Raycevick's Recommendations: November 2017

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

The film by David Fincher is an excellent book to film adaptation. Not only bringing a unique tale to the big screen, but in a way that took advantage of the art-form.

Ms. Flynn managed to do exactly that with the book itself. Using sharp prose and combining it with an honestly and rawness you rarely get from American authors. Not to mention its unique structure that hadn't been translated to the big screen for reasons that'll be obvious while reading.

Similar to games, books require an investment, and both are at their best when they don't feel as such, but an experience. Gone Girl is one of the few that did as such for me.

Seven Psychopaths by Martin McDonagh

I was once told by a girl Sam Rockwell's character reminded her of me. He's also a murderer. 

I think she meant it as a compliment.

But I had seen the film long before then. For those who are exhausted by Joss Whedon/James Gunn's "witty" dialogue, the film reminds viewers of ways to make people laugh without turning every character into a walking comedian. In-fact, the humor in this film often comes from a place of naivety, ineptitude and sadness. In other words, a much more truthful place for comedy.

Aspiring writer's will get the most out of this film, but this isn't a movie that's a required taste. It's something anyone will have a riot with.

Doomsday By Sonic Mayhem

I'm rather amazed that it wasn't until my Mass Effect 3 analysis, that I learned Sascha Dikiciyan and Sonic Mayhem are the same person. Sonic Mayhem didn't make Quake II and get captured by Strogg. He went on to work in Borderlands, Mass Effect, and Deus Ex.

Doomsday isn't a succession of Quake II's guitar shredding. It's an evolution of the dark electronics Sascha utilized in his science-fiction works. It's more Front Line Assembly than Pantera.

Collaborating with artists such as Power Glove and Mulakah, the record is an intensely atmospheric listen.  Power Glove's synth, and Mulakah's beautiful vocals separate their respective tracks, but its the work of Sonic Mayhem himself that carry's and completes the album.