Picks of the Week: I’ve Made a Huge Mistake
Week of May 31st, 2008
I’m trying to make themes to these, but it’s hard to do within the five items. I’m pretty sure 3 of the 5 work with this theme though, so shut up. I’m also trying to pick things that not everyone in the world know about. Here we go!
Movie: Oldboy
A very dark, very disturbing Korean film that took me by surprise. I had never watched too many foreign language films (cause my language is the best obviously) and therefore was never expecting such a complex, intricately woven tale of revenge and betrayal. I wrote that last sentence hoping they’ll use it and quote me on the back of a DVD box one day. Anyway, There are some cool action scenes, like a long hallway battle that is done in one shot that is really epic and awesome, as well as some interesting plot devices which I appreciated quite a bit if I wasn’t a little disturbed by them. Shyamalan, take note. This is the proper use of a so called ‘twist’ in the story.
Television Show: Arrested Development
I’ve raved and ranted about how much I love this show already in my Top 25 TV Shows list, but it warrants to repeat myself here. This is the BEST comedy show ever made, and anyone who disagrees probably likes Jeff Foxworthy sitcoms. So their opinion is not valid. Now I should mention that to receive the full experience of AD (I can abbreviate it because I am a fan) you really have to watch it from the beginning as they have so many call backs to previous episodes/jokes and sometimes they can be lost on you if you don’t know what they are referring to. But at the same time, each episode can generally stand alone and still be hilarious and better than 90% of the TV out there now.
Music: Anthony Stewart Head
If you don’t recognize the name, you’re probably not a nerd or friends with a nerd. Tony Head gained worldwide recognition due to his role on Buffy the Vampire Slayer playing the title character’s ‘watcher’ and is probably the greatest television character ever (Top 25 list coming soon to detail this). Now there are a few episodes where he sings and he has a beautiful voice, and it’s showcased proper during the sixth season’s musical episode (his songs are by FAR my favorite parts of that episode). I found out a while back that he released an actual album with musician George Sarah, and it really is spectacular. He has a soulful voice of magic and rainbows (again I am trying to get on the CD liner notes here). I’m actually really hopeful he’ll release another CD, but for now this will have to do. If you enjoyed his songs in the Buffy musical, then you should enjoy this. But even if you have no idea who or what a Buffy is you should check it out. And then Buffy.
Book: Rage by Richard Bachman
Richard Bachman was the pen name for one Stephen King back in the day, and nowadays the books/short stories he wrote under that name are pretty tough to find. I remember reading this one long ago however, and was immediately captivated by it. Basically it’s about a boy who takes a gun to his classroom, shoots the teacher, then proceeds to talk to the kids in the class about their past indiscretions and things of that nature (he calls it ‘Getting it on’). The book was taken off the shelves after Columbine, for obvious reasons (I know that after I read it I thought, ‘Hey, this guy is completely sane and I should follow his footsteps!’) and Stephen King has said that he will never approve of it going for sale again or something to that effect. I think you can still find it in a collection book called ‘The Bachman Books’ that contains 4 or so of his Bachman stories, and I would recommend checking it out. Although please don’t read it if you are already a little crazy, cause that’s just a recipe for disaster.
Video Game: Picross DS
Let’s see if I can explain this properly. Picross, or Griddlers, or Paint by Numbers, or Hanjie, or millions of other possible names (for some reason there are like 20) are logic games that are incredibly addictive. At least to me. Basically you have a grid, with rows and columns, and each row and column has corresponding numbers next to them. The numbers tell you how many of those squares to fill, and how many are grouped together, however, it doesn’t tell you where to fill them in. So you have to use your logic skills (and yer noggin!) to figure out where they go. It’s kind of similar a little bit to Sudoku, except after you complete a Sudoku puzzle you have…a boring old grid with numbers. With Picross, once you finish you have a pretty picture! I’ve pretty much been addicted to these things since I randomly found them in Games Magazines a few years ago. Since then I’ve found numerous books and websites to play them, but Picross DS is just an absolute godsend and the best way to play Picross. I’ve actually completed all the puzzles, reset the game and completed them all again. And just recently I finished all the downloaded puzzles too.
Oh, and if you’re looking for a good website for more of these puzzles check out Griddlers.net or Picross.com.
Next week, will I find another book that ISN’T Chuck Palahniuk or Stephen King? Probably not! (Someone recommend some good books to read please)
