Sanctuary of Salvation: September 2009

Tyson

Category: movies By True

Tyson: 8/10

Another documentary but this time it was on one of the most iconic men in boxing. The entire thing was from his own words as he went through his early childhood to his current stand and it just let's the troubled man give a compelling confessional about his life. I have to start by saying the multiple split screen was a very nice usage of filming as it gave many different views which you can coincidentally relate to the same of Mike Tyson's life.

There are those who see the former heavy weight champion who was a ruthless beast with aggressiveness and tenure of a wild animal that lead to his downfall. There are those who see a troubled individual who grew up with many problems that effected him mentally and he could never escape his demons. This documentary allows you the best chance of finding out for yourself from Tyson himself.

It tells a different story; his own story. Not those of the media who paint him in many different lights and what you hear/read from other sources but with this Mike Tyson figuratively sits down for an hour and twenty six minutes and just speaks to you. You see all sides of him from his steel-like demeanor to a torn down version where you'd never think such a tough man could break down.

If you watch boxing or have followed boxing this documentary just engrosses you as this complex man is broken down and exposes every bit of himself to you. His triumphs, his fears, his ambitions, his rise, his downfall, and his eventual current life are all shown in it and gives you all there is to know about the man that can be provided in front of you.

You see Tyson as a man who's fallen from glory and some characterize him to the point of an evil person. However, with this documentary you get to see the REAL Tyson and realize that he has never lost his humanity--only been troubled by it. Like all of us he has made errors in his life that he admits great regret towards.

You are even able to sympathize with the man as you hear his counts of having a harsh childhood, dealing with a famous career, spending time in jail, and the mistakes he made throughout his life. What is he? An animal? A troubled soul? Not even he himself knows the answer to this but trying to figure yourself out is the hardest qualm in life that we always continue to battle till the very end and he is no different.

In this documentary Mike Tyson is so soft spoken and calm you see a completely different person from his past. He's grown up and matured quite a lot from his younger days. He's a complex man with many varying degrees to his character that have been etched onto him with the journey of his life. The documentary is objective, thoughtful, intriguing, and most of all--reflective. A man of such stature who's been through all facets of life and has experience so much can teach us a thing about ourselves.

It teaches us about being smart in the decisions we make and doing the righteous things by working hard and never giving up. By not letting certain things (love, money, fame, etc;) get a control of our identity and being True to ourselves by finding meaning in something that is close to our hearts. Only then are we able to live our lives the best as we face both the good and bad and look towards the future.

You can't contest the fact that Mike Tyson was one of boxing legendary fighters and rose to great success. Being the Heavy Weight World champion he had all the glory and the world within his palms. But with his glory also came tragedy as his mind, heart, and soul always had to deal with troubling issues throughout. He fought many battles and hardships not only inside the ring, not only in the outside world, but he continuously to this day fights with himself in an infinite struggle with countless rounds and no knockouts. You want to know the real Mike Tyson? Watch this documentary.

Fantasy Football Year One

Category: Fantasy Football By True

My first year doing fantasy football. I had drafted:

Tom Brady
Chad Ochocinco
Hines Ward
Chris Chambers
Clinton Portis
Nate Burelson
Knowshon Moreno
Vernon Davis
Antonio Gates
Jason Elam
Baltimore

Man my draft position were terrible! Seriously I had late picks in each round and had to scramble to find some decent players. Some of the teams like Bailoutpackage4lyfe and The Generals really scar me with how stacked they are. I'll hopefully create a good team by picking guys off the wire seeing how they do.

Batman: Arkham Asylum Graphic Novel

Category: comics By True

I recently read Batman: Arkham Asylum written by Grant Morrison and illustrated by David McKean. I heard that the video game was based off this so I figured I'd give it a try and see how the original source material was. Well I have to say it was vastly different from what I was expecting and not the usual Batman takes down the villain in his typical kick ass manner. It became more of a psychoanalysis of the Dark Knight as he is locked in with the very people who he put there in the first place--and he doesn't necessarily disagree to their saying that he also belongs there with them.

The art is simply chaotic and erratic that it fits most accurately with the asylum type setting and the way McKean draws just has the reader soaking in every single page as they try to analyze what exactly they are looking at. I myself felt the grim dark setting suited it very well and some of the more anomalous scenes where you get a POV perspective just amazed me with how well McKean is able to captivate my imagination by using his art as a bridge to give me an idea of what he was trying to showcase.

As for the story itself I very much enjoyed the parallel between Batman's journey through the asylum and the tale of Amadeus Arkham and his venture into madness. You really feel his insanity and all the tragic events in his life that drove him towards it. Of course this is a lot darker and grim then what I have myself seen first hand during my exposure to abnormalities and insanity in my psychology classes (though my major focuses mostly on neurology) and the violence isn't held back whatsoever through the blood splattered pages.

As I read through from Batman's entrance into the asylum and his interactions with the many villains that he put in the place I understand what the author was trying to portray the difference between Batman and his many foes was their stance on their own dark secrets and troubled personalities. While Batman tends to suppress his demons deep within his conscious, the villains themselves let it all out and take over their characters.

I believe the Joker represents this the best when he tells Batman that they aren't the inmates since they are True to themselves while those in the outside world are the real inmates since they suppress their True nature and hide their real persona's--especially Batman who hides behind this masked identity. I really enjoyed this comic since it gave another side to Batman's story as you chip away at his strong held facet and being to see his fears.

This isn't your usual epic fight or emotional investing story but more of an intellectual breakdown of the self and psyche and definitely something I enjoyed since it expresses the consternation of the mind and parts that we rather not expose of ourselves and the brilliant analysis done by Morrison of the seemingly invincible Dark Knight really showcases that even the toughest of people are without insecurities and doubts. A truly fantastic tale that I'm surely going to put on my bookshelf.

Tupac Ressurrection

Category: movies By True

Tupac Resurrection: 8/10

This was an interesting documentary since it actually happened to be narrated by the man himself long after his death. It tells his story from his poor beginnings to his tragic end from his own mouth and gives simply a marvelous perspective of the truth and no barred facts. You get insight into his life as he takes you on a journey that exposes every bit of his character so you aren't only lead to believe of him as simply a gangsta and thug, but more so of an individual who was truly special in this world and had a lot to speak of; some would even call him a pseudo-messiah of the streets.

Those ignorant to hip hop and rap music think it's only about the money, girls, drugs, cars, and trying to showcase just how awesome you are. While Tupac did rap about this things as well (and admitted of its doings), he also talked a lot about the hard facts of life and what it was like to be raised on the streets in poverty and those who are oppressed.

He spoke on all the negative aspects of drugs, violence, sex, poverty, etc; and channeled the feelings of many of his listeners and brought it to mainstream exposing what many Americans tend to turn their heads away from. He was a man who spoke on so many issues and one of the hardest working individuals who constantly spent time in the recording studios trying to get out the message.

You saw all the events in his life from his erratic relationship with his mother, his rise to fame as he created music and acted in movies, his time spent in jail, his rivalries that lead to the infamous East Coast vs. West Coast, the music he constantly created that captivated anyone who gave it a chance, and of course his eventual death.

The documentary superbly showcased every part of his character and diagnosed nearly everything about his life so you get all facets of it and the best part of it is was that it was from his own mouth. It's as if he is sitting right next to you speaking and describing everything there was, that you really get a sense of closeness and understanding of the man.

There is no doubt about it. He is an iconic figure and a legendary man in hip hop that all rappers try to emulate nowadays. His music lives on and sets the standard and epitome of all forms of rap whether talking about social-commentary or gangsta mentality. His voice is powerful and commanding and can grab anyone's ear since he speaks on so many various issues.

There is no need to say rest in peace as he has constantly said that he is already at peace within himself. It's sad to see what the state of mainstream hip hop and rap is nowadays and I'm sure that he would be heartbroken to see what it has become. You can only hope that someone else will come and follow in his footsteps to restore the music to its original roots.

Batman: Arkham Asylum

Category: video games By True

Batman: Arkham Asylum - 9/10

I originally wasn't going to buy this but thanks to a great deal that made it available for half the price I'd be crazy to not take up the offer and purchase it. Toys R Us was offering a $20 giftcard (which I traded to my younger brother for cash) if you bought it so I called up my friend who works there and got the deal along with him giving me a 15% employee discount making the game cost me only $32.96! I'm really glad that deal came up since I hadn't even planned on renting it at the very least!

(Game spoilers are blacked out so if you wish to see them then just highlight over the text)

This game is ridiculously well polished and Eidos/Rocksteady did an amazing job on crafting this game into near perfection. This game excels greatly in two parts: Creating a massive setting rich in detail in which the possibilities to explore is nearly limitless and bringing the Batman world directly to your hands (barring Gotham City itself) so you get a full head on experience of how it is to be the Dark Knight himself.

The island that you are stuck upon is so fascinating and the environment is incredibly formulated that you actually won't want to leave the place. This tacked on with the Riddler trophies scattered all over the place gives you the motivated opportunity to explore every nook and cranny and each leaves you with a reward of interesting facts and stories from the Batman universe. The cut scenes give a stupendous and simply gorgeous view of the individual buildings within the island that your eyes are left completely dazzled. Also, the many ways in which you are able to interact within the different buildings including grappling on statutes, crawling through the ducts/sewers, using your gadgets to blow up weak structures to reveal hidden areas, and flying wherever and whenever make Arkham one of the best settings I've ever played and have had a chance to explore.

Now the game play itself is quite brilliant and once you get your hands upon the controller you just cannot put it down. Having control of Batman himself has to be an almost euphoric feeling since it lets you control one of the greatest superheroes of all time and the character you idolized so much in your younger days when you were watching the television show, reading the comics, and playing with the action figures. His strong packed punches and kicks added in with his Sherlock Holmes type mind that lets you analyze and use tactics gives you two different types of opportunities of fighting. You can either be a straight up brawler in which you go in and just kick ass by taking on hordes of thugs and with good reaction time (and strong fingers of course) as you dodge punches/weapons to take down every last one, or you can be the darkness itself and use hit and run tactics to slowly piece away the enemy and install fear within their hearts. With the aid of your trusty batarang and batclaw you have plenty of ways to diversify your combat style so you aren't limited to only fists and legs.

I could go on and on about how wonderful this game it is since it perfectly articulates what it is like to be Batman himself--from his marvelous suit, his utility belt with his superb gadgets, and the original commanding voice. But the best aspect of the game I enjoyed was when you come in contact with Scarcrow (a wonderful choice as a villain to add to the game) and you have hallucination scenes in which you can actually go past the tough sturdy psyche of the Dark Knight and can dwell into the deepest and darkest parts of his mind. The best part came when you actually become a Young Bruce yourself and so to speak take a walk down "memory" lane and you can literally feel what it must have been to have lived such an experience .I was very impressed with just how well they broke down nearly every aspect of Batman's character and made this game so that you can literally become him.

The Joker was the best choice of a villain to use, and to put him in charge of an insane asylum couldn't have been better than a match made in heaven. His costume, his voice, and his tone was so well done that it literally brought the comic book villain alive and you felt as if you were in the very same room as him. All throughout as you progressed in the game you felt his presence even if you never met face to face till near the end. You could just feel his aura everywhere you went as he left many pranks and surprises for you to run into and drove you insane with his maniacal laugh. I'm very glad that Eidos was able to bring Mark Hamill to do the voice acting since no one can come close to how well he orchestrates Joker's character with his sinister and evil commentary added on with his usual wit and quirkiness. No matter how many times I heard the same lines over and over again, I still enjoyed every damn part of it.

Of course this game doesn't go without its flaws that held back from it getting a perfect score. One of it is happens to be the repetitiveness with the fights. Now I don't mind this too much since you are still able to kick ass and do all the things that make Batman awesome, but with the way how the game was constructed and how much depth and detail they had put into the game, I would have figured that they made some of the fights a bit more creative besides sticking with the same formula that gets boring the third time around and on so.

Yeah sure the Titans were a little challenging at first, but when it comes to the point where you are just dodging their erratic punches and waiting for them to do a bull stance so you can hit their head and let them crash and hurt themselves gets boring. Though to be honest when you get on their backs and start to ride them was quite fun and I had a huge grin when trying to control them and knocking the other Titan and goons senseless. I was disappointed that you weren't able to really have an actual fight with Killer Croc--another favorite villain--and were dealt to more of a boring dodge and run tactic rather than an epic showdown like in the series. Also, the last two boss fights made such an incredible start just being to drag at the end with how "lame" the fights ended up being. The Poison Ivy fight felt like something similar to the monster fights in God of War or Resident Evil with strike and evade coupled with some side tracking enemies to make it more difficult.

Then came the showdown with the madman himself and I was expecting something big and amazing to happen. However, it just ended up being the same repetitiveness as before just added on with twice as many enemies to make it seem harder and more annoying with the countless enemies. It felt as if I was in a bullfight added with a "Running of the Bulls" where I had to get the two Titan monsters to strike down the thugs and lighten the load of enemies I had to take down myself. Then the cage match with the Joker which just turned onto the same thing as before with fighting some goons instead of a wrestling match beat down of the Joker. This was a let out down that lowered my overall satisfactions with the game, but not by too much since the game was generally quite fum.

With everything said, I have to say this was one of the best action games I've ever played and the most fun I've had with a super hero game since Spiderman on the PS1 and Spiderman 2 on PS2 (except those had more enjoyable boss fights and could quite well be on par with this game if it wasn't for the graphics difference). If I was to classify this game, I'd say it's a mix between Splinter Cell and Assassin's Creed. Splinter Cell since you are able to do spy-esque type tactics when it comes to infiltrating your enemies and intelligently taking them out from the shadows, and similar to Assassin's Creed with the stunning setting (except Israel is quite more captivating to look at then an insane asylum) and fighting style with the addition of your gadgets to aid you in fighting.

It brings a nostalgia feeling to any Batman fan with how well the game is developed and it doesn't keep you bored since there is so much to explore as well as the challenge fights that allows you to try out and improve your combat skills. Not only is this the best Batman game ever made, but it is definitely one of the best games of 2009.