watching

In a season known for all things huge — budgets, celebrities, marketing, even explosions — two of the season’s best films go the opposite route. Not just because they’re more highbrow or too indie to afford all those things, though that’s certainly true as well. But more importantly, because the smaller scale actually makes them better movies.

In one of my all-time favorite Q&A quotes, after an AFI screening of The Empire Strikes Back, director Irvin Kershner was asked to compare that movie with the later prequels. Tactfully, he focused on how the limitations they faced in bringing Yoda to life as a character forced them to work all the harder to give him presence and personality, and contrasted that with the limitless digital canvas of its follow-ups. The implication being that in the end all the wizardry of ILM can still leave you cold, whereas a brilliantly acted puppet can deliver a piercing performance. The same holds true even in a non-blockbuster like Children of Men, where the few enormous sequences end up being the most memorable moments. The intimacy we feel with the characters is dwarfed by our personal reaction to the incredible world on screen.

The Hurt Locker and Moon, both smaller budgets and smaller scale stories, get so much more out of so much less by brutally focusing on their subjects. What sticks with you aren’t the precisely choreographed action sequences or epic set pieces. What resonates are the moments of human vulnerability: confusion, fear, despair. That’s what makes them much more powerful works. That’s not to say there isn’t a place for the big bad blockbuster. But behind the Terminators and Transformers dominating billboards around town, a few excellent character dramas are working a lot harder with a lot less, and shouldn’t be missed if you’re lucky enough to find them at your local multiplex.

[Keep reading »]

side notes

[Editor's Note: Apologies for the slow month here on Under Culture; the onset of summer has kept us out celebrating America, vacationing, etc. Here are a handful of interesting bits for now, and we'll return with more full articles and podcasts by the end of the month.]

The problem with being a non-professional fan/critic during LA Film Fest is that as someone with a day job, a lot of the afternoon or evening screenings aren’t feasible. Then, of the showings that are at night or on weekends, several potentially great films play in the same time slots. Probably my biggest regret was not being able to catch Big Fan, showing at the same time as In The Loop (which was also wonderful).

If you still haven’t heard of it, Big Fan follows a hard-core NY Giants fan, played by Patton Oswalt, with no life outside his fandom. Shitty job, living with his mom, obsessively calling in to sports talk radio. Sounds like a sad nothing of a movie, until a run-in with one of the team’s stars brings him into the spotlight, with a shot at fame and fortune he may or may not want to take.

Though the premise still might not sound that exciting, there are three major reasons I was so eager to see this film last month, and excited to get the chance soon:

1) Patton Oswalt in a non-comedy role. Since he’s a self-professed comic nerd playing a sports junkie, I can’t wait to see how this turns out. Especially since I suspect there are some acting chops somewhere under the brilliant stand-up performances. His comedy already involves a lot of dramatic storytelling, but seeing him as a character so different from the one he plays most — himself — will be fascinating if he delivers. His likeable everyday-guy persona in a role where a sad everyday guy’s life gets put in an insane situation could be pretty riveting.

2) Written and directed by Robert Siegel, writer of The Wrestler. One of the most intimate, honest character stories in years, and definitely one of last year’s best films, The Wrestler was an impressive display of talent. Another equally moving, brutally honest personal story is what it will take to make Big Fan something powerful. If he succeeds, we may have a new writer to watch.

3) Not another shitty sports movie. The market is flooded with ‘the inspirational true story of a team that overcame the odds’-type movies. We don’t need more of those (another season of Friday Night Lights will do just fine, thanks). But how many movies examine the strange, somewhat pathetic relationship of super-fans to the teams they love in a real way? This is a story I haven’t seen and am interested in. And no, De Niro as The Fan doesn’t count.

Enjoy the trailer below, and look out for the film in theaters in September.

[Keep reading »]

side notes

For better or worse, we’re in the midst of a vampire renaissance (again). These things come in waves, it would seem, with Buffy and Anne Rice adaptations having their little heyday in the late 90’s, and now a new resurgence of people trying to remake the legend with their own modern spins. Twilight seems laughable — especially coming from Stephanie “I’ve never read Dracula or seen an R-rated movie” Meyer. Their baseball games and sparkling and (on film at least) atrocious emo hair are like garlic and holy water to any self-respecting horror fan. True Blood’s ‘coming out’ premise and its parallels with southern intolerance are intriguing, but the dialogue is written and delivered so cornily it’s hard to sit through on a weekly basis. Both rewrite the traditional rules to varying degrees, which would be acceptable, if only the liberties taken were put to better use.

The recent Swedish film, Let the Right One In, goes the opposite route by sticking to basics, and creating fascination out of characters instead of reinvention — in this case, a 12-year-old girl vampire and her only human friend. More importantly, that film doesn’t rely on weak-sauce ‘vampire integration’ for its setup, not trying to take away the fairly central part of making vampires entertaining, i.e., that they fucking eat people. Sure, the sexualization of vampire-human relationships is canon, but the tragedy is somewhat blunted when they also have to attend to mortal tedium like household chores, social functions or showing up for algebra class; no one’s afraid of Count von Count.

Luckily there are still stories to be told about vampires that don’t involve castrating them in the process. Daybreakers, due in January (trailer below), carves out an interesting take on the modern vampire myth without de-fanging the monster. In this world, most of the humans are now vampires, and those left with good old-fashioned blood pumping through their veins are captured and harvested. Instead of vampires as a metaphor for struggles with abstinence or racism, Daybreakers uses them as a lens to explore diminishing natural resources and even factory farming. Most importantly, they’re still kind of evil, and when a band of still-free humans starts fighting back, one can extrapolate that shit goes down. Ethan Hawke, Sam Neill, and Willem DaFoe turning up in an action-horror film is encouraging, too; maybe this story will be more cerebral, closer to a Gattaca than an Underworld. Lord knows in the face of New Moon, we grown-ups could use a smart vampire story to balance the teen trash that’ll be everywhere this fall. Obviously it’s too soon to judge, but based on a single trailer, at least there’s hope that vampires aren’t relegated to soap opera status for good.

[Keep reading »]

side notes

[header image credit: flickr user karynsig]

The Funeral

Alright, so even the expression “hip hop is dead” is dead.  At the time of its most overuse, which feels to me like 3-4 years ago, good to great albums were still coming out at the rate of one or two per month (depending primarily on MF Doom’s release schedule).  However, while I hated the phrase, hated the concept, hated its ubiquity…I now have no choice but to concede that hip hop is fucking dead.  I should state that I feel this death is temporary, and I will give hip hop’s corpse the equivalent of safety bells in the casket, in the sense that I’m willing to listen to anything anyone recommends that suggests otherwise, and genuinely feel that at some point the genre will regain its former relevance.

But for right now, Hip Hop: go peacefully into that great night.

[SIDE NOTE: If these current rap doldrums are the death of hip hop, if you asked me to pinpoint when hip hop got fatally wounded, I’d probably have to say “the moment Kanye West decided having Jon Brion co-produce his second album would be a good decision”.  Yes, what hip hop fans were REALLY looking for was glockenspiels and meandering-ass eight minute songs with no hooks.]

There are many consequences stemming from the death of hip hop.  Counseling sessions for Reggaeton (he’s just a kid!).  Mainstream pop inheriting hip hop’s surviving entourage.  But, perhaps most devastatingly, the complete fucking absence of a summer jam in 2009.  Here we are, in the middle of the year’s best season, and there’s no rap song we can press the repeat button on and just zone out on until we get so sick of it that the words lose all meaning and even the intro beat is enough to make us collectively groan and turn off our stereos completely.

Luckily, tons of other genres, musical and otherwise, happen to be alive, breathing, flourishing right now.  While few of these have the immediacy of a summer jam, I currently seem to be discovering good and great works of pop culture at an unusually high rate, and want to share with you some ways I’m getting through hip hop’s wake during this glorious summer.  Yes, some of these are years old; but by the same token, you can always throw on “Heart Of The City” and it remains the perfect summer jam.

[Keep reading »]

watching

For the avid film fan, the best part of living in Los Angeles isn’t the beach or the weather or the attractive people, though none of those hurt either. The reason to live here is the access to year-round movie events: early releases, revival screenings, special talks with filmmakers, and this month, the LA Film Fest. Those connected or wealthy enough to justify a full pass can choose from dozens of great independent projects (and this year, attend an early gala screening of Public Enemies, to the envy of us armchair amateurs), but thankfully the majority of the showings are also open for individual ticketing. Anyone willing to sort through the long list of choices is sure to find a few gems, providing the perfect counterbalance to the summer blockbuster season.

In addition to the joy of discovery, the festival environment is one of the best ways to see a small film. Similar to seeing the latest superhero or sci-fi movie at a midnight premiere, you’re surrounded by fellow fanatics, not just casual viewers out for the latest Wayans or Ferrell vehicle. Everyone in those seats had to seek out these shows, and go into the experience prepared to love the movies they’re seeing. Often actors, directors, or writers are present, so the audience is more willing to show appreciation for the film instead of grumpily holding back for the film to win them over. The energy goes a long way to make up for the lack of huge production budgets or amazing set pieces big Hollywood films depend on to draw you in.

This all works especially well for smart independent comedy. Both In the Loop and Humpday may not work for a general audience the same way a broad comedy like The Hangover, wholesome fun like Star Trek, or even unintentionally laughter-inducing blockbusters like Terminator or Transformers do at the local multiplex. But even if you missed the LA Film Fest, both of these clever little films are worth tracking down when they arrive in a theater near you. Each one earns its laughs honestly, and with an added depth that makes them more than just silly Friday night fun. They might be harder to find and harder to see with a great crowd, but they’ll both reward the effort.

[Keep reading »]

podcasts

We’re big time now. For episode four we managed to convince our friend James, music blogger at Green Pea-ness and equally enthusiastic culture nut, to come in for our first three-man show. We needed someone who could talk video games and raise the overall geek levels even further, with what Spencer asked me to describe as “the somewhat idiosyncratic pop culture consumption methods of James Cobo”. He served the show well and may even be back in the future at some point (especially if we get fan mail, maybe not if we get hate mail — listen and decide (kidding, we loved having him)).

We also picked up a new microphone to accomodate, and were crammed into a fairly small space in our luxurious corner-of-my-bedroom studio to record. As a result, there is a small amount of echo in some parts as we continue to master the ins and outs of audio production. Some digital judo took care of most of it, but if you hear a little here and there, it isn’t just in your head. We’ll continue to refine the recording process and get better and better at this, we promise.

Enjoy episode four, and if you like what you hear, review us in iTunes. If you want to join the conversation, you can always leave comments, or email brian@under-culture.com with suggestions, questions, etc. We’d love to get some listener feedback or opinions to discuss on future episodes.

Download The Under Culture Podcast: #4 - Verbally Attacked by Dogs

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InFamous is out now on the PlayStation 3, and it’s safe to say we generally liked it.

Punch Out!! is out now on the Wii, and it’s up to you whether or not it deserves both exclamation points.

Castle Crashers is available for download on Xbox Live Arcade, and has been for months, but is still worth checking out.

(Check it out, we covered all three platforms in 20 minutes, how impartial of us.)

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If you’re a little lost on why we start making fart jokes after the first segment, it’s in reference to a recent bit on Conan that Spencer shared with us during a break. It’s okay to go a little blue if Conan does it, right?

Up seems to be universally loved, so there’s no reason not to go check it out. After listening to us debate the value of seeing it 3D, seeing it with or without dorky goggles is up to you.

If you’re more interested in Friday Night Lights after hearing us talk about it, check out our recent article on why it’s seriously worth watching.

Spencer also mentioned a marshmellow test, by which he meant deferred gratification, not the famous chubby bunny game I was thinking of. Honest mistake.

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William D Cohan’s book, House of Cards: A Tale of Hubris and Wretched Excess on Wall Street, is available now from Random House in hardcover. What a wonderful title.

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The Dirty Projectors and Coalesce albums were covered in a previous podcast, so check out the last episode if you haven’t already.

Grizzly Bear’s new album, Veckatimest, is out now on Warp Records. They’re finishing up a mostly sold-out tour before heading to Europe. Their track ‘Two Weeks’ plays during the first break, and ‘Southern Point’ for the show’s ending.

The Rural Alberta Advantage’s album, Hometowns, is being re-released July 7th on Saddle Creek Records, where you can pre-order now and get an immediate mp3 download. It’s a steal really; you could have the songs before you even finish pronouncing their band name. Their track ‘Don’t Haunt This Place’ plays for the second break, and ‘Four Night Rider’ for the third.

James’ last-minute song recommendation was ‘Reason 45′ by the band Apples, which you can check out on their Myspace page.

playing

In years like this one, game consoles are in the third or fourth year of their lifespans, which takes off some of the pressure. E3 (or the Electronic Entertainment Expo for the uninitiated) can be less of a fight over which platform is the most viable and cutting edge and deserving of your loyalty, and more about the abundance of quality games across the board. By now developers know the ins and outs of each system, and are starting to do some of their most accomplished work. The message from all fronts seems to be, “Stay excited, the best is yet to come”.

Unfortunately, as some have pointed out — Michael Abbott over at The Brainy Gamer was the first I saw and makes an indisputable point — “the best” too often means “more of the same, just bigger and with more polished graphic technology”. Few truly breakthrough game ideas are being announced and applauded; instead, live demonstrations of the next chapter in a host of familiar franchises are dropping the most jaws and stealing the show.

All is not lost, however. Instead of whining about the lack of creativity, remember that video games are essentially software, and software is by its nature iterative. Just as patches and updates make our web browsers, iphone apps or operating systems better over time, game designers need time to work out their ideas and present them in their optimal form. More often than not, a new game is only the best they could do to bring a concept to life given limited time and resources. Sometimes they score a home run on their first attempt, but often they don’t hit their stride until a few games in, using the lessons from one project to improve the next. It’s safe to say Super Mario 3 is a better game than the first NES adventure. Halo 3’s multi-player combat perfected what was only hinted at with their launch title. And no one would argue that the makers of Grand Theft Auto should have stopped at number two to create something wholly original instead of revolutionizing the landscape with GTA III.

Not to say that anyone should want all sequels, all the time. New game ideas often make for some of the best games in a given year (Portal or Mirror’s Edge for example). That, and endless iteration can end with way too much of a good thing (I think we can all agree the Tony Hawk series probably peaked fairly early into its decade-long run). Ideally, creators would take their learnings and apply them to fresh concepts instead of just re-visiting the same ones again and again; and some developers definitely take that approach, which we’ll get to at the end.

The point, however, is that some of the very best games also come as follow-ups to ideas born early in a series, and then fully realized in later versions. So for reassurance that all is not pure and shameless regurgitation, let’s first look at the top seven (well, eight, sort of) straight sequels shown at this year’s E3, and why it may be worth revisiting them instead of just wishing their creators would move on to the next project.

[Thanks to GameTrailers.com for all the video clips. Where possible, actual game footage was chosen instead of just CG trailers to better demonstrate the relevant points, though the trailers are goddamn exciting too and also worth looking up.]

Honorable Mention: Left 4 Dead 2
Fall 2009

The first Left 4 Dead was an almost perfect 4-player zombie-shooting masterpiece. The one gripe: there wasn’t enough of it. With only 4 ‘movies’, i.e. missions, to play through, everyone immediately just wanted more. Valve are happy to comply by following up a year later with this sequel, promising more undead mayhem, only now with things like Axes, Chainsaws, and bullets that set things on fire. Yes, please.

Nothing revolutionary, and perhaps a bit tacky to make us buy a whole new game so soon instead of just releasing more levels for download. However, it’s a safe bet that everyone who loved the first one will happily rush out to buy another volume. It was too much damn fun to waste time complaining.

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7 - God of War III
Early 2010

Probably the most exciting sequel in which the least will change from its predecessors. Sure, there will be a few new gnarly weapons or Greek-god-themed magical powers, but you’re still going to be an angry, angry dude butchering a whole lot of evil minions between fights against pissed off mythological beings of epic size.

The reason this sequel may be the climax of the series, though, is because the PS3 allows them to do what they’ve wanted to be doing all along. Somehow back on PS2, they managed to make a brutal action game on a grand scale despite technological limits. With much more fidelity to work with, the brutal fights are going to be really brutal, and the scale is going to be really grand. The feeling of tearing foes limb from limb is going to be a lot more gut-wrenching when you can see blood splatter and entrails spill in high definition. If done right, it should make for the definitive God of War game.

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6 - Mass Effect 2
Fall 2009

Perhaps this is personal bias (one of our first gaming articles on Under Culture was about the merits of the first game), but Mass Effect promised a lot and delivered on most of it admirably. The role-playing was excellent, with the best conversation system on consoles to date, and the universe was the perfect blend of classic sci-fi influences and new fiction. However, small problems held it back. The storytelling was a bit too stiff, the action a bit too loose, and the number of planets to visit maybe too large, with many feeling like filler terrain not really worth exploring.

If early reports of a tighter combat system and more cinematic presentation during dialogue scenes both turn out to be true, the sequel could persuade naysayers who couldn’t get past the problems of the first game. And for those who already thought Mass Effect was outstanding sci-fi, the sequel could be more satisfying by several degrees by simply cutting out some of the fat and making the whole experience more seamless and exciting.

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5 - Metroid: Other M
TBA 2010

I won’t try to be objective here: I’m not generally interested in the Wii much at all. Though Super Mario Galaxy looked like a lot of fun, the sequel to that game really does look like more of the same, with little attempt to push the boundaries in any way (”But now Yoshi’s back!”, you say, to which I shake my head). Otherwise, it’s been easy to mostly shrug off as a platform except when visiting family or friends and playing a few party games.

So it follows that I’ve never been much of a Metroid guy either, but wow, this one does look like a whole lot of fun, doesn’t it? Instead of trotting out another same old Nintendo property for another same old Nintendo rehash, they’ve handed the reins to masters of the action genre for a whole new take on a classic character. There are even hints of a semi-grown-up story. I might actually be sad to be missing this one.

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4 - Assassin’s Creed 2
Fall 2009

The previous Assassin’s Creed was about as divisive as they come, with some finding it dreadfully dull and repetitive, while others loved the ideas and put up with the shortcomings. Setting a game in the crusades-era Middle East was a breath of fresh air, and the free movement around the city was well-executed, even if there were legitimate gripes to be made in the mission structure.

Thankfully, lovers and haters alike have been fairly unanimous in their criticisms of the game. By adding more mission variety and choosing another totally original setting, Renaissance Italy, the new installment can go a long way toward realizing the potential they fell just short of. Not to mention the fact that it looks even more gorgeous than its already beautiful predecessor.

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3 - Modern Warfare 2
Fall 2009

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare is arguably the best straight-up action shooter of this era. It essentially nails everything you need for a gripping military game: masterful storytelling, smooth controls, and spectacular set pieces that rival any blockbuster.

From all appearances — and untethered from the long-running Call of Duty moniker — Infinity Ward are striking out to take everything they excelled at even further. When you’re already at the cutting edge, you don’t have to do much but keep at it.

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2 - Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
Fall 2009

If Uncharted is the PS3’s answer to Gears of War, it carved out a space for itself as a light-hearted, more colorful counterpart to Microsoft’s grey and brown behemoth. By keeping things T-rated and character driven, encouraging exploration instead of chainsaw mutilations, it’s a shooter that’s more pulp adventure than the grisly bloodbaths that are so in vogue, and a welcome respite from doom and gloom.

Naughty Dog’s emphasis on how the character reacts to both his environment and the supporting cast around him is where the first game really shined. With more time to figure out how to wrangle the PS3’s capabilities, the next chapter is their chance to show how their skills have sharpened by putting them to use on even better storytelling.

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1 - Splinter Cell: Conviction
Fall 2009

Metal Gear Solid has always been the marquee stealth action game. Now its main rival, the Splinter Cell series, has come back from hibernation in a big way. Going the complete opposite direction from the former’s cut-scene-heavy presentation, it pulls all the story elements as fully into the game world as possible, so as Sam Fisher, you’re never not in control. Since a successful Bourne Identity or Casino Royale super-spy game never fully materialized, we may be getting it here.

In addition, the stealth genre’s tendency to rely on hide-and-seek for suspense sometimes leads to games where a lot of time is spent waiting. But by the looks of what they’ve shown, a real effort has been made to let players feel like they are mastering their environments, not hiding in them. Even for those who have never been fans of this franchise, it’s rebirth with Conviction may be the game so many people are talking about this fall, there’s no way to sneak around it.

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Even with how promising all these games look, it’s still tough to make the argument that we’re not getting stuck in a rut. The entire list is dominated by either macho guys running around killing people, or macho guys shooting at people while ducking behind things. At least Metroid features a nominally female lead, but is that enough? Surely there are more stories out there to make games from than revenge fantasies.

What we’re going through right now may be more akin to the heyday of 80’s action films, where a certain formula is being perfected in front of our eyes before we start moving on to more lofty and ambitious goals. Forget Citizen Kane or Godfather; now may be the time where games at the very least get their Die Hard (Nathan Drake = John McClane?), or their Empire Strikes Back (was Saren Shephard’s father, somehow?). Maybe an iterative, software-based art form has to fully master the basics before its creators can collectively leap forward.

Luckily there are plenty of non-sequels coming along as well to break up the tedium (though tedium may be the wrong word, with sequels at least promising some of the most exciting popcorn-type games on the horizon). There are also a host of ’spiritual successors’ on the way that follow through on previous ideas from great game makers, who at least go to the trouble to invent new characters and settings. These games, like Fumito Ueda’s The Last Guardian, Tim Schafer’s Brutal Legend, or David Cage’s Heavy Rain — all must-plays for the discerning gamer — may end up being the freshest and most creative of the bunch. With these games, fingers crossed, we’ll get not just blockbuster excitement, but new thinking, new styles of play, new emotions.

Regardless, no one will be wanting for choices come the end of 2009, with some great things spilling over into next year. Now that we’ve advanced so far technologically, the upcoming field of action franchise follow-ups could just be a case of game makers finally being able to achieve their original visions. Once they get those ideas out of their systems in ways they’re fully satisfied with, there will be plenty of time to take the old models and start reinventing them. The rise of indie developers just now getting their start in places like PSN or Live Arcade will also breathe more life into the field. Groundbreaking progress may not be happening as quickly as we’d like, but it’s creeping in from the edges and not about to stop.

Sure, we may be stuck with a lot of sequels for now as the industry grows up. But goddamn if growing pains have ever looked this much fun.

podcasts

Our latest podcast went extremely well. The conversations were interesting and flowed well, and we had lots of interesting music and movies to talk about. Good third try, I believed.

Then when I went back to edit it all together, I discovered the last section had some strange interference. Possibly supernatural (gypsies!), possibly technological (time-traveling robots?). I had to cut a few minutes worth of wrap-up jokes where it got really bad, but it flared up mid-conversation, so I minimized it as much as made sense without just hacking off the closing. Hope you will forgive this minor inconvenience, and that our lives are not doomed for offending whatever forces corrupted the audio file.

Enjoy the third episode, and if you like what you hear, review us in iTunes. And you can always leave comments, or email brian@under-culture.com with suggestions, questions, etc. We’d love to get some listener feedback or opinions to discuss on the show.

Download The Under Culture Podcast: #3 - A List of Injustices

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Looks like we’re not the only ones who thought Blade 2 was better than Terminator: Salvation. Sorry, McG.

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If you’d like to make your own judgments on Animal Collective live, they’re playing a few more shows (mostly sold out) across the US before heading to Europe, then returning stateside to play a lot of the summer festivals. Or you can just read our very positive review of their new album, Merriweather Post Pavillion.

The Decemberists will be on tour for the next few months playing their new album, The Hazards of Love, in its entirety. Their track, ‘The Queen’s Rebuke/The Crossing’ is featured in the third music break, one of the songs that especially destroys in a live setting.

The Thermals have just finished their US tour and are heading to Europe soon, but their latest, Now We Can See, is still worth checking out, as are their three previous albums.

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The new Dirty Projectors album, Bitte Orca, comes out next week. The tracks ‘Stillness Is the Move’ and ‘Temecula Sunrise’ are featured in the first and last breaks. They’re on a US tour this summer.

The long-awaited next album from Coalesce, Ox, also comes out next week. ‘Purveyor of Novelty and Nonsense’ is featured in the second break, and you can sample that as well as a few other full tracks off of Ox on their site. They’re touring Europe in June, lucky continentals.

[UPDATED:] You can now stream the full album online as well, so there’s no reason not to give it a go. Unless you’re afraid of hardcore or something.

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Drag Me to Hell is playing now in theatres everywhere. That one seems like a no-brainer.

Dead Snow is the movie about Nazi zombies, featuring the brilliant tagline ‘Ein. Zwei. Die!’. You can see the trailer on their site, and according to IMDB, it will have a limited release in June.

For horror fans, Spencer’s four part series on the state of modern horror films from last fall is still worth a read. You can start at part one, on where horror went wrong, or at least read part four, on which modern horrors are still getting it right.

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Anvil: The Story of Anvil, is now playing in select cities, so take advantage of that while you can to see some lovable metal guys trying to make it.

Tyson is also in theatres now, so you can decide if he deserves to be loved or not.

Dreams with Sharp Teeth, the documentary about Harlan Ellison, is now out on DVD, though not yet available via Netflix as of this writing. Sundance Channel may not be showing it again soon, but they do have a handful of clips. This one is especially great and representative of the film:

If you can’t track down the film, we do recommend the interview with Onion A.V. Club, and especially this podcast interview on Salon Conversations. You really have to hear him speak to get the full effect.

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watching

A good confidence scheme hinges on the fact that, somewhere in his heart, the mark wants to believe something implausible. Whether through hubris or insecurity, the poor sap needs to think that they alone have the good fortune to stumble on the chance of a lifetime, or that someone out there badly needs their unique intelligence and charisma to make an easy fortune. Without that moment - where the soon-to-be-victim pledges himself to the fantasy of the setup — the whole ruse would come crumbling down, because it’s only afterward that he’s committed to his own delusion and willing to be taken for a ride.

In The Brothers Bloom, Mark Ruffalo’s character Stephen, the mastermind in this duo of gentleman thieves, knows that fact inherently. As he puts it, “The best cons are the ones where everyone gets what they want.” He invents elaborate schemes in which the mark gets to walk away with their delusions intact, and the brothers walk away richer men. Everybody wins.

Writer/director Rian Johnson duplicates this setup with the movie itself: an alternately silly and surreal adventure that’s larger and wilder than any real-life scenario could ever be. But as long as there’s a part of us that’s willing to be taken on that ride, we’ll end up feeling like we came out ahead.

In his previous movie, Brick, Johnson created an absurdly noir spin on high school drama, hard-boiled dialogue and all. In The Brothers Bloom, he imagines a quirky world of crooks too dashing to be true. But for all the melodrama in one or romping fun in the other, they both work because their characters are played with conviction. The consistent element between Brick and its follow-up Bloom is the way Johnson conceives of a world and sticks to it whole-heartedly. Like a good con, they require viewers to buy in to the film’s conceit to get the most out of them. Frowning at the stylized world of either film will only bar the gates to enjoyment, whereas embracing their fanciful realities will reward viewers several times over, and it’s up to us to decide if we want in or not.

For those that do, Johnson seems to take pride in making ambitious films for real film fans. They don’t pretend not to be movies, sticking to grounded characters and plausible plots; they tell fantastic stories for audiences to get lost in. From the outset of The Brothers Bloom, the pace is brisk and the wits are sharp, with lots of subtle visual and verbal flourish. The central challenge of a successful con film, a scheme that keeps the audience guessing, remains a puzzle to the very end. But it’s all built on the solid fundamentals of great performances: Ruffalo is rakish and always in control as the brilliant older brother, and Adrien Brody is sensitive and vulnerable as the reluctant criminal trying to go straight. Their largely silent-film style sidekick Bang Bang — she likes explosives — is hilariously mimed by Rinko Kikuchi, and Rachel Weisz is at her most fetching as the sweetly naive and eccentric heiress in their cross hairs.

Not that it’s for everyone, or a perfect film. From the opening sequence — a con man’s nursery rhyme that whisks viewers through the brothers’ childhood — you’ll know right away if it’s the sort of trip you want to go on. Comparisons may be drawn to Wes Anderson’s eye for detail and rapid-fire exposition, but calling this outright mimicry is unfair. If anything, it only exposes the lack of directors to compare to; those who give audiences enough credit to be able to keep up with densely packed film-making. Where Anderson’s aesthetic is often cold and sterile, Johnson’s shows an exuberance that’s easier to enjoy without ironic detachment. True, the pace never relents, and as the team travels the globe piling on double- and triple-crosses, it’s possible to feel like the adventure has left you behind. But in the end, it’s more satisfying to spend two hours trying to match wits with a con film than be condescended to by one.

The film also poses a larger question that makes Bloom more than simple novelty. As a boy, Brody’s shy, awkward Bloom could only talk to the pretty girl in town once his brother had given him a workable plan, allowing him to find confidence in pretending to be the boy he wanted to be. His choices were to retreat from a pleasant fiction to an unhappy reality, or accept the part of himself that wanted to be tricked just as badly as the rubes, allowing himself to be swept up in the tall tale. The same dilemma continues into adult life, for Brody’s character as well as all of us. The pair of con artists offer their marks something greater than real life, and provide a moment of truth when they decide to dive in and willingly suspend disbelief. Bloom doesn’t have an issue with the stealing, only the fact that at the end he’s left with nothing genuine to fulfill him personally. He longs to be the one who escapes with his illusions intact, to finally walk off into the sunset without immediately darting back into the bushes.

Similarly, the film poses that maybe all of us are in essence conning ourselves. Like Weisz’ character, we prefer seeing our lives as grand adventures as opposed to the realities that they are. If it’s only a matter of perception, and the circumstances remain the same either way, maybe a little self-deception is okay. More likely, the grand adventures only await those who fool themselves into thinking they can create one, and have the guts to go into them headlong. Perhaps people are only really happy when they invent a role for themselves that they enjoy playing enough to get lost in.

That seems to be one of Rian Johnson’s guiding principles in The Brothers Bloom. Even if we can’t live fantastic lives day to day, at least those willing to get lost in a yarn can suspend disbelief long enough to be taken for a wonderful ride. Certainly if you go in cynically, looking for loose threads, they might be there to find. But if you’re able to let yourself be conned by some cleverly executed movie magic, you’ll end up richer for it.

playing

Lacking any must-play games this spring (sorry Resident Evil), I’ve popped in a few older titles from the year prior that I missed on the first go-round. It’s a standard practice for the season which usually serves me well; last year I circled back to Call of Duty 4 and Assassin’s Creed, both of which I was glad not to have missed. So for the dry spell of 2009, I selected a couple much talked about titles I’d also neglected: Far Cry 2 and Burnout Paradise.

Aside from the fact that they’re both available at reduced prices now that they’ve been around for a while, you might not think these two games had a whole lot in common. Far Cry is an oppressive first-person shooter that takes place in the shantytowns of a militia-controlled African nation. Burnout is a full-contact arcade driving game that’s all about speed and spectacle, without characters or story to get in the way of fast-paced action. Of the two, you might expect the latter to be the simple, fun fluff that loses its draw after the hundredth amazing crash, and the former to be the deeper experience that really gets its hooks into you.

But in the end, due to seemingly minor design choices and their effects on the flow of each game, the opposite turned out to be true. Far Cry 2 is an exceptional game buried beneath a pile of inconveniences, requiring a lot of patience to actually enjoy. Burnout Paradise is a decent game condensed down to its purest, most concentrated essence — like an uncut brick of fun just begging to fuel a full-on gaming bender. And the way each game succeeds or fails comes from the way they treat the one major conceit they both share: their big, open-world playgrounds.

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There’s no doubt that Far Cry’s premise takes players somewhere they don’t usually go, both geographically and emotionally. The violent African villages surrounded by desert and jungle are not the typical military/industrial setting for a shooter, so the initial promise is of a novel experience. Then you quickly discover that your character is an unquestionably bad person, destroying and killing to prolong an ugly and dangerous conflict; your only good deeds are for the self-serving purpose of getting medicine to treat your malaria. There’s a moral quandary in Far Cry about who you’re really hurting or helping with each violent act, which not enough games that involve mass killings bother to explore. This one forces you to confront being evil head on, and the results are certainly compelling.

However, basic problems detract so heavily from getting fully immersed in that role, much of the impact is lost due to frustration or fatigue. The world is enormous, with save points scattered around the map instead of allowing you to capture your progress at any point. Bands of thugs are much more prevalent, so while driving across the large expanses between missions, gunfights constantly break out, forcing you to stop. If during a mission you fail and die, you not only have to drive or boat or run all the way back to where you left off; you have to fight the roving gunmen all over again on the way.

Essentially, crossing the large map is not a fun thing, and you’re forced to do it far too often to get to the exciting infiltrations or assassinations. That’s a big problem: progressing through the game quickly becomes less about inhabiting your character and more about minimizing annoyances. I even resorted to taking buses whenever possible, because they were the only fast-travel option. Though it might not gel with the game-world’s reality, it meant you couldn’t be attacked en route (whether or not real-world militia fighters have a bus-related truce in effect, I’m not sure).

Other games with huge playing fields get around this problem by making sure you’re never bored or frustrated in transit. GTA never had thugs coming at you for no reason unless you’d provoked them, and it livened up dull long-distance drives with the brilliant in-game radio stations, which featured some of the game’s best humor. Understandably, that game wasn’t meant to be a serious treatment of mercenary opportunists in military insurgencies. In the world Far Cry constructs, even getting from place to place probably is dangerous all on its own. But then even Fallout, which also took place in violent desolation, only ever made you slog long distances once before letting you zip straight from point to point. There is something to be said for making players experience hardship to provide context, but also for letting them move on to the next experience instead of beating them over the head with the ‘Oh, look how dangerous this world is’ club. At a certain point, the open world comes to be seen as a chore, not a source of potential fun.

Add to this the fact that you can succeed in all the game’s missions after your first or second weapon upgrade. All the side missions and exploration — generally the aspect of open-world games that give players a sense of freedom and belonging, and give the game world its richness — quickly become pointless, as they would only involve putting yourself into unnecessary danger to earn cash you no longer need. Once there’s no satisfaction to be gained from wandering the map, the game has missed its mark. It’s not an entertaining platform where the player decides what to do next. The only decision left becomes “How can I get to the next interesting part fastest?”

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Contrast that frustration with Burnout Paradise, which masterfully utilizes its open-world setup to make sure its players are never more than ten seconds away from a different opportunity for fun. Not only are there races of all types at literally every street corner, but there is absolutely no punishment for failing. Lose an event? That’s fine, try another one right near where you ended up. (They even recently patched in the ability to go immediately back to the start of any event at any time). Sick of doing structured events? There are things to find everywhere you go, like ramps to jump, billboards to break, or shortcuts to discover. Plus, every time you find something new, an on-screen exclamation comes on to give you a constant sense of accomplishment. In Burnout, you’re never not progressing toward some goal or reward. You’re never simply ‘in transit’, so there isn’t a single moment of non-fun.

Sure, it’s nowhere near as profound a premise as Far Cry 2. That game admirably attempts to explore man’s inherent greed and selfishness and violence; this one puts you in a fast car in a big city and lets you drive around breaking things. But of the two, only Burnout will suck you in for hours at a time without having realized where the day went. Far Cry, for all its ambitions, will instead have you looking at the clock to see how much time you’ve wasted commuting back to a failed mission for the third time.

Don’t misunderstand: Far Cry 2 is a good game, despite its problems. The situations you face are intense, and the questionable morality of your actions makes for an intriguing plot. Burnout Paradise, no matter how fun, is just a game where you crash a bunch of cars. But in the right application of open-world gameplay, Burnout takes a B-level game into A territory, whereas Far Cry’s shortcomings let a potentially A-level game fall into the B range.

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The principles of player choice and free-roaming gameplay are becoming more and more prevalent in modern games, and with good reason. When done well, they can make it seem as if the world is our oyster, with a hundred unique ways to entertain ourselves. Seeing life go on around us, and interacting with a living system, makes our experience as a part of that system much more meaningful than actions in a void.

But these examples demonstrate that freedom itself is not always a virtue; the reason these games turned out the way they did was their use and misuse of the open-world concept. One presents a large city full of life and possibility, and lets you introduce chaos. The other is a largely barren savannah in which every element is set against you from the start. One constantly rewards exploration, the other penalizes it regularly. The game that’s more meaningful at its core loses that meaning by missing crucial elements of building out its world. The other hooks you instantly despite being essentially meaningless action. If the purpose of an open world is to provide a universe and encourage the player’s agency within it, the surprising winner is the one where he’s not even a person, but a car.