Discussing Film, Music, TV, Books, Video Games and More
Day three of the Best Of lists is upon us, bringing about our thoughts on the best and worst of what TV brought us this past year. Some shows returned stronger than ever, others stumbled slightly, all the while new shows fought the ratings to deserve respectable seasons. Through it all, the one thing that remained clear was that sitting in front of your TV screen was an acceptable excuse for spending a night in. [Read more...]
With so much of my (Lauren’s) personality constructed by Television, from PBS shows of my childhood to everything Joss Whedon that influenced my sense of humor and sarcasm, it’s no surprise that every year I get pretty excited for the pilots making their attempt to gain viewers. Not only that, but sometimes I go crazy fanatic for those shows I have come to love for seasons and seasons. Chuck is only a half season!? Community is getting shelved!? NNNOOO!!!! Good thing there are some great new shows that helped these irritated wounds sting a little less. [Read more...]
This week’s Suggestion Box contains trailers for the movies Hereafter and Priest, my brief writeup for some of the premiered shows this fall, and then videos for Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood, Enslaved: Odyssey to the West, and Portal 2 in games.
Movies:
Hereafter Trailer - The newest film paring Clint Eastwood as director and Matt Damon has Damon cast as a genuine psychic who has trouble living with his ability connected to the afterlife, interweaving stories of those who come into contact with him, bringing questions of their own about what lies ahead due to personal experiences. Not to put too much into the trailer, but the brief clips alone of the acting shows a glimmer of the performances ahead, which will hopefully live up to what comes in the film.
Coming from Glee’s premiere Wednesday night to the premiere of The Vampire Diaries is like jumping into a pool right after stepping out of the hot tub. Gone is most of the comedy, the general feelings of happiness, and worst of all, gone is the singing. But as much as I wish Diaries were a comical musical about longing and vampires, I will have to make do with what was dealt. And what we have right now feels like a serialized version of Twilight, just with more characters that seem like they are seriously contemplating slitting their wrists.
The show is based on a book series by L. J. Smith, but all I know about the story is what has been shown so far in the pilot, which is: At the beginning of the summer, Elena and Jeremy Gilbert’s parents were killed in a car crash, which Elena survived. However, she bas been able to deal with it a lot better than her brother has, where she has turned to soul searching with her diary, he has turned to drugs, alcohol, and black nail polish. [Read more...]
Precious has been lauded with praise since its debut at Sundance this year and considered a front runner for Best Picture for a while now, and while I … (more...)
Kon-Tiki is a pretty straight forward biopic in its construction, but it tells an incredible story that allows some gorgeous imagery. … (more)
J.J. Abrams is back for another trek into Star Trek and fans of his first entry will have little to complain about with Into Darkness. … (more)
Baz Luhrmann brings The Great Gatsby to the big screen with a style and visual wonder that is irresistible, even when the story doesn't connect as … (more)
Upstream Color is now available to everyone, so I thought it's about time to break it down to the best of my abilities to help fuel the conversation. … (more)
Iron Man 3 isn't really an Iron Man movie for much of its run time, but that doesn't stop it from being an entertaining and hilarious ride from nearly … (more)
Love them or hate them, Vampire Weekend’s latest album Modern Vampires of the City is a must listen of 2013. … (more)
Allison Weiss latest effort Say What You Mean brings a punky charm to a rather plastic singer/songwriter scene. … (more)
Iron and Wine continues his road down the glossy, highly produced road with Ghost on Ghost. This time around, however, he knocks this album out of … (more)
Kid Cudi third rap album Indicud reminds us just how unique and fun the former G.O.O.D. Music artist is, as he rides in and out of the most unique … (more)
Fall Out Boy comes out of hiding to release Save Rock and Roll, their highly anticipated fifth full length that doesn’t fall flat when it comes to … (more)
As I wipe the tears from my eyes, I think it is safe to say that Arrow knows how to end a season. … (more)
Right before our eyes, Jaime Lannister has gone from being one of the most hated, to one of the most respectable characters in the Game of Thrones … (more)
The new HBO show from Christopher Guest and his gang gets off to a great start that shows a lot of promise for the future. … (more)
With this penultimate episode of Arrow, it’s time to devote our attention to Malcolm’s evil plan, The Undertaking. … (more)
I am really struggling to come up with an introduction that does this book justice, because to me, Me Before You was perfection. … (more)
You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, and you’ll be thankful no one ever called you raghead because they think your ginger hair is reminiscent of a … (more)
What do you do when the fate of humanity rests on the shoulders of one small boy? Choose it for book club and discuss it, of course! … (more)
Looks like I was right about Colin the pig playing a bigger part in this group of issues following his random appearances in #1-5 (review here), I … (more)
Ken Levine deserves some kind of medal. First, he introduced us to the world of Rapture, where we would kindly roam the halls of a forgotten city … (more)
Plagued by delays and shortcomings, 2012 was an up-and-down year for video games. We saw triumphant returns to form, fantastic new IP's, and some … (more)
For future reference: when skydiving, be sure that your projected landing zone doesn’t happen to be an island full of evil pirates that are more … (more)