Okay, I enjoy having a computer. Be it a PC or a Mac, I enjoy computers. And having owned both a Mac and a PC, I feel like there are some things I need to just get off my chest. And they're both laptops, just so you know.
Okay, first victim: the Mac. I love Macs personally, but I need to get some things off my chest right now. One, the battery. My Mac was old to begin with when I got it, but the battery lasted pretty well for being 5 years old. But after I had it for a while, and for a year or two until its death, the battery would only last a half hour at the most on a full charge. Two: iPod compatibility. I have an iPod, and since all my music was on my Mac's hard drive when it gave out from old age (that's what I meant by death), I can't get music off of my PC to my iPod without deleting all my music from it that I had beforehand. And so, I don't like how when you format an iPod on a PC, you can get music off of both Macs and PCs, but when you do it on a Mac, it can only work on a Mac. Finally, the constant verification when you try to fix stuff in System Preferences. I don't like having to remember my password constantly when I'm just trying to change the time on my computer. I want to change the time or adjust the sound output, not have to remember my passwords then remember what time it is or what kind of output I should have on it.
Next is the PC. I also like the PC, but I need to rant on them as well. First, the touch pad's proximity to the keyboard. I don't like how it's so close to the side of my hand when I'm typing. I've had pages of stuff deleted because my hand tapped the touch pad while typing, or while on the Internet, it either causes a new tab to open up on me or it causes my page to reload. Second, the constant updates. I hate having to wait for my computer to shut down and start up while it installs updates. And one day, I had to reinstall the virus scan system because it couldn't update itself. Finally, the touch pad itself. Having owned a Mac before a PC, I am not used to the double tap click system on the touch pad or whatever it's called. It gets frustrating when I am playing an online game that requires cursor movement, and sometimes I have to tap the touch pad several times before it becomes responsive again. I also have had to click several times on the screen to get out of the touch pad tap click.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Bullshit Moments In Good Games: Mike Tyson's Punch Out (NES, via emulator)
This is a new little segment where I take a look at all good games, and inevitably find a bad part about it. This is my opinion of the game's features and in no way should influence others' opinions. I look at a good game, and find a flaw that either makes it hard to play, or just something that sticks with me and annoys the living f*ck out of me. Enough that I call bullshit.
Okay, I just played Mike Tyson's Punch Out on an online NES emulator. And I enjoy it. It's a great game for its time, and it works well as a simple reflex tester disguised as a boxing game. But I feel like it gets too difficult way too fast. I have only been able to defeat the first few boxers without much trouble. In fact, I see the flaws I have in my strategy on them, and I amend it. But the second tier of boxers is so ridiculous, I can't beat all of them. Don't get me started on King Hippo. It's good that once you knock him out he stays down because of his size, but it just pissed me off. I had to look up on YouTube a way to defeat the guy because it makes you change your previous strategy so much, I lost several times and had to restart the game on the emulator. And Great Tiger or whatever his name is... ooh... he is probably one of the most frustrating enemies I've faced in a game, and I've played through the first few stages of both Castlevania and Castlevania II: Simon's Quest on the same emulator. For one, I hate his (I don't know the name again) tiger magic punchy attack where he goes Dragon Ball Z on my ass. I am able to block him sometimes, but once he gets one punch in on me, I'm done. He keeps doing that, and I barely was able to knock him down twice (the first time was during his simple punch and uppercut stuff), lucky that I was able to do it three. And he is just the halfway point of the game. You still have several rematches, the Russian soda drinker, Mr Sandman, the narcissist guy, and Mike himself. 13 matches in total, I can only finish 5, and lose like all hell at the sixth guy.
Another problem I saw in Mike Tyson's Punch Out was how the other boxers immediately regained their stamina (I'm calling it stamina, but it would be considered a health bar as well) after getting knocked down. When I got up, I would just have to dodge like hell before my stamina would regenerate to their level. And the rapid tapping of the buttons to get up after a knock down gets painful after a while. And why is it when the foes get knocked down three times, it's a TKO, but when I get knocked down three times, I have to wait for the countdown to go to 10 before I'm done? Why can't I just restart once I get knocked down three times?
Altogether, Punch Out is a good game. It's fun, entertaining, it keeps me in the game. But it just gets so ridiculously difficult so early on in the game. Truthfully, I never got this frustrated on such an early part of a game as I have on Punch Out for the NES. I get frustrated at parts of games (I still hate Call of Duty series' Veteran difficulty), but I always find a way to make it through. And they are always towards the end, is when it gets on my nerves with difficulty. But it is a great game, mainly due to the easy to learn controls, cartoony style of the game, and addictivity. I may seem like I don't like the game because of the flaws, but the early levels on the emulator are fun, addicting, and a good test to see how well your reflexes and finger speed are.
Okay, I just played Mike Tyson's Punch Out on an online NES emulator. And I enjoy it. It's a great game for its time, and it works well as a simple reflex tester disguised as a boxing game. But I feel like it gets too difficult way too fast. I have only been able to defeat the first few boxers without much trouble. In fact, I see the flaws I have in my strategy on them, and I amend it. But the second tier of boxers is so ridiculous, I can't beat all of them. Don't get me started on King Hippo. It's good that once you knock him out he stays down because of his size, but it just pissed me off. I had to look up on YouTube a way to defeat the guy because it makes you change your previous strategy so much, I lost several times and had to restart the game on the emulator. And Great Tiger or whatever his name is... ooh... he is probably one of the most frustrating enemies I've faced in a game, and I've played through the first few stages of both Castlevania and Castlevania II: Simon's Quest on the same emulator. For one, I hate his (I don't know the name again) tiger magic punchy attack where he goes Dragon Ball Z on my ass. I am able to block him sometimes, but once he gets one punch in on me, I'm done. He keeps doing that, and I barely was able to knock him down twice (the first time was during his simple punch and uppercut stuff), lucky that I was able to do it three. And he is just the halfway point of the game. You still have several rematches, the Russian soda drinker, Mr Sandman, the narcissist guy, and Mike himself. 13 matches in total, I can only finish 5, and lose like all hell at the sixth guy.
Another problem I saw in Mike Tyson's Punch Out was how the other boxers immediately regained their stamina (I'm calling it stamina, but it would be considered a health bar as well) after getting knocked down. When I got up, I would just have to dodge like hell before my stamina would regenerate to their level. And the rapid tapping of the buttons to get up after a knock down gets painful after a while. And why is it when the foes get knocked down three times, it's a TKO, but when I get knocked down three times, I have to wait for the countdown to go to 10 before I'm done? Why can't I just restart once I get knocked down three times?
Altogether, Punch Out is a good game. It's fun, entertaining, it keeps me in the game. But it just gets so ridiculously difficult so early on in the game. Truthfully, I never got this frustrated on such an early part of a game as I have on Punch Out for the NES. I get frustrated at parts of games (I still hate Call of Duty series' Veteran difficulty), but I always find a way to make it through. And they are always towards the end, is when it gets on my nerves with difficulty. But it is a great game, mainly due to the easy to learn controls, cartoony style of the game, and addictivity. I may seem like I don't like the game because of the flaws, but the early levels on the emulator are fun, addicting, and a good test to see how well your reflexes and finger speed are.
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Review: The Tingler (1959)
This is one of the better 50s B-movies I've seen out there. It stars Vincent Price, and is directed by the director of the original House on Haunted Hill, William Castle. It is about a scientist who does studies in fear and his discovery: a creature that lives inside us, connected to our spines. It is called the Tingler, because it causes the tingly feeling when you're afraid, and it grows in size during moments of fear to the point where it can kill someone, but shrinks or dies when you scream. Price's character eventually does tests with LSD to try to coax the Tingler within him, but he fails because of the massive amounts of pain and fear inside of him caused by the Tingler cause him to scream. However, a man who Price meets early in the film has a deaf-mute wife, who after meeting with Price's character, dies from fright apparently caused by LSD. The man brings the wife to Price, who is able to extract the Tingler. Things happen, and the Tingler escapes after Price brings it back to the man to have it put back where it came from because its indestructible. He is able to put it back into the wife's body and discovers the husband was the one who terrified her to death by forcing her out of the bedroom and into the bathroom where she died.
All in all, this is a very good movie. Price does a good job playing a scientist who will stop at nothing to discover it, and he even puts on a good "what have I done" act towards the end. Castle uses some very good scenes to work for the movie. For example, during the woman's LSD trip, she goes into the bathroom, where all the water in the bathtub and sink are flowing with blood. And it is the only color part of the black and white film. The blurring effects of the LSD trips works just as good, because it blurs stuff so well a skeleton appears to be morphing into something else.
However, the Tingler has some drawbacks. Being a low budget popcorn horror flick, it has some cheap gimmicks and effects a film school student would use. The Tingler looks so ludicrous it works well with the movie. It feels like its over too quickly, and the Tingler itself doesn't appear majorly until the last half hour of the film, but doesn't every horror creature of the 1950s (i.e. The Fly or the Thing From Another World)?
For the time, it's a good movie. It has a funny scene where the Tingler was supposed to break out into the theater you were in or the drive in you were seeing it at and you're supposed to "Scream! Scream for your lives!" or turn on your headlights. Feels gimmicky, and that's what makes it great.
The Tingler is like a movie you'd see with your friends for either appreciation for Vincent Price or William Castle's work, or for a good laugh at the creature, and for that, I give it a thumbs up. I'm happy I purchased it on DVD, and I have James Rolfe, aka the Angry Video Game Nerd (cinemassacre.com), to thank for introducing me to this movie.
And remember: when you are afraid and feel a tingle in your spine, don't be afraid to let loose and scream. Your life depends on it...
All in all, this is a very good movie. Price does a good job playing a scientist who will stop at nothing to discover it, and he even puts on a good "what have I done" act towards the end. Castle uses some very good scenes to work for the movie. For example, during the woman's LSD trip, she goes into the bathroom, where all the water in the bathtub and sink are flowing with blood. And it is the only color part of the black and white film. The blurring effects of the LSD trips works just as good, because it blurs stuff so well a skeleton appears to be morphing into something else.
However, the Tingler has some drawbacks. Being a low budget popcorn horror flick, it has some cheap gimmicks and effects a film school student would use. The Tingler looks so ludicrous it works well with the movie. It feels like its over too quickly, and the Tingler itself doesn't appear majorly until the last half hour of the film, but doesn't every horror creature of the 1950s (i.e. The Fly or the Thing From Another World)?
For the time, it's a good movie. It has a funny scene where the Tingler was supposed to break out into the theater you were in or the drive in you were seeing it at and you're supposed to "Scream! Scream for your lives!" or turn on your headlights. Feels gimmicky, and that's what makes it great.
The Tingler is like a movie you'd see with your friends for either appreciation for Vincent Price or William Castle's work, or for a good laugh at the creature, and for that, I give it a thumbs up. I'm happy I purchased it on DVD, and I have James Rolfe, aka the Angry Video Game Nerd (cinemassacre.com), to thank for introducing me to this movie.
And remember: when you are afraid and feel a tingle in your spine, don't be afraid to let loose and scream. Your life depends on it...
Top 10 Most Influential Horror/Monster Movies
Since this is the month of terror, I figure that I should make a top whatever number list of the greatest things involving horror. And so here we go with the Top 10 Greatest Influential Horror/Monster Movies According to Me.
10. Godzilla (1954)
What can be said about the King of the Monsters? He's big, strong, and uber powerful. And he's more than 50 years old (take that *insert random action star here*) and can still take down Tokyo and King Ghidorah and still come back for a sequel. The reason Godzilla is on this list, is because so many people know Godzilla's appearance and trademark roar, it's amazing. And no, I'm not including the 1998 Godzilla in this list. It was an okay monster movie, but because it had the name Godzilla, it had sky high expectations. But I can give it an honorable mention, because it was the movie that introduced me to Godzilla (I was 6 or 7 at the time).
9. King Kong (1933)
Since I knocked Gojira off the list so early, might as well go for another. King Kong. I don't need to say much more on his part. Everyone recognizes him in some form or another. He even appears in movies that aren't even American. King Kong Appears in Edo (a lost 1938 Japanese kaiju movie, feared lost in the Tokyo firebombings), King Kong vs Godzilla, King Kong Escapes. His movies were all so successful that they spawned 2 sequels: Son of Kong (the sequel to the 1933 movie), and King Kong Lives (1970s sequel).
8. Nosferatu (The First Dracula) (1922)
Okay, I know what you may be thinking. "Who the f*ck is Nosferatu?" Well, he is the first vampire taken from Bram Stoker's novel, Dracula. He is the first Dracula. It is because of this movie, I feel a lot of atmosphere into the later movies. He even instilled one of the stereotypical vampire actions: rising out of his coffin. He also started the whole "Vampire + Sunlight = A very dead and cripsy/ashy vampire" thing.
7. Night of the Living Dead
George A. Romero's Night of the Living Dead is one of the greatest zombie movies out there. He was single-handedly responsible for creating zombies as we know them today. Okay, 28 Days Later gave us the running zombies but George gave us the zombpocalypse. And need I say, so much zombie themed stuff would never exist if George and John (John A. Russo, creator of the second sequel branch, the Return of the Living Dead series) hadn't done this movie.
6. The Evil Dead series
How many movies can you say have a hero with a chainsaw for a hand and a sawed off shotgun that seems to never run out of bullets that spews one-liners and is a badass and a jackass? To fans of the Evil Dead series, they have just that in the form of Ashly (or Ashley) J. Williams, played by Bruce Campbell. These movies brought out the true term cult classic, and even propelled Sam Raimi to stardom in the director universe. Sound familiar? He directed the Spiderman movies and the first Darkman movie. And it showed how horror can be interlaced with comedy. So hold onto your boomstick, get ready for some groovy moments, and be remember the magic words (Klaatu Verata Nikto) and give these films a look.
5. Friday the 13th
Ah, Jason Voorhees. The psychopathic mutant child of Pamela Voorhees. He is harder to kill than a cockroach. He's survived drowning, having an axe through the head, being hacked by his own machete, and he was even blown up and dragged into Hell itself and still came back. Aside from his indestructability, he even has the "ch-ch-ch-ah-ah-ah" music that plays when he's coming. He's a complete badass, and he has even handed Ash Williams' ass to him with minimal effort. How cool is that? And he fought Freddy.
4. A Nightmare on Elm Street
It's showtime, ladies. Freddy Krueger is one of the better recognized villains of a movie ever. And he refuses to die more than, yes, even Jason. Think about it, Freddy has survived being burned alive twice, dragged into the physical world and murdered, burned and seared by holy water and a crucifix, decapitation, and even being pulled into another dimension (Freddy vs Jason vs Ash). He can mess with you in the dream world, and you die in real life. In the comic book Freddy vs Jason vs Ash, he even gains the power of basically the Devil (warping reality, instantaneous murder). Even a demon trapped in the Nightmare on Elm Street movies (Wes Craven's New Nightmare) takes the form of Freddy. And he's a child molester. How evil is that? And the song doesn't hurt either... 1, 2, Freddy's coming for you...
3. Rodan
Okay... I know none of you know this one. Rodan was influential for a few reasons. One, it was one of the few kaiju movies released by Toho that had nothing to do with Godzilla. Two, it was filmed in color, the first Kaiju to do so. Three, there was more than one Rodan in the first movie. Finally, the death of the Rodans in the first one was one of those moments where you didn't want to feel bad, but you had to feel bad for them as they both died in each others ar... er... wings. And the fact Rodan is one of the few monsters to appear in several Godzilla movies as both a friend and enemy.
2. The Universal Monster Movies
I feel this one is pretty self-explanatory. Dracula, Frankenstein, the Wolf Man, the Invisible Man, Creature from the Black Lagoon, and the Mummy. Furthermore, these films brought us or showed more people such film greats such as Bela Lugosi (Dracula), Boris Karloff (Frankie), Lon Chaney Jr (Mummy and Wolfie), and Vincent Price (The Invisible Man Returns).
1. The Exorcist
The Exorcist is one of the more scarier possession movies I've seen in a while. When I was younger, I never heard of this movie. Now, I think of it as a very great horror movie, relying on shock value. I mean, honestly, you'd be shocked if you saw a little girl either doing "vulgar things" with a crucifix or screaming "Your mother sucks 'c' in Hell," it sticks in people's heads.
These were my thoughts on the top 10 most influential horror/monster movies for 2009's Halloween lead-up.
10. Godzilla (1954)
What can be said about the King of the Monsters? He's big, strong, and uber powerful. And he's more than 50 years old (take that *insert random action star here*) and can still take down Tokyo and King Ghidorah and still come back for a sequel. The reason Godzilla is on this list, is because so many people know Godzilla's appearance and trademark roar, it's amazing. And no, I'm not including the 1998 Godzilla in this list. It was an okay monster movie, but because it had the name Godzilla, it had sky high expectations. But I can give it an honorable mention, because it was the movie that introduced me to Godzilla (I was 6 or 7 at the time).
9. King Kong (1933)
Since I knocked Gojira off the list so early, might as well go for another. King Kong. I don't need to say much more on his part. Everyone recognizes him in some form or another. He even appears in movies that aren't even American. King Kong Appears in Edo (a lost 1938 Japanese kaiju movie, feared lost in the Tokyo firebombings), King Kong vs Godzilla, King Kong Escapes. His movies were all so successful that they spawned 2 sequels: Son of Kong (the sequel to the 1933 movie), and King Kong Lives (1970s sequel).
8. Nosferatu (The First Dracula) (1922)
Okay, I know what you may be thinking. "Who the f*ck is Nosferatu?" Well, he is the first vampire taken from Bram Stoker's novel, Dracula. He is the first Dracula. It is because of this movie, I feel a lot of atmosphere into the later movies. He even instilled one of the stereotypical vampire actions: rising out of his coffin. He also started the whole "Vampire + Sunlight = A very dead and cripsy/ashy vampire" thing.
7. Night of the Living Dead
George A. Romero's Night of the Living Dead is one of the greatest zombie movies out there. He was single-handedly responsible for creating zombies as we know them today. Okay, 28 Days Later gave us the running zombies but George gave us the zombpocalypse. And need I say, so much zombie themed stuff would never exist if George and John (John A. Russo, creator of the second sequel branch, the Return of the Living Dead series) hadn't done this movie.
6. The Evil Dead series
How many movies can you say have a hero with a chainsaw for a hand and a sawed off shotgun that seems to never run out of bullets that spews one-liners and is a badass and a jackass? To fans of the Evil Dead series, they have just that in the form of Ashly (or Ashley) J. Williams, played by Bruce Campbell. These movies brought out the true term cult classic, and even propelled Sam Raimi to stardom in the director universe. Sound familiar? He directed the Spiderman movies and the first Darkman movie. And it showed how horror can be interlaced with comedy. So hold onto your boomstick, get ready for some groovy moments, and be remember the magic words (Klaatu Verata Nikto) and give these films a look.
5. Friday the 13th
Ah, Jason Voorhees. The psychopathic mutant child of Pamela Voorhees. He is harder to kill than a cockroach. He's survived drowning, having an axe through the head, being hacked by his own machete, and he was even blown up and dragged into Hell itself and still came back. Aside from his indestructability, he even has the "ch-ch-ch-ah-ah-ah" music that plays when he's coming. He's a complete badass, and he has even handed Ash Williams' ass to him with minimal effort. How cool is that? And he fought Freddy.
4. A Nightmare on Elm Street
It's showtime, ladies. Freddy Krueger is one of the better recognized villains of a movie ever. And he refuses to die more than, yes, even Jason. Think about it, Freddy has survived being burned alive twice, dragged into the physical world and murdered, burned and seared by holy water and a crucifix, decapitation, and even being pulled into another dimension (Freddy vs Jason vs Ash). He can mess with you in the dream world, and you die in real life. In the comic book Freddy vs Jason vs Ash, he even gains the power of basically the Devil (warping reality, instantaneous murder). Even a demon trapped in the Nightmare on Elm Street movies (Wes Craven's New Nightmare) takes the form of Freddy. And he's a child molester. How evil is that? And the song doesn't hurt either... 1, 2, Freddy's coming for you...
3. Rodan
Okay... I know none of you know this one. Rodan was influential for a few reasons. One, it was one of the few kaiju movies released by Toho that had nothing to do with Godzilla. Two, it was filmed in color, the first Kaiju to do so. Three, there was more than one Rodan in the first movie. Finally, the death of the Rodans in the first one was one of those moments where you didn't want to feel bad, but you had to feel bad for them as they both died in each others ar... er... wings. And the fact Rodan is one of the few monsters to appear in several Godzilla movies as both a friend and enemy.
2. The Universal Monster Movies
I feel this one is pretty self-explanatory. Dracula, Frankenstein, the Wolf Man, the Invisible Man, Creature from the Black Lagoon, and the Mummy. Furthermore, these films brought us or showed more people such film greats such as Bela Lugosi (Dracula), Boris Karloff (Frankie), Lon Chaney Jr (Mummy and Wolfie), and Vincent Price (The Invisible Man Returns).
1. The Exorcist
The Exorcist is one of the more scarier possession movies I've seen in a while. When I was younger, I never heard of this movie. Now, I think of it as a very great horror movie, relying on shock value. I mean, honestly, you'd be shocked if you saw a little girl either doing "vulgar things" with a crucifix or screaming "Your mother sucks 'c' in Hell," it sticks in people's heads.
These were my thoughts on the top 10 most influential horror/monster movies for 2009's Halloween lead-up.
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Hello
Greetings from In the Heart of the Storm Reviews. I will work to produce reviews of various odd things, such as movies, books, video games, TV shows, and comic books. I will publish these on a various basis, either day by day, hour by hour, week by week, month by month, or even minute by minute. I will also publish top 10 lists and ...of the week, and will also in time produce other things, such as a plan I have for bad movies that I know about that I am at the time calling Abomination Domination (where bad movies reign supreme).
I hope you enjoy this little idea of mine.
I hope you enjoy this little idea of mine.
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