7 years of Harry Potter

This is one the very few times I actually checked out the hype. I guess in a way it was worth if for nothing else than to connect with those who talk about the characters and plot.

Overall, I was not very impressed. The combination of trying to reach the younger generation with kid protagonists and goofy names, while trying to simultaneously appeal to the older crowd with darker thematic elements (not to mention somewhat gory and chilling) just did not mix well. I think the series started off well aiming at the teens, but when Voldemort is reincarnated, it just goes downhill. There is nothing to connect with. The bad guys are too bad, the wizened old wizard is too smart (and too lenient), and the hero is too powerful. You get the sense that Harry is more terrified of his adoptive relatives than the Lord V.

There were some elements I did like. For instance, the owls. I kinda like how they are kinda watching over their charges, even though they have no real powers outside of normal owls. I liked Fred & George Weasley; forget the stupid things the author stuck them with, I like how they turned magic to their mischievous will. I like the background of Tom Riddle. And I think Snape was done up well as the double-double-double-double crossing bad guy who is a good guy who is a bad guy; plus he was cast quite well in the movies.

I like how the last book answered a lot of questions, answers that were long in the coming. We learned a lot more about Dumbledore and Potter, Snape and Riddle. I appreciate that the last book was the last book. Finally! =)

But there was so much to hate. The names of things are just dumb. Ok, I get that the author wants to appeal to children, but when you start having a Dark Wizard who imbibes blood and goes around killing folks just because, you kinda discriminate against the parents of the children. Spells especially are ridiculous. There are perhaps a few that seem original and in good taste. While the idea of the art of wandmaking is rather interesting, the theory that wands are merely instruments for a well-learned wizard (and not, alledgely, the source of the magic in the first place) falls on its face when the Big Bad Guy is so intent on getting the biggest and baddest wand. Yes, the famed wandmakers did try to warn Mr. V that he just didn't get it, and we the reader are supposed to understand that Riddle was so consumed that he was blinded. But even Dumbledore had to use a wand, not to mention all the other power players. Both the books and movies place way too much emphasis on the wands. Perhaps another throwback to children?

I did not like how our young heroes were always so much better than their elders. How is it they they excel so much where their mentors fall short? I even felt at times that the children were more mature than the adults.

I really did not connect with these stories at all. I think they make for interesting conversation. And the fact that there is so much hype about them easily lends itself to the impression, the false sense of some level of "good quality", that people will actually have intelligent discussions about the ideas and concepts put forth in those pages. I think that is more to the credit of the critics and fans than the author herself.

The Sleeping God: A Novel of Dhulyn and Parno by Violette Malan

I liked the way this novel started, but was not very thrilled with the ending. The whole thing with the "Green Shadow" is just too cheesy, almost like a bad mash-up of the "Green Hornet" and "The Shadow" from 1960's talk radio. If Malan's other novels have nothing to do with this mysterious cartoon character of NOT, I may take another chance with them.

I like the main characters, Dhulyn Wolfshead and Parno Lionsmane. They are members of the Mercenary Guild, and like all Mercenaries, are experts in swordsmanship, fieldcraft and full of common sense. Almost too much so. And they all have these funny adopted last names to reflect that, when they join the Guild, they loose their past.

There are also the Marked, those with special abilities that most everyone benefits from. You have your Healers, Menders and Finders. You would never guess what they do. =) Malan weaves an interesting theology together, showing how all these special abilities can join up with the more rare of the Marked, the Seers and the Lens. Together, they can form the Sleeping God when the time is ripe. By the end of the book, images from my childhood days of watching Voltron were coming to mind.

I like the little details, and most of the story. As you can tell from what I said above, some of the more abstract concepts did not pull me into the story, but instead distanced me.

More on EVE

I am still reminiscing about EVE Online. I have never felt such a pull, and such a revulsion, for a game. Gamespot has a review of the game that, for once, strikes a strong vibe with me. EVE is heavily PVP, so like one reviewer said, if you are not in it for PVP, don't waste your time.

I have been looking for something that is non-PVP EVE. Or at least, something that has a rich, rewarding PVE side to it. I tried out the demos for X3 and the Tarr Chronicles, Starlancer and Freelancer; all of which are quite interesting and even kinda fun, but I am not exactly interested in the first-person experience. Especially with no joystick. I want something like Homeworld, but something current. I briefly looked at Nexus: The Jupiter Incident, but the graphics are horrid, and the game is a bit old. And slow. There are a slew of other games recommended by Amazon, but they are all older. I browsed stargamer.net, which looked like my kind of place, but that is even old. What's up with that!! I briefly read about the Battlestar Gallatica and Star Trek games, but I have never been impressed with the games-from-movies projects (including Star Wars). Maybe I need to give them another chance. Maybe.

Is this genre dying out?!?

At least the bevy of fantasy RPGs are seemingly unending. I won't have to worry about spell-casting, sword-weilding games running out any time soon.

The Name of the Wind, by Patrick Rothfuss

I rather enjoyed this book, even though there were a couple things I did not particularly desire. But those were minor, so let me get them out of the way.

First, the "hero" is telling a story about his childhood firsthand. I am not a big fan of too-tall-to-be-true stories. Not only is it hard for me to identify with a character who is half my age, but I find it disturbing that the fictional child has so many mature and adult characteristics.

Secondly, I dislike incomplete stories. 'Tis like a song that ends on a leading chord. I happened to be on Amazon looking for more information about the author, and the next book is due out in April, 2009! I will have forgotten about this author and story by then.

Ok, now that the unpleasantries are out of the way. There are parts of this book that remind me of when I read Terry Goodkind's "Debt of Bones". There is something raw, something gritty in the story that makes it come alive. Sometimes you can smell the dust that is kicked up from the well-worn dirt road atop your dappled horse, the leather saddle creaking in slow cadence to the pleasant canter. I enjoy the nature in which "magic" is employed; not some abra-cadabra fancy posh ritual, but something that some folks can tap into better than others, to various degrees and ends. I enjoy the mystery of the bad guy. I appreciate how "real life" and science is woven into various forms of magic, coming up with things I have never heard of before like "sygaldry".

I really enjoy his universe as well. There are histories that can be explored, characters that fit like puzzle pieces, even without a tremendous amount of back story. The universe is very consistent, well thought out and complex to boot. I like that. There are twists on old ideas (a nomandic musical group called the Edema Ruh) that leave you with the feeling that you might be able to come up with a comparison in some far distant land; these kind of things help draw the reader in, and I really like to be drawn in. As the characters progress and explore, the reader is compelled to go along for the ride, just to find out what happens next.

I imagine I will one day pick up the sequel at the library and wonder what it is about, probably read it to be reminded of something very very similar. Maybe I will find this post and it will all come cascading back to me. =)

EVE Online, a massively multiplayer online role playing game

Why do they call these things MMORPGs? Why not just MMOG, or MMG?

Anyway, this was my first foray into the MMORPG arena, and wow did it open my eyes! I sampled this fine offering with the trial account. And although I only played for roughly 2.5 days, I put in almost 20 hours. I am still unsure if it was worth it. It certainly was not the best use of my time. =)

There are many good things and many bad things about EVE, and this will be very subjective.

Bad things first
The massive multiplayer online genre itself is probably my biggest issue. Due to its nature, it is extremely immersive. Meaning that you are invited, enticed and even provoked into dumping hours upon hours into developing your character in one fashion or another. You can explore the life of EVE on your own, but that path is very slow, very time consuming and filled with pitfalls. You can join up with another group which will speed things tremendously, keeping you relatively safe (even if only by sage advice), but the intrinsic coercion of playing more can hit you like certain hot peppers that build up and pack a punch. It is very hard to play this game for, say, 1 hour at a time. It might be possible to run a PvE (Player vs Environment, dealing with computer-generated events and characters) mission or two, but you may quickly find that some times it takes a while to get to where you are going. There is an autopilot function that helps, but has a built-in safety feature of dropping you off a few klicks away from your target so you are not instantly ambushed by those with nefarious intent. Warping is not always fast, especially if your ship does not have enough juice to do the jump all in one go. So, you can chew up 10-15 minutes just travelling. And for a newbie (we all start at square one), just figuring things out takes time.

The tutorials help. But they are so slow! Amazingly slow, especially if you make a mistake. I have read that EVE has one of the most severe death penalities, and since this is my first online game, I am rather curious what others are like. When you "die" in EVE, that means your ship was blown up by "bad guys", whether that be a NPC (non-playable character) or a real person, for better or worse. Your characters, as it were, is jettisoned into deep space in a small lifeboat called a capsule. Amazingly, you can warp around with this capsule and the idea is that you make it back home so you can refit in another ship. If you have adequate insurance (all starter ships are automatically insured for free), your ship will soon be replaced. If someone shoots your capsule, you can opt to have a clone. These are your only options for "saving" the game. If you die and you have no insured ship and no clone, your account is essentially locked. What also sucks is all the stuff you were carrying is left in your ship's wreck, referred to as a "can". You can go back and claim it, but so can anyone else in the game. Which means there is quite a lucrative pirating underground. I had an opportunity to be a part of a shady group that would trick newbies and blow away their ships, raiding their cans. All perfectly legitimate, if done correctly. That is one of the things that stands out with EVE; it is one of the most dangerous game environments. Unlike a FPS (first person shooter) where you are expected to kill and be killed, EVE paints the picture of living a life in space on a ship, chipping away a living by doing "normal" things like finding a job and making money. It is just that there are a disproportionate amount of people whose job it is to take your money.

The corollary is that this "pirating" mindset is also one of the most fun for your average person, I think. EVE is a sci-fi game, and it is almost mantra that you blow things up. Mining for minerals in an asteroid field and trucking the goods home, day after day, just does not hold much excitement. There is a very strong sense that role-playing is not on a majority of your average player's mind. In fact, it is almost big news when you hear about a pure role-playing faction (I came across Lame Duck Corp, which consisted of two folks). Where is the RPG in MMORPG?

Lastly, the background music. It is a nice affect, very ambient and "space sounding", but too much monotony! I guess if you play for a short time span (1 hour or two), it is not that bad, but when you are online for long stretches, you start to hate the music. Perhaps there is a way to customize the "jukebox".

And a minor irritation that all games have, aside from the broken physics (slowing down when you stop accelerating?); there is no real sense of collision. If you happen to get close to someone, either you bump off or pass through them. I really wish that some game engine would finally get it right and respect object boundaries (and the requisite boundary conditions).

The interface is a little klunky. It looks sharp and has a very appropriate sci-fi skin, but window management is not up to par. Kudos to the context-sensitive mouse.

The good things
Very intriguing game. I love the futuristic sciences, the variety of career paths one can pursue, the vastness of space, the sheer scale. The fact that you can learn skills, even when offline, is a huge plus. Right now, my character is learning a skill that will take 6 days to complete, and I am not even connected. That is huge. It is strange that the skills are somehow not associated with what you do. In other words, there are no experience points as in the traditional RPG model. There are other stats you can accumulate, but skill points only go up when you train a skill. And you need to have skills to open up doors to other tech. I think that is a most excellent model, much preferable to the "traditional" model, and very realistic. Which makes me all the more sad that more players do not take advantage of the role-playing potential.

But blowing things up is just plain fun! The sound affects are awesome; from the ripping thundering screech of a stargate, to the squeezing acceleration of a warp, to the rewarding (but most unrealistic) reverberating sounds of missile launches and explosions. Whoever coordinated and engineered the sounds was quite good.

And the EVE universe is just big. I like that because it is easily the kind of thing that can swallow 23000 online players at once, and you can still find places of little or no activity, explore the unknown, or hang out in favorite 'hoods or crossroads. There is a realistic market force in action, along with politics, and a volunteer player-run University. Even an official EVE television station! Amazing. A universe that makes immersion very accessible.

I have also been glamorized by the cooperative efforts in gang warfare (or even fleetwar). The first group I hooked up required the use of Ventrillo, a VOIP operation favored by game-conferencing individuals. The physical technology is outstanding all by itself. You can even get software that tells you which icon belongs to which voice. How cool is that? Yes, I realize that this has been going on for years; like I said, I was smitten. Anyway, you have a gang boss (leader) who basically coordinates the attack by giving verbal orders (which is so much faster than typing). There are many technologies to deploy against a target; cloaking, damping, webbing, siphoning and the run-of-the-mill range of damage-inducing weapons. Sure, everyone wants to be a tank and just blast away, but having specialists in electronic warfare (ewar) can turn the tide quickly. Having a scout that can tell you more precise information can allow a team to take out strategic targets quickly.

The graphics are pretty sweet as well. After a couple warps, I noticed that the game engine depicts red-shift and blue-shift; wow, yet another attempt at "real physics" to demonstrate hypothetical faster-than-light travel. And back to scale; the smallest of ships (frigates) are really small. The big ships are really big, especially the space stations. I was actually hoping for a little more in terms of extremes (thinking Star Wars and the death star and capital ships), but what EVE offers is very satisfying. Except the whole thing about collisions. =)

In the end, I both love and hate this game. For me personally, the cost of my real life time is simply not worth the benefit of such an awesome game experience. If I could dabble in it, I would be hard put to avoid it. But the time commitment, not to mention a subscription fee, put this game out of my ballpark. Sure, $14 bucks a month is not much, but the principle of it is what eats me. On a more practical level, look at it from my wife's perspective. =) Which I try to do often, while not always succeeding.


Updated 20-Nov-2007:

Some other thoughts about the skill point model. It goes slow. Very slow. And you can do nothing about it, except 1) train skills that help you learn faster, 2) bump up character traits that support faster learning (ie, intelligence). I am not even so sure the last point has much of an impact. But I could be wrong.

I am not as convinced this model is superior. What you end up doing is having to buy or earn books from which to learn new skills, and there are a ton of skills out there to be learned. But books cost money (some cost mega $$). So, you end up doing a lot of missions to earn money to learn skills to earn skill points. In the old system, you went out and did missions to earn experience points, which either bumped up a skill or could be allocated towards a trait (or both). But EVE is biased towards PVP. So there is a severe lack of incentive to do missions, except for the sole purpose of getting money to buy books and stuff.

I was reading in the EVE forums about the possibility of queueing skills. I think this would be extremely advantageous, but then someone made the point that the game developer (CCP) would loose lots of money because folks would queue up skills to get an uber-ship, log off for a couple months, than restart their subscription read to rock'n'roll. I think that might be true for a number of people, which indicates there is something drastically broken about why people play. Which is why I am not going to buy a subscription.

But dang it, the game is awesome! There is so much going on that I would love to a part of. EVE TV, EVE University, fleet warefare with tons of supporting roles for folks of every niche... the EVE Universe is just amazing! And growing! Lots of RPG opportunities, although I have a hard time seeing how someone can get excited about mining ore from rocks. But folks do. You can join corporations and organizations, go the political route, or just blow things up. For me, it just takes too long to get the juicy stuff. And I do not feel like paying a subscription to get there. It would be very interesting if there was a single-player feed, perhaps a way to interact with only the NPC part of the game. I am not sure if that would sell or not.

Homeworld 2, 2003 PC game (demo)

I fell in love with Homeworld when it first came out in 1999. There is something about the epic space battle that I really like; perhaps the mixture of high-technology and nomads struggling to survive. Aside from the story, I am enthralled by the truly 3-dimensional universe. Granted, there is much more untapped potential, but the fundamentals are there. This post is going to jump all over the place, but this is the way I think. No apologies.

For instance, most capital ships (the big ones with thick hulls and either bristling with guns or ship factories) have "weaknesses" on the top- or underside. Which means if you focus an attack from one of those directions, you can more easily punch through the skin. However, the game engine (in both Homeworld and Homeworld 2, and even Cataclysm) does not properly align ships moving along the z axis, they may tilt about 35 degrees or so, but essentially you end up with a lopsided ship careening through space at an angle that is impossible if its engines were really pointed in the direction they are. On the plus side, I like a lot of the effects. Especially if you crank up the resolution and detail level; absolutely beautiful!

V2 offers some nice things, but also took away some nice things. The interface, while being a little more easier to grasp, lots its sci-fi appeal. It is now too... comic looking. I like that the build, research and launch windows are now cordoned off to a side of the screen, and that they are linked to the ship in context. I just wanted something that looked really cool, really sci-fi like. I really like the hover mouse effects; hovering over a ship will give you a line to its target, whether it be a waypoint, resource or target. The pulsar weapons are cool, and I think a good addition. I was not able to play and of the behemoth, gun-toting ships (stinking demo). But the class of ships I did play are really exciting. I love big battles, catching a ride on the back of an interceptor zipping around, watching everything blow up.

I did not really like the story behind V2, at least not what I gathered from the demo and the website. One of the best new concepts behind this kind of RTS is that your army (or armada as it were) do not mysteriously disappear for each new session or campaign. What you built from the previous scenario carries over. So, how is it that after this many years, our little fleet is starting from scratch, having to redevelop all its technology?!? Come on! I mean, what would be better is if all the old technology is still available, and some new technology from the intermediate years, with options to develop new and improved technology, assuming the enemy already has tech that can best your old stuff. And where's my fleet?? Did the fleet mastermind sell off ships to scrap and force the gene pool to dwindle? For this, I will not buy the new game; the story is basically recycled from the previous one. At least Cataclysm had a better story.

But the graphics are awesome! The soundtrack is still a big hit with me; a little different, but I think it is generally the same flavor.

Another thing I noticed that I thought was a little strange. In the original, any ships that were too close to a exploding mothership suffered the consequenes; they were toasted and incinerated. But in V2 I have not noticed that. Maybe in a patch?

There are other strange anomalies from both games. They stand out only because everything else about the game is so awesome and spectacular. Ship geometry can be weird. I would want to see sparks, damage and explosions if any ship got too close to another, no matter what size. Instead, I see smaller ships bouncing off larger ones, and larger ships usually just pass through the extremities of another large ship. In V2 there is more "bouncing" going on, especially with larger ships. My guess is that it takes a lot of code and computational power to keep track of that kind of stuff, and it is easier to draw a loose rubberband around a ship. However, a much bigger complaint I have is with the AI. Why the heck would ships even get that close?!? Sometimes the AI is spot on; I have see a capital ship pass through a company of smaller ships (corvettes and fighers), the smaller vehicles parting like a wave and reforming in good military fashion. But in battle, the gloves come off and there is nothing nice. And if everyone knows about the soft undersides, why do all the ships attack from the front or the aft and starboard?

V2 really did improve some aspects of the AI that I noticed. Each ship type is aware of what ship it counters best and usually (always?) targets those ships first. I saw some horrendous examples in the first version where smaller ships would take on a larger capital ship when better choices where nearby. Or a Heavy Cruiser focusing on a bomber when an Attack Frigate was within range. This is handled much better in the newest release. Also, the smaller class (fighters and corvettes) are now launched and exercise tactical maneuvers in intelligent groups (would squads be a good name for that?). That is a huge plus!

It is sad that Sierra and Relic (and might as well throw in Barking Dog) are being broken up; No Homeworld 3. But maybe that is a good thing. Maybe we need something new, something from scratch.

However, having said that, I wish there was something to fill the gap, the gaping maw really, of the Kadeshi, the Bentusi and the "Council". I am tempted to go reading a bit more (Wikipedia can really whet your appetite), but there is really not much in-game.

So, what will the next, great space game be? Genesis Rising was a very interesting approach, but essentially flopped for several reasons. For starters, only 2d movement. What, are the magnetic fields too strong to traverse up or down? Very different twist, though, with living ships that you could morph to your purpose; I liked that. I have heard rumors of some other games, but I am still looking. I remember the Space Commander days, and bringing that flavor back in a big way would be would be just swell.

Update: I have got to find a friend who has Eve Online. I usually a totally against MMOG, but this one sounds quite intriguing.

Heroes of Might and Magic (V), 2006 PC game

I downloaded a demo a few days ago and checked out this facelift for an old but enjoyable game (the HOMM series has been fun). The turn-based system is really old-school, but gives the game a little character, slows down the pace a little. Almost feels a little more like the old-fashioned D&D games.

Anyway, the same thing that I liked about the older HOMM games is what I like in the new. The downside is that very little has changed. Yes, the graphics are awesome, and the soundtrack is excellent. And the little tweaks they have made to acquiring experience, new skills and abilities, are all welcome (and long overdue), the core of the game is exactly the same.

If I had started on this game, I would probably have fallen in love with it, hands down. But since I have played the older games, I have a hard time wanting to play it for hours and hours. The 3D aspect is definitely very cool. And I want to explore the new artifacts, the special and unique racial abilities, and see what else has been tweaked. But I really doubt I am going to invest the proper amount of time that is demanded in order to find all the eye-candy and uber level-up trinkets.

I read some online reviews, and everyone is raving about the game. Well, there are some nay-sayers, but they are few and far between. I cannot believe the big-name reviews have ranked it so high (8 out of 10, or better).

Daywatch, 2007 movie

I caught a preview of this movie from Apple's Trailer site and was intrigued. I find myself drawn to clashes between "light" and "dark" forces set in sci-fi settings. The ideas behind Babylon5 were awesome!

Anyway, I did not know much about this movie at all. When I walked in to pay for the ticket, the lady behind me asked a couple questions:
"Is it subtitled or dubbed?"
"Is the 3rd part of the trilogy out yet?"

Hmm... dubbed from what? This was not an English-speaking movie? This is the 2nd part? What was the first part?

So, I walked in to the movie quite clueless. I do not think this movie ever played in the big cinemas; I made sure I saw it at the Boardman Art Theatre, where the proprietor prides himself in having the best audio/visual equipment. I was able to enjoy this movie in all its excellent glory alone, sitting in the front row seat. Wow!

The movie was filmed somewhere in Russia (so I am told) and the language was Russian. The subtitles were ingenious; they were not merely blocks of high-contrast text. They would follow people, change colors to emphasize a mood, fade when whispered. In one shot, there were many people shouting and murmuring, each with his own subtitle near his head. Very well done!

I liked the presentation of the movie a lot. The special effects were solid, the plot very new and well-crafted, the acting superb (what do I know? but I liked it). The movie had grit, which made it more real for me. Rather dark for the most part, but tastefully so. A little gory here and there, but far from a bloodfest (ie 300). And Zoar was great! =)

I did notice some graininess, sitting so close to the screen. I wonder about that. Is it because the projector cannot show "black" brightly? Or was it shot in digital? Or both? Who knows.

A great film, and now I am looking forward to the third installment ("Deathwatch"). I hear FOX is picking it up, and I hope they do not ruin it. I am going to look for the book.

Clear and Present Danger, Tom Clancy (1994) & movie (2001)

It had been a long time since I read this book, and the movie (although old itself) was on my mind for some reason. Wow, the book is so much different than the movie. Amazing! And it really reinforced my revulsion at having William Dafoe act as John Clark. I hated that casting!

The book, by itself, stands on very solid ground. You do not need to read the others, but they certainly make the Clancy saga entertaining. I like the book a lot. And now I like the movie a lot less.

What is great about the book is that you get the author's own thoughts mixed in, posing as thoughts of the characters. Obviously, movies do not have time (nor inclination) for such an indulgence. You get a sneak peek into Clancy's thoughts on war and politics. He asks great questions, in the form of Jack Ryan's questing for "What is Right". And there is so much detail. Obviously, duh! *grin*

The movie... well, what can I say? Harrison Ford is no Jack Ryan. Ford is an awesome actor, but he is a square peg in the round hole of Jack Ryan. Ben Affleck might be a better Jack Ryan; it is hard to say since his only movie so far as Jack Ryan was not all that great either. =)

And will someone PLEASE remaster the Clear and Present Danger movie to eradicate William Dafoe!!!

King Arthur, 2004 movie

I enjoyed this film, and I think mostly because it was a new twist on an old tale. I thoroughly enjoyed the musical score, and the raw sense of a brutal, almost uncivilized England (both in climate and the peoples that lived there). I am not saying it is accurate (because I have no idea whatsoever), but I found it tasteful and entertaining. I was intrigued by the inner battles that Arthur had to fight, the war between his faith and his intuition. More climatic was the struggle with the Roman Church and common sense. I like the gravity that Lorenzo De Angelis added for Alecto's character, although I felt he was a bit too wise beyond his years. But someone had to say what he did. I like how Keira did Guinevere; I do not recall Guinevere being such a warrior, or even Woad for that matter. I also found it interesting that they scripted Merlin as such a... almost normal person; I did not see any magic, nor special powers or anything, just a savage leader of a savage people.

There were some things I did not like. Galahad and the other kid seemed a bit too young. I mean, Clive Owen is 11 years older than Hugh Dancy, yet somehow their characters are supposed to both be finishing their 15th year of service at the same time? Also, all the Church people, with the exception of Alecto, seem hell-bent on Crusading and visiting the punishment of sin everywhere. Come on, aren't there a few other bishops who are not quite as brain dead? Finally, the point where the Knights escort the caravan across the ice; what idiot is going to lead such a heavy load out into the middle of the ice, especially when you hear it cracking beneath you?!? Duh, where is the ice the thinnest?

Overall, a good movie. Not perfect by far, but entertaining. I almost blacklisted this movie because I do question how much replay value it has, but I think the film might have "it".

Matchstick Men, 2003 movie

Within the first few moments of this show, I had a nagging feeling it was familiar. Then the second time I saw the ceramic dog where Roy Waller stores his money, I knew I had seen this movie before. I should keep a record of which movies I see so I do not see repeats....

This movie was utterly forgettable; dull, slow and dry. It has some humorous moments, and Roy's daughter brightens the screen a little. But I was not exactly digging Nick Cage's style for Roy. I could not even stand to watch the whole movie this time.

Fantastic Four, 2005 movie

I had heard that this movie was not so great, and I have finally confirmed the rumors. Yes, there were some good points, and I will briefly cover them. Ready?

The car wreck on the bridge was riveting and fun to watch. The plot line stayed mostly true to the comics (with some notable exceptions). Some of the special affects were well done (Sue Storm's force field) and the accompanying eye candy was ... candy.

What was wrong with the movie? Well, even for the above pros, there were many things that detracted. Chris Evans' Johnny Storm was a bit immature and testosterone-pumped; I think Evans did a good job portraying someone's idea of who Johnny Storm was, but I have a hard time understanding why Stan Lee was gushing all over him. All the actors for that matter. Alba's Sue Storm was a bit too sexy; the comics made her out to be a little more conservative which is what I wanted to see. Some of the special affects were just plain bad. Many of the scenes when Reed was stretching were just too cartoonish for live-action; at one point when he was restraining Ben Grimm (aka "Thing"), you could see his shoulders and arms and it did not present a cohesive picture. The CG for the Torch and Invisible Woman/Girl were dated; is that the best we can do with today's technology? Silver Surfer is going to be exactly the same thing, unfortunately.

I expected Reed's lab to be a lot more hi-tech. The comics made Reed out to be unbelievably advanced and perhaps set the bar a bit too high. Reed's lab in this movie looked too much like a stage filled with props. Michael Chiklis did an excellent job acting as Ben Grimm, but the suit he had to wear was ridiculous. Please! I wanted something that looked more like a stone golem, not a fat suit with rubber ridges.

And Von Doom, the guy we love to hate, and sometimes hate to love. I think Julian McMahon is probably a good role for that guy. However, I did not realize that Doom had a metalic-based power-plant body. Where did that come from?

I do not have a good feeling about the Marvel movies. It will be interesting to see if the rest are worth it or not. I feel saddened by the previews of Silver Surfer; while they look cool (can't beat passing through objects like that), it simply is not the Noran Radd of the comic fame. And what about Galactus?!? =)

Fun with Dick and Jane, 2005 movie

I enjoyed this movie, but the reason I am blacklisting it is because I do not want to see it again; once was enough.

One of the big reasons is that Jim Carey is being ... too Jim Carey, if that makes any sense. His over-the-top comical side needs a breath of fresh air. It was fantastic when Carey first awed us, but now years later it gets kinda old. To a slighter degree, I could say the same thing about Téa Leoni, but her style is a little more enduring (and bearable).

But I like the way the show was scripted and directed. It was entertaining and flowed along pretty well. You do not see many wives like Jane Harper who stick with their hubby through thick and thin, rain or shine. That in itself was refreshing. Of course, the fact that they (and other recently unemployed GlobalDyne couples) take up the darker side of capitalism is not exactly endearing of virtuistic morals, but the comedy was good. And darn it, they try really hard to do the Right Thing, and I give them all kudos for that.

Get Shorty, 1995 movie

I picked this up last night, just to give it a whirl. I did not have any expectations, but it was entertaining. Even though I thought it was good, I also thought it was forgettable as it had no "WOW" factor.

Some big names on the screen, and they all bring something different. I have never really been a big Danny DeVito fan (for some reason, he always seems over-the-top), but I enjoyed the roll he played. Travolta's Chili character was good; my only complaint is that I wish Travolta would stop holding his cigarette in such a dramatic way. You could see the ending a mile away, but nonetheless, I appreciated the build up. Dennis Farina ("Bones") does a good job, except when Travolta bangs him up, then he acts like a little girl which is totally messed up.

Entertaining once, but not twice.

Warcraft III, 2003 PC game by Blizzard

I have always enjoyed Blizzard's stuff. And the Warcraft series is no exception. I played it a little back when it came out, and decided to buy it 4 years later. While I like the game, I forget how 4 years of technology moves on and that it has no chance what-so-ever to compete graphically with any current titles. Oh well.

After playing the earlier Warcraft games and Starcraft, I have noticed some obvious trends in the way the games are laid out, trends I wish I could change. For instance, does this sound familiar; "Ultra-high tech race is wiped out by savages; ultra-high tech race comes back with 1 hero, builds an army, wipes out savages; savage hero escapes and haunts ultra-high tech race." Whatever. Another annoying thing is that there is so much similarity across the Blizzard universe; peons gather resources (some form of money, and some form of combustible), there are always 2 or 3 unit-producing strutures, 1 or 2 town defense structures, and about 8 different unit types ranging from the guy who sticks his finger up his nose to the guy who shoves a stick of TNT up yours. Also, you are limited to selecting (and thus grouping) about 8 units at once, and the max number of units is usually around 100. "Total Annihilation" was a game from the 90's and was never encumbered by such immature obstacles (but it had other problems).

I do like how the Blizzard team threw in some twists. The Hero unit is a nice addition, able to carry items and gain experience. I wish all the units gained experience. In addition, some of the special Hero abilities have some nice eye-candy, and some abilities are actually quite useful in battle (Invincibility, Blink, Storm of Blades, summon creatures, etc). I appreciate how there are different races that try to alter the "status quo" a little; the Burning Legion and Night Elves let you assign 5 peons and basically soak up the gold without traveling back and forth; the Night Elves structures are mostly all mobile (and can attack!), and the Naga are water-based (but amphibious). I am still finding it hard to shake off that feeling that this is Warcraft 1 just in prettier clothes.

The Bourne Ultimatum, 2007 movie

I heard a lot of good things about this flick, and a friend who is almost over the tipping point of being fanatical, highly recommended it. I quite enjoyed it. There were a lot of good things, and then...

First off, the drama part of the story (Jason Bourne has no idea who he is, looking for his identity) is intriguing. For me, it helps the story move along through the series. One downside is that even though he finds little bits of pieces here and there, you never get the sense that Mr. Bourne is quite satisfied with what he has found. Even when you find out his name, there is no "Aha!" moment.

The action scenes are spectacular! I do not know if Damon did all his own stunts or not, but I impressed with the ones that were obviously him. I even believed that Damon would be sweating after going hand-to-hand with one of his foes, breathing heavy; I believe that as an actor, it was a hard, demanding scene to do.

On the downside with all those action scenes, Bourne just becomes more and more unbelievable. He is shot, banged up, car wrecked and clubbed alongside running, driving recklessly, running, fighting and running. And has the finesse to make calm-voiced, calculated phone calls and somehow take showers throughout? *grin*

Where does Julia Stiles' character fit in? I felt like they just threw her script in at the last second, with some mysterious forbidden romance to help make it a little more palatable. I think Stiles is a good actor, but her part was wimpy.

I am glad I saw this on the big scree; big sound, lots of action, good stuff. I have heard that the books are really good as well. Do I trust Ludlum? Guess we will find out.

The Children of Húrin

I really love Tolkien's universe; the mythology is so rich, complex, vast and comprehensive. It simply blows my mind that J.R.R. Tolkien thought up all these characters, languages and places, not to mention the hierarchy and history.

The Children of Húrin is really good, in that it is another piece in the "Middle-Earth" puzzle. It takes place during the "Second Age" (before we even get wind of Hobbits, Aragorn, etc), and tells the story Húrin's doomed family, mostly concentrating on Túrin. I think Christopher Tolkien did a great job bringing the vast amount of partial texts into one flowing, continuous story.

The Last Mimzy, 2007 movie

Another "children's" movie. As I feared, all the special effects were shown in the trailer (well, mostly). I wanted more sci-fi and was disappointed it was not that all. I had a hard time getting into the plot. Especially since the whole thing revolves around a stupid little stuffed rabbit. That was a bad move. I do not even remember what the Mimzy (the rabbit) was sent back in time to collect. The little, hi-tech AI thingamabob got a tear from little girl empowered with telekinesis and somehow telepathically coerced the little gee-whiz kids to use their combined super-powers to send it back into the future. Yes, I realize that is sci-fi. It was a very unbelievable brand, with very little eye-candy.

Some of the hi-tech gadgets were kinda cool. The generator was so abstract that you never really knew what it was supposed to look like, other than a glob. I liked how they branded Intel at the nanotech level in the rabbit (the only good thing the rabbit had going). I didn't quite get the iridescent flash card, other than that it helped the kid teleport a can of pop. I think it helped him see other-dimensional lines, but it was not well used.

All in all, a forgettable movie.

Bridge to Terabithia, 2007 movie

I was interested in this movie from the fantasy angle. Unfortunately, there was not much fantasy involved; kicked in at the end, but little else besides. Overall, I thought it was a good movie, but nothing to write home about (funny how we write everything in blogs, though, right).

The children actors did a great job. The scene were the main character gets really upset at his little sister comes across a bit canned, unbelievable. Other than that, I think his interactions with his father were excellent, portraying a very clear passion for his father's love and attention, yet almost spurned, withering under the expectations of being the eldest. The girl playing opposite him was interesting; I think there was a combination of over-acting or over-confidence on her part, but also the director and script writer making her character a little too big, too good, too smart. Hence, I had a hard time believing her. Also, the bully was a mixed-case as well. I think she did a good job, but her part was a bit too extreme, swinging from being overly bad (in a very unrealistic way, IMHO) to overly emotional. However, her character was useful to help show how the fantasy realm tied in and made it more relevant.

I liked how the story portrayed an imaginative place where fears, doubts, hopes and dreams could be dealt with in a constructive and more physical format. This is something we all do in one form or another. I was hoping the movie would dive into that place a little more forcefully, especially earlier, but alas.

Vlad Taltos series, by Steven Brust

Steven was given a number of comparisons to Zelanzy, whom I also enjoyed very much. His enduring protagonist, Vlad Taltos, is the Han Solo of sword-weilding, magic-throwing, dual-jhereg and accomplished ex-Thief. I like the mix of characters, and how Steven has built up a world that is quite believable in some aspects, yet wholly alien in others, with a variety of different races, each race playing a role in society whether they like it or not. I like the enigma of Vlad's past, how he is mysteriously connected to powerful characters like the Kieron's. I have enjoyed the development and unraveling of the "master" god-like race, and learning little bits and pieces of another of the elder races. And Vlad is just enjoyable as he is.

While I am not always satisfied by Steven's individual books (you can't please everyone), there are a few that have stood out. I liked the last one ("Issola") but really wanted more meat out of it, instead of the appetizer that it was. Steven has also written in a completely different style (following in the footpaths of Dumas?), for which I respect. While hard to read, the tale is amusing and true to Steven's universe.

Even better, Brust has been spotted in forums and blogs, which tells me he is keeping his ears to the ground and listening to his fans. Kudos!

Transformers, 2007 movie

I had high hopes for this movie, so decided to throw down some big bucks (all of 6) to see it on the big screen. What a waste!

Probably the killer is that the whole movie is shot in digital. This really sucks for dark scenes. Really. The dark scenes were so grainy that the pixels were probably the size of quarters. I was disgusted.

Next up, there are some really cheesy sequences. To make the dark scenes even worse, there is a sequence that is filmed at the young hero's house, and these 20-foot tall, 20-ton, super-high-tech robots are stamping around in a garden acting like clowns trying not to be discovered by said hero's parents. Dumb.

The dialog leaves a lot to be desired. The action sequences near the end of the movie start making up for the vast hole the movie has dug for itself, but the nails are in the coffin and there is no escaping. I appreciate that they had the ILM folks base the fights off martial arts, and during the daylight, the scenes are crisp and the CGI is quite good, even to the point that artists who did the CGI detailed the robots with intricate moving parts, making it look like a well-engineered marvel that it is supposed to be.

While the movie had some obvious tie-ins to what we grew up with in the 80's (the voice acting for Optimus Prime brought back memories), I could not help but groan when the Transformer-patented transformation sound byte kicked in; it is superimposed over some other machine sound affects, and it just comes out being awkward and not well choreographed.

In the end, I do not even know how the good guys won. Other than Optimus's plasma knife, all the Autobots seemed vastly inferior to the Decepticons.

Oblivion, PC game

At first, I was extremely put off by the first-person perspective; my one biggest pet peeve for first-person is the lack of peripheral vision. There is a view that is a few feet back and a few feet above, looking forward and down on your character which I tend to use a lot, but it does not do the trick wholly.

But then I got into the game. Wow, it is amazing! The graphics are gorgeous, and the game is so open-ended that you could easily just hike trails to see the amazing views; spectacular sun sets, towns that sprawl beneath a realistically snow crowned mountain, forests that hum with the life of the occasional breeze and flitting butterflies. The amount of detail is.... outstanding! There are hundreds of side quests apart from the main story-line; in fact, I often found myself forgetting what the main story line was, just to pursue my interest of the day. This is by far the most immersive and mesmerizing game I have ever played.

There are some draw backs, of course, as no game is perfect. While the leveling system is quite unique (in a good, breathe-of-fresh air way), one can easily find oneself poorly equipped to handle subsequent fights due to the fact that everything in the game levels along with you. I think this can be especially disappointing if you are a warrior class and have accidentally gimped yourself by the choice of major and minor skills, and how you use them. Fortunately, I decided early on to read about character creations and to focus my attention on having an extremely well-balanced character, even to the point where I spend 15 minutes of wall-clock time shooting arrows to increase Marksman, or running willy-nilly and jumping off cliffs to increase Athletics and Acrobatics.

Another downside is that after a while, even though there are vast quantities of NPCs, each with a different role in life and a real schedule that they can follow (including eating and sleeping), they start to aggregate into a small set. You start to recognize voices from one NPC to the next, the bodytypes start to blur together, and they all seem to get the same rumors from the same source. I have to admit that the game attempts to address by introducing new topics as you progress (folks rumor about things you have done) and that the NPCs talk to each other just like real people would.

I am also a big believer in that if you are a master or expert at something, it should really stand out. When meeting other characters, the fighters, thieves and assassins stand out. For instance, the Morag Tong Assassin; you probably don't see much of him, right? =) And the Imperial soldiers seem quite adequate to handle threats on the road from bandits and highwaymen. But the mages and wizards all seem vastly underpowered. I have a hard time finding a game where magic users can stand on their own. I liked "Dawn of Magic" because it is all about using spells to progress, and you can actually take down enemies with that alone. I laughed when, in Oblivion, I was fighting in the Arena and my "coach" warns me about a high elf I am facing. When I fought this supposed wizard, he pulled out a dagger and tried to run me through. What's up with that?!? My character has a strong focus on using magic (currently, all my magic attributes and skills are maxed), but I still find that I go through mana like crazy when casting big spells. It would be nice if you could hotkey a mana potion or a Welkynd stone. Unfortunately, I find the eye-candy in spellcasting a bit wanting, and the group affect spells never seem to do enough damage. Yes, you can soften them up with weakness spells, but dang it, I am the Arch-Mage for crying out loud. *grin* Additionally, I would love to see a blademaster and other expert fighters actually look like they have practiced for hours and hours on end; I want to see more moves, more technique and more style. The 3 or 4 "moves" that one attains when progressing through the various levels are quite unflattering, and not always effective; the side-step power attack when you become a journeyman is useless when you get it, and takes a long time to get right.

The game is great! I have already put a lot of time into it, and I can tell I still have a long way to go. This is mostly because of the myriad quests that one can uncover by talking to various folks and doing various actions; one will find that a particular action may open up a line of discussion with a previously "unknown" character, which may lead to a quest which takes you across the country and back, meeting new people... and it grows. The creativity and ingenuity behind the numerous quests are both extremely satisfying and quite successful of breaking the tedium of a hack-n-slash focus.

The Star Wars books

At one point, I was on a kick of reading Star Wars books. I even included the originals. I found the experience interesting, but was soon jaded (no pun intended, for those that are fans of The Right Hand). My last book was one of the New Jedi Order, where one of the Solo Jedi kids are killed in action.

As I read a book here and a book there, I enjoyed seeing different species and different ways of handling things. You get some that are overly aggressive, some that are pathological, and some that are extremely charitable. While I find the Yuuzhan Vong (everyone needs an impossible, unconquerable, evil antagonist, right?) a little far-fetched at times, I think the powers that be have done a good job at making them fit in the Star Wars Universe. It is sorta fun keeping up with all the old heroes, but sometimes they just seem really stupid for all the power and responsibility they possess. And for the Jedi Masters, especially Luke, I find it unbelievable that they find themselves in such pickles.

Ally, by Karen Traviss

I enjoy works that explore other sentient species. It is unfortunate that most aliens are limited by the author's creativity (no way around that *grin*), but you get some interesting inventions. Karen's multi-species, universe-spanning, gamut-running story does a good job of painting a civilization that is technologically superior, the Wess'har. I found it strange that they focus on "balancing" things, making sure one life-form does not wipe out lots of others (including lower forms of life); for an alien superpower billions of miles away, they sounded a bit too American.

But I liked it overall; I enjoyed the varieties of species that are introduced and how they interact. I did not really care for the parasite that was obviously introduced in an earlier book. A parasite that makes its host nearly immortal by repairing the host from any sort of damage and equiping it for any sort of environment, in mere seconds. Come on.

I may go back and read one of her earlier books. The one prior, Matriarch, may be good for getting some background and the center-stage women. We will see.

Light, by M. John Harrison

Sometimes when looking for a new author, I do judge a book by its cover because I get a mental block and I cannot decide on any other limiting factor. This was the most un-sci-fi looking book (a big white cat on the cover with a pair of unique dice).

But I was quite disappointed with the book. Way too much swearing and sex; it really detracts from the story, of what little there is. If this were a movie, it would probably be a porno fest with some CGI spaceships thrown in and a bunch of murders. Quite distasteful. The reviews on the book were so misleading. How in the world did it get such great reviews!?! Reading the comments on Amazon are humorous, and those that thought the book was awesome... just plain sad. I will never read a M. John Harrison book again; it is horrible stuff.

The only aspect of the invented universe that I appreciated was the K-tech, and the concept of the space-faring craft being multi-dimension and using integrated intelligences (human and otherwise).