Tag: review

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Rack Focus Review: Detention

Gary Sundt

Detention jams as many ideas into its 90-minute run time as possible — including references to The Breakfast Club, the Disney Renaissance, the Saw franchise, David Cronenburg, Scream, Stephen King, the Backstreet Boys, Mean Girls, Nickelodeon, and lots of other pop trivia. Additionally, there is a time-traveling bear and a mutant fly-boy. The flick is also a jumbled mess, but mostly pretty fun in that live-action-cartoon-soaked-in-blood kind of way. Continue reading “Rack Focus Review: Detention”

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Review: Tales of Graces f

Chris

Tales of Graces f review: The latest “Tales” doesn’t disappoint

NOTE: This is a review of a game in progress. Chris and Co. have put in around 35 hours into the game, which means they’re probably at the halfway point or so. Still, if major media outlets can review the game without finishing it, then so can we!

I’ve made no secret of my love of the Tales series on this site in the past. So you might think that this review is going to be a five-star endeavor, full of glowing praise and endless superlatives about the quintessential RPG of our generation.

You would be wrong.

That’s not to say that it’s Graces’ fault. The game suffers from many of the same problems that other Tales games have: a sometimes too-wordy story, typical anime tropes, lackluster music. But like many other offerings in the series, the battle system comes through in a big way.

In fact, I’ll go a little further: Tales of Graces features the best battle system of any RPG ever made.

How’s that for an opening argument? Continue reading “Review: Tales of Graces f”

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Rack Focus Review: Jeff, Who Lives at Home

Gary Sundt

Jeff, Who Lives at Home, which is written by Jay and Mark Duplass, is rather obsessed with signs — and by that, I actually mean M. Night Shyamalan’s Signs. Both present their protagonists as witnesses to coincidences that, if paid their due attention, may ultimately prove to be an order to a seemingly listless universe. But this indie drama is smarter than the big-budget sci-fier it references, and indicates this self-awareness by placing these theories in the mouth of Jeff (Jason Segal), a 30-year-old stoner who does indeed live at home with his widowed mother. Continue reading “Rack Focus Review: Jeff, Who Lives at Home”

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Rack Focus: Review: Hunger Games

Gary Sundt

Once in a great while, my career beckons me in a way that incapacitates me ever so slightly. Did I see The Hunger Games? Yes. Did I like it? Definitely. Do I have time to write a full review? Not this week. For this reason, joining me for the review is At The Buzzer contributor and all-around Superman look-a-like Shaun El-Ters.

Both being fans of the novel by Suzanne Collins, we’re going to first take issue with any and all comparison’s to the Twilight films beyond the simple truth that these are popular stories designed for tweens. The trailer for The Hunger Games is, on its own,  compelling viewing, while any clip of Bella Swan (who we most recently saw hungrily eyeing a deer) induces laughter. Both properties are obviously designed to make money, but the expertise in the production of The Hunger Games makes it the sci-fi pulp cult classics are made of. Continue reading “Rack Focus: Review: Hunger Games”

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Rack Focus: A Very Embarrassing “Top 5” List

Gary Sundt

So I’m overwhelmingly sick and, as such, didn’t go see a movie last night. In terms of my recommendations for the week, I hear 21 Jump Street is rather hilarious. That’s not my official endorsement, mind you, but it’s what I’ve heard.

Regardless, this predicament gave me the idea for interesting “top 5 list” — a list that any self-respecting connoisseur of film would hate to put together. Well, blame the fever or perhaps my lack of self-respect, but here is my list of “Top 5 Films I Haven’t Seen,” with some brief commentary. Continue reading “Rack Focus: A Very Embarrassing “Top 5” List”

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Review: Street Fighter x Tekken

Chris

There’s never been much of a debate between 2D and 3D fighting games for me. I was a Street Fighter kid from the start.

My grandparents had an NES when I was little, so I got some playing time in with Mario 3, Dr. Mario, Chip ‘n’ Dale Rescue Rangers, Metroid and all the classics. But when the Super Nintendo came out and my dad picked one up, Street Fighter II was the first game I had for it — not Super Mario World like 95% of the rest of America.

SF II was interesting for a few reasons. It’s what got me started on the chess-like nature of fighting games. It was also the genesis (see what I did there?) for my love of video game music, as I would let some of the great stage themes play in the background while I worked on other things. Ryu, Ken, Guile and later Cammy’s stages became the accompanying soundtrack for life.

Why does all of this matter? Because Street Fighter x Tekken incorporates a long-standing 3D franchise into my 2D wheelhouse, and that’s just the way I like it. Continue reading “Review: Street Fighter x Tekken”

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Review: Mass Effect 3

Jason

**Well, I did it, folks: I beat Mass Effect 3 in time to get you all a review. I feel I should preface this by mentioning that a certain aspect of Mass Effect 3 deserves a more detailed discussion than can be done without spoiling that part of the game. So if you have yet to beat the game, then be sure to skip the section clearly marked with a spoiler warning.**

Earth is going to need some help...

OK everyone, the time is finally upon us! Mass Effect 3 is here and marks the end of Bioware’s epic space trilogy. Earth has come under attack and it’s up to you, in the shoes of the one and only Commander Shepard, to rally the diverse factions of the galaxy together and save Earth (and the galaxy) from destruction. While I won’t reveal much about Mass Effect 3’s narative, I will say that those of you hoping for a galaxy spanning story where you meet up with old friends (and enemies!) in an attempt to unite them will not be disappointed. The Krogan and the Genophage? Yep, you’ll deal with that. The Quarian and the Geth? Yep, them too. Of course, that won’t come as a surprise to those of you who have played the previous Mass Effect games; and rest assured that your choices in the previous two games will come back to help (or haunt) you.

Continue reading “Review: Mass Effect 3”

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Rack Focus: John Carter

Gary Sundt

John Carter is a stupid film, but that doesn’t necessarily make it a bad one. I imagine the intended product is exactly what we’re getting: a fantastic exercise in pulp storytelling set in a world where mid-air combat and intergalactic swashbuckling collide in astonishingly ludicrous ways. It’s entire narrative is flawed, and the mechanics of the universe has more than a few inconsistencies. (How a man can be incapacitated by a member of an alien species, and then proceed to kill another with one punch, is a quandary indeed). Continue reading “Rack Focus: John Carter”

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Rack Focus: The Lorax

Gary Sundt

The Lorax is my favorite of the many animated adaptations of Dr. Seuss’ works from the 1960s and ‘70s — where bizarre and vaguely hippie-dippie tunes were set against the rough lines and bright-yet-cruddy pastels that are synonymous with the artist’s humble illustrations. Now we have a feature-length version courtesy of the studio and director of Despicable Me, where the viewer enjoys state-of-the-art CGI artistry wrapped in a cotton candy-coated color scheme not found anywhere I’ve seen in nature. Continue reading “Rack Focus: The Lorax”

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Rack Focus: Review – Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance

Gary Sundt

I actually really wanted Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance to be good. I’m a comic book fan, and I had hopes that directors Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor would bring the same wit, vigor, and panache that they brought to Crank, Crank: High Voltage, and to a lesser extent, Gamer. It takes time and energy to effectively execute remarkable cinematography, and it’s an even bigger challenge to keep your story before your intense visuals. I will acknowledge that there are some neat moments in Spirit of Vengeance, and maybe somebody will be goodly enough to put those moments to rocking music and post it on YouTube one day. Continue reading “Rack Focus: Review – Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance”