Quantum of Solace: Bond Kicks Ass

Posted: 17th November 2008 by Luc "Sandman" G. in Movies

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Daniel Craig is back in the 22nd installment of the James Bond series, Quantum of Solace. The story is an action packed tale of revenge, resolution and just plain kicking ass.

Quantum of Solace is not necessarily a sequel per say, but a continuation of Casino Royale. The 2 movies create one big movie that just happened to have a 2 year long intermission in between. The story starts a mere minutes after the end of Casino Royale, Bond being chased through the hills of Italy by an unknown army of bad guys. This car chase sets the tone for the entire movie. We find out from the very beginning that we’re in for one hell of a ride.

MI:6 finally catches wind that there’s an international ring, but have no idea of who these people are and what they do, but they do know that they were responsible for Vesper’s death.  Bond is sent on the trail of this group and along the way meets up with Camille, a woman also bent on revenge for the death of her family at the hands of a South American dictator. Bond and Camille’s paths and destinies cross as the men they are both chasing are linked to the organization we found out is called Quantum. We can easily see this organisation playing a part of future installments of Bond movies, similar to SPECTRE in the classic Bond films

Its hard to think of this movie as better or worse than Casino Royale, since the two are so intriquintly linked together. As a Bond movie, QoS does not disappoint. We see the growth of the main character into the super spy we have grown to know in previous incarnations. As with Casino Royale, there are no gadgets, no Q and no Moneypenny. This is a more reality grounded Bond. I have to admit that though I do miss those aspect of Bond, I also believe that they will slowly be introduced in this reboot of the franchise in a more realistic way.

I thoroughly enjoyed Quantum of Solace for what it was. An action packed Bond flick with much character development. Casino Royale/Quantum of Solace are setting up the groundwork for the future of this long running franchise. I can’t wait to see what comes next.

I give Quantum of Solace an 8 out of 10.

Nine Inch Nails Lights Up Ottawa

Posted: 13th November 2008 by Luc "Sandman" G. in Music

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On Tuesday November 11th 2008, Nine Inch Nails descended upon Ottawa and brought their long awaited Lights In The Sky tour to the nation capital’s masses. For almost 2 and a half hours, Trent Reznor and his touring band laid down a visual and auditory assault on 6000 fans.

Ottawa fans had waited a long time for Nine Inch Nails to come to Ottawa. Originally scheduled to play their first ever Ottawa concert in 2006, Trent Reznor had to cancel that show due to having come down with a very bad cold a few days earlier in Quebec City. More than 13,000 tickets had been sold before that announcement was made. Wanting to quench my Nine Inch Nails thirst, that summer I made the treck to Toronto to catch their With Teeth tour. This time around, it was just a quick jaunt across the city.

The show started very early for a concert. The opening band Boris, a Japanese alternative band, took the stage at 7:15pm and gave a strong opening show. The music very much suited the Nine Inch Nails style and the crowd who was there to see the show. The only drawback to this band was not that they don’t sing in english (they sing in Japanese), but that you could hardly hear the vocals over the instruments. Regardless, I was impressed by their music and will check out the local record stores to see if I can find one of their CDs.  Boris played until 8pm, 45 minutes being longer than most opening acts play.

It was only 8:35pm by the time Trent Reznor, Robin Finck (Guitar), Justin Meldal-Johnson (bass), Josh Freese (drums) and Alessandro Cortini (keyboards) took the stage. From the very beginning, NiN fans were treated to an exciting, energetic, visually impressive show, the likes that Ottawa has never seen before (at least no concert that I’ve been to in this city). Even though the show was not even close to being sold out, the band played with as much energy and gusto as if they were playing in front of a crowd of 50,000 people.  The show opened with newer songs like 1,000,000, Letting You, Discipline and Head Down before playing older songs such as Closer, Head Like A Hole and Wish. The concert slowed down significantly when surprisingly they played some songs from Ghosts I-IV. All in all, I believe every album release was covered during the 135 minutes of the show.

On the 2006 With Teeth tour, Nine Inch Nails fans were introduced to the transparent digital screen. Growing that concept, the Lights in the Sky tour boasts 3 massive transparent screens with motion sensors and an amazing light set that creates the most visually electrifying stage show that I have ever seen. Moving around the stage for various songs, these screens and lights echoed perfectly the style and mood of the songs being played. During Only, the screen was covered in static, with the screen melting away as Reznor stepped close to it, which is very reminiscent of the video for the song. One has to wonder how Reznor will top this stage show on his next tour.

My only complaint about this show was the crowd. This was one of the very few concerts where I witnessed entire sections just sitting through the entire show. Attempting to stand up would result in being asked to sit down. Depending on the song, the crowd went from just being there to jumping and moshing. On a scale of 0 to 10, sometimes it was a 0, sometimes a 9. One has to hope that the lower than expected turnout and the partially dead crowd won’t stop Nine Inch Nails from coming back to the Nation’s Capital in the future.

All in all, ignore the crowd, I have to give this concert a 9 out of 10.

My pictures of the show.

Videos of the show (Not my own as I didn’t make any at this show).

Zack and Miri Make a Porno (and a Funny Movie)

Posted: 12th November 2008 by Luc "Sandman" G. in Movies

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A quick review since time seems to be a luxury I don’t have lately….

Last week my wife and I were finally able to catch the latest Kevin Smith film Zack and Miri Make A Porno. This was the first Smith movie that I didn’t get to see on opening weekend since Chasing Amy… stupid on-call got in the way.

The story revolves around Zack and Miri, 20-something year old friends and roommates who work at dead end jobs and can’t make the ends meet. Having met in the first grade, these two characters share a strictly platonic relationship that has never crossed the romance/sex line. They coast through life until one day their heat, water and electricity get cut off for non-payment (on Thanksgiving no less). Desperate to raise some money to get rid of their debt, Zack comes up with the plan to make a porno.  The idea being that at minimum their old high school friends and acquaintances would buy the flick “just so they could see someone they knew f*ck”.

They enlist the aid of Zack’s co-worker, played by The Office’s Craig Robinson, to finance the picture, an old high school videographer (Jeff Anderson, better known as Randal in Clerks/Clerks2), a want to be porn star (played by Jason Mewes) and 2 real life ex-porn stars (Traci Lords and Katie Morgan). As the shoot progresses, Zach and Miri discover that they have feelings for each other which culminates when they have shoot their sex scene. Some misunderstandings arise, causing a rift between the lifelong friends.

I found Zack & Miri to be a really good film. I did not find it as funny as Smith’s previous movies (Jersey Girl notwithstanding), but that did not affect my views of it. To compare it to Smith’s previous movies, it is similar to Chasing Amy in tone. Seth Rogen fits perfectly well in a Smith written & directed movie. The brand of comedy that we’ve become accustomed to seeing him in is eerily similar to Smith’s movies, so that casting was a perfect fit. Elizabeth Banks is believable as Miri. However,  Craig Robinson or Jason Mewes pretty much steal every scene that they are in. Those 2 play their characters superbly and have the funniest dialogues and lines in the film.

If you like Kevin Smith’s previous movies, or any movie by Judd Apatow, then you’ll surely like Zack and Miri Make A Porno.  I may be a biased Kevin Smith fan, but I give Zack and Miri an 8 out of 10.

Super Obama To the Rescue!

Posted: 5th November 2008 by Luc "Sandman" G. in Politics

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I witnessed history in the making last night, and it was wonderful. My neighbours south of the 49th parallel elected a President based on his views, his politics, his timely promises and the strength of his character, all while looking past the colour of his skin. Barack Obama was elected the 44th President of the United States, the first African-American to hold that post.

The victory speech given by Obama was one that fit the special occasion perfectly. Like his other speeches, it was inspirational and uplifting. His was a historic speech that will be remembered for a long time to come. McCain’s concession speech was also pretty special. The only dark cloud on the occasion was the crowd booing when Obama’s name was brought up.

I’m not delusional to think that Obama will be able to fix all the problems, caused by 8 years of the Bush administration and even the Clinton era, in a day, a month, a year, or even during his 4 year term. Fixing that amount of damage will take time. But even if he is only able to keep half of the promises that he has made, the United States will be better for it.

I was asked on a message board as to why, as a Canadian, do I care about the election of Obama. Being Canadian, we are so closely tied to the United States in every facet; our culture, our entertainment and our economy. As Canadians, we have a vested interest on what happens to the south of us. I believe that Obama will not only be good for the US, but will also repair international relations and make its neighbours and allies better and stronger economically.

Obama has been compared to Kennedy or called the Kennedy of our generation for a reason. As Canadians, we can only wish that we will see a politician of this caliber in our lifetime. Obama, even as a Canadian, I proudly shout “Yes we can!”. President-Elect Obama, the world is watching and cheering your victory.

NHL 09 Patch Coming In Early November

Posted: 30th October 2008 by Luc "Sandman" G. in Games, Hockey

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A patch for NHL09 has already been deployed for PS3 owners in Europe and will be released for XBox360 and other PS3 owners within the first couple of weeks of November, according to David Littman of EA Sports.

Along with fixing the dirty disc error that I reported in an earlier blog post, there are a multitude of other bug fixes and authenticity fixes that will come our way. The gameplay is getting some major refinement to increase the level of authenticity in the game, as well as making the EA Sports Hockey League more interesting and fun. There’s no word regarding fixing the Hockey League issues regarding joining games, but lets hope that this gets rectified as well. The fixes and improvements are, in no particular order:

  • The jersey on the EASHL side select screen is more visible than the team logo. This will make it easier for people to see when jersey colors clash.
  • Deking controls normal when shooting downscreen with “Always Up” controls
  • Checking has been tuned so you will see less big hits from guys that aren’t traditionally known for hitting
  • Less CPU AI one-timers
  • Increased the height of dump ins, for a better dump and chase game.
  • No more goals from flip dumps
  • Better CPU AI logic near offensive blueline so they don’t go off-sides as much
  • CPU goalie will not drag the puck back toward himself in a shootout
  • Fixed the goals from outside shots that people are scoring. Reduced shot accuracy when on the rush and when turning quickly, and from far out. You will now have to be more conservative when shooting on the rush. If you aim all the way to the left or right, your shot will go wide a lot more. Try aiming more towards the middle to hit the net from outside. This fixes the cross goal where you shoot back the other way, and the goal that goes in with the “curve” animation, and a few others. There’s a reason NHL players don’t shoot from outside on the rush very often. Dumping or trying to set up is a better play unless you have an odd-man situation.
  • Reduced the time it took to get control of the goalie by 1/3.
  • When line changes are set to auto, and a user changes lines/defense manually between whistles, the line/defensive pair you asked for will come out (or stay out).
  • If you have line changes off in Be a Pro, line change player chatter will be turned off.
  • When using a defenseman in BAP, BAP player won’t get stuck on the bench and will be able to call for change
  • The EASHL will now go to continuous 5v5 overtime until one team scores. This way nobody has to sit out, and you get to decide who wins (this is now just like the NHL Play-offs)
  • The proper own-goal cut scene will be shown where the player who scored on himself is upset.
  • All cut scenes should now show players sitting in their respective team’s bench.
  • Increase AI team aggressiveness and the likelihood of them getting called for a penalty on an infraction.
  • If Vision Control is pressed, you do not throw a hit when in front of the attacking net. This helps with rebound shots.
  • Increase the likelihood of a penalty if the stick hits the body during a stick lift.
  • Reduce the accuracy of shots for penalty shots and shootouts. Aiming for just inside the post is a lot tougher now

Thanks to my friend Twister65 for pointing out information on this patch release.

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