Frasier - Season 3 (Review)

Three seasons in and Frasier is still constantly hilarious. The show still features sharp, witty writing that is never too smart or insanely stupid. The cast is still able to find the right niche for their characters and allow them to develop naturally as the show goes on. The big change to this season is that this time around the show starts to introduce a few story arcs that pop up between the standalone stories. The first arc sees Frasier butting heads with - and later sleeping with the new boss over at his radio station, while the second arc sees Niles separating from his wife Maris and dealing with the single life. This arc in particular in entertaining because of the amusing reactions Niles undergoes when believes that he's been shunned from the high society parties he and wife usually attend. The storyline also leds to one of my favorite episodes of the series, "Moon Dance", where Daphene goes with Niles to a winter dance and Niles have quite a time trying to keep his long standing feelings for her hidden. Another brilliant episode has Frasier and Niles go head to head in competitive psychiatry when they see an outside shrink together to get their brotherly relationship back in order after a disagreement. This season also has a memorable appearance from Frasier's snobby ex-fiance from Cheers, Diane Chambers, who comes to town to debut an unflattering (but funny) play based her life from Cheers. I'm actually having difficulty finding the fourth season on dvd, but I can't wait to dive into to more comedic genius.

South Park - Season 13 (Review)

South Park's 13th year was a tad better than the last few years in some aspects. The show's best years are clearly behind it and the show kinda feels like its just there, but its still able to be highly entertaining and this season was able to do so much more consistently than last year. As usual, the season's episodes featured celebrity and headline news parodies and more stories about how frickin retarded the citizens of South Park are. Something interesting that I noticed is that the first half of the season largely features references to the Obama administration, particularly "The Coon" episode, which was a brilliant stab on people who expected Obama to change things right off the bat, while the second half of the season featured a surprising number of jabs at obscure reality shows (Whale Wars, Ghost Hunters and some crab fishing show). One thing I'm glad they toned down this season was the constant feuding between Cartman and Kyle, which had nearly dominated the series in the last few years and was starting to become rather irritating. The show is still pretty good and is going to go on for at least other two seasons and they've said they'd like to finish the show with another proper movie. Though I'd probably keep watching the show if they continued for another decade, I think it best if they start wrapping things up.

Songs I Like - Vol 8: "Kiwi" (Maroon 5)

Maroon 5 is right up there with The Killers in terms of My favorite bands. This song "Kiwi" is one of my favorite tracks off of their second album, "It Won't Be Soon Before Long".

Kiwi Lyrics

You’re such a flirt, I know you hurt
And so do I, I empathize
I see you out, you never cared
A conversation that we never shared

But it’s so strange, it’s something new
Amazing feelings that I have for you
I close my eyes when I’m alone
Wonder what it’d be like to make you moan

I wanna give you something better
Than anything you’ve ever had
A stronger and a faster lover
The world, it disappears so fast

Sweet kiwi
Your juices dripping down my chin
So please, let me
Don’t stop it before it begins

So give it up, and don’t pretend
And spread your arms and legs across the bed
And when you shake, you won’t regret
The things I whisper in your ear
(What?) I said:

I wanna give you something better
(You wanna give me something better)
Than anything you’ve ever had
(Than anything I’ve ever had)
A stronger and a faster lover
(A stronger and a faster lover)
The world, it disappears so fast
(It disappears so fast)

Sweet kiwi
Your juices dripping down my chin
So please, let me
Don’t stop it before it begins

I can’t wait to take you home
Fingers through your hair
Kisses on your back
Scratch me with your nails

Save me from myself
Show me how to care
Get everything out
Dripping everywhere
Lipstick smeared all over your face
How much longer must we wait?
Don’t think that I can wait

Sweet kiwi
Your juices dripping down my chin
So please, let me
Don’t stop it before it begins (hey, yeh)

Sweet kiwi (wanna give you something better than this)
Your juices dripping down my chin (hey, yeh)
So please, let me (wanna give you something better than this)
Don’t stop it before it begins

Don’t stop it before it begins
Don’t stop it before it begins
Don’t stop it before it begins
Don’t stop it before it begins

New Super Mario Bros Wii (Review)

In a lot of ways, I'm really confused about how I feel about this game. At the very least, it's a huge improvement over the somewhat ho-hum Ds predecessor and is more suited as the proper follow-up to the classic Mario side-scrollers. The game delivers the quality I've come to expect from the main series of Mario titles. But this game also managed to reveal to me why it's took so long to have more 2-d Mario outings...they simply don't have new material anymore. This is somewhat understandable, Mario 3 and Mario World are considered to be the high point of the platforming genre (and gaming in general to some people) so it would be very hard to follow up on such nearly flawless outings as those. New Super Mario Bros Wii is basically a retread of those two games and that's not really a bad thing. Nintendo could very well keep releasing something like this every three to five years and I'd probably be satisfied, but I just wouldn't be as impressed anymore...as was the case here.

Apart from the co-op mulitplayer and the incredible final boss battle, the game doesn't do enough to stand out on it's own. Most of the game is simply filled with shout-outs to the earlier games. The Koopalings, the airships, the final battle from Mario World, the enemies roaming about on the map screen, and the criminally brief reappearance of Yoshi, these are all from earlier titles and with the exception of the Koopalings who are at least a bit harder here than in Mario World, these elements were much better when they were used nearly 20 years ago. That said, it's still nice to see some of these elements return and the new items are ten times better than ones from the Ds outing. There's a propeller suit that makes you fly, an ice flower that's the same as the fire flower...only with ice, and a penguin suit that also allows you to shoot ice and slide around. The items are still more or less tools to get the optional star coins, but they're able to function in traversing stages and attacking adversaries.

The big addition to this game is the co-op mode where two to four people work together or against each other to finish the stage. Having played through the game by myself and with two other friends, I have to say that it's much easier to play alone, but a hell of a lot more fun to play with friends. Most of the difficulty of the co-op mode comes from the other players getting in the way and otherwise disturbing the flow of the game, but it's just so damn funny to watch your friends miss a jump that you passed or toss them into a pit. My friends and I nearly died laughing and while it got a little annoying at times, we all agreed that co-op mode was amusing.
Overall, despite all my complaints, New Super Mario Bros Wii is still a solid outing for the plumber and one of the better games released this year. Apart for Mario Galaxy 2 (which appears to be nothing more than an expansion pack), I'm not sure what's next for the Mario franchise, but I'll eagerly look forward to it.

Michael Jackson's This Is It (Review)

Michael Jackson's This Is It is much less exploitative and tacky than I assumed it would have been. The movie itself even acknowledges that it only exist because of M.J's death. The movie is nothing more than a behind the scenes look at Jackson's "This Is It" concert tour that he was working on and in a way the film is also like a concert as we see Jackson and his dancers run through his well known catalogue of hits. Billie Jean, Man in the Mirror, Thriller, and my personal favorite: Smooth Criminal are all preformed and in we get to see the the work that went into skits that would have been incorporated into the larger numbers like Thriller's zombie parade and Smooth Criminal's gangster shootout. The movie gives of a rare glimpse into what made Micheal tick and showed how even in his 50s, he still had all the moves and knew exactly what he wanted out of his performers and his musicians. I really wouldn't say I'd watch this again when pops up on dvd, but but as a one time viewing, I found it to be pretty good time.

Gunslinger Girl (Review)

One of my good friends lent me this last month and I must say I'm glad he did. It's about a branch of the Italian government that runs a specialized assassination squad. Believe it or not, the assassins are little girls, taken from life or death situations and controlled with chemical and psychological conditioning which grants them with extreme levels of strength and agility. The girls are led by Adult handlers that guide them in operations against terrorists and the mafia.

Gunslinger Girls is a different type of show, the closest genre I can associated it with is an action drama. The show's more focused on the drama than action, largely because everything that plays out is incredibly serious and things are rarely ever funny. Everything is character-driven and that along with various relationships and attitudes of the main characters really succeeded in sucking me into their world. The girls never find their situations troubling, regardless of their conditioning, since all of them have been rescued from worse, and their relationships with their adult handlers are varied and intriguing and thankfully never reach a disturbing level except for an excellent and tearful two-parter that hits all the right notes. The only slight downside I can find to the show is that there isn't any sort of distinguishable story arc here. It's largely just a brief glimpse into the lives of special little girls. It's truly a wonderful series and though it's may not be for everybody, it at least deserves a look.

Klonoa 2: Lunatea's Veil (Review)

There isn't much to say about this. Klonoa 2 is pretty much exactly the same as the original PS1/ Wii remake game. There aren't any new abilities or power-ups to nab, the story brings up some of the same themes and character motivations as the first, and apart from the surfing/snowboarding levels, you could switch one world from this game with a world from the first and never know the difference. Klonoa 2 pretty much feels like an expansion pack for the first game, and since that game was fairly charming that works out quite well here. Klonoa still has his unique enemy chucking ability and his still useless floating jump. The only thing that got somewhat of an upgrade were the bosses who now kinda put of a fight...it's not much but it's there. Klonoa 2, like the first game, is just a easy, well-made, fun little diversion.

Songs I Like - Vol 7: "Obsessed" (Mariah Carey)

This is the first single from Mariah Carey's new album: Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel. I didn't care too much for this song the first time I heard it, but I've grown to love it.

Mariah Carey - Obsessed Lyrics

So Oh Oh So Ohhh
Will the real MC please step to the mic?
MC- You need an MC, place to be
MC the MC

All up in the blogs
Say we met at the bar
When I don’t even know who you are
Say we up in your house
Sayin’ I’m up in your car
But you in LA but I’m out at Jermaine’s

I’m up in the A- you’re so so lame
and no on here even mentions your name
It must be the weed, it must be the E
cuz you be poppin, hood, you get it poppin’

Ooh boy why you so obsessed with me?
Boy I want to know… lyin’ that you’re sexin me
when everybody knows it’s clear that you’re upset with me
Ohh finally found a girl that you couldn’t impress
Last man on the earth… still couldn’t get this

You’re delusional, you’re delusional
Boy you’re losing your mind
It’s confusin yo, you’re confused you know
Why you wasting your time?
Got you all fired up with your Napoleon complex
See right through you like you’re bathin’ in windex
[Obsessed lyrics on http://lyricsmusicvideo.blogspot.com ]

Ooh Ohh Ohh boy why you so obsessed with me?
And all the ladies sing, all the girls sing
Soo Oohhhh Soo Oohh Obsessed

You on your job, you hittin’ hard
Ain’t gon feed you, gon’ let you starve
Graspin’ for air I’m ?
You out of breath, hope you ain’t waitin
Tellin’ the world how much you miss me
But we never were so why you trippin’
You a mom and pop, I’m a corporation
I’m the press conference, you a conversation

Ooh boy why you so obsessed with me?
Boy I want to know… lyin’ that you’re sexin me
when everybody knows it’s clear that you’re upset with me
Ohh finally found a girl that you couldn’t impress
Last man on the earth… still couldn’t get this

You’re delusional, you’re delusional
Boy you’re losing your mind
It’s confusin yo, you’re confused you know
Why you wasting your time?
Got you all fired up with your Napoleon complex
See right through you like you’re bathin’ in windex

Ooh Ohh Ohh boy why you so obsessed with me?
And all the ladies sing, all the girls sing
Soo Oohhhh Soo Oohh Obsessed

Frasier - Season 2 (Review)

Okay, so season two of Frasier is just as amazing as the first. The stories have become a bit stronger and at this point the characters are becoming richer and more detailed. The cast really hit there stride in this season. Kelsey Grammer is just unstoppable as Frasier Crane, a given considering he played the character for roughly seven years prior to this. John Mahoney as the father Martin Crane is still a hardass but likeable...to a certain extent, there are times where it seems like Martin delights in his son's various failures. Frasier's brother Niles is still my favorite character with all of his neurotic quirks and his infatuation with Daphne, which becomes a lot more pronounced in these episodes. Jane Leeves is still sexy and funny and very British as Daphne, her recurring stories about her life back in Britain are some of my favorite bits.

Since he is my favorite character, it's not much of a stretch that my favorite episodes from this season involved Niles. One episode sees him carrying around a bag of flour to see if he really wants to have a child and he has a extreme spaz out moment when his "child" is eaten by the dog. Another one has him learn of his wife possibly having an affair and he engages the other man in a sword fight. My favorite episode has Frasier and Niles purchase a restaurant which appears to be an immediate success on the opening night, but as the case with most sitcoms, the entire staff walks out and havoc is unleashed. I'm kinda rambling at this point since I didn't really have much to say, though at this point it should go without saying that I have thoroughly enjoyed my viewing experience of season two and can't wait to jump into season three.

Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant (Review)

America currently has a completely retarded obsession with vampires, what with Twilight annoying the hell out sane people and basically being responsible for the tiring influx of vampire television shows. The latest thing to come out of this fad is Cirque du Freak, based on the first three novels in a series of books by Darren Shan. The film follows Darren, standard "average teen", who finds a flyer for the "Cirque du Freak" sideshow. He attends the show with his best friend Steve and discovers that the show's star, Mr. Crepsley is actually a vampire. After a bizarre event occurs where Darren needs Crepsley's help to save Steve's life. He becomes Crepsley's assistant and is brought into the Cirque family where he is educated in the ways of the vampire.

Giving the movie's origins, I'm surprised that it ultimately came out to be pretty good. I'm not entirely sure how much of the books where incorporated into the film or what's been changed between the mediums, but adapting three books into an hour and a half film should have been a recipe for a disaster, but it's all put together into a moderately cohesive plot. The missteps in the movie come from it's tone and ending. The film spends most of its time as a comedy but tries to take a sharp turn in the last act for a more serious tone dealing with an ongoing war and families in danger. It's an interesting direction for the story to take, but it comes so late in the story that it almost feels like it was treated as an afterthought. Despite being based around three books, the film still has the audacity to end on a sort-of cliffhanger making the resolution seem cheap and hallow only for the propose of setting up a possible squeal.

The cast saves the film from most of its shortcomings with John Reilly stealing the show as Mr. Crepsley. The only movie I can recall seeing Reilly in prior to this was the bland comedy "Stepbrothers" and as a result I doubted his performance here, but he pulled through by deliver a ton of hilarious lines filled with cynicism and giving his character a sense of intrigue. Chris Massoglia does a good enough job as the straight man lead character, manages to be convincing when Darren struggles to find his place in the world. I'm not familiar with the rest of the cast but they do their parts well, especially the various members of Cirque du Freak. The time that Darren spends in the circus camp is really funny and the real highlight of the film. In fact, it's a real shame that the movie does spend enough time on the freaks and their world, instead focusing on the teen characters and the not as interesting impending vampire wars. As it stands, Cirque du Freak is a fun little movie even it tries too hard to set up a possible follow up.

Mario Party 3 (Review)

Yeah...I never owned Mario Party 2, just rented it multiple times. Funny since from what I recall, MP 2 was the best in the series. I did manage to nab the third game upon it's release. Mario Party 3 was the final game in the series to be released on the N64 and with it the series ends it initial run with a pathetic whimper. I just have to wonder exactly what went wrong with this game. I enjoyed MP1 and (recall enjoying) MP2 quite a bit, but there’s just a lot of minor flaws that simply add up to a mess of a game. The gameplay is basically the same as the all the other entries as you pick a Mario character and move around a board trying to gain more stars than your competition and at the end of every turn, you play a mini-game.

There's a couple new additions this go round. Waluigi and Dasiy and make their debut as playable characters, there's a new two player duel board feature that's interesting but not worth playing in the long run, and most importantly (and most unfortunately) this game starts the trend of having a god awful single player story mode to plod through. The story has to do with the Millenium Star falling down by the castle, and Mario and friends argue over who gets to keep it which leads to playing the board games to determine who gets it. You get a card with seven attributes on it and after every board you win, you get a stamp corresponding to each attribute. Before you’re officially awarded that star, you’re forced to face a character claiming to be better than you in a Duel Map to earn the star. The story is terrible and the gameplay gets excruciatingly monotonous, I found myself getting bored of it after finishing only a couple of stages.

As for the mini-games themselves, their mostly a mixed bag. Most of the mini-games lack innovation or simply fail to be interesting. Worst of all is in increase in games of luck, which have no place in a board game where simply getting around the board is a matter of luck already. The single worst thing about this game is the Game Guy space. Once you land on one of these spaces, all of your coins are taken from you and you have play a mini-game which, naturally, relies entirely on luck. If you somehow manage to win, you’ll get at least twice your coins back. But if you lose, and there's a really good chance you will, all of your coins are gone. These events really makes no sense and ruin the game entirely since you have no choice but to endure them. Hell, when I was playing this with my friends, even they agreed that it was unfair bullshit, even though they were they were given an advantage from someone's failure of it! Even though I haven't played all the Mario Parties yet, I have no doubt in claiming the Game Guy spaces as the single worst idea in the entire franchise. Upon recollection, I actually didn't like Mario Party 3 when I was younger and time has certainly not sweeten the deal. I would only recommend this game to the die-hard fans, otherwise this is without question among the worst of series.

Brutal Legend (Review)

Thus far, I've enjoyed the work of Tim Schafer. Psychonauts was one of my favorite platformers from the previous console generation and Grim Fandango was a brilliant story driven title that the gaming industary needs more of. Brutal Legend sets itself up as Schafer's most ambitious project to date, what with it relatively long development time and the number of big name actors and rock legends lending their talent to it. The game tells the story of Eddie Riggs, a roadie for some shitty band. After a bizarre chain of events, he ends up summoning the metal God Ormagoden, and is teleported to the metal world. There, he meets the three people of Bladehenge, and learn that the leader Lionwhyte has enslaved their men and imprisoned their women. The overall story is not as well written or as unpredictable as Schafer's previous games, but it did at the very least make me want to move forward in the game at least to see where they were going with all of this and it the world that game presents shows the creators truly love heavy metal music (everything in the game looks like came from a album cover.).

The main characters have are well varied. Eddie is hilarious, while characters such as Lars and Lifa are serious and somewhat inspiring in their leadership. Villains, such as Lionwhyte are not only can be a bit humorous (at least in their appearance), but most of them represent the darker eras of metal (Glam rock, Emo). All the characters fit the universe well, and the performances are of high quality. The voice acting is top notch. Jack Black plays Eddie Riggs and does an excellent job, surprising since I've never found Jack Black to funny...period, but he really does solid work with the material. Also appearing here is Rob Halford (of Judas Priest) as Lionwhyte and Ozzy Osbourne as the Guardian of Metal, and you have some noteworthy metal credentials to the cast. The rest of the group are also voiced well even though I couldn't recognize most of them.

The gameplay is the typical mash-up of genres: sandbox, hack and slash, racing, and real time strategy. The hack and slash by itself is pretty good and dismembering enemies rarely gets old . Playing solos to unleash special attacks keeps the action fresh and the attacks themselves are quite impressive like the zeppelin crash attack or the facemelter (self-explanatory). The driving is ok, but most of the time I found the car hard to control. The car's brakes are practically non-existent, although thankfully, the game rarely has a need for them in missions. The side-missions can be fun but they get old and repetitive rather quickly as there are only about 5 or 6 different types of missions to take on. The RTS elements come in during the stage battles. The RTS element is very light and mostly simple which is great since this a genre I'm unfamiliar with. As an added bonus when things get hairy with the troops, you're able to jump down into the action and deal with things yourself.

The big problems with the game is that there is an over abundance of the RTS missions after they are introduced (pops up roughly ever 2 missions) and afterwards there's a rather ludicrous increase in difficulty making the game a bit of frustrating chore to finish, but luckily there isn't much left in the game from that point. I didn't get much time out of the game, but found it to be enjoyable. While Tim Schafer has come up with better games, I found something to enjoy from the second the game started until the credits began to roll. I can said that everyone at least needs to rent this title as it's hilarious and we need to see more inventive titles like this in the future.