Various Titbits #4

So been on a nice little holiday, come back and got a job. Its been a productive week for this old Captain. Even up to date on my washing now. Only taken me about a year. Even those old pants that have been lingering under the bed have been put through the spin cycle. The only downside of this is that the house is now adorned with my underwear. Boxers of various sizes and shapes dangling from radiators, doors, pictures. I considered draping some over my fish but thought better of it. They don't deserve to witness such horror, they've seen enough in their time already. Anyway, so in the lull before I start my new found employment on Tuesday (at 4am!) I've been enjoying and enduring some movies and games as ever.

Whilst on my foray north I went to see 2012 at the cinema. The cinema was a lovely little independent place, bigger than here but still quite quaint really. However, the loveliness of the venue in no way prepared me for the film. Honestly, its the most astonishing thing I've ever seen. I've never laughed so much in a cinema before, everything about the movie is pretty terrible. I never thought I'd get bored of watching stuff get blown up, but I did. To sum it up really, someone said "my god" within the first twenty minutes or so. I can't really get across how bad this film is, but I also can't recommend it enough for that very same reason. With a group of like minded friends the laughs will just keep on coming. I'm going to forward it for comedy of the year. But be warned, it goes on for about three days.

I was speaking to my friend the other day about great films and we traded a couple of recommendations, I told him to watch In Bruges (a great film) and he told me to watch Click (...). I approached it with trepidation, as it has Adam Sandler in it. The amount of movies I like with Adam Sandler in I can count on one hand. None. Probably should have realised I wouldn't love Click when my friend began said conversation by praising You Don't Mess With The Zohan. I do partly want to see it out of morbid curiosity, it sounds so bad that it won't be good but highly offensive. That's very morbid curiosity I'm aware, but I'd like to see Sandler fall flat on his round punchable face. The cock. Anyway, Click. Christopher Wowlken (phonetics) gives him a remote that changes time. Which is good, you can fast-forward arguments with your ridiculously attractive wife, mute annoying people, watch your parents spawn you. You know, the usual scrapes that Sandler gets into. The thing is the story, acting and general concept of this film is quite flimsy. You can poo-poo it very easily but it does work quite nicely in a Disney kind of mold. But it also rests on the likability of Adam Sandler who makes me cringe with annoyance whenever his nasally drawl saunters into my innocent ears. To put it short, I would have liked it if anyone else played the lead. But Sandler grates me so much that I can't say I enjoyed it. Even though the acting gets rather straight by the end, the seeds are already sown by his madcap antics in the first half. Nice try Sandler, its probably the best film you've done. Probably, I'll never build up the courage to watch another to test that though.

Finally film wise I watched The Life Aquatic again today. I'm a bit of a fan of Wes Anderson. The font of writing on screen, the wide shots, the quirky dialogue, the great soundtracks. I could wax lyrical about how much I enjoy his movies for a long while. Although to be honest I covered a lot of the bases in the second sentence there. Would have struggled after that. Probably would have just put Bill Murray and then would have started scratching my chin for further thoughts. Anyway, its a great film. Two great things to take from this movie even if you don't like it; the acoustic Bowie covers and the submarine scene near the end. Both wonderful in their own way. I'd go as far as saying its my favourite (maybe second after Tenenbaums) Wes Anderson movie.

Finally games wise its been a mixed bag. Whilst I was away got a fair bit of Modern Warfare 2 happening split-screen. Lots of fun in the 2v2. I never dabbled in multi-player on COD4 so it was a new experience for me and I thoroughly enjoyed it. So much so I've slipped a little bit into the online mode back home now. A little mind. Because Borderlands is my latest Swapgame. Choosing the "top three only" package I had to wait a full week for it but I think its worth it. Sunk a fair chunk of hours into it last few days and found it very rewarding. I've always been partial to a bit of grinding. I, of course, refer to the nerd term of repetitively killing foes to gain levels and loot not the urban style of dance. Although, if the liquor is the right the hips may sway. But, good fun. Given up on the story, some guff about alien technology. Honestly couldn't care less. The mechanics are fun and the quests, if a little simple and predictable, are quite addicting. Should slot nicely in to that end of year list (not long now!).

Gaming Tuesday (On Wednesday)

So its been out a week now, well for those who didn't get it delivered early and Modern Warfare 2 has has the majority share of my disc drive. I polished off the single player campaign on the day I got it, not a massive achievement as such as it was only on regular difficulty. I'll wait until next year to tackle Veteran mode I think, it worked with COD:4 anyway. Apart from that damn aeroplane level. Never even got close on that one. Brrrr. In the time since then I've dabbled both in Spec-Ops and online multiplayer, with mixed results. Spec-Ops is a pretty addictive little pack of bonus missions based around levels from both Modern Warfare games. They work much better when played with a buddy too, as me and mine found out when our desperate calls of "Juggernaut!!!" before our demise after 7 constant failures on "Snatch and Grab" grew too much. Online multiplayer is a different kettle of fish. I've always been a Halo man myself, been playing them covenant since I was yay high. Not that much shorter actually. I'm a little bit older than the Halo franchise. This is why I never really got in to Call Of Duty multiplayer. Its all stealth, one shot and skill. Where Halo is mainly madness, beat downs and sticky grenades. I played a few rounds but I grew frustrated quickly. Getting thrown in with people 40 levels higher than you is not fun for a start and then being killed by campers as well did not help. I did ok for a first timer, generally one or two places from the bottom. I'll need to give it a lot more time to get any good. Something I may or may not do depending on what Swapgame send me next (No time for Batman's challenges I'm afraid).

In between all the face shooting and airports I've managed to knock in a bit of virtual lego 'em up (kind of) Banjo Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts. Its a sweet and fun little game basically. The humour isn't as sharp as good old Conker's Bad Fur Day but it brings a smile to your face. The difficulty isn't overly hard yet although I've only been messing about in the first two or three zones so far. My own problem is that I really cannot be bothered to try to build vehicles yet. I know this is essentially the whole game, but I'd rather just do the little challenges. My heart genuinely sinks when I realise its a "build it yourself challenge". Still, it was a cheap purchase off eBay so I'll keep it for the down time in between Swapgames I think.

Finally I come to temptation that's been knocking on the door. Part of me is referring to Left 4 Dead 2, which I'm going to forward to Santa I think. But no, its Football Manager 2010. It is the most addicting game of all time. I caved in and got the demo from Steam and I've already got to November. Its been one day. I have of course made a bit of a shit up already with my Newcastle team. We're only third. I've signed Danny Simpson, Jack Wilshire and Nathan Delfounso. Delfounso has played two games and been awful (good recommendation there coaches), Wilshire has been good though. Anyway, £29.99 off Steam. Its really tempting and considering my disc drive is buggered I can't shop around either. We'll see how long I can last. I give it one to two days.