Quiznos Keeps Me From Working

I've been absent from blogging for a couple weeks now due to various things like work and weddings getting in the way of my free time. However when I get the chance I have a couple substantial posts to make and some music and games to recommend. Until then watch this Quiznos commercial.

Game Spotlight: Resident Evil 5

Let us as intelligent people sidestep the dark cloud of racism accusations that haunt Capcom's latest Resident Evil entry and take a good hard look at the product's quality as a video game. RE5 has a case that could be made for it as the best in the longstanding series of games. This is the kind of polish on gameplay and presentation you get when an A-class developer puts the time and effort into an A-class property. The game doesn't reinvent the wheel it has borrowed from Resident Evil 4, but to me everything about the game is tighter than its PS2 predecessor. Yes I would like to be able to move while firing my fully upgradeable firearm, but that's more the panic I feel when surrounded by angry mutant zombies looking to disembowl me more than it is a broken or incomplete game mechanic. The game is still a difficult endeavor, reminding me in parts of Resident Evil 4's propensity for making me its bitch, but I have enjoyed the successes all the more for their difficulty. The game is a blast playing co-op, and this feature is the real hook for myself and the SpotCrew. Having a friend to watch your back makes the prospect of felling the hordes of zombies and monsters a much more amiable task. As we stand now we have bulldozed half of the game in the first day of playing, and I'm looking forward to ending my work day so that I can join in on the fun I'm sure the Crew is having now even as we speak. Those who have been listening to the SpotCast know my feelings on all the heat the game has received for its supposedly racist implications. I find the issue to be so ridiculous at this point that I no longer want to devote any brain functions to it, that's bio-electricity I could be using to focus on something more important like listening to T.I.'s "Paper Trail". Do I give Resident Evil 5 two thumbs up? An emphatic yes.

Continued Expansion

For the literally dozens of Zune owners out there the SpotCast is now readily available on the Zune marketplace. For all of those who have already checked us out and have used their time to listen to us run our mouths you have my warmest thanks, if we ever meet in person I will hug you.

I Watched the Watchmen

As a follow-up to the last post, and having now seen the Watchmen movie I can answer the question from my last blog post: Will Watchmen translate well to a film? In a word, yes the story does make the transition well, and the movie is a very faithful adaptation of the source material. Zack Snyder does as good a job as I think could've been done with the material to put it on the silver screen in a three hour chunk that keeps the viewer invested and interested. Yes there have been changes made to the story's conclusion, but personally I think the movie's version of the climax makes more sense than the comic's. Overall I'd say if you're a fan of the Watchmen book the movie will not disappoint you.

Also it's a little late this week, but the new SpotCast is going up today, it's rendering as I type this.

Will Watchmen Translate?

The most celebrated graphic novel of all time is having it's movie adaptation released in theaters today, and leading up to this day I've often wondered whether Watchmen is capable of translating to the silver screen. Movies, and especially comic book movies, are driven by special effects and intense action sequences. The entirety of the Watchmen series contains only one action scene, and instead focuses it's time on character development and interaction. How can the movie match up to the storytelling accomplished in the book? Now I'm the only person I know of that flat out did not like Watchmen. I appreciated it for what it was, a rarity in comic story-telling at the time of its release, but everything from the snail-like pacing, eminently unlikeable characters, and the dour resolution left me with a bad taste in my mouth. The resolution of the story is really where the Watchmen movie will sink or swim, moviegoers expect their big screen heroes to ride off in the sunset at the end of each picture, that moment doesn't exist in Watchmen. I continue to hear that director Zack Snyder and company have changed the ending for the movie, but will it be enough? I loved 300 and I think Zack Snyder is an amazing director, but so many others before him claimed Watchmen to be unfilmable. Is it capable of making the leap from book to movie? In any event I will be seeing the film later today, and it will no doubt be a topic of discussion for this week's SpotCast.

Boston Beware

Do you know what you've done Boston?