For creating an awesome digital distribution service like Steam. In the last two months I stocked up on some great titles.

1. Vampire: the Masquerade
2. Star Wars Kotor
3. Counter Strike Source
4. Stalker SoC
5. the Witcher E.E Directors Cut

All under the price of $ 30 bucks

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1149362/

I have seen many disturbing films in my time, but this has got to be one of the most disturbing I have seen recently. Many films try and shock with scenes of blood, gore, and sex, but few really create the tension, and atmosphere that gives these scenes the edge they need. This film however creates a cold atmosphere very similar to what you might see in an Ingmar Bergman film. Michael Haneke is not the most subtle director around. He has an emotional detachment that makes him seem to a casual observer to the chaos he creates. This film though is much more subtle, and in depth when it comes to it's characters. The film starts out with a doctor falling off his horse because of a wire strung between two trees. This makes him a sympathetic character instantly, and the only mention of him we get is the occasional update regarding his health for a while. Later on when he has recovered he comes home. This is where the story takes a twist. I wont reveal how, but I will say that the doctor turns into something unexpected. He is one of the most unlikeable characters I have seen in a film in a while. The film is narrated by the town's school teacher, who has a romance with a 17 year old girl. This is the part that makes the film stand out from the director's other films. Their relationship is very sweet and it provides some relief from the bleakness of the rest of the film. There is also a pastor with many children he is very strict with. He beats his kids for disobeying him, and ties a white ribbon around them to represent innocence and purity.

I have to say that the kids were fantastic in this film. They had a subtle way of acting that made them sympathetic, yet oddly eerie at the same time. They appear at odd times, usually doing something weird like walking on a dangerous bridge or peeking into windows saying they want to help. They are not emotionless though, so it's not like you don't feel bad for them when things start going bad. This film does not like to explain itself. Weird things often happen like a boy being nearly blinded, and another being severly beaten. All of this is off screen too, which I liked. This is not an exploitation film that loves violence. It is better for the mind to imagine sometimes. All these events in the film happen in the years before WW1 in a remote German town. The people in this time seem happy at first, but then we start to understand how repressed they are. The children are submissive slaves to adults, and are always overly kind. This film is meant to show human nature at it's worst. It shows how people can be lead astray by gossip, bullying, and religion. In some ways it seems to be very critical of religion's effect on people since the Pastor is not the nicest guy, but he has moments of compassion that are quite heartwarming. Don't think this film is anti religion, it is more anti humanity. There is a little side story involving an injured bird that the pastor's son is taking care of that is a welcome break from the brutal way the pastor runs his family. This was a tough film to enjoy for me at first, but after I got into it I found it fascinating.

There are many things going on at once ,whether it is the local Baron's problems with his wife and kids, the school teacher's romance, the abusive doctor, or the problem a local farm boy has with the Estate and his father it all somehow comes together perfectly. The cruelty that goes on in this film is very symbolic given the time and setting right before WW1. It can be seen as a kind of foreshadowing of Germany's future repressive and cruel government. This film is disturbing in a very different way to most. Precious is a disturbing film where pretty much everything is shown, but The White Ribbon doesn't really answer anything. It is a slow paced mystery without an answer, but it's atmosphere, and use of visuals are some of the best I have seen this year. It is not for everyone though, some may find it's lack of resolution and reason frustrating. People do things for no apparent reason, and even disappear without a trace. There are hints as to what might have happened, but you never really understand anything. Overall though I highly recommend it. I found it highly engrossing. It has more traces of compassion, and humanity than Michael Haneke's previous films, but it is still a very bleak and disturbing film about how how depraved and cruel humans can be to each other. We watch as a town tears itself apart in a very slow, and tortured way. It takes a while, but eventually the true hidden and repressed misery of these people comes to the surface and sometimes the results are quite chilling. In some ways it is a powerful examination of the power of hate, and how far people go to repress others and themselves. It is nowhere near as depressing as The Road though, so you won't need to take a shower or anything afterward. However it is Michael Haneke's best film by far, and one you need to watch. He seems to be almost like a modern Ignmar Bergman.

Overall I give it a 9.5 out of 10.

Thanks to Jerry I saw this video today.

I thought it was a very interesting short movie. I fully enjoyed it. I hope you do too.

I don't know if it has anything to the game, but regardless, video games need to tell stories of this depth/quality. I loved the dialogue. Even if the animations look a bit funky, I forgot for a moment it wasn't a real actress.

Enjoy!

I've been gone for a little while, but I finally came back for good. Since I came back, I decided to totally redeisgn my union, the All Things Gaming Union (http://www.gamespot.com/pages/unions/home.php?union_id=AllThingsGaming). It's a great community to join and discuss all matters game related. The union right now is relatively small (27 or 28 members), and we have an active community that post on a daily basis to keep conversations going. We welcome anyone to join; all you need is a passion for discussing games. There will be room for some people to be promoted to an Officer assuming we get a larger community. Right now we have three Officers plus myself, and we're very relaxed; I've never moderated or deleted any post, and I don't believe any Officer has moderated or deleted any post.

So if you're looking for a good place to talk all things gaming (hence the name...), why don't you swing by and join?

A friend told me today about a site that recently went live (but isn't public yet) that is, as the topic suggests, a sort of YouTube for computer game reviews. Reviewer status is invite only so only the best the internet has to offer (make sure your tongue was firmly placed in cheek while reading that) will be contributing, but it's looking like an interesting site.

The site's tagline is Video game reviews by us, not "the man", so if you like your reviews honest and corruption-free, it might be worth checking out. There are already a large number of contributors and plenty of content is being uploaded ready for the public launch and the site is only going to be hosting computer game reviews (as far as I'm currently aware), so there won't be any sifting through tons of random videos to find one that looks like it might actually be a review.

It's also a great opportunity for amateur reviewers to get a little more exposure (depending on the site's popularity, anyway). There are some people out there making video reviews that actually aren't awful, which is... something. There are also people out there who should be making video reviews but who aren't HINT HINT.

Anyway, check the site out and see what you think (when it's out of beta, anyway). The site is gameular.

I notice that most animals don't do much. When they aren't eating, sleeping, crapping, or ****ing, a lot of them just sit there and stare into space.

Now, a lot of people...when they aren't eating, sleeping, crapping, or ****ing....just sit there and stare at the TV.

So what did people do before TV was invented? Did they do other crap, or did they just sit around and stare into space just like the bugs and the cats and snakes do?

Did TV turn us into mindless animals, or did it just give us something else to do while we're being mindless animals?