Good review of Superman Returns

 Good review of Superman Returns:

"Star Wars Revisited" rants

I was browsing a website about fan edited movie, better explained as movies edited by their fans which include/exclude scenes, special effects and dialogue between the characters. I have actually been planning for about two years on doing some fan edits on my own and posting them online but since it consumes time and hard drive space, I think it'll be a long time before I make any of them.

So on this website I entered a search for Star Wars to see what edits have been done. I've actually seen some great edits on YouTube of films including Revenge of the Sith though it was wrongly retitled as "Dark Force Rising."

That movie was included amongst many Star Wars edits listed there. But one that caught my interest was "Star Wars Revisited."
It was an edited version of Episode Four A New Hope, a first one in an upcoming re-edited trilogy of the original Star Wars movies.

I viewed the movie on YouTube and I think it was great. Usually with Star Wars and Superman films re-edited I drag through the scenes and feel like I'm watching the exact same thing again even though I'm not.

But with this edit I enjoyed every moment of, especially the final space battle scene. Overall I think i was a great edit and I'd give it four out of five points.

The thing that I disliked was what I'll probably see more of in the upcoming fan edited versions of episodes Five and Six and that is that they contain too much of George Lucas's lame edits.

In the case of A New Hope, too much of the CGI X-Wing fighters were visible. The worst shot was the close up 3D shot of the X-Wings in space after departing the Yavin moon. I don't need to specify what I mean. That itself was the worst shot in the movie I think.

It was just too obvious they are CGI animations and not real life spacecraft like in the original 1977 cut in which real life models are used. The use of models for X-Wing fighters and star destroyers where much more realistic than the lame CGI substitutes especially in episode four.

The other problem was that the edit also unnecessarily put the millennium falcon in light speed after escaping the death star. This made it unrealistic since the death star eventually floated to the Yavin system, ready to destroy the moon and the rebel base on it.

And the last and least most bearable problem was the voice-over of Luke's aunt Beru. That was unnecessary and even if it had to be done, it could have been done with a better tone and fluency. But other than those major significant flaws the edit was awesome.

Despite that I still wouldn't get it on DVD. According to the makers of these fan edits, you have to own an original copy of the film in order to own these DVDs. I would have acquired this and sold my original cut but the mentioned problems don't make it entirely enjoyable or realistic.

I've seen previews of The Empire Strikes Back and some of the coloring looks even worse than the current versions. This only increases my doubts that it will be the perfect fan cut that we all have been looking out for.

Unless you don't have a problem with any of the ridiculous flaws in these "Star Wars Revisits," don't get them on DVD.

No edit of your favorite movie can be perfect unless it's your own cut. While mentioning that, I can't think of a better version of Empire Strikes Back than the 1997 special edition.

If you really want your favorite edition, then like me you'll get on your feet and make your own that you like best. Of course you may need help in creating DVD chapters and a box cover art which you can customly order online, but you can always inquire on those, again online.

The Star Wars Revisits are great improvements but not recommendable substitutes to the current Star Wars movies unless they are made as realistic as possible and reduce the lame changes made by Mr Lucas which actually contribute to this reduction.

And since these edits are available online there is not need to trade in your current cuts until you can get the best edit for yourselves.

My X-Files franchise rating, commentary and how I would redirect it

Before I get to how I would redirect the series, including storyline, I want to discuss the series franchise directly and how it influenced my life. Also included in the discussion are the X-Files movies and the PlayStation 2 game "Resist or Serve."

I hadn't had any exposure to the X-Files until last August ever since 2008 when I watched the second movie which was no good. Prior to that I saw the last two seasons back in 2007-2008 when I was in Pakistan. I had bought them cheap on DVD. And prior to that I had played the PlayStation 2 game Resist or Serve in 2004.

The game was a piece of cake due to it's survival horror genre, which makes games more worth playing instead of senseless button pushing. Weather you're a regular gamer or not or a regular X-Files fan, this game met all standards of excitement and adventure.

But at the same time you don't really need to buy it. Once you've played the game and finished it there is really nothing more to it. It has limited difficulty selections and unlockable bonus features unlike the Resident Evil games that it was modeled after.

So aside from those I really had no exposure to the series since watching the second movie on DVD but didn't like it.

My revisit to my favorite TV franchise was rather a miracle. Back in the summer of 2011 towards the end of July I had just dropped a summer course at university that I was failing so I was left with nothing much to do until regular classes resumed in September.

During summer school I had traded my regular mobile phone service for blackberry to use Internet in the university library to help me with my summer course since the regular PCs were difficult to log into for me.

That was a big regret and I went to the local electronic super store (one of the biggest in my city actually) to get help in switching back to my regular cell phone. One of the employees there kindly helped me and showed me how it was by switching the chip back into the cell phone.

How good it felt to have my regular phone back in service. Using the blackberry to send and receive calls was a headache. What a great store and how kind and informative the employee had been. All of this help I got for free.

I was just happy to have my cell phone back in use and wanted to give the store a little business after seeing DVD case sets of the various X-Files seasons.

I wasn't planning on doing anything for the rest of the summer and also wanted to see what happened after the first X-Files film which I had on DVD. I knew the movie preceded the sixth season. I bought the sixth season and even told the kind employee that I had a good mind to buy some stuff from the store to show him my gratitude as I carried the newly purchased DVD set out the store.

I even had second thoughts about spending seventeen dollars including taxes on a box set. But since I had nothing to do for the rest of the summer and show some appreciation for the store employee's kind help, I thought why not.

It took me at least two days before I wanted to open the set and make sure all the discs worked perfectly. I just loved the episodes of season six and had no regret buying it.

It really brought back memories even though I had not seen all the episodes of each season, including six. The best part about season six was that even the stand alone episodes were good, at least most of them.

But then it came to an episode about an abductee friend of Mulder and Scully by the name of Casandra that had references which I didn't know of. I realized that to enjoy and understand the series fully, I would have to go back and see the episodes in sequence.

I found a used copy of the complete first season in October at a second hand store for only fifteen dollars and decided to buy it. It was actually also good, but not as good as season six.

I did manage to catch a lot of my favorite episodes in season one. My love for the X-Files takes me back to my childhood in Pakistan when I was in junior school (grade 3 to 6) and senior school (grade 7 to 11).

The X-Files was a great part of my childhood especially with family and close friends, both in and out of school, having an equal passion for the franchise.

The whole storyline had the fascinating theme of government conspiracy and alien phenomenon, all of which have a basis in reality. The two main characters were also very lovable and I did develop an attachment to them. I think any X-Files fan or anyone who appreciated the philosophical ideas of the show would love these characters.

When you begin to love a good franchise and it's characters you develop a sense of familiarity with them. From that familiarity comes a passion for them. That's how I developed a my likes for Mulder and Scully.

I was actually lucky during this time as a kid to have missed most of the terrible episodes in the series- mainly stand alone episodes- which I'll just discuss.

So as I kid I managed to see most of the good episodes and a few bad stand alone episodes. I didn't get to see all or even the majority of them. This was partially due to moving to Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE) in grade six and attending an American school there for one term which I did not like at all and couldn't wait to go back to Karachi.

We didn't get that cable in Abu Dhabi but towards the end of my attendance at the American school in Abu Dhabi, the first X-Files movie "Fight the Future" came out that winter. I went with family friends to see it and we just loved it.

The movie blended in perfectly with in between the seasons. And it didn't feel like an extended episode to look like a film. It truly remained loyal to the mythology, it included a long plot that took an entire films length to proceed and get through.

So we saw it and I also had a few glimpses of season five rented on VHS by a family friend living with us. Then I was a free kid and moved back to Karachi to live with my father while my mother continued living in UAE with her career as she already had for many years.

I'd visit her during my vacations. But cable packages had changed by this time in Pakistan and many new channels came in, so the X-Files was there, but lost somewhere amongst the dozens of channels. But every now and then I managed to catch some episodes my uncle recorded on VHS.

My paternal uncle and I were truly science fiction "fanboys."
Then a year later I was living back in Abu Dhabi, this time going to a much better school. I managed see more great episodes when I visited Karachi, but still no proper viewing of episodes in order until I moved to North America. By this time the series was in it's last season and ready to end. My uncle also passed away from smoking in Karachi later in 2003.

Bad for me. But since the beginning of the academic year in 2011, I manged to start again by buying the seasons on DVD in order. I've reached season five and will watch it when studies are completed and if I'm lucky enough not to have to do summer school.

Season one was quite good as mentioned. Even many stand alone episodes were actually also exciting, not all. Season two was nothing like that at all and was filled with several of these lousy stand alone episodes with the worst story lines. From evil imprisoned magicians doing targeted killings using black magic to hauntings at old people's centers.

Even the episodes related to the plot were strange. For example Mulder's sister appears and later disappears. He and his parents don't treat it like a big deal and in later episodes he continues with his work as if nothing has happened.

There was also another disgusting "monster of the week" episode in which a monster sucks people into the sewer where it lived. An individual in that episode also sheds his flesh in the shower.

Season two was probably my least favorite season. Season three was not much better at all except for the episode "Oubliette" with the stunning Canadian actress Jewel Staite (she's not so stunning anymore). In fact I remember when my uncle recorded the episode in Pakistan, I used to view it every day in the afternoons, a few hours before tea time just to see her.

But other than that, season three was almost just as bad as season two with some incredibly bad stand alone episodes such as "Hell Money" and the lake monster episode. Season four was slightly better than the previous two but was again infected with stand alone episodes.

Even my favorite episodes in that season "Tempus Fugit" and "Max" were caught between lame stand alone episodes, which I did not dislike for being unrelated to the plot, but rather having terrible storylines.

Seeing the first four seasons now, I am actually tempted to sell them off and get the X-Files mythology on DVD as a substitute. The X-Files mythology on DVD contain only the episodes related to the plot, though at least one plot episode from season four about the "cigarette smoking man" are missing from this from what I read.

Regardless, if you're a hardcore fan of the mythology and get bored by the stand alone episodes then I would buy only the mythology until maybe season five.

I've viewed all the seasons now save for season five and season seven. Season six is not complete, but I'll come back to that after I finish season five. So far though I can confidently state that season six is the best and fully on track with the theme of the franchise.

It not only has good plot lines, but the stand alone episodes also somehow managed to succeed. The episode "How the Ghosts Stole Christmas" was really fascinating. It interlocked philosophy with mystery.

There were some episodes early in the series that I really, really liked and have been unable to find them. This leads me to believe that they could only be in season five.

Fans might disagree with me on most of what I've written about season six and how the franchise derailed on/after that season, but even those fans admit online in their reviews how terrible many of the stand alone episodes were in seasons one to three.

As for the second X-Files movie: I Want to Believe, it is widely accepted as a failure. I found it was not just about the psychic, but Scully fighting her own faith in technology to help children.

So to carry on, I can state the first three seasons were weak unless we remove the bad stand alone episodes. The first movie was great. The PlayStation2 game was great. Season six was great so far and I expect season five not to be too far behind since some of my favorite episodes would be in there.

Season eight and nine were also great, but the stand alone episodes really also harmed their beauty in a significant way. I would recommend newcomers watching only the good episodes of the seasons and skipping past the stand alone episodes save for some really good ones.

The movie of course is another worthy collectible. But season five is when the real excitement should start.

We also know that after season six the franchise started to loose budget due to a decline in viewing and the fact that Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny were reluctant to carry one with the series. The creator Chris Carter was running out of ideas and that's what he should have worked on to keep the series alive which is what I want to discuss.

That is my commentary of the franchise and it's positive role in my life.

How I would reboot the X-Files franchise:
Before anything else I would scrap the second movie from the storyline. Not really because of how boring it was but because it had no connection with the storyline and Mulder's sudden re-appearance and ability to evade persecution at the hands of the government was simply un-realistic.

Instead the storyline should continue where the series left off with Mulder and Scully gone underground. Since both Mr David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson didn't want to continue the series, a reboot series should continue with their characters disappeared and a new team of FBI agents seeking to trace them out.

The story could also use alien abduction as a means of removing the two characters with a set of newcomer characters following leads to Mulder and Scully at the same time replacing them as investigating paranormal cases.

Towards the ending or even in between the new series, David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson could make reappearances.

That is how I would reboot the franchise. If Chris Carter had paused to use his imagination or receive suggestions from fans, the franchise could survive with or without Duchovny and Anderson.

If such was done, the X-Files would have continued as a successful franchise even if done by a different strategy. As far as I can see, my method of rebooting the franchise would not only continue the series but also given it a new taste without repeating the same themes again and again.

Tintin movie review

I was partially disappointed by the climax of the movie, but was definitely pleased with the storyline. As a fan of the comics and one who has read all the books that were released in color, I must complement Spielberg's strategy of crossing over two separate episodes from the book series and creating some independent themes for the movies.

Had he not done that and gone directly by the books, all those who have read them would probably know what would happen to the movie, reducing the excitement to almost none.

The other great thing was it was released in CGI 3D graphics instead of casting live action actors. An all time favorite comic book character like Tintin can rarely be represented by an actor and CGI was the best way to put him on the screen.

But other than those factors, my main problem with the movie was there was too many "action sequences" followed by one after another instead of the character using critical thinking and solving mysteries as seen in the comic books.

There was way too much "action" and goose chasing around. Not enough of hardcore adventure. I was also watching a clip on YouTube from the Tintin game and a cut scene seemed to have better dialogue than the movie itself.

Viewing the movie and understanding the plot, I knew the story did not end with the movie but later on in a sequel where the treasure is pursued. Spielberg did a fairly good job in keeping the readers of the comic series in suspense by scrambling the story lines.

However I feel Spielberg relied too much on the comics and mixing together their plot-lines which is partially the problem with the movie. I would have made the movie based on my own plot, borrowing some vague plot-lines from the comics, but not to such a great extent.

The movie was overall nothing really exciting. I have no intention of seeing it again, let alone buying it on DVD. This does not mean I'm not waiting for the sequel. The sequel is where the real action probably begins. But the movie did fail my expectations as a strong fan of the original comic book franchise. I would give this movie two out of five stars.

Resident Evil 6 isn't for me as far as I can see

I really enjoyed Resident Evil 1 the director's cut version. That was a great way for a loyal fan like me to be introduced to the franchise. But reading the walkthroughs for Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil 3 I thought I wouldn't enjoy them since they seemed more like failed imitations of the first and second games in a boring environment.

It turned out I was right when I actually played them. But before that I had played Code Veronica X and it was the just as good as the original with intense story lines. But after playing all the previously released RE games, I came to understand that the series had a fault of repeating the same survival horror each time.

The main plot-line of the games, including the spin-offs are the same of the T-Virus being spilled and zombies crowding up the area.

A friend in high school who was also a Resident Evil fan shared the same sentiments. But Resident Evil 4 seemed to have changed all of that or so I thought. I enjoyed the new departure from the T-Virus and zombies to a new plot. I remember the commercial and conveyed it to my friend who thought RE would have been much better with actual evil and not some mutated monsters.

I rented Resident Evil 4 back in 2005 and played it. The game was a success and would re-brand the franchise for good. But the majority of "RE fans" or better yet, fans of the zombies, T-Virus and other mutated monsters weren't too thrilled with this change.

For them RE is a trademark of the zombies and T-Virus.

They did seem to have a passion for the action though. I like the new change and the combination of action with survival horror. So in a bid to please the fans Capcom decided to keep the action and create a new environment only worse when they released Resident Evil 5.

Resident Evil 5 was so far removed from the dark, lonely survival horror atmosphere to being in broad daylight and have some crazy butchers come and fight you. I didn't even bother playing it.

Resident Evil 6 seems to be only worsening the franchise with the T-Virus appearing again and threatening to infect the whole world. Are we going Planet of the Apes?

I know it may be early for me to judge, but since I was right in my predictions of not liking Resident Evil 2, 3 and 5, I doubt I could be wrong again but who knows.

I also mentioned that I don't really quite get thrilled by the game series repeating survival horror again and again with a few cut scenes in between. I really thought Resident Evil four was rebooting the franchise with action sequences and bidding farewell to the T-Virus and it's mutated products. But no thanks to the fans of the T-Virus and zombies, we're going all the way back.

Instead of adding new themes to the franchise such as spy missions or anything else that is not just limited to constant searching and killing enemies, Capcom is ensuring of keeping it's customer base high and pleasing the "fans" by introducing the old themes once again, only worsened with senseless violence, explosions and other themes that have only killed RE originality and potential to evolve into a successful franchise.

I don't own a PS3 and won't be getting one for the next few months or perhaps years. But if I do, I'm only getting the remake edition of Resident Evil 4 and the spin-offs that have been produced. I think I have lost faith ever since Capcom decided to please "fans" who seem to have no passion for improvement or evolving a franchise.

Below is a Resident Evil 6 trailer that gives me the feeling it's not for me:

Hitman 2:Kirov Park Meeting Silent Assassin rating quick and simple

There are several ways to achieve silent assassin ratings in Hitman games such as the kirov park meeting in Hitman 2. I discovered a method that is both fast and easy.

When to exit the speedboat at the beginning of the mission, quickly run to the dumpsters on the right and hide there until the soldier arrives. Instead of killing him as he is a non-target, it is preferable that you knock him out with the small gas toxin bottle you carry with you or try and use your fists. If you must kill him, don't use your gun or else you'll loose your silent assassin rating. Either strangle him or use a kitchen knife and stab him.

Also make sure you hide is body properly behind the dumpsters so the other guards don't see or else you risk failing to get a silent assassin rating or worse you risk failing the whole mission.

Once he's taken care of, take his uniform and grab the sniper rifle. Make sure your rifle is fully loaded. Now make towards the cathedral with the golden domes on the road turn opposite of you. Keep towards the river on the right side of the road to avoid the guards notice you have a different gun from them. Use one of your lock-picks to enter the cathedral and enter. Make sure you are not attracting attention. Run up the stairs and knock out or kill the guard there.

Once established on the roof aim your sniper rifle towards the park and zoom in by pressing the arrow button on your joystick. Once your targets are visible, make sure they are aligned.

To do this, make sure you see the second target go behind the first target so you know he's behind him. Once you sure aim at the first target and fire at him. If you did this correctly the bullet will go through the first target and also hit the second, killing them both.

You might want to save before aiming your sniper rifle in case you make mistakes and have to do it again.

Once you've met your mission objectives by killing the two targets throw down your sniper and run back the same route you came to the cathedral. If there are no guards in the area, run back to the dumpsters and change back to your suit. If guards are there, just run directly to the speedboat and escape.

The current Goldeneye remake and how I would have done it

Thank goodness for websites like YouTube where fans can view products before being tricked into buying them. The terrible Goldeneye remake just happened to be one of the few games that I was temped to buy.

I'm not into video games much and rarely play them save for long holidays. But the 007 game Goldeneye on Nintendo 64 was just one of those rare games that really had me addicted. It wasn't just me. The game became known as a classic amongst fans. Even people like me who weren't much into videos games had the same feelings for the game's amazing features.

The original had reasonable graphics, game play settings, difficulties and a whole set of missions for us to enjoy. It was one of those few games that was more than senseless button pushing. It had proper challenges, an intimidating atmosphere in the missions that gave the player a proper sense of realism and tension.

The other James Bond games on various counsels took away all that and the remake does no better. After viewing the silly remake on YouTube, I knew better than to waste my precious money on such a terrible job. The game is awfully loaded with "tips" and dialogue throughout most of the missions that irritate you and don't allow you to play with full comfort and concentration.

I notice regular video gamers always rant about graphics and that's all that matters. Agreed that a decent game must have decent graphics but this awful Goldeneye remake doesn't seem to have any improved graphics except for the characters ability to move their mouths and speak during cut scenes.

By no ways is this game recommendable to fans of the original version by me. Let me give a better example of this game's utter failure to match the excitement of the original. In the original we had levels like the statue park or the jungle with a night atmosphere and stealthy enemies that were difficult to detect. In the remake you have the jungle in full daylight.

In the statue park level you've lost the great soundtrack of tension. All that has been reduced to running around and meeting your enemies with dialogue that sounds like it was memorized by the characters.

How would I have done the game to make it more enjoyable? Simple. I wouldn't have taken anything away from the original game. Perhaps it was necessary to substitute Pierce Bronson's voice with Daniel Craig's, but that's not really taking away from the game play.

I would have kept the layout of the levels the same. I would have enhanced the dialogue of the characters from subtitles to actual cut scenes and perhaps improved the graphics by a slight bit. And to add to the fun I might have reformatted the layout of the missions just as Capcom did in the Resident Evil remake of the original cut.

That's how you do a proper remake. If fans wish to re-experience their favorite N64 Goldeneye, I recommend them to download Goldeneye: Source. I haven't played it yet, but after viewing the game play on YouTube, I can state it definitely is the closest thing to the original Goldeneye. I even viewed the clips of Goldeneye on Nintendo DS. I wasn't even aware of there being a DS version. After viewing it, I can also state it's much closer to the original Goldeneye than this terrible remake.

But in the end fans need to realize and accept that remakes are not really aimed at thrilling fans of an original version of a franchise. Remakes are usually aimed at attracting a new generation to enjoy the new version of that franchise and that's what the Goldeneye remake is all about.