Medic Media

10 years ago you would probably find me in my house playing with Hot Wheels cars and K’NEX and Nerf guns, and just like Andy, I had a Buzz Lightyear action figure somewhere in my house.  Toy Story was easily one of my favorite movies at the time, I remember when my aunt got me a copy of it on VHS for Christmas.  Now, 10 years later, here I am in college and what is my most anticipated movie of the year?  Well honestly it’s The Expendables, but Toy Story 3 is definitely in the top 3.

Let me first say that I saw the movie in IMAX 3D, which is pretty cool but also not really worth the extra $5.  But once the movie started and I saw the words “Please put on your 3D glasses”  I got pretty excited.  In typical Pixar fashion the movie is preceded by an animated short, this one was called “Night and Day.”  A pretty creative piece that made me smile a few times but nothing really that spectacular.  Then begins the feature presentation and the opening scene is a intense western battle seen through the imagination of a young Andy.  Shortly after we see him all grown up and they start throwing your emotions around immediately.

Pixar really covers all the bases here, the movie is a wild ride and it’s obviously directed at an older audience, while probably enjoyable for kids, there is a lot going on this movie.  It’s genuinely funny, the humor is there, and while I tend to laugh at things that are meant to be sad and otherwise not funny, the parts that are intended as jokes are spot on.

Like Ken, he's flamboyant and prissy and has some really funny moments throughout the film

There are also some sad parts and there is one part in particular where I was just starring at the screen in completely disbelief and what Pixar was about to do, and had it happened, I would have praised Pixar forever.  On top of that, there is some really scary shit in this movie.  I remember the first one having its moments, but some of the characters and the darkness of them is truly haunting this time around.  If you haven’t seen it yet keep and eye out for Giant Baby, he’s creepy as hell.  Then, to wrap it all up, there are some really pathetic moments like almost every scene involving Andy.  The kid really is just lame, you’re 18 years old man, get a friend.  He brings a picture of himself as a child surrounded by all of his favorite toys to college with him.  Do you know what his room mate is going to when he sees that?  He’s probably going trim some of his pubes off and sprinkle them in Andy’s cereal the next morning.

Toy Story 3 is a really good movie though, I thoroughly enjoyed it.  I’d recommend this movie to almost anyone, but if you’re between the ages of 18 and 25 and enjoyed the first two movies when you were a kid then you have to see this, just don’t bring your kids.  Alright, bring ‘em, but don’t be surprised if they hate their Teddy Bears after.  You heard it here, Toy Story 3 is great.

Oh yeah, at the end Woody gets left on the radiator and melts and Andy commits suicide in his dorm room.  Spoiler Alert.

Holy shit, looks like we hit a time warp guys, we’re still here though.  I’d like to get back into the swing of things with my reactions to this years E3 Press Conferences.

Am I the only one that’s disappointed with the way everything is going?  I mean don’t get me wrong, there were some cool announcements, and I’ll get to those, but let me first say this: Fuck this motion sensing gimmick bullshit.  The Wii sold too well, and now everyone has to jump on the band wagon with their Kinect and light up dildo controllers.  Awesome.  Some one please tell me why I’d want to spend $150 so I can pretend like I’m Tony Stark and move through my dashboard menu’s by waving my hands when I could get 3 AAA games instead.  When it’s 11pm and my family is sleeping I don’t want to jump around my room like a fool to play the newest Street Fighter game, I’d much rather relax in a chair.  That’s what these games are for, aren’t they?  If I want to play baseball I’ll just go outside and do so.  Alright, enough ranting for now, moving on.

Honestly, there really weren’t that many cool things at this years press conferences, sure we’ve got a new Xbox 360 model and the new 3DS, but honestly, I don’t care about any of that.  Where are the games?  From what I’ve seen here are my top 3 previously unannounced titles to get excited about.

1.  Twisted Metal

It’s about damn time Sony.  Twisted Metal Black was the first game I played on PS2 and one of my favorites of all time.  The individual story lines are so grim and awesome, the game play was polished, and the graphics were top notch for the time.  Coming off a game like that how can you not get excited for a brand new Twisted Metal game for the PS3.  It looks like they are really adding a lot this time around too, new game mechanics and flying vehicles are just a start.  Peep the teaser trailer and tell me you are not pumped.

2.  Uncharted 3

Not like anyone didn’t see this coming, but either way, another entry into the Playstation 3’s favorite exclusive series is certainly something to talk about.  Sony announced that the game will release in Fall 2011 with nothing in the way of trailers or screen shots, but really is anyone skeptical?  Just pray that it doesn’t utilize Playstation Move in online multiplayer.

3.  Need For Speed Hot Pursuit

I’ve been saying for years that Hot Pursuit was the last good Need For Speed and with how well Shift did it looked like they were giving up on the arcade racer and attempting to compete with the big dogs of Simulation Racing.  This announcement was a total surprise to me and one that I’m incredibly happy about.  Not only are they going back to their roots but they’ve picked up Criterion Games, the creators of Burnout, to work on it.  Keep an eye on this one, it’s got spunk.

That’s about it, I mean sure you’ve got your Gears of War, Halo: Reach, Mortal Kombat, and what not.  There are plenty of games that will do well in the press and in sales, but nothing I’m really that stoked about.  Oh, except for this:

Bioware, please just make a short movie already.

YouTube - Link

What a rag-tag cast of characters in this video. We get RZA, Joe Jonas, Jake Gyllenhaal and Lil John. This is one of the zaniest videos I’ve seen in a while and I love it. I’m still not too sure what is going on but still awesome regardless.

M. Night Shymarmalade was wise to drop Avatar from the title. This is based on the Nicklelodeon cartoon of the name, Avatar: The Last Airbender. Which is apparently America’s attempt at creating anime. People say its good, but I don’t really care enough. The trailer reminds me of a cross between a live action Dragon Ball Z and The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor. Yea, that should tell you all you need to know. Don’t go see it on July 2nd, 2010.

Oooooh, a new Ghost Recon.  While I was always more a fan of Rainbow Six, a new Ghost Recon is still pretty exciting.  And”Future Soldier?”  Sound cool to me, lazer guns and mechs and shit.  We’ve got enough modern warfare with, well, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, and hopefully we’ll see a new Rainbow Six on the scenes by the end of the year.  Tom Clancy games have, for the most part, always delivered.  Anyway, here’s the teaser:

YouTube - Link

So by now you’ve probably heard the news that there is a Sonic the Hedgehog 4 on the horizon, available for all 3 consoles.  What we haven’t heard however is pricing and what the deal is with the episodes.  I’m not unreasonable, I’ll gladly pay $10 or $15 for a brand spankin’ new 2D Sonic Adventure.  However, I won’t pay $10 to $15 for a quarter of a game, or a third, or a half…  What’s the deal with episodic content anyway?  Did anyone ever ask for things to be released that way?  Also, the main villain better be Dr. Robotnik and he better be named Dr. Robotnik, not Eggman.  I guess I’ll have to wait and see what happens, but for the moment being, I’m very excited.  This is exactly what the series needed for the past 10 years.

Oh, and here you go, for anyone who hasn’t seen this little teaser trailer yet.

The month of January continues to churn out some great, great music as Beach House readies the release of their third LP, Teen Dream. Both Alex Scally and Victoria Legrand have made significant inroads into their spacey style of pop music since their self-titled debut in 2004, fronted prominently by Victoria’s powerful voice, which seems to have been picking up pieces of Grace Slick, Nico, and Janis Joplin throughout their last few records. So between backing up Grizzly Bear on “Two Weeks,” and pairing with Ed Droste for the motherfucking Twilight soundtrack, Victoria and Alex have been putting together easily their most polished and accessible album yet.

Teen Dream is a collection of slow-pulsed, starry, compact pop songs in a minimalistic style that’ll surely make you embarrassed to be rocking out to them – but the structure to these tracks is built just for it. First, a stock Casio beat. Then, a heartbeat, a bouncing keyboard riff of a couple of chords, and then Alex chimes in before Legrand overflows your headphones to get you swaying like a tree against sea breeze. Listening to these songs can sometimes feel like slowly opening a dam ready to burst, letting the water crescendo in until you’re up to your eardrums in some really great mixed harmonies.Think 80’s synth meets Jefferson Airplane. Or something like that.

Gauzy, dreamy, spacey, droopy; whatever adjective you decide on, Teen Dream is worth the listen. The album’s first single, “Norway,” is easily one of the least memorable, outshined by the likes of “Zebra,” “Used To Be” and “Better Times.” Legrand sings lyrics like we experience abstract flashes of memories, pieced together by a thread of cohesion; just enough for us to follow, (”You mend to our minds and rush through our lives/We parted our lips and reached from inside”) while evoking images of shores and turning lame ass zebras into epic mythical creatures from ancient tales, (”Any way run, you run before us/Black and white horse, arching among us.”) It’s a project where Beach House have finally honed their sound into a more focused and believable consistency that is ready to be heard by a lot more pairs of ears. Catch the band tomorrow night at their record release party at The Bell House in B-Town, New Yawk. Teen Dream is out January 26th on Sub Pop Records, and hear them perform “Used to Be” and cover “Don’t Go Chasin’ Waterfalls” after the jump.

I didn’t want to do this again. But this durty gurl has stirred up quite the debate between me and my inner circle of friends. Some of them despise her and her trashy auto-tuned music. While others, including myself, don’t mind the glitter-covered chick and the catchiness of Tik Tok. And with just the right amount of alcohol, (by right amount I mean a lot), I might be so inclined to belt a wonderful karaoke rendition of the song.

If you read my previous post on Ke$ha’s Tik Tok, you’ll come away with the idea that I didn’t much care for her or her song. BUT, the more I heard it, the more it became entrenched in my mind. Kinda like how shit would get stuck to a wall if someone threw it. You don’t want it to be there, but it just is and you don’t wanna clean it up. You can’t deny the song’s appeal which has why it has been #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for multiple weeks and is still going strong. It has grown on me, and apparently a lot of other people. It’s kinda like if someone repeatedly farted in your face over and over. At first your like this sucks, but the more it happens, the more you start to like it. And the next thing you know, you love the stench of farts. THAT MAKES NO SENSE. Just like a good fart, the stench of Ke$ha continues to linger. Making its way onto the charts is her new single Blah Blah Blah featuring 3OH!3. 3OH!3 did that Hellen Keller song. I don’t remember the real name nor do I care. Take a listen…

YouTube - Link

Sorry. Don’t be fooled. This song is much, much worse than Tik Tok. Which makes it a terrible, terrible track. There are no redeeming qualities whatsoever. The auto-tuning is ridiculously over the top and makes her voice sound worse than it actually is. The 2 ass-wipes that are 3OH!3 add nothing to the song. Garbage. This song will not grow on me. Ke$sha could be headed into one-hit wonder land. I will cover no more Ke$ha songs. Goodbye you glitter-wearing, JD drinking, fart smelling goddess. We will always remember the little fun we had with you and Tik Tok. When’s the next Katy Perry album?

Buy your tickets now, it looks as good as advertised. In US theaters March 19th.

EDIT
Here’s the link to it now, since Youtube pulled the link. Thanks Youtube.

Summer is still forever away, but it’s bands like these that make it feel like those wonderfully slow July afternoons no matter what time of year it is. As the snow continues to fall in the middle of one of the coldest winters on record, Surfer Blood have been playing gig after gig up and down the east coast and through the heartland, bringing their hometown Florida sun along with them as they play songs off of their debut record, Astro Coast.

The boisterous opening chords on “Floating Vibes” hit you like the touch of hot asphalt on unsuspecting feet, and that theme sticks like melted ice cream for the duration of this perfectly paced album. Recorded in a small University of Florida dorm room, Astro Coast packs some serious top-down cruising anthems, coupled nicely with the sand-between-your-toes slow (sun)burning jams to create a much needed reminder that there’s very little to like about winter. The vocals are muffed, the guitars are echoed, and traces of early Weezer are all over these poppy songs, (listen to “Twin Peaks” while imagining Rivers in sandals and try and tell the difference) but really, that can only be a good thing. The songs often break into pieces built on different bouncing, grooving riffs that surround mellow pleas for romance (”I’m not saying I’ve earned love/But I can really use it now”), and killin’ time during hard times (”Why is everything such a chore?/I’m too young to be defeated/Let’s make fun at the video store”) while throwing around references to David Lynch and cocaine addictions. Astro Coast is a simple record with obvious influences, but sometimes that’s what we need when shit gets a little too crazy.

It’s a fantastic debut, one of the better albums I’ve heard in a while, and the chances of me listening to these songs in five months time are extremely high. Some upcoming shows include an in-store performance at Other Music in downtown Manhattan in late February, so check them out if you get a chance. Astro Coast is out January 19th on Kanine Records.