Mario vs Donkey Kong 2 : March of the minis

Behind this title hides a Lemmings'like game where you need to control mini-Mario toys and guide them to exit of about 100 levels. It's clean, works great with the stylus of the DS, and once you've completed a level, you can do it again to get a "gold star" score and unlock hidden levels. But, once this is done, and I can assure you it won't be long before you finish all levels with at least a silver star, the game is over; that's the problem: it's nice, simple, entertaining, but too short. I've loved it though, enough to work my way to have at least a silver star in all levels and a gold star in 40 levels, to gain access to the last hidden one.

V for Vendetta

Another "comic inspired" movie : it looks as though the movie industry has no more inspiration (not that it has had a tremendous one recently...) and has discovered that, since several decades, generations of creative and talented authors have entertained a large audience in the comic book universe. With the special "let's spread culture" mantra, and more important "let's make big bucks with other's ideas" credo, the big majors seem decided to go over the whole american comics library, for good of for worse.
Fortunately, this one comes under the "good" category. Very visual, beautifully played, inspired, it'll make you spend a good time and, although it's a bit caricatural in its representation of religion and political power, it may give you a couple of things to think about.

Kiki's delivery service

This japanese animation movie is cute. That's the word, cute. But overall, it's not really as intesting, or original as Grave of the Fireflies or Mononoke for instance... Not much more to tell.

300

Loads of blood gushing from wounds in epic battles, a very graphical and powerful movie. I've loved almost every minute of it, the only default I could find being the abusive use of slow motion in combats. The actors are muscular and impressive as they should be and the scant dialogs really emphasize the heroic side of the story : no bullshit, straight to the point. Really, really good movie. A tribute to testosterone :)

Hotel Dusk : Room 215

Well, I don't feel like reading these days so I've taken my good ol'DS back and I've found a new time wasting game : "Hotel Dusk : Room 215". I had finished the previous game from the same Cing studios, "Another Code", which I had found great and original.

Like "Another Code", "Hotel Dusk" is an point and click investigation game ; its originality lies in its stunning beauty : the characters are mainly black and white, 2-dimensionnal, they look like they're drawn with a paper pen, but they evolve in a 3D environment. The graphical design makes most of the warm feeling of the game. The scenario (what I've seen of it at least... I'm only in chapter five, out of ten seemingly) is rather complex, with several stories interweaving, as is usually the case in this king of games. This is for the good stuff.

For the bad things now. Firstly, the music & sounds are minimalistic, almost annoying, and this is a disappointment since it would have added to the atmosphere. Secondly, the game is a bit too linear, always remining you what to do, even when you do remember... which is a bit frustrating and removes the freedom effect you usually expect in an investigation game.

But then, these games are not too abundant so I'm not looking too much at the defaults and am enjoying the good points instead. I'm looking forward to solving all the mysteries : Where's Bradley and why was he in this hotel, under my name, 6 month ago? Why has he betrayed the police? Is he really with the criminal Nile organisation? Who is the mother of Melissa and where is she? Who is Alan Parker? Who stole the 20.000$? Who is Mila? What's the secret of the girl next door? So many secrets, and only one night to solve them...

Beware, time waster ahead!!

Found something while not looking

Yesterday, I was lurking at the local book store, browsing the covers of the mangas, then stopped at this one "Death note". I opened it, read a couple of chapters, and bought it. I will buy the next ones to get a better idea, but so far, it looks really promising. So, more on that later, I guess...

La Faute de l'Abbé Mouret

Boulot, boulot, boulot... J'ai pas mal travaillé ces temps-ci donc j'ai eu peu de temps pour le reste... Mais comme un peu de repos s'impose, je viens de terminer "La Faute de l'Abbé Mouret" ("La Faute" en résumé). Ce roman, organisé comme un triptyque s'attache à étudier ce qui se passe dans les pensées d'un jeune abbé, Serge Mouret, fils des personnages principaux de l'opus précédent, François Mouret et Marthe Rougon. Comme à l'accoutumée dans cette série de Zola, Serge concentre un certain nombre de traits de son hérédité "particulière".

La première partie de La Faute décrit un jeune homme asexué, physiquement assez faible, qui s'est naturellement tourné vers le séminaire. Entièrement investi dans son rôle, il est nommé aux Artaud, un patelin où les habitants, tous paysans, ne sont guère tournés vers la religion, et sont principalement comparés à des bêtes se reproduisant entre eux ad vitam aeternam, sans jamais sortir de leur trou. Ici, Serge officie dans l'église, toujours vide, accompagné de sa sœur Désirée, grande femme dont la tête n'a jamais suivi le corps, et de la Teuse, la "bonne du curé". Désirée représente ici la vie, et s'entoure d'une basse-cour : coq, poules, cochons, chèvres, lapins, vache dont elle veille la croissance. Serge, lui, ne jure que par Dieu, et Marie, la figure qu'il affectionne particulièrement, sans savoir pourquoi, et vis au rythme des fêtes catholiques; sa foi si profonde l'amène à souvent se malmener physiquement, à s'oublier des heures en extase sur le carreau froid de l'église.
*** SPOILER COMING *** Dans la seconde partie, on apprend que le curé, tombé gravement malade, ayant perdu la mémoire et ses capacités physiques, a été placé par son oncle Pascal (le médecin, plus ou moins porte-parole de Zola) dans une maison, afin de se refaire. C'est une maison en retrait des Artaud, au milieu d'un très très vaste jardin, nommé le Paradou (Paradou <-> Paradis : subtil, n'est-ce pas?). Là, confié aux bons soins d'Albine, jeune femme sauvage pleine de vie, Serge va peu à peu recouvrer sa santé et éveiller, naturellement, sans s'en rendre compte, sa sexualité. Il naît véritablement homme à 25 ans, avec Albine, au milieu de cette nature. Après avoir "consommé" sa relation, ses souvenirs lui reviennent, et réalisant alors son errance par rapport à son statut de prêtre, il fuit le Paradou.
La troisième partie raconte le combat intérieur de Serge, la bataille intestine entre la nature, Albine, et la religion, la prêtrise. Allers et retours au Paradou, schizophrénie, automutilation deviennent son lot quotidien. Il re-gagne son statut, perd donc son sexe retrouvé, et vainc définitivement la tentation au prix de la mort d'Albine, mort à laquelle Zola donne un pendant de renouveau dans sa simultanéité avec la naissance d'un veau dans la basse-cour de Désirée.

Le roman puise une grande partie de sa puissance des descriptions ; dans la première partie, ces descriptions convoient l'atmosphère silencieuse de recueillement de Serge dans sa ferveur religieuse et sa vie recluse, ne vivant que dans des codes qui sont devenus de douces mécaniques. Dans la seconde partie du roman, les fleurs s'animent et exhalent leurs senteurs, les fruitiers nourrissent les nouveaux Adam et Eve de leurs fruits charnus et sucrés, les arbres leurs parlent et les branches gorgés de sève les invitent à la "faute". Enfin, dans la troisième partie, le combat qui devait arriver entre la nature et l'Eglise, entre Serge et la faute de son sexe, entre son coeur et sa tête, est soutenu par les hallucinations de Serge ou la nature entre dans une église grandissante par les toutes les fissures, jusqu'à la victoire finale du conditionnement ecclésiastique sur la nature humaine.

La Faute a bien entendu été violemment critiqué par tous les proches de l'Eglise de l'époque pour son atmosphère sulfureuse, mais au final, Zola n'est pas anticlérical, au contraire, mais il ne peut se résoudre à comprendre le célibat des prêtres et cette volonté de l'Eglise de s'opposer aux tendances naturelles de l'homme. L'exemple de Zola pour tout ce que l’église a de déviant selon lui, est personnifié par le détestable frère Archangias, être éternellement insatisfait, n'ayant probablement jamais fauté et qui jalouse ceux qui ont pu s'affranchir de leur rut, qui hurle au péché sur tout être qui passe dans une vulgarité et une haine qu'un conditionnement trop grand aura rendu inébranlable.

J'ai adoré la lecture de ce livre, même s'il est parfois arrivé, je l'avoue, de trouver que Zola a eu la main lourde avec les descriptions, pour lesquelles il a du épuiser toutes les variétés de plantes connues du Petit Robert pour remplir ses pages (visiblement un reproche qui lui a été souvent fait par ses contemporains). Cela m'a semblé plus criant ici, même si cela était déjà clairement le cas dans le Ventre de Paris par exemple avec les longues descriptions des étals et achalandages. Néanmoins, cette étude Zolienne du combat du prêtre m'a convaincu.

La Conquête de Plassans

J'ai finalement décidé de laisser provisoirement la DS à la maison avant de partir le matin, afin de me concentrer sur autre chose que finir un tournoi de Mario Slam Basketball ou essayer de faire des sans-faute à toutes les chansons de Elite Beat Agents (mais j'y arriverai un jour, même si je dois écouter 25 fois de suite "You're my inspiration").
Et du coup, je libère mon temps pour une vraie activité : la lecture. Et comme j'ai de la suite dans les idées, je viens de finir un nouveau Zola : La Conquête de Plassans.
4ème roman de la serie des Rougon-Macquart, La conquête de Plassans est l'occasion pour Zola de décrire la conquête par Plassans de l'abbé Faujas, dont les ambitions vont servir l'empire. Un beau jour, l'abbé Faujas débarque, pour d'obscures raisons, avec sa mère dans la maison tranquille de François et Marthe Mouret. Malgré un abord terrible et un désintérêt total pour les choses matérielles, bien aidé et manipulé par Félicité, qui, forte de sa stature acquise lors du premier épisode (voir La fortune des Rougons), oeuvre dans l'ombre depuis son salon vert à le faire avancer, l'abbé Faujas va petit à petit grignoter l'espace physique et moral de la famille Mouret et de la ville.
La famille Mouret, composée par François, fils de de Ursule macquart, et son épouse et cousine Marthe, fille de Pierre et Félicité Rougon, vit dans une simplicité et un train-train de campagne. Autour d'eux, ils ont trois enfants, deux garçons dont l'un très frêle, et une fille, dont le corps a grandi, mais pas la tête, fruit innocent de ce mélange consanguin. Entourés de la servante Rose, qui est le véritable régisseur de la maison, ils ne sont pas au début dérangés par la présence de l'abbé et de sa mère, qui se font presque invisibles. Puis, petit à petit, l'abbé et sa mère étendent leur ombre dans la maison; bientôt, l'arrivée de la soeur de l'abbé et de son mari, envahisseurs avides de jouissance facile, achève la conquête de la maison. Marthe, d'ordinaire mesurée et discrète, devient peu à peu dévote, jusqu'à la fièvre, l'hallucination, voyant dans cet investissement une sortie de la vie de cloître que son mari lui imposait. Mouret, un bourgeois d'ordinaire jovial, voyant sa femme s'éloigner et l'influence de l'abbé s'étendre, va s'enfermer dans un mutisme et une inactivité inquiétants. La cellule familiale va se désagréger, et les enfants quitter la maison. Le thème de l'hérédité, une prédilection de Zola, reparait ici fortement, Marthe et François dérivant, à l'image de la grand mère, la tante Dide, doucement dans la folie, jusqu'aux crises de folie de Marthe et à l'internement de François dans l'asile même des Tulettes, là ou sa grand-mère est internée, le tout couronné par l'apothéose finale mais chut.... je ne dirai rien hormis que cela finit mal, mais s'agissant de Zola, cela n'étonnera guère, ce n'est pas un roman de gare.
La religion et l'église ne sont abordés que d'un point de vue politique, de façon à montrer les manigances qui ont lieu et les implications et jeux des diverses parties, mais Zola n'ira guère plus loin, se contentant d'étudier l'abbé Faujas dans son influence et dans le développement de ses plans chez les Mouret et dans la ville. L'objectif final étant pour l'empire d'avoir un agent qui dirige Plassans, Zola dénonce à travers ce roman, à travers les réunions et manipulations des différents protagonistes (maire, préfet, juge, abbés..), le noyautage et la corruption de la France par le second empire. Les personnages de pouvoir avouent avec complaisance adopter une attitude de façade et avoir l'attitude contraire "par derrière", ce qui relève de leur sphère "privée".
C'est un roman passionant, par bien des aspects. On retrouve avec plaisir Antoine Macquart et Félicité Rougon, on s'inquiète pour le pauvre François Mouret et on assiste à l'irrésistible ascension de l'abbé Faujas, qui s'appuie sur les femmes influentes de la ville pour asseoir sa domination. L'histoire de la folie de la famille Rougon continue, tout comme la dénonciation des vices du second empire.
La suite : "La Faute de l'abbé Mouret", où l'on retrouvera Serge, le second fils de François Mouret et Marthe Rougon, qui a été "converti" par l'abbé Faujas au cours de ce quatrième tome.

Mario Slam Basketball

Finally, after a two months delay, it's out! So I've checked it out and like it very much so far: it's original, fast and beautiful. That's a good news since it has delivered me from a severe "Age of Kings" addiction ; the bad news being that's its just replacing an addiction with another ;)
After a little training, and a couple of hours, I've rather easily won the first three tournaments (though only the first one with the gold medal...) and am learning the special moves from my main players (My team is Donkey Kong - Luigi- Little Bowser). At the beginning, getting used to the different gestures and combinations for the right moves can be a little tricky, but then, with the slightest effort, it becomes rather natural and almost easy.
My only two gripes:
- Minor one : I sometimes lose sight of the ball because the camera wanders in the wrong direction...
- Major one : Why is there no Nintendo Wifi Connection mode? That's something that can be expected since Mario Kart DS, and it would have stretched the game's lifetime infinitely. The way things are, I will forget the game as soon as I have finished it and found something more challenging.
Anyway, for the time being, I like B-ball, I like Mario, so this game is for me.

Age of Empires / Elite Beat Agents

Not much reading of late, I've been rather busy either working, either playing "Age of Empires" or "Elite Beat Agents" on my good ol'DS.

Ages of Empires on DS is not real-time as on PC, but a turn-based strategy game, which is a nice change. So far, I've only finished the Joan of Arc tutorial but I like it a lot. I wonder whether the AI of the computer players will develop throughout the missions or it it will just compensate with massive attacks that can be twarthed with a little common sense... We'll see...

Elite Beat Agents is very different from what I've played so far since it's a music and rythm-based game where you have to beat the touch screen in sync with the tune : it's very fun and addictive and like nothing I've seen so far.

Tideland

Terry Gilliam's latest vision, Alice in horrorland: Little Jeliza Rose has to prepare the fix for his junky of a father (yes, it's great to watch Jeff Bridges in a Dude's like role...) and to wax the legs of her fat, 1-cigarette-a-minute, depressive mother. Well until her mother fortunately dies that is and she tumbles down and down the rabbit hole. Lots of dead people and animals, dolls'heads, a nasty woman with a lobotomized son are what await Jeliza Rose on her way to sanity... Very beautiful and poetic, you almost get hypnotized by the movie; it's a very good Gilliam. And the little girl (Jodelle Ferland) plays Jeliza Rose and her four little dolls'heads with such force... she's very impressive.
I can understand why some would not love this movie since it shows some very (VERY) disturbing things, but from the girl's point of view, it's not that important that it's part of her material life, which seems so disconnected from her imaginary one.
If you want to see a good movie, go and watch Tideland.

Underworld / Underword : Evolution

I am usually a good public for a correct vampire book or movie, so this one is not an exception: I've liked underworld a lot. It's got a very beautiful goth look, Kate Beckinsale looks stunning and I've found the vampire vs lycans war to be rather well depicted. I doesn't delve into the vampire condition too much since this has been told and re-told many times over, but concentrates on its own story. So, thumbs up for this one.
On the other hand, as is unfortunately too often the case with sequels, Underworld: Evolution is a lot more boring and a lot more exaggerated than the previous one : with more powerful beings, more yucky romantic scenes... you get the idea : you can skip the sequel without looking back.

The Attack of the Giant Mousaka

You can take a group of gay astronomers in pink uniform, a big BBQ with friends, a young politician with a cocaine-addicted wife, a gang of happy drag queens, a fat transsexual and four lingerie top-models looking for their missing fifth member throughout the galaxy in their UFO and you will have a bad movie. But add to the mix a little slice of mousaka that grows to the size of a 6-floors building and blobs around Athens killing everyone in its path and you'll get "The Attack of the Giant Mousaka" : this movie is as unconventional and as bad as can be. It's funny, grotesque, bizarre, it doesn't take itself seriously, it has lousy actors, and even worse special effects. Sure, it's a Z-series, but then, once in a while, it doesn't hurt.
You'll never look at mousaka the same way!

Merde Actually

Sequel to "A year in the merde", the new adventures of Englishman Paul West in France. Still written by Stephen Clarke, with still the same verve, but without as much "LOL-power". The book is funny to read, I've had my share of smiles of even laughs and poor Paul West get himself in the merde up to his neck, but overall, it seems to me that he often hits under the belt, more often than in the first opus.
A good one though, my only regret being that I've it too fast and am left with nothing to read in my shelves until my birthday comes in a week. It's gonna be a long week ;)
Oh and by the way, why are English girls in the book depicted so vividly as vulgar alcoholic sex-obsessed animals? The picture can't be that bad...

The Island

This movie came highly recommended by a friend so my wife and I watched it. Finally, I found it to be entertaining, with something "different" in the story, but there are at least two things that make it fell short of a good movie. First, the actors are bad, and very much so. Then it's badly directed (or edited) : look at the first pursuit scene in the basement : Ewan Mac Gregor and Scarlett Johansson look like they are running in random direction : they must have been shot by an "un-steady cam" and the different shots cut and pasted in random fashion by an intern that had a twitching hand. This one scene makes the movie scream "cheap". Overall, a good concept with a bad realization.

I, robot

Yes, I know, not having read Asimov before now is a shame, but at last, this is over and I can now stand proud again ;) So I've been to my local bookstore seeking advice about what to read first from Asimov and I've been redirected to his great "Foundation" series which sounded as though it would be months before I could read a single volume so I decided that a small collection of stories would be a good start; I've waited 2 weeks for the book to come and here I am : this book consists of 9 stories.
[RANT MODE] I've been shocked by the cover when receiving the book : there is a huge Will Smith, set in a futuristic landscape, featuring his "I'm in a bad mood" face, and a title "Isaac Asimov - I, robot"; and it is subtitled "now a major motion picture from Twentieth Century Fox starring WIll Smith". Yeah right. I just want to read the book, I don't care about the 20th Century Fox producing so-called "major" movies. Yes I know, I'm getting old and am ranting too much, but I just don't like being forcefully fed the advertising junk with every step I make. [OUT OF RANT MODE]
Aside from this minor annoyance, the stories have been really interesting, all of them presenting the psychological study of a robot which has gone astray, for whatever reason. I was thinking that the style would be somewhat outdated, due to the age of the books, but it is very straight, simple and contemporary.

1. Robbie : nice little story about the ties bonding a little girl with her nursemaid robot.


2. Runaround : a robot goes mad, lost between rule 1 and rule 2...


3. Reason : I've loved this one. A robot, capable of reason, comes to the same conclusion as Descartes "I think therefore I am" and creates his own religion. I find it ironic that the robot created by humans recreates their metaphysical conflicts and invents his own god to fill in the blanks of his existence.


4. Catch That Rabbit : This one is about a robot and his "fingers"; not as acute as the others in my opinion.


5. Liar! : This one is excellent too : the great experts are being plaed with by a robot able to understand the "human" feelings (love, ambition...)


6. Little Lost Robot : What happens when you tell a robot "Go lose yourself!"


7. Escape! : one more "bending rule one" case, to get to the space-warp engine and interesting theories about people dying and reliving in order to "time-space-jump".


8. Evidence : This one is nice too, about a robot replacing a human being and how human intolerance can be fooled by simple tricks : seeing is believing.


9. The Evitable Conflict : interesting (again!?) story about how robots govern life and future of mankind and act to protect themselves to protect mankind.

All in all, this book is very witty, makes you think about things, and has made me want to read more of Asimov's work... and why not Foundation Saga. Time will tell.