I’ve just finished watching 300 on DVD and was blown away once again by Zack Snyder’s ability to capture the stylistic approach Frank Miller used when doing the 3oo graphic novel. The saturation of colour throughout the movie manages to almost transform the film into a comic book. The battle scenes are done extraordinarily well, and their heightened level of violence manages to avoid being merely violence for the sake of violence and rather adds to the film’s comic book roots. The characters and plot are wafer thin when you examine them for more than 5 minutes, but that should not detract you from watching this film. It serves more as a testament to the strength and valour of the 300 Spartans than it does to the violence of the battles. I know some people were of the opinion that the film served as a thinly veiled propaganda piece for the West vs Islamic world, but I think that’s really trying to read too much into a somewhat simplistic movie in terms of story. 300 serves as the perfect popcorn film and will survive repeat viewings simply because it approaches the historical epic movie genre from a totally different direction than previous films of its ilk. Frank Miller has struck gold again with 300 in the same way that Sin City managed to reinvigorate the film noir genre for a brand new generation of film goers.
Monthly Archive for July, 2007
Its a fitting climax to one of the greatest cinematic masterpieces of the past 40 years that the final duel in The Good, The Bad & The Ugly takes place in a cemetery. Throughout the Dollars trilogy Leone has managed to craft a wonderful vision of the American west as seen through the eyes of a new generation of cinema goers. No longer did we have to put up with the clean image of cowboys and Indians as previous directors had presented the west to us. No, Leone’s west was an altohether different beast that presented a more bleak and ugly face. Coupled with Ennio Morricone’s epic music the three Dollars films manage to convey the brutality of life and yet show it as humorous and touching at the same time. The end duel really highlights all the talent that Leone, the crew and the actors poured into the films, all without the huge production values that have become standard today. Its a scene that builds and builds for an endless amount of time and seems to last for ages before suddenly a gunshot rings out and punctures the silence.The wide camera shots are interspliced quicker and quicker with extreme close ups of the three main protagonists in perfect timing with Morricone’s score. This is certainly one of the all time great moments in modern cinema and still remains head and shoulders above all the movies that followed it. Don’t fall into the trap of imaging that because its a Western it has no modern day connotations or merit. Give it a try and you’ll be well rewarded for your efforts.
Hot on the heels of my PES fanaticism flaring up again I’ve also taken the time to reacquaint myself with the beautiful world of Okami. I’d let the game gather dust for the past few months after reaching a sticky point that I was unable to get past. I’ve got the habit of dropping a game once I reach a sticky point and moving onto something else. Its a very haphazard way of playing games, but its my own unique approach 
After a FIFA evening at Craig’s place he showed me a trick or two that I could use to get past the point in the game where I was stuck, so today I whipped out my copy of Okami and gave it my best shot. After a couple of efforts I finally managed to get past the point in the game that had been holding me up. After this I was psyched to play it further and further. Next thing I know, several hours had passed and I was much further in the game.
Clover Studios have really outdone themselves with Okami. It is certainly one of the most visually striking games I’ve ever had the pleasure to play and has its own unique sense of humour that manages to steer clear of so many clichés prevalent in today’s games. The music is striking and beautifully orchestrated and manages to stay in the background without detracting your attention away from the action and story and yet at the same time it complements both extraordinarily well. the difficulty level is well paced and manages to be easy enough for first timers to RPGs to play and yet asks you to use your brain to outwit your enemies. The characters you meet on your travels through Nippon are some of the most amusing you’ll encounter in any game world and make playing Okami a real joy. With Clover Studio having dissolved after God Hand this was their swansong and should really be played by any right thinking gamer who has become jaded by stale sequels and remakes that saturate the games industry. Okami is beauty personified.
Having played a lot of FIFA 07 in recent weeks with Craig and Ryan I haven’t had a chance to enjoy the beauty that is PES. So recently I decided that I just had to cram a few games in and I was once again amazed at the gap between PES and FIFA in terms of gameplay. There’s just no comparing how smooth and authentic the flow of gameplay is in PES when put against the stilted and broken gameplay of FIFA. the passing is more fluent, your players are more responsive, your AI players make intelligent runs and there’s a more cohesive flow to the game. In FIFA you’ve got a much slower pace and your players are very slow to react and they will not make runs on their own. Don’t get me wrong, FIFA has improved remarkably from 06 to 07 and has done away with the set animations and lack of a physics engine. PES also has its own set of problems such as the lack of licences for the English Premier League and the Bundesliga as well as atrociously bad commentary from Peter Brackley and Trevor Brooking that is put to shame by Fifa 07’s commentary team. Its a mark of how perfect the gameplay mechanics and AI are of PES that scores of gamers are willing to forgive it these foibles and concentrate on its main selling point: the perfect and authentic recreation of the world’s most popular sport. I’ve lost count of the times I’ve whiled away several hours tinkering with my Master League team in the hopes of wringing a few more goals out of my cheap strikers or in trying to shore up my leaky defence. I’ve had some moments where I’ve been dancing around my living room after scoring a late winner and I’ve had moments where I’ve come within inches of smashing my TV after my foolish defenders have all run in circles and let goals leak through when I’ve least needed it. This is a mark of a great game, created by passionate football fans who know that the game of football is more important than throwing in licensed music tracks and flashy trick moves.
After having watched the latest trailer for Metal Gear Sold 4: Guns of the Patriots my lust for all things MGS returned with a vengeance. Hideo Kojima has always managed to use the series to create new ways of challenging players. From hiding codec frequencies on the actual game case to making sure that you feed your character enough, Kojima has never been afraid to experiment with the expectations of the games playing fraternity. He’s also always put amazing stories in all of his games. The MGS series has become synonymous with long cutscenes and extended periods of dialogue, but you won’t hear me complain. The stories are beautifully handled and emotional without being melodramatic. the characters that populate the MGS universe are just as diverse. With their own brand of uniqueness and weird powers they manage to bring a bit of colour and depth to the MGS games with boss battles that are unique, fun and exciting to play.
Do yourself a favour and hop on over to GameSpot and download the latest trailer. Every time I watch it I get goosebumps its so brilliant.
As I alluded to in my previous post, I had several pieces of good news. With my visit to Kitti being finalised I was in for a further treat when she said that she was going later in the day to visit Basilisk to open the surprise I’d gotten her earlier in the month. I’d been waiting anxiously to find out how she would receive it. I was pleasantly surprised to hear that she absolutely loved it and was even surprised. Now surprising Kitti is something that happens only once or twice in a million years so I’m counting my surprise as a success then. A big thank you to Basilisk for helping me round her gift off with some well chosen last minute additions. What Kitti doesn’t know yet is that I’ve just put into motion something that will dwarf her surprise by far. She’ll just have to wait till my visit to find out the precise details though
Wow!!! Today has brought me so much good news I can’t believe it. After a Monday night when I was feeling as sick as a dog I have had a huge turnaround today after several amazing bits of news. First off, Kitti managed to give me confirmed dates for my trip to visit her. the great thing is that the weekend went from being a short 4 day weekend into an epic long weekend after discovering the the weekend is preceded by a public holiday on the 8th August! This came as a total shock to me since I’d been thinking her parents would decide on a weekend later in the month. Needless to say I immediately asked my boss for the Friday and Monday off for that weekend and he thankfully said its OK. From there I went as fast as possible to book myself a flight. thank goodness for the internet. Within a few moments I’d booked my flight and printed out the relevant details. So thanks to Kulula I’ll be arriving in Durban at 6pm on the 8th and leaving the 13th around 6pm. I can’t wait!!!
Though I was feeling a bit under the weather last night I did manage to rewatch the last two Tool DVD singles for Schism and Parabola. I never tire of watching Tool videos for the simple fact that Adam Jones has constructed some truly beautiful images that stand up to multiple viewings due to their uniqueness and hidden meanings. Tool videos are so far removed from the usual music video tripe that we are served up on a daily basis on MTV. They do not pander to the lowest common denominator and they serve as an additional layer to the music, not as merely eye candy. You are expected to think for yourself and decipher the meanings of the video on your own. So be prepared for a video that challenges your preconceptions of music and film and you will be pleasantly surprised.
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