The Sopranos: The Complete Sixth Season Part II

Wow, just wow. This show. This show. The most talked about part of this half season is easily the series finale's final moments. Thanks to that, I really ended up knowing nothing about this show but how it ended. Well, I knew some details but not others. I think the ending of this show was perfect. It really felt in line with the way each episode ended, minus a clean fade out. Anyway, since you might not have seen it, I won't say any more. I will say that this was my favorite season. By far. I think a lot of things that were set up earlier in the series were paid off here.

What I think is amazing about The Sopranos is how much of it was just focused on mundane things, yet all of it was so compelling. Rather than focus on the crime aspect, this show really focused on the family and friend aspect. Granted, there was plenty of crime, but that wasn't why I loved this show. Even with all the violence and crime, this show had a lot of heart and wasn't quite as dark as I expected.

Anyway, I feel like a part of me died with the series finale. I have watched this show religiously and now I have nothing. It's similar to the way I felt after finishing The Wire. This show is up there with my favorite shows of all time.

Six Feet Under: Season 3

I went into Six Feet Under knowing virtually nothing about it. It was a show about a family running a funeral parlor, it was well-received by critics, and its finale is widely considered to be the best series finale of all time. Other than that, I had precious little idea what the hell the show would be like. Perhaps that's why it sat in my backlog for such a long time - two whole years - before I finally decided to pop that first disc into my PS3. I liked the first two seasons without really loving any characters, plot points, or scenes. I know that's kind of a backhanded compliment, but I'm just being honest. Season 2 ended on a cliffhanger - I mean, it wasn't really a cliffhanger unless you thought they might kill off the main character in the second of five seasons - but the third season opens up by having a little bit of fun with it, nonetheless. And from there the third season goes nowhere, fast. I mean that as literally as the expression can be meant; nothing really happens, but I flew through most of the episodes anyway, just enjoying my time.

It's funny. After getting a bit ambitious to learn more about shows like Game of Thrones and The Wire while watching them, I've been hit with some spoilers (some of them major) just from careless Google searches and Wikipedia browsing. So I've made it a point to actively avoid anything on the Internet pertaining to Six Feet Under. And I was doing just fine, when all of a sudden, a few days ago, somewhere, I read just one sentence about the show. It referenced "...the then-controversial third season, in which nothing happened for far too long, and then, all of a sudden, everything happened." That's not a spoiler, at all, but it did get me excited to press on through the final three or four episodes of this season. And, uh, yeah. Suddenly, a lot of shit happens! Wow! Such timing, me reading that sentence!

I guess that's not a great story. But I'm left without much to say about Six Feet Under. Discussing the plot would do it no justice and there really aren't many thematic elements to explore beyond, "hey, isn't life kind of crazy, when you think about all this death?" But it isn't depressing, and it isn't boring. Check it out some time. For now, I'll barrel forward into the fourth season.

Fire Emblem Awakening 3DS

This has been a very bad stretch for me as far as logging is concerned. I haven't been completely idle. In fact I put it almost 70 hours into beating Fire Emblem awakening. I played my first play through, I plan on playing this game multiple times, on Hard and Classic mode. Classic mode in this case means that all the deaths in the game are permanent. If someone dies you have to go on without them, unless they are a main character and in that case it triggers a game over. I had to restart the game many many times because of this.

As this is only my second Fire Emblem game I am still pretty new to this series. Awakening was incredible. I cannot recommend it enough. The story was great, the maps were creative and original and the characters were memorable. The 3d didn't add much to the game but it also didn't take anything away. I also had a chance to play coop mode with Btown and Stevie and that was pretty fun.

Nintendo was smart when they gave me Fire Emblem The Sacred stones as part of the Ambassador program because it lead me to purchase this game.

My next game on the docket is Chrono Trigger. I have been talking about playing it for too long now. The time to act is neigh.

The Office Season 1

So all these tv writers have been reminiscing about The Office as it concluded it's final season. I sporadically watched The Office probably sometime between season 3 and 5? Maybe? I really don't know. It was always fairly enjoyable when I watched it. I really liked some of Steve Carell's final episodes.

Anywho, everyone talking all about The Office made me want to go back and watch it all. So I just watched season 1! Hurrah! I had read a little about season 1 (in an Office recap). It seemed like everyone agrees that the show didn't have direction in season 1. Michael is sorta a mean boss. It's odd. He's not loveable yet.

On the plus side, Jim and Pam are way better than I've ever seen them be. They are cute and flirty and aint it just adorable!

Dwight is the same. Kelly isn't Kelly yet. Kevin is great a basketball. Phyllis is the same. Meredith isn't nearly as sex crazy yet. Jim is still humble and like-able. Daryl is still working in the warehouse.

I will continue my viewership with SEASON 2!

(UPDATE: Marissa forgot she posted this in May, and came back to talk about it some more in December. Here is her second post. Let's see how well it lines up with her first one.)

I vaguely remember watching this. Maybe I should write these closer to when I actually complete the show. Oops

I have seen a few random season of The Office, circa Seasons 4-6 perhaps. I have been told Season 1 wasn’t very good and Season 2 and 3 were fantastic and the rest were so-so. It was interesting to watch Season 1 because you see how the characters were originally. Michael Scott is not nearly as likeable in Season 1. He’s sort of funny and clueless but also sort of a mean boss. Jim is very likeable in Season 1, but I could be letting my very negative opinion of him from the latter season influence me. The banter with him and Dwight was new and funny and not yet mean and predictable. I don’t think many of the other side characters like Stanley, Angela, Oscar, Meredith, and Kevin changed much over the rest of the show

The show was good but not consistently funny. I’m looking forward to that in Season 2 which I started to watch then stopped. Oops again.

Sherlock: Series 1

Gave this one a watch after devouring Arrested Development over the weekend. Really no reason why I picked to watch it. Maybe it's because Benedict Cumberbatch (got to love that name) and Martin Freeman star in it - now both in major blockbusters, Star Trek Into Darkness and The Hobbit, respectively. Though I'm sure if I had realized at the time that each episode clocks in at 90 minutes long (even if there are only three per season/series) that would have scared me away, but I didn't take notice. Now I'm hooked.

I wouldn't say that I'm a fan of murder mysteries, but I'm certainly not against them. I just think the old "who dunnit?" formula is unfairly compelling. The story poses some question and depending how interesting a question it is, I'm stuck sitting through the whole show to figure it out. (Works every time with Law & Order or CSI.) Sherlock is able to rise above baseline, somewhat. Not saying it's anything too original - I mean this story has been adapted many times - but there's always something to love about the buddy-cop relationship between Holmes and Watson. Even in this show, Holmes is made out to be so brilliant that he eschews the company of others... accept Watson. Holmes, for some mysterious reason, takes a true liking to Watson. Even in this adaptation, they make Watson out to be clearly not as bright as Holmes, but that never seems to bother either of them. Holmes appreciates Watson's loyalty while Watson is sincerely entertained by Holmes' skills at deductive reasoning. Basically, I just dig the odd couple dichotomy here.  

Alright, this isn't the first - nor the last - adaptation we'll see of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's masterpiece. So how does it measure up? For one thing, it's set in modern day London. All that allows is for more advanced science to solve mysteries and for more complicated methods for Holmes' villains to commit their crimes. While not outwardly original, it's a good move and a fun environment to expand the series into. I can't say how true to the books this show is as I've only read the free sample I was able to download on the Kindle store a couple years ago - wasn't sold with the book so I never bought it. There was one scene in particular that I do remember where Holmes, despite his fancy brain, doesn't know some basic, rudimentary knowledge and Watson heckles him for it. Holmes later describes how there's only a finite amount of space in his head and he reserves it for subjects that matter. (In the book, Doyle goes on to grade the level of knowledge Holmes has for each subject which I though was a cool point in the novel - made the great detective seem a little more human - still couldn't sell me on it though.) Anyways, this was included in the show... so I can say that they have at least made some attempts to stay true to the original work. But this isn't how I would look to grade whether or not something is entertaining.

In the end, this show is definitely worth a watch if you're just looking for someway to pass the time. The first two series are on Netflix, so why not give it a go? The one element this adaptation has that I particularly enjoyed was the fact that Holmes says he's no hero. Far from it. In fact, you begin to worry that the only reason he solves these crimes is to keep his sanity. And if he becomes bored, then he's capable of becoming dangerous to himself and those around him. Basically, he is a sociopath... Solving mysteries is the only thing that is keeping him sane and on the side of good. Give it a go if you have the time. It's fun. 

Arrested Development: Season 4

Is this a cheap post? Maybe. But I would also like to point out that we watched it on my Netflix account. Anyway, though I was late to the Arrested Development bandwagon, I fell in love pretty quickly. So it was with incredibly high expectations that I began watching this season with 11 of my closest friends and Webber.

I felt that the single character-centric structure (I realize that it was necessitated by the busy schedules of the cast) hurt a lot of the episodes. The Lindsay and George episodes were not enjoyable (and they were right at the beginning to really derail any momentum the show had). I felt Buster was underutilized and I could have used some more Lucille. Moreover, I felt that my enjoyment was hurt by the fact that we went through the episodes so quickly. The episodes ended up being rather redundant because of all of the rehashing of stuff that we had already seen that same day. Lastly, they built the episodes up like it was leading to some great finale at the Cinco de Cuatro Festival, and what we got was a finale centered around a love triangle that I didn't care about. It's a shame that the finale was not a classic episode not focused on any particular character.

Anyway, with all that being said, the positives of this season definitely outweigh the negatives. The later episodes (aside from the finale) were very strong.  I guess that probably comes from the fact that so many jokes that were set up early on finally delivered by the end of the 15 episodes. George Michael's first episode and Maeby's episode were both standouts. I loved everything with Job.

I'm confident that I will like this season more a second time through as I catch some jokes I didn't catch at first. Also, I'll go through it at a more modest pace. I hate to sound so negative because I really did enjoy this season. I am confident that there is nothing on TV that is close to as funny as many episodes in this season. Okay, I'm done rambling.

The Sopranos: Season Six, Part I

So the sixth season is broken up in two parts (21 episodes altogether instead of the standard 13). The first half of this season focused heavily on Vito, a closeted captain who was eventually caught at a gay bar doing his best Mr. Slave impression. Tony has a near-death experience that leads to a bit of a transformation as he begins to view life as a gift. Anthony Jr. (Tony's son) really comes into his own this season, completely eclipsing Meadow (his daughter) who has turned into a pretty dull character. The therapist has faded into the background and is not featured as prominently. I really expected this season (or half a season) to end with some sort of cliffhanger to get people excited for the second half. However, in true Sopranos fashion, the season ended at Christmas with the family together. Not much happened. This series seems to be focused on interaction between characters rather than violence and shocking events. Anyway, with 9 episodes left, I can really see why people love this show so much. It blows my mind to think that this show started in 1999. It really was a trend setter.

The Sopranos: The Complete Fifth Season

The Sopranos picked up in a big way in the fifth season. They added a few characters, including Tony's cousin Tony (played by Steve Buscemi). For the first time, I actually liked a new character introduced. He added a great element as we watched him go from wanting to make a living legitimately to falling into old illegal habits. He struggled with being a father and cousin to a mob boss.  Elsewhere, Carmella and Tony had marital problems. I forget if it was this season, but Tony banged a one-legged maid from Russia and almost ended his marriage. Anyway, I am a little bummed that this series will be ending for me shortly, but it's been quite the run.

The Sopranos: The Complete Fourth Season

This season continued the tradition of focusing on a newish character that I hated and wanted to see dead. I liked this season considerably more than season 3, but not enough to put it on the level of season 1 and season 2 in my head. I have plowed through this series so quickly that my ability to remember everything that happened is lacking. If you haven't seen it, see it.

The Sopranos: The Complete Third Season

Let me start by saying that I'm already half way through season 6. With that being said, it should come as no surprise that I do not remember everything that happened in this season. What I do remember is feeling let down. Season 1 and 2 were incredible. This season, however, seemed to lack purpose. The characters were there, but the storylines were not. This stands out to me as by far the worst season. Still, a bad Sopranos season is far better than good seasons of most shows.

Arrested Development: Season 4

It's gone before you know it. *Sigh*

Within 48 hours of Netflix's release of Arrested Development for streaming I've finished off the 15 new episodes of the long-awaited fourth season. Out of all the major blockbusters coming out this summer (Man of Steel, Iron Man 3, Star Trek 2, and even The World's End - the reunion of director Edgar Wright, Simon Pegg, and Nick Frost that I cannot wait for) my desire to catch the return of Arrested trumps all of these cinematic events. I mean, this is years and years in the making. And within two days, it's all over. But, was it worth it?

Absolutely. 

The show holds up just as well, if not better, then during its original run. I'm sure most people here are in the midst of watching it - or will be watching it soon - so I'll leave information on the premise bare. Basically season recaps what the whole cast has been up to during the past several years since the show was cancelled - they refer to this as "The Great Dark Period". With one event (Cinco de Cuatro) acting as somewhat of a hub, we trace each character's timelines as they work their way back up to the present which is roughly this particular event. 

Now, I have a ton of praise for the show. For those that are huge fans of the previous seasons they'll likely adore all of the running gags and jokes that are consistently reintroduced throughout the entire series... and these jokes are maintained in the new season (Mr. F, the Cornballer, Staircase car with references to hop-ons, blue paint, and many, many more). Not to mention that writer/creator Mitchell Hurwitz does a terrific job weaving all of the characters' stories together beautifully, which was a fairly hard task considering he only builds one character's story per episode.

This little trick, while an interesting direction to take the show, was not the easiest thing to grapple when starting into the season. The first episode focuses on Michael, and with the frequent changes in the time period while recapping his story, it all gets me a little confused about what's going on and when things are happening. In fact the show became even more frustrating as the season goes on and other character's story lines were explained. However, in the last five or so episodes, you begin to revisit some major events so frequently (as every character usually inhabits the same scene of the rest of the cast, just doing their own thing in the background) that the show completely comes around. Beginning to watch the season again for a second time around it makes far more sense to me, and, most importantly, there are many more hidden jokes buried in the subtext. I can tell this isn't going to get old. 

That's my only real complaint. It was slightly difficult to understand at the beginning, but that really doesn't matter because it comes all together at the end... Well, I do have a slight beef with the season finale, but I wont go into that here. 

The best thing about this season, and a major reason why I think this might be my favorite work of the show to date, is that it seems like Hurwitz had a ton of creative liberty to just go nuts with the show. Do it how he wanted it. The episodes don't end in a perfect "aww, the family loves each other" cooker-cutter mold that was more typical back when it was being aired on Fox. Instead, things are a bit dark. Everyone is consistently drifting apart from one another. No one has anyone else's back. It legitimately seems that they're all on the cusp of going absolutely broke (in fact I'm wondering why they haven't already). It's not depressing or upsetting to witness. It's just... different. Unexpected from what standard sit-coms deliver on. Plus, when only focusing on one character an episode, you don't have that standard two or three plot lines simultaneously running to help break up the monotony of the show. I feel like most networks would never let this shit fly on TV, but that's why they're on the internet now. Oh... there's also a baffling amount of great cameos. Seems like all of Hollywood wanted in on this revival.  

There are also rumors that this season really serves as somewhat of a first act for an Arrested Movie. So the fact that they kind of kick the Bluths down a notch and have the family entirely disband is a great place to start a movie that will eventually pull them all together again - maybe? But... hey, when will that movie be released? Here I am once again, patiently waiting for another return of the Bluths. *Sigh*

Donkey Kong Country Returns

Man, that's four video games beaten in the past week that I'd been working on for months each. Spring cleaning!

I was always a huge fan of the three Donkey Kong Country games on the Super Nintendo. I've always considered them to be fantastic and under-appreciated '90s platform games that look better than anything on the Nintendo 64 despite being made for a previous generation. So when Donkey Kong Country Returns was announced for the Wii, I was as pumped as I ever have been for a Wii game. (Quick aside - has anything aged less gracefully than the Wii? For a system that utterly destroyed its competition, clinching the sales victory for that generation of consoles almost immediately, it's crazy how much I'd rather be playing an arbitrary Xbox or PS3 game than a Wii game here in 2013. As a point of reference, my last Wii title beaten was - if Candy Factory doesn't count - Mario Party 9 last July. In that same ten month span, for comparison's sake, I beat nine games on Xbox including Xbox Live Arcade games, five games on PS3 or PlayStation Network, five games on the DS or 3DS, five games on the GameCube, three games on the original PlayStation, and even a Super Nintendo game. Wow.)

Anyway, Donkey Kong Country Returns. I started playing the game last August in co-op fashion with Marissa. I had fond memories of playing the original trilogy in a co-op manner back in the day with friends, neighbors, and even my father, and I wanted to share that experience with my girlfriend. Suffice it to say, it did not go well. In the original trilogy, co-op play was a true team effort. One person controlled Donkey and the other controlled Diddy (or, in later games, Dixie or Kiddy Kong) and only one person was really playing at any point in time. When one player went down, the other stepped up to the plate. Little "DK" barrels located throughout levels allowed you to revive a teammate, so that if you went down, the cycle could continue. But in the spirit of "everybody plays all at once" madness that made games like New Super Mario Bros. Wii a lot of fun at first but ultimately a chaotic nightmare, co-op in Donkey Kong Country Returns consisted of both Donkey and Diddy running around side by side, each controlled independently. This means both can be killed by the same obstacle. It also means one can inadvertently cause the other one harm; Donkey can pick up Diddy and throw him around, and similarly, Diddy can jump off of Donkey's back sending Donkey straight downward, often into an abyss. This led to more back-and-forth blaming-and-shouting matches between the two of us than most healthy relationships should endure over a video game, to the point where I had to propose to Marissa just three nights into our Donkey Kong Country Returns chicanery out of fear that things were heading south fast!

Mostly kidding. I mean, I did propose to her, and naturally, Donkey Kong Country Returns went right back onto the shelf for a while. By the time I was ready to dabble again, around October or November, Marissa patently stated that she had no real desire to play the game again, and we were probably both better off for it. It turns out, this game got challenging. Like, fast. Marissa and I struggled pretty heavily on the third of eight worlds. Playing solo, I did a little better for a little while, but by the sixth world I was dying constantly. I won't lie - I even eventually had to make use of the game's "here, let the game beat this level for you" feature more than once. I mean, I didn't strictly have to - I eventually would and could have beaten all those levels - but with forty-five games left to beat, and having already dumped thirty hours or so into this one, and with it just offering to help me out like that, why refuse? Put an asterisk next to this one if you want to; I really don't care.

So yeah. Donkey Kong Country Returns was a welcome nostalgic trip back to the 90s, and yet ironically, it was so much more difficult than any of those original three games had ever been. Nintendo has taken some well-earned criticism from more hardcore gamers over the past few years, who lament that nothing is challenging in Mario or Zelda games anymore. Donkey Kong Country Returns seems almost tailor-made to address those criticisms. "Oh, you want a tough game? Here. Now go away." I can't say it was as difficult in terms of deaths-per-level-attempt as Super Meat Boy, but that game's lightning-fast load times and very short levels made the constant dying a lot more palatable there. Ultimately, I liked Donkey Kong Country a lot. It was at once loyal to its roots and also modern, sleek, and beautiful the way a modern platform game should be. I could have used a few more animal friends - the only one in this game was Rambi the rhinoceros - as well as more barrel-blasting levels. I also would have preferred that the antagonist King K. Rool and his Kremling Krew return for this game; the bad guys this time around were a group of witch-doctor-like musical instruments, believe it or not. Of course, these are some minor nitpicks; the flavor may not have been exactly right, but it was nice to return to such a long-lost dish in the first place. Is that a fine analogy? Whatever.

Gears of War 3

As Stan mentioned, the two of us played the first two Gears of War games on co-op just before we started the Back-Blog, and never once have we taken it all that seriously. It's huge muscular dudes with mostly familiar voices (Bender! Terry Tate! Vince from Friday Night Lights!) shooting hordes of aliens and ducking for cover now and then- there's not much else to say. Stan made a good point that the games would probably have been serviced better by going a little more over-the-top- every time a character got mopey or serious, we were making fun of the situation, but moments like Terry Tate's touchdown, or main character Marcus Fenix shouting out "That's ONE! That's TWO!" as he snipes aliens from afar made for laughs and memorable gameplay. Emotional cut-scenes can work when it's one person sitting down and willing to be quiet and experience the story, but when two dudes get together to bro out over a third person shooter, I just want the game to be really fun to play. And the Gears of War series mostly is! It may not be the most memorable campaign or anything, but I was never hoping it would just finish up already or anything. That alone makes it much, much better than any campaign Halo has had. Still though, I saw nothing in Gears of War 3 to really distinguish it from the first two aside from some slightly prettier graphics, and never in the entire series were Stan and I even sure who were fighting against- I think the only game that had an actual, named final boss was the first one, and we still laugh about how random and pointless he was. So if you're really interested in playing the Gears of War series, go for it. If not, don't worry, you're not missing much.

It

I believe this is the fifteenth Stephen King book I've read, and I'm surprised that it's taken me this long to read a straight horror novel from America's most famous horror writer. Things have ranged from fantasy (Dark Tower series, The Talisman) to sci-fi (11/22/63) to apocalyptic (Under the Dome, The Stand), but not until I finally sat down and read the mega-hit that was It did I read a book that was specifically designed to scare. Actually the only time I remember him attempting scary scenes in other books were in Black House (not very effective...) and 11/22/63 (it's super effective!). And just as I've enjoyed most of what I've read by King already, I found It to be effectively scary and an all around awesome read. We start in with a series of vignettes as six successful and seemingly random adults in the 80's across America all receive a similar call from a long-forgotten friend, telling them "It's back, and you need to come back to Maine so we can stop it." No one seems to have any idea what "it" is, but repressed memories of their childhood in the fifties slowly return to all six. They return to Maine and try to put together the pieces and figure out just what the heck is going on- why are atrocities being commited against children in their small Maine hometown every 23 years? Why is this unnoticed by the media? How were they able to survive where so many other children died? Why did they think they had stopped "It", and what can they do differently now? Through this we get to learn about the long summer in the fifties that they all got together and somehow stopped It, only to block the horrific memories completely from their mind up until that fateful phone call. I found the parallel storylines of the kids and adults both trying to stop It an interesting technique- think of the flashbacks in Lost except with much more meat to them. The whole thing kept me reading all throughout my recent vacation, and while I could say that I should ease up on the King books, he's got so many more that I want to read. I don't have any on my plate right now, but more will come soon.

Twisted Metal (2012)

As I said, last night was a great night for co-op video gaming. After beating Gears of War 3 with Sweeney, I watched the Bruins take a 3-0 series lead. And after that, Sheridan and I finished the recent Twisted Metal reboot we'd been playing for nearly two months. I only bought the reboot in the first place because it came with a PS3 controller in a bundle that cost ten bucks more than the controller alone, and I needed a fourth PS3 controller. (I didn't really need one, but let's pretend I did.) I'm glad I bought it, because this certainly was an interesting and mostly enjoyable reboot.

My history with the Twisted Metal series is fairly well documented on the blog. In short, I loved the first two games, didn't hate the third or fourth ones (but didn't love them, either), and never even bothered beating the fifth installment, Twisted Metal: Black, for something like ten years. When I did finally play it, in college, I admired its commitment to being utterly dark and sinister where previous games were more light-heartedly violent, but that doesn't mean I particularly enjoyed the gameplay.

Let me take an abrupt left turn here. A "reboot" is a release within an entertainment franchise that resets the franchise's established continuity. In that regard, you could kind of say that every Twisted Metal game has been a reboot to some extent; plenty of recurring characters appear in multiple games, yet each game ends with one sole surviving contestant, so, strictly speaking, none of the games take place in the same canon. When I say that this particular Twisted Metal game was a reboot, then, I mean stylistically more than anything else.

Frankly, this Twisted Metal game introduces all kinds of game modes I'd never have imagined seeing in a Twisted Metal game. Races. Pinball. Helicopter flight. I winced at a whole lot of this, and the frustration factors only made things worse. Steve and I beat just about every standard deathmatch on our first try, but when it came to the races and pinball games, we spent a great number of attempts just kind of trying to figure shit out. Another complaint I'd register is that the story mode this time around features only three playable characters. There are still plenty of vehicles, sure, but part of the charm of the old Twisted Metal games was the intrinsic link between the drivers and their cars. When Mr. Grimm is driving Sweet Tooth's ice cream truck, it just kind of feels... weird.

Still, there was plenty to like about this game, too. It was better than Twisted Metal: Black in terms of gameplay, and also better than I remember Twisted Metal 4 being. And as weird as some of the races and pinball games and gauntlet runs were, they helped breathe life and variety into a game whose entire purpose was to re-breathe life and variety into an old, once great franchise.

All in all, I approved of this reboot. I don't think this series can ever recapture that distinct charm Twisted Metal 2 had, but that's because graphical and computational enhancements in modern day systems would do a great disservice to the cartoony and campy style of the older games. For what it set out to be, Twisted Metal was a decent game.

Gears of War 3

Last night was huge for co-op gaming. It took us over two months and three different sessions, but Sween and I finally completed the third and final game in the Gears of War trilogy. We played the first two early in the summer of '09, just a few months before the blog was formed, so I guess this is the blog's first entry on the series. And since the games are essentially no different from one another, I'll just spend a little bit of time talking about Gears of War in general.

It's casual gaming for me, and nothing more. Never once have I dabbled in any online play, nor have I ever had any interest in doing so. The fact that I've played all three games in a split-screen fashion with Sweeney means the two of us are usually chatting over the movie clips that serve to link the various firefights together into a coherent story, so my attachment to these beefed up next-gen super-soldiers and their post-apocalyptic plight has never really been, uh, strong. In fact, in three games now and probably close to a hundred "levels," I can only distinctly remember about a dozen segments. Yeah, that's right - the vast bulk of this series has left me with no lasting takeaway whatsoever.

That said, they're not bad games. I know every variety of game play in shooters has been done to death at this point, but it's still nice to mix it up with a little third-person action now and again. Is the majority of the game spent gluing yourself to chest-high walls and popping out to fire off a volley of bullets at various grotesqueries? You betcha. Does it all blend together in a giant mishmash of shaky cameras, profanities, and scorched earth landscapes? Absolutely. But for the most part, all three games were far more fun than frustrating, and sometimes that's good enough for a little casual co-op gaming.

If I've got one specific criticism of the series in general, it's with regard to the tone and tenor of the games. The bread and butter here is the over-the-top machismo of the heroes. I mean look at the cover art. Every one of these guys has the muscle mass of the Incredible Hulk. Their guns are mounted not with bayonets, but with chainsaws. What I want from these games is just an absurd willingness to "go there," and this was best exemplified by an event that takes place in the first level of Gears of War 3, in which "Cole Train," a former football star, has to carry a bomb across a football field in order to blow up some enemies. He's literally playing football on a battlefield. And you better believe there's a touchdown dance at the end of it all! Oh yeah, and the guy is voiced by Terry Tate. I want this form Gears of War. Gritty seething and swearing, furrowed brows, and maybe even some blatant chauvinism. Too often though, Gears attempts some emotional beats as if it thinks it can pull these off. "My wife just died. Let me grieve." "My best friend just died. Let me grieve." "My father just died. let me grieve." Stop crying! There are more more sports-with-guns to be played! There are plenty of video games out there that can deal with emotional depth. Gears of War is not one of them, and no one should try to make it one.

Will Sween and I try our hand some day at the most recent release in the franchise, the prequel, Judgment? Probably. But not yet. Not yet.

The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening DX

Just before Ocarina of Time took Zelda games literally into a whole new dimension (the third!) on Nintendo 64, the top-down, two dimensional Zelda games found a home of their own on handheld systems. The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening was released on the Game Boy in '93, and 5 years later the definitive Link's Awakening DX version was released as a launch title for the Game Boy Color. I am positive I had the DX version and pretty sure that at some point I played the original, but in recent years as I've dove deep into video game (and Zelda) fandom I grew suspicious that I never actually beaten the game. Knowing that Link's Awakening was a great game anyway, and that even if I had beaten it before it would hardly be a waste of money and time to download and play it on my 3DS, I made the purchase a few months ago and played it over the course of May. This proved a smart choice, because I definitely never beat it. Actually, I probably hadn't made it past the first dungeon, because almost everything here felt entirely new to me. Link's Awakening ditches the Hyrule kingdom that dominates most Zelda games for an island setting- we see Link sailing through a storm, getting shipwrecked, and waking up the next day on the mysterious Koholint Island. Everything on the island seems kinda off, and there's a bizarre task at hand- Link just wants to get home, but apparently the only way to do it is to collect 8 instruments strewn about the island, play them for a giant egg on top of a mountain, and awaken a giant fish. This also might bring about the end of the world, so it's hard to blame all of the bosses standing in your way- they make a compelling point that they're the ones doing the right thing, and maybe this is a sneaky example of a game where the protagonist is the selfish villain. Either way, it felt appropriate exploring this tropical island on a few late nights on my recent cruise; I didn't expect to get any gaming done at all, but Link's Awakening was a worthwile use of some downtime and a game that any Zelda fan should play. I've still got Adventures of Link, Majora's Mask, and Skyward Sword left in the series, and then the likely Christmas release of Link to the Past 2 will ensure that I'll be posting Zelda on the Blog many more times in the future.

Moonrise Kingdom

Here it is - the movie I nearly saw in theaters two or three different times in 2012, the driving reason I've gone back and watched so many other Wes Anderson movies. At last, I've sat down and watched Moonrise Kingdom. The verdict? Charming, cute, perfectly edited, and worthy of all the accolades. There's just something so beautifully endearing about a misfit boy scout and an intelligent girl running away together on a small New England island in the 1960s. Young love! Moonrise Kingdom was touching and sweet in all the right ways, without ever once approaching that dangerous area of mawkish sentimentality. All-star cast, flawless script, masterful cinematography, you name it. The movie probably isn't for everyone. Wes Anderson movies never really are. Still, what a treat this was. And what a relief that it turned out to be a treat after such recent mixed luck with Wes Anderson movies.

Game of Thrones: Season 2

Just plowing my way through these. But at only 10 hour-long episodes a season, this is a fairly easy task to do. 

The second season wrapped up just as well for me as the first (with the foreshadowing of ice-zombies). It's exciting, fun, and watching the alliances form and break makes from some compelling television. Plus the that giant strike on King's Landing in episode nine was epic as fuck. Green fire?! Nuts. 

So, even though I did thoroughly enjoy this season (and the series as a whole) there are still some hang-ups. First is the same problem I had before: the names and places. How many characters are there now? Twelve? Twenty? More? Probably more. That said, even more people are introduced with this season, and while there is a system of checks and balances where as new characters are introduced others are killed off, my head still spins a bit. However, most of this was remedied with some internet sleuthing. The giant list of characters does lead me into my second beef where I felt that some story lines really felt lacking this season. With so many characters, there are many different plot lines to keep track of. Unfortunately, some felt severely underdeveloped. Take Jamie Lannister. Season one ends with his imprisonment. Season two ends just shortly after he's released. (Sorry for the spoiler - for anyone that's concerned - but it's really nothing much.) It has to be said that he's not actually released and sent home. He's just being transported. So his story is still very much in limbo and anti-climatic for someone who was a lead character last season. I also felt Jon Snow's story was a little light as well. These are all minor complaints because, like I said, I still really enjoy the show. Just not enough to satisfy my hunger. 

With season three wrapping up in a few weeks, I'll be all caught up, which is both a blessing and a curse. Sadly, the show will be done for another year. On the other hand, I will finally have a current running, hour-long drama that will fuel some great water-cooler discussion - haven't had this since Lost. Hopefully this show wont end in quite so much disappointment. 

Batman: HUSH

Another Loeb Batman story down.

This is another must-read for anyone looking to get into the chaos of the Batman comic world. The story is fairly complicated, but to sum it up as concisely as I can, it's Batman using his detective skills to solve mystery upon mystery that involves nearly all of the regular villains who seem to be guided on a strategic rampage by some unknown mastermind. The story involves Bruce heading to Metropolis and duking it out Superman, once again. (I know I've already seen them battle it out in other stories, but it's a rivalry that never gets old. It's comics literal interpretation of man versus god... and who doesn't like rooting for the underdog in this situation?) Batman and Catwoman hook up. Lex Luthor is the president of the country. Two-Face is back with his face healed. There are even signs that Jason Todd (the Robin who died in the 80's story arc Death in the Family) might be back from the dead.  And an old childhood friend of Bruce Wayne is introduced. It's a really fun story that truly exhausts all of the resources in the DC world. 

Beyond the story, the artwork is fantastic. Not as weird as Dave McKean or as scatterbrain as Frank Miller. Jim Lee's work is where my mind immediately goes to when I think of comic book illustrations, only executed to complete perfection. 

Anyways, that's all I got. Gotten through a bunch of other story lines in The New 52 that I'll be sure to post soon. But this is definitely a fun comic buried in mysteries and loaded with cliff hangers. 

Puzzle Quest 2

A little more than a year ago, I finished Puzzle Quest and was surprised by just how much fun I had playing it. Simple but sharp looking interface? Check. RPG elements like leveling up, equipping weapons, and learning spells? Check. Easy to play while watching something on TV? Absolutely. Don't get me wrong - Puzzle Quest wasn't a fantastic game, but it was an enjoyable game, which is all you want from a six-dollar title.

Fast forward to six or seven months ago. I'd just finished the then-last-remaining DS game on my backlog, and I figured I could use another one. You know, for business trips and for logging in front of shitty TV shows and such. I found Puzzle Quest 2 for ten bucks at GameStop and thought, hey, why not?

Big mistake.

For one thing, within two months or so, I'd received a 3DS for Christmas along with three or four games. So much for needing another title, huh? Secondly, where the first Puzzle Quest took me somewhere between 15 and 20 hours to beat, this one took me close to 35. And thirdly - and most importantly - while the first game was light and charming and easy to appreciate, this one just flat out sucked.

I'm not sure why. The core gameplay is exactly the same as it was last time around; to succeed in battle, just line up three discs, Bejeweled-style, to either gain mana reserves or deal damage. Seriously, I have no idea why what was so fun a year ago was such a pain in the ass for me over the last few months. Let's quickly walk through the differences to see if I can figure this out.

In Puzzle Quest, you spent time between battles on a world map, viewed from the top down and navigated by clicking on different places. Simple. In Puzzle Quest 2, the inter-battle environment was an isometric dungeon crawl. Blech. In Puzzle Quest, every battle had something to do with the plot at hand and advancing the story in one way or another. Nice. In Puzzle Quest 2, most battles were just random encounters with unavoidable bad guys standing in the dungeon hallways. Ugh. In Puzzle Quest, I controlled the game on a fifteen-inch screen by lazily flicking my fingers back and forth across a trackpad. Easy. In Puzzle Quest 2, I controlled the game by tapping and swiping a stylus on a four-inch screen a few hundred times per battle. Hand cramps and squinty eyes, dammit!

Alright, I'm starting to see why I was so down on Puzzle Quest 2. Just goes to show how a few minor differences in gameplay can drastically affect the extent to which you can enjoy a game. You know what the Puzzle Quest 2 experience really reminded me of? Luxor 2, the second game I ever posted on the blog, and still one of my all time least favorite. Such tedium! No fun!

At any rate, I'm very happy to move on from this one. And on the bright side, that's now three thirty-plus-hour games beaten so far this year.

Black Swan

I've seen this movie twice now, and although I've enjoyed it both times, I'd be lying if I claimed to fully understand it. Darren Aronofsky has always had a penchant for the abstract - look at π and The Fountain if you want some real head-scratchers - but he's certainly also got some serious chops. If I had to classify this movie, I'd call it a psychological thriller of sorts, which is just right up his alley. In fact, this could be the most Darren Aronofsky movie in Darren Aronofksy's repertoire. It's about a manic-obsessive young woman with a suffocating mother, it has fun with trick photography and nightmarish effects, not everything happening on screen is happening in the real world, and the main character is essentially a were-swan.

But as much as it's an Aronofsky film through and through, the movie itself will always belong to Natalie Portman. Holy shit, did she earn that Oscar. The cast around her is tight and solid -  there isn't a weak link in the chain - but I'd posit that Portman gets as much screen time as the rest of the main characters combined. And in a movie fairly light on expository dialogue and background stories - which only adds to the murkiness of the plot, by the way - it's never unclear what's going on in the main character's deranged mind. Well done, Natalie. You've come a long way from being Zach Braff's manic pixie dream girl.

Look into this one if you have the opportunity to do so. Even if the story and thematic content ain't your cup of tea, at least you'll walk away with a deeper respect for ballerinas.

Wilfred: Season 1

Not for nothing, but where the hell is everyone? This is just the seventh post of the month, 17 days in, and I've authored five of those. I know people are starting new jobs and going on cruises and such, but man, we're a far cry from the blistering pace of January, or even the moderate pace of a post a day that we managed over the last three months. Just saying!

Anyway, let's talk about Wilfred. I don't have much to say about the comedy aspect of the show, which varies wildly from week to week. Some episodes feature some of the funniest things I've seen on a TV series, and others are pretty flat throughout. Of course, the humor is almost a secondary concern in Wilfred. It's a comedy, sure, but it's also a bit of a psychological mystery. Not a thriller, really, as there aren't really any stakes to any of this, but a mystery nonetheless. Who or what, exactly, is Wilfred? That's a question the show has yet to concretely answer. Ostensibly, Wilfred is a dog. Main character Ryan, however, sees him as a grown man in a dog suit. They hang out, have conversations, smoke weed, and waste time in Ryan's basement. But Wilfred offers Ryan a series of life lessons, too. Stick up for yourself. Seize the day. Let your feelings out - all that sort of stuff. So, is Wilfred just an odd manifestation of Ryan's subconscious? Ryan does do a lot of drugs, after all, and insanity runs in his family. Or, is Wilfred truly a supernatural being that appears to everyone but Ryan to be a dog?

Piecing this puzzle together is one of the main reasons to watch Wilfred. It's a funny show and its characters are endearing and relatable, but it's that weird psychological mystery element that makes Wilfred stand out in some way. Over the course of the first season, we're offered several clues - or maybe just red herrings - as to what exactly is going on. In one episode, it's revealed that Ryan's mother (who's been living in a mental institution) sees her cat as a woman in a cat suit. Throwaway joke, or meaningful sign? In another episode, Ryan meets another man who can see and hear Wilfred. But is that man also just a hallucination? Impossible to say! In one episode, Wilfred channels Ryan's childhood dog, Sneakers, speaking to Ryan from beyond the grave. Their conversation includes details Ryan has never shared with anyone else, suggesting that Wilfred is really just a manifestation of his imagination. On the other hand, if Wilfred really is a supernatural being of some sort, sure, why not let him channel dead dogs?

The biggest factor leaning in favor of Wilfred truly being a sentient being, and Ryan not simply being crazy, is that Wilfred sometimes shares information with Ryan about other people - information Ryan couldn't possibly know on his own. If Wilfred is an agent through which Ryan comes to learn new things that he never learned independently, and if those things are later confirmed to be true, then doesn't Wilfred have to be more than just a dog? Or, is the whole point that Ryan must have known this information all along, or else is just wildly speculating things that later are confirmed to be true?

Look, clearly I'm over-thinking this, but there aren't many comedies you can "think" about at all, and that's what makes Wilfred one of the most compelling shows on TV right now. I wouldn't call it one of the greatest, or even a personal favorite, but it's pretty damn interesting. Season 2 gets even deeper, darker, and weirder, but I'll save that post for another time.

Thomas Was Alone

I try to play a few acclaimed "indie" games, or at least DLC games, every year. They lack the depth and polish of your blockbuster releases - Call of Duty, BioShock, Final Fantasy, what have you - but the best ones are interesting, unique, and memorable. Plus, they're always cheap as hell and almost always short and easy. Bastion, Braid, Journey, Limbo, and Super Meat Boy are examples of such games that I've played and posted here before. World of Goo is another great one that I played just a few months prior to the creation of the blog. None of these games was large enough in scope for me to consider it one of my very favorite games of all time, but they're all great games.

Enter Thomas Was Alone, perhaps the most minimalist game I've played to date on a console this side of 1995. (It's tough to say something like Pac-Man or Tetris doesn't win that contest, but that was entirely due to graphical limitations, not design choices.) The game consists of a hundred levels in which you navigate little squares and rectangles toward an exit. Throw in a charming British narrator, giving each of the quadrilaterals different names and personalities, and you've got yourself quite an endearing little puzzle platform game. The whole thing cost me ten bucks and took two, maybe three hours to beat. The platforming elements weren't challenging in the least, which made it a nice foil to the last DLC game I played, Super Meat Boy. Nope - this was a simple, elegant, fun, quick little title that I'd recommend to anyone. I'm pretty sure there are Windows and Mac versions of the game to download if you lack a PS3 or Vita.

Actually, this game was so quick and fun and simple that I think I'll spend some time trying to 100% it - a rarity in the backlog age. I may then also look into a DLC add-on that gives you a new character and twenty new levels. Time will tell!

That '70s Show: Season 8

All done! That's a wrap on the widely frowned upon Season 8, and a wrap on the series as a whole.

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

Again, only vaguely. With perfect hindsight now, it's clear that I regularly watched this show - or else caught a lot of repeats - right up through Season 6, then just stopped watching abruptly, catching maybe five episodes total between Seasons 7 and 8. This actually lines up perfectly with me getting my driver's license, and thus having a means of escaping the confines of my house and bedroom. Pre-driving me? Homework in front of the TV most weeknights. Junior and senior year me? Not watching TV so much, that's for sure.

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

Oh, certainly. After seven seasons, the show lost its main character (Topher Grace's Eric Forman) and most consistent source of laughs (Ashton Kutcher's Michael Kelso). To help the four remaining regulars carry the load, the show added a controversial character in Randy Pearson, played by Josh Meyers, younger brother of Seth Meyers of modern day SNL fame. Fans hated him, and although I didn't really mind his presence here, I can understand why he was met with such disdain; it's tough to replace a major character after seven years, let alone two. Also, Hyde got married to a stripper between seasons for essentially no reason at all; as the first episode began, he just kind of had a wife. So.

Any particular highlights or lowlights worth singling out?

You know, I was really ready to hate this season. I sharpened the proverbial knives heading into it, ready to just lash out with disgust over what a disaster it was, based on everything I'd heard. No Eric, no Kelso, an awful replacement character, and apparently by the end of the series Jackie and Fez were an item? Blech. But you know what? It wasn't half bad. It wasn't the best season, and truth be told it was probably the worst one, but not by a wide margin. The show was clearly a bit long in the tooth by now, and had lost arguably its two most important characters, but given that, I was impressed by how well it held up. The Jackie-Fez pairing actually came up kind of organically and seemed kind of sweet for both characters. Even Randy, with his Eric-replacing Donna-dating blandness, didn't bother me. One lowlight? Hyde's stripper wife. Shitty character, shitty actress, no purpose. My highlight would definitely have to be the series finale. It brought back Eric and Kelso, reuniting the whole gang, and it wrapped things up on its own terms. The final seconds of the series take place on New Year's Eve, 1979, with a ten-second countdown to 1980. Fitting!

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

Three or four seasons into my trek through That '70s Show on DVD, I was starting to regret my decision to trek through all 200 episodes of That '70s Show. I had already seen far more episodes than I realized, and the show wasn't quite as innovative or funny as I'd remembered it being. For some reason, in my head this was a real underrated gem that had somehow lasted for 200 episodes without anyone really respecting it. I remembered watching and enjoying it for years, but five, six, seven years after it was off the air, it seemed entirely forgotten and ignored. A few seasons in, I just wasn't feeling it. Maybe this was just another multi-camera network sitcom after all. Yet, here I sit, at the end of all eight seasons, and I'm leaning back toward, "no, you know what? This show was way better than anyone gives it credit for being." Hey, maybe that just makes me a fan.

So that's that. One thing's for sure. I will not miss the Cheap Trick theme song - which served as the menu music on each and every DVD - one iota.

Game of Thrones: Season 1

Well, that didn't take long.

I can completely understand why everyone is so damn pumped for the this show. It's addicting as all hell. Love the characters, and love to hate the characters even more - that damn King Joffrey has got to go! Basically the show is just plain fun and I'm so glad that I'm finally running with the bulls. 

With the conclusion of the first season, I can see how the title of the series comes into play. Basically the groundwork is now laid out for battle to control the throne and the country (or whatever the name of that kingdom is called). In fact, that leads me to a my only real hang-up with the show. I have a great deal of confusion when it comes to understanding who's who or where's where. Sween provided a great written introduction into the series for me. When I first read it (prior to seeing episode one) it made no sense. Then, giving it a glance over after wading into the waters a bit, it really helped provide some clarity on what was unfolding. Now, this confusion isn't hampering my enjoying of the show - far from it - but I do come across head-scratching moments every now and them. "Who is this guy again? Have we seen them already? I think so, but... Wait, where are we again?" Bit by bit, this problem does clear up with every episode I devour. Curious, though, if I should be reading the novels to help out further. I'm definitely loving it enough that I think I would enjoy them. However, knowing myself and how preoccupied I've been with other things on my plate, I'll probably never get to them - still looking at this damn Tom Wolfe novel sitting over my sitting over my desk. Curse you comics! You soak up all my free reading time! (Speaking of which, many more comic posts to come.)

Anyways, I'm sure to power through season two much like I did with season one, and what better time to start then when sitting at airports this weekend. 

Happy Endings: Season 2

I didn't start watching Happy Endings until about halfway through its second season, but I was able to see several earlier episodes On Demand; I think, then, that I had seen all but two or three of these episodes before. That's fine, because the second season was full of great episodes. In fact, I'd call this the best of three seasons of Happy Endings. It's not definitive or anything, but the show was still finding itself in the first season and I felt like the third just went a bit too over the top a bit too often. As of this writing, Happy Endings has yet to be canceled, but given that it was the lowest rated show on ABC by year's end, the writing is pretty much on the wall. Best case, it gets a similar deal Cougar Town got and moves over to USA or TBS or something. Worst case, we're left with 57 pretty solid episodes and nothing more. At any rate, it's a solid show, but I wouldn't recommend anyone go that far out of their way to see it if they haven't already. The ship has pretty much sailed at this point, and there are plenty of better options out there. Still, I'll miss Happy Endings. Good night!

Six Feet Under: Season 2

I like this show. It doesn't suck me in the way I expect most good dramas to suck me in, nor are its characters particularly enjoyable, nor its plots very memorable. But whenever I put it on in the background while using my computer or playing my DS, I tend to really watch it. That shouldn't be surprising, but in the past I've been less lured in by much better shows; The Wire is something I could easily get sidetracked from in its early seasons, and although I blame myself for this and not the show, it's still worth bringing up as the one counterpoint to all the other positive things I have to say about the show. And on the other end of the spectrum, take a show like Carnivàle where I didn't care for it much to begin with, and watching it in the background only made it worse. My point is, there's something undeniably good about Six Feet Under, but I can't figure out what it is as I look at the show element by element.

I'm left with nothing else to attribute it to but the relatability of the characters and their situations. None of the characters are particularly exciting or endearing, but they deal with very realistic problems unlike the people on most TV shows. Employer-employee strife. Health problems. Aimlessness in life. Relationship issues. Petty lawsuits. Perhaps the reason it all works so well is because none of it is melodramatic or over-the-top. Two seasons in, I can't call this one of my favorite HBO shows, or even a great show, period. But it's solid, and thus far it has built up a foundation for its characters and its tone. The big question now is whether or not it can parlay all this into something bigger in the final three seasons. The all-time great shows can do that. But again, if this is Six Feet Under's apex, that's just fine.

The Sopranos: The Complete Second Season

I admit it. I am stressed the fuck out about my CPA exam. And when I'm stressed, I watch TV. A lot of TV. It happened during finals week at college - I watched a few seasons of the Office while I should have been studying and it's happening now. Rather than sleeping, I've been watching a lot of this show. I still find time to study, don't worry. As weird as it is,  I find this show to be a huge stress relief. There's just enough action and violence to keep it entertaining, but this show is all about Tony's family dynamic. It's tough to explain, but this show is really great. I wish I had more to say, but I'm watching season 3 currently and they're at the strip club.