Title: The Adjustment Bureau

Release Date: March 4, 2011

Directed by: George Nolfi

Starring: Matt Damon, Emily Blunt

***

If you’re the paranoid conspiracy-theorist, type, The Adjustment Bureau is right up your alley. And even if you aren’t, it may still leave you pondering – is everything happens based on chance, or done according to a “plan”? How much does free will factor into what happens in the world?

Loosely based on a short story of the name “Adjustment Team”, the film follows David Norris (Damon), a young and charismatic Congressman in New York who is running for Senate. After meeting a woman named Elise (Blunt), he encounters a group of people who refer to themselves as “The Adjustment Bureau.” They tell him that it is their job to “adjust” certain things in the world to make sure everything follows the plan written out by their leader, who is only referred to as the Chairman. Norris is also told that he may never see Elise again because it goes against this plan.

Going off the trailers, you may be expecting an exciting, science-fiction action thriller. While elements of those are certainly present, the heart of the movie is the love story between Norris and Elise. That may turn some people off initially, but it is extremely well-done and not tacked on like in many other movies. The excitement and anticipation of watching members of the Adjustment Bureau chase Norris seamlessly blends in with this love story, creating extremely an extremely personable character in Norris, no doubt helped by a great performance from Matt Damon.

Unfortunately, while the performances and stories surrounding those two stars are excellent, the film falls in other aspects, notably the fictional elements of the Adjustment Bureau works. Not only does it not explain huge elements of the organization, instead leaving us to ponder based on a few sentences said by its members in passing, but the elements it does explain seem completely arbitrary. For example, it is more difficult for them to “read” people when they are near water, such as when they are on a boat or when it is raining. Even though this is introduced early in the movie, it doesn’t make sense then, and never does.

I was drawn to this movie by the idea that it would focus mainly on the titular organization, but that ended up being the least interesting part of this movie. Still, I would highly suggest seeing it just for the amazing performances from Damon and Blunt – they’ve done an amazing job of making these characters indentifiable to the point that you are constantly waiting to see what will happen to them next.

Final score: 8/10

Yes, unfortunately, the yuhn blog is over. There is a plethora of reasons as to why posting will cease here, but the most important thing you need to know is that it most certainly will.

As you’ve probably noticed, the blog has never become incredibly popular. With only a little over 300 views, mostly from the VGXPO  coverage, yuhn didn’t have too bright a future to begin with. And you’ve probably also realized that posting has become less and less frequent.

I hate it too, because I love writing, movies, and games still. That’s why, although the blog will end, my writing doesn’t. You can check it out on the yuhn twitter feed, which will now be known as “NateKimmey” as opposed to “yuhn”. I’ve been accepted to write for different websites, and you can still follow my work there.

For memories’ sake, I’m keeping the blog up, but don’t expect any new posts.

Bye!

Click here to go to the new personal twitter feed for me, Nate Kimmey, to get updates on all my writing positions.

Walking in, the biggest and most fun exhibit was immediately noticeable – the “World of Nintendo” exhibit, which allowed visitors to play such Nintendo games as Wii Sports Resort, Punch-Out!!, Wii Fit Plus, assorted WiiWare and DSiWare games, and the unreleased New Super Mario Bros. Wii and The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks. I was immediately greeted by the very friendly staff of the exhibit and given a blue lei with a Wii Sports Resort tag on it. The World of Nintendo exhibit was incredibly organized, and I got a chance to play all of the games a lot faster than I expected.

I was surprised to see a booth from Zelda Reorchestrated, one of my favorite websites. I got a free promotional CD from them, and got the chance to talk to the creator. I also saw a lot of artwork for sale, some I bought, including a beautiful picture of Marth from Fire Emblem and some painted keychains.

There was also a booth for developer Storm City Games, with a demo for the upcoming System Flaw – a game exclusively for the DSi because it uses the DSi’s camera for all of it’s gameplay. I only had a short time with it, and while it was interesting, it was quite novel, and had sub-par graphics.

Check back for some pictures from the expo!

Playing the game, you’ll immediately notice that the games visuals, while some of the best on the Wii, are vastly similar to those of the original New Super Mario Bros. on the DS. Single player gameplay is mostly unchanged as well, but that’s obviously not the big deal in this game – the new multi-player element is the real show here. And it’s no gimmick; a four-player Mario game really works, and it works quite well.

Similar to The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords, the multi-player mode is a mixture of co-operation and competition. When a player dies, they will momentarily reappear on the screen in a bubble which will float around the screen until a player hits it. Players can also co-operate by having one player jump on top of another, gaining extra height that may only be accessible in that fashion.

The competitive parts add a lot of fun to the game, even if they are not very integral to actual gameplay. When a block is hit, a mushroom will be released for each player, though it is possible for one player to get more than one (after one, they will just gain points), so one player could stop all others from gaining power ups. Players also compete in number of lives and coins, which are counted at the end of the level.

I didn’t get a chance to use the new penguin suit, which allows you to freeze enemies, though I did use the Propeller Suit and Yoshi, which both help add a large amount of depth to gameplay. The Propellor Suit is controlled by shaking the Wii Remote back and forth, and can help cover a lot of ground very quickly; it can also use a drill-like move, similar to a butt-stomp but from a much greater height. Controlling Yoshi is even more fun, because it gives a speed boost and the ability to eat almost any item – a fire flower can be eaten, which allows the player to shoot a fireball, and even other players can be eaten and shot out (which could be considered another competitive part of the game).

Really, the game is not much more than you would expect, though there is a small fortune of new features that make the game unique. And with all the elements of the original games and New Super Mario Bros., you’ll definitely want to pick up this assured best-seller.

Image credit: Couch Campus (here), MyWii (here), IGN (here).

Juggerdome is not the epic adventure you might have been expecting, and should not be compared to Con’s previous games. It takes on a whole new feel that, while fun in its own way, feels like it belongs to a whole different developer. While I won’t criticize Con for deviating from his natural ways, I can safely say that Juggerdome is a disappointment.

The game is quite simple: you play as a prisoner who is given the chance to earn your freedom by piloting a “Juggernaut”. Gameplay consists of an arena in which prisoners, some of which also control Juggernauts, will be released from. These prisoners will do all they can to destroy you, and you must try to survive while taking out as many prisoners as you can. Different events call for different goals; some might have you survive a set amount of time, and others will have a “Kill Count” for you to obtain.

Weapons can be placed on either side of you, and are controlled with the mouse and space bar. These controls feel slightly awkward, and while the game is not “unplayable”, it never feels totally comfortable. I do like the firing feature, as each weapon has a heat meter that will steadily rise (at a different rate depending on your weapon) as you fire; if it gets too high, your gun will cease firing. Heat Sinkers can help avoid these mishaps.

Basically, this game is a hack ‘n slash, but without the hacking (and, incidentally, very little slashing). You’ll probably have a lot of fun racking up achievements and killing dozens of prisoners, but don’t expect an incredibly high replay value like some of Con’s other games. 8/10

Image credit: Con Artist Games (here).

I can easily say that I made the right choice. Although it seems that all comedies are universally bashed by critics nowadays, Zombieland has received the pleasure of being loved by both, and with good reason. Undoubtedly, this is one of the best comedies of all time, one of the best movies of the year, and the best zombie movie of all time.

Set in a world where a virus has almost wiped out the entire human race, the film follows “Columbus” (Jesse Eisenberg), a loner college student who has, so far, survived the apocalypse while everyone around him has been transformed into zombies. Although he was never close to anyone, he is heading to Columbus to see if his parents are still alive. Columbus is also the narrator of the movie, and explains his rules for surviving throughout the movie (although not all of his rules are shown, you can read the ones that appear in the movie here). His subtle sarcastic remarks sprinkled through all of his conversation make him the funniest character by far, even if it doesn’t provide the laugh-out-loud humor some might have expected.

We also get a great performance out of Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson), who plays a gun-loving zombie killer who is out searching for the last Twinkies on Earth. He insists that he doesn’t use names (which is why the characters are referred to by their destinations) so as to avoid attachments – this becomes a major part of his character later in the movie in a tear-jerking scene that, despite the movie being a comedy, seems completely in place. Although the movie is only an hour and twenty-one minutes long, the characterization that takes place is more than most movies.

After meeting up with two sisters, Wichita and Little Rock, who con the men out of their guns but eventually join them in their quest for survival, the group heads to an amusement park called “Pacific Playland”, as Little Rock wants to have one last chance to have a child.

The humor is delivered almost constantly, and while the gore seems to be a bit heavy, the overall experience is amazing. The acting is astounding, even if you’ve never even heard of some of the cast (though you probably know the actor who makes an hilarious guest cameo – Bill Murray), and the production is just incredible. A must-see. 9.2/10

Image credit: Examiner (here), Hollywood Reporter (here).

Apparently, the update has given a bevy of users many problems with their consoles, including freezing, disc read errors, and their entire Wii breaking down. While Nintendo has claimed these are symptoms that would usually occur with modified consoles, they have admitted that there may be some problems with unmodified consoles, and have offered a repair free-of-charge.

Currently, many reports of problems of popped up, so, at this point, it may be safer just to avoid getting the update altogether – though, of course, if the worst were to happen (your Wii breaking entirely), you can simply call 1-800-255-3700, Nintendo’s Customer Service Hotline.

In a recent study, it was discovered that the Xbox 360 had a failure rate of 54.2%, while the Wii came in with just 7% – will this bug cause the failure rate to go up a noticeable amount, or can Nintendo fix this before it becomes any more of a problem?

Image credit: News.softpedia.com (here).