What I'm Watching (Volume 9): Full Metal Alchemist

I had heard rumblings of a live action Fullmetal Alchemist movie for years, but was pretty surprised to just find it on Netflix one day. The film is an adaption of (largely) the first quarter of the story from the manga with a few liberties in the adaption. It's certainly a Japanese film with an all-Japanese cast, which may be unsettling to some, but really didn't bother me.

Live action manga/anime adaptions given Western production and release really struggle across the board, either with making money, or with being interesting, and frequently both. Consider films like Aeon Flux, Speed Racer, Ghost in the Shell, or worst yet, Dragonball Evolution. Each of these movies either felt the need to heavily diverge from the source material, couldn't capture the spirit of their movies, or make a lot of money. A Speed Racer movie should, in theory, be easy to do in live action, but getting significant interest from Western audiences would be extremely challenging. The reality is that manga fans are a small subset of Western audiences, and so marketing these movies is extremely challenging. On the other hand, Japanese audiences are innundated with anime and manga, and so making a live action adaption of an anime there is actually much simpler, leading to standout examples such as Rurouni Kenshin. If a live action adaption of Dragonball can't make money, with Dragonball overwhelmingly being the most popular manga in the West, then there would be no prayer of making a financially successful Fullmetal Alchemist movie here. So I was pretty happy to learn that a Japanese studio was doing it, and was willing to accept characters who look significantly different than their decidedly European counterparts as depicted in the manga. The reality is that Japanese speaking white folks who are willing to star in a film who also have the acting chops to pull it off is a very limited demographic, so I really didn't have a problem with the looks of the cast.

And the performance of most of the cast members was actually pretty good, especially for a relatively low budget film. Ed's performance was pretty good, they nailed the look of Alphonse, and the actor who played Colonel Hughes actually nailed it. They also got excellent looking performers for Lust, Gluttony, and Envy, and most of the cast turned in at least above average performances. They also nailed Alexander the dog from the Shou Tucker storyline, showing the true love of the source material ;). Colonel Mustang was a bit too wooden, and really failed to build any kind of chemistry, however. Worst of all was the cringe worthy performance turned in by the actress playing Winry, who resembled Winry in her character almost as little as she did in appearance. She played what I call the anime "woo girl" far more than the tender yet strong, intelligent character that she portrays in the manga.

Real screenshot of Winry from the film

 

The visuals of the film are better than I had hoped, but definitely worse than would be ideal. For a Japanese-made film, I was rather impressed, but the CG necessary to do a good adaptation of this was definitely out of the reach of the creators. There are some pretty impressive shots here and there, but for every impressive one, there's usually one in which the CG-generated characters lack weight and presence during a fight, the live action doesn't quite sync up to the CG, and the CG doesn't have the degree of clarity and precision you'd like to see.

 

The film had plenty of nice nods to the manga, with some shot by shot reenactments of panels from the manga, as well as plenty of fan favorite moments. These are all kind of jumbled around out of order, and there are certainly changes from the manga, but most of these are casualties of having eliminated characters such as Scar from the movie, which makes sense. Making a movie about an ensemble manga like Fullmetal Alchemist is a lot like making a movie about The Lord of the Rings: you need to find the essential element of the narrative and cut a lot that doesn't advance that narrative. The adaptation thus focuses, rightly, on Ed and Al's quest for the Philosopher's Stone in order to restore their body. 

 

The film breaks down at three primary levels, however. The first is that Ed and Al are given precious little time to build chemistry together, which is really important considering that one of them is a suit of armor. The kind of tender relationship that they have is challenging to build in a live action film, as a lot of our cues of relationship on film come from body language and facial expression, and a CG suit of armor really can't deliver that type of performance. You don't really attach to either character, thus, or feel any real drama from restoring their bodies.

 

The second problem with the film is that it offers precious little resolution. It's a movie that ends in a way that demands a sequel, and there's no guarantee it will get one. It was probably better suited for a TV show than a movie, as it just requires a lot of building and plot development that really can't be covered in two hours. 

 

The third, and by far biggest problem with the film, is that despite hitting a lot of nice nods to the anime, it truly and utterly collapses in capturing the delightfully silly tone of the manga. There is precious little humor here, and what is there is falls abysmally flat. Leaving out a character like Teacher was an absolute crime against humanity, and would have provided some much needed levity throughout. I think a good introductory story which follows the boys through their trauma and training under Teacher's tutelage, and facing off against an early adversary would have been a better approach. A film with a tone which is more like Guardians of the Galaxy and less like Captain America: Winter Soldier would have served the source material a bit better, and also given it less false depth and grumpiness.

Fullmetal Alchemist did a lot of things right, but mostly missed the mark in capturing what made the original wonderful. I hope that if it does get a sequel, we'll get some flashback footage with Teacher, introduce Major Armstrong, and deliver that delightfully variable experience that only Ed, Al, and the gang can deliver. I'll give it a 7.0/10.

What I'm Playing (Volume 49): Mass Effect

My goals for 2017 and 2018 were to clear out some of the oldest thorns in my gaming side, and I've already mostly succeeded in that, to the degree that the oldest thorns in my side are now much younger. After dominating my old nemesis The Legend of Dragoon, the next game I'd had hanging for a while that I really wanted to beat was Mass Effect 3, but it'd been so long since I played that I wanted to go back to the beginning first with Mass Effect.

The story of Mass Effect 3 for me is truly tragic, as I played it probably 80% through, but then had a scratch on the disc or something, and never finished it. I tried to buff it, and it didn't work, so rather than do the sensible thing and buy a new disc for XBox 360, where I started it, I bought Mass Effect Trilogy for PS3, and decided to beat all three of them again. This was actually kind of nice, as the trilogy package included some of the DLC for the first two games that I'd never experienced, but it was most unnecessary and completely self-serving.

When I first played Mass Effect, it was one of those moments in which I got absolutely sucked into a game and found myself unable to put it down, a very uncommon occurrence for me in my adult life, especially with modern games. I beat Mass Effect in a weekend the first time around, and immediately went out and bought Mass Effect 2, which I also never do. So how does Mass Effect stack up on a second playthrough, and another platform?

For those who don't know, Mass Effect puts you in control of Commander Shepard, a true avatar whose personality/gender/playstyle/appearance are as you want them to be. You have an impressive suite (for the time at least) of character backstory and physical appearance with which to play before beginning the game, although I always do it very quickly, as I'd rather get to the game. The game itself is a first person shooter with role playing elements, although the role playing is primarily carried out through your choices within the game, rather than in its gameplay. You can kill enemies for experience, level up, and customize your character's abilities to tailor them to your desired playstyle. If you prefer up close combat, you can level up abilities to increase your health and melee combat, whereas if you'd rather fight at a distance, you can increase your damage/accuracy with sniper rifles, or if you'd rather focus more on becoming more persuasive in conversation, allowing you to bully your way to your desired outcome, or charm your conversation partner into doing what you want.

As with all BioWare games, the real centerpiece of the game is the excellent writing and character development, which honestly begins to approach the standards of real legitimate literature. Previous BioWare games like Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic and Baldur's Gate really shattered the glass ceiling that video games are dumb, and catapulted the genre forward. The nice thing about Mass Effect is that it maintains all of the strength of those two titles while also creating a much more enjoyable and accessible combat interface for those poorly versed in the slog of traditional computer RPGs, or just for those who'd enjoy a nice twist on the RPG experience. Your choices in these immaculately written conversations change your characters reputation, as choosing aggressive or sadistic options will result in being perceived as a renegade, while more peaceful and self-sacrificial choices result in having a reputation as a paragon. Some choices will only be available to your if you've achieved a certain level of paragon or renegade, which means that not only do your choices affect the outcomes of certain missions or paradoxes, but they also constrain your ability to choose different options later in the game. These choices usually feel impactful, and the ramifications of your choices will not only affect the story you're told in Mass Effect, but also carry over the major plot points in the second and third installments of the game. This is role-playing taken seriously, and this approach is seen more and more in modern RPGs. We all owe a debt of gratitude to BioWare for increasing the diversity of RPGs in the modern era, and games like The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt find themselves directly in the lineage of BioWare's story telling masterpieces.

In addition to the excellent writing, the voice acting also serves as a great vehicle for story telling. All of the voice actors are very good, and deliver a very cinematic and believable experience that helps you to bond to the characters in the game.

Graphically speaking, Mass Effect still looks excellent. The graphical gap between generations has never been smaller, and well made PS3/Xbox 360 games still look superb today. Mass Effect is one of these. You'll explore a wide variety of beautiful locations, character models are well developed and animated, and the combat proceeds smoothly with very little lag, which is remarkable for how many objects are on the screen at once.

The music is really excellent, drawing from the Western CRPG tradition of having more of an ambient film soundtrack approach rather than the JRPG operatic/thematic approach. Both are excellent when done right, and this one is. Mass Effect has a more electronic sound to it, and sets a consistently good mood throughout. The song that plays over the title theme always hits my nostalgia spot nicely, and is a really nice touch.

There are plenty of rough edges in the game, which is expected whenever you have a new franchise/concept being built from the ground up. The game is definitely buggy, especially in combat. Your AI partners are extremely incompetent, and will frequently hurt more than help by standing in your way when you're trying to shoot enemies. There were some hilarious bugs in which your character would disappear during conversations, and one fantastic one in which my character's eyes got crossed to an extremely uncomfortable degree.

The side missions/exploration are cool at first, but get a little dull after a while. You can land on other planets in your little car (the Mako) and explore them. You also get side missions from NPCs which require you to go to other planets and rescue people/kill bad guys/etc. A lot of people complain about the Mako, but I love it, so there. But the main downside of the side missions is that each planet is more or less the same (they look different, but they're all kind of mountainous with about 4 things to explore), and each side mission involves you going into very homogenous looking buildings, shooting bad guys, and saving the day. When I say homogenous, they all look pretty much exactly the same, and I'm really not kidding. Eventually I bored of doing them, but it's nice to have the option at least.

Altogether, Mass Effect is a really excellent game that I'd recommend to pretty much everyone. It's a nice popularizing of BioWare's innovative RPG approach for the modern casual gamer, and it crosses just enough lines to satisfy most people. My wife, who rarely plays video games, and almost never plays by herself also beat the game in a weekend, finding it very challenging to turn off. If you've never played it, it's a modern masterpiece that needs to be experienced. I'll give it a 9.6/10.

Next up is a reTROview of this game's sequel, Mass Effect 2, the generally most beloved game in the series. Tune in next time to find out what my opinion is! I probably have 4-5 hours left of gameplay, so I'd imagine I'll have a review up by the end of the week.

-TRO

What I'm Watching (Volume 8): Blade Runner 2049

Blade Runner 2049 is a sequel to one of my favorite science fiction movies of all time, and is set 30 years after the events of the first movie. The film follows Ryan Gosling's character K as he follows a difficult case in his line of work as a Blade Runner. In this fictional universe, modern science has successfully created replications of human beings known as replicants, and society uses them more or less as slaves. Blade Runners are more or less cops who exist to track down and retire (kill) replicants who have disobeyed their masters. The core theme of Blade Runner revolves around what is it that makes an individual a human and what the worth of humanity is, as well as how technology presents challenges to those judgments. Blade Runner 2049 runs with these themes as well, albeit set in an even more futuristic world in the same universe.

The film has a ton of strengths, and the foremost of these is the visual achivement of the movie. This movie is jaw-droppingly gorgeous, and the direction of the action is absolutely perfect. It really captures the gritty, noir feel of the first film, but jacks up the budget substantially, allowing for some truly exemplary cinematic accomplishments. The whole team that worked on this side of the movie did a superb job on this film, and it really shows.

The thematic work in this movie was fairly spot on to the original film, although it definitely takes a bit more of a mainstream approach to the film than the original. If Blade Runner operated primarily on a level of ambiguity and challenging audiences, then Blade Runner 2049 works best by teasing around that edge, but giving the audience more hard and fast answers to the questions posed by the film. The ethics of the characters in this movie are generally much more clear than in the first, and the fates of those characters are fairly well defined, especially compared to the complete cliffhanger of the first movie. I prefer the more open ended narrative structure of the original, but this will definitely be more pleasing to the vast majority of moviegoers, and was done quite well, so I have few problems with it. If you were doing a straight side story with different characters in this universe, then you could really take the same narrative approach of the original, but this is a sequel featuring several recurring characters, so some clarity is unavoidable. It is definitely more challenging than the vast majority of Hollywood movies, though, so I think they toed the line pretty nicely here.

The music was very good, and added nicely to the overall feel of the film. It definitely had a nicely retro feel to it, and would have felt right at home in the original film.

The script was generally smartly written, and feels very much in the same universe as the original's. It develops a nice plot, and has plenty of hooks and twists throughout to keep you engaged.

I felt like the movie was too long at a whopping 163 minutes, but after thinking about it, I can't really find too much to cut out. But if I'm getting antsy by the end of the movie, I think a professional filmmaker probably could have found 12 minutes to cut.

My biggest disappointment with the film was the lack of interest that I had in Gosling's character. I feel like he did a fine job of performing the character, but he just wasn't written terribly well, which was shielded a bit by the fact that many surrounding characters were much more interesting. I absolutely love Gosling, and three of my favorite films of the last 10 years have him as star (La La Land, Drive, and The Place Beyond the Pines). But I found myself genuinely bored by him, aside from his little storyline with his AI roommate, and I actually found that concept more interesting than his performance in it.

The rest of the cast delivers above average performances, but no one really stands out as a shining star of the movie, unlike the original, which featured excellent performances by Harrison Ford, Sean Young, and Rutger Hauer. I felt like Harrison Ford was really underused in this film, although I generally don't like when they drag back actors to do a new film in a series 30 years after the fact (Harrison Ford seems to have this happen to him all of the time).

Anyway, I thought that Blade Runner 2049 was a good movie, and a worthy addition to the Blade Runner universe. It's not for everyone, but I think it does enough of a good job of channeling the spirit of the original while also shaving off some of the delightfully rough edges that made the original so challenging to the average audience. It's a shame that it bombed, because I'd love to see a followup that fixes some of the problems with the movie, but it gave enough to warrant it an 8.8/10.

-TRO

What I'm Playing (Volume 48): Beetle Adventure Racing

A racing game featuring only Volkswagon Beetles, you say? Released around the same time as the relaunch of the VW Beetle, you say? Glorified product placement, you say? This game looks like a classic example of a game you'd find in the bargain bin at Wal-Mart for $1.50 3 years after the end of the N64's life span. But you can't judge a book by it's cover, so let's jump into a super serious review of this game!

Beetle Adventure Racing is actually a pretty delightful racing game for the N64 that adds a really nice twist on the genre all while reminding us that in general, good games are going to be found and known. I have no idea why I had this game as a kid, but I did, and I loved it! It's not as good as Mario Kart 64, but it's different enough to warrant owning both, and enjoying both. The game has a pretty pleasing and realistic look to it (surprising for the N64), but also has an addictive arcade style of racing more akin to a game like San Francisco Rush rather than Gran Turismo. You'll be crashing through barricades to find secret passages, flying off of jumps hundreds of feet in the air, be driving through volcanoes with dinosaurs lurking outside, and traversing sandy desert dungeons in this one. This adventurous approach is what really sets this game apart from the 100 other racing games on the 64, as the tracks are long, beautiful, and filled with more secrets than you will probably be able to find without help from the internet. The game also rewards trial and error quite a bit, as most shortcuts will unlock different secrets, but will also slow you down. Finding the optimal route through the level, thus, requires a lot of replay, increasing the game's value.

The controls in the game are very good, with the vehicles responding the way that they should, and a physics engine that nicely toes the line between realism and fun, but definitely errs on the side of fun. Completing each new level of the championship mode unlocks newer, faster cars (just more Beetles with different colors and decals, but still). There's a fun battle mode that you can play with your friends that is honestly nearly as good as Mario Kart 64's but not quite. It's definitely a different approach, though, and is really very good.

The music and sounds are both really good, with rewarding sound effects upon finding secrets (getting a nitro box results in a delightful woohoo!) and a really nice soundtrack that fits the game very well.

The game could probably use a diversity of cars, although I find this to be one of its quirky charms. It also could use a more gradual difficulty curve, as the first two levels of difficulty are extremely easy, while the last two are nearly impossible without having a perfect race. I also didn't like that at the beginning of the game, very few tracks are unlocked, although they're long. Unlocking all of them will take a ton of practice, which few people are likely going to be willing to do.

All in all, Beetle Adventure Racing is a reminder to all of us that just because something sounds dumb, doesn't mean it is. The deck was completely stacked against this game from the get go, but the developers managed to produce a quality experience that you'll find yourself engaged with from start to finish. I'll give it an 8.6/10.

What I'm Playing (Volume 47): Super Mario World

For the second time in less than a year, I beat Super Mario World again, and I now officially have a (very good) problem. I've already reviewed this game gushingly before, but I want to leave documentation that I've beaten it again, and this time made a big effort to try to explore its secrets more deeply. I'll still be tooling around with trying to find all of the secret exits and find all of the different colored Yoshis in the next few days, but boy, did I love it every bit as much as the first time again. I always turn this game on when I've had a bad day, am losing my temper with my kids or my wife, lose a few bucks in poker, or just am generally bored with whatever game I'm playing, and it never fails to improve my day. If you haven't played it, I can attest that it's one of the finest artistic achievements of all time, and you need to do so immediately.

I'm still working through some long RPGs at the moment, but I'll be back soon!

-TRO

Song of the Day (Volume 44): The Big Medley

"Turn it on Again" has been stuck in my head all week, so here's an excellent medley featuring the song, as well as several other delightful classic and progressive rock songs. Enjoy!

-TRO

What I'm Playing (Volume 46): Castlevania: Symphony of the Night

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (SotN) is one of the games I've wanted to play since finishing up Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow last year. I know it's seen as the progenitor of the modern Castlevania games, and is held up along with Super Metroid as the co-creator of a genre which I have been really enjoying the last year or so. So I picked up my copy of Konami Classics: Volume 1 (seriously, have you seen how expensive copies of this game are for PS1?) and hunkered down for the ride. This review, thus, is for this particular port of the game, although it seems identical to the PS1 version as far as I can tell.

The basic mechanics of the game are fairly similar to that of the NES Castlevania games, in that you can jump, attack, and use special attacks to move through Dracula's castle and stop his resurrection/kill him. You control Alucard, Dracula's son, who is concerned when Dracula's In addition to the basic mechanics, however, SotN adds in some critical features which help to take the series in a different direction while still maintaining the feel of a Castlevania game.

The first among these changes is the inclusion of RPG elements such as different weapons and armor for Alucard, the primary character, as well as the ability to level up by killing enemies in the castle. There is also a cool little magic system in which you can input button combinations (think Street Fighter) to cast different spells.

The most important change in the game, however, is a stylistic one. Rather than following the approach of previous Castlevania games in which you moved through a set of levels within the castle, SotN takes a more open approach, allowing you to explore the castle at your leisure. Much like Super Metroid, a great deal of the castle is walled off to you until you get different items and powers that help you bypass obstacles keeping you from new areas, and like Super Metroid, you're provided a map which helps you to keep track of where you've been. The flow of the game is much more player centric thanks to this change, encouraging exploration and discovery over following tightly controlled scripts.

So, knowing the basics, how does this game stack up? I absolutely loved playing this game. Even 20 years later, and even with all of the polish that later games in this genre have tacked on to the formula, the raw daring and creativity of SotN shines clearly, despite a handful of blemishes that can barely tarnish this work of genius. The game's attempt to put the player's exploration at the forefront of the works incredibly well. There are things to find in every corner of the castle, and secrets everywhere. All along the way, you level up, growing stronger, and giving your quest a real sense of purpose. The powerups you get mostly make sense, and feel incredibly rewarding when you're finally able to fly into that ledge with the item that's been taunting you for hours, or able to submerge yourself in water at last and explore the caverns under the castle.

The best part about the exploration is that it's not quite like other pale but competent imitations of the genre such as Shantae and the Pirate's Curse, such that getting a power unlocks new areas on a 1:1 ratio, with a few other secrets unlockable behind you in your path. In SotN, getting new powers unlocks dozens of little areas throughout the castle, as well as two or three big wings of the castle. Some of these areas have little rewards, while others have boss fights and new powers critical to continuing your quest.

You have no way of knowing which is which, but clearing out more of the map is a spiritually rewarding in this model, as this bold exploration is the only way in which you can delve the mysteries of the castle and get strong enough to conquer its master. There were plenty of situations in which I would happen upon wings of the castle that I had missed earlier, and find that I was so strong that clearing them out would be easy, while there were plenty of others in which probing into this section would prove perilous to my precious health, warranting a hasty retreat, exploring other areas, and returning upon grinding out more of the map, better items, and more levels. This learning was based solely on your exploration, as there's absolutely 0 hand holding here, making you feel like the brave explorer in hostile territory that you are.

The setting of the game is absolutely haunting, as you would hope from a Castlevania game. Horrifying enemies lurk everywhere you turn, and the surroundings are lovingly render using then-outdated 2D sprites. This retro style fits the game exceeding well though, and they're able to use the increased power of the PlayStation to produce what would have likely been among the best looking SNES games ever at that point, all while having environments that are probably far too large and expansive for a more retro medium.

The controls are fine. I'm not sure if my not being thrilled with them was due to the fact that I was using an XBox 360 controller, or if it has to do with the game, but there were times that I felt they were slightly clunky. I ended up having to use the analog stick for the game, which definitely worked better than the D-pad, but I love D-pads, so this was sad. The 360 d-pad is frankly trash, so I wouldn't be surprised if this is a 360 thing rather than a SotN thing.

The music was very good, but not quite as effective as the flawless Super Metroid soundtrack. There are a lot of good standout tracks that cover a wide range of musical genres, but I frequently found myself wanting the more eerily absent approach of Nintendo's contribution to the Metroidvania concept.

Speaking of Super Metroid, however, SotN improves on it in one really important way. The castle in SotN is just leaps and bounds more well designed to facilitate your exploration than is Planet Zebes in Super Metroid. Rather than the doors which close behind you and can't open, and the far reaching planet which takes huge amount of time to traverse, SotN rewards you with little shortcuts between areas upon completing them, as well as teleporters which allow you to quickly reach each quadrant of the castle.

The voice acting absolutely blew me away, to be honest with you. For a PS1 game, it has a surprising amount of voice acting, and it's all very good. The dialogue between characters allows for a surprising amount of character development and attachment that impressed me.

All of these things would be enough to warrant a 9.0/10 without breaking a sweat, but the most impressive thing about SotN is the plot twist halfway through the game, which I won't spoil as it will leave you absolutely disoriented and delighted. Like Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow, you have a chance to beat the game with multiple endings depending on how you perform in the game. Unlike this game's spiritual successor on the GBA, however, SotN buries an extra half of the game if you manage to avoid the bad ending, and it's no simple task to do so! What's more, the half of the game after avoiding the bad ending is by far the best half of the game, and I would imagine that many kids playing this game in the 90s may not have even known that this half of the game existed! The absolutely brash burying of your best material behind a challenging wall was so delightful to me that I couldn't help by taking this review WAY up.

There are a few warts on this gem, and they bear mentioning. The 3D elements in the game aren't used terribly well, to be honest. They don't really mesh all that well with the 2D sprites, and can be pretty disorienting. There is one spot in particular where you fly in front of a purple background of clouds, and if it were not for the map, you couldn't even tell you were moving at all.

I feel like there was far too little in terms of an invulnerability period between getting knocked back and being eligible to be hit again, which wound up in a lot of frustrating times in which you would get knocked back constantly and be unable to fight back. Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow does a really nice job of polishing this up, but it's definitely notable here.

I felt like the plot twist in the middle was a bit too buried, to the point when unless you had a strategy guide or a friend with one, you may never know about it. I like secrets, but I'm not sure how discoverable this one was without help. In the modern era of having help everywhere, however, this is not such a big deal. I'd have been a little mad to discover it back in the day, though.

The magic system is frankly pretty unusable, although I'm not sure if this is because of the imprecise controls of the XBox 360, or just having to do with the game itself. I'm generally very good at performing fighting game inputs (I can nail Zangief's 360 piledrive probably 80% of the time in Street Fighter II), but doing these inputs really evaded me. They reminded me a lot of the inputs in the dreadful Street Fighter, rather than the more polished and user friendly inputs in Street Fighter II.

All in all, I'll always remember my first run through Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, and it shot up my rankings for best games and best PlayStation games. While it has a few more warts than Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow, it's also ferociously innovating and pushed the genre light years forward in a way that its GBA sister can't claim. I absolutely loved this game, and would highly recommend it to absolutely anyone. I'll give it a 9.6/10.

I'm going to be replaying a fun old friend next on route to finishing one of its sequels that I never finished, so it's going to be a bit before I get to a new HD game here, but here's a hint for what it'll be...

-TRO

Song of the Day (Volume 43): Turn it On Again

This is a really great song from an underappreciated era of Genesis' career. Phil, Tony, and Mike were plenty talented enough to carry this band without Peter Gabriel, although I do think the Gabriel material is the best. But the whole discography has a ton to love, and I kind of like it when bands have periods with remarkably different sounds to them.

-TRO

What I'm Watching (Volume 7): Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee

Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee is one of the rare shows in which the title tells you just about all you need to know about the show. Hosted by Jerry Seinfeld, the show features him driving around, picking up comedians, and talking to them in the car and at coffee shops.

The show was formerly on Crackle, where I first watched it, but has now migrated to Netflix. I absolutely abhor that they've reordered the series for Netflix by the way. It's so hard to remember which ones I've watched and which I haven't, so I truly wish that they'd go back to the old way of doing things.

I recently caught up on the last season (I think, due to the confusing new order of the show), and mostly enjoyed it.

Seinfeld is always engaging and hilarious, but the show tends to rise and fall based on the guests. It's pretty apparent that some of his guests are close personal friends, while others are acquaintances, and the closer to close personal friend you get, the better the episode.

Additionally, some of the comics are just naturally better fits for the show than others, with some delivering extremely memorable appearances (Larry David, Louis C.K., Norm MacDonald) while others are frankly very dull (Howard Stern, Christoph Waltz). This tends to be my biggest complaint with the show, as I feel like there are probably too many episodes, and I'd rather see repeats with some of Jerry's closest friends rather than trying to have tons of new people on all the time, especially if they end up being boring episodes.

The show is shot and edited very well, and the scripts for Jerry's introduction of the car which they'll be driving that day are always very good. Jerry's passion for cars shines through the show, and even as a non-car person, he clearly communicates his love for the subject in a way that's engaging for me.

All in all, Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee is a nice getaway type of show. It's nothing extraordinary, but it revels in its celebration of ordinary relationships and doing ordinary things, and in that it's remarkably comforting. I'll give the show an 8.5/10.

-TRO