Winter isn’t even officially here yet,
and Buffalo, New York just got hammered with 6 feet of snow in a day. Here in
Indiana we are seeing temperatures that are freezing water pipes and causing
warnings to be issued to get one’s animals inside or they risk dying of
hyperthermia. No doubt, it’s a good time to be inside, and a great excuse to
lose myself in my usual media whoredom. Dragon Age 3 just came out, and Grand
Theft Auto V looms around the corner. And I’ve still not played Alien
Isolation. Speaking of Dragon Age 3, I just watched the trailer for the
original Dragon Age and it looked so good I think I’m going to run through
another playthrough. What’s a man to do?
1. Mission Impossible Season 2 on
Netflix
I've said
it before, due to simple technology advances, this series which came out in the
1960’s looks like a high school play by today’s standards. It took itself quite
seriously in its time, however. Peter Graves became the new frontman for the
Missions Impossible team, and each episode was varied and had mini cliff
hangers before each commercial. The time setting for the shows brings back
memories of the cars and clothes back during when I was a child. The
scriptwriting is brilliant despite the series obselescence, and the
characterization is dead on. These are characters I remember well from my
childhood and it’s cool to get to revisit them through Netflix streaming.
2. Juno "A
Future Lived in Past Tense" on CD
If Pink Floyd stepped into a Star Trek transporter along with The Foo Fighters, and their particles got mixed up in the beaming down process we’d have what is the embodiment of Juno. I discovered them on Pandora (where I discover so much great tuneage.) And to my surprise they only created two albums and then called it quits. Their songs consist of hard barre chord guitars, thundering machine gun drums and then there is the single song I bought the album for, “Up Through the Night.” It’s simply a single old Gibson guitar with a slight reverb. It reminds me of some guy in a mountain cabin. He is sitting with one knee over the other, slowly picking and strumming this guitar, his eyes closed as if he’s in some far away place in his own head, a glass of whiskey next to him with a melting floating ice cube in it, and just happy to be alive in that moment to create something so sad and beautiful.
If Pink Floyd stepped into a Star Trek transporter along with The Foo Fighters, and their particles got mixed up in the beaming down process we’d have what is the embodiment of Juno. I discovered them on Pandora (where I discover so much great tuneage.) And to my surprise they only created two albums and then called it quits. Their songs consist of hard barre chord guitars, thundering machine gun drums and then there is the single song I bought the album for, “Up Through the Night.” It’s simply a single old Gibson guitar with a slight reverb. It reminds me of some guy in a mountain cabin. He is sitting with one knee over the other, slowly picking and strumming this guitar, his eyes closed as if he’s in some far away place in his own head, a glass of whiskey next to him with a melting floating ice cube in it, and just happy to be alive in that moment to create something so sad and beautiful.
3. The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing
on PC
I'm finally winding down this amazing ARPG, and still having a blast of it. I’ve discovered I’ve bit off a bit more than I can chew. That’s what I get for playing the game on hard mode. I just got through The Old Town in 13 hours. That’s entirely too long for an action RPG. But, I’ve not lost interest. My character, Edward Van Helsing is now a level 27, and a genuine badass. I’m sure I will play through it again as a different class. This indie title is something big studios should attempt to emulate. I’ve never had so much fun playing a computer game for such a great length of time.
I'm finally winding down this amazing ARPG, and still having a blast of it. I’ve discovered I’ve bit off a bit more than I can chew. That’s what I get for playing the game on hard mode. I just got through The Old Town in 13 hours. That’s entirely too long for an action RPG. But, I’ve not lost interest. My character, Edward Van Helsing is now a level 27, and a genuine badass. I’m sure I will play through it again as a different class. This indie title is something big studios should attempt to emulate. I’ve never had so much fun playing a computer game for such a great length of time.
4. A Simple Plan by Scott
Smith
Two brothers and a friend find a crashed plane containing 4 million dollars in the snow filled woods near their home. The pilot is dead, and no one is looking for the money. All they have to do is wait. But the money takes all the attributes of a curse. These normal everyday guys transform into desperate men doing what they have to do to keep their secret hidden, and then one day someone comes looking for the missing money. This is a great first novel by Scott Smith. Stephen King said, “It’s better than any suspense novel since Silence of the Lambs.”
5. The Thing on Blu Ray
Got on a John Carpenter kick this month with this gem of a movie. Kurt Russell was the perfect lead man in this action horror vehicle. I’ve seen it multiple times, but it’s always worth a rewatch. Carpenter’s pacing of the film never leaves a dull moment. And the special effects are much more Don Post/Rick Baker latex make up and puppetry compared to the CGI effects of today, but this movie holds up just fine. And the Blu Ray edition is gorgeous to look at. Despite the wintry grays, muted blues and whites, the colors on Blu Ray simply pop. If you’re a fan of science fiction movies, this is the version to get.
6. Big Trouble in Little China on Blu Ray
Following my John Carpenter kick I found this cult movie bargain at my local Disc Replay. This movie is a treat to watch, and Kurt Russell’s antics and one liners make for some good laughs. I had as much fun watching the movie again accompanied by Kurt Russell and John Carpenter’s comments. Both men were sitting in the same room with a couple of beers, and Russell belly laughed at about every scene he was in. Both men poked fun at the film, but in a good way that reminded the three of us that despite that this movie was made 28 years ago, we can still watch it today and be taken back to our youth, if even for only 90 carefree minutes.
Two brothers and a friend find a crashed plane containing 4 million dollars in the snow filled woods near their home. The pilot is dead, and no one is looking for the money. All they have to do is wait. But the money takes all the attributes of a curse. These normal everyday guys transform into desperate men doing what they have to do to keep their secret hidden, and then one day someone comes looking for the missing money. This is a great first novel by Scott Smith. Stephen King said, “It’s better than any suspense novel since Silence of the Lambs.”
5. The Thing on Blu Ray
Got on a John Carpenter kick this month with this gem of a movie. Kurt Russell was the perfect lead man in this action horror vehicle. I’ve seen it multiple times, but it’s always worth a rewatch. Carpenter’s pacing of the film never leaves a dull moment. And the special effects are much more Don Post/Rick Baker latex make up and puppetry compared to the CGI effects of today, but this movie holds up just fine. And the Blu Ray edition is gorgeous to look at. Despite the wintry grays, muted blues and whites, the colors on Blu Ray simply pop. If you’re a fan of science fiction movies, this is the version to get.
6. Big Trouble in Little China on Blu Ray
Following my John Carpenter kick I found this cult movie bargain at my local Disc Replay. This movie is a treat to watch, and Kurt Russell’s antics and one liners make for some good laughs. I had as much fun watching the movie again accompanied by Kurt Russell and John Carpenter’s comments. Both men were sitting in the same room with a couple of beers, and Russell belly laughed at about every scene he was in. Both men poked fun at the film, but in a good way that reminded the three of us that despite that this movie was made 28 years ago, we can still watch it today and be taken back to our youth, if even for only 90 carefree minutes.
7. F1
2013 on PC
It’s
been a long time since I’ve delved into what is probably Codemaster’s best F1
racing sim to date. I bemoaned the arrival of F1 2014 thinking I would
have to purchase it to get a better product (like I did, to my fortunate
surprise, with F1 2012.) I started reading reviews, and delighted in the
notion that most of the reviews said the new version wasn’t worth it. So, I’ve
since been hitting my 2013 version hard. I just started a career and raced at Albert
Park in Melbourne, Australia. I have the AI set on two notches below top notch,
and I still failed miserably, coming in at position 20 out of 22, but I’ll get
better. These cars are monsters. They mimic the real things which weigh 1300
lbs. and spit out 900 horsepower. The game shines gorgeous on my rig, and it’s
so visceral it makes me want to start watching F1 races on television. Now, if
Codemasters could only wrangle the NASCAR license from EA and put their magic
touch on that franchise.
8. Boards
of Canada “Skam” on CD
This used to sell for oodles amount of money
on eBay and other online venues. I counted myself lucky to recently find it for
less than ten bucks on Amazon. I’ve pined for it for a long time, ah, and now I
finally have it in my possession. Not so much a great music CD as a ticket to
the wondrous merry go round in Ray Bradbury’s amazing, “Something Wicked This
Way Comes.” Step aboard, take a seat on one of the painted horses and go
backwards, shedding a year for every revolution. This conglomeration by the two
Scottish brothers who make up Boards of Canada is the sound of summer as a
youth, the melodic chime of the ice cream truck cruising by the house, watching
Saturday morning cartoons and eating Captain Crunch cereal while still in your
pajamas. It’s the sound of the Halloween party in 4th grade on a
Friday eagerly anticipating for childhood’s most holy night to befall, and
walking down the sidewalks with friends and cousins in costume, sticking your
tongue through the tiny mouthhole and tasting the formed plastic of the mask.
Boards of Canada have magic powers in their possession.
9. Verdun on PC
This is Red Orchestra set in World War I. Not for the squeamish, this makes Call of Duty play like a Facebook Farmville tutorial geared toward octogenarians. This game is gritty, muddy, wet, and a fog filled squalor representing the real life horror that was The Great War. The game is frustrating in its realism. Squeeze into a gas mask and lose half your vision when the trenches fill with poison gas, but it's either that or die a rapid agonizing death. Come face to face with the enemy, raise your gun, and discover your screw up. You only had one bullet in your magazine. And you just missed. Grenades explode around you preventing you from craning your neck up to explore the distant hillsides for approaching enemies. This game mimics everything bad about warfare, and rest assured, you may think fate has it in for you, but it has it in for the enemy as well. There are no free rides in this game. This game requires the patience of a rock, and the smarts of a Mensa instructor. And a piece of lady luck as well.
