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.

Cloverfield Movie Review

Cloverfield Review

What I Liked:

1. The idea of the whole movie being presented as shot through a home video camera is interesting.

2. Special effects of the city being destroyed are generally good.

3. Some evocative shots, like of the Statue of Liberty’s severed head, and the Sept. 11-esque shots of rolling debris clouds and crowds running.

What I Didn’t Like:

1. Hud constantly yelling “Rob!” is annoying as FUCK.

2. The creatures look so fake they aren’t even scary. The dinosaurs in Jurassic Park were scarier because they looked real.

3. An anti-tank rocket can blast through a heavily armored tank, but yet can’t even make the organic creature bleed.

Gay:

There’s a scene near the end where they don’t notice that a monster half the size of a skyscraper is standing right next to them until it’s too late.

Final BS Rating: -1 NOT SO GOOD