SleepingSilence

Video Games: The General Discussion & Community Thread Number Two

Bug Fables And The Everlasting Sapling (It's Paper Mario crossed with Paper Mario - Yahtzee Croshaw) is supposed to be one of those "it gets better later" kind of RPG's. But it starts out perfectly decent as it is. A 6/10 "has its charm" kind of decent. However, my immediate issue was its controls and combat mechanics. (Both not quite working as well as they should be.) And the thing I'd imagine you'll spend most of your game doing. (The second chapter is also boring me to tears) So while I already know it expands on its narrative. I can't imagine the general clunkiness is worth dealing with, when I have other games to play...

So I intend to get through the best games that I have in my Steam library, and then go back to give others another shot. Grime's next.

What is everyone else playing?

What Are You Listening To?

A cultured [INSERT TOPIC HERE] discussion thread

What shows/movies are you watching?

I've had guests over for quite a while. So I haven't watched things that I meant to. (Parasite, The Outfit, etc.) So I made them watch a few movies that they enjoyed. Exam and Mindhunters (The movie. Not that Netflix show.) Both entertaining, albeit cheesy, thriller movies that do their genre well.

And in return I finally watched Escape Room. And yeah, it was pretty toothless and forgettable. But I wouldn't mind the PG / cheeseball twist aspect so much, if the characters acted believably. But one dead body in, and the fuckers are STILL making marvel-level witty quips about their scenario. Also the puzzle aspect is so poorly utilized, that even the worst Saw movies do a better job. (4/10 Probably. I'd rather watch Hellfest again. The horny teens come across less stupid than the "smart puzzle solvers" in this.)

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Other Movie Reviews:
The Outfit: Talk about a no-burner. The characters in this movie are so unbelievably stupid that it makes this impossible to take seriously. Predictable and bland from minute one to the end. 3/10

Parasite: I did not expect this to be a black comedy. But it feels incredibly similar to Everything, Everywhere, All At Once. (Writing wise.) It starts out with great family/character interactions and comedy. Then our situation and plot quickly devolves over time into pure nonsense. (Another secret basement twist. Hollywood sure loves these things.) So while the cinematography is undeniably well executed and the acting is usually enjoyably over the top, the pacing of it is all over the place. And I was honestly struggling to get through its both slow and rushed final act. 6/10

Vesper: For someone who doesn’t tend to enjoy a lot of Sci-fi. This was a nice little indie arthouse film. (Basically translated to ‘the pacing is slow’.) Had good music, serviceable special effects, and its world building was pretty neat and the sets were all interesting to look at. And from that description, you can tell that it’s “one of those” movies. The acting and actual narrative could’ve easily been stronger, if it was made into a full series. 7/10

Decision To Leave: Another south korean movie with some nice shots/cinematography. (Didn’t even know it was the same director of Oldboy when I tried it.) But this one is so fucking long, and the second half goes absolutely nowhere. 3.5/10

The Prestige: I don't think the strength of this movie is in its narrative twists and turns. But how well its directed, performed, and paced. With nice attention to detail for extra viewings, and only a few things I'd nitpick about its script. (People all speak vaguely because mystery. And CPR might've saved us a movie.) 8/10

What shows/movies are you watching?

Imagine thinking Justin Long giving the best idiot performance is bad. Where the bad guy is a literal rapist. Missing the point of the movie so hard that you think it's "men are dumb and bad".

@Fabricant451

Uh huh. (Keith is an idiot in this movie/he had no reason to go down in the basement/dark stairs without any light source. And the female basically calls Keith an idiot for his actions earlier in the movie.)

You can't pretend the tone of the movie didn't do a full 180. And it's hard to get invested with the strawman rapist character. But they also take so fucking long to just kill the dude, that it's not remotely engaging throughout the final act. (And no Justin Long did not act very well.) But the characters are all one note and unbelievable anyway. And their decisions fail to make any sense. So my answer is, I like coherent plots.

And it's a trope of these modern horror movies to have one random dumbass scene in it, that makes critics praise it for being unpredictable. (Don't Breathe, third act easily the worst part of the movie/has that turkey baster scene. For one, of many, examples. But I don't want to be accused of spoiling more movies people shouldn't bother watching. imao.)

As for more good examples of movies, I'm hoping to find some soon...

What shows/movies are you watching?

The Mole is so obviously scripted that it hurts. And it's a complete waste of time.

Went to some haunts, and planned to find movies to watch with some company. So I watched things. Planned to watch more. (The ratings and reviews of these films completely baffle me.)

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Haunt: I’m annoyed that I even spent time watching this POS. 2/10

Hellfest: Pretty lame kills and movie altogether. But at least I finished it, and the stock characters weren’t so stupid and unlikeable that it made the movie hard to sit through. (I never expected this to be the ‘best’ thing I watched tonight.) 4/10

Barbarian: This movie is a fucking trap and completely goes off the rails within forty minutes. Good actors gets replaced with ones who can’t. Men are dumb and bad. And an inbred couple locked in a basement feeds someone a big baby bottle. There, I saved you two hours. 2/10

Werewolf By Night: It’s special when you can get one of those “Oh. This is going to suck, isn’t it?” reactions, from the very first spoken line of narration. 1/10 (This is genuinely awful and looks like a youtube skit movie.)

What Are You Listening To?

I've been listening to a bunch of dumb poppy bullshit.

Toontown | The Guild's #1 Stop for Cartoon Discussion

With the exception of Bluelock. (A so far non-typical sport anime.) I've dropped nearly every show I've started this season.

So I've been looking for more things to watch...

Thus, here's a few of many animated shorts I looked at yesterday.

Post a random fact about yourself.

I'm learning how exhausting my folk's new puppy is. (Not that the cold weather is doing me any favors in terms of staying outside, and letting the puppy burn off some of its limitless energy.)

Since aside sleep. I don't think I've been sitting or immobile for more than thirty minutes at a time. Three (of the likely) nine days in a row. Because its a small dog and thus bites anything and everything it can. So even when I'm actively playing with her, or putting her in my lap and giving her my full attention. It leads to my clothes getting brand new holes in 'em. Assuming its not my hands.

So, I can only imagine how well my less-saintly patient and older parents are dealing with her.

What Are You Listening To?

I doubt the rest of the album has this much build up. But its pretty decent.