30 Rock: Season 3

Barely snuck this one into the month of September. 30 Rock is a show that I always gave small chances to, but with an air of skepticism. For me, it was always the half hour between The Office and Always Sunny that couldn't go by fast enough, even if it did have scores of Emmy nominations. Still, the hype was undeniable; people loved this show. Early this summer, I found the first two seasons on DVD packaged together for just $25. In a purchase that could be described as both impulsive and pennywise, I went for it. I almost immediately regretted the decision. Season 1, for whatever reason, was difficult to stomach. Nevertheless, I bore through it and began Season 2 with low expectations. To my great surprise, I enjoyed it. My regret was gone. Season 3 wasn't any more enjoyable than Season 2, but at the same time it was no less enjoyable. So it seems like the show has found its groove and is doing all the right things to stay there. And that's fine. Now, having seen Seasons 2 and 3, I think I know what I hated about Season 1 by comparison: far too much Tina Fey. I think, and have always thought, that Tina Fey is attractive, intelligent, and humorous. But I have never found her to be gorgeous, brilliant, or hilarious. Someone once claimed that Tina Fey had been underrated for so long that once she finally burst into the national spotlight (around the time 30 Rock debuted) she was immediately over-praised. I couldn't agree more, especially in Season 1 of 30 Rock. The show is obviously based at least loosely on her time as a head writer at SNL, and I just got all kinds of self-important vibes coming from her (through her character) in the first season. Also, way too much Rachel Dratch. Rachel Dratch isn't funny. If you want to use her once or twice, fine, but she popped up like five different times - as five different characters, no less - in Season 1. Seriously? This isn't SNL, it's weeknight primetime. People have expectations. The quickest way to kill a show must be to throw Rachel Dratch at an audience in weekly doses. She even played male roles at times. This may have flown on SNL but, again, this is not SNL! Fortunately, Dratch was only around for Season 1. And for the most part, so was the self-aggrandizing Tina Fey; the ensuing two efforts were more subdued and largely better. The show still has its minor flaws, but try as I might to come up with something else to bitch about, I can't. I suppose at times Tina Fey comes off as a smarmy liberal, breaking the fourth wall to make snide political commentary here and there, but, again, maybe this is just her character speaking. Alec Baldwin and Tracy Morgan are great at all times, as are the lesser-known Jane Krakowski and Jack McBrayer. And the amount of guest stars is unreal. In Season 3 alone we saw Steve Martin, Jennifer Aniston, and Oprah Winfrey, all within the first four episodes. Salma Hayek joined for a multi-episode arc as well. Plenty of other well-known stars have recurring roles and cameos as well. I credit Tina Fey and her SNL alum status. After all, that show pulls in guest hosts every week. In the end, this is not a show that I dislike, at all. But it is also not a show that I would tell other people to watch. At times, it's absolutely brilliant. But brilliance doesn't always translate to comedy, and also, I stress "at times." I look forward to the upcoming season, but part of this anticipation could be excitement over finally enjoying the bridge between The Office and Sunny. I dunno. If you haven't given it a shot yet, you might enjoy it. But I'm not telling you to watch it. It hasn't earned that yet. Maybe it has from its countless Emmy nominations, but it hasn't from me. At least not yet. Not yet.

Feel the Magic: XY/XX

Imagine a zany and nutty Japanese performance group that dresses up as rabbits and does all sorts of zany and nutty activities. Now insert a love interest, and presto, you've got Feel the Magic. I found this game at T.J. Maxx, of all places, for the low price of $9.99. I thought nothing of it, but a friend I was with told me that the game was both rare and enjoyable. Once I got him to confirm that it was short (and it was - unless you consider two hours to be a long time), I went ahead with the impulse buy. I'm glad I did it. This game is absolutely ridiculous. It's nonsensical to the extreme, but doesn't pretend it isn't. I'm struggling to describe it. I mean, just look at the cover and title. And it gets even more perverse; in other regions, the game was released as Project Rub. So just what the hell is it? It starts with a man (you) walking around, when all of a sudden you bump into another man and some goldfish one of you was carrying end up getting swallowed. Level 1 consists of rubbing the stylus in upward strokes to coax the goldfish back up the man's esophagus. As they exit, a vomiting noise occurs and rainbows appear. Once they're out, a group called the "Rub Rabbits" asks you to join their crew. What they do is never, ever explained, even in the least. But whatever it is includes chasing helicopters with unicycles, blowing out gigantic candles, and rescuing people from antlions. A girl appears, and our blue-bearded protagonist must win her affections. At first this is done mostly through absurd street performances. But things start to get a little hot when sometime around Level 4 or so, the girl is covered in mud and asks you to wipe it off of her skin. But you must do so gently! Rub the stylus too hard, and she begins to shy away. Rub it on her delicate areas, and boy are you in trouble. Eventually, through a series of levels, our hero asks the girl out on a date, takes her out on said date, and even gets a kiss from her. They laugh, dance, and even spend some time on a deserted island together. But suddenly, a kidnapping! Egads! The whole thing turns into a textbook "Princess Peach has been taken away" situation and the final few levels are spent entering the big bad guy's lair and rescuing your girl. Like, even from death, with CPR. And that's the game, plot and all, in a nutshell. I'm amazed I could follow it that coherently. It's easily the weirdest game I have ever played, but then, that's what I was hoping for and expecting. It's also important to point out that despite having a plot that is absurd as can be, the gameplay itself never suffers. It's just a series of 20 or 30 short minigames and nothing more. I'm happy my friend made the recommendation, because even given every game ever made and a million years to play them all, I don't think I ever would have touched this one. Do I feel a little bit perverted and sad having spent a few minutes rubbing and caressing a 2D digital woman with a toothpick-sized stick? Definitely. But it's not nearly as bad as it sounds. Now, back to Scribblenauts, where the extent of perversion is up to the player. Is it immoral to feed babies to alligators or give landmines to trick-or-treaters? You be the judge, because I sure won't be.

Dirty Work

It's a good thing no one reads this blog, because if we had millions of readers, I'm sure I'd be under constant fire for checking in only a few times a month while Stan must have over 50 posts so far. I can't claim I have more of a life, I think it's more the fact that I'm lazy. But I can't beat myself up over this lengthy time between updates- since Wolves of the Calla, I've been reading a a book that's somewhat long and definitely slow but still good enough for me to think I can finish, as well as two new games from start to finish. While none of these are done, I decided to backlog a movie this morning and get back to them later. I have a small DVD collection that's already fully watched, but I found a movie I was interested in- Dirty Work- for free on Demand so I gave it a watch. Released in 1998, Dirty Work contains a pretty funny cast- Norm Macdonald, Chevy Chase and Chris Farley being the big names, but there's also some usual suspects who popped up in a few 90's comedies- Artie Lange, Christopher McDonald (remember Shooter from Happy Gilmore, also the coach from that piece of shit Celtic Pride? Ugh.), and even a cameo from Adam Sandler. With a cast like that, you probably know what kind of humor the movie is going to deliver- sophomoric and periodically slapstick, but with a good heart- the same as Tommy Boy, Billy Madison, and the like. So, I was pretty surprised by implied off-screen prison rape, mass-murder, and incest. Not to say it wasn't funny. The deadpan delivery of both Norm and Chevy had me rolling, and even Artie Lange, a train wreck even Mad TV wouldn't employ, was competent in his role. While some of the jokes fell flat, a lot of them didn't, and it has me wondering why Dirty Work isn't remembered as fondly as some of the other 90's comedies from the same cast. Were Big Daddy and Black Sheep really that much better than this? I propose that they weren't. But then, none of them were high cinema in the first place, either. So I guess if you're looking for a funny distraction, Dirty Work works well enough.

Dances With Wolves

Just four months ago, I purchased this contemporary classic at Wal-Mart for $5 or so. I wasn't expecting much in particular, but ended up enjoying the film very much. It was very nice to see Native Americans portrayed in a humanizing, positive light for once in a blockbuster movie. My limited research has told me that this was a movie of epic proportions back when it came out almost 20 years ago, and that Kevin Costner spent a total of five years crafting, preparing for, and acting out his role. It shows. The production value on this movie is unlike any other from its time, save maybe for Terminator 2 and Jurassic Park - but both of these films came out later than Dances With Wolves and had special effects that were impressive for their time but commonplace now; it isn't often you find a movie with as much attention to detail as Dances With Wolves, even today. Still, as far as Native American period pieces go, I prefer The Last of the Mohicans over this movie, savage stereotypes and all. I can't pinpoint a specific reason, so I'll credit its memorable score - no one who has seen it can ever forget its goosebump-inducing motif - and the fact that it is a full hour shorter than Dances With Wolves, which clocks in at just a hair under three full hours. Now, I'll admit I've done my fair share of griping about lengthy running times lately, but at least Dances With Wolves is the type of movie that can pull off three hours, a length reserved for epics and epics alone. Standard dramas should run no more than two and a quarter. And comedies? An hour forty-five is pushing it. The movie was enjoyable from start to finish, and though parts were slow or sluggish, I never once lost interest entirely. And that's saying something, because I often do exactly that during 180-minute periods of time. Dances With Wolves seems like a timeless treat, but not necessarily one that is teeming with originality or premise-setting qualities. I liked it enough to warrant watching it again, and that can't make it half bad at all, even if it's longer than the average season of Aqua Teen Hunger Force. Of course, most importantly, another movie has been stricken from my backlog. I have 33 to go and show no signs of slowing down. Onward!

Schoolhouse Rock!

I picked this one up a week ago when I saw it at Target for a scant ten dollars. Every Schoolhouse Rock! video ever created, for ten bucks? Too good for me to pass up. Schoolhouse Rock! was part of my childhood; I remember watching these '70s creations over and over again back in the early '90s. Now, just three months and change shy of the '10s (teens?) I've seen them all again, and some for the first time at all. What amazes me most about the experience of re-watching the series after 15 years away from it is the disparity among my recollection abilities of different videos. There were some in the collection I'm sure I'd legitimately never seen before, but there were plenty I knew I had seen for which I lacked any memories at all. Take the multiplication series, for example. I know that years and years ago, when I watched the series on VHS as a child, I had a tape with all the multiplication songs on it. Some of these (2, 3, 8, and 9) I found myself extremely capable of recalling. Others (such as 0 and 5) rang bells, but I could never have hoped to remember anything about them without present-day viewing. Many of the rest seemed completely foreign to me. It's weird; I know I saw all of these, and due to simple probability, should not have seen any of them much more often than any of the others. Yet the disparity was amazing. I don't just mean with the math videos, either. For example, I found myself nearly able to sing along to the songs about interjections and adjectives, but then I was also lost entirely when it came to verbs, nouns, and adverbs. Of course, I was plenty ready for my conjunctions. And that leads me to another big point. For those familiar with Schoolhouse Rock!, the very mentioning of the program's title will incite imagery of one of two songs like 90% of the time. Those two are "Conjunction Junction" and "I'm Just a Bill." Don't believe me? Then explain why the DVD cover includes the Junction Man and Bill. It's just a fact: Schoolhouse Rock! is known the world over for these two songs and characters. And there's good reason for this, as the songs are fantastic. Unfortunately, remove those two songs from the collection, and the DVD is just a collection of usually cute but always crude animations set to cheesy educational songs. In short, nothing to write home about. (It's worth noting that the same guy - Jack Sheldon - voices both the Junction Man and Bill.) I enjoyed the experience of re-watching the series, but it lacked the sense of nostalgia that a truly important blast from the past would have included. It holds up well for the most part, which is impressive for a 30-year old show. Still, at times it comes off as dated and even just flat out incorrect based on today's knowledge and conventions. But again, I'm more amazed by how well it holds up than I am by where it falls short. Well worth the $10 pricetag.

It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia: Season 4

There are a lot of funny television shows out there today, and one thing all the best ones have in common is, ironically enough, an uncommon uniqueness. The Office has its ensemble cast of zany characters and deadpan mockumentary style. Curb Your Enthusiasm works because it extracts humor from every day situations. South Park is incredibly topical. Arrested Development teemed with self-references and inside jokes. So what's so special about It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia? Nothing. It's just a show about five truly terrible people and the awful situations they put themselves (and others around them) through on a day-to-day basis. And that's what makes it so awesome. Not one of the characters has any redeeming qualities whatsoever. No topic is too sensitive for the show to tackle, be it a current event (the housing crisis), a controversial topic (abortion), egregious racism, or even taboo subjects like teenage drinking and faking cancer. Every episode of Sunny is a guilty pleasure. The first DVD release had the tagline "Good clean fun" written across the top, but with the words "good" and "clean" crossed out. And really, there's no better way to describe it. Sunny appeals to the awful person in us all while making us feel good about our own moral compasses, however weak they may be. So let's talk about Season 4. In my personal opinion, I think the show pulled off the incredibly rare (but slightly unfortunate) feat of peaking right off the bat. Many shows have a shitty pilot, take a few episodes to get going, or even suck for an entire season before working through the kinks. That simply wasn't the case with this gem. In fact, if I had to name the greatest four-episode run in the show's four seasons so far, I wouldn't even hesitate to call it episodes one through four. That's how I fell in love with the show; I gave the pilot a chance, loved it, and then found each of the next three episodes to be better than the last. Simply amazing. Now, that isn't to say it's been all downhill since then; many other individual episodes have surpassed the first four. But the show hasn't been as consistent - for me - since the first season. Again, at times, it's been better. The addition of Danny DeVito at the onset of the second season definitely added veteran talent and depth to the cast, and the move has found paydirt many, many times. As far as Season 4 was concerned, I guess I'll just break it down for you. There are 13 total episodes in the season, making for 45 cumulative through the show's first four years. For me, two of Season 4's episodes - "The Nightman Cometh" and "Mac & Charlie Die: Part 1" could be described as amazing (top 10 overall). Five more episodes were solid, but the remaining six ranged from "so-so" to "eh" - by Always Sunny standards, at least. I mean, the show's first attempt at historical fiction ("The Gang Cracks the Liberty Bell") was cute, but I wouldn't necessarily call it successful. And come on, "Who Pooped the Bed?" It's exactly what it sounds like: a twenty-two minute "mystery" surrounding a fecal incident. The show might not have the most ingenious writing, but it's typically far more clever than that. Anyway, the bottom line is that Season 4 is full of intermittent hits and misses. Inconsistency is the name of the game here. But hey, it's still one of the funniest shows on television today. Watch it if you haven't. Seriously. You won't regret it.

The Last Battle

Reading every book in this series has been a struggle to a certain extent, so I find it only fitting that the final one was called The Last Battle. I found that this book was essentially divisible into three unique and separate parts. Its beginning and set-up were clever, well-crafted, and enjoyable enough. Then the entire middle section, in which the titular "battle" took place, was a discombobulated mash-up of irrelevance. The white Narnians defeated the pseudo-Islamic "Darkies" (surprise!) and with nearly no segue at all we find ourselves in the third and final act of the seventh and final book. I typically refrain from posting spoilers, and even less often alert all two of my readers that spoilers will be coming, but, well, brace yourselves, because here's the ending of the book (and series) in a nutshell. With the Narnians decimated, but the battle won, Aslan appears and all the Narnians, both dead and alive, gather around him. It's essentially Judgment Day, and one by one the people and animals of Narnia are either allowed to pass through a special door or turned away from it. The door leads to heaven - I mean, "Aslan's Country" - and those left behind in Narnia witness the end of the world as the sky goes dark, the stars fall from the sky, the vegetation dies, and the seas rise up to cover the dark, desolate, barren remnants of Narnia. Basically, it's the Apocalypse. The Tribulation. I didn't mention it before, but there was a clear false prophet and Anti-Christ character responsible for starting the last battle in the first place. Eventually the children ("Sons of Adam" and "Daughters of Eve") from our own world find themselves in Aslan's Country with all of their old friends from the previous six books. We learn in the final paragraph or so that they had all been killed in the real world (London) in a train crash, and thus, were allowed to remain in heaven - pardon me, Aslan's Country - for all eternity. So yeah. Deep stuff. Definitely not my favorite of the seven Chronicles of Narnia, but easily the deepest and most religious and philosophical narrative of them all. I found it to be a fitting finale. It contained the best and the worst of C. S. Lewis, from the deepest and most moving plot to the deepest and most biting racism. With all seven now complete, I suppose I can rank them. My favorite of the seven is still The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (5) for reasons not wholly known. Second on the list is probably The Magician's Nephew (1), although it's hard to be certain because I read it ten years ago. This book, The Last Battle (7), comes in third because I appreciated both its complexities and its sense of ultimate closure. The next spot has to go to The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2) based mostly on its status as a classic. It's followed closely by The Silver Chair (6) and Prince Caspian (4), two boring and predictable books differentiated only by the fact that I found one of them just slightly less boring and predictable than the other. Finally, finishing in a distant, distant last place is The Horse and His Boy (3), a terrible book whose only message seemed to be that white Christians are superior to everybody else. The lack of any decent plot, likable characters, or originality didn't help its case, either. So, am I glad I'm done with this series? Yes. But am I disappointed I read them? No. They're simply a collection of short and easy children's books that happen to be borderline classics. Plus, I was the one who read them; I wanted to. I wanted to finish every book that I own and that goal would have been impossible had I skipped out on these. What comes next on my reading list? I have no idea. I'm still in the middle of American Lion, but that's one slow read, so I sincerely doubt that'll be the next book you see my post about here. I suppose only time will tell. Forever's gonna start tonight.

The Office: Season 5

Another school year begins; another season of The Office has been plowed through. It's been a tradition of sorts for me to take a week or so before the homework starts pouring in and re-watch the last season on DVD. And when I say "a tradition of sorts," all I mean is that the DVD release dates always seem to coincide with the mid-September easy times. Anyway, let's discuss The Office, and in particular, its fifth season. First and foremost, I think The Office is one of the funniest shows on television today, along with Curb Your Enthusiasm and It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. When it debuted on NBC back in 2005, many fans of the original British series scoffed at the prospect of an Americanized butchering of a classic. I was among that crowd. It wasn't until I got to college that I gave it a shot, because it seemed like the "hot" show everyone else was watching. And I enjoyed it. I promptly purchased Seasons 1 and 2 on DVD and began the long and storied aforementioned tradition of wasting a week in September on a TV show. In hindsight, I definitely caught the show at its peak. It's not uncommon for a series to peak sometime in or around its third season. With comedies, you can usually expect more of a plateau; the show ceases to get better, but can maintain everything it has. Sadly, Season 5 may mark the end of The Office's plateau. Seasons 1 and 2 were used to build up the large and diverse array of characters and set the foundations for a few major series-long story arcs. There was Jim and Pam's relationship. There was the constant threat of downsizing. There was boss Michael Scott's incessant quest to be loved both by his employees and in general. The thing is, all of these plot points were prevalent in the classic 12-episode British version. The American show didn't even start to feel like a truly different series until some time around the end of Season 2 or the beginning of Season 3. New characters were introduced. New plotlines were created. By Season 3's end, the show was legitimately my favorite comedy since Arrested Development's cancellation. But then came Season 4. Writer's strike aside, Season 4 felt very odd and incomplete. The series boldly debuted with four straight one-hour episodes, and frankly, it was a bit much. One feature on the Season 5 DVD set I just watched was a "100 episodes, 100 moments" video in which each of the show's 100 episodes was represented by a single few-second clip. I was amazed both by how jam-packed with memorable moments Episodes 1-30 had (Seasons 1 and 2) and how startlingly bland Episodes 50+ were by comparison (Seasons 4 and 5). Season 4 began with Jim and Pam dating, but did not end with them engaged or living together. It saw the perpetually lonely Michael in a stable relationship - his second of the show's run - only to have him endure heartbreak and rebound attempts - a formula which would repeat itself in Season 5. I guess the show as a long-running entity just seems to have gotten a bit, I don't know, stale. That said, it's the moments and quotes that make the episodes some of the funniest half-hours on television, and thankfully, there seems to be no real sign of the writers slowing down or slacking off when it comes to the day-to-day laughs provided. In fact, Season 5 even wound down with the conclusion of a very interesting subplot: Michael starting his own paper company. This four-or-five-episode run showed to me that The Office can still be unique and original; there is indeed plenty of unburned fuel left in the creative tank. I also enjoyed the introduction of Erin, the new secretary, and hope she's here to stay. In fact, I would pose that a steady influx of new characters is vital to the show's success. Part of what makes it unique among comedies is its ensemble cast. By bringing in new talents, whether permanently or just for a few episodes at a time, the show is renewing and refreshing its own greatest asset. So all things considered, where does the show stand after 5 seasons and 100 episodes? I'd say both "on solid ground" and also "past its prime." The Jim and Pam thing can only realistically end in one way (marriage), and that specific way is bound to come soon. Because that story is the current heart of the show, I just don't see them dragging more than two more seasons out of The Office. The only way to do so would be to kill off said relationship, with a messy divorce (or separation) sometime in Season 7. You could plant the seeds for it late in Season 6. But that would take some serious balls that I just don't think the conservative network guys have. Even still, no matter how daring they get with the Jim and Pam relationship, it's tough to see the show making it more than a couple more years. I'm putting the over/under at 160 total episodes, which is roughly two and a half more seasons. The Office is a good show, and even though its best years are behind us now, it still beats most things out there. I just have no idea how the writers intend to keep things fresh once Jim and Pam are married and Dunder Mifflin has closed down yet another branch. Maybe that's the best way to end the show: with Dunder Mifflin going out of business. Maybe that can re-emerge as the main conflict after all. And maybe the Jim and Pam story has more juice left in it than I thought, even if a divorce isn't in their future. They could always have kids, struggle to raise them, and fear their lack of job security all the more because of it. Alright, alright. I'll stop predicting what'll happen. Here's looking forward to Season 6. I, for one, won't miss an episode.

The Last King of Scotland

Forest Whitaker makes this movie. There's no question about it. Without him, it'd be nothing more than okay. Instead, it's pretty good. I'm not sure if I've seen every Best Actor nominee he was up against in 2006, but based on what I just saw, I think the Academy was justified in giving him the Oscar. The film, based on true events, is about a young Scottish doctor who travels to Uganda to practice medicine. There, he gets caught up in a coup led by Idi Amin (Whitaker) who, by chance, happens to love Scotland and Scottish culture. Bonds develop and before long the doctor is employed as Amin's personal physician. Of course, as the film's second act unfolds, we see that things in Uganda are far worse than we had initially expected them to be under Amin's reign. He's a dictator - who'd've thunk it? - conducting mass genocide and general oppression. If I told you about the third act, you'd tell me I was spoiling things. So I won't. But, suffice it to say, it's nothing you haven't seen before. The two things keeping this movie from being a generic 4 or 5 are Forest Whitaker (+2) and its basis on a true totalitarian regime (+1). Voila: a 7 or an 8; a pretty solid film. I suppose it's fair and right to compare the movie to other contemporary African dramas. It sure beats Blood Diamond, and I've yet to see Hotel Rwanda. My favorite African-set movie? Probably The Power of One, but I must admit it's been about ten years since I saw it. But I've gone off track again. The Last King of Scotland is good-not-great, and its main selling point is definitely Forest Whitaker's portrayal of the crazy man who took over a nation. See it if you wish.

A Tragedy of Errors

It has been a frustrating day. I fear that a certain game of mine may be unreadable beyond a certain point, and far worse, my two-year-old Wii could be knocking on heaven's door. Allow me to elaborate.

I awoke this morning around 10:30 or so and went straight to my Wii to play some Metroid Prime 2: Echoes. I'm about one third done with it, and am probably at my peak in terms of being engrossed in it. It's been really enjoyable thus far and I was really looking forward to playing it this morning before watching football all day. Unfortunately, the game froze about five minutes into my session of gameplay. This was especially irritating because Echoes had frozen a few nights ago at a separate point in the game. What I had dismissed as a fluke, I now had to accept as a real problem: something about my copy of Echoes on my Wii was not working out. I abandoned my plans for wasting my morning away, but returned to the game earlier tonight. This time, the game froze even sooner. What gave?

I put the game away and opted to work on my progress in Final Fantasy IV: The After Years, a WiiWare game that I was really into over the summer. I noticed several flickering flecks on the TV image. Now, these weren't disruptive flecks, and I was able to successfully complete "Porom's Tale" without any incidents. Still, the flecks were annoying, distracting, and obviously nothing anyone would want to see. I assumed the video connection was faulty, or perhaps even the TV. Nope - transferring the Wii to a second TV did not fix the problem. My heart sunk as I realized a terrible prospect: that of a dying Wii.

Some research online has only served to confirm my worst suspicions; my Wii is on its way out, and this is the universal tell-tale first sign. Now, this sucks for a number of reasons, but the $200 pricetag for a new Wii isn't the one I'm most upset about, believe it or not. That honor belongs to the inevitable loss of game data. Most files on the Wii can be transferred onto memory cards and transferred easily between systems. However, two very important and beloved games, Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Mario Kart Wii are incapable of transferring their data. What this means is that I will have to part with hundreds of hours of combined "work" on these two games. This, to me, is the real shame in a dead Wii.

I should really make the most of my Wii's remaining time on Earth. I should prioritize heavily, bumping all of the games stored on my Wii's system memory (After Years and Super Metroid) to the top of the list, followed closely by Wii games whose progress I have begun (Trauma Center: Second Opinion and Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz). Perhaps things will be okay. Maybe I can deal with a few flecks of flickering graphics glitches, or even get used to them. And maybe things will get no worse. Still, I'd rather proceed cautiously than optimistically. In fact, if anything, witnessing my Wii on its deathbed has only turned me away from it for the time being; I doubt I'll be in any mood to deal with this situation in the near future. But then, anything is possible.

This isn't the first system to crap out on me, and I'm sure it won't be the last. I just wish Nintendo hadn't handcuffed my most prized game data to a sinking ship. In the mean time, I suppose I should start looking for a SanDisk lifeboat to salvage the data I can. Here's hoping my Echoes copy is compatible with my GameCube back home.

Well, at least I still have my books.

Fiddler on the Roof

I wanted to love this musical. I felt like if I could genuinely love it, it would reflect positively upon me in various ways. I'd be cultured, or something. Perhaps more dignified in some way. Alas, I did not enjoy this movie as much as I hoped I would. Perhaps my expectations were set too high, or perhaps I just had a misconception or two going into it. Okay, I'll admit it: I had no idea this was a musical. So please excuse my tepid reactions to it. Still, things started out well. When the first three songs of the film were "Tradition," "Matchmaker, Matchmaker," and "If I Were a Rich Man," all of which I had known about, but none of which I knew came from this musical, my hopes got very high. But the remaining two and a half hours of the movie featured no remotely familiar numbers. That isn't to say they weren't any good - I very much enjoyed "Miracle of Miracles" and "Do You Love Me." Still, they weren't enough to carry a three hour film. As is the case with any musical, between the songs there is a plot. I liked this plot. It reminded me in many ways of Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart. The main character, a big and burly head of household by the name of Tevye, was very likable and it wasn't hard at all to identify with his struggles and plights. Most chief of these hardships was his very way of life crumbling around him as the Jewish traditions of his little Russian village give way to the modern 20th Century world. I liked the movie's conclusion, sad as it was, as Tevye and his family have been stripped of essentially all of their rights and happiness but still refuse to break. It's strange, sort of; whether its The Ten Commandments or Schindler's List, Jews are always getting the short end of the stick in movies like this one, and the one time Jews are in any position of power on film, they beat up, torture, and kill the most popular dude in Western history - Jesus Christ himself. It just doesn't seem fair, but then, I guess the movies are just sticking to history. It all begs the question: have Jews ever really not been persecuted, at any point in the past two or three millennia? And please, spare me the "Jews control the media/banks/world" jokes. Oh well. This blog is neither religious nor historical in context. The point is, I watched Fiddler on the Roof, wanted to give it a 9 or a 10, and ended up only finding it worthy of a 6 or 7. Not bad, of course, but from a three hour classic, I was hoping for just a little bit more. Still, what more could I hope for than the completion of yet another DVD? The backlog is down to 35 DVDs. Onward!

The Silence of the Lambs

Would you believe me if I told you I have never seen 1991's best picture, The Silence of the Lambs? Well, you shouldn't. Because now I have. Overall, I was largely impressed by the horror mystery film. Anthony Hopkins' Hannibal was as chilling as movie characters come and the guy who played Buffalo Bill was a pretty creepy dude himself; kudos to both. Jodie Foster is an actress whose work as a whole I am largely unfamiliar with, but she did a pretty decent job with her role as well. The film had a lot going for it; it was suspenseful, psychological, and definitely classic. In fact, it was such a solid and complete movie that the only peeves I had with it at all were of extreme triviality. Allow me to share the biggest one, and see for yourself that I really did enjoy this movie. No real spoilers, I promise. Ready? Okay. So the woman we see Buffalo Bill kidnap is supposed to be a Senator's daughter, but we can clearly see that she lives in a very lower-middle class part of an urban area. Really? I'm just not buying this as anything more than "potentially plausible." So, yeah, my biggest problem with the movie was that something was unlikely to happen. But I mean, show me a movie where that's not the case and I'll show you a hundred where it is. The bottom line is that The Silence of the Lambs was an excellent movie that lived up to its hype. I can't say I'm in any rush to see the rest of the Hannibal movies, but this one gets a nine out of ten.

Halo 3

Do you Halo, Halo, Halo, Halo? I did tonight, beating the third and final installment on the heroic difficulty setting with a four-man co-op team consisting of myself, my girlfriend, and two apartment-mates. Now, I could go on and on about how awesome Halo 3's online multiplayer is (simply the best), but the Back-Blogged project is all about beating games, not beating strangers. Because of this, I must judge this game solely on its campaign. I'll be frank: it was good but not great. There was just a little too much of a "beat 'em up" feel to the game and not quite enough thinking involved. When our team struggled to make progress in a level, it was only because we were lost or confused about where to head next, as opposed to there being some kind of challenge we could not solve. The final level's final challenge was really cool, but also nearly identical to the conclusion of the first Halo. In a way, it felt like, wow, I've been here before. And that's never how the final part of the final level of the final game of a best-selling classic series should make you feel. I guess the important thing, however, is whether or not one has fun playing a game. In this case, I can say that I most certainly did. Playing an entire game, co-op, with headsets in different rooms was an experience unlike any other I have ever endured. It was like having a lengthy cell phone conversation, yakking it up with friends, while at the same time enjoying a highly renowned game. There was plenty of both teamwork and boredom-induced friendly fire. I think what strikes me most about the experience was how random and spontaneous an idea it was. It's a rainy and crappy Friday night after our first week of classes, and the four of us opted not to go out, laying low instead. Someone suggested a co-op of Halo 3, and nobody contested. Before we knew it, five hours were gone and we'd beaten all nine levels. Achievements abounded (a couple thousand gamerscore points were earned to the delight of everyone involved) and the good times rolled. And it was all thanks to a rainy Friday night.

The Silver Chair

Another week, another Narnia book. This one was so-so. I found myself very bored for the majority of the first two thirds of it, and the climactic moment occurs with about a quarter of the book remaining; there really wasn't much going on here at all, and what did go on was largely uninspired and predictable. In this regard, it felt very much like Prince Caspian. But it was a slightly better book overall. A big part of this was Puddleglum, a "marsh-wiggle," who is probably my favorite Lewis character to date. For once, Lewis has crafted his own race - some sort of dreadlocked duck-like humanoid with the lanky build of a scarecrow - as opposed to the trite and overused fantasy cliches he typically throws into his stories: dwarves, centaurs, fauns, and the like. Puddleglum is as pessimistic as Charlie Brown, and his dry humor and depressing wit made for a refreshing change in the Narnia books which tend to be full of hope, sunshine, and staunch optimism. Puddleglum felt like a Lewis Carroll creation and some of his antics made me feel as if I was reading Alice in Wonderland Lite. At other times, I felt like I was reading a terrible Gulliver's Travels knock-off, as our heroes took an all-too predictable series of chapters interacting with both giants and underground-dwelling people. I mean, honestly, the "Giant Land" part of the book couldn't have been any more obvious from start to finish. It turns out that the giants who have invited our three journeyers into their castle for a great big feast are actually planning to cook and eat the trio. This might not have even been so clear from the get-go had Lewis not referenced that the giants seemed "untrustworthy" to the kids like five or six times. Plenty of other plot points and "twists" could be seen coming right from their respective set-ups, but I won't bore myself or any possible readers out there by delving into them; the book is, after all, "for children," as its cover so clearly indicates. One more Narnia book separates me from the completion of this banal heptalogy. I'll put on my shit-eating grin and bear it, but honestly, my expectations are pretty low. After all, why expect book seven to be any better than the average of books one through six?

Dexter: Season 3

Dexter is a television show I started watching this summer when my girlfriend gave me the first two seasons for my birthday. I was pleased, and, having just completed the third season tonight, still am. Dexter puts a very fresh twist on the old and boring "cop drama" genre. No big spoiler here, but the twist in question is that Dexter is a serial killer. But he's a serial killer with a conscience. He follows a "code" and only kills those who meet certain criteria. Getting an audience to empathize with a serial killer is no easy feat, and the fact that Dexter manages to do so is one testament to its greatness. I think what makes the show work so well, more than anything else, is the extent to which we are immersed in Dexter's mind and flow of consciousness. While he never breaks the fourth wall by addressing we the viewers directly, Dexter is always chiming in with voice overs in which he expresses his reactions to scenarios and statements. You could definitely say that this show is a dark comedy. It's worth checking out, and in my opinion, it's the best series on Showtime. So how does the third season compare to the first two? It definitely beats Season 2, which really wasn't all that bad except for a rushed and jumbled "what the fuck?" style finale. Unfortunately, Season 3 also finds itself getting a little crazy around finale time. But not as crazy. The last two seasons are difficult to compare to Season 1 because that season was much simpler and more straightforward; so much of it involved learning about the various characters and their histories (most notably, Dexter's). So when Season 1 pulled out a big twist or great moment it was tough not to be impressed and caught off guard in a good way. With Seasons 2 and 3 though, the plots and cases became much more intricate and convoluted. So, you know, not really "better" or "worse" but instead just different. All of that having been said, Season 1's finale dropped an absolute mindfuck of a twist on me, while Season 3's finale seemed a tad weak and Season 2's was just bad. And, since each season of Dexter is a mystery of sorts, and the most memorable part of any mystery is the conclusion, I'd have to rank the seasons in accordance with their finales: 1, 3, and 2, in that order. Again, I'm going on the record here and saying that Dexter is something you might enjoy. I guess this show has caused a lot of controversy as far as uppity parents calling it immoral and outrageous. But unless you think it's wrong to empathize with a fictional serial killer, I think you'll enjoy the show.

Metroid Prime

Looking for a must-have from the early 2000s era? Look no further. Metroid Prime is the greatest single-player game I've seen on the Nintendo GameCube. It's an FPS, but holy shit, it is so much more than just another FPS. Picture a Zelda game set on alien planets and played from a first-person perspective. There's no multiplayer option, but who cares? A game with a "campaign" this good doesn't need to be watered down by level-based deathmatches on a split screen. As far as the FPS genre goes, this is the greatest one I've ever played. That includes all the Halos and Gears games, as well as a handful of other classics like Half-Life and Call of Duty. What makes this game so special is the intricate map design. Enormous landscapes and caverns abound. "Hidden" objects and power-ups aren't really hidden at all for the most part, but placed in strategic locations that you will not be able to access the first time you play through an area of the game. You progress linearly for the most part, but that line is far from straight and often doubles back on itself, loops around, and zigs and zags everywhere. Near the end of the game, you reach a point where you are told to go back throughout the various areas and find 12 artifacts that will open the way to the final boss. This is where I stopped playing the game six years ago, and where I resumed playing it yesterday. I figured I would need to invest a few nights and also peruse some walkthroughs in order to find all 12 objects, but I was delighted by the pace at which I found all 12 artifacts - two hours, maybe three total. And I only used a walkthrough once, and even then, only because I had forgotten about a pivotal special ability my Samus character had acquired prior to my six year hiatus. From there, it was time for a difficult boss (Meta Ridley) and then an incredibly difficult two-stage boss: the titular "Metroid Prime" itself. Now, maybe I can blame my time away from the game a bit, but these last three bosses were really, really challenging. And frankly, I didn't have the patience not to get frustrated by repeated failed attempts at killing them. The very last boss, which is really the second stage of Metroid Prime, actually wasn't that bad, but Metroid Prime's first stage always did such a number on my health and missile supplies that I was always knocking on death's door throughout the battle. The nice part about the game though is that aside from these bosses - and probably a few others earlier in the game - nothing in the game will even come close to killing you. Apparently, this was intentional. The makers wanted the challenge of the game to be exploration-centric, and not just all about killing and avoiding enemies. I love this. You can't really say it's a puzzle game, or even that it contains dungeons with puzzles a la Zelda, but it's certainly a thinking game. Where do I go next? What areas will this new upgrade allow me to access? Allegedly, this is the best game in the Metroid Prime trilogy, but as someone who has played more than half of the second one and even a bit of the third, I can vouch that it's not really a huge drop-off by any means from one game to the next. I look forward to playing and finishing Prime 2: Echoes and Prime 3: Corruption in the near future, schoolwork permitting. It really was just a blast to play this game back in my early high school years. It's not perfect; keep in mind the aforementioned frustration levels and also allow me to admit that there's really no great story and also that the controls are just a tiny bit clunky. Still, again, it's the greatest one-player GameCube game I've played to date. Oh yeah, and rumor has it Sweeney's been playing his own Wii version of Metroid Prime, so if you see a second review pop up anytime soon (or ever), make sure to find out his take. For his sake, I hope it's even half as good as mine. But I'm sure it will be.

Wii Sports Resort

I guess this is technically the sequel to Wii Sports, but how does a game without a story really have a sequel? It's like calling Madden 10 the sequel to Madden 09. I bought the game recently (it's only been out for like a month or so) and can say that I have mixed feelings about it. On the one hand, it's great to finally have extreme precision in the Wii remotes with the new controller add-on, Wii MotionPlus. On the other, wasn't the Wii always supposed to have precise one-to-one controls? Because this game more than any other is one to enjoy with friends, it's more or less a given that you need to purchase at least one additional Wii MotionPlus with this game. All said and done, you're looking at $70 to play a game with no story, bad graphics, and a "we should have seen this three years ago" feel. But the game has one huge saving grace in its replay value. With a dozen gametypes to choose from and several subsets of each gametype available, some of these games will just never get old. The improvement from Wii Sports of five games to twelve is really the only thing that makes this worth buying. Be warned, though: two games, golf and bowling, are repeats. The massive appeal of Wii Sports Resort helps its case as well. This is a game anyone could enjoy. Even game-o-phobes like grandparents and girlfriends can get a kick out of it, and I guess tapping into such new markets is really Nintendo's mission these days. Now, I've been playing this game on and off for the past month, and finally decided that it can be called "beaten" today. Have I unlocked every single gametype and found everything there is to collect? No. But I have played every gametype at least a few times. I have cleared every "level" of certain one-player gametypes. One of my apartment-mates and I have succeeded in various goals and missions. We've gone "pro" at several gametypes and we've bested each other's personal records several times over at many others. Can I say that I've completed this game? No. But beaten? I don't see why not; I've seen all there is to see from Wii Sports Resort and do not feel as though I would be missing out on anything big if I never played it again. Of course, I will play it again, and probably as soon as tonight; it's a big hit in the apartment and I'm sure I'll be coaxed into playing it multiple times in the foreseeable future. It's a bit pricey for the total experience, and it's nothing you'll be reminiscing about in ten years, but Wii Sports Resort is fun, social, and incredibly simple. Were you expecting it to be anything else? I wasn't. Three out of four stars.

The Talented Mr. Ripley

I bought this DVD two months ago for only $2.99. Totally worth it. I placed the disc in the tray when I awoke this morning with no expectations whatsoever; I just assumed it would be about a mysterious man played by a young Matt Damon. And yet, it was much more than that. I suppose I would have to classify it as a suspense-filled drama, if not as an outright thriller. The character of Tom Ripley was way more complex than I could have imagined, and so was his story. What starts out as a simple con job of sorts quickly turns into a dark and downward spiral for everyone involved, as obsession, lies, lust, and murder all come into play before the movie hits the one hour mark. The film itself seemed like a mixture of the light-hearted Catch Me If You Can and the much grimmer and darker Match Point, two other flicks where circumstances get out of hand for charismatic law-breaking protagonists. I wasn't looking forward to seeing Gwyneth Paltrow and Cate Blanchett, two of my least favorite actresses, in the same movie together. But I must admit, each played her part adequately enough, and my respect for both of them rose a notch or two. Rounding out the cast were Jude Law and Philip Seymour Hoffman, both just as good as you would assume, and a much cheerier than expected Jack Davenport (Commodore Norrington in the Pirates of the Caribbean series). It's always nice to see a lesser known actor playing a drastically different role than you recognize him from, and the contrast between Davenport in this film and the Pirates series was no exception. A classic "Wait, that's what I know him from!?" moment occurred when I checked him out on IMDb after the movie ended. The film has a somewhat ambiguous ending - it's pretty clear what has happened, but I was, and still am, extremely curious about what happens next. Fortunately, I learned that this film was based on the first novel in a series of five by Patricia Highsmith known as "the Ripliad." Unfortunately, there are no real sequels to this specific version of the story that can tell me more about what becomes of Matt Damon's Tom Ripley; the adaptation was a one-off project. Some of the other books in the series have indeed been adapted into films of their own, the most critically acclaimed one being Ripley's Game, but all of them have different actors and directors, so no continuity is established between the films. It seems as though the only way I could learn more about Tom Ripley and his dangerous adventures in deception and identity theft would be to read the Ripliad, but we all know that I've got a pretty lengthy reading list as it stands. Oh well. I'll take the small amount of closure I was given and call it a day. And yes, The Talented Mr. Ripley is definitely a movie I'd recommend.

Wolves of the Calla

So lately it must seem like I've been sucking Stephen King's dick talking about how great this Dark Tower series is. It's true, I'm enjoying these books much more than I thought I would- it even prompted me to read offshoot novels like The Talisman earlier in the summer. Wolves of the Calla is book number 5 in the series of 7, but not quite as good as the others. But before I start into that, here's a synopsis of the series so far: The Gunslinger, book 1, was written in 1982- one of the first books Stephen King wrote. I read this 2 summers ago, and thought it was alright. The Gunslinger tells the tale of Roland Deschain, the last of a race of gunslingers, essentially knights of the round table who wield guns instead of swords. Roland's world is sort of a post-apocalyptic version of our own, but this is explained later in the series. In the first book, Roland chases after the mysterious man in black, and we get some snippets of Roland's past. The second and third books in the series, The Drawing of the Three and The Waste Lands were published in '87 and '91 respectively, and share a common plot, which is Roland assembling a team that will join him on what becomes his ultimate quest- to reach and defend the Dark Tower, the axis of all universes. I think the make-up of Roland's crew is what makes me not so embarassed to read these books- while Roland is a complete fantasy stereotype, the members of his group are all unwillingly plucked from seperate time periods in New York City, giving the whole series a group of relatable characters. The fourth book, Wizard and Glass was written in 1997 and is almost entirely a flashback to Roland's youth. While most of the time flashbacks seem pointless to me, this book amazed me- I consider it the height of the series. It was not only a beautifully written story good enough to stand on its own, but it really added to the series as a whole.

At this point, you can see that King really took his time developing these stories- 15 years between the first and fourth books. It looked like the series was going to be Stephen King's magnum opus, its mythology encompassing not only 7 books, but his entire body of work. Fans were ravenously awaiting the fifth story, but in 1999 King was hit by a car and was seriously hurt. Sensing his own mortality, shortly after that King decided to finish off Roland's story once and for all. He cranked out the final three books in the series in a matter of 2 years, and the majority of Dark Tower fans felt the series suffered because of this. I've read on message boards people saying to "stop after Wizard and Glass, and just make up your own ending." If only it was that easy, of course. Getting more than halfway through a series and loving it, I couldn't just stop- and so I picked up Wolves of the Calla earlier this week. The book was a monster, coming in at 925 pages, and as I've said before, I agree there was a drop in quality, I still found Wolves good enough to speed through and enjoy. While the differences are huge, one comparison I usually make is to the tv series Lost. There's plenty of moments in the series that left me actually saying out loud "holy shit" and thinking "I can't believe he had this all thought out from the start!" Also, just like how Lost has great moments such as Locke pounding on the hatch not only be moving the first time, but having the moment returned to and given even greater importance a year later; King can return to something written in the 80s decades later and explain how there was more going on than at first glance. While not as good as Drawing of the Three, The Waste Lands, or Wizard and Glass, Wolves of the Calla is still a strong showing. If the last two novels are at least as good as this, then I would hardly say the Dark Tower series had a bad ending. Maybe people just couldn't handle the fact that there were a few Harry Potter references thrown in.

Scrubs: Season 8

Man, I put this DVD set away in a matter of two days. Consider it my summer finale. I got into Scrubs only a few years ago, just in time for it to end. At least, that's what it seemed like at the time; the sixth season was rumored to be the last. Then, when the seventh premiered, it was made clear that it would be the final one. When said season was shortened by the '07 writers' strike, an eighth season was commissioned. This one was certain to be the absolute last season. It even had a very fitting series finale of an ending, complete with a montage of what the main characters' futures will be like. Yet for some reason, a ninth season has been confirmed. I'm torn over my feelings about this. On the one hand, I think it's a great show, and having just viewed last season in its entirety, I can attest that it really hasn't undergone a drop-off in quality or humor like many have blamed it for doing. On the other, come on. When you talk for three years about ending your run, and finally do so, and then opt to come back each time for "just one more year," your act starts to get a little old. A certain Minnesota Viking comes to mind, you know? And the thing is, Scrubs: Season 9 isn't even going to feature many Scrubs regulars. Just Donald Faison (Turk) and John C. McGinley (Dr. Cox) will be returning full-time. The show's format and setting will change as well; now, Turk and Dr. Cox are medical school professors whose students occasionally make rounds through Sacred Heart Hospital. I really wish Bill Lawrence and company would just call this upcoming season exactly what it is: a spin-off. I loved Scrubs and its eight-year run, but sometimes it's you have to know when it's time to hang it up. Look at what's happened to The Simpsons, and even Family Guy after just a couple of years. Enough is enough. Scrubs: Season 8 was great, but I feel a little jilted knowing it wasn't the finale it originally claimed to be. Why invest myself in an ending that only lasts an offseason? I can't stand Brett Favre.