#horizon reviews

[notbecauseofvictories]

it would be funny in a horrible, helpless way, if I've spent all month in a funk---trying various things to break out of it, or at least do something productive---when I just needed to go back to my parents' house for a second visit and insist I leave early, refusing to take no for an answer.

[ecargmura]

Pokemon Horizons Episode 66 Review - School Hacking Incident

We’re closing in on the finale of Terastal Debut, and we’re seeing some major growth for our young protagonists. The difference between the penultimate episode of Terastal Debut and the penultimate episode of Shine of Terapagos is very major. While both involve the Explorers, the kids are now more capable.

Like with the end of the Basics test, Clavell lets the students have fun by hosting another battle tournament. I do like that they’re so eager to let the students battle so often. The failed students are still allowed to Terastal, but it’d be the last time they do it as failed students would have to return their orbs after the day is over. Other than Liko, the only other known person who failed is Bocco, the Dot look-alike.

I do like that there are lots of callbacks of episodes 43 and 44 in this one. Episode 43 had Liko and Roy do a Multi Battle against Sidian and Coral with Liko vs Sidian and Roy vs Coral, but the battle was called off. In this episode, the same matchup from before happens, but Liko and Roy are more experienced now. Floragato is no longer a Sprigatito and Liko even uses Terastal to beat Sidian. Even though she failed her exam and is only supposed to use Terastal during the battle tournament, but Sidian used it illegally, so Liko did the same.

With Roy and Coral, no one used Terastal, but it’s nice to finally see Fuecoco get a win from Glalie after battling against it twice. One little detail I like from the Roy battle is that it was originally in the art room, but he didn’t want to destroy the artwork, so he used Kilowattrel to move to another location. It’s really sweet that he’s so considerate of the students’ hard work when it comes to their schoolwork. Coral didn’t really care if it gets damaged or not, but still followed Roy to the new location.

There also seems to be a budding rivalry between Dot and Chalce now that Dot is more involved. I hope that they’ll get another battle in a future arc; it does suck that Dot’s essentially the only one who “failed” her battle. I do like that the kids know that “Sandwich”, “Onigiri” and “Agepan” are Explorer members, but they never knew their names until now. Sidian gives Liko his name while Coral and Chalce reveal theirs to Roy and Dot. I do like that giving their names is like a sign that they acknowledge them as worthy opponents or something…

Remember what I wrote in my review of Episode 63 in that Grusha was being harsh towards Liko because he wanted her to prove him wrong? I was right! Liko did prove Grusha wrong, but in a different way, however. He was there to witness her battle against Sidian and saw that she used Terastal despite being forbidden from doing so because she has something to protect. He even mentions that Liko fights better when she’s battling for self-defense or to protect something rather than competitively. It was nice that he went all the way to Clavell’s office to change his mind about failing Liko since she protected the school from the Explorers and did not allow the incident to escalate into something disastrous. I think it’s a nice reward for Liko’s efforts. People might see it as a “pity badge” sort of thing like how Ash got some badges in Kanto out of pity, but sometimes, hard work deserves good rewards.

I was a tad disappointed that Penny wasn’t more involved with the episode. Sure, she did try to prevent Chalce from hacking the system, and that her role in the story is to be the school and league’s tech person, but it does feel odd that she seemed like she’d play an important part, but does get sidelined as the story is about Liko and co. Still, it was nice seeing more of Penny.

I also like that the kids’ second Pokemon were used in the episode. Liko let Hattrem out of her ball to heal the security guard and his Psyduck while she went on ahead. Hattrem was also the key figure to let Grusha stay back and witness Liko fight against Sidian. Roy used Kilowattrel to move locations. Dot used Tinkatink to destroy the computer, but got the wrong one. It’s nice to see their other Pokemon be more involved now that the kids have grown as capable Trainers.

I think we were long overdue for an eventual Liko vs Roy match, but it seems that the finale will finally showcase it. I think it’s the perfect way to end off this arc. They’ve been training buddies, but now they’re opponents for the friendly battle tournament. Both were rookie trainers, but now have grown so much. Who do you think will win? I honestly think it’ll be a draw.

[bidoofcrossing]

Review - LEGO Animal Crossing: Bunnie's Outdoor Activities (77047) LEGO Animal Crossing: Bunnie's Outdoor Activities (77047) offers a delightful blend of the popular Animal Crossing video game and the iconic LEGO building experience. With meticulous attention to detail, this set captures the essence of the beloved game, and you can view our thoughts below!

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[simonbreeze]

Movie Night!

It's October, 80s movies all done. I thought I would kick off with something a bit scary.... Event Horizon.

Infinite space - Infinite terror

Event Horizon is about a rescue crew that investigates the mysterious reappearance of a spaceship that had been lost for seven years. The crew discovers an unimaginable interstellar horror that tests their sanity and souls. 

Event Horizon has aged well. Still a great looking, well acted and poop your pants scary movie! Having seen this movie more than once over the years, it still surprises me how Event Horizon still manages to be creepy, tense and engaging. Yes, the story and acting can be a little cheesy in places, but generally, a very solid science fiction horror movie.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

[videogamesnails]

Okay to start us off, first up: animal crossing new horizons.

Thicc. Rotund. Slimy. All things you want in a snail.

It always makes me sad when you fail to catch them how they roll down the bush and bounce on the ground. Be careful of their shell!!!

Rating: ⭐️S tier (snail tier)⭐️

[kellelkallel]

AETHER recovered (love the stylization of the names, by the way)! Did this yesterday but oh well.

Beta secured (finally).

Stillsands Tallneck done! So so fun, bringing down a Tallneck was truly a magical experience considering how absolutely impenetrable and monolithic they were in Zero Dawn. Can't wait to do more.

[jupiterswasphouse]

WASP REVIEW - WASPS (ANIMAL CROSSING)

[Image ID: An image of the wasp in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, an orangey-yellow and black paper wasp]

This one is, while not perfect, pretty accurate, pretty standard! Very clearly a paper wasp from antenna to abdomen, very nice! I've seen the New Horizons model compared to Polistes dominula (Including by Nookipedia) and I was honestly tempted to say the same, however after some searching I'm actually more inclined to say this lady is closer to Polistes jokahamae!

[Image Source: KENPEI, Wikimedia Commons | Image ID: A photo of a black and almost orangey yellow paper wasp of the species Polistes jokahamae, also known as Polistes jadwigae /End IDs.]

Meanwhile, in City Folk and New Leaf, the model has a closer appearance to the Asian giant hornet, Vespa mandarinia.

[Image Source: First image, Yasunori Koide, Wikimedia Commons | Image IDs: First, an image of a black and orange Asian giant hornet, followed by its equivalent model in Animal Crossing: New Leaf, which is very similar in City Folk /End IDs.]

Quite the charming model if I do say so myself! However, I do have to deduct some points, as while in the original Japanese version of the games this is apparently referred to with a term representative of hymenopterans in general, until New Horizons the English version referred to this critter as a Bee, which is, obviously, inaccurate.

The menu icons also appear a bit different to the species being represented here, with the City Folk icon looking especially like a honey bee

[Image ID: The illustrated menu icon for the "bee"/wasp in City Folk /End IDs.]

Now, in Animal Crossing, this species is one of the few species of insect that can actually harm the player, and while you may think I'd be arguing for a more positive representation of the animal here, while I would like if their benefits were put across in the game, the way they do things here is actually a perfectly understandable representation! In fact, the representation of wasps here may be more accurate than the game's representation of tarantulas and scorpions. The wasps here only attack specifically upon being provoked, when you shake the tree and the nest falls out, which I do think would in fact cause a nest of wasps to become quite agitated!

The museum curator of the Animal Crossing franchise, Blathers, also makes quite the fuss about wasps, however, he does this for quite literally any arthropod you present to him! While his comment in New Horizons could be worded better, it's fairly accurate! Blathers states that these paper wasps are aggressive predators, who hunt and eat other insects as well as almost any other kind of meat. This could be made more clear as the adults do not eat the meat themselves, however, it is specifically mentioned at the end of his paragraph that the wasps do in fact bring their prey home to their larva!

Oddly, despite the existence of honey bees as a separate species in New Horizons and the more accurate translation, their nests (Which are fairly accurately representative of Vespid nests, especially Polistes nests) are used in crafting recipes for honey bee related items like the Beekeeper's hive, Honeycomb wall, and Honeycomb flooring (Interestingly enough, the only other recipe it's used in the medicine used to fix stings)

-

Overall (New Horizons): 8/10

Overall (Prior to AC:NH): 7/10 or 6/10 depending on version

-

This wasp was suggested by @pizzaback , leave your wasp review suggestion in the replies or askbox!

[system-threat-detected]

Horizontober Prompts 2023

Horizontober is a bit like Inktober, but it's all about the wonderful world of Horizon! Posting the list a little bit early so ya'll can ruminate on that.

Favorite Machine

Oceanic

Recognize

Preserve

"Oh dear..."

Shine

Pass

Slump

Cruel

Favorite Tribe

Royal

Retire

Lounge

Array

Train

New

Facet

Tarot

Float

Favorite Outfit

Haze

Weave

Magic

Criminal

Wobble

Authority

Redo

Tree

Beam

Favorite Weapon

Future

For anyone wanting to participate, the tag I’ll be using for this year is #horizontober2023

I’ll try check out that tag every day in October, and I’ll absolutely be reblogging everything I find, though the fandom is getting so large that I might not be able to see every entry!

All art forms are welcome in Horizontober! Fic, poetry, gifsets/gifs, digital/traditional, animation, music, photomode, videos, nail art, Horizon flavored memes, cosplay, jewelry, mood boards, tattoos you wanna show off…. Uhhhhh, scrapbooking?? Horizon themed meals! Staged scenes of any figurines or Funkos you have?? Flower arrangements! Infodumps about plants found in the game! And other things I can’t think of right now! As long as it’s something you created or captured and relates to the prompt and the Horizon world somehow!

All participation levels are also welcome! You wanna try for every single day? Awesome! You just wanna do one or two prompts that speak to you? Fantastic!! You discover this event halfway through October and wanna catch up on all the ones you missed and post 3 a day for a week? I actively encourage it! I made one of my best internet friends that way! :)

[mylifeincinema]

My Week in Reviews: June 30, 2024

The Bikeriders (Jeff Nichols, 2024)

It's not often that we—in 2024—get films that simply let you live in its world for a while. A film that doesn't worry about where its plot is headed, but rather allows its characters to lead the way. A film that understands a lifestyle and its specific role within an often misunderstood counter-culture, and revels in the comradery and romance of said lifestyle while neither condemning nor sugar-coating the unfavorable aspects associated with it. Jeff Nichols' The Bikeriders is one of these films, and its insightful approach, phenomenal cast, and Nichols' interesting interpretation of Danny Lyons' photo-book capture a cinematic feeling we too rarely get to experience nowadays. - 9/10

Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter 1 (Kevin Costner, 2024)

Should’ve been a Limited Series. Don’t get me wrong, it’s really quite good; a very enjoyable, well-crafted, old-fashioned western with epic aspirations and a sprawling cast boasting very few weak spots. But the number of threads at play, the imminent overall length, and the storytelling mechanics and pacing would’ve all worked significantly better within the structure of a 12-Episode Limited Series. - 7/10

Enjoy!

-Timothy Patrick Boyer.

[aleph-sharp]

On youtube, theres a thing that constantly annoys me: I enjoy watching video essays, analysis, and other similar videos about the gaming industry and games trends, but a LOT of the time, creators I otherwise respect, enjoy their things, and even frequently agree with, will decide to talk about an issue in the games industry, and use Horizon Zero Dawn & Forbidden West as an example, or even the thumbnail, DESPITE having clearly never played either game or done any research, and the things they are talking about don't even slightly apply to those games or are subverted within.

Why it happens with the horizon series so much, I don't know, but Ive seen MULTIPLE videos from creators I liked before those videos that had Horizon as a big part of the thumbnail, despite the topic not applying to Horizon. When I watch the videos they clearly have No clue what they are talking about with Horizon.

Why have those games become games media scapegoats??? Why are they the default "im talking about something wrong with open world games or action rpgs or aaa games, lets use those, im sure what im saying applies"

[askmovieslate]

We really were!

Look, the movie we ended up getting into theaters is one of those movies that only weirdos really enjoy, and guess what? I am an absolute weirdo who loves this movie.

When I learned there was a version of this movie that's even more violent and extreme I got super mad. And then I learned we are never ever gonna get that version, since all the footage is gone forever. Now that makes my blood boil.

What a bummer.

[thats-the-teen-spirit]

Bring Me The Horizon - POST HUMAN: NeX GEn album review

Well I didn't expect to write a full BMTH album review today but here we go. The band officially blueballed their audience to the point that as soon as they passed the longest streak without releasing an album, they surprise-dropped it completely unexpectedly. Just a heads-up, I'm not familiar to the lore of the album, what the Nex Gen is or whatever but still, here's my review:

[ost] dreamseeker

This is the shortest and most basic noise intro they've done I think for a while, it's just sounds of steps and the fade in to the first track

2. YOUtopia

Way before the album was announced, back during the Survivor Horror album cycle Oli said something along the way that the Post Human series wants to explore each of their favorite and most played genres, one of which was "emo" as he said. Emo in a sense that MCR or Underoath was emo, not the old-school way. YOUtopia has definitely the MCR feeling to it, not as much as LosT has though but that is not the point. This song has a bouncy riff, catchy chorus (similar style to Werewolf, the song the guys did with Lil Uzi Vert on his latest album) and the most 'amo' feel outside of the singles for me. Great song, definitely will be played during concerts.

3. Kool-Aid

The last single before they dropped the album, possibly the most balanced song out of the singles. Very catchy chorus, even the first few seconds feel like the "you're gonna die in the pit" fright that I usually feel at concerts. The breakdown is crazy, it has a very death metal guitar solo, what more do you want?

4. Top 10 staTues tHat CriEd bloOd

When I first read the title I thought this would be the most emo song on the album. I was not wrong. The style of 80% of the song is pure pop punk. There's the old school blink-182-like riff, the chorus sounds like it's from a 00's teen movie. Sometimes in the song there are cheeky blastbeat parts which I adored with Super Mario coin sounds that were hilarious. Oh and there's the Poliphia-bridge that made me smile. This is gonna be a top song on the album for sure for me. It's just so unapologetically fun, it's crazy.

5. liMOusIne (feat. AURORA)

The most out of place song for me, it doesn't even feel like BMTH. It sounds like they hopped on the Deftones-core hype train with the 8 or 9 string low tuned guitar riff that is more Sleep Token than BMTH. Still it's a banger, the bridge by AURORA is really catchy as well. The outro of the song is probably my favorite of theirs outside of One Day the Only Butterflies... on the previous album.

6. DArkSide

DArkSide was the fifth single, and in my opinion the most basic bitch one. It just sounds like they wanted to rip off Linkin Park's Somewhere I Belong again, this of course doesn't mean that the song is bad. In fact it grew on me a lot since it got released. The lyrics are very edgy which is expected from a BMTH song but this song was also a bit too cheesy for me, it definitely goes for the safe radio play option that the band still needs to be as popular as they are.

7. ​​a bulleT w- my namE On (feat. Underoath)

If you read this review carefully you might have noticed that I namedropped Underoath earlier. Well, they are featured on the album. This one literally feels like an old-school Underoath song but with Oli's vocals and the modern hyperpop spin that they do through the whole album. At some point Spencer's vocals felt like they were originally be Jordan's which kinda broke my heart a bit, since the Oli+Jordan duo were my favorite songwriters in the scene. If you're a fan of Underoath you should definitely give this one a spin.

8. [ost] (spi)ritual

Intro=Dark Signs by Sleep Token, Lyrics=Fully Satanic, title=clever wordplay. It's a 2 minute long interlude that has some guitars in it so most fans will not be disappointed in it, the biblical references are there for the edge of it but are barely audible, if you're one of those fans who recently got offended by their latest marketing ploy (the Jesus one), then I'd suggest skip this one. Also it's BMTH, they have always been against religion in general so... don't be surprised.

9. n/A

This song broke me. The first two lines are: "Hi, My name is Oli and I'm an addict. I'm here cause I'm not quite all there". The guitar work is very simple in the beginning, reminiscent of Where is My Mind by the Pixies, but you can sense that something big is coming. This is the most personal song on the album, I haven't heard Oli open up this much about suicidal thoughts and addiction since Sempiternal. It also has a grotesque feel to it as he discribes how he would kill himself in various ways (jumping down a building, making love to a chainsaw, etc). This one is also pretty emo, but not just because of the lyrics, by the sound as well. Definitely will be landing on my playlist.

10. LoSt

Undoubtedly my favorite song on the album, i've been constantly listening to it since it came out last year. If there is a thing called "I'm not Okay"-core this is it. The breakdown is the funnest one through the whole discography of the band, the chorus is a clone of the aformentioned MCR song and the pacing feels like a pop punk banger with an easycore breakdown. Still 10/10 for me.

11. sTraNgeRs

It's kinda crazy to think about how much time passed between each single and the album itself. This song will always remind me to coming home from my ex-girlfriend whom I've completely alienated from at that point and humming to myself: We're just a room full of strangers. I know that the original meaning of the song is quite the oposite, it has a sense of unity and togetherness but still, my personal story overwrote this one for me and I cannot help it. This was the second single and in my opinion didn't age as well as the others but still a very good song.

12. Rip (duskCOre RemIx)

Some segments of the lyrics of this song can be found throughout the teasers BMTH put out in the past few years. This one is a purely hyperpop/heavy pop banger that is very common towards the end of the record. The pacing is again very pop punk and emo, but it has those glitchy effects and even a dance beat at some point. It's a fun one but the poppiest out of the whole record I think. Oh and there's a woah-woah post-chorus which is again, very pop punk. Also despite the sound is very happy and hyper the lyrics are very self-loathing and depict the disappointment Oli had with himself after relapsing during COVID. Just a not so fun fact.

13. AmEN! (feat, Lil Uzi Vert and Daryl Palumbo of Glassjaw)

The heaviest song on the album that was premiered live in my home country last year. I'm really disappointed I missed that and am still salty about it. Anyway this song is the same as Darkside for me, it's not a bad one, in fact, the old school BMTH fans will like this one the most, but for me it's not as exciting. I'd rather listen to the random bullshit they come up with than Oli trying to replicate Suicide Season style vocals which tore his throat up back then. But back to the song, it also grew a lot on me, the choir breakdown will always be fun and the lyrics have very much the Hospital of Souls kind of feel and edginess.

14. [ost] puss-e

Speaking of randomness, this one is about the female genitalia. it's an interlude (as every song beginning with [ost]). I think it's the biggest brain fart they had since the Music to Listen to... EP dropped. The callout before the breakbeat is literally: What would you do for pussy?. It's a random noisy shitshow that people will be mad about just like they were during the amo era but this is still unfathomably BMTH at their finest.

15. DiE4u

It's crazy to think about but this song came out almost 3 years ago, back when Survivor Horror had its album cycle and people were still mostly locked up in quarantine. The lyrics are about addiction again, not surprisingly and were inspired by Oli's relapse that I mentioned earlier. During COVID he made some very bad choices that lead him to get on ketamine for the first time since I think 2013 or so. This song is basically him singing to the drugs, it's a little fucked isn't it? It definitely didn't hold up as well as LoSt or AmEN because back in 2021 Oli was still trying to spread the idea he had about making a new genre called heavy pop. Well, some of his ideas are on the album so I guess he was successful.

16. Dig it

The closing track of this massive album and again we're back to the topic of self-hatred. Oli is again very disappointed in himself to a melody that is similar to Something in the Way by Nirvana. Maybe that was an inspiration, since that song also screams self-loathing. Then there's the modern pop drumbeat, but still the instrumentals are very lowkey, it's clear that the intention is to focus on the lyrics. The closure of the track gets heavy as usual and we hear Count Your Blessings era vocals again. There is even a little snippet at the very end after a little silence, that the AI playing the album failed which means the album is over.

Overall it's a great album, I think Oli and the band ended up with a terrific record, however I still miss Jordan's work on some of the songs. Maybe some ideas were scrapped, maybe even reworked at certain points but I'll always miss his handprint from now on I think. All of the fanbase will be happy with this record I guarantee it.

[ecargmura]

Pokemon Horizons Episode 65 Review - Heart To Heart With The Enemy

*Gasp* Liko and Amethio actually escaped the cave on-screen. The writers are actually not shoving everything into off-screen land this time around! Other than that, this episode was filled with surprise twists and intriguing lore that you can’t help but to wonder what’s going to happen next! 

The Liko and Amethio portions are nice because, like Liko, we finally get to know more about Amethio. It’s crazy how he appeared since the beginning and we only learn of his motives and goals 65 episodes in. He wants to get Rayquaza and Terapagos because he wants to be helpful to his grandfather Gibeon and wants him to be proud of him. It feels like an honor thing. Amethio, despite being a villain, does have kindness dwelling within him. If he wasn’t a kind person, Ceruledge wouldn’t have tried to warm its trainer with one of its blade after seeing Floragato try to get some grass for Liko. If Amethio wasn’t kind, he wouldn’t have cooperated with Liko in order to escape the cave, but he did. It’s nice that Liko knows that Amethio isn’t as bad as he appears to be. I really liked their heart-to-heart conversation. The fact that Amethio motivated Liko to not be so down over her failing her Implementation test is something; Liko didn’t even ask Grusha for a possible rematch as she knew there could be other ways she can master Terastal. Sometimes, the most unexpected person and words can be your biggest motivation.

Poor Amethio, the moment he becomes nice to Liko is when Spinel frames him for cooperation against the enemy and that’s when he gets kicked out of the Explorers. I’m assuming a simple act of kindness or cooperation with the enemy is something Gibeon despises? I wonder if something happened to him in the past for him to abandon his own grandson over something miniscule. I’m assuming that’s what happened to Amethio’s father too? Gibeon seems like a cruel person for believing in a fabricated video and not asking Amethio for a concrete answer. People are speculating that Amethio might be going through an anti-hero route akin to Zuko from Avatar: The Last Airibender. While I can see an anti-hero route, I don’t think it’s fair to compare it to Zuko as the circumstances of their turn is different. Zuko is a blueprint for antihero stories, but he doesn’t need to be the pathway.

For the Roy and Dot portions, I’m glad that the kids are sharp enough to realize that Sidian and Coral are deliberately stalling them because they’re targeting Liko. However, what they didn’t expect was that they’re super good at stalling that whatever plan they come up with, the Explorers counter it. People might get angry over the battle, but it’s because the kids aren’t battling seriously. They’re being hasty because Liko is their priority and not the battle. Fortunately, the battle gets called off once Grusha enters the scene as he got a call from Friede about the situation; Friede called him because he knew he wouldn’t get there in time and would need some extra help. I wonder why Grusha mellowed out in this episode compared to how stern he was two episodes ago. Also, I wonder what his Altaria’s beak is made of because it pecked the heck out of that boulder and Flying moves aren’t effective against Rocks.

I do like that Amethio’s words about not giving up has impacted her in a way that she even asked Roy and Dot to go to the Highest Peak with her. Usually, Liko is so passive and the other two seemed okay with not going now that they found Liko and she’s safe, but she still wanted to go. It’s nice that Liko is being a bit more assertive now. I hope to see this more in future episodes.

Also, Terapagos’s anger towards Amethios seems to be more that he reminded him of Gibeon and possibly mistook him for his grandfather, before realizing that they’re different. The way Amethio mentioned his grandfather Gibeon is when Terapagos got another upset reaction. The turtle definitely has beef with Gibeon and it could be a factor to why Gibeon was unusually cruel to Amethio in this episode.

With the announcement of the fourth arc starting in October 11, this means that this arc has three more episodes until then. I honestly can’t wait to see what this new arc has in store as the DLC characters are shown in the key visual. Though, I am a little upset that Arven didn’t show up at all in this arc and it seems that Kieran is going to get that same treatment seeing how he’s not in the poster while his sister Carmine is. What are you thoughts on this episode? By the way, I support Spinel’s rights, wrongs and future beatings.

[bidoofcrossing]

Review - LEGO Animal Crossing: Maple's Pumpkin Garden (30662) The LEGO - Animal Crossing: Maple's Pumpkin Garden set, offers a delightful experience for fans of the beloved video game series. Here's a breakdown of our thoughts of this small, yet joyful set.

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[firespirited]

hot take but I think the fantasy Event Horizon director's cut should have less gore and more of the character building moments. Less is more.

The more ambiguity about whether it was a mass hallucination, the more left to the imagination and conveyed by the actors reactions to what they saw off-screen, the better the film.

The set design, the lighting, the incredible acting speak for themselves - I think those things are so strong you could have a PG-13 rated cut with a single f-bomb (Fishburne's "Fuck this ship!" of course) that still leaves you sleepless.

-------------------------------

9/10 film. Would have been 10/10 without the extra gore.

As Anderson himself says, after a certain amount the viewer's imagination is stretched too far and you start to rationalize the rubber props and fake blood. The anatomy is off for PJ's death, the fire's effects are off even for different gravity, the carefully acted distress of the crew isn't present in the shock imagery. That's the one point against it, that and the prevailing belief that it's about a literal hell when that's refuted in the text.

==== I love this film ====

It is breathtakingly beautiful. the sets, the effects, the lighting, the filters, subliminal symbology everywhere. The acting, the way the world is lived in and their relationships are shown to us by the way the actors touch each other and move around their ship.

Within the first five minutes we have everything we need to know: Weir is a self-absorbed "genius" who hesitates over his jugular while shaving, Miller is an efficient and empathetic search and rescue lifeguard captain with full devotion to his crew which is fully returned.

Each member of the crew has their backstory in their mannerisms and design: we have a superstitious pilot with an ankh back tattoo, the sun-starved surgeon has scalpels on a utility vest and encourages you to smoke, the women are "one of the boys" facing the same ol' sexist banter from lovable rogue Cooper, but also respected in their fields. That's show not tell in impeccable detail.

We get a quick meet and greet verbal introduction to the crew at the 10-minute mark. We're introduced to the ship and its gothic, unholy geometries at 25. The design elements invoke a hybrid between the awe of a cathedral and the disgust of an intricate medieval torture device. The technology is robust and, except for an optical drive disk, future-proof.

This ship is a twisted Passion Play in design form with an evil seraphim of eyes within eyes, wheels within wheels as a beating heart engine. You don't have to be told that this thing demands worship and sacrifice, it is in your cultural subconscious.

It is in every jagged tooth and violence invoking shape engraved into the various panels and walls. The designers working on creating future warnings about nuclear waste would be pointing at different elements and yelling "Yes! That's it! Universal, visceral, primal signs of danger! Colours of disease!"

We're in a psychological thriller: the first real violence is a full 50 minutes into a 1h30 runtime and it's a plausible hazard of the job, shown with an unflinching camera with real time tension.

We spend the next ten minutes being gaslit by Weir into believing the ramping violence of the 'haunted house' might just be in our heads until the captain and crew subvert the horror trope and GET OUT. Fantastic story telling, very smart.

We now switch genres. again. to an ultra violent possession and slasher movie with a switch in tone for the ending: rewritten to be just open-ended enough to wonder if it was a shared psychotic frenzy, something supernatural or something natural but beyond humanity's understanding. A nice bookend to that almost campy over the top blood fest of a last half hour where Fishburne is the grounding force to Sam Neill's insane monster.

The CGI is in service to the practical effects and near seamless despite the age, it's mostly composite work on miniature sets and for zero gravity liquids. I honestly don't know how Mortal Kombat guy managed to get this kind of acting and photography talent to work on a space horror.

It feels a lot like the glitch that was Hannibal the TV show, art that wouldn't get made if the money men had known exactly what was involved and art that is bordering on schlocky but toeing a line that makes it brilliant. A kind of art that is achieved with a lot of talent and dedication but also the enforced limitation of The Edit.

I really think that the multiple test screenings and edits made this film better: it's like Robocop vs Showgirls*, Event Horizon vs Resident Evil*: the edits saved us from a movie that went too far and came out silly.

It's a film that feels rare.

*you already know I like both.

[retrokid616]

critical role campaign 3 episode 79 (post wtf is up with ashton arc) pregame

so.... ashton fucked up

and the bells took it well

well not fearne so you know plus she was glass crazy rightfully so

imogen and laudna are doing cool gay shit

after a few panic attacks of course and lady alura looked at all of this and feurne's grandma like

oh and no orym last time

speaking of a missing liam o'brien he was on candela chapter 3 and i've always wanted to do this but....

hey ash what you playing

yeah i know she's more aloy now a days but hey never forget where you started here online y'all anyway link to the full episode here

so with any or at all og internet callbacks out of the way let's see if orym's back this week on critital role.