And we're back; this post is bought to you by Guitar Hero: Metallica and the Terminator movies.
I love this game and the whole Guitar Hero franchise in general. They are just a very satisfying series of games, simple in design but at times a brutal challenge. The latest entry is no different, and has the added bonus of being able to pretend youre in Metallica. Hammering out Master of Puppets on a Fisher Price guitar (copyright The_New_Scum) is ridiculous but fun. And thats why I love. I'll never be able to do that, but for a few minutes I can pretend its possible.
Could have done without the "guest" artists though, and where's Ride the Lightening? These are minor complaints though, the overall package is excellent. Now all I need is Guitar Hero: A Wilhelm Scream/Alk3/Brand New/etc etc.
Last night I bought myself Terminator 2: Judgment Day on Blu-Ray. Once upon a time I was a Hi def cynic, but now I'm almost fanatical about it. For me its not about the picture quality, its about the sound. Even through my outdated 5.1 amp Blu-Rays are leagues above DVD. T2, despite being 18 years old, really give my system a hammering, and it loved it. Also it contains the original theatrical version, so I don't have to sit through 30 minutes of deleted scenes that knacker the pace of the movie anymore.
Unless there's been serious outside interference on the production of a movie I'm really not interested in extended versions of movies. I'll make the Lord of the Rings movies an exception here as its alleged that that was always the plan. When new footage gets inserted into older releases though it always seems forced and jarring.
Another James Cameron movie, Aliens, is good contender for this. The original movies first act is slow, which makes the eventual descent into chaos more exciting. The extended version takes fucking forever to get to the alien ravaged colony. I don't think that the additions make a better movie, they just slow it down. Personally I'm of the opinion that if you're movie has to be longer than two hours you better have a damn good reason, and Aliens doesn't.
Back to Terminator and onto what I really want to talk about. Its no coincidence that the T2 Blu-ray has hit the shops at the same time as Terminator Salvation is on our cinema screens. For me though this tie in strategy has shot itself in the foot. I've been reminded of what an excellent film it is (until last night I hadn't seen it in years) and why I enjoy it so much. The answer is Arnold Schwarzenegger, a much maligned actor and rightly so for many reasons. The Terminator is his character though.
As you probably know Arnold isn't in Terminator Salvation. Well a computer simulation of him is, I don't think computers have quite got to the point were they can render that much badassery yet. So we're robbed of the franchises iconic character.
Thats the Arnie fan boy love out of the way.
My next concern involves dropping Cameron in favour of the director of Charlies Angels. I'll admit to sitting through both Charlies Angels movies and on a superficial level enjoying them. These are two completely different properties though. One has given us two great movies; the other has given us, erm, er, well nothing really.
None of this really matters though. I can bitch all I like, both T3 and Salvation have still been made. As will other updates to films I love. My only consolation is that I don't have to watch them. I can live in world were there are only three Star Wars movies, were Aliens were never pitted against Predators and X Men Origins: Wolverine is just a humorous internet joke.
I can even take comfort in plans to remake Alien. At least that means they'll stick the original on Blu-Ray around the same time so I can pretend someone hasn't tried to rape a classic.
This is Geoff, last survivor of hideous fucking remakes, signing off.....
(And yes I do realise paraphrasing the closing lines of Alien 3 brings my previous comments into disrepute)
I love this game and the whole Guitar Hero franchise in general. They are just a very satisfying series of games, simple in design but at times a brutal challenge. The latest entry is no different, and has the added bonus of being able to pretend youre in Metallica. Hammering out Master of Puppets on a Fisher Price guitar (copyright The_New_Scum) is ridiculous but fun. And thats why I love. I'll never be able to do that, but for a few minutes I can pretend its possible.
Could have done without the "guest" artists though, and where's Ride the Lightening? These are minor complaints though, the overall package is excellent. Now all I need is Guitar Hero: A Wilhelm Scream/Alk3/Brand New/etc etc.
Last night I bought myself Terminator 2: Judgment Day on Blu-Ray. Once upon a time I was a Hi def cynic, but now I'm almost fanatical about it. For me its not about the picture quality, its about the sound. Even through my outdated 5.1 amp Blu-Rays are leagues above DVD. T2, despite being 18 years old, really give my system a hammering, and it loved it. Also it contains the original theatrical version, so I don't have to sit through 30 minutes of deleted scenes that knacker the pace of the movie anymore.
Unless there's been serious outside interference on the production of a movie I'm really not interested in extended versions of movies. I'll make the Lord of the Rings movies an exception here as its alleged that that was always the plan. When new footage gets inserted into older releases though it always seems forced and jarring.
Another James Cameron movie, Aliens, is good contender for this. The original movies first act is slow, which makes the eventual descent into chaos more exciting. The extended version takes fucking forever to get to the alien ravaged colony. I don't think that the additions make a better movie, they just slow it down. Personally I'm of the opinion that if you're movie has to be longer than two hours you better have a damn good reason, and Aliens doesn't.
Back to Terminator and onto what I really want to talk about. Its no coincidence that the T2 Blu-ray has hit the shops at the same time as Terminator Salvation is on our cinema screens. For me though this tie in strategy has shot itself in the foot. I've been reminded of what an excellent film it is (until last night I hadn't seen it in years) and why I enjoy it so much. The answer is Arnold Schwarzenegger, a much maligned actor and rightly so for many reasons. The Terminator is his character though.
As you probably know Arnold isn't in Terminator Salvation. Well a computer simulation of him is, I don't think computers have quite got to the point were they can render that much badassery yet. So we're robbed of the franchises iconic character.
Thats the Arnie fan boy love out of the way.
My next concern involves dropping Cameron in favour of the director of Charlies Angels. I'll admit to sitting through both Charlies Angels movies and on a superficial level enjoying them. These are two completely different properties though. One has given us two great movies; the other has given us, erm, er, well nothing really.
None of this really matters though. I can bitch all I like, both T3 and Salvation have still been made. As will other updates to films I love. My only consolation is that I don't have to watch them. I can live in world were there are only three Star Wars movies, were Aliens were never pitted against Predators and X Men Origins: Wolverine is just a humorous internet joke.
I can even take comfort in plans to remake Alien. At least that means they'll stick the original on Blu-Ray around the same time so I can pretend someone hasn't tried to rape a classic.
This is Geoff, last survivor of hideous fucking remakes, signing off.....
(And yes I do realise paraphrasing the closing lines of Alien 3 brings my previous comments into disrepute)