Monthly Archive

Have I mentioned recently how much I adore the Dixie Chicks? Seriously. They have the huevos to offend their mostly conservative, country-listening base for the sake of being true to their beliefs. Even though they apologized to President Bush way back in their “we’re ashamed the president of the United States is from Texas” days (a regrettable but understandable self-preservation effort in the face of overwhelming backlash), the girls have jumped in the limelight again while promoting their new album, “Taking the Long Way,” by pretty much recanting the earlier apology. They’re still banned by lots of radio stations I’ll never listen to, but with the kind of press they’re getting I wouldn’t worry about them too much. As long as people are talking, the message will still get out there. Free speech rawks, and even though I’m not usually the biggest country music fan, I WILL be purchasing the new record. Woot for chicks with balls!

Is Ron Howard’s newest overblown creation, The Da Vinci Code, a creative success or a phenomenal flop? No one seems to be agreeing on the matter. I haven’t seen it myself, so I’ll refrain from passing too much judgment until I witness this masterpiece.

Actually, most critics are agreeing wholeheartedly that Da Vinci is at best mediocre and at worst a spectacular waste of time. It’s the fans who don’t seem to mind the apparently tepid script and loooong running time (two and a half hours), responding decidedly differently to the film than the jaded Cannes audience did in mid-May. It grossed $77 mil during opening weekend–a decent chunk of change–and has garnered a 6/10 rating on IMDb. The site’s user-commenter for Da Vinci, Aussie “toddt85,” writes:

After hearing about the critics’ mainly negative views of the film, I approached it without high expectations, and for that, I was rewarded. What I got was an action-packed film that didn’t let up until the dying minutes.

I guess those poor Samoans will just have to miss out on all the “action-packed” controversy and anti-Catholic hullabaloo.

Technorati tag: Movies, Da Vinci Code, Catholic Church

I know I’m not supposed to talk about myself here, but OMG! I just found out I got an A in my blog class, the venue through which this blog was created. I didn’t think I was going to, but I did, ergo I rock.

OK I’m done. Just wanted to brag for a second.

There’s so much WoW news these days, I can hardly stand it. First and most shocking: Blizzard and Legendary Pictures are making a movie set in the World of Warcraft universe. I can’t decide what I hope this movie will be–would it be cooler to see the backstory, the legends behind the whole game series (which are so complex I still don’t fully understand them) played out onscreen? Or would it be awesomer to see a new set of heroes adventuring in the version of the world I’m familiar with, the modern one? I think I’m leaning toward the latter, although since I never really played any of the pre-WoW games, my opinion might be a little different than a lot of WoW fans.

Next bit of brilliant: the new race for this summer’s WoW expansion pack, “The Burning Crusade,” is the demonic Draenei. Sweeeet. The NY Times has the full story here (you have to be a member to see the article, but it’s free). The gameplay trailer from E3 doesn’t let you see a whole bunch of the Draenei’s world, which was disappointing considering the number of visuals available of the dazzling Blood Elf homeland. But the characters themselves look pretty cool/creepy, what with the glowing eyes and tentacles sprouting from strange places.

I can’t spend too much time geeking out about WoW, because there’s also the Nintendo Wii to geek out over. But before I do that, WTF is with the new name? Are they trying to turn off gamers? “Revolution” was such a better name. But I digress. Also debuting at E3 was a demo of the new Zelda title, “The Twilight Princess,” which looks to be immensely compatible with the Wii’s two-handed, motion-sensitive mishmash of a controller. How awesome would it be to actually swordfight instead of pushing buttons to swing? I love ideas that get gamers off the couch, which so far has been done successfully only with DDR. I also like that Nintendo isn’t going the elitist route like Sony, whose PlayStation 3 will cost about $500 and be incredibly hard to obtain for the first five months of its release (until the company starts selling more in March 2007). Yes, PS3 looks to be astonishingly beautiful onscreen, but as a mid- to low-level gamer, my priorities lie elsewhere. The relatively low purchase price expected of the Wii combined with the sheer badassedness of the new Zelda game might just convince me to buy a console for the first time in my life. As for the third competitor in the console wars, Microsoft seems to be coasting. Since the Xbox 360 is old news, the best they can do to divert attention from Sony and Nintendo is endlessly flaunt the new Halo game. Am I the only person completely unexcited by Halo 3?

Oh yeah, and Britney Spears is pregnant again. Yawn.

Technorati tag: E3, World of Warcraft, Nintendo, Console Games

The abomination that is the remastered 1997 version of the Star Wars trilogy has finally been defeated. The public has spoken, and George Lucas has finally caved in to the true fans’ demands to bring back the original trilogy. The new (old) versions to be released on DVD will reverse stupid edits like changing the Han Solo killing Greedo scene to make Han look like a nice guy. He’s not supposed to be warm and fuzzy. He’s a criminal.

Technorati tag: Star Wars