The Billionty-Oneth Geek: Older Than 8 Since 1991

Batman: Arkham Asylum . What an epic game! Never has there been a Batman game, or superhero game in general, that has made you feel more like the titular character. For the first time in my life, I lived through Batman’s shoes (or boots) and I loved it! The game starts out with a long sequence that sort of maps out where the rest of the game is going. You (playing as Batman) arrive at Arkham Asylum with a delivery on hand: the Joker. You escort him with the police as they transfer him through the prison. In this sequence you get a peak at some of the different rooms and corridors that you will be battling through and also glimpses of some of the foes that you will be encountering, including a hulk like Killer Croc. Before long, something goes haywire in the transfer and the Joker is freed, and assumes control over the asylum. The dastardly Joker conceives of a plan to create an unstoppable army of juggernauts to reign upon the city via prison inmates and a growth serum called th...

From around Christmas time, I had a good momentum going in terms of reading the stack of books I’ve got lying beside my bed. I knocked out 3 titles in the span of a month, which for me, is a fast pace. But when I started reading Torsten Krol’s Callisto , the pace grinded to a near halt. It’s not that it’s a bad story, but I just never felt that connection with the characters as I had with the last book I read (that being Slam by Nick Hornby, love, love, love). Callisto follows a big lummox of a character named Deefus Odell (an astute individual, as you can tell by that name). Deefus is from the south and isn’t the brightest crayon, but somehow he manages to get by. Without a clear direction in life, he decides that the only thing to do is to join the army and serve the country. He drives across Kansas to hopefully do just that. Unfortunately, his Chevy breaks down in the middle of this small town called Callisto and it’s here where all the fun begins. He meets a local yokel nam...

It’s an unfortunate and unfair thing, but when it comes to Canadian movies, I usually dismiss them before I give them a chance. There’s just this false stigma that I have with Canadian produced movies – that they’re cheesy or boring or in general, just not worth my time. That said, if a friend recommends me something, I’ll be open to the recommendation. Incendies would be one of those, and wow, I don’t know if I can look at Canadian films the same way after this. This was a powerful movie. Incendies is a French-Canadian made movie that was nominated for an Academy Award this year for best foreign film. When I first read the nominations, I thought it peculiar that a Canadian film would be considered “foreign”. Sure we’re not American, but all things considered, we’re not THAT different or foreign. But after seeing the movie, it totally makes sense why it would. Incendies is a journey that follows twins, Simon and Jeanne, as they uncover the dark past of their dying mother. Her d...

Well, at least I didn't go in with high expectations. I didn't know too much about the movie going in; it was a story by Philip K. Dick and it seemed Inception -like. And in some ways, it was, but not in a good way. You see, I had the same problem with The Adjustment Bureau as I did with Inception . Both movies introduced these really cool, geeky and intriguing ideas but they were all used to pull off such a small scope of story. In Inception , it was a heist movie, in Bureau, it was a love story. The story follows a young and hopeful US politician named David Norris who is running for a seat in the Senate. Despite his popularity, he fails to win the election after a would-be scandal jeopardizes his campaign. He bumps into a young woman hiding in the men’s bathroom stalls, who not only encourages him but charms him, inspiring him to go rogue in his concession speech. The speech takes off with the crowd, giving him an upward momentum in the next election. But was he supp...

So originally this was part of the post that I put up last week, but when I started reading the rough draft, I realized that the whole thing sounded disjointed because the two trains of thought were loosely tied together. Well, I separated the two so hopefully the two thoughts are more coherent now. I was reading 1 Thessalonians the other week, and there’s one line, though a short line, that really resonated with me. There’s so much wisdom within the fewest words sometimes. It’s at the beginning of chapter 3, where Paul talks about having sent Timothy to the church of Thessalonica, to encourage and strengthen the people there. He wasn’t sent there to do or complete any certain physical task, but he was sent there just to be a spiritual boost, to give them a 1-up mushroom if you will. His “job” was to encourage people. How crazy is that? How many people do you know in your life whose job is to solely encourage people? That would fly around the country just to encourage? This go...

Apparently (from what I’ve read and heard) the movie was marketed completely identical to Taken, from 2 years ago. Taken is a movie that I love for its showcasing of Liam Neeson in a total badass form. Now, besides seeing the poster, I knew nothing about Unknown except for what my friend told me shortly before we walked into the theater. I don’t even think I’ve seen the trailer beforehand. All I knew was that from the poster, The story follows a scientist named Martin Harris (Liam Neeson) who arrives in Germany with his wife (January Jones) for a conference. Shortly after arriving at their hotel, he realizes that his luggage and identification was left at the airport and takes a cab back to retrieve it. However, on their way back, the cab gets into a little traffic scrimmage and ends up going off a bridge into the river below. Harris is trapped and drowns, that is until the superhero-like cab driver rescues and resuscitates him. He wakes up at a local hospital, and finds it odd...