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Sep. 20th, 2020 10:34 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sideways• For Father's Day we went and saw TENET, Christopher Nolan's latest, and I found it overall enjoyable if harder to follow than Inception. (Though that was in part because I struggled to hear several important conversations; I've seen at least one other review complain about the sound mixing, suggesting it wasn't just me.) It had the usual strengths: stunning cinematics and creative choreography, interesting sci-fi concepts put into brain-wrinkling practice, and a soundtrack that crawls inside your ribcage to pound in place of your heart. It also had the usual flaws: bland characters (though it was nice to see a black man in the lead!), women corralled by the whims of men, and interesting sci-fi concepts largely used as visual staging for stock standard action/adventure dramatics. Fans of his work can count on having a good time.
• Unsurprisingly, upon getting home I went and checked out Interstellar, one of the Nolan pieces I hadn't yet seen. I liked it more than TENET, because at the end of the day eco-disasters and space are more my thing than spies and security. At the same time, it was a struggle to stave off a feeling of resentful malaise throughout, because, well. There Is No Planet B. Watching fictional escapes from a very real problem lacks catharsis, these days. Still, the imagination that went into portraying wormholes and black holes and other worlds was very satisfying.
• Romance is not a genre I usually gravitate to, but I have a soft spot for visual novel / choose-your-own-romance that I mostly blame on BioWare. Fallen Hero: Rebirth has to be one of the better I've run into! The worldbuilding is familiar - superheroes in a modern society - but you're positioned as an ex-hero slowly building your rebirth into a supervillain and the story was handled with surprising nuance. The romances promise to be a slow build with rightful emphasis placed on plot concerns as they arise, and I enjoy the complexity and variety of the choices you're offered. I'll be sticking with this one, I think.
• As part of my solemn swearing to work through my purchased backlog I've been focusing on my collection of short games, which has honestly been exactly what I need right now anyway. Unavowed is the second of Wadjet Eye's titles I've tried, and I had just as much fun as I did with Primordia. They're not difficult point-and-click puzzles, but the stories are engaging and the characters very endearing, though a couple could have used more depth. Yes, Logan, you used to be an alcoholic. I know. We all know.
• Gris I'd dithered on because I was under the impression it was a puzzle platformer, and I'm a bit hit-and-miss with those. Turns out it's the most perfect puzzle platformer ever. Every single thing about this game was a treat for my eyes and my brain and my feelings and I cannot recommend it more fervently.
• Somehow I've gone on a bit of a Disney Favourites binge: The Lion King, Fox & the Hound, Mulan, Rescuers Down Under. Reminds me for the nth time how much I miss 2D animation as a regular cinematic feature. Whence again will Disney offer something as captivating as Marahute's flying sequence, or the vicious fluidity of the hound pursuing the fox?
• Also started watching Westworld. Only a few episodes in so far, but it's holding my interest. So many boobs, though. So many.
• I've breached the halfway point in Dune and am continuing to chip away. The text is old and dry, but while I have to take it in small doses I'm coming to agree it's worthy of its status; even more so when one considers how much it pre-dates and has clearly influenced. Herbert set himself a curious challenge in writing a story in which precognition is a dominant and active player, and is so far rising to it. Funnily enough, though, I picked the book off my shelf at long last by chance decision - and then found out there's to be a movie soon! The trailer looks surprisingly promising. Even from what little I know, the right scenes, lines, and atmosphere seem to be there. If nothing else, it should be good viewing - reading about the worms is one thing, seeing them in full realistic scale is another. Dang.
• Unsurprisingly, upon getting home I went and checked out Interstellar, one of the Nolan pieces I hadn't yet seen. I liked it more than TENET, because at the end of the day eco-disasters and space are more my thing than spies and security. At the same time, it was a struggle to stave off a feeling of resentful malaise throughout, because, well. There Is No Planet B. Watching fictional escapes from a very real problem lacks catharsis, these days. Still, the imagination that went into portraying wormholes and black holes and other worlds was very satisfying.
• Romance is not a genre I usually gravitate to, but I have a soft spot for visual novel / choose-your-own-romance that I mostly blame on BioWare. Fallen Hero: Rebirth has to be one of the better I've run into! The worldbuilding is familiar - superheroes in a modern society - but you're positioned as an ex-hero slowly building your rebirth into a supervillain and the story was handled with surprising nuance. The romances promise to be a slow build with rightful emphasis placed on plot concerns as they arise, and I enjoy the complexity and variety of the choices you're offered. I'll be sticking with this one, I think.
• As part of my solemn swearing to work through my purchased backlog I've been focusing on my collection of short games, which has honestly been exactly what I need right now anyway. Unavowed is the second of Wadjet Eye's titles I've tried, and I had just as much fun as I did with Primordia. They're not difficult point-and-click puzzles, but the stories are engaging and the characters very endearing, though a couple could have used more depth. Yes, Logan, you used to be an alcoholic. I know. We all know.
• Gris I'd dithered on because I was under the impression it was a puzzle platformer, and I'm a bit hit-and-miss with those. Turns out it's the most perfect puzzle platformer ever. Every single thing about this game was a treat for my eyes and my brain and my feelings and I cannot recommend it more fervently.
• Somehow I've gone on a bit of a Disney Favourites binge: The Lion King, Fox & the Hound, Mulan, Rescuers Down Under. Reminds me for the nth time how much I miss 2D animation as a regular cinematic feature. Whence again will Disney offer something as captivating as Marahute's flying sequence, or the vicious fluidity of the hound pursuing the fox?
• Also started watching Westworld. Only a few episodes in so far, but it's holding my interest. So many boobs, though. So many.
• I've breached the halfway point in Dune and am continuing to chip away. The text is old and dry, but while I have to take it in small doses I'm coming to agree it's worthy of its status; even more so when one considers how much it pre-dates and has clearly influenced. Herbert set himself a curious challenge in writing a story in which precognition is a dominant and active player, and is so far rising to it. Funnily enough, though, I picked the book off my shelf at long last by chance decision - and then found out there's to be a movie soon! The trailer looks surprisingly promising. Even from what little I know, the right scenes, lines, and atmosphere seem to be there. If nothing else, it should be good viewing - reading about the worms is one thing, seeing them in full realistic scale is another. Dang.
no subject
Date: 2020-09-20 10:56 am (UTC)I keep thinking I ought to read Dune, but I haven't managed it yet.
no subject
Date: 2020-09-21 08:58 am (UTC)Dune seems to be a good one for sitting on everyone's "I feel like I should, but..." lists, heh. I have to admit it'll be nice to finally move it off mine. Next: Earthsea :|
no subject
Date: 2020-09-23 09:13 am (UTC)Oh absolutely. I also have Earthsea on my to-read list, hehehe.
no subject
Date: 2020-10-21 11:41 pm (UTC)Freakin' cable TV and male-gaze issues.
I found Westworld fascinating (we've watched 2 seasons, thus far), but can't stop wishing it had been made by Netflix or even Showtime, just to reduce the amount of T&A/soft-core porn objectification, and the quantity (and explicitness) of gore. :O