The first article of 2012 forCastle Co-Op, a website dedicated to Film, TV, Music and Culture – Published 24-01-2012
With the current state of SOPA and PIPA all but dead – or postponed indefinitely – this is a good chance to close out this controversial topic ignited by the internet illiterate and the technologically challenged members of the current U.S Congress. By no means do I take authoritative license to detail the very long and poorly drafted proposed legislation – but as with everybody who writes for a blog or website, I feel emphatically obligated to inflict my opinion on the web as a concerned citizen who doesn’t want Americans fucking around with the internet.
“To promote prosperity, creativity, entrepreneurship, and innovation by combating the theft of U.S property, and for other purposes”- Bullshit!
SOPA and its lesser form PIPA was the cancerous vein poised to disperse a malodorous miasma under a guise that protects the copyrights of American corporations. The ambiguous definition of rouge and foreign sites, the lack of any due process and the terrifying DNS blacklisting was the detrimental issues to freedom of speech and undermines online innovation. This bill isn’t a surgical procedure to eliminate the pirated content but a blatant nuclear strike on the very foundations of the internet.
Thanks to the support of numerous websites and individuals signing online petitions, calling their local congressman and generally raising awareness of this heinous act, the bill (that was to be voted today 24/01/2012) has been postponed indefinitely. The real decisive blow was the January 18th blackout to imitate the DNS blocking provisions of SOPA. The blackout of Reddit, Wikipedia and an additional 7000+ websites resulted in many former supporters in Congress now opposing the legislation. This tracking image says it all.
Inundated with other priority topics concerning budgetary quandary, high unemployment, questionable health care, unease in the Middle East and the ubiquitous environmental issues to address, why is the U.S Congress concerning themselves with a slew of 14 year old girls posting copyrighted music videos of Justin Beiber on YouTube?
What amazes me is the hypocrisy and sheer deluded sense of grandeur the U.S lobbyists have to claim rightful jurisdiction over the internet despite violating the cornerstone of the American Constitution; the First Amendment’s right to Freedom of Speech.
The only ones unaware of SOPA are the ones unaffected by it, however the overreaching nature of this legislation potentially kills off any future innovations of the next technological marvel; an enigma fostering in the minds of the next generation.
In truth online piracy is not the biggest threat to American corporations and their copyrighted intellectual properties. Even so, it is proven that censorship similar to the Great Firewall of China is not the solution. By providing consumers with a superior method of obtaining products through searching, downloading and streaming services is a far better alternative to combat online piracy – it’s the reason iTunes, Hulu, Netflix and Amazon Instant Stream aren’t huge American failures.
SOPA and or PIPA is not the current iteration of this idea to censor copyrighted material, nor will it be the last as RIAA, MPAA, ESA and the fossils in Congress (with the average age of members encroaching 70 years of age) prepare another stupid acronym that will threaten a free and open internet. With the battle over and the war continuing, it’s a pleasure to congratulate everyone who raised awareness and protested en mass as SOPA and PIPA take a decisive arrow to the knee.
As we welcome the coming of a New Year, we celebrate the year that was in all things pop-culture. In my humble opinion, it wasn’t necessarily the greatest year for film, television or gaming as a whole whilst also considering the current foreboding state of the internet as the coming vote for SOPA and PIPA looms in the United States – our fates decided on a crucial vote this coming January 24th.
But the year passed was definitely one of the biggest for the burgeoning e-Sports community with multiple campaigns, tournaments and leagues held world-wide to resounding success. The highlights and phenomenal match-ups are far too numerous to recount, however, while not technically e-Sports related, nothing elated my spirits more than watching StarCraft II shoutcaster and all around good-guy Sean ‘Day[9]’ Plott face his fears with man-mode engaged as he live streamed his endeavours to conquer the physiological horror game Amnesia: The Dark Descent for hundreds of thousands of fans to see. On a side note, a heartfelt congratulations to Day[9] for a well deserved nomination for Forbes 30 under 30 in Entertainment
Note: If you have time to kill, its definitely a treat to watch Day[9] lost his S#!%
With the hope of the New Year, e-Sports and StarCraft fans clamour to see the KeSPA vs. Blizzard feud come to end as the current South Korean StarCraft: Brood War ProGamer’s contract expire. The current competitive e-Sports scene sees the South Koreans dominating the competition in StarCraft II with few Western ProGamers able to fend off the assault. However players like Lim ‘BoxeR’ Yo Hwan and Lim ‘NesTea’ Jae Duk while respected StarCraft II players are actually out-of-retirement and South Korean B-Team players from Brood War respectively. The metagame and overall landscape of StarCraft II would be altered with the transfer of the current Brood War champs such as Lee ‘Jaedong’ Jae Dong, Lee ‘Flash’ Young Ho and Kim ‘Bisu’ Taek Yong were they to take up arms in StarCraft II.
Speaking of the changing metagame landscape, the first highly anticipated expansion for the world’s most popular Real-Time Strategy (RTS), Heart of the Swarm is predicted to release in 2012 with the announcement made at BlizzCon 2011. With not much experience with the Terran or Protoss races, I can say I’m excited about the new Zerg Swarm Host and Viper units introduced to the multiplayer. The Viper, dubbed the flying Defiler (SC: Brood War) adds a much needed siege breaker to the Zerg swarm with its Blinding Cloud spell (Dark Swarm) and Abduct ability as well as the Swarm Host providing Zerg with an excellent ranged siege unit utilising Zergs greatest strength, their numbers as locusts swarm the enemy. The one gripe I have is with the new Terran Shredder – too cheap and easily deployed into the opponents mineral line with a drop ship and can potentially eliminate every worker within seconds with its AOE radiation attack. While not adding to the big-ball-of-death, it’s just another way Terran players can harass. But we’ll ultimately have to see how the pro’s handle the changes and I’m eagerly awaiting the fruits of their labour but If all else fails, there’s still the Legacy of the Void to come.
Unfortunately with the tyrannical threat of SOPA and PIPA, the e-Sports community and generally the entire internet as we know it would be crippled and oppressed similarily yet terrifyingly worse than the censorship laws in China, Iran and Syria. For more information on how you can prevent this atrocity you can watch an entertaining and brief summation from StarCraft II shoutcasterMike ‘Huskky’ Lamond with this cute video of a cat, or a more in depth and litigious summation fromJohn ‘TotalBiscuit’ Bain, a UK law graduate and another SC2 shoutcaster.
On the gaming front, we did see a respectable line-up of releases across all platforms. A myriad of Triple-A titles such as Skyrim, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, Batman: Arkham City, Darks Souls, Catherine, inFAMOUS 2, Portal 2, Modern Warfare 3, Battlefield 3, Uncharted 3, Gears of War 3, Killzone 3, Resistance 3, Marvel Vs. Capcom 3 (anyone seeing a pattern here?) as well as the release of every casual gamers favourite hand-held the Nintendo 3DS. However not all bode well for our friends over at PlayStation with hackers forcing Sony to shut down the PlayStation Network (PSN) for about a month, dealing a decisive blow against the PlayStation community.
Source: Nintendo, Sucker Punch, Bethesda, Rocksteady Studios, Epic Games, Naughty Dog Edited: Nathan Lai
It’s near impossible to predict how 2012 will treat the gaming community, but I do suspect there will be fun to be had by all. Upcoming titles such as Dragon Quest X, Halo 4, the Devil May Cry reboot, DotA 2 (Defence of the Ancients), Starhawk, Twisted Metal, Ninja Gaiden 3, The Jak and Daxter HD Collection, Tomb Raider reboot, Soul Calibur V, Street Fighter X Tekken, Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time, Asura’s Wrath, Kid Icarus Uprising and the Professor Layton/Ace Attorney series crossover (and potentially the Ace Attorney live-action film), just to name a few, paints a positive landscape for gamers in 2012. In the handheld department we welcome the release of the PlayStation Vita, the successor to the original PlayStation Portable (PSP) that no one really asked for. Without a doubt, this sexy gizmo is the most advanced and pristine handheld on the market, but only time will tell whether or not there is a place for true handheld gaming with the rest of the world playing games en masse from the Apple App Store and Android Market. An apology if I’ve omitted any game on any platform your looking forward to, the year’s jammed packed.
Personally I’m most looking forward to the local release ofFinal Fantasy XIII-2 which developers Square-Enix has assured it will address the linear gameplay of its predecessor. Metal Gear Solid: Revengeance as it would be interesting to see how Platinum Games approaches the revered IP from Hideo Kojima. Diablo III will assuredly be released in 2012 after its delay from predicted Quarter 4 2011 announcement. Being a huge fan of the series I sincerely hope this game won’t suck too many hours away from my social life in the multiplayer. Mass Effect 3 sadly sees the trilogy come to an end however I’m anxious to send my personal Commander Shepard to the frontlines of battle against the Reaper invasion. Finally Final Fantasy X HD (pun somewhat intended) is high on my most wanted list as I very much am looking forward to sink another 200+ hours into this magnificent game from the PlayStation 2 era – Sphere Grid stat maxing, Monster Hunting, Chocobo Racing (under 00:00:00!) and dodging the damned lightning bolts another 200 times. What can I say; I’m a glutton for punishment.
Source: Square-Enix, Blizzard Entertainment, Naughty Dog, Bioware and Platinum Games Edited: Nathan Lai
On the news front, the coming year comes with the usual cavalcade of expo’s and conferences that will hopefully bring more news about the next generation of consoles. The Wii-U has already been slated for a release in the near future with Microsoft looking to release their next console. Hopes are high that the announcement fulfils its preamble cameo in the film Real Steel with the Xbox 720 logo advertised around the stadium. The PlayStation 4 is very unlikely to make an appearance due to the PlayStation 3’s intended lifecycle only half complete but hopefully Sony will grace audiences with a huge surprise come the E3 expo in June, otherwise the Sony conference will be quite dull in comparison to Nintendo’s Wii-U and potential Xbox 720 announcements. Other news that would be most welcome is the fate of The Last Guardian with Fumito Ueda leaving Sony late last year. Any news about the upcoming genre defining video game experience, The Last of Us as promised by Naughty Dog is also most welcome.
Other than that, all I’m looking forward to in the film and TV department is The Avengers directed by the legendary Joss Whedon, Snow White and The Huntsman, The Hunger Games and The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. Looking at the aforementioned list, there is an abundance of book (including graphic novel/comic books) to film adaptations, no real originality coming from Hollywood these days. Finally with a bittersweet farewell to one of the greatest comedy series, 30 Rock is in its final season with the actor’s contracts coming to end this year. Even if it were to continue, it wouldn’t be the same without the brilliant Jack Donaghy.
Source: Marvel Studios, Universal, Color Force, DC Comics, WingNut Films and Village Roadshow Edited: Nathan Lai
My advice is to savour the opening months of 2012 with the steady stream of gradual releases as come November, your wallets will be feeling the pain.
UPDATE:
Members of Congress are now back pedalling due to the massive public outcry over SOPA and PIPA as members question the DNS provisions. A positive sign hat the petitions and mass movement against these uneducated internet illiterates have taken effect. Keep the good work going to keep the internet a safe haven for online freedom of speech and user-generated content.
The start to a collaborative series of reviews about NBC’s Community by Castle Co-Op Writers – Published 04-01-2012
The latest episode from our favourite Biology Study Group from Greendale Community College now takes its Glee-bashing to a new level, dedicating the holiday episode as a musical inspired genre parody in a bid to fulfil its season 3 premiere promise to be more ‘accessible to mainstream audiences’ – a bittersweet farewell literally going out on a high note for its mid-season hiatus.
Community’s one-sided rivalry with Glee has been a long running gag since its first season with the belligerent taunts, rants and hilarious one-liners from Jeff Winger. The constant reflexive Metareferences in Community targeting Glee is out of admiration mixed with a little spite, probably due to Glee’s mainstream success and them being neighbours on the Paramount film lot.
Interestingly the episode itself is a call-back to a plot established in last year’s episode ‘Paradigms of Human Memory.’ Capitalising on the fake flash-back in which the first glee club was killed in a bus crash, this episode focuses on Mr. Rad (SNL’s Taran Killam) and Abed trying to convince the rest of the study group to replace the second glee club that recently suffered a mental break down and were admitted to West Side Hospital (get it?). Through song and dance in a musical holiday extravaganza (Lyrics by Community’s Writing Staff and music by the show’s composer Ludwig Göransson) Abed tries to convert each glee club hater into a member with a little ‘Invasion of the Body Snatchers’ twist.
Even without prior knowledge of the back-story, you can still enjoy the many original holiday-themed musical tributes to a wide variety of Christmas traditions. Troy and Abed’s rap ‘Christmas Infiltration’ (with Donald Glover adopting a role similar to his on-stage rapper alter-ego ‘Childish Gambino’) was a highlight of the episode that was unfortunately eclipsed by my personal favourite music number – Annie singing in a sexy Santa costume ‘Teach me How to Understand Christmas’ – a clip I’ve watched repeatedly albeit for the wrong reasons. With each obsessive viewing, a slew or Metareferences, parodies and actor allusions are constantly being discovered. Perhaps even a parody of her persona as ‘Christmas Idol’ Hailey. It was as if the purpose of this episode was to provide fans with as many Alison Brie GIF’s as possible from one episode.
Not just the brilliant music, but the comedy really hits within the episode from Pierce’s confusion over “Regionals” to the character defamation of Britta being the worst – especially when Britta was unveiled to be the Mouse King much to Dean Pelton’s disappointment, “ohh, Britta’s in this?” This running gag was celebrated with the biggest laugh from me as Abed deviously utilised the naïvety and natural un-talent of the tone deaf Britta to derail the Christmas pageant after finding out their musical escapades may not be limited to the festive holiday season as Abed had originally hoped.
‘Regional Holiday Music’ struck well with audiences as a Christmas episode, a Glee parody concept and an original musical production that will be fondly remembered during the shows noticeable and unspecified absence over the coming months.
Other Glee/Community Tropes and Parodies:
- Mr. Rad with his ‘boy-ish’ charm is meant to parody Mr. Schuester in Glee, if only Mr. Rad had a chance to rap
- Annie mentions they never let her rap, a call-back to the Season 2 DVD outtakes of Alison Brie preforming an unorthodox method of rapping
- The Study Room was arranged to theatre seating, similar to the Glee club room
- The non-verbal pianist in the Study Room, a common occurrence in Glee
- The Acappella music cues in-between lines, similar to Glee
- Mr. Rad distracting everybody with the Kings of Leon is a call-back to the Glee being unable to secure their music license and the Ryan Murphy feud
