TheChris92

Simply gorgeous song - Love every sec of it.

I'm one of those few people who thought Witcher 2 was vastly more entertaining than the first one - But then again, perhaps I simply can't see the appeal in endless dull fetch quests, useless secondary weapons, not being able to store weapons in inventory, cluster**** interface -- plus combat involving clicking, and if you're really advanced, click on them again. To be fair though -- At least you could drink the damn potions in mid-combat in the first game plus there were no unfair quicktime events, aside from that I had more fun with the Witcher and thought the political intrigue made for a more entertaining story there beyond the usual fantasy story, partially involving racism against dwarves, elves & goldfish etc.

Funny enough -- The female protagonist in the burly white dude simulator, Bound by Flame, is also voiced by a Skyrim voice actor.

Dragons.

Leonardo NoOscaro -- Feel so bad for him.

Love this mash-up between 2 excellent tracks.

That is actually a neat looking armor for the Inq, though the helmet looks weird with that outfit #fashionftw

Durh?

Now if only somebody had told the producers of Escape from New York that.

Not really gonna argue why I found the romance in Her to be good, since it seems to fall on deaf ears -- Besides, I'm aware that not everybody is enthusiastic about it. Reagardless, I'll sum up what I thought was relevant about it since people can't seem to stop banging on about it -- if a discussion is warranted then I'll be happy to oblige in the movie thread btw. Perhaps authentic wouldn't necessarily apply to that particular Spike Jonze flick, as much it probably would to a film like La vie d'Adele -- Note, that I mentioned other examples, where the term itself becomes quaint. What Her does is put relationships into perspective, like which ones are more important, and it argues this through discussion of whether emotional gratification can be achieved without physical consummation? The sex is literally transcendent. It raises the question: Do we even need our bodies? Or is it all in our brains? The relationship is real enough to make us ask what a relationship is and whether the coming so-called singularity — when artificial intelligence will surpass human intelligence while humans’ minds will be broadened by machines — will change the way we relate (or don’t) to one another. The film itself is an admission of that obliviousness and a lament for it. What is the connection of it to the whole Gaider thing though? Well to me it lampshades the whole fad on dating virtual characters in a fictional universe. It's a a bang-on indictment ofhow so many of us use technology as a form of escape from our lives, while trying to convince ourselves it enhances it.

I think the brilliance of Mullholland Drive lies in the puzzle of trying to understand it -- Some interpret it through dream analysis, to explain that the first part is a dream of the real Diane Selwyn, who has cast her dream-self as the innocent and hopeful "Betty Elms", reconstructing her history and persona into something like an old Hollywood movie. The idea is that the character of Betty is an projection of the happy life that Diane could be living. Another theory indicates that Betty and Rita and Diane and Camilla may exist in parallel universes that sometimes interconnect. Or alternatively, that most of the film is sequence of dreams, an argument made based on the subtle references to sleep, such as shots of beds & bedrooms. I'd argue though that the film sets itself up so well that the hunt for its meaning becomes intriguing, and all precedented theories could hold truth to it all, and thus makes it watchable again.

Can't say I agree at all -- As a film-nerd and narrative student I find art-film to be what makes cinema so darn interesting a subject to work with. Where the film-maker gets free reign and often experiment with either genre-film, camera methods, narrative structure etc. I think it's something most film-students love, at least of those I know, and it's also the reason why film-noir is still a relevant genre to work with. Heck, it's the best part about anything involving complex storytelling -- it's about weaving new ideas together to provide unique ways of story presentation. The strong emphasis placed on the authorial expressiveness of the director; and a focus on the thoughts and dreams of characters, rather than presenting a clear, goal-driven story -- I love that. It's also why I've adored some flicks by Lynch or Former Python Terry Gilliam, while both director's works aren't all quality, they represent those occasional gems that move away from the boundaries of mainstream garbage. I find that international film tends to lean most towards the workings of the experimental, and thus as a result I tend to scour French, Danish, English & Italian shown at Cannes or Berlin Festival, for the occasional diamond hidden within.

If you choose to look at it that way then alright -- If you replace Batman in the Nolan films with a random vigilante bloke, then I suppose you'll just get a generic action film, if you choose to ignore that the film might have a larger message beneath it, hidden either in its characters disposition, the editing, cinematography etc. If you'd like to hear why I brought it up then check out the film thread as I wrote a critical analyze there -- Spike Jonze's Her was just an example, there are plenty of unique romantic-dramas out there -- Like Never Let Me Go, Mr. Nobody etc, that carries a lot of heart either through elaborate usage of humor or unique narrative structure etc. Anyway, we'll save that discussion for the Movie thread if you really wanna have it

I'm actually not surprised to hear that opinion either -- Dogmefilm doesn't sit right with everyone -- especially Trier's, where Antichrist is probably the one film that had the widest divided critical acclaim. What i like about Trier is that he's a provocateur, and he utilizes his actors to the fullest because he's in complete control of them, there's no room for improv acting in his house, and if he's feeling sick or something's not working out then he has the gall to send the actors home no matter who they are. He litterally smashes the whole concept of commercialism -- For those expecting another Antichrist, what was most surprising about Melancholia was its patient pacing, its introspection, and, most of all for von Trier, its focus on a family characterized by bourgeois comforts. In his appropriation of what can seem at first a relatively commercial aesthetic, von Trier gradually, rather than instantaneously, allows the superficial beauty of such images to erode away and reveal the emptiness at their core.

Gaider's blog discussion reminded me of my review of Her in the movie thread of this very site -- I noted that the concept of Spike Jonze's Her of falling in love with an Operating System could be related to BioWare fans, partly as a joke, but also to draw perspective between the parallels -- It brings up the question of how emotional gratification can be achieved without physical consummation, and what it is that makes it appealling to folks. If Gaider has to draw inspiration from anything, then be it from Spike Jonze or anything of Charlie Kauffman, where the love is treated with a more authentic approach.

It's quite excellent -- Gonna get up on writing my thoughts on it and Melancholia too. I recommend you watch The FIve Obstructions if you love Lars von Trier's way of film-making and is genuinely fascinated by the whole concept of artfilm & film-making.

Deadly Premonition -- Such an awesome homage to David Lynch' Twin Peaks, quirky, buggy, but it has a rather sophisticated plot behind its problems, some interesting characters, and one of the best protagonists I've seen in a game in a while, right Zach?

Did I say Taken? Hmm, don't know why I wrote that. Anyway I meant Takers Anyway, the producer for Attack of the Clones was Rick McCallum, who's done frequent work with Lucas' prequel trilogy. Hayden Christensen might have delivered a somewhat subpar performance in another film which I haven't seen, who can say? But his acting in the prequel films are generally awful and was about as convincing as someone doing a finger-puppet re-telling of Citizen Kane. It was just generally bad, and he carried every scene like an accountant carries bricks. The choreography is bad too because it's preposterous, and it doesn't carry any emotional weight in comparison to that of Bob Anderson's choreography of the Skywalker movies -- or that of The Princess Bride being another example of fantasy with nice choreography. Heck even the battles between the Stormtroopers and droids as showcased in that honest trailer, are hollow and flimsy -- they just perplexingly stand out in the open and open fire, like they forgot the first rule of warfare about taking fire. But I suppose you could argue that it's a good thing the film itself realizes how awful it is at portraying somewhat believable battle sequences by having its combatants act like cannon fodder. The reason why the whole fad of "cult-film" actually exists is because it usually refers to films that didn't do well at box-office, or involve an extremely absurd setting but with otherwise good qualities -- usually it can be the acting overshadowing the faults in the plot. It doesn't necessarily have to be but it's just an example. What I believe held Return of the Jedi up over the prequels was the acting, Bob Anderson's choreagraphy, some of the things that was great about Empire was still retained in Jedi -- Ultimately, in terms of tone and overall direction, the introduction of Ewoks, and other preposterous things, it falls flat. Lucas should get the blame for editing his movies, which nobody asked for, like having Han shoot first etc. Even if it was his decision to make Hayden Christensen Anakin Skywalker, it doesn't excuse the fact that he was still awful in 'em. Because he most certainly was. I'm not gonna go there and say Liam or Ewan wasn't great either in any of 'em because of their acting -- I love Ewan in Trainspotting, Love Phillip Morris etc. And I love Liam as Oscar Schindler, and I don't their acting fell flat as much as Hayden Christensen.. Ultimately, his acting was a result of not just a bad script but also a poor delivery and performance.

This conversation reminds me that I want to play New Vegas again.

Full Throttle had romance? Nice. Monkey Island is a milestone when it comes to humor, but probably not love/romance

I edited it a bit

Any David Cage game^ The romance is essentially on par with your average frat-honky teenage drama. Skyrim The Fable games (Although why Peter Molyneaux thought anyone would want to romance the NPCs of Fable with the brain capacity of 1's & 0's is beyond me) Alpha Protocol (Although I'm sure most people in here are aware of that) Any BioWare game I can think of Persona 2, 3 & 4 (The kind of romance I like -- The kind that actually feels like 'love' as opposed to just 'romance' which it actually provides sufficient maturity to the characters growth and development, and it's alsooptional) Catherine -- Video Games tend to be frightened of relationships, in a curious reflection of the its predominantly male customer base. Well, there are plenty of games that depict the commencement of a relationship, generally as a consequence of Party A rescuing Party B from a giant fire-breathing lizard thing, an evil general, or a female character being in a submissive relationship to a bellend, depending on the genre. Very few games are about a relationship that's already going on, except when one half of it exists solely to get murdered at one point so that the other half can seek revenge -- Catherine is the opposite of the norm. It's a puzzle platformer, involving the difficulties of relationships, such as unexpected pregnancy, the impetus of commitment. It's a rather level headed approach to otherwise uncharted territory I'd say, and its gameplay actually provides challenge to a sophisticated level. Dragon's Dogma (The game literally picks a romance partner for you, because it's important for a plot element later) Shadow of the Colossus (I actually liked it in this game because it played out like an epic tale of true love, and its comeuppance) Silent Hill 2 (Love plays a large role in this game I'd say) Final Fantasy x & X2 (This one is probably known to most people) Final Fantasy IX (I seem to recall there being one in this game) Final Fantasy VIII Witcher 1 & 2 Prince of Persia (The cel-shaded reboot) Saints Row IV (Yes, this is a thing that happens) Grand Theft Auto IV (Although it doesn't play a huge part in the main story given that GTA's selling point is its sandbox I'd say it counts among-st its many activities)