Shinmaru

[quote name='Lunox'][font="trebuchet ms"] [spoiler]Complete horror?[/spoiler][/font][/QUOTE] Yes. :animesmil On a more serious note, uh... [b]Neuromancer[/b] would probably be pretty kickass, since most everything cyberpunk has its lineage from that lol.

[b]The Catcher in the Rye[/b], just to see J.D. Salinger's reaction.

[quote name='ImmortalGuru']The complete randomness in the first half of episode 3 was NUTS. Dont want to go into detail, but basically its a chick(I'm guessing supposed to be one of the animators in the series)was listening to the show on the radio while trying to figure out somethin about Pine X Napple. Basically, it gets a little disturbing towards the end. But its friggen HILARIOUS![/quote] Actually, it's Harumi, isn't it? [spoiler]She's the one in the first season who ran into Nozomu on the street and was freaked out because she thought he saw her drawings and knew she's obsessed with yaoi.[/spoiler] The radio show confused the hell out of me at first. When the voices started chattering away and it showed Harumi at the computer, I thought she was playing some bizarre SZS eroge or something... lol. Then I just got confused trying to keep up with the subtitles on the top and bottom, haha. I liked the second half more. All the examples of people casually dropping huge information were funny, and Nozomu's overreaction to, "I thought the elevator was going to go down... but it went up!!" had me rolling. Also, Chiri's idea of inconsequential information is disturbing.

[quote name='Goodbye, Face'][font=arial][size=1]Snake's and Jiggypuff's were awesome as well. I wish they were more creative with some of these, especially the Star Fox ones, that's really lame.[/font][/size][/quote] I agree. The Star Fox Final Smashes really aren't different enough... they can do [i]some[/i] different things, but for the most part they are essentially the same. Would it have been that difficult to put Fox in an Arwing and someone else the Landmaster? The remaining character could've had a repeat vehicle if the weapons were significantly different (like the bombs being used instead of the lasers in the Arwing, for example). Overall, though, I'm happy with the Final Smashes. Most of them appear as if they'll be fun to use. [quote][font=Arial][size=1]So I take it you control these with the Wiimote?[/font][/size][/QUOTE] You can control them with the Wiimote alone, the Wiimote/Nunchuck combo, the Classic Controller, or the GameCube controller.

[url=http://youtube.com/watch?v=GuTw6Ekho0g][b]Video of all the Final Smashes.[/b][/url] Some of them I don't like much (Ness/Lucas, Peach, Donkey Kong), some of them I like a lot (Link, Marth, Ike, Wario), and others I like just because they're awesome-looking attacks (Samus/Zero Suit Samus, Solid Snake, Zelda/Shiek... man, **** it, lots of them look awesome). One I really don't know what to make of, though, is Luigi's. WTF? lol

Really good season premiere. Not quite as many OMG moments as past season premieres, but I think that's more symbolic of the fact that there's a definite end to the trail now - the writers can hook people in purely with the story rather than big, flashy moments (as awesome as those are). [quote name='Dagger'][spoiler]First off: they could not possibly have used the flash-forwards to greater effect. And I'm soooo happy that this was the first premiere to focus on a character other than Jack.[/spoiler][/quote] Agreed on both counts. [spoiler]I liked the fakeout in the beginning of the episode where they show Jack and you're like, "Oh, yay, another Jack episode..." and then it's all, "lol @ you, it's a Hurley episode!!" I will also never be unhappy with randomly exploding fruit. Send Hurley on all the car chases he wants as long as he runs over more squashes, or whatever they were. One more thing regarding the effectiveness of the flash-forwards... is it just me, or are they more unsettling than the flashbacks? I mean, the flashbacks have already happened, so there's kind of a disconnect with those, you know? But the flash-forwards are going to happen - obviously after a lot of heavy **** has gone down. It's just creepy watching reactions to things that haven't even happened yet.[/spoiler] [quote][spoiler]Given the break between seasons, the fallout over Charlie's death was also handled well. The standoff between Locke and Jack could have felt like a repetition of the same old themes we saw develop over the past three seasons, but I was okay with it--particularly since (if I'm interpreting future!Hurley's comments correctly) that might have been their final confrontation. It felt more like a culmination than a kind of circling back.[/spoiler][/quote] Yeah, I can't see how they can go any further than [spoiler]Jack putting a gun in Locke's face and pulling the damn trigger. Good God, man.[/spoiler] [quote][spoiler]The "Hurley can't get away from Jacob's cabin" scene freaked me out.[/spoiler][/quote] Same here. If I saw all that **** with the creepy lighting, [spoiler]Jacob sitting in the chair and then Locke's freaky *** eyeball popping up out of nowhere, I would've freaked the **** out.[/spoiler] [quote]Speculation time! There's so much to talk about here that I'm a little overwhelmed, so I'll just throw out the most obvious item. [spoiler]"The Oceanic Six"[/spoiler] Any guesses as to who the other three are? [/QUOTE] [spoiler]Michael and Walt are possibilities, because they might be bringing help with them when they come back. I'll just say Walt, though, because I suspect Michael will not live past his return to the island. Um... I want to say Juliet, but Jack doesn't seem too happy back home, even in the beginning, so either she dies or he did something pretty bad that would make her sever contact with him. Maybe Sun lives and has her baby off the island? And then Mikhail, of course, because he can't die. :p On a more serious note, it seems pretty clear to me "The Oceanic Six" left people on the island - otherwise, what would Hurley and Jack have to go back for? Somehow I don't think they're interested in the island's magical properties, or the wonderful tan they'd get there. People are obviously going to die, but other people are going to stay on the island. However, perhaps they're not staying of their own will. Jack's conversation with Hurley heavily implied they did something shady to get off the island. Maybe that had something to do with whatever is going to happen with Locke's party that causes things to break down over there?[/spoiler] Must. Have. Rest. Of. Season. :animestun

I watched a bit of it. My dad is obsessed with it, though lol. I assume you're watching Lost right now, Dagger. *jealous* Only two-and-a-half hours to go here... *makes with the posting so you don't have to edit* :P

No, it's not just you. I think it's interesting. It adds a horrible level of cruelty to the Uchiha clan - Itachi implied heavily that the aim of each Uchiha is to acquire the same power as Madara. I'm not sure why Itachi is going to go after Sasuke now, though. Unless Sasuke has been hiding it, he doesn't have the Mangekyo Sharingan, which means there's no real point to Itachi stealing his eyes right now. That is, unless there's some possibility Itachi can steal Sasuke's eyes and develop the Mangekyo Sharingan again on his own. But if he could do that, then why didn't he just steal Sasuke's eyes when he slaughtered his clan? This also makes me think more about the effects of transplanting the eyes - more specifically, how it would affect Kakashi. Are the Uchiha's transplant powers specific to the Uchiha clan or can they possibly be replicated (even in a limited way) by non-Uchiha? Then again, this could be a useless thought since Kakashi replaced a regular eye rather than an Uchiha eye. Hm.

[b]Animal Crackers[/b]: Classic Marx Brothers. Still funny as hell no matter how many times I see it. Every time I watch more, though, it becomes increasingly apparent that Harpo Marx's character is a sociopath. :p [b]Marie Antoinette[/b]: It got mixed reviews when it was released, but I liked it. The movie does a good job of representing the isolation of Marie Antoinette within Versailles and the decadence the upper class within Versailles filled their lives with while cutting themselves off completely from the outside world. It all looks friggin gorgeous too. That's three good movies for Sofia Coppola. :) [b]Inside Man[/b]: Pretty good, although slightly disappointing. There's no real resolution at all with Jodie Foster's character - she comes in, does some stuff, leaves, and that's about it. Everything else is solid enough, though, and even if the big plot twist is kind of a stretch, I can accept it. Hey, it's worth it to watch a couple of hours of verbal sparring between Denzel Washington and Clive Owen. [b]The Fountain[/b]: I was thrown for a loop by the last fifteen minutes or so (I'm pretty sure critics were, too, which is why this got mixed reviews); however, after thinking about it a bit more and applying the simplest explanation for what happened, I liked it much more. It's a solid story of love and death (and fear of death) that's a fair bit less epic than it would like to be. Nobody said movies had to be epic to be enjoyable though... lol. Movie Count: 10 (Live Free and Die Hard, Time Bandits, The Hustler, Black Dragon (Miracles), Hollywoodland, Blood Diamond, Animal Crackers, Marie Antoinette, Inside Man, The Fountain)

[b]Blood Diamond[/b]: Liked it a lot. The only weak point in it is the [spoiler]love story[/spoiler] - it struck me as a bit forced, but I can't say it took away too much from the awesome of the rest of the movie. Leo DiCaprio is still on a hell of a roll, and Djimon Hounsou is intense as hell as a desperate man who will do anything to reunite his family. Movie Count: 6 (Live Free and Die Hard, Time Bandits, The Hustler, Black Dragon (Miracles), Hollywoodland, Blood Diamond)

[quote name='Desbreko'][color=#4B0082]Once I five star every track I'm planning to move up to hard and get my *** kicked by the orange button for a while.[/quote][/color] Haha, that's the exact strategy I used in GHIII. It helped a lot because it allowed me to build up more speed with my fingers before trying the harder stuff. I still got my *** kicked for a good while though. :p [quote][color=#4B0082]I picked up on how to use hammer-ons and pull-offs today and damn are they nice. They've made some parts so much easier. I just wish they were a bit more conspicuous since it can be hard to see them on star power notes or when star power is active. Needs moar shiny, like I've seen in GHIII.[/color][/QUOTE] Yeah, the shinier hammer-on/pull-off buttons are a [i]huge[/i] help lol. There are times when I can't hit them regardless of that (I panic when I see a bunch of them in a row, haha), but still.

[b]Black Dragon[/b] (aka [b]Miracles[/b]): Lots of fun. My experience with Hong Kong cinema is mostly confined to John Woo; I saw this at my school's library and thought I'd give it a shot. The story is pretty basic, but it does its job and it's kind of nice at the end. Fight scenes are great, as expected, and there are a ton of funny moments. I especially enjoyed the scenes where the movie goes into Hong Kong Vaudeville mode, haha. The excellent use of the whommmm whommmm whommmmmmm noise is also greatly appreciated. :P [b]Hollywoodland[/b]: It's okay. I like Adrien Brody, but I didn't buy him as a hardboiled private investigator. Kind of weird to see Brody outacted by Ben Affleck of all people lol. Affleck's parts were the most interesting, though, and I think the movie would have been better if it focused more on George Reeves' life rather than all the problems in Louis Simo's life. I'll be watching [b]Blood Diamond[/b] soon, so I'll be editing in my thoughts on that later... Movie Count: 5 (Live Free and Die Hard, Time Bandits, The Hustler, Black Dragon (Miracles), Hollywoodland)

To be honest, I don't think Madara cares whether Itachi tells Sasuke anything. At the very least, he had to know Sasuke would continue to hunt Itachi after the first botched attempt to kidnap Naruto. He probably knew Sasuke would find out about him eventually. Maybe some of the other Akatsuki would be like, "wtf Itachi??" but it probably doesn't make any difference to Madara. As Gavin wrote, what the hell is Sasuke going to do to Madara? Also, I wonder how many other Akatsuki know that Tobi is actually Madara. We know Pein, Konan, and Itachi are aware of it (or at the very least, Pein and Konan are aware of how powerful he is), and also that likely all of them aren't aware of it because I doubt Deidara would have been treating Tobi like **** had he known his true identity (or maybe he would have since he hated the Uchiha so much :p). And, yeah, thirded on the genjutsu fights = suck comments. Genjutsu is really cool in theory, but it doesn't make for exciting fights lol.

[quote name='Molleta'][COLOR="SeaGreen"]Is this movies we see for the first time in 2008, or do movies we've seen over and over again go here too?[/COLOR][/QUOTE] As long as you watch the movie this year it counts, no matter how many times you've seen it before in past years. But if you watch the same movie twice in one year, then just count it the one time. Also, it doesn't really matter to me how you see the movie either - theater, DVD, TV, Internet. It all counts. Anyway, um, haven't watched a movie since I last posted in here because I haven't had the time... I checked out a bunch from my school library, though, and I requested more from the ol' local library, so I shall be a busy man soon. :)

[url=http://www.smashbros.com/en_us/index.html][b]It's official. Smash Bros. Brawl is delayed. Again.[/b][/url] Figures this happens right after I pre-order it. :(

[quote name='2008DigitalBoy'][COLOR="DarkOrange"]lol, well, I don't like things to be realistic anyway (as you would be able to tell if you saw the end of Dead or Alive XD) as for Oldboy, I dunno if I'd say it was at all realistic from the start, but it was a very anime style plot, which is probably what drew me into it. And I LOVE [spoiler]incest[/spoiler] >_>[/COLOR][/QUOTE] Well, I wouldn't say I have difficulties suspending my disbelief with fiction (and, hell, I like anime too :P), but with Oldboy, it was a bit too much for me (as it should be when [spoiler]hypnosis is used as a plot device[/spoiler]).

[quote name='2008DigitalBoy'][COLOR="DarkOrange"]I also watched [B]Oldboy[/B], an awesome and trippy Korean movie that felt about twice it's 2-hour length. It was an excellent mix of suspense, action, and psychology with a dash of black comedy thrown in for good measure. One of the most well-written movies I'd say I've ever seen and the innumerable plot twists and mechanics are just too much fun. Really, really awkward moments, too.[/COLOR][/QUOTE] Haha, Christ, I thought the complete opposite about Oldboy. The basic concept is great, and everything else about it I like (acting, directing, fight scenes, etc.), but once the story starts getting into [spoiler]Dae-su remembering his past and the high school hijinks with Woo-jin and Soo-ah, the plot just gets too ridiculous, unbelievable, and retarded for me to care about. I will say, though, that smug!Woo-jin is awesome. "*****, I just made you do it with your daughter - HOW YOU LIKE THAT??"[/spoiler] Um, glad you liked it, though. :p

"No fat chicks."

I don't remember if I tried this before here, but if I did, it probably failed miserably. Anyway, use this thread to keep track of every movie you have/will watch(ed) this year. We can then see what you watch and praise/mock you accordingly. So, um, I guess I'll go first. :P Live Free and Die Hard: Lots of explosions and stuff, which is nice, I suppose, but this is my least favorite of the Die Hards. Bruce Willis is still fun as John McClane (even though he launches into superhumangodmodder mode WAY too often), but the villains were the weakest in the series. Generic cyberterrorist and Maggie "Stoneface" Q = not cool. Time Bandits: I like Terry Gilliam, and this looks pretty damn incredible even more than 25 years later, but I was honestly bored through a lot of it. I don't know what it was; I just wasn't feeling it, though. Maybe I'll give it another watch some time. The Hustler: Now THIS is ****ing awesome. Great story about obsession and how far a person will go to be the best (and be an utter douchebag along the way, haha). Paul Newman rules as "Fast" Eddie Felton - he's super arrogant in the beginning before his first match against Minnesota Fats, and [spoiler]once he gets his *** handed to him and loses everything because he wants to humiliate Fats and rub his face in the loss, he meets someone who's as hopeless as he is and has choose between her love and his desperate obsession.[/spoiler] Pretty obvious where that goes, but the ride is riveting as hell. Bert Gordon is also a horrible, horrible man. Just thought I should say that. Movie Count: 3 (Live Free and Die Hard, Time Bandits, The Hustler)

Haha, the first eight or so minutes of episode 1, with the [spoiler]bizarre retcon of Nozomu's life[/spoiler], is fantastic. SIEG HAMASHO. Also hilarious is [spoiler]Nozomu as a mole cricket and having to undergo one indignity after another after he finally escapes from Hamasho. My favorite is Nozomu being tortured by pirates.[/spoiler] And, yeah, I thought it was weird that this episode introduced Nami as if she hadn't had a part in the series up until that point. Oh well. It's not as though it's [i]too[/i] surprising lol. Aside from that, Kafuka singing in the hallways is unbelievably creepy. If I were Nami, I'd be freaked out too.

[quote name='Desbreko'][color=#4B0082]That orange button scares me though. I think getting used to sliding my hand up and down to reach different buttons instead of pressing them with only one set finger will be the hardest thing for me to learn. Mainly because it will require memorizing a whole new set of finger positions for when my hand is slid down to reach the orange button.[/color][/QUOTE] That was easily the most difficult part of moving up to Hard for me. Sometimes I'm quick enough to be able to tap the orange button quickly with my pinky and get back to my normal guitar stance, but most of the time I have to keep my hand there and shift all of my fingers over by one button until a green note shows up. It took [i]forever[/i] for me to get used to the switch (index = red instead of green, etc.), and I still mess up occasionally. Luckily, there are some songs with long strings of notes that make it easier to slide and get used to doing it. "Even Flow" and "Anarchy in the U.K." helped me get a lot better at it.

I never thought green+yellow was too difficult, but red+blue took me a while to master because I use my middle and pinky fingers to hit the notes, and it feels a bit weird lol. How does everyone else do it? It took me a bit to get the hang of sliding, too. Right now I'm working on Hard; I can only complete about 3/4 of the songs, though. A few of them are just too much for me to handle right now. Regarding "Through the Fire and Flames" ... I [i]hate[/i] that song. It's needlessly difficult, and the song itself is garbage.

[quote name='Heaven's Cloud'][color=indigo]My only real question is whether or not Velvet Revolver makes an appearance on the game? After all, one of their songs shows up on the commercial for the game.[/color][/QUOTE] I believe the Velvet Revolver songs are available in downloadable packs for the PS3 and Xbox 360. To add more to this post... I have GHIII and like it, though I agree that the singer is *** ugly. It's horrible. He always seems to pop up in the sections of songs where there's a lull and you're doing to longer notes, too. :( "YYZ" is my favorite song in GHII. It's a great song on its own, and it's fun as hell to play.

I saw it yesterday and liked it. Can't really think of a better way to spend Christmas than watching Johnny Depp singing and slashing many a bloody throat. Gotta say after watching it, the Golden Globe nomination for Johnny Depp isn't too surprising. He's pretty intense as Sweeney Todd. Helena Bonham Carter is good, too; she's great at capturing Mrs. Lovett's indifference to all the death around her, her obsession with Sweeney, and all the little moments where she's trying to comfort Toby and herself. As usual with Tim Burton, the atmosphere is spot-on with the utter filthiness and despair of London. One shot I [i]really[/i] love is after [spoiler]Sweeney pushes Mrs. Lovett into the oven and he looks inside to watch her burn - the flames leaping up around Sweeney's eyes as he watches is [i]so[/i] ****ing creepy. It's like the Devil himself is watching Mrs. Lovett die.[/spoiler] Lastly, Sacha Baron Cohen as an Italian = much hilarity. So, yeah, good stuff. Everyone here should definitely see it. As for musicals in general, I used to hate on them a lot, too, but it's kind of hard to keep hating on them once you've seen the best of the best. I mean, My Fair Lady? Singin' in the Rain? Most everything Stephen Sondheim has done?? Kind of hard to hate a genre that's produced that kind of quality.

[quote name='Dagger']This is wonderful. Also, I commend whoever gave you Murakami for a) having good taste in literature, or b) being aware that [i]you[/i] have good taste. ;)[/QUOTE] Haha, thanks for the compliment. Normally I would have checked it out from the library by now, but it seems only the Japanese version is available (unless I'm misunderstood its online listing lol). You seemed to like it a lot, though, so I figured I wasn't taking much of a chance asking for it as a Christmas gift. :P Originally I wanted Murakami's latest novel, [b]After Dark[/b], too, but my family couldn't find it anywhere. Could've sworn that it had been released in America a few months ago... :(