I recently downloaded and used the Hulu Desktop Beta. And right off the bat I want to mention how sleek the interface is. Cable companies take notice. It's easy to cycle through movies and television shows, but the bast part is the full screen capabilities and its functionality with the mac remote. I watched a bit of Field of Dreams, which didn't hold up that well, and a bit of a newer HD episode of the Simpsons which was very comparable to DVD quality. Say what you will about Hulu's selection, but it is nice to be able to catch recent episodes from the couch. Internet TV's on its way in.

Battle Fantasia, the delightful little fighting game from Arc Systems (of Guilty Gear and Blaze Blue fame) is set for release on the Playstation 3 via PSN this fall.

The game was made available for XBOX 360 exclusively last year in retail form, leaving PS3 2D fighting enthusiasts out of the loop, until now. Details regarding the price of this digital download release have not been mentioned, but I'm guessing that it will come in around the $20, which would be a total steal considering how good this game is.

I own both the imported PS3 disc of Battle Fantasia and the U.S. XBOX 360 version. I cant recommend this game enough to people who are interested in a light, easy to pick up and play fighting game, with a simple (and very forgiving) controls. Battle Fantasia is also gorgeous to look at. The art style is reminiscent of Hayou Miyasaki's European-fused anime works, and the cell-shaded 3D characters look more cartoon-like than Street Fighter 4's roster.

Keep you eyes peeled for Battle Fantasia on the Playstation Network this fall. It'll be the perfect game to play between white-knuckle matches of Street Fighter 4, King of Fighters XII and Blaze Blue.

The documentary I Got Next details life within the Street Fighter tournament community. Which, niche as it may be, is an ever-growing community, especially with the release of street fighter 4. It was screened live on UFRAG last week and has since been released to watch. It's not the full version but is still pretty lengthy. It's neat to see these personalities interacting on such a small scale since they've been enlarged to such mythic proportion.

In a recent Eurogamer article Cliff Bleszinski confesses that the limitations of designing games on current-gen, or otherwise affectionately known as "now-gen," consoles is probably the reason there are so many bald space marines floating around these days. Or rather, this gens specialty is rendering, grungy space heroes. He says,

"At the same time, in this generation the translucent effects are very hard to pull off. That's why everybody sees a lot of these bald characters and wonder why games feature so many f***ing space marines. Well, the tech is good at showing off armour and it's not that good at doing hair. That's why we have bald space marines. There's your answer people."

Polytroncorporation.com confirms that Fez, the lil' indie that could, is coming to the XBOX 360 courtesy of LIVE Arcade in early 2010.

Why should you care? We'll if your that cool dude at the party who likes to talk about how groundbreaking and ingenious Braid is then you'd be good to RSVP a seat on the Fez bandwagon.




Fez will be the "it" game of 2010. Mark my words.

I'm so jealous of my older brother...


He ordered this amazing Land of the Lost themed t-shirt that was only available to order for 24 hours from teefury.com (that's the sites gimmick, which I must admit is pretty damn clever and enticing).

The artist responsible for the Sleestak and baby Chaka shirt is Jared Moraitis who has one hell of a knack for pop culture puns.

I particularly like these...

Pac Samurai

Warning: Potential spoilers!

One might suspect when entering the cinema that they're about to witness the rise and fall of the infamous bank robber, sociopath, and all around scumball John Dillinger (played by Johnny Depp). But this plot presumption would be wrong. We see no rise, only the fall. The film begins in September of 1934, Dillinger's first prison break, and follows him until his demise eleven months later. Everything starts going wrong for him, basically, from the beginning of the movie.
John Dillinger likes fast cars, movies, woman, and money. And he's not the type of fellow who is "thinkin' bout tomorrow". That's about all we get about the man. There's no real insight into his past and why he is the way he is, and why he has this obsession with living on the edge. In this universe he's somewhat of an enigma. Some, after seeing the film, might view this lack of character development as grounds for some deserved negative criticism, but I didn't care. He more than makes up for these ambiguities with his humor, charm, and cockiness. Perhaps the real Dillinger was a mystery as well.
Those who are also anticipating a non stop thrill ride of murder, sex, brutal gangster violence, and bank robberies might also be disappointed. Although the highlight for the film, for me, does involve a car chase and a shoot out between cops and robbers, the action is very sparse. Mostly a lot of chit chat between thugs in jail cells, restaurants, and hideouts. The character of Dillinger spends nearly half the film falling for a dame he meets in a club in Chicago. Their ultimate goal is to go away together after Johnny makes his final big score. You already know what's gonna happen, don't ya?
The film looks great though. Obviously a lot of work went into the costumes and sets to make it look like 1930's midwestern America, rural and metropolitan. I read somewhere that they did a lot of the filming for this movie where the real events actually took place. That's always great for authenticity.
Now comes the part where I tell you if I liked the movie or not: yes. I did. Overall, a solid picture. It was entertaining. The 2 hours and 20 minutes flew by without me looking at my watch. Is it an amazing film? Of course not. Very rarely do I ever see, or expect to see, and amazing work of cinema that totally blows me away. I suppose, now, I'm a little cynical when it comes to movies. Especially Hollywood movies.
This picture gives you the basic hollywood gangster movie package: a little action, some drama, decent performances, and a love story. Nothing new under the sun. And that's just fine by me.





Also: since I'm reviewing a biopic about Dillinger I might as well mention another biopic I saw last week about another 2oth century hero to some, and fiend to others: I'm talking about last years Che. Part 1 and 2. If you can handle a four hour movie I'd very much recommend it. I think I actually liked it more than Public Enemies. It was more of an intriguing film, for me, because of the fact I knew close to nothing about it, or its main character, Che Guevara. So there was an element of genuine surprise. Plus, his story is more compelling than the story of Dillinger to me. Benicio Del Toro gives a fine performance, which is important considering the film focuses entirely upon him, plus the visuals and the locations where they shot it were quite beautiful. Check it out if you get the chance.

So you've seen all the Pixar movies and bought all the merch. You're a regular Pixar aficionado, aren't you? Not so fast...have you read Pixar's Pixarpedia? Most likely not, because it's not scheduled for release until August 17th and will retail for $26.40. It's worth it, it's the completed guide to the Pixar universe with facts, trivia etc. Reach for the sky!!

Two weeks before his death, Michael Jackson wrapped shooting on a 3D movie known as "the Dome Project" that was created to accompany his European This is It Tour.

Footage was shot using 3D cameras developed by stereoscopic extraordinaire James Cameron. I'm guessing that concert goers would have been given 3D glasses to experience the effects:wonder if they would have looked like MJ's signature aviator shades?

Of course of the big question is when and how will we be able to see this last documented footage of Jackson getting his sing and dance on. The running time of "the Dome Project" is unknown, so we cant say yet if it would merit a full theatrical 3D release.

Surely all unreleased projects including this 3D film and the 100+ new songs that Jackson recorded before his passing will eventually see the light of day. How soon will the powers-that-be decide to cash in?

Here is a unreleased song that MJ recorded with Akon from 2008 called "Hold my Hand".
Michael's first line in the track is now a heartbreaking connotation...

This life don't last forever... So tell me what we're waiting for...

While most people were working hard, or hardly working in some cases, I was, of course, making it a top priority of mine to man up and enjoy the summer, which means staying indoors and enjoying some sort of entertainment.


First up:
I watched Waltz with Bashir.

This was an animated documentary of sorts. It's weird to talk about this movie as if it were a documentary, because it has a tendency to be fantastic at times while being realistic most of time. The graphic (a term that gets thrown around too often) quality of the film is what makes Bashir work. It's the recollection of reality that is often times the most jarring or fantastic. It's in our vivid minds that dreams and reality mingle, fantasy and fiction coalesce. Though in this case, one might not be discernible from the other. I enjoyed this film and although the low key dream like animation lulled me to sleep in some parts, it certainly jarred me a wake in others. If you have the chance, see it.

Next: (these aren't really chronological) I beat Resident Evil 5.
In previous podcasts I was particularly harsh when it came to this game. So what compelled me to finish it? I really just wanted to get over stubbornness. I was frustrated at the beginning and actually quit playing for a whole month. But I stuck with it and in the conquered my RE5 controller phobia. I still don't understand why you can't reload while moving. Perhaps Capcom angled for a new genre. Survival Frustration, or Control Horror? Joking aside the last level looked amazing as well as most of the game. Though there were a lot of buggy A.I. issues. And some design choices didn't exactly float my boat, albeit, inevitably this is really a moot point.



Lastly:
I ended up playing some good old fashion Coin-Op at my local arcade. I played a bit of Sega Rally 3. So, even if I wasn't enjoying the blue skies outside, I at least got to see them inside. I lost every match and over-compensated my steering. But toward the end I got the hang of it. Still Andy creamed me. And by the way, this game on these monitors looks amazing.

I also got the chance to beat Rambo co-op with Andy. The shooting felt really accurate and the Rage audio was priceless. It was a quick pleasant experience, except for the boulders. The quick targeting was a snap, and I actually Got a good commendation in the end! I've got what it takes. By the way, Adam wrote a review of this at Blast Heroes.



Oh yeah and I played about 50 rounds of Street Fighter 4 with Andy last night. We have an ongoing debate about whether or not one of the kids in the background is sporting a cap turned backwards on his head or if his head is shaved with a tuft of hair up front.

Click image to see larger.
We're still waiting for conformation from Capcom.

RIP MJ

Oscar decides to allow 10 of his friends to come to the party next time. This was the announcement made earlier this week in what appears to be an attempt to give UP a chance to win best picture. But then who'll win best animated feature? This is a double edged sword because, on the one hand, although great animated features may finally get recognized in the Best Picture category they'll most likely still have an extremely uphill battle trying to win. Does this mean that they won't be recognized in their own category? For instance, if UP gets a BP nod, will it also be included in animation? There are so many questions still swirling around the Academy's announcment.

Move over space marines and street brawlers. Time to make room for satanic eroticism and moonwalking.

File one as rumor and the other as, "may actually be made and released in France".

Follow this e-rabbit to find out about Lars non Trier's Eden, a video game that is set to pick up after of the events the Danish film makers latest WTF-Fest, Anti-Christ.

As if that news wasn't enough out of left field, how about this. Rumor is that the King of Pop is making a new game. Take into account that Michael is also supposed to put out a new album too, one that has reached Chinese Democracy status of being unfashionably M.I.A.

This reminds me of the early 90's when everyone from Prince to Stephen Spielberg wanted in on video games, err...sorry. Interactive entertainment.

Just a few thoughts:
I believe that this has been a somewhat lackluster summer movie season. I've already seen the films I was really looking forward to: UP and Star Trek. I personally have nothing to live for, in regards to movies, until the Fall.
Now although Up and Star Trek have already taken over 200 million dollars domestically at the box office, I believe the trophy for highest grossing film, domestically, of 2009 will probably go to this weeks new release, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. The first one was a huge success so it's assumed the sequel will be as well. That's how that works, right?
The new Harry Potter looks to be its only real competition, however, the previous installment in the Harry Potter series, in 2007, failed to top the first Transformers movie at the box office here in the states. Will it be the same outcome this year? Will the financially abject come out in droves and pay the obscene price of admission again for robots over wizards? Lets not forget how much more it would cost to see the IMAX versions. We'll just have to wait and see.
Hopefully, I'll be able to gloat later about how America preferred robot cars over British teenage wizards and witches.

We here at A2M, are all anxiously awaiting the Tim Burton version of Alice in Wonderland. This week a whole slew of images from the teaser were released and published on sites across the web. They originated from a first look article on USA Today which is actually interactive. But, before we see more screenshots, spoilers, etc. I have to ask, do we really want to? Undoubtedly, for some of us the answer is yes. We just can't wait, and we have to know every possible little detail concerning the movie as to leave no surprise. No doubt, releasing press photos like the ones released on USA today, drive up anticipation for the film and activate fan interest. But, do they actually kill the movie going experience? Dave Chen brought a good example up on the Filmcast about this. During the ad campaign for Phantom Menace a major spoiler for the movie was showcased in the main trailer, the famous Double light saber. I implore you, as Dave Chen did before me, to imagine watching that movie, getting to that battle and feeling your jaw hit the floor and your eyes open up like saucers when Darth Maul whips out his double ended light sword. So how much do I want to see of Alice in Wonderland before it comes out? I don't know. The curiosity in me kills, but I know the reward for naivety will be great.

It's a slow news day, and it's been hard not to make a list post like everyone else or latch on to every little tidbit no matter how insignificant. But there is one bit that I would like to comment on. I'm sure many of you have seen the digital copies packed in with some DVDs and BRDs, and wondered if anyone one actually uses the feature. I've never known anyone personally to use it, but it's a nice feature none the less. Coming in 2010 Sony will take it one step further and make it mandatory for all Blu-ray players to be able to record one "full resolution" feature. Here's the interesting part quoted directly from Home Toys:

Managed copies can be made to recordable Blu-ray or DVD discs, as a download to a Windows Media DRM-compatible portable player or hard drive.