In every post about fighting games, I always note how awful I am at them. Well, I still am but I picked this one up specifically because it’s said to be beginner-friendly. Indeed, not only does it have simple buttons so that you don’t have to learn complex technical inputs but it also includes one of the most comprehensive in-game tutorials I’ve seen. Not being familiar to the franchise, the characters are all new to me and feel like generic rip-offs of better established characters. But the gameplay seems solid and the art looks nice enough. I’d planned to learn this better but unfortunately I’d hurt my hand recently and that cut my time with it shorter than I might have liked.
I actually do have vague memories of the earlier 1984 adaptation of the James Clavell novel even though I was far too young then to understand any of it. This new version is by all accounts far better especially as rather than framing John Blackthorne as the protagonist, it really only puts him in the position of a witness to the rise of Yoshii Toranaga. Production quality and especially the performances are all excellent. This is faithful to the novel so it uses the fictionalized versions of the historical characters. But part of me so wishes it used the original names instead as it would have been so cool.
If this weren’t just released on Netflix, I probably wouldn’t have watched it but we do watch lighter fare once in a while. This Korean animated film may feature slick visuals and a science-fiction setting but don’t be fooled. It’s an old-school romance which doesn’t hesitate in pouring on the melodrama to wring out your tears. Still, I can’t be entirely dismissive as newcomer director Han Ji-Won knows exactly what he is going for and does a great job of filling the screen with spectacular if not entirely realistic imagery.
I’ve been following the Forge of Destiny / Threads of Destiny forum game for many years now though these days I’m just a reader and rarely participate in voting. I still consider it the best xianxia story I know of. This book is set in that same fantasy world but features stories about other characters other than Ling Qi, the protagonist of the main series. Many of these are Ling Qi’s friends and associates but there are also plenty of those from other times and places. I’ve already read most of these stories before as almost all of them are available online for free but I bought this to support the author and it’s nice to have them in a single volume. I will note that many of the stories don’t really stand on their own but feel more like worldbuilding snippets. Those who aren’t already following the main story might not get much out of this book.
I wad dubious about this at first. It felt like the age-old formula of young lovers committing crimes and rebelling against the world, except with a lesbian couple. But then it starts ramping up the intensity and never stops even as it enters surreal territory. Right then I was hooked and understood that this was something special. It’s kind of insane that a formula like bodybuilding noir could ever work but it does. It’s fitting then that it was made the same director who made Saint Maud as it shares the same kind of insane intensity.
Not only is this a French animated science-fiction film, it’s a very serious one to boot and relies on the audience being reasonably intelligent and attentive. Most science-fiction stories are built around just one or two cool ideas, but this one just keeps throwing new things at you and expects you to keep. Unfortunately it flubs the ending as the buildup is way better than the payoff but it’s so good as a cyberpunk noir while it lasts.
Here’s another masterpiece from classic Indian cinema and this time it is not by Satyajit Ray. It does cover similar thematic territory however in being what I would call misery porn. It was made by Ritwik Ghatak and is believed to be his best known and most watched film. There’s supposed to be some political backdrop to this but I don’t think it matters much as the Partition of Bengal is not directly mentioned. All we need to know is that this is about a miserably poor family and a self-sacrificing daughter who bear everyone’s burden. It’s such a superbly made film that one instantly recognizes why it is a masterpiece. Yet it also advances a morality that I find execrable.
