Christmas countdown: 5 Days

Oh, come all ye faithful and Deck the halls with boughs of joy! It’s CHRISTMAS in t-minus 5 days and counting! I hope everyone’s been good this year (or reasonably decent in behavior). Anyways, with the big day coming up, I just wanted to say that I’m really REALLY looking forward to getting to spend the holiday with my family. It’s been about 4 months since I left P.C.B. and the adventure has had it’s ups and downs, but all together… It’s been pretty fun. I’m really looking forward to next year! Lots of conventions to attend, videos to tape, and so much more! The remainder of our group will be joining Zeke and I, here soon and we should be seeing alot more activity here!

Not to belittle the many, MANY accomplishments of this year, though! We’ve had alot of great things happen this year and I am thankful to God and to every single one of you and us for making this year so spectacular. Well, I gotta go! Time to catch some sleep. Talk to you all again soon!

~Miroku

Editor’s Note

Anime Music Videos, AMVs, are a great way for anime fans to express their creativity. Finding songs and anime to combine and create an entertaining video may be difficult, but enough effort will always form something to be proud of. “Editor’s Note” takes a look at some AMVs and gives them a critique of the video, music, technical effects, and stories within the video.

Blame It On 2009: A Good, Good Year

Video:
A collaboration AMV between Dr. Faux Pas and Ileia. With a remix song of the top twenty-five Hits of 2009 it would be simple to think multiple anime series will work. The difficult part would be which series to match the many songs. With how many series came out in 2009, some left more memorable impressions. The twenty-five different series gave it a well needed diversity.  The video quality never falters always staying clear and smooth. The many series are very different from each other ranging from mecha , dancing, to just cute little animals. This is a good interpretation of the range anime gave us that year. With so many of the same generic series always being made, to see something unexpected every once in a while is refreshing.

Music:
The music is DJ Earworm’s United State of Pop 2009 (Blame It on the Pop). This song is a nice remix of many songs without being too long or random. The audio quality is also excellent. While I personally did not enjoy a majority of the songs selected, this mix did have me listening on repeat.

Editing:
Editing is not all about how good you are with Adobe After Effects or Vegas. There are AMVs that are much better without any effects than some which are just effect after effect. This video has very few effects in it, and this is a good thing. This video didn’t need effects to make me pay attention. The flow of the many clips was enjoyable to see. With different speeds at times, seeing the clips properly altered to match the beat was nice. The lip syncing is just amazing, almost making me think they actually sung the song in the episode. All through out the video the many different emotions are beautifully expressed. The only thing that were not needed were probably the opening and ending gag. While the introduction was amusing, it went for a little too long.

Overall:
It was an enjoyable mash-up for both song and show. It is one I may watch frequently until I burn out, which is a good thing.
Signed,
Betavash

Tron: Legacy.. Ive been to The Grid and back.. and I loved it..

Tron Legacy Took 28 years to make.. That’s a hell of a long time to wait for a movie’s sequel to come out, when I heard the previews at Comicon 2009 that there was going to be a sequel to tron I almost busted a Digital Nut. Ive been following the movie’s announcement  since 2009 and up to not knowing there was a discovery of a Tron: Legacy ARG or Augmented Reality Game this year in 2010, on this famous website http://www.flynnlives.com. Discovering the backstory of how Tron: Legacy began through the betrayal comic book as well as the aggrivating controled movie tie-in videogame.  It was quite enjoyable.. except for the videogame, although it had a frustration thing that made me keep going, as I wanted more of the storyline. I had a lot of fun hyping myself up and enduring 6 hours of sleep this morning to do a full review of the movie. And I have to say Disney, You guys did a hell of a job and I swear to god you better make a sequel to this else i’m going to be pissed off as hell, covered in sweet flynn lives swag.. but pissed off as hell. Now.. Lets review the 3d version of the movie! ..as the Imax has a terrible screen but has extended scenes of the grid.. not really interesting enough to pay a extra 8 dollars for but.. Back to the Real3d Presentation!

Atmosphere of the film!:  There’s a huge chunk in comparison of the real world and the grid, the real world makes you go, blah yeah its San Fran California.. but when Sam gets zapped into the digital world, HOLD ONTO YOUR HATS.

They thought it would be smart to film the beginning parts of Tron: Legacy in 2d, hence to add the atmosphere of a normal world but it made a true tron fan remember scees from the first film, I had to keep in me from saying things like ”Hey! its the encom building!, Thats the really big door! ..omg dumont shipping!” back to the seriousness of the film. When Kevin goes into the grid, It takes you on what feels like a 3d digital rollercoaster of awesomeness ,  from the Grid games to the outlands, to the design of the solar sailor to the upgraded tanks and recognizers, MAN it was incredible.. but it isnt all eye candy! we also have a Plot, a Soundtrack as well as a final synopsys to cover!

Plot in a nutshell with no spoilers:  Kevin flynn goes missing in 1989, que 21 years later when you see sam flynn infiltrating encom to prank them and release there latest OS onto the internets.. and jumps off a building to try to escape.. Alan (Bruce really needed more scenes in the film definitely) gets a page from Kevin supposedly, goes to find sam to have him go to flynns old arcade, goes to the arcade, finds a tron machine, tries to play it, inserts quarter, drops quarter, realises theres scratches at the bottom of the cablet in the floor, moves the cabnet and HOLYGODS ITS A SECRET PASSAGEWAY TO FLYNNS PRIVATE OFFICE, continue with sam messing around in flynns office and getting digitized, gets captured, meets Flynn’s Program he created called Clu, and gets forced to play games when he gets tired of them and tries to escape. Que Quorra to help come save him and they go to meet flynns real father, then the real plot begins! and it gets pretty hectic then but it honestly makes sense in the end in a weird way! you’ll have to see it to believe it!

Soundtrack: Daft Punk. New Material. Why the hell havent you seen this movie yet? The fight scenes with daft punk playing in them are incredible

Final Synopsys: People just entering the Tron Universe will enjoy the beautiful scenery and the fantastic action scenes.. but will prolly fade in and out on the back story, The Old fans will have a tip of the hat given to them as they find all the little hidden easter eggs in the film of a nod back to the original tron movie.

If your new to the film series give it a chance and be sure to catch the original film as well! as that is a hidden gem that was made by disney.

All and all, this will be included in my blue ray collection when it comes out so disney can take more of my money,

BUT WAIT Jeff Bridgemas is definitely not over yet! we got one more film to review! coming soon after christmas will be my last review of Jeff Bridgemas this year! True Grit, Nothing better then the Dude and a western mixed into one, hopefully there will not be any pissing on anyone’s rug..

Till next time!

Flynn lives!

WTF Nintendo

So yeah today I was looking over the new pokemon for black and white and noticed something. A lot of the new Pokemon’s shiny forms look way to similar to their normal forms. I mean hell one was just a change of the eye color.

Imagine this: you’re running along in the tall grass, and all of a sudden RANDOM ENCOUNTER. You’re not really paying attention and you either kill it or run away, and just before it goes off screen you notice that it’s fur is slightly lighter than what you’ve seen before. Congrats you just killed the only shiny that you’re going to see ever.

Case in point: look at this one.

Fuck you Nintendo, FUCK YOU WITH A PINECO IN THE ASS.

-Sibby

aniRAGE Year In Review: Zeke’s Top Movie of 2010

Zeke’s Top Movie of 2010

There were a lot of excellent movies that came out this year, and even some that are still slated for release. However by far there is one that stood out among all the others in my eyes. It may not have the best of any one thing, and may not be up for a million awards when all is said and done…but this is the only movie I have willingly paid money to see multiple times.

That movie is Scott Pilgrim vs The World.

By no means is it the perfect movie. Say what you want about certain casting choices, it’s editing, it’s sound track…really anything you want. But at the end of the day, this movie gave me the most entertainment a movie has given me in a very long time.
This is also the first movie I have ever watched and gone to immediately find not only the soundtrack, but also the musical score. That was a big a part of the movie as anything else.
The movie has quite a following behind it, and often times I wonder if I’m merely falling for the hype, and loving it for things that don’t even exist. However, whenever this happens, I merely pop the bluray into my PS3 and take it for another spin, and I remind myself all over again why I love it.
If you haven’t seen the movie, I implore you to go see it. Will it be the best movie you have ever seen? Will it change your life? Will it cure cancer and solve world hunger and bring world peace? Nope, but it will entertain the hell out of you.

-Zeke

aniRAGE Year In Review – Zeke’s Games of the Year

Zeke’s Games of the Year:

As part of the aniRAGE Year In Review, this will list my picks for Games of the Year. I have seperated them into 5 categories:

  • Major Releases, or games that came out this year that were sold at full retail price, and were full fledged games.
  • Downloadable Games, games that you downloaded off of X Box Live or Playstation Network, typically at a low price. In this category I also disqualified re-release games, and concentrated on purely original games.
  • Free Games, usually in the form of flash-games in a web browser.
  • Mobile Games, games found (typically) exclusively on phones and other mobile devices.
  • Downloadable Content, add-ons purchased to the game to expand it’s playability and unlock new features.

Major Releases: Red Dead Redemption.

This game came out with a LOT of fanfare, and a ton of hype. It was by a well-known and respected studio. It promised a lot, and in my opinion delivered on it to a T. Some people aren’t huge fans of open-world games like this, but even those that I talked to that played it found it very fun and entertaining. It’s musical score, it’s dialogue and characters, it’s story, and it’s game play were all superb. There were very few games that were released this year that met, and exceeded, the hype to their release. In that category, Red Dead Redemption shines.

Downloadable Games: Scott Pilgrim vs The World: The Game.

I don’t think I have had that much fun with a 10 dollar game in a long, long time. Usually I’ll grab one of these off the PSN, play through it once, and then forget about it. But I played through this game so many times, and dragged so many people in on it with me. It has a high replay value, and it’s multiplayer is great. The only gripe about the game is it’s lack of online multiplayer, but in the end, it’s much more fun to play in-person anyway.

Free Games: Robot Unicorn Attack.

How do you take Unicorns, Rainbows, Fairies, and the British band “Erause” and make it cool? Throw in robots, of course. This game is so simple, and so utterly outlandish that it’s addicting. It’s one of the few games that I’ll actually keep the sound on for, because strangely the song fits the game so well. In fact, when I play muted I find that my scores go down drastically. If you haven’t played this game yet, you’ve done yourself a massive disservice. Go do it. Now. It’s free.

Mobile Games: Angry Birds.

This one is almost a no-brainer. You have birds, who are angered, and pigs, who steal their eggs. And thus the birds fling themselves at high speeds towards the pigs. HOLY CRAP is it addicting. The fact that you have different stars that you can achieve, which ups it’s replay value, and the creators are constantly pushing out new levels and content, it’s just amazing. The game is available on just about any mobile device you pick up (if it runs Apple’s iOS or Google’s Android platform). If you haven’t had a chance to play this game, well hold on tight, because PC and Console versions are in the works.

Downloadable Content: Borderlands – The Secret Armory of General Knoxx.

There have been many games that are rooted in comedy, but rarely in these the storylines are hackneyed and secondary. Few games series come to mind that make it’s humor a central aspect of the story, while still keeping it fresh and compelling. Sam and Max comes to mind. This game took the core of the Borderlands games, which is to run around and blow the crap out of ANYTHING that isn’t you, and kicked it up a notch. New guns (I guess eleventy billion wasn’t enough), new missions, new characters, and a big boost on the level cap made this add on a must-have for all players of the game. I haven’t had a chance to full take in the newest DLC, but honestly Borderlands has had the best DLC content of any game I have played. And this one just took it to a new level of awesome. If you have Borderlands, make sure to get this game. And if you don’t have Borderlands, go out and get it. And then get this DLC. You won’t regret it.

And there you have it! The best games of the year…at least in my humble opinion. I’m sure you have conflicting decisions, so post them in the comments section! And stay tuned, because the aniRAGE Year In Review is still going on!

-Zeke

Its Jeff Bridgemas time!

Happy holiday season everyone! As the winter weather gets colder.. you tend to enjoy keeping warm those winter nights snuggled up in your favorite blanket watching holiday classics.. well for me it has been a Jeff Bridges christmas as he is starring in a lot of releases this december season. Tron: Legacy and True Grit. Two movies I am excited to see.. so id thought I would do reviews on some of my favorite Jeff Bridges movies. Of course being two classic films such as Tron and The Big Lewbowski. Let’s begin shall we?!

Tron was a huge impact to me as a little kid I loved the special effects and now I feel spoiled as a adult with better cg graphics and film effects. Tron tells the story of Kevin Flynn.. a washed up encom employee turned hit arcade owner who had his greatest ideas stolen from him by another coworker who is now the senior vice president of the company. Vowing that he wants evidence of that he created the program that spawned such a arcade hit, his friends Alan and I forgot the ladies name help Kevin infiltrate Encom’s building so he could get the evidence he needed.. cue thinking it was a good idea to have kevin hidden in a LASER BAY to hack into the MCP or Master Control Program to get into the system.. well Mr MCP doesn’t play that way and zaps Flynn with a laser beam and digitally transports him into the digital world of computers.. now your thinking.. OMG its gonna be like the tron legacy trailer! All that action! ..nope its kinda basic.. but in a fun basic you would have might seen in the 80’s flynn gets picked up by the guards and shuffled into a cell to play grid games until he gets derezzed. Or a way to describe it DIE enter flynn getting a peptalk from the villian Sark who is derringer in the digital world.. who knew that your programs would look like you and they meet TRON who seems like a video game badass.. flinging his disk around like a pro derezzing people. He fights for the USERS who are in a religious sense thought of gods. I don’t want to spoil the rest.. but see this movie at least before you go see tron legacy.. its a good refresher

And on to my other simple review of The Big Lewbowski..

Life is like a bowling alley.. you get your gutters, strikes and spares.. sometimes things split in the end.. but the metaphor is to say FARKIT let’s go bowling..

I hope my reviews enlightened you in seeing either of these movies they are quite the classic movies!

Till next time! Which will be my review of the videogame Tron: Evolution! As well as the movie! 😀

S.L.O.T.W. – New format, same awesomeness!

After much debate, and careful consideration (for all of 5 minutes), SLOTW will actually change it’s format!  Instead of  two or three links, we’ll instead focus on one single topic and provide you with some links in reference to that topic!  It’ll allow me to focus more on one topic instead of multiple ones.

So with that explained to you all, let’s get going to our Sweet Links of the Week!

Everyone likes to dance, right?  Getting down on the dance floor, getting your boogie on, shaking your b- okay you know what I’m saying.  And you’ve probably seen those music video full of choreographed dance moves that look either too complicated or too fast for you.  Well SLOTW features a group that is slowly becoming a favorite dance group for me!

World Order is a group fronted by Genki Sudo, essayist, actor, and retired successful MMA Fighter.  And if there’s any indication of his prowess on a dance floor, here’s his best fighting entrances. And with a 16-4 fight record, it looks like he certainly did have time for goofing off before a match!

After retiring from the ring, Sudo actually became involved in World Order, to which he actually writes the songs, as well as writes the choreography for their music videos (which is easily my favorite part of the group).

The formula World Order uses for their music videos is one of extreme close knit synchronization and precision as well as slow robot like movement…. again, all choreographed by Sudo himself.  This precision for a seven member group is nothing short of amazing, and I hope that Sudo and World Order continue their success!

Here are some of my favorite videos from World Order

Mind Shift

Space Walker

Boy Meets Girl