The Oakland Renaissance: Sorry to Bother You & Blindspotting

I have never been to Oakland, California. It's a city I know mostly for being the home of the Raiders, a mob of post-apocalyptic Mad Max mutants who are an occasional threat to my beloved Denver Broncos. But in 2018, suddenly Oakland has become more than a hated football rival. It's now one of the capitals of the film world. Oakland-native Ryan Coogler rewarded his hometown with a major subplot in this winter's smash hit, Black Panther. Now in summer you can see two of the best movies of 2018, both created by Oaklanders, shot in Oakland, and set in Oakland, Sorry to Bother You and Blindspotting.

Blindspotting is a dramatic commentary on the city's demographics. Its heroes are struggling with the very old problem of police violence while confronting a new one with gentrification and hipster imperialism. Sorry to Bother You though is a surreal SciFi comedy in an all-out war against capitalism. This Oakland is an arch satire of a real thing, owing a lot to RoboCop. However, don't let Sorry to Bother You's absurdist trappings fool you into thinking it doesn't have a lot of real shit on its mind. Oakland in 2018 is swimming in conflicts between class, race, and culture. Its residents, unsurprisingly, have a lot to say.

I'm from Jersey, about as far from Oakland as you can go without getting wet. Yet what that city is going through doesn't seem very far away at all to me. I've seen fancy condo skyscrapers bulldoze their way through Hudson County. PATH station ads promise a glitzy lifestyle in these soaring palaces. It's nice to be able to park in Jersey City without worrying about my car getting stolen. But this isn't Jersey City anymore. There's a whole different city of steel and wealth that took its place. Newport in the course of just my lifespan was colonized and completely rebuilt for 21st century yuppies. So when the people of Oakland worry about their losing their identity, I know the feeling. Oaklanders, however, are finally getting heard in 2018, and that's what this Renaissance is all about.

Super Mario 3D World vs Super Mario Odyssey

Of all the 3D Mario games, the two that seem the most different are Super Mario 3D World and its successor, Super Mario Odyssey. 3D World is a level-based platformer with a deep love for nostalgia. Odyssey takes Mario to new places with vast open worlds built around hunting for Moons. One is about restricted pre-designed experiences, the other is all about the freedom to make your own adventure. Nintendo shifted gears completely in design philosophy for Mario in just four years.

On paper at least, last year's Super Mario Odyssey seems like the superior game. It's a big, exciting new direction for this series. Mario is traveling the world, interacting with weird new art styles, and he can wear a sombrero. It's a return to that now-classic Super Mario 64 and Sunshine structure, where the entire game is one big scavenger hunt full of things to discover. Only that scavenger hunt is now on the Switch, so Mario's environment looks more beautiful than ever. The various locales are brimming with unique textures and personality at a scale never before attempted. Odyssey should be everything I could ask for from a new Mario game. In comparison, 2013's Super Mario 3D World should be conservative, retro, and dull.

Clearly then, Odyssey is the bright future for this series and 3D World is your grandmother's Mario. Yet between the two games, I prefer Super Mario 3D World. Twist ending: I was Grandma the whole time!

Mario Odyssey has the most potential between the two games but the worse execution. I'll never not love the idea of Mario wearing a sombrero so Odyssey is still a very good game. Yet it tries to be everything at once with nearly 1000 Moons and doesn't accomplish any one thing particularly well. Meanwhile Super Mario 3D World bleeds every drop of imagination and possibility from its small slice of gameplay. That title knows exactly what it wants to do and does it brilliantly. Odyssey is a decent collectathon, however 3D World is a near-perfect platformer. Grandma knows what she's talking about sometimes.