Monthly Archives: November 2010

Holiday Inn Express Vancouver Washington

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Located in Vancouver, Washington, The Holiday Inn Express
Hotel and Suites is a fantastic place to stay for a relaxing
weekend away or a full vacation. Located minutes away
from both downtown Vancouver and Portland Oregon,
the hotel is well suited to both business and relaxation.

Upon check-in, the staff was extremely welcoming and helpful, offering us a map of various points
of interest nearby as well as directions to a nearby restaurant
that we had asked about. Therewere also fresh apples and
cookies available as well as coffeein the lobby.

Upon entering our room, we found it was not only clean and very inviting but also had a very peaceful and quiet setting which made it an ideal place to relax after a very busy day.

From the spacious room that had a comfortable living room area complete with a couch, table and television,
there was also a nook that was set apart from the main room which featured a second television, table, and
comfortable chair which my wife found to be a nice area to put her feet up and read.

The bedroom was spacious and also included a television as well as a phone, stereo, clock
radio and ample closet space. I was happy to see that the television offered more than
the standard 12 channels, instead we had our choice of full range of cable options as well as movie channel which certainly left us no shortage of options for our viewing needs.

The room also had a minifridge and microwave which proved very convenient.
Aside from a business center that offered fax and computer access, the hotel has a comfortable indoor
pool as well as a spacious hot tub and sauna.
The hotel offered free wireless Internet which was ideal for all of our needs.

The hotel offers a breakfast buffet every morning complete with great cinnamon rolls, bacon, biscuits and gravy as well as a full Continental Breakfast. This was a great surprise as
omelettes were also included in the mix and it was great to enjoy a hot breakfast as well as a selection of coffee and juice.

One does not often find this level of service and attention to detail for which more costly hotels would nickel and dime you. From the fantastic service of the staff, a very comfy room, the hearty breakfast buffet, and a location central to shopping and dining options, the Holiday Inn Express Vancouver offered everything a traveler could want and more, at an extremely reasonable price.

Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows Part I

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With the slow, familiar strains of “Hedwig’s Theme”, the leitmotif that shepherds us into the world of Harry Potter, we’re once again immersed in the magic and adventure of the wizarding world. If for some reason you forgot where the story left off at the end of The Half-Blood Prince, the mournful dirge that plays as Harry Potter, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley prepare to meet reminds you that their world has changed drastically.

Like returning to your childhood home, it all looks familiar, but everything feels different. Gone are the school preparations, the train ride to Hogwarts, uniformed students jostling about, the easygoing camaraderie between our favorite trio, all the whimsical elements we’ve come to expect in a Harry Potter movie. Instead we have unease, sorrow and anger taking turns in the form of Hermione, Harry and Ron.

The Deathly Hallows Part I is the first of a two-part adaptation of the final book of J.K. Rowling’s popular series. Just like the anticipation of getting the seventh and final book, my excitement at screening this movie was tempered with the dread of seeing the series end. I actually did not have high expectations for this installment as the first part of the book was slow-paced and, not unlike another movie about wizards and elves, had a lot of walking and searching. But instead of one elusive ring, Harry, Hermione and Ron are searching for three Horcruxes, objects in which Harry’s nemesis, Lord Voldemort has implanted a part of his soul in his quest to achieve immortality. While they seek clues to the remaining Horcruxes, they learn that Voldemort seeks one of three Deathly Hallows, three sacred objects, the stories of which are revealed in a beautifully mesmerizing shadow-puppet sequence.

Director David Yates balances dark action with solid storytelling and arresting cinematography. Daniel Radcliffe is in turn sympathetic and charming as the heavily burdened hero. Rupert Grint’s Ron Weasley brings most of the movie’s humor again, but he’s most impressive when he becomes believably tortured and resentful when the dark magic of Voldemort’s Horcrux takes over. Emma Watson gracefully infuses the normally astute and self-assured Hermione with weary resolve and poignant anguish. The most charged moments are of course when the trio share the screen with the dark wizards, the most notable played with relish by Ralph Fiennes as Voldemort and Helena Bonham Carter as his most ardent minion, Bellatrix.

Having waited what felt like an eternity for this installment, it seems almost cruel to be made to wait until next summer for the conclusion. But that’s the only real complaint I can make about this movie. Widely and wildly anticipated, Deathly Hallows Part I will not disappoint.

4 out of 5 stars

Visual FX Work on The Alien Prequels Has Begun

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Our good friends at Moviehole.net have confirmed that visual FX work on the Alien Prequels have begun. The films will be shot in 3D and set 35-50 years before Alien when the Wayland Yutani Corporation starts terraforming planets. Sir Ridley Scott is directing and the films will also feature the origins of the Aliens, and focus heavily on the race pictured here.

Look for the first film in late 2011.

Kung Fu Panda 2 Details and Trailer

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DreamWorks Animation Presents
KUNG FU PANDA 2
Produced by Melissa Cobb
Directed by Jennifer Yuh Nelson

Cast: Jack Black, Angelina Jolie, Dustin Hoffman, Jackie Chan, Seth Rogen, Lucy Liu, David Cross, James Hong, Gary Oldman, Michelle Yeoh, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Victor Garber

Filmmakers: Produced by Melissa Cobb, Directed by Jennifer Yuh Nelson

Synopsis: In KUNG FU PANDA 2, Po is now living his dream as The Dragon Warrior, protecting the Valley of Peace alongside his friends and fellow kung fu masters, The Furious Five. But Po’s new life of awesomeness is threatened by the emergence of a formidable villain, who plans to use a secret, unstoppable weapon to conquer China and destroy kung fu. He must look to his past and uncover the secrets of his mysterious origins; only then will Po be able to unlock the strength he needs to succeed.

Release: May 26, 2011

Morning Glory

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Suddenly fired from a job she worked incredibly hard at, Becky finds herself hitting the mean streets of New York to continue to pursue her dream of producing a television show. The odds are stacked against her when she finds herself producing a failing morning show with challenging anchors, a boss who doubts her skills, and a new romance threatening to distract her already splintered focus.

Diane Keaton brightens the screen looking great while completely selling her role as the eager morning television show anchorwomen, Colleen Peck. The unexpected Harrison Ford adds a rough edge as the once great journalist and now subpar anchorman, Mike Pomeroy. However, it is rising actress, Rachel Adams, as the determined Becky, who stole the show.

Morning Glory offers exactly the amount of oddness one might expect from a film with action star Harrison Ford as a news guy. Yet somehow the story is sweet and mildly uplifting and, on occasion, laugh out loud funny.
The plot is not brilliant, new, or even all that imaginative, still the film is unique. Morning Glory oddly brings to mind “Little Black Book” all be it in a much lighter and less romantically driven tone. In fact the romance element is so light in this film that it is much more likely to fall in the drama/comedy category, with romance taking a backseat to the real focus of the film: the challenges of work-obsessed Becky.

Mashed firmly between an decent episode of the Mary Tyler Moore show and the Dolly Parton classic “9 to 5”, Morning Glory is a one-of-a-kind take on a story that is increasingly all too familiar. Without the unnecessary bells and whistles so often thrown in to modern cinema, Morning Glory keeps the audience watching and sometimes even laughing.

3.5 out of 5 stars

Star Wars: the Force Unleashed 2

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Following up on the success of Star Wars the Force Unleashed, the best-selling Star Wars game in history, was no easy task. The talented programmers and artists at LucasArts set out to create the ultimate Star Wars experience for gamers and fans alike and have crafted a visually impressive follow-up. After much anticipation and hype Star Wars the Force Unleashed II has arrived for both PC and console gamers and looks to continue this success of the first game.

The story follows a Jedi named Starkiller who may or may not be a clone of the character from the first game. After a spectacular escape and battle from Darth Vader on Kamino, Starkiller must travel the galaxy in an effort to save General Koto and find his true love Juno. Along the way he will travel to numerous locales and encounter a variety of deadly opponents all of whom stand between him and the completion of his goals. Haunted by visions he cannot explain Starkiller must confront his own growing identity crisis as he finds himself deep in a plot that has the entire fate of the galaxy hanging in the balance.

Players have a large arsenal of force abilities at their disposal, ranging from force lightning, force push, jumping and glide abilities, and of course the signature light sabers. As in the first game players will have the ability to customize and upgrade their force powers along the way to make them more effective they will also have the ability to adjust everything from their clothing to the colors of their light sabers.

The action is intense and the visuals are absolutely amazing from the incredible animation and from the epic space battle scenes, Star Wars the Force Unleashed II is truly an artistic beauty to behold and offers plenty for Star Wars fans. While some may grow tired of the constant battles against war droids, nameless storm troopers and other minions, the ability to decimate your enemies with a barrage of light saber blows and finish them off with a blast of lightning before shoving them over the edge with a good nudge from the force is should keeps fans entertained for a long time.

I found myself really enjoying the story of this game as well as the characters and the complexity of the hero not knowing his true origins and motivations. As I mentioned before, the action was absolutely intense and I took great delight as a long-term fan of Star Wars and being able to unleash a full range attacks on everything from Walker’s two ships to the numerous enemies that were thrown against me and a handful of exotic Star Wars locales. The sound graphics and action, as well as the story of the game, were absolutely first rate and everything Star Wars fan could hope for.

Unfortunately the game has a couple of major flaws that, for many, are going to be a serious hindrance to the game. One of the biggest flaws is that the game is barely 5 to 6 hours long. The original game offered at least 12 hours of gameplay, while this one could easily be resolved in half that time, and without any multi-play, it does not offer much in the way of value for the $59.99 suggested retail price for console versions of the game.

Another issue I had with the game is that many of the enemies were extremely generic. And while the game does a great job in presenting numerous opponents to you, after a while it became almost routine to use these series of simple tactics to dispatch the enemies who did not present any real challenge. This is not to say there are not some hard parts in the game. There are. But by and large, the typical approach that the game employed was to surround you with enemies and have them close in on you, which gave you an opportunity to destroy numerous faceless minions.

Another issue I had with the game was that as you approach the climactic confrontation with Darth Vader, the game required you to do a series of timed jumps which, if unsuccessful, resulted in your character falling to his death and having to restart from a previous check point.

I found this highly frustrating as it destroyed the momentum of the game which had been gearing up to an epic pace. If I want to spend my afternoons jumping from platform to platform and watching the character fall, only to redo it over and over again until successful, I would’ve whipped out the Nintendo Wii and played an old game of Mario or something along that line from an old side scrolling action game.

Thankfully, when I was able to complete the task and face Vader ina a climactic battle, it was as epic as anything in the game and was certainly highly enjoyable. A prolonged battle that was a fury of color, sound and power truly lived up to the game title.

As with the previous game, players are given the choice between a light side and a dark side ending. While the light side ending is the preferred outcome to the game, the dark side ending does offer gamers a different view of the game with a completely different outcome.

The game was impressive and a lot of fun from an action standpoint but the tremendously short gameplay was a real letdown, as was the lack of any form of multi-play or co-op play in the game. I have noticed that several players have cited the very short game time is a major concern with the game. This is an issue that I believe developers must address, especially when you are asking customers to lay down their hard-earned money, especially in troubled economic times.

Consumers should have a better idea of what they are getting. Toward that end, I propose that gaming companies should disclose on their packaging what the average play time for the game is, so that consumers can make an informed decision. (Skewed & Reviewed was at the forefront of calling for film studios to disclose whether or not a movie was filmed in 3-D or converted to 3-D in postproduction. Several filmmakers ranging from James Cameron to Michael Bay have taken up the fight and recently, while watching a bevy of trailers of 3-D films it was nice to see that one of them disclosed that the film was actually shot in 3-D while the other simply touted their offerings as a 3-D film.)

In conclusion, while an impressive action game, The Force Unleashed 2 fails to reach it’s true potential thanks in part to short gameplay and some frustrating sequences that, when combined with run-of-the-mill enemies, keeps the game from reaching its five-star potential.

3.5 out of 5 stars

Third X-Files Movie is Being Written Says David Duchovny

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David Duchovny confirms that a third X Files film is being written and only awaits the green light from FOX according to Moviehole.net.

While the report on the third film ends there, I have further news….

While the news of the script being written confirms the film is moving forward, I will share some details I have reported prior.

What I know is that the third flm has a working title of Endgame but that is likely to change. Series guru Chris Carter is writing the script which involves the Alien conspiracy and the arrival date of the Alien colonization fleet in 2012 and would likely resolve the long running main plot of the film.

Ongoing threads such as The Black Oil, The Alien Bounty Hunters, the conspiracy, and other unresolved issues from the film would likely be addressed, though it may not be the last film in the series if successful.

Due Date

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What could possibly go wrong when you pair a stressed out father-to-be, Peter (Robert Downey Jr.), with the world’s worst road trip partner, Ethan (Zach Galifianakis), on a trip from Atlanta to Los Angeles? In a karmic way, at least these two men appear to be meant for each other.

Zach Galifianakis’s role as Ethan Tremblay is wildly funny, though he plays a role very similar to the one he played in The Hangover, with a slightly more childish demeanor. If his character in the Hangover was a 14 year old in an adult’s body, in this film he is a 7 year old boy.

Peter Highman, played by Robert Downey Jr., is obviously frustrated because he’s trying to get home to his very pregnant wife. This inevitably creates an anger that is only exacerbated by the stupidity and carelessness of Ethan. The minor truces and cease-fires they found during their trip were constantly being broken by something Ethan would do that was hilariously rude and dumb.

This film walked a fine line with both characters, with Ethan pushing the charm up to keep us from totally hating him, all the while allowing Peter be an asshole from time to time to keep us from being too sympathetic to him. In one particularly funny moment, during a side stop soon after they take off from Atlanta, we see Peter discipline a young boy in a ridiculously inappropriate way that makes us question his fitness as a father. It’s during these times that the movie really shines. The chemistry between them was good for the most part, but the inevitable reconciliation between them was rushed at the end, and while the actors more than did their jobs, the script didn’t give them very much cause to act so suddenly benevolent toward each other.

Overall, the movie was funny, but not quite funny enough. Some of the gags were fairly disgusting, and while most didn’t detract from the movie, only a few really came across as well-executed. This movie had the potential to be very funny, but with some unresolved plot holes and some long stretches where nothing much was going on, I wouldn’t really recommend this to my friends, despite the big name actors and hype.

Two stars out of five.

127 Hours

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Aron Lee Ralston’s father loved taking him on hiking trips which sparked in him a great interest for hiking and mountaineering. Ralston, played by James Franco in his most dramatic role to date, decides to go on a hiking trip to Blue John Canyon in Utah. He does not let anybody know where he is going and for how long. This is mistake number one. Mistake number two is when we see him packing and he forgets his pocket knife.

While on his journey he comes across two women, Megan (Amber Tamblyn) and Kristi (Kate Mara) They are unsure of which direction they need to go, so Aron decides to be their tour guide. The trio become fast friends, sharing in the last bit of levity in the film before Ralston continues on his solitary adventure. He comes across an interesting ravine that he wants to explore but ends up falling with a boulder that wedges between his right forearm and the rock wall. After countless attempts, he is unable to move the boulder and free himself.

He soon realizes that this is a bad situation that may even result in his death. He has very little food and knows he has to ration his water intake. He has his camera with which we watch him record his goodbyes to family and friends. Without giving away the rest of the story, the audience is held captivated by Ralston’s next 127 hours, condensed to an hour of movie time that paints a vivid picture of one man’s sheer determination and will to live. A couple of days into his ordeal, when he is finished sipping the last of his water, he takes drastic measures to stay hydrated. Soon, with no more food, water, strength and with every second taking him further and further away from reality and closer to delirium, he has a vision. That vision leads him to a decision so extreme, it will leave many viewers wondering if they themselves could make that same decision in the name of sheer survival.

I guess you can say that this story is literally about a man stuck between a rock and a hard place. (Well, that is the title of the book this movie is based on.) But in all seriousness, this is a very moving and inspiring true story. Danny Boyle directed a well-chosen cast and captured stunning cinematography. An amazing true story that should not be missed, I must say that this movie stayed with me long after watching it. Please be advised, viewers may be disturbed by some very graphic scenes.