The Blog Now In Blu-Ray: Random Thoughts In Hi-Def

A ton of random thoughts on this Thursday afternoon:

- Holy lord, it's gettin' hot in here. It's been in the high 80's and 90's all week here in So-Cal, but today it has finally topped 100 here in Burbank. And it is hot. Not humid / sweaty hot like in Connecticut or New York, but just HOT.

- Like everyone else, I have been singing along to the frequently-played-on-the-radio "I Kissed a Girl" by Katy Perry. However, I still say that Jill Sobule's 90's hit of the same name is the overall superior song. Who's with me?

- I'm happy to see that the HULK did fairly well at the box office, though I would have liked to have seen it do even better. I was surprised by some of the lukewarm reviews though - Owen Glieberman, usually pretty reliable when it comes to action films, gave it a mere B - ? That seems a bit low for a film that in my mind accomplished pretty much exactly what it was supposed to.

- I am encouraged though to see some positive reviews flowing in for WANTED. I have to admit, I was skeptical. The director is the guy who did NIGHT WATCH, which I realize has a cult following, but which I found to be almost totally unwatchable, and which stands as one of the few movies so atrociosu that I gave it the grade of "F" here on the blog. But hey, I guess there were some hints of visual flair there, so if the game has been stepped up, then I will join in with the fanboys who are psyched for this one. I mean, I have to admit, in the redband trailer, it was pretty freaking awesome to hear the usually family-friendly Morgan Freeman bellow "Shoot that mutha#$%'er!"

- And ohhhhh man, this weekend will be interesting at the box office, as two much-hyped comedies go head to head in GET SMART and THE LOVE GURU. I actually have a running bet going on with my friend Seth about this face-off. I say Get Smart will outgross Love Guru, he says the oppossite. It may very well be close, but my reasoning is that decent reviews for Get Smart, coupled with two rising stars in Steve Carell and Dwayne "Don't Call Me The Rock" Johnson will help it to do pretty good box office. Because let's face it, and I say this sadly, because I am a HUGE Mike Myers fan. The Love Guru looks like complete crap. I mean, to me Myers is THE funniest SNL cast member ever. To me, Wayne's World is one of the funniest and most quotable comedies ever made. I love Wayne's World 2 almost as much. The first Austin Powers - well, I counted down to its release, saw it on Day 1 in the theater, and friggin' loved it. That is, until Part 2 came out. To me, even being only in high school at the time, it was overkill. It was when Myers began to jump the shark. I actually liked Goldmember more than The Spy Who Shagged Me, I'm clearly in the minority on that one too, but the Goldmember character cracked me up. But anyways ... Cat In the Hat. Shrek 2 and 3. Dieter movie axed. And then ... nothing. Myers goes into seclusion after some bad and/or unnnecessary movies, and then ... this? I am curious to see Love Guru just because I generally am such a fan of Myers. I love how smart even his dumbest comedy is. I love the word play, the characters, the universes he creates. But there gets to be a point when it can feel too desperate, trying too hard and just simply falling flat. It looks like Love Guru may be that tipping point, when Myers falls over the precipice and into the abyss of NotFunnyville. I've seen mixed reviews, but the negative ones are just off-the-charts brutal. Again, should be an interesting weekend at the movies.

- I'm looking forward to FEAR ITSELF tonight on NBC. Yes, the first two eps have been a bit disappointing, but that's the great thing about an anthology, there's always the chance for a diamond in the rough, and supposedly tonight's ep is where things really start to pick up. Sweet.

- I FINALLY watched the SMALLVILLE season finale. I thought it was pretty decent although I was a little taken aback with the abrupt ending. So Lex now knows that Clark is Kal-El? For the show at this point it was a natural step to take, but it really makes no sense for the established Superman mythology. Anyways, that is less important I guess than the actual quality of the show, which after a pretty decent upswing this season, really took a nosedive during the final stretch. Instead of building to a climax, the momentum just seemed to drop with each episode, as the Kara, Veritas, and Traveler plotlines never really went anywhere in particular. The epitomy of this was the episode with Kara on Krypton, where we see Clark help to ensure his own infant self's survival by travelling back to the moment when his rocketship is about to blast off to earth. Clark's confrontation with Braniac on Krypton was a complete letdown, and really was a sign that the show was just not giving us 100%. I mean look at Braniac as a villain - this was a character who was built up for years and was then reduced to a B-list nemesis. It's embelmatic of the show's tendency to take great comic book concepts and water them down for TV. Apparently, next year, comic book villain Doomsday will appear ... as a young bartender. WHAT? Are you serious? The entire draw of the character is that he's an unstoppable alien monster. We've already seen Braniac the college professor, Martian Manhunter as a random dude with red eyes ... what's next, Darkseid as a teen model who steals Clark's girlfriend? The Smallville producers are now at a crucial juncture - they need to show us that they know what they're doing, and give us a sign that we should have some confidence that the show isn't going to completely suck now that Michael Rosenbaum and John Glover have left the list of regulars. Otherwise, us loyalists may be watching next season with thoughts that echo the opening credits' theme song: "somebody save me!"

- I have officially entered the world of hi-def gaming and Blu-Ray, and yes my friends, it is glorious. Yep, my PS3 finally arrived this week. I've been so busy that I haven't had time to play with it as much as I'd like, but what little I have seen has been pretty mind-blowing. I purchased the Metal Gear 80 GB bundle, but I have been saving some quality time with Solid Snake for when I really have a good chunk of time to sit down and play. But, I played through the opening level of Ratchet and Clank ... and, oh my god, I was floored by the graphics and sheer amount of activity and detail on the screen. It took me back to all of the other "system unveilings" I have experienced, when you've heard about all the promises of better graphics and seen the screenshots and read the reviews ... but until you've actually opened the box yourself and sat down in your own home with that shiny new toy, well, it's hard to get the full experience. I remember sitting in awe of Super Mario World upon the release of the SNES back in the day. Although with that system, it wasn't even as much about the graphics as it was the gameplay. Man, that was really when Nintendo was firing on all cylinders, from SMW to Final Fantasy to Street Fighter II to Donkey Kong Country ... the barrage of A+ games back then that were exclusive to Nintendo was simply amazing. But as far as first impressions go, I don't know if any system has ever matched that initial rush I felt playing the original Playstation back in 1995. I had been anticipating its release for months, drooling over pictures of Toshinden, Final Fantasy 7, and Jumping Flash. When I first popped in Battle Arena Toshinden, my jaw hit the floor - 3D gaming had arrived and it was glorious. I still maintain that Jumping Flash is one of the all-time most underrated games. Before Mario went 3D, Robbit the robo-rabbit was hopping up giant polygonal structures like a futuristic pogo stick on crack. With the Playstation 2, I was a bit of a late adopter as I was just starting college when it came out, and had plenty of other things to keep me occupied. As with the SNES, it was more of a incremental upgrade and it was more about being able to mplay the next iterations of my favorite game series from the original Playstation - Metal Gear, Final Fantasy (again), etc. Of course, some amazing new franchises debuted on the system, from Ratchet and Clank to God of War to Guitar Hero. And even though I never quite had the time to devote to the PS2 as I did the the consoles of my youth, there were still many memorable sessions of playing my roommates or my brother in ultra-intense bouts of Tekken or Smackdown. And of course, the PS2 was also my gateway into the world of DVD's, and has been my trusty DVD player for years now. So now, it's been a little while since the next-next gen consoles debuted, and living the life of a young and perpetually cash-strapped professional has delayed my entry a bit into this brave new world of Cell processesors and WiFi connectivity. And it wasn't easy, either! I patiently waited for the Metal Gear Bundle to be released, ordered it online, but then missed the FedEx guy two days in a row. Determined to get my hands on my black box of glory, I drove down to the capitol of Sketchville, also known as Sun Valley, CA, to the Fedex HQ to pick up my Sony wonder-machine. But the drive into the ghetto was worth it, as hours later I was hooked up and staring at the eye candy that is Ratchet and Clank: Future in shock and awe. Sidenote: I got a pair of HDMI cables on Amazon for a mere $2 each. Keep in mind that at Best Buy these will run you up to $75!!! But the ones I got work absolutely fine - it goes to show that you should not be paying top dollar for an HDMI cable, because if you do you are getting majorly screwed. To complete the package, I picked up CARS on blu-ray disc, and proceeded to experience ocular bleeding due to its crystal clear picture. So here I am, baby. Three ziplock bags of coins exchanged for Circuit City credit and one stimulus check later, I am now locked, loaded, and playing with power. Top of the world, Ma.

- And with that I am outta here. Word.