From Pixels to Polys Hall of Fame

Hall of Fames are great…eh…well no…Hall of Fames are usually awful because they're over commercialized events where less than deserving nominees get inducted for financial, political, and PR reasons…but not anymore baby! From Pixels to Polys doesn’t screw around and we’ve made it our mission to reverse this trend: to forever save Hall of Fames from the dark depths suck-dom. From here on out Fridays will be reserved for Hall of Fame posts, where we take a look at the games, movies, and music that are the best of the best. Here are this week’s inductees:

The Game: Super Smash Bros.: Melee

There have been few games that can bring a whole group of people together to sit in front of a TV and play for a straight hour long match or more. (Picture a stock 99 match) All the while kicking and screaming and chanting curses and other verbal attacks on those who bore you; while at the same time having some of the best times ever gaming. Super Smash Bros.: Melee took this series to another level; with new characters, weapons and modes that really made the game so enjoyable I had trouble escaping its grasp whenever someone suggested it. Really it was the probably the only reason someone would want to buy the Game Cube back in the day, before Resident Evil 4 decided to show up. Seriously would you have bought it for Super Mario Sunshine? I didn’t think so.

-Pat

The Movie: High Fidelity

While most Oscar nods for acting performances involve grandiose portrayals of extreme emotions, many of my favorite performances occur when you feel like the actor is simply playing himself. “High Fidelity” may not even be John Cusack’s best movie: that title probably belongs to “Say Anything,” but both movies give you the sense that he is playing himself, at the time they were made. In “High Fidelity” he narrates his story, and it seems to reflect the peaks and valleys of the music he loves so much. The movie is a romantic comedy only in the sense that it deals with relationships, and is a comedy. It defies the genre by not being formulaic, and actually being funny. Aside from his women issues, Cusack spends most of the movie with his other elitist friends, played wonderfully by Jack Black and Todd Luiso, making top 5 lists (ya, we stole the idea) and thumbing their nose and the inferior music tastes of the masses: sound familiar?

-Anthony

The Album: Raw Power

I have always held the firm belief that every second of your life can be complemented with music. There are situations for chill mellow tunes, there are times for upbeat pop jingles, and there those “other moments” where life demands a cacophony of distortion that spews unadulterated aggression. For those instances where you feel the need to break something, there’s Raw Power by The Stooges. Raw Power is brilliant tribute angst, danger, violence, and rebellion that stares you down before knocking you out. When the album isn’t in your face, it carries onward with an arrogant swagger that can best be described as reckless. Between Iggy Pop’s visceral screams and James Williamson’s screeching guitar work, Raw Power is the battle cry for anyone who’s ever been pissed off. My only suggestion is to crank up this highly influential album and break something…oh…unfortunately the American Psychology Association in no endorses this album as a productive way to manage anger…damn.

-Matt