If you live in a hole (by my standards anyways) then you may not have heard of Double fine’s newest original amazing mishmash of a game; Brutal Legend!

Yes, this news does come rather late on my blog of all that is holy, but I've been busy and stuff... that's enough of an excuse.

Who am I kidding; there is no excuse for not getting out the excitement and perhaps even merriment that Tim Schafer is working on a new game! (Wait scratch that) Has been working on a new game for months maybe longer in secret hiding, where no one can see what's happening, but somehow everyone knew what was going on, and only because Jack Black wore a Kochamara t-shirt to some American Idol thing, not to mention being spotted in Whispering Rock T-shirts also.

So yeah, where was I? Oh yes, how excited am I!!! Come 2008 (the year of everything mind you!) There will be more delectable Tim Schafer goodness on the shelves, and it features Jack Black; so everyone will buy it and rejoice at the amazing sales!!

What's the game actually about? I hear you ask... well you assume the role of Eddie Riggs; roadie and some crazy imaginative stuff happens and you are transported to sort of the world of rock and metal. This is where the amazingness comes into play.

Now I hear you saying, Charlotte you're not a fan of metal... well no I'm not, unless for some strange crazy reason David Bowie came under the classification, but it's that magical clichéd world full of skeletons and strange album covers that the game will be sponging from.

How will they be allowed to sponge from them? I hear you ask; well they've got the backing of like a million pretty darn famous bands! I know, how awesome is that!

Ok, ok so it's going to have an awesome story, and some amazing dialogue thrown in there, that's a given after all. But what else does it have? Well it may not have the crazy imaginative designs of Scott C (see Psychonauts characters and general all art) but it's still got a lovely cartoonyish vibe going, DF will hopefully always stick to this characteristic, as it's a lovely –almost- pass down from adventure games (who wants realism after all).
What is does it have? It's pretty much a hack and slash action, but (dare I mention it again) with an actual coherent, original story!! (bye bye Devil May Cry )

So this game is pretty much gonna rock 'nuff said.

Thank you for asking so many questions, I've never heard you talk so much!

Now I don't mean to gloat, but how awesome is our pumpkin this year?

Of course, my pumpkin, once again game-related is a reference to this years game of the year (in my opinion I've already forgotten everything that came out because of it's brilliance and writing) Portal. Because you can't not finish the game and not love it.

I dunno about you guys, but I love pumpkins, ever since a few years back when I did my first (the very nice and easy bat-logo) I always look forward to doing them the next year, and on the theme of game-related pumpkins make them even more fun.
So then the second year I progressed onto pac-man, and no not the shape of a simple pac-man, I went all out and did a cute cartoony one.
The third year was fun, as it was our first birthday at uni, which called for a special one, namely Mr Mario

And if you thought that was it, think again!

Ok, so I gave in after the numerous cake references and such from my friends; (especially sold after Tim sent me the credit music) and I picked up The Orange Box, the self proclaimed; "Best deal in videogames" and ok, I didn't simply purchase the game for Portal's gooey goodness, but I also look forward to seeing G-man on a telelvision screen (the thought is a tad scary) and playing some Team Fortress 2 on my newly acquired Live Subscription!

So what can I say; I have yet to try out HL2, let alone episodes 1&2 (undoubtedly I will have to play through HL2 to remind myself of it) I can't wait to see how it weighs up to the experience on the PC. But it's main selling point; portal is nothing short of absolutely amazing. I'm not sure who wrote the lines for the game, but its so hilariously comedic in a strange frightening way that I have officially fallen in love with the game; I may even devote another entry to it when I have successfully finished it, which probably wont be for a while, as I like to take my time.

You could probably take any one line from GLaDOS and frame it, simply for its simplicity and humor. The game will possibly stay as close to my heart as Psychonauts does (for it's writing)

On the subject of cake, I simply cannot wait for collectormania, and therefore a night out at Wagamama, as their wasabi chocolate cake is divine!! I'd make one myself and pig-out on the thing, but you can't seem to get a damn recipe from anywhere!!

I saw Chance years ago, when I happened to find it on the net; it was ok, a cute little film, unfortunately I do not really recall much other than Amber in men’s clothes with a moustache and James in a dress (it was a long time ago that I watched it) but the fact is, it was much more than that. It was Amber Benson's foray into the world of writing and directing, and quite a bit step at that, with her first film raking in at around 80 minutes. Obviously having fun doing it as well, 4 years after Chance she released Lovers, Liars and Lunatics is

a dark, screwball comedy about a neurotic suburban family that gets held hostage in their home by two inept burglars. Only as the night progresses do we realize that the Machiavellian machinations of the family are actually drawing the burglars further and further into their nefarious familial schemes, until reality blurs, and we no longer know who we should be rooting for: the family, or the burglars - Amber Benson

So when I heard that she was making a second film, I got excited, and this time she had even decided to edit!
Of course I hadn't gotten around to buying it, because I believe it was released at a time where I had no money; that and I am very very forgetful at times, but when the chance came around I took advantage of it (see: why Amber Benson rules, and I fail) so the night before the Halo 3 launch (which I sort of worked) with pizza in hand and a few dozen hours to spare, the time was right to watch my newly acquired film.
What can I say, the film is everything that I love about independent cinema; it was fun, quirky, nice and easy to follow, with some awesome writing and some great characters!

Not surprisingly Amber's character is undoubtedly the best of the whole film, so very childlike, with the innocence of Tara when she had craziness, also the funniest character of the lot as well, with some rather strange lines and the most awesome balaclava in the world!

It probably doesn't help at all with my bias that after meeting her for the second time she was an absolute star! Laughing and joking around; it's the down-to-earth stars like that that really make me proud of being as much of a geek as I am, and it all just makes LL&L that more enjoyable

I did unfortunately have a few issues with the sound though; at times it was slightly difficult to hear what people were saying, but otherwise the film is marvellous, with some amazing shots; such as the car rolling into the darkness (something moving into darkness until it is engulfed is always amazing) and subtle reflections of characters in windows etc all make the film, granted it's no Wong Kar Wai but that doesn't matter because it’s a very character-driven piece, and I can't wait to see if she can produce enough money to make another film in the near future!

LL&L has a certain quality to it, described on the back of the DVD as screwball comedy (which doesn't have enough made of it anymore) it's a sweet piece not examining anything in particular cept the cruelties of family with a few strange relationships; while some very comical, partially strange incidents go on

Not only was Lovers, Liars and Lunatics nice and sweetly short, it also came with bonus features, of the behind the scenes variety which was very interesting; just to see how Amber works, as well as the environment which touched very closely on the 20s when everyone would sort of live under the same roof while filming, and you can see exactly why the film works so well, because everyone has truly worked up a relationship with each other.

For a film so cute, and funny I'll give it a hearty cptalbertwesker rating of 8/10

The film is available to buy from here (or even here if you don't wanna order from the US) it is an awesome film, and if you are a fan of Amber, or just independent cinema and would like to see a film that had almost every aspect controlled by one woman then check it out!