Posts Tagged 2010
DeLillo’s Cosmopolis Takes A Twilight Turn
Courtesy of the NY Times
If you’ve done your research and gone digging around here, you’ll know that Don DeLillo is my favourite author. He was also the subject of my Literature dissertation in 09 where I looked at his representation of the urban space across three of his seminal novels (Underworld, Cosmopolis, Falling Man).
Cosmopolis, his 2003 novel written in the wake of September 11th, follows a single character – uber-billionare Eric Packer – as he goes about his business in NYC on the way to a haircut. Taking place amid protests, assassination attempts and featuring a hyper-real limo, it’s an intriguing and complex look at modern America.
Thus hearing that Paulo Branco had signed on to direct a cinematic version was fantastic. The translation to screen would undeniably be Everest-like, but still to see a film version of one of my favourite book is mouth-watering to say the least. Obviously, this stark tale requires a particular kind of talent to carry such a demanding role. Therefore it’s hard to know what possessed Casting to choose soppy, tween-fantasy-idol Robert Pattinson.
This isn’t no fantasy pile of rubbish. This is one of the intriguing and powerful novels of our short 21st Century. DeLillo must be spinning in his future-grave. He’s a recluse, very rarely giving any sort of interviews / press appearances, but I bet if he did the rounds he’s be professing disagreement of the most fierce forms.
A lot of the greats (De Niro comes to mind) avoid a constant pimping of oneself as it’s counter-productive to the roles they’re playing. It saddens me to hear this news. I will, of course, still watch the film, and who knows, Pattinson could pull out the rabbit from the hat, but the more likely result is a squandered opportunity to spread the greatness of a genius author.
VGA 2010 Excitement
Courtesy of Gamerant
This weekend saw the annual VGAs (Video Game Awards) over on Spike TV. Along with the cringe worthy celebrity appearances (complete with ignorant endorsements), the usual roster of new games were revealed. For actual gamers, the awards themselves are pretty nondescript (unless you hold a certain affinity to a winning game for online crusading purposes). The usual Call of Duty Black Ops, yada yada, spiel went on as the rest of us eagerly awaited the ‘new game reveal trailers‘. Typically SSX and Thor represented the indifferent category while Forza 4 and Insane (a game from director Del Toro due out in 2013) decided to show nothing of what they actually represent (i.e. no gameplay engine footage). There was a quirky Portal 2 trailer and for PS3 fans, news that Uncharted 3 and Resistance 3 were in production.
There were only three titles (due to platform restrictions) that actually interested me. Most exciting was the announcement (finally!) of Elder Scrolls V, titled Skyrim – while the trailer didn’t actually show anything, the very fact that it’s in development is enough to get me excited. The Elder Scrolls series has always been one of my favourites and I’m hoping that it’ll move the graphics engine forward (though if it’s on the current generation consoles, I’m worried it won’t be as good looking as it could be). Still, with the reveal that it’ll be released (delays willing) on 11.11.11 – 2011 looks to be a fantastic year for gaming.
Hugo Strange appearing in Batman: Arkham City was also great and the Mass Effect 3 trailer was enough to get me playing the original again with the aim to finally finish it. Mass Effect 2 is sitting in my pile as well, so I’m playing catch up there. Thoughts on that when I’m done.
Still, could have been better, could have been worse. I can’t wait for Kinect to see some development and E3 2011. Let the good times roll.
Good to see Daniel Lipscombe also enjoying Mafia II (which I finished on Sunday). Full thoughts soon.
Update 12.12.10: This tweet suggest that Skyrim is going to be using a brand new engine.
Update 30.12.2011: Oh, is it good…
Strategy Informer: Review – Football Manager 2011
Courtesy of Strategy Informer
Another day, another review. This time it’s the follow-up review to my Football Manager preview at Strategy Informer. I played a good 250 hours of Football Manager 2010 and unsurprisingly FM 11 is the best year yet. Everything has seen a massive improvement although nothing revolutionary occurs this time around. As usual an extract fellows below.
Dynamic leagues, for example, have long been asked for – trawl through the forums and you’ll see posts pleading for its inclusion. It’s a welcome addition – instead of the reputation of leagues staying static, they change according to the performance of clubs, players and managers within. Before it meant the Premiership and La Liga were destined for continual dominance. Manage a team in that league, and it’d be easy to coerce talent to jump ship. Now if the Germany national league has a renaissance in the Champions League in the 2020s, you’ll see a shift of power occur. It’s exciting stuff, especially for those who enjoy playing far into the future to explore ‘what-if’ situations.
FM 11: The Ultimate FM Walkthrough Guide
Courtesy of The Guardian
Everyone already knows that I’m a huge fan of Sports Interactive’s PC simulation title, Football Manager. I managed to rack up around 250 hours on 2010’s edition (here’s my Raptr (Snoozer282) if you wish to play with me), which means I’m looking forward to getting my teeth stuck into 2011. I’m reviewing it for Strategy Informer so expect the review shortly. (I’m currently backed up playing Divinity II for Resolution Magazine at the moment).
What I do want to share with everyone is the latest eBook that the FM-Britain community notified me about today. I downloaded and used their 2010 Tactical Theorems a lot when ‘managing’ Barnet. This latest resource, “The Ultimate FM Walkthrough Guide” refreshes all the content according to the latest features in FM 11 (it isn’t actually produced by FM-Britain). It’s 108 pages of tactical help and produced by Wonderkid (known more commonly for his FM Fanboys & Los Wonderkids sites) – you can grab it here.
Obviously the time it takes to write it means it isn’t free, but despite the cost, it’s still an extremely valuable resource that deserves its price of £6.95, (especially if you find yourself spending a vast amount of time on the game). FM-Britain also has a special discount for you over at their website.
While you wait for it to download, catch up on my latest Sims 3 Late Night review for Strategy Informer.
Update 29.12.11 – It’s astonishing just how much traffic this post pulls in, a whole year since it was published. I was going to delete it in my clean-up, but it seems it’s still important for you lot.
Reflective Tree
My Travel Website
- South East Asia: Mainland Travel Trails 9 June, 2013
- Northern Myanmar: Land of 1960s Travel 17 February, 2013
- Photographing Buddhist Clarity 3 February, 2013
- Face to Face with Dead Monks: Hidden Temples in Bangkok 29 January, 2013
- Getting a Thai Tourist Visa in the UK: The Facts 22 January, 2013