The truth is, this blog demanded a lot of time from mói, and I just couldn’t keep doing the “post-a-day” thing as I originally pretended to do. Will I be back one day with more written pieces? Maybe, maybe not. For now, I beg of you to accept my most sincere apologies for the lack of a decent explanation for this until now, as well as my eternal gratitude for supporting this blog.

DICE’s amazing-looking new interactive piece, which goes by the name of ‘Mirror’s Edge‘, has been on the headlines for quite a few months now. It’s first-person viewpoint sure isn’t revolutionary if only for the amount of shooters that employ it, but considering the genre it’s tackling it very well could be: action/adventure. Yes, this piece is poised to be the first successful action/adventure game viewed through a first-person perspective ever in the history of videogames. We’ve had Role-Playing Games (RPG) going that route as well as variation of shooters (like Thief), but not a full-blown, running and jumping (and sliding!) epic action game like this one, where the viewpoint goes so far as to even show the limbs of your character doing all the actions with a nuance not previously seen in the genre.

Artistically, the game pulls all the stops as well. The mix of solid, eye-popping colors, intense lighting, life-like animation and the immense sterile-white cityscape as the game’s backdrop makes this piece look fucking fantastic. The fact that these kinds of futuristic utopias have always appealed to me for some reason make things even more cool to watch and appreciate. You really have to see it in movement to admire the thing (a video is attached to this post below, as always). 

Yes, this is a picture of the game during "gameplay".

So, when can we play it? The mighty Electronic Arts has just unveiled that the game will be out for purchase on November 11 for both the PlayStation 3 and the Xbox 360. Sadly, PC gamers will have to wait a while longer, since their version has been delayed until “later in the winter”. It was also revealed that not one but two demos would be part of its marketing approach: one, available next week when you pre-order your copy of the game at “selected retailers” (pretty sure Gamestop’s on there), offers a look at the game’s “Time Trial” mode. The other, for free over at both PlayStation Network (PSN) and Xbox Live Arcade (XBLA) stores, will take us through a tutorial and a segment of the game’s single-player story mode. That one will be out at a later date (closer to the game’s release), I presume. 

So there you have it. If you previously hadn’t heard about the game, now you’re in on the “secret” (remember to catch the video below!), and if you already were anticipating this piece, you now have some dates to look forward to. Win-win situation for everyone, and so…I’m out! Thanks for reading. : )

So, where to start? How about by telling you that I didn’t like the pilot as much as the media said I would? To me, the piece felt forced and too heavily reliant on already established fiction material. Additionally, it was slow-moving at parts and the role of “Peter” (portrayed by Joshua Jackson) wasn’t to my liking in both delivery of lines and character. But it also showed promise in the form of the character of “Dr. Walter Bishop” (played sublimely by John Noble), a tortured-yet-brilliant scientist who has suffered through years of imprisonment in a mental institution. The playfulness in which Noble bathes when acting this part is refreshing, and makes the character super likeable from the get-go. You feel for this man, even if you don’t exactly know what the fuck is happening inside his head. 

Also of great promise, is the character of Olivia Dunham (Anna Torv), which may initially seem as your typical female agent in distress, but later reveals herself as a woman full of confidence and wit. Let’s hope the writers flesh out her character to a more satisfying level. Production design is commendable, with swift, establishing location shots, some photography handled with flair and, of course, the music by Michael Giacchino, which for the most part has been mostly ambient music to setup atmosphere, but oh he does it so well. The main “theme”, composed by series creator J.J. Abrams himself, is also memorable, if not reminiscent of that other, legendary genre show: The X-Files. Most certainly, the two shows draw quite a few parallels between them, not only in thematic structure, but in episode flow as well.

“Ok, so you didn’t found the pilot to be a ‘masterpiece’. Did you like the second episode better?”

Much better. Yes, it lacked the tense moments of the pilot, but the pacing flowed with more grace. The characters felt better, also. Lines were delivered in a more natural, less corny way (I’m looking at you, Joshua Jackson), scenes progressed with an easiness not found in the inaugural episode, and…as expected, things started to get interesting. As I wrote above, it’s not my intention to fill this first ‘FRINGE’ post with plot details and speculation, so I’ll leave that for next week. Needless to say, if you have the chance, watch both episodes as soon as you can, just so you’re ready for next week’s episode. I’m definitely interested in the direction this show is aiming for, and with a crew as talented as the one this serial has on board, quality has but one place to go: upwards.

Catch new episodes of ‘FRINGE’ every Tuesday at 9pm, on FOX. Thanks for reading. : )

Wee! Bring out those “late to the party” memes again! Apparently this short (but fantastic) animation piece has been out since freaking last year and today marks the first time I’ve caught word of it. Oh, but I don’t care now that I’ve seen it. It’s fresh…it’s fun…and super CRAZY!! Pendleton Ward has created a completely accessible piece for animation fans of all ages, filled with so much character charm, it could easily kill any soulless person with its overdose of sugary sweet goodness. 

I present to you, fine readers of Sensibilize this!, ‘ADVENTURE TIME‘!

Loved its nonsensical, charming silliness? Start to celebrate, then, for this has been picked up by Cartoon Network executives to be serialized! I already anticipate fantastic ratings for this…and a bright, creative future for Ward himself. We need more people like him to bring some much-needed freshness into animation.

Feel the need for venting your approval or disgust towards this? Post a comment below! Thanks for reading. : )

I just had to stop everything I was doing and write something after salivating over the piece below, a “first look” at Gilliam’s 2009 film (and Heath Ledger’s last), ‘The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus‘. The teaser reminded me of what a brilliant and visionary mind Terry Gilliam has. Sure, he has gone super “loco” on us a couple of times, but when he strucks on gold, oh boy…he elevates himself to demi-God status. ‘Brazil’ and ’12 Monkeys’ prove this. It’s sad that I still day-dream about his cursed ‘Don Quijote’ project, though.

So, what will you see here? Apart from a few ridiculously impressive selections of painted and moving concept artwork, you will watch and listen to the man himself declaring that this might be one of the best things he’s worked on. I can’t say I disagree with him on that statement. The story sounds unconventional enough and fueled by powerful imagination, and the troupe of actors and actresses is a dream, the likes of Johnny Depp and Jude Law included…all of which bodes well for the prospect of this film being a return to form for the legendary director.

Take a look at the footage below. The film’s got a website, too, although it is pretty much barebones right now (but worth a visit just for the giant-sized production image: perfect wallpaper!). Gilliam’s “next” will be in theatre’s next year. Thanks for reading. : )

“…oh just look at that AIR WOOHOOO!!”

Ok, so you can tell I just played the ‘Motorstorm: Pacific Rift‘ demo. You know, I’ve never considered myself a racing enthusiast. Not in gaming, much less in real life. Yet the pure, visceral feeling I get every time when speeding aboard a nimble motorcycle (or racing truck) across a wood ramp the size of my house and getting blasted into oblivion as a result, is, well…ridiculously orgasmic.

Addicting, too. The game offers the right amount of challenge, forcing you to replay the multi-layered track a couple of times to learn its quirks and danger zones (no “invisible walls” here: you just get thrown off a massive cliff if you don’t approach a turn correctly), and you’ll want to replay it. You’ll feel the need to nab that pole position from all those motherfuckers invading your vehicle space. Motor parts fly over you, a racer’s body gets trampled by the wheels of a monster truck ahead…it’s off-road, crazy vehicle carnage, and I fucking love it. 

It’s as superficial as it gets, I know, but sometimes it is good to appease that careless maniac inside of you. Only sometimes…

‘Motorstorm: Pacific Rift’ arrives in stores October 28. I’ve attached the latest trailer below for your viewing pleasure. Thanks for reading. : ) 

So, you know there’s this incredible-looking game coming up for the PlayStation 3 called ‘LittleBigPlanet’. Oh, you didn’t? Where in the universe have you been living?! Anyway…

Just take a look at this, the latest piece of visual marketing for the game. It’s basically an introduction to the adorable “Sackboy” character, the protagonist (and brand hope) for this new and beautiful platformer. What excites me the most about this interactive piece is the plethora of options one has, not only for customizing your Sackboy/girl persona, but for creating your very own stages, Super Mario Bros. style. Yep, you can create ‘em in any shape, size or theme you want! Oh, and you can share them, too! And play with up to four friends, online or off!!

Ok, this is beginning to sound like dirty viral marketing…ahem. Catch the trailer below. I’ll be writing more about ‘LittleBigPlanet’ as its release date of October 21 approaches (mark those calendars, people!). Thanks for reading. : )

Program for the Puertorrican production of 'Hairspray'.

Previous to it, I’d never seen anything relating ‘Hairspray’ outside of some billboards on Times Square when I went to New York last summer and a trailer for the film adaptation of the same name. I thought to myself “hey, it’ll be great to experience the story for the very first time on the stage, where it was intended to be experienced”. Well, it was indeed a great opportunity to fall in love with the story right out of the bat…that is, until a rough combination of lack of decent diction from the majority of the actors and sound balancing problems ruined it for me.

To be fair, I did understand the main line of the story, yet I missed tons of details here and there (mainly during the musical numbers). Details that could’ve helped flesh out character development, revealed thematic nuances in the story, give way to funny situations or pinpoint clever lines of dialogue. From the little that I got, translation was handled well, yet I hope I could’ve understood all of it and give a proper critique to it. Instead, I had to work with what was given to me, which was pretty much unintelligible to begin with. Directors: diction is key for the audience to fully enjoy your play or musical. Without it, they won’t get involved as easily as it should be, and it should be easy.

Broadway production of Hairspray.

The other thing I missed was energy; I mean, where was it? To feel realistic and involving, theatre depends on the energy its protagonists are able to convey on the stage. If there’s an apparent lack of energy from the cast, the audience will get the message: “if it isn’t as important to them, it should not be for us as well”. You lose the audience quickly without it. I missed the energy of, say, the cast of ‘In the Heights’…an ensemble so into it, you just had to stand and applaud in appreciation of their motivational work. I didn’t feel that with this production of ‘Hairspray’.

Oh, and don’t even think to say to me: “you’re contaminated”. I’m comparing this to a Broadway piece, yes, but that’s because I know it can be as good, or better. Theatre doesn’t need high sums of money…it needs dedication, and oomph. It needs to feel alive. Set design was bare, yet the few pieces they had were functional and did their work. Lighting design, however, wasn’t to my liking: it looked like the lighting designer wasn’t trying to highlight characters instead of focusing on the larger picture. A miss, in my opinion. 

Now, I know what you’re thinking: “you ended up hating it, right?” Nah. I was just heavily dissapointed with all those points stated above, but by no chance they were enough for me to proclaim this production a “disaster”. It definitely worked. As the local newspaper wrote the following day in its review, “Pasó la prueba”. It passed the test. 

Puertorrican production of 'Hairspray'.

Acting-wise, there were some standout performances: Junior Alvarez as “Edna Turnblad” was fantastic; Linnette Torres as the villain “Velma Von Tussle” was not only on-point, but a few steps above; Ektor Rivera as “Seaweed Stubbs” was the most energetic of the bunch, and it worked wonders for his interpretation of that lively character; and Nelson Del Valle was convincing as “Corny Collins”. The rest of the cast ranged from “good” to “mediocre”, but they all worked in their roles. And coreography-wise, it looked very good, too: this was definitely my favorite aspect of it, with dance numbers looking energetic while being synchronized.

Suffice to say, I think there’s enormous room for improvement. Puerto Rico’s theatre scene is starving for productions, and anything that gets produced is a good thing. But let’s not stop there: we can be more than good. We can be fucking great. The following day, I attended an opera…and it was ”fucking great”. 

It can be done. 

As a last note, why spend months and months of practice and production design work…for only a weekend of showings? All the shows were filled to capacity in the 1,875-seat Antonio Paoli Hall during those three nights. It’d make more sense to present more showings in a smaller venue (think two-to-three weekends). Give people from all over the island a chance to see this. Take note, theatre producers!

Thanks for reading. : )

So I finally spared forty five minutes of my life to watch Joss Whedon’s cute little web-exclusive (for now) musical about the aspirations of a second-rate comic booky ”villain”, the girl he’s been eyeing for himself and his arch-nemesis, an arrogant “hero” played by fan-favorite Nathan Fillion. The piece took the entertainment world by surprise when it suddenly went up during mid-July, providing us mortals with a quality musical short for free (a spoil of the writers war strike). Everybody has been showing their love to it since it went live, but I have to be frank here: it wasn’t love at first sight for me, and I love, love musicals.

It has a steep involvement curve, that’s for sure…unless you’re Whedon’s biggest fan and/or love the cast unconditionally, you won’t get all the hoopla that has been surrounding this piece inmediately. It begins with our titular character rambling for about 3 minutes on his “vlog” (short for “video blog”), reading mail from his “viewers” while giving us a few snippets of exposition about himself, a frustrated, run-of-the-mill villain performed exquisitely by Neil Patrick Harris. 

After that slow introduction (which I had to repeat a couple of times due to its inability of keeping me greatly interested), the piece gives way naturally to its first musical number: a deep look at his obsession with the girl he’s secretly in love with (played by the charming Felicia Day). It’s that first musical number that injects some likeability to the characters, finally establishing a way for the viewers to connect with them in an emotional plane. From there on, I liked it. Bittersweet situations that gave way to clever lyrics and songs, camera pans used to display rhythm within some musical sequences, and Nathan Fillion being great as the hatable “Captain Hammer” (which has some of the best lines in the short) were a few of the things that stood out for me as positives.

Neil Patrick Harris as "Dr. Horrible".

Despite that, it never found “greatness” for me. Yes, it’s a good effort from all the parts involved, but it’s not something I’d love to repeat. The music, while good in its own terms, was not incredible either. I didn’t find myself humming the songs nor wanting to hear them again after it was finished. A shame, really. And, of course, the ending…why so tragic? I get it was trying to bang you over the head with a message, but c’mon! Hope, people!

Now, I admit I’m in the minority here, judging by the enourmous support and praise people has given to this piece over the past month or so since it went up. It just didn’t “grab me” as much as I would’ve liked, but that’s fine. I’m happy it served as an introduction to musicals for people who are usually not into them. And it is great seeing a great writer/director like Joss Whedon using the web to spread free artful entertainment, much needed in these days of climbing gas prices and global warming.

As always, thanks for reading! : )

So, for all of us TV buffs who love our serials with a passion, today is a good day: it marks the start of this highly anticipated J.J. Abrams (of ‘Lost’ and ’Alias’ fame) production starring Joshua Jackson, Anna Torv and the always great John Noble, amongst others. An original, Twilight Zone-inspired piece, ‘Fringe’ centers around a female FBI agent (Torv) who is forced to work with an institutionalized scientist (Noble) in order to rationalize a brewing storm of unexplained phenomena. Pinches your interest, right? 

More interesting, however, is the description of the ‘Pilot’ itself:

 ”When an international flight lands at Boston’s Logan Airport and the passengers and crew have all died grisly deaths, FBI Special Agent Olivia Dunham is called in to investigate. When the search nearly kills her partner, Special Agent John Scott, a desperate Olivia searches frantically for someone to help, leading her to Dr. Walter Bishop, our generation’s Einstein. There’s only one catch: He’s been institutionalized for the last 20 years, and the only way to question him requires pulling his estranged son, Peter, in to help. Under Special Agent Phillip Broyles, our trio will discover that what happened on that fatal flight is only a small piece of a larger, more shocking truth.”

Sounds “Abrams” enough. This series will also mark a first in serial broadcasting: it will only have 5 minutes of commercials per episode, giving us a previously unseen total of 55 minutes of show, up from the normal 42 minutes “hour-long” dramas usually give us. The ‘Pilot’ is apparently really good, going by all the rave reviews it has been receiving so far. Hopefully FOX doesn’t decide to cancel it quickly, like other short-lived shows of great quality. *weeps quietly for ‘Firefly’*

Don’t forget to catch the two-hour premiere tonight at 8pm EST. Trailer has been added below for your viewing pleasure. Thanks for reading. : )