Frustrated in Mafia Wars

I am becoming quite frustrated with the mafia wars fightscreens. The thing is so messed up! I used to get such high level players but now that I only tap people once I get the low level fight screen!! why is it that I have lvl 191's on my fight screen? the day starts out with 600's and 500's cool but then 400' and 300's OK. but WHY would drop lower. are there that few people to fight on one server? well you would think they would suffle the servers or something I don't kno. seesh. If I sit and pound hard on the 500's someoneone gets ticked but if I one touch then everyone with one tap 1200*5lvls=I need 6000 new targets a day to not repeat and it drops to low levels which is exceedingly frustrating because some of these come back kicking and screaming abuse (after one tap) shheeeesh. Others wisly join my mafia instead of crying about it.


Last night I let my stamina waste and watched a couple movies. tonight... I'm going to have to do the same. I want to hit the last top goal of 15% safecraker in the game I just need safes to crack at a lvl where players have lost there baby teeth. I love those player too I was that guy a few months ago all worried about getting on the hitlist and continually getting robbed by bigger guys. I called on friends. BUT NOW if you call on friend they could get banned. be careful who you upset people are abusing the report abuse button and heads are rolling too fast.

this just plain nuts.
I believe the opportunity to hit the heist quota ended when they started banning people. there is no way now to get 50,000 I have barely done 5000 this week and already hve my door being beating down by crybabies throwing around threats. That option didn't used to be there. unbelievable....

vent over... going to watch a movie. good night Mafia Wars. Heres hoping for sunnier days.

Iron Man

I entered the Theater today to see yet another comic book movie. THIS IS MORE! To my surprise this breathtaking superhero/action/drama was so much more than I could have expected. Spectacular doesn't even do justice to Jon Favreau's brilliant direction! The character development is deep and authentic. Tony Stark, is a billionaire playboy who has a charge of heart, both literally and metaphorically, in the film. The casting choice of Robert Downey Jr, to play the role, was brave and perfect! He fits the role to a tee and delivers a great performance. The plot development, to sincerely believe this characters change of heart, is seamless and solid. Yes, this is an 'origin of Iron Man' film but the background essential to understanding the character and to establish the franchise future. There are a few acceptable updates form the comic; but to see the way it worked so well in this story makes me believe they are only improvements. Gwyneth Paltrow is a perfect Pepper Potts, Iron Man's Lois Lane. She is charming and lovable in the role. Jeff Bidges was unexpected here; maybe not the only choice but a good one for sure, and Terence Howard also never loses a step. Great acting aside this is also a terrific story! Weapons designer billionaire is captured by terrorists, tricks them, and secretly builds his own escape weapon. After the death of his friend, he sent off with the words "Don't waste you life Stark." Additionally he witnesses, first hand, the atrocities committed with his very own weapons. By now he has a become a new man. Finally, fulled further by a harsh betrayal, and then with his new convictions he sets out to make amends for his past. There is mass appeal in this movie; something for everyone to love. The movie does spend some on the science of the robotics involved but not too much to lose pace with the action. It also has many laughs but again they fit in place just right. Of numerous comic book adaptations few have seamless CGI, spectacular script, great direction, stellar casting, and endearing characters, along with the kickass action. Iron Man has is all!! This is a must see! Hope this is Helpful!

The King of Kong (2007)

The King of Kong, A fist full of Quarters (2007)

Do you love classic Arcade games? How much do you know about the best arcade plays in the world during the 80’s? Billy Mitchell is a rockstar of the arcade world. As a multiple record holder from the 80’s, he is being challenged by a great honest and likable family man, by the name Steve Wiebe. Steve has OCD and is one extremely competitive guy (much like myself). He decided to beat Billy Mitchell’s high score in the hardest of the top games, Donkey Kong. Steve Wiebe’s obsessive study of the game is absolutely fascinating. Even if you are not personally obsessed with arcade games, you will enjoy this peek inside the cultic subculture of arcade master gamers. There is a world of strategies and conspiracies; spies and investigators; mind games and MORE. Who would have thought! Wiebe accepted a machine from the wrong guy. Was this a vendetta? Was there fraud? Does he win in a live sanctioned environment? WOW. I never would have imagined I would be so drawn into this documentary. I was sitting back and cheering him on in a big way. It is horrible to see the manipulation rockstars use, even if arcade rockstars. I honestly hurt for this man in his sadness and rejoiced in his victories. I was so taken by this sub-culture I visited the twingalaxies.com/forums website to learn more about it. There are people today still just as obsessed with these games. Fascinating! Be sure to watch through the credits and check out the Special Features ‘The Saga Continues’. Additionally, there are on-line DVD rom feature on this disc. This is a must see with out question!! Enjoy. I hope this is Helpful!

The GamePlan (2007)

This is a must see family film! Disney has a successful formula for these though guy turned softy family films. While it was a formula tried in The Pacifier (2005), Vin Diesel did not have nearly the convincing performance that Dwayne Johnson (the Rock) had here in The GamePlan. I was very pleasantly surprised, that he could carry the roll so well. I thought he was even more authentic as the sensitive father than the arrogant self centered guy Joe Kingman started out to be. Yes there are a few cheep laughs but it is part of the process. In the end this becomes a very touching father daughter story. A predicable inspirational ending actually brought a tear to my eye (yes I am a softy). The daughter is played by the adorable and seasoned (well beyond her years) young actress, Madison Pettis. Innocent but assumptive, she wants a spot in her dad’s heart and she makes a space where there wasn’t one. Kyra Sedgwick plays the single-minded focused money motivated agent for Joe while Roselyn Sanchez (a ballet instructor) counterbalances the self centered focus with a voice of reason and pushes him to be a part of his daughters life. All the pieces fit together nicely. Even the foot ball team provides great comedic relief. This is a must see. Hope this is helpful!

Stardust (2007)

Stardust has EVERYTHING! Absolutely Magnificent! It has action, adventure, a grand quest, Love, love-lost & found again. It has sword fights and flying pirate ships. It has Robert De Niro dancing in a dress. There is suspense and white knuckle chases. There is a plethora of magic and fantastic fairytale story telling, with witches and spells and lucky charms and silly ghosts. It made us laugh and cry and yell RUN FASTER, and hold our breath and hold hands even tighter. My wife asked, Where were we when this movie came out? How could it be that we didn't see it ‘till now. A new family favorite and at the top of my absolute must see movies list. The is a heartwarming love story that takes place in a magical word. Our unsuspecting hero stumbles across a grand adventure. This is my wife’s new favorite movie since The Princess Bride. It has a charming tenderness, while maintaining and exciting fantasy adventure that exceeds even that of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies while actually not going as overboard with visuals. Stardust simply has a story that you want to hear. The cast is everything you hope for. Charlie Cox is phenomenal. Claire Danes is stunning and sweet. Michelle Pfeiffer, Robert De Niro, ALL very solid. If you have ever enjoyed a whimsical fantasy adventure, you will adore this one. Even if you are usually more into action or Sci-fi or even Romance. This move DOES have it ALL! This is beyond highly recommended, it is a MUST SEE! Add it to you queue now and you won’t be sorry. Enjoy! Hope this is helpful!

My Holiday Movies list - Featured on Netflix Blog

I am happy to see that Michael liked my List of Holiday Movies enough to start a blob tops about it.

http://blog.netflix.com/2007/12/holiday-movies.html#links

Pretty cool huh? =)

Here is the list directly: http://www.netflix.com/StrangerLists?prid=128911990&showList=156025

Enjoy & Happy Holidays everyone.

Cheers!
Matt

Casshern

Using 'neo cells" Dr. Azuma is 'trying' to create living cells, to regenerate
limbs etcetera that can be used to repair injured soldiers, or so he says. In a Frankenstein-ish accident the limbs of the dead copses combine and re-attach and create an 'undead-monsters' race "Neo-Sapiens" who then decide to eliminate the humans. Without going into the subplots, this Japanese movie has familiar sci-fi/horror themes to many American movies; but maintains a uniquely Japanese feel to it. Yes, the effects are gorgeous; CG that is simple cool, and it has a strong element of anime interfused. It jumps between various styles of animation and live action. A few of the shots seem almost unfinished but I’m sure it is a stylist choice. The live action fight scenes start as you would expect in 'kung fu' movie. After we meet the 'superhero' there are some fights that remind me very much of The Matrix and even to the extent of their Faith in Casshern, the one! =). I would not call the anime portion the *best* anime I have seen come out of Japan. The Martial Arts is not the best I have seen either. However, together the movie as a hole works well as a hybrid style. Artistically the movie is excellent. The use of color and light is magnificent. The sound track is invigorating as well. This movie has a lot going for it. With many different elements that combined, create a unique hybrid genre film. The themes are deep; dealing with subjects like the meaning of life and humanity (and it’s flaws) selfishness, hatred, and rage then moves to contemplate destiny and ultimately love. It asks questions like; who is the real terrorist? There is a huge portion of spirituality doused throughout this movie as well. My one problem with it is that there is too much to keep up with. There is the spirit world, the real world, the dream world, the present time, and the past time, and all the flashes and clips from each are tightly tangled. All that, combined with a visual switch between realistic CG, anime, and some cartoon-like animation, and then switching back to live action it becomes a lot handle. Then add in reading subtitles and the movie feels sporadic and at point rather awkward. The plot suffered some from all the jumping around. Additionally, there are a few discrepancies, like the future Tetsuya standing in the picture during a flashback. Again, I am certain it was not by accident, but all these elements become distracting. There are subtitles to read but I would have liked to see a subtitle option on the DVD that would have made the subtitle easier to read. The movie is very hard to follow if you miss anything and I did not find these particularly easy to read, they look more like the TV's CC than real subtitles. All that said, I still think this is a must see. There was undoubtedly more potential here than the movie lived up too, but it is still very worth the time to view it. Hope this is helpful!