Gamernode: Brendon Lindsey's Columns

DVD Review: Cloverfield

Cloverfield surprised critics when it opened to a tremendous box office, taking in nearly $50 million; it surprised them once again when the film's gross dropped 68% in its second week.

The hand-cam "Blair Witch meets Godzilla" picture is a unique one, that's for sure. Numerous people complained of the shakiness and feeling nauseous in theaters, a reason several of my friends had for refusing to see the movie. Now that it's viewable on the tiny screen, will people who passed it over in theaters give it another shot?

For their sake, I hope so. Lots of people criticized Cloverfield for not being as awesome as they imagined-the monster didn't wreck as much shit as they hoped. But that isn't what Cloverfield is about at all. The plot (which isn't anything too fantastic) revolves around Rob, a ...

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DVD Review: There Will Be Blood

There Will Be Blood was one of the more surprising movies of last year. What initially struck me as a boring, pointless film thats only saving grace was Daniel Day-Lewis playing a character he already played later turned into one of my favorite movies. It's something you need to watch more than once to appreciate, as all of the magnificence of the movie comes in the form of all the little, unheralded aspects.

The movie tells the tale of an oil man named Daniel Plainview in early 20th century America as he thirsts for more money and power, received in the form of controlling oil. There are many characters in the film who are important to the work as a whole, but the entire movie is very clearly placed in the (obviously) capable hands of Daniel Day-Lewis.

Over the course of the American epic...

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DVD Review: Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Flee...

If I told you years ago that one of my favorite movies of 2007 would be a musical, I probably wouldn't even believe myself. If I told you that musical would be a slasher film directed by Tim Burton and starring Johnny Depp, I definitely wouldn't believe myself. Oddly enough, that very scenario happened with Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.

The film-adapted from the Steven Sondheim play-tells the story of a London barber, wrongfully accused of a fake crime by a corrupt judge out only to steal his beautiful wife. The barber (obviously Depp) spends years in prison, finally escaping and returning to London on a sailing vessel to take his revenge on the judge (Alan Rickman) who ruined his life. He learns upon arrival that the judge essentially killed his wife and stole his daught...

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DVD Review: Enchanted

(This was originally posted about a week and a half ago, but some reason was lost in the far reaches of the server. If you suffer from deja vu when you see this newly posted up, that's why.)

Every now and then I'll see a chick flick that I'll admit isn't totally terrible; you know, you can watch it and it's okay, but you won't want to watch it again anytime soon. Enchanted is one of those movies.

While it's not the greatest movie I've seen (or even remotely in any Top X lists I'd make for this year), for a chick flick it's solid enough. The movie tells the tale of Giselle, a stereotypical Disney soon-to-be-princess looking for her prince charming. While singing and cleaning with animals (and making a lifesize figure of her beloved yet-to-be-met Prince Edward), Giselle is attacked by a trol...

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DVD Review: South Park Imaginationland

(This was originally posted about a week and a half ago, but some reason was lost in the far reaches of the server. If you suffer from deja vu when you see this newly posted up, that's why.)

At the end of South Park season 11, viewers were watching in suspense as an epic trilogy unfolded-that trilogy was Imaginationland. Starting off with Cartman and Kyle's bet involving Kyle gently sucking on Cartman's pubicle sack and culminating in a battle worth of Two Towers, it's just as awesome as it was months ago.

The "feature" (it's called a feature, but it's blatantly obvious it's still three episodes) begins with Cartman betting Kyle that leprachauns do exist, and if they do, Kyle has to finally suck Cartman's balls. Against all odds, the boys spy a leprachaun, who warns them of an ominous terro...

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DVD Review: No Country for Old Men

If you watch movies or ever talk to people who do, chances are at some point or another someone you know has mentioned No Country for Old Men as one of their favorite movies from last year. The Best Picture winning movie certainly had a head of steam leading up to the Oscars, in no small part due to the fact the Coen Brothers are responsible for it.

The film is about a man who happens to find a suitcase with $2 million in cash at a scene where a drug deal has gone wrong. Like most people in that situation, the man (Llewelyn Moss) takes it. Finding one of them still alive, Moss leaves him for dead and heads home, until his conscience gets the best of him, forcing him to return to the scene to bring water to the dying man. Unfortunately, doing this alerts the surviving dealers of his existen...

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DVD Review: Dan in Real Life

Remember when Steve Carell was "That one guy on The Daily Show" and not a comedy superstar? And remember when he was by far the more popular of the Carell/Colbert duo on Stewart's show? Me neither. Somehow Carell went from being that goofy guy on Comedy Central to being in every damn thing out there. (Let's just forget about Evan Almighty for a moment.)

Perhaps more than his comedic performances, Steve's been typecast for his ability to turn in an absolutely stunning dramedic affair. With Michael Scott on The Office and his character in Little Miss Sunshine, he showed that he could do more than pure comedy, and thankfully for his career, at a much earlier stage than Jim Carrey did.

Now, Steve turns his sights on romantic comedies by partnering with everyone's favorite douche, Dane Cook. Car...

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DVD Review: 101 Dalmatians

When I watched 101 Dalmatians the other night, I wasn't sure what I'd get. I vaguely recalled liking the movie (and Saturday morning cartoon) as a kid and thinking Cruella was creepy, but that's really all I remembered. (Well, I also remembered Lucky was my favorite puppy, but damned if I knew why or which one he was.)

What I forgot was what made the animated feature a classic in the first place. The story revolves around Pongo and his "pet" Roger's bachelor lifestyle suddenly being changed by the arrival of two female companions. Pongo and Perdita find themselves about to have puppies, and Roger and Anita are constantly bugged by Cruella De Vil as to the price of the future pups. Not wanting to sell them to an obviously evil woman, Roger denies Cruella, and not used to being told no, Cruel...

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DVD Review: Beowulf: Unrated Director's Cut

Anyone who knows me has heard me rant in regards to last year's Beowulf. A huge fan of the original epic (I've done several papers on it) and an even bigger fan of Neil Gaiman's work, I was looking forward to the movie more than anything else in its timeframe of release. Unfortunately, it just didn't deliver.

The story of Beowulf is simple enough, and anyone who has taken a middle school English class knows how it goes, so I won't bore you with the details. Suffice it to say that Beowulf is a big bad warrior full of talk, and through a series of events finds himself killing the monster Grendel. Told that he now has to slay Grendel's mother--the last monster--Beowulf sets off, but finds that it's not as easy as it sounds and is seduced by the promise of everlasting glory and riches. Years ...

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DVD Review: Gone Baby Gone

CONTENT - 3.5/5The movie itself is solid enough, but I just can't help but shake the feeling that I only like it because I'm supposed to. It's enjoyable, really, but it's nothing that will be remembered when I look back months from now at my favorite movies I've watched this year. I can tell you one thing, though: years from now, college students will cite this as one of their favorites along with Donnie Darko.

VIDEO - 4/5It's amazing how well they managed to fade colors and make them appear washed-out on a standard DVD disc. The entire film has the look of it like it's filmed on a low budget camera or in the 70s/80s, but it's pulled off so well that it becomes an addition to the narrative, not a deterrent.

OVERALL - 3.5/5Gone Baby Gone is a very solid debut for Director Ben Affleck, and o...

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DVD Review: The Best of Comedy Central Presents Un...

The Best of Comedy Central Presents UncensoredMPAA Rating: Not Rated, intended for mature audiencesRelease Date: February 5, 2008Run Time: 176 minutes 

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DVD Review: Dragonlance: Dragons of Autumn Twiligh...

Dragonlance: Dragons of Autumn Twilight MPAA Rating: PG-13 for fantasy action and violenceRelease Date: January 15, 2008Run Time: 90 minutesIMDB Link

If you grew up reading fantasy novels, chances are you're familiar with Tracy Hickman and Margaret Weis' Dragonlance series. The books are a staple in fantasy fiction, and contain some of the genres most beloved and renowned characters. The story revolves around the land of Krynn, which was abandoned by the light gods more than 300 years ago. Unfortunately for its friendly inhabitants, the dark gods have made a comeback. Cue the group of random heroes who traverse the land and fight all sorts of monsters in order to save the world.

When I heard that we were being treated to an animated Dragonlance feature, I was very, very excited; finally, ...

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Community Day, ahoy!

Wednesday and Thursday, I left my Oregon home for the (at times) wonderful city of San Francisco to attend Eidos's Kane & Lynch Community Day. Getting there was no big deal, even counting the fact I completely read the plane ticket wrong and left an hour later than I should have. (It's easy to make up lost time driving in Oregon when you grew up in L.A.)

Remember, this is far from the first time I've gone somewhere for a press event or meeting with a game publisher. This is the first time I've been part of a "community" event, though.

Why is that important? Because it's so much better. In the past, most of these types of things I've gone to have been filled with antisocial people doing nothing to contradict the general gamer stereotypes a large portion of the populace holds. They'll talk a...

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An open call to fellow journalists (and industry p...

Honestly, I'm getting tired of seeing opinion piece after opinion piece pop up lamenting about today's problem of reviewing games, and after shooting the shit with him all morning I know Chris is, too. Whether it's the fact the scoring system widely used is skewed, the purpose of reviews is unclear, games are judged for varying reasons, or games are unfairly compared to one another, it seems like every person I've talked to about this has some sort of issues.

To be fair, I've participated in it all myself. I've talked about changing how reviews work, "solving the problem" myself, and all that - I'm even guilty of writing the aforementioned "Why Reviews Suck" piece and ultimately letting it go at that. That's why I'm writing this, and issuing an invitation to you, my fellow gaming journalis...

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How a GameStop employee tried to screw over my gir...

Fairly recently, my girlfriend has been getting into gaming. I don't mean "getting into gaming" like she just ran out, reserved the Legendary Edition of Halo 3 and installed Civ 4; basically, she bought a DS. She's played and owned a few games (Puzzle Quest, Animal Crossing, Lunar Knights, and some used GBA games like Chain of Memories), and she wanted to get something new to play while I write, talk on the phone, or play games myself for review.

So off we went to the nearby mall to get some lunch, and afterwards browse the EB and GameStop stores to see if there were any DS games she felt like purchasing. After 20 minutes of looking through DS titles, she finally decided on Mario 64 DS, and I asked if she was ready to leave. "Yea," she said, "but let me buy it alone." (The other times she'...

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What's the current state of gaming?

What's the current state of gaming? It really depends who you ask. To some, gaming is enjoying a resurgence in sales and conversions the likes of which haven't been seen since the 80s. To others, gaming is entering murky water, where the true gamers are being left behind in favor of the growing casual gaming population.

But where do we really lie? Right now, we're in the midst of Console War V (according to my own count), and more people consider themselves gamers than ever before. Most of those people, though, play casual games or free Windows games such as solitaire; ask how many "gamers" own a PS2(3), Xbox (360), or Nintendo (pick one), and the numbers likely plummet faster than the suicide ghosts in 1408 (good movie, by the way).

Even with what people consider real games, most of the ti...

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