iPhone nano? (plus, App Store reviews)

I am a regular visitor to MacRumors.com and it just seems as if the rumors just won't die down. Several iPhone case-makers have endlessly given hints to an iPhone nano form factor, and some of them are even semi-credible.

XSKN is responsible for the pic above, and they got the iPhone 3G and iPod nano designs right before they were even released, so the rumor gets a bit of credibility.

I, however, just can't seem to sway myself to believe that it is true.

Apple has been known to focus on a product's usability as well as innovation, and I just can't seem to see how an iPhone nano would be usable, innovative or much less practical. You see, if you make the screen smaller, chances are the user-friendliness of the device goes with it unless you're Thumbellina. I mean, it makes no sense.

Additionally, Apple still has some persisting issues with bugs and missing basic features that they'll have to fix, so releasing yet another iPhone wouldn't address the problem at all. It would worsen it. Why? Apps. Developers will have to theoretically remake their existing apps just so the screen size can fit what is purportedly the iPhone nano. Oh, and video would suck too.

So perhaps you can argue that the iPod nano is the best-selling iPod and they want to replicate the feat. You know what? That won't happen. Screen size is not exactly an issue on the iPod nano because it's primarily for MUSIC, and that it is operated by the click wheel, not a touch screen.

Seriously, the iPhone is already small enough. Pray that the rumors aren't true. (I may get hypocritical if the product really gets announced, but then again, Phil Shiller's gonna be the one talking and not Steve Jobs.)

Since we're talking about iPhone anyway, I might as well sneak in some app reviews.

Tap Tap Revenge

Developer: Tapulous

FREE

After you buy that heck of an expensive iPod touch or iPhone, you'd probably consider making an iTunes account on your computer to get some free (or paid) games onto the machine. If you do, you should consider getting the free game Tap Tap Revenge, that is if you're drawn into rhythm games.

There's free downloadable content every week!

The interface is clean, the graphics are nice, and the gameplay is utterly simple: press the bottom of the screen when an orb gets to it. Obviously since this is a rhythm game, those orbs correspond to the rhythm of the song, but the thing about it is that you don't really get which part of the song the orbs are corresponding to. Sometimes, the orbs follow the beat of the bass, sometimes it's the vocals, and sometimes it's something else. That makes for variety, but that also doesn't make up for focus.

Plus, the tapping area is sometimes unresponsive, and sometimes, it's not clear whether you've actually tapped the orb, so you have to check the score whether it has decreased or increased, but that would have to distract you from the real game, so you'll have to ignore and hope you hit the tapping area right.

Still, it's free, and unbelievably so, because of three extra features: Downloadable content, local multiplayer and online play.

From obscure electronic songs to the likes of Katy Perry, there's something different to download every week. You cannot download from the computer, but the feature increases replay value immensely. For free.

Speaking of replay value, you can also compete for the top spot in the online score leaderboards.

To play online, you have to download the specific song that's about to play next.

Additionally, you can play online against other Tap Tap Revenge players the world over (and there's constantly a person online) but the problem is, I can't play online because, probably, of my slow Internet connection. You see, the game has to download the song that's gonna be played next, but my Internet connection is not fast enough to download the whole song before the existing people finish the song they're currently playing. What's annoying is that the game also has to download existing songs in your library, though.

So since I can't access the online play, I can only access the 2 player mode for my competitive fix. It works well, with the occasional lag, and how it does it is quite innovative to be honest. Since the iPhone/iPod touch responds to several fingers, it is possible for 2 people to simultaneously tap the screen and see who gets more points.

Overall, Tap Tap Revenge is of good quality. It could sometimes get annoying since the responsiveness is far from perfect (not to mention occasionally laggy) but with free downloadable content and online play and local multiplayer? It's shocking how this thing is free!

Rating: 8.5/10

Tap Tap Dance

Developer: Tapulous

$4.99

You can't wait for Tap Tap Revenge to be updated with the spankin' new engine? Well, you can pay for a "preview" of it with this game.

But perhaps it's not fair for Tapulous to charge for a stripped version of the free Tap Tap Revenge, I mean, it has no downloadable content and online. You can't blame them, however, because there's something called "licensing", and it's not for free. If they don't go through that process, the game would have to be stripped off the App Store due to copyright infringement. Now, they want to get a profit so they can license more songs so we can download them for free.

With that out of the way, let's focus on what sets Tap Tap Dance apart from Tap Tap Revenge.

Just one of the boss battles in Tap tap Dance.

Aside from revamped graphics (and shiny effects that respond to every correct tap), there are new gameplay twists that make Tap Tap Revenge look boring in comparison. One is that it's now obvious as to whether you pressed the tapping area properly or not, while another is that you have to unlock songs one by one and reach the "boss battle". Additionally, a new level of challenge has been added to the point where "Hard" in Tap Tap Revenge is literally "Easy" in Tap Tap Dance. That's not saying much about Tap Tap Revenge's difficulty, because that game is really easy on "Hard", but it says a lot about the increased difficulty of Tap Tap Dance, especially with the addition of simultaneous orb pressing (ie, two or three orbs you have to press at once) and orb holding (ie, if a note is held long in a song, you have to hold the corresponding orb long too).

That's not to say that everything else is perfect. I have to mention again, the absence of downloadable content and online play, and then the freaking lag! This is especially apparent in boss battles, making them harder to press and easier to lose. I don't mind the disco theme because the songs are pretty enjoyable. Do I hear Daft Punk's "Technologic"?

I don't know if you find Tap Tap Dance to be worthy of your hard-earned cash especially since the gameplay mechanics will be ported over to the free and better Tap Tap Revenge, but hey, it's still nice to play.

Rating: 7.5/10

Guitar Rock Tour

Developer: Gameloft

$9.99

See a screenshot for this and you'll instantly say "Guitar Hero rip-off", and it might as well be. However, seeing as there's quite a bit of a lack of rhythm games that center on the Rock genre on the App Store (which is kind of surprising seeing the saturated home console rhythm games market), this is, for now, the nearest you can get to a similar experience on iPhone/iPod touch.

Unlike Tap Tap Revenge, this game actually features real humans, although they're one-dimensional and have no personality whatsoever. Still, this is a rhythm game so the story isn't exactly a first priority.

This game follows the usual garage band turned successful rock act premise, so I wouldn't really bother reading the text that follows prior to, and after finishing the fixed number of songs you have to complete to progress to the next locale. If you still want a sampling of that "well-written" dialogue, then be my guest.

With this dialogue, I'd choke on my egg sandwich too.

Gameplay-wise, the game is responsive and easy to play. You just press the 4 fret buttons (or if you're playing drums, 2 fret buttons and cymbals) and be done with it. Of course, like Guitar Hero or Rock Band, there's a score multiplier, note streak and bla bla bla, and then there's the game's own version of Star Power of which you activate through a "lever" on the right side. While in Guitar Hero, your score will be doubled, you can use "Pyro Power" to eliminate the existing notes on the screen AND double the score in Guitar Rock Tour. And like in Guitar Hero, you have to press a series of notes that are of the same color to fill a bar that allows you to activate said feature.

The score gets doubled to 8 times the default score (usually) when you activated Star Power.

But in a rhythm game, the songs always matter, and it has a pretty conventional setlist, nothing really special (with a few bad eggs here and there). I'll give you a bad egg: "Girlfriend", the Avril Lavigne one.

Most of the songs notably come from Guitar Hero II. And like that game, the songs are cover versions.

So if you want your Guitar Hero fix on-the-go, this is the game to buy. It's a shame that it's without downloadable content, online play or local multiplayer, but at least it's more stable than Tap Tap Revenge.

Rating: 8.5/10

Dr. Awesome: Microsurgeon

Developer: ngmoco:)

$0.99

The title suggests a mediocre game, but it's actually pretty good.

It features a cast of anime characters who represent several doctors. And while their over the top poses remind me of the Phoenix Wright series, there's not as much personality.

The gameplay is simple: tilt the iPhone to cut the cell wall. When it's small enough, the viruses that lie inside will give up and die. You are pretty much a ball, and if a virus touches you or the trail you make, you're dead.

Let's cure the people we know!

The gimmick here is that the game uses your Address Book and makes them your patients' names. There is some amusing dialogue that springs from this fact (eg, "Doctor, isn't [name from Address Book] your acquaintance?"), but the same line repeats often as the patients pile up so I don't think this gimmick wasn't exploited enough for you to actually care.

You have to cut that border as much as you can to win.

Surprisingly, the game is actually kind of addicting, and it gives you a reason to go back because the game goes by in real time. What I mean by this is that the patients have a time limit of 24 hours. If you ignore the game for 24 hours, they die, or as the game puts it, "expires". Additionally, there are achievements that you can unlock, for all the achievement-junkies out there.

I don't really see any cons to this game, but there's actually nothing else special about this game. It's good, and it's pretty cheap, so I guess you can give it a whirl.

Rating: 8/10

AWESOME.

Who cares if this is a Mac vs. PC video? Who cares about the winner? The video pwns!

Anyways, Merry Christmas everybody!

Flatulence in iPhone top charts

There are a lot of apps available for the iPhone, but you know the Americans- they have bad taste, as the saying goes.

These fickle folk are the same people responsible for driving up sales of a useless 99 cent app called iFart Mobile. So what is iFart Mobile? Oh come on, don't tell me you don't know what it does. The name alone will give you an idea.

If you still can't use your imagination, here's an idea: You select a sound, touch the screen, and activate the fart.

Great, now the developers who don't deserve getting the coveted top spot in the App Store are the ones making literally almost 10000 US dollars- in ONE DAY EVERYDAY.

Will this model inspire other developers to screw ambition and inspiration for a quick buck? Well, perhaps we'll know when the Caucasians don't stop with their strange affinity for gas passing.

SOURCE: Macrumors

Movies Opening This Week (Week 7)

Do you want to be born old?

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

One of my most awaited movies of the year is this Brad Pitt-Cate Blanchett flick. It's about a guy who is born an octogenarian and ages backwards. He meets a young girl as he is dumped onto a retirement home by his father and they would eventually marry as their ages match.

It reminds me, somehow, of the premise of The Time Traveler's Wife.

More Metal Gear

Since I left my blog on the subject of Metal Gear Solid, I found it appropriate to follow it up with even more of that madness.

Can anyone say, "Metal Gear Solid cutesified?"

Yup, Solid Snake gets the LittleBigPlanet treatment. It's so cute, it's kinda creepy. Oh, and their big wide-mouthed grin just throws me off every time.

P.S., here's how the iPhone 3G Sim unlock will work. (Courtesy: iPhone dev team)

Metal Gear Solid, 360? Really?

Remember that naughty teaser Konami put on its website?

People all thought it was finally a port of the in/famous game Metal Gear Solid 4 for the X-Box 360, which was of course long-rumored. Unfortunately, it kinda isn't.

In fact, it has nothing to do with full-fledged consoles at all, just a pretender. And it's the iPod touch and iPhone. Yep, Metal Gear Solid is coming to the iPod touch and iPhone. The official name of the game? It's lame. Metal Gear Solid Touch. Yep. Metal Gear Soli- OHHH WHO AM I KIDDING.

I AM EXCITED.

Now as a consolation for the disappointed 360 owners out there, you deserve some concept art for Metal Gear Solid on the 360 at least.

GLOBE TELECOM: She's out of our hands!

Even though Globe doesn't exactly suck, Smart and Sun users left out in the cold can finally give an overrated phone a cheaper whirl by New Year's Day.

CAPTION: And you paid 40000 pesos to put in a Smart SIM.

Just go to Globe, get an iPhone 3G, wait for January 1 (or 2, in the Philippines), go to Greenhills (or, for a shameless plug, me if you want it done cheaper, although I have to do this with my dad's iPhone 3G so I can know how this works, if he'll let me), and cancel your Globe contract.

CAPTION: I got my custom firmware for iPhone 3G pwnage ready.

Anyway, the ever-infamous iPhone Dev Team have announced that the iPhone 3G's SIM unlock is imminent, aka on January 1, 2009. They advise interested iPhone 3G owners NOT to update if iTunes wants them to if they want to unlock the SIM, because of, well, let's say it's something technical.

Additionally, Mac users who updated to yesterday's update (Leopard 10.5.6) will also not be able to jailbreak the thing themselves.

CAPTION: Mac jailbreakers, don't update! Wait until further instruction from the iPhone dev team.

So if you've been wanting an iPhone 3G, but you don't want to be confined to Globe's plan, wait 2 more weeks (as of this writing).

On a semi-related note: While iPod touch owners don't have to worry about SIMs and stuff, there's still no chance in hell for an iPod Touch (2nd Generation) jailbreak to be found, at least this year (that is not fake, of course). So if you were asking, no, there's no update on that. The 1st iPod touch remains the safest multi-touch device for hacking (pretty much).

Seriously Stop Using Internet Explorer

If you haven't seen it on Yahoo!, then I'll tell you: STOP USING INTERNET EXPLORER.

A new security vulnerability has been found, and it's effing serious. Tens of thousands of sites are littered with malicious code (and hackers can reproduce this code on other sites as well) and it seems to only affect Internet Explorer, regardless of version. Yes, even beta 8.

Still, malicious code isn't anything new to Internet Explorer users, and Microsoft will come out with a patch, right? Well, it's better to be secure than screwed by the time Microsoft releases a patch, because it seems that the malicious code that exploits Internet Explorer's vulnerability can be used to get your passwords.

I advise you to switch now. For speed, there's Chrome. For standards compliance, there's Safari. For customization, there's Firefox. And for nifty extra features, there's Opera.

Movies Opening This Week (Week 6)

Last week oversaw the release of colossal stinkers, Delgo specifically, and this week? Well, only Seven Pounds is of interest.

Seven Pounds

Will Smith is the everyman with a job at the IRS called Ben Thomas, and he has to choose 7 people and change their lives. Why? Well, it's a secret. And this is why Seven Pounds is interesting. Why would he give his house to a woman he doesn't really know all too well? Why did he choose all the othres? Of what magnitude is this sin he committed? When you watch it, you'll find out.

WTP: The Dark Knight Re-release

What's the point?

You do know about the so-called "Oscar buzz" the Dark Knight is getting but that's just the result of fandom. Unfortunately, Warner Bros. has tricked itself into believing that The Dark Knight is Oscar-worthy by planning to re-release the movies in theaters in the next year for Oscar consideration. I'm kind of fine with that, except for one thing...
...the DVD has already been released. I even have an original copy in my hands. (Borrowed for ripping 'cause I'm cheap)

So what's the point in trying? Heath Ledger already got his Golden Globe nom, isn't that enough?

History of Pixar: George Lucas' brain tumor (Part 1)

Why am I doing this? Well, I'm actually doing this partly for the heck of it, and partly because they're an influence to my "creative" side. 'Tis the power of Pixar, but how about you consider this as a precursor to my Pixar Movie Marathon, eh?

And hey, why not take a stroll down memory lane in everyone's favorite animation studio anyway?

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Where would Hollywood be right now without Pixar? No, I'm not just talking about 3D animation, I'm talking about their role in moviemaking in general. Where would Hollywood seriously be without them right now? We wouldn't have countless titles to enjoy, like Iron Man, Titanic, The Dark Knight, The Tuhminaydah or hell, Star Wars, without Pixar! What I'm talking about is CGI, people.

So how did Pixar come to revolutionize CGI anyway? Well, apparently, before Pixar was Pixar, it was called the Graphics Group and they were just a bunch of NYIT (New York Institute of Technology) people hired by George Lucas to make special effects, thus the creation of what was, and what still is, the ever-revolutionary, ever-present, ubiquitous Renderman.

But in the Lucasfilm days, it was actually the Motion Doctor first, and it allowed 2D animators to just sit down and work without nearly any training.

And then came the Jobs, Steve Jobs... when he left Apple in 1985. He bought the Graphics Group for 5 million dollars and became CEO (he likes the position, doesn't he?). Why did Lucas sell them to Jobs in the first place? 

It was probably because his brain tumor was starting to spread on his storytelling methods, probably located back then on his brain's left hemisphere (and now on his ass) with the release of the bestiality-promoting Howard the Duck. Well, at least that tumor wasn't bad enough to screw up the 3rd Indy and the Return of the Jedi.

Anyway, the Steve Jobs buyout was the time when the company was renamed Pixar- a fake Spanish word that means 'to make pictures or pixels', as well as the time when John Lasseter saved it from financial fail with a stroke of genius.

(To be continued)

More GTA4 Bullcrap

It's hard to justify why a game like GTA4 can't run on anyone's PC when you don't even have evidence. Now that it's been officially reviewed by the various review outlets, I've discovered even more head-banging details.

Here are the System Requirements:

* OS: Windows Vista - Service Pack 1 / XP - Service Pack 3

* Processor: Intel Core 2 Quad 2.4Ghz, AMD Phenom X3 2.1Ghz
* Memory: 2 GB (Windows XP) 2.5 GB (Windows Vista)
* 18 GB Free Hard Drive Space
* Video Card: 512MB NVIDIA 8600 / 512MB ATI 3870

Of you understood this, you'd be as wide-eyed as I am. I'm literally pulling my jaw off the floor right now- it's ridiculous! So not only do I have to get a game, but a new PC as well? Bull. It's just not worth it.

Sign up to save

Just because it's a game for Windows, doesn't mean you have to be a slave to Microsoft's Live service. Yep, if you actually want to just freaking save a game in the single-player mode, you have to sign up for the Windows Live service first. 

I'm hard-pressed to find a reason on why Rockstar decided to do this. Piracy? They already have SecuROM! Promotion of PS3 and XBox 360 sales? Then why bother porting at all?!

What about the people who don't have an Internet connection to begin with?!

In conclusion

When you proceed to make measures against piracy, or you just want to toy with consumers, they normally pirate the game anyway. Everything Rockstar did to the port is just stupid, stupid, stupid. GTA4 does not have to have those ridiculous specs to run!

Movies Opening This Week (Week 5)

Only one movie this week, and it's sci-fi for once.

The Day the Earth Stood Still

The trailer is interesting, but I have a bad feeling that it'll get critically panned though. It's about an alien who is in the form of a human played by Keanu Reeves and it's most probably something that involves the choice of life for self, or death for the Earth. Anyway, it's a remake so if ever I go watch this, my expectations will be lowered. The only other thing I know about the movie is that it updates a few themes from the original movie, which tackled the Cold War.

Tap tap tap to the next level

Tapulous, maker of popular iPhone apps, has sent me an e-mail regarding 2 major projects they have come out with, and I was just amazed when I clicked the iTunes Store link. Unfortunately, unlike the original Tap Tap Revenge, they're not free.

Tap Tap Dance

Featuring Technologic by Daft Punk as an unlockable, this game is a sneak peek of the future of the popular game, Tap Tap Revenge. I saw the screenshot with low expectations (because I thought that Tapulous was gonna start milking the popular app starting today) and I was just... blown away.

Tapulous has to make a few adjustments on it, because it kinda lags- and they know it.

Christmas with Weezer

I'm not that crazy about this one, but it's cute. If you wanna get on with the Christmas spirit (plus bonus tracks) then be my guest and get Christmas with Weezer and is actually probably the Tap Tap Revenge version that tries to milk the franchise. You know, like the Nine Inch Nails version. But I guess Tapulous has to pay the bills, eh? Don't really understand why Apple has to charge a hundred dollars a year for the App Store, TBH.

But is it me, or does the name Weezer sound like a nickname for a person with asthma?

Liberty City doesn't run on your PC

There has been an outcry on Rockstar's critical darling Grand Theft Auto IV (GTA4), not because of any problems with the game, but with problems with the game.

Lemme explain.

After a long wait, PC purists can finally play through the sandbox world of Liberty City with Russian immigrant Niko Bellic and join the mayhem of online multiplayer. Content-wise, there's nothing wrong with the game, but experience-wise on the PC, there's a warehouse of problems- even on a rig that can play Crysis.

That's right folks, Liberty City has spared nary a PC from frame rate issues, small draw distances, and crashes, so it's no surprise that everyone's making a big fuss about it. Add the controversial SecureROM into the mix, and you've got a piece of anti-piracy poop.

It's a shame that I have to a.) find someone who has downloaded a torrent or; b.) download a torrent myself. But that is, after the patch comes, which would probably be like, 6 months from now or something. I've been waiting for a PC version to arrive, but I never knew its arrival would be nothing short of problematic.

Obviously, Rockstar Games is in for a field day of hate mail.

Movies Opening This Week (Week 4)

Two period movies with different scopes collide in this week's edition of Movies Opening This Week.

Cadillac Records

If there's anything Beyonce learned from Dreamgirls, it's to take advatage of her voice and beauty in only music-related films from now on.

I have a feeling that it'll merely be a by-the-numbers musical (and to avoid confusion, it's not a "musical" musical, it's the adjective musical) biopic, but the big guns are here, portraying people with even bigger guns. And this one has people portraying Chuck Berry, Howlin' Wolf, The Rolling Stones, and the kitchen sink. But enough about pop cultural references and actors, how about the thing the biopic is referring to?

Well, it's about Leonard Chess and his company, Cadillac Records, because after a hit single was made by one of his label's artists, he would buy them a Cadillac. Sex, violence, and rock-and-roll are the flavors of the day here, and the movie encapsulates the era between the rise and fall of the record label.

Frankly, I feel a Golden Globe award coming on...

Frost/Nixon

Frank Langella stars as the infamous Richard Nixon, who 3 years after his resignation, accepts an offer to appear in a talk show hosted by David Frost, a Brit. From the negotiations, to the interview proper, the pace never lets up, and soon enough, they may have to face a battle in the court of law. Will Nixon answer Frost's questions about Watergate, or avoid them? We'll have to know when we see it.

Currently, it's at 93% in the Tomatometer in the website Rotten Tomatoes, mostly lauding Frank's Oscar-worthy performance as the disgraced President. Additionally, Oscar-winning director Ron Howard directs this flick and taps Peter Morgan (The Queen) as the scribe.

Is "Let the Right One In" really the "Twilight" killer?

Let The Right One In

Magnolia Pictures

Oskar, with a K, has problems. His whole 12-year-old life has been plagued by the bullies, and he doesn't seem to have the guts to fight back. Perhaps, he will, but for now, he only fantasizes about it. That is, until she came.

Meet Eli. New in the neighborhood, she meets Oskar during one of his fantasizing sessions. Soon enough, they develop a bond, yet in every day that passes by, there seems to be someone who dies.

Oskar discovers something vampiric about Eli: she hates the sun, she doesn't even shiver in the lightest of garments despite the cold Sweden snow, and she likes blood. Oh, she just isn't vampiric anymore, she is indeed a full-fledged vampire! Oskar doesn't mind, and looks at her as his first love.

Shockingly enough, this movie has a plot extremely similar to Twilight. Even more shocking is the fact that both have a lot of things in common: vampires, blood, cross-species romance, and the fact that both movies are book adaptations! Go figure. But where do we draw the line, you say?

Well for one thing, Twilight is strictly bound by convention- modernised teens speak slang, do "cool" stuff, fight like hell, and play... soccer. OK, maybe that last one wasn't conventional, but come on! Everything you'd typically expect in flicks like Twilight has mostly likely already been done. On the other hand, Let The Right One In isn't bound to any rulebook, besides the "common symptoms a vampire can have" rulebook (and then some), and makes a shining standard upon the tiring, dying genre of horror-romance flicks. Hell, the film doesn't even have to depend on the two characters' love affair to keep the story going (as noted in another review)!

But perhaps, it would be unfair to say that Twilight is even a horror flick in the slightest, but you just can't ignore the plot similarities can you?

Let's move on from the inevitable Twilight comparison (since if I boycotted it, the issue would still arise regardless) and onto the real deal. Is Let the Right One In worth the watch and the critical acclaim or not?

Well, I have to agree that there is a bit of originality showing through despite the fact that the topic of vampires is already a road that gets tread too much. I mean, the way the film conveys its story is different, to say the least, and there are some pretty chilling moments in between.

I mean, it's not as scary as the critics make it out to be, maybe not even scary at all for some, but the thing is, it doesn't have to. It lets you connect with the characters which is the primary factor in maybe any movie. Heck, even the victims are shown their backstories and when they eventually get killed, you feel sorry for them. 

However, you also feel sorry for Eli, because unlike other vampires who grin every time their hunger for blood is satisfied, she feels remorse and regret. Seriously, if you were turned into a vampire and you had to be forced into murdering others- even your caretaker- to satisfy your own hunger, would you actually feel happy? It just makes you ponder as to why that's the stereotype. Additionally, the actress they picked for this just has piercing eyes, and she looks so innocent, it's creepy.

It transcends the genre even further by making the antagonist nothing more than another mere 12-year old. A mortal. Not like those lame vampire trios that come out of the blue in the middle of a football game (I promise, this is the last Twilight reference I will mention in this review.), or that long-lost powerful brother who wants revenge. Heck, that 12-year-old doesn't even resort to over-the-top antics. He's just your average next-door bully.

Speaking of 12-year olds, it kind of makes the whole Let the Right One In-Twilight comparison ironic, eh? I mean, isn't that the same demographic that Twilight aims to tap?

Of course, after immediate viewing, one wouldn't actually feel as if the film deserved any of these awards, you know, overrated? It's deceptively simple, but once you digest it, it becomes food for thought. It treats the audience intelligently, and its storytelling is intriguing and a breath of fresh air. Most importantly, there's emotion and complexity within the characters (one of the qualities I usually look for in any story), and their performances can move and unsettle. Let the Right One In deserves a watching, but you may at first doubt its status of being a classic until you sort out your head a bit.

Rating: 9.3/10 (Here's to hoping the American remake is just as good. Although I doubt it since this one is already a tough act to follow.)