Another year, another nail biting finale for one of my favorite shows. Not that it was that suspenseful, no, I'm talking about worrying over whether or not that was the end. But it got picked up! That's been great news in the past, but what about now? has it "jumped the shark" as they say, or does it still have some legs? The answer is a lot of yes...and a little no.
Community has had a complicated history both with myself and it's network. After it finally embraced how weird it could be, I was hooked like nobodies business. Very few shows have an ensemble as inherently funny as well as effectively dramatic, adding more fuel to my "the best actors are comedians" argument (more on that tomorrow). Community understands the most effective humor comes from tragedy, and every single member of its cast is essentially a tragic figure. Yet they're lovable not in spite, but because of their flaws. Making what seems to be an exercise in childishness to be an earnest character drama.
But remember, its funny as hell.
Which leads us to he end of last season and the summary dismissal of the show's creator and showrunner, Dan Harmon. It stung. It stung because it seemed like cast member Chevy Chase had a lot to do with it. I know this is a business and casts aren't really ever as collaborative and happy as they seem on dvd extras...but I wanted to believe Community was.
Yet instead of killing it, NBC decided Community should continue. Whether it would be a proud success story, or a shambling zombie, remained to be seen. So a year later, what did we see? A little of both. It was essentially the first season all over again, missteps alined with hints at greatness. Perice's (Chevy Chase's) random disappearances notwithstanding, this was not the abomination I was expecting, and for that I am thank full. Though, understandably, this was far from the show's finest hour.
Still, the finale managed to bring the last remaining plot lines to a close. Did Greendale change Jeff? Was the darkest timeline ever going to be paid off? Were they ever going to bother to write Chase off the show? The answer ended up being yes. In that way the season was a success, in that way, I am hopeful for the future. Sure they haven't been picked up for a full season; seeing as they aren't on the fall schedule, but I can live with another 13 episodes. I'm sure the rest of us Greendalians can too.
Damnit Netflix, you have to stop doing this. The last time I wanted to cancel you plopped "Top of the Lake" in my lap. Now you've got a whole 'nuther season of "American Dad!" ...and whats this? for me? you shouldn't have. I really can't stay mad at you buddy, not if you keep up this Whedon related goodness.
So yeah, "Cabin in the Woods" is on Netflix and this marks maybe the third time I've seen it. I am not a guy who rewatches movies and I only own maybe less than fifteen actual dvds. Only my personal best of the best ever gets seen again and in the case of one ludicrous outlier (Hot Fuzz) sometimes twelve more times. But that's a very very special case.
Anyway, you have already probably heard about it and probably had the better parts ruined for you, and that's a shame. The last act is really something special and even I could not have foreseen the gaping depths of meta Whedon and his writing partner pulled off here. In just under 90 minutes they boiled down the essence of horror into something that was simultaneously thrilling and hilarious. So if you havn't checked it out yet please do. You may not like it as much as I did, but you are going to laugh and you are going to have a good time...but the more I think about it the film, the more I miss Bradly Whitford.
Cool, I certainly didn't mind the 2009 version one bit and its nice to see some classic IP being put to use with such a solid marketing budget. Good on you Bethesda! But if you don't start flapping your gums about plans for a new Fallout soon...
Join me as I mine the backlogs of the steam store for its hidden gems...and buried skeletons.
Three
years ago I heard of a game which the press was salivating over. A
Spy Thriller RPG. Now those words are to me what chocolate and peanut
butter are to most everyone else, delicious. Two of my favorite
things now mixed together! What could possibly go wrong?
Plenty.
The game was mired by an indecisive production on one side and an
impatient publisher on the other. One could hardly call it rushed
because it had already taken four years to make, but in it's state
the gaming press was justifiably not amused. Jim Stearling (a critic
I like) gave it a 2/10 saying “It's disgusting that a game in
this forsaken a state is asking for a single thin dime, let alone
sixty bucks. Even if it was free I wouldn't recommend it.”
Games are expensive, and I pride myself on paying close attention to
a wide variety of reviews before making a purchase, suffice to say
words like those struck AP off my list for several years.
But then
a few months back I was looking for something on the cheap and
stumbled across message boards about the most underrated games of
this console generation and this came up more than any other. But
how could that be?! It was a disaster, so many critics said so... I
was still resolute in not giving this game the time of day.
But Joysiq.com had found something. In their article “AlphaProtocol is the new Deus Ex” they claimed that the original ideas it
presented were fully realized in spite of its technical shortcomings.
It was a good read and it gave me a figurative craving for Reeses.
Steam had it for $15 and I'll admit it was late, I was bored, and
pretty intoxicated. But I should probably talk about the game now
shouldn’t I?
The
critics were absolutely right...initially. The game put's its worst
foot forward, not once, but several times. The first forth of the
game is it's worst by a mile and paradoxically the tutorial chapter
is only fun after you've already beaten the game, its weird but true.
In fact after I died during the very first real mission the game
glitched and all the enemies had disappeared. Enemies are kind of
important for those little things a spy thriller needs like tension
and conflict.
The stealth walk is hilarious...the stealth skills are hilariously awesome.
You also
can't simply point a gun and shoot it. You need to invest skill
points in a corresponding weapon's tree to actually have a chance of
hitting something. The enemy’s intelligence is also frighteningly
bizarre as well as erratic and they all look like they're walking
against an invisible treadmill. So after the first few hours I had a
really sour taste in my mouth, I was only playing the game because I
felt I had to, and by gum I was going to get my money’s worth.
Thankfully
things changed, the minutia of the the previously irritating shooting
system began to make sense every gun had strange gimmick attached.
Pistols could fire precision shot from behind cover, holding your aim
with a shotgun gave it a bigger knockdown effect, holding a rifle
shot still charged a kill shot, and so on.Then I
started paying closer attention. Passable characters began developing
into compelling ones, the skill trees started bearing delicious
fruit, and my Taipei secret base was AWESOME. I wasn’t having fun
in spite of myself, I was actually having fun.
Mmmmarburrrrg!
There
are several wonderful things about AP that other critics either
failed to mention or misrepresented. In most games you have all the
time you need to respond to characters during dialogue. Obsidian
invented the dialogue timer. You have seconds to decide whether to
execute an arms dealing warlord or to back stab a trusted handler. It
gives immediacy and weight to otherwise over calculated and cold
decisions. And everyone has an opinion of you, especially the
villains. Towards the end a secondary antagonist was bragging
about how little I had thought through the assault on his compound.
But I hadn't. I ran through my reasons and tactics exposing how
little he actually knew of my plans. Every step I had outplayed him
my reputation meter ticked up out of his begrudging respect for my
actions. A more perfect tandem of game mechanics and story telling I
have never seen.
The long
and short of it is this is a diamond in the rough for anyone who
loves video games and espionage as much as I do. If you can forgive
it's budget and harebrained mechanics, this is the interactive spy
novel you never knew you wanted.
Every gaming generation seems to create a new elephant in the room. Emerging technology; coupled with a voracious need to profit from it, creates palpable tension between those who want to embrace the new and those who fear for the industry's integrity. Two acronyms loom largest over the twilight of this one: DRM and DLC. I'm not wading into digital rights management today, thank god, but rather trying to see the silver lining in the newest form of content delivery. It ain't perfect, it can do damage, and can easily be taken advantage of. But every once in a while it makes magic.
5. Portal 2 : Perpetual Testing Initiative
Poor Little Octopus...
Maybe this doesn't count as DLC and maybe I just really wanted one more Cave Johnson video. Either way, opening up Portal 2 to crowd sourcing has fixed the single biggest problem of all puzzle games i.e. running out of puzzles. Modding communities are one of the greatest thing to ever happen to PC gaming and Valve found a way for console gamers to get in on the action too. Also tacitly admitting its a way to steal ideas is both hilarious and accurate. So there, more reasons to love valve and their free range, wavy gravy, beatnik, multi-billion dollar corporation. They continue to be one of the most delightful of all private companies. I mean we haven't heard of Google using your search history as blackmail...YET! But that day's a'comin' folks.
4. Mass Effect 3: Citadel
I'd love to explain why I disliked sitting through ten minutes of grandiose exposition from a literal god machine at the end of Mass Effect 3, but I'd rather gouge my eyes out then dreg that crap up again. So I'm gonna talk about the things about the game I love, like Citadel. Whatever side of the ending kerfuffle you fall on, I think we can all agree that a giant house party with all your old crew mates (on paper) sounds like a grand old time. And as hard as I was on the Starchild (sigh), Citadel felt like the writers took me out for an apology dinner full of war stories, hard drinking, and backslapping.
The shooting part of the story was a fine yarn and more than a little hilarious. In fact Bioware is now definitely the best candidate for the "48 Hours" game...yes, yes I think I would like that very much.
We just want you to be funny again, you can do it Eddie!
Believe in yourself.
But when the dust finally settles in the Normandy's docking bay, around your comrades and space hamster, the real fun begins. The ritzy Vegas strip area of the Citadel opens up and you're free to mill around while you gather all the stuff you need to throw the greatest party the milky way has ever seen! The amount of detail that went into this mother is absolutely incredible. Even a downloadable character like Zaeed, who I felt was pretty underrated, has a great little scene all his own trying to win at a claw machine. That sums up what was truly great about the whole trilogy, there are meaningful and fully realized things you can experience that hundreds of other players will never ever see. A feature shared by video games...and the Louver. So, pour one out for the Citadel, its wonderful.
Isn't this shocking? My favorite game
of all time makes the list somehow, but hear me out. Every piece was
planned out from the start and they all tie in with both each other
and the main game. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I don't believe
that’s ever happened before and if it has, I sincerely doubt they
were this good. They serve as mini vacations from the Mojave
Wasteland and make what was already a forty hour adventure
exponentially even longer. Hey, I never said these things were good for
you.
From the Dead Money's spectacular
setting and villain, to Lonesome Road's ball busting combat, to Old
World Blue's awesome talking apartment, each of the four
installments stand on their own as solid efforts. But at the very
least they all bumped the level cap up by five and they weren’t
separate experiences from the campaign, I hate that. Plus they
simply gave me more New Vegas and I can't thank them enough for that.
2. Bioshock 2: Minerva's Den
Bioshock 2 is one of the most
universally ignored sequels of all time. Some people even go as far
to say that Minerva's den was the only worthwhile part of the whole
game and while I disagree with the hypocrisy of their agenda...they
are on to something.
Minerva's Den is Bioshock boiled down to its
bare bones and its amazing how much of the original's magic they
manage to recapture in just under three hours of game play. The story
is fascinating, the twist interesting, and it fleshes out parts of
the little sister R&D I never thought I wanted to know. More than
that, it also explains Dr. Tannenbaum's jarring departure from
Delta's side in the beginning of the main game and introduces a few
very well written and acted characters of its own. Like the rest of
the trilogy it manages to be both thought provoking and tragic. The
single fact that it completely stands on its own is worth my critical
stamp of approval. Even if I hate standalone campaigns, I can still
respect the hell out of Minerva’s Den.
1. Borderlands: The Secret Armory of
General Knoxx
You know you want it.
This is, without a shadow of a doubt,
the DLC that changed my mind on DLC in general. Its not that's its
good, its that its so good it
made me hopeful for the entire concept of downloaded content. Simply
put, Knoxx is better than what came in the box. Not only that, but it set a grand precedent for Gearbox Software ( a company I love to bits) and their subsequent efforts in Borderlands 2. Each of which were pretty good at worst and literally game changing at best, their season pass with 2 is one hell of a deal if you're interested.
Even if Borderlands isn't your bag, Gearbox still drew a line in the sand three years ago. They forced everyone in the industry to pick up their ears and pay attention to the right way to do DLC. If you can't hear me, I'm slow clapping.
I think we can all agree
that “The Avengers” was an act nobody wanted to follow. This
could have easily ended up as a colossal act of hubris by Disney by
riding its best talent too hard until it broke. I can count on one
hand the number of threequels that were any good, and only one that
was actually great (Toy Story 3). But once again, Disney hired a
talented director out of left field and let him do what he does best.
The man is Shane Black, and he is responsible for one of my top tree
favorite films “Kiss Kiss Bang Bang.” Everything that made that
movie great is firing on all cylinders in Iron Man 3. The unrelenting
hilarious banter, overly intricate plot twists, and satirical subversion of tired action beats. All of these qualities keep it
far above the realm of mediocrity which, sadly, 2 had dipped its toe
into more times than it should have.
The story is much more
compelling this time around and it actually manages to deliver the
overdone “this time it's personal”
monologue in such a quiet and matter of fact kind of way that I
hadn’t marked it off as cliche until I sat down to write this
thing. When the central villains take the stage, which for the third
time features a violent renegade reined in by a corporate interest,
The plot shifts into high gear and only slows to a jog once for the 60 minutes left. Which ends up being a perfectly fine direction, but
I could have honestly watched Tony breaking down physically and
emotionally in his basement for another half an hour. Those have
always been my favorite parts of the series, Stark just trying to get
a grip on his own head.
But
this can't be a mini series and thus certain characters get the short
shrift. Rhodes comes off as an after thought for the most part and
Pepper, while still getting in on some choice action scenes, still
boils down to a damsel in distress. But what you get in return is
pleasantly surprising. The twist involving Ben Kingsly's “The
Mandarin” is brilliant and Tony's strangely un-accented friend
that he makes in rural Tennessee shares the best banter I’ve seen
since...well, “Kiss Kiss Bang Bang.”
What
sets 3 apart from the others is its careful attention to the finale,
I think we can all agree the first couple left much to be desired.
Its a breath taking daisy chain of destruction connecting its two
best set pieces that magically turns forty minutes into what seems
like ten. Thankfully there's still plenty of that old Black dialogue
magic left in the bag so the near unrelenting action never suffocates
the film's easy charm.
That's
the word I’d use to sum up Iron Man 3, charm. It's charming. Its
the closest I’ve seen to a straight up marvel action comedy and
I’m glad it was allowed to stick so closely to its talented comedy
guns. It feels like the film Black wanted to make rather than the
Avengers preview Favreau was forced to make. So yes, this is my
favorite Iron Man and one of my favorite comic book movies in
general. Its got kinks in its armor, but they just give it character. If this is the way we have to say goodbye to Downey Jr.'s Tony
Stark than so be it. It was one hell of a retirement party
Sometimes a show wins you over so
gradually its hard to remember that you were ever against it. I'll
say up front I never got “Home Movies” and I was way
too young to catch “Dr. Katz” so when Loren Bouchard got a prime
time Fox pilot my opinion, shared by many viewers, was a little more
than a shrug. But I gave it a shot. The first episode wasn't bad, but
it left me cold. If it wasn't for “Archer” and my weekly need for
a Jon Benjamin fix I never would have stuck with it. And as you can
probably guess, everything I’m about to write can be summed up by
saying I'm glad I did.
ITS DIFFERENT ENOUGH
Its
obvious the show's biggest sell is how similar it is to the Simpsons
in concept, but the two are night and day. For one it comes from a
background of improvised conversational dialogue and the biggest
laughs for me always come from how something
is said rather than what. Conversations erupt and and die down at
unpredictable times blurring the line between script and performance
just enough to keep things interesting as well as to set it apart
from Fox's other animated offerings. Plus the tangents it goes off on
are fun to listen to by themselves. Its a fun show grounded by dark, snarky realism that somehow makes it more savory than bitter.
IT HELPED ME FINALLY "GET" KRISTEN SCHAAL
I'd
seen her around the Daily Show, her Comedy Central special, and a few
other places. I thought she was ok, never really stood out to me the
way Samantha Bee or Chelsea Peretti could. But once I heard her voice
coming out of a ten year old girl, I got it. Something just clicked
and I’d now call myself a fan. It is weird to think shes the only
woman in the main cast that’s actually played by one, but that’s
beside the point. As Louise, the maniacal mystery wrapped in an
enigma and covered by rabbit ears, Schaal kills. Her background
antics are always highlights and her central stories are amongst the
best so far. In fact"Ear-sy Rider," in which her beloved rabbit ears are stolen, may be my favorite.
ITS NOT AFRAID TO BE SENTIMENTAL
The show has a heart and her name is Tina. Maybe the voice of a 32 year old man doesn't sound right coming from a 14 year old girl. But it works hilariously well and despite the fact she is mostly played for laughs, when Tina becomes a focal point, you'll see the most brutally honest look at teenage sexuality I've ever witnessed. It's brutal, I feel I need to mention that one more time. Erotic zombie dreams, butt fixation, flirting with anything vaguely masculine, (including steer) she is routinely betrayed by her hormones. When the stories dive into her achingly pathetic quest for love they become greater than the sum of their parts. She's proud of herself and doesn't take any crap from the world. In many ways she's a much braver romantic than I, even though it kills me to admit it.
IT HIDES GUEST STARS IN PLAIN SIGHT
There
have been a metric butt ton of guest stars on Bob's Burgers but I’d
only caught half of them before the credits started rolling. More
often than not I'd read the cast list and yell “that was
him/her?! I had no fu**ing
clue...” Both Sarah and Laura Silverman were regulars, (took me a
year to figure that out) Kevin Kline was their land lord, (again,
could have fooled me) and Jon Hamm was a talking super toilet.
It's rare a show lets a guest's performance breathe and more
importantly avoids the toxic influence of them actually playing
themselves...The Simpsons is a dark cautionary tale in that
way.
ITS MUSICAL NUMBERS (AND CREDITS) ARE ENDEARINGLY STUPID
But if
there is one thing I’d like the show to be remembered for it's
their admirably dumb musical numbers. They're too legitimately funny
to ignore, too hastily put together to stand on their own, and yet so
genuine that I grew to love them. They've started putting together a
promotional cover series called “Bob's Buskers” and I really hope
they stick to it. I actually have some new found respect for “BadTina.” So in summation, this is best animated family comedy since 1989. It may not ever reach the towering heights of The Simpson's first four years but come on, no one has. Its edgy, its sweet, its funny as hell and I look forward to it every week. I hope eventually some of you will too. First Season Standouts
Crawl Space Sexy Dance Fighting Sheesh! Cab, Bob? Art Crawl Lobsterfest
