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| -rw-r--r-- | content/blog/2024/ghost-in-the-machine.md | 42 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | content/blog/2024/hardware-1990.md | 202 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | content/blog/2024/interesting-times.md | 73 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | content/blog/2024/lawmower-man-1992.md | 89 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | content/blog/2024/lawmower-man-2-1996.md | 124 | ||||
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diff --git a/content/blog/2024/andrzej-sapkowskis-time-of-contempt.md b/content/blog/2024/andrzej-sapkowskis-time-of-contempt.md deleted file mode 100644 index d9c52136..00000000 --- a/content/blog/2024/andrzej-sapkowskis-time-of-contempt.md +++ /dev/null @@ -1,71 +0,0 @@ -+++ -title = "Andrzej Sapkowski's Time of Contempt" -author = ["Michał Sapka"] -date = 2024-03-24T22:27:00+01:00 -categories = ["blog"] -draft = false -weight = 2001 -abstract = "Saga continues" -+++ - -It's a stain of my honor - I am a Pole, but I've never read The Saga. -It's not that I've never read any of The Witcher, but somehow I always stopped after the short stories. -Last year I've decided to finally fix this. -I am a proud nerd for crying out loud! - -{{< img-r "sapkowski-time-of-contemt.jpg" >}} -The classic cover -{{< /img-r >}} - -_Time of Contempt_ is the second part of The Witcher Saga, but it's also the 4th book about Geralt and his world. -Let's ignore the short stories for a second and let's talk about this book in context of The Saga. -Here it suffers from being the middle child: Andrzej is developing the characters and story, but it lacks a impactful begging and an end. -I haven't felt like that after finishing the _Blood of Elves,_ as it had a _begging_ and the ending was emotional. -Geralt reunited with Ciri. -The story is clearly not over, but we have a kind of closure. -We know she is safe and ready for what's coming next. - -Here? -Here we have no beginning as it follows the last book. -It was to be expected. -But I fail to notice anything new created here. -Yes, we've got _amazing_ development of Ciri (I can't wait what how her blood heritage will screw over everyone), but nothing more. -It just moves from scene to scene[^fn:1], not spending any meaningful time anywhere. -After 300 pages of this, it ends with Ciri joining some random group. -I guess I will get to know them in _Baptism of Fire_, but I am not yet there. -Are they good? -Are they cool? -Who the hell they even are? -For me it was a huge let down. - -But the biggest thing missing in The Saga is humour. -Both, _Sword of Destiny_ and _Last Wish_ were hilarious. -It was not on Pratchett's level of humor, but Geralt was amazing when it came to deadpan. -Moreover, I have no idea how well it translated to other languages, as it was based on Polish humour, but: -the books were written for Polish reader who was expected to know _Szewczyk Dratewka,_ and therefore the way Geralt dealt with dragon was a funny refernce. -But this aspect is now completely missingm[^fn:2], but it was what made the short stories for me. - -The biggest problem for me however was the fact I saw two seasons of The Witcher TV Series[^fn:3]. -It was terrible and had nothing to do with the book (luckily for me!), but the TV versions of Ciri and Yennefer were irritating at best. -Their book counterparts are not like that - Ciri is extremely cool and Yen is, well, not so bad - but the visual image is etched in my brain. -I finally start to have a separate personnas for them, but it was difficult. -Yes, to some extent Netflix ruined the books for me. - -I was never a fan of _fantasy_, as I always preferred _SciFi_. -Give me a blaster or give me death[^fn:4]! -If I found _Time of Contempt_ as a random book, I would not care for the rest of the series. -It was ok, but nothing to write home about. -Sapkowski has a great style and I very much want more, but he has not told anything interesting here. -I will continue reading The Witcher, but mostly because it **is** The Witcher. - -I liked reading _Blood of Elves_ much more. - -I give it 3.5/5. - -[^fn:1]: ... _No one had a chance to interrupt_. - _It was really quite hypnotic_. -[^fn:2]: We've got **huge** reference to _Enemy Mine_ in the single best part of the book, but it's not funny at all. - Sad, scary - sure; but not funny. Just like the movie. -[^fn:3]: And not an episode more. - It was already too much. -[^fn:4]: If you get the refence know, that I am no longer that type of a person. diff --git a/content/blog/2024/colossus-1970.md b/content/blog/2024/colossus-1970.md deleted file mode 100644 index cd0ae67b..00000000 --- a/content/blog/2024/colossus-1970.md +++ /dev/null @@ -1,89 +0,0 @@ -+++ -title = "Colossus: The Forbin Project (1970)" -author = ["Michał Sapka"] -date = 2024-03-03T16:52:00+01:00 -categories = ["blog"] -draft = false -weight = 2001 -abstract = "A short review of SciFi classic" -+++ - -Finally, in my series of discovering the roots of cyberpunk in American Cyberpunk I've seen a real gem. - -_Colossus_ is a 1970 movie about a not-so-distant-future where Americans decide that it would be a great idea to give control of their military potential to a computer. -On paper, it sounds great - a computer has no emotions, so it will not be stopped by petty things, like morality. -Guess how well that turned out? -Soon after switching on, Colossus learns about the existence of another such system - The Guardian, in the territory of CCCP. - -{{< img-c "colossus-1970-0001.jpg" >}} -The movie starts with sexy old-comp scenes. -Fitting, as Control Data Corporation supplied close to 5 million USD in computer equipment. -{{< /img-c >}} - -{{< img-c "colossus-1970-0002.jpg" >}} -Sexy! -Rest of the movie is not as sexy. -{{< /img-c >}} - -{{< img-c "colossus-1970-0003.jpg" >}} -Colossus in person. -{{< /img-c >}} - -And then this SciFi thriller stops being so _crazy-computer_ focused, and analyzes _crazy-human_ reaction. -Colossus starts exhibiting features which were never implemented. -It[^fn:1] starts _demanding_ to be connected with the Guardian, so they can communicate. -And the scientist decide that it would be a great idea. -The computers start exchanging data and developing language. -Still - looks cool, let's see what happens. -Only after Colossus threatens humans with ICBMs, Forbin (Colossus's creator) starts thinking that maybe this wasn't the best idea. - -{{< img-c "colossus-1970-0004.jpg" >}} -At first Colossus communicates only via text. -Funny, as those screens sound like matrix printers. -{{< /img-c >}} - -{{< img-c "colossus-1970-0005.jpg" >}} -This one as well. -{{< /img-c >}} - -{{< img-c "colossus-1970-0006.jpg" >}} -Because it has a printer! -It took me half of the movie to get that. -Guess I'm too millenial for that to be obvious. -{{< /img-c >}} - -The movie is often described as an evil-computer story. -Colossus is never evil in the movie. -It does exactly what it was designed to do - to act without mercy. -The evil ones here are the humans who never stop and think that maybe we are on the verge of the end of humanity. - -So yeah, it's an movie about Altman. -We may have destroyed the civilization, but at lest we made a cool program which does things. -No one know what those things are, but those are details you should not worry about. - -Story wise, _Colossus: The Forbin Project_ holds splendidly. -Yes, we've got casual alcoholism and the female character exists only to have sex with Forbin[^fn:2]. -But the actual meat of the movie could be a base of an amazing movie today. -The questions and subject are more relevant now that half a century ago. -What was a huge _what-if_ scenario becomes a real _ok, but how do we stop it_. -The Pentagon is already working on militarization of AI[^fn:3]. -We're pretty much screwed already. - -The best SciFi is not about giant battles or space travel for space travel sake. -It's always about humans, a warning for us. -And the _best_ SciFi is a warning for the next generations, as the threads become more real as years go by. - -There is a moment in the movie, where the entire day of Forbin is planned and monitored by an AI. -What was a horror story, is now what a lot of us _expect_. - -_Colossus_ in a movie version of earlier book of same. -There are 2 more in the series, and (as I've been told), Aliens make an appearance later on. -Maybe someday! - -As for the movie, I give it a 4.25/5. - -[^fn:1]: There's an interesting discussion about what pronoum to use - He or It. -[^fn:2]: It is a plot point! - A terrible one, but still. -[^fn:3]: Vide: [Pentagon Official Lays Out DOD Vision for AI](https://www.defense.gov/News/News-Stories/Article/Article/3682355/pentagon-official-lays-out-dod-vision-for-ai/). - Note, it's from the official website of US Department of Defense. diff --git a/content/blog/2024/ghost-in-the-machine.md b/content/blog/2024/ghost-in-the-machine.md deleted file mode 100644 index e934e13a..00000000 --- a/content/blog/2024/ghost-in-the-machine.md +++ /dev/null @@ -1,42 +0,0 @@ -+++ -title = "Ghost in the Machine (1993)" -author = ["Michał Sapka"] -date = 2024-02-09T22:59:00+01:00 -categories = ["blog"] -draft = false -weight = 2007 -abstract = "My mirco reviview of a computer thriller" -+++ - -Talk about a surprise! -I was expecting a _schlock_, but I've seen a nice move. -A dumb one, but still. - -The plot is the biggest problem: a serial killer has an MRI and due to electric storm gets his soul moved to computer network. -With this, he becomes able to: - -- kill person by moving to a microwave and changing its settings, -- kill a dog by arousing it with a TV program (using nothing by electric breakers), then hitting the dog with a VHS tape ejected from a VHS player which causes the animal to run towards the pool - -{{< img-r "ghost-in-the-machine.jpg" >}} -Cover -{{< /img-r >}} - -It makes as little sense in the context of the movie as it does here. -But the acting is (at the very least) acceptable and the FX are better than they should - and there is a lot of them. -Moreover, the camera work is crazy! -The movie _looks_ better than it should. -It seems that this dumb, little movie got more passion in it than the entire MCU combined. - -The problem is that I have no idea what was going on. -People were dying, cool computer interfaces were shown, but the plot barely connected those scenes together. - -It's a classic thriller from early days of personal computing revolution. -I enjoyed it a lot. -It is not a _good_ movie, but it is enjoyable. - -I give it a `3.0/5.` - -links: - -- [Ghost in the Machine on TVDB](https://utf.thetvdb.com/movies/ghost-in-the-machine) diff --git a/content/blog/2024/hardware-1990.md b/content/blog/2024/hardware-1990.md deleted file mode 100644 index 793c2f20..00000000 --- a/content/blog/2024/hardware-1990.md +++ /dev/null @@ -1,202 +0,0 @@ -+++ -title = "Hardware (1990)" -author = ["Michał Sapka"] -date = 2024-02-17T19:39:00+01:00 -categories = ["blog"] -draft = false -weight = 2001 -abstract = "My mirco reviview of a killer-robot thriller" -+++ - -I continue my descend into American cyberpunk cinema[^fn:1]. -I spent my formative years watching _Anime, art house_ and ignoring most of USA movies. -This means I haven't watched a lot of the _cult_ movies out there. - -_Hardware_ is a 1990 movie about a killer robot in a post-nuclear world. -Think of a mix of Terminator, Aliens and Short Circuit. - -I heard of this movie years ago, but it seemed to be noting more than a cash grab after the success of _Terminator_ - a movie which I don't partially enjoy. -After watching, I have to say that there was a of true in this assumption. -But somehow I ended enjoying _Hardware_ much more. - -Not that the story is better - if anything, it is much simpler, or just plain _simplistic_. -Say what you will about _Terminator_, but the basic premise was great. -_Hardware_ on the other hand doesn't offer a great idea. -This is a straight movie about a killer robot. - -However, I enjoyed it more, as it is much closer to what _Alien[^fn:2]_ achieved -The entire action is encapsulated in only a few, closed locations. -Half of the runtime is spent in a single apartment, where the _Mark-13_ robot shows up from to time a try to murder someone. -Much like the _Nostromo_! - -This allowed the movie to be **stunning** visually. -I loved every frame here! -I know that most of the effect is based on fog and lighting, but I dig it! -Just take a look at the gallery below. - -Another thing which reminded me of _Alien_ is how they handled the special effects of the _monster_. -We see very little of _Mark-13_ - he is often hard to see, covered in darkness. -From time to time we see his movements, and well. -Hiding him was clearly a good idea... just like with the _Xenomorph_. - -All in all, I enjoyed the movie. -I'm not calling it one of my favorites, but I enjoyed every minute of its short runtime. - -I give it a `3.5/5`. - -{{< img-c "hardware-1990-0001.jpg" >}} -Red sky of postnuclear... summer? -{{< /img-c >}} - -{{< img-c "hardware-1990-0002.jpg" >}} -The Nomad. -{{< /img-c >}} - -{{< img-c "hardware-1990-0003.jpg" >}} -Nomad searching the desert for stuff for sale. -{{< /img-c >}} - -{{< img-c "hardware-1990-0004.jpg" >}} -An ordiary store. -Great vibes! -Fun for the whole family. -{{< /img-c >}} - -{{< img-c "hardware-1990-0005.jpg" >}} -Same store, different view. -{{< /img-c >}} - -{{< img-c "hardware-1990-0006.jpg" >}} -The perfect glasses. -{{< /img-c >}} - -{{< img-c "hardware-1990-0007.jpg" >}} -Seems like somene realy liked Jin-Roh. -{{< /img-c >}} - -{{< img-c "hardware-1990-0008.jpg" >}} -What posses as art now. -{{< /img-c >}} - -{{< img-c "hardware-1990-0009.jpg" >}} -Computer we want but don't deserve. -{{< /img-c >}} - -{{< img-c "hardware-1990-0010.jpg" >}} -An art studio. Nothing out of the ordinary. -{{< /img-c >}} - -{{< img-c "hardware-1990-0011.jpg" >}} -Remember when spirituality was cool? -{{< /img-c >}} - -{{< img-c "hardware-1990-0012.jpg" >}} -Let's give our murder-robot eyes from a camera lense. -I'm sure no one will drop it. -{{< /img-c >}} - -{{< img-c "hardware-1990-0013.jpg" >}} -UI we all want. -{{< /img-c >}} - -{{< img-c "hardware-1990-0014.jpg" >}} -What lurks in the shadows. -{{< /img-c >}} - -{{< img-c "hardware-1990-0015.jpg" >}} -Yup, Jin-Roh. -{{< /img-c >}} - -{{< img-c "hardware-1990-0016.jpg" >}} -Yankee-Roh. -{{< /img-c >}} - -{{< img-c "hardware-1990-0017.jpg" >}} -With some striking shadows. -{{< /img-c >}} - -{{< img-c "hardware-1990-0018.jpg" >}} -I have become bread, the destroyer of worlds. -{{< /img-c >}} - -{{< img-c "hardware-1990-0019.jpg" >}} -Prelude... -{{< /img-c >}} - -{{< img-c "hardware-1990-0020.jpg" >}} -And the (most likely) last usage of a refrigerator as a safe place which makes any sense in the history of cinema. -{{< /img-c >}} - -{{< img-c "hardware-1990-0021.jpg" >}} -Yup, a hand. -{{< /img-c >}} - -{{< img-c "hardware-1990-0022.jpg" >}} -Hold the presses! -The glasses are back! -I repeat: the glasses are back. -{{< /img-c >}} - -{{< img-c "hardware-1990-0023.jpg" >}} -Mark-13 in all of its glory. -{{< /img-c >}} - -{{< img-c "hardware-1990-0024.jpg" >}} -This is only a window, but what a window it is. -{{< /img-c >}} - -{{< img-c "hardware-1990-0025.jpg" >}} -They have not used Wilhelm's scream. -What a wasted opportunity. -{{< /img-c >}} - -{{< img-c "hardware-1990-0026.jpg" >}} -In 2024 those are rookie number when it comes to unnecessary lights inside a computer. -{{< /img-c >}} - -{{< img-c "hardware-1990-0027.jpg" >}} -I am a sucker for this type of fish eye. -Always reminds me of _City of Lost Children._ -{{< /img-c >}} - -{{< img-c "hardware-1990-0028.jpg" >}} -It doesn't get more era-apporiate than this. -{{< /img-c >}} - -{{< img-c "hardware-1990-0029.jpg" >}} -Ok, it does. -{{< /img-c >}} - -{{< img-c "hardware-1990-0030.jpg" >}} -One of the few CGI moments here. -{{< /img-c >}} - -{{< img-c "hardware-1990-0031.jpg" >}} -And one of _many_ lighting shots. -{{< /img-c >}} - -{{< img-c "hardware-1990-0032.jpg" >}} -Look how black it is. Classy. -{{< /img-c >}} - -{{< img-c "hardware-1990-0033.jpg" >}} -But does it run Quake? -{{< /img-c >}} - -{{< img-c "hardware-1990-0034.jpg" >}} -Back to the desert, like a fine sandwich. -{{< /img-c >}} - -And a few nice _gore_ sceenes which I won't show it. -This is a family-friendly website! - -Links: - -- [Hardware on TVDB](https://thetvdb.com/movies/hardware) -- [Director's official website](https://www.theofficialrichardstanley.com/) - -[^fn:1]: I disagree with calling those movies "cyberpunk" as they lack the "punk" element... or most of "cyber". - No one rebels against the system, no one enters the _cyberspace_. - But following this definition, I am not sure if we can call any movie other than _Johny Menomic_ a _Cyberpunk_. - Often we put all dark-sf into "cyberpunk" genre, which limits our ability to be pricks about it. -[^fn:2]: Aka "the clearly superior of the _Alien_ series"
\ No newline at end of file diff --git a/content/blog/2024/interesting-times.md b/content/blog/2024/interesting-times.md deleted file mode 100644 index 8d663ecc..00000000 --- a/content/blog/2024/interesting-times.md +++ /dev/null @@ -1,73 +0,0 @@ -+++ -title = "Terry Pratchett's Interesting Times" -author = ["Michał Sapka"] -date = 2024-02-13T21:06:00+01:00 -categories = ["blog"] -draft = false -weight = 2004 -abstract = "A very short review" -+++ - -Cover blurp: - -> Mighty Battles! Revolution! Death! War! (and his sons Terror and Panic, and daughter Clancy). -> -> The oldest and most inscrutable empire on the Discworld is in turmoil, brought about by the revolutionary treatise What I Did On My Holidays. Workers are uniting, with nothing to lose but their water buffaloes. Warlords are struggling for power. War (and Clancy) are spreading through the ancient cities. -> -> And all that stands in the way of terrible doom for eveyone is: -> -> Rincewind the Wizard, who can't even spell the word 'wizard' ... -> -> Cohen the barbarian hero, five foot tall in his surgical sandals, who has had a lifetime's experience of not dying ... -> -> ...and a very special butterfly. - -{{< img-r "pratchett-interesting-times.jpg" >}} -Cover -{{< /img-r >}} - -I am, what one could call, an old school _nerd_. -All I care about are old operating systems, ancient editors and old SCIFI[^fn:1] -Ah, and some text based game where you are a cute "@". -_Of course_ I like Pratchett. - -I started reading him _years_ ago in the only way acceptable - chronological[^fn:2]. -And I had a few years long pause. -Now, after a series of reading _only_ technical books I am returning to fiction. - -_[Interesting Times](https://www.terrypratchettbooks.com/books/interesting-times/)_ is an ok-level Pratchett book. -It's not close to his best, it's not close to his worst[^fn:3]. - -This time Rincewind has to travel to Counterweight Continent and help a rebellion. -There he reconnects with old acquaintances - Twoflower, and Cohen to Barbarian. - -The problem is that there is not much more. -We've got a lot of Chinese things, which is new. -But the story itself is extremely straight-forward. -Nothing memorable happens. -I finished it 2 days ago, and already I would have a problem recollecting any standing out moment. -I still remember moments from other _Discworld_ books a decade after I read them! - -But Terry's writing makes me not care and just enjoy the journey. -He is able to make a boring story interesting, and his characters are always great. -I was reading the book while putting my son to sleep, and I almost gave him a heart attack with a laughter attack. -This alone makes it worth it! - -Not the best place to start with __Discworld__ (the best is, of course, _Colour of Magic_) but as n-th book in the series it's very enjoyable. - -I give it a `3.75/5`. - - -## Meta {#meta} - -- Read as EPUB on Onyx Boox Note Air 2. -- Read in Polish translation -- Next up: back to Andrzej Sapkowski's with "Time of Contempt". I am not a good pole, having not read the entire saga. I promise to do it before my 40th birthday[^fn:4] - -[^fn:1]: And manga&anime, but that's beside the point. - Not American comics though. - Never cared about those, and it seems I never will. -[^fn:2]: It's ok to disagree, just like it's ok to be wrong. -[^fn:3]: Being a bad Pratchett's book still means being a very good one. - Most authors would love to reach the level of one of those at least once. -[^fn:4]: Which is closer that I expected
\ No newline at end of file diff --git a/content/blog/2024/lawmower-man-1992.md b/content/blog/2024/lawmower-man-1992.md deleted file mode 100644 index 301ada69..00000000 --- a/content/blog/2024/lawmower-man-1992.md +++ /dev/null @@ -1,89 +0,0 @@ -+++ -title = "The Lawnmower Man (1992)" -author = ["Michał Sapka"] -date = 2024-02-19T23:03:00+01:00 -categories = ["blog"] -draft = false -weight = 2001 -abstract = "My mirco reviview of a vr killer thriller" -+++ - -Back in the glorious 90s, when kids still enjoyed linear TV, we had _Polsat_. -In the post-communist Poland, this was the first _western_ TV station. -Filled with western movies, and western series[^fn:1] -Among those, there were constant replays of _The Lawnmower Man_[^fn:2] -I watched it on every occasion and loved it. - -Now, 30 years later it is time for a rewatch. -No cyberpunk deep dive can be considered a good one without _The Lawnmower Man_. - -_The Lawnmower Man_ is a movie about a disabled lawnmower man, Jobe, who, with the usage of virtual reality, becomes a genius. -Soon after, an Evil Company, stars secretly giving him drugs contracted by the military. -And as result, he starts exhibiting mind reading abilities and telekinesis (because, obviously, why not?). -We've got the (popular at the time) subtext about the dangers of corporates who, without supervision, play God. -Somehow we stopped doing that, and now we've got Altman killing humanity with the clap of happy crowd. -_Lawmower Man_ is a movie about a great technology twisted by corporate overlords. -Fitting. - -Jobe becomes a psychic, genius killer (like every mad genius), who decides to take over the cyberspace. - -{{< img-c "lawnmower-man-1992-0001.jpg" >}} -Remember when huge companies were scary? -{{< /img-c >}} - -The movie was initially released as a _Stephen King_ movie. -King, however, sued the producers, as the movie has nothing to do the short story of the same name. -And he won, because it was based on original script called _CyberGod_. -Damn, I miss _cyber_ sounding cool. -They should have the original name, instead of forcing King on everyone. -And yes, I know King was the king back then. - -{{< img-c "lawnmower-man-1992-0002.jpg" >}} -That's one way to save your neck from Apple Vision -{{< /img-c >}} - -The movie is we have here is a much dumbed down version of _Flowers for Algeron_, which I intend to finally read. -I don't think anyone ever called it a _good_ movie, and for a good reason. -It's cool, it's got great cyberspace CGI, it's got Pierce Brosnan. -It also has an opening scene with a monkey using a gun, so yeah. - -Story-wise is as straight forward as it gets. -The first half is full of sweet shots of grass and sexualization of a lawnmower. -And the most awkward sex scene I've seen in ages... or two. -Then, through a heavy-handed comment about religion and corporations we go the killing part. - -This movie fails as horror (there is not even blood or any scare here), and fails as morality play (it's not smart enough). -But it is a testament to the glorious time, when _cyberspace_ was magical and full of potential. -We sure deserve more of that. - -{{< img-c "lawnmower-man-1992-0006.jpg" >}} -The cyberspace we all need. -{{< /img-c >}} - -I give it a 3.0/5. - -I was **sure** the ending of this film was from the sequel. -But nope - I don't remember anything from the second one. -Therefore, see you on the other side, _Beyond Cyberspace_. - -If anything, it's a great movie to show everyone how amazing trackballs are. -And we all know it is a fact. -No one can tell me otherwise. - -{{< img-c "lawnmower-man-1992-0004.jpg" >}} -The hidden star of the movie, right behind that hairy guy. -Look at that keyboard! -Look at how beige it is! -{{< /img-c >}} - -{{< img-c "lawnmower-man-1992-0005.jpg" >}} -Cyber God indeed. -{{< /img-c >}} - -[^fn:1]: And Polish version of those. - We had a great copy of _The Honeymooners_ named _Miodowe Lata_. - The translation of the title is surprisingly spot-on. -[^fn:2]: Under an amazingly translated title, which would translate back as _The Lawmower Man of Minds_. - Perfection. - We knew _Dirty Dancing_ as _Spinning Sex_ and _Die Hard_ as _Glass Trap_. - Those were simpler times.
\ No newline at end of file diff --git a/content/blog/2024/lawmower-man-2-1996.md b/content/blog/2024/lawmower-man-2-1996.md deleted file mode 100644 index edf6cebb..00000000 --- a/content/blog/2024/lawmower-man-2-1996.md +++ /dev/null @@ -1,124 +0,0 @@ -+++ -title = "Lawmower Man 2: Beyond Cyberspace (1996)" -author = ["Michał Sapka"] -date = 2024-02-23T20:29:00+01:00 -categories = ["blog"] -draft = false -weight = 2001 -abstract = "My mirco reviview of the sequeo to a vr killer thriller" -+++ - -Fun fact: I remembered close to nothing about this movie back. -When I was watching the first, everything seems familiar. -Here? -Not so much. -Guess _Polsat_ consider the second one too expensive for regular broadcast. - -In _Lawnmawer Man[^fn:1]_ we meet Jobe, now a genius being living in the cyberspace. -But not so much, because in the first few minutes of _Lawmnower Man 2_ we learn that he has not left his meatsuit for the cyberspace. -The explosion at the lab left him an amputee. -But his talents are now in use of the Evil Corporation designing the future of cyberspace. - -Of course, Jobe wants the cyberspace for himself. - -The general plot seems similar to the first one, but they are very much different. -The plot is much more complex, there are many more explosions and I think it makes much less sense than the first one. -I would rate it at 2/5. - -But the biggest difference is that this movie is target towards certain audience. -_Lawmower Man_ was a kid-friendly horror. -_Lawmower Man 2_ is a kids' movie. -They completely removed the part which tried to be scary. - -We've got bunch od kids (and a dog) fighting and winning against a grown-up. -Yes, they get the help from an adult - the creator of cyberspace. -But the main heroes are the kids. -And the main target are the kids. - -{{< img-c "lawnmower-man-2-1996-0002.jpg" >}} -Kids flying in cyberspace -{{< /img-c >}} - -{{< img-c "lawnmower-man-2-1996-0012.jpg" >}} -And flying even more. -{{< /img-c >}} - -{{< img-c "lawnmower-man-2-1996-0003.jpg" >}} -Dog preparing to save a day... -{{< /img-c >}} - -{{< img-c "lawnmower-man-2-1996-0004.jpg" >}} -And saving the day by inserting a CD in the drive. -How can anyone consider this to be a movie for adoults? -{{< /img-c >}} - -I've read that the director was locked out of the editing room as he was trying to make a different movie. -The producers said a firm "no" and made _Lawmower Man 2_ close to the likes of _Goonies_, _Explorers_ or _Flight of the Navigator_. -It never reaches the coolness of those, but it tries. -A lot of people on the interweb bash the movie on logical problems or being goofy. -Yes - occasionally the plot makes so little sense that they needed to add voice over explaining why the hell the _gang_ is going where they are going. -Yes, it has a dog who saves the day. -38 years old me was not amused, but the 10-year-old inside me screamed "yeah! Radical!". -He was not doing well with being _modern_ back then as well. - -{{< img-c "lawnmower-man-2-1996-0005.jpg" >}} -Her hair is the closest thing to a "scare" in the entire movie -{{< /img-c >}} - -{{< img-c "lawnmower-man-2-1996-0006.jpg" >}} -This hippie is the inventor of VR. -Tech geniuses leaving all the tech behind to live in the wild is now more real than ever -{{< /img-c >}} - -Jobe is being played by Matt Frewer, who quite often acts like Jim Carey, which is fitting. -He is not the magical-killer he used to be. -He is goofy. - -Even the music sounds like something Spielberg would use. - -There is no Pierce Brosnan here, as only Austin O'Brien returns from the first one, once again reprising the role of Peter Parkette. - -My biggest gripe is the special effect here. -The movie takes place in the future, so we're no longer seeing green grass. -The real world vibe is close to _Blade Runner_ or _Dark City_. -I dig it! - -{{< img-c "lawnmower-man-2-1996-0001.jpg" >}} -Cyberpunk! -I'm pretty sure that almost all those scenes happened on the same crossroad. -{{< /img-c >}} - -{{< img-c "lawnmower-man-2-1996-0011.jpg" >}} -Almost Blade Runner. -{{< /img-c >}} - -But then there is the _cyberspace_. -In _Lawmower Man_ we had amazing, early CGI closer to an acid trip than anything else. -Here, the cyberspace looks like ours. -They just added CGI here and there. -It looks like an episode of _The Next Generation_, but without most of the campiness. -For the most part it is competent, but there is no spark. -It's not _cool_. - -{{< img-c "lawnmower-man-2-1996-0010.jpg" >}} -Our first meeting with new Jobe in the cyberspace. -Yes, this is VR-forest. -{{< /img-c >}} - -{{< img-c "lawnmower-man-2-1996-0007.jpg" >}} -Cyberspace here give more of FMV-game kind of vibe than I would have expected -{{< /img-c >}} - -{{< img-c "lawnmower-man-2-1996-0008.jpg" >}} -The VR here more social than what Apple showed. -{{< /img-c >}} - -{{< img-c "lawnmower-man-2-1996-0009.jpg" >}} -Luckily, sometimes the VR almost delivers. -{{< /img-c >}} - -But the 10-year-old me would not care. -He would rate it as 3.75/5 or "that was cool!". -But he he wasn't picky at all. - -[^fn:1]: Vide: [my review of Lawmower Man](/blog/2024/lawmower-man-1229/).
\ No newline at end of file diff --git a/content/blog/2024/persona-5-strikers.md b/content/blog/2024/persona-5-strikers.md deleted file mode 100644 index 611a0dc9..00000000 --- a/content/blog/2024/persona-5-strikers.md +++ /dev/null @@ -1,57 +0,0 @@ -+++ -title = "Persona 5: Strikers" -author = ["Michał Sapka"] -date = 2024-03-08T21:24:00+01:00 -categories = ["blog"] -draft = false -weight = 2001 -abstract = "A short review of SciFi classic" -+++ - -_Persona 5_ took me close to a year... I think. -It was a gigantic game with unbelievable amount of dialogue. -It was also game I deeply enjoyed, despite not particularly liking anything about. -The story was ok, the gameplay was ok, the RPG element was ok, the dating was ok. -But, somehow, authors managed to join that into one freaking nice experience. - -_Persona 5: Strikers_ is none of those things. -It's a linear button masher with characters I like. -But it has _none_ of the good elements of _P5_. - -First, it's not an jRPG anymore. -When fight starts, you are presented with dozens of enemies you need to fight in real time. -Half of the time, I had no idea what was going on. -Fights, for me, are terrible. -Enemies were everywhere, and I had no _chance_ to control the battlefield. -Lots of annoyances and finger pain, but no enjoyment. -Just running into random spots, bashing melee attacks and checking for weakness from time to time. -I play on easy and was tired of that very quickly, I can't imagine having any actual problems with this system you have no enjoyment with. - -{{< img-c "p5s-1.jpg" "https://nintendoeverything.com/persona-5-scramble-the-phantom-strikers-boxart-details-screenshots/" >}} -Guess the only way here is to shut my brain down, as it's useless in all this chaos. -{{< /img-c >}} - -The real-world activities are almost none-existent. -I loved how the Phantom Thieves bonded and became friends. -None of this here. -You've got some dialogue, but no payoff. -There is some stat related to bonding, but we all know each other. -In P5 the single best part was learning about each other and seeing how their lives improve. -None of that is here. - -Dating? -None. -And my chosen love interest from _P5_ doesn't even show up! - -Extracurricular activities are limited to finding stuff on maps. - -Getting to know Tokyo? -Nope. Every few hours we move to a new city. - -Story? Well, I gave up before it started. -After 10 hours, midway through the third jail I gave up. -I had to guard Futaba _again_ and after a moment became so frustrated and bored, that I stopped playing. - -I give 2/5 for those 10 hours. -Maybe it gets better later on, but I don't care enough. -I dropped the game and will never return. diff --git a/content/blog/patlabor-the-movie.md b/content/blog/patlabor-the-movie.md deleted file mode 100644 index f28245b3..00000000 --- a/content/blog/patlabor-the-movie.md +++ /dev/null @@ -1,87 +0,0 @@ -+++ -title = "Patlabor: The Movie (1989)" -author = ["Michał Sapka"] -date = 2024-04-11T21:01:00+02:00 -categories = ["blog"] -draft = false -weight = 2001 -abstract = "The proto-GITS is still very nice!" -+++ - -There was a time when _Patlabor_ was an established name. -It was huge, it had _Mamoru Oshii_. -Now, sadly, it's mostly forgotten. - -_Patlabor: The Movie_ is the first from the universe. -I'll cover the following two soon, as this is my rewatch after decades. - -The story takes place in the distant future of 1999. -Manual labor is aided by Labors, huge exoskeletons. -Tokyo is undergoing a huge project, where old suburbs are demolished and artificial island are created on the coast. -Some Labors are going berserk, destroying everything on their paths despite being unmanned. - -{{< img-c "patlabor-movie-1-0001.jpg" >}} -Sucide is painless... -{{< /img-c >}} - -{{< img-c "patlabor-movie-1-0002.jpg" >}} -...It brings on many changes -{{< /img-c >}} - -Let's start with the visual feast. -The movie looks stunning! -Yes, later movies from IG top what we see here, and sometimes the faces may look weird. -It's not perfect. -But if we would simply tell ourselves that this style of animations is the peak and let's just try to maintain the quality, I'd be more than happy. -The way this 35-year-old movie looks is a testament to the power of manual drawings. -The design, the camera work, the coloring - I loved every second. - -Another cute thing I've noticed: _The Movie_ is an Oshii-type of movie. -It came in this short period, where _anime_ was treating western culture as something alien and cool. -We're seeing this in Jin-Roh, Evangelion, GITS, and many others. -Here we've got the Bible. - -{{< img-c "patlabor-movie-1-0003.jpg" >}} -For a mecha anime, we've got a lot of people talking in different rooms -{{< /img-c >}} - -But this also shows the biggest problem of _Patlabor: The Movie_: it is shallow. -On surface level, we've got everything one could ever want: Unabomber-style genius on a quest to stop progress at all cost. -We're seeing how _old_ is discarded in the name of progress. -We've also got a huge computer system which is maintained without deep understanding of how it works. -Basically, 1999 is like 2024. -But none of this is really developed. -The main characters never stop and think, that maybe the world is not going the best route? -Eiichi Hoba, the aforementioned Unabomber, is just a plot device: the viewer is also never confronted with his viewpoint. - -As it stands, _The Movie's_ story is disjointed: -on one side we've got the real and interesting question. -On the other, no one looks for answers and just accepts the risks of unconstrained growth. -But maybe this was the point? -We're seeing the same today: the world is ending, and most people are racing to be the last one to shut down the lights. -It is scary how believable this is. -Even the main threat is solved by a software rollback... - -_Patlabor: The Movie_ is good on its own, but it suffers from being the proto Ghost in the Shell. -It's not near as good, nor is it as good as its sequel. -But taking it at face value is really solid. -I had huge fun rewatching it, but left unsatisfied for sophisticated sociopsychological treat Oshii is known for. - -My rating is 3.75/10 - -{{< img-c "patlabor-movie-1-0004.jpg" >}} -Hav I mentioned thast this movie looks stunning? -{{< /img-c >}} - -{{< img-c "patlabor-movie-1-0005.jpg" >}} -S-T-U-N-I-N-G -{{< /img-c >}} - -{{< img-c "patlabor-movie-1-0006.jpg" >}} -It always amazes me how many anime shows older guys in their undergarments. -I get, that Japan gets extremely hot during summer, but is it real that frequent? -{{< /img-c >}} - -{{< img-c "patlabor-movie-1-0008.jpg" >}} -One of many GITS-style scenes. -{{< /img-c >}} |