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Sauer Reviews

December 2006 - Posts

  • Weekend Movies: New Years Eve Edition

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    Posted Dec 29 2006, 01:40 PM by sauer with 1 comment(s)
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  • Merry Xmas from Sauerreviews!!!

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  • Wiikitty.com

  • New Grindhouse trailer!!

    Easily my most anticipated film of next year. Quint recently described Grindhouse as a "boner movie", or something that get's young male film geek's extremely excited. I don't know if I'd go that far, but it sure looks like a lot of fun.

    Trailer can be found HERE

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    Posted Dec 22 2006, 11:54 AM by sauer with 1 comment(s)
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  • Weekend Movies: 12/22-12/24/06

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    Posted Dec 22 2006, 11:46 AM by sauer with 4 comment(s)
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  • Is Elebits a Wii Launch Triumph or Tragedy?

     Elebits

    Elebits is a game of hide and seek with an anti-gravity gun. Elebits are some sort of creature which came to Earth during a lightning storm and have suddenly gone crazy.  The town is going through a black out of sorts, and you decide to grab your Dad’s handy “Capture Gun” and zap the Elebits.  Each Elebit you collect counts toward the wattage total of the level you are playing on.  The more you collect, the more appliances start to power up. The appliances hold special elebits which increase the power of your capture gun, allowing you to pick up heavier objects.  Each level has a time limit and a wattage total to fulfill before moving on to the next area.  It plays like a Katamari-shooter hybrid, but it lacks Katamari’s charm and quite frankly has the worst story and voice acting I’ve heard in a long time. But that’s not what the game is really about anyway.

    Elebits tries really hard to be a good game, but falls short. The aim is absolutely perfect down to the pixel, and you’ll be able to pick off Elebits from a distance with ease. Your character is controlled by the nunchuck thumstick with the C and Z buttons used to stretch and duck respectively.  The physics of the objects are very impressive, if a bit “floaty” as well. Each object can be picked up and gently rotated and placed carefully or hurled across the screen.  Twisting faucets on and off, opening doors and sliding cabinets are hit and miss.

    But for all the things it does right, Elebits does 2 or three things wrong that really drag down the game. About 4 stages in, new rules and restrictions begin to come down such as “Don’t break too many objects” or “Don’t make too much noise”.  This is an obvious attempt to change up the game play and give the game some strategy, but it does nothing but detract from the fun.  The game also suffers serious slow down when you finally get your gun strong enough to throw around big objects.  As you progress in the game and the stages get larger, the graphics get worse and the slowdown becomes more frequent.  The game is also extremely easy, although you won’t be able to finish every level on your first shot thanks to the silly rules and Black Elebits which zap your life.

    Multiplayer is a mess. It just gets too chaotic with more than one person tearing apart the environment. We found ourselves stuck “inside” objects way too often and struggled to figure out how to lift the house or truck or cabinet off our heads.  Elebits also allows you to edit rooms and trade them via Connect24, but I wasn’t able to test that out.

    If this title were given longer in development and not rushed out to meet launch, it could have been a great game. All the elements are there, but the execution is sloppy and seems thrown together.  Elebits is worth a rental at best as you’ll tear through the game in 4 or 5 hours tops.

    5.5/10

    Mahalo,

    Duke

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    Posted Dec 21 2006, 12:36 AM by Raul Duke with 2 comment(s)
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  • Wii Weather launches, Opera Internet Browser on the 22nd

    Do you want to know what the temperature is outside, but are too busy creating Mii's? Nintendo has launched the Wii Weather Channel and is now available for download. In other Wii system news, the Opera internet browser will be available on a free trial basis starting on the 22nd. Looks like the Wii updates are on a roll. It's about time...

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  • Rolling Stone picks on Pitchfork, Pitchfork lists Top 50 albums of 06

    It looks like Rolling Stone has officially "lost it's edge", and are now whining about it. In a bold move that will be sure to start The Critic Wars (begun they have), Rolling Stone posted an article slamming the site's decision to list Joanna Newsom's "Emily" as one of the top ten tracks of the year. Pitchfork has not officially retorted, but given their vocal history, I expect a war of words coming. You can read Rolling Stone's first strike HERE.

    In other news, Pitchfork released it's Top 50 albums of 2006 list today. Making the #1 spot TV on the Radio, whoops, I mean the Knife's "Silent Shout" which is a dance record or something. Oh well, TVOTR did score #2, which is still pretty good. The omission of Thom Yorke's Eraser is sure to raise a few blood levels, especially with the inclusion of a 2005 album (The Loon by Tapes n Tapes). You can read the rest of the list HERE

    Overall, it looks like it's been a pretty shitty year for new music, and this list confirms it. I'll have my Top 20 10 of 2006 soon.

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    Posted Dec 19 2006, 11:31 AM by sauer with no comments
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  • Weekend Box Office 12/15-12/17/06

    1. The Pursuit of...$ 27 MillionNEW
    2. Eragon$ 23.5 MillionNEW
    3. Charlotte's Web$ 12 MillionNEW
    4. Happy Feet$ 8.5 Million$ 149.4 Million
    5. The Holiday$ 8.2 Million$ 25.3 Million
    6. Apocalypto$ 7.7 Million$ 27.9 Million
    7. Blood Diamond$ 6.3 Million$ 18.4 Million
    8. Casino Royale$ 5.7 Million$ 137.6 Million
    9. The Nativity Story$ 4.7 Million$ 23.1 Million
    10. Unaccompanied Minors$ 3.7 Million$ 10.2 Million

        I think I underestimated America's love for Will Smith. It's pretty amazing that a smaller true story flick can best dragons and talking pigs. Speaking of dragons, Eragon did pretty well considering it looked like nothing more then a Lord of The Rings knock-off. Look for more or these knock-off's in the future. The biggest surprise was the lackluster opening of Charlotte's Web. Were the parents too busy shopping to take their kids to the movies? It's possible they are still regretting that $9.50 they spent on Happy Feet. It could also be that the film hasn't been advertised all too much. I have only seen one commercial for this. In comparison, I've seen an uncountable number of Eragon and Happyness previews. Those who fail to market, fail in general. This week..... ROCKY...ROCKY...ROCKY...

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    Posted Dec 18 2006, 11:49 AM by sauer with no comments
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  • Nintendo offers replacement strap for all Wii owners

    It looks like all those reports of broken straps and broken picture tubes has caused Nintendo to panic a bit. They are now offering replacement straps for any Wii owner, and will be shipping a new and improved strap shortly. I don't blame Nintendo for this one bit. If the common moron would hold onto the controller, this wouldn't be a problem.

    Replacement Straps can be found HERE

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    Posted Dec 15 2006, 12:37 PM by sauer with no comments
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  • Weekend Movies 12/15/06

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    Posted Dec 15 2006, 11:36 AM by sauer with 2 comment(s)
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  • World Series Pitcher suffers Guitar Hero injury.

     I love it, he should stay away from the Wii then...

    Stolen from the Detroit Free Press:

    The Tigers are satisfied they won't see a recurrence of the right wrist and forearm inflammation that sidelined Joel Zumaya for three games of the American League Championship Series.

    Why? Club president and general manager Dave Dombrowski told WXYT-AM (1270) on Wednesday the team had concluded Zumaya's injury resulted from playing a video game, not from his powerful throwing motion.

    "That was probably what was taking place," Dombrowski later told the Free Press.

    Zumaya, 22, was known to play "Guitar Hero," a PlayStation 2 game in which a player uses a guitar-shaped controller to simulate the performance of popular songs.

    During the radio interview, Dombrowski said the Tigers' athletic training staff discovered that Zumaya's forearm pain was more consistent with the action of a guitar player than a baseball pitcher. The Tigers asked Zumaya to stop playing the video game, and he did. Zumaya then pitched pain-free during the World Series, and went 0-1 with a 3.00 ERA in three appearances.

    "He felt fine in the World Series, to tell you the truth," said Steve Springer, one of Zumaya's representatives. "I didn't even think twice about it."

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  • Golden Globe film noms and predictions

    The nominations for the 64th Golden Globes were announced Thursday morning in Los Angeles, California.

    best drama are "Babel," "Bobby," "The Departed," "Little Children" and "The Queen."

    I'm going with The Departed on this one, I think it's a no-brainer

    best comedy or musical are "Borat," "The Devil Wears Prada," "Dreamgirls," "Little Miss Sunshine" and "Thank You for Smoking."

    Borat should come on top, but both Little Miss Sunshine and Prada have a chance

    best actor in a drama are Leonardo DiCaprio ("Blood Diamond" and "The Departed"), Peter O'Toole ("Venus"), Will Smith ("The Pursuit of Happyness") and Forest Whitaker ("The Last King of Scotland")

    I'm going with Forest Whitaker on this one, he's pretty much guaranteed the Oscar too.

    nominees for best actress in a drama are Penelope Cruz ("Volver"), Judi Dench ("Notes on a Scandal"), Maggie Gyllenhaal ("Sherry Baby"), Helen Mirren ("The Queen") and Kate Winslet ("Little Children").

    Tough one, but I think Helen Mirren will win out for her work in the Queen, which has been getting acclaimed reviews.

    nominess for best actor in a comedy or musical are Sasha Baron Cohen ("Borat"), Johnny Depp ("Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest"), Aaron Eckhart ("Thank You for Smoking"), Chiwetel Ejiofor ("Kinky Boots") and Will Ferrell ("Stranger Than Fiction").

    It's all about Borat, I can't wait to see him in character at the awards show

    The nominees for best actress in a comedy or musical are Annette Bening ("Running with Scissors'), Toni Collette ("Little Miss Sunshine"), Beyonce Knowles ("Dreamgirls"), Meryl Streep ("The Devil Wears Prada") and Renee Zellweger ("Miss Potter").

    Streep should pick this up rather easily, but don't underestimate the power of children.

    nominees for best director are Clint Eastwood ("Flags of Our Fathers" and "Letters From Iwo Jima"), Stephen Frears ("The Queen"), Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu ("Babel") and Martin Scorsese ("The Departed").

    It's Scorsese's year. I'd be really surprised if someone else won. 

    best supporting actor are Ben Affleck ("Hollywoodland"), Eddie Murphy ("Dreamgirls"), Jack Nicholson ("The Departed"), Brad Pitt ("Babel") and Mark Wahlberg ("The Departed").

    Very tough, but either actor from The Departed is sure to pick up an award. I'm voting for the scene-stealing Wahlberg, but Nicholson is a pretty big name, and has a much bigger role in The Departed.

    best supporting actress are Adriana Barraza ("Babel"), Cate Blanchett ("Notes on a Scandal"), Emily Blunt ("The Devil Wears Prada"), Jennifer Hudson ("Dreamgirls") and Kikuchi Rinko ("Babel").

    No clue on this one, but Jennifer Hudson has been getting a lot of pre-awards buzz.

    The nominees for best screenplay are "Babel," "Little Children," "Notes on a Scandal," "The Departed" and "The Queen."

    Once again, The Departed should come out on top.

    "Cars," "Happy Feet" and "Monster House" all earned nominations for best animated film.

    Always bet on Pixar.

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    Posted Dec 14 2006, 12:19 PM by sauer with 11 comment(s)
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  • DVD Review: Survive Style 5+



    Survive Style 5+ loosely weaves five radically different and bizarre stories together in one of the most visually stunning movies I have ever seen. The plot revolves around: Aman played by Tadanobu Asano (Ichi the Killer, Bright Future) killing his gorgeous wife only to see her resurrected, A copy writer with inane and hilarious ideas for advertisements, A group of young homo-erotic small time burglars, A family who has their life changed during a botched hypnotism, and a hit man played by Vinnie Jones and his translator who insist on finding the function of peoples lives.


    These stories each meet together at different times throughout the movie ala Pulp Fiction.  The scenes involving Aman killing his wife and the family who goes to the hypnotism show will have you in laughing or awestruck consistently. The others have their moments, but tend to linger a bit long or get tiresome.  The visual styling of the film will keep you entertained when the story lags. Every frame in the film is awash with vivid primary colors or washed out in deep grays and the set design will keep your eyes darting around every chance they can.


    This title is a bit hard to find because it was not released in America, and won’t be any time soon due to the soundtrack licensing problems.  A lot of songs were used without permission and are essential to a few of the best scenes in the film.  Still the movie is easy to find at import stores or online for less than $20.


    Survive Style 5+ is original and visually brilliant.  The plot takes a back seat to imagery and music more often than not, but that’s not a bad thing.  Grab an appropriate amount of the intoxicant of your choice and enjoy 2 hours of the strangest cinema you’ll ever see.

    8.5/10

    Mahalo,

    Duke

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    Posted Dec 14 2006, 04:04 AM by Raul Duke with 1 comment(s)
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  • Pic from My Name is Bruce

    Aintitcoolnews is reporting on a new flick from B-Actor/B-Director Bruce Campbell. The film is about a couple of Evil Dead fans that contact Bruce when a monster invades their town. Think Galaxy Quest meets Cheesy Horror film. it sounds promising, but Campbell's last flick, The Man with Two Brains, was nothing to get excited about. I guess we'll see.

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    Posted Dec 13 2006, 04:04 PM by sauer with 3 comment(s)
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