Great toys for men in their 20s

What is that they say about us boys and our wonderful toys! I am no longer in my twenties but I have the heart of a twenty-something and have some definite input on the subject. Let me begin by saying toys are what separates the girls from the boys, and coming from the male perspective we are all big kids despite the grown up exterior.

Video games are probably at the top of my list since every man on the face of the planet no matter how much he denies it can’t resist shooting, driving or playing virtual guitar. Personally I am pretty hooked on the latest Guitar Hero, which the entire series is a must have for any man who ever dreamed of being on stage with his Axe in front of a thousand screaming fans. Racing and sports games are a given since almost every man has a preference whether it be golf, fishing, or full contact sports. Video games are also an excellent outlet for us to pound out our frustration stemming from a bad day at work, whether we are sniping on a military mission or just beating the crap out of some virtual opponent.

Sporting equipment is pretty self explanatory but a membership at a golf course or even a pass for the day at a nice club will be a sure fire pleaser for any man of golf. Any new replacement for all the other sports equipment is also safe bet because only God knows we can’t live without a new hockey stick to add to our collection.

Now I move onto the electronics department. If it has batteries and it does anything by the push of the button we must have it! I say this literally as a self-professed electronic junkie! GPS Navigation, Satellite Radio, Cameras, MP3 players, the list can keep going on and on and so does my inventory of gizmo’s and gadgetry I have accumulated over the years. Just check out the latest cool electronic toy and that will put a smile on any man’s face!

Big toys are what all men really crave even though the budget might not comply! Motorcycles, ATVs and anything that growls and roars at the twist of the throttle. It goes to saying that almost anything with a motor will be the ultimate gift and will guarantee a endless seas of foot rubs or candlelight dinners. Whether it is a snowmobile or a jet-ski, these are the dream toys that anyone in their twenties will not be able to say “no!”

Lastly I introduce the collectibles. Hockey cards, action figures (no not dolls), and any memorabilia that stems from our childhood can usually be a good gift idea. I again admit to be a closet Transformer fan, who admittedly has not given up collecting. These long lost icons of our youth make us feel young again, and if you don’t believe me; just watch your husband as your son opens up his gifts as though he is already imagining himself playing with it! We might not admit it out loud, but we love toys and probably always will!

Video games reviews: Transformers: The Game (Xbox 360, Wii, PS2, PS3)

Video games reviews: Transformers: The Game (Wii)

From the block buster hit Transformers: The Movie, Activision brings Transformers: The Game to the Nintendo Wii, as well as other platforms. A war rages on earth between the Autobots and Decepticons, a battle between good and evil. Allowing you the gamer to decide which side you wish to fight for. Which ever side you swear your allegiance to you be put into essentially an open world. Where you can roam the surrounding area or accept mission objectives. Do not mistake Transformers version of a free roaming environment with the likes of Grand Theft Auto. Your progression through out the game is extremely linear. You will be assigned one new mission upon completion of the previous one. Although, most of the surrounding environment is interactive, allowing you pick and hurl items around. There is little satisfaction to be had with terrorizing the local inhabitants.

This all fails in comparison with the weak control system of the game. Transformers is a third person shooter using the analog stick on your nunchuck moves you bot around,

and the IR is used to aim. This is where most of my grumbling comes from in this game. Often, if an enemy is behind you it will take sometime before you will be able to turn a full 180 degrees and return fire. A major problem for a game brings plenty and fast action.

Transformers also proved to be a very shallow game. Missions eventually become boring and repetitive, shoot this blow up that. All without ever really changing how you have to play the game. A few things like bonus content or trying to find 100 energon cubes, provides a little more depth to the game. However, with the problems in controls and a lack luster story line, the same old recover the “Allspark” “protect the world” theme. I could only imagine why anyone would want to play this game other than to just beat it and be done with it.

Game Play Score: 6/10

Controls ruin what could have been a very enjoyable game. IR controls are very sluggish in responding to movement

Graphics Score: 7/10

The game looks pretty good in 480p with 16:9 wide-screen. Cinematic look great and the open worlds look pretty decent.

Audio Score: 6/10

Boring music from the movie and no use of the Wii Remote speaker makes the audio experience a dud.

Creativity/Innovation Score: 5/10

Transformers makes little use of the Wii controls. Waggle to throw a punch, point to shoot. both feel unresponsive and have been done better by other games.

Replay Value Score: 5/10

Bonus content, pictures and images of old transformers, does not make up for a lousy battles/missions that become boring and repetitive real fast.

Final Score: 5/10

A playable and passable game but I would not recommended it to anyone other than those die hard fans of the Transformers series.

Before PlayStation: The toys I grew up with – Part 1

I grew up in the sixties, before the age of technology. I marvel now at some of the amazing toys my grandchildren have: video games with realistic graphics, dolls that talk to you and eat, puppies that actually grow and can say your name, a Transformer helmet that makes you sound just like Optimus Prime. Add to these the mind-boggling virtual reality of the Wii game. It’s enough to overwhelm a baby boomer Nana! While all these wonderful toys are entertaining, I miss the good ol’ toys. You know, the ones that actually required us to use our imagination.

I was pretty much a tomboy as a kid. While my friends were playing with Barbies, I was playing with my Johnny West and his pals. I had Johnny, Jane, the two kids, and their Indian companion, whose name I forgot. I had all the horses, too, along with the saddles, bridles, and blankets. I would spend hours creating stables by standing books up on edge. I actually “fed” and “watered” the herd every night before going to bed. Johnny and company spent many hours in the saddle, riding the trails in my bedroom and in my back yard. My Barbie-playing friends and I tried to get Barbie to ride the horses since she was just the right size. Unfortunately, poor Barb’s legs didn’t bend, so when we tried to force her onto the steed, one of her lower limbs would invariably pop off. When bendable-leg Barbie came out, we couldn’t wait to sit her on Johnny’s horse! After that, my friends and I could actually play together more often, letting Barbie join Johnny and Jane on the numerous roundups and trail rides.

We played all the usual board games, like Monopoly, Chinese checkers, Sorry, and Parchesi, but my favorite was Operation. Remember how you had to remove certain body parts from the “patient”? And if you didn’t have a steady hand, and accidentally touched the wrong area, a loud beeping sound would occur and the patient’s nose would light up. Looking back, I suppose that meant that you’d “killed” the patient, but that never dawned on us at the time. Nowadays, the shaky-handed “surgeon” would probably be slapped with a malpractice suit! Hmm…there’s an idea for a new game!

Another game that my friends and I thought was really “groovy” was Twister. It had a large plastic mat with circles in different colors. You spun a dial that told you which of your body parts you had to put into which circle. Basically, the players had to become human pretzels – contortionists. The tangles of young bodies were sometimes pretty scary.

Film Review: Transformers (2007)

First off, I’m not a fan of director Michael Bay and second…I’m not a fan of Michael Bay. His films are mindless exorcises in human endurance that are easily forgotten right after they’ve been watched. The few good parts of his films can never make up for the other two hours that I have to endure to get to those parts (can anyone say Pearl Harbor or Bad Boys II). That being said, the mega budget Transformers is not entirely bad, it’s just not all that good either. The saving grace of the film comes in the form of Shia LeBeouf (hot off the heels of this year’s surprise hit Disturbia).

LeBeouf plays Sam Witwicky, a young man, who in the tradition of most teenager films, is trying to do everything he can to earn a new car from his father which includes trying to sale personal items of his famous grandfather on EBay. Little does he know one of his grandfather’s items holds the key to the location of a secret weapon that brings a race of war-like robots out of hiding – The Decepticons, who want nothing more than to use the weapon to destroy the benevolent Autobots, who want to save mankind from eminent destruction. When Sam finally gets his car it’s not long before he discovers its more than what it seems when it transforms into the enigmatic Bumblebee who only wants his help to stop the Decepticons from resurrecting the long hibernating Megatron (who crash landed on Earth years earlier).

With the help of an ensemble cast that includes Megan Fox, Jon Voight, John Turturro, Tyrese Gibson, Josh Duhamel, Bernie Mac, and Anthony Anderson, the Autobots have an army of help but will it be enough to defeat the Decepticons?

Transformers suffers from the same thing that plagues all of director Bay’s “epic” films which is the lack of a coherent story that actually involves all the characters in addition to misuse of “humor” that takes away from the film rather than helps it. It’s very obvious that LeBeouf’s character is meant to be the main character of the film but all the sub stories with the rest of the characters seem tacked on just for effect and never seem to go anywhere, especially in the third act when many of the actors become window dressing and nothing more to a plot that has all the human characters take second stage to the onslaught of Autobot verses Decepticon carnage. Only LeBeouf and to an extent Fox’s character are given any substantial screen time and/or character development. This lack of tying everything together in a coherent manner is the same thing that plagued Bay’s Pearl Harbor and Armageddon. Also, the film repeatedly spends too much time on bit parts in the film meant to be funny or places of humor but they really come off as lame excuses at levity.

There are a few exceptional moments in the film, as is the custom with a Bay film, and the CGI and action sequences are some of the best offered in a summer blockbuster all year and at a fraction of the cost of such summer films as Pirates 3 (approximately $300 million) or Spider-Man 3 (approximately $250 million), Transformers (which only costs approximately $150 million) has some of the best moments I’ve seen all summer.

The biggest problem I have with a Bay film is that it never seems as if he’s ever getting better as a director. Even though each of his films seem to be on a bigger palette, it never seems as if he’s advancing as a filmmaker but rather remaining stagnate which means that with his next film I can be assured of one hell of a visual ride that won’t mean all that much and will be forgotten soon after first watched.

Lorries In The Limelight

What do you think of when you picture a lorry? Perhaps one of these lorries from popular culture. They might not wear giant sunglasses or have punch-ups with the paparazzi, but that doesn’t make these superstars any less well known.

From the Coca Cola Christmas haulage truck from the TV ad to the mysterious characters of the tongue twister ‘Red Lorry Yellow Lorry‘, here is a reminder of some of the most famous trucks, lorries and general haulage vehicles of all time.

1) Red Lorry Yellow Lorry

Originally a British tongue twister, you may be interested to know that ‘Red Lorry Yellow Lorry’ is also a rock band that was formed in Leeds in 1981. Whilst there are no known lorry or lorries attached to the phrase, this is certainly a famous lorry concept which is entrenched in the British psyche. Red lorry yellow lorry red lorry yellow lorry … It’s even hard to type!

2) Long-distance Clara’s juggernaught

As the song goes,

Long Distance Clara, shifts the gears

Long Distance Clara, she safely steers

Long Distance Clara, slams on the brakes

Long Distance Clara, accelerates

Long Distance Clara driving round the bend

Hot dinner waiting at her journeys end

Long Distance Clara, driving down the road

Always on time and never late

- Part of the theme tune to the adorable pre-school cartoon ‘Pigeon Street’.

3) Fire Engines

Ok, so we don’t really call them ‘lorries’, but we sometimes call them ‘trucks’, and that’s really what they are. The real hero in the world of over-sized vehicles, this red bundle of bravery is like a giant red angel, transporting fire-fighters to the scene of the blaze and providing them selflessly with access to the burning building with its trusty ladder, water with its hose and a whole host of other equipment for battling the flames.

4) Coca Cola Christmas Truck

You remember the ad with all those beautiful Christmas – themed haulage trucks? Perhaps this will jog your memory:

‘Holidays are coming, holidays are coming

Tis the season

Watch out, look around

Something’s coming, coming to town

Do do do do do

Always Coca Cola.

Something magic, in the night

Can’t you see it, shining bright!

La la la la la la la la la la

Holiday refreshment’s what we bring

Tis the season, it’s always the real thing!

Always Coca Cola!’

- A heart-warming Christmas treat which almost makes up for a million rotting teeth.

5) Optimus Prime and the Transformers Movie

The basis of the film is as follows: a long time ago, far away on the planet of Cybertron, an alien civil war was being waged between the two races of robots – the noble hero Autobots led by the wise Optimus Prime, and the devious evil Decepticons commanded by the dreaded Megatron – for control over the Allspark, a mystical talisman that would grant unlimited power to whoever possessed it. For some reason, the Autobots and the evil Decepticons are able to change into a variety of objects, including cars, trucks, planes and other technological creations, but tend to spend their time masquerading as enormous haulage trucks when inhabiting the Earth.

Movie reviews: The Transformers (2007) – Part 61

Caution: Some spoilers.

Transformers the movie came to theatres like an event, not just a film. As a fan of the Hasbro toys during my youth, and the cartoon I knew I would go to experience it. I have always thought director Michael Bay was on the cutting edge of action film technology and after Bad Boys 2 thought his work was just plain cool. However Transformers failed to recapture the fun I previously enjoyed with the concept and ruined any fun I may have gotten from visiting the theatre; disappointing.

The movie kicks into gear mixing action with comedy. Shia LaBeouf does a fine job in the lead role, however the jokes start to run thin before the middle of the film. Eventually they went from humorous to just plain corny and the moments were as awkward as seeing a stand up comedian bomb on stage. The jokes and action began to seem diluted down to a kids movie, which the film could very well have been made to cater exclusively to such, however what it does is try to walk a tight rope between adults and children; teetering and falling off. Comedic performance by man and machine just grew annoying.

The action, aside from big computer robots, is standard Bay. Several time as one watches fancy new cars come driving through smoke and racing around to rock music, they surely pause and think: this is a car commercial! Product placement was heavy in this film and quite apparent, with close ups on name brands on computer chips, to cell phone brand names being called out, to a soda machine turning into a Transformer.

Michael Bay has directed some awesome action scenes in the past and with this new film he basically revisited each of them like some sort of film cannibal. The shoot out from Bad Boys 2 where they are in the house of the Jamaican pirates is basically done again only with a robot in a bunker room. When the Transformers fall to Earth he makes sure to make a joke about how it is cooler than Armageddon and near the end when Shia runs into a large building the camera shot looks awful close to one of the destructive ones used in that Bruce Willis film as well. The car chase scenes fell flat when compared to his work in the Bad Boys franchise, The Rock, or even The Island; even with the giant robots who apparently ice skate on pavement. The other similarity to another film that stuck out to me was a battle sequence where the army men are trying to call for help, but the operator on the other end of the phone will not connect the call without a credit

Movie reviews: The Transformers (2007) – Part 14

More than meets the eye is right! Transformers the movie has shocked everyone. The moment it was announced that there would be a Transformers live action movie, it was met with a mixed bag of reactions. The first was excitement that such an awesome franchise would be coming to the silver screen, then there was confusion on how it would look as a live action film, lastly it was fear that it would have the potential to be bad if it weren’t done correctly. After all this was an 80’s cartoon and comic book with a very successful line of toys and other paraphernalia and here it is 2007 where many have forgotten or are unfamiliar with the franchise. There was a lot of room for error. Enter Michael Bay.

Michael Bay, a Transformers fan himself, knew what it would take to make this movie a success. On top of all that he had a personal interest to see Optimus Prime live again. Many fans of the Transformers may remember shedding a tear or two when Optimus died in the original Transformer movie. Optimus is the heart of the franchise brought to life by the outstanding voice acting of Peter Cullen who voiced the mighty Autobot leader in the original series. Bay found a way to keep the heart of the Transformers mythos and provide upgrades necessary to make this film a hit.

In the movie, it speak of an age old struggle between the Autobots led by Prime and the Decepticons led by the evil Megatron that once took place on their planet Cybertron but has now shifted to planet Earth with humanity in the middle. Whether its the Transformers fighting the other Transformers or the Transformers fighting the humans the action is intense. While most will see the movie for the Transformers, the cast is complemented and rounded off with performances by Shia Lebouf, Anthony Anderson, John Voight, John Tuturo, Meagan Fox, Tyrese and several others. The action is epic and the comedy is side splitting. So for those who feel nervous about how the movie will treat the franchise, don’t worry, thanks to Michael Bay and company, Transformer refuses to disappoint. Grab your movie ticket and roll out to see the battle for planet Earth in Transformers the movie.

4 Gm Vehicles, Stars of Transformers

General Motors has recently hosted its sixth annual “ten” pre-Oscar fashion event at Paramount Pictures in Hollywood with four new movie star guests namely Bumblebeeâ„¢, Autobot Jazz®, Autobot Ratchet® and Ironhide® —creations of DreamWorks Pictures and Paramount Pictures in partnership with Hasbro’s forthcoming July 4th action-adventure release—Transformersâ„¢.

Bumblebee is the Transformer character that changes from the classic Chevrolet Camaro and one of the main characters in the chronicle of aliens who takes the mechanical forms when they are on earth. The Autobot Jazz converts from a Pontiac Solstice in a hardtop format while Autobot Ratchet takes the form of a Hummer H2 that looks like a modified rescue vehicle. Ironhide transforms to a GMC TopKick medium duty truck. All of these characters are casts of the live-action blockbuster “Transformers” which are to be shown this summer specifically on July 4.

News about the roles that the GM vehicles play in the movie has been spreading since the preview of new Camaro was seen in Paramount’s newest “Transformers” trailer which started appearing in theaters last Dec. 20, 2006. The movie trailer of the “Transformers” in Yahoo has become one of the most-viewed trailers and contains pictures of the GM vehicles that are included in the movie such as the H2, Solstice and GMC TopKick medium duty truck.

According to Mike Jackson, GM North America Vice President, Marketing and Advertising, “Transformers’ is a compelling project and offers us a global platform for marketing GM products and building brands. It represents the perfect intersection of entertainment, marketing and design.”

But why feature GM vehicles in Transformers? Here’s what Michael Bay, the film’s Director has to say, “The first time I saw the new Camaro, while touring the GM Design Center, I knew immediately that it would be a perfect Bumblebee. It’s got beautiful lines and a classic, timeless look. There were no other cars that came even close. I have has a great working relationship with GM for many years and am psyched to be working with them on Transformers.”

Gerry Rich, President of Worldwide Marketing at Paramount Pictures further added, “We are thrilled to be working with GM on this incredible and action-packed film. Having integrated the cars as characters in the film is truly an innovative concept that will make the movie into an important event to remember as part of the celebration of the 4th of July.”

The movie Transformersâ„¢ did not only showcased remarkable GM designs but also displayed the unparalleled quality of GM vehicles starting from its auto parts components and accessories like its lines of GM bumper covers up to its matchless road performance.

Movie reviews: The Transformers (2007) – Part 52

I left the theatre with the vague feeling that this movie sucked, but I’m too busy brain-hemorrhaging to notice.

This movie is what 300 should have been: gratuitous special effects without attempting to intertwine plot or politics. The love story is literally left in the dust, resurfacing every half hour with a slow-motion shot of hands reaching toward one another through the rubble, as if the editor stumbled across the footage on the cutting room floor and thought to himself, “Oh, yeah. Now I remember.”

The film relies heavily on suspension of disbelief – we are spoon-fed a horrible voice-over narrative in the first two minutes of the film, explaining a story so cheesy I wish I had opted for nachos. The tale seems to take place sometime in the future, as the technology used both at government facilities and at home far outstrip what is available to us now.

The viewer is not allowed to ask questions like “how is a 30 foot tall robot with reconfigurable limbs supposed to fold up nicely into a luxury sedan” or “how does one not notice five of these things having a disco dance night in their back yard.” Luckily, there is little down time in which to wonder anything at all.

It’s true that the special effects are amazing, although I would have asked for less hack-and-slash editing during the action scenes, as it was neigh impossible to tell what was going on amidst the constant shower of debris. One can’t help but wonder if all this is hiding the lack of choreography between these battling behemoths. Unless you’re a childhood fan, don’t expect to ever know which side is winning.

As far as action is concerned, there is no shortage. The entire film is paced like it’s trailer – edge of your seat, with little dialogue and few interludes. Which is to the benefit of both film and viewer, as each time one of the Transformers opened their mouths I found myself both cringing and laughing in pain. The lines seem as if they have all been translated from the original Japanese cartoon, and all delivered in the same stalwart, pseudo-heroic manner.

None of the Autobots seem to develop much as characters: most of them play no part at all as far as plot is concerned. There is a “black” bot named Jazz who uses such eloquent phrases as “what’s up, little bitches” and proves that even when they’re robots, the African American will still be killed first.

Visually, aside from the special effects, there are enough lens flares to put Punch Drunk Love to shame, and many shots are too blown out to bear. In what is a trait of director Bay’s modern era films, product placement is huge. In one scene alone we are bombarded with images of Cadillac, Mountain Dew and Nokia.

On the downside, this film makes no sense. At best the plot is laughable, at worst it is predictable. On the upside, this film is good old-fashioned fun. I left with the urge to shoot something or shout “autobots, assemble!” And I, for one, did not feel as if two and a half hours had passed.

Movie reviews: The Transformers (2007) – Part 18

My husband and I took our two children to see The Transformers Movie and we absolutely loved it. It was a great film and probably the best all around movie we’ve seen together as a family in a long time. My husband and I were able to share our memories of watching the Transformer cartoons when we were younger with our children and now they love the Transformers. The movie had the best special effects I’ve seen in a long time. I can’t believe they actually filmed part of it in downtown Los Angeles. This movie had action, romance, cars, robots, aliens, and things being blown up – it really had something for everyone. Even if you aren’t familiar with the Transformers from the 80s, you could still thoroughly enjoy this movie as it didn’t need any prior knowledge of the characters to keep up with the story line. Now my kids run around pretending to be Optimus Prime and MegaTron – names they barely knew before and couldn’t relate to us about. I would give this movie a 5 out of 5. I can’t wait until it’s available on DVD – I’m going to buy it immediately.

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