Happy Halloween

Halloween
Where would we be on Halloween without some hilarious Cracked.com costume mockery?

Scary
Obviously what scares us is about as subjective as things can get. For me, it's suffocation and those flat, saucer-like nipples chicks (usually from the late '70s, early '80s) sometimes get. I suppose if somehow both could be worked into something, I'd be pretty afraid of that as well. (Although, possibly aroused, too.) As far as films go, that's a tough one. I guess I don't really get scared of flicks or games when I'm watching or playing them. It's more that night, after, when I'm in bed and I start thinking about aspects of them that it starts to freak me out a bit. Blair Witch was good for that. Dead Space was, too. Anyway, Den of Geek has a list of movies that scared them. What do y'all think?

Frost vs. Frosting
Nick Frost is a funny dude. Flushing things down the toilet that aren't supposed to be flushed down the toilet is funny, too. Put them together and, well, you've got to feel that that's going to land on the amusing side of things as well.

Thor
This Mighty Thor movie Marvel has been talking about is coming together. In all honesty, I don't care. I understand how Marvel is all excited because someone made some good choices around the Iron Man thing and it turned out awesome for them and the rest of us -- and now they want to parlay that into even more awesomeness. But I don't think that's going to happen. Or at least, I'm skeptical of it. You see, if you learn one thing in this business, it's that awesome doesn't come easy to Hollywood. Still, we've got Kenneth Brannagh directing this thing. And now we've got Sir Anthony Hopkins as Odin. So, maybe?

Not scary but scary
Life is weird sometimes. There are horror movies that aren't scary out there and there are non-horror movies that have scary bits in them. Crazy! IFC has made a list of some of those latter ones.

Jemaine
I always thought that Flight of the Conchords dude Jemaine Clement's first name was actually Jermaine and that Brett's accent made it sound that way when he talked to him. But no, it's JE-maine not JER-maine. Weird. Is Brett's name actually Brit, like how it sounds when JE-maine pronounces it? On top of Jemaine's Conchords chores, he's starring in a new flick from the dudes who brought you Napoleon Dynamite and Nacho Libre called Gentleman Broncos. He's interviewed in AV Club in support of that.

Dead Space 2
Yes. It's confirmed. A sequel. Well, sort of by Reuters. Dead Space was a weird game in that it had a lot of really great things about it but you got to a point where those really great things just stopped mattering and it went from a 9+ out of 10 to an 8+ out of 10. The first chunk is some of the scariest stuff I've experienced in any medium, game or otherwise. Also, the zero-G sequences are mindblowing -- especially some of the horrific shit that happens to you outside the spaceship. Wow. But by the end, you figure out patterns and the game's AI lets it down. You can read my old review, if you'd like, here. I also did an interview with the game's art director, Ian Milham here. I'm interested to see what EA and the team will do with a new game. I think they could hit this one out of the park if they take some of the criticisms out there to heart.

And finally…
Marvel comics is 70 years old. That is insane. I remember when they turned... well, nevermind. The Times Online has a list of facts about them you (probably) didn't know. Also, for any Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 fans out there -- guilty or otherwise -- here's some word on the upcoming DLC, including word that Black Panther is one of the characters. Sweet!

Same meh, different pile

Conan
Did you know they're making a new Conan movie? Yep. They are. Want some details? You're welcome.

Marvel Ultimate Alliance
Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 is a dumb game. But Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 is also a dumb game that is awesome. Sort of. Read my review.

True Grit
The Coen brothers are re-doing True Grit -- you know, the western that John Wayne won an Oscar for? In the role of Rooster Cogburn, they're thinking Jeff Bridges, Nice, right? Now word is they're adding Matt Damon and Josh Brolin to the mix, too.

Avatar… stolen?
There are murmurings going around that the idea/story for James Cameron's upcoming 3D orgy Avatar may have been "borrowed" from a late 1950s science fiction short story by Poul Anderson. Based on that painting for the story, I'm thinking it's no coincidence -- but that's just me.

BioShock 2
In many ways 2007's BioShock changed the face of gaming. Ideas about the way games are played, designed, conceived and written -- on top of art directed -- were pushed to the limits. So it's kinda strange to look at this trailer for the sequel. Sure, it's amazing looking and awesome but it looks sort of like gaming has changed the face of BioShock, doesn't it? Instead of atmosphere and fear, you're getting a high octane first-person shooter feel. Is that BioShock? When you factor in that the game is going to push a multiplayer component and that original writer Susan O'Connor isn't onboard, I have some reservations.

Action figures
I've never been huge into the action figure thing, Star Wars or otherwise. Although, I have an original C3P0 hanging out on my bookcase right at this very moment. Still, I enjoy a good list and if it happens to be about Star Wars action figures and some of the most embarassingly collectible examples, then so be it!

Evil
Another good list. This one documents some truly evil entities in science fiction. Although, Galactus? Isn't that like calling a shark or lion evil? Doesn't he serve some kind of culling purpose or is he just into destroying things? I thought he needs to eat planets to survive? If that's wrong then I don't want to be right.

The Who: Rock Band
On top of all the other Beatles-related awesomeness Beatles: Rock Band has unleashed on the world, it's success is just going to open the floodgates on other, similar projects for bands that approach the Fab Four's stature. There have been murmurs from Pink Floyd and U2 on the subject but it looks like the first follow-up may be from The Who. And to this I say: FUCK YA!

Assassin’s Creed
Ubisoft is pretty damned serious about Assassin's Creed 2. How serious? So serious, they bought Hybride Technologies, the digital post-production studio behind 300 and Sin City and got them to make a bunch of background shizz for the game. Shizz like this short film called Lineage. On top of that, Ubi is dropping more hints of what they're thinking for Assassin's Creed 3. If you remember, a couple of weeks ago they mentioned a World War II-plagued Europe as a possible setting, with a female assassin as the protagonist. This week, it's either Medieval Europe or feudal Japan. No word on if they're still considering the lady assassin. I like the feudal Japan idea. That means ninjas and, knowing Ubi, it'll mean meticulously researched and realistic ninjas -- which could be really, really cool. I guess all the brainstorming is sort of showing how limitless the franchise could be.

And finally…
I linked to this before on the old blog, but it popped up again today and I just had to go there again. Cracks my shit up every time.

Monday (Boo!): NFL observations and the usual fun stuff

Welcome back. Hope you had a great weekend. I took 'er easy and, as a result, I'm a lot further along in Uncharted 2 (about 7.5 hours played; 78% complete) -- and it's definitely one of the year's best, a near-perfect game.

In NFL football, three teams remain undefeated with Denver playing tonight looking to make it four. I gotta say, though, things are kicking into high gear. The Saints are playing amazing football -- with QB Drew Brees and coach Sean Payton playing angry, which is how you win Super Bowls. They're sick of not winning Super Bowls and it's made them angry so now they're playing angry and they're gonna win some Super Bowls.

That's how it's done. There are three ways to win them. Play happy (Joe Namath, John Madden); play angry (the Bears, the Steelers) or play like robots (Patriots, Joe Montana, Peyton Manning). When you fall in between these extremes, you fail. It seems like that makes no sense, but think about it. See?

Anyway, on top of the Saints, you've got Peyton Manning putting on a clinic in Indy and now it looks like Tom Brady just woke up. Five TD passes in a quarter. If you get five in a game you're a hero. I don't even know how a team can have five offensive possessions in a quarter but, wow, okay.

As for Denver and Minnesota: meh, I'm not sold yet. I think the Vikings have a great team but it's going to come down to Favre staying healthy over the stretch and last year he didn't make it. It doesn't look like the Vikes are resting him either, so I don't know. November and December punish teams. Like, beat them to a pulp. We'll see if the old dude makes it.

The Broncs have a coach who appears to be playing angry (for some reason) but I think he's just an asshole -- there's a difference. I kinda feel they're the team that turns in a great 13-3 or 14-2 record but gets knocked out in their first playoff game. Like the Titans last year or the Cowboys the year before. Besides, Kyle Orton's moustache is too ironic to make it past the first round.

Anyway, the season just kicked into high gear and that means we're the ones who win, right? Right. On to the good stuff...

Borderlands
The reviews are starting to come in for this intriguing, stylish, self-styled role-playing-shooter from 2K. I'm hoping I'll get a review copy of this because it looks kinda bitchin'.

Killzone 3?
I liked Killzone 2 a lot. It didn't try to be anything but the best FPS on the market and I think they nailed it. Seeing first hand how much work Guerilla Games put into the various mechanics behind the title, it's no surprise that they'll be fast-tracking the next installment of the franchise using the mad-genius level of fundamentals they created. Read a couple of interviews (here and here) with some of the developers for more insight on the intense creative process.

The future of the X-Men film franchise (do we care?)
Do we care about the X-Men film franchises/properties any more? I mean, after X3 I stopped. Actually, not to be that guy, but I stopped once I heard Brett Ratner was directing X3. I haven't seen Wolverine, but I've heard it's pretty laughable. So I'm not that bullish on other films that might be planned. But they're out there. Oh, yes, they're out there. Here's a full update on where those all stand. In other X-Men news, a new DLC character for the cheesy-but-awesome Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 has been announced and it's Psylocke. That's not so bad, I'm thinking. Although, I really wish there was a huge database of almost all the Marvel characters available because I'd love to come up with some crazy four-hero combos. Here's the first one that comes to mind: Dazzler, Moon Knight, Master of Kung Fu and She-Hulk. Boom! Makes no sense but it's awesome. Also, you could recreate (sort of) some cool teams. Like do up that cool X-Men team that they had for like, two issues, with Dazzler, Psylocke, Havok and Longshot. And, man, how sweet would it be with some Alpha Flight downloads. Canada, represent. (Ugh)

Women of D&D
Topless Robot is an awesome blog. One of the things I like best about them is their in-your-face love of Dungeons & Dragons. They know we've all played it. They know we all know the references. They know we love it. Why hide it? This is one of their best D&D-related countdowns.

And finally…
Your tax dollars at work: The reboot.