Sonic, Chime & The Men Who Stare At Goats

This week saw the confirmation that Sonic is going back to his 2D roots this summer. Which is obviously good news, having played through the abysmal "Sonic The Hedgehog" reboot it's clear that Sega needed to revamp this big time (still not played unleashed, scouring the bargain bins). So what better way to get excited than to sit down with Sonic 2 on a very hungover Sunday afternoon. Before today I'd honestly never completed Sonic 2 either and I was surprised why I hadn't. I didn't even run into any problems until the Wing Fortress Zone which had one horrible segment jumping across guns. I certainly feel very accomplished beating it for the first time though and a nice little 35G for doing it was hardly a kick in the teeth either.

This week also saw the release of ambient puzzler Chime. The first thing that should be said is that a fair whack of the profits go to charity which is nice. Then it also only costs 400MSP so it's cheap too. I've not played it too much but it's quite laid back, not quite in the addictive puzzle realms of the classic Tetris or almost psychologically abusing drug that is Peggle. Hard not to recommend it though purely even for the first two points. The music is good too, the only downside for me is that I'm really bad at it.

Finally, in between my bouts with Robotnik today I watched The Men Who Stare At Goats. The film takes a while to find it's feet for me but once it does it's great fun. Fantastic cast as well with Clooney, Spacey and Bridges all brilliant. Especially Clooney, who sports a fantastic 'tache as well. Well worth picking up and giving a go, only wish I had the foresight to catch it at the theatres when it first came out. Oh well, that's pretty much my new year's resolution I think. Go to the cinema more.

Zombieland

In many ways Zombieland is like the American Shaun Of The Dead. It's bigger, louder, swearier and instead of going to the pub they go to a theme park. Americans eh? For me though it's what happens when you make a film that is a mixture of zany Japanese photo em up Dead Rising and the frantic, manic, unadulterated joy of Left 4 Dead. Left 4 Dead Rising: The Movie if you will. It's also cleverer than that sounds though, with some real wit hidden away in the movie, particularly in a bizarre scenario set in Bill Murray's house. The characters are as wafer thin as you'd expect and the plot hardly revolutionary. In fact the plot is pretty much that of a romantic comedy. Only with more zombies. But with nods to The Zombie Survival Guide in a rules system, a score that at times hinted at those oh so worrying strings of an impending zombie stampede in Left 4 Dead and even a few shots of a moving roller coaster car that reminded me of those very common mine cart sequences you used to get in Resident Evil. Anyway, regardless of it's originality it's easily the second best zomb-com going. Unless you're counting Dawn Of The Dead for unintentional comedy. But less not confuse it anymore. Good fun indeed.

Edge Of Darkness

"They don't make them like they used to". That's probably what I'd be saying if I'd ever actually seen the original BBC television show on which this film is based. But I haven't, so I can't. The film, on paper, reads slightly similar to Liam Neeson's revenge 'em up Taken in the fact that Mel Gibson decides to lay off the Jews for long enough to go a mission to find out why his daughter died on his doorstep. For the opening scenes as well the film seems like it is going to do this, with lots of effort going towards showing the love in the father daughter relationship. It does pick up though with the introduction of Ray Winstone as a shady character offering help or hindrance in some rather cagey, tense encounters. This is where the film does well, with conspiracy theories and philosophical tidbits thrown about with the tense stares and gruff voices. Unfortunately it also has Mel Gibson in it and he happily throws around lines such as "I'm just a man with nothing to lose" without a hint of irony. Which is why I'm quite keen to watch the BBC original now, with a little more subtlety and depth this would have been fascinating fare. But instead we've got a slightly more decrepit John McClane shooting his way out of a tense conspiracy thriller. A miss-fire.

5 Albums for 2010

So I've been thinking today about music I'm looking forward to. I tend not to get in a frenzied excitement like I do with games (I'm going to have a sad little cry the first time I see Mass Effect 2 in the shop and realise I can't afford it). That's probably because the coverage tends not to be like a flood of information though. "Breaking News: They're still making the album". Although saying that I remember from my NME reading days there was a fair bit of that. So here's the 5 I'm almost quivering in excitement about. Almost being the key word, because this current quivering is from the painfully depressing cold of my house. So, so cold. Also, before the list, the picture is really shit. I felt guilty choosing it, it's like something you'd see on a BBC article talking about "modern music" or something.

1. LCD Soundsystem - TBA
There's no real order for this list although if I was pressed I imagine this would creep in near the top. Sound Of Silver is undoubtedly one of the best records in my collection. Although I own a Junior Senior album, so you could argue it's not exactly a challenge. There's an April tour over here in the UK and I think the album is down for March, so I guess we'll find out soon enough. Could go either way with this one I think.

2. Frightened Rabbit - The Winter Of Mixed Drinks
If you're one of the 10-12 people who aren't wildly in love with Frightened Rabbit yet then you need to firstly question where your life went so wrong and then have a listen to The Midnight Organ Fight which is one of the best albums of the last decade. Still feels weird saying that. Ten years ago I was 11. Scary fucking stuff indeed. Lead single Swim Until You Can't Sea Land encapsulates everything that makes them a great pop act. Melody, catchy, great lyrics and a little bit of a Scottish accent. Got to love Scottish vocals. Due to "drop" in March.

3. Broken Bells - Broken Bells
This combination is like a musical wet dream. Danger Mouse and that bloke from The Shins. He has a name, but it's not relevant. Only heard The High Road a few weeks ago and it's infectious to say the least. So catchy it almost counts as physical abuse. But in a good way. Apparently (as in this did happen) the album leaked around Christmas, although you'd be hard pressed to find it now. I say that because I couldn't find it. But there is only so much work Google can do for you. Also out in March. Going to be a heck of a month.

4. Arcade Fire - TBA
I can safely assume I'm not the only one excited about this, my love for Funeral was rekindled not so long ago so it's very much at the fore front of my mind. I wasn't a massive fan of Neon Bible as well which makes me slightly more nervous. Although in fairness I didn't give it an awful lot of time. But given this isn't rumoured to arrive till May (for a change) I've probably got enough time to mend that.

5. Radiohead - TBA
Would any list from be complete without Radiohead? Well, yes. Any that doesn't involve music for a start. Anyway, they've been beavering away on this since 2007 so it's about time you'd hope. But of course it's Radiohead so they might just hide it in skips around the country and not tell us for 6 months just to be difficult. They've certainly got to top the drama of In Rainbows release anyway. Judging by last year's These Are My Twisted Words it's going to be as unpredictably perfect as ever. I would hazard internet meltdown in Autumn.

There's a few other biggies coming out this year; The Strokes, Flying Lotus, Laura Marling, The Streets, Gorillaz, Deftones, Daft Punk to name but a few. I've still got to listen to Vampire Weekend as well (sort it out Spotify!). So at this stage my album of the year is Hot Chip. As it's the only one I've heard. But that's not even out yet. Dear, oh dear.

There Will Be Blood, Assassin's Creed 2 and A Bit Of Music

I wasn't going to write about this film to be honest because I didn't really know what to say. It's a tightly wound, overbearing piece of cinema to say the least. In many ways it trundles along for it's two and three quarter hour running time but you become spellbound by it. Most of that factor though can be attributed to Daniel Day Lewis who is sublime in this film to say the least. I feel like I need to watch it again really though to fully grasp everything going on it. But from a first viewing it's deserved all the praise it's got for me, some scenes from this film won't leave me for quite some time and the score perfectly feeds the tension at work. Glad I plucked up the courage to sit down with it, I was initially worried that this film was going to be above my understanding of high end cinema. Fortunately it turns out I underestimate my own intelligence. Or that of the film. But let's go with the former on that eh?

From high end cinema I go to the frantic mess of a narrative that is the end of Assassin's Creed 2. Not to spoil it, but the pay-off explanations at the end really are a bit of a disaster. There's one more thing that nags me about the game though. How much control do you assert over the character? Given you're supposed to be Desmond inhabiting the memory of Ezio and re-enacting his past. So in the cut-scenes is it Ezio or Desmond? How far does the control stretch? I feel like this game has pushed me into a philosophical nightmare. First Moon and now this. Probably wasn't paying attention in the cut-scenes. Should have warned of the intellectual quandaries you'll blunder into if all the information at the start is not fully understood. At least now I've got the relaxing opportunity of picking up the last 100G left in the game before sending it back. Bioshock 2 doesn't hit for a few weeks yet so still plenty of time!

Also, feeling fairly musically nostalgic lately and have been listening to a lot of the Arctic Monkeys debut. Lot of memories I've got with that record; some good, some bad. Still stunning lyrically though, a sharp wit that I don't think I appreciated as much when I first heard them. A lot of their newer matierial has left me a bit cold, I'm sure given time it's got some depth to it but their first record (or even the demos circulating long before the album) is the one I'll never forget. Might even slip you a sneaky weekly top artists chart from Last FM;

1. Arctic Monkeys (50)
2. Arcade Fire (30)
3. Radiohead (26)
4. Flying Lotus (24)
5. The Prodigy (19)

Moon and Assassin's Creed 2

I don't like making two posts in the same day, which is why I conveniently waited till after midnight to post about this film. I don't know if it counts as OCD or something but I feel it just looks a bit out of place when a post doesn't have the date above it. Even if it is OCD it can't be that bad considering tonight I'm going to be sharing my bed with this morning's breakfast curry. Regardless, I've had Moon hanging around for about a week now but due to lots of drinking/exciting football/generally not in the mood I've only just watched it. The more I waited the more I heard positively about it, which is rare for a supposed "Sci-Fi" film. But the setting has almost little impact upon the film in many ways. This isn't sci-fi it's lo-fi (HAHA!). Anyway, it's a film that leaves you with quite a lot of questions really, but surprisingly few about the plot. It's a thinker as they would say and in many ways it's quite unnerving to be questioning what it is to be human after watching a film who's second star is a talking computer. I've also excitedly read that the director (Duncan Jones or Zowie Bowie as he would never want to be called) wants to revisit the universe for future films which for once is an exciting prospect. I shall wait with baited breath for the next I imagine. To summarise, a lovely little gem of a film.

Also feel I should mention Assassin's Creed 2, which has surprised me by being really long. As a result I've lost interest in the story as a whole and just knowing enough to get on with the missions at hand. Probably splurged far too much time on it I think, even though I took a good four day break from playing it. Oh well, if I'm going to get any chance of playing Mass Effect 2 or Bioshock 2 before I run out of money to afford rentals anymore I'm going to have carry on splurging my time.

Football, Football, Football.... And Sherlock Holmes.

Blimey, bit of a mental week for football. So much so that I've done not a lot else but watch it. Well, that and drinking. But that's not as exciting to write about is it? The most surprising thing is that the League Cup has suddenly become interesting. Up until now I'm pretty sure that even the teams taking part didn't really care. I certainly didn't, can't even remember when Newcastle got knocked out. Sure it was embarrassing though, they have a habit of doing that (á la 4-2 against West Brom yesterday...).

Anyhow everyone seemed to be excited about the first match on Tuesday. Apart from Man Utd seemingly, who kicked off with all the gusto of a fat guy climbing some stairs. That was in comparison to Man City though who buzzed around in a frenzied madness which meant that United literally had the metaphorical arm out holding City at a far enough distance where their wild jabs of energy were wasteful. But eventually City found their stride and genuinely looked the better team, United playing in a now familiar sedentary pace were outplayed. Tevez took full advantage and with his two goals raided the bank for obvious celebrations referencing his rather acrimonious fallout with the staff of his former club. United (Rooney) fought back in the final moments but Given is more than used to single-handedly winning points for his team. He was at Newcastle for Christ's sake! Anyway, Wednesday looks tasty to say the least and with Rooney bagging four yesterday I think goals are most certainly in the equation. That and we'll see how Gary Neville can further his status of acting like a dick more often than he actually plays these days.

Then on Wednesday we had Villa v Blackburn which was so ridiculous it was almost offensive. There were goals, red cards, goals, penalties, goals, OVERHEAD FUCKING KICK GOALS and more goals. Suffice to say; lots of goals. I can't even remember who scored them now to be honest, probably be easier to name who didn't score them. What is easy to say though is that Villa would have been in for a tough time if Blackburn didn't go down to ten men. But it was the right decision. That's what happens when you play a striker like Samba in defense. What's that? Oh he's a defender again now is he? But doesn't Big Sam always.. No? Anyway, a great game for the neutral and a great advertisement for a competition that before this week no-one gave a shit about. Made the FA Cup results this weekend look a bit tame in comparison. Hope Leeds can do over Tottenham at home now though. Can see some magic in that story.

Aaaaaand finally. Went to see Sherlock Holmes today. Heard mixed things about it, but I quite enjoyed it. But I quite like Guy Ritchie films so I always was going to. Downey Jr is amazing as ever, the music is a bizarre mix of Irish and Polka and there's lots of clever bits of slow-mo like you'd expect. Oh and Mark Strong is in it as always. Does feel a bit long and some of the scenes in the middle do bring the yawns but apart from that worth the £4.50 of Child's Tickets day or whatever was happening down at the cinema in town. Whatever it was still a half empty cinema.