Closed Shut are the gates of Oblivion....

"Oh, baby, it's cold outside..."


It is! The temp has dropped about 15 degrees in the last day and there's good healthy chill blowing through my window right now. It is the harkening of wonderfully dark things to come! Can you believe that Halloween season is only a month away? But you say, "Wait a bloody second, Zangz! October is over a month away! How are we that close to Halloween season?" As I've said time and time again, Halloween season starts for me in mid September.


There also seems to be an effort for certain beer companies to bring about the flavor of autumnal goodness a little early this year as I see a few of the Oktoberfests starting to hit store shelves. It's a little early in the season for me to indulge in them. I'm still enjoying some of the more summer quenching pale ales and lighter tasting fare that the summer season always brings. But, rest assured, I'm sure I'll weaken within the next few weeks and start my annual homage to the spicy goodness of Oktoberfests!



On to my main topic, then.

I've finally come to the end of the main quest of the epic, open ended Xbox 360 RPG, Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. And though I really enjoyed it, I have to admit, I had a far better time with its predecessor, Elder Scrolls III: Morrorwind.

Oblivion is certainly no slouch what so ever! The fantasy world provided is graphically enchanting. The game play is certainly addictive. The amount of things you can do and choices you can make is unparalleled! Even the voice acting of the AI and NPCs was top-notch. The whole game kept me playing (on and off) for several months.


Where Oblivion disappointed me most was the size of the world you play in. It is reported that the landscape is much larger than the one they created in Morrowind. But, then why did it feel so much smaller? Once you go through a number of quests, whether from the main story line or from one of the many guild challenges, you find that you've covered much of the terrain offered in the game. After which, there aren't many new places to visit or discover.

One of the things that I really look for in a good game is exploring new envirements and traversing around new worlds. I felt that Morrowind seemed to scratch that itch far better than the graphically superior Oblivion. Perhaps that is because Morrowind had far more to offer when it came to major differences in landscapes. Although Oblivion offered differences in the looks of each of the townships, making them very distinctive of one another, the main landscape seemed pretty much the same for the mass majority of it. Sure we have snow covered mountains, but we mostly have grassy hill and small forests...and grassy hill...and small forest...and small forest...and grassy hill. In Morrowind you had grassy hills, small forests, deserts, swamps, beaches, rocky mountains. Every turn brought a totally new landscape making parts of the world more distinctive and easier to travel and explore in.


Again, Oblivion is probably one of the best games I've played on the '360! If I hadn't spent 8 straight months of my life playing Morrowind before playing Oblivion, Oblivion would probably be my favorite game of all time and a completely different experience all together. But in this case, Morrwind squeaks by as my favorite videogame of all time.


Maybe for the next Elder Scrolls game they won't be as obsessed on graphics and decide to utilize more of the game system's power on creating a much larger, more diverse looking world.



Bethesda is already working on another expansive first person perspective RPG that takes place in a post apocalyptic Washington D.C. that won't be coming out for at least another year from now. Hmmmmm....


And speaking of Xbox 360 games, I was over at Roberto DelAmorte's house last night and we got to play a preview of the upcoming Bioshock! This game looks like it's going to bring about a great amalgamation of FPS and survival horror flavors to an already creepy environment... a dilapidated, art deco, undersea city. This is one I may have to pick up.


Ok on to the movie reviews....

After the popularity of The Matrix, a number of post-apocalyptic, futuristic, dystopian martial arts action flicks started to pop up. Within the last couple of weeks, I got caught up on a few.

Equilibrium - How did this little piece of fan-boy wonderment go so unnoticed for so long? Christian Bale is a "Grammaton Cleric" whoes job it is to hunt down humans who show or give in to their emotions. Apparently, after a third world war, political do-gooders decide that emotions are to blame for all the world's ills (What? Not Marilyn Manson or D&D???), so they outlaw them and put a fascist regime that rules by a police state. Slowly but surely Bale's character gives in to his emotions and decides to fight the power. Along with a whole mess of killer gun play, this movie has a cool message behind it. As a society, how far are we willing to let either the politically correct or the puritanical control who we are? I loved this flick and was really happy that I finally got to see it.

UltraViolet - I didn't realize it when I rented this along with Equilibrium, but both movies have the same director... as well as the exact same motif, apparently. This movie also takes place in a post-apocalyptic, dystopia. This time there was a blood plague that turned a majority of humans into what are called "Hemophages" or more simply known as vampires. There is a mass movement by the corrupt government to eradicate them. Of course there is a band of Hemophages that form a resistance and one of their main agents is named Violet and played by Resident Evil star and fan-boy fave, Milla Jovovich. Of course Violet has all types of cool futuristic weaponry as well as an advanced background in martial arts, so one can assume that this has a lot of stylistic action segments and fight scenes. The sets are very Logan's Run-esqe. That's to say that everything is very clean and futuristic looking. A lot of bold, bright colors and minimalistic set pieces ( a lot of it was shot in Bangkok). But, storywise, it's lacking quite a bit when placed up against Equilibrium. But, not a bad rental for a fan-boy like myself. A decent enough treat! Plus, there's always the Milla factor.

AEon Flux - Charlize Theron stars as the futuristic freedom fighter made famous by MTV's old animated short of the same name. After WWIII the human race is relegated to a small closed off city. And, yep, you guessed it. It's in full dystopia mode and is governed by what may be a corrupt dictator and his dynasty. What I liked about this film is that the art direction and effects tried real hard to pay homage to the animated series with a lot of very odd and strange weaponry and futuristic devices that seem to work more organically than mechanically. There's also a plot twist or two that kept the story flowing. The problems I had were that though, they paid homage visually, they seemed to stray away from a lot of the outrageous and sometimes disturbing imagery that made the animated series a cult favorite. I really wanted to see Charlize stick her tongue through someone's ear cavity or do some odd licking of something or someone else. That seemed to be one the main themes of the series, but was noticably absent from the film. Not that I'm into licking, but if you want to stay faithful to the core material..... And on that note, there was a lack of dark humor in the film that the animated show also had a plentiful amount of (every episode ended with Flux's death, pre South Park's Kenny). The movie wasn't horrible and I did get a kick out of seeing Theron in a skin tight, black suit and wedge heel black boots. Worth the rental.

Smokin' Aces - I know what you're saying. Finally a movie that is not set in a futuristic dystopia! This time it is set in modern day Lake Tahoe where a seedy Mafia informant (Jeremy Pivin) is holed up and every crazy-a$$ed hitman and assassin is gunning for his cocaine addled butt. FBI agents Ray Liotta and Ryan Reynolds are the ones who have to protect the poor sap from the hired guns. The first part of the movie is introducing us to all these outrageous, pulp friendly characters, the second part of this movie is a all out, no holds barred gun fest and the third part of this film screeches the movie to a complete halt as there' a "big plot twist" that sadly ends the movie on a lame, slow note. This movie is ass kickingly cool for the mass majority of it. Sadly, the climax to the film happens about 20 or so minutes before the actual ending. Thus, the cadence of this film is quite off. But I really enjoyed the first 4/5ths of the flick!!!

Let's move on to some fantasy flix, shall we?

Pan's Labyrinth - Sadly, I had missed this when it came to the local art house/independent movie theater near me. But, I picked it up this weekend. I'm a fan of Guillermo del Torro films. I loved Hellboy and Blade II and look forward to seeing The Devil's Backbone, Cronos! I'm still reeling form the viewing of this film. This is a great dark, adult fantasy film. But first you have to get past that fact that it's in Spanish and subtitled. Being a dullard, I'm not a huge fan of subtitles. But, somehow I got past them and really enjoyed this film. Keep in mind that even though it's a fantasy, it's a VERY dark fantasy where not everybody lives happily ever after! I kind of figured that fact out after a scene where a fascist military captain kills a man by smashing his face in with a wine bottle. Oooouuuch!!!! Set towards the ending of the Spanish Civil War in the mid 40's, a young girl finds herself thrust into a very difficult situation as her pregnant mother is getting ready to marry a horrible man who is the captain of a battailian of facist soldiers who are charged with the duty to hunt down any rebel forces in the forested area near where the army's mill encampment is. She seems to escape to a dark imaginary world from the harsh reality of her nasty situation. The story's magic and mythological themes take a backseat to what is going on with the pure brutality of the war crimes of the Spanish Civil War. This, for me, was a bit of a disappointment as all the advertisements and promotions of the film had me believing this was pure fantasy. But, after seeing the film, I understand why the fantastical was a secondary storyline and I can forgive Guillermo for it. What fantasy there is in the movie is done extremely well and really picks up on mythologies of the past. But, again, this is no friendly, happy, children's fairy tale. This is dark as hell!!! And not in the same vein as Blade II. This is where there is some hope at the end of the film, but not without great sacrifice. I liked it, but wouldn't go out and buy the DVD. At the same time, I'm really glad I saw it. I know why Guillermo was nominated for an Oscar for it!

Stardust - I got to see this in the theater last weekend and enjoyed the frell out of it!!!! Based on the Neil Gaimen's fantasy novel, this wonderful love story takes place in a small Victorian England village that is adjacent to an alternate fantasy world where witches, spells and magic are abundant. It is the story of a poor young man (Charlie Cox) who is infatuated with the town's most beautiful girl. She plays him for a fool and tells him that she will choose him as a suitor over the snobby bastage she is about to be engaged to if the young man can get a star from the sky for her. This starts the young man's journey into the parallel fantasy world when a star shoots down form the sky and manifests itself as a beautiful young girl (Claire Danes). Of course every baddie in the parallel world wants her also. The unlawfully beautiful, Michelle Pfieffer plays and evil old hag who can stay young only if she eats the heart of the star. Then there's the wicked prince who can become king of the fantasy realm if he captures the star. There's also Robert De Niro who plays a lightning fisherman captain, who's not quite the rough and tumble airship captain he first seems to be. I absolutely loved this movie. It's everything a fantasy story should be! Adventurous, romantic and just fun as hell!! A lot of people are comparing it to The Princess Bride. I actually liked this better. Princess Bride has an esteemed place in the fantasy film cult status amongst mostly, female fantasy lovers, but I think this one had more for both the guys and girls! I'll defintely be buying this one on DVD when it hits store shelves!!!!

Since I started this blog with song lyrics, I'll end with some also....

"Chocolate Raaaain. Stuck way, way deep inside my soul.
Chocolate Raaaain. Dear sweet god, its taken its toll.
Chocolate Raaaain. On YouTube I did hear it last night.
Chocolate Raaaain. It's power of great evil I must stand up and fight.
Chocolate Raaaain. Like the space worm from Wrath of Kahn ,its inside my brian.
Chocolate Raaaain. In there it laying eggs and is ingrained."

Thanks Roberto, for showing me that firggin YouTube video! Now I can't get it out of my frackin' mind!!!!

Chocolate Zangz.