Author Archives: victhevoice

Let the games begin! Batman The Dark Knight Rises

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The final segment of the Batman trilogy hit theatres Thursday at midnight, and for those lucky enough to grab tickets in time were also in for an eight-hour Batman marathon. The Dark Knight Rises

Just another day in the life of the Batman

brought in $161 million dollars in the box office, surpassing its 2008 counterpart ‘The Dark Knight’ .

The final film follows Bruce Wayne played by Christain Bale 8 years after Batman took the fall for Harvey ‘Two-Face’ Dent’s death, leaving Gotham City in a time of peace. Some new characters are introduced in this film including: Anne Hathaway as Catwoman and Tom Hardy as Bane. Though Bane’s face is new for this Batman trilogy, this isn’t his first appearance on the Hollywood’s big screen.  If we bring our minds back to the 1997 ‘Batman and Robin’ Bane was featured as Poison Ivy’s silent sidekick, looking more like a Mexican wrestler then the Bane we see in 2012.

Bane’s personality, appearance, and overall presence couldn’t be more different, and as the main villain of The Dark Knight Rises I thought he had amazing presence and defiantly appeared to be a force to be reckoned with.  Tom Hardy’s acting was spot on and perhaps everyone can agree Hardy’s voice was amazing as it was chilling on the almost masked Bane. However, due to the loud atmosphere of the movie it  was sometimes difficult to hear Bane’s voice through his mouth piece. For the strong silent type Bane was given a lot of lines that worked well with his character and didn’t take away from his previously silent character.

I found this film dived into more of Batman’s angst then the previous films, and I have to admit I was a little frustrated by the amount of it at parts. In the end it was necessary to the plot and for the overall “pick-up yourself up” theme, so I had to deal with it. On the subject of angst, I can’t leave out the tradition of Catwoman and Batman’s unhealthy dangerous relationship they share both on screen and on paper. Catwoman or Selina Kyle, has always shared a sexually dangerous love story with Bruce Wayne, and it was only natural that it come out in this film.

I wasn’t a huge fan of this adaptation of Catwoman, as I felt there was way more emphasis put on Selina Kyle then her alter ego.  Though I was skeptical at first at Anne Hathaway taking on this sexy role, I think she did a good job at capturing the sweet, sexy, and dangerous side of Catwoman and, of course, looked good in leather.

Overall, it was a great film that gave a worthy end to the trilogy we have all come to love. The effects were great, and the choice of villain was fitting for the type of edge the film was looking to take. Best of all it wasn’t in 3D and no one had to pay an extra five dollars for some glasses and  a slightly protruding screen.

So take a night off, gather your fellow Batman fans, nerdy girlfriends and boyfriends, and go see this movie. As a must see for this summer, it’ll be almost impossible to stay away from the theatre.

Movie Review: The Hunger Games

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When a book series gets big, we all know it’s only a matter of time before the author gets their sweet movie deal. The film has the chance of being a complete bomb, much like The Golden Compass and A Series of Unfortunate Events, both amazing novels that made not so amazing movies.  However, I must give credit to the great movie adapted books such as The Lord of the Rings, To Kill a Mockingbird, Harry Potter and many more that has left its writer swimming in money.

I recently went to the theatre last week to see the new film craze The Hunger Games that hit theaters March 23. I had read all three novels before watching this movie, and I really did enjoy them, so naturally I was excited for the movie to come out. To my surprise, the Hunger Games didn’t disappoint me. In fact, I really enjoyed the movie, and from the looks of things on Facebook, Twitter, and reviews, so has everyone else.

For those who don’t know, The Hunger Games follows main heroine Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence), who volunteers in her sister’s place as a tribute in the Hunger Games. This post-apocalyptic world has the Capitol at its core, a dictatorship that controls the 12 districts around it. The Capitol lives in luxury, with eccentric fashions and futuristic technologies, while the districts remain poor and mostly starved.  Every year, each district must give both a man and a woman between ages 12 and 18 to fight with 24 other children in the Hunger Games, due to a rebellion made by the districts more than 70 years back.  The Hunger Games is treated like reality T.V. to the Capitol and forces the rest of the districts to watch the games.

Author Suzanne Collins actually worked with Director Gary Ross on the movie, and probably is the reason the first movie follows in nicely with the novel. Of course like all adaptions there are some points that are different or left out. Now, as someone who read the novels, a lot of Katniss’s observations were done in thoughts. Therein lies a challenge for a director who has to convey important plot points to his viewers by scenes. So, yes if you’re a hard core “everything must be the same” I will say right now that it isn’t. But it still worked well, just like it did in all seven of the blockbuster Harry Potter movies.

The movie wasn’t corny, and trust me, it could have been. But the only thing that really bugged me was the unfortunate PG-13 rating. Sorry to disappoint the gore lovers, but the violence is very lacking in this movie, and their ways of getting around it is quite frankly, silly. You’ll see a lot of bloody knives flying around and blood trails but never the act itself. The film’s attempt at keeping itself PG-13 was obvious and left a bad taste in my mouth along the way. Some of the more graphic deaths in the book were also changed to fit the rating, though the death of character Rue was kept the same. Personally, I think the violence was a part of the story and should have been included.

Though I wasn’t too hot on Josh Hutcherson playing Peeta, the cast chosen for this movie was spot on. There are a couple of big names in this movie that include Donald Sutherland as President Snow,  Woody Harrelson as Haymitch and rising star Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss Everdeen. I loved the cast chosen for each character, and I think they each suited the character well, especially Donald Sutherland who will have a bigger role in the next movie ‘Catching Fire’. I’m really glad a quality acting team was put together for this film, and is probably part of the reason I enjoyed it.

Overall, go see it, or at least on DVD. It’s not amazing by any means but it’s definitely a good watch and I plan on seeing the next two in theatres as well.

Final Score: 8 out of 10

Mark it down: Anime North 2012 is just around the corner

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 Get those costumes ready, Anime North 2012 is finally here and with a new attendance cap that has pre-ordered tickets selling in handfuls.

 Anime North has never capped its annual convention before, but this year will be a little different.

Tan Irwin, co-chair of Anime North, said the cap was made out of concern for the conventions additional locations, such as the Doubletree and Sheraton Toronto airport hotel and how many attendees it could handle.

 ”Fifteen-thousand weekend passes are being sold, and as of April there are only 550 weekend passes left.  So for those who haven’t pre-bought tickets yet, get on it, because by Friday May 25th, there definitely won’t be any left,” said Irwin.

Yup, that's a full grown mew. This photo was taken by me at Anime North 2011, there's a person inside the big mew controlling it's arms, and of course making it walk.

Anime North has been expanding since its 1997 opening, back when it was still a one day convention. Since then the con has exploded bringing in people from all over Canada and the United States.

“A lot of what we’re doing is provided them (con-goers) with a place where they can come together with their friends , show of their stuff, and be accepted,” said Ir

This expansion also pools over into Anime North’s other events like the Nominoichi, which is Japanese for flea market. At this sellers event, regular Anime North attendees can purchase half a table for $15 or a whole table for $30, to sell their used collections.

Chris McKenna, founder of the Nominoichi, created the market just six years ago and said it’s been a huge success.

“I’m still impressed at the turn out of this event, the number of people waiting in line to get in and go shopping, and the number of people who e-mail me requests for tables,” said Mckenna, “Both those keep increasingly beyond my expectations each year.”

This increase can be shown in the numbers, as the market first started with 20 tables their first year six years ago,  and has increased to 100 tables in 2011 and for this year said McKenna.

“The first year we moved from one room and 20 tables, to a much larger room the second year with 30 to 40 tables,” said McKenna.

“The flood gates to request a table opened  April 9 at 8 p.m.  and within the first hour 61 tables were already reserved. However, con goers looking to still sell  used goods don’t have to panic,” said McKenna, and adds that the last 40 tables can take up to a week or two to sell.

Gobilin King Jareth, this picture was taken by me at last year's convention. Loved this cosplay, awesome detail work who couldn't love this.

For  anime lovers who are selling for their first time at this year’s Nominoichi, McKenna’s best advice is to be flexible and be willing to haggle.

“Try selling bulk discounts, get five for the price of four, that way you can just unload and people will tempted to buy more,” he said.

Sellers must remember that 50 per cent of their collection must be anime related, and the other is open to any other “geekery” they can think of. A strict restriction is put on any weaponry, bootleg items, or food or drinks, an cannot be sold.

For those convention seekers who are the prowl for a good buy, McKenna said the Nominoichi is very tight and crowded the first hour so be prepared. For those looking for a thinner crowd, he advises coming around 9:30 p.m. when the crowd will have died down.

Anime North will kick off  on the May 27 weekend, and anyone planning to attend the con for the weekend or for a day can pre-order tickets on animenorth.com or buy them on site at the Toronto Congress Centre.

Be prepared.

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Irony, I’ve been putting off writing this post to play Dante’s Inferno. It’s a good game, slightly disturbing, and I know it’ll take me a little while to beat. My name’s Victoria, I’m a 19 year-old journalism student with aspirations of becoming a magazine writer. My video game history may not be as long as some people, but I think my attention to detail and taking my time playing a game is an asset in itself. A game may take me months to beat, but hey at least I get my money’s worth. I’m a journalist so I’m busy 24/7 with filming, writing, or dealing with people. Having said that, when it comes down to it I love to just sit down in my off time and play a videogame for a couple hours.

I thoroughly enjoy hack and slash games, it’s mindless bloody fun. I can’t tell you how liberating it is to horrifically mutilate demons in Dante’s inferno. And on the occasion I’ll take home a boy to slaughter later, I’m kidding. I do enjoy adventure games though, with a little bit of puzzle fun added to it.  While most kids were playing Legend of Zelda people, I played Spyro and Sonic the Hedgehog for hours.  It was at a young age I also got my first taste at Silent Hill 1, a stepping-stone for horror games. I suppose I have a slight infinity for horror and violent games because of my love for horror movies.

Put two together and you can imagine my excitement when the Silent Hill movie came out in 2006. I still wait in anticipation for a possible Bioshock film, and for Silent Hill Revelation set to come out in 3D this year. So, for good ol’ newspaper style sake, I’m going to cut this intro short. If you’re going to take anything from this just know I am a slow, slightly sleep-deprived, odd, journalist that likes to sit her ass on the couch and chop up animated characters.

Add me on xbox: VictoriousVixx