Five Terrible Senior Pictures



It's easy to go back in time and look at the crazy clothes and crazy hair and get a good laugh. Plaid and mullets had their days. Crochet umbrella, fans sets and peekaboo belly dresses most likely never will.
Check out the rest of these amazingly bad high school graduation photos.  5 Terrible Senior Photos

Haha look at these jerks!  They made decisions in high school that they may have regretted later in life!!! 
Man those people are idiots! I especially love this one!



Bahaha check out this asshole!  He probably ha... ...hey wait a second!

Proof that I wasn't always as handsome and debonair as I am today.

Iron Man Is A Drunk... But I Still Love Him.


Click the image above to see a super high resolution version.

All I can say is that I am really looking forward to the Iron Man movie coming out next year.  Jon Favreau is passionate about the character.  Robert Downey Jr. is perfect for Tony Stark/Iron Man: arms dealing playboy and superhero.  And they got the Stan Winston Studio(the guys who brought us The Predator, Terminator and Aliens) to design and build the Iron Man suit based off the badass Adi Granov conception of the hero.  This movie cannot possibly suck.  You can quote me on that.  Check out the trailer here.

Atlas Shrugged

I'll thankfully be finished my end of term tests very soon.  When I returned home tonight I resolved myself to get any work I had to do out of the way so that I could enjoy the remainder of the evening, and tomorrow unhindered by studying.  I finished my work and decided to take another trip into Rapture. 



Rapture is the underwater utopia-turned-dystopia from the game BioShock.  I finished the game pretty quickly on normal difficulty shortly after it was released earlier this year.  I enjoyed my time in Rapture a great deal, despite the many shortcomings of the game.  That's why I was so glad to hear about the patch for the game that just arrived.  The patch fixes many of the shortcomings I mentioned; minor annoyances really.  Fixing bugs is of course is the main function of the patch, but it will also give the player more options to increase the difficulty.  Additionally new abilities are available to the player... ooh new Plasmids!  I'm going to play through again on hard difficulty with the Vita-Chambers turned off.... hopefully that should provide me with more of a challenge.  Check out the patch at The Cult of Rapture. 

Don't get me wrong, I love BioShock.  I will sing its praises to the highest tower... I just felt a little let down given the games pedigree.  BioShock is after all the spiritual successor to one of my favourite games of all time(yes I know I say that about a lot of games, but I'm serious with this one); System Shock 2.

Like its predecessor, BioShock is a very psychological game.  It knows how to get under the players skin; how to disturb and unsettle you.  The two games are essentially identical in premise, save for their disparate setting and eras.... and that's fine.  I would have played BioShock if it were a shot-for-shot remake of System Shock 2, but that doesn't get to my point. 

The fact that BioShock was developed simultaneously for the PC and Xbox 360 cheapens the experience for the PC gamer.  The two versions of the game are for all intents and purposes identical.  They run on the same engine, play the same and the story is identical.  But they shouldn't.  Maybe this is just the jaded old-school PC gamer in me, but I don't think PC games should be ported to consoles.  The very act of doing so restricts the potential of the PC version by kowtowing it to the limitations of the console version.  To me, playing a console version of the sequel to one of the best PC games ever made would be blasphemy.

When 2kGames was showing off BioShock to the press, they did so with the Xbox 360 version of the game.  BioShock was developed with the Xbox 360 in mind, and because of this the PC version ultimately feels like a direct port of its Xbox 360 counterpart.  BioShock should have been a PC exclusive, a game that could have truly succeeded System Shock 2.  Instead it was turned into a PC version of an Xbox 360 game... a bastardized version of what it could have been.

I'm not some ardent PC snob who despises consoles.  I own a 360 and a PS3.  I probably play console games more regularly than I do PC games.  BioShock doesn't challenge the PC FPS player enough, it doesn't offer the variety and choice promised by the developers, and in that respect BioShock is a disappointment.  All I'm saying is that when you play the PC version of BioShock, you see a game robbed of its potential in the name of mass market appeal and exclusivity deals with Microsoft and NVidia.  I'm not saying that's wrong,  I understand capitalism... You go where the biggest market share is.  And right now that big market share is on the consoles, particularly the Xbox 360.  I just wish they had developed the game for the PC and created a game that lived up to its lineage and truly kept the flame of PC gaming alive.

Does this make me a PC gaming romantic?

- Will

Christopher Nolan's follow up to Batman Begins is looking awesome.  Here's the new Joker themed poster.



Watch for the full theatrical trailer on the upcoming Will Smith movie I Am Legend.



GamerHelp recently posted their Greatest Video Game Endings Of All Time, a pretty awesome list if I do say so.  Well you can't do the greatest endings without making a list of the Greatest Intros of All Time!

While I agree with the list for the most part I lament some of the truly great intros that didn't make their list.
The Final Fantasy VI and XII intros are amazing, as are the intros to any of Namco's fighting titles like Tekken and Soul Calibur.  Of course, there's the train intro to the original Half-Life, and I can't forget the awesome intro to Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake from 1990!  Here are a few of my favourites... Come on you can't get J-Pop/Rock like that in a video game intro anymore!











Honourable mentions go to the more recent Dawn of War and of course the classic Fallout 2.





And now back to studying.

- Will

I know these pictures have probably been posted everywhere else a million times over already, but I wanted to post them anyway.  I'm a child of the 80's, and as such Indiana Jones practically raised me; when he wasn't cracking his whip, hanging out with Asian kids or busting Nazi skulls.

It's good to finally see some decent high resolution shots of Harrison Ford back in his Indiana Jones getup.  Yes, he looks old...  yes, that pants waist is looking a little high... but I still think he pulls it off.  It's also funny to see Shia Leboeuf in full 1950's greaser mode.  I'm looking forward to the new Indy movie,  I'm still on the fence about the name though... Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.  Well, at least it's not a prequel.







Head on over to Ain't It Cool News to see the full high resolution versions
You can actually see inside Harrison Ford's pores and wrinkles, it's kind of impressive.

- Will

The 2006 Toronto International Film Festival is go!

I picked up my movie tickets today, should be a decent next few weeks.  The movies, the parties, mingling with celebrities and reviewers, the lineups... yes it's going to be another fun year.

Time for a rundown of the movies that I plan on seeing.

Black Book



Director Paul Verhoeven marks his return to his native Netherlands with Zwartboek(Black Book) a World War II thriller about the Dutch Resistance during the German occupation.  The man who brought us such classics as Total Recall, Robocop, Basic Instinct and Showgirls is back in old form with this World War II movie.  His critically acclaimed Soldier of Orange, which I have yet to see proves he has a good handle on the subject matter and the buzz is good around this movie.
Hitting up the Gala screening, so I'm looking forward to seeing Verhoeven speak and seeing the crazily hot Carice van Houten in person.

Volver



Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar is at it again.  I'll be the first to admit that I'm seeing this movie just because of the director... I actually know very little about it.  But hey that's what Film Festivals are for... It's fun going into a movie with no idea what to expect.  I've seen enough of Almodóvar's work to know that Volver is probably going to be an above average movie, and having Penelope Cruz in it certainly doesn't hurt either.

The Host



For me the Film Festival is never complete without Midnight Madness.  The awesome movies featured are usually of the horror, sci-fi, fantasy, martial arts or monster genre:  The Host is of the monster genre.  The South Korean film broke all box office records over there.. and honestly how can you go wrong with a giant monster that eats people?  Seriously?!

Borat Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan



Sacha Baron Cohen's crazy Kazakhstani reporter from the amazing "Ali G Show" gets his own movie!  Mixing actual footage of Cohen in the character of Borat, accosting people all over the United States with his crazy faux-Kazakhstani investigative reporting with a brilliant social satire this movie should be a lot of fun.  Especially if it's as crude and hilarious as everyone is saying.

Severance



What is sure to be another great Midnight Madness flick, Severance is an English film touted as "The Office' meets Deliverance".  A company retreat in rural Hungary goes bad really fast when a group of mysterious attackers begins killing the group.  Good reviews and that description sold me.

Sheitan



I'll admit I'm pretty pensive about seeing this French movie.  The last French-language film I saw at Midnight Madness was Calvaire... a delightful romp in rural Belgium....  this movie sounds the same except it's set in France, with teenagers... and Satan.  Satan instead of inbred country folk.  Well I know it's going to be interesting to say the least.

The Fountain



Darren Aronofsky's anticipated follow-up to Requiem for a Dream is The Fountain.  Weaving three stories about the search for eternal life or at least life it stars Hugh Jackman and Rachel Weisz.  Jackman plays a 16th Century Conquistador, a Present Day Cancer Researcher and a 26th Century Astronaut... all seemingly searching for the same thing: The Fountain.  Sounds interesting, no?

Renaissance



This slick looking French sci-fi movie looks amazing.  Set in a dystopian Paris of the future the films creators used rotoscoping(animating over live action footage, similar to A Scanner Darkly) to give it the noir look.  Many nods to Blade Runner and Fritz Lang's Metropolis are evident.  I don't know much of the plot, but I'll go see it based on the visuals alone.

Those are my must see films.  I know I'll be seeing more though, most likely including Macbeth, Shortbus, Pan's Labyrinth, All the King's Men and maybe Babel.  We'll see.

If you've never done the film festival before, I highly recommend it.  Just because you don't have tickets doesn't mean you can't go see movies... there are always Rush lines before screenings.  Just take a look at the schedule and take a chance on a movie, you'll probably be pleasantly surprised.  Or you can bug me for a free pass.

Ready to Roll.

- Will

Poseidon and What Not To Do While Drinking

When daffodils begin to peer,
With heigh! the doxy over the dale,
Why, then comes in the sweet o' the year;
For the red blood reigns in the winter's pale.

REVIEW
Poseidon
6.5/10 STARS


Wow that was a big explosion! Hey what are your names again?

What is it with Wolfgang Petersen and water? The director has given us such ocean-based movies as Das Boot and The Perfect Storm. Now Petersen caps off his soaking-wet trilogy with Poseidon. Poseidon is a big budget remake of the 1972 Irwin Allen disaster flick The Poseidon Adventure. The story is simple. A massive cruise ship capsizes after being hit by a rogue wave and a rag-tag group of survivors must fight to escape from the overturned ship. Like all good disaster movies, Poseidon sticks to the genre conventions - cookie cutter characters, panicky idiots, little or no plot development and as much action as possible. Poseidon certainly doesn't let down in the action department, but it's hard to care about characters you hardly know.

Poseidon will most likely be a breakthrough role for Josh Lucas. Lucas plays a professional gambler traveling on the cruise ship Poseidon, trying to hustle rich people out of their money through high stakes poker. That's all you really know about the character, and then the wave hits. It's not much, but Lucas gives a good performance, the first of many for him, I'm sure. Poseidon is also a second wind of sorts for Kurt Russell and Richard Dreyfuss. Both actors have not starred in Hollywood blockbusters for several decades. They both do well with what they're given. Kurt Russell plays the heroic former firefighter and leader of the survivors. Richard Dreyfuss plays a suicidal man who finds a reason to live in helping the other survivors escape. Again, that is about as much character information as you get from the movie. Lastly, I would be loath to forget the lovely Emmy Rossum, who plays Kurt Russell's daughter in the film. She played Jake Gyllenhaal's love interest in The Day After Tomorrow, so she's no stranger to the disaster movie genre. I'd be lying if I said her cleavage in the film didn't provide a pleasant distraction from all the death and drowning.

The effects and action sequences are top notch. (I would expect no less from a movie budgeted at a rumoured $140 million dollars!) When the rogue wave capsizes the ship, it has to be one of the more impressive effects sequences ever put on film. There is really nothing to complain about in respect to the action - it's the character development that falls flat in Poseidon. If you don't know anything about a character beyond the obvious, you're not likely to care when they meet their untimely demise. Main characters drop like flies in Poseidon, and I found myself unmoved by their always gruesome fates. That being said, you're not going to see Poseidon for deep plot and character development - you're there to see a cruise ship capsize and the survivors deal with the aftermath.

If you enjoyed such original Irwin Allen disaster movies as The Poseidon Adventure and The Towering Inferno then you'll love Wolfgang Petersen's Poseidon. If you also enjoy destruction and mayhem on a cruise ship wide scale, you'll like what this movie has to offer. Petersen puts his band of survivors through hell, and it's all for your entertainment. Poseidon is most definitely an entertaining movie. Just don't expect subtle character development and an exacting plot - just a lot of water and explosions.

Moving on....

Original Unmolested Star Wars Trilogy on DVD



Star Wars purists rejoice, the Star Wars you remember from your childhood is coming to DVD. So sayeth Lucasfilm! Free of that revisionist film historian we all know as George Lucas. No more silly dance number in Jabba's palace, the return of the Nub Nub song, and Greedo getting his ass blown away FIRST by Han Solo.

Personally, I don't mind the Special Editions. I would be happy with them if they just fixed the Greedo shooting first bit. I can't have it both ways it seems. It's either the Original or Special Edition... No hybrid edition.

However, maybe some of those hybrid editions will be coming our way according to Wired News' Lore Sjoberg.

From the The Anyone-Shoots-First Edition to The All-Wampa Edition, yes we can only hope that Lucasfilm will release these versions as well.

Wired News Article.

And on the topic of Star Wars

Make sure you see this hilarious parody from the Cartoon Network show Robot Chicken.

Darth Vader phones the Emperor after the rebels destroy the Death Star. Featuring the voice talents of Family Guy creator Seth McFarlane. Genius.



So good.


Mario: Brooklyn Plumber or Marxist Revolutionary?



In an unprecedented investigative report, one man examines the hidden links between everyone's favourite obese, Italian-American plumber with a penchant for magic mushrooms and Marxist-Leninist revolutionaries bent on world domination. An interesting and disturbing read indeed.

To anyone raised in the 80�s, few names have such impact as the Super Mario Brothers do. We played their video games, watched their cartoon show, read their newsletter, bought their merchandise, ate their breakfast cereal, and even watched the piece of shit movie "The Wizard" starring the young, chubby cheeked miscreant Fred Savage because Super Mario Brothers 3 made an appearance.

But aside from the slightly racist stereotyping of Mario and Luigi as food loving, NY fat bodies with ridiculous Italian accents, was there anything really insidious behind the scenes? The staff here at Murderize.com has found something more, something�sinister�lurking behind the mustached countenances of Mario and Luigi. We don't have enough evidence to prove anything, just a sparse trail of bread crumbs to follow. And this trail begins with the game that started it all, Super Mario Bros. Beware brainwashed fools, for this stunning expose will change the way you look at your favorite Nintendo hero forever. No longer the innocent Brooklyn plumbers, it now appears Mario and Luigi are nothing more than communist puppets engineered to program, oh so subtly, Marxist ideals into our impressionable minds!

Read the full article here.

Thanks to Max for the link.

Continuing on the video game theme...

It's That Time of Year Again... E3!!!


Raiden is back... And this time with less lameness!

Yes the Electronic Entertainment Expo is back! Mini-Christmas for gamers as I like to call it. All the hottest new titles and new hardware is unveiled, and gamers drool in collective awe.

I'm most excited about Metal Gear Solid 4 for the Playstation 3. But there are so many amazing games, I just don't have time to list them all.

For all your game trailer needs and latest E3 News check out The E3 Insider and Gamespot.

Go nuts boys and girls, it's Mini-Christmas.

And finally the most ridiculous thing I have read in a long time...

Supermodel Mistakes Bus Exit Door for Bathroom Door



Truly unbelievable...

Leave it to a blonde supermodel to do exactly the kind of stuff you'd expect a blonde supermodel to do. Like mistake the bathroom door for the exit door and step off a moving bus onto a freeway at 40 mph. Russian model Tatyana Simanava did exactly that on Tuesday, and ended up smashing her arm, dislocating a shoulder, and cutting her face and head.

Get the whole story plus hilarious commentary at The Superficial.

Exams are over. Time to drink away my stress!

- Will