November 19, 2025Nov 19 We went to watch Bugonia, but weren't quite satisfied with the story. I suppose you could call it an unusual character study. There were a couple of unexpected plot twists, but in the end I wasn't sure what message it was trying to communicate (other than maybe humans don't deserve to survive). I suppose if you liked Poor Things then you may enjoy this. But I preferred Emma Stone in Cruella. Edited November 19, 2025Nov 19 by rjshae "It has just been discovered that research causes cancer in rats."
November 21, 2025Nov 21 32A (2007). Irish film. Writing-wise...it was a little basic, all the beats you'd probably expect, but otherwise I thought it was quite nice. A little silly, a little cringey, a little funny, a little drama, a little sad - all the things you'd probably want in a girl's coming-of-age film, without ever being too much in any particular way, and executed in a nice style with good casting. Jared Harris...probably shouldn't have been in it. Too small and simple a part for him, he sticks out like a sore thumb in an otherwise very natural cast. I didn't initially place him, but I burst out laughing as soon as I heard his voice. A little too recognizable for his own good, I think. I don't think I wrote about it here, but I watched My Girl (1991), another girl-coming-of-age film, a while back with my nieces, and I can't understate how much better 32A is, despite how much simpler and straightforward 32A is. Hollywood films can just be so painfully dumb and misguided with all the silliness they pre-occupy themselves with in an attempt to earn back the money they cost for their big names, which a smaller foreign/indie film can just ignore in favor of...trying to make a decent film that will resonate with the demographic it's being made for. It's good for this kind of film. Quote Against stupidity we have no defense. Neither protests nor force can touch it. Reasoning is of no use. Facts that contradict personal prejudices can simply be disbelieved - indeed, the fool can counter by criticizing them, and if they are undeniable, they can just be pushed aside as trivial exceptions. So the fool, as distinct from the scoundrel, is completely self-satisfied. In fact, they can easily become dangerous, as it does not take much to make them aggressive. For that reason, greater caution is called for than with a malicious one. Never again will we try to persuade the stupid person with reasons, for it is senseless and dangerous.
December 3, 2025Dec 3 In other news, watched THE RAGE: CARRIE 2 an RITUAL. Both flawed films, both with thi gs to recommend besides those flaws, and both probably could have been better with more work at the script stage. I cannot - yet I must. How do you calculate that? At what point on the graph do "must" and "cannot" meet? Yet I must - but I cannot! ~ Ro-Man
December 4, 2025Dec 4 Weapons (2025). Wasn't sure how I felt about it for most of it, but the hilarious ending pushed me it into liking it overall. Quote Against stupidity we have no defense. Neither protests nor force can touch it. Reasoning is of no use. Facts that contradict personal prejudices can simply be disbelieved - indeed, the fool can counter by criticizing them, and if they are undeniable, they can just be pushed aside as trivial exceptions. So the fool, as distinct from the scoundrel, is completely self-satisfied. In fact, they can easily become dangerous, as it does not take much to make them aggressive. For that reason, greater caution is called for than with a malicious one. Never again will we try to persuade the stupid person with reasons, for it is senseless and dangerous.
December 13, 2025Dec 13 I cannot - yet I must. How do you calculate that? At what point on the graph do "must" and "cannot" meet? Yet I must - but I cannot! ~ Ro-Man
December 13, 2025Dec 13 Looks cheesy enough. "because they filled mommy with enough mythic power to become a demi-god" - KP
December 15, 2025Dec 15 Wolfwalkers (2020). I'd only heard great things about it, but... It is a gorgeous film, but it was difficult to fully recover from the painful first ~20 minutes. Most every scene felt like it was lingering or outright repeating a few beats too many, I was getting genuinely kinda mad at how poorly edited this felt and how reducing the film by even just...five, maybe ten minutes by chopping off a few seconds from each scene would've helped it feel so much punchier. The script also has a strange way of feeling too kiddie and too adult at the same time, like it can't really quite make up its mind what kind of tone it should have, and I found that...uh, a little weird and off-putting. It could've been great, but I guess it's just one of those movies where a series of seemingly small issues keeps taking you out of it, try as you might. Oh well. As far as wolf movies go, I liked Princess Mononoke better, and I still don't much like Princess Mononoke despite having seen it four(?) times, so... Edited December 15, 2025Dec 15 by Bartimaeus Quote Against stupidity we have no defense. Neither protests nor force can touch it. Reasoning is of no use. Facts that contradict personal prejudices can simply be disbelieved - indeed, the fool can counter by criticizing them, and if they are undeniable, they can just be pushed aside as trivial exceptions. So the fool, as distinct from the scoundrel, is completely self-satisfied. In fact, they can easily become dangerous, as it does not take much to make them aggressive. For that reason, greater caution is called for than with a malicious one. Never again will we try to persuade the stupid person with reasons, for it is senseless and dangerous.
December 15, 2025Dec 15 Author Cronos (1992) - Remastered I think you can sort of file this in the same category as the Midnight Mass miniseries as a world where vampire fiction doesn't exist. Also it takes place during Christmas and New Year's, so I guess it's a holiday thing just like Midnight Mass. Anyways, I enjoyed it quite a lot. The scenes of the Chronos device remind me quite a lot of Lynch's Eraserhead sequences, and you can hear Lynch's influence throughout the film. It's very much a Del Torro film throughout, and you can see clearly how this is the guy who would go on to make Pan's Labyrinth and Hellboy. "Akiva Goldsman and Alex Kurtzman run the 21st century version of MK ULTRA." - majestic "you're a damned filthy lying robot and you deserve to die and burn in hell." - Bartimaeus "Without individual thinking you can't notice the plot holes." - InsaneCommander "Just feed off the suffering of gamers." - Malcador "You are calling my taste crap." -Hurlshort "thankfully it seems like the creators like Hungary less this time around." - Sarex "Don't forget the wakame, dumbass" -Keyrock "Are you trolling or just being inadvertently nonsensical?' -Pidesco "we have already been forced to admit you are at least human" - uuuhhii "I refuse to buy from non-woke businesses" - HoonDing "feral camels are now considered a pest" - Gorth "Melkathi is known to be an overly critical grumpy person" - Melkathi "Oddly enough Sanderson was a lot more direct despite being a Mormon" - Zoraptor "I found it greatly disturbing to scroll through my cartoon's halfing selection of genitalias." - Wormerine "I love cheese despite the pain and carnage." - ShadySands
January 2Jan 2 I took the family to see Avatar: Fire and Ash. It was good. It didn't really break the Avatar mold or anything, but it kept the world building going. It's crazy to think that this was my daughter's favorite movie as a child, and now she's an adult, and we are still heading to the theater to watch it for 3+ hours. That being said, it didn't feel drawn out or anything. It was a speedy 3 hours. I do wish they pushed the biomes a bit. This was very much part 2 of the watery world stuff. There was a volcano area that was barely shown, and the industrial city was also not really explored. So lots of diving in the water with submarines and whales. Also I'm pretty sure the creatures for the Abyss showed up in this thing. But yeah, if you liked Avatar, more of the same. If you didn't, this certainly won't change your mind.
January 8Jan 8 I cannot - yet I must. How do you calculate that? At what point on the graph do "must" and "cannot" meet? Yet I must - but I cannot! ~ Ro-Man
January 11Jan 11 Eddington (2025). It got maybe just a little over the top towards the end there, but overall, it felt like a very wonderful, horrible look into the disaster that is the United States of America and its many crises, new and old alike. Very stressful. Probably don't watch it if if you live in the U.S. and having to think about the current state of this country and its future might push you over the edge. Quote Against stupidity we have no defense. Neither protests nor force can touch it. Reasoning is of no use. Facts that contradict personal prejudices can simply be disbelieved - indeed, the fool can counter by criticizing them, and if they are undeniable, they can just be pushed aside as trivial exceptions. So the fool, as distinct from the scoundrel, is completely self-satisfied. In fact, they can easily become dangerous, as it does not take much to make them aggressive. For that reason, greater caution is called for than with a malicious one. Never again will we try to persuade the stupid person with reasons, for it is senseless and dangerous.
January 13Jan 13 So found out they made Jarhead sequels, should be fun Why has elegance found so little following? Elegance has the disadvantage that hard work is needed to achieve it and a good education to appreciate it. - Edsger Wybe Dijkstra
January 14Jan 14 Love Serenade (1996). Australian cinema is so...very strange every time I watch any. Each time, it's like stepping onto an alien planet that more or less looks like ours but doesn't really act like ours. It's weird in the land down under... Miranda Otto is such a funny lady. Edited January 14Jan 14 by Bartimaeus Quote Against stupidity we have no defense. Neither protests nor force can touch it. Reasoning is of no use. Facts that contradict personal prejudices can simply be disbelieved - indeed, the fool can counter by criticizing them, and if they are undeniable, they can just be pushed aside as trivial exceptions. So the fool, as distinct from the scoundrel, is completely self-satisfied. In fact, they can easily become dangerous, as it does not take much to make them aggressive. For that reason, greater caution is called for than with a malicious one. Never again will we try to persuade the stupid person with reasons, for it is senseless and dangerous.
January 23Jan 23 14 hours ago, Hurlshort said: Huh, looks weird. That skull castle brings back good childhood memories though. I think my older brother had this thing, it instantly flashed ancient vague memories in my brain. Quote Against stupidity we have no defense. Neither protests nor force can touch it. Reasoning is of no use. Facts that contradict personal prejudices can simply be disbelieved - indeed, the fool can counter by criticizing them, and if they are undeniable, they can just be pushed aside as trivial exceptions. So the fool, as distinct from the scoundrel, is completely self-satisfied. In fact, they can easily become dangerous, as it does not take much to make them aggressive. For that reason, greater caution is called for than with a malicious one. Never again will we try to persuade the stupid person with reasons, for it is senseless and dangerous.
January 23Jan 23 On 12/3/2025 at 11:03 PM, Bartimaeus said: Weapons (2025). Wasn't sure how I felt about it for most of it, but the hilarious ending pushed me it into liking it overall. I would have liked that movie more if the entire film had had that ludicrous over the top feel. But to me it felt out of place vs. the rest of the movie. If you want to be a horrific satire/comedy, pick that and stick with it. Is Evil Dead 2 a great cinematic film. No, not even close. But (back when) I laughed my butt off from beginning to end. Long live Bruce Campbell. Still gaming with my 9900k/2080ti/32 ram. One day I suppose a game may inspire me to finally upgrade. Maybe.
January 26Jan 26 One Battle After Another Meh, it was alright and Penn put in a good performance. My wife fell asleep almost immediately and it felt a little too long for me.
February 3Feb 3 Avatar: Fire and AshAs usual an amazing visual spectacular as well as a particularly long watch. Why does it feel like every Avatar movie has the same plot, with minor variations for flavoring? Is it the climactic battle scenes? "It has just been discovered that research causes cancer in rats."
February 3Feb 3 1 hour ago, rjshae said:Avatar: Fire and AshAs usual an amazing visual spectacular as well as a particularly long watch. Why does it feel like every Avatar movie has the same plot, with minor variations for flavoring? Is it the climactic battle scenes?Yep, it's the formula.
Wednesday at 08:38 AM5 days Bone TempleAs good as the previous one - with a hilarious climax. I think these two deserve a bit more love, I definitely didn't expect them to be as good as they were. Too bad so few went to see them.
5 hours ago5 hr Lucky Stiff (1988) dark comedy about a man (Joe Alesky) who, dumped at the altar, is convinced to take his honeymoon trip where he meets a woman (Donna Douglas) who is interested in him coming home with her to her family Christmas where they - as cannibals - plan to eat him. Directed by Anthony Perkins and Pat Proft was one of the writers. Not as funny or zany as it could be, but has its moments ("I knew where my rump was, but want sure about my chuck...")****A couple of trailers i thought looked interesting: I cannot - yet I must. How do you calculate that? At what point on the graph do "must" and "cannot" meet? Yet I must - but I cannot! ~ Ro-Man
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