Resonance of Fate

Hey, it's a game review! And... it's a JRPG. I swear, those aren't the only games I play. Really.
I really enjoyed this game, but I'm not sure I can give it a recommendation. I'd say give it a rental. It's a long game if you want to see all the content, so you won't blow through it in a weekend. I'm up to 40+ hours in my main save, and I'm still not done the story. And that's a nice segue to talking about the game!

Gunless

This is a Canadian flick, so I doubt many people are going to get to see it in theatres, or will ever see it in video stores unless they specifically go and look for it, which is a tragedy, because this is an awesome movie. It stars Paul Gross, who most people will remember as Constable Benton Frasier from Due South. He was also in the excellent comedy Men With Brooms. The premise of Gunless is that it takes place in the "Wild West" time period, and Paul Gross plays the "Montana Kid," who has accidentally wandered in to a small town in Canada due to being near unconscious while his horse drags him along for a ride. It ends up that the local blacksmith "steals" Montana's horse, and fixes a problem with the shoes. Montana takes exception to this and challenges him to a duel, but uh oh! Wacky hijinks in that the blacksmith doesn't have a pistol, and no one has one to loan, because, you know, it's CANADA! Turns out one lady has an old, broken pistol that Montana can have, if he agrees to help her. And so there we have the premise of the movie. An American gunfighter stuck in a small Western Canada town, trying to deal with massive culture shock while recovering from injuries and dealing with his checkered past. It's a comedy, but it has some emotional depth to it as well. Paul Gross is a talented actor, and really brings life to this part (I may have a bit of a man-crush on him, shut up!), and it doesn't hurt that he's joined by the excessively amazing likes of Sienna Guillory and Graham Greene, amongst others. I really recommend this movie, but you're probably going to have to work to get to see it. It'll be worth it though, trust me.

Iron Man 2

The first Iron Man movie was solid. Good characters, great effects. The weakest part was the villain. The motivation was to... kill Stark, take over the company, and be CEO, raking in the cash? Seriously? You want money, and you jump straight to murder? Stark was a playboy, and very unfocused. I'm sure if you just asked for a raise, he'd give you one. Or try some nice white-collar crime. Embezzlement is very in, lately. But still, despite that, it was a good movie. Does the sequel measure up? Well, yes. The characters are still good, the effects are awesome, and the villains are powerful and clearly motivated this time.

A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010)

I avoided the majority of reviews and comments on this one before I went to see it. The only one I saw was by Movie Bob over at the Escapist. Now, this movie unfortunately starts out with two strikes against it.

1) It's a horror movie remake, which kills nearly any chance of it being good immediately,

2) It's a horror movie remake produced by Michael Bay. Now, unlike most people, I like the guy's work most of the time. I liked Transformers, I liked Armageddon. Bay directs big-budget action movies, and you can see where every dollar of that budget has gone. I will readily admit though that the man is as far from horror as it'd be possible to get, and a movie produced by him doesn't stand much better chance at being horror than one directed by him.

So, with two strikes before we even get to the opening credits, does the movie strike out miserably? Or does it rally for a home run? (I am NEVER doing a sports metaphor again, I swear.)