Central Village

Nothing...Can Compare

I'm quite sure that I'm the only person still watching Chuck, and that's mostly understandable since the show hasn't gone anywhere since episode 3, but take my word for it when I say that there was a perfect OC parody/homage/whathaveyou last night of the scene below. This show has been good for exactly 2 great moments every week and not much else, and this was one of them.

Also, watching this clip again for the first time in years, is Spencer Pratt is trying to be Oliver?

Birthdays and Bioshock

Two things...

I was the victim of a surprise birthday party Saturday night, which was not only the first time I was on the receiving end of such a thing, but turned out to be the best birthday I've had...probably since my Bar Mitzvah? Thanks everyone for coming, and Kelly for getting it all together. Fun fun times...

I made a point to sit down and finish Bioshock this weekend after over a month hiatus turning the game on, and finally did last night. My thoughts (Spoilers): It was a very very good game. My issues with the actual plot within the story was explained with the whole explanation of why you're there in the first place. In the end, Fontaine was the opportunist who would do anything for power, while Ryan held on to his beliefs till the end, choosing to kill himself by his own free will to prove a final point. Fantastic stuff. I played the game good, never harvesting a little sister, and got the "Good Ending." A couple knocks...I didn't like the voice acting for Fontaine towards the end. Very affected "Brooklyn" accent, bit too much, especially compared to the rest of the characters throughout. The final boss battle was a tad bit underwhelming. I would have hoped that there would have been a little more to it? Not necessarily harder (I don't like difficult games...) Just maybe more? A little branching gameplay after the fight? Either to get you to the surface with the little ones, or to take control of the city (and the world?)

This is, however, one of those games where you're done and you miss the characters. And the world they live in. It was a pretty spectacular vision, executed so strongly and seamlessly, it was nearly perfect.

I think, aside from sports games and Project Gotham 4, the next up will be The Orange Box. I've started Half Life 2 a couple times but I think I'll go at it ferreal this time. Then the rest of it too. The first Half Life was the Bioshock of my Highschool years, and I've been dying to get through the sequel forever now.

The Office is Terrible

The office is SO BAD. How did they screw this up?? The hour long thing was an awful, awful idea. The last two episodes started ok, then Michael starts acting craaaazy, Dwight tags along, then all the rest fall into stereotypes of themselves. God. I feel like the writers were only paid for 30 minutes of show, and the rest was put together with submissions from an online contest or something.

What made this show so great was the depth of the characters personalities. Michael isn't just an irrational goofball, but he's actually a talented salesman and genuine human being at his core who means well. Jim and Pam are more than just relationship people. Dwight it nuts, but there are limitations to his personality. All the rest of the side characters need to stop being so predictable. The only person really making it work this season is Kelly Kappour, who seems to nail every scene she's in.

So NBC has screwed up Heroes, Friday Night Lights and The Office. So far. What is the explanation for this??

UPDATE: One moment from last night's episode that is still sitting with me. Kevin is getting a "confessional" interview, talking about the quality of the pizza place Michael ordered from by mistake. There was an amusing bit about ordering from the wrong place with the similar name, etc. Ok so far. Then they cut to Kevin, and he is all set up to knock this bit out of the park. Deliver one great one-liner and keep it going. The he says, "(The pizza) Tastes like...a circle of garbage." A circle of garbage?!? What the hell is that?? That's the best you can come up with? There are half a million things funnier than a circle of garbage. That's just lazy writing. FWIW, the episode dropped steeply downhill from there. I'm losing hope it will ever recover.

I Like Chuck. A lot.

I wasn't sure if this was needed yet, but after Stereogum's off the cuff burnjob and apparently declining ratings, I feel the need to chime in here. While you, dear reader, may not care for my music recommendations any longer (don't get me started on how amazing that new Maroon 5 video is...) I'd like to think that you still take my Television tastes somewhat seriously. So here we go.

Chuck is a really good show. Yes, it suffered from a bit of a mediocre second episode, but bounced back this week better than ever. Right now, there's not another show I'm looking forward to watching every week (yes, that includes FNL, but only because I'm sorta scared to see how that all turns out.) This show captures the soul of The OC in each of its characters, producing people you can genuinely understand and relate to. If you're having a hard time wrapping your head around a slightly original concept for a spy show, then I'm sorry to hear that, because dismissing shows like this will only lead to 2 hour Deal or No Deal episodes. And nobody wants that. Not even Howie Mandell.

But with a little bit of imagination, this show can really hit you the right way. I mean, if I wanted my TV to always regurgitate actual life, I'd just watch Gossip Girl and call it a week. Sometimes you need to let loose a bit and just enjoy something for being silly, yet well done. That's where this show hits. It lands in a weird place, which is where TV should more often aim. It's one format that can support a story like this. There will be a different spy caper every week (fun!) There is a developing relationship between the classic modern personable everyman who is underachieving in life (Chuck) and the super hot (for the sake of argument) spy partner. Then there are the amusing side characters, headed by a great, great character in Mjr John Casey, who may or may not be played by a Baldwin brother. No, I don't think Morgan has found his place in this series yet, but there's still time. Captain Awesome and Chuck's emotionally concerned sister mostly make up for his zany deficiencies.

But I think what makes this different is that it knows it's dumb entertainment. It doesn't pretend to take itself seriously, which is an often unfortunate byproduct of this anti-reality TV renaissance we're currently living through. In a way, that's what makes the genuine moments the show sometimes grazes past work even better. This show just plain works, and I think people who can appreciate that there's something that can succeed between sarcastic 30-Rock/Office humor and deadpan FNL/Heroes Drama need to give it a shot. Or a second shot.

Watch episode 3 right here. I'd hate to see this show fade away without letting it reach its potential. If you're obviously watching HIMYMother while it's on, DVR and watch later. It's worth it.

Focus, Heroes

Just focus. Take a deep breath and relax. This is getting a bit out of control.

Note to NBC, half your mealticket AAA primetime drama is now in subtitles. Think that's a problem? Maybe?

Reel it back in. This is a good show with great promise and great concepts. Don't lose it.

Thanks.

NBA 2K8 Review/First Impressions

In one of the best blog schwag snags of my career, I was sent a preview copy of NBA 2k8 for Xbox 360 this weekend, and have a few early impressions after playing for a bit:

First off, this is perennially the best basketball game year after year. At least I am told. I play this game for a bit year after year and always have a hard time getting into it cause the controls are a smidge too complicated. I am ok at the game, but always feel like I'm playing the game wrong. I went into this game with a clean slate and an open mind, and while the game seems more natural and realistic than ever before, I still feel like I'm struggling a but to get the game down.

Biggest issue is the post play, which I hear is great and amazing and the best part about this game, but I have no idea how to execute. There's no tutorial and the manual is pretty useless. It appears to assume you've played the game before, and plays real rough if you haven't. A quick video tutorial or training would go a long way to bring new fans into the series. I need to figure this soon, or else I'm probably gonna go back to playing NHL 08 pretty quick. (which, by the way, is the most fun sports game I've played in maybe a decade.)

So assuming I someday learn how to play this game, it looks pretty great. The animations, especially around the basket when taking it to the hole, are pretty spot on. Player contact, always an issue in basketball games, looks remarkably natural. There are clipping issues here and there, but overall it just looks so much more realistic than ever before. From the outside, every player has is own looking shot, the faces all look pretty spot on and the crowd seems fine. All that aside, the flow of the game just looks smooth. At times, real.

 

I also need to mention that this is the first basketball game I've ever played that has convinced me to run plays. Not full plays, but there's this bit where you can pick one player to run 1 of 4 simple run-offs to get open. Either have them set a screen, come off a screen, post up, or just "get open." And it looks great and works most of the time. Call come off a screen for a shooter, watch them run through traffic, hit them on their spot and knock down a J. It's quite satisfying. I think there's a big jump in these games between hardcore sim players and people like, who like a realistic looking game without it being too hard. This really helps bridge the gap.

I can't speak for the franchise or the association or online or anything else like that. So far I've just played a handful of exhibition games against the computer. Usually as the Knicks and usually against the Celtics on default difficulty. For what it's worth, I have a feeling Q and Crawford are gonna have big years. Celts ain't all that.