Tuesday 27 December 2011

DryChris's Top 10 Characters That Needed More Screentime

In movies, there's a lot of things that need to be handled with care and precision. The writing has to be good, the sets have to fit the atmosphere of the film, the music has to do it's job, and the editing has to be spot-on. But there's also the characters that need to be taken into consideration. Each character needs to be in the movie for a set amount of time. This sort of thing can also be said for games. But you know, sometimes I want to see some of the characters a little longer. Maybe they just amuse me greatly or I feel that they might be more than what is already displayed to us that needs to be known. Perhaps it was because they needed to equal the screen time for each character or they didn't really feel that the character needed anything else. Nonetheless, these are the ones that I would have loved to seen more of.

10. The Duo Who Owned The Theatre (Phantom of The Opera)



They get so little screen time, I can't even find a good picture of them. So here's the theater they own.

The Phantom of The Opera is one of those movies that seems to have good supporting characters and great songs, but an awful main character with a somewhat cool concept. But I'm not here to bash Gerald Bulter's performance. I'm here to talk about the two characters that apparently own the theatre. These two are at the very bottom of my list because I really didn't have enough to really work with. Their names seem to be lost in the film and they appear few times. When they do appear, they amuse the hell out of me. They mainly served as worms that were pressured to follow the main actress' desires but the way they squirmed was so fun. They were just so paranoid and didn't want to have a bad show, like any theatre owner.

I really would have loved to just seen more conversation with the other performers. It would have been fun to see them switch from demanding the actors to ordering chocolates to its more valuable actors. It would have provided with great comedic relief once things got incredibly dramatic and maudlin. It's too bad that they just went like that, but luckily the others managed to entertain me nonetheless.

9. Knuckles (Sonic 3)



I sometimes wonder who makes his gloves...

Now I know what you're thinking. "Why would you ever want more screen time for Knuckles when the main focus is Sonic? For that matter, why him? He was basically the side-character that exemplified the annoyance that later side-characters would emulate." Well, let me explain. When Knuckles was introduced in Sonic 3, he was simply a very pompous character that used brute force because he wanted to guard the island. The interesting part of his character in the game is that he allies with Robotnik thinking that Sonic is the villain. Now that alone seems like an interesting concept that they could have played around.

It would have just been nice to seen him interacting with Robotnik a little more and slowly coming to the realization that Robotnik is the bad guy. But then again, Knuckles was redeemed with the expansion pack and the "story" in Sonic 3 was still good in it of itself. And I have to be honest, I've said this thing before. I'm not really into the story when it comes to a Sonic game. So it shouldn't be something of a high importance. Besides, he got more screen time in later Sonic games which actually made up for the lack in Sonic 3.

8. Waluigi (Mario Series)



Is it me, or does it look like his overalls are incredibly tight on him?

Waluigi is a very underused character. And that wouldn't be so bad if he wasn't in so many freaking games as an underused character. Waluigi is supposed to be Luigi's arch nemesis in a sense, much like how Mario and Wario are. But this character does nothing. He simply plays party games. I don't really get it. He seems like he would be a perfect cheesy villain. He has a vaudeville look going for him, he seems to have an obsession with Bob-ombs and tennis rackets. If Luigi actually had a more adventure based game rather than Luigi's Mansion (which isn't bad), he could have been a fun villain to fight against. Heck, they could have had Waluigi make some sort of cameo in Luigi's Mansion.

In fact, he could have been like how Bowser appeared in Luigi's Mansion. Yeah, a ton of ghosts could have been manipulating a Waluigi costume and throwing ghostly bombs. That would be incredibly bizarre and maybe a little nonsensical, but at least he would be put to use in a very interesting manner. I don't know, I just think that for a character that's been returning in so many Mario games to have such a little point is a tad insulting.

7. General Guy (Paper Mario)



Mee-auwg! (Shy Guy for Sieg Heil)

Paper Mario had some really inventive surroundings. In fact, if we were to rate Mario game series on creativity, I think the Paper Mario series would be on par with the Super Mario Galaxy duo. You had ice castles, European-like ghost towns, fortresses in the middle of the forest and best of all, you had the Shy Guy Toy Box. Which basically was like if your toys were overrun by an army of masked monks. And of all the bosses in Paper Mario, General Guy was by far, my favorite. He had a very interesting tank-like vehicle and had a lot of quirkyness to his character. I mean, he attacks with a light bulb. That's just so silly, but it worked for him.

Now the thing was that the character is a boss character, so it would feel weird to have him come back when you just whooped his ass, but come on. If he escaped the toybox, they could have had a chase scene around the "hub" of the game. If he crashed in another map, he could have had his tank enhanced by the surroundings. Just imagine his tank pouring lava onto the battle. Or he would pick off icicles on the tank and throw them at you. I just would have loved to seen more of him. Plus, it would have been much better of a reoccurring battle than that little egghead twerp. You know the one I'm talking about.

6. Joel Cairo (The Maltese Falcon)



He could be anyone with that look. But that voice can just ruin that. 

Now I would just like to say that I loved this film. This classical film noir really summarized how those sort of films are supposed to play out. Interesting but mischievous clients, antagonists that range from bitter to elegant to deceiving and quick talking, hard boiled private dicks. This film just had a lot going for it. And one of the supporting characters that I seemed to like the most was Peter Lorre as Joel Cairo. Cairo is an interesting character because you can't really tell if he's a pawn or a man with his own plans. He seems to be both at some times which seems really weird for someone to pull off. 

I really wanted to see what else Joel had in store. He just seemed much more secretive and sly than the other two antagonists. He just had more hidden to him which really drew me to him. But I guess the less I know about him works to the film's advantage. Film noires are known to have such tangled and perplexing characters that wrap themselves in an enigma. But it just would have been nice to see more of Cairo's perspective. 

5. Baby Herman (Who Framed Roger Rabbit)



Who's a cute little chain smoker? You are! Yes you are! Yes you are!!

For a movie that has a lot of cameos, you'd think that it would be hard for me to choose. Well, here's the thing, as much as I would have wanted to seen some of the one-time cameos be a little more extended, it doesn't really seem like something that would work. WFRR is supposed to focus itself on the other toons that just so happen to work with the toons that we grew up with. There isn't that many supporting toon characters that don't live in another cartoon series, so the choice really seemed easy for me. Baby Herman had to land a spot here.

Baby Herman is Roger Rabbit's co-star who acts like a baby and looks like a baby, but has an incredibly crass attitude. He knew what happened and he wanted to make sure that Eddie had his facts straight. He seemed like someone that could have pulled off the tough guy if he wasn't...well...a baby. The movie still is wonderful to me, but I just can't help but imagine him doing more comedic relief. Couldn't you just imagine him appearing in that bar out of nowhere, asking for the waitress for a drink? I sure as hell did and thought that it would have been hilarious. But hey, what he managed to do still put a goofy smile on my face. 

4. Edna Mode (The Incredibles)



The first person to point out the flaw of capes to me. 

The Incredibles's cast really seemed like something that gave every character a fair amount of screen time. Not one character was neglected and not one character was on too much. It all seemed to fit perfectly. So you're probably wondering why in holy hell I would put a character from that movie on this list. Well, Edna is like a comedian doing a really good opening act for another really good comedian. You found yourself to have a really good time with her and even though the main event was satisfying, you just can't help but want to see her more. She perfectly captured the fashion designer cliche and stretched it to such a laughable extent. You really can't add that much more other than she was a riot in the films. 

3. James Donnelly (L.A Noire)



BINGO, BOY-O!

L.A Noire is quite a video game, if you haven't heard me yapping my head off about it yet. It offers a lot to the player and feels a lot like an interactive adventure. But the best part is that it revived the film noir in such a way that it was quite refreshing. Maybe it's because the whole game isn't in black and white, but just something about it made all the familiarity of the film noir genre refreshing. That and it actually did have some "modern" elements to it. But now let's talk James Donnelly.

James Donnelly is the Irish police chief of the LAPD that seems to not take any shit. But at the same time he's very inviting and and tries to be as charismatic to you as possible. He pats you on the back when you do things good and tries to make sure that you're still doing your job and your doing it right. He really had his own sort of mood that differentiated him from the other characters. He also seemed to have a past of his own that was as checkered as Cole's. In fact, maybe he had an even more convoluted life. You're not sure. Much like Cario, Donnelly has a lot more mystery and slyness to him. But unlike Cairo, Donnelly seems to have answers that make you ask more questions. That and if you compare the two, Donnelly has a lot more screen time. Then again, like Cairo, you just can't help but want to see more behind the LAPD chief.

2. Crooks (Of Mice and Men) 



Uh...I can't think of a witty tagline. 

Of Mice and Men was an ok book, but showed itself to be a great movie in 1992. It wasn't the best, but you really felt the effort placed into the film. But there's something that not only the movie, but the book had a problem with. And that was that they didn't develop a character that had the most turmoil throughout the journey enough. That being Crooks. Crooks is a stable man who is discriminated for his skin and finds himself in his own cabin. He spent most of the time alone and grew insane and incredibly bitter. It scarred him. Add to the fact that he's physically challenged and you pretty much have a tormented character that could be developed into something more.

They only meet him once and it really shows how much he's suffering, but it just felt as though he needed something else. Perhaps we had to see the discrimination in action by him going into the other cabin and being assaulted by Curly. Or hell, when he's slowly making a connection with George and Lennie and he realizes that one is dead and the other leaves the town, they could have shown his reaction. And judging by how those two were the closest to friends he had, he would feel crushed. I just saw a lot of potential for him.

1. Amos (Chicago)



To think that he was a Sasquatch...

If anyone knows me, they'd know that I love Chicago. It's one of my favorite musicals ever. But aside from they, they'd know that my favorite character in the film is Amos. Amos is a really relatable character. He finds himself as an every man who just gets stiffed over by his supposed wife. People use him as a pawn and make him feel insignificant no matter what. This guy is also a powerhouse with the emotional side of people with his song "Mr. Cellophane", which shows how he feels when he converses with anyone. And we've all felt what he's felt at one point or the other. But here's the problem. The film isn't about him. It's about Roxie Hart.

Is this bad? Not really. Roxie's story of how she craves attention and does anything to gain it while having a pseudo-romance with her lawyer is gripping...but damn, with all that he has, Amos could have a whole musical centered around him. It could tackle his job, his feelings for his wife, how he reacts with the news that he gets and the intense heartbreak he feels at the end. He just has so much that can be used and he just doesn't seem to have enough of it. Then again, like most of these entries, the work is still great with the allotted screen time he gets, but I really just want to see a story about this sad, troubled man. 

Tuesday 20 December 2011

Shuffle Jukebox #1

I realize that my most recent blog wasn't the best blog I could have made. All I did really was use this to upload a gif. I also realize that I lack actual blogs in here, and for that I'm sorry. To make it up for you, I've decided to start this up. The Shuffle Jukebox. I basically take a bunch of songs from my iTunes and talk about them. The reason I wanted to start this up is because I like talking about music to others. Music to me is wonderful form of art. It can convey all sorts of stories simply by listening to them. To me, if a picture is 1000 words, then a song is a 1000 pictures. Anyways, enough of the introduction, let's get to the meat of this blog.


Bernard Herrmann - Taxi Driver (theme)




As I have previously stated before in a past blog of mine, I am a huge fanatic of the film noir movies. So naturally, I would be a fan of the soundtracks of these movies. And would you look at that, the first song on this blog is from a film noir. Before I can get talking about the song, we must at least skim over the film where this song presides, Taxi Driver. Taxi Driver is a 1976 Martin Scorcese film that stars Robert De Niro as Travis Bickle, a Vietnam war veteran who works as a taxi driver who slowly drives himself down into madness. The movie is by far light, as we see the trauma and pain that Travis endures throughout the whole journey.

The song begins with a bunch of crescendoes of the percussion. Afterwards, the brass come along with the strings and the sax blasts out. The sax mostly goes about at a slow, slightly painful dialogue that carries on for a while until the harmon trumpet takes a turn to talk. The strings then go about, repeating the sax's statements, but in a softer tone. The trumpet and sax take turns conversing and then the harmon trumpet returns to make a quiet little speech which then gets overshadow by a saxophone and the rest of the instruments. Everything starts going mad and then the saxophone is left to talk. Then the whole thing starts again, only more bombastic than before finally ending with a dark pierce to the heart.

The song is simply magnificent for a film of this caliber and style. The emotion is gloomy but there's still few dashes of serenity. Each instrument manages to take it's turn at just the right length. I especially like how the saxophone and harmon trumpet work in the song, surveying the area around you. 

Phillip Glass - Opening - Glassworks



Phillip Glass is a recent artist that I've been looking at. He is a minimalist which means that he'll repeat phrases over and over. It's kind of like techno except for classical musicians. Phillip has also made songs for various films.  If you saw the Watchmen movie or the Truman Show, then you've heard a Phillip Glass song. It's weird that not many of us herald him as a household name like Hans Zimmer or John Williams despite the fact that he's done a lot of films. Anyways, getting to the tune. As stated before, his work is simple. And Opening is no exception as it only has the piano a few notes cycling through. Yet, the way the phrases are constructed and the way the volume goes throughout the tune makes it a beautiful serenade. It's a relaxing piece that makes you feel that you're in harmony. 

Benny Goodman - In A Sentimental Mood


There's no real understanding as to why I'm a fanatic of the big band style of music that originated in the 20s. Perhaps its the fact that one of my favorite musicians is Glenn Miller or the fact that big band style of music is similar to jazz and classical. Or it could be because I'm not limited to certain genres of music like other people are. Not really implying that most people are like that. The song itself is much more classical than jazzy as the instruments move about a slow pace and the clarinet is more dominant than the other instruments. Nonetheless, the song is simply a delight to listen to. 

Snow/Shiver Star - Kirby and the Crystal Shards OST


We're...I mean, I'm going to end this blog with something a little more festive. Kirby and the Crystal Shards was one of my favorite N64 games, and it still is. I mean how can you resist that cute pink puffball and the ability to obtain powers by swallowing your enemies? That's just awesome stuff right there. The game has a huge array of levels, enemies and abilities but it also has a great soundtrack. But one of the greatest songs in this game is this one. It appears in the winter-like levels, as you'd imagine and it sounds as cheerful as a Christmas carol would. The bell chimes are numerous and the notes are incredibly high. It's just a lovely song.

Anyways, that's all the time I got. See ya later. 

Tuesday 1 November 2011

Confronting Ehsan In The G1 Tournament Battle

"Mr. GameJudge."

Ah, my fellow anonymous assistant of mine. What can I help you with on this fine day?

"MisterBo called in about the g1 tourney..."

Excellent news! What's my topic?



"Mega Man...but I-"

That's simply wonderful! I'll get to working on it as soon as possible.

"I...I wanted to warn you about your competitor."

Oh please. None of my previous rivals have posed a threat to my utter genius. What makes you think this one will?

"You're going against Ehsan, sir."



E...Ehsan?

"I'm afraid so, sir."

That...that can't be right. I can't go up against a Capcom fan of his caliber. He knows much more about Mega Man than I ever could. Did you know that he knew about Mega Man's Japanese name of Rock Man before I knew Mario's original name was Jumpman? And I knew about that pretty early in my gamer years.

"You have told me about this, sir."

Ehsan's knows the date of Mega Man's debut of December 17, 1987 by heart. I had to take it out of some source.

"Wi-"

DON'T YOU EVEN FINISH THAT SENTENCE, YOU INGRATE.

"Sorry."

No no, I shouldn't have snapped at you. It's just that there's so much that dear Ehsan knows about Mega Man. I'm left in a fight that I simply can't win.

"But...you can talk about Megaman too, right?"

Of course. I can tell people that the story behind his creation in the game was due to a scientist by the name of Dr. Thomas Light. He invented Mega Man in 20XX to fight against the 6 robot masters that Dr. Light and Dr. Albert W. Wily created together that were later reprogrammed by Dr. Wily due to his jealousy towards Dr. Light. But I know that Ehsan will add on that Dr. Light first created a prototype by the name of "Proto Man". The problem with Proto Man is that he went rogue and was later altered by Dr. Wily to serve him as well as become the basis for the Sniper Joe. Not only that, but Ehsan would have probably said earlier on in his entry that amongst all the people that worked in Mega Man, Keiji Inafune would end up becoming the most recognized and the most vital to it's success. Damn it, he's constantly getting into my head.

"Settle down sir. Why don't you talk about the original series instead of jumping from place to place to compete with him. And try focusing less on what Ehsan would know and what you can recall."



I'll try. I'm well aware that once the game starts in the original series of Mega Man, you have the choice of which Robot Master stage to go to. At first, it serves as a simple choice and you try to go into a level, attempting to beat it. But then you'll find that if you choose a certain sequence of levels, it'll allow you to progress throughout the game. The interesting concept of Mega Man is that despite facing an incredible sense of challenge no matter what stage you chose, you still continued to get through the game.

"Why would that happen though?"

Well like most successful games of the NES era that had similar difficulty levels to Mega Man, the difficulty came from knowing that you didn't plan ahead. Mega Man would usually give you the guidelines necessary to your survival if you observed closely. It was up to you to think through what the game would give you in order to go from area to area losing little to no health. Sometimes the game would give you cheap surprises, sure. But that's the charm of the game. You do better by trail and error, skill and cunning. Not by doing something cheap like grinding. It was incredibly satisfying to complete a level in Mega Man because you felt that you accomplished something by memory, quick reflexes and planning ahead.

As each game would go on, new abilities would be presented to you that you could use to your advantage. Whether it be a new power that you get after defeating an enemy in a stage or a new mechanic that was implemented in the latest Mega Man installment, the premise was still the same. Use what you knew and what you find out about the surroundings to your advantage.

"Is there anything else the games from the original series you can talk about?"





Music's obviously something that you have to bring up when you talk Mega Man. No matter what game from the entire Mega Man franchise you talk about, there will always be a handful of spectacularly crafted tunes that will get you incredibly excited when you'd reach a new stage or level. They would usually be incredibly upbeat and have something that immediately fits the scenario of a robot with air-based powers or a toxic seahorse mechanical monstrosity. Whether it be a mini-boss, the whole stage or the final fight, the music would remain as something iconic in the series.

"But what about the characters that inhabit the world?"

Well in the original series, you had Mega Man, Roll, Rush, Dr. Light, Dr. Wily, Proto Man and the Robot Masters. Mega Man was the average hero that you couldn't help but follow on his quest, Roll was the cute character that served simply as a little boost when you'd see her in a cutscene, Rush was your faithful sidekick, Dr. Light was a father figure of sorts and Dr. Wily and the Robot Masters were the enemies that you'd defeat.

"Wait...you missed Proto Man."

Proto Man's a little complicated on his motives. Sometimes he's good, other times he's not. Anyways, the great thing about the characters in the original series was seeing the creativity that was presented in the enemies and Robot Masters. The programmers really worked hard on most of the stage bosses and added as much as they needed to so that the stage would benifit from the enemy choices they made. Each of those bosses was relative to how the stages felt. It seems like a crucial detail that makes both the stage's enemies and its boss all the better.

"You know anything about the other series?"



Well, I know about Zero from Mega Man X. Zero's iconic to the whole franchise because not only was he your ally...he was a mentor of sorts. You knew right from the start that in order to win this game, you had to be the toughest son of a bitch that you could be. And Zero was just that. I also know that Mega Man X introduced a smoother platform feel to Mega Man, thereby boosting the possibilities of more interesting mechanics that would allow for the satisfaction of going through each level to be sweeter than cherry candy dipped in soda and covered with sugar. The rest, I know little to nothing about.

But I know what an impact Mega Man has created on the gaming industry. It supplied gamers with challenge that was not only authentic in its difficulty, but also in it's reward. You know that what you were dealing with would take a while to fully master. And you'd go at it again and again, listening to the rocking tunes and admiring the beauty that the programmers and artists could create. You'd beat stage after stage and you'd obtain a new power that you'd use on another stage. Little by little, you conquer each level until you finally reach the domain of the meanest enemy of them all. No matter what, you push inexorably through the uncomfortable setting that the castle of Dr. Wily brings to defeat the one who turned possible allies into future scrap metal. Whether you died once or twice or a hundred times in the game, it didn't matter. You knew that your purpose was to crush Wily. And once you took that cretin off his high horse and see his old pixely body bowing before your greatness, asking for mercy, you know then and there that you worked damn hard to see his demise.

"Sir...that was..."

Don't say a word. I know what it is. And I stand by these emotions. Mega Man is something that set a true example in the gaming world. Everything it managed to accomplished always served as a benefit, not only to the games, but to the gaming world around it. Other video games borrowed from the similar mindset and qualities that Mega Man would present. And I'm grateful that they do, because everything that was right about Mega Man was something that could turn a good game into a great masterpiece of digital entertainment. I'm sure that whatever I will write, Ehsan will probably match it in quality. Hell...perhaps he exceed what I bring. Whatever it may be, I still feel privileged to combat against a man with such expertise on this topic. And if I lose...at least I lost to a friend.

Now if you'll excuse me, my anonymous assistant...I must write my entry.

"Yes, sir."

Tuesday 18 October 2011

The Gritty Beauty Of Film Noir

Hello my reader. And welcome to my blog. Today I am here to talk about something that I seem to have grown more and more of an admiration to. That being a particular genre of film called film noir. For those of you who don't know, film noir is a genre that often centers itself around grit, sin and cynicism. This sort of genre really was prominient in the black and white era as they could properly integrate the concepts with the quality of the film of the time. Most film noirs centered around fictional crimes that would develop and people trying to solve the mystery that came up. For the most part, film noir became defined by that sort of formula, despite it being an incredibly broad term. Nowadays, the sort of crime-based film noir becomes parodied in shows, combined with another genre that eventually engulfs the film noir or becomes neo-noir that takes different aspects whilst combining the basics of film noir. Except the only difference is that they don't film in black and white. Except for Sin City.



I began to notice film noir when I began to admire jazz/blues. As it turns out, blues and jazz were heavily linked to this genre. And once you look at the genre, your mind sort of makes the connection. Instruments are usually isolated in film noir scores to further express the emotion that is present in the scene, which becomes prominient in blues. Each instrument that singled out can mean a different emotion in general. Trumpets usually express depression that usually sinks to rock-bottom, saxophones show lustful desires, clarinets signal danger and the piano portrays careful pondering. Jazz on the other hand plays towards a false happiness that only comes to prevent the over-accumulation of the troubles that brew up in the worlds that the film noir genre creates. This style of music simply merged well with this type of film, whilst managing to maintain the atmosphere without the presence of the film itself. Simply put, the music could tell a film noir story to you if you listened to it by itself. By doing that, the music becomes spectacular when seperated and the film benefits by strengthening the atmosphere with the score.

Since I enjoyed the sort of music the genre was mostly known for, I tried to look deeper into the genre itself and encountered various ideas that were interesting to look at. There were a lot of themes, character types, situations and settings that caught my eye, which furthered my interest in the genre. But out of all the things that the genres were known for, two of them stuck out to me the most. Those two being the hard boiled P.I and the femme fatale.



First and foremost, we must talk about the heart of the film noir. That being the hard boiled P.I. Without this character, the film noir wouldn't be so prominent as it was. The hard boiled P.I is basically a male character who's seen enough to know what goes on in the corrupted places that he encounters. The character wears a fedora, trenchcoat and five o' clock shadow to address the public as the one that gets things done for the name of justice. He usually smokes because it shows that he's cool and down to business. You'll often see him drinking, so that he can clear his mind of the terror and move forward to clean the dirt off the streets. The last thing to note is that he never wants to speak about the past, as he constantly represses some of the worst chapters in his life.



While it seems as though most P.Is don't avoid hiding a smile, there actually can be a range of emotions that the P.I can express. Sometimes the P.I can be optimistic but use the grit as way to threaten criminals around him. Other times the P.I finds that his bitterness stems from what happened in the past and not what occurs in the present. In some occasions, the addition of a certain character can influence the trajectory of emotions that this trope-heavy character feels. Hell, even their occupation isn't always a P.I (but it's usually something close). It manages to be quite diverse despite it's limits. The same can be said about the other outstanding character, the femme fatale.



Unlike the P.I, femme fatales aren't the driving force of a film noir all the time. They usually serve as something that the P.I may eventually have to encounter. The femme fatale is a female character that usually finds a way to lure men to aid her only to have them be entangled in something that is near-impossible to escape. For the most part, the femme fatale feeds into the sexual desire that men simply have by nature. By wearing scantily clad clothing and speaking in a soothing, alluring voice, she can convince anyone to do anything she wants. Yet in some instances, the femme fatale can be attracted to a character and only trap them in danger because she is prone to misfortune. Usually, the variety with the femme fatale comes within motive as there's really only two ways to convince men to do what they want to do.



Both of these characters properly enforce the main theme of film noir, which is sin. Film noir bases itself around wrath, lust, vanity and greed that populates the gritty streets that the characters walk around. Lies are constantly spread around the environment, causing a sense of uncertainty. The main characters in a film noir have to be incredibly cautious of who they confront. Usually they can't trust anyone who comes up to them right on the spot and they can't accuse them of a lie with no proof, so they resort to doubt. Sometimes, the characters can't even trust themselves because of past sins they've committed. Sin becomes something that they have to fight constantly. If they can't fight it and find themselves succumbing to something immoral, they must attempt to hide it as much as possible by means of alcohol or cheap prostitutes. No matter how hard they separate their sin from what they want to do right, they end up becoming the sin to others. Once they've been pointed out for something they've tried to hide for so long, they have to face the consequences and try to move on from it. That or the shattered state that comes from what they've done remains as it's concealed by a tougher, fiercer and more dedicated shell that could crack at any second.

Film noir just builds up a lot of emotion that could only come from entering in a place filled with darkness. Whatever plot a film noir movie has created and whatever setting the movie takes place in, the way you look at that world will never change. The citizens will be criminals either in disguise or in plain sight. The streets will be covered with bullet holes, blood stains, shattered glass and grime. The people who uphold the law will either live as a corrupted cop with no true sense of what is moral in society or die as martyrs that did their part to better the crooked world they once lived in. Whether it's shot in black in white or in color, the flickering street lights will always have a man hanging beside it, puffing smoke into the cold air.


Thanks for reading my blog.

Wednesday 5 October 2011

Welcome to my dark cave!

Ladies and gentlemen, I have obtained a blog, courtesy of Blogger. I couldn't be any more happier. Unless some supermodel in a bikini came to my house and offered me sex and Pepsi. Then I'd be very very happy. Nonetheless, I have created a blog here and I'm prepared to just talk about whatever I want. But you're probably wondering who this man is. Fret not! For I'm here to help you out.

I'm DryChris. Or at least I am here. On other sites I call myself GameJudge, The Red Clover or Mr. Memphis. There's a few more, but that's because I'm a fool to create a range of aliases on the internet. I'm not even joking around here. Some of the sites that I go to are Teh Pwn Shop, DebasedToThis, The Game Heroes, Screwattack (actually, I'm kind of dropping out on it), Youtube (here's my channel for the sake of plugging: http://www.youtube.com/user/GameJudge), Twitter, and Newgrounds. I'm an amateur artist as I occasionally create pictures on MS Paint. Maybe at some point, I might share my work in a blog. I'm also an actor. If you look over my Youtube channel, you'll find a lot of voice clips and a few videos where I act. Again, it's amateur, but the filming is a little more complicated. Especially when you're alone doing the work for the most part. But aside from that, I like to play video games, make a few chiptune songs, sing, dance, eat, drink and a few other things. But my speciality...........................................................................is procrastinating.

Sorry, I was playing video games.

Anyways, that sums me up in a nutshell. And that's really what this entry is for. Anyways, I'll just summarize to you what these blogs will bring. These blogs will consist of specially made video game reviews, regular video game reviews, other reviews of other media, advertising for projects (mainly videos) I've done, general updates, rants, and anything else that may be deserving of a blog.

So that's pretty much it. If you have any questions, please consult me at my disclosed address.

I'll see you when I find something a little more "meaty" to post.