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Photo by Kristin Callahan-Shutterstock

If you haven't seen clips of Lip Sync Battle, then you probably haven't been down a YouTube rabbit hole at 3 AM while elbow-deep in a family-sized bag of Cheese Nipz.

If that's the case, good for you, you functional member of society. Now follow me to Wonderland, motherf*cker.

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Film Lists

Now in Theaters: 5 New Movies for the Weekend of February 1st

What's playing this weekend? Glad you asked.

Theater

Photo by Felix Mooneeram on Unsplash

Welcome back to "Now in Theaters: 5 New Movies for the Weekend."

Maximize your time by only seeing the movies recommended to you by some guy on the Internet.

WIDE RELEASE:

Miss Bala

Miss Bala Trailer #1 (2019) | Movieclips Trailerswww.youtube.com

Gina Rodriguez's parents died, but that won't stop her from vacationing in Mexico with her best friend. It's just two gals livin' it up south of the border, when oh no, here come the cartels to kidnap them. Now sweet Gina needs to help the cartel if she wants to save her friend, but what will she do when the bad guy turns out to be hot? It kind of looks like Twilight except the sexy guy is a drug dealer instead of ancient vampire. Makes sense, considering it's directed by Catherine Hardwicke who also directed―you guessed it!―Twilight. Wait for the reviews.

LIMITED RELEASE:

Arctic

ARCTIC | Official Trailerwww.youtube.com

The ultimate survival match, Man v Nature. Mads Mikkelson stars as a plane crash survivor stranded in the arctic with a young woman who can't move on her own. Now if he wants to survive, he needs to trek through the wilderness, dragging the woman on a sled, fighting snowstorms and polar bears. The cinematography looks nice, but the movie seems harrowing. If you're into survival fare, this is right up your alley.

The Wild Pear Tree

The Wild Pear Tree (official trailer)www.youtube.com

Nominated for a Palme d'Or at Cannes, this Turkish film is about a young man who returns home after college while trying to save money to publish his first novel. There, he clashes with his gambling-addicted father and the various people and culture that shaped his youth. Even in the trailer, the imagery seems immediately profound. Reviews are also glowing, so if you're out to see a movie that will make you think and potentially analyze your own ambitions, this seems like a great choice.

They Shall Not Grow Old

They Shall Not Grow Old – New Trailer – In Theaters February 1www.youtube.com

Peter Jackson has created one of the most impressive documentaries ever made. They Shall Not Grow Old offers an up-close look at WW1 through the lens of first-person accounts and footage gathered from the BBC and Imperial War Museum, all restored with unbelievable clarity. The resulting product looks like it was shot in a Hollywood studio, and makes you feel closer to the Great War and the young men who died there than you might have believed possible.

NETFLIX:

Velvet Buzzsaw

Velvet Buzzsaw | Official Trailer [HD] | Netflixwww.youtube.com

Velvet Buzzsaw is a horror movie about the high art world from the writer/director behind Nightcrawler. It also stars Jake Gyllenhaal. If that's not enough to get you excited then, much like high art, you probably just don't get it. But as an added bonus, it's on Netflix so you don't even need to leave your house to see what's sure to be the most talked about movie release of the weekend. It also looks like a lot of fun.


Dan Kahan is a writer & screenwriter from Brooklyn, usually rocking a man bun. Find more at dankahanwriter.com



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Listen, I sat down with every intention of playing Monster Hunter: World and loving the hell out of it. It's a game that's beautiful and grand, but this grandiose beauty got lost in the game's playability. I also walked into this game blind - having never played a MH game before in my life. And sure, that definitely hindered my experience - because I know that this series has specific conventions, but that shouldn't matter.

A big game like this should be able to appeal to more than just fans, and obviously it has, but I feel like there are some key issues that need to be addressed. While the world is beautiful, and the character designs are fun and funky, it gets screwed over by clunky fight controls that overshadow the game's more innovative moments.

THE GAME

Monster Hunter: World takes place on a continent called The New World, a mostly uninhabited continent filled with a lush, harsh environment. Several fleets have come to the island and created settlements for both research and obviously hunting and tracking the many creatures that inhabit the island. You take control of your Hunter, and along with your Handler, are called with the Fifth Fleet - which has been summoned by the Research Commission.

Upon arrival, you barely survive an encounter with a massive Elder Dragon, Zorah Magdaros, and make it to the settlement of Astera. Once you settle in, you are told that the Fifth Fleet is responsible for figuring what draws the Zorah Magdaros to this lush, new world by tracking it's movements and setting up camp based on where it goes. And by clearing out other hostile monsters, of course.

THE GOOD

There's a lot of good in this game, obviously. It's received massive acclaim upon its release. I think the biggest part has to be the lush world design and the active environments within that world. From the very beginning, I was treated to a world so beautiful and vibrant and got I mesmerized by it. It's very difficult for an open world to feel so alive - and I'm thankful that these guys made it such an important aspect of the game.

I know that when I travel around this world for a hunt - I'm going to interact with an environment that reacts to me, and that matters! It mostly works really well, it makes the hunts very dynamic and if it weren't for the controls - I'd keep singing praises.

Of course, the environments aren't the only thing that this game has going for it. I was surprised at how much I liked the character designs. I'm usually a less-is-more kind of guy - growing up with Enix's out-there designs would do that to you - but there's a certain charm in the way Monster Hunter does things. The big weapons seem small next to the large enemies - and the freedom in the character creator helps you make whatever kind of character you want! It's nice.

THE BAD

The bad part of this game concerns me the most. In a game that revolves Monster Hunting, the controls just need to be better. A lot of this bled through from previous games - and I understand that, and I'm sure that a lot of people have gotten used to them. And obviously a lot of other people have managed to power through - but I just couldn't. From the first fight - I struggled.

I didn't struggle because the game was hard (or harder than a game like this should be), I struggled because the fighting mechanics were annoying. The combo system felt slow and obnoxious - even with the so-called fast movement weapons like the sword and shield.

New controls should be a learning curve, but I feel like there should be a level of intuitiveness that just wasn't there for me. It really breaks the immersion and makes the game less fun, which is unfortunate, because there is a lot of really good stuff here. But games need good controls and I don't think Monster Hunter: World has them.

THE BOTTOM LINE

This game is hit or miss. It was a definite miss for me, and I won't be purchasing my own copy. I'm glad my little brother has his! I do think that some people will find it fun, and the obviously already have, so I'd definitely say rent the game first. In some way? Maybe? But yeah, I didn't enjoy it, because the controls weren't fun.

I don't care how beautiful a game is - it has to be fun.

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