Hey guys, sorry I haven't been posting regularly in the last weeks. In the midst of changing the look of the site and fixing various bugs I haven't had a lot of time to do much else including set up podcasts. Rest assured that sometime in the coming week there will be new episodes of both podcasts. That being said, I have been able to watch some movies and play some games which I thought I would share as a kind of a catch-up for the last couple weeks. So let me entertain you with some random thoughts.


First, I saw Terminator Salvation. Which I must confess, I've been excited for ever since the teaser and even after I learned how the internet could actually ruin a movie. I'll admit at first I was reluctant, but the idea that we would see what happened at the beginning of T2 fleshed out with glorious detail in a new franchise became ever so enticing. But it may have been this excitement that ultimately led to me not liking the movie. Which doesn't matter all that much because on rotten tomatoes it seems to be doing fine among users. Which says to me that most people probably had a good time with this one. Those of us with high expectations, however, weren't so thrilled, which is highlighted by the discrepancy between user and critical reviews, 71% and 32% respectively. New fans of the series were positively thrilled, while old fans were positively pissed. Maybe, this is a sign that I'm getting old. The styles that I once loved are slowly falling out of style, and my favorite franchises slowly re-invent and re-position themselves to aggressively attack today's market. Which can't be all that bad, right? Terminator 2 was a healthy departure from the Terminator 1 model. So maybe it's just me, maybe I've outgrown this franchise. After all, I have seen 5 different actors play John Connor, six if you count the show.


Secondly, I saw Up. Twice in fact. Once the old fashioned way and once in 3D. Both versions had their merits. And although I completely agree with Adam's first impressions, I must admit this movie hit me like very few movies have. I wanted to cry, during some parts and had a blast during others. This movie was the best adventure movie since Sahara(I'm looking in your direction crystal skull). Before this starts to sound like a full fledged review let me just derail by conveying my innumerable excitement for the summer blockbuster that is Up. For me this movie signals something that Pixar has wanted to do for a while. Ever since the Incredibles, Pixar has been slowly making their movies more accessible to an adult audience. Who would have thought that a movie about middle age superheroes going through a mid-life crisis would appeal to children anyway? With Up the bar has been set even higher, and I must say that the integration of adult issues into to a movie aimed at a younger audience was pretty astounding. I think this might actually spur some interesting discussions at the dinner table. But it wasn't all so serious, in fact I don't think the second half was rooted in any kind of realism. Instead, it was pure adventure, which had me slurping soda and chewing popcorn faster than ever. Good times.


And the last thing I want to talk about briefly was a movie called Fear(s) of the Dark, which I watched over the weekend. It's a series of black and white animated horror stories, or rather scary stories. They aren't really horrifying, but are scary enough to make you afraid in a cerebral way, which to me is more bang for your buck, and totally merits the words inclusion in the title, because that's what you get, fear. It's not shock, horror or thrill, it's fear that haunts you and It reminded me of the Stephen Gammell illustrated Scary Stories. The movie is full of eerie folklore and would be a perfect ritualistic Halloween movie, alongside the Nightmare Before Christmas. Plus, it has great graphics. :)

All in all, it was a good week. So, hopefully, I'll be posting more often in the next couple of weeks. And as always, thanks for tuning in guys.