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Off Topic / Re: What Was The Last Movie/Anime You Watched?

« on: November 16, 2025, 08:40:37 pm »

Roman Holiday - Totally delightful picture.  Really easy to see why this was a huge breakout for Audrey Hepburn.

The Fugitive - An absolutely pitch perfect first act, and everything that comes after is good as hell, too.

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General / Re: VGCollect 2025 Secret Santa!

« on: November 10, 2025, 09:17:35 am »

I've got everything wrapped.  Just need to find time to get to the post office.

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Off Topic / Re: What Was The Last Movie/Anime You Watched?

« on: November 07, 2025, 11:04:33 pm »

Coherence - Does a whole lot with very little. A big ole tangled web of plot twists and turns that mostly make sense, and a couple that probably don't. Really appreciate the ambition on such a tiny budget.

Eurovision Song Contrst: The Story of Fire Saga - Trim this down to no more than 110 minutes, and it's 3.5 stars. Get Will Ferrell to do anything other than his sketch persona and it's an easy 4. McAdams out funnies him in every scene because she has a better grasp on the tone than he does.

Highlander - It's a concept that begs for a better movie, but at the same time the pure 80s cheese is what makes it so watchable.

Decision at Sundown - It is a bit claustrophobic with a story that feels a bit like a stage play and not like a typical Western. Even though it doesn't have the sweeping vistas that you'd expect, the performances are solid and it's not just white hats vs black hats. Really been enjoying Randolph Scott in these Ranown titles.

Seven Brides for Seven Brothers - I'm like 90% sure that the movie is in on the joke, but it's so problematic that 10% of uncertainty casts a really heavy pall over the whole thing.

Fight Club - It's a rare thing when a satire gets its subject matter so right that the targets of the satire think it is an endorsement of their behavior. Also Brad Pitt hot.

Heat - Been a long time.  Still great.  Really noticed how good the score is this time.

Frankenstein (2025) - Stretches itself thin with the visual effects more often than I expected. Oscar Isaac and Jacob Elordi each give very good - and very different- performances. Kinda wish we spent less time with Frankenstein and more with the creature.

Buchanan Rides Alone - My favorite of these so far.  Really enjoyed just how comically corrupt the small town was.  Love that trope.

Mary Poppins - Gonna be honest here, it could use more Mary Poppins. She's sorely missed in the back half.

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Off Topic / Re: What TV/Netflix show are you currently watching? (Megathread)

« on: November 05, 2025, 07:14:43 pm »

Second season of Gen V is pretty good.  Kinda reminded of Peacemaker, in the sense that it's not quite as good as the first, and the finale is a bit of a let down.  Really interested in where this goes with the last season of The Boys.

Final season of Solar Opposites really felt like a lot of wheel spinning.  It wasn't awful, but itjust felt like they lost their spark.  Underwhelming endings for The Wall and Silvercops storylines as well.

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General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2025!!!

« on: November 04, 2025, 11:24:33 pm »

I hit credits on Ball x Pit today.  It was a really fun Vampire Survivors timed survival style game, that played like Breakout or Arkanoid.  It's not quite as streamlined as VS, though, with some base building stuff that drags down the early game a little.  It gets kinda grindy towards the end and kinda boring if youve been keeping up with upgrades, as you can be pretty overpowered if you are staying on top of the upgrade system.  The VS comparisons really don't help my feelings about it, since it cost 3 times as much, but wore out its welcome way faster.  Worth picking up on sale, at least.

It is interesting how a game that I think is mechanically and visually better than Vampire Survivors, isn't as good as VS, because the draw to these sorta mindless shoot-em up style games is the ease of jumping in and kinda losing yourself to the power creep, but you spend less time in rounds, then have to do base upgrades (Which I generally liked) and then you have to be more engaged with the gameplay because you want to get those ricochets or get behind tougher enemies and such.  I liked it quite abit, but hit 15 hours with the ending and that was sorta good for me, having unlocked all the characters too, while I have currently 105 hours into Vampire Survivors and I'm gonna put more as I'm still not finished with the Castlevania DLC, some other free update stuff, they just added more to the Castlevania DLC, and just did a Balatro free update lol

Pretty much where im at with it.  The strength of Vampire Survivors is the pure simplicity (and amount of content). The base building in BxP isn't bad by any means, but it's a hurdle when all you really want to do is play the levels.  Theres too much to think about, comparatively.

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General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2025!!!

« on: November 04, 2025, 10:14:53 pm »

I hit credits on Ball x Pit today.  It was a really fun Vampire Survivors timed survival style game, that played like Breakout or Arkanoid.  It's not quite as streamlined as VS, though, with some base building stuff that drags down the early game a little.  It gets kinda grindy towards the end and kinda boring if youve been keeping up with upgrades, as you can be pretty overpowered if you are staying on top of the upgrade system.  The VS comparisons really don't help my feelings about it, since it cost 3 times as much, but wore out its welcome way faster.  Worth picking up on sale, at least.

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Off Topic / Re: What Was The Last Movie/Anime You Watched?

« on: November 03, 2025, 01:58:18 pm »

MadS - This really surprised me.  I barely knew anything about it going in, so I spent a lot of the first act just trying to figure out what kind of movie it is, and once it shows it's hand it really takes off and becomes one of the most refreshing takes on zombies I've seen in ages.

I decided to check out Mads after seeing your post about it. I'm glad I decided to look into it more and gave it a chance, because I almost certainly wouldn't have watched it on my own otherwise.

It was probably my favorite first watch from the whole month (just edging out Ugly Stepsister, Nightmare, and Late Night with the Devil).  I think it let the gimmick get in it's way a couple of times, but even without that I think it works really well as a ground level view of the spread of a zombie apocalypse.

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General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2025!!!

« on: November 03, 2025, 01:53:25 pm »

For me, I knew it was going to be a big disadvantage for f. That's not to say that I don't think it's a good game. I do, but that was my biggest reservation regarding the new direction that this game took from previous entries. I think a similar story/idea could definitely be done in an American setting but obviously the game would have to have been completely different and I don't think that's the story the developers wanted to tell.

Do you think that they had an original idea for a horror game and just made it Silent Hill for IP recognition?

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Off Topic / Re: What TV/Netflix show are you currently watching? (Megathread)

« on: November 01, 2025, 08:38:15 pm »

Peacemaker Season 2 - This season didn't work for me as much as Season 1 did, had a pretty weak finale to me, especially with there being no Season 3 planned apparently?  It sounds like characters might show up in other movies/shows, but cliffhanger ending with no continuation plans is odd.  It wasn't a bad season, some decent points, but just felt like it wasn't quite as strong as the first one.  Sorta felt like Vigilante really stood out in this season with just how absurd he is lol

This is pretty much how I feel about it as well.  Its a good season of TV that doesn't live up to Season One, and really stumbles in the finale.  Doesn't tank it or anything, but it just felt anticlimactic.

Finally finished up Ally McBeal.  The last season is a pretty big mess.  they had to retool their entire plan after RDJ got fired for drug use, and it shows.  Old characters just disappear, new characters flitter in and out.  Ally somehow has a secret daughter?  All that said, I think they did an ok job salvaging what was probably not a good situation.

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General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2025!!!

« on: October 26, 2025, 10:04:55 am »

Robocop: Rogue City is probably the best Robocop game ever made, but that's not a particularly high bar to clear.  Graphics look good for the most part, but the facial animations are pretty bad, and the voice acting doesn't fare much better. 

Robo isn't particularly mobile, which is true to the franchise, but that makes most gunfights consist of standing like a turret and mowing down enemies.  Its really the tone that cone across the best, and while the dialogue is sometimes not great, it really nails the feeling of being under OCP's boot, and I really enjoy that it's a bridge between the second and third movies.

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Off Topic / Re: What Was The Last Movie/Anime You Watched?

« on: October 26, 2025, 09:57:39 am »

Oddity - There's a lot I really liked about this; it's restraint, it's world-building, the way it uses silence, the way it uses the frame. I just really wish that had all been in service of a way more compelling mystery or that we had gotten more out of Darcy's bag of tricks.

Robocop 3 - The main thrust of this movie, OCP is finally ready to build Delta City by using a private army to forcibly relocate the citizens of old Detroit, falls right in line with the escalations of the previous two films.  The problem lies primarily in the execution.  A PG-13 sequel to movie that originally got an X rating for violence?  Its got a who's who cast of character actors, and they do play the theme a lot, at least.

Ash - It looks terrific (especially for the budget, so I let some dodgy CGI pass), and it has a terrific claustrophobic feeling. Does a little bit of overexplaining during a very extended flashback in the last act.

The Ugly Stepsister - Very weird and uncomfortable take on the Cinderella story. Definitely puts the grim in Grimm's Fairy Tales.

Opus - Totally fine cult shit. Ayo and Malkovich are good together, and it does pretty much what you'd expect.

The Night Eats the World - A more cerebral (and genetally better) version of #Alive.

Dawn of the Dead (2004) - Zack Snyder's best movie, and it's kind of not even close.  Director's Cut has a few extra story beats that were probably fine of the cutting room floor.  Kinda forgot how the ending is instigated by a single moronic survivor that just kind of cascades into smaller dumb beats across the climax.  Michael Kelly is the major VIP here.

The Tall T - I knew I was in for a good time when "Based on a story by Elmore Leonard" popped up in the opening credits.

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General / Re: October 2025 - Recently added to collection/recently purchased

« on: October 19, 2025, 02:50:54 pm »

Had to get something for myself why out Secret Santa shopping!

SNES
Super Godzilla

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Off Topic / Re: What Was The Last Movie/Anime You Watched?

« on: October 19, 2025, 02:38:35 pm »

Black Phone 2 - I liked the first film well-enough, and I thought this one was just a skosh better.  Excellent aesthetics and vibes.  It gets a bit too wrapped up in expositional conversations a couple times, and the first hour or so gets a little repetitive.  Not enough to derail it for me, though.

Maverick - A textbook romp. So much fun, a killer cast, music fits perfectly. I love the way it feels like this is just a couple of regular episodes in Bret's life.

Suspiria (2018) - Forgoes the hyper-stylization of the original in order to forge its own no less unique identity - exactly what a remake should do. More general substance than Argento's film, but probably didn't need to be nearly 2.5 hours.

Nosferatu (1922) - Is it unfair to say the Eggers version is better? Probably. But this is still pretty dang good in its own right.

Starship Troopers - An even more overt satire than RoboCop, Starship Troopers took everything Verhoven had done since than prior film and dialed it 11. Its weakest aspect, the relationship between Rico and Carmen, isn't really helped by their lack of chemistry, or the fact the two performances kinda let down the overall vibe of the movie.

The Wizard of Gore (2007) - Look, I'm not saying the numetal aesthetic and film noir style are completely incompatible, but it would take a much steadier directorial hand to make it work.

Without Warning - There's some low budget fun to be had here, but not a ton. Completely screeches to a halt in the second act and never really recovers from that loss of momentum.

Dangerous Animals - A fun and fresh take on a serial killer thriller that has a great performance from Jai Courtney (maybe his best?) at its center. I had a really good time with this one.

Cowboys & Aliens - If you asked me what my ideal concept for the plot of movie named Cowboys & Aliens was I'd describe about 85% of what is already in this one. Just one of those films that feels like it was made just for you.

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Off Topic / Re: What Was The Last Movie/Anime You Watched?

« on: October 18, 2025, 08:43:40 pm »

The Ten Commandments - Such a pompous self-indulgent 1950s big Hollywood film. I love it. Real "They don't make em like this anymore" type stuff.

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General / Re: VGCollect 2025 Secret Santa!

« on: October 18, 2025, 07:24:40 pm »

Got all my game shopping done in one fell swoop this morning!  Not to find extra goodies to add.