Favorite Albums of 2013

Second list in the same day!

Best Album From a Band I'd Never Heard of Before 2013:
The 1975 by The 1975
I am absolutely in love with this band and album. The first song of theirs I heard was "Sex" which reminded me of college very strongly and from there our love affair has never ended. I have no way to put their sound into words so just go listen to it. Really fun band
3 Songs to Check Out:  Sex, Chocolate, The City, Girls, The 1975

Best Pop Punk Album
Growing Up Is Killing Me by Veara
Veara did it again. If you are like me, and find the current lack of pop punk appalling and disheartening, you HAVE to check this album out. They make a strong argument that pop punk is not dead.
3 Songs to Check Out:  The Worst Part of You, Don't Call Me Lucky, Fake Blood

Best Album I Didn't Realize I Liked Until A Week Ago
Stay Trippy by Juicy J
This album actually snuck up on me. Throughout the year, I added a Juicy J song to my "party" playlist and then realized "Wow, there are a lot of Juicy J songs on here and all from one album". I am not going to say Juicy J is the best rapper in the game and I will gladly admit that he has the same cadence and structure in all his songs but man does he have some catchy songs. Also, "One of Those Nights" is possibly the song of the year for me.
3 Songs to Check Out: One of Those Nights, Scholarship, Bounce It

Best Hardcore Album
Sempiternal by Bring Me the Horizon
Yeah I like Bring Me the Horizon and I got no shame for it. I don't know much about the second half of this album but I can tell you I've listened to the first 6 songs on it a whole lot. Really enjoyed their keyboard/synthesizer sound on this album. Also, "Empire" is an evil ass song.
3 Songs to Check Out: Empire, House of Wolves, Sleepwalking

Best Drake Album
Nothing Was the Same by Drake 
I am starting to think you all think I have really bad taste in music which is probably true. I used to be a music snob but once I removed my shackles and embraced music I was taught to hate, I became a much happier person and liking Drake makes me very happy.
3 Songs to Check Out: Furthest Thing, Hold On, Worst Behavior

Guilty Pleasure of the Year
About That Life by Attila
"I'm a bad motherfucker, not a fuckin' role model. Fuck church! Hit a bong, nigga! Smash a fucking bottle! Got a few sluts to help me roll a few blunts and they never question me 'cause they know I hate cunts".
3 Songs to Check Out: Shots for the Boys, About That Life, Hellraiser

2013's 2012 Song of the Year
"Dat Dhere" by REJ3CTZ ft. Riff Raff

2013 Song of the Year

Top WWE Wrestlers of 2013

Usually these lists come out before the New Year but who cares. These are in no particular order (except for the first two).

Antonio Cesaro and Sammy Zayn
These two are lumped together because they put on a fucking clinic in the 2013 match of the year.
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x13hktl_antonio-cesaro-vs-sami-zayn-2-out-3-falls-match_sport

There is a lot of great shit in this match. My favorite part is that Zayn actually blocks the sleeper holds with his hands. It is such a subtle thing to do but makes a world of difference in the theatrics of the match. These two guys are artists in the ring and I am looking forward to their upcoming year.

CM Punk
Punk had a fantasitc first half of the year. Longest modern WWE championship reign in history. Best match at Wrestlemania with Undertaker. DESTROYING The Rock on the mic. However, his feud with Heyman marked the end of his fantastic year. He was relegated to feuding with nobodies causing the end of 2013 to be a disappointment for Punk fans. However, his match with Seth Rollins on the NYE edition of RAW has sparked hope in my heart for The Second City Saint.

Dolph Ziggler
Speaking of disappointing ends to 2013, Dolph Ziggler has certainly gotten the short end of the stick. He finally earned a legitimate title only to have it taken away by a nasty concussion at the ends of Jack Swagger. To make matters worse, he's been getting buried and it's not because of his wrestling ability. There is some nefarious backstage politics affecting Ziggler's carrier and it's bad. Despite all this, Ziggler is still the must watch performer of all the events. Ziggler truly steals the show and let's hope in 2014 he steals another title (not IC or US hopefully).

Daniel Bryan
While I am not a fan of Bryan's recent striking form of wrestling, I still think he's a badass in the ring. When he chooses to do actual wrestling, it's a thing of beauty. Also, this tiny goatman is so over with the fans, it is insane. I remember his first NXT appearance thinking this dude was lamer than Alex Wright, but, holy crap, he has come a long way. If the WWE has any fucking clue, they will give him a title reign that lasts longer than a week.

The Shield (Dean Ambrose, Roman Reigns, and Seth Rollins)
These guys nearly did it all this year. Since their arrival last year at Survivor Series, they have made quite the impact. Roman Reigns is being positioned to be the next top card draw for the WWE; he is a fucking animal out there. Seth Rollins clearly has a chip on his shoulder and he is letting people know it. His match with Punk on RAW was great and the bumps this guy is willing to take are Ziggler-esque. I am hoping he makes it out of the WWE's treacherous midcard vortex. I love watching Dean Ambrose but I am afraid he is not going to make it in the WWE. He reminds me a lot of Punk (similar bodies, animated in the ring, great mic work, not Batista) and I hope that he can get enough crowd love to help carry him further.

Dishonorable Mentions
HHH
HHH and Steph have taken every opportunity to use their power to put HHH over as some great wrestler. On Night of Champions, there was poll for greatest WWE champion, and HHH was on it and The Rock wasn't. I recall Steph referring to HHH as one of the originators of the Attitude Era despite him not becoming  a relevant top card wrestler until the tail end of it. Jim Cornette put it best when he said "He is the guy that works with the guy who draws the money".

The Rock
His in ring ability has certainly diminished as well as his mic abilities which hurts me the most. Also, giving him the strap was a slap in the face. Everyone knew he'd drop it to Cena at Wrestlemania. It reminds me of some shit Hogan would pull which makes me sick

John Cena
I like Cena but he is clearly trying to get in on Daniel Bryan's spotlight. Bryan does not need your help Cena; he is already super over. Constantly name dropping Bryan in promos and offering him matches because you are a "good" guy just makes you look desperate. If you want to get DBry over, turn heel and actually feud with him.

Hellraiser: Hellworld: Hellreview

My brother suggested that I watch Hellraiser: Hellworld and I did not like it. Films of the Hellraiser franchise are known for their gruesome death and torture scenes so it was extremely disappointing that this film had some of the tamest death scenes I have ever seen. I am in no way a fan of the "torture porn" films, but Hellraiser films are supposed to be shocking and having Pinhead chop someone's head off is lame. Keep in mind, in previous films he has ripped people's flesh off with hooks and chains in the opening sequence. On top of this, the acting is shotty, except for Lance Henriksen who nails it, and the characters are stupid but that is what all horror films have and I guess that is my issue with the movie; it is just a bland horror film.

I did like what this film attempted to do, however. The story of this film does not follow the tried and true Hellraiser formula of a puzzle box being opened followed by demons and torture. Instead, this film uses the idea of Pinhead, rather than Pinhead himself. The film revolves around a group of friends who are obsessed with a video game based on the Hellraiser mythos. The gang is loured to a massive party for the game in a giant scary mansion and then horror movie stuff happens. I assumed that at the house, the same shit that happened in the club scene from Hellraiser 3 would occur but instead the film constantly keeps you unsure about what is happening and what isn't and whether or not Pinhead is in the house or not. The film ends in a fun way which is something you cannot say about a lot of horror films. Unfortunately, the plot is better on paper than in execution. A lot of this stems from shitty writing and a film length that is too long for concept. This film could have easily been 45 minutes and been much better. There are many superfluous scenes and scenes that go on for too long.

I would never recommend someone watch this film but it does put an interesting twist on the franchise.

My Journey with James: The Man with the Golden Gun

Unfortunately Netflix's James Bond Instant contract has run out so I am forced to get the DVDs via snailmail so I'll have to go one movie at a time now.

The Man with the Golden Gun finally returned Bond back to form. The music is back, Moore does a nice job playing Bond, and they thankfully set the movie in not the United States so that god awful 70s look is mostly absent in this film, although Bond's pants still look stupid. The biggest highlight of this film is that the titular man is played by former SAS, current metal front man, British badass Sir Christopher Lee. His character, Francisco Scaramanga is a carnival act turned assassin with an avarice for gold especially in the form of bullets and a gun that can be broken down to a pen, lighter, and cigarette holder. Scaramanga works as a villain on so many levels. The most important, which has been missing in the past few movies, is that Scaramanga can kill Bond at any moment but chooses not to for the second important characteristic. Mr. Golden Gun happens to be obsessed with dueling and Bond. The opening scene of the movie has Scaramanga playing a deadly game of hide and seek with another assassin in Scaramanga's elaborate and twisted battle arena on his private island. Of course, this is where James is loured at the end of the movie and where Bond comes face to face is a James Bond mannequin Scaramanga creepily had made.

All the goofy and dumb shit from the other 70s era films are thankfully removed and this is just a solid action film. I do believe the film did not have to be 2 hours long but it did not drag too bad in the fluffing parts. I cannot think of many critisims for this film yet according to Rotten Tomatoes this film was ranked below Live and Let Die which is a stupid and boring film.

Ranking:
1. Dr. No and Goldfinger
2. Thunderball
3. The Man with the Golden Gun
4. On Her Majesty's Secret Service 
5. From Russia With Love
6. You Only Live Twice
7. Live and Let Die
8. Diamonds Are Forever

Photo credit:
http://www.movieposter.com/posters/archive/main/38/MPW-19431
http://media.screened.com/uploads/0/235/619005-golden_gun_duel.jpg

Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker's Folly

I consider Wind Waker to be one of the best games in the franchise. It is, by far, the most stylish of the Zelda franchise boasting a beautiful cell shaded art style, improved flowing battle system, and tremendous soundtrack. But for all its strengths there are glaring issues that have made me less bullish about the game.

The game, at its core, is structurally flawed and the missing pieces were replaced with content designed to artificially add game length. Clearly was content removed from the game due to deadlines. After the initial 3 artifacts are found, the game fizzles out into 2 more dungeons and a horrendous fetch quest. I would have preferred them to just do the two dungeons and then have you face Ganondorf. Instead, the designers wanted to add some more meat to the game in the shape of this bullshit fetch quest. While I found the places where the charts fun, the tedious nature of changing wind directions was really exasperated by this ordeal. Once you have the charts, you have to go to Tingle and pay him an outrageous fee of 600 rupees per chart to get them translated so you have can go out into the ocean and recover them from the ocean floor. 

Additionally, the pursuit of a grand adventure that Zelda games feel like they need to have has proven to be a detriment to many of the modern games. Wind Waker, Twilight Princess, Phantom Hourglass, etc. are filled with grand areas you need to traverse. It is especially offensive in Wind Waker's wide empty ocean that is often devoid of anything and minutes are spent inactive and just waiting to arrive at an island. I did enjoy the sailing mechanic but the wind direction facet was more bothersome than immersive and the shear size of it was too much. 

There is so much to love about Wind Waker but I always got the feeling I was only playing a part of a bigger game. I think it is a testament to everything else about this game that still makes me love it. I was hoping that the HD remake would allow the creators to insert the cut content but unfortunately that is not the case and is a massive missed opportunity.

Photo credits:
http://sickr.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/wind_waker_reborn_link.jpg
http://www.electricblueskies.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/Nintendo-Dolphin-1080p-Wallpaper-012-Zelda-Wind-Waker-Link-Outset-Island.png

Legend of Zelda: The Brilliance of Link's House

I've been watching a lot of Ocarina of Time speed runs and noticed one of the coolest things about the game, Link's House.

While playing this game, I often wondered why Link's house was shown from this angle and it finally dawned on me why. This is the first part of the game where you have control of Link and is an homage to the 2D Legend of Zelda games. When you leave the house, you are physically going through the transition of 2D to 3D into the fully three dimensional Kokiri Forest. Subtle but brilliant.

My Journey with James: You Only Live Twice Through Live and Let Die

I have returned after watching the next four films and I can safely say that the first four Bond films are the highlights. You Only Live Twice is an okay movie. The only notable aspects of this film are that Blofeld's identity is revealed and an army of ninjas storm a volcano that is actually a secret hide out which launches rockets into space to kidnap astronauts to ignite the Cold War. It's the classic run of the mill James Bond film.

On Her Majesty's Secret Service is the first Bond film without Mr. Connery. Instead, George Lazenby does his one and only performance as James Bond. At first, I was not very interested in the film and the beginning of the film does nothing to remedy my disinterest. The film becomes bearable when Bond and Blofeld meet at some allergy research facility in the mountains. Telly Savalas, star of Kojak, does a great job making Blofeld a believable and threatening to Bond. This film has a lot of fun action scenes that have the patented over the top charm. What makes this film good is that it adds a new angle to Bond when his wife is killed in front of him. Lazenby's performance during this scene is what really sold me on the whole film and it made me wonder what else Lazenby could have done as Bond.

Mr. Wint and Mr. Kidd

Diamonds Are Forever is the perfect Saturday afternoon local television movie.  It is a goofy campy movie but isn't fun to watch; it is just stupid and boring. It is Connery's last performance as an Eon produced James Bond and it is a terrible way to go out. I believe the biggest tragedy of this film is the under utilization of the homosexual assassin duo, Mr. Wint and Mr.Kidd. They are some of the best Bond villains I have seen. They are bizarre, eccentric, and deadly. In the beginning of the film, they kill a majority of the characters but then disappear for the majority of the film as a newly haired Blofeld takes center stage. The Blofeld in this film is bland compared to these two weirdos and it's a shame they weren't given a more central role in the plot.

Live and Let Die is Roger Moore's first Bond movie. I was interested to watch this film because there is a lot of debate about Moore's depiction of James Bond and I had never seen his movies. Moore does an alright job. I wouldn't say his performance is memorable at all but it certainly isn't as offensive as some people believe. The biggest issue with this film is that it does not feel like a Bond film. The hideous aesthetic of the 70's is all over this film. The beautiful Aston Martin is replaced by god awful Cadillacs and Olds Mobiles that plagued that decade. The awesome European style suits are replaced by ugly 70's "gangster" attire and shitty looking pants. Paul McCartney wrote the famous "Live and Let Die" song for this film and it is played through out the film. In fact, that song is played instead of the James Bond theme through out the film which really disconnects the Bond connection. The beautiful locals of previous Bond films are replaced by shitty 70's Harlem, a street in New Orleans, a field in the Caribbean (ugly), and an underground layer that, again, stank of 70's style. 

Back row: Tee Hee, Baron Samedi, Whisper. Front row: Solitaire, Bond, Kananga.

Instead of one main henchman in this film, there are 3 wimpy ones. There is Baron Samedi, a man dressed as a voodoo spirit of death who never actually kills anyone.  I see his picture all over the place for this film which is odd considering he is only in the film for 2 scenes and is only a minor henchman. Then there is Whisper who is a just a fat guy who only whispers. The last henchman is named Tee Hee and he has a robot arm similar to Dr. No's but his somehow looks more ridiculous and fake. You can see his in suit arm where the prop is connected to his hand. On top of that, like all the other henchman, he isn't threatening. The arm is awkward, slow, and inaccurate. These 3 heavy hitters work for Dr. Kananga, a corrupt island official looking to peddle opium in the US. As a villain, he is alright but his voodoo gimmick his under played.

I would like to now address Kananga's death. To set the scene, Bond has wrestled Kananga into the shark tank that has Bond's blood in it so the Sharks are hungry. Rather than drown Kananga (it stands to reason that, as a trained spy, Bond would be able to out wrestle Kananga) or injure him enough that he cannot swim out of the shark tank in time, Bond forces Kananga to swallow (how he forces him to swallow it, I am unsure) a compressed air bullet causing Kananga to literally inflate like a balloon and burst on the ceiling. This is the most ridiculous thing I have ever seen in a Bond film and I feel it is too unbelievable even for a Bond film. The inflated body clearly looks like a balloon and the logistics of the whole thing and lack of viscera is silly.

This dummy is the scariest part of the film.

I was not a big fan of Live and Let Die as you can tell.

Updated list of favorites:

1. Dr. No and Goldfinger

2. Thunderball

3. On Her Majesty's Secret Service

4. From Russia with Love

5. You Only Live Twice

6. Live and Let Die

7. Diamonds Are Forever

Photo credits:
http://kelly.hogaboom.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/on-her-majestys-secret-service.jpg
http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20121229025043/villains/images/8/8d/Tumblr_lj0t77hiIO1qzoulco1_500.jpg
http://www.counter-currents.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/live-and-let-die-3.jpg
http://www.dvdverdict.com/images/reviewpics/liveandletdie05.jpg