Film Review: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

“Do svidaniya, Dr. Jones!” – Cate Blanchett

Nearly twenty years after the last adventure, a sixty-year-old Indiana Jones comes back for one more round. At the very least, he still knows how to kick butt! The film is surprisingly loaded with lengthy and awesome action sequences; the whole middle of the movie is a brilliant sequence as Indy and the gang chase, fight, and explores the jungles of the Amazon all at once! And with a plethora of quality special effects, the film is a sight to behold. Some of the action is quite absurd and unrealistic; it doesn't bother me that much, but it might agitate some viewers.

But how does the story hold up? Pretty iffy. It does have many merits; seeing Indy in the 50s offers a lot of interesting insight as he struggles with cultural and political changes (as well as his old age and mortality). The film explores UFO-lore, the paranormal, and ancient history in a fairly solid fashion; I just feel that its delivery falls a little flat. I blame the writing for the most part; the first three films were brilliantly written with the right amount of exposition to explore the historical and cultural backgrounds of a given artifact. In this case the exposition is scattered, and provides very loose connections that don’t feel all that cohesive.  As far as character development goes, the film does its best to connect the past and the future of the character, and tie things up in a pleasingly sentimental fashion. 

As a film, it’s got plenty of nice photography. Acting is solid; Harrison Ford is still the man after all these years, Karen Allen still plays her role well enough, I like Cate Blanchett as the villain (although I do think her voice and accent are a little forced), John Hurt plays a good crazy guy, and Shia LaBeouf plays his typical type of role for better or for worse.  Although some of the dialogue is amusing, I find the writing to be quite weak.  Production value is high, and there are way more overloaded special effects than I anticipated. Most sets, props, and costumes are top-notch.  Music is not bad.

Although I generally agree that this is the weakest film in the series, I enjoy it enough so that individual nitpicks don’t bother me that much.  I know most viewers really harp on the infamous refrigerator scene, before bashing the actors, the story, and just about everything else.  If you really let these things bother you, then you might certainly loathe this film.  As for me, I wasn’t bothered the same way most others were, so I learned to just sit back and enjoy the ride.  As such, I can only recommend it as a rental to interested parties.

4/5 (Entertainment:  Very Good | Story:  Average | Film:  Good)

Film Review: Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

“The quest for the Grail is not archaeology; it's a race against evil!” – Sean Connery

In his third film, Indiana Jones continues to hunt down artifacts and fight bad guys. This flick easily has as much action as the last outings, with plenty of fights and chases to entertain. The setpieces are quite ambitious as Indy outruns villains on a moving train, infiltrates a castle, and takes on a tank on horseback, among other brilliant sequences. And the comedy is probably the best in this film; the dialogue and interplay between characters are often quite witty.

The story for this is strong and ambitious as Indy goes out to find the holiest artifact of them all: the Holy Grail. The story is tightly-paced and well planned-out as mysteries unravel and turncoats are revealed as the adventure presses on. But what really propels this story to greatness are the characters; they receive their strongest treatment here as Indy struggles to reconcile things with his dad (not to mention, the opening flashback reveals a lot about their characters).

The film is still competently made, with quality photography. Acting is great; Harrison Ford is still perfect as the main hero, Sean Connery is perfectly cast as Indy’s father, Alison Doody is appealing, John Rhys-Davies is still the man, Julian Glover is decent as the villain, and River Phoenix was perfect in his role. Writing is good, production value is high, and the music is awesome.

Recommended!

5/5 (Entertainment: Very Good | Story: Perfect | Film: Perfect)

This film appears on my Top 100 Favorite Films list at #12.

Film Review: Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom

“Fortune and glory, kid. Fortune and glory.” – Harrison Ford

After Raiders of the Lost Ark, Spielberg, Lucas, and the gang had a hard act to follow. They generally delivered with this prequel, taking Indy through a thrilling roller-coaster ride (or a mine-card ride as the case may be) of an adventure. There are still lots of great fights, great chases, and even more memorable setpieces and sequences, and even more comedy. Yep, this film is still a blast!

The story never really felt that strong to me, especially when compared to its predecessor and successor. It does have merits though; this is a figurative journey to Hell, and it gets pretty darn dark and wicked at times. The whole heart-ripping scene is what gave birth to the PG-13 rating in the first place. My only complaint about all this is that it contrasts way too much with the silly comedy scattered throughout, breaking up any sense of foreboding.

Otherwise, the story is serviceable, at the least. It has tight pacing and a consistent flow (even if the transition from the opening scenes to the main story is a little screwy). Some of the action scenes get pretty absurd and unrealistic, but I find most of these faults forgivable. In the end, it’s still a fun story that’s well-told and with a group of likable characters.

The film has fine photography, with plenty of good camera angles and quality lighting. Acting is great; Harrison Ford is still the man, Kate Capshaw (aside from being a bit annoying) plays her part perfectly, Jonathan Ke Quan is lovable as Short Round, Amrish Puri is perfect as the villain (probably the best villain in the series). Writing is great, production value is great, and the music is great.

Given the bizarre mix of comedy and dark subject matter, I'd probably recommend this one more as a rental.

4.5/5 (Entertainment: Very Good | Story: Good | Film: Very Good)

This film currently appears on my Top 100 Favorite Films list at #98.

Film Review: Raiders of the Lost Ark

"An army which carries the Ark before it... is invincible.” – Denholm Elliott

In the fashion of the old-fashioned serials, where a daring hero gallivants from one pitfall to another before closing with a thrilling cliffhanger, Indiana Jones makes his debut exploring an ancient South American temple. After the iconic hand-off scene, the place explodes around him, he hops through all the booby traps to escape, before being chased by natives! And that’s only a prelude; the adventure that follows pits him against all kinds of enemies, and they fight, chase each other, and raid more tombs before reaching a chilling climax. The action is frequent, and must take up nearly half of the film or more, and everything in between is tightly-paced, suspenseful, memorable, funny, dramatic…there is never a dull moment!

The story is great too. Maybe nothing deep or artistic, but the characters are pretty strong and we grow to love them the more we follow them in the movie. The McGuffin-driven quest they go on moves fast and logically, providing a solid platform to showcase the epic action scenes, in addition to the occasional bit of humor, romance, characterization, one or two historical/cultural lessons, and an underlying theme concerning the morality of treasure hunting.

Cinematically, it looks brilliant too. Photography is very strong all the way through, with plenty of interesting angles, steady composition, and interesting lighting effects. The combination of filming, sound design, and authentic locations give the film a natural rough n’ gritty appeal that I don’t think has been effectively reproduced anywhere else (except the next two sequels). Acting is great; Harrison Ford is perfect as Indy, Karen Allen is perfect as Marion, Paul Freeman makes a good villain (and a good foil for Indy’s character), and John Rhys-Davies is lovable. Writing is spot-on. Production value shows a few weaknesses (a few fake-looking sets, old-fashioned special effects), but otherwise has some really strong locales, props, and costumes, and the filmmakers show immaculate attention to detail. Music is classic!

Recommended!

5/5 (Entertainment: Perfect | Story: Very Good | Film: Perfect)

This film appears on my Top 100 Favorite Films list at #5.

Writing: Knowing When to Start Over Again

Here it is in late September, and Halloween is just around the corner.  For the past couple of Halloweens, I've felt inspired to dabble in horror fiction and try to develop my own zombie story.  I came up with this really cool idea where zombies could overrun a deep space mining colony, and a bunch of troopers would bust in and fight them! The idea was thrilling enough for me to dive in and write up the first page or so of this story.  I set up the situation nicely, and was ready to get to the deep space colony and start the bloody mayhem!

Problem is, it never happened.  My single page of exposition just sat there for the past couple of years, beckoning me with its promise of thrills and chills, but never developing into anything substantial.

This year, something changed.  Quite bluntly, I took that one page, threw it out, and started over.  And you know what? The story is coming along nicely.  It is evolving a life of its own, with real living breathing characters and strong thematic parallels and everything.

What changed? I realized that plot and action alone is not enough to motivate me to write out this story.  Sure, I probably could have fudged my way through the extended writer's block, but the story was simply way too dry, too uninteresting, and too shallow to proceed any further.  What changed was that I didn't start the story with a dry and boring briefing room scene:  I changed it to start with a character portrait.  By introducing the protagonist and his core problem, I kicked off a whole new internal conflict that would make the story substantially more compelling.  It would also be the key factor in building up the relationships and chemistry with the other characters.  Heck, it even helped me visualize the settings and situations more clearly.

This is not the first time I've had a story go through a bad start, and needed to start over.  My first story (Rider of the White Horse) took three drafts before taking on its finalized form.  My current main project (Perfectly Inhuman) went through three incarnations before getting to where it is now; the first of which was substantially different than what it turned out to be.  In all these cases, it was never a case of me just jumping in and writing a complete draft all in one go; I had to test the waters first.  I would write so many pages, get stuck or dissatisfied in some way, and have to start over.  I've come to learn that this is part of the natural evolutionary process of writing; you can't force a story to be what it shouldn't be.  If I'm having trouble getting through a story within its first few chapters, then chances are that I need to start over and approach it from a different angle.

So if you're trying to get a story off the ground and find yourself getting stuck, it may be more than a mere block, you may need to consider starting over with a significant change in your storytelling.  Some things to consider are:

• Changing or mixing up the characters.  The story won't go far anyway if they're too shallow or uninteresting.  I personally can't seem to stand it when characters are dry and lifeless, so sometimes it helps me personally to inject the characters with personality, issues, conflicts, or even quirks to pump new life into the story.  It may also help to consider adding in characters, removing others; heck, you might even have to change the protagonist and antagonists around completely.
• Changing or mixing up the settings.  Setting is important not only for building the plot, but also for visualizing it in your head.  If you can't mentally picture it, then it's really hard to turn it into tangible writing.  It may help to consider transplanting it to a different location or era.  For example, if you're trying to develop a crime drama of some kind but can't picture a city setting, try relocating it to the country instead.  Or a foreign nation.  Or even outer space.
• Changing or mixing up the genres.  It can be very interesting to try and mix and blend genres together; whether or not it works will depend on its execution.  Something to consider, however, is that some genres are far more liberal than others.  Writing a historic epic or war drama may require a greater amount of research and realism than sci-fi or fantasy; you may find it extremely liberating to take your story and transforming it into a fantasy, especially if you're finding yourself constrained by too many rules or stigmas.
• Changing or mixing up the plot.  Some of the most interesting stories have a mixed-up narrative; some of them will start in the middle or end of the story, then use a flashback to tell it all from the beginning.  That's one tried-and-true method for quickly developing a hook for your story and making it hip all at once.  That's not all though; sometimes it helps to simply re-arrange the major plot points.  For example, with my manuscript for Perfectly Inhuman, I initially wanted to have this major plot twist toward the end, but I wound up putting it at the beginning of the story.  You know what happened? It was still a plot twist, but it also helped serve as an inciting incident.  I may not have made a mind-bender out of this, but I did succeed in using the plot twist to make a really awesome revenge story.  Chances are that you may need to consider such drastic changes to make your stalled projects work too.
• Changing or mixing up the conflicts.  To me, a story without conflict is a story without plot.  If that's what you're going for, then I can't help you.  But if you're finding that your story is dry and uninteresting, then maybe you need more conflict to spice it up some.  It can get pretty dull if the characters always get along.  Other things to consider:  man vs society, man vs nature, and man vs himself (the latter of which is easily the most interesting).
• Changing or mixing up the prose.  Experiment with the point-of-views; turning a third-person POV into a first-person will change the writing style drastically.  Changing the tenses (past or present) around might also alter things in a positive way.  Are you considering other stylistic embellishments, such as turning your story into a collection of journal entries instead of straightforward chapters? The overall writing style and syntax of the story can either help or hinder your motivation, so I'd recommend experimenting with it until it sticks.

Starting a new novel is usually a trial-and-error process, because the first time I do anything is usually the worst and sloppiest.  If you're finding yourself stuck conceptualizing the story when you're in the opening pages, then you may have to play around with it some more in a fresh new draft.  I've found that toying with the above aspects have helped me mold my stories into better, more tangible forms.  Maybe it'll help you too.

Film Review: Naked Lunch

"Exterminate all rational thought. That is the conclusion I have come to." - Peter Weller

On the first viewing, I watched it all the way through, and for the first time ever I determined that this must be the weirdest film ever made.  That sentiment has now been completely supplanted by my exploration of David Lynch films, with Eraserhead and Inland Empire topping my list of weirdest movies ever seen.  Much like a Lynch film, however, Naked Lunch eschews the notion of developing a plot and focuses more on crafting a strange, surreal, nightmarish experience.  In this film, you can expect to dive into a world of walking talking bugs, mutating typewriters, and shady characters who are never what they seem.  There are a few shocking instances of strange imagery with strong sexual subtexts, and scenes of cold, wicked, disturbing murder.

Based partly on William S. Burroughs’ novel Naked Lunch and partly off of the author’s biography, the Naked Lunch film succeeds at taking an “unfilmable” subject and bringing it to the big screen.  It does so by establishing a solid baseline narrative, with the actual writing of the titular book as the main drive of the story.  As such, the film tacks on elements of the original book around that structure, and touches upon some stark themes regarding substance abuse and the breakdown of reality.  It’s pretty odd to slap together giant bugs and drugs with the writing process, but in its own twisted way the film makes perfect sense:  it’s basically the story of a writer (possibly William Burroughs himself) who abuses drugs to escape grief, but finds the purest escapism in his writing and winds up regressing further and further away from reality.

The film is competently-made, with quality photography and editing.  Acting can be rather dry, but Peter Weller is impeccable as the protagonist.  Judy Davis, Ian Holm, and Roy Sheider add some quality talent to mix.  Writing is pretty decent, especially in the way it builds the story from the given elements without using too much exposition, forcing the audience to interpret things for themselves.  This production has some wickedly awesome make-up effects; most other sets, props, and costumes are decent.  The music score is comprised of some really cool jazz.

David Cronenberg’s film is remarkable in many respects, especially in the way it takes a piece of literature without tangible form and shapes it into a something cinematically presentable.  However, it still stands as one of the most bizarre films I have seen, and chances are that you’d have to be a connoisseur of such cinema to truly enjoy this type of insanity (and you may need a strong stomach for certain scenes).  I’d say that if you enjoyed films like Eraserhead or Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, then you may enjoy Naked Lunch as well.  For casual audiences, I can only recommend a rental, if at all interested.

4/5 (Entertainment:  Pretty Good | Story:  Uhhhh… | Film:  Good)

Film Review: Altered States

"I know where the Self is. It's in our own minds. It's a form of human energy. Our atoms are six billion years old. We've got six billion years of memory in our minds." - William Hurt

This film basically plays out like one extended science experiment. As such, it looks pretty dry and "boring" at first glance, but the actual subject of the experiment is something of fascination that prompts further study. Altered States presents the idea that powerful drugs can create a conduit for a person to touch the inner self (and possibly touching God at the same time), allowing one access to six billion years of genetic memories stored in the human body. As the main character continuously dabbles with the forbidden fruit of mind-altering substances, he comes closer and closer to inhabiting the body of the world's first primordial human being, complete with raw primal instincts and unbridled physical power.

The concept is really high-level stuff, provoking lots of introspect into the human spirit, human evolution, and humanity's relationship with spirituality and religion. Above all, the film is most memorable for being visually insane. There are several sequences where the film bombards you with rapid-fire freak-out imagery. I've yet to see any other film where the screen flashes weird goat heads, bloody knives, hellish scenes of crucifixions and boiling hot magma, giant snakes, sex, the universe, and lord knows what else all at once. Scenes like this make the film very pungent, and it stands out as one of the trippiest experiences on film.

In between the occasional freak-outs, the film slows down quite a bit. The film goes on to follow these scientist characters, who form some profound relationships and rivalries, but most of these scenes come off as rather plain and dry, especially when compared to the film's most vivid imagery. I couldn't tell you if such contrast is intentional or not. Regardless, it is an intriguing story with a cast of halfway decent characters.

The film has its share of extremely hard-hitting imagery and extremely plain photography. Editing can be pretty erratic during the freak-out scenes, but for intentional effect; the film is very successful at beating its trippiness over your head. Acting is decent: William Hurt is especially noteworthy. Writing is quite sophisticated, but could potentially go over some viewers' heads. This production has okay-looking sets, props, and costumes, and the special effects are impressive for its time. Music is alright.

Overall, this is a movie for the left side of the brain.  If that interests you, then the film is certainly recommended. Otherwise, you might still want to see it for some of the trippiest (and possibly scariest) images ever committed to celluloid.

4/5 (Entertainment: Average | Story: Very Good | Film: Good)

Writing Prompt: Describing a Room (and Making a Story Out Of It)

For more detailed instructions on how to describe a room, click here.

Last Friday, the latest writing prompt I toyed around with was…

Describing a room.  Write a description of your bedroom or another room in your house.  You can write about it as it was when you first saw it, as it is now, or as you’d like it to be.  Find a story there.

This exercise would not only help flex your muscles in using descriptive language, but it’s also quite a challenge to invent a story using a mere location.

For this exercise, I wrote the following, using my kitchen as the setting.  I decided to turn it into a kind of ghost story, albeit a silly one.

--------------------

     Flicking the light switch on the wall, the spotlights high above in the sloped ceiling bathed the kitchen in bright light.  Even though there  were two windows in the roof that provided some natural light, the customary gray haze of England blocked out the sun, and I needed to see more of the kitchen before I got started.  There was a long wooden beam, brown with a jagged texture, extending across the room over my head; a remnant of the old structure when this house used to be a barn.  I had a small table set up in the corner of the room, with four skinny leather chairs around it.  Next to that was a wooden set of cubby holes, where I haphazardly piled in an assortment of glasses, spices, teas, and coffees.  Across from that, the kitchen counter wrapped around two of the walls, with the sink and stove interspersed around the big L-shaped counter.  At the end of the counter was a large wooden compartment that housed the fridge.
Walking to the fridge, I started to contemplate what I should eat tonight.  As soon as I opened the doors, all the lights went out, enveloping me in shadows.  I was more than disconcerted; individual lights have gone out before, but never all at once.
    I moved to check the breakers in the tiny laundry room, but as soon as I moved, the lights came back on.  I muttered, “What a stupid thing…”
    Regarding the fridge, I froze in fright.  There was blood streaming down the door.  I was quite certain that it wasn’t there before, and I didn’t have anything in there that would produce that much blood.
    Creeping toward the fridge, I slowly opened it.  I knew its contents well enough:  a pile of drinks on the bottom shelf, cheese and meat on the second, butter and eggs on the third…
    I suddenly back-stepped in fright and disgust, as I beheld a cow’s severed head lying on the middle shelf.  Its glazed black eye stared at me; its matted fur was covered in maggots and there was blood oozing from its torn neck.
    I couldn’t explain this phenomenon.  Where did all my food go?
    Grabbing a wad of paper towels from the counter, I moved to start cleaning the mess off of the bridge.  I stopped short, when I saw that there was no blood on the doors, and no cow head inside.  My provisions had returned like magic.
    I wanted to resume my preparations for my meal, but all these events freaked me out too much.  As I stood frozen in the middle of the cold tiled floor, I suddenly heard an eerie, low-pitched moan filling the house.  It was far too loud and otherworldly to be my growling stomach.  I think.
    I recognized the sound, and remembered one distinct detail.  This house was once a barn, and it was built on a bovine burial ground.  All this phenomenon was merely the vestiges of a long-dead resident of the old barn.
    As the ghost cow mooed, I felt better knowing that was causing all the weird phenomenon, and continued making my dinner.

Film Review: Cabin in the Woods

"...in the end, if they don't transgress they can't be punished." - Richard Jenkins

You know how these silly horror movies go:  a bunch of stupid kids get together in some cabin in the middle of nowhere, and get killed off one-by-one by some kind of scary threat.  It’s become such a standard formula that it’s become clichéd.  So here again, we have a film where a bunch of stupid kids venture into…guess where?  A cabin in the woods! You just know something scary will happen to them.  The key thing that makes this film stand out so much is that this isn’t just a normal cabin in the woods:  it’s really an elaborate trap being controlled by outside forces.  The kids in this film are not so much zombie-fodder as they are rats in a maze, being herded to their doom by a bunch of guys in an operations center.  Reasons for that are gradually unveiled.  Just as the characters use the cabin in the woods as a clever ruse for their operations, the film itself uses the cabin-in-the-woods plot mechanic as a way to lure audiences into the standard horror movie setup.  Then the film pulls the carpet underneath them.

In spite of this setup, the film starts off looking like a typical horror fare.  To break up the monotony of watching these kids go through the motions, the film cuts back and forth between the cabin and the control room, and it intersperses some amusing dialogue throughout.  By the second half, however, the film takes some very unexpected twists and turns.  The climax is an incredible explosion of bloody mayhem and jaw-dropping surprises.  By the film’s end, I swear that it is one heck of a horror film unlike no other.

Because the film takes a standard formula and builds so much around it, I give it a lot of credit for its core concept and its execution.  I was left wondering why the film never once bothered to keep the control room scenario a secret; surely, it would have been a heck of a mind-bender if the audience discovered they were being controlled at the end of the film, right? I realize one thing though:  done that way, audiences might have given up before reaching such a revelation, because it would have really been just the same old clichéd horror spiel.  It’s actually pretty brilliant how the film shows all its cards right off the bat, because it keeps the audience invested for the whole picture.  With its incredible climax, it all pays off and it never once feels like its pandering or being pretentious.  The characters in this film are never all that deep, but they have some very colorful personalities, and it is easy to relate to most of them.  Overall, the story is simultaneously original and awesome.  It ought to rank as one of many stories I wish I could have written myself! Seriously, I would have had a blast writing that last half.

The film looks slick and stylish, with good photography and editing.  Acting is decent:  Chris Hemsworth easily steals the show, given his recent rise in reputation, and he does play a good jock.  Credit should also be given to Kristen Connolly and Fran Kranz, and the rest of the cast is not bad either.  Writing is pretty witty at times; the overall quality is good.  This production has some good looking sets, props, costumes, and special effects.  Music is alright.

This film takes the standard horror formula and fills it with enough surprises, humor, and originality to turn something stagnant into an enthralling thrill ride.  In fact, you could say this is one of those rare films that takes an ordinary subject and makes it extraordinary.  As such, it comes highly recommended!

4.5/5 (Entertainment:  Very Good | Story:  Very Good | Film:  Good)

Video Game Review: Journey / Flower / Flow

Earlier this year, "Journey" was released, following up from a lot of hype, and opening with rave reviews.  Now, they've released the game on disc...alongside with Thatgamecompany's other hits, "Flow" and "Flower." But wait, there's more! Each game also comes with their respective soundtracks (which can be exported to the PS3's hard drive), loads of production art (also exportable), game commentaries, documentaries, textless credit sequences, a wealth of PSN avatars and themes, and a month's free trial subscription to PSN+! And that's not all:  the disc also comes with three minigames that have never seen the light of day! My God, this might be the best value for money you could ever ask for from a video game package!

Let's start by looking at the main feature attraction:

Journey

The latest and greatest from Thatgamecompany, and it's every bit as good as the games that have come before it.  In a manner no different than "Flow" or "Flower," "Journey" is a simple, relaxing, non-punishing experience.  As the title suggests, you simply play a funky, nameless, faceless character trekking across several different levels to reach the summit of a mountain.  You basically run through the environments, discover some secret glowing runes, and gain power from some floating cloth things that allow you to jump and glide wire-fu style.  As you go along and activate various runes, glyphs, cloth things, and whatnot, you open up paths to the next goal, eventually working up that mountain.  The game allows other online players to drop in and out of your game, so you have the option to work with others toward the same goal.  That's really all there is to the game:  it's nothing difficult or complex, but that's the beauty of it.  It's very easy to just pop the game in, sit back and relax, and invest yourself in the quest.

The story is pretty much mentioned above, if not insinuated from the game's title.  It starts off pretty straightforward, as you just run through the desert.  If anything, it starts off looking dry, as you run across seemingly-endless sand dunes.  Fortunately, the game manages to mix things up, presenting some formidable danger throughout the later levels in the form of stalking mechanical dragon things and a rough ascent near the mountain's snow-covered summit.  The more treacherous it gets, the more invoking the journey suddenly becomes.  The game reaches a strong emotional crescendo in the end, as the character comes close to the end and seems to fail, before attaining some kind of spiritual ascendency and becoming all-powerful.  It's as powerful of an ending as it is primal and fundamental.  In the end, the journey really is worth it.

Despite the funky graphic designs, the game is well-rendered, with plenty of remarkable sand, snow, wind, and clothing effects.  The scenery is often gorgeous.  Gameplay is smooth and intuitive, and quite easy to play.  Sound effects are great, and the music score is really nice (the end credits music is especially freaking beautiful).

4.5/5 (Entertainment:  Very Good | Story:  Very Good | Game:  Very Good)

Flow

The older of the three main games here, "Flow" was likely the first that capitalized on this laid-back form of gaming.  Basically, the game resembles a world of microscopic bacteria, and you play a microscopic creature of sorts that eats other creatures.  You goal...eat everything you can.  You eat your way through the levels, unlocking more creatures and making them grow bigger and prettier.  It's simple, relaxing, and surprisingly addictive.

There is no real "story" to this, although you do progress through the levels until you unlock every creature (and eventually, you get to devour the end credits).

Still, the game is pretty smooth.  It can take some adjustment to use the Sixaxis motion controller to manipulate the creature, rather than the buttons; the thing will often go where you don't mean for it to.  Regardless, once you get the hang of it, it's pretty intuitive and easy.  It supports local co-op gameplay, so it makes for a fine and dandy party game.  Graphics are awesome, the art design is really slick, and the sound/music is lovely.

4/5 (Entertainment:  Good | Story:  None | Game:  Very Good)

Flower

Out of these three, "Flower" remains my favorite of the lot.  It's like the ultimate chill-out game.  It's amazingly addictive to move these flower petals around, making other flowers bloom and ultimately transforming the entire world with explosions of color and life.  It is a wonderful and rewarding experience, full of graphic splendor, emotional resonance, and a type of beauty that no other game has emulated before.  At the same time, it's not an intense game, and certainly not a punishing game.  It's pretty relaxing and laid-back, and it's the perfect solution for a long stressful day at work.

The story is very slight, but it's there at a basic, fundamental level.  Basically, you play a flower petal that flies around on the wind, and makes other flowers bloom as it passes by.  The more flowers you bloom, the more petals that follow you, and you can grow a very long chain of flying petals very quickly.  Your goal is to simply bloom all the flowers and move on to the next level.  As you go on, however, you eventually come face-to-face with the ravages of industrialization that seems to poison the land.  By the final level, it's up to you to drive away the monstrous industrial junk and restore color and life to the city.  With a strong nature-vs-industry theme, and one strong punch of an ending, the game exhibits a very basic and effective plot filled with a very simple and powerful theme.

The game is well-rendered, with quality graphics.  It is especially noteworthy for its grass effects; each level presents entire fields of individual blades of grass, all swaying gently in the wind.  Sound effects are also noteworthy, for it literally creates music as you go along and bloom other flowers.  The game is controlled with the Sixaxis motion controller, so it does take some getting used to to control your flower petals by simply moving the controller.  However, it does get quite intuitive, and the game responds to your movements quite accurately.  Art designs are splendid, and the music is really nice.

5/5 (Entertainment:  Perfect | Story:  Very Good | Game:  Very Good)

Grave Diggers

What's this? The game comes with three other minigames, including this weird thing called "Grave Diggers." It resembles something from the Atari age, featuring huge blocky 8-bit graphics.  You play a...large pixel of some kind, running around a multileveled pixel landscape with all kinds of other pixels chasing you.  There are so many enemies that you die pretty much all the time.  It's really easy to get stuck on the overlapping land masses.  I'm not even sure what the point of this game is.  It's pretty clear that this is something in a very early development stage, for it doesn't have any refinement that makes it playable.  It's good for a laugh or too, but I'll certianly never give this the time of day again.

0.5/5 (Entertainment:  Awful | Story:  Awful | Game:  Awful)

Duke War

This second minigame is actually quite charming.  It resembles "Skifree" (you know, the old skiing game that used to come with every copy of Windows 98) crossed with "Warcraft." Basically, you play a duke of some kind, who can rally peasants on a map and turn them into either workers or soldiers.  You go around, conquering peasants, crushing your enemies, and seeing them driven before you (unfortunately, there are no lamentations of their women).  Be the first to get 500 gold, and you win! It's pretty cheap and silly, and a little hard to grasp how it works.  But, it is simple, and pretty fun once you learn how to play it.  Above all, the sound and dialogue is pretty hilarious.  I love hearing the voices of the duke and all the peasants; they have some pretty funny lines.

3/5 (Entertainment:  Pretty Good | Story:  Poor | Game:  Marginal)

Nostril Shot

I have no freaking idea why this game is called "Nostril Shot." It just sounds gnarly.  I also have no idea what kind of story this is supposed to be.  Only one level played for me, so I assume that this is another game that was chopped short in its development.  It definitely shows, as a huge hoard of enemies come out to pummel you, and you seem to die and resurrect with a random number of extra lives (might be infinite, I'm not sure).  Regardless, this single level of a game is pretty charming.  It's pretty heavily pixilated, but I dug the designs for the main character (looking like an average sci-fi anime heroine), the weird shark-headed bad guys, and the giant robot thing that comes out later.  It's pretty cool how you can zap through all the bad guys with your various weapons.  It's ridiculous how the giant robot thing launches something like a hundred missiles at you, but it's awesome how you can just run underneath the thing and make all the rockets hit the robot thing instead.  Yeah, this game has issues, but at least it looks the part.

3/5 (Entertainment:  Pretty Good | Story:  None | Game:  Average)

This package is well worth the time and money for "Journey," "Flow," and "Flower" alone.  The minigames are a bit of a throwaway extra, but they're good for a quick laugh or too.  All the extras make the package an exceptional deal.  Even if you're not a regular gamer, I recommend the three main games here for everybody; they are simple games that may prove inspiring, relaxing, and all-around pleasurable.