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An avid movie collector reviews movies, games, and TV shows for the common man, among other things. Spoiler Free

Monday, May 31, 2004

My Beloved

I got engaged a few weeks ago. I didn't want to throw it up on here too fast so I could call people and tell them in person, but I sucked at that so I am throwing it up now. If I didn't call you I still love you, but I am dumb and busy and Julie is busy and in another country. I'm pretty excited about it, and all that but when I was playing with the name Anagram thing that Dave put on his site I got this.

JJudicial
UUnusual
LLight
IIntense
EExhausting

Name / Username:


Name Acronym Generator
From Go-Quiz.com

I wouldn't normally put stock in this sort of thing, especially since "Dean" yielded such mundane results. But Exhausting, Judicial, Intense, and Unusual...very interesting. I wonder what I am getting into. Even better I wonder how Judicial and Intense she will be when she gets back from Japan and reads this blog. That should be some funny stuff.


Don't I look like an arrogant Businessman? Oh and check this out.


You know you fear it.

Bubba Ho Tep

I finally got my hands on Bubba Ho Tep. I yearned anxiously for it, and I ran into town and picked it up. I watched it in bed sometime this week and really enjoyed it, despite not really knowing what I was going to be watching. Bruce Campbell called it a "Redemptive Elvis, Mummy Flick" I like that and I'll attest to that as truth. For those of you who missed my previous blogs and who never looked into it, Bubba Ho Tep is about a Soul Sucking mummy who infests a Retirement home inhabited by the Aging Real Elvis (Bruce Campbell) and a crazy black man who thinks he is JFK (Ossie Davis). These two men rise up, very slowly, to battle the ancient being, and it is entertaining. It isn't a riotous comedy or a rocking action movie, actually the majority of the movie is drama laced with those other things. It was smarter than I expected, and Bruce Campbell was as good as he ever is. I look forward to the Commentaries, both of which I will be listening to over the next month at some point. I would recommend it to movie savvy people, it might require a grander sense of humor and movies than a casual movie lover usually has. You people should know who you are, if you consider yourself one check this movie out. If not go see Troy and tell me if it is any good. Julie saw it in Japan without me and I think it is likely I won't see it until video. I don't know what I want to see next in Theatre, although I can tell you it won't be Catwoman...that looks awful. Halle Berry showing skin shouldn't have been their main appeal, especially after Swordfish bombed. And Swordfish at least had other people in it, is anyone of importance in Catwoman? Honestly, I don't know. I haven't kept up with anything on this computer.



This is Dave's interpretation of me in his WWE game. He has re-inspired me to create more people in my game, however without a digital camera I can't show anything off. I'm on the far right tag teamed with Gunn from Angel, and we are about to wreck house on the undead fools Angel and Spike from the same show. Superhuman vampires or not, there is no way me and a black guy are going to lose a fight. It's like Mohammed Ali and Bruce Lee vs. Keenan and Kel from Good Burger. Like Ali and Lee had a chance...

Friday, May 21, 2004

I feel bad since I have been updating so little, and since I am not experiencing any media at all I have been stretching to think of things to say. Normally, I would resort to list making and the like, however I don't have any computer time to think them up and type them out. So I sit in front of the computer and have to think of something off the fly. So today, its my thoughts on Greatest Hit Cds.

These are my gripes with Greatest hits cds. Since I enjoy lots of music and many different artists often I find that buying a Greatest Hits album saves a bit of money and space. I own probably over 100 cds that are just Grt Hts collections. But certain things about them bug me. These are them.

1. Put all your hits on one set.

The Kinks pissed me off the most because it took me forever to find a CD that had all their hits. They have like 5 good songs, and I wanted to find a collection that had those 5 on one CD. I found one, sort of, which it leads me to my next.

2. Don't put a live version of your best song on the collection, unless it is bonus.

The Kinks CD has "Lola" live, its not as good and I wish they had the studio version instead or also. If its a Peter Frampton cd I want his hits live because thats how we know them, but otherwise give me the studio cut.

3. Don't Neglect Hot Songs.

Why doesn't Bruce Springteen put "Pink Cadillac" on his Hits Collection? We all know it was a "B" side and he didn't expect it to be a hit, but it was...embrace it Bruce. Lots of bands died off without having a song as good as "Pink Cadillac", you shouldn't hide it on that mega-expensive rarity collection that nobody wants. Put Cadillac next to "Cover Me" it belongs.

4. Don't repackage the original cd and pass it off as a Greatest Hits Cd.

The Men at Work Greatest Hits is the same as "Business as Usual" their first album. All you want is "Who can it be now?", and "Land Down Under". The collection is a joke, and someone should be ashamed.

5. If you are an old band, release a Hits cd, before all the cheap knock-offs hit the shelves.

I have like 3 cheap James Brown collections, and all I really want is the 50 song collection that I got Phil as a present. It took him forever to release that deliciousness, and its not like he is pumping out new material. The same goes for Parliament, I think I have a few cheapies of them too.

My Triggerfinger rentals got shipped to the wrong address since I moved, but my wonderful old roommate should be sending them out to me soon. As soon as they arrive I will try to pump out some reviews. Also I saved up for Bubba Ho Tep which comes out this week. Expect a review the second I finish watching it. I noticed it has multiple commentaries one of which is Bruce Campbell as Elvis. I plan to get hours of enjoyment out of this one.

And maybe this week I will actually do a Supporting Actor of the week. I have been delaying because the picture finding process which used to take 5 minutes would take 3 hours on this computer. Although Cable internet might be in my future. Fingers Crossed...

Sunday, May 16, 2004

Onimusha 3 is on the way from Triggerfingers.com. I also got Seven Samurai 20XX which I got mixed up with Samurai Warriors the Japanese sequel to Dynasty Warriors. Anyway, reviews to come. I am trying to schedule more media time, so hopefully I will be updating more often. We'll see what happens.

Thursday, May 13, 2004

Van Helsing Review

I was able to get Julie to see Van Helsing with me this last weekend and I was satisfied with the movie as I hoped I would be. As I often note, I usually have criteria and expectations for the movies I see in the theatre and this one delivered on each one. The desires I had were, Excellent action sequences, clever original ideas, a linear story, and sequelability. The action sequences were top notch and the CGI animation gets better with every blockbuster I see. The original ideas were crucial since the movie dealt with characters with whom we are very knowledgable, namely Dracula, Frankenstein, and the Wolfman. The movie was rather true to those characters while adding some new twists and elements that while new had a feeling of familiarity since they were rooted in the myths of those characters. The advertisments gave me a dreadful feeling that the storyline might just be: Van Helsing hunts and kills the Wolfman...Van Helsing hunts and kills Frankenstein's Monster...Van Helsing makes out with hot girl and then kills Dracula. I was glad that the story did not play out as such, and the romance with Kate Beckinsale was not awful as it could have been. As for Sequels, I think the Mummy, the Invisible Man, and Bluto need some smacking down. Especially Bluto, he's been asking for it. Go see it, its theatre worthy, and I'll buy the DVD when it arrives. Actually I want those re-releases of the Universal Horror movies, Christmas is only a few months away...remember me.

PS2 Price Drop

The PS2 dropped the price of the Online Ready bundle to 150 dollars right after I bought it, however I was pretty sure that they would do it within a month of when I bought it so I am going to get that money back. I am in the middle of deciding what to do with that 50 bucks since I have already justified it as a Video Game expense. The contenders are:

Champions of Norrath
I don't know how much I will enjoy it single player but when I make George buy one and we can play online together this game will be mad hot.

Onimusha 3
I need to rent this first, but Triggerfingers.com has it on a long wait so I might be a little ways from getting my hands on it. Part of my is considering the purchase but I wouldn't be able to do it without playing it first. Especially since I haven't played any of the Onimusha games at all.

Grand Theft Auto San Andreas
I am a big fan of the open ended rampage of the GTA titles, and have already pre-ordered this title. Most likely I will let my credit sit until this comes out and walk home with this.

PS2 Hard Drive with Final Fantasy 11
I could have half of my hard-drive paid for, but since I am not going to be internet ready for at least 4 months I think the 50 bucks will burn a hole in my pocket before then.

2 Older Titles
I wouldn't mind having SSX3, Metal Gear Solid, FFX2, or any number of other games. A double purchase could be the ticket.

Hard Decisions, I will probably get GTA, but if Cable Internet hops into my future Norrath and the Hard Drive become serious contenders.
Tough Decisions

Friday, May 07, 2004

Rise to Honor for PS2

I bought this in a resale shop, and was disappointed when I discovered that it was a demo. But I played the demo and thought I would review it as is. The fighting system is based on fighting multiple assailants much like the action sequences you would see in a Jet Li and Jackie Chan movies. So the main gameplay element is timing when to attack the swarming men assaulting you and trying to pull off the longest combo of moves. The fighting did start to get repititive and I only played one level once, so the game has the potential to be lame on that fact alone. But you did have some shooting levels which were a bit simplistic and some escaping levels which had you timing different jumps and shuffles to avoid gunfire and the like. Jet Li's likeness was pretty good, but the gameplay seemed to be lacking the quality I would want in a title. However, all of this is based on a demo, which may have been cleaned up before its release. But I haven't played a game yet that was really different at all from its Demo brother. So I would be wary of this game, but it would probably be a fun rental.

Thursday, May 06, 2004

Sadness...

As you can see I am without a counter on this site. I felt that a certain amount of ignorance would allow me to dream that many people are viewing my site and that I was making my mark no matter how small on society. However, I know for a fact that not a single person even clicked on the link in my last update, not a single person was curious or even interested enough to scroll the mouse over and click it. So then I can assume that none of you are interested in camping, or visiting me. Or that no one reads the site at all. Either way I am depressed. This isn't a pathetic plea to make you click the link, its just me sharing the delightful reality check with you all. I'll throw up an update tonight or on Sunday. I am just horribly short on things to say when I spend my whole day cutting wood and digging ditches.

George sent me a link he thinks is funny, but it didn't work for me. If I get it to work and it is funny I'll throw it up for you all to enjoy.

I'm also saving up a rant. It may bring repurcussions and make people angry so I am waiting until I am no longer in danger then I am going to let loose. My wrath will be felt, in many forms.

Oh and Sam's Club is selling the Muppet dvd's 2 for 10 bucks. I picked up the Great Muppet Caper and Muppets Take Manhattan. They both rule, and I think I might watch one tonight. You all should buy some, Muppets can unite the world.

Tuesday, May 04, 2004

Camping...its the new hot thing.

While I am up at the campground I thought it would be wonderful to have visitors. So for a shameless plug check out our link on the right. Its an excellent campground, so talk your friends or family into coming to see me. We have hot tubs.

Sunday, May 02, 2004

Pauses to be Expected.

I have moved out of the heavily populated area of Northern Philadelphia and into the back woods of Northern Pennsylvania. It is nice and rustic and quiet. However, it does not have the sweet internet connection that I had previously, therefore internet will be done over the modem, and since I have been spoiled with the Cable hookup I don't have the patience yet to deal with dialup. So updates will be less often for a little while. But I will guarantee at least 2 updates a week, and aim for 3-4. In the hustle of moving up here though, I have experienced little media so I have little to say. However, you will get one game review.

Counter-Strike - Condition Zero for PC



I bought this as a severance package for myself as I left behind the sweet network of my previous apartment. Since I could no longer kill terrorists with my roommate Jon, I had to replace him with a Computer partner named Buzz. If you ever played Counter-Strike this is a sweet offline way to play the game, and the updated levels and graphics are deeply enjoyable. But the A.I. is what impresses me, the computer players and enemies are even better than playing against real people. Your teammates communicate like you wish your team would with things like, "The Bomb is down at B, I'll keep an eye on it.", "I'm going to camp A." "The Hostages are secure and ready for an escort." and "I'm DANGEROUS!" Yes that's right, they even talk smack on the enemy. And when you win a round sometimes they hop like people do online. The enemy camps all the right spots and they constantly adapt and change their strategy to fool you. So when you get to sniping, they work to rock you from behind. I love this game, and I don't think I will get tired of this game. Although, I say that a lot and many games have worn out on me...but this one is different.

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