Seriously Good

A Serious Man

Larry Gopnik is put through one serious test of faith in A Serious Man, the latest annual release from the Coen brothers. Larry seems like a good person; a family man, he doesn’t ask much from life. That all changes when his whole life starts to come apart: his wife wants a divorce, he might not get tenure because someone keeps sending in scathing letters, a student tries to bribe him, and his brother is a mess. Why is this happening to him, and does Larry have what it takes to put it all back together?

This is a movie that does not want to answer questions. If it has any lessons to teach, it’s that life happens. The film opens with really interesting scene that is purposely left ambiguous, and ends very much the same way. The Coens are definitely at their most philosophical here, and they’ve made a movie that pretty much demands multiple viewings.

Everything on display here is in good form, from a strong cast to the staggering cinematography of Roger Deakins. I really liked Michael Stuhlbarg, and of course I’m a long-time Richard Kind fan, but I thought Fred Melamed was really great as the wonderfully named Sy Ableman. The Jefferson Airplane heavy score was interesting too, and it helped further the 1960s feel of the picture.

This is a movie that you will be thinking about after you see it. It is a black comedy you might not laugh at too often. Most importantly, it is a Coen film and once again the brothers do not disappoint. No, it’s not No Country for Old Men 2 but it is interesting story that I think everyone should hear.

Championship Series Predicitions

Baseball was in a sweepy mood the last couple weeks as all but one of the divisional series ended in with only one team winning. As for my predictions go I got the Phillies and Yankees moving on, while I totally missed with the Red Sox and Cardinals. That goes to show never trust predictions. Not from me, not from ESPN. They are nothing but shots in the dark. Half the world picked the M’s to win it all in 08 remember? On to more predictions…

National League Championship Series
Los Angeles Dodgers Vs. Philadelphia Phillies

The thing that is so wacky with playoff baseball is the samples. Seven games. So many variables happen over a season yet we decide the ultimate prize with seven games. It’s also what makes it so exciting. The big thing with this series is going to be pitching. If Cole Hamels and Cliff Lee are strong in both their outings I think it’ll be in the bag for the Phillies. I also like the Phillies offense to keep it rolling. They are really deep and can cause havoc on the base paths.

In order for the Dodgers to win they really have to jump on the Phillies starters early and get to that weak bullpen. It seems to be a reoccurring theme this postseason to have your established closer croak at the most crucial time of the series and I’d say the Dodgers have to bank on that. They also have to get some innings out of their starters, because once LA hands it to the pen, its pretty much over.

Phillies Def. Dodgers 4-3

American League Championship Series
New York Yankees Vs. Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim

As basically everyone thought but hoped wouldn’t happen, NY crushed the Twins. A-Rod squashed the dumb rumors that he can’t play in October (even though he has a career .900 OPS and .382 wOBA in the playoffs) and the tired Twins just didn’t have any left. It was to my great surprise that Boston couldn’t even muster up 1 win. Ya the umps sucked, but hey they always suck.

This is a really tough series to call for me. My gut goes with NY because that line up as I’ve said before is insane. But it seems like those annoying scrappy angels always find a way to win and have played the Yankees well this year going 5-5 and outscoring them by 10 runs.

Yankees Def. Angels 4-3

The Summer is Over

The xx – xx

We’re a third of the way through October now. The sunshine songs from earlier this year don’t fit as well anymore. It’s time for music that’s a little moodier. A little more subdued. A little more melancholy. Something like the debut from The xx.

That’s not to say there isn’t joy to be found on this record. But this production is so intimate that you might find yourself taken to a strange place. Especially if you can let yourself be immersed in the music. Everything is scaled back, the beats pulse, the guitars echo, the vocals are almost conversational. The whole affair feels rather effortless, and, perhaps as a result, profound.

Musically, The xx are coming from a lot of different directions. You’ll hear everything from Interpol to the Pixies to one song that sounds strangely reminiscent of Chris Isaak’s “Wicked Game.” But the entire album has a cohesive feel to it, and at just over 38 minutes, chances are you’ll have a hard time not listening to it in its entirety.

The summer is over. It gets dark earlier. It’s colder now. You might not want to wear a jacket when you go out, but that’s what you’ve got to do. Accept it. You can’t change the earth’s orbit; there’s no need to even try. Appreciate the fall for what it is, and the elegance that it holds.

Favorite Tracks: “Crystalised,” “Infinity,” “Islands”

Reality Can Be Disappointing

The PSP Go came out a week ago now. Do you know anyone that has one? Anyone that wants one? I don’t either. There doesn’t even seem to have been any hype surrounding the product, even if you compare it to other slight upgrade like the Nintendo DSi. Why?

For one, the design is pretty, but not really an improvement. One of the biggest problems of the PSP is that its big, beautiful screen is just hanging out there. You’ve got to cover it up or enter a world of scratches. I would never put it in my pocket. With this new design, Sony almost fixed it by switching to a clamshell design. But they got it reversed, the controls are supposed to go over the screen. Not the other way around, you idiots! I don’t care if that makes it slightly smaller when I’m not using it, I’d much rather it protect itself. How do you mess this up?

The real reason the PSP Go exists is because Sony wanted to move to downloadable games, forgoing the lame UMD medium. So they ditched the UMD drive. Fine, but giving current PSP-owners some way to export UMDs seems pretty necessary too. Not to Sony. If you buy a PSP Go, you have to start over with you PSP collection. And with the used game market, you’ll probably end up paying more money to download games too. Plus, I heard that you won’t be able to log into foreign PSN marketplaces, destroying the region freedom that I loved the system so much for. In Europe, at least, Sony is letting you download three games for free. But over here, you’re screwed.

Finally, Sony expects you to pay $250 for this bad boy. That’s $50 less than a PS3, and $50 more than a PSP-3000 which can do everything the Go can and comes with a free game. That’s a rip off, no doubt about it.

I guess my point is Sony really fucked the chicken on this one. What were they thinking?

There’s Only One Cocktober

I’m not sure if I’m a hundred percent on board with this years post season advertising. Having Dane Cook is a step up from having David Wells basically saying “Hey, remember when I pitched a perfect game? I was drunk!”

Anyways that magical time of the year is finally upon us. As tradition of the last three years, we had a one game playoff for the AL Central and it was a dandy with Minnesota going tit for tat with a Detroit team that was playing hard for it’s fans back home. The sad thing about that game is whoever won it was going to be at a significant disadvantage in the next series against a juggernaut Yankee team.

I’ll do one of these posts after each series has ended adjusting my predictions for the next round.

ALDS: Twins Vs. Yankees
As much as I want to be wrong, I’m gonna have to say Yankees win the series 3-1. I’ll give Mauer and company one last playoff win in the Metrodome, but its hard to argue with that Yankee line up. I remember a few years ago I saw their lineup in the post season and was like “man that’s probably the best line up 1-9 I’ve ever seen.” Well this one’s better.

ALDS: Boston Vs. Angels
In the midst of my in-season Boston loathing I didn’t really pay attention to them much. I kind of felt that Texas more or less lost the wild card more than Boston won it, but I could be wrong. They are still a strong team and I’ll be rooting for them to oust the Angels, who will have lost in the first round of the playoffs for 3 straight years. I’m Picking Boston to win the series 3-2.

NLDS: Rockies Vs. Phillies
This series is going to be pretty dependent on two things: can the Rockies starting pitching hold up against a prolific Philadelphia lineup, and can the back of the once great Phillies bullpen close it out against a Colorado team that always seems to find a way to win. I’m gonna take the Phillies 3–2.

NLDS: Cardinals Vs. Dodgers
I’ve heard a lot of hoopla about this Dodger team but it really doesn’t excite me that much. Joe Torre is still running out the vastly inferior Ronnie Belliard over Orlando Hudson which could be a problem. I like the Cardinals front three pitchers, Carpenter, Wainright, and Pinero and it doesn’t hurt to have that Pujols guy. Cardinals 3-2.

The thing about post season baseball is anything can happen. They play 162 games for a reason. That reason being there are so many random occurrences that can go on in any one particular baseball game. The law of large numbers evens these variables out so we can decide the rightful owners of the division crowns. But for logical reasons they throw that out the window and make these teams fight it out for a month. I’m not saying it’s a bad thing at all. It’s the magic of October and that’s why we love it.

Z is for Zombie

Zombieland

Who would of thought that out of all the new movies that opened this weekend Zombieland would not only be the most successful but the best received as well? I don’t really get it because even though I liked the film it’s certainly nothing I’ll remember. Sure it’s got some good laughs and nice effects but I think the “zombie” genre is pretty much burned out when it comes to developing stories that are fresh and original.

Narrated by and starring Jesse Eisenberg (who comes off as a slightly nerdier Michael Cera) Zombieland follows Columbus (Eisenberg), an awkward college student who accredits his long-lasting survival in a post-apocalyptic world to a set of zombie survival rules he’s devised. As the film goes on we are constantly reminded of these, such as “Rule 1: Cardio” or “Rule 3: Beware of Bathrooms” popping up on the screen every now and then and it’s a funny little slice of ingenuity. Later on Columbus meets up with Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson) a weapon toting adrenaline junkie with a passion for two things; killing zombies and twinkies. I’ve always liked Harrelson and here he delivers on what will probably go down as one of his most memorable roles (at least on a cult level.) Wichita (Emma Stone) and Little Rock (Abigail Breslin) round out the group as a pair of mischievous con-sisters and complete what essentially is a pretty good cast.

Next I’ll address our antagonists the zombies. Unlike the classic lumbering, George A. Romero zombies, these creatures probably have more in common with the overly excited creatures of the 28 Day series. They’re aggressive, messy, gross and always seem to be leaking some kind of fluid but obviously it’s just to enhance the humor. Personally I found them too gross, I’m under the opinion that vomit is funny but you got to know where to draw the line. Fortunately, none of this changes the fact that they’re still mindless, resulting in many comical situations topped off with plenty of inventive kills.

Easily the best part of this movie was a cameo from who else but Bill Murray. I won’t spoil anything but for anyone who loves Bill Murray you got to see this movie, he is hilarious. So as the film nears an end we are brought to a place in Los Angeles called “Pacific Play Land” a theme park where our heroes head thinking that it’s an unaffected area… Of course they’re wrong resulting in a gory free for all that although entertaining is too over the top. Yeah, yeah it’s a zombie/comedy but I just don’t believe that someone would get on a theme park ride to avoid zombies or to fight zombies. The whole sequence is a little silly but whatever, I guess it’s something I’ve never seen in a movie.

So Zombieland is a fine movie. It certainly doesn’t deserve the kind of praise it’s gotten but it’s a nice addition to the Halloween season. Maybe my rating is a little unfair in other’s eyes but that’s how the twinkie crumbles.

Batman’s Ark

Batman: Arkham Asylum

The odds were stacked against Batman: Arkham Asylum. It’s a Batman game, and there hasn’t been a good one of those since the SuperNES. It’s a stealth game, a genre which generally doesn’t deliver, especially this generation. It’s published out by Eidos, who never put out games people care about, and developed by Rocksteady Studios, who made one other game that I don’t remember anything about. But it’s easily among the best games of the year.

Batman has arrested Joker and is bringing him into Arkham Asylum. But Joker hardly put up a fight, which has the Dark Knight nervous. Sure enough, the Clown Prince of Crime unleashes all the insane inhabitants of the asylum, leaving Batman alone to recapture all of his greatest foes.

Arkham Asylum is at its best when Batman is trapped in a room full of armed guards. Obvious he can’t just run up to them, he’d get shot and die. So he has to hide and use his gadgets and fear to isolate and disable his enemies. This system works really well and is a lot of fun. Batman has a number of fantastic gadgets at his disposal, from the classic batarang to the grapple gun to explosive gel. The other half of gameplay is hand-to-hand combat against thugs, and it’s all based on a simple combat system that lives up to the old adage “easy to learn, hard to master.”

Presentation goes a long way in a game like this. Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill are back and give strong performances as the lead characters. The game has this sweet detective mode filter that lets Batman see through objects, tracking everything from power sources to his enemies heartbeats. The effect is neat and it’s so useful you’ll hardly turn it off. Which is kind of a shame, because the game looks really good. Also, Batman’s uniform gets ripped and damaged throughout the story, which is a nice touch.

After you complete the story there’s a challenge mode to keep you busy, if high scores are your kind of thing. The story itself will probably take you around 12 hours, which is a good length for a single player experience, but feels short when a game is this good. Seriously, go try it out.

Oh, and if you get it on PS3 you can play as Joker in challenge mode too, but I played it on 360 because I prefer that controller. So there you go.