SHINAN'S PROFILE

Yes indeed. This bashing seem very useless to me. ESPECIALLY since it seems like you're also too lazy to write your own code instead just copy it into your game and say "yeah this is so much simpler". Copy-pasting code like that is just ilke taking a sample game in rm2k3 with a working caterpillar system and make your game with that.

Write your own goddamn scripts. *hytter argt med näven*

I'd like it if you could talk to the monsters. And persuade them not to fight against you :D

"Hey monster. How about I give you some gold and then you just die and give me XP?"
"RAARGH" (how much are we talking about?)
"You know. A couple hundred?"
"RRRAAAAAARGH" (sure!)

Battletalk shouldn't be long though. Don't have two characters talk about their relationship problems while trying to fight off a monster. And to have a varied enough amount of lines so that there isn't just those stock lines that happen every now and again because that's really just pointless and is just another thing to skip.

So... Are the comment notices on or off now? I'd like to know if I have to hunt down comments or be notified of them. Not that I ever get comments... So it would be useful to know if I do!

I will only have movies I saw in 2009 and that was released in 2009. This, for me excludes the masterpiece that is Zombieland (released in January 2010 over here), Sherlock Holmes (saw it yesterday) and The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus (didn't see it until 2010). Three movies I really enjoy but won't make either my 2009 or 2010 lists because they were released in the wrong time.

With that said.

5. Watchmen
Watchmen blew my mind. It's such a pretty movie and I didn't mind the otherwise slow pace I was just staring with awe the whole time. It's the only movie I saw twice in the theatres in 2009. Which is quite the accomplishment.

2. The Brothers Bloom
The Brothers Bloom was quite hyped all around the internet. Especially on the movie podcasts I listened to. And the director seemed like such a cool guy that I just had to go watch this. I enjoyed it a lot. Colourful and weird yet straightforward. This was the only movie soundtrack I bought in 2009. In fact I had to have it so much that I bought something on iTunes for the first time since the soundtrack wasn't available on CD.

3. Moon
I heard a lot about this movie about how brilliant it was and saw it on the DVD-shelf (since it never got a theatrical release here apart from that one screening at a festival) and bought it. Even though I had heard a lot about this movie it wasn't at all what I expected. Which was really awesome.

1. Inglorious Basterds
Tarantino does a eurothriller set in WW2... I loved every minute. I would have gone to see this twice but I just didn't happen. Still... If only Tarantino's DVD releases had more fun stuff in them I'd buy this.

6. District 9
The style was neat. The concept was neat. The execution was neat. And despite what people say I loved the final act.

8. Coraline
This was the first movie I ever saw in 3d. It was cool for a while but walking out of it I thought "3d is not for me". Avatar had cool 3d too but I had more or less the same reaction. If I can help it I'll stay away from 3d in the future. The movie itself is wonderful though.

4. Le Concert
This is probably a slightly artsy pick that I went and saw because I saw the trailer and thought "crap, this looks like The Full Monty with a Russian orchestra. I must see this."
It was exactly that. Though not quite at all. But a very nostalgic and beautiful movie that had me crying over the whole final sequence (if you don't cry there you're not human).

7. The Boat that Rocked
A fun ride. A great ensemble story that perhaps could have had more stuff from different characters but the film was long already. Though I could have lived with a miniseries. I just loved "being there".

9. The Road
Dark, depressing. But goodlooking no doubt.

10. Avatar
It was an awesome ride and I can't really come up with what else to put here.


(can you tell I numbered after writing them down? :)

Disappointments:
9
The trailer looked cool. But the voice acting just felt off and the story-wise it wasn't exciting at all. Too bad because the visuals were cool but it's not always enough.

Horrible things stay away:
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
It took me three months to get through this.

Angels & Demons
Makes no sense at all. In all ways imaginable. If there ever was a waste of time this would be it.

New Moon
Alright I haven't seen it but it's fucking Twilight. Stay away! (doesn't mean I won't see it eventually though :)

Incredibly fun but instantly forgettable:
2012
First they driva away from an earthquake. Then they jump on a small plane to escape an earthquake. Then they escape a volcano in an RV. Then they flee a tsunami in a slightly bigger plane. HOLY SHIT THIS IS SO MANY MAGNITUDES OF AWESOME I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE.

G.I. Joe Rise of Cobra
I know nothing about GI Joe. Since I'm not North American. Still this was sweet action.

Drag me to Hell
A lot of fun.

Notable stuff I haven't seen yet:
Paranormal Activity
Crank: High Voltage
The Hurt Locker
Where the Wild Things Are
Antichrist
A Serious Man

Also UP would probably have made my list but I saw it on DVD in 2010.

EDIT:

post=126442
9 - alright, but not Burton's Best.

Burton only produced 9. (funny how there were three 9 movies last year. Disctrict 9, 9 and Nine)
And because I'm a nerd I just checked my District 9 ticket (because I keep those... For some reason) and I saw it on 9.9.09 :D

But then you get into a fights with soldiers, wizards, martial artists, intelligent magical beings, and demi-gods... and they fall for all the same tricks, when they should be smarter than that, especially if we're to believe they're experience combatants themselves. That's like if modern soldiers saw an ACTUAL tank and they all just freaked out and started firing their rifles at it. Utterly pointless and stupid.

I know there are a bunch of battle-based boardgames that also have similar mechanic where you're only allowed to attack the closest target even if there's a juicier one behind. It is often rationalized by the fact that there might be a sniper standing behind the guy that is charging you with his broadsword shouting obscenities at you but it's not like you'll have time to pick a target when firing your weapon. (and certain systems have a "battle experience" stat that you can roll against to see if you are in fact able to pick the "better" target.)


I remember a discussion about RPG battles on a tabletop RPG podcast where the GM and players discussed what the enemies should attack. Usually the GM knows exactly where to hit a roleplaying group to hurt them the most but the question was how fun it was for the player. So it might also be a remnant of sort to try to keep people alive. Always going for the weakest target (for example) is a tactic that is fairly effective but can also be highly annoying so a more evenly distributed kind of attack (especially in a game where tacitcal combat isn't a huge deal) can be one of those things just to smooth out the gameplay experience a bit.


Though on the whole I completely agree with you and the worst thing in jRPGs are the battles. And in most jRPGs that's all there is between all the cut-scenes.