Pop Journal: Iron Man 3

Iron Man 3 (Movie / 2013)

This is a movie that is difficult to talk about without acknowledging its place in movie history, namely being the first direct sequel that is not a direct sequel. If you were to sit down and watch Iron Man 1, 2 and 3 you would be missing a big piece of the puzzle. As such this movie is a stunning piece of entertainment, with a few nagging oddities that keep it from being truly great.

Pop Journal: Tomb Raider (2013)

Tomb Raider (Game / 2013)

I played this game directly after Bioshock Infinite and had a wonderful time. After the pain and confusion of Infinite I was treated to a game that really understood that it was a video game meant to entertain. The "Open" world aspect of this game felt a lot like Far Cry 3 and Assassins Creed, in the best possible way. I do believe that this is the first Tomb Raider I have ever completed, and I loved every minute of it. There was exploring, gathering, leveling up and great puzzles. As far as rebooting the franchise it succeeds on all fronts, making the other games feel like Batman & Robin to Tomb Raiders Batman Begins. If there is a mistake with the game, it would be coming out so close to many other AAA games that will take some wind out of it's sales, literally.

TMIX 39: DOMINION 2013

Pop Journal: Bioshock Infinite

Bioshock Infinite (Game / 2013)

I've been putting off writing this journal entry, as I am still very conflicted with this game. On the one hand it is a work of genius that puts other games to shame. On the other hand it is fairly heavy handed and has an ending that I cannot wrap my head around, but more on that later.

First and foremost to this game is Elizabeth. She will go down as one of the most memorable video game characters of all time. Her AI and design is something to be studied like the Mona Lisa.

Pop Journal: Rise of the Guardians

Rise of the Guardians (Movie / 2012)

Okay, I really enjoyed this movie but take issues with some choices that may alienate other people and take away from what should be a great franchise.

It's sad when things that really set apart a film are the same things that may turn people away, and here it is simply the art direction of the film. It has such a distinct feel to it, that it doesn't really look like anything out there. Nothing about the "Guardians" are necessarily... well I can't think of anything to describe it as except for UN-Disney like. You take well known characters, namely Santa, and turn him into a buff dual sword wielding Russian. In addition the tooth fairy comes across as, well a little off putting.

Pop Journal: Argo

Argo (Movie / 2013)

This movie deserved to win the Academy Award. It was intriguing from beginning to end, delivering one of the most suspenseful scenes I have ever seen on film. It goes without saying that I am a big fan of Affleck here, both in his portrayal on screen and his direction. John Goodman and Alan Arkin stand out as 2 Hollywood insiders lending the film much of the lighter comedic moments. The rest of the cast , namely the hostages, do such a great job that none of them stand out, which is exactly the thing you want in this type of movie. The 2 acts of the film are a little disconnected, but it is based on actual events so it can be overlooked. I was glued to my seat the entire time, and thought about it long after the credits rolled. High Praise.

Pop Journal: Dark Legacy of Shanarra: Wards of Faerie

Dark Legacy of Shanarra: Wards of Faerie (2012 / Book)

Terry Brooks takes me once again into the world of Shannarra with the first proper sequel in years. Here we are treated to many of the same themes that Brooks has evoked before, but I loved every minute of the read. There is something about this world that I love and the way Brooks brings these characters to life is wonderful. In everyone of his novels he handles love in a new way, here dealing with the loss felt by the main character of Khyber the real focus. We are also treated to a young rivalry from the young Ohmsford twins for the hand of a close friend. This is the first in a planned trilogy of books and it sets up the other 2 novels very nicely. I can't wait to see where the adventure takes me.

30 Rock: Season 7

30 Rock: Season 7 (TV / 2012)

So, it has all come down to this, and how will I remember 30 Rock? I will remember one of the funniest comedies that has aired on television that was taken down by the ever growing focus of Jenna. Really, did it all come crumbling down and become hard to watch at times? No, it's nowhere close to the absurd difficulties "HIMYM" has given me, but it definitely faltered.

Looking at this season on it's own merits there were a lot of brave choices with mid season wedding and adoption taking front stage.

Pop Journal: Fringe; Season 5

Fringe: Season 5 (TV / 2012)

Here we are at the end of an adventure and with Fringe we are treated to, well, a throw away season that did nothing to raise or lower my admiration of the previous 5 seasons. What we do have is a truly sci fi romp through a distopian future in which the team works to end an invasion of Observers. It was often times fun, a little uneven and maybe a little overly dramatic but it was more Fringe, which is never a bad thing.

At the forefront of the season is a time jump to the future. Remember, this is a future of an alternate timeline that only exsisted in season 5. With me still? Good.

Borderlands 2

Borderlands 2 (Game / 2012)

Borderlands 2 is exactly what I want out of a game. It has big open worlds, hilarious dialogue, tons of things to loot and fantastic action. Really, it's like they saw all of the games that I like and put this one together just for me

This is a rare game that accomplishes or exceeds what it wants to do on all fronts. I played the first Borderlands, but for some reason or another I fell out of love with it pretty quickly.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (Movie / 2012)

This is an interesting idea of a movie. I think years from now, after all three Hobbit movies are released, is the only time we will be able to really tell if Peter Jackson made the right choice of extending the Hobbit, a 300 page fast read, into three separate three hour movies. As it stand right now, The Hobbit comes across as a lovely adventure movie, possibly stretched a little too thin.

Pop Journal: Halo 4

Halo 4 (Game / 2012)

Halo 4 is a game that happens after Halo 3. To be perfectly honest I have very little recollection of what happened in the original trilogy so this kind of felt the same as before, which isn't to say it felt bad because it felt really good. I did play this game on co-op so maybe I need to play by myself to see if I pick up on the story a little more, but as it stands is a decent vehicle for the stellar game play at work.

343 is the new studio taking over the franchise from Bungie and it's really heavy handed that they want you to know they aren't evil people who are going to destroy the game. I feel the best way that they could say that would be to make a really great game, not by saying "Thanks for trusting us..." because we did not choose you to do this.

All of that aside this is Halo. There are some new enemies with some new weapons, but 343 did little to change up the formula of the previous 4 games. There were some great ideas like having more armor abilities, but they are still a one and done thing. To be honest I played this and then immediately moved onto Borderlands 2 and this Halo 4 feels shallow compared to that. There will be a Halo 5 someday, I hope that the designers take some more chances and shake things up a bit, cause I could always play Halo 4 again, or 3... or 2 (it all seems the same).

Pop Journal: Dishonored

Dishonored (Game / 2012)

Dishonored was a treat to play. A derivative take on Assassins Creed putting you in the shoes of the Queens disgraced bodyguard out for revenge this game gives you level after level to explore and find your own path to live or let die. The story and graphics are really not the tops, but the game play more than makes up for any shortcomings there. There is an issue with the matter of choice in the game, but it's nothing that any other game relying heavily on player choice has faced.

This game is presented in a form much like Call of Duty, you are put in a level with a goal and once you accomplish everything the level has to offer you are done with it and the game takes you to a hub to go to the next level. I respect what new developers have to go through in game design, but this game was begging to be in a fully realized open world. It feels a lot like Bioshock, but even in that game you could revisit levels. In fact a lot of this game screams Bioshock but since that is one of my favorite games of all time I really didn't mind and enjoyed the journey.

The game relies heavily on choice and it's here it falters a little. Every level ends with a listing of what you did and did not do including how many people you killed and how much chaos you cause. At first I thought the game would only track my major choices in letting targets live or die, only to find out I killed one guard too many and made the level chaotic. Really there is little difference between the good and bad endings, it felt unorganic to the game to have a list after each level saying you didn't do enough. I felt the same way in LA Noire with a game mechanic that would tell you when you asked a wrong question, it made me want to reset to get the "good" ending.

Either way with the choices it was a really great first attempt, and much like last years Dead Island I can't wait to see what this studio does with this new IP next.

TMIX 38: END OF THE WORLD 2012

Pop Journal: Skyfall (2012)

Skyfall (Movie / 2012)

This is the most "Bond" of the 007 films that has stared Daniel Craig. Whereas I thought Casino Royale was a great reboot of the franchise that delivered a much more visceral installment and Quantum was a completely serviceable action film, Skyfall felt like a James Bond movie.

There are nods throughout the film to it's earlier years (perhaps too many in the third act) including the introduction of the new Moneypenny and Q. We are even introduced to an all new M with a somewhat muddled exit of the previous incarnation. There's a bad guy in here too that delivers a really great monologue about rats and that's about it.

You see, this is a movie that is really all about M and her hubris in dealing with MI6. The villain is someone she traded away like an old baseball card years ago and he is out for revenge. To do this he is captured on purpose in one of the most convoluted escape scenes in recent memory. The movie tells us that this genius planned on getting caught so he could escape and get close to M and kill her. The truth is he goes through and elaborate escape and chase scene so he can get on the streets of London and get in a car to drive to where M is. So what he really accomplished is something any Londoner on that street could have done.

Where this movie shines is when it focuses on Bond and his grappling with the onslaught of time. He's shaky, he's uncertain and he has to overcome a lot of inner turmoil to succeed. And does he? That's a strange thing because the finale is about protecting M and she dies while no one seems to feel to awful about it. Even with all of the uneven moments and plot holes I didn't mind because it was James bond and that's not the point. What is the point? A great action movie that had me enjoying it one from the opening song to the credits.

TMIX 37: LONDON OLYMPICS 2012

Here is the latest Mix! Amazing when so many of my favorite artist release new material. (Word of warning, "Some Nights" is the unedited version on Spotify)

Pop Journal: The Dark Knight Rises

The Dark Knight Rises (Movie / 2012)

There are a lot of different ways you can look at The Dark knight Rises; On it's own, as part of a trilogy or as an adaptation of a comic book. I'll try and address each of these options as i have a lot of mixed feeling s about Christopher Nolans wrap up to his Dark Knight story.

If this movie was it's own enclosed vision it would be considered an epic feat. We have three distinct acts that work really well, if only the last act lags a little bit because the bat is not on the screen a whole lot. The ideas of  "falling only to rise again" are shown throughout. Bane serves as a good catalyst for the fall and rise of Batman, but it almost felt as if they had an idea for a story and then molded a member of Batman's rouge gallery to fit the bill. The villain could have easily been The Riddler, The Penguin or Mr. Freeze, that's how much of Bane's story is changed to fit the mold here.

It's on the merits of the previous argument that "Rises" feels like a complete retread of ideas put forward in the previous 2 films. This story already had Batman take a fall at the end of the Dark Knight, why does he need to be physically taken down in the second act of "Rises"? Joker put the fate of the city and it's people in the hands of regular joes and vicious inmates and they rose to the occasion and proved the Joker wrong, here Bane turns over the city and everything goes to hell. Also if you watch all three movies back to back you are so jared by the different visual styles and locations that you can't believe for a moment all of this takes place in the same "Gotham City" (In my personal opinion the fact that DC takes place in fictional cities is what will forever place it behind Marvels place in our world).

Lastly we have the comic coming to the real world. Nolan always wanted to make things seem as if it could happen right now in our world. So here we are given Anne Hathaway's Selina Kyle who is never referred to as Catwoman (but delivered my favorite performance) and a young detective who helps Batman only to have him revealed to be Robin at the end of the film (more on that later). Bane is a known terrorist who wears a mask because they say he has to. It all works, in fact it works a little to easily. I really wish he would have tried to adapt like he did with the Joker, taking a character that is bigger than life and presenting him in such a new light. Also I fell the reveal that Jospeh Gordon Levitts detectives real name is Robin is a great disservice to the film. Of course he's Robin, just come out and say it!

Maybe this film will age better with time, but the moment I left the theater I had some serious thoughts just bouncing around in my mind. It does give the trilogy a nice little ending, I think I am excited to see someone make a new film and try to embrace the mythos a little more like the recent Arkham games. One final thought: When a director continues to use the same actors across different movie worlds it get's confusing; ie: I expected Leonardo Decaprio to spring in and tell everyone they were dreaming (four actors were held over from Inception).

Pop Journal: Breaking Bad; Season 1

Breaking Bad; Season 1 (TV / 2008)

It seems every summer I take the time to catch up on come TV shows that have fallen on the wayside. Two summers ago it was Supernatural, last year Sons of Anarchy and earlier this year I caught up on Mad Men. So far I am very happy I caught up with those shows as they are among my favorite shows on TV, and now Breaking Bad seems to be following the same mold.

For only being 7 episodes long, the first season of Walter Whites decent into the grips of lung cancer and eventual Meth cooking is really powerful TV. A lot of the gimmick of the show originally was seeing Bryan Cranston take on such a departure from his role on Malcolm in the Middle, but he gives a performance worthy of the Emmy's he has received since.

The drama is intense but there is still that small element of finding humor in this kind of despair that makes the show really work. A lot of big over the top things happen, but it never gets out of control like the second season on Nip/Tuck quickly relying on shock to produce drama. Here we have a wonderful character piece about a mans decent into darkness for the higher purpose of taking care of his family once the cancer has taken him. The creator does a superb job of framing it all in a way that questions Walt's true motives as he seems to be coming out of his shell, is he doing this for his family or will the power become his main goal? We shall see soon enough.

Pop Journal: The Amazing Spider-Man

The Amazing Spider-Man (Movie / 2012)

When Batman Begins came out back in 2005 I thought that it made Tim Burton's Batman of 1989 look silly in comparison. Now with only 10 years separating Sam Raimi's Spider-Man and this film the same can be said. Yes, this is pretty much the same story told 10 years ago, but it is amazingly (pun!) different in the best possible way.

This film really wants to seperate itself from the others by looking at Peter Parkers origin. We are treated with some very brief but powerful images of his youth that frame who he has become. In fact I would say that this is much more a character piece than it is an action movie, and that only hurts the "popcorn" factor a little. With the Lizard we get the same kind of origin as many other Spidey bad guys; in that they are actually pretty decent people who get turned crazy with power only to come around at the very end.

The film looks much sharper, and like that the "Orange Filter" was no longer used like it was in the first 3. Not to measure the previous trilogy by the 3rd film, but the finale in Amazing makes Spider-Man 3 look like Bamtan and Robin. Amazing really is what the title suggests and I really want to see them take on more core characters in the years to come.

Pop Journal: Micro

Micro; Michael Crichton & Richard Preston (Book / 2011)

It was kind of sad to finish Micro if only because it will be that last Crichton novel I ever read. The characters are well drawn and the action moves along at a near perfect pace in that way Crichton could only do it. The thing I love about books most is the ability they give me to color in between the lines. I love books when they provide just enough information for my imagination to run with. Terry Brooks and Crichton do this better than any I have read, thus making them my favorite authors.

This book feels a lot like Jurassic Park in the way it is presented, and that is not a bad thing. We are given a group of eight people thrust into a world each has great knowledge off, only to find they didn't know as much as they thought they did. I found the "science" behind the action very thought provoking and they painted it with enough realism that I believed this could really be happening.

There is a bit off a breakdown at the very end as they both leave stories right at the apex leaving the reader to finish on a high. There were some pretty obvious characters in the book and you know where the drama was going to be coming from, yet there were some very surprising twists. In the end it is a great novel and serves perfectly as a coda on Crichton's long resume.