barely fatal

I’m sitting here, barefoot, watching the Bahrain race. A very good, exciting race today. Ah and yes, I’m writing a blog post, too – about movies again. I had a pretty uneventful Saturday afternoon so I spent it watching stuff, trying to avoid the sun. I had a terrible headache and sitting in the sun didn’t make it better. Well anyways.

Anne lent Muriel’s Wedding to me, one of her must-sees – thank you, my dear! Different from what I thought I had already seen it, but never in the original language, and the Australian touch made it even better. It’s a tragic comedy of sorts and a lot of fun to watch. Okay, yes, it also is a little bit of a chick-flick – admit it! – but barely fatal in that regard.

Then I watched Free Enterprise. Picture two geeks working in the b-movie industry who have always been big Trek addicts (only of the original series, of course). Both struggle with their jobs, money, women and life in general until one day they meet their all-time hero of old: Captain Kirk. Well, William Shatner (the real one). He has a crazy movie idea (a musical version of Julius Caesar with him playing all roles) and at that point the story becomes somewhat absurd. There is a happy end, with Shatner … rapping … everyone dancing and — err, it’s not a must-see.

The best movie this weekend however – sorry, Anne – was Underworld Evolution, the Underworld sequel. While the story sounds silly at first (Vampires fighting Werewolves), the dark, crisp, brilliant visuals and story are far beyond average though. I was so positively surprised by the first Underworld that I had to see this one, and of course, it is bigger, louder and even faster. Kate Beckinsale is adorable – not in the sense of “cute”, though. The best thing is that the story and setting seamlessly connect to and continue the story of the first movie. That’s why I strongly recommend watching both movies in the right order and on one night. You might argue that there are a few weak effect shots of the Lycans and that the story is as, well, “fantastic” as it is, but I can forgive that. I totally enjoyed it from frame One to the last. It’s an action festival. Ah yes, totally a dude-flick, of course

An now you’re asking What about the High Heels? Go watch Underworld.

So how were your Easter holidays? Mine were filled with sleep, sun and gaming. I did easy on the food side, I’m sure my overweight won’t mind.

For breakfast, today I watched Capote. A brilliant movie. ‘Nuff said.

This weekend I also finished watching the second season of Deadwood, and I can see a hard time coming up for me: the waiting for season three. I so wish German TV channels would be as brave and show that much backbone as HBO with shows like Sopranos and Co. I’d subscribe to such a channel right away.

On the gaming side, so many new Battlefield 2 mods give me a hard time choosing. I stopped playing Stalker to wait for the second patch which hopefully will enable me to convert my savegames. If not — I just don’t want to start all over again. How stupid must a game company be to deliver a patch which renders your savegames useless?

I bought me two, err, flowers, for the balcony. I planted them myself in a real flower pot and stuff. I chose two with thick leaves, they don’t need much water and sun, or so I’ve learnt. I wish they were green, though.

We continued to have great weather here, and I enjoyed it. Even without Easter eggs. Well I bought me some and Mom sent me a package with a few (and another T.C. Boyle book, cool!), so that’s not really true. Still, the Easter feeling didn’t really come up, maybe the missing lamb – or the family – or both. But I could smell the bonfires on Saturday, that was almost like home.

I’ll have a Beck’s.

I just have a quick note today, but I had a lot of fun with it. If you happened to love Star Trek: The Next Generation as much as I did – it totally hooked me up with Sci-Fi back then – then you will also enjoy reading reviews of old TNG shows by Wil Wheaton himself. I have mentioned him before in this blog, and the tragic everyone-hates-Wesley attitude of the audience which I was a part of, too, heh. Anyways, there is no source more reliable I guess, and he is so right about what he criticizes. So, if you’re a fan, you gotta read those reviews at TV Squad.

Isn’t that a wonderful weather? I guess it depends where you are when you read this, but here we don’t have a single cloud. Could be a tad warmer though. Anyways, what better day could there be to spend sitting it in a dark room playing computer games?

Do you remember Chernobyl? The nuclear plant that exploded in 1986? My mom forced me to play inside for a year. No mushrooms. Anti-nuclear power demos. In Stalker, a second accident happens 20 years later and creates The Zone, an expanding area full of deadly anomalies, mutants, zombies, military, crazy scientist and freelance fighters. In the middle of the zone sits the power plant, waiting for you to solve its mystery.

Stalker is an RPG-shooter-adventure, with quests, upgrades, armor and stuff. It has an ‘open’ world, which means big levels with only a few loading zones. Wild animals, anomalies and the night and day shifts make navigating quite a challenge. You constantly feel like an endangered species. Weapons are realistically imprecise. The nature graphics aren’t as fresh as they were two years ago. But the derelict buildings and first-class indoor graphics create an splendiferous atmosphere of horror and suspense.

In short: it sucks you in. After more than five years of development it’s a small wonder it was finally released, considering that it was mentioned in one sentence with the other radioactive man, The Duke. It has its flaws and sharp edges and probably is the perfect example of mismanagement, but in the end the result counts. And it delivers, so what. And: I can run it at maximum settings without any glitches.

PS. It’s not for Sissies. You see this screen quite often: