Repo! The Genetic Opera

Ah, how I love you so, Repo! The Genetic Opera. You make me swoon and remind me of wonderful memories of being a young 15 year old when I first discovered such movies as Frankenhooker and RHPS. This movie is such a hit not just to me but even the most mainstream of people. I predict this becoming the next Rocky Horror Picture Show Statuesque. I couldn’t go and see it in theaters though I know some who did and I am quite jealous of their getting to meet the cast and see it before I did. It only had a limited number of screenings with a later release date of a Repo! Road Show in a few more cities then planned, due to the massive ticket sales. It even had a week long showing in Canada. A 22-track soundtrack was released online on September 30, 2008. I, of course, own it. An extended soundtrack is expected to be released a little later this month.  I ordered Repo online as soon as I found out it was being released on DVD. Sadly, a week later no Repo DVD and a refund to my account was made. It was clear, to my dissatisfaction, that they had run out. I thought to myself, How dare you, buy.com! BETRAYEL!! Robbing me of the Repo goodness I fully and rightfully deserved.

So I set off to go get it, trudging happily along to a store in town. I then proceeded to come home and pop it quickly into my DVD player and waited for it to begin. I was in awe! I hadn’t seen a movie like this in years. Paris Hilton did a great job at being a bratty rich daughter and Amber Sweet really did suit her. Many thought she wouldn’t be able to pull this off, but I didn’t doubt she could. I am not on the Paris Hater train nor am I for her either. I just think that she has cute dogs and nice shoes. I loved everything about this movie.  I loved the lip service clothing they had in the movie and the Demonia reaper boots Grave Robber wore were smashing. If I had to live in a post-apocalyptic world, Crucifixus is the way to go with lip service clothing and interesting characters like Paris Hilton, Grave Robber, and the like. The Comic Book intervals were quite unexpected as well but a welcome surprise. It helped the suspense.

A great plot with multiple little plots intertwining will make you sit on the edge of your seat. Zydrate Anatomy is a catchy song on the DVD and the soundtrack. It helps to see the movie before you listen to the soundtrack but either way, they both kick ass. The beginning of the movie starts with the comic book explaining of the rise of the Largo family and the law being passed for it being lawful for organ repossession. Rotti Largo is the who you go to when you need an organ because in Crucifixus in 2056, everyone is getting sick and dying. Of course, for getting to live and getting an organ you sign your life away to GeneCo and if you’re late on a payment they hunt you down and tear out your heart in the literal sense! Plastic Surgery is fashionable and everyone has an organ from GeneCo .  There are some in the movie who do not know about this to the full extent.
       
Young Shilo who lives in a mansion by herself with her father who is a supposed Doctor and doesn’t see the world for what it really is. She eventually gets entrapped in the new world by accident. She meets the Grave Robber in the beginning of the story along with some henchmen and the Repo Man himself. Luckily, she isn’t shot on sight after the Infamous Grave Robber himself is caught for stealing from the dead for his Street Zydrate. He decides to burst into song and lead the henchmen on a chase all the while poor Shilo, trailing behind, only wanted to visit her deceased mother. With surgery recovery as painful as it is, and it being so fashionable to go under the knife constantly, Zydrate comes in handy as a pain killer, including street Zydrate which requires no doctor’s prescription.  Grave robber has the right idea about harvesting it from the dead; too bad it’s illegal.  One of the Grave robber’s main customers for street Zydrate is Amber Sweet Rotti Largo’s bratty rich daughter. Along with her bratty siblings and the rest of the citizens of Crucifixus, everyone keeps you on your toes. With all the twists and turns of the movie I shall not reveal more and let you see the rest for yourself and see if it up stands to the pedestal I have put it on .With all the bursting into song throughout the movie, the Gore doesn’t seem to take the toll as it normally would. So the squeamish may feel free to watch. Beautiful people, beautiful clothing, and a beautiful set makes for two thumbs up in my book. This is truly an Opera at its finest.

-Lauren S.

E-Readers get Gamette Lauren all 'kindled' up!

Many people may not like electronic devices and certainly not electronic reading devices. After all, who doesn’t love the smell of a book and the sound of the crisp pages as they turn or the heft of the weight of it in your hand? But if you didn’t you wouldn’t be on this particular site reading about game reviews and such! I bought my Kindle back in November 2008 and received it early December 2008. I bought one of the last refurbished units and had expedited shipping, of course. For a techie, expedited shipping is a must!

I had been lurking on amazon.com for a year, partially in lust with the Kindle. When the Kindle clock, as I like to call it, finally started ticking in early November and I just had to, I mean ABSOLUTELY HAD TO HAVE ONE. So I saved up a few paychecks and went to buy a new one, and alas, they were backed up in orders until February. I thought to myself, “How can I wait this long”? Out of nowhere, like magic, some refurbished Kindles popped up on kindle.com so I ordered it without any hesitation. The days before it got here all I could do was think and breathe Kindle. I also lurked the Kindle boards online. Reading others’ happy stories of their lives with their Kindles and all the neat stuff they had for them.

Finally, Wednesday December 3rd, 2008 at five something PM that night while I was in the labs at school writing a paper, my Kindle arrived. I squealed in glee when I saw the text from my Mother saying it had arrived. I went home after working and, surprisingly, concentrating on the paper. I came home to a bigger box then I imagined and carefully opened it. Low and behind the Kindle box! I was thinking, “I can now carry my library with me…”. The possibilities for this Tech Geek were endless when it came to reading. No more lugging and shuffling books around on my shelves to make room for that one more special book I would buy and read within a few hours. I charged it immediately upon opening. Also stopping beforehand to take camera phone photos with it and send it to various friends and co-workers. In the process of taking the photos, my Dad gave me some strange looks. It’s okay, he didn’t understand the Kindle goodness of it all just yet.

Two hours passed and I read that I could use it while it was charging and saw the charging light go off. Bingo, now I could have at it! I messed with it on the sofa for a bit and then retired to my room. I carried it everywhere with me for the first few weeks. People stopped and asked me if it was really the Kindle and I showed off the newest member of my family (my Kindle is family, I don’t care what you say!). I even spent more time online than usual, finding books for it because who is loco enough to pay those Amazon prices all the time for every book you want?!?!? I went to such sites as feedbooks.com and the like where classics and other great books are free.

The Kindle is a wonderful device you should not be without. The wireless delivery of newspapers to your Kindle every morning is awesome. You cannot have graphic novels bought off Amazon just yet but you can find them elsewhere and shrink the images down in an image program and then stick them on your Kindle with a little bit of know how. Though, on that level, I prefer the graphic novel to be paper and not Kindle. The screen doesn’t do justice for the novels or manga if you chose to put some on there. You can read pdfs on there but you will need a converter of some sort. I already have read a few books on it and plan to read more. I also found, with much glee, Minesweeper on the Kindle. It doesn’t say anything about Minesweeper in the manual it comes with it. It’s more something you find accidentally or while searching for hidden Kindle goodies via Google under Kindle hacks. In short, check out an Ebook reader and see for yourself the great advantages and features they hold.