Steve and I have been doing ‘Born Again Casual’ for a few months now, and it’s no secret that we’re having a bit of a tough time finding an audience. I’ve been trying to think of ways to help spread the word as best we can. You know, we don’t have the voice or power that a lot of websites do, so we have to try and work a little outside of the box. And how would I go about that? Well, by making an ass of myself of course.

Enter our first (maybe only) commercial for Born Again Casual. We spoofed a ridiculous internet video and tried to relate it to gaming culture a bit more and even decided to make it timely. Earlier today I got together with a couple of buddies (all from the Smorg) and we shot this… this… thing. I should probably be ashamed of myself (and feel bad for making my buddies go through with this), but as Wayne Gretzky once said, you miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.

Up – Carl Fredricksen is a lonely old man who is being forced out of his neighborhood by a big company. So he attaches thousands of helium balloons to his house and plans on floating to Paradise Falls which was one of his lifelong dreams. Carl doesn’t realize little Wilderness Explorer Russell is along for the ride too. Pixar’s Tenth Film. Voices by Ed Asner, Christopher Plummer, and more.

Drag Me To Hell – Alison Lohman is a loan officer who is trying to be a little tougher on customers in order to get a big promotion. She denies a creepy old woman an extension on her mortgage payment so the woman curses her. Her life turns into a living nightmare where the final result will be her entry to Hell. Directed by Sam Raimi (Spiderman, Evil Dead).

Okay, so I know that a few months ago I said I no longer care about E3 anymore. Well, I lied, because right now I’m getting pumped for the big three conferences planned for early next week. So far this week has been full of all sorts of great little nuggets of information that I can’t help but get fired up over, like the Metal Gear teaser images and first footage on promising games like Rabbids Go Home.

Of course we all know that the real meat and potatoes are the press conferences. As always, this is the one time where all three major competitors get together and spend an hour trying to one up each other. Each company has considerable weight on them this year being that it’s the middle of this hardware generation. The past two years have been these companies telling us why we need to have their latest system, and this year they’ll be telling us why we should stick around and how they’re going to continue selling their machines.

On Monday Microsoft goes first, and of all three of the companies I think these guys are the biggest wild card. Will they really show their iToy rival and will it be a true contender as a must have product along the lines of the Wii Balance board? More importantly, what type of software are they going to have? Part of me thinks Microsoft is going to rest on their laurels and show us lots of shooters, but I think at this point Microsoft knows better than to do that. Assuming this motion control camera thing is real, I would highly suspect them to put a huge focus on it through means of multiple games. One of these games, I’d imagine, will come from Rare. The real question is, does anyone care about Rare these days anyway? That said, I’m not exactly sure what to expect from Microsoft outside of the usual suspects. Should be interesting.

Well today I bit the bullet and decided to pick up a copy of EA Active for both my wife and I. It is kind of hard to believe that Wii Fit is now over a year old, and while I still do use the product on and off, I’m kind of in the mood for something a little different. I think what appeals to me the most about Active is the whole “30 Day Challenge” thing that EA keeps bringing up as it’s huge feature. Unlike Wii Fit, Active comes with a built in month long program that, from what I hear, changes and gets harder as players go along with it. I’m kind of hoping these 20 minute workouts aren’t a bust, and if word of mouth is to be believed, than they’re actually really well done.

I know I could just “join a gym” but considering I have a habit of not sticking with these things, that would just be a bigger waste of money I think. Plus, it’s hard to go out all the time and embarrass myself when I’d much rather do something active in my own home. So hopefully this thing will do the job, get me into some better shape, and then maybe I too would be welcomed at D’jais.

New In Town – a prissy consultant from Miami (Renee Zellwegger) is sent out to Minnesota for a new project. She is in charge of supervising and restructuring a manufacturing plant. While the job is being completed, she becomes close to the townspeople especially Harry Connick, Jr.

Killshot – Mickey Rourke is a hitman who is spotted during a job by a couple, Thomas Jane and Diane Lane. Along with an insane Joseph Gordon-Levitt, he tracks them down even though they enter into the witness protection program.

Also being released is Powder Blue with Jessica Biel as a stripper, The Devil’s Tomb with Cuba Gooding Jr, the animated The Sky Crawlers, All The Days Before Tomorrow, The Ramen Girl, Hindsight, Brother’s War, Forever Strong, Mega Shark vs. Giant Octopus, Know Thy Enemy, We’re Back: A Dinosaur’s Story, Falling Down SE, The Closer Season 4, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 9, The Mod Squad Season 2, The Universe Season 3, Gunsmoke Season 3, Designing Women Season 1, Land of the Lost entire series, UFO Hunters Season 2, and The Invisibles Season 1.

Whew. I ate and drank like a total pig for the past three days. Outside of checking my email here and there, I made myself a promise to not go near a computer over the long weekend. Sometimes, I can only take so much of sitting here, and I needed a little break. Seems like I wasn’t the only one, as the Smorg was a bit dead this weekend. That means every one was out eating burgers and hot dogs and steaks I hope. Or watching Batman hah. Anywho, my weekend was a great time. I spent some quality time playing Phoenix Wright on the DS outside in the shade, washed my car, caught up on some sleep, and of course drank myself a bit silly on Saturday.

That was my weekend. What did you do?

After watching the likes of Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, it’s easy to dismiss Tim Burton’s work on the Batman franchise when looking at the whole picture. I’m sure many people simply think about Batman Forever and Batman & Robin and they just lump the original and Returns in with those. That’s a slight bummer, because Tim Burton’s Batman is still really good stuff.

I actually haven’t seen this movie in its entirety in probably over 10 years, which is great because I was able to appreciate the movie on a different level. I think the thing I love most about the original Batman is that Burton wastes no time on an origin story. Batman is already running around Gotham making a name for himself, and as a result we get right into the thick of things. Sure, I absolutely love the origin story in Batman Begins, but I admire that Burton trusted the audience enough to understand why Batman exists.

Speaking of Batman the character, Michael Keaton is still awesome as both the caped crusader and Bruce Wayne. It’s interesting knowing that their was a huge fan outrage when the studious announced that (then) comedic actor Keaton would don the cape and cowl. Looking back, it’s still a ballsy move, especially when you look at every Batman that has come since then. Kilmer has the looks for Wayne and the build of Batman, Clooney had the looks too for Wayen (but was a nightmare in the suit) and Bale too hits both notes. Keaton isn’t known for being a sex symbol, instead appearing like an ordinary guy. How could he look good in the suit? The guy is like 5′4″ and barely had an ounce of muscle on his body, yet he nails both characters. As Bruce, he’s a charming fellow with that great charisma that Keaton previously brought to his other roles, and as Batman his pronounced lips and intense eyes not only sold him in the suit but was mimicked by Kilmer.

The Tony Hawk franchise is back with a new motion-sensing skate board controller, are you ready for another plastic peripheral in your living room? Also, what is your biggest gripe with gaming this Gen? Be sure to chime in with your thoughts so we can use them in next week’s show!

Many thanks to Jake ‘Virt’ Kaufman for providing our intro music, ‘Blast Off’ from his FX2 collection. Check out more of Virt’s music at Big Lion Music. Subscribe to Born Again Casual on iTunes.

Terminator Salvation – the year is 2018 and the Resistance against the Machines after Judgment Day is in full effect. John Connor (Christian Bale) is joined in his attempt to defeat SkyNet by Marcus Wright (Sam Worthington) who Connor is still unsure about. This is not the future his mother warned him about, things have changed. Directed by McG.

Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian – Security guard Larry Daley (Ben Stiller) infiltrates the Smithsonian in order to rescue two of the “special” attractions who were shipped there by mistake. Also starring Robin Williams, Hank Azaria, Amy Adams, Owen Wilson, Steve Coogan, Bill Hader, and more.

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