Gabriel Wardwell Archive
It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia – A Very Sunny Christmas
Starring: Charlie Day, Glenn Howerton, Rob McElhenney, Kaitlin Olson, Danny DeVito, David Huddleston
Created By: Rob McElhenney
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Buy on Amazon.com
It’s that time of year again; time to get all of your seasonal decorations out of the attic and finish up your shopping in time for the holiday. The gang from Paddy’s Irish Pub are gearing up for the holiday in the special holiday DVD. A Very Sunny Christmas is a fun-filled tale of family, friends, and festive holiday cheer for young and old.
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G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra
G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra
Company: Electronic Arts
Platform: XBOX 360
Genre: Action
Rating: T
Buy on Amazon.com
When I first got my copy of G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra for the XBOX 360, I was excited to get back into a world I hadn’t immersed myself into in about 20 years. I really had no intention of seeing the movie in the theaters, what with how expensive tickets are nowadays, so this was to be the closest I was going to get.
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Leverage: The 1st Season
Starring: Timothy Hutton, Aldis Hodge, Gina Bellman, Beth Riesgraf, Christian Kane
Created by: John Rogers, Chris Downey
Studio: Paramount Pictures
Buy on Amazon.com
It’s been a while since I’ve enjoyed a television show involving a team of would be bad guys turned good. In fact, you’d probably have to go all the way back to the A-Team to find such a good mix of action, humor and trickery. But that is exactly what Leverage is, and it has quickly become one of my favorite shows to watch.
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Cloverfield
Starring: T.J. Miller, Michael Stahl-David, Mike Vogel, Odette Yustman, Lizzy Caplan, Jessica Lucas
Written By: Drew Goddard
Directed By: Matt Reeves
Studio: Paramount Pictures
Buy on Amazon.com: link
In all of the media hype and viral marketing leading up to the movie Cloverfield, I must say, as a movie fan, I was completely caught up and anxious to see how they were going to tell a “giant monster ravages city” story from the victim’s perspective. After finally getting to see it in the theater, I was not disappointed and I then became eager to see the DVD for any extra goodness they might pack into it.
The story revolves around a New York City group of friends, gathering for a surprise going away party for their friend Rob, who had recently been hired for a company in Japan. We learn of a brief love exchange between Rob and Beth, who shows up to the party in an awkward moment with her new boyfriend. Fortunately, everything is being recorded for posterity at the request of Rob’s brother’s girlfriend by the half-witted Hud (conveniently naming for this character since he is essentially our “heads up display”). As Rob comes to grips with losing the potential love of his life, and as his friends try to console him on the rooftop, we see a giant explosion in the background, coming from the direction of the Statue of Liberty. All hell breaks loose, and the rag tag group begins their journey to flee the City.
As they make their way toward the Brooklyn bridge, we catch glimpses here and there of what is demolishing the City, along with the military dispatched to combat it, but we never really know what it really is, or where it came from. In a moment of realization, Rob gets a call from Beth who is apparently trapped in her apartment building, and after witnessing his brother die on the Brooklyn Bridge, vows to go and rescue her despite the pleas from his friends against it.
Being the good friends that they are, they go with him, of course. They make their way to Beth’s apartment after battling mini-monsters and exploding people, narrowly missing being stomped on by the gigantic monster feet. They find her impaled on a piece of metal in her living room, and finally get her free.
Once they finally make it back to the rescue helicopters, it appears that escape is possible. That is until the monster swats them out of the sky only to crash land in Central Park. After a few moments of groggy silence, Rob and Beth make it to their feet and get Hud back up and filming, only to have Hud look up into the creature’s mouth towering over him and ultimately eating him.
Rob and Beth end up hiding in an underpass in Central Park, as the monster is potentially destroyed outside. As the bombs explode, they exchange vows of love and the world crashes in around them. This leaves us with a true cliffhanger because we never know what happened to the monster, but we can assume that Rob and Beth are dead.
So this is the part where I talk about the good and the bad. This movie had something that I hadn’t seen done before. It had a bunch of new actors playing roles that hadn’t been cast in a movie like this before, and it didn’t seem forced or scripted at all. The frenetic camera work made it feel like you were right there with these people, running for your life, and the character development that preceeded the attacks was done in the right way to make you actually feel for these people.
The camera work was also a bit much for the people I watched it with. It wasn’t a bad element to me, but I could understand why some would get a bit queasy from it. I think they really needed to do it this way to get the message across so they definitely did it well.
The only other qualm I had with the movie was the lack of information about it. It leaves you wanting more but you honestly never get it. Even with the extras on the DVD (a lot of extra footage of back story prior to the attacks which I won’t spoil here) there still wasn’t enough for me to put it all together. I can understand that they would want to do this to entice people to see any sequels, but they really have to be careful when they assume we would want to see another movie about this and invest in the characters again when they just got done killing basically everyone.
All in all, being a pretty big monster movie fan, this movie was an awesome new take on a timeless genre. The effects were never over the top, the acting was never cheesy and I finished watching it wanting to watch more. This movie will not be for everyone (it put my girlfriend to sleep) but if you have a curiosity to see an old story told in a new way, this is definitely it. I will be seeing the sequel should they have one, because I really want to know what it is.
Features:
- Deleted Scenes
- Alternative Endings
- Outtakes
- The Making Of Cloverfield
- Featurettes
- Commentary By Director Matt Reeves
- Hidden Research Into Case Designate Cloverfield
Audio:
ENGLISH: Dolby Digital 5.1 CC
SPANISH: Dolby Digital 5.1 CC
FRENCH: Dolby Digital 5.1 CC
Video:
Widescreen 1.85:1 Color (Anamorphic)
Subtitles:
English, Spanish, French
RATING & SUMMARY:
Favorites:
Rating: PG-13
Running Time: 84 minutes
Extras Rating: 
Overall Rating: 
Next
Starring: Nicolas Cage, Julianne Moore, Jessica Biel
Written By: Gary Oldman, Jonathan Hensleigh, Paul Bernbaum
Directed By: Lee Tamahori
Studio: Paramount
Buy on Amazon.com:
In a world of over-the-top sci-fi action movies nowadays, it is difficult to find any merit in a lot of what Hollywood has been pumping out. Next is one of those movies that definitely stand out, despite not really breaking away from the usual explosion and effect ridden mold of most of today’s movies.
Next is the story of Cris Johnson, a Las Vegas performance magician, with the incredible ability to see two minutes into the future. The catch? He can only see two minutes into his own future, so this really only benefits him, which, to some extent, he exploits for personal gain. He is haunted by this recurring dream of a girl that he is supposed to meet at a diner at a certain time of day, despite it being much farther in the future than he is usually able to see.
After witnessing his magic act, he is approached by government agents wanting to use his abilities to track down a dirty bomb that is going to go off. He flees from them successfully, then ends up at the diner from his dreams, where the girl, Liz (Jessica Biel) finally makes her appearance. A funny scene ensues as he makes his awkward introduction to her, multiple times, with multiple outcomes. After winning her heart, they go into hiding where, of course, they are ultimately caught.
After Liz is kidnapped, his reluctance to help the government agents becomes more concern about her, so he sets out to help them find the bomb. This leads to a fairly intense scene where they are scouring a warehouse, while we see from Cris’ point of view, every possible ending to every different path that they might take.
The movie was overall some good action fluff. The ending has an interesting twist which I won’t give away, since it might be the highlight of the movie. I enjoyed it enough to watch it twice, but I am thinking it was more because of Jessica Biel. If you can let your mind wander, and not be too picky of numerous plot holes, this is definitely an enjoyable movie. Nicolas Cage definitely has a penchant for Las Vegas, and this one, despite its science fiction overtones, seems to be his best fit so far.
Features:
Making the Best Next Thing
The Next “Grand Idea”
Two Minutes in the Future with Jessica Biel
Visualizing the Next Move
Audio:
ENGLISH: Dolby Digital 5.1 CC
SPANISH: Dolby Digital 5.1
FRENCH: Dolby Digital Stereo
Video:
Widescreen 2.35:1 Color (Anamorphic)
Subtitles:
English, Spanish, French
RATING & SUMMARY:
Favorites:
Rating: PG-13
Running Time: 96 minutes
Extras Rating: 
Overall Rating: 
Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer
Starring: Ioan Gruffudd, Jessica Alba, Chris Evans, Michael Chiklis, Julian McMahon, Laurence Fishburne (voice of the Silver Surfer)
Written By: Mark Frost, Don Payne
Directed By: Tim Story
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Buy on Amazon.com: link
Rise of the Silver Surfer picks up where the last Fantastic Four movie left off. The rag tag team of newly formed super heroes have become iconic superstars in the world of modern day New York, right down to the highly publicized and scrutinized upcoming wedding between Reed Richards (Mr. Fantastic, played by Gruffudd) and Sue Storm (the Invisible Woman, played by Jessica Alba). As the team prepares for the ill-fated wedding day, a series of bizarre climatic events are happening all around the world, with the apparent cause being some faster than light comet speeding around the globe. The team is ultimately approached by the military to track down and stop this new found menace before it causes any more environmental chaos. They end up refusing to help, saying that they have more important things to do with the wedding coming up.
The wedding day comes, and is interrupted by another climatic event, in which Johnny Storm (the Human Torch, played by Chris Evans) speeds off to chase the culprit. He finally catches up to the Surfer and is quickly beaten and thrown back to Earth. The rest of the film is spent trying to separate the Surfer from his board, his source of power, inevitably with the aid of Victor von Doom (Dr. Doom, played by Julian McMahon) who seeks the board for his own misdeeds.
Being a huge fan of the Marvel universe, I always thought that the Fantastic Four would be my least favorite of potential super hero movies, and with the first film, I wasn’t to far off. You had your bigger than awesome special effects, a gorgeous blonde to ogle at, and a story that really didn’t go beyond the cookie cutter feel of most of these types of movies. This movie, in comparison to its prequel, was leaps and bounds above the quality of the first film, and really felt a lot more fun. It was by no means a thinking man’s movie, but it had enough action and humor to keep me interested enough to watch it a second time. The thing that they definitely did right with this movie was the character development. Sue and Reed’s relationship was further developed into the “nerd getting the hot girl” role. Johnny Storm’s arrogance and narcissism reach their peak and force him into a morality struggle as to whether to be a prick superstar or a team player. Ben Grimm’s larger than life monster on the outside, teddy bear on the inside is pretty much nailed in this one, leaving a well defined character for any potential future sequels.
There are two versions of the DVD out there for you to purchase. You get the bare bones DVD with just commentary or you can get the 2 disc edition with loads of extras. Obviously if you just want the movie, get the standard DVD but if you’re a fan of the comic and the movie; the Power Cosmic edition is the way to go. By the way, what’s with that name? It sounds extremely cheesy!
If you are into popcorn fluff and some very cool special effects that don’t look too CG, this movie is definitely a lot of fun. If you are a hardcore comic book fan with a closed mind, you will most likely turn it off after the first “flame on”. In the current arsenal of Marvel superhero movies, and the future of their monopoly on the genre, this movie definitely has its place, somewhere between X-Men 3 and Ghost Rider. Definitely not as bad as Elektra, but not as good as Spiderman 2 either.
Features:
Audio Commentary by Director Tim Story
Audio Commentary by Producer Avi Arad, Screenwriter Don Payne, and Film Editors Peter S. Elliot and William Hoy
Extended and Deleted Scenes with Optional Commentary by Tim Story
Family Bonds Making-of Documentary
The Fantasticar: State Of The Art Featurette
Interactive Fantasticar Experience
The Power Cosmic Featurette
Character Design with Spectral Motion Featurette
Sentinel of the Spaceways: Comic Book Origins of the Silver Surfer Documentary
Scoring the Fantastic Featurette
Still Galleries: Behind the Scenes, Characters and Concept Art
Theatrical Trailers
Audio:
ENGLISH: Dolby Digital 5.1 CC
SPANISH: Dolby Digital Surround
FRENCH: Dolby Digital Surround
Video:
Widescreen 2.40:1 Color
Standard 1.33:1 Color
Subtitles:
English, Spanish
RATING & SUMMARY:
Favorites:
Rating: PG-13
Running Time: 92 minutes
Extras Rating:
Overall Rating:
Lost Planet: Extreme Condition
Company: Capcom USA
Platform: Xbox 360
Genre: First person shooter
Rating: Teen
Buy on Amazon.com: link
Before I start my review, let me preface it with the fact that I am a recent XBOX 360 owner, and in so, I am continually baffled by how intense the graphics and sound are.
That being said, Lost Planet: Extreme Condition put my senses in a blender from the minute I turned it on.
The general premise: Humans have colonized a frozen planet in the not too distant future. The problem? The locals, a race of violent bug creatures known as Akrid, are not too happy with our presence there. The pitfalls of trying to survive a well below freezing environment are somewhat overcome by harvesting thermal energy which is used by the Akrid. Throughout the course of the game, the general focus is to kill or be killed, both of which happen a lot, at least for this novice.
The game opens with a flashback scene, in which you are a participant. It is a nice change from the standard “tutorial” sections of most games, because it actually gets you immediately involved in the story. As you are learning your controls, and figuring out the combat system, the vital back story is being told. I had to run through the tutorial area a couple of times, just to get used to the controls, and to figure out how not to die. Anyone familiar with the console series Halo should have no problem picking it up quickly.
Once you have completed the tutorial, you are transported a few years into the future, where apparently you are the only one who still remembers how to pilot the Vital suits; giant Mech type vehicles which you climb into, and nuke the hell out of anything in your path. As you come to find, your energy is constantly depleting, so there is no time for rest. Each bad guy you kill drops a thermal pack that regenerates some of this energy, but you really have to keep pushing forward to stay alive.
One of my favorite features of the game is the fact that you can use multiple tactics to take down the bosses and/or bad guys. There is no “correct” strategy to use, which allows the player a lot of freedom.
Another great part of the game is the sense of urgency. You absolutely have to keep moving, or you will eventually die. This adds to the immersion of the game immensely, and really gets the player involved with the character.
The graphics are incredibly well done. Walking through the frozen mountains and hillsides, I almost felt as if I was freezing myself. Nothing is quite as shocking as trudging through a tranquil snow field, only to have a gigantic, fire truck sized bug jump out at you from under the ground. I don’t think I have been that startled since Resident Evil 2, which I had to stop playing completely due to potential heart failure.
The sound quality is top notch. Hearing bugs in front of you, and all around you, flanking you, is enough to put you on your toes. Each gun has its own, unique and distinct sound that really puts you in the action. My only gripe, sound wise, is the voice acting. I have never really been thoroughly impressed by voice acting in a video game, but this one seemed much less than normal, especially considering the rest of the very detailed and beautiful production.
Overall, this game is amazingly fun, and one that I am proud to have in my growing collection. My next assignment is to hook up to XBOX Live and head into the multiplayer game, just to see if my skills are up to par with the other Lost Planeteers out there. (Although I somehow think I will be continually owned by 11 and 12 year olds from Oklahoma)
RATING & SUMMARY:
Bottom Line: Buy the game, great replay value
Favorite Aspects: No down time, hurry up and kill stuff or you will die
Cheats: Cheating is for queers, learn to play
Overall Rating:
The Matrix: Path of Neo
Company: Atari
Platform: Xbox
Genre:
Rating: Teen
Buy on Amazon.com: link
Welcome to the rabbit hole, redpill. The newest Matrix title, Path of Neo, by Atari puts you in the shoes of Thomas Anderson, also known as Neo, the savior of mankind and the Matrix itself. The game takes place throughout all three of the popular Matrix trilogy films, with a lot of extra pieces that you didn’t get to witness the first time around.
The game starts out with a brief fight scene in that infamous lobby, where you have guns, “lots of guns”. You fight your way through mob after mob of increasing difficulty. Once you finally die, the game determines your skill level based on how you played, and the real game starts (this was a pretty cool feature).
You are then taken to a series of cut scenes from the first movie, in some very random order, which, if you haven’t seen the movie, will have no idea what is really going on, although, why would you be playing this game if you hadn’t seen and/or loved the movies.
You are then taken to the office where Anderson has to escape from the mysterious Agents. If you do this part correctly, you can actually escape from them and have a slightly different experience, but I didn’t make it before they jacked me and ended up sticking that bug in my belly.
After a few more cut scenes, you are put in the chair, getting ready for your combat training. This, to me, was my favorite part of the game so far. You finally get to see what was going on in Neo’s head right before he says “I know Kung Fu”, You learn about stealth, sneaking up on enemies, killing multiple enemies, weapon training, and then, finally, you get to test these all out on the big man himself, Morpheus.
The game continues from there, into scenes from the rest of the first movie, ultimately to finally defeating the three Agents at the end and becoming the One. This is where I leave the actual detailed description of “what” happens, and I go into “how” it happens.
The camera movement in this game is its biggest flaw. I can’t tell you how many times I was pressed into the corner, with my gun target locked on someone behind me, and could not rotate the camera around fast enough to shoot at him. I would constantly find myself trapped in some awkward angle, where the camera was zoomed in too close for me to make sense of what was going on, or so far away that the view clipped into a wall which made it even less visible. I think with a more free floating camera system, this game would have been much better.
The combat system seems to have taken its lead from its predecessor, Enter the Matrix, but goes the extra steps and makes a really entertaining fight engine. You will be wall running, and beating the crap out of innocent civilians in no time flat. As you progress levels, you gain more abilities that you can now use on your enemies. Despite being the “One”, you will still get your teeth handed to you on a plate from time to time.
The AI in this game is god awful. You will receive the occasional mission where you have to protect so and so, and they will incessantly get in your face and receive the bottom side of your boot as you try and defend them. Why would they make these people you are supposed to protect attackable? It makes for some very frustrating, Super Mario Brothers moments, you know, where you fling the controller across the room and storm out for a breather.
All in all, this game is a lot of fun. The graphics are not the best by any means, but for the story they are trying to convey, they do their job nicely. Any fan of the trilogy will be happy with all of the extra tidbits this game provides. The combat is very cinematic, and immersive, if not a lot of button mashing. If you enjoy turning on a game just for the sheer joy of beating things up, this is definitely a must. I can’t say that any non fans of the series will appreciate it, but you never know.
RATING & SUMMARY:
Bottom Line:
Favorite Aspects: Seeing Neo get his Kung fu training
Cheats:
Overall Rating:
X-Men Legends 2- Rise of Apocalypse
Company: Activison
Platform: XBOX
Genre:
Rating: Teen
Buy on Amazon.com: link
The sequel to the popular X-Men Legends is out, and man is it a blast. The game starts off with a union of the X-Men and the evil Brotherhood (Magneto) and their combined goal of stopping the menacing Apocalypse. The team at Raven really learned from their last game, and it seems like they listened to the players in a lot of the things that they thought were missing from the previous title.
In the last incarnation, you were required to level up your characters skill sets manually. This was great for the customization of your players, but it really got to be a drag and slowed the action down. In X-Men Legends 2, you have the option of letting the computer assign your gear, experience points, and attributes, so you never even notice a break in the fighting.
The multiplayer option, previously requiring unlocking, is now available right away. You can jump right in with four of your best buds and adventure together through this huge Marvel universe. The characters can also chain combo off each other, combining special abilities for that one-two punch. This can also make for some very interesting game party conversations.
Being able to play as the bad guys is really awesome too. Nothing like using Magneto to hurl large metal objects into the face of your enemies. My favorite is still Wolverine, and it seems like they made the control a lot more fluid. Right out of the box, you will be slashing bad guys and destroying the environment around you like a natural. The graphics seem a bit more polished as well, while maintaining that cartoon/comic feel of the first game.
The story is very immersive, and the cut scenes really put you into the game. You are anxiously awaiting the completion of each level, just so you can see how the story unfolds. Patrick Stewart returns as Professor Xavier, and the voice acting as a whole is top notch. It keeps that comic cheesiness, while still coming across as sincere.
From what I have heard, the X-Box Live portion of this game is still a bit lacking, but I don’t miss that at all since I still haven’t gotten X-Box Live. I can’t imagine having any more fun with people not in the same room as I do when I am running with a friend next to me.
Overall, this game kicks ass. In a year of mediocre superhero titles such as Marvel: Nemesis, and Batman Begins, this is a welcome breath of fresh air, and a game I am very happy with having in my collection.
RATING & SUMMARY:
Bottom Line:
Favorite Aspects: Being Wolverine, being able to kill things as Wolverine
Cheats:
Overall Rating:
Smallville: The Complete Third Season
Starring: Tom Welling, Michael Rosenbaum, Kristen Kreuk, John Schneider, Annette O’Toole, John Glover
Written By:
Directed By:
Studio: Warner Brothers
Buy on Amazon.com:
For those who may have been sleeping under a rock for the past three years, Smallville is the story of the early days of everyones favorite super hero, Superman. The story revolves around the mild mannered Clark Kents journey through High School, his dealings with his friends and the inevitable question of his own destiny.
Season 2 left us hanging with Clark fleeing from Smallville, under the influence of Red Kryptonite (making him less than the good guy) after destroying the ship that brought him to Earth in the hopes it would rid him of all ties to his birth father, Jor-El. Season 3 begins with Clark living a life of crime in Metropolis, while his friends and family frantically search for him. To close the cliffhanger from Season 2, Clarks adoptive father, Jonathan Kent, makes a last ditch attempt to rescue Clark by receiving all of his powers from Jor-El. Little do we know, at this point, that this will have a huge price down the road.
This season contains 22 episodes, dealing mostly with Jor-El seeking Clark down through the mysterious caves bearing Kryptonian symbols. Clark, still unsure of his true purpose here on Earth, is convinced that his birth father has sent him here to conquer and destroy mankind with his superhuman powers. The uneducated audience is misled in Clarks fathers true motives as well, but those die hard fans know the truth.
The writers also start probing more into Clarks friendship with Lex Luthor, which comes to a crashing halt in the finale when Clark realizes Lex lied to him, again. As with most of the seasons, Clark has been slowly learning new powers as the series progresses. This season is no exception with the addition of super hearing. This gift comes in handy in many a touchy situation, but also allows our hero to hear some things that he might be better off not hearing, as in one scene where he finds out his best friend, Chloe, is working with the sinister Lionel Luthor and spying on Clark.
The DVD features include the standard run of outtakes, most featuring the ever amusing Michael Rosenbaum (Lex Luthor) along with some great commentary from the shows creators. My only drawback to the outtakes was that not one of them featured the star of the show, Tom Welling. Maybe he doesnt screw up, but I wouldnt think so.
All in all, the series is turning out to be a very plot driven telling of a somewhat skimmed over story from the movies. Not every episode deals with who Clark is, and where he came from, but they all tie into the greater picture, and leave the audience eager for future episodes. Being able to watch them all back to back with digital sound is a great bonus also, as they have really put a lot into the shows production.
Features:
Commentary on 3 Episodes by Key Cast and Crew
Making-Of Documentary
Producing Smallville: The Heroes Behind The Camera
The Chloe Chronicles Vol. II
Interactive Comic Book
Deleted Scenes
Gag Reel
DVD-ROM Link to Smallville Site Featuring Added Bonus Material
Audio:
ENGLISH: Dolby Digital Stereo CC
Video:
Widescreen 1.85:1 Color (Anamorphic)
Subtitles:
RATING & SUMMARY:
Favorites: Season Premiere (2 episodes) and Season Finale (talk about cliffhangers)
Rating: TV-PG
Running Time: 950 minutes
Extras Rating:
Overall Rating: 
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