Rod Oracheski
E-Mail: rod@altgn.com
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Web Page: http://www.altgn.com
Registered Since: 2007-09-19 08:19:59
Profile: While zombies would seem the perfect housepet (they don't eat much, they're generally quiet, and they won't poop everywhere) they really aren't.
Posts by Rod:
Stardust (HD DVD)
December 15th, 2007I had expected Stardust, a fantasy movie based off the well-regarded Neil Gaiman novel, to do well at the box office when it launched in August. The movie floundered however, dropping off the charts after 45 days, earning approximately $38 million.
Stardust may have been up against overwhelming competition, with The Bourne Ultimatum, The Simpson’s Movie, and Superbad all hitting theaters at around the same time. It could also have been a lack of exposure, as the film didn’t receive nearly the advertising blitz of other big releases at the time - despite a cast that can only be called an all-star lineup.
Whatever the case, it’s a film that deserved a better fate - a lighthearted adventure that isn’t brilliant on the technical side of things, but is a worthy addition to your high-definition library nonetheless.
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Story
I don’t go for spoilers, so I’ll try to keep this brief. The story follows the adventures of Tristan Thorn as he attempts to recover a fallen star to win the love of the village beauty, a shallow thing named Victoria (played by Sienna Miller), whose first love is the dashing and worldly Humphrey.
There’s a small snag to Tristan’s plan, though. The fallen star has taken on human form - that of Yvaine, played by Claire Danes. Not a bad form to take, in my opinion. The pair hit the road together, with Tristan determined to take the star back to Victoria.
The star’s humanly form isn’t the only snag on Tristan’s road to true love, however, as there are more people after the fallen star. The first is Septimus, one of the realm’s princes and determined to win the king’s crown by returning with a ruby that fell to earth with the star. Septimus is one of seven princes who start the film eligible for the crown, but there’s a quick bit of butchery that leaves the number in play significantly lower.
The fallen princes remain in the film as ghosts, spectating on the action and offering some of the film’s most entertaining reactions - particularly during the final encounters.
There’s also a trio of aging witches after the star, aiming to cut out her heart and restore their own youth. They send Lamia, played masterfully by Michelle Pfeiffer, to recover the fallen star - adding to Tristan’s troubles.
In addition to all this, there’s also an airship full of pirates to add into the mix, as well as Ricky Gervais appearing as a hilarious fence who’s more than a bit familiar to fans of the British version of The Office.
It takes a good director to take this many disparate elements and weave them together into a coherent movie, doubly so when it has such a cast of stars. Fortunately Matthew Vaughn, also known for his work with Layer Cake, is up to the task. Stardust is one of the year’s more entertaining fantasy films, drawing comparisons to classic film The Princess Bride.
The comparisons are apt, with dialog that’s smart and engaging. Though the plot might be fairly typical fantasy fare, it’s well developed and overcomes any ‘been there, seen that’ issues. I wasn’t sold on Tristan’s heroic qualities at the start of the film but by the end I was cheering him on, and, to me at least, that’s a sign of great character growth.
Video
Stardust can’t be considered top-of-the-line for video, lacking the hyper-real sharpness that reference-quality titles possess. Though it has a slightly softer look, it plays well with the fantasy setting and is obviously intentional as it is consistent throughout the film. There are a few shots that pop visually, typically wide shots in outdoor settings.
While fine details don’t pop, the colors do. Lush color is used to emphasize and accentuate, with little noise to be found. There’s a certain amount of film grain to be seen, particularly in the backgrounds during shots with blurred backgrounds, but it doesn’t distract from the presentation. Black levels are also good, and with much of the film set at night, that’s a positive.
Stardust didn’t go big-budget on the CGI, but that doesn’t detract from the experience. There are a number of excellent effects, including a bird-to-girl, back-to-bird transformation that’s very well done. The remainder of the effects, from witches spells to flying airships, are decent but not overwhelming.
They do manage to make the effects fit into the overall look of the film quite well, something several big-budget movies haven’t managed. The remainder of the effects, from witches spells to flying airships, are decent but not overwhelming.
Audio
The audio for Stardust is a highlight, with great separation to the surrounds and a solid center channel for dialog that never gets overwhelmed even during the height of the action. There’s not much for bass, though I suppose that’s to be expected in a fantasy set in the middle ages. Ian McKellen is the narrator, and has the perfect voice for the introductory work.
Extras
Stardust ships with very little in the way of extras. There’s a ‘making of’ feature that’s presented in high-definition, as well as the theatrical trailer for the movie. Aside from those few HD items, you get the typical blooper-reel and deleted scenes, presented in standard definition.
It would have been nice to see more in the way of extras for this feature, which has a history that goes unexplored.
The TLDR Summary
Stardust is a cleverly written and well-directed fantasy that stars a whole lot of really talented people. As I mentioned, it draws a lot of comparisons to The Princess Bride, and holds up pretty well in that company.
I was surprised to see the role De Niro played, and more surprised to find he pulled it off with flair. Pfeiffer is still hot as hell, at least for part of the movie, and Charlie Cox’s performance makes me want to see him in more films in the future. Claire Danes…well, what can you say?
Definitely worth checking out.
4 Princess Bride comparisons out of 5
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2K uses Don King’s hair to take on Fight Night
December 10th, 20072K Sports has revealed that EA’s Fight Night series will have some competition whenever they decide to grace us with another release.
2K, EA’s prime rival in the sports field, will be releasing Don King Presents: Prizefighter at some point in the spring - hitting shelves for the 360, Wii and DS only, at least at this point.
For the full release, check the website.
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ALTGN shut down by British authorities
December 9th, 2007 |
Noted Internet forum boards.altgn.com, beloved by dozens, was temporarily taken offline today in an effort to appease British authorities who took umbrage (their word, not mine) at ALT’s insistence on posting scanned images.
The site was offline for mere moments, something site manager (and porn aficionado) Scott Mayle said was largely done to help the British government save face.
“The British government has no jurisdiction over the United States of ALTGN,” Mayle commented. “That’s my firm stand on the issue. You can quote me.”
The feisty Mayle went on to state that future action by the British would meet with the same response: derisive laughter. He did note that one repercussion of the event would have long-reaching implications.
“Same thing will happen the next time,” he said of the five-minute downtime. “Part of the agreement with the British government is that Digital Limit isn’t allowed back though. They don’t like that he’s gayer than the Queen.”
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TF2 artistic breakdown
December 1st, 2007Whether or not you’re a fan of its team-based gameplay, there’s no doubt that Team Fortress 2 has a very unique artistic vision behind it.
The colourful and cartoony graphics are a slap in the face to gamers who’ve come to expect more realistic looking fare, complete with grit and brown - lots and lots of brown. Getting a look inside the artist’s head just isn’t possible, it’s really messy in there and then there’s the legal issues…
But you can read about it here, and I have to say that it really is worth a look. Here’s a snippet:
“Creating TF2 is something that is broadening our scope to various avenues of design, and methods we can take to future projects,” says Jamaal, finishing up. “Ultimately we had fun making, playing, and seeing the public enjoy the final results of our work.”
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The Romantics sue Activision over clone cover
November 22nd, 2007OK, so you’re a once-famous band who has been approached by Activision about a once-famous song you had back in the 80s.
You can vaguely remember it, through the cocaine haze of your younger days, so you haggle out a deal where they get to use a cover of your song in their upcoming Guitar Hero game. You’ve never heard of it, but as Bob and Doug McKenzie say, “$10 is $10, eh?”
So what would then inspire a lawsuit? How about the cover sounding too much like the original?
So…yeah, read this article on CNN. Then read it again, like I had to.
Sued over having a cover band that did too good of a job? Holy crap.
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40 GB PS3 to be the standard
November 21st, 2007Kamalot from Evil Avatar noticed an interview with Sony that deserves more attention than it’s gotten so far.
In the interview with iAfrica.com, the future of the PS3 brand is discussed - including Sony’s plans to have the 40 GB SKU as the standard from here on out. There’s a lot of information to be pulled out of the five-page article, and it’s well worth the read. Here’s Kamalot’s rundown:
In a recent interview with iAfrica.com, Steve Foster, Sales & Marketing Manager (Distributor Markets) of Sony Computer Entertainment Europe covered a number of touchy subjects in a 5-page interview. Will the PS3 ever support PS2 games? Will the 40 gig model of the PS2 become the worldwide standard? Will the additional features in the 20, 60 and 80 gig models become available again? What was the decision behind not region-coding games? Will the lack of popular titles hurt sales?Some interesting things to note:
* The only model going forward worldwide will be the 40 gig model.
* A new Playstation 2 controller is coming with bluetooth wireless and motion-sensing (FOURAXIS)
* The 40 gig model was a cost-reduction measure (contrary to previous Sony executive interviews)
* The 40 gig system will not, at any time in the future, play Playstation 2 games, even downloadable ones.The whole interview is top-notch and worth a read, especially to gain insight on how Sony is dealing with very different markets.
You can catch the full interview here.
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Ex EA Chicago employee speaks out on studio closure
November 13th, 2007 |
Over at 1UP you can find an interview with a former member of the EA Chicago studio, closed recently due to what was characterized as a string of relatively unprofitable games.
The former employee had this to say on the profit margins of their recent games:
I believe we were never given a fair shake. Fight Night was a huge success. Def Jam was another story. The estimates for Def Jam’s sales were extremely unrealistic for the game. Even if it had done well it would have never hit the unrealistic goals and projections that the marketing department made.
That doesn’t sound too unbelievable. The prior Def Jam games that featured the Aki-created engine weren’t stellar sellers, so why would they expect this one to bring in huge money? A bean counter and a marketing guy got together and got a little optimistic - it happens.
He loses me with this bit though:
Sometimes innovation doesn’t always pay off, which was the case with Def Jam, but sometimes it really can redefine a type of game, ala Fight Night.
The dual analog control scheme was innovative when they debuted it for Fight Night. Porting it across to Def Jam, where it really didn’t work anywhere near as well - that’s not innovation, that’s recycling.
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The new Zune, now more personal than ever
November 12th, 2007There’s nothing worse than buying something and finding out everyone else has the exact same thing. Sure, it’s nice to have that validation that you didn’t waste your money on something nobody would want, but it’s also nice to stand out, right?
If you’re looking at a Zune…well it’s not all that likely that you’ll find yourself lost in a crowd of them to begin with, but Microsoft is going that extra step to make sure you get something unique if you pick one up, starting November 13.
That is you’ll get something unique if you buy it through Zune Originals, the ordering site due to go live tomorrow. For a preview of what to expect, check out this interview with Microsoft’s Chris Stephenson.
I have an order through Amazon.com that might get dropped so I can try this out instead.
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Guitar Hero (Wii) gets DLC…kind of
November 11th, 2007While the Wii version of Guitar Hero still isn’t expected to see any new songs, gamers will be able to download at least one item - a patch.
The patch is expected after the game shipped without support for Dolby Pro Logic II - a feature mentioned on the box. It offers no stereo sound at all, in fact, something that gamers haven’t been happy about.
The Wii version joins the others in having a patch, with the 360 having a Day One patch to enable offline co-op quickplay. That patch is expected to hit the PS3 and Wii versions as well.
Offline co-op quickplay, I can see that being overlooked. A music-based game that outputs mono-only? That falls under the category “someone in QA needs a vacation” in my books.
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Did you dust your PS3 today?
November 10th, 2007According to this article on The Consumerist you might want to, as dust is apparently either an act of God or customer abuse - both of which void your warranty.
After reading it I checked out my own PS3, and was a little disturbed at the amount of dust I found. Though I’d cleaned off all the vents only a few days ago, while rearranging some components and running all the cables in a much neater fashion, there was already what I’d call a considerable amount of dust built up again - particularly on the side, though also a portion of the front.
You might want to get a can of air and keep it handy. Even if you forget to check on the dust regularly, if your PS3 ever goes belly-up be sure to blast out the dust before sending it off…just in case.
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Play as “New Goblin” for only 240 points? Hey, wait a minute…
November 8th, 2007On the Xbox Live Marketplace you’ll find some Spider-Man 3 content. Yeah, it’s been there for a while, but I never bothered to check it out. I figured it was just a theme or something, but it’s not even that cool - it’s the ability to play as the formerly PS3-exclusive “New Goblin” character. (note that you still have to beat him in the game to unlock him for play)
While you won’t be able to ‘guide him around the bustling city with the SIXAXIS’ like on the PS3, I’m pretty sure this should still qualify as content that ‘appears for free on another system’ even though he’s “only” in the Collector’s Edition.
After all, as a 108 kb download he’s also in the 360 version and your 240 points are just unlocking him.
Yeah, it’s only 240 points - but it’s still a crappy deal. Don’t bother with this one. It should be free, especially months after the fact.
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A farewell to Oink
October 28th, 2007 |
The music industry is stupid and outdated, a bunch of lumbering dinosaurs trying to chase down and kill the smaller, faster creature that is digital distribution.
Read about that, and more common sense, here.
Here’s a sample, don’t blame me if it turns you into a pirate:
In a few short years, the aggressive push of technology combined with the arrogant response from the record industry has rapidly worn away all of my noble intentions of clinging to the old system, and has now pushed me into full-on dissent. I find myself fully immersed in digital music, almost never buying CDs, and fully against the methods of the major record labels and the RIAA. And I think it would do the music industry a lot of good to pay attention to why - because I’m just one of millions, and there will be millions more in the years to come. And it could have happened very, very differently.
As the years have passed, and technology has made digital files the most convenient, efficient, and attractive method of listening to music for many people, the rules and cultural perceptions regarding music have changed drastically. We live in the iPod generation - where a “collection” of clunky CDs feels archaic - where the uniqueness of your music collection is limited only by how eclectic your taste is. Where it’s embraced and expected that if you like an album, you send it to your friend to listen to. Whether this guy likes it or not, iPods have become synonymous with music - and if I filled my shiny new 160gb iPod up legally, buying each track online at the 99 cents price that the industry has determined, it would cost me about $32,226. How does that make sense? It’s the ugly truth the record industry wants to ignore as they struggle to find ways to get people to pay for music in a culture that has already embraced the idea of music being something you collect in large volumes, and trade freely with your friends.
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HD DVD hits Wal-Mart for under $200
October 25th, 2007 |
There’s been all kinds of speculation about Wal-Mart and HD DVD in the last few months, everything from the retail behemoth going HD DVD exclusive to delivering cheap Chinese players.
Whether or not any of that becomes a reality the retail giant will be selling (and is already displaying, in some areas) HD DVD players for a pretty good price, starting November 3. The AVSForum has a thread with proof - including some in-store shots apparently taken by someone on a sugar high.
According to the thread, Wal-Mart has two HD DVD standalone players up for grabs, each at a different price: the A2 for $198 and the A3 for $298.
By comparison, the lowest price standalone Blu Ray player that Wal-Mart offers is the S300 at $498.
It’s worth noting that you can get the Toshiba HD-A2 on Amazon for just $221 already. Also be aware that the A2/A3 are 720p/1080i output players, so if you’ve bought into the notion that 1080p is the only “True HD” then you might want to spend a bit more and get the HD-A20 for $280.
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Valve killing cheap Orange Box keys
October 25th, 2007 |
According to the Consumerist, Valve doesn’t appreciate consumers who went looking for a deal on The Orange Box and picked up a cheap key through online retailers - specifically those in Thailand.
It’s not unusual to find activation keys (legitimate keys, not pirated) available from international sellers, and it hasn’t been an issue in the past, but Valve lowered the boom this time. Those who are using keys purchased from Thai or Russian sellers, but aren’t connecting to Steam from Thailand or Russia, will find their key no longer works.
The key will now be marked invalid, and the game removed from your Steam account.
Unlike Sony, which went after importer Lik Sang, Valve targeted their customers with this one - likely because the business behind the distribution of those cheap keys in Thailand and Russia was Valve itself.
Sometimes it’s easy to see why piracy is an attractive option to many gamers.
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Verizon seeing in 20/20
October 23rd, 2007 |
If you were already enjoying your ‘fast’ high-speed internet, get ready for some penis envy, GB-pumping broadband style.
Verizon is introducing, in limited markets, a 20/20 service. That’s 20 Mbps download AND 20 Mbps upload, and that’s not bad. It’s going to be a bit more pricey than your standard cable, but isn’t it worth it, when you can download a “one-hour family video” - in high definition no less - in only 20 minutes or so?
I think your family is worth that much, at least.
The Verizon press release can be found after the jump.
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