Monthly Archives: February 2018
Happy Monday!
Something very strange happened last night:
An NFL game was actually entertaining from start to finish.
Super Bowl 52 between the Philadelphia Eagles and the New England Patriots was a virtual offensive free for all as both teams combined for more than 1,000 years of total offense. Damn! And despite the final two and a half minutes playing out all-too-perfectly for a Tom Brady-led comeback win, the unthinkable happened:
A Tom Brady fumble was called a fumble.
Even with an unbeatable 41-33 lead, Eagles fans held their breath on the final Hail Mary pass by Mr. Brady. Fortunately for fans in the city of brotherly love, that pass fell to the ground as an incompletion. However, what’s not incomplete is the Super Bowl trophy case in Philadelphia as the Eagles claimed their first Lombardi Trophy in Minneapolis last night.
Congratulations to the Philadelphia Eagles.
Now for the actual half of the Super Bowl:
Justin Timberlake.
Playing a medley of past hits (with new song “Filthy” to kick it off), it was more of a high-energy dancing blitz than anything else. Which, given the short nature of the Super Bowl halftime show, should have been expected. Having said that, the tribute to Minnesota’s favorite son Prince was special, as was the stroll into the crowd with the Super Bowl selfie kid who looked too busy googling who Justin Timberlake was instead of living in the moment.
Now for the other half of the Super Bowl:
The commercials.
The night kicked-off (not that kick-off) with the highly-anticipated second trailer for Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom and it was incredible. It appears a more intimate and scarier sequel has been engineered for summer audiences to enjoy on the edge of their seats starting June 22.
(Clever nod to Spielberg’s BFG)
Movie trailers have evolved as verifiable commercials during the Super Bowl, somewhat replacing the previous showcase for Budweiser’s creative talents. There’s an art to producing a creative, engaging movie trailer.
Speaking of which…
The first Mission: Impossible – Fallout trailer premiered with Tom Cruise and Co. looking engaged in practical effect stunts that may have dropped the jaws of viewers.
(Was that Spectre in the beginning?)
Get ready for July 27.
Turning to TV, Westworld debuted a second season teaser with a premiere date of April 22 that will excite its fans for a definitive return to the mind-bending park of our dreams (and nightmares…).
There were a lot of clever ads last night (Pringles, Wendy’s, Mountain Dew, Budweiser and Stella Artois’ water ads, Tourism Australia), but there was one clear winner in my book.
And to think the Super Bowl life is just one giant Tide commercial.
Tide finds a way…
Have a Better Week Than Last Week.
Phil Can Be a Shadowy Punxster
And the winner is…
Ugh.
You saw and heard it. Famous groundhog Punxsutawney Phil has declared six more weeks of winter. Although, consider the fact that Phil’s forecast has not been 100% historically. Therefore, we’ll find out if he’s punking us in the coming month and change.
If so, that’s what Phil would call an ice burn.
Mario’s Kart Will Reach a New Gear
Kids, teenagers, college kids, adults Everybody rejoice!
“An app called Mario Kart Tour is set to be released in the next financial year, meaning anywhere between April 2018 and March 2019.”
–-“Nintendo is bringing Mario Kart to smartphones,” Sam Byford (The Verge)
The eternal gaming favorite Mario Kart that knows no age limit is finally expanding into the mobile space. Given Nintendo’s delayed entry into the smartphone sector for users around the world with this specific game, it begs an important question:
Will the Mario Kart experience seamlessly translate on an iPhone and/or Android phone?
That’s really the pivotal inquiry Nintendo should be concerned with answering pre-launch. Can Mario Kart be played successfully on a mobile device without gaming hiccups? Certainly, the cloud-based gaming prospects are exciting. Yes. However, again, will the quality transfer and/or even improve on our handheld supercomputers that are occasionally used as phones? What about the lack of physical buttons on smartphones? Will the size of a phone screen correctly scale the Mario Kart experience in a satisfying manner?
As a lifelong Mario Kart fan, I hope the answer to these questions is yes. Either way, I know my nephew is already planning my gaming demise in our next round of Mario Kart races and challenges.
He’s no Luigi…he’s a Mario.
Jimmy's Daily Planet 