Posts Tagged ‘of’
20
Apr
Posted by vagrantesque in Movies. Tagged: batman, book, comic, Dark, dc, Film, galaxy, guardians, Iron, Knight, Man, marvel, Movie, of, steel, superman. Leave a comment
We dive into the second half of Guest Week with an Iranian-born movie/gaming fanatic packing some prior experience writing for entertainment media publications in his home country.
—Written by XVSting—
—Edited/formatted by Vagrantesque—
July 2008. The latest installment of Gotham’s caped crusader was released and unexpectedly, it changed the face of comic book movies forever. The Dark Knight by Christopher Nolan was not only the most appreciated comic book even to this date, but it elevated the comic book genre from cheesy-colorful costumes to award winning dark tales. With extraordinary performances and breathtaking action, The Dark Knight shattered every single barrier and expectation audiences had from a comic book movie. 2008 was also the birth of the first installment of Disney’s fresh cinematic universe that would revolutionise the genre with their masterfully planned strategy. The question is, did titles like 2012’s The Avengers benefit audiences and related movies by creating a new standard, or has their greatness damaged the smaller and solo franchises? Let’s get started and see how far our beloved and flashy comic book movies have come!
The battle is on.
While the world didn’t end at 2012, it was definitely a landmark year for comic book movies. As a kid (and I’m positive this was the same for all comic book fans), all I ever wanted was to see a crossover between characters such as Spider-Man and the X-Men together in a movie (Even a small reference would make me happy). Hence the reason why I loved games such as Marvel vs Capcom or Marvel Ultimate Alliance so much – they were one of the few entertainment media sources where fans could experience all those characters together in one picture. As I grew up, and essentially got more informed about the industry, that dream slowly faded away due to the multiply copyright dramas of each character and their respective rights holders. As much as I love and appreciate the greatness of The Avengers for turning mine and probably all comic book fans’ dream into reality, it has created a set of fresh expectations for viewers and related studios. In short, Avengers was so good, everyone is now taking their own approach to catch up with Disney’s meticulously planned universe. Does that help us to see more extravagant movies with all-star characters? Yes. Has it affected the quality and progress of titles that are following this path? Well… this is where I think comic movies and generally most of the blockbuster trend might be going wrong.
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17
Feb
Posted by vagrantesque in Games, Lists, PS3. Tagged: behind, content, dlc, downloadable, ellie, last, left, of, PS3, psn, story, the, us. Leave a comment
So I just finished the single player downloadable content for PS3 exclusive The Last of Us, released a couple of days ago, and I have to say that it’s pretty damn good. Entitled Left Behind, it’s definitely short (around 2-3 hours, which is probably par for the course with this kind of DLC) and maybe you could argue it’s also a bit pricey for what it gives you. But I’m certainly glad I played it. As you might already know if you read my review last year, I adored The Last of Us and it only just missed out on my personal game of the year award for 2013. If you share my feelings on the brilliance of the original game then you owe it to yourself to consider playing Left Behind. Here are five reasons why:
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1. It fleshes out both the original story and its world.
Though it sets itself up as a prequel, Left Behind is only really half so. The narrative follows two interchanging paths, one set before Ellie meets Joel and one set during the events of The Last of Us’ main storyline. As such, if you face the temptation to play Left Behind first and let it lead into the main event, resist. You will have things spoiled for you in a big way if you elect to look at things in that manner.
Having said that, the bulk of the story of Left Behind focuses on Ellie as she explores a decrepit mall with her friend Riley, who has recently joined the rebellious Fireflies organisation. The brief tale is inspired by, and indeed connected to, the four-issue Dark Horse comic book series American Dreams that was released last year. It features callbacks and references to both major and side events in The Last of Us, particularly if you are willing to poke around the environment a bit, and its revelations add an extra layer to the main game’s excellent ending. TLOU rightly stands alone as a well told, standalone story, but Left Behind certainly makes it richer.
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1
Jan
Posted by vagrantesque in Best of 2013, Games, Movies, MUBC. Tagged: 14, 2013, Best, blast, cast, countdown, episode, fourteen, mega, MUBC, of, podcast, ultra. Leave a comment
Happy new year to all! Episode 14 of the Mega Ultra Blast Cast hands out some totally significant awards to farewell 2013! We smash through our normal programming in less than an hour before devoting half an hour to giving out a handful of MUBC awards to various games and movies that impressed us in 2013. Listen to hear Delaney questioning expressions about lightning in bottles, talking up his dancing skills and comparing Disney films to cricket scores, Shane meowing and making puns a bunch of times and all of us discussing the merit of seeing Frozen more than once. We also answer a question submitted by a listener to close out the year in style! The awards start at 55:15 if you’re only interested in that.
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 Sydneysiders who really just want to play Samurai Gunn.
You can play the whole thing right off this page if that interests you:
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Or you can go to the Soundcloud site/app and listen from there:
https://soundcloud.com/mega-ultra-blast-cast/mubc-14-best-of-2013s
(Follow the link and then click the download tab)
As always if you enjoy what you hear please share the cast with your friends – Cheers!
10
Jul
Posted by vagrantesque in MUBC. Tagged: 3, blast, cast, episode, Man, mega, MUBC, of, podcast, steel, three, ultra. Leave a comment
Episode 3 of the Mega Ultra Blast Cast (MUBC) is now up! In this episode the three of us spend a lazy Wednesday afternoon discussing all the many wonderful games we have been blessed with of late. We also find time to talk about our thoughts on Man of Steel and three other movies, discuss the merits of Amy Adams, Kristen Stewart and Emma Watson, then introduce a new segment!
If you feel so inclined, download the following file (or just click play), go for a run, take a scenic drive or just curl up on the couch and listen to the irritating opinions of three caffeine-fueled Sydneysiders.
Here it is, direct from Soundcloud:
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https://soundcloud.com/mega-ultra-blast-cast/mega-ultra-blast-cast-03-man
(Follow the link and then click the download tab)
If you like what you hear please share the cast with your friends and like our brand new Facebook page. Enjoy!
1
Jul
Posted by vagrantesque in Movies. Tagged: Film, Man, Movie, Nolan, of, Review, snyder, steel, superman. Leave a comment
Here it is: The latest big and blockbusting effort to make Superman relevant to the masses again. I saw it four days ago.
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Starring: Henry Cavill, Michael Shannon, Amy Adams
Director: Zack Snyder (300, Watchmen)
Rating: M
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Man of Steel was one of my most anticipated films of 2013 and it had been so for a while, despite the fact that I am not a comic book reader and never have been. There were just so many fascinating questions to be answered – could Christopher Nolan‘s influence on the Superman mythos translate into another superlative movie despite the unavoidable need for the inclusion of superpowers? Would General Zod prove a worthy villain in yet another reboot of the character? And how would Zack Snyder‘s post-Sucker Punch direction factor into things? Having seen it now, when all is said and done, it turns out Man of Steel is a rather difficult film to review. Or at least to score. It has been tormenting me for days.
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26
Jun
Posted by vagrantesque in Games, PS3. Tagged: dog, ellie, joel, last, naughty, of, PS3, Review, us. Leave a comment
So many zombies on screens at the moment!
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Platform: PS3
Developer: Naughty Dog
Rating: R18+
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I didn’t have a regular case for the game.
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This is it.
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Despite its expansive slate of rock-solid console exclusive franchises, blu-ray disc capabilities, the amazing benefits of Playstation Plus and the otherworldly, standalone magnificence of Journey, The Last of Us is in my opinion the most convincing reason yet, and perhaps ever, to own a Playstation 3. Super developer Naughty Dog have crafted a masterful blend of visuals, sound and affective storytelling that exceeds its highly acclaimed previous efforts thanks to some wonderfully balanced gameplay.
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