FrozenLiquid's Blog
Before I start this very personal post, I'll just address my previous blog entry. I was suppose to leave, that was true. However GameSpot have made the process difficult in such a way that you can't exactly cut yourself off completely without getting back in easily. Kinda reminds me of the MySpace fiasco where MySpace took a long time to respond to account deletion requests, only doing so when the problem was taken to the media. Maybe GameSpot wants to keep the numbers?
Anyway, violence. I think ever since video games started becoming part of the family entertainment set (maybe even before when violence was made to look heroic in movies), generations of children have become desensitized to what violence is really like. Just a few days ago, my little brother of 4 told my dad "Dad, I want to join the army". My dad asked "Why do you want to join the army?", and before he replied I gave him a very stern look, and he took the time to find the words "Um..... because you can fly cool planes!".
Right.
It's obvious his first statement was probably going to be something along the lines of shooting fools. I'm telling you guys right now this isn't cool. It's just not cool at all. Too many times have I heard the comment "Well, I've played violent video games from young, watched violent movies underage, and I'm fine." Reality check: you're not fine when you can talk about it and look at it so casually. It's shocking when you see it in person.
I'm no stranger to real life violence. I'm not going to encourage everyone to be vigilantes or bounty hunters (those aren't cool either), but since I know I can help, if the situation arises, I will help.
Some of you guys may have been part of the discussion in a thread when I had to stop abruptly to what was going on outside. A couple of teenage idiots decided that like to make a name for themselves in what I'm guessing is an unclaimed part of my suburb. I'm in a street that generally keeps tight knit and close together, so the first thing I heard was a response from one of my neighbours to shutup and get lost. These wannabes decided to run up to the house and try intimidate the woman, who actually was really scared. One of my other neighbours across the road told them that the police are coming at any moment, though everyone knew that would take awhile (since cops love to keep on the lookout for speeding motorists instead). These gangsters knew it too, so they moved onto the guy (and now a couple of other male residents on the road) who had threatened them. Bad move. These guys were wielding pocket knives and deoderant cans with lighters. Some Americans may laugh with the lack of guns here, but I tell you, if you don't have guns, you can get disgustingly creative anyway.
I stormed out with one of my martial arts staff poles in hand, my parents screaming to stay inside behind me (they knew however it'd be shameful not to try help). With one of those 7 foot poles anyone can spot you, and the moment they did, they all looked at my direction. All I really needed this staff for was to get the guy with the makeshift flamethrower, and unsurprisingly he decided to rush ahead to try and scare me off. I never used a long staff in a real situation before, so I was nervous. Thankfully though, I was able to hit the can out of his hand, damaging it in the process from his clutching onto it in agony. I needed to disarm the knife wielders as fast as possible though, since any blade is probably the most dangerous melee weapon to have. They were keeping their distance, but one of the guys trying to flank me decided to take a shot. I evaded him cleanly and sent a whack to the back of his head: feeling all that kinetic energy built up from my feet, through my body and to the end of my pole; a small vibration later indicating the energy transferred to his head and I knew he would go down. Already I felt sorry for the guy coz I knew it would've meant a trip to the hospital.
Only two knife wielders were left, and I dropped the staff to make them feel safe and ensure they wouldn't run. I don't know why one guy decided to drop his weapon too and come running at me, though I felt incredibly safer and more comfortable with unarmed combat. Still, there was one more knife and the guy could've stabbed me easily, but I knew these guys weren't fighters. This guy was throwing hooks left and right, then he tucked his head in his chest and grabbed me by the collar trying to gut me with the punches from his other hand. If you ever do that to a Muay Thai combatant, be prepared to take a punishing. The only thing I knew about this guy was that his nose was long, because I could feel it protuding as my knee came up to smash his face. I let go of his head and he was on the ground clutching his face, his mouth and nose probably bleeding. Another guy needed the emergency room. I still don't know what's up with these guys dropping their weapons like they're going to do any better with their hands, because this next guy decided to avenge his friend in another unarmed brawl. By this time the others guys were getting up and starting to come at me again (they don't stay down like in movies unfortunately), and I was facing off against all except the last guy to go down. I was lucky to have my neighbours there to help me, though I guess I wasn't that lucky as one guy got a clean uppercut to me, shutting my jaw tight, so that I bit off a nice piece of my cheek in the process.
Some of you guys might thing the aforementioned sounded cool and badass, if not most of you wouldn't really understand why it's so psychologically hard on me. I don't like fighting. It's a last resort option. The feeling of your fist against their flesh is so gut-wrenching, and amplified moreso if you manage to make a popping sound when you crack a bone. It really makes you feel very guilty when you hear cussing and cries of pain when another human being is getting hurt. Even slapping has turned into some joke in the media. Hell, I doubt many of you have even slapped a sibling hard enough as a form of discipline, only to see their face contort and tears streaming from their eyes. That's hurtful. So imagine when you're delivering someone to hospital.
See, we go guns blazing everywhere in video games nowdays. We want more realistic violence: where's the exploding heads, the identifiable guts etc? We're getting there. We're already taking pleasure in punching someone in GTA 4 just to see them limp across the screen. It's "fun". It's "hilarious".
"Don't worry, we know it's not acceptable in real life."
Do you know what my friend said to me the other day? "Oh, Aaron, don't you just feel like stopping people at traffic lights and kicking them out in their cars for a simple joyride?". That was scary on its own. What was scarier than that was because only a few days before, after a day long session of GTA 4, those sickening thoughts crossed my mind when I was out and about the streets. I know I'm not alone in those passing thoughts GameSpot.
"But studies have indicated games don't do jack".
The studies don't do jack. Most of them are taken by first or second year psych students. When you're at the later stages, you realize there's more important stuff to understand rather than the effect of video games. Not only that, some of these people undertaking the tests were religious gamers, and I know some people like that in my psych class. I'm not going to believe them one single bit. In any case, any sort of 2 week study or 6 month study isn't going to provide any good results. To make the ultimate test, you'll need subjects from birth, and study them throughout their lives. The ethics boards just wouldn't allow such a thing. Just use your common sense guys, instead of your bias.
As I type this up, there's a vile medicinal taste lingering on my cheek, and a couple of painful bruises that have appeared out of nowhere. They're a reminder of what happened a few nights ago. The police still want to talk to me concerning the details of the night's events, and I really don't want to have to remember not only the trauma they caused the residents around here, but the trauma I caused the offenders and their families.
And after all this happens, not just in my neighbourhood, but in and around the world; violence that cause families stress on a daily basis and creates fear in the masses, we take enjoyment out of this real life violence, boxed and packaged to provide hours of entertainment. If things get too out of control, all we need to do is hit some sort of 'reset' function, and try again. We feel no responsibility for our actions.
It couldn't be any further from the truth. With games taking on the challenge of hyperreality, we may lose that real truth.
That would be a sad day indeed.
I came to this conclusion because I have 2 hour to write a 1600 word essay right now.
GS doesn't take too much of my time by itself, but I've always coupled it with Facebook, Bebo, Myspace etc
What's gonna happen is I'm gonna change my password to something I'll never remember, and that's that.
I possibly can't keep up with doing a conjoint (two degrees at once), my film career, martial arts, dance, internet etc without cutting out something. So this has to go (along with the other mindless internet things mentioned above).
Remember to say "Oh Snap!" when you find a very subtle cameo by all you guys I know well here in a certain future TV series lol.
Xbox Live tag is "I Liquid47 I" ("I" as in igloo) if people want to keep in contact, however rarely I go on XBL lol.
That's about all I wanted to say. See me later.
Even if Marvel vs. Capcom 2 isn't in production anymore, and you really want to own a copy of the game -- sorry, you just can't buy it off a second-hand source. Tough luck, but if Capcom is not going to see their money, you're not going to see their game. So, because there are some people comparing second hand game sales to piracy and saying "it's just as bad", I've decided to do most of the thinking for them (because let's be honest, the only people trying to make it sound bad are the hermits who have the biggest piracy problem overall), and here's what I've come up with, in order that video game publishers will never lose their money. Here is a list of things which are just as bad as piracy and second-hand game sales:
1) Do not go to internet cafes -- goodbye DOTA LAN parties, but we need to support the developers, not the poor fellow trying to make a buck in his measly computer wonderland.
2) Do not show off how l337 Crysis looks on your computer -- Your friend is getting enjoyment out of something that you and only you have paid for. Thus he is playing without paying, much like a second-hand game sale. No can do, people. 3) Do not have people over for split-screen Halo 3 sessions if they do not own their own copy -- yeah, Halo 3 is all about getting a few mates together and having a blast, but your freeloading friends didn't even give a toss about seeing Bungie gets their money. And thus your friends are jerks. They shouldn't be playing.
4) Do not swap games with your friends -- the once innocent idea of swapping games between mates because you couldn't afford the entire library is now revealed in all its glory: it's an evil, industry-destroying custom. You sly mo-fos are cheating the industry by clocking the campaign over the weekend, giving it back the next Monday without the publisher ever knowing they just gave away a free game. Tsk tsk, bad bad gamers.
5) Do not play the full games at the game kiosk in your local retail store -- No, you're not just "trying out" the game, you're starving CliffyB's family. Yes you, the one playing the final version of Gears of War 2 that is not yours, on the 360 that is not yours, in a mall that is not yours. Because you have the potential to play through the entire product, which once again the developer doesn't get the money for. So no, you can't do that as well anymore.
Iron Man (2008 ), dir. Jon Favreau, 2008. Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Gwenyth Paltrow, Jeff Bridges and Terrence Howard. Paramount Pictures.
Iron Man is arguably the biggest blockbuster movie this summer (aside from the highly anticipated Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull). With a marketing campaign of $50 million dollars, Paramount was banking on this movie pleasing the core fan base and the general audience. What happens when you risk it all? Generally, you're going to play it safe.
This is exactly what Iron Man does. Now, Iron Man is by no means a bad film. It's actually rather good. But come on Marvel, we have seen it all before. This is Marvel's mandatory 'origins' film which details the character Tony Stark from multi-billion dollar CEO, socialite, and Albert Einstein-like genius to the vigilante that must uncreate everything that he has created.
To elaborate (skip this if you want to remain in the dark about the story), he discovers that the weapons of mass destruction (not the George Bush ones) Stark Industries had created and sold to unknown clients is being used against him, and in a personal encounter with the front end of his own weapons, decides to literally take matters into his own hands.
RDJ (Robert Downey Jr. for you ignorant fools) makes it certain no one else could play Tony Stark. Gwenyth Paltrow is adequate as Stark's PA and love interest. Jeff Bridges played well as the antagonist, though it was handled poorly by the filmmakers. The best thing about Terrance Howard's character was when he looked at the spare suit Stark built and said "Maybe next time" (War Machine!!!).
The biggest gripe I have with this movie is that does not have an edge to stand out as a defining film, let alone a defining Marvel adaptation. Favreau and his team kept the look rather generic. When we see Spider-man, we can see Sam Raimi's touch. With Batman Begins, Nolan's fingers are all over it. This film could have been directed by Tim Story (director of Fantastic Four "fame") and you would not even be able to tell the difference.
What I did like in the film was all the references to other Marvel properties, which are all conveniently coming together (Thor's film and the Avengers movie is coming soon). S.H.I.E.L.D and War Machine are the two I remember the clearly. Oh, and Tony Stark has a cameo in the upcoming The Incredible Hulk film.
I guess what it comes down to is the gut feeling I have inside. When I came out of Spider-man 2 & 3, I wanted to be Spider-man. With Batman 1 & 2 and Batman Begins, I wanted to be Batman. With X-Men, I wanted to be Wolverine, but only because Cyclops was treated as a pansy. With Iron Man... Iron Man is just damn bloody cool. He almost makes me want to be him, but it's just not quite. Maybe his character is too overwhelming for me to want to be in his shoes (pun not intended), but rather fight along side him like all the other Marvel heroes that have had that honour.
Do I recommend this movie? Sure, especially to all the people even marginally interested in the "Iron Man" character. Since the majority of people here are in the young male demographic, I shouldn't need to say it, but go see it. Marvel is cooking up something big, and what better way to begin their take-over with Iron Man.
Final Rating: 7.5/10
This doesn't just apply to music. This can apply to movies, games.... any sort of collectable that has turned digital.
I have to agree with the blogger: sure, MP3 has brought in the age of convenience, but no more do I feel that heart-warming feeling like I do when I by a physical copy of a product. Even if I were to buy a $5 CD single that comes with the sole song plus five remixes, it's much more satisfying than purchasing the $1 track of i-Tunes.
Same with video games. What's so special about a "Special Edition" version via digital distribution? You don't really get 'extra content'. You're getting another 1.3 gigs of data.
Coming soon as a 10+ gig download via Steam.
I would also stretch this a little bit further to include such rental services as Netflix. Okay, so online streaming already feels rather 'throwaway', but even the mail service, in which you're given a flimsy plain packet with just the DVD disc inside it seems rather non-special.
Lol.
Everything with the internet becomes a lot more impersonal. Think about it: has there ever been anything that you've felt more involved in that you could never feel in "real life"? I certainly can't.
What are your thoughts on the subject? Do you think the age of digital distribution doesn't have that far to go (even if there's so much potential there?). Or do you think in the future, shopping malls will become obsolete as the entire world accepts convenience over sentiment?
I'm looking forward to Overclocked: A History of Violence, an intriguing adventure game though the title sounds like a sequel to David Cronenberg's thriller. Adventure gaming formula hardly ever seems to evolve, but it's my favourite genre because of the fantastic stories. In this case, the story telling as well.
Apparently, as the protagonist interrogates children (who have ended up in hospital for reasons unknown to you), you play scenes in a series of flashbacks. The catch is, instead of the story unfolding fowards, it unfolds backwards. Sounds like the Memento of video games
.The All-Time Favourite Movie List*: #9
Remember, Finding Nemo was my #10 all-time fav movie, so moving onto the next one in the series:
La Cite des Enfants perdus, dir. Marc Caro & Jean-Pierre Jeuneut, 1995
See that little girl in the pic there? (Was) one of the most promising young actresses ever. More on her later.
Some say that this film was just made to be weird. Some say it was a train for beautiful cinematography. Some say that because of this, there's no real connectedness to the film; others have tried to piece together a cohesive theme (with success, I should say).
Whatever it is, The City of Lost Children is one of my all-time favourites because it's French. No, just kidding. It's imaginative, creative, funny and heart-warming all in one.
Plot
The story revolves around a mad scientist who can't dream, and therefore is aging rather quickly. In an attempt to counter this, he kidnaps young children in an effort to study and relate to their dreams. Problem is, they're so scared of him that they only have nightmares. Cue one child who is afraid of nothing, and his 'big brother' "One" (Ron Perlman), goes off on a journey to find where the child "Denree" is. Accompanying him is a street urchin "Miette" (Judith Vittet), who acts older than she is. Their emotional bond is arguably the focus of the film, one of the complexities being the young girl having a cute crush on "One".
There are quite a few subplots which I won't get into. Suffice to say, they're intriguing (two being well done), and add to the atmosphere of the movie.
For work in only one feature film, Vittet's gathered an unproportionately large following. Judith Vittet, b. 1984. As you could tell, probably a sexy babe by now. We gotta find her.
Cinematography
From a visual standpoint, "City" is stunning. Colour scheme, lighting, backdrops etc come together to make this film absolutely breathtaking. Quirky camera angles, quirky characters and quirky costumes add to the illusion of the surreal world that Jeunet and Caro have created. If a Halo film were to be made, I reckon some of the surreal qualities of this film need to be interjected into that project.
Acting
I have to say the acting here is superb. Ron Perlman plays a magnificent "big moron", Daniel Emilfork plays a wonderfully mad antagonist, but I have to give most of my respect towards Judith Vittet, who, in my opinion, played the most amazing part ever done by a child. Her charm, wit, and attitude is believable, and just as you think that's all she's about to do, there comes the subtle romantic undertones. And even then when you start to believe she'll keep her tough facial expression even in the face of death, one slap from a loved one and her face contorts into sadness, transforming her from mini adult to helpless child. I'm not exaggerating. She's that good.
It's a shame she decided to go for a different career path than acting/glitz and glamour.
*sighs in reflection*
Anyway, this is all-time fav no. 10. A brilliant dark fantasy that's oddly aimed at mature audiences. Jeunet, you're my French hero.
Similar films:
-- All-Time Fav Movie #2 (there's a tie, but you'll soon discover what it is)
-- The Devil's Backbone
-- Cronos
-- The Nightmare Before Christmas
-- Corpse Bride
-- Kinky anime flicks.
*The All-Time favourite Movie List does not necessarily reflect the objective quality of each film. Rather, they are suited to my tastes in terms of inspiration, engagement, enjoyability and personal impact.
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