Weekly Recommendation - Week #020 - Down With The Sickness

Ahh illness, the bane of everyone's enjoyment. To avoid confusion, this week's recommendation is being done by Max (yours truly) and Dasha. Who are those fools? It doesn't matter really, but all you need to know is that this is being done as Chris and Darren have fallen victims to illness. Rest in peace my sweet cherubs. Now, illness is quite a common theme in the things that we entertain ourselves with. It can be a simple plot device that drives a story forward, or something that everything in said plot is based around. Either way (in terms of home entertainment, illness in real life is fucking awful), it can create something pretty darn interesting and enjoyable, just like in the three things that myself and Dasha are recommending to you this week. Take note fools, this shit is good.

Little Miss Sunshine- Jonathan Dayton, Valerie Faris (Film) - Author: Dasha

You may be thinking to yourself “Little Miss Sunshine doesn’t sound like a film about any type of sickness. It sounds wonderful!” And to that I reply “shut up and stop jumping to conclusions.” This film certainly isn’t anything to do with sunshine and rainbows as the title may suggest. While it could be argued that this film doesn’t have too much to do with physical sickness, it has a lot to do with mental sickness and family dysfunctions. While this all sounds pretty depressing (and it kind of is), the film is still hilarious, with it being a black comedy and all, and even after all the chaotic events that occur throughout, you still feel pretty happy inside after it’s over. The film is based around a little girl named Olive who wants to be the next “Little Miss Sunshine” in a beauty contest that is taking place in California, but due to economic problems and her family being, well, slightly insane, it looks like her chances of her entering the contest are pretty slim. However, eventually the family decide that they should go, and they all cram into an old VW van and set out on a long, stressful road trip to California. Olive’s Dad, Richard, the asshole of the film, is a major control freak who constantly tries to keep the family in check, and always fails. Grandad Edwin (hands down the best character) is an aggressive, cocaine-addicted mess who was kicked out of his retirement home due to bad behaviour and general tom foolery. Brother Dwayne, refuses to speak and insists that he hates everyone. Uncle Frank is recovering from a suicidal attempt after being heartbroken and abandoned by his partner. Well, I think the rest of the film is pretty self-explanatory, a bunch of crazy family members on a painfully long road trip in a van that hardly works. Yeah, shit hits the fan. Pretty hard too. Its witty humour mixed with its dark and touchy themes makes an absolutely fantastic black comedy that I would recommend to all. All that are above 15 anyway. That’s the certificate I’m afraid.

Back To Black- Amy Winehouse (Music) - Author: Dasha

There must be a reason why this album reached number 20 on the Rolling Stone list of “Top 100 songs from the 2000’s”, and that reason is because this album is absolutely phenomenal. It’s a beautiful jazz and soul influenced album about the singer’s struggle with drugs, drinking, and intense heartbreak. Having listened to this album after her tragic death back in 2011 due to a drug overdose, lyrics such as “I don’t ever want to drink again, I just need a friend” seem really haunting because you can really sense the overwhelming desperation that she felt, and it shows how badly that she was affected because of her drinking problem and drug use. Even the fact that the first song on the album is called “Rehab” and the last is called “Addiction” really shows that Amy Winehouse had some serious issues, and you can really tell that her raw emotions were poured into this album. Even with all of the underlying darkness and depression that this album has, you can’t help but dance along to it, because it’s just so damn jazzy. I’m pretty sure everyone has probably heard “Rehab”, since it’s been overplayed to death, but you can’t help but be interested by how upbeat it is and how sharply it contrasts with her desperate cries for help in the lyrics, and even though a lot of artists write about this kind of struggle, you have to admire how extremely open she is about her problems. If you haven’t already, go and listen to this album, you won’t be disappointed. Unless you are, then I’m very sorry. (Not really).

The Last of Us – Naughty Dog (Game) - Author: Max

When we hear about illness in games, it is mostly related to an infection or virus that turns people into zombies. Now, The Last of Us is a game about a fungal infection that turns its hosts into cannibalistic monsters, but it is its focus on the characters that makes this game so good. I won't say too much about the story, but you play as a smuggler named Joel as you trek across a post apocalyptic US with a girl named Ellie and do everything you can to stay alive. That is the basic gist of it, but there is not only so much more to the in-game world as a whole, but there is so much more to the characters than any other game with a similar story. As the game progresses, you can see the relationship between Joel and Ellie evolve; their continuous contextual conversations (accidental alliteration... WHOOPS) drive the story along and change how you feel about each of the two characters. The simple fact that this game is set 20 years after the outbreak just makes it stand out further. You can truly see how humanity has disintegrated over the years and you are constantly reminded of the lack of hope of the people. Also, the graphics are stunning. Naughty Dog really took the PS3 and scraped out all of its potential until there was nothing left. While you are journeying through desolate settings, murdering the infected and scraping through intense and heart pounding situations while simultaneously being massively depressed by the situation as a whole, you will always stop to just look at how beautiful the scenery is, admiring Naughty Dog for how much effort they put into this masterpiece. Now, I can only write so much about this (as Chris will shout at me for writing too much), but The Last of Us is a work of genius, and there is so much good shit that I haven't covered. From just looking back at each of their games, it is clear that Naughty Dog has just vastly improved as developers. It is their constant innovation and production of fantastic stories in their games that makes them one of my favourite game developers of all time (seriously, Jak II has one of my most favourite story lines in a video game ever). I never actually finished The Last of Us, but I can't wait to smash through the remastered version once I get my PS4 for Christmas, SONNNNNNN.

So there you have it. Illness. What a harsh mistress it is. Now hopefully Chris and Darren will have recovered by next week so they can PULL THEMSELVES TOGETHER AND WRITE ON THEIR FUCKING BLOG. But yeah, myself and Dasha thank you for reading all of this sick and nasty fun (assuming you did, which you better have) and bid you farewell, the recommendations should be back to normal next Sunday. Oh and also don't get ill....
Don't.
I'm watching you.
BYE!
HUUUAAAARRGGHH!

Weekly Recommendation - Week #019 - Internal Recommendations

Let's open with a fun fact, as my professor taught me at the Villainous Torture Room Monologue Academy. Sometimes, Darren and I actually recommend stuff... (wait for it) TO EACH OTHER! It's rather shocking I know. So lets keep this intro short (and sweet, because I really liked that Academy joke), here are some of our favourites that we have recommended to each other. Also, I think Darren is feeling a bit under the weather, so yeah, forgive him if he a) doesn't write as well as normal or b) dies mid recommendation.

Starship Troopers - Paul Verhoeven (Film) - Author: Darren (Quite possibly deceased.)

Way back in the 90's, when unisex showers were the future, a film was released. You know the title by now and, surprisingly, so do I. Isn't that bizzare? No. Shut up. Starship Troopers is distinctly two halves. The first, high-school drama. The second, space war. While I say they're distinct, the progression is natural and doesn't feel forced. The entire story feels like it would be tailor made for a video game but plays out at a fairly decent pace. The humour was well timed and didn't fall flat. Go watch it please so I can stop typing. Please, I am immensely sick, just like all of my skill. HA HA Ha Ha hahahahahahahah...


The First Vietnamese War - The Black Angels (Music) - Author: Chris

I think there is actually archived stream footage of Darren recommending this to me, which is sort of exciting I guess. Anyway, let's get on with the show. It's an American psychedelic sort of song, you know, the kind that you would often associate with (surprise surprise) The Vietnam War, and that time period generally, although they didn't make it during that time period, so I suppose that is cheating a bit in someone's book. What was I saying? Oh yeah, music. It's a really nice song, and sound pretty authentic to the time period, so give it a listen, relax, and be glad humanity has gotten over having wars with each other. Oh wait.

Mass Effect 2 - BioWare (Game) - Author: Chris

I always had some interest in the Mass Effect series, but I never really pushed myself to try and acquire and play them. I then discovered that Darren was a massive fan of BioWare and their games, which led to him completely and utterly recommending the shit out of them to me. I bought 3, then bought 2, then decided I would just start from 2. I am so glad that I did. The universe is amazing, the soundtrack is phenomenal, the level of detail put into every bit of back-story is astonishing, and, I suppose I should mention this as it is a game, it plays really well too. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy 3, but for overall quality, 2 is an absolute master-class in sequels and games in general. I didn't have trouble skipping 1, but I did notice a few of the characters judging me for things I "did" in the first game, so maybe I should have started from one, who knows? All I know is that 2 is a great game. I'm Commander Shepard, and this is my favourite overused joke in TGOI.

Dearly beloved we are gathered here today to mourn the loss of Darren. He will be missed greatly. Goodnight, sweet prince?

Weekly Recommendation - Week #018 - Remakes

Do you remember The Thing remake? I do, because I was unbelievably hyped for it. If asked why, I would simply with respond with "It's The Thing!" Despite my infinite wisdom, I didn't really want to accept that this was not The Thing. Because The Thing was already The Thing, this was a different The Thing. Essentially, what I'm trying to say is this; sometimes when someone sees something they like, they remake it. A lot of the time it is nowhere near as good as the original, but sometimes they do get close, in fact, in rare instances, they are a lot better. To prove this point, we have gotten an outsider to write part of today's recommendation, Max of Llama Drool fame. Let's see how he does shall we?  Also no matter what you think, no remake can be as good as the original The Thing. JOHN CARPENTER IS A MASTERMIND YOU HEAR ME?!?!

Sherlock - BBC (Series) - Author: Darren

As you may know, the rights to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's works are in the public domain. This has led to numerous adaptions from page to film. One notable adaption is BBC's Sherlock.
Often under-looked, Sherlock is a modern re-imagining of Sherlock Holmes. Staring some very little known actors such as Martin Freeman and Benedict Cumberbatch, this somewhat unknown series manages to enthrall audiences for each of the three weeks a year that it's broadcast. I'm unsure how it is, exactly, that this show barely gets any viewers, maybe it's the piss poor time slot, maybe it's lack of brand recognition. All I know is that's it's something you should all watch (as I seriously doubt any of you are even aware of it's existence).

99 Problems - Hugo (Music) - Author: Chris

If you're having song problems, I feel bad for you son, I've got 99 problems and it's a great piece of music. It's a great little song, clearly a re-imagining of Jay-Z's (what kind of name is that?) rap melody of the same name. Don't get me wrong, I like rap as much as the next white guy, but I much prefer the Hugo cover. It has so much more flavour to it. It is done in a sort of jazzy, country style (well, it's officially known as bluegrass, a sub-genre of country, but you know), and it really stands out on it's own as a superb song. Like you wouldn't even associate it with the original version, I know I don't at least. Normally I would write a lot more, but considering it is only the one song, and it's really hard to explain why I like this song so much, I feel satisfied with the idea of you listening to it and creating your own judgement. It's country, it's jazz, it's a heck of a lot of fun, and it will get everyone up and jiving to it's funky beats. Groovy.

Black Mesa – Crowbar Collective (Game) – Author: Max

You may be thinking to yourself right now, “Who is this asshole?” That isn't too relevant at this time, all that you need to know is that every word I have to say is important. Just kidding! (Or am I?) Okay, let's delve right into this... Black Mesa is a third party remake of Half-Life, Valve Corporation's critically acclaimed debut title on Valve's Source engine, in which you play as Gordon Freeman, a scientist working at the Black Mesa Research Facility. When things go tits up and a wormhole opens up to an alien dimension, you have to escape the facility, search for survivors, and stop the alien invasion before the world is fucked.

For those of you who enjoyed the Half-Life games (presumably anyone who has played them), you will like this game. It is free to play so you don't have to worry about throwing away any of that hard earned cash, and it is definitely not a let down. Honestly, the graphical upgrade is phenomenal! If you have seen the original game, you will know what I am talking about. It runs well and I didn't encounter any hiccups throughout my numerous playthroughs. Once shit goes down at the start of the game, you will be hooked. It becomes dark, tense and even pretty scary. Did you enjoy Ravenholm from Half-Life 2? Well, have fun!

Sadly, the end of the original game is not featured in this release, but if you have ever wanted to play the first Half-Life game or play it again with upgraded graphics, settings and gameplay, or even just fuck everything up for everyone in an excellent first person shooter, you need to play this game. It really is the definitive version of one of Valve's greatest titles.

Well, you've read that (hopefully), don't forget to tell us what you think on the Facebook post.

Weekly Recommendation - Week #017 - The Lemons Formerly Known As Life's

Life is shit. Really shit. The world is full of so many problems and issues that can turn a person into a depressed sack of shit if dwelled upon for too long. There are good parts of life don't get me wrong, and while I have had a very finite number issues with things in the past, I can safely say that so many people have had it so much worse, and that I am extremely lucky with how my life has been so far. Despite the hardships that people face, some use their poor life experiences to create something more positive, to create art, and more often than not this stuff can be amazing. Just think; how many songs are about the cruelty of life? I can guarantee it's a lot. So for this week's recommendation, we are showing you some pieces of media that really reflect on that side of life. Buckle up, it might get bumpy.

BoJack Horseman - Netflix Original (Series) - Author: Darren

BoJack Horseman is about a man, a horse actually, who was the star of a famous 90's sitcom but now... well, now he's a middle aged man-horse trying to hold on to the stardom of his past.Don't get me wrong (please, that'd be embarrassing for both of us), this is a comedy to, a funny one at that. However, this series makes really makes you feel emotions (whatever they are) and invest in the character of BoJack. It's not all about the titular character though, there's a strong supporting cast of characters. For example, Todd, voiced by Need For Speed star, Aaron Paul, is a lovable stoner who slept on BoJack's house after a party one night and hasn't left in five years. Other characters include the well fleshed out female character Diane Nguyen and somewhat moronic 'rival' Mr Peanut-butter (a Golden Retriever).
Personally, I real enjoyed both the comedy and the overall story. It's satisfying in a morbid kind of way but still makes you feel sympathy for arseholes like BoJack (something that I loved about Ajax in The Warriors).

Sign o' the Times - Prince (Music) Author: Chris

Selecting a song was hard because, as I said in the intro, there are a hell of a lot of songs that feature the cruelty of life. Short-listed songs included Under the Bridge by Red Hot Chilli Peppers and The Show Must Go On by Queen, which have really interesting lyrics when you listen to and analyse them (or just look up the meanings on the internet, I mean you may as well get something useful from it for a change), but in terms of sheer power and meaning, nothing quite comes close to Sign o' the Times (the song) by Prince. When you hear this song's beat, you can feel how deep and powerful, as well as unbelievably funky,  it's going to be, but then you listen to the lyrics and, wow oh wow, this song covers all of life's diabolical bases. It's about AIDS, gang violence, natural disasters, poverty, drug abuse, the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster, and if that isn't enough, you even get an impending nuclear holocaust chucked right in there. This song just goes to show just how shit life is, while at the same showing just how amazing it can be, through it's incredible beat. This song is a masterpiece.


Always Sometimes Monsters - Vagabond Dog (Game) - Author: Darren

Always Sometimes Monsters is a bit of a misleading title. They're aren't monsters, well, not unless you count people, in which case you're in luck. The game deals with a lot of themes and issues (which I will list for your reading pleasure):

• Sexism
• Racism
• Relationships
• Greed
• Poverty
• Homophobia
• Politics
• Addiction/Drug Abuse
• Gambling
• Theft
• Choice
• Consequences

These are by no means the only themes, they're just the notable ones. They're really emphasised in the story with every choice you make. Choices that you make can be good or bad, but not in a black and white sense. For example, in one situation  got my friend and his girlfriend into rehab for their heroin addiction while in another situation, I orphaned a family in order to get one step closer to stopping my ex's wedding. It's never really presented as typically good or evil, you have a goal and how you achieve it is up to you. It's your morals that help you make the distinction. That and the bit near the end where the game asks you if you feel remorse for any of the decisions that you make.
Gameplay wise, this game is pretty decent. It was made in RPG Maker so it plays like a traditional RPG mixed with a social sim (fear not, it's not about getting the cutest boy in school to fill you with his semen in the most intimate, romantic way possible). It can be a little frustrating backtracking and
generally faffing about but the story is engaging enough that it doesn't matter too much.
If your looking for a 'real human story' then this little indie surprise could be just what you're looking for.

There you have it. As always, comment if you liked it, didn't like it, think your opinion matters or want to express and racism/sexism/homophobia/transphobia or other disgusting behaviour, go ahead and comment . If you want to congratulate us, FUCK YOU. Comments on the Facebook post are OK, too. Have a satisfactory week.
TGOI