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Reviews by Uber
A look through computer game history
Posted : 1 year, 6 months ago on 8 June 2008 02:49
(A review of Dungeons and Dreamers: The Rise of Computer Game Culture from Geek to Chic)While I've grown up around computers since before I could remember I never really got into games until around 1999 and reading Dungeons and Dreamers makes me wish I had gotten into them sooner. The book basically starts with a small story of how the original game that most geeks play, Dungeons and Dragons, and gives the backdrop to Richard Garriott life and how he helped create the first successful RPG, the Ultima series. Later on in the book, as Garriott was continuing to develop Ultima sequels, starts to shine the light on the guys at Softdisk, which some of them would continue on to start id Software and create DOOM and Quake and shake up the computer gaming culture. The rest of the book continues with both companies and the community that started around their games and what has happened up until 2001. The whole book was a good read, giving a glimpe of gaming history and see what I missed years before and seeing how some things started and how they're perceived today. But for me the book wasn't as totally engaging as I hoped for when I first picked up the book but might be because the book is now dated.  0 comments, Reply to this entry
How do you arm the other 11?
Posted : 1 year, 6 months ago on 21 May 2008 04:40
(A review of Lord of War)Now part two of my Nicolas Cage trilogy movie reviews. When I originally saw the trailers for Lord of War I was intrigued as they said the film was based off true events. And that intrigue was not lost after seeing the film. The film stars Nicolas Cage who play Yuri Orlov, a Ukrainian immigrant who's family left for America under the guise of be Jewish to escape the Soviet Union. The family owns a restaurant which fills the needs of others, as Yuri puts it. But then he finds another need that he could help fill after seeing a Russian mob boss kill two would be assassins. And that need is guns. Rest of the movie trails Yuri's exploits in the realm of arms dealing, from his start trying to get in the business, making one of his biggest deals after the fall of the Soviet Union by raiding a Ukrainian military base, dealing with brothers weaknesses, his marriage and keeping his business a secret from his family, and his problems with the law including Interpol agent Jack Valentine, who's played by Ethan Hawke. The acting by Cage and Hawke are really good which is great as I thought their characters were the most important in the movie. But the rest of the acting okay as a whole and doesn't bring the movie down much. The music in the film is the normal orchestral with a dash of some classic rock during some parts that give the film a nice feel. I enjoyed the movie and would recommend if someone was interested in watching a movie that doesn't have a blaring moral agenda and shows a side of the world that is never really shown. 0 comments, Reply to this entry
*tic*
Posted : 1 year, 7 months ago on 4 May 2008 02:23
(A review of Matchstick Men)When I first saw the trailer for this movie I wasn't really interested and after watching it that feeling wasn't to far off. Nicolas Cage plays Roy Waller, a depressed con artist with several mental disorders, agoraphobia, germaphobia, OCD, and a tic. At the start Roy has a panic attack and his parter suggests going to a shrink. He tries just to get drugs from his old shrink but can't and so he finds another and gives him the drugs but with a condition to go and contact his ex-wife and child that he left years before. He finds out who his daughter and it rejuvenates his spirit for one more long-term con. The rest of the movie is Roy's life struggling between the con and his daughter and even brings her into it. The acting, music, writing, and directing as a whole makes the movie seemed boring and bland. While the premise did seem interesting with a good twist at the end and could have a good movie but fails and just turned out to be a average movie that I say would be only for hardcore Nicolas Cage fans. 0 comments, Reply to this entry
A good reason why people shouldn't becom
Posted : 1 year, 7 months ago on 15 April 2008 12:46
(A review of Bruce Almighty)Continuing with my Jim Carrey series after some bad ones, Bruce Almighty is a lot better then the others. Carrey plays Bruce Nolan, a news reporter for a New York station that fails to earn a anchorman position and flips out and loses his job and blames God for his misfortune. So God calls him and invites Bruce to meet him and give him is powers and find out what it's like to be God. He uses his powers to get his job back and also get the anchorman position, but in the process ignoring peoples prayers and losing his girlfriend. Acting on Carrey's side is pretty good this time as he was finally funny and enjoyable to watch and the rest of the cast fit their parts really well, with the exception of Jennifer Aniston who could never act. The writing in the movie is bit witty and doesn't feel like it forcing laughs and Carrey and even Steve Carell have good funny dialog. In the end this is one of Jim Carrey's better movies that in genuinely funny and while I wouldn't want to watch again anytime soon, I would watch again if forced to. 0 comments, Reply to this entry
I found my pet myself, so leave me alone
Posted : 1 year, 7 months ago on 15 April 2008 12:27
(A review of Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls)Readers of my last couple reviews can see that I've been on a Jim Carrey streak, thanks to Netflix, and the sequel to the first Ace Venture, Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls, is next on the chopping block. Again Jim Carrey stars as Ace Ventura, pet detective, who has lost the will to find pet after failing to rescue a raccoon in the Himalayas and went to become a Tibetan monk and find inner peace. But he is almost forced back in to becoming a pet detective again in order to find a great white bat that has gone missing. Not much has changed since the first movie as Carrey isn't very funny and neither are the other characters. The whole story is really boring and the most of the jokes are still bad sex or scat jokes. Really the whole movie is worse then the first and again not one I would want to see again. 0 comments, Reply to this entry
Please don't find my pets
Posted : 1 year, 8 months ago on 8 April 2008 12:38
(A review of Ace Ventura: Pet Detective)As I said before in my Me, Myself & Irene review I'm not a fan of Jim Carrey and Ace Ventura: Pet Detective is better then MM&I but still pretty boring. Jim Carrey plays Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, a guy that specializes in finding lost/missing/petnaped pets and returning them back to their owners. The major story of the movie is the kidnapping of Miami Dolphins mascot dolphin, Snowflake, and Ace goes on to find it while uncovering a bigger plot that includes Dan Marino. While Carrey is a bit funnier then MM&I he is still boring and mostly unfunny and supporting cast doesn't help the movie either. Writing is a bit of a saving grace as some of the dialog is witty and most of situations are well used but Carrey acting killed most of it. Overall Ace Ventura: Pet Detective is a pretty average comedy that could have been really funny but wasn't due to bad acting. 0 comments, Reply to this entry
Near perfect anime
Posted : 1 year, 8 months ago on 29 March 2008 11:01
(A review of Cowboy Bebop: The Perfect Sessions - Limited Edition DVD Box Set)When I first started watching anime the first show I watched was Dragonball Z. But Cowboy Bebop was the anime that really had me hooked. The show is set in 2071 and chronicles bounty hunters on board a spaceship, named Bebop, on their travels for bounties. Most episodes are about the bounties but slowly shows the back story of all the characters with all of their stories coming to reaching a fulfilling end. Voice actors for the English dub is wonderfully done and fits the characters. The writing for the show is great in giving all the characters a sense of depth and having a story line feel rewarding in the end. Art work is is also great, showing wonderful detailed solar system that feels alive and action scenes are fluid. And the music for the show is strangely perfect with a mix of jazz, blues, rock, electronic and other genres that fits brilliantly to every situation. Overall Bebop is a near perfect anime that I can, and have, watch over and over and still enjoy it every time. 0 comments, Reply to this entry
And I thought Live aus Berlin was great.
Posted : 1 year, 8 months ago on 29 March 2008 07:03
(A review of Volkerball (Limited Edition))For the poeple that don't know, Rammstein is a German industrial band that are well known all over the world and been a favorite of mine since 1999 and I heard Völkerball was coming out I knew that it would be great but I heard there was a limited edition I just had to get it, even if it cost me $150. The limited edition has the full Nîmes, France 2005 concert on two CD's unlike the standard version with the best of the concert, live footage from Nîmes, London, Tokyo, and Moscow; a making of the Reise, Reise album and long video of interviews with the band, and a awesome tour book with pictures from the concerts in beautiful artistic black & white photos. Whenever I'm going to a concert that has a band that I really like I'm always a little worried that they sound terrible and I would lose all respect for their music and never hear them again. But when I heard Rammstein's Live aus Berlin live album I haven't been worried and been wanting to go see them live and this live album is making me really want to see them. 0 comments, Reply to this entry
...And the rest with follow to the aweso
Posted : 1 year, 8 months ago on 29 March 2008 06:32
(A review of ...And the Rest Will Follow)I'm been a fan of Project 86 since their Truthless Heroes album and when I heard this album was coming out I was excited and looking forward to a great album. But what I got was their best album to date. From their first few albums Project 86 was a rap-rock band, which was a good Christian alternative to Rage Against The Machine, but after Truthless Heroes album they went to a hard rock/post hardcore band and in ...And the Rest they pretty much mastered that sound having really hard and catchy music and lyrics that have a dark tone and sometimes critical of the church but somehow still sounds very Christian which is weird in the industry but still on par with the bands other previous songs. In whole I really like the band and this album is a must listen for any hard rock fan even if their not a Christian. 0 comments, Reply to this entry
NOFX at their best
Posted : 1 year, 8 months ago on 29 March 2008 05:45
(A review of The Greatest Songs Ever Written (By Us))If you take all of NOFX's songs and put them together you would make a great NOFX greatest hits album... oh wait, that's what they did! NOFX has been around the punk scene a long time and well respected too and this album takes the bands best hits from the past 15 years and puts it in one album showing off 28 great punk songs. I find the music really catchy and what I really find appealing is the lyrics which can be very political or sarcastic and funny. From Dinosaurs Will Die which predicts the death of major record label, to The Separation of Church And Skate in complaining about the punk scene becoming crappy, to Don't Call Me White about stereotyping. Even though I don't agree they all their songs say, some of the lyrics I do agree with and the music is great and the album is a great way to catch up for new fans and a good look back for long time fans. 0 comments, Reply to this entry
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