Posts Tagged ‘Review’
27
Mar
Posted by vagrantesque in Movies. Tagged: Film, great, oz, powerful, raimi, Review, sam. Leave a comment
Man, there is a lot to say about this one. I saw it two days ago, though it’s been in Aussie cinemas for a couple of weeks already.
-◊-◊-◊-◊-
Starring: James Franco, Michelle Williams, Mila Kunis
Director: Sam Raimi (The Evil Dead, Spider-Man)
Rating: PG
-◊-◊-◊-◊-
Expectation is a funny and powerful thing when it comes to movies. When I first saw the trailer for Oz the Great and Powerful, I was quick to dismiss it as a stylistic rip-off of Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland. Considering that film got precisely two things right (Johnny Depp‘s performance and Danny Elfman‘s score) I wasn’t optimistic and didn’t make any plans to see Oz at all. A couple of intriguing reviews later, though, and I was ready to give it a chance. What I got was something quite unexpected and something that arguably does Alice better than Alice.
Continue reading →
21
Mar
Posted by vagrantesque in Games, Xbox 360. Tagged: 360, croft, lara, PS3, raider, Review, tomb, xbox. Leave a comment
I actually finished this game around two weeks ago, but I’ve been so busy I couldn’t even capture screenshots, let alone write it up, until now. It released officially on March 5th.
-◊-◊-◊-◊-
Platform: PS3, Xbox 360, PC
Developer: Crystal Dynamics
Rating: MA15+
-◊-◊-◊-◊-
It’s a hard knock life.
.
Brutalised.
.
It’s barely fifteen seconds after you select “New Game” in the new Tomb Raider that our heroine Lara Croft receives her first injury. After fifteen minutes she’s been burned, impaled through the side and has had disagreements with countless hard, jagged surfaces. An hour in, it’s a wonder she’s still alive. But she is, and this is the important thing, because Square Enix and Crystal Dynamics have re-imagined the decades-old gaming icon as a desperate survivalist in a much grittier setting than the old version ever had to contend with.
Continue reading →
27
Feb
Posted by vagrantesque in Games, PS Vita. Tagged: Game, Golden, Persona, Review, Vita. Leave a comment
This Vita gem was scheduled to be released in Australia today, but it has already been in stores for a couple of days. The Americans got it last November and I imported it back then so I could finish it by our release date. Easier said than done, but here we are.
-◊-◊-◊-◊-
Platform: PSV
Developer: Atlus
Rating: M
-◊-◊-◊-◊-
From the unhinged people who brought you Catherine!
.
It’s a hectic week.
.
High school life never slows down. My teachers are irritating and they keep picking on me to answer questions I have no idea about. I have to attend drama and soccer practice as regularly as I can, because they improve my expression and diligence. I should try to help out my classmates who need to find all manner of trinkets, but exams are coming up so I really should study. I should also make time to hang out with friends, but things don’t pay for themselves, so I have to work hard at a part time job. Oh, and I need to fuse a decent Persona so I can beat a grotesque shadow monster when I next go inside a TV at the local department store.
Such is the bizarre equation of Persona 4 Golden, a truly fantastic entry in one of gaming’s most unique RPG series.
Continue reading →
7
Feb
Posted by vagrantesque in Movies. Tagged: jennifer lawrence, linings, Movie, playbook, Review, silver. Leave a comment
Saw this two nights ago. The Oscars are closing in!
-◊-◊-◊-◊-
Starring: Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Robert de Niro
Director: David O. Russell (Three Kings, The Fighter)
Rating: M
-◊-◊-◊-◊-
I’ve gone into Oscar season a little darker than usual this year. Perhaps due to the Academy’s rather off-putting snub of Skyfall, The Dark Knight Rises and even, where it matters, Django Unchained and Argo, I wasn’t in the mood to do the research. So I went into Silver Linings Playbook without the knowledge that it had a nominee in each of the major acting categories, with only half a trailer and the name of a rather skilled director to give me any idea what to expect. This happy combination set me up to be sucker punched by a film that may just have done to romantic comedy what the excellent The Cabin in the Woods did to horror: prove that daring to shake things up can really work as long as you have the talent to back up your bravado.
Continue reading →
26
Jan
Posted by vagrantesque in Movies. Tagged: django, Film, Review, tarantino, unchained. 1 comment
Time to kick off a new year of reviews. The latest from one of Hollywood’s most successfully quirky directors has finally been released in Australia – two days ago in fact.
-◊-◊-◊-◊-
Starring: Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz, Leonardo DiCaprio
Director: Quentin Tarantino (Pulp Fiction, Inglorious Basterds)
Rating: MA15+
-◊-◊-◊-◊-
A new Quentin Tarantino movie is usually something of an event these days. The infamously subversive lover of genre film only has eight full directing credits to his name, and each one of those movies tackles a different pocket of cinematic history with an enjoyable brashness that only fleetingly conceals a deep reverence for the medium. His eighth, the recently released Django Unchained, is no different in this regard. While it may be flawed, the film ticks all the boxes that make a Tarantino flick so unique and so enjoyable. In my book, that makes it a winner.
Continue reading →
18
Dec
Posted by vagrantesque in DS, Games. Tagged: Black 2, DS, Pokemon, Review, Sequel, White 2. Leave a comment
The DS’ swansong is a real beauty and it’s a relief to get the review for it up on Vagrant Rant, at last. I’ve been playing the game when I can ever since its October 11 release.
-◊-◊-◊-◊-
Platform: DS
Developer: Game Freak
Rating: G
-◊-◊-◊-◊-
That thing’s power is honestly beyond ridiculous.
.
674 hours, 18 minutes.
.
According to the in-game timer, that’s how many hours I have spent playing the first Pokemon White Version. As a gamer, the Pokemon franchise is my World of Warcraft. It is my Team Fortress 2, my Counter-Strike, my Minecraft. It is that one series that grabs the addictive part of my personality and doesn’t let go. So understand that when I review a Pokemon game, my opinion is slanted a certain way. I will probably be more forgiving than a more casual fan on some aspects of the game’s design, but I will also be harsher on others.
Having said that, Pokemon White Version 2 is the best and most complete Pokemon game I have ever played. There you go.
Continue reading →
9
Dec
Posted by vagrantesque in Movies. Tagged: 007, bond, daniel craig, Movie, Review, skyfall. 5 comments
I saw this celebration of 50 years of James Bond the first Tuesday it was available. Suffice to say I was very pleasantly surprised.
-◊-◊-◊-◊-
Starring: Daniel Craig, Javier Bardem, Judi Dench
Director: Sam Mendes (American Beauty, Revolutionary Road)
Rating: M
-◊-◊-◊-◊-
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.
Continue reading →
8
Dec
Posted by vagrantesque in Console, Games, Wii U. Tagged: Console, gamepad, Review, Wii U. Leave a comment
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.
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.
Continue reading →
24
Nov
Posted by vagrantesque in Movies. Tagged: Argo, Ben Affleck, Movie, Review. 3 comments
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.
-◊-◊-◊-◊-
Starring: Ben Affleck, Alan Arkin, John Goodman
Director: Ben Affleck (Gone Baby Gone, The Town)
Rating: M
-◊-◊-◊-◊-
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.
Continue reading →
25
Oct
Posted by vagrantesque in Movies. Tagged: Bruce Willis, JGL, Looper, Review. Leave a comment
I saw this one a couple of weeks ago but it absolutely deserves to be talked about.
-◊-◊-◊-◊-
Starring: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Bruce Willis, Emily Blunt
Director: Rian Johnson (Brick, The Brothers Bloom)
Rating: MA15+
-◊-◊-◊-◊-
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.
Continue reading →
Vagrant Rant 