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Reviews by abhijeet
Nausicaä of the Valley of the Winds review
Posted : 6 months, 4 weeks ago on 14 June 2008 03:13
(A review of Nausicaä of the Valley of the Winds)Hayao Miyazaki's environmentalist streak is apparent again in this post-apocaplyptic action adventure. The young Princess Nausicaä searches for the cause of her land's suffering and teaches us a thing or two about saving our planet along the way.  0 comments, Reply to this entry
The best detective drama ever made
Posted : 7 months ago on 13 June 2008 03:50
(A review of L.A. Confidential)Suspenseful and twisted detective drama movie set in 1960s Los Angeles. I am a big fan of detective movies and this is *the* best movie in this genre. A stellar cast (two of whom - Kevin Spacey and Russell Crowe - would win Best Actor Oscars later in the decade), brilliant direction coupled with outstanding set and costume design make this one the best movies ever made. It got swept aside at the Oscar's by Titanic but is a true masterpiece notwithstanding. 0 comments, Reply to this entry
Orwell's dystopia comes to the screen
Posted : 7 months ago on 13 June 2008 03:46
(A review of 1984)George Orwell's dark dystopia comes to the big screen. Richard Burton gives a magnificent performance and the rest of the cast isn't shabby either. Shot in the exact time frame Orwell set the book in. The world he imagined might not exist but his ideas and warnings remain as powerful as ever and even more relevant today. 0 comments, Reply to this entry
Clever time travel movie
Posted : 7 months ago on 8 June 2008 02:44
(A review of Timecrimes)An entertaining movie revolving around time-travel and the trouble one man gets into because of his accidental time traveling. The direction is very very good. If you can accept that the protagonist can travel back in time, the plot and the script are exceedingly clever. There's drama, suspense and a bit of dark humour in there as well. 0 comments, Reply to this entry
No frills Blackjack
Posted : 7 months ago on 7 June 2008 05:54
(A review of V.I.P. Casino: Blackjack)Works with just the Wii remote and you don't even have to move your hand while playing. It's basic blackjack, so replay value is basically infinite, Blackjack has probably not changed since it was invented. The game adds 'achievements' which are milestones you achieve while playing like winning a number of hands on the trot or getting a certain sum of money in the bank. They don't add to or detract from the game. The only gripe I have is the sluggish dealer, wish there was an option to turn that off. 0 comments, Reply to this entry
Control scheme is genius
Posted : 7 months, 1 week ago on 4 June 2008 09:13
(A review of Super Smash Bros. Brawl)The control scheme for Super Smash Bros is excellent. You use the A key for a normal attack, B key for special attack. The nunchuk direction controller is used to move and it's direction also changes the type of your attack. It takes about 10 minutes to learn and gives you about 6 different moves. Nothing complicated like pressing half a dozen buttons in sequence. The control scheme has the hallmark of genius - simplicity. The arenas are awesome, they can be sprawling as well as dynamic. The wealth of characters with varied abilities is also impressive. There is a story mode (in addition to the standard tournament mode) that I'm playing through and it seems to be fun as well. Nintendo never ceases to amaze me with the quality of their releases. 0 comments, Reply to this entry
Excellent songwriting and songcraft
Posted : 7 months, 1 week ago on 3 June 2008 01:07
(A review of Narrow Stairs)This is the first 'Death Cab for Cutie' album I've heard even though they've been popular for many years now. I heard 'I will possess your heart' on the Radio and decided to take the plunge, and I'm glad I did. The radio version of the song is actually edited to about half it's length and removes the awesome bass dominated instrumental intro to the song. It's the undisputed highlight of the album. The rest isn't shabby either. The album starts off strong and the first four songs are varied and brilliant. These guys have amazing song craft for an indie band. I guess they're not indie anymore since they're signed to a major label now. The song writing is uniformly excellent. The slightly obsessive love song 'I will possess your heart' reminds me of the Police classic, 'Every breath you take'. 'No sunshine' is dark and bitter but set to peppy, swinging music. There's also the Springsteen style story-telling of 'Your New Twin Sized Bed'. The music is varied as well, highlighted by the use of Indian percussion instrument 'tabla' in 'Pity and fear'. It ends with the beautifully written 'The Ice Is Getting Thinner', an excellent song to round the album off. 0 comments, Reply to this entry
Endless Ocean review
Posted : 7 months, 1 week ago on 1 June 2008 09:37
(A review of Endless Ocean)I was led to believe that the game consists of meandering around the ocean aimlessly. To my surprise, it's actually more fun than that. As you dive, you discover newer fishes and newer areas of the ocean. It's the new areas that interest me the most. So far, I've come across a forest of huge corals, an underwater cave and a hundred foot deep trench. The music is very good and changes with the area you're diving into. I still have to dive at night and it's supposed to look rather different, can't wait to get into that. There are also small 'missions' you can accept, like being a diving partner for some tourist, helping find fishes for an aquarium, take photos underwater etc. They keep thing varied. People who want a conventional 'game' should probably keep away from this one. Other people (like me) who want an interesting experience, beautiful visuals and a good background score will like this 'game'. 0 comments, Reply to this entry
Shows the way but doesn't get there
Posted : 7 months, 1 week ago on 1 June 2008 10:01
(A review of LostWinds)Disclaimer: My opinion of the game might be tainted by my natural disinclination for playing RPGs. The innovative gameplay is the highlight of this Wiiware game. The idea is simple - you control the power of the wind and it moves everything it touches. You move your character around and perform other tasks with the wind. You control the wind by waving the Wii remote around. The learning curve is almost flat, you're up and running within minutes. The game looks good for the most part, the Wii doesn't have mind blowing graphics anyway but the game looks pretty. The problem is that the game gets tedious within a few hours of playing. I'm 4 or 5 hours in right now and I don't think I'll replay it once I'm done with the story the first time around. It might be because I don't like RPGs that much or maybe the game isn't the best around. Probably a combination of the two. The only reason I'm even playing this is the innovative gameplay. This makes good use of the Wii's capabilities. I'm sure developers will be looking to re-create and even improve on this game. So it does show the way but doesn't completely deliver. The game does provide good value, since it's a cheap Wiiware download. So I don't mind just playing it once and being done with it. 0 comments, Reply to this entry
It's not a disaster
Posted : 7 months, 1 week ago on 1 June 2008 09:49
(A review of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull)That sums it up... It's not a bad movie, it's mostly entertaining and the action sequences are pretty good (and Harrison Ford shows his age). Despite all that, everything feels like it's been re-cycled. After three movies, what do we expect? The plot is wafer-thin, but this is a George Lucas creation, what do we expect? Thankfully, he wasn't writing the screenplay or directing it. Spielberg ran out of steam some years ago but at least he can effectively use old ideas. Cate Blanchett is wasted, but again, what do we expect? Clearly, my expectations were pretty low going in. Go watch it if you're a fan of the series and you should be satisfied. If you're wondering what the fuss is all about, maybe you should go check out 'Raiders of the Lost Ark' and skip this one. 0 comments, Reply to this entry
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