tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-317062852012-01-03T10:59:27.621-08:00Movies, Games, ad nauseumJustinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16051687717727965664noreply@blogger.comBlogger371100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31706285.post-86043300807236189462010-12-06T22:09:00.001-08:002010-12-06T22:32:26.772-08:00

Plain and simple: The Force Unleashed can be viewed 1 of 2 ways. Neither of those ways concern the infinitely greater control scheme, or even the probably-not-as-good-as-the-first-one story. At its core it was a very personal story, as in the most about one person a story has been in a mass market Star Wars release, albeit with much much grander implications (natch). SPOILERS The primary

Justinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16051687717727965664noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31706285.post-44044702557113252382010-11-10T21:12:00.000-08:002010-11-10T21:12:37.970-08:00

Red Dead Redemption appealed to me on many levels, I loved the mechanics and the setting, but mostly it was the fact that I got to pretend to be a cowboy. I knew what I was doing, I knew what I was getting myself into. It was sort of like playing Cowboys and Indians when I was kid, these kids were the bad guys, these kids were the good guys. It was an appeal to my childhood and fondness for

Justinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16051687717727965664noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31706285.post-29417774039149973512010-10-05T21:58:00.000-07:002010-10-05T21:58:13.231-07:00

I was never a big fan of the Richard Donner Superman films. I'm sorry, I just wasn't. They were mostly well done, but they haven't aged well (not to mention Gene Hackman's truly odd portrayal of Lex Luthor.) Despite that, I'm quite fond of Superman Returns. Sure it is flawed, but most movies are. Its biggest issue for me being that it tied itself so closely to the Donner-verse, going so far as

Justinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16051687717727965664noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31706285.post-49365550107147538192010-08-12T14:09:00.000-07:002010-08-12T14:09:03.849-07:00

By all indications the new Irrational developed Bioshock game looks pretty great and has more potential to be great than any other game of recent memory. So it is with a heavy heart that I admit something about the announcement bothered me: I could be wrong, but I think the font they used for the word "Bioshock" in the Bioshock Infinite logo is Helvetica. What an nerdy thing to call out. Sorry

Justinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16051687717727965664noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31706285.post-63698669022068702010-05-30T10:01:00.000-07:002010-05-30T10:01:19.287-07:00

Marvel Studios gave you exactly what you wanted. You wanted a movie franchise that tied into something larger, in this case, The Avengers. In that respect, Iron Man 2 was a wonderful film. In comparison to other non-superhero or comic book movies, maybe it wasn't the best, certainly not as good as the first Iron Man to be sure. There were probably too many characters to keep track of, and

Justinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16051687717727965664noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31706285.post-7704414875388816942010-03-31T10:36:00.001-07:002010-03-31T10:36:46.388-07:00

Did you ever go to a show and when whatever band it is plays your favorite song, you get kind of mad because it doesn't sound exactly like the version you've heard a million times. Maybe they change one line, or they play the guitar a bit differently, and it kind of throws you off. Its sort of like having someone show you a picture of your wife, but with the eyes a different color or maybe a

Justinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16051687717727965664noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31706285.post-54787062832296682522009-11-30T09:13:00.000-08:002010-03-15T10:29:52.278-07:00

I will give any movie a ton of credit that can make me dislike a character so much that you almost want to turn the movie off, if not for the perverse sense of wanting to see what will happen next. Seth Rogen's Ronnie Barnhardt is all that and more, just as depressing as an old high school buddy still living with their parents "living the good life" (according to them at least) and just as

Justinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16051687717727965664noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31706285.post-15005437772091181232009-10-19T09:33:00.000-07:002009-10-19T09:33:07.689-07:00

Last Friday I was given an amazing opportunity by my good friend Scott Cashman to lead a discussion about my passion of passions: Star Wars. It was part of a series of classes/lectures/discussions being lead by former Tower Records employees as part of Harper College's continuing education program. It was an honor and privilege to talk with everyone. I feel remarkably blessed that I get to be a

Justinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16051687717727965664noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31706285.post-29120184907892446132009-10-08T10:52:00.000-07:002009-10-08T10:57:59.664-07:00

Uncharted 2 is a really, really, really good game. From a technical perspective it is at the top of its game. The modeling, the textures, the animation and sound design are all second to none. I defy you to find a game that looks, feels, and sounds better than this. It is unfortunate then that the one thing that keeps it from being "OMG! THE GREATEST GAME EVAR!" is the same thing that dampens

Justinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16051687717727965664noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31706285.post-34325915116335779202009-10-07T08:46:00.000-07:002009-10-07T11:41:54.258-07:00

I'm at the beginning of chapter 13. My first major observation so far concerns the pacing. It's really good. I started my first playthrough on hard and though the action is sort of slow in the first few chapters, once you get into it, it rarely stops for long. Where as Uncharted: Drake's Fortune was a little unrelenting on the higher difficulty settings, Uncharted 2 is, and this sounds like a

Justinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16051687717727965664noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31706285.post-84457053060895037082009-08-25T09:56:00.001-07:002009-10-07T11:43:24.426-07:00

I know what you are saying! Finally! A decent Blastman game! Typically licensed video games are bad. Not Blastman:Akron Asylum though. It will make you forget Blastman:Riddlemizers Revenge, Blastman vs. Jokester 64 and Blastman Blastamobile Karts X-Treme. In Blastmans:Akron Asylum, Blastman fights the Jokester, who is now in charge of the Akron Asylum where all the bad men that Blastman

Justinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16051687717727965664noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31706285.post-26073750047443363922009-07-16T09:02:00.001-07:002009-10-07T11:51:22.298-07:00

Here's a case of wasted potential. Special had a lot of really good things going for it. The concept was pretty ingenius, a boring every man wishes he had super powers and he starts taking medication that gives them to him, or does it? It features one of the best lead performances from Michael Rappaport and visually it's blazing some trails with mostly hand held sparsely lit location shooting.

Justinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16051687717727965664noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31706285.post-43748897173260096012009-03-17T07:54:00.000-07:002009-10-07T11:57:04.108-07:00

I'm not totally sure why this movie was made. I mean, I know "why" but why? To meet, it felt like Zach Snyder was basically just trying to impress everyone with his reverence for the material while never actually delving into why the material is so treasured and respected in the first place. It was like an excercise in faithfulness. They sort of missed a golden opportunity to comment on the

Justinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16051687717727965664noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31706285.post-16743909483508498962009-02-27T08:21:00.001-08:002009-02-27T08:24:42.954-08:00

Shut the fuck up until you see the fucking movie."they changed the ending" - yea, so? If you like the ending so much, read the fucking comic book jackass.There are all kinds of reasons I have for just shutting the fuck up about any minor gripes i may have with what they done thus far, but you know what, i'll save my opinion for after I see the movie. Because i'm an adult and I can handle it if

Justinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16051687717727965664noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31706285.post-8836259232891277462009-01-12T09:12:00.000-08:002009-01-12T09:33:01.303-08:00

I'll be the first to admit that I'm no historian. I really really like movies, but I've definately not seen all of them, not even most of them, I've barely gotten through just the ones I want to see let alone the ones that I'm just remotely interested in. So from that perspective, and using the movies I have seen, I thought Leatherheads was thoroughly charming.I've read alot of reviews of the

Justinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16051687717727965664noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31706285.post-23103688977977527522008-07-21T08:26:00.000-07:002008-07-21T08:27:16.916-07:00

Thanks.Sincerely,Justin D. Russo

Justinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16051687717727965664noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31706285.post-5845712230264127222008-06-19T08:20:00.001-07:002008-06-19T08:20:53.716-07:00

I’m not sure when, but there was definitely a point between the opening blaze of bullets and the closing press conference of Iron Man that my mind sort of drifted to a happy place that I normally reserve for especially intriguing New York Times articles, Wikipedia entries about Space, Star Wars Video Games and socially conscious/culturally philosophical comic-booking. In this happy place, my

Justinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16051687717727965664noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31706285.post-42153846791534828152008-05-27T09:22:00.000-07:002008-05-27T09:43:33.769-07:00

Just a couple thoughts. I watched this last night, the first of many times I plan on watching it. I'm waiting for the blu-ray to just buy it outright.also, there are SPOILERS.Firstly, I loved the movie. It was beautiful on many levels, but also equally sad and depressing. Not the film itself, just the journey of its main character, Daniel Plainview. He's a sad guy, and I was never positive what

Justinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16051687717727965664noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31706285.post-6280605585308531522007-08-09T10:59:00.000-07:002007-08-09T11:03:11.344-07:00

The Last King of Scotland was a pretty good movie. Generally, when I write a review or analysis or whatever you want to call it, I precede my opinion of the film with a lot of hullabaloo. Sometimes three to four paragraphs of nonsense until I finally get to the point, in this case, I thought it smart to state my opinion of the film first, and then do all the hullabaloo and caca that I like to

Justinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16051687717727965664noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31706285.post-15489879888680723232007-07-06T09:04:00.000-07:002007-07-06T09:07:49.823-07:00

The only thing worse than a romantic comedy, is a meta-romantic comedy. The Holiday fully acknowledges its status as a romantic comedy by inserting a character who is an expert on such matters, a former Hollywood screenwriter; thus it thinks that it deserves kudos for being so brash and fun with the concept. The problem being that even a meta-romantic comedy is still a romantic comedy, so it has

Justinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16051687717727965664noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31706285.post-23333260264395382582007-04-20T10:57:00.000-07:002007-04-20T11:05:04.360-07:00

I remember going to White Horse comics in Villa Park about 9 or 10 years ago and picking up this massive book called "300". I looked through the pages and was floored by the intense artwork it contained. Contrasted and dynamic flows of brutality that read more like the fever dreams of psychotic Greek history enthusiast than a “comic book”. But alas, it cost more money that I tended to spend those

Justinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16051687717727965664noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31706285.post-1167177240798207912006-12-26T15:50:00.000-08:002007-04-08T16:31:45.230-07:00

You know what? The only reason I went to see the first Fantastic Four was because I had a free ticket. It was an okay movie, but I said to myself "It's gonna take alot for me to go see a sequel, especially if I have to pay for it." I was really looking forward to not giving Tim Story or any other goofball involved in the first one any of my money. Then I saw the trailer for Fantastic Four: Rise

Justinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16051687717727965664noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31706285.post-1164828686728641172006-11-29T11:27:00.000-08:002006-11-29T11:36:05.040-08:00

Requiem For A Dream, to me, was a deeply personal movie experience. I saw it at a time when many people in my family were still reeling from my cousin’s drug-related death. After seeing it I went out and bought it and I made my parents watch it (one could not have more awesome parents than I as they equally loved the movie) I knew of my fathers past, which at times was pretty scary, and how my

Justinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16051687717727965664noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31706285.post-1163470930598489862006-11-13T18:21:00.000-08:002006-11-13T18:22:10.616-08:00

I didn’t really like Thank You For Smoking as much as I thought I would. I thought it would be a dry indictment of the tobacco industry and their overzealous crusade to drain the American legal system of justice and morality. I was thinking it would be kind of like The Insider from Big Tobacco’s perspective, but with laughs. That’s not to say that it wasn’t a good movie, because it was, it

Justinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16051687717727965664noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31706285.post-1162828249338758312006-11-06T07:41:00.000-08:002006-11-06T08:05:16.223-08:00

So here's some Success Quotient information for you. The Success Quotient was originally intended to judge the success of the entire theatrical run of a movie, but in this case, I thought it was a good idea to take look at the weekend gross numbers. For these equations, I replaced the Average Screens numbers with total number of screens. Also, I was going to do Borat vs. Santa Clause 3, but I

Justinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16051687717727965664noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31706285.post-1162419354897191932006-11-01T14:13:00.000-08:002007-03-07T17:37:21.140-08:00

When I’m done watching a movie, I’ll either “get it” or not. I’ll either understand the infinite complexities of it’s craftsmanship (maybe after a couple days to think about it) or I’ll just hate it. Generally, I don’t hate bad movies. By bad movie I mean a movie who’s original intention was not all that honorable to begin with (lots of explosions and violence, shaky plots, terrible actors and/or

Justinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16051687717727965664noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31706285.post-1162376786413270132006-11-01T02:24:00.000-08:002006-11-04T22:03:00.966-08:00

I'm writing this fresh after seeing a trailer for Day of the Dead, scheduled for release in April 2007. To be honest, I was expecting a bad movie based on the casting choices, which were known beforehand. All the important parts are filled by young, pretty, "Dawson's Creek" types (and if Nick Cannon doesn't sound like a porn star's name, I'll eat a bucket of scorpions). Most - all - successful

Donhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10416776131783469400noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31706285.post-1161711756982050352006-10-24T10:38:00.000-07:002006-11-01T10:54:13.670-08:00

I really enjoy it when I go see a movie that I know little to nothing about and come away with some sort of intense reaction. Often times I’ll have a pre-decided judgment about a film and I’ll walk away either disappointed or pleasantly surprised. I had thought that The Phantom Menace was going to be the movie to end all movies, little did I know while caught up in the fanboy hysteria, that the

Justinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16051687717727965664noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31706285.post-1158971189001510142006-09-22T17:21:00.000-07:002006-09-22T17:26:29.016-07:00

I think I may have just seen the best movie of the year. As a Dork I’m partial to proclamations of that sort, but seriously, Idiocracy was amazing. I’ve just never seen something so funny and so good. This definitely isn’t good/funny in the same way that something like Annie Hall is good/funny, it’s good/funny (more funny/good) in a way I haven’t seen since the Golden Age of The Simpsons. I was

Justinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16051687717727965664noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31706285.post-1157067626540523932006-08-31T16:38:00.000-07:002006-08-31T20:42:04.280-07:00

My immediate reaction upon exiting the movie theatre after seeing Snakes On A Plane was: “That was the most obnoxious movie I’ve ever seen.” I mean obnoxious in a good way. I liked the honesty of its camp. It created a new genre: Proto-Schlock, or self-aware awfulness. I was endeared to this idea, and I appreciated the movie for not trying to be good but instead reveling in its own inherent

Justinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16051687717727965664noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31706285.post-1156612826530940262006-08-26T10:18:00.000-07:002006-08-27T14:57:11.803-07:00

I’m at a point in my life (fresh out of college, working a “real job”, about to get married) where I’ve been granted a new perspective on things. I think about money not as something to be earned, but as something to be saved (For the most part. I’m working on it, honestly). I think of the future in realistic terms, sacrificing the wide-eyed idealism of youth for the hopeful truth of adulthood. I

Justinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16051687717727965664noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31706285.post-1155876940958071312006-08-17T21:54:00.000-07:002006-08-18T07:38:36.323-07:00

I guess I should say something about Snakes On A Plane as well, everyone else has, why the fuck shouldn’t I? Here’s my thing about this movie: I want to see it because it looks hilarious. Not like Animal House hilarious but like, Red Planet hilarious or Lost in Space hilarious. I get a huge movie boner for really bad movies. Really I do. Unlawful Entry, love it. Eight Legged Freaks, fantastic.

Justinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16051687717727965664noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31706285.post-1155563696754880792006-08-14T06:45:00.000-07:002006-08-17T08:34:31.740-07:00

For as long as I’ve been nuts about movies, I’ve been made even more nuts by what exactly makes a movie a “success”, specifically when they talk about “all time highest grosses” or “record breaking opening weekends”. I think it’s pretty shady to talk about a movies “success” in terms of dollars.Let me give you an example. Lets say now-a-days a movie ticket costs $10 (I know what you’re saying, “

Justinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16051687717727965664noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31706285.post-1155073354716131772006-08-08T14:40:00.000-07:002006-08-10T07:28:53.010-07:00

Zombies have plodded across the silver screen in almost exactly the same way—slowly—for about as long as the modern zombie convention has existed. Here and there, a film would bend the rules—Return of the Living Dead, for instance, had a few pretty spry zombies—but for the most part, filmmakers piously followed the doctrines set down by zombie-film granddaddy George Romero.In the past four years

Donhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10416776131783469400noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31706285.post-1154957898626087402006-08-07T06:26:00.000-07:002006-08-07T06:46:08.310-07:00

It was announced last week that production on the sequel to Batman Begins, tentatively titled The Dark Knight, would begin this coming January. Along with the news that all major players from the first film would be returning (with the exception of those that died, and Katie Holmes), it was announced who had won the much-coveted role of The Joker.Heath Ledger is officially signed on to take this

Justinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16051687717727965664noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31706285.post-1154397274143261112006-07-31T18:52:00.000-07:002006-08-01T05:57:54.486-07:00

When I first heard that Kevin Smith was making Clerks 2, I was immediately sure it was going to be a bad move. I mean, how the hell do you make a sequel to a movie about slackers, in which nothing of importance happens? And how the hell do you make it over a decade later? I thought for certain that it would either be a total retread, with similar gags but no spark of originality or creativity (

Donhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10416776131783469400noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31706285.post-1154390990676212162006-07-31T17:05:00.000-07:002006-08-03T13:37:50.580-07:00

There is a certain cadence associated with any proclamation of passion. You can’t just say “IREALLYLIKEMOVIESALOT!” if you really like movies a lot. Most people who are passionate about anything, I mean really passionate, I’m talking dress up like your favorite character and go get said characters autograph at the local convention style passionate, will have string of words to explain their

Justinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16051687717727965664noreply@blogger.com1