PixlBit

Top Three Bing Search Images Mad Libz: The Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon, locusts, Emma Stone.

So I guess this year, the Alcatraz contest will involve locusts as an obstacle and Emma Stone as a "conjugal visit" prize for the winner.

Anyway, last blog, I totally forgot to mention another cel-shaded classic, which, as a cinephile, and a guy named Joe, I have no idea how the hell I skipped over.

Now, personally, I only rented the original a handful of times, and have no other experience with the series, but what I have played is absolutely addictive.

Obviously, I love the art style, and I also really dug the upgrades you could buy Joe, like the fast fire moves seen in the far right picture up there, and of course I abused the hell out of the ability to slow down time in combat, and kick ass in slo-mo, as pictured in Joe's well-deserved action close-up in the center picture, above.

Joe's special abilities were used in both the sometimes repetitive, but mostly tightly controlling, fun combat, as well as little mini-puzzles, like slowing down or speeding up time to move a platform you were on, in order to progress.

The cutscenes were more along the lines of cheesy, Saturday morning cartoon fare than anything you'd recognize as a modern movie nod (though there were classic movie nods everywhere, especially to old Japanese cinema, obviously), but the humor and style of storytelling definitely helped the overall game aesthetic.

One thing I didn't always like, was that certain parts of the game are rather difficult, sometimes because too many enemies got thrown at me at once, or because I couldn't quite figure out exactly what the game wanted me to do, and wound up draining my Viewtiful meter, which is what you need to have full to perform all the cool stuff like slo-mo, etc., trying to figure it out.

Overall though, I'm actually glad it had that difficulty spike, as it probably kept it from being too short; I don't know that, as the farthest I got with my rentals was up to the shark boss, but I still absolutely loved this game any time I played it, and feel that it did for the side-scrolling beat-em-up what Sly Cooper did for the platformer.

But hey, since we're talking about a game about movies, let's talk about the movie I rented yesterday.

Since it finally stopped being cold outside yesterday, I decided I could once again take my usual on-foot route outside to the 7-11 about one-and-a-half miles from my house, and get back in the habit of at least walking three miles a day for exercise. Since warm weather is now a "special event" where I live just outside of Dallas now, I treated it as such, and got myself a Red Box rental. And of course, there's a cold front again. I can easily walk in the cold and not be bothered, but I get sick too easily, and the not being bothered part doesn't help me realize when I shouldn't be going outside for too long, so I try to be careful.

End of Watch is a movie that follows two partners in the LAPD around and just lets their day job play out on camera. Though it is scripted, by the writer of Training Day in fact, it's shot in shaky cam, and made to look like a documentary; in fact, Jake Gyllenhaal's character is recording his day job for an art elective he's taking in college, apparently, filming himself and his partner, played excellently by Michael Pena, on their routes.

It's nitpicky, but I had a problem with this movie's constant, and to me, unnatural sounding excess of the word "fuck." I know that in a movie about cops and LA gangs, it'll get thrown out a lot, but I swear like a sailor in real life and don't use it as the end for literally every sentence the way that the Mexican gang in this movie, especially, does. Thankfully, I live in a relatively quiet suburban area outside of Dallas, TX, so I wouldn't know how they talk, and maybe it's realistic, but at a certain point, it goes beyond feeling like a realistic depiction of thugs, and just becomes comical and distracting to me.

I also wasn't sure Gyllenhaal's having a camera was entirely necessary, as seemingly everyone on the force except his partner clearly has an issue with what he's doing, and it gets him in trouble a few times, making me wonder why his Sargeant doesn't just take the thing away.

I feel his  and his partner's class-clown characters had been set up well without it, and a lot of shots in the movie are from angles he wouldn't pick up with any of his cameras (he has one handheld, and pins small ones on himself and his partner, in addition to the cop car's camera, obviously), so while it's also a conceit used to ease you into the documentary style the movie is shot in, it didn't feel needed to me. Then again, it was only very minorly distracting, and I do understand why it's left in the movie, even if I don't think it's needed, personally, so again, I'm being nitpicky here.

Overall, despite those two minor nitpicks, the movie did an excellent job of keeping me entertained, emotionally invested, and unaware of exactly where it was going next. Towards the end, there were a lot of things I saw coming, but there will still enough surprises that I kept my focus pretty intently on that cathode ray tube in the living room.

The partnership and friendship between the two main characters, as well as the general comaraderie of the police force is excellently set up and explored, thanks in no small part to the amazing cast.

The way it's split up into little jobs/busts and conversations that the two main characters perform keeps you guessing at what's coming next, even leaving time for a well-developed and believable romance between Gyllenhaal and Anna Kendrick's characters, and builds those small moments into something much bigger incredibly well.

The movie also does a great job of surprising you with just how heinous things can get in a day in the life of a cop, and explores the personal, internal psychological elements of police work just as well as the partnership/family aspect of it, by showing not telling, and always managing to feel callously real.

I highly recommend this movie to anyone remotely interested. It's just the right balance of emotional character study and realistic action movie, and it uses the shaky cam in a way that enhances the action and interactions, rather than make me want to vomit.

So we've talked about a game and a movie, how about some music?

I know a lot of you are going to hate this, but while I sometimes can't understand a damn thing the actual rapper is saying unless I listen real close, I do like the recent hits from The Heist by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis and whatever black guys sing the hooks on them, because they're probably half the reason these songs work as well as they do. I also love that they got this big, flavor of the weak or not, without any major label backing.

I actually listened to some of the album on Youtube, and I must say I'm a fan, and will probably buy it. Macklemore doesn't have the best flow or delivery, but the music itself is catchy without feeling artificial, using those horn instruments I'm such a sucker for, and I love the lyrical subject matter, as it contradicts that of most popular rap music, which I like as well, but get tired of hearing the same themes and style. 

I'm a fan of both "Thrift Shop" and "Can't Hold Us," and thought the performances of those songs on the most recent SNL had great energy. My opinion of the artists and album is bassically mirrored by that of the Rap Critic, but since you've heard those songs if you've listened to the radio at all recently, I figured I'd post a different song for you to enjoy, a more pensive one that had me impressed.

It's by no means a wholly unique or original message, there's been a million songs that amount to "hang in there, kitty," but I did like the positive message for struggling artists, and felt it was a great album opener, well-produced and exciting, while being atmospheric and hinting at something larger than itself. Macklemore seems to have a positive, humble attitude, and everything he's doing is just very refreshing to me. For the record, with writing section included, my SAT score was around 1900 (out of 2400). Ahem.

Then we have a band that's less refreshing, so much as they've been going strong for over 30 years with no signs of stopping. That's my favorite punk band, Bad Religion, with lead singer and PhD Greg Graffin still leading the charge of fellow songwriter Brett Gurrewitz (who also founded Epitaph records), relative newcomer Brooks Wackerman on drums, and the steady guitar and bass work of Jay Bentley, Greg Hetson, and Brian Baker.

It's nice to know that even after a singer has earned a doctorate in Zoology from Cornell University, and taught courses at UCLA, he can still return to his teenage punk roots and write a song called "Fuck You."

I actually liked their previous album better, and my favorite from their newest is "Robin Hood in Reverse," but that one's political, and I didn't feel like getting anything started, so enjoy this little ditty instead.

Finally, here's one of my favorite metal songs, from one of my personal favorite metal bands, and one that incorporates Mozart, in honor of Snee's Modern Classical Wednesday. 

Have a great day, everyone!