Yo, Adrian

Continuing on the movie theme, me and Jason saw Rocky Balboa in Danville this afternoon. My dad was supposed to join us, but due to unforseen circumstances, he had to miss out on all of the fun. But no matter, let's not let that stand in the way of an awesome movie.

And I'm not kidding when I say Rocky Balboa is awesome. Very awesome. The performances, the direction... everything about the movie is wonderful. I'm a fan of the Rocky series and Sylvester Stallone, so I may be a little biased. But that doesn't stop the movie from being amazing. If I have any complaints at all, it's that the movie could have been maybe half an hour longer so it could delve deeper into the motivations of the Mason Dixon character. There's a few scenes with him, but nothing to really make him seem like a fully fleshed-out character.

So aside from that one complaint, I have nothing bad to say about Rocky Balboa. It's a tremendous movie that I very much enjoyed, and I'll gladly give it four stars. Go check it out.

Meanwhile, it'll be the new year in somewhere around two hours. I don't really have any plans, nor do I have that big "year in review" post prepared yet, so I'm probably going to just slap something together at the last minute. We'll see.

That's Enough, Uwe Boll

I mentioned yesterday that I'd been putting work into the second half of my Bad Movie Double Feature. I braved the awfulness (is that a word?) of the moie, and I've finally got the double feature done. So from my viewing horror to your reading pleasure are my reviews of Uwe Boll's masterpieces, Alone In The Dark and BloodRayne. And feel free to check out the first part of Boll's game movie trilogy, House of the Dead.

I'm just glad to finally be done with these. I think they've scarred my poor, fragile psyche.

Reviews To Be Written

Finally, I've got the second half of that much-discussed Bad Movie Double Feature in from Netflix. So now I can finally get the blasted thing done and I can forget I ever decided to do it in the first place. I got about halfway through the movie before I simply couldn't take it any more and I hit the Stop button. It's so awful, I couldn't bring myself to watch the second half. Of course, I'll have to end up watching the whole thing so I can finish the review. But I'm not really looking forward to that at all. If it weren't for my infernal sense of professionalism, the review would just read, "This movie sucks." Every word of that one sentence review would be accurate, but I just have to do these in-depth dissertations. I hope you readers appreciate how much I suffer for my craft.

However, I do have three or four new additions to my DVD collection I'd like to review at some point in the future. And they're not as bad as the one I'm currently doing, which is a plus. I'd much rather watch movies I'd like as opposed to movies I wouldn't, after all. Though I will admit that there is a certain joy in ripping a bad movie to shreds if it gives me enough material to do so. Those bad movies that leave me depressed afterwards, I'd rather pretend those didn't exist.

But the sooner I'm done with this one review, I'm better. From there I can move on to better movies, ones that don't make me want to commit seppuku by merely thinking its name. You readers better be glad I'm faithful to what I do.

So Where's The Silent Night, Deadly Night Remake?

Myself, Jason, and our Anderson County posse did go see the remake of Black Christmas last night after all. We managed to catch the 9:35 show at the Fayette Mall theater in Lexington, and the place was still absolutely packed. I thought it was odd that the parking lot was crowded, but I had just hoped everyone was there to see one of the other movies that came out this weekend. But just our luck, there was a whole lot of people wanting to see Black Christmas. It was so crowded that we ended up having to split up and sit in two separate parts of the theater to make sure we could all have a seat.

So about the movie. What do I say about Black Christmas? It's goofy as all hell. The cast is mediocre. The killer's backstory is almost too bizarre for its own good. The characters are kinda flat and aren't exactly the most likable of people. Both the script and the pacing could use some work. But so help me, I actually had fun watching the movie. I probably shouldn't have, but I actually enjoyed the movie. Perhaps it's the novelty of seeing a silly slasher movie on Christmas Day? That could be part of it, I guess. But Black Christmas struck me as being some kind of homage to the dumb slashers of the '80s, which I thought was some of its charm. The cast all give it their best in spite of the material they're given, and Glen Morgan's direction isn't bad in spite of the movie's uneven pacing. But I just can't really recommend it to anybody but those who like ludicrous horror movies. I'm gonna give it three stars since I didn't hate it, but it didn't exactly make me want to run back out and see it again as soon as I could.

At least it wasn't as bad a remake as Pulse or When A Stranger Calls. And thank God for that.

Merry Christmas

I hope everyone is having a great Christmas today. There was a little rough patch at Sutton HQ, but nothing to worry about. Everything is A-OK, and the day is going to be a good one. I just wish we had a little snow instead of all this horrible rain. I hate getting rain when what I really want is snow for Christmas. I'm a big fan of snow.

And as my present for you, my faithful readers, I give you my review of the all-time holiday classic A Christmas Story. Go check it out. I must also admit that I wrote the review in record time: five hours. It's the fastest I've ever written a review, and hopefully, it doesn't come across as being half-assed or anything like that.

But that's about it for this post. I'm going to get back to the holiday festivities. And maybe, just maybe, I might be heading up to Lexington tonight to check out the remake of Black Christmas. Because there's no better way to celebrate the birth of Jesus than watching Michelle Trachtenberg and Lacey Chabert being stalked by a serial killer.

Time Flies

Man, where does all the time go? It seems like the year was just starting yesterday. And now it's Christmas Eve, and a week from tomorrow, it won't even be 2006 anymore. I guess time really does fly.

Right about now, I'm wondering what I'll end up doing for a "Year In Review" type of thing. I am working on my annual "Sutton At The Movies" Achievement Awards, so there'll be that. But I'm not too sure what else I'd like to do to ring in the new year here at the Experience. I'll probably just end up slapping something together at the last minute. I figure I'm pretty good at winging it, so I'm sure I can work up a decent year-end post.

But more importantly right now, tomorrow is Christmas Day. I can't speak for everybody else, but it really feels like Christmas just snuck up out of nowhere. It probably doesn't help that stores started stocking all their Christmas stuff back at Halloween. Pretty soon, they're going to start stocking Easter stuff at New Year's, Halloween stuff on the fourth of July, and Christmas stuff is going to be up all year round. I hate that sort of thing. But in any event, we're all set up for the big day here at Sutton HQ. And I do hope that you dear readers have a happy and healthy Christmas, or whatever other holiday celebration you choose to partake in.

That's it for this one. Have a great day tomorrow, everybody. And as for me, I'd better have a official Red Ryder carbine-action 200-shot range model air rifle under my tree in the morning, or me and Santa are gonna have words.

Sutton At The... Donkey Show?

Okay, so I do other things besides complain about how hard Resident Evil 4's Professional Mode is. I also write the occasional movie review. And I've got a new one to share, too. This time around is my review for Clerks II. All I have to do now is a review of Jersey Girl, and I'll have all of Kevin Smith's movies done. I still need to get around to doing a review of Jackie Brown so I can have all of Quentin Tarantino's work done too.

While I'm at it, I still have to write the second half of that Bad Movie Doubleheader, and I'm looking forward to writing a review of A Christmas Story in a few days. So I'm hoping there won't be a shortage of review ideas anytime soon. I'd really like to get back in the game on a more regular basis, as opposed to the occasional ones I do now. Maybe that'll be one of my New Year's resolutions.

Maybe.

I Give Up

I've decided that the aforementioned plan isn't going to work. I can't even get past the first section of the Krauser level, let alone get to a point where I could actually kill him for good. And at this point, I don't think I'll be able to go any further.

So yeah, I'm done with the Professional Mode of Resident Evil 4 for now. Probably for good. And that's about it.

No Progress

I think I've finally hit a brick wall in Resident Evil 4 that even I can't break through. I just can't get past Krauser at all. I can barely make it through the first two sections of the level, let alone kill Krauser. I've made at least two dozen attempts to take him out, and none have been successful. I should probably sit down and formulate a plan of attack, like I have with the other bosses.

Rocket launchers have worked successfully on Salazar and the Verdugo, so I'm considering going after Krauser with one if I can afford it. If I can knock him down long enough to line up a shot, then it's a risk I'll take. It certainly can't hurt to try.

I'm gonna go do that now.

Concussions For Christmas

As of last night, I think I've finally finished up all of my Christmas shopping. My limited budget kept me to just buying stuff for my immediate family, but at least I got somebody something. That beats what I usually get people for Christmas: nothing.

But making holiday purchases isn't the only thing I did yesterday. Moses had the idea to go see this indy wrestling show at the National Guard Armory in Bardstown after the big Kentucky/Louisville game. The show was fun, but it just seemed rather anemic. If my memory serves me correctly, there were only four matches booked. Three one-on-one matches, and a six-man tag involving everybody that had already wrestled. So yeah, the card was a wee bit thin.

I think one of the wrestlers ended up getting hurt too. He took a really nasty chairshot during his match, and in a brief intermission afterwards, I heard the promoter say that the guy was pretty messed up. My guess is that he had a concussion. He spent nearly the majority of the six-man tag standing on the ring apron, and I didn't catch what happened, but at the end of the show, he was on his back in the front row looking like he'd been knocked out. And after all the other wrestlers headed back to the dressing room and the crowd filed out of the building, he was still there being attended to. So yeah, I'd say that he's got a killer headache today.

I don't really know if the show was worth the eight bucks I paid to get in, but I still had a lot of fun. By that, I can't say it was a bad choice to go. Now I just need to find out when OVW's going to be around here again, since they put on a really fun show.

One More Brick Wall Comes Down

After taking a break from the game yesterday, I fired Resident Evil 4 back up this afternoon and was immediately thrust into a battle with the U-3. Or as I like to call him, "It." I really hate this portion of the game, because It's so big and there's so little room to maneuver in there when you're running around. The first two sections of the area weren't so bad; I managed to keep It at by with the TMP while I did what I needed to do.

But then there was the third section, where the huge paracite with the pinchers pops oit of It's back. My torso got separated from the rest of me quite a few times. But I did make it through, albeit with my health level in the orange. That didn't help me in the final showdown with It. I did scoreone green herb to help me a little bit, but it didn't save me from getting bisected more than once. But this very fight is the reason why I upgraded the Broken Butterfly as much as I could before I left Trader Joe's last post. So with the Broken Butterfly and an itsy bitsy amount of help from the mine thrower, It ceased to be.

Now I must admit that the end of the fight was way more dramatic than I'm making it out to be. I had one bullet left for my Broken Butterfly, I had no health left at all, and the U-3 was bearing down upon me. I put a little space between us, turned, fired, and the beast went down quicker than a lead balloon. I couldn't believe at just how close I was to having to start the fight over, but I skated through by the skin of my teeth. How awesome is that?

Up next is another big showdown and probably the thickest brick wall of the whole game, the Krauser incident. I took a shot at it, but I didn't last very long. So instead of fighting him again, I saved at Trader Joe's nearby post and called it a day.

I'm really satisfied with the progress I made today. Once I get by Krauser, all I have left is the island war zone and the final battle with Saddler, and I'll have left. It'll probably be tough, but I think I can make it. In every battle, I've kept thinking, "I'm stuck, I'm stuck, I'm stuck." But even if it takes me all day, I manage to get through. Just because I'm stuck doesn't mean I can't get myself unstuck. Now I just have to find away to get unstuck from the Krauser fight...

Bulldozers and Knife Fights

It's time for another special little moment here at The Matt Sutton Experience. I commemorated the blog's fifth birthday last month, and now you're reading Post #500. Oh yeah. To celebrate the milestone, let's make a report of some Resident Evil 4 progress I made this afternoon. I didn't get a chance to play the game yesterday, due to being out all day and part of the night attending to some Christmas shopping, but I made up for that by kicking the crap out of the game today.

When we last left off, I'd stared down some Regenerators, an Iron Maiden, guys with machine guns, and boatloads of freaks, but I'd manage to spring Ashley from her cell on the island base. But now I had to find our way out. I took quite a few hits, even died a few times, but I'm relentless. I finally cut a swath through the freaks, and got into the wrecking ball room. I'd tried it on Tuesday after my last post, and I couldn't get by it at all. I thought I was going to have that same poor luck today, and while I did get killed a few times, I did get through.

I finally ended up in on the big bulldozer, which was infinitely tougher than it is in Normal Mode. Freaks were running up on me from everywhere. Some with weapons, some without weapons, all with the intent to cause me and Leon a heaping helping of grievous bodily harm. I took two or three deaths, but I came back with a vengeance and showed them who's boss.

And then from there... the knife fight. Oh, do I have a story to tell about the knife fight. I screwed up on the very first prompt of the fight and was killed, but the second time around, I made it through with no problem at all. I know, I'm surprised myself. I figured I'd have to give it at least three or four shots before I made it through. As always, the knife fight had me right on the edge of my seat. And the farther I got into it, the more worried I got that I was going to screw it up and have to start over. But I got past the knife fight in two attempts, so I'm not going to complain.

I figured I'd made plenty of progress, so I called it a day when I got to Trader Joe's next post. I dread having to face "It" up next, since he's going to be one thick brick wall to bust through. But I've made it through all the other tough spots thus far, so I'm sure that I'll be able to take It down with enough effort. That beast is gonna go down just like all the other ones, mark my words.

...Into The Fire

I have more Resident Evil 4 progress to report. That's right.

After what seemed like hours of trying, I finally got past the first two sections of the island. That jackass with the minigun took me out more than once, but I showed him who's boss. That stated, I'd rather face the gunners than the Regenerators or an Iron Maiden. Oh boy, were those guys fun. They're tough, and especially frightening once you blow their legs off and they jump at you. But I've found that if you can keep your distance and make good use of the rifle's infared scope and the Broken Butterfly. But it still isn't easy.

The areas I've been through thus far have been kind of a blur, but last I left off, I'd just saved Ashley from her cell. So we'll just have to see where we can go from here.

Out Of The Frying Pan...

Okay, here's one more Resident Evil 4 post. Yes, there could be other blog-worthy topics I could talk about. But I'm running this monkey farm, so I'm talking about Resident Evil 4 again.

So anyway, where were we? Last we left off, I'd slayed that big bad Verdugo, and I laughed at the zillion tiny Verdugo chunks I'd just blown up. It was a proud moment for all of us here at Sutton Industries. But there's little time for gloating, because I've got some freaky tentacle-headed butt to kick. From the ashes of the Verdugo fight, I moved on to the mine. I didn't really need to fight another Chainsaw Charlie, but if I wanted to progress, I had to take him and those other guys down. And that's just what I did. It took me a few tries before I finally got through, but I went right from the mine into a two-on-one brawl with Dos Gigantes. And sadly, I got squashed more than a few times. But with a little assistance from the trap door full of lava, I bettered my odds and eventually defeated them both.

And then I had to go and walk right into one area that I was not looking forward to: Cueva del Novistadors. What sicko at Capcom thought this place up? I can handle two or three at a time, but a cave full of them is ridiculous. My head got seperated from my torso a few times, and I didn't know if I'd make it through. But I just did what I always do when I run into a brick wall: I blast a hole big enough to run through, and I make a break for it. I hate those stinkin' bugs, and I'm glad to finally be rid of them for good.

The campfire and underground area after that were no sweat. And those two Chainsaw Charlies in the underground area were no problem whatsoever. I completely avoided one, and managed to take the other one out at a distance with the rifle. But the area that followed was a tricky one. The train ride is a fun part of the game, but it can kick you around if you're not prepared. I got past it on the second try, and I did draw a little satisfaction that the four freaks that were in the train with me took a long ride to the bottom of the ravine at the end.

The big Salazar statue was up next, and here I am with only handgun and rifle ammo and no healing items. Joy of joys. It took me a few tries, but I did get through, despite having pretty much no health left. Thusly, the next section was extraordinarly hard. But I got a lucky break and was successful. Up next was the showdown with Salazar. He is a bad, bad dude, and he managed to actually bite me in half twice. But the third time, as they say, was a charm. I swung by Trader Joe's and picked up another handy rocket launcher, and Salazar was defeated.

Thus endeth Disc One. Up next on Disc Two is the Island of the Damned, and I'm going to conquer it just like I conquered the village and the castle. You just can't stop the inevitable.

Success!

Last we left off in the world of Resident Evil 4, I was having a little trouble getting past the room with the two Superclaws. My last save point was just before the clock tower outside their room, so that's where I started yesterday. I got past the clock tower with no problem, and when I got to the bridge, I just chucked a grenade and headed straight for the door for the Superclaw room.

Before I even started with the clock tower, I'd formulated a plan of action in regards to fighting the Superclaws. As I mentioned a few posts ago, I'd done a little searching and gotten the free Broken Butterfly that was just outside the helldog maze. I did some bartering with Trader Joe before entering the clock tower, and got the Broken Butterfly's firepower jacked up as much as I could afford. When I got to the Superclaw room, I just stayed behind them and fired away with the Broken Butterfly. A few shots, and down they went.

And now to fight the Verdugo. Lovely. The guy took care of me pretty darn quick. And why does he have to be so fast? It's like I'm fighting a evil mutant version of The Flash or something. But I got killed, so I figured that would be a good place to stop.

I started back at the Verdugo fight this afternoon. Like with the Dos Superclaws area, I figured that if I was going to kill the Verdugo, I needed a plan. I swung by Trader Joe's and purchased a rocket launcher. If bullets wouldn't slow him down, explosives would, right? So with rocket launcher in hand, I set my plan into motion. I activated the elevator and ran to the door, and that was the Verdugo's cue to pounce. I took a shot to the head from him, but I managed to get around him and hit that beast with a liquid nitrogen tank. That slowed him down long enough for me to fire a rocket right into his ugly mug. And that no-good monster exploded into a million pieces. Now who's bad, huh? Now who's bad?

After that, I figured that one boss fight was enough for this round, so I decided to leave off there for right now. That was a great big hurdle, and I hopped over it with no problem. There's some tough areas ahead, but I can take 'em. I just killed a Verdugo with one shot, after all.

More 4

Yeah, another Resident Evil 4 post. If you aren't used to them already, you better be soon. Because will there probably be more, depending on my progress.

When I last left off, I was waiting outside Lavaland. I thought it was going to be tough, but I ended up acing it with no problem. I reconvened with Ashley, then did a little (read: a lot) backtracking to acquire for myself a free Broken Butterfly. Not killing everybody in the cage match room almost cost me, though. Because when I ran back through, there were six or eight freaks hanging out in there. But I'm a warrior, I got through just fine. After retrieving my new toy, I circled back, took a little train ride, and saved at Trader Joe's post. From there, I took a much-deserved break.

I resumed later by taking out the knights. I didn't know if I'd be able to, since I don't exactly have the most powerful weaponry. So I figured, "why not aim for the head? That always works, right?" And it did work, except that the little parasite buggers came popping out of their necks. Those guys are loads of fun, especially since they're carrying axes and broadswords now. But don't worry, their steel were no match for my bullets. The next area after that, staring down the ultimate death machine, was a piece of cake. But what wasn't a piece of cake was the next area, the big room full of Novistadors. Poor little me got mutilated quite a few times. I don't exactly like having my head removed from my shoulders, but how could the Novistadors have known that? But after about six or seven tries, I got through and saved at Trader Joe's next post.

Up next was another rough patch: the clock tower. I got through the clock tower with no problems, but where the rough patch lied was outside. That bridge area is tougher than I remembered it being. I got killed plenty of times, before I just got fed up and decided to run for the door instead of continuing this war of attrition. And if I thought the bridge was hard, having to stare down two Superclaws is like trying to punch your way through a brick wall. You can't do it, and it's going to hurt a lot trying. There were a few times I ended up getting decapitated about thirty seconds into it. So I just said "screw it" and put the controller down.

I'm going to have to start back over at the clock tower, but I think I can make it. I just need to think up some kind of strategy for the Superclaw room. I'm sure I can make it through. I made it over all those other hurdles in the game, didn't I? This one should be no different.

"Sutton At The Movies" Returns

Before anybody gets the wrong idea, there are things I do besides play Resident Evil 4. I know, I'm shocked too!

But in between rounds of the game, I did a little work on a new movie review that I'd been wanting to do for a few months now. I've spoken of doing a review or two that would be aimed at recharging my batteries in the aftermath or the horrendous movie that was the first half of the doubleheader I'm working on. I've got one of those reviews up and ready right now. So go check out my review of Superman Returns, and feel free to check out my reviews of the other four Superman movies if you'd like.

And that's about it.

Rage In A Cage

I just can't put Resident Evil 4 down. I made a little progress, and figured since we were all here, I'd talk about it.

I last left off just past the helldog maze, heading right into the big cage match against a Superclaw and a bunch of evil monks with crossbows. I got taken out quite a few times, specifically a number of decapitations via Superclaw. So this is where I formulated a plan: go back to Trader Joe's and acquire myself a mine thrower. I jump back into the cage match, blow the doors off with the mine thrower, then head right for the door. I got killed a few times before this plan was actually successful, but I got through eventually. Got killed once in the next room, but got through there, saw Luis get killed, and ended the chapter. Blew through Ashley's chapter with ease, and now I've got the lava room up next. Joy.

Thanks to a lack of rifle ammo, the lava room is going to be tougher than usual. The lava room is another one of those rooms I am just not looking forward to at all. Plus there's the knights, saving Ashley from the ultimate death machine, more Novistadors, more Superclaws, the Verdugo... it never ends. We'll just have to see where it goes from here.

That Wasn't Such A Chore

I fired up Resident Evil 4 after I made that post last night, and I headed straight for the Novistadors. And you know, I didn't think those annoying invisible bugs were as bad as I made them out to be. They got a few good shots on me, but I took a few of them out and decided to play a little "catch me if you can" with the rest. They couldn't kill me if they couldn't touch me, so on my way out, I avoided them as much as possible. And the plan worked, too. Like I said, I took a few shots, enough to put me in the deep orange, but I got through.

And then, there were the helldogs in the maze. Oh, the helldogs. After the Novistadors and some of the freaks in the main foyer, I had no health at all. None. Zero. So yeah, I didn't last too awfully long. I called it a night and picked up there this afternoon. I still had no health, but I stumbled into some good fortune after taking a wrong turn in the maze and found a first aid spray. So that was some good times. I finally got around the helldogs to end the chapter, and that's where I left off today.

I'm making better progress than I thought I would. I'm not going progressing by any leaps of bounds, but I think a few baby steps every now and then are going to work. I have no doubt that the game's going to throw some rough patches at me, I'm sure I'll be able to overcome them once I get to them. Ain't no monsters gonna hold me down, no sir.

One Brick Wall Down, Several More To Go

Finally, after dozens of attempts with little or no success, I finally hurdled over my first really major brick wall in Resident Evil 4. And it was a tough one, too. I made a little bit of progress yesterday, getting the steps in the room down before I hit the closest typewriter. I didn't want to accomplish that and get killed and be forced to start over, so I thought that was a pretty good move on my part.

So I tried working on the second part, getting the bridge raised, tonight. I formulated a strategy, mainly involving getting in the right spots and managing my ammo right, and I got the job done on my first attempt of the night. Yay me.

But up next is something I'm really dreading: the Novistadors, the invisible bugs. They're a pain in the neck in Normal Mode, and I'm absolutely certain that I'm going to hate them in Professional Mode. I still wish I had the Chicago Typewriter.

I've got a lot more of this game to go, but I know I'll make it eventually, even if it takes me forever. And at the rate I'm moving, it probably will.

One More Victory

Okay, so I haven't beat the Professional Mode in Resident Evil 4. So sue me. It's in my "To Do" pile. But what I did do is beat Normal Mode one more time. My time was a little longer than what I've done in the past - seven hours, 55 minutes, 21 seconds - but I once again reigned supreme. I had 976 enemies killed, and only died eight times. Quite a few of those were accidental Ashley kills or kills in the knife fight sequence, but there were a couple of times I got stupid and didn't pay attention to my health status.

But with my seventh victory in Normal Mode achieved, I really should get back into Professional Mode. It's going to take a lot more effort to bust through that brick wall, but I think I can do it.

I think.

The Projects Are Forthcoming, I Promise

In other news, no, I haven't forgotten about that doubleheader of reviews I was talking about a while back. But it might take me a while to get around to doing the second half. Like I said previously, I've decided to cool off and recharge my bad movie batteries before I get started on the second half.

And to recharge those batteries, I've started in on a review for a movie I actually like. It's my usual policy to keep the reviews I'm working on unnamed until I get them post-worthy, but I will say that I plan on giving the current one a favorable rating. It's not that I don't like writing bad reviews, but sometimes these movies are so bad that I'd rather have not done it at all. I'd even be satisfied with a "meh" review, instead of writing about crap like the first part of this doubleheader.

I've also got another review in mind that I'd like to write in the near future. Christmas is in a few weeks, and if past Christmases have been any indication, then TNT or TBS will probably air a 24-hour marathon of A Christmas Story. It'll air twelve times in a row, which will be plenty enough for me to get a good review of it in. I love A Christmas Story, and I'd have a ball writing the review, so I just may have to do that.

We'll have to see how that goes.

Close Calls With Brick Walls

Wow, is it December already? This year has just flown by. Seems like yesterday it was just August. Where does the time go?

I'm having a hard time in my search for a Pro victory in Resident Evil 4. I'm in the room in the castle where you have to turn that crank and lower the bridge, and I've run straight into a brick wall. It's tough as hell in Normal Mode, but I just can't get past it at all in Professional Mode. I made a little progress in one attempt, but I was promptly killed before that progress could be put to good use. I don't want to say I'm giving up, but I think I might put it on hold for a little bit.

To make me feel a little better, I've given Normal Mode one more go. I started on Wednesday, I believe, and I've already made it past the Novistador cave. I'm just outside the cave that hosts the roller coaster ride, if I'm not mistaken. This is why I wish I had the Handcannon or Chicago Typewriter or some other super-powered weapon in Pro Mode, because I'm flying through Normal Mode. Maybe if I had some of these fancy guns in Pro Mode, my chances would be a little better.