Ben X

I'm going to chip in on the Watchmen debate while it's still going: I really disliked it. It's one of those films, like The Dark Knight, where there's so much stuff going on, all slickly presented, that I come out of thinking to myself that I probably did like it, until I start remembering all the bad stuff about it that adds up to make it actually not that good a film at all. [FULL OF SPOILERS:] As mentioned already, they're too afraid to cut things out, and so it's this very dense piece with no structure to hold onto. The comic manages the mix of flashbacks and present events perfectly, but the film isn't able to replicate it. The central whodunnit mystery gets lost, as does the Comedian/Laurie revelation; a lot of stuff could have been cut, eg Rorshach's origin, Nite Owl I. Also, it's full of those little inexplicable changes that suggest the director/screenwriter doesn't actually understand why certain setpieces are cool - young Rorshach eating the teen's face rather than stubbing the cigarette in his eye, pointlessly putting in the newsvendor and black kid for the nuclear explosion rather than the two cops whom we've actually seen before, Rorshach defeating the second Big Figure thug by smashing his head into the toilet with the electrocution merely an afterthought - that cropped up in Sin City too. Nixon's face is awful, Leonard Cohen over the sex scene makes it super-camp and unfortunately sounds like Rorschach was singing the vocals, the midnight clock metaphor is turned into a bad cardboard prop, there's no sense of nuclear terror, several beats are missed in the Dan/Laurie relationship, Dr Manhattan's schlong is like a third leg. Veidt was miscast and misinterpreted - he felt like a criminal mastermind from the get-go, rather than a cheesy, publicity hungry, savvy sell-out superhero. Also, the film doesn't feel grimy enough - everything outside has a CG sheen, and everything inside feels like a studio set. It's almost the same aesthetic as Mystery Men. Phew!

Apparently it got much better in the second half of the series, but I can't bring myself to catch up on iplayer.

Nice review of it here too: http://www.xnplay.co.uk/2008/12/24/carneyvale-showtime/

They seem to have realised that Watchmen isn't that kind of movie, thankfully. The cartoon is especially ace is you imagine it to be produced by Veidt to go with his toyline.

I was googling all of the chav actresses because I thought the brunette who pops up dancing a little later on was quite hot and wanted to see if she'd been in anything else or was just a production runner they dressed up. I've almost finished watching the first season of Damages - all quite slick and enjoyable, but a bit repetitive. I don't know if I'll bother watching the second season. The Friday 13th reboot is dreadful and boring. A shame, as I enjoyed the writers' previous efforts on Freddy Vs Jason and thought they might show similar imagination on this one. No such luck.

I don't think I'll bother with Hide And Seek, but I should be around for pub drinks if they get organised...

That was great! The chavs hammed it up a bit though. And the blonde one credited herself as 'lead chav' on her online resume, the cheeky cow.

Can you link to any specific videos? My eyes start bleeding when I look at his user page.

I also enjoyed The Wrestler, and Really enjoyed Frost/Nixon too. It never gave in to A Few Good Men levels of melodrama, and paid an equal amount of attention to the two lead characters, as well as having plenty of rounded supporting characters.

Have you read 1984? It explores that theory to terrifying effect.

I didn't say he should include every line of dialogue, that would be ridiculous. But I think that by missing out or fudging some of the coolest moments and lines, while pointlessly including or recontextualising other less essential ones, he misses the essence of the game and the experience of playing it. Oh, and as a screenwriter and adventure game designer in my spare time, the phrase 'kill your darlings' is one that haunts me regularly!

ScummVM is really easy to use these days, too. That Full Throttle movie is dreadful. It cuts out loads of cool stuff for no reason, but keeps in bits and pieces of dialogue that don't sound half as cool out of context. He even cuts out the 'You know what might look better on your face?' line! Unbelievable!

Was I the only one who hated Stardust? I thought it was puerile, obvious, disjointed and faintly homophobic. Outnumbered, on the other hand, is brilliant.

Mm, no.

.Valve also asked them to drop 'Source' from the title of the mod to differentiate it from official Valve product, but that's it, so they seem to be supportive but hands-off.

FAO ysbreker: do not read ArtoftheTitleSequence... http://www.artofthetitle.com/2008/08/15/lord-of-war-2005/

Aw, I was hoping you'd come up with a brillo idea. Hmmm, maybe the player would have to attach a smooth piece of wood (after giving it to the sandpaper guy) to the running guy, which the ants would chase because...um... ah, I got nothin'. The three guys were actually a cameo by The Triforce which, I'll admit, did get a little self-indulgent. A remnant from before we realised how many people would end up playing! Still, better to have too much dialogue and detail than too little, I always think. At the very least, it adds some red herrings! EDIT: I went through a similar thing with Governor Phatt in Monkey Island 2, actually - I tried every item three times each on those damn food pipes!

Glad you got round to it Toblix! You'll be glad to know that the sequel, 'Time Gentlemen Please' will definitely have some kind of exciting, epic final puzzle. Ben There Dan That has had over 15 000 downloads, not including magazine coverdiscs, and shitty download sites like Gamershell stealing it without permission, so after that success we're really trying to make the sequel more polished and tightly constructed... PS - What puzzle would you have designed that involved the superpowers of all the superheroes?

This was the only real mention of two-mega cartridges I could find with a quick google, but no explanation as to what exactly 'two-mega' involves. Double the storage size of a mega cartridge?

You'll be glad to know, toblix, that there's at least one company making excellent adventures. And I hear their upcoming adventure sequel will have a few homages to FoA...

Ah, thanks Erkki. I managed to solve it by randomly using items on other items, which I hate resorting to. In retrospect, I should have realised what the goal was, but the demo doesn't bother making the game dynamics clear at all. Rubbish rubbish rubbish.

Very irritating voice acting, ugly character models, random and illogical puzzles. Basic stuff like letting me know what I'm supposed to be doing, or what the controls are, are overlooked. Embarassingly, I'm stuck. I've Help?

Another title sequence crime is to redo the theme tune a few seasons in. Mike Post's amazing Quantum Leap theme got pissed on from the fifth season, and Third Rock From the Sun's idiosyncratic theme got a horribly overworked live reworking at some point.

The video's been removed. Another version here: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=6-JAi4CGGM4 Looks pretty rubbish, especially with boring old Cybermen. I thought Moffat was going to stop using old baddies all the time. Or has this still got RTD's mucky hands all over it? And who's the actor saying 'Monstrous witch'? It looks suspiciously like British science tv presenter Adam Hart-Davies...

Details here: http://www.zombie-cow.com/?p=336