Jules et Jim... et Catherine!

Love is complicated...

Or is it?

Yes.

Now, as much as i would love to leave it at that, summing upon the frenetic brevity of the film (humoursly in the style of the film itself), I feel that I must del

Best Quote Ever!?

The following quote is taken from the 2005 film 'V for Vendetta' and i must say - i almost laughed out loud when it began. Strangely enough, it also happens to make perfect sense no matter how 'wordy' it is (that is the point). whom ever created such a prose, i applaud them.

Voilà! In view, a humble vaudevillian veteran, cast vicariously as both victim and villain by the vicissitudes of Fate. This visage, no mere veneer of vanity, is a vestige of the vox populi, now vacant, vanished. However, this valorous visitation of a by-gone vexation, stands vivified, and has vowed to vanquish these venal and virulent vermin van-guarding vice and vouchsafing the violently vicious and voracious violation of volition. [carves V into wall] The only verdict is vengeance; a vendetta, held as a votive, not in vain, for the value and veracity of such shall one day vindicate the vigilant and the virtuous. [giggles] Verily, this vichyssoise of verbiage veers most verbose, so let me simply add that it is my very good honor to meet you and you may call me V.

Chosen Lords

A compilation of Aphex Twin's legendary Analord series.

In the late 80's; early 90's, Richard D James embarked upon a synthesised journey pioneering the ambient, acid, and techno genre's of the era and releasead; to an extremely limited extent, his Analord series across 11 double sided vinyl EP's under the alias of AFX (to be released under a separate record label). Over the years, with growing popularity of Richards' abstract music and maybe due to the hard-to-buy nature of the series, Analord reached legendary status amongst fans and critics alike. Yet with such status, the series still remains hard to attain and thus, has brought about the release of this; Chosen lords, the first ever Analord material ever to be officially released on compact disc.

To give a very brief outline of the Analord series, the material etched upon these rare vinyl's are infact, a rather 'softer' notion in comparison to his other works. A significant amount of the tracks consist with only several key layers and some even start with one layer and then engross to more, in a rather contemporary, simplistic fashion. Moreso, this is rather in the style of his highly acclaimed Selected Ambient Works 85-92 album (which is renown for being his very best work). However, as with the 'simplistic' nature of the Analord series, this has allowed Richard; the tank driving surrealist to add consummate complexity to the basis of the tracks and in my opinion, one just has to relax to 'phonatacid' to witness the genius of the analord series with its simplistic/complex mutation. Furthermore, the key theme easily reconised when briefly listening to the series is its acidic composition. This further highlights Richards' resistance at being 'pigeon holed'. As with every album and series within his adept discography, each release has encompassed a significantly different genre, yet with a specific style and finesse watermarking the Aphex Twin virtuosity.

Now focused onto the Chosen Lords compilation itself, released under the highly modest Rephlex label (the disc comes in a recycled cardboard case sporting the smallprint of 'support the entertainment you love by purchasing a new, original edition'), it must predominantly be stated that this release is not accessible from the first few listens. One would reconise the seemingly retro surface feel to it and maybe begin to ignore the delightful and masterful intricacies of each track. For once you metaphorically overcome the large surface wall of the album, your eyes and of course ears are encrusted with the hidden complexities and elaborated genius of Richard D James.

Furthermore, the Analord series consisted of around 40 tracks (spread across the eleven EP's) and Richard could of quite simply choose the 10 best tracks from the Analord series to represent and round off the series in a 'greatist hits CD' fashion. Yet rather noticeably, the 10 tracks eventually chosen for this compilation have been delicately hand-picked and examined unremittingly, so that each and every track melds into the next. Not only does this aid the listener in relaxing with the album for which it is best suited but it gives the compilation a truly unique 'album' feel which was lacking with the unstructured 'Hangable auto bulb' release of last year.

Significant highlights of the compilation include the some-what ravaging yet morphing itellect of Fenix Funk 5 in which has the ability to soothe and can send your minds eye on an adventurous abstract journey through and around a medievil castle.
Another significant height of the compilation is Reunion 2 which incorporates an interesting effect in which gives the sensation as if you have your two index fingers over your ears and are instantly muting your hearing then letting go again in a constant cycle. Furthermore, this track emphasises the simplistic nature of the Analord series yet further shows the complexity that Richard D James creates around its simplistic nature.

My overall favourite track from the compilation is the comfortably named Boxing Day in which is a pure masterclass in musical control. There are around 15 layers of individual sound yet each is interlaced with surgical like precision and rather ironically, the track creates the vision within the minds eye of a surgical doctor engrossed within his high pressure, alive engagement. It is indeed a track to fall asleep to, with its lured sound having the ability to engross you into a sub-conscious, lucidic state. It is a truy memorable track in which would not sound out of place at a local party (again this is another accomplishment of the gentle, acidic formation of the Analord series).

Overall, but only after paying tribute to the superb dark and twisting track XMD 5a, it must be exuberantly stressed that there can be no higher accolade than to rate this compilative album on par with Richards D James' perfected genius of Selected Ambiemt Works 85- 92. This, Chosen Lords would sit beside such an album with its arms fondly spread around its back and for such an achievment, this compilation's content, structure and depth is breathtakingly exquisite.

I love Mozart.... He was Austrian You know

Leon (or 'the professional' as its known elsewhere) is certainly my favourite film ever created, and in some way, I kind of feel that it will never be bettered.

I am one of those people who very rarely watch a film for the second time. My list of films that I have watched more than once would be about 5-6 films short, which would include the (kind of) compulsory second watch of Christopher Nolans' Memento. However, I can modestly say that I have watched Leon around 12 to 13 times (ha!). Furthermore I must add that each and every time I watch it again, I always manage to find something new metaphorically or indeed, something to laugh at within Gary Oldman's superb character portrayal of an on-the-edge, haywire cop.

I could now continue to stress how amazing this film actually is; with its superb acting performances, the stunning cinematography or even its delightful symbology. However, i will now finish with a gallery of pictures taken from the movie to which shows leon's extremely high quality....


the outset of the movie with a sweeping, integral look at 90's New York city


a nice piece of cinematography with the lens fading from the stairs to the characters legs and hands (maybe giving the feeling as if youve just climbed the stairs and met this character, as of course Leon does)


a young Natalie Portman putting in a superb, mature performanace as Matilda


Norman Stansfield is possibly the best ever adaption of a crazy, bad guy in film. here he is storming a house whilst listening and killing people in tune with Beethoven. He is masterfully played by Gary Oldman, who in my honest opinion, should of been awarded (or at least nominated) for the 'best actor' at the relevant oscars for this performance alone.


His abstract brutality...


... and his schizophrenic behaviour as he attacks the kitchen with a frying pan

Leon; the italian hitman, played by the favourable Jean Reno

the final shot of the film, panning the camara up through the trees (after having planted Leons plant) to again show 90's NY

Shadow of the Colossus - Game Review

Into the unknown, ride forth...

Released february 2006, several months after the original Japanese launch, shadow of the colossus is a truly groundbreaking game in the sense that it is a game which could certainly be called 'interactive art'. Prior to this, such a statement would be mocked by critics in the ever growing 'games as art' debate. However, as this game was designed by Fumito Ueda; a pure art graduate and naturally a highly artistic person, such a statement has to be taken seriously.

In proof of Uedas' artistic flair, the box art for the European and japanese releases of Ico, was infact a homage to famous surrealist painter Giorgio de Chirico (as shown below).


Furthermore, Shadow of the Colossus is a game that makes you feel different. Most games, such as grand theft auto, try to have the gamer amazed with the amount of things to do, they compact the action into 'blockbuster chunks' with always something happening to keep the gamer entertained and hooked. However, as with Shadow of the Colossus, this game endeavours to achieve some-what the opposite, it wants you to feel lonely with a horse as your only friend, it wants you to feel tired travelling vast distances in search of one specific enemy. It does all this because it is a truly different 'game'.

Technically speaking as a PS2 game, the graphics are amazing with large draw distances and beautiful vista's all rendered with astonishing character animation (especially the horse). Infact if the graphics were to be improved to a next generation console, they would perhaps lose some of their artistic flair.



The sound within the game is another major aspect which is materfully realised; with the natural ambience of running water, to the whimper of the horse or to the groan of a colossi, to the thrush of a waterful, everything feels alive. Moreso, such sound effects are wombed within a beautiful oringinal soundtrack offering context sensitive and delicate classical music in relation to how much danger the main character is in when fighting the colossi. Everything is of the highest quality which is perhaps an understatement, as we should now start to realise that when games are developed by japanese based companies, they always tend to deliver with supreme standards.

Final Verdict

Presentation:: Regarding the simplicity of the game, it still has the flair to present itself in a unique, subtle way. the map alone is implemented with an artistic oil painting feel which further grounds the game within its superbly created atmosphere. 9.0
Graphics:: Beautiful vistas, astonishing animation, all whilst incorporating 'next-gen' exposure technques, blur effects and shadowing. the game also has a very large draw distance considering its on Playstation2. It is unique in an artistic way and is only slightly hampered by an awkward camara thus haulting it at 'only' a.... 9.0
Sound:: the soundtrack is Incredibly subtle and evokes the gamers emotion. furthermore, the environment carries with it a superb, you-can-almost-touch-it ambience. the horse istelf adds great atmosphere with its reaistic, never grating or reccuring sound effects. the highest quality of sound production. 10

Gameplay:: Purposely simple in the exploration with nothing more than appreciation of the scenery as you close in on the colossi (as i say 'interactive art'). Moreso when your actually fighting with the colossi, each one is like a different puzzle and incorporates solid gaming mechanics when attempting to take it down. Also, there is something seemingly gracious when (you) the main character gratefully patts the horse; Agro, for its help and companionship. Its a game that doesn't feel like an actual game and even so, what more could be wished than solid and unique gameplay which engages your emotions like no other. 9.0
Lifespan:: around 8-10 hours long but with the added bonus of a well thought out (i.e not disappointing) ending. there is a hard mode and time attack mode and As with killer7 you will remember it as a truly classic game. A very good.... 8.5
Unique achievment (or tilt) :: its hard to explain but no other game feels this way, truly groundbraking in the development of games 10

Overall:: 9.5

Bwoon Dub Yearly Awards

Although this blog has only recently started, i can happily inform you that this blog will be hosting a yearly 'mini' awards ceremony, which will normally be in relation to games!!

On December 2005, i came up with the following gaming award categories as well there respected winners in my personal opinion for the year 2005...

Best 1st Person Shooter: Half Life 2



Best Sport Simulation: Pro Evo 5

Best Action/adventure game: killer7

Best Driving Game: Burnout Revenge

Best Implemented Controls: Fahrenheit



Best Gameplay Mechanics: God Of War

Game with Richest Atmosphere: Half Life 2

Best Sound Production: Killer7



Best Graphics: Splinter Cell Chaos Theory

Best Original Story: Killer7

Best Direction/Production: Metal Gear Solid Snake Eater

Most Innovative: GTA San Andreas

Surprise of the Year: God Of War

2005 Game of the Year: Killer7

killer7 - Game Review

Master, this is Hot ...

This game is absolutely amazing, as i found that i played most of the game in my "own" mind, trying to unwrap what is the most convoluted and zany plot EVER conceived by the twisted and genius mind of Goichi Suda. Even within the simplistic gaming mechanics, the game still manages to ooze originality and more promptly, intricacy and the actual gameplay can be very tense and intriguing as you fire off quick, abhor infested rounds from your weapon aiming for the enemies glowing weak spot, as they cackle and sloth towards you. Infact whilst mentioning the enemies, each one is perfectly realised by the developers and add a great, concealed atmosphere to the game along with its superb, deeply haunting yet beautiful soundtrack and of course the games schizophrenic sound fx. In total, there are around 30 different types of enemy, futher adding a variety to game, as each one has to be dispossed of uniquely AND quickly, thus adding real tension and on-the-fly shooting reactions to the gaming feel as you attempt to suppress a new enemy. In essence, this game is truly amazing and very avant-garde. It is eccentric to say the least, but on the contrary i would seriously NOT recommend this game to the casual gamer. If your going to like this game, then you have to share the same kind of eccentric, strange imagination as the developers themselves.

Killer 7 is out on both [Gamecube] and [PS2] and was developed by [Grasshopper Manufacture] under the publisher of [Capcom]
Rating ...

Presentation:: The cut scenes alone are the best "un-realtime" i have ever seen in a videogame, they are in the style of a Gorillaz video yet with added originality. Presentation is top notch. 9.5

Graphics:: Beautiful, extremely stylish and unique. cel shaded yet with added detail. Highly artistic.9.0



Sound:: arguably the best thing about the game as the morphing soundtrack can add superb atmosphere to the game, it can envision obsurdness, beauty and even haunt the player. as of 2005, it was certainly the best sound production in a game and it even surpasses, or at least equals metal gear solid for sound production. it sticks with you after switch off 10

Gameplay:: if you don't consider that you play the story out in your mind the physical gameplay is on rails, which WILL alienate players but for those who it wont, will find very good and tense shooting gameplay with added; albeit rather simple, quick and fun puzzles. 8.0
Lasting Appeal:: the game lasts around 10 to 15 hrs which is good in modern gaming but when you do complete it, be prepared for it to nestle in your mind as a truly amazing, once in a gaming life time experience. 8.5

Tilt:: a masterfully written story filled with politics and subterfuge all embedded with superb artistic design and memorable characters, quotes and sound production. Breathtaking 10
Overall:: 9.5



:: Furthermore, if you have personally completed the game and are still unsure of the plot then check out http://db.gamefaqs.com/console/gamecube/file/killer7_plot.txt
it is a superb read if you can swallow it.