Hey wanna "B"'s, I know it's been a long time since you last heard from the B man so I figured a little update was needed. My weekly audio podcasts have pretty much come to an end, however I do plan on putting out stuff through Youtube and will of course link such things through this blog as well. You'll pretty much get the same opinions on things such as games, movies, and life thoughts in general, only now this will be to the visuals of game footage and what not.
I recently got a pretty decent gaming pc and with this I now have access to some pretty cool games, so I will capture various gameplay's and then add a little B flavor to such video with audio from yours truly. This won't just be reviews of the game on screen, but cover whatever is on the B's mind at any given time, the game play footage will mostly just be background video. I've already put out a couple of these on youtube and you can catch two right below this post. These videos are part of a two part series of the Bman playing Skyrim, while giving some commentary. So enjoy and hope to put out more as time goes on.
The Pains of Aging (A Week or so away from being another year older, the B man feeling down)
Watched some more Supernatural (Bugs episode freaks me and the old lady out. I'll take ghosts any day)
Vampire Diaries (The B Man has officially lost his manhood)
Arrow is Out This week can't wait!!
Masters of The Universe (Purely out of Nostalgia decided to watch this one, didn't hold up as well, but still brings back good memories from childhood)
Hey Wanna "B's" this episode yours truly talks about some of the new fall tv shows. The much hyped up Agents of Shield which is a spin off of the Marvel films, and a pleasant surprise in the show Sleepy Hollow. Check out the audio above for your listening pleasure. Later all.
This week B gives his review on the movie World War Z starring Brad Pitt. He also talks about new camera's installed in the workplace and the affect it's having or not having on his good for nothing co-workers. Also B sings the praises of Diablo 3 on Xbox yet again. Enjoy all this in the audio above.
Pretty eventful weekend for the B Man, got a new car which I'm totally loving. Also rented the movie Olympus Has Fallen from my local Redbox. What a great movie, to hear the audio for this week by the B Man check it out above.
Didn't go to movies this weekend, but die have a chance to watch the HBO original Clear History starring Larry David. If you like his work on Curb Your Enthusiasm you'll love this, very similar in comedic tone. Movie is about a guy who pretty much blows his chance at becoming super rich, and the years later decides to plot against the man who was once his partner and did become rich. I also talk about rough day going to the gym, and the danger of energy drinks. Audio is above so enjoy.
Hey all, had a chance to catch Elysium this past Saturday August 10th. Although I wasn't a fan of Blomkamp's District 9, I found myself enjoying this one a whole lot more. Visuals were a treat for the eyes and the world created wasn't half bad either. While I don't think the movie was anything new as far as storyline, basically about a cast system that keeps the poor in horrible conditions and the rich living well above with no worries, the futuristic setting was actually pretty cool. So the whole audio review is above for your listening pleasure and B gives Elysium his seal of approval so go check it out.
Really enjoying this Netflix original. It's a supernatural show that revolves around the murder of a teenage girl that seems to be from some kind of animal, but in a town with so much crazy shit going on including a boy who turns into a wolf who knows. Full audio review is above for your listening pleasure. Later Wanna "B's".
Word of warning: This show is not suitable for youngsters there is nudity, drugs, killing and what not. You've been warned.
B's loving his Chromecast device, a little too easy to spend money on entertainment though. Using the play store and his new Chromecast decided to buy and watch the 2012 comedy 21 Jump Street, audio review above for your listening pleasure. Later Wanna "B's".
I know the review is a little late, I had actually recorded it much earlier in the week but was deleted somewhere along the way. Anyway I re-recorded a review for The Wolverine, and also added in audio about some cool new toys I purchased. All this can be heard in the audio above.
B talks about some cool $h*t coming out from the Google that he plans on buying. Of course we're talking The New Nexus 7, and a little device called the Chromecast. Don't know what that is, well check out the audio above to hear yours truly tell you a little bit about it. Later wanna "B's".
If I wasn't so lazy, and had a production company(or even a friend or two to help me) I'd make a video telling you about the technical side of these device.s However the chick in the video below does a pretty good job and was only a search away, so enjoy. I'd still check out my audio above for a more personalized B's take on things though.
Hey Wanna "B's" at this time the Steam Summer sale has just ended but there were some great games to get during the time it lasted. One such game was Awesomenauts, a MOBA style game that is played from a 2D perspective and is a real blast. My full audio review can be heard above, enjoy.
Hey all, great Summer Steam sale going on right now up until July 22nd I believe. Bought a couple games, one in particular I like and the audio review is above. I'm talking about Rogue Legacy, a very difficult but addicting game, where death is only the beginning, and middle, and end. Anyway it's kind of fun so check it out.
Hey all, had a chance to catch Pacific Rim this past weekend. If you like the idea of giant robots taking on giant sea creature alien thingy's this movie is for you. I loved it, and the full audio review can be heard above.
Hey all, decided to put out an audio review for a great set of Anime to get into if your new to the genre, or if you've missed them. Some titles included Cowboy Bebop, Trigun, Death Note, Berserk, Full Metal Alchemist, and more. Enjoy!
Hey all, hope everyone had a good 4th of July weekend. I had a good four days off and during this time I decided to purchase the PC game Scrolls from the guys that brought us Minecraft. The audio review is above so feel free to listen as yours truly "The B Man" tells you what he thinks. Later all.
Haven't had allot of time to write stuff, but did put together this audio review recorded from my phone while driving to work. This is for the MTV show Teen Wolf.
Hey Wanna B's, I don't know if it's the fact that the new movies are about to be made, but over the last few months I've sought of had my interest in Star Wars come back to me. As a child of the 80's I grew up loving the original three films, and watched them over and over growing up, I even remember watching the Ewok spin off films though I can't remember much about them. Anyway I consider myself a fan of the Star Wars universe, but I am no where near the level of the "true fans" my knowledge pretty much ends with what is on film.
At the recommendation of a guy who is heavily into the expanded universe books I decided to purchase the three audio books that make up what is known at The Thrawn Trilogy. This past weekend I just finished book two Dark Force Rising. All I can say is holy $**t, what an amazing ride these past two books have been. The Thrawn Trilogy takes place five years after the events in Return of The Jedi, the rebellion has formed the new republic but all is threatened by a Grand Admiral who is rallying the empire for a comeback. It took a couple of chapters of book one to get back into things but these audio books are so well produced and include great voice over work that sounds just like the characters including Luke, Leia, Han, C3PO, Lando, and more. In addition to each character sounding pretty good, the audio books also include music and sound effects that make the story feel even more authentic, there are times I forget where I am while listening and feel as if I'm watching a brand new movie starring my favorite Star Wars characters from thirty years ago. Like the original trilogy the first book sets things up nicely, but book two is where everything is happening and leaves off with an oh shit moment that has me ready to start book three right away. I know J.J. Abrams had said he would not be doing expanded universe stuff, and the fact that the actors are a lot older now it wouldn't work anyway, but I wish they would have done these stories as film back then, it really would have been a great addition. However it is available to read, or if your like me and are too lazy I highly recommend the audio version off of Audible.com like I said all the audio is amazing and really adds to things.
Okay while on the subject of Star Wars, I have one other thing to add. I recently decided to purchase season one of The Clone Wars animated series. I remember watching the five minute mini cartoon series that used to air on Cartoon Network a couple of years ago, and I did like them, though it was more of a tease than anything else. I had heard good things about The Clone Wars CG series and I know it has come to the end with a five series run, so I finally decided to put down about thirty dollars and buy season one off Amazon instant viewing service. Visually I was amazed from the first episode, the 3d computer generated characters and environments look great, but I wasn't truly invested in the story until a few episodes more into it. Don't get me wrong I enjoyed it from the start, but I feel like I was missing something as there were characters just thrown in that I didn't know who they even were. I'm thinking maybe there was a movie or something that must have aired before the first episode that I probably missed, but anyway it's not important. I am now up to episode ten and the show has gotten better the more I watch. It takes place between episodes II and III and focuses on The Clone Wars, with many episodes starring the well known characters such as Anakin, Obi-Wan, Padme, and even dare I say it Jar Jar Binks. However the cool thing about this series is that it sometimes puts those characters secondary to the actual clone troopers and in many episodes shows us they are more than just tools to be killed in a war and each one has their own unique identity, and place in the force as master Yoda would say.
I know allot of people crap on the prequel films, myself included at times, but I think allot of the issues was trying to fit too much into two hour films leaving allot of gaps in story, however with an animated series these characters have been more thoroughly fleshed out and the whole story can be told which is something tv shows still have over movies. In the end I am happy with the purchase and plan on buying the remaining seasons as time goes on and as long as they seem to follow the same high standards of what has come so far.
Hey all, after waiting what seemed like forever for me, the much anticipated Man of Steel finally came out this past Friday. Now my mind had already been made up long ago that no matter what I would go see this film, but I couldn't help but go to the Rotten Tomatoes website and see what the reviews were. I was shocked to see it was only at a 56% rating and the critics didn't seem to care for it. I'm thinking okay whatever, I mean it is a super hero film, and up until only recently critics seem to usually take a giant crap on the genre anyway so take it with a grain of salt. What really pisses me off is some of the comments these so called "critics" make, particularly that this Superman movie is too different from past versions. There is just no pleasing you f'n people is there? I mean Bryan Singer's Superman Returns comes out six years ago decides to go the route of paying tribute to Richard Donner films and every one's bitching and moaning that it's a clone of the Christopher Reeve films, so now we get a completely new vision from Snyder, Goyer, and Nolan, and one of the chief complaints is it's too different. I get the feeling that most of these reviewers have been doing this since the '78 Superman came out and they retire at the end of the day to their nursing homes to go watch some Charlie Chaplin or something, good for them, but they need to adapt to the times, and I personally think that's what has happened with Superman in this latest outing Man of Steel.
Okay, now that I got that out of the way, lets move on. I was going to wait a week or so to go see this as to avoid the crowds and what not of first weekend releases, but the kid inside of me couldn't wait any longer than Sunday morning, so I decided to go to a matinee showing. A pleasant surprise is that the matinee price was only $7 so even if the movie didn't live up to my expectations that have been building over the past year $7 was a price I could live with. I was shocked to find that at 11 O'clock AM on a Sunday morning the theater would be so crowded but it was, and I was lucky to get a seat in a decent spot by getting there fifteen minutes early. If the Sunday morning crowd is any indication I can easily guess who will win this weekend box office. So after an eternity of trailers the movie finally begins, and there is no down time, things take off immediately.
Visually the movie is great, and we see this right from the start as we are treated to a glimpse into the world of Krypton. The planet looks like Pandora from Avatar, but with high tech skyscrapers and ships filling the skies. The soundtrack wasn't bad but not really memorable like the original films we've all come to love over the years. We get to see Jor El (Russell Crowe) as much more than just a scientist as he does his fair share of butt whooping and stunt work while trying to save the newly born Kal El from a dying planet and an insurrection from general Zod. After the Krypton sequence and escape of baby Kal El the movie fast forwards thirty years later to a grown Clark traveling the world under alias as to keep his powers secret. All the origin Smallville stuff plays out in flashback sequences similar to the way Nolan's Batman films were done. I like this approach and there were some real tender moments between young Clark and ma and pa Kent as Clark went through some growing pains.
The big theme of the movie is how the world would handle the presence of a being from another world with great powers and I like this theme as it seems like a very real issue to deal with should someone like a Superman actually arrive. Lets face it most of us wouldn't take it to well, it is human nature to think we are the superior beings and at the top of the food chain, not to mention those with high religious beliefs. The movie also brings Supes into a more modern era with an uneasy military and lots of destruction from intergalactic terrorists courtesy of General Zod. Once Zod arrives on Earth the rest of the movie is pretty much non stop action and although it can be a bit much on the senses at times, I still loved every moment of it.
So I guess you can tell I pretty much loved it, the real question is did it live up to the hype? For me that's an easy yes. I mean just think about this one question for starters, how can you make a man in tights who flies around feel bad ass? Henry Cavill pulls it off big time. At the same time I do kind of miss the bumbling Clark Kent moments at the Daily Planet, but the way this movie ends it looks like we may get those come a sequel if made(crosses fingers it happens). Something else that brings this movie up a notch is no Lex Luthor, yes he is one of Superman's greatest villains, but it has been done to death on tv and film and I for one was glad to see a threat that could actually hurt the man of steel without using glowing green rocks. I'm not trying to take anything away from prior Superman films, although I have been quite vocal in the past that I don't think the original one was that great, I mean we didn't even see Superman for the first hour or so in that movie and by that time I wanted to just go to sleep. However it was good for it's time, but now we are in a new era of super hero movies and I think Man of Steel is a welcomed addition in this new era. DC hasn't done as well as Marvel with it's comic book movies aside from Batman, but I hope all that will change now that we got what I consider a great Superman movie.
Hey all B here, just wanted to give you an update. I haven't posted in a week or so, been in the middle of moving and just got internet turned back on the yesterday. Once things get settled down will be posting again, plan on seeing Man of Steel when that comes out so that may be my next review. Also downloading the game Marvel Heroes for PC as I write this so I'll tell you what I think of that after playing it for a while. Until next time hope all is well, later Wanna "B's".
Hey wanna B's, time to do some venting again in this episode of Bitch'n with B yours truly talks about the total lack of consideration a co-worker has for helping out, and basically just doing her job.
Hey Wanna B's hope everyone had a good Memorial day weekend here in the states. I did but who doesn't love a good three days off, plenty of time to go out to eat, watch some Netflix and perhaps a movie or two. I had a collection of DVDs a couple hundred or so don't know the exact amount, but a couple of binders full. Anyway I decided that as I have been buying most of my stuff digitally over the last year, I kind of wanted to get rid of clutter and I haven't really watched any of these movies in a long time anyway, so I gave them away to my brother. However there is one movie in that collection that my father loves, and I took that one out just for him, that would be Galaxy Quest starring Tim Allen (Home Improvement). We decided to watch the movie when I came over for a visit. Despite being fourteen years old, it actually holds up pretty well.
Galaxy Quest came out on Christmas day back in 1999, and yours truly who was a bit younger back then, twenty years old to be precise, went on Christmas day to go see it. I didn't go alone though, I went with my younger sister and my father and will never forget the events leading up to that outing. We were running behind on getting to the early showing and my sister was being a typical young girl taking her time, my father in a fit of rage yelled for my sister to hurry up and decided to punch the arm of the couch and in the process fractured his wrist. At the time my father didn't realize the extent of the damage and a little pain wasn't going to stop us, so off we went. Anyway every time we watch this film that story comes up and we all get a good laugh, well most of us, my father doesn't find it too funny.
So with that little trip down memory lane, lets get to the heart of the matter. What the heck is a movie called Galaxy Quest even about? Well it's a science fiction comedy that caters to fans of shows like Star Trek. Galaxy Quest was a TV show about a crew in a star ship that travelled the universe and shared in weekly adventures (sound familiar). In the show Tim Allen's character was the commander, Sigourney Weaver played the typical sex appeal character whose job was to show cleavage and repeat whatever the ship would say. Alan Rickman played Dr. Lazarus who is from an alien race known as the Mak'tar, and are known for being highly intelligent(pretty much Mr. Spock).
The movie takes place eighteen years after the show was cancelled and the actors are pretty much washed up at this point but make a career out of going to conventions, store grand openings and such. After one such convention Tim Allen's character Jason Nesmith is paid a visit by an alien race known as The Thermians, he thinks it's part of an acting job to play out some fans dream of reenacting the show but turns out these aliens are real and have built a whole society including a replica of the ship from watching old episodes they thought were archives of actual history. Needless to say that once the whole cast ends up on the ship facing off against a real alien bent on annihilating everyone things get interesting and comedy ensues.
After watching this past weekend I can truly say the movie has held up really well and is still a blast to watch. Rickman's dry sense of humor is great, and lines like "you broke the bloody ship" still make me laugh to this day. Considering this is a comedy the special effects are pretty high up there with any great sci-fi of the era. The ship and outer space scenes look great as well as all the creatures including little elf looking cannibal aliens and a giant rock monster. We also get a funny performance from the movie debut of the guy from the Mac commercials Justin Long who plays the nerdy guy that knows the details of the show and ship better than the cast who starred in it does. Sigourney Weaver still looked pretty good at this time with a blond wig and some cleavage showing, it also showed off her funny side as she took her part in the whole thing in stride. Bottom line this movie will always have a special place in my heart, and yes I am into sci-fi and love Star Trek, but due to the fact that this is a parody that makes fun of the whole thing I think even if your not a Trek fan you would still find plenty of enjoyment in this film. So with the review being done there's only one thing left to say "never give up, never surrender", later Wanna B's.
Google Play music is an app by Google on android devices, and I never used it or even knew it exsisted until this past week when I got an email from the play store about an update including an all you can eat on demand music service for $9.99 a month. Part of the promotion is thirty days free to try it out, and if you sign up now they will give it to you at an introductory price of $7.99 a month. So I put in my credit card info and signed up for the service. Of course after signing up I quickly canceled the monthly renewal just in case I don't want to keep it I wouldn't want to get charged because I lost track of yet another subscription service I have ongoing.
Okay so the price seems right but is the service any good? Hell yeah! It's just like another service I had used in the past Spotify, although I cancelled that a while back and I heard they started to limit how many times you could listen to a certain song in a given month. With Play Music they advertise no such limits and their selection is quite impressive. There has yet to be one song I searched for that was not available. Another cool feature is I can use the voice search feature from google now to find a song and start playing it. Of course this feature just like google now works best on wifi or 4G but still it's cool and works quite well. For instance I asked Google Now to play Flash's Theme by Queen and within seconds I listening. In addition to playing on demand music they also have stations similar to Pandora.
So Google Play Music gets my praises without question, but will I be keeping it? To be honest that depends on how much I use it over the thirty day trial. I already pay for Pandora One at the yearly rate of Twenty some odd dollars and to pay $8 a month for another music service may not be worth it unless I really use the on demand feature allot. Yes over the past couple days I have been using it allot but I don't know if I listen to enough music these days to justify it. However if you don't own allot of music this is a great way to be introduced to whatever you want for one low monthly rate. Me I'm still stuck in the past and pretty much listen to same five bands I have for over a decade Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Dio, Queen, and Metallica and I already have most CD's from these bands, but it's cool to not have to use up my phones memory and have any song I want available with a quick search. In closing I say at least give the trial a chance, just remember to cancel the service before next bill date. For more info check out the official site on the Play Store.
Wasn't sure I was even going to do a review for this film, I mean what's the point everyone who wants to see this movie has probably done so already or will do so very soon. Not to mention there are probably a million other blogs out there with a review, so what's the point right? Well my blog is really for me, yes it is available for anyone to read, but in the end it is a personal account of things I enjoy watching and doing and what not. Hopefully I'm still alive in twenty or thirty years and I can revisit all this and think back fondly. But enough about that, if your on this page or listening to the audio it's because you want to know about Star Trek Into Darkness, so lets begin. For starters I went to go see the movie this past Saturday May 18th, and I seen it in IMAX 3D at the matinee price of $12, when compared to the usual $19 - $20 I'll call it a good deal.
This is the second film in the reboot of a series that originated before I was even born, and it is quite amazing that after so many TV series and movies the Star Trek franchise is even relevant anymore, but thanks to J. J. Abrams much needed refresh Star Trek is alive and well. If you didn't see the first film, I'd suggest doing that first as it was really good and sets the stage for the second. If you've seen the original TV series you'll know these characters just realize that they are alternate versions of those characters living in a different timeline thanks the the original Spock coming back in time and changing history. That's actually as much as you probably need to know, as these movies are more action based than story driven. Visually both of the new Star Treks are beautiful to watch, and do a great job of depicting a futuristic society with the technology of deep space exploration. I also enjoy the cast, we have Chris Pine as the charismatic Capt. Kirk who thinks he always knows what's right, but despite coming off as arrogant at times would do anything to protect his crew and friends. Then we have Zachary Quinto(who I personally loved in both Heroes and American Horror Story) as the logic based half Human/Vulcan Mr. Spock who is the complete opposite of Kirk and makes decisions based on logic thus leading to much comedic dialogue between the two. The rest of the cast is great as well, but probably a bit underused especially Karl Urban as Dr. Leonard McCoy, who seemed to be a much more important character in the old series and films.
I will try not to give away too much of the story as to avoid spoilers, but I will tell you there are two villains in this film, one of which will be well known to any fans of the series, the other just comes out of nowhere. Neither of the villains are really fleshed out though and if it wasn't for the sake of nostalgia most people wouldn't even get the big deal about the one except for the fact that's he's causing destruction to get some kind of revenge for his people. The movie tries to mimic allot from a prior well known film in the series with variations, one such scene involves Spock yelling out a certain name instead of Kirk, and I couldn't help but laugh during this scene as it was kind of cheesy. One issue I have with the movie is I never felt any real danger for our main characters, every time things seem to be at their worst things just turn around and everything is okay, almost like a cartoon. Even in the beginning when Kirk is reprimanded for breaking rules, and it seems rather grim for him, only a few scenes later it doesn't even matter as he's back in command.
Despite it's flaws, and breaking away from the more traditional thinking man's Star Trek this one is certainly worth seeing. It's a big budget treat for the eyes with lots of funny interactions between the cast. There is also plenty of action more akin to a Star Wars film than a Trek one but times are different and our fathers Star Trek probably wouldn't make the cut today, and in the end it's all about making money for the makers of the film, and mindless action does sell. If and when they do make another I would like to see more of a development between Kirk, Spock, and McCoy, an element I loved about the original that just doesn't seem the same in the reboots. We are told Spock and Kirk have this great friendship, but I don't just want to be told it, I want to feel it. To be fair though it's hard to convey that in a two hour movie and the old films had a 79 episodes prior to work off of so I understand why it's hard to do. Anyway if you like science fiction action movies this one is well worth seeing, and even if your not a fan of Star Trek these newer films do appeal to a much broader audience, so go check it out.
Hello everyone B here and today I am going to talk about a movie I had a chance to see over this past weekend. That movie is Ted which is about a stuffed animal that comes to life and his friendship with the guy who wished him into existence. Now I've actually owned this movie for quite some time but only got around to watching it this past weekend when going over a friends house. The movie is from the creator of Family Guy (Seth Macfarlane) and although I am not a regular watcher of that show I can't deny it's humor and that same humor shines through in this movie.
So in the opening scenes of the movie we see Mark Wahlberg's character John Bennett as a kid who is very lonely and has no friends, so on Christmas when he receives a teddy bear he wishes it would come to life and be his best friend forever. The next morning when he wakes up he finds that Ted is alive, and after scaring the hell out of his parents who want to kill The bear at first they finally accept him as a gift from Jesus. Now twenty years later is where the bulk of the movie takes place. John has a girlfriend whom he loves but still spends most of his time getting high and drinking with his stuffed animal friend causing a strain on the relationship.
So what we have here is a buddy film where the woman comes into the picture and wants her guy to grow up mentally, giving up his best friend whom she sees as a bad influence. Nothing terribly new here as far story line except for the fact that this buddy is a foul mouth raunchy little stuffed animal. From my short experiences with the show Family Guy this movie has a very similar tone and plays out very similar to an episode where nothing is sacred. Every thing from ethnic groups to fat kids is addressed and if you aren't offended by these kind of jokes you'll find yourself laughing a lot during this movie, I know I sure did. Patrick Stewart does a great job narrating the beginning and ending of the film with a very dry sense of humor I didn't know he had.
Bottom line, this movie despite a rather silly premise is actually very good with a well rounded cast and just enough of those oh shit moments you just can't believe happened to leave you wanting more. It is predictable at times and you know how it's going to end but it's a really fun ride getting there. By the way one of the funniest scenes in the movie for me involved Sam Jones (Flash Gordon) and an Asian neighbor of Teds next door called Ming, think about the evil character in Flash Gordon and you can guess where this is going. If you haven't seen Ted yet, what are you waiting for and remember just because it's about a teddy bear don't watch it with the kids.
Okay so this is a review for a game I've been playing for a while on my Android phone called The Hobbit kingdoms of Middle Earth, the game is also available on IOS devices as well. Its an online strategy based game set in Middle Earth. When you first start your giving the chance to choose either Elf or Dwarf but other than cosmetically I don't see any difference or any advantage in choosing either side.
Being a bit on the tall and lanky side myself I decided to go with the Elves. When you first begin you go through a tutorial that does a decent job of teaching you the basics. Using the land available you must build farms lumber mills, and other resource gathering buildings in order to help build up your army. Everything is time based. In the beginning it will takes only a few seconds to build up structures and what not but as you level things can take up to a day or more to build, and this is where the game gets you for money. Even though the game can be played completely free spending money gives you time bonuses that can be a little hard to resist. I myself have already put in about $20 so far, but considering I've been playing pretty regularly over the last month and a half that seems like a good value compared to paying $60 for a console game only to be bored of it within a few weeks time.
The game is grid based, and every player has a city at a specific set of coordinates on this grid. Knowing a persons coordinates allows you to march troops over to attack them, or if they are an ally you can send them supplies or some of your own troops for support when they are in need. Battles take place automatically and the winner is calculated based on the number of troops and different types of troops, I don't know the exact formula, but usually the guy with more numbers and variety wins. You can also build up a defense for you your city using the wall, but they don't seem to be very effective at keeping out any decent army.
One of the more appealing aspects of this game is it's social system, in fact if you do decide to play I highly recommend getting into an alliance (guild) group as early as possible. Not only is it more enjoying to play a game where you can chat with others and ask for advice, but having a group to cover you when your city gets attacked or if you need extra resources can be a huge help. The other day I myself was attacked by a guy who had about twenty thousand troops, he ended up taking over a million gold from my city and some food as well. I sent out a message to all alliance members to get some revenge for me. Not only did my teammates attack the guy, but they stole back way more than what he had taken from me, and sent me a decent amount of the spoils.
Overall this is a very enjoyable mobile game that I find myself constantly returning to throughout the day, as I check on troops, resources, and how my city is coming along. If you have patience the game can be played completely for free, however If you are susceptible to the temptation of micro-transactions in order to speed up things be prepared to spend a few dollars.
Hey wanna B's haven't had much to write about since iron man 3 this past weekend. Last night I decided to watch child's play 2 off of Netflix. Yes the movie is from 1990 so it is more than a few years old but I had nothing else to watch, and nothing else to talk or write about so here we are.
It's funny how cheesy horror movies were back in the 90's and child's play 2 is at the top. I mean a puppet looking doll that comes to life and kills people while cursing is as cheesy as it gets. Still there is something entertaining about these movies that I just cant find in the horror movies of today. Now I don't remember exactly how the first one ended but I could have sworn the mother survived as well as the cop helping her and of course Andy the main character of the first three films. I guess things didn't work out too well after the credits as Andy is now being put into foster care and they pretty much think he's a messed up little kid who made up the story as a way of coping with the murders that took place in the original.
For some odd reason the company that makes the dolls that Chucky took possession of thought it would be a good idea to melt down the original doll and use the plastic to create a new doll. Now I know everyone is worried about global warming and we are all trying to do our part in recycling, but why even take a chance in using the old doll? Even during the reconstructing phase a worker is killed during a malfunction, yet they still go forward, I mean I'm not exactly superstitious but why take the chance? Oh wait, I know why, because we wouldn't have a movie otherwise, not to mention countless sequels equalling boatloads of cash since. Another thing that didn't really make sense was how easily the doll was able to find Andy once he escaped, he knew exactly what place to call and all he had to say was that he was uncle Charles and was looking for Andy and the lady gave up the information so easily, guess they didn't have confidentiality laws back in the 90's.
Okay so putting aside the stupidities of why people do what people do in these horror films, it was still relatively enjoyable for what it was. The doll itself is always fun to watch, maybe I'm a sicko, but watching a doll kill people in stupid ways while cursing and wise cracking is kind of entertaining to me, but I guess I'm not alone or they wouldn't have kept making these. The young Andy played by Alex Vincent is pretty good for his age, minus a scene where he's supposed to be knocked unconscious but you see his eyes constantly moving. It was a fun watch and is available on Netflix so didn't cost me anything to watch, I remember the third film being my favorite, but this one is still worthy of at least a one time viewing.
So I had the chance to catch Marvels latest super hero movie Iron Man 3 today. I thought the first movie was one of the best super hero movies of all time, and I found the second to be kind of a bore, so I wanted to be optimistic going into this one, but at the same time wasn't holding my breath. On the off chance you've never heard of or seen an Iron Man movie, they feature Robert Downey Jr. playing the very charismatic genius Tony Stark who after a near fatal accident builds an armor wearing suit loaded with high tech weaponry and AI, and decides to fight the bad guys and occasionally save the universe from intergalactic threat.
In this third film we see Tony coping with events from the Avengers which has left him a little shaken mentally, and facing a new villain know as The Mandarin. Unable to sleep Tony spends most of his time creating new Iron Man suits, and keeping to himself, causing problems in his personal life with his current love interest Pepper Potts played by Gwyneth Paltrow. This is as much of the plot as I'm going to give away at this point as to not spoil anything, but I will say that if you have seen the trailers over the last few months they are very misleading about exactly what is going on. Even though I did find the truth to be a little goofy it was also refreshing to have not been spoiled by trailers giving away the whole story which is common place these days.
Now was Iron Man 3 worth the price of admission? Well it still doesn't beat the first one in my opinion, but it was a much more fun ride than the second, and had many moments where I and the rest of the film audience were laughing out loud. Downey has always been the heart of these movies and nothing has changed, I don't think I could ever picture anyone else doing anything better with the role, and considering that this is more of a Tony Stark film than an Iron Man film, that's a good thing. What I mean by that is there is very little suit time and this is more of an adventure starring the very witty Tony Stark trying to come to terms with things and stop the bad guys, with a little help from his tech and friends thrown in for good measure.
I think the only problem really is Marvel out did themselves with The Avengers, I mean how can you go from stopping an alien invasion led by a god from another planet to just some petty guy out to cause chaos. I did enjoy the movie and would recommend it as a movie to go see, but the villains just aren't that menacing compared to the epic battles fought in The Avengers. I believe that this should be the last Iron Man only film, but the character should definitely be a part of any future Avenger movies.
The trailer is amazing, but I'm pretty sure a few of those scenes were not in the the film, unless I blinked when they happened.
Avoid this game at all costs, it's a scam! Hey all, I was hoping to have a review of this game up for you after purchasing as a deal of the day off of Steam for $11, however after downloading and going through the process of logging into Uplay and entering codes, basically taking me over an hour the game seems to think I need to purchase content in order to play. What the Hell did my $11 go towards, all it allows me to have is access to a cut scene and then a menu with a list of game options. Every time I click on start campaign I get a map I can't seem to play unless I purchase content. When I use the two codes I got from Steam, one says invalid, and the other says already in use. Yes A-holes it's already in use because I entered it during Uplay registration in order to get the game running to begin with!
I went to Ubisofts Uplay website and logged into my account, according to their own website I own this game, so I really can't explain why it says I need to purchase content. Don't mean to sound like I'm Bitch'n cause that has it's own segment called Bitchin with B, and I know $11 isn't allot, but I don't have $11 to just throw away for nothing. This is the future I'm afraid of with next gen consoles and their always online DRM bullshit, this will be the last time I ever purchase a game from Steam or Ubisoft.
(update 5/12/13: well about a week after purchase the game finally was playable, I put a couple hours into it then got bored anyway lol)
Hey Wanna "B's" we've all heard by now that Clark Gregg would be reprising his role as Agent Coulson on the new show Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Earlier I read on Nerdapproved.com a theory of how he would be back. Now when I originally heard he was coming back I wondered how could he be back? I mean he was killed in the Avengers movie last year, wasn't he? Well B people might say "these movies are based on comic books, so don't think about it too much, just enjoy it". Yes you are right to feel that way, and I understand that, but I still need answers, and while I do enjoy the comic book movies, I've done very little reading of actual comics in my lifetime. So I did what anybody these days would do when they want answers, I did a search on google.
I did get some theories, one of which is based on LMD's which stands for Life Model Decoy's, basically these are android bodies that act as body doubles for their real life counter parts, in the film The Avengers Tony Stark even answers a phone call from agent Coulson with a joke line saying that the caller has reached his LMD. The other theory is from the above mentioned website and says that agent Coulson held his breath and this was part of an elaborate plan with Nick Fury to motivate the Avengers into working together. Between the two theories I like the Life Model Decoy one allot better. Of course in world of comics there are always other ways of bringing back the recently departed. He could always be an alternate version from and alternate Earth, or even a clone.
Okay so now that we have theories out of the way, the question is do you think he should be resurrected? Don't get me wrong, I have enjoyed his character as much as the next guy in all of the recent films, he and Nick Fury are actually the link that binds all these movies together up until The Avengers movie. While Avengers was action packed, and funny at times, one of the most important scenes that had a real emotional impact on me was the death of agent Coulson. This was the part of the movie when all ego's had to be put aside and it was time to gather for a common goal, to save the world, and to avenge the guy with no super powers but the heart of a real hero. Now we are being told this was part of a plan, and I can tell you the next time I watch The Avengers I'm going to have a totally different view on how this scene plays out, and in a way it feels cheapened to me.
Such is the way of life and death when dealing with the comic book world I guess, and no matter what happens I am on board to watch whatever is put out, and I am sure I will enjoy the heck out of it either way. I just wanted to give a little back story, and explain how I felt about the whole thing, and if anyone out there wants to throw their thoughts into the mix, feel free in the comments section.
You can check out Clark Gregg talking about his death and more in the clip below:
About two years ago I bought a game for the Xbox 360, not because I particularly wanted this game, but I found it used for $10 and had heard only good things about it. This game was a period piece set in the Old West and was from the creators of the ever popular Grand Theft Auto series. If you haven't guessed it yet, I'm talking about Red Dead Redemption from Rockstar Games. Funny thing is I hadn't even put the game into my Xbox until only this past weekend. So yes this review is for a game that's more than a few years old, but I'm sure some of you out there like me may have just skipped over this one for some reason, and you owe it to yourself to check it out.
So I've played more than a few hours of the game over the weekend, and so far I am thoroughly impressed. The game may have come out in 2010 but the production values are very high and to be honest could easily compete with games that have come out since. Right from the opening cut scenes I felt drawn into the game like I was looking through a window into a wondrous time full of danger excitement and discovery of the unknown. Rockstar has always excelled at creating living worlds, and this is by far their greatest achievement in my opinion. From the towns, to the people you interact with to the amazing soundtrack everything pulls you in.
I haven't gotten too far into the main story line at this point, I've spent allot of time hunting down bounties, which can be taken dead or alive, finding out I'm not very good at poker as I lost money playing Texas Hold and assisting people that come up to me asking for help. You can also hunt down animals to skin for money, pick plants to sell, or go catch an animated short film at your local movie house. The combat in the game is also allot of fun, you can take cover behind rocks, and auto aim with the left trigger than fire with the right, you can also free aim while holding down the left trigger.
All in all this game is a true masterpiece and the fact that it only cost me $10 is amazing. There is also a multi player mode which I haven't yet gotten into, but I can only imagine it adds to the replay value of the game at least a little. If all that isn't enough there are several expansions to purchase, including one which adds an undead element such as zombies and ghost towns to the mix, I can't wait. I don't know why I had put off playing this game for so long, but in a time when I've been sought of burnt out in gaming, this game may have just extended my interest just a little longer. Now if you excuse me, I have a ranch that needs saving, and some cattle that need some herding.
Hey Guys, there have been allot of rumors going around the inter webs these days about what Microsoft's next gaming machine will be and when it will come out. If the following rumors are true, I can tell you I won't be so eager to pick one up, at launch anyway.
These are Links to some sites with various info, but below are some of the reasons I'm thinking of holding off for a while.
1: Pricing - Popular belief is that they will have two different pricing points. One will be $299 but you must sign up for a two year contract of Xbox live for $10 a month. Currently you can often find deals on year memberships for $50 or less if you wait for the right moments to buy. The other is that it will cost $499 if you get it without the contract deal. At that high of a price I would rather just get a decent laptop, or save the money for a gaming PC.
2: No Backwards Compatibility - A good chance the new system will be using a different processor AMD as opposed to IBM thus making Xbox 360 games unable to be played on the new system. I don' know about you but I really don't want anymore wires and boxes hooked up to an already cluttered area. Give us backwards compatibility.
3: Always On - Rumors suggest that in order to play on the next gen console you will have to always be connected to the Internet, similar to Diablo 3 and the latest Sim City game, this causes problems as whenever servers go down, or even your own Internet, your $500 gaming device becomes useless. Yes I know most of what we do with our current Xbox is online anyway, but why take away the choice for us to play offline or watch a DVD without being connected?
4 Whats the point of spending so much on upgrading a system with a statement like this which I grabbed from CNBC.COM"The next-generation consoles present only a modest improvement in graphics quality over current generation consoles, suggesting to us that many gamers will be slower to adopt the new technology immediately," said Michael Pachter of Wedbush Securities.
Of course these are all rumors at this point, and we will have to wait until May 21st 2013 for any official news. Add to the fact the first year or so of a new consoles release usually don't yield the greatest results in quality gaming as designers are still learning what they can do with the hardware, so as for me I think I'll give this one a wait, unless something mind blowing comes out that we don't yet know about.
So my girlfriend is a huge fan of the first Ninja Turtles movie from way back when, and I must admit I actually still like it to this day. The first book I ever read of my own volition, and not because I had to for a school project or something was the book based on the first movie. Of course I was nine at the time, but I still feel the movie holds up pretty well almost thirty years later. Anyway she told me she never had seen the sequels before and asked if I could buy the digital version off of Amazon. I told her personally the first one is probably the best but okay. So how did "Secret of The Ooze" hold up after all this time?
Well it is watchable, but very cheesy and definitely shows signs of the time when it came out (1991). The first film had a very dark and more serious tone with humor in the right places. This film feels like everything is just a big joke, there were never any scenes where you felt like things were going to end bad for our reptilian heroes. The banter between them was funny at times but just felt like a rehash of things from the first film. It was pretty cool to see a young Ernie Reyes Jr. playing the kick ass pizza delivery guy. The actress who played April was different than the original, and there were no signs or even a mention of Casey Jones, leaving me feel like there was not much connection to the original film other than the fact that they mention the Shredders so called demise into the garbage truck.
Like I mentioned earlier the movie feels like a big joke, the final fight scene takes place in a night club with Vanilla Ice performing a Ninja Rap song as they battle it out with puppet looking mutants, and then a Super Shredder that basically destroys himself by bringing the docks down without ever touching the turtles. The movie ended up cosing me $10 and if it wasn't for nostalgia I probably wouldn't recommend it to anyone over the age of eight, but I enjoyed it for what it was, and anyway if your watching a movie about Mutant Ninja Turtles and are expecting Gone With the Wind material your a fool.
Hey all, B here. I've decided to change the way I put audio and written posts out. Instead of a weekly or bi-weekly thing, I'm going to just put things out as they come up. It will still be about the same amount of content, which I know isn't exactly allot, but it will be spread out over time and you don't have to go through everything just to hear about one thing. Hopefully this is the start of a better way of doing things for me and everyone will benefit from my wise words of wisdom on a variety of things. Later my "Wanna B's".
Before I even get started with the review for the Oblivion, did you guys see the latest Man of Steel trailer? Holy $H#t, any doubts about the what to expect from this film are completely gone from my mind, this may be the Superman movie we've all been waiting for. If you haven't seen it yet, do it now! If you have seen it already, you owe it to yourself to see it yet again.
Oblivion
Hey all you wanna B's out there, how you doing? I had a chance this weekend to catch the science fiction film Oblivion starring Tom Cruise. Love or hate the antics of the guy, I personally feel he usually doesn't disappoint me when it comes to the sci/fi action genre, and this film was no different. I went into the movie not knowing more than what was shown in a trailer I had seen a couple weeks back, and without reading any reviews from critics or viewers, I think this is probably the way I will do things from now on, as I can name a handful of movies I skipped over due to reading other peoples opinions, only to watch it later on tv and find out I really enjoyed it.
So what is Oblivion about? Well it takes place about 60 years in the future from now, and in our time the Earth was attacked by an alien race known as Scavs. During this attack the moon was destroyed causing mass destruction on Earth. We are told that the human race fought back with nuclear weapons and won the war, but in the process made the Earth inhabitable. So humans move on to a moon called Titan and establish a new colony. Cruise's character is Jack Harper and is stationed on Earth to monitor the extraction of water to bring back to the new colony.
Without ruining the story I'll just tell you that things aren't what they seem and I would almost compare this movie to the first Matrix film, as you don't fully know what's going on until a certain point, and then there is this eye opening moment where it all makes sense. Actually The Matrix still doesn't make much sense to me, but you get the idea. Anyway I really enjoyed the film, it had a small cast but still had this epic feel to it, and the cinematography was amazing, I love films that show a post apocalyptic earth, and this movie did a beautiful job of showing such a world. I've only seen a few movies this year so far and I know the really good stuff is about to kick off next month with Iron Man 3, but as of the time of writing this is the best movie I've seen this year and recommend it to any fans of the science fiction genre.
Okay so last podcast I talked about the new game Defiance I had picked up for Xbox 360, and how they were putting out a show with the scyfy network that ties into that same world. Well last week I had a chance to catch the series premier which was a two hour event, and if first impressions are any indication, it's actually not bad.
Defiance takes place in an Earth of the future where Aliens have migrated from another planet and after a war a peace breaks out and the alien races and humans try to co-exist in an earth that has mutated creatures and landscapes due to a terraformed accident. The show focuses on Joshua Nolan a former marine who was at the battle of Defiance and now roams the world with his adopted alien daughter Irisa. Both the main characters are pretty bad ass, and when they aren't having family disputes they make a pretty good team. In the beginning of the show it seems they are primarily motivated by greed, but by the end of the premier they end up taking permanent residence in the the down of Defiance after making a sacrifice of fortune to save the people of the city. Joshua ends up taking the role of Lawman and that's where the first episode ends.
Despite being a show created for tv, the special effects in a number of scenes looked movie quality at times, and there is even a pretty decent battle seen during the last part of the show that must have cost a bit to produce. The two main characters are likable enough and the support cast including Julie Benz as the mayor hold their own as well. I'm going to give this show a try, at least for a while longer, I do have a vested interest as I am playing the game, and the game lacks much of a story so I'm hoping the show will help fill that void.
I know I haven't put out anything in almost a month, but you have to understand I am a bit on the lazy side and find it much easier to sit on my butt playing video games and watching movies than to record the podcast and write the show notes. That being said as a treat I made this weeks podcast slightly longer than usual and go over a number of things. We recently had a death of someone pretty well liked in the work place, and I found it amazing that this guy had accomplished so many things in his life yet no one but those closest to him knew about these things. This gave me an idea for something I would call a living wake, where everyone who reaches midlife area, say around 35-40 years old would be given a sought of party where everyone would go over the impact and things accomplished by this person in their time spent in this world. It's a shame that most people don't get to be celebrated in this way until after they pass on and then it's too late, so I thought this living wake idea would be a good thing, however all but a few people I mention it too think it's kind of crazy and just laughed it off.
On the gaming side I picked up Defiance for Xbox 360, Defiance is an online shooter mmorpg with a sci-fi theme to it. Game play is from a third person perspective and is pretty generic yet quite fun. Yes mmorpg's are a dime a dozen, but what this game has going for it is the fact it is available on the consoles, and there is no monthly fee associated with it as well. The story so far is a little on the bland side, but to make up for it the creators of this game have teamed up with the Scify channel to create an original series that takes place in the same universe. Whether this is a gimmick or will actually be well done and well received only time will tell.
This is the segment on the podcast where you get to hear me complain about something, this episode I bitch about drivers who get to close and flash lights at you while going way over the speed limit.
This weeks podcast I talk about two movies I had recently seen. GI Joe Retaliation and The Evil Dead remake. One of these films I enjoyed the other I thought was a piece of crap wrapped up in a package of gore and guts and was a complete waste of money.
Now that I wished it to all of you out there, I'm going tell you how dumb and pointless I think this holiday is. Don't get me wrong I'm not a totally heartless person, I do think it's kind of cute for little kids to have secret admirers and share candy, maybe by a little chocolate heart for their mommies.
What gets me is the commercialism of the holiday, and for no apparent reason this day was appointed as the day to celebrate the love of your life but at the cost of jacked up prices of flowers, cards, and food. Then they show these commercials on TV of women getting thousand dollar bracelets from amazing men that don't exist. Then your girl wonders why they can't get an expensive piece of jewelry like the women on TV do. I'll tell you why it's fantasy and it's purpose is to brainwash the sheep out there into convincing their loved ones that love is shown with money.
Bottom line for me is I don't believe you need some appointed day to show your love for the one closest to you, by them a gift out of no where any other time of year, or go out to a nice restaurant on some Friday night, or how about just offer to do some help around the house, or give a nice massage. Just don't give into the bullshit of this stupid holiday like a good little drone.
On a side note, I got totally reamed for confronting my girl about the price of a watch she bought me, that I accidentally stumbled upon online. For more on this story listen to my podcast.
I did get two games this week and spent a few hours with each. Fallout 3 I got for 14.99 on Xbox live as a download, figured I love Skyrim so why not try this game made by the same company. The game is kind of boring in my opinion, and although it has some good qualities, including the a slow motion system where you can aim at different parts of the enemies body, it gets old pretty quick. The environments are kind of bland, and I didn't seem to care about any of the characters I interacted with in this game.
DMC or Devil May Cry on the other hand, I have been having a lot of fun with. This game is fairly new and cost $60, but I had a gift card for Bestbuy since Christmas so figured what the hell and picked up a copy. If you've played prior games in the series, it's very similar, but this reboot of the series takes place in an alternate world with and alternate version of characters form past series including the main character Dante. The action is very fluid and fun, within minutes of playing you'll be pulling off combos and having a grand old time killing demons. Things only get better as you unlock other weapons and abilities allowing for some unique combos and cool looking fight scenes.
Bottom line DMC is well worth the price, Fallout 3 may have been great for it's time but even at 14.99 I don't recommend it as there are better games out there like Skyrim which have taken what Fallout may have started and really perfected it while getting rid of the flaws.
I could go on and on about the crazy shit my co-workers get away with on a daily basis, but I'll save those stories for another day. This week I want to tell you about the nasty little man that sits next to me. While our job may not be the best as far as pay goes, it is great in regard to medical coverage, and time off. I currently have about six months of sick leave, and over three hundred hours vacation leave. So when my co-worker decided to come to work sick as a dog when he too has plenty of time and could have stayed home to recover while getting paid to do so, I have to ask, why?
I don't really have to ask, the answer is he is just an inconsiderate little F. Don't get me wrong, I've gone to work with a minor headache and other little issues, but when I had the Flu a month ago, I stayed out a full week, even as I started to feel better by the end of it. If coming to work sick isn't enough this guy sits next to me and I have to witness as he uses the same towel all day to blow his nose over and over again, and then puts the towel back on his desk. He leave his heater running facing in my direction, while he sneezes and coughs without covering his mouth. I told him several times he needs to go home and get some rest, but he refused to listen, I even called our supervisor who works off site and she agreed to send him an email telling him he has plenty of time and should go home and rest, still he declined. No he would rather spend the rest of the day on personal calls and browsing the web on work computers while spreading germs than go home and heal.
His nastiness has no bounds, even before this myself and others have witnessed him using the restroom and leaving without ever turning on the sink to wash his hands. He also scratches his private area frequently as well. He is a foreigner and has told me on more than one occasion he plans on returning back to his home country in the near future, all I can say is I'm counting the days down, and hopefully my next co-worker will be a little bit more sanitary and considerate.
