Video Round-Up: Issues and Non-Issues 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 Round-Up: brilliant amateur rap, Boondocks, Street Fighter combos, and a tonal nuclear explosion record worth your attention.

Movie Review: Salt

In less experienced hands, Salt could've easily turned into another block in the pile of bland Hollywood action films that movie-going audiences all over the world are fed on a yearly basis. But in the hands of Philip Noyce, this run-of-the-mill story about a CIA agent on the run turns into an action thriller that hits the ground running, and doesn't stop until the end credits start rolling in.

Noyce paces the film in such an expertly brisk manner, in fact, that it gets away with having a rather preposterous plot. While watching, it's hard to care if the story's core conspiracy can pass off as believeable; all we really want to know is how its title's character is going to play out her next move, and what awaits her right after that.

The Portable Five: August

The Portable Five is a monthly column designed to help you pick through the glut of games out there -- especially on iPhone -- and purchase only the highest quality portable time-killers. If you do a lot of gaming on the go, you'll want to keep an eye out here the 15th of every month.

Life is busy nowadays. We don't have time to sit in front of a TV for hours, playing a game. All we have time for is to pull that portable gaming device out of our pocket and play for a bit while we are on the bus, waiting in a line, or while our wives watch HGTV.

To assist you in finding the best portable games, I present to you the best Beat 'em up games available for portable systems.

Insufficient Funds: Paul Cary

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.

I don't know a lot about Paul Cary, but apparently he used to be the front-man of a band called The Horrors, which doesn't help me much because there seem to be multiple bands with that name. Either way, Paul has struck out on his own and has delivered a really amazing solo CD that you can download for free.

Netflix Minute: Step Brothers

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.

I’ll say it right now - I think Will Ferrell has some of the best comedic chops in the business. Furthermore, John C. Reilly has one of the best, most diverse pedigrees of any actor out there, if you ask me. You may not agree, but their intersection in the film Stepbrothers delivered one of the most hilarious 98 minutes I’ve experienced in front of a television screen in quite a while.

Considering the fact that Stepbrothers was produced by Judd Apatow, I shouldn’t really be too surprised. One of the most satisfying elements of this comedy is the fact that it was clearly aiming for an R-rating, holding no jokes back and letting the somewhat difficult to swallow premise stretch to its appropriate proportions.

Game Review: The Saboteur

I'm not crazy about open-world games. I stop playing most of them well before I ever finish. The one game I got much further in was Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, but even then I gave up halfway through it. There are just too many things to do, and too many ways for me to get distracted from the main story. I always end up playing too many side-missions and getting bored with the mission structure before I ever get a chance to see the end of the storyline.

Sure, Saboteur is the first open-world game I've played from this generation, but I think it really excels where the others I've played failed. I wasn't overwhelmed with police or firefighter missions, or poorly controlled and frustrating races that were moderately fun but eventually wore me out on the overall game. Surprisingly, despite the fact that the main character in the game is a former professional racer, there are only two races throughout the entire story, and three optional ones to unlock new cars and perks.

Unoriginal Soundtracks: Batman Arkham Asylum 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.

I had absolutely no interest in Batman before Arkham Asylum. He was just a wall of steroids with no real superpowers. But sharing Bruce's vulnerabilities made him a more interesting character than his dry dialog merited. With a sequel coming, it'll be interesting to see how Rocksteady can play on Batman's weaknesses in Arkham City.

Shuffled: Beautiful World Edition

Every other Wednesday I hit the shuffle button on my 90 gigabytes of music and post the results. I might have to justify some of the stuff in my library, but hopefully it will help inform you of new music -- Or at least be entertaining.

I came out with a pretty interesting mix this week. I like to think of it as showcasing the diversity in the world and serving as the background music. Melt Banana kicks it off strange and alien, because that's what life can be like sometimes, M. Ward features the beautiful simplicity, Weezer fills in for when you just want to rock out, Devo highlights the dark parts of human nature, and Silk Road Ensemble wraps it all up with the true beauty of the world.

That was pretty deep, huh? Yeah, I thought so too. Now, go enjoy the music!

July Music Wrap-Up: Catch-Up Edition

The Music Wrap-Up is a monthly summary of my favorite and other notable new releases. The songs are for sampling purposes only. Artists or labels notify me with any complaints and I will remove the song as soon as possible. Please support these musicians as that's the reason I'm featuring them in the first place.

There were only a couple of new releases this month that piqued my interest, so a majority of this Wrap-Up is the catch-up edition. Armed with All Songs Considered's list of the best albums of the year (so far), recommendations from friends, and releases I remembered skipping by in past months, I compiled a normal-sized Wrap-Up for you to enjoy.

Video Round-Up: Zap! 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.

Welcome to August, readers! The first Round-Up of the month features some heavy meme-ery, mashups, and stormy slowdowns. Let's do this.