I went in to NBA 2K12 having not played a Basketball game for over five years, having being burnt by EA’s ignoble yearly cycle that eventually scarred me for a long time, pushing me to more of the arcade style games that are easy to pick up and put down without much need for practice, skill or preparation.

So I waded in with trepidation but was immediately drawn in by a crisp and easy to understand system that allowed me to drop directly in to a game or within seconds, be in one of the multiple modes that are on offer. The light tone and easy soundtrack allowed the game to sneak upon me with six hours of game play that I thoroughly enjoyed during my first session. In that time I had pushed through the exceptional training camp drills that explained the intricacies of the game in a very simple manner, never going deep enough for complete immersion, I think, on purpose, to allow entrance to new players without seeming too out of touch. The sim nature of the game, while present in all parts, lay aside enough of the time that if you just wanted to go through a season or play some legend matches you may never need to dig up those menus.

Understanding controls and understanding game play is two completely different aisles in NBA 2K12, while I started playing with an understanding of how things worked, I wasn’t hand held in to the ground when the game started leaving me a little bemused by the rich gameplay that looks exceptional off the bat. Time has been spent on the intro and tweaks to the gameplay means the game flows at a great pace, pushing you to make the better plays by making excellent use of the games commentary system.

Breaking from regular tradition the commentary team has three members who all bring their own spark to the conversation, a fourth member roams the floor with tidbits from team talks and offers her own point of view. The commentary follows the game and the team offers you advice on what your playing and subtly points you away from bad plays while breaking from the monotony when you pull a big play, nothing more satisfying than when you make a break away dunk and they break in to whoops and hollers. After 30 hours the commentary can get repetitive as there is only so much information the team can rely on to give out during a season but this is easy to digest as it is broken up between player and stat breakdowns as well as a TV broadcast set up that will run down how the rest of the league is shaping up at half time, how the next few games for teams are looking and how players are matching up against their opposites.

While playing as a legend is a massive draw and leading a team through a season is an exciting prospect, I’ve always found the measuring stick for sports games to be in the mode where you take your player through Rookie status and upwards towards becoming a hall of famer. This mode, entitled My Player, replicates a lot of what I loved about NHL ‘09’s system when it was first introduced. The addition of skill points and a true progression system leaves you with some great targets to strive for throughout the game and allows you to really see how far you will go throughout the course of a season. Play a bad game and your penalty will be few points to spend on improving your character, have a super game and be named the “Jordan Player of the Match” and you’ll find a nice pile waiting for you. Pre-Draft and Post game interviews drive you deeper in to the immersion and will make you want to make every play count on the field as you begin to understand how younger players feel, matched up with some of the greatest players of our time in a Rookie season and expected to match their performance. I found the pressure a great driver for me to keep playing the game and is the best example of a player system within a sports game I have ever played, packed with drills and scrimmages for you to improve your player and understanding of the game and your teams strengths.

The gameplay feels solid, looks excellent and although I often had bad matches now and again I could often attribute that too a skill based problem rather than software. The game shipped with numerous problems, such as a transfer bug that will auto shift teams halfway in to a season (The same bug present in the 2011 version) which has vilified fans a lot but after starting and playing three different players through their first season I can say I never encountered or noticed it. The interface through career modes could use a little work to present information better as digging through multiple menus to find the most basic information about my league placements is a pain when I’m checking between each match as we lead directly to the play offs.

The online in 2K games is notorious for its problems and that is no different here. I managed to compete in about half the matches I attempted and, when playing, things went excellently, but once in a lobby there was never a guarantee the match would actually begin.

Although NBA 2K12 isn’t a perfect product I am still holding it up as a shining example of how sports games should be made. This game has been produced by a team who love basketball and are now threatened with no NBA this season which adds a little extra significance to every little strength in the game. 2K have provided a game that is enough to quench peoples need for weekly games and is presented in such an excellent fashion that you may think you’re actually watching your favourite team rather than playing them. Many times I was asked what Basketball I was watching from another room due to the TV broadcast replicated coverage that is spread throughout NBA 2K12 and is exactly why this game is enough of a game to carry the torch alone this year.

The Binding of Isaac is, put very simply, a top down dungeon crawler game that procedurally generates it’s levels, meaning each play through goes completely different to the last and this, perhaps more than anything, is what makes the game so compelling. Play through’s last up to 30 minutes should you have a successful run but I found on average I was ducking ut after dying fifteen to twenty minutes in. The game spans 8 levels and includes a whole host of different boss battles that play differently to one another, although these persist through plays so you’ll get a good grip of each boss battles as you go in through a short picture showing you who you’ll be up against, I found myself geared for each battle differently depending on how far in to the game I was and how confident my item collection had made me.

Isaac is a child who has been rejected by his mother and tossed in to the basement, he needs to fight through the dungeon-esque, monster filled levels to finally confront his religiously blind mother. Isaac’s primary weapon stems from the tears he cries constantly through the game, bolstered by numerous power ups and extra weapons that add a unique feel to the combat.

The item collection system within the game is intuitive and keeps you wanting to push for further play throughs to just get that little extra that may finally push you over the edge. The way the items drop is worked out behind the scenes by play length and how much you’re struggling with each section. This keeps the game fresh and never makes it feel as if it’s out of reach for the player.

The game insists on keeping you in the dark about pick ups so the first time you grab an item you’ll have little idea how it works, whether it be defensive or offensive, or if you’re going to find it useful. This adds some mystery to the game as you plow through room after room, the celebration of finding something that looks important dashed suddenly as you realise this defensive strategy is going to offer you little help in you current situation.

For a game based on a singularly focused idea of matricide it is a little shocking to hear the buzz that surrounded this game. Developed by a small team of three people The Binding if Isaac feels fresh even though it hardly challenges twenty year old concepts that were set in stone by early Zelda games. The deftness at which the controls work is well balanced and often leads to you cutting it pretty tight as you panic when your health is getting low. I would have loved to see The Binding of Isaac with an official patch for use with my controller but felt no loss with using the keyboard. The Binding of Isaac is full of blood, some slight gore, comedy and a re-playability I’ve not seen in a long time and is well worth the minute price tag of £3.99 on Steam. I’m currently 15-20 hours in and know I’ll be going back for a lot more of Isaac’s world in the future and you should come and join me!

The story moves forward, picking up a little pace as we move in to the second act and Kane’s condition is revealed in one of the most memorable scenes in science fiction film making, set within the Nostromo’s mess hall with the entire crew surrounding a now presumed to be healed Kane who claims to be ravished and begins to chow down on food. The crew, rather naively join him in breaking bread as they praise his surprising recovery before realising that something is deeply wrong with there friend. Kane struggles, falls around the room in what looks like a seizure before falling upon the central table, an alien bursting from within his chest and scuttling off, making the most of the crews fear and confusion as they jump back and away from the new chess piece.

The alien grows quickly in to what we now know as a Xenomorph. The alien goes about taking out the crew, one by one eliminating them as they struggle to deal with the ramifications of what they are witnessing and, as their understanding of the situation grows, they begin to realise what must happen in order to end their ordeal.

Ripley now steps out in to the light, her command of the situation is strengthening to the others as she learns the truth of the mission they were on, the set up by the company and the mole that exists within the crew. Although not much focus is given to this angle during this film, it is the small scene within the communications pod where Ripley learns the truth that is, perhaps, the guiding force behind a lot of the mythology that was to follow the film. Ripley is the only crew member of the Nostromo to escape (If you don’t count the cat) and after a final encounter with the Xenomorph aboard her escape pod she settles in to hyper sleep once again, heading for home.

Sigourney Weaver’s portrayal as Ripley is a joy to watch and, although she takes a back seat to the rest of the crew in the first act, she really comes to prominence later in the film and it becomes obvious looking back why this was the start of cementing her within the hearts of all science fiction fans throughout the last three decades. Ripley’s tough, no holds barred attitude made her different from a lot of leading women from the era, her strength of mind coupled with a sharp intelligence helped her survive the onslaught and was one of the guiding factors of the movie.

The other guiding factor, in my opinion, is H. R Giger’s design of the Xenomorph. His insistance on it having an inate human feel while still feeling alien to the audience is never more obvious than the final scenes where it stares Ripley down in the escape pod. The actual Xenomorph was a manned costume and yet still holds little resemblance to the human form but having an actor inside keeps the few shots of the alein moving fluid and dynamic which, for its time, was an absolute joy to behold. Ridley Scott didn’t just work within the boundaries of a pre-CG Hollywood, he pushed things to the limit and created some amazing effects using the simplest of things. The aliens oft out-of-focus kills are a sign of the generation and the quick cuts where the alien moves across a hatchway or through a grate is used in great collaboration with the first person view of the alien as we cut away from time to time to see the Xenomorph dart through the tunneled walkways throughout the Nostromo.

The music and editing help complete the film and, although a lot will argue the film is slow and cumbersome, I believe this pacing is exactly what makes the film great. Scott doesn’t succumb to the obvious tropes of starting slow to ramp up to a cataclysmic ending that often runs the film too long or undersells the beauty achieved by the first act, as was the case with a lot of films of the early eighties. Jerry Golsmith’s soundtrack is dark and beautiful and compliments the film with it’s deft strokes at every turn and, although there was some complications and arguments over the cues and cutting, I think the final version is served with a perfect balance of passion and threat which sits perfectly with the rest of the film.

The casting of the film is extremely unorthodox with the crew ranging from the youngest, Sigourney Weaver, at 30 to Harry Dean Stanton who was 53 at the time. This wasn’t a young band of adventurers who were out looking for a good time, this was a band of aged, worn out miners who were looking forward to getting home to family. This deviation from many of the more popular films helps the audience to relate to the characters, the working class trying to do their job and get home without any fuss.

Alien spawned an entire franchise which includes three direct sequels, two spin off movies, comic books, novels and video games and toys. There is also a prequel in the works, Prometheus, which doesn’t threaten the memory of the original too much as is rumoured to be set long before the battle aboard the Nostromo and have nothing to do with events yet will answer some long standing questions. Alien’s effect on cinema is easy to see and I don’t need to make an argument about that. Science fiction and horror films today still follow a lot of similar tropes and tricks employed here for the first time. Dan O’Bannon’s screenplay glistens off the screen throughout this film and is a true gem of cinema history, one that remains solidly in my top ten films of all time and something I hold dear for its sci-fi roots.

The script, penned by Michael Markowitz, John Francis Daley and Jonathon Goldstein, keeps the raunchy comedy tight and fast moving, not dwelling too long on each scene while it capitalises on a slightly long feeling 100 minutes of screen time. The film loses a little traction in the third act as the hapless trio’s master plan begins to unravel around them and they realise murder isn’t as easy as it is on Law and Order. The three main stars gel exceedingly well, the script allowing them little time to set up and begin the plot moving is a risky move but works well here, little exposition is needed and the meat of the story is quickly unravelled and set upon.

Horrible Bosses is a raunchy R-rated comedy with affable characters and insane cameos from three of the most unexpected sources of comedy. Although I feel a lot of these cameos grew from Tom Cruise’s oft-lauded cameo in Tropic Thunder, I am glad to see others stretch themselves a little and the pay off is excellent. The film skirts away from any of the Sandler movie soppiness where the protagonist will realise his true feelings right before the credits role and, although it really becomes something different than the set up, is a great easy watching movie that isn’t risque enough to be offensive while still keeping an edge and sense of direction, something other comedies of the same style would do well to pay attention too.

Sons of Anarchy: Season One

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, adapted from the novel of the same name from John le Carre, is a spy film entrenched in Cold War England, following the retired George Smiley who is forcibly returned to service to root out a Soviet mole within his old organization, MI6. The film follows predictable turns and oft used tropes to slide through its 127 minute run time which feels long and daunting throughout.

Tinker Tailor is sold as a Thriller and yet holds little to justify that branding, the film is one of the slowest of memory and plods through long drawn out scenes of feebly placed dialogue to excruciating filler with nothing but ambient noise. The films silence is accentuated by the long scenes placed solely on the shoulders of “Smiley” as he works through the case piece by piece. Tom Hardy joins the crew as the apparent point man Ricki Tarr, although is portrayed as little more than a love lorne youth who yearns for his forsaken girlfriend, held captive by the enemy. Colin Firth, Toby Jones, Ciaran Hinds and David Dencik fill out the suspect pool, although the film obviously frames the guilty party from the get go and never deviates enough to dra suspicion to other parties. Mark Strong rounds out the cast as Jim Prideaux, an agent betrayed by the mole who is sent in to hiding to protect the secret he knew all along.

The one shining light of the film is Gary Oldman who plays George Smily perfectly, his slow and drawing performance leaves you with a hint of respect for a man who was pushed out of service and yet still holds a sharpened edge amongst his peers. Oldman brings Smiley from the page perfectly and plays with the different roles the character is forced to portray throughout, as investigator and eventual captor of the double agent.

Tinker Tailor is renowned as one of the seminal pieces of Spy fiction from the last fifty years and yet in the hands of Tomas Alfredson (Director) and Peter Straughen (Screenplay) the film is little more than a black mark on an otherwise intriguing literary era. The film comes across as a mediocre story that adds characters and twists in for no apparent reason and without the big finish viewers are left with little more than an anti climactic end that was obvious from the start. There is no big build up, no crescendo as Smiley breaks the case and brings in his man, rather, the film remains steady throughout and hardly breaks from its own drawl from revelation to credits.

The book adds a whole host of different characters in to Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and gives good justification for each, fleshing out why and how they’re involved in a larger conspiracy that runs right throughout the organization. The film adds the same characters in and gives no explanation as to why, putting characters on screen than only add to the confusion because no reason is given for their presence, other than some haphazard and lazily placed flashbacks that come from nowhere and run inexplicably long. Straughan, it seems, tried to bring the book straight to film without angering fans but has done little more than hit a top limit on his run time and just stopped and without the adjustment for what a film could allow it feels shallow and undeserving of the name. The film is probably worth seeing even if it is just for Gary Oldman’s performance but don’t go in expecting something epic and ranging that will draw your interest.
]]> http://geekcultured.com/2011/09/30/review-tinker-tailor-soldier-spy/feed/ 0 tinker-tailor-soldier-spy-poster-gary-oldman Stealthoneill Tinker-Tailor-Soldier-Spy tinker-taylor-soldier-spy-photo-tom-hardy http://geekcultured.com/2011/09/28/a-new-kindle-cometh/ http://geekcultured.com/2011/09/28/a-new-kindle-cometh/#comments Wed, 28 Sep 2011 20:06:21 +0000 Sean Clayton http://geekcultured.com/?p=290 ]]>

Kristen Wiig fronts the cast as Annie, a troubled woman, down on her luck in love and life and, although I feared this would lead us down the chick-flick hole that most would gladly walk down, Bridesmaids pushes all boundaries, introducing a stream of lewd jokes and openness that we rarely see from women in film. Annie struggles as her best friend Lillian announces her engagement, Annie has to deal with the threat of a new friend and three other Bridesmaids that are, unfortunately, criminally underused throughout the film. The film takes some predictablet turns throughout and builds up to a conclusion that is obvious from the outset but the execution is stand out as Annie falls down the rabbit hole, losing her job, her apartment and new love in the same week, ending in a triumphant fall from grace at the wedding shower.

Kristen Wiig plays Annie to perfection throughout the madness, her awkward, bumbling one liners slot in during any scene and brighten up the longer shots that seem to dwell a little too long. Paul Fieg’s direction, while simple and easy ont he eyes, often allows a scene to go on too long, focusing the camera on a set of characters long enough for the joke to stale or the dialogue to stall. Unfortunately, without snappier changes the film dips through the middle of the film and begins to drag slowly towards it’s conclusion. Oftentimes scenes that should have been left on the cutting room floor – The weird, brother-sister room mates that leave an awkward scent in the air or the insertion of a tennis match that seems to serve no purpose, come to mind – and help push the film over the two hour mark enough so that the film feels too long.

The film feels more Apatow than Sandler and that makes sense, considering Judd Apatow’s producer credit, but Paul Feig relies too much on the rom-com elements of the movie rather than the comedy chops of Wiig and her co-stars. Where, in Apatow’s films, the actors give off an improv vibe that comes across natural and easy, Feig pushes the transitions and establishing shots too far and takes away the focus. The script, partly penned by Wiig herself, goes a long way to establish characters that are hardly used which comes across as something that may have been changed part way through production – Melissa Macarthy being the most memorable part of the film, even though her short screen time – but the script is great at establishing Annie and Lillian’s (Played by Maya Rudolph) friendship. Wiig and Rudolph spend a lot of time playing off each other and this rewards nicely towards the end.

It’s a rare thing to encounter a film that focuses solely on woman and Bridesmaids pushes some of the expected cliches to a limit where you almost forget you are, essentially, watching a romantic comedy. The salacious jokes play well in to the characters and the movie is an easy watch. Although Bridesmaids isn’t a perfect film, it pushes past being a simple gender-switch film and provides intelligence with its comedy, a romantic sub-plot that traps the film for far too long and the underlying threat of marriage with Annie’s insecurities is a nice driving force and well worth the patience through the slower scenes.

The comedy scene has been stale for a long time, the Sandler generation of movies have topped the box office for so long I think audiences have forgotten what good comedy can be and I think that, while this film isn’t anything new or exciting, it does show a different side to comedy and will hopefully enlighten audiences to move outside their comfort zone. Yes, Bridesmaids utilises the same bawdy comedy that has spread like wildfire over the past decade, but it treats its material with respect offers audiences an alternative; I think Wiig and Fieg understand that, while an audience loves comedy, they’re not too used to seeing an all-female cast in such open circumstances and so keep their material relatively safe. Bridesmaids in inoffensive and easy to watch, easily the best comedy to come out of Hollywood in the last couple of years.
]]> http://geekcultured.com/2011/09/14/review-bridesmaids/feed/ 1 bridesmaids-movie-poster Stealthoneill 904cf04bd99b7fdec4c9f8755ddb6a17_XL bridesmaids-movie-poster img_298_bridesmaids-2011-full-movie-dvdrip http://geekcultured.com/2011/09/11/911-a-small-tribute/ http://geekcultured.com/2011/09/11/911-a-small-tribute/#comments Sun, 11 Sep 2011 13:00:17 +0000 Sean Clayton http://stealthoneill.wordpress.com/?p=252 ]]> I was fifteen when the World Trade Centre was attacked, too young to understand the impact such an event would have on the world I was stepping in to. I still remember where and when I was when someone told me what was happening, standing outside my air cadet hut on a cold September evening I had no idea what terrorism truly was or what it would become over the coming decade. I was young, naive and living in a small UK town, isolated from what was happening so far away. I’ve talked to people who lived in New York on that day, read the books and watched the documentaries but I’ve no idea how to process all that and won’t even try to sit here and write that I understand. I don’t. As a society, I don’t think we will ever understand that unless we live through it.

Years later in the UK we would feel a little of that terror with the 7/7 bombings. The fear that can only come from people afraid to jump on the bus to go to work, who are suspicious of every one around them – a fear born of the knowledge that it could, and has, happened.

This blog went around in my head for days. I wrote a lot, I deleted it and restarted. I wrote a lot again, repeated the delete. I’ve no idea how to write a fitting tribute to those who died on September the 11th 2001 or those who still suffer to this day. The world will unite today and, for one fleeting moment, we will feel the strength we felt a decade ago as we stand together, united for one cause.

Now, moving on from the heavy side of things: Go out, use that freedom that people fight for and enjoy the day.

The NY skyline, as it should be

I hold very few films as dear as I hold Stand By Me, a film I hold in such high regard, I believe, because I was right smack in the target age range when I first saw it. I can still remember the day, cold and miserable outside, I happened across a DVD copy of the film, four boys on a railroad track on the cover and some names I recognised: Wil Wheaton and Corey Feldman. I went in knowing nothing about the film, sat in my small bedroom with the lights off expecting something akin to The Goonies with a sense of eager anticipation as the credits role and the film begins.

Stand By Me, released in 1986, a film by Rob Reiner which was loosely based on the Stephen King novella “The Body” is a film that follows four young boys on who embark on a mission to find a local missing boy and, although the focus is very much on the completion of said adventure, the treasure is held within the journey. Four boys, on the cusp of awkward teenage years, have a bond only children can understand, the bond that isn’t burned by years of betrayal or real life, that still holds true to this day, a trust so endearing it can only be held by the innocence of children. Gordie, Chris, Teddy and Vern are all scarred in their own ways and they understand that, while separate their lives are self-destructive, largely hated-filled, homes; together they’re able to leave the pain and suffering behind and hold on to the last shred of innocence. This journey is about discovering themselves and setting the path forward for each of them.

River Phoenix plays Chris, a tough guy from the wrong side of the tracks whose brothers bad name has inevitably bled through in to his childhood. Now, throughout the town, Chris is seen as a bad egg and his innocence, while dented and hidden, is put on display in small, fleeting moments of weakness that see the him and Gordie bond throughout the film. Phoenix’s performance is subtle and affecting in its sincerity. His awkward tough guy persona that is a facade he holds only around others, is gently broken down for his friends to enable them to bond with the new Chris, a gentler, more human Chris who holds a higher understanding of the world that the other boys. He has seen the bad and is yet to see the good but holds out hope that is best friend, Gordie, will be the one to show it too him.

Gordie (Wheaton) is a boy stuck in a bubble. His older brother having recently died from a car accident is his parents only focus. They’re broken and can’t deal with their younger son. Gordie was always the oddball, his brother the big football star while Gordie chose pursuits such as writing and his parents, who don’t even appear to try, never did understand him. Gordie and his brother were close, his brother the only one of his family who Gordie could relate too so when his family begin pushing him away after the death, Gordie presumes this as a sign that they wished it was him that died. Gordie is tortured by the death of his brother and yet only one person – Chris – knows this. Although his other friends understand they largely steer away from the subject matter in fear for having to breach a deep and meaningful topic. Wheaton plays Gordie excellently as the awkward teen who struggles to relate to people. His quiet mumbling portray a lot of teenagers I knew growing up and so watching those scenes again put me right back in those moments, the only confidence he gains is from the bravado of his collecive of friends.

Teddy and Vern (Feldman and an extremely young Jerry O’Connell) while cruical parts of the story, are largely underused. They serve as support and comic relief from the depths to which Chris and Gordie constantly dive. Teddy is the son of a soldier who stormed the beach at Normandy who then, years later, attacked his son and burned his ear on a stove while Vern, a plump, young boy, is often misunderstood and prodded by his friends for his clumsy, idiotic ways. Both these characters are excellent in their roles as side characters and are played up to perfection when needed, falling back in to the scenery extremely quickly when something major happens to allow the two stars to shine. Their support is crucial and rounds out the group nicely with a nice dynamic.

The key to the success isn’t in the actors themselves, no matter how great they are, it was in the selection process that narrowed down the pool to these four boys that were so like their characters that they were, almost, not required to act. They were playing a caricatured version of themselves, each heavily relating to the issues of the characters and so slipping in to character easily between scenes. The film is one of the few examples of great child acting and a shining light on why the selection process is so vital. Under Rob Reiner’s wing the film takes on a more whimsical twist than its literary origin. The film deals extremely well with more adult themes of life and death while still keeping it within the reigned in view of four children who slowly come to understand what life is about.

While I would have liked to see the heavier ending portrayed within the film, I appreciate Reiner’s rewrite to lighten it up, changing the main focus from Chris to Gordie and having Chris’ tortured protagonist shine through in other areas. The over arc of Gordie dealing with life as he looks back while writing his memoirs adds a nice pace and Richard Dreyfuss narrating culminates in an amazing end that leaves an empty feeling in the pit of your stomach. You become attached to the kids throughout the film and while he types away at the last words of his book you come to realise, rather bluntly, that he’s correct. You never have friends like when you were twelve.

Even though it was years before River Pheonix would tragically die, I find the ending a great tribute to a great actor, his final scene as he fades away and the characters fate is confirmed is a morbid moment that is made even more morose when you add in the further knowledge of the actor.

For me, Stand By Me showed me that kids films didn’t have to be goofy and I didn’t have to be spoon fed themes through obvious tropes and cliches. As a child I watched this film and was shown a new way of handling more serious topics that would eventually lead me to some of my more favourite films. As an adult I watch and am reminded of the great times I spent with friends, the adventures and mischief one can find from a tree house and a few planks of wood; the friendships only children can have and the loss that we all eventually feel when we move past that age and in to something new. All together Stand By Me is a great movie and remains a timeless classic that will stand any test, hopefully showing future generations what friendship truly is.