120 Minutes of "You're going to melt just like a grilled cheese sandwich!"

After almost a full month on hiatus, we're back with our first blog in a while. Topic today? One of the most anticipated films of the year: The Dark Knight.


Released on July 18th (the date of this post), the film has already broken records. The midnight showing broke the record that previously Star Wars Episode III held for total profits. The film overall is utterly and insanely amazing.

To quell any fears anyone has of seeing this film: see it now. It's not the kind of film you want to wait for on DVD. In fact, the minute you get out of the theater, you want to buy it on DVD. If they marketed it so you could buy the DVD/Blu-Ray the moment you walked out of the theater, chances are they'd be sold out a dozen times over.

As for the plot: I'm not saying a word. It's got an amazing cast and the performances are stunning; Heath Ledger's Joker will likely earn him a postmortem Oscar. He was nothing short of astonishing.

It's hard to flesh out this blog post without spoiling, so I'll end prematurely and say The Dark Knight earns a 1,000,000/10.

120 Minutes of "So, I see you like Castlevania!"

"Laugh with me, ahahaha~!!"

Today's laughing matter: Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots.


After years of waiting, the call of fans is finally answered. The build up from the original Metal Gear in 1987, to the PlayStation 3's 2008 release of Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots. The game released only three days ago on June 12, and already people have completed it, practically marathoning the campaign in order to see all the story of Metal Gear Solid resolved.

Let me be quite clear. There will be no spoilers in this brief review/tidbit section, but I do wish to state that there will likely be no more Metal Gear games after this. Literally every loose end you could possibly find from all canonical Metal Gear games is wrapped up. There is some significant jaw-dropping at just some of the story cutscenes.

The game, unlike previous installments in the series, is more action-oriented than sneaking, which really just makes sneaking a bit harder. Instead of being a free flowing area-to-area game, the game is still as such but with fewer area intermissions (meaning load times between areas) and the game being divided up into five overall missions, or Acts. Each Act takes place in a different area, but to say any more would probably spoil it.

Now, as for juicy tidbits, I might as well say a few words about the new super soldiers, the Beauty & The Beast Corps (also referred to as the BB Corps in-game). Four women, all of whom possess amazingly powerful suits. They are: Laughing Octopus (the quote at the top comes from her; she is by far my favorite), Raging Raven, Crying Wolf, and Screaming Mantis. Hideo Kojima, in an effort to work in even more elements from previous games (as if the plot weren't enough...okay, I'll be quiet now), named them such as amalgamations of a sort. The BB Corps is named for the original FOXHOUND unit members (Decoy Octopus, Vulcan Raven, Sniper Wolf, and Psycho Mantis), and also sort of named for some of the Cobra Unit from Metal Gear Solid 3 (The Joy, The Fury, The Sorrow, probably The Pain).

As in prior installments, the themes and plot retain their artistic integrity and Kojima really outdid himself on this game. Honestly, I'm not sure what else to say, it's just a fantastic system.

Oh, and one more bit: it comes with Metal Gear Online, which is basically MGS4 multiplayer (I -think- you play as just a member of various PMC/militia quads, but I could be wrong, as Snake was seen in a trailer for it). I haven't messed around with it much, as I'm going through my second playthrough of the main campaign, but I'm sure it'll be awesome.

120 Minutes of "We've graduated from Nazis to Russians?!"

Crack that whip, baby. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is today's topic.


Having recently watched all three of the original films for the first time, I came to fully understand the legend and legacy of one Henry Jones Jr. He is, without a doubt, one of the most dynamic and interesting characters I've seen in quite some time. Even his outfit is iconic nowadays. So naturally, after having heard that there was a new film coming out, I scrambled to watch the older ones, as mentioned earlier.

The first three films also prepared me for how absurdly campy the general feel of the series was. I'm comfortable with spoiling the first three, since they've been out for literally more than ten years at minimum. Seriously though, a box that melts people (the Ark), a cult with a high priest who can pull hearts out of people yet said people survive, and the Holy freaking Grail? Yeah, this series is way over the top.

The fourth film in the series is most certainly as over the top as the others. No, wait, scratch that; it's actually more over the top (I hear you: what could top a man on a horse beating a tank?!) and crazy than any of the others. Some (read: probably most) will be upset at how the series is going this time, because it feels less like an Indiana Jones film than the others.

For the most part, that feeling is somewhat merited; there's gratuitous CG that is noticeable and extremely obvious in two parts (curse you, gopher!), but otherwise fairly well done. The plot is the other major detractor. This movie would probably rank below Temple of Doom, despite being a good film.

Now, let me give the film some credits here. Maybe it's just me, but I thought this film was insanely epic and quite possibly the best thing I've seen in quite some time. It was extremely enjoyable and stuck to the Indy formula, so I had no problems whatsoever with it (my comments before notwithstanding). Yes, this film isn't as good as the others, but really, it's been a downhill slope since Raiders of the Lost Ark anyway. To be frank, this movie is still a hell of a lot better than many of the other films coming out. Oh, and on a final note, this film also had Shia LeBouf in a role in which I didn't actually mind him in. Not too shabby.

This one earns my thumbs-up.

120 Minutes of "Funny, I didn't think the wolf would eat me..."

Today's feature: Folklore for the PlayStation 3.


Folklore is a seemingly little-known game for the PlayStation 3 that released in 2007 to not a lot of critical acclaim. The game can easily be found in stores even now, however, clarifying that the game either makes money, or doesn't sell at all. I'm inclined to lean towards the latter, since I've seen very few proponents of the game, despite it being absolutely wonderful.

The basic gameplay of Folklore is relatively simple. There are two areas: the real world, specifically the village of Doolin, and the Netherworld, where the devious Folks live. It should be noted that almost every single bit of the exotic mythology surrounding the game is exactly that: mythology existing in our own world. For example, you have everything from mermen to fairies to animated scarecrows. Even the town of Doolin itself is present in folklore.

Oh dear, I got sidetracked. The gameplay: basically, travel in the real world as either Ellen or Keats (thus far it seems almost identical travels, but considering I'm only about halfway through the game and recent plot developments seem to be aiming to split the two routes...), gather information and/or a memento of the dead to open a portal to the Netherworld. Enter said Netherworld, defeat the Folklore, a powerful boss Folk, and obtain access to the memories of a deceased person, all in an effort to solve a mystery of a murder that happened as Ellen and Keats arrived and also one from seventeen years ago...

It's all very mysterious, intriguing, and extremely interesting to anyone who's even slightly interested in fairy tales. I highly recommend the game to those who have PS3s, or are picking them up now thanks to games like Grand Theft Auto IV and Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots.

120 Minutes of "Oh God, they're eating me!"

Today's blogged bit: Pokemon Platinum.



Recently featured in a number of Japanese magazines and now crossposted on several websites, including the American Kotaku.com, the newest installment of the main storyline of the Pokemon franchise has been revealed. Last year in April, the first traditional Pokemon RPG games for the DS, Diamond and Pearl, were released to much acclaim and sold millions of copies.

The new game, following in the footsteps of earlier tried-and-true methods, is an enhanced remake of Diamond and Pearl, called Pokemon Platinum (personally, I would have thought Opal would be a better name), releasing for the Nintendo DS in Japan late this summer.

The details are scarce at the moment, even this close to launch, but there are some interesting tidbits:

• September release (may or may not be subject to change)
• The male trainer has apparently gotten outfit changes
• The Underground is now Wi-Fi compatible
• Battle Island "revealed", serving a similar purpose to Battle Frontier from Pokemon Emerald
• No new Pokemon, but some alternate forms for others. Confirmed: Giratina's Origin Form (Giratina will serve as the cover Pokemon), Regigigas's Sky Form, and Shaymin's Another Form
• In addition to being the cover Pokemon, Giratina replaces Dialga/Palkia at the Spear Pillar when Team Galactic is confronted (opening up the possibility that Giratina's former location will house both Dialga and Palkia)
• Volkner is no longer the Sunyshore Gym Leader

For more information, refer to the official site:
http://www.pokemon.co.jp/special/platinum/02.html

I'll be buying this, as I'm a die-hard fan of Pokemon, and working to transfer all my Pokemon from Diamond and Pearl into this one. Yes, I know, it's a little sad to do it, but I don't care.

120 Minutes of "I swear, officer, I've never seen her before in my life!"

What better way to start off a new blog than by jumping right into content?


In 2006, Higurashi no Naku Koro ni (localized as When They Cry) aired on Japanese television. Based on a visual novel style game, the anime took after its predecessor and is a murder mystery (though definitely atypical, and by about the sixth or seventh episode you'll see what I mean). In 2007, a sequel, Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai, aired and was the subject of a bit of controversy, as was School Days, etc. for portrayals of violence. The show was apparently censored slightly as a result.

I've been watching Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai, and have to say that it is captivating despite being more talk and slow-moving than the original Higurashi (as in, fewer murders, as well). This surprisingly works in its favor, however, because one just keeps wanting to see more. Even the opening song seems to fit the new feel of the series more than a creepy murderous song would, as in the first season.

Of note is news that cropped up recently for a third Higurashi anime (this is discounting the one episode special Nekogoroshi-hen, or Cat-Killing Chapter, which oddly enough had no cats in it). Instead of being a full fledged series like the past two anime, this is planned to be a single OVA two episodes in length, taking content from a promotional fan-created disc based on the Higurashi series. The tentative title is Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Rei.