Nostolgic Video Games
While I’m being nostalgic. here’s a slick Youtube video I cam across that shows many of the games that I spent SOoooo much of my time playing as a child. What else are you going to do, when you are miles from your friends, it’s summer vacation and your a computer geek?
Vancouver International Film Festival
The last two weeks have been pretty crazy. Back to work in a studio cubical and also attended the Vancouver International Film Festival.
I started everything off with Monsters, and ended if off with the beautiful, French, somewhat depressing The Illusionist. In total I saw 28 films.
- Monsters
- Waste Land (trash is art!)
- Cold Fish (violently disturbing)
- R U There? (yes, I am… I’m just sleeping)
- An Ecology of Mind (documentary on the amazing system theories of Gregory Bateson)
- Crossing the Mountain (…zzzZZZ)
- David Wants to Fly (documentary on David Lynch and his association w/ Transcendental Meditation)
- Tree (needed a dose of good drama)
- Philosophies of Life (short film collection that I didn’t have the patience to finish)
- Turn It Loose (breakdancing!)
- 13 Assassins (live action version Ninja Scroll?)
- Secrets of the Tribe (anthropologists decimating each other’s reputations)
- Drummer’s Dream (luckily they were selling copies on DVD at the door)
- The Man from Nowhere (South Korean action flick w/ a Korean version of Keanu Reeves)
- Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (still trying to “get it”, but the ghost monkeys were sweet)
- Nénette (I ♥ orangutans)
- Guido Superstar (love them poop gags)
- Into Eternity (now one of my fav documentaries)
- Cell 211 (violently beautiful)
- Rubber (the killer tire could be a cult classic)
- Schooling the World: The White Man’s Last Burden (spreading the gospel without thinking of the consequences)
- Aftershock (wicked earthquake scene followed by Hollywood inspired drama)
- Cities on Speed (documentaries where the titles say it all, “Bogotá Change” & “Mumbai Disconnected”)
- When the Devil Knocks (documentary on a woman with multiple personalities)
- Armadillo (Danish film on the Afgan war)
- The Repeaters (Groundhog day with 3 addicts)
- Plug & Pray (I ♥ Joseph Weizenbaum)
- The Illusionist (French animation from creators of Triplets of Bellville
How to Survive?
1) Bring a water bottle & snacks. You will be downtown all day long, surrounded by Starbucks, McDonalds and $2 pizza slices. Considering you’ll be sitting on your butt all day long, just how much torture do you want your body to endure?
2) Sharpie for the marking up of your schedule.
3) Learn to live without your phone for a few hours. I was amazed at how insistent the staff were in having the audience turn off their phones. I was even more amazed at how difficult it was for us to follow this suggestion. I must say, I only pulled out my phone a couple times to quickly check the time. I swear!
4) Networking. In line I met tons of people that made me regret not having a business card, though we all had smartphones so the problem was easily solved. meeting people in line was also a great way to get suggestions on films. If it wasn’t for the texts from my new friend Michael, I would have missed 13 Assassins, and that would have been tragic.
Speaking of “meeting people”, I finally met my doppelganger. According to Michael Hayward, there may be potential for me playing a younger version of Wallace Shawn (Princess Bride) in his autobiographical documentary.
Pinback @ Neumos
Last night I met up with Dave, a new friend I met on Capitol Hill the weekend prior. Coincidentally, he’s from Mt. Clements, Michigan. Dave highly recommended that I checkout Pinback, from southern California, so there we were. East Side crew in full effect for a concert at Neumos.
The opener, Little White Teeth was pretty good, though we only caught the last half of their set. One of the two members of the band was not able to make the show due to a recent addition to his family, which was shown on the screen. It was Rob Crow performing solo, so that his partner could be with his newborn baby. Rob was having a hard time, as he only had one day to prepare. Luckily, members from the opening band helped out a bit.
Soon the crowd was making requests that Rob was having a hard time fulfilling. At one point, he said, “I just need someone to sing this.” I pushed Dave forward, toward the stage. He turned and smiled before running up and jumping on stage.
Rob said to the crowd, “I don’t know what lyrics he singing, but it sounds better than ours!” At times like this, it certainly pays to be a musician… because Dave nailed it. A little flower ran up to him as he stepped off the stage, and that was the last I saw of Dave.
West Coast Swing – Michael and Jen
Michael Kielbasa & Jennifer Deluca win 1st at America’s Classic. So much flexibility in the technique. So smooth. Ok, going to watch this for a 3rd time before I jump off the internet.
Toy Story 3-D in IMAX
Who goes to see a midnight sneak showing of a 3D animated family movie?
Me, myself and I.
I was just driving around and saw the midnight showing. I couldn’t resist. Can Pixar do 3 in a row? I’m think so.
Zombies in the Cottage of Doom
Back in 2003, Evil Dead: A Fistful of Boomstick was released on the XBOX 360. I saw only bits and pieces if, but the reviews seem to side with what I saw… some awesome voice work by Bruce Campbell, inside of a disappointing game.
If you love the concept of being trapped inside of a cottage, with unlimited waves of undead, you must checked the open-source game project Cottage of Doom. The graphics are something you might haven’t seen in a decade, but the gameplay is great. The creator is now working on an update called “Deadrock“, though I expect it might be awhile before we see anything since he’ seems busy with Eufloria.
Call of Duty: World At War
Staring out of a boarded up window as dead nazi’s stumble in from the fog. With the volume set properly, your guaranteed to jump.
There’s also Su
I’m sure that most will be playing Left 4 Dead 2, but don’t forget to checkout some of these other pieces of zombie flavor.
The Monk and The Fish
A classically animated short created by Michael Dudok De Wit. Simple yet beautiful. Powerful use of the music to tell the story. If you like this short and can handle seeing something a little more simple, Father & Daughter is also worth checking out.
Thanks to Des Duggan for getting me to check this out.
The Escapist on Fallout 3
I received Fallout 3 free with my PS3 console deal… the “Collectors Edition” that is.
I’ve put just under 10 hours into the game and although the new turn-based like targeting system (aka “VAT) is pretty satisfying, the game is pretty repetitive. Glad I took the time to play it as now I’m more sure than ever that I want to avoid most first person RPGs.
You like the open world RPGs? Then you’ll probably like this game. However, if life demands your attention, don’t pick this one up or:
1) You won’t get anything done. You’ll constantly be late for work. You’re wife will leave you (though this is more tolerable to spouses than “WoW”).
2) You’ll snap out of a trance, 10 hours in, and think, “Where am I? It’s 2am?” and set out to burn the drug-like media before it tempts you into more game time.
Checkout what the Escapist has to say.
Thief? Hmm… yeah, I still haven’t played that one.
Jibber Jabber @ Popvox
The producers & creators over at Bowes Productions & NWFX have made the first two episodes of Jibber Jabber available online and in their entirety! Not only was it a fun project to work on, the episodes still give me the fuzzies.
Jibber Jabber: “Race to the Red Planet”
Jibber Jabber: “Pride of Frankenstein”
Lasse Gjertsen: Multimedia Nut
Jay would probably call him a “brilliant” Norwegian, and I would have to agree. Music, video and additional points for personality. Granted, he is speaking Norwegian, but that’s similar enough to Swedish… which I don’t know much either… but I’ve been there… finally. :\
Music
Trippin Video 
tell me this doesn’t feel familiar)
Skit w/ FX: My roommate asked, “Did he really do that?”
Amateur: More music
