Does It Work: Domino's New Pizza

So, a while back Domino's pizza had had enough with people trash talking their pizza and decided to overhaul everything from the cheese to the crust. They've had a huge advertising campaign about the new design and trying to convince people that they don't want to "purdy up" their food for advertising, they want real shots of real pizzas. So let's check and see if that works or not.

Now, I never had a problem with Domino's, especially compared to a few other pizza joints. Like any college student, I was well-versed in local pizza fare. Where to go for taste, where to go for price, and where to go to compromise the two.

We decided it was time to stop holding out and try out the new pizza. I have to say, it's pretty good, but a few things just still don't work. The crust is great but it seems a bit salty (but still delicious). Also, there's just something about the overall composition of the pizza that doesn't mesh, but I cannot put my finger on it. Overall the taste is definitely better than it used to be, but could still use a little work. Like perhaps cooking it for a minute less. I have to admit, though, I love their online ordering that actually let's you watch the progress of your pizza and tells you who's making it and who will be delivering it.

So for the final part of the promotion, we snapped a picture of the pizza and besides the fact that it looks slightly overcooked, it looks pretty good if you ignore the grease stains on the box.



So, does it work? Here are the overall grades:

Effort: A
Taste/Look: B-
Total Grade: B

Movie Review: The Losers

With the rising cost of movie tickets, I don't get out to the theater much (I prefer Redbox or a rental store). But the other night was an exception. Instead of going to an expensive theater, we decided to check out one of our local discount theaters (the greatest invention ever) that usually plays movies that have been out for months. To our surprise, The Losers, which came out near the end of April, was already at the discount theater.

We were apprehensive at first, but decided to take a chance. It was only $4 a ticket (that included popcorn and a drink, mind you) and besides, sometimes these "campy" movies are actually quite good.

Fortunately, our apprehension was completely unwarranted. I really didn't know anything about this movie or most of the actors. All I knew was that it was an action flick based on a comic book series, so I had very few preconceived notions.

The story is kind of your typical action movie fare: a group of good guys are tricked and have to clear their names by chasing down the bad guy and saving the world from destruction.

To be more specific, a group of CIA black ops team is tricked into blowing up what they thought was a terrorist camp and thwarting their attempted assassinations, the group (led by Jeffrey Dean Morgan) must find the terrorist, Max (Jason Patric) and stop him from detonating a "green" bomb. Oh, and they'd also like to let the world know what happened and be un-declared deceased.

Overall, a good story with great cinematography. While the market seems to be saturated with comic book movies, this one feels different. Sure some of the graphics remind the viewer that the story is from a comic book, but a person doesn't have to be a fan of the series to appreciate a good hour and a half of action. While some movies in the genre have insane, over-the-top action that doesn't seem plausible, most of the action sequences and situations in The Losers does not seem completely implausible.

So, in summation, if you're a fan of the comics or just need to see an action story played out on screen, this would be a great movie for you.

My rating: 7/10
It would have been higher, but I left the theater with a few unanswered questions.

Click the movie poster to check out the official site

Image source: Google Image Search

Game Review: New Super Mario Bros. Wii

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Sunday isn't normally a day that one associates with music, movie, or video game releases - except on those rare occasions where something truly epic is about to be released and the distributors want to set a special release date to boost their first week sales numbers.

That was the case with the video game New Super Mario Bros. Wii. Regardless of the semantics of how and when the game came out, the game is definitely worth checking out if you've ever enjoyed any version of a Mario Bros. game. Seeing as I am a huge Mario and platformer fan, we went out and picked up this game and I'm definitely glad we did.

The creators of New Super Mario Bros. Wii incorporated elements from the first three Super Mario Bros. games, Super Mario Galaxy, Yoshi's Island, Super Mario World, etc. These elements include power-up options like the tiny mushroom and ice ball throwing, all of the Bowser baddies, as well as ice world and desert world. The game even incorporates new elements like donning a penguin suit. The makers of this game took great elements from past Mario Bros. games and added in new and exciting elements to create some great gameplay.

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One of the features that I think is exciting is the ability to co-op with up to three other players. This is a fun way to involve everyone - especially if your group has one player who dies a lot and spends most of the game play waiting for the other player to die to resume game play. This feature also adds another dimension of difficulty to the game because the screen is not split (which might be my only complaint about co-op play) so all of the players are using the same screen. I had a tendency to forget if I was Mario or Luigi and would end up trying to figure out why my character was not doing what I wanted. Overall, though, that makes the game that much more challenging. After about three hours of play, we had beaten the first three worlds.

Pros:
Vibrant colors
Elements from previous games
Challenging, but not overly difficult
Fun for groups
Co-op play
Controller is held like a regular Nintendo controller, and it's probably possible to use a classic dog-bone controller as well.

Cons:
Co-op play doesn't use a split screen
The box makes it confusing about the controllers - you do not need a nun-chuck for this game unless you want to use an analog stick

Obviously the pros seriously outweigh the cons. I definitely recommend The New Super Mario Bros. Wii. It (and the Wii system) would make a great addition to any home, just in time for the holidays.

You can purchase this game through Amazon or at your nearest video game retailer.