Cougar Town (Season 6)

By: Robert Murphy

It's always tough to say goodbye no matter what the situation, but I feel it's always especially hard to say goodbye to a fantastic show one that you've watched since the beginning and kept right along with. Cougar Town may not have started out as that kind of show for me but it did grow on me after the initial effects of it's premise began to fade. It's hard to believe that the show was actually going to be about Jules Kobb (Courteney Cox) dating younger men for an entire show. A plot like that would be at best a one season type deal but the characters and story grew into so much more than all that and all that remains of the God awful idea is the reruns of the first season and the title for the series. Now though it is time to say goodbye to Jules and the rest of the cul-de-sac crew so let's see what the final season has in store.

The big shocking reveal at the end of the previous season turned out to be that Laurie (Busy Philipps) is pregnant with Travis's (Dan Bryd) child. Now normally a show would make the entire season be about the pregnancy but Cougar Town took a different approach to the whole ordeal, maybe because it was their final season or maybe because the whole having a baby thing has been done to death as I just mentioned. The first couple of episodes do see some shenanigans with an insane Laurie, her character is already crazy enough without all the hormones but with a child driving her insane she becomes a lot worse. Perhaps my favorite pregnant Laurie moment was during the episode where Jules decides to give up wine while Laurie is pregnant. Since Jules can't do anything alone she makes everyone also give up wine as well too soothe the savage beast that is Laurie Keller. When it turns out that they all betray her though in an elaborate "speak easy" style escapade she goes full juvie on all of them and whips around a sock full of nickles. 

As I said though the whole pregnant Laurie bit gets condensed down rather quickly and in one of the episode an eight month time skip occurs and Laurie has baby Bobby in the second episode. The rest of show sees real change and growth for the rest of the characters with plenty of other interesting changes that surprised me. Adult Bobby (Brian Van Holt) ends up finding a high paying job opportunity out of state and ends up moving away from everyone. It's a move I didn't see coming or rather I didn't want to see coming as Bobby was probably my favorite character and it was certainly hard for Andy (Ian Gomez) to lose his best friend and because of this we actually see a major change for his character too. Andy was always the bread winner for his home while Ellie (Christa Miller) stayed at home but after Bobby leaves he ends up becoming a stay at home dad. This leaves Ellie to return to work herself, if any of you forget she use to be lawyer. Everyone's roles get reversed and changed and I actually really enjoyed seeing these new changes being brought out, I would have loved to see more of them if the show continued but that sadly that won't happen.

Midst all of the switching and changing though much of what Cougar Town's core strengths continued to shine through for it's send off season. Plenty of the earmark moments for the shows humor have continued forward this time around such as Ellie and Grayson (Josh Hopkins) duking it out together. Then we have Andy who spends some of the season sulking without his best friend Bobby around (their bromance is something the writer Bill Lawrence does well and has plenty of experience with i.e. Scrubs). Then you have Travis and Laurie who only just began to figure out their relationship now they have to figure out how to add a kid into their own craziness. One thing that I didn't enjoying seeing occur all over again was Grayson and Jules arguing over the two never having privacy, Jules wanting everyone around her to be involved in everything and Grayson wanting some alone time for them. It's an issue and plot device that should have been nipped in the bud the season following the twos marriage to one another. Grayson really just needed to get over it already and move on but for the most part everything else continued to move smoothly and in classic Cougar Town fashion. 

In the end, I feel like this final season for Cougar Town was a fantastic send off for the series, it didn't feel like a goodbye sort of thing but rather each character continued forward with each of their own story arcs. This is a great thing because for the first time in awhile the dynamic of everything the show was founded on was shaken up, it wasn't all about drinking wine and everyone hanging out at Jules's all day long for once. Bobby moved away and got a job, Laurie and Travis have their own kid, Ellie went back to work, heck even Jules managed to change a little when she reads her first book. Again, it's too bad this change didn't occur sooner and if it did maybe that could have spelled out another season for the show, but it was a fitting end for a show that evolved quite a bit from it's start. 

Good:

- The show finally saw some real change

- Plenty of the core strengths continued throughout the season

Bad:

- Some of the more lack luster gags and plot elements continued

- Why weren't these changes made sooner? Why were they done in the final season?

Scully Rating: 7.0 out of 10

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

By: Robert Murphy

There's bananas, oh and spoilers too 

Wow, talk about a wordy title. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is the sequel to Rise of the Planet of the Apes and we all know how sequels can go but with a movie like this I couldn't see it going wrong. The story this time around picks up after the events of the last movie where the apes that Caesar (Andy Serkis) released and made intelligent have moved into the forests, meanwhile humanity has collapsed. The vaccine which made the apes intelligent caused horrible side affects for humanity and it spread across the world, it became known as the simian flu. But like cockroaches we survived, the last bits of humanity are barely hanging on and once again humans and apes will meet after Caesar and his fellow apes have made a peaceful life for themselves. Human and ape fear will be shown but whose will succeed in the end.

There are two sides to the of the coin to this film at the start, Caesar and his community are surviving strong after ten years, he has a family and they live a peaceful existence with rules and order under him. The other side of the coin is humanity, the people in San Francisco are surviving but need power to stay alive leading to a group heading to try and get electricity from a nearby dame in the woods. This is where the two first collide as Malcolm (Jason Clarke), his new wife Ellie (Keri Russell), his son Alexander (Kodi Smit-McPhee) and three others meet the apes after neither one had encountered each other for the past few years. This is where everything begins to go downhill for both sides because for humanity apes were the cause of the end for everyone and for the apes humans are dangerous, violent and will lead to no good. 

Fear is what causes a rift for both sides and it manifest mainly in two character in particular, Koba (Toby Kebbell) who is also an ape from the last film is the second in command and will play a crucial role as he fears and knows what humans are capable of. Then on the human side of things there's Dreyfus (Gary Oldman) who is somewhat of the militaristic half of the community and will do whatever it takes to make sure their community survives even if he has to kill every last ape to get them the power they all need. Caesar, who has been an amazing character in both films is smack dab in the middle of it all, he is torn between his fellow apes who he truly loves most and then humanity who he has sympathy for and knows that many of them are good after he was raised by a good family in the last film. Watching it all throughout the film, everything was incredibly powerful and I loved the story for both sides, maybe the apes a little bit more than the humans though. The underline message about fear and hating what we either don't know or don't understand was something very obvious and something that really made the film.

Alongside the great story, there were some incredible action sequences to behold that were often just as powerful. Koba's constant questioning of Caesar's motives are what lead to many of Dawn of the Planet of the Apes fight scenes and you truly understand how powerful these creatures are even though it is motion capture work being done. Combined with fierce intelligence that all these creatures gained in the last film, it is no wonder why it is not so hard to believe that this could be real or it could happen, it makes the fantasy styling of the film a whole lot more believable to watch. Other action sequences do bring a few questions to my mind as Dreyfus arms all of his people with guns from a nearby base filled with all sorts of ordinances. I found it a little hard to believe about some of the artillery that the film packs into it but it sure does make for a terrific boom or multiple ones in this films case. 

In conclusion, I like many people say that sequels often don't live up to their predecessor but Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is not one that falls into that category by any means. Caesar's return to the now more main stage of the film was outstanding and neither the human nor the ape side of the story fails in it's storytelling. All sides of the film frankly work at full capacity and makes for one of the more believable science fiction films you will see around. Some of the action for the human side in the film may have been a bit much but that is all that really nagged me while I was watching.   

Good:

- Incredibly smart and gripping story

- Caesar is back and even more compelling of a character to watch

- Great cast for humans and apes alike

- Teaches a lesson that people today should learn for themselves

Bad:

- The human arsenal you see may be a bit blown out but this is only a minor thing

Scully Rating: 9.0 out of 10  

The Last of Us

By: Robert Murphy

Grab a box of tissues everyone because this one is going to be a game that tugs at your heart strings and the name of the game is “The Last of Us.” The game takes place in a post-apocalyptic wasteland, where people do what they can to get by and survive the world they are surrounded in, the game features two main characters an older man named Joel, who players control and Ellie, a young girl who is AI controlled. Now what begins to set The Last of Us apart from other "end of the world" style survival games is that the main core of the gameplay focuses on the relationship between Joel and Ellie and how they survive together. Joel who is gruff and surely man, who has survived this world and does whatever he can to do so, he does not rejoice in his pairing with Ellie and does not hide that, the relationship and struggles the two face however will soon change all that.

"I’m too old for this sh!t"

The game takes place in 2033 and Joel is trying to survive another day, doing what he does which is smuggling and trading goods with whoever will take them and this is where he and Ellie meet. In an early on mission Joel finds himself making a deal to transport Ellie in exchange for a large amount of money after a deal of his own initially doesn’t work out. The two must now travel across what remains of the U.S., a place that has been taken over by the elements and nature again and all that mankind had built has crumbled away. The two start out as well as you might expect with Joel being a sullen older man who would like to see the job over and done with as soon as possible and Ellie being a young girl who is the epitome of innocence, stuck in this situation that she most likely would not want to be in. There are levels of distrust and uncertainty between the two which is to be expected, given their situation, but the two gain a sort of dysfunctional father and daughter relationship though their travels where he teaches her what she needs to survive and shows her a world she’s never seen before. This comes up a lot as well since Ellie was born in this world she has no idea what things were like before the outbreak that turned people into ravaging creatures. Ellie will ask you questions about what the past was like and do other things like look through stores and marvel at nature and the creatures that are around.

You can already hear the conversation, “I hate you, I want to live with mom.”

Speaking of your surrounding “The Last of Us” comes with a beautifully designed world if you get the chance to look at it, but the beauty is often overshadowed by the fact that danger is around every corner. Combat itself is a tense and on edge experience as the ravenous creators that were once the human race attack as well as other survivors that are fighting to make it out in the wasteland and yours and Ellie’s fight for survival becomes a nerve racking experience for you as you are just a regular guy trying to survive this world. Now stealth is your friend in “The Last of Us” and you can obviously move stealthily and take down your enemies but the game also features a unique system where holding down R2 while crouching lets Joel listen carefully to his surroundings, giving him the location of enemies around him and helping him to avoid problems if you want to play that way. Some players may consider this a bit cheap, but I’d merely call it gamey. This doesn’t always come in handy though when you pick up partners along the way that want to go in guns blazing and start shooting anything that moves, this leaves you sitting there going “WHAT THE F$%K, MAN!” but I guess it can’t be avoided.

Nature taking back what’s her's

Now I feel I must take the time to tell you all about the infected creatures that you are facing in “The Last of Us,” these creatures came from mutated humans whose minds were infected by a fungus that corrupted their minds. The regular mass of these enemies are known as Runners, they charge at you without a second thought and aren’t afraid of anything you might throw at them, these creatures will take you down or die trying. These creatures however aren’t my main fear from the game, they aren’t anything I haven’t dealt with before, no the real problem I faced in the game came from the creatures known as Clickers. These are extremely mutated humans who have lost their sight and they make you never want to sleep again, least not without a night light and some covers close by to hide underneath. These creatures can only be killed with a silent shiv strikes or a gun but going in stealthily is the preferable choice of action since Clickers can kill you instantly once they get their hands on you and you don’t want that.

Holy frak!!!

Another enjoyable aspect to The Last of Us is the crafting element to the game, it is a vast wasteland out there and it is just begging to be explored and scavenged around in and who better to do it that you and Ellie. As you scavenge around for items you will find just about anything from booze, sugar and other miscellaneous items that can later be crafted into melee weapons or healing packs, whatever you might need or think you’ll need to help you in your travels. This however is a double edged sword as crafting is good but items you find in the world can only be used once and often times when you use an item, it’s hard to find another of the same item. So choosing to craft something or another thing or not craft at all and hold onto the item till later is always on your mind and makes you think twice before making something on a whim.

Finally, we come to the multiplayer aspect of the game which comes in two playable formats, one is known as Survivors and the other is called Supply Raid and both offer something for whatever your multi-playing preference is like. Survivors is a pretty straight forward concept where you are placed in a four on four match and you all use the same skills from the main game to kill the enemy team before they kill you. Then Supply Raid does something a little differently where the objective of the game mode is to slowly chip away at the enemy teams overall life total, which their whole team shares collectively, which makes you not want to be that guy dying all the time and acting without thinking first. Multiplayer also comes with a little something extra as well, your character like many other games is customizable but he or she is also a leader of a band of  survivors and as you progress and do well in online play your band of survivors starts to grow. The better you do, the more stuff you collect, the better and bigger your band of survivors will become, this making for an interesting little side project that makes the aspect of leveling up in multiplayer seem  worthwhile and not just for the trophies.

 Multiplayer characters

In conclusion, buy this game! Ha-ha, no, but I deeply enjoyed The Last of Us and all that it had to offer for me to experience and play through. The game brings you into a large and incredibly designed world with so much to see and do, all the while offering a great story that tugs at your heart strings from beginning to end. Joel and Ellie are great characters and make for a unique  video game pairing that games haven’t really done before and I completely loved it from the very first moment the two meet one another. This all coupled with great combat mechanics and enjoyable multiplayer, you won’t find yourself regretting the 60 dollars you pay to play The Last of Us.

Good:

-Excellent story

-Ellie and Joel’s unique and dysfunctional relationship is amazing to watch unfold

-Amazing world to be explored, coupled with stellar graphics

-It’s a survival game like no other

Bad:

-Nothing that I can complain about here folks

Scully Rating: 10 out of 10