Back from the Front Lines

Sadly, I haven’t been keeping up with the blog as much as I should have. Ever since I hit that one year mark, it’s been a slow, gradual descent into abandonment, and I’ve returned only occasionally to wipe off the accumulated dust and grime.

So where have I been? What excuse do I have this time? I can’t say I’ve busy during the holidays, because Thanksgiving was fairly uneventful. I can’t say I’ve been watching tons of movies and preparing a new Netflix Capsule post, because I’m only sending them back once a week now. New job? Moving? Sick? No, none of those things.

The truth is that I’ve been playing “Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos”. And lots of it. All the free time I had during evenings could have been spent updating this thing, but I’m so obsessed with pushing through the single-player campaign that I’ve ignored everything else. “I’m almost done with the Undead campaign! I’m almost done with the Orc campaign! Just two more missions of Night Elves and I swear I’ll do something productive…”

As a gamer (psuedogamer?) I know I’m supposed to live in the now. “Reign of Chaos” came out in 2002, officially making it old-hat. I should be following the crowd into “Halo 3″ or “Metroid Prime: Corruption” or hell, “World of Warcraft” if we’re talking the same franchise. You want the honest truth though? My computer is now almost four years out of date, with only the wireless and video cards swapped out over the years. And I don’t actually own any new-gen consoles. I can read about them and offer my opinions, I just can’t play them.

So I’m stuck playing old things to entertain myself, until I can get a new computer or a Wii. Since I’ve amassed such a large collection of (still unfinished) games over the years, there’s no point in buying anything new anyway. And it’s a curious addiction that I have to W-III, because I honestly don’t even like the game all the much. Compared to the greatness that was “Warcraft II”, it just doesn’t have the same… feeling.

Last night I finally reached the last mission in the Night Elf arc- the very end of the core game (I’ll be moving onto the expansion pack after this). From the look of things, it’s going to take at least three days to get it right before I can even attempt victory. It seems impossible, but wouldn’t that be appropriate for the final map? So maybe I’ll post new updates during bouts of frustration.

Holy Monkeys! “Weird Science” Seasons 1 & 2 to be Released on DVD!

It’s about time!

During my semi-daily browsing of DVD Verdict this morning, I came across some news (well, a quick flash of cover art) that brought a twinge of sunshine upon this down-on-his-luck shut-in. It seems A&E Home Video is finally releasing a boxed set of “Weird Science”, a show that was a favorite of mine as a preteen.

“Weird Science” was an adaptation of the 1985 John Hughes film, featuring the same characters and updated for the mid-90s crowd. It chronicled the misadventures of Gary and Wyatt (John Mallory Asher and Michael Manasseri) two high school nerds who used their computer-generated genie, Lisa (Vanessa Angel) to grant them wishes beyond their wildest dreams- though said wishes always had unfortunate side-effects, and wore off at the end of every show. 88 episodes were produced, and the series ran from 1994-1997. I’d call that a pretty successful run, in comparison with certain other vehicles.

DVD features will include audio commentary on three episodes, a trivia quiz, and cast biographies. The total runtime of is 598 minutes. The release date is January 1, 2008.

Although I’m excited about this release, I’m not ready to rush out and spend money on it right away. Reruns have aired on various channels in recent years, but I haven’t actually watched the show since age 12. There’s no telling how much I’ve grown up in comparison to what’s on these discs, so a quick rental might be in order first.

On the other hand, I’m about to spend money on “Captain N”. So maybe I should keep my mouth shut about maturity.

“South Park” ‘Imaginationland’ DVD to Hit Stores March 2008

The 11th season of “South Park” was a positive turnaround for the series. I’d been watching the show faithfully since I was in the 8th grade, but noted a steady decline in quality as the years passed. After the lackluster, politically fixated 10th season, I was ready to give up.

Fortunately, season 11 fared a lot better. Trey Parker and Matt Stone shifted their priorities from libertarian preaching (though not entirely) to focus on being funny again. This year saw not just memorable episodes, but wildly creative ones. Who can forget the amazingly screwed up “Lice Capades”, the conversion therapy critique “Cartman Sucks”, or “The List” , which was hilarious and awkward.

And then there was the “Imaginationland” trilogy of episodes, which belongs in a category all by itself. Here, M&T did a number of things. They crammed in over a hundred references to our favorite childhood heroes and villains without resorting to a ‘Family Guy’-type joke structure. They remained consistently funny throughout, put Butters at the helm (which is always a plus) and even brought back the Woodland Critters.

The response was overwhelmingly positive. According to this TV Shows on DVD press release (my source for this) “Imaginationland”was Comedy Central’s most watched telecast of the year, bringing in almost 10 million viewers. Among the 18-24 male demographic, the rating was higher than Game 1 of the World Series. The internet, as strong a reflection of pop culture as ever, was abuzz with praise.

Now, Paramount and Comedy Central are putting together a special DVD of the “Imaginationland” trilogy. The episodes will be uncensored, and the disc will feature bonus footage created exclusively for the release. The press release provides no other significant details, like information about commentary tracks or whether the episodes will be cut together to run like an hour long film.

The question on my mind, though, is if this is necessary. There’s no doubt that this release is an attempt to cash in on the hype surrounding”Imaginatonland”, but the Season 11 box set will likely be released around or about the same time. You’ll be able to get those same three episodes, uncensored (because the season sets are now being put together as such)– why not include the bonus footage as an extra?

The Last ‘Manhunt 2′ Story Here, I Swear

Like a minor fender-bender acknowledged as we pass on the highway, ‘Manhunt 2′ is a issue that should have exited our minds a quarter mile down the road. The debate is too old to be worth continuing. Most critics agree that it’s pretty ‘meh’ as far as game quality is concerned, and it hasn’t brought anything particularly innovative or inspiring to the table (other than slaughtering people with your Wiimote.)

Ironically, the only reason it remains in the public eye is because of the politicians, angry media watchdog groups, and washed-up moral crusaders–the same people who are trying like mad to remove it from store shelves. By continuing to cry “for the CHILDREN!”, throw tantrums, and issue press releases, they’re generating more curiosity in the game. Curiosity that leads to sales.

Take this story for instance. Gamepolitics reported this morning that Ted Baehr, a Christian media critic, recently told the Washington Times that ‘Manhunt 2′ should have its ‘AO’ rating restored. Calling it a first-person shooter(!) where the goal is to kill innocent victims(!?), he claimed that “it teaches susceptible children to commit sadistic violence.” Because video games are solely for children. Right.

To make matters worse, he even has a petition to stop Sony and Nintendo from selling the game outright on his website (link subject to change).

Never mind that he got all his facts from his paranoid next door neighbor, or that nobody cares about online petitions. Isn’t it a little late to be crying foul about ‘Manhunt 2′? The game came out half a month ago, and has been quickly fading into obscurity ever since. Like others, Mr. Baehr continues to promote and advertise it. It’s a done deal. Just let it go.

Actually, you know what? I’m going to do these watchdog groups a favor now, by offering a (very small) contribution to their anti-’Manhunt 2′ campaign. I won’t talk about the game anymore. That’s all I have to do. By not posting anything ‘Manhunt 2′ related after this, I will be putting a tiny offering in their nanny-state-media-control-goal collection plate. And since I don’t update much, the front page was cluttered with news about it anyway.

Learn from my example, Christian Film & Television Commission. If you and the other watchdog groups would shut up about ‘Manhunt 2′, you’d actually be getting exactly what you wanted.

Movie Review: Evil Dead II (1987)

I was originally going to post this over a week ago, but I got lazy. Go figure.

It seems unfair that I’m reviewing Evil Dead II before penning my thoughts on the first– almost as if I’m playing favorites or something. But the truth is that I’ve been watching it so much lately (at least three times for the film itself, twice more with the commentary track turned on) that not saying anything at this point would be counterproductive.