fuzmeister: Prisoners

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A few movies were recently the topic of posts on Ventilation, so I figured I'd weigh in on the subject. A few months ago I had the privilege of watching Prisoners - a film that really received very little fanfare upon release from what I recall.

What a crime that this movie has been so overlooked. Marty - I love you, but The Wolf of Wall Street only got so many accolades and so much press due to you and Leonardo. Yeah, the performances were good, but the shallow characters and self-indulgent length kept it from being anywhere close to your past work. This is all my humble opinion, of course... but, I digress.

PRISONERS! Coming hot off the heels of his trip to Japan, Wolverine plays a father trying to find out what happened to his kidnapped daughter. Iron Man 1 Rhodes also stars opposite of Wolverine; he's lost his daughter as well, but handles it in a completely opposite way. It's early on in the movie when you maybe question how you would react to the situation. My gut says a lot of viewers would internally lean towards Wolverine's behavior, but maybe not have the gumption to act upon those thoughts.

Either way, Donnie Darko shows up as a detective assigned to the case and really adds an extra dimension to the story without overshadowing Wolverine's role. Honestly, I would be really thrilled if they brought back Donnie Darko's character for more movies with completely new cases. He plays the character so well that you can see this guy becoming a serialized gumshoe - like Colombo, only more modern.

Anywho - a lot of stuff happens in the movie over the course of almost three hours, but I was always intrigued and emotionally-invested in what was happening. Without any spoilers, the film nicely wraps up the main storyline while still providing an open ending. I love that they wrapped up the meat and potatoes, but didn't totally phone the ending in. It's always a fine balance with open-ended movies whether I ultimately love or hate how things are done. The way they handled it here - I love it.

Prisoners is a great movie. You should go watch it. It's long, but rewarding. It's unique, but grounded in reality. I'm seriously bummed not more has been said about it, because it's maybe the best standalone film I've seen in a long time (IE not a long-running franchise or adaptation).

Mood: Contemplative
Music: Frank Zappa - The Gumbo Variations


Tags (beta): movies, film

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fuzmeister: Top Ten: King of The Hill

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I've been wanting to write a post like this for some time now. I think Mike Judge's King of The Hill is an under-appreciated gem and it's near the top of my favorite show list, so why not try to compile the top ten episodes of this series?

I'll admit that this is very subjective and a fair number of fan favorites probably are missing from the list, but it's a good baseline for any newcomers to start with. Honestly, I think the main problem with this show is that people didn't really understand what it was going for. Either way, it ended up having a thirteen season run - not too shabby for an animated sitcom.

Keeping Up With Our Joneses [s01e04]
There are some quality episodes in the show's first season, but there's just something about this episode I love. It's almost like the writers were just getting comfortable with King of The Hill's brand of subtle humor.

Jumpin' Crack Bass (It's A Gas, Gas, Gas) [s02e03]
Hank Hill's good intentions are sometimes not enough to offset how oblivious he is to his surroundings. This episode has him accidentally buying drugs from someone he believes is selling fishing bait. Surprisingly enough, the crack makes excellent bait and Hank starts catching tons of fish. It may seem extremely random, but it succeeds at being an excellent storyline.

A Firefighting We Will Go [s03e10]
While there's really not much to what's happening in this episode, the narrative is awesome. One of my favorite scenes from this and, possibly the entire series, is where each of the guys explains what happened when the fire station burned down from their point of view. This could have been a horribly boring scene, but the hilarity of everyone's individual perspectives makes it great!

Escape From Party Island [s03e17]
I don't know that this episode would make it to a lot of people's "best of" list when it comes to King of The Hill, but I absolutely love this one. Hilarity always ensues when you use the fish out of water routine.

Hanky Panky (Part 1) [s04e13] / High Anxiety (Part 2) [s04e14]
The story arc that unfolds over these two episodes is quite memorable. As usual, there are several different events that tie together in various ways. It just feels like this episode came while this series was at the top of its game. Highlights from these two include Hank's paranoia and overreaction to the "cigarette", Mrs. Strickland's advances towards Hank, and Peggy's ridiculous rebranding of Sugarfoot's barbeque. Fair or not, I'm counting this two-parter as a single entry on this list since they rely on each other to be complete.

The Exterminator [s05e14]
There are plenty of great episodes focusing on Dale Gribble in this series, so it's challenging to really pick just one for this top ten list. I went with season five's "The Exterminator," because, again, the fish out of water formula proves to make for memorable and hilarious stories. Seeing the character of Dale try to adapt to a standard 9-5 office job is incredibly funny. As stated, there are tons of great episodes centering on Dale, so this just edged by as the one that made my list.

Be True To Your Fool [s07e19]
I always enjoy the episodes that reach back a bit into the history of the characters and show you flashbacks of their old antics. A lot of episodes shed some new light on or add depth to a well-established character. This episode (along with several others) show that no character in the show may have changed more than Bill. His pathetic nature is certainly hilarious, but these flashback episodes do a lot to make the audience sympathize with Bill. It's these sort of episodes that showcase the "heart" of the show and what, many times, makes it stand apart from its peers.

The Witches of East Arlen [s07e23]
David Cross guests as a stereotypical "twenty-something super-nerd living in his mom's basement" in this episode named Ward. As with many of the one-off characters who appear throughout this series, Ward is very memorable and has some of the episode's best lines. Hank's oblivious nature towards Bobby's tarot card purchase for the first half of the episode is another highlight for me. Know when to hold 'em, Ace.

Mutual of Omabwah [s09e08]
This episode, for me, is a highlight of the later seasons. There are just so many funny bits that ultimately come together in the final alley disaster scene.

Grand Theft Arlen [s11e08]
I may be including this one due to my personal bias towards everything related to video games, but this episode is excellent! I wouldn't mind playing Pro-Pain if someone developed it.

So, there it is. My longest post in ages about a show probably very few people on Ventilation even care for. I've been meaning to make a top ten list for quite a long time though, so why not share it with the fine folks of the internet? Again, this list is entirely subjective.

How do you feel about these episodes? How do you feel about this show? Love it? Hate it? Leave some comments!

Mood: I Got Blistas On Me Fingas


Tags (beta): television, top ten

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fuzmeister: Symphony of The Night Holds Up

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So I recently re-played Castlevania Symphony of the Night on my PSP. I was concerned that the game wouldn't hold up since the last time I played it (2003).

I was actually pleasantly surprised that the game still holds up pretty well despite being 17 years old. Some of the soundtrack comes off as a little dated, but even some of the now-primitive 3D graphics worked alright in the context of a 2D adventure.

For whatever reason, it seems these quality 2D games hold up much better than the first generation 3D stuff on PS1, N64, and Saturn... don't get me started on stuff that used the SuperFX chip on SNES; those games haven't aged well at all.

Mood: Pleased


Tags (beta): video games

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fuzmeister: Helibomber SDX Released!

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My sort-of-new S&F project has been released! Check it out here! While it's nothing super-fresh, it was good to actually develop and release something again.

There is still the issue of the bigger S&F project I've been working on since last June on and off... I may go back to working on that next OR possibly do another port/rewrite of an older S&F game as none of our old games seem to work on modern PCs.

Mood: Sort of Accomplished
Music: Beastie Boys - Johnny Ryall


Tags (beta): s&f software, game development, independent games

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fuzmeister: Sonic Dash & The New Model

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I'm willing to pay for Sega's Sonic Dash on Android. I'd be willing to pay maybe $5 for it. A lot of folks would say that's a lot for a mobile game. The problem is there is NO paid version for it. The only version available is ad-supported. It's even started giving me notifications about playing the game.

Want an easy way to ruin an otherwise great game? Throw in micro-transactions and mandatory advertising. Seriously, this is probably the most fun I've had with a Sonic game in the past 15 years and its totally botched by the fact that I'm forced to watch videos after every game. I understand this is the "new model" for video games, but if this mentality fully leeches from the casual to core market, there's going to be all kinds of abundant crumminess.

Mood: Old Geezer-ish
Music: Metallica - ...and Justice for All


Tags (beta): when i was your age, video games, android

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