WeView

⭐8.5/10 A phone app on Weview?? What's this site coming to!  This game is a year old, and despite being a superfan, I kinda put it off. But this game is actually very solid. Essentially it allows you to open 2 free packs per day, plus a bunch of free ways to open more. There is a premium version that sucks and offers little, so it really is game that's super easy to enjoy playing for free. There are also battles and trades that encourage you to keep collecting, which then help you build good decks, and it's a nice little feedback loop.  I mean, it's the classic Pokemon formula. It appeals to collectors, people who like competing, and people who do it for the social aspect. The art is beautiful, ripping packs always feels great, and the feeling of getting a super rare card that your friends don't have is consistently awesome. And beyond anything, Pokemon has a magic to it that is seemingly unmatched in culture that I can never quite put my finger on. Why ...

⭐5/10 We watched the movie last year and I loved it, but I thought the show didn't even come close. That's super disappointing because it's the same people who made it, and I love that crew, but man, I thought this show was painfully unfunny sometimes.  It's a show about classical vampires living in modern New York, and they are centuries old and so have all these spooky qualities and antiquated beliefs, and it's filmed as a mocumentary as they go about their day to day. Again, same premise as the movie, but that really worked for me and this didn't. I guess I didn't hate it. I managed to finish the season. I still believe in this idea, and there were funny moments, like the stuff around the Baron. I also loved the set design and costumes, and thought this was the perfect casual spooky watch. But in the end, I just didn't laugh much so it's hard to give it any kind of endorsement. I think the primary issue is that I simply don't find ...

⭐10/10 This may very well be Pixar's most underrated movie. I watched when it came out and loved it, but it's not really a casual watch that you pull out whenever you feel like it. If not for getting emotionally destroyed, I could very well see this becoming a fall classic with regular rewatches. Or should I say a Dias de los Muertos classic!  I think this movie is a beautiful celebration of Mexican culture. What struck me on this rewatch, especially with the Bad Bunny business, is that this movie does not shy away from being distinctly Hispanic. There is a ton of Spanish in this movie, especially the songs, and man, what a sexy language. I love the use of art style and colours, the greens and reds, and use of Mexican food, tradition, culture. It really does help me appreciate a way of life that is different than my own.  Moreover, the meditation on death, memory and grief is something that goes beyond culture and makes this movie distinctly human. This is a kid...

⭐8/10 Back to visit Eggers, a filmmaker I have an up and down relationship with. The thing I really liked about this movie is that it isn't black and white. I say that facetiously, but man, Eggers is so talented with framing beautiful, atmospheric scenes that I became super worried during that black and white intro that this is just his thing now.  I thought the first half of this movie was absolutely fantastic. It is dripping, yes dripping with dark, spooky, dreadful atmosphere. The introduction of Orlok is fantastic with his accent and taking 5 hours to say one sentence. I was totally bought in, thinking this was my new favorite horror movie. It was everything I wanted, entirely immersive with cool set pieces, great costumes, and the dialogue that is always wonderful is all of his movies.  The second half lost me a little. Not sure it was even the movie's fault, but this movie is super dreadful and after 2 hours I was begging for respite. Not only that, but the w...

⭐10/10 What a year it's been for games! In the last few months, I've played 3 games that all approach top ten all-timers for me. Between Returnal, Silksong, and now this one, Hades II might actually be the game I was in love with over the others.  That's not to say I think it's the best of the three. I have some quibbles for sure. The things that I usually really care about were not all great here. I don't think this game looks particularly good, with a messy art style and cluttered screen. I never thought the music was great. I also couldn't care less about the story in a game like this, but for the record people didn't love it. I guess my bigger complaint with the story is that I find the presentation so, so dull. It's entirely told through people talking in boring ways. I'm always surprised people enjoy a story that's told this way.  But who cares about any of that! I was utterly taken by this game. I guess I should explain the gam...

⭐ 5/10 My goodness I thought this movie was atrocious. On par with all the flimsy hollow super hero movies basically since Endgame. Watching it outside the hype of its release is interesting, and I get that for fans of the comics or whatever its satisfying just to see a new depiction, but this was a boring and empty viewing experience. First off, it looks terrible! Congrats on getting rid of the Snyder bleakness, but instead you've just made everything ultra blue and saturated. The fights are incoherent CGI messes, just nothing interesting to look at here. The actors are fine, and the chipper attitudes are refreshing given the past couple years of DC movies, but I had to really fight the urge to just be on my phone. How about the story? Something about pocket universes, a baby alien's and its dad, war in the middle east? I'll get back to the Israel/Palestine of it all, but this quickly gets in to comic mumbo-jumbo and I just did not care. There is an interesting scene earl...

⭐ 9/10 The highly anticipated second season of a show my wife and I both loved! This was on par with season one, no real low spots, but it didn't take the leap the way I wanted it to. However, episode 3 was one of the funniest things I have seen in a long time, me and Jess were crying with laughter. Lots in common with the dinner party episode of The Office, kind of the same setup actually, and they crushed it, each character going through some uncomfortable or awkward situation. It was written by Stephanie Koenig, who also stars in the show, and its really cool that she got the chance to own an episode and absolutely crushed it. My favourite thing about this show is its two-sided takes on modern issue. Evan is super liberal, but teaching at a school in Texas, and his ultra-annoying fixations and stances are played well against some more apathetic teachers, or even teachers with opposing views. Its refreshing to hear genuine pushback to hot button issues of the day, without it bei...

⭐7.5/10 This is a super campy 90s horror-comedy that Jess chose under my strict spooky season regime. And she picked a winner! This one features 90s icons Meryl Streep and Goldie Hawn, as well as Bruce Willis in a bit of an odd role for him, but it worked nicely.  It's a movie about these two super hateable women vying for the attention of Bruce Willis by trying to stay young and hot, which leads them down a dark path. It's super silly and weird, and definitely has all the qualities of a cult classic. It's a theatre kid movie, but I laughed a lot and had a good time.  I don't have that much else to say! I liked it! I thought it actually touched on themes of beauty and pressure for ageing women in some very interesting ways, but again, it's silly, it's not trying to change the world. It's fun to watch and perfect for the season so long as you can stomach some yucky body horror with some laughably dated effects. 

⭐ 10/10 Wow! I mean Wow! So... this book is unreal. Shout out to Joe for the recommendation. I can't think a time I've enjoyed a book this much in recent years. This is just one of those books that has a soul to it, like it is a character in and of itself. Like the narrator's voice is coming from the very pages and spine of the book. This book is an epic, a grand tale of the old west. We follow Gus, Call, Deets, Pea Eye, Newt, and a slew of others who come in and out of the group known as the Hat Creek Outfit. One day, on the horizon, our boys see none other than Jake Spoon, an old ranger who worked along the Gus and Call during the American crusade against the natives. Jake mentions to his old comrades that there is some insane opportunity up in Montana to become successful cattle ranchers. With that, the trek begins. The boys wrangle up some horses, cattle, and cowboys to drive these steer up to the pastures of Montana. Accompanied by a prostitute named Lorena, the crew ...

⭐ 7.5/10 This is nostalgia bait for me. I remember watching this movie al the time and just loving it. Steve Martin, Tom Welling, Hilary Duff, Ashton Kutcher, it is such an attack of the early 2000s and makes me feel relaxed. Cheaper by the Dozen, is a remake of a movie based on a book, and while the old movie and book are honestly, really sad and depressing, this movie keeps the family unit message intact without bringing in a bunch of super dark and depressing outcomes. The story is quite simple, a father and mother of 12 are offered opportunities to follow their dreams (specifically career based dreams) and they decide to pursue them while dragging their massive family along kicking and screaming. It is during this time of overwork, on the father's part, and cross country travel on the mother's part, that the family begins to pull apart. Quickly the mother and father become aware that they will soon have to pick between holding onto their careers or keeping their family tog...

⭐ 7/10 This movie is a whack movie. At its core it is about conservation which is.... a little gross in the context of the film. I'll be real I'm not entirely sure what to think about what's going on here because its just so odd.  This movie takes place in the beautiful German Alps at a Neo-retro European ski resort. This movie follows the eldest daughter of a family of 4 named Gretchen. Gretchen is a complicated teenage girl dealing with a slew of things. The loss of her mom, the remarriage of her dad, reintegrating into a family dynamic with a new mother figure and a new step sister, and relocation to a different country in a different continent. These challenges alone make for a difficult circumstance, but integrating into this new beautiful environment becomes harder than expected when we meet Herr König, the owner of the ski resort Gretchen and her family are working on expanding. As her architect father and König are working during the day, Gretchen hides in her room...

⭐8/10 This is a shorter documentary about last season's Pistons. I've always thought it's funny that I will write reviews about any 2 hour movie I watch, but will watch a million Pistons games and consume 6 Pistons podcasts and whatever, and make no mention of it. Naturally, nobody cares about the Pistons but me, but this documentary is a good way of discussing the media I consume more than any other.  Moreover, I can discuss the funnest season of basketball I've ever watched outside of maybe the Cavs 2016 run. This documentary is great at highlighting what a joy this team was last year. They went from one of the worst NBA teams in history to not just an okay team, but a legitimately good one, and it's hard to attribute anything to this improvement besides the good vibes. They made minor roster adjustments, but this team's run felt magical, something perfect for a documentary like this.  It also highlighted what a wild year it was. They start 0-4 and...

⭐8/10 I'm always on the lookout for a spooky season movie that I can watch with Jess, and this one came to me like in a dream. It's exactly what I wanted. A parody of horror movies but it gets the tone just right and is constantly charming. I'm not super familiar with this universe, but the one thing I remembered was that Wallace is an inventor who's inventions always involve finding the hardest, silliest ways to get what he wants. For instance, his alarm clock puts cheese in front of him so he wakes up, but then retracts so that he hits his head against the trap door every morning. Genius! Everything is so dumb and it's one of those movies that you know was a hoot to make.  But in this movie, Wallace and Gromit are humane pest control agents that keep rabbits out of gardens (again, using the dumbest contraptions conceived), and eventually they have to take down a monster that is eating everyone's vegetables before the big vegetable celebration. What...

⭐ 9/10 I saw this movie in theatres when it came out, and I haven't stopped thinking about it since. With One Battle After Another being talked about so much, I thought I would revisit PTA's previous movie, one that I thought I liked but most remember being confused by. It is just so bizarre, a movie that starts so seriously but then gets kind of funny, and then twisted. It's about a dress maker who is very particular in all aspects of life. He comes across a woman, she sort of becomes his muse, they sort of fall in love, and then it becomes a power struggle. What drew me back in, and is probably the lasting memory of this movie, is the Daniel Day Lewis performance. He is so so magnetic as this obsessive genius, a character type I always love on screen. Every little facial tick is perfection, this guy feels like a completely real person. DDL did his classic method thing, learning how to make dresses apparently, and I truly think it pays off here. Even the way he looks at c...

⭐ 8/10 I have never reviewed a podcast since all the ones I listen to are ongoing. But this podcast ended this week after a 16 year run, and it was a staple for me for as long as I've been listening to podcasts. Marc is an old cranky comedian who interviews mostly other comedians, but also actors, directors, authors, all sorts of people. Each episode starts with him complaining about the state of the world for 10 minutes, or telling a crazy story from that week, before the interview. I think his interview style is really good, leaving lots of air and not making it about himself. The list of icons he has interviewed is really long, and really impressive - this is kind of one of the first podcasts. His final episode is with Barack Obama, which tells you something about his reach and impact. I will say I probably skipped every-other episode, only listening if I knew and had some level of interest in the guest. Lots of comedians I don't know at all, and I didn't care to hear t...

⭐ 7/10 This is the show we turn to when we have nothing else to watch, because its not good enough to want to watch otherwise. Its sweet and has a good heart, but the characters aren't changing enough for it to be compelling. We also love another teacher-based show, so this feels like a step down every time. I do love Greg, and his Jim-ness plus how particular he is is a good combo. I hate how they always make fun of Morton, kind of like how they treat Jerry in Parks and Rec, except the joke was always that Jerry is actually really nice, and Morton here is just a sad guy they pick on, really strange choice. Similarly, Mr. Johnson the janitor is never funny. Every episode something goes missing, and wouldn't you know it, it's Mr. Johnson! They kind of always give him the Creed Bratton lines, say something unhinged or unrelated, but also lots of hints at a dark past. It all feels so played out. I think Season 3 had the bonus of bringing together the main couple, and this sea...

⭐10/10 Like Tim, this was one of my most anticipated games of all time, especially because that anticipation grew year after year with every tease. I love Hollow Knight, and would rank it among my favorite games of all time, and yet my thoughts still differ from his namely because I don't enjoy always being angry during my leisure time. So for those who haven't played, this is a 2D indie action-platformer that is known for a lot of things: beautiful art, brilliant design, satisfying combat, and punishing, punishing difficulty. I do think the difficulty is worth discussing because so much of your enjoyment of this game depends on your pain tolerance... but also simply your skill level. Tim beat it in 50 hours, I beat the same thing in 75. This is skill-privilege and it will not be tolerated on Weview.  So I'll start this review with the difficulty to get it out of the way. I really, really wanted to give this game lower than a 10 to highlight the absurd lows this...

⭐ 10/10 The sequel to one of my favourite games of all time, there was no doubt in my mind this game would be a masterpiece. It actually reminded me of Tears of the Kingdom in some ways, building on top of an incredible foundation, introducing more mechanics but holding true to the core gameplay and style. And I actually think both were originally conceived of as DLCs, so that makes sense. It has been many many years in the making, with basically zero news on it until release, and I love that these developers can pull that off. Always worth mentioning how incredible it is that such a small team can make something so polished, clearly so much attention to detail and love. Every room you go in feels thought through, either with its level design of little lore nuggets that make this world feel completely alive. For a game based on exploration that is relatively light on story (although not as light as the original), I love how I can feel my brain firing on all cylinders as it soaks up th...

⭐ 10/10 The hype was high, despite thinking Licorice Pizza was a dud, and this completely exceeded expectations. PTA rarely misses, and has made one of my all time favourites, and while this one may not be on the Mount Rushmore it was a wonderful time at the movies with friends.  Since I basically have nothing negative to say (maybe the ending was a bit too nice/corny?) I can just list what is great. The acting, the score, the writing, the laughs, this movie has it all. But what I think will make this memorable for me is that it feels modern, of the moment. Seeing people in cages is bracing, and the scenes with Benicio wandering around the safe house comforting people on the corners of the screen felt way too real. But at its core this is a movie of a father trying to get back to his daughter, and I watched this waiting for the arrival of my daughter. Can't say I had the strongest emotional connection in that way, but it was timely, and the frantic energy of Leo throughout this fe...

This was a reread for a book club, and I'm really glad that I got the chance to do a deep reading of it. It's about Aza, who has contamination OCD, as she looks for a missing billionaire, falls in love, hangs out with her best friend, and struggles with her mental health. I have never read a book that captures the feeling of an OCD spiral so well, especially the cyclical nature of it. It's funny and realistic and poignant, and it sparked great conversations at our meeting.   This book revolves around three Filipina maids working in Singapore and their experiences as domestic workers in a wealthy country. They each have their own backgrounds and situations, but all face discrimination, abuse, and neglect in different ways. A central point is that a fellow maid gets charged with murdering her employer, even though the maids know she wasn't home when it happened, so in between work they do some investigating. I found it really eye-opening, and was a clear-eyed view of life...