Joe Bartley is a guest writer whose witty commentary has been heard and seen around the campus of New England Institute of Art.  Follow him at www.twitter.com/redspectrejoe.

Eight years after his first foray into feature films with his unique take on our childhood fears in Monster’s Inc.; Pete Doctor gives the world his newest vision in Pixar’s UP. Accompanied by Co-Director and Writer Bob Peterson the pair has created what I would hesitantly call Pixar’s most mature movie to date. This statement is made knowing full well that while there are childish elements in the film including an army of talking dogs, it is a movie that deals with themes and concepts which are often foreign and absent from these films.

Up is first and foremost a film about promises and devotion to those promises. The story follows an elderly man named Carl Frederickson who has spent his whole life with his wife Elle standing by his side. After she dies of an untold disease, he takes up her last wish to live in Paradise Falls, a place, which was discovered by their childhood hero Charles Muntz. Carl is joined by a young boy named Russel who is a boy scout hoping to get his “helping the elderly” badge so that he can become a senior scout. He has the unfortunate luck of being on Carl’s porch when the house takes off and becomes Carl’s companion much to the dismay of Mr. Fredrickson who was expecting an easy trip to Paradise falls.

Like The Life Aquatic and The Venture Brothers, up exists in a world where the imagination of children was captured by the idea of the adventurer on film. The man who personifies this myth is Charles Muntz, a man who was revered by the scientific and exploring communities until one of his findings was found to be a hoax. This causes him to leave the spotlight and chase after the creature that he found much like Steve Zissou’s Jaguar Shark. Charles plays the role of the foil to Carl showing what happens when a promise is held to tightly and one becomes lost to the pursuit of it.

UP is also a film about dreams. It is a film that tries to teach us that our dreams are what make us tick. They are what drives us and causes us to strive for something more than the mundane. The film very subtly states that one must never stop dreaming and moving forward otherwise they may very well lose themselves in the process.

This film was not what I expected. It was smart and charming but it also touched me in ways few Pixar films have. We expect certain things from Pixar; love, laughter, family, characters, but I did not expect those things to come together in such a way that it would bring together the hardships and joys of both childhood and old age so well. Whether or not you agree with me, I promise you will enjoy this film.

Joe Bartley is a guest writer whose witty commentary has been heard and seen around the campus of New England Institute of Art in Boston, Massachusetts.  Follow him at www.twitter.com/redspectrejoe.

This week Sam Raimi’s newest foray into filmmaking, Drag Me to Hell, releases to the jaded audiences of the United States. I entered this movie much like any other viewer thinking that it would be another generic horror movie with pitiful acting, bad storytelling, and overall just a sad excuse for a film. I can happily say that the festering taste of SpiderMan 3 was wiped away from my mouth and a new nectar replaced it that was both rich and delicious.

Drag Me to Hell tells the story of Christine Brown, a loan officer at a bank who shames an old gypsy woman, this causes her to be the victim of the gypsy’s curse which calls a demon known as the Lamia into the world so that it can torment her and after three days drag her to hell (clever). This is all decently standard fair among horror films and if this was all that was in the movie my enjoyment of it would have been nigh unrecognizable. What most people will not tell you is that this movie is hilarious. Comedy gold is found in this film and not because it is so bad it’s funny but because the writing and delivery are impeccably funny. Written by both Sam and Ivan Raimi, the humor is both black and blunt, much like what was found in another film of theirs, Army of Darkness.

The cast in the film does an excellent job of selling the film as well, Alison Lohman does a decent job at playing the tormented heroine and while some scenes she is altogether too stoic, for the most part you believe her performance. It is again however Justin Long who truly convinces you of this world, as both Christine’s boyfriend and logical foil his cynical nature and devotion bring an element of a loving relationship into this film. How this kid is not heralded yet is beyond me. He is head’s and above better than Shia (could not bang Megan Fox in real life) LaBeouf.

All in all this film is a better horror movie than any I have seen in the last two years with the one exception of Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon (Yes I’m plugging go watch this film damn it.) It is a fun, funny, and truly creepy flick that deserves the attention and hopefully will be a turning point for the horror genre into something we do not have to be ashamed of.

Yes, my friends, that’s right. The third installment of the best podcast ever recorded is now live.

This week is the most vulgar, even penalty-ridden EDM to date. And we wouldn’t have it any other way. Chock full of new discussions, racism, dead baby jokes, Patrick Swayze still being alive, a new RHQ, and of course, new MVP’s of the week.

Tune in, and listen up.
Episode 3: Revenge of the Podcast
(Right click and hit Save As – Thanks!)

And indeed, that is the theme of this week’s NTIBFLT20 (I swear we will never use that acronym in the column again outside of the urls), as we delve into not 1, but 2 BARGAIN BIN games that I purchased. One was an even better deal than Killer7! Is this possible? You will have to READ ON TO FIND OUT.

We’ll start with the initial plan for this edition. Now, a bunch of personal (drama), boring (eye surgery) things came and intruded on my life the past couple of weeks, and I’ve been terribly late in getting this article out there. For that, I apologize. NT<20 (the new acronym) will try its best from this point on to be weekly, and we will attempt to avoid nasty delays in articles. Situations arise, however, and I did have something planned. Here it is.

Item Purchased: God Hand (PS2)

Condition: Brand Spankin’ New

Price Paid: ~$13

Acquired From: Hubbagames, via Amazon.com

Hint: Main Character Looks Nothing Like That And Does Not Have Those Kickass Tats

So, God Hand. Where do we start? Is it the poor control scheme? The utterly atrocious combo system? The terrible humor? The overwhelmingly retarded difficulty? Or the fact that somehow, despite all these terrible flaws, God Hand is easily one of the most fun games ever?

It’s weird. I can’t stand God Hand’s control scheme. The auto-lock on is terrible, frequently locking you on to enemies you would rather not be locked on to, not giving you control over who you attack, and the camera angle is ALWAYS over your shoulder. And it’s done in such a way that you can never see anything coming from behind you. Yes, this is realistic. Yes, this also sucks major dick in a game where a single hit can take off a quarter of your health bar. God Hand’s camera (which will also happily, while staying behind you, zoom in to uncomfortable levels) is about as bad as the camera in Sonic Adventure 2. And that’s a low bar, ladies and gentlemen.

This brings us right into another God Hand problem: The difficulty. I haven’t beaten God Hand yet. I’m in Area/Stage/Whatever 4, out of I believe 7. And I’m playing on Easy. And this game is HARD AS BALLS. Now, I don’t consider myself anywhere near the elite-of-the-elite, but I’ve found myself traditionally to be pretty good at any game that does not involve me wielding a gun. I’m kind of shitty with guns, but I love them at the same time. It’s a love-hate relationship. Point is, there are no guns in God Hand, minus the occasional RPG, and I don’t really have to aim (much as I would love to), thanks to auto-lock. And by all means, I’m good at this game. I annihilated the first area, beat the second and third areas with no continues (but several resets), and then got to this fourth area and got the LIVING SHIT BEAT OUT OF ME. Seriously, I have every possible lifeup, every possible God Hand Power boost, max possible number of Special Attack Orbs, and the enemies in this stage just WAIL ON ME. I have a huge-ass health bar? Doesn’t matter, cause four or five attacks and I’m dead. This game is unnecessarily difficult, and while it’s rewarding as hell to get through a tricky area (cagematches with trident-wielding demons, anyone?),  it’s frustrating as hell to reach the end of an area only to have that same trident-wielding motherfucker pop out of someone at random and kill you, making you start the area all over.

THESE MOTHERFUCKERS. AT RANDOM TIMES. GODDAMMIT.

This would not be a problem if God Hand’s much-lauded Combo System actually meant something. God Hand tries to be stylish and flashy. It fails utterly because of the aforementioned difficulty. SURE! There are over 100 individual moves to choose from, and you can style your own combo. BUT! If you choose to style your combo to be anything other than quick short jabs with a guard breaker in the middle, you’re going to end up counter-attacked and dead faster than a kid who thinks he can play Gen in SFIV.

So we may wonder? Why? Why is God Hand fun? Why do I recommend that we unstock Hubbagames of all their copies on Amazon? Because folks, there is nothing more fun than the over-the-top cheesiness that this game provides. Dave Chappelle references? Check. A move called the “Ball Buster” that only works on male opponents and makes them hop around for a while? Check. Fist of the North Star parody with a move called “100 Fists?” Check. When I want to just mess around and beat the stuffing out of people for a half-hour or so (and usually get the stuffing beaten out of me as well) while listening to silly background music and the over-the-top threats of ridiculous Yatterman-inspired enemies, there’s nothing that accomplishes that better than God Hand. And that’s a hell of an achievement.

And now for possibly the best deal I’ve ever seen.

Item Purchased: XIII (PS2)

Condition: Used, very minor wear and tear, manual included.

Price Paid: $2.09

Place Purchased: GameStop

I Managed To Get The GameStop Stickers Off Without Any Damage To The Actual Box. Amazing, I Know.

No, I did not misplace the period. Then it wouldn’t belong in the column. I got a copy of XIII for $2. I paid IN CHANGE WITH QUARTERS AND DIMES. Now, I haven’t had a chance to play this proper, and, as mentioned earlier, I suck at any game that gives me a gun, so I could very well hate XIII. But then I realize that this game has David Duchovney and Adam West voicing characters in it and I DON’T CARE. THIS GAME WILL BE AMAZING. And from what I’ve played of it so far, it is. The art style is unique and kickass, the control scheme isn’t a pile of shit (default controls I like in an FPS? NEVER!), and the plot seems interesting. It was also an amazing purchase because the GameStop clerk didn’t try to get me to subscribe to anything or preorder anything. Also I got carded for buying games for the first time in my life. I found this hilarious and awesome. I’ve now been carded for everything I can legally be carded for at my age except cigarettes. Movies, games, and lotto tickets. Yes.

I’m truly stoked to get to play through XIII… right after I finish three Shin Megami Tensei games, God Hand, Kingdom Hearts, Bangai-O Spirits, and a billion other things I have to review for this column. CHRIST.

Update 5/25: I’ve played through the first four levels of XIII and it’s fucking awesome, minus one little bit where it didn’t fully explain how to use the grapple hook so I walked around like a short bus kid for two hours before re-reading the manual.

Next week will be something not video game related… and let’s have you guys decide in the comments! If I don’t get any votes, I’ll go with the default top choice.

- Animu

- Figurines

- CDs

- Books

- Non-Videogame Related Software

Catch you guys later! McTool out.

Since YouTUBE won’t allow us to upload the trailer we had to put it up on Viddler. Please let us know what you think. Episode 1 has been written but before we get to work on the sets and start filming we would like to see what people think of it.

Our AB video is UP!

Oh snap, wake up! It is time… for ERIK A WEEK. This week we play the awesome game which is Erik Ferris’s Moon Walker. While this game exists for multiple systems, this review will focus on two versions, a first for Erik a Week. So without further ado, it’s time for the review.

The first version up for review is the arcade game. To its credit, the music is good and for a game of this type, the levels are linear and fun. This game is a breath of fresh air considering the usual shit I have to review. The graphics are not terrible, all things considered. But down to brass tacks

Game play: the life blood of any game. In this game, it’s simple but fun. This game is a standard “beat ‘em up” arcade game, except you shoot clouds of lasers. That’s right—freaking clouds made of lasers. This is pure awesome in attack format. So this game is already doing pretty well—the game is easy enough that you do not go broke playing and the music and graphics are also decent.

Music—another home run. The songs are hilarious. Each level has a specific song which keeps this game amusing all the way through. This game includes, in order of appearance in the game: “Team Giggles”, “A Momentary Epic”, “The Internet Wears Sunglasses at Night”, and “Fire Escape.” These songs, simply put, are win. It is a point to be made—these songs are excellent quality despite the retroness of this game. But on to graphics.

They look good for a game this old. Our hero Erik Ferris is dressed as the Internet. This is quite funny—he screams, yells, and generally destroys everything that is in his way in 32 bit glory. The enemies are all extremely fat, making them easy to kill. When Glen lumbers onto the screen and you walk into him, Erik transforms into a robotic form of himself. The only real difference between these forms is that he shoots more lasers… and is made out of metal.

So this game is very fun, though to be honest, the Genesis version is lacking. But no need to torture myself playing that, because the cartridge is somewhere in the woods behind my house and there it stays, never to be played again…

So in closing, find a machine, download an emulator, and simply put, play this game. It is so very fun that you will forget the that “Team Giggles” is Satan’s theme song. There is a storyline, but it doesn’t matter. I mean so what if he is saving little girls from a large Indian man whose only dialogue is the lyrics to “Low,” sung in a thick Indian accent. So until next time, get off my lawn! And this is Tonberryx, signing off.

Anime Boston is now over and we are home with videos and stories to share.

We all had a blast and will have a full con report on Alpha Bromega tomorrow night. Videos and such will be edited over the week. Looks like we will have 2-3 con videos. Maybe more..

A big shout out and much love to our family at GPX as well as everyone who hung out with us and made this convention amazing. Our fans really do rock.

Join Buggles and Ceppy as they broadcast live video/audio on USTREAM.TV starting around 5p.m. CDT. You can watch all the action at http://www.ustream.tv/channel/hypergamez-live-tournament-coverage . Coverage starts at 5 with the tournaments following the start at around 8p.m. Tune in for all the interviews, music, and fun.  Hope to see some of you in the USTREAM chat!

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Can’t make it to Anime Boston to hang with the Nerdfit crew? Then tune into Nerdfit Radio on May 23rd starting at 5 PM till 3 AM CST for LIVE COVERAGE of the HyperGamez grand opening LAN event in Fort Worth, TX.

Join our very own Ceppy and SBK’s Buggles as they give you a live commentary and play by play of every tournament!

Hypergamez Grand Opening LAN

Fort Worth TX, April 12 2009 – HyperGamez announces it’s Grand Opening LAN event, hosted in cooperation with TheTexanGamer.com!
May 23rd, 5pm, HyperGamez will welcome all gamers to LAN up and frag down in their brand new facilities.
Included in the evening’s activities are a host of exciting tournaments including:

Quake Live 1v1 (PC premier tournament)
UT2k4 Instagib 2v2 (PC casual tournament)
Street Fighter IV 1v1 (XBOX premier tournament)
Call of Duty 4 2v2 (XBOX casual tournament)

HyperGamez is hosting 65 BYOC (bring your own computer/console) spots, and is also opening their projector screen lounge rooms up to console gamers looking for a little big screen action.
Entry is $10, and includes one BYOC spot, Live Music during the evening, and access to all of the facilities HyperGamez has to offer.
Registration is open at http://www.lan.thetexangamer.com
Stay tuned here, or vist http://www.hypergamez.com for future updates.

When:
Saturday 5/23/09 from 5:00pm – 7:00am

How much:
$10 BYOC

Where:
2732 Shamrock Ave
Suite 100
Fort Worth, TX 76107

UPDATE: http://thetexangamer.com/bboard/showthread.php?t=261

Tune in! http://radio.nerdfit.com:8000/listen.pls