Up until Anchorman, Paul Rudd was that guy in Clueless who had a crush on Alicia Silverstone’s character.  He was that guy who was going crazy over assumptions his girlfriend was cheating on him in Overnight Delivery, co-starring Reese Witherspoon.  He was that guy who tried hooking up with Claire Danes before Leo DiCaprio did in Romeo + Juliet.

Now Paul Rudd is on nearly every main stream comedy to come out in the last ten years.

(Possible over-exaggeration there)

Rudd has shared his duties both as the star as well as supporting cast.  One of his supporting roles came in 2007′s massively popular Knocked Up, which shot Seth Rogen into Hollywood fame.  It seems like the audience really took a liking into Rudd’s character of Pete and his on-screen wife Debbie (played by Apatow’s wife Leslie Mann), as they are getting their own spin off five years later in the upcoming This Is 40.

It makes sense in terms of story for this to come into fruition.  Throughout Knocked Up, Debbie kept battling with herself regarding her age when compared to her younger, more sexier sister Alison.  The question is, do Pete and Debbie deserve their own movie?

Granted, it’s not a sequel, just a spin off.  Seth Rogen may make an appearance but I doubt we’ll see Katherine Heigl reprise her role as Alison given the trash talk she spoke about Knocked Up a few years back.  By watching the trailer you see Jason Segel makes a cameo.

What about Jonah Hill and Jay Baruchel?

Judd Apatow movies take some time for me to enjoy.  I don’t run right out and see them, I normally wait for the DVD and go from there.  Obviously he has scored some instant hits.  Knocked Up, The 40 Year Old Virgin, and Forgetting Sarah Marshall are amongst my favorites.  To clarify, I do understand that Apatow was merely a producer of Forgetting Sarah Marshall.

It took me a couple years to enjoy Anchorman.  I originally hated the hell out of it.  Bring on Anchorman 2.

Funny People was somewhat funny.

What do you think, will a sort-of sequel to Knocked Up work?

Check out the trailer to This Is 40 below, the movie is set to release December 21, 2012:

Will Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Future Soldier change that?

Ghost Recon started off as a tactical shooter.  Considered to be a shooter meant only for those who preferred tactics over a run’n'gun shooter, the series quickly transformed into a SOCOM-like experience in Ghost Recon 2.  One of the best Xbox Live games (to this guy) to hit the market, Ghost Recon 2 was a success.  An interesting presentation of a campaign to some of the best multiplayer I’ve experienced in my years of gaming, Ubisoft was quickly becoming the go-to brand for solid online games.  With other franchises like Rainbow Six and Splinter Cell also doing well with critics and sales, Ubisoft made a name for themselves.

Thursday nights were Siege nights.  Those were the days.

When gaming transferred over to the now current gen (PS3, 360, Wii), Ubi brought over with them all three franchises.  Ghost Recon emerged with a two part Advanced Warfighter series, both of which featured a heated campaign as well as extensive multiplayer.  For me, I couldn’t get into the online components to either game.  It wasn’t that the games weren’t stable or balanced – they were.  It wasn’t from a lack of a community – plenty of people were online.

It just didn’t have the replay value I expected.

Given that Ghost Recon 2 and Rainbow Six 3 came out when multiplayer gaming was just getting into its prime, this was an all new experience for console gamers.  We weren’t used to being able to game online anytime, anywhere.  Now-a-days, if a game doesn’t feature a multiplayer component then it feels like it is missing something.  Even the next God of War is going multiplayer.

In today’s console market dominated by the likes of Halo and Call of Duty, one wonders if Ghost Recon stands a chance.  With a major abundance of shooters out there, who has time to play a new one and stick to it for months at a time?  Just glancing over my collection I notice that I haven’t touched games like Battlefield 3, Killzone 3, or SOCOM 4 in some time.  I enjoyed the multiplayer in all three games, but there’s just too many games hitting the market that it’s hard to stick to just one or two franchises at a time.

We got backlogs to go through.  I’m currently going through Back to the Future: The Game myself.

GR: Future Soldier released a public beta, of which I did participate and it seems like it has all the right stuff to win me back over.  However, how long will it keep me interested?  Until Spec Ops: The Line comes out?  Maybe at the end of the summer as we prepare for this Fall’s blockbuster lineup?

Is this new game the future of our online gaming needs?

Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Future Soldier releases May 22, 2012 in the U.S. for the PS3, Xbox 360, and PC.  Watch the full launch trailer below:

Well, let’s not go that far.

When I first heard about the concept of the board game becoming a movie, I couldn’t help but to laugh at just how Hollywood is searching desperately for new ideas.  After thinking about it more as time went on, I figured the idea wasn’t as bad as I originally thought out to be.  It could make for an interesting war games-type of film.  Picture it, a Cold War type setting between the U.S. and the Soviet Union.  Or heck, a modern day recreation of the battle of the Pacific between the U.S. and Japan.

Instead, Battleship is merely a name for a movie that deals somewhat with subs and destroyers, the rest of it has ideally nothing to do with one of my favorite childhood games.  Which is what you should have expected in the first place.  There’s nothing wrong with that either.  Summer is approaching, and the time is now for our mega blockbusters to release, typically featuring a plethora of CGI explosions, destruction of our planet, and death.  I love this time of year.

Sure, The Dark Knight Rises will likely define my summer, but that doesn’t mean we can’t use a movie that will feature a cheesy story.  What it will lack in story (c’mon folks, this isn’t a Soderbergh film), it will make up for in mindless violence.

There are some doubts however.  Call me a nitpicker of sorts, but what the hell is Rihanna doing in my movie?  This is when you can tell a movie won’t be taken itself seriously when it goes out and hires a famous pop artist to fill a role – one mainly planted there to add some lovely sex appeal to it.

Battleship will likely be lukewarm with critics, ranging in getting a bunch of 50-70s numerically, or Cs and Ds in an alphabetical score.  In fact, it will likely get the same type of critic reception as did Kitsch’s first film this year, John Carter.  What Universal hopes this film can do that JC couldn’t – bring in the dollars.

With The Avengers still breaking records and remaining hot in the box office, Battleship will not get over that hump easily.  We can’t blame it on Universal’s marketing – they are constantly running ads on TVs, there’s billboards all over and many of our recent sporting events have been “sponsored by” this very film.

It all depends on the audience.  Do they want a mindless action flick, a la Transformers, or do they want to go see (or possibly see again) Joss Whedon successfully pulling off a super-sized super hero flick?  Keep in mind to, Liam Neeson also stars – he’s always box office gold.  Bring on Taken 2!

I’ll take one for Battleship.  I’ve seen The Avengers a’plenty.

Battleship releases in the United States on May 18.  Check out a recent trailer:

That just made me sound like a serial killer in the making.  Trust me, I can’t even kill an ant properly.

I recall last year that goHastings had a price glitch sales fest.  Two of the games that were included in the price mistake were L.A. Noire and Spec Ops: The Line.  I immediately jumped on L.A. Noire, and to my surprise, goHastings honored the mistake.  It is my regret I didn’t jump in on Spec Ops as well.

I had my worries about the game.  It was coming from a developer that produced only one game I was familiar with, coincidentally bearing the same name as the studio itself, Yager.  It was a decent game that really never got any kind of spotlight, but was never intended to do so.

I’ve seen a trailer or two about this game but never thought much about it.  When the demo became available this week I was quick to jump on it simply because this week’s PSN update offered little else that appealed to me.  What I didn’t expect to happen as a result of me playing the demo would be me wanting to place a pre-order.

Spec Ops: The Line is just another military shooter.  That is fact.  What’s the problem with that?  A few weeks ago I finally popped in SOCOM 4 and gave it a go.  I was never one that was interested in SOCOM given the multiplayer-first focus, but I enjoyed the game for what it was.  The campaign’s story was cheesy, but I had an entetaining time going through the mix of stealth and full on assault missions.  It also didn’t hurt that I spent around $20 on it compared to the original asking price of $60 when it first debuted.

After playing through Spec Ops lengthy demo, it reminded me a lot of the mechanics from SOCOM.  Third person gameplay, variety of weapons to choose from, and simplistic yet useful team tactics.  The story does look to be more intriguing and the AI a bit more realistic.

I find it ironic that this game features Nolan North, who’s voice is also featured in SOCOM 4.  Not to mention, in Uncharted 3 (where North portrays Nathan Drake) the game featured missions in Dubai, the same setting of Spec Ops.  More on Nolan North later on.

What Spec Ops did right to at least get me interested was that it was focused on gameplay mechanics.  A good cover system, easy team controls, and responsive triggers.  If there was one improvement I could ask for it would be more sensitivity control, but it is one obstacle that I’m able to look past.  It didn’t help that I just got done with a three hour play session of GTA IV.  Yes, I’m finally playing through the second expansion pack.

With that, there’s a lot that can go wrong with this game.  Unlike SOCOM 4, this game seems to be attempting to appeal itself to both single and multiplayer gamers.  The story consists of conspiracy and treason – how many times have we seen this in the last two years?  The biggest concern is length.  Eight to ten hours tends to be the industry accepted mark for a game these days, but even franchises like Call of Duty or even Battlefield clock in under five hours.

Multiplayer wise, how can it attract an audience?  The game can do everything right to make for a stable and balanced game online, but sometimes there is just no audience out there.  The release window looks to be competition free so the potential is there for the game to gain a following.  Just how long will it last is a bigger concern.  With games like Black Ops II and Halo 4 heading out way later this year.

Spec Ops won’t win over every one, but for me, going in with low expectations allowed me to see what the game can do right if it succeeds.  Check this off the “waiting to see how it does” list and count me in for a pre-order, pending finding a good deal somewhere on the web.  This could just be a sleeper hit of 2012.

Spec Ops: The Line is set to release June 26, 2012 in North America for the PS3, Xbox 360, and PC.  Check out a trailer below:

Disney has recently revealed the official box arts for the home release of John Carter, and boy do they disappoint.  For those who know me, I’m quite critical when it comes to movie box arts.  I’d buy a movie nonetheless of its art, but would be willing to shell out more cash for those that actually look past the old fashion “let’s show off the main star on half the cover” way of doing things.

Then again, this is Disney.

There will be two separate domestic arts, one for the two-disc and one for the four disc.  Both showcase the same exact image, only difference being that on the two disc Taylor Kitsch is on the right side and vice versa for the four disc.  Normally I’d expect the studio to put a bit more effort in pushing the home video if the movie was a bust in theaters.  It could sometimes help out on balancing out the production cost.

The official movie posters were no more appealing, though one did give a better visualization of what the movie was portraying.  Check all three here:

When one sees John Carter on the shelves, they’ll just think it’s a made for TV Disney flick.  The poster is simpler but comes off a bit better  Goes right to the point and dismisses showing off.  The real problem with JC was which audience were they trying to appeal to here?  Kids?  Adults?  In-between?

Verdict: Poster

Poster or Box Art is a segment where I examine the officially released box art for an upcoming home release of a movie and compare it to the posters of which were displayed when the movie was in theaters.  It is then decided on which one the studio should have used for the home release.  All opinions are of my own, this is meant to be a friendly comparison.

Publisher:

For some, their most memorable original PlayStation title was Final Fantasy VII.  For others, possibly Metal Gear Solid.  Both are respective choices.  Both defined quality, well balanced gameplay, and were all in all worthy of their asking prices.  For this reviewer, it has always been and will always be Twisted Metal 2.  The original Twisted Metal showed us the potential of this franchise, but its sequel defined what the series is all about.  Since then, every Twisted Metal game that has been released I have always compared to TM2.  2001′s Twisted Metal Black came the closest.  What about 2012′s reboot?  How does it compare?

Read on for more.

It has been a long time since we received a full fledge Twisted Metal release.  In fact, the last full console release was Black.  We were treated with 2005′s Twisted Metal: Head On for the PSP, and later for the PS2.  It was one of the better TM games, and easily one of my personal favorites for Sony’s debut handheld.  Twisted Metal (PS3) brings us back to the memories we created and remembered from the series past.  Though we are limited on characters, some of our favorite vehicles return.

Axel, Outlaw, Roadkill, Shadow and of course Sweet Tooth are amongst the vets returning.  Given my love of TM2 I was hoping a few more show up along the way, include Mr. Slam, Grasshopper, Thumper, and/or Minion.  Perhaps in the future with DLC, though co-creator David Jaffe says DLC will only come depending on the game’s popularity.

Instead of focusing on individual stories surrounding all the vehicles, the game focuses on only three: Sweet Tooth, Mr. Grimm, and Dollface.  While limited on story telling, for what we do have is quite entertaining.  The dialogue won’t win any awards but the visual presentation makes the cinematics worth watching.

The campaign itself is easily beatable in an afternoon.  Playing with a friend will is more preferred given the access of an ally, but  all in all, sharing a pile of laughs off of one’s own stupidity.

The true gem of the title is in the multiplayer.  The newest addition to the game is Nukes, a mode that pits teams against each other that requires a good amount of team work.  Those who prefer to be lone wolves on the battlefield need to be more social as you are going to need to work together to accomplish the objective.  Nukes is the meat of the multiplayer, but those who still prefer the old school “kill ‘em all” style of gaming will be right at home in the Deathmatch and Last Man Standing modes.

The only issues worth noting right now is the somewhat unstable network connection over PSN.  Since launch numerous players have experienced issues trying to connect to matches.  I myself have experienced these issues when staying in a lobby.  Though we should all expect to see these issues resolved in the near future.

Other issues include the earlier mentioned lack of character diversity.  With only three story lines, some fans may miss the back stories behind each vehicle.  One thing that worried me were the control schemes.  Some old franchises don’t transition well into the modern era with their old style of controls.  Thankfully the issue is not present here.  The classic control scheme works well and becomes easy to master after just a few matches.

Twisted Metal will likely be seen as a must buy for fans of the franchise.  Newcomers to the series will be the market that will likely be split 50/50.  If you are seeking a multiplayer focused title that can get you off your preferred first person shooter, it will be a refreshing game to play from time to time.  Clan leaders take note, clan support is included.

To go back to the earlier question, Twisted Metal stands up as one of the best in the series.  Overall, I’d likely to consider Twisted Metal 2 the best in the franchise, but chances are, that’s just my nostalgic self talking.

B+

Twisted Metal was not provided for review from SCEA.  I have played the game for 20+ hours, completing the story campaign.  The game is exclusive to PlayStation 3 and currently does not have Remote Play support for the PlayStation Vita.  500 Word Review is a segment of What’s My Thoughts where a reviewer sums up a piece of media in approximately five hundred words.

‘Tis a shame too given all the money I would have given IMAX theaters if they would just stick with 2D showings.

When I first saw the trailers for John Carter months ago I thought to myself, “what the hell?”  It looked like pure garbage.  For all I know, it may just turn out to be that.  Over time though the trailers and previews have grown on me.  Maybe it’s my love of Friday Night Lights that is pushing me to go see it (Taylor Kitsch stars in the title role), after all it was led me to go see the midnight screening of Super 8 (Kyle Chandler).

Wait a minute, I was a tad bit disappointed with Super 8.  Uh oh.

Here’s what John Carter wants to be – an epic story.

Here’s what it won’t be – an epic story.

What I want is simple.  Gorgeous CGI, insanely hot women, and lengthy battle sequences.  If Disney has that formula intact, you guys got yourself a fan from the get-go.

Taylor Kitsch will also be starring in the Peter Berg helmed Battleship later this year.  Otherwise known as Transformers 1.2.3: The Non-Michael Bay Version.

Check out one of the latest trailers of John Carter below:

He also sneaks in a little jab at NBC in there as well.

Team Coco all the way.

They probably did too.

Fans have been wanting a new American Pie film, featuring Jim, Kevin, Finch, Stifler and the departed Oz.  Now, we got one with the upcoming American Reunion.

Do we really need one though?

I have nothing against a good comedy, but given it has been nine years since our last true Pie film, do we need to give the franchise a rebound?  Having watched the previews, I have to say I am a bit skeptical on just how much comedy is to come with the new flick.  I’ll likely pass on the film’s theater run having been more of a fan of the Unrated versions, but it is a near certainly American Reunion will do quite well.

I haven’t found much to laugh at in the trailers thus far, which makes me think I could be surprised on its turnout.  These days it seems like comedies show off their best laughs in the trailers only being an overall dud when watched in full.  With American Reunion not pulling off the laughs, perhaps we have to wait to we see it to start grinning away.

Or the film will bomb.

Check out the latest trailer below:

Publisher:

For years it has been a dream of mine that we would see the resurgence of Virtua Cop.  For now, I’m happy to take on House of the Dead III, once a Xbox-exclusive that I always wanted to play, but never got around to it.  Thankfully it has been re-released for the PlayStation Network with full Move support.  It’s been a long time since I have used my Move and the Precision Shot 3 accessory that was purchased for use in the only other light gun game in my collection, The Shoot.

For only S7, gamers can download and finally take quality use of their Move controllers.  House of the Dead is a bit outdated these days and we’re likely to not see the franchise resurrected anytime soon given the decline of lightgun games, and for that matter, the decline of Sega franchises.  Those seeking a title that you can just relax with and just get down to doing some good ol’ shootin’ will enjoy.  Having played House of the Dead 2 just fairly recently on my Dreamcast made me wish how we needed a quality lightgun title for the Move.  The Shoot wasn’t bad, though had some calibration issues.  Time Crisis was a bit too restrictive.  With that said Sega did re-release House of the Dead: Overkill for the Move this past Fall though I have not had the opportunity to play it.

My main concern when it comes to Move titles is calibration, especially in a title like this one.  Having played a few solid hours of the title, it is safe to say calibration is not an issue.  The controller never lost connection or became miscalibrated despite my efforts on trying to force it to.  Such tries as constantly putting the controller out of sight and back again, moving it all around the screen, and fast movement never caused an interference.

Peripheral wise, as mentioned I used the Precision Shot 3 which worked perfectly for this kind of game, as it did for The Shoot.  Those with Sony’s official Sharpshooter controller should have no issues but House of the Dead for me was never a title to play with a two handed gun, rather a pistol like accessory.  With the disappointment of games like Killzone 3 not being supported for the Precision Shot 3, I’m glad I finally had a reason to dust it off for this one.

With this being a remastered version of an old console title, another concern was with the price.  Again, Sega did justice here.  The title is currently available for $7 for PSN members, though PlayStation Plus members can get it for under $5.  It certainly wasn’t a game suited for a price of $40-50, but for under $10 there is very little to complain about.  Collector wise, the Xbox version of the game is currently going for as high as $75-80 on sites like Amazon.  Those seeking a new Move game should definitely pick it up.  It has solid replay value, and is one of the stronger multiplayer titles out there for the controller.

This is an arcade experience not worth passing up.  House of the Dead fans, it’s a no brainer.

B

House of the Dead III was not provided for review from Sega.  I have played the game for 2+ hours, completing numerous rounds on both free and ranked play.  The game is currently only available via digital download for the PlayStation 3.  500 Word Review is a segment of What’s My Thoughts where a reviewer sums up a piece of media in approximately five hundred words.