curiouser and curiouser

So last week, i walked into my local book store with two friends, knowing full well the book I intended to buy. I casually glanced at the counter and noticed two (rather shy slightly nerdy looking) young men behind it, I already began top dread the thought of taking the book to the counter to actually pay for it. I go straight to the biography section, knowing (thanks to the advice of a friend who also works for the same franchise of book shops that this is where the book would be) and it dawns on me, the book is not there! So I sheeepishly move to my usual horror section, then on to the graphic novels and finally manga before after nagging from my friends I ask one of the young men (both of whom are blatantly younger than I am and considering I'm 22 I begin to get steadily more and more embarrassed about asking a seventeen year old about thiss particular book). I ask the young man where I might find Girl with a One Track Mind Exposed by Abby Lee, the sequel to her best selling book, Girl with a One Track Mind. the young man finds the book for me and a purchase it, admittedly making a few jokes with my friend. Upon leaving the store and heading towards the pub for a well deserved pint (or two) after a lot of shopping, and a though occurred to me. Why should I be ashamed of this book? Surely that is the point of the book isn't it? I mean why is there such a stigma surrounding women enjoying sex? Why is it seen as such a bad thing or a taboo still?

BATMAN: Arkham City, Catwoman edition REVIEW

Arkham City: Catwoman Special Edition.

So…where do I start with the game I have waited around two years for?? Without giving away too many spoilers (and let’s face it, there are so many spoilers out there already in webland).

The game opens with Bruce Wayne at a press conference saying he is against the formation of this prison in the heart of Gotham City only for him to be arrested and taken inside the prison. When inside the prison Hugo Strange announces to you (Bruce Wayne) that he knows that you are Batman. You are then thrown to the inmates and have to fight your way out, including a minor scuffle with The Penguin. The story progresses and you get the batsuit dropped in by your trusty butler Alfred and you have to find The Joker. But before you can do this you have to save Catwoman from the clutches of Twoface. When you eventually find Joker , he captures you and injects you with his blood, causing you to contract the same fatal illness that he himself has (as a result of the Titan overdose from the previous game). You are then instructed that Mister Freeze was working on a cure and that if the Bat does not find him that not only will you die but hundreds of people across Gotham will also die because he has given his blood to blood banks across the city. (Now story wise without giving away much I can’t really go on as I know that I would be really annoyed reading a review with the best bits of the game given away so the rest of my synopsis will be patchy.)

Freeze is being held captive by Penguin and you have to free him. It is here that you discover Penguin has access to Titan (from Arkham Asylum) and is using it on some of his men. Batman fights his way through Penguin,s men and finds Freeze who is in very poor health due to Penguin. He sends you to find his suit as Penguin has stolen his freeze gun and is using it against political prisoners and captured GCPD men. After defeating Penguin it is time for the first boss battle. (Now I’m not revealing too much here as it’s common knowledge that this character would appear in this game.) Penguin has found and restrained Solomon Grundy. In my opinion this boss battle was the hardest in the entire game, taking me two attempts to defeat him (admittedly I was playing on hard mode) I was able to take out the rest of the bosses without dying once which, after Arkham Asylum, surprised me a lot. Now I really can’t say much else about the overall story here without ruining the game for you but I will list the bosses as it’s not rocket science if you read IGN etc. After Solomon Grundy the next boss is Ra’s Al Ghul, followed by Mister Freeze and finally Clayface.

The overall game play of Arkham City was excellent. I really enjoyed the game although I found the side missions a tad distracting at times because you can’t land on certain rooftops without activating a side mission which, when you’re trying to be stealthy, really tends to make you jump! My only flaw with the controls was the Remote Controlled Batarang which admittedly I struggled with in Arkham Asylum. The controls are so confusing for it, it was just irritating taking half an hour to simply hit a switch!!! The new gadgets are brilliant though, the freeze blast and Remote Electrical Discharge are sooooooooooooo much fun to use on unsuspecting convicts!!

Playing as Catwoman was a lot of fun and the controls were very smooth as well, especially in fights. Crawling around on the ceiling was also very entertaining. Judging by the brief appearance of Robin, I assume if you have the Robin edition you play as him as well, although he is only in my version for a maximum of 10 minutes (half of that being him talking to you over the earpiece). I guess you could call Catwoman’s encounter with Poison Ivy a boss battle but as you don’t really fight her, just her henchman, I don’t think it counts.

The Riddler’s participation was as good as in Arkham Asylum, although not having the Riddler Maps from the first game made it much more difficult (interrogating Riddler’s men does help but it’s very tricky).

I will admit I had a bit of a geek out when I noticed on certain radio frequencies you can find a series of numbers repeated again and again. Being of the nerdy nature I cracked the codes. They revealed the following: 9-23-9-12-12-18-5-20-21-18-14-2-1-20-13-1-14 and 5-15-9-7-21-18-18-14-3-5-24-15-12-7-22-3-10-5-15-9-22-3-8-25-26-15-16-25-10-15-17-25. They translate as I WILL RETURN BATMAN and YOU WILL PAY FOR WHAT YOU HAVE DONE TO ME. There is a third sequence but it is just gibberish. I will also admit that, on completing the main story arch, I was reduced to tears. The ending is so heart wrenching that anyone who does not have a tear in their eye or a lump in their throat is cold hearted. The score is beautiful, the graphics are flawless and the gameplay is smooth and seamless. I can see why this game has been given such high ratings by critics and gamers worldwide. I absolutely loved this game and it was worth every penny I spent on it.

Your Highness - review

Last Thursday on returning home for the Easter Hols, I was invited to the cinema with two good friends. We decided to see an advance screening of the new "stoner" comedy, 'Your Highness'. From the trailers and write ups that have been in many magazines (mainly due to heavy use of Natalie Portman's naked derrière being featured in this film) I was hopeful as the cast seemed promising. Oscar nominee James Franco as Prince Fabious, Oscar winner Natalie Portman as Isabel the heroic warrior, plus a fair few familiar British faces (Damian Lewis and Simon Farnaby to name a few). I can happily say I wasn't let down!

I was very excited to see a man I am very familiar with as he appears regularly in local pantomime (The Marlowe Theatre, Canterbury), Phil Holden, although only in the first scene, it left me feeling very happy seeing a face of someone I actually know in this American comedy. When Prince Fabious first enters I was a tad worried about his accent but I quickly forgot he was not actually English and relaxed into the film. The story begins with Prince Fabious returning home from a quest with a young woman he has rescued, Belladonna. Zooey Deschanel's Belladonna was only a secondary character (although her character is referenced often, she is given little to do other than kiss Prince Fabious) which is probably a good thing as she was the only character I found difficult to believe. Her performance left me feeling empty as she was playing Belladonna as the same character I have seen her play before and in this situation it left me wanting something else. I felt for Prince Thadeous (Danny McBride) as I think any younger sibling can relate to the feeling of walking in your brother's shadow (although Prince Fabious' shadow is rather a lot larger than any real sibling!). At Fabious' wedding to Belladonna, an evil wizard Leezar (Justin Theroux) who has been plaguing the kingdom interrupts the festivities to steal back the maiden he has been keeping for his own evil plan. Fabious, decides he shall set out on a quest to find his bride along with his loyal Knights, his father the King announces Thadeous must help his brother succeed or face banishment.

As the party set off, they first stop at a Wize Wizard to ask for advice, it is revealed that Fabious visits him before every quest and was possibly abused by this perverted old creature as a child. the Wizard gives them a compass that will lead them to where they can find the weapon that will kill the near immortal Leezar. They set off again but Fabious' loyal Knights are shown to be working for the evil Leezar and they flee. They soon meet Isabel, a warrior on a quest of her own. She steals the compass as she is part of a tribe determined to stop Leezar going through with his ritual, that will leave him in control of a dragon. Fabious and Thadious continue on their journey without the compass but meet Isabel again in a small town, they soon learn their quests are the same and join forces after Fabious is captured by Leezar's men.

Together, Isabel and Thadious (and his loyal companion Courtney) find the maze containing the Blade of the Unicorn that can kill Leezar. Thadious finds the blade and slays the minotaur inside. Thadious and Isabel find Leezar's lair and rescue Fabious. Thadious gives his brother the blade so that the can save his bride and the fight to stop Leezar begins.

Although this film has its moments of humorous vulgarity, it contains some genuinely clever moments and the relationship between Thadious, his companion Courtney and Fabious is well written and heartwarming at moments. The film could very well have ended up as Pineapple Express medieval style (not that this would have necessarily been a bad thing!), but I can happily say that this was not the case. Definitely a film to see with friends on a fun night out.

wow it's been a while

Wow it's been an awfully long while since I have written here. this Blog will be followed shortly by a review or two...i think they are needed.

so a brief status update!

I'm 21 now and living in halls of residence again at university!

I'm happier than I've been in a very long time too which is just great!

University is nearly over now, one essay, my dissertation and my showcase and then that's all folks! welcome to the real world! scary huh?

TV is it's usual dodgy self right now, millions of reality or quiz shows and thats about it. it's glorious weather outside so people should be out there enjoying that rather than sitting inside watching the same old easter season reruns that are always on. I cannot wait for the new season of DR Who to start. it looks brilliant! even if the English producers have decided to follow in the footsteps of many americans and split the series into two parts, is there any point in that other than to annoy us viewers?

enough of a rant

enjoy the weather!

ttfn