Super Smash Bros. Brawl

Super Smash Bros. Brawl owns my life.

That is all.

Pika - CHU!!!!!

Definitely, Maybe

Just had a chance to check out Definitely, Maybe with Laura the other day. So, it was Definitely, Maybe a good movie. Why? Because damn it, it's been a long time since we've seen a romantic comedy that has any sort of relevance, bite or sweet story.

Ryan Reynolds is fanastic in the lead role while Isla Fisher steals the show as one of his potential lovers. Basically, the story revolves around Reynolds telling his daughter (played by Abigail Breslin) the story of how he met her mother (they are now getting a divorce) while he was dating three different women (in different time periods).

So, yeah - without saying too much - It's definitely, maybe a great movie to take your significant other out to on a cold night. You might just score yourself some quality bonus points!

Poker and Cloverfield

When not watching movies (something that I've cut down on to a ridiculous degree in the last few months due to too many video games), I spend as much time as possible honing my poker game.

You see, I love poker. Now, I don't love it as much as, say, I love Laura but it's a fantastic game that challenges you with patience. You see, I contend that poker isn't so much a game about skill (although it does come in handy, trust me) but a game of patience. If you have the patience to sit in a casino and bide your time for 6 hours you WILL make money. The biggest mistake that people make is playing too many hands and getting caught up in bluffing. While bluffing can sometimes pay off, more often than not, if you grind out on the poker table you will make a profit.

This past Wednesday, I challenged that thinking by heading over to the River Rock on my day off to hang out in the poker room. My goal? To play as little hands as possible but maximize the amount of money that I took home.

In total, I only played 3 substantial hands. I bought in for $100 and on the fourth hand at the table was dealt QQ. Now, I didn't win that hand. In fact, my opponent made a flush on the turn (I folded and I know he had it) but instead of committing to the hand, like many people would do, I simply folded and waited for my next opportunity. Now, I did bang away at winning some small pots over the course of the 5 hours I played, but I never played a major hand.

My biggest hand came when I was dealt 77 and made a full house on the turn card. On that hand, I took somebody for over $200, with the pot being over $300. That gave me $400 of profit in 5 hours so I walked away. The point I'm trying to illustrate is that anybody with even a mediocre knowledge of poker can make money if they play the patience game and wait to trap their opponent.

On a completely unrelated note - Laura and I went to check out Cloverfield the other day. Is is a good movie? I wouldn't know. We never stayed until the end. The jittery camera (which is the WORST FUCKING EFFECT going in hollywood) made Laura sick which meant we had to bail on the movie. Not that that was even a big deal, as the whole movie was sort of lame. The monster wasn't even all that cool. Point? Shaky camera work doesn't make a good movie. It doesn't even add to the effect. It's just annoying. ANNOYING!

Oh, and on the way to Vancouver, I played the Donkey Kong machine on the ferry. Damn, that game still sucks.

The King of Kong

The orginal Donkey Kong is a hard game. And I don't mean just hard, but rather friggin' impossible. It's so damn tough, in fact, that I refuse to play it. I'd rather widdle away the hours leveling up my second character in Lord of the Rings Online or rocking out in numerous different ways with Rock Band.

I love my video games but I sure do not like getting the crap kicked out of me by barrels that I can't seem to ever jump.

Steve Weibe doesn't mind though.

Who is Steve Weibe? He's the lovable schmuck who is the center piece of The King of Kong: A Fistfull of Quarters, the documentary about one man's quest for vindication. Weibe, you see, set the all time score for Donkey Kong (over one million points) but his score was disallowed thanks to some shady shenanigans from the folks over at Twin Galaxies (the official record keepers of video game scores).

Twim Galaxies, you see, are completely in love with Billy Mitchell, the previous record holder on Donkey Kong. Because of this, they enacted a rule that disallowed the videotaped score and made Weibe play live to set his record, complete with referee watching and everything.

Suffice it to say, The King of Kong is a gripping documentary about one man's quest to enact sweet revenge on the association that did not allow him to keep his high score and damn it if it's not one of the best movies of the year. Weibe is the perfect hero and Mitchell is the perfect villian. There are twists, there are turns and there are some interesting events that will make you question to validity of some people's high score claims.

It all boils down to a fun documentary that you should take the time out to see. Even if you think a documentary about a guy trying to set a high score on a video game that is almost 30 years old is lame, just give it a chance. You might be pleasantly surprised. I know I was.

For the record - I still hate Donkey Kong.

Coming Back

Cut & Print Magazine might be long dead, as is my publishing career but that doesn't mean it's not time to get back to writing.

Nobody but Laura probably reads this anymore but, well, why not start writing again?

As long time readers would have figured out by now, cutandprint.ca is long gone but I've still got all the reviews archived on my computer. Thus, I'm going to revisit some of those reviews, post them in full on the blog and make fun of my own writing (by that, I mean, I'll reflect on the review, seeing if I still agree with whatever nonsense I wrote on that particular day about that particular movie). It should be a fun excersice.

Of course - life is still going on, so I'll be commenting on that and everything else going on in the world. In short - it's the same blog but at least it'll get updated.

Feels good to write a proper sentence again.

Cut and Print FOR THE WIN!

Regards,

Jake

When you have had enough of Vincent Gallo...DVD of the week

What every Nanaimomite should have to avert themselves from the fact that Pirates is hogging all the screens for the Nanaimo Multiplex Crowd. Kielslowski. Binoche. Delpy. IRENE FREAKIN' JACOB! More laughs than Bad Boys 2!

The cinematographer who shot this also is lensing the new Harry Potter film...and you LOVE Harry Potter, so, like, there's your excuse and stuff.

$100 says this won't open in Nanaimo. But you should see this awesome flick that Sony Pictures Classics just picked up.

Watch the trailer. Better yet, watch it in HD.

Stop Making Sense is one of the coolest movies ever.

Talking Heads are cool.