Third-Party Wii Games

I rented Spider-Man: Friend or Foe and Tony Hawk's Proving Ground for this weekend for the Wii. It's been a while since I played the Wii and since Live has been laggy, it's nice to try something else. Spider-Man is fun, it's like a cross between LEGO Star Wars and Marvel: Ultimate Alliance. It's fun, simple, but far too easy. It's a game that's impossible to get mad at and a good rent because it's so short.

Tony Hawk is a different game. It's crossplatform so it's on other systems as well as Friend or Foe. However, the Wii controls for it are a bit freaky. Unlike every other game, you don't want to hold the control stick in an upward position. If you do, you'll manual when you go down and that's frustrating when all you want to do is slow down. The motions can be a bit non responsive, like aggro kick. To do that, you must move the remote down. Sometimes he kicks, sometimes he keeps skating along. I haven't figured that out.

So I've figured out something, something I'm surprised game publishers haven't quite grasped on to. Wii motion controls are fun but some games (I'm talking to you, Spider-Man 3) have horrid motion controls. Mortal Kombat seems to be one of the few to get what I'm trying to say. Along with tacking on motion controls, add classic controller connectivity. That way if you're controls suck, you can still play the game normally like on any other system. The controller has two analog sticks, 4 buttons in a diamond pattern, directional pad, two triggers and nearby buttons. It's a regular controller. That way, I could play Tony Hawk like it was on the PS2 if I'm not getting the hang of the motions.

My Ελλινικά Review of "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End"

Now, I'm a pretty big fan of Pirates of the Caribbean so when I saw that it was playing in Kamari, I tried my best to hook myself up. No surprises here, Jack survives the second movie. Just look to the left. So basically Barbossa, Elizabeth, Will, and the gang are trying to bring Jack back from Davy Jones' Locker. Barbossa needs Jack's piece of eight to free Calypso, Elizabeth's motives are unclear, Will is still trying to save his father and going after Jack somehow falls into that plan, that along with double-crossing everyone in his path including his fiancée.

I really don't like what they've done with Will's character. He was so virtuous and honest in the first movie and now he's an ambiguous, whiny piece of crap. Will works with Sao Feng to give Jack up for the Black Pearl, but then Feng has a deal with Beckett already. Are you following this? And now that the awesome Davy Jones has become the ultimate tool of a villain to Beckett, the pirates must unite to stop them. They go as far to even elect a...excuse me...it's hard to type...a Pirate King. I never knew pirates were so organized. "Hang the rules and hang the code" and whatnot. And of course, this royalty goes to...um...Captain Elizabeth Swann. Bottom line, the movie is too silly for its own good.

The first one is phenomenal. The second one is fun, but leads into this one. It's not bad, but it's not good. It's like a Fantastic Four to me. It's fun to watch, but unlike the others you can't take it too seriously. One thing I miss from the first one is how pirates were the only people who believed in anything supernatural. Even the Black Pearl itself was a myth to the majority of the British. In the second movie they made Beckett know a lot of the stuff he shouldn't believe. OK, so he's been around to know better. Now, for whatever reason, Governor Swann is the one to find out the new information concerning Davy Jones. Along those lines, what is Davy Jones' motivation other than not to die. He becomes a subordinate because he doesn't want to stop. Plus I love the inferred reason to remove the Kraken as a threat for this movie.

On the plus side, this movie has the best soundtrack of the three which is nice. But as I said, don't take it seriously and just enjoy the film or else you will hate the movie. Oh, and please don't make more. You're just cheapening the franchise.

My rating: 8 out of 10
DVD-worthy: I'll get it, but I won't drive at midnight for it by any means.

Finally, Some Progression

Are we gearing up for hopefully a final season? It looks that way on Smallville. Note: If you haven't seen the finale don't yell at me if I spoil things. Big News! They killed Lana! 6 years in the making. We knew Lois was the one to hook up with Superman and for the show to stagnate this relationship with Lana for so long was an exercise of futility. There's a nice bit of nihilism when Lana finds out everything and actually shows integrity for once, just to die. This may make Clark even more cautious about his secret now. Also, Chloe's power seems to be the ability to transfer life essence via tears?! How strangely odd and specific is that? That's almost as bad as the ability to see through glass. But it possibly gets rid of continuity-wrecking Chloe from the story. Who knows though because I like her character. Lionel finally stopped being a Snape and picked a side. Or at least, his side became apparent. Lex is finally in trouble with the law for once. And Bizarro makes an interesting appearance. I also explains why the Kryptonite didn't work on him. So are they going to invent Blue Kryptonite now? I love this show's finales. They make up for all the angst and crap throughout the year.

Now, let's get Clark in some glasses so that people won't put two and two together and get him on track toward his destiny. "No flights, no tights" may be the rule but it's time to move on before it becomes ridiculous and monotonous. I know it's supposed to be it's own continuity with its own outcomes but if they don't move toward Superman, it almost seems pointless.

Midnight Review of "Spider-Man 3"

On Thursday, I went into Omaha for the midnight show of the next installment of the Spider-Man films. This one had a lot more to go in on. Spider-Man 2 had to perform as Spider-Man did and it did wonderfully. This one had to preform as Spider-Man 2 did and I believe it is on par with the other two. Instead of doing one villain at a time, this film tried 3 enemies: New Goblin, Sandman, and Venom. OK, enough of the intro on to the movie. I'll try not to spoil too much so If you want full surprise, just stop it.

The first thing I was looking for was a consistent intro. The second one basically copied the style of the first and created a precedent. The third follows suit. Whew. I love consistency. I knew Danny Elfman would not be directly involved with the score but it seems they got everything he had done prior to the film. The new music for the most part, takes some getting used to. The "symbiote theme" at first listen sucks balls but it does grow on you like the X-Men: The Last Stand soundtrack. As much as you want to hate it, you realize it is good, and grow to like it, but not at first.

Three villains does affect the pacing, but not enough for me to realize that it was crowded. They did do something with MJ's character that made me mad, and if you've seen the movie, it's not quite what you think. When she gets canned (no spoiler here, it's at the very beginning), she never, ever tells Peter. She tells Harry for once, considering the theme of the first movie was "Don't tell Harry." It makes me have less sympathy for her if she's not being honest. It gives me creepy Lana Lang vibes I don't like. Also, symbiote-influenced Peter Parker looks a lot like Conor Oberst. Jodie agrees.

Venom was very well done. Sandman's CG was exquisite. New Goblin did at the end exactly what I hoped he would do since the second film was finished. There's also some poetic justice with the first film. The ending is very poignant and lost some consistency with no Spidey-swinging-happy scene to close, but I love the ending. It leaves room open for a potential, yet not-required sequel. If they do start talking about it, watch for news from Tobey Maguire. He's only doing it if the story is good and Kirsten Dunst and Sam Raimi are back. It's kinda the same way for the other two. My favorite scene has to be when Sandman first awakens after his transformation. The music is perfect and the scene itself is also very poignant. Cameos are fun, too. Stan Lee's is silly but so him. Bruce Campbell's steals the show.

My review: 9 out of 10, I still love Spider-Man 2, especially Doc Ock but it is totally on par with the other two.
DVD-worthy: Midnight run to pick it up.

Intolerance at its Extreme

These people are truly insane. The Westboro "Baptist" Church believe that everyone outside of their organization is doomed to hell. Their primary target is homosexuals. They are the people who picket funerals of fallen soldiers with signs that say "God Hates Fags." Why? Because those troops fought for America, a country of people who accept homosexuals and doomed to destruction, and the soldier's death is a celebration of God's judgement on this country. That makes total sense, doesn't it? Umm...no. I've never seen people so violently and idiotically intolerant of a certain group of people. It is funny when Shirley, the daughter of Fred Phelps, the near-corpse who leads the diatribes, goes on TV to "explain" her viewpoint. About a minute in, she stops answering questions and just spouts out her beliefs. The interviewers bring up new points against their church, she answers the same way every time. It's funny because she makes Fox News seem liberal. They don't want to convert you, they just want you to be aware that you're going to hell if you don't listen.

The six-part documentary has Louis Theroux, a BBC journalist spend three weeks with the insanity. We only see Fred twice during the whole film. The first time, Louis asks one question before Fred refused to answer any more. The question? "How many children do you have?" Fred says he's wasting oxygen and he missed his chance to ask a religious question. Louis just wanted to know what Fred considered to be his children. That was too risky. The second time he is allowed five minutes to ask religious questions based on his sermon. Fred answers with his hate speech and then Louis asks another. Fred answers "Asked and answered, next question," to every following question. He doesn't want to answer questions, he just wants a platform to rant his derogatory ideals.

These people are the epitome of illogic and failure to understand. Arguing with them is like arguing with a brick wall, no matter what you say, you just get slammed by a brick wall. The KKK believes that Westboro is a sick, ignorant group. How screwed up do you have to be to have the KKK believe you are depraved. To think that they believe in Christianity is a mockery to Christ. God doesn't hate anyone. God loves the world. They're very quick to ignore the parts of the Bible that contradict themselves. They love Lev. 19:17 where they shouldn't hate in secret but to tell others how they feel. They ignore Lev. 19:18 that says to love your neighbor as God does.

Videos:
Shirley on Fox News
Shirley on Fox News, again
Shirley and daughters on Tyra
Fred Phelps rants about Stewart/Colbert
Charles Firth talks, and flirts, with Phelps, Jr.
The Most Hated Family in America (1)
The Most Hated Family in America (2)
The Most Hated Family in America (3)
The Most Hated Family in America (4)
The Most Hated Family in America (5)
The Most Hated Family in America (6)

7th Generation Insights

If a game for the Wii doesn't use motion sensing, the game will be criticized because it doesn't use the Wii's primary feature.

If a game has added motion sensing, the game will be criticized for adding a gimmicky feature that doesn't really enhance the game.

EA Sports games will rock on the Wii and will be exempt from determining whether or not the motion sensing enhances the game.

Nintendo recognizes that you have a DVD player and a CD player so why would they charge you extra for it if you don't need it?

Nintendo wants you to figure out whether or not you want HD-DVD or Blu-Ray and doesn't make the decision for you.

Nintendo needs to make DS Download Play for the Wii very soon, but probably won't happen until June when Pokémon Battle Revolution is released.

Nintendo should not have reduced its support of the GameCube as people like me who never had a GameCube can finally play these games on the Wii.

Buying a GameCube, considered to be a failure amongst its generation, to play its games is preferable to buying a Wii and playing GameCube games that you didn't want to own prior.

Considering this criticism, the Wii is only GameCube 1.5 anyway, so why is it wrong to play previous-generation games on it?

Nintendo needs to make Wii Shop Channel like Xbox Live Marketplace. Will we get the Battlefront additional characters? Will we get the Marvel Ultimate Alliance: Heroes and Villians expansion pack? C'mon Nintendo, support those third-parties!

Wii60: You buy a Wii and a Core Xbox 360 for less than a single PS3.

Xbox Live is awesome, Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection is decent, PlayStation Online is lagging currently.

The PS3 looks no better than an Xbox 360 when not on an HDTV screen.

Why didn't Sony learn from the failure of the PSX, a PS2 with a DVR available in Japan only, which flopped based on poor sales? Adding many, many features doesn't make people want it more.

The PS3 is improperly marketed as a gaming system. Its primary draw is its ability to function as a gaming system, supercomputer, and entertainment system; however, it is the most expensive item in the gaming system aisle and that turns people off.

The PS3 needs to be marketed as a Blu-Ray player primarily until a killer game is developed. It is the cheapest item among the Blu-Ray players and it also happens to play games. Oh, they kinda did...

As neat as HD-DVD and Blu-Ray are, they're fighting over 1% of the market.

Sony wants your money. They have developed a credit card reader for the PS3 and I have heard that they may charge you for virtual furniture in PlayStation Home.

Sony is willing to give away HDTV's in Europe in order to sell the PlayStation 3.

Sony should recognize the popularity of the PS2 and the unpopularity of the PS3. I am no technical developer, but it would be neat to see Sony expand on the PS2's expansion bay. They should make an attachment that goes into the back containing a 360-comparable processor, hard drive, networking and yet still look decent while attached and cost between $100-150. They should market new games as PS2+ or something similar as some form of intermediary step between PS2 and PS3. Unfortunately, the time it would take to develop is insufficient to make a profit and the slim PS2 will be out of the picture.

Fall Out!

I rented Super Monkey Ball Banana Blitz this week because I have fond memories of Super Monkey Ball 2 on Nord's GameCube. I heard reviews that the learning curve was difficult but was better to use the Wii Remote than an analog stick. The reviewers were right on the learning curve. The first world is cake, the second mixes it up, the third starts getting difficult. By the end, it is exceedingly difficult. I don't care for it, but Book Lady seems to be having a blast. I take it she likes the puzzle challenge games. I like knowing a game has the hope of being beaten, and this one has a faint glimmer. The minigames are depressing as well. Most are hit and miss, especially the ones based on real games. The fun ones are the ones they made up. But it's not enough for me to buy it at this time. It is a good rent, though. It gives you something to work on for a week and then get sick of falling into ravines or lava. I plan on picking up Rayman Raving Rabbids this weekend. That is an example of a fun single player with outrageous multiplayer. Super Monkey Ball is good, don't get me wrong. You just have to be determined to enjoy it.

On another note, I borrowed Animal Crossing from Heidi. That's very interesting. It's a good boredom game, but it's not much to watch. It makes people watching it to start playing the Sims 2. I know it's coming out for Wii, it's just a matter of when and what it will do. I would love it if it expanded on your GameCube save game that you may or may not have made. I am afraid that I will rent it and keep getting messages from animals on my Message Board.

What Have Wii Been Doing?

I picked up Marvel: Ultimate Alliance last weekend. I've been playing that for most of last week. It's, not surprisingly, very similar to X-Men Legends, but still very fun. The Wii controls seem to accent the game rather than drive it. I periodically did a motion to attack but mainly stick to pressing A all the time. The cinematics are breathtaking though. I've unlocked all the characters without cheating so that makes me smile. Now I want to play it on Hard.

I rented Rayman Raving Rabbids this weekend. That game is so sick, twisted, and fun. Basically an army of bunnies puts Rayman through a series of minigame tasks that use the Wiimote to its potential in order to be set free. People who watch us must think we're screwed up in the head to be attacking bunnies but they are not friendly once you get into the game. I likened it to the Internet Insanity Test in the weird noises you hear as you play the game. It's very good and I will probably get it soon.

I also rented Superman Returns for the PS2. I have to say, I was quite disappointed in it. I was expecting something like Spider-Man 2 and Ultimate Spider-Man with the free-roam city and, although you have that, the game for me gets bogged down with strange controls and weird missions. It also suffers from Episode III-itis. In that game, although fun, there are many enemies with the ability to block lightsabers. It's a lightsaber! In Superman Returns, Superman's powers seem quite useless against villains. I really have to bring myself to want to play it again. There was so much potential, but it seems wasted.

I read a thing online about Mortal Kombat: Armageddon for the Wii. There's a video floating around that shows how moved will work. For example to use Scorpion's spear, you swing the remote and there it goes. Many people have complained that this takes the fun out of the game I disagree. I think it makes the game accessible to anyone. The button-mashers out there liked having the exclusivity of having to memorize a combination to make a powerful move work. Now the layman can do it. I see this a lot recently. When we play Bond on PS2, I have to step back when the others play so they have a chance because I'm too familiar on it. On the System Link for Halo, Mark and Brenner say that people don't like it when they play because they're so good, and they are. With simplified controls, the playing ground is even.

Also, Mario Kart 64 came out on Virtual Console this morning and oh, how I've missed it. I never had a Nintendo 64 because that came out during the time when my parents wouldn't pay for video games themselves. So I missed out on a lot but thanks to Virtual Console, those games are back. The game plays so wonderfully and seems to be graphically smoother than my emulated version, but that could be the emulator. I really wish they could get the license to GoldenEye 007 for the Virtual Console. The company who made it is now owned by Microsoft, plus they need the Bond license but that game would sell so well.

Wii First-Person Shooters

I found another article off digg I want to talk about. This one talks about how the first person shooters on the Wii are difficult to control and suggest ways for the developers to fix this before they lose sales. I have Call of Duty 3 and I admit, it was not fun to play at first. I aimed the Wiimote at the screen directly and noticed how if you look in any direction that wasn't the center, the camera would zoom off in that direction. It wasn't fun holding the controller at the screen in an unnatural position for so long. Try holding a remote control at a TV for 30-60 minutes. I played a couple of missions and my hand cramped up and hurt the next day. Even though it was difficult to control, I surprisingly enjoyed it.

The solution on the player side is to take the Wiimote and brace it against yourself. Have it rest on your leg or something. It's much more natural and you have greater stability over where that cross hair goes. I find myself enjoying the game so much more now that it doesn't cause me pain and anguish. I even got Steph to play it and she did the same and she enjoyed it even though it made her nervous. Whenever the Wii Zapper comes out, it might improve the stability of the unbraced hand. Holding a gun at something for an extended period is creepily more natural that doing the same action with a remote. Unfortunately, the prototype displayed found at Wikipedia doesn't seem to leave much actions for the Nunchuck, but in Call of Duty 3, most of those actions have a button duplicate. Although, it would be really cool to have four of these for some kind of future multiplayer Bond game.

On the developer side, I think they should add in a little auto-aiming. I know people don't like that because they think the computers doing all the work or something, but it would help the player control the game slightly better. It's not the same as using an analog stick to aim, you physically have to point at it. Also, it would be nice to modify the look sensitivity of the Wiimote, somewhat like you can in Halo.

I don't think that first person shooters on the Wii are doomed. Gamers are just going to have to adjust better. I had to adjust to using one analog stick to move/strafe and another to look. That seemed counter-productive to me, but I see the merits of adjusting to it.

What the Wiki?

Apparently it seems that Wikipedia is too smart for us. An article found on digg says that the content of Wikipedia is becoming too unreadable, not by idiots adding whatever comments Stephen Colbert tells them to put on the elephant page, but by the language and vocabulary used on the site. The writer of the article says that the George Washington page's introduction qualifies as post-graduate level writing. See, I don't get this. I can understand it, not trying to sound like I'm a post-graduate or anything, but I would guess it's because Wikipedia is trying to be more of a source in its academic affairs. Although, if you were to start a question in Dr. Hickey's class with, "According to Wikipedia..." you wouldn't get very far in the credibility scales. That fact that anyone can edit it is unique, but it is truth by consensus. The people on digg also pointed out a Simple English Wikipedia that dumbs it down even further into short sentences and words. Seriously, on the front page it says "Agriculture (growing crops)" in reference to the entire "field" of agriculture. Obviously! Nice for the 4th grader, but what is happening to our society? Reading used to be a privilege reserved for the elite and now it seems that books are greatly ignored or dumbed down. I mean, honestly, one of the the top selling books for children and adults is Harry Potter, a book written for children! I'm not saying it's bad but our adults are reading youth novels. Of course, I read comic books so I'm really no better, but the fact remains, if people don't have to read, they won't. And when they do read something, like Wikipedia, it's too complex for some to understand. I'm glad I'm not going into English Education because they have a lot of work ahead of them to turn future adults into active readers.

Apple TV and iPhone

Apple TV is a box that you can sync with iTunes to play music, movies, TV shows, trailers, and podcasts wirelessly from the iTunes Store. This is very interesting. I've wondered why you would buy Pirates 2 for $9.99 on iTunes just so you could watch it on a computer or the small screen on iPod. Buy the DVD. But now, you can stream it to a TV making your digital media on demand. You don't need to find the disc, it's already on your TV. It's interesting, but not portable. You can take the disc with you if you need to. You won't want to drag the box. But it does validate purchasing videos, especially movies, on the iTunes Store if you now have a way of playing it in a neat fashion. Or you could buy the iPod Universal dock kit for $99, connect it to a TV, and watch it that way but that's no fun. Price: $299

iPhone is stylistically a very neat product. The whole thing is one big touch screen. It has a very clean and spiffy interface and has a 4GB to 8GB iPod built in. Apple's site has videos that show how well the interface works. It's got full Internet browsing as well as several neat phone features. It arranges texts well and will show you your voicemail. It can play videos like iPod and will rotate on its side for widesceen ones. But at 4GB and 8GB, how many videos will it hold? Not many. You won't be watching Pirates 2 on this bad boy unless you don't want much else on there. The price is staggering at $499 and $599, making it effectively like a PlayStation 3, but it is state-of-the-art. It's also exclusively under Cingular which is good for me if I wanted it, but I wonder how long it will remain exclusive (like how the RAZR was). This is a neat product and neat to look forward to.

Keep in mind I have never seen these devices, nor actually handled them, I am only responding to the information that has been presented so far so don't go thinking I'm an expert, people. I just thought they were cool announcements and wanted to share my two cents on them.

Judgment

Now, typically I don't get religious in my posts because I don't feel it is necessary to advertise my beliefs. I believe in tolerance. I let you believe what you will and try to respect you for that. In turn I hope to learn more about what you believe so I may confirm or add to my own beliefs. I don't want to be shut out to ideas because I may have been told to. On that note, it happened again. It happened at Thanksgiving and one holiday later it happened one more time. On Christmas, I'm not sure how, but my family went off on homosexuals again. It's very disconcerting to hear their hateful and un-Christian remarks. It drives me nuts when people claim Christianity but listen to very little of it. I must admit, I said nothing to them, partially because of my voice, but mainly because I didn't want to make an issue. My mom, though, seems to share my mentality which helped restore my views of the obedient Christian.

First of all, we are to reserve our judgment. Matthew 7:1-2 NIV says: "Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you." I love the Message Remix which translates the Scripture into contemporary English. Matthew 7:1-5 in it says: "Don't pick on people, jump on their failures, criticise their faults--unless, of course, you want the same treatment. That critical spirit has a way of boomeranging. It's easy to see a smudge on your neighbor's face and be oblivious to the ugly sneer on your own. Do you have the nerve to say, 'Let me wash your face for you,' when your own face is distorted by contempt? It's this whole traveling road-show mentality all over again, playing the holier-than-thou part instead of just living your part. Wipe that ugly sneer off your own face, and you might be fit to offer a washcloth to your neighbor."

They would argue how they must be sinners. I would counter that all of us are no different. Romans 3:23 NIV says: "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." More importantly, I was always taught to love your neighbor as yourself (Leviticus 18:19, Mark 12:31). How is loving your neighbor the same as condemning them for something they have no control over and how God made them? In fact, we, as Christians, are not to lash out, but to turn the other cheek when we are attacked (Matthew 5:39 NIV) or as the Message Remix puts it: "'Don't hit back at all.' If someone strikes you, stand there and take it." Ah, the fundamentals of tolerance. Similar to love the sinner, hate the sin. You don't have to like what other people do but that shouldn't stop you from loving and supporting them in whatever they choose to do. I just hope my family realizes this before their private opinions may turn into public, and life-damaging remarks.

Do I hate them for this? No, As much as it disturbs me, I must try to help them see the truth. No matter how I feel, one strong Christian value is that of forgiveness. We are to "Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you." (Ephesians 4:32 NIV). Sorry to get all spiritual on everyone, but, as I said, it bothers me when Christians, the people who should be the most loving people you will meet, can act with such hatred.

Review of "Casino Royale"

It seems like forever since Die Another Day where Pierce Brosnan was able to somehow manage to escape from a burning-but-not-yet-exploded airplane in a helicopter with Halle Berry in tow. Well, we have a new Bond and you don't piss him off. Focusing on the 00 agent's early years, Casino Royale is a very welcome return to what seems to be classic James Bond. When the movie started I almost freaked out because there was no gun barrel intro, but rest assured, it's only delayed. The opening credits are fantastic by the way. And Chris Cornell's "You Know My Name" is way too catchy. It's a shame the only way to obtain it is through semi-legal means.

The plot is solid with very few unbelievabilities. There is little focus on gadgets as evidenced by the lack of Q and no watch lasers. At one point he even, God forbid, drives a Ford. The film was co-produced by Columbia thus connecting it to Sony explaining the multitude of Sony-branded products throughout the movie. I almost expected him to whip out a PS3 in his off time. But, no this is a darker movie. The villain, Le Chiffre, is very cool, very calm and sophisticated...in the first part of the movie. I feel the casino scenes show some 21st Century influence with the use of Texas Hold 'Em Poker as the game of choice but it helps you connect more. M is also much more determined in this movie, for lack of a better word. Bottom line: If you're a Bond fan, and action fan, or just like great movies, go see this film. This or Happy Feet...whatever.

My rating: 009.5 out of 10
DVD-worthy: I will most likely own this as soon as possible, if I can wait until March 27th.

The Son becomes the Father, and the Father becomes the Son

It's becoming rarer and rarer to have a day go by without seeing the Superman shield. When walking to class you see the thing on at least one person's shirt. Even I have a shirt and a Christopher Reeve dog tag sporting the shield on my bag. Steph and I both came up with a Morey Hall shirt with the shield at the same time (creepy). I saw one over the summer that was on pink with the word "bitch" on it. I'm still not sure what that has to do with the character. It's so neat to see such an iconic character permeate into mainstream culture so easily.

Now I'm not necessarily the biggest Superman fan. Personally, he's kind of a prude. He seems so one-dimensional at times. He's not like the Marvel heroes with their problems or even Batman with his tormented past. He's got it easy. He has almost every neat power that you could think of. You can't kill him by sheer force. His greatest nemesis is a regular human holding a rock. I guess it's just the ideals that he stands for that makes him great. He is a representation of what it means to live life t the fullest, untouchable and without a worry in the world. It's also the thought of knowing that no matter how crappy the situation can get, Superman will pull through every time.

In Superman: Birthright, now the official origin story of Superman, the S-Shield is symbolic of Krypton and means "hope." It's on about everything and is almost like a family crest of the House of El as seem in the movies. That must be what people want: hope. That, or air which is what the modified symbol means in Smallville. Either way, it's a neat symbol that needs no explanation that anyone, whether a fan or a person who's never touched a comic can wear. Swell.

Norfolk vs. Sioux City

I love Sioux City. I used to go to Norfolk for everything until Sioux City came into view. Recently though, I've been finding out that Norfolk just disappoints me often. All it has going for it is Hastings, Sonic, and a closer Wal-Mart. Hastings is a big guess as to whether they have anything. If they do have it, it will cost you at least a testicle to purchase it. We midnight run to that Wal-Mart because it is closer but other than that, I find myself rarely in Norfolk.

Sioux City has ACME, which is awesome, and Rainbow which has the things ACME might not have. They also have the Dowry which is so unique for the area. They have a good mall with a Hot Topic, Spencers, and Barnes and Noble. They have Chick-fil-A! And recently, they have Best Buy and Old Navy. It's only tacking on another 10 minutes to get there and the road does get curvy, but I end up there more than Norfolk. And now that South Sioux has a super Wal-Mart on the way to ACME, I'm more appreciative. And most of this is in Iowa, too, which is amazing that I like going there for some reason.

And at times, Sioux City even makes Omaha cry all the way home to its mother. This weekend, I wanted to pick up Superman: Birthright while I was in Omaha. I went to PhantaC just to hope they had it. I went to Dragon's Lair with no luck, and also Barnes and Noble. Nothing! I was too lazy/tired/weak/stubborn to go into Krypton which probably had it but it was on the wrong side of town. I figured at least one of these places would have it since both ACME and Barnes and Noble in Sioux City had it. Of course, Norfolk's selection is pitiful, unless you want just Ultimate Spider-Man Vol. 11 or Ultimate X-Men Vol. 8 with nothing else. Sioux City is also the place where you could go just to see on the small chance they may have a Smallville Clark "super-angst" Kent action figure and be able to find one at both ACME and Rainbow for cheaper than online. What a world!

Superreview of "Superman Returns"

No midnight show for this one. People work, I guess. I saw this in Norfolk with Rachel and Jodie and I liked this movie. It's got a lot of connections with the first two, especially the first. It also retcons III and IV into nothingness which is another plus. It also includes some dialogue and homages to tie in its vague history. Basically Superman leaves in search for Krypton for 5 years and now, he's back! But does the world still need the Man of Steel?

Brandon Routh does a good job as a Christopher Reeve impersonater but is also a good actor as well. Jodie complained that there was too much of him in the movie but I reminded her that it was called "Superman Returns." Kate Bosworth does a good Lois as well. One thing I liked was the scarcity of kryptonite in the movie compared to other incarnations where there's a glowing, humming ball of the stuff everywhere. The plot was neat and Kevin Spacey was an awesome Lex Luthor. He puts to rest a lot of the quirkiness of Gene Hackman from the first two by making him bitter for what Superman did to him. So now he's pissed and bald. One thing that bothered me about Superman as a character was that he was too overpowered and his arch-nemesis was an ordinary man with a special rock. Ooh! Kevin Spacey actually provides a threat to Superman that is worthy of his attention.

After the movie, we called up Matt and Will to get their takes and I tried to get a hold of Heath who is a huge Superman fan with no avail. When we went to ACME, the owners said that they went to the Des Moines screening that Brandon Routh went to. They said he's really nice and still down to earth so there's hope that he won't become a jerk. Overall, most people liked the movie with only minor complaints. Rachel commented that there's a lot of unanswered questions that hopefully they'll field in the sequel: "Superman Stays." No, not really. I made that up.

My superreview: 9-9.5 out of 10- It's just thuper!
DVD-worthy: I will probably go midnight run to pick this up and I hope it doesn't take too long to be released. I think they're also re-releasing the originals in nice super editions along side with it. I need to see it again because that frickin' John Williams score has been playing in my head for the past few days. Just ask Rachel, she had to deal with me.

Midnight Review of "X-Men: The Last Stand"

Josh and I planned on seeing this a few weeks ago and Matt and Jen were gathering a group as well. We caught up with them at Barnes & Noble and Will and I geeked out on comic stuff. We then went in and I played some of the clips on my iPod as we waited. Now, to the movie.

The movie revolves around the development of a cure for mutation that threatens mutant existence. Magneto and his followers believe it is an attack on the mutant community. We also see the return of Jean Grey as the incredibly powerful Phoenix. One thing that got to me was the explanation of the Phoenix for the movie continuity. Although I prefer their reasoning for movie audiences than the comic one, it made Professor X seem like a jerk. Others didn't like the "Serenity factor" that if you see the movie, you'll know what I'm referring to.

Personally, I liked the movie. I really enjoyed it and it was visually neat. Josh very rarely likes many movies so I don't take his interpretations very seriously. Listening to him complain on the way home I could tell he was reaching for reason to hate it. Everyone except me and one other guy felt disappointed but it was what I expected. I knew it would feel different because of the change of direction. As for the other two movies, the third one felt slightly betrayed. In a small nitpick, the first two started with a narration by Xavier followed by a CGI opening sequence. The third one has no narration and begins with chronological flashbacks before giving the credits.

On the whole, I enjoyed this movie and I would see it again. To those who didn't like it, I asked, "Which is better: X3 or Fantastic 4?" It was very hard for some to answer. I liked the movie because of the explosion of evil in this. Finally a relentless Magneto and Brotherhood! Some complained that they didn't develop the new characters because some don't really need or require an advanced backstory. Also they complained that Rogue was useless, but she was already in X2. I do like what they did with the characters because they don't have hundreds of movies to evolve characters slowly. Also, the franchise is still open and I encourage people to stay after the credits when you see this movie.

My review: 8.5 out of 10- Although others felt disappointed, I didn't give it unreal expectations.
DVD-worthy: Yes, I will probably do a midnight run to get this movie.

Review of "Crash"

We had to pick a movie to watch for Urban Geography. Tough homework. We picked Crash because it was the closest thing we could think of that would show city dynamics. This movie is a very powerful film. I don't think it was a good as previous Oscar winners but it is still very well told. The cast is huge so you can't really focus on one character because everything comes full circle. The movie is basically on racism in Los Angeles. It shows different people in different situations and how they react to the situations. It illustrates the snap judgments and tensions we all experience at some point. It shows you that sometimes those feelings are justified but most of the time people call a situation totally false.

I really enjoyed this film and I recommend watching it at least once. I also not recommending watching the menu for more that 15 seconds because the looping music doesn't last very long and, on its own, it very annoying. Just ask my class and the Class Evaluator who had to listen to it for about 10 minutes. Honestly though, watch this movie, it is very eye-opening.

My rating: 9.5 out of 10
DVD-worthy: At this point, with all the hype, it's most likely expensive but I probably will own this movie.

Things we noticed during "Lady and the Tramp"

• I bet they're monsters. That's why you can't see their faces
• Because the dog can understand.
• She got fat overnight.
• Dogs love coffee and donuts and will dunk the donuts into the coffee.
• I've never seen a dog so happy to get a collar.
• Price can be detected by smell.
• How come the two main dogs aren't trying to jump her?
• Dogs take showers.
• How does a dog know what starch is?
• "That dog" is the most offensive thing you can say to a dog.
• Why won't she walk her? She needs to poop!
• When people have babies, animals piss them off.
• Even dogs get the "birds and the bees" talk.
• Is there a doggie-condom?
• All baby food is green.
• Why does the Scottish dog have a French name? Picard?
• Everyone else calls her Darling too.
• Cats aren't nice in Disney movies.
• When dogs think to themselves, they sing.
• Did no one tell Aunt Sarah about the rules of the dog?
• Cats have a lot of dexterity in their tails.
• She barks in time with cat songs.
• It's obvious the dog did it all.
• Jim Dear and Darling wouldn't mind that Aunt Sarah is buying a muzzle.
• How come Tramp isn't territorial?
• Dogs can fight and end up unscathed.
• The beaver just broke his own cage at the zoo.
• Beavers can support themselves on their tails.
• All of this would kill the beaver!
• Humans will spend more time catering and entertaining the stray dogs than the paying customers.
• They know the dogs can read the menu.
• The other chef is the only sane person: "Tony, dogs don't talk."
• This is what we teach children: Give in to peer pressure.
• Why doesn't she yell back?
• Why doesn't the chihuahua just jump out?
• Stereotypes are a real timesaver.
• Dogs get married?
• When dogs get married, they move in together.
• Tramp can talk just as fine with a bone in his mouth than without.
• A rat injures him, but three dogs don't.
• The guy at the pound is psychic and can read Aunt Sarah's mind.
• How did the other dogs know what's going on?
• Is the black one a gay dog?
• How did he get hurt, he was on the other side?
• When dogs have babies 3 look like the mother, one looks like the father.
• Who owns these dogs?
• It's a good thing he doesn't have rabies.
• The cats are androgynous.

Review of "Saved!"

I rented some more movies from the library and this is one of them. Nord told me good things about this movie so I decided to pick it up. This movie is very funny. It's basically about this girl who tries to cure her newly-gay boyfriend by having sex and winds up pregnant at a Christian school. It's a good parody of
über-fundamentalist people and how they judge and treat other people. There are some errors in the "Christian" teachings in this movie. The acts they do are more Catholic or televangelist than what would really be involving in forgiveness. The feeling that you need to confess verbally and in public is not dogmatic but seems to be encouraged in some situations which is alienating.

The movie actually has a message summed up in: "Why would God make us all different if he wanted us to be the same?" In the movie, everyone has a problem of some sort no matter how holy they makethemselvesf out to be. It shows that you can't get hung up on what people are doing wrong because no one can live up to purely Biblical expectations. It's not in our nature.

The movie is very good at emphasizing the clicks that form in social situations and how they affect who our friends are. The acting is solid and the story is fun to watch. Unfortunately the movie does suffer from the teen movie clichés that always show up: Everything happens at the prom, anything incriminating is revealed publicly, and the mean girl becomes the outcast. What I like about this movie is every "bad" character is somewhat redeemed and you don't really hate them at the end. I also like how naïve (so many special characters in one post) that the Christians are portrayed which seems all too real.

My rating: 7.5 out of 10
DVD-worthy: If it's cheap, it's a god buy.