After a few days of good entertainment, I finished up [[amazon:B0000D12XI Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne]] last week.

The first Max Payne was quite excellent, it broke several boundaries. It was the first noir first-person-shooter, if not game, that I was ever aware of. The voice-acting, the environment design, the storyboard narration, all made for a very unique gaming experience.

The sequel doesn’t really add all that much in creativity. Technically the game is more advanced due to the 2+ year advance in technology. Where the first game’s stylized narration worked (in a peculiar way), I was rolling my eyes quite a few times in this one. This game also felt noticably shorter than the original.

All in all, it was enjoyable to play. No big surprises, I guess I just expected to outshine its ancestor.

I went to see [[imdb:0319343 Elf]] on Saturday, amongst a sea of youngsters, little whippersnappers (old curmudgeon’s voice). On which level would this film be operating, parent, child, or both?

I’m a big fan of Jon Favreau, from his TV series Dinner for Five to [[imdb:0227005 Made]], [[imdb:0117802 Swingers]], and [[imdb:0110759 PCU]]. But this movie was very different from all of those—this was a christmas movie, somewhat stylized to be like the old stop-action Rankin/Bass christmas specials.

Ferrell really made this movie. He really is a gifted comedian. His character, Buddy, is quite ridiculous, and it was fitting that he got the part. Bob Newhart as Buddy’s adoptive father was classic, and Ed Asner as Saint Nick was cute. And James Caan totally worked as the jerk father.

But this movie fell flat for me. There were definitely funny bits in this movie, but the main gimic is a clueless but kind person in a mean-spirited New York. After a few examples of how big of a mismatch this is, I get it already. There are a few gross-out jokes in here as well, which had the place howling. I guess I’ve grown up though.