Here's the new International teaser trailer for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.
Monday, October 27, 2008
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Cool Guitar playing
This guy has some really impressive Guitar-playing videos. The one above is his rendition of Toto - Africa; but there are some others where he uses the guitar as a "drum" a lot more too.
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Friday, October 17, 2008
Friday, October 10, 2008
Tuesday, October 07, 2008
Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland
It should come as no surprise that if Tim Burton is directing a new film Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter are bound to be in it - again it proves to be true. It was already confirmed that Depp would be lending his skills to some performance capture for the role of the Mad Hatter. It now seems that Helena has joined the cast as the Queen of Hearts. Also announced as a cast member is Anne Hathaway who will be playing another Queen who is on the same side as Alice (who will be played by an Australian actress).
I think it's going to be an interesting film to keep an eye on - as with all Tim Burton movies they end up quite dark, but a lot of them do turn out to be quite good.
I think it's going to be an interesting film to keep an eye on - as with all Tim Burton movies they end up quite dark, but a lot of them do turn out to be quite good.
A Sequel too Far
Sometimes a film doesn't need a sequel, but when the powers-that-be see the film as a success they see it more as a cow to be milked and that is what is happening with 28 Days Later. When the first film graced the silver screen it was a welcome surprise and was very popular with cinema goers - especially in England due to it's familiar surroundings that people could relate to (it being set in London). This made it a success and the studio soon decided to make 28 Weeks Later. It wasn't as good, but it was still fun to watch and nice to see familiar places. Now though, the studios have decided to milk the cash cow one more time... 28 Months Later; didn't see that one coming. I'm not sure if it's a good idea to make a third film, but it seems studios are only interested in new films now if they can make a franchise of 3 or more films out of it. Crazy. One reason I think it might fail, at least in the UK, is that they're moving the location to another country - Russia apparently. Might be okay, just so long as they don't add any Cold War prejudice to it... it's not like anyone really cares about the Cold War now... we're all friends aren't we?
Sunday, October 05, 2008
Reviewed: Star Wars: The Force Unleashed
I'm a huge fan of Star Wars, any one who knows me knows that. Which is why I found Star Wars The Force Unleashed to be good, but not great. Now let me tell you why...
To start with the story attempts to fill in a small space between Episode 3 (Revenge of the Sith) and Episode 4 (A New Hope) which is a period of 18 years - so this covers approximately a year at a guess not long before the fateful meeting of Luke Skywalker and some droids that were for sale. Although for a FPS the story isn't too bad, it doesn't really fit well with the Star Wars Universe. Every confrontation is just another mission, there's no real flow to it until it gets to the second act when you begin to redeem yourself as you make friends with those who will begin the Rebel Alliance. The better of the game's two endings is for the light-side; it's not the best ending for a computer game but it is better than a lot of Star Wars game endings and it ties nicely with what we know is to come in Episode 4. It explains why things are the way they are. The dark-side ending however isn't so good - it throws caution to the wind, and the Star Wars canon for that matter; it makes Episodes 4-6 impossible by allowing Darth Vader to be "out the way".
The gameplay is okay though, the range and effects of the Force powers is great and unlike anything we've seen before - mostly because they now have some degree of physics applied to them so that they affect the environment as you would expect. There's also a few "epic" moments such as bringing down an Imperial star destroyer using nothing more than "Force pull" (not really a spoiler as it's in the trailer for the game). Unlike the Jedi Knight series of games, this one only gives you one weapon to chose - your lightsaber; but it is customisable to some degree as you can change the crystals that your lightsaber uses. The game also uses an experience system to allow you to pick your force powers as you progress and also to reallocate the experience points as you need to so that you're best equipped for the situation.
The soundtrack has some new recordings, and also borrows from the original trilogy's recordings by John Williams. One of the best moments is hearing the Imperial March music whilst casually using the force to throw enemies to one side - it's what makes an average game into a great Star Wars game with a good Star Wars atmosphere to it.
To wrap up, I must say that if you enjoy Star Wars and want to know a little more about how the Rebel Alliance started and what happened during those 18 years between Episodes 3 and 4 then this is the ideal game for you. It is true that in some ways it is not as good as Jedi Outcast or the Knights of the Old Republic, it is the best Star Wars game to come out since then, and is the first one out for the "next-gen" consoles.
Rating: 4/5
To start with the story attempts to fill in a small space between Episode 3 (Revenge of the Sith) and Episode 4 (A New Hope) which is a period of 18 years - so this covers approximately a year at a guess not long before the fateful meeting of Luke Skywalker and some droids that were for sale. Although for a FPS the story isn't too bad, it doesn't really fit well with the Star Wars Universe. Every confrontation is just another mission, there's no real flow to it until it gets to the second act when you begin to redeem yourself as you make friends with those who will begin the Rebel Alliance. The better of the game's two endings is for the light-side; it's not the best ending for a computer game but it is better than a lot of Star Wars game endings and it ties nicely with what we know is to come in Episode 4. It explains why things are the way they are. The dark-side ending however isn't so good - it throws caution to the wind, and the Star Wars canon for that matter; it makes Episodes 4-6 impossible by allowing Darth Vader to be "out the way".
The gameplay is okay though, the range and effects of the Force powers is great and unlike anything we've seen before - mostly because they now have some degree of physics applied to them so that they affect the environment as you would expect. There's also a few "epic" moments such as bringing down an Imperial star destroyer using nothing more than "Force pull" (not really a spoiler as it's in the trailer for the game). Unlike the Jedi Knight series of games, this one only gives you one weapon to chose - your lightsaber; but it is customisable to some degree as you can change the crystals that your lightsaber uses. The game also uses an experience system to allow you to pick your force powers as you progress and also to reallocate the experience points as you need to so that you're best equipped for the situation.
The soundtrack has some new recordings, and also borrows from the original trilogy's recordings by John Williams. One of the best moments is hearing the Imperial March music whilst casually using the force to throw enemies to one side - it's what makes an average game into a great Star Wars game with a good Star Wars atmosphere to it.
To wrap up, I must say that if you enjoy Star Wars and want to know a little more about how the Rebel Alliance started and what happened during those 18 years between Episodes 3 and 4 then this is the ideal game for you. It is true that in some ways it is not as good as Jedi Outcast or the Knights of the Old Republic, it is the best Star Wars game to come out since then, and is the first one out for the "next-gen" consoles.
Rating: 4/5
Building the Falcon
Found a site that is dedicated to a construction project, but it's not just any construction project - it's someone who is detailing the building of a model Millennium Falcon.
Building-the-falcon has loads of great pictures showing the progress to date and even details some of the methods used for things like the weathering effects to make it look old. At the time of writing it looks like he's just got the cockpit left to go.
Building-the-falcon has loads of great pictures showing the progress to date and even details some of the methods used for things like the weathering effects to make it look old. At the time of writing it looks like he's just got the cockpit left to go.