Movie Reviw: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

Ok, lets just get to the point. Yes it is a good film to watch. A very good throwback to the classic Indiana Jones movies where the last film was 19 years ago. Should you go out of your way to spend 100+ php to see it in a movie theater, Yes. its definitely one of those movies you must see in a cinema rather than waiting for the official dvd release. Is it worth the money? Well yes and no. If you want to know more then just read on, if not you have my opinion about the movie, and i suggest you watch it.

Ok, now on to my long winded review. First off, i dont remember much of the old series. i've watched them only a couple of times in the past and i haven't reviewed the old Indiana films for quite some time. But i do remember exactly how the movie felt and the energy and excitement it generated when i first watched them. I can honestly say that this does not disappoint. A classic throwback to the old Indiana Jones movies. Accurately capturing the flow of the past films. Doing the same style of humor, and the same type of exciting action sequences. in a way this is the movies strong point, on the other hand, this is also the movies bad point. I am not sure if it was the movie itself or just me growing up, but it did feel a bit outdated and childish in some points of the movie. But when you look at it in another perspective, i guess all the Indiana Jones films where like that.

Set now in 1954, i think, after the second world war and the cold war was beginning (or has begun), it isn't the Germans that are giving Mr. Jones the hard time, it is now the Russians, or more precisely the physic division of the KGB. The film started out great. It was like landing in the middle of the film, now origins, no pre-setup of plots, just right down to business. Mr. Jones being manhandled out of the back of a vehicle in "Area 51" or so was written on huge door, or gate, whatever. Oh yeah, there was a few min in the beginning of the film, well best i could say, as a filler, i'm guessing it was there to help the audience settle in before they start the action. In which case i should give a fair warning now, If you havn't watched it yet, you might not want to read thru since i'll be posting stuff here that might ruin the movie experience. If your not so concerned about it, then read on.

Where was i? oh yeah, i was a great start to the movie. With out going into much detail, same old routine, something big happens, something was stolen, and its up to Mr. jones to save the day. Please insert comedy sequences and action scenes in between the points. Hahahaha. Just kidding, but frankly i really dont want to go into the details. I will however will go into my usual rants about the movie.

First off is, well' i've said earlier, the movie felt outdated. The comedy sequences were predictable. yes they were different, but they were only different in the way it was acted out. A bit of the rehash of the old jokes that never lost their appeal. Second, the plot this time was somewhat a stretch. without going into the details, what Mr. jones was searching for and what he discovered was really a stretch for me. After watching the film, you might say to me, "but all the plots of Indiana Jones movies were a stretch" but still, for me, this one was a way bigger stretch. Third, well considering the age of Harrison ford, you can definitely tell that its not him anymore doing the action sequences. There are times when you will notice it, but even the times when you don't you'll still doubt your thoughts cuz Harrison's Age is in the back of your mind. for god sakes hes like 65 now.

But after all these things, it shouldn't keep you away from watching this movie. After all the high tech, overly computer generated action sequences we've come to enjoy, watching George Lucas and Steven Spielberg create such an enjoyable film is like a breath of fresh air. The die hard fans are, for sure, loving this movie and so should you.

My Rating: 8.5/10 (great throwback to old style movie making. You'll ride the edge of your seats and laugh at the same time)
Replayability: 4 (its a scale on how many times I can watch the movie over and over before your tired of it.)

Revoltech Gurren Lagann

Well heres my other Revoltech which i bought along with the Regult posted below. Its a very good anime. Its more of a throwback to the old style anime with super robots that defy logic and physics, but hey its an anime, you can do anything in an anime. So just as the Regult, I've posted some snapshots below, and again i apologize for the crappy pictures, i had to deal with a camera phone, a flashlight and a rechargeable florescent emergency light. I edited them as best i could. Just a note, if your planning to buy one, please do be careful while changing the chest accessory. you can actually change the chest, one with the shades and one with out. While taking out the chest with the shades, well it kinda snapped off and i had to super glue it together, so if your replacing yours, just be careful in taking it out.

Revoltech Regult

Well i just want to share my New Revoltech toy. its the Regult unit of the Zendradi. I would have preferred to buy a few of these since they were the staple unit of the Zendradi forces in the Macross series but sadly my budget wont allow it. And to make matters worse theres a VF-1J Max edition that i wanted to buy, not to mention the coming YF-19 and YF 21 series that will soon to come out. Oh hum, i'm running out of funds... :(

Summer Blockbuster Movie Schedule

Ok, here it is. A list of the movies that are comming out this summer. There are more movies due to be shown but i have only listed the ones i've been waiting to watch and the the ones i think other people are waiting for and might make it big splash this summer. They're in order from left to right and top to botom. Some have already been shown, and some i bet a few of you haven't realized existed. A few of these havent been promoted yet, no trailers no news, so i've included a link to each respected Official Home Page for you to view the trailers (if available) or moview information. just click on the photo of the movie you want to view and you'd be redirected to its official site.

One last thing you need to know, these are official movie dates for the US. It may be different here in the Philippines. I would still need to check every wed of every week on whats showing. So if your from the Philippines or any other country, please still check you local listing on what exact dates these movies are showing, either way you can just use these dates as a guide.

Enjoy

Iron Man May 2nd	Speed Racer May 9th
The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian May 16th	Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull May 22nd
Sex and the City: The Movie May 30th	Kung Fu Panda June 6th
You Don't Mess with the Zohan June 6th	The Happening June 13th
The Incredible Hulk June 13th	Get Smart June 20th
Wall-E June 27th	Wanted June 27th
Hancock July 2nd	Hellboy II: The Golden Army July 11th
The Dark Knight July 18th	The X-Files 2 July 25th
The Mummy 3 August 1	Tropic Thunder August 15th
Star Wars: The Clone Wars August 15

PSP - ISO vs CSO file format

Well i'm thinking, its time for a PSP post. I've been thinking of relevant things to post about the psp and i came up with this since there hasn't been an updat yet on the PSP custom firmware, i decided to post something about the file formats used to store the PSP games and the differences and advantages of using each.

First of this review is for owners that had forgone the warranty of their PSP and converted them to custom firmware for one reason or another. The topics that i will be discussing are tested for Dark Alex's CFW (Custom Firm Ware), ver 3.90 m33-3 which i believe is the latest version. Another thing is that i'm using a PSP slim, and not a Phat, there are differences in the two but i will not discuss them here. So if you have a problem with anything here, and you're using a different version, or have a PSP Phat, i cant help you there since i cant downgrade, or rather wont downgrade and i dont own a PSP Phat.

On to the discussion. The difference of an ISO and a CSO is just the file size it will occupy on your memory card. Basically you can think of it this way comparing it to a picture file format. An ISO is like a BMP image, large file size with no compression, and a CSO is like a JPEG version of the same image, but compressed which has a smaller file size. There are a few minor differences but I'll dive into that later.

Now i'm guessing you are wondering why doesn't everyone use CSO instead, well the answer to that question is load time. ISO file format is a representation of a UMD disc drive but a bit faster to load than a UMD because its is in your memory card and files are accessed quickly and there are no discs that spin around at high speed reading data. An ISO is just basically a container that emulates a disc stuck together in a file. Your CFW is just fooling your PSP telling it that the UMD disc is in fact the ISO file. but enough of that, you just need to remember that an ISO game format is like your UMD disc but has a slightly faster load time. A CSO game file format on the other hand is like your ISO file compressed into a ZIP archive, meaning the PSP has to uncompress the file first before the system reads it. Its not like the ISO where it has a direct access to the files, a CSO file format takes more time and computing power because the PSP need to do a few more thing to access the data.

Now knowing this, there are two ways that the psp loads data from the UMD or your memory card. The first is an initial data load, which is really an easy way of saying that the psp loads most of the game, or the level, or the stage of what your playing and it doesn't access it again until the next stage or level. This is usually is seen with genre games such as puzzle games, strategy games, platform games ect. The difference of CSO and ISO can be seen here during load times of each stage and or level. There is somewhere between a 3 to 8 second delay for the CSO compared to the ISO file format depending on the game. Although this may not seem that much, but for some people a 5 second delay is a bit too much. The other way a PSP loads a game is thru constant access. There are games like God of War, Final Fantasy Crisis Core, Metal Slug Anthology, or even the GTA series where data is constantly read from the Memory card or UMD. Generating encounters, or backgrounds, or random events, then you have the background sounds and music playing, the PSP has a hard time accessing all these file constantly using a CSO file format. Imagine accessing all of these, constantly uncompressing and reading data from the memory card, you will soon realize that your game is slowing down, or is skipping frames, which i can say is a kill joy.

Now that you understand all these, you will have to make a choice now if you want a smoother game experience, but less space on your memory card, or more space on the mem card for games but end up waiting a bit more and for some games reduced efficiency. Id say do both. It is true that if you make all your games into a CSO, you'll have more games to play, but honestly enough, i how many games can you go thru in a day or two. Do you constantly need to change the games you play everytime you open your PS or do you stick to a game or two until you finish them and then load up a new one. Solution is have a mix of file formats. some games with CSO, and some games with ISO. This way you can maximize you r memory card space while maintaining efficiency of your gameplay.

So it comes down to this, below this post are links to programs i use to convert files from ISO to CSO or CSO to ISO. But the software i use requires you to install the Microsoft .net framework into your computer. Why you ask? well i really don't know, it would seem that the program will not run unless you have it in your system. Now fuss no worries, its an easy enough program to use, just select the option you want, example is to select "ISO to CSO" option, browse for the file you want to convert, then just click on the convert button, and thats it. Don't expect too much, compression depends on the game itself. there are games when you convert them like final fantasy give you only a 20% file size difference, but there are games that I've converted that yielded a 60 or even 70% file size difference. You will just need to try them out. I'm guessing that the games with a lot of videos and cut scenes don't compress too well since videos are compressed enough. So try them out and enjoy the experience. If you happen to find a program that converts from file structure to file structure without installing the .NET framework give me a holler, I'll try it out, but really, as the quote goes, "if it ain't broken, then don't fix it..." enjoy ...

Download the Microsoft .Net Framework
Download the PSP ISO Compressor

Dead Fantasy by montyoum

Well i think I'm the last to know about this. It would seem that the information takes some time to filter down to use average people, but here it is. Dead fantasy I and II. If you don't know what I'm talking about then just read on.

Well for starters, theres a guy on the net who calls himself montyoum or Monty Oum whichever you prefer. Monty is an aspiring 3d animator and all i can say is the boys got a future in this. I haven't seen all his work, i think he has done 9 videos in all, but i can say this for sure, the Dead Fantasy series he has created is good enough for me to wait and see where this guys future is heading.

If you haven't noticed it by now, Dead Fantasy is a play on words, combining 2 great games on the market. DOA (Dead or Alive) and Final Fantasy series. The video clips he has created comes from the thought... what would happen if the girls from DOA and the girls from Final fantasy would ever meet and duke it out. Who would win? well thats about all the explanation there is to the clips. Its basically a side by side fight of the two groups with ever escalating ferocity and characters if i may add, coupled with a lot of style and a lot of imagination. Its actually so popular that the clips from gametrailers have already garnered over 6 million views.

At first, when I've heard of the video, i was assuming that it was one of those video edited clips that were pieced together to simulate an actual battle like lets say dragon ball anime character fighting with another character from another anime. Usually cutting things out and stitching them together using an AV editor of some sorts. Expecting this, i was surprised to notice that the characters movements were not cut but in fact rendered scene by scene and everything was original. Somehow, someone made the models for each of the characters and made them move and fight like real professional 3d animators did. Having dabbled into 3d animation a while back, i know how hard it is to make a model, let alone create a 10 min animation. But i know from his montys post that the models were taken from the actual game generator. He accredits an unknown person, who he is calling Mr. Y, who actually dove into the guts of the game and extracted the game models of the characters which he then used to make his film. Still, rendering a 10 min animation full of action must have taken some time. consider the fact that one of the frames in the transformers move took 38 hours to render, and having 30 frames in a second for high def, you do the math. Well of course the level of detail is different, I'm guessing it took 1 hour or more for each frame, but after all the moving and animating the characters coupled with the render time, you can appreciate the effort it took to make this clip. Altho he did say that he learned a few tricks that kept his render time down, well thats good, it just means we don't have to wait that long for the next clip.

Well thats about all i can say about that. Click on the links below if you want to be redirected to the clips and watch them online. I wont be posting a downloadable version here since it is a large file and the ones i have are the High Res ones. Don't expect a quality at par of the final fantasy cut scenes, its more like the ingame 3d quality. But don't let that get you down, it is still worth watching. It just makes you want to pick up a controller and wish that there was really a game like this for you to play.

View the clip Dead Fantasy I on gametrailers.com
View the clip Dead Fantasy II on gametrailers.com
View Montyoum's page and gallery of work at deviantart

Will Eisner's The Spirit, movie by Frank Miller

, I've just finished watching Sin city and was surfing for some trivia or movie details when i encountered another movie being written for the big screen and directed by Frank Miller.

The movie is The Spirit. This is Will Eisner's classic character from the 40's and 50's that broke new ground and paved the way for the comic book characters of today. The Spirit movie is a classic action-adventure-romance told by that great artist Frank Miller who brought us the visually stunning movies of Sin City and 300. This is a story of a former rookie cop that returns from the dead as the spirit to fight crime from the shadows of Central city. From what i can tell from the short teaser trailer (watch here) this will be another stunning visual movie comparable to Sin City. Having the same gritty, black and white style with blotches of color, i do believe that this will be another successful movie derived from popular graphic novels. Starring Gabriel Macht as the Spirit/Denny Colt, Samuel L. Jackson as The Octupus, Scarlett Johansson as Silken Floss, Eva Mendes as Sand Saref, and many more. This is shaping to be another all star cast comparable to Sin City.

Well thats that for now. Most of the relevant information i have posted below. If you want a high res copy of the pictures here, just click on them, let them load and right click and save, fair warning these are High Resolution pictures, some of which is bigger than 1Mb. I cant wait until Dec when the movie starts showing. But being in the Philippines, i'm guessing we would have to wait until the new year to view this on the big screen, Metro Manila Film Festival remember? Oh well, im sure 3 days after the first showing, it will be available in you local "vcd?, dvd?, adult?, boss?" vendor. Personally a film like this deserves to be watched on the big screen, the choice is up to you.

Director: Frank Miller
Writers: Will Eisner (comic); Frank Miller (screenplay)
Release Date: 25 December 2008 (USA); Jan 2009 (Philippines)
Cast: Scarlett Johansson, Samuel L. Jackson, Gabriel Macht, Eva Mendes, Jaime King, and many more.
Official Website: http://www.mycityscreams.com/

Marvel Movie Madness

As i sit here in my chair, still a bit high on the Iron Man movie, I decided to search the internet for information about the Iron Man movie 2. I was told that the iron man movie was already in production and was set to be shown summer of next year. Given this information, i decided to check if this information was true, so where else do i go, of course the internet.

As i surf, and read thru reviews and blogs, I have come to find out that in fact there is an Iron Man 2 and a 3 in production but it hasn't started yet. But there is already a release date for the Iron man Movie 2 scheduled for April 30, 2010. Yes i know its still a long way, but considering the fact that this was a great film, i believe that it is better to wait a while to savor the movies and not get saturated by all the hype and excitement.

But this post isn't just about the Iron Man Movies that is for sure to come, but as of the title suggest its about the Movie Madness that Marvel has gotten into. while reading and searching for information about the Iron Man movies, i have come across some factual, and rumored information about what is Marvel comics is up to. this is a mix between Iron Man trivia and facts and some facts and rumors of Marvel next line up of movies. Let us begin..

• Marvel Studios announced Monday it will release "Iron Man 2" on April 30, 2010, following the success of the first in the comic-book franchise, which pulled in $165 million million domestically and $342.1 million worldwide.
• Robert Downey's character, Tony Stark, makes an appearance in next month's "The Incredible Hulk," movie.
• the Hulk could turn up in "Iron Man 2," Marvel Studios Chairman David Maisel said during a conference call to discuss the company's earnings. "The Avengers" consists of a rotating roster of Marvel heroes — including original members Iron Man, the Hulk, Ant-Man and Thor — that could see the return of virtually any of the franchise's characters.
• Avengers movie just may BE Iron Man 3!!! Jon Favreau (interview) - "I think [The Avengers] would be a very smart third film in the Iron Man series." There will be an Avengers movie in the works, but if it is in fact joined in with the Iron Man movie 3 or a stand alone movie, only time will tell.
• Captain America’s trademark red, white and blue shield appears near the 1 hr 30 min mark in the film at the point where Pepper Potts comes in on Tony trying to get out of his damaged armor. The line you want to watch out for is, ”Let’s face it, this is not the worst thing you’ve caught me doing.” (movie hint anyone?)
• There is a Thor movie in the works. Tho there was a scheduled date release, sometime 2010, it has been put on hold. apparently the $300 million dollar script, handed down by chosen director Matthew Vaughn, i still in discussion with Marvel Studios along with him insisting a total unknown to play the lead role. Time will tell if this pushed thru.
• There is a Wolverine movie prequel to the X-Men movie. Still being played by Hugh Jackman, the movie starts production Nov 2008.
• There will be another Punisher movie titled Punisher: War Zone domming out this Dec 2008 having Ray Stevenson as the lead role of Frank Castle.
• As stated above, there will be an Ant Man movie being scheduled for production. As of the moment, there is still no news on who will direct it and star in the lead role.
• The first Avenger is finally getting his shot on the Hollywood box office. Captain America the movie is in the pipeline for the next big film for marvel. Directed bu Nick Cassavetes, it is set to show on May 6, 2011. just in the rumor bin, it is said that Matthew McConaughey is Marvel Studio’s top choice to play the lead role in Captain America, well thats just a bad choice. I can never see Captain America in cutoff jeans and a sleeveless shirt.
• And the last news i was able to get is the Nick Fury movie. obviously staring Samuel L Jackson due to the cameo in the Iron Man Movie. There is still no news on when will the production start. There has no news about script and director but for sure it will happen.
  

As you can see from the list, you can surmise where the Marvel Studios direction is taking us. After their ground breaking first trilogy the X-Men movies, Marvel has decided to give us another group that would satisfy a huge group of fans. they just didn't announce a major movie being made but thought ahead making smaller (smaller, yeah right) movies first as an introduction to the major movie which in fact is the Avengers. Making individual Movies is a great idea, then combining them all for the major group is splendid. But heres a thought, in the end, after making the movies and before the major one, if each individual movie cost in the region of $100 million to make, what will be the budget of the Avengers movie when it is consisted of 6 or more major characters, not to mention that some of these characters have Big Name stars that command a hefty salary. Aside from the budget, another thought has crossed my mind. There have been numerous movies, mostly B-grade ones, about some of these characters, For this plan to work, I mean the success of the Avengers Movie, each individual movie must in turn, create a killing in the box office, or at the very least create that major buzz that will influence the next movie coming out. Looking at that perspective, this is a tough and long climb for marvel studios. all i can say is that Iron Mans done, it made a killing at the box office, i guess thats one down, and a few more to go...

GoGo Speed Racer Go!

Well its here, the third blockbuster for the season is finally showing. Speed Racer, by the Wachowski brothers, creator of the Matrix Trilogy has been playing in theaters in the Philippines for 3 days now and i have just come back from the movie theaters finished from watching the film.

I really don't know where to start. I've been waiting to watch this film not because i am a fan, nor i believe it is a very good movie. I could say that there are only two reasons why i watched this film. the first is because i was interested in the visual effects of the film. Truly, people might not notice but the trailers really sell every film out there. Its the draw getter for people to get interested and eventually watch the film. Sad to say that i am one of the sheep that were actually drawn to the film because of the trailer. the second reason, and probably the most important, its a Wachawski movie. Directed by those brothers that gave us, in my opinion, the most important film for out generation, the Matrix (matrix 2 and 3 were ok, but for me, a bit like a filler to say they made a trilogy). The first one will always be the best of the three. But enough of the matrix, and lets start talking about the movie in review, Speed Racer.

I have read a lot of reviews about this film and a majority of them has given a thumbs down on it , at the very most an average rating. They rant about how the movie was a feat of visual entertainment, and how it captured the feel of the 60's anime, but it failed to capture the essence of the anime. Some disliked the storyline, some opposed the script, and some ranted a lot about how the movie was confusing and had no point whatsoever. I do share some of their opinions, but overall it was a great film. To rate this film, i think i have to consider the kinds of people who will watch it. I believe that i can put these people three categories.

The first, and the most common, are the average run of the mill people. People who come to the theater to be entertained and nothing more. These are the people who would, for example, talk about the matrix film, as a great action film, and nothing more, not taking to account the fact that the story had a deeper meaning and would not appreciate the complexity of the story. These are the kinds of people who would hear the line "there is no spoon" and think nothing of it. Well this category of people will definitely enjoy this film. There is no lack of action, and visual stimulation in the movie. A stunning array of colors vividly portrayed on the big screen. Tully as most critics would say, Like a modern day anime, coming to life in the silver screen. Full of action, and no shortage of slow motion in places that would cater for a second look, visually done in a manner not seen so often, truly an action filled movie, especially if you like racing.

The second category of people are, well i could say, are the intellectual type. These are the kinds of people that would normally chose what they watch, looking for depth, story, and a good script, or could possibly just professional critics. I should say this now, If your reading this, critics are not Gods, altho some of them think they are, they are not. Look, critics are there to give their "opinion" on a certain thing, place, movie, series, or event. OPINION, take that word to heart, cuz its their personal opinion about the specific topic. Just because they say its no good, doesn't mean that it is really no good. Go out and experience it yourself and make up your damn mind about it. Where was i, oh yeah, this category of people will really not like this film. Its a Wachowski brothers film i know, but if your going to compare this to, lets say, the matrix, then your way off base. The First film was full of originality, plots, and storylines with deeper meanings, Speed Racer is a live action movie based on a Japanese cartoon series in the 60 about a bout, his car, and a few races. There isn't much depth there i would say. This is why i believe that most movie critics have given this movie a poor rating. But, in my OPINION, these critics failed to see the beauty of the structure of the film, I'll be talking about this later in detail.

The Third category of people are somewhere in between these two. People who could appreciate what a stunning visual masterpiece this is, full of action and innovative cinematography. People who love a good action movie as the next guy but is intelligent enough to understand the complexity of the storyline. To appreciate how the story was told, simple as it was, this movie was expressed in a very artistic way. Yes i know that it has a simple story structure, but this is where the critics got it wrong, and a lot of people got confused while watching the film. You do remember that this is the Wachowski brothers were talking about. IF you were them, and you have this huge expectation coming from people who watch your anticipated film, how would you present a simple story to an audience expecting something they have come to expect as mind blowing. Well you break up the story and present it piece by piece using flashbacks and foreshadowing. Yes i would be the first one to acknowledge this, the movie was confusing at some parts, this is because the answers to whatever question you have have been distributed all across the film, not presented after the question but sometime in the beginning or somewhere else in the story. This is what i believe the critics missed. Although it would come to most people as a garbled story, but if you would open your mind, absorb everything you hear, and at the end of the film organize your thoughts, you would realize that it was beautifully done. As an example of this is sometime in the beginning of the film, there will be a scene where speed, as a young boy, will show his red socks to his older brother during a flashback. The reason for this would only be explained sometime 2/3 of the movie. But in the end, after you have accumulated your thoughts, answered your questions, you will come to realize, just as i have, that its weakest point was the story. Sad to say, although the story made sense and somewhat realistic (I'm using realistic loosely), beautifully presented, and with the flashbacks and foreshadowing made the story deeper that it was, it was in fact simple. There was some attempt by the Wachowskis to give a deeper meaning, having to explain the corruption and the deeper motivation of the races, giving you a glimpse of what might be the "real" case in our so called world of racing, in the end it was drowned by the "beautiful" way the story was presented.

So i guess its time for the verdict. To start it of, you should watch this film, no if, thens or buts about it. You can be a person from any of the categories that i have listed and you would still walk away with something thrilling from this film. It is nothing short of a work of art, animated, filmed with live people, enhanced, and presented on the big screen. Just the sheer visual effects alone will make you cheer and ride the edge of your seat. Beautifully done, and nothing less, visually anyway, from the Wachowski brothers, who again has not failed to present a stunning treat for the eyes.

My Rating: 7.5/10 (Its the story that failed to get me to give a higher rating. Lets just say that 5 points of that were the visuals alone.)
Replayability: 3 (its a scale on how many times I can watch the movie over and over before your tired of it.)