Of all the weeks that have had an impact on me, this past one definitely holds an interesting place for me.  I played two games that are such polar opposites and showcase exactly what I do and don't love about games that it makes me think back to the days when I was writing reviews...which is not necessarily a good thing.  I watched one movie that gave me one of the most intense feelings I've rarely ever had with a film.  Above all else, I've realized that there are new journeys I wish to take in my life. 
 
To start, I went by Blockbuster on Monday, as I hadn't been by there in a long while - since I was living with my roommates down on Lake Shore.  I went in solely with the intention of renting a copy of The Hurt Locker, a film that I've heard a lot about but never came to my town because the theatres decided that an indescribable war movie wouldn't bank in our town as much as a movie like Precious would...and to be honest, they were probably right.  I'm not putting down Precious at all, as I haven't seen the movie...and I'm sure that it's a perfectly fine and competent movie (if Mo'nique's win at the Globes is any indication).  However, this has to be said:  cities and their general direction of economic growth can piss me off sometimes, especially when they focus on keeping the ghettos as ghettos in order to pimp out the ghetto culture.  Treat your people like they have a fucking brain, even if they might not. 
 
Continuing on...I ended up deciding as I walked in the door that I wanted to see if they had any copies of Bayonetta as well, as I hadn't gotten to play it and have really had an itch for some high-octane action combat after playing Darksiders so much (which I STILL haven't 1k'd yet, but it will happen soon enough...I hope).  As I picked up my copies of Bayonetta and The Hurt Locker, I happened to notice in my peripheral a copy of Brutal Legend on sale, which was another game I wanted to check out despite the generally mixed reviews on it.  I mean, for fuck's sake, I'm a metalhead.  It's almost imperative, right?  It was a mere $20, and I figured it was worth that price if anything else...and if not, I could always trade it in towards my copy of Dante's Inferno on the 9th. 
 
SOOOO...let's start at the top: 
 

• Building proper tension - the actors really knew how to get the subtle nuances in their faces to create a great level of anxiety and frustration
• Good use of handheld - many movies get too shaky when the cameramen are using a handheld filming style, and I don't mean like Blair With gets shaky.  However, Bigelow's crew handled the shots incredibly well, offering a very natural feel to everything without trying to scream out "hey, look, we're using handhelds".  It really did help with the factor of immersion.
• Genuine emotion - Jeremy Renner's performance aside, everyone in this movie felt right.  Sanborn's frustration, Beckham's enthusiasm, Eldridge's depression - everyone delivered exactly where they needed to.  However, it was Renner's performance as Will that really glued it all together.  The walk, the talk, the expressions, the tone, the aggressiveness, the sorrow, the dilemma that is Will is the making of a classic film character, and Renner deserves all the honors that exist for this role.  Few times before this has an actor made me yell at his character so much during the viewing of a movie about how much of a badass dumbass he is.