Part 1 of my list of... things of 2015 can be found here.
Now, onto some of the stuff last year that DIDN'T make me want to commit suicide!
5. Furiosa
 |
| Image altered to be less orange. |
I wasn't crazy about Mad Max: Fury Road. I think I just got bored with the ceaseless car-chasing. I'm not sure what I was expecting, but eventually it felt like I was watching the same 30 seconds of movie over and over again. It didn't feel like there was any tension, and the title character of the movie is so thinly characterized that they might as well have replaced Tom Hardy with a dog.
But Charlize Theron as Furiosa is all kinds of kick-ass. I think a part of me has been waiting for that character to show up on film for a long time.
MORE BELOW THE BREAK:
▼▼▼
---
4. Fallout 4
People loved Fallout 3 and Skyrim.
People are generally indifferent to Fallout 4, despite fixing almost everything that was so obnoxiously wrong about those games.
People are dumb.
---
3. The Music Of Bloodborne
The Bioshock Infinite of Dark Souls games. Except that at least had a stupid story.
Bitchin' soundtrack, though. Listening to the music in Bloodborne, you'd almost swear that something was going to happen in it.
---
2. When Marnie Was There
I'm a little bit obsessed with this movie as of this writing. It's not the best thing to come out of Studio Ghibli, it wears its' cliches proudly, it's perplexing in a few places it didn't need to be. But it's comfy, like climbing under a big, cozy blanket. A gentle reminder that modern animation need not be hyperactive shlock.
I'm trying to write a review of this movie in the mean-time. I don't know if anything will come of it, but I'll try.
---
1. UNDERTALE
In 1995, Chrono Trigger was released in the west. It has been my favourite video game ever since.
In 2005, Shadow of the Colossus was released in the west. It is probably my favourite thing to come out of 3D gaming.
It seems like every ten years, we get one of The Greats. I was hoping 2015 would live up to this imagined pattern. I did not expect it to be Undertale. I didn't go into it thinking "This is the one. This will make the last ten years of industry bullshit worth it. This is the video game that will make me cry".
And I don't mean misty-eyed because the music swelled at the pivotal scene. I mean full-blown, gross, snotty blubbering. I thought my inability to cry at movies and stuff was a shortcoming. It felt like I was lacking a part of the human experience.
Undertale had me weeping. Being exposed to this game's enthusiasm and charm is one of the few precious events I've had with this hobby. That anyone could pour this much love into a setting and characters and interactions is inspiring to me. Almost enough to make me get off my lazy butt, and try making that game about the robot who can never stop pelvic-thrusting.
I don't enjoy Earthbound and I find Homestuck dreadfully annoying. So why did this game, which is influenced so strongly from those things I detest hit such a tender spot? How did an indie game by a dude and his art friend accomplish more than the biggest budgets and the most polygons that giants like Square-Enix can throw at a project?
How did anything this marvelous emerge from the anus that was 2015? What did we do to deserve a game like this?
2015 needed Undertale. I needed it more than I thought.
END OF LINE
~A.H.
No comments:
Post a Comment