Web Series Wednesday: Video Game High School

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I've known about Video Game High School for awhile (it's only one of the most well-known web series of all time), but I decided to start watching it last week. I ended up finishing the whole first season in three days, and I'm currently knee-deep in season two. VGHS is definitely one of my favorite web series, second only to the Lizzie Bennet Diaries. It's smart, hilarious, and action-packed.

VGHS takes place in a different version of our world, where video games are actually really cool and not nerdy at all. In fact, professional gaming is a viable and respected career option. There's even a high school dedicated specifically to training young people for a gaming career. Brian D, a geeky FPS (first person shooter) player, accidentally defeats the only undefeated gamer in the world, and ends up getting an invitation to attend VGHS. There, he meets rhythm gamers, fighters, drift racers, and strange teachers (including one drawling Southern teacher played by the one and only Zachary Levi). The series follows his adventures as he tries to get onto the JV FPS team.

VGHS is so clever, and it's perfectly executed. For a fairly low-budget web series, the special effects are incredibly impressive. They're better than a lot of popular TV shows on air right now (like Once Upon A Time….their CGI is so sad to see). Instead of sitting and watch a bunch of people on computers playing vide games, VGHS puts the character inside the game. You can watch Brian D garbed in camo carrying grenades wandering around the desert FPS game map, or watch JV captain JennyMatrix peer down the barrel of a sniper rifle at her target. Players "die" in a shower of colored pixels.

The cast of supporting characters is so diverse and talented. Brian D's roommate and RA, Todd, is an awkward outgoing rhythm gamer. Todd's girlfriend, Ki Swan, is a math nerd who wants to design games. JV team captain JennyMatrix is smart and the picture of cool on the battlefield. Brian D's arch nemesis, the Law, is a character you love to hate. Seriously. I can honestly say there has never been a character I have despised more than the Law. All of these characters are so real and so three dimensional, it's hard to not get attached to them.

This show is just so funny. VGHS definitely embraces the cheesiness of some of their show and pokes fun at it. You don't have to know much about video games to get the jokes (believe me, I don't know much about video games, and this show is hilarious). It's just a really entertaining series. The first season can be found here, as well as on Netflix. I highly recommend it, and I think people of all ages will enjoy it. You can watch the trailer below:

Argo (the book, not the movie)

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As a rule, I do not enjoy reading non-fiction (with a few exceptions). Argo was a strange case. I have tried to start reading this book two or three times, but always put it down, bored by too many details about minor characters' lives. However, this past week, I was snowed in without any other entertainment, and so decided to give Argo a proper chance. 

The subtitle says it all. Argo: How the CIA and Hollywood Pulled Off the Most Audacious Rescue in History takes place in Iran, 1979. Iranian militants storm the U.S. embassy and take all American workers hostage. Six Americans manage to escape from the consulate next door and take shelter at the Canadian embassy. However, militants are combing the city, killing or taking hostage any Americans they find. CIA chief of disguise Antonio Mendez comes up with the plan to disguise the hidden Americans as a Hollywood location scouting crew to sneak them out of the country.

The first half of the book I found slow and boring. There was a lot of set up (way too much set up), which included a history lesson which was informative but way too long. Also, whenever a new character was introduced, the book went into a side tangent about said character's past, which usually lasted for a page or two. The character would end up having little or no importance to the events that play out during the course of the book. The many names and backstories faded together, and made the first half of the book both confusing and slow-paced.

However, once the author starts describing his own escapades as an exfiltration specialist (getting people out of their country usually through the means of clever disguises), the book starts picking up. Once his risky plan of disguising six untrained American diplomats as Hollywood business people is put into action, the book is hard to put down. The different methods of disguises used by the CIA at that time is really interesting to read about, and the account of the escape of the fugitive Americans is intense and fast-paced. When Argo stops introducing numerous side characters, it starts getting really, really good. I probably wouldn't read this book again, but I am glad that I read it. I learned a lot about the American hostage situation in Iran, something I knew almost nothing about previously, and I also found the author's exfiltration methods really interesting to read about. If you pick up this book, brave through the first half of the book…it gets a lot better.

The Monuments Men

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The Monuments Men is a fun, mostly light-hearted film with an amazing cast and a decent story. The film follows a special team of soldiers during World War II who are assigned to keep the world's greatest monuments (mostly art, really) safe from Nazi occupation.

If you look at The Monuments Men as a historical Ocean's Eleven, it doesn't work. This film is completely different, but in a good way. It starts out right in the middle of the action, with the special team being put together and going through basic training within the first ten minutes. The entire movie moves at a fast pace, grabbing your attention with every scene. It's a perfect blend of comedy, action, and tragedy to keep everyone interested. 

A couple things that I really loved about this film (there are a lot more than just this, though): 1. Catholics are treated with respect. A lot of art that the Monuments Men have to save are in churches. Priests and religious are found throughout the film, and they are neither lifted up nor put down, they're simply part of the story. That's exactly how it should be, in my humble opinion. And 2. The value of family and fidelity is a strong theme. There's a really touching scene where Lieutenant Campbell's family sends him a recording of them singing a Christmas song, and he immediately stops what he's doing to listen, while the other men help him play it. The soldiers' families play a big part in their lives, and I appreciated that they let it shine through so many scenes.

The cast is the best part of this movie. There's so many big names here, and they each pull off their roles perfectly. I especially loved Jean Dujardin as cocky yet incompetent Jean Claude, and Bill Murray as the cynical Lieutenant Campbell. The entire ensemble is great together and you can tell they're all friends. If you're looking for a fun, snarky, fast-paced film with a great cast of characters, look no further! The Monuments Men delivers.

Web Series Wednesday: I Didn't Write This

This is a newly discovered web series for me. There are currently only two episodes, but they're so beautiful I had to share. Each episode is a visual metaphor for a poem or literary excerpt. Both episodes so far are beautifully shot, and both star the lovely Mary Kate Wiles of Lizzie Bennet Diaries fame (she sent me a message once on Tumblr, and is an all-around lovely person). I definitely recommend checking this one out! The episodes are short and sweet, and are a great way to learn about some new authors and poets. Enjoy!

Oscar Challenge: The Artist

(I challenged myself to watch every single Best Picture winning movie at the Oscars. So far, I'm at ten out of eighty-five films, which is extremely embarrassing. I'll get there. I'll get there.)

Recently, I watched The Artist, the Best Picture winner of 2011. I definitely enjoyed this film. It's absolutely adorable, and also absolutely heartbreaking. The story starts off fast-paced and cheery, but quickly spirals into the sad story of a man who believes he is worth absolutely nothing. The only silent films I have ever seen have all been happy, lol-inducing stories. Not this one.

George Valentin was a huge silent film star, before the talkies put him out of business. George finds himself jobless and completely forgotten by Hollywood and his former fans. His protege, Peppy Miller, steps on him to make her way to fame and fortune through the talkies. George sinks into depression. Watching his downward spiral is really hard. The acting is phenomenal (I can see why he won Best Actor now).

Honestly, the first half hour of the movie was kind of slow. I might have just been "warming up" to the silent film style of filmmaking, but also, it's mostly a lot of set up. George Valentin is famous - yes, we get it. As soon as George's boss shows him talkies, the film starts to get more interesting. George starts to realize that no one really cared about him, that he was just a passing fad. He pushes away the only people who truly did care for him. As his life fall apart bit by bit, I was completely sucked into the story, and no longer noticed that no one spoke.

Although this isn't one of my favorite films, it is extremely well-made, and extremely well-acted. I would watch it again just for Jean Valjean's performance as George Valentin. I think that The Artist is a perfect example of how filmmaking and acting is meant to be-performances so strong that you can convey emotions, feelings, and character depth without speaking a single word.

Check out the trailer (which doesn't give justice to the film, I don't think) below!
 

Web Series Wednesday: Job Hunters

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I discovered this web series through Kristina Horner, a Youtuber that I occasionally follow. She produces & acts in Job Hunters, a dystopian Hunger Games style web series.

The official synopsis (because they can say it way better than I can):
"Set in the near future, college graduates must fight (potentially to the death) to be placed by the MAEWIN corporation into careers. With a pass-rate of about 20%, this process is also a form of population control. During their time at MAEWIN, recruits fight in an arena from 9-5 — while the rest of their time is their own (provided they stay in the MAEWIN-run Safe Houses). Our series follows a particular set of Job Hunters as they deal with adjusting to life in the Safe Houses, dealing with roommate issues, as well as sorting through feelings of their own impending doom."

Job Hunters is a different kind of web series. I think it's because this series doesn't take itself too seriously. Sometimes it's overdramatic and off-the-charts weird, but that's what makes Job Hunters so much fun to watch. It has an interesting, semi-original premise. The characters are quirky and fun (although sometimes over the top). Also, Job Hunters is just plain funny. There are some great one-liners.

The story follows more of the drama that takes place in the Safe House, rather than the gore of the arena. I like that Job Hunters is primarily character-driven, and focuses more on the drama of day-to-day life for these people, as opposed to just making a big action series.

There are six ten-minute episodes in Season 1, and Season 2 is due out sometime this Spring. I'm excited to see what the next season has in store for the characters….especially due to the incredibly cliff-hanger-y ending of Season 1! The Job Hunters youtube channel has a lot of cool behind the scenes videos as well, and is a lot of fun to browse when procrastinating on projects. You should definitely check out their site, and maybe even check out the show, too.

Paper Towns

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Oh, John Green, you are a fantastic author.

As I frequent the social media site known as Tumblr way too frequently for my own good, I happened to discover an entity known as John Green. This John Green was one half of a popular Youtube channel, was the owner of a snarky and hilarious Tumblr, and also wrote some book called "The Fault in Our Stars" that apparently was really good and everyone cried really hard and somehow it was associated with the word "okay". Also, he owned a small army of teenagers and young adults known as Nerdfighters, and they often proclaimed "DFTBA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!", which, after extensive googling, I discovered meant "don't forget to be awesome".

Long story short, I decided to read "The Fault in our Stars." I didn't cry. It was an okay book. I enjoyed it quite a lot.

And so my obsession with reading John Green books was born. The man has a way with words, people.

"Paper Towns" is by far my favorite John Green book (and I've read all but one). It's also one of my favorite books, period. I really wish I had read this book a few years ago. It was fantastic as well as life-changing. Seriously. It's not often you find yourself re-thinking the way you think about people based on a book.

Quentin has had a crush on his next door neighbor, the elusive and mysterious Margo Roth Spiegelman, for pretty much his entire life. His senior year of high school, Margo takes him on a wild mission and then disappears the next day, leaving a small string of clues for Q to decipher. As Q tries to find where she ran away to, he discovers that he didn't know Margo as well as he thought, and has to rethink the way he views Margo, and the way he views the human race in general.

"Paper Towns" is beautifully written (like I said, the man has a way with words), quirky, hilarious (I was literally laughing out loud), serious, and thought-provoking. It perfect portrays life at the end of high school. Q's experiences as he nears graduation and college almost perfectly mirror mine. Q himself I can relate to a lot, as his high school adventures are things that I do/did/would have liked to do. Margo Roth Spiegelman herself, although a mystery, makes perfect sense. I'm not really sure how else to explain her, but if you read the book, it will all become clear.

"Paper Towns" is sweet, original, entertaining, and funny. It invites you to take a second look at the people in your life by asking just how much we think we know, and how much we actually know about our friends. It investigates the concept of friendship and will remind you of the reasons you bother to befriend people in the first place. I highly recommend this book, and I will definitely read this again in the future.

(Note: This book is definitely for older teenagers. The characters in the books are seniors in high school and they act like it.)