Falling Down

This 1993 Joel Schumacher film explores the banality of everyday life, in a world exposed to the most intense of media saturation and the effect it has on those already being pushed over the edge.

Michael Douglas plays the dangerous anti-hero as he attempts to get to his daughter's birthday party, having to overcome various delinquents and societal problems in his path. Whilst Douglas' character William Foster appears at times to be mentally delusional, he oftens utters remarks regarding the state of the world's economy and takes a vigilante approach which many would deem fair and understandable. Though when picked up on the vigilante theory, Foster looks to flatly deny the remark. Douglas plays Foster well, giving off an aura of confusion, frustration and loneliness which is meant to define the everyday man in a world destroyed by advertising, political correctness and fascism.

There are various themes at work in Falling Down. Not only do patriotism, racism and homophobia get a mention, but family values also appear. Foster's only goal seems to be to rid the world of meaningless bureaucratic processes, criminals and everyday dangers, whilst trying to see his daughter on the happiest day of her young life. Thinly veiled though, is the depression and powerless existance which Foster finds himself living. Having separated from his wife, presumably due to his sporadic behavioural problems, and having been fired from his job, he has nothing to live for in life other than the wellbeing of his daughter. Except the only way he can leave her with any kind of life is to end his.

8/10

Paranormal Activity

Paranormal Activity

Having spent two years in production and licence-limbo, Oren Peli’s Paranormal Activity is a unique entry in the newly-coined Found Footage genre, which takes advantage of POV shots and jump edits to deliver a realistic and limited perspective of a film’s events; normally employed to give a sense of claustrophobia and of being involved within the scenes.

The film follows Katie and Micah, a well-off couple in San Diego, CA., as they encounter spiritual and paranormal activity over a period of three weeks. The attacks begin in tame fashion, with walls being tapped and other strange goings on bringing out emotional reactions in Katie, who it is revealed has a history with similar activity, having attracted such phenomena since the age of 8.

The film’s latter scenes certainly work well in providing enough jump scares for the audience to delight in, and special effects create an eerily realistic sense of entrapment for the inexperienced couple, upon whom the haunting clearly take effect. For relative newcomers to the professional acting stage, Katie Featherston and Micah Sloat do a decent job of portraying the ordeal they are put through by the ongoing activity though Sloat’s tone of voice and inability to scare easily means he doesn’t always come across as the right man for the job; often laughing at or teasing his girlfriend for being haunted by a demon.

Two scenes in particular stood out as potential film ruiners, namely the nod to The Exorcist and the film’s ridiculous finale, in which common sense doesn’t seem to be involved when it comes to the policemen who arrive on the scene.

However, these are not enough to ruin what is in fact a very decent film. On a shoestring budget, Oren Peli has managed to piece together a Blair Witch Project-esque which has already had a significant impact on the Independent film circuit and will undoubtedly prove a hit on the mass market scene. Use of the handheld camera is never overused and the audience is always kept in the loop regarding the film’s key moments, meaning the pieces in the puzzle are all there for the audience to enjoy. Add to this that Sloat and Featherston combine to make a realistic and likeable couple on-screen, and Paranorma l Activity proves a solid and genuinely engaging (for the most part) hit.

8/10

Gone...Without A Trace

One of America’s (if not the world) finest drama series came to an end in May, bringing to a close a seventh series of Golden Globe-winning quality. Without A Trace followed the lives of six FBI Missing Persons Unit Officers, as they traversed America in the hopes of finding troubled victims of abuse, neglect, kidnap and other such struggles.

Whilst many would have been put off by the highly polished visuals and presentation style which can dictate many primetime television shows in America, Without A Trace, with award-winning CSI producer Jerry Bruckheimer on board, focuses more on the details that mattered and left the gloss and glamour of the high rise offices as a secondary party when producing the show.

Where the series was different from its few rivals was the relationships which grew as the series moved on, with romance and tension hitting the office in one way or another, confrontations spicing up the professional lives, and the unorthodox methods of the characters provoking action from their superiors whenever hostile tactics were introduced in order to garner information from suspects.

With so many excellent episodes being produced, it’s hard to pick out any favourites though two that come to mind are ones which not only pull on the heartstrings but also force the viewer to rethink how they watch a television drama and what television can provoke from an audience.

The first episode that springs to mind is White Balance, unusual in the sense that it involves two victims; one black, one white. The audience not only sees the institutional racism in the higher-ups telling Jack the white family is to be given more press coverage because they want more help to be given to said family over the black victim’s family, but also in the presentation of the finale. Though the audience is party to hearing confirmation of two bodies being found, one alive one dead, the anxious wait shared by parents of both missing persons, is also offered to the audience, who never discover which person survived their ordeal, leaving it completely open to suggestion. Whilst the ending is abrupt and somewhat frustrating, it provides the audience with an innovative conclusion. Not only are we forced to share the heartbreak of both families before the result is heard, we must understand and appreciate the ordeal which ensues for that of the victim’s family. Taking away that final sense of relief or at the very least assurance of a loved one’s death which the viewer is always given at the end of each episode draws us further into the world in which the characters live, whilst fully taking on board the trauma of thousands of families who will never know what has happened to their loved ones.

When Darkness Falls is a truly emotional episode for it is when Jack decides to revisit his ageing father, in the knowledge that he is suffering from Alzheimers and is due to die very soon. When Jack returns to find his father dead in his apartment, moments after a heartwarming conversation, the audience is invited into Jack Malone’s personal life, well aware of the emotional rollercoaster he experiences not only at work, through his divorce proceedings but also through the anxiety and emotional ordeal of his own father’s death. A stubborn and once cold-hearted man, Jack is broken by his father’s passing and throughout later series the audience notices moments whereby his emotions enter the fray and take over his rational. The show’s final season also uncovers his personal side, as he decides to potentially leave his job to take better care of his daughter, knowing full well she could become like one of his missing persons cases should she full foul of poor parenting.

In hindsight, I would list Without A Trace in the higher echelons of television drama, alongside CSI Vegas and The Sopranos as personal favourites and excellent pieces of episodic drama. Whilst the show will be sadly missed, it has provided me with some of the best moments in televisual history and for that there is nothing else I can do but to appreciate what has gone before.

GTA IV: The Ballad of Gay Tony

Grand Theft Auto IV: The Ballad of Gay Tony

When Grand Theft Auto IV was released in April 2008, Rockstar Games re-asserted their stronghold on the Western market. A highly anticipated next-generation release could only mean one thing; a game high in production values , a hugely engaging and gripping storyline and one of the biggest open worlds possible, free for the gamer to explore at their peril.

However, owing to much criticism from every chasm of the media that the game was too dull and serious, Rockstar decided to release The Lost and Damned, a downloadable add-on which placed the gamer in the role of Johnny, a rebellious biker who would go on to tear up Liberty City and protect his own.

Yet another role is introduced in The Ballad of Gay Tony, this time a young Latino ex-con going by the name of Luis Lopez. Enlisting the help of Tony Prince, a high-key gay nightclub owner, Luis finds himself running errands, intercepting diamond exchanges, parachuting from helicopters and pissing off just about every single person he can during his stay in Liberty City.

As refreshing as high speed boat chases can be, set against the dull and almost bland landscape of GTA IV, the core (and basic) gameplay elements haven’t changed since the initial release and in a world of frenetic First Person Shooters such as Gears of War, Modern Warfare 2 and Uncharted 2, easy-to-fix problems leave the game feeling archaic in execution and a chore to play at times. There were several key moments in latter missions where a simple updated cover system would have made a huge difference in defending a particular building or vehicle but due to the limited camera angles and mess of a cover system, death was never far away.

That said, gameplay mechanics should never take away from the story itself but that isn’t an option in TBOGT, as the story is effectively non-existant and pedestrian, merely acting as a vehicle to show off the new additions to the game; the parachuting, a shotgun with expels explosive shells, and a few more recent vehicle models. Trotting out the same old ‘hispanic’ background history, the game does little to explain anything Luis, instead choosing to represent the many problems of Gay Tony, a broken man who relies on drugs of all kinds to keep his life going (ironically). Whilst there are various derogatory references to homosexuality, it is never an issue which obstructs the player nor the storyline. In fact, the alcoholism, drug addiction and peripheral threats are all separate from his sexual lifestyle.

It is here that the game’s main problem lies. There is little new about this, what is now the final chapter of an extensive entry in the Grand Theft Auto library. It is essentially a test dummy for the few new gameplay elements and were this add-on to have never been released, it’s hard to imagine many GTA fans being too upset.

As a standalone game, it is shallow but fun in places, particularly in the final stages. However, as a sort of epilogue to the main game, it is severely mediocre, lacking any real cutting edge of stand-out qualities.

7/10

Modern Warfare 2

With 2007’s Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, Infinity Ward announced itself on the global stage as a force to be reckoned with in the gaming mass market. They unleashed a product which radically changed the impact First Person Shooters would have on gaming as a whole, reinvented the very ideals put forth in gaming as a medium and indeed became an unerring monster in the process.

Modern Warfare lifted the lid off the tradition FPS genre by introducing gameplay elements which made the overall gaming experience one to appreciate. Whilst there were standard AI mistakes, cover issues and fragmented story points, the overall package felt so polished and engaging that millions felt the need to invest in the product, realising just how much of a step up the title was in a landscape full of disheartened and under-invested FPSs.

Alongside the engrossing but disappointingly short single player experience, Modern Warfare boasted a multiplayer mode which yet another proved dominant amongst a crowded FPS market. Dropping a perks and XP system into the mix, the online mode became Xbox Live’s most popular game over the 2007 Christmas period and millions have enjoyed it since.

Roll on November 10th 2009, a date which several million people had earmarked in their diaries. With PR ‘leaks’ and gradual previews being unleashed onto the gaming radar, those who had marvelled at MW1 knew what to expect this time round. With news of a controversial and morally questionable mission making its way into the campaign mode, gamers prepared with baited breath for what has now been estimated as the biggest gaming launch in history. But does commercial success translate into a favourable gameplay experience?

From the outset, Modern Warfare 2 presents itself as an over-exaggerated extravaganza, a mess of ammunition, missiles and constant wall-to-wall violence. Infinity Ward set out to make a blockbuster and they certainly managed it; the only problem being that like many equivalent films, it suffers from a lack of depth and substance.

A cliché-ridden introductory movie sets the game up, letting the gamer know that something big going to happen, whether they like it or not, a recap of MW1 played out in case there really was anyone who had missed the previous MW title. With missions ranging from the point of view of British SAS, US military force fighters and the controversial Russian 141 Militia operation, it is not a case of sticking with any particular regime, as was also the case with the previous title. It should be noted that the controversial mission involves clearing an airport full of civilians and US policemen and riot police, a particularly hard-hitting but eerily poignant set of events. Whilst it doesn’t actually require the gamer to carry out any killings themselves, the style in which said mission is presented; a slight suavity to proceedings and unflinching air of brutal and cold almost inhuman behaviour makes it an unnerving experience but also one which serves as a means of understanding the callous and distant nature of terrorism.

Aside from this one-off controversy and much maligned perspective, the rest of the game offers a multitude of locales, each and every one looking stunning for the most part. The game certainly looks fantastic and the lighting effects in Whiskey Hotel are of special mention, though truth be told the game looks rather bland when stationery or indeed when it comes to wildlife.

Looks aside, while gameplay seems largely unchanged from MW1, the writing and story elements seem to have been overlooked completely, with plot points and certain mission objectives being hopelessly ignored or just incredibly random in their nature and relevance to anything associated with the normal story path. As such, it all seems convoluted and almost an after thought in respect to the multiplayer. The ending in particular will have many scratching their heads, pondering just what the game actually achieved, what exactly happened and what’s next.

Those looking for respite will have the multiplayer to look forward to, should they feel the need for competitive and intense battles. With MW1’s online aspects being as smooth, accessible and addictive as they were, the folks at Infinity Ward knew they had a task on their hands to come anywhere near close to emulating the success. The big new addition here is the updated killstreaks – and deathstreaks – feature, whereby killstreaks can be customised to fully maximise one’s enjoyment of the online modes and reflect individuals’ abilities to achieve specific milestones in order to make the most of the multiplayer maps. Areas are much bigger this time round too, and different level heights mean the methods of killing are now more varied than ever before, though it seems a lot easier to kill or be killed than in the previous title which to many will prove frustrating.

In Modern Warfare 2, Infinity Ward and Activision have created a monolith, a monster of a release which will no doubt keep gamers occupied til the next Call of Duty game, whenever that may be. There are still plenty of flaws, and areas of improvement for the development team to try and master in the coming years, should there be a follow-up title, and whilst the story mode lacks a certain something, the multiplayer seems a reasonable counterpoint. As a package, it still feels somewhat rough around the edges and often leaves one feeling empty or underwhelmed but there is no doubting that this will be a title which will dominant the gaming landscape for years to come.

8/10

PES2010

With FIFA 10 becoming the biggest selling sports title in gaming history, Konami had a lot to overcome if their world-famous product was to succeed this Autumn. In recent years, they have been criticised for their failure to successfully transfer the winning formula of addictive gameplay and tongue-in-cheek sterile presentation. Since coming to the PS3 and Xbox 360, the PES series has been an onslaught of disappointment. The online modes were a disaster with even the slightest lag throwing the ball over the pitch, and the lobby system appearing to have been designed by a blind chimp.

With PES2010, journalists were touting the title as being the closest to the original formula yet, a major improvement upon past entries and a suitable alternative to EA's now-dominant franchise. Sadly, this is not the case.

Throughout Konami's promotional campaigns leading up to the release of PES2010, the main features being bellowed about were the extraordinarily impressive player likenesses and a new 16-direction dribbling system, two factors which were to supposedly support a fresh and invigorating effort in a bid to resurrect a dying series unable to adapt to the next-gen. Whilt the former is certainly the case, or at least for the big name stars, the dribbling system has not fared well.

Player movement is still as archaic and frustratingly basic as earlier games, and whilst there is a better feel to the overall sense of atmosphere at each stadium, one can't help but feel Konami are losing the plot. Goalkeepers will often save shots at randomly, balls bouncing off heads, arms and legs but with no impression of them actually saving shots, merely providing points off which the balls erratically rebound. The rest of the gameplay suffers as well, referees will blow up for the smallest of touches, players will lose the ability keep a simple pass in play and some shots appear to have fired from cannons, such is their ferocious pace and height.

The final blow is the Master League mode, once praised in earlier iterations for its simplicity and ease of accessibilty, a winning combination when the gameplay is so solid. With this year's title, UEFA Champions League licence again in tow along with the newly named Europa League, the presentation is a mess. Menus pop up with inance pieces of information, presumably trying to ape FIFA's new Manager Mode in terms of depth and level of management-related help. The overall design screams of a mixture between Japanese style grafitti and images of generic football paraphenalia, and the soundtrack, aged in itself seems to change with every new menu screen, the same six or so songs being repeated within a minute of menu changes.

What was once the pinnacle of all football game franchises, PES has fallen sharply from grace. Relying too much on past glories and assumed greatness, Konami have abandoned the notion of accessiblity and refused to update its franchises to please the millions of fans vying for a fresh, fluid and fun take on the Beautiful Game. Hopefully, next year brings with it, a newly-refreshed stalwart.

6/10

WWE Smackdown 2010 Reviews

Over the last couple of weeks, a number of new releases have been pushed onto the mass market and i just so happened to buy a new Xbox 360 in that time; an Elite model.

With this i got Forza 3 (which i may blog about sometime in the future) and WWE Smackdown vs RAW 2010. While i had played Smackdown games since the very first Smackdown! title and knew the series was starting to grow tiresome and repetitive which little, if any, improvements or even changes between the more recent iterations, i had high hopes.

Sadly it seems as if the core gameplay hasn't changed a bit. With the sole addition of specific cage match controls and a momentum meter in context specific areas, the game shell appears to be a replica of last year's entry, SvR 2009 which in itself bore little difference to that of 2008's title. The worrying pattern does not sit well with investors, nor the gamers who continue to buy seemingly the same product every year. Roster updates and respective design changes (PPV name changes etc) do not represent an honest £40 change each year and whilst downloadable content would suit many, more people would rather THQ and Yukes sat down and started from scratch, even if it was a process which took two years. A reimagining of the product and the franchise as a whole would benefit the consumer and the developer, and while the investors would frown upon the very idea of not putting a game out every year, everyone would take something away in the long run.

One of the biggest differences between the vintage titles of the Smackdown series and the current releases is the story mode itself. In the original games, players would have a chance to take on the biggest superstars in the company, even being able to take advantage of a co-op option if they felt like doing so. There was no actual audio speech, instead the player would choose from speech branches and the weekly shows and monthly PPVs would pan out accordingly, the experience seemingly going on forever.

In SvR2010, the player can choose from six pre-programmed Wrestlemania story modes, which last three months. Titled the Road to Wrestlemania, it follows events from the Royal Rumble to the main stage, Wrestlemania, and has bizarre and frankly ridiculous cut scenes and plotpoints along the way. Add to this shallow and inconsistent mess an actual Career Mode which sets up virtual ladders allowing the wrestler of the player's choosing to eventually challenge for whichever titles are on offer, working their way to the top brass. However, the mode chooses to ignore or simply doesn't care if you win more than one or two titles and blindly allows one superstar to hold every title bar one, the Diva's. The disjointed and badly presented paths leave little to the imagination and there is certainly little motivation to actual play through these modes unless going for Achievements.

The main concern however, is the very thought of Yukes and THQ taking just under a year to put those product out. Other than roster changes (that said, various now-TNA members are still in the game, despite the time lapses in between) and a set of Create modes which again offer little in way of innovation nor any sense of excitement, it really is troubling to see what the development team were doing in the eight to nine months this game took to 'develop'. Hopefully Yukes take on board the vast criticism and actually think about what they're going to do with next year's title as i'm seriously worried.

6/10

Whatever Works

Whatever Works

This film just doesn’t work. In parts, it has itself believing it’s a romance-driven story, in others it appears to be a barely cohesive fable about how life sets itself in an order we are not meant to stand in the way of.

Larry David plays the part of Boris, a previously suicidal pessimist who seems to be a less aggressive version of his famous small-screen character Larry David from the hit US show Curb Your Enthusiasm. His rantings are altogether more intelligently pieced together but as the film strolls along – seemingly unaware that it’s even supposed to be a professional production given the standard of script and shoddy acting – the long-winded and ever so tiresome monologues begin to wear thin. Whether it’s the fact that the recipients are one-dimensional simpletons with little to no actual personality nor ability to be offended, or it’s the fact that Boris plays across from Southern cretin Melody who doesn’t seem to show emotion or common sense, the power of the rants and the dialogue itself lacks the brilliance of Curb’s opposing characters, each of whom display a comic hostility which makes them so endearing and Larry David a much more loveable and stupendous character.

The film itself doesn’t seem to know what it wants to tell the audience. Boris will often speak to the camera as if confiding in the faithful understanding of the cinema audience, letting us in on how he feels about certain characters at points in the film. The problem is, we don’t care about the characters nor the plot which seems to throw bizarre scenarios at the audience and expects them to shrug their shoulders and continue watching.

The love-story plot lacks any credence or realism, characters are introduced on a whim and seemingly require little to no background information, whilst those who should be taken aback by sequential plot points appear to not give a damn. We are expected to believe that a 20-something year old would happily settle down with a 50 year old at the drop of a hat, regardless of his overall feelings towards her and his habit of spewing nothing but derogatory remarks her way. When a new man enters her life – quite where he came from we truly don’t know – she is all too happy to forget she was ever married to Boris in the first place, dismissing her deep-rooted traditional values of staying true to one’s husband and sleeping with the next man to speak to her.

For a film written and devised by Woody Allen, Whatever Works lacks the wit and sharp attributes which made his back catalogue such a mass of classic works. However, here we find an outdated film presumably set in present day but which possesses the mindset of a 1940s love story gone wrong. The values at work don’t suit the hustle and bustle of New York City, the characters lack any real personality nor genuine emotion and the dialogue reiterates the confusion of the supposed era. The only saving grace – but one which does nothing to actually save the film any blushes – is the inclusion of Boris’ smart one-liners which add an element of dry humour amongst a backdrop of boredom, archaic beliefs and a surprisingly lacking piece of work.

6/10