A Wii Birthday Party

So, I've told most everyone in the area about this already, but, this will serve as a reminder. Monday (the 27th) was my birthday. As this last weekend was full of things like Thanksgiving and people from out of town in town, I moved my birthday down a week. Which brings us to this Saturday (the 2nd).

We're having a birthday/our dog Ruggles graduated from puppy class party. We've got the Nintendo Wii, Candy Land, and, if we get bored, about 14 hours of Looney Tunes. Show up at party o'clock. Bring drinks of your choice. If you don't know where I live, you're not invited.

RIP

Robert Altman died last night. He made good movies.

recap

I have been working a ton at both jobs so I haven't had much time to be on the internet as of late.
So heres what's going on-

Tomorrow is a big day for music. The new Hova album "Kingdom Come" drops. I didn't really like the single "Show me what you got" at first, but its grown on me, and now I love it. I don't know how he can do anything that would top "Reasonable Doubt" or "The Black Album" but even less then perfect Jay-Z is still damn good.
Tom Waits also hits us with 3 CDs of greatness. If you don't know already your a bitch...so heres the deal, title "Orphans" 3 discs each titled Brawlers, Bawlers and Bastards. I've heard some of it and it is already in my top 3 releases of the year.

I haven't had a lot of time to play GH2, but I do know it fucking rocks. I went through all the songs on medium in one day (just to unlock) and am now doing it on hard. Sometime I kick ass and sometimes I get my ass kicked, but its always a damn good time.

I've read about half of Neil Gaimans "Fragile Things". So far I have enjoyed "How to talk to girls at paryts" the most, but it is all good.

I want a Wii. If anyone wants to send me one I'll give you my address. Thanks a bunch.

Like I said I have been working way to much...about 30-35 hours a week at Starbucks and 40 at AMF. I have been bowling like shit. My average has droped from 164 to 148. I need to get it back up quick...
Deadwood is still kicking my ass daily. I have now gone through both sessions and I just keep on re-watching it. I should just buy it so I can once again put Netflix to use. I miss all you assholes. Give me a call sometime and remeber to have a drink for me.

Wii

It was worth the ten hours I spent in the cold outside of Best Buy. I was the first in line for the Wii, and, oh gods, it's fucking awesome. Right now, I'm so fascinated by Wii Sports that I can't even imagine beginning Zelda...but I will soon anyway...and it will blow my mind I'm sure.

Buy one as soon as you can. And play Rayman; it's hilarious.

GH2: First Impressions

I don't feel the need to write a full review. For those, go here or here. They both support unique positions that I think are worth reading. But this is what I think about the game thus far:

Awesome. I have now finished the game on hard, and so I've had a chance to play through all of the main songs. All-in-all, I think this time around, the game is a lot easier. As I mentioned in the comments, the game initially seems a lot more difficult. It seems that way because there are more notes, more solos, and they come at you in various places. (Some songs, for instance, will start with a solo; GH1 almost always started with some standard guitar riff before going into a complex section). However, now that you don't need to hold the lower buttons down while playing for hammer-ons and pull-offs, the game ultimately becomes easier. I was able to blast through hard without ever losing a song, and I have 5 stars on over half of them. But, really, is this a bad thing?

The answer: no. And this is why. I enjoy playing this game for multiple reasons, but one of the main reasons is that I feel awesome when I play through a song well. And I feel even better if I play through a complex song well. It gives me that fantastic delusional thought that I can rock out to "Freebird" on the guitar. So, give me more notes to play, make it look absolutely insane, make it sound awesome, but then make it slightly easier to nail every note, and you've got yourself a happy gamer.

All that said, I'm thinking that expert will be quite a jump up in difficulty, and I'm looking forward to getting my ass kicked, so that I can use the practice mode a bit more. There are too many unlockables to be disappointed in the change of challenge. (You can unlock different guitars both by beating a difficulty level and getting 5 stars on all the songs for a difficulty level. So, once I'm well into expert, I'll probably go back and attempt 5 stars on all the hard songs.)

Before I end, I must complain about one thing that no one else seems to care about. Why the hell would you be playing Allman Brothers' "Jessica" or Heart's "Crazy on You" on the Vans' Warped Tour? The location and the song list didn't always match up, and it weirded me out. But, hell, if this is my only complaint, I'd say you've got a damn good games in your hands.

The OC 4.01

Nothing else really needs to be said.

GH2 + Strong Bad?

Someone got a hold of the list of bonus tracks for Guitar Hero 2. While most of them I don't know and wouldn't expect to know, there are some notable tracks. Every Time I Die has the song "The New Black" on there, there's a Buckethead song, some Shadows Fall, and then there's this: Strong Bad's Trogdor. Yes, from Homestarrunner... WhatTheFuck? Whatever, here's the full list:

Artist--Song

• The Acro-brats--Laughtrack
• All That Remains--Six
• The Amazing Royal Crowns--Mr. Fix-It
• Anarchy Club--Collide
• Bang Camaro--Push Push (Lady Lightning)
• Breaking Wheel (formerly known as Artillery)--One For The Road
• Brian Kahanek--Gemini
• Buckethead--Jordan
• Count Zero--Radium Eyes
• Dethklok--Thunder Horse
• Drist--Arterial Black
• Every Time I Die--The New Black
• Freezepop--Less Talk More Rokk
• Honest Bob and the Factory-to-Dealer Incentives--Soy Bomb
• The Last Vegas--Raw Dog
• Made in Mexico--Yes We Can
• Megasus--Red Lottery
• The Neighborhoods--Parasite
• Shadows Fall--The Light That Blinds
• Strong Bad (of Homestar Runner)--Trogdor
• That Handsome Devil--Elephant Bones
• Vagiant--FTK
• Valient Thorr--Fall of Pangea
• Voivod--X-Stream

I feel that a I must point out that these were found by "a camera-happy retail employee" who "snapped some pictures of all the songs available for purchase in the in-game store." So, who knows how accurate this is...but my guess that, yes, you will be rocking out to Rage Against the Machine and then Strong Bad in one fell swoop.

Devil May Cry Heaven

For those who are fans of the Devil May Cry series and haven't bought any of the games (I imagine I am one of the few), this is awesome. It's the Devil May Cry 5th Annivesary Bundle, which includes (surprise) Devil May Cry, Devil May Cry 2, and Devil May Cry 3: Special Edition for a meager $29.99. That's a lot of demon ass kicking for $30.

The Nightmare Before Christmas 3D

I just got back from an advanced screening (one day is hardly an advance, but it was free) of The Nightmare Before Christmas 3D. Obviously, the movie is great; I don't need to spend any time on that. So, this brings up the obvious question, how was the 3D? My first (and only previous) foray into 3D movies was when I took my younger brother to see Spy Kids 3D (yes, I saw it). You wore the cheap red and blue cardboard glasses and it was hardly 3D. You mostly watched red and blue lines zip across the screen as you began to fill sick to your stomach. Only a handful of times did it feel like you were watching it in the third dimension. Now, with the onslaught of digital projectors, they've amped up how 3D works in theatres. The red and blue cheapo glasses are gone. Instead, you get to wear giant plastic glasses with almost clear shades. The ones we got were large and green and would make the most fashionista of all of us weep. If you haven't witnessed a film with a digital projector, you're already missing out on how to see a movie in the theatre. The colors are crisp and beautiful and you have no lag when it skips from frame to frame. So, as the previews started, I was already excited about the sheer quality that my eyes were seeing.

Then the 3D kicked in. Dear. God. It's gorgeous. Seemless transition from front to back and the insane amount of layers in between, it truly feels as though you are watching it as though it were unfolding in front of you. The film was fantastic in its original form, but this brought it to an unexpected height in my eyes. Well worth seeing (even multiple times) in the theatre.

The only negative thing I have to say about it is no fault of the movie itself. When you watch a film in 3D, you expect things to jump out at you, stare at you in the face mere feet from your eyes. However, when you transfer a movie not intended for 3D into 3D, you obviously have less opportunity for these effects. The few that ocurred in the film were frightening and fantastic. This still does not detract from the experience. It only says to me that as this medium becomes more frequent and more viable, the better it will become in the future. I'm extremely excited about it, because this was one of the best viewing experiences I've had at a movie.

Go, now, and you will understand all that I have said.

Links Roundup

I would like to watch Lost, but I'm too far behind to start now. But, I do watch Heroes. So, here's an interesting article about how the two shows may be connected.

If you weren't convinced that Guitar Hero II was going to be awesome, read this.

Here's a better article about the Scarlett Johansson singing Tom Waits.

And it's been a while since I've linked to Lore Sjöberg's column, but this one is hilarious. It follows his foray into setting up a MySpace account with the ultimate punchline of his MySpace page.

Coolest Party Ever

Bill Murray was in Scotland the other day for a golf tournament, and while out at the bar Bill was invited to a party by some 22 year old chick. So, being awesome, Bill decided to go. Before leaving he ended up doing a bunch of their dishes. Read more here....

How cool would it be to party with Bill Murray? He is in my "top 5 actors I would like to hang out with".

Weirdest CD Ever

So, imdb news is full of strange stuff today. It turns out that Scarlett Johansson has just signed a record deal to record the CD, aptly named, Scarlett Sings Tom Waits. I guess that explains what it is, but who the hell knows how that will turn out.

Weirdest Crew Ever

Lately, they've been turning everything into musicals. Normally, I would have passed over this headline "'Shrek' Set for Broadway," because, I don't care. But, as I scanned the small paragraph, I realized that it was being helmed by Sam Mendes and directed by Jason Moore. So, it's being helmed by the guy who brought us American Beauty and The Road to Perdition, and it's being directed by the guy who gave us Avenue Q. I really hope that it turns out to be all about Sex, Drugs, and the Color Red as I would expect from these guys. Madness.

Music Reviews

I actually bought music this weekend. Anyone that knows me well, knows that I have a few CDs from a ways back that I continue to listen to over and over if I'm not listening to the radio. This was a direct link to the fact that my old car's CD player functioned terribly if at all. But I was used to it and the CDs I owned and so now only buy new music if it's something I'm excited about.

This weekend I bought TV on the Radio's Return to Cookie Mountain and The Hold Steady's Boys and Girls in America. I'm loving both of them. I wanted to share how much I enjoyed the CDs with others and so considered writing reviews of them and posting them here. But then I realized that I'm terrible at writing music reviews. I certainly don't have the general music knowledge of others that would allow me to give this music justice. So, I will now point you to Pitchfork's reviews. I normally hate Pitchfork, but I actually agreed with them for once. So, read these, then go buy the music.

The Hold Steady Boys and Girls in America review
TV on the Radio Return to Cookie Mountain review

With all this Gilliam talk...

I thought I'd bring you this. It's a crazy steampunk rusty laptop that actually works. The product page is all in Japanese, but the people at Gizmodo (where I found the link) say it has a"working display, working keyboard, and working morse code input." Yeah...morse code input. That's useful. They also said he was inspired by "both the Apple Mac (he wanted to make something completely different) and Terry Gilliam." It really is the most Gilliam looking laptop I've ever seen. Now only if there was a picture with a midget using it...

Update: I just read over at Boing Boing (where apparently everyone got this link from) that "In his notes, the creator resists comparisons to Gilliam and Cronenberg, saying 'if you look carefully, you'll see it's totally different.'" So, maybe it is different. I don't care. I'm not changing the title of this post.

More Tideland

IGN now has a review of Gilliam's latest, Tideland, up on its site. It seems to confirm everything we've been saying in the comments. I think this paragraph summed it up pretty well:

That's why Tideland is such a frustrating experience. The film is a difficult one to sit through for much of its running time, not simply because of its ungainly narrative structure, but also because of some increasingly gut-wrenching scenes. Still, one can't simply discount Gilliam's efforts so easily, for it is clear that there is more at work here than what is on the surface. The film is Gilliam unrestrained to be sure, and the result is a picture that has no chance at commercial success whatsoever — but a great shot at upsetting many a right-wing politico at the very least.

The review then delves into the plot a bit too much, probably not really giving away anything intergral to the viewing experience (if you've read anything on it, you've probably already read about the heroin and adult-child relationship), but it doesn't add too much to the other buzz that I've read about the film. How many times do I have to read phrases like this: "But if the idea of seeing a little girl helping her dad shoot up doesn't bother you, and neither does the notion of human taxidermy, then how about the blossoming romance between an adolescent girl and an adult, mentally-disabled man?" Yeah, we get it; subject matter that may be hard to watch.

It makes me long for a film community like the extreme films of Japan. I watch Miike's films, like Visitor Q, and there's incest, abuse, necrophelia, drugs, everything...and no one seemed to mind. Here, in the States, one girl helps her dad shoot up heroin, and suddenly it's so controversial, so new and depraved. Go watch the opener to Ichi the Killer and then come talk to me about depraved (and hilarious).

Regardless, I'm going to see it. The bottom line is that I don't care. I really like Gilliam and if the movie is "Gilliam unrestrained," then I feel like I won't be disappointed.

wow

This is the trailer for the Planet Terror (the Rodriquez) part of Grind House. I could go on and on about how much this is going to kick ass, but it really wouldn't do it justice. You need to watch it...but probably not at work...

IGN + Gilliam Interview

IGN has an interview with Terry Gilliam about his new film, Tideland. From what I've briefly read of the reviews and what critics are saying, I would assume that the movie wouldn't be that great, but then I guess I didn't realize how controversial the movie has been. Gilliam refers to the book by Mitch Cullin as "...filthy, perverse, disgusting, and un-filmable," and he reminds us that:

"My films get bad reviews....The ones that didn't get bad reviews were: Fisher King got really good reviews; Twelve Monkeys got mixed reviews. Fear and Loathing got shitty reviews beyond belief. It's one of the most successful films I've done. My films tend to get bad reviews. In retrospect, I'm loved; it's 10 years later that suddenly everyone likes [me]."

I'm such a sucker for Gilliam movies, and I still have faith in his films, despite the fact that The Brothers Grimm was pretty shitty. Most of his issues in the recent past have all been about budget and studio disagreements, and seeing as this film is entirely independent, I'm hoping he's got something fun on his hands. And, really, this bit from IGN just makes me want to watch it more, "Tideland is a film that many people are going to hate, that much is certain. Its tale of a little girl lost in a depraved version of Middle America has already turned off several critics, and it has been considered barely-releasable by most film pundits."

Update: There's an article on Ain't It Cool News from a while ago that makes me think that I'll enjoy it thoroughly.

GH2: Dear rock gods...

The final tracklist for the main 40 songs for Guitar Hero 2 has been confirmed. They are as follows (separated into groups of difficulty):

Opening Licks
Danzig--"Mother"
Cheap Trick--"Surrender"
Motley Crue--"Shout at the Devil"
Wolfmother--"Woman"
Encore: Spinal Tap--"Tonight I'm Gonna Rock You Tonight"

Amp-Warmers
Kiss--"Strutter"
Nirvana--"Heart-Shaped Box"
Police--"Message in a Bottle"
Van Halen--"You Really Got Me"
Encore: Kansas--"Carry on Wayward Son"

String-Snappers
Alice in Chains--"Them Bones"
Foo Fighters--"Monkey Wrench"
Iggy Pop and the Stooges--"Search and Destroy"
Pretenders--"Tattooed Love Boys"
Encore: Black Sabbath--"War Pigs"

Thrash and Burn
Butthole Surfers--"Who Was in My Room Last Night"
Mathew Sweet--"Girlfriend"
Rolling Stones--"Can't You Hear Me Knockin'"
Warrant--"Cherry Pie"
Encore: Guns N' Roses--Sweet Child O' Mine

Return of the Shred
Primus--"John the Fisherman"
Rage Against the Machine--"Killing in the Name Of"
Sword--"Freya"
Thin Lizzy--"Bad Reputation"
Encore: Aerosmtih--Last Child

Relentless Riffs
Allman Brothers--"Jessica"
Heart--"Crazy on You"
Stone Temple Pilots--"Tripping on a Hole in a Paper Heart"
Stray Cats--"Rock This Town"
Encore: Jane's Addiction--"Stop"

Furious Fretwork
Anthrax--"Madhouse"
Lamb of God--"Laid to Rest"
Living End--"Carry Me Home"
Reverend Horton Heat--"Psychobilly Freakout"
Encore: Rush--"YYZ"

Face-Melters
Avenged Sevenfold--"Beast and the Harlot"
Dick Dale--"Misirlou"
Megadeth--"Hangar 18"
Suicidal Tendencies--"Institutionalized"
Encore: Lynyrd Skynyrd--"Free Bird"

I could go on and on about how this list is fantastic, but I'll just let the glory of it all sink in while you do finger warm-ups for rocking out to some Free Bird. Oh, and the game will have a total of 64 tracks, 24 of those being unlockable bonus tracks.

When I come back like Jordan, wearin the 45...

Here is the new Jay-Z single Show Me What You Got off the upcoming album of the same name. The song is pretty damn good, but I'm not sure how I feel about Jay coming back. I want to hear new songs, but how does anyone follow up the Black Album, even Hova himself. Either way I can't wait for this to come out.


Here is the trailer for Unknown. IMDB plot outline is "Five men wake up in a locked-down warehouse with no memory of who they are. They are forced to figure out who is good and who is bad to stay alive". It looks like it is going to be a lot better than it sounds. The story/idea does feel really familiar. Is this a re-make/rip-off?


Here my review of the new Hold Steady album Boys and Girls in America: it kicks ass, and each time I listen to it the ass kicking increases just a little bit. So right now there is a steadily increasing stream of ass kickary by the Hold Steady, which will climax on the 21st when I see them and Sean Na Na. If you haven't got the album, and you like good music, stop being a bitch and pick it up.