A Dark Song(DNF)

Written and Directed by Liam Gavin

Film

Unfortunately rather bland narratively despite some nice visual flourishes in otherwise tedious scenes.

Goatherded

Charlo Frade

Comic One-Shot

Very abstract fantasy/sci-fi comic with a lot of symbolic stuff I don’t have the space to really dig into, and I haven’t really come to any conclusions on it myself. Very unique and interesting art, regardless.

Pain & Gain

Directed by Michael Bay, Written by Christopher Markus, Stephen McFeely, and Pete Collins

Film

I have a love-hate relationship with Michael Bay, even when I enjoy his films there is still so much to dislike that it is almost redundant to mention. This continues in that tradition with, at least to date, the most male gaze-y and misogynistic characters of his, and yet due to the nature of who they are it isn’t nearly as much of a stumbling block. This is derived from every single person in this movie, except maybe the PI, being the absolute worst: a deeply misanthropic and potentially if one were to be bold scathing attack on the fundamental american mythos. That being said, that would be a hilariously leading reading of the film, and there is the Bay cop-worship which goes a good deal to undercutting that but you take what you can. As expected, there is the glitz and intensity that Bay is known for and when combined with an almost Coen Brother’s-esque horribly incompotent criminals that cuts straight to the core of what I love you have a surprisingly great showing.

Seeing the Rock and Wahlberg actually playing characters feels wrong though.

Chrono Arc

AI Fine

Video Game

Deckbuilding roguelike with visual novel storytelling in a surprisingly indepth science fiction setting. Played with my brother for our game exchange program. There is a lot to love about this, having enough interesting spins on both the narrative and the mechanical fronts from their genre traditions to be engaging even as someone who has somehow ended up interacting with a good handful of both. There are weaker aspects, translation is a bit spotty in places and female character designs in particular gave me a few eye rolls, but these are relatively minor. Out of the all the games in the genre this is the one that makes it the hardest to zone out while playing – glares at slay the spire – and I consider that a triumph in making sure I don’t lose all my time to it. Each character plays distinictly and have pretty recognizable personalities even with just the “in the field” lines, let alone other conversation venues. Stand out quotes by my favorite character Hein include “Madness is akin to Gravity” and “MUAHAHAHAAHAHA” at random intervals. Assault Slash is the best skill in the game.

Very good stuff please play it if you’re interested in the genre and stuff. I am not being forced to write this by my brother at all.

The Hard Switch

Owen Pomery

Comic

Finally got around to reading this kickstarter comic, delayed due to some transportation issues, but it was definitely worth the wait. Skillfully eschewing many of the common pitfalls in short form science fiction and bringing a fairly origina concept to boot made this a joy to read. Art is crisp and clean, bringing the obvious comparisons to Moebius which hold surprising water despite their distinct design languages. Only thing that didn’t knock it out of the park was the punctuation being a bit too faint for my liking, but that’s a rather minor issue considering all the good it does. Given the premise it hits several of the notes that you would expect, but takes it much further and in different directions that I really appreciated due to usually being considered background elements. Thematically resonant as well. Great stuff and I can’t wait to see more by Owen!

Oh I forgot the best part, it features multiple physically compotent women and they aren’t immediately portrayed as lesbians, althought that could definitely be the case. I hate that trope(?) so much man.