Kung Fu lovers rejoice, Jackie Chan and Jet Li have finally been featured in the same movie! Don't worry about sharpening your katanas or equipping your armor, because this movie has enough sugar coating to give a Disney animator a cavity.

The good: Jet Li and Jackie Chan both display their extensive knowledge of the martial arts. Granted, there were plenty of the "Crouching Tiger" gravity defying moves to go around, however, in-between all of the fantasy fighting, some pretty intense fight scenes took place. One of the more notable fights was between Li and Chan. I was a bit disappointed because that fight was never "finished", it just ended abruptly. I'm pretty sure Jackie Chan would have had his ass handed to him in real life though.

The bad: Hollywood had their way with this movie. I seriously don't know what to be more mad at: The fact that two of the greatest martial artists to ever get to the silver screen have to waste their time trying to act when they could have been coordinating complex fight scenes, OR, the kid they hired to play in the movie. He was seriously a pussy. I felt like the kid was so far out of place that it almost ruined every bit of excitement that I had built up for the movie. I'm not going to hate on him too much, but he pretty much ruined the movie. I also was not too fond of the magical elements that were used in the fight scenes. This is supposed to be a KUNG FU MOVIE, not Lord of the F*cking Rings!

Verdict: If you are a fan of Jet Li's mind numbing karate, or Jackie Chan's ability to play the role of a drunken karate master, go watch this movie. Just be sure to practice your own drunken master technique before you go or you just might enrage like I did.

This movie gets 3 out of 5 ROFLs.

It is finally time for xbox 360 owners to start getting truly excited again, as we prepare for the launch of Gears of War 2. The second installment of Epic's killer FPS is sure to bring gamers all of the excitement that the original brought...and then some.

The first noteworthy detail to mention is the addition of some new characters:

Tai Kaliso - The warrior from a spiritual, and meditative background who promises to bring a fresh and exciting personality to the game

Chairman Prescott - The superior above the asshole Hoffman. He apparently gives an inspirational speech at the beginning of the game

Dizzy - The father of a stranded family who was taken in by the COG forces, in exchange for Dizzy's service to the COGs.

Maria Santiago - Dom's wife...about time Gears got some T&A!

Gears of War 2 starts 6 months after the light mass bomb incident at the end of the last game. A new campaign mode will make it easy for even the most casual players pick up the controller and have a blast. There is also a new feature that will allow two Co-Op players to play on different difficulties. Oh yea, and the new monsters are rumored to make you their bitch...hardcore. I must say that I am most excited about getting to drive a COG tank, which apparently can be compared to the love child of a monster truck and a conventional tank. Not much has been said about the multiplayer. This is because Epic is keeping the details on the hush.

All in all, Gears of War 2 will be one of, if not the greatest game of 2008. I am thoroughly excited about it and I will definitely be getting a pre-order as soon as they become available! Look for Gears of War 2 in stores this November.

So I was watching TV last night and I came across what I consider to be one of the funniest South Park episodes in existence. Basically Canada goes on strike and the boys try to make money on the internet by creating a video called "what in the butt" featuring Butters. When they go to collect their theoretical "internet dollars" they meet up in a waiting room with all of the other internet celebrities who are also waiting to collect their "internet money". Just watch and laugh.

Last night I watched a documentary on Metallica titled "Some Kind of Monster". It followed Metallica down the troubled path to the completion of their last album, "St. Anger".

Metallica has been around since 1981, with their first studio release, "Kill em All", a thrash metal album. That album was made of testosterone, and guitar solos. This formula worked so well for Metallica, for so many years... and then came St Anger.

Some say that the shift came with their self titled album (AKA The Black Album). There is a noticible difference between that album and anything before it, but the heart of Metallica's music was still intact. St. Anger was equivalent to a heart attack. The sound was completely different. Kirk Hammet's awesome guitar solo's were all but completely gone. Their guitars were suddenly tuned down to Drop C, and Metallica's sound more resembled that of Limp Bizkit than Metallica. What the hell happened?

In "Some Kind of Monster" the reason for the drastic changes are explained in full, but there is one thing in particular that I would like to elaborate on. Bands, later in their career, start to feel that their sound is getting stale, and that it is time to refresh it, with some more modern riffs, guitar tunings, effects, etc... Basically they change the entire structure of their songs to fit the time period. Sometimes this is the right thing to do, but in this case it was F&$*KING stupid. They have sold almost 100 million records since they debuted. Sales have never really slowed. Records are probably still selling quite well (with the exception of St. Anger I'm sure.)

I sincerely hope that their next attempt at an album (due this Fall) will prove to be the return of Metallica, as I know and love them. According to some statements made by Metallica, and the record's production team, the album is shaping up to be exactly what I am looking for, a return to the past. Good ol' fasion heavy hitting Metallica. Lars has even said himself that this album will not be a "St. Anger Part II".

Also, the first single from this new album will be released on Rock Band, before the actual album is release. What a great marketing tool Rock Band can be.

Which brings me to a final point. Metallica needs to take full advantage of Rock Band. They love money, and we Rock Band players love playin Metallica songs, and have to pay money to play them. I hope to see a bunch of their albums released for Rock Band in the future.

BUT NOT ST. ANGER... piece of shit album.

The new wave of rhythm based games, that have become so popular as of late, are great. I am a huge fan of Guitar Hero, and even more of a fan of Rock Band. I have spent countless hours shreddin with that little plastic guitar. At first it felt ridiculous, but as time went by it became an all out addiction. I now play these games regularly... nearly every Friday night in fact. They are just the perfect game for "get-togethers", or parties. Guitar Hero III debuted on October 28th of last year. It was a solid game, that introduced a couple questionable features. Overall I have had a lot of fun with it though, and continue to do so.

Now they are going to release another Guitar Hero game. The game is titled "Guitar Hero: Aerosmith". It is titled this because the game is 100% focused around Aerosmith. The avatars used in the game are now the band members of Aerosmith. Steven Tyler is featured as the singer of course. And yes, even the virtual Tyler's mouth is still big enough to consume a basketball. It looks like the game will not consist entirely of Aerosmith songs though, the split should be about 60-40 in Aerosmith's favor. This is a pleasant surprise.

I have a couple issues with this game so far:

1. Why is Activision releasing another totally seperate title from Guitar Hero III this early? The game is still selling great. Why not release some GOOD DLC for starters? They must realize that Rock Band has totally taken advantage of this ability, and has made a ton of money from it.
   
2. Why waste an entire title on ONE BAND? Wouldn't it make more sense to appeal to more fans then just the fans of Aerosmith? Maybe a classic rock game, or 90's game would have more success. Perhaps Aerosmith can make an appearance... or maybe even Aerosmith and another band as well. I understand that it might take more time to develop a game like that... but Activision has plenty of time. No one needs another game yet... just give us some good DLC dammit!
3. Why waste time with Aerosmith? LED F$%@KIN ZEPPELIN!!!!! Spend whatever money it takes and make Guitar Hero: Led Zeppelin

All in all, I may still end up buying this game. With the addition of music made by bands other than Aerosmith, and what seems to be an interesting career mode, I must admit I am intrigued.

1 more thing... looks like Guitar Hero: Van Halen is next... no joke.

WTF

-Look for Guitar Hero: Aerosmith in stores this June.

Working in the IT field, I have learned over the years that the best solution to any problem is the one that makes everything work. Often times, we computer nerds find ourselves in a heated rage at our end users due to their inability to even put their hands on a desktop without causing a catastrophe. Typically, when this happens, we look for ways to make things suck for our beloved customers. I cant help but think that one or at least a few members of Panic at the Disco may have been involved in tech support at one time or another, because this is what they have managed to do.

Overview: Panic at the Disco's second album hit stores on Tuesday, March 25th. Most of you have already heard the album, so you have little need to read a review about it. For those of us who are not privileged enough to get early releases, our reviews come out on Thursday. The band has completely shifted gears in this album, with an almost completely new sound. The once makeup wearing circus performers who wrote music about God damn doors and broken relationships, now offer up a whole new palette of sounds much resembling a folk jam-band converted into a barber shop quartet.

The Good:: Along with the new sound the Pretty Odd delivers, comes a nice selection of songs, 15 to be exact (well I would call it 14.5 because the first half of the "Things have changed" song is nothing but the band stating that they're sorry for being gone for so long, we've been busy writing songs...blah blah blah). It would be unfair for me to write this review without making note of the "Nine in the afternoon" title track from the album. I was very excited about the album after hearing this song because it sounded exactly like what I wanted in a follow up from Panic. The fact that they decided to shorten the song titles doesn't hurt either. I fully expected song titles to be akin to "Walking down the street is the coolest thing one can possibly do when your tire goes flat on the side of I-95". If you don't get that joke, go look at the track list for Panic's first album.

The Bad::Almost all of the songs on this album sound the same. I can only describe this album's sound as a "depressed barber shop quartet". Panic has almost cast themselves into a different genre of music completely with their choice of instrumental sounds produced throughout the album. I remember thinking at one point that they sounded like a 1950's jazz band. This new sound isn't entirely a bad thing, however I feel a bit empty and unsatisfied with the offerings of Pretty Odd. It simply did not live up to my expectations, and I believe many others feel the same way.

Verdict::Although Pretty Odd was a valiant attempt at good music by Panic at the Disco, I believe that save for one or two songs, the entire album is not worth listening to. If you do not want Pretty Odd to ruin your hopes that Panic can make a decent album, I don't recommend that you buy this album. My ears hurt now, and I am going to down a bottle of asprin.

This album gets 2 out of 5 rofls

The Roflspot (Rof-ul-spot) is a joint venture between myself and a co-worker. Our workday consists of incessant rambling on a wide variety of topics. We decided "Why not bring this content to the masses? This is good stuff!"

So here we are. If you found us, you have landed directly on the Roflspot.

Over time, you can expect podcasts, videos, and other posts about video games, movies, music, or whatever we find interesting.