Drillbit Taylor: 3 out of 5 stars
writers: Kristofor Brown, Seth Rogan
director: Steven Brill
Business in Hollywood isn't difficult to figure out. If something works, do it again... and again... and again until it doesn't make money anymore. Almost all of us have uttered at one time or another that there are no new ideas in Hollywood and every year this seems to be more and more true. The box office seems to be cluttered with remakes and retreads, the same old stories and the same old characters put on display time and time again. Knowing what I know about business in Hollywood, it isn't hard to guess what happened with Drillbit Taylor, a high school comedy produced by Judd Apatow and written by Seth Rogan. Either, A) the studio had made it before Superbad, wasn't crazy about how it came out, put it on the shelf, decided they could make some money off it once Superbad blew up. Or B) After Superbad blew up the studio grabbed whatever script Seth Rogan had lying around and rushed it into production before the Superbad craze died down. Drillbit Taylor has everything you would expect from Seth Rogan with characters that are eerily similar to, if not exactley the same, as those in Superbad. At times I felt like I was watching what must have been the first draft of Superbad combined with another script about a homeless drifter. There was nothing new or original about the movie at all.
All that being said, I loved Superbad and I love Judd Apatow and I love Owen Wilson. In many ways this movie was a waste of great comedic talent, it included performances by Leslie Mann, Danny McBride, Stephen Root, Lisa Lampanelli, Kevin Hart, Matt Besser and David Koechner, but it still had it moments. I laughed, maybe not as much as I would have wanted, but I laughed enough. If I had spent money to see this in the theater I most likely would have walked away pissed, but seeing it through Netflix made it pleasantly enjoyable. If you're not expecting the world, Drillbit Taylor is worth a watch.
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Top 5: Most Hated Songs
So, I got the new Guitar Hero game and took a look at the playlist and was horrified to see "Losing My Religion." It dawned on me that mostly likely I was going to have to play this song at least once and my heart sank. In an attempt to pull something positive out of the horrible development, I was inspired to come up with this week's top 5, Top 5 Songs That Make You Want To Find A Sharp Object, Grip It As Tight As Possible, And Jamb It Repeatedly Into Your Ear Until The Intense Pain Drowns Out The Horrible Music. I won't include links. I wouldn't want to torture you anymore then reading this will.
5. Mr. Jones - Counting Crows
I'm not sure what it is that I hate so much about this song. I just do. I always have. From the first minute I heard it. Maybe it's Adam Durtiz's horrible singing. Maybe it's his pretentious lyrics. Maybe it was just his dreads. Anyway you look at it, I really do not like this song and will turn off any radio that attempts to play it.
4. Bills, Bills, Bills - Destiny's Child
This song is just fucking stupid, much like anything sung by Beyonce. It hurts my brain to listen to anything that she sings, but this song takes the cake.
3. Losing My Religion - REM
I hate REM and I have hated them from the moment I heard this song. It bores the piss out of me. I'm not sure what all those college kids found so enjoyable about Michael Stipe's whining. The band's "genius" was totally lost on me. There is only one of their songs I could stand, the rest could burn in hell for all I care.
2. Umbrella - Rihanna
I don't get it. Not for a second. People go on about how great her voice is and all I hear is some horrible hack making the word umbrella last as long as humanly possible by singing each syllable as many times as she can without the person recording the song coming out from the booth and punching her in the face. The only thing this song is good for is annoying the heck out of your co-workers and why anyone would choose to listen to it otherwise is beyond me.
1. Zombie - The Cranberries
Holy cow, do I hate this band!! I could have easily made this list just their songs, but I thought it would be more fun to only list one per artist. The element that adds to my hatred of almost all the songs on this list, is how popular they became. How anyone can stand hearing Dolores O'Riordan carry on like a devil possessed banshee over and over again is beyond me. It pains me to say anything bad about anything Irish, but this is not an Irish product to be proud of.
Honorable Mentions - like I said anything by REM and The Cranberries could have made the list, Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It) - Beyonce, Crank That (Soulja Boy) - Soulja Boy Tell 'Em
How surprised are you that Dave Matthews appears nowhere on this post?
5. Mr. Jones - Counting Crows
I'm not sure what it is that I hate so much about this song. I just do. I always have. From the first minute I heard it. Maybe it's Adam Durtiz's horrible singing. Maybe it's his pretentious lyrics. Maybe it was just his dreads. Anyway you look at it, I really do not like this song and will turn off any radio that attempts to play it.
4. Bills, Bills, Bills - Destiny's Child
This song is just fucking stupid, much like anything sung by Beyonce. It hurts my brain to listen to anything that she sings, but this song takes the cake.
3. Losing My Religion - REM
I hate REM and I have hated them from the moment I heard this song. It bores the piss out of me. I'm not sure what all those college kids found so enjoyable about Michael Stipe's whining. The band's "genius" was totally lost on me. There is only one of their songs I could stand, the rest could burn in hell for all I care.
2. Umbrella - Rihanna
I don't get it. Not for a second. People go on about how great her voice is and all I hear is some horrible hack making the word umbrella last as long as humanly possible by singing each syllable as many times as she can without the person recording the song coming out from the booth and punching her in the face. The only thing this song is good for is annoying the heck out of your co-workers and why anyone would choose to listen to it otherwise is beyond me.
1. Zombie - The Cranberries
Holy cow, do I hate this band!! I could have easily made this list just their songs, but I thought it would be more fun to only list one per artist. The element that adds to my hatred of almost all the songs on this list, is how popular they became. How anyone can stand hearing Dolores O'Riordan carry on like a devil possessed banshee over and over again is beyond me. It pains me to say anything bad about anything Irish, but this is not an Irish product to be proud of.
Honorable Mentions - like I said anything by REM and The Cranberries could have made the list, Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It) - Beyonce, Crank That (Soulja Boy) - Soulja Boy Tell 'Em
How surprised are you that Dave Matthews appears nowhere on this post?
How I Met Your Mother: Unfinished
The creators of HIMYM promised that they would be returning to the original formula of their show, the formula that had us all in stitches every week. After the first two episodes of the season, I was a little leery, it seemed like the same sitcomy Season 5 stuff with a lot of emotional slop thrown on top. With "Unfinished" it looks like we might finally be headed in the right direction. Not only were the laughs back, but so was the formula that makes for a great HIMYM episode. That formula is an episode about Ted and his issues that is carried by Barney with the others sprinkled in for laughs. "Unfinished" is really all about Ted struggling with how to go forward in life. Should he follow his dreams and take a gamble on designing a goliath of a building? Or should he continue down the safe road and continue to teach? What makes the show move, though, is Barney treating Ted like one of his many conquests as he tries to persuade Ted into designing the GNB building. The show is never funnier then when Barney is caring the laughs, but the show is called How I Met Your Mother and Ted is the character we are most emotionally invested in. We never have much doubt that Ted is, as Robin said, "so going to open his legs and design the building," but this show is about the journey, whether that journey is forward, backward, or sideways in time, and its great to feel like we are being taken somewhere again.
As important as Ted's journey and Barney's laughs are to the show getting back on track, we can't lose sight of the other friends and this episode was strong in that regard as well. Lilly coined yet another classic catch phrase, "Where's the poop?" Robin was great with her drunk phone calls to Don. Marshal brought two hilarious moments to the table with his continued attempts to be Barney's wingman and his amazing band "The Funk, The Whole Funk, And Nothing But The Funk". I have my fingers crossed that in true HIMYM style, it isn't the last we've seen of these guys!
Now that the HIMYM writers have me laughing again, I'm praying it's not a flash in the pan. Hopefully they have found their rhythm again and this is more a sign of things to come then a one off classic episode.
As important as Ted's journey and Barney's laughs are to the show getting back on track, we can't lose sight of the other friends and this episode was strong in that regard as well. Lilly coined yet another classic catch phrase, "Where's the poop?" Robin was great with her drunk phone calls to Don. Marshal brought two hilarious moments to the table with his continued attempts to be Barney's wingman and his amazing band "The Funk, The Whole Funk, And Nothing But The Funk". I have my fingers crossed that in true HIMYM style, it isn't the last we've seen of these guys!
Now that the HIMYM writers have me laughing again, I'm praying it's not a flash in the pan. Hopefully they have found their rhythm again and this is more a sign of things to come then a one off classic episode.
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Terriers: Fustercluck
As the title of the episode suggests, it looks like things are going to start to get a little messy for Hank and Britt. The Lindus case rears its ugly head again as the boys are asked to help steal money that will bail Lindus out of jail. Finally an episode that plays to the strength of the show's creator, Ted Griffin, writer of Ocean's Eleven. We get to see the boys in action as they break into a heavily guarded and alarmed Lindus building to get a quarter of a million dollars out of a safe. The show would become that much more enjoyable if Griffin could sprinkle more Ocean's like heists to go along with the relationship between Hank and Britt. It added more suspense, humor and depth to a show that is already ripe with all three.
The audience was also given the dose of humanity for Hank that I called for in my last Terriers post. We got the answer to last episode's bizarre ending. There was another person in the house and it was or is Hank's mentally ill sister. Louge does a great job of immediately conveying Hank's love and concern for her and in the process gains back some of the sympathy lost last episode. Hank is far from being the perfect and still has an extremely darkside, as any recovering alcoholic who lost his job and wife would, but we were reminded that he does have qualities that pulls people into his corner, whether they be partners, ex-partner's, ex-wives, or best friend's girls. Of course, this traits are what make users like Hank dangerous to those around him, so as much as we want to root for him in his plight, we can't forget he's the same guy who faked the loan signature with the bankers dead body bleeding on the street. Hank tells Britt, "I always miss the funny part," after Britt tells him a joke and you can't help but feel this is how Hank looks at his life, always missing the funny parts.
Hank keeps pulling Britt and himself deeper into whatever is behind this Lindus mess and in the process deeper into trouble. He says it's to get revenge and save the reputation of his old drinking buddy, Micky Goslen, but one can't help but feel it's about saving himself. Hank comments to Britt about how Micky once had a nice house but now all his life fit into one box. This is where Hank sees his life going. It's why he buys his house back. It's why he wants his ex-wife back. He doesn't want to end up dead in an alley with all his belongings fitting into a box. Somehow he sees solving Micky's murder as another part of that equation. By saving Micky's reputation, by proving that he was murdered and not killed by his addictions, Hank hopes to save a part of himself. Like almost everything in his life, the case isn't about Micky, it's about Hank.
Other bits...
Maybe it was just a throw away line or a mistake in the writing, but Hank says to Katie, "You know the rules," when leaving her with his sister. Britt later asks, "There are rules to watching your sister?" This begs the question, why would Katie know about taking care of Steph but Britt wouldn't? Do Katie and Hank have a past separate from Britt?
The audience was also given the dose of humanity for Hank that I called for in my last Terriers post. We got the answer to last episode's bizarre ending. There was another person in the house and it was or is Hank's mentally ill sister. Louge does a great job of immediately conveying Hank's love and concern for her and in the process gains back some of the sympathy lost last episode. Hank is far from being the perfect and still has an extremely darkside, as any recovering alcoholic who lost his job and wife would, but we were reminded that he does have qualities that pulls people into his corner, whether they be partners, ex-partner's, ex-wives, or best friend's girls. Of course, this traits are what make users like Hank dangerous to those around him, so as much as we want to root for him in his plight, we can't forget he's the same guy who faked the loan signature with the bankers dead body bleeding on the street. Hank tells Britt, "I always miss the funny part," after Britt tells him a joke and you can't help but feel this is how Hank looks at his life, always missing the funny parts.
Hank keeps pulling Britt and himself deeper into whatever is behind this Lindus mess and in the process deeper into trouble. He says it's to get revenge and save the reputation of his old drinking buddy, Micky Goslen, but one can't help but feel it's about saving himself. Hank comments to Britt about how Micky once had a nice house but now all his life fit into one box. This is where Hank sees his life going. It's why he buys his house back. It's why he wants his ex-wife back. He doesn't want to end up dead in an alley with all his belongings fitting into a box. Somehow he sees solving Micky's murder as another part of that equation. By saving Micky's reputation, by proving that he was murdered and not killed by his addictions, Hank hopes to save a part of himself. Like almost everything in his life, the case isn't about Micky, it's about Hank.
Other bits...
Maybe it was just a throw away line or a mistake in the writing, but Hank says to Katie, "You know the rules," when leaving her with his sister. Britt later asks, "There are rules to watching your sister?" This begs the question, why would Katie know about taking care of Steph but Britt wouldn't? Do Katie and Hank have a past separate from Britt?
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
A Note About The Baseball Season
Winning the World Series was supposed to change everything. We said the day after was going to different and I guess to a certain extent it was. Suddenly there were a bunch of people who were never there before, the working class fan was priced out by the suits and pink hats who spent more time on the phone or at the bar then watching the game, it was now the cool thing to be instead of the birthright it use to. But none of that is what we meant by change. We thought the suffering was going to disappear, the torture was going to stop, the pessimism was going to be washed away. But watching the 2010 season limp off into the sunset Friday night, I couldn't help but feel all those old emotions bubble to the surface.
The 2010 Red Sox were a vintage pre-championship team. I had them written off from the get go, which I guess was something slightly different from the old "this is the year" attitude I held on to every April. They had no offense. The "big" signings in the offseason only brought more question marks. There was nothing in the minors. GM Theo Epstein said it was going to be a bridge year, but my question was, a bridge to what? And to top it all off, the team had no personality. They just weren't fun to watch. So, I was far from surprised when they fell behind early. I watched the games, but was torn between rooting for my team because they were my team and rooting against my team so I could boast, "I told you so." Somehow, though, they never fell totally out of contention. Even when one of the biggest injury bugs in the history of baseball hit the team, they hung in there. Never close enough to be a threat, but never so far behind to be discounted. I should have known right then.
The most painful aspect of being a Red Sox fan BC (before championship) wasn't that they didn't win. Perennial losers aren't hard to follow. People always wanted to compare us to the "long suffering" Cubs fans, but what is there to suffer about knowing where you are going to finish every year. Chicago fans never started a year thinking, "this is the year," they never popped the corks off the champagne only to have the ball go through the firstbase man's legs, they never had Bucky "F-ing" Dent or Aaron "F-ing" Boone. What was most painful about being a Red Sox fan was that they were always in the mix, but they never came through in the end. Each year you would tell yourself that you weren't going to be fooled again, you weren't going to get excited because it was never going to happen, but then it would be September and against all odds they were in the race and you fought the desire to give in, to let yourself get hurt again, but you couldn't and the minute you thought, wait, this could be the year, they watched a called third strike or they gave up that homerun or they committed that error and it hurt that much more then the last time.
So, the 2010 Red Sox went into the last two weeks of the season with the smallest of chances of making the playoffs. As much as I had disliked the team that started the season, I had grown to love the band of misfits and youngsters thrown together due to all the injuries. The Daniel Nava's and Ryan Kalish's made me almost forget how much we were overpaying JD Drew to hit .242. Every bad start by the Beckett's and Lackey's seemed to be offset by Lester and Buckholtz. The Yankees magic number was 3, but they had 6 games left with the Sox. If the Sox could take those 6 games and 3 of 4 from Chicago, the Yankees would have to sweep Toronto. It was a long shot... but they won game one in New York... then they won game two. It wasn't until they scored two runs in the top of the 9th inning off of Mariano Rivera to take a one run lead in game three that I thought, "Wait, we can do this." And then it all fell apart. Our answer to Rivera, one of the major reason we won it all in 2007, Jonathan Pappelbon couldn't get three lousy outs before giving up the tying run and then Okajima walked in, yes WALKED in, the winning run. And it hurt.
I write all this because it wasn't supposed to feel like this anymore. The team proved in 2004 and again in 2007 that they were capable of winning. There wasn't a curse. They weren't out to cause us all pain. The Boston Red Sox were no different then the other 29 teams in the league. We now knew what it felt like to win, something my grandfather never experienced, so there was no way we could feel let down again. And yet, here it was, three short years since the last championship, and those old feelings were back. I turned off the TV cursing myself for falling for the same old bullshit. How could they do this to us again? But then it dawned on me, maybe it wasn't them. Maybe there is something about a Red Sox fan, a real Red Sox fan, those of us who's hearts broke when Yaz fouled out with the winning run on second, who shed tears when that ball went through Buckner's legs, that courts these emotions. Maybe there is something about growing up in New England that makes one illogically hopeful and intrinsically pessimistic at the same time. Maybe we brought all the pain on ourselves. All those years I spent blaming the Red Sox for breaking my heart, maybe I was just projecting, pushing my fears about life and relationships on something that couldn't argue otherwise. I realize that most of you will find it ridiculous to find life lessons in a stupid sports team, but maybe there is something there. Maybe us Red Sox fans had it wrong all along. Things have changed since 2004, just not what we expected or wanted because the problem wasn't where we thought it was. It wasn't bad ownership. It wasn't players that folded in the clutch. It wasn't a bad trade made 80 some-odd years ago. Maybe the problem has been us the whole time.
The 2010 Red Sox were a vintage pre-championship team. I had them written off from the get go, which I guess was something slightly different from the old "this is the year" attitude I held on to every April. They had no offense. The "big" signings in the offseason only brought more question marks. There was nothing in the minors. GM Theo Epstein said it was going to be a bridge year, but my question was, a bridge to what? And to top it all off, the team had no personality. They just weren't fun to watch. So, I was far from surprised when they fell behind early. I watched the games, but was torn between rooting for my team because they were my team and rooting against my team so I could boast, "I told you so." Somehow, though, they never fell totally out of contention. Even when one of the biggest injury bugs in the history of baseball hit the team, they hung in there. Never close enough to be a threat, but never so far behind to be discounted. I should have known right then.
The most painful aspect of being a Red Sox fan BC (before championship) wasn't that they didn't win. Perennial losers aren't hard to follow. People always wanted to compare us to the "long suffering" Cubs fans, but what is there to suffer about knowing where you are going to finish every year. Chicago fans never started a year thinking, "this is the year," they never popped the corks off the champagne only to have the ball go through the firstbase man's legs, they never had Bucky "F-ing" Dent or Aaron "F-ing" Boone. What was most painful about being a Red Sox fan was that they were always in the mix, but they never came through in the end. Each year you would tell yourself that you weren't going to be fooled again, you weren't going to get excited because it was never going to happen, but then it would be September and against all odds they were in the race and you fought the desire to give in, to let yourself get hurt again, but you couldn't and the minute you thought, wait, this could be the year, they watched a called third strike or they gave up that homerun or they committed that error and it hurt that much more then the last time.
So, the 2010 Red Sox went into the last two weeks of the season with the smallest of chances of making the playoffs. As much as I had disliked the team that started the season, I had grown to love the band of misfits and youngsters thrown together due to all the injuries. The Daniel Nava's and Ryan Kalish's made me almost forget how much we were overpaying JD Drew to hit .242. Every bad start by the Beckett's and Lackey's seemed to be offset by Lester and Buckholtz. The Yankees magic number was 3, but they had 6 games left with the Sox. If the Sox could take those 6 games and 3 of 4 from Chicago, the Yankees would have to sweep Toronto. It was a long shot... but they won game one in New York... then they won game two. It wasn't until they scored two runs in the top of the 9th inning off of Mariano Rivera to take a one run lead in game three that I thought, "Wait, we can do this." And then it all fell apart. Our answer to Rivera, one of the major reason we won it all in 2007, Jonathan Pappelbon couldn't get three lousy outs before giving up the tying run and then Okajima walked in, yes WALKED in, the winning run. And it hurt.
I write all this because it wasn't supposed to feel like this anymore. The team proved in 2004 and again in 2007 that they were capable of winning. There wasn't a curse. They weren't out to cause us all pain. The Boston Red Sox were no different then the other 29 teams in the league. We now knew what it felt like to win, something my grandfather never experienced, so there was no way we could feel let down again. And yet, here it was, three short years since the last championship, and those old feelings were back. I turned off the TV cursing myself for falling for the same old bullshit. How could they do this to us again? But then it dawned on me, maybe it wasn't them. Maybe there is something about a Red Sox fan, a real Red Sox fan, those of us who's hearts broke when Yaz fouled out with the winning run on second, who shed tears when that ball went through Buckner's legs, that courts these emotions. Maybe there is something about growing up in New England that makes one illogically hopeful and intrinsically pessimistic at the same time. Maybe we brought all the pain on ourselves. All those years I spent blaming the Red Sox for breaking my heart, maybe I was just projecting, pushing my fears about life and relationships on something that couldn't argue otherwise. I realize that most of you will find it ridiculous to find life lessons in a stupid sports team, but maybe there is something there. Maybe us Red Sox fans had it wrong all along. Things have changed since 2004, just not what we expected or wanted because the problem wasn't where we thought it was. It wasn't bad ownership. It wasn't players that folded in the clutch. It wasn't a bad trade made 80 some-odd years ago. Maybe the problem has been us the whole time.
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Top 5: Old School Video Games
In honor of the sixth installment in the Guitar Hero catalogue being released today, I give you this week's top 5... Top 5 Favorite Old School Video Games. For anyone reading this that may be significantly younger then me, I define "old school" as being anything for the original Nintendo system or earlier. So, for all of you who had to blow into your system or cartridge to make it work, who got chased around a two dimensional maze by ghosts, hot dogs, pickles, barrels and snakes, who's controller was connected to the system by a giant phone cord, and who screamed at their TV's "I PUSHED THAT BUTTON", here's my list...
5. Super Mario Brothers/Duck Hunt (Nintendo)
My answers to these top 5 topics sometimes end up being a little perverse, a little of which is a conscious effort to avoid the obvious and expose people to things they may not have heard of or experienced and a little of which is just because my taste tends to be just slightly outside the mainstream, but with this topic it's hard to stray to far outside the box. I guess putting it 5 instead of 1 is my way of keeping true to my lists even though this was the game that changed gaming for my generation. This game was so addicting that I would walk into our spare room where the Nintendo was and find my parents playing... and they wouldn't let me play! It was my game!! This game opened the door for gaming as we know it today)
4. Tron (Intelevision)
I had to include something from Intelevision. I'm sure most of you didn't even play on it, but it was the first system in my house. I used to spend hours playing this game. All you did was run around throwing discs at evil robots. It sounds so archaic now, but it kicked ass back then)
3. Tetris (Nintendo/Game Boy)
Again, super simple concept but I would play for hours. This is easily the most addicting game ever... well, other then Bust-A-Move, aka Bubble Boy. Tetris, like Mario Brothers, was the first of its kind and spawned a whole genre of puzzle games.)
2. Pitfall (Atari)
I submit that this game holds up to any game that is being played now, shitty graphics or not. I could have gone with Mrs. Pacman or Galaga or Space Invaders, but this was my favorite Atari game by far. I sure my love of Indiana Jones has something to do with that, but whatever, it's a classic.)
1. Baseball Stars (Nintendo)
None of you probably know much about this game but it was light years ahead of it's time. I'll admit that I haven't played a baseball game in the last few years, but up until I was still playing, there were concepts in Baseball Stars that still weren't being used. You built your team from scratch and got money for each win. Who you beat determined how much you got and you would use that money to pay players and improve their stats. Do you want to be popular so you can make more money or do you want to just build areas that make your team better on the field? To go along with this, the game play was great. You could jump walls to rob home runs and dive to steal base hits, things you couldn't do until the next generation of games came along. I loved this game more then any other sports game except NHL for Sega)
5. Super Mario Brothers/Duck Hunt (Nintendo)
My answers to these top 5 topics sometimes end up being a little perverse, a little of which is a conscious effort to avoid the obvious and expose people to things they may not have heard of or experienced and a little of which is just because my taste tends to be just slightly outside the mainstream, but with this topic it's hard to stray to far outside the box. I guess putting it 5 instead of 1 is my way of keeping true to my lists even though this was the game that changed gaming for my generation. This game was so addicting that I would walk into our spare room where the Nintendo was and find my parents playing... and they wouldn't let me play! It was my game!! This game opened the door for gaming as we know it today)
4. Tron (Intelevision)
I had to include something from Intelevision. I'm sure most of you didn't even play on it, but it was the first system in my house. I used to spend hours playing this game. All you did was run around throwing discs at evil robots. It sounds so archaic now, but it kicked ass back then)
3. Tetris (Nintendo/Game Boy)
Again, super simple concept but I would play for hours. This is easily the most addicting game ever... well, other then Bust-A-Move, aka Bubble Boy. Tetris, like Mario Brothers, was the first of its kind and spawned a whole genre of puzzle games.)
2. Pitfall (Atari)
I submit that this game holds up to any game that is being played now, shitty graphics or not. I could have gone with Mrs. Pacman or Galaga or Space Invaders, but this was my favorite Atari game by far. I sure my love of Indiana Jones has something to do with that, but whatever, it's a classic.)
1. Baseball Stars (Nintendo)
None of you probably know much about this game but it was light years ahead of it's time. I'll admit that I haven't played a baseball game in the last few years, but up until I was still playing, there were concepts in Baseball Stars that still weren't being used. You built your team from scratch and got money for each win. Who you beat determined how much you got and you would use that money to pay players and improve their stats. Do you want to be popular so you can make more money or do you want to just build areas that make your team better on the field? To go along with this, the game play was great. You could jump walls to rob home runs and dive to steal base hits, things you couldn't do until the next generation of games came along. I loved this game more then any other sports game except NHL for Sega)
How I Met Your Mother: Cleaning House
Well, it looks like we may be in for a melodramatic season from the HIMYM folks. This weeks episode was more consistently funny then last week, but still seemed a little heavy on the emotional stuff. There was no Sir Walter Dibs like scene that had me in stitches, but I was chuckling more through out the whole episode. Let's be honest, from the very beginning this show should have been called, Life With Barney, or something to that effect, because the show is at it's strongest when Barney is carrying it. The rest of the characters all have their moments and are a strong supporting cast, but nothing is funnier then Barney. As easy as race jokes can be, there was something hilarious about Barney's delusion that he had found his father. Do we want to know Ted's future wife is? Yes. Do we want to follow the ups and downs of the Marshal Lilly relationship? Yes. Do we want to know what the future has in store and still what secrets there may lie in Robin's past? Sure. But what we really tune in for week after week is Barney. As long as he's bringing the funny week after week, I'll keep watching.
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