Muse - "The Resistance" Album Review

image from Amazon

Artist/Band: Muse
Album: The Resistance
Release Date: 9/15/09
Tracks: 11
Runtime: 54:18


Track Breakdown:

1) Uprising - All the aura of being in a creepy, space-traveling cult, and with a power, anti-authoritative message. Even if you're not in a FIGHT THE POWER kind of mood, when you hear this you'll know it is an excellently produced, catchy song that will have you waiting on the edge of your seat for the chorus. 5 *'s.


2) Resistance - My favorite song on the album, because when telling a story, so many characters have to be 100% positive of what they're saying or doing, and they have to stand for something! This song dares to tell the story of a conflicted man who doesn't know if he's right or wrong. It'll be ringing in your brain days after hearing it. 5 *'s.


3) Undisclosed Desires - This one may be some listener's bread and butter of the album, and is certainly not the worst song I've heard all year, but I have to be critical of certain aspects of it. In my opinion, it's too techno, too much synthesizer, and for the vocals, it's just too pitchy. The lead singer's voice goes from high tones to low tones too frequently and I can't feel any passion for it. 2 *'s.

4) United States of Eurasia - If you like Queen, you may like... United States of Eurasia! There's a little bit of modern Bohemian Rhapsody in this one, though by no means am I calling this the next B.R. But what I mean is, this is something of a rock opera in its core. It's a ballad, it's a head banger, and it's a thinker. If it were a little more catchy and or relatable, it'd be another top mark, but I can only give this one 4 *'s.


5) Guiding Light - This one is a powerful, patriotic sounding song that could very well make it to radio play. There's nothing really definingly outstanding about it, but like a Nirvana song, it seems like they had an idea for what a song should sound like, and added words to it. Either way, this is definitely an entertaining song, and not even skippable. 4 *'s.


6) Unnatural Selection - A jazzed up song with a great energy to it, but not a lot else going for it. Still, Muse is really pulling out all the stops for this album, and it's strong enough to hold on to a 3 *. Skippable, but not MUST-SKIP. In fact, even though you may not skip to this track, I'd bet you won't skip it when it comes on. The longer it goes on the more powerful it gets!


7) MK Ultra - As pre-text, I must say I love this title for two reasons. One, it reminds me of Mortal Kombat. Two, it's actually the codename used for CIA developed Mind-Control interrogation techniques researched over thirty years. Wiki it! The people have a right to know! As for the song, it is a trip in a half. Some real Pink Floyd musing here. 4 1/2 *'s, but only because I can greatly appreciate what's going on here.


8) I Belong to You - This one was made for the clubs I guess, because it's Funky Cold Medina. Unfortunately, it's neither what I expect in a Muse album, nor what I expect in a dancey song. The keyboarding is just too loud, too simplistic, and too featured. The only points this song really gets is for the lyric "I can't find the words to say, you are my mu-", implying their own band name. And then it jumps to a song in French... but I don't speak French and am a lame, uncultured American. 1 1/2 *'s.


9) Exogenesis: Symphony, Pt. 1: Overture - Kind of a hard song to judge, because it's basically entirely instrumental (some inaudible lyrics), and as the title suggests, basically an opera, or movie score. But man, is it an awesome one. If you like Star Wars, or the opening credits to the first Spider-Man film, you'll be able to appreciate this. It's got this dark, seedy, brooding tone to it, but you're basically listening to classical music, so you're smart if you like it. 4 *'s.


10) Exogenesis: Symphony, Pt. 2: Cross-Pollination - Powerful stuff. A very classical, movie score kind of song again, though this time with lyrics, but a little lighter than the dark broodingness of the previous track. 3 3/4 *'s. Definitely good, but after impressing so greatly with the previous track, this one falls just a little short.


11) Exogenesis: Symphony, Pt. 3: Redemption - A great close to the album. After the previous two tracks, it seems like you've witnessed the end of the world. This track is all about hope and rebuilding, a bigger, better, stronger world, with all the same beauty and maybe some new. 4 *'s.



My Highlights:
Uprising and Resistance are definitely the top two tracks of the album, and everyone should go out of their way to hunt these down.


Overall Rating:
3 3/4 *s' out of 5 *'s is the average, which seems completely skewed downward to me, so I'm going to boost this to 4 *'s, for overall big picture brownie points. Every track on here is listenable to, many of them are sure to be favorites upon hearing it, and it mixes such versatility with relatability that it's practically a concept album. Go out and buy this album people. Support your Muse!

Flash Games for the bored

Here is a game worth wasting some time on. It's Pyro II, with you in control of the fireball, you must light up each lantern in each level.

Link: http://www.addictinggames.com/pyroii.html

Also check out Time Fcuk, with crazy game mechanics involved that you must see for yourself.

Link: http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/511754

Marilyn Manson Catches Swine Flu

image from Marilyn Manson's myspace gallery

According to Rolling Stone, famous shock-rocker Marilyn Manson has been diagnosed with H1N1 AKA The Swine Flu. Keeping things suitable for work, we cant tell you the whole story, but we can use some word replacement to let you get the jist of his message. The following [censored] message was posted by Manson on his facebook page: “So I have officially been diagnosed, by a real doctor, with THE SWINE FLU. I know everyone will suggest that ~SNU-SNU~ a pig is how this disease was obtained. However, the doctor said my past choices in women have in no way contributed to me acquiring this mysterious sickness. Unfortunately, I am going to survive.”

Ever the emo drama-king, but we're glad that he'll continue to stick around and produce more rocking metal music. Manson is practically original sin, and it wouldn't surprise me if he literally caught The Swine Flu, bottled it, and injected it into his own blood stream so he could infect others. Manson = the muse of Dethklok. Prove me wrong.

Clearance Bin Video Game Review: Carmen Sandiego: The Secret of the Stolen Drums

Title: Carmen Sandiego: The Secret of the Stolen Drums
System: Playstation 2
Rating: E



Script: Welcome to the Clearance Bin Video Game Review, by Organizedremains.com. Today, we look at Carmen Sandiego: The Secret of the Stolen Drums, for the Playstation 2. This game will burn up about $5 out of your wallet.

The game starts off with an ACME Trainee named Cole, in New York City. Cole stumbles upon Carmen Sandiego while his more experienced partners are on a wild goose chase, looking for her in Siberia. Between this cutscene, and the beginning of the game, you’re fed random trivial facts about the geographical location you’re playing in. This lovely aspect continues to every level, but I suppose this was meant to make learning fun for kids.

The first level has so many controls to learn that you initially think it’s a training course, but it is in fact contributing to the story. For example, your main weapon of choice is a staff, which you can use to strike, combo-strike, jump-strike, or pole vault. Then there’s about a dozen other moves that don’t involve your weapon of choice. It makes it all kind of tedious.

What’s even more tedious than the moves, which you will eventually learn, is the seemingly millions of different items you have to collect through the levels. To name just a few, there are pellets, clues, amulets, maps, puzzle pieces, masks, and crazy looking ying-yang tri-forces, but the focus of the levels is to collect the compasses… we think.

Unlike some games where you can avoid fighting and merrily skip through your level, you have to defeat every enemy you come across in this game. And the A.I. leaves much to be desired. But for every enemy you defeat, you gain a binary code, which will unlock a door at the end.

Final Say: At first, we thought the game was pretty decent, then after an hour we just didn’t care where in the world Carmen Sandiego was. So as our final say we suggest passing on this game. It had its moments of entertainment, and it was well-thought out, with collectables and creative enemies, but there was no “it” factor. Nothing about it made us want to continue playing.

The Brady Bunch

40 years ago a T.V. show called The Brady Bunch went on the air. You know why we should care? Because hitting someone in the face with a football would have never became popular if it wasn't for The Brady Bunch.

They should make that into a video game. Throwing footballs at people, it's classic just thinking about it. Doing some research though, according to Gamespot, there is a Brady Bunch Kung Fu video game. Sadly there is no Mike Brady because... of license agreements? So I guess the rest of the family was alright with violence against the other house members. Surprisingly this game got a descent review score.

So happy birthday to The Brady Bunch from Organized Remains.

Langhorne Slim's Be Set Free Review

image from Amazon

Artist/Band: Langhorne Slim
Album: Be Set Free
Release Date: 9/22/09
Tracks: 13
Runtime: 38:18


Track Breakdown:

1) Back To The Wild - Being a folk singer, Langhorne Slim clearly based both his sound and his album cover on Bob Dylan. But he actually manages to do Dylan's musical legacy justice. This is a very peppy, very musical song that you wouldn't hate hearing in a commercial, probably for a cell phone company. A very good first impression, and that's what you should give in a first track, especially as an unknown. 5 *'s.

2) Say Yes - Not an awful song. Very pretty lyrics, and sonnet-like in its passion. Unfortunately, it's just a little too peppy for me and adventures outside of Dylan Folk Rock to 80's Glam Pop. 2 1/2 *'s.

3) I Love You, But Goodbye - Very John Mayer in its vocal delivery, maybe with a little bit of James Blunt, but the piano comes on too strong for me. The track would have greatly advantaged from a louder acoustic guitar rather than the bells and whistles. 2 1/2 *'s.

4) Land of Dreams - This one teeter-totters for me, because the lyrics are fantastic. This song tells a great story and has a very strong message, but the music is very much a downfall. It's a constant battle between 80's Never Ending Story soundtrack music vs. country bumpkin music. Never the less 3 1/2 *'s.

5) Cinderella - If you like Schroeder playing the piano in Peanuts cartoons, you might have a strong appreciation for this track. For the average listener though, it'll probably fall to a 1 1/2 *. Not a whole lot going for it.

6) Be Set Free - Not the worst song on the album. Good lyrics, decent enough sound to it, but really nothing strong about it to make it stand out enough to bring in fans. A mediocre 3 *.

7) For A Little While - Straight blues injected into the veins and into the brain. While missing that extra little oomph to make it a fantastic song, definitely a very good song, inspired by old timey blues players. 4 1/2 *'s.

8) Sunday By The Sea - What would have been a pretty good Summer hit, it's now fall and this song lacks impact. Very mellow and soothing though, so a 3 1/2 *'s for effort.

9) Leaving My Love - Another mellow song, kind of got a "Hey Joe" by Jimi Hendrix kind of vibe to it, but minus the violence. Nothing to really make the song stand out as a must have though, which puts it at 3 *'s for me. Not skip-urging when it plays, but not skip-to either.

10) Yer Wrong - Not the best vocal track on the album, and actually rubs shoulders with Bright Eyes for raspy nerdy squeaky voice, however the big picture of this song really makes it worth listening to. I wouldn't mind hearing this as a soundtrack song, maybe on the radio as well, though I don't think it'll catch on with radio. 4 1/2 *'s.

11) Blown Your Mind - Ugh, more Peanuts piano playing matched with James Blunt vocals. If it weren't for the lyrics, this song would definitely not be worth scraping off the bottom of my heel, but I'll give it a generous 2 1/2 *s'.

12) So Glad I'm Coming Home - Definitely a great representation of what Langhorne Slim could become. He's got a fiery passion in his vocal delivery, a story to tell, and knows the words to tell that story perfectly. 5 *'s. Though in the future, I'd avoid violins, or fiddles, or whatever it is I'm listening to in the back. It didn't ruin the song, but it could very well be the catalyst to others.

13) Boots Boy - A strong Bob Dylan, give up all your material possessions in exchange for love, kind of song. A perfect ending track to the album that I was very impressed by. 5 *'s.


My Highlights:
Back To The Wild, So Glad I'm Coming Home and Boots Boy are definitely the best tracks on the album, and worth checking out in order to see if Langhorne Slim is for you.


Overall Rating: I went in expecting either someone doing Bob Dylan justice and bringing back what folk music is all about, or someone trying to make a name for themselves by spewing out some crap and labeling it folk because that's kind of, sort of, the music that they like. What I got was a somewhat gray area, mixing with doing Bob Dylan justice, and surprising me with a modern, pop kind of sound that shows Langhorne Slim can transition to whatever he needs to in order to be successful. So averaging all of these track ratings, I give Be Set Free 3.5 *'s out of 5*'s. So I suggest everyone check this album out, because I can't imagine you being disappointed. It's even easily accessible on Lala.com

Cops Raid Empty House For Drugs, Play Wii Instead

Hey they're only human right? Look at that sweet entertainment center! Hopefully they found enough evidence to arrest the owner though, otherwise it's kind of in bad taste.

The internet of tomorrow 10 years ago

Lets all take a look at what our favorite search engines looked like when we first started using them. I personally was a user of the search engine About.com, which isn't on this site... oh well.

What does the future hold for us.

- 75% increase in lolcats and other cats (keyboard cat).
- Google owns 87% of the internet (Including Organized Remains).
- Everything will be on the internet... even food.
- Presidential elections will be on the internet, eliminating the need to drive to a voting booth.
- People thought the internet killed the music industry, now the music industry is saved by the internet, through internet concerts... live! With enabled mosh pits and $5 bottles of water!
- Web babies!

Inglourious Basterds

image from reelmovienews.com

Premise:
An intertwining double plot, similar to Pulp Fiction's time-twister. The setting takes place in Nazi-occupied France during World War II. In one story arc, a Jewish-French teen falls victim to watching her entire family murdered by Nazis. The teen gets away and changes her identity, opening a theater which many Nazis seem to love. Unknown to the S.S. is that this teen is now a woman with a thirst for German blood. In the other story arc, a guerrilla team of Jewish-American soldiers known as The Basterds make it their personal mission to eradicate Nazis. Despite their small numbers, their brutality, with trademark - scalping of killed enemies, earn them a well known reputation all the way up the ranks to Adolph Hitler.

For the trailer, and to compare my review with my initial excited hype for the film, see my previous blog months back here.

Standouts:
The acting is superb, the comedy, the gore and action, all as top notch as you would expect from Quentin Tarantino. I can't say there was really all that much character development, but this movie was about a very select few things - one, being a moralistic, or maybe A-moralistic message, and the other being a brainless shoot-em-up and gorefest.

Something that drew a bit of critisim from those I viewed the film with, was the runtime. There were some mild complaints that some scenes containing dialog dragged on a bit too long, with a particular bar scene in mind. While I was not effected enough by these scenes to complain, I can also understand this. Some condensing into a slightly shorter film could have appealed to viewers more.


My Highlights:
Brad Pitt as Aldo The Apache, a Tennesee-born Jewish American doing his best through his southern accent to go undercover as an Italian, and also any scene involving Nazi killing. Nazi killing is basically what sold the movie, and it sold very well.


Overall Rating:
I truely loved this movie, but even with a great consistancy for great scenes, there was nothing about it that makes me say I need to see it a second time before it leaves theaters. This may be due to the run-time or the, at times, heavy amount of dialog, but whatever small "It" factor this film is missing, it doesn't detract much from it. I give this film a 4 1/2 *'s out of 5, and easily one of the better movies I've seen this year.


When You Should See It:
This film is definitely worth seeing before it leaves cinemas, because the visual and audio effects will feel a bit dulled when compared to DVD. There's nothing quite like sitting in a room full of people as a big sharp knife carves into a Nazi's head. If you can't see it anytime soon, definitely go out and rent, or really even just buy if you're a red-blooded, violence-loving male, as soon as it hits your media format of choice.

Thoughts on Punch Out for the Wii

Source of Image
Here we have the classic game of Punch Out, an all brand new boxing game and with motion controls. You play as Little Mac and you're working your way to the top. To punch you use use the Wiimote and thrust it forward, and same with the nunchuck. To dodge other player's punches, you dodge using the analog stick on the nunchuck. The players are wacky, fun to play against, and each have their own gimmick.

I found this game to be really fun to play, especially the multi-player. One thing I do advise though, is to stretch your arms before playing. I'm not used to throwing punches, being the nerd I am, so my arms ended up being pretty swore the next day.

Final Say: Go out and buy if you're into boxing. If you're not into boxing, I still say give it a rent (like I did). I'm not a big boxing fan as well, but I found this game to be a nice surprise and found it very fun to play. I enjoyed this way more than the Wii Sports boxing, but I won't be purchasing this till the price drops much lower than $50. Mainly because the multi-player is a blast.

Adventureland Review

image from Amazon.com

Premise:
It's the summer of 1987, fashion is nerdy, financial status of the community is high, but dwindling, and Ronald Reagan is president. James Brennan (Jesse Eisenberg) is pumped up and ready to go to Europe for the Summer on his parent's bill, and then to a fancy Ivy league college after that. Bad news for James, the main bacon-bringer, dad got a huge pay decrease and can afford none of this. So James gets a Summer job at local theme park Adventureland, where his boss is played by Bill Hader, and the playboy mechanic is Ryan Reynolds.


Standouts:
The acting is pretty exemplary all around, though being a dramedy (drama+comedy) there will be evident jumping around of who's good at what roll. For example, Bill Hader and Jesse Eisenberg, even at their most human moments, feel like naturally comedic writers. Hader was at least written to bring the comedic moments into the film, but watching Eisenberg try to be serious, you feel like it's all leading up to one hilarious moment of failure, which sparingly ever comes in the film. In contrast, Ryan Reynolds and Kristen Stewart actually understood human emotion and made you feel. This mismatching seems to make the movie's tone very chaotic and confusing on how to react. Little things like apparel, props, and lighting can be appraised for those with a keen eye for it, but I really find myself adding any other positives about the film.


My Highlights:
Take a nerdy Jesse Eisenberg on the run from an angry bully, and arm Bill Hader with a metal baseball bat to come to the rescue. What you have will be the greatest scene of the movie by-far.


Overall Rating:
Firstly, I must state before hand for those who will potentially disagree with me, that I'm not a fan of dramedies. I wholly approve of Black Comedies like the Showtime hit, Weeds, because you watch it and feel as though you're watching a comedy that has some very serious moments in it, even if the "lol" jokes are spaced out. Even normal comedies should have some drama in them, otherwise you would have no conflict. And something that can hurt a comedy is to not sell the drama you write for your characters, but I digress. If you look at any good drama in comparison, you have comedic moments. Rarely can you make your audience utterly depressed from start to finish without any break, due to you exhausting the emotional spectrum. So a good movie, no matter the genre, should have a little bit of everything. A Dramedy, by my definition, is an overly-sold comedy to the point you can't laugh at anyone's failures, so all you get is a very awkward, squirmy abomination that is neither comedy, nor drama.

As for Adventureland, I can only give it 2 3/4 *'s out of 5 *'s. It drew me in, it had its special moments, but I found myself struggling to sit through all of it. That's a disappointing reaction considering the film is only an hour and forty-seven minutes. I was especially uninterested after the first hour. Now, doing the math, out of 100 I gave this film a 55. Rottentomatoes.com gave this film an 89, which is a ridiculous jump. This film was promoted on mainly one thing - it was written and directed by Greg Mottola, who also directed Superbad. But it's clear that the writers of Superbad, as well as producer Judd Apatow, are what made that movie, and movies like it what they were, not Mottola.

Stick to your day job of directing Greg Mottola.


When You Should See It:
I don't typically advise anyone to make an effort seeing a film I rate under 3 *'s, so there's no rush at all. If you're a big fan of Dramedies, or want to own the whole film family connected to Superbad - anything starring/written by Seth Rogen, anything produced by Judd Apatow, and anything directed by Greg Mottola, then sure, add this to your collection. This movie might be a collector's dream, but for me, it was a potential star that fell like a bomb.

Talk like a free game day!

Talk like a pirate day is here, Arrrr! The pirates over at Telltale games want you to enjoy a free game! That's right, to celebrate they are giving away the first episode of Monkey Island: Launch of the Screaming Narwhal. Also if you're like me and already bought the series of Monkey Island, then you are not forgotten! Because you are giving the chance to get another episode of any other game on Telltale's website for FREE!

I played through Monkey Island and I have to say it's a great game. The controls could be worked on, but the humor is still in there and is a blast to play. For the free price tag, this is just another reason to go and download!

Follow this link:
http://www.telltalegames.com/playlikeapirate

Thoughts on Ghostbusters the Video Game

Who you gonna call? How many reviews of this game do you think opened with this? Well add one more to the list.

Being a fan of the movies of course, I had to try out the Ghostbusters game. I remember there being a Ghostbusters game for the NES that was awful, but that was back when the movie recently came out. Now we have almost 20 years of space between the movie and video game.

We all know that video games based off movies are usually terrible (Men and Black 2, Wolverine's revenge and many others), but Ghostbusters did an amazing job on this game. I could talk about the awesome gameplay and fun weapons to use, but I'm going to talk about the part of the game that had me the most amazed. That would be the story to the game and the fact they got all the original voices to be the voice actors. The story isn't just a recap of the movies, it's brand new story lines just for the game.

This game has a great story, great voice acting, great weapons, fun levels, and lots of destruction. It has it all and I say you must go out and buy, or rent this game. Even if you haven't seen the movie, you will be pleased with the game.

Bye Bye Blockbuster

image from videogamenews.com

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the biggest movie rental retail service, Blockbuster Video is going to eliminate 20% of it's locations. These cost-cutting measures stem from brutal competition against movie-fan-favorite mail-in-service Netflix and on-the-rise dark horse from the grocery and convenience stores, Redbox. Blockbuster is hoping to use the money saved from these locations for funding a huge Redbox kiosk knockoff spree.

Personally, I can't remember the last time I walked into a Blockbuster store. Even before I had a Netflix account, and was signed up to Blockbuster: Total Access, I never saw the need to go to the actual store. Now I know there are some people who get spur-of-the-moment urges to go pick up a movie, but there are now so many movies available online, iTunes, Comcast: On Demand, and probably a hundred other sources. So with it's main source of revenue being movies, the gamers out there might be suffering from this change. But if you are, just sign up for Gamefly. It's more cost effective and convenient anyways. The world has passed Blockbuster by and they don't seem stable enough to catch up. So I say ce la vi, the world will keep turning.

Plump Fiction Review

Being a giant fan of the movie Pulp Fiction I saw Plump Fiction on the TV Guide and thought to check it out. Obviously a parody of the movie Pulp Fiction, but also brings a little of the movie Reservoir Dogs into the mix.

There are a lot of great parody movies out there (Naked Gun, Austin Powers, ect.), but Plump Fiction doesn't make the cut of classic parody movie. I understood all the parts they were making fun of from Pulp Fiction (having seen it a lot), but it was just not funny. The scene in Pulp Fiction when Vince and Jules are talking about foot massages got turned into them talking about waxing the upper lip of a woman.

The funniest part of the movie, was probably when they revealed what was in the glowing orange briefcase. Most people will probably not make it this far in the movie and will turn it off. Also the way they explained why the movie skipped to different places in time was funny.

Final Say: An 82 min movie making fun of an all time great movie, doesn't mean it will be great. I say skip over this movie or catch it on TV if anything. Don't even bother putting it on your Netflix Que, unless you're a Pulp Fiction fan like myself and must see everything Pulp Fiction related.

Clearance Bin Video Game Review: Rugrats Search For Reptar

Title: Rugrats Search For Reptar
Rating: E
System: Playstation 1



Script: Welcome to the Clearance Bin Video Game Review by Organized Remains.com. Were looking at the game Rugrats search for Reptar for the Playstation 1. $7 is what you will have to put down on this game if you want it, but first watch this!

What a trip this game has to offer. For the fans like us, you get nostalgia from all the episodes you will start to remember as you play this game. So the people that are not fans of the show, just stop right there. For the fans, lets talk about the game play.

The lack of vision in this game is like when Chucky looses glasses to Angelica. There is a button just for being able to see which is R1, if only it worked. Ok maybe it worked sometimes, but 90% of the time it would make things worse. This doesn’t help when the controls are pretty terrible to move around.

The music in this game starts out fun, but ends up making you realize how fun a ride It’s a Small World After All is. The character’s voices on the other hand were done correctly, but way overused.

With many trips to different episodes from early 90’s Rugrats. You know the one before Dil. You will find yourself having a lot of fun remembering back to your childhood. The downside though is that it’s short. We ended up beating it in an hour and a half. Imagine Mario 64 with 12 stars, because you have to collect only a dozen jigsaw pieces. There are not even a dozen levels though, sometimes they just randomly give you a jigsaw piece.

Final Say: So after giving it a play through, we say that it’s only worth $7 to the fans that loved the show.

Best Representation of Disney Buying Marvel

ItsJustSomeRandomGuy is pretty famous on Youtube for his parodies of the Mac vs. PC commercials, spun into "I'm a Marvel." "And I'm a DC." Well It'sJustSomeRandomGuy is back at it again with some very insightful, or perhaps anti-insightful thoughts. Either way, it's incredibly entertaining, and shows both perspectives of what could happen now that Disney has purchased Marvel Comics.

Paranormal Activity - Blair Witch for 2009

Remember how Rocky Balboa wasn't originally even in the boxing league at the beginning of his film franchise, but was immediately thrown into the center stage to sink or swim with the big dogs? Well we have a pretty good embodiment of that now. You've probably never heard of the incredibly low budget horror film, Paranormal Activity, but according to slashfilm.com, it's been out since 2007, and Paramount is just now deciding to bring it to theaters September 25. Much like The Blair Witch Project, this is all done dirt cheap, and is based on true events. Well just off of the strength of the trailer, I'd say this movie has some legs to stand with it's competition on the 25th - sci-fi space horror Pandorum, Bruce Willis robot v. cop Sci-Fi thriller Surrogates, High School The Musical drama for adults Fame, and maybe a few others depending on where you live.

Sonic is back in 2D

Finally Sega is seeing the light! They announced a 2D Sonic game in HD! Most of the Sonic games that come out these days are in 3D and horrible. They give Sonic and his friends the stupidest voices, bad controls, and just ruining Sonic as the years go by. That is until now. With Sonic returning to the 2D style of the game, this could return Sonic to his glory days. The point of a Sonic game was to go fast and collect rings. When Sonic is in 3D that is not going to happen. Collecting rings is a pain and going fast isn't much easier.

Source of Image
So I am welcoming this 2D HD Sonic with open arms. I am a fan of the original 2D games and even the 2D games for the DS were descent. Why did Sega even bother with 3D? To compete with Mario of course. When Mario 64 came out and was amazing, poor Sonic the Hedgehog was thrown to the side. Sonic was even made into 3D before Mario, but no one really liked the original Sonic 3D, but when Sonic was made into a 3D game for the Sega Dreamcast, everyone loved it (well except for Shawn and I). They kept making them in 3D and ended up making Sonic Riders, one of the worst games I've ever played in my life.

Sega has finally played their 3D sonic games and figured out "If it's not broken, then why fix it?" I can't hope for more news for this 2D Sonic game to come out.

Worst Movie Ever Being Remade - Plan 9

Some of you who are in on the inside track might have heard of the 1959, blunder-filled, low budget, horror film, Plan 9 from Outer Space. The movie gained notoriety for such film making atrocities as visible strings on flying UFOs, obvious boom-mikes in shots, and the most dreadful dialog imaginable. This was a movie so bad, that not even Mystery Science Theater 3000 were able to parody it. Well a trailer has been released on 9/09/09 for the remake. Only this time, it's for realz. We'll see high end special effects, big budget, and presumably less faux pas. Here is the trailer from the original movie, followed by the trailer for the remake.

Clearance Bin Video Game Review: Sudoku Ball Detective

Title: Sudoku Ball Detective
System: Nintendo DS
Rating: E
Paid: Not yet a clearance item, but I will tell you how much you should spend on this game.

Review: As I stated in my review of Time Hollow I'm a big fan of games that have a great story to them. I saw that Sudoku Ball Detective just came out not to long ago and thought a puzzle game with a story could be good. I gave it a rent to check it out.

You should probably learn how to do sudoku puzzles before picking up this game. This whole game is about sudoku puzzles. Well except for the story. You play as a detective who was at a party enjoying himself until one of the guests at the party complained about a bee sting and then falls to the floor and dies. You are put on the case of who did it.

There are different ways of playing sudoku in this game. First of all there is the sudoku ball, to gather clues you have to solve the boxes with big ? in them. Spinning the ball will reveal more boxes with ? in them. Once you've gathered all the clues, you will be brought to a lab to inspect the clues you found. In this lab you have to solve a regular 9X9 sudoku. Every time the test tube to the right empties, some of your numbers will disappear and you will have to figure them out again. There will come times where you have to break into buildings. To do this you have to quickly figure out the combination, by figuring out the middle number of a sudoku puzzle. You have to do this 7 times before you can unlock the door. The final one is a chase scene, which happens 3 times in the game. You have to quick figure out the boxes in the sudoku puzzle that have big red foot prints in them. On the top screen it will show where you are and where the person is. Once you catch up to them, mission accomplished.

Now that we got through that, let me talk about what I thought of the game. It took me about 3 hours to beat and I was about to go crazy with all the sudoku puzzles I was doing. Luckily this game wasn't any longer, because when I got to the 2nd hour, I was ready to shut the game off, but I kept playing just to see the ending. The DS is known for amazing story games, but this game cannot be compared to them. The story is not that great, just a regular story, it doesn't keep you sucked in.

Final Say: This is a rent unless you are so much in love with sudoku puzzles, you wish you could actually marry and have children with them. There is replay value to this game, with just sudoku puzzles and sudoku balls to complete. I couldn't get to any of them, because I couldn't take another puzzle. Amazingly this game had an amazing ability to know what you were writing. My handwriting is awful and this game could understand what I was writing. There lucky for that, because if it was like Brain age, I would have only lasted an hour of playing this game.

Buying price: Rent or wait till it's $5 to $10 in a clearance bin.

Masters Of Horror: The Washingtonians Review

image from Amazon

Premise:
The story follows Mike Franks (Johnathon Schaech from Quarantine and 2008's Prom Night), his wife Pam (Venus Terzo) and his daughter Amy (Julia Tortolano) who have to spend the week in Mike's late grandmother's spooky southern house. Amy accidently breaks a portrait the grandmother had painted and Mike discovers inside a grim shard of paper detailing George Washington's threat to "skin and eat your children, and make utensils from their bones". The majority of the town is already in on this dark secret and are part of a psychotic tributing cult.


Standouts:
For those with an eye for it, you'll find yourself very impressed by the directing in terms of setting. Hitchcock classes must have paid off because there's a lot of usage of red in subtle places. Things like darkness and shadows are also used very well. As for acting, there are really only two people in this movie who are going to get you emotionally involved and believe. The first is the daughter, sweet little ten year old Amy (Julia Tortolano). Her character is consistently afraid, possibly a sufferer from anxiety, but she really garners fear in you as a viewer. The second is a friend of the late grandmother, Samuel Madison (Myron Natwick). This guy captures creepy like no one else. Other than these two, everyone else pretty much screams lame, cheesy, Crypt Keeper kind of TV. Technically, that's what this movie was, as it was made for TV on Showtime, but it was put on its own DVD.


My Highlights:
Anything involving cannibalism. The Cannibal dinner party is especially something to look forward to when you watch this movie. The explanation of Washington's horrifying backstory is also interesting.


Overall Rating:
So long as you go into watching this movie expecting it to be an awfully acted, completely ridiculous horror show episode, you'll get more than your money's worth, especially by the end. There are some strong republican undertones to the film, but I couldn't actually tell if they were pro-or-anti republican. They do make for some good laughs however. And the runtime, a mere hour, certainly gives itself some legs, as I'm not sure it really could have been drawn out too much longer. So for my overall rating, I give this 4*'s.


When You Should See It
You're probably not always in the mood to watch poorly acted, zany and cheesy, ridiculous, horror film, so this isn't really a high priority. It was entertaining, and despite my high rating, it's not going anywhere. It'll be on Netflix Instant Watch where I saw it for likely a very long time.

PS3 Slim Selling Like Hotcakes

News is a word typically meant to inform you about something you didn't know, so maybe this isn't news in it's strictest sense, but more of a confirmation of beliefs and theories. According to VGC Chartz, in it's first week on sale, the PS3 has already sold half a million pieces. Because of this huge boost, the former loser of the new generation console war is now placing first over the X-Box 360 and Nintendo Wii.

While it's current status on top is impressive, its going to need some great reviews to ride on the coat tails of this new model's success. It could very well be just a bunch of overly excited, itchy trigger finger consumers who ran out and bought this the first week it hit shelves, but if to reach everyone else, it has to be proven to not be a piece of junk. What Sony's going to need in order to make the PS3 Slim this Christmas' version of the Wii, is a line-up of great debuting games, no bugs, and bundle packs close to holidays.

While I formed a list of great games out for the PS3 already, which you can find here, here is a list of PS3 games coming out between now and Christmas that I'm guessing, if promoted and reviewed well enough, could be the bungee cord that keeps the PS3 bouncing right back up despite any dips along the way:

• Wet
• Katamari Forever
• Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2
• Brutal Legend
• Borderlands
• WWE Smackdown vs. RAW 2010
• Ratchet & Clank: A Crack In Time
• Tekken 6
• Rogue Warrior
• DJ Hero: Renegade Edition
• Star Wars The Force Unleashed: Ultimate Sith Edition
• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
  

Ninja Golf

I came across a remake of the game Ninja Golf. I mentioned the game in my review of the Aqua Teen Hunger Force game. It's got great sound effects, great music, and it's fun to play. So here is a great (and free) alternative to the ATHF game.

Link to Game!

Clearance Bin Video Game Review: Wayne's World

Title: Wayne's World
System: Super Nintendo



Script: Welcome to the Organized Remains.com Clearance Bin Video Game Review. Today we look Wayne’s World for the Super Nintendo. Wayne’s World will cost you $5.

You start out being introduced to the T.V. program Wayne’s World. Wayne and Garth talk about the top ten worst games they played at the arcade. They get to number one and turns out they got sucked into the game. Garth gets kidnapped and you have to be the Mario to his Princess Peach.

Use Wayne’s guitar as a weapon that blasts… something that’s blue. The enemies in this game range from Bag pipes, tea cups and a giant hockey player. The enemies in this game mock you as you can’t shoot downward and basically can’t shoot while jumping. The controls to this game are pretty good, it’s just the layout of the levels that are bad. You can’t see where you’re jumping to. That usually leads to guarantees a lot of “Not!” The music is annoying after hearing it for a couple of seconds, but this move is excellent.

Usually in games the easiest levels are in the beginning, but the final boss battle level was easier than the first level. Speaking of the final boss… why? Garth is trapped in some gelatinous cube of Jell-O. So this cube, can look at you, shoot arrows at you, and punch you. So you end up beating this boss and that brings you to the final cut scene. That goes on and on and makes you want to go to the DMV.

Final Say: So Wayne’s World what does it offer? Great catch phrases and pretty good graphics for the time, but if you want to see great catch phrases and awesome graphics, check out the movie! So worth $5 bucks? I would say yes… Not!

A flash game with Dad

Sakupen a Newgrounds artist is back with a game based on his Dad cartoons. The game features a lot like many levels, many weapons, the ability to throw objects lying around, and boss battles. This will keep you busy for awhile.

Link to GAME!

Also check out the original animation of Dad's Home.

Then the sequel to Dad's Home, called Dad's At Work.

Non Dad related, but another cartoon by Sakupen (Which happens to be one of my all time favorite flash animations) you should check out is Walk-Smash-Walk.

Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day

[Warning: NSFW]

More Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day Info

Holy Kermit The Frog. The Saints are coming! Finally!

Here's what I'm worried about though - the guy at the beginning with the mowhawk, and the redneck guy replacing "Funny Man" Rocco. According to wiki, Rocco will still be in the movie, but he's clearly been downgraded heavily.

What I'm excited about - well, everything, but to name one thing that might not be so obvious: Julie Benz. I can understand not bringing back William Dafoe to reprise his role in the film, but what a great way of keeping to the original film by making Julie Benz be his protege. And while I didn't recognize her from her name or even appearance, she is a main character in one of my favorite shows of all time, Dexter on Showtime.

People need to go out and rewatch Boondock Saints right now so they can be blown away by the sheer awesomeness of this film. It's been a decade in the making, and we're finally getting the masterpiece. This isn't going to be "Chinese Democracy" - remixes of remixes of remixed crap that probably might have been good in it's original stages, this is going to be excellence. Bank on it.

Extract: Excuse For Beavis And Butthead

If you're a fan of this blog, you probably don't need an introduction to the work of Mike Judge. But to those who do, here's a short resume: Office Space, Beavis and Butthead, and King of the Hill. Add to that his latest upcoming comedy, Extract, starring Jason Bateman, Mila Kunis and Ben Affleck. Frankly, I found the trailer to be nothing special and actually found that parts of the plot shown were detractors, but I'll discuss that at the end. In fact, the official trailer(s) aren't even worth their own blog, but one trailer certainly is. Being the creator of Beavis and Butthead, who better than to promote the film?

[Warning: Language NSFW. If you work at a Nunnary.)





So, that was awesome. Heck, bring back Beavis and Butthead. That promotion trailer seemed like it had more going for it than this new movie, Extract. Here's the official trailer, you can decide which you'd prefer to see.





Now for what I've been alluding to. The one part of this trailer that makes me consider not going to see it, is the drug usage. To me, it just seems like an artist working blue. Yes, I'm calling the guy who did Beavis and Butthead and Office Space an artist who doesn't resort to creating controversial, risque, racy, obscene or taboo material. Mike Judge works best with themes like sex, failure, and immaturity. This movie already looks like it'll end up on my Netflix queue rather than my must-see Summer Cinema Hits.

Clearance Bin Video Game Review: Croc: Legend of the Gobbos

Title: Croc: Legend of the Gobbos
Rating: E
System: Playstation 1




Script: Welcome to the Organized Remains.com clearance bin video game review. Today we are looking at Croc: Legend of the Gobbos for the Playstation 1. This game will cost you around $5.

The game story shows that you are some orphan traveling downstream. These furry looking munchkins called Gobbos adopt you. One day while everyone is just enjoying life, this evil magician named Baron Dante comes and wrecks the joint. He kidnaps your family. This is where you come into play when a magical bird flies in and takes in a vortex.

You start out on this giant map of levels. Each level contains your family members to rescue or a Jig Saw puzzle piece. We never understood the puzzle pieces to this game. While finding your family you will encounter terrible controls, pitfalls, sliding and these freaks.

The controls, my Kermit the frog. The developers seemed to have a decision to make, “We could either have good controls or we could have him do this!” This brings you to ice levels which just makes the controls even worse. When you’re slipping around trying to jump to platforms it becomes very frustrating. At least they added the circle button so you could turn around at any time.

Another complaint we had was the health system. You could go on and on collecting these gems, but no matter how many you had, once you get hit, you lose them all. Then the next hit is your last. [Kur-splat!]

Final Say: Even though the controls were pretty awful, we found ourselves addicted to this game. With a ton of levels to play and a lot of replay value. You can say the game is worth $5.