Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Rant #3: Movies: Iron Man Lives Again! Hopefully


As the release date for Iron Man The Movie draws closer and closer, I can't help but to wonder, will it be everything they promised? I know that that is the basic question for any movie, but the danger for a flop  considerably risen as of late. If you don't believe me, just try to remember any awesome movies that have come out as of late; when I say "awesome," I mean movies that make you forget where you are and that you don't even want to stand and go to the restroom for fear of missing something. Think...not that many huh?

The last movie I can remember that kept me sit down like that was "The Lord of the Rings:The Two Towers," but that was 6 years ago!; after that, not much as really stood out of the bunch. Which leads me to my real concern, is the age of great movies over? I mean, movies are costing more and more, but I am not that sure that the are getting and better. Take for example, "I Am Legend," everyone and their mom said that movie was great. The movie lasted about one hour, don't you think that there was far more material to stretch the movie to 2 hours? Yet they didn't. How about Spiderman 3 which, for me, destroyed most of the affection to the franchise since it was waaaaaaay to cheesy? How about Pirates of the Caribbean 3? Another flop. Shrek 3? flop. Star Wars 1? Flop. Star Wars 3? Flop. The list of "heavy releases"gone wrong goes on and on.

Why is it that movies have gotten  worst? Well, it your fault! And mine too... All of the movies that I mentioned above were movie flops, but not on the money they made. When Spiderman 3 makes $382 million Worldwide what is that telling the producers and directors? It is saying "give them anything, they'll eat it." Hence, the point of this my rant is, don't be fooled by advertising, wait and see if the movie was great, than go. If you don't do so, expect more horribly and short movies as well as shorter. 

Friday, April 25, 2008

Wake Up When It's Over...



As the time for the presidential elections draws closer and closer, the democrats seem to put more and more nails on their coffins. Why is? Well, while McCain is already planning for the election, Clinton and Obama are still fighting in their little corner of the world. In the end, their struggle will prove to be the downfall of the democratic party for God knows how many years to come. 

As the fight for the democratic nomination draws on, one thing is for certain, people, or at least me, are growing tire of it. It seems as if though every day there is some sort of "news" regarding Clinton and Obama. Usually these news include awesome topics like: Obama is winning, but Clinton is not defeated; Clinton takes the lead, Obama prepares plan; Obama attacks Hillaray; Hillary attacks Obama. In other words, there is a stalemate between both of them and, who wants to hear about a stalemate? Yet journalists keep on sticking stories about the now boring democratic election on their front pages.

The continual flow of story creates an agnostic feeling among the people. This feeling can very much mean the downfall of the democratic party as more and more time and resources are wasted on the race. 
Is the pre-election ever going to finish? I don't know, but we might still find Obama and Clinton fighting during and after the election. So, just wake up when its all over...




Friday, April 18, 2008

Video Game, Meet Music; Music, Meet Video Game


(For best results, play the video while you read)

Have you ever dreamed of becoming a Rock Star? Don't lie, everyone of us has had that dream of some point. However, for one reason or another, like money, time, or lack of talent, most of do not get to accomplish that dream. But what if there was a way, in which to bridge all of these things? what if you could start a rock band at the entry price of $170.oo? This has all been made possible by Rock Band. 
Rock Band is just one of the many rhythm-action games that have been released in recent history. In fact, before Guitar Hero I came out, there were only a handful of games that belonged to the music-genre, most of which, failed to break into pop-culture. If I was to mention games like 'Space Channel 5" and "Samba de Amigo" (remake coming soon to Wii), few of you would even know what system they were published for. That whole notion was destroyed when the first Guitar Hero I, came out. Little by little, everyone started to take notice of these games making them, sometimes, the sole reason for which people bought systems.  
What makes these games so popular? In the case of Rock Band, it is the feeling of becoming something, even if it is for a few seconds, that you are not. Another factor contributing to the success of Rock Band is the fact that it is the perfect party game. Grabs some friends give them one of the three controllers and watch as you all look like a bunch of freaks in front of the TV as Bon Jovi Sings "Dear or Alive." This may sound altogether weird to some people, but that is because you need to play to understand what so great about it. 
Hence, my advice to you is leave the computer and go running right now to Best Buy to get Rock Band, or find someone that has, it, and go and play Rock Band. Go on, be a Rock Star. You'll thank me later.

Thursday, April 10, 2008

But It Looks Pretty...

How many times have we not found ourselves in the store wanting something that could potentially be completely useless, but that it looks pretty cool? As of recently, I have found myself staring at a video game like that which would cost me about $500 to play. Its a lot of money, for one game, but it looks so pretty...

The game I'm referring to is Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots. That game is for the PS3, a console I do not have since there was never a cool game to get for. Well, now there is, but the price of the console is $400 in its cheapest skew. What is better, to buy the game and the console and feel proud for about a month and dumb for the rest of my life? or don't buy it and watch as the rest of the world does? The choice looks very easy, but it suddenly becomes harder when you look a the game.



The game has an amazing plot which feature PMCs which are Private Military Contractors taking over the world. This may sound far fetched, but the elements for that to happen are here in today's world. I won't say anything else since the video does a pretty cool job of showing off the story. Now, if you remember a some posts back, I talked about just how much important are lyrics in a song for me. The same follows in a video game, where I value a lot the story, so this is right up my alley.

Even if I didn't care about the story, the graphics are pretty darn awesome. Just look at them and tell me if you have seen anything better out there? It sure looks pretty huh?

To buy, or not to buy that is the question...that is the question...

Wednesday, April 2, 2008

To Buy or Not to Buy A Hybrid

As the prices of gasoline keep on the rise, we cannot help but to wonder whether or not we should buy a car. Think about it, is your car really an asset, or is it a liability? Even 4-cylinder cars are spending $40 plus dollars right now. What is there to do? Buy a hybrid... and pray to God that the battery doesn't die.

As of late, we have been bombarded with just how awesome a hybrid is. The car stops using the gasoline engine, and, in a way, recycles some of the energy you just wasted. The hybrid also provides the perfect solution to contamination since it reduces the emissions of CO2 (since you aren't using the gasoline that much). Have you, however, heard anyone mentioned anything serious about the hybrids batteries? I bet you haven't.


Doing a quick Google search you might find that it is not as easy to find the prices of hybrid car batteries. Most websites only tell you just how awesome the hybrid and how you should stop doing everything and go and buy a hybrid NOW. However, they often omit the price of the batteries. When people omit telling you something about that which they are speaking about, you know it cannot be good. This is not the exception as $3,000 is not such a far fetched quantity in the world of hybrid car batteries. Hybrid batteries are supposed to last as long as the car itself hence, you should start to rule out buying a used hybrid since, more than likely, they batteries are dead. What is there to do? Sit down and wait...
Another technology that completely throws away gasoline are cars that run on ethanol. Already several corn plantations have been set aside to produce the ethanol for these new types of cars. Is there a catch with this cars? I do not know, but with corn being potentially cheaper than oil, is it not worth the try?