On the Origin of Species

An astounding written piece of a large natural fact involving how the origin of species were formed. It does not explain the origins of life, but thoroughly shows the reader countless of evidence and testings around the word, conducted by other researchers such as botanists, geologicals and breeders.

Natural Selection, the natural law around evolving species and their variants, are profoundly and in depth explained by the great Charles Darwin, the first of the naturalists to back up the evolution theory with years of experience, experiments and evidence.

He carefully goes briefly on his foundings, while providing counter arguments against potential objections, even depicting that a massive controversity would follow after the release of his work. The diversity of life is detailed on vast amounts of aspects, going through various reasons as to why this intricate natural law is happening.

Next to that, other concepts such as the struggle for existence and survival of the fittest are told about in here, that all manifest into the evolution theory as we know it today. The environment plays a very important role wherever species are situated and however their behaviour changes over time. It takes a very long time as well for change to come towards these species, but it happens, gradually.

Domestication, heredity, geology and offsprings are other factors playing a part in the process of evolution. It varies on how this is all working, but it seems to be interconnected, as it is beautifully explained by "The Tree of Life" biology concept metaphorically, or as it is called in modern times, the Phylogenetic tree.

On top of this all, Darwin writes in such ways that it would be easy for me to know him as an intellectual scientist, knowing exactly what he is talking about. However, he does take his time in his book, explaining his foundations. Even though he stated to go over the subjects as brief as possible.

The information written inside seems to have become outdated, and I cannot point at the exact parts for this claim, but nevertheless, On the Origin of Species remained intriguing for me to read. Only a genius like him could come up with one of the most important books ever written.

Rating: ***(out of 4)

The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword

Redemption has arrived. Nintendo once again surprises friends and foes alike, and delivers exceptionally like the game designers they are.

The wait has been quite long, only comparable towards the time between Link's Awakening and Ocarina of Time's releases. But Skyward Sword has finally been released, and it is the ultimate way for the Wii to blastoff into history, and the amazing gaming year that 2011 was.

There are so many changes towards the established action adventure formula, I don't even know where to start. Visually, it is inspired by Impressionism. Gamers and journalists have simply called it a mix between Wind Waker and Twilight Princess's styles instead. This is one of the great standards to see nowadays, seeing that many Zelda games simply look so different from each other.

The orchestral soundtrack that was at first used for the Super Mario Galaxies has now been fully used in here, allowing for epic, dramatic and interesting songs to appear all over the place. Flying around above the clouds while you hear a motivating song is an effective, atmospheric experience.

Seeing the new fluent control surrounding swordplay instantly reminded me of a little obscure game called Die By the Sword, developed by one of the teams responsible for the present Call of Duty franchise. That was no doubt an experimental game, as it is the only game from the 90's I recall having similar swordplay, which of course plays much better now on the Wii.

It successfully sets itself apart from the other Zelda entries, for feeling as fresh as it possibly can, while at the same time keeping familiar in gameplay, story and design. I have skipped on Phantom Hourglass and Spirit Tracks, so comparisons won't be made with those, as the handheld games are separated usually from consoles in several ways anyway. But I will play them in the future.

Skyward Sword is the largest Zelda game yet. And that does not mean that there is lots of traveling to be done. Sure, it's there, but the 3 main areas you will be venturing into are absolutely large enough by themselves, filled with level designs of entertainment. Not to mention the enjoyable sidequests awaiting you as well.

The Lanayru area is pretty much all the way so much fun to discover, and it's dungeons are probably the best the game has to offer. The Mining Facility dungeon is pretty much spot on when it comes towards a balance of puzzles, enemies, length and atmosphere. Only the boss was content at best, but that's still okay for me.

Difficulty wise, I am finally happy to say that this has been improved. Starting with 6 hearts as Link now is exactly one of the reasons the difficulty is better than before. It's not the hardest Zelda game by far, but it does not make fools out of veteran gamers playing their beloved Zelda games right now. As far as enemy design goes, this is spot on. Ghirahim is a great example.

One of the best things that have been designed are the sharpened controls though, thanks to Motion Plus, which is so underused by the way. Enough has been said about the swordplay. It feels much better than when Twilight Princess first started with the idea. But not even the Wii remote's innovating way of controlling are well presented, the interface and the buttons on the remote itself have been carefully selected as well, to allow for a consistent way of playing and navigating the game.

I also liked the little changes some of the traditional elements have gotten out of this entry, such as bombs being able to roll around the fields now. Boss battles implemented have been reasonable for most of them, which is good. But thinking about it in a broadway sense, The Legend of Zelda almost never has any great boss battles, except for final ones usually. But atleast this time, they are memorable, much more than earlier ones.

Which brings me to the end of this review. My thoughts and feelings surrounding this got more positive the further I got with the game's story(which is as far as prequel status and canon goes, pretty impressive), and I have full faith in the next entry, which of course has already been announced. What do you expect, with a reputation of the highest degree when it comes to video games?

The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword is innovative, feels fresh, has an astounding presentation, crafts precise controls, is lengthy, challenging, explorable and most of all fun. How Link has progressed in all these years, my my.

Rating: 8.8

Upcoming Promising Movies in 2012

I wonder what movie will be nominated the most for the Oscars of 2011. Not that the Oscars are perfect and fair awards, as opinions differ naturally, but yet it would be interesting to see what movie will win this time. To be frank, there were no amazing movies last year for me. But perhaps gems will rise up once again during the awards, like The King's Speech(2010), coming out of nowhere.

The point of this post though is about upcoming promising movies. Normally, I despise trailers, because the chance of seeing spoilers unfold is larger than you think. However, some movies are hyped up so much, you cannot look away. Other movies's strength simply do not lie at their plots, so watching their trailers isn't that risky.

Prometheus

Ridley Scott returns in the director's seat 33 years later on back to the Alien franchise. Well, only partially, because the story will focus on some entire new mythology, set in the same universe. If it has suspense and great looks, then this movie has already won for me.

The Hobbit

The dwarf song in the trailer did it for me. In the book, which I have read, it simply didn't have that much power to me, looking at it's lyrics only. But once they sing, in here, while Gandalf wanders off in dangerous territories, it powerfully makes a mark in the minds of fans. While it will have a different atmosphere than it's epic trilogy sequel, the sense of adventuring will be perhaps much stronger.

The Dark Knight Rises

It's a no brainer for me. Whatever Christopher Nolan touches, he turns it into gold. From Following(1998) to Inception(2010), he has made several remarkable films, and several masterpieces. This final part of Batman's strongest reboot will most likely keep us amazed and respected about its way of filming, storytelling, performances and music for decades. Expect the magnificent unexpected touch of Nolan.

The Expendables 2

You cannot get more manly than this. It's all about the cast, and the plot is funny on it's own, because the first film displayed typical elements of an over the top action film from the 80's and early 90's. Veteran action actors will once again team up to fight evil, and this time, Arnold Schwarzenegger WILL have action, and this excites me already.

[REC] 3: Genesis

Third part of a Spanish zombie/infected/possessed franchise, Genesis looks to be effing crazy, perhaps even more because of the happy irony starting at a wedding. It promises to connect subtle clues from the first 2 movies, and then end off with a good setting for the final fourth film in the future. Honestly, I don't think this movie can fail for me personally, given how the sequel was just as good as the original. The [REC] films are simply some of the best modern zombie infested movies around.

The Tall Man

My number 1 promising movie goes to The Tall Man though, which does not have a trailer yet. I choose for this, simply because the director, Pascal Laugier, directed Martyrs(2008). It does not mean that this will be as horrific as that, but it is definitely enough reason for me to keep watch for an eventual release date for this. Next to Prometheus, The Tall Man sounds the best as a title for me.

Are you excited? And did I miss any film worthwhile to watch this year? Let me know!