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Starring: Hugh Jackman, Jennifer Lawrence, Michael Fassbender
Director:Bryan Singer (The Usual Suspects, X-Men) Rating:M -◊-◊-◊-◊-
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What’s this? A good multi-superhero movie that isn’t made by Marvel Studios?
As movie franchises go, the X-Men movies mean a lot to me. Not only do I remember where I was when I first saw X-Men III: The Last Standin cinemas back in 2006, I also remember what I was wearing and who I was with. I was so damn excited for that movie and to see it play out as such a mess after the first two X-Men films had literally made me interested in comic book mythology was not the greatest feeling. Three years later the release of the underdone and just generally awful X-Men Origins: Wolverine meant the franchise was suddenly “only 50% good”, and while 2011’s X-Men First Classwas a triumphant return to form with a fun political twist and last year’s The Wolverinedidn’t suck, the franchise was still lagging far behind the efforts of Disney’s Marvel cinematic universe. And there was still that lingering bad taste in my mouth from 2006. Well, not anymore.
The Mega Ultra Blast Cast was hit by every podcaster’s worst nightmare this time around – Shane’s computer turned off halfway through recording and we lost everything. But because we’re professionals (well, not technically), we soldiered on and recorded again from the start to bring you this bumper episode. Listen to witness a battle royale between Shane and Delaney as they debate the pros and cons of the new Godzilla movie, as well as several tangents about Green Lantern, Grimlock and Gambit. We also talk about plenty of topical gaming news, such as the big Xbox One Kinect-less announcement, the big reveal of Far Cry 4 and Nintendo’s new figurine strategy. Plus, I’ve actually finished some games lately!
If you feel so inclined, go for a run, take a scenic drive, jazz up your afternoon commute or just curl up on the couch and play some games while you listen to the opinions of three frustrated but determined Sydneysiders.
You can play the whole episodes right off this page if you like:
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Starring: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Elizabeth Olsen, Bryan Cranston
Director:Gareth Edwards (In the Shadow of the Moon, Monsters) Rating:M -◊-◊-◊-◊-
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I feel it’s worth mentioning for the sake of this review that I don’t really have any sort of connection to Godzilla in any of his various incarnations over the last half century or so – I didn’t even see the 1998 movie despite being a fresh-faced nine year old with plenty of similar interests at the time. My limited knowledge of the king of the monsters and his kaiju buddies comes from other forms of referential media, starting with that Season 2 South Park episode where Barbara Streisand reveals her true form and goes on a rampage. My exposure to this new Gareth Edwards take on the Godzilla mythos is limited to one trailer I saw last month in the cinema.
That being said, the 2014 Godzilla is pretty damn cool, and with some rebalances it could well have been one of my favourite movies of this year. It’s a shame that the film’s human elements aren’t more engaging.
I’ve been both busy and ill this last week, which is never the best combo for this blog, but here we go now.
It was the experience I felt I had to have. After almost three years without such an opportunity, last weekend I finally made it to a full-on K-Pop concert (That incredible late 2011 K-Pop extravaganza came a few months before I cared). Though my enthusiasm for the genre probably peaked last year, when I came pretty damn close to attending a similar event before it fell through, I am by no means done with appreciating K-Pop and even if I was, I have bought so many albums and written so many words about it already that to move on without having seen it live in its purest form would have been a real shame.
Enter TS Entertainment and their always busy headline act, six-member male group B.A.P.
Also known as “A K-Pop World Tour That Actually Includes Australia – Wow.”
Sydney’s Big Top in Luna Park was packed for the May 10 performance event and there was a surprisingly decent contingent of older and male fans getting into the swing of things (I had expected an almost completely teenage fangirl demographic in the crowd and was happy to be proved wrong). As I mentioned in a K-Pop countdown two years ago, B.A.P’s musical output does tend to have a more universal appeal than most male K-Pop groups, so perhaps I shouldn’t have been so surprised. Continue reading
The Mega Ultra Blast Cast hits a milestone with its 20th episode, but things go off the rails pretty quickly. My two colleagues and I try a new seating arrangement that gives Delaney far too much power for his own good. We get excited about the newly announced Pokemon games, the insanity of the new Mario Kart, the brilliance of Child of Light, the fresh Star Wars Episode VII casting details, the Justice League movie and much, much more. There’s also an unexpectedly lengthy discussion about Cher, and I cannot remember for the life of me how that came up.
If you feel so inclined, go for a run, take a scenic drive, jazz up your afternoon commute or just curl up on the couch and play some games while you listen to the opinions of three shuffled Sydneysiders.
You can play the whole episodes right off this page if you like:
In case you missed it, just over a week ago Nintendo dropped a completely unannounced half-hour Nintendo Direct broadcast focusing entirely on their upcoming Wii U mega-title Mario Kart 8 (You can watch the whole thing below). I thought my fondness for the Mario Kart series had peaked a decade ago with the excellent Mario Kart DS, but this rather incredible recent information rush has really grabbed my attention. I’ve given it some thought over the last week and that all-too-rare feeling that something special is coming has well and truly set in. Here are five reasons why 8 might just be the magic number come the end of this month.
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Wonderfully ambitious online features
Nintendo had some pretty impressive online player numbers in the heyday of Mario Kart Wii, even if they never really called much attention to them, and it’s obvious that they want those players back. I have never seen such an ambitious suite of planned online features for a Nintendo game. According to the Direct, players can customise the item sets, karts, difficulty and more that they want for their own personal online tournaments, which can be set to repeat at a certain time every week so that you and your friends can meet for regular sessions. The same can be done for public tournaments, meaning if you want to race in a matchmaking environment without items at all, you can. Astoundingly, Nintendo has also managed to allow for video replay editing that can be uploaded straight to YouTube, a feature that is still missing from the PS4, although the Xbox One added it earlier this year. Now the only question remains, will it run smoothly? If so, I shall dance a merry jig in my living room, because not only will that make for some intense races, it also means good things for the upcoming Super Smash Bros for Wii U.
Time to make good use of an extremely rare case where Australia gets a huge movie before the US does.
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Starring: Andrew Garfield, Jamie Foxx, Emma Stone
Director:Marc Webb (500 Days of Summer, The Amazing Spider-Man) Rating:M -◊-◊-◊-◊-
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I’m still questioning why the first Amazing Spider-Manhad to play out the way it did in 2012. Sure, I get the business reasons behind Sony Pictures wanting to keep the Spider-Man license and thus needing to churn out another film within a certain number of years after the conclusion of the Sam Raimi trilogy of Spidey flicks. But I’m sure I don’t stand alone in the camp of people wondering why said situation had to mean a reboot functioning almost identically to the first 2002 Spider-Man. The Amazing Spider-Man 2presents an opportunity for the aptly named Marc Webb and his gang to kick on, having established their groundwork, and show what sets this new version of Spider-Man apart from the mostly well-regarded Raimi movies. In this regard, ASM2succeeds, which is great, but disappointingly it fails to learn from the mistakes that plagued Raimi‘s Spider-Man 3 – the one that had too many villains vying for attention. It’s just a wee bit over-indulgent.
Oh my word, it’s almost May. Do I have some things to catch up on.
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Starring: Shailene Woodley, Theo James, Kate Winslet
Director:Neil Burger (The Illusionist, Limitless) Rating:M -◊-◊-◊-◊-
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Cynical mode activated. Here comes yet another Lionsgate young adult teen novel series stretched into more movies than is necessary for the sake of raking in extra money, following in the footsteps of Twilight and The Hunger Games. Brace yourselves, because Neil Burger‘s Divergentis a post-apocalyptic tale with a female protagonist, a radically restructured dystopian society with distinct costumes that indicate moral allegiance and a bit of romance thrown in. Now where have we seen that before?
Cynical mode deactivated. I was introduced to the Divergent saga (written by the surprisingly young Veronica Roth) much the same way as I was The Hunger Games– an interested sibling and the promise of a “next big thing”. Yes, in a way that makes me a part of Lionsgate’s ideal demographic, who still isn’t over the buzz generated by The Hunger Games– I mean, just look at the first Divergent trailer and compare it to any of the HGones. But I am a notoriously appalling reader of fiction and yet I got through the first Divergentbook relatively painlessly. Why? Because there is more to this series than a checklist of popular modern elements – its themes go deeper – or at least more intimate – than politics, into a more personal ideological space. Its futuristic Chicago is divided into five factions, each one requiring its members to adhere to a single prevailing virtue (Knowledge, courage, selflessness, kindness and honesty respectively). I’d easily recommend the book, for the most part, to anyone interested in its concept. The movie? Not quite as much. It’s certainly watchable, and it gets several things right, but it has issues.
The Mega Ultra Blast Cast returns to its ideal two week episode gap this time around, bringing the episode length back down to a slightly less ugly 65 minutes. In this rather relaxed episode, the boys discuss the merits of The Amazing Spider-Man 2, talk trash about Towerfall Ascension, try to craft the ideal gaming console out of existing available console features and make a concerted effort to work out just what the hell Tomodachi Life is actually about. More code giveaways abound as well. Enjoy!
If you feel so inclined, go for a run, take a scenic drive or just curl up on the couch and play some games while you listen to the opinions of three relaxed Sydneysiders.
You can play the whole episodes right off this page if that’s what you’re into:
Vagrant Rant‘s second guest week was a resounding success! I am deeply grateful to the seven people who agreed to write for my blog and I am once again amazed at what people are capable of producing. I am inspired.
Thank you to Soapman, CrAk3rs, Krispy, Blizz117, XVSting, Opinion_Invalid and BrotherMiles for your inputs. More of the good stuff coming up right here!
Vagrant Rant 