Vic's Picks: January 2024
Welcome to Vic’s Picks: my monthly list of recommendations for media! Every month, I’ll be writing recommendations for an album, a video game, a movie and a TV show that you should check out. I will attempt to include relatively recent media for each category every month, but sometimes I’ll include older examples that I feel are either culturally relevant or just something I think is worth experiencing. Check out this month’s selection of recommendations below, and feel free to let me know if there’s anything I should be looking into as well. And don’t forget to subscribe to my Substack for more media recs and other content in the future!
Album of the Month: “Neo Metro City” by Vantage
(Released Dec. 20, 2023)
From the brilliant musical mind behind the viral mega-hit “50//50” comes the brand new album “Neo Metro City”: a masterclass in future funk sampling and modern production featuring a few exciting collaborations. The Tokyo-based producer has mastered the blueprint of future funk– pairing upbeat disco beats with energetic vocal and funk guitar samples. The sound may be familiar to fans of the genre, but Vantage’s signature flourishes are layered elegantly across the tracklist like icing on a cake.
Standout tracks include the collaborative effort with fellow producer Amherst, “I Want You”: a stop-and-go banger early in the tracklist which features drum patterns reminiscent of the ones heard on “50//50”, highlighting quick guitar loops to complement the song’s ever-shifting back-and-forth energy. “Don’t Need to Know” is my personal favorite, with expertly inserted vocal samples carrying the song’s fervent spirit while its instrumental samples power it forward. Track 7 “Silverstream” contains my choice for the best bassline of 2023, entering perfectly just around a minute into the track, and the Macross 82-99 collaboration “Keep Dancing” feels like the most quintessential future funk track on the album, staying most true to the DNA of the genre while remaining fresh and faithful to Vantage’s particular style.
Even if you’re not super familiar with future funk, I’d highly recommend this record to any fan of danceable electronic music, as there’s something for everyone to enjoy in “Neo Metro City”.
Video Game of the Month: “The Finals”
(Released Dec. 7, 2023)
Cross-platform multiplayer games are on the rise (thankfully), and perhaps none are more adrenaline pumping than the new objective-based FPS “The Finals”.
From the Sweden-based Embark Studios, “The Finals” takes the model of team-based shooters like “Overwatch” and drives it in a new direction. The main concept of the game revolves around a virtual competition where teams of three battle for cash deposits. Each team member selects a character with either a light, medium or heavy build, with each build privy to various weapons and gadgets. Teams can be formed with a balance of each member choosing a different class, or can contain multiples of the same build to highlight a particular strength, be it damage, mobility or health. Communication is key, and either through in-game callouts or voice chat, players can effectively determine what the best course of action is for their team.
There are only a few game modes at the moment, but the lack of variety does not contribute to a lack of enjoyment. Games of “Quick Cash” last around 10-15 minutes, but include nonstop action and mayhem at every turn. The gunplay feels fresh and responsive, marking a resemblance similar to the gameplay of a top-tier “Call of Duty” title, and with the inclusion of destructible in-game environments, no two matches of "The Finals” are ever the same.
I had the opportunity to play the open Beta prior to the official release, and was able to notice a drastic number of improvements between the two builds. The connection issues littered about the Beta are no longer present, and some major improvements made to class balance and gameplay were definitely appreciated. The only gripe I have is in regards to the game’s use of AI voices for its narrators, which once I noticed, definitely left me with a bad taste in my mouth. I understand that this is a new game from a relatively contemporary developer, but come on! Hire some voice actors!
As a single-player experience gamer, “The Finals” is a multiplayer shooter I can definitely get behind, and since it is free-to-play on all platforms excluding Nintendo Switch, I would highly recommend any gamer to give it a try, especially with friends.
Movie of the Month: “The Boy and the Heron”
(Released Dec. 8, 2023)
I saw the new film “The Boy and the Heron” in IMAX, and boy, was that a fun time. From the legendary Japanese director Hayao Miyazaki, the creative mind behind animated hits like “Spirited Away”, “Howl’s Moving Castle” and “Ponyo”, “The Boy and the Heron” weaves a beautiful tale about overcoming loss while accompanied by gorgeous animated visuals– par for the course for a Miyazaki film.
As a self-proclaimed “Studio Ghibli-head”, I may be a bit biased for my take on this movie, but even from just an animation standpoint, this movie is visually spectacular. Many common Miyazaki motifs are present, and as in typical Miyazaki fashion, of course there are some “little guys”, this time in the form of the Warawara– cute little balloony creatures with tiny smiles that float into the sky.
I watched the English dub for this film, and I will say that the voice acting performances were phenomenal– especially Robert Pattinson, who voices The Grey Heron. His voice was unrecognizable in a good way, as he fully enveloped the character of the Heron and brought the animated creature to life in a way that felt both viscerally suspicious yet heartwarmingly sympathetic. Dave Bautista and Karen Fukuhara of “The Boys” fame also had some notable performances, as well as a short performance from Willem Dafoe, but Pattinson definitely stole the show in my opinion.
I will say that the pacing for this movie is not entirely to my liking, but seeing the adventure through to the end is certainly worth it. It was nice to see Miyazaki make such a valiant return to filmmaking after his hiatus in 2013, and I look forward to his next triumph after the announcement in September that he is no longer retiring.
TV Show of the Month: Scavengers Reign
(First Premiered Oct. 19, 2023)
The thought of being stranded all alone on a dangerous foreign planet would be nightmare fuel for most, but “Scavengers Reign” makes the terrors of the perilous planet Vesta appear both perplexingly beautiful and downright chilling.
As a longtime fan of the classic anime series “Cowboy Bebop,” animated shows set in the far future across the backdrop of outer space are bound to pique my interest. Needless to say I was curious when I heard about “Scavengers Reign,” the new animated series streaming on Max. Clocking in at 12 episodes, the series released its last trio of chapters on Nov. 9, where it culminated in a satisfying conclusion to its thought provoking narrative. The series is based off of a short film titled “Scavengers,” conceived in 2019 by the show’s creators Joseph Bennett and Charles Huettner, which marks the origin of the show’s artistic vision.
“Scavengers Reign” focuses on three separate groups of survivors from the freighter ship Demeter, who crash land on the planet Vesta after a solar flare disrupts the ship’s systems. Ursula (voiced by Sunita Mani), a botanist, survives the impact of their escape pod with Sam (Bob Stephenson), the captain of the Demeter. Elsewhere on the planet, cargo employee Azi (Wunmi Mosaku) tries to establish a temporary home with the help of Levi (Alia Shawkat), an advanced assistance robot capable of a variety of functions. Another survivor, Kamen, loses hope while stuck inside his beached escape pod.
Scenes shift frequently between the stories of the three groups, illustrating their struggles in surviving and trying to return home. As the show progresses, more of the world’s more sinister secrets are revealed, leading the characters to react to increasingly dire circumstances in their return to the Demeter. The characters are compelling, demonstrating depth and developing appropriately over the season’s well-paced 12 episode run. I found myself rooting for some characters, fiercely hating others, and repeatedly altering my views on them throughout the duration of the season, riding the rollercoaster of emotions as the plot progressed.
The world they inhabit oozes and blooms, with its breathtaking animated visuals taking center stage. The imaginative designs of Vesta’s native flora and fauna are fascinating to watch, and left me aching for more vignettes of the planet’s natural life forms. I felt simultaneously grossed out and enamored with the visceral details put into the creature designs, which struck the perfect balance in my ideal sci-fi future fantasy.
Through its narrative, “Scavengers Reign” expertly tackles themes like coming to terms with death, forgiveness and symbiotic relationships, both in its characters and its worldbuilding. The way Vesta’s creatures are depicted as living cooperatively with the planet itself, as well as the parasitic nature of some of its other inhabitants even coincide with the characters and their own relationships. Sam and Ursula especially have an emotionally symbiotic relationship that is mirrored by some of Vesta’s native fauna throughout the season, which evolves as the show progresses. I always love when a story is able to exhibit parallelism, and “Scavengers Reign” masterfully triumphs in its endeavors.
From both a visual and a narrative standpoint, “Scavengers Reign” delivers an outstanding display of sci-fi storytelling, culminating in a satisfying conclusion that’s bound to leave you wanting more of the enigmatic planet Vesta, and any fans of adult animation should definitely add it to their watchlist.