Staff Picks – Week of July 22nd, 2016

Staff Picks – Week of July 22nd, 2016

STAFF PICKS!!! STAFF PICKS!!!  GET YOUR STAFF PICKS!!!!! The end of the week is here. And I’m gonna keep it short and sweet. You know the drill by now, check out our staff picks!

Nicole’s Pick of the Week –  I spent the majority of this week cleaning and caring for sick children and being very hot, because the weather here has apparently been imported from the bowels of hell. My pick of the week is none of these things. However, it deals a bit with darkness and light, and the intersection of the two… My pick is Katabasis I, an art book showcasing work from Menton3’s solo show at Last Rights Gallery, NYC, compiled and with commentary from Menton and his frequent partner in artistic endeavors, Kasra Ghanbari. I have had the book for a while, and it has sat in my constantly growing to-read pile. I cannot begin to describe Menton3’s art in words, other than to say it is haunting, graphic, and sometimes gloriously unsettling. Katabasis is a collection of extraordinary pieces rooted heavily in ancient mythology, symbolism, and the depths of the human psyche. The commentary from Menton3 and Ghanbari is mentally thrilling both from an artistic standpoint, and as a deeply informative text about the archetypal characters portrayed throughout- characters that have been present in various incarnations in art and literature for millennium. I admit I have some left to read, but I am taking my time, as it’s a wealth of insight and a welcome glimpse behind the scenes of bringing such singular art to fruition, and with such a depth of history and knowledge behind its creation. Do yourself a favor, if you haven’t already, and check out Katabasis I, Menton3, Kasra Ghanbari, 44Flood, and anything remotely associated with these unique forces of artistic sublimity. Maybe read some Jung, too. It’ll add so much to the experience and Jung just rocks anyway.

Ryan’s Pick of the Week – My pick of the week is Hyrule Warriors: Legends on the Nintendo 3DS. The first of four planned DLC characters just came out and I have been spending time leveling up everyone for the new Adventure Mode map before I make my DLC purchase. The level cap recently increased from 100 to 150, so it is back to the grind. Luckily the various challenge maps are making this feel less like a grind and more like simply playing the game as the developers intend. It is also interesting to play such a dense game compared to games I have played recently. This game easily requires hundreds of hours to play the game to completion, compared to something like Overwatch, a game with no story mode. Each mission only takes about 10 minutes to play from start to finish, so it always keeps my sessions quick and to the point.

Josh’s Pick of the Week – My staff pick for this week would have to be Stranger Things. If you’ve been on the internet at all this past week, you’ve probably heard that name more than once. It’s the newest of the Netflix original series and just like usual, they knocked it out of the park. While it’s probably one of the least original shows, completely praying on 80s nostalgia, it’s definitely one of the best. The show felt to me like Super 8 meets Poltergeist meets Freak and Geeks, with a soundtrack reminiscent of Twin Peaks. Our main protagonists are three fantastic kids who are the biggest nerds in school, constantly making references to comic books and games like Dungeons and Dragons. These characters, as well as the rest, are so much fun to watch and learn about as the mystery of their missing friend unfolds. The mystery itself is a great one to try and figure out, even with the few holes in the logic throughout. While the show really doesn’t have any groundbreaking aspects, it uses existing ideas and puts a new and fantastic take on them. Overall, the show is a fantastic one and a definitive must watch.

Rhian’s Pick of the Week – My current pick this week is…. RICK AND MORTY!!! I’ve been binge watching the show all week in preparation for the new series beginning on the 26th of July!! Rick and Morty is about a young, slightly dimwitted young boy and genius, yet alcoholic grandfather and their adventures throughout the galaxy and different time zones!! It is, without a doubt, one of the best animation series currently out there!! I’ll find that with some episodes I’m laughing so hard it begins to hurt my cheeks and then with some episodes I’m always nearly in tears!! Similar to Futurama but with a lot more cussing and even more insane scenarios. If you haven’t seen it then please do so!! I promise you will not regret it!!

John’s Pick of the Week –  For the past few weeks I’ve been playing nothing but LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens, so of course that’s my pick of the week. By now it’s pretty safe to say anyone that is a gamer has at least seen the phenomenon that is Traveler’s Tales’ LEGO series, but for those that haven’t experienced one in a while or haven’t gotten one at all, LEGO SW: TFA is the one to get. The game features 10 levels based on the movie (including a prologue chapter set in Return of the Jedi) that can be played either alone or utilizing couch co-op. As always, there are a ton of collectibles and characters to unlock and LEGO SW: TFA ups the ante by adding silly side missions (like stealing the Resistance’s teddy bear mascot on behalf of the First Order) and entire in-cannon side stories set in TFA universe (like Lor San Tekka’s journey to Jakku). Also, from best I can tell, all the actors from the film came back to record new dialogue, so you aren’t getting just a repeat of TFA–not that that would be a bad thing, though.