Things I Like

#148 The Har Mar

2006-12-12T18:25:00.000-08:00

I'm always a little sad when a movie theater closes. Even when the theater in question was an example of every thing that's wrong with the movie-going experience. The Har Mar 1-3 and 4-11 in Roseville were a dilapidated and musty relic from the days when the shopping mall cineplex was the place to see movies. Cinema Treasures has a nice history of the location.

The Har-Mar opened with "Two Mules for Sister Sara" and "On a Clear Day You Can See Forever" to packed houses. In the early 70s, the Har-Mar was one of the most popular Saint Paul theaters, due to its proximity to Highway 36, its large parking lot and being modern and comfortable.

In 1974, the Har-Mar was the first suburban movie house to out-gross a downtown theater, the Skyway 2, playing the same film ("Earthquake"). It was by only very little, but it signified the death knell for Saint Paul's downtown movie houses and the rise of the suburban theater.

This got me wondering if the real future for movies is in a return to the urban milieu. As a moviegoer in Los Angeles, my first choices were always theaters in bustling locations like the Arclight, Grauman's Chinese and The Vista. Weren't shopping malls like The Har Mar themselves approximations of downtown city blocks, boasting restauraunts, shopping and entertainment all within walking distance? The new Rosedale theater that replaces the Har Mar (and gives jobs to the theater's staff) is only tangentially connected to the Rosedale mall. There's just enough barren concrete between the theater box office and the nearby pub to make the space feel alienating in that sterile big box sort of way.

Still, I have hopes for the gleaming new theater just across the freeway. I'm thinking we might get a year of good projection and sound out of the staff before they become lax and inattentive to their screens. I also wonder. What's going to happen to those bad-ass chandeliers in the abandoned theater?

Hopefully some sharp home decorator or interior designer will nab these beauties and give them a good home.

Finally, I'll post a picture I took in the Har Mar bathroom when I first moved to the Twin Cities a little over a year ago.

That's "Roseville Sucks" if squinting doesn't help.

#147 Idiocracy

2006-11-05T00:43:00.000-08:00

Even though I caught Borat's documentary last night, I'm pretty sure that Idiocracy is my favorite comedy this year.

The local art house theater here in Minneapolis hosted a midnight movie of the picture. They usually squander their screen on stuff like Back to the Future and Blue Velvet, awesome movies to be sure, but the kind of stuff you can rent or buy at pretty much every store in the country.

The one weekend that pretty much every moviegoer in the country was watching Sacha Baron Cohen's flick, they decided to screen Idiocracy. And despite this bone-headed programming the midnight screening enjoyed a nearly full house.

Idiocracy isn't perfect. But man, it's heartfelt. I'm sure that's not the first thing that comes to mind when you think of a movie about hand-jobs, prostitutes and monster trucks. But I'm serious about this.

Mike Judge is a keen observer of culture. And the reason I love this movie so much is that it's proof that there's someone else out there. Someone else who cringes every time they hear a slave-wage employee drone through a pre-scripted upsale before ringing up my order. Someone else who understands the pain and frustration of being called a fag because you like to read books.

I know. I'm a total homo for Mike Judge.

That doesn't change that Idiocracy is the most subversive, clever and imaginative comedy to almost be released in ages. The movie is layered knee-deep with jokes. Visual gags occupy every corner of every frame. And the flick's Planet of the Apes-style three act structure proves that this movie isn't just a series of sketches strung out to feature length. The movie has a plot. A feature, I'm beginning to fear, bores most comedy audiences.

As a special treat for Minneapolis audiences, the staff of the Uptown theater inadvertently added an extra layer of irony to the screening. The sound started to waver during the last scenes. I'm guessing the projectionist was asleep at the wheel. Just as the film's resolution unspooled, the movie just petered out. Literally. The narration slowed like a 12'' record sans spin. Then the screen went dark.

The audience laughed.

Could this be the purposeful end of the picture? Naw. The movie's not that conceptual. A staff obviously payed too little to care had, in their own special way, pointed out that Idiocracy wasn't just a science fiction-flavored comedy. By their negligence they reminded me, at least, that it's also a horror movie about the increasingly scary world that we live in every day.

#146 Battlestar Galactica

2006-05-23T00:55:00.000-07:00

I was totally wrong about this show. Before the new episodes launched, I sided with the fans who at the time were howling at the changes being made to their beloved series. Then the show dropped off of my radar. Though I love science fiction (or perhaps because I love it), I don't really watch anything that airs on The Sci Fi Channel. I just assume that it's going to be turgid crap. And I'm usually right. And though many trusted friends told me that Battlestar Galactica was great, I smuggly ignored them.

So I'll say it again. I was wrong about Battlestar Galactica. It's fucking awesome. The first miniseries is terriffic. I'm four or five episodes into the first season and still loving it. Every change they made to the series works. And lets be serious here for a second, the original show isn't all that amazing in hindsight. It was awesome because it was science fiction and in those days we took what we could get.

The new Battlestar Galactica is awesome because it's damn good. It's smartly written, well acted and every so often its produced with such flair that you forget that you're watching television (it helps if you're watching on DVD like civilized people).

If you watched the old school series like I did, you'll find a cool surprise in episode five -- a remake of the only original episode most folks remember. Think Hell in the Pacific.

Anyway, I'd like to offer up my sincere apologies to all my friends and loved ones whom I doubted. Go ahead and strike while the iron's hot. I'm so pleased with the show that you'll probably be able to fool me into watching some cockamamie anime or reality show.

#145 SXSW

2006-04-18T00:17:00.000-07:00

I didn't actually go to SXSW. But I did the next best thing. I downloaded a free and legal torrent featuring free mp3s from the hundreds of bands playing the fest. Since March, I've been listening and grading the songs as they pop up on my iTunes playlist. Here's some notes on the tracks that merited five stars so far.

Avotor "Glacial Weapon" -- Mogwai-style post rock
Bexar Bexar "Krinkle of Henry's Heart" -- Glitchy abstraction with tender guitarwork
Cardinale "Untitled" -- Epic metal via Tortoise
Dengue Fever "Sni Bong" -- Vintage Asian pop meets Stone Roses!?! Awesome.
Jean Grae "Give it Up" -- Fierce female hip-hop

And here's a quick list of the four stars:

Abigain Washburn, Big Juss, Bound Stems, Brother Ali, Cadence Weapon, Daniel Francis Doyle, El Ten Eleven, Flip Grater, Flogging Molly, God's Temple of Family Deliver, Gogogo Airheart, Harrisons, Holy Fuck, Jenny Owen Youngs, Live Fast Die, Mad Staring Eyes, The Meligrove Band, The Minni-Thins, My Education, Rainer Maria, Sarah Harmer, Saviors, Shifter, The Southland, Talib Kweli, Troy von Balthazar, Whitehouse and Zombi.

If you can sift through all the boring singer-songwriters there's quite a bit of interesting stuff going on at SXSW. Gotta make it down to Austin one of these days.

I'll post more bands as I rate 'em. Still tons I haven't heard yet. iTunes is saying 2.3 days worth of music.

#144 Looky Touchy

2006-03-24T15:20:00.000-08:00

Part of the reason I've neglected this site for so long is that I've been attempting to become an honest-to-God blogger. Head over to www.lookytouchy.com to see what I've been doing. The site deals in video game impressions. "Looky" reviews contain my insightful, opinionated and ocassionally funny analysis of screen shots and video for upcoming games. "Touchy" items are actual hands-on impressions. I touch a game and tell you about it.

I'm trying to post daily and keep the writing as fun and entertaining as possible. I figure the world has plenty dead-serious, 3000-word game reviews. Tell your friends, add the site to your RSS feed and click on some ads. I wouldn't mind the ocassional comment either.

Looky Touchy

#143 The IT Crowd

2006-03-22T23:07:00.000-08:00

The IT Crowd is a traditional sitcom about two dorks who work in a company's IT department and the suit-type who gets "promoted" to their dungeon office to oversee them. The series is produced by Ash Atalla of The Office and written by Graham Lineman of The Black Books and Big Train. The show has more than a few moments of spot-on nerd humor. It's obvious that this comes from people who get nerd culture. I've spotted multiple Kozyndan posters, Fantagrahpics comics and toys, The Flying Spaghetti Monster and Errorwear T-shirts all within minutes. Only Spaced has managed to create a television environment that true to my life.

There are no publicised plans to air The IT Crowd in the U.S. Don't let that stop you from watching it, though.

The IT Crowd Official Site

#142 Everyday Italian

2006-03-21T14:50:00.000-08:00

Television chef Giada De Laurentiis looks like a bobble head. I'm not saying that to be mean or anything. It's just an observation. I gather she's a small woman. A small woman with a big noggin. To me, she seems like a less frigid Natalie Portman.

The two things I dig about Giada are that her granddad made Conan the Barbarian and (more obviously) her cooking. I've been preparing dishes from her book, Everyday Italian. That's the name of her show too.

Our favorite dishes so far are: Ziti with Asparagus, Smoked Mozzerella and Prosciutto, Chicken Parmesan, Marinara, and Torta Di Pasta (which Alexis won't eat because its got eggs in it). We tried her Penne with Vodka Sauce, but the flavor was a bit too complex for our coarse, Midwestern palates.

#141 V for Vendetta

2006-03-20T19:29:00.000-08:00

"I'm the devil, here to do the devils work." That's just one of the many lines the Wachoswkis chose not to use when adapting Alan Moore's 20-something-year-old comic book for the screen. But I think it's a telling omission. The line is a quote from Charles "Tex" Watson, a member of Charles Manson's family. He spoke the words before doing his unseemly deeds in the Tate mansion. And V speaks these words in the comic book, aligning himself with the one of the most despicable criminals our time has known.

But the Wachowskis make movies about heroes. And their movie, while a pale, watered-down version of Moores original work, is a pretty good superhero movie. I dig that the destruction of parliament works as a triumphant climax. I'm for any movie that uses Antony and the Johnsons on the soundtrack. And I'm happy that the Wachowskis seem to be learning from their mistakes. They've got a long way to go, but this is a start.

So I didn't absolutely love V for Vendetta. I actually have a ton of problems with the movie (both brothers deserve lashes for their chronic and criminal underuse of today's best actors). But when they're on, they're on. And the scenes around Evey's discovery of "the note" and V's most considerate kill are better than solid filmmaking. Those moments are moving and, unsurprisingly, near panel-for-panel recreations of the orignal comic.

So there. I like it. It's my site. I can like what I want. Considering the fact that I liked Daredevil, the bar for qualification is pretty darn low (blame the after-effects of my "movie pill" for that one.

By the way. If you haven't read the comic, I recommend reading the version that best benefits Alan Moore. Use this simple program to view. Or at the very least buy it used.

#140 Dungen

2005-10-08T14:02:00.000-07:00

I just caught Dungen live at the 400 Bar here in Minneapolis. Gustav Ejstes and his bandmates put on a show that faithfully recreates the tasty psyche-rock hooks that make Ta Det Lugnt such a listenable record. But that's not to say that the band sounds hemmed in -- the compositions feel organic and improvisational.

The tour is just wrapping up, so try to catch them if you can. Supporting Dungen is the mesmerizing Mia Doi Todd. Show up early and catch her a capella cover of Dylan's "Masters of War."

#139 Amazon's Asian Horror Sale

2005-10-07T15:38:00.000-07:00

While I prefer to do business with small concerns, such as Drunken Master DVD (now with a sales counter in Los Angeles' premier comics retailer, Meltdown), this sale at Amazon is too good to pass up. If you haven't already purchased Oldboy, you'd be foolish not to grab it for $8.49. Unless, that is, you're one of those crazy people that's not into "gratuitously vile" Korean revenge pictures.

Props to Dave for the link.

#138 Double Dee & Stenski

2005-09-22T07:49:00.000-07:00

In 1983 the production duo of Doug DeFranco and Steve Stein produced a "mastermix" called Lesson One: The Payoff a song that cut and pasted dozens of soul, hip-hop, pop and vocal samples into the G.L.O.B.E. & Whiz Kid tune Play That Beat (Mr. DJ). Their musical tour de force never saw a commercial release (due to legal concerns) but still managed to spawn two sequels, Lesson Two: The James Brown Mix and Lesson Three: The History of Hip Hop.

The influence of these three tracks can't be stressed enough. DJ Shadow and Cut Chemist, obvious acolytes of the duo, have both created works directly inspired by the seminal songs.

The 1985 article by rock critic Robert Christgau "Down By Law: Great Dance Records You Can't Buy," tells the tale of Double Dee and Stenski fairly definitively. Particularly interesting to me is the author's enlightening of a particular vocal sample that the pair grabbed from Buchannan and Goodman's "The Flying Saucer." The 1956 song, which peppered an kitchy alien invasion narrative with bits of popular rock and roll songs, is another example of contemporary art beleagured by rights issues.

Reading this Village Voice story is a reminder that salvos have been fired in the battle between copyright holders and post-modern artists long before the birth of the mash-up.

In 2003 Waxy.org blogged about Double Dee and Stenski, gratiously providing links to the three tracks. Mirrors can still be found at their site.

#137 Next Generation Gaming

2005-09-16T07:45:00.000-07:00

After a slew of announcements at this year's Tokyo Game Show, I'm finally beginning to get excited about the coming "next generation" of video game consoles. The biggest news comes from Nintendo, who just unveiled their new controller. Styled like a remote control and packed with capabilities like motion detection and light gun-esque interaction, their new offering breaks from the complex joystick status quo introduced by Sony with the Playstation. Nintendo, understanding that video games are rapidly sliding into a geek ghetto are betting the farm on luring non-gamers into the fold with some powerful tech psychiatry. Their resoning for the simplistic turn: Most normal folks are afraid of video game controller, but few turn down the television remote -- they want power, but they want their interaction to be simple and fun. The possibilities for new and more palatable kinds of gaming with this device are staggering. This video from Nintendo's presentation begins to scratch the surface. The fact that the initial reation from many gamers is one of gloom and doom, leads me to believe that this new direction is a great idea.

In a more traditional offering, Konami introduced the next generation incarnation of Metal Gear Solid for the PS3. When I say tradtional, I mean that gaming hardliners seem to want graphical upgrades from their new consoles. While showing no gameplay, the Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots trailer underlines one of the least talked about benefits of bigger, more graphically intensive games -- more freedom to tell a story. This near-futuristic look at a war-hardened Snake, now greying and haggard, piques my imagination. I'm genuinely curious to see where Hideo Kojima goes with this.

And finally, Microsoft. They didn't drop any bombshells yet, but they did give us an exact date when the next generation begins. The Xbox 360 hits store shelves November 22. With games like Kameo: Elements of Power, The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion and Perfect Dark Zero that close, I'm officially psyched.

#136 DHC

2005-09-15T12:56:00.000-07:00

My wife, Alexis, regularly orders a box of cosmetics, creams and whatnot from DHC, a purveyor of such products made infinitely cooler by the fact that they're Japanese. I don't claim to know much about skin care but I do know this: minutes ago I was seated before this very computer, reading Twitchfilm's review of Metal: A Headbanger's Journey with a face as dry as a Saltine. Then, a ring of the doorbell and an exchange with the Fed Ex guy later, I found myself feeling moist and refreshed. Thanks to DHC Face Cream for Men my face no longer feels like a popped balloon stretched over a cocoanut.

#135 Nintendo DS

2005-09-05T23:41:00.000-07:00

It's been a slow first year for Nintendo's dual screen follow-up to the GameBoy Advance. While there have been a few great titles out available (namely Meteos and Kirby Canvas Curse) it's just now that we're really starting to see must-own titles hitting stores. Alexis and I have both been playing Nintendogs, a virtual pet simulator that takes great advantage of the DS's touch-screen and voice recognition and wireless capabilities. The excellent strategy game Advance Wars: Dual Strike has been spending quite a bit of time in my DS as well. I've already powered through the game's story mode and am now working my way through the game's many battle maps. The third game in my rotation is goofy import called Ossu! Tatakae! Ouendan! This music game (from the makers of Gitaroo Man) asks you to tap and draw on the touch screen in time to the music. Of all the games I've played for the DS, Ossu! Tatakae! Ouendan! is the most ingenious. The PSP may have more computing power and versatility, but the Nintendo DS delivers one-of-a-kind experiences that game lovers won't want to miss.

#134 Broken Flowers

2005-08-28T21:55:00.000-07:00

Jim Jarmusch's latest underscores just how uncompromised the director's work has been and probably will remain. There's a mystery at the core of Broken Flowers, but Jarmusch doesn't give us the satisfaction of naming the killer in the drawing room on the last page. No, Jarmusch's film is deliberatlely vague with the whys and wherefores of the whodunnit -- in this case, who caught main character Don Johnston's baby batter back in the good old days, then taunted him 20 years later with an anonymous note warning that the son he fathered is on his trail.

The film retains many of Jarmusch's familiar touches. Scenes, often episodic feeling, fade like unfinished sentances abandoned by their speaker. Music plays an important role again. The languid grooves of Ethiopian composer Mulatu Astatke punctuate the film on a mixed CD that Murray's character totes from rental car to rental car as he combs the country for the lover that might have mothered his child.

Bill Murray delivers another world-weary performance. He did, after all, sign on to read more voice over for the Garfield sequel. Your shoulder would develop a slouch too.

The half-full theater I screened the movie in seemed full of shaking heads when the lights came up. I wonder how long it's going to take the American public to figure out that Mr. Murray's name on the marquee is no longer a guarantee that you'll be rolling in the aisles.

#133 Densha Otoko

2005-08-25T22:57:00.000-07:00

Seeing that The 40-Year-Old Virgin, the story of a geek triumphant, is rocking the U.S. box office it's as good a time as any to turn you all on to how dorks are faring in the land of the rising sun.

The story of Densha Otoku (Train Man) began as a message board thread. Our hero, while riding the subway, inadvertantly saved a beautiful woman from being groped a drunken lech. The woman thanked him profusely and insisted on taking down his address so that she could send him a gift in return. This may not seem all that strange until you consider that Densha Otoku rarely, if ever talked to women. He was an otaku after all; a member of a chaste Japanese underclass who spend their time playing video games, worshiping anime characters. They don't get out much, hence the literal translation of otaku: "in the house."

Train Man had a hunch that the woman he'd rescued would contact him, so he rushed to his message board buddies to beg for help. And an Internet-centric take on Cyrano De Bergerac begins. The resulting message board thread became a best-selling novel, then a movie, four different manga and an exceptional television show (torrents here).

The Densha Otoku phenomenon is so pervasive that Napoleon Dynamite, a film with little chance to translate to Japanese audiences, is being released there with the title Bus Otoko.

But not all Japanese are pleased with this often saccharine story of the nerd who becomes a swan. Toru Honda, the author of Denpa Otoko (Radio Wave Guy), thinks that ditching your dorky ways for a woman is a cop out. His book posits that otaku live a near priestly lifestyle and that their love for anime characters and Jpop idols is a honorable expression. Densha Otoko`` is an otaku's surrender to love capitalism," he says. "What the main character should've done is turn the girl into another otaku and bring her to Akihabara.''

Either way, my people are getting their day in the sun. Maybe someday we'll merit our own super-cool neighborhood here in the states.

#132 The Revenge of The Screen Savers

2005-04-25T01:17:00.000-07:00

Four original cast members of TechTV's signature program The Screen Savers have reunited. The audio-only webcast, recorded by Leo Laporte with Patrick Norton, Kevin Rose and Robert Heron on conference call retains the unrepentant geek flavor of the show. For those not keeping score, The Screen Savers show was gutted (as was most of the TechTV staff) when Comcast purchased the network and combined it with their video game channel G4.

This, the first of many planned broadcasts, is an entertaining and conversational discussion of cell phone carriers, communication etiquette, noise cancelling headphones and, most interestingly, an earnest post-mortem of the show they all were a part of.

Not surprisingly, G4 has already reminded Norton and company that they plan to retain use of The Screen Savers name.

#131 Kidz Bop Covers Modest Mouse

2005-03-09T13:41:00.000-08:00

This cover of Modest Mouse's breakout hit "Float On" is further proof that we live in hilarious, surreal times. For the tween impaired, Kidz Bop, is a series of records featuring top hits (ala Now That's What I Call Music) sanitized and re-recorded by a gang of kidz. The resulting tunes feel like The Langley Schools Music Project songs, if their recording had been overseen by a corporate zombie.

"Float On" appears on Kidz Bop 7 along with covers of Usher's "My Boo" and Ashlee Simpson's "Piece of Me."

#130 Perry Bible Fellowship

2005-03-02T02:20:00.000-08:00

Perry Bible Fellowship, a weekly three-panel gem published in Baltimore City Paper, is the first comic strip I've been truly excited about since The Maakies. The person responsible for this gorgeous color strip is Nicholas Gurewitch. His art style is loose, and very expressive -- a distinct departure from the torso-less 'toons you see in most papers. And the tone of the comic is distinctly morbid. Thankfully, Gurewitch's dark thoughts don't manifest themselves in the trite imagery of goth culture. The scenery in Perry Bible Fellowship is generally bright and sunshiney. The hues have a saturated feel, as if the colors are filled in with those multi-colored, fruit flavored markers they hand out at Sunday School. When nihilistic flashes of violence, death and despair seep into the artwork, the results are jarring, thought-provoking and funny.

My favorite strip portrays a rocket ship nearly about to crash into a giant "reset" button that floats in space. Life evolves. Cites grow and rockets are invented. The final panel is identical to the first; the spacecraft keeping the infinite loop intact. Not "ha-ha" funny, but certainly right up my alley.

#129 Ong Bak

2005-02-28T22:09:00.000-08:00

Muay Thai fighter Tony Jaa (aka Panom Yeerum) makes his film debut in Ong Bak, a thrilling actioner that injects the martial arts genre with a much needed elbow to the head. The story is a simple one. Jaa stars as a country boy, who must travel to Bangkok to recover the head of Ong Bak, the Buddhist statue that looks over his village. The plot is nothing new. But the movie's back-to-basics approach, eschewing wire work and digital effects for real-time bone crunching, brings a long-overdue visceral punch back to cinemas.

The cut currently playing in the U.S. underwent fine tuning from French director Luc Besson (who is rapidly becoming patron saint of the martial arts movie). Much controversy has spawned over the edits and musical changes that were made, but the debate is moot since the original cut is readily available on an all region DVD from many sources.

Not surprisingly, Tony Jaa has already been tapped to star in an American movie, the upcoming Die Hard 4. I pray that Jaa stays in Thailand to make at least a couple more home-grown films before succumbing to the same dull American impulses that nearly tamed Jackie Chan and Jet Li.

#128 Look Around You

2005-02-28T00:51:00.000-08:00

Ever since The Office took hold state-side BBC America has been getting better about airing Britain's best and most off-beat comedies. Look Around You, surely the strangest of the bunch, is a retro-styled educational program meant to ape the UK's old-school equivalents to low-budget, American science programming like Cable in the Classroom and 3-2-1 Contact.

The twist here is that the science presented is almost always fabulously and hilariously wrong. As far as I've been able to figure Look Around You takes place in is a surreal alternate universe in which germs come from Germany, ghost ectoplasm tastes like pig's milk (pilk) and the contraction for, "thanks, ants." is "thants."

Sharp eyes will notice one of the show's scientists as Peter Serafinowicz of Shaun of the Dead. Sharper and nerdier ears will recognise the actor's voice from elsewhere. Many of Serafinowicz' comedy cronies guess star on the show, including Shaun director Edgar Wright as well as stars Simon Pegg and Nick Frost.

Much like Adult Swim's better original shows, Look Around You comes in short, easy to consume 15-minute bursts, the ideal serving size for senseless laughs.

#127 The Mars Volta

2005-02-25T00:28:00.000-08:00

At first I was a bit cool on The Mars Volta. I appreciated their first full-length, De-Loused in the Comatorium, but wasn't wowed. I saw them play at All Tomorrow's Parties and wasn't completely convinced either. Their drawn-out, improvadelic jams didn't click with me for some reason. Then my wife discovered the band, and as she fell in love with De-Loused, I too became enamored with its tape-loop segues, impenetrable lyrics and epic prog-rock crescendos. And then Frances the Mute hit the scene. Their new full-length, which hits stores next Tuesday, is more experimental than the last. The Widow, the first single from the record, is deceptively straight-forward and one of the best rock ballads I've heard in years. The rest of the record is a stunning mix of Latin beats, Sun-Ra flavored excursions and sweet, sweet bombast. I listen to The Mars Volta loud and often and recommend you do the same.

#126 World of Warcraft

2005-02-24T03:40:00.000-08:00

If there's one culprit to blame for my neglect of this site it would have to be my latest MMO addiction, World of Warcraft. And if there were ever a game that deserved such undivided attention, this is it. It's no exaggeration to say that Blizzard has created the greatest virtual world since Ultima Online. They've all but removed the "grind" that has made most other games in this genre (Everquest, Final Fantasy 11, etc.) feel so tedious. Hundreds of varied quests make progression from level to level much more colorful. And grouping with other players, though frequently useful, isn't the end-all-be-all of the game. In essence, they've made this kind of online gaming fun again by giving players freedom to play the game the way they see fit.

I've never experienced "endgame" -- the change in gameplay that occurs when you can no longer level up (World of Warcraft characters max out at Level 60). Until recently, tasting such power was the domain of only the most hard-core. Several of my friends are nearing the peak already, and I'm not terrible far behind.

So, if you can't reach me via email or telephone, give a whisper to Tura on the Silver Hand server.

#125 Katamari Damacy

2004-11-01T23:22:00.000-08:00

Some quirky Japanese games (I'm talking to you, Mr. Mosquito) wind up being cooler in concept than they are in execution. But Katamari Damacy, a newly imported garbage-rolling game for the PS2 has more than lived up to my expectations. The game puts you in the shoes of a tiny alien prince. Your father, the King of the Universe, needs you to clean up the mess he and his friends made on an overnight bender. Seems these immortals partied so hard that the stars fell from the sky. It's your job to pay a visit to Earth and roll up all the detrius you can find, then send it up into the cosmos to be made into a star. Thing is, as far as the Gods are concerned, everything down here is junk. Thumb-tacks, sushi, cats, dogs, people...doesn't matter. Roll 'em up and blast 'em into space.

The game's kooky concept is backed up with great game-play. Think Super Monkey Ball with a sticky orb. The look and tone of the game is rooted deep in the Japanese pop sensibility. The opening features dancing panda bears, ducks, rainbows and lots of mushrooms. The soundtrack is second-to-none and arguably the best original music for a game this year.

Oddly, an CD of the game's tunes (samples here) costs twice as much as the game (value priced at $19.99).

#124 Drunken Master DVD

2004-08-18T15:51:00.000-07:00

For several years now, Drunken Master has been my main source for 100% bootleg free Asian DVDs. I snagged Ring from their Los Angles Comic Con booth long before it was available in the states. Same goes for Ju-On: The Grudge, The Eye and Shaolin Soccer. The list goes on forever. If you are a DVD region hacker and love Samurai flicks, kaiju, horror or whatever this vendor comes with my highest recommendation. The proprietors of this business are extremely cool. They've never once steered me wrong. You'll even notice that some descriptions feature negative comments on the quality of the films. Like I said, I can't stress enough how much Drunken Master DVD deserves your business.

Check out their current, must see new releases Old Boy and Doppelganger.

If you order before August 25th, use the coupon code San Diego for an additional 15% off. Orders over $35 get free media mail shipping.