Movie Review: The Woman in Black (2012)

I like a good horror movie here and there. Saw, Hostel, The Devil's Rejects, Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974), etc.  With the exception of some very close friends, I find myself often disagreeing with the general public on preferring "psychological thrillers" to "violent slashers" flicks.  In my personal opinion, when I go see a horror movie I want to see the director attempt to create disturbing images and visuals that will frighten you as opposed to letting you (the audience) create these disturbing visuals in your head. There is a better way of letting your audience do that: it's called reading a book.

With that said, I saw The Woman in Black pre-screening today for free courtesy of GoFobo.com. I think most of us enjoy free things, so I decided to give the movie a shot. The Woman in Black is rated PG-13 and looked like it would be the type of horror movies I didn't like, but I decided to give it a chance.  This movie is a remake of the 1989 movie that is based off the book from 1983.  The setting is London, England where a man named Arthur Kipps must leave his son behind for a period to act as an attorney for legal matters pertaining to a deceased woman's estate.  In the surrounding area; a series of suicides and other deaths occurring among many children.  Along with these mysterious deaths, Kipps continues a mysterious woman in all-black clothing following him and appearing in different images such as a painting and a photograph. When Kipps decides to stay overnight in the estate, more mysterious acts continue to haunt him such as a rocking chair repeatedly moving by itself, images of dead children, hearing a banging at the front door, and later on finding foot steps that follow one entering the house when he briefly steps outside to try and find the possible culprit.

Overall, I was not impressed with the movie.  I thought the movie opened up very well by showing a mysterious and cryptic image of three little girls leaping through their window.  Following that, the majority of the movie was in my personal opinion, a typical PG-13 horror movie plot where one enters a mysterious haunted area, things start off calmly, but later events tease the idea that there is something wrong.  I thought the foggy setting of the movie was nice and gave me somewhat of a vibe of Tim Burton's 1999 take of Sleepy Hollow.  For me the movie was a little too slow and didn't have any characters actions that really had me caring throughout the movie.  While some of the scenes made people in the theater jump and even caught me slightly off-guard, there were no moments where I was dropping my jaw or clinched my eyes in fear of what I was seeing happening.  I can't say all my favorite horror movies do that, but I tend to see more disturbing images created in those than I do for this one. Without spoiling much of the movie, the ending leaves you with an interesting turn of events that can lead you to think, "Did this happen? Or perhaps this happened?"

Before I give the movie my final score, how I see it for recommending the movie I want to say that I have never read the book nor have I seen the 1989 film.  I am the type of person who does like terrifying images (even if they look "fake") being displayed on the movie screen as opposed to the movie just creating a scene with sound and moments where they attempt to startle the audience when nothing is there and not to follow up for a long time if at all.  If you prefer movies such as Paranormal Activity, The Orphanage (El Orfanato), or other movies such as those, there is a possibility you may like this. Now if you prefer the Saw, Hostel, Nightmare on Elm Street, and other slashers, then I might recommend you pass on it. To me this movie adds nothing different to the horror genre (especially considering the movie is a remake) and for the most part comes off as bland with only a few shocking moments.

Overall, I give The Woman in Black (2012) 5 out of 10.

Thank you for reading. If you want to try and earn free movie tickets to preview screenings like I did for this show, try using 43Kix or GoFobo.com. Now if you want to follow my stuff, sound off against or for me, then make sure you become a fan of my Facebook page by clicking here!

Royal Rumble 2012 Review

I watched WWE’s Royal Rumble event at the Fox & Hound Sports Bar in Aurora, IL on Sunday.  The room showcasing the Pay-Per-View was packed and the food was good.  Being with a few buddies of mine as well as other surrounding wrestling fans always creates a fun environment to watch these shows.  Going into the Royal Rumble I would speak among others about who we’d predict to win the Rumble and get the opportunity to go after one of the world titles.  Many speculated the returning Chris Jericho, I predicted St. Louis’s hometown hero of Randy Orton, and many predicted a possible main event up-and-comer such as Wade Barrett or Cody Rhodes.  In addition to speculating the Royal Rumble winner, we all speculated the surprise entrants, the champion match winners, and more. I will reveal each winner as I briefly review each match.

Match 1: Triple Threat World Heavyweight Title Match – Daniel Bryan © vs. The Big Show vs. Mark Henry: One of the most notable comedy moments of the competitors walking to the ring was The Big Show trying to give the little girl fan (who I was told was one of Randy Orton’s daughters) his bandana and the poor girl was dodging it and was crying.  Poor girl.  I know I may sound like a nitpicker here, but I personally do not like when the WWE Championship or the World Heavyweight Title match opens a show. I agree you do need a hot opener for a PPV, but the titles should be looked as high priorities.  This aside, I think the three men put on a show to the best of their abilities given the little time they received.  Mark Henry is injured and has been for sometime now so I could expect too much from him but he carried his end of the match. Henry and Big Show showcased their physical strength well by throwing Bryan around the ring into the steel cage and there was a very impressive superkick done by the Big Show onto Daniel Bryan. Bryan as I predicted did win the match by escaping but boy did the Big Show impress me with being able to climb and even hang on from a steel cage and held onto Daniel Bryan for awhile with one hand.  Again while what they did do impressed me I think they would have really benefitted from more time to make an okay match a really good match.  I also liked Daniel’s post victory “Yes!!! Yes!!! Yes!!!”

Segment: The promo of John Cena’s media appearances irks me because in my opinion it went on a lot longer then it needed to and I think that it took away time that could be used for other matches or even allow an extra promo from the wrestlers.  I do understand it’s hype for WrestleMania 28 but I wish it wasn’t as long as it was.

Match 2: 4-on-4 Divas Tag-Team Match – Beth Phoenix/Natalya Neidhart/Bella Twins vs. Kelly Kelly/Eve Torres/Tamina/Alicia Fox: Many beautiful women (though I’m not wild about Tamina in terms of looks, no offense.)  Unfortunately for the Divas Division in WWE, their matches are not very good.  When I want women’s wrestling, I’ll watch Impact Wrestling on Thursday nights.  Anyway, not much to note here, as it was your typical WWE Divas match.  I will say that while I can’t consider Kelly Kelly one of the best women wrestlers, the girl does work hard.  Her spot with her jumping off the top rope and taking down all the other divas outside of the ring was very impressive. Also, she does sell Beth Phoenix’s Glam Slam finisher well.  All the positive stuff out of the way, the heel team wins, nothing else exciting. Next match please!

Segment: Zack Ryder is here to watch the PPV from his dressing room that looks like it is a prop set.  Anyway, Ryder is in a wheel chair, has a back brace, and a couple casts.  Lucky for him, he has the lovely Eve Torres (my top WWE Diva crush) as his caretaker for the night. If I could get her as a caretaker in exchange for what Kane did to him on Monday night, you bet I would! Eve bitches out John Laurinaitis for the way he treats Zack then wheels him inside the “dressing room.”

Match 3 - John Cena vs. Kane: Not much of a match was had but it was a decent back and forth brawl.  For the most part, John Cena and Kane were about equal to one another terms of who had the upper hand.  “Let’s Go Cena/Cena Sucks” chants took place and it appears that the crowd was definitely favoring Kane more as opposed to the hero John Cena.  The match ends in a double count-out where John Cena and Kane brawl up the entrance way and to the backstage. Kane gets the upper hand on Cena, which leads him to Zack Ryder’s room where he would wheel Zack out to the ring and lay waste to him.  John Cena would run in and try to save his buddy Zack but Kane takes him out for his troubles. Eve Torres runs out and begs and pleads towards Kane to stop but Kane doesn’t listen and hurt him some more.  This results in Eve to cry and the paramedics to carry Zack Ryder out.  I liked this as Kane had more of an upper hand on John Cena.  Cena showed vulnerability and that he can’t always become “Super Cena!” Looks like the feud will continue.

Segment: Pretty much the same segment they did for John Cena only for Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. My opinions for this are the same as the Cena one.

Match 4 – Brodus Clay vs. Drew McIntyre: Somebody call my momma! Drew McIntyre in on a PPV!  Unfortunately Brodus Clay doesn’t let him have much offense and pummels him as bad if not worse that he’s already receiving from his previous weeks of jobbing. Not much I can say about this match other than it’s squash match but I currently find Brodus’s dancing routine hilarious. On the bright side for McIntyre, while he may have been squashed like a grape tonight, at least he’s on PPV. Right everyone? I’m waiting to hear “yes”. ;-)

Match 5: WWE Championship Featuring Special Guest Referee John Laurinaitis – Dolph Ziggler vs. CM Punk: Definite match of the night right here.  In hindsight, yes CM Punk mostly dominated the match with several guaranteed pinfalls he would have gained had John Laurinaitis or the other referee had counted, but I thought both men put on an amazing match.  My favorite spot of the match was Dolph Ziggler reversing CM Punk’s GTS finisher into a fame-asser (for a lack of a better move term.)  Anyway, many close falls, lots of great back and forth action and in my opinion Dolph Ziggler continues to show that he can work with the top stars of the company. CM Punk retains which makes me happy and I am very confident in Dolph Ziggler’s future.

Main Event: 30-Man Royal Rumble Match: This is a long match and lots of description so I’m going to try and explain my thoughts of this in a nutshell.  While I don’t consider this one of the best rumble matches in years, it was from a bad one.  I’ll admit, it was a lot goofier than usual and it certainly did lack star power.  I can’t believe I’m going to say this, but I think it could have benefitted from an appearance by John Cena! As predicted, neither world champion made an appearance but instead we did see the Pay-Per-View’s announce team of Jerry “The King” Lawler, Booker T, and even Michael Cole involved!  We also saw surprise entrants such as The Great Khali, Hacksaw Jim Duggan, Road Dogg Jesse James, and the return of Kharma. Those were all very entertaining.  Alberto Del Rio’s music played, but instead, his assistant Ricardo Rodriguez showed up. I certainly was laughing at this moment.

Comedy and shock moments aside, the one problem I did have was that it did feel like it lacked the star power that usual Royal Rumbles have. Sure we had big names such as Randy Orton, Chris Jericho, Sheamus, and The Big Show, but we also had a few wasted entries of stars such as Hunico, David Otunga, and Jey Uso.  Stars such as The Miz, Dolph Ziggler, and Cody Rhodes held their own for a while but it felt like they were just randomly eliminating the weaker stars left and right without trouble until the more power stars such as Sheamus and Randy Orton arrived. I examined the list of participants and the WWE roster and I guess one problem with the lack of star power is that I noticed that superstars such as Christian (who is allegedly ready to return soon), Rey Mysterio, Sin Cara, and Alberto Del Rio are currently on the injured list so they did use a bulk majority of the roster.  I guess what I would do differently is to have the show go back to 40 participants like they did last year and/or add John Cena as well as Kane to the match as well. Maybe even make Brodus Clay a participant, it would have been better than less popular stars such as Jey Uso or Hunico.  While I predicted hometown hero Randy Orton and a bulk majority of the Internet had predicted Chris Jericho to win, the final man standing ended up being Sheamus and for me I’m perfectly fine with it.  I really enjoyed seeing Chris Jericho and Sheamus go at it when they were the last two participants. Very enjoyable, I really would like to see these two go at it in a singles match in the near future.

Final Thoughts: For wrestling, I prefer to give a letter grade and while this show had a few downsides, I would give it a B.  Like I said before, the Royal Rumble match for the beginning half had somewhat of a humorous approach to it when we had the commentators become entrants and we saw a duel between hand socks with Mick Foley’s “Mr. Socko” vs. Santino Marella’s “Cobra”, although I found that bit hilarious.  While the Rumble match wasn’t as great as other ones, I still found it very entertaining and was pleased to see Road Dogg Jesse James and Hacksaw Jim Duggan make their cameos.

For the previous matches, I really wish Daniel Bryan vs. Big Show vs. Mark Henry had a lot more time. Because of the lack of time (and perhaps Mark Henry unfortunately being injured), the match wasn’t nearly as good as I had hoped for. The Divas match and The Funkusaurus vs. Drew McIntyre were time killers, while John Cena vs. Kane as a match was just okay. The real pay off for Cena-Kane was what happened after the match. CM Punk and Dolph Ziggler stole the show and without that match, I may have given the show a lower grade.

I hope you enjoyed this review of Royal Rumble, I hope to do a review each time I view a PPV. Next one is looking to be Wrestlemania 28 due to another commitment during Elimination Chamber. I’m also looking to attend WWE Extreme Rules at the All-State Arena, hopefully do a little video if I have my new camera by that time.  Anyway if you enjoyed this article I encourage you to become a fan of STVO Universe onFacebook. Thank you for reading.

STVO Wire #2 (1/26/12)

Hello everyone! It’s time for another edition of STVO Wire.  Going to try to do a new one each week but we’ll see, haha.  Like I said I have a few list ideas and hope to do them soon but we’ll see. In this edition I will give my opinion on a few news pieces and will give a few mini-reviews on some movies I have seen recently.  Also, this is the weekend of WWE Royal Rumble, so I will give you my predictions on the matches and on surprise entrants. Let’s begin.

DA NEWS

* To open this, I would like to report that I’m very pleased with the announcement of Resident Evil 6! It is going to be an amazing game and I figured I would spare a news story pertaining to it as I feel most of my readers already know about it.

* Video Games: From IGN - Nintendo is considering changing the name of their next console “Wii U” to something else as they felt the reason the 3DS got a mild reaction at first was due to it being very similar to the DS and believed that most people only considered the 3DS a slightly updated Nintendo DS.

My Take: I’m not sure if the problem lies in the “Wii” name but rather that I just didn’t care for the name “Wii U.”  Personally, I don’t feel that people won’t by the name because it sounds goofy, but I don’t really care for the name so I welcome any name change. Heck, if they make a simple name change such as “Wii 2” or “WiiHD” I’d be fine with that.  If they ultimately decided to drop the name “Wii” from their system, I’d be okay with that as they make their system stand out more as we know that the next PlayStation will likely be called “PlayStation 4” and the next Xbox console will feature the Xbox name.  Names are minimal thing though, bring on some awesome games and let’s get some great 3^rd party support!

* Video Games: From IGN - It is heavily rumored that Microsoft is planning for it’s next game console to be in blu-ray format and will not allow their users to play used games on their next console.  Supposedly to play future titles, an online registration of each title might be necessary to play said title and they may look into going into making other releases digitally.

My Take: I for one don’t like the idea of not being able to play a used game. Whether I go to GameStop to buy a title, whether a friend loans you a game you’ve really wanted to play, etc.  If this is a move Microsoft makes, I’m sure Nintendo and/or Sony will follow suit.  I can understand that they’re trying to encourage users to buy more retail purchases, but I wish and hope this is not a method that they end up taking as it might discourage people from trying out certain titles and it will hurt businesses such as GameStop which do make a strong portion of their profits from used games sales.  I hope that if they don’t allow used games to be played, they will offer more games through their digital services and will be sold for lower prices such as $14.99 to $29.99.

* Video Games: From IGNhttp://ps3.ign.com/articles/121/1217354p1.html - Pac-Man and MegaMan will be joining Cole of Infamous as special characters in the PlayStation 3 version of Street Fighter X Tekken.  MegaMan will have his early NES American box art look which depicts him in a yellow suit and slightly overweight while Pac-Man will be piloting a large robot.  Capcom was once looking into exclusive characters for the Xbox 360 version of Street Fighter X Tekken but unfortunately weren’t able to reach an agreement with Microsoft in their decisions of what characters to add.

My Take: Great news for PlayStation! I am not a regular fighting game player but I do enjoy the Street Fighter titles and this game has me interested.  I was kind of hoping for the traditional iconic MegaMan but this addition is hysterical and I think it is a good laugh.  It is disappointing that Xbox 360-only owners will be missing out on these exclusives. I think they should have compromised at least one or two exclusive characters for the 360 version.

* TV: From MTV.Com - NBC is looking to do a spin-off of The Office starring Rainn Wilson’s character Dwight Schrute. The show would become more about Dwight’s life on the Schrute family farm as well as his family members. Later in this season of The Office, an episode centered on this concept will be played.

My Take: To me this will likely witness the same fate as the short-lived “Joey” spin-off from Friends.  Yes Dwight Schrute is a popular character from The Office and a funny one in my personal opinion, but I don’t think that a full-series with him living the farm life has longevity.  You never know though, Frasier was a major success.

This Week at The Movies

Now in 6 Words or less, my thoughts on the movies coming out this weekend!

·      The Grey: Careful. They’re no Twilight wolves!

·      One For The Money: Two, I Won’t Go.

·      Man On a Ledge: Phone Booth Meets Cliffhanger.

·      The Wicker Tree: I ain’t afraid of no tree!

 Reviews in a Nut Shell

·      Hannibal: Okay, so this is an older movie but I’ve finally just seen the Silence of the Lambs a few months ago and this last Friday. Set ten years after the original Silence of the Lambs, it follows serial killer Hannibal Lecter  in Europe and millionaire child molester Mason Verger, as he seeks  to get revenge on Hannibal for the disfigurement and torture he has caused him.  Verger enlists the help of Clarice Starling, the same FBI agent who was out to get Hannibal Lecter in the first movie.  I really liked this movie. Hannibal Lecter is a sick, evil, and demented character that you really hate but happens to get away with his crimes.  The acting in this movie was phenomenal and I thought it had all the makings of a great horror movie.  I am looking forward to watching Red Dragon and Hannibal Rising. I don’t think those two will be nearly as good as this or Silence of the Lamb. 9 out of 10.

·      Haywire: In my thoughts pertaining to last weekend’s movies, this was what I thought about Haywire after seeing the trailer: “Hay! Hay! Hay! Looks kinda cool.”  Well unfortunately, the movie wasn’t what I had hoped it to be.  My friend describes it best as a “poor-man’s Kill Bill.”  Gina Carano plays spy Mallory Kane as she is hired by a government agency to perform various missions and take out certain henchmen as she seeks to rescue a kidnapped hostage in Barcelona. Along the way she gets betrayed by those close to her and faces many problems involving the law.  My problem with the movie is that while it had a very excellent start (give it 5 minutes or less and you already have a crazy action sequence) and even had some pretty entertaining action sequences throughout the movie, I thought the plot just went all over the place.  It seems to switch the story at random and just moves all over.  Despite some decent action scenes, there was one car chase scene that was so ridiculous it was bad.  Another problem I had with it is that most of the concepts within the movie just felt like several other good movies but all done in imitation.  I really wanted to like this movie as I found Gina Carano very sexy and pretty believable as a killer while it also featured other big names such as Ewan McGregor, Michael Douglas, Bill Paxton, Antonio Banderas, and Channing Tatum. Unfortunately it was nothing new, exciting, or that entertaining. 4 out of 10.

WWE Royal Rumble Predictions

Okay, this week I have decided to forego my typical “what I’m doing routine” as there is a WWE PPV this weekend and it’s one of the big four, so I figured I’d devote a section towards it.  I will be posting an update on my cosplay for the upcoming conventions at some point next week, but for now, it’s time for some Royal Rumble speculation.

World Heavyweight Championship Triple Threat Steel Cage Match: Daniel Bryan © vs. Big Show vs. Mark Henry: I’m actually pleased with this feud.  Daniel Bryan is coming off very well as a heel and it’s been pretty interesting to see how he has been able to retain his title with interruptions against Big Show and Mark Henry.  It will be interesting to see how Daniel Bryan will pull off a victory against these two being the shortest man and being inside a steel cage. My personal prediction, Daniel Bryan will win by escaping the cage while The Big Show and Mark Henry are locked on one another.

Who I Want To Win: Daniel Bryan     Who I Think Will Win: Daniel Bryan

John Cena vs. Kane: Overall I have enjoyed this feud. It’s kind of teasing the idea of John Cena doing what many older audiences and/or the IWC (Internet Wrestling Community) has been wanting for years: John Cena to finally turn heel.  I don’t see any heel turn happening, at least not in this feud.  Kane has been getting the advantage over John Cena each week, this likely would lead one to believe that John Cena will get his revenge on Kane at the Pay-Per-View and I believe that is what will happen.  I personally would like to see Kane get a victory as I am enjoying his return to wearing a mask and despite a few corny B-horror movie like segments. Ideally, I would like Kane to get his victory over Cena here and then maybe come Raw in two weeks or Elimination Chamber have John Cean get his revenge.  I just don’t see that happening though.

Who I Want To Win: Kane       Who I Think Will Win: John Cena

WWE Championship Match with Special Guest Referee John Laurinaitis: CM Punk © vs. Dolph Ziggler: I’ve told my friends on Facebook wrestling group “Shut Up and Wrestle” that I personally wish the focus would be put more on CM Punk and Dolph Ziggler as opposed to CM Punk/John Laurinaitis. Don’t get me wrong, I have felt that Dolph and CM Punk have had some decent interaction unlike say John Cena and the Miz from Wrestlemania 27 where it was all about John Cena vs. The Rock, but I’m personally am tired of the heel authority figure vs. the popular rebel face storylines.  Anyway, with Johnny L. announcing the previous week on Raw that he DOES intend to screw CM Punk, Dolph Ziggler has been defeating CM Punk in each type of match those two have had together in previous weeks, and the announcers acknowledging that, I’m thinking a CM Punk victory is inevitable.  I’m thinking Mick Foley might even make an appearance during the match.  I like Dolph Ziggler as he has carried himself well in this feud, has good mic skills, and can work a great match. Despite that, I think they should wait for later for him to hold a world title (forget that fluke victory from last year) as I don’t think he’s ready to headline the Wrestlemania main event just yet.

Who I Want To Win: CM Punk            Who I Think Will Win: CM Punk

30-Man Royal Rumble Match: The main event of the Pay-Per-View, the Royal Rumble. The first chance that guarantees you a spot in one of the Wrestlemania main events (let’s pretend Alberto Del Rio vs. Edge for the World Heavyweight Championship wasn’t the first match last year.)   The tag-line is “any superstar can enter.”  A lot of people are speculating we may see the world champions in the Royal Rumble and it could lead to a title unification match at Wrestlemania.  I’m very intrigued by this idea, but I really don’t think it will happen.  I’m thinking this tag-line is something more to mess with people’s heads.  Original rumors around the web said that Randy Orton was slated to win the Royal Rumble and I think it will be the case still.  Ever since his loss of the World Heavyweight Championship to Mark Henry in September, Randy Orton has lost (a few times cleanly) to opponents such as Mark Henry, Cody Rhodes, and Wade Barrett. He has been out of the Smackdown main event for PPVs for a good couple of months. I think they want a strong face in the Smackdown world title main event at Wrestlemania, so I think Randy Orton is their best choice.  Also, while it is said WWE doesn’t like to have their stars have victories in their hometowns, I think they refrain from doing that at times just to not make a predictable outcome.  This Royal Rumble anyone can win and I think they would like a hot reception from the St. Louis Crowd if Randy Orton were to win.  I am expecting a few surprises and some returns, maybe even the debut of Ryback.

Who I Want To Win: Wade Barrett or Chris Jericho

Who I Think Will Win: Randy Orton

Surprise Entrants: Mick Foley, Road Dogg Jesse James, and one WWE Legend (Superfly Jimmy Snuka or another older guy.)

Surprise Return: Christian

Surprise Debut: Ryback

That’s all for this week’s edition of STVO Universe. Please join the Facebook Fanpage and if you would like to help with my charity cause as I walk for MS please. Click here for more details. Have a great weekend everyone!

STVO Wire #1 (1/19/12)

Hello everyone, STVO here.  Welcome to the first edition of STVO Wire.  Right here I’m in the experimental phases of this here little blog. My plans for now are to make this a news/opinion piece, give some mini-reviews of TV/games/etc. I’m watching/playing, and let you all know of upcoming events. So, let’s begin with today’s news….

DA NEWS

·      First off, as apart of the Anti-SOPA movement, I refrained from updating my site on Wednesday.  For more details about SOPA and what effects it will have on the internet if it passes, please read this link: http://gizmodo.com/5877000/what-is-sopa

·      Video Games: From ign.com (http://games.ign.com/articles/121/1216592p1.html)

THQ of Australia has responded to the rumors that the company was cancelling their 2014 line-up of games and was planning to put the company up for sale. They will be reducing their releases for their child demographic and were pleased with sales of titles such as WWE ’12 and Saints Row: The Third.

My Take: While our current economy has witnessed the closure of many different businesses including Borders Group Inc., former video game developer/publisher Midway, etc., I was under belief that THQ was doing fine with releases of titles such as UFC, WWE, their Nickelodeon line of titles, Saints Row, and the Darksiders.  I personally haven’t purchased a THQ title since WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2009; I have many friends that happen to enjoy the WWE titles, UFC titles, and even the Saints Row series.

I have heard much praise for the first Darksiders title and am intrigued by the trailer I have seen for the second title.  Honestly, if THQ can continue releasing their WWE, UFC, and other mature titles such as Saints Row and Darksiders, I think the sales will improve and they may be able to improve their reputation as a developer/publisher.

·      Video Games: From ps3.ign.com (http://ps3.ign.com/articles/121/1216445p1.html)

As of 1/17/12 and 1/23/12, Sony is holding a sale known as the “12 in 12” on their online PlayStation Network store.  Below is a list of the following titles. The first price is the original price, the second price is the 30% off price you’ll receive, and the third price is the 50% off you will save if you’re a PlayStation Plus Member:

• BloodRayne: Betrayal ($14.99 / $10.49 / $7.34)
• Cubixx HD ($9.99 / $6.99 / $4.89)
• Dungeon Defenders ($14.99 / $10.49 / $7.34)
• Eufloria ($9.99 / $6.99 / $4.89)
• Mortal Kombat Arcade Kollection ($9.99 / $6.99 / $4.89)
• Okabu ($14.99 / $10.49 / $7.34)
• PayDay: The Heist ($19.99 / $13.99 / $9.79)
• PixelJunk SideScroller ($9.99 / $6.99 / $4.89)
• Rochard ($9.99 / $6.99 / $4.89)
• Rocketbirds ($11.99 / $8.39 / $5.87)
• Sideway: New York ($9.99 / $6.99 / $4.89)
• Street Fighter III: Third Strike ($14.99 / $10.49 / $7.34)

My Take: Honestly, nothing on this list stands out for me particularly. While I like the Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat titles, I’m not a big enough fighting game fan to rush online and purchase either title.  IGN gave a few of these titles high recommendations, personally I’m just passing this story as tips for friends/readers who may want to purchase some cheap titles.

·      Video Games: From 3ds.ign.com (http://ds.ign.com/articles/121/1216423p1.html)

Kid Icarus Uprising to include a free stand for your 3DS system.  Reports from people that have played early copies of this title have reported discomfort while playing this title, so Nintendo has responded by including a stand with the American release.

My Take: As someone highly anticipating the release of this title, I am pleased that this stand is free.  This also draws a little concern for me as how unprepared Nintendo has seemed with the launch of the Nintendo 3DS.  While sales in Japan and even America have started to improve recently, the news of them releasing this stand as well as the upcoming circle pad add-on have shown that maybe Nintendo should have waited before launching the Nintendo 3DS so early. For those unaware, the circle pad add-on is going to be a camera stick add-on that will allow gamers to use a camera stick to control the camera in titles and will make it easier for developers to handle issues of where it is placed in their games.  In the past, developers such as Nintendo and Sony have had to create add-ons for previous systems to improve gameplay experience, but in my opinion, a few of these should have been ready from the start of the launch. Either way, as long as Kid Icarus is a fun title and the stand prevents me from getting nausea, I’ll be satisfied.

·      Wrestling: From corporate.wwe.com:
STAMFORD, Conn., January 17, 2012 – In accordance with its Talent Wellness Program, WWE (NYSE:WWE) has suspended Matthew Korklan (Evan Bourne®) for 60 days effective Tuesday, January 17 for his second violation of the company’s policy.

My Take: Really?!? Former WWE tag-team champion Evan Bourne has received his second Wellness violation in about two months!!! This is real bad! There have been prior reports that he was also getting flack for complaining about things in the company via Twitter and that Paul Levesque (HHH, a top man behind the scenes) is also not into him as a talent. With his two suspensions, not only are things looking bad for him, but they have also begun to look bad for the WWE tag-team division as well as his tag-team partner Kofi Kingston.  While I haven’t seen Matthew Korklan’s work as Matt Sydal in TNA, ROH, Dragon Gate USA, or the Indies, he has always impressed me since his debut on the now-defunct WWE-ECW brand.  I always thought he put on some amazing matches and would always go crazy when I would see him use his finisher the Air Bourne. Unfortunately for him, I don’t think good things are coming for him in WWE. I think he should consider asking for a release and perhaps consider a return to either TNA or ROH.

This Week At The Movies

Now in 6 Words or less, my thoughts on the movies coming out this weekend!

·      Underworld Awakening: Haven’t seen the first 3.

·      Haywire: Hay! Hay! Hay! Looks kinda cool.

·      Coriolanus: Pretty badass for Shakespeare.

·      Red Tails: Another good-looking movie this week!

·      Flowers of War: Damn, is this war week?

For the heck of it, I decided to look up if there was anything in relation to war this week, you will find some interesting piece of information pertaining to World War 2 on January 20^th here. http://wwarii.com/blog/archives/world-war-ii-history-january-20/

So What Am I Doing?

Currently Playing:

·      Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword – Without giving too much spoilers, I am headed towards the third dungeon of the game.  I just recently completed a side mission saving a little girl and it was pretty humorous.

·      Pushmo: I know a few of you might be asking me “What is Pushmo?” Well, Pushmo is a strategic puzzle game for the Nintendo 3DS from the eShop where you play as a character who looks like Waddle Dee from the Kirby titles and is wearing a sumo thong! Yes, it is a little disturbing while you play, but it is very fun. The environments of the game are kind of a mix between Kirby’s Dreamland (especially the Waddle Dee looking characters) mixed with Katamari Damacy. The objective of the game is to find the missing children of the village by pulling and pushing these flat platforms and jumping up each one to find each said child.  For only $6.99 (before tax), you really can’t go wrong with this game!

Watching:

·      Hannibal: Haven’t watched yet but have it rented.  I’ll post my thoughts soon.

·      Modern Family: Watched the Wednesday night edition, pretty funny show. Might have to try and watch more. I thought it was very funny when the gay couple’s daughter was cursing at the church.

·      WWE Monday Night Raw: Pretty good show this week. I really loved the opening promo featuring Mick Foley/Dolph Ziggler/CM Punk.  The main event was highly entertaining with Jericho being apart of the match but walking out. I also enjoyed that Mick Foley joined the match at the end as well.  Brodus Clay cracked me up again this week.  On the downside, I didn’t like how slammed Jack Swagger against John Cena (though it may be apart of him embracing the hate.) He just won the US title from Zack Ryder and I think it just made the United States title look like nothing. I was very thankful that Perez Hilton was only on the show briefly.

Preparing

·      Hoping to Start My Danny Phnatom Costume in my next two days off.  I’m going to explore some local wig shops and if I don’t find anything, I may just order online.

·      Next month, I’m going to Hawaii for my cousin’s wedding! I will be in the Maui area!  Now to book a rental car.

·      Operation: Buy a video/photo camera very soon!

·      Fundraising Page: I’ll be posting more details soon. I am going to be participating in a walk for MS, and my goal is to raise $500! I have already donated $10 of my own money and will do more if I need to come closer to the date, but I need your help!

That’s all for this edition of STVO Universe. Please sound off here or on my Facebook page here https://www.facebook.com/pages/STVO-Universe/253175679524 I’m hoping to post some more lists soon and hopefully a video within the next month. Until next week, Take Care!

12 Things I Want In 2012

So we’re in a new year and I’m starting a new website here so I decided to make a list of twelve things I'd really like to see happen in 2012.  In addition to stating a certain thing that I would like to happen in 2012, I will also give a prediction of how likely it will happen. On a scale of 0-100%, the higher the percentage, the better the chance I think this event will occur.  I'm personally going by my own instincts and the facts that I do know, so just because I think this, doesn't mean it's necessarily the answer.  Anyway, please give this a read, feel free to share your opinions on this article either here in the comments section or on the STVO Universe Facebook page at this link here: https://www.facebook.com/pages/STVO-Universe/253175679524

12. Get a Date with Katy Perry: The beautiful and in my opinion, talented pop music artist appears to be done with her husband actor Russell Brand. Personally I never thought they fit well together. Hasn’t she seen Get Him to The Greek?  Katy and me would be great for each other: we’re both fun, we like to wear weird outfits, and she seems like she might have a nerdy side to her. If she ever wants to go out for dinner or something, she can give me a call/e-mail/FB message anytime.

Probability: 0%

11. WWE Network to Be Successful and on Ad-Supported Cable (Preferably Comcast): The WWE Network sounds like a pro-wrestling fan’s dream come true. They will be having a wide range of WWE programming including reality shows centered around WWE Superstars past and present, interactive programming, wrestling events taped for WWE Network, and classic archived footage from WCW, ECW, AWA, and of course WWF/WWE history.  They are also thinking about making non-wrestling programs to appeal to the non-wrestling fans.  I personally love the sound of the network and really hope it will be available on ad-supported cable as Comcast is my provider. I think that by being on ad-supported cable, they could better experiment with the non-wrestling shows among a wider audience while if they were to be a premium cable service they would struggle to gain audiences outside of the die-hard fans because no matter what they’ll try to do, everyone will always see the letters “WWE” as a wrestling company even if they claim the letters no longer stand for “World Wrestling Entertainment.” Either way, if I get this channel it will be a guilty pleasure channel for me like VH1 Classic. I’m not sure in the end if it will be ad-supported as it appears that Vince McMahon & Co. are heading the channel themselves and will not be backed by a partner such as Comcast.  The channel has recently delayed the planned launch of April 2012 to sometime closer to the end of the year.

Probability of it Being Successful: 50%

Probability of It Being Ad-Supported: 40%

10. Brock Lesnar to Have a WWE Match at SummerSlam 2012: December 30^th of 2011, Brock Lesnar officially announced retirement from UFC after his loss to Allistair Overeem. Despite retiring, he is still under UFC contract and UFC president Dana White says that Lesnar will remain under contract until he and Lesnar come to an agreement of being free from the contract.  In the meantime, no Brock Lesnar in WWE.  Right now, I believe Brock Lesnar wants to heal up from his fight and there will be quite a bit of paper work and money issues to be discussed, so I don’t think we’ll see Brock Lesnar in WWE in time for Wrestlemania 28, the biggest wrestling show of the year. Supposedly, the WWE wants him back real bad.  I think the WWE will work hard to get him back within the year, so if they do get him back at all, I think they will want Brock Lesnar to have a match at the second biggest wrestling PPV of the year: SummerSlam. Negotiations can take awhile, but I think if WWE wants him back real soon, they can settle a deal with UFC by May. If they don’t settle with anything by then, I think there’s a better possibility that Brock Lesnar will be back in 2013, likely for WrestleMania 29.

Probability: 65%

9. Go to Either E3 or San Diego Comic Con This Summer: As a cosplayer, a gamer, and a lover of mostly everything nerdy both of these places are definitely on my bucket list.  Ever since I was in the 6^th grade (that was in 1996-1997) I always salivated at the pictures of new games presented at E3 either through EGM magazine or by going to N64.com (now IGN.com.)  I sometimes will request days off or trade hours at work to watch G4’s coverage of E3 to make sure I catch the big conferences (Nintendo, Sony, Microsoft, etc.)  As far as San Diego Comic Con, I am a sucker for meeting celebrities, finding out big announcements on upcoming movies, being their first hand to see a new trailer, etc.  I would also really like to showcase a cosplay of mine and interact with other cosplayers in a bigger conference (although Anime Central only continues to grow.)  I’m hoping to find a way into E3, but I’m not 100% sure if I’ll get in (as it’s a press and industry only event.) San Diego Comic Con, while open to the public is rather difficult to get into.  Tickets have not gone on sale yet as of this writing (1/7/12) but as soon as I know my chances of going to E3, I will get on the ball and chain and see if I can get into it. My goal is hopefully to go to one or the other this year. If I don’t money will be saved (except for my trip to Hawaii next month) and I can plan accordingly for next year.

E3 Probability: 45%

SDCC Probability: 55%

8. All the Animated Movies to Do Real Well: 2012 has some great movies on the way such as The Dark Knight Rises, The Avengers, The Bourne Legacy, and The Hobbit. While all those look excellent, I am highly anticipating several animated films in 2012 for both the kid in me and for that I am one that likes to let their imagination run wild.  My most anticipated animated films for this year are Disney-Pixar’s Brave, The Pirates: Band of Misfits, Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax, and Paranorman.  Those look highly imaginative and fun. Madagascar 3 and Ice Age: Continental Drift are on the way as well.  While I think those two movies could be very good they don’t pique interest as much because they have been done before.  While I think that Brave, Ice Age, and Madagascar will do well, it’s anybody’s guess on how the other three would do. Dr. Seuss will be up against Jeff: Who Lives at Home and Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters, The Pirates are going up against the Clash of the Titans sequel, and Paranorman is going up against The Expendables 2. Right now I think The Lorax and Pirate: BOM could go either way depending how the trailers look and I think Paranorman might face some stiff competition, though it’s lucky that most kids aren’t likely to see The Expendables 2.

Brave/Madagascar 3/Ice Age Probability: 100%

Paranorman Probability: 40%

Probability of The Rest: 50%

7. New StarFox Game: Ever since the first StarFox title arrived on the Super NES, each home console received a release of the title including the Nintendo 64, Nintendo Gamecube (received two!), and eventually it made it’s portable console debut on the Nintendo DS with StarFox Command.  Fall of last year, StarFox 64 received the remake treatment by being re-released in 3D in the form of StarFox 64 3D for the Nintendo 3DS.  According to gamrReview, the 3D remake has so far has sold a total around 509,000 which in comparison to the Ocarina of Time 3D has sold over 2 million worldwide. I’m not particularly sure if this is what Nintendo was expecting, but I’m hoping it might be enough to warrant a new title sometime down the road.  With the WiiU release coming up, they could really use some amazing titles and I think this could be a title that would fit the line-up if developed right.  The 3DS can always use some more titles as well and if the 3D remake got the reception Nintendo wanted, perhaps they should pursue an all-new title as well?  If they do another title, I hope they have it developed in one of their internal studios or perhaps give it back to the team who programmed StarFox Command. I personally didn’t care much for StarFox Assault or StarFox Adventures. Let’s just face it, Fox McCloud outside of Smash Bros. was meant to do his battles in the Arwing or Landmaster, not by foot. While it may not be released this year, there is a possibility it will be shown at E3.

Probability: 65%

6. Pikmin 3 Finally Revealed in Trailer: I’ve been waiting so long for this! I personally always wanted to play a Pikmin game built from the ground up for the Wii.  While they did release a port of the original Pikmin on Wii, I have already played both games on the Gamecube and am really in desire of a new title in the series.  Shigeru Miyamoto has announced awhile back that this title is in-development and reportedly according to IGN it will be coming to WiiU.  While it has been in talks forever, something tells me that 2012 will be the year Pikmin 3 finally shows up! I’m not entirely sure if it will be out this year but considering Nintendo can use a few good titles for WiiU from the first and third parties, there is a good possibility!

Probability: 80%

5. iPhone 5 to Be Released Summer: For me I would like for it to include 4G, 3D, and well any other cool stuff they’re thinking of that I can’t right now! Honestly, I bought an iPhone 4 sometime in summer of 2010 and I love it dearly!  With the iPhone; I can chat with my friends, make updates for Facebook, read important e-mails, watch a video on the go, you name it!  Last year, everyone anticipated the launch of iPhone 5 but instead we received iPhone 4S.  While it is a great new device with the new Siri application among other features, I don’t consider it enough at the moment to make the upgrade.  It’s approaching the two-year mark though and I’m becoming eligible for an upgrade.  I’m not a huge techie, so I’m not sure what the good people of Apple are doing right now with iPad 3 or iPhone 5, but surely we know they are hard at work.  While iPhone 4S came out in the fall of last year, I’m going to make a blind guess (and coming from me, it’s a very blind one) but predict that iPhone 5 will be released in late June similar to the iPhone 4 and in-time for me to make an upgrade!

Probability: 90%

4. Deadpool Movie Trailer Revealed: This is one movie I really want to see hit the big screen! I’m not a big comic book reader, but when I do, I enjoy reading what I have read of Deadpool as I find him funny, entertaining, and quite the badass. :looks at IMDB.com page and sees Deadpool the movie listed for 2014: DAMN IT!!!

Probability: O%

3. Knuckles the Echidna to be Relevant Again: Knuckles was introduced in Sonic the Hedgehog 3 in 1994. Knuckles is a great character in the Sonic series that I feel has been overshadowed by the likes of Shadow the Hedgehog and less important characters that have been added to the Sonic series since the Sonic Adventure titles. My hope is that with Sonic the Hedgehog 4 being released in parts, we will see him back possibly part 3.  Unfortunately, Sonic the Hedgehog 4 Part 2 is being released this year so that’s not likely to happen. On the positive, Sonic’s loyal companion Tails will be in the next one and that’s a good start to putting more focus on the core characters. In the mean time, perhaps the obscure but fun Knuckles 32X title “Knuckles’ Chaotix” can be released on the Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network? One could hope at least.

Probability: 40%

2. Shigeru Miyamoto’s New IP to Be Revealed at E3: It has been reported that in addition to Pikmin 3 and Luigi’s Mansion 2, the famed creator of Mario and Zelda is working on a new intellectual property to be released.  The most recent titles that Shigeru Miyamoto has produced that aren’t sequels have been Wii Sports, Wii Fit, Nintendogs, and the Pikmin series on Nintendo Gamecube.  For me personally, I hope the new IP is something more similar to a Mario, Zelda, Pikmin, or perhaps a puzzle game similar to Tetris or Puzzle League.  Shigeru Miyamoto is a creative man and usually unpredictable.  I’m not sure what his next IP will be or if it will be ready for E3, but I am hoping that it will continue to please me like most of his other titles do.  As Nintendo plans to launch the WiiU this year and will continue to reveal more info throughout the year, it wouldn’t surprise me that we will see some familiar titles revealed and some new but fun looking titles come along the way. With the original Wii lacking new IPs from Nintendo besides Flingsmash, the “Wii” series, and perhaps you could count “Mario vs. Sonic at [insert] Olympics”, I warmly welcome a new series or stand-alone game.

Probability: 70%

1. For you all to keep visiting STVO Universe: I want this site to be a fun and enjoyable read and in some cases watch.  I’m into a wide range of nerdy interests and I have a lot of opinions, so I hope you all come back for more!

Probability: You let me know!

That is all for now, keep checking here on STVO Universe for more opinion pieces, lists, news bits, and soon, video! Until then, thanks for reading!