Random Thoughts... [Entertainment Edition]

And some games you can't find in physical form anymore, like the id Software ones
 
personally i don't mind buying a download or physical version of a game. mostly it comes down to the same thing, money. if its cheaper on the download i'll go that way. if i can find it cheaper in a shop i'll go that path.
 
Easier to download and now its safer. Dont have to risk the cd/dvd get scratched and broken. Also i only want the game..dont give a shit about some art...can view that online anyway
 
Now the only problem seems to be finding a server not affected by the Christmas rush so that I can download at more than 200 kb per sec... 15 gigs, mother of God.

File : Settings : Downloads : Region : Africa or Siberia or Romania

Sorted!

I never really got the appeal of (payed for) downlaodable games. When I buy a game, I would like to have a physical copy to add to my collection and I like looking at the manuals and box art, etc...

I just don't understand why someone would rather download a brand new game for $60, rather than getting a physical copy.

There isn't really an advantage to a download version of a $60 game if both the physical copy and the download cost $60.

The download comes into its own when - as is the case here - the game is absurdly cheap to download but expensive to buy as a physical product.

I'm a sucker for Steam sales. I bought Mirror's Edge for ?3 in the last Steam sale, for example, a game that's ?8 on Amazon.
 
Just watched The Prestige. Great film. Immense magic trick.

The fact that the whole thing is explained by a
goddamn cloning machine
was kind of ridiculous and it ruined the movie for me.
 
Steam has some epic sales and I have bought a lot of games from them because of it. I just wish the client software wasn't such crap.

Still better than Direct2Drive / Gamespy Comrade though. Impulse is my favorite DD service so far because you don't have to go through Impulse to run the game once installed (great for LAN).
 
The fact that the whole thing is explained by a
goddamn cloning machine
was kind of ridiculous and it ruined the movie for me.

The story was more about rivalry and sacrifice. Just how far the two men can go in their quest to be better than the other and at what personal cost. It ruined their lives and the people around them. I loved The Prestige, I rate it as one of my all time favourite films and I also bought the novel it was based upon which is very good also.
 
anyone planning on watching The Day of the Triffids on BBC 1 tonight? I've seen the trailer playing over the last few days and its grown on me. I've not read the book or seen the adapted versions so hopefully this should be some good classic sci-fi.

[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7B9xPcdI__8[/YOUTUBE]
 
Hmmm, didn't know anything about the broadcast. I might have to "procure" this and give it a whirl.
 
anyone planning on watching The Day of the Triffids on BBC 1 tonight? I've seen the trailer playing over the last few days and its grown on me. I've not read the book or seen the adapted versions so hopefully this should be some good classic sci-fi.

[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7B9xPcdI__8[/YOUTUBE]

I've seen everything Triffid over the last 20 years, and I really like this new version. I'm an hour in, it's quite good.
 
I've seen everything Triffid over the last 20 years, and I really like this new version. I'm an hour in, it's quite good.

actually i enjoyed it a lot, its the kind of sci-fi i like. the kind that doesn't try to explain itself too much and just lets you roll with it. they've already got me interested in the final part tonight.
 
I too've enjoyed it, it was solid Xmas fare.

Did you see the crashed Aston Martin V8 Vantage in the plane crash aftermath scene? I'm assuming it was CGI, although I think they used a real AM for the rear closeups...

On that note, there's a fantastic continuity FAIL about an hour in. The two main characters have been using a LR Discovery III to get around, with TRIFFOIL branding on the side. Then for a couple of seconds, as they drive over the motorway away from the TRIFFOIL farm it turns into a Range Rover Sport. Then later on it's a Disco III again...Whoops!
 
Last edited:
I too've enjoyed it, it was solid Xmas fare.

Did you see the crashed Aston Martin V8 Vantage in the plane crash aftermath scene? I'm assuming it was CGI, although I think they used a real AM for the rear closeups...

On that note, there's a fantastic continuity FAIL about an hour in. The two main characters have been using a LR Discovery III to get around, with TRIFFOIL branding on the side. Then for a couple of seconds, as they drive over the motorway away from the TRIFFOIL farm it turns into a Range Rover Sport. Then later on it's a Disco III again...Whoops!

can't say that i noticed it. just as a heads up for those who've 'procured' the first part. the second part is airing right now so you may be able to find it soon enough. For the Aston Martin, i'm going to assume that they didn't trash it. There's no way they would have done that, it would have taken up a seizable part of the budget. I'm actually surprised that they were able to lure in a pretty solid cast of actors for it.
 
I was watching Behind Enemy Lines the other day and cannot believe how uncanny it is that that bad guy with the sniper and track suit looks so much like Niko from GTA IV (not to mention that they're both Serbs)!

attachment.php

4105_gta4_screenshot.jpg


:shock:

Are there any official statements out there that prove that Niko was based on him?
 
http://img16.imageshack.**/img16/782/d0b0d0b4d0bcd0b8d180d0b.jpg​
Saw the new Russian movie ?Admiral? the other week. The film ?tells? the story of Admiral Alexander Kolchak, the Tsarist naval commander who led White Russian military forces against the Bolsheviks, focusing on his brief love affair with a fellow officer?s wife, Anna Timireva. And when I say ?tells,? I mean the film butchers the complicated history of this era in order to churn out a nauseatingly sweet melodrama that puts Hollywood?s transgressions to shame.

The Admiral Kolchak presented here is a flawless and intelligent hero scrupulous enough to be conflicted over his adulterous feelings for Timireva, pious enough to pray his ship through a minefield, and virtuous (in the soldierly sense of the word) enough to lead the White Army to, well, defeat. But I guess I have to admit it?s pretty cool, albeit ridiculous, when he overcomes burst eardrums to man a cannon and take out a superior German destroyer with a direct hit to the bridge (notice the blood trickling down the side of his rugged profile on the film poster). A true ?Die Hard? moment.

I have to sympathize with Konstantin Khabensky, who plays the Admiral; the film was a dud from the start. It?s bad enough that love interest Liza Boyarskaya?s repertoire consists of a faintly alluring, enigmatic smile and big glassy eyes, a dynamic duo that has more than worn out it?s welcome by the final curtain. A more grevious error is the writers? decision to focus on a love story (tagline: ?For love is strong as death?) that should have been no more than a sideplot. This shuffles the movie into a plot that begins boringly with the Admiral easily winning Timireva when they lock eyes at a ball (the lively conversation during the subsequent evening stroll seals the deal), continues boringly with the Admiral writing lots of letters and gazing meaningfully at the sea as he pines for Timireva, and ends boringly as the couple, finally together, makes passionate conversation in a luxurious train car on the way to Irkutsk. And oh the suspense each time the train stops at another city, where there might be Reds!

In short, it?s a far too squeaky clean and simpleminded take on such an intersting topic. But it is interesting to note yet another facet of the conflicted Soviet legacy here: In modern Capitalist Russia, the Reds are sneaky and evil, and the Whites are heroic, God-fearing, Tsar-loving real Russians, pure and simple. Let?s just ?Whitewash? (sorry, couldn?t help my punny little self) the whole story.

http://eagleandthebear.wordpress.co...admiral-sinks-it-points-to-interesting-trend/
I generally agree with the review given above. The film makers could have done so much more with the material at hand. I generally agree with the review given above. The film makers could have done so much more with the material at hand. In addition, the love story the film features for a substantial portion of its running time basically consists of Kolchak leaving his wife and child for the wife of one of his officers for really no reason at all other than she is slightly more beautiful that his current wife. The film tries to portray it as romantic but it really does not work. They should have just dropped the love angle and done a film on the civil war.
 
Last edited:
Just saw "Up" and was pretty disappointed after seeing its 8.5/10 (considered very good) score on IMDB. It was great at first, but as soon as the old man sets off on his adventure, it goes down hill, really.

Overall, it was great for the first half hour or so and the animations were top notch, but went downhill after the first third.

I'm not going to be like those "extremists" that gave this movie a 1 just because they think it's overrated, but I gave it a 8/10. I still think it's overrated and doesn't deserve to be in the top 250, but it was good while it lasted.
 
I've seen everything Triffid over the last 20 years, and I really like this new version. I'm an hour in, it's quite good.

It was pretty good but a bit too much like the other BBC post apocalyptic drama 'Survivors'. It missed anything special.
 
So I found a 5-year-old Sony D-EJ100 Walkman CD Player lying around and noticed for the first time that it has good quality headphones. When I bought my $20 Coby mp3 player, I though the sound quality would suck, and that was the case with the supplied headphones and the bought-from-dollar store headphones that I used after them.

http://img29.imageshack.**/img29/4792/sonyjh.jpg

Once I plugged in the ones from that 5-year-old CD player, the sound was AMAZING!!!! My mp3 player has a volume range of 0-32, and I had to keep it mostly at around 20 for the headphones that came with the mp3 player, and at around 15 with the dollar-store in-ear buds. I turned it on with the volume at 15 and it literally blew my mind, I actually got a little dizzy! :lol:

The sound was so crisp, clear and LOUD! :mrgreen:

Now I know the true meaning of high quality headphones and that they are FAR more important than the quality of the player! An iPod with shitty headphones will never be as good as the cheapest mp3 player on the market, teamed with high quality headphones.

Edit: I would like to also add that they are VERY comfortable! :D
 
Last edited:
Top