With Fall in full bloom here in Vancouver comes rain. With it raining all the time, there's not much to do besides stay home and watch movies and play games (although that's usually what I do regardless). So without further ado, here's another fairly long list of some great stuff well worth seeking out: (remember, I always keep a fairly recent and regularly updated list of music/books/movies/tv/comics I've enjoyed over on the right)
Movies:The Lookout - No question, this is one of the best movies of the year. This is the story of Chris Pratt (played so convincingly by Joseph Gordon-Levitt in what is surely a star-making performance) who one night goes joyriding with his friends but foolishly gets into a preventable accident. Lives are lost, but not Pratt's, although he suffered brain trauma which prevents him from remembering things for long periods. As such, he keeps notes in a notepad to help him through daily life. The former teenage hockey star now works as a night cleaner for a local bank.
It is during his time working for the bank that a group of criminals aiming to rob it look to use him to make their jobs easier. Throughout all this is an intricately planned heist and sequence of events that really pulls you into this movie. What really makes this movie work so well is the absolutely fantastic script which pieces everything together, doesn't rely on fuzzy logic and leaves no dangling plotlines. There are so many fabulous callbacks and little character moments (the type of stuff that really puts a smile on your face because it's done so well). So many of these heist movies rely on contrivances and happenstance, but not here. It all makes sense, and is that much better because of it. I think this is a type of movie that`ll hold up on repeated viewings, because even though you know how the heist will go down, the characters are so well-developed and endearing that you can`t help but care what happens.
Flags of Our Fathers & Letters From Iwo Jima - proof positive that Clint Eastwood is still the man. Can you believe this guy is 77? It seems like he gets better with age, perhaps being an even better director than he is an actor (and he's one of my favorite actors ever). Following
Million Dollar Baby (Worth every bit of praise it got) with the back to back war epics,
Flags of Our Fathers and
Letters From Iwo Jima, Eastwood gives us a harrowing portrayal of war from opposing views.
The legacy of WW2 is seen today in the United States as a war that needed to be fought, and one that was triumphantly won with much credit given to them.
Flags explores how that opinion wasn't such back then. Back then, many Americans had no interest in a war thousands of miles away and thought that it would have no impact on them. It raises the interesting story of how that famous flag raising picture was staged, but even so, it helped turned the tide of the opinion on the war in the US. Tremendous performances all around, and of course all under the steady hand of Eastwood.
Letters From Iwo Jima centers around the fruitless Japanese defense of an important strategic point. The great moments in this film are the small interactions between the men. It is here we realize that these men could be any men, anywhere in the world. Similar people fighting over similar things, both sides believe they are right, and neither of them is wrong. Despite being from opposing viewpoints, both movies are decidedly similar in their anti-war stance.
While both movies were received warmly,
Letters seemed to be the one people enjoyed more. Personally, I enjoyed them equally and found them to be great companion pieces. I hope Clint Eastwood lives forever, as long as he's churning out the movies he's been churning out as of late, the world is a better place because of it.
49 Up - This is the latest in a truly compelling series of films that has followed the lives of several Britons since they were 7 years old and returning to document their lives every seven years since. The fascinating part of this series is that the people they follow come from varying social and economic backgrounds, thereby creating a compelling case study of British society. Does a child born into a certain socio-economic background have a predetermined fate in life? Watch and find out.
Being the seventh film in this series, newcomers might feel like they've missed something if they haven't seen the series before. Not so, in fact, you can go into any of the films with a clean slate. In fact, the films are made to be new-viewer-friendly in that they give a short primer on what has happened to each individual before. This not only helps new viewers up to speed, but also reminds returning viewers (there is a seven year gap between films, after all). The entire series should be readily available on DVD at your local library, and are shown periodically on PBS.
Television:The Unit - My 2nd favorite TV show, with The Office being the first, but this is a very, very close second, and if it's quality continues to rise, may someday surpass it. This TV show follows a top-secret military group as they wrestle with many unseen and unknown foes around the world (unseen and unknown to the public that is). What sets this apart from your typical top-secret military type-show is that there is also a heavy focus on the domestic lives of the soldiers. It shows us not only their work-lives, but what happens in their every day lives, because their families are all involved as well, by proxy. This is one of those programs that might seem like it has nothing that makes it stand out from the crowd of other TV shows, but it really does offer a unique and most of all, entertaining take on a familiar idea.
Pushing Daisies - this new show tells the tale of a unique individual, our lead character Ned, who has the special ability to bring back the dead. It's not without it's consequences though, as if he brings back someone (or something) for more than a minute, someone (or something) else will perish to balance it out. His ability to bring people back also gives him the power to take life away, if he touches someone alive, it kills them. The Pilot episode saw Ned bringing back an old childhood love of his, Charlotte (Chuck for short). One of the main focuses of the show is the romantic tension between Ned and Chuck, which is made all the more palpable because the two can never touch, or else Chuck would die (again).
The whole bringing back the dead deal might make this show seem dark in tone, and it has its moments, but it's mostly a light-hearted and sweetly told tale of life and love. It has such a sense of wonder and whimsy, that special feeling of magic that you very rarely feel when you watch a television show. And that romance where the 2 love interests can't even touch each other? I can`t wait to see where that goes. It's quirky, funny and really engages the viewer.
Games:Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Xbox 360/PS3)Game of the Year! This is one of those games that you buy a next generation console for. I enjoyed the first two Call of Duty games very much, but by the third, I was starting to get sick of the World War II genre shooter. That combined with this being the third Call of Duty game in three years, made me very apprehensive. But the reviews were not only good, they were overwhelmingly great, so I had to give it a shot.
Where do I begin among a large list of superlatives for this game? Let's start with presentation, between missions you get these nifty campaign briefings that segue directly into the mission, it makes it feel like there's no loading at all. Graphics wise, this game has the best looking shadows and environmental effects (smoke, snow, rain, etc.) I've ever seen in a game.Audio wise, you'll really feel like you're at war, with bullets whizzing past you and explosions going off closer than you'd like, sometimes too close. The in-game chatter is well-acted, almost always constant and never repeats. The game's levels are varied gameplay wise, you've got some stealth sections, helicopter sections and all out firefights. The atmosphere created is second to none. Some levels are so tense that you'll be on the edge of your seat with your heart racing.
All in all, the single player campaign is one of the greatest gaming experiences I've ever had. Most of this can be attributed to the fact that this is also one of the most polished games I've ever played. You can tell that the people who made it fussed over every single little thing. It doesn't feel rushed, it's not buggy, and there's no filler. It's what all games should be.
Ok, the single-player game is fairly short, but it's so fun you'll be playing it over and over. And I haven't even checked out the multiplayer aspect of this game, which I've heard to be very robust and very fun. Even without it, the single player aspect stands on its own. Co-operative play through the campaign mode would have further cemented this game's greatness (Call of Duty 5 anyone?).
Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction (PS3) - finally, my PS3 is no longer just an expensive DVD player/somewhat cheap Blu Ray player. The latest in a long line of fun action-platforming games is back, and its a blast. So fun and addicting, I've already finished it twice! For those who don't know what this series is about, just picture your typical 3D platformer, like Mario 64, but unlike typical platformers, you've got tons of varied weapons and gadgets, and that's what sets this apart from your typical platform game. Add the cutesy fuzzball Ratchet and his robot toaster sidekick, Clank and you've got our main characters. Add in varied levels and worlds to explore an RPG-like leveling system and varied gameplay and you've got the Ratchet & Clank series.
Addicting game play aside, the game is a tad on the easy side, but the leveling system and collecting all the secrets give this game enormous replay value. Furthermore, unlike its predecessors, there's no multiplayer component whatsoever. Finally, there's not much here that differentiates this game from it's predecessors, so if you've played the games before it and didn't like them, this game probably won't change your mind about the series.
The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass (Nintendo DS) - oh cel-shaded Zelda, how I missed you. I haven't finished Twilight Princess, and honestly I don't really feel that compelled to. I really, really missed the fantastic art style of The Wind Waker. As such, I was hyped to no end for this game, and the verdict? Awesome. Triumphantly returning are the cel-shaded adventurings of little-boy-Link and his pirate-gal-friend Tetra. New to this DS edition of the franchise are unique touch-screen only controls and gameplay which make great use of the DS's unique touch screen and dual screens. The story picks up not long after The Wind Waker and is a satisfying addition to the Zelda mythos.
However, the touch-screen only controls can be a little awkward (I still can't get Link to roll at will) and it can be a detriment to the gameplay at times. Thankfully, it's not a detriment often and for the most part, the controls are great. The length of the game here is not short, yet it's not long either. I don't wanna say it's just right because by the time I was finished, I wanted it to last longer, but that's because the game was so fun. Note to Nintendo: more cel-shaded Zelda games please, thanks!
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