feat: grim & body snatch

1 files changed, 177 insertions, 1 deletions

diff --git a/content-org/brain-rot.org b/content-org/brain-rot.org
index 8536228..8f2d133 100644
--- a/content-org/brain-rot.org
+++ b/content-org/brain-rot.org
@@ -2035,6 +2035,46 @@ But this very nicely matches the metaphor in the story.
 This, however, would not be made with modern sensitivity.
 
 
+*** DONE Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)
+CLOSED: [2024-07-21 Sun 22:22]
+:PROPERTIES:
+:EXPORT_FILE_NAME: invasion-of-the-body-snatchers-1956
+:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :abstract My review of a meh horror
+:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :image brain-rot/covers/invasion-of-the-body-snatchers-1956.jpg
+:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :rating 3
+:END:
+
+/Invasion of the Body Snatchers/ is a 1956 film about a town that's being attacked by aliens.
+However, the attack is not an all-out warfare, but instead slow replacement of town's folks.
+Everything that makes us individuals is removed, and all that's left is a souless husk.
+The body is replaced by a clone straight out of a pod, your memories are transferred - but your soul is gone.
+It can happen to you!
+#+attr_shortcode: 3 "invasion-of-the-body-snatchers-1956.jpg" 
+#+begin_rating
+Cover
+#+end_rating
+
+Yeah, it's a /commie/ horror.
+Guess becoming part of a collective was the worst the authors could come out with.
+I have not read the book, but the film let me down.
+I saw it ages ago, and it was OK, but I remember very little.
+Now I know why - the film is extremely forgettable.
+
+The idea of being replaced by an identical clone, that /is/ you but at the same time it missing what makes you human is very cool - in a scary way.
+But the film does nothing with it.
+Everyone in the town is slowly being replaced by /pod people/ and only our main heroes are fighting for their individual selves.
+Even in the first act, where the replacement is just revealed, the characters don't show many emotions.
+Hey, let's put this strange body on our pool table.
+It will be good, don't worry about it.
+There is no suspense, nor are there any interesting reveals.
+
+/Invasion of the Body Snatchers/ is a very basic classic horror.
+It's not that it's old, as the same year we got /Forbidden Planet/ and /The Day the Earth Stood Still/ is 5 full years older.
+But somehow, this film became a classic with endless remakes.
+Technically, the movie is great - the acting, the effects.
+But story-wise nothing stands out, nothing stays with you.
+And I'm always in for the story!
+
 ** SciFi from the Eastern Block
 :PROPERTIES:
 :EXPORT_HUGO_SECTION: brain-rot/eastern-block-scifi
@@ -2273,6 +2313,7 @@ There was to be an American TV series based on /Roadside/.
 All that we got was [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Dts0rjp5V8][trailer]] which clearly shows, that it is impossible to make an Americanized version.
 In it, a shot of people saluting the stalker is shown, which is a complete antithesis of what the Stugatsky brothers are telling us.
 
+
 ** European SciFi
 :PROPERTIES:
 :EXPORT_HUGO_SECTION: brain-rot/european-scifi
@@ -2619,6 +2660,7 @@ CLOSED: [2024-04-14 Sun 18:10]
 :EXPORT_FILE_NAME: _index
 :EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :abstract My reviews of modern games
 :EXPORT_HUGO_PAIRED_SHORTCODES: img-r menu menu-info
+:EXPORT_HUGO_MENU: :menu "brain-rot" :parent "cgames" :weight 300
 :END:
 
 #+attr_shortcode: "brain-rot-modern-games"
@@ -2628,6 +2670,140 @@ Witcher
 
 
 
+** Golden Age Games
+:PROPERTIES:
+:EXPORT_HUGO_MENU: :menu "brain-rot"
+:EXPORT_HUGO_SECTION: brain-rot/golden-age-games/
+:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :menu_order name
+:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :primary_menu "brain-rot-gg-games"
+:EXPORT_HUGO_MENU: :menu "brain-rot-gg-games"
+:END:
+
+
+*** DONE Golden Age Games
+CLOSED: [2024-07-21 Sun 22:15]
+:PROPERTIES:
+:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTERH: :primary_menu "brain-rot"
+:EXPORT_HUGO_MENU: :menu "brain-rot" :parent "cgames" :weight 200
+:EXPORT_FILE_NAME: _index
+:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :abstract My reviews of games form the Golden Age
+:EXPORT_HUGO_PAIRED_SHORTCODES: img-r menu menu-info
+:END:
+
+#+attr_shortcode: "brain-rot-gg-games"
+#+begin_menu
+Witcher
+#+end_menu
+
+*** DONE Grim Fandango (1998, 2020)
+CLOSED: [2024-07-21 Sun 22:03]
+:PROPERTIES:
+:EXPORT_FILE_NAME: grim-fandango
+:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :abstract My review of the prequel
+:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :image brain-rot/covers/grim-fandango.jpg
+:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :rating 5
+:END:
+
+Content warning: I am extremely biased.
+Expect orgasmic sentences.
+
+There was no game company like LucasArts in their prime.
+Between shovelling Star Wars games, they were the kings of adventure gamers.
+They hired the best people, and they made the best games out there.
+And /Grim Fandango/ is the finest example.
+It is also my favourite game of all time.
+
+Manny Calavera is a salesman in a dead-end job.
+He has no chance for promotion, unless he scores big.
+And the odds are stacked up against him, as his boss despises him.
+All good clients go to Domino!
+Manny decides to play it all out and /steal/ a great client from Domino.
+The trick here is that Manny is a travel agent at the Department of Death, selling travel accommodation to recently deceased souls.
+
+#+attr_shortcode: 5 "grim-fandango.jpg" 
+#+begin_rating
+Cover
+#+end_rating
+The list of negatives is very short: two puzzles (cat races and bone grinder) are very challenging to deduct, but they match the setting.
+A lot of adventure games fall into puzzles where the only way to solve them is by sheer luck, but it's not the case.
+It will take some time to piece things together, but after that, it all makes sense.
+
+I first played /Grim/ in 1999.
+The demo of the game, covering the first chapter, was added to a cover disc.
+I played it on a loop, and up to this day I can recite all the puzzles and their solutions in order which they need to be solved.
+
+/Grim Fandango/ is a 2,5D game, so the backgrounds are pre-rendered, but all characters are real-time 3D.
+And how glorious each of those dimensions is!
+The art style of the characters is inspired by Mexican day of the Dead puppets, called Calaveras (like the main character!).
+Since the hardware of the day was not ready for spheres, so the models are simplified.
+The backgrounds, on the other hand, are full of details.
+But above all, it is extremely atmospheric.
+Land of the Dead takes a lot from Noir cinematography, but makes all the scenes uniquely /Fandango/.
+
+And the music!
+The Mexican-jazz blend is fused with my soul.
+Often I simply listen to it, even close to 30 years after release.
+It hasn't aged a day, and it complements perfectly what we see.
+
+#+attr_shortcode: :file grim-fandango-1.png
+#+attr_shortcode: :alt A skeleton looking down from a balcony at racing stadium
+#+attr_shortcode: :class centered
+#+begin_image
+Cat Racing becomes a problem
+#+end_image
+The voice acting is /perfect/.
+Everyone did an astonishing job - be it Tony Plana as Manny ("Glottis, are you loco?"), Alan Blumenfeld as the demon driver ("Well, actually, it's mostly stock, with a few mods here and there...") to each passing characters in the smallest roles, like Milton James as a coroner ("We may have years, we may have hours, but sooner or later, we push up flowers").
+Having a great script surely didn't make the job any more difficult, but they seem so real!
+
+It all comes the high point of the game, the second chapter.
+Here we spend some time in a port city, and oh what a city it is.
+Up to this day, I have not visited a virtual place I'd love to visit more than Rubacava.
+All the backgrounds, all the characters, all the puzzles.
+They blend perfectly in a Casablanca-esque story, like no other.
+Luckily, this is the longest chapter.
+
+After we leave the city, it never reaches the same level - but no other game did.
+Saying that "sorry, your other 3 chapters are not as good as the greatest part of a game I've ever witnesses" is something all other games can only dream off.
+They are still great, full of great locations and characters - just not /as/ great.
+
+And let's not forget the humour.
+It's a LucasArts game, after all!
+The game is hilarious, but in a way not many games tread.
+It treats the characters and the setting seriously!
+/Monkey Island/ is comical, but it never treats itself with any respect.
+/Grim/ is different, as it's full of love towards the inhabitants of Land of the Dead.
+
+#+attr_shortcode: :file grim-fandango-2.png
+#+attr_shortcode: :alt A morgue with deceased covered in flowers
+#+attr_shortcode: :class centered
+#+begin_image
+How to kill a dead person?
+Cover with flowers!
+#+end_image
+I have yet to encounter any game that has /this/ exact combination of atmosphere, lovable and respected characters, and this much humour.
+/Syberia 1/ is close - we visit desolated places inhabited by colourful characters, but it's treated with respect.
+You learn about then, like them, and want to help them.
+But it's not quite there.
+
+What Tim Shafer achieved with /Grim Fandango/ is nothing short of a miracle.
+It is a perfect game - at least in my book.
+So, of course, it flopped.
+It was too ambitious to fit a sensible budget, and it was released when adventure games fell out of fashion.
+Sort of like /Chinatown/ perfected Noir when Noir was a thing of the past.
+
+But, after the success of /Monkey Island/ remakes, /Grim Fandango/ got a chance to shine again in 2020.
+A remastered version with better shading and 3D models (but the same backgrounds) was released on every platform.
+It *is* a better version, so if it's still supported on your platform (screw you Apple), you can simply buy it and enjoy.
+And even though I prefer the original tank controls, this version can be even played with a point&click interface.
+
+Ending this review, where I simply say that /Grim Fandango/ is the greatest game I've ever played, I need to say that it's a game that does not need a sequel.
+Mind you, I'd buy anything that would allow me to spend even a minute longer with the characters, the story is finished.
+We get a /perfect/ ending when I always shed a tear.
+Adding anything to it, would only lessen it.
+Just like we don't need a /Casablanca 2/, we don't need a /Grim Fandango 2/.
+You don't reach such heights multiple times - everything needs to align.
+We are lucky to even have such a marvel, as /Grim/.
+
 ** Classic Games
 :PROPERTIES:
 :EXPORT_HUGO_SECTION: brain-rot/classic-games/
@@ -2641,7 +2817,7 @@ CLOSED: [2024-04-14 Sun 18:10]
 :EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER: :primary_menu "brain-rot"
 :EXPORT_FILE_NAME: _index
 :EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :abstract My reviews of modern games
-:EXPORT_HUGO_PAIRED_SHORTCODES: img-r menu menu-info
+:EXPORT_HUGO_MENU: :menu "brain-rot" :parent "cgames" :weight 100
 :END:
 
 #+attr_shortcode: "brain-rot-classic-games"