Life Lessons From "Robot Chicken"

For a show loaded with a lot of great and hilarious clips, this for me is my favorite to come out of "Robot Chicken." Bless you Seth Green and Matthew Senreich for your wacky humor.

Album Review: "The Fall" (Norah Jones)

[ Image courtesy of Wikipedia ]

It was 2007 when Norah Jones last released an album. However by then she had taken the world by storm with her velvet-smooth voice and jazz songs. This year, Norah Jones is back and while the velvet-smooth voice remains, her overall sound is a lot more different with her latest release, "The Fall."

Don't be alarmed though, it's not like Jones just dropped the piano and started a rapping career, though that would be very intriguing. The change in direction of sound just incorporates the use of more instruments and give it full band, contemporary rock sound to it. Norah's signature voice is still the attention-grabber here.

If you are familiar with the country side-project Jones did in 2006 called The Little Willies, and you liked it, you will enjoy that she brings more of her love for country music to "The Fall." "You've Ruined Me" prominently sounds as such  which I swear to you has a Neko Case vibe to it and one can only imagine what a great duo Neko Case and Norah Jones would make.

Other standout tracks are "Back to Manhattan," "Man of the Hour," and "Chasing Pirates." With "Back To Manhattan," the song sounds like a follow-up to either the songs "Thinking About You" or "Not Too Late," both of which were on her album before this and with the rest of the album having new sounds and a different Norah, is as close as you'll get to the "old-school" Norah Jones that most people are familiar with. "Man Of The Hour" is an ode to her dog and really, if Norah Jones wanted to write a song about her dog, who are we to tell her that she couldn't?

I don't think Norah Jones is abandoning the jazz that got her noticed. With "The Fall," she just simply evolving her sound and incorporating other styles of music that she likes and seeing how it works. Overall it works very well. At first listen you'll probably think that this isn't a Norah Jones album at all because there are drums and guitars, but once you hear the lyrics of Jones, it'll all come back to familiar territory. Fans of Norah Jones won't be disappointed with her latest.

"Your Resentment is Delicious" Glee!

Ryan Murphy might be a genius.

The students at McKinley High School are your typical teenagers, except for the fact that they can sing and dance better than most teenagers in a high school Glee Club in the new one-hour musical comedy "Glee" airing on Fox . The jocks and the cheerleaders (better known as the "Cheerios") rule the school. At the bottom of the high school pack are the lovable, quirky kids of Glee Club.

While the "Cheerios" are coached by the notorious Sue Sylvester (played by Jane Lynch who steals the show with her brilliant one-liners), Glee Club is led by the dreamy Will Schuester (Matthew Morrison) His goal? To win nationals and show McKinley High how cool Glee Club can be. The kids of Glee include their "star" Rachel Berry (played by Lea Michele), the "diva" Mercedes Jones (Amber Riley), the "flamboyant princess," Kurt Hummel (Chris Colfer), the "paraplegic guitar player" Artie Abrams (Kevin McHale) and the "shy stutterer" Tina Cohen-Chang (Jenna Ushkowitz) all of whom are filled with unappreciated talent. During the pilot, Will Schuester (commonly referred to as "Mr. Schu") recruits the quarterback of the football team, Finn Hudson (Cory Monteith) into the group of outcasts that make up this school's Glee Club.

Finn adds a certain appeal to the group as viewers find out as the series plays out. The growing Glee Club adds a few more members, including more hunky football players including Noah "Puck" Pukerman (Mark Salling) as well as Finn's cheerleader girlfriend, Quinn Fabray (Dianna Agron) and a few of her cheerleader friends.

Along with the Glee Club story line, involving complicated teenage hormones, and love triangle upon love triangle, viewers take a peek into Will Schuester's personal life. Will struggles between his growing feelings for a fellow co-worker Emma Pillsbury (Jayma Mays), the school's OCD guidance counselor and his high school sweetheart to whom he is married to, Terri Schuester (Jessalyn Gilsig). Along with Will's leading ladies, there is Ken Tanka (Patrick Gallagher), the head coach of the football team who longs to marry Emma as well as Principal Figgins (Iqbal Theba) who's only concern is the school's budget and keeping Will and Sue out of each other's hair.

The characters positive, negative and overall hilarious chemistry as well as the outstanding, catchy music make this show. The cast of Glee has performed a variety of songs, including Journey's "Don't Stop Believin", Kanye West's "Gold Digger", Jazmine Sullivan's "Bust Your Windows", Queen's "Somebody to Love", Jill Scott's "Hate On Me" and Neil Diamond's "Sweet Caroline, all of which want to make you want to download them, put them on your iPod and sing along. The hour that this show is on is magical and has viewers sitting on the edge of their seats until the next Wednesday when a new episode airs.

Glee has aired nine episodes, all receiving outstanding ratings for a TV show in its first season. The response from viewers has been impressive: from kids still in high school wishing they could join a Glee Club as fantastic as the one on the show, to us older folk who long to relive our high school days. It's clear that whatever this show is doing, they're doing right.

With their new soundtrack hitting stores and upcoming tours on the way, the actors of Glee have responded to fans with enthusiasm and genuine astonishment and their success. If you're a fan of the show, you can follow them all on twitter: @Mark_Salling (Puck: Mark Salling), @druidDUDE (Artie: Kevin McHale), @frankenteen (Finn: Cory Montieth), @chriscolfer (Kurt: Chris Colfer), @alittlelamb (Quinn: Diana Agron, @MsAmberRiley (Mercedes: Amber Riley, @IJennaUsh (Tina: Jenna Ushkowitz) and @msleamichelle (Rachel: Lea Michelle).

I plan to episode re-cap starting with the Pilot and playing catch-up until we're back on track with the actual episode air date. Watch Glee at 9/8c on Wednesday nights! 

And finally, one of my favorite performances so far on this show: Queen's "Somebody To Love"


* Full Version can be found HERE.
* Full Episodes can be found HERE.

Manny Pacquiao Is Awesome

On Saturday, Manny Pacquiao became the first fighter in history to win seven championships in seven different weight classes when he beat WBO Welterweight champion Miguel Cotto. The victory further cements the argument that he is one of the best of all time in boxing. However, in his native Philippines (where I'm from), he is more than just a boxing phenom. He's a cultural icon. The country literally shuts down when he is fighting and it becomes a national party.

Just popular and talented is Manny Pacquiao, well so much that he's been in movies and is pursuing a post-boxing career in politics. His talents know no limits as evidenced by the video below.

Every week there's going to be a new poll question right below the list of authors of this blog. Feel free to vote on it as each week there will be a new question.

Play Review: The Oedipal Duplex

Friday night, I found myself fourth floor at the Seattle Center's Center House. In a tiny room with chairs set for no more than twenty people, I was watching two plays put on by the theater group Ghost Light Theatricals. Both plays were focused on the mythical Greek king, Oedipus, whose story is one of where he killed his father and married his mother. Obviously such actions do not come without consequence as it brings plague on the city he is king of and as you can guess, his family.

The plays however put a comedic twist on a tragic figure and both plays had me in great laughter. Read about each play behind the jump.

An Interview With Jenna Lindsay Curtis

[ Photo used with permission by Jenna Lindsay Curtis ]

Continuing our growing interview series, I had the pleasure of interviewing Jenna Lindsay Curtis, a New York-based actor, model and singer. I have known Jenna for a few years now, I'm actually surprised she doesn't have photographer to her loaded with talent resume. I asked Jenna what would be the top prize for someone that involved in the fields of acting/modeling/singing, favorites in 2009 and if she would ever consider a run as a mixed martial artist.

That's correct, a mixed martial artist.

I also asked Jenna if she would follow in the footsteps of her author mother, the experience of working on a movie that was to be a part of the Sundance Film Festival, her dream gig across the fields of acting, modeling and singing, and her favorite places to eat in New York City.

Find out all of those answers and more behind the jump.

Video Game Review: Excitebike: World Rally

Well here's a nice surprise that came out of nowhere and came fast. On the Nintendo Channel, towards the end of October, they had announced this WiiWare title and then just a mere two weeks after the announcement, it was released for download for 1000 points. So from Excitebike on the NES to ExciteTruck and Excitebots on the Wii, we've come full circle back to the classic.

Excitebike: World Rally plays exactly as the same as its NES predecessor. Graphics have been updated to a more modern look but somehow it still retains that nostalgic feeling of the NES version. There are two control schemes that can be used here. Both control schemes use the exact same control setup that, again, the NES version had. Holding the wiimote sideways, 2 is to accelerate, 1 is a faster turbo-like speed but if held for too long, the engine will overheat. Up and down on the D-pad moves your motorcycle up and down to each of the four positions of the track. The only difference in the two control schemes is how to control the pitch of the front wheel when making jumps. The first scheme one uses left and right on the D-pad to raise or lower the front wheel when jumping. The second scheme uses the motion controls of the wiimote itself to position the front wheel. The A button gives you three different perspectives of the race, as you get the usual 2-D view that the NES Excitebike had and then there's two different isometric angle views. So whatever your control scheme you pick, it very easy to get into and is just as tight as the NES version.

Gameplay is the exact same as the NES Excitebike had with a couple of tiny additions. Taking a page from ExciteTruck, during the race if you hit a box on the track, it'll raise a hill or ramp of sort ahead for you to jump. Also, if you're coming from behind of an opponent, you can now perform a wheelie to ride over them and pass them. So awesome.

Taking a couple more pages from the ExciteTruck game is the format of the race system and a grading system. There's different cups for a set number of races and in order to proceed to the next track, a grade of B or better is needed, based on how fast you've finished the race. And getting S grades will unlock more colors for your bike.

And just like the NES version, they included the track editor, to which kept me playing the NES version for so very long. I remember on the original, my friends and I would create insane tracks and then try to finish them as fast as we could, regardless of how crazy the track layout was. Now being able to share them or download other's creations, just lengthens the longevity of Excitebike: World Rally even more. And yes there's online multiplayer. Speaking of multiplayer, that has to be my one most biggest complaint, no local multiplayer. I don't know how hard that would be to implement, but having four people play this game at the same time in the same room would've been fantastic, especially now that you're able to wheelie over another biker.

Overall, it captures the nostolgia of the first game and makes it modern with some tweeks from the recent "Excite-" titles. If you're a fan of any of the "Excite-" games, you'll be very pleased with Excitebike: World Rally. Even if you haven't played any of the "Excite-" games, but like arcade type racing like say Mario Kart, it a great and simple game to pick up and play. Excite!!!

Music Video Break: Daylight (Troublemaker Remix featuring De La Soul)

The song: "Daylight"
The musician: Matt & Kim
The reason: I just heard this song on 90.3 KEXP this morning and thought it sounded very familiar. It's also on the videogame FIFA Soccer 10, which has one amazing soundtrack. Also, this is a very good remix featuring one of the greatest hip hop groups of all time, De La Soul. Take note that this isn't the official video, but still not a bad looping slideshow of pictures of Matt & Kim.

Concert Review: Dethklok (from Metalocalypse)

[ Image courtesy of Revista Gamer ]

Let me preface this review with the following: I have never been a fan of metal. I love music with a passion and will give anything a fighting chance, but I was always under the impression that the majority of the hardcore metal fans were brooding, underage elitists. My first experience with the animated [adult swim] show, Metalocalypse, immediately piqued my interest in the genre. The characters were hilarious and cleverly portrayed; the story lines varied from the most inconsequential concepts to truly epic, Earth-moving spectacles; the music, while hard, was full of impressive guitar solos and amazing drum tracks, and also had humor (which is one thing I assumed wasn't really welcome in most music of the hardcore persuasion... but you know what they say about assumptions). My review of the show, which was at Atlanta's Tabernacle, is after the jump.

Concert Review: Ghostland Observatory

Friday night, I found myself at Showbox SODO to catch a concert by Austin, Texas-based electro rock duo Ghostland Observatory. For a lot of people, the duo bursted onto the scene with the song "Sad Sad City."

I had always heard that their performances were flat out energetic and if you weren't at the very least bobbing your head and stopming your feet, there was something wrong with you. Having experienced one of their shows in person, I can easily confirm that.

The first thing that became clear as day was the fantastic use of lazer lights. It's just one of those things like balloons, that if you don't like lazer lights, something must be wrong with you. Right from the start and for the entire show, the colors stabbed any and all space on the ceiling of the venue and when it got to the lowest possible point, yet still just above the crowd, so many people stuck their hands up to touch it as if it were mist you wanted to bust out of. In the mix were strobe lights that if you are prone to seizures, you would not have enjoyed the show.

Even though I wasn't front and center; I was still center, but actually in front of the stage control booth (where the lazers and etc. were being controlled) I was still able to see first hand the stage presence of vocalist Aaron Kyle Behrens. I think if you were to compose a fantasy all-star band of today's musicians, you would definitely have to consider AKB as the frontman to go with as he shifted from side to side on the stage with gyrations only fitting for the music Ghostland Observatory filled Showbox SODO with. AKB definitely has his own style going with the shades and pigtails and it'd just be honestly strange to see him in anything else. Same can be said for Thomas Ross Turner who provides the beats in the dynamo one-two punch duo that they are. In all performances I've seen on television and heard about, TRT dons a shiny silver cape and Friday's show was no different. While I wasn't close enough to see what grphic was on AKB's t-shirt or if TRT's cape was actually silver for that night, their distinct styles would've been impossible to mistake for someone else.

Overall the show was as energetic as you'd expect from Ghostland Observatory if you are familiar with their music. If you want upbeat turned up past ten and into the dangerous but always awesome eleven level, electro rock music, by all means check out Ghostland Observatory. The lazer lights, strobe lights and four vertical brite-lite boards unleashed a flurry of colors that were a feast on the eyes. Now there was also the use of a smoke machine and allegedly, the smoke machine set off the fire alarms at Friday's show. I can't verify this myself because I left right after their encore set.

However, I conclude this post with video I recorded from the show. Here is Ghostland Observatory performing the hit song, "Sad Sad City." If bright flashing lights give you headaches or anything worse, you may want to think about skipping this video. Otherwise, enjoy.

Oddly Enough, This Works

One of the year's most anticipated videogames is "Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2," which yes is a sequel to a game of the same name. The reason there is tremendous hype and praise from both gamers and critics is that the first "Modern Warfare" game had white-knuckle grip action moments that put a lot of live-action movies to shame. A lot of people applaud a game when it creates a complete feeling of immersion, and the "Call Of Duty" franchise has done this very well without losing track of the focus that yes people, war is hell.

A couple nights ago, I came across a commercial for the second installment and honestly I thought there was just a mix of audio signals between the TV spot for the videogame and for something else. You see, the dramatic action sequences that gamers can expect from "Modern Warfare 2" when it is released next Tuesday, were done to the song "'Til I Collapse" by Eminem and Nate Dogg. I was surprised because of just the weird combination of the two. It didn't have that comfort like a timeless duo like peanut butter and jelly.

However, the more I thought about and viewing the TV spot again, I thought, "You know, this actually kind of works." For those not familiar with the song, Eminem raps about refusing to stop what he does, no matter what and Nate Dogg sings the chorus which goes something like this:

Till the roof comes off, till the lights go out
Till my legs give out, cant shut my mouth.
Till the smoke clears out, and my high wears out
Ima rip this shit till my bone collapse.
Till the roof comes off, till the lights go out
Till my legs give out, can't shut my mouth.
Till the smoke clears out, am I high? perhaps...
Ima rip this shit till my bone collapse.

Aside from the line asking himself if he's high, the words fit with the never say die attitude that the digital soldiers have in the "Call Of Duty" games. I'm sure when Eminem wrote and recorded this song he did not think at any juncture of his career that it'd be used for a war-simulation videogame, as it's all just clever planning by the marketing department of the people responsible for developing the videogame.

Below is the TV spot so you can see for yourself. Do you think, it works or no it doesn't?

An Interview With DJ Michele Myers

[ Photo used with permission by Michele Myers ]

Around here in Seattle, there is only one radio station that matters when it comes to music. That is 90.3 KEXP. Their tagline is, "Where the music matters," and it is true with a capital T. KEXP is a member-supported, member-powered radio station. That expression, "I listen to just about all kinds of music," well KEXP does that. Aside from specifically-themed blocks of programming, KEXP has the widest range of music you can find on the radio. You won't five Top 40 hits here. Instead you will find the bands that you haven't heard of, but will soon enough. Once in a while they will toss up an old-school favorite because they can. One of the DJs that does this is Michele Myers.

I was very fortunate to get an interview with Michele as I have been a longtime fan of her from her days, actually nights of doing the Friday night show, "Nite Life with Michele Myers," and now the "Saturday Afternoon Show on KEXP." Find out how many favorite albums in 2009 she has, what she would be doing if she wasn't a radio DJ, and why she loves having a regular sleeping schedule now.

Introducing Lindsey Middleton

The new writer initiative keeps on coming here at Critiqulous. Today, I introduce to you Lindsey Middleton.

Like the previous person to newly join the Critiqulous writing staff, I met Lindsey through another social networking site and through casual conversations I discovered she has quite the creative side on her, most recently through paintings and venturing out into song.

Just like I did with introducing Katie Murrary, I did a mini-interview with Lindsey. Find out why she has the interest in writing for Critiqulous, what she will bring to the table, and also, keep an eye out for her review of a Dethklok/Mastodon show that she will be attending, actually tonight. I know I'll be interested in the review.

Videogames Into Movies, A Complex Science

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time in HD

Trailer Park | MySpace Video

So the video above is the trailer for the movie "Prince Of Persia: The Sands Of Time," which for those that know, was a videogame. This is the movie adaptation of said videogame. Now for me, videogames becoming movies is just a really uncomfortable idea in general. The reason being is that these days, videogames, the ones produced with effort and care, are pretty much movies anyway. I have long believed that videogames are pretty much an interactive story and with the technology and the budget that videogames command today, it's up there with the good old standard feature-length movie. Alyssa Rosenberg shared her two cents on this "Prince Of Persia" movie and I agree with her. You really would've thought Sir Ben Kingsley would have learned his lesson when it comes to being involved in a movie that's adapted from a videogame, especially a bad videogame. The thing about this "Prince Of Persia" movie is that why do studios feel the need to retell the story that those that have played the videogame have already gone through? It definitely strikes a nerve with those loyal to the videogame for whatever reason(s) if something in a movie adaptation wasn't in the videogame original, though the whole "foaming mouth of rage of the fanboy" is another topic of discussion. However that's always been one thing I've been baffled about whenever I come across a picture studio trying to acquire the rights to make a movie from a videogame franchise. As I said earlier, with the way some videogames are developed and budgeted, these aren't just games you could play for 45 minutes and think you've had your fill.

No.

There is a laundry list of games that have such rich storylines that literally take hours to complete and you are glad that you went along for an immersive and rewarding ride. Videogames like "Indigo Prophecy," "Shadow of the Colossus," along with established franchises like "Metar Gear Solid" and "Final Fantasy," have such grandiose stories that it's just flat out impossible to tell them again and in a two hour format.

If movie studios want to make pictures out of videogames because they know at the very least, the fans of that videogame will go and see it, they need to stop doing adaptations of what has already been played/told. I think what would be a better idea is to tell a brand new story involving the major player(s) from the videogame franchise. An opening sequence in a movie can easily do a quick introduction as to who, what the core of the story is, where it started, why you want to care for them if you didn't play the videogame the movie is working off of.

The bottom line is some videogames can work as a movie, on paper. However it would be great if the paper had some original work on it and not just a carbon copy of what was already told, played, and enjoyed.

Then again, to ask for Hollywood to come up with something original is a fool's prayer anyways.

Why Kurt Sutter Loves Videogames

It's honest words like this why I will be a fan of Kurt Sutter for a long time.

"A good game will blow out the creative cobwebs and unclog my same-old-shit valves. It wakes me the fuck up and centers me, delivering me to my bloody, dark, chewy center. It’s another reason why I game on a PC. I’ll write till I’m burned out, game for twenty or thirty minutes, get completely adrenalized and refreshed, then jump back into the script. It’s better than coffee and a blowjob (mainly because the latter usually makes me sleepy and hurts my neck)." - Sutter Ink

When Advertising Gets It Right: HTC's "You Are Different From You"

TV advertisements are a funny thing. Sometimes they work, sometimes they don't. There are times where you have ungodly idea just exactly what they are trying to sell. There are other times where you think you know what they're selling, but it's just a shell game to something different; in the era of viral marketing, this is a common trend. You see a commercial for something that you think is an interest group or a foundation, but you find out it's just an element to a work of fiction (the Hanso Foundation ads for example).

This past Thursday, I saw a TV spot for the smartphone maker, HTC that worked. Yes it did follow the formula of using a copyrighted song that you know was not created to be used in commercials, but it was one of those rare moments where it worked. Really, who is going to go against a remixed version of Nina Simone's "Sinner Man," even if it is just the instrumental.

The point of the TV spot is that HTC's line of products are easy to be customized to fit well basically you. You can argue that it's laughable that a piece of technology can somehow be an extension into what kind of person you are and the life that you live, but hey we all use phones on a daily basis for needs outside of just making a phone call. We've clamored for years that we want one gadget that does it all, and in this case, HTC says it can provide that based on the emotions we experience through life and how technology plays into it. We see something amazing happen before our eyes, we take a snapshot to remember it. We keep family members updated if someone is in trouble. You get the idea. The video below is HTC's TV spot itself and if you ask me, this is good advertising.

An Interview With Mcklyn Cole

It's time for the third part of our interview series (the mini-interview with Katie Murray doesn't count as she is joining the writing staff). This time, Seattle-based photographer Mcklyn Cole takes the stage. A photographer for the Seattle Models Guild, he took some time to answer a few questions for Critiqulous. Find out how he conducts a shoot, his dream location to shoot and what advice he has for those wanting to be a photographer in the fashion industry, all after the jump.

The Seattle Sounders FC: A Dynasty In The Making

Image courtesy of Seattle Sounders FC.

In a few hours, the Seattle Sounders FC will be playing a game against the Houston Dynamo. This game has quite a few compelling aspects to it and really is far from being "just another piddly American soccer game."

If you have been reading this blog for a while now, you will know that I have talked about at lengths about the Seattle Sounders FC, who are Major League Soccer's newest team. Technically they're an expansion team, but in a lot of ways they are not. When it was announced that Seattle would get a MLS franchise, the biggest question has been would the people care.

This year, the Seattle Sounders FC set a record in total attendance for a MLS team in their first year and since the first game of the season, the attendance at a Sounders FC home match has been double that of the league average. I think that pretty much answers if there is a general interest about the team.

Of course what goes hand in hand with the general interest of the team is whether or not the team is actually any good and wins games.

Well the team has.

Tonight's game with the Houston Dynamo is the first game of the first round of the MLS Playoffs. That's correct, the Seattle Sounders FC, the league's newest team are in the playoffs in their first season. I wish I could say we're the first to do that, but the Chicago Fire did it 11 years ago, but no one cares about the Chicago Fire. The Sounders FC themselves expected to reach the playoffs, if not beyond. Certainly the fans had ranging expectations for their first year, but when you factor in that the "major sports teams" in Seattle, the Seahawks (NFL) and Mariners (MLB) haven't touched the playoff drinking fountain in recent memory, for a brand new team like the Sounders FC to already be in the big dance, well simply put, it's awesome.

I will be at tonight's game, screaming my head off and running my throat dry. I always had a feeling that watching soccer games in person was a far different experience than watching it on television, but honestly having been to about half of the games this season and experiencing a thrill ride like no other, I honestly did not think I would have this much fun.

So for all of those with even a hint of interest in soccer, tune into ESPN2 tonight at 7 PM (Seattle-time) to watch the Seattle Sounders FC take on the Houston Dynamo. Hell, you might even see me as I have field-level seats on one of the corners.

Go Sounders FC!

Rapid Fire: Quick Video Game Impressions

Let's try something different. I was going to put up a game review of "Batman: Arkham Asylum" today, but that game has been out for over two months now, has already garnered favorable reviews, and there's a flood of video game titles being released now that the Christmas shopping season is almost upon us. So I want to try to be at least somewhat current with what just came out and give some impressions of some titles, even though I haven't finished them.

So let's get started.