Shmee.Me

December 24, 2014December 24, 2014

Halo 5 Beta Preview!

So late last week I got a bit of a surprise, I was invited to play the Halo 5 Beta early. I wasn’t sure I was going to play this beta at all since I don’t have the Halo Master Chief Collection yet, but it looks like 343 wants this Beta to go off without a hitch and sent out keys to Dashboard Preview members. It was very nice of them, so of course I played a few rounds.

It has been a long time since I have played Halo online, and I have to say I am terrible. The guys playing this game are on another level than I am, but despite that I still had a lot of fun. What was great about this little early bit of content is that they managed to re-embrace what multiplayer Halo is about, but still move forward. They took away all the customizable armor abilities and weapon load-outs, and went back to the need to run and control weapon spawns. Even with this return to form they were able to add some good features to the games.

Ever since Titanfall came out people now need to be able to double jump, and with Halo 5 you now have jump jets. Instead of a normal double jump, you can use the jets to move in any direction fast with a quick press of the B button. Having problems getting up that ledge? Tap A and you will climb up. Which is nice because I don’t feel like a moron jumping up against a wall over and over again until someone comes up and puts me out of my misery. You also now have iron sights on all guns, unlike other games there is no penalty for not using them, but it does help to line up that shot from time to time. Also if you jump and use your iron sights you hover. That is pretty sweet. Lastly you can now sprint. The only downfall to sprinting is that your health and shields don’t recharge. With all of these extra movement options the game is much faster (or I have just gotten slower). Don’t stand around because you will be killed instantly. I am not sure people who like to snipe are going to happy about that, but it is fine with me.

I hope my Halo 5 Preview Beta key allows me to play in the upcoming full Halo 5 Beta on the 29th, because the little taste they gave me has me super excited for Halo’s future. Which is a nice change considering the broken multiplayer of the Master Chief Collection had people wondering if 343 was up to the task of keeping Halo going. It looks like the Chief’s fifth outing may be his best yet. We will have to wait until next Christmas to find out, but at least I am looking forward to it now!

December 23, 2014December 23, 2014

The Wind Rises: A Beautiful Dream!

The Wind Rises the 2013 film by Studio Ghibli, and the last feature length film directed by Hayao Miyazaki, is a hard film to review for me. It was long and confusing, and as a biopic almost all of it was made up, but still it was lush and beautiful. It is the type of film that reminds us just what hand animation is capable of.

The film follows Jiro Horikoshi (Hideaki Anno, Joseph Gordon-Levitt) on his journey to build beautiful planes. His life is consumed by his dream, it is all he wants to do. Though his dream is cursed, and his magnificent creations will one day fight a war that will destroy his nation, but still it is a dream he cannot put aside.

For the most part I don’t mind it when movie studios twist the truth a little bit for a biographical film. It is an entertainment medium after all, but in this case other than the fact the Jiro creates planes, none of the film was true, so that was a bit disappointing for me. Still it did get me to look in to his life, and without this movie I never would have done that otherwise. Also because of all the dream sequences and time jumps it can be a little hard to follow, but the dreams featuring fellow plane designer Giovanni Battista Caproni (Nomura Mansai, Stanley Tucci) were by far the best parts of the film, so I guess I can’t be too upset.

The main selling point for this film is the amazing artwork. It is like watching a moving painting. Any time I got frustrated with the slow pace, or the slightly wonky story, I was always captivated by the art. Miyazaki always creates a version of the Japanese countryside that I long to visit. In the words of Liz Lemon, “I want to go to there!” I am not sure that part of Japan even exists anymore, but Miyazaki has brought it to life for me anyway.

The cast, as is usual for a Studio Ghibli film, is staller. They got Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Stanley Tucci, Emily Blunt, John Krasinski, and William H. Macy just to name a few. Due to the tone of this movie they all give subdued performances, but it is nice when a film like this gets a great cast to bring it to life.

The Wind Rises is not a perfect movie, but it was a movie I enjoyed anyway. I would have liked for Hayao Miyazaki to go out with a bang, but instead it was a light touching movie, and since that is what he is known for, maybe that was for the best. This movie invites you to dream with Jiro Horikoshi, and it is a beautiful dream at that.

December 22, 2014December 22, 2014

New Fire And Ice Movie?

So according to Deadline Robert Rodriguez is remaking the fantasy cartoon “classic” Fire and Ice. Why? Who green-lit this? Fire and Ice is well liked by like twelve people (it is ok), but the reason they like it is the way it was made and the unique look it has, or because they like scantily clad cartoon chicks, not because the story was any good. Granted this is the type of movie Robert Rodriguez likes to make, but honestly he should just make his own exploitation-y barbarian movie, and leave this one be. It won’t be better than the original, well it might be, but it will not be the same movie, so why bother.

Ugg. I will be skipping this flick. Which shouldn’t be hard since it will no doubt launch in a sad and lonely January surrounded by 75 Million comic book movies.

December 19, 2014

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty Should Stay A Secret!

The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty released by New Line Cinema and distributed by 20th Century Fox is the type of movie that I hate to review. Not because it is bad, no I like to review bad movies, they let me vent and be witty and whatnot, no The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty is completely bland and forgettable, and a waste of talent.

Walter Mitty (Ben Stiller) has the kind of cool job of archiving and taking care of all the photographs for Time Magazine, but when a special photo by famed photographer Sean O’Connell (Sean Penn) comes in, Mitty can’t find it. To make matters worse this photo is supposed to be the cover of the last issue of the Magazine. Will this be what it takes for Mitty to go off on the adventure he has always dreamed of? You know it will.

Everything about this movie is predictable. You know every move before it happens. The “twist” you see coming a mile away. It is just a bore, and what is worse they had some opportunities for some laughs, but instead they decided to make this movie heartwarming, so they let them fall by the wayside. The problem is that it isn’t really that heartwarming either. Sure it has a friendly feel, but you never care that much about any of the characters.

The fact that this movie stars Kristen Wiig, who can be outrageously funny, and she does nothing in this film is a crime. Her character is a random void. We have no idea why Mitty is so smitten with her. Her son played by Marcus Antturi is in the movie for like five minutes and has more to do than Wiig. Stiller who is always likable, comes off as likable, but we never get invested in him. He is just that likable guy running around on screen. Why get good people to be in your movie if they have nothing to do?

The only thing this movie succeeded at was convincing me that I need to visit Iceland. The movie looks great, and if it was someone’s travel log it would have been fine. This was Stiller’s first big gig as a director, and it looks like he got the cinematography down, but he forgot to inject any life in to the characters. So if you haven’t guessed by now, I don’t think you should investigate the Secret Life Of Walter Mitty, but if you do, at least you will forget it almost as soon as you watch it.

December 18, 2014December 18, 2014

The Suicide Squad Got Its Leader!

Well if you are going to have a person lead the likes of Will Smith and Tom Hardy, you had better get someone good, and according to the Latino-Review (who is usually right on the money), Warner Bros got the perfect person to be Amanda Waller: Viola Davis.

The two time Oscar nominee, and currently killing it on her own show ‘How To Get Away With Murder”, will be great in this role. If The Paladin can’t get C. C. H. Pounder from the cartoon show, I am sure Davis will be more than good enough to keep him happy. If there is anyone that can keep this rag-tag group of supervillains in line it will be her. Since this movie comes out in less than two years, I am sure that it will start shooting soon, so we will get to see Davis putting up with none of Deadshot’s crap in the very near future.