Weekly Recommendation - Week #008 - Back To School

Welcome back to the number one TGOI based website! Apart from maybe our Rockstar Social Club page... 

I know you don't probably want to hear this from your number 1 source of Sunday night entertainment, but we cannot continue to ignore the truth. Summer is over. The time for relaxing is done, and everyone needs to get back into the swing of things. However, Sunday is not quite done, so here at TGOI, we decided to give you all the tools you need to de-stress yourselves and get relaxed for the impending education apocalypse. The back to school Weekly Recommendation begins... NOW. Sorry about that, my caps-lock button got stuck. 

Blazing Saddles - Mel Brooks (movie) Author: Chris 

Considering I couldn't really think of a film that would calm and relax, I decided to go with the next best thing: Comedy.  Now in my personal opinion, there is no comedy more stupid, more bizarre, more idiotic than Blazing Saddles. Is that a good thing? I think you know the answer. Just for clarity, it is a good thing. Blazing Saddles takes a stab at the western genre, as well as, well, the entire concept of what make a film a film. There is so many stupid jokes, absurd fourth-wall breaks and obvious western clichés in this movie that you will be laughing from the minute it starts to the minute it ends. Except for the when the theme plays, because soon enough you will be singing along to that shit. I really don't want to spoil what little of a plot this film has, because you need to know nothing about this film to really allow its absurd humour to take full effect. The third act will literally make you question everything, whilst laughing hysterically. Go watch this film immediately, it will put you in the right mood for getting back into the swing of things. 

Vigil - Jack Wall & Sam Hulick (Music) - Author: Darren

If you know me (and why on Earth wouldn't you?), you'll know that I love Mass Effect, it's massively effective in making me massively eclectic. I'm making that joke to much, you might start to actively suspect it (NO. BAD DARREN!). Ah, where was I? Oh yes, Mass Effect. I love the game and it's music. It's a fantastic score on par with some of the greatest movies. One piece in particular is Vigil. It's immensely relaxing which might be due to it's use in game, both at the start menu and a huge plot revelation (that scene is fucking fantastic, by the way). It is definitely the most relaxing video game music that I have heard and being my introduction to one of my favourite games goes a long way. I absolutely love it, it's my go to relaxation music but don't take my word for it (actually, you should), listen to it here [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hV1pPgpcAVw].

GTA 5 - Rockstar Games (Game) - Author: Darren

Do you ever wish you could murder everyone? Then maybe we should have dinner sometime. Stop blushing, you're making me uncomfortable. Anyway, GTA is the game for you, violence is cathartic after all. The world is your oyster or, if you're not big on seafood, make up another analogy.

On a more serious note, violence can be fun, that's the motto for the games industry. Beating and blowing the citizens of Los Santos in an upward direction is perversely fun. If that's not your cup of liquidised foetus, you can always take a drive or stroll, maybe play some sport. You can even do what I do, take photos of stunning digital vistas and risk you life doing so, it's up to you. It's up to you because the size of the map and variance in activity is phenomenal. I was so close to picking Saints Row 4 this week but GTA has so much more to offer everyone, both in longevity and overall fun. 

If you don't like what I've suggested, you still have a mechanically solid game to lose yourself and, with a world this huge and detailed, you'll want to stay.

So there you have it, a relaxing little list before your anus is pressed firmly into a classroom chair. Unless it's not, of course. Until next time, keep breathing (please don't), The Artists Formerly Known as.

Weekly Recommendation - Week #007 - THE WARRIORS (1979)

Can you count, suckas? Good for you. This week (and every week really) we recommend to you The Warriors. That's right, all three recommendations will be The

Warriors. Movie: The Warriors. Music: The Warriors soundtrack. Game: The Warriors. Can you dig it?

The Warriors - Walter Hill (Movie) - Author: Darren & Chris

As a long time fan of The Warriors, I can honestly say I still enjoy it every time i see it. It combines dark themes and (in hindsight) cartoonish violence seamlessly. Set that to some of the best music the 1970's has to offer and a sweet synth-rock soundtrack and you have a recipe for a classic.
The Warriors themselves comprise of nine (there's more, just not plot relevant) guys who act as a single protagonist. It's very much them versus the world or the gangs and police of New York. The character's themselves are a varied bunch, ranging from naive newcomer to sexually aggressive sociopath to natural leader. The protagonists aren't the only good characters, the other gangs are varied and have their own distinct style. On this note however, is the villain, Luther who is an engaging character who feels legitimately intimidating. [Darren]

Now. This is the big one. The thing that started it all. The fucking film. I'm going to be honest, I saw it for the first time yesterday, but that is because I   wanted my first time to be in a cinema (god grow up), and thanks to FACT that happened. Now what can I say about this movie? Well I suppose I should start with the plot. A gang of men called The Warriors (roll credits!) attend a meeting between all of New York's street gangs. A major issue goes down, and The Warriors are falsely accused. They have to fight their way back to their part of the city, scrapping with all manner of gangs (It's really superb every time a new gang appears). It's creates a really tense feeling of not only fearing arrest, but the fearing being beaten to death by the strangest (in a good way) bunch  of humans you will ever see. I fucking love it. Now no film is complete without a soundtrack, and the music completely goes with the film, a combo of synthy rock and licensed music really makes you feel like you are in the era. (Darren will discuss the soundtrack in detail, so I'll leave it at that.) he fight scenes are really well done, instead of feeling like your usual Hollywood scripted fight with shaky camera and fast cutting so you can't figure out what is going on, the camera remains still and cuts remain Infrequent so you can see how heavy the fighting is. Men punching each other in the face, throwing each other through solid objects, and clobbering each other with bats has never been so great to watch, it's superb for damn sure.This film is so bloody iconic, with the marvelous "can you dig it?" and the the really repeatable " warriors come out to play," you'll be quoting this film forever. I know I will. Become addicted to this film and it's extensions. It's worth it. I actually want to be a math teacher now just so I can say "can you count suckas?" to my students. Golly I have odd life goals. [Chris]

The Warriors Soundtrack - Barry DeVorzon (Music) - Author: Darren

One of the finest things about The Warriors is the soundtrack. Composed by Barry DeVorzon and featuring a handful of licensed tracks such as Nowhere To Run by Arnold Mculler and In The City by Joe Walsh (co-written by Barry DeVorzon) and the previously mentioned synth-rock which gives the movie a unique sound that I've not really heard elsewhere. It's not just the music, it's how it's used (am I right, ladies? AM I?). It's always fitting, except the credits theme which is still appropriate, and adds a lot to the atmosphere. Did I mention it's bloody brilliant?

The Warriors - Rockstar Games (video game) - Author: Chris

As some may be aware, I adore both Rockstar and their games. Max Payne 3 and GTA 5 are two of my favourite games to date. So when I found out that that same company made a game about one of the my most recent favourite films? I had to check it out. I'll get the flaws out of the way really quick so I can tell you why it's superb. The camera movement Is really shitty. Okay done. Now, the ascetic of the film is really well captured in the game, from the look of the game to the music to the location to the character design. It all adds up to a really unique feeling game. Not to mention the fighting mechanics are top notch, you really feel like you are clobbering suckas in the mean streets of New York, each hit feeling like a brick colliding with a human skull. You can even do just that, it's superb. It even has a neat versus mode so you and your friend can battle to see who the best street fighter is, either one on one or with four AI troops standing beside you. Now that is a game that I can dig. Can you?

There you lucky bastards have it, go see The Warriors, listen to the soundtrack and play the game. It's an experience you won't forget (in a good way). The future is ours, regardless of whether or not you can count*.


*Counting is mandatory.

Weekly Recommendation - Week #006 - Irregular Interests

Just like humans, Darren and I both make assumptions that we won't like something based on things such as genre, first glance or whether it can beat us in a knife fight. However, sometimes we dare to venture into the danger zone, and occasionally, we discover something that is buried in the piles of shit, filth and corpses of people who lost in knife fights to bloggers, something that can truly be considered good, maybe even great. Here are just some of those things. Oh and on a side note, knife fights have been moved to Thursdays. Sorry for any inconvenience caused.

Oldboy - Chan-wook Park (Movie) - Author: Darren

Oldboy is a fine example of Korean cinema. It has a fucked up plot and gory, low budget action sequences that are still fantastic. The plot follows alcoholic shit head father, Oh Daesu and his attempts to track down his captor and find answers. Honestly, that's all there is I can say about the plot
without dropping spoilers but rest assured, it's good, if predictable but maybe that's my superhuman brainpower at work.
For those of you who don't speak Korean, there's an English remake which, personally, I didn't like as much (it was pretty mediocre). It is, bizarrely, more disturbing than the Korean version and doesn't contain the squid scene.
Check out this trailer if you're interested. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tphnn5EPj2w] As far as I'm aware, the original can be found (with subs) on Netflix.

Make It Bun Dem - Skrillex & Damien "Jr. Gong" Marley (Song) - Author: Darren

What can I say? For starters, this song is fantastic but that could just be my introduction to it. The way I was introduced to this song was that one mission in Far Cry 3 where you take a flamethrower and burn some weed fields (and people. Hey, you get caught up in the moment). The song adds so much to the
mission and really get the player into the mindset of the game's protagonist. Generally, I'm not a huge dubstep fan, but for this, I will make an exception. It really does have a lot more impact and appeal during the mission mentioned. Check it out if you don't own Far Cry 3 (maybe someone will stream it one
day) [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGpzGu9Yp6Y]

Road Trip Adventure - play it (game) Author: Chris

So back when I was a small Chris, I was still as avid a gamer as I am to this day. However, as I was young and foolish back in the day (unlike now, in which I'm slightly older and foolish), I was quite narrow minded about my selections. So when I acquired Road Trip Adventure, and saw the cover that reminded me of a racing game for children, I was sceptical. How wrong I was. Road Trip Adventure is a beautiful game for PS2, in which you are a sentient car (which you name) and go around a world full of other sentient cars, doing missions and races. What's so good about that? Well I'll tell you right now. It's free roam. You have to travel through massive expanses of land, to get to each task. Not only that, but you actually have fuel. If you run out in the middle of nowhere, you have to fast travel back to a town you have previously visited, and go to a petrol station. It really makes you feel vulnerable in this big, silly world of sentient cars. The level of content in this game is superb is well, ranging from races, modes, cars, parts and so on. You even get your own town that evolves as people move there and set up business. It is so easy to get engrossed in this gorgeous and innocent world. God I want to back there. At the time of writing, I just found out it was re-released as a download on the PS3 store. You don't realise how happy this makes me. I don't think I can
recommend this game enough.

You do not realise how hard this week's choices were. Darren and I consider ourselves to be quite open when it comes to such things. We tend to dive into every genre whenever possible, to really broaden our minds, and generally become better people. Except for rom-coms. Because fuck rom-coms.
Tune in next week for a very special recommendation. Can you dig it, suckas? - Chris

Weekly Recommendation - Week #005 - The Electrifying 80's

Hey citizens of whatever, this week's recommendations come to you from the glorious 1980's or are set in the fabled decade. We have scoured the planet in search of our picks and aren't they just amazing? What we're amazing too? We know, you're fucking welcome, by the way. Anyway, enough ego fellatio, let's get to it.

Red Dwarf - BBC (Series) - Author: Darren

Red Dwarf is a sci-fi comedy set aboard a huge red, vaguely phallic, mining ship named Red Dwarf. The main focus is the crew, or at least the two (technically) surviving members (and a computer, neurotic android, and narcissistic cat-man) as they journey through space on the long journey back to Earth. This allows for a concentration on the absurd bleakness of existence and the crushing loneliness of space.
Personally, I loved the comedy. Its classic British satire at its core and the heroes are definitely not what a more 'American' audience would go for, they're the lowest of the low (vending machine technicians, levels 3 and 2) not the best at what they do. This, in a nutshell, is what makes it so great and relatable even now. The relationships between characters and their conflicting personalities are integral to the humour which, in any other format, would risk falling flat but here, it rarely does. It remains somewhat relevant and provides reliable laughs. What more could you really want?

The Touch - Stan Bush (Music) Author: Chris

As some of you may be aware, I was not born in the 80's, so I wasn't around to witness everything it had to offer, so my list of choices is relatively slim. I had to think, what song perfectly captures the 80's for me personally? Once again, I decided not to go with Talking Heads (I'm saving them, trust me), but instead, a song that (hopefully) everyone has heard. What is that song? (Yes I'm dragging this out). It is The Touch by Stan Bush. Why do I think it is acceptable? For starters, have you heard that fucking song? Well hopefully you haven't, considering I'm recommending it to you. If you have, listen to it again, right now. Well I mean it could also be due to it's expert use in the original Transformers Movie (a masterpiece by the way), but that just could be me being biased. Because I love Transformers. A hell of a lot. Are you going to judge me? If you are, let me just remind you about that thing you do. You know, THAT thing. Yeah, I know about it, and I'm not afraid to spill secrets. Wait, what are we talking about? Oh yeah, The Touch. Go give it a go, you will not be disappointed.  

Hotline Miami - Devolver Digital (Game) Author: Chris

Before you even think about saying anything I am aware that this game was not made in the 80's, but if I was to pick a game from that era, it would be something like
Pac-Man or Donkey Kong, and lets be honest, everyone has played those games, so instead I'm going with a game that is set and themed in the 80's, and that game is Hotline Miami. To put it simply, this game is insane. The colours are vibrant and varied, the style is simple yet ultra-violent, and the pacing makes Sonic the Hedgehog look like Sonic the Snail (that wasn't very eccentric of me I apologise). In Hotline Miami, you enter a level in one of many murderous power granting animal masks and attempt to kill everyone in the building. Sounds easy right? It is, for the enemy at least. You will die within seconds of entering a room, almost every time you try. Luckily you respawn instantly, so you can keep trying over and over until you make it to the next level. It may sound tedious, but trust me, it is superb. You know what? I know this is not the music recommendation, but I feel that not only must I inform you of how well the 80's electro music fits the tone and pacing of the game, but of how amazing the music generally. If you get only get one video game soundtrack this year, make it this one.

So there you have it (or not), our recommendations on 80's culture. The good stuff, that is, not the hair or clothing. Tune you anuses in next week for an extra special recommendation and rest safe in the knowledge that the 80's, for good or ill, are over.
Thanks, us.

Weekly Recommendation - Week #004 - Underrated

In Xanadu did Kubla Khan, a stately pleasure-dome decree, but what people don't really talk about is that pleasure cube he had built before it. For some reason people didn't like it, they felt it's shape was unreasonable for a pleasure based structure. But honestly there is nothing wrong with it, it is quite underrated in fact. Well now, considering we're on the subject of underrated entities, may as well make it this week's theme.

Predators - Nimród Antal (movie) Author: Chris

Being my usual self, upon realising I needed to find a film that I liked that others aren't fussed about, my mind went blank. So I just started to go through random entries on IMDB until I found one. I noticed Predators in one of the suggestion bars. "Ah yes" I thought, "what a fantastic film, I bet everyone agrees." Apparently I was mistaken. I'm honestly shocked that people weren't too fussed about this film. Unlike Brink, which I completely get why people don't like it, i'm honestly not sure what people don't like about this film. It has everything that I loved about the first one: practical effects, mass tension, and a shit ton of violence. Also it has fucking Lawrence Fishburne playing a crazy man in it, what else could a person want? If you were one of those who did not like it, I genuinely want to know why. That came across aggressively I'm sorry, please don't go.

Dan Bull (Music) Author: Darren

Hey, so this week I've gone slightly off formula and gone with an artist not just their work. I've chosen Dan Bull, an English rapper who's main presence is on youtube. His raps aren't your usual fare, they're mainly based on gaming and, occasionally, politics.

The reason I recommend him is because he does something similar to this (in it's intent, at least) but also because I really like his music. Mainly that, actually. His lyrics are well crafted and clever, the punchlines of his interwoven jokes are, well...erm, punchy. The accompanying music is fantastic and his videos have high production quality. If you like words or music, then you should like this as he covers a wide range of stlyes.

His youtube channel lives here: [https://www.youtube.com/user/douglby]

Brink - Splash Damage (Game) Author: Chris

Now let's open with a very brief story. I bought this game based on info I had heard about it from the e3 prior to it's release, rather than any of the reviews (in fact I knew nothing about what other people thought of it.) I enjoyed the game a hell of a lot, but upon reading reviews and the general thoughts about the game on the internet after a few weeks of play, I discovered that people generally believe it is a bad game. I get why people don't like it, the way in which there is only one death animation can get a bit tiresome, the way characters are built in cut scenes is, well, non existent (I still have no clue who the fuck anyone is in that game, apart from the faction leaders), and the networking was appalling at launch but hey, lots of games have bad networking at launch. So why am I recommending it? Because if you and a few friends grab it, it is an extremely fun, teamwork based, objective filled game, with absolutely terrific customisation, a superb soundtrack, and a gorgeous world that they could have a done a lot more with, but it was enough to make me want to visit it again and again. I'm also really fond of the art style, which I think was another issue people had, but don't quote me on that, unless I'm right, in which case quote away you crazed quoting machine.

Well that's all for this week folks, I hope you enjoy our underrated choices. I feel Darren and myself are underrated, just looking for an opportunity to burst out into the light of the public eye, and take the world with a blog that frequently has issues with posting on time. Or I could just buy that pleasure cube and run that for the rest of time, considering no one else wants it. - Chris (and Samuel Taylor Coleridge, to an extent)