BaD '17: In which I recap the past week.

On 02/16/2017 at 11:33 AM by avidacridjam

So...yes. I've already missed out on the past 4 days to write another post. I'm not proud of it. So I'll cover what's happened since then.

Work wise, I had to deal with one final day of pee-wee basketball games last Saturday despite the fact that the online schedule (which is all that I had to go on) stated that the tournament games would be held at another campus. I was pretty annoyed to find all that mess Sunday night but it got squared away. With that done, the basketball season truly comes to an end.

On Friday, I took the day off and ventured to the local cineplex and saw John Wick: Chapter 2. I'm a big fan of the first film and I was surprised by how good the sequel was. The first smart move by the writer was not to repeat the events of the first film but to expand the criminal underworld that it hinted at. Wick gets forced into a contract, is double-crossed even when he completes it and spends the rest of the film being hunted and finally hunting himself. No dead dog.

Some critics felt the build-up in the first act was labored but I have no idea what they're talking about. This is storytelling 101, when you have to set up the characters and stakes. These two films are impressive for a vareity of reasons; one of them is the pacing. This isn't the kind of action film that just bombards you with action beats. They're carefully placed for dramatic effect and the downtime moments are just as compelling. This is lean-and-mean action filmmaking and those wanting the action won't be let-down. I'd say the violence here is bloodier and surreal at times (the first film's villain spoke of Wick's deadly one-time use of a pencil; here, you get to see his pencil trick and it's gnarly). It's also hilarious at times.

Keanu Reeves is wonderful as the intense (and sometimes pensive) Wick and he remains physically convincing in the action (since it's mostly him doing the stunts). It's great to see Ian McShane and Lance Reddick reprise their roles. I loved the cameos by Peter Stormare, Franco Nero and Peter Serafinowicz. Common is amazing in his fight scenes with Reeves. Ruby Rose makes a good first impression as a slient bodyguard of the main villain. The fight choreography is impressive but so is the set design, cinematography and lighting; the first film went for 30's style night time visuals (like Michael Mann's Thief or Manhunter) and its sequel adopts moodier, horror-themed set-ups for its Rome sequences.

It's just a wonderful effort by all involved and I'm glad a third film is being planned. The way Chapter 2 ends sets up a scenario that will no doubt be dangerous for Wick. However, when Wick says he'll kill anyone to who comes for him, I take him at his word.

The Lego Batman Movie also came out but I ran out of time to see that as well. I'm making that a priority this weekend. I've also got a mess of foreign film dvds that I rented from the local library so I'm making time for that as well.

Gaming wise? A little game called Stardew Valley monopolized on that time and then some. I'm pretty sure I played it for 8 hours Saturday and 5 hours Sunday. It was irresponsible, I know that. I was aware of the drain in my productivity and the loss of precious time as I slaved to maintain my crops and make it through two seasons. But that wasn't enough. I had to earn enough money to build a chicken coop and a silo to build the chickens. Oh, and I had to level up my fishing, upgrade my fishing rods and lures and shit. The work isn't even far from over. I've got to work on my mining ability, upgrade my tools, make it through winter....it's fucking madness.

I didn't even play any other game. That's how galvanizing Stardew Valley is. I'll never make that mistake again. Just a few days at a time from now on. But man, what a hold it had on me...

Right now, I'm listening to my Rage Against The Machine playlist via Google Play Music. I renewed my subscription to give it another chance. It also upgrades your Youtube accout to Youtube Red (no ads) so it's pretty sweet for $10 a month on that end.

My Valentine's Day was a solo affair, aside from the card my parents sent me. Oh well. It felt like another Tuesday anyway.

Matt Snee Staff Writer

02/16/2017 at 11:51 AM

I haven't listened to rage against the machine for many years. That guitar player was pretty damn innovative.

I haven't seen either John Wick. I'd like to though. I like Keanu, I respect him as a person.

Super Step Contributing Writer

02/16/2017 at 12:07 PM

I felt the intro of JW2 dragged on a bit, but once the action got going it rarely stopped and I understood why they had the setup later on. I do think it could be cut down a bit still, but that's not to say the intro needs to go by any means.

One thing I like about John Wick is that every once in a while they'll make you think he's human with a stumble or some bleeding, and despite knowing in the back of my mind he'll be ok it actually works on some level to create dramatic tension. Common was great as a nearly equal adversary and Ruby Rose was cool.

While I dug learning more about the underground in John Wick, I do still really dig the simple premise of the first: don't steal from John Wick.

I'm sure you're glad bball season has come to an end. Faculty and staff are actually getting free tickets to the bball games tonight, so I'll be going to a game while you celebrate your season being over.

Some have said Lego Batman is not as good as Lego Movie because it's aimed more squarely at kids (I honestly thought most jokes were aimed at people familiar with the 60s show, but there's definitely plenty of contemporary jabs in there as well) and it doesn't have the same level of "heartfelt" because it focuses more on the jokes. I feel kinda the opposite. Lego Movie's ending didn't speak to me the way it did others and I thought that one was overhyped a bit, though still enjoyable. With Lego Batman I "caught more feels" as the kids say, and I was also laughing the whole time. I'll have to rewatch it to catch some jokes I missed from the audience laughing too loud/long when I saw it. Also a lot of "awwwwwwwww" in that movie because of the eye animations on Joker and Robin.

I've never played a farming sim and I'm not sure Stardew Valley is something I'll ever play, but I guess people really love it. I don't want the time sink, so it's a good thing I can just stick to things like Rise of the Tomb Raider or Lego Batman 3 with more defined stopping points.

My VDay wasn't special either, yesterday's less than $5 candy haul was my true holiday.

Can't go wrong with Rage. I actually saw Tom Morello and Max Weinberg perform with Bruce Springsteen in Dallas for free.

KnightDriver

02/16/2017 at 03:29 PM

I want to play Stardew Valley. It's on my rental list but the physical copy doesn't release until April.

Nicoleb1989

02/16/2017 at 08:05 PM

I love Stardew Valley! I have like 132 hours played on it. Its such a good game, I still cant believe it was made by one person. Valentines day was also a solo day for me but I just made it a day where I went out and treated myself.

Julian Titus Senior Editor

02/16/2017 at 08:12 PM

I...LOVED John Wick 2. I had heard that the story was about the brother of the first film's villain getting revenge. I was happy to see that, not only is this not the case, but that character knows to get the hell out of town.

I dig the world of John Wick, and I want a video game that delves deeper. Yeah, I know, licensed games are terrible, but I don't think that's always true. There is plenty here to translate, and Wick has such a distinct style to the way he shoots and fights (center mass shot, headshot, takedown, headshot, repeat) that I could have a ton of fun there. I want more!

PixlBit