:: Guy in a Suit Productions ::

Wednesday, April 30, 2003

posted by Travis at 7:24 PM

X-Men 2 is this weekend, and I'm really looking forward to it. That shouldn't surprise any of you. I've been avoiding as much of the visual stuff as I can. Apple has been hosting short featurettes about the movie and I haven't watched any of those. I haven't read the novelization or the graphic novel based on the movie either. I have read a lot of online reviews from press screenings, and they are really talking it up. I've seen in a few different reviews that X2 will give The Matrix Reloaded a good fight for the coolest movie of the summer. I have high hopes for Hulk, too, despite Kim's claims that he looks like a "fat little boy". I plan on writing a review of X2 when we get done seeing it on Saturday, and I'll try to do it without a lot of spoilers so more folks can read it. My gut feeling is that it is going to be very very good, and that I'll see it more than once in the theater.

Sunday, April 27, 2003

posted by Travis at 12:02 AM

Kim and I watched Spirited Away tonight. I was skeptical about it because it looked like a lot of little girls and furry animals, which usually isn't my thing. However, I really enjoyed it. We did spend the first 30 minutes or so saying, "What the hell is going on?!", but once you just accept that it is turbo-fantasy and absolutely anything can and will happen, it is a lot easier to watch. It reminds me of something that stoners would watch a lot. If you like animation, or if you have children, I'd give Spirited Away a viewing. Don't worry, it's in English and the dub is really good.

Saturday, April 26, 2003

posted by Travis at 7:13 PM

Mike, Kim, and I went to see Identity today. Here is my SPOILER FILLED review. I liked it and think it is definitely worth seeing. I wouldn't classify it as horror, so if you're squeamish about violence, I'd say you'll be OK for this. There is bloody murdering going on, but you only see the aftermath, and it isn't too bad. Go check it out then read my review. Kim and I got some passes to see a test screening of Gigli which is the Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez movie, one of them anyway. I keep hearing that it is getting horrible results from test screenings, and now I'll get to see it for myself. I'll try to be open minded and fair about it.

Friday, April 25, 2003

posted by Travis at 3:49 PM

I know that we are all avoiding Star Wars: Episode III spoilers, but I've seen this on every major movie website today, and I don't consider it a spoiler because it only deals with the appearance of a character. Apparently, Chewbacca is in Episode III and Peter Mayhew is going to play him again. I hope he can slim down for it. Other things that I plan to post here when they happen are the announcement of the title of the movie, and the first pictures of both the teaser poster and the official one sheet.

Thursday, April 24, 2003

posted by Travis at 8:26 AM

It's Thursday, so you might be looking at the weekend and making your plans. Let me just put this warning out there; if you go see The Real Cancun you're dead to me. Reality television belongs on television. It is hardly watchable there, but if you would make plans to take time out of your day, drive to the theater, park, buy a ticket, watch commercials, wait for the movie to start, then watch a reality movie...then I don't want to know you.

Wednesday, April 23, 2003

posted by Travis at 8:49 AM

This weekend Identity comes out. I think that Mike, Kim, and I are heading to the Arclight to see it on Saturday (you other LA folk are welcome to join us). I hear that is similar to Ten Little Indians which I read in high school and really liked. Another reason I'm interested in it is because it is written by Michael Cooney. That name may mean nothing to you, but it makes Kim and I really happy when we see it. Michael Cooney wrote and directed two of the greatest bad horror movies in recent memory: Jack Frost (not to be confused with this Jack Frost which is bad and horrifying in a different way) and Jack Frost 2: Revenge of the Mutant Killer Snowman. These movies are lots of fun to watch if you're in the mood for them. We own them both. Anyway, I think Identity will be good. Perhaps it will spark me to write a review.

Some new trailers came out recently: an international trailer for The Hulk featuring a lot of the footage I saw at Showest, the first trailer for Jeepers Creepers 2, and an international trailer for Terminator 3.

Sunday, April 20, 2003

posted by Travis at 2:02 PM

ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY

That's right. One year ago, I launched this site and made my first post. OK, I've acknowledged that, lets move on.

We watched The Transporter and Secretary yesterday. The Transporter was an OK action movie with kind of a dumb plot. The offending scene that kept me from seeing it in the theater (when he deflects a missile with a dinner tray) wasn't even in the movie. Secretary was good, though. Maggie Gyllenhaal is very good as the submissive secretary. The movie has that independent feel to it without having that independent look.

Yesterday, I also beat Freedom Force (Star Wars Galaxies beta is down for Easter weekend). That is a great game, made even better because it cost me $10. It has a great single-player story (if you like comic books). When I was done, I wanted to try out some of the custom content I found out on the web, so I took some screenshots. There is a lot of potential for fun here. Click each picture for a bigger version.

[Left] Yes, there is a skin and model for Galactus...and it's big. [Right] Wolverine, Colossus, Cable, and Nightcrawler teleporting.

[Left] Hulk fighting Juggernaut [Right] Spider-Man knocking Batman around.

[Left] Iron Man in flight attacking Galactus. [Right] Galactus retaliating.

I understand that Pajaro recently bought Freedom Force for his new Mac, so maybe we'll try it out multiplayer. If you're a comic book fan, you have to play this game.

Friday, April 18, 2003

posted by Travis at 4:58 PM

Kind of a slow day today at work with Good Friday and all. I'm still banging on the Star Wars Galaxies beta when its up, and I like it. I also downloaded the Planetside beta, so I might try that some this weekend, although I don't think it has the same allure that SWG does.

Kim and I watched Cube 2: Hypercube a few days ago thanks to Pajaro Tivoing it off Sci-Fi. We are both fans of Cube, but Cube 2 kind of sucks. It takes what was neat about the first one (the trapped rooms) and replaces it with the tesseract features. Once they establish that they can violate time and physics, they just run with it with no explanation as to what is happening. It wears thin pretty quickly. Cube 2 lacks the charm of the original, which isn't a surprise because none of the people involved in the original were involved with the sequel.

The X-Men 2 press screenings have been happening, and I'm reading a lot of good things about it. I'm really looking forward to that on the 2nd. Until then, browse the official site.

Wednesday, April 16, 2003

posted by Travis at 8:25 AM

My nights this week are split pretty evenly between rewriting my script and attempting to play Galaxies. I think I'm probably going to miss the Shadowbane party in lieu of keeping on the Galaxies beta, finishing my script, and playing some of my other games. I can't say much about Galaxies because I'm bound by the NDA, but I will say that the graphics are very very good, and I think it could be a great game. I haven't even scratched the surface.

The script is coming along pretty well. Kim's mother recently read it during her stay at our house and gave me some great notes. I think it reads pretty well, but I'm filling up the margins with dialogue changes and notes. It is beginning to take a finalized form.

Friday, April 11, 2003

posted by Travis at 11:49 PM

This is on my screen right now...

and I'm really happy about it. I'm in the Galaxies beta and I'll be trying it out this weekend.

In other news, a new Matrix Reloaded trailer is up. It is the final one they are going to release. The Matrix Reloaded comes out on May 15th, right in the middle of E3. So every computer geek is going to be in Los Angeles for E3, and is going to have to see The Matrix Reloaded on opening night. As if that wasn't enough to draw the geeks out of the woodwork, I've read that the first ever preview for The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King is going to be shown before the movie. So I fear that there will be some kind of geek nexus event occurring in Los Angeles on May 15th that might destroy the city.

Galaxies is almost done patching, so I'll be leaving reality soon.

Wednesday, April 09, 2003

posted by Travis at 8:30 AM

My blogging has been sparse lately. Kim's mother and little sister are staying with us this week, so she has the week off. A lot of the guys from work are in Vegas at NAB (National Association of Broadcasters) so it is kind of quiet on our floor. The only real news is War stuff and gas prices...BORING! Maybe later this week there will be some interesting movie news. This Friday sees the release of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets on DVD. Yoshi was considering a lunch time Best Buy run to get it, and he's thinking of picking up a Gamecube and searching for a Shadowbane strategy guide. I will probably buy Shadowbane on Friday and join the ranks of the junkies here at work. Although I have Kim to keep me in check.

Since I've got nothing, I'll point you to my friend Nicky the Jew and his stories on Kool-Aid and standing in line at the DMV.

Friday, April 04, 2003

posted by Travis at 11:03 AM

Allright...let's do this.

A sequel to Jedi Knight II was announced yesterday. It is being called Star Wars: Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy. I suppose that is better than Dark Forces IV: Jedi Knight III: Jedi Outcast II: Jedi Academy. Here is the official site. Check out the screenshots and the features list. It is cool that you can create your own player and build a lightsaber. I'm looking forward to trying out both the double-ended and the dual-wielding. This is something I'll have to look for at E3.

It was announced that Thomas Jane will play the title role in The Punisher. He's going to have to bulk up some to fill those shoes. The movie has to be better than the Dolph Lundgren straight to video version. They are calling it a "revenge story" similar to the ones that were popular in the 70s. That sounds good to me.

Vin Diesel was talking up A Man Apart and stated that he wants to be the Silver Surfer. If any comic book won't translate well to the big screen, it would be that one. I'm not sure that American audiences can relate to the Surfer, although seeing Galactus consume a planet would be a pretty cool sight. Vin's schedule is pretty full, so don't expect to hear much about this for a while. Although, he has gotten to the point where a statement like that could at least get the ball rolling on that project.

Kim and I went to Best Buy tonight and bought some DVDs. She wanted to see One Hour Photo and 8 Mile, and since we refuse to play Blockbuster's game anymore, we just bought them with the intent of selling them on ebay if we don't want to keep them. She has never seen Desperado, and since it was only $15 and the sequel is coming out this year, I picked it up. It is one of those movies that I owned on video, but I had not gotten on DVD yet. I also picked up the film that got Eric Bana some attention, Chopper. It is a true story about a serial killer in Australia. I expect it to be pretty gruesome. I'll let you know how it is. I almost bought Shadowbane, but Kim convinced me to wait until after her mom's visit next week. I need to play some more Generals and Freedom Force anyway.

In other game news, Pajaro got the two of us onto the list for the Tron 2.0 beta that will happen in a couple weeks. The producer, Cliff Kamida, was doing a demo in our building and Mike and I helped set up for it. That should be pretty cool. I'm not sure if I'll be allowed to post screens from it, but I'll at least post my impressions.

Finally, the next Animatrix short is up. I don't think it is as good as the other two.