Warning the following will contain spoilers so if you've not seen Episode III yet then I'd advise not reading on until you have done so.
So Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith was released on thursday May 19th and with it comes the end of the big screen Star Wars saga. It was a sad moment for sure but it was also joyous, for Lucas has delivered a movie that is in closer keeping with the original trilogy. After two disappointments we have a movie that will be considered a good addition. Whilst the other two did have highlights, overall they didn't hold up. Looking back on them now with the perspective of Sith, they still aren't what we would have wanted but they do make more sense within the story arc. Traits of some characters were warranted due to the story Lucas wanted to tell, even if we don't expect them from that character.
So anyway onto Sith itself (and I'll be defining this mainly by the lightsaber battles). From the very start your senses are dazzled with what is an amazing opening. You see a big space battle as Obi-Wan and Anakin fly through in their spaceship, the camera trailing them, in a shot that reminds me of the fight sequence in the Cowboy Bebop movie, very kinetic. The banter between the two starts here showing the friendship that has now developed between the two, over the roles of Master-Padawan they played in the last movie and it's all the more enjoyable for it. Showing this throughout makes the eventual duel between the two to carry some extra weight.
In an attempt to rescue Palpatine we get the two blazing their lightsabers on droids of all sorts as well as Dooku who meets his demise early on, before a quick encounter with Grievous and a crash landing.
Throughout the movie, we see the continued distrust from the Jedi Council in Anakin yet still wanting him to act as their lapdog, it's this that again counterbalances the scenes with Anakin and Palpatine which are great, especially the opera house sequence. Palpatine begins to play on the visions Anakin has of Padme dying during childbirth. Palpatine continues to confuse Anakin's mind telling the story of the great Sith Lord Darth Plagieus the Wise and how he had the power to save lives (and create life, possibly hinting at Anakin being a creation of a Sith Lord rather than of the Force).
This is about when the lightsaber duels start to go into overdrive.
Obi-Wan having reached Utapau sneaks his way to an area where Grievous has finished a briefing with the Trade Federation leaders. In a cool sequence, Obi-Wan seeing a mass of droids just jumps down with a grin and so starts on the General. In the end it leads to a chase whereby Obi-Wan defeats Grievous with a blaster where he quips something about the blaster being so uncivilised (echoing something mentioned in EpIV).
So that's lightsaber fight 2 out of the way (the first being Dooku versus the two Jedi).
Onto lightsaber duel 3, Mace vs Palpatine. Anakin gets told by Palpatine he is indeed Darth Sidious, he gets all confuzzled and goes to tell Mace. Mace leaves with three other Jedi and confronts Palpatine. The other three Jedi get killed very quickly, leaving Mace and Sidious. The duel is quite deliberate now, more reminscent of two samurai fighting or fencers (quick succession of strikes, then a period of setting the stance again). Anywho after a good duel Anakin arrives at the end of the battle with Mace standing over Palpatine who is now playing possum and begging for help. Seeing the lines blurred between what he thought was the the light side and the dark side, he goes and lops off Mace's arm and Palpatine/Sidious delivers the final blow.
Anakin plegdes his allegiance to Sidious and gets given the name Darth Vader. The first act he is given is to go to the Jedi Temple and destroy the Jedi there. As he marches there with the Clone army, Sidious enacts Order 66: the destruction of all Jedi. We see images of Jedi all over the galaxy being turned on by the Clone armies they were leading. It switches back to the Temple and Anakin. He enters the room where the Council sit to be confronted by the younglings hiding out. One comes up and asks him what they are to do, at which he lights his saber and we get a cut. Very dark scene but great, glad Lucas didn't wimp out of something as it might have affected the rating (granted it's only a 12A).
So onto lightsaber duel 4, Yoda gets back to Courscant after managing to escape Kashyyk meeting Obi-Wan and Bail Organa (who saw part of the Jedi Council massacre). The best bit about the meeting is that it's another nod back to the original trilogy, the blockade runner is retrofitted to look like the 1977 opening sequence.
So the duel, Yoda fights Sidious. Possibly the best bits are either just prior to the fight when Yoda knocks out the two Imperial Guards with a quick Force push and Sidious calls Yoda his "little green friend". Good to see Yoda kicking some arse but bad that he gives it up so easily. I know Yoda's faith was placed wholly in the Force and it had be shattered with the Jedi masscre but still you'd have expected him to at least result in some sort of double knockout, where both limp out.
Well it's not so bad as we get the final lightsaber duel showing what it is all about. Obi-Wan vs Darth Vader (Anakin). Now this is everything we had hoped for and more. The two go at it at a crazy speed with full force. My thoughts after the movie was "how much would it have hurt if either had missed getting their 'saber into position in time". There were great touches all through the fight and the end of it was real sad (I had hoped for more duelling). Obi-Wan's reaction at the end was great showing the anguish of losing a friend/brother after all they had gone through and all that he believed concerning the Prophecy.
Once this concludes we get about 10-15 minutes of tying up ends for Episode IV. We see the birth of the twins. A sequence where we see Darth Vader put together and the spine-tingling moment of his mask going on for the first time. I'm unsure on the whole "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO" part, which made me wince.
There is a part where we're shown the construction of the Death Star with Vader, Sidious and a young Moff Tarkin standing (again the ship they're on is retrofitted to original trilogy stylings). We see Captain Antilles receiving the two droids with the condition Threepio's memory is erased.
A sequence before the splitting up of the twins where Yoda mentions to Obi-Wan that Qui-Gon has contacted Yoda and that he has training to do with him. Then we see Leia with Bail Organa and Obi-Wan delivering Luke to Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru. It ends on a scene recalling Episode IV with the two looking out on the sunset of Tatooine.
Overall I really enjoyed it, especially the duels and the things which hark back to the original trilogy. There were a few problems with it; the dialogue needs work, Natalie Portman hasn't seemed to have made the leap in this movie that the others seem to have done so (Ewan McGregor and Ian McDiarmid especially stealing the show), the romance again being very lame (thankfully it's kept short) and we see Mr Binks and he's not blown up or killed in some other painful way. He only talks once I believe so that's some consolation but that's still one too many times.
I would have liked to have seen Qui-Gon actually appear in the movie (as shown in the script rather than the movie we see). What better way to show what training to become one with the Force does and tie up Qui-Gon's vanishing death than him being there whilst Yoda pledging to take Qui-Gon as his teacher. It would have been nice to see a little touch with Obi-Wan having a moment with his former Master.
Regardless, Lucas has delivered a movie that is in keeping with the traditions of the original trilogy.
Tuesday, May 31, 2005
Tuesday, May 24, 2005
Tomorrow I'll finally finish writing my Star Wars piece. I have most of it done but still trying to condense it down and have more of my say on things.
Trying to finish it has been part of the reason for my not posting anything else, once it's done though I'll go back and finish off what I wanted to say about E3 last week.
Trying to finish it has been part of the reason for my not posting anything else, once it's done though I'll go back and finish off what I wanted to say about E3 last week.
Friday, May 20, 2005
Star Wars = time consumer
Star Wars Episode III took all my time yesterday. Watched it twice one an earlish showing and another in the evening.
I'll have my say on it tomorrow in some depth so hopefully most will have seen it and not worry about spoilers. I will say now that I enjoyed it thoroughly.
I'll have my say on it tomorrow in some depth so hopefully most will have seen it and not worry about spoilers. I will say now that I enjoyed it thoroughly.
Wednesday, May 18, 2005
Aesthetics
I don't think the PSP is as sexy looking as everyone makes it out to be. It looks good but it's not the top looking thing that people make it out to be. What makes it remarkable is that Sony seem not to have a clue in console aesthetics.
I look at the PS2 and think how ugly a system it is. I'm thinking that this was a fluke of design and whomever it was that designed it was fired (out of a large cannon into a large brick wall). What we have seen at E3 this week, well I could never have prepared myself for what Sony unveiled. My two intial thoughts were along the lines that Sony have taken convergence too far. Namely I thought that:
1. Didn't I see a Breville Sandwich Toaster in the Argos catalogue that looks the same
2. George Foreman is going to have the lawyers slap sense into Sony for copying the design of his lean mean grilling machine.
Now when the whole PSP vs DS thing kicked off, the big fuss was about the PSP looking better than the Nintendo DS and that being grounds enough for buying a PSP over the DS. Now people are hypocrits, with the gaming community being particularly bad, especially those that Sony aim at. Despite the Revolution and the Xbox360 looking a whole lot better, no-one will state that they would prefer either of those over the PS3 due to looks alone.
So why do people make a song and dance about such issues as I have done? I'd like to offer the idea that due to the way in which consoles fail to excite, we need something in order to get people and take notice.
I couldn't care less about the processor running at 16 gigaflops or one console having 0.001% less power than the other. At the end of the day, it won't make a difference aside from the schmoes out there who want to eek out the most miniscules of power or the schmoes who have no real clue apart from "ps2 rul3z cus I cun ply war3z". The discerning gamer knows that the current crop of consoles still have potential that's been left untapped (apart from the PS2 that's showing it's age in a big way).
So it's sad seeing consoles being rushed out so early just to get a market foothold in the next generation. Does this mean for the next generation we'll maybe get a console out in under a year due to the market going against the manufacturer?
I look at the PS2 and think how ugly a system it is. I'm thinking that this was a fluke of design and whomever it was that designed it was fired (out of a large cannon into a large brick wall). What we have seen at E3 this week, well I could never have prepared myself for what Sony unveiled. My two intial thoughts were along the lines that Sony have taken convergence too far. Namely I thought that:
1. Didn't I see a Breville Sandwich Toaster in the Argos catalogue that looks the same
2. George Foreman is going to have the lawyers slap sense into Sony for copying the design of his lean mean grilling machine.
Now when the whole PSP vs DS thing kicked off, the big fuss was about the PSP looking better than the Nintendo DS and that being grounds enough for buying a PSP over the DS. Now people are hypocrits, with the gaming community being particularly bad, especially those that Sony aim at. Despite the Revolution and the Xbox360 looking a whole lot better, no-one will state that they would prefer either of those over the PS3 due to looks alone.
So why do people make a song and dance about such issues as I have done? I'd like to offer the idea that due to the way in which consoles fail to excite, we need something in order to get people and take notice.
I couldn't care less about the processor running at 16 gigaflops or one console having 0.001% less power than the other. At the end of the day, it won't make a difference aside from the schmoes out there who want to eek out the most miniscules of power or the schmoes who have no real clue apart from "ps2 rul3z cus I cun ply war3z". The discerning gamer knows that the current crop of consoles still have potential that's been left untapped (apart from the PS2 that's showing it's age in a big way).
So it's sad seeing consoles being rushed out so early just to get a market foothold in the next generation. Does this mean for the next generation we'll maybe get a console out in under a year due to the market going against the manufacturer?
Tuesday, May 17, 2005
Arcade Fire
Saw Jools Holland on friday night. Arcade Fire really impressed me out of all the acts there.
Finally bought the album today.
It's fecking tops, go check it out asap.
Finally bought the album today.
It's fecking tops, go check it out asap.
Advertising gone wrong
So I'm sitting in the cinema watching movie trailers and up pops one for The Island. Images flash past of the players in the movie; Ewan McGregor, Scarlett Johansson, Sean Bean and Michael Clarke Duncan.
So far, so good.
Some more images flash past of high speed chases and thrills and then my heart fills with dread. What could have changed my perception so quickly? Well the movie trailers advertises itself by telling you it's from the director of Pearl Harbour. I thought the whole point of advertising was to sell yourself in the best possible light?
So far, so good.
Some more images flash past of high speed chases and thrills and then my heart fills with dread. What could have changed my perception so quickly? Well the movie trailers advertises itself by telling you it's from the director of Pearl Harbour. I thought the whole point of advertising was to sell yourself in the best possible light?
Monday, May 16, 2005
The worth of champions
For readers in the US, I shall be concentrating on football for this entry. That is football, not soccer.
I'll skip the big news of the man who knows nothing about football owning one of the largest football teams in the world (Malcolm Glazer owning 75% of Manchester United) and the beginning of his scheme to ruin the club.
Instead I want to look at the worth of winning competitions.
In the days of old being Champions of Europe or Champions of the World meant something. It meant pride, prestige and honour of knowing you were the best. It meant fame and glory. It meant working harder to defend your title next time out knowing that everyone was now vying for your scalp.
It also meant automatic qualification.
We are now in the position of having to see one team qualify for a competition and another not knowing what will happen.
We have Brazil the Champions of the World*. In 2002 they won the World Cup in Korea and Japan. They beat Germany 2-0 in the final and won for the fifth time, making them the most successful team by far in this competition. Whereas in the past they'd be sitting thinking about defending their title next year, they are sitting thinking about how they could possibly be knocked out of the qualifiers and not make it to Germany where the 2006 finals are being held.
We have Liverpool, in the final of the Champions' League, the most prestigious club competition in Europe. Now in the Premiership they finished fifth. The top four teams in the Premiership qualify for the Champions' League. They are in the position that even if they win the competition they may not be allowed to compete next year and defend their title. They did not finish fourth and UEFA initially said that the English FA would need to decide between Liverpool and the fourth place team, Everton.
Now how the heck could this be allowed?
Team: "Hello, we are the championship winning team."
Big Boss: "Hey congratulations, you won the competition. Thank you for playing and earning us mega-bucks in sponsorship, television and advertising revenues now please fuck off and don't let the door hit you on the way out."
I can understand wanting to put in rules and methods for qualification to make it fairer for all areas. However, allowances need to be made for the Champions regardless of what else has gone on. The rules should cover as many eventualities as possible or have a loose set of principles which when followed can resolve many/any situation. The Champions should have a special place, an exemption as another reward for the toil and effort put in to achieve their position.
*mainly for anyone in the US. Unlike the World Series where a team from the US declares they are World winners, the World Cup actually has teams from all over the globe competing against each other.
I'll skip the big news of the man who knows nothing about football owning one of the largest football teams in the world (Malcolm Glazer owning 75% of Manchester United) and the beginning of his scheme to ruin the club.
Instead I want to look at the worth of winning competitions.
In the days of old being Champions of Europe or Champions of the World meant something. It meant pride, prestige and honour of knowing you were the best. It meant fame and glory. It meant working harder to defend your title next time out knowing that everyone was now vying for your scalp.
It also meant automatic qualification.
We are now in the position of having to see one team qualify for a competition and another not knowing what will happen.
We have Brazil the Champions of the World*. In 2002 they won the World Cup in Korea and Japan. They beat Germany 2-0 in the final and won for the fifth time, making them the most successful team by far in this competition. Whereas in the past they'd be sitting thinking about defending their title next year, they are sitting thinking about how they could possibly be knocked out of the qualifiers and not make it to Germany where the 2006 finals are being held.
We have Liverpool, in the final of the Champions' League, the most prestigious club competition in Europe. Now in the Premiership they finished fifth. The top four teams in the Premiership qualify for the Champions' League. They are in the position that even if they win the competition they may not be allowed to compete next year and defend their title. They did not finish fourth and UEFA initially said that the English FA would need to decide between Liverpool and the fourth place team, Everton.
Now how the heck could this be allowed?
Team: "Hello, we are the championship winning team."
Big Boss: "Hey congratulations, you won the competition. Thank you for playing and earning us mega-bucks in sponsorship, television and advertising revenues now please fuck off and don't let the door hit you on the way out."
I can understand wanting to put in rules and methods for qualification to make it fairer for all areas. However, allowances need to be made for the Champions regardless of what else has gone on. The rules should cover as many eventualities as possible or have a loose set of principles which when followed can resolve many/any situation. The Champions should have a special place, an exemption as another reward for the toil and effort put in to achieve their position.
*mainly for anyone in the US. Unlike the World Series where a team from the US declares they are World winners, the World Cup actually has teams from all over the globe competing against each other.
Sunday, May 15, 2005
The day of rest
After lying in bed for longer than usual you get up and plan for the rest of the day. Now sunday is usually the day you realise that you have homework to do for school tomorrow or you are starting a week of work tomorrow.
It's also the day you are supposed to rest and relax after a week of work and play. So why is it that sundays are often the most boring and wasteful days of the week?
Taking TV for an example. On a saturday evening you get TV channels putting on supposedly the best line-up of shows to entertain us on one of our days off. However, that's also the day you tend to be out enjoy a night on the town. Saturdays are usually the day that Sky Movies likes to show a premiere of some big movie. You then look at the schedules on a sunday and it's punctuated by long spells of crap. Sky Movies don't show premieres on a sunday evening.
I would like to know what the heck is up with this. Surely the better practice would be to move schedules? Put the crap on a day you are going out and the good stuff on the day you'll spend home.
It's also the day you are supposed to rest and relax after a week of work and play. So why is it that sundays are often the most boring and wasteful days of the week?
Taking TV for an example. On a saturday evening you get TV channels putting on supposedly the best line-up of shows to entertain us on one of our days off. However, that's also the day you tend to be out enjoy a night on the town. Saturdays are usually the day that Sky Movies likes to show a premiere of some big movie. You then look at the schedules on a sunday and it's punctuated by long spells of crap. Sky Movies don't show premieres on a sunday evening.
I would like to know what the heck is up with this. Surely the better practice would be to move schedules? Put the crap on a day you are going out and the good stuff on the day you'll spend home.
Friday, May 13, 2005
Magical exclusions
Firstly some background information. I pay around £13 a month for a UGC cinema pass. This entitles me to see as many movies as I can fit in. I make liberal use of this and end up watching some £30 worth of movies a month maybe more. All in all it's a great deal and I definitely am glad I took up subscription.
So now why am I telling you this?
Well Star Wars is out next week and I would like to book tickets. I have however been told I am not allowed to book a ticket in advance using my cinema pass. I must turn up on the day and hope they have availability. What the heck is up with that? I pay money in advance each month and now I'm being told that it's not good enough to book advance tickets. I booked tickets in advance to go see Downfall this past week, yet Star Wars is a no-no.
They offered no explanation and in the brief time I had to pursue the matter, I could get no sense from them. I am now prepped to make a big fuss about this it's fecked up beyond belief that they expect me to queue in hope there are tickets left.
I know they'll reap lots of cash from this, not only from those wanting to see the movie but those with passes who book anyway to ensure they don't get left in limbo. Something does need to be done to sort this out as it is taking the mick out of those already paying them per month.
I'll have more to say on this later on once I do get in touch with a manager or some such like.
So now why am I telling you this?
Well Star Wars is out next week and I would like to book tickets. I have however been told I am not allowed to book a ticket in advance using my cinema pass. I must turn up on the day and hope they have availability. What the heck is up with that? I pay money in advance each month and now I'm being told that it's not good enough to book advance tickets. I booked tickets in advance to go see Downfall this past week, yet Star Wars is a no-no.
They offered no explanation and in the brief time I had to pursue the matter, I could get no sense from them. I am now prepped to make a big fuss about this it's fecked up beyond belief that they expect me to queue in hope there are tickets left.
I know they'll reap lots of cash from this, not only from those wanting to see the movie but those with passes who book anyway to ensure they don't get left in limbo. Something does need to be done to sort this out as it is taking the mick out of those already paying them per month.
I'll have more to say on this later on once I do get in touch with a manager or some such like.
Wednesday, May 11, 2005
O.o???
As taken from the PSO: BB website: http://psobb.com/gameinfo/world/team.php
So from the way this is worded, Osto and Montague created Newmans. Montague is a Newman. That means Montague created himself?
The first result was the joint creation of the two genius scientists Professor Osto Hyle and Professor Jean-Carlo Montague: the Mag. That was only a starting point in their research; they continued their work and began to develop and create things like Androids, and the artificial lifeforms known as Newmans.
So from the way this is worded, Osto and Montague created Newmans. Montague is a Newman. That means Montague created himself?
Manga hair!
I saw an advert on a bus shelter for Garnier Manga.
Garnier the makers of Fructus and other haircare products have decided to cash in on the anime/manga fans out there by promising us hair like our heroes (and villians if you are so inclined). For all you budding Goku fans out there this may sound heaven. For all you budding Jet Black fans, keep trying to stress yourself out, it'll help with hair loss (although I suppose you Jet Black fans could use it to spike out your beard).
Now what I want to know is this: has anyone actually used this super-duper-mega-hyper-special-magical anime hair styling product?
I'm intrigued as to what it is that keeps anime and manga characters hair in place for 26-odd episodes, how it is they can go 15 volumes and not get a hair bent out of shape even when they go to sleep? Could this be the answer to all our problems? A gel that keeps our hair in place no matter what, meaning we can get an extra 5 minutes sleep in the morning? I think I need to conduct some experiments...
Garnier the makers of Fructus and other haircare products have decided to cash in on the anime/manga fans out there by promising us hair like our heroes (and villians if you are so inclined). For all you budding Goku fans out there this may sound heaven. For all you budding Jet Black fans, keep trying to stress yourself out, it'll help with hair loss (although I suppose you Jet Black fans could use it to spike out your beard).
Now what I want to know is this: has anyone actually used this super-duper-mega-hyper-special-magical anime hair styling product?
I'm intrigued as to what it is that keeps anime and manga characters hair in place for 26-odd episodes, how it is they can go 15 volumes and not get a hair bent out of shape even when they go to sleep? Could this be the answer to all our problems? A gel that keeps our hair in place no matter what, meaning we can get an extra 5 minutes sleep in the morning? I think I need to conduct some experiments...
Tuesday, May 10, 2005
I have the power?
Now am I reading too much into this or do I have some powerful readers of this blog?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/4532075.stm
Glad to see someone reporting it, although I could have guessed that the BBC would not let me down.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/4532075.stm
Glad to see someone reporting it, although I could have guessed that the BBC would not let me down.
PSO: BB
Playing PSO: BB has made me realise how much I missed it. It's been like meeting your first true love and falling head over heels in love again.
Scarily I had started to play it offline and enjoy it, something I didn't do as much when I could go online to play (in fact I never played offline when I could as easily go online).
It all seems new and taking a bit to get used to. The KB control ain't bad but I think I need to get my DC-PC converter out so I can use the DC pad, still not used to running about a monster to get to it's blind spot in order to initiate an attack.
I think they said it's about £5.99 a month to play after the beta ends. I'm thinking of going ahead with that and in the process try to get others to continue. It's a great change of pace from FFXI which does seem kinda lame in comparison. This could be the ideal tonic to becoming tired of FFXI, going on to do quests, fishing, ballista and synthing (with the odd bit of levelling as needed).
PSO, I <3 you!
Scarily I had started to play it offline and enjoy it, something I didn't do as much when I could go online to play (in fact I never played offline when I could as easily go online).
It all seems new and taking a bit to get used to. The KB control ain't bad but I think I need to get my DC-PC converter out so I can use the DC pad, still not used to running about a monster to get to it's blind spot in order to initiate an attack.
I think they said it's about £5.99 a month to play after the beta ends. I'm thinking of going ahead with that and in the process try to get others to continue. It's a great change of pace from FFXI which does seem kinda lame in comparison. This could be the ideal tonic to becoming tired of FFXI, going on to do quests, fishing, ballista and synthing (with the odd bit of levelling as needed).
PSO, I <3 you!
Monday, May 09, 2005
History lessons
I demand that everyone (but mainly those working in video games stores) be given history lessons. All I ask when I go into a shop is that the staff have some knowledge of what they are selling. I'm not asking that they know the in-depth ins and outs of video game history, however I would like some general knowledge. Here is why.
I do not wish to go into a store and wait around 20 minutes for someone to find the games I wish to purchase.
I do not wish to have to explain during that there were consoles and video games that existed before the Playstation.
I do not wish to have to explain what the Master System and Mega Drive are or the market situation they existed within.
I do not wish to have to explain that the cartridge being held up and then pushed into the game box is a Master System cartridge and not a Mega Drive cartridge. Regardless of them fitting into the box, they are not the same.
I do not wish to have to offer to come and look for the cartridge myself.
Surely it's not too much to ask?
I do not wish to go into a store and wait around 20 minutes for someone to find the games I wish to purchase.
I do not wish to have to explain during that there were consoles and video games that existed before the Playstation.
I do not wish to have to explain what the Master System and Mega Drive are or the market situation they existed within.
I do not wish to have to explain that the cartridge being held up and then pushed into the game box is a Master System cartridge and not a Mega Drive cartridge. Regardless of them fitting into the box, they are not the same.
I do not wish to have to offer to come and look for the cartridge myself.
Surely it's not too much to ask?
Sunday, May 08, 2005
VE day
Today is VE day. We should not forget what took place all those years ago and we should learn from it, so as not to repeat those mistakes in future.
Saturday, May 07, 2005
News, movies and furore
Movies, I cannot get enough of them. Went to see two today, Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy and Kingdom of Heaven. I'm not going to review them both but they were very enjoyable.
What I wish to discuss about the movies is the furore that is created around some movies. Namely, I wish to discuss what Kingdom of Heaven dealt with and how it's been reported upon. It's about the Crusades and in our current political climate this is rather a big deal.
Before I went to see it, the only things I had heard about the movie by the media was the fact it is set in the Crusades period and that Christians and Muslims had denounced the movie as being trash that will only spark more misunderstanding. Nothing about the movie itself, about how Orlando Bloom is taking a starring role and whether or not he could carry the movie upon his shoulders. Nothing about how the movie goes and shows that religion is used as a cover to hide or justify some crazy ideas.
I'm not sure when it was but I feel lot of the news that is reported to us has gone from being 'factual entertainment' to 'factual entertainment'. So much so that we have the army taking in cameras wherever they go to show us their "shock and awe" tactics. Who needs Private Ryan when my next door neighbour's son is out there in the thick of battle being captured on film? It's all sensationalism, driven at getting the highest audience possible. That last comment sounds harsh but I don't need to see in-depth play-by-play detail of a war based on false information.
So anyway back onto topic, how does this relate to Kingdom of Heaven? We have the media making much ado about nothing. I've read lots of positive comments from both Christians and Muslims, yet all I ever hear about is how Ridley Scott has received death threats (this report was from Fox News though so take with a truckload of salt).
Nothing about how even-handed a piece of work this is. Why? Good news doesn't sell. Telling people that all sides are shown as being human is such a story that's not news to report. That is to say reporting that both sides in the movie show qualities that are both good and bad, and that many scholars of both sides have advocated the movie won't be considered as news worthy.
Again I'm unsure whether this piece has a focus throughout but news today, by and large, doesn't seem to be news at all. It doesn't seem to be anything that could be considered a news report, just nonsense designed at stirring up the most fuss in order to sell.
What I wish to discuss about the movies is the furore that is created around some movies. Namely, I wish to discuss what Kingdom of Heaven dealt with and how it's been reported upon. It's about the Crusades and in our current political climate this is rather a big deal.
Before I went to see it, the only things I had heard about the movie by the media was the fact it is set in the Crusades period and that Christians and Muslims had denounced the movie as being trash that will only spark more misunderstanding. Nothing about the movie itself, about how Orlando Bloom is taking a starring role and whether or not he could carry the movie upon his shoulders. Nothing about how the movie goes and shows that religion is used as a cover to hide or justify some crazy ideas.
I'm not sure when it was but I feel lot of the news that is reported to us has gone from being 'factual entertainment' to 'factual entertainment'. So much so that we have the army taking in cameras wherever they go to show us their "shock and awe" tactics. Who needs Private Ryan when my next door neighbour's son is out there in the thick of battle being captured on film? It's all sensationalism, driven at getting the highest audience possible. That last comment sounds harsh but I don't need to see in-depth play-by-play detail of a war based on false information.
So anyway back onto topic, how does this relate to Kingdom of Heaven? We have the media making much ado about nothing. I've read lots of positive comments from both Christians and Muslims, yet all I ever hear about is how Ridley Scott has received death threats (this report was from Fox News though so take with a truckload of salt).
Nothing about how even-handed a piece of work this is. Why? Good news doesn't sell. Telling people that all sides are shown as being human is such a story that's not news to report. That is to say reporting that both sides in the movie show qualities that are both good and bad, and that many scholars of both sides have advocated the movie won't be considered as news worthy.
Again I'm unsure whether this piece has a focus throughout but news today, by and large, doesn't seem to be news at all. It doesn't seem to be anything that could be considered a news report, just nonsense designed at stirring up the most fuss in order to sell.
Late night rambling
So the second post is here and it's somewhat serious but based in gaming.
It's community that makes an online game rewarding to play. PSO had this in abundance, regardless of what server you were on, which nationality the players were, it always felt like a tight place.
Talking to a friend (Vik, the filthy minded one) earlier about SWG and she stated about the community on there. So much so that with the combat upgrade nonsense that has happened she's gone and created a forum especially for the server to keep in contact now they've moved away from the game for the time being (maybe long term/forever).
This led to talk about EQ2, WoW and then onto FFXI. She commented on all not having this aspect. I cannot vouch for EQ2 or WoW but heck she was totally right about FFXI. You meet some great people on FFXI, I know many whom I shall remain in contact outside of the game but there is definitely no sense of community.
Is this maybe due to the way it seems to be set-up? You play the game and make friends and join a linkshell. You hit level 60 or so and then look for pastures new with a HNMLS forsaking your old linkshell in most cases. It's then a case of kissing enough arse to get what you can before backstabbing someone (maybe not the backstabbing part but it seems to be becoming more of a common thing).
On top of this, every single HNMLS seems to be in competition with everyone else. One monster pop in every 24 hour span whilst it sounds like an event it ends up with people camping, spam botting and worse going for MPKs. It's at the point when no-one cares about anything or anyone else and are levelling BST so they can all MPK each other. Where the feck has common sense gone?
Am I living in a closed world or is this what it is like on every other game? A constant chase for rare items and money forsaking everything else? I'm not sure what point I'm trying to make here or what issues I'm trying to raise, it's far too late/early but what I do know for sure is this:
We are playing a game, games are supposed to be fun. Leave the backstabbing anti-social shit at the door and just get along for the good of all.
It's community that makes an online game rewarding to play. PSO had this in abundance, regardless of what server you were on, which nationality the players were, it always felt like a tight place.
Talking to a friend (Vik, the filthy minded one) earlier about SWG and she stated about the community on there. So much so that with the combat upgrade nonsense that has happened she's gone and created a forum especially for the server to keep in contact now they've moved away from the game for the time being (maybe long term/forever).
This led to talk about EQ2, WoW and then onto FFXI. She commented on all not having this aspect. I cannot vouch for EQ2 or WoW but heck she was totally right about FFXI. You meet some great people on FFXI, I know many whom I shall remain in contact outside of the game but there is definitely no sense of community.
Is this maybe due to the way it seems to be set-up? You play the game and make friends and join a linkshell. You hit level 60 or so and then look for pastures new with a HNMLS forsaking your old linkshell in most cases. It's then a case of kissing enough arse to get what you can before backstabbing someone (maybe not the backstabbing part but it seems to be becoming more of a common thing).
On top of this, every single HNMLS seems to be in competition with everyone else. One monster pop in every 24 hour span whilst it sounds like an event it ends up with people camping, spam botting and worse going for MPKs. It's at the point when no-one cares about anything or anyone else and are levelling BST so they can all MPK each other. Where the feck has common sense gone?
Am I living in a closed world or is this what it is like on every other game? A constant chase for rare items and money forsaking everything else? I'm not sure what point I'm trying to make here or what issues I'm trying to raise, it's far too late/early but what I do know for sure is this:
We are playing a game, games are supposed to be fun. Leave the backstabbing anti-social shit at the door and just get along for the good of all.
Friday, May 06, 2005
The first
And so it begins...
I expect to post lots of random thoughts on here but I have a feeling that it'll turn into a place where I will post lots of nonsense on FFXI or whichever game I happen to be most engrossed in.
We shall see how it goes, hopefully I'll remember to post daily as and when I think of things (I'm expecting no posts for weeks and then a flurry of 5 or 6 in a 2 day period and then back to nothing for weeks).
Right that's that first post out of the way, I shall apologise for the long winded title which may or may not make any sense. Anyways, all that side, I can now start with the randomness from here on out.
I expect to post lots of random thoughts on here but I have a feeling that it'll turn into a place where I will post lots of nonsense on FFXI or whichever game I happen to be most engrossed in.
We shall see how it goes, hopefully I'll remember to post daily as and when I think of things (I'm expecting no posts for weeks and then a flurry of 5 or 6 in a 2 day period and then back to nothing for weeks).
Right that's that first post out of the way, I shall apologise for the long winded title which may or may not make any sense. Anyways, all that side, I can now start with the randomness from here on out.
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