Pfangirl Through the Looking Glass

Seeing as the bf's house was without a telephone (and *gasp* Internet connection) until Sunday, on Friday evening I dusted off my PS2 in an attempt to stave off World of WarCraft withdrawal. Our chosen co-op game though turned out to be a disappointment. Despite a great sense of humour, excellent voice work and numerous, genuinely funny visual gags, The Simpsons Game was just too frustrating to play. This was largely due to its annoying camera control, which made the numerous jumping challenges, and just generally working out what to do, incredibly difficult. And man, oh man, playing a game like this helps you realise how spoilt we are in terms of graphics today - you tend to forget how ugly previous generation console visuals could be. Bah. Giving up in disgust we ended up watching Blood Diamond again - and took great delight at Leo DiCaprio's South African accent. Kif, bru! Saturday was largely consumed with our rescheduled Dungeons and Dragons session, which extended in...

You know, I was going to write a blog post encouraging everyone to go see Quantum of Solace again this weekend... just to ensure that locally made, idiot comedy Mr Bones 2 doesn't completely decimate the box office - as this sequel to the most successful film in local cinema history is expected to do. But, you know what? After watching the latest installment in the James Bond franchise, and being distinctly underwhelmed, I just can't stick to my original plan... So here it is: the trailer for the only notable movie release of this weekend - Mr Bones 2: Back from the Past. May God have mercy on us all.

Right, here's an ad for the No. 1 Music Phone in the world - the Nokia 5310 XpressMusic. I wouldn't mind finding one of these oh-so-stylish babies in my Christmas stocking.

Right, so I'm sure you know by now that in July 2011, Marvel is going to be bringing cinema audiences the long-awaited Avengers film - which will team the superheroes Captain America , Thor , The Hulk and Iron Man . While DC and Warner Bros just can't seem to assemble their famous hero squad, The Justice League (comprising Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman, the Green Lantern and co.), Marvel is full steam ahead with the Avengers . The idea is that the Iron Man, Hulk, Captain America and Thor characters will each feature in their own solo-focused films before appearing together in The Avengers. In a move that is sending comic book geeks delirious with excitement, every actor who plays these iconic heroes in the solo films will return for the Avengers as well. So far that's Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man and (maybe, given his "difficult" reputation) Edward Norton as The Hulk. Samuel L. Jackson , as the eyepatch-wearing government agent Nick Fury , seems to a com...

Every time a new James Bond film is released the publicity machine goes into overdrive, proclaiming the latest movie “The Best Bond ever.” Of course this claim has been disproved multiple times, most recently by the appalling Halle Berry co-starrer, Die Another Day. Now, Quantum of Solace , the latest 007 outing, has been slapped with the same tag. So the big question is whether the film tops the superb Casino Royale, which, frankly, was always going to be difficult to do. Unfortunately, Quantum of Solace doesn’t. I was always worried about the choice of Marc Forster as Quantum’s director. Forster’s filmography is dominated by thoughtful, character-driven dramas like Monster’s Ball, Finding Neverland and The Kite Runner. None of those films suggested that Forster had the qualities needed to deliver an intense, action-packed Bond film. As it turns out, in Quantum of Solace, Forster’s pedigree comes through strongly. He handles the character interactions well, and there is plenty of arty...

Sorry, there won't be a proper blog update today. I was in a car accident in suburbia this morning - a guy in the fast lane swerved to avoid the car in front of him, which suddenly stopped to turn without indicating. The swerver veered left into my lane, hit me, and caused me to swerve off the road into a lamp post. Meanwhile, the non-indicating car that initiated all this just drove away from the scene. I'm physically OK but quite emotionally shaken. The most severe damage to the car was to the front bumper, but it's plastic so that isn't too worrisome. The metal front of the car got a bit dinged and scraped on the front right side but fortunately didn't crumple at all. The impact, however, was strong enough to snap the CV joints (or something), meaning the car gears wouldn't work anymore. The vehicle had to be towed away to the panel beater. Yay, exactly one month to Christmas! Man, this has been one fucking horrible year.

Some of you may be familiar with the "What's Your Game?" series of TV advertisements for massive multiplayer online game World of WarCraft . Blizzard has already released these 2 commercials for the English speaking market, starring Mr T and William Shatner. Then there's the Verne Troyer , Jean-Claude Van Damme and Willy Toledo ads as well. So, the character race-and-class combos of night elf druids, human paladins, tauren shamen and troll and gnome mages have all received screen time. Now, FINALLY, undead warlocks (my main character) get the celebrity treatment - and we couldn't have asked for a cooler representative: Now I have to wonder when the first "What's Your Game?" ad with a female celebrity will be released... Unless I'm seriously missing something, where are the ladies, Blizzard? The always camera-ready blood elves are just screaming for a little screen time.

Given that Thursday evening was our company Christmas party, Friday wasn't very productive at all. After greasy toasted sandwiches and cheese croissants in the morning, and a brisk lunch of pizza and sangria out on the balcony of Sun Coast Casino's Mimmo's, the office ended up closing an hour early. Incredibly tired by now, I headed home to sleep for a while. So much for the plan of seeing the early evening screening of James Bond. Once I'd surfaced and showered I felt considerably better - enough in fact to thrash my sister, her boyfriend and my parents at an after-dinner game of Cranium . Ah, there really is nothing more hilarious than watching your 50-something mother simulating break dancing on the floor, and a room full of people attempting to talk like Yoda. Backwards talking I am... On Saturday morning I was doing my bit for Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in South Africa, score keeping at our club's annual no-gi Submission Wrestling tournament. Not that I was at all p...

Alright, I don't have much to say today. Last night was our company Christmas party so right now as I sit in front of my PC, I have a cup of tea in one hand and a cheese croissant in the other. Nothing is new at the movies today, seeing as Quantum of Solace already debuted on Wednesday. Next Friday sees the start of Mr Bones 2 , the sequel to the most successful movie in South African history. Blergh. And you just know that idiot witchdoctor is going to knock 007 off his box office throne, and fart in his face - or do something equally repulsive. Anyway, here are some pics from last night's Cuban themed Christmas party, which was a helluva lot of fun without getting out of control - always a great combination. Viva la Revolution! Typical Cuban scene. The copywriter manning the Welcome desk for some reason. "Uh, and you are?" No clue what Jack Sparrow is doing in Havana. Someone didn't get the memo. Later on in the evening.

So yes, finally I got to sit down and watch [REC] this week... (Let's get the title spelling finally right;)). For those of you who haven't heard about this Spanish language horror film, it's usually described as "The Blair Witch Project meets 28 Days Later". And although only released last year, [REC] has already received the Hollywood remake treatment, just like the Asian horror flicks The Ring, One Missed Call and Shutter. You can currently catch [REC] remake Quarantine in South African cinemas. [REC] has been touted as one of the scariest films of the past few years. Having seen it now, I can mostly agree. I wasn't cringing on the couch but then again it's likely I was already braced for scares and screams, having already encountered so much online hype about the film. What [REC] is, is a helluva lot of fun, and pure exhilaration. [REC] may be filmed in the hand-held camera style but it's masterfully done - much more convincing than Blair Witch, a...

Ignore that absolutely appalling theme song by Alicia Keys and Jack White (To paraphrase Comic Book Guy from The Simpsons, "Worst Bond Song Ever!"). Today, Wednesday, Daniel Craig returns to South African cinemas as iconic British secret agent James Bond in his second outing as 007: Quantum of Solace . In order not to spoil the film for myself I've been steering clear of Quantum reviews, so I can't comment in much detail on its reception by critics and the public. General buzz though seems to be positive, although not quite as unanimously glowing as it was for Casino Royale 2 years ago. What with Jiu-Jitsu class and the company Christmas party, I'm probably only going to get around to seeing Quantum of Solace this weekend. But till then...

Ah, the gaming generation gap... How it infuriates us "old timers".

Alright, I admit it, for all the ass-kicking, spandex-clad biceps and general "guy stuff" that features on this blog, I do actually secretly have a girlie side. That's probably why something like Bride Wars really appeals to me. Here's the plot synopsis: In Bride Wars, Anne Hathaway and Kate Hudson play best friends who are pitted against each other when their wedding dates clash. They compete for venues, services and guests, once it's clear that neither will step aside. In my somewhat limited defense, Bride Wars doesn't look like your standard chick flick. Much like Hathaway's 2006 hit The Devil Wears Prada , Bride Wars seems to steer well clear of tedious romantic comedy territory in favour of a focus that's more accessible to a wider audience: in this case female rivalries and the emergence of the infamous, oh-so-dangerous Bride-zilla. Bride Wars looks like a lot of silly, if utterly conventional and undemanding, fun. However, I'm currently t...

I'm not even sure if the guys know it themselves, but today - 18 November - marks the 10 Year Anniversary of the first ever Penny Arcade web comic. A decade is a lifetime for a comic in any format, but Penny Arcade is after all the most successful gaming-themed web comic, if not the most successful web comic in the world - with over 2 million page views a day. Congratulations, Jerry and Mike. You guys truly are an inspiration. And may you keep us laughing for many more years to come... From this: To this: And:

Thanks to eXCheez for pointing out this outstanding mashup. Who knew Woody was so sinister?

Well, in terms of what I got up to this weekend Friday evening was pretty much just dinner at the surprisingly quiet Pavillion with friends. Before heading out for the evening I had planned to make the journey to the new continent of Northrend in World of WarCraft expansion Wrath of the Lich King - just to have my first glimpse of the island in all its frosty, battle-scarred glory. Imagine my disappointment when, having loaded the game, upgraded my account and watched the opening cinematic for the umpteenth time, I discovered there was an additional 650MB patch to download. Anywhere else in the world this wouldn't be an issue, but in South Africa with our slow broadband and 1-3GB monthly download restrictions, every time there's a patch bigger than 100MB it becomes a frustrating issue. Normally we end up forking out for extra cap. Anyway, as I learned later in the weekend, I already had downloaded the patch, as well as its 48MB follow-up, so all I needed to do was re-run them...

Alright, since my my most recent Watchmen posts, here and here , there have been 2 new trailers released for 2009's most highly anticipated superhero film. Here's the brand new, plot-centric one, which debuted online yesterday. In case it gets tugged from YouTube (a decently high probability these days), you can see it here at Yahoo! - if it's actually working. And here's the slightly older pseudo-trailer, which expands on footage from the first teaser. It was first screened at the televised Scream 2008 Awards . My favourite moment from this trailer: unquestionably the tank disintegration sequence. *Sigh* Watchmen opens on 6 March 2009.

Well, just one movie release of note in South Africa today and that's the horror film Quarantine . Filmed in the same hand-held camera style employed by The Blair Witch Project and Cloverfield, Quarantine stars Jennifer Carpenter (The Exorcism of Emily Rose, Dexter) as Angela, a television reporter who is assigned to spend the evening following a crew of Los Angeles firemen. When a seemingly routine call-out to a small apartment block turns out to be anything but routine, Angela, her cameraman and the fire crew find themselves quarantined in the building, cut off from the outside world and trapped with something vicious, deadly and highly contagious. I've covered Quarantine as part of Trailer Tuesday feature already, so you can read my thoughts on the film there. It's supposed to be pretty damn scary, and a 60% Fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes suggests it delivers the goods. I personally don't feel I can watch it though until I've seen Spanish horror film REC , on ...

If director Ridley Scott’s American Gangster was a sleeker, glossier, more commercially friendly take on the likes of crime dramas such as The Departed , then the director’s new film, Body of Lies , offers a similar treatment of Middle Eastern set spy-thrillers like Syriana. On the whole, Body of Lies is a highly enjoyable, engaging film. It focuses on CIA field operative Roger Ferris (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his Washington DC-based department head Ed Hoffman (Russell Crowe) as they attempt to locate Al-Saleem (Alon Aboutboul), the mysterious head of a deadly Islamic terrorist organisation that is causing mayhem across Europe. This involves entering into a rickety alliance with Hani (Mark Strong) the ice-cold head of the Jordanian secret service. Given the recent American elections, it’s quite interesting to compare DiCaprio and Crowe’s characters with Obama and McCain respectively. Ferris (DiCaprio) is a “new” American – cynical and hard bitten, but nonetheless aware of and able to int...

Today's the day, ladies and gentle-orcs... Well, midnight is anyway. At 00:00 tonight, technically 13 November, the second World of WarCraft expansion, Wrath of the Lich King becomes available. If you're a WOW player in South Africa and you haven't yet pre-ordered your copy, well, you're out of luck, because all the major local game e-tailers are sold out. That's Take2.co.za , Kalahari.net and BT Games (unless I'm forgetting someone else). Who knows what's happening with Incredible Connection, Look & Listen, Musica and the various other game-stocking retail chains? Anyway, out of the 3 e-tailers listed above, BT Games has proven to be the cheapest, if you collect your game from your nearest BT Games store. Out of interest, they're the only retail chain I know that is actually throwing a midnight launch party . Nice touch, guys - if I wasn't such an old fart who has to get up bright and early for work tomorrow I'd be there! Anyway, I was ve...