Random Thoughts (Not a Review) on Iron Man 2

I just came back from a screening of Iron Man 2 (the movie, not the game) and absolutely loved it. I enjoyed 75 percent of the first movie (I thought the last fight was lame) and had high expectations going in. For me, the sequel was better than the original simply because I enjoyed the whole thing. Here are some random thoughts (not a review!) on Iron Man 2. Spoilers ahead!

– Robert Downey, Jr. owns in this movie. He truly is the perfect Tony Stark. He’s charming, smart, sarcastic, suave, and flawed enough for moviegoers to identify with. As charming as he was in the first movie, he’s even more so in the sequel. His interplay with Gwyneth Paltrow, Jon Favreau, Sam Rockwell, and Scarlett Johannson was so entertaining. The interaction and humor felt organic.

– I missed Terrence Howard as James “Rhodey” Rhodes. Don’t get me wrong, Don Cheadle is a fantastic actor, but I loved the chemistry that Downey and Howard had. Cheadle did a good job in the movie, but there were times that made me feel like he wasn’t really trying. He also didn’t have the same rapport with Downey.

– Mickey Rourke was mildly disappointing as Whiplash/Ivan Vanko. He was kind of threatening, kind of brilliant, and kind of maniacal, but he was mostly just a dirty Russian guy. Dude needed to take a shower but never got around to it. After his awesome performance in The Wrestler, I was hoping for more. I suppose the flat feeling I had was due to the writing and not Rourke’s performance.

– Sam Rockwell was very cool as Justin Hammer, save for a completely unnecessary dance scene. He was a great foil for Tony Stark and played his role well. The buzz that the Tony Stark/Justin Hammer relationship is eerily similar to the Steve Jobs/Bill Gates relationship is completely overblown. Don’t believe the hype!

– I loved that Iron Man and Tony Stark had separate villains. That was one of my problems with the original movie. Jeff Bridges (or as I call him, Starman) was a great business rival as Obadiah Stane. I thought he absolutely sucked as Iron Monger. I didn’t find him threatening at all. I liked having two villains with different angles in Iron Man 2.

– Scarlett Johansson was surprisingly good as the Black Widow. She’s one of the sexiest women on the planet, so I was expecting her to be around for decorative purposes, but she totally kicked ass in her fight scene. She had enough screen time to shine, but not enough so that it felt like her face and body were being exploited.

– Sam Jackson went a little overboard as Nick Fury. He was too Snakes on a Plane for me. Yeah, Fury can be fiery, but he’s also cool and always in total control. Jackson had the cool part down but did a little too much screaming for me.

– The action is excellent. The last third of the movie has some awesome fighting sequences. You really get the “heavy metal” feeling from the combat.

– I loved that most of the movie took place in Los Angeles and Queens. Considering where I live and where I grew up, it felt comfortable. A movie hasn’t made me feel that way since Coming to America. Ha!

– I heard that the preview prints didn’t have the post-credit teaser…but I saw it and loved it! I already warned you about spoilers in the opening paragraph, so I have no problem telling you that it’s hammer time!

– Update: Totally forgot to write about the cameos. Stan Lee as Larry King was cute. Larry Ellison as Larry Ellison was cool! Tony Stark would totally rub elbows with people like Ellison, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Eric Schmidt, etc.

Poll: What’s Your Favorite Iron Man Videogame Appearance?

I’m totally psyched to see Iron Man 2 tonight. While I count down the hours to the screening, I want to go over some of Shellhead’s appearances in videogames. Obviously he’s an integral part of the Marvel vs. Capcom series. Arcade fans will remember him in Captain America and The Avengers. More recently he was one of the best characters in the Marvel Ultimate Alliance games. I’m sure none of you willl pick this one (because it mostly sucked), but Iron Man had a prominent role in Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects. And who could forget the unlockable version of Iron Man in Tony Hawk’s Underground?

As for me, I’m going to go with X-Men Legends II. If you found the scattered pieces of Iron Man’s armor (or used a cheat code) then you could play the game as him. He was ridiculously powerful and I had a blast vaporizing hordes of minions as Shellhead. I’m pretty sure I played the game an extra three or four times just to blast the hell out of things as Iron Man. Good times.

Now it’s your turn! Kindly make your selection in the poll and expand on your answer in the comments section. The best explanation wins a one-hour repulsor-ray massage!

[poll id=”42″]

“The Iceman” Chuck Lidell Hypes UFC Undisputed 2010

MMA legend Chuck Lidell promotes UFC Undisputed 2010 (PlayStation 3, Xbox 360) in this excellent video clip that features footage of him training, some of his most exciting fights, and astonishing recreations of his fights created in the game. It’s a pretty slick video that “Iceman” fans will totally love. He is, after all, the second-most famous man from San Luis Obispo. (“Weird” Al Yankovic is the first. Duh!)

The Star Wars Trilogy in Two Minutes Using LEGO

Mad props to Kotaku for pointing out this outstanding video that summarizes the entire Star Wars trilogy in two minutes through the clever use of LEGO. It is supremely awesome and you must watch it. Whether you love Star Wars or hate it, this clip is worth watching. It shows how absurd and charming the tale is. Check it out and let me know what you think (please)!

Coffee Talk #138: Should Sony Have Made a Play for Bungie/Respawn?

Last weekend I hung out with two industry friends that argued (separately) that Sony should have made a big-time play for Bungie or Respawn. (This is what game geeks do over coffee or lunch. It’s like when jocks get together and discuss what GM moves they’d make for their favorite NBA team. In both cases, none of the participants are qualified to steer the ship.) Their arguments were basically the same — although Killzone and Resistance are respectable franchises, it would have been killer for Sony to have its own Call of Duty or Halo, exclusively. Nabbing the creators of those franchises would have been huge.

Welcome to Coffee Talk! Let’s start off the day by discussing whatever is on your (nerd chic) mind. Every morning I’ll kick off a discussion and I’m counting on you to participate in it. If you’re not feelin’ my topic, feel free to start a chat with your fellow readers and see where it takes you. Whether you’re talking about videogames, graciously recapping last night’s Lost for me, round two of the NBA playoffs, or Rasheed Wallace remembering how to play basketball for one night, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

Last weekend I hung out with two industry friends that argued (separately) that Sony should have made a big-time play for Bungie or Respawn. (This is what game geeks do over coffee or lunch. It’s like when jocks get together and discuss what GM moves they’d make for their favorite NBA team. In both cases, none of the participants are qualified to steer the ship.) Their arguments were basically the same — although Killzone and Resistance are respectable franchises, it would have been killer for Sony to have its own Call of Duty or Halo, exclusively. Nabbing the creators of those franchises would have been huge.

Today I want to invite you into the conversation. Pretend you’re a hotshot Sony executive. Looking through the retroscope, do you think it would have been wise to lay out a ton of money for exclusive deals with Bungie or Respawn? Are Resistance and Killzone big enough bullets for the company? How crazy would it have been if Bungie or Respawn became first-party studios for Sony? If you could only sign one of those companies, which one would it be (poll below)? How would you upstage Kaz Hirai at Sony’s E3 2010 press conference?

I can’t wait for all your answers today! Let’s make it fun!!!

[poll id=”41″]

Cupidtino: A Dating Service for Apple Fanboys and Fangirls

Wow…and I thought GameCrush was stupid. Starting this June, Apple fanboys and fangirls will have a dating service to call their own: Cupidtino.com. Here’s the company’s mission statement:

Cupidtino is a beautiful new dating site created for fans of Apple products by fans of Apple products! Why? Diehard Mac & Apple fans often have a lot in common — personalities, creative professions, a similar sense of style and aesthetics, taste, and of course a love for technology. We believe these are enough reasons for two people to meet and fall in love, and so we created the first Mac-inspired dating site to help you find other Machearts around you.

Cupidtino will launch in June 2010 exclusively on Apple platforms — Safari, iPhone and iPad apps. It’s time to share the love.

I swear, I’m not making this up. Someone actually thinks that Apple fans need their own dating service. I might try it out, but not on the company’s exclusive platform. I would visit the site on a Windows 7 PC running Chrome or a Google Android phone. Just kidding.

What do you think of the service? Will it find a sizable audience? Or is it too niche? How do you think it compares to GameCrush? On one hand, it’s not guys paying to play games with girls. On the other hand…it just sounds like a remarkably stupid idea. Leave a comment and take this poll please!

[poll id=”40″]

Source via TechCrunch

T-Mobile Officially Announces myTouch Slide 3G

T-Mobile has officially announced the myTouch Slide 3G phone, which features Google Android 2.1, a 3.4-inch screen, a full QWERTY keyboard, a five-megapixel camera, and a heavily customized version of HTC Sense. On paper, the phone is disappointing and interesting at the same time. Tech nerds will dismiss it for using a relatively slow (600MHz) CPU and low-resolution screen. It’s definitely not a cutting edge product, but it has plenty of features that make it worth a look.

Due out in June, the myTouch Slide is rare in that it uses Android 2.1 and has a physical keyboard. It also has advanced voice command and voice-to-text capabilities thanks to Dragon software. Early reports say that the Dragon implementation beats the pants off of stock Android’s. T-Mobile has worked with HTC to make its version of Android incredibly user friendly. While I expect most of you to be able to find your way around Android comfortably, there are millions of Americans that would struggle with the plain vanilla version.

The last feature is probably the most interesting facet of the myTouch 3G. It looks like T-Mobile will push this phone as Android for everyone.  The software will be idiot proof and the price should be in the mid-range (some people have estimated $129 on contract). It’s not really for tech geeks, but the myTouch 3G should appeal to consumers that want a capable phone that’s easy to use and easy on the wallet.

Any of you interested in this phone?

Source

EA Claims Respawn Deal Fell Into Its Lap (You Buying This?!?)

EA Games president Frank Gibeau claims that the company’s deal with Respawn — you know, the hot new company started by former Infinity Ward creators — is a happy little coincidence that’s a result of fortuitous timing. As many of you know, one of the alleged reasons behind Activision’s termination of Jason West and Vince Zampella was that the pair met with EA behind ATVI’s back. That makes the EA/Respawn deal seem awfully…convenient. Gibeau told Gamasutra that it’s all on the up and up:

[The Respawn deal] was something that fell into our laps, after they were terminated and announced they were free and independent, and we went for it. The fact that those guys are doing what they’re doing, we’re very excited.

The fact that we were able to take advantage of an opportunity that came our way and partner with Respawn and create a relationship with them has been spectacular, something that we’re very excited about. It’s a key part of how we’re growing our EA Partners business going forward.

Although I have no proof, I’m not buying Gibeau’s explanation. Perhaps I’m being too cynical and maybe I’m buying into the rumor mill, but I’ve heard too many things from too many smart people to believe that this deal was something that just fell into EA’s lap. Again, that’s just my opinion.

What do you think? Was this deal in the works for months? Or was it all happenstance?

Source

Norman/Normund Gentle Cover Art Unleashed!

Normund Gentle — one of the best and most ridiculous American Idol contestants of all time — has unleashed the art for his upcoming album, Gentle. The album name and cover art are inspired by Daughtry, arguably the most successful male AI  contestant. According to a recent blog post:

Daughtry is the biggest male success from American Idol. I did not realize that all you have to do is drop your first name and form a band to sell a million records. Sign me up, America! From now on we are GENTLE!

When did Normund Gentle become Norman Gentle? He’s listed as Norman on his “official” web site and Amazon, but he was Normund throughout 2009. Is the album art and web site fake? Will Daughtry kick Gentle’s ass for stealing his schtick? None of that matters! The (possibly fake) album cover is awesome!

Source

Internet Explorer Global Market Share Dips Below 60 Percent

Remember when Microsoft’s Internet Explorer was the dominant web browser with over 90 percent of the market? It’s crazy that upstarts like Apple’s Safari, Mozilla’s Firefox, and Google’s Chrome have been growing so rapidly that IE’s global market share dipped below 60 percent in April 2010. Here are some more facts and figures from Ars Technica:

Between March and April, Internet Explorer dropped a significant 0.70 percentage points (from 60.65 percent to 59.95 percent) and Firefox increased 0.07 percentage points (from 24.52 percent to 24.59 percent). Chrome jumped a sizeable 0.60 percentage points (from 6.13 percent to 6.73 percent), Safari gained 0.07 percentage points (from 4.65 percent to 4.72 percent), and Opera dipped 0.07 percentage points (from 2.37 percent to 2.30 percent).

I am totally loving Google Chrome. Its speed and features have made it my primary browser. Firefox is my secondary, but I don’t use it nearly as often. As for IE, I only use it to see if certain web pages are rendering properly across all browsers.

What web browsers are you currently using? Has your usage changed in the last few months?

Source