Much like the movies and TV shows of David Lynch, the music of Primus frontman/solo artist Les Claypool, and the writings of Mark Leyner, the video games made by Suda-51 are esoteric, never generic, and always unique. And his latest, Killer Is Dead, is no exception. But while this means his detractors will hate it and his acolytes will love it, what about the rest of us? What indeed.
Since its release in 2010, the real-world superhero movie Kick-Ass has garnered a much-deserved cult following for its dark humor and darker action. And now its sequel picks up that mantle, in every conceivable way.
The first two Saints Row games were little more than low-rent Grand Theft Auto rip-offs. But while making 2011’s Saints Row The Third, the developers clearly said “fuck it” and went so completely off-the-rails and over-the-top and politically incorrect that it ended up being a total blast. Now we have Saints Row IV,which is just as ridiculous and ridiculously fun.
Lilo & Stitch is, arguably, one of the best animated movies Disney ever made. So why then is this new Blu-ray edition such a botch job?
In 1986, The Cult recorded their third album, Peace, with Love producer Steve Brown at the helm. But unhappy with the results, the band rerecorded many of the songs with Rick Rubin, redubbing the disc Electric. Now both albums are being rereleased in the appropriately titled Electric Peace (CD, vinyl), and while this may seem like a no-brainer for fans, it really depends on what Cult albums you like, and how good of a stereo you own.
There’s been video games based on comic books, and comic books based on games. But Batman: Arkham Unhinged: Volume 1 from DC Comics takes the unique path of being a comic that’s based on a game that’s based on a comic. And while its tales of the Dark Knight aren’t as good as the one told in the game, or in the regular comics, the book does serve as a nice compliment to Batman: Arkham City.
In 1971, four years after jazz saxophonist John Coltrane passed away, his wife Alice assembled some songs he’d recorded in 1965 for the posthumous album Sun Ship.
But rather than just released them as they had originally been recorded, Alice Coltrane had a couple of the tracks edited, and even combined two different versions of a song into a single tune.
Now, more than thirty years later, and six years after Alice’s passing, the uncut versions of those original sessions are finally being released as Sun Ship The Complete Session (CD, vinyl), a double disc set that includes every note Coltrane and his band recorded that day.
In the ’90s, few rock bands were as great as The Smashing Pumpkins. But then, few bands were as bloated and inconsistent as The Smashing Pumpkins as well. Which becomes readily apparently when you listen to The Aeroplane Flies High: Deluxe Edition, a new six-CD/1-DVD boxed set version of their 1996 singles collection.
In an age when so many sci-fi movies are really just big dumb action flicks with aliens or superheroes, it’s nice when someone tries to do something a little deeper. Unfortunately for director Neill Blomkamp, one bad idea undermines all of the good ones in his new movie, Elysium.