Prepping For A Road Trip!

(I know, this picture has nothing to do with road trips. But I didn't feel like looking up a new photo to use.)

I'm heading out of town tomorrow and will be spending a lot of the week driving to and from various places in Montana and North Dakota. (My cousin is getting married and we're taking the chance to visit family.)

I look forward to long driving trips because it gives me a chance to do something I don't get to do very often. Listen to audio drama!

Now, you'd think that because of what I do every day I listen to audio drama all the time. But actually, it's because of my job that I CAN'T! I'm not able to write and listen to fiction at the same time, and when I'm not writing (scripts, e-mails, blogs, website copy, etc.) I'm using my ears to mix and create my own audio content.

I can also get an extra dose of the teaching lectures I listen to. Currently I'm enjoying material by both Winkie Pratney and William Lane Craig.

We have a rule in our car that whoever is driving gets to choose what we listen to. I'll be volunteering to drive a lot!

Sucker Punch (Movie Review)

Let's get straight to it, shall we? This movie was a nerdly geek-splosion of awesomeness. I'm giving it a 10 out of 10 for my Quality score. Not because it's flawless, but because it's a major achievement in film that shouldn't be ignored. I haven't checked my records to verify, but I don't think I've given another movie a 10 since the first "Iron Man". Like that film, "Sucker Punch" is too much fun, too much of a visual feast and just too freakin' cool to give it anything less.

The story centers on a girl nicknamed "Baby Doll", who finds herself framed by her evil stepfather and sentenced to an insane asylum, where she faces a lobotomy in 5 days unless she can escape. A matronly psychologist helps her and the other girls in the asylum, to cope with their situation by empowering them to retreat into an imagined world they create, in which they are powerful and able to bring about positive change in their circumstances.

As the story unfolds, Baby Doll leads a group of girls in a mission to escape the asylum, but we get to see their progress through the lens of Baby Doll's imagined fantasy world, a crazy blend of sci-fi, fantasy and steam-punk that propels itself with action visuals the Wachowski brothers(The Matrix Trilogy) would drool at.

The creative quality and almost relentless quantity of visual effects sequences has enough optical intensity to make this movie worth seeing. But the time spent on character motivation, though not a lot, is enough to help us invest in their struggle, especially in the second half of the movie. This is not a simple "eye-candy" visual effects film. It has plenty of heart and a few moments that left me leaning forward with a dropped jaw, not from some stunning CGI, but stunning tragedy inflicted on our heroes. I especially found the character "Rocket" to be compelling and for some reason very interesting to watch.

Another elements that might be easy to overlook is the costumes, which are almost a visual effect themselves. This is where the inspiration of "Heavy Metal" magazine and modern comic books makes itself most evident.

Although "Sucker Punch" is mostly escapist entertainment, it has some clear themes of overcoming evil and self-empowerment, with a healthy dose of self-sacrifice. From a biblical standpoint, we might support the first theme and automatically reject the second. This movie ultimately states (even literally through narration) that we are our own source of trials and victories in life. We are the ultimate power in control of our lives. Biblically, this idea doesn't fly. In fact, the movie itself is inconsistent on this point. In the last moments of the film, while this point is being made in narration, a main character is able to achieve her aspiration, though only because of the assistance of others, including a random stranger. In fact, other characters who wanted to achieve their aspirations much more strongly, failed in their attempts. This is in direct contradiction to the philosophy stated in the final words before the credits roll, leaving me a bit confused.

That said, their is room for some "self-determination" according to the Bible. Paul clearly struggles with conflict that he brings about in his own life (Romans 7:15-20) and David declares a determination to himself that he will choose to praise God. (Psalm 103:1-2) Messages inspiring self-determination on not by nature counter to scripture unless they promote self-determination as the ultimate source of strength. Sucker punch verbally validates ultimate self-determination but illustrates what might even be described as divine intervention or at least exterior supernatural aid. The movie doesn't beg for conversation, but it could be started fairly easily on the way home by simply asking out loud, "What exactly IS it about that movie that makes me feel like I can conquer the world right now?"

A mind-blowing, genre-bending experience that will likely be a benchmark for years to come. If you're a fan of sci-fi/fantasy action, you'd be crazy to miss this one.

Rated PG-13 for thematic material involving sexuality, violence and combat sequences, and for language.

Quality: 10/10

Relevance: 8.0/10

www.spiritblade.net/paeter
www.spiritblade.net/podcast

"Yeah! Eat it, losers!"

My uncle managed to capture this "magic moment" between gestures that my son offered up last weekend. It's amazing how film can capture a single moment, so quick and fleeting, and allow us to treasure it forever.

Game-A-Thon!

My birthday is coming up next month, and instead of doing a party or something, my wife is letting me have some friends/family over for 15 hours of nerdy board games! Woohoo!

The games to choose from include:


Zombies! (Shotguns vs. Hordes of the Dead as you race to reach the helicopter!)

Doom: The Boardgame (Co-op space marines blowing up aliens, baby!)

Betrayal At House On The Hill (Co-op horror survival... until someone turns out to be the bad guy!)

Hero Quest (Co-op fantasy dungeon questing! Swords, magic and monsters!)

Magic: The Gathering (Strategic, spell-themed card game.)

Fireball Island (Yes, THAT Fireball Island! Steal the gem, screw people over and get off the exploding Volcano!)

Risk 2210 (The classic war game pumped up with nukes, satellite weaponry and territory on the moon!)

Arkham Horror (Dark unstoppable forces are waking to end the world. Can we hope to survive? Nope!)


I can't wait!!

My Review System

Recently "Whiteboy", at the Spirit Blade Forums, suggested that I post a breakdown of the review system I use when I review entertainment (usually movies) here or on my podcast.

So I just set up a page here on the Paeter's Brain blog that you can check out to get an understanding of my scoring system.

I hope you find it helpful as you read my reviews!

Next Stop: Hermeneutics!

I took a day off this week for a "spiritual retreat", which proved to be just as valuable as I thought it might be.

One of the things that came out of my time "on the mountain-top" was an interest in biblical hermeneutics. (And the me from 10 years ago can't believe I'm saying that.) I've found studies in biblical apologetics, doctrine, philosophy and theology to be really valuable. But I've never buckled down with a textbook about the theory of textual interpretation of the Bible from the evangelical standpoint.

I don't have the time or finances to take any courses, but I have a growing collection of textbooks that I've used to teach myself as best I can.

I'm planning to bug my study mentor, The Hebrew-Greek Bible Geek, for a recommendation. But I'd be interested in any other recommendations on a book as well!

Dragon Age 2, First Impressions

Haven't had as much time as I'd like to dive into "Dragon Age 2" over the last week, but I've had enough to give my first five impressions of the first five hours:

1. The interface has changed noticeably. I'm still getting used to it. Most buttons still serve the same functions. But full equipment access/adjustment has been moved from the radial menu to the pause menu and the "back button" is only good for bringing up the map, rather than the entire menu system. In some ways this simplifies things, giving you one route to reach a given menu, but the menu changes don't seem to be a big enough improvement to justify the change in familiarity from the last game.

2. The graphics continue to look great, possibly even better than the first game. Still lots of blood flying around in combat. This game pulls no punches. The general color of the game seems to be a little more sterile and gritty this time around. This hasn't been a plus or a minus for me yet, it's just different.

3. The story is a sequel to the larger events of the first game, but doesn't involve your character from Dragon Age: Origins except in vague references to the "Hero Of Ferelden" now and then. No sign of Morrigan yet, but Flemeth (voiced by Kate Mulgrew of "Star Trek: Voyager") makes an appearance early on, revealing new layers to her character and setting up her further involvement (I assume) later in (and hopefully throughout) the game.

You choose the sex and class of your human character and use multiple choice options to select your "type" of response in dialogue. Identical to Mass Effect 1 and 2, you don't know exactly what words each response type will result in. The trade-off is that your character is fully voiced. Personally, I could go either way. When I'm in the mood (and alone) I'll actually read my "lines" out loud in Dragon Age: Origins and similar games.

4. The sound of the game is very similar to the first. Same composer, and presumably the same female vocalist providing haunting melodies over the orchestra. So far, the score hasn't "opened up" as much, although I assume things will sound more epic as the story expands. The voice acting is just as strong as ever, and the male actor for Hawke (your character) does a good job of creating a voice and tone that works whether you take the noble, snarky or hard edged dialogue options.

5. The biggest change is the combat system, which has been tweaked subtly but significantly. It is now a bit more action oriented. Instead of your character repeatedly attacking a selected foe until they are defeated, you have to press the "select" button repeatedly (after moving into range) in order to continue attacking. Your supporting characters are still automated with customizable tactics and you can switch around to control whoever you want, but the combat feel is now just a little closer to a "Diablo" clone than Baldur's Gate or Neverwinter Nights, which Dragon Age: Origins drew heavily from.

This has been a step backward in my opinion. I enjoyed the real-time combat of the first game, but since it was still somewhat automated, I could easily move the camera around to check out the cool combat from whatever angle I wanted. Now, however, the thumb controlling the camera is busy pushing "A" over and over again, and so the combat is seen mostly from one angle. Bummer. After five hours in as a fighter, and trying out a mage supporting character for the last 20 minutes, I've actually decided to start the game over as a mage, since I believe that will provide more of the "stop and go" tactical experience I enjoyed in the first game, without having to micro-manage my whole team (as I would personally need to do if I just amp up the difficulty).

Final Impression-
Over all, I'm really enjoying the game, though I would have been happier if the combat hadn't been touched. Still, this is Bioware, we're talking about. So I'm giving myself some time to adjust to their changes and hopefully they'll prove to be good ones in the end. Either way, this is shaping up to be a very compelling game experience that I'd recommend to almost any RPG player.