So long former basement abode. Good riddance!

I’ve been officially Min’s roommate for a week+ and it’s been awesome so far. So glad to not be in that basement…

Movies

Margaret – This was a really challenging movie. The plot centers around a 17-year-old girl who inadvertently causes a bus accident that kills a pedestrian, throwing her life into chaos as she struggles to deal with her guilt among friends and family that she feels don’t get her. It’s a real hurricane of emotions and it vividly reminded me of the idealism and stupidity of my teenage years. I wouldn’t really recommend it to anyone looking for a light diversion, but it was still good.

TV

Girls – FINALLY got around to watching the last two episodes of the season. It’s challenging in a completely different way as Hannah and her friends are almost aggressively unlikeable and behave in the most selfish ways at every opportunity. That’s what makes it great, really, but I can see why some might not like it.

Veep – Just biting and brutal and mean and so much fun to watch. I cackle every time I tune in. Can’t wait for season 2

Breaking Bad – That scene at the end of “Over” where Walter warns that guy to stay out of his territory…Chilling. Letting Jane die was straight up ice too. In fact, this show just gets more and more brutal and I love it. Walter is a force to be dealt with and his actions/decisions are fascinating. I feel really bad for Jesse who’s stuck in the middle of it.

The Daily Show – The election season is upon us! Thought I’d get back into TDS, see what it’s about nowadays. I picked an interesting time to tune in…All the Tampa bashing was a little much, but some of those segments were brilliant! The Samantha Bee abortion platform one was particularly brilliant.

Kids on the Slope – Finally set up my CrunchyRoll free trial on my PS3 so that I could watch this show. It’s very anime-y, but it’s also very awesome in an understated way. Really the best reason to watch this is for the fantastic soundtrack. So glad that Watanabe and Kanno teamed up again for this.

Music

Written for Disney’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, “Some Day My Prince Will Come” is, naturally, a Disney staple. Go to the park and I guarantee you’ll hear it. It’s never been a favorite of mine, but Kids on the Slope has convinced me of how well it can work. They use Bill Evans’ cover of it and it’s quite nice.

Books

Not this week.

Video Games

Trine 2 – Got some time in with Min. Not bad. I like the ninja rope person.

EDIT: Min has reminded me that I played this last week. Scratch this from the record!

Iron Brigade – Using the XBL/GFWL servers sucks. Took Lee, Min, and I somewhere around 30 mins to an hour to get a multiplayer match working smoothly, but once we did we had quite a bit of fun.

Spelunky – This was the crowning achievement of my weekend. I may not have beaten Hell, but Min and I made lots of progress, including beating it co-op with two members alive. Now the uphill battle to Hell…

Gomez: The Hero of Fez (Picture courtesy Titolian)

I did a lot more with this week than I thought I would have time for considering how much I played The Old Republic and how late I was getting home for a lot of the week. Fez gets special mention at the top of this article for completely immersing me in its world. Everything from its ambient, minimalist soundtrack to the weird artifacts, perplexing language, and dense, unspoiled mystery has me super intrigued.

Movies

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo – I swear that I’m gonna stop tagging this someday soon. Tiffany hadn’t seen the US version and it was in Redbox, so we picked it up. I was struggling to stay awake at the end (it was one of those weeks), but it’s still a pretty solid movie. That stuff after Martin dies has always been way too long.

Shame – You know you’ve messed up if your movie about a sex addict living in NY is boring. It just wasn’t the daring, risque movie that I thought it would be. I did rather enjoy Carey Mulligan’s haunting “New York, New York”, but it was a little long. Watch it if you’ve got nothing to do/you can find it for cheap/free.

Like Crazy – Watching the trailer for this made me think I would hate the leads and I definitely did. They’ve got this youthful, lovey-dovey, can’t be separated from each other for five minutes thing that drives me crazy. Doesn’t help the plot that it all hinges on one stupid decision that anyone could have prevented. I also had a real tough time understanding why Anton Yelchin would rather be with Felicity Jones over Jennifer Lawrence. I mean, come on…JENNIFER LAWRENCE.

TV

Mad Men – Last week’s episode was very interesting and very artistic and I came away from the Ginsberg/Peggy scene just in love with the show all over again. Can’t wait to watch last night’s offering.

Veep – Guys, this show is hilarious. Best comedy pilot I’ve seen in a while. Just clever and subtle and sharp. They really capture the office/government job vibe.

Girls – The entire internet has an opinion about Girls so I felt like I needed to watch it. The first episode frustrated me with Hannah’s spoiled dependence on her parents, but had enough wickedly funny moments that I was on board. The second had lots of hilariously bad sex. I mean, the line about why doggie style isn’t always degrading, “What if I want to feel like I’ve got udders?” was pretty brilliant delivered. Mike Birbiglia’s job interview scene was great too. The whole thing with the non-PC conversations and the complete 180 on the offer was so good. I’m on board for now.

Kids on the Slope – Shinichirō Watanabe and Yoko Kanno’s latest collaboration is not quite as stylized as Cowboy Bebop, but it’s got the same strong Jazz roots. Worth watching for the music alone, as are most of Watanabe’s shows. I want to find that title track. It starts with this slow marching beat and then it just turns into this great piece. Love it.

Parks and Recreation – Getting tired of the election storyline, but the show is still selling it. Chris Pratt’s live action movies were hilarious and Aubrey Plaza continues to be a delight.

Community – Pitch perfect Law & Order spoof. The back half of this season continues to impress.

New Girl – I want to love this show a lot more than I do. It’s just so mediocre when it’s not funny. Happy Endings has deeper swings (funnier and more terrible) and I just dig that show way more than New Girl…

Music

“Sakamichi no Melody” by YUKI:

It’s not gonna blow you away, but I love the way it flows and changes. When it picks up in that middle section…how can you resist not tapping your toes?

Books

Moe Berg: Athlete, Scholar, Spy – Only a couple pages into this story about a baseball player who was also a spy. We’ll see how it is.

Video Games

The Old Republic – Min and I got our alts going now. My Trooper story has been interesting and I’m glad I’m playing it instead of a Consular.

Superbrothers: Sword and Sworcery EP – Finished the first movement/section/track. Have yet to go back in and start putting serious time. Very stylish and cool.

The Walking Dead – Captures the spirit of the comic and zombie apocalypse WAY better than the tv show does. Love it.

Saints Row: The Third – Played a little co-op with Lee. This game is so hilarious. I’m thinking of switching my character to zombie voice.

Fez – Really fantastic game. I can’t stress enough how immersive it is in its sparseness. I can’t wait until I start to understand the puzzles and mysteries more. Gonna try to limit my exposure to the internet since they’ve mostly solved everything. I know I’ll need their help eventually, but for now I’m on my own.