Wednesday
01Jul

Love Conquers All In 'Away We Go'

 

The worst thing about being an "Indie" flick lover living in St. Louis, is that you don't have much of a selection to choose from when you get the itch to see a movie outside the mainstream. You have the Frontenac Plaza Cinema or the Tivoli Theatre, with a combined total of 10 screens. I do my best to make it out to one of them at least once a month, when something interesting happens to be showing. I was a bit distraught when I missed the short run "The Brothers Bloom" had at the Frontenac (why this movie was a limited release is beyond me). I took a look at the next bunch of incoming flicks, and "Away We Go" caught my attention instantly. At first, I thought he casting of John Krasinski (The Office) and Maya Rudolph (Saturday Night Live) might not do the directing of Sam Mendes (American Beauty, Road to Perdition) any justice. Little did I know I was in for quite the surprise.

WARNING: Possible Minor Spoilers Ahead

"Away We Go" introduces us to Burt (Krasinski) and Verona (Rudolph) who are a thirty-somethings preparing to have their first child. When Burt's parents announce they are moving out of country a month before the baby is due, the couple decides to take a trip across America in search of the perfect location to start their family. Their journey puts them in often hysterical situations with old friends and some outrageous characters (one of which being the "new age" mother LN, played by Maggie Gyllenhaal).  Each stop on the way shows how diverse parenting styles can be from one couple to the next.  The film also tugs at the heart strings a bit; touching on the issues of lost loved ones, miscarriage, and divorce.

Krasinski is as lovable in this film as his character, Jim, on The Office.  Witty banter and comedic timing are this guy's bread and butter. Rudolph surprises everyone with her remarkable depth and warmth while on screen. The moment's she shares with her sister in the bath tub and with Burt on the trampoline are some of the most human moments that I have seen in a film in years.

I often wonder what it is going to be like for me when I bring my first child into this world. As much as Burt and Verona think they are complete "fuck ups" of parents, they have this amazing love for one another that most couples in the world will probably never experience. On the other hand, they are  reaching that "over the hill" point in their lives and they still don't know what it is they want to be doing or where they would like to live. They lack some of the more basic milestones most people in their 30's have already accomplished. It's a bit of give in take, it seems, and it shows that maybe all you really do need is love to be happy. I don't think enough people in the world, myself included, even think about that. Perhaps we just need that certain love to come around to change our minds.

Sam Mendes does an amazing job taking us on a journey of unconditional love and the responsibilites of parenthood.

 

Friday
12Jun

Needs More Blogging!

Its coming...I promise. Kinda working on finding the right angle/niche to make this at least mildly interesting and entertaining. I've been doing a lot of socializing, and have been able to meet alot of talented and interesting people.  Inspiration has a funny way of showing itself. Ill crank something out worth posting later this week. Procrastination FTW!

Tuesday
04Nov

Do Your Part!

Go out and vote today!  If you are too young to vote, make sure our parents do!  Regardless of political party, Americans need to go out and exercise the rights and freedoms this nation was brought up on!

As for me...I will be hitting the polls about 4:00PM CST today!  I hope I dont have to wait too long, but I dont mind either way.

Tonight is going to be an interesting night.  I will have CNN on in the background for sure!  Good luck to everyone! Oh, and don't forget your free goodies!

 

Monday
03Nov

Fixing Rock Band's Poor DLC Choices

Another week has started.  With it comes another week of shitty Rock Band DLC.  Seriously guys!  Presidents of the United States?  Srsly!  Look, I admit I listened to "Dune Buggy" a few times when I was in the 8th grade, but come on!  What else do we get?  More Fall Out Boy.  This time it's their new single off of their future album.  Still no "Dance, Dance" or "Sugar We're Goin' Down," which are their two most popular songs, granted they are also their first.  Why does all of this feel backwards?

At one point I thought maybe it was just me.  Maybe being 25 and growing up listening to more alternative rock than metal makes alot of the Rock Band DLC seem like garbage. But that's not true.  Sites like http://www.rbdlc.com/ show that only thirteen of the songs Harmonix has released since their DLC service has started have recieved the "5 Gold Album" rating.  Other Rock Band fan sites also knock Harmonix's poor choice of DLC.  I just think they are going about it the wrong way.  Who really expected Rush and The Pixies to get full album releases before bands like Incubus and STP?  Harmonix should be making a killing week after week.  Every song should be a hit.

People seem to be making the best of it, yes, but that doesnt mean they wouldn't be any more or less excited about something from the 90's and 00's.  Harmonix's core consumers for their video game market range from 15 - 35 year olds.  The majority of the music they are releasing seems to target the higher end of that range, mostly the 30+ crowd.  What songs they do release for the younger audiences seem to be bottom of the barrel hits from big-named bands, which pisses me off even more.  I can't tell you how many times I would go through the my Rock Band 1, 2, and DLC tracks and see songs from artists I love and say "Man they should have picked insert song name here over this one."

So what's my suggestion?  Communicate!

Rockband.com recently went through a major overhaul and has emerged as a very pleasent and useful website.  The community that exists on their forums numbers in the tens of thousands.  How hard would it be to allow the community to vote and suggest songs?  Their forum even has an entire section dedicated to just that. That same section is also riddled with tons of complaints on why it even exists due to the fact that Harmonix never listens to them or takes their suggestions.

Use that massive community to your advantage!  Just ask them!  Let's do an example.

Make a list of five bands to vote on

See who wins

See what song they wantWhichever song wins, release it as DLC the following week!  Rinse and repeat with infinity number of artists and songs.  There you go Harmonix, I just made your DLC business model ten times better.

Tuesday
28Oct

Impressions : LittleBigPlanet

LittleBigPlanet has been on every PS3 owner's wishlist for 2008.  I was lucky enough to pick mine up from Gamestop yesterday and I am loving it.  My girlfriend and I are about 30% through the campaign.  Co-op is definitely a must for this game.  I have yet to dive into any creation or online worlds, but I will do so shortly and share some feedback. 

I still have that Trophy-whore mentality, so I will be touching the far ends of the game to get as many of them as I can.  I also have a few ideas for some pretty sick levels I want to attempt at making once I unlock everything.  Not to mention, the Playstation Eye is starting to look more and more appealing.  What, with the Sony EyePet and now LBP integration.