Re: Entertainment Joys

[Werel]

Mulholland Drive... I feel like Lynch wants the "meaning" to be something each viewer finds for themselves, if that makes sense (I've watched clips of him talking about his films and he doesn't explain what they "mean" in the conventional sense-he has said he doesn't even know what some of the things in his movies mean, though that doesn't necessarily mean they don't mean anything).

Yep, that sounds 100% up my alley. I'm the kind of person who loved Antichrist in part because nobody I've talked to seemed to interpret it quite the same way, and there aren't any canonical "answers" to it (other than chaos reigns of course), so I'm excited to start in on the Lynch canon.

I also watched an interesting documentary on Lynch recently, The Art Life. He's an odd man. I think with some of the material on his childhood, I at least see where his obvious fascination with 50s Americana comes from-he seemed to have what we would think of as this very normal childhood in 50s suburbia, but this was interrupted by these inexplicable, dark experiences that hinted at this "other" reality...and, of course, you see all that in his work. Anyway, he seems very affable, but certainly an odd duck.

Just based on his role in Twin Peaks & The Return, I sort of love him. The interactions between him and Laura Dern made very clear that they actually like each other a lot after decades of working together, which speaks well of his humanity, and he's got a surprising emotional range in his eyes for somebody who's not a professional actor. He's terribly likable. Gotta check out that documentary.

Never made it I think it was last weekend. Next time I want to go to a concert and it's on a day I work, I need to  plan it way in advance.

I am... almost glad you didn't go, if you've never seen them live. It was so different from their previous shows that I got legit sad; I think they've been working way too hard, and all the joy of performing was just gone. (e.g. Sam's stage banter is usually very charming, but this time it was dour and wooden and involved a long semi-coherent rant about how there's no God and everyone needs to just give up religion already. Sorry you lost your faith bro but a) time/place appropriateness? and b) is there anything less interesting than a newly-minted evangelical atheist?) Fingers crossed that you make it to a more fun live show sometime soon!

[Hirundo Bos]

I just managed to get killed by my own beard in Don't Starve. I was planning to shave some beefalo in the cover of night, but accidentally shaved myself instead. Then I stood too close to fire, so my beard hairs lit up. I was so dumbfounded I didn't move away... and so I burned. It's... the most delightfully ridiculous computer game death I can remember having suffered.

[Hirundo Bos]

I think they should rename the game into "Don't Shave"

[DoubtfulGuest]

Yep, that sounds 100% up my alley. I'm the kind of person who loved Antichrist in part because nobody I've talked to seemed to interpret it quite the same way, and there aren't any canonical "answers" to it (other than chaos reigns of course), so I'm excited to start in on the Lynch canon.

I've not seen anything by von Trier (gasp!)-okay, so now I'm reading about Antichrist, and some of it sounds pretty interesting (did you see The Witch? I loved The Witch, so if it's like that...), but is it enjoyable to watch, or is like a Cannibal Holocaust (which I haven't seen and have no plans to see) kind of thing where watching it is like an endurance test, to see how much you can sit through? Like, I enjoy Alejandro Jodorowsky's films, if you're familiar with those (it helps if you're stoned when watching his movies, but I saw both Santa Sangre and Dance of Reality "not-stoned" and I still thought they were both amazing-if anything, I liked them more than El Topo or The Holy Mountain. Of course, for me it's not so much the mystical stuff, just the visual experience of them; they're so completely unlike a typical Hollywood film) and the content of his films doesn't bother that me as some of the creepy statements he's made over the years.

Just based on his role in Twin Peaks & The Return, I sort of love him. The interactions between him and Laura Dern made very clear that they actually like each other a lot after decades of working together, which speaks well of his humanity, and he's got a surprising emotional range in his eyes for somebody who's not a professional actor. He's terribly likable. Gotta check out that documentary.

I was so pleased to find out that Dern plays Diane! I thought that was perfect. But, yeah, he comes across as warm in interviews, always saying nice things about the people he works with. For someone best known for art-house films, often with disturbing subject matter, he comes across as charmingly unpretentious.

I am... almost glad you didn't go, if you've never seen them live. It was so different from their previous shows that I got legit sad; I think they've been working way too hard, and all the joy of performing was just gone. (e.g. Sam's stage banter is usually very charming, but this time it was dour and wooden and involved a long semi-coherent rant about how there's no God and everyone needs to just give up religion already. Sorry you lost your faith bro but a) time/place appropriateness? and b) is there anything less interesting than a newly-minted evangelical atheist?) Fingers crossed that you make it to a more fun live show sometime soon!

That's a shame.

I definitely plan to go to more live shows. I still wish I'd seen The Mountain Goats last June, I was just...sort of...basically broke at the time, because I'd just moved, so I put off buying tickets and put off buying tickets until I just never went.

[Werel]

I've not seen anything by von Trier (gasp!)-okay, so now I'm reading about Antichrist, and some of it sounds pretty interesting (did you see The Witch? I loved The Witch, so if it's like that...), but is it enjoyable to watch, or is like a Cannibal Holocaust (which I haven't seen and have no plans to see) kind of thing where watching it is like an endurance test, to see how much you can sit through?

Umm...

Okay, I haven't seen Cannibal Holocaust or The Witch (though it's high on my to-watch list! People whose taste I share loved it!), so I can't comment, but Antichrist certainly has its share of things-that-are-hard-to-look-at. I have a pretty strong stomach and some moments did make me arrghhhh and squirm. But! It's definitely not just shock-gore, and I think the body horror elements are crucial enough to the overall themes and feel of the story that they're merited, not gratuitous. I also hate grossout endurance test movies, and it's not one of those. If you do give it a watch, I'd love to hear what you thought, it's a movie with a real special place in my heart.

Like, I enjoy Alejandro Jodorowsky's films, if you're familiar with those (it helps if you're stoned when watching his movies, but I saw both Santa Sangre and Dance of Reality "not-stoned" and I still thought they were both amazing-if anything, I liked them more than El Topo or The Holy Mountain. Of course, for me it's not so much the mystical stuff, just the visual experience of them; they're so completely unlike a typical Hollywood film) and the content of his films doesn't bother that me as some of the creepy statements he's made over the years.

No, I still haven't seen any of Jodorowsky's movies! Another one of those directors in the "as soon as I graduate and have tons of free unemployed time to watch movies" bin. Although I really love Everything is Terrible's adaptation of The Holy Mountain using only found footage from shitty dog movies--hearty thumbs-up to Doggie Woggiez! Poochie Woochiez! with or without ganj goggles.

I was so pleased to find out that Dern plays Diane! I thought that was perfect. But, yeah, he comes across as warm in interviews, always saying nice things about the people he works with. For someone best known for art-house films, often with disturbing subject matter, he comes across as charmingly unpretentious.

Sounds like Lynch is NOT a von Trier kind of director (I hear he's the reason Bjork never did another movie after Dancer in the Dark). And yes, Dern kills it! I love her in most things, though, did you ever see Enlightened on HBO?

[DoubtfulGuest]

Okay, I haven't seen Cannibal Holocaust or The Witch (though it's high on my to-watch list! People whose taste I share loved it!), so I can't comment, but Antichrist certainly has its share of things-that-are-hard-to-look-at. I have a pretty strong stomach and some moments did make me arrghhhh and squirm. But! It's definitely not just shock-gore, and I think the body horror elements are crucial enough to the overall themes and feel of the story that they're merited, not gratuitous. I also hate grossout endurance test movies, and it's not one of those. If you do give it a watch, I'd love to hear what you thought, it's a movie with a real special place in my heart.

Cool. Yeah, Cannibal Holocaust has actual dead animals being killed onscreen, which is just...I mean, I read that the natives acting on the film ate them afterward, which is the same thing that happened with the water buffalo on Apocalypse Now...I don't know, I also just don't like constant torture stuff (and I've had friends who love gory, very transgressive films who said it was hard to stomach), but sounds like you don't either. Your recommendation of Antichrist has made me more interested; I'll at least check it out.

The theme to Cannibal Holocaust is beautiful, though:



The Witch isn't particularly graphic, just disorienting and creepy, which I like. It made me think of Under the Skin (2013), where you're not always sure exactly what you're seeing, which is more disturbing than having it all spelled out for you. Again, it's that whole thing about the audience finding their own meaning. The director also did a bunch of research on folklore surrounding witches, and trying to make the characters think and behave in a way that's accurate to the period, rather than have them have feel like contemporary people with values and ways of thinking that would feel alien to Puritans in the 1600s.

I've seen the trailer for Doggiewoggiez! Poochiewoochiez! Everything Is Terrible does good work.

And yes, Dern kills it! I love her in most things, though, did you ever see Enlightened on HBO?

No, I heard it was good, though. Did things get wrapped up before it was cancelled, or did it just "end"?

[Werel]

Cool. Yeah, Cannibal Holocaust has actual dead animals being killed onscreen, which is just...I mean, I read that the natives acting on the film ate them afterward, which is the same thing that happened with the water buffalo on Apocalypse Now...

Oh shit, now that you say that, I remember the other reason I haven't watched Cannibal Holocaust, which is the general grossness of indigenous-exploitation Savage Primitives flicks. That gets under my skin pretty fast. Double pass (though I do like the theme song).

BUT SPEAKING OF UNDER MY SKIN,

The Witch isn't particularly graphic, just disorienting and creepy, which I like. It made me think of Under the Skin (2013), where you're not always sure exactly what you're seeing, which is more disturbing than having it all spelled out for you.

Literally my other favorite movie. If The Witch was evocative of that, on top of having thoughtful, well-researched cultural representation of Puritan ideologies, I have to see it yesterday.

Everything Is Terrible does good work.

Holy shit, dude, are you my long-lost media-consumption twin?

I have to tell this story because I rarely come across anyone who'd appreciate it: I saw the EIT guys do a live event a few years ago, EIT vs. Found Footage Festival, and it was one of the greatest events I've ever been to. The FFF guys went first and did their usual shtick, just two dudes introducing some fairly funny clips. And then. The EIT dudes came on stage. In enormous oversized puppet suits of the FFF guys. And did their whole introduction in bitchy caricature personas of the FFF guys, whose facial expressions indicated they did NOT know this was coming. It was... beautiful. (EIT won the nominal contest. Clearly.)

No, I heard it was good, though. Did things get wrapped up before it was cancelled, or did it just "end"?

Both seasons are relatively satisfying stories on their own, but it definitely got cancelled at a point which wasn't an "ending". Still, it's very good both as a comedy, and as a accurate-and-damning-but-humanizing character study of a specific type of cringey person.

[DoubtfulGuest]

Oh shit, now that you say that, I remember the other reason I haven't watched Cannibal Holocaust, which is the general grossness of indigenous-exploitation Savage Primitives flicks. That gets under my skin pretty fast. Double pass (though I do like the theme song).

Yeah, Eli Roth did that movie recently that was supposed to be a tribute to the 70s cannibal-indigenous people exploitation genre; just sounded gross to me (but I'm not a fan of Eli Roth as a filmmaker anyway).

Holy shit, dude, are you my long-lost media-consumption twin?

Ha ha-maybe?! I'll take that as a compliment.  

I have to tell this story because I rarely come across anyone who'd appreciate it: I saw the EIT guys do a live event a few years ago, EIT vs. Found Footage Festival, and it was one of the greatest events I've ever been to. The FFF guys went first and did their usual shtick, just two dudes introducing some fairly funny clips. And then. The EIT dudes came on stage. In enormous oversized puppet suits of the FFF guys. And did their whole introduction in bitchy caricature personas of the FFF guys, whose facial expressions indicated they did NOT know this was coming. It was... beautiful. (EIT won the nominal contest. Clearly.)

That sounds amazing-though, of course, I like the FFF too-that reminds me, I'm thinking of going to one of the live shows this year (part of my "make an effort to go see things live" resolution. Though part of my problem is getting interested in too many pieces of media at once, making it harder to be a dedicated fan of one specific thing-beyond stuff I liked growing up, when I had fewer media options. So I'm frequently out of the loop when it comes to which special events are going to be in my area and stuff like that-like, I really wish I'd made it to see MST3K Live on their Watch Out for Snakes! Tour; I just kind of forgot about it. I also used to feel weird about going to events alone when none of my friends were interested, but I've discovered it's worth just going anyway).

Both seasons are relatively satisfying stories on their own, but it definitely got cancelled at a point which wasn't an "ending". Still, it's very good both as a comedy, and as a accurate-and-damning-but-humanizing character study of a specific type of cringey person.

"Relatively satisfying stories on their own" doesn't sound bad. Plus, I'm bad about not finishing TV shows, so I don't always mind it when there's only two seasons or something (but I prefer it if that was the creators' intent, not an unplanned cancellation. I got pretty invested in Carnivale last winter, knowing full well it was not going to end in a satisfying way and...I guess it was worth it? It's a very cool show-historical setting, sideshow people, gothic supernatural weirdness...it was a great ride while it lasted. At the same time, knowing that there will never be any real satisfying conclusion to the show is frustrating, after spending two seasons with those characters and their world...).

[bomaye]

Get Out ended up being really fun

Spoiler:

[bomaye]

>Gundam The Origin
>Battle of the Loum

Char Aznable shuts off the gravitational safeties in his Mobile Suit, blasts full speed into the Federation Fleet like a Red Comet and yells out "BOW DOWN TO ME, GOD."

This fucking guy.

Also

>Operation British
>Already knew the Colony Drop destroyed Australia
>"By the way, part of it broke off and landed on Southwestern Canada"

F-fuck you too, Gundam.

[Enail]

Breath of the Wild lets you hunt OSTRICHES!

[bomaye]

Y-you've always wanted to kill Ostriches for sport?

[Enail]

Apparently But not just for sport, one of those things gave me a whole chicken! I'm hoping I can get five and make a turducken!

[bomaye]

I'm gonna say a word from Zelda, and you won't know what it means yet, but I want you to tell me when you find out what it means

Lynel.

[Enail]

TBH, I'm kind of more excited about the surprising variety of real-life animals than the magical-y ones for some reason  The dragons are awesome, though. (but also: MOOSE, EH!!)

[Enail]

Found a Lynel, looted a Lyenl's chests, ran like hell from a Lynel while screaming NO DON'T KILL MEEEEEEE

[bomaye]

Scariest shit in the game right there

[Datelessman]

With the end of the 2012 Nick Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle show that was on for 5 seasons and a new one coming out soon, I sometimes wonder if the 2003 era show is being lost in the shuffle a bit. This isn't the classic one, which began in 1987 as a syndicated holiday mini series and ran for 10 seasons, which included 7 on CBS. Nor is this the 2012 Nick one. I am talking about the one which debuted on FoxBox/4Kids in 2003 and ran 7 seasons, finishing up on the CW4Kids Network until it ended (by becoming I think VORTEX until 2014, which marked the end of network Saturday morning cartoons on broadcast networks beyond PBS or other lessor digital channels). The rights to the show became owned by Viacom/Nick in 2010 and they sporadically spit out random episode collections on DVD, but there hasn't been any concerted attempt at seasonal sets for about 8-10 years.

Unlike the original show (or current shows), co-creator Peter Laird was heavily involved in the day-to-day production of the episodes, from scripts, etc. And it shows with the spot on adaptations of many original Mirage Studio stories and characters. There're updates and references to the '87 show as well as plenty of new characters and material. It's strongly serialized and it is far more serious than the theme song implies. In fact, I think that's part of the problem.

Seasons 1-4 (the first 100+ episodes) are excellent; excellent enough that it remains a shame why I never see this series in top 10 comic book themed cartoon lists anywhere. Season 5 was "the Lost Season/Ninja Tribunal" arc, which is loosely inspired by Naruto but retains the character models and continuity of the previous run. After this, however, the show does honestly complete its jump over the shark with season 6 "Fast Foward," where the tone becomes drastically lighter (via a time travel premise) and the character models become simpler and more exaggerated. The 7th and last season, "Back to the Sewers," attempts to resolve this as well as partly imitate the look and details of the then-current CGI animated "TMNT" film that WB had distributed in 2007. It ended with an animated TV movie, "TURTLES FOREVER," which mostly aired and re-aired on TV in an edited form, but was available in an unedited format via the CW4kids website for about a year.

The voice cast was mostly NY based and features many actors familiar to anyone who watched 4Kids dubs of POKEMON or YU-GI-OH. They include Michael Sinterniklaas (Dean Venture from "THE VENTURE BROTHERS") as Leonardo, Veronica Taylor (Ash & May from POKEMON) as April O'Niel, Marc Thompson (Kevin, among others, from "DARIA") as Casey Jones, Sam Riegel ("SOFIA THE FIRST", "CRITICAL ROLE") as Donatello, and even Lenore Zann (Rogue from 1992's "X-MEN") in a supporting role in season 5.

This is a controversial identity shift with the Shredder which some fans were not fond of, but I thought worked out well for this particular series. They try to work around it and perhaps appease fans angry about it in season 5, and it only partially works. It reminds me of the JLU episode "EPILOGUE" where they tried to appease critics who whined about Terry McGinnis not being part of "the family" like Grayson or Drake in inheriting the identity of Batman in "BATMAN BEYOND" by literally making him Bruce Wayne's secret son. Sometimes trying to "fix" something controversial doesn't help it much.

Since the old 4Kids DVD's are out of print (and even those sets didn't competently collect season 3) and Nick only releases sporadic and out of order episode collections, viewing it legally may be difficult. But if you can find your way into viewing it, or if it comes to Netflix or some Amazon Video thingie, I'd say it is well worth watching. I've just finished season 2 and it's been a pleasure reliving the series that allowed me to like TMNT as a young adult after I'd abandoned it as a child.

[bomaye]

They're all on youtube

Seconding the rec on the 2003 series, that shit was cool as fuck.

[Enail]

Not sure whether this belongs in Joys or Rants, the rant aspect is what prompted me to write it, but since I think it's not that popular a show it probably needs an intro, which is much more on the joy side.  I had very low expectations for Kevin (Probably) Saves the World - the premise is heavily based on doing good with the guidance of an angel, and "sappy and religious" is generally about my least favourite thing ever - and just tuned in b/c my wife was checking it out and I felt like watching something light, but I've found it a consistently fun show that has blown me away with its ability to handle religion, faith and heartwarmingness in a way that feels genuine and doesn't piss me off or make me want to vomit, something I'd previously thought impossible. So that's the joy.

For the rant part, it's recently introduced a love interest for one of the characters who is absolute nails on a chalkboard to me, every single word out of his mouth, my reaction is either "shut up, you insufferable ASS" or "holy shit, that's red flag creepy, run, [character he's the love interest for]!" And I'm pretty sure it's not intentional. There's some chance the writers are playing a long game on him being at least an ass and just keeping it subtle for now, but I suspect not.

Also, been playing Breath of the Wild for a gazillion hours now, the shine and excitement of exploration has mostly worn off, but every time I hear the dragon music, I still have to stop what I'm doing and just stand and look at it or try to get close, for no reason other than that sense of wonder. It just feels special and I want to experience it.

[bomaye]

>Buy Xenoblade 2, a 100+ hour game
>Pop it in for 3 hours
>Turn to Video Game Award News
>"Hey guys, Zelda BOTW DLC Pack 2: The Champion's Ballad is coming. More storyline, more shrines and hey, a fucking MOTORCYCLE!"
>"Oh btw, it releases TONIGHT"

NINTENDOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

[Enail]

Noooo, not more shrines!

[bomaye]

Apparently if you just play to beat the game, you can beat Xenoblade 2 in 40-55 hours.

I'm partway through Chapter 3 (I've heard there's 10) and I'm already up to almost 30 hours. <.<

[bomaye]

I'm at the beginning of Chapter 4 in Xenoblade 2, just hit the 40 hour mark.

Game is horrifyingly addictive on a personal level. They loot crate the equivalent of Summons (you get crystals in-game, you bind them to a character and it creates a Summon of some kind, every once in awhile you'll roll a Rare/Unique summon). Each of these summons have skill trees including non-combat skills that help you collect items and find hidden treasures and areas on the field. You can "develop" each province/town you visit by completing sidequests, talking to NPCs and buying items, which unlocks more items/sidequests/etc, eventually leading to you buying the Deeds to the shops you visit which bestows permanent buffs/bonuses. You have an organization that you send your Summons out on timed missions with that helps with all of the above.

And strangely enough, the story is okay but not good enough that I get aggravated from not seeing the next part of it quickly like I normally do with games.

[Datelessman]

I may be almost a year late to the party, but the LEGO BATMAN MOVIE may have been the best Batman motion picture since BATMAN: MASK OF THE PHANTASM. I completely enjoyed it.

Speaking about Batman, Adam West's last work with the character, BATMAN VS. TWO-FACE, also came out and that was fun, too. Not quite as fun, or weird, as BATMAN: RETURN OF THE CAPED CRUSADERS, but still a romp. I only wish WB Home Video had thought to some of those '66 reunions sooner.

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