— aka.spvn

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June, 2010 Monthly archive

So I just watched Toy Story 3 a couple of days ago. And damn is it amazing. It’s one of those few movies that make me want to pay to watch it again. It’s been so long since the last Toy Story movie, and I really couldn’t fathom how they could tell another story based off these same old characters again. But then again I had forgotten one crucial thing: it’s Pixar.

Unprecedented

Ever since their first Toy Story movie in 1995, Pixar has had an unprecedented record as far as movie studios go. Producing hit after hit after hit, there has yet to be a Pixar movie that I didn’t love. It really is eerie to think how they have never made a “bad” movie. Meanwhile other directors and producers just can’t stop screwing up when it comes to filmmaking. Pixar films on the other hand have always had a very high level of quality to them, so much so that when you sit down for a Pixar film, you know that you’re in for a treat. It’s more or less a given nowadays that anything Pixar touches will turn to gold.

Best Pixar Movie Ever. Period.

But I have to say, with Toy Story 3, Pixar has outdone themselves.

I’d probably consider Toy Story 3 to be my favourite Pixar movie of all time. And that’s saying something, considering how contenders for that title include precious gems such as Finding Nemo, Ratatouille (a highly underrated film in my opinion) and The Incredibles.

The first half of the movie really set up the premise well – Andy’s been growing up and neglecting his old bunch of toys. They eventually find themselves unwittingly donated to a daycare centre where hilarity, drama, action and suspense all ensue. In fact, the major action set piece spans half the movie, and it doesn’t feel forced unlike some of the other action set pieces included in other Pixar films. Every single moment of the huge action set piece was so enjoyable to watch and thoroughly creative throughout. While the final scene of this movie is probably the most emotionally stirring scene in a movie I’ve ever watched.

And this was all told through an animated film, with a bunch of plastic toys as the characters. No wonder Pixar rules.

What’s next?

I’m pretty excited for Pixar’s next few films. The only qualm I have is that I gotta wait another year before I can get another Pixar film. All 11 films they’ve produced to date have been absolutely astounding, and I just can’t wait to see more. Cars 2 is coming next year, sequel to 2006’s Cars, widely considered to be Pixar’s worst film. Though being “Pixar’s worst film” translates into “pretty awesome movie” when compared with the junk other animation studios are putting out.

2012 is going to be awesome. We’re getting not just one but TWO Pixar films that year. A sequel to Monsters Inc. in November and a new film, Brave, in June. Brave is supposedly set in “mystic Scotland” and features a headstrong girl, something about her father’s kingdom and royalty, and “unpredictable forces of nature, magic and a dark ancient curse”. Sounds pretty Disney-ish to me, which makes me kind of tentative.

Though knowing Pixar, everything they touch is gonna turn to gold.

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First off, I’m typing this on a 4 year old iMac (1.83 GHz Intel Core Duo, 1 GB ram, lackluster graphics card). As of now, this is the ONLY computer I have that’s working. So I gotta make do. And that means no games. At all. I’ve attempted to play a few now and then, but my hardware is simply too old to withstand any game that was released within the past few years. Thus, I’ve stopped following any news with regards to gaming for quite some time.

Damn vuvuzelas

But this is E3. You can’t ignore it. Kind of like the World Cup of the gaming world. Except without those damn vuvuzelas. Them horns really ought to be banned. But that’s a rant for another time.

This year’s E3 really blew me away to be honest. With regards to hardware, there was so much new stuff that a new Xbox 360 design is probably the weakest announcement. Motion-control has certainly caught on in a huge way, with Sony announcing its Wii Remote-esque Move and Microsoft its peripheral-less Kinect (originally Project Natal, a technology which I went crazy over). Of course, Nintendo has been doing motion-control for ages now (3.5 years to be exact, since the Wii first released), and it seems they’re constantly breaking new ground with the Nintendo 3DS. A handheld-console that displays 3D graphics without the need for clunky glasses? Oh and not to mention 2 cameras in front so that you can take pictures in 3D? I’m in. Unfortunately the damn thing doesn’t release till Q1 2011.

Just those 3 announcements were big enough to carry the show IMO. The rest of it, while not groundbreaking, was still entertaining nonetheless. The expected announcements of sequels to long-standing franchises (Gears of War 3, Fable 3), as well as the showcasing of some new IPs. And of course a couple of games that took advantage of the new motion controllers. Pretty neat stuff, though it’s still too early to say how successful the Kinect and Move will turn out to be.

Poor ol’ me

Alas, as with every year, I probably won’t get my feet wet with all the new stuff that’s been announced at E3. I have yet to get a current generation console, despite being the avid gamer that I am (or rather was, before my MBP’s display decided it didn’t want to work anymore). The Kinect and Move are intriguing to say the least, though I suspect that as with the Wii, it’s only going to be fun with people around. Standing alone in a room flailing your arms around at your TV is just stupid.

Plenty of new games I hope I eventually get the chance to play of course. I already have a huge backlog of games that want to but have yet to play at this point in time, and its only going to grow. Who knows when I’ll ever get a chance to make some headway in starting on the list.

One thing’s for sure though. If they don’t release Star Wars: The Force Unleashed 2 on the PC, I might be forced to get a console :( Damn that game looks awesome.

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Once again, the announcement of a new iPhone by the venerable Jobs is upon us. But the release of the iPhone 4 is particularly stinging for me.

In the past, I at least had the glimmer of hope of “Maybe I can get one of these!” But being in NS now means there’s absolutely no way I can get an iPhone. No way am I going all Frankenstein on it and plucking out the camera, especially not when it can now even record HD video (720p, 30fps on a mobile phone camera!). I’m just going to have to sit on the sidelines patiently, watching as everyone else snatches up one of these. I’m going to have to sit through another new iPhone announcement next year (assuming Apple keeps to its current trend of refreshing the iPhone hardware every year) without being able to actually own one of them. One thing’s for sure though, my next phone is going to be an iPhone.

As for the announcement itself, I have to say this 1.5 hour long keynote is probably the most entertaining one in recent times. Packed with pretty meatty announcements (thought there was that lull in between of inviting developers up on stage at one point), it sure was entertaining when Jobs essentially went “TURN OFF ALL YOUR WIFI, NOW!!!” Poor live-bloggers.

However, this occasion’s “One More Thing…” sure was disappointing, especially compared to the announcements that preceded it.

Now I’ve watched some Apple keynotes that date back to the 1990s (wow we’re actually in the ’10s) and Steve Jobs’ “One More Thing…” announcements back then were usually mind blowing to say the least. Or at least they were genuinely exciting or intriguing. This time though, their “One More Thing” turned out to be nothing more than video calling.

Seriously? Video calling? My SE Z610i from 4 years ago could do that. Sure, the iPhone 4 does it better. But 4 years on it had jolly well do a better job. Even worse, Jobs didn’t even bother trying to show off any hidden features of video calling. All the iPhone did was simply that, video calling, and nothing more. Yet the way he sold it was as if video calling was something completely new to the world, which it is obviously isn’t. I’m still mystified as to why they decided to market video calling (and seriously, calling it FaceTime doesn’t make it cool) as something that’s “revolutionary”.

Apart from that though, some of the stuff is pretty revolutionary IMO. Can’t wait for 2 years later when I can finally actually get an iPhone. Oh wells.

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