Breakfast on Pluto

The other week it was cowboys in love, this week it’s transvestite orphan irishmen!

Cillian Murphy makes the most of his cheekbones and does drag astonishingly well without making it seem ridiculous. The story is about this square-peg-in-society’s-round-hole character growing up an orphan, searching for his mother, surviving on wits and optimism set against a background of Ireland, London and the increasing presence of the troubles and conflict in both areas. The film is split into 33 titled vignettes which makes the whole thing very digestable and the through-the-years theme allows for a great soundtrack. Bittersweet without being too bitter or too sweet. Recommended.

Sorry for the snappy review – this is what happens when you leave it too long between seeing a film and writing about it.

A Cock and Bull Story

Ryan, this one’s for you..

ACABS is a film about making a film based on a book about making a book. I knew nothing of the original work other than it was being made into a movie and that such an endeavour had often been regarded as impossible.

As a fan of both Rob Brydon and Steve Coogan and quirky English movies in general I was looking forward to this. Both leads delivered what I wanted from them – Brydon playing the likeable, affable harmless chap and Coogan playing a more unlikeable character in the lead role. I’m really not sure about Coogan sometimes. Whilst his highest profile exploits seem to be based around anti-hero type characters (Paul Calf, Tony Ferrino, Alan Partridge etc) his own image isn’t that great either. He’s certainly no show-biz luvvie and perhaps this side of his character is taken further with his portrayal of himself in the movie. Coogan plays himself as a pretty unlikeable and vain character. This was either no effort at all for him or a brave acting challenge and a demonstration of a good sense of humour. As a mere viewer, I’m not sure which one it is.

The film definitely falls into the ‘quirky’ category. After the period-drama facade falls away and the fly-on-the-wall documentary style narrative picks up it’s hard to say, specifically, what happens. There’s little in the way of plot other than bits of conversation and a study of one man’s vanity and indiscretion. Perhaps this is a key factor of the original material and the film does a fantastic job of emulating it. I can’t say, I’m ignorant in that regard.

The film is pleasant enough, challenging only in the fact it doesn’t really have a typical narrative structure and generally inoffensive. If you enjoy playing “where have I seen that British actor before?” then this will entertain you. There are moments of dialogue in the movie that show some verbal sparring between Coogan and Brydon which definitely come out as the highlights of the movie.

All in all, I enjoyed this movie but I can only recommend it if you’re willing to take a bit of a risk with your viewing. A hit as a ‘proper’ film, a narrow miss as genuine entertainment.

Shadow of the Colossus – making of

Whilst this topic may seem somewhat premature for any european readers who, at the time of writing, are still waiting for the release of this game, this page is worth a look.

Clickety click

The page provides some detail as to how some of the eyecatching effects in this visually stunning game were conceived and produced. The opening statement regarding how, in the final days of a console’s shelf life the ‘masterpiece’ games appear. I’ve always believed this to be the case and enjoy this era of a console the most. After five or so years, many of the PS2’s tricks have been learned and optimised and ways of making the machine perform tasks that appear beyond it’s reach have been discovered.

You need only look at games at the end of the 16 bit era to see further proof of how technically savvy programmers had become. The Megadrive / Genesis in particular had some incredible titles that, unlike the SNES, didn’t depend on an extra chip to perform miracles. I’m thinking of stuff like Gunstar Heros, Ranger X, Contra Hard Corps, Alien Soldier, Red Zone and Vector Man in particular. And, yes, I’m well aware of the chip used in the 16 bit conversion of Virtua Racing.

I feel that the current turnaround in hardware – particularly on the PC – allows for a degree of laziness. Don’t get me wrong, I’m in no way inferring that game developers are lazy! However, if a game needs a lot of videoram then the specs will call for a videocard that can give it. Because there is no one universal hardware spec to program for, as with consoles, games do not need to be optimised for it and the required specs to run it can just be bumped up instead of the developers endlessly opitimizing their code. This is an observation, not a criticism.

Anyway, back to the linked article, I don’t think it’s necessary to understand all the technical terms mentioned but I do believe it’s worth taking on board just how much planning, effort and consideration went into each aspect of the game. The same applies to development teams in all games actually. Gamers simply don’t and can’t know just how much clever stuff is going on and what tricks have been thought up just so you can enjoy a game a little more. Shadow of the Colossus is probably one of the finest examples of this but, trust me, all games have an unbelievable amount of work put into them.

When gamers criticise games such as, say, GTA San Andreas for having poor graphics I have to wonder just how ill-considered such criticism is and just what degree of understanding of graphics those criticisms are based upon.

Still, great article for a great game. Go read it!

The DS Lite

Working at 500% capacity due to ever decreasing size of my team here at the office means that those moments I would choose to update koffdrop.com are becoming more and more scarce. It’s not that I have less to say, far from it, it’s just that I have so much less time to say it in.

My workplace has kindly offered to help out by blocking pretty much every website I normally visit in my working hours and a few more just to be on the safe side. This, the fact that I’m doing the work of at least three people whilst remaining underpaid in the first place and a number of other factors are not helping my mood.

I’ll always make some time to deliver some critique of Nintendo’s latest moves though, of that you can be sure.

Whilst expectations of a redesigned DS were high Nintendo apparently snubbed them with a statement indicating that no information would be forthcoming at this years E3 show, they firmly denied any such redesign would be available. In a move that barely conceals their smugness they announced the DS Lite, due for release on March 2nd in Japan.

Of course, this confirms that there is no need for an unveiling at E3 in May due to the unit having been available for two months by that time. Nintendo, once again, enjoying the delivery of misinformation to their industry and consumers and the bizarre psychology whereby thousands of gamers thank them for such treatment. I remain unimpressed by such behaviour and fully expect some mention of the DS Lite at E3 regardless of Nintendo’s claims.

So, barely a year after it’s initial release, Nintendo have redesigned the unit, moved a few things around and make it look as much as an Apple product as the Revolution appears to be. I guess Apple-chic is probably a little more important if you’re going to be out and about trying to look hip with your iPod and DS at the same time. I suspect it’s only a matter of time before Mr. Jobs and Mr. Iwata get into bed together and spit out some MP3 playing DS compatible gizmo that is the size of your fingernail and comes with the complete works of Pixar pre-loaded and launches with a re-release of Mario 64. God, I bet some of you would love that.

Will the DS Lite follow in the same footsteps as the GBA’s redesign into the SP and mysteriously lose some basic functionality that can only be restored by buying a Nintendo made adaptor? If you’re not sure what I’m going on about, try locating the earphone socket on your GBA SP. I’m all for improved design (although, frankly, I’d rather they got it right the first time rather than staggered out their designs to an easily swayed public) but not at the expense of basic features. It becomes a game of smoke and mirrors:

“Look at our lovely redesigned DS. Don’t you want it? You WANT it! See how sleek it is, how cool it will make you feel. You will say WOW”

“Erm.. ..where do I plug my headphones in, dude?”

“See it sleek and pale design. Just like other top luxury product! You can play GBA games! You can play DS games! You can run Linux!”

“Headphone socket. Where?”

“See how it will compare to Nintendo Revolution in appearance. All this is better! All this is new! This is not as it was before! BUY NOW!”

“Whatever.”

OK, so I’m being overly harsh towards this redesign. Once bitten twice shy, right? I mean, if Nintendo hadn’t already pulled that stunt once then I wouldn’t have reason to question their morals. Oh, and before you feel sorry for Nintendo and claim that they simply didn’t have space in the GBA SP to fit a 3.5mm headphone jack it’s worth bearing in mind that the redesign didn’t happen by accident. It’s not like they said “We must make it this size, not 1mm larger”. The exclusion of the earphone socket and it’s decision to be replaced by an adapter at an additional cost was no accident of design – it was premeditated. Not only that, but in the GBA SP’s current design it would have been possible to fit an earphone socket.

My final concerns on the redesigned DS is it’s name. Nintendo state that the term DS Lite is in reference to the pale complexion and lighter weight of this new machine. In the English language, both those qualities would be described using the word “lighter”. Logically, this would suggest a name of DS Light instead of DS Lite. Whilst “Lite” is a trendier term and, perhaps less easy to confuse with a lamp or torch it is tends to be associated with a product lighter in features or limited in some way when compare to the original. A consumer might read “DS Light” and think “torch” but, crucially, a consumer might read “DS Lite” and think “less”. I recall that press conference with Reggie Fils-Aime lumbering around on stage giving definitions for the term “DS”. Everyone instantly assumed “Dual Screen” but the man from Nintendo tried to convince us it stood for, amongst other things “Developers System”. I don’t think anyone believed him.

For the reason’s stated above, I don’t believe “Lite” stands for lighter weight and lighter appearance. It may be the most poorly chosen of names from a company who have a tendancy to consistently abuse their position as industry icons.

Apart from that, I wish it every success.

Inactivity

I just wanted to drop a note to any readers of the site to say that updates will be forthcoming. I’ve been a wee bit busy lately but have another two movie posts and possibly an Opera (not the browser) post to subject you to.

My current workload, search for alternative employment and enjoyment of GTA: San Andreas are the culprits for the lack of updates. GTA on a PC with decent controls (finally!) and hardly any loading time is just too good ! 🙂

See you soon.

A musical interlude

Videogames related, of course!

First off is a great interview with the legendary Yuzo Koshiro. Koshiro managed to make 16 bit machines sing. His titles include the Streets of Rage series on the Sega Megadrive and also the Actraiser games on the SNES. He’s still a busy guy today but clearly keeps a lower profile.

Secondly I’d like to point you to another video located on video.google.com. The game is Rez, the video is of the final stage being played to perfection. You can see it here. I think Rez is a stunning piece of work and more of an experience than just a game. Admittedly, the gaming side of things is fairly simple but the overal sensory package of incredibly realised visuals, thumping sonics and a vibrating controller working overtime to such a degree that it makes your hands ache is simply unrivalled. This game was way ahead of it’s time and is well worth picking up if you can find it. I’ve lots to say on Rez – none of which is going to change your mind if you don’t like it of course. But, hey, that’s your loss.

Brokeback Mountain

This is my first cinema-going experience of 2006 and I figured it might be entertaining for me to keep track of such stuff at koffdrop.com. With the “all-you-can-eat” style cinema pass my wife and I have subscribed to I’m expecting to see a lot of stuff on the big screen that I might otherwise have dismissed.

I’d heard plenty regarding Brokeback Mountain but wasn’t particularly bothered about seeing the movie. If anything, all the critical acclaim being gushed over it around Hollywood’s Oscar season made me suspect that the praise was more political than anything else. After all, what about that year when the best actor and actress awards when to black actors (Denzel Washington and Halle Berry) ? I’m not saying they were undeserved but, come on Hollywood, you could try to make things a little less obvious huh?

I’m glad I saw the movie and recommend it without hesitation.

Visually, the scenes of the plains, moutains and other frontier vistas are as eyecatching and impressive as you would expect from a director of Ang Lee’s pedigree. To be honest, outside of those scenes there wasn’t much directorial flair on show but there certainly weren’t any gaffes or areas where things didn’t work.

The story of two 1960’s ranchers that fall in love with each other is unconventional to say the least. It’s an idea that you may have needed to be told twice before it sunk in. It’s a huge credit to the movie that, despite the unorthodox theme and unforgiving social context for it to be set in that it’s delivered in such a believable manner. There is absolutely nothing alarmist and exploitative in the pivotal scene where the two main characters realise their feelings – although it may make some folk feel mildly uncomfortable. The film has better things to do than pander to any viewers lascivious tastes however. It moves on dealing with the emotions of these two seperate characters (one quiet and withdrawn, the other more free-spirited) and how their lives proceed over the next twenty years.

Like much of the initial scenery, there are vast expanses of open, empty space in the film’s dialogue and it succeeds in telling it’s story and conveying the growth, frustrations and sadness of it’s two main characters as much as in what isn’t said as in what is. There’s always plenty to concentrate on behind the eyes of the protagonists and much of it is sad and melancholy.

This is not to say that this is a depressing film. It certainly isn’t a happy one but it is weighed down with the burdens of responsibiliy and conforming to what is expected in a society at the expense of personal gratification.

I was genuinely moved by the film and the story it told and would encourage anybody looking for a serious, mature but less mainstream movie to see it sooner rather than later.

Oscars? Nominations – certainly, but I suspect with some more political movies floating around such as Munich and Good Night and Good Luck the Academy may indulge their political and historical leanings again when it comes to making a final decision.

Gotta smack ’em all!

Posted around the internet in a variety of news sources, this excerpt from an article from the Independent on Sunday really makes me wonder about certain people’s parenting skills.

Well, at least when Germany invaded Poland they were out and about doing something.

Any kids reading this, I suggest you hold out for more – if your parents are insisting you drop Mario and pick up a needle then why not haggle for some street girls and a sherbert dip?

Giant Killing

Guys and girls, get ready for some spoilers!

Although the majestic Shadow of the Colossus isn’t available in Europe for another few weeks it appears to be getting the speed-run treatment in the far east.

I’ve not seen all the footage yet but the fact that the last Colossi can be beaten in a mere 2:18, a time that includes the hazardous approach as well as the ascent, is pretty astounding.

I love speed-runs at the best of times, and I love Shadow of the Colossus. This stuff is great!

Shadow of the Colossus – Speed-runs

It goes without saying that if you watch this stuff without having already beaten the game then you’ll ruin some surprises. Typically, the speed-runs do stuff in a way that breaks the expected path through the game – you won’t necessarily learn the intended way of beating the game by watching these – but you will definitely dampen the effect of the game if you intend to play it yourself.

Whilst on the topic of lesser-seen bits of Shadow of the Colossus you may want to have a gander at the NICO concept reel. NICO was the original project name for SotC and this footage is great. It shows that the original concept must have been pretty sound a good three and a half years ago as there doesn’t seem that much that’s changed from what’s was presented in this video. You’ll swear the opening vistas are real-world footage too. Enjoy.

Laziness Is The Mother Of All Inventions

This is just too awesome to be true. Finally, no more need to use those aching neck muscles. Why hold your own head when this wonderfully sturdy support can do it for you? Get the edge in your favourite murder simulators now that you don’t need to waste energy fighting gravity.

Head here for details on this exciting product!

And, whilst keeping with the vaguely jovial tone, allow me to direct you towards a particularly good issue of VG Cats.