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Motown Magic (2018)
If I Could Give This 100 Stars I Would
Like Netflix's Beat Bugs, this is a cartoon that is introducing a whole new generation into the wonderful music that is Motown just like Beat Bugs is introducing kids to Beatles music. My one complaint is the use of the song War which is a tad deep for kids of this age. Other than that, I'm having a blast introducing my daughters to music from Motown.
An Omar Broadway Film (2008)
The Most Slanted Hatchet Piece Ever Put On Film
Here's the deal. I'm not going to sit here and say that there aren't incidents of abuse of force. There are. When there are thousands of people working in a system, there are going to be a few knuckleheads(the fact that a prison inmate in the most secure unit in the department was able to keep a video camera in his cell should be an indication of that). However, this idiot made it seem like he's just an innocent victim. Um, no. Omar Broadway is a piece of scum who made the choice to live a life of crime. And his mother isn't going to be up for any awards either. How can you be proud of your child for being a drug dealer? I particularly loved the cell extraction. Nice that they edited the entire process out. Here's the procedure: They need to get an inmate for one reason or another. They go to the cell and tell him that he's going to be taken out of the cell and is ordered on his knees with his hands on top of his head to be cuffed(proper procedure). If the inmate is compliant, he's put into cuffs, taken to where ever he's to be taken. Does whatever business needs to be done, and is returned to his cell. However, if he's not compliant, he's given several orders to do so and if he still chooses to be an animal, the extract team is brought in. Of course all you see here is the extract team doing their thing, not the events leading up to the extraction. Believe me, extract teams aren't assembled for laughs. It literally takes an act of the administrator to do this and most administrators aren't exactly custody friendly.
The short end of it is, if you want to avoid this, stay out of jail. It really is that simple. And to Mr. Broadway, you are the scourge of the earth and it's people like you who don't allow the black community to to come out of the shadows. I hope you enjoy your life in jail because you are exactly where you belong.
Marley & Me (2008)
A Dog Lover's Movie *Minor Spoilers*
I consider myself to be as manly as the next guy but I do have a soft spot for animals. I have 2 dogs and 4 cats and it pains me to see animals get abused or neglected. That said, I've always wanted to read this book but never got around to it and was happy they made a movie out of it. What I didn't expect was to see how it realistically shows the audience what it's like owning a dog. Most movies about dogs are unrealistic fantasies with talking dogs or hero dogs or something like that. This movie gave non-pet owners a perspective on how a dog or even a cat can affect your life both positively and negatively. You simply just can't leave food and water and let the dog take it from there. It's the closest thing to raising a child. Dogs have personalities like you and I and Marley really was his own dog, as it were.
Now, as for the movie itself, I knew from seeing Grogan on TV that Marley eventually dies as they had him 13 years. What I didn't expect was to have his passing make me, a 44 year old Corrections Officer, cry like I lost a family member. And I'm one of those guys who's good at keeping it inside even through the saddest movies but I couldn't help it this time. Probably because I understand that when it comes to dogs, there is no creature out there who loves you unconditionally even if you aren't the best owner. There is no more loyal animal on God's earth than a dog and we see how the Grogan family grew with and loved this dog and it hurts just as much for the viewer as it must have been for the Grogan family. This is a wonderful movie and a family movie and I would consider it a good vehicle to teach young children the meaning of life and death and they'd more than likely get it. If there were more than 10 stars to give this movie, I'd give it that because the message far exceeds some of the hokeyness of the story.
EA Sports Arena Football (2006)
Not Bad For A First Try
Electronic Arts(EA), the company that has brought us the Madden series has taken a stab at the Arena Football League. Before I get into details, I have to say that for a first try they didn't do badly. I give this game 3 1/2 out of 5 only because there could be some improvements.
First off, the positive. The graphics are good. Not great but good. They have all of the current AFL teams represented with the exception of the expansion Kansas City Brigade. They are listed as just KC. Probably because the franchise took so long in coming up with a name but they did have their color scheme and roster which is made up with a lot of the New Orleans Voodoo players due to the Voodoo taking a year hiatus due to Katrina. They have about 99% of the current players and the rosters were pretty much up to date along with the 2006 schedule which was also late in coming out. So EA worked really hard for this game and it looked like they worked well with the AFL right down to player and cheerleader intros when you fire up the game.
The learning curve is about 30 minutes and it's very easy to get used to. Your playlist is ripe with pass plays because in this league you pass better than 90% of the time. The post play taunting is OK even though you really don't see that type of taunting in the AFL but EA did a good job with little details like coaches on the field and what happens when you get hit close to the boards. In the AFL, one wide receiver is allowed to be in motion toward the line of scrimmage and EA has this as well. In fact, they take the timing of snapping the ball away from the gameplayer by automatically snapping the ball when the receiver reaches the line of scrimmage. The play is fast and furious and for the most part within the rules. In the AFL only one linebacker(Mack) is allowed to blitz while the other(Jack) must remain inside the confines of an imaginary box. If you are playing using the Jack linebacker and you leave the box, you will be flagged.
You can also be the receiver. You can run your own route and press whichever button is you and the QB will throw it to you. They also have pass plays off the net which is a live ball in the AFL. Same with kicks. Speaking of which, they have a kicking engine that is pretty good and pretty accurate to the difficulties of the kicking game. They did, however, leave out drop-kicking but since only one has ever been made in the 20 year history of the league that's OK. The games are very high scoring so it's not unusual to score in the 70's and 80's.
In franchise mode, you are both the players and front office and are free to sign players, position them as you see fit, and as in other EA sports games, you can create players and teams but be careful. You can't create a team full of Uber players because you also have a very small salary cap to play with. After all this isn't the NFL. And one of the coolest features in this game is the ability to unlock some of the AFL teams from the past through scoring, gameplay, and a few challenges. You can unlock charter teams like the Pittsburgh Gladiators, Denver Dynamite, Detroit Drive, or teams like the Texas Terror, Toronto Phantoms, NJ Red Dogs and Gladiators, Iowa Barnstormers, and many many more. In fact I only noticed a few teams absent like the Indiana Firebirds and Carolina Cobras. Also, when you unlock a team you can not only play as that team but you can read a little history on that particular franchise. It's a very cool feature.
Now for the negative. First and foremost the biggest complaint so far has been freezing. It seems if you allow the game to end with the post game celebration, the game will freeze on you and crash. Also, after some touchdowns there will be a cut screen and the player who scored will be showboating and then get blasted by an opposing player...with no penalty. This does not happen in the real AFL and leads me to believe that someone in creative for this game has never watched an AFL game before. The kicking engine, although good as a whole, is very erratic on kickoffs. Way too many kickoffs go into the stands which draws a penalty. And there are far too many injuries for my taste although you could fix the sliders for that. As for the actual plays, you really don't have too many choices. All teams have the same playbook. I chalk this one up to inexperience with the league. Another complaint I have is that if you create a team you have only 1 arena to play in but that's a minor complaint.
All in all it was worth my $29.95 and hope that this game and the AFL's relationship with EA continues to give this league a push and kudos to Crush QB John Dutton for being the first player to grace the cover.
Darkness (2002)
I feel incomplete...
After watching this movie I had more questions than answers. For starters, what's the deal with the family? Why are they in Spain or in the father's case, back in Spain? We find out why he moved in the first place but why did he return? Also, in most movies involving a strange cult(Rosemary's Baby, The Omen, 13 Ghosts, etc.) we are actually given a reason for the cult's behavior and know what their twisted motives are. In this movie we don't. We are never told what they want or why they want it. Oh, we do know they want darkness but why? Also, this big problem with this movie is that it tends to feed off of other movies. Most notably are The Shining and The Others. It had no real personality of it's own. And speaking of personality, the family in question had absolutely none. Anna Paquin's performance was wooden at best. Same with the kid who played little Paul. Lena Olin, who plays the mother, seemed to be in another place altogether. The 2 female stars are very talented but it seemed they didn't have their hearts in their performances for this film. All in all I'm disappointed with this movie. It could have and should have been better. If you want my advice, I'd wait for it to come on HBO or something. Don't go out of your way to see it.
WWE SmackDown! vs. RAW (2004)
Could be better.
When I heard of this game and heard it described by it's creators I was expecting a huge improvement over Here Comes the Pain. What I got was a game that did take 2 steps forward but also took 1 step back. In other words there really isn't anything about the game that knocks my socks off. Sure the Create-a-Belt and PPV functions are great but there are some additions I think they could have done without. First being the voiceovers of the superstars. They are obviously scripted and sound like they were recorded in a box. The match commentary is mundane at best and a bit detached but it is something that can be overlooked because you can tune it out. The improved story lines are pretty good so far in season mode and are a lot like what you see on WWE television which is a plus but a big minus in season mode is the inability to take part in any matches that your season superstar isn't in himself. I found this great in HCTP a little perplexing that you can't in this version. A surprising omission in Raw vs. Smackdown are the tag titles. This is something I don't understand. Sure you can create them but why create a championship that should already be there? Couple that with the fact that to create 2 tag belts will take a tremendous amount of Smackdown dollars which take a long time to accumulate. I think Yukes/THQ dropped the ball on this one. What puzzles me about this is that in HCTP they had the Hardcore title which was long gone by the time Shut your Mouth was released but this time around they decided to omit an existing championship.
I do like the dirty/clean aspect because it can sway a match either way. What is strange, however, are the weapons. You only get 4 hits with each weapon then it disappears and you have to go back out and get a new weapon. This doesn't make sense. I have never seen a chair just disappear after 4 hits so why this was put in I don't know.
Another aspect of the game I do like is that if you are to have a manager, he/she will accompany you to the ring and play a big part in your match. If you are about to be beaten you can call for your manager to jump on the apron to distract the referee or you can have them get you a weapon. This is also a realistic part of what we see on t.v.
One of the much talked about features was the ability to fight your way back during the Royal Rumble. This is both good and bad. The good is that if someone tosses you over, you can get back into the ring as long as you have enough left in your bar. The bad is that this also goes for NPC wrestlers which makes for a very long match. I've yet to watch a full Rumble because it takes so blasted long. Another bad point is that I've been in 2 Rumbles and have been eliminated although I had at least 50% on my elimination bar but again, as long as you don't get yourself into that position I'm guessing you can eventually win but so far I find this more of a hindrance.
All in all it's still a good game but if I have to rank it I would have to say that HCTP is still the best in the series. Although the graphics are better here total gameplay is about equal. Do I feel cheated? No, it's still worth the money only because you have new story lines to play with but I have to say that I'm just slightly disappointed in this game. If I have to rank it I'd give it a 7 out of 10.
ESPN NFL 2K5 (2004)
Look out Madden!!
This is the first football based game I've ever bought for my PS2 and I must say that I'm very impressed. The graphics are incredible and it's easy to think you're watching the real thing. The player movements are very realistic right down to endzone celebrations which you can customize for your team from a vast list of celebrations. The game play is easy to get used to and once you get used to them you can juke, spin, and stiff-arm your way down the field. What I really like is that while you are running, when you want to change direction your player just doesn't make a seamless move the other way. He stops and re-adjusts his footing to go the other way. Again, another realistic feature. Put all of this together with week to week game preparation and get ready for the closest thing to the real thing!
Also in this game you can own your own franchise right down to drafting and training camp. You can sign free agents, cut players, and renegotiate contracts all complete with a salary cap so you can't just throw money around for the best players. You can even make trades with other teams, attend the scouting combine, and even have a round-by-round draft. To get ready for the draft, you can listen to ESPN's Mel Kuiper as he gives us his rundown of the college prospects.
Other features include first person game play which puts you right into a players helmet. This feature is just OK and can get somewhat confusing because it always switches you to the ball carrier. The 25th Anniversary section allows you to play in certain historical games such as the infamous "Heidi Bowl", the "Immaculate Reception", "The Drive", as well as the most recent "4th & 26" game from last seasons playoff game between the Philadelphia Eagles and Green Bay Packers. It's very easy to spend hours upon hours and not realizing you've spent all of this time playing a game.
All the while you play you build up your "Crib Points" so you can buy cool stuff for your, well, Crib. From bar stools and rugs to home theaters to dart boards you can use your points to purchase all kind of cool stuff. The Crib section is also where you get challenged by such stars as Jamie Kennedy, Carmen Electra, and Steve-O to go up against their team of all-stars. Don't worry because you can create a team of pro-bowl players yourself so you can play on an even field.
The only negatives I've found were the endless banter from the commentators which seem to be somewhere else than the game you are playing. It's a minor distraction that is tolerable. Also, as much as I like the idea that you can challenge a call, the system tends to be one sided to the point that if your opponent challenges a call on the field it's almost a sure bet it's going to go against you. Again, a minor thing to deal with and challenges don't happen that often but it does get somewhat annoying at times. Other than those things I really can't find anything wrong with this game. Couple that with it's $19.99 price tag and you've got a real bargain for a great game! Trust me, after you've played this version of an NFL game, you too will be saying "Madden, who?"