There are tinges of upcoming
autumn in the air which is welcomed being that it’s been so hot lately. Having
to work three Saturdays in the month of August has left little time for gaming,
reading and binge watching Netflix, but I’ve managed to squeeze in a little
time to do so.
1.
Joy Division
The best of Joy Division on CD:
Watching Netflix’s remarkable series, Stranger
Things I discovered what piqued my interest about the show the most was the
music. To my great surprise the music supervisor even included a snippet of
Vangelis from his mesmerizing album, Oceanic,
his late nineties album of nothing but nautical music. But what made my mouth
drop open was the Joy Division song, “Atmospheres” that played in one of the
first few episodes. I immediately let Google be my friend and discovered it was
performed by The Joy Division. It’s odd that all I ever really knew about them
was the great song, “Love Will Tear Us Apart,” and how they later emerged into
New Order. I bought this greatest hits album immediately. I’m pleasantly
surprised by how good it is. Granted, the hardcore reviewers on Amazon tirade
about how this album is for sissies, and die hard fans should buy every one of
their albums. I think buying this album is a great gateway.
2.
Lost: Season 3 on Blu Ray: My
friends who have watched this series (the ones who finished it, anyway) tell me
this was the last of the finest in regards to the show. I’m told it took a
serious downturn after this season. For me, that remains to be seen. I’m
thoroughly enjoying this season so far. I can’t deny I have a sort of crush on
Juliette. And I’m thinking she’s going to become Jack’s love interest. The Scotsman, Desmond, who calls everybody “brother,” and has the uncanny gift of
seeing snippets of the future is a sympathetic character. The main action seems
to be settling more on “The Others,” now leaving our old friends we hung out
with in season one and two in the background (for now, anyway.) It’s quite
entertaining to see how this is all unfolding, especially on a 4K 55” screen.
3.
For a Few Dollars More on DVD: Last
month I took in Sergio Leone’s first Clint Eastwood Spaghetti western and this
month I was able to revisit his sophomore effort. I can easily see Eastwood’s
character has grown into a man of even fewer words, and Lee Van Cleef plays an
interesting support character. Interestingly, before he was cast as Colonel
Mortimer in this film, his career was taking a downturn, but Sergio Leone saw
him and said, “He looked like an eagle. He looked like Van Gogh. He was perfect
for the part. I was afraid to actually talk to him because I thought he might
not be right for the part after all.” But the most interesting character in
this movie is perhaps Ramon Rojo played by the Italian actor, Gian Maria
Volonte. This is a man who shoots a man repeatedly, and then keeps shooting him
to watch the bullets enter his body, and maniacally laughs while doing it. How
can anybody turn on one of his own men so suddenly and with such ferocity? This
guy does it with total credibility. And when you think he can’t sink to lower
depths of depravity he coerces his own gang into a gunfight where he knows
they’ll be outgunned and outsmarted, for the simple reason it will save him
from having to split the gang’s most recent bank haul. This is the bad guy all
bad guys should take notes from.
4.
Assetto
Corsa on PC: Still, yet again, my go to PC racing sim. I was able to pick
up the Red Pack, another small DLC for a modest amount of moolah that
introduces more Ferraris and another track. I inadvertently reset my current
season progress, thereby having to start it over again, egads! But I’m now able
to tweak the car in the pits, changing to stickier (although shorter life span
tires for the sake of qualifying and change my wings for better aerodynamics.)
So, I’m actually qualifying for better start positions than I ever have before.
Maybe this reset was a good thing: the chance to do it better a second time
around.
5.
The Ocean
Blue Davey Jones’ Locker on CD: This
has been on my Amazon Wish List for a long time, and I finally decided to pick
it up. I’ve been a fan of this band since their 1989 appearance on Late Night with Conan O’Brian. It’s been
a pure joy to see how they’ve progressed with each album they’ve done since. Davey Jones’ Locker seems like the
perfect fruition of each of the albums that preceded it. The guitar work has
that 1960’s The Byrds sound to it. One can’t help but listen and smile. The
song “Do You Still Remember Me?” is a personal favorite for the lyrics alone.
“Think of me on the road to nowhere that goes outside your door.” And then
there is the haunting “Denmark” with its beautifully rendered high e string
opening and the band’s equally haunting vocal harmonizing. This was the song
that put the album on my wish list.
6.
Hell on
Wheels: Season 4 on Netflix: So far, this has been the best season yet.
Durant is reluctantly relinquishing his hold on the railroad. Cullen Bohannon returns
to Cheyenne after being held captive by a group of Mormons (where he takes a
wife and has a new baby son.) Upon his return we find the town being usurped by
carpetbagging government men: a marshal, a judge, a sheriff, and a tax
collector. I sit to watch one episode and am immediately forced into watching
another. This is how compelling this series has become.
7.
Xcom on
PC: I’m enjoying this game, despite its difficulty. There are achievements to
be had for playing it on impossible difficulty. I don’t see how anybody could
beat this game at that kind of difficulty level. I’m in the alien base
presently, and I wipe each time I attempt it. But I’ve not ragequit yet. Each
time I feel like, “I’ve got this!” The game is getting a little long in the
tooth, I’ll be glad when it’s over, but I have a feeling it will have been
worth it.
8.
Nightcrawler on Blu Ray: I really
liked Jake Gyllenhaal in Donnie Darko,
I mean who doesn’t? But I thought he was kind of “meh,” in Jarhead. And then I saw this movie. He plays Lou Bloom, a man who
discovers there’s big money to be made in “nightcrawling,” using police
scanners to speed to crime scenes and filming the aftermath, selling the videos
to local news agencies. As Bloom’s greed escalates he blurs the line between
observer and participant to churn out maximum interest in his video feeds. Gyllenhaal’s
performance is spot on as a man who, despite his infallible work ethics, is a
dark and sinister character that you’ll either root for or who will make your
skin crawl.
