‘Dragon’ Review: Not Bold Enough

Posted by on April 21, 2013 at 2:56 pm in Entertainment

‘Dragon’ Review:  Not Bold Enough

Donnie Yen getting ready to do what Donnie Yen does best.

Dragon, starring legendary performer Donnie Yen, is another entry in the Chinese genre of wuxia. For the uninitiated, that means this is a martial arts flick wherein the characters possess mystical powers allowing them to leap great distances, perform tremendous feats of strength, and even fly. Wuxia flicks tend to be simple morality tales spiced up with a metric ton of well-choreographed fighting. Dragon (its original Chinese title is simply “Wu Xia”) promises to deconstruct the wuxia film the way Clint Eastwood’s Unforgiven deconstructed the western, but the filmmakers ultimately chicken out.

Read the rest of this article…


‘Oblivion’ Review: This Year’s Most Ambitious Science Fiction Movie?

Posted by on April 20, 2013 at 3:15 pm in Entertainment

‘Oblivion’ Review:  This Year’s Most Ambitious Science Fiction Movie?

Maybe. I’m waiting until Neill Blomkamp’s Elysium comes out before I answer that question.

Oblivion will divide audiences just as last year’s Cloud Atlas did. Those who expect straightforward plotting and constant action from their movies will walk away disappointed. However, the intended audience for this film will find an ambitious, gorgeous, science fiction yarn boosted by strong performances from Tom Cruise, Andrea Riseborough, and Morgan Freeman. Oblivion may end up being the best science fiction movie of 2013.

Read the rest of this article…


FEZ Week In Review: Week #16, 2013 – Dragon’s Prophet, Sacred Citadel, Defiance

Posted by on April 19, 2013 at 4:44 pm in Off-Grid

FEZ Week In Review: Week #16, 2013 – Dragon’s Prophet, Sacred Citadel, Defiance

Yes, we’re glad this week is over, too.

FEZ Week In Review is a series where we go over the stories that mattered most to you in the past seven days, whether gaming, tech, entertainment or otherwise, we bring them together for you to view in one quick glance!

Read the rest of this article…


30 Seconds To Mars’ New “Up In The Air” Video Is Pretty, Pretentious

Posted by on April 19, 2013 at 2:39 pm in Entertainment

30 Seconds To Mars’ New “Up In The Air” Video Is Pretty, Pretentious

Yeah, don’t inhale that.

The last line at the end of 30 Seconds to Mars’ new video for “Up In The Air” is “Find The Argus Apocrophex”. I don’t know what this means, but it sounds like an invitation to some kind of band-centric metagame. I don’t know, after spending eight minutes watching the music video for the song, I don’t think I want to go.

Read the rest of this article…


‘Strip Search’ Recap: Season 1, Episode 15 “The Merch”

Posted by on April 19, 2013 at 1:51 pm in Entertainment

‘Strip Search’ Recap: Season 1, Episode 15 “The Merch”

Pensive Abby is pensive.

Oh, this challenge was so much fun. The Strip Search contestants are locked in a basement (okay, it’s not locked) around some folding tables to build Con displays. If you’ve never been to a Con before, it’ll all make sense super quick as each artist must assemble a bunch of Penny Arcade merchandise (normally, their own), price it and present it – and themselves! – with authority.

Read the rest of this article…


M83’s ‘Oblivion’ Soundtrack Review: Almost Magical

Posted by on April 19, 2013 at 12:39 pm in Entertainment

M83’s ‘Oblivion’ Soundtrack Review: Almost Magical

It’s M83-like, but c’mon now.

When Universal announced that M83 was attached to produce the score for Oblivion, I was on cloud nine. A friend introduced me to Gonzalez’s work during Before the Dawn Heals Us and I was hooked, working backwards through to their self-titled debut, then forward to Saturdays = Youth and beyond. Weird, right? Apparently director Joseph Kosinski was listening to M83 while writing the film and had to bring him on. It makes sense! M83 should be doing a lot more work! Unfortunately, I feel a little shorted by the final product.

Read the rest of this article…


‘R.I.P.D.’ Is ‘Men In Black’, Let’s Not Kid Ourselves Here

Posted by on April 19, 2013 at 11:52 am in Entertainment

‘R.I.P.D.’ Is ‘Men In Black’, Let’s Not Kid Ourselves Here

“Wait until we erase your fingerprints, you’ll love that.” Agent K, R.I.P.D.

Look guys, I loved Men in Black. Loved it. Sequels not so much, the original, loved. Now, it’s disenfranchising to totally knock R.I.P.D. – or, Rest In Peace Department – as a knock-off when it’s based on its own comic book, but c’mon, you can’t watch this trailer (that I’m providing below) and tell me. Just look at it.

Read the rest of this article…


‘SimCity’ 2.0 Patch Detailed, Fixes Everything Except The Game’s Problems

Posted by on April 19, 2013 at 10:15 am in Gaming

‘SimCity’ 2.0 Patch Detailed, Fixes Everything Except The Game’s Problems

Don’t worry, you’ll still be able to build Megabumtropolis One here.

The tragedy that is SimCity continues with Maxis’ announcement of their major 2.0 patch, which will arrive on April 22nd. There was some optimism, now nearly two months after the game’s release, that this major fix would resolve many of the core issues with the game. Nope. See every last tweak below.

Read the rest of this article…


Amazon Is Doing This ‘Original Content’ Thing All Wrong

Posted by on April 19, 2013 at 9:54 am in Entertainment

Amazon Is Doing This ‘Original Content’ Thing All Wrong

Seems like a lot of these Amazon series are also DOA.

There’s a reason why Ted Sarandos is getting all kinds of attention: as Netflix’s Chief Content Officer, he’s bringing some really good original content to the company. House of Cards could’ve swept any awards show, but as a web-exclusive series (for now), it doesn’t qualify for any of them. Beloved comedy series Arrested Development is right around the corner has the collective interest of millions of original fans, plus many others that picked up the show after it was cancelled. So what is Amazon doing to create a robust portfolio of exclusive shows? Scraping the bottom of the barrel.

Read the rest of this article…


‘Edge’ Trademarker Gets Slapped Down In Court, Millions Of ‘Mirror’s Edge’ Fans Rejoice

Posted by on April 18, 2013 at 10:38 pm in Gaming

‘Edge’ Trademarker Gets Slapped Down In Court, Millions Of ‘Mirror’s Edge’ Fans Rejoice

lolwut?

Remember an (awesome) little game called Mirror’s Edge? Did you know that game, among others, caused quite a ruckus because some idiot went and trademarked the word “edge” in a number of forms, including “The Edge”, “Gamer’s Edge”, “Edge” and “Cutting Edge”, then claimed a bunch of people and companies owed him in the form of damages for trademark infringement.

Yeah, that happened.

Read the rest of this article…