Today I went and saw the new Terminator Salvation movie at the Empire. Sadly, I must say that the movie itself was a complete non-starter, and left me waiting for the ‘Salvation’ that came with the end of the movie. The movie is a rather flat affair, and lacks the humour and irony that we have come to associate with the Terminator franchise. The original Arnie factor is completely missing, as is the excitement and suspense of the previous incarnations. My official grade for the movie is: “DUD” – it is a complete dud… On the plus side, it is the only dud in the franchise, and hopefully things will remain that way, as this prequel, as is customary these days, left the path for further Terminator movies wide open.

Women were conspicuously absent in this movie. Sure there were the five that covered all the bases: an old lady, a pregnant woman, a 5-6 year old girl, the fighter pilot, and the cyberdyne computer girl. But their total screen time was miniscule. Let’s just say that the female artists appearing in this movie  will not be winning an oscar for best supporting actress anytime soon. Having had women feature prominently in all of the Terminator movies – this was certainly a boy’s affair… In my opinion, to the detriment of the franchise. I do have a thing against leaving half of the planet’s population out of the picture…

On another note, it is now official: the monkeys at Fox have decided to ax Terminator, The Sarah Connor Chronicles – probably the most intelligent and exciting Sci Fi TV series of the last five years. But it had some major flaws: it was an intelligent show, raising important questions about humanity and being human. And as we know, monkeys do not necessarily like to think! On top it, it had an immaculate visual language, and featured women prominently – using the sci-fi platform to promote openness, self-reflection, and perhaps giving us a dark glimpse of where we could end up – if we fail to curb the excesses of ‘super-capitalism’.

Sure, our monkey friends have washed their hands off the affair – it was the ratings, they chant… Sure, of course it was… “Wanna buy some waterfront property in Miami?”  Well, it probably had to do with their conservatism – or shall we say reactionary-ism… Ironically enough, super-capitalism undermines the open nature of our democracies and leads to an insiduous move towards the authoritarian branch of the J-curve – more on this topic can be found here. No wonder our democracies are beginning to feel unstable. But I am starting to digress… However, if you read this article, please drop Fox a line, or some bananas, to let them know that they have made a poor choice. Thanks.

This being Easter weekend, and HMV having a sale, I ended up parting with some of my hard earned cash – acquiring in return – a few DVDs… Though the official reviews of Vin Diesel’s Babylon A.D. were mixed, I must say I was pleasantly suprised!

The movie reminds me of Vin Diesel’s best movie ever: Pitch Black – an excellent horror flick that was done on a shoestring budget.

Unlike other action heroes, when given the chance, Vin Diesel can actually act – and he deals very nicely with the grim subject matter of this movie, as well as with the transformational aspects of his own character from someone who does not give a damn, to someone who is willing to give up his life.

As is the case with many post-apocalyptic themed movies, in this movie, we are reminded, by way of allegory and imagery, of the ever growing stark gap between the haves and the have nots, and of the corruption endemic in corporate and political institutions. On a tangent, one cannot help but wonder, for example, why it is that Shreddy Freddy’s pension is a matter of contract law, while firing 9000 employees – is not…

Coming back to Babylon A.D., however, the movie does have an Achilles heel – one that most movies dealing with comic book adaptations struggle with. Of course, I m talking about the portrayal of the villain(s). In particular, should the villain be a black-and-white caricature, or perhaps a tragically flawed human being? In this respect, Babylon A.D. walks a fine line. But I m glad that the movie errs on the side of caution, and avoids exaggerated caricaturisation.

Yes! Peaches, with her electro-punk sound, was at the RFH. It was a memorable evening: her parents were in the audience, and… she began the show with the maxim, “I m gonna murder you tonight!”

To my right was a Spanish contingent of 4 girls and a guy. Perhaps it was the Spanish influence that lead me to read the Peaches logo – placed high up on the stage – as ‘Nachos’. But after a double take, I realized what it said. : ) On my left, were a couple of leathered up dudes. Then there was that ultra-tight-neon-blue-lycra-catsuit clad girl, who was wearing a transparent plexiglass teapot on her head. And, the twin albino Jimmy Hendrix look-alikes….

The start up acts included the lovely Charli XCX – dressed up in full Harajuku style, and the extravagant, sweet-voiced Jonny Woo…

Well, a quick interim review on Resident Evil 5 is in order:

In my case, this was probably one of the most anticipated games, that I had been waiting for. So having actually pre-ordered the game, and having played it for a few sessions now, I ll put my thoughts on the subject together.

Overall rating: 3/5

While the play-action and the choice of weaponry is excellent, the game is missing a couple of key elements: humour, and visual contrast. The lack of visual contrast is something that I have especially noticed on the X-Box, and I wonder if it has to do with the rendering engine. But the basic issue is one in which a number of nice and vivid colours make up a composition, and where the value of the colours are very close together, making it hard to distinguish shapes. From an arts point of view, in terms of realistic painting, the value error is a basic and fundamental mistake. However, let’s not be too hard on the game’s creators, and learning to apply realistic value is also probably the hardest aspect of painting.

On the humour end, we are missing the type of humour that in Res Evil 4 was injected by the likes of Ashley and the Trader (“Stranger, stranger, not that’s a weapon…” as he used to say). I m afraid Resident Evil 5 is, in contrast quite a cut-and-dry affair of mechanical fine-control involving a controller-pad.

There are also few save points, which is quite a disappointment, when one is short on time, or prefers to put in shorter gaming sessions.

On the plus side, the choice of weaponry is very good. The characters are well-designed, and especially the Zombies are very convincing. Both of the main protagonists come with the usual CG amenities, which in the case of Chris translates into large muscled arms, and in the case Sheva into the well defined CG bum, that was first made famous by Lara Croft.