The Mist & COD:MW2

So taking a break from my horrendous binge of Lost I watched The Mist. Continuing Frank Darabonts seemingly exclusive Stephen King bumming he again adapts another one. Something a bit different to The Green Mile and Shawshank though and refreshing for it. Think Lord Of The Flies meets The Fog meets Evolution. Its clever and entertaining, bringing you a few shocks and scares along the way. What must be said though is that the ending is horrible. Not in perhaps a predictable gross out horror way but more in a disturbingly empty way. It feels a little bit like when you watched Requiem For A Dream for the first time. Still, a decent watch and it feels nice not to be hearing the string stabs of the Lost soundtrack for a while.

I don't know why I've decided to do this to myself but I've taken it upon myself to investigate the hype around Modern Warfare 2. There's two sides to it really and I'm not sure which I dislike more. Firstly you had the "glitzy" premier of the game. I say glitzy, when they're limiting shots of fans lining the red carpet you have a fair idea what's actually happening. But in the defence of the people who went, the stars did show. Vernon Kay, Goldie and the array of ex-Eastenders actors who voice the game. I can see why the game got the attention it did. Its the biggest media launch in history after all. But it all just looked a bit shit didn't it? Pretend soldiers, posters for the game, hot girls dressed as soldiers. It was a very tacky way of doing it really. But I also don't like film premieres for the same reason, so I can't complain about that. The second side is "No Russian" and the ensuing debate. This is where it gets really frustrating. People are obviously calling for Infinity Ward to be shot and the game to be banned, this was inevitable. However, the defence is either "Its a game, I shot those civilians in the face and I'm fine!" or "Actually, that bit was kind of nasty, still the rest is a great game". It kind of begs the question, why is it in there anyway? For the story? I thought it was justified, that was until I played through the story. It ranks with Die Hard 4 for realism. Its essentially James Bond starring Jason Statham and directed by Micheal Bay. Its explosions, madness and shooting people in the face. Which is fine. But the airport scene adds a weight of depth that is never really accounted for. Which makes the game harder to defend when its standing up and practically provoking the other side. They may as well chucked in some paedophilia and the corpse of Princess Diana just to really rile up the tabloids. I love the game. I really do. But its given my past time a bad name it doesn't deserve. Although funnily enough everyone has stopped talking about the Wii and the inane parade of mindless tat that gets Grandma waggling her wrist like she's turning tricks in Soho. So silver linings and that.