Recommendation of the Day: The Cabin in the Woods

  A recent film to be put out by Drew Goddard with the creative writing help of Joss Whedon (Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog) is a tremendous movie that dissects the horror film genre. The movie is about a group of college students heading out to go stay in a cabin that they acquired for a weekend (sound familiar?) and when they get there they find some peculiar things that lead to a terrifying night for the five of them. Later, as people overlooking the students' horrors from a distance, the mystery begins to unravel as the monsters and ghosts and odd behavior the kids begin to show.
                                                                        
  The film's cast includes Kristen Connolly, Chris Hemsworth, Richard Jenkins, and Bradley Whitford. The movie, a solid 8 out of 10, was one of the most original scary movies released within the last decade. It's funny, scary, confusing, and epic (hence it being the Recommendation of the Day). The film was one of the most spatical that I have experienced and enjoyed seeing in theaters. Go see it, it is most definitely worth the money.

P.S. Spatical does not condone nor condemn the use of drugs (unless they're cool).  Enjoy!

Recommendation of the Day: Up All Night

  This 2011 TV series, starring the lovely Christina Applegate (Married With Children, Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy), the hilarious Will Arnett (Arrested Development, Blades of Glory), and histarical Maya Rudolph (SNL, Bridesmaids), is the funny story of the day-by-day life of Reagan and her husbad Chris (Applegate and Arnett) as they raise their baby daughter, Amy.
   Reagan Brinkley works as an executive producer on Ava's (Rudolph) television program. Reagan is a very controlling and organized person both at home and at work. Ava, also being her best friend, is the stereotypical Hollywood star- being very ditsy and self-absorbed.  Chris Brinkley was a lawyer looking to advance in his field when he became a stay-at -home-dad after his wife's unplanned pregnancy and birth to their daughter.
   The chemistry of the actors is amazing in each episode and the writing is quirky and cute while being honest about life as new parents. It is a very funny show about relationships, marriage, parenthood, work, and life in general. Not only that, but it's not just a show women can enjoy. Regardless of how woman-oriented the plot of the series may seem, it appeals to men just as much with the sense of humor it is endowed with.                              
                                        

Side effects may include but are not limited to: laughter, crying, romantic feelings, wanting a baby, pregnancy, having a baby, unexplained convulsions, contractions, and jealousy (Christina Applegate's in the show). Enjoy!

Psychology of Insecurity

  Here lately, men and women are finding themselves more and more insecure about their body and sexual performance. Paid programs on television contribute to these feelings that both sexes are experiencing. These programs talk about how women prefer large, muscular men and how men are more attracted to skinny, large chested women. To this, men start ordering and taking pills that promise results to make them more attractive to women, and ladies will starve  themselves and get surgery in order to be more sexually appealing. Guys and girls both worry so much about pleasing the other, disregarding any ego-building compliments that they may receive, feeling that they are insincere. We, as people, need to attempt to meet a happy medium between men and women, acknowledging each of us for what we have while still trying to improve little things that wont hurt anyone. Men don't deserve to constantly think they are inadequate in so many ways. Equally, women don't deserve to think they need to be thin and big-breasted in order to feel "sexy". If men would stop worrying and women would stop complaining, and both attempted to be their best at life, happy, honest, and themselves, then so many psychological issues with social and sexual inadequacy wouldn't exist. Insecurity is too big of a problem to turn away from. Try to do what you can to balance this problem.

Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain

  Remember when PS1 was still popular and everyone wanted and/or had one? And remember the classic games that went along with it, like Spyro, The Legend of Mana, Tomb Raider, and so on? I do, and one of my favorite games of this time period was Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain. Blood Omen was the first in the long saga of games that later became Soul Reaver (PS2), focusing, originally, around Kain and his thirst, as a vampire, for blood and revenge. Later, of course, the game took a turn to be narrated and centering on the character, Raziel, but also following the same story line, with more twist and turns and complications in the plot. Kain's story and game was a very bloody and violent and simple; kill, use potions, transform to a bat or wolf, travel around and get his revenge. There was very little puzzle challenges, unlike the Soul Reaver games to follow. Where Raziel was a puzzle solver and absorbed souls, Kain would kill and battle and suck blood into a vile (located on the side of the screen and making a cool "shllllk shlllk" sound when you drank people's blood) and killing nearly anyone around, but there weren't very many mental tasks that needed  to be performed.
  The game is a classic for the Play Station and leads to an addiction to the saga, all through the final Soul Reaver, which brings the entire conjoined story of Kain and Raziel full circle. Kain's original game differs greatly from what it later was created into, but played in order, there really is nothing too confusing about it (until said final Soul Reaver game which includes multiple twists and time traveling back and forth). It's a great play for anyone and the entire series of games is a great experience (as it does challenge the mind and promotes the use of intense brain power in order to follow the story and narration) for all ages. Hope you all remember it as well as i do, and I hope you, too, got satisfaction from its very existence. Enjoy.

-Yours Truly

Recommendation of the Day: Fooly Cooly

 

 Today's review is of an older, but familiar show that once  aired on Adult Swim. Fooly Cooly (or FLCL) was aired in 2001 and the 6-episode show took a large amount of people over with its random sense of humor, odd story-lines, and fabulous characters. This anime is based around a 12-year-old boy named Naota, who is savagely beaten by a scooter (her famous Vespa) driven by a strange pink-haired woman. After that, she proceeds to hit him with an unusual guitar she carries, which almost resembles a chainsaw in characteristics, at that point in time. Later the show reveals that the woman with pink hair has recently started living with Naota and his dad and grandfather in their store/house. Her name is Haruko. She turns out to be even weirder than Naota imagined and leads him into a universe of trouble when robots from a plant, Medical Mechanic, that centers the town start crawling out of Naota's forehead. One of these robots becomes a member of the house and named Kanti (Lord Kanti) by Naota's lonely, troubled, and immature friend in high school, Mamimi. The four of them, including Kanti, try to take down the Medical Mechanica plant's weapons with their own, all later revealing a plot that's much bigger than their own planet. Haruko's strange appearance is explained, regarding her drive for a certain power, and the center to the story, the powerful Atomsk ("The Pirate King") who is the Pirate if the Universe. Haruko has been chasing him down in order to gain his power for herself, regardless of the destruction she causes along the way.
  The whole story, of course, involves a little more than this, such as Atomsk's manifestation through Kanti, Naota helping Atomsk as a catalyst, and Mamimi's random behavior and sadness. This show, created by Yoji Enokido &Kazuya Tsurumaki, is a great series, though short with its 6 episodes, but, in my opinion (since you're reading this i assume you care), makes the show even better than others. This is one of my personal favorites and has been for years; hence the fact I care to recommend it. Take a look at it sometime, laugh, cry, and of course, enjoy.

-Yours Truly

Rolling Kansas

 

 Comedy? Check. Weed? Check. Wrong use of human noses found in police evidence bags? Check. Rolling Kansas, a hilarious film by Thomas Haden Church, is about 3 friends who are all living broke, find out their Hippie parents created a map for them to use years ago to a map to a "Magical Marijuana Forest" in Kansas. The 3, Dick, Dink and Dave, along with Kevin and Hunter, rented a car, implements of destruction, and their map, travel to Kansas to find the forest.
  Along the way, the group experience troubles with the law, odd flashbacks to their lives being raised by hippies, and hookers who enjoy the company of a cripple guy with a close attachment to bunnies. The comedy includes a great since of humor and music score playing in the background. It also continues to question the characters' sexual tendencies, though we're not sure why. I, personally, love pot movies, and this 2003 film is a top pick for me :)

  -Yours Truly

Vicky Cristina Barcelona

  This film, unfortunately written and directed by Woody Allen (as a critic, i generally disagree with none of his work), is a great piece of work with an all star cast and a fascinating plot about two friends, Vicky and Cristina, who share everything but their perspective of love, and go to stay in Barcelona for a summer, meet a handsome and up-front man, Juan Antonio, who sweeps them off their feet in Spain and show them into the art world, which they both adored. The story later thickens with a love between Cristina and Juan Antonio, and a story of his ex wife and their violent marriage to Maria Elena erupts.
  This movie includes amazing art, music and screen shots of Spain and the places within it. Along with this, is the cast includes Javier Bardem, Scarlett Johansson, Rebecca Hall, and Penelope Cruz, plus many more. I, personally, adored the film's story, narration, and directing. I was very impressed and it left me fascinated with the art and landscape of that it presented. Please watch this and enjoy its warmth.

-Yours Truly