The Billionty-Oneth Geek: Older Than 8 Since 1991

Though Dante’s Inferno is nearing 2 years old, I purchased it recently having gone on sale at The Source for $4.99. It was a bargain. I wanted to play an action-heavy, thoughtless, hack and slash. And for that, I received what I wanted. The developers made no reservations about the game: it’s a blatant rip-off of God of War , an exclusive property to the Playstation. However, Dante’s Inferno opened up that console barrier by being accessible on both the PS3 and Xbox, in an attempt to satiate Xbox owners who didn’t own both machines. Dante’s Inferno is loosely based on the 14th century poem of the same name.Y ou play as Dante Alighieri, a holy crusader who dives into Hell to save his lover’s soul from the clutches of Lucifer. But the feat is not so easily accomplished as Dante must dive deeper, within the 9 circles of Hell, combating demons and devilry along the way. Much like God of War , Dante’s Inferno is a straight up hack and slash, with minimal focus given to the story. ...

(Note: I wrote this back in March. I have no idea why I didn't publish it. I recognize that Modern Warfare 3 came out this past week so this seems sort of old. Sort of really old. But I might as well pump this out before I release my post on MW3... :) Amidst all the controversy and drama surrounding Activision and the Call of Duty franchise, developer Treyarch completed and released a fantastic new addition to the series. It’s definitely a franchise favourite for me. Since Modern Warfare , I’ve much enjoyed each release, but more so for the gameplay than anything else. I find that the thrills of COD games are similar to summer Hollywood blockbuster movies – they’re full of intensity and action, but rarely offer anything more than that quick thrill. With Black Ops , it feels as though they’re trying to create something deeper than just a straight-up shooter tied together with an end-of-the-world-type plot. The story this time around, seems more cleverly crafted, and is bet...

Troll Hunter is a mockumentary based on the troll hunting escapades in Norway. As such, it’s shot handicam style. The movie follows a group of university students filming a documentary about an elusive bear poacher in Norway. The students follow him despite his wishes to be left alone. One night they track him down to a forest outside of town, hoping to catch him in the act. The kids get more than they bargained for. Instead of catching him killing a bear, they find him being chased by a giant TROLL!!! It turns out he wasn’t a bear poacher at all, but a troll hunter! In an effort to cover up troll-related activity across the nation, the country has what’s called the Troll Security Service (or TSS), who act on reported sightings by killing off the destructive and giant-sized trolls. There is much humour, as the TSS makes public statements to the local press, pinning the blame for the damaged communities on bears, inserted onto the scene afterwards. The rest of the movie follow...

I was lucky enough to catch Lucky McKee’s The Woman at the 2011 Toronto Afterdark Film Festival. The Woman tells the story of the Cleek family. The Cleek’s are your run-of-the-mill suburban family; you’ve got the breadwinner father, the submissive mother, the tortured soul older daughter, the rebellious son and the innocent toddler. The father, Chris Cleek, who goes hunting one day, captures seemingly, his biggest hunt to date: a wild woman. He traps her, kidnaps her and takes her to his secluded ranch house. She is locked and chained away in his dungeon like shed. He is filled with joy as he shows his family his most prized finding. He doesn’t seem to comprehend the wrongness of his actions. Yet, his family doesn’t exactly share the same sort of joy and are filled with a sense of disbelief. However, they follow along with the mad father’s idea and reluctantly go along with the hi-jinks. Chris Cleek decides the whole thing is a family project, to domesticate and teach the ti...