By Eddy

A week ago, Divina, her sisters and I took the train to NYC because we were fortunate to be invited to the Namco Bandai Bloggers party.  Below are my thoughts on a couple of the game we previewed:

We Cheer 2

The follow up to the popular initial offering for the Wii, We Cheer 2 steps things up adding new songs (many of them I was actually able to recognize, solving one of the problems that I had with the first We Cheer.  Most of the songs for the original  were for the tween set. How is a 26 year old aspiring male cheerleader supposed to rock with his pom-poms out if he doesn’t recognize the song?).  Don’t worry tweeners there are plenty of songs from Miley, Demi and Selena etc. if you don’t recognize these first names then you are way too old.

We Cheer 2 allows you to customize your cheerleader as well as adding different difficulty levels like exercise mode.  To tell you the truth, in my experience with this game all the levels are exercise mode.  You swing and move your hand all over the place in various configuration and at a fast pace, if you add in all the jump kicks that I usually do when playing you get a heck of a work out.

 In terms of look, the games has a lot going on in the screen, the graphics don’t appear to have improved vastly, but like in most Wii games you aren’t  playing for the realistic nature of the images.  All in all, I found the game pretty enjoyable.  It was definitely a hit with all the kids and even the grown ups were having a good time playing.  It definitely leads to a lot of embarrassing pictures for those who played.

Invincible Tiger: The Legend of Han Tao

Downloadable on both the Xbox live and Playstation Network, Invincible Tiger brings us back to the side scrolling world of oldies but goodies like Kung Fu and Double Dragon.  The game takes place in an undetermined place in China during the kung fu hey day that most kung fu movies of the 70s takes place (note that I have no idea when this takes place).  In true kung fu fashion, Han Tao our hero has to run around kicking and beating down an endless line of bad guys.  While the fighting might be simple in theory with more or less two button fight but do not be mislead there are a number of special moves that add variety in the fighting as well as a dodging system..

One of the most interesting features of the game is that it can be seen in two different ways.  One takes advantage of the current crazy in cinema and present the game in 3-D. Gamers are asked to pop on the good old red and blue lens glasses and watch as much of the background action begins to pop out of the screen.  For some reason 3-D does not really work for my eyes, for those of you like me the 2-D presentation is equally as vivid with the added touch of the grainy film lines that are ever present in those kung fu movies of the past. 

For my money, I think that this game was one of the better ones that I saw, add in the fact that it will definitely cost less than a regular game and  it is definitely worth keeping your eye on.

Dead to Rights-Retribution

I was only able to play two levels in this Playstation 3 game, but let me tell you it was impressive.  A reboot of the series, we are brought back to the origins of Jack Slate and his dog Shadow. I will have to admit that I never played the older games and I was definitely unfamiliar with the game controls and other aspects of the game, but when the controller was put in my hand I was totally immersed. 

I first played as Jack Slate, the game controls while alien to me at the time soon became a little more fluid, I think if I had spent more time with it, I would have had no problem navigating my way.   For the most part, this game is a third person hand to hand combat game with a style similar to Gears of War with a duck and cover system.  Unlike Gears, Jack Slate relies more on hand to hand combat, but do not worry there are plenty of guns to shoot and grenades to launch.  While I would have liked a better targeting system (I had trouble locating and tracking on a bad guy) I am sure experienced hardcore gamers will have no problems. 

I also played as Shadow the dog, running around protecting a hurt Jack Slate, by mauling and tackling creeping bad guys. Be prepared for a large amount of blood and violence, the mature rating is well deserved.

Active Life: Extreme Challenge

The next installment in the floor pad, hyper, tiring but fun Wii series, Active life: Extreme Challenge brings us out into the world of extreme sports.  With activities such as rock climbing and base jumping, you won’t mistake this for the real thing but the entire family should have a good time in playing the game. The game allows the inclusion of Mii’s into the game which allows for more personalization.

If you are looking for a workout and can’t afford the Wii Fit, this is the game for you. Various games have you on the floor, standing, jumping and everywhere in between. These games have always been one of my favorites and it actually develops a good amount of body coordination.

Katamari Forever

For those of you that don’t know this an addictive PS3 game, that has the player rolling some ball around expansive level or world doing various different tasks. The most interesting are the levels which have you roll over various objects collecting them like a snow ball growing ever larger.  There is no real point to the game (The game is about bringing color back to the Universe after it was some how lost), but the graphics and the various whimsical elements and level just pull you right in and need no explanation or logic to them. Being on the PS3 means that it is in full 1080 HD resolution which when playing looks spectacular.  I wished that I had more time to play the game…like I said it is pretty addictive.

Tekken 6

The next installment of the series boast a even larger cast of fighters as well as including others that have not been in the series in a long time.  In addition, a new motion engine that allows for a crisper and clearer imagine during the fast action scene in the game.  All the staples of a Tekken game are present with a tournament style mode as the center piece as well as an adventure mode that includes multiplayer.  A greater amount of customization is now allowed so you can make your favorite character your own.

I was not able to play the game (the line was too long), but from what I saw the fighting was very fluid and the new moves and characters brutal.  The environments in the tournament fighting were extremely detailed and appeared to be interactive, with a number of fighters being thrown through windows.  All in all, Tekken 6 looks like it is going to be a welcomed addition to the series.

By Divina

I have to say one thing about Disney Pixar, hit after hit they always manage to keep surprising me, especially with the level of talent they have within the Disney Pixar organization.  The writing, the computer graphics, the directing and every other element of the movie is so well done it leaves no room for competition.  Yet with all the talent and excellent story telling prowess I was really disappointed by UP.

Quick synopsis: Ballon salesman Carl Fredricksen (voiced by Ed Asner (the Boss from The Mary Tyler Moore show) has lost the love of his life and is being pushed out of his lifelong dream home because of corporate suit-wearing developers.  He reaches his limit and decides to fulfill his lifelong dream he shared with his wife of visiting South America by blowing up thousands of balloons which he ties to his house and flies away.  Everything is good until Carl discovers thousands of miles up in the air he has an eight year old stowaway along for the trip.  Throw in some talking dogs, the jungles of South America and disgraced adventurer voiced by Christopher Plummer (he has done so much but I know him only as the dad from Must love Dogs) and you have an adventure story from Disney Pixar.

Why was I disappointed?

This was a supposed comedy adventure family movie so why was I crying all the time?

There was some very adult topics discussed in the movie like death, divorce and life after  you lose a loved one and your world falls apart.

The graphics were exceptional along with the writing and directing.  Disney Pixar’s favorite actor John Ratzenberger  also makes another appearance. 

There was some funny moments in the film but the main message of the movie is life is too short! 

Don’t wait to have your adventure. 

Timing will never be perfect. 

You will never have enough money but we only get one life so make the most of it.

All in all a good movie but I would not bring small children to this movie unless you want another Marley moment.

Eddy’s Note: As far as I am concerned this was Pixar’s attempt to make not a cartoon, or children’s film but a true film with absolutely no age restrictions, which I believe they succeeded in doing.  I feel that Pixar has reached a point in movie making that they were no longer driven by providing movie goers with exactly want they want all the time (something that DreamWorks does with their movies ie. The Shrek series) ultimately they would have ended falling in a rut. Therefore, they decided to challenge the audience, both adults and children, into watching a movie with a deeper meaning and much more emotion that was present in their past movies.  To me this was a logical transition from Wall-E, and signifies substantial growth on the part of Pixar and it’s creative teams.

The true challenge for Pixar will be to continue this growth while staying within the confines of their older stories, which we will see with the sequels to Toy Story and Monsters Inc. They will no longer have the benefit of an original story of which they can manipulate and move to their purposes. 

While I agree with Divina that I was not overwhelmed with love for the movie like I have been in the past, I do find myself even more intrigued in what they will think of next.

Sex, Lies, and Economics

By Jeff

The Girlfriend Experience is like American Psycho but with uber-slick NYC wall street yuppie/delusional psychopath Patrick Bateman replaced by an uber-chic NYC call girl/jaded narcissist named Chelsea (played by real-life porno sensation Sasha Grey).

After her dates with some of New York City’s wealthiest men, Chelsea goes home and records her evening out in her ‘books,’ which she keeps to remember what certain clients like and dislike. She describes what movie her date takes her to, where they dined, what they ate, the type and price of the wine or champagne they drank, the luxurious evening dress she was wearing, and of course, what happened when they retired to the bedroom.

This is done to provide us an intimate look into a high-class hooker’s lifestyle as possible. We learn all about her boyfriend, Chris, who is a struggling trainer for an upscale gym. It becomes clear early on that both Chelsea and her boyfriend work in professions where people need them, whether for some late-night company and sex, or to improve their health and body.

Both of their ‘customers’ rely on having our main characters’ utter-most confidence instilled in them, all the time, which often requires Chelsea and Chris to pretend, fake, or lie their way through a session. They’ve developed strong armor, but after years of internalizing, where does that leave them emotionally?

The film is shot slightly fragmented, with certain scenes popping in immediately before or after the main narrative thread of the story. This adds an exciting, tense effect which raises the stakes of the story and certainly forces you to pay attention more closely than you would if the film unfolded in routine, linear pattern.

Also contributing to the unique tone of The Girlfriend Experience is the soundtrack, comprised of equal amounts authentic, straight-from-the-streets drum beats (that really work in heightening the movement of scenes), and a nicely contrasting, richly textured synth score that lies in wait underneath.

Director Steven Soderbergh has been on a role recently, with his epic two-part masterpiece Che having been just released last year to critical acclaim. Finally, it seems this renowned artist has moved on from telling stories of a certain sophisticated gang of con men repeatedly robbing Vegas casinos (see Ocean’s Eleven trilogy). 

Throughout his distinguished career, he’s always been able to capture beautiful camera sequences (a true master of composition), and draw out captivating performances (Sasha Grey surprises here with some actual depth and doesn’t come across as coy or over embellished). But the intimacy of the script and the low-budget production of The Girlfriend Experience is what really has drawn him back to the incredible ‘fly-on-the-wall’ intimacy and daring of his earlier work (namely sex, lies, and videotape and King of the Hill ).

The Girlfriend Experience , shot primarily with a handheld camera in only a few weeks, is absolutely rife with unabashed satire, timely societal concerns (the economic crisis is a major focal point throughout, make of that what you will), and a playful curiosity with the basic human condition (i.e., what makes us tick), that instantly declares it one of the best films to be released in a year that has so far been a ‘black pit’ for the state of grown-up cinema.

Warning: Don’t expect lots of nudity and gratuitous sex scenes people, you will not find it here.

By Divina

As everyone knows the beyond talented Michael Jackson died yesterday.

I am very sad. 

Eddy and I are children of the 80s and grew up with such great songs like “Thriller", "Billie Jean” and so many more. 

As a Dancinghotdogs tribute, Eddy and I are posting on the website our favorite Jackson moment that we WISHED we could have witnessed.

The very first moonwalk.

Watch and see how it just blows everyone’s minds.  He was not a perfect man but he was a talented entertainer and innovator.

‘To remake or not to remake, that is the question’

By Jeff

The Taking of Pelham One Two Three was a crackerjack thriller from 1974 about an NYC transit cop (Walter Matthau) drawn into a cat-and-mouse game with a criminal mastermind (Robert Shaw) holding possession of a crowded subway car for a ransom fee of 1 million dollars (hey, remember, it was a lot back then).

The original Pelham had a respectable workman-like aesthetic to it and an optimally-paced story that ended in a classic moment of perfectly realized absurdity that still brings a smile to my face when I think about it.

It grew into such a cult favorite that a remake was inevitably due. First came a television version in 1998 (I don’t think I have to tell you how that went), and now, it’s back on the big screen.

Directed by Tony Scott (the younger, ADD-riddled, less talented brother of the superior Ridley Scott), The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 sees Denzel Washington play NYC subway dispatcher Walter Garber (a nice throw-back to Mr. Matthau) suddenly engaged on morning in a twisty psychological battle with a subway train hijacker, played considered more unhinged and vehemently by John Travolta, looking particularly bad-ass and oozing a mixture of madman’s menace and relatable irritation at the world (his character’s been through some tough times, which helps evoke some sympathy from the audience - always important).

The leather-clad crook calls himself ‘Ryder’ and is instantly dubbed a ‘terrorist’ by the media, when he’s really just after a quick $10 million in cash from the Federal Reserve Bank.

Travolta brings more to the table than he has in a long time. The man took a massive credibility hit when he did Wild Hogs, and then signed up for the sequel to Wild Hogs, but this movie really does make you remember why you once might have liked him. Denzel, on the other hand, should take a break with these type of roles (this is his 5^th film with Tony Scott, and they are all starting to blur together in my head).

The new Pelham starts off generating momentum early on, with Ryder jacking the subway car in the first five minutes, and quickly reaches a steady cruise speed for the first forty minutes which sees Denzel and Travolta share some great back-and-forth dialogue exchanges. All is going well, Denzel and John are fighting an intriguing battle of wits, building their characters more with each new scene, and Tony is uncharacteristically restrained in his directing, keeping the camera steadily locked on the actor’s faces, where all the ‘real’ action is going on.

And then, after an hour in, the movie begins to break apart, as a long, incoherent, and frankly very unoriginal series of chase scenes occur. Character development goes out the window, in favor of gunshots and crashes. The last twenty minutes are probably the worst I’ve seen of a film in quite some time, maybe since The Blair Witch Project (just kidding…kind of).

It’s as though the filmmakers had 2/3s of a meaty script and didn’t know how finish squeezing the juice out of it. There’s no suspense in the end, as there was in the original, it now just beomes about wrapping up with story in as predictable and neat a way as possible. God forbid we want people thinking about the ending when they walk out of the theater.

You can’t entirely blame the producers for attempting the remake. Plenty of other movies are remade for no purpose other than a quick cash-in, but Pelham, with it’s themes of social injustice and monetary necessity, is actually ripe for an update to today’s 21^st century world, and could have successfully paid homage to the original while still being it’s own separate entity.

This is not that film though.

The Greatest Album Nobody Knows Of

 By Jeff

Recorded live at the Fillmore East in New York on New Year’s Eve 1969-1970, Band of Gypsys is without a doubt the greatest live performance of Hendrix’s all-too short career. 

Accompanying Hendrix on the stage was long-time friends Buddy Miles on drums and backup vocals (who sadly recently passed away), and Billy Cox on electric bass.  Together, these three musicians successfully molded blues, funk, fusion, and rock in a way that nobody had heard previously.

The performance begins with “Who Knows,” which immediately draws the audience into Hendrix’s world as he conjures up a slow groove and then improvises like an uncoiling piece of string around that melody, creating an incredibly varied array of musical color and tones. The vocals are handled by both Hendrix and Miles here, at one point using an amusing call-and-response technique. About halfway in, the song descends into a peaceful bridge that allows Miles the opportunity to provide some soulful scat-singing (something he was famous for) before the instruments build up to a powerful crescendo that closes out the song.

The next song is really the masterpiece of the album (and Hendrix’s career for that matter). “Machine Gun” is a near 13-minute long epic that changed the way the instrument of guitar is looked at. The theme of the song was directly influenced by the Vietnam War and Hendrix reflects this not only in his incredibly poignant lyrics (”Same way you shoot me down baby, you’ll be going just the same, three times the pain, with your own self to blame”) but also in the way he utilizes his guitar. Overflowing with a dangerous amount of pulsating feedback, Hendrix manipulates his instrument to literally create authentic sounds from a war zone - from rapid machine-gun fire, to bombs exploding, and even to jetfighters shooting across the sky. Hendrix is able to sum all these violent images in sound with his bare hands.

The rest of the album is nearly as stunning, with “Changes” being a short, fast-tempo piece with infectious melodies, and “Power of Soul” a high-energy shred fest with Hendrix cranking out amazingly catchy guitar riffs left and right with fluid ease. The album closes with “Message to Love,” a very uplifting song with spiritual lyrics and funky melodies that make you want to sing along with them. 

All in all, Band of Gypsys , the last album that Hendrix would record before his death a short time later, is probably his least known work but arguably contains some of the most progressive and ambitious compositions he ever recorded.        

Highly recommended if you like music.

Hey kids, due to popular request looks like we are pulling our twitter updates from the main page area and moved it to the side bar.  Dont worry we will still be shooting out the most interesting tweets in the world, You are just going to have to either catch them from the side bar or from twitter.com.

Things I didn’t like about Wolverine or a written tirade.

By Eddy

For a movie that appeared to have sacrificed plot for CGI action, sometimes the simplest things were rendered awfully.  Case in point Wolverine’s claws (actually from here now on, I will not refer to the title characters name as it just insults one of the more cooler comic book character, rather I will just say Hugh Jackman).  At various points in the movie the claws looked so raw, jagged and fake that I wondered if the editors just missed it in the final cut. 

This just brings up one of the main things that kept on going on in my mind.  In lieu of the movie being leaked early and all the bad reviews given at that point, it seems as if the producers and everybody related to the movie just said SCREW IT, and instead of taking their time to actually fix any errors, just tried to get the movie out the doors as fast as it could so they could at least make some money.  BIG MISTAKE!

While the actions scenes were big in scope and for the most part flashy, again some of the details were left behind.  The director or whomever thought that these stunts were realistic and life like, were better off just including the wires because in the movie Jackman and company basically looked like puppets working on strings. There was no real physics to their movements.  They ran or jumped with the same jerky robotic springs and hinges that were reeling them to and fro in the soundstage.  It really was a shame or better said a sham.

 Next the child acting, wow! I hate to bust up on children, but this was horrific.  I can’t imagine how anyone could really believe what was going on when these children (Little Hugh and Little Liev) were just reading most of their lines from cue cards behind them. It looked like they just took the practice run and included it in the film…and this was the beginning of the movie.  I was left wanting to gouge my eyes out, but not before I punched the couple next to me in the face to save them from this debacle, I imagine that they would thank me for my altruism.

After the kids I have to talk about the portrayal of this character; I absolutely hate what Marvel has done with many of its characters.  They love to water them down to basically a neutered version of whom they really are. Case in point, the Incredible Hulk (see my review).  In the case of Hugh Jackman, all he was to me, was bait to bring girlfriends and wives to watch the movie.  When taken in small and measured doses (ie. X2) he is able to make the character passable and almost cool.  When feature prominently, they (Jackman, the producers and the director) try to make him into a tough guy with the heart of gold.  Unfortunately, their definition of tough lies slightly between Pee Wee Herman and the French. 

Here is a crappy plot synopsis: Jackman gets slapped around by Liev Schriber for the most of the movie, he gets all sappy for a girl (Silver Fox), who then predictably gets taken away from him anyway and for whom he goes searching for.  Basically, he’s a muscled up lead of a romantic comedy…or Hugh freakin’ Jackman.

Now I am not sure what Marvel is trying to say about women, but what I have seen so far is that every time that a superhero gets involved with a female, unless she is also a superhero he goes all soft and mushy.  She tries to change his nature which eventually leads to the bad guy coming in and either stealing, killing or beating the girl and then doing the same to the hero (the most famous example being Superman II…Kneel before Zod!!!!!)

Are women just weaknesses for men (superheroes) to be exploited by?

Now there was a big deal made of the inclusion of Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds) and Gambit (Taylor Kitch).  There also has been talks of separate movies for each of the character. I am not going to lie, I was excited to see these character portrayed in a full length feature film.  Well let me spoil the movie and say that both characters were in the movie for about 10 minutes total. 

That’s it. 

On the bright side, other than the look, the martial arts skills, the overblown CGI sword stuff and everything else, Reynolds was not half bad as Deadpool.  Now if they concentrate and fixed everything else that was wrong, you might have something.  Gambit on the other hand wasn’t in the movie enough for me to even care about his character, but the little bit that he was in the movie didn’t leave me with much hope.

This brings me to my next point: They made this movie for the 10-13 year old set. 

Unfortunately, for the studios and every one else in the movie business, this age group is more jaded and spiteful than the most ardent Wolverine fan and they don’t even read comics, they are just naturally jaded. So how in the hell did they expect that this drivel would reach them? Let alone make them want to see the movie more than once?

Did they really say to themselves, “if we make Wolverine:Origins the film version of a crappy happy meal, all those pre and post pubecent teens will go crazy for it?”

I am pretty sure if you ask a kid that watched the movie if Wolverine Origins was cool they would probably answer in the negative (if you even got an answer at all. I told you the little bastards were jaded, didn’t I?)

Honestly, when they were ready to distribute this did executives really think that they had a good film on their hands? It definitely makes me wonder. Now the question is would I recommend this movie?

Well let me put it this way. 

I actually thought that Daredevil was a more faithful and complete movie than Wolverine Origins.  Sucks doesn’t it.

By Divina

You can never go back to being 13 especially when you are 27.

Blues Traveler became famous in 1994 with their hit single and Grammy award winning "Run Around".  When I was 13 years old, I loved that song and that entire CD.  So once I found out they were going to be playing in the Ridgefield Playhouse in Connecticut, I bought tickets for us.  Unfortunately, my music tastes have changed over the years and sadly, the nostalgia from 1994 could not hold me over when they played songs I did not recognized.  In the end, I was not entertained by most of the Blues Traveler concert,  especially when they played "Run Around" four songs into the concert leaving me wondering if there was any reason to stay any longer.  Eddy tried to explain this prior to me buying the tickets but I would not listen.

So…this is a public admission of "You were right"

The band can still play and entertain the diehard fans with a slimmed down John Popper and his mean harmonica skills, but it looks like  am not one of those fans.

You live and you learn…so to say the least, I did not get a T-shirt at the concert.

A note on the concert from Eddy :  While time has aged and slimmed some of the band members, the music has remained the same.  Reminiscent of a Southern blues-type bar band, I could totally imagine walking into a pub in Virginia and running into these guys playing.  Relying on more jam band songs than the shorter poppy type of music Divina and I were introduced during their hey day, Blues Traveler still cranked out the music. Buoyed by the soulful and garbled singing of John Popper and the blistering harmonica work that he is known as well as the chops of the rest of the band the musicianship was sharp and exciting.  Ultimately, if you are one of those people familiar with their work since 1994 then you will definitely get a great show for your money.

By Divina

At 2:01pm last year my life was made more complete. 

I had an amazing husband who loved me, two lively pups, a wonderful family and beloved friends and then Thomas came into our lives.

I am a lucky lucky girl and I thank God every day for such joys.

Happy Birthday Thomas!

P.S. Thomas is one popular baby.  He is on three different websites today.  Shoutout to my loves www.Tarametblog.com and www.radiomdq.com

The above picture is going to be the image on the thank you cards we got from uprinting.com.  We can’t wait to give them out to everyone.

UPrinting.com is a leading online provider of business cards , color brochures and mailing postcards .