Features

Laura Jane Grace Isn't Going to Ruin Against Me, She's Going to Reinvigorate Them
Morning Glory's Recent Tour Felt Like a Symbolic Farewell to Ezra Kire's Past, Invitation to his Future
Handling Hecklers with MC Chris: An Exploration in Putting Up With or Putting a Stop to Bullshit

Recent Reviews:  To the Moon | Huebrix | Minus the Bear | Tony Hawk's Pro Skater HD | Awesomenauts | The Real McKenzies | Breton | Suzanne Ciani

Subscribe to our Podcasts: Sophist Radio | Unoriginal Soundtracks | Shuffled

April 28, 2011

Netflix Minute: The Other Guys

Netflix Minute is a weekly feature highlighting a title from Netflix's catalog of instant view films. If you want to spend a night snuggled up with a bag of popcorn and don't want to drive to the video store, this is for you.

Comedy is a fairly tricky genre to contend with nowadays, especially with so many well-exploited sub-genres like college sex comedy or romantic comedy. Making a truly unique one is no simple task, which is why The Other Guys feels so refreshing before the question of "well how funny is it though?" even hits the table.

April 27, 2011

Tech Review: Sega RetroGen


I love my retro games. So much so that I like buying up all of these cool little retro gaming gadgets that have been released in recent years. It seems as companies have let the copyrights on video game consoles expire, opportunistic upstarts have been swooping in to build cooler machines to play that stock of retro games you've got sitting in the closet. These usually fall under one of two categories: An honest attempt to pay tribute to classic games, made by people that genuinely loved the games, or, a hastily thrown together cash grab that will probably break in a year or less. So, does the Sega RetroGen fall into the first or second category.

Shuffled Podcast #8: That Crack Rock Steady Beat

Every other Wednesday I share my love of music in an assortment of ways. Shuffled is a podcast whose format is as varied as my tastes in music, so hopefully you won't ever be bored and everyone can find something to enjoy.

On this episode of Shuffled Luis Alvarez once again joins me. This time we discuss a group of bands...or, a genre, or as Luis puts it, an idea; Crack Rock Steady. Starting with Choking Victim, this unique brand of punk as created countless spin-off acts and inspired plenty of copycats. If you're a fan of the genre maybe you'll learn something new, but if you have no idea it existed, well, strap yourself in. We talk about nearly everything tangentially related to these bands, and you'll hear music samples following along behind it all. Hopefully by the end you'll be just as big a fan as Luis and I are.

April 26, 2011

Movie Review: Hanna


There comes a point in any adolescent's life where the world is revealed for what it is and the time for childish games is gone. Hanna is fiercely portrayed by Saoirse Ronan as a 16 year-old who has no idea what it means to be a teenager. She has never had time for childish games, nor would she know what they are to begin with. Her father, played by Eric Bana, has raised her on the outskirts of the Arctic Circle, away from anything resembling a normal existence. She has trained all her life, learned every language, and would be a match for any James Bond or Jason Bourne.

Can Kevin Smith Legitimize Podcasting?


My brother-in-law frequently relays stories of things he heard on the morning-zoo-like radio program he listens to every day on his way to work. It's called "Free Beer and Hot Wings," because apparently those are the nicknames of the two hosts. I've never listened to it but sometimes when I have to run to the store or something, and bringing the iPod seems pointless, I turn on the radio and hear an ad for it. The tagline is: "Free Beer and Hot Wings. Funny name, funnier show." I mention all of this because even though that probably sounds like the worst thing in the world to you, it's still more respected than your average podcast.

I deliver newspapers for a living, which means I drive around in my car for at least five hours a day. After awhile even my very sizable music collection wasn't cutting it, audiobooks were putting me to sleep, and lord knows I wasn't about to turn to the radio. Luckily I discovered podcasts, and I fell in love. I spent hours on iTunes searching through categories and clicking those "Listeners of this podcast also like..." links. Three and a half years later and I'm still deeply invested in the podcast world. They still get very little respect, but that could be changing soon, no small part due to one man; Kevin Smith.

April 25, 2011

Video Round-Up: Moronic Edition

Video Round-Up is a weekly post collecting an assortment of videos from around the web. Whether they be music videos, creative viral marketing, just plain cool, or just plain ridiculous, they will all be found on Video Round-Up.

This week in the Video Round-Up we have four videos that show some amount of moronic behavior. Whether it is the stupid way we spell words, an awful decision like stealing a semi and running from cops, a wonderful interviewer who isn't afraid to act silly, or the collective dumbing down of all of society, it's all here. So sit back with a drink and enjoy.

Sophist Radio Episode 44: Whiskey Butt


This week the Sophist crew comes to you to talk about a very important topic: The career of rapper, dancer, actor, and overall musical genius, Mark Althavean Andrews. You know him better by his stage name: Sisqó. What does he have to do with the wonderful world of video games? Nothing. The guys spend considerable time getting everyone up to speed on some of Sisqó's greatest hits, then they move onto some tried and true game talk. Portal 2 gets thoroughly discussed, almost to the point of spoilage, but the guys stop and move onto another "exciting" new game: Gemcraft Labyrinth. Things close out with the Sophist Squad tackling Nintendo's rumored Wii successor. All that and some truly disturbing stories of beer consumption.

April 23, 2011

Game Review: Stacking: The Lost Hobo King


Up to about two hours in length, The Lost Hobo King is a fine add-on to Stacking. It's just as polished, quirky, and ragtime as the original. The price (400 MS points) is reasonable, but only so, in my opinion, for the patron who is confident he or she will enjoy the DLC. And you will like it if you liked Stacking. But I think I like The Lost Hobo King as an idea, a trend, more than I like the game itself.

It abounds with extras like Hi-Jinks, mini-objectives that involve using a character's ability in a certain context a certain number of times. For example, once you find the matryoshka doll whose ability is to put buckets on others' heads, you simply do that to a set number of NPCs. Then, ta-da, one Hi-Jinks objective complete; a few percentage points toward 100% completion of the DLC. The quest consists of three main puzzles (each with multiple possible solutions) before the climactic one. There is a cast of special characters like a farmer with a corncob pipe (with smoke) for a hat, a night-vision raccoon, and a Monty Python-inspired galloping knight. I mention all this because in large part the value of this game, like Stacking, exists in the extras. Players willing to wring out content by going back to an already completed puzzle and seeing the other solutions, finding special characters, and completing incidental goals, will be satisfied. Completing the story as quickly as possible, you will see about a third of the content.

April 22, 2011

Insufficient Funds: Tell 'Em Steve-Dave

Insufficient Funds is a weekly post in which we feature a free, or very close to it, piece of media that you can enjoy without overdrafting your bank account. So if you're low on funds, stay tuned to Cerebral Pop every Friday morning.

When Kevin Smith (director or Clerks, Dogma, Zack and Miri Make a Porno, etc.) began building a podcast empire, his friends Walt Flanagan and Bryan Johnson were second in line to make a show. I'd somewhat known both of them from appearances on SModcast (Smith's signature podcast) and from Johnson's directorial debut, Vulgar, but I was hardly prepared for just how much I would fall in love with their podcasting endeavor. Add in Brian Quinn and a rotating cast of their other acquaintances and it only gets better.

I listen to a majority of the podcasts on the SModcast Network, but Tell 'Em Steve-Dave is the one that I look forward to the most each week. It's not only their brand of humor that draws me in, but their complete and utter honesty that makes them so easy to like and relate to. You can really tell that they've been friends forever and that's what makes them play off each other so well.

April 20, 2011

Unoriginal Soundtracks Podcast: Civilization Edition

Every other Wednesday I share a playlist of songs tangentially related to a single game or series. Songs about alien sex for Mass Effect, songs about world leaders for Civilization, and so on. Searching for random terms on Spotify is a great way to discover new music and rediscover old classics.

Civilization has earned its "epic" label. It's 20 years old and still going strong, its campaign spans almost all of human history, and (for many gamers) it has been around forever but doesn't get old. It also showed me that metal is a good medium for a history lesson.

April 19, 2011

The Download Space: A New Home for Fighting, Racing, and Sports Games


Video games have been a part of my life for as long as my hands have been able to hold a controller. Many of those years were spent locked in epic battles with my younger brother. We would wage war all day in Street Fighter 2, WWF: No Mercy, NBA Street Vol. 2, and Madden football. These were some of the best video game moments of my life.

Things were simple back then there was no Xbox Live or PSN for us to connect to. We would just plop down on the couch, pick-up our controllers, and have at it. Nowadays my brother and I hardly ever find the time to play one-on-one. Yes, we no longer live together, but we both have next generation consoles and we haven't beaten the crap out of each other in years. We both still love these genres of games, but we never seem to be playing the same thing at the same time. Which makes me think that all Racing, Fighting, and Sports games should at the very least offer a fully-downloadable version for people to enjoy.

April 18, 2011

Video Round-Up: Yes Yes Coachella Edition

Video Round-Up is a weekly post collecting an assortment of videos from around the web. Whether they be music videos, creative viral marketing, just plain cool, or just plain ridiculous, they will all be found on Video Round-Up. 
  
Coachella is still happening as I type this. This year's West-coast wassail--the same goes for SXSW '11--was (is) heavily filmed. The quality is great for a live stream. Coachella's YouTube Page featured a clean, organized webstream so viewers can watch multiple stages live. I'd call it a rather seamless production which has helped the rest of the world who couldn't make it to the show experience the huge line up of awesome bands. The video library is not actually complete at this juncture. But here are four videos from high and low profile bands.

April 15, 2011

Insufficient Funds: The Short Films of Ruairi Robinson

Insufficient Funds is a weekly post in which we feature a free, or very close to it, piece of media that you can enjoy without overdrafting your bank account. So if you're low on funds, stay tuned to Cerebral Pop every Friday morning.

Short films seems to be an ever-growing testing ground of sorts for upcoming movie directors on the Internet. With a possible audience of millions, it's much easier for a well done short to garner attention from movie studios. Just look at the career of Neill Blomkamp as a prime example. If I had to guess who would be the next Blomkamp based on their released shorts, it'd be Ruairi Robinson.

April 14, 2011

Netflix Minute: Spartacus Blood and Sand

Netflix Minute is a weekly feature highlighting a title from Netflix's catalog of instant view films. If you want to spend a night snuggled up with a bag of popcorn and don't want to drive to the video store, this is for you.

In recent years, television has grown in a very surprising way, with budgets growing, scopes widening, and ambitions rising. Shows like Mad Men revolutionize the medium in a seemingly annual basis, with deep character arcs that span over seasons with truly emotionally affecting arcs. With this trend, cable TV has specifically seen the biggest boon, with networks like AMC, FX, and Starz seeing innovative television shows from a variety of genres. Spartacus: Blood and Sand might not have been possible in any other climate, displaying a level of cinematic quality (and theme) reminiscent of movies like 300 and Gladiator.

April 13, 2011

Shuffled Podcast: One of These Things Edition

Every other Wednesday I share my love of music in an assortment of ways. Shuffled is a podcast whose format is as varied as my tastes in music, so hopefully you won't ever be bored and everyone can find something to enjoy.

Sometimes shuffle mode seems to have a mind of it's own, tying songs together in an strange way. Or at least, I like to try to find strange connections between the songs. This week there just happened to be two live songs in a row, two bands with only two members, and one man who went on to form a band that was a sort of tribute to another band who was very similar to one of the others on this list. I know, creepy, right? It all means something. Except for the last pick that I can't connect at all. One of these things is not like the others. (This is the stupidest thing I've ever written.)

April 12, 2011

Communication vs. Vanity: The Difference Between Twitter and Facebook


It took me awhile to warm up to Twitter after I joined it back in January of 2009. It wasn't until that May that I realized I could turn on text message notifications on my phone and use it to stay up to date with E3 (The Electronic Entertainment Expo, gaming's big showcase of the year) news while I was at work. Once I was hooked on having tweets sent straight to my phone for me to read, I knew the next step was to make actual connections with people. I was only following a bunch of game journalists and celebrities at that point, and I wanted people who would actually talk to me. I added a bunch of like-minded gamers to my feed and soon we'd sparked up friendships while responding to each other's messages.

Facebook seemed to offer all of these opportunities and more. Your messages stayed visible for longer, and when people responded they had more room to say what they wanted to say. I started posting my odd thoughts and jokes throughout the day, hoping they might strike up a conversation. The most I ever got was a "like" or two. To me, there is a fundamental disconnect between the users of Twitter and the users of Facebook, and that is the idea of communication.

April 11, 2011

Video Round-Up: Real Life is Crazy Edition

Video Round-Up is a weekly post collecting an assortment of videos from around the web. Whether they be music videos, creative viral marketing, just plain cool, or just plain ridiculous, they will all be found on Video Round-Up.

Works of fiction can definitely be over the top sometimes, but we tend to neglect the fact that they're usually based on real life. With video cameras in nearly every cell phone, and instant uploading to YouTube, we have more access than ever to the crazy stuff that inspires works of fiction. This week's Video Round-Up is dedicated to some of those insane things real people actually do or witness being done that just happened to get caught on camera. Enjoy them, possibly be inspired by them, but do not run out and try them.

April 10, 2011

Sophist Radio Episode 43: Shebadow!!!!!!!!!!


In this episode Harold, James, and Aaron spend a good bit of the show struggling to talk about video games. If you came here looking for a new catch phrase to impress all your friends, we have it. If you wanted to hear another rant about the layout of Nintendo's download store, you are again in the right place. Finally, though, the guys do settle down into some tried and true game discussion. The 3rd Birthday, Okamiden, and Trajectile share some time in the spotlight. Then things move into a pretty lengthy chat about the recent issues concerning hacker Geohot and system jailbreaking.

April 08, 2011

Insufficient Funds: Streets of Rage Remake

Insufficient Funds is a weekly post in which we feature a free, or very close to it, piece of media that you can enjoy without overdrafting your bank account. So if you're low on funds, stay tuned to Cerebral Pop every Friday morning.

My favorite part of the Internet is when mega-fans makes awesome things of the things they love. Most of the time if their love is for a video game, and they express it by making a remake or a sequel themselves -- instead of waiting around for the developer to hear their pleas -- it's unceremoniously shut down before it ever sees the light of day. Sometimes, though, it makes it's way through the entire process and is released for all gamers to enjoy; Such is the case for Streets of Rage Remake.

Even more astonishing then the fact that this team of fans got it released is the sheer amount of effort they went to. They didn't have any of the actual game code, and they didn't reverse engineer the game to get it. Instead, they just analyzed everything and attempted to recreate it from scratch. And not only the first game -- they've pretty much remade the entire series in one product.

Unoriginal Soundtracks Podcast: Heavy Rain Edition

Every other Wednesday I share a playlist of songs tangentially related to a single game or series. Songs about alien sex for Mass Effect, songs about world leaders for Civilization, and so on. Searching for random terms on Spotify is a great way to discover new music and rediscover old classics.

Heavy Rain is one of the best flawed games of the last five years. It makes you feel helpless with an X button, but uses that same X button to absurdly repeat your son's name; it adapts its story so there is no failure, but that story is a sub-standard murder mystery; its characters are some of the most emotive on a console, but they sound like they belong in another country.

April 07, 2011

Netflix Minute: Unthinkable

Netflix Minute is a weekly feature highlighting a title from Netflix's catalog of instant view films. If you want to spend a night snuggled up with a bag of popcorn and don't want to drive to the video store, this is for you.

"This man has planted three nuclear bombs in your country. They will go off in 3 days. How far would you go?" This is the text taken directly from the poster for Gregor Jordan's Unthinkable. With the ever-present threat of terrorism on the American collective consciousness, this film digs into the cutthroat instinct of men to do anything it takes for the sake of national safety and preservation. The premise is just about as extensive as the strapline suggests, meaning Unthinkable is just about as good as its execution.

April 05, 2011

The Best Band You've Never Heard of


The first time I heard about DeVotchKa was on NPR, likely Fresh Air but I don't remember for sure. They described them as "The best band that you've never heard of." Since then they've provided much of the soundtrack for the smash-hit, indie-flick Little Miss Sunshine, and signed to ANTI- Records, a subsidiary of Universal. I feel like they've begun to achieve a level of success that most bands never see and aren't exactly "The best band that you've never heard of" anymore, just a great band.

Instead I think of that label for another band who just released a new album within a few weeks of DeVotchKa: The World/Inferno Friendship Society. They've been one of my absolute favorite bands for quite awhile now and I've always been a little astonished that more people don't know about them. Even my frequent attempts to sell people on them are usually met with indifference. So, allow me to write it instead.

April 04, 2011

Video Round-Up: It's Raining Edition

 Video Round-Up is a weekly post collecting an assortment of videos from around the web. Whether they be music videos, creative viral marketing, just plain cool, or just plain ridiculous, they will all be found on Video Round-Up.

Thanks for checking out another Round-Up! I hope to provide you with a diversity of videos: from cool to cute to funny. Enjoy.

April 01, 2011

Insufficient Funds: The Institute Web Series

Insufficient Funds is a weekly post in which we feature a free, or very close to it, piece of media that you can enjoy without overdrafting your bank account. So if you're low on funds, stay tuned to Cerebral Pop every Friday morning.

Before YouTube became known for videos of people getting hit in the crotch and boring vlogs, there was likely some expectation of the service being used as an outlet for creative people. Luckily there is now some of that going on, and people are attempting to put out some content that actually took a little bit of thought. Like the web series, which offers up mini-episodes of shows that would likely never get a greenlight on a network station. Somehow I always get sucked in when I start a series, and the latest in which I'm entangled is The Institute.

The Institute would definitely not have been greenlit on a network station given it's plot. Two brothers start a school for upcoming pornstars back in the 70s when pornography was just starting out. Each episode follows the gang of "teachers" and their attempts to keep their "school" up and running, as well as gives a mock origin to a well-known sexual term such as The Dirty Sanchez or The Blumpkin.