The Sopranos: Season Two

The Sopranos was a show whose first season I found very easy to just jump right into and enjoy, and here in just its second season the show is really making a strong push as one of the greatest of all time. All I need is the next 4 (or 5, sort of ) seasons to come close to the lofty heights of the first two. After the major events that all went down in the first finale, Tony begins the season by just trying to pick up the pieces and return things to normal- eventually Dr. Melfi returns, and the already strained relationship between her and Tony gets even more complicated as to her disgust, she starts developing strong feelings for him. We see Tony's wife and kids more caught up in the mob life than ever before, unable to remain blissfully ignorant of how the man of the house affords them their lifestyle, and struggling with whether to be proud or ashamed of their powerful mob-boss father. I felt like the other mob members became more well-defined characters as well- Big Pussy and his questionable loyalty; Paulie Walnuts, haunted by those he's murdered; and maybe my MVP of the season, Christopher, who can be psychotic and the member most eager to move up the ranks, but at the same time we can see a very human side of him that hangs onto some normal dreams and aspirations outside of the mob. All of this culminates in a finale that must be the best episode so far, where Tony spend half of the episode wandering through fever dreams and coming to unfortunate and brutal conclusions. All in all this was a stellar season, and I'll be checking out season 3 very soon.

Dragon Quest V: Hand of the Heavenly Bride

To quote Bud Light's dumb catchphrase, "here we go!" The first three Dragon Quest games ranged from not-so-good to decent, but after skipping ahead to one of the most acclaimed entries in the series, I can see what the hype is about. Dragon Quest V has all the trappings of a classic top-down RPG straight out of the 16-bit days, and its DS remake made for an all-around very enjoyable role-playing experience. There's still a few odd choices that I assume will stick around throughout the Dragon Quest series like silent protagonists and first-person view in battle, but in every other way this is a huge step up from the first three games. First off, there's some unique storytelling elements- the game is divided into three parts as you control the protagonist at three different times in his life- starting with a fast-paced journey through the world as a little kid with your father in search of a 'legendary hero', then again 15 years later, and finally a third long after that. It wasn't quite Chrono Trigger where you get to hop around through time and change the past, but it was pretty cool to see the changes in the world as time passes. Also along the way, you get married to a woman of your choosing, who then joins in with your party. Sure, something like that is old hat at this point, but for 1992 when the game first came out that's an impressive level of customization. Speaking of which, Dragon Quest V also basically set the table for the Pokemon franchise that would come out five years later- for most of the game you only have one or two set members in a 4-man party, so some monsters will randomly request to join your party. By endgame they're usually not viable main-party members, but it's another cool level of customization- any non-boss enemy can join the team, so many people play the game in a 'catch-em-all' style. Other than that, it's classic RPG trappings all the way. The grind-y nature of the previous games has been toned down, and there's no ridiculous quests that require use of a walk-through- Dragon Quest V is a no-bullshit game. Also of note- this is one of the few RPGs that I felt really encouraged experimenting with magic spells. Usually when I play an RPG I'm going all-out on the offensive, but buff and defense spells in Dragon Quest V actually felt effective and worth using. I was really hoping that things would improve after the Loto Trilogy (the lightly-connected first three Dragon Quest games) with the Zenithia Trilogy (4-6, even more lightly connected apparently), and it looks like this is so. I'll step back and play Dragon Quest IV: Chapters of the Chosen sometime in the next few months.

That '70s Show: Season 7

That's a wrap on the seventh season.

How familiar was I with the season's various episodes?

Not at all. After six seasons where I'd already seen almost every episode, it was like a switch flipped here, and I don't think I'd seen a single episode from Season 7 before.

Were there any key ways in which this season was different from previous seasons?

This really felt like the season where everyone in the cast was ready to move on. Donna was suddenly a blonde, perhaps due to some other role Laura Prepon had taken at the time. (I'm too lazy to check.) Kelso had a short haircut, and looked a whole lot like modern day Ashton Kutcher. And Mila Kunis? I can't put my finger on it, but this was absolutely the season where Mila Kunis was suddenly no longer "that cute Russian chick from That '70s Show" and instead became "holy shit, Mila Kunis!"

Any particular highlights or lowlights worth singling out?

So apparently Hyde's father is a black guy. This was a little funny, but also more than a little eye-roll-induing. "Hmm, the show's been a hit for six years, but it needs more black people..." When Hyde's half-sister, also black, was introduced s a love interest for Kelso, it was almost too much to handle. (That sounds... racist. I'm not suggesting black characters had no place on That '70s Show. Just that to introduce them as Hyde's family was kind of a weak choice.) Highlights? None, really, but the show is so damn consistent at this point that you could argue the whole run was a highlight. Which of course defeats the purpose of using the word "highlight." If I have to pick one arc, I'll go with Kelso and Fez moving in together. Hijinks ensued, my friends!

Final thoughts on anything else relating to the season or series as a whole?

Topher Grace is gone after this season and Ashton Kutcher barely sticks around. Josh Myers also joins the cast as a series regular. In other words, the eighth season is kind of a bastardized, stripped-down version of That '70s Show, so this is pretty much curtains for the original cast. It was a good run!

One more season, guys. One more season.

Batman: Arkham Asylum

What a fucked up Batman story. Absolutely brilliant. But completely fucked up. 

First off, I have to say that it's unlike any other comic book I've read so far. To start, we have Dave McKean providing all the art work. Now, for all my Dark Tower readers out there, if you purchased King's books that had illustrations in them - like I did - you'll be aware of McKean's work. He provided the art for Wizard & Glass. If you failed to catch a glimpse of what his style is, check it out: 

Before there was this very different interpretation of the Dark Tower...

...there was this very different interpretation of Batman and company.

As you can see from his rendition of the Joker, above all else, McKean's style invokes a sense of fear. And that's what this story is all about. Fear. Terror. Paranoia. Especially for Batman. And these illustrations pair perfectly for the strange, bizarre story only a genius like Grant Morrison could have only pulled from the dark recesses of his mind. 

The plot is fairly simple - and short. Gordan calls Batman in. They've just got a call from the Joker who's been imprisoned at Arkham Asylum where he and the rest of the inmates have broken free and now run the joint. They have hostages, but they'll let them all go free on one condition: If Batman turns himself into the asylum. (This is similar to plot of the video game with the same name, but the two diverge from here on out.) We find out that even though these hostages (the staff from the asylum) are free to go, most stay refusing to relinquish control of the place to these madmen. It's through these professionals that we learn about the villains of Gotham in a much different sense. The Joker, for instance, is labeled not being insane, but actually super-sane. Apparently they speculate that all of his senses are far more powerful than the average person - almost to the point that he can catch glimpses at 4th dimension. With all this information saturating his brain, it makes sense that the Joker has no definite personality. Hence why he waivers between being a practical joker and a homicidal maniac from one second to the next. 

Or they explore, Two-Face. In an effort to get him not to see the world in absolutes (as he bases all of his decisions on the 50-50 outcome of a coin toss) the staff has weened him to six-sided die, then onto a 42-card pack of tarot cards. He's now so boggled with trying to make decision that when first introduced to him, it's pointed out that he's defecated in the middle of floor because he's so hopeless in even making up his mind of the most fundamental of decisions. 

These are all fascinating insights on characters that have been told and re-told again. But never like what's in this story. 

The story basically sends Batman on this crazy hide-and-seek game where the inmates chase him all over the asylum till we learn the true reason why all maniacs were released in the first place. There's also a second plot line. It follows Mr. Arkham when he first established the asylum decades earlier and the demons (and bats) that haunt his dreams and tragic life.

This is a horror comic book with an intelligent story that probes into the characters' minds rather than focusing all of its time on brutal fights - not that there's anything wrong with that. This is just unexpected and unlike most anything out there. If anyone has the time or the curiosity  give it a read, like I said, it's short... even for a graphic novel. But that doesn't mean it isn't intriguing as fuck. Even haunting. The most fun you'll have as the story and art makes you feel like you're going a little insane yourself. 

"Let the feast of fools begin!"

Curb Your Enthusiasm: Season Two

There's not much to say about Curb Your Enthusiasm's second season that I didn't say about its first, and in that post I really didn't say much at all! I guess the only thing that's changed is there's now some light continuity from episode to episode. It still feels like the natural continuation of the Seinfeld formula, as we have a successful comedy writer living out his pseudo-retirement years, being a curmudgeon all the time and not understanding social cues most of the time. It's very funny, and even though whether you're supposed to sympathize with or hate this semi-fictional representation of Larry David changes wildly from minute to minute, it's consistent in its laughs. While I can't put this up as one of the all time greats quite yet, it's a damn good comedy and I give a hearty recommendation to anyone interested.

Eastbound & Down: The Complete Third Season

Yes, I watched half of this season of TV at Steve's house over a 2-hour period. So what? I watched the other half on my own. I still can blog this. Anyway, this show was SO good during it's first season. The second season was so horrible that it took me this long to see the third. Anyway, I am very glad I saw this season. No, it wasn't as good as the first and it probably could have done away with at least one episode (and that's saying something when there were only 8 episodes to begin with), but it did make me laugh out loud a lot more than most shows. Kenny Powers might be the most ridiculous character ever on TV and it was great getting to spend some more time with him. There are rumbling of a 4th season. I'm not sure why, but I'm sure I will check it out. I hope it airs before I lose my free HBO service.

The Sopranos: The Complete First Season

I steered clear of this show for a long time due to my aversion to all things gangster/mafia. I hated Goodfellas, Donnie Brasco and I've yet to be able to sit through the entirety of The Godfather.  I felt cheated by every black rapper on MTV Cribs when I finally saw Scarface. This show works for me because it's not just some show glorifying the mafia. It really delves deep into how the life of a Mafioso affects Tony Soprano and his family. The first episode caught me off guard when it began with Tony Soprano seeing a shrink. However, what I was originally scared was some lame plot device spawned one of the more interesting characters in the show. Pretty much every character is interesting in some respect and I'm looking forward to spending 5 more seasons with 'em.

Anyway, I hope my contributions in May are much higher than my contributions in April. Hopefully I will be done with my exams in 2 weeks and then my only excuse will be the new job.

While Mortals Sleep

I was feeling very bittersweet when I finished reading the fourteenth and final Kurt Vonnegut novel on my backlog last December, happy to have experienced my favorite author's works in their entirety but glum that there was nothing left. Then I remembered all of those short stories he wrote, and just got pumped to check those out. After all, long before I loved Vonnegut the novelist, I appreciated Vonnegut the short story author. "Harrison Bergeron" and "2BR02B" have long been favorites of mine, so with several full collections of more short stories waiting for me, I could possibly be headed for some of Vonnegut's best stuff yet. Right?

This was not some of Vonnegut's best stuff. While Mortals Sleep contains sixteen previously unpublished short stories written by Vonnegut in the 1950s. That's a double red flag, right off the bat. For one thing, "previously unpublished" means that each of these stories was either deemed unfit for publication by magazine editors at the time or unfit for attempted publication by Vonnegut himself. For another, if these stories were written in the 1950s it meant they were written by a very young Kurt Vonnegut - the one who wrote Player Piano, my least favorite of his novels by far.

The good news is that While Mortals Sleep was an all around more enjoyable read than Player Piano. The bad news is that this wasn't by a large margin. The thing with all short story collections is that they can be wildly inconsistent in tone or message, and they can also be wildly inconsistent in quality. There is no unifying theme to the stories collected posthumously into While Mortals Sleep, aside perhaps from that ever-present Vonnegut theme of humanism, and the stories ranged from utterly forgettable to enjoyable but still fairly forgettable. Most of all, my issue with 1950s Vonnegut, both here and in Player Piano, is that he hasn't quite found his distinctive voice yet. That weird but wonderful blend of absurdity, tragedy, and optimism isn't present here. While the aforementioned "Harrion Bergeron" and "2BR02B" take place in imaginative future societies with inventive features, and while his novels would ultimately deal with - repeatedly - the end of the world, space travel, time travel, and other fantastical elements, every story here takes place in a much "smaller" setting. The protagonists here are phone operators and sales clerks, not eccentric billionaires or prisoners of war. The settings here are ordinary places in mid-century America, not other planets or post-apocalyptic New York City.

None of these were bad stories. At worst, they were a bit boring, but none made me regret obtaining this short story collection. Of course, if the next Vonnegut short story collection I read isn't more entertaining, I will be disappointed. Time will tell. For now, I really can't recommend this book to anyone but hardcore Vonnegut fans - so, of the people reading this, basically Sweeney and no one else.

Bottle Rocket

Perhaps in order to best appreciate Wes Anderson, it would be wise to circle back to the very beginning. Back in 1996, before the man had honed his recognizable style, before Luke or Owen Wilson had ever appeared in anything else, Bottle Rocket launched the careers of all three. The movie and the lead performances had an amateurish feel to them which I actually kind of appreciated. The three Wes Anderson movies I've seen from the 2000s were precariously shot and impeccably polished, so it was a nice change of pace to see something just a little raw from the guy.

As far as the movie itself goes, it was pretty standard stuff - which made it quite different form anything else I've sen Wes Anderson do, of course. Two friends - Luke Wilson the straight man of sorts, and Owen Wilson the wacky wild card - go off on a spree of small time robberies and heists for no readily apparent reason. Luke falls in love with a hotel cleaning lady and Owen gets in a bit over his head on his "75-year plan." There's not much else to say, and this really wasn't a very unique movie at all. But it was simple and fun all the same, and perhaps more importantly it was a Wes Anderson movie that felt nothing at all like a Wes Anderson movie.

I swear though, I don't dislike Wes Anderson movies. Hell, I liked The Life Aquatic, widely considered the most offensively "Wes Anderson" movie Wes Anderson has ever made.

Wes Anderson.

The Royal Tenenbaums

Two months ago I spent far too many paragraphs here on an internal debate over whether or not I liked The Darjeeling Limited. My conclusion, or lack thereof, was that I liked it, disliked it, didn't like it, and didn't dislike it. At any rate, here's another Wes Anderson movie that's left me unable to give any real definitive reactions. The characters, their quirks, and the bizarrely specific bits of history given on each of them were entertaining and endearing, but the movie itself didn't seem quite as good as I've been expecting it to be for close to ten years now. Once again, I'm not sure why.

Instead of being negative and overwrought though, let me focus on one aspect of the movie I really emphatically and unequivocally loved: the introduction. In the first six minutes of the film, Anderson provides us a rich and vibrant picture of an eccentric family with three child prodigies. It felt like a Salinger short story from the get-go and it set the table for a potentially outstanding and unforgettable movie about the melancholy decline of a dysfunctional family of oddball elitists. Check it out for yourself and see if you agree:

The thing is, the hundred minutes that followed just weren't quite on that same level. There were some great performances, great scenes, and great jokes, but not since Pixar's Up have I seen a movie start out so promising only to fade immediately into something not nearly as good. Still good - don't get me wrong - but a minor letdown compared to the way it began.

I'm far from done with Wes Anderson, though. I've still got his first movie, his breakout hit, and his recent magnum opus in my backlog. Stay tuned.