TheRetroCritic

Shenmue finale.

The final part of the popular Young Adult movie franchise, The Hunger Games:   Mockingjay Part 2 delivers the war between the tyrannical President Snow (Donald Sutherland) and the rebellion led by Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) we were promised. Picking up soon after Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) returned from the Capitol not only physically drained but psychologically changed also, the film sees the rebellion send a team into the war-torn city in order to show that Katniss is fighting back, thereby inspiring the districts to do the same. She decides to find a way to personally kill Snow no matter what, putting an end to his cruelty once and for all. And since the city is completely booby-trapped, this leads to a somewhat grittier Hunger Games with Katniss' team having to avoid the likes of deadly black goo, sewer zombies and land mines. Before that, Katniss tries to convince another district to join the rebellion and Alma Coin's (Julianne Moore) motives are questioned. T

I crawl through the last couple of tough bosses in this final chapter of my Castlevania playthrough.

Here's one I've been defending from the beginning. Before M. Night Shyamalan suffered his first flop ( Lady In The Water ) and made what most consider to be his worst film to date ( The Happening ), he divided audiences with The Village . Back in the day, Mr Shyamalan was all about the twists and this one either made people mad or... didn't. Personally, I liked The Village and still do. A period piece, the film bears Shyamalan's trademark slow-burning pace and dark undertones but demands that you pay attention and immerse yourself in that strange little world. The village in question is overseen by a group of elders, which include William Hurt and Sigourney Weaver, who may or may not be hiding some sort of secret. Joaquin Phoenix and Bryce Dallas Howard play two of the young people living in the village with Adrian Brody standing out like a sore thumb as a mentally challenged buddy of theirs. Look out for a young Jesse Eisenberg and Michael Pitt in there too. E

We discuss the ending of new Tom Cruise flick Oblivion (see review below) in new podcast The Big Rewind . (SPOILERS)

SPOILERS Well, this is it, people. The final chapter of " The Twilight Saga ". ... REALLY?! THIS is it? Wow. After sitting through every single Twilight movie, I can safely say that this new installment is one big disappointment. Not so much in terms of lols, it does deliver a good bunch of those, as ever, but just in terms of sheer drama and cinematic competence. Yes this is meant to be like a cheesy vampire Harlequin romance type thing but it's also meant to be a story worthy of an entire franchise and, most importantly, a movie. As it turns out, this "saga" fails on all accounts. Shame, with Breaking Dawn Part 1 , things were finally starting to get borderline insane and mean-spirited just the way I wanted it to! Ah Part 1... You beautiful bastard. Here we have Bella, finally a red-eyed vamp, complete with super-strength, super-powers, moody doochiness and wood-like posture. FINALLY Bella is resembling a strong female lead and an actua