Dreadout: Act 1 review: A short Indonesian Taste of Fear

Have you ever plan to go to Indonesia for vacation? If so, don't miss a good chance to visit some random abandoned town here because like Japan we also got some great memorable ghost that will guarantee to leave some mental damage to you. Alternatively, if you don't have extra money to go to Indonesia or you are too afraid to meet a real Indonesian ghost, you could also try this game called Dreadout to experience the similar lovely Indonesian taste of fear.

Dreadout plays similarly like the classic fatal frame/project zero as seen in ita last year demo. The demo shows good promises for some unknown Developer called digital happiness based in Bandung, indonesia. The demo managed to scare the living soul out of many players including me. So since that day, i had a great hope that this game will be good and it will be a breakthrough in Indonesian gaming industry. I even wrote some short preview for this game with all the wish list in it. So did the game delivers what i wanted? In short, dreadout delivers the scares in the way that is better than what i was expecting. Sadly, it was bogged down by many tiny little flaws.

You played as linda, a silent high school girl with a skirt so tight that you can hear her butt gasping for oxygen. She is trapped in an abandoned town with her friends and teacher after a wrong turn in the road. Using her cellphone camera to exorcist the ghosts and the puzzles in the town, it is now up to linda to uncover the secret behind the haunted town and saves everyone from joining the ghost parade in the cursed town.

The story of dreadout is anything but original since it seems to be happy to roll around with the usual horror tropes found in most horror game, albeit with some smart twist added to spice up the predicted parts. I usually dont like cliche but the cliches here seems to be intentional since i believe the games is trying to evoke the old survival horror feeling like Resident Evil. The voice acting and the dialogue are what makes me to believe so because they are super cheesy, like "the master of lock picking" cheesiness from the original resident evil. I believe that this is a double edged sword for the game. Someone who grew up with 90's and early 2000' survival horror might find this charming but the new generation who are used to triple A game quality might see it as bad.

"It's a camera. It's really powerful, especially against living ghost."

The old school feeling  doesn't stop in the story parts because it can also be seen in the game design and graphic. Dreadout graphic looks like it belongs to the PS2 era and the games difficulty, both in combat and puzzle, can be difficult to just plain annoying or confusing. Your phone camera will be the thing that you will use the most to solve the puzzle or to exorcist the ghosts but the main problem here are the lack of good information. you will spent quite a lot of time being stuck on puzzles or dying to a ghost that you can't exorcist because you don't know that it have a hidden weak spot. I appreciate the fact that they are not hand holding the players or making the game too easy but at least they can give a better hints for the players.

But for me, the main problem of Dreadout: Act 1 is that the game is super short, like it only last for 2-3 hours for act 1. It ends abruptly with "to be continue" slammed to the screen just when things are getting exciting. Luckily, the developer announced that the dreadout act 2 will be available free as future DLC with the free roam part as paid DLC. It is a good new but waiting for act 2 is still a problem for me, though.

With all that said, dreadout still manage to scare me. Despite the fact that the games graphic is outdated, the atmosphere is still pretty solid, especially from the excellent sound design. The game's atmosphere kinda remind me with silent hill in a good way, limited but it get the job done really well. I'm man enough to admit that Dreadout manages to make me sit in the edge of the chair all the time and even managed to make me scrams like 2 or 3 times even with it short length. The ghost design also worth a mention because they managed to make even the silliest ghost in Indonesian folklore to be terrifying. When the game want to scare you, it will scare you because Dreadout is unpredictable for a horror game.

Yeah, this is new. Even for Indonesian like me.

I got a mixed feeling about dreadout. The games is filled with a lot of good ideas and most of the scares are pretty genuine but there is a lot of minor problems bugging it down from being a good game. I really want to like it but act 1 just feels like another demo to me with all its problem and length. A good demo indeed, but it still feels incomplete at whole and it makes me crave for more. The best thing that i can say for now is that I hope act 2 can be a major improvement, especially in the content and it can be even more scary..

Initial El Review Score

6.5

5 Great Absurd Movies That You Need to See To believe

There is a lot of  movies that loves to tell a fictional story with realistic approach this day and it seems to be quite popular among the general moviegoers. The Bourne series, The Daniel Craig's James Bond, even The Raid that i've just reviewed were all taking some realistic approach to entertain the audiences and even a lot of video games this day claimed to be "realistic" so it can attract more gamer like COD. But in the end, they are as realistic as a Godzilla fart. I get why peoples love realistic entertainment, it's because they can relate to what happen in the movie with their own life, and i like it as much as the guy next door but i miss the time where movies can be bizarrely absurd without any regards to realism or anything like that. So here i am after wandering in the internet to find some of the most absurd movie premises, moment or overall experiences in it for your entertaiment. enjoy.

5. Sharknado

Sharknado....a tornado filled with absurdly hungry sharks that keep eating human despite the fact that they are flying inside a tornado. Someone actually had this idea, made a film about it and it successful. This is actually one of the infamous bad movie that you might heard off if you spent long enough time in the internet searching for the meaning of life. The movie was made by The Asylum which is famous for ripping off Hollywood blockbuster into low budget B movie like Alien Vs hunter which ripped off Aliens Vs Predators, War of the world which ripped off  Steven Spielberg War of The World and Sherlock Holmes where they made Sherlock solve a case which T-rex, fire breathing pterodactyl, and giant octopus are involved.

And the award for the best movie poster goes to...Sherlock Holmes! 

Sharknado is the most successful effort from the Asylum since the stupid tittle and the premise really attracts lot of curious peoples. It even managed to become trending topic in twitter just for how stupidly awesome the title is. The stupidity isn't limited to the title and the premise only, the longer you watched the movie the more absurdly stupid the movie will become. For examples, we finally learn the one and only weakness of a shark. A chainsaw.

The kryptonite sold separately

The CG is terrible, the acting is so cheesy, the plot makes no sense and apparently all we need to do the deal with a tornado disaster is a bomb (go watch it. you'll see what i meant). The crazy thing is, Sharknado got an 82% score in Rotten Tomatoes site. It even top  action masterpiece like the Raid 2 which only got like 80% score in that site. I'm not sure what happened inside the critic mind when they are giving the score for this movie. It is truly an absurdity how this movie got so popular back then.

4. Zardos

Yep, that's Sean Connery there, the guy who are quite famous as one of the most Charismatic James Bond in a red underwear and knee high boots like he was just back from some gay S&M club. That is also just the tip of the iceberg because the movie will get more and more absurd the more it goes by. How to make it more absurd you said? Lets add some flying stone head that say "Gun is good. Penis is evil" and make him vomit guns from it's mouth in  the first section of the movie.

And the vagina is God. Am i right peoples?

Zardos tells a story about...i am not sure what i watched, to be honest. It have something to do about a post apocalyptic earth where mankind divided into the immortals 'eternal' and the mortals 'brutal'. The connection between the two groups is through Brutal Exterminators, who kill and terrorize other "Brutals" at the orders of a huge flying stone head called Zardoz, which supplies them with weapons in exchange for the food they collect. Zed (Connery), a Brutal Exterminator, hides aboard Zardoz during one trip, temporarily "killing" its Eternal operator-creator Arthur Frayn. Zed then just wandering around doing non-sensical things.

Watching Zardoz is almost like eating a magic mushroom while you are having a high fever in some tropical rain forest. Everything you watched in this movie is beyond words to explain. The movie is a big flop when it was released but overtime it became a big cult hit for how absurd it is. It is definitely one absurd experience that you can watch as the substitute for hallucinogenic substance.

3. Enthiran/Robot

Enthiran or Robot in Hindi is a Kolywood movie from India about, well robot obviously. A scientist has created a robotic AI for military purpose which can think, love, kicking ass and dance, because, hei its  a movie from India. No Indian movie were made possible without one or two dancing musical moments. The robot then go haywire, make clones of themselves and cause a mayhem in the city Overall, It's basically The Terminator if it was made in India where the law of physics just doesn't give a damn .

Pictured above:  where law of physics doesn't give a damn.

Entrhiran is actually one of the most successful and also one of the best Indian action movie ever made. There is a lot of impressive things happened in this movie, especially the action bits of it. When i said impressive, it is in a really absurd way kind of impressive. The action scenes just didn't give a damn about realism at all and it is really fascinating to see the length they took to make the action scenes look cool at any cost.

Why is there only one car flew in slow motion but the other cars seems to go in normal time, how come the robots becomes a giant balls of dooms, giant snakes and a mirror seeker missiles and why did the robot ? The film didn't even gives a second to explain all that awesomeness that happens on the screen which makes this movie absurdly cool.

2. Birdemic

The Shock came from the fact that this thing exist and the terror came from the realization that you killed 70% of your brain cells after watching this movie

Well, that DVD cover is a real deal peoples, it isn't me trying to learn using photoshop for the first time. Someone really makes a movie about environmentalist birds on rampage because humans are responsible for global warming. Yes, it is a movie that is trying to raised the awareness about global warming by using killer "birds" as the reminder that global warming is bad and your parrot might be secretly banging your spouse while you are out. By the way, i'm using the word "birds" loosely here.

It's bird all right, i guess.

Birdemic is infamous for it's super terrible bird effect as you can above, it is even worse than sharkna. It is also quite infamous for the fact that the birds poop acids to kill peoples and it only attacked gas station and cars like the birds is some sort of green peace diabolical secret experiment.

This movie is absurdly bad and its not only the birds effect. It is definitely up there with some of the worst movies ever made like The Room and Troll 2 and that is why this movie is famous among the fan of good bad movie cult. The story doesn't make sense, the acting is cringe worthy, the moral messages is painfully cliche and the birds effect will blew your mind. Depending on how you see movie as an entertainment media, this movie could be a gem in a film making history or it could be a psychological torture that will drain your sanity. Also, if you are up for some masochistic experience, you should also watch the sequel too. It does exists, for some reason. 

Also in production, Birdemic 3: The Revelation

1.  Food Fight

Just when you thought that nothing can be more absurdly bad than Birdemic comes Food fight, an animated movie that takes place in the "Marketropolis" supermarket at night after everyone has left. The grocery store transforms into a city, and from every door of this city comes two types of characters: well-known marketing icons and new characters. It cost 65 million dollar and 8 years in the making due to some post production issues. It might not sounds that bad at first but after 30 Seconds of watching this movie, you'll see the disaster that only the cruelest human being can used as the method for execution.

65 million dollar in the making, ladies and gentlemen.

It is  really an awful movie by any means. Absurdly awful if you remember that this movie cost 65 million Dollar and had some well known actor behind it like Charlie Sheen, Eva Longoria, and Hillary Duff. If it was some kind of  indie movie from a film student it would be more acceptable but this is not that. 

To add salt to the gaping wounds, this movie is full of sexual innuendo and strange fetish. The main character is a humanoid dog who dates human with cat ear and the villain is over sexualized woman  who triggers every kind of sexual innuendo whenever she is in scene. It is painful to sit and watch this movie, that is why it is a great movie if you wanna used it to erase someone from this plane of existence.

The Raid 2: Berandal review

"OH MY GOD! OH MY GOD! Its finally came out! I could finally watch it!" Is my initial reaction when The Raid 2 finally came out in the Indonesian theater. This movies has been my most anticipated and hyped movie in recent years for a reason, The Raid is awesome and the sequel is aiming for a bigger, better and absolutely batshit insane actions and boy did they deliver it in such explosive way. No wonder some people called this movie as the Dark Knight of action movies because despite my soaring expectation for The Raid 2, it still manage to even top that expectation.

For those who haven't watched the first movie, have no fear because the first movie barely had any story and the connection between the first and the second movie is like the connection between amish peoples and the internet. You will only need to hear some explanation and you'll be good enough to follow this movie story. If you are not a native Indonesian speaker. never use "I don't watch subtitled movie" as a reason to not watch this masterpiece. Go see it now! With that done, here's my review for The Raid 2.

The raid 2 literally took place like 3 hours after the ending of the first movie. To protect his family from the mob, Rama (Iko Uwais) must go undercover and befriends the son of the leader of the mobs, Uco (Arifin Putra) and infiltrates the organization from the inside to find any evidence related to the mob activity and police corruption inside. After 2 awesome fight scenes and 2 years later, Rama becomes Uco trusted man and he joined the mob, break more bones and gained their trust. Things doesn't go all well because Uco ambition to be the leader of the mob triggers a conflict with their rival, The Japanese mob. Rama must punch, broke and stabs more people in order to survive the chaos and bring the end to the the gang war and police corruption in Jakarta.

If the first movie feels like a claustrophobic survivor horror movie with the addition of Indonesian martial art called Silat, The Raid 2 feels much more bigger in every ways possible and it might be one of the goriest action movie in this recent years. For an action movie, the duration of The Raid 2 is super long, clocking in at two and a half hour which sound really worrying at first but i can assure you that those two and a half hour will went by as fast as the breeze of wind in the morning because the pacing of the movie is superb. I never feel like the movie drags too long or stuck in nowhere, in fact i wish that the movie is longer so it can show more actions and character interactions.

I watched every Gareth Evans movies right from Merantau which is also about 2 hours long and i remember Merantau story to be bogging down the actions part to the level where i wish i could fast forward to the great action parts in that movie. I was worried that the same thing will happen in The Raid 2, but while the story in it is at best serviceable and at worst still bogging down the actions, the characters is what kept my attention glued to the movie. The movie is full of memorable characters like the psychopath Uco as the mob boss son's, Bangun the leader of the Jakarta Mob (Tio pakusadewo), Prakoso as an assassin  who look like a hobo and for some reason married to a super hot woman (Yayan Ruhian aka Mad dog from the first movie), and two of my favorite characters Hammer Girl (Jullie Estelle) and Baseball Bat Man (Very Tri Yulisman) who in my opinion is two of the most memorable characters from the movie.

And no, i don't like baseball bat man because it sounds like Batman learn silat and went nuts with a baseball bat

Performances wise, i won't sugar coating it because admittedly the performances is quite a mixed bags. Some performances are actually pretty good especially from Arifin Putra as Uco and Tio Pakusadewo as the mob boss but Iko as the main lead and Yayan as Prakoso...well, not so good. Don't get me wrong, when they are in a fight scene they totally sold it but since the movie shows more drama now, it become more apparent that they are not a good actor, yet. Despite that, i genuinely feels emotionally invested with their characters because i really feels Rama angers and his descent into the madness of the underworld and i feel very sympathetic with Prakoso story. What i want to say is they can be better and i really wanna see them getting better because i genuinely thinks that they might be the next Jackie Chan of martial art movie, with a touch of brutality that is. Jullie Estelle as the hammer girl is still my favorite though because she is so cool in every scenes she is in even when she never once sprout a word (Hammer girl is mute and deaf after all) yet her performance is subtle and striking. The fact that she is downright gorgeous might be one of the winning factor too.

Do hammer me anytime you want Jullie...

And of course, what is The Raid without its actions part? The prison riot, the subway fight, the car chase, the 2 on 1 fight between Rama, Hammer Girl and Baseball Bat Man, and the final fight scene are just mind blowing. There is a lot of moment where i go "how the hell did they film this scene?". It  took me to a time where movies are magical wonders before CG takes over the creativity of practical effects. Talking about The Raid 2 action scenes will be an understatement because by God you need to experience it by yourself. We are talking about some of the best and brutal action scenes that ever been put in the cinema level here and Gareth Evans really shot them beautifully. To think that they managed to craft such a masterpiece with only 4.5 million dollar compared to the waste of 200 million dollar in every Michael Bay movie shows that creativity always defeat budget anytime in the days.

It might sound that this movie is perfect but its not. There is quite a moment where i kinda go nitpicking some little flaw here and there like the strange scenes involving the snow which if you remember your geographical lesson, Indonesia is a tropical country and  the snows that just came out from nowhere serves not much of a purpose but making me raising my eyebrow in confusion. The Raid 2 will also be hated because the level of the brutality portrayed almost looks like 80's slasher movies and it certainly turned off many peoples from watching it. Some foreigner who aren't used to watch a subtitled movie also might see it as a negative but honestly, to hell with those guys! I've been watching subtitled movie for my entire life and i still able to enjoy all kind of movies just fine. If you said that you don't wanna watch one of the best action movie ever because it is subtitled then learn to read or you'll missed one of the best experience that a movie can offer!

This movie makes me literally giggling in happiness every time i saw some amazing set pieces back when i watched it in the cinema. In our way back home, me and my friends spent like hours talking about the movie with a big passion even though most of my friend who watched it with me aren't a big fan of movies in general. The Raid 2 is a movie made with a passion of its director, actors, crews and all the staffs and in the end that passions were delivered to the audiences through the movie. If a movie managed to make you feel passionate just from watching it then i said it deserves a place in my heart.

Initial El score's

10

A place in my tiny little empty heart

5 Banner Caleg Yang Mengajarkan Kita Tentang Politik Di Indonesia

Sebagai seorang lulusan hubungan internasional, Saya sadar bahwa politik adalah sesuatu yang membutuhkan berbagai macam kemampuan mulai dari kemampuan negosiasi, diplomasi hingga senyum manipulatif yang biasa kita lihat di wajah pedofil yang baru tertangkap tengah memberi permen ke anak kecil. Berbagai macam taktik harus digunakan untuk mencapai sebuah tujuan politik apalagi di tengah pemilu DPRD yang penuh dengan persaingan ini.

Salah satu cara untuk memenangkan hati rakyat adalah dengan memasang banner di jalan atau tempat strategis lainnya, namun sulit tentunya untuk menonjol di tengah ratusan banner caleg lainnya. Perang banner ini tentunya tidak menghentikan para Caleg untuk tetap mengotori tiang listrik dan papan billboard dengan visi misi generik mereka namun beberapa caleg memilih untuk membuat sebuah perubahan di perang banner ini dan mengajarkan kita tentang berpolitik serta pengorbanan mereka sebagai politikus. Dari kreativitas para caleg ini, kita bisa belajar mengenai bagaimana politik di Indonesia bergulir untuk menarik hati rakyat dan memajukan Indonesia. Berikut adalah para revolusioner perang banner yang bisa kita temui dan pelajari.

5. Genetik  Amat Penting Dalam Berpolitik. 

Jaman dahulu, keturunan genetik merupakan sebuah aspek yang sangat menentukan apakah kita akan menjadi raja atau anak petani biasa, namun di jaman modern ini nampaknya semua hal tersebut telah berubah karena jaman ini memberikan kita kemungkinan tidak terbatas untuk menjadi apapun yang kita mau. Sebagai seorang caleg yang memiliki kapabilitas tinggi, sudah kewajiban bagi caleg ini untuk mengingatkan kita tentang pentingnya keturunan genetik yang kita miliki, terutama jika kita ingin mengikuti jejak manusia-manusia terpilih ini. Karena takdir tidak pernah berbohong tentunya.

4. Politik dan Seks itu 11-12

Saya tidak yakin apa banner ini menunjukkan bahwa politik itu erat hubungannya dengan seks karena jika itu benar, nampaknya saya melewatkan kelas yang terdengar seru itu sewaktu masih kuliah. Banner ini nampaknya juga menunjukkan bahwa jika kita mau berpolitik maka gairah kita di atas ranjang harus sama dengan gairah kita di atas panggung politik atau mungkin dia cuma memodifikasi banner dia sewaktu masih jadi model iklan obat kuat. Namun, saya harus mempercayai bahwa seorang caleg yang memiliki kemampuan untuk memasang banner mereka di jalan tentunya memiliki pengetahuan politik yang lebih tinggi dari saya sehingga saya yakin bahwa seni bercinta dan seni berpolitik itu membutuhkan kekuatan yang sama yaitu kemudaan, kekuatan, gairah serta badan yang besar dan berotot. .

3. Politik Itu Penuh Dengan Spionase, Aksi, dan Perang

Layaknya James Bond, seorang politikus harus memiliki kemampuan spionase, menggoda wanita dan memegang senjata. Indonesia tidak hanya penuh dengan penjahat-penjahat yang berusaha menguasai Indonesia dengan segala cara. Para plolitikus harus pergi untuk menjalani sebuah misi spionase menghadapi manusia-manusia berbahaya ini dan mempertaruhkan nyawanya demi melindungi rakyat indonesia.

2. Menjadi politikus Membutuhkan Kekuatan Super

Menjadi seorang politikus bukan hal yang mudah karena banyak juga musuh-musuh berkekuatan super yang harus dilawan dalam membela kebenaran dan keadilan di Indonesia ini. Untuk menghadapi para penjahat super dalam ranah politik ini terkadang para politikus ini harus mengorbankan diri digigit oleh laba-laba radioaktif seperti Spiderman atau menjadi kelinci percobaan serum prajurit super layaknya Captain America dan kemudian mengenakan topeng serta kostum super ketat untuk difoto di banner. Para penjahat super itu tentunya akan ketakutan setengah mati ketika melihat banner ini dan Indonesia dapat kembali maju.

1. Kejujuran Tetap Nomor 1

Setelah kita mampu menjadi yang terpilih, bercinta dengan mahir, menjadi agen rahasia, dan menjadi pahlawan super, ada satu hal yang harus dimiliki oleh seorang politikus, kejujuran yang murni. Setelah semua pengorbanan itu, mereka harus Jujur bahwa pada akhirnya mereka akan berakhir tidak peduli dan menghabiskan uang rakyat namun dengan cara itu, kita sebagai rakyat tahu bahwa mereka jujur dan kita bisa menaruh kepercayaan kita di tangan mereka. Kejujuran ini nantinya  akan menjadi benih utama yang bisa meajukan Indonesia.

Semoga tulisan ini dapat membantu kita untuk lebih memahami politik di Indonesia dan menghargai pengorbanan para politikus kita yang telah memberikan segala-galanya untuk memajukan Indonesia. Jika pembaca menganggap semua yang saya tulis secara serius dan benar, maka anda akan sangat cocok menjadi calon legislatif untuk pemilu tahun berikutnya.

South Park: Stick of Truth Review

As you might see, today review is a TV show adaptation of South Park, a TV show that has been running since 1997 till now in USA. Just like how movies based on game is cursed to forever be sucks, games based on TV show has a pretty similar curse but it usually doesn't suck as much as the other side. With that common assumption and the fact that the game keeps delayed with no certainty, it leads the fans of the series to fell to the  hole of skepticism quite fast. Despite all that setbacks, South Park: The Stick Of Truth finally hit the market and its surprisingly a really good game.

You play as the new kid or Douchebag as your friends in the game called you, a newly moved kid who tries to make friend in the City of  South Park as he try to survive in the new environment by adding as much friends as you can in Facebook (they literally called it Facebook in the game) while getting involved in a War  between Elf and human. Well, ok the war is just kids playing  real life Dungeons and Dragons knock off in the city as stuffs getting more and more absurd in South Park as the game progresses. There will be alien, nazi zombie and abortion clinic for some reason in it.

The first thing that you will notice is that the games really nail the crude aesthetic of the TV show  because it is almost impossible to tell  the different between the game and the show. The character and the town pictured accurately and you can even travel to 8-bit version of Canada. They even manage to bring every voice actors from the show and it really made the game even harder to tell apart from the show. Well ok, the show isn't exactly known for its beautiful art or stellar voice acting but if you are looking for authenticity you can't get more authentic than Stick of Truth.

The funny thing is, of all the genre this game could take, it took a simple turn based RPG system that seems obsolete in this modern day of triple A games where there is a law that you can only market a games that includes realistic military guns, female characters with a cleavage big enough to make Hugh Hefner erects, and  Last but not the least, explosions! Surprisingly, despite it's simple gameplay, the game really is fun to play from because the simple mechanic filled with layers of strategy and possibility. The battle system feels like classic turn-based JRPG added with some button mashing and quick time event which force you to stay in toe. You can pick 1 from 4 class like warrior who used raw power to defeat their enemy, thief who uses their cunning moves to defeat enemy before they know what stroke them, mage who uses makeshift magic to magically defeat their enemy and Jew who used Jew-jitsu. No, seriously, there is a class called jew here and they fight using jew-jitsu. That's how crude and offensive this game is.

I wonder what will the new class be for the DLC

To be honest, Im not a fan of  South Park show and i only pick it only because a lot of reviewer said that it is great but i  do remember watching South Park movie years ago and that it gross me so bad when i was younger. As i grow older, i gained some appreciation on what the show is trying to do and it is trying to make an enjoyable crude dark humor. South Park isn't a show for everyone and the game Shows the same or even more crude and dark humor that will definitely offend some peoples outside but by god it is so funny when it is funny. I laugh out loud when Kenny becomes a cross dresser and used it to trick the boys with the promise of boobies or when Morgan Freeman came out from nowhere just to explain convoluted plot point to the player. There is some moment in the game where i think they went to far with the crude joke and it really gross me out.

Sadly, there is a lot of gripe that hold this game to become great. One of my major problem is that the game is way too easy, even in the hardcore difficulty. The depth of the battle system become pointless because most of my enemies bleed out to death before they can even yell "Fus Ro Dah!" and some of my skill could instakill most of the enemies in the game. Also, unlike most RPG there is no mini game, or any other side activity to do besides sidequest so the game might feels repetitive at time. The only thing that keeps me motivated to play is it's story which is hilarious as hell to follow.

So South Park might be repetitive at some moment and the battle is way too easy but it is one hell of a fun experience that will either gross you out or make you laugh out loud. I enjoy Stick of Truth for what it is but there is some moment of it that just grossed  me out too much and it kinda hamper the experience to me. The battle while it fun and has some layer of depth in it, became pointless because how easy the battle is but if you are fans of the series, this game is a must buy. But if you aren't one, it might not changes your mind about the series. Still, you will find yourself surprised by how fun the experience is at the end of the games.

Initial El Score

7.5

Kenny boobies

her review

Today movie is a romantic comedy movie which  is a genre that i rarely touch since I am not very bright when it came to emotional relationship. I also tend to be too serious to be funny and all the women that i knew always said that i'm the most unromantic sentient being who ever walks/crawls/swim/fly on earth. So right from the bat, i don't like most romantic movie but it doesn't meant that i am allergic to that genre. Some romantic movies do quite entertain me like 500 Days of Summer which i found to be a quite profound romance movie. This time, the movie that is surprisingly blew my mind is a romantic movie called Her.

Her is set in 2025. An appropriately nerdy named Theodore Twombly (Joaquin Phoenix) is a lonely, introverted man who writes personal love letters for people with difficulties expressing their feelings. Unhappy because of his impending divorce from childhood sweetheart Catherine (Rooney Mara), Theodore purchases a talking operating system with artificial intelligence, designed to adapt and evolve. He decides he wants the OS to have a female identity, and she (Scarlett Johansson) names herself "Samantha". Theodore is fascinated by her ability to learn and grow psychologically. They bond over their discussions about love and life, during which Theodore explains he is avoiding signing his divorce papers, because of his reluctance to let go of Catherine.

Theodore is convinced by Samantha to go on a blind date with an acquaintance (Olivia Wilde) who his longtime friend, Amy (Amy Adams), has been trying to set him up with. To his surprise, he and the woman hit it off. As they are kissing, the woman asks if Theodore is willing to commit to her, and when he hesitates, she leaves. Theodore mentions this to Samantha and they talk about relationships. Theodore explains that although he and Amy dated briefly in college, they are only good friends and that Amy is married. Theodore and Samantha's intimacy grows. They develop a relationship, which reflects positively in Theodore's writing. The relationship soon turn into a love relationship and the rest of the movie is  mostly about the drama between Samantha and Theodore as they walk through their unlikely relationship.

It's basically Sal9000 the movie

As you may read, the movie's is about a love relationship between a man and an AI (or OS as this movie refer to) which, lets be honest, some of you might found it as a taboo or unsettling . This is not the first time that a movie is used to explore such a theme about synthetic relationship (ex: Blade runner) but i found Her to be quite unique on its own merit. I expected some black and white moral message with this kind of movie since it is really easy for it to just go with the direction that say "Theodore was wrong because he is an introverted freak who fell in love with a computer" or "it is ok to fall in love with anything because whatever done in the name of love is always right" but the movie went beyond right or wrong. It present us, the viewer, a gray line in that kind of relationship and trust us to make our own judgement which is always a good thing for me. It is a sign that the movie maker respect us as a intellectual being with their own intellectual perspective.

The settings really helps you to believe in the relationship between Theodore and Samantha because how peoples react to that relationship differs for each person in that world. Some peoples were actually quite accepting with it and the others might not be so. The world of Her also feels quite believable in a way like what our future might be and it seriously feels like a legit sci-fi world. The technology used in the movie doesn't involve something like laser pistol, neon-glowing-everything or Jar-jar Bing. The world take the route of realistic Sci-fi like the way Looper did but in a more bright way. It is also beautifully shot and kinda feels artsy at some scene. There is also some scene in the movie which makes fun of video games culture which, as a gamer, actually managed to cracked me out.

The way the movie present it's characters also add to the overall great experience. Theodore may be an introvert but he is a really likeable introvert that people kinda admire and love despite the creepy looking porn stache that latch in his face. It's not that he fell in love with a computer because he cant socialize or unable to find a woman to date, its because he just doesn't want to. Some reviewer said that Theodore isn't actually fell in love with Samantha, but with himself since Samantha is programmed to follow and adapt to its owner preferences and it might be true at first glance but we have to look into Samantha to see why i don't see it like that. The way Samantha grow as an AI genuinely surprised me. She (yeah, i used she because she really feels like a genuine woman in the movie) evolve into something than just an AI that programmed to please and she even start to do something that i didn't predict at all. I wont tell how she surprised me but when it happens, my jaws kinda dropped in the floor.

Joaquin Phoenix as Theodore really is the star of this movie. Most of this movie scenes is just him talking with an AI who didn't even have a face, which in paper, sounds like super boring stuff but somehow he managed to make me invested every time he is on screen. He really brings a believable performance that makes you care in every line he said. Scarlet Johansson, on the other side, literally only had a voice yet she absolutely doing a fantastic job on being a fun, smart and helpful AI. The chemistry between Theodore and Samantha is spot on right from the get go because they do feel like a couple in love despite the fact that, well, its a love story between a man and a software. The great dialogue and writing also helps them to become funny, romantic and a joy to watch, The rest of the cast like Amy Adam as Theodore ex-girlfriend also do a fantastic job Theodore Ex-girlfriend who are still close to him.

I really-really like Her just for its unique and simplistic premise but how the movie execute it really made it become something special. It is beautifully shot and directed, the performance of the actors is fantastic, the writing is smart and witty, and i also have to mention how great the score is by Arcade Fire. Some people might not like Her because its premise is actually quite strange for some viewer and the movie might be a lil bit too focused in Theodore which could be an issue for someone who wishes for a bigger story but all that gripes is nothing because Her is one experience that you have to see for yourself.

Initial El Score

9.0

Its for Sal9000!

The Hateview: Alien Vs Predator Requiem

Uhh...how did i got reminded about this disastrous cocktail of messiness? I do remember getting quite excited about this movie and then getting slapped in the crotch by it at the end of the movie but what i don't remember is why did i get excited at all?

The original Alien vs Predator isn't actually a masterpiece or a good movie in any sense. It is poorly written, the movie logic is like studying quantum physic theories from a scientist who just consume an LSD, and above all it was directed by the damned Paul W.S Anderson, the guy who directed the awful Resident Evil series. To be fair, i think the first Alien vs Predator movie is rather fun if you switch your brain off, bang your head against the brick wall for 5 minutes, and finally drink 2 bottles of tequila. I think the slight of fun that i feel is what kinda makes me expect something good that didn't actually exist in the first place when i got excited for it's sequel. Despite of it slight fun, i don't see why people want to see more of it after such low receptions both from critics and fans. Even the studio who wants some cash grab should realize that there is no more potential left for this series but oh, money talks and studio listen so we got Alien vs Predator Requiem.

I think the starting concept of this sequel was just based in the fact that the first Alien vs Predator is a Pg13 movie, meaning that there is no gore, swears or anything related to the facts that both Alien and Predators is well known for it's R rated rating. People complaining that they want to see gore when the predators do their classic Sub-zero fatality impersonation or when the aliens do their metaphorical rape killing stuffs and in that regards they did listen to the fans. So "R rated movie it is" said the studio but they forgot that you cant make a movie based just on gore and blood. You need interesting characters, good plot that drive the actions and a good direction from the director. They failed so hard in this 3 parts.

AVPR, as the marketing department of this movie like to be referred to, is following the events of Alien vs. Predator, a Predator spaceship is leaving Earth carrying dead Aliens, living facehuggers, and the body of the Predator that defeated the Alien queen. A chestburster erupts from the dead Predator's body; it is a new creature that is a hybrid of Alien and Predator characteristics called the Predalien (who the hell is in charge naming this thing?) It quickly matures into an adult and begins killing Predators throughout the ship. A Predator's weapons fire punctures the hull and the ship crashes in the forest outside of Gunnison, Colorado.

With the Predators dead, the Predalien and several facehuggers escape, implanting embryos into a nearby father and son and into several homeless people living in the sewers. A distress signal from the wrecked ship reaches the Predator home world and a lone Predator responds, traveling to Earth to observe the cause of the crash and track the facehuggers. It begins to erase the evidence of the Aliens' presence by destroying the crashed ship and using a blue liquid to dissolve the bodies of the facehuggers and their victims. That Predator  have to kill all the remaining alien without leaving any traces of evidence behind while a bunch of cannon fodder is killed in gruesome ways, both by the Predator and the Aliens.

AVPR is directed by the Strauss brothers who directed...nothing before. They were just a special effect supervisor before they made this movie and the lack of experiences are spot on in the movie. AVPR is nothing but unnecessary blood and gore and its terrible in that too. When someone is dead i don't feel anything that a normal human should feel when others human died. No remorse, no sympathy, no excitement, no emotion, only apathy and that is clearly a sign that there is something wrong either with me or the movie. The writing didn't help the audience to care about the characters because they are even worse than the characters in typical slasher movies. At least in the slasher movie i want the character to die because they are written to be hated but in this movie i don't actually care at all about the characters. They are more unforgettable than a breeze of wind in my butt.

The movies try to take a more dark route with gore and blood but they took it one step farther to make darker. The lighting in this movie is so bad that i can't tell if the Aliens and the Predator is fighting or having some interspecies sex scene because the movie is way too dark to see. I know that they want this movie to be darker than it's predecessor but they don't need to go dark with the lighting too. What's the point in having a fight scenes that the audience cant see? Let the fight scene left for interpretation?

 Subtle.

Speaking of action scenes, the action scenes feels rather clunky because they went back with people in rubber suit and not animatronic anymore. It almost like watching a terrible Power Ranger episode that directed by Eli Roth. I also have to say, the Predalien looks rather silly and it is the thing that we, the audiences, need to feel scared and intimidated with?

When facehugger meets Jamaican...

I do heard of some reviewer said that AVPR is a good movie is you took it as a B movie rather than a triple A movie but i think that's the exact problem of this movie. Both the original Alien and Predator is legendary because of their achievement for turning on a B movie premise into a very influential classic that leaves an impact on everyone who watch its. Yet, this movie fell into a forgettable B movie feels which the original movie try so hard not to be at the first place, ironically. 

It is a good thing that this franchise is dead. After such a failure nobody will dare to touch this movie premise ever again. If you think twice about Alien Vs Predator premise, maybe this premise shouldn't be touched for a movie in the first place. They might be a good enough promise in comics and video games but for a box office movie its rather hard to execute. Both of the creatures might came from outer space and both of them leaves a trail of blood, intestines and brain matters wherever they went but that is the only thing they share in common. The alien is a beast who lives only to kill and procreate while predator is a civilized hunter who hunts for sports in Sunday morning. Their nature isn't all that compatible to make an engaging story and so far the best story they can milk out is the predators is breeding the aliens so they can used its as a hunting ritual while the human characters is just there as a chewing toy for them. As i said before, a good movie needs a good character and Alien vs Predator is having a hard time making a significantly good characters because they treat human characters as dispensable cardboard cutout. It is a franchise that is better left for comics and video game only.

Initial El Judgement

3.5

Free hugs from facehugger