Investigating Ethnicity #2

What an curious predicament I find myself in. I know i'm supposed to update my blog tonight, but I didn't write down what we were supposed to write about. I suppose I will talk a bit about the book we just finished, and how some of its themes and motifs remain relevant today.

One aspect of the novel that I find to be particularly interesting is the idea of a young socialite (or in this case, two) seemingly doing their best to ruin the reputation of the people who enable them to have this lifestyle. Vivian Sternwood is a prohibition-era Paris Hilton. She runs around LA with drunk, useless men (that forever-greasy guy that frequently intrudes on Hilton's paparazzi shots) and casinos and other unsavory places much more than any "respectable" woman should. Just like Paris' father, the hotel tycoon Richard Hilton, General Sternwood's reputation and overall peace of mind is constantly endangered by his troublemaking daughters. I guess that would make Carmen Sternwood a bit like Tara Reid; She's sloppy, interesting to no one, and has a bit of a crazy-as-stink look about her.

Well, that seems to be it for now.

Will

Investigating Ethnicity #1

After not posting for several months, I am posting for the second time in two days. Most curious.

As part of my fiction class, we were instructed to write about our favorite work of crime fiction, be it a novel, film, or television show. I feel like I already talked a bit about Pulp Fiction in class, so instead of risking monotony, I'll talk about another one of my absolute favorite films, The Silence of the Lambs.

I'll try to be brief here, so I'll skip the bits about how incredible Jodie Foster and Anthony Hopkins are as Clarice Starling and Dr. Hannibal Lecter (respectively), how overlooked and underrated Ted Levine is in the film, and how director Jonathan Demme perfectly strattles the line between straight up horror and bone-chilling suspense.

I think I love this film for one main reason. It's really, really scary. I see alot of movies, and I'm particularly fond of horror movies. I've seen everything from gore master Dario Argento's Suspiria, to Takashi Miike's bizarre Audition and everything in between. The thing is, no matter how many buckets of blood and bits of gore these guys throw at the screen, they'll likely never achieve what Anthony Hopkins did in this film. And he did it in a jail cell. That's the truly remarkable thing. Until late in the film, he could never actually get to Clarice, even if he wanted to, yet he manages to creep into our dreams with startlingly accurate estimations of Starling's childhood and nonchalant admissions of cannibalism.

What truly makes it interesting is that Starling needs Lecter so badly that she will risk her own security in exchange for his help in catching Levine's character, Buffalo Bill, a man who kills heavier girls to make suits out of their skin because he was denied a sex change operation. Whew. In any other movie, a villain like Buffalo Bill would steal the show, but Bill competes with Lecter in terms of the movie's most memorable baddie, and most would agree that he loses that battle.

Hopefully this wasn't longer than the post was supposed to be. Take it easy out there.

Will

Finally, a new post

Well, it has been a while since my first post.  I'm not sure I have a valid excuse, so we'll just leave it at that.  Now that Bioshock and 3:10 to Yuma are both old news, I guess it would make more sense to talk about something a little more timely.

The fourth quarter of the calender year is always a huge time for the video game industry, but this year was a different beast entirely.  Similar to the film industry, the game industry this year was absolutely inundated with honest-to-God AAA titles.  Starting with Bioshock at the end of the summer, this season saw great titles such as Call of Duty 4, Halo 3, Super Mario Galaxy, The Orange Box, and to a (much) lesser degree, games like Assassin's Creed.  I've played all of these games (except Halo, it just couldn't hook me) a pretty large and they are all SO good.  If these games would've come out in different years, they literally all could've walked away with a handful of game of the year picks from top publications.  

That said, I think I can pick a favorite.  One game to rule them all.  I'm not sure why I just said that, I really don't like those movies very much.  Anyway.  I can say with great confidence that the best game of the year was Super Mario Galaxy.  None of the other games can match the sheer, old school fun of this title.  Unfortunately for the other games, it also possessed great graphics and a phenomenal art style, a rock-solid and physics engine, and planetoid-based gameplay that takes advantage of said engine.  However, a game like this also makes me feel a little bit of resentment.  Why hasn't a single developer besides Nintendo been able to make a Wii game look and play like it was made for a true next-gen console.  We keep getting crappy ports of old games with unique (read: gimmicky) Wii waggle controls.  The one exception, the one game that is both a good port and better than the original game as a result of the unique Wii controls, is Resident Evil 4 Wii Edition.  Anyway, the game is great.  If you own a Wii, and don't own Super Mario Galaxy, you need to go get it.  Right this second.

Honorable mention, and I mean very honorable, is Bioshock.  I've never been as engrossed in a universe as I have in the beautifully haunting underwater land of Rapture.  Only the actual shooting mechanics left a little bit to be desired. I could wax poetic about the game all night long, but I'll save you the histrionics.  It's amazing.  If the mechanics would have been up to snuff with the atmosphere and visuals, it would have been a tougher competitor for SMG.  Good thing we can play both.

Take it easy out there,

Will