How to Train Your Dragon

Dreamworks has made yet another exciting film. How to Train Your Dragon focuses on a young boy named Hiccup who meets a dragon of what the vikings call a "Night Fury." The Vikings view the dragons as savage beasts that will not hesitate to kill you, yet Hiccup, after shooting down his first dragon, finds himself unable to kill it. Unfortunately for the dragon, one of his tail flaps has gone missing so he finds himself stuck on the ground. Hiccup and the dragon slowly become friends and Hiccup realizes that everything that the Vikings have ever taught him is incorrect. The dragons personalities in the film resemble a dog's. They are loving, tame, and playful. Only are they aggressive when they have to protect themselves.

Though I didn't splurge to see it in 3D, the visuals are very good. They aren't Pixar good, but then again, nothing ever is. From what I've heard, the 3D makes the movie a very thrilling experience so I would say pay the extra couple of bucks and see it in 3D. Anyway, the overall plot of the movie seemed to flow very smoothly and hiccup himself is a very likable character, but the his friends did not have very memorable personalities in my opinion. It was almost as if all his friends, minus Astrid (the girl he likes) could be completely removed from the film entirely. Also, not to bash Jonah Hill, but having him voice a character was a bad move. Of course, Hiccup's dragon named "Toothless" is bursting with personality. He's got an aggressive outer layer, but once that peels away, toothless is a very happy and lovable dragon. Hiccup's personality and Toothless' personality seem to work perfectly together, and it makes the film a very nice experience for the movie goer.

Though the plot is so so, the extra characters are useless, and the animation still can't top Pixar, the film is a wonderful experience, and Hiccup and Toothless alone make the film worth seeing. 65/100

Borderlands

Borderlands is one of those rare gems in video games. It doesn't have good graphics, or a detailed story-line. What it does offer is very addictive gameplay, thousands of weapons, and the ability to play with three of your friends. In borderlands, your character starts at level 1, and tries to get all the way to level 50. On the way, you face all different sorts of enemies including Skags, Bandits, Lava Crab Worms, Spiderants, Drifters (If you get the expansion), and the Crimson Lance to name a few. Pandora is full of all sorts of different enemies all with their own unique personalities. The weapons in Pandora are the reason I can't stop playing. I'm constantly looking for the best sniper rifle, the best machine gun, the best SMG, the best revolver, etc. They have all sorts of stats to look at at like the amount of damage the gun delivers, the accuracy, the fire rate of the weapon, how likely it is that the enemy will be set on fire, shocked, corroded, or blow up. The best part about the weapons in Borderlands is that there are an infinite amount of them. Every time you open a chest, you will get a new weapon. Even if it's the same chest you've opened before, there will be a new weapon in there. There are duplicates of weapons in the game, but it's rare to see the exact same weapon twice. Aside from all of that, borderlands also has $30 dollars of solid downloadable content. You can relax and kill some zombies in Dr. Ned's Zombie Island, or really put your skills to the test with Mad Moxxi's Underdome Riot, and the Secret Armory of General Knoxx. Although borderlands doesn't offer a great story-line or great graphics, it makes up for it for having possibly the most addicting gameplay I have ever seen in any game. 90/100