22 Dec

Best of 2012: Top 15 K-Pop Singles

Posted by vagrantesque in Best of 2012, K-Pop, Music. Tagged: 2012, Best, K-Pop, kpop, Singles, Year. Leave a Comment

It’s been a crazy year for Korean pop music, mainly because of one man: PSY. His story has been told to death, though. There was quite a lot of other stuff going on in the world of K-Pop in 2012, of course, and though I only started listening to the genre this year, I was fortunate enough to be able to ingest plenty of it. So here’s my third VR Best of 2012 list. For my wider thoughts on K-Pop, check out this post.

This one is a top fifteen rather than a top ten to make up for a later list that is only going to appear as a top five. I’ve taken a number of things into consideration with each single, such as the music video, the dancing (if any), the presentation of the song etc., because such things are definitely important in the K-Pop industry, but above all I’ve tried to prioritise the way the song sounds as an audio-only product when it comes to ordering the list.

Note how I’ve titled this list “K-Pop Singles”. If I included album-only tracks, of which there were plenty of highlights in 2012, we’d be here for days. Also, for the sake of narrowing down the impossible selection, I’ve gone ahead and ignored every 2012 K-Pop single released in Japanese or other non-Korean languages. So no Flower Power, Dazzling Girl or Like Money. Dem’s the breaks.

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VR BEST OF 2012 DISCLAIMER
This list represents my opinion only. I am not asserting any kind of superiority or self-importance by presenting it as I have. My opinion is not fact. If you actually agree with me 100%, that’s scary. You have been warned, fanboys.
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15. Sherlock – SHINee

It’s fairly widely agreed upon that SHINee is one of K-Pop’s best and most consistent performers when it comes to making tricky choreography shine (forgive the pun). Though their main Korean hit of 2012, Sherlock , arguably doesn’t quite hit the heights of previous efforts as a song (it’s essentially a mash-up of two other tracks), it certainly does as a dance. The asymmetrical moves picked up even more awards for the talented quintet this year and it isn’t hard to see why.

21 Dec

Best of 2012: Top 10 Movie Characters

Posted by vagrantesque in Best of 2012, Lists, Movies. Tagged: 2012, Best, Characters, Movie, Year. 2 Comments

The movies of 2012 brought with them an avalanche of memorable characters, whose exploits stuck in our minds for a range of reasons. Some made us laugh, some made us cringe, some made us quiver and some just made us want to stand up and applaud. For my second Vagrant Rant Best of 2012 list, I present my top ten favourite movie characters of the year.

The characters on this list need not be brand new creations; fresh interpretations of other material, recurring players in a series and even depictions of real-life people were all fair game when I was putting it together. Regardless of what other people may have been saying about them, I have not included any characters from movies I did not see in 2012. So, sadly, those amazing Boxing Day Australian releases (The Hobbit, Wreck-It Ralph, Les Miserables) are out of the picture.

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VR BEST OF 2012 DISCLAIMER
This list represents my opinion only. I am not asserting any kind of superiority or self-importance by presenting it as I have. My opinion is not fact. If you actually agree with me 100%, that’s scary. You have been warned, fanboys.
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10. Sid – The Descendants

The Descendants, released at the very beginning of 2012 here in Australia, is a truly heartfelt triumph on many levels, but its many facets would not come together quite so effectively without the comic relief provided by the female lead’s dimwitted boyfriend, Sid. Nick Krause’s performance lends the role just the right combination of idiocy and believability, with a hint of something poignant thrown in. This ensures that, despite the film’s many character interaction highlights, you just aren’t likely to forget his exchange with those two seniors. Not at all.

20 Dec

Best of 2012: Top 10 Game Cases

Posted by vagrantesque in Best of 2012, Games, Lists. Tagged: 2012, Best, Box, Case, Cover, Game, Videogame, Year. Leave a Comment

Time to kick off my ambitious goal of presenting ten top tens of entertainment media in 2012. This is going to require an unprecedented time management effort, but hey, hopefully I’ve grown enough this year to meet the requirements. First up, something I’ve always paid perhaps a little too much attention to: videogame cases.

We live in an age where games are available as full digital downloads more readily than ever, but physical production is still plenty relevant. When you look at a game on a store shelf, a lot of things go through your mind, whether consciously or (more likely) subconsciously. Is the cover eye-catching? Does it stand out from its brethren? Does it give you an adequate idea of what the game will have you doing? Does it do something other than feature a man looking straight at you while striking a badass pose? All these things and more churned around in my mind before I could spit out this list of my top ten favourite game cases of 2012.

But the list doesn’t just take into account what the front cover of a game looks like; I’ve also considered the back, the spine and, where applicable, even the inside of the case. All facets of physical presentation have been accounted for. Yeah, I’m definitely a cool guy.

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VR BEST OF 2012 DISCLAIMER
This list represents my opinion only. I am not asserting any kind of superiority or self-importance by presenting it as I have. My opinion is not fact. If you actually agree with me 100%, that’s scary. You have been warned, fanboys.
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10. Assassin’s Creed III

When compared to the cover art of the first four Assassin’s Creed games, one thing immediately stands out about the front of the ACIII case. Connor, the newest member of the Brotherhood of Assassins to be introduced to series fans, isn’t simply standing in an ominous pose with a hood over his head. No, he’s actually doing something, and something rather violent at that. That redcoat he has in his very capable grasp is not going to be breathing for much longer, or so the implication stands. The motion-blurred battlefield depicted in the background, complete with prototype American flag, adds to the kinetic excitement of the image, suggesting a history-rich experience well worth playing through.

20 Dec

Best of 2012 Intro

Posted by vagrantesque in Best of 2012. Tagged: 2012, Best, Year. Leave a Comment

2012 has been the best year of my life thus far. This is mostly due to reasons that have no place on Vagrant Rant (as well as, indeed, the existence of Vagrant Rant itself), but there’s no denying that a quality selection of entertainment media played its part. If you had told me at the start of the year that I would be playing three new games consoles by its end, that The Avengers would out-perform The Dark Knight Rises at the box office or that a thirty-something Korean pop star would be nominated for TIME’s “Person of the Year”, I would have looked at you with stunned disbelief.

Yet here we are, sitting less than a fortnight out from the end of another year (and on the eve of the supposed end of the world), getting all reflective and stuff on what has gone by. What better way to celebrate than with ten top ten lists? Well, I love that idea. In fact I’m getting goosebumps just thinking about it.

Let’s go.

18 Dec

Game Review: Pokemon White Version 2

Posted by vagrantesque in DS, Games. Tagged: Black 2, DS, Pokemon, Review, Sequel, White 2. Leave a Comment

The DS’ swansong is a real beauty and it’s a relief to get the review for it up on Vagrant Rant, at last. I’ve been playing the game when I can ever since its October 11 release.

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Platform: DS
Developer: Game Freak
Rating: G
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That thing’s power is honestly beyond ridiculous.

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674 hours, 18 minutes.
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According to the in-game timer, that’s how many hours I have spent playing the first Pokemon White Version. As a gamer, the Pokemon franchise is my World of Warcraft. It is my Team Fortress 2, my Counter-Strike, my Minecraft. It is that one series that grabs the addictive part of my personality and doesn’t let go. So understand that when I review a Pokemon game, my opinion is slanted a certain way. I will probably be more forgiving than a more casual fan on some aspects of the game’s design, but I will also be harsher on others.

Having said that, Pokemon White Version 2 is the best and most complete Pokemon game I have ever played. There you go.

16 Dec

Why I like K-Pop

Posted by vagrantesque in K-Pop, Music. Tagged: K-Pop, Korean, Music, Opinion. Leave a Comment

Yep, it’s out in the open.

And we might as well get the hipster stuff out of the way: I was, like, totally into it before Gangnam Style.

There comes a time in every person’s life, after the dramas of adolescence have been left behind, when he or she rediscovers things from his/her childhood that, once upon a time, seemed like the greatest thing in the world but eventually became “uncool” to like as a teenager. Without the self-conscious tinted glasses of that awkward period, the young adult is more able to appreciate those entertainment properties that, while aimed at kids, are actually put together well enough to warrant enjoyment once more.

Of course this doesn’t apply to everyone, but it is one explanation for the popularity of Disney movies, TV shows like My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic and Adventure Time, as well as game series like Pokemon, among adult audiences.

While it isn’t directly analogous, a similar logic can be applied to explaining the relative Western popularity, or at least the inherent appeal, of a pop music phenomenon that is otherwise more than a little baffling. Of all non-English language musical outputs on the planet, none is enjoyed in quite as many countries as Korean pop or, as it is more commonly known, K-Pop.

Why? Well, for quite a few reasons, but few more prominent than the fact that at its core, it imitates a musical style that was popular when the young adults of today were kids.

Man, I used to be obsessed with these girls.

Remember New Kids on the Block? Take That? Boyz II Men? The Backstreet Boys? N*Sync? Steps? The Spice Girls? S Club 7? God knows I do, and as it turns out, so does Korea. For some reason, after the early-to-mid ’90s had run their course and pop groups had fallen out of fashion in Britain and the United States, the fledgling Korean entertainment industry took their interpretation of the phenomenon and ran with it.

15 Dec

It moves!

Posted by vagrantesque in Misc, Movies. Leave a Comment

Vagrant Rant now supports video!

Yay!

To celebrate, here’s the latest and final trailer for Quentin Tarantino’s new film, Django Unchained, which we don’t get in Australia until next month.

SO keen.

10 Dec

Behind, Pt 2

Posted by vagrantesque in Games, Lists. Tagged: 2012, Anticipated, Games. Leave a Comment

With last Saturday marking the last decent-sized game release of the year (Paper Mario), it’s about time to reflect on how misguidedly optimistic I was at the start of 2012 for game releases.

2012 has been an awesome year for video games, and even if it you are of the belief that it fell short of 2011 in terms of overall quality, it’s hard to argue that we’ve been treated to some fantastic titles. And a fair few delays.

So, just like I did with movies a few weeks back, I’m going to look back at that list I posted back in February, wherein I rolled out a list of my top ten most anticipated games of the year, without the knowledge that half of them wouldn’t hit in 2012 at all:

9 Dec

Movie Review: Skyfall

Posted by vagrantesque in Movies. Tagged: 007, bond, daniel craig, Movie, Review, skyfall. 5 Comments

I saw this celebration of 50 years of James Bond the first Tuesday it was available. Suffice to say I was very pleasantly surprised.

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Starring: Daniel Craig, Javier Bardem, Judi Dench
Director: Sam Mendes (American Beauty, Revolutionary Road)
Rating: M
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I never thought I would be comparing a James Bond film to a Batman one. Not in my wildest dreams. Yet here I am, having watched a sucker punch of a 007 film that quite possibly ranks as one of the best instalments in one of cinema’s longest-running sagas, doing just that. Emotional, lengthy and fraught with unpredictability, featuring great action scenes that for all their grandiose ambition don’t stick in your mind as much as the quieter character-driven interactions; yep, to say this movie wasn’t influenced even a little by Christopher Nolan would be a bit daft. Throw in a skin-crawling villain who has already been compared to Heath Ledger‘s Joker in The Dark Knight by several critics and you get a film that is worthy of a certain category of artistic praise and yet is still quintessentially, unmistakably, Bond.

8 Dec

U Ready? – Wii U Review

Posted by vagrantesque in Console, Games, Wii U. Tagged: Console, gamepad, Review, Wii U. Leave a Comment

I think it’s clear that desperation is now the main driving force behind my choices of post titles.

The Wii U, Nintendo’s new home console, launched in Australia and Europe about a week ago, and after spending as much time with it as my current lifestyle would allow, I present this, here, now.

Day One haul, clockwise from bottom left: Screen Protector Kit, Facepad & Stylus Pack, Wii U Premium Pack, Pro Controller, Warriors Orochi 3 Hyper, Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed, Assassin’s Creed 3 Join or Die Edition, New Super Mario Bros U.

Yeah, if you haven’t already guessed, I enjoy throwing money at console launches.

I’ll be structuring this piece much like my Playstation Vita review from earlier this year. Here goes.

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Best of 2012: Top 15 K-Pop Singles

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VR BEST OF 2012 DISCLAIMER
This list represents my opinion only. I am not asserting any kind of superiority or self-importance by presenting it as I have. My opinion is not fact. If you actually agree with me 100%, that’s scary. You have been warned, fanboys.
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