High Rezolution

Rez is one of my favorite games of all time. It is video gaming in its purest sense. I remember wanting to play the impossibly gorgeous virtual reality games depicted in Lawnmower Man and other early 90s films. Rez is that impossible game. While there are scores involved, Rez really rewards the player with beauty through the stunning visuals and music. It has achieved perfection on the Xbox 360.

Oh, and I forgot to include Zak & Wiki on the list. I’m still a short ways into it, but I have been quite amused thus far.

1. Rock Band
2. Psychonauts
3. Rez
4. Puzzle Quest
5. Zak & Wiki
6. Dreamfall: The Longest Journey
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Are you local?

The League of Gentlemen is a nasty bit of BBC comedy. It has a high production value, memorable characters and it is just plain weird. Not as vulgar as Little Britain, but definitely grotesque at times. It can get dark and uncomfortable, falling between The Office and Extras on the discomfort scale.

And yes, Veronica Mars is still #1 after the astonishing season four premiere of Lost. The writing on Veronica Mars is better, the storytelling tighter and the mysteries are far more cohesive, if not as earth-shattering.

1. Veronica Mars
2. Lost
3. Torchwood
4. The League of Gentlemen
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I got some submissions!

I opened my mailbox today and there were two film submissions for Something Real! I may cry tears of joy. I had a secret fear that no one would send anything.

I still need to post on some west coast and east coast movie sites so that Monica and Kara get their fair share. I’m also very close to having a listing on Withoutabox.com, which is a great site that connects filmmakers with people running festivals.

Yay! Things are happening!

Torchwood is back!

I don’t know if this is just a guilty pleasure or it really is a good show, but damn is Torchwood fun! And now they’ve added James Marsters to the mix. Awesome season 2 premiere. Reminded me why I love the show.

I think I’ve been spoiled by Veronica Mars. The season 1 finale knocked my head right out of the park. Did not see that one coming.

1. Veronica Mars
2. Lost
3. Torchwood
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Site Launch

I wrapped up the Something Real web site this weekend and started posting the request for submissions on film-related sites. I’ll need to find more sites to post on this coming week.

Someone wrote me within an hour of my posting on a Yahoo! group.

She said: When is the deadline?

I said: February 29th.

She said: Okay, I’ll see if I can make a film by then.

I said: 🙂

Now I guess I just have to wait and see what starts showing up. I am grateful that my friends Monica and Kara have agreed to screen submissions. Not like any of us needed an excuse to watch more movies, but now it is for a good cause!

Joss on GeeksOn

I have to give props to my homies at the GeeksOn podcast for scoring a guest appearance by Joss Whedon.

Have a listen here.

Then come check out their forums. You may even see me there. 😉

Mysterious Ways

Tonight I decided to go downtown for a change. Seems like I haven’t been out and about in my fair city in quite some time. I hung out with some folks at the Ginger Man, a charming establishment with a long wall of brews. I tried the Bigfoot Ale, which I detested at first, but then grew to, well… endure.

Then I headed over to the next block to Fado, where I heard a U2 cover band was playing. For all intents and purposes, their lead singer was Bono. He looked just like him. He even had all the stage moves, engaging us in wild, rock star antics. They played mostly B-sides, but threw in some of the hits. They were very good.

All the while I was painfully aware of this sea of attractive women, all on someone’s arm or wearing a ring. I always wonder where they were before. When does that window of opportunity occur?

And then there was the waitress. She resembled Juliette from Lost, who, as some may know, is a representative of archetypal hotness  for me. The whole night, she had to squeeze past me on her way to and from the bar. It almost made me cry.

I Have a Venue!

I am happy to say that Something Real now has a venue! The Regal Arbor Cinema will be showing the films on Monday, March 24th at 7PM! I was really worried about getting the venue, but the manager was just the nicest guy ever and all my fears were imaginary.

Now I need to get the web site up and start posting requests for submissions!

Live for Nothing or Die for Something

Would I have gone to see this had it not been a free advance screening at the Alamo? Probably not. Our “tickets’ were spent shell casings from an automatic weapon, which was kind of cool.

There’s not a whole lot of movie here. It does contain the longest sequence of horrific violence I’ve seen in a movie. The last act was just the sound of a heavy artillery gun and people exploding.

1. There Will Be Blood
2. Ratatouille
3. Cloverfield
4. 9 Lives
5. Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind
6. The Big Lebowski
7. Voices of a Distant Star
8. Rambo
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Ratatouille

Big surprise: another flawless gem from Pixar. I was joking with Dave some time ago that I’m getting tired of the perfection Pixar delivers. I’m ready for the horrible Pixar train wreck of a film.

1. There Will Be Blood
2. Ratatouille
3. Cloverfield
4. 9 Lives
5. Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind
6. The Big Lebowski
7. Voices of a Distant Star
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