Krem's Blog

[kr3mlin]

Howdi folks.

Im making this sort of a forum blog. I want in the future to make a website with all my ramblings about movies, games and the media in general but i figure ill test myself by doing something in this form

-Ive noticed that the Mark Ecko graffitti game is gonna be made into a movie, no details as yet but it will be funny if it gets a release in Australia, as we are the only country in the world to ban the game. I find it funny, cos i can see no way that a movie like that could be banned cos its only a movie. Even if the subject content justifies a film rating of R 18+ (the highest commerical rating in Australia) then why dont games have a similar rating...im a huge advocate of the R 18+ rating for games, being an adult gamer

-Ive purchased the 2nd book in Stephen King's Dark Tower series, never been the big Steven King fan but i really enjoyed the first book for its unique setting and use of Western filmic elements in creating the world of the novels. Ive read all the books in Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series to this date, im reading this series to pass the time to the next Wheel of Time book.

-I bought a new dvd 'Three Extremes', a collection of three intense movies from three asian directors, one japanese, one korean and one hong kong. Im a huge fan of the Korean director in it Chan-Wook Park, he made the awesome "Old Boy" movie. His contribution "Cut" is much like Old Boy in its editing style and humour and the story of the film will appeal to anyone who likes the Saw films, but since this was made before im curious to know if this had been seen by the two Aussies who made Saw

-Film reviews are sooo pessimistic im finding. In the Melbourne papers most films rarely break the 3 star mark. Film critics ive always thought are film lovers, but now it just seems they want everything to be a classic. I know some films are crap but when a film like V for Vendetta (which isnt perfect in any way) gets a Dog or Zero star rating i wonder what these people are trying to achieve. It made me come up with a quote that i hope to put on a tshirt in the near future

"Film critics are not a target audience"

I think it has a nice ring to it and reflects my opinion of them.

Anyway thats my opening, kind of extensive but ill post as i think of things

[kr3mlin]

A second post nice and quick.

-I'd like to share with you a Half Life 2 mod thats got a nice playable beta out and has some unique gameplay. Its called The Hidden. Basically think sort of like playing out the predator movie. One player is an almost invisible, fast, knife wielding guy while the rest of the server hunt him down as some sort of special SWAT team style thing. The mood this game evokes is great and the best thing is that you only need 2 players on a server to have a cracking good time. So if you give a go and can find a mate to play with you will all be set

Here is the homepage link check it out:
'The Hidden - Source' Homepage

[Kabanchik]

I read it but didn't get what do you want
Btw,Oldboy is sweet film..heh brother with sister    

[kr3mlin]

Im just typing random things i see around...blogging cept not on an actual blog but a forum thread instead

[Tackleberry]

Almost 40 views but just one comment. Though that's the meaning with a blog, isn't it? We should read, not discuss, or?

[kr3mlin]

Do what you like, post comments or whatever...

[Lord Peres]

I read it but didn't get what do you want
Btw,Oldboy is sweet film..heh brother with sister  

Ssshhht! Don't say anything for people who haven't seen it :nono:  

From this director I have to see the Simpathy For Mr. Vengeance and the recent one Simpathy For Lady Vengeance. Have you seen it kr3m?

[Torque]

Wow krem this totally changes my outlook on you and how "le Aussies" are.

I respect you in a different way now.

Thanks for sharing.

[InsaNe]

Nice blog kr3m I have found blogs boring but this one was interesting to read.

[kr3mlin]

@LP: I havent seen much of the other work from Chan Wook Park...Ive printed off a list of his films from IMDB and im gonna work through them.

-A new item is an album ive looked forward to from an Australian band The Grates. They are 3 piece band from Australia that have just put out their first album "Gravity Won't Get You High". I have seen them live three times before. Once when they supported The Go! Team (UK), and then at the The Falls Festival and Big Day Out Festivals over summer. They play simple "happy" songs and could be most accurately be defined as indie rock. A friend told me they sound like early Blondie, one of the new songs on the album "Nothing Sir" with keyboard predominating reminds me of The Dresden Dolls. I had planned to see them on their album release tour, but ive found out they are supporting The Arctic Monkeys on their Australian tour so ill be killing two birds with one stone (Two Arctic Monkey's shows sold out on the day of their ticket release and the shows are in August). The live show of The Grates is where its at, the singer, Patience, does not stop moving the whole entire time they are playing. She jumps, claps, rolls around and dances the whole time and always has a grin on her face, and the crowd always love it. Someone I saw them with commented "I wonder if she ever has a bad day?" At the moment they are doing shows overseas in the UK and USA i think. Check out their website ive posted below

The Grates Homepage

-On other news, first day back from a week off from Uni, and im feeling it again. One lecture down and already took a nap.

-Tomorrow is ANZAC day in Australia. A day of rememberance for those who fought and died for their country during the first world war. Im going to the dawn service tomorrow and also to the football game between my side Essendon and Collingwood (which the rest of my family support). Here are a couple of links with some info about it if thats your thing.

The Anzac Day Tradition
Australian Football League Homepage (pretty weak site but if you wondered what the football im going to actually is)

[kr3mlin]

Decided to do some browsing on the internet after typing the above, and i found a couple of cool things.

-An Article about Japanese Gaming Culture (Gamespy)

-The Blog of Gonzalo Frasca
Ive been here before many a time. Frasca is one of the worlds game theorists. People who right academically about games. I was lucky enough last year to recieve a lecture from him in my Game Studies subject. He also is a game developer as well. Check out his blog as he often provides some great gaming news and also check out his flash games. Games with a message (shock! horror!). When he gave the lecture he was in Melbourne to open the Games Lab at ACMI (Australian Centre for the Moving Image) Check out the website there to see what the Games Lab is all about:

ACMI Homepage

[m3rrix]

im a huge advocate of the R 18+ rating for games, being an adult gamer

aye this sucks and i couldn't agree more. censorship in australia has gone beyond a joke, there was an amusing article in the age a few weeks back about some guy who posted a peice of political satire on the net (pretending to be johnny H apologising for the stolen generation. in any case apparently the server got told to pull the article down by the aussie gov and bypassed the middle man.  freedom of speech... yeah right!

Ive read all the books in Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series to this date

quite an effort that, i gave up around crossroad's. jordan is essentially a rambling money grabbing dick; its a shame mat cauthon is so goddam cool.  if you want a fantasy series that doesnt let up try a song of ice and fire by george martin.

His contribution "Cut" is much like Old Boy in its editing style and humour and the story of the film will appeal to anyone who likes the Saw films, but since this was made before im curious to know if this had been seen by the two Aussies who made Saw

well you got me onto saw which i loved, so il definitely chase this one up

Film reviews are sooo pessimistic im finding. In the Melbourne papers most films rarely break the 3 star mark. Film critics ive always thought are film lovers, but now it just seems they want everything to be a classic. I know some films are crap but when a film like V for Vendetta (which isnt perfect in any way) gets a Dog or Zero star rating i wonder what these people are trying to achieve. It made me come up with a quote that i hope to put on a tshirt in the near future.

aye, but oh so funny...

They are 3 piece band from Australia that have just put out their first album "Gravity Won't Get You High"

man they've been flogging that on jjj something chronic; kinda over it lol

and also to the football game between my side Essendon and Collingwood (which the rest of my family support). Here are a couple of links with some info about it if thats your thing.

my family's all essendon except my dad who is collingwood. i dont really give a shit but its always a great game, enjoy yourself

[stuntman]

sweet mate, ill check the mach vids out im interested in the article aswell ill give it a read later

[kr3mlin]

Ive just finished a nice little report for uni, ive got a few hours till the due date so ive been cruising around the internet looking for some interesting things to read so far ive come across two things, both on the news website Wired, i enjoy their stuff for its techy nature and some well thought out opinions. Three articles i just read are:

 Committing MySpacecide
This is a look at the idea of MySpace and one of the central conerns I have recently had of leaving too much of yourself on the internet for anyone to hunt down. One of the reasons I choose to blog here rather than on a website i create for myself or something like MySpace/Livejournal. Here i feel like i wont get noticed and that i dont have to impart anything more personal that what people can get out of reading this. Which often is to just impart knowledge of the internet and give you cool things to read,watch and think about

How Lara Croft Steals Hearts
I like this article cos it touches on the idea of Lara Croft being not just something to be ogled and as a sex symbol, but it touches on the idea that male teenagers are identifying with the pixelated heroine....being a sexy woman in danger and the implications of this. This articles goes further linking up with another similar scenario...the final girl in Slasher flics. You know the one I mean, the one girl who is virginal and always survives to kill the stalking killer (go no further than the original Halloween or even Hitchcocks Psycho, where the original final girl is created) This article was enjoyable for me to read cos I love this kinda stuff, maybe you will like it as well

The Glory of the Shooter
From the same author as above. Hell yeah. Most of my writing when doing my crappy little undergraduate papers on Cinema Studies and Game Studies is focussed on spectacle...the emotion heightening experience we get in cinema when the SFX go off or when we get a sweet frag or even when we watch a cool stunt. While this article doesent deal with spectacle it looks at why shooters have their place for us in gaming over the more 'intellectual' RPGs and games like The Sims. I argue along the same line that they give us a visceral experience that is fun...and it is sourced from spectacle (the explosions, the ragdoll bodys and the blood all contribute ). Shooters can be repetitive but ive watched The Matrix bullet time moment (yeah you know which one) hundreds of times and it still gets the heartrate going, for the pure visual beaty of this spectacle. All hail Shooters!

Parsec 47
Here is a freeware game you should try...old school shooter, which means bloody hard and fun to boot! Also try these titles:

Warning Forever
Torus Trooper

Enjoy all...i may even post some stunting things on here soon too