Space Media Update
So rather than tell you about my deepest, darkest feelings, I'm going to give you suckas a crash course in books, DVDs, and video games that you should be hitting up.
First:
Dead Rising
This is the title that cupped my balls and gave them a firm, yet supple squeeze and convinced me to buy a 360 last year. The premise: you're stuck in a mall infested with zombies and must survive any way you can, using a cornucopia of items to beat back the undead legions. It certainly did not disappoint. Highlights of the game include:
-Arming a group of female survivors with katanas, battleaxes, and machine guns in an attempt to get them back to safety. They slashed, hacked, and gunned their way back a significant distance, but due to explosive-strapped cultists, did not survive the journey. They were deadly while they lasted though.
-Kicking a soccer ball at a survivor who caused me to fail the current mission until she died.
-Throwing pies at zombies, then eating said pies.
All in all, this game gives you the sense of whimsical freedom that you'd expect from a sudden zombie outbreak.
World War Z
Sure, zombie outbreaks are fun, but what happens when it spreads across the entire globe What about the long-term social/economic/political effects of such an event? Max Brooks takes a look into it in his follow-up to the Zombie Survival Guide. With a series of short vignettes from survivors across the world, Brooks examines just how a zombie apocalypse could transpire and how we might be able to beat them back/survive in a changed world. It's both entertaining and insightful.
Marvel Zombies
But what happens when Earth's greatest protectors become infected? Kirkman paints an interesting picture of what happens when all the Marvel heroes become zombies. It's fun to see how Cap, Spider-Man, and the crew ravage the Earth...but it's all plot, no character. It's nearly impossible to tell any of the characters apart (personality-wise) other than the fact that Spidey is remorseful over killing his wife/aunt. Honestly, I think I'd rather see a series where some of the lesser-powered characters (like Cap, Spidey, Daredevil, Hawkeye) have to survive in a world full of normal zombies and super-zombies.
Marvel Civil War
Marvel's big summer/fall event. A group of small time superheroes seriously f-up a fight with some b-grade supervillains and end up causing the deaths of hundreds of civilians. The US government reacts by demanding superhero registration, essentially that the heroes give up their secret identities/vigilante status, undergo training, and become registered agents of US law enforcement agencies or the military. The heroes split over their agreement/opposition to the act. The government sanctions the pro-reg heroes to apprehend and bring in the anti-reg heroes. Things progressively get uglier and uglier as old friends become enemies.
My feelings on this one are mixed. Yes, it's cool as hell to see Cap, Wolverine, Spidey, and Iron Man going at each other. At the same time, characterization again gets sacrificed for plot. Millar is a genius, and in my opinion, the best of the current crop of "post-modern" comic writers, yet he stretches things a bit to get his desired ends. Yes, Reed Richards was always preoccupied with his work, but not to the point where he ignores his family. Also, he, Tony Stark, and Hank Pym would NEVER go to the depths they go to in the big reveal in issue 4. Still, a good read and it raises interesting questions about the legality of superhero vigilanteism.
Heroes
A blatant Lost ripoff, right down to the advertising. It has the whole "big-cast, slow-reveal, keep-you-hanging-at-the-end" scheme too. Nevertheless, it's interesting so far. There haven't really been any standout characters yet, although I'm intrigued by the sub-par cop with telepathic powers that was revealed tonight. Probably my favorite show on TV besides Lost and Nip/Tuck at the moment.
I just got done watching season 1 of Rescue Me and I'm digging it so far. Along with Entourage, it's one of the few shows I've seen that really portrays how guys act around each other. I'm going to start season 2 soon. After that, I'm going to start watching Veronica Mars since I picked it up on the cheap and Joss Whedon said it was the best show on TV. Angie, Caple, Engel, Doug, up for some marathon action sometime soon with that one? After that, I'm going to finally watch the first season of Battlestar Galactica and catch up on the X-Files seasons that I got a long-ass time ago. I also need to get season 3 of Arrested Development, pronto.
Rock on my brothas and sistas.
First:
Dead Rising
This is the title that cupped my balls and gave them a firm, yet supple squeeze and convinced me to buy a 360 last year. The premise: you're stuck in a mall infested with zombies and must survive any way you can, using a cornucopia of items to beat back the undead legions. It certainly did not disappoint. Highlights of the game include:
-Arming a group of female survivors with katanas, battleaxes, and machine guns in an attempt to get them back to safety. They slashed, hacked, and gunned their way back a significant distance, but due to explosive-strapped cultists, did not survive the journey. They were deadly while they lasted though.
-Kicking a soccer ball at a survivor who caused me to fail the current mission until she died.
-Throwing pies at zombies, then eating said pies.
All in all, this game gives you the sense of whimsical freedom that you'd expect from a sudden zombie outbreak.
World War Z
Sure, zombie outbreaks are fun, but what happens when it spreads across the entire globe What about the long-term social/economic/political effects of such an event? Max Brooks takes a look into it in his follow-up to the Zombie Survival Guide. With a series of short vignettes from survivors across the world, Brooks examines just how a zombie apocalypse could transpire and how we might be able to beat them back/survive in a changed world. It's both entertaining and insightful.
Marvel Zombies
But what happens when Earth's greatest protectors become infected? Kirkman paints an interesting picture of what happens when all the Marvel heroes become zombies. It's fun to see how Cap, Spider-Man, and the crew ravage the Earth...but it's all plot, no character. It's nearly impossible to tell any of the characters apart (personality-wise) other than the fact that Spidey is remorseful over killing his wife/aunt. Honestly, I think I'd rather see a series where some of the lesser-powered characters (like Cap, Spidey, Daredevil, Hawkeye) have to survive in a world full of normal zombies and super-zombies.
Marvel Civil War
Marvel's big summer/fall event. A group of small time superheroes seriously f-up a fight with some b-grade supervillains and end up causing the deaths of hundreds of civilians. The US government reacts by demanding superhero registration, essentially that the heroes give up their secret identities/vigilante status, undergo training, and become registered agents of US law enforcement agencies or the military. The heroes split over their agreement/opposition to the act. The government sanctions the pro-reg heroes to apprehend and bring in the anti-reg heroes. Things progressively get uglier and uglier as old friends become enemies.
My feelings on this one are mixed. Yes, it's cool as hell to see Cap, Wolverine, Spidey, and Iron Man going at each other. At the same time, characterization again gets sacrificed for plot. Millar is a genius, and in my opinion, the best of the current crop of "post-modern" comic writers, yet he stretches things a bit to get his desired ends. Yes, Reed Richards was always preoccupied with his work, but not to the point where he ignores his family. Also, he, Tony Stark, and Hank Pym would NEVER go to the depths they go to in the big reveal in issue 4. Still, a good read and it raises interesting questions about the legality of superhero vigilanteism.
Heroes
A blatant Lost ripoff, right down to the advertising. It has the whole "big-cast, slow-reveal, keep-you-hanging-at-the-end" scheme too. Nevertheless, it's interesting so far. There haven't really been any standout characters yet, although I'm intrigued by the sub-par cop with telepathic powers that was revealed tonight. Probably my favorite show on TV besides Lost and Nip/Tuck at the moment.
I just got done watching season 1 of Rescue Me and I'm digging it so far. Along with Entourage, it's one of the few shows I've seen that really portrays how guys act around each other. I'm going to start season 2 soon. After that, I'm going to start watching Veronica Mars since I picked it up on the cheap and Joss Whedon said it was the best show on TV. Angie, Caple, Engel, Doug, up for some marathon action sometime soon with that one? After that, I'm going to finally watch the first season of Battlestar Galactica and catch up on the X-Files seasons that I got a long-ass time ago. I also need to get season 3 of Arrested Development, pronto.
Rock on my brothas and sistas.