Reviews

Nana 2 (2006)

“Disappointing sequel to an ok movie.”

I hesitate to say I hated this movie, because I didn't. I want to hate it, I desperately want to hate it. I can't though, mostly because if anything it did get me thinking.

This film was the polar opposite of the first which I reviewed a little over a year ago. Whereas the first was artful and creative with its character construction, they knew with this film that the characters were already built our and despite being put into very straining situations there was very little character growth. Heck, the whole play of how the number 7 connected the two Nana's was almost completely avoided, although I imagine some could argue this is a good thing.

Nana 2 Hide Actor Change

One of

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Samaria (2004)

“The Korean, non-comedy version of Install”

I’m trying something new this review, I’m writing it while I watch the movie, I have the movie playing on my secondary monitor, and I’m typing it on my primary. 

This movie reminds me a lot of Install, but it’s a far more serious, far more Korean version.  Lately it seems that South Korea is pushing out far more decent film than Japan. 

Samaria Movie Poster

This movie starts out with two Japanese school girls, one of which is prostituting herself, and the other one managing the money and getting her men.  They plan on going to Europe, and there’s an undertone that there might be something more there, that they may be in

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Xbox 360 Initial Review

Seeing as how Jesse's review of the 360 Controller has been up for months, I figured it was time for another review... The 360 itself

Pros: I love the dashboard, not only can you listen to your own music at any point during a game, but its actually somewhat intuitive. The 360 can finally rip music off burned CD's which was a major reason xbox 1.0 never really saw much use as a music player. The Controller is comfortable as heck, and the wireless thing is really nice and so far the battery life (the wireless controller uses 2 AA's) has been great, but I'm probably going to invest in some rechargeables. All in all, I do like that Microsoft decided to use AA's instead of some proprietary battery, far cheaper and easier to replace them that way.

The graphics are great, I've played Gears of War and the graphics are a deffinete step up from xbox 1.0, ps2, etc. Not only does the console have plenty of speed, but loading times are minimal compared to xbox 1.0. I also like the fact the 360 will have an add-on HD player, because i don't have or need HD-dvd, nor do i want to spend another $200 for one.

Cons: The HD is a bit small, while 20 gigs seems like a lot for a console, once you start ripping your own music onto the thing, it starts to pile up. I'm not anywhere near running out of room yet, but I can definitely see it happening to those with more impressive media collection. I'd like to see either a larger HD available, or an adapter allowing you to use a regular computer HD which would see storage capacity limited only by the size of the HD's available. I'd also wish they'd left the start and select buttons where they are on the xbox 1.0 controller, never realized how nice it was having them to the side till now. While in general I do like the dashboard, it'd be nice if you were able to customize the button settings for entering information. It'd also be nice to be able to fast forward and rewind within songs.

Nitpicking: I wish the controller was just a tad larger, like the size of the S controller that is standard with xbox 1.0, It's not that the controller is too small to use, but would be nice if they beefed it up just a bit.


Nana (2005)

“A sappy flick about love and friendships.”

I’d just like to start this review saying I got this movie because it has Ryuhei Matsuda ( 松田 龍平 ) in it, of Blue Spring and Collage of our Life fame. Some of you may know he is my favorite Japanese actor.  He had a strange part in this film, managing to be a major character, but having perhaps four lines.  Also, I’d like to note the way he held the guitar seemed awkward in such a way as to seem almost identical to something straight out of Guitar Hero.

This movie is apparently based off a popular Japanese Manga, and in fact made for a extremely popular movie in Japan.  I had no idea of this while watching it.

Ryuhei

This

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Survive Style 5+ (2004)

“A visually beautiful, entertaining comedy.”

This movie is hard to describe.  It has five main plots, hence the name, that in the end work them selves together.  One interesting aspect of the film is that as it introduces plot lines, it visually numbers them on screen.  It begins with a man burying his wife, his wife being played by the beautiful half Japanese, half Spanish Reika Hashimoto.  He returns home to find his wife sitting at his kitchen table, which sets up what is to become a pattern for his plot.  Next we are introduced to a woman who works in advertising and a hypnotist who are in bed together.  Throughout the film the advertising woman has a number

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Install (2004)

“A 17 year old girl is pimped online by a 10 year old.”

I read a yearly summary of movies which had Install in its top ten.  The movie begins with Asako, the main character, daydreaming in English class about talking to a boy in a clock tower.  The teacher wakes her up and asks her “Who were you with in your dreams” which struck me as an odd question, to which Asako replies “Your Sweetheart” and then running out of the classroom.  Folowing this, for reasons unknown to us, Asako decides she doesn’t want anything she owns anymore and hauls it all out to a dumpster outside her apartment.  A 10 year old, Kazuyoshi, sees her throwing out an Apple Classic computer and asks

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Black Vogue (2005)

“Sisyphus is dead”

This film truly is an odd affair, though not the oddest that I have witnessed by far. While viewing this work, one can't help but think firstly of an experience akin to the treacherous road one travels while on a quest to mine the holy ore out of the great vaginal canals; trying to overcome the evil mythical beasts around every corner attempting to end the impure quest to penetrate deeper into the magical cavern. The miner speeding up with each step, as each step brings him closer to his ultimate satisfaction. The greed overcoming his emotions, he will begin to foam in the mouth like a psychotic horse about to be shot. He becomes ever more clumsy and vulgar in

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Xbox 360 Controller - For Windows

.Xbox 360 Controller

For Christmas this year, I got a wired Xbox 360 controller. I had asked for it, so it was not unexpected. I do not own an Xbox 360, but the controller is usable with a pc. I have been meaning to write a review for a while, so here it goes. Microsoft is trying to push the Xbox 360 controller as the new "Standard PC Controller"

Pros:

  • Most Comfortable Controller I've ever used.
  • Works great with a Dreamcast emulator.
  • Supported by newer games with zero configuration necessary. (Marc Ecko's Getting Up, support expected for Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion with first patch)

Cons:

  • *With Microsoft's driver, the same axis is used for the L and R analog triggers, making using both at the same time impossible.
  • *Also, with Microsoft's driver, they use a new system for programs to use the controller, only allowing the newest games to use its force feedback function. So far the only game I've found where the vibrate works is Marc Ecko's Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure.
  • The D-Pad is lame, not good for SNES/NES games that need any level of accuracy.
  • The Four button arrangement rather than 6 as the N64 controller, makes playing N64 games awkward.
Note on *: There is a 3rd party driver which fixes these problems, allowing older games with Force Feedback support to use the vibrate and mapping the controller differently. It though is simply a hack of a driver for the original Xbox controller, and at least last time I tried it was exceedingly buggy.

Honestly, most computer games are designed to be played mouse and keyboard. I've tried a number of FPS games with it, and quite honestly I won't be trading in my mouse and keyboard anytime soon. However I am looking forward to trying it with Oblivion.
Overall, I give the controller an 8/10 rating. (BTW, new rating system on the way)



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