job with this one.

Matchstick Men was also pretty good, with an interesting depiction of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. I actually have to write on this film for a Psychology class so that should prove interesting. Don't really want to spoil any of the plot of this one but its much better then the trailers indicated and a good movie overall.

Thats all for now, should probably study or collect bear pelts or something.

Well, I realized earlier today that I had pretty much no plans for the weekend. My family is either in another province or busy with work and whatnot and the same can be said for most of my friends (well, not out of the province but neighboring cities, other side of town etc.) so I decided to rent some movies.

Just this morning I saw a trailer for the upcoming film "Hot Fuzz" and thought it looked very promising. This made me recall that I never actually saw "Shaun of the Dead" so that was number one on my list. Recently I've been reading a bit about David Lynch's upcoming film "Inland Empire" and heard that it really helps to have seen "Mulholland Dr." to get a handle on what its about. Since I also haven't seen that, I decided to pick it up as well. Don't really know what to expect other then a really strange, unique film with surreal elements. Seen several of Lynch's other films but I'm pretty sure this will take the cake in terms of strangeness thus far, having not seen Eraserhead. Finally, even though the ending has been spoiled for me I also rented "The Game" with Michael Douglas and Sean Penn. After Alien 3 I never expected anything good could ever come from David Fincher but now that I've seen Seven, Fight Club and Zodiac I'm willing to admit I was very wrong. Hopefully this film will also be on par with his others.

Looking forward to a bunch of movies coming out, just none coming this week. "The Host" always looked kind of interesting to me but now that its getting tons of rave reviews I definitely have to see it. I already mentioned "Hot Fuzz", but another upcoming comedy "Fido", looks intersting as well. About a town that uses zombies as household servants. Unique premise, to be sure, so hopefully it will be good. Finally, even though it good be extremely disgusting or just downright awful, part of me really wants to see "Grindhouse". I've really enjoyed Tarantino's films in the past and the whole glorified B-movie idea looks kind of cool. That said, not so happy about Rob Zombie and others directing what are probably incredibly violent mini-trailers in there. I've seen my share of violent films but some stuff just grosses me out. Also, Planet Terror certainly has potential for tons of violence as well. Still, its kind of tempting.

Gamewise, just beat GRAW (the original, finally got it) and have been playing tons of Lumines Plus (my new favorite puzzle game). Really hope to go back and play some games I never got around to finishing (Okami, God Hand, Twilight Princess) but not sure I'll have the time anytime soon.

Well, Zombie Day was a success though it actually spread to just over two days of zombie-related activities. Got the 7 Day Survivor Achievement and managed to last 10 Days 4 Hours and 28 Minutes at the end of it all. That secured me a place in the top 200 on the leaderboard (was 158 initially but have since slipped to 160 and possibly lower) which is kind of cool. All time record is currently over 17 days which is absolutely insane. I will never get anywhere near that so I'll just be content with where I am.

Watched tons of anime feature films this past weekend, as well as Jim Carrey's new film "The Number 23". It was entertaining but pretty stupid and downright ludicrous at times. For those who know the Simpsons joke regarding the "dog with the shifty eyes" being the villain, you wouldn't be to far from the truth with this movie.

The anime films I watched were Akira, Kiki's Delivery Service, Whisper of the Heart, Porco Rosso, and Castle in the Sky. All good in one way or another, though Whisper of the Heart was fairly exceptional as it is the most down to earth, realisitic animated film I've ever seen. Kind of unique that way.

Also saw Equilibrium and was very disappointed. For something often hyped as being "better then The Matrix", it really fell short of my expectations. The action scenes in the film were pretty great, thing is there are maybe three in the entire movie! The plotline and such were pretty interesting, they just didn't do enough with it and there were several inconsistencies throughout the movie that were fairly detrimental to the whole thing.

As for games, been playing some Amped 3 and am thoroughly loving that game's insane sense of style. Also planning to play some GRAW sometime soon as I just got it. And am still cleaning up a few achievements here and there in Saint's Row. Unfortunately, I have midterms in both Philosophy and English this week so may have to limit some of the gaming as time goes on. Right now I should probably make some food. Thats all for now.

Well, I've been planning this for some time now but just never had the time. Now, thanks to something known as Reading Week, I can finally put my plan into action. The plan: Play Dead Rising four fourteen hours straight in Survival Mode and unlock that game's hardest achievement, Survive for 7 days. Once I have accomplished this I will celebrate by watching George A. Romero's Dawn of the Dead, a classic horror film I have never seen. I saw the remake but this is the original classic we are talking about.

Other then Zombie Day, things have been going well. Played a bunch of Saints Row (rented it) and it is a legitimately fun game. Saw Donnie Darko, which was admittedly unique and interesting but I wouldn't declare it one of the greatest films ever made or anything. Also saw Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance recently. I really like Oldboy (watched it a couple more times) but this movie kind of bothered me. It was much more violent then I anticipated (I keep thinking about the Achilles Tendons bit and cringe, that was just mean) and it seemed to be an even darker movie then Oldboy which wasn't something I was expecting. It still had some fine moments but it wasn't all I expected.

Also, I just purchased Sergio Leone's "Once Upon a Time in the West" even though I have never seen it. It was so cheap I just couldn't walk away from it and I've heard its really fantastic. Looking forward to seeing that one. Also rented Porco Rosso and Equilibrium so things look to be pretty good on the movie front.

Finally, saw Little Miss Sunshine recently, largely because the oscars are coming up in less then a week. It was pretty good overall but I honestly don't think it has much hope in the Oscar department. Still have to see The Queen and Babel but it looks like I may not see them prior to the show. Oh well.

Well, been watching tons of movies lately and this weekend is looking to be one for the books. Last weekend I saw Pan's Labyrinth, Oldboy, The Cat Returns and My Neighbor Totoro.

Pan's Labyrinth was not the completely mindblowing cinematic masterpiece I was promised but it was still a unique and interesting film and my pick for Best Foreign Film of this year (its also the only foreign film I've seen this year).

Oldboy, on the other hand, was far closer to warranting the descriptor "mindblowing" as it was extremely well made, unique and had some crazy plot developments that I didn't see coming. Granted, it was disturbing but something about it all just made it work. I had to search many video stores before I finally found a copy (checked six video stores scattered across much of the city) but it was worth it in the end.

Then there were some great animated films, My Neighbor Totoro and The Cat Returns. Granted they are children's films in a lot of ways but they are some of the finest kid's movies ever. Japan knows how to make top-notch entertainment for all ages and I really enjoyed both of these movies. Being a huge fan of cats I probably enjoyed The Cat Returns the most out of the two. The whole idea of an entire kingdom filled with talking cats was just the greatest concept ever so I thorougly enjoyed the film, even though it wasn't very long. Looking forward to seeing more films of this nature (Miyazaki's particularly) in the near future.

As for this weekend, I have three films from my college library which are due back on Monday so I will certainly have to watch those. Those films are Glengarry Glen Ross, Yojimbo and Wall Street. I'm also borrowing Fight Club and Manhunter from a friend so will need to see those in the near future as well, possibly all this weekend if I find the time. Yojimbo will be my first Kurosawa film so I'm rather looking forward to seeing it. The others are films I've been meaning to see for awhile or have heard good things about. Well, better start watching something pretty soon. This weekend looks promising.

Well, just watched A Better Tomorrow and thoroughly enjoyed it. This got me to reading about some of John Woo's other films and, I must say, this guy sure knows how to make action films. Hard Boiled, in particular, sounds especially interesting to me and I intend to rent it sometime soon. I kind of blacklisted him after seeing and hating Mission Impossible II but I guess I shouldn't judge a director on one film.

I also saw Infernal Affairs, the film The Departed is a remake of. It was actually superior to The Departed in a number of ways. First of all, it tells essentially the same story in a shorter film, approximately 50 minutes shorter by my watch. Also, pretty much all of my favorite scenes in The Departed are in this movie and they are all staged almost exactly the same way which just kind of got me annoyed with The Departed given it came out later. What I mean is, everything I thought was clever in the remake was pretty much taken right out of the original so it kind of makes The Departed seem unnecessary in some ways.

What also struck me is the difference in volume of profanity between the two movies. Infernal Affairs has not one F-bomb yet still effectively tells a great story loaded with suspense and intensity. The Departed tells that same story but finds it necessary to drop a few hundred F-bombs and a handful of crude jokes for good measure. Maybe thats how people talk in Boston, I don't know, but it just struck me how foreign films don't find it necessary to swear every other word yet their films are just as good if not better. Is cursing really necessary? Anyway, just something I noticed.

That all said, The Departed did do some things better then Infernal Affairs but given they had such a fully developed blueprint to work with, that isn't to surprising. In particular the "elevator scene" is executed better in The Departed. Still, the original is a great movie as well and considering it came up with practically everything years prior, its more impressive in a lot of ways. I recommend it.

Oh, and I am now really looking forward to Stranglehold. Guess I can track down the movies its inspired by before it comes out to pass the time.

Well, saw some of David Lynch's more bizarre films lately. The only film of his I'd seen was The Elephant Man which, while plenty strange, is rooted in fact and pretty down to earth. The same can not be said with Blue Velvet and Wild at Heart, some of his later films. Though apparently not his most abstract works they were plenty strange enough for me.

Blue Velvet wasn't quite as trippy as I was expecting though it definitely had some weird moments. Dennis Hopper is a crazy, evil guy in this movie and this is the youngest I've ever seen Laura Dern. She plays a nice, friendly girl in this movie.

Then there is Wild at Heart, definitely a very different Laura Dern. The movie is quite explicit at times, opening with a crazy violent scene. Basically, massive blunt trauma to the head. Crazy stuff. The movie has tons of references to The Wizard of Oz though I honestly don't know why. Lynch on the DVD pretty much says that just kind of happened as he was making it and it was kind of neat. Not sure what its supposed to mean but its kind of entertaining pulling out all the references. Overall, the movie just had to many unnecessary bits in it for me to truly reccomend it but it had some scenes I really enjoyed. The ending bit is one such scene, where Nicolas Cage meets the Good Witch.

Yeah, also saw Bottle Rocket which is an early Wes Anderson film starring the Wilson brothers (Owen and Luke). They play some rookie criminals who are really new at the whole crime thing. Some extremely funny stuff though the film slows to a crawl for a good twenty minutes or so which kind of throws off the pacing. It picks up again, however, and ends on a high note so overall it was pretty great.

And finally, saw Letters from Iwo Jima late last night (well, it actually ended this morning). Normally that wouldn't be a problem but I have classes in the mornings so I was really tired at school today. Oh well, don't think I missed anything. The movie itself was alright, largely because it gives a new point of view on the war. Most war films focus on the British or the Americans so its nice to see the war from another point of view once in a while. Ken Watanabe was pretty great though his role isn't as large as I thought it would be. Don't get me wrong, he is in the movie quite a bit but it kind of tells the stories of a number of Japanese soldiers over the course of the film so it isn't focused on him all the time.

The movie is loaded with some sappy moments though. It just kind of tries to hard to be a tear jerker and it wasn't really that effective in that regard. Some fairly predictable moments in there as well. There is also tons of suicide in this movie so watch out for that. The whole code of honor thing results in a lot of guys killing themselves in a variety of gruesome ways which was pretty gristly. Not for those with weaker stomachs.

Borrowed some more movies from the library as well (yeah, they actually have some decent movies). Beetlejuice (which I've seen and rewatched already, wanted to see a comedy). The Pelican Brief (not so sure I really want to see this one but I haven't seen to many Denzel Washington films so I figured I'd give it a look). And Good Morning Vietnam (not a big Robin Williams fan but I've heard this is one of his best performances). Thats all for now.

Well, Warioware: Smooth Moves finally arrived today. Not only that, but the Ultimate 2-Disc Edition of The Protector came out today as well, so it was a pretty exceptional Tuesday. Given that I only have one class on Tuesday's, much of today (approximately 5 hours, I believe) was spent playing Warioware. While it is fun and all, sadly it seems that I've seen pretty much all of the game in that five hours. Still, the multiplayer shows promise (thats right, I also played multiplayer all by myself. Kind of sad really) so maybe it will have more long-lasting value.

Then there is The Protector. I saw it with some friends of mine back in September during it's opening weekend and had a great time. I wouldn't really call it a good movie. The plot is completely moronic (Tony Jaa's elephants get stolen by some Australian thugs and he has to fight a whole lot of dudes to get them back) but it does feature some crazy fight scenes, which is all I really expect from movies like this. The two-disc edition also features the uncut version (which is nearly 30 minutes longer) so that should be interesting. Watched the US version earlier today and it is still great. Some nifty special features as well including an in-depth description of the four-minute, uninterrupted fight scene in the restaurant. Pretty cool.

Well, that was today. Zany game and an entertaining yet thoroughly stupid martial arts movie. Not to shabby. Oh, bought some garlic sausage as well which was also pretty sweet.

Or something like that. Anyway, with one week left of vacation and everything starting to die down in terms of excitement I decided it was finally time to rent some movies I've been meaning to watch for awhile.

First of all, Being There starring Peter Sellers as a dim-witted gardener mistaken for a genius. Apparently it was Mr. Sellers' last film and it featured one of his best performances. Rather looking forward to it.

Next is The Dead Zone starring Christopher Walken. I'm a big fan of Mr. Walken's and seeing him as a protagonist for once should prove interesting. I had to search far and wide for this one (well, two video stores in two different cities) but I finally found it. This will be the one I watch first.

And finally, Dog Day Afternoon starring Al Pacino. Its about a bank heist gone awry and is directed by Sidney Lumet. Should be good and is quite famous.

Also, had a weird dream concerning Steven Spielberg. He was extremely elderly and was teaching at my college or at least some academic facility. He needed some help carrying a bag and a coat so I volunteered what with him being a legendary director and all. Well, I lost him in a crowd and was searching desperately to find him not wanting to be the guy who stole Mr. Spielberg's stuff. Then I woke up, without finding him. Poor guy. Weird, huh? Wonder if it means anything. Anyway, always be kind to the elderly, whether they are legendary film directors or not. Happy New Year!

If so, I'm a terrible person. Thanks to the wonders of vacation, I was able to spend the last two days of my life playing nothing but Xbox 360. Much of that time was spent on replaying Dead Rising a couple of times. Got another dozen achievements or so, including Zombie Genocider, Gourmet and Unbreakable. Ended up killing exactly 57,000 zombies yesterday. Playing that game in 72 hour mode without caring about the storyline is really fun. You can just turn on some Styx or Midnight Brown and bash zombies with stuff, it is great. Or slip them up with cooking oil, grab them when they are down and swing them around into all their neighbouring zombies.

Ah yes, good times were had in Willamette Colorado. If you haven't played this wonderful game yet, do so (provided you are over 17 years of age, likely the most violent game I own). I definitely agree with Gamespot's decision in naming it the Best Action Adventure game of the year. I own both versions of Twilight Princess, as well as Okami and I still think Dead Rising deserved it. Its certainly the game I have played the most out of those three.