Spore

I know this is old news, but Spore looks absolutely fantastic. I highly suggest everyone watch the preview. There are two versions on google video, the "pure" tech demo, and the one where Will Wright talks about his game philosophy and history. Both are good, watch either one.

Steamboy

In other movie news, Steamboy is pretty good. I guess it shouldn't be a surprise that the guy who made Akira made another winner. If you have the chance, I highly recommend seeing Steamboy.

Actually, if you haven't seen Akira, it's probably a good idea to see that too. It's pretty old, and very strange, but it's still very good.

Another thing about Steamboy: the dubbing cast is very cool, especially Patrick Stewart, but I found the faux english accent of some of the characters intolerable. Yet again, I suggest you see this one subbed.

An Open Letter to the Director of Equilibrium and a Movie That Shall Not Be Named

Dear director of Equillibrium, why hast thou forsaken me?

I didn't expect much, just some well-choreographed violence, maybe some moderately insightful social commentary.

What did I find?

A movie that failed to deliver a single good fight scene for an entire hour. In a movie that was one hour and twenty-five minutes long. I suppose it makes sense to have a single fight where the protagonist wins without difficulty. It shows the extreme proficiency of the character. But every battle John Preston fought was interesting. It seemed that more money was spent on ridiculous camera panning than on fighting.

By the way, if a camera goes through a reflective glass twice with nothing happening, you are spending too much time moving the camera around.

I thought you were a clever guy who liked good fight scenes. It turns out that you're some guy who should have had a test screening with a human being. Honestly, did a single person think that scene in the park was good? You win an award I just made up, the "I can't believe that wasn't a dream sequence, oh, god, how I wish that had been a dream sequence" award.