I’ve lost touch since I boycotted US news media over a year ago. I feel I’ve not missed much, but sometimes some things do seep through. Hollywood Babylon. I guess there really is such a place. The Academy Awards just occurred. Always surrounded by some kind of controversy it seems to worsen every year. This year hosted Will Smith slapping Chris Rock and then spewing profanity at him, a really classy gesture in a place that is supposed to be the epitome of class. And then there’s the accusatory adage of the Academy being comprised of fellows lacking diversity despite how awards are fast tracked to minorities and people of alternate lifestyles seemingly for those attributes alone. I lost interest years ago simply because many of the movies recognized were movies I’d never heard of. It begs the question why we don’t have an annual Plumbers Academy Awards. Wouldn’t it be better to celebrate the efforts of a plumber who spent twelve hours on a frozen winter day chasing down a kitchen sink clog, digging through hardened earth, braving the elements, or perhaps an Oscar for a plumber who, laying PVC pipe for the construction of a new house, crouched most of his day away exuding a remarkable plumber’s crack to the amusement of local passersby? I’m glad my own ebullience is garnered in such simple ways: books, music, games and movies that aren’t Avant Garde. I think I do okay in my choices. Checking out this month’s Monthly Mix, I think you might agree.
Up on DVD: I had not seen this since its 2009 debut, back when my kids were, well . . . kids. Thanks to my wonderful guitar mentor, Michael Stevens, I’ve just experienced the pleasure of seeing it again. It’s not your typical Disney film. The director, Pete Docter sums it up best by saying:
“Basically, the message of the film is that the real adventure of life is the relationship we have with other people, and it's so easy to lose sight of the things we have and the people that are around us until they are gone. More often than not, I don't really realize how lucky I was to have known someone until they're either moved or passed away. So, if you can kind of wake up a little bit and go, "Wow, I've got some really cool stuff around me every day", then that's what the movie's about.”
Anno 1800 on PC: I bought this on Uplay when it first released. I stumbled through it, not sure of what to do or where to go. This is what I miss about the old days of gaming when games came with physical discs and maps and manuals. But now we have forums and YouTube Let’s Plays. I’m trying to get back into it. It’s a city builder taking place in the 19th century. It’s a gorgeous game that looks like a Thomas Kinkade painting come to life, but it’s certainly not intuitive to play. Game developers, you can do better and you should.
Kiss: The Early Years by Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley: For a time, the Canadian prog rock band Rush was touring the states with KISS. In an interview Rush’s bassist, Geddy Lee stated he’d never seen a band work so hard to please their fans than KISS. This book is the other side of that coin. Penned by Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley, it’s obvious the pair are wearing rose tinted sunglasses looking in hindsight. “I wasn’t a ham; I was the pig!” states Stanley. He writes, “Although I was a fan of many of the bands we played with, I believe that friendship ended when we hit the stage. Only one band should be left standing.” It’s a wonder these guys’ egos fit on the stage with them. They were loud and proud and not ashamed of it. These aren’t necessarily bad attributes, but they could have displayed a bit more humility. Maybe they did when they discussed the album, The Elder. The album was a major disappointment, both to KISS and the critics. Still, as a kid when the band was hitting it big, they were like a troupe of superheroes to me, and this book took me back to that time.
Inside on Nintendo Switch: This game should be rechristened to “Impossible.” Quite deceptively, it’s offered as a simple button masher platformer, but I’ve had to watch a walk through for every incident in the game. The game revolves around a boy trying to get somewhere, escaping from a hostile environment. Every wrong turn or misstep results in the boy’s rather macabre death. Despite its amazing art style and its seemingly simplistic gameplay, I’m finding it to be a chore simulator at best. Games are supposed to be fun! I’ll see it through to the end even if I have to continually consult YouTube. It’s a short game, an average playthrough consisting of 3 hours. The ending is abrupt, and I can’t wait to get there.
A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara: Weighing in at 814 pages, this will probably be the biggest book I’ll read this year. I’m nearing page 200. Reading this at my daughter Robin’s suggestion, I have to admit this will also probably be the saddest book I’ve ever read. Each time I crack the binding it’s as if I stepped into a funeral home for a visitation being held for someone I once loved. And yet, I can’t put the book down! Has a book ever made you feel that way? It concerns the story of four men, best friends in college, and follows their lives into their 30s and 50s.
Star Trek on 4K Blu Ray: This is the best movie I’ve seen this year. It’s almost embarrassing that I took this long to watch it, but man, was it worth it! I didn’t consider myself a J.J. Abrams fan before. I’d seen his Lost. It was interesting but a bit convoluted. This movie is somewhat an homage to the old television series, and the attention to detail reflecting that is amazing. The set designers were inspired by Pierre Cardin’s art design of the 1970s and everything was an evolution of the original show as if it had been created in 2009 instead of 1966. The Romulans were shabby looking compared to any iteration I’ve seen of them elsewhere, but Abrams made it work. I watched an interview with Michael Giacchino, who scored the film. He said he wanted to include Alexander Courage’s famous (and universally recognizable) theme in the movie. Everything was so “busy” in the film that it isn’t presented until the final part of the film. He said, in effect, the audience gets to “earn” Courage’s wonderful theme song, and it’s so fitting where it’s placed in the movie. I’m told there are two other movies in this series. I can’t wait!
Batman: Arkham Asylum on PC: Finished this way back in 2010 but I wanted to reacquaint myself with it since I plan to play the other games in the series. I remember this is the game that taught me how to play with an Xbox controller. The fist fighting is truly visceral (and just about vicarious!) The game features a colorful cast of characters (mostly the bad guys, it’s always the bad guys with all of the panache) but the main star of this show is Arkham Asylum. Depicted solely at night with lightning and decrepit buildings, it’s a game plucked right out of Halloween. If you’ve never played this one, you’re missing out on the beginning game of a great series.
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