The more things change...

Hey all,

If you've visited my blog before you probably have noticed a few changes including a simpler style.  I am still in search of an appropriate blog theme.  I may keep changing things up until I find a suitable theme.  If any of you have any great theme ideas I'm all ears.

The Hot 5

Often times I find myself obsessed with a few things.  These things consume me until I've either played them out or have done everything I could with them.  These are the Hot 5.  The five things that have my attention at this very moment.  Let's go.

1. Marvel vs. Capcom 3 (Xbox 360)

Read the IGN Review.
Buy it on Amazon.

I was never a big fan of the past Vs. games mainly because I was terrible at them and I could never get any multi hit combos going.  When this game came out with a simple yet deep control scheme I was excited.  The cast of characters are awesome.  My current squad is: X-23, Super Skrull, and Sentinel.  I'm far from unstoppable, but I'd say I'm a least a challenge to most fighters.  Some other characters I like are Tron Bonne, Zero, Wolverine, Spider-man, Captain America, and Hulk.  The added stuff in this game is rewarding, like being able to unlock the excellent CG opening movies and 3D models of each character.

2. Dragon Age II Signature Edition (Xbox 360)

Read the IGN Review.
Buy it on Amazon.

I played the first game, and through the horrid combat system the story really shined and helped me play it multiple times.  You can draw many parallels from the Mass Effect franchise and the Dragon Age franchise.  What comes to mind with the sequel is how similarly they tweaked it.  Much like Mass Effect 2, Dragon Age 2 has MUCH improved combat.  I actually go looking for trouble so my warrior can slaughter some folks with his trio of hotties at his side (as of now I'm rolling with Bethany, Isabela, and Aveline).  Much like its space-faring cousin, the graphics, cinematics, dialog, inventory, and missions have all been streamlined.  I've only just started the game but I am enjoying the hell out of it.  The Signature Edition is worth it, especially if you took advantage of the pre-order deal to get it at the price of the regular edition.  It comes with a lot of cool add ons and some pretty powerful weapons.

3. Lupe Fiasco - Lasers

Buy it on Amazon.

What an amazing album.  I was a huge fan of Lupe's first two albums, and this one is on a whole new level.  Remember how different and original Kanye West's My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy was when you first heard it, how it sounded nothing like his previous work?  That's the same feeling I got on my first listen through of Lasers.  Every track is awesome and I can't seem to pick a favorite.  Even the more politically heavy tracks like Words I Never Said are infinitely listen-able because the beat and his flow are so on point.  And then I heard that there were behind the scenes issues and this album could have been even better...what?  Crazy.

4. Childish Gambino - EP

Download it for free here.

Honestly I could have dedicated this Hot 5 to each track on Gambino's EP.  That's right, it's only five tracks but they are on fire.  Each one hits hard.  His beats and lyrics get exponentially better every time he drops something new.  The day the EP came out I listened to it exclusively for the entirety of my 8 hour shift.  I LOVE every track but I'd say My Shine is my favorite...or Freaks and Geeks...damn it's too hard to pick.  Some awesome references he throws out in this five track EP: Saved by the Bell, Pokemon, Dragon Ball, Big Bang Theory and Batman.  Go get it...it's free.

5. Tangled (Mandy Moore, Zachary Levi)

Buy it on Amazon.

I haven't seen a Disney Princess movie in awhile.  I think the last one I really liked was Aladdin, and my all time favorite is Beauty and the Beast.  This movie changes the game a bit by using CG, yet it still feels and looks like the classic cartoons.  The voice acting is awesome in this movie, both Zachary Levi and Mandy Moore are perfect.  As with most Disney Princess movies this movie includes musical numbers, and they are awesome.  So awesome I went and got the soundtrack!  A really charming story here that puts a spin on the tale of Rapunzel.  Kids of all ages will love it.

Weekly TV Review: 2/20 - 2/26

I thought I'd chime in with quick reviews from all the television shows I've been watching.  I'll try to do this on a weekly basis.  My rating scale will be as follows from worst to best: Blerg. Meh. Okay. Liked it. Loved it! Here we go.

Monday 2/21/11
Chuck Loved it!: I love it when this show goes into the Chuck/Morgan relationship. Good action in this episode and a cool new plot line is born. Thumbs up for the Han/Chewie high five.

How I Met Your Mother Liked it. If you didn't know Jason Segel wants to leave the show, and you can see that they're really starting to put the storyline together for that in this episode.  It was good to get to see The Captain again as he had some funny scenes.

Castle Loved it! The relationship between Beckett and Castle has been drawn out very well.  It's a will they won't they done in a great way.  You are rooting for them to get together, but them as just colleagues works fine as well.  The story in this ep was a little much, and it ended with a cliffhanger, looking forward to next week.

Hawaii 5-0 Meh. When I can figure out who the killer is or what his motive is 15 minutes into the show then something is wrong...or I'm Batman smart. This show keeps disappointing me. The inclusion of Dane Cook didn't help anything because A) he looks super old now B) his acting wasn't the greatest.

Tuesday 2/22/11
No Ordinary Family Loved it! This show continues to impress me. They just keep the story moving along with every episode and rarely spin their wheels.  The end confrontation was fantastic, exactly what I'd expect a super-powered father to do.

Wednesday 2/23/11
Modern Family Loved it! This show has been one of the more consistent ones this year.  Today they added a little mystery as the beginning of the show starts off after a huge fight between Phil and Claire.  We slowly get to see what happened and why they were fighting.  The storyline with Mitch and Cam was a little weak but it had its moments.

Thursday 2/24/11
Community Loved it! To have to follow last week's episode with a very strong episode is tough, but Community rose to the challenge.  The funniest moments came with Abed and Troy hosting an election show. Read the crawling headlines on the bottom for some extra hilarity.

Parks & Recreation Loved it! This episode helps usher in Ben Wyatt into the group as well as highlight the new relationship between Andy and April.  Ron Swanson is awesome in this episode as he lives and dies by the steak.

Perfect Couples Liked it.  This show continues to remain consistently good, but not spectacular.  Some of the situations and fights in this show are pretty true to life, like the one where the blonde chick is telling a story and just giving inane details about people and things that have nothing to do with the story.  I've heard that before.

The Office Liked it.  Just like the folks in The Office, I too hate Todd Packer.  You can really feel them closing off the threads of Michael's storyline.  In this episode we got rid of Michael's most annoying friends.  Some funny moments here like Dwight and Jim joining forces to take down Packer and Kevin being excited about Packer.

The Big Bang Theory Loved it!  We got the "we miss the annoying guy" episode tonight when the group all starts hanging out at Raj's place, Sheldon finds a new group of friends to hang out.  Meanwhile Penny goes out to forget about Leonard and Priya.  And then we get Levar Burton for the second week in a row this time in a pretty funny cameo.

30 Rock Loved it!  Chloe Moretz aka Hitgirl is going to be a huge star.  Her acting chops at such a young age are off the hook.  She went toe to toe with Alec Baldwin.  Excellent episode with some funny stuff like all the women period jokes.  One of the funnier quotes, "...I support women, I'm like a human bra!"

Nikita Loved it!  I don't usually enjoy psychological episodes but this one was very well done.  You were simultaneously interested in what is going on in Alex's mind as well as if she is going to say something about working with Nikita.  Meanwhile in the real world Nikita is getting papers for Alex and Michael comes closer to the truth.  Again, with this series they keep the storyline moving forward.

Friday 2/25/11
Supernatural Loved it!  Supernatural loves to break the 4th wall, and they do it so well.  This episode they go all the way and somehow Sam and Dean take on their real life selves Jared and Jensen.  Hilariousness happens.  Great episode.

Fringe Loved it!  This show is so versatile.  It has 3 different worlds it can explore, regular universe, Walternate Universe and then the past...which includes both universes as well.  Great episode as we saw some important events unfold.

Joel's favorite episode of the week:
Supernatural Loved it! As soon as they jumped through the window and became Jensen and Jared I fell in love with this episode.  They poke fun at their own ratings and writing direction.  The best scene is where they pull up a YouTube clip of Jensen Ackles from his soap opera days.  Hilarious!