Desolant mais vrai...

Bruno.

So I finally got the courage to go and see Bruno.
I think it does come down as a courage thing. Anyone who's seen (or even heard of) Borat will know that it's a ticket to be shocked.
And it does deliver that in spades.

Actually, due to the sexual nature of the subject, it does feel "sicker"... More twisted would be a better term I guess. In a sense, I think it's wrong that talking about sex seems more shocking than being antisemitic. Yet that's how our society works, I guess...

Anyway it is a perverted movie, for sure and it does prove some fair points, as Borat did. "Disgusting" moments are only more disgusting... Be ready for pubes and a talking penis...

The set pieces are really great, wonderfully subversive: that judge from the X-Factor (or wherever) talking of her chritative work sitting on mexican workers, a cage fights which degenerates into a gay love scene... In a turn of brilliance, Bruno makes conversations with people specialised in turning gay people straight disturbingly "gay"...

Whatever you think of the movie you have to give it (!) to Sacha Baron Cohen: he's talented and he's got guts...
As with Borat, 2 questions stay in my mind:
1) How much of the movie was staged?
2) How is he still alive???

It is hitting hard on the US, but indirectly, we get the flack, as the US are just a bit more extreme than we are...

To paraphrase the review I read in liberation, "if you're laughing everywhere, you're missing the point and if you're standing here shocked, you're missing it also".

Whether you find it funny or not, I think it still raises a point worth reflecting upon.

And as a piece of trash cinema (in a sort of Michael Moore meets Jackass) it's just pure gold.

LOST!

My my my...
5 episodes into the 4th season and I'm already jumping around in glee...

I have to say, with this time-travelling episode, I just can't think of any TV series that stimulated me like that. EVER.

God I love that show.

Rabbit wants cake.

It's been a while since the last flash game.

This one, called "Rabbit wants cake has a crazy concept: you enter your direction inputs first and then watch your rabbit do what you told it to. And not hat you wanted it to do...
Later levels get quite crazier...

On top of that it's very well designed and very humorous...
Reminds a bit of Portal in a sense, but that might have a lot to do with the cake...

I like! :)

(I got originally that from Ecrans)

Public Ennemies

Strange how Michael Mann always seems to do the same movie.
Cops & robbers. Viril friendships. Strong women, yet sacrified for the men's choices.

Yet that's only a frame. And one movie after another, he manages to explore different characters, different stories.

Beside the fact that Public Ennemies takes place in the 30s, Johnny Depp's John Dillinger is very different from Hanna, McCauley, Vincent or Crockett & Tubbs.
He might as well been a rockstar, for in that time, to enjoy fast money and fame, robbing banks might have seem the way to go. Live fast, don't think about tomorrow die shot down by the cops. Although an expert bank robber, he just fancies himself as a movie hero. And he's got a band, that goes by the same rules. Some wilder...

On the oherside of the line, Christian Bale's Melvin Purvis portrays in a sense the birth of modern police, with the beginning of interstate investigations, telephone wiring, etc. He also loses his soul in the process, having to give up his principles to achieve his goals (or those of his superiors?).

Tragic characters, which make for an engaging story, deep and layered.
The cast supporting it is perfect.

It's quite interesting to see this era, the flamboyant all gun blazing bank robberies treated that way. Characters like Baby Face Nelson, who was portrayed as a comical character in the Coen's "O'Brother...", come across in a similar fashion here (crazy gun-blazing psycho). Only the context doesn't make it funny of course.

In another difference to other Mann's movies, the focus here is also on the "villains" (or are they?). There's not much emphasis on the confrontation (as in Heat) but more on how everyone works.

As for direction, well anyone who's seen Collateral or Miami Vice can guess that it's incredible. Mann still hasn't given up his DV and shows us the American 30s like no one has shown it before. Classic yet modern, aiming for a gritty feel during the tense shoot-outs and very intimate (lots of close ups) in character development, making sure every detail feels authentic. It feels like a true time travel.

So I won't carry on because it's the kind of complex movie for which my weak words are just not worthy. Suffice to say that, even it might not reach up to the height of Heat, it's yet another classic from Mann, that can certainly support comparision with The Untouchables...

There's a very interesting iterview of Michael Mann over at AICN. Better read after seeing the movie I think.

Control over games...

I responded to an article over at Kotaku. The initial article is by Leigh Alexander who's got a very interesting gaming blog (much better than this one) and does a lot of other stuff as well. It regards the classic way of controlling games, reminding that although motion control seems to be the new thing, it doesn't necessarily enhance the gaming experience. Very true. Yet that seems to include the Wiimote and here comes things I would tend to argue on.
I've also wanted to rant a bit over the amount of slack the Wii's taking and that seemed like a perfect opportunity!

Since I did take the hassle to write a comment I might as well reproduce it here...

Here it is.
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I would like to know how "classic controller" is defined.

I kind of feel that the Wii controller isn't included in there. Would that be because it features motion control?
That would be a bit silly, in my opinion.

If you really look at it, the wiimote/nunchuk is a classic controller. It's broken in 2, sure, but it's got 2 sticks, shoulder buttons, face buttons, etc. Sure, it's streamlined, but pretty much like anything like Nintendo released after the SNES (which should be the quitessential classic gamepad, as Sony only built on it to create the PS controller, which is the best pad ever created): the pads for the N64 or the GC were attempts to innovate on its base. They only took it a step further with the Wii controller, even breaking away from the shape (OH MY GOD!).

Now, having established that, the Wii controller adds 2 features to the classic controller scheme: the IR pointer & the motion controls.

Now who will stands and say that FPSs are better played with a pad? Or RTSs?
Personnally, I would even go as far as saying that having played FIFA 09 with the pointer, I would not want to play a football game without it anymore...

It's an evolution of the same medium, it's an enhancement. And it's not because you use motion controls that the game becomes easier.
Back to FIFA 09, replacing the shoot button by a Wiimote movement enables the control to be analogic, you need to learn to get your movement right. It's not especially well implemented in FIFA, sure, but still, it's a lot better than just pressing a button and releasing at the right time and it's not dumbing it down. It's just different.

Natal would be more the issue and here I believe that it's pushing it too far.
But the culprit is not the Wii. The Wii innovated wildly and created something new, while being able to build on the old stack.
The problem is that it seems to be driving the rest to try to cash in on motion control. Done the right way it could open huge possibilities. For money, it won't yield anything better than what was done with the PS2 EyeToy...

I'm saying this being a Wii-fanatic, sure and I do stand a bit disappointed that there are too few games that take real advantages of all the possibilities the Wii controller has to offer.
But to me as an interface, it's the new best one ever done for a game.

And at least it's fresh, unlike Sony who's releasing the same system only with improved graphics for the past 3 generations...