9 Dec

Movie Review: Skyfall

Posted by vagrantesque in Movies. Tagged: , , , , , .

I saw this celebration of 50 years of James Bond the first Tuesday it was available. Suffice to say I was very pleasantly surprised.

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Starring: Daniel Craig, Javier Bardem, Judi Dench
Director: Sam Mendes (American Beauty, Revolutionary Road)
Rating: M
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I never thought I would be comparing a James Bond film to a Batman one. Not in my wildest dreams. Yet here I am, having watched a sucker punch of a 007 film that quite possibly ranks as one of the best instalments in one of cinema’s longest-running sagas, doing just that. Emotional, lengthy and fraught with unpredictability, featuring great action scenes that for all their grandiose ambition don’t stick in your mind as much as the quieter character-driven interactions; yep, to say this movie wasn’t influenced even a little by Christopher Nolan would be a bit daft. Throw in a skin-crawling villain who has already been compared to Heath Ledger‘s Joker in The Dark Knight by several critics and you get a film that is worthy of a certain category of artistic praise and yet is still quintessentially, unmistakably, Bond.

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8 Dec

U Ready? – Wii U Review

Posted by vagrantesque in Console, Games, Wii U. Tagged: , , , .

I think it’s clear that desperation is now the main driving force behind my choices of post titles.

The Wii U, Nintendo’s new home console, launched in Australia and Europe about a week ago, and after spending as much time with it as my current lifestyle would allow, I present this, here, now.

Icy blue

Day One haul, clockwise from bottom left: Screen Protector Kit, Facepad & Stylus Pack, Wii U Premium Pack, Pro Controller, Warriors Orochi 3 Hyper, Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed, Assassin’s Creed 3 Join or Die Edition, New Super Mario Bros U.

Yeah, if you haven’t already guessed, I enjoy throwing money at console launches.

I’ll be structuring this piece much like my Playstation Vita review from earlier this year. Here goes.

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7 Dec

Rant Chaser #2

Posted by vagrantesque in Rant Chaser.

Trying to start some momentum here.

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R A N T – C H A S E R

T W O

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Some more rant follow-ups lie here. This one covers a broader range of topics than the last one did.

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1 Dec

Greetings From Wii U

Posted by vagrantesque in Console, Games. Tagged: .

Where things are looking pretty awesome.

I am writing this post from the native internet browser of Nintendo’s new home console, the Wii U, while running the third sequence of Assassin’s Creed III in the background. My TV isn’t even on; it’s just me, the console’s Game Pad controller and a Tritton headset, alone in a dark living room at midnight on the first night of what looks like a sweltering Australian summer. Suffice to say it’s a pretty fresh gaming experience.

The console came out on Friday and I spent most of launch day trying out as many aspects of it as I could, writing notes and downloading updates. So many updates.

Anyway my thoughts will all be coming in one hit, as soon as I find a window of spare time big enough to post them. Stay tuned to Vagrant Rant.

25 Nov

Behind, Pt I

Posted by vagrantesque in Movies. Tagged: , , .

And so it is that all of the top ten movies I was most looking forward to at the beginning of the year have been released. Well, all except one. Here’s a look back at those ten.

2012 has been an amazing year for movies so far, with several blockbusters breaking all kinds of records, and we still have a month to go! I can’t remember a Boxing Day release line-up as incredible as the one we Aussies have lined up for us this year, plus there’s a new Bond film that has just hit. It’s going to be a crazy summer.

But before that all plays out before us, it’s about time to look back at that list I posted back in February, wherein I rolled out a list of my top ten most anticipated films of the year:

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24 Nov

Movie Review: Argo

Posted by vagrantesque in Movies. Tagged: , , , .

I have recently acquired a new full-time job and that impacts heavily on my free time and blah blah etc etc. My blog shall continue regardless! Anyway I saw this film a couple of weeks back.

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Starring: Ben Affleck, Alan Arkin, John Goodman
Director: Ben Affleck (Gone Baby Gone, The Town)
Rating: M
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If there is one director who has risen to the top tier of my favourites list faster than anyone else in recent times, it’s Ben Affleck. His 2010 effort The Town blew me away, particularly as it kept me interested in a plot I did not think I would particularly enjoy. After seeing it I went back and watched Affleck‘s directorial debut, Gone Baby Gone, and I enjoyed it just as much. It turns out I wasn’t alone in my opinions, as Rotten Tomatoes attested to. Being two from two with critics is one thing, but what makes Affleck‘s case all the more fascinating is that for most of the first decade of the 21st century, he was the laughing stock of Hollywood. Just watch Team America: World Police. He had an entire song dedicated to his acting and it wasn’t exactly glowing with praise.

But the role of Affleck‘s past in his current popularity is besides the point of this article. The point is that Affleck is now three from three behind the lens, with critics and with me. Argo, one of my most anticipated films of 2012, is fantastic.

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1 Nov

Well.

Posted by vagrantesque in Misc.

That didn’t really work out too magnificently.

Turns out I tempted fate a bit too cockily and my week did fill up. After that happened there was no way I could pull off a seven-dayer, unfortunately.

Still, I have a handful of posts that I’m working on at the moment (when I can), including a review of a movie from my top ten most anticipated for the year, two portable game reviews, a list retrospective and another Rant Chaser.

So stay tuned to Vagrant Rant!

Yep, SHINee reference.

This is coming.

28 Oct

Rant Chaser #1

Posted by vagrantesque in Games, Music, Rant Chaser.

This has been sitting unfinished in my drafts section for months. It’s just good to finally get it out!

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R A N T – C H A S E R

O N E

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So begins another new breed of Vagrant Rant article, where I will try to tie up any loose ends left from any of my reviews or other posts. These ends may form because I haven’t covered every aspect of a game, perhaps, or I watch a movie again and realise something new about it, or maybe because a particular song from an album is a “real grower” and I feel I need to mention it. I might also use this type of post as a way to highlight things that are too small for their own separate post.
This first edition is going to be packed with portable gaming stuff.

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26 Oct

Expo-nentially More Excited

Posted by vagrantesque in Console, Games. Tagged: , , , .

*cringe*

Earlier this month I attended the EB Games Expo in Sydney, having attended last year’s event on the Gold Coast as well. I got the chance to play and view a handful of interesting games and such and this was what I thought of them.

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25 Oct

Movie Review: Looper

Posted by vagrantesque in Movies. Tagged: , , , .

I saw this one a couple of weeks ago but it absolutely deserves to be talked about.

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Starring: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Bruce Willis, Emily Blunt
Director: Rian Johnson (Brick, The Brothers Bloom)
Rating: MA15+
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Before I had so much as seen a trailer, Looper was one of my most anticipated movie releases of 2012. Joseph Gordon-Levitt is quickly turning into a guy whose movies I can just assume will be good, plus, I mean, Bruce Willis. Throw in one hell of an intriguing premise and I was pre-sold on this one. Thankfully, it turned out to be rather good, and not even in the way I was expecting.

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