House

It's been a long time in the "making" but House is finally over. It's practically a relief, although I did enjoy the series...for the most part.

The year was 2005, I had just recently moved into my friend's basement and I had taken in a couple episodes of the show. Without much interest in any television during this time (except the mandatory, like Lost) it was pretty easy to watch an episode every so often. It didn't even matter if they were in order, they could have been repeats for all I knew. The basis of enjoyment was derived explicitly from the fundamental complaint about the show: how repetitive it was. Indeed, every episode followed the same formula: opening scene someone becomes expectantly sick, House et team spend 37 minutes diagnosing and experimenting, then in the last few minutes House as a eureka moment and the patient is saved.

While many people have the complaint, many people are secure in the formula. Of course, things are changed up occassionally, and the dynamic between House and his cohort becomes the main entertainment. House is a perennial jerk, always acting selfishly with little regard to his coworkers. In the later seasons he would have to pay for his actions, but not really: going to jail was a joke, and pulled out conveniently in the final two episodes of the series as a threat. You knew what you were getting into with every episode, and felt secure in what you were going to watch. A security show, really: the formula made it light and easy to consume. The drama wasn't too heavy and the medical cases were interesting, so it was a perfect show to decompress to. Personally, it was a great show to have on while I was making dinner.

So there it was, and as I started downloading some shows to get "caught up" I proceeded to sit and watch the entire first season in (proper) sequential order. It was grueling, and I would skip the second (and perhaps third) seasons altogether. There were some story arcs I missed out on, but wouldn't say I missed them. When I moved again later in 2006, I would begin watching the show week to week with regularity. For one of the first times I was in a state of mind where I looked forward to it, and the formula. Tuesday's were House, and I eagerly awaited the next episode and having a three minute conversation with coworkers and friends. Nobody really "loved" the show but we all watched anyway, and thinking that all it amounted to was three minutes of conversation seems kind of sad: my friends and I would discuss Lost and other such show for hours.

When House goes off the air - as it has now - it's not that big of a loss. Those three minutes won't be missed; it won't leave a void like Lost did (I bring up Lost often because the shows started about the same time). The final episode was exactly as it needed to be: it wasn't spectacular and it wasn't a letdown. A fitting end to a consistent show.

The King of Kong

A fistful of quarters. I remember the days well: I went to the bank, armed with loonies and a five dollar bill, and requested, literally, a fistful of quarters. Ten dollars worth, in fact. The next step was going to the mall, where a multiplayer X-Men arcade cabinet sat, and by all means, I was going to beat that game. Unfortunately, I don't recall what happened next, aside that the dream never came true. I played the game a few more times, but there was no marathon. This was when I was around twelve or thirteen years old, where the industry was in a state of decline. There were a couple of arcades around, but they weren't proper places for kids - at least, in my town.

One thing that I never tried to do was get high scores, and I think this is in due part to me not being overly competitive (or at least, trying to avoid competition) and that arcade games in the early nineties weren't focused on scores. The majority of titles were fighters, like Virtua Fighter, Mortal Kombat and of course, the Street Fighter II series. Arcade games in the eighties were focused on scores, and difficulties. Donkey Kong is noted as being one of the toughest ever made, and only a few get to see the final screen. The King of Kong documentary focuses on two players who are, arguebly, the best there is at the game. Billy Mitchell would set the record (in the eighties) that would stand for decades, only to be beaten (in a way) by Steve Wiebe. It's a story of these two, locked in eternal competition in a game that's over thirty years old.

The film focuses on the celebrity that these two achieved, which seems crazy and foreign. These days, the only gaming competition you hear about are the big Starcraft tournaments and professional players in Korea. But there does exist competition here, although this film doesn't exactly depict it in a great light. It's very amateur - the world of gaming competition - and somewhat unofficial. But it is, and we move on. The film also focuses on Billy and Steve, and basically paints Billy as an arrogant jerk who is deathly afraid of losing. He doesn't show up to competitions, and controversially mails in his winning videos at convenient times. Steve, on the other hand is the hero, who goes out of his way to play in public, and is generally the all-round nice guy.

It's almost unbelievable how fierce their competition is for one another, and how they basically hate the other. Apparently the movie is skewed, which makes sense, and that they are not entirely on unfriendly terms. Which is nice to hear, because in the end, it's just a game. I wish they had focused on the game itself a bit more; they make comments about the mechanics and certain strategies, but I don't think "Nintendo" is said even once. It's really saying something that these titles are still being played - and I'm not just referring to Donkey Kong either - and that people are improving upon one another's scores still. These games are timeless; they are difficult, and they are purely score driven. This movie acts as a good introduction to the competitive game world, and frankly, I want to see more of it. Billy and Steve are characters upon themselves, as are many of the supporting players - most notably the official referee of competitive games.

The documentary takes some dramatic license, which adds to the story of these two points champions. But I would recommend checking out the trivia section of the IMDB for this movie. They mention another player who set the record, and gives you the most up to date scores and who holds them. Who knew such an old game could be so intriguing.

Chronicle

It's almost amusing that we are still being inundated with "found footage" movies, after all these years. It's in no way a big complaint, but I have to point out that many of these movies don't have to be that type of movie. It certainly lends itself to a horror film - as it was pioneered - and I'm not certain it lends itself to the superhero film that much. I'm pretty sure our main character in this film would not have the nerve to do all the filming he did, although it certainly acts as a decent outlet for his bullied life.

To sum it up quickly, Chronicle is about three high school kids who happen upon a glowing rock in the ground, which proceeds to grant them certain telekinetic powers, among a few others. It's a slow progression of course, as they explore their powers and "train" themselves to further their abilities. Andrew is the owner of the camera - an introverted, bullied teenager who has life rough - but the film makes no qualms about jumping to anybody else holding a camera. I found this a bit jarring: you're acutely aware that everything should be coming from the one camera, and when it jumps, you're thrown into another character's perspective and begin to process the weight of this: this is no longer "found footage." Then things get wacky near the end, where the camera is jumping all over the place. You see, Andrew (our main power) is quite adept at manipulating his camera without touching it as he uses his telekinetic powers to provide us some more standard shots, and some interesting one that I'm sure we can thank CGI for.

At the end though, things get out of hand, as Andrew takes over control of numerous cameras (phones, digital cameras, etc) and the action jumps around quickly as per your standard filming techniques. It's somewhat excusable though as the action is pretty good, and the effects are good (not outstanding, but expected).

Here's the big gripe with the movie: these three teens are jerks. Sure, they have some good qualities about them, but as they discover their powers they are keen to pull lots of practical jokes on innocent people. Perhaps that's right up a teenager's alley, but it just seemed kind of immature. None of them really decided they could use those powers for good. Admittedly, the hijinks were amusing for the time but you wanted to see the film move on. And unfortunately you could see exactly where the film was going, so you can just sit back and enjoy the ride.

Overall, I enjoyed the film. It really brought me back to my own teenage years where I daydreamed of discovering super powers within myself.