Nah, I’m kidding. Things I’m currently working on/planning:

•  Beating the entire main series of Mario games. I realized about a week ago that I own pretty much all of them (barring Sunshine and Galaxy 2) and thought it would be fun to go through them all.
• I recently got access to a Netflix account, and I’m considering watching terrible, terrible old horror movies and reviewing them on here. The only problem is that there are far too many. This means that you (yes, YOU) should suggest movies that would be entertaining…or cringeworthy.
• Beating my normal complement of summer games. There are certain games I just play through about once a year because I love them with all of my heart. These generally include Startropics 2: Zoda’s Revenge, Resident Evil 4, The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, Kirby Super Star, and The Legend Of Zelda: A Link To The Past.
• Getting more Genesis and Game Gear and Dreamcast games. I was always a Nintendo kid, and never had any Sega systems. Although now that I own some, I think that may have been the right decision. I can’t seem to find any games that are like…good. I’ve got Sonic, and Mortal Kombat II for the Genesis, Alien 3 (ugh…) for the Game Gear, and Soul Caliber for the Dreamcast…and that’s it. Again, you need to tell me if there are games for these systems that will not make me cry.

And that’s pretty much it. I’m glad to be back! See you around. And please read this as much as the Slender Man post. That would make me happy.

Weeeeeeeeee

Whatever.

That was my initial reaction to seeing The Hangover: Part II, the highly anticipated sequel to one of the better comedy flicks in recent memory. Whatever. Thanks to the vast success of the first Hangover movie, the sequel was pretty much immediately announced by noted raunchy filmmaker, Todd Phillips. Soon the trailers and posters and other hype machines began coming around. The Wolfpack was returning to the big screen, and soon enough every bro and ho was updating their Facebook status with eager anticipation of the new movie.

I give most of the blame for this ridiculous over-hype machine to the young people of Generation Y, AKA the Bros Icing Bros Generation (we deserve it. We’re the worst). The common motif with the Bros Icing Bros Generation is to embrace only a choice few pieces of entertainment and run with the damn things for as long as they exist, no matter how obviously stupid they eventually boil down to. The short list of prime Bros Icing Bros entertainment is relatively short, but it more than answers everything you need to know about how truly committed people can be once the general population decides something deserves to be called the best thing since sliced bread.

• Twilight
• The Hangover
• Glee
• Jersey Shore

That’s just the few things that I can come up with off the top of my head, but the pattern is already well-defined. Granted, the first Hangover movie was very funny, but most of that praise came from the fact that it took some relatively unknown actors, threw them into an inappropriate movie, and then kept on giving the audience new lewd shit to gasp and laugh about. It was fresh, but the freshness pretty much died as soon as the sequel was announced. It was only a matter of time before that became clear to a lot of snooty film critics.

I could go into detail about the actual plot of The Hangover Part II, but I instead will give you the plot to the first movie, with a few minor changes.

Phil, Stu, and Alan are all in Nevada Thailand to take part in Doug’s Stu’s wedding. After a seemingly innocuous drink as friends, the three suddenly are seen passed out in a seedy hotel room in Las Vegas Bangkok. Stu has a missing tooth Mike Tyson facial tattoo. There’s an inexplicable baby monkey in the hotel room with them, and Alan falls in love with it. Also in the room with them is a tiger Mr. Chow. We see Mr. Chow’s penis. To complicate things further, Doug Teddy is missing, and he’s also missing a finger, which is found in the hotel room. The gang soon uses clues to retrace their steps from the previous night, find Doug Teddy, and get back to the wedding in time.

That’s the plot, essentially a carbon copy from the first movie. The similarities don’t stop there, either. Phil gets injured again and has to go to the hospital. Stu has sex with another stripper, only this time the stripper in question has both boy parts and girl parts. Stu also sings another random, stupid song about their adventures at a slow point in the middle of the movie. The group goes about their merry way, engaging in dangerous interaction with criminals along the way, only to find out that their missing pal was in the hotel the whole time. The day is saved, the wedding proceeds, and the movie finishes with the gang looking at photos from their wild and crazy night.

While this was enough to get Todd Phillips and the rest of the cast and crew rolling in lots of money, it has left a sick taste in the mouth of many viewers and critics. While the movie was funny enough to justify the matinée price that I paid, I still found myself forcing my brain to believe that a lot of unoriginal jokes were funnier than they actually were. I eventually came to the realization that this movie was pretty much the first film with a different setting, different wacky situations, and a lot more queasy subject matter, mainly the transgender prostitute.

The biggest problem with The Hangover Part II is not just the fact that it’s an unoriginal copy of the first movie, albeit with some upgrades in the disgusting factor, but that I still think it could have been something better. The cameos of this film were just plain awful. The tattoo artist that gives Stu his Mike Tyson design was supposed to be Mel Gibson, but then he was forced out by the cast, who refused to work with him. Then it was supposed to be Liam Neeson, but he wasn’t able to do it either. The role was eventually given to Nick Cassavetes. Wait, you don’t know who that is? Don’t worry, I don’t either. The other cameos were by Paul Giamatti, who had zero funny lines given to him, and Mike Tyson, who was still great, even though it’s no argument that he was much better in the first movie. It seems like there was plenty of potential for The Hangover Part II to be the best comedy of the summer, but a combination of missed opportunities and lazy writing by Todd Phillips led to this movie instead, which was clearly rushed out as quickly as possible so that everyone could get their share of big money.

So yes, The Hangover Part II delivered some decent laughs (most of them coming from Galifianakis’s brilliance as Alan) and in the end wasn’t a total waste of time and money, but it has forever tainted the legacy of the first film by being wholly unoriginal and ultimately just a lazy attempt at getting a load of cash, which it did succeed at doing. But in the end, The Hangover Part II was just a missed opportunity at something more, a fairly big disappointment. Perhaps it’s just another example of how you can never trust Hollywood to try and give you a good final product as much as you can trust it to strive for as much money as humanly possible.

2 out of 5 transgender strippers

Closing thoughts: I sincerely hope that Todd Phillips and company doesn’t stoop even lower and make a third Hangover movie. That would be a crying shame.

Also, super props to the monkey in The Hangover Part II being the same monkey who plays Annie’s Boobs on Community.

[UPDATE]: Shit, WB has hired Hangover 3 writers already. This is not good.

Should two three (three and a half?) months really seem like a long time?

The last time this simple little blog had a new post was two months ago, but it seems so much longer than that. This may have something to do with the fact that my last post, a shitty attempt at live-blogging what turned out to be an awful Oscars show, was posted in late February. As time went by, and as I tried and tried to think of things to write, I couldn’t come up with anything, and simple procrastination turned into a hiatus, and I was starting to feel like the site was finally done for.

But as I left The Media Experiment for dead, I started discovering some great new pieces of pop culture geekery. Since February, I’ve experienced the joys of Breaking Bad and Community. I’ve found some great new bands to listen to, especially this cool little group from Canada called Meligrove Band. I’ve played awesome games like Borderlands, I’ve read superb books like Olympos, and I’ve even found the time to do other meaningless things, like graduate from high school and officially decide on going to the University of Missouri, starting this fall.

I guess the point I’m trying to make here is that while silly little blogs will stop moving, the rest of the world doesn’t. And as the world doesn’t stop, neither does entertainment. So really, there is no reason to actually kill this blog, even if a break from covering the whole wide world of time-wasting was worth it.

So, with all of that behind us, it’s time for the folks here at TME to get back to what we do best, and that’s providing amateur analysis and praise/criticism/irrational hatred to the world of media entertainment.

I speak for Jimmy, Emily, Trevor, and Jackie when I say: we’re back (at least for the summer), and it feels very good.

I now leave you with iPug

Dear all those who are reading this: If you have looked at any of my other blog posts (If you haven’t, read them now you ass), you would know that I am in love with Okami. Okami is my favorite game. Ever. So when the news came that there was going to be a sequel, I don’t think I’ve ever been more excited. I rushed right to the nearest Game Stop to preorder me a copy of Okamiden. The following article will be a smidgen of my opinion on the game; the full review will come later. Here is my first impression of Okamiden, straight from an Okami addict.

First of all, one must understand that I have gotten quite far through this game, but I have been playing way to much Okamiden/Pokemon White/Final Fantasy 4 to even get near my computer. So if I accidentally let a spoiler or two slip, please don’t hunt me down and power slash me (Like that little Okami joke?). Anyways. Let’s get started.

Aww!! :D

Say hello to Chibiterasu, or Chibi for short (He goes by many other names during the game, such as Mutt, Pooch, etc.). Chibi is the son of our favorite sun goddess, Amaterasu. Looks like Amaterasu is having some fun up on the celestial plain. Anyways. Looks like Nippon is in trouble…again, and this time it’s Chibi’s duty to save all the helpless Asians from their fate.

Basically, Chibi is a smaller and much more adorable version of Amaterasu, often dancing or yipping. Basically being adorable. But the little pup does pack a punch. For the most part, you receive the same weapons and celestial brush powers as you did in Okami, but with some tweaks here and there.

Sei An City-A location in both Okami and Okamiden.

I was very worried when I heard that Okamiden was in the same location with the same people. But after playing through most of the game (I think…) I decided this was not a bad thing at all. When you meet a character you met in Okami, it’s very interesting to see where they are and how they tie in with the story. Also, the game has new locations, such as a newly built village, a demon market, and a space ship. The game is definitely not as “level” oriented as Okami was; where there were VERY distinct levels, like Zelda dungeons. But the celestial brush powers work the same; you get one or two in each area.

The fighting is another thing that really worried me when I delved into the little Instruction Booklet that comes along with the game. You attack with ONE button. I thought this was ridiculous. But soon enough I got into the game play and found that the combination of brush powers and attacks and dodging were very nicely put together, and once in a while your companion will get in on the action.

Through out the game you will meet various companions that will ride around on your back and bitch at you from time to time. They range from the cowardly, to the self-centered, to the downright annoying. These companions all lead you on their own separate quests, and all have their redeeming qualities.

What would a sun god be with out Bloom?

Another neat thing about Okamiden is the fact that the celestial brush is simple to control due to the touch screen. The player uses the stylus to draw whatever they want; much easier than using the joysticks on the PS2 controller for Okami. Also, if you preordered at Game Stop Like I did, you get to feel awesome using your own celestial brush as your stylus. The only problem I found with the whole “using the touch screen for the celestial brush” thing is that sometimes it is damned near impossible to get certain brush actions to actually unfold, sometimes really pissing off your companion. Another bothersome thing about the controls that only rarely becomes an issue is the fact you are controlling the adorable wolf with a 4 way directional pad, and not a joy stick; at times this will become a small nuisance.

Screen Shot! (And what may be the most annoying companion ever).

All in all, Okamiden is A LOT like Okami, in game play, look, annoying sounds of characters speaking, powers, weapons, people, locations, and awesomeness. I would recommend this game to any Okami fan, Zelda fan, or anybody who enjoys a good adventure game.

Feel free to ask me any questions! Thanks for reading reader. I will leave you with some adorable Okamiden pics.

Ohmahgawd. Adorable.

:D :D

Adorable!!

Well hello, readers! We all have those video games where the music is incredibly catchy, and just sticks with us, right? Well I know I do. And I can confirm that I have around 530 tracks on my iPod from various video game soundtracks. From Zelda to Silent Hill, I tell you what the best are!

Starting with!

#5. Star Fox 64/Super Mario 64

I most likely cried to this song when I FINALLY was able to beat the game. Which was about the age of, oh, I don’t know, 16. Anyways. Good job Koji Kondo/Hajime Wakai. Koji Kondo also did the Ocarina of Time soundtrack, so he’s kind of a god. But it’s whatever.

Super Mario 64 defined my childhood, and the songs are just catchy and fun. Good songs for a delightfully fun game.

4. Super Smash Brothers Melee

Well, more like the orchestral version of songs from the game performed by the New Japan Philharmonic Orchestra. I listened to this soundtrack non-stop for about a week. Sad? Yes. Fun? Yes. 

3. Silent Hill 2

Silent Hill 2 just does a wonderful job of having music to fit the scene of the game. I have the soundtrack on my iPod, and when it comes up on shuffle I get creeped out. The soundtrack allows you to picture Silent Hill perfectly. The soundtrack is all around creepy and fits the game perfectly. And a game where you are forced to watch one monster rape another monster DESERVES a creepy soundtrack. Props to you Akira Yamaoka.

2. The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker

A wonderfully made soundtrack. But it IS a Zelda, so that’s kind of a given. Wonderful soundtrack to a wonderful game. There is a song for every scene. Also: Makar’s theme is just the greatest song ever because is the most adorable thing ever.

1. Fallout: New Vegas

Sinatra. I say no more.

Also from New Vegas:

The catchiest song to ever exist. If you’re not singing this for days after you hear it you are a soulless super mutant.

Wonderful.

In both fallout 3, and Fallout: New Vegas the music couldn’t fit the game any better. Keeping the radio on is just wonderful. Whomever thought up listening to 50′s music while shooting things in a futuristic post-apocalyptic world is an absolute genius.

AND THE WINNER FOR BEST VIDEO GAME SONG EVER IS……..

I understand I didn’t list Fallout 3 anywhere in the list, but whatever. This is the best video game song of all time. Everyone has to respect how cool it is, and everyone must respect the irony of this song being in Fallout. Another win from Fallout!
Well, that’s it folks. Be a nerd and legally buy all of these soundtracks like your favorite blogger, Jimmy!

Toy Story 3:

Oh my god this movie was adorable. People had been telling me I should be wary of crying. I didn’t cry, but I could definitely understand the need to. Many, many sad parts in this movie. But I mean wow. It was really good.

127 Hours:

Now this was a quality film. I like when you can make a good film with only one character. Acting against yourself is something not a lot of people can do well. James Franco does it phenomenally.

The Kids Are All Right:

Lesbians! This movie reminded me of Little Miss Sunshine in a way…but then it didn’t. A very character driven movie, in which I actually felt something for the characters. That’s always important.

True Grit:

Okay I really, really, really, really, really liked this movie. Like, a lot. Everyone did a really good job, especially Hailee Steinfeld, who should absolutely win the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress.

The Fighter:

I liked this movie a lot. Then Christian Bale’s character became less involved. I did not like it as much after this, but Mark Wahlberg can never be not interesting.

Winter’s Bone:

Glad this movie upholds our strong Missouri values. This was probably one of the most sparse movies I’ve seen in some time, and it seemed to me like it was made in the 60′s for some reason. They weren’t telling you the plot every three seconds. You were just watching this girl try to find her father.

Black Swan:

Surely I’ve already discussed the wonder that is Black Swan. My third time seeing it was no less disconcerting. Natalie Portman will win Best Actress or heads will roll.

Inception:

Inception played at 2:00 in the morning, likely in an attempt to keep us awake. I’m not sure if I understood it anymore the second time seeing it, or if there was anything more to understand. Why is this nominated?

The Social Network:

Jesse Eisenberg is going to escape typecasting, while Michael Cera is not. This, I fear, is how the world is going to go.  Not that this is undeserved. Eisenberg’s portrayal of Mark Zuckerberg is probably the most complicated character in any of the Best Picture nominees. Prove me wrong.

The King’s Speech:

Blah blah blah British people obviously made to win oscars oscar bait shut up. THIS WAS A GREAT MOVIE. GEOFFERY RUSH DESERVES ALL THE AWARDS.

Franco only loves his anime pillow pal

So apparently tonight is the Oscars, and for whatever reason I see fit, I guess I will liveblog the damn thing. After watching two best picture nominees yesterday (Winter’s Bone and The King’s Speech), all I’ve able to think about is the Christopher Guest movie For Your Consideration (great movie, by the way). Why? Because so many Oscar films just have this air of snottiness and self-importance that just makes me sick sometimes. It just feels like people will only make movies to try to rake in awards based on merits such as “dysfunction, crying, over-the-top emotions” and so on. Maybe I just hate seeing other people succeed, but then again, Transformers 2 is one of the highest grossing movies of all time, so I guess it’s not just the awards show films. The point is, I see movies as something to entertain first, and then inspire second, and not the other way around. I’d be totally fine if a movie about Gandhi fudged things and made him a bodybuilder with a Gatling gun.

Anyways, here are the Best Picture films I have seen: Toy Story 3, Winter’s Bone, Inception, The King’s Speech, and True Grit. Here’s how I’d rank them and why…

5. Winter’s Bone: The intrigue of the story kept me interested for the majority of the movie, but damn, the ending was about as uneventful and unexciting as one could possibly expect. Weeee, they all do meth! Weeee, they’re ignorant hicks with anger issues! Weeeee, the lead lady is stuck in a horrible life at the beginning of the film and the end of it too! Jennifer Lawrence did a fine acting job, but if this wins Best Picture, I’m not going to be pleased.

4. Inception: Everyone wants to talk about “how overrated” Inception is, simply because of all the hype that came with Chris Nolan and the fact that it was a high-grossing summer movie. That said, it still had an interesting story and some really cool visuals that made me enjoy it overall. Let’s be honest here: not many people outside of Nolan could make something like dream inception seem plausible. This shouldn’t win BP, but that doesn’t mean it was a bad movie. Also, let’s not forget a certain blue alien film that was nominated for Best Picture last year…..

3. Toy Story 3: It is near impossible to not like this movie, but it’s in the minority simply because it’s a kid’s film. I would totally get behind this winning Best Picture though.

2. The King’s Speech: The two lead actors stole the show on this one, and made this movie go from 2 stars to 3.5 stars for me. Geoffry Rush was simply fantastic as the speech therapist; if he doesn’t win Best Supporting Actor, I will never look at this already “whatever” award again.

1. True Grit: That’s right, I’m a Coen Bros. homer, so sue me. Even with this movie, a movie that breaks a lot of artsy guy code (it’s a remake of an adaptation of a book, for one thing), but True Grit was the best Oscar movie I saw all year (my favorite movie overall of last year is still Kick Ass). The presentation, the acting (everybody was great in their respective roles), the feel; it felt like I was living in a snarky, slightly humorous Western world. This movie won’t win Best Picture, but it deserves to get at least Best Actor, and I’d root for Best Actress too.

And yes, I know my opinions are skewed since I didn’t see the likes of the other five movies, although you won’t get me to ever see The Kids Are Alright.

Anyways, catch up with me after the jump when the awards show starts. There’ll plenty of making fun of snooty celebrities after the jump, when the Oscars actually start. See you then!

Liveblog will start when the awards show does. See you then!

7:11: Somehow I got home from dinner before the Oscars started. I’m going to give all credit to the lucky penny I found this morning after church.

7:34: Showtime!

7:36: Franco is gonna steal the f*cking show. Already making this cheesy opening sketch ten times funnier.

7:39: Strong opening sketch. Not as good as that old Jon Stewart one, but still good.

7:41: Wow, this opening monologue is awkwarrrrd. Anne is horrible, this should be all Franco.

7:44: Tom Hanks uses his Oscars as toiletries. This is 100% fact.

7:46: Alice in Wonderland wins the art/set decoration Oscar. What a horrible start. /overreation

7:49: Inception wins Cinematography. Good choice! (that’s code for “I don’t care”)

7:51: Supporting Actress coming up. When did Amy Adams wake up and decide: “I want to get nominated for 3 acting Oscars every year for the rest of my life?”

7:54: Kirk Douglas hitting on Anne Hatheway is about the creepiest thing ever.

7:56: I hope Steinfeld wins. And the winner is…… (you know)……. the chick not named Amy Adams from The Fighter. I’ll take it. She’s hot.

8:03: Timberlake says he’s Banksy. Hahaha! So unfunny!

8:06: I have made a huge mistake in liveblogging this.

8:07: And Toy Story 3 wins best Animated film. I posted this before the award was announced.

8:08: Pixar guys are always so f*cking jovial. It annoys me.

8:08: Wow, this Oscars sucks so far.

8:16: Javier Bardem: best known for chick flicks, unfortunately. He was so damn good in No Country For Old Men. Oh, and Social Network wins best adapted screenplay.

8:19: The King’s Speech wins best screenplay! Good! David Seidler is awesome!

8:26: Oh no! Songs!

8:34: I’m done. This is f*cking boring. I’ll watch, but this isn’t worth liveblogging. Night all.

1. I randomly saw a tweet by Entertainment Weekly for the trailer of this game. I was intrigued, as I hadn’t heard anything about it at all, and because I’m a sucker for zombie games, moves, et cetera.
2. I was simply expecting a normal, action packed, heavy metal-filled zombie video game trailer.
3. I saw the description “Lost-meets-The Walking Dead and suddenly became way more interested.

And then I watched the trailer…

Hoe. Lee. Shit.

Say it with me now: Hoe. Lee. Shit.

I know that trailers of any sort shouldn’t be used to judge an unreleased game or movie, but damn. I think it’s going to be pretty hard for me to not pick up a copy of this when the game comes out, especially if the game is story driven ala World War Z.

What’s more is that this is coming off of the trailer for the decade-late game Duke Nukem Forever, which had an equally entertaining trailer, albeit far less serious. What are we coming to in this world where people are making video game trailers amazingly artistic? In short, I have to play this game now.

[Sidenote: As far as movie trailers go so far this year, Battle: Los Angeles definitely takes the cake. Sure, there's a good chance it can still be a lackluster movie, but it's certainly not straightforwardly cheesy like Skyline.]

H/T to EW

We here at The Media Experiment are not afraid to shout to the world our strange attractions to people of the same sex (Ok, maybe that’s just me, but still (I’m not gay (ladies))) and with Valentine’s Day tomorrow, it’s high time to have our second installment of Media Man Crush! This month’s installment focuses on an actor that has been in almost every type of movie imaginable. From sci-fi’s to westerns, comedies to dramas, Mr. Tudyk is one of those guys that isn’t necessarily a household name (unless you’re a Firefly/ Serenity super fan), but is instantly recognizable. Add to that his stunning good looks and general awesomeness, and you’ve got a guy that you can be attracted to without being gay. In fact, if you actually are not attracted to Alan Tudyk, you might be considered gay by 95% of the male population. Fact.

Bonus Hipster Points

After appearing in small roles in movies such as Patch Adams, 28 Days, A Knight’s Tale, and Ice Age, Tudyk got his first big role as the witty spaceship pilot Wash in the critically acclaimed but tragically under-watched series Firefly. After the show was canceled just eleven episodes in, Tudyk left a pretty good impression on Firefly’s geeky fans, and it remains one of his most beloved roles.

For even more TV hipster points, it should be noted that Tudyk also guest starred on Arrested Development as Pastor Veal.

Did You Know?

The following characters were Alan Tudyk:

Sonny the Robot in I, Robot

Steve the Pirate in Dodgeball

Doc Potter in 3:10 to Yuma

Yeah, the Doc Potter one isn’t too hard to figure, but I seriously had no clue that Tudyk was Sonny the Robot and Steve the Pirate for quite some time. I was pretty surprised when I found this out.

Throw in some voice acting and Broadway for good measure

Along with his supporting roles in movies, Tudyk has also provided his voice to TV shows like Glenn Martin DDS, Batmman, Young Justice, and Robot Chicken. He also has voiced random marines in the Halo video games. Along with those things, he’s also done some work on Broadway, including the role of Lancelot in Monty Python’s Spamalot. That’s a pretty diverse resume right there.

What’s next for Mr. Tudyk?

A role in the next Transformers movie… yikes. He’ll probably make good money for the role, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he sucked just as hard as the rest of the movie.

Top 5 Alan Tudyk Movie Roles

5. Sonny the Robot in I, Robot

4. Doc Patton in 3:10 to Yuma

3. Simon in Death at a Funeral (UK)

2. Steve the Pirate in Dodgeball

1.Wash in Firefly/ Serenity

Here’s to you, Alan Tudyk. And your ridiculously pearly white teeth.