The beginning of the trailer is really annoying. However, at the end of the annoying part you get Sweet Tooth’s trademark laugh. You know, the laughter that let you know that if you weren’t playing as Sweet Tooth that damned missile was on its way.
After the laughter, then we get some gameplay footage. Watching it, my childhood came rushing back. This game has the promise to offer everything the classics had, while also offering quite a few new tricks.
Twisted Metal 2 was my favorite game for like 4 years.
Sorry that Another Day, Another Movie has been missing in action. We’re visiting family in New York, so there has been no time. However, I will still be watching 30 Westerns in 30 days, thus days are approaching when there will be two posts a day.
As some consolation, here is the greatest commercial in history.
This movie is pretty well-loved. It was even nominated for several oscars.
I thought it was ridiculous. It didn’t even make any sense. The plot was asinine and absurd, and two of the four “professionals” were basically non-characters. There was one guy who seemed to come along because he knew about horses. At one point he used binoculars to count how many horses the enemy had. That’s right, his expert knowledge of horses helped him count the horses, he also added that there were two donkeys. The same character also tried to trick the Mexican bandits holding him hostage by hinting to his buddies using a coded sign for danger, a good idea, aside from the fact that the code was designed by the Mexican bandits holding him hostage.
The conclusion of the film basically just finally lets the characters do what any reasonable person would have done much earlier on. The closing moments made everything that happened before them, especially the loss of life, completely needless.
Oh yeah, and Jack Palance played a Mexican revolutionary… let’s just say his ability to speak another language convincingly left a lot to be desired.
It’s just that when Leone adapted Yojimbo it was a gifted artist stealing from an even more gifted artist (which, while this was a more blatant example, seems to be what most art is), but in this case, adapting Kurosawa’s masterpiece into a misc. American Western is blasphemy. It’s nothing short of reshooting Citizen Kane with the cast of MTV’s The Hills.
They took a movie that was an amazing benchmark of visual storytelling, and they said “Hey, if we changed the ronin into cowboys and the peasants into poor Mexican farmers, we could make a pretty good movie.”
Dumb.
It was filled with scenes that didn’t make any sense out of the original context, mostly because they didn’t seem to be trying to make sense. Example: When one character blames his fellow gunmen for being the reason farmers care so much about their crops. Wha?
“Move over Las Rocas, there’s a new smash hit value in town. Outstanding ripeness and concentration, with notes of black cherry, black currants, mocha and a savory coffee note. This is a must buy by the case.” — Wine Library
Este de Bodegas Alto Almanzora
I thought that this quote from the Wine Library was an appropriate way to begin this post on Alto Almanzora Este. If you’ve read this blog, you know that we here at Roused love our wine … more specifically, we love our red wine … even more specifically, we love Las Rocas. I’ve always been a sucker for Spanish reds, so I am constantly on the lookout for the next amazing and cheap Spanish wine … not to replace Las Rocas by any means, for that cannot be done, but to broaden the scope of delicious Spanish reds our house enjoys. I recently ventured outside of my home Whole Foods to the Roosevelt Square location … so glad I did. Their wine department is much larger than my store. I immediately found two wines that caught my eye. One of these wines was one called Monan, another Spanish garnacha that will most likely make an appearance here at some point, the other wine was Alto Almanzora Este.
Andalucia
I’ve since been back for another bottle (already gone, so I’ll be headed back again soon), but from the first sip, I knew that Las Rocas had a new brother to play with. Este is pretty great. The winery is located in Andalucia, a region in the southeast of Spain. The label of Este depicts a pregnant Andalusian mare, which is a tip of the cap to the unique and beautiful horse native to the region (and some of the most beautiful horses in the world), the rich history of the region, and the fertility of the land. A blend of 45% Monastrell/Mourvèdre, 25% Tempranillo, and the remainder being rounded out with Syrah, Garnacha, Merlot, and Cabernet Sauvignon, I was instantly reminded of Bogle Phantom … maybe it was the blend being somewhat similar, but it was more from the big blackberry and cherry notes along with pepper, oak, spice, smoke, and even some dark chocolate. Este gets its oaky depth from being aged a combined 6 months in both French and American barrels. Despite being a full bodied wine, it drinks easy. I feel like this is a product of each varietal that builds the blend working in perfect harmony with the next to create a depth and mellowness that is mindblowing. Monastrell, which tends to be tannic on it’s own, becomes more easy and deep when blended with Garnacha, which features spice and berry notes. Tempranillo introduces some herbaceous and tobacco qualities. Syrah brings some dark fruit and pepper to the party. What little merlot enters the blend balances the tannins of the cabernet sauvignon and offers plum and currant notes. Cab Sauv loves oak and lends more herbaceousness and peppery notes to round out this astounding blend. And oh yeah, have I mentioned that this bottle is less than $10?
Holy shit, this movie was magnificent! Everything about it was nothing short of amazing.
There is no possible hyperbole when praising Kurosawa. This is only my third film from his catalogue, but I am just blown away by his ability to visually tell a story. The stuff he was doing in the 50’s… it’s just unbelievable.
Seven Samurai is poignant, sweet, sentimental, brutal, hilarious, and filled with depth and wisdom. It was absolutely stunning, this story of tender warriors, protecting the innocent, some making the ultimate sacrifice willingly.
The acting was also fantastic. It was brilliant across the board, but none more so than in the case of our old friend Toshiro Mifune. He exhibited an amazing ability to act hilariously insane and unhinged, and then suddenly become the emotional anchor of a moment, sometimes in the same scene.
This movie was spellbinding. I really can’t believe how good it was. I genuinely felt for each character, even though each was developed with a wonderful subtlety. I have no clue as to the backstory of most of the characters, outside of the fact that they were ronin, and yet Kurosawa’s skillful writing and directing, coupled with amazing performances simply worked each character into my heart.
It was around three and a half hours long, and I was sad to see it end. Easily my favorite movie so far.
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, or, Il buono, il brutto, il cattivo, or, Blondie, Angel Eyes and Tuco. Whatever you call it, it was fantastic filmmaking all around.
The characters were lots of fun, enjoyably acted by the three primary leads, and Leone was at the top of his game. Not to mention, Ennio Morricone composed the most iconic score in the history of the genre.
It was actually a prequel of sorts, set before the events of A Fistful of Dollars, and For a Few Dollars More.
I just wish there was a way to see the further adventures of The Man With No Name and Tuco.
The film was more of an epic than the other two in the series, covering more territory in the American West, and setting itself in a larger context revolving around the end of the Civil War, which went on for a time in places like Texas even after Lee surrendered at Appomattox.
There isn’t much else to say, aside from the fact that, like Yojimbo, I should have watched this movie a looooooong time ago.
Remember that stuff from the past that was really awesome? I love those things that you watch, taste, smell or listen to that suddenly takes you to a bygone part of your life. Even when the association may be negative, the sense of being transported to a feeling or state of mind that has long seemed dead and gone is a pretty remarkable experience.
Perhaps it isn’t nostalgia, but is just something that was awesome in the past, and is still awesome now.
That is what the 88 mph posts will showcase.
First up, the music video for Weezer’s ‘Say It Ain’t So.’ I’ve listened to The Blue Album countless times, but still, I hear a song from this CD and I am 12 years old, riding the Gravitron at the local fair.
It’s the last ride of the night, the guy running the ride tells us we can break the rules, turn upside down and such, and he will let us know when he is getting ready to shut down the ride. He blares Weezer, and lets the ride go for an unprecedentedly long amount of time.
It’s probably the best memory from my pre-teen years. It was so fun. As is this CD.
It doesn’t matter how much dislike the Twilight series, when it comes to Muse, to quote the song, “my love will live forever.” If you’re a Twilight fan, the video contains fun new clips from the upcoming film, Eclipse, if you’re like me, you can just ignore those parts and watch the Muse footage and listen to a great new song.
