Monthly Archives: June 2010
Rewind: Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2
This is an other entry in my occasional series where I demonstrate how out of touch with modern pop culture I am by reviewing something that was all the rage months ago but which I’m just getting to. Last time was my review of New Moon. This week I turn to video games. All around Christmas I was hearing how the first major take on the whole political turmoil of the war on terror was a video game rather than a movie. Yes, Hollywood has been pretty ham-fisted and out of touch dealing with the war on terror. And most of the movies have been disappointing. I kept hearing how Modern Warfare 2 was complex and brought you to understanding what is going on. (I’m going to abbreviate it as MW2) Then there was the notorious level where you play a terrorist.
OK, let me tell it like it is. First this game does not live up to the hype. Maybe it is a killer game if you are playing it on XBox Live. That’s where most games aim nowdays anyway: the multiplay competitions. I’m judging it on its own merits as a single player scenario. The problem is that it wants to be Tom Clancy with all these characters everywhere. That’s great in a novel but just doesn’t work well in a video game. (Halo tried this with Halo 2 but wisely moved away from it with Halo 3 — but there we had only two characters not tons) This switching between characters lets you see events around the world but de-engages the player from the game which also dilutes the effect of the game. It loses a certain “virtual reality” quality to it.
Movie Review: Cyrus
About fifteen minutes into Cyrus, the title character makes an aside, words to this effect: “I’m joking. I have a really weird sense of humor.” This could have been the movie’s tag line. While some people will find Cyrus occasionally hilarious and strangely moving, as I did, others may find the movie uncomfortable or odd. But for those who understand the filmmakers’ weird sense of humor, this comedic character study offers a refreshingly authentic and exceptionally well acted slice of life.
John C. Reilley plays John, a loser who, in his own words, is in a downward spiral since his wife left him seven years ago. His ex (Catherine Keener), tries to coax John out of his slump by inviting him to a party where there will be interesting and attractive women. Everything goes horribly until John gets drunk and makes an improbable connection Molly (Marissa Tomei), who seems out of his league. After a couple dates and a couple of days, John stalks Molly back to her home where he meets Cyrus (Jonah Hill), a 21-year-old (“almost 22″) man-child who lives with his mother, with whom he has an uncomfortably close relationship. The remainder of the story is a battle of wills between John and the dysfunctional Cyrus for Molly’s affection. Read the rest of this entry
A Modest Proposal (and a Gimmick) for the World Cup
Now that the United States has made it farther in the World Cup than since before the Second Great War to End All Wars* [*Note to Kulturblog editorial staff: please fact check this for me.], the Americans (middle-north region) find themselves in an enviable position of being a top seed by virtue of two ties and a 1-to-nil victory brought to us by Landon Donovan in the 91st minute of a 90-minute game** [**Check this one too. That can't possibly be right. Can it?] in “group play.”
Now we enter the elimination round, something that should be much more familiar to U.S. sports fans. Sixteen teams compete in a single elimination tournament for the cup. Think of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament, starting in the Sweet Sixteen round. Or the way the NCAA Division I football championship should be decided in a perfect world.
Only there’s one catch: from here on out, games can no longer end in a tie. Read the rest of this entry
The Other Shows
We haven’t done an “other shows” post for a bit. So feel free to chime in with your favorite other shows we’ve not discussed.
Justified; Season Finale
http://www.hulu.com/embed/z0N28d79ktbd6vgggtcNgA
Raylan: So, your conversion was sincere.
Boyd: Was it? Do you believe in God?
Raylan: Yes, I do.
Boyd: Raylan, tell me about your God.
Raylan: You know, white hair, long beard, sits on a heavenly throne.
The season finale of Justified aired this week and it was a bit of a shocker, at least to me. Spoilers after the jump. Read the rest of this entry
Report from a High School Graduation
Subtitle: What hath we wrought?
Yesterday, I attended my niece’s graduation. Her North Texas high school is disproportionately loaded up with wealthy, high-achieving types, where the top ten students all had GPAs well above 100 percent on a 100-point scale. This must be the new math.** I believe the valedictorian has something like a 107.5 point g.p.a. (Unlike early American Idol contestants being praised by Kara and Randy, there were no one-million-percent-ers.)
The event was held at a convention center, with the 600-plus students seated on the floor of the arena. The principal made it a huge point of emphasis—and, in fact, said that this was the Most Important Thing—to put an end to an the subversive tradition of batting inflatable objects into the air. To accomplish this purpose, there was, flanking each row of graduates, a faculty member on either end. Three times, inflatables emerged, and three times they were quickly confiscated and removed. I can kind of see the principal’s point: Teaching these young kids the important lesson that hopes and dreams can quickly be ended and deflated by those in authority was probably was the Most Important Thing. Well done, sir.
Read the rest of this entry
Unaccompanied Vocals
The recent thread on best opening tracks reminded me of one of my favorite albums and its opening track.
Best Opening Tracks
Here’s an idea that I lifted from the All Songs Considered podcast. It’s a good topic for rock music nerds of a certain age, as demonstrated by this clip from High Fidelity (NSFW – language):
Steve Evans
RJH
Scott B.
John C.
Susan M
Aaron Brown
ninemoons
arandomjohn
kulturblogadmin
Kyle M
Brad
KulturBlogGuest
MCQ
Wm
Rebecca
Ivan
Geoff J
btdgreg
Clark Goble
Aaron R.
Tim J
