Wondering what to do with your upcoming free time? Good thing we have some suggestions for what you should be watching, playing, reading, listening to, etc.
Lauren’s Gaming Pick: Final Fantasy XVI – As someone who has only played Final Fantasy VII Remake when it comes to this incredibly historied franchise – I wrote these games off long ago since turn-based RPGs have never really been my thing – I didn’t really know what to expect from FF16. But aided by the desire to support the cast of A Plague Tale in their followup projects, the severe case of FOMO knowing two of my besties would be talking about the game constantly without me if I didn’t get it, and the complaints that this action-over-RPG leaning entry wasn’t Final Fantasy enough, I couldn’t not try it out, at the very least. And thank god I did, because FF16 is truly epic. It only took dipping my toes into this world with the demo to make clear that I was going to love so many of these protagonists with my whole heart, and though the large scale sci-fi/fantasy world building and storytelling had the ever increasing static in my brain going full tilt with the exposition and lore dumps, it is impossible not to become fully invested in the characters and the parts they play within this unfair world of extreme prejudice and murderous abuses of power, geopolitical wars, and mysteries of fallen societies and gods. Oh, and don’t forget the kaiju scale battles. It’s honestly pretty hilarious how quickly the playable character of Clive goes from serving lunch to fighting Godzilla scale “monsters” that can fling tornadoes and call down apocalyptic meteors. Each boss fight is as impressively jaw dropping as the last, and Clive’s ever growing power and evolving skillset blends perfectly with a banging soundtrack that will have you feeling truly god tier with each challenge overcome.
Ben’s Movie Pick: Transformers – Michael Bay’s first foray into this incredibly inconsistent live-action franchise gets a lot more right than it does wrong, as this entertaining thrill ride successfully brings these iconic robots to a new medium, with some of the best Bayhem ever put to screen. Yes, most of the stuff involving humans is instantly forgettable despite the pretty solid cast, but every action scene feels coherently large scale and explosive. Peter Cullen’s vocal performance as Optimus Prime is spectacular (as it always has been), and Hugo Weaving’s Megatron, while certainly underutilized, immediately establishes himself as an intimidating, powerful threat as soon as he enters the fray. The other Autobots and Decepticons are fun as well, and while Bumblebee is my favorite live-action Transformers movie to date, this first entry into the current, live action continuity is one I definitely still enjoy all these years later.
Ben’s TV Pick: The Venture Bros. – Before the super science shenanigans and long waits in between seasons of Rick & Morty, there were the super science shenanigans and long waits in between seasons of The Venture Bros. This show follows the once Jonny Quest-like Dr. Venture (James Urbaniak) as a cynical, middle-aged man, along with his two sons, Hank (Christopher McCulloc) and Dean (Michael Sinterniklaas), and their hilariously tough bodyguard, Brock Samson (a career-best Patrick Warburton). The four of them encounter a wide range of scientific, supernatural, and just plain weird adversaries and allies on their adventures: warlocks, alchemists, demented metahumans, David Bowie (kinda), just to name a few. The best of them all is The Monarch, Dr. Venture’s arch nemesis, who isn’t themed after the kind of monarchs you’d expect. The voice cast (main, supporting, and guest) is without a doubt my favorite of any animated series, and the writing is quite possibly the funniest of any show I’ve ever seen. It’s a brilliant satire of Saturday morning cartoons, superheroes, and spy thrillers that never lost its steam, and was always worth the often multiple year wait in between its outstanding, yet short seasons. Adult Swim may have cancelled The Venture Bros., but thanks to the immediate and fiercely vocal response from fans, it’s getting a film finale that’ll hopefully tie up its loose ends; a film I simply cannot contain my excitement for.
So what do you think about these picks? What content did we miss over the past two weeks while we were spending time with these? Be sure to leave a comment below letting us know about everything (both current and simply new to you) you’ve been consuming lately!
Middle of the Row 