I'm feverish and coughing/hacking. Humor me.
If you like the Grand Theft Auto series, you should play Saints row 2. If you do not like the Grand Theft Auto series, you should play Saints Row 2. If you've never played any kind of video game other than point-and-click adventure games, then guess what? -You should play Saints Row 2. If you're not a gamer, make friends with one and watch them play Saints Row 2. The only people who shouldn't play Saints Row 2 aren't even reading this because they're dead.
I, for example, aside from old school Nintendo games, tend to prefer games like Morrowind, Oblivion, Diablo II, Torment, etc. Also The Sims when I want to watch people cry because they live in a house with no toilet. I've always liked the idea of GTA, but in practice playing those games has always been an exercise in controller-snapping frustration. Saints Row 2 takes the stress out of the equation. If you don't believe me, then maybe you'll believe this guy. Either way...
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I was bored one day last week, so for shits I watched the film Valkyrie. The result? A resounding "Eh."
I'd like to think I know more about WWII history than the average Joe Random, but I am no scholar. Not by a long shot. And to be fair I do not know much about the actual events portrayed in Valkyrie, save one History Channel show that I watched a decade ago. So I'm not going to nit-pick the events of the film because I am not qualified to do so. There is plenty that I CAN pick at , however, so I will.
If *I* were asked to direct a film, and the entire cast was meant to be from one specific area of the world, I would for damn sure see to it that all of my actors sounded the same, even though the film is in English. There would be money in the budget for dialect coaches. All of the characters in Valkyrie are Germans (except for Hitler, but they speak German in Austria, what do you want from me?) and of all of them only ONE speaks with a German accent. Then we've got Tom Cruise, who sounds like Tom Cruise. Everyone else speaks UK English. BUT THEY ARE ALL SUPPOSED TO BE GERMANS.
This is the kind of thing that really skull-fucks my suspension of disbelief.
Tom Cruise's acting style usually falls into one of two categories: Cocky (Top Gun, Jerry McGuire) and Intense (Vanilla Sky, Eyes Wide Shut). He goes full blown intense in Valkyrie, to the point where it becomes rather worrying... almost tipping over into angst at times.
And then there is the Fuhrer himself. Now, I know it's not fashionable to portray Adolf Hilter as anything even remotely resembling pleasant or personable, but this portrayal was downright creepy. Not "I love all the little furry creatures so I'm a vegetarian! Also, in my spare time I oppress people and murder undesirables" creepy. No, no. The quiet kind of creepy. The kind of creepy that if you saw that you were going to pass him on the sidewalk you would cross the street immediately. I do not approve.
It wasn't a BAD film, it just wasn't good. On the whole, if you want a WWII film, you're better off renting Conspiracy or Der Untergang.
I, for example, aside from old school Nintendo games, tend to prefer games like Morrowind, Oblivion, Diablo II, Torment, etc. Also The Sims when I want to watch people cry because they live in a house with no toilet. I've always liked the idea of GTA, but in practice playing those games has always been an exercise in controller-snapping frustration. Saints Row 2 takes the stress out of the equation. If you don't believe me, then maybe you'll believe this guy. Either way...
...
I was bored one day last week, so for shits I watched the film Valkyrie. The result? A resounding "Eh."
I'd like to think I know more about WWII history than the average Joe Random, but I am no scholar. Not by a long shot. And to be fair I do not know much about the actual events portrayed in Valkyrie, save one History Channel show that I watched a decade ago. So I'm not going to nit-pick the events of the film because I am not qualified to do so. There is plenty that I CAN pick at , however, so I will.
If *I* were asked to direct a film, and the entire cast was meant to be from one specific area of the world, I would for damn sure see to it that all of my actors sounded the same, even though the film is in English. There would be money in the budget for dialect coaches. All of the characters in Valkyrie are Germans (except for Hitler, but they speak German in Austria, what do you want from me?) and of all of them only ONE speaks with a German accent. Then we've got Tom Cruise, who sounds like Tom Cruise. Everyone else speaks UK English. BUT THEY ARE ALL SUPPOSED TO BE GERMANS.
This is the kind of thing that really skull-fucks my suspension of disbelief.
Tom Cruise's acting style usually falls into one of two categories: Cocky (Top Gun, Jerry McGuire) and Intense (Vanilla Sky, Eyes Wide Shut). He goes full blown intense in Valkyrie, to the point where it becomes rather worrying... almost tipping over into angst at times.
And then there is the Fuhrer himself. Now, I know it's not fashionable to portray Adolf Hilter as anything even remotely resembling pleasant or personable, but this portrayal was downright creepy. Not "I love all the little furry creatures so I'm a vegetarian! Also, in my spare time I oppress people and murder undesirables" creepy. No, no. The quiet kind of creepy. The kind of creepy that if you saw that you were going to pass him on the sidewalk you would cross the street immediately. I do not approve.
It wasn't a BAD film, it just wasn't good. On the whole, if you want a WWII film, you're better off renting Conspiracy or Der Untergang.