StuffedMannequin

I don't consider myself a major gamer. When I was younger, I had to play anything I could get my little fingers on. I have some old favorites that I played over and over again as a youngster, many of them now considered to be classics of their day and I still occasionally play them now and again. Now with the new generation of gaming, I consider myself pretty experienced. I own all three consoles and have played several dozens of games that have come out for each. Very rarely do I look back affectionately at games that have come out, but but Bioshock left me in awe and pure joy. It grabbed you with immersion, with a mystery that you needed to solve, filled with memorable and creative moments that I found myself replaying through just to experience again and again. No game I've played this generation has been held so closely to my heart as Bioshock, and very rarely to I find myself excited for a sequel to a game, but I can genuinely say I was excited about Bioshock 2.

It's in my nature to keep my expectations low for any game. I wasn't expecting the awe and glory the first one gave to me, but I have to admit it came with expectations. I knew the premise and I thought it was excellent. There were some things I had to get used to but eventually appreciated. I admired returning to Rapture after all these years and soaking in the beauty that it had to offer, now worn, aged and destroyed but littered with colorful coral and sea life. As I progressed through, a lot of the soul and admiration I had for the first game wasn't present in this sequel.

First off, game play. I can say that this sequel is significantly harder than the previous game. I played through on normal, and your enemies do much more damage than they do before. On top of that, you cannot carry more than 5 Eve hypos and medical kits (6 if you're upgraded). The combat is much easier and more fluid with simultaneously using weapons and plasmids at the same time, and many game play aspects were added, such as defending the little sister, which was about as much fun as taking out your first Big Daddy in the original. The hacking system is also much more fast-paced and fun than the previous title, so much so that I found it very difficult and flow-breaking when I went back to play it again.

If anything, the sequel makes me appreciate Bioshock 1 much more. As I mentioned before, I felt that the original Bioshock had a lot of soul to it in many different aspects. Not only was the story deep and intuitive and fascinating, but it was also filled with character, style and general soul. I feel that Bioshock 2 lacks these aspects. I will give a few examples. Bioshock 1 was filled with bizarre, twisted yet intriguing characters that both were repulsive and admirable. Dr. Steinman was a particularly fascinating character, somebody whom you listened to as he slowly descended into creative and egotistical madness as he becomes more addicted to ADAM. Sander Cohen was another starring moment that made the game more than just an above average shooter, as you run around and create his "masterpiece". Bioshock 2 lacked these interesting characters. Many of the audio diaries scattered about featured a suffocating cast of characters that you heard from once and then never again. A lot of the bosses that you fight lack the creative dimensions the first one had, and the ones that had the potential to be interesting were killed off before you could learn more about them.

Another thing that added much to the character of the game were the Splicers. There were several sets of Splicers, all with varying personalities and dialog that gave them more depth than just your average, static enemies. Some of them interacted with one another or with their environment (one moment that added immersion was walking around and listening to a Splicer observe and comment a failed teleport), some were funny, some of them were frightening, but they showed various emotions such as sadness, anger, insecurity, egoism, and insanity. This added to the character of the Splicers that reminded you that you weren't just fighting generic monsters, you were fighting human beings who wanted to live their dreams and instead were caught up in a situation beyond their control. Bioshock 2 feels lacking in this department. There were very few Splicer models, and I swear I must have killed the same one at least over a hundred times. Their interactions were also very limited and I never heard many dialog options from them that strayed far or different from the original.

It is known by now that the sequel would have a weaker storyline than the first, but it had potential. Everything that needed to be said was said and done in the first, and very little was done to expand upon or hold the mantle of the political climate of Rapture in Bioshock 2. There were very few memorable moments, the only one I can think of off the top of my head was playing as a little sister, but other than that, it felt more like a tacked on expansion pack than a full-blown sequel. Tennenbaum makes an appearance once and then disappears for the rest of the game without closure, and instead replaced with Sinclair, while interesting, takes too long to be interesting.

In all, Bioshock 2 is good as a shooter, and you'll probably enjoy it if you enjoyed the first. But for me it felt like it lost much of the soul and creativity the first one had. If anything, after completing it, it made me go back and play through Bioshock 1 and appreciate it more than I did before.

This may contain spoilers. Shattered Memories begins just as the first one did. Harry Mason, a writer is driving with his daughter through Silent Hill, swerves off the road and crashes. Harry awakes a period of time later to discover that his daughter is missing, and goes looking for her. But what makes Shattered Memories special? Remember, this is a revision, not a remake, and it's core follows emphasis on Silent Hill 2 and 4.

The graphics: The graphics are the best you could ask for on the Wii. Sure, they wouldn't be mind boggling on the Xbox 360 or the Playstation 3, but they really are beautiful on the Wii. The lighting effects, especially. All the character models in the game are highly detailed and animate beautifully. The environments are well detailed and begging to be examined. When walking through the streets of the town, the snow reflects off your flashlight and the shadows that come off objects are realistically realized and convincing. It's probably one of the best looking Wii game out there.

Sound: Series Mozart Akiria Yamaoka returns (and sadly as it looks like, for the last time, as Yamaoka has left Konami, or at least that's what rumors are saying) and produces yet another bizarre, eerie, thrilling, melancholy and emotional soundtrack. The use of the Wiimote adds much immersion with your cell phone. This was another thing that was complained about in the game by fans, who felt like the addition of the cell phone would eliminate your sense of isolation in the town. To me, if anything, it just adds to the isolation. You see several phone numbers posted everywhere throughout the game, of which you try to call without answer. It really gives you the feeling that you are alone in the town. You can call other characters you have met in the town, but all of them act and respond like they are not seeing and acting upon the same things you are. Your Wiimote emits static, voices come out of it during phone conversations and occasionally it feels like there's somebody in the room actually talking to you. The footsteps, ambiance and sound effects are all very well done.

Gameplay: Gameplay is a key aspect in Silent Hill. This is something that didn't succeed in Homecoming, but works well in Shattered Memories. You still have a sense of exploration and isolation. The beginning and middle of Shattered Memories' Otherworlds consist of simply running away from your enemies until you get to a checkpoint, occasionally having to do puzzles while evading them. It got a bit redundant and disappointing as I progressed through the game, but once I reached just past the middle point, the Otherworld became wholly unpredictable and mind-boggling. Here after the middle point, that line does not become visible any more. If the idea of the "Ice World" turns you off, don't let it. Remember that the Otherworld is what the main character's make it out to be. There's a reason why it's an ice world. It's just a matter of you playing and discovering why. Also, the monsters in the game are simply a canvas in the beginning of the game, to be painted on and molded as you continue your therapy sessions with Dr. Kaufman, taking different appearances depending on your questions and answers you give to your psychiatrist. These psychological tests are brilliantly crafted and affect the game in several different ways, begging you to replay it again and again just to see how it will affect the game.

Overall: Silent Hill Shattered Memories is worthy of your time, if your a fan or not. It is not the bland games that were Origins and Homecoming, it is complicated, full of symbolism in it's characters and psychology, and deeply emotional. The story does not insult the player's intelligence, not spelling everything out for you but instead presenting things to you to figure it out on your own. All the answers are there, it's just a matter of you reading between the lines, a requirement in all Silent Hill games. The twist in Homecoming was bland and predictable, the twist at the end of Shattered Memories is complex, deep and actually gave me a bit of a choke-up. It's what made it a winner in my book. The Silent Hill series has always been known to envoy some sort of emotion in the player. Shattered Memories does not fail. It is confusing, will keep you playing until the very end, at in the end, all the answers are given to you in subtle, creative ways to make it all peace together in a beautiful and compelling way.

Cons: Any cons that I can think of would only be nitpicking. Suck as the slight pause between going through doors in the chase sequences. Running through the Otherworld before the end sequences became a bit redundant and repetitive, but this quickly changed towards the end as the game began to toy around with my head and mixing up the Otherworld into a confusing and tense labyrinth in a search for answers, then the worlds became very special. Another complaint is that since you know that the monsters only appear during the Otherworld chase sequences, it looses that sense of tension. This is fixed towards the end.

Get this game. You will not regret it. It may have a few flaws and may not be perfect, but I consider it my game of the year. After Origins and Homecoming, I began to believe that the Silent Hill series was a dying breed. Shattered Memories restored my faith. It's truly a brilliant game that cannot be missed, experienced and felt by anyone with an open enough mind to see it for what it is. A true Silent Hill game. 9/10.

There really are no redeeming factors about this show. To put it simply, its just terrible. Absolutely dreadful. It's just a dreadful "reality" show. Not only that, it's dreadful fiction.

Imagine this: A bunch of overly-imaginative teenagers get together one night and go "Hey! Let's make a paranormal show just like "Ghost Hunters" and whatnot!" So they grab a camera, harass local residents and film random landscapes behind a painfully "trying-to-be-dramatic-yet-failing-misreably" monologue. This show is basically a bunch of teenagers running around with a home movie camera trying to make a really bad horror documentary. The only difference is this show actually has a budget and writers. A wasted budget and terrible writers.

Oh, the problems, how do I count thee? Well, first off, let's talk about this from a personal level. I am not a total skeptic when it comes to the paranormal. I am willing to believe in whats paranormal and whats not, and I'm sure there are a lot of people who feel the same. So, if you're going to do a show about the paranormal, you have to do a good job convincing the viewer that what they're seeing is either paranormal or not, because the viewer can easily believe otherwise. I hate to compare, but I don't see why not at this point. Take "Ghost Hunters" for example. In "Ghost Hunters" you can tell that the cast is leveled with the audience. They're not totally skeptical, yet they're still willing to keep the possibility of any paranormal anomalies in mind. They have to look at something and be willing to say "this is possible that its simply nothing". And, with that in mind, they set out to try and prove themselves wrong. They use technology and several other gadgets along with constant moderation to determine what is paranormal along with bearing the fact that what they may be monitoring could be nothing in mind. Not only are they trying to convince themselves what is real and what is not, in the process they are trying to convince you. That element of doubt is not present in "Paranormal State". Strike one.

In "Paranormal State", the cast simply says "there's this spooky place, and its HAUNTED, so we're going to find some SPIRITS!" And immediately you know and saying to yourself "Okay, convince me otherwise". The cast is not professional in their interviews. In fact, sometimes it seems like they're just harassing local residents of these so-called "haunted" areas. They have no real evidence to back up their claims besides assumptions and theories, and the best they can must up is somebody who "claims" they can contact the dead, with no one ever backing up who this person is and how valid they really are. They could have easily just picked some random person off the street and said "pretend you can contact spirits for our show" and went at it. In the "Mothman" episode, this just happens. Without any convincing evidence towards the end of the show, they bring this sort of individual out where he does a random, painfully scripted "reading" of a supposed area of how something is "haunted" in order to convince its audience. Very, very poor effort. I feel that one of the main problems with the show is that it feels scripted. During one of the episodes, the cast gets attacked by one of these "paranormal anomalies" at times in an attempt to be dramatic. These sort of dramatic sequences would make any skeptic laugh and even those who are on the fence realize what they're watching is just a bunch of tabloid-esquire trash. If the show's aim was to try and convince their audience that these "paranormal" events are real, they're doing a horrifically poor job at doing so. Strike two.

However, there is always the counter. Just one last viewpoint to see if the show is actually worth something. What if the show isn't trying to convince you that these paranormal events are real and are simply trying to entertain you with good fiction? It even fails on that level as well. If the show's creators were trying to craft fiction to entertain its audience, the writing is too poor and even on a fictional level, it fails to convince the audience that its cast members are really experiencing the unknown in all its full, horrifying glory. The writing is simply not compelling and even, dare I say, boring. Strike three.

So what remains of this show is simply a bunch of teenagers who are too willing or too gullible to believe in the paranormal simply because its simply much more amazing than reality who set out with a camera, a bad script and bad actors to generally just make a really bad horror documentary. Thats all the show is at this point. There is no reason to see it, not even for the entertainment factor, and there's no reason to care about it. To be blunt, its lame. There are absolutely no redeeming factors about this show.

I just got back from a 5:10 showing of "Death Sentence". Let me tell you, the last half hour I had nothing but a big smile on my face, it was one of the coolest, entertaining revenge flicks I've seen in a long time. The strong points of the film is that Bacon gives a good performance a great portion through the film, there are times, although, where he seems to come off to overreact, but its very mild. He does play the role of a troubled father gone deranged very well. It shows in a lot of the little things he does, as he progresses more and more into his depression, anxiety and angst, he becomes more paler, his eyes become more tired, and he becomes more fidgety. John Goodman also gives a good stand-out performance, although it times it seems his role in the film was questionable. The camera direction is very good, certain camera angles, it has similarity to Wan's previous films, but you can tell his film-making skills have improved over the years, I was very impressed with a well-done panning shot in a parking garage. The story told is actually very interesting for a simple revenge story, that kept me interested in how it unfolds all the way though. The last thirty minuets of the film were wild and crazy, Kevin Bacons character, Nick Hume, has gone from a happy-go-lucky executive, to a deranged revenge-driven killer. You can see it in his face towards the end of the film, how his face has been completely battered, his hair has been messily shaved, and he constantly takes Advil to calm his nerves.

The Bad. The bad parts of the film don't affect it so much the good, but it is quite annoying. As was stated before, Goodmans role in the film didn't seem big enough to even be in the film at all, he just felt there for eye candy if anything, more should have been done with the character. Another thing is the use of some of the music in the film. Music used in the more dramatic parts of the film, such as when the Hume family's first son is lost and the family begins to adjust without it, seems very overblown, and more unnecessary than touching. It would probably have been better without music at all, although at some parts, the music was completely appropriate with Charlie Clouser's wonderful score. Another part is that it felt as if the gang members characters were not very well developed, and more could be done with them before they get killed off. To top it all off, there wasn't enough done with the end at all, it doesn't finish off any questions you have, it feels more like a cliffhanger than an actual ending, leaving you feel unsatisfied with unanswered questions.

In all, I would recommend Death Sentence for anyone that can ignore its small flaws, and enjoy it for what it is instead of examining it too much, because for me, it was an absolute bad ass experience. 8/10

Well I've been playing this game for a while now, its quite hard, but accurate to everything that had happened. The creators hoped to create a game to try and prove the Oswald "lone nut" theory, which JFKs assassin did the job alone. You must get all his shots in, including the magic bullet and other such thing and get a high score. The higher the score, the more accurate you are. It is quite hard, and some people may find it repulsive. To me its just trying to prove something, but people feel like its something thats glorifying the mans assassination. But at the same time his assassination is a total enigma, a real "whodunnit" of weather more people were in on it besides Oswald, and the evidence piles up to prove that. You can choose to let JFK live as well, or you can can just shoot the driver of Kennedy's motorcade and just shoot random people in cars and off sidewalks and stuff. Its the type of stuff that makes some people go "Holy crap", which is why it is now abandon-ware, but it can be found on the internet, free of charge to play. At your own risk of course.

Okay, first off, I loved House of 1000 Corpses, when i first herd of it i didn't think much of it, but I had a few friends come in saying it was the best ever so when it came out of DVD, they brought it over and we all watched it. I loved it immediately. It wasn't because I was expecting it to be scary, which it wasn't, it reminded me a lot like a fun house, I enjoyed it very much. When I herd the devils rejects was coming out, I nearly peed myself, I saw production photos, it really reminded me of an action western with horror elements which really got me excited. I loved the shootout in House of 1000 Corpses between Otis, the cop and Don Willis. For about a year i anticipated this, it was honestly going to be the best, and by the time it came out, I was ready to explode. I caught the movie the 23rd of July, just a day after the day it came out at the 7 o clock show, I took my seat with my friends, also house of 1000 corpses freaks, and awaited eagerly for the picture to come on, when it did, the image shot at our faces like a bullet.

SPOILER The beginning shootout was absolutely amazing against the police and the firefly family, when they escape the beginning credits come on, the way the credits were shot really reminded me of old school movies, 70s campy music playing, title flashes, kind of reminded me of a 60s and 70s sitcom. Speaking of which I'm extremely glad Rob Zombie made the movie the way he did, if anyone else was directing, it would surly be forgotten. There were many scenes, it seemed, if directed by another, the audience would surly laugh at it, but rob took the job very seriously, that means shaky camera, take no jokes acting, closeups and make it as brutal as possible. I was very glad. Also, Rob didn't want the whole thing to be serious, so in between its seriousness, he added a bit of comedy in it, you'll see comedy elements throughout, i wont tell you, so you'll have to see for yourself, but let me tell you, they're classic.

The scenes in the motel room rocked. It lasted a good long while but it kept the ball rolling, as if you were there, experiencing it in real life, another thing that made me very happy, and a big surprise afterwords ^_^.

The end will leave none disappointed, at least me, in a way it reminded me of "Bonnie and Clyde", made me glad it didn't end with a thud but with a huge BANG! All and all, the devils rejects is one of the best I've seen out there, brutal, gritty and absolutely bad-ass. Captain Spaulding is still the same old lovable clown we all know and love, baby has forgotten her annoying laugh in favor of a very serious tone, and Otis is still the bad-ass we loved since 2003 when Rob introduced us to House of 1000 corpses. Fans of the first will adore this one if they look at it differently than the first. It is definitely one of the best sequels ever.

10/10

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

You've herd all the reviews. For the past 40 years, there has been a name that has been called everywhere, in reviews, in movies, in newspapers and books, using the tag-line "The Good the bad and the Ugly". People use this name for saying reviews for movies like "The good of the movie, the bad of it and the ugly". But what exactly is "The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly", and how did it spawn? It has been tagged "The greatest western of the 1960s, and of all time -- and I cant help but agree. I discovered "The Good the Bad and the Ugly" through my good friend who owned the DVD. I had seen the raving review of the film but I had never really been a fan of westerns. But seeing as it was there, he let me burrow it.

I was blown out of my mind.

Never had I ever seen a movie so full of surprises, great writing, and action, it literally had me watch it all the way through with no brakes, not realizing how long it was, I started the movie at midnight, and when it was over I had realized how late it was. It kept me attacked from the introduction to the mind blowing standoff in the cemertery at the end.

Directed by master Sergio Leone, and starring Clint Eastwood, as they both return to continue and conclude "The Man with no name trilogy". The man with no name trilogy consists of three different films, "A fistful of dollars", "For a few dollars more", and of course, "the good the bad and the ugly". Clint Eastwood stars as "The man with no name", a mysterious figure whom we don't know about his past, his future, who he is or what his purpose is, but in the three films and especially the good the bad and the ugly, he is supremely bad-ass. Although many would concider "Good bad and ugly" the best of the trilogy, it is also the longest. Running at 2 hours and a half to three hours, you barley notice a minuet go by, compared with the beautiful cinematography, the surprises from left to right, and the awesome score delivered by the good friend of Leone, Ennio Morricone, it sets the mood and suspense just right.

If your not a fan of westerns and you happen to come across "The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly", do not turn it away, you will immediately be craving more, as it did me. The Good The bad and the Ugly will live on in movie history.

10/10

I just got back from seeing this film. I have been waiting for it to come out for a few months and I was very excited to see it. So excited I checked out the reviews at rottentomatoes, at first it started off at 100%, to 75%, to 62%, to 45%, then finally dropping down to 27%. This didn't kill my anticipation, and neither did the 5.9 rating on IMDb. As i sat in the theater, I grew a nervous feeling, at first i thought i was afraid to see the movie, but later realized I was nervous about weather or not i was going to like it or not. Turns out, I was disappointed. But not so bad it turned into hate against the movie. It was like one big water slide. Up up up up, in the beginning, then went down toward the middle coming down to a soft thud as it hit the ground. The film starts off with Ronald Defeo Jr., loading his gun, walking around, and killing each and every one of his family members--A great start. The film has development for its characters. The beginning is George Lutz still adjusting to his new family he got together with, after marrying his divorcée wife Kathy, whom has three children. After that, they go house hunting, find the Amityville House, and buy it. Great pacing in that part, after that, it all seems so rushed. This is not expected from Scott Kosar, at least from me. The film jumps through days, 1, 15, and 28, the film is simply too short, the scares are too close together, and all and all the story is just too cramped up together. There were parents there that thought it would be a good idea to bring their (literaly) 1 year old babies to this movie, throughout it they were crying and everyone in the audience were yelling at the parents to take them out. Also the film is filled with comical moments that really kind of ruined the dark mood, (I.E. The babysitter and Billy), and Ryan Renolds does a sub par job at times. Steve Jabloski (SP?) Once again delivers an awesome score, but he didn't seem appropriate for this kind of film, some scenes seemed silly with it in. Although there are some really disturbing images in the movie, there are simply not enough to satisfy. Its the kind of movie id buy on DVD to watch a few times when i was bored or check out the features. I liked the movie, but i was disappointed with the shocks, scares, disturbing images, and most of all the bad pacing.

7/10

I was rather reluctant to see this film, concerning on the critics reviews, in the trailer it seemed to be another brainless high budget action Hollywood film. It was more than that. I was really surprised with what I saw, the situation itself was somewhat realistic, but there are some things that may seem far fetched, such as Ryan figuring out what to do within seconds of a dangerous situation. Besides this, the cast was entirely human. If they were shot, they were hurt, none of them were superman. This helped the film in a lot of ways, considering there are so many films out there where the hero seems to take a barrage of bullets and doesn't die. While watching it, it reminded me of "Die Hard". Terrorists plotting against the hero. Twists are put throughout the film to hold the audience's interest...

***SPOILERS***

Some twists such as Ryans' cell phone falling off a ledge and smashing onto the ground in pieces made me think "Uh oh, what now ryan?" During this i also herd some people in the audience gasp. Another interesting twist is when Ryans ex-girlfriend gives away Ryan's position while trying to hide from the bad guys.

Next to this, are some very well done shock moments. Shock moments are "jump out of your seat moments". One shock moment is when a police officer is investigating where Jessica Martin was abducted, and this woman comes out of nowhere and shot at him, making me, and everyone in the theater jump. I love the films sense of humor. There are some very funny scenes in the movie, the real comic relief is a loud mouthed lawyer you meet about halfway through the movie, and one of Ryan's friends dressing up as a mascot to try to pick up girls.

All and all this was a good film, better than most Hollywood movies I've seen. Take a look, you might like it.

Kemper's Score: * * * * * * * (Seven stars out of ten.)