Picks: April

Hello Everyone! March is over, April is here, bring me the April Picks!

For anyone who doesn't know, I decided to be selfish and read all of the Lord of The Rings books this year over the course of a three month span. Because of this I am shaping my themes for the months around the themes of each Lord of the Ring book. Last month's theme was nature, this months's theme... War.

Book: Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

Author: J. R. R. Tolkien

Why I chose this book: Since as I have said before I am reading this whole series over the course of three months I didn't really have too many options on this one. I spent a while deliberating but in the end I decided this is undeniably the best image to choose for the book of the month picture.

Okay let's talk a bit about picking the theme of war. To anyone who doesn't know, war is a huge part of this particular book as it exists in relation to the series as a whole. It is as well a war that obviously takes place in a fantasy universe, so I am trying to keep that "fantasy" vibe as well in my picks as best as I can. In the end like I did last month with the theme of nature, I wanted to pick out what made this book stand out among the other three and I don't think there's a better theme choice than war.

Album: Through Silver in Blood

Artist: Neurosis

Why I chose this Album: Real talk, even though I just said that war was the obvious pick for the month this was also a huge reason I ended up choosing the theme. I was spit-balling theme ideas for April with my buddy Andrew Kenny, and when I said War he immediately stated "If you pick War, you have to listen to this album by Neurosis." Even if looking back war is definitely the best theme I could have picked, this album was a huge influencer in my decision so I am incredibly excited to listen to it.

Film: Pan's Labyrinth

Director: Guillermo del Toro

Why I chose this Movie: This is definitely one of those movies I can't believe I still haven't seen. It's a beloved movie that I hear people talk about all the time and it's directed by the Guillermo Del Toro, the director nobody will shut up about (okay yes Shape of Water was very good I will admit). This one has been on my radar for a while, and lucky for me it fits the theme of this month really well. It's a fantasy movie, but it also takes place during Nazi occupied Spain in World War II which means it will play off of the fantasy war vibe from Lord of the Rings perfectly. Super excited for this one.

Video Game: Wolfenstein II

Studio: Bethesda

Why I chose this Game: Alright here comes the black sheep of the party (at least as far as my taste is concerned). Wolfenstein II is a game I would never want to play in a million years. What's the point though in doing something like Year of Critique if I'm not going to break out of my comfort zone? Also let's be honest for a moment here, if I am going to play an FPS any month it's going to be this one and I can't just act like the genre doesn't exist. In spite of my negative comments, I am actually really excited for this game. I am hopeful that it can hit that middle ground for me of being something that is different and new, but not so different that it puts me off from the genre entirely. From what I have seen it seems like something I would like if I was going to like an FPS game, so I'm really optimistic. So far as well I've played mostly old games, so this will be a good chance for me to play something a bit more modern. Also the game takes place in a fantastical trippy alternate Nazi occupied universe, so yeah, it's on theme.

...

And that's it for my picks for April! No recommendation for this month as I honestly don't think I have anything in particular that I recommend for this month's theme. Like usual I will be releasing my reviews for my March picks in the coming few weeks, no book review this month though as I'm going to review The Lord of the Rings as a trilogy. Till my next review!

- Malachi