A high-tension tower of achievement

» ‘Seven’ film review

Benjamin Howard
Contrioutor

Ses 20th anniversary came
just in time to meet October’s
demand for thrills and chills. This
thriller stars Morgan Freeman and
Brad Pitt as two detectives who
must stop a serial killer’s rampage.
The spice to the film is that the
killer, played by Kevin Spacey,
is a zealot—each of his victims
has committed one of the seven
deadly sins.

Before I go any further
with the review, I want to stress
that this is spoiler-free. Also,
for anyone who’s interested
in the film, don’t Google it!
Unfortunately, the most-
talked-about scene contains
a huge spoiler, and since it’s a
thriller, youre not supposed
to know what happens next.
Although Seven may sound like
a generic thriller—a typical
game of cat-and-mouse between
detective and killer—it is
exceptional, not so much in its
premise but in its execution.

The film starts with a
gripping title sequence, one
of the best in any movie, with
Nine Inch Nails playing in the

: background to help set the

: tone of gloom, fear, and noir.

: The unnamed city in Seven

: is like Gotham: the buildings

: and the people are dirty, it’s

: always raining, and crime is

: everywhere. Like many other

: elements of the film, colour is

: used sparingly to preserve its

: power. Darkness is prevalent

: throughout the movie, but

: not to the point of becoming

: a dull monochrome wash of

: greys and browns, as other

: movies do to create a cheap

: gritty feeling. Howard Shore’s
: ominous, suspenseful score is

: used only at key moments, as

: are close-ups and the sight of

: blood. Minimalism is used to

: great effect in Seven, anditisa :
: refreshing break from the excess :
: of modern blockbusters. :

However, Seven’s chilling

: emotional power is perhaps

: too much for some. I’ve heard

: some comments that the film is
: “too scary.” Well, here’s what I

: have to say to those critics: it’s

: a movie about a serial killer; it

: should be frightening.

Like any good thriller, Seven

: has many twists, turns, and
: reversals. The first time I saw

: it, Iwas glued to the screen.
: I’ve seen it once a year since
: then (four times), and upon
: each viewing I appreciate the
: film all the more. The story
: is tight and the scenes often

: accomplish many things at

: once. The framing of the shots

: is crisp, and the performances

: are memorable, especially from
: Spacey. The tone and theme of
: the film is solid and raw, and

Still from Se7en

: the climax is gut-punching

: and unforgettable. Lovers of

: the macabre, rejoice! As for the

: squeamish, I dare them to watch
: it—I dare them to watch an

: excellent film.

Console competitions in the eighth generation of video gaming

» A look at the first two years of the latest console wars

Alex Stanton
Staff Writer

fthere’s one single thing that

non-gamers don’t understand
about gamers, it’s the irrational
loyalty to the console of your
choice. As has been the case
for the past 20-some years, you
can't go on an Internet message
board about one console without
owners of another coming in
and attempting to convince
others about how they’re entirely
closeted about their buyers’
remorse. Console gaming has
always been so fiercely competitive
that even the fans feel they have
to fight for either Nintendo, Sony,
or Microsoft—the three main
console creators—in what has
been dubbed “the console wars.”

An opinion of mine
that most hardcore gamers
disagree with is that each home
console—Microsoft’s Xbox
One, Sony’s Playstation 4, and
Nintendo’s Wii U—has myriad
qualities that make it worth
owning. The same goes for the
two dominant handheld gaming
systems, Sony’s Playstation Vita
and Nintendo’s 3DS.

Nintendo, Sony, and
Microsoft have completely
dominated the gaming system
market since the beginning of
the sixth generation of gaming
consoles back in late 2001.
Although it’s still unarguably

: the status quo of the industry,

: consoles are facing rather stiff

: competition from the advent of
: casual, pick-up-and-play mobile
: gaming. Because of the massive
: audience of smartphone users,

: as well as the low cost required
: to make a game for a tablet/

: phone, some industry analysts

: see a legitimate possibility in the
: often whispered theory that the
: eighth generation of consoles

: may be the last.

Nonetheless, there have

: been hardcore console gamers

: since the heyday of the original

: NES. The fact is that the releases
: of new game consoles and games
: from most popular franchises

: are events that financially reach
: and surpass the earnings of your
: average summer blockbuster

: film. As the gamer demographic
: expands to include those outside :
: of the young male demographic,
: it seems to show that console

: gaming is here to stay.

Two years after the release

: of the three home consoles, here
: is a look at the past, present, and
: future of the eighth generation

: of gaming consoles:

Xbox One

Although Microsoft’s Xbox

: One (MSRP C$399.99) has

: just about every third-party
: game that the Playstation 4

: has, Microsoft has still failed

: to match the quantity of high-
: quality exclusives of both of

: its competitors. Some of the

: console’s notable exclusives

: are Forza Motorsport 6, Halo:

: The Master Chief Collection,

: and Gears of War: Ultimate

: Edition. But even then, some

: of the exclusives are nothing

: but overhauled remakes of last
: generation games.

I can’t say I’m a fan of the

: attitude Microsoft has towards

: their gaming console: it’s not

: intended to be a gaming console
: atall, but the centre of your

: multimedia experience in the

: living room. In that sense, it

: succeeds with flying colours,

: with many ways to store and

: play your media. But as a gaming :
: console, Microsoft has a bit of
: work to do.

: Playstation 4

In terms of the raw power of

: the consoles, Sony’s PS4 (MSRP
: C$449.99) and the Xbox One

: are similar to the point of being
: indistinguishable, right down

: to the same Blu-Ray-only disc

: platform. With that in mind, one :
: of the only things that separates
: these two powerhouse consoles

: are, of course, the games. In this
: realm, the PS4 takes the cake, if
: only barely. Some of the consoles :
: notable exclusives are The Last
: of Us Remastered, Bloodborne,

: and Infamous: Second Son.

: One, many of the releases are

: graphically upgraded rehashes
: of PS3 classics. The Last of Us,
: the most critically acclaimed

: PS4 exclusive according to

: review aggregate site Metacritic,
: is indeed a remake of another

: past generation game. The PS4
: does everything the Xbox One
: does in terms of multimedia

: capabilities, and the fact is the
: first-party franchises of Sony

: outnumber and outperform

: those owned by Microsoft, in

: both quality and quantity.

: Wii U

: inexcusable if not for two things.

: U controller and the controller’s
: second screen open up a world

: as in-game maps and inventory,
: which in the past would require

As is the case with the Xbox

: hitting the pause button to

access. The second, and most

: important, reason is that

: Nintendo has always, by far, had
: the most consistently critically

: acclaimed first-party games

: and exclusives. Fortunately, the
: Wii U is not an exception to

: this rule. Some of the console’s

: notable exclusives are Mario

: Kart 8, Pikmin 3, and Bayonetta
: 2.

In the future, we can expect

: continuations of the many

: franchises created by game
: designer Shigeru Miyamoto,
: including Super Mario, The

Legend of Zelda, and Metroid.

Nintendo’s Wii console
swept the PS3 and Xbox 360 in

its predecessor. This would be

One reason is that the Wii

of gameplay possibilities, such

: What the Wii U lacks in

: multimedia capability and pure
: horsepower, it makes up for in

: terms of sales, but the follow-up, :
: the Wii U (MSRP C$329.99) is:
: the obvious black sheep among

: this cycle of home consoles. First :
: and certainly foremost, the Wii
: U not only pales in comparison
: to the competition in terms

: of pure power and graphical

: capability, but it’s also only

: marginally more advanced than

the sheer quality of its library.

We're two years into a cycle
of consoles that is, according

: to the hardware manufacturers
: themselves, expected to last

: nearly 10 years. At this point,

> all of the consoles (home

: and handheld) have been out

: long enough to evaluate their

: respective success so far. With

: three hardware giants and

: five systems to play on, this

: generation is slowly but surely

: blossoming into one that is more
: than just a sleeker, graphically

: improved version of the seventh
: generation.