Xlink, Some Movie Reviews

First off, as an Xbox and Gamecube owner, I was thrilled to see Xlink finally put out the final version of their game console tunnelling software. What does this mean? It means you can fool your Xbox/GC/PS2 into thinking that Internet games are LAN games. It means Mario Kart: Double Dash online. It means that I don't need to pay for Xbox Live, because I can play many of the games online FOR FREE. It's hot. Now I just need to get that stinking Gamecube broadband adapter and an internet connection that doesn't suck. DSL blows. Oh, and if you see "pimpbot5k" online, that's me. So add me to your friends list. Or something.

And now, for some quick movie reviews. [Any review I ever put up, be it for games or movies, will be spoiler free - I hate the assholes who ruin movies and games for me]:

Shrek 2: Good follow-up to the original, but don't believe the "it's better than the original" hype. Shrek 2 is a great movie, but the original just seemed better. Though I will admit, Shrek 2 has more pop-culture references and puns than any movie I've ever seen in my life. An entertaining flick, so 8/10.

Envy: Wow, even with a pretty decent cast [Stiller, Black, Weisz, and Poehler] this movie blew ass. Do not watch this movie. Or if you do, do what I did: watch the first 30 minutes, then when it gets excruciatingly painfully predictable, skip to the end to see the resolution. I never thought there could be a script so bad to make Jack Black unfunny. Well, unfunny isn't fair enough - you end up hating his damned character. 2/10, because the beginning isn't that bad.

Hellboy: I like comic book movies, and this one was pretty entertaining. Good action/hero flick, with a decent enough story. Not quite Spider-Man or X2 material, but worth seeing - a solid 8/10.

Eurotrip: On par with 2000's Road Trip, this movie falls into the mindless teen comedy genre. It's good for a laugh, but lacks comedic genius that other movies like Super Troopers or How High had. But worth it if you can get your hands on it, so 6.5/10.

Mystic River: I heard lots of hype about this movie, and I guess I felt let down, just like I did when I first saw A Beautiful Mind or American Beauty. All three are good films, as their multiple Oscar nominations speak for themselves, but I felt that all three weren't the type of movie that I really enjoyed. Like the others, Mystic River left me wanting more. I knew that plot twists were coming, but when they came I felt underwhelmed. I don't think the film lived up to the hype, but I did enjoy it to an extent, so I'll slap it with a 7.5/10.

Dawn of the Dead: Wow. This movie was as my friend Drew put it, is "100 minutes of people getting their shit wrecked." Zombie movies usually blow, but in the last few years both Resident Evil and 28 Days Later have resurrected the genre and given it some credibility again [and shut up about them not being Zombies in 28 Days Later. They're close enough]. But you know what? Dawn is better than both of them. Maddox's review of it is hilarious, and while I didn't like it as much as he did, I have to admit that it was a great movie. Scary, funny, and genuinely worth seeing - it's a solid 8.5/10.

Spartacus: I TiVo'd this off AMC, and I have to admit that along with Ben Hur and The Ten Commandments this is one of my favorite older movies ever [and in fairness, these three movies would probably be in my top 25 of movies all time - maybe I should do an post on that list sometime]. But clocking in at just short of 3.5 hours, this true epic got the horrible taste of Troy out of my mouth. Simply put, Spartacus is genius, and Kubrick's tale is brilliantly told. Being a sucker for Roman history, I have to give this film credit where credit is due, so 9.5/10.

Platoon: I had never seen this movie, but after watching it, I have to say I'd been cheating myself for not having seen it before. This movie is a great, great flick. The best Vietnam War movie, topping even Kubrick's great Full Metal Jacket and the pseudo-Vietnam basis of Apocalypse Now. [And no, Robin Williams' Good Morning, Vietnam! was not in the mix.] Though both Jacket and Apocalypse are better movies, in due fairness, Platoon is purely about the Vietnam War, and gave you more insight as to life of a soldier during that war. Apocalypse Now is a phenomenal movie, but as it's just a brilliant adaptation of a brilliant book to set [at the time] contemporary settings, I rule it out from the "Vietnam War Movie" set. Though it's still the greatest War movie ever made. Right up there with Patton. But back to Platoon - brilliant movie, great story, and it's a necessity to see - 9/10.

I'll do another movie round-up after the next 5 or 6 movies I watch. Let me know how worthless my opinions are in the comments, or by IM. [And use the comments people, it's your chance to air out your trash-talking for the world - and it's anonymous].