Green Screen Studio Testing Pics

Here are some photos of me testing out my new green screen studio. Most (or all) of these are from the making of the "Badass Reviews: Avatar" video. It was hot as burning hell in front of those lights.

The Hurt Locker Movie Review

The Hurt Locker Review



The Good:

1. The characters and acting were all really good.

2. The lack of politics. Thankfully, this movie is practically devoid of all politics, which is absolutely fan-FUCKING-tastic. War movies tend to get bogged down with the political or propaganda aspects.

For example, World War 2 movies have degraded to the point where it is all about "saving the world from evil Nazis." Viet Nam war movies suffer from the "anti-war" messages they get burdened with as well. Previous Iraq war movies tended to focus heavily on whether or not it was "right" to have invaded Iraq. Not so here. This movie is solely focused on the soldiers themselves, and that is how I like my war movies.

3. Everything looks VERY realistic and believable. It's very easy to believe you are watching the actual war in Iraq, in the actual locations. It looks like a documentary. Even the actions of the local Iraqi people are very realistic and believable. Watch "Ross Kemp in Afghanistan" and pay attention to the Afghan locals. They look and act EXACTLY like the Iraqi locals in this movie.

4. I really liked the ending. The scene with James in the supermarket is absolutely spot-on. In an unspoken way, it evokes the message that the general public worries about which highly sugared cereal to buy this week, when in reality, it doesn't fucking matter. Military life in general changes your whole outlook on life, and your perception of what really matters to you. The ending of the film reflects this in a poignant way.

5. There were several really well done suspenseful scenes in The Hurt Locker. On top of the ever-present threat of the explosives detonating, you also had to worry about the people looking on. Which ones are insurgents? Is there a sniper waiting to shoot you or the explosives? Is that guy with the cell phone about to detonate the bomb? Seriously, you can see why these guys can be so high-strung and lose their nerve.


The Bad:
NOTHING! The 2nd movie in a row where I cannot find anything really bad with the film. Nothing.

YAY!: I was really impressed to learn that a woman had directed one of my favorite war movies ever. +1 for that.

Final BS Rating: +6 THAT'S HOT SHIT! (to quote the Colonel from the movie) This is actually off the chart of my scale. I think this is the first time something has ever gone higher than the existing scale.

The Hurt Locker was an absolutely fantastic war movie. Reading some other "professional" reviews, I noticed that the only people who were giving the film negative reviews, were the people who have a major bug up their ass about the real-life Iraq war. (and also people who just generally despise war movies)

If you're looking for a movie that points fingers and vilifies George W. Bush, this isn't it. Alternatively, if you're looking for a film that glorifies the war, or Bush, this isn't it either.

I see this as a soldier's movie. A soldier goes to war, and in the end it doesn't matter what political situation got him there. He's simply there, and has to do his job no matter what. Sometimes, it's only the job that really matters.

Up in the Air Movie Review

Up in the Air Review
Video review on Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOMsJ9g9NtQ

The Good:

1. The actors and acting were all really good. I especially liked George Clooney.

2. The concept was good. It was something I felt like I'd never really seen before.

3. Really liked the scenes where they were firing people.

The Bad:

NOTHING! I could not find anything that stuck out as being "bad" about this movie.

Final BS Rating: +3 HARDCORE

Now, labeling a movie such as this as "HARDCORE" is really strange, yes I know. My scale was designed with video games in mind. In this case you could replace "HARDCORE" with something more like "ENJOYABLE".

Up in the Air was one of those movies where it was hard to really say why it was good. It just was.

The Lovely Bones Movie Review

The Lovely Bones Movie Review (No Spoilers in this text version)
Video Review on Youtube: (Massive Spoilers) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nu2R0FaCMtQ

The Good:

1. Great acting

2. Stanley Tucci as the killer is FANTASTIC.

3. Some great looking scenes.


The Bad:

1. Ending was lame and VERY unsatisfying.

2. Some plot points are left unresolved.

3. Some plot points don't make much sense.

4. Love interest is PATHETIC.


GAY: Questionable plot and lame ending ruin the experience. -1

Final BS Rating: -2 SUCKS


With a slightly different script, this could have been a great movie. Oh well.

The Road (2009) Movie Review

The Road (2009)

The Good:

1. Interesting concept: The idea of a father and son trying to survive a post-apocalyptic world is an attention getter for me.

2. The scenes of devastation were good. Flattened forests, trashed towns, raging fires, dead seas... All of that looked good on film.


The Bad:

1. The sound seemed to be poorly mixed, or actors mumbled their lines in certain scenes. Several scenes throughout the movie, I just could not hear the actors well enough to properly understand them. This was particularly true with Viggo Mortensen and Charlize Theron.

2. Not a single scene from the film sticks out to me as being a favorite.

3. The reason for the apocalypse is unexplained. There's one dialogue where a character mentions that there were warnings, but people thought it was a con. That reminds me of the whole man-made global warming/climate change thing. However, there's no way global warming could have caused all of the destruction seen in the movie. (the Tunguska-like flattened forests stick out as one example)

Having no determined cause of the apocalypse feels like a cop-out, and is very disappointing. Even the worst zombie movies invent an excuse for having shambling corpses eating everybody.

4. I waited the whole movie for it to "get good" and it never did. Not that the movie was BAD, but it seemed pretty dull.

5. I did NOT need to see Viggo Mortensen's "flappysack". If you're unfamiliar with that term, imagine seeing a naked man from behind, and watching his balls bounce around under his ass... You can never unread that, by the way...

Final Badassian Scale Rating: -3 CRAPPY

In the end, The Road was a very disappointing movie for me. Perhaps I expected it to be something it was never meant to be. I just can't really recommend this film.

IL-2 Sturmovik: Birds of Prey Review Xbox 360
It needs to be noted that this review was written MONTHS ago. It is possible that over time, and with patches, certain aspects of this review may no longer be applicable or accurate.

The Good:

1. Closest thing yet to a console Flight SIMULATOR.

2. Good graphics.

3. Decent campaign and LOTS of single missions to fly.

4. Variable realism settings.

5. Quick mission editor extends the life of the game.


The Bad:

1. Can't get into multiplayer games. (at the time this review was first written in 2009) Seemed like no one was playing this game online.

2. Lack of cockpits for Axis planes.

3. Sound skips or drops out, in cut scenes sometimes.

4. Having to click the right thumbstick to look around is absolute CRAP.

5. In-flight chatter is annoying. (as it is in EVERY console flying game)

6. Historical inaccuracies and inaccuracies with aircraft.

7. No Axis campaign.


Final BS Rating: -2 SUCKS

As far as air combat games for consoles goes, this game is actually fairly decent. However it still pales in comparison to its PC big brother, IL-2 Sturmovik 1946. Considering that IL-2 1946 can run on PCs that are pretty low-end, you're really much better off buying that game instead. Especially considering how cheaply you can get the game by now.

At first I thought my review might be a little harsh. However I decided that maybe it really wasn't. After finishing the campaign, I really haven't felt the urge to pop this game back into the 360 and play it some more, other to grab some of the easy achievements.

Birds of Prey was, at the very least, a step in the right direction for console flying games.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Review (Xbox 360)

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Review
Watch the video review here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-gCATN37_GA

The Good:

1. Addictive Multiplayer: Hands-down the most addictive and fun multiplayer game of 2009. So easy to spend DAYS playing this game online.

2. Looks Good: While not actually true high definition graphics, the game still looks very good.

3. No more infinitely spawning enemies: Remember the old Call of Duty games, where enemies kept spawning until you passed an invisible line in the level? This tired old shitty mechanic is now gone, as far as I can tell. About fucking time.

4. Call signs, Kill Streaks, Perks: Part of what makes the multiplayer so addictive is the unlockables. Tons of fun to unlock new call signs, kill streaks, and perks. (weapons too)

5. Co-op Spec Ops Mode: Call of Duty co-op? Hell yeah! Nice addition.


The Bad:

1. Shitty Campaign: The story is complete rubbish, and it wasn't all that fun. While there were a few "Oh Shit!" moments, I had to force myself to finish the campaign. At least it was VERY short...

2. Glitchers and lag nearly ruin the multiplayer experience: I have had a lot of lag issues when playing online. Horrible to the point of some matches being uncompetitive at best, and unplayable at worst. There doesn't seem to be a system for searching for games close to you. If you live outside North America, and the game connects you to a match hosted in the USA, prepare to lag like a 1 legged dog.

Final BS Rating: +3 Hardcore

Despite a few drawbacks, Modern Warfare 2 was one of the better games of 2009, and if you are a big fan of first person shooters, it is a must have game.