lailoken

Well aparently this thread has gone on to the realm of "format" so here goes. I just recently saw Evil (Ondskan) and thought it was a brilliant movie that didn't get enough press even though it was nominated for an Oscar a few years back. I especially liked the fact that it doesn't feel sugar coated but doesn't give you the inadvertend vertigo that was latter part of Million Dollar Baby. So quite enjoyable overall. Now I can't wait to see Ray finally now that it's out on DVD here in Germany and I *Heart* Huckabees and the Life Aquatic... and Garden State possibly. On another note I am also quietly excited about the prospect of a new Stephen Spielberg blockbuster, even though it stars Tom Cruise, I would expect the camerawork by Janusz Kaminsky to more than make up for that. So yay for War of the World and the fact that it's not the german Wunderkind Roland Emmerich who brings us the next step in megalomania-vision

I just watched "Finding Neverland" which is simply incredible. I really loved it. But it is a very emotional piece of film and if that's not your cup of tea... I thought all of the performances were excellent, especially Johnny Depp's. I also watched "The Grudge" with Sarah Michelle Gellar and that has to be one of the best horror movies ever. I was very surprised to find that Sarah Michelle Gellar doesn't really play such an important part as there really isn't one big lead in this and I fear that a lot of people didn't watch this, thinking that it would be a "Buffy"-vehicle. But it really isn't and if you like horror, go watch this. Another great movie I saw over the last few days is "Layer Cake" which is really really good. I especially like the way it is NOT over the top but really smart and cool. All the performances were really good in this one and the story is good too. If you like crimecentered movies you will like this, but really this is a must see for anybody who's into movies. Three good movies!

Huxley, yeah I kinda forgot about it though I still have the E3 (?) trailer on my computer. I am still not convinced about the first M in that, as in massively. The problem from a technical side I think, is that you can't really do player-to-player collision detection properly with an MMOG, which is why games like WoW don't have any. As soon as you get beyond a certain number of players it becomes impossible. So I would think that in some way they would have to limit the number of players within a certain area (weaponsrange at least). So I remain sceptical even though I liked the whole style a lot. Even though it is just another (MMO)FPS...

maybe buttons are bullets? I bet on the 1080 the "blades" will be called "razors" and "bullets" will become "nukes"!!! EXTREME!!!

I guess since this little comic was done pre-Katrina it does seem rather funny how accurate it turned out to be. Oh yeah this is from one of my favorite sites btw [linkage]

I just saw Garden State. I can understand how people would say it's great... but seriously... I think it's pretentious hollywood garbage. It has its moments and I like Natalie Portman and especially Peter Saarsgard who is just amazing in anything. But its pretentious shit. I also happened to see a little movie called the Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou. This is just such a weirdly funny entertaining movie with countless moments of pure bliss. I loved every single minute. God that was soooo good!

It is the quiet waiting that is freaking me out. That and Guy. Today he made a remark about the lasagne and I am sure he meant it in a sinister way. He is simply so sinister. Yufster has gone off-line in a manner of speaking. No news from her at all. The old man is going to be so mad. There goes the theory of the perfect specimen and the whole survival of the fittest (I never BELIEVED the stupid theory to be honest. Monkeys?) I am deeply sorry for I would have liked to test my mettle with her. Maybe another version? The old man won't give up so easily and I don't blame him. Project Genesis is worth any sacrifice, any! On another note, the EEP-readings are off the hook. Something is definitely happening in there. Somebody made a remark about funding this Dr Wenkman and how that is going to "haunt" us. I don't get it and I will kill that person for he must surely think himself smarter than me and we can't have that! I quit smoking again. Figure the best part of my life is ahead of me! Can't wait to tell Rachel I am going to marry her. She'll be so thrilled! Added: Apparently some of the special brand-new Full HD TVs were broken in an unclarified incident yesterday. I am saddened as I was planning to "take" at least a couple of them home with me. Not like the people here are going to get any more use out of them...

Well to a certain extent none of this is surprising. With so many people living below poverty levels in the US. And I believe that looting will always be a problem with catastrophes like this one. It's always a matter of the media being there and reporting on it. But all in all it is still amazing that SOMETHING LIKE THIS COULD HAPPEN TO THE MOST POWERFULL COUNTRY IN THE WORLD! It's like those blackouts. How is it possible that America has such a bad infrastructure? As far as the Big Ass is concerned, seriously what did anybody expect. For him NOT to fuck this up? Decisive action was needed and the worlds biggest pussy couldn't get the job done? Wow... big surprise. I really liked what I heard from New Orleans mayor but hell he probably voted for Bush as well, so I say fuck him! You get what you ask for. I thought Bush made it abundandly clear how inept he was during his first term which he frauded his way into to begin with. And now everybody is like: "Well we didn't expect this to happen!"??? It's like the whole WMD thing. "Well we were told that there are WMDs so I am shocked to find out that there weren't any!"??? I am sorry for the people of New Orleans. I am sorry for the hundreds, if not thousands of preventable deaths. And I do hope that America gets its act together, impeaches the president and saves their pride as a country held together by more than just money. I hope, that's all...

All is quiet. The perimeter appears to be secure. It has gone pretty quiet downtown. Apparently most of the citizens are already under. These woods are creeping me out. I don't feel like myself out here. I seem to have lost my cocky-charme and become just another pawn to the old man. There is that weird guy named Guy who is really irritating me. I ran security checks on him twice but everything seems to be in order. Got his credentials from way up in the Corporation. He keeps giving me those looks that make me feel like I am in an episode of Miami Vice. Standing only a few hundred yards from the walls I feel a presence pushing towards me, intense hatred coming from somewhere. The old man and his games. I will not be ended like this.

yeah I don't know, somehow that movie never really resonnated with me. Maybre I have to see it again... what really struck me with Watts was this one scene in Mullholland Drive where she plays the audition at the studio, I thought that was amazing...

Flying in on the location now. Looking at the memos it appears that everything is proceeding as planned. I am still astounded by the accuracy of the plan. Gotta hand it to the old man, he knows his stuff. Project Genesis indeed. Only four more days untill termination and then the real project can start. At this point I fail to see why we need to continue but I suspect the goal is to push it as far as possible. Specimen Clarkson Codename "Yufster" is behaving exactly as anticipated. I wonder if the old man will keep her as a souvenir. The journals are a nice touch, I have to say. Being able to read what goes through the specimens' heads like that. Getting closer now. The chopper has gone into whisper-mode. All is quiet except for the wind in the trees. I can see the light now in the distance. Power will be shut off the main city areas in another 14 hours if I am not mistaken. Gotta check the schedule, can't afford to make a mistake now, the future of mankind rests on my shoulders. I knew why I signed up for this. No one else could handle a situation like this. I have to stay sharp. I think I can smell rotten flesh on the wind.

Wow, you can swallow someone? In one piece or...

Couldn't you just prerender them?

Well gameplaywise (as if that was a word) I recommend trying to stealth through highlevel areas of World of Warcraft with a lowlevel character... so yeah, I think you might be onto something there!

I am sure we will get there eventually. When the graphics finally level out and somebody has the sense to create a platform where creative people can really get into it without learning actual programming, that's when we will get actual content in video games. At the moments to borrow terms from the "hated" movie business, I think there is simply to much "production" and too little "direction" although I hope I don't really need to mention the exceptions to this "rule".

Well, I just heard that it was supposed to be really good and a lot like "The Tailor of Panama" which I thought was excellent. On another note, I just watched "Be Cool" and "The Ring Two". "Be Cool" I thought was nice enough but just too much all over the place to get anywhere near "Get Shorty" which to this day remains one of my Travolta favorites. I especially liked the Rock in it, though I know a lot of people think he's a bad actor... and Uma Thurman was just gorgeous. The script was simply too weak for this movie to be any better and I am happy to hear that André 3000 managed to actually get a real part in "Four Brothers" which from watching the trailer doesn't look half bad. "The Ring Two"... well I gotta say... first they toss out the original storyline for this convoluted piece of crap of a story in the first one, because that made way more sense?! And then they felt like they should do a sequel to explore the shallowness of the first one? Jeez... Well I liked the art direction and the shotcomposition in the first one, even though it looked like a Smashing Pumpkins video. But this is just bad. If you ever wander into a videorental and feel like you got nothing better to do cuz you watched all the other crap out there, believe me, without knowing shit about you, you got better stuff to do. Sleeping or breathing would be better... Naomi Watts proved herself as a potentially great actress in "Mullholland Drive" and I do hope that she does get actual acting parts after "King Kong"... we'll see...

I heard that "The Constant Gardener" is supposed to be a brilliant spy-thriller, so anybody into spy-movies should check that out. Starring Britain's one and only Ralph Fiennes in the lead. It's been compared to "The Tailor of Panama" which I thought was one of the best Pierce Brosnan movies ever! That's another modern day spy-thriller-CLASSIC right there! I also thought the Bourne movies were really great though they're clearly more action oriented.

Is there maybe something either of you two (Chris and loonyboi) need to tell us about your little stay at Quakecon? I mean it's "okay" just tell us. Hmm?

Happy Birthday to both of you, what can I say, I guess you should be happy... and sad... so many games left to play... so little time now... ALL THE BEST TO BOTH OF YOU!!!

Just watched Steamboy and The Spongebob Squarepants movie yesterday. Steamboy I watched in english and I think that was mostly why I thought it was over the top and ridiculous to no end. I guess it being in japanese would have reminded me that it IS an animé and that I should be more forgiving because of that... but really... Spongebob... well what can I say. Is this really supposed to be a childrens movie? It would have baffled me completely as a kid but then I can't possibly imagine what it is to be a small kid anymore...sadly. So... I was laughing my ass off! Good god, "Riding the Hasselhof" indeed.

as gamers... don't we all these days...

I totally missed out on the whole Clone Wars goodness... so... is there some legal way to get a hold of it? I think I tried to watch them once on an official website and it told me "thou art german, eat shit" which I thought was rather rude...but not all that surprising...

Yep it also shows the proper way to use Brad Pitt in a movie...

I agree with that, but Quake3 Arena was a totally different thing and to me a milestone in gaming.

YEY and control+alt+del did a comic about it! Good stuff! http://www.ctrlaltdel-online.com/?t=archives&date=2005-08-08