New Iron Man Trailer

Source: IGN.com

Well isn't this swell? Another trailer for our AA, metallic hero.

Don't you dare read this bit until you've done yourself the favor of watching that trailer. And if you aren't even slightly impressed by the visuals, then you need to have your eyes checked.

Let's review... amazing visuals, Robert Downey Jr. (recovering substance abuser...sorry Robert, but this makes you perfect for Tony Stark) and Jon Favreau. Between the charm and sarcasm of Robert Downey Jr. and Favreau's ability to put wit into just about anything he does, we are looking at one of the best formulas possible for a summer blockbuster. While this movie looks to be all kinds of entertaining, my only fear is the it will simply blend into the scenery as other great flicks come out around it; Indiana Jones, for instance.

Until May 2nd, just keep watching this trailer.

Eternal Sonata A.K.A Eternal Cutscene

Oh hello children, remember me? One of the many reasons I haven't posted is because in the last two or three month not one ounce of good music has come out. So, I went into to hiding and now I have popped back on the grid after doing some feverish research the last month or so. By feverish research I mean religiously playing Eternal Sonata to get it out of the way before I start Lost Odyssey. Anyway, I figured I would share my game experience with you nerds to provide some insight.

Eternal Sonata is a solid game, it isn't anything world changing and you aren't going to pee yourself in excitement when you play it but is a lot of fun. It is a dungeon style RPG with lots of different characters and a decent plot. Just like most games there are things this game does well and things that will make you want to punch a baby. First of all this is more of a G rated RPG, PG at worst. I know what you are thinking but hey, Kingdom Hearts was pretty fun and this time I don't have to control Goofy's stupid ass. Probably the first thing, this being the first major RPG released on 360 it is Beautiful and I mean it. It is one of the prettiest things next to sitting on top of buildings in Assassin's Creed. Also it isn't glitchy, all camera angels, fighting and all that jazz is very very smooth, solid game play. Next thing of note is the battle system. It is similar to Star Ocean where it is turn based, but also active. So you can move around your enemy but you have a limited time to execute commands. Something new is the battle system evolves through something called party levels. Every so often your party level will increase, decreasing the amount of time you have to make decisions and act but increasing the number of special attacks you can do and speed and other things of that nature. I really like this mechanic because the fighting doesn't get old, it changes itself up to keep you interested. You also get new special attacks as your level increases. The last thing I really like is that it is really long. Being in a RPGless desert since 360 has come out I am glad they didn't forget that RPGs are supposed to take time. This game has a solid 25 hours of game with an optional dungeon and optional second play through. If you like this game you won't have to swap it at GameStop for something else that quickly.

OK now, don't get me wrong, I like this game but, there is some things that REALLY annoy me about it. The first is in the title, the game has A TON of film time, especially in the beginning, every ten steps and its a fucking cutscene. For the first two chapters it is enough to make me leave the room in frustration only to come back and find more movie time. The good news is you have the option to skip it. Also this game is based on a DREAM that Fredrick Chopan. (This Polish prick over here) is having. Mr. Chopan was a famous piano player in the 19th century. So some asshole decided, 'Why don't we base the entire game around this guy an then we can integrate a music lesson and some meaningless French history between every chapter.' Here is my problem. WHY?! I understand the game is about music, in fact everything in the fucking game (characters, places and shit) is named after musical terms; but why him? Why not just some guy, or like someone more famous? Personally, the thought of it was enough to make me not even want to play the game. However, it sounds a lot worst then it is. Do yourself a favor and just imagine Freddy here as a regular dude and skip the boring history cinemas. My only other thing and this is really knit picky, when you get a new weapon or armor your character still looks the same. Come on, even Final Fantasy 7 showed the change for weapons. Also several baddies repeat themselves with higher levels and different colors, this also irks me, I think that is just laziness by the programmers.

This is a good game overall and if you are looking for something to play for a while and have missed RPGs for new gen consoles almost to a point of tears, buy this. It is a good sleeper hit for 360, but buy lost odyssey first, I mean, lets be honest.

Transformers 2 - Post WGA Strike

Sources: JoBlo.com and Variety.com

Whelp, it seems that when he isn't making commercials, Michael Bay is kidnapping writers and making them produce some Hollywood magic.

According to Variety.com via JoBlo.com...

"They did a detailed outline before the writer's strike, and now they are in Michael Bay jail, holed up in a hotel and working feverishly," Bay said. "We're paying for a beautiful suite and they are getting a lot of work done. Hiring three writers was unusual, but it has been a godsend in getting us to where we need to be. Somehow you find a way to get it done."

So they're getting things done old-fashioned style, which I respect. During the days of Classical Hollywood Cinema, writers would live together in little studio owned compounds (internment camps? too soon?)and crank out scripts like mad. Having several writers like this will probably also lessen the chance of things like this or this happening.

Sorry George...

Seriously?

I'm sure I'm not the first and I most certainly will not be the last to say it; 'God damnit...'

I'm not really even sure why movies like this exist anymore. Perhaps they serve as a testament to exactly how stupid we are getting (or already are)... Let's go ahead and look at some box office debacles for things like this little American blunder...

All of these knock-off, craptastic films (Scary Movie (1-4), Epic Movie, etc.) have spent their opening weekends in top places in the box office. Most of which sat residing in 1st place. Wow.

Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against a little lowbrow humor to get your juices flowing... but that stuff belongs on the likes of YouTube.com and other such sites. Why flood our already dying silver screens with the stuff nightmares are made of? You cannot give me a good reason for these movies to exist. Before you jump up and down about how much money they are making, please preemptively remove the giant foot from your mouth as I don't even wanna hear that shit.

Listen man, how about you (the dumb ones) do me a favor and stop yourself, your family and you friends (are they really?) from seeing this Hollywood atrocity. Spend your money elsewhere... I don't know, buy a sub, a t-shirt, some flowers, damnit...

Here's your trailer, morons.

Comic reviews 2.20.08

Ex Machina #34
By Brian K. Vaughn and Tony Harris

Brian K. Vaughn is single handily ruining comics for me. Whether it’s Ex Machina, Y: The Last Man, Escapists, Pride of Baghdad, or even his work at Marvel on the stand out Dr. Strange mini, The Oath, Vaughn’s mastery of the comic medium is unrivaled in today’s market. One of his greatest strengths as a comic writer is his use of cliffhangers. Brian understands that comics are a serial medium and is able to cut the action at the pitch perfect moment, when tensions are highest for the reader, leaving them gasping for breathe and begging the comic gods for more. Ex Machina #34 is pretty much the gold standard in this regard.

I’m not kidding when I say this comic will knock you on your ass with its cliffhanger. I got to the final page anticipating a completely different scenario playing out, and to say I was shocked, with my jaw on the floor, is an understatement. Issue #34 produces the best cliffhanger of the series to date, and maybe Vaughn’s strongest finish to any single issue in his fantastic career.

Of course the strength of said cliffhanger hangs on the material that precedes it over the course of 22 pages, and Ex Machina #34 delivers a pretty tight package. Vaughn has a great sense of knowing when to pull back the action of the overarching plot to narrow the focus onto certain individuals at a crucial momoents in their lives. Thus, Commissioner Angotti gets her 15 minutes of fame this issue. Much like issue #25, #34 tells a life story of how Angotti got to where she is. Using smooth match on actions and dialogue transitions, Vaughn jumps to different time frames to tell a complete narrative giving readers everything they need to know about the Commish to have a finale that pays off perfectly.

I dare you to find a better comic than Ex Machina.

Batman Confidential #13
By Tony Bedard and Rags Morales

Issue 13 is the start of a new story arc for Batman Confidential, and a great jumping on point for new readers to the series. For anyone not aware, Confidential is a series created to tell original stories set in the past of our hero, an anthology series if you will. This week sees Tony Bedard take his stab at the Dark Knight in a sequel to the original “Player on the Other Side” from Batman Special #1. With great voices for Batman, Gordon, and even Dick Grayson, Tony Bedard weaves a fantastic yarn for the initial part of this four issue run. If that wasn’t all, Bedard’s written drama is sold through Rags Morales’ fantastic art. Morales is one of the few artists working that really use body language and facial expressions tohis advantage. Instead of hulking figures posing all the time, Morales nails character through expressions making these legends jump off the page as though they are real people photographed and plopped in a comic.

Great writing, great art, and an interesting story, looks like a Batman Confidential arc I will be sticking around for.

Justice League of America #18
By Alan Burnett, Dwayne McDuffie, Ed Benes, Jon Boy Meyers

Why do I keep falling in this trap? Month after month I slap my $3 on the counter for JLofA and since issue #13 I get nothing but directionless garbage. Filling the quota of DC editorial, Justice League of America has become the resident tie-in book which is a damn shame seeing how it’s one of the flagship titles for DC Comics. Here we have another segment of “sanctuary” as super-villians look to the Justice League for safe housing, more of Batman one upping everyone, and Amanda Waller being a huge exploitive as she puppeteers the Suicide Squad. The finale of the main story in #18 is a decent enough cliffhanger, but will it be enough to drag me back again next month?

Answer: probably, which makes me weep a little.

The backup story, written by Dwayne McDuffie, the supposed writer of JLofA after Meltzer, explores Red Tornado’s body less situation with some touching moments between him, his wife and child. Though a story that lasts only a couple of pages not tying into the main story has me anything but stoked.

This issue of JLofA gets a big thumbs down from this guy.

The Brave and Bold #10
By Mark Waid and George Perez

I was really into the first arc of this newly relaunched series. The first three issues still stand as the crowning moments Waid and Perez have turned in, but somewhere along issue 8 I started to lose interest. Yea, the Challengers of the Unknown are cool, and its great to see comics packed full of tons of DC characters, A-list and obscure, all drawn by the magnificent George Perez, but the plot lost me. I don’t really care for the mystery of Megistus, nor some of the story choices.

See, the last few issues have been comics that tell multiple tales connected by the overarching Megistus plot. But when you have a Silent Knight story, and a throwback to the original Teen Titans, as seen in #10, I just don’t care as much. I follow the DC universe for what is happening now, not what happened prior. I appreciate the kick back to what makes DC great, but Waid seems really intent on reaching that old school feel through every facet of his storytelling, writing included.

I truthfully didn’t even get through this whole issue. I decided to cut loses, wrap up my bathroom experience (yea I read comics in the bathroom, wanna fight about it?!) and leave the refresh room with a void in my soul.

Unless you have loved every issue of this series to date, love old school comics (and I mean old school), or just buy the book for Perez’s art, I suggest spending your money elsewhere.

Justice League: New Frontier DVD Review

Recently, Warner Bros. and DC have been collaborating on bringing some of the DC Universe's greatest comic stories to the small screen via direct-to-DVD releases. Last year we saw Superman/Doomsday which turned out to be a hack job in my eyes. An epic story butchered into a 70 minute flick losing all sense of grandeur the original story possessed. Now the focus has shifted to Darwyn Cooke's retelling of the beginning of the silver age of comics and the formation of the Justice League of America.

First things first, DC: The New Frontier is my favorite comic book. It stands above Watchmen, The Dark Knight Returns, and even Kingdom Come. In a little over 400 pages, Darwyn Cooke crafted a masterpiece that exemplifies why I love DC's characters so much. So upon the announcement of this project I was both excited and worried. On one hand, I would finally get to see this comic in motion, in an art style mirroring the original source material. However, with such a dense book, following several converging storylines, some things are bound to get cut for runtime purposes, something I didn't want to see as every bit of the original graphic novel is compelling and essential to understanding the mindset the United States during the 1950s.

With the space race in full swing, segregation in its darkest hour, and America crumbling under its own insecurities. Citizens of the United States blindly turned their fear and paranoia towards the masked vigilantes that swore to protect them. With the Justice Society disbanded, and all heroes going the way of the dobo or underground, America has been left wide open for the unsuspecting biblical threat coming its way. That is the premise of Justice League New Frontier that sees true heroes rise from the ashes of a crumbling nation by putting aside all differences in the name of defending the one place they all love.

So with all this buildup I'm giving the first thing worth "reviewing" is the actual adaptation of the source material. Overall its pretty solid. The film leaves out some development for characters that received a lot of face time in the comic, namely the Challengers of the Unknown, Suicide Squad, and the Losers from the book's prologue. Thankfully, while these teams are fantastic, they don't serve the overall plot of the book, instead serving as acknowledgments that these characters did exist during this time, and how they fit into the lining of the Silver Age. The other important subplots involving John Henry, and America's struggle with segregation, along with Dr. Ray Palmer's technical advances are handled through news casts on radios and televisions that works reasonably well. While showing these scenes, especially the John Henry moments, would have added a much needed layer of drama and tone to the overall feel of the film, the news casts are a successful way to hit these points and keep the film to a brisk 70 minutes.

Next up is the voice acting. While everyone gives some slam bang performances, I was most impressed with Jeremy Sisto's Batman. Kevin Conroy has been the figurehead of voicing Batman since the early 90s with the Batman Animated Series. so when I read comics I picture his voice channeling through Bats. However, Sisto gives a great performance that made me put aside my differences with not casting Conroy in the first place. New Frontier's Batman was sold to me when he delivers a badass line to Martian Manhunter about his one weakness, sounding just like a confident Batman should.

Finally, Justice League The New Frontier gives its viewers some great animation. I have always found the people behind DC's animated shows and pictures able to produce great movement in their animation and this film is no slouch. The character models look like their comic book source material, down to their shadows, and all move with a fluidity that can't be rivaled by that other big company and their recent straight to DVD films.

Justice League The New Frontier is a worthy purchase for fans of animation, comics, or both. With a solid 70 minute feature along with multiple commentary tracks including one by Darwyn Cooke, a sneak peak at the next Direct-to-DVD film on DC's palette, Batman: Gotham Knight, seen here, and multiple featurettes covering the history of the Justice League and super-villians, Justice League The New Frontier becomes a great addition to a DVD library. I am a happy camper with the way this film turned out as it could have been a disaster.

I'm giving the big thumbs up on this one.

Far Cry 2 - Miracle-Gro

Source: GameTrailers.com

I remember hearing about this video a bit back from a friend at dinner and, well, he was right... amazing. The fact that a game's engine and world are so embellished with these kinds of intricacies only forces people like myself to become incredibly intrigued. While one would hope that the game will be entirely open ended (not sandboxed, just open ended), no promises just yet. The first Far Cry had some exploration, but Crysis did not... lets take advantage of this ridiculous environments.

Speaking of sweet new physics engines, and this is nothing new, but Epic has released some footage of the new-ish, tweaked Gears of War 2 engine (this November, gauge your eyes out in anticipation). Check that below.

The Stranger - Short Film

I'm sure everyone here has been waiting for something of this epic-itude to come out of Flickblurbs since its inception, and to all of you we say, "here."

Below you will find the full version of a short film written, edited and directed by Erik and I. While it may show plenty signs of amateurism, we can assure you that there will plenty more where that came from. But my God, look at the misc en scen, look at the match-on-action, look at the transition, just, just look at it.

While received with less than lackluster fanfare, we would like to give all of our friends a chance to see it right here on Flick Blurbs [blog.]

*Oh, and for those of you looking at this site as it has been referenced on our resumes, can I warn you that the material may be less than safe for work. No nudity, but very suggestive.*

The Stranger