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⭐8.5/10 I got to watch this one with a group of friends on Halloween night, and despite scaring that absolute dickens out of me as a kid, this really isn't a scary movie at all. There's like 3 freaky scenes, and I saw them coming all these years later, so I was kinda happy about that, a movie that's a pretty easy crowd pleaser.  So not a Halloween movie, but it's a terrific fall movie, very autumnal and dreary, and still perfect for the season. It's about sad Bruce Willis working with sad Haley Joel Osment, and sad for good reason! He sees dead people! A few people with me hadn't seen the movie and didn't know the twists, both that one and also the big one which has since become maybe a top five movie twist of all time? It's fun watching the movie, seeing those reactions from the crowd (and making the connection of where that famous line comes from), but also going in with the knowledge and looking at the clues all along. I t totally works on...

⭐8/10 I hate to bury good, thoughtful reviews with another season of Bake Off, but that's politics for you. This was one of Jess's favorite seasons and she wanted to share it with me.  I've got news for you Jess! Old seasons aren't as good! The recording footage looks worse, the hosts aren't as funny (very subjective), and Paul Hollywood hasn't nailed his Hollywood persona/ look yet. Also he's sometimes kinda legit mean! There's at least more diversity of flavour here with lots of brown people bringing unique and cultural ideas.  Still, it's the ultimate comfort show for a reason and something I always want to turn on. Another wonderful cast of characters, one where I'm sad every time to see someone go. 

I saw the trailer for Naza and was moved by it, so I figured I should check this one off the list. This isn't something I can score, and after You Can See Everything this feels like pure documentary in a sea of more curated and tailored films trying to document real life. I basically knew nothing about this, so instead of trying to summarize the movie or laud its craft I will just talk about how it made me feel. To be frank, I worked for a company that took out this full page ad in the New York Times. This was after October 7 2023, so there is a lot of context missing in a screenshot of this ad, but that's kind of the genius of this doc. It doesn't really explain why anything is happening. Everyone keeps saying this conflict is complicated and historic and nuanced and I'm sure that's true. But when you see bulldozers on the horizon like Star Destroyers coming to do their daily demolition of whatever building they want, there is no nuance. They are the bad guys. I f...

⭐ 9/10 I had a boss in 2014 who tried to convince me to play Dark Souls games, and I watched a small clip and quickly determined it wasn't for me. It looked drab and boring and just not fun. Fast forward to playing Elden Ring, one of the best games of all time, and I kind of just thought it was the only one worth playing. All the genius of the series distilled into one more accessible game that looks great. Well, post Silksong I have been craving more Souls-like games (I wonder where that name came from), and saw this was available for the Switch. I loved it, and I am sad I didn't start playing a decade ago when I could have really sunk some time into this world. Honestly this game might have recreated Zelda magic for me in a way I haven't experienced outside that series. Going through a really difficult dungeon, then opening up a door that you realize is a shortcut to where you started from so you never need to traverse that area again, just one of the most satisfying thi...

I think I skipped a few months there, oops! But I've got some new recent favourite books to talk about!      This book blew my socks off. As soon as I started it I was locked in, and despite it being a long book, I read it really quickly.      The two main characters are Tamma and Dan, who have been best friends their whole lives growing up in the Mojave Desert. They're both obsessed with rock climbing, but they're poor and don't actually have the proper gear, so they just take risks and climb whatever they can. They have feuding mothers and messy home lives. Dan is facing pressure from his parents to leave Tamma and climbing behind and go to university instead, while nobody believes in Tamma at all even though she spends most of her time caring for her family.      Unsurprisingly, a lot of this book revolves around the idea of the crux of a climb, where you can stay safely where you are, or go for a big move that might make you fall, but if ...