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⭐7.5/10 A video game! Been a while since I've written one of these because I have been playing this damn game for MONTHS! I had trouble sticking to one game for a while, and in all honesty I had no intention of actually beating this one. It was on sale for like $3 and the sequel was coming out, so I gave it a try, but then was instantly hooked.  So this is a deep RPG, almost a medieval simulator. This is a game that takes it's historical accuracy very seriously. You play as Henry, an ordinary blacksmith from Skalitz, a village from fifteenth century Bohemia. And just like in history, it gets sacked by Hungarians, and so in this game you start with nothing and you are nothing. You just have some sense of making a life and some sense of wanting revenge, though there are certainly some exciting inciting conflicts that make for an evocative story.  I don't actually like RPGs! I hate standing around having conversations, choosing dialogue options, and making decision...

⭐8.5/10 Yeah, yeah, I'm hopping on the hype train, but I actually had this on my list for months! I was super interested in this movie and was all the more motivated to watch it since the passing of Papa Francisco.  In general, I think Catholicism is just made for cinema. The aesthetic, the mystique, the absolutely ballin 'fits. This is 120 minutes of fashion greatness. Put all of this in ancient, divine buildings, and then insert Gregorian chants or choir singing, and you have a 8/10 minimum. Traditional Roman Catholicism needs to be in more movies.  And this is as traditional as it gets. Cardinals in one place, electing the next Pope. I really don't have that much to say about the meat of this movie besides saying Ralph Fiennes is completely electric in this role. This is not, on its own, a particularly interesting movie, but I think it is carried by his performance, a magical score, and incredible cinematography. Every frame feels so intentional and effective...

⭐7.5/10 This is Peter Jackson's King Kong, essentially a remake of the original 30s version, and also his first movie following Lord of the Rings. I reeeeally wanted to come in hot and call this an underrated epic masterpiece, but unfortunately I just can't quite get there. I think this is a good movie, but it certainly has its flaws.  First off, this movie is over 3 hours long, but truthfully it feels a lot longer. It covers a ton of ground and never rushes anything. This feels like 3 movies: the journey, the jungle, and then back in New York. It truly is an epic, each of these moments feeling developed and beautifully realized. However, there are sequences in each case that feel super drawn out and unnecessary, like scenes you would see only in LOTR extended editions. There is a dinosaur chase sequence that is silly and meaningless, and SO long I couldn't believe it. I'm sure it took a ton of money and effort, but it really shouldn't have existed.  But...

(slimey fricken Bobby Kotick) ⭐9/10 This book is subtitled "The Rise, Fall, and Future of Blizzard Entertainment." Blizzard is a video game company. I don't even play any of their games, but the reason I decided to buy this book is because they were kinda the founding fathers of big budget games in a way (World of Warcraft, Diablo, Starcraft, Overwatch, Hearthstone), and also I love the author. I actually didn't realize just how big they were because they haven't really been in the news much in the last 10 years, aside from mostly scandals and bad news. But man, I would say 1995-2015 belonged to this company.  I loved this book in a way I didn't think I would. I said this about Schreier's other book, but one lesson I take away from these is just how hard it is to make something truly special. It takes work, it takes sacrifice, and it usually takes some unsavory personalities to drive bold creative decisions. And they made nothing but special th...

⭐6/10 This is a weird, weird, weird movie. Too weird. Almost nothing in this movie makes any sense, and that's sometimes to its benefit, but more often not. This is a movie by Jared Hess (Napoleon Dynamite, Nacho Libre) and features Jermaine Clement, Mike White, Sam Rockwell, Jennifer Coolidge (White Lotus??) and Hector Jimenez (Steven from Nacho). This was kinda a must watch for me.  Well it's definitely more Napoleon than Nacho. It's got this weird rural American absurdism, and most of this is just silly people doing random, silly things. For my money, Jimenez killed it as this absolutely unsettlingly weirdo. I loved him. I also like the idea of Jermaine as this super self-absorbed sci-fi writer. Yeah, lots of funny ideas, but this movie is just so whack that you have a tough time making much of anything going on. Like is the book actually good? Does the girl actually like the guy? I truly have no clue as to the fundamentals of this movie.  Still, there were a...

⭐6/10 We are now at the point where this show is no longer good. There are still good episodes, but there are now some legit bad ones. That's a shame - definitely should have cut if off a season ago.  There's an episode where Jay's first wife dies? For no reason? The actor was still alive, and even if she died, why have such a downer episode in a comedy? She wasn't important, and this was such a strange choice. I thought this must be an homage to the actress or something, and was utterly confused when I found this wasn't true. I know it's only one episode out of 20 but felt completely out of place and bizarre.  Anyways who cares. Like I said there are some funny moments. For some reason, Cam counting down the seconds until Mitchell officially forgot their anniversary just sent me. I love that level of pettiness, and although so many episodes are just characters being parodies of their former selves, I do love a classic Cam moment. But many of the epi...

⭐ 9.5/10 Not a ton to add from my Season 1 review, but this show continues to be great. I was concerned when the first episode opened with a framing device involving straight-to-camera interviews, but by the end of the episode I thought it completely paid off and in fact made me emotional. I could go episode by episode, but I feel like they continually pay-off every thing they set up.  Sometimes I am annoyed by flashbacks or new characters, but then they are pulled into the narrative expertly. I love how well it feels like we know the disciples now.  Each one is distinct and kind of gets their own moments and arcs.  Not just the disciples, but everyone in Jesus' orbit feels well thought out.  So much care is given to forming these characters, and knowing where they all end up, like with Thomas or Simon or Judas, everything they say is so loaded. There is an episode here that starts with a 20 minute oner! Love that they do things other prestigey shows do, and it fits...

⭐ 7.5/10 This was way better than I thought it would be.  Maybe I am like every man in this movie - I saw the poster for it as a child and assumed this was about a dumb girl who goes to law school, and its funny because she is a ditz and teaches everyone else to loosen up.  Its not really that at all thankfully, and I can see why this movie could be a classic to some.  She is a likable lead, who starts off kind of shallow but is generally a kind well-meaning person. Her goal in going to law school is to win back her jerk ex-boyfriend, but obviously she learns along the way she is better than him and can use law to help others. My main negative here is that the main case involves a woman on trial for something she can prove she didn't do, but she wants to win the case without her air-tight alibi because it would mean her fervent following would know she got work done on her body, or something like that. For a feminist movie I thought Elle would convince her that there is ...

⭐10/10 In a spring that includes White Lotus, Severance, Andor and Last of Us... is this one gonna take the crown? A Netflix show??  This one came out of nowhere for me. A Northern English production with a cast and crew I only kinda recognized, about... stuff nobody was really clear on? A kid suspected of murder? I also heard some noise about these looking like one long take, a method I've always found a bit gimmicky...  All that aside, I think this show is a masterpiece in the truest sense. Creatively, technically, the writing, the acting. It really is done in one take (I read about it) and I just can't believe what all goes into this, relying on children to not screw up an hour long take. The coordination to pull this off is mind-blowing and good for them for taking this risk.  Each episode is not really what you'd think it's about. Every episode begins and automatically you start connecting the dots to similar things you've seen, and every time the s...

⭐9/10 What a year of TV, am I right friends? I have been very up and down on this show. It's about rich people being bad with different themes emerging throughout, but I liked season 1 all around, and then thought season 2 was just too annoying to watch because it was impossible to root for anyone. But season 3 is back! In a way anyways. I thought it straddled that line of annoying vs funny a little better this year, with plenty of people with both redeeming and terrible qualities. It came a little nearer to painting these as complex, interesting people, though they are always completely over the top. The most normal characters are either incestuous or Republican (which one is worse btw) and people are all plotting to kill each other or themselves.  I thought episode 5 was a masterpiece, and all the attention that Goggins and Sam Rockwell have gotten was well deserved. I thought the season was headed towards a 10, but I, like Tim, thought it lost a little steam on the w...

⭐10/10 I watched this years ago, committing the vile sin of watching this purely sensory movie on an airplane. I had exactly zero memories from it besides a distinct guilty feeling of watching a movie that felt decidedly demonic. And yeah! This is not exactly a movie I'd watch with my parents, but my tastes have very much changed to the point where this movie is very much my jam.  So the movie is very simple in that it's a deplorable post-apocalyptic world in which this slice of Australia is ruled by some cult leading god-head, and one of his soldiers is trying to free his concubines. The entire movie after that is... Well it's just one wild chase scene that lasts two hours. It is the most unabashedly badass action movie I have ever seen.  It is nonstop and the action is completely mind melting, a 2 hour fever dream capped off with an electric guitar player strapped onto a war machine.  I love that this movie was clearly made with absolute joy, like a bunch of...

⭐ 8/10 This was a fun watch! I don't have a huge connection to Bob Dylan, but I was shocked how much music is in this movie, and its always fun to hear songs you recognize and like. Chalamet did a great job, really impressed with how much singing and guitar and harmonica he does. I thought Monica Barbaro completely stole the show as Joan Baez. She sounds amazing, and its nice to have characters who don't idolize the man the movie is trying to idolize. In terms of story, I liked all the montage-y stuff when time passes and you hear more songs and see him get famous.  What I don't love is the recording studio moments where they stumble into something iconic - its super cheesy. I also lost interest in the last 40 minutes of the movie as he makes the brave choice to go electric.  I get it was a big deal, and I respect that they are probably pretty accurate in the retelling, its just boring and doesn't feel as monumental as it probably was. He's going through an identit...

⭐ 8.5/10 Much like Severance, I have loved prior seasons so much that its hard to not feel disappointed when the show takes a step down.  This is still easily one of the best things on, with many modern and important ideas, wrapped in a bow with great actors, hilarious lines, and gorgeous scenery. My main complaint, and the complaint of most people, is that this season is slower. Most character arcs can be distilled to one or two key moments. This doesn't really bother me, but unlike Severance the finale ended up being more frustrating than the rest of the stagnant season.  I like being in a beautiful resort with rich people complaining and being awful! But this season sets up a very dramatic final episode that I thought felt empty in some moments and confusing in others. But lets be positive! Goggins at the restaurant watching Rockwell give that monologue was insane. The Ratliff family bothered me all season, going through the motions every episode, but it all led up to a mo...

⭐ 8.5/10 Season 1 was my favourite show in a long time, scratching the itch Lost left behind. I think this was a great season, but the weight of my own expectations hurt my viewing experience.  There are several great moments, and the finale incredibly is almost as good as that perfect S1 finale. This review will probably be a bunch of nitpicks, but this is a stylish and engaging show I find very fun, easily one of the best shows on right now. The season felt a bit long, with a couple static-feeling episodes.  One in particular is a backstory that doesn't feel additive, and answers questions that are not really interesting. I think my main complaint is that in widening the story it makes the world feel more hollow. The finale is amazing, but you have to suspend disbelief that the world's most important and powerful company has wouldn't have a thousand security guards preventing all this stuff from happening. Do only 5 people run this whole operation? Regardless, it has som...

⭐7/10 This is a mid-2000s family rom-com that reminded me a lot of movies like the Princess Bride or Shrek. Amy Adams lives in an enchanted forest, but when a witch gets jealous of her, she banished Adams to modern day New York. Classic premise, and New York will always be funny when there are people there who don't belong. Actually, it reminded me a lot of Elf, just a naive childlike person from an alternate universe being there but not really thinking it's all that strange.  Anyways, this movie was great with a lot of fun jokes. The romance is pretty awful but who really cares? This movie is silly and lovable if you don't think about it too hard.  James Marsden was the best part. Made for this role. 

I was travelling for most of the month, which means I was reading on every form of transportation, plus I went on a graphic novel reading binge, so I finished 36 books in March. 😶 Here are my 6 favourites! This book follows four Filipino-American men in the same family, all at age 16, starting from Frederico, who moved to the US from the Philippines. We end with Enzo, who is 16 as the pandemic starts and whose grandfather comes to live with them. I really liked this structure, as we can see the men from their son's and grandson's eyes, but only hear from them at age 16. We can see how their decisions at that age formed who they would eventually become. It's a really lovely, quiet story of generational trauma and toxic masculinity and trying to be different from your father. Has been compared to The Westing Game, so of course I had to check it out. And while not exactly the same, it was almost as good! Candice has to move with her mom to her grandma's old house and is n...