MrNepathy's Blog

Normally I do a review in December for the year in pop culture, but as sometimes things get lost in the shuffle and we lose praise as time moves on, I thought I would do a “Year So Far” list. That’s what you’re reading now. Go.

Video Game

Best – Mass Effect 2 – If only modern science fictions movies had plots this entertaining. This game features character development (in terms of personality and statistics), giant space battles, good dialogue and a cover system. The Renegade choices are often filled with hard, almost too-evil choices, but the price of always doing the honorable thing is also high because not all of your crew members are honorable. It’s the first RPG that I’ve played through completely more than once. With your choices from Mass Effect one carrying over to Mass Effect 2, and 2 presumably affecting 3, this is the trilogy that should be used as a basis for RPGs in the future. There has been stiff competition for game of the year so far but Mass Effect 2 easily fended off Final Fantasy XIII (which I haven’t even finished) which I thought would be its biggest challenger.

Runner Up – Red Dead Redemption – Replace the cars from Grand Theft Auto with horses, take away the cell phone and keep all of the storytelling and you have Red Dead Redemption. First, it’s a beautiful game. I don’t mind riding through the night because sometimes I’m treated to a full moon rising over the plains. The sunsets will blind and amaze you. There’s a way to “fast travel” but I haven’t bothered with it because I like looking around. If you’re looking for a sandbox game that’s a little different than the normal urban setting, or just want a game with entertaining dialogue, this is your game. The execution moves for close-combat kills are a nice touch. Best “Western” game of all time? Probably.

Honorable Mention for Originality – Heavy Rain. The plot has a few holes, like obvious and unexplained red herrings, but the story is done well with a few nice twists thrown in. I replayed to get a better ending and even in just comparing notes with a friend, learned there are a lot of other things that could have gone wrong. It’s a “choose your own adventure” for grownups. At times the events are truly chilling.

Movie

Best – Iron Man 2 – If you could not see this pick coming, you’re probably dumb and living on a diet of crickets. I would have liked more of the Tony breakdown and the boss fight was a little short, but the action and character development were good. Don Cheadle took over the role of James Rhodes rather well. Mickey Rourke played a decent villain giving depth to what was basically a throw-away character in the comics. There’s plenty for fans of the character and then things blow up for everyone else. Please keep in mind, I am horribly biased and part of my enthusiasm for this film has to stem from the fact that I still find it amazing to see my guy flying around on the big screen.

Runner Up – The A-Team. Hands down this is the most fun I’ve had at a movie in a long time. This perfectly captured the old thrill I had as a kid when I would go to see a movie and wouldn’t worry about plausibility or physics. The entire main cast does well at capturing the feel of the original characters. It’s faithful to the original source while still making it something fresh. Not a great film, but it is a fantastic movie. There need to be more like it. Go, have fun.

Honorable Mention – Toy Story 3 – I think as Pixar has improved its animation abilities, it has also focused on telling more emotional stories and Toy Story 3 certainly continues that progression. It offers plenty of fun antics for the kids, but it’s also about what it means to grow older and leave childhood behind. I think that portion might be lost on kids who are still in the midst of childhood. The movie once again uses the “Buzz thinks he’s actually a space ranger” plotline, but when the toys try to reset him to normal, it has very amusing results. It’s definitely worth a watch and if you have a heart at all, this will pull at the strings.

Television

Best New Show – Parenthood ­– How good is this show? My runner-up pick is a show that features adult language, violence, good dialogue and the best theme song in years. This is better. Parenthood follows the lives of four siblings, their parents, and their children. It deals with almost all aspects of parenthood from raising a special needs kid to raising a trouble child and raising a gifted child. There are no bad guys, it’s a show where you want every character to succeed.

Runner Up – Justified – “I draw my weapon, it’s to kill. That’s what guns are for,” is how the main character approaches bad guys. He’ll let them draw first, but when they do, he’ll put them down. What impresses me most about the show is that while Raylan might go after a bad guy for an episode, there is a central antagonist throughout the season. Walter Goggins plays Boyd Crowder who is my favorite villain on television. Boyd gets shot early in the season and claims to go through a transformation. It’s not until the season finale that you learn if Boyd is being sincere. This is a crime drama for people who don’t want half of the scenes to take place in crime labs or watch detectives taking off sunglasses and saying things like, “guess it was time for the bellhop to ‘check out.’”

Best Sitcom – Modern Family – Funny, but not afraid to be poignant for a moment here and there. If the pigeon scene doesn’t make you laugh, there’s something wrong with you. Or maybe there’s something wrong with me for laughing. I like each of the individual families as well as the family as a whole.

Runner Up – Community – This is hardly the typical sitcom and if you turn on your TV for something profound, keep turning for something else. But Community is crazy. It’s a show where, like The A-Team, you have to let go and just have fun with it. The paint ball episode is outstanding. Ridiculous, but outstanding.

Music

Best Album – Brothers by the Black Keys – Though the cover art is simplistic as it just says, “This is an album by The Black Keys. The name of this album is Brothers” the music is anything but standard. I think it would be best described as blues for the electronic age. It’s not music for everyone, but for those looking to shake up their music library, you’ll find a fun new sound.

Runner Up – Pursuit by Jamie Cullum – Most of you have probably never heard of Jamie Cullum. Probably his most well-known song is “Gran Torino” which is the theme song to the movie of the same name. Jamie Cullum is a jazz, big band sound and in addition to his own music he does a cover of Michael Jackson’s, “Don’t Stop the Music” and the Cole Porter classic, “Just One of Those Things.” There are a few slower songs meant to woo the ladies, but most of the tracks are fast paced. It’s worth a listen. This is music for people who aren’t old enough to have to like Michael Buble yet.

Other

Biggest Disappointment – Pacific – It’s not that Pacific is bad, it’s just that it didn’t amaze me like I thought it would. Band of Brothers but done in the Pacific theater? Sign me up. Unfortunately the series spent too much time covering bond-selling drives back in the States, mental hospital stays and shore leave. One episode opened with a prologue about how hard the fighting was, but then spent half an hour following a medal winner as he tried to promote U.S. war bonds and slept with starlets. Largely the episodes followed two soldiers who seemed to never interact with one another. Band of Brothers moved from one soldier to another, but always came back to certain soldiers and always tied things in together. I just wasn’t wowed.

Runner Up – Clash of the Titans – You made a war between gods uninteresting and unexciting. Congratulations.

Least favorite trend – 3D. It worked well in Avatar, a movie shot to be in 3D. But otherwise I have been unimpressed. I saw Toy Story 3 in 3D and it felt tacked on. The thing I noticed most in 3D was when it said, “This preview approved for all audiences.” Otherwise it was a non factor. And I sure don’t want a 3D television where I have to pay $100 per pair of glasses. Want to have a viewing party for a 3D movie and invite nine friends? You get to spend $1000 on glasses. Also, I don’t want 3D games.

Penultimate trend – The second worst trend is motion controls in games. Hey Sony, making people swing snow-cone looking controllers isn’t going to sell consoles. Why are you trying to catch Nintendo when Microsoft is your real competitor? Build a real multiplayer network and maybe people will see your console as more than a Blu Ray Player. And Microsoft? I don’t want to wave my hands at the screen to control my movie, or block soccer balls. I want to hit B to throw a grenade at someone. If I wanted to make throwing motions, I’ll go outside and throw. That’s what outside is for. Inside is for hitting right trigger to fire a round into someone’s eye.