[:.GAMING.:] Buzz! Quiz TV is a lot of good fun

For someone like myself who is an avid gamer, albeit a budget gamer, the sticker price of $29.99 on "Buzz" was too enticing to pass up.  Unfortunately, I have seem to have made addicts of my wife and my friend, Paul.  Best part of it is that there is a whole new trophy set for me to tackle.  Really great stuff for a trophy whore like myself.  Quick note, my buddy Paul just called me to ask about the game.  Seems he just picked it up as well.  Well, I am off to play some online to gobble up some more trophies.  Game in Peace!

[:.INTERNETS.:] Show me your genitals

Prepare to Roll on Floor Laughing

[:.FLICKS.:] Pumpkin: Smashing or Pie?

I had never ever heard of this movie before catching it on MGM HD the other night.  Christina Ricci stars as the well-to-do sorority sister, Carolyn McDuffy.  McDuffy is seen as the sister that really holds the whole house together and the one that the other sisters respect.  Her boyfriend is tennis ace Kent Woodlands, played by Samuel Ball.  His character looks like he belongs on the team from Jocks.  Surprisingly his character actually has a lot of depth.  Anyway, let's talk about the title character, Pumpkin.  Jesse "Pumpkin" Romanoff is special.  Special as in mentally and physically challenged.  Although the majority of his challenges seem to be induced by his smothering widowed mother, who really wants her son to win the challenged games.  McDuffy's sorority decides to help mentor and coach the athletes of the challenged games.  Christina Ricci's character is paired with Pumpkin and at first Ricci can barely stand him staring and drooling at her.  However, things quickly change and a certain type of special relationship develops that puts Carolyn McDuffy at odds with Pumpkin's mother, her boyfriend, her entire sorority and her parents neighbors.  This one is definitely and odd one.

SEE THIS MOVIE IF:
You are a Christina Ricci fan, like dark romantic comedies or are bored and looking for something different

MOVIEWATCHER'S FORECAST:
MOVIEHOUSE: Inglorious Basterds, Gamer, Extract, The Goods
RECENTLY PICKED UP: Alfie, Alex & Emma, The Net, Closer, The Flamingo Kid, The Interpreter, Stuck on You (Half Priced Books was having a sale and my wife was sick, so I picked a bunch of budget titles up)

[:.FLICKS.:] G.I.Joe, A Real American Bad Movie?

G.I. Joe was the real American hero for boys and girls of past many generations and now in the great year of 2009, we get the live action installment of G.I.Joe.  I, myself have many a fond memory of watching the

cartoon movie.  I watched it over and over again.  I must have thought it was pretty boss.  I couldn't tell you what happened in it, due to not seeing it in so many years.  What I am trying to get at is that I have held a very special place in my heart for G.I.Joe.  And I will say that in my opinion, Paramount and Spyglass did not completely bastardize the franchise that I hold so dear.  With that being said, I did not have a lot of high expectations going into it due to a lot of bad reviews.  I was; however, thoroughly entertained by the movie and enjoyed all of the character flashbacks that helped piece together the plot and the relationships between the members of G.I.Joe and Cobra.  There are also witty one-liner references like "Kung Fu Grip" and "Knowing is Half the Battle" that prove as little inside jokes for those in the know of Joe.  I really expected for Marlon Wayans to be as bad as he was in that Dungeons and Dragons movie.  He was actually okay.  Channing Tatum as Duke seemed to play Channing Tatum playing Duke, which means he was just himself and some scenes seemed a little awkward and Paul Walkerish to me.  All in all, it has a good story that will keep you engaged...probably could have cut off about a half hour or so of the movie.

SEE THIS MOVIE IF:

You are a fan of G.I. Joe action figures and/or cartoon, can see it for less than the normal theater price (like I did) or rent it.

SPOILER:

If you didn't look it up on IMDB, Brendan Frasier is actually in this movie.

[:.INTERNETS.:] It's Not a Job, It's an Adventure!

I just came across this on the Internets thanks to comedian Aziz Ansari.  The video speaks for itself.  Wow!

At least it looks like that he must have had to cut his pony tail.

[:.FLICKS.:] I Now Know what a Baxter is

Apparently a Baxter is someone who is always the nice guy and who always ends up getting screwed over by the girl.  The cable was out in my neighborhood, so tonight seemed like a good enough time to watch The Baxter and I was pleasantly surprised.  I had no idea whatsoever that I would be treated with roles from Michael Ian Black, David Wain, Joe Lo Truglio and Paul Rudd.  The first three all being alumni of The State.  Anyway, the movie was a magnificent departure from the normal romantic comedy.  The awkwardness of Showalter's character, Elliot Sherman, is a little difficult to get used to and the plasticity of Elizabeth Banks' as the fiance makes her seem more like a prop that moves along the plot than an actual character.  I will have to say that I did enjoy the main antagonist's balls out style of alpha male dominance.  Justin Theroux, who I am not familiar with, is a treat as the ex-boyfriend, Bradley Lake.

I would recommend this movie to people who like independent films, fans of The State, fans of romantic comedies and fans of quirky odd underdogs (Michael Showalter and Michelle Williams).

MOVIEWATCHER FORECAST:

@MOVIEHOUSE: Inglorious Basterds (heard it was good from a friend), District 9 (heard it was good from my sister and her boyfriend)
@$5MOVIENITE: G.I. Joe (it's that or a footlong from Subway)
WIFE@MOVIEHOUSE: Post Grad (no one says it was good), Time Traveller's Wife (Eric Bana and Amy Adams have been in too many movies lately)
@LIVINGROOM: 17 Again (Redbox didn't have it)

[:.GAMING.:] Official Sony PlayStation Network cards

So I just realized that Sony has made official trophy cards available in the U.S., which is actually kind of cool.  They made them available in the UK and Europe a long time ago.  In fact Playfire, would make you update it on their in order to get their "automatic" trophy card to update.  I have actually grown kind of accustomed to the ones that they offer on ps3trophycard.com.  I do think  Sony is could add some better themes to theirs though.

OFFICIAL SONY TROPHY CARD:

Get your Portable ID!

PS3TROPHYCARD.COM TROPHY CARD

[:.FLICKS.:] 'The Baxter' does not have price issues

Was at my local grocer and in the check out line on an end cap there was The Baxter with a price tag of $4.99.  I have never seen the movie.  I totally grabbed it right away.  Dude, it was sweet.  Reason I grabbed it was is that I really liked Michael Showalter from MTV's The State.  He can now be seen on Michael and Michael Have Issues which airs on Comedy Central.  I have not watched this yet.  Hopefully I will have some time soon. Oh, also the best part of this purchase was that when I used my Pick N'Save card I saved $2.50 and the already budget price of $4.99 and if you can do math....that came to a mere $2.49.  Maybe I should buy more DVDs from the grocery store.

MOVIES I WANT TO SEE:
@MOVIEHOUSE: Inglorious Basterds, District 9
WIFE@MOVIEHOUSE: Post grad
@LIVINGROOM: 17 Again (mostly for Tom Lennon's performance)

[:.GAMING.:] I am a Good Samaritan

So, I recently downloaded Crystal Defenders from Square Enix on PSN.  It will set you back $9.99 USD but is not a bad game and a fun one at that.  I got the game for the trophies.  My most recent accomplishment was getting the gold "Good Samaritan" trophy.  It took me four times to get it and I was using a guide.  To get this trophy, you have to last 30 rounds without losing a crystal or deploying a thief.  Basically, you have to be flawless without the benefit of any gil boost that the thief brings you.  If you like RPGs, strategy or simulation games...this one will surely entertain for a while.  Don't expect to get too much time out of it, but it is only 10 bucks.

On a couple of side notes, I only have one trophy left in TV Show King.  This game is not that great, but worth it if you just want trophies (no gold trophies in the set...mostly bronze and two silver).  The trophy that I need is called Penny Pincher and it is just a stupid bronze trophy but to get it you need to steal a cumulative total of $25,000.00 from other players.  The way you steal is so random as it is only able to be done by a spin on a big wheel.  I played a nine-round game, and never landed on one of the spots.  That is kind of discouraging and I will probably never have the patience to get 100% on this game.

Other side note is that I really suck at Burnout Paradise.  I slid that baby in recently and I was completely lost.  There are almost too many trophies for that game.

GAME QUEUE:
@HOLD: Major League Baseball 2K9 and Leisure Suit Larry: Box Office Bust (the controls and camera angles make this one pretty unenjoyable).
@WISHLIST: Madden 10
@FUTURE: Final Fantasy XIII