True Blood Season 2 (Blu-ray)

Back following a too long hiatus with the first in a series of recaps of some films we've watched over the last six weeks or so...

In preparation for the Season 3 premiere back in June, we burned through the Season 2 the week beforehand. While I enjoyed the second season the first time around, it ultimately failed to expand on the promise of Season 1. The first season centered in and around the town of Bon Temps, and there was a certain voodoo mystique and sense of discovery that wasn't sustained throughout Season 2. Instead, the elements of the story veered into camp and, while great fun, ultimately over-reached itself.

On second viewing, however, I came away with a much greater appreciation for Season 2. Sure, the Mary-Anne storyline was taken past the point of no return, but Jason's foray into the Fellowship of the Sun was hilariously entertaining, as was his unlikely alliance and friendship with Andy Bellefleur. But there was also much more visceral excitement and dramatic depth to Season 2 than I'd remembered, most notably the story around Eric's maker, Goderich. Season 2 also serves to establish several plot point that have proven important to the story as it unfolds in Season 3 (which has been fabulous through four episodes).

The Blu-ray presentation of True Blood is an absolute treat. As terrific as the show looks in HD, the Blu-ray is a noticeable cut above. Most scenes look jaw-droppingly good, with a few exhibiting noticeable grain that gives the picture a film-like appearance rather than detracting from it. The visuals are ably supported by a surprisingly powerful and active surround mix. The package is topped offer with a bevy of bonus materials including several entertaining commentary tracks, and an hour and fifteen minute panel discussion featuring series creator Alan Ball and all of the regular cast. A very impressive box set on every level.

Spain reigns supreme at World Cup

Congratulations to Spain, the 2010 World Cup champs.  I was pulling mighty hard for Holland, but Spain was clearly the better side.  They were the aggressors the entire match and really controlled play all day, especially at midfield.  Even so, Holland had 2 golden opportunities to steal the game in the second half, but winger Arjen Robben, who had an otherwise magnificent tournament, couldn't quite finish on 2 glorious chances.  Holland played aggressive defense that included a lot of physicality and fouls.  Nigel de Jong planted a foot right into the chest of Spain's Xabi Alonso and by all rights should have been sent off with a red card.

Spain continued to press, even late in the game when many teams would have been content to try their luck in a penalty kick shootout.  It turned out to be a very wise decision, as the late goal in extra time gave them their first World Cup.  It also saved us the pain of seeing another World Cup decided by penalty kicks, so major kudos to Spain for that as well.  By the time the winning goal came, Netherlands was playing shorthanded, having lost John Heitinga (deservedly) after he picked up his second yellow card.  It was only a matter of time before Netherlands was going to have to play shorthanded; the way they attacked Spain physically was going to cost them in due time.

So congrats again to Spain, deserving World Cup champs!

Operation Sports NCAA Football 11 review

A very positive and thorough review. Essential reading for any sports gamer.  It seems as though EA has finally hit pay dirt on the current generation of consoles with the NCAA series and I could not be more excited.  I'll have to wait until Tuesday for my copy and my anticipation is at a fever pitch.

Random thoughts

- Netherlands defeated Uruguay 3-2 today to advance to the World Cup final.  I have been rooting for them all along (they have long been my favorite international team) and now they are just one step away.  My 2nd favorite team, Germany, plays Spain for the other spot in the final.  Germany is playing brilliant soccer right now and if they get by Spain they will be favored to win the Cup.  Netherlands was quite sloppy with the ball today, especially late in the first half through midway in the second half.  That will not get the job done against either Germany or a very talented Spain.  I am hoping the boys can tighten things up a bit before the final.  As for my other 2 favorite teams, England and the United States, well, the less said the better.

-NCAA Football 11 is one week away from release.  I am totally amped up for this game and have very high hopes for it.  I have my 4 custom teams all ready to go (go to username Quint75 on the Xbox 360 version of Team Builder to find them) and of course the Maize and Blue of Michigan will get a thorough workout as well.  It will be a little while before the community rosters are finished being named and adjusted, but once that starts it will be Dynasty Mode city.  Especially nice is the ability to do all of your Dynasty Mode stuff online now, including over your iPhone.  Hot tamale!

-My wife and I have started a new 4th of July tradition which I am embarrassed to say should have started about 25 years ago: we will now watch Jaws every July 4th.   After all, a great deal of it takes part over the July 4th holiday.  Plus it's been my favorite movie since I was 9 years old.  I give full credit to Barb for the idea of making this a tradition.  And I smack myself in the head because I did not think of it first.  As a certified Jaws fanatic, I hang my head in shame.

-Watched a few more movies in the last couple of days.  Here are some quick ratings, on a scale of 1-10:

• Jaws - 10 (duh!)
• Cobb - 6.5
• Session 9 - 7.0
• Zombieland - 7.5 (but quite entertaining)
• The 50 Worst Movies Ever Made - 5.0 (ironic, huh?)
• Tales From The Script - 7.0

That's it for now.  Go Germany tomorrow and Go Netherlands on Sunday!
       

Rating some recently seen movies

I have been in movie watching mode for a while, so I thought I'd just rate what I have seen on a scale of 1-10.  No comments, just ratings.

Zulu: 8.5

The Machinist: 8.0

Streets Of Laredo: 8.0

The Wolfman (2010): 7.0

Capturing The Friedman's: 8.5

The Red Baron: 6.0

Harvard Beats Yale 29-29: 8.5

Sense and Sensibility: 9.0

Suspect Zero: 6.5

Right At Your Door: 8.0

The China Syndrome: 8.5

NCAA 11 improvements from demo to retail version

Thanks to Pastapadre for listing these on his site, which we are happy to link to from Memory Almost Full.  The list of improvements that will be implemented for the retail version is stunning.  If these changes are delivered as promised to what is already a terrific playing demo version of the game, we are in for a real treat with NCAA Football this year.  Hopefully the sliders will also work fully so we can configure the game to our personal tastes.

Anyway, here is a link to the list.  Be sure to check it out.

Quick gaming thoughts

• I finished Red Dead Redemption a while back and loved every second of it.  A serious, serious contender for Game Of The Year that will be hard to knock from the top spot.  Once you finish you can keep playing (but with a twist that I must admit is a bit disappointing to me) so I plan to put more and more time in just because of the sheer fun of it.  This is one game that will be fun to pop in and play when nothing else seems compelling.
• I have put quite a bit of time into UFC 2010 Undisputed.  It is quite enjoyable, especially the career mode.  I finally got my fighter the welterweight championship belt, but this is on easy mode so it's hardly an accomplishment.  The controls become pretty natural once you invest some time into the game.  I may start a new career on the next higher difficulty level pretty soon, but we'll see.  It's still fun to play with the real fighters and see their different strengths and weaknesses.  While solid, I can't see this game being considered for GotY.
• I returned to my 2009 GotY, Borderlands, to check out the expansion DLC The Secret Armory Of General Knoxx.  What I had read about it holds true; it is insanely difficult.  I am definitely out of practice so that may have had something to do with it, but I died multiple times at the same spot, before I really got very deep into the action.  My character is at the highest possible level (pre-DLC) so it shouldn't be this crazy, but it is.  I'll give it a shot again later, but I was very frustrated to keep running into such problems so early in the episode.
• Other than NCAA Football 11, the only other game on my radar now is Mafia 2, which looks a whole lot like Red Dead Redemption set in the late 1940's/early 1950's.  With a release date set for August, this is a must-buy for me.

That's it for now!