House Calls

Welcome to another edition of House Calls with DocDoom, now I'm rocking purple and ready to give you some new things to enjoy, take two and call me in the morning.


Cinema:


It makes me sad that Cop Out got trashed by critics (partially because I'm a huge Kevin Smith fan, and partially because I think 90% of movie critics are blubbering morons who wouldn't know quality from their own rectums), because it genuinely is full of good laughs, despite the plot being a bit wacky. In the words of Kevin Smith himself: "Writing a nasty review for Cop Out is akin to bullying a retarded kid. All you've done is make fun of something that wasn't doing you any harm and wanted only to give some cats some fun laughs." I've got to agree with that, expecting a serious movie out of this is like asking why Shaun of The Dead did such a poor job of exemplifying the desperation and plight of man in the face of a world full of adversity (and zombies). The plot follows Bruce Willis and Tracy Morgan (two of my favorite actors), as unorthodox partners trying to get back a baseball card that was stolen from bruce willis. If you have the time I promise you'll laugh thoroughly as long as you go into the movie with the mindset that it's a cheesy buddy cop movie written by the same man who brought us the View Askewniverse (for those unaware that's all the jay and silent bob movies)


Music:


Comedic Rappers have always touched a soft spot in my heart, as it was a career path my friends and I considered as stoner teens (if you ask nicely I might send you a link to a music video we made once for some free tobacco). Canadian Jon Lajoie does a great job cutting his own style out in a way that will have you laughing from start to finish at his well-thought out lyrics. He has many personalities he portrays, and most of the songs have videos (available on youtube) that add so much more to the experience. There is a sequel to You Want Some of This?, but it's best to listen to his stuff in order as the newer songs build off of and refer back to his older work.


Gaming:


If you've never played the original Rayman for PSOne, please go do that right now (I don't care if you can't get emulation to run it, go buy a PSX just to accomplish this). I originally played the now critically aclaimed reboot of the rayman series, Rayman Origins, on the Wii. I'm a sucker for old school side-scrollers, so that makes me a bit biased in my rayman fandom, but when you grow up on games like donkey kong country and the mario and sonic series there's not much you can do to avoid that nostalgia factor kicking in and giving your inner child a fit of joy. The game is solid, polished, and incredibly difficult towards the end. My girlfriend had no problem playing through with me on the first few worlds, but eventually she had to just sit back and watch me pound my way through the latter levels with our armless legless hero. Everything about this game captures the tone of the original, from the goofy enemies, the beautiful soundtrack, and the gorgeous detailed levels.


Comics:


For those of you that have been skipping this section because you're not really into comics and you don't want to do all that reading to catch up with back stories, I have great news. DC has rebooted all their major lines and (for the first time in history) restarted the # count on it's comics. They're known as the New 52 and the one we're going to talk about today is Batman #1. A solid start to a new look at the world's greatest detective, like all the new 52 comics this reboot does a good job at maintaining a familiarity while explaining the franchise to new-comers without just coming out and slapping you in the face with it. If ever there was a time to step into comics this would be it!


Literature:


You may only know this book as "That book that was the basis for Blade Runner", and that's disappointing. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep is probably one of the most well-written pieces of science-fiction that will ever be published. I'm honestly convinced that Philip K. Dick could write a thousand page novel about the intricacies of grass growing and it would be amazing. The book takes place after an apocalyptic event that causes the majority of earth's population to relocate to Colonies where they are offered a "better" life and an android servant as an extra incentive. Those who stay behind run the risk of being deemed unfit to breed and stricken from the record of the human race. Rick Deckard is a bounty hunter who is tasked with bringing in six rogue androids, and the book follows a single day in his life. To anyone interested in Sci-Fi or a fan of the movie Blade Runner, this is a must read.


Please let us know if you've enjoyed any of these things yourself, and feel free to discuss what you liked about each one in the comments!

See you next week!