Its that time again. Time for me to go through the latest movie trailers, and well review them.

Yes, one of these was posted earlier, but hey what you gonna do about it. Gotta get this out of the way before that thing called Comic Con brings in a whole new slew of trailers.

1. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 Trailer
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Now, I'm aware we will be seeing the actual product in a few days. However, one cannot deny that this trailer brims of marketing goodness. Even for non fans of the franchise, this preview at the film series's final installment. Special effects, spoilers, and a fantastic score give any viewer chills.

Score: A

2. Brave
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Here we have Disney Pixar's Brave. It may be the fact that fans of the stellar animation studio are looking for hope following this year's travesty, Cars 2, but the trailer for Brave works. The animation is stunning, and the glimpse we get at the world Pixar creates is tantalizing. Even more exciting is the idea that Pixar is tackling a Brothers Grimm style fairy tale. That has to be exciting to you.

Score: -A

3. Rise of the Planet of the Apes
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Ridiculous title aside, this trailer establishes something that the entire marketing campaign for this prequel has been, a deep haunting atmosphere. Caesar, rendered through stunning technology, has already become the emotional focal point for the film. If the film is as strong as these trailers make it seem, than we may have the strongest Planet of the Apes film since the original. Though it still doesn't make sense how about fifty apes can take overall of Los Angeles...

Score: -A

4. Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol
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Mission Impossible Ghost Protocol seems to be more of the same for the Tom Cruise action franchise. However, that is not necessarily a bad thing when it comes to this franchise that is not necessarily a bad thing. There are hints at some interesting action set pieces, and a plot that strays slightly from the norm. I'm still not completely sold, though.

Score: B


5. Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part 1
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The reason why this film has been split in half is still a mystery to many. Despite the fan service, this trailer really does nothing. Sure, they get married. What else happens? This trailer isn't gonna help. There's alot of vampire sex, and some boy fighting. Nothing else.

Score: D+

6. The Adventures of Tintin
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Although its animations style requires some adjusting, there's little doubt that Tintin is a visual marvel. It is also to see a slightly edgy animated adventure aimed at the all ages demographic. With the promising names of Peter Jackson, Steven Spielberg, and Edgar Wright it's pretty easy to get excited.

Score: B+

(A bit late, but bare with me)

In 2007, famous action director Michael Bay did what seemed like a Hollywood impossibility. He took a dated toy property and turned it into a multi-million dollar franchise. Sure he had some help, primarily from teenage boys wishing to catch their glimpse at a certain actress, but the original Transformers film will forever remain as a great summer blockbuster.

In 2009, the same director, cast, and writers did the exact opposite. They created a spectacular failure of a film. A nonsensical plot, soulless human characters, and absolutely horrific humor made Transformers Revenge of the Fallen an exercise in just how bad sequels can get. A movie Rolling Stone labeled as one of the worst films of the entire decade.

Bay has labeled this latest, and probably final, installment his apology for the second film. Transformers: Dark of the Moon certainly does improve upon its predecessor, but is not without its own pratfalls.

Dark of the Moon opens up two years following the previous film. The Autobots continue to fight the remnants of their Decepticon foes. Meanwhile, Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf) attempts to move on with his life with his new girlfriend, Carly (Rosie Huntington Whiteley). However, Sam despite having saved the world twice finds it difficult to find a career. Sam's search does last long. The Decepticons have returned and this time become involved in a conspiracy that stretches back to the space race.

When it comes to the scale of its story, Dark of the Moon is easily the strongest of the three films. The conspiracy, which is shown spectacularly in the first ten minutes of the film, proves to be an interesting backdrop to the robot action. The plot also features some unexpected twists that make the film more engaging in some ways than both its predecessors.

What Dark of the Moon lacks is a compelling human story. While the overarching plot and the robot centered segments are engaging and filled with spectacle, the human storyline has none of this. This is unfortunate seeing as a good hour of the film follows Sam Witwicky's attempt to find a career. It is just difficult to care for any of the characters Bay presents to us.

This is made even worse by the absolutely awful humor. Although not racist or as crude as the previous film, the script is packed with some of the least affective and brainless humor seen in years. The Hangover 's Ken Jeung is the worst offender of this. He appears in a brief stint that borders on unwatchable. What makes matters worse is that this idiotic humor takes up a solid hour of the film.

However, Michael Bay takes his billion dollar franchise to a new level of intensity. When it comes to delivering spectacle, the famed master of explosions does not disappoint. The visual effects are easily some of the most impressive ever seen. Each of the machines glittering and shifting parts is rendered beautifully. The same goes for the 3D effects, which rank as the best since James Cameron's Avatar.

When the humor has died down and the plot finally reaches its head, the action begins. And what a sight it is. Visceral, grand in scale, and unmatched in scope, Dark of the Moon delivers fantastic action set piece after set piece. One moment, robots are locked in a Western style standstill. Next, characters are sliding and diving through a collapsing skyscraper. Then, Optimus Prime, who reaches levels of unbelievable cool in this film, jetpacks through a crowd of enemies slicing and dicing. Once it gets started, the action never lets up, which for a Michael Bay movie is not a bad thing.

When it comes to performances, there are few to truly write home about. LaBeouf is on par with his previous roles in the franchise. Huntington-Whiteley fares better than Megan Fox but never exceeds mediocrity. However, Leonard Nemoy does provide an interesting voice role for Optimus's new mentor Sentinel Prime.

Perhaps the unsung hero of the film is Steve Jablonksy's heroic score. Jablonsky originally wowed in the original 2007 film with tracks that have become staples to the franchise. He expands upon these beautifully here, creating an audio treat amidst the bullets and explosions.

Ultimately, as a summer blockbuster Transformers Dark of the Moon does deliver. It may be a tad too long and lack a soul, but when it comes to flat out action and spectacle you are unlikely to do better this season. Just make sure to brain bleach out those jokes.


Score: -B

Outside of Rango, this year has been rather lackluster when it comes to animation. The always trusty Pixar delivered its first ever flop, and the rest have been equall uninspired.

This film based off the classic comic books by Belgian artist Georges Rémi produced by Peter Jackson, directed by Steven Spielberg, and written by Edgar Wright looks to be a spectacle on par with some of the highest budget live action films.

Not to mention that gorgeous animation.

Wow...It's been a long time hasn't it my friends? Well, welome to the brand new Artificial Continuum. A world of endless possibilites, and weekly nerd features.

So its been a crazy week at the web. Lots of great viral videos are breaking out. Unfortunatley, you peeps will only get to see one of these late breaking videos today. You'll have to wait for subsequent weeks to see the others. Or...you could just go on youtube. Take your pic.


1. eHarmony Cat video
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Here's a video that's been making waves on the web for the last few weeks. For those who haven't seen it, you'll be in for a treat. But please, male readers, I am aware that she does seem to move her breasts about alot, but this is a video about well...cats.


2. Classic Viral: PINGAS
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Yes, I pulled the PINGAS card. This travesty of voice acting created a viral and eventual meme that would shape the internet forever.


3. Fan Trailer: Deadpool
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So, yes. I am aware you all expected me to show you something funny. Well, this last spot has traditionally been reserved for simply cool videos that have captured my attention over the week.

This week that video is this great fan trailer for the hypothetical Ryan Reynolds movie that will probably never actaully be made. Its brilliantly edited, and actually looks pretty cool.

So after much soul searching, and reading over our single suggestion we recieved, the fate of Artificial Continuum has been decided.


What, you ask, will become of this site? Will it die? Will it change itself completely? Well..the answer is neither.

AC will be repurposed into a site that runs off features and commentaries rather than a focus on news. Some of the most popular features on our site have been the weekly web video topic, and our reviews. These will be expanded upon, and both will be seen in weekly features.

Our new catalogue of content will include:

Monday: Weekly Web Video Topic ( A feature that will be completely identical to our web video topic of last year)

Wednesday: Nick's Top Ten (This one came as a surprise. However, when I went back and reviewed our view stats on our posts. Some of the most popular posts I made on the sites were actually my top ten countdowns. So now every Wednesday will feature a top ten countdown ranging across all geekdom.)

Friday: News Round Up (We can't forget the news! We have to keep the masses informed! Every Friday will now contain a round up of some of the most interesting, bizarre, and important announcements across geekdom.)

Every other week will also feature a round up review of released movie trailers.

I will also continue movie reviews and possibly reviews of Clone Wars, but on a far less scheduled basis.


I hope you all are as excited for this change of pace as I am. Look forward to seeing you in the coming months.

Hello everyone,

Reboots are rather popular these days. X-men just had one a few weeks ago. DC's got one planned for next year, and we have major studios rebooting properties all the way down the line. In other words, the status quo has to change, because to quote Dr. Horrible "the satus is not quo".

Anyways, what is this rambling post about? It's about a certain something that's been noticed by many people. Well, many people being the one or two people that read this blog. Artificial Continuum has exeperienced a lot of down time. In fact, way too much downtime.

There are lots of reasons why AC has been dormant for many months. This mainly has to due that our multiple writers have lives that are ultimatley more important than this blog. However, alot of the problems simply came from the fact that our staff (and mostly myself) tried to tackle too large a subject matter for a single blog. Covering all media news with a handful of statt worked when time was a plenty and our lives were simple.

However, this does not mean that AC is dead. On the contrary, I have made this post to simply say that the staff of AC has decided to retool the focus of the blog. We have had multiple suggestions ranging from a stronger focus on reviews or commentaries, a focus soley on a certain form of media, or a certain genre.

So dear (3) readers, I have a request of you. Please tell us: what do you like from AC? What do you want to see more of? What do you want to see less of? What features should we expand? What should we throw down the imaginary internet dumpster? Any and all suggestions are welcome. So comment below.


Thanks,

Nick

For all of you GoW fans, here's the full Gears of War 3 E3 trailer. The music played here is by Black Sabbath, titled "War Pigs". Enjoy.

Witches of the Mist, the conclusion to the three part Savage Opress storyline, at the moment stands as one of the most important episodes in the series to date. Regardless of quality, the story advances made in this episode will forever change the make up of the series.

Following the events in the previous two episodes, Dooku begins his training of Savage Opress. However, at the same time the effects of Savage’s previous attacks have not gone unnoticed by the Jedi, who dispatch Anakin and Obiwan to deal with the threat. As Savage is quickly being thrust into the forefront of the war Ventress begins to enact the final stages of her revenge.

As a finale to a three part arc Witches of the Mist succeeds. The majority of the plot points are brought to a relatively satisfying conclusion, and it delivers on the necessary action that the story demands. However, as mentioned earlier Mist is perhaps most significant in how it drives several key players for the series into completely new territory. It is not surprising at all to see that the main characters of this saga (Count Dooku, Assaj Ventress, Savage Opress, and Mother Talzin) all stand on different ground then they did where the story began. This in and of itself makes this episode a winner. The Clone Wars is a series where events are often frustratingly contained within an episode or arc. This is not the case with Mist as there is no simple way the series can continue to function as it once was after this episode has concluded.

Although the Jedi are included their roles are miniscule and in the end utterly unneeded. Once again Dooku, Savage, and Ventress steal the show. Savage continues to grow and involve as a memorable villain and again appears surprisingly layered. His training at the hands of Dooku stands as a stark parallel to Yoda’s teaching of Luke in the Empire Strikes Back and offers an interesting glimpse into both characters as well as Sith culture.

However, the moment fans had been waiting for since the arc began was the final three way showdown between Savage, Ventress, and Dooku. Brilliantly animated, orchestrated, and choreographed the sequence drips with tension and emotion more so then any battle since Anakin’s duel with Obiwan in Revenge of the Sith. It may actually stand as the single best action sequence the series has ever had.
The episode culminates in a haunting and emotional final sequence that not only hints at things to come, but drops perhaps one of the most unexpected and bold twists in the history of the franchise.

Also notable is the inclusion of Delta Squad from the fan favorite video game Republic Commando. Although their appearance bubbles down to little more than a cameo, their appearance is a healthy bit a fan service.

If it were not for the issues of pacing Witches of the Mist would stand as one of the top three episodes of the series. However, like the previous installments before it, Mist is just too large a story to contain in a twenty two minute episode. Like Monster, this installment manages to avoid feeling bloated except for one sequence at its midpoint that feels incredibly disjointed.

Score: -A

When Season 3 was first teased at this year’s Celebration V, one of the most hyped plotlines surrounded a villain named Savage Opress. This powerful and intimidating villain was stated by George Lucas himself to be an important player in the shape of the series. Despite his ridiculous name, the majority of the fan base was excited for the inclusion of this seemingly brutal new villain. Savage made his debut in this week’s episode Monster, did he live up to the hype?

Still seething from her betrayal at the hands of Count Dooku and her failed attempt at revenge, Ventress has once again turned towards the Nightsisters for assistance. Following the failed assassination attempt conducted by Ventress and her witch kin, Dooku has become increasingly paranoid about attempts on his life by the Jedi and his other enemies. With nowhere to turn, he is contacted by Mother Talzin, the leader of the Nightsisters, who offers him a solution, a male from the planet of Dathomir. Little does Dooku realize that his new found apprentice will be a pawn for Ventress and her new allies.

Once again Monster focuses on the villains of the series, with none of the usual heroes making an appearance. This stands in the episode’s favor as the majority of plot surrounds Ventress’s vigorous selection process for her new pawn. Monster is brutal, violent, and contains some of the darkest material the show has visited to date.

As suspected the star of this episode is Savage Opress, who is given a surprisingly detailed and empathetic introduction. Although a member of a clan of Zabrak warriors, Savage is shown as a caring and human character. This makes his manipulation by Ventress and his transformation by the Nightsisters, who prove to be the true monsters of the episode, all the more horrifying. When Savage has become the villain we have glimpsed for months he is a completely different being then the one we were introduced to. Surprisingly this works, Monster creates a villain with all the brutish complexity of Frankenstein’s monster.

The brutal selection process makes up the majority of this episode, but was highlighted by expertly choreographed and animated action sequences. Often inventive and always engaging this sequence stands as one of the most fun of the season.
As the middle act of a trilogy of episodes, Monster acts a transition episode and once again suffers from issues of pacing. Monster works fluidly throughout the course of the plot until one horribly executed sequence towards the episode’s climax. The scene is handled so quickly and given so little thought that what could have been an effective step in Savage’s story just stands as a horribly awkward and disjointed scene.

Despite this one flaw, Monster stands as one of the single best episodes of the entire series and carefully lays the ground work for an explosive conclusion to one of the series’ best story arcs.

Score: -A

The Clone Wars for its near three year run now has been a series of heroism. Even if recently that line has begun to blur, the clones, Jedi, and most importantly Anakin himself have stood as true heroes in the conflict that has consumed the galaxy. However, Clone Wars has really developed into a series that thrives off its villains. Cad Bane, Aurra Sing, or Assaj Ventress, the dark side has always been a scene stealer. Nightsistsers took a turn for the better in giving us our first villain centric episode, and a step away from the clumsy politics driven installments that were prevalent in the beginning of the season.

Nigthsisters picks up in the middle of a massive space battle, led by Dooku’s prized assassin Assaj Ventress. The Republic is on the run, and it appears that the Seperatists may pull off a surprise victory. However, the prowess of Ventress has drawn the attention of Darth Sidious. Worried that his apprentice may be growing too powerful, Sidious orders the death of Dooku’s apprentice, setting off a chain of events that could shape the face of the war.

The shift of focus in Nightsisters is its most apparent attribute. Although we are given glimpses of Obiwan and Anakin in the first act, the villains are the centerpiece here and for that reason alone this episode becomes a must watch.
As the title suggests Nightsisters introduces the Dathomir witches to the Star Wars G canon for the first time. Long time villains of the expanded universe, the inclusion of the Nightsisters is a welcome addition to the series. Although both Dathomir and the clan themselves have undergone some changes since their initial appearance in the Star Wars comic line, little damage appears to have been done to the overall continuity. Even a brief glimpse at Ventress’s origins stays relatively close to the already established backstory.

Earlier in the season, Ventress stole the show in the supposedly clone centric episode Arc Troopers. It seems only appropriate that here Ventress’s spotlight is stolen by her master Dooku. Although her ever present malice and violence is at its peak here, her motives and actions in Nightsisters are all too familiar. This cannot be said for the Count, who is more fascinating in this single episode then through the entirety of his roles in the Star Wars prequels. Early in the episode when Sidious orders Dooku to murder his assassin, a surprisingly human display of compassion breaks through and makes the dynamic between the two all the more powerful. The bearded Sith shines yet again at the episodes climax in a spectacularly choreographed lightsaber duel that outshines many of those in the live action films. Dooku fights with a strange finesse and elegance that is only hinted at in the films.

Despite all that works, Nightsisters has one major flaw and that is one of pacing. As seen in Assassin and to a lesser degree Arc Troopers, there is quiet simply too much going on this episode for its own good. When sitting back and examining the episode as a whole it is sometimes surprising at simply how much story has progressed within the space of twenty two minutes. While a fast paced storyline works, Nightsisters often feels clunky. The story that the writers and directors of this outing are trying to tell is just too grand in scope for the time frame they are given. Although writer Katie Lucas, daughter of the big man himself, does a stellar job at setting pieces into place for the following two outings not everything can be salvaged.

The animation and score continue to improve at an amazing rate. Characters are more vibrant and expressive now than they ever have been, and the action sequences are often breathtaking.

Overall, Nightsisters is a welcome change to the series. Exciting, colorful, and with heavy doses of dark side this stands as one of the better episodes of the series. Let’s just fix those pacing issues.

Score: B+