Berserk Hippo

Top 10 Movies

The CEO — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 02:31:19 +0000

Boogie Nights
People know this as the movie about porn, but it’s so good. I like a lot of Wahlberg movies, but this is his best in my mind. Add in all the great supporting peeps: Cheadle, Reilly, Graham, Moore, Reynolds, Seymour Hoffman and it’s just amazing.
The Bourne Trilogy
Major cop out here but not picking one of three. My suspicion is that I would pick the first one, but the third one is very underrated. And it put Matt Damon on the map as a tough guy. Don’t believe me, how about Paul Rudd in 40 Year Old Virgin, ““I always thought Matt Damon was kind of a Streisand, but he is rockin’ the shit in this one.”
Clerks
Kevin Smith famously sold his comic book collection to make Clerks and did it for a mere $28,000. Even 20 years ago that is an amazing feat. Hilarious dirty jokes and some of the best debates in movie history (Death Star independent contractors anyone?).
The Departed
This is the only movie on the list to come out in the last five years. Not surprising since I don’t see as many movies as I used to and there is so much crap out there these days. Damon, DiCaprio and Wahlberg are three (if not top three) of my favorite actors so when you added in Baldwin, Sheen and Scorsese it was a perfect storm.
Good Will Hunting
If this list were ordered, this would be in consideration for number one. I remember how amazing I was when I finally saw this for the first time. I understood the Oscar. Damon is phenomenal and the Carlton Fisk conversation and jokes in the bar were awesome.
High Fidelity
Jack Black’s breakout role, his scenes alone are worth watching this movie. Arguably John Cusack’s best movie since the 80s, the story is great and the way he is always doing Top 5s is great, and was an inspiration to my lifelong list making/loving.
Rounders
More Matt Damon. He shows up four times on the list. My friends used to tease me about my man crush on him. This poker movie got me into poker before it was cool. It’s a great gambling movie. And another fav, Ed Norton, shows his skills by being has hateable as any character ever. The Damon vs. Malkovich scenes are on par with Ali vs. Frazier.
Shawshank Redemption
The inspiration for this list as I found out a work friend had never seen it. I ventured a guess that 75% of 25-35 year old males would put this in their top ten. Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman both at their best, there’s virtually nothing to not like about this movie.
Super Troopers
Other than Clerks, the only other comedy to make the list. This was our college comedy that we watched over and over again. We quoted the crap out of it and I still to this day quote Office Ron Farva on a fairly regular basis. Broken Lizard is 1 for 2 (in my book since) after striking out with Club Dread but redeeming themselves with Beerfest. I haven’t see The Slammin’ Salmon yet, but since no one has talked about it, I bet I am not missing anything.
Training Day
Last but certainly not least is Training Day. An Oscar nominee and crime thrilla about Ethan Hawke’s first day in a special drug unit led by Denzel Washington. The movie takes place all in one day (love these kind of movies) and has some great twists and turns. I don’t want to give any away but it’s unlikely if you like cop movies or Denzel (and you should at least like Denzel) you won’t be disappointed.

Missed the cut: The Aviator, Bad Santa, Black Hawk Down, Blues Brothers, Catch Me If You Can, Gladiator, Goodfellas, Red Dragon, Rock Star, Saving Private Ryan, Stalag 17

The Score (2001)

The CEO — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 02:50:44 +0000

Robert DeNiro and Ed Norton star is this heist movie about a guy making one last “score.”

DeNiro is solid but unspectacular
Norton was really good and really plays this kind of character well
There’s not much to the heist in my opinion, it seemed too easy for all the buildup
How do you sell a rare stolen scepter for $30m and not get caught later?
Did love the ending though
Would watch it again if it was on, wouldn’t seek it out special

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The CEO — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 23:22:42 +0000

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First Impressions of NCAA Football 11

The CEO — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 02:26:45 +0000

Replay camera angle sucks – For some reason I feel like the default angle for instant replays is weird and EVERY TIME I look at a replay I have to adjust the camera
Too many injuries – In one game I lost two QBs and a HB. And it seems like there are 10+ injuries per game, most for a few plays, others for the whole season
Injury notification isn’t there – In years past you would know a guy got hurt right after the play, now if you click anything after the play (and it finally makes sense to because of the built-in accelerated clock) you run the risk of not knowing someone is hurt. So many times I find much later that a player was hurt.
WRs are definitely better – They make circus catches, get better separation and just overall seem more realistic
No huddle by CPU is for real – The CPU definitely uses no huddle with teams that really use it. I have seen them use it for the entire game and not at all
Still don’t like clock slow down at playcall screen – For whatever reason when you are at the playcall screen the clocks run slower (like a second is not actually a second) and this annoys me. I know it’s so that people have more time to pick a play, but this should be able to be turned off.
No huddle too easy? – Sometimes I feel like if you run no huddle all the time you will have too much success. I have seen times where I call it and the CPU (no matter how long I take) doesn’t line up right and there is a cheap, wide-open player.
Gameplay overall – Overall the game seems good. I think I can buy that this is the best version of NCAA Football on XBOX 360, but the changes are more evolutionary than revolutionary. Of course the difference between this and a game like Red Dead Redemption is that you gauge RDR more by the first 5 hours and you gauge NCAA Football more by how it is still playing after 50 hours.