It’s a lot of stuff.
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Data, Join Me in Stellar Cartography: Parts 4, 5, & 6 (Music, Games, My work)
My (very minor) notes concerning the music, video games, and things I wrote in 2017.
Read MoreEverything that I watched, read, listened to, played, & wrote in 2017
1. Film
(2017)
Silence; d. Martin Scorcese, w. Jay Cocks, Martin Scorcese
John Wick: Chapter 2*; d. Chad Stahelski, w. Derek Kolstad
Get Out; d. & w. Jordan Peele
Logan; d. James Mangold, w. James Mangold, Scott Frank, Michael Green
Kong: Skull Island; d. Jordan Vogt-Roberts, w. Dan Gilroy, Max Borenstein, Derek Connolly
Power Rangers; d. Dean Israelite, w. John Gatins, Matt Sazama, Burk Sharpless, Michele Mulroney, Kieran Mulroney
The Fate of the Furious; d. F. Gary Gray, w. Chris Morgan
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2; d. & w. James Gunn
Alien: Covenant; d. Ridley Scott, w. Jack Paglen, Michael Green, John Logan, Dante Harper
Wonder Woman; d. Patty Jenkins, w. Allan Heinberg, Zack Snyder, Jason Fuchs
The Big Sick; d. Michael Showalter, w. Emily V. Gordon, Kumail Nanjiani
Baby Driver*; d. & w. Edgar Wright
Spider-Man: Homecoming; d. John Watts, w. Jonathan Goldstein, John Francis Daley, Jon Watts, Christopher Ford, Chris McKenna, Erik Sommers
War for the Planet of the Apes; d. Matt Reeves, w. Mark Bomback, Matt Reeves
Dunkirk; d. & w. Christopher Nolan
Atomic Blonde; d. David Leitch, w. Kurt Johnstad
Wind River; d. & w. Taylor Sheridan
Logan Lucky; Steven Soderbergh
Ingrid Goes West: d. Matt Spicer, w. David Branson Smith, Matt Spicer
Good Time*; d. & w. Benny & Josh Safdie
Human Flow; d. Ai Weiwei, w. Chin-Chin Yap, Tim Finch, Boris Cheshkirov
It; d. Andy Muschietti, w. Chase Palmer, Cary Fukunaga, Gary Dauberman
American Made; d. Doug Liman, w. Gary Spinelli
Jerry Before Seinfeld; d. Michael Bonfligio, w. Jerry Seinfeld
Blade Runner 2049*; d. Denis Villeneuve, w. Hampton Fancher, Michael Green
Spielberg; d. Susan Lacy
The Babysitter; d. McG, w. Brian Duffield
Brawl in Cell Block 99*; d. & w. S. Craig Zahler
The Lost City of Z; d. & w. James Gray
Thor: Ragnarok; d. Taika Waititi, w. Eric Pearson, Craig Kyle, Christopher Yost
Lady Bird; d. & w. Greta Gerwig
Justice League; d. Zack Snyder & Joss Whedon, w. Chris Terrio, Joss Whedon, Zack Snyder
The Disaster Artist; d. James Franco, w. Scott Neustadter, Michael H. Weber
Star Wars: The Last Jedi; d. & w. Rian Johnson
(*Top 5)
(1974-2016)
Texas Chainsaw Massacre; d. Tobe Hooper, w. Kim Henkel, Tobe Hooper
Barry Lyndon; d. & w. Stanley Kubrick
All the President's Men; d. Alan J. Pakula, w. William Goldman
Midnight Run; d. Martin Brest, w. George Gallo
Sex, Lies, and Videotape; d. & w. Steven Soderbergh
The Fugitive; d. Andrew Davis, w. Jeb Stuart, David Twohy
Tombstone; d. George P. Cosmatos & Kevin Jarre, w. Kevin Jarre
Before Sunrise; d. Richard Linklater, w. Richard Linklater, Kim Krizan
The Game; d. David Fincher, w. John Brancato, Michael Ferris
Out of Sight; d. Steven Soderbergh, w. Scott Frank
The Thirteenth Warrior; d. John McTiernan & Michael Crichton, w. William Wisher, Warren Lewis
The Limey; d. Steven Soderbergh, w. Lem Hobbs
Traffic; d. Steven Soderbergh, w. Stephen Gaghan
Before Sunset; d. Richard Linklater, w. Richard Linklater, Julie Delpy, Ethan Hawke, Kim Krizan
Shaun of the Dead; d. Edgar Wright, w. Simon Pegg, Edgar Wright
Memories of Murder; d. Joon-ho Bong, w. Joon-ho Bong, Sung-bo Shim
Pulse (Kairo); d. & w. Kiyoshi Kurosawa
Marie Antoinette; d. & w. Sophia Coppola
Hot Fuzz; d. Edgar Wright, w. Simon Pegg, Edgar Wright
Super; d. & w. James Gunn
Before Midnight; d. Richard Linklater, w. Richard Linklater, Julie Delpy, Ethan Hawke
The Mermaid; d. Stephen Chow, w. Hing-Ka Chan, Stephen Chow, Chi Keung Fung, Miu-Kei Ho, Ivy Kong, Si-Cheun Lee, Zhengyu Ly, Kan-Cheung Tsang
Swiss Army Man; d. & w. Daniel Kwan & Daniel Scheinert
Train to Busan; d. Sang-ho Yeon, w. Joo-Suk Park, Sang-ho Yeon
The Magnificent Seven; d. Antoine Fuqua, w. Nic Pizzolatto, Richard Wenk
Dr Strange; d. Scott Derrickson, w. Jon Spaihts, Scott Derrickson, C. Robert Cargill
Moonlight; d. Barry Jenkins, w. Barry Jenkins, Tarell Alvin McCraney
Edge of Seventeen; d. & w. Kelly Fremon Craig
Nocturnal Animals; d. & w. Tom Ford
La La Land; d. & w. Damian Chazelle
20th Century Women; d. & w. Mike Mills
2. Television
(Arranged by air date of most recent season)
The Knick Seasons 1-2; Jack Amiel, Michael Begler & Steven Soderbergh
Big Little Lies; David E. Kelley
Rick and Morty Season 3; Justin Roiland & Dan Harmon
The Leftovers Seasons 1-3, Damon Lindelof & Tom Perrotta
Silicon Valley Season 4; Mike Judge, John Altschuler & David Krinksy
Master of None Season 2; Aziz Ansari & Alan Yang
Game of Thrones Season 7; David Benioff & D.B. Weiss
Stranger Things Season 2; The Duffer Brothers
3. Literature & Comics
Childhood's End; Arthur C. Clarke
The Stars My Destination; Alfred Bester
Time and Again; Jack Finney
The Greatest Sci-fi Movies Never Made, Revised and Expanded Edition; David Hughes
Superman: The Unauthorized Biography; Glen Weldon
Between the World and Me; Ta-Nahisi Coates
But What If We're Wrong?; Chuck Klosterman
Normal; Warren Ellis
The Wild Storm #1-5; Warren Ellis & Jon Davis-Hunt
PayWall; Joseph P Kelly
Grand Theft Imagination; Benjamin Andrew Moore
4. Music
Greatest Hits; Fleetwood Mac
On Avery Island; Neutral Milk Hotel
Cage The Elephant; Cage The Elephant
Humbug; Arctic Monkeys
Thank You Happy Birthday; Cage the Elephant
Suck It and See; The Arctic Monkeys
AM; The Arctic Monkeys
Melophobia; Cage the Elephant
To Pimp a Butterfly; Kendrick Lamar
Tell Me I'm Pretty; Cage the Elephant
We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions; Bruce Springsteen
Damn; Kendrick Lamar
5. Videogames
Wolfenstein: The New Order; MachineGames
Wolfenstein: The Old Blood; MachineGames
Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild; Nintendo
6. What I wrote/created
Red's Journey; ClearVision Optical
Rabbit Hole #1; Self-published
World War Terminus; Self-published
The Cycle; Self-published
The Redemption of Super-Champion Barron Drumpf Parts 1 & 2; Study Group Comics
The Drakul Wedding; Self-published
Whatever Happened to the Superhero Writers of Tomorrow & Other Articles; Paste Magazine
The Weekend in Review; June 26th, 2017
You know you're becoming an adult when you download a video game to your Xbox on a Monday but you don't have enough time to play it until the following Sunday. This was the case for me when I decided to treat myself to the recently released Prey (2017).
Read MoreThe Weekend in Review; June 19th, 2017
Would you sanction the use of a taxpayer funded program in which a city or state employee piloting a powerful robot suit arrives on scene and literally kicks the two cars off the road, presumably into the shoulder, to allow for the flow of traffic to resume?
Read MoreThe Weekend in Review; May 30th, 2017
This one was a real doozy, folks. A genuine three day weekend. The Holy Grail. This time because of a holiday called Memorial Day. Which, as I understand it, is like Veterans Day, only for dead people. It's a great opportunity for those among us who blindly support the military-industrial complex to stick a bunch of flags in things and to use a variety of hashtags to show they care about those poor souls who gave their lives to secure our freedom, which now manifests itself in the form of an overwhelming sense of existential dread. Smell that, son? That's freedom!
Read More007 Racing (2000), The Fate of the Furious / Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017)
If you're at all familiar with the recent The Fast and the Furious movies then the reason why I found myself remembering this game should be obvious. You'd know that any and all conflicts in the F&F world, no matter the scale, must be solved through vehicular combat. The rule is that if a problem can be solved simply with a conversation then the problem must be solved stupefyingly with a car. This is the exact principle underpinning the premiere James Bond video game of the year 2000. And I imagine it's why people love the F&F movies but have completely forgotten 007 Racing.
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