Chuck Review

After only a 3 month hiatus, We’re back. And what better way to begin anew then review a recently ended TV show? Review a New TV show of course, but since that would be better, I’m not dong it.

Chuck is a show unlike any other in many ways. The most prominent is the fact that it lasted 5 seasons while it had a very small fanbase. In fact, it getting more than 2 seasons is phenomenal. Secondly, it was actually good, and had an alias meets Psych feel a lot of times. Sure it was funny, but it was also serious in places.

Chuck is one of the most relatable characters I have ever seen. This is Because Zachary Levi is not a very good actor, in a good way. He’s obviously trying, and doing a good job, but he still seems human. Even though throughout most of the show he has a computer in his brain, he still seems like a normal guy.

The plot twists in the show are some of the best I’ve ever seen, season 2 in particular. Season 2 of chuck is in competition with only Lost season 4 and Heroes season 1 for best season ever. The action never stops, and the plot twists come every episode. Chuck is worth watching for just the second season alone. Season 2 also introduces Jeffster, and they need to be a real band.

In fact, the last season was also great throughout, because it really mixed up the formula that you had gotten used too. And the finale was great, and not what you’d expect. Chuck was mostly lighthearted, yet the ending was almost tragic. That’s all I’ll say.

Also, the show has many great Guest stars throughout the seasons. Sure Chuck may be over, But it’s still worth watching.

DC The New 52: Some thoughts

So DC has had a massive reboot, and all 52 new comics are out. He are some of my first impressions of the books. Not all of them, but a good amount of them. And the question is, did the reboot help?

The Flash- I didn’t care mush for this one, not bad, but not great. Nothing really happened. Rating- meh

Captain Atom- Same as the flash. Nothing about it makes me want to continue. Rating- meh

Green Arrow- Yet again, this one wasn’t great. At least it had some decent action, but it just seemed pointless. Rgreat here either. Rating- meh

Mister Terrific- It wasn’t terrific, but it was good. We got back-story, a mystery, and a great cliffhanger. This series has potential, but we’ll see. Rating-hmmm

DC Universe Presents- This one was pretty good, and was centered on Deadman. I really like Deadman, so seeing how he’s actually being featured more is nice. A solid book. Rating- good

Batman- In this reboot, they’re are 4, yes 4 different Batman comics (Not spin-off characters), and this is the one I’d recommend. Scott Snyder knows batman, and the writing is really good. The mystery good, and the art good as well. This is one of the best of the relaunches. Rating- great

Detective Comics- not as good as Batman in anyway. Not bad, but no reason for it. Rating- meh

Batman: The Dark Knight-pointless. Completely. Rating- Pointless

Batgirl- Suffers from a few cliches, but Gail Simone is a really good writer, and it shows. Being someone who has always liked Oracle, I’m kind of disappointed that Barbara Gordan has went back to Batgirl. Still, a really good start, which I have high hopes for. Rating- great

Nightwing- Dick Grayson is one of my favorite DC characters, only surpassed by Bruce Wayne himself. Seeing him finally get his own comic as Nightwing and not Batman is nice. While this issue wasn’t amazing, it was pretty good. If you like Grayson, you’ll like this. Rating- good.

Green Lantern Corps- This was actually pretty good, but I’m not a big green lantern fan. Rating- hmm…

Green Lantern: New Guardians- didn’t care for it. Rating-meh

Static Shock- Static shock was mostly just set-up, but it was pretty good. It introduces the characters, and sets up the plot, and overall is pretty good. Rating-good

Blue Beetle- I like blue beetle a lot, but this issue wasn’t that great. It did set stuff up, but that’s it. No action or anything. The story does have some great potential, but thus just didn’t cut it. Rating- hmmm…

Grifter- Confusing, and not that great. Rating – meh

Deathstroke – just stupid. Rating- bleh

All-Star Western- If all you know about Jonah Hex is the crappy movie, you should get this so you can see just how awesome he really is. This is probably My favorite book of the new 52. Hex gets hired to solve a crime in the newly created town Gotham, and it’s really great. He’s a cowboy Batman. Rating- Amazing.

Justice League Dark- Weird. I like where it’s going, but this issue just seemed odd. Rating -weird.

Animal Man- Just look at his name, how good could it be? Answer, really good. I mean it, this book is just really well written. Rating – great

Frankenstein, Agent of S.H.A.D.E. – I don’t know much about DC’s Frankenstein, but this book was good. It didn’t take itself to seriously, but at the same time, it had a good plot and the characters aren’t bad. Rating- good

I, Vampire- Boring. Before you accuse it of being like twilight, it’s not, so don’t. It’s just boring, but I like the Art style. And it looks like the plot may go somewhere. Might. Rating- boring.

Resurrection Man- Mitch Shelly won’t stay dead. Every-time he dies, he comes back to life with new powers. His soul is wanted apparently wanted by angels, and demons. Yes, everyone wants him dead for good. This book is going places, and I like it. With a gritty art style, a good protagonist, and a good plot, we have a winner. Rating – Great

So The Reboot has some good, some bad, and some terrible. We’ll see where it goes from here.

Alex Rider: Scorpia rising review

Anthony Horowitz newest and final Alex rider book is yet again the same as the past books, with a few nice plot twists. Anyone who is a fan of Alex Rider can not miss this book, and anyone who for some reason hates Alex rider, well, this book won’t change your mind at all.

Scorpia is back, albeit weak. However, they land a job that will bring them back into the forefront of the criminal world. They give the job to Razim, who comes up with a plan that will get them what they want, and will end up in Alex Rider dead. The first quarter of the book is all about how Scorpia is planing to manipulate MI6.

Scorpia’s plan works, and MI6 does exactly what they want. Alex is persuaded to go to a school in Cario to keep an eye on the new head of security, Eric Gunter. Gunter is indeed evil and planning an assassination, and will blame it all on Alex by using Alex’s clone to commit the murder. Yes, Alex has an evil clone. Alex does his spy stuff, but unlike other books, Alex is being manipulated the entire time. Sure, not everything was planned, but Alex was powerless for the first 300 or so pages.

However, like always, Alex defeats his enemies in the coolest ways. Killing Gunter with a Scorpion? Sending Razim into a pile of salt? And the way he disposed of his clone was pretty shocking.

The ending however was lacking. The end was meh. That’s all I have to say.

Scorpia rising was a solid Alex Rider book, but didn’t feel like a conclusion. It felt more like a lead up to a conclusion. Overall, it’s an Alex Rider book. Go read it.

8.5/10

Marvel vs. Capcom 3 Mini Review

Marvel vs. Capcom 3 is a very, very, fun game. However it is not very balanced, and is too easy for pro’s to consider “great.” However if your like me and don’t care too much about the Pro side, this game is awesome.

MvC3 Has over 35 characters to choose from, and the roster is great. Who doesn’t want to play as Amaterasu, Captain America, Ryu, and many others. The roster is very nice, with many big stars, and some smaller ones as well. While their are some characters I would have liked, I can’t complain a lot.

The music, awesome. The gameplay, top notch. It’s a very well put together game, and is one of the funnest fighting games in years. But what do you expect from MvC.

Is it as good as tatsunoko vs capcom? I would say no, only because it lacks the balance. However as all the previous Vs Capcom game,s this one is worth it. And the DLC is a downer since it should have been included in the game.

9.3/10

Black Swan Review!

Were (I’m) back to update this blog regularly. And what better way to start than a review of Black Swan?

Natalie Portman stars as the Ballerina nina, and her group is producing the ballet Swan Lake. Nina wants the role of the Swan Queen, but Tom, the owner of the company, does not think that Nina can play the Black Swan, so he is hesatant to give her the part. Tom says she needs to be more wild.

She gets the part, and she can be the White Queen easily, but not the black one. From about here on, suspense is built up slowly. Lights turning on and off. Nina seeing things that she’s not sure if they really exist.

However, Nina soon meets Lily, the new ballerina. Nina goes out with her and goes wild, getting drunk and doing drugs. Things get out of hand quickly, and soon Nina loses her sanity completely. Then, the Climax happens on the opening night. I won’t spoil this, but it all comes together.

For a movie about ballerina’s, I wasn’t sure what to expect. But this movie is Dark, Sexy, and very suspenseful. You’ll be on the edge of your seat the entire movie, wondering what’s going to happen. Sure, at first glance this movie looks like it may be boring, but it’s far from that. Darren Aronofsky is a master of suspense, and shows it here. Go see this movie now.

9/10

The Cape “Pilot” & “Tarot” review

After a brief Hiatus, Random absurdity is back, and all this week it will be the best of 2010. Except today, which is the review of the cape, NBC’s new superhero drama. So let’s dive in.

How can I describe the cape? Stupid, rushed, corny, idiotic, but enjoyable. It reminds me most of a bad B-movie, but a good bad B-movie. I know, it’s odd, but I really did enjoy it, despite it’s problems.

Vince Faraday is a normal cop, and one day the new police chief gets killed by the evil mastermind Chess in a huge car explosion. First problem with this, the CGI was terrible. Horrendous. It was not believable at all. But moving on. Orwell, some mysterious person alerts Vince Faraday of explosions at the train station. Faraday goes, gets caught by Chess, who is really the billionaire Peter Fleming, who is taking over the police station! Faraday gets blamed for the murders, get “Killed” or left for dead, and wakes up in the “Circus of crime.” He helps the circus people rob banks, Our hero, readers, and finds a cape. He decided to use the cape to become a superhero, somehow. With very little training from the circus folk, he can use the cape to vanish and attack people. With a cape. Oh, this is all the first 20 minutes. Pacing issues much?

Then, drama with Faraday’s family, blah blah blah.

“The cape” learns that Chess’s explosives are on a boat, and goes to stop him, meeting Orwell there. Orwell, played by Summer Glau, is just some random chick who decides to help the cape. Thanks for explaining the motives show. They stop chess, Chess gets away, and no one is happy.

In Tarot, we get introduced to Cain, an evil assassin who poisons people. Peter Fleming wants to take over the jails next, but Portman, head of the jails, refuses. So Cain is hired to kill Portman. However, Faraday and Orwell stop him, foil Fleming’s plan, and yay.

The cape is a show I have mixed feelings about, but is still entertaining. The circus people are hilarious, the drama is meh, and the characters are decent. Did I mention Summer Glau? One thing that makes the show that much better is that it doesn’t take itself seriously. Overall, I recommend this show to anyone who wants to see a Superhero show. And hey, it’s much better than a lot of other shows.

Super Meat Boy Review

Super Meat Boy Is a platformer for the PC and Xbox 360, and it is very, very hard. Extremely hard, even. You play as Meat Boy, and have to save Bandage Girl from the evil Doctor Fetus.

The game is hard. Very hard. The game is fun, but very hard. Did I by chance mention the difficulty? That aside, I love Super Meat Boy. The level designs are great, the controls are pretty decent, and it’s fun to play. It will frustrate you to no end though.

To be honest, there’s not much more to say about this game. If you want a really hard, yet fun game, get it. If not, pass.

Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors Review

Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors Is an excellent Visual novel on the Nintendo DS. Being a visual novel, it is quite surprising that it made it to the US at all. However, it did, and trust me, it’s worth picking up.

As a visual novel, a lot of what you do is read. There is of course interaction, but it’s a lot of text. You “play” as Junpei, an average college student. The game begins in a strange room, and you must solve a puzzle to escape. After you escape, you meet 8 other people on board the ship your apparently on. It is soon revealed you are in a game, the “Nonary game.” The objective is simple, the ship is sinking, and you have 9 hours to get off. And of course, there is only one way off.

The other 8 characters are all interesting, but throughout the game, you never know who you can trust. You must work together to get off, but there may be a traitor amidst you. Other than Junpei, everyone uses codenames, so while you get to know them, you never trust any of them fully. Seven has amnesia, or is it just a ploy, as he always seems to know something. And Ace always seems calm,to calm. Lotus seems to only care about himself. Snake is Blind, but very mysterious. Playing the game, you learn more about the characters, but you really never know if they’re really with you.

This game has a lot of puzzles as well. I love the puzzles in this game. Their challenging, but not frustrating. It will take a bit of common sense to solve most of them, and a lot to do with numbers. Number 9 in particular. There are puzzles involving music, cards, body’s, pretty much everything.

I only have a few minor complaints. Their on a boat and only have 9 hours, but the characters barley seem concerned about this, as they waste a lot of time. Plus, on new games (So you can get all 6 endings) you can skip the dialouge you have seen, but not the puzzles. (You can’t do all puzzles in 1 go, it will take at least 3). As far as the story is concerned, I have nothing bad to say at all. You’ll be on the edge of your seat the entire time, and will want to unlock at least 3 of the endings to learn everything.

Overall, Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors is a game worth getting. Great Characters, a wonderful story, and suspense throughout, this game is a must play.

9/10

(See what I did there)

Also, get this game soon, as it is selling out everywhere. Aksys Games and Amazon are clean out, so you’ll have to try a gaming store.

The City of Dreaming Books Review

If you want a good adventure fantasy Novel, read Walter Moers, as he’s the best today. And as such, this can be seen in The City of Dreaming Books. Because what could be better than a fictional book full of fictional books? Not much, at all.

Optimus Yarnspinner is a Lindworm, basically a dinosaur, and as such as his race, an author. And after a the saddening death of his mentor, Yarnspinner goes to Bookholm, to fulfill his mentor’s last wish. Find the author of a mysterious manuscript that was so well written, it will bring you to tears. So Yarnspiner goes, and finds himself in The City of Dreaming Books.

This book is filled with details, and the city is described in such detail you feel as your in young Yarnspinner’s shoes. Even though the world is far fetched, while reading the book everything seems normal and believable. While it can seem the book is going nowhere at times, everything connects in the end. The book is very well written, and it all comes together to provide a satisfying read.

What would a fantasy novel be without good characters? Bad. But alas, The City of Dreaming Books has many good characters, including Optimus. Their are also brutal Book hunters, The friendly, literature obsessed booklings, and the famed Shadow King. The Shadow King is written so wonderfully, it is hard to tell if he is good or bad until the end.

In all, their is little to fault with this book, except maybe it goes into to great of details at times. But while most Fantasy and Adventure novels today are cliche and a dime a dozen, Walter Moers works are refreshing and Unique. And so it is The City of Dreaming Books is a great book. Sure, the story may seem to have no structure, but it matters little, because in the end it all makes sense. Plus, as the book put it, “it doesn’t matter how a story begins or ends, but what happens in between.”

Team fortress 2 Review

Team Fortress 2 is always changing. And changing for the good. The game was released in 2007 as a simple class based FPS, and now is a full fledged hat-simulator. New content is added regularly, and the community is decent. At times.

TF2 has really fun game-play. Their are 9 classes, All with their strengths at weaknesses. Some classes are easier to play than others, but none is really the best. The objective of the game depends on the game you are playing. It is normally however to cap the points of the opponents, or to defend the points. The gameplay can get repetitive, but with the depth of the game it takes a while to notice. Plus, whenever the game starts to get stale, a major update is released, sucking you back in.

Their are many items to collect, the most useful are weapons, and the best are Hats. Weapons all have pro’s and con’s, so no one weapon is better than another, just used for different play-styles. Sure, some weapons do seem a little better, but it’s nothing game changing.

Overall, TF2 is just awesome. It’s not perfect, yet. But with all the updates, it may be eventually.

Score- Eventually a 10/10