Go ahead and call me a coward: I Am Legend

(tags movie, science fiction, horror)

This weekend I watched the Will Smith movie I Am Legend. I went in without seeing so much as a trailer, though I did have to navigate to the official movie site to find a theatre. What breathtaking visuals. If Hollywood visual tech keeps improving like this, we won't be able to tell the difference between reality and CG (except for humans, I'm sure).

I must admit, I did not expect "horror" from this movie going in. And I hate to admit it, but images from the movie had me sleeping uneasy last night. And maybe tonight as well?

I like movies with simple plot resolution and an opening for questions. Too bad my movie companion did not want to discuss it much. "Wasn't it a great movie?" "Swell". WTF.

The original work is a novella by Richard Matheson in 1954. The movie however seems to be only related in concept, according to a review by Village Voice. No wonder there wasn't much use of the Internet. This makes me want to read the book.

Plus there's some mention of Bob Marley the singer. Smith's description of the artist "shot down but goes on" impressed me. He makes me want to find some music or at least read the wikipedia page on him. Hah.

The rest of my gibbering thoughts are in ROT-13: SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS

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Die Hard 4.0 (Live Free or Die Hard)

(tags movie, theater)

I watched Die Hard 4.0 yesterday in a movie theater. I liked it because it felt fresh and yet so familiar. BTW, the movie theater I went to had a sit-down cabinet of Mr. Driller G, a 2001 game. Still 100 yen though.

SPOILERS

This latest movie takes the Die Hard cliches and rachets it another notch. Its always about people wanting money, and John Mclaine (Bruce Willis) getting bloody and injured. He's mainly an "analog guy" that depends on help from bystanders and/or people in communication, and of course guns. Sometimes he wins the fist fights too, and he never hesitates to kill when needed.

Some of the action sequences were over the top but I didn't feel that way when watching them. Violence against women was noticably toned down. It's another computer/network technology empowering bad guys. I just ignore those technology parts.

You never know with this series if it is going to continue. I suppose if Bruce Willis is up to doing the action sequences, it will.

END SPOILERS

Believing in the PSP: games, movies, advice

(tags game, PlayStation Portable, movie, purchase)

My favorite game device for the moment is the PSP. I've got that DJ Max Portable 2 making me make a scene in the trains and cafes. Yesterday I bought that Tatsujin no Taiko Portable (太鼓の達人ぽーたぶる) used (but this is because I want to make sure I know about it before it comes to the DS). I'm going to head out today to buy the current Famitsu PlayStation Portable magazine (with Final Fantasy Tactics screen wiper but I don't care).

And last night I settled in bed with the UMD version of the movie (2000) Crouching Dragon, Hidden Dragon. I got this UMD and Spirit UMD used at yesterday's Nipponbashi canvassing. Unfortunately I kept confusing this movie with Hero. Yeah, I wanna watch that movie again but I can't find my DVD of it. I did, while searching my room, coincidently find the promotional postcards for the Japanese release of Crouching Dragon, Hidden Dragon, shown below:

Also yesterday evening, some visiting dude wanting to get a PlayStation Portable from the used console case at Sofmap Saurus was having problems being understood by the staff. I was peering at the case myself and he asked me some questions in English. I made sure that he knew about the "cracking" that could be done, and pointed at the firmware version numbers that Sofmap writes for buyer convenience. "Get a PSP with firmware 3.0.3 or lower". He seemed to be in a hurry though, so maybe I should have answered his original question: "Does this come with 1GB Memory Stick?"

I still haven't downgraded my silver PSP, though. I'm sure to get to it when things cool down, ha.