The translation isn't perfect, but Aristotle's main point in a
quote to which he's attributed is that poetry is often truer than
history, for it captures the universal experience, while history is
relegated to a particular time and place.
This is the theme “Boardwalk Empire” has flirted with since it
debuted on HBO six years ago. A series that consistently dealt you
style in addition to (and sometimes, I would argue in lieu of)
substance, Terrence Winter's love song to the era that birthed
organized crime in the United States consistently took license with
the historical record to bring viewers an intensely personal drama.
Boardwalk struggled to recapture its central conflict after Steve
Buscemi's Nucky Thompson killed his main threat, Jimmy Darmody, at
the end of season 2. We were introduced to Bobby Canavale's brilliant
Gyp Rosetti in season 3, then Jeffrey Wright's verbose and wily
Valentin Narcisse in season 4, who quickly picked a fight with
Michael Kenneth Williams' Chalky White. In the interim, Jack Huston's
Richard Harrow tried and failed to establish a normal life for
himself after putting that rifle in his mouth in season 2, Nelson Van
Alden (Michael Shannon) bumbled his way through a stint in organized
crime in Chicago and attracted the attention of Stephen Graham's Al
Capone, while Gillian Darmody (Gretchen Mol) descended slowly into an
opium-fueled madness that produced some of the series' finest (and
creepiest) performances.
It was, to put it mildly, an oft-unfocused mess. While the
backdrop of violence, sex and power-grabbing (fueled mostly by the
brilliant performances of Vincent Piazza and Anatol Yusef as Charles
“Lucky” Luciano and Meyer Lansky, respectivey) always kept
viewers glued to the screen, the series was billed as Nucky
Thompson's rise and fall from power, a theme that seemed to die along
with Jimmy in that rain-soaked construction pit.
Thankfully, season 5 successfully recaptured that spirit,
introducing us to a younger Nucky as he developed into the
“half-gangster” we say greasin' palms and griftin' so many years
ago. And in the series finale, that story arc came full circle in a
climax that brilliantly thumbed its nose at history and gave us the
poetic end Nucky deserved, rather than the quiet death he received in
real life.
Enoch “Nucky” Johnson, the real life mogul that Nucky Thompson
is based upon, lived to 85, dying of old age in Northfield, New
Jersey, in 1968. Had the writers chosen to give their title
character, who differed from the real Johnson in many ways, such an
end, it would have been an affront to the decision to make him the
source of his own fall from grace. The final moments of the series
finale brilliantly blend the fatal pistol blasts from a young Tommy
Darmody with the offer of Gillian to the commodore, Nucky's act of
desperation for power that spawns all the events of the series. It's
an ending that forms a perfect circle and the closure to Nucky's
quest for power – and its convoluted telling – that only art, not
life, could produce.
Monday, October 27, 2014
Thursday, October 23, 2014
Why I hate listening to 'Serial' - but I won't stop
Serial, the latest podcast spin-off of
This American Life hosted by
producer Sarah Koenig, should be commended for what it is: An
extremely well-researched, smartly edited look at an irresistible
crime story.
But it lacks the context that makes its parent program such a mainstay of the public radio culture and what elevates crime reporting from a simple recitation of facts (disputed or not) to what it can and should be – a means to question our values and morals, and to shine light on how we treat those in our society who we've decided should be stripped of their rights.
Perhaps it's unfair to judge Serial at this point, just five episodes in to its first season in an endeavor that is obviously different from the Ira Glass-hosted juggernaut. But the program hinges upon your shared curiosity with Koenig, whereas the best pieces of journalism go beyond a reporter's curiosity to hit on themes of what it means to be human. It's no small coincidence that This American Life chooses themes each week, in the oft-repeated catchphrase of Glass, and brings you different stories on that theme. The effect is similar to reading the entirety of a page of a newspaper, I think. We're forced to think about how things we've learned work together and inform the world around us.
Serial is told entirely within the world of Adnan Syed, Hae Min Lee and a relatively small set of supporting characters from around Baltimore. Aside from a few brief and tantalizing clips in the episode exploring Syed and Lee's romantic relationship, issues of race, socioeconomic background and religion are largely played down for Koenig to narratively unfold her reporting. It's an addictive, yet reductive, way to tell a story, especially when you consider we're basically listening to the same pretrial occurrences each and every week, told in a different way.
I'm currently reading “Invention of Murder: How the VictoriansReveled in Death and Detection and Created Modern Crime” by Judith Flanders. The book's ambling thesis is this: As humans, we're morbidly fascinated with death, especially when it has to do with the young, love and passion. We've got all three ingredients in Serial, and while Koenig does a more-than-admirable job of presenting the tale, I can't shake the feeling – in the first five episodes at least – she's painting by numbers, following a storytelling formula that's been beaten to death in paperback fiction piling up in used book stores.
I hope she and her team prove me wrong as the podcast progresses, because I will say I am hopelessly hooked like so many others. But when I'm done listening, I feel more like I've scarfed down a fast food meal than dug in to a meaty storytelling experience.
But it lacks the context that makes its parent program such a mainstay of the public radio culture and what elevates crime reporting from a simple recitation of facts (disputed or not) to what it can and should be – a means to question our values and morals, and to shine light on how we treat those in our society who we've decided should be stripped of their rights.
Perhaps it's unfair to judge Serial at this point, just five episodes in to its first season in an endeavor that is obviously different from the Ira Glass-hosted juggernaut. But the program hinges upon your shared curiosity with Koenig, whereas the best pieces of journalism go beyond a reporter's curiosity to hit on themes of what it means to be human. It's no small coincidence that This American Life chooses themes each week, in the oft-repeated catchphrase of Glass, and brings you different stories on that theme. The effect is similar to reading the entirety of a page of a newspaper, I think. We're forced to think about how things we've learned work together and inform the world around us.
Serial is told entirely within the world of Adnan Syed, Hae Min Lee and a relatively small set of supporting characters from around Baltimore. Aside from a few brief and tantalizing clips in the episode exploring Syed and Lee's romantic relationship, issues of race, socioeconomic background and religion are largely played down for Koenig to narratively unfold her reporting. It's an addictive, yet reductive, way to tell a story, especially when you consider we're basically listening to the same pretrial occurrences each and every week, told in a different way.
I'm currently reading “Invention of Murder: How the VictoriansReveled in Death and Detection and Created Modern Crime” by Judith Flanders. The book's ambling thesis is this: As humans, we're morbidly fascinated with death, especially when it has to do with the young, love and passion. We've got all three ingredients in Serial, and while Koenig does a more-than-admirable job of presenting the tale, I can't shake the feeling – in the first five episodes at least – she's painting by numbers, following a storytelling formula that's been beaten to death in paperback fiction piling up in used book stores.
I hope she and her team prove me wrong as the podcast progresses, because I will say I am hopelessly hooked like so many others. But when I'm done listening, I feel more like I've scarfed down a fast food meal than dug in to a meaty storytelling experience.
Sunday, August 10, 2014
Couch Surfin': The Memorable 'Sopranos' Saga
I was a little late to the party on "The Sopranos." It was always on my list of shows to watch, but for some reason "House," "The Wire" and "How I Met Your Mother" took precedence during my college days of lazily binge-watching online episodes between classes, runs and work.
With the death of James Gandolfini last summer, I figured I owed it to his memory and to my own sensibilities to give the series its due. It took me a year, but I finished the saga this weekend and am in the reflective mood.
The below list may not be the finest episodes of David Chase's classic HBO series, for which we can thank the future airing of shows like "The Wire," "Boardwalk Empire" and "Breaking Bad." Gandolfini and co. showed us we could stomach adult drama on premium television outside the boundaries of traditional broadcast "seasons" and exceeding the content allowed by censors. It may not be the best of that bunch, but it blazed a trail we can duly credit as creating the glut of fantastic TV drama we enjoy today.
SPOILERS BELOW. YOU'VE BEEN WARNED.
"College"
Originally aired: Feb. 7, 1999
"Am I in the what?"
The draw of "The Sopranos," from the beginning, was the centralized character of Tony Soprano, a flawed leader who is trying to juggle the modern demands of fatherhood while reconciling his violent identity as a leader of organized crime. No episode portrays this better than "College," and there's good reason it's cited by many as the best episode of the series. Contrast the above scene, where Tony attempts to rationalize his role to his daughter, Meadow, with the chilling scene where he strangles an old foe. There's a reason "The Sopranos" hit it big early, and "College" was a major part of that.
"House Arrest"
Originally aired: March 26, 2000
"I don't give a shit if you're working with Wal-Mart. Knock it the fuck off."
The downfall of Vito Corleone was his unwillingness to sell hard drugs. There are echoes of "The Godfather," "Goodfellas" and countless other gangster film classics in "The Sopranos." The characters are self-aware that their leading lives glamorized by modern media. The writers co-opted this disdain for hard drugs in Tony's character and his memorable spat with Richie Aprile, setting up the eventual showdown with Uncle Junior that was the basis for much of the dramatic tension in the show's first few seasons. "House Arrest" is also memorable for showing Tony's commitment (and addiction) to the lifestyle. When his lawyer orders him to lay low, Tony's inability to interact with his criminal crew becomes an unbearable burden.
"The Knight in White Satin Armor"
Originally aired: April 2, 2000
"Ballroom dancing is a legitimate art form."
The spat between Richie Aprile and Tony was clearly headed for some kind of resolution, though who would have guessed it would be Janice who put the beef to bed? "The Knight in White Satin Armor" is notable for its exploration of the relationship between Tony and Janice, a complicated tete a tete that lasted for the entirety of the show's run. Gandolfini shows his chops in the scene when he discovers Aprile is dead. There's a look of relief, surprise and - dare I say it - admiration when he sees Richie lying dead in Janice's arms.
"Funhouse"
Originally aired: April 9, 2000
"Why you making me do this, you fat, miserable, piece of fuckin' shit?"
The writers gave us little time to grieve for Richie Aprile before offing Salvatore "Big Pussy" Bonpensiero the next week. Pussy was ratting to the FBI, and when Tony finds out, he orders the hit. Pussy's death becomes a major theme throughout the rest of the show, with Vincent Pastore making multiple guest appearances as Tony's subconscious wrangles with having to "deal with" one of his best friends and top earners. There's a memorable mirror in the final season, as Paulie Walnuts thinks back to Pussy's death and believes Tony's out to off him, too.
"Pine Barrens"
Originally aired: May 6, 2001
"You had Tic-Tacs all along? Give me some!"
Steve Buscemi lent his considerable talents to this episode behind the camera, considered another of the series' best, before appearing as Tony's cousin in Season 5. As bit characters go, Christopher Moltisanti and Paulie Gualtieri are perhaps the most interesting in "Sopranos" lore. Christopher must deal with the struggles of being the youngest among the made guys and having his balls constantly broken. Add in substance addiction and constant grief with Paulie, and you have a character that played a huge role in the series' run despite never fully receiving top billing. In "Pine Barrens," we see that constant grief play out in a way that sows seeds for conflict to come.
"Amor Fou"
Originally aired: May 13, 2001
"Kill me. Kill me, you cocksucker."
Of all Tony's love affairs, the most dangerous turned out to be with the beautiful and demented car dealer, Gloria Trillo. She grows jealous of his wife, and his other women, and is one of the few who calls him out on it, prompting a violent showdown that terrifies Tony to his core. Though he sleeps with many women, it is Gloria who continues to recur in his mind long after he learns of her suicide. There's a reason. She illustrates the same mental weakness as him, and he worries her inability to cope reflects a similar possibility within himself.
"Whoever Did This"
Originally aired: November 10, 2002
"That's funny about God, and faith, and shit like that."
It's tough to pick one episode where Ralph Cifaretto can be best remembered. His strange sexual relationship with Janice, and jokes about Johnny Sack's wife and obsession with the film "Gladiator" provided a constant burr in Tony's saddle. So it's unsurprising that Tony takes care of Ralph, but it is surprising about what puts him over the edge: the death of his prized race horse. The resulting cleanup brings Christopher and Tony closer together, but also reveals the extent of his drug addiction that will ultimately prove to be his downfall with Tony.
"The Strong, Silent Type"
Originally aired: November 17, 2002
"You're weak. You're out of control. And you've become an embarrassment to yourself and everybody else."
It's hard to pick what is most memorable about "The Strong, Silent Type." Tony sleeping with Svetlana, which eventually becomes the basis for his separation from Carmela. The painting of Pie-O-My that eventually finds its way to Paulie's mantle, and becomes the basis for Tony's disdain later in the series. The growing unease between Furio and Carmela. For my money, it's Christopher's intervention, which eventually sets him on the beleaguered path to get sober. The scene is at once darkly comic, wrought with tension and one of the few times the members of Tony's personal family and criminal family interact on a personal level. It's one of the most memorable scenes of the series.
"Unidentified Black Males"
Originally aired: May 2, 2004
"Fuck his foot! It's not his foot! Forget the foot!"
Another episode that's difficult to pin down one or two memorable moments alone. Growing tension between Tony and his cousin Tony (Steve Buscemi) leads to a revelation in Dr. Melfi's office, however, that is one of the most superbly acted scenes in the series. Tony reveals his guilt that his cousin went to prison, and not him, because of a panic attack following an argument with his mother. It's a brief moment of insight that brings Tony to his knees, and it's a shame the whole scene isn't on YouTube. Meanwhile, Finn witnesses Vito in a compromising position that leads to a memorable story arc in the next season.
"Long Term Parking"
Originally aired: May 23, 2004
"Jesus, I don't even know how to say this. It's Christopher."
It's tough to watch "The Sopranos" and not feel slightly sorry for Adriana. Christopher goes through mood swings and she stands dutifully by his side, even through the worst possible drug addiction. A perceived fling with Tony creates friction between the two, but she comes back into his arms. Then, when she seeks to confide in him and get away from the life, he turns around and sells her out to Tony and Syl, who then use her concern for Christopher to entrap her. What's incredibly heartbreaking is that Adriana imagines leaving before agreeing to the ride with Syl. The execution scene is painful to watch, and becomes a source of conflict between Tony and Christopher in ensuing seasons.
"Johnny Cakes"
Originally aired: April 30, 2006
"Listen, Marie, I'm sorry all this had to happen. I never meant to hurt you."
Vito Spatafore went from an interesting bit character to a full-blown story arc in the first half of the Sopranos' sixth season. His struggle with his sexuality, and the differing opinions it inspires in Tony, his crew and the families, provides an original look into modern perceptions about homosexuality and perfect fodder for Phil Leotardo's eventual vendetta against Tony. John Costelloe offers an inspired turn as Jim "Johnny Cakes" Witowski. That Joseph Gannascoli, the actor who portrayed Vito, brought the idea for his character being gay to David Chase and never received top recognition for his performance or idea is a disgrace.
"Second Coming"
Originally aired: May 20, 2007
"You're OK, baby. You're OK, baby."
Anthony Jr. was always an impediment to Tony's mental well-being. He worries about his son all the time, and as Meadow rightfully points out to her brother, it's because he's the only son in an Italian family that Tony is able to be floored by the depression of his son. While the abrupt departure of Blanca throws him into a depressed funk, neither Tony nor Carmella really believe he's at his wit's end until an ill-fated suicide attempt in the family pool. Tony's reaction - immediate rage, then a return to the fatherly instinct of protection - is at once profound and extremely telling about his character. Even in the midst of a potentially life-ending conflict with Phil Leotardo, Tony reverts to his fatherhood role in an instant.
"Made in America"
Originally aired: June 10, 2007
"I went ahead and ordered some for the table."
What discussion of memorable scenes from "The Sopranos" would be complete without a nodding reference to the final scene? Much maligned when it aired, the final moments of the Sopranos family on the small screen made me squeal with existential joy. Who is that man who goes to the bathroom? Who does Tony see when he looks up to the ringing of the bell at the door? Which "evil at the door" - the remnants of Phil Leotardo's crew, a disenchanted Paulie Walnuts or the "80 to 90 percent chance" of federal indictment will fall Tony Soprano? David Chase decided to let the viewers sort that out, rather than end his series with a definitive answer. As an avid opponent of post-modern non-endings, I can't believe I'm typing these words. But this was the perfect way to end Tony's story. Full stop.
What about you? What moments in Sopranos history do you remember most?
With the death of James Gandolfini last summer, I figured I owed it to his memory and to my own sensibilities to give the series its due. It took me a year, but I finished the saga this weekend and am in the reflective mood.
The below list may not be the finest episodes of David Chase's classic HBO series, for which we can thank the future airing of shows like "The Wire," "Boardwalk Empire" and "Breaking Bad." Gandolfini and co. showed us we could stomach adult drama on premium television outside the boundaries of traditional broadcast "seasons" and exceeding the content allowed by censors. It may not be the best of that bunch, but it blazed a trail we can duly credit as creating the glut of fantastic TV drama we enjoy today.
SPOILERS BELOW. YOU'VE BEEN WARNED.
"College"
Originally aired: Feb. 7, 1999
"Am I in the what?"
The draw of "The Sopranos," from the beginning, was the centralized character of Tony Soprano, a flawed leader who is trying to juggle the modern demands of fatherhood while reconciling his violent identity as a leader of organized crime. No episode portrays this better than "College," and there's good reason it's cited by many as the best episode of the series. Contrast the above scene, where Tony attempts to rationalize his role to his daughter, Meadow, with the chilling scene where he strangles an old foe. There's a reason "The Sopranos" hit it big early, and "College" was a major part of that.
"House Arrest"
Originally aired: March 26, 2000
"I don't give a shit if you're working with Wal-Mart. Knock it the fuck off."
The downfall of Vito Corleone was his unwillingness to sell hard drugs. There are echoes of "The Godfather," "Goodfellas" and countless other gangster film classics in "The Sopranos." The characters are self-aware that their leading lives glamorized by modern media. The writers co-opted this disdain for hard drugs in Tony's character and his memorable spat with Richie Aprile, setting up the eventual showdown with Uncle Junior that was the basis for much of the dramatic tension in the show's first few seasons. "House Arrest" is also memorable for showing Tony's commitment (and addiction) to the lifestyle. When his lawyer orders him to lay low, Tony's inability to interact with his criminal crew becomes an unbearable burden.
"The Knight in White Satin Armor"
Originally aired: April 2, 2000
"Ballroom dancing is a legitimate art form."
The spat between Richie Aprile and Tony was clearly headed for some kind of resolution, though who would have guessed it would be Janice who put the beef to bed? "The Knight in White Satin Armor" is notable for its exploration of the relationship between Tony and Janice, a complicated tete a tete that lasted for the entirety of the show's run. Gandolfini shows his chops in the scene when he discovers Aprile is dead. There's a look of relief, surprise and - dare I say it - admiration when he sees Richie lying dead in Janice's arms.
"Funhouse"
Originally aired: April 9, 2000
"Why you making me do this, you fat, miserable, piece of fuckin' shit?"
The writers gave us little time to grieve for Richie Aprile before offing Salvatore "Big Pussy" Bonpensiero the next week. Pussy was ratting to the FBI, and when Tony finds out, he orders the hit. Pussy's death becomes a major theme throughout the rest of the show, with Vincent Pastore making multiple guest appearances as Tony's subconscious wrangles with having to "deal with" one of his best friends and top earners. There's a memorable mirror in the final season, as Paulie Walnuts thinks back to Pussy's death and believes Tony's out to off him, too.
"Pine Barrens"
Originally aired: May 6, 2001
"You had Tic-Tacs all along? Give me some!"
Steve Buscemi lent his considerable talents to this episode behind the camera, considered another of the series' best, before appearing as Tony's cousin in Season 5. As bit characters go, Christopher Moltisanti and Paulie Gualtieri are perhaps the most interesting in "Sopranos" lore. Christopher must deal with the struggles of being the youngest among the made guys and having his balls constantly broken. Add in substance addiction and constant grief with Paulie, and you have a character that played a huge role in the series' run despite never fully receiving top billing. In "Pine Barrens," we see that constant grief play out in a way that sows seeds for conflict to come.
"Amor Fou"
Originally aired: May 13, 2001
"Kill me. Kill me, you cocksucker."
Of all Tony's love affairs, the most dangerous turned out to be with the beautiful and demented car dealer, Gloria Trillo. She grows jealous of his wife, and his other women, and is one of the few who calls him out on it, prompting a violent showdown that terrifies Tony to his core. Though he sleeps with many women, it is Gloria who continues to recur in his mind long after he learns of her suicide. There's a reason. She illustrates the same mental weakness as him, and he worries her inability to cope reflects a similar possibility within himself.
"Whoever Did This"
Originally aired: November 10, 2002
"That's funny about God, and faith, and shit like that."
It's tough to pick one episode where Ralph Cifaretto can be best remembered. His strange sexual relationship with Janice, and jokes about Johnny Sack's wife and obsession with the film "Gladiator" provided a constant burr in Tony's saddle. So it's unsurprising that Tony takes care of Ralph, but it is surprising about what puts him over the edge: the death of his prized race horse. The resulting cleanup brings Christopher and Tony closer together, but also reveals the extent of his drug addiction that will ultimately prove to be his downfall with Tony.
"The Strong, Silent Type"
Originally aired: November 17, 2002
"You're weak. You're out of control. And you've become an embarrassment to yourself and everybody else."
It's hard to pick what is most memorable about "The Strong, Silent Type." Tony sleeping with Svetlana, which eventually becomes the basis for his separation from Carmela. The painting of Pie-O-My that eventually finds its way to Paulie's mantle, and becomes the basis for Tony's disdain later in the series. The growing unease between Furio and Carmela. For my money, it's Christopher's intervention, which eventually sets him on the beleaguered path to get sober. The scene is at once darkly comic, wrought with tension and one of the few times the members of Tony's personal family and criminal family interact on a personal level. It's one of the most memorable scenes of the series.
"Unidentified Black Males"
Originally aired: May 2, 2004
"Fuck his foot! It's not his foot! Forget the foot!"
Another episode that's difficult to pin down one or two memorable moments alone. Growing tension between Tony and his cousin Tony (Steve Buscemi) leads to a revelation in Dr. Melfi's office, however, that is one of the most superbly acted scenes in the series. Tony reveals his guilt that his cousin went to prison, and not him, because of a panic attack following an argument with his mother. It's a brief moment of insight that brings Tony to his knees, and it's a shame the whole scene isn't on YouTube. Meanwhile, Finn witnesses Vito in a compromising position that leads to a memorable story arc in the next season.
"Long Term Parking"
Originally aired: May 23, 2004
"Jesus, I don't even know how to say this. It's Christopher."
It's tough to watch "The Sopranos" and not feel slightly sorry for Adriana. Christopher goes through mood swings and she stands dutifully by his side, even through the worst possible drug addiction. A perceived fling with Tony creates friction between the two, but she comes back into his arms. Then, when she seeks to confide in him and get away from the life, he turns around and sells her out to Tony and Syl, who then use her concern for Christopher to entrap her. What's incredibly heartbreaking is that Adriana imagines leaving before agreeing to the ride with Syl. The execution scene is painful to watch, and becomes a source of conflict between Tony and Christopher in ensuing seasons.
"Johnny Cakes"
Originally aired: April 30, 2006
"Listen, Marie, I'm sorry all this had to happen. I never meant to hurt you."
Vito Spatafore went from an interesting bit character to a full-blown story arc in the first half of the Sopranos' sixth season. His struggle with his sexuality, and the differing opinions it inspires in Tony, his crew and the families, provides an original look into modern perceptions about homosexuality and perfect fodder for Phil Leotardo's eventual vendetta against Tony. John Costelloe offers an inspired turn as Jim "Johnny Cakes" Witowski. That Joseph Gannascoli, the actor who portrayed Vito, brought the idea for his character being gay to David Chase and never received top recognition for his performance or idea is a disgrace.
"Second Coming"
Originally aired: May 20, 2007
"You're OK, baby. You're OK, baby."
Anthony Jr. was always an impediment to Tony's mental well-being. He worries about his son all the time, and as Meadow rightfully points out to her brother, it's because he's the only son in an Italian family that Tony is able to be floored by the depression of his son. While the abrupt departure of Blanca throws him into a depressed funk, neither Tony nor Carmella really believe he's at his wit's end until an ill-fated suicide attempt in the family pool. Tony's reaction - immediate rage, then a return to the fatherly instinct of protection - is at once profound and extremely telling about his character. Even in the midst of a potentially life-ending conflict with Phil Leotardo, Tony reverts to his fatherhood role in an instant.
"Made in America"
Originally aired: June 10, 2007
"I went ahead and ordered some for the table."
What discussion of memorable scenes from "The Sopranos" would be complete without a nodding reference to the final scene? Much maligned when it aired, the final moments of the Sopranos family on the small screen made me squeal with existential joy. Who is that man who goes to the bathroom? Who does Tony see when he looks up to the ringing of the bell at the door? Which "evil at the door" - the remnants of Phil Leotardo's crew, a disenchanted Paulie Walnuts or the "80 to 90 percent chance" of federal indictment will fall Tony Soprano? David Chase decided to let the viewers sort that out, rather than end his series with a definitive answer. As an avid opponent of post-modern non-endings, I can't believe I'm typing these words. But this was the perfect way to end Tony's story. Full stop.
What about you? What moments in Sopranos history do you remember most?
Sunday, July 20, 2014
An Inexplicably Close Look at an Obscure Song: "Rock the House" by Gorillaz feat. Del Tha Funky Homosapien
This one hurts.
"Gorillaz" was one of my favorite albums growing up. I still remember picking my jaw off the floor the first time I saw "Clint Eastwood" on MTV. Here was something that had never been tried before, at least on this scale - a completely animated band of misfit musicians, with their own backstories, headed by the brilliant Damon Albarn and for some reason some "Thriller" inspired monkeys. Dude, how are you NOT going to buy that album immediately?
And one of the coolest parts of the debut video was Del tha Funky Homosapien, who has some of the sickest rhymes out there, playing a zombified Russel, the beat man. If you don't still get a chill when Del raps, "time for me is nothin' 'cuz I'm countin' no age," then you didn't grow up in the early 2000s.
So what the fuck happened with "Rock the House"?
Take all of the lyrical genius of "Clint Eastwood" and throw it out the window. Sure, that horn line is catchy. I mean, every program on music television (MTV, VH1, what have you) used it as intro/outro music. It is a fantastic beat, there's no question. But is it really "Rock the House" material?
"Gorillaz" was one of my favorite albums growing up. I still remember picking my jaw off the floor the first time I saw "Clint Eastwood" on MTV. Here was something that had never been tried before, at least on this scale - a completely animated band of misfit musicians, with their own backstories, headed by the brilliant Damon Albarn and for some reason some "Thriller" inspired monkeys. Dude, how are you NOT going to buy that album immediately?
And one of the coolest parts of the debut video was Del tha Funky Homosapien, who has some of the sickest rhymes out there, playing a zombified Russel, the beat man. If you don't still get a chill when Del raps, "time for me is nothin' 'cuz I'm countin' no age," then you didn't grow up in the early 2000s.
So what the fuck happened with "Rock the House"?
Take all of the lyrical genius of "Clint Eastwood" and throw it out the window. Sure, that horn line is catchy. I mean, every program on music television (MTV, VH1, what have you) used it as intro/outro music. It is a fantastic beat, there's no question. But is it really "Rock the House" material?
"I got the balls to rock the salsa" Yeah. You actually heard that.
We're in 2014, and I've still yet to find someone who can tell me why one needs to shake their asscrack when simply shaking their ass will do. And, I mean, look at that video! Del is essentially the bad guy in the opening scene of Raiders of the Lost Ark. Come on, guys. Surely we can do better than this.
Del's involvement with the band ended with that self-title debut in 2001, and I can't help but think lines like "Get funky we've been funkadelic wearin' Pampers/While you eggheads is on the wall preparin' answers," had something to do with that. Del, we loved you in Tony Hawk 3, why must you give us this?
Of course, I could be looking at this too closely.
Wednesday, July 9, 2014
Virtual Dork: Who watches the "Watch Dogs"?
If there's anything I've learned from two generations of open-world games, it's that they must do one of two things well to be successful:
1) establish a likeable, relatable main character that causes you to engage with the story; and/or
2) give you the freedom to wreak havoc to your wildest dreams.
Option #1 allowed me to overlook the stodgy Grand Theft Auto IV, with its overly realistic physics and boat-like car driving mechanics. Option #2 endears me to the Saint's Row series, which in spite of its insipid plots and fuck you-attitude to telling a believable story, actually allowed you to blow shit on people in its second installment.
Of course, the classics of the genre - your GTA3, GTAV, Fallout 3, etc. - do both things well, focusing things for a narrative thrill ride yet also unleashing the player to his or her own devices in a satisfying way.
Despite offering neither of these things, Watch Dogs - heralded as the first exploration of the open-world genre to take advantage of next gen architecture - stands as a decent open-world title, but nowhere near the top echelon of its predecessors.
You play as Aiden Pearce, a skilled hacker whose niece fell prey to some nasty dudes who were pissed about a botched heist you pulled a few months prior to the game's setting. You're out for revenge, but the revenge story never takes - mostly because Aiden isn't remotely the most interesting character in a cadre of roguish types.
Pearce's sister and her son, Jackson, also are never fully fleshed out as believable characters. There's a Little Miss Sunshine-esque tinge to Jackson, who won't speak because of the trauma at seeing his kid sister die. He finally does speak to Aiden in what is meant to be one of the game's many supposedly touching moments that just fall flat. The same goes for the love interest in the game, a goth-punk Englander named Clara, and another hacker you'll meet as the game goes along.
The villains aren't particularly memorable, either, though the game does allow you to take down one of them in a very unique way that takes advantage of the game's mind-numbingly simple hacking mechanic. There's one prevalent minigame that appears throughout the title for intruding certain systems, and it never reaches the level of real thought-provocation or (mercifully) annoyance.
The only character who really stands out as interesting is the mostly absent Jordi, another "fixer" who's in the game for the money, not the glory. He'll appear at times to offer comic relief, stealing the show in the process. He disappears for much of the game's final third, however, only to reappear in a scene that makes little sense, much to the game's detriment.
On the second option for greatness, Watch Dogs again fails. Car chases are made less fun by the inability to fire from the vehicle, a developer choice obviously meant to force the player to use the hacking mechanic to manipulate the environment. However, when you consider GTA3, released 13 years ago enabled the player to fire out windows, it seems odd Ubisoft didn't offer that option in Watch Dogs. It becomes increasingly annoying when your pursuers will have passengers who can fire, but you cannot.
Watch Dogs essentially funnels you from one sandbox stealth moment to the next, and it's here that the game sets itself apart from other open-world titles. Stealth in Watch Dogs works, and it's a blast to infiltrate certain areas while trying to remain unseen. The brilliant line-of-sight mechanic allows Aiden to take out groups of enemies using explosives in the environment and carried on enemies to take out thugs without even firing a bullet. The game shines when it combines these stealth mechanics with, say, unlocking a CtOS tower, the operating system that runs a living, breathing Chicago and opens up new activities on the mini-map.
Ubisoft deserves much praise for creating Chicago in the game with a high degree of fidelity to the real thing. It's actually thrilling to lead cops on a chase through Millenium Park, past the Bean and around the Willis Tower. Major props are also in order for the City Hotspots, which act just like social media in the real world. Check-in with your phone to learn real historical facts about the places you visit, with a wry sense of humor from the game's writers.
Gunplay is also satisfying, though once you unlock the upper tier of weapons and max out your focus meter (the obligatory bullet-time mechanic in Watch Dogs), gunfights become needlessly simple. That is, unless there's a poorly designed mission flaw that will cause enemies to spawn behind you unannounced in certain sections of the game, and without a logical reason. One rooftop fight, in particular, made no sense to this player and led to frustrating mission restarts late in the game.
You could certainly do worse than picking up Watch Dogs. There's a meaty amount of content here that is satisfying to play, if not up to snuff in terms of its highest quality peers. The story opens the door for the obligatory sequel, since the title's already made oogles of dollars. Let's hope Ubisoft looks to the things that made past entries in the genre great while remaining true to what sets Watch Dogs apart in the next installment.
Verdict: 3.5/5 stars
1) establish a likeable, relatable main character that causes you to engage with the story; and/or
2) give you the freedom to wreak havoc to your wildest dreams.
Option #1 allowed me to overlook the stodgy Grand Theft Auto IV, with its overly realistic physics and boat-like car driving mechanics. Option #2 endears me to the Saint's Row series, which in spite of its insipid plots and fuck you-attitude to telling a believable story, actually allowed you to blow shit on people in its second installment.
Of course, the classics of the genre - your GTA3, GTAV, Fallout 3, etc. - do both things well, focusing things for a narrative thrill ride yet also unleashing the player to his or her own devices in a satisfying way.
Despite offering neither of these things, Watch Dogs - heralded as the first exploration of the open-world genre to take advantage of next gen architecture - stands as a decent open-world title, but nowhere near the top echelon of its predecessors.
You play as Aiden Pearce, a skilled hacker whose niece fell prey to some nasty dudes who were pissed about a botched heist you pulled a few months prior to the game's setting. You're out for revenge, but the revenge story never takes - mostly because Aiden isn't remotely the most interesting character in a cadre of roguish types.
Pearce's sister and her son, Jackson, also are never fully fleshed out as believable characters. There's a Little Miss Sunshine-esque tinge to Jackson, who won't speak because of the trauma at seeing his kid sister die. He finally does speak to Aiden in what is meant to be one of the game's many supposedly touching moments that just fall flat. The same goes for the love interest in the game, a goth-punk Englander named Clara, and another hacker you'll meet as the game goes along.
The villains aren't particularly memorable, either, though the game does allow you to take down one of them in a very unique way that takes advantage of the game's mind-numbingly simple hacking mechanic. There's one prevalent minigame that appears throughout the title for intruding certain systems, and it never reaches the level of real thought-provocation or (mercifully) annoyance.
The only character who really stands out as interesting is the mostly absent Jordi, another "fixer" who's in the game for the money, not the glory. He'll appear at times to offer comic relief, stealing the show in the process. He disappears for much of the game's final third, however, only to reappear in a scene that makes little sense, much to the game's detriment.
On the second option for greatness, Watch Dogs again fails. Car chases are made less fun by the inability to fire from the vehicle, a developer choice obviously meant to force the player to use the hacking mechanic to manipulate the environment. However, when you consider GTA3, released 13 years ago enabled the player to fire out windows, it seems odd Ubisoft didn't offer that option in Watch Dogs. It becomes increasingly annoying when your pursuers will have passengers who can fire, but you cannot.
Watch Dogs essentially funnels you from one sandbox stealth moment to the next, and it's here that the game sets itself apart from other open-world titles. Stealth in Watch Dogs works, and it's a blast to infiltrate certain areas while trying to remain unseen. The brilliant line-of-sight mechanic allows Aiden to take out groups of enemies using explosives in the environment and carried on enemies to take out thugs without even firing a bullet. The game shines when it combines these stealth mechanics with, say, unlocking a CtOS tower, the operating system that runs a living, breathing Chicago and opens up new activities on the mini-map.
Ubisoft deserves much praise for creating Chicago in the game with a high degree of fidelity to the real thing. It's actually thrilling to lead cops on a chase through Millenium Park, past the Bean and around the Willis Tower. Major props are also in order for the City Hotspots, which act just like social media in the real world. Check-in with your phone to learn real historical facts about the places you visit, with a wry sense of humor from the game's writers.
Gunplay is also satisfying, though once you unlock the upper tier of weapons and max out your focus meter (the obligatory bullet-time mechanic in Watch Dogs), gunfights become needlessly simple. That is, unless there's a poorly designed mission flaw that will cause enemies to spawn behind you unannounced in certain sections of the game, and without a logical reason. One rooftop fight, in particular, made no sense to this player and led to frustrating mission restarts late in the game.
You could certainly do worse than picking up Watch Dogs. There's a meaty amount of content here that is satisfying to play, if not up to snuff in terms of its highest quality peers. The story opens the door for the obligatory sequel, since the title's already made oogles of dollars. Let's hope Ubisoft looks to the things that made past entries in the genre great while remaining true to what sets Watch Dogs apart in the next installment.
Verdict: 3.5/5 stars
Thursday, July 3, 2014
Virtual Dork: Stay indoors
Tomorrow's Independence Day in America, that wonderful holiday when we gorge ourselves on processed meat, blow up our cousins with gimmicky packages of gunpowder and watch Rod Serling introduce the macabre as only that chain-smoking, suitjacketed man can.
For the gamers among us, July 4th also provides the opportunity (if we haven't cheated) to pocket some of those nagging achievements and trophies from video games that viciously tease us to play on a certain day. Here's my checklist:
Game: You Don't Know Jack (2011)
Platform: Multi
Achievement: Turncoat
Description: Play on July 4th instead of celebrating America
Gamerscore/Trophy level: 10G, Bronze
You know you want some Cookie Masterson in your life on Friday, anyway.
Game: Batman: Arkham City (2011)
Platform: Multi
Achievement: Story Time
Description: Have 12 murderous dates with Calendar Man
Gamerscore/Trophy level: 10G, Bronze
So, technically you have to have also visited Calendar Man in his cell on 11 other occasions, so if you start tomorrow and don't want to cheat you won't get the points. But one of Batman's oddest villains would sure appreciate the company.
Game: Watch Dogs (2014)
Platform: Multi
Badge: A More Perfect Union
Description: Check into the John Hancock Center on the fourth of July (system date).
So it's not technically an achievement, but if you want all those damn check-in badges in Watch Dogs tomorrow's your day. Just drive by the John Hancock Center, and be sure to sign your name.
For the gamers among us, July 4th also provides the opportunity (if we haven't cheated) to pocket some of those nagging achievements and trophies from video games that viciously tease us to play on a certain day. Here's my checklist:
Game: You Don't Know Jack (2011)
Platform: Multi
Achievement: Turncoat
Description: Play on July 4th instead of celebrating America
Gamerscore/Trophy level: 10G, Bronze
You know you want some Cookie Masterson in your life on Friday, anyway.
Game: Batman: Arkham City (2011)
Platform: Multi
Achievement: Story Time
Description: Have 12 murderous dates with Calendar Man
Gamerscore/Trophy level: 10G, Bronze
So, technically you have to have also visited Calendar Man in his cell on 11 other occasions, so if you start tomorrow and don't want to cheat you won't get the points. But one of Batman's oddest villains would sure appreciate the company.
Game: Watch Dogs (2014)
Platform: Multi
Badge: A More Perfect Union
Description: Check into the John Hancock Center on the fourth of July (system date).
So it's not technically an achievement, but if you want all those damn check-in badges in Watch Dogs tomorrow's your day. Just drive by the John Hancock Center, and be sure to sign your name.
Tuesday, June 17, 2014
Virtual Dork: My most memorable Grand Theft Auto missions
I recently spent a pleasurable few weeks reading David Kushner's love letter to the Doom generation and its two mastermind's Kleenex-like level of influence on the video game world. The nonfiction work was littered with anachronisms like modems, Usenet groups and "freeware," but perhaps the most glaring and oft-repeated outdated reference to this reader was the use of the word "levels" to refer to chunks of gameplay. Today's gamers simply don't think in terms of levels as they used to in the days of coin-op and the gameplay design that put Johns Carmack and Romero on the map in the mid-1990s.
The prevailing theory would be that the prevalence of narrative-based gaming, console hard drives and solid-state memory devices (remember those 8MB memory cards for your PS2?) has blended the experience of playing a triple-A title to the point where we think little of gameplay chunks when we jump into an immersive game world. In other words, our experiences are defined by the time between when we, the gamer, push the "on" and "off" buttons on our gaming devices, not pre-determined periods of time decided by a developer.
While this has turned the notion of playing a video game on its head immeasurably since the late 1990s (personally, I'll blame the advent of anytime saving in Half-Life and checkpoint saving first available - to my knowledge - in Halo: Combat Evolved on the original Xbox), there's something to be said for relishing the work video game developers put into crafting a perfect mini-experience into a more cohesive whole.
In no game does that passion for mission design continue so unabated as in the games of the revolutionaries of free-form mission design, the folks at Rockstar Games. It's defining franchise, Grand Theft Auto, features three console generations (and soon to be a fourth) of unforgettable experiences through its timeless missions. Below are a list of my ten absolute favorite, as I prepare to double-dip with the gorgeous-looking PS4 update to Grand Theft Auto V. Enjoy.
10. "The Exchange"
Game: Grand Theft Auto 3 (2001)
Mission Given By: Catalina
Rewards: A cool $1 million, a Rhino tank available at Phil's gun shop, and you get to shut Maria up
The capstone of Rockstar's "mafioso masterpiece," as it was proclaimed on the in-game poster shipped with my Playstation 2 copy of Grand Theft Auto 3, "The Exchange" saw Claude Speed rushing to enact revenge against Catalina, who was flying away from the Shoreside Vale dam with a kidnapped Maria awaiting her rescue. You had to fight your way through Catalina's goons armed with an extensive array of automatic weaponry in enough time to fire a few well-timed blasts with your rocket launcher at the fleeing heli, all with that damn clock running. As the credits then rolled, you were treated to Claude shutting up a nattering Maria with a shotgun blast. Bliss.
9. "Rub Out"
Game: Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (2002)
Mission Given By: Lance Vance
Rewards: $50K, Ricardo Diaz's mansion becomes your own personal playground
In retrospect, Ricardo Diaz (voiced by Luis Guzman) would have been a much cooler sidekick than Lance Vance (Philip Michael Thomas), who is in fact a backstabbing, murderous traitor who you will later have to off along with Sonny Forelli (Tom Sizemore). Oops. Spoilers. Rub Out is a much more satisfying (and in fact carbon copy) of Vice City's final mission. You have to fight your way through Diaz's goons, eventually popping a cap in the fat man himself, all the while making sure Lance doesn't turn into Swiss cheese. Bonus points for that final view from Diaz down the barrel of your guns. "Good NIGHT, Mr. Diaz!"
8. "The Green Sabre"
Game: Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (2004)
Mission Given By: Sweet
Rewards: That dick Tenpenny takes your weapons, imprisons your brother and leaves you in the middle-of-nowhere
Sure, you could make a case San Andreas' final "Training Day"-inspired mission, End of the Line, was one of the most involved and cinematic in the GTA series up until that point. But "The Green Sabre" gave us a common enemy, beside those bustas the Ballers, and turned the narrative of San Andreas on its head. Fighting alongside a mortally wounded Sweet for Grove Street could have served as a nice crescendo for the final act of a Los Santos GTA adventure. As it was, we were just getting started.
Rockstar found the source material so compelling it repeated the theme in GTAV's "Hood Safari."
7. I Scream, You Scream
Game: Grand Theft Auto 3 (2001)
Mission Given By: El Burro
Rewards: $6,000, mafia goons flambéed
Rumor has it, this mission was so controversial it got overhauled in the 9/11 edit of GTA3 that delayed its release for several months. Originally, Darkel was supposed to call Claude and have him take out random passersby with explosives secreted in an ice cream truck. Instead, El Burro wants you to target mafia members who are cutting in on his business, which if his banter is to be believed involves selling burritos and fiendishly difficult to collect pornographic videotapes. Jingle jangle, KABOOM! Proving that GTA hadn't left its sophomoric streak of violence and humor in the 2D generation, I Scream, You Scream reminded us why it was good to be bad. And it wasn't the first time violence and junkfood mixed in the series, as we'll see later...
6. Boomshine Saigon
Game: Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (2002)
Mission Given By: Phil Cassidy
Rewards: $4,000; ability to buy weapons from Phil; seeing Gary Busey in his natural element in video game form
Vice City gamers would remember Phil Cassidy as that mysterious one-armed man who hawked weapons in north Staunton Island. For its prequel, it would take that character, add a mullet, Gary Busey and some illegal liquor, and convince us Phil was actually a nutjob out to dismantle the U.S. government. It does a great deal of that exposition in Boomshine Saigon, which explains the disappearance of Cassidy's arm in the 2001-set Grand Theft Auto 3. As Tommy Vercetti (Ray Liotta), you have to drive Phil to the hospital before he bleeds out. Of course, you've sniffed some of the intoxicating fumes of...whatever the hell Phil was cooking, sending you careening into other cars as the timer ticks down. This mission would be higher if it didn't introduce that hazy screen and wonky controls that would make another appearance in San Andreas' Are You Going to San Fierro? and to much more annoying effect in GTAIV and V after a night of drinking.
5. Hot Dog Homicide
Game: Grand Theft Auto 2 (1999)
Mission Given By: Russians
Rewards: $40,000, respect, and a copy of Upton Sinclair's The Jungle
The brilliance of GTA's mission design is not confined to the 3D era. Hot Dog Homicide is another of the inexplicable reasons GTA2 received a "Teen" rating, as you play Claude Speed once again. This time, you're picking up fresh meat for a diner by stopping for passengers at various bus stops. That's not a mistype. You then herd the unsuspecting masses into a meat grinder and drive a hot dog van to the dropoff. Mission complete. But yeah, you probably shouldn't let your middle-schooler read Catcher in the Rye.
4. Vertical Bird
Game: Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (2004)
Mission Given By: Mike Toreno
Rewards: $50K, respect, a Hydra at your hideout and James Woods' undying love
Mike Toreno (James Wood) has Carl Johnson (Young Maylay) do some ridiculous things in San Andreas. Perhaps the most ridiculous is infiltrate a government warship to steal a high-powered, futuristic jet fighter. "Vertical Bird" had everything that made San Andreas bigger, better and more involved than the gameplay of its predecessors. There was even the opportunity for a bit of stealth as you stalked the Hydra on the off-limits real estate of the San Fierro military base. Some will say they prefer the assault on Area 69, Black Project, is their favorite San Andreas mission because it yields the game-changing jetpack. But Vertical Bird combines all the elements that make the game so fun.
3. Three Leaf Clover
Game: Grand Theft Auto IV (2008)
Mission Given By: Packie McReary
Rewards: $250K, achievement, your roommate feeding you Verbal Kint references
Three Leaf Clover provided the groundwork for GTAV's heist missions, and it was the first (and arguably only) glimpse of what the next generation of hardware could do to amp up the intensity of the GTA mission structure. Packie McReary provided a nice, light-hearted (but still deadly) counterpoint to brooding Niko Bellic, and it was nice to see Rockstar open up its mission structure to provide for some spirited gunplay and a truly impressive bank heist that has its routes as early as Vice City.
2. Caida Libre (or "Freefall")
Game: Grand Theft Auto V (2013)
Mission Given By: Martin Madrazo
Rewards: Achievement, the stunning brilliance of GTAV on full display
As the most recent iteration in the GTA franchise, V suffers from what I'll call "mission envelopment." The story arcs in GTA have become more grandiose through the years, with the game's narrative often supplanting the simple tasks at hand in recent versions of the game. In V, you're always working toward a bigger score, or a heist, or a hit, so that when you do finally achieve your ultimate goal, it feels more of a process than one long, extended chunk of gameplay.
Not so in "Caida Libre," which is a self-contained masterpiece showcasing the best of what GTAV had to offer - character switching, larger-than-life stakes and a trip through the sprawling dustlands of north Los Santos. Shooting aircraft out of the sky has been a feature of GTA since the aforementioned "The Exchange" in GTA3. But whereas all other versions were falling with style, "Caida Libre" showed just how far the series had come.
1. Bomb da Base
Game: Grand Theft Auto 3 (2001)
Mission Given By: 8-Ball
Rewards: $150K, Staunton Island, and 13 subsequent years of GTA gaming
"Alright, let's do this thing." 8-Ball was ready, and so were you, Claude Speed, for the mission that would define the next decade of GTA gaming. Armed with a sniper rifle, you were tasked with protecting 8-Ball as the AI-controlled character moved his way through a heavily guarded tanker to place a bomb. His hands were still pretty messed up, so you had to drive and take that adrenaline pill to slow time down long enough to stop the goons' automatic weapons from riddling your bomb-making friend.
When Rockstar began working on the sequels to GTA3, this was the mission they used as their guide. For good reason. Bomb da Base served as a bombastic (no pun intended) end to the Portland saga, and would have been a fitting end to the GTA3 story. But you had much crime ahead of you, none of which captured those sweaty palms of trying to pull off a headshot before 8-Ball bit the dust.
The prevailing theory would be that the prevalence of narrative-based gaming, console hard drives and solid-state memory devices (remember those 8MB memory cards for your PS2?) has blended the experience of playing a triple-A title to the point where we think little of gameplay chunks when we jump into an immersive game world. In other words, our experiences are defined by the time between when we, the gamer, push the "on" and "off" buttons on our gaming devices, not pre-determined periods of time decided by a developer.
While this has turned the notion of playing a video game on its head immeasurably since the late 1990s (personally, I'll blame the advent of anytime saving in Half-Life and checkpoint saving first available - to my knowledge - in Halo: Combat Evolved on the original Xbox), there's something to be said for relishing the work video game developers put into crafting a perfect mini-experience into a more cohesive whole.
In no game does that passion for mission design continue so unabated as in the games of the revolutionaries of free-form mission design, the folks at Rockstar Games. It's defining franchise, Grand Theft Auto, features three console generations (and soon to be a fourth) of unforgettable experiences through its timeless missions. Below are a list of my ten absolute favorite, as I prepare to double-dip with the gorgeous-looking PS4 update to Grand Theft Auto V. Enjoy.
10. "The Exchange"
Game: Grand Theft Auto 3 (2001)
Mission Given By: Catalina
Rewards: A cool $1 million, a Rhino tank available at Phil's gun shop, and you get to shut Maria up
The capstone of Rockstar's "mafioso masterpiece," as it was proclaimed on the in-game poster shipped with my Playstation 2 copy of Grand Theft Auto 3, "The Exchange" saw Claude Speed rushing to enact revenge against Catalina, who was flying away from the Shoreside Vale dam with a kidnapped Maria awaiting her rescue. You had to fight your way through Catalina's goons armed with an extensive array of automatic weaponry in enough time to fire a few well-timed blasts with your rocket launcher at the fleeing heli, all with that damn clock running. As the credits then rolled, you were treated to Claude shutting up a nattering Maria with a shotgun blast. Bliss.
9. "Rub Out"
Game: Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (2002)
Mission Given By: Lance Vance
Rewards: $50K, Ricardo Diaz's mansion becomes your own personal playground
In retrospect, Ricardo Diaz (voiced by Luis Guzman) would have been a much cooler sidekick than Lance Vance (Philip Michael Thomas), who is in fact a backstabbing, murderous traitor who you will later have to off along with Sonny Forelli (Tom Sizemore). Oops. Spoilers. Rub Out is a much more satisfying (and in fact carbon copy) of Vice City's final mission. You have to fight your way through Diaz's goons, eventually popping a cap in the fat man himself, all the while making sure Lance doesn't turn into Swiss cheese. Bonus points for that final view from Diaz down the barrel of your guns. "Good NIGHT, Mr. Diaz!"
8. "The Green Sabre"
Game: Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (2004)
Mission Given By: Sweet
Rewards: That dick Tenpenny takes your weapons, imprisons your brother and leaves you in the middle-of-nowhere
Sure, you could make a case San Andreas' final "Training Day"-inspired mission, End of the Line, was one of the most involved and cinematic in the GTA series up until that point. But "The Green Sabre" gave us a common enemy, beside those bustas the Ballers, and turned the narrative of San Andreas on its head. Fighting alongside a mortally wounded Sweet for Grove Street could have served as a nice crescendo for the final act of a Los Santos GTA adventure. As it was, we were just getting started.
Rockstar found the source material so compelling it repeated the theme in GTAV's "Hood Safari."
7. I Scream, You Scream
Game: Grand Theft Auto 3 (2001)
Mission Given By: El Burro
Rewards: $6,000, mafia goons flambéed
Rumor has it, this mission was so controversial it got overhauled in the 9/11 edit of GTA3 that delayed its release for several months. Originally, Darkel was supposed to call Claude and have him take out random passersby with explosives secreted in an ice cream truck. Instead, El Burro wants you to target mafia members who are cutting in on his business, which if his banter is to be believed involves selling burritos and fiendishly difficult to collect pornographic videotapes. Jingle jangle, KABOOM! Proving that GTA hadn't left its sophomoric streak of violence and humor in the 2D generation, I Scream, You Scream reminded us why it was good to be bad. And it wasn't the first time violence and junkfood mixed in the series, as we'll see later...
6. Boomshine Saigon
Game: Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (2002)
Mission Given By: Phil Cassidy
Rewards: $4,000; ability to buy weapons from Phil; seeing Gary Busey in his natural element in video game form
Vice City gamers would remember Phil Cassidy as that mysterious one-armed man who hawked weapons in north Staunton Island. For its prequel, it would take that character, add a mullet, Gary Busey and some illegal liquor, and convince us Phil was actually a nutjob out to dismantle the U.S. government. It does a great deal of that exposition in Boomshine Saigon, which explains the disappearance of Cassidy's arm in the 2001-set Grand Theft Auto 3. As Tommy Vercetti (Ray Liotta), you have to drive Phil to the hospital before he bleeds out. Of course, you've sniffed some of the intoxicating fumes of...whatever the hell Phil was cooking, sending you careening into other cars as the timer ticks down. This mission would be higher if it didn't introduce that hazy screen and wonky controls that would make another appearance in San Andreas' Are You Going to San Fierro? and to much more annoying effect in GTAIV and V after a night of drinking.
5. Hot Dog Homicide
Game: Grand Theft Auto 2 (1999)
Mission Given By: Russians
Rewards: $40,000, respect, and a copy of Upton Sinclair's The Jungle
The brilliance of GTA's mission design is not confined to the 3D era. Hot Dog Homicide is another of the inexplicable reasons GTA2 received a "Teen" rating, as you play Claude Speed once again. This time, you're picking up fresh meat for a diner by stopping for passengers at various bus stops. That's not a mistype. You then herd the unsuspecting masses into a meat grinder and drive a hot dog van to the dropoff. Mission complete. But yeah, you probably shouldn't let your middle-schooler read Catcher in the Rye.
4. Vertical Bird
Game: Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (2004)
Mission Given By: Mike Toreno
Rewards: $50K, respect, a Hydra at your hideout and James Woods' undying love
Mike Toreno (James Wood) has Carl Johnson (Young Maylay) do some ridiculous things in San Andreas. Perhaps the most ridiculous is infiltrate a government warship to steal a high-powered, futuristic jet fighter. "Vertical Bird" had everything that made San Andreas bigger, better and more involved than the gameplay of its predecessors. There was even the opportunity for a bit of stealth as you stalked the Hydra on the off-limits real estate of the San Fierro military base. Some will say they prefer the assault on Area 69, Black Project, is their favorite San Andreas mission because it yields the game-changing jetpack. But Vertical Bird combines all the elements that make the game so fun.
3. Three Leaf Clover
Game: Grand Theft Auto IV (2008)
Mission Given By: Packie McReary
Rewards: $250K, achievement, your roommate feeding you Verbal Kint references
Three Leaf Clover provided the groundwork for GTAV's heist missions, and it was the first (and arguably only) glimpse of what the next generation of hardware could do to amp up the intensity of the GTA mission structure. Packie McReary provided a nice, light-hearted (but still deadly) counterpoint to brooding Niko Bellic, and it was nice to see Rockstar open up its mission structure to provide for some spirited gunplay and a truly impressive bank heist that has its routes as early as Vice City.
2. Caida Libre (or "Freefall")
Game: Grand Theft Auto V (2013)
Mission Given By: Martin Madrazo
Rewards: Achievement, the stunning brilliance of GTAV on full display
As the most recent iteration in the GTA franchise, V suffers from what I'll call "mission envelopment." The story arcs in GTA have become more grandiose through the years, with the game's narrative often supplanting the simple tasks at hand in recent versions of the game. In V, you're always working toward a bigger score, or a heist, or a hit, so that when you do finally achieve your ultimate goal, it feels more of a process than one long, extended chunk of gameplay.
Not so in "Caida Libre," which is a self-contained masterpiece showcasing the best of what GTAV had to offer - character switching, larger-than-life stakes and a trip through the sprawling dustlands of north Los Santos. Shooting aircraft out of the sky has been a feature of GTA since the aforementioned "The Exchange" in GTA3. But whereas all other versions were falling with style, "Caida Libre" showed just how far the series had come.
1. Bomb da Base
Game: Grand Theft Auto 3 (2001)
Mission Given By: 8-Ball
Rewards: $150K, Staunton Island, and 13 subsequent years of GTA gaming
"Alright, let's do this thing." 8-Ball was ready, and so were you, Claude Speed, for the mission that would define the next decade of GTA gaming. Armed with a sniper rifle, you were tasked with protecting 8-Ball as the AI-controlled character moved his way through a heavily guarded tanker to place a bomb. His hands were still pretty messed up, so you had to drive and take that adrenaline pill to slow time down long enough to stop the goons' automatic weapons from riddling your bomb-making friend.
When Rockstar began working on the sequels to GTA3, this was the mission they used as their guide. For good reason. Bomb da Base served as a bombastic (no pun intended) end to the Portland saga, and would have been a fitting end to the GTA3 story. But you had much crime ahead of you, none of which captured those sweaty palms of trying to pull off a headshot before 8-Ball bit the dust.
Friday, May 23, 2014
Virtual Dork: An IGN revision, the Top 20 Games of this Generation
I was dragged, kicking and screaming, into the latest generation
of game consoles. I adored my Playstation 2, so much so that parting
ways with it placed me in an existential funk it took me an entire
playthrough of the original Gears of War to shake. I bought an Xbox
360 in 2007, awaiting the May 2008 release of Grand Theft Auto IV.
Really, that was the only reason.
Seven years later, the damn thing is still sitting on the top of my dresser, and gets about as much (if not more) love than my tubby tabby cat.
IGN recently released its list of the top 100 games of this generation, as we move forward to some AAA titles releasing on next-generation hardware, perhaps none bigger so far than Ubisoft's Watch Dogs offering set to drop next week. While I tend to think picking on another person's (or publication's) best of lists is a fool's errand, I was supremely unimpressed by the final order of IGN's top games.
While I came into my gaming self during the SNES and original Playstation days, I've felt no closer to a generation of games than the one we're about to leave in the rear-view mirror. So, while I know I did a top games of the 00's list just a few years ago, I feel inclined to answer IGN with a new list centered specifically on the last eight years of gaming.
A word of caution before we begin: I was an Xbox gamer. I understand the Uncharted games are excellent and there are many other PS3 exclusives that are probably missing. But, not having played them, I can't say with any authority which is better than the other. I did have access to a Nintendo Wii for a while during the past generation, however, and I feel well informed to include some of those titles among the ones listed below.
Seven years later, the damn thing is still sitting on the top of my dresser, and gets about as much (if not more) love than my tubby tabby cat.
IGN recently released its list of the top 100 games of this generation, as we move forward to some AAA titles releasing on next-generation hardware, perhaps none bigger so far than Ubisoft's Watch Dogs offering set to drop next week. While I tend to think picking on another person's (or publication's) best of lists is a fool's errand, I was supremely unimpressed by the final order of IGN's top games.
While I came into my gaming self during the SNES and original Playstation days, I've felt no closer to a generation of games than the one we're about to leave in the rear-view mirror. So, while I know I did a top games of the 00's list just a few years ago, I feel inclined to answer IGN with a new list centered specifically on the last eight years of gaming.
A word of caution before we begin: I was an Xbox gamer. I understand the Uncharted games are excellent and there are many other PS3 exclusives that are probably missing. But, not having played them, I can't say with any authority which is better than the other. I did have access to a Nintendo Wii for a while during the past generation, however, and I feel well informed to include some of those titles among the ones listed below.
- Gears of War 3 (Xbox 360, released 2011)
- You Don't Know Jack (multi, released 2011)
- Assassin's Creed 3 (multi, released 2012)
- Borderlands 2 (multi, released 2012)
- Grand Theft Auto IV (multi, released 2008)
- Donkey Kong County Returns (Nintendo Wii, released 2010)
- Red Dead Redemption (multi, released 2010)
- Bioshock (originally Xbox exclusive, then multi, released 2007)
- Team Fortress 2 (multi, released 2007)
- Halo 4 (Xbox 360, released 2012)
- Portal 2 (multi, released 2011)
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (multi, released 2009)
- Mario Kart Wii (Nintendo Wii, released 2008)
- Batman: Arkham Aslyum (multi, released 2009)
- Telltale Games Presents: The Walking Dead (multi, released 2012)
- The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (multi, released 2011)
- Fallout 3 (multi, released 2008
- Super Mario Galaxy 2 (Nintendo Wii, 2010)
- Bioshock: Infinite (multi, released 2013)
- Grand Theft Auto V (multi, released 2013)
Sunday, April 13, 2014
Virtual Dork: Infamous Second Son Review
While I've owned a PS4 for the better part of three months now, I've used it mostly to watch Blu-Rays and play free downloadable titles. With the launch of any console comes that inevitable dead period that can last anywhere from a few months to half-a-year in which software is at a premium and exclusives are almost unheard of.
I was eager, then, to get my hands on Sucker Punch's Infamous: Second Son. While I was an Xbox guy in the last generation and, admittedly, haven't played any of the series' titles to date, I'm a sucker (no pun intended) for a good open-world title that gives my character the power to wreak havoc on a massive scale.
What Sucker Punch does well in Second Son, it does as well (if not better) than anyone in the business. Sadly, however, Second Son is little more than a graphical and storytelling step-up from a number of other games already available in the current generation.
The story sucks you in immediately. You're Delsin Rowe, a member of the Akomish tribe whose past is clearly checkered. The player is immediately introduced to the spray-tagging mechanic, a nice use of the DualShock 4's motion sensing and built-in sound system. While I still think motion detection and the controller's touchpad are nothing more than gimmicks, they're used to good effect in Second Son, immersing you further into the game world without becoming too much of a hindrance.
From there, you're off on the grandest of the game's many fetch-quests, to attain cement-altering powers from the game's main antagonist: Brooke Augustine, leader of the Department of Unified Protection who has captured all of the element-controlling superheroes known as "Conduits" (or Bio-Terrorists) in the game world. She's made Seattle her base of operations and you'll have a blast shredding it to pieces with smoke, neon and video powers, each with its own set of visual and combat goodies.
Along the way, you'll make choices about whom to save or who to throw to the wolves; whether you'll use nonlethal force and blast away the bad guys and innocent civilians alike; and learn more about the D.U.P. from an intriguing alternative-reality game (ARG) that takes place in the Seattle game world and on your browser. Infamous: Paper Trail may be the most unique thing the game does and it extends the life of an otherwise repetitive series of missions that never truly opens the sandbox entirely to your will.
Seattle looks gorgeous, Delsin's character is incredibly detailed (down to the buttons on his denim jacket) and you'll want to stop on a rooftop all Batman-like and watch the Seattleites go about their day in a society on the brink of dystopia. In particular, Delsin's relationship with his sheriff's deputy brother, Reggie, is a high point in the game. These guys feel like brothers, and when the weight of the narrative gets too heavy, they're bantering always brings it back to a lighthearted spot.
The cutscenes, which are in some cases artistically rendered as panels in a comic book per the series' stylistic motif, are really the only reason to slog through what quickly becomes a repetitive series of missions that only alter slightly as the game progresses. You'll be doing the same thing on the game's second island as you did on the first - tracking down secret DUP agents by their mug shots, chasing hovering security cameras for their shards that act as the game's currency for upgrading your powers and occasionally choosing whether to decimate a crowd of drug dealers or subdue them and smash their goods. The only thing that changes is how much punishing the enemies can take and the presence of Augustine's cement fortifications. That's it.
Meanwhile, you become much more powerful as the game progresses. In open-world games, I like to knock out all the sidequests so I can be sure my character has an entire arsenal at his disposal in the end game. Because of this, I unlocked the neon karmic streak ability (a devastating attack that slows the game to a crawl and you blast neon juice out of your arms, subduing all enemies in a 2-block radius) rather early on. I also earned the ability to blast at weak subdue points on enemies in bullet-time that made wrapping them up a breeze.
As a result, every combat situation turned in to the same rinse and repeat, subdue enough guys to earn the karmic streak then take everyone else down checklist. Combat became a chore that was as simple as lifting a pinkie, no matter the abilities or resistance of the enemies I faced.
The game rushes to an inevitable showdown with Augustine that does pack a whallup and ingeniously includes the "learning a new power" schtick in the final boss battle that made me feel like a badass. Getting there, however, was another story. You have to climb the tallest tower in the game, and with two allies in tow and hundreds of enemies firing at you, an errant missile is bound to send you plummeting over the edge, which is an instant MISSION FAILED screen. Sure, you respawn rather close to where you were, but in a game that pushes how much of a badass you are falling 10 feet equating to a game over is a ridiculous conceit that pulls you out of the game world.
Infamous: Second Son is the first truly exclusive, next-gen game on the PS4. For that reason alone, I recommend playing the title. But it isn't the huge leap forward in terms of gameplay you'd expect from a next-gen game. It's a better-than-average open world game designed with the last generation in mind that looks simply stunning and is written by people who get storytelling in games.
I recommend a bargain-bin purchase.
Verdict: 3/5 stars.
I was eager, then, to get my hands on Sucker Punch's Infamous: Second Son. While I was an Xbox guy in the last generation and, admittedly, haven't played any of the series' titles to date, I'm a sucker (no pun intended) for a good open-world title that gives my character the power to wreak havoc on a massive scale.
What Sucker Punch does well in Second Son, it does as well (if not better) than anyone in the business. Sadly, however, Second Son is little more than a graphical and storytelling step-up from a number of other games already available in the current generation.
The story sucks you in immediately. You're Delsin Rowe, a member of the Akomish tribe whose past is clearly checkered. The player is immediately introduced to the spray-tagging mechanic, a nice use of the DualShock 4's motion sensing and built-in sound system. While I still think motion detection and the controller's touchpad are nothing more than gimmicks, they're used to good effect in Second Son, immersing you further into the game world without becoming too much of a hindrance.
From there, you're off on the grandest of the game's many fetch-quests, to attain cement-altering powers from the game's main antagonist: Brooke Augustine, leader of the Department of Unified Protection who has captured all of the element-controlling superheroes known as "Conduits" (or Bio-Terrorists) in the game world. She's made Seattle her base of operations and you'll have a blast shredding it to pieces with smoke, neon and video powers, each with its own set of visual and combat goodies.
Along the way, you'll make choices about whom to save or who to throw to the wolves; whether you'll use nonlethal force and blast away the bad guys and innocent civilians alike; and learn more about the D.U.P. from an intriguing alternative-reality game (ARG) that takes place in the Seattle game world and on your browser. Infamous: Paper Trail may be the most unique thing the game does and it extends the life of an otherwise repetitive series of missions that never truly opens the sandbox entirely to your will.
Seattle looks gorgeous, Delsin's character is incredibly detailed (down to the buttons on his denim jacket) and you'll want to stop on a rooftop all Batman-like and watch the Seattleites go about their day in a society on the brink of dystopia. In particular, Delsin's relationship with his sheriff's deputy brother, Reggie, is a high point in the game. These guys feel like brothers, and when the weight of the narrative gets too heavy, they're bantering always brings it back to a lighthearted spot.
The cutscenes, which are in some cases artistically rendered as panels in a comic book per the series' stylistic motif, are really the only reason to slog through what quickly becomes a repetitive series of missions that only alter slightly as the game progresses. You'll be doing the same thing on the game's second island as you did on the first - tracking down secret DUP agents by their mug shots, chasing hovering security cameras for their shards that act as the game's currency for upgrading your powers and occasionally choosing whether to decimate a crowd of drug dealers or subdue them and smash their goods. The only thing that changes is how much punishing the enemies can take and the presence of Augustine's cement fortifications. That's it.
Meanwhile, you become much more powerful as the game progresses. In open-world games, I like to knock out all the sidequests so I can be sure my character has an entire arsenal at his disposal in the end game. Because of this, I unlocked the neon karmic streak ability (a devastating attack that slows the game to a crawl and you blast neon juice out of your arms, subduing all enemies in a 2-block radius) rather early on. I also earned the ability to blast at weak subdue points on enemies in bullet-time that made wrapping them up a breeze.
As a result, every combat situation turned in to the same rinse and repeat, subdue enough guys to earn the karmic streak then take everyone else down checklist. Combat became a chore that was as simple as lifting a pinkie, no matter the abilities or resistance of the enemies I faced.
The game rushes to an inevitable showdown with Augustine that does pack a whallup and ingeniously includes the "learning a new power" schtick in the final boss battle that made me feel like a badass. Getting there, however, was another story. You have to climb the tallest tower in the game, and with two allies in tow and hundreds of enemies firing at you, an errant missile is bound to send you plummeting over the edge, which is an instant MISSION FAILED screen. Sure, you respawn rather close to where you were, but in a game that pushes how much of a badass you are falling 10 feet equating to a game over is a ridiculous conceit that pulls you out of the game world.
Infamous: Second Son is the first truly exclusive, next-gen game on the PS4. For that reason alone, I recommend playing the title. But it isn't the huge leap forward in terms of gameplay you'd expect from a next-gen game. It's a better-than-average open world game designed with the last generation in mind that looks simply stunning and is written by people who get storytelling in games.
I recommend a bargain-bin purchase.
Verdict: 3/5 stars.
Sunday, April 6, 2014
An Inexplicably Close Look at an Obscure Song: The Ataris "Boys of Summer"
When I was a kid, like many I dreamed of rock and roll weekends. I even held a bass at one point and attempted to learn the instrument, despite having the rhythm of some combination of Anthony Michael Hall characters from the 1980s.
There were two names I wanted for my band, to be emblazoned across the drum set as I made young women swoon with my delicious licks. The first was The Ecto-Coolers. The second was The Ataris.
As far as I know, the Hi-C inspired moniker is still up for grabs. I was devastated when I learned sometime around the 10th grade my back-up dreams were dashed.
If you're going to name yourselves after the early 80s video game console of choice, you better be damn good. The Ataris seemed it when I started listening to their music right around junior high. "Angry Nerd Rock" is still one of my angsty favorites from those days, when American Hi-Fi and Mest were on repeat in my portable CD player and Dude Where's My Car? was in my VCR.
Ahem. Back off the nostalgia train.
"Boys of Summer" never really made much sense to me. I mean, yeah, I understood it when it was played at baseball stadiums and whatnot, but the whole concept seemed dated, even in the 1980s. Was Don Henley singing about gypsies? Who were these boys, and more importantly, where did their female counterparts come from? Are there hordes of young attractive people who burrow themselves underground in winter and show up for sex, drugs and rock and roll in the summer? Is that what those Disney internships are all about?
The Ataris cover of the 1984 hit answers none of these questions, and it also avoids what a good cover song should do - that is, take a song and change its style, message or some other facet to make it your own. For example, the millions of ska/punk covers of 80s songs. Or Authority Zero's (contemporary with The Ataris) cover of "Mexican Radio."
What we get with The Ataris is a straightforward, power pop version of a song that was already a straightforward, power pop piece that is the musical equivalent of a corn dog - battered with sweetness, but unfilling and leaving you with regret.
The Ataris would have been better off covering the Juno First theme song. But maybe I'm just looking into it too closely.
There were two names I wanted for my band, to be emblazoned across the drum set as I made young women swoon with my delicious licks. The first was The Ecto-Coolers. The second was The Ataris.
As far as I know, the Hi-C inspired moniker is still up for grabs. I was devastated when I learned sometime around the 10th grade my back-up dreams were dashed.
If you're going to name yourselves after the early 80s video game console of choice, you better be damn good. The Ataris seemed it when I started listening to their music right around junior high. "Angry Nerd Rock" is still one of my angsty favorites from those days, when American Hi-Fi and Mest were on repeat in my portable CD player and Dude Where's My Car? was in my VCR.
Ahem. Back off the nostalgia train.
"Boys of Summer" never really made much sense to me. I mean, yeah, I understood it when it was played at baseball stadiums and whatnot, but the whole concept seemed dated, even in the 1980s. Was Don Henley singing about gypsies? Who were these boys, and more importantly, where did their female counterparts come from? Are there hordes of young attractive people who burrow themselves underground in winter and show up for sex, drugs and rock and roll in the summer? Is that what those Disney internships are all about?
The Ataris cover of the 1984 hit answers none of these questions, and it also avoids what a good cover song should do - that is, take a song and change its style, message or some other facet to make it your own. For example, the millions of ska/punk covers of 80s songs. Or Authority Zero's (contemporary with The Ataris) cover of "Mexican Radio."
What we get with The Ataris is a straightforward, power pop version of a song that was already a straightforward, power pop piece that is the musical equivalent of a corn dog - battered with sweetness, but unfilling and leaving you with regret.
The Ataris would have been better off covering the Juno First theme song. But maybe I'm just looking into it too closely.
Saturday, March 29, 2014
A Sticky Floors and Salty Popcorn Review: The Grand Budapest Hotel
Count me among the Wes Anderson acolytes who believe (excepting the man's opus, The Royal Tenenbaums) the divisive filmmaker's skills are only improving with age, each title improving upon the last and broadening the brushstrokes of the truly distinctive and imaginative cinematic storyteller of our generation.
"The Grand Budapest Hotel" is no exception.
In his latest work, Anderson again visits the well in terms of artistic design (the diorama sets return, this time vivid portrayals of European mountainscapes), acting talent (Schwartzman, Wilson, Brody, Swinton, Dafoe, Norton and Murray - all are here, and in top Andersonian form, with the last sporting a cheeky handlebar mustache that is just DAMN PERFECT) and whimsy.
What is new here is the exceptional talents of the leading men, established Ralph Fiennes as M. Gustave, the veteran concierge of the titular lodging, and newcomer Tony Revolori, 17, who plays Gustave's pupil and later valet, Zero. Anderson takes some time introducing us to these characters, choosing to couch his latest story through the conceit of a girl reading a novel, then an interview with that novelist (an inspired cameo from the great Tom Wilkinson), then Jude Law appearing as the young author drawing inspiration for the book from F. Murray Abraham as wealthy proprietor Mr. Mustafa, and finally the realization that Zero is a young version of Mustafa at the hotel in 1932.
The set-up here affords the perfect opportunity for a kind of metafiction, but all the other timelines are quickly subsumed by the exploits of Gustave and Zero. There is an attempt at the end of the film to tie together some points Anderson is trying to make about storytelling, but the problem remains that the central narrative is just too damn compelling. Only in the stylistic choice of shooting a final scene in black and white do we realize that the 1932 story is just that - a story we are receiving third or fourth hand. It's a missed opportunity for what I term an "Anderson moment" - a glimpse of grander meaning beyond the absurdity and beauty of what is unfolding onscreen.
Imagine, for example, that Alec Baldwin's narrator in "Tenenbaums" were introduced before the story even begins, and that he is tied in some tangential way to the family. You'd get a sense of what is set up in "The Grand Budapest Hotel" but never fully realized.
This is all nitpicking, however. Fiennes quickly shows he gets Anderson's dialogue and penchant for absurdity in the midst of a very serious story. Here, the threat is personified by the onset of war. An army, bearing a "ZZ" seal that in terms of iconography is a next-door neighbor of the Schutzstaffel in Nazi Germany, encroaches upon the story at key junctures that remind us the stakes of what is occurring onscreen. Like all Anderson villains, however, their presence is merely a contrivance that serves as backdrop for another more personal story, the father/son relationship that builds between Gustave and Zero.
It will surprise no fan of Anderson to learn both characters are fatherless males with very real personality quirks to kink out. You can blink and see in these characters Steve Zissou/Ned, Mr. Fox/Ash, Royal/Richie Tenenbaum, etc. It should also surprise no fan of Anderson's that this relationship ends almost as abruptly as it begins and never obtains the perfect loving, fatherly role we expect in conclusions to such stories.
Anderson takes us on a wild adventure that runs at a breakneck pace to a conventional, art heist conclusion. He does it with character actors that sparkle together onscreen with an oddball chemistry he seems to have a knack for creating. Though Mark Mothersbaugh is not present for this installment of Anderson's oeuvre, the precocious sound of Anderson still plays as backdrop for the story, and the shots are purely Andersonian - wide-angle pans of extremely elaborate sets that work perfect for the time period.
This is Wes Anderson and his players at perhaps their greatest synchronicity to this point, even though the story itself carries none of the personal weight we see in "Royal Tenenbaums." It is an adventure not to be missed by fans of the filmmaker.
Verdict: 4.5/5 stars
"The Grand Budapest Hotel" is no exception.
In his latest work, Anderson again visits the well in terms of artistic design (the diorama sets return, this time vivid portrayals of European mountainscapes), acting talent (Schwartzman, Wilson, Brody, Swinton, Dafoe, Norton and Murray - all are here, and in top Andersonian form, with the last sporting a cheeky handlebar mustache that is just DAMN PERFECT) and whimsy.
What is new here is the exceptional talents of the leading men, established Ralph Fiennes as M. Gustave, the veteran concierge of the titular lodging, and newcomer Tony Revolori, 17, who plays Gustave's pupil and later valet, Zero. Anderson takes some time introducing us to these characters, choosing to couch his latest story through the conceit of a girl reading a novel, then an interview with that novelist (an inspired cameo from the great Tom Wilkinson), then Jude Law appearing as the young author drawing inspiration for the book from F. Murray Abraham as wealthy proprietor Mr. Mustafa, and finally the realization that Zero is a young version of Mustafa at the hotel in 1932.
The set-up here affords the perfect opportunity for a kind of metafiction, but all the other timelines are quickly subsumed by the exploits of Gustave and Zero. There is an attempt at the end of the film to tie together some points Anderson is trying to make about storytelling, but the problem remains that the central narrative is just too damn compelling. Only in the stylistic choice of shooting a final scene in black and white do we realize that the 1932 story is just that - a story we are receiving third or fourth hand. It's a missed opportunity for what I term an "Anderson moment" - a glimpse of grander meaning beyond the absurdity and beauty of what is unfolding onscreen.
Imagine, for example, that Alec Baldwin's narrator in "Tenenbaums" were introduced before the story even begins, and that he is tied in some tangential way to the family. You'd get a sense of what is set up in "The Grand Budapest Hotel" but never fully realized.
This is all nitpicking, however. Fiennes quickly shows he gets Anderson's dialogue and penchant for absurdity in the midst of a very serious story. Here, the threat is personified by the onset of war. An army, bearing a "ZZ" seal that in terms of iconography is a next-door neighbor of the Schutzstaffel in Nazi Germany, encroaches upon the story at key junctures that remind us the stakes of what is occurring onscreen. Like all Anderson villains, however, their presence is merely a contrivance that serves as backdrop for another more personal story, the father/son relationship that builds between Gustave and Zero.
It will surprise no fan of Anderson to learn both characters are fatherless males with very real personality quirks to kink out. You can blink and see in these characters Steve Zissou/Ned, Mr. Fox/Ash, Royal/Richie Tenenbaum, etc. It should also surprise no fan of Anderson's that this relationship ends almost as abruptly as it begins and never obtains the perfect loving, fatherly role we expect in conclusions to such stories.
Anderson takes us on a wild adventure that runs at a breakneck pace to a conventional, art heist conclusion. He does it with character actors that sparkle together onscreen with an oddball chemistry he seems to have a knack for creating. Though Mark Mothersbaugh is not present for this installment of Anderson's oeuvre, the precocious sound of Anderson still plays as backdrop for the story, and the shots are purely Andersonian - wide-angle pans of extremely elaborate sets that work perfect for the time period.
This is Wes Anderson and his players at perhaps their greatest synchronicity to this point, even though the story itself carries none of the personal weight we see in "Royal Tenenbaums." It is an adventure not to be missed by fans of the filmmaker.
Verdict: 4.5/5 stars
Tuesday, March 25, 2014
A Sticky Floors and Salty Popcorn Special: Women Superheroes, and Why We Don't See More of Them
I don't think it's a coincidence that this piece from IGN happened to appear the same day Gloria Steinem hit age 80.
We've yet to see a female superhero movie that resonates with both the hardcore comics crowd and the mainstream the way the recent Dark Knight trilogy, Marvel Phase 1 and 2 or even the great Richard Donner Superman movies of the late 1970s and early 1980s have.
Sure, we've seen strong female characters in modern superhero movies, even those with exceptional powers that factor in to the narrative. Scarlett Johansson's Black Widow is a prominent figure not only in The Avengers, but also the two Iron Man films in which she's appeared. Pepper Potts even dons the shell in the latest RDJ/Tony Stark adventure. And you'd be lying if you didn't say there wasn't a depth of character to Anne Hathaway's Selina Kyle in The Dark Knight Rises that surpassed even the sultry performance of Michelle Pfieffer in Batman Returns.
This is all to say nothing of the deathstroke Famke Janssen gave to the X-Men series as Phoenix in The Last Stand, obliterating two of the classic series' main draws in Cyclops and Dr. Charles Xavier.
But every movie that tries to make the female character the lead falls flat. I'm looking at you, Halle Berry and Jennifer Garner. Why?
We can't say it's because of a lack of great source material. The aforementioned Jean Grey and Selina Kyle have provided countless rich storylines over the years. This is to say nothing of the leaps and bounds made in other media around strong, nuanced female characters. As I'm writing, the second chapter of Bioshock Infinite: Burial at Sea is downloading to my Xbox 360. I can't wait to see how viewing Rapture through Elizabeth's eyes will change my experience.
On TV, we've had decades of strong female characters that form the basis of compelling, long-running narratives. Joss Whedon himself ushered in the era, arguably, with his brilliant Buffy the Vampire Slayer series on WGN, or UPN, or whatever the hell the network was calling itself in 2003.
This lends all the more credence to Johansson's request in the above piece for a superhero movie to be made where the female characters aren't running around in their skivvies, staring longingly at the men who will have to come save them (I'm looking at you, Amazing Spider-Man 2).
In a year that could arguably be the greatest showcase for the maturity and universal appeal of the superhero tale transcending its niche audience (if it hasn't already), it's unconscionable that we have to continue to watch our female characters in these films simply play the gams. Johansson's right. Comic book and movie fans deserve more.
We've yet to see a female superhero movie that resonates with both the hardcore comics crowd and the mainstream the way the recent Dark Knight trilogy, Marvel Phase 1 and 2 or even the great Richard Donner Superman movies of the late 1970s and early 1980s have.
Sure, we've seen strong female characters in modern superhero movies, even those with exceptional powers that factor in to the narrative. Scarlett Johansson's Black Widow is a prominent figure not only in The Avengers, but also the two Iron Man films in which she's appeared. Pepper Potts even dons the shell in the latest RDJ/Tony Stark adventure. And you'd be lying if you didn't say there wasn't a depth of character to Anne Hathaway's Selina Kyle in The Dark Knight Rises that surpassed even the sultry performance of Michelle Pfieffer in Batman Returns.
This is all to say nothing of the deathstroke Famke Janssen gave to the X-Men series as Phoenix in The Last Stand, obliterating two of the classic series' main draws in Cyclops and Dr. Charles Xavier.
But every movie that tries to make the female character the lead falls flat. I'm looking at you, Halle Berry and Jennifer Garner. Why?
We can't say it's because of a lack of great source material. The aforementioned Jean Grey and Selina Kyle have provided countless rich storylines over the years. This is to say nothing of the leaps and bounds made in other media around strong, nuanced female characters. As I'm writing, the second chapter of Bioshock Infinite: Burial at Sea is downloading to my Xbox 360. I can't wait to see how viewing Rapture through Elizabeth's eyes will change my experience.
On TV, we've had decades of strong female characters that form the basis of compelling, long-running narratives. Joss Whedon himself ushered in the era, arguably, with his brilliant Buffy the Vampire Slayer series on WGN, or UPN, or whatever the hell the network was calling itself in 2003.
This lends all the more credence to Johansson's request in the above piece for a superhero movie to be made where the female characters aren't running around in their skivvies, staring longingly at the men who will have to come save them (I'm looking at you, Amazing Spider-Man 2).
In a year that could arguably be the greatest showcase for the maturity and universal appeal of the superhero tale transcending its niche audience (if it hasn't already), it's unconscionable that we have to continue to watch our female characters in these films simply play the gams. Johansson's right. Comic book and movie fans deserve more.
Saturday, March 15, 2014
Virtual Dork: South Park Stick of Truth Review
There is a moment, after you've vanquished a member of a rival faction using an arsenal of farts, Cheesy Poofs and magic 8-ball-handed weapons, when you, as the "new kid" in South Park, witness a familiar cast of characters bickering over how to take down their greatest foe.
"Suck my e-e-e-elven dick, Butters," Jimmy Valmer says on the screen in front of you, perfectly framed as only the construction-paper inspired animation of Trey Parker and Matt Stone can be.
It is these moments that elevate South Park: Stick of Truth above a normal licensed game. The script was written by Parker and Stone. The game was made using resources from South Park Studios' animation team. All of the voice actors (including Isaac Hayes in a brief cameo) are here. This looks and sounds exactly like an episode of South Park should.
It's only a pity that, under the hood, Stick of Truth is an exceptionally easy title with little reason for multiple playthroughs. While the South Park fan in you will squeal with joy as you battle Al Gore and try to beat back the flaming farts of Wizard Cartman, the nonsensical ending and shallow gameplay keep Stick of Truth from being a truly great video game, although it's undoubtedly a wonderful narrative experience (with some caveats).
You begin the game as the "new kid," moving in to a home on the same block as series regulars Eric Cartman, Stan Marsh, Kenny McCormack and Kyle Broflovski. You quickly join forces with Butters Stotch, who informs you of the game du jour in the neighborhood. The conceit, a mystical RPG quest with fantastical elements, is drop dead similar to the narrative sheen that ran through last fall's "Black Friday" trilogy on the show. Cartman and Butters are members of the human guild, while Stan and Kyle do battle as knights of the elven faction.
After creating your character, you learn from parents (who share your physical traits) that there is something just not right about you. Unfortunately, what is one of the most interesting and novel story quirks in the game gets dismissed in a trivial and surprisingly uninteresting and unfunny cutscene toward the end of the game featuring an eye-patched, shadowy government figure.
Your journey will take you to all the staple locations in South Park: Skeeter's Bar, Jimbo's Gun shop, City Wok, Tom's Rhinoplasty and the abortion clinic. Throughout the game's roughly 15-hour playtime, you'll run into all the classic characters, who you can "friend" through the game's Facebook system. As you gain friends and experience points, you'll be able to add perks and abilities that increase your powers in turn-based combat that hearkens back to the old days of Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy.
Unfortunately, that combat is relatively uninspired. While there are some fun elemental quirks to the game that you can use to turn the tide in your favor when the combat screen does appear, most of the fights are winnable using a simple pattern of actions, and because there is no limitation on the amount of items you can carry and stockpiling combat potions is merely an exercise in searching for cash, strategy goes out the window in the second half of the game.
As a thief, I was granted a basically game-breaking ability early on to stun the most powerful enemies while I picked off minions. Using Butters' "Healing Touch" ability, I was able to win almost all fights in the game following a relatively simple pattern once I had a level 10 weapon. Combat becomes a slog to get to the next brilliantly written cutscene.
That is, until the end of the game, when you're forced into a series of battles that increasingly make little sense and the difficulty factor is artificially inflated. Without spoiling the ending, I can say that the final climactic scene can be seen coming from a mile away, something that is relatively unconscionable for a series and writers known to toy with the absurd in pursuit of satire.
Despite my poo-poohing, Stick of Truth is an extremely fun romp through America's finest source of scatological satire. Fans of Matt and Trey's work should not miss the opportunity to visit this quiet little redneck mountain town and relive some of their favorite experiences from the long-running series. However, I would advise against paying the full price. Wait for a discount for your trip to Colorado.
Verdict: 3/5 stars
"Suck my e-e-e-elven dick, Butters," Jimmy Valmer says on the screen in front of you, perfectly framed as only the construction-paper inspired animation of Trey Parker and Matt Stone can be.
It is these moments that elevate South Park: Stick of Truth above a normal licensed game. The script was written by Parker and Stone. The game was made using resources from South Park Studios' animation team. All of the voice actors (including Isaac Hayes in a brief cameo) are here. This looks and sounds exactly like an episode of South Park should.
It's only a pity that, under the hood, Stick of Truth is an exceptionally easy title with little reason for multiple playthroughs. While the South Park fan in you will squeal with joy as you battle Al Gore and try to beat back the flaming farts of Wizard Cartman, the nonsensical ending and shallow gameplay keep Stick of Truth from being a truly great video game, although it's undoubtedly a wonderful narrative experience (with some caveats).
You begin the game as the "new kid," moving in to a home on the same block as series regulars Eric Cartman, Stan Marsh, Kenny McCormack and Kyle Broflovski. You quickly join forces with Butters Stotch, who informs you of the game du jour in the neighborhood. The conceit, a mystical RPG quest with fantastical elements, is drop dead similar to the narrative sheen that ran through last fall's "Black Friday" trilogy on the show. Cartman and Butters are members of the human guild, while Stan and Kyle do battle as knights of the elven faction.
After creating your character, you learn from parents (who share your physical traits) that there is something just not right about you. Unfortunately, what is one of the most interesting and novel story quirks in the game gets dismissed in a trivial and surprisingly uninteresting and unfunny cutscene toward the end of the game featuring an eye-patched, shadowy government figure.
Your journey will take you to all the staple locations in South Park: Skeeter's Bar, Jimbo's Gun shop, City Wok, Tom's Rhinoplasty and the abortion clinic. Throughout the game's roughly 15-hour playtime, you'll run into all the classic characters, who you can "friend" through the game's Facebook system. As you gain friends and experience points, you'll be able to add perks and abilities that increase your powers in turn-based combat that hearkens back to the old days of Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy.
Unfortunately, that combat is relatively uninspired. While there are some fun elemental quirks to the game that you can use to turn the tide in your favor when the combat screen does appear, most of the fights are winnable using a simple pattern of actions, and because there is no limitation on the amount of items you can carry and stockpiling combat potions is merely an exercise in searching for cash, strategy goes out the window in the second half of the game.
As a thief, I was granted a basically game-breaking ability early on to stun the most powerful enemies while I picked off minions. Using Butters' "Healing Touch" ability, I was able to win almost all fights in the game following a relatively simple pattern once I had a level 10 weapon. Combat becomes a slog to get to the next brilliantly written cutscene.
That is, until the end of the game, when you're forced into a series of battles that increasingly make little sense and the difficulty factor is artificially inflated. Without spoiling the ending, I can say that the final climactic scene can be seen coming from a mile away, something that is relatively unconscionable for a series and writers known to toy with the absurd in pursuit of satire.
Despite my poo-poohing, Stick of Truth is an extremely fun romp through America's finest source of scatological satire. Fans of Matt and Trey's work should not miss the opportunity to visit this quiet little redneck mountain town and relive some of their favorite experiences from the long-running series. However, I would advise against paying the full price. Wait for a discount for your trip to Colorado.
Verdict: 3/5 stars
Sunday, January 12, 2014
An Inexplicably Close Look at an Incredibly Obscure Song: "10 Days Late" Third Eye Blind
Third Eye Blind burst onto the scene in the late '90s displaying an uncanny ability - like Matchbox Twenty, Semisonic, the Goo Goo Dolls and their ilk - to pen hits that blended complicated, sometimes soul-crushing things with sugary delicious pop rock licks. Whether it be the depths of crystal methamphetamine, suicide, or an incredibly painful break-up, Stephen Jenkins and the boys seemed to be able to tackle it with a riff that made the crowds feel like dancing anyway.
Perhaps the one strength that set the 'Frisco rockers apart from their mainstream contemporaries was their very real, very raw way of talking about sex - its passion, its complications, its fundamentals. This is a band that wrote about wasting days in bed, Cunnilingus that would make Colonel Angus blush and orgasms that last ages of summer afternoons.
Which makes "10 Days Late," the third single off the band's 1999 album "Blue," a bit of an anomaly.
In a way, the song is vintage 3EB. It's got a bass line followed by a riff that will tingle your spine. The chorus does not shy away from the, ahem, practical side of sexuality, making the ditty perhaps the highest-profile song about a missed period in pop music history. Jenkins croons and delivers punchy soundbites throughout.
But much like Ben Folds Five's "Brick," released a year prior to "10 Days," the song is almost hopelessly wrapped up in how the man's life is affected by the early pregnancy of a woman. Our dramatic voice in "10 Days" shows his juvenile perspective by saying, "I'm in trouble now, and it cannot wait." Never mind the fact that this young girl he's impregnated is faced with a decision that has moral, legal and life-altering ramifications.
Also, for some reason, there's a need for a choir and a cowbell in this one.
In an effort to continue its track record of writing about complicated themes, 3EB may have bit off more than they could chew with "10 Days Late." It's little wonder why the band's popularity faded considerably after the release of the single (OK, hardcore fans, I know the inner turmoil with Kevin Cadogan probably didn't help much).
Where "Brick" succeeded by emphasizing the limited perspective of its dramatic voice and adopting a sufficiently somber tone, elevating Ben Folds to a level of popularity that lingers today and causes Folds himself to question the message his song about abortion is leaving with folks, "10 Days Late" comes off as something Jenkins insisted it wasn't - just a modern pop/rock song about menstruation. It had the potential to be so much more.
Or maybe I'm just looking at it too closely.
Perhaps the one strength that set the 'Frisco rockers apart from their mainstream contemporaries was their very real, very raw way of talking about sex - its passion, its complications, its fundamentals. This is a band that wrote about wasting days in bed, Cunnilingus that would make Colonel Angus blush and orgasms that last ages of summer afternoons.
Which makes "10 Days Late," the third single off the band's 1999 album "Blue," a bit of an anomaly.
In a way, the song is vintage 3EB. It's got a bass line followed by a riff that will tingle your spine. The chorus does not shy away from the, ahem, practical side of sexuality, making the ditty perhaps the highest-profile song about a missed period in pop music history. Jenkins croons and delivers punchy soundbites throughout.
But much like Ben Folds Five's "Brick," released a year prior to "10 Days," the song is almost hopelessly wrapped up in how the man's life is affected by the early pregnancy of a woman. Our dramatic voice in "10 Days" shows his juvenile perspective by saying, "I'm in trouble now, and it cannot wait." Never mind the fact that this young girl he's impregnated is faced with a decision that has moral, legal and life-altering ramifications.
Also, for some reason, there's a need for a choir and a cowbell in this one.
In an effort to continue its track record of writing about complicated themes, 3EB may have bit off more than they could chew with "10 Days Late." It's little wonder why the band's popularity faded considerably after the release of the single (OK, hardcore fans, I know the inner turmoil with Kevin Cadogan probably didn't help much).
Where "Brick" succeeded by emphasizing the limited perspective of its dramatic voice and adopting a sufficiently somber tone, elevating Ben Folds to a level of popularity that lingers today and causes Folds himself to question the message his song about abortion is leaving with folks, "10 Days Late" comes off as something Jenkins insisted it wasn't - just a modern pop/rock song about menstruation. It had the potential to be so much more.
Or maybe I'm just looking at it too closely.
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