Raycevick's Recommendations: January 2018

Battle Royale by Koushun Takami

Due to my lack of an organized schedule, I haven't been able to finish this novel yet, so perhaps it pulls a Fahrenheit and becomes incomprehensible batshit by the end. But I think that only speaks to its strengths, that I'm recommending just based on the first half.

Battle Royal may have inspired works like the Hunger Games, but it's not idealistic, romantic, or cinematic. It's as horrifying as the concept calls for, which is what good and honest writing does.

The opening pages are a bit tedious, but once the inciting incident occurs, it's a roller coaster. Characters aren't heroic, they're human, and it's the mixture of ambition, tragedy, and horror that makes this story so powerful.

Born in the Echoes by The Chemical Brothers

The Chemical Brothers have been around since I was a kid. Out of Control is one of my favorite songs to this day, and even their albums are rather effortless to listen to. Yet for some reason, when I came back to them with Born in the Echoes in 2015, I quickly gave up.

Don't know what I was thinking because after giving it a second chance, this might be the duo's best work to date. 

As an album should, it takes you everywhere. The opening continuously builds into an adrenaline pumping wave of noise that'll make anyone want to move forward, meanwhile Taste of Honey's ambiance effectively slows things down for the final act.

My only nitpick is I feel the album should've concluded with Radiate instead of Wide Open. The former just has such an intoxicating buzz that's heavily distorted and high pitched, yet alive and beautiful.

Other than that, it's everything a Chemical Brothers album should be.

13 Hours

I didn't grow up with Michael Bay, nor the franchise he's been attached to for years now. My experience with him amounted to his most insulting scenes and Pain and Gain, hardly a gold star.

So I didn't go into 13 Hours with high expectations, and for the first Act, it wasn't exceeding them. Good guy heroes, douchebag leaders, yawn, even if it was reality.

However, when the action begins and real terror of the Benghazi attacks start, this film captures the desperation and isolation of these soldiers with such tension, I couldn't believe the man behind it.

Now, this isn't a groundbreaking movie by any stretch of the imagination, and it's got issues, especially with the first act, but I think it's great example of how to properly portray soldiers and the situations they find themselves in. This story isn't just heroism that's played up for Hollywood, it's darkness and tragedy is what respects the real heroism of these people.