The sound of Doom

Yesterday I stumbled into retro alley. More specifically the corner where Doom lives.

Back in the day I played DOOM and DOOM 2 like crazy. They were great games by all standards, but today we're taking a short look at the soundtracks.

The soundtrack in both games always stood out to me. They were just magnificent, and remember, back in those days, a PC's sound card wasn't exactly what it is today. But the melodies were both haunting and exciting at the same time. They gave you a foreboding feeling of well, doom, and at the same time pumped you up for the fights ahead. What more could you ask of a games music?

The creator of the soundtracks is Robert (Bobby) Prince, a former lawyer turned composer. What really blew my mind is that apparently most – if not all – songs on the Doom and Doom 2 soundtracks were based heavily on famous metal songs. I've heard these songs countless times but I had no idea. The video below might contain some inaccuracies but most entries are more than close enough. Take a look.

That's this weeks eccentricity. I'll put some links below and until I see you again, have a great week!

Doom music sources
Doom 1 & 2 OST

Narcos

I am no fan of commercials, and I'll cheerfully admit to using adblocker in my browser, but these days I have it disabled on Youtube.

The reason for this is the fact that I subscribe to a couple of gaming channels, and since the owners of these channels get ad money, and indeed live on this money, I can't in good conscience deny them their hard earned cash.

Last week however, I actually found an ad that benefited me. I discovered a new Netflix show called Narcos.

Narcos chronicles the life and exploits of Pablo Escobar, the late Medellin Cartel king of Colombia.

Now in all fairness I have to point out that I've only watched the four first episodes, so this is not a review, merely an impression. However, I can' wait to finish it. Narcos is a really good show.

If you care about scores, Narcos has a 9.1 on IMDb and it really deserves it. It's unflinching in the face of drugs, murder and other assorted nastiness. But at the same time, it doesn't wallow in it either. It shows you just enough, and that to me is a good sign. A show that laps up all the filth and gleefully shows it to you, usually tries too hard. Narcos doesn't try, it merely does.

So far I have no complaints what so ever. Even the fact that easily half the show is in Spanish is enjoyable. It adds so much to the authenticity, and since those parts have subtitles, you can still follow the story, even without knowing Spanish, which I don't.

Since I haven't seen all of the show, I can't guarantee that the rest is any good, but I'd be very surprised if the quality dips in any way. Time will tell.

So for what it's worth so far, I heartily recommend this show if you want something hard hitting and realistic. You might even learn something of South American history, I have at any rate.

Until next time, have yourself a great week, I'm off to watch more Narcos. And remember, say no to drugs.

Is it a conspiracy?

Hello and welcome back to another edition of Eccentric Spheres.

I've written before about conspiracy theories, since it's one of my favourite subjects. Not that I believe in almost any of them, but they are essentially the modern myth. We don't believe in giant sea monsters sucking down ships anymore, but JFK's shooter(s) is another matter.

Today I want to show you a presentation by a man called Andy Thomas, and what he does is look at some of the more common conspiracies and how they work. He also discusses historical conspiracy theories, like emperor Nero and the burning of Rome.

If you are interested in conspiracy theories on a more intellectual level, do watch this video.  So until next time, Have a great week!

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-kFmZFgGJug

Burn After Reading

A few days ago I saw a clip from the Coen brothers movie; Burn After Reading (2008). I thought it looked pretty good, so I sat down and watched it.

The cast is well loaded with George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Frances McDormand, John Malkovich and more, so no problem there.

Being a Coen film, it is very well made. It is absolutely beautiful on all fronts. But where I think it fails is in the balance.

On the surface it's a comedy, but it also tries to be a crime film with strong elements of relationship drama. And in my opinion it kind of fails to be any of those. Many scenes that I guess were ment to be funny felt more tragic, but to be fair there were some genuinely funny moments. I suppose I'd say it felt fragmented and chaotic when it wasn't supposed to be. It's hard to explain.

Now I've seen several Coen brothers films before; Millers Crossing, Fargo, The Big Lebowski, No Country for Old Men to name a few, and they always leave me feeling conflicted. I've never finished one of their films and thought to myself Now that was a great movie. Never. Some times it's taken a few days to digest the film in order to “get it”, other times it's taken a second viewing to understand it. They don't make easy movies, that's for sure.

Even though I might have gotten the films, I've not always liked them. I like Millers Crossing and Fargo but I don't like Lebowski and No Country. (I'm about to get stoned soon, I know). Burn after reading is in the second category more than the first. I liked a few of the scenes, but over all the movie depressed me. Particularly since the one character I really felt deserved a comeuppance didn't get one. I won't say more than that. You might feel differently.

Should you watch this film? Absolutely. It is good, I just really didn't like it. I can even say I've never seen a movie like it, but it still didn't appeal to me. Like American Hustle, this is a movie I can recommend, but you are going to have to make up your own mind about.

That's the load-out for today, so until next Monday, have great week!

Is it good?

Last week, I decided to watch a couple of films I've been meaning to watch for a while. You know how it is, something always comes up, and then you forget.

I started with American Hustle (2013).

To me this is a very interesting movie. It is extremely well done, capturing the 70's incredibly well. Cinematography, acting, story etc, are all satisfying, but for some reason I still don't like it. I don't know why though. I've tried to pin down the reason but I can't.

There is no one thing that I could point to and say “look at that, that's just terrible”. In fact, I really like many of the scenes, but over all... Not my movie. Which is weird, since I generally love heist/con movies.

So you need to give this one a shot yourself. I certainly recommend it, since I should love it, but I don't. Go see it.

Then I scratched a much older movie off my list with Boogie Nights (1997).

I've heard a lot about this movie, and being that it's about the adult movie scene in the late 70's and early 80's, it's not a child friendly movie in any way. Was it good? No, not really.

The acting is good though, and the cinematography is excellent, but the story is predictable and the balance is way off.

Spoiler Time

We follow a young man as he becomes a star in the world of adult cinema. He's a natural and quickly becomes rich and famous. But he gets into progressively harder drugs and looses his career. And my biggest problem is that his rise goes by pretty quickly and then the fall takes forever. An it's not only unpleasant to watch, it's tedious as well.

So I can't recommend Boogie Nights. Sure it wasn't a waste of time, but I could have been watching something better with out a doubt, and so can you.

I'm off to watch more movies, so until I see you again, have a great week!

True Detective 2

This winter past I blogged about the first season of True Detective. In order to save you some time I'll recap here: I absolutely loved it!

So when the second season rolled around, I was pretty exited to watch it. And that's what today's post is all about, season 2 of True Detective.

To start, I'd like to say that the two seasons have nothing to do with each other. Not a damn thing. So one mustn't compare them, if at all possible. For me, it wasn't entirely possible, but to be fair they really have to be judged alone. So here we go:

The acting is good, and I liked the choice of actors and the characters they play. Everyone did what they were supposed to do, no complaints. Well, one small complaint. Every one of the main characters in this season did several really dumb things. And at times these choices felt a bit forced. But to be fair, they were all under tremendous amounts of pressure, and you don't always make the right call when you're coming apart at the seams. You'll have to make up your own mind here.

The general atmosphere is amazing, easily in my mind the best thing about the season. Where season 1 wallowed in rural decay and isolation, season 2 is all about the urban hellscape. Dirty, harsh, noisy and brutal, it's a marvelous depiction of the urban jungle. Full points here, A+.

The main plot though, is extremely convoluted. Even while binge watching, I had a hard time following it at times. But the story is good, so hang in there. My biggest complaint is that originally the 2^nd season was to be about the occult history of the American transport system, or something like that. If you choose to view occult in it's original meaning i.e. hidden, then yeah, that's kind of what the season is about. I'm however more used to interpreting occult as supernatural and that this season isn't.

There were times when I thought we'd get something at least mystical, but if there was any, I missed it.

My biggest complaint over all, is the ending. The final episode clocks in at around 90 minutes and it ties up all the loose ends. But here more than anywhere else, characters make those silly decisions and I didn't like it. I even predicted several events way ahead of time, and was sadly correct.

It maybe that the creator Nic Pizzolatto was rushed for time. Nothing felt out of place and wrong, but I've come to expect so much more from him, and here's where I foolishly compare the two seasons with each other. The S1 had many moments that were true heavy hitters, something that was lacking in S2, even though there were a few. S1 was honed and polished until it shone lie an evil jewel, and S2 is more like an alternative, more brutal take on The Wire. Not that being compared to The Wire is in any way a bad thing, it's just that these are two different shows, and should remain so.

Over all, season 2 is absolutely worth watching as long as you are thoroughly aware that it is not season 1 and never will be. Had the two seasons been switched, with S1 as S2, I think the pressure on Mr. Pizzolatto to create season 3 would be inhuman. Season 1 is better, yes, but season 2 is good. Go watch it.

That's it good folks, until next time, have a truly nice week!

Zombie Fairy Tales

A couple of weeks ago, BookBub informed me that a book called Zombie Fairy Tales: TheComplete Collection was on sale.

My first reaction was: Really, it's zombie fairy tales now? But I also remembered how much I enjoyed both Pride, Prejudice & Zombies, as well as it's prequel Dawn of the Dreadfuls. So I decided that a dollar wasn't too much of gamble and I picked it up.

I can without hyperbole state that it is a fantastic book, really amazing. Kevin Richey has done an incredible job seamlessly weaving together all the different fairy tales into one open, shared world and then unleashing the zombies in the mix.

I'm by no means a stranger to zombie fiction, but I found things in this book that were new and interesting to me. What really caught my fancy though, was how so many of these over-familiar stories like Cinderella, Pinocchio, Red Riding Hood, Beauty and The Beast etc. are combined with characters like Bluebeard, The Headless Horseman and Countess Bathory, and it just works. Then when you add zombies and plague to the mix, all hell breaks loose.

When I say all hell, I truly mean it. This is the goriest book I've read in years. Even though it doesn't dwell too much on the grisly carnage, there's something gruesome on almost every page. If that's a problem for you, stay far away from Zombie Fairy Tales.

But to be fair, the gore is necessary. If Mr. Richey had left it out, the book would have been too dry and dull. Besides, the original versions of the classic fairy tales were brutal, sometimes in the extreme.

The way in which all these characters live (and die) in one shared world is wonderful. This means that as the book progresses, the story becomes more convoluted without ever becoming complicated. Each chapter is sort of stand alone, but most characters show up more frequently as the book continues, but never just for show. There's always a reason.

I really can't explain too much more without running into spoiler territory, but if any of what I just said sounds interesting, please read this book. You won't be sorry.

That's all he wrote for this time, so until we see each other again, have a great week!