WeView

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...

⭐ 9/10 This is basically a feature-length How To with John Wilson episode, and I couldn't have been happier about it. Its structured the exact same way as every episode, where he documents obscure things he sees in New York, and follows every aimless interaction as far as it will go (often incredibly far). Most of this is focused on concrete, how and where its used around New York, where it fails, with a ton of detours along the way. Thematically its right in line with the show. Everything feels like it boils down to impermanence, how we build these structures out of this boring material and patch it eternally even though its bad for the environment and doesn't look all that nice. He goes to concrete conventions, speaks with a couple contractors, looks at concrete in Rome, visits a brick-layer competition that is the epitome of Americana, works with a guy that blasts gum off sidewalks, and that's barely scratching the surface! In How To the weirdness and mundanity of moder...

⭐ 9/10 I didn't even realize when we booted this one up that a new version was coming out just a few days later! Well, who needs it. This is essentially a perfect movie, with great writing, fantastic performances across the board, and some legitamite moments of humour. My only exposure to Austen has been Pride & Prejudice, and I think I like this story a lot more. I mean, its kind of the exact same thing, but what this movie lacks in visual splendour it makes up for in a tighter script and runtime. I love the way Hugh Grant is in this movie for just a couple moments, but his aura lingers in every single scene. I love the way Kate Winslet pants for breath and says "he picked me up and carried me as if I were no more than a feather" after her romantic first encounter with Willoughby. Honestly that first encounter is one of the best romance scenes I have ever seen, and I think it's all Kate. Eat your heart out Mr. Darcy, that's how you come striding across the m...

⭐ 5/10 This is a Netflix dumpster fire if I have ever seen one. Big budget, a couple stars (including a now Oscar winner back in the title role), but a nothing script with empty meaningless dialogue. This movie is for people that get turned on seeing Tommy Shelby put his hat on and walk in slow motion. Much like the final season it only cares about the glorification of its star instead of, I don't know, telling an interesting story. Barry Keoghan is here as his son, which is kind of cool casting, but whatever, he's an angry pitbull son causing lots of issues, and Tommy needs to come out of retirement to set him straight. That's basically all there is to this? Arthur is now dead, a fact that infuriated me since the show didn't have the guts to kill him, and not only that, he dies off screen! The actor isn't even here for a flashback. A true tragedy, the ultimate act of cowardice. Tommy's involvement in his death is used for a dramatic moment, but its so stupid a...

⭐ 6.5/10 Easily the worst season of the show, and a tremendously disappointing "conclusion". This season really spins its wheels, seemingly unable to cope with an unexpected death of one of the actors, and as I said last season they are clearly incapable of imagining this show without any of the main cast. This is a dangerous world they live in, and they take on a ton of risk! The fact that basically no one dies in inexcusable, and they need to look at Boardwalk Empire (the closest comp) or the Sopranos for a lesson in killing your darlings. The show is firmly just "doesn't Cillian Murphy look and sound so cool", and he does. I'm going full spoiler, but he gets a terminal diagnose in this season, and I was like, great, this suicidal dude who is getting closer and closer to the grave will now have an out to go full kamikaze, how convenient. But at the end we find out the doctor was lying! This was a plot by the fascists to trick him into killing himself! Jus...

⭐ 7/10 This show was honestly pretty boring, minus two episodes that gave me that "Lost" feeling I crave. The setup is good, I love the two stars, but I just found myself not caring. It ditches a lot of the classic superhero stuff, and in the best episode actually dissects the idea of a Green Lantern in a thought provoking way, what would it mean to be raised into this inheritance. The show also deserves credit for essentially doing its season finale half way through, with the big CGI battle, and then the latter half of the show exists in the devastation that follows. A bold structure, and I thought that part of the show worked well. I actually found a lot of the show confusing. In the climactic one there is double crossing and alliances I did not understand at all. The entire plot is basically around them trying to find a Manhunter, and I have no idea what that is or what they are capable of. There is this guy Sinestro that is played as a big reveal early on, really don...

⭐ 6/10 Your suffering is over, you can go to sleep now. We started this season, got 6 episodes in, then stopped for over 3 months. That should tell you all you need to know. The season basically takes place over like 3 long and painful days. There is a huge storm, the restaurant is flooding, they have no money, everything that can go wrong is. There are tons and tons of close ups on cigarettes blocking a drain that is causing a bunch of these issues, and it felt ironic to me, but completely not self aware. Maybe the show is... circling the drain? I think they think all the madcap stuff and fast talking is funny, but it really isn't. Every moment of humour feels ad-libbed, where people are swearing and being sarcastic or whatever. Its just so worn out. There is a moment early on when a mom is talking to another mom about how she is sad she is here and not with her kid. And the other mom is like, but would your kid want you home and sad wishing you were here instead? Which to me was...

⭐ 9/10 I thought this movie was so good. It combines the "great man" drive of something like There Will Be Blood or Whiplash or Marty Supreme with modern attention-seeking, and its based on a true story! I was aware of Chris Hansen and To Catch A Predator, but I was pretty young and didn't think too much about it. But this movie is fixated on the people who made that show, and whether what they were doing was good for anyone. Don't get me wrong, obviously pedophiles are a problem, but there is a really interesting dynamic here. This show basically entraps people, playing on their darkest desires and then utterly shaming them on national television. Chris keeps saying "what would happen if I wasn't here", and the movie makes you think, well, maybe nothing! These creeps would still be creeps, but the show's intent was to make them act on it, which might not have even happened without the show. Pattinson is phenomenal, driven by this holy crusade but c...

⭐ 8.5/10 The show is in a familiar rhythm, and that's fine. This season the new big bad guy is a fascist, and I kind of like that Tommy has moved all the way up to politics. We are getting to the end and it is reminding me of all mob stuff, like the Sopranos, in that the main character is trying to figure out what all of this has meant. Tommy is going through it, and while he does that every season death is really becoming a preoccupation of his (like Tony). Again, nothing new here, but I think the execution is very good. I was impressed by Sam Claflin, really goes toe to toe with Cillian, especially having to follow up Adrian Brody as the bad guy. I thought the women get a chance to shine here too, all going through the same cycles as the men. Again, lots of Carmilla Soprano in all of them, but we are far enough along now that they have all mostly accepted that they are the bad guys too. Happy to see Anya Taylor Joy now, and I wish she had more to do, but I have faith season 6 wi...

⭐ 9.5/10 This is easily the best show I've seen all year. I don't watch a lot of TV, and I was skeptical of this one even early on. But it got better and better until the exciting finale, with a lot of room left to grow in future seasons. This is starts as a somewhat basic cat-and-mouse, serial killer is on the loose and an FBI agent is tracking her. After episode 1 I was like, okay this is just Killing Eve, both will become fascinated with each other, they will circle the whole season, and then in the finale they finally cross paths. Not at all! Alice is the FBI agent, and she's been through a lot herself. As the case becomes about human trafficking and violence against women you learn just how personal this all is for her. Again, I was skeptical of this angle. In episode two you see her look at her shower with fear, refuse to get in, and then coworkers constantly asking what stinks. I thought the implication was clear here, but then two police officers watching her in a ...

⭐ 8/10 I looked back at Goodreads for my first review of this book, and shockingly I gave it 10/10! I know the first time I read it I was in Death Valley, which is surely the best place in the world to read this. I also distinctly remember the final sequences of this book blowing me away, the most unexpected event happens that completely reshapes what these books are going forward, and the first time I read it it might have been the most shocking moment in a book for me ever. That moment still lands - it took me 4 months to read 3/4 of this book and then a day to read the last quarter. However, this book is mostly a bunch of commentary. Politics, mysticism, philosophy. Every character's inner thoughts are all sort of the same thing, full of scheming and planning. Leto and Ghanima are the most interesting here, especially compared to Alia, and I had a memory of this book being a lot more of them. There are just whole arcs here I was checked out on, especially knowing what was comin...

⭐ 9/10 Dominic Sessa is now 2/2 for movies that feel like they were made in the 90s in all the best ways. This tells the story of the formative summer in the life of Anthony Bourdain, where he happened to find himself working in a kitchen. I am so so skeptical of biopics, and we live in an era where all the grit is sanded away from the lives of fascinating people. Michael was one of the biggest movies this year, and granted I haven't seen it, I know that movie does not touch any of the dirt. Same with the Amy Winehouse movie, which I also haven't seen, but read that its kind of like, sure she was an addict but she was also sad. This movie does not sympathize with Tony almost ever. It reminded me a ton of Marty Supreme in that way, constantly making choices you hate but are consistent with who he is. But this guy's only talent is lying. I also love that it is focused on a simple summer of inspiration, the starting of a new chapter, and doesn't try to end with an aged-up...

⭐ 8/10 This is a Coen movie I had seen before, and had fond memories of, but I didn't really remember most of it. With it being the summer of The Odyssey it felt like a good one to watch - the first frame literally says its based on it. But structurally these are very different stories, with a bunch of nods and allusions to things like the cylops and the sirens. 3 guys are on the run, and only later its revealed that the one is trying to get back to his wife and daughters. There are some really memorable scenes here, and I guess that's like The Odyssey too, set pieces on the journey. The most memorable is when they sing I Am A Man of Constant Sorrow, what a banger. But for the most part I think this movie is totally carried by Clooney's charisma. He is handsome and fast talking, and I love how elevated his vocabulary is. Fantastic writing for this character, while he was talking I felt my mind more engaged than during 90% of things I watch (excluding Jeopardy). A unique ch...

⭐ 8.5/10 This is a tournament between 6 all time Jeopardy greats, and it was a fun watch. I do think the episodes are too long, basically double episodes, but it still has the great pace. It did get tiring seeing the exact same people every episodes competing in different configurations, but that also meant you get to know a bunch of them really well. Shoutout to Paolo, who we had seen previously and both loved, and Andrew, who won our hearts. But Victoria, my goodness, I was not aware of your game! She is an absolute beast, and I was blown away watching her breadth of knowledge. Born to be a trivia genius, she dominated so many of these games. The real reason this gets a lower score is because the guy I didn't like won. Yogesh completed the title defense, but he is so uncharismatic and boring, and its annoying to see him spamming the buzzer when he is clearly to late, as if to say, I know this one too! Victoria totally choked in the final, with some Daily Double and Final Jeopard...

⭐ 8.5/10 CBC got me again with a true crime podcast teaser posted to the Frontburner feed on a holiday. Something about these being in small towns near places I know is super interesting. This one is about Dawson Creek AB and this long chain of murders going on there. Turns out its all drug related, but the interesting part of this one is the relationship the journalist makes with a local drug dealer. The guy is an arrogant idiot, but has some amazing clips that they use, speaking very openly about the violence and drug trade. He compares himself to The Sopranos or Corleones, but he's an absolute mess. There's a moment when is grown up daughter dies from an overdose on fentanyl, and its fascinating to hear him come to terms with himself being the bad guy, indirectly or directly causing the death of his own child. And then, spoilers, he is eventually killed for speaking out to these journalists! There is an interesting dynamic here, where everyone knows who the murderer is, but...

⭐ 9/10 Well well well, what do we have here. This show is actually good now?? I thought this season was a massive step up in every aspect. We have a new big bad villain again, but now its Adrian Brody! The stakes this season felt way higher, and they actually killed a family member! I've been begging for them to do this, and even though its the inconsequential brother it still felt like a dramatic shift for the show. Sometimes I feel like the show has plot arcs that never really lead to everything, but here everything felt connected to the families survival. The fallout from last season helped, and while everything was patched up kind of quickly I felt like the damage that was done persisted. The characters all feel changed from that moment on, and especially early, seeing Polly going through a religious psychosis and Arthur failing to adapt to peaceful living, it was just very effective. I do think the season had two golden opportunities and fumbled them both. One is in a traitor...

⭐ 8/10 I am not sure I had seen this since it was in theatres, and breaking news, its pretty good! While I wish the back half had more songs, the songs here are almost all great. The animation is excellent, all the snow and ice and fog, and Olaf is still kind of funny to me. We did have to skip the scene where Elsa's castle is attacked, and I had a memory of this movie feeling a bit long, so that probably helped. I remember a lot being made of this not being a classic Disney movie where the prince saves the day, and it is nice that they lead up to a true-love's-kiss and then actively push away from that. But at the same time Anna does find her true love... so they have their cake and eat it too. Speaking of Anna, this is her movie! Elsa kind of has the lasting cultural impact, and rightfully so, Let It Go is a song my great grandchildren will be asking for in the car. You don't see many young girls at Halloween dressed up as Anna, yet she probably has 80% of the speaking i...

⭐ 9.5/10 This is everything I want in a video game. By the people who made Shovel Knight, a game I loved, its in the style of older games like Zelda Link to the Past. It has fantastic music and terrific art direction. Every screen you visit feels packed with detail and love. It features fun puzzles, excellent bosses, and a perfectly high difficult level. I think the story here is another great element, in that there is some darkness to this game that looks so innocent. When someone says something like that I think of Undertale, that goes for this cutesy humour, dark in attempt to get a laugh. I feel like this actually attempts to be serious, despite some funny moments, so it manages to feel like an adult game despite the old style. Kind of like older Final Fantasy, it manages to pull off a tone despite an art style that can feel childish, and I think that's really cool. There are two downsides to this game. One is that I got to the final boss' final form, lost, and then didn...

⭐ 10/10 A joy to see this back! All the same things as last season, a fun quiz show to watch with your partner, with a much higher probability of knowing the answers than true Jeopardy. A huge improvement here is that they went with teams of 2 instead of 3, so you still get a sense of the friend dynamics. Jess and I have been watching Jeopardy almost every night, and that show is a masterpiece, as mechanically perfected as any show could be. 20 minute episodes with skippable commercials baked in, so probably actually 18 minutes. It is down to a science, the pace is so perfect, and its so easy to just crush 3 in a row and feel like you even learned something! That's where going back to Pop Culture was difficult - these games are too long! Like 40 minutes, and Colin Jost is funny, but having to interact with 6 people, as well as little jokes between some of the questions, I was just really missing the pace. Then came the final, which they spread over 2 games, with a cumulative score...