Category Archives: Movie Reviews

An Analysis of All Visual Media I Experienced for the First Time in 2024

I think about the end of The Cable Guy a lot.

The Cable Guy is a 1996 dark comedy about an unstable cable installer played by Jim Carrey. As a kid, I didn’t think much of the movie. I felt claustrophobic watching it. Directed by Ben Stiller and produced by Judd Apatow, The Cable Guy showcases the psyche of a guy who refuses to respect his new friend’s personal space. It’s like What About Bob? (1991) with violence and a trip to Medieval Times. Or like Alfonso Cuarón’s Gravity (2013) if you replaced the deadly emptiness of space with uncountable copies of your most annoying friend.

But it’s also more than that. The Cable Guy is an examination of our relationships with media. Like Community‘s Abed Nadir, Gilmore Girls‘s Lorelai Gilmore, and The Big Bang Theory‘s Sheldon Cooper, the Cable Guy processes his world through the lens of visual storytelling—i.e. movies, television shows, and video games. Stories aren’t just stories. They’re a roadmap for interacting with others in real life.

At the film’s climactic moment, the Cable Guy holds his friend Steven’s girlfriend hostage at the top of a massive satellite dish. When Steven tries to intervene, the Cable Guy smiles and says, “This is a pretty cool place for an ending . . . It’s like that movie Goldeneye.”

Steven yells back, exasperated, “No, it’s not! It’s not ‘like’ anything! This isn’t a movie. This is reality. There’s a difference!”

Then, silhouetted by the bright lights of a police helicopter and standing at the edge of the multi-story satellite dish, the Cable Guy looks up and yells to the sky:

You were never there for me, were you mother? You expected Mike and Carol Brady to raise me! I’m the bastard son of Claire Huxtable! I am a lost Cunningham! I learned the facts of life from watching The Facts of Life! Oh, God!

Later, in an interview, Jim Carrey noted that The Cable Guy was one of his favorite films and expressed special fondness for the protagonist: “I love that character. That character is all of us: we were all raised by the TV.”

To be clear, none of us should scream about The Brady Bunch on the top of a satellite dish (unless that’s your thing). But there is something compelling about the story of a man who leaned a bit too far into his television-fueled fantasies. Because I think Jim Carrey was right, sort of. With the rise of streaming and the explosion of online content, The Cable Guy‘s message is more relevant now than it was in 1996. Parasocial relationships are common now, and several studies have revealed links between media consumption and perceptions of others. You may not actively think of film scenes when making moral decisions, but research shows that the films and media you watch impact skills like empathy and problem-solving.

I was reminded recently that there is no such thing as mindless scrolling or viewing. Our brains absorb everything we put in front of our eyes, even if it happens in ways we don’t comprehend. So it makes sense that we should analyze the types of media we experience. If the movies and shows I watch impact my perception of the world, I should examine which movies and shows I experience.

Below is an analysis of every movie, television show, video game, and feature-length YouTube video I experienced for the first time in 2024. The data is first, then an analysis, and then a comprehensive list of everything I experienced.

The Data

Of the films I watched for the first time in 2024:

  • 3% are musicals
  • 3% are Westerns
  • 7% are romance films
  • 9% are horror films
  • 9% are animated films
  • 15% are comedies
  • 16% are international (primarily non-US) films
  • 31% are action, thriller, or adventure films
  • 33% are science fiction or fantasy films
  • 33% are films that released in 2024
  • 34% are documentaries
  • 45% feature women protagonists and/or women-driven stories (though only 27% were directed by women)

Of the television show seasons I watched for the first time in 2024:

  • 12% are historical dramas or comedies
  • 16% are reality television shows
  • 27% are animated shows
  • 39% are comedies
  • 40% are science fiction or fantasy shows
  • 47% are dramas (not reality television)
  • 65% feature women protagonists

Analysis

Documentary Film Explosion: In 2019, only 12% of the films I watched were documentaries. In 2018, only 6% were documentaries. In 2024, an impressive 34% of the films I watched for the first time were documentaries. I am not entirely sure why documentary films clicked with me in 2024. Perhaps the increase is the result of a newly fueled desire to remain emotionally and intellectually tethered to the very real and very chaotic happenings on this planet. Perhaps my rate of documentary consumption mirrored my increased interest in podcasts about real-life topics. (I recommend Devil in the Dorm, The Retrievals, The King Road Killings, and White Devil.) Perhaps Brian Cox’s speech from Adaptation (2002) finally sunk in. Whatever the reason, I’m proud of the increased number of documentary films. Surely, there is value in exploring real-life stories. Of all the documentaries I watched this year, these seven stand out: Ballerina (2016), The Waiting Room (2012), The Truth vs. Alex Jones (2024), The Greatest Night in Pop (2024), Bad Faith (2024), Skywalkers: A Love Story (2024), and Cirque du Soleil: Without a Net (2022).

Need for International Films and Non-Male Directors: Most years, my international film exposure plateaus at 15-20%, and 2024 was no exception. Additionally, only 27% of the films I watched were directed by women. Both pieces of data highlight areas of needed improvement. My 2024 movie-watching experience was primarily U.S.-centric and directed by men. Though my percentage of women-directed films (27%) is higher than some national trends—”women accounted for just 16% of directors working on the 250 highest-grossing domestic releases” in 2024, according to Variety—this is nonetheless a percentage that I aim to increase in the future. And I would love to break beyond 20% for international releases in 2025. The good news: according to Axios, “Americans are consuming more foreign content than ever.” I hope this trend continues.

Planting Seeds of Horror, History, and the West: Though horror (9%) and Western (3%) films did not dominate my 2024 movie-viewing experiences, I did watch more than previous years. (I watched notably fewer animated films—just 9%—than previous years. In 2019, animated films were at 16%.) And 12% of my new television show experiences were from the historical fiction genre. This is a mild departure from my usually tunnel-visioned focus on science fiction and fantasy. In 2019, 40% of the films I watched for the first time were science fiction, fantasy, or apocalyptic movies. In 2018, that number was 45%. In 2024, only 33% of the films I watched for the first time were science fiction or fantasy films. Science fiction and fantasy remain my favorite genres, but I find myself branching out more recently, which is exciting. The fact that I watched more documentary films (34%) than science fiction and/or fantasy films (33%) for the first time in 2024 is notably bonkers. I don’t imagine I will ever become a true horror aficionado, but it’s nice to know that my interests are still evolving. And the Western films I watched—particularly Unforgiven (1992), The Quick and the Dead (1995), and The Ballad of Lefty Brown (2017)—were some of my favorite new experiences. Plus, I absolutely loved the historical television dramas Black Sails and Victoria.

Other Observations and Subjective Awards
Movies

Movies I finally watched after years of neglect: Mission: Impossible (1996), Lilo & Stitch (2002), Army of Darkness (1992), and Unforgiven (1992)

Favorite movies released in 2024: It’s What’s Inside, Dune: Part Two, Bad Faith, and Suncoast

Favorite pre-2024 films I watched: Bones and All (2022), John Wick: Chapter 4 (2023), Theater Camp (2023), Anatomy of a Fall (2023), Molli and Max in the Future (2023), Ballerina (2016), The Waiting Room (2012), and Unforgiven (1992)

Film maudit (films “unfairly maligned” by critics): Joker: Folie à Deux (2024) and Trap (2024)

Movies I started with no expectations and found surprisingly good: Hellraiser (2022), Skywalkers: A Love Story (2024), Abigail (2024), and The Wheel (2021).

Movies I started with mid-to-high expectations and found notably disappointing: The Sunset Limited (2011), Queenpins (2021), and Wild Wild Space (2024).

Worst movies watched in 2024: We’re All Going to the World’s Fair (2021), Gentlemen Broncos (2009), Fall (1997), They Called Him Mostly Harmless (2024), Borderlands (2024), and My Old School (2022).

Television Shows

Favorite shows and seasons: Twilight of the Gods (S1), Dune: Prophecy (S1), Black Sails (S1, S2, S3, S4), Hazbin Hotel (S1), Industry (S3), Peacemaker (S1), Fallout (S1), and Survivor (S26).

Seasons that were almost brilliant but not quite there: The Decameron (S1) and The Penguin (S1)

Not blown away but will probably continue watching: The Franchise and All of Us Are Dead.

Disappointing seasons: House of the Dragon (S2)

Video Games

Favorite games beat in 2024: Disco Elysium, Baldur’s Gate 3, Super Mario Odyssey, and The Quarry

Games with the best music: Disco Elysium and The Outer Worlds

Games with the best character-driven stories: Disco Elysium, Baldur’s Gate 3, Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords, and Cyberpunk 2077

Most played genres for the first time in 2024: RPG, choices-matter, and action/adventure

YouTube

Most-watched creators in 2024: Willjum, Jake Doubleyoo, ReksMore Adventures, MARCUSK, and ambiguousamphibian

Complete Lists of All Media Experienced in 2024 Are Below

LIST OF FILMS WATCHED FOR THE FIRST TIME IN 2024

The Platform (2019) dir. Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia
The First Purge (2018) dir. Gerard McMurray
Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom (2023) dir. James Wan
Ted (2012) dir. Seth MacFarlane
Ted 2 (2015) dir. Seth MacFarlane
Wonka (2023) dir. Paul King
John Wick: Chapter 2 (2017) dir. Chad Stahelski
John Wick: Chapter 3—Parabellum (2019) dir. Chad Stahelski
John Wick: Chapter 4 (2023) dir. Chad Stahelski
The Lady Vanishes (1938) dir. Alfred Hitchcock
The Bleeding Edge (2018) dir. Kirby Dick
Crazy, Not Insane (2020) dir. Alex Gibney
The Marvels (2023) dir. Nia DaCosta
Mission: Impossible (1996) dir. Brian De Palma
Mission: Impossible II (2000) dir. John Woo
In the Shadow of the Moon (2019) dir. Jim Mickle
Life (2017) dir. Daniel Espinosa
Poisoned: The Dirty Truth About Your Food (2023) dir. Stephanie Soechtig
Coded Bias (2020) dir. Shalini Kantayya
Mister Organ (2022) dir. David Farrier
Boys State (2020) dir Jesse Moss, Amanda McBaine
Miller’s Girl (2024) dir. Jade Halley Bartlett
Hellraiser (2022) dir. David Bruckner
Spaceman (2024) dir. Johan Renck
Next Goal Wins (2023) dir. Taika Waititi
Last Knights (2015) dir. Kazuaki Kiriya
Hellraiser (1987) dir. Clive Barker
Dune: Part Two (2024) dir. Denis Villeneuve
The Last Voyage of the Demeter (2023) dir. André Øvredal
Ballerina (2016) dir. Douglas Watkin
The Zone of Interest (2023) dir. Jonathan Glazer
Queenpins (2021) dir. Aron Gaudet, Gita Pullapilly
The Secret Life of the Cruise (2018) dir. Ben Ryder
Nintendo Quest: The Most Unofficial and Unauthorized Nintendo Documentary Ever! (2015) dir. Rob McCallum
Hell of a Cruise (2022) dir. by Nick Quested
Solitary: Inside Red Onion State Prison (2016) dir. Kristi Jacobson
The Anthrax Attacks: In the Shadow of 9/11 (2022) dir. Dan Krauss
The Waiting Room (2012) dir. Peter Nicks
The Last Tourist (2021) dir. Tyson Sadler
Pharma Bro (2021) dir. Brent Hodge
Persona: The Dark Truth Behind Personality Tests (2021) dir. Tim Travers Hawkins
WeWork: Or The Making and Breaking of a $47 Billion Unicorn (2021) dir. Jed Rothstein
Brandy Hellville & the Cult of Fast Fashion (2024) dir. Eva Orner
BS High (2023) dir. Travon Free, Martin Desmond Roe
15 Minutes of Shame (2021) dir. Max Joseph
American Pain (2022) dir. Darren Foster
The Truth vs. Alex Jones (2024) dir. Dan Reed
Rebel Moon – Part Two: The Scargiver (2024) dir. Zack Snyder
The Cold Blue (2018) dir. Erik Nelson
Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths – Part One (2024) dir. Jeff Wamester
God Forbid: The Sex Scandal That Brought Down a Dynasty (2022) dir. Billy Corben
A Compassionate Spy (2022) dir. Steve James
Enemies of the State (2020) dir. Sonia Kennebeck
After Truth: Disinformation and the Cost of Fake News (2020) dir. Andrew Rossi
Hans Zimmer: Hollywood Rebel (2022) dir. Francis Hanly
Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008) dir. Guillermo del Toro
Triangle of Sadness (2022) dir. Ruben Östlund
The Greatest Night in Pop (2024) dir. Bao Nguyen
The Final: Attack on Wembley (2024) dir. Robert Miller, Kwabena Oppong
What Jennifer Did (2024) dir. Jenny Popplewell
Challengers (2024) dir. Luca Guadagnino
My Old School (2022) dir. Jono McLeod
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (2024) dir. George Miller
Butterfly in the Sky: The Story of Reading Rainbow (2022) dir. Bradford Thomason
MoviePass, MovieCrash (2024) dir. Muta’Ali
Theater Camp (2023) dir. Molly Gordon, Nick Lieberman
Civil War (2024) dir. Alex Garland
Love Lies Bleeding (2024) dir. Rose Glass
Boy Kills World (2023) dir. Moritz Mohr
Outstanding: A Comedy Revolution (2024) dir. Page Hurwitz
Hate to Love: Nickelback (2023) dir. Leigh Brooks
They Called Him Mostly Harmless (2024) dir. Patricia E. Gillespie
The Croods (2013) dir. Chris Sanders, Kirk DeMicco
Lilo & Stitch (2002) dir. Chris Sanders, Dean DeBlois
Time Bomb Y2K (2023) dir. Marley McDonald, Brian Becker
The Croods: A New Age (2020) dir. Joel Crawford
Bad Faith (2024) dir. Stephen Ujlaki, Chris Jones
IF (2024) dir. John Krasinski
The Sunset Limited (2011) dir. Tommy Lee Jones
Wish (2023) dir. Chris Buck, Fawn Veerasunthorn
The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare (2024) dir. Guy Ritchie
Inside Out 2 (2024) dir. Kelsey Mann
Wild Wild Space (2024) dir. Ross Kauffman
Skywalkers: A Love Story (2024) dir. Jeff Zimbalist, Maria Bukhonina
Bones and All (2022) dir. Luca Guadagnino
Molli and Max in the Future (2023) dir. Michael Lukk Litwak
Cirque du Soleil: Without a Net (2022) dir. Dawn Porter
A Quiet Place: Day One (2024) dir. Michael Sarnoski
Sorry/Not Sorry (2023) dir. Cara Mones, Caroline Suh
Deadpool & Wolverine (2024) dir. Shawn Levy
Touch (2011) dir. Minh Duc Nguyen
Trap (2024) dir. M. Night Shyamalan
Fall (1997) dir. Eric Schaeffer
BookendS (2016) dir. Delavega
Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths – Part Two (2024) dir. Jeff Wamester
Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths – Part Three (2024) dir. Jeff Wamester
Solomon Kane (2009) dir. M.J. Bassett
Borderlands (2024) dir. Eli Roth
Suncoast (2024) dir. Laura Chinn
Coup! (2023) dir. Austin Stark, Joseph Schuman
Army of Darkness (1992) dir. Sam Raimi
Gentlemen Broncos (2009) dir. Jared Hess
Uprising (2024) dir. Kim Sang-man
Lux Æterna (2019) dir. Gaspar Noé
The Quick and the Dead (1995) dir. Sam Raimi
Kung Fu Panda 4 (2024) dir. Mike Mitchell
Sleep Call (2023) dir. Fajar Nugros
Girls State (2024) dir. Amanda McBaine, Jesse Moss
We’re All Going to the World’s Fair (2021) dir. Jane Schoenbrun
It’s What’s Inside (2024) dir. Greg Jardin
Fat Girl (2001) dir. Catherine Breillat
Overlord (2018) dir. Julius Avery
Land of Bad (2024) dir. William Eubank
Attack the Block (2011) dir. Joe Cornish
Despicable Me 4 (2024) dir. Chris Renaud, Patrick Delage
Abigail (2024) dir. Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, Tyler Gillett
Chris Brown: A History of Violence (2024) dir. Investigation Discovery
Unforgiven (1992) dir. Clint Eastwood
The Ballad of Lefty Brown (2017) dir. Jared Moshe
3:10 to Yuma (2007) dir. James Mangold
Rumours (2024) dir. Guy Maddin, Evan Johnson, Galen Johnson
Wicked (2024) dir. Jon M. Chu
Conclave (2024) dir. Edward Berger
Dream Scenario (2023) dir. Kristoffer Borgli
Buy Now! The Shopping Conspiracy (2024) dir. Nic Stacey
Joker: Folie à Deux (2024) dir. Todd Phillips
Ice Age: Continental Drift (2012) dir. Steve Martino, Michael Thurmeier
Anatomy of a Fall (2023) dir. Justine Triet
Transformers One (2024) dir. Josh Cooley
Child Star (2024) dir. Demi Lovato, Nicola Marsh
Noelle (2019) dir. Marc Lawrence
Nomadland (2020) dir. Chloé Zhao
The Wheel (2021) dir. Steve Pink
Stars at Noon (2022) dir. Claire Denis
Carry-On (2024) dir. Jaume Collet-Serra
Prey (2022) dir. Dan Trachtenberg
Lou (2022) dir. Anna Foester

LIST OF TV SHOW SEASONS WATCHED FOR THE FIRST TIME IN 2024

Peacemaker, S1
Survivor, S25, S26, S29, S36, S38, S39, S45, S47
Miracle Workers, S3, S4
Industry, S2, S3
Archer, S14
Hazbin Hotel, S1
Rick and Morty, S7
South Side, S2
Abbott Elementary, S2
Invincible, S2
Gary and His Demons, S1, S2
Bob’s Burgers, S13
Fallout, S1
Star Trek: Discovery, S5
Blood of Zeus, S2
Black Sails, S1, S2, S3, S4
Tires, S1
The Boys, S4
House of the Dragon, S2
Kite Man: Hell Yeah!, S1
The Decameron, S1
Angie Tribeca, S1
Victoria, S1
ER, S10, S11
Solar Opposites, S5
All of Us Are Dead, S1
Very Important People, S1
Boldly Going Nowhere, Unaired Pilot
The Penguin, S1
Twilight of the Gods, S1
The Legend of Vox Machina, S3
The Franchise, S1
Arcane, S2
Dune: Prophecy, S1
Secret Level, S1

LIST OF VIDEO GAMES BEAT IN 2024

Super Mario Odyssey (Nintendo Switch) – beat
Disco Elysium (Nintendo Switch) – beat: Sorry Cop; Recruit Detective Kim Kitsuragi
Rust (Xbox) – “beat” i.e. defended medium solo base against multi-player rocket raid
Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords (Nintendo Switch) – beat
Far Cry 5 (Xbox) – beat
Fallout: New Vegas (Xbox) – beat: Yes Man independent New Vegas ending
Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen (Nintendo Switch) – beat
Fallout 3 (Xbox) – beat: good karma; Fawkes hero ending
Slay the Princess (PC) – beat: “Through Conflict” and “There are no endings” ending
The Coffin of Andy and Leyley (PC) – beat: ep. 1, 2
Skyrim (Xbox) – beat: Alduin and Stormcloak questlines
The Quarry (Xbox) – beat: RIP Laura, Ryan, Jacob; (Kaitlyn survived, which was literally all I cared about)
The Dark Pictures: Man of Medan (Xbox) – beat: everybody survived
West of Loathing (Nintendo Switch) – beat
Gears 5 (Xbox) – beat
Borderlands (Xbox) – beat
Far Cry Primal (Xbox) – beat
Baldur’s Gate 3 (PC) – beat: Shadowheart left Shar; killed Raphael; freed Orpheus; Ceremorphosis; destroyed the Netherbrain; went to Avernus with Karlach to save her life; go-to team Lae’zel, Wyll, Gale
Borderlands 2 (Xbox) – beat
The Outer Worlds (Xbox) – beat: Welles ending; Adelaide McDevitt replaced Reed Tobson; sided with Halcyon Helen; established peace; saved Phineas; became leader
Cyberpunk 2077 (Xbox) – beat: left Night City with the Aldecaldos

YOUTUBE VIDEOS (VIDEOS & VIDEO ESSAYS OVER 45 MINUTES AND/OR OF NOTABLE QUALITY) WATCHED IN 2024

“Rust’s most DANGEROUS Motel: The Last Stop” by ReksMore Adventures
“The Complete Existential Adventures of Gerald Williams” by ambiguousamphibian
“1000 Players Simulate Civilization on Survival Islands” by MARCUSK
“100 Players Rebuild Civilization in a Nuclear Winter” by MARCUSK
“Netflix’s Resident Evil Was a Disaster” by John Wolfe
“The Second Punic War – Oversimplified (Part 1)” by Oversimplified
“The Second Punic War – Oversimplified (Part 2)” by Oversimplified
“The Worst King in English History?” by Drawn of History
“Greek Mythology Explained (COMPILATION #1)” by Jake Doubleyoo
“Norse Mythology Explained (COMPILATION #1)” by Jake Doubleyoo
“Greek Mythology Explained (COMPILATION #2)” by Jake Doubleyoo
“I made a NOT SO SafeZone In Rust” by ReksMore Adventures
“The Absolute Chaos of Halo Infinite” by big boss
“How an 18th Century Sailing Battleship Works” by Animagraffs
“Games you can never play again.” by The Cursed Judge
“I built a Sky base in Vanilla Rust…” by Willjum
“Two Solos Build a hidden underground bunker in Official Rust…” by Willjum
“I Lived on a Survival Island for 24 Hours in Rust…” by Willjum
“I Built the smallest Solo Factory in Rust…” by Willjum
“1000 Players, 1 Server: How a Solo PRO Survives on Official Rust” by Willjum
“I hired the worlds best solo to play Rust.. (1 million sub special)” by Willjum
“I Built a base under the biggest clan in Rust.. (Ft. Aloneintokyo)” by Willjum
“When 2 Pros Vs an Army in Rust..” by Willjum
“The Decline of Tim Burton” by Broey Deschanel
“Entertainment Made By Cults” by Paper Will
“The Ugly Side of Kids TV” by Paper Will
“I Built the most high IQ duo base in Official Rust..” by Willjum
“I rebuilt my Overpowered Fortress in 100 Hours of Rust…” by Willjum
“I Built the ONLY Starter Base you’ll ever need in Rust…” by Willjum
“I Lost Everything in Rust …” by Willjum
“I played a solo only rust server for a week and this is what happened” by spoonkid2
“I Built an Unraidable Cave base in Vanilla Rust..” by Willjum
“I Unleashed a Swarm of Huntsman Spiders Into My Giant Rainforest Vivarium” by AntsCanada
“I Built an Automatic Base that Defends ITSELF in Rust” by Willjum
“We Built a mountain fortress in the Sky on Official Rust..” by Willjum
“A Mantis Mating Disaster & Crisis in My Giant Rainforest Vivarium” by AntsCanada
“I Played 100 Hours of Rust against the 3 Greatest Solos…” by Willjum
“I Built the Greatest Rust Fortress against 3 Solo PROS” by Willjum
“I created a village in Rust” by ReksMore Adventures
“The Biggest War in Rust History” by Yexom
“We Built on the LARGEST Official Server In Rust – ft Blooprint” by Willjum
“We Built the GREATEST rock base in Official Rust.. Ft Blooprint” by Willjum
“How the Most OP squad plays Rust – Ft. Stevie, Snuffy & Sinks” by Willjum
“The BEST Rust experience in my 8000 hours..” by Willjum
“Games with empty worlds.” by The Cursed Judge
“Games that hate the player.” by The Cursed Judge
“Pokémon sent me to Japan!” by JaidenAnimations
“FOR THE EMPIRE: SEASON ONE – A Star Wars parody created with Unreal Engine 5” by AFK
“FOR THE EMPIRE: SEASON TWO – A Star Wars parody created with Unreal Engine 5” by AFK
“NEVER Go To The Unknown Regions – Star Wars Lore Video Compilation” by The Stupendous Wave
“Max Payne… 16 Years Later” by Raycevick
“Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne… 14 Years Later” by Raycevick
“Every Witcher KILLED by Geralt of Rivia │ Witcher Explained” by Neon Knight
“Rimworld, The Complete Desert Survival Run (Condensed Series)” by ambiguousamphibian
“Black Adam: How the Rock Tried to Take Over DC” by Edward Rigby
“I Trapped 100 Players in the Project Zomboid Mall” by Harvest
“How a 16th Century Explorer’s Sailing Ship Works” by Animagraffs
“1000 Players Simulate Civilization in Rust” by FancyOrb
“I Turned My Bar Into a Trap Base During the End of Civilization” by ReksMore Adventures
“We don’t talk about Fight Club: Rust Edition” by ReksMore Adventures
“We built a Ninja Dojo on Official Rust” by ReksMore Adventures
“Why does Madame Web’s dialogue sound so weird?” by Nando v Movies
“Edward Norton: the most Complicated Actor of his Generation” by Hollywood Lore
“BORDERLANDS DIED TWICE” by Frogwater
“I Built a solo stronghold hidden in the clouds…” by Willjum
“I built an impossible solo base in vanilla rust…” by Willjum
“How a Solo with 11,362 Hours plays Vanilla Rust…” by Willjum
“I Played Official Rust against the 4 Greatest Solos in the world…” by Willjum
“A Solo Farmer Vs 4 Rust Pros… Who will survive?” by Willjum
“The Fall of the 5 Solo… Rust Movie” by Willjum
“1000 Players Simulate Civilization Across Dimensions” by MARCUSK
“We lived in a cube ft. Spoonkid” by ZChum Extra
“I Built an unraidable Sky fortress in Vanilla Rust…” by Willjum
“How The Olympics Almost Banned This Shoe” by Cleo Abram

Ben Boruff is a co-founder of Big B and Mo’ Money. Read more at BenBoruff.com.

Bones & All, Earthlings, and the Art of Anti-Othering

Trigger warning: Some of the stories discussed contain sensitive content.

Years ago, per a recommendation, I read Earthlings by Sayaka Murata. I have not been able to get it out of my mind since.

I’ve seen reviews that call Earthlings “bizarre” and “off,” but those words do little to represent the novel’s startling content. Murata’s epic story of an unconventional girl-turned-woman who believes that she may be an alien from another planet contains [trigger warnings and mild spoilers] instances of child abuse, incest, and cannibalism, among other things. Any Stephen King novel could be described as a bit “bizarre”; Murata’s book is something else entirely. A Goodreads review by a user named Robin offers an effective explanation:

If I try to explain what happens in the plot, I will sound insane. And it is. The plot is outrageous and over the top – the oppression, the abuse, and then the equally shocking response to it. It’s wild, fearless, and what makes it even stranger is that it’s told in this completely simple, straightforward, conversational tone. It draws you in, with the ease of a YA novel. You almost think, hey, this is about 11 year old kids. I’m not that interested. But don’t be fooled… it’s about to get about as dark and twisted as your worst nightmare.

And Earthlings isn’t the only Murata-written tale to accomplish this: Sayaka Murata’s slightly less extreme novel Convenience Story Woman (which I read immediately after Earthlings) shares many themes. Wired‘s Thu-Huong Ha describes the plot of the story:

[Convenience Store Woman] is told from the perspective of Keiko, a 36-year-old woman who has never had sex or held a real job and has no particular interest in either. The romance between Keiko and her place of employment is oddly moving, as is her quiet bewilderment over purpose and personhood. Keiko is happy and content, but her family worries about her. To get them off her back, she starts a sham relationship with a misogynistic coworker with whom she shares a mutual loathing. Though the reality is horrible, the setup appears conventional. Her family is thrilled.

In both stories, antagonists are everywhere, but the accusatory fingers of the narratives are pointed primarily at society—or, more specifically, at the “machine of society,” as Keiko says. Keiko (the protagonist of Convenience Store Woman) and Natsuki (the protagonist of Earthlings) are both extreme outcasts, either actively resisting societal norms or consciously mimicking them to the point of unintentional parody in attempts to avoid confrontation. And let’s be clear, Keiko and Natsuki are not outcasts in the same way as your awkward friend or your cousin who wears only black: Keiko and Natsuki are fundamentally at odds with the acceptable systems of the world. In many scenes, Keiko and Natsuki can’t even see the Overton window of societal norms—it’s too far away. Keiko and Natsuki make Holden Caulfield look like Harry Potter.

That’s the point, in part. Sayaka Murata has described wanting “to write from the perspective of someone who defied conventional thinking, particularly in a conformist society where people are expected to fulfill preordained roles.” Like a less troublesome version of Flannery O’Connor, Murata forces her readers to look deep into the eyes of individuals who categorically do not have a place in traditionally organized society (or “The Factory,” as Natsuki calls it). She holds the strange and the uncomfortable in front of our face, and she dares us to find something to appreciate.

Sayaka Nurata’s anti-society, anti-othering messages are crucial today. Luckily for us, Nurata is not the only artist who is making this commentary.

Bones and All, a romantic horror film from Luca Guadagnino (director of Suspiria and Challengers), echoes the anti-orthodox themes of Earthlings. Even on the surface, the similarities are apparent: both stories contain child abuse, cannibalism, and more. But deeper into the narrative is where the value lies. The protagonist of the film is Maren Yearly, a cannibalistic teenager who finds herself alone in the world. After Maren’s unnatural proclivities cause her father to leave, she finds herself drawn to a young man and fellow cannibal named Lee.

In Bones and All, cannibals are portrayed as a marginalized group, similar to how vampires are portrayed in popular media like Twilight and Baldur’s Gate 3: some are bad and some are good—but all are misunderstood. The cannibals’ need to feed is not quite like TV’s Dexter and his “dark passenger” that makes him kill criminals: Dexter’s desires are singular, focused, and able to be manipulated for good, unlike the cannibalistic nature of Maren and Lee. The cannibalism of Bones and All cannot be used for good: it can only be managed and understood. It is more of an identity than a temptation. In the film, all cannibals seem to be social outcasts, and most of them are aggressively cynical about society. But their cynicism is nuanced. Director Luca Guadagnino and writer David Kajganich refuse to clearly articulate the cause-and-effect relationship. Is the cynicism a result of their ostracization due to cannibalism? Or do they have other reasons for distrusting society?

And in the face of that muddy, bloody mess exists a remarkably sensitive and compelling romance—a notable M&M of positivity among the raisin-filled trail mix of death and systemic marginalization. Many viewers will find their attention drifting toward the romance and away from the horror. In other words, the film humanizes the teenage cannibals.

Robin, the Goodreads user from before, has more to say about the horrific whimsy of Earthlings‘ Natsuki, and this excerpt explains the positivity that can arise after placing wholly uncomfortable situations in front of the faces of audience members:

It’s freaky because as crazy as the main characters’ actions seem, I supported them. Why? Because living in “The Factory” – society – isn’t easy. Don’t you ever feel like an alien? I sure as hell do. Don’t you ever feel like you’d rather die than conform to what is expected of you? Or if you do, doesn’t it feel like a slow death? “The Factory” is often propagated most by those closest to us. I lived this way, so you need to, too. This is what you do now, and this is what you do next, and there’s no room for you if you don’t. There’s no room in the factory for individuality. For those healing from scars or trauma. For those who have a unique-to-them path. Murata’s characters make room. This story is told vastly outside the box. And I love it because of that.

It’s easy to be kind to outcasts when the “outcasts” you talk to are fairly ordinary. If your “outcast” sounds like Mean Girls‘ Janis, Superbad‘s Fogell, or James Dean from Rebel Without a Cause, are you really even talking to an outcast? All of those characters, while regrettably marginalized or shunned to a degree, still function effectively within the traditional structures of society. Writer Sayaka Murata and director Luca Guadagnino challenge us to look even further into the dark corners of society. Don’t just look for the person who is sitting alone in the room—look for the person who’s not even in the building. And then see if your supposedly welcoming and open-minded mentality still holds up.

Can you look into the eyes of those who reject everything about your societal norms and comforts? And can you do so without blinking?

Can you look at Keiko and Natsuki and Maren and Lee and see a human being worthy of love and acceptance?

There is a line, of course. Not all behaviors are acceptable. (It should go without saying: cannibalism is bad.) As John Oliver said, “The answer to ‘where you draw the line’ is literally always ‘somewhere.’ You draw it somewhere.” And then if you learn new information and need to redraw your line, you redraw your line.

The value of anti-othering art like Earthlings and Bones and All—the type of art that forces you to look at the strangest of society—is that it challenges us to evaluate where we have drawn our lines. Neither Murata nor Guadagnino wants you to appreciate cannibalism. But they do want you to consider why you might be shunning real-life individuals as if they were cannibals.

P.S. There’s so much more to say about these types of anti-othering stories. A (capital “R”) Romantic reading of Earthlings and Convenience Store Woman, for example, would note Murata’s use of mechanical imagery when describing the operations of society. Romantic-era thinkers celebrated individualism, natural beauty, and imagination over the “experience” of the industrialized world. Also, John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men could contribute to some of these ideas. Earthlings, Bones and All, and Of Mice and Men all feature aggressively marginalized characters—and all three stories qualify as tragedies. That is certainly worth dissecting.

Ben Boruff is a co-founder of Big B and Mo’ Money. Read more at BenBoruff.com.

The Supremely Important Moral of Disney’s Wish

2023’s Wish is an unfocused, poorly crafted film, but it contains one of Disney’s most important messages.

A line from Ethan Hawke’s The Hottest State summarizes a nearly universal struggle: “. . . when you’re a kid, everyone, all the world, encourages you to follow your dreams. But when you’re older, somehow they act offended if you even try.” We all know this to be true. Think back to your elementary school experience. Remember the kids who wanted to explore astronomy and self-expression and art. The kids who wanted to change the world. Remember the parents and teachers and inspirational speakers who told you to shoot for the stars. They told you that you could be anything you wanted to be. They told you to dream big. The you-can-do-anything rhetoric was everywhere. It was inescapable.

Now, try to pinpoint the moment when people stopped telling you to dream big. For many of us, it was in high school around the time we started applying for colleges and jobs. Our well-intentioned guardians and counselors began to steer us toward practicality. They didn’t condemn our dreams at first; no, they suggested small adjustments to account for their perceptions of possibility. “Put it off for just a year.” “You can do that just as a hobby for now.” “At least have a backup plan.” “Try this first.” So we began to make concessions—small at first, perhaps, but the concessions grew. In size and number. We slowly chipped away at our once big, star-focused dreams until they became bite-sized—until they became something our mentors could digest comfortably.

This is a common story. But why? Are parents and teachers lying to elementary students about their potential? Are big dreams simply fables we tell kids—like Santa Clause or the Tooth Fairy—to add a bit of fabricated excitement into their young lives? Or do guardians genuinely believe in lofty ambitions but second-guess themselves as their children grow up—so they instinctively fall back to the Alamo of digestible mediocrity?

Wish offers an answer: Big dreams are difficult and complicated. Life is simpler—and perhaps even happier at times—without them.

This is the initial motivation of Magnifico, Wish‘s villain. Magnifico’s characterization gets muddied as the film progresses—his intentions become less nuanced after the film’s first act—but his opening scenes offer a fascinating take on the reality of ambition. During his first interactions with Asha, the film’s young and admirably wide-eyed protagonist, Magnifico explains that people move to his city because they “can’t make their own dreams come true: the journey’s too hard, it is too unfair.” When Asha wonders if the citizens could try controlling their own destinies, Magnifico dismisses her supposed naivete: “Well, you’re young. You don’t know anything, really.”

Some background: King Magnifico is a sorcerer who created the kingdom of Rosas on an island in the Mediterranean Sea and promised happiness and prosperity to his citizens as long as each new citizen gave their wish (dream) to him. Citizens do not remember their abandoned wishes. Once a month, Magnifico grants the wish of a citizen. This monthly ceremony is widely celebrated until Asha learns that Magnifico has no desire to grant certain wishes.

Hidden within that plot is Magnifico’s genuine desire to help his citizens: “You’ve completely missed the point. . . . They give their wishes to me, willingly, and I make it so they forget their worries.” In the scene following that line, two new arrivals willingly give their wishes to Magnifico. “It’s a real weight off, isn’t it?” Magnifico says. And in the early stages of the film, Asha’s own grandfather echo’s Magnifico’s sentiments, growing angry when Asha tries to give him back a dream that he knows will likely not come true.

When Magnifico sings his part of “At All Costs,” then, he is not attempting to deceive Asha: he sincerely believes that he is protecting the dreams (and, by extension, the dreamers) from the harshness of reality. When he sings, “I will protect you at all costs / Keep you safe here in my arms,” he is expressing a desire to shelter his citizens from their own ambitions. Their dreams are beautiful, but their dreams are also dangerous. So, according to Magnifico, it’s better if the wishes are locked away and forgotten.

Ignore the last half of the film for a moment and consider how much this perception of Magnifico resembles the guardians, teachers, counselors, and friends who suggested that you change, alter, adapt, or delay your dreams. They wanted what is best for you, but they defined “best” in the context of predictability and practicality. Your dreams were beautiful, but they were also difficult and complicated. So they nudged you consistently toward a more simplistically blissful existence.

“It’s a real weight off, isn’t it?” they may have said when you passively took their advice.

But remember: Magnifico is the villain.

Wish argues (somewhat incoherently) that all individuals deserve the opportunity to follow their dreams—no matter how difficult, complicated, impractical, or unpredictable they may be. Wish asserts that robbing someone of that opportunity is an act of villainy. (Side note: This topic is complex: many individuals have obligations and circumstances that necessitate adaptation. And many guardians, teachers, and others are attempting to compassionately steer loved ones away from likely heartache. Caring for someone else is not easy. But when that love keeps someone from exploring their passions, it becomes problematic.)

The importance of this message cannot be overstated. We exist amid an epidemic of dreamlessness fueled by misguided pragmatism, and it will not get better until we face some hard truths. Well-intentioned or not, persuading someone to abandon or castrate their dream is regrettable. Consider this poem from Langston Hughes:

Hold fast to dreams
For if dreams die
Life is a broken-winged bird
That cannot fly.

Hold fast to dreams
For when dreams go
Life is a barren field
Frozen with snow.

Lofty ambitions are essential to life. Without them, we are not us. Without them, we have lost something that helps define who we are (i.e. a flightless bird or a barren field). Despite its thematic inconsistencies, Wish does a wonderful job of depicting this loss.

So what do we do? We push back. Following your dreams is not as simple as making a choice: it requires daily attention and energy. It’s like swimming upstream against a raging river—forever. Magnifico was right: dreams are a troublesome business. It’s much easier to forget them. So if you want to follow yours, you have to fight consciously and actively to keep them.

In Wish, the spirit of this fight is embodied by the song “Knowing What I Know Now.” As they sing, Asha and her friends prepare to challenge Magnifico and retrieve their dreams. The lyrics acknowledge the possibility of failure (“And who, who knows if we’ll succeed?”) while reinforcing the drive to try (“But we / Won’t stop and we won’t retreat or turn ’round”). In this way, “Knowing What I Know Now” operates as a Disney version of Dylan Thomas’s “Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night“: it reminds us that dreams should not be given up easily.

Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

And you, my father, there on the sad height,
Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Ben Boruff is a co-founder of Big B and Mo’ Money. Read more at BenBoruff.com.

Top Ten Movies of 2019: Jeremiah’s Picks

 

Tony Stark

This is Jeremiah back with a top 9 movies that I loved most out of the 40 movies that I saw this year. As always this isn’t ranking every movie that came out this year since I clearly missed a lot of movies that came out, but instead its me telling you that these movies right here are amazing and you should check them out.

Number 9

Captain Marvel Continue reading →

Top Ten Movies of 2019: Big B’s Picks

Best of 2019

MPAA ratings vary. Not all movies are suitable for all audiences.

10. Picture Character – directed by Ian Cheney and Martha Shane

I saw Picture Character at the Traverse City Film Festival, and an older man seated in front of me did not appreciate this movie. He peppered his movie-watching experience with a variety of muttered comments—”Oh my god,” “This is ridiculous,” “I can’t watch this”—designed to communicate his dissatisfaction to everyone seated near him. And the man, apparently a perfectionist, was not willing to subject his comments to misinterpretation: twenty minutes before the end of the movie, he stood up and left the movie theater, mumbling incoherently as he shuffled his way toward the aisle in the dark. A grand display of angry incredulity. 🙄 Continue reading →

Planet of the Humans: Possibly the Most Important Movie of 2019

TCFF POTH

I was silent during the post-film Q&A. Like many in the audience, it took some time for me to emotionally and intellectually process the information I had just received.

In the fight against climate change, only a few things offer comfort: the semi-frequent construction of wind farms, the increasingly busy solar panel market, and the slow-but-steady decline of our dependence on coal.

But what if those things were not helping us? What if they were, in fact, causing new problems? What if our current green solutions were just as black as coal? Continue reading →

Captain Marvel (2019) Review: “I just want to go on the record and say that this film is great”

 

Captain Marvel

Captain Marvel is a Marvel installment directed by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck. It stars Brie Larson in her debut as Captain Marvel and is groundbreaking in that it’s Marvel’s first film to star a female superhero. The first thing I want to say is that this movie is good. I’ve been watching reviews since I saw it, and I’ve found myself confused and bewildered by the response to the film and the critiques I’ve seen. So, I just want to go on the record and say that this film is great and the article is going to read more as a rebuttal to some stuff I’ve seen that’s confusing me. Continue reading →

Top Movies of 2018: Mo’ Money’s Picks

Below are Mo’ Money’s top films of 2018 only including films that premiered anywhere in the world in the calendar year.

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2018 was a great year for me, but one way that it really shone was all the great movies I was able to access via streaming and physical media. My war against theaters continues, and yet I was able to see 57 movies that premiered in 2018 including a number of independent Midwestern productions. While I missed a lot of films that only played in festivals or haven’t released in the United States yet, and my list may change over the years, I believe the following movies are great and worth watching if you can access them. Continue reading →