Oblivion presents a very unique take on a post-apocalyptic/science-fiction film. Instead of initially seeing the life of people living in direct horror of such a cataclysmic event, we are presented with a much more organized aftermath in which man has given up on any chance of reclaiming earth, and are headed for the stars.

Background — We are told the people of the earth are headed to Titan, the largest moon of Saturn. While most have already made the journey, a small contingent of people –two that we know of– are actually left on the planet to perform maintenance on machines that harvest resources from the earth for their new home. The contingency duties also include preventing  sabotage of said machines from a group of aliens called the Scavs, who aim to dwarf their plains. Jack Harper, played by Tom Cruise, heads the actual repair part of the operation, while Victoria Olson, portrayed by Andrea Riseborough, is Jack’s communications officer.

From the onset of the movie, one of the most beautiful and disturbing views is seeing the moon hanging in the sky in shambles. We are told the destruction of the moon preceded the invasion of the Scavs, who invaded earth in an attempt to takeover the planet. The destruction of the moon sent earth into climatic chaos, making it all too easy for the invasion force to get the upper-hand against the nations of earth. In a last-ditch effort to eradicate the enemy,  earth deployed its nuclear arsenal to eradicate the enemy. Earth won, but at a grave cost, destroying all sustainability in the process.

This set up the premise of the film which goes on to present many more reveals and a deeper plot line. I’ll avoid any more spoilers, but I will say things are not as they seem. If you wish to be completely spoiled, see Wikipedia.

The Good — Tom Cruise does an excellent job portraying Jack Harper, as expected. I know it’s popular to hate on him sometimes, but I honestly can’t say I’ve seen one of his movies in which I totally hated him in. Be that as it may, he gave a very believable performance, as most of the film hinges on the audiences connection with him directly. For most of the first part of the film, he’s the lone person on screen.

I thought the whole moon destruction thing was very clever. Although we don’t actually see this event play out in the film, it just felt brilliant to me as I had not heard of that being  done before. Not to mention it is most certainly a great precursor to invasion by throwing earth’s weather system out of whack. It’s not given very much attention in the movie, but I still thought it was pretty cool.

Computer visuals in this movie are great. With the most notable instances being the post-apocalyptic vistas, the weather effects, and Jack’s aircraft, as well as the drones in which Jack had to repair. Other things like the moon, computer displays, the alien space station, and worn-down versions of notable landmarks, were also beautiful nonetheless and highly-believable. The visual in this film are right up there with the Asgard visuals in Thor, which have been my favorite special effects in recent memory.

The Bad — Easily the worst part of the movie is the love story. While the events that lead up to the realization of this relationship were pretty interesting, it all played out in the cheezy-stereotypical manner that most movies employ these days. Instead of playing this portion of the movie down and giving us more good sci-fi, it eventually becomes a pivotal part of the film and at times just seems forced.

Oblivion has pretty-good action sequences, but it doesn’t feel like it. The problem is not in the action sequences themselves, which were pretty good, but more in the pacing. This film lends itself to having a slow, drawn-out type of vibe due to the overall premise, which leaves it with the challenge of having the pacing be spot-on to keep the audience engaged. The pacing just felt slightly off with this film.

Pacing issues aside, this scripts leaves a bit to be desired. While the plot twist are great, it seems the writer wants the audience to be satisfied by those and visual effects alone, rather than flushing out a rich story. And the ending felt too cliche, with the all to often case of the antagonist having a supreme lapse in judgement, which seems highly unlikely once you know who the antagonist is.

And then there is Morgan Freeman. While I love Morgan Freeman, him being in this film is pretty  unnecessary. They could have very easily given his role to a no name actor to jumpstart their career. Having Freeman play the role didn’t provide any much needed flare, and was pretty forgettable as far as his plethora of roles go.

The movie also features Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Jaime Lannister on Game of Thrones, as a military weapons expert. While it was interesting seeing him on the big screen, I really don’t get the casting decision, as he is completely a throw away character, and honestly it seems as if this role was written just to get him into the film.

Conclusion — All in all, Oblivion is a good movie, not great. If more elements of the universe were flushed out –rather than falling back on the ever so present love story, this may have been a greater film.

If you love science-fiction and stunning visuals (score was good also), you will probably enjoy Oblivion. Although the film’s potential is not truly realized, all the elements are there for a great sci-fi story. Oblivion also presents a great plot twist that will keep you interested throughout the film.

I dare say that most of the Tom Cruise’s fan-base won’t enjoy this film, as the action only seems moderate due to its pacing, which I’m not entirely sure could have been avoided, considering the premise of the story. That being said, for some, the pacing issues may be offset by the awesome visual effects.

Final Verdict — Unless you really love sci-fi and don’t mind being bored with a love story that’s given way to much attention, stay away.

Sources: Wikipedia

Deranged Disposition

Knowing right and doing right, is two sides of a coin.
Choices made with inner thoughts, from a heart that’s been scorned.

You knew the path but chose, to take the road that was worn.
You knew the math and rose, to make decisions you would morn.

Self-righteously proclaimed, then outwardly-maintained.
Truth is you’re inwardly-defamed, and secretly-sustained.

Obviously something is there, so sensitive and raw.
I realized it wasn’t me, but the many horrors that you saw.

As a child, or maybe just your mental composition.
Took a while to discover, your deranged disposition.

Arguably, lack of love, filled with fleeting adoration.
So when my love came along, you set a course for deportation.

Painted me as the problem, then put my love on a shelf.
If being frank is the goal, it was a reflection of yourself.

Your inner mind’s eye was wrong, credibility gone.
Can you verify the source, of the visions you were shown?

But I’m not here to judge, but I stand here accused,
Insurmountable frustration, from the lies you exude.

In Marvel’s “Iron Man 3″, brash-but-brilliant industrialist Tony Stark/Iron Man played by Robert Downey Jr., is pitted against an enemy whose reach knows no bounds. When Stark finds his personal world destroyed at his enemy’s hands, he embarks on a harrowing quest to find those responsible. This journey, at every turn, will test his mettle. With his back against the wall, Stark is left to survive by his own devices, relying on his ingenuity and instincts to protect those closest to him. As he fights his way back, Stark discovers the answer to the question that has secretly haunted him: does the man make the suit or does the suit make the man?

So, my brother Kary Brown is a singer / songwriter / musician. He loves Halo. So it was just a matter of time before the two met in some musical cluster of awesomeness. Check the embed below to listen to what is to become part of an original Halo hip-hopera. Also be sure to check his website for his full discography.

Back in 2007 my slightly older cousin and a high school friend, along with myself planned a trip to Vegas. Of course I was exited about the sights and sounds, hustle and bustle that I would see on the trip, but deep in the back of my mind, the geek in me was saying, “Yes, I finally get to see Star Trek: The Experience”. Yeah, weird I know, but I was excited none-the-less.

In the midst all the casinos and shops, slot machines and shows, I finally made time to partake of the experience, which was a short tram ride from the Grand, which is where we were staying. Not surprisingly, my invitation for the fellas to join me was met with a polite letdown. Not deterred one bit, I was one my way.

After making my way to the Las Vegas Hilton and purchasing my ticket, I was on my way for the first of the two experiences. The walk to the actual entrance to the experiences was awesome in its own right, which included museum like displays of Start Trek memorabilia. These displays contained everything from uniforms and phasers, to full scale replicas and props. The following few pictures are from said walk. Enjoy.

From Anime News Network:

The film is set between the 517th and 518th installments of Akira Toriyama‘s original manga. Specifically, it is set during the “lost decade” of story time after the end of the battle with Majin Buu. Kuririn, Piccolo, Vegeta, and other familar characters will appear in the film. The film is not a spinoff, but a story in the official history of Dragon Ball.

http://www.dragonball2013.com/

Source: AnimeNewsNetwork via TheDailyWhat

So, up until late last year, I didn’t really even know who Ben Folds was. Being an African-American male, that’s not too difficult to believe.

At the time I was an avid listener of the Nerdist Podcast. Episode 132 of the Nerdist Podcast featured the musical –and very comical– talents of Ben Folds. That episode was epic. Without knowing anything about Ben Folds, I got a great mix of details about his background, his music, the industry, his group, and his solo endeavors. After that podcast I was sold, and immediately hit up Spotify to find more of his music.

I’ve always have been drawn to music from people who possess the musician/singer/songwriter combination. It’s something about being able to write and deliver your music with just your instrument and a microphone. I also have a great appreciation for the talents of anyone who can master a particular instrument.

All this being said, I am by no means a music expert. I, like most people, tend to fall within the musical sub-culture that is built around my particular race. But with a father, brother, and uncle whom are accomplished musicians, as well as a family full of talented singers, I have a very deep appreciation for the art of music.

But, back to Ben Folds, I simply love his music. A master pianist and accomplished vocalist, his music can cater to almost any situation in life. Not really a whole lot more I can say without you listening to his music. Check my Spotify playlist and let me know what you think.

From Wikipedia:

Benjamin Scott “Ben” Folds (born September 12, 1966) is an American singer-songwriter and record producer. From 1995-2000, Folds was the frontman and pianist of the alternative rock band Ben Folds Five. Since the group disbanded, Folds has performed as a solo artist and has toured all over the world. He has also collaborated with musicians such as William Shatner, Regina Spektor and “Weird Al” Yankovic and undertaken experimental songwriting projects with authors such as Nick Hornby and Neil Gaiman. In addition to contributing music to the soundtracks of the animated films Over the Hedge, and Hoodwinked!, Folds produced Amanda Palmer’s first solo album and has been a judge on the NBC a cappella singing contest The Sing-Off since 2009.

If you are new to WordPress, then you have undoubtedly been cast into the vast world of plugins, which sometimes seem to have no end. And finding one that perfectly fits your needs may seem to be an impossible task. Of course the plugin rating system helps a lot, but it’s far from perfect.

Consider yourself lucky, as I have a list of go-to-must-have plugins that I install in almost every WordPress instance I create. I’m sure it will be useful to someone.

• Add Meta Tags — This plugin adds meta tags to your articles based on the categories, tags, featured image, and excerpt chosen. This becomes extremely useful for Search Engine Optimization, or SEO, as well as for various social plugins that import your articles for consumption via likes, +1′s, and shares. Definitely a must have plugin.
• BackWPup –BackWPup allows you to export your database, as well as your files, to various services on a schedule. This ensures that if your server ever craps out and loses all your data, that you will a backup to get your server up and running again. Of course such backups can be done manually, and hopefully your host is doing some type of backup, but the automation and ease of use, along with the added peace of mind, is totally worth getting this plugin.
• Blubrry PowerPress — Blubrry Powerpress is the best way to go if you are looking to release a podcast via your WordPress site. Setup is easy and you also have the option to integrate stats from the Blubrry website.
• Disqus Comment System — Disqus is probably the most popular third-party commenting system on the web. This plugin provides easy setup and management of comments to your site. I find this is the number one way to reduce WordPress spam. Must have.
• Google XML Sitemap — With Google Webmaster Tools, your XML sitemap will be used to more easily index your site and ultimately provide better SEO.
• Scissors Continued — This is the best plugin that I’ve found for adding watermarks to only images of a particular size.
• Simple Local Avatars — Profile avatar integration is probably one of the most disappointing parts of WordPress. Avatar functionality is built into the system, but there is by default no way to easily add an avatar to a particular user. This plugin takes care of that, as you can easily upload an image to a users profile and it will be seen throughout the site where applicable.
• Ultimate Google Analytics — Google Analytics is hands down the website tracking tool of choice for the web. This plugin provide an easy way to get the analytics tracking code on all of your pages.
• WP to Twitter — Although setup is not the most user friendly, WP to Twitter provides an easy way to auto-publish your articles to the highly popular micro-blogging platform.

Hope these help! What are your must have WordPress plugins?

Create your website icon – Create you website icon with desired graphics, at 512 pixels by 512 pixels, and PNG format. Name and place the icon on your web server.

<link rel="apple-touch-icon" href="/your-image-path/your-icon-name.png" />

Add the above code snippet to your html header – Place the above code between your website header tags and that’s it. Enjoy pretty app-like website icons on iOS home screens!

Before / After

I have no idea if this works on Android, as I don’t have an Android device, but I can confirm that it does not work on Windows Phone 7, which is unfortunate. Although, there is a hack-a-round way to get it working on Windows Phone 7, hopefully they’ll support this natively in Windows Phone 8.

If your a PC gamer, you know –unless your living under a rock– that Steam is the de facto online distribution channel for PC games. Certainly there is always a deal to be had from the site, but the summer sale is here, and it’s sure to be something you don’t want to miss. Keep your browser refreshed to get access to latest daily deals, deal packs, as well as flash deals.