Each week, a Spectator staff member gives you a head’s up on a few things you can test out over the weekend, from new movies to restaurants you may not have tried yet.

Movie: Taken 2

I saw this movie on opening weekend. I was not expecting much from it, and it certainly did not surpass these expectations. The first movie was intense, and the action was great. I was physically exhausted after watching it in theaters, mainly because I did not know what was coming next or if Liam Neeson’s character was going to make it through. The sequel was just the opposite: it is incredibly predictable. The story devolved from the first movie by the addition of a lot of melodrama. Most of the action sequences were no longer fluid and neatly polished. It’s kind of worth going to see regardless, but wait until it’s at the Budget.

Album: “The Parallax II: Future Sequence,” Between the Buried and Me

BTBAM is my favorite band of all time. Every album they release, rather than getting worse or stagnating, is always a progression. Their technique and complexity gets better and better, yielding righteous music. I already listened to a preview of some of the songs, and I can already tell this will be their best yet. If you need convincing, check out their music video for “Astral Body” and then immediately buy their album.

Video Game: Resident Evil 6

Resident Evil 4 is safely in the ranks of my favorite games of all time. Will RE 6 reach this point as well? Probably not. There are some changes they’ve made to the game that I’m a little worried about. I no longer have to be smart about shooting since you can now run while doing it and I’ve heard ammunition is no longer scarce. I also have heard they no longer bother attempting to scare you and aim for more action. But I am excited to see how the game pans out with its most ambitious
storyline yet.