Grand Theft Auto V is now available, which very well could mean that by the time you are reading this, you could already be playing it. Do you realize that, even though I am speaking 100% hypothetically, I am still envious of you at this exact moment? I don't actually have the game yet, and realistically, you may not either, yet I am jealous knowing you could. Sad, huh?
Do you remember the way you felt when you first started playing Grand Theft Auto 3? It was as if, suddenly, any insane fantasy you ever had about how a game could play out was suddenly coming true. Suddenly, I didn't HAVE to go in any direction I didn't want to. Suddenly, I wasn't forced, as a gamer, to make the game play out the way the programmers MADE ME with other games. For the first time, I was free to play a game ANY WAY I wanted to.
Man, going back to school sucks, eh? It is one of those rituals we were forced to endure most of our lives, and even though we did it every year for half our lives (I was a slow learner), it never got any easier. And it used to be that you knew September meant school, so the first time anyone brought that month up during the Summer it would make you die a little inside. But now, we have school starting in August (atleast around here in the Northeast) and you can feel the contempt pouring from many as they are forced to buy their pencils, pens, and all the other stupid shit you need to get before going back to school. But what if I told you I knew of a handful of movies that shine a sweet light on school? What if I told you there are movies that take place in and around various schools, with various colorful characters, and that seeing these movies will make you realize you are lucky as shit to be in the best place you will ever be in life?
I want to say what I know many gamers have thought, but few say for a fear of a backlash. I truly believe that gaming has surpassed Hollywood in terms of storytelling and set pieces. Though it can only be said about a handful of titles, video games immerse you a great deal deeper than watching films, because with gaming, for the most part, you are in control. You are part of narrative process by dictating what happens next, even if the game held your hand to get you there.
I bet Paul Revere wouldn't have been able to see this coming. What, you ask? The influx of premium British television shows that seem to exist in abundance, for us all to pluck from as we see fit. I am going on the record, right now, to say that I truly believe that some of the best television I have ever seen has been British in lineage. And the factors for this are many.
With Grand Theft Auto V about to drop, and GTA Online getting a great deal of buzz, Remy explores some features and gameplay he hopes to get from GTA V.
I should start this off by pointing out that when I heard the news that Heath Ledger was playing The Joker in The Dark Knight, I was openly condemning him. Up until that point, outside of Brokeback Mountain, I had never really seen him transform himself as an actor, and didn't think of him in terms outside of Ten Things I Hate About You. For a moment I thought they were going to try to go the"cool, good-looking Joker" route, which in hindsight is very stupid of me, but I am telling you this for a reason. When I finally saw what the Joker looked like in that film, I was in awe, and that awe only tripled when I heard his drugged-out drawl and saw the odd, lip-licking mannerisms that Heath injected into that character.
Making a living evaluating, loving, and writing about films, I very rarely write the "all of you are wrong" articles, because I know that they can really force a writer into exile, especially depending on what portion of your audience he or she calling out. In this case, involving the vastly misunderstood and wholly brilliant 2007 action film starring Clive Owen called Shoot Em up, I have no problem pulling up a soapbox, grabbing a microphone, and letting 90% of the world know they were wrong about this film. This is not the silly action film that most take it as. Just the three stars in the film alone should tell you that. Clive Owen, Monica Bellucci, and Paul Giamatti. And you think, based on those three alone, that this movie is the film you think it is? No.
Video Games have always been an integral part of my existence. I can still distinctly recall the feeling I got when I beat the first Legend of Zelda game like it was yesterday. Every single detail of that moment, and it was decades ago. I remember exactly where I was standing in my living room. I remember the way my house smelled like Yankee candles. I remember my hands trembling from the faux-adrenaline I felt. I also recall it feeling like an actual achievement. Like I had REALLY done something. In hindsight, feeling that much pride about a game may have hinted I was a major nerd more than anything else, yet I find myself playing and beating games to this day, and rarely getting that feeling anymore.
