DVD Review #3

The Pineapple Express

After all the hype with the movie The Pineapple Express, I just had to see how funny it actually was. I rented it from the local redbox, expecting a movie like the stoner classic Dazed and Confused. I microwaved some popcorn and sat down to what hoped to be a hilarious comedy. I was sincerely disappointed.

Pineapple Express stars Knocked Up’s Seth Rogen and Spiderman’s James Franco, so how could I have possibly gone wrong! I assumed the movie was going to be stupid yes, however I hoped it would be stupid funny like Old School, it wasn’t! It was just plain stupid. Throughout the entire movie I laughed maybe twice. I who had originally thought that Seth Rogen was the new up and coming comedic actor was sadly mistaken.

The movie is about this one guy (Seth Rogen’s character) who, while getting stoned, witnesses someone murdered. He gets scared and goes to tell his friend/dealer what he just witnessed. They are extremely nervous and run, just in time for “the bad guys” to catch up to them. I didn’t expect much violence in this movie, but for the last half hour that’s all there is. I know I know look at the cover art, but that didn’t mean it was going to reflect the movie in anyway. It did.

I found the movie to be more action than comedy. I was hoping this would live up to the expectations I had after seeing Dazed and Confused and Fast Times at Ridgemont High, two very classic stoner movies of the 80’s. I instantly realized that nothing would ever live up to those movies. Pineapple Express is basically what stoners are now. Lazy slugs that all they want to do is get high. What ever happened to the people that were high and still functioned? If you want to watch something incredibly pointless and stupid then Pineapple Express may be right for you. If you want to watch something that will remind you of the classic stoner movies, go watch Dazed and Confused. I give this movie a 2 out of 10. 

DVD Review #2

Step Brothers

When I picked up Step Brothers, I thought how could I go wrong, I mean it was Will Ferrell and John C. Reily pretending to be brothers. It wasn’t the greatest thing in the world that’s for sure, but in my opinion it was nowhere near as bad as Pineapple Express.

            Step Brothers is about just that, 2 families coming together that already have kids, the only downfall is both are full grown adults in their early 30’s. The two act just like they were 10 years old. They fight constantly until they realize they have something in common, and then they become the best of friends and want to do everything together.

            Eventually something happens that causes a riff in the parent’s marriage and by the end they split up, which is hard on the two boys because they think that they can’t be friends anymore so they split up.

            For a movie that is a comedy it lacks the most important part, the comedic part. Lately anything Will Ferrell has been very disappointing. He really needs to step up to the plate and come out with something good. Maybe he should team back up with Luke Wilson and Vince Vaughn. Because it wasn’t funny, but at the same time it wasn’t incredibly stupid either I would give this movie a 4 out of 10. It had it’s moments of me giving a “ha that was a little funny” to my TV, but nothing really special. Maybe Will Ferrell’s next movie will be a hit for me.

Book Review #3

House of Night: Marked

By: P.C. Cast and Kristen Cast

Marked is the first of many in the House of Night series. I first picked up the book, just because it was vampire related and I have a severe obsession with vampires; however now a days who doesn’t. From the first page I feel in love with it. It wasn’t like Twilight, in any way, but more so like Harry Potter.

            The book starts out with a normal teenage girl, named Zoey, but with all vampire stories you know that something’s going to happen. A man goes to her school towards the end of the day and “marks” her. When this happens you’re considered to be a social outcast among your friends, and her boyfriend Heath and Best Friend, keep telling her they will still be together, but of course things change.

            When you’re marked, you only have a certain amount of time to get to the House of Night school. Now the House of Night is a school for vampires in training, or fledglings is what they are called. Zoey becomes frantic because her mom doesn’t seem to care too much about her possibly dying to even bring her. She ends up going to see her grandmother and on her search ends up passing out not far from her house. When she wakes up she is at the House of Night.

            The book continues in a Harry Potter way, there is girl who is much like Draco Malfoy and her name is Aphrodite. Zoey becomes close friends that are like family with a few others. Her family disowns her except for her grandmother who acts just like Mrs. Weasley. Zoey is also special in a way. She learns she has an affinity to all of the 5 elements, which many vampires don’t have, never mind fledglings. 

            Marked is a great novel for those just wanting to get into the vampire world, but if you’ve been in it for a while, it’s just another take on the vampire legend, and maybe not your style. Unless you’re a teenage girl, or still one at heart this book may not be for you. Thankfully I am still one at heart, and I did enjoy this book despite the amount of similarities it has with such the incredible Harry Potter Series. I would give this book a 6 out of 10.

         I would’ve liked to have seen maybe something a little more unique rather than a kind of rip off from another story. It does feel like they took Harry Potter and what made Harry Potter so unique and basically stole some ideas from J.K. Rowling. I wish it was a little more unique of a story, however this has yet to be done in the vampire world.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer S1 EP1

Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Season 1 Episode 1 

“Welcome to the Hellmouth”

Original Airdate: March 3, 1997

            Buffy is a pretty girl, with a bright future, but little do people know she is a vampire slayer. She’s just moved to Sunnydale, CA and is trying to get a fresh start and live a normal life. Little does she know that the librarian has also just moved to Sunnydale, and it’s not just a coincidence. Giles, the librarian is not just a librarian, but also a watcher. And as it turns out he’s her watcher.

            There are several other characters of the episode. Xander who’s you’re average, boy next-door type of character. He is the type of character that jokes about everything and essentially creates awkward moments. Willow, who is your nerdy, geeky, know it all kinda gal. Then we have Cordelia who is the popular, “fashion guru” of the show, so to speak. She’s the girl that every school has that every girl wants to be just like. She’s the pretty popular cheerleader type. She makes fun of Xander and Willow for being really nerdy and scrubby. Buffy is slightly torn because she wants to be popular and have friends and be friends with Cordelia, but she also likes Xander and Willow and would love to become friends with them.

            The down fall to being a vampire slayer is that no one can know what you are and what you do. But when Buffy discusses how she feels about the whole slaying “profession” Xander overhears. She’s afraid of getting Xander hurt, but also having a friend that knows your secrets is very relieving.

            As Buffy is on her way to the club, She meets a mysterious man in black. He’s tall, dark, and handsome. He calls himself a friend, but why is he being so mysterious? Interestingly enough Buffy just can’t seem to get him out of her mind. He even gave her a Stainless steel cross.

            As the episode continues we learn that Buffy will probably have a stronger bond with Willow than anyone. She needs the most help, and with Buffy watching out for her she’ll listen to her every word. Buffy tells Willow to Seize the Day tomorrow you might be dead. Willow does seize the moment, but with the wrong guy!

            Buffy goes on a frantic search for her, and eventually asks Xander, who brings up the fact that he knows that Buffy is the slayer, however he at first thinks she’s delusional. Until he sees how frantic she is.

            When Xander and Buffy enter the Mausoleum, he’s shocked to learn the truth. Vampires are real, they’re in Sunnydale, and they’re attacking his two best friends. It’s at this moment that we see the potential that the two have to become great friends.

            The episode ends with a fight between Buffy and one of the older Vampires Luke. We see what a slayer is all about and how strong they actually are compared to vampires. Luke throws Buffy into and open casket and we are left lingering for a few seconds, then Luke jumps into the casket and goes in for the kill.  We’re left with the words “To Be Continued.” That’s when we know that it's going to be a great show!

            As a pilot it’s one of the better ones that I have seen, and let me tell you I’ve seen many. As an episode of Buffy, it’s just ok. Not one of the stronger episodes, but that’s to be expected because it’s the first season. Obviously the first episode is more about the characters than anything, but again that’s to be expected, you can’t just jump right into an episode without developing anything.

            Buffy has been a breakthrough for the vampire world, I remember the first time I watched this pilot, and I was instantly hooked. I still thank my brother to this very day! The show starts with a smash and ends with a well I’ll get to that! For a pilot episode of a show I give it an 8 out of 10; for an episode of Buffy I give it a 4 out of 10, which just means the show only gets better from here. 

Game Review #5

Mario Kart

Nintendo Wii

Mario Kart Wii, is  a game that is fun for all ages. With its colorful 3-D graphics and it’s likeable characters, this game is sure to please a crowd.

Like it’s predecessors, Mario Kart Wii is a racing game that involves moving your character around the track as fast as possible and trying to get the best placement you can. In the game you can pick from many classic Mario characters from the fun loving Yoshi to the mean nasty Bowser. Also you have many different tracks to choose from, 32 in all, 16 new ones and 16 retro ones. Mario Kart Wii is best played with a group of friends in the same room. With the right people you can be screaming at each other asking “Why did you hit me with the blue shell?”

Mario Kart Wii also has the capabilities to play with your friends online, just as long as you have your friends friend code, and internet capabilities you will be able to play that friend that’s halfway across the world. The only downfall to playing online is that they did not think to incorporate the Wii Speak capabilities.

Mario Kart is a fun game that has everything you would want in a multiplayer game. Get ready for lots of laughs, and memories on your next game night by buying this game.

Because of it’s online capabilities, cute cartoony graphics, and ability to give you some of the best memories, I would give this game a 7.5 out of 10.

Book Review #2

New Moon

By Stephenie Meyer

So as promised, here is a review to the sequel of Twilight. As Many know, the story follows Bella Swan and Edward Cullen, two people from very distant worlds that are destined to be together. A modern day Romeo and Juliet if you will. Our story starts around Bella’s Birthday, in September and, well I’ll just say it, all hell breaks loose. Edward and his sister Alice have planned a special birthday night at their house for Bella. And the newest vegetarian, Jasper, plays a very pivotal character in this scene, but I won’t spoil that for people that haven’t read it.

            After her birthday, for several days Edward is very distant and depressed. He loves Bella, but he knows that if he sticks around for much longer she may winde up dead or just like him. Eventually he opens up and confronts Bella on what is wrong. Which causes her to go into a complete depression, which no one can really seem to pull her out of. That is until Jacob Black comes along.

            Jacob Black not really the boy next door, but very close to it. A young boy who is a family friend, goes to Bella’s rescue. They end up becoming best friends and when Jacob starts to become distant and moody with Bella, she starts to sink again, until he tells her what has been going on. Jacob his gang have a dark secret, that if it gets out could cause a lot of commotion.  So when he tells her, the others don’t think it’s a good idea and don’t take too well to her being in on it. However considering the other secrets Bella has kept and is still keeping, many end up being ok with it.

            Bella becomes a thrill seeker, because when she does something dangerous she hears Edwards voice in her head, and it makes her happy. With Alice’s ability to see the future, it makes it look like she is attempting suicide. When Alice sees this she of course lets her brother know, who says he cannot live in a world where Bella doesn’t exist.

            New Moon captures audiences back into the world of Forks, Washington. It’s Another hit for Stephenie Meyer. And with it’s captivating scenes, heart-breaking events, and hilarious antics I give this book a 8 out of 10. 

Game Review #4

SingStar

Playstation 3

Recently I have acquired a Playstation 3, I know lucky me right! Well because I absolutely love singing and love singing games, SingStar Vol. 1 was one of my first PS3 games. I had played the previous versions on my Playstation 2, but was very excited to take a look at the online content for the PS3.

One of the first things I noticed was the ability to swap discs. If you have the Playstation 2 SingStars you will be able to swap those discs out with ease with the push of a few buttons. This allows you to not just sing songs that are on one disc, but the ones that are on all of them.

One of the features that was carried over onto the PS3 version was the ability to save your songs that you perform well, and with the added ability of being able to put up to 5 audio files onto your community profile online, you can get your voice out into the world, but be warned you will be rated and people can be brutal. If you have the Playstation Eye you can put up to 5 videos and numerous photos that people can rate as well. Along with the ability to have an online profile, you can also download songs from the SingStar store. New songs are added every other Thursday.

Now onto the actual game play, when you first buy any SingStar game you will buy it bundled with 2 microphones, a blue and red (1^st player and 2^nd player). If you have bought the Playstation 2 versions they will still work for the PS3. When you go to sing a song in any mode you will notice that the video plays in the background as you sing (I still sometimes get distracted by the video). You are scored on how well you hold notes, and how well you hit notes. I’ve come to the conclusion that highest score you can get is around 10,000 I have yet to get that but I can’t see it going any higher than that.

Some of the different game modes are solo, battle, duet, and practice. In solo mode, it is just that you sing alone. In battle mode you and a friend go up against each other singing the whole song. In duet mode you and a friend sing a song together and get a combined score. In practice mode you can practice any song without having to worry about a score.

Some of the other games that they have for Playstation 3 Volume 1, Volume 2, Abba, and a soon to be released Queen. Both of the artist titles are just their songs and no others. For the Playstation 2 there are many, here are just a few examples Country, Pop vol. 1, Pop Vol. 2, 90’s, 80’s and a few more.

If you like music, and you like to sing, then any sort of SingStar game would be right for you! For what it is, I rate this game an 8 out of 10.