Paprika

I wrote this for a class, which explains why it's a bit more analytical/spoiler-filled.

Like Perfect Blue, sometimes it's hard to tell what's real in Paprika and what isn't, although in this it's a part of the plot and not just a storytelling technique. The characters' abilities to enter each other's dreams makes for some entertaining scenes but also a chance to explore some deeper ideas. The surreal dreams are often a visual metaphor for what's happening to the characters. The detective sees himself blaming and killing himself, while he's been too hard on himself for not meeting his ambitions and some hard times at work. The chairman has the legs of a tree, wishing he was as strong as one while he's confined to a wheelchair in real life. When the dreams and reality merge, there's a clash as people face what they really want.

Chiba/Paprika is an interesting protagonist. The fact that she changes identities when in dreams, something unique to her, shows how she's hiding her true self, and her feelings for Tokita. Her affection for him, and not her handsome coworker, show were her priorities are, with the mind not the body, which may be why she's so skilled inside the minds of others. The rest of the Dramatis Personae is well defined by their actions and their dreams.

In addition to strong storytelling elements, Paprika is one of the best looking animated films I've seen. The animation is gorgeous and helps bring the interesting concept to life with amazing flair. It might be the masterpiece of a very talented director.

24 - Season 6

24's sixth and most recent season brings the same brand of entertainment, although there are some very noticeable chinks in the armor this time around. There are just some things characters do for the sake of drama that simply don't fit in a believable world, even one with someone as ridiculous as Jack Bauer running around. Semi-evil bureaucrats and politicians who mess things up for the reasonable people have always been a part of the show, but they're really getting over the top at this point. It's one thing when you kill an ex-President to cover up your conspiracy (although it's still horrifying), but killing the current President just to push through your racist anti-terror policy is insane. And the Vice-President, while played well by the always enjoyable Powers Boothe, is another nut, with his insistence on a nuclear retaliation with no real justification whatsoever other than adding conflict to the story. There is a newfound emphasis on romance subplots at CTU, which mostly come off more amateurish and high-school-level than they have before.

The people behind the scenes aren't the only ones to sigh about, as the people with guns make some strange choices as well. Jack has to turn against an ally, but the whole encounter seems contrived. A new arrival apparently has a shady past, but turns out to be a decent guy, and what actually happened is never even mentioned again, and with what happens it's unlikely he'll appear, so what the hell was the point of that angle in the first place? Why do the terrorists who infiltrate CTU kill the first person to identify themselves as Director, when they needed the real Director a few minutes later? And I'm sorry if it's a spoiler, but what the hell was Gredenko thinking? He had a signed immunity agreement, so why did he tell Fayed the truth, have him CUT HIS ARM OFF to disable the tracking device, and then betray him three minutes later anyway? Why did CTU give Fayed a gun with REAL BULLETS right after they tricked him using blanks? The show was still entertaining most of the way, but hopefully the change of scenery (Season 7 will be the first to mostly take place outside of LA) will do the writers some good. Too bad the strike delayed it by a year though.

Garth Marenghi's Darkplace

Darkplace is a brilliant, offbeat British comedy that couldn't make it past the initial run of six episodes due to low ratings, but since then gained a cult following and eventually made its way to Adult Swim's growing stable of live-action content. It's a show within a show, the premise being that fake schlock horror writer Marenghi and his publisher Dean Learner decided to make a show in the 80's on a shoestring budget. The action takes place in a hospital where many supernatural things happen, and all the mistakes and shortcuts are played up to great comedic effect. The special effects are obviously cheesy, the main character is always making typical hackneyed proclamations, and Learner is a horribly awkward supporting character.

Marenghi's a little full of himself, calling himself a visionary and a dreamweaver in the show's intro. They add little interview segments with the "actors" throughout the program, which add another dimension and plenty of opportunities for more jokes. A lot of the show is just laughing at intentional screw-ups, which can be a little obvious and cheap, but there's way more to it than that. There is plenty of genuinely good wordplay and subtle dialogue that show how smart the makers really are. I have a soft spot for English accents in comedy, and it can be a simple joy just to hear some Brits say funny things for a half hour. If you catch it on late at night, give it a watch.

Deus Ex

I got this and the sequel on Steam last summer, although it took me a while to really get into the game. It was difficult at first, because the game was released back in 2000 and now looks and plays pretty archaically. But if you can get past that, the design shows through as one of the most innovative and important first person shooters there are. Deus Ex was fusing action and role-play elements before it was cool. Choice is the essence of the game. There are so many ways you can go about each mission. You can run through the front door, guns blazing, or hack the security systems to fight on your side, or find a hidden entrance and sneak your way in. There are often situations that aren't that dangerous, where you can just explore and soak up the details of the interesting world, with NPC's who have things to say and useful information around every corner. You can shape the game to help out your style, as completing objectives and finding new things gives you skill points to improve your use of weapons and ability to interact, and you can find augmentation canisters that give you a choice of different abilities, like quick healing, super strength, or night vision. There's not enough in the world to have it all, so you have to decide. You can also find upgrades for augmentations or your weapons to beef them up.

It's not all perfect though. A downside of the skill system is that your accuracy is terrible in the beginning, forcing you to stand still for a few seconds if you want to have any chance to hit a distant enemy, which usually isn't that convenient. Putting too much into your weapon skills hamstrings your ability to do other things like pick locks, limiting where you can go. Luckily, you can get a weapon maybe halfway through that renders other weapons unnecessary, at least from a certain distance. It's a pretty long game, maybe a little too long. You can only infiltrate so many installations, killing the same enemies, before it gets a little tiring. This is exacerbated by the game, at least through Steam, not letting you continue at any point, so if you mess up, which is pretty easy to do, you have to load from your last manual save. It's still quite a good game though, with an interesting story about a government conspiracy, and continuing with the theme of choice, there are three different endings you can choose from. What it did paved the way for a lot of other games, and is appreciable for that if nothing else.