Wednesday, October 17, 2007
recent developments in music, film, comics, and video games
Man, I'm not doing ANYTHING lately. Other than Springsteen's Magic I haven't listened to any particularly good new music lately; the new Robert Pollard albums are kinda eh, the Wooden Shjips record is good but can't touch "Shrinking Moon For You", and everything else I've been listening to lately is kinda old. Plus my left ear has been stopped up for two days now, making headphones almost irrelevent and slightly painful.
I saw Darjeeling Limited a couple weeks ago, my first time in a theater (not counting drive-ins) since Superbad. Darjeeling was better than I expected; I had very low hopes, and figured it'd be an even more wayward mess than Life Aquatic (which does get better every time I see it, but still can't touch Wes Anderson's first three movies). It is self-indulgent, of course, and Anderson's style is increasingly just schtick, but the movie's salvaged by a couple of great performances from Owen Wilson and Adrien Brody. That last guy is the saddest looking person EVER, and that sadness is almost overwhelming when combined with Wilson's frustrated optimism and a story already seeped in sorrow. I think this guy's eyes alone made my wife cry.
Finally saw Hot Fuzz. It's awesome. The gore is really out-of-place, though.
Evan Almighty is a clear career lowlight for at least six different people.
Still readin' them COMICS. DC Showcase Presents The Metal Men Volume 1 is just about the greatest thing to ever happen to anybody anywhere EVER. Okay, maybe DC Showcase Presents Metamorpho Volume 1 was better, but the Metal Men remain unassailably amazing. The Metal Men accidentally take a blind orphan to a far-off planet where the domineering giant robot queen forces her male giant robot subjects to always walk on all fours and to basically serve as giant robot dogs. Lady Metal Man Platinum (aka Tina) is so lovestruck by Doc Magnus that she continually screws everything up. At least two other stories revolve around evil robot women cruelly fucking with the Metal Men. Clearly proto-feminism at its finest.
I've been slacking at this, too, but I still put up some comic-related thoughts over at the Kindercore weblog. Here's the link!
But shit, the main thing hogging my mind right now is video games. Which yes is pretty lame, but I've come to accept it. Metroid Prime III: Corruption for the Wii is outstanding. The controls are intuitive and elegant and perhaps truly revolutionary. I'm generally not a fan of first-person shooters, which, y'know, the Metroid series has never really been, but I think I'd be all over a true FPS for the Wii with Metroid-style controls.
Beyond Metroid I've been playing shit off the Virtual Console non-stop, like Sin and Punishment (way too hard), Gunstar Heroes (even damn harder), Adventures of Lolo (which I'm about to beat for the third time in 18 years or so), and Super Mario 64 (ramping up for Super Mario Galaxy next month). I also picked up the GameCube game Battalion Wars for eight bucks, to test out the series and see if Battalion Wars II for the Wii will be worth it. It's a fun real-time military strategy game, but the cartoonish presentation is a jarring contrast with the depressing realities of war. Normally I not only DON'T mind cartoonism, but actively PREFER it over realistic graphics (or at least the comic book / anime realism that predominates in video games). The combat in BW is semi-realistic, though, and, between the cuteness of the characters and the dialogue's utterly cavalier attitude towards death and war, the game is slightly kinda disconcerting. Still, fun as shit, and I'm looking forward to BWII.
Okay. Damn. That's all I gotta say. Yes sir. Awesome.
EDIT: And oh, fuck, between Bioshock, Mass Effect, and fuckin' Portal (LOOK AT THIS TRAILER!!!), I might just have to get an X-Box 360 some time soon.
Man, I'm not doing ANYTHING lately. Other than Springsteen's Magic I haven't listened to any particularly good new music lately; the new Robert Pollard albums are kinda eh, the Wooden Shjips record is good but can't touch "Shrinking Moon For You", and everything else I've been listening to lately is kinda old. Plus my left ear has been stopped up for two days now, making headphones almost irrelevent and slightly painful.
I saw Darjeeling Limited a couple weeks ago, my first time in a theater (not counting drive-ins) since Superbad. Darjeeling was better than I expected; I had very low hopes, and figured it'd be an even more wayward mess than Life Aquatic (which does get better every time I see it, but still can't touch Wes Anderson's first three movies). It is self-indulgent, of course, and Anderson's style is increasingly just schtick, but the movie's salvaged by a couple of great performances from Owen Wilson and Adrien Brody. That last guy is the saddest looking person EVER, and that sadness is almost overwhelming when combined with Wilson's frustrated optimism and a story already seeped in sorrow. I think this guy's eyes alone made my wife cry.
Finally saw Hot Fuzz. It's awesome. The gore is really out-of-place, though.
Evan Almighty is a clear career lowlight for at least six different people.
Still readin' them COMICS. DC Showcase Presents The Metal Men Volume 1 is just about the greatest thing to ever happen to anybody anywhere EVER. Okay, maybe DC Showcase Presents Metamorpho Volume 1 was better, but the Metal Men remain unassailably amazing. The Metal Men accidentally take a blind orphan to a far-off planet where the domineering giant robot queen forces her male giant robot subjects to always walk on all fours and to basically serve as giant robot dogs. Lady Metal Man Platinum (aka Tina) is so lovestruck by Doc Magnus that she continually screws everything up. At least two other stories revolve around evil robot women cruelly fucking with the Metal Men. Clearly proto-feminism at its finest.
I've been slacking at this, too, but I still put up some comic-related thoughts over at the Kindercore weblog. Here's the link!
But shit, the main thing hogging my mind right now is video games. Which yes is pretty lame, but I've come to accept it. Metroid Prime III: Corruption for the Wii is outstanding. The controls are intuitive and elegant and perhaps truly revolutionary. I'm generally not a fan of first-person shooters, which, y'know, the Metroid series has never really been, but I think I'd be all over a true FPS for the Wii with Metroid-style controls.
Beyond Metroid I've been playing shit off the Virtual Console non-stop, like Sin and Punishment (way too hard), Gunstar Heroes (even damn harder), Adventures of Lolo (which I'm about to beat for the third time in 18 years or so), and Super Mario 64 (ramping up for Super Mario Galaxy next month). I also picked up the GameCube game Battalion Wars for eight bucks, to test out the series and see if Battalion Wars II for the Wii will be worth it. It's a fun real-time military strategy game, but the cartoonish presentation is a jarring contrast with the depressing realities of war. Normally I not only DON'T mind cartoonism, but actively PREFER it over realistic graphics (or at least the comic book / anime realism that predominates in video games). The combat in BW is semi-realistic, though, and, between the cuteness of the characters and the dialogue's utterly cavalier attitude towards death and war, the game is slightly kinda disconcerting. Still, fun as shit, and I'm looking forward to BWII.
Okay. Damn. That's all I gotta say. Yes sir. Awesome.
EDIT: And oh, fuck, between Bioshock, Mass Effect, and fuckin' Portal (LOOK AT THIS TRAILER!!!), I might just have to get an X-Box 360 some time soon.
