Everything IS Awesome

Hi everybody, Vince here, back from a massive hiatus while I finish college. I just finished watching The Lego Movie and it, was, awesome. It has been a while since I have watched a movie this good. Believe all the hype you have heard about this movie. It is a wonderful feature that had me laughing out loud several times and tearing up a few times too.I was really concerned that it wouldn't live up to the amazing trailers that have been made for it, but I was worried in vain. The story is about a generic nobody construction worker who finds out that he has the power to save the world. And that construction worker and the world he saves, just happens to be made out of Lego bricks. The story also includes a silly love triangle that doesn't get out of hand, perfect for bringing a significant other to enjoy with you. Normally I would just give the whole plot of the movie for you in summary hoping that I make it sound good enough for you to watch, but in this case, that would be doing an injustice to both you and this movie. The movie has several plot twists so "awesome" that simply mentioning that they exist might be giving away too much. In conclusion you NEED to watch this movie, even if you don’t think Legos are all that great, simply due to the fact that it is an inspired piece of fiction that will warm your heart. It also serves as an example that creatively inspired movies are vastly superior to formulaic recreations of the same story over and over. That’s all for now folks, I'm off to see if the companion Lego video game is also "Awesome" :)

I Have Two Youtube Channels

Hey there,
Do you like silly videos? Do you like Minecraft? Do you like Halo, guns, and other cool clips? If you do, why don't you check out my two youtube channels. My primary channel is has quite a few fun videos ranging from lego stop motion to a comparison video of the iron man and star craft marine assembly. I also have a few videos I have done for college in there. Just follow this link and have fun. CowCookies Productions

My other youtube channel is all about video games. There are quite a few videos about Minecraft and how to enhance your experience in that. The Minecraft videos are mostly about cool things you can do with the Minecraft game. I also have a few Halo videos. Some of them are about the game itself and some are just having a good time playing the multiplayer. Here is the link to my gaming channel. Playing With CowCookies

If you like or dislike these videos, be sure to let me know by liking and commenting on the videos or just like my Facebook page conveniently also called CowCookies Productions

Two Total Recall Reviews at the Same Time

So I just watched both Total Recalls for the first time, the original with Mr. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the new imagining with Mr. Colin Farrell. Once again I disagree with most of the critics, the old movie was not that great, and the new one was really cool. I think a good movie or other visual presentation is all about pacing, how much time is in between each cut, line of dialogue, and item in an action sequence. The original Total Recall falls short in all of these areas at least once. The choreography is usually slow and deliberate, and the fake bright red blood is ridiculous. It seems like someone went through the script and said “here add more blood and guts, and here add some meaningless, disgusting dismemberment.” The underlying story is sound but the way it’s conveyed is poor. The story of a movie should tell just enough to keep the viewer interested in the mystery, but not give anything away too soon. Plot twists are a must in a good mystery story like this and both the old and the new have a few great ones. It was really interesting to see all of the old stars of the early nineties in a movie together, Ronny Cox, Michael Ironside and of course the man himself Arnold Schwarzenegger. One of the funniest things about watching old movies is that you see people that were nothing more than extras, or at the most supporting characters that become a whole lot more popular. Dean Norris from Breaking Bad plays the mutant with the nasty head, and Marc Alaimo who went on to be Gul Dukat, a series regular on Star Trek Deep Space 9, was the head security guy on mars. All in all the original Total Recall was ok, but the advanced ideas could not be fully realized with the special effects of the day (which was 1990 by the way). The newer version suffers from no such limitations the futuristic overpopulated floating cities are fully realized in cg and there are no grossly hideous latex puppets. The fight and action scenes are choreographed way better, and seem more planed out and rehearsed. Unlike with Schwarzenegger’s thick accent, Farrell can add the necessary emotion to the dialogue where it is needed. The story seems more fleshed out and coherent except for the whole going through the core of the earth thing. That seems like bs, but so does alien machines on mars. Interestingly this version of Total Recall also has a character from Breaking Bad. Bryan Cranston who is the main character of Breaking Bad is the evil King/Chancellor/president guy. Also interesting is that it has both Kate Beckinsale and Bill Nighy of Underworld fame. Anyway I really liked the second one better mostly due to the reduced blood and guts and more coherent story (and accents).

The Wispy Fingers of the Wind

The wispy fingers of the wind tickled the tips of the deep grass as the sun rose over the horizon and a wave of light raced across the sky banishing the darkness of night. Wild inhabitants of this land welcomed the new day with chirping birds and the low rumblings of lumbering behemoths awakening from their long slumber. Towering mountains in the distance loomed in stark contrast to the gently rolling hills of this tranquil paradise. Distant sounds of thunderous waterfalls echoed softly through the air.

Lego Universe RIP

I don’t like the way mmo’s make video games like TV shows. When a TV show does bad in the ratings it gets canceled and the people who were watching it and enjoying it get cut off from something they like. When a video game does badly they stop selling it or sell it for a whole lot less but the people who enjoy it still get to play for the most part. Case in point is chrome hounds. The game did very badly and they shut down the multiplayer servers but the owners of the game can still play the campaign and I actually enjoyed it for the most part. It fills that mech-warrior place in my video game heart pretty nicely. But when a game is all online like Lego universe and it doesn’t make enough money to pay the employees and to keep the servers running then the players cant finish the story or even play the game anymore at all. I must admit that Lego universe was a little top heavy to begin with due to the “for children” nature of the game they basically had to pay their employees to be the mothers of the people who made Lego models and say “no we don’t make those Lego “models” here. I’m sure you all know what I mean “wink.” There are only a few mmos that have died that were able to stay alive and they did it by switching to the free to play program where the player has to pay for all the good stuff, lame. In conclusion (lol), MMO’s are a detriment to gaming fun. I know I don’t get many views on these posts but it would be awesome if you took a quick second to scan some of the other articles here and if you know someone who would like them to send them a link. thanks

Legos

Legos are the only playthings where you can dismember your toys and nobody thinks you are a sociopath

Mass Effect 3

Vincent Cilano likes video games, that must be distinctly understood or nothing wondrous can come of the article to follow.

The biggest problem is the destruction of the mass relays

I just recently finished my first two Mass Effect 3 play throughs, with the stock default story with no loading of my previous saves. The first time I played with the stock story and went sentinel full paragon it took me about 37 hours and I did just about every thing in the game including the From Ashes dlc. My second play through I used the vanguard and went full renegade and blew through as fast as I could and beat the game in a little over 5 hours. The biotic charge is awesome, just the best thing for destroying everyone in your path. While I don’t like any of the endings mostly because of the death of shepherd in two of three endings and the destruction of one of the things that makes the mass effect universe unique, the mass relay network, I do think people are making a huge deal out of a medium issue.

The galaxy seems smaller in the second and third games

The first game had the M25 Mako driving game. It was great I really liked it. The planets where you could drive around for hours and find things were really lots of fun. They did away with that in the second game for the most part except the firewalker dlc and replaced it with a planet scanner system. I really liked that it was just some small detail that made the game so much more. The third game moves out even more and has a in solar system ping type system thingies that is limited by the stupid reapers occupying just about every freaking system in the dang galaxy, I know they are invading the galaxy and all but they are really annoying. There are quite a lot of planets that have stuff on them like reinforcements for the final reaper confrontation on earth as well as random credits and side quest items. I find it silly and boring. It has similar repetition to the scanning game in ME2 and the M25 Mako game in Mass Effect but it is not as good as those minigames and the constant interruption by the reapers is a real nuisance. The story up until the end is really good even though I don’t like the whole hopeless catastrophe thing. The citadel makes a good island in the storm for most of the game. The Cerberus invasion of the citadel totally is great and breaks up the step by step progression of the game.


I have not played through the entire game with my previous saves from Mass Effect 1 and Mass Effect 2 yet but I have almost, so here is a little peek at some of my reactions. All of the characters that return for cameos from the first two games are awesome and totally change the way the game progresses. The biggest thing is the survival of key plot characters throughout the story. A few that come to mind are the entire citadel council and the destine ascension from the first game as well as Wrex the Krogan who makes a huge story changes in both Mass Effect 2 and Mass Effect 3 if he is spared. If Thane the Drell from the second game survives the suicide mission and has his loyalty mission completed he saves the solarian councilor and she in turn adds to the war assets. I have yet to see if loading my previous game significantly effects the final two levels of the game but I will write another entry when I finish.