path: root/content-org/reviews.org

#+TITLE: Blog
#+AUTHOR: Michał Sapka
#+URL: https://michal.sapka.me/blog/
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#+HUGO_SECTION: review


* Reviews                                                          :@reviews:
:PROPERTIES:
:EXPORT_HUGO_SECTION: reviews
:EXPORT_FILE_NAME: _index
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :abstract Reviews2
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :reviewSection '(Books Movies "TV series" "Anime movies" "Anime TV series" "Anime OAV series" Games)
:END:

** Reviews

My reviews of fun things!


* Books  [14/15]                                                   :@reviews:
:PROPERTIES:
:EXPORT_HUGO_SECTION: reviews/books
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :reviewSection '(Books)
:End:

** Book reviews
:PROPERTIES:
:EXPORT_FILE_NAME: _index
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :abstract Reviews of books
:END:

*** Book reviews

This is a list of books reviewed on my site.
It's mostly all speculative fiction - SciFi or Fantasy, as those the genras which get me going!

** DONE Nine Princes in Amber (Roger Zelazny, 1970)
CLOSED: [2024-07-22 Mon 23:21]
:PROPERTIES:
:EXPORT_FILE_NAME: nine-princes-in-amber-1970
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :abstract The fastest fantasy book in the wild west
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :rating 4
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :image reviews/covers/nine-princes-in-amber.jpg
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :related '("Chronices of Amber: Corwin cycle")
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :relatedName Nine Princes in Amber
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :aliases '(/brain-rot/fantasy/chronicles-of-amber/nine-princes-in-amber/)
:END:

That's one confusing novel.

Corwin wakes up in a hospital in New York with amnesia.
But the cover of the book has castles and swords![fn:cover]
Well, as it turns out Corwin is one of nine princes of Amber, the greatest city that has ever been.
It is medieval-Europe, but it is said to be the greatest, so who am I to argue?
He will need to get back there and fight for the crown with his siblings.

That's the basic premise.
What threw me off the guard (except of starting in modern-day NY) is the pace.
I'm no fantasy know-it-all, but it appears that this genre likes to take it's sweet time.
Authors describe every tree by every road[fn:tolkien].
They love to build their worlds, lore, characters.
Zelazny doesn't care about any of that.
A huge battle where 20 000 people die? A paragraph seems like a proper length.
Magic system? Yeah, let's throw a few sentences here and there.
The main character background, looks and goals? Let's not bother.
This is a short book (my version had just over 200 pages), but with standard wordiness, it could be a thousand pages long leather-bound brick, that would serve as a nice weapon.

This also means that /Nine Princes in Amber/ is extremely shallow.
There is nothing underneath - just a few awful characters, a few OK, and our Corwin.
If there is any subtext, I must have missed it.
And yet, I loved it.
It's pulp, but it goes /so fast/ that I never got tired of it.
It went /so fast/ that I had no time to get bored or lost[fn:tolkien].
Guess that's why /The Chronicles of Amber/ is one of the most popular Fantasy sagas out there.
It is inoffensive, not challenging in any way, but it's cool.
It knows it, and doesn't pretend it.

I enjoyed it for what it is.
It's the greatest mindless fun I've had in ages.
It's not /hardcore/ fantasy, and this may be why I liked it so much as I did.
If anything, it's /Magnum P.I./ of the genre.

[fn:cover] or whatever your edition has
[fn:tolkien] hello Tolkien


** DONE Guns of Avalon (Roger Zelazny, 1972)
CLOSED: [2024-08-31 Sat 22:25]
:PROPERTIES:
:EXPORT_FILE_NAME: guns-of-avalon-1971
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :abstract My short review
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :rating 4
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :image reviews/covers/guns-of-avalon.jpg
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :related '("Chronices of Amber: Corwin cycle")
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :relatedName Guns of Avalon
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :aliases '(brain-rot/fantasy/chronicles-of-amber/guns-of-avalon-1971/)
:END:

The fastest fantasy in the wild west continues where we left off.
Corwin escaped his prison, and armed with newly regrown eyes, is ready for his revenge.

/[[/fantasy/chronicles-of-amber/][Chronicles of Amber]]/ are like nothing I've ever read.
Mostly because I've never been into fantasy, but still.
At no point of /Guns of Avalon/ nor of /[[/fantasy/chronicles-of-amber/nine-princes-in-amber/][Nine Princes in Amber]]/ have I felt that I'm reading a published book.
It's rather what I would imagine as a synopsis of the book that one sends to an agent would look like.

Characters? Screw them, they only serve a purpose.
The world? Screw it, let's create it as we go.
Magic system? I am sure not even Zelazny has any idea how it works at this point.

But at the same time, I can't stop reading it.
From outside, those two books I've finished sound like pulp.
I should hate it.
But there is so much going on, and those things happen fast.

Corwin's goal this time is to buy carbines from the Royal Air Force and retake Amber.
Yup - this magical being, from an eternal family, who is able to travel between dimensions[fn:shadows], whose eyes just regrown, is planning to retake a magical land using firearms.
And somehow it all makes sense.

/Guns/ serve as a direct continuation of the first book, but the ending paints a different route the series seems to be heading.
I am very much invested and I interested what's going to happen.
I should hate this book, but I love it.

Zelazny, you were a strange writer indeed.
This series reads like a creation of some D&D infused teen, and yet I can't put it away.

[fn:shadows] or whatever Shadows are


** DONE Sign of the Unicorn (Roger Zelazny, 1975)
CLOSED: [2024-09-07 Sat 22:14]
:PROPERTIES:
:EXPORT_FILE_NAME: sign-of-the-unicorn-1975
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :abstract My short review
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :rating 4
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :image reviews/covers/sign-of-the-unicorn.jpg
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :related '("Chronices of Amber: Corwin cycle")
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :relatedName Sign of the Unicorn
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :aliases '(brain-rot/fantasy/chronicles-of-amber/sign-of-the-unicorn-1975/)
:END:

We are halfway through the Corwin's saga, and Zelazny decides to step up the game. 
Sign of the Unicorn is much slower than the previous ones, which is a welcome change.
But it also marks the point when Roger finally convinced me that he understands the word he creates.

After the battle with his brother, Corwin is faced with a murder of a yet /another/ brother.
This does not lead to a run through the Shadows to buy nukes as I would have expected.
In fact, most of this volume is spent talking.
We have a mystery, the family secrets are coming out.
It's a wholly different experience than what we've had before.

We've got intrigue, we've got drama, we've got betrayal.
We even learn who stands behind Corwin's accident, which happened before the start of /[[/fantasy/chronicles-of-amber/nine-princes-in-amber/][Nine Princess...]]/.

This may the best book of /[[/fantasy/chronicles-of-amber/][Chronicles of Amber]]/ yet because Zelazny seems to address most of the downsides the earlier books had.
Characters became actual persons now, with motivation and aspirations.
In fact, the world building is sidestepping for character building, and I, for one, am fully for this.

As a result, the stakes are also different.
We assumed that all of the /Black Road/ problems resulted from Corwin's curse, but now we learn that there are multiple layers below that.
In fact, a lot of what we thought we knew turns out to be wrong.

The only downside I see, at leat at this point, is that everyone important is either Corwin's  relative or acquaintance.
I get that if you got your position of power purely from the family, the same family will be the centre of your life, but /come on!/.
I want to get to know someone else!

So, volume three of /[[/fantasy/chronicles-of-amber/][Chronicles of Amber]]/ looks more of a correction from the author, than a direct continuation.

** DONE Hand of Oberon (Roger Zelazny, 1976) 
CLOSED: [2024-09-22 Sun 22:42]
:PROPERTIES:
:EXPORT_FILE_NAME: hand-of-oberon-1976
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :abstract My short review
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :rating 4
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :image reviews/covers/hand-of-oberon.jpg
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :related '("Chronices of Amber: Corwin cycle")
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :relatedName Hand of Oberon
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :aliases '(brain-rot/fantasy/chronicles-of-amber/hand-of-oberon-1976/)
:END:

The plot thickens!
We end where we left of: turns out that Amber is the home of the original Pattern, which is badly damaged, and we need to fix it.

I think I start to understand why I find /[[/fantasy/chronicles-of-amber/][Chronicles]]/ so particular, yet I can't put it away.
The volumes here are not distinct parts with an an beginning and an end.
It's closer to modern-day TV, where you get an interesting hook at the beginning, the middle is ok-ish, but the end makes you hungry for the next episode.
As much as I hate that /binge-watching/ formula, I have nothing against it here.
Fantasy books rarely make anyone rich, but a man's got to eat.
The length of each volume here also doesn't make it any worse, as they all about 200 pages long.
Brandon Sanderson's signature is longer than that.

Story wise, /Hand of Oberon/ is more of the same: scheming of Corwin's family and deepening the world.
The world is not redefined again, but we're once again getting something surprising.
However, since it's the 4th book, it comes a bit predictable[fn:exp].
While I was not expecting the Avalon not to be /the real/ Avalon in the /[[/fantasy/chronicles-of-amber/sign-of-the-unicorn-1975/][Sign of the Unicorn]]/, here the surprise came both, less unexpected and a bit and less important.
But we will see in the next book.

All in all, while I had /loads/ of fun, /Hand of Oberon/ is only the 4th book of the series.
If you've read it until this point, you'll have a blast one more time.
I surely had!
Now, this one of the first /fantasy series/ I've read but, I am surprised by the stability of quality.
While Zelazny has made some changes to the formula since /[[/fantasy/chronicles-of-amber/nine-princes-in-amber/][Nine Princess...]]/, they were not significant enough to have any impact on my joy. I like the later volumes more than the first two, mostly due to the slower pace, but I have the same level of satisfaction.

I've got one last chapter of Corwin's story and I can't wait!

[fn:exp] make that "very" if you read a lot of such stories

** DONE Time of Contempt (Andrzej Sapkowski, 1995)
CLOSED: [2024-03-24 Sun 22:27]
:PROPERTIES:
:EXPORT_FILE_NAME: time-of-contempt
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :abstract My review of the second book in the Witcher saga
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :aliases '(/blog/2024/andrzej-sapkowskis-time-of-contempt /brain-rot/witcher/andrzej-sapkowskis-time-of-contempt/)
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :rating 3.5
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :image reviews/covers/sapkowski-time-of-contemt.jpg
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :related '("Witcher Saga")
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :relatedName Time of Contempt
:END:

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!

/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:st], 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:enemy-mine], 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:netflix].
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:rand]!
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:rand] If you get the refence know, that I am no longer that type of a person.
[fn:enemy-mine] 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:st] ... /No one had a chance to interrupt/.
/It was really quite hypnotic/.
[fn:netflix] And not an episode more.
It was already too much.


** DONE Baptism of Fire (Andrzej Sapkowski, 1996)
CLOSED: [2024-04-25 Thu 16:27]
:PROPERTIES:
:EXPORT_FILE_NAME: andrzej-sapkowskis-baptism-of-fire
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :abstract My review of the third book in the Witcher saga
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :aliases '(/brain-rot/witcher/andrzej-sapkowskis-baptism-of-fire/ /brain-rot/fantasy/witcher/andrzej-sapkowskis-baptism-of-fire/)
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :rating 4.25
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :image reviews/covers/sapkowski-baptism-of-fire.jpg
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :related '("Witcher Saga")
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :relatedName Baptism of Fire
:END:


/Baptism of Fire/ is the third novel in the /Witcher/ saga.
While I had not that positive reaction to /Time of Contempt/[fn:toc], this time I loved every page.

We start where we left last time: Ciri joins Rats in the middle of nowhere, while Geralt tries to find her.
Reads like every novel in the series.
Andrzej seems to have a template for a book at this point.

But I *loved* this book.
And it comes to who is it about.
Yes, we've got Ciri.
Yes, we've got Yennefer.
They exist, but we spend almost the entirety of the book with Geralt, Jaskier and a band of mischiefs who form a fellowship.
We've got Milva, an archer.
We've also got Zoltanm, a dwarf.
And we've also got Regis, a vampire.

Having spent quality time with an interesting, diverse crowd made it very enable ride.
They even joke sitting by fire!
I think lack of such interactions is why I disliked the last book.
It was full of Ciri, Yennefer and other sorceresses while Geralt was ignored most of the time.
And sorceresses are so up-tight and irritating, so it was not what I would call a nice time.
Also, here, whenever the action moved to, either Rats or mages, my enjoyment went down significantly.

I don't know why, as I generally don't read fantasy.
Maybe they are written poorly?
I don't know the standards.
For sure the female characters here have nothing to show compared to /Game of Thrones/'s ones.
It is very hard to write powerful characters who are also female.
Most of the time, they are male characters in skanky clothes.
R.R. Martin was able to create menacing woman, who were still woman.
Sapkowski?
Not so much.
And they are not even funny!

They look as a poor rendition of older hits.
As an example, the sorceresses have a multi-generational plan to mix genomes from selected people in order to create a very specific being.
It's /Dune/, but while Bene Gesrit  so much more involved, twisted and multidimensional, here it comes out of nowhere (I think?) and disappoints.

But let's ignore the woman for a moment, and we've got ourselves an awesome little book.
I loved how, in one introduction to a chapter, we see the same legend told from both sides - Humans and Elves.
This is where /Witcher/ shines.
It's a great commentary about racism and hatred.
No wonder it comes from Poland, with our complex history.
It's as subtle as a bulldozer, but it's not that type of story.
It's obvious, blunt and takes no prisoners.
History is never easy, there is never a clear split between the good and bad guys.
Most likely everything you know is wrong, as it was written by victors.
This is the overarching theme in the /Witcher/.
Even a vampire may be a good person!

So, for me Witcher is a moral series /dressed/ as fantasy.
The magic system is barely there, no one explains /how/ Witchers work.
And I think it's a plus.
The meat of the story is not diluted by mechanics of the world.
The fact that we've got that lovable bunch here is just icing on the cake.

Also, the ending here is much better.
I finished my review of /Time of Contempt/ assuming that I will get to know the Rats in the follow-up.
I didn't know anything about them (nor I cared about them), but I assumed they will be the focus.
I was wrong.
I still have no idea who they are outside superfluous facts the short burst of their story the book has.
I /know/ Regis and I want to spend more time with him.

So, I left very satisfied.
I found charm and a lot of substance.
I hope that Ciri's plot will develop in interesting ways, as her teenage rebellion may be the end of me.

[fn:toc] vide [[/brain-rot/witcher/andrzej-sapkowskis-time-of-contempt/][my review]]


** DONE Tower of the Swallow (Andrzej Sapkowski, 1997)
CLOSED: [2024-05-25 Sat 22:11]
:PROPERTIES:
:EXPORT_FILE_NAME: andrzej-sapkowskis-tower-of-swallow
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :abstract My review of the 4th book in the Witcher saga
:EXPORT_HUGO_PAIRED_SHORTCODES: rating
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :rating 4.25
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :image reviews/covers/sapkowski-tower-of-swallow.jpg
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :related '("Witcher Saga")
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :relatedName Tower of the Swallow
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :aliases '(brain-rot/fantasy/witcher/andrzej-sapkowskis-tower-of-swallow/)
:END:

It's hard to overestimate how popular the Witcher books were amongst polish youth in the 90s.
Everyone talked about it, the books were borrowed everywhere[fn:nerds].
And yet I have never read it.
Now, in 2024, I am so close to no longer being a /bad Pole/.

/The Tower of Swallow/ starts with throwing out the window everything I was expecting after reading /Baptism of Fire/.
Rats? Nope.
Mages? Some.
Ciri? Lots.
Geralt? Lots.
Sapkowski's craft improves with every book and I could not be happier.

Let's start with the bad.
This book ignores most social commentary, which is a huge letdown.
With each passing book there's less and less of that.
Instead, we're getting better story, characters become more interesting and the story is actually gripping.
They are /better/ stories, but /worse/ books.
If it wasn't for the huge increase in quality of the story, I'd be disappointed and my day would be ruined.

Now, the good.

First thing that may surprise the reader: chronology is also thrown out the window.
We learn most of the story from Ciri's gossip /after/ it happened.
Guess Sapkowski became a bit bored with winning all the awards by just being there, so he tried to make it more difficult.
At first, I though that this will remove all the suspense - we know that Ciri will survive, but it fits the story.
It's not about if she gets through, but rather who she will be afterwards.

And this is the second thing.
/Tower of Swallow/ aimes at different audience, I guess?
Not only is it not about social commentary, not only is not about things Witchers do, but it is no longer an adventure story (for a huge chunk of the text).
Ciri is having a very terrible time here.
She is captured, tortured and abused.
And even though Sapkowski makes it very clear that no sexual abuse is happening, it's still far from what I would expect.
The character of Ciri is also changing.
She is (rightfully) angry, spiteful and thirst for vengeance.
Basically, a teenager with a sword.

The books becomes more and more gruesome.
Now, I love edgy stuff so every time Sapkowski describes mutilation, I am all for it.
It is, however, a stark change from the early Witcher stories.
We've got no humor, no fun.
Just pain and suffering.
Even Geralt at one point says that he is no longer a Witcher hunting monsters.
It's a completely different story.
And even if it's less adult oriented, with all the subtext removed - but it's more serious at the same.
The stake are higher, the risks are bigger.
I dig it.

But the biggest problem at this point is CD Projekt.
We've got the games which take place /after/ the books.
We know that all the destruction, that everyone is talking about, will not have real consequences.
But even if this makes the entire series a bit pointless, it is still a pleasure to read.

[fn:nerds] at least amongst us, nerds.


** DONE Lady of the Lake (Andrzej Sapkowski, 1999)
CLOSED: [2024-06-15 Sat 22:06]
:PROPERTIES:
:EXPORT_FILE_NAME: andrzej-sapkowskis-lady-of-the-lake
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :abstract My review of the last book in the Witcher saga
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :image reviews/covers/sapkowski-lady-of-the-lake.jpg
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :rating 3.75
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :related '("Witcher Saga")
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :relatedName Lady of the Lake
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :aliases '(brain-rot/fantasy/witcher/andrzej-sapkowskis-lady-of-the-lake/)
:END:

I had a /blast/ with the Witcher saga.
There were ups, there were downs.
But all in all, it was great.
I have now finished the *most important* Polish series of books[fn:fight], and therefore I no longer feel like a bad pole.
Unfortunately, I did not like the last volume.
My biggest gripe with /Lady of the Lake/ is that it's not an ending, but rather loosely-connected series of endings.

It starts with Ciri talking with Galahad from King's Arthur court, so yeah.
There's a wild ride in front of us.

The first significant chunk of the book is a continuation of Ciri's torment.
Everybody wants to either impregnate, take body parts, or simply kill her.
I know life was terrible for her since she got disconnected with Geralt.
I get that it's kind of /the point/ - she is not treated as a person but rather as a (depending on who is on the other site) force or part of a bigger plan.
But come one, give her /some/ break!
At this point I just wanted her to get a break, sit back, and relax.

This happens (because it needs to), but only in one of the 25 endings that follow.
We've getting an ending of the war plot, a dedicated subplot dedicated to love affair's of Dandelion, yet another plan to get Ciri's DNA, and so on.
It doesn't feel like Sapkowski had a plan to finish every plot he opened, so he just makes a series of endings.
If I hadn't been reading a dead-tree version, I would have assumed that the story will end in a few pages after /every freaking such semi-ending/.

But at the same time I enjoyed every story from /Lady of the Lake/.
Sapkowski is at top of his game.
He may go overboard with non-linear story telling, but once I /yet again/ understood when I was, I was having a blast.
It's all here: the story, the characters, the style.

Taking look at the saga as whole, I was expecting something completely different.
It started as a series of funny stories, but most of the saga is dead serious.
I was expecting a lot of the Witcher's huntsm, however through most of the saga, Geralt is solely focused on finding Ciri and has no time for monsters.
I was expecting a lot of nods to Polish reader, and while there were /some/, the books take place in their own world[fn:netflix].

Every book is different, author changes the dynamic and puts focus on a different place.
Sapkowski learns from each book and tries (and then mostly succeeds) to correct mistakes with the next one.

But, like with the previous one, tension is removed by the knowledge that the games take place /after/ the saga.
We know that main characters will live, because we meet them in the game.
And even if we don't care about computer games, it's impossible to not see some random picture and as a result spoil the book.
We know that Ciri will not reign fire and destruction upon the world.
Sapkowski may never approve of the story CD Projekt came out with and not treat is a /part/of the cannon, but the fact stands: we know that the world still exist.

It's a strange situation, where the world knows the books from the games, but the saga is lessened by their very existence.
However, even with knowing that the story is, ultimately, pointless, the saga is well worth a read.
I'd say it's great.
And the last volume I am attacking here is still /good fun/, just not good as an ending of such great saga.

[fn:fight] Yes, I said it.
No Nobel, but it's the most known piece of Polish culture.
Fight me.

[fn:netflix] I blame witch-hunt after the Netflix series dropped.
Seems most of the die hard fans never read the saga.



** DONE  Interesting Times (Terry Pratchett, 1995)
CLOSED: [2024-02-13 Tue 21:06]
:PROPERTIES:
:EXPORT_FILE_NAME: interesting-times-1995
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :abstract A very short review
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :aliases '(/blog/2024/interesting-times/ /brain-rot/discworld/interesting-times/ )
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :rating 3.75
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :image reviews/covers/pratchett-interesting-times.jpg
:END:

Cover blurp:
#+begin_quote
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.
#+end_quote

I am, what one could call, an old school /nerd/.
All I care about are old operating systems, ancient editors and old SCIFI[fn:manga]
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:wrong].
And I had a few years long pause.
Now, after a series of reading /only/ technical books I am returning to fiction.

/[[https://www.terrypratchettbooks.com/books/interesting-times/][Interesting Times]]/ is an ok-level Pratchett book.
It's not close to his best, it's not close to his worst[fn:worst].

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
- 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:fort]


[fn:wrong] It's ok to disagree, just like it's ok to be wrong.
[fn:worst] 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:fort] Which is closer that I expected
[fn:manga] And manga&anime, but that's beside the point.
Not American comics though.
Never cared about those, and it seems I never will.

** DONE Good Omens (Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman, 1990)
CLOSED: [2024-08-31 Sat 21:47]
:PROPERTIES:
:EXPORT_FILE_NAME: good-omens-1990
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :abstract My short review
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :rating 3
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :image reviews/covers/good-omens.jpg
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :alias '(brain-rot/fantasy/good-omens-1990/)
:END:


But in the dark days o 1990, Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman decided to co-write a book - /Good Omens/, which itself will be a parody of the /Omen/ horror movie.
It was quite the popular movie back then, but nowadays, it may be a bit forgotten.

Pratchett & Gaiman seem like a great combo.
The first one is a great story /teller/, while the later tend to provide better /stories/.
They are also both imaginable authors of speculative fiction.

The general idea of the story of the book follows the one from the movie: due to Satanist 
shenanigans, the antichrist is born to a family in power.
The end of times in near.
But, unlike the movie, it is not to be stopped by a detective but by an unlikely pair of an angel and a daemon.
None of them want to see the apocalypse, so they join forces to stop the antichrist - who turns out to be quite a nice kid.

For me, a computer nerd, the process of writing such a book is fascinating.
It's 1990, so no cooperative tooling exists yet, therefore Terry and Neil had to send diskettes to each other.
How cool is that!

#+begin_quote
I think this is an honest account of the process of writing Good Omens.
It was fairly easy to keep track of because of the way we sent disks to one another, and because I was Keeper of the Official Master Copy, I can say that I wrote a bit over two thirds of Good Omens. 
-- Terry Pratchett
#+end_quote

and it shows.
/Good Omens/ does not read like a joint venture, it's distinctly Pratchett.
You get Gaiman's love for the macabre and over-convoluted story, but if he were removed the cover, I would have never guessed.
There is a scene of mass shooting, which is something fitting /American Gods/  but it's written like we're in Ankh-Morpork.

It's not part of the /Discworld/ world, but on the surface it could have easily been. 
The humour is there, the seemingly unrelated descriptions which turns out to be an introduction to related thingies and so on.
But the world of /Discworld/ is far more interesting, crazier.
In that series, we've got an insane world and insane characters which try to remain sane.
/Good Omen/ however happens in our, boring world and most of the characters are "normal", but they act insane.

Nevertheless, since it's got two authors, it is a bit on the longer side.
Just enough to overstay its welcome by just a bit.
Pratchett is a master of the word and characters, but his stories  he tell are rarely interesting - and I was never a fan of Gaiman.
I didn't find what is told here much interesting, I was not curious how they will stop the apocalypse.
Nothing unexpected happened.
If it was 2/3 of the current size, if some of the crust was removed, it would be a better book, as the general idea is very cool.
But even in current state, it's very enjoyable and well worth the read /if/ you love Pratchetts style.


** DONE Heaven Makers (Frank Herbert, 1967)
CLOSED: [2024-06-19 Wed 12:06]
:PROPERTIES:
:EXPORT_FILE_NAME: heaven-makers-1967
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :abstract My review of an early Frank Herbert novel
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :image reviews/covers/herbert-heaven-makers.jpg
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :rating 3
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :aliases '(brain-rot/american-scifi/heaven-makers-1967/)
:END:

Chems are a race of aliens being who learned technology allowing them to live forever.
With everlasting life comes boredom.
To mitigate it, they watch and record lives and history of /lesser/ races, one which being humanity.
They can not intervene, but current team foreseeing operation on Earth may have broken this rule.
Therefore, Kelexel is sent to investigate if this is the case, but he is pretending to be just a tourist.

At the same time we are observing humans whose lives are being recorded and (maybe) manipulated.

/Heaven Makers/ is a 1967 novel written by Frank Herbert about an immortal race of space beings who treat humanity as a toy.
OK, there's more to that, but it all boils to this - it's a simple story which gives no indications that just a few years before Herbert published /Dune/.

Let's get this out of the way: /Heaven Makers/ is not a great book.
It's not bad, by any means.
The plot is decent, the twists are cool, the characters are (mostly) OK.
It's not insulting, but it's never great.
It's also short, so all the underdeveloped or missed parts of the book never develop into real frustration.

And while I have enjoyed reading it over the course of 2 evening[fn:slow] and would not call the time /wasted/, I'm afraid in a year I'll have very little recollection of the events that I've witnessed.
If anything, it reminded me that I really need to watch /Twilight Zone/.
/Heaven Makers/ is very much like an episode of that type a show.
We've got an interesting question (what would you do with eternity?) with added twist (what if you are the victim of such creatures) developed into a full story.

One thing reader needs to keep in mind is the age to this book.
Your life being subjected to constant surveillance was something not only seen as scary, but also incomprehensible.
We're now treating is as entertainment (/Big Brother/) or even a way of living.
As always, SciFi comes with a twisted idea and warns us about it.
What we do with it?
Of course!
Let's build our lives around it!

If /Heaven Makers/ finds a way in your hands, sure - it's a nice read.
But I would not propose people actively search for it.

[fn:slow] I am a slow reader


** DONE Hard to be a God (Arkady and Boris Strugatsky, 1964)
CLOSED: [2024-07-07 Sun 22:41]
:PROPERTIES:
:EXPORT_FILE_NAME: hard-to-be-a-god-strugatsky-1964
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :abstract A short review of an absolut marvel of a book
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :image reviews/covers/hard-to-be-a-god-book.jpg
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :rating  4.5
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :aliases '(brain-rot/eastern-block-scifi/hard-to-be-a-god-strugatsky-1964/)
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :related '("Strugatsky brothers")
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :relatedName "Hard to be God"
:END:


I remember, back in high school when we were tasked with reading /The Master and Margarita/.
Teenage me loved this book about devil and demonic stuff.
Then they told us that all of that /cool/ stuff is just a cover to hide the real meaning of the book: commentary on the Soviet Union and communism[fn:teen].

/Hard to be a God/ is a novel by the famous Strugatsky brothers.
In the undefined future, humans are capable of space travel.
A group of scientists in sent to an alien planet to observe and report back.
The planet is populated by beings living in a society that reminds us of the Middle Ages.
However, the power shifts and a violent, hateful revolution starts taking place.
Intelligentsia is killed by angry crowd, and Don Reba getting more and more powerful.
That alien world is going into revolution.
Coincidentaly, this is how communism overtook Russia.

This is a hard book to get through.
The subject is very dark, and the form doesn't make it any easier.
One of the biggest problems here is: should observers interfere
The reader /wants/ a gun-blazing ride on Don Reba, but would it be ethical?
The observers have guns and flying machines.
They are able to crush anyone.
But this would only lead to more bloodshed and a circle of violence.

Which is another interesting aspect of this book - mediation on human condition.
Violence is /inherent/ to human race.
We see it all the time, and the writers put a mirror to our faces.
How many wars were fought not for survival, but for power?
World War I was called "The Great War" and was supposed to be the last war.
Humanity saw the absolute worse it can do, definitely we will learn from it.
We know how it ended.

/Hard to be God/ is, most definitely, an intelligent SciFi novel.

But I was not invested emotionally.
It's not visceral book.
It is disgusting, but you comprehand it more with your mind than heart.

At the same time, it's an easy read.
You could think that with this subject matter, the book would be offputting, but it's not.
I /had/ problems following names at some point, as every male character tends to be Don freaking something, but that's all.
It's an ejoyable read, if you don't focus on what's it actually about.

But when you do start thinking about the meaning, it becomes a completely different beast.
Authors don't spare the viewer.
There is a scene, where two young adepts are talking about torture methods, like it was nothing.
It' almost funny, if it wasn't so real.

/Hard to be a God/ is a short book, which is a great but challenging piece of art.
I'd call it a masterpiece, if I were emotionally invested.
As it stands now, it's closer to /Gulag Archipelago/ in a form of story.
Highly recommended, even if this would be your first encounter with Russian speculative fiction.

---

Movies based on /Hard to be a God/ are also amazing!

[fn:teen] Teenage me hated that, but as I mentioned occasionally, he wasn't very bright.

** DONE Roadside Picnic (Arkady and Boris Strugatsky, 1972)
CLOSED: [2024-07-15 Mon 21:35]
:PROPERTIES:
:EXPORT_FILE_NAME: roadside-picnic-1972
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :abstract A short review of an absolute marvel of a book
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :image reviews/covers/roadside-picnic.jpg
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :rating  4.5
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :related '("Strugatsky brothers")
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :relatedName "Roadside Picnic"
:END:

/Roadside Picnic/ has a very particular heritage.
There is a book.
It was then made into a movie, which took the last 30 pages and went its own way. It's great.
Then they made it into a game, which takes some ideas for the basic premise, and then the authors went their own way, creating an antithesis of the book. I've been told it's good.
But this time: the novel.

In the near future, aliens have landed on Earth.
No one knows why, but they came and went without much ado.
Their landing site is now called /the zone/.
Before leaving, the aliens left some artifacts.
We don't know what they are, but there is the promise of giant leaps for mankind.
Therefore, a new occupation is born: - /stalkers/, who venture into the zone and try ans retrieve some alien leftovers.
The zone is dangerous, and stalkers often lose their lives upon making the smallest mistakes.

But /Roadside Picnic/ is not a book about that.
It's depressing and full of commentary on humanity.
Very often, people call it the best book by the Strugatsky brothers, and who am I to disagree?

But it is not a book about aliens, or the zone.
Those things exist, but first contact went and gone.
Stalkers are not the heroes of humanity, they are expendable criminals.
We think we may someday understand what happened, but we may as well not.
The aliens visited Earth, but most likely haven't found anything of interest.
What people are dying for, what may change the entire planet, may be nothing but some trash left on the side of the road.

The cosmos is not something to explore or conquer.
It's vast, and our planet is insignificant.

And this is what the book is about.
The Zone occupies very small portion of the novel, it's just means to an end.
Red, the main hero, is just trying to make a living.
He is not shy about drinking, visiting a bordello or cheating on his wife.
At the same time, he is not shown as an evil person, because his existence doesn't matter.
Even though he is one of the most experienced stalkers, his death would mean nothing.

The novel is also much less adventurous than one could expect, knowing the movie or the games.
We spend just a handful of pages in the Zone, the rest happens in the nearby town.
/Roadside Picnic/ is beautiful as anti-SiFi story.
Everything we were taught to believe by western SciFi, the authors ignore.
There is nothing /there/ for us.
We are /nothing/.
Space exploration?
Meeting aliens?
We don't even have any hopes or dreams left.

But this makes the novel timeless.
Our entertainment is no longer optimistic.
We are not going into /Star Trek/, we missed that ship.
Maybe hope in our insignificance is better than thinking we are our own worst enemy?

/Roadside Picnic/ gets my high recommendation.
Similarly to /[[/brain-rot/eastern-block-scifi/hard-to-be-a-god-strugatsky-1964/][Hard to be God]]/, the reader may breeze through it.
It's short, and it's easy to read.
But then we reach the last pages, where the weight of the story is passed us.

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.


** DONE Moscow 2042 (Vladimir Voinovich, 1986)
CLOSED: [2024-12-01 Sun 21:28]
:PROPERTIES:
:EXPORT_FILE_NAME: moscow-2042-1986
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :abstract A short review of an absolute marvel of a book
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :image reviews/covers/moscow-2042.jpg
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :rating  5
:END:

Up till recently, I have not heard of Vladimir Voinovich.
As you may have noticed, my knowledge of Russian SF literature is quite shallow.
Everyone has read at leat a few novels from Strugatsky brothers, and I am only now doing it.
But as it turns out (thanks Mastodon!), Voinovich was a prolific writer.
At least enough prolific and critical to be forced into exile from Russia!
Somehow, it seems that only a few years Russian literature was considered to be up there, right among the final bosses of literature!
But I'm too shallow for that.
I will finish Solzhenitsyn's /Gulag Archipelago/ one day (the third book is wainting for me for some 15 years), but right now I NEED some fantastic elements in my critique of Communists regime.
Luckily, Voinovich has me covered.

/Moscow 2042/ is satirical novel where the author describes his fantastical time travel into the future, where he is sent to learn about and report on the Communism to come.
You may have already guessed, that the painted picture is not pretty at all.

It doesn't start like that.
At first, Voinovich gets enticed with what he is presented with.
It seem that the Communists of 2042 have learned from the past.
They removed all the evil parts that /we/ have seem (and there were lots of them), but kept the spirit of communism: brothership, unity, and happiness.

I will not spoil anything for the Curious Reader, but we spend the rest of the novel destroying that picture.
Now, I am a bit too young to fully appreciate that (being born only 4 years before Poland regained it's independence from USSR), and I am sure to have missed a lot nuances, but I laughed and I cried.
Author dissects all the horrors of communism then exaggerates them to absurd.
It's kept light in tone, the atrocities seem distant and therefore funny.
No chance in hell a system like that could ever be conceived.
No one is cynical enough to establish it (but they did!)
Fictionalized Voinoich is not a /member/ of this society.
He is a VIP guest.
He is able to get all the benefits it can give to the chosen few.
And boy, if he doesn't!
He takes all he can, not caring where it came from - as he starts to see behind the cracks.
It's very hard to feel any sympathy for him.
But then the bill comes... and I'll stop here.
The story is masterfully crafted.

I was, however, surprised by the SF elements.
For most of the text, they are reduced to a MacGuffin, a non important tool to tell the story.
If it stayed like this, /Moscow 2042/ (I keep writing it as 2024...) would be an excellent story.
However, this changes significantly.
Again, I won't go into spoiler territory (it came as a huge surprise!) but it is a time travel story with all of it's possibilities and paradoxes.
Up till it is revealed, the time travel story make the book make very little sense (still great), but as a complete package it does.
It may not go as hard into it like, let's say /All You Zombies/, but it goes hard enough to go into my personal "top time travel stories", together with the aforementioned short story, /Time Crimes/, /Looper/ and /Primer/.
I have a type it seems.

/Moscow 2024/ is one of the greatest SF books I've ever read.
It's fantastical in it's nature, but the story is humanist.
A true marvel you owe yourself to experience.


** TODO Monday Begins on Saturday (Arkady and Boris Strugatsky, 1965)

* Movies  [15/15]                                                  :@reviews:
:PROPERTIES:
:EXPORT_HUGO_SECTION: reviews/movies
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :reviewSection '(Movies)
:EXPORT_HUGO_PAIRED_SHORTCODES: image
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :image_dir "reviews/screenshots" :image_max_width 765
:End:

** Movies reviews
:PROPERTIES:
:EXPORT_FILE_NAME: _index
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :abstract Reviews of movies
:END:

I watch movies, so why not whine about them in the process?
Note, that most of what follows is SciFi.


** DONE Johnny Mnemonic (1995)
CLOSED: [2024-06-11 Tue 15:52]
:PROPERTIES:
:EXPORT_FILE_NAME: johnny-mnemonic-1995
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :abstract My mirco reviview of the cyberpunk classic
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :rating 4.0
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :image reviews/covers/johny-mnemonic.jpg
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :aliases '(/brain-rot/american-scifi/johnny-mnemonic-1995/)
:END:

One plus of the linear-tv age of the past is that I've seen movies I would have no chance otherwise.
Polish stations tried to put as many new blockbusters as possible.
Other times they had to resort to movies of lesser fame, like the hero of the day - /Johnny Mnemonic/.

Willian Gibson, the father of modern /Cyberpunk/ genre, doesn't have much luck when it comes to movies.
/Neuromancer/ is finally getting an adaptation, but unfortunately it will be a TV show[fn:neurotv].
His /Aliens III/ script was rejected.
At this moment, his only legacy in this medium is /Johnny Mnemonic/.
Luckily, it's an awesome legacy!

The story is what he does best - a classic story in a cybernetic world.
Johnny is a courier who smuggles information.
The trick is that he is not smuggling them on tapes, but in his own brain.
This time he overdid it and loaded too much data (320 gigs!) overflowing his capacity.
He needs to get it out, and to do it /fast/.
It won't be easy as the data is /hot/ and yakuza and gigantic corporation are trying to stop him.

/Neuromancer/ is a heist story with a twist, /Johnny Mnemonic/ is a fugitive story with a twist.
For what it's worth, I found the story to be great.
There is nothing profound, nothing makes you scratch your head.
It's story about a smuggler and the whole world trying to kill him.

The worst aspect of this movie is the acting.
It's Keanu Reeves at his most mediocre, single faced act.
Even Takashi Kitano seems to be bored on set.
I have no idea why, but *no* actor seems to be invested.

But everything else works.
First, the movie looks great.
All special effects are selling distopian vision of near future - be it the scenes of high raise buildings, slums, or of cyberspace.
It all looks like one would expect (no sky /the color of TV turned to a dead channel/ though, which is a shame).

Talking about cyberspace, when have we ruined the way we talked about computers?
/Johnny.../ has all the Gibson's words, like Ice-breakers.
It's magical and hypnotic.
We live in world of his novels (with corporations being more powerful than nations, internet everywhere, or the destruction of environment) but this is what we lost?
It's so dull and dry!
I don't want App, I want "visual interface".

#+attr_shortcode: :file johny-mnemonic-1.jpg
#+attr_shortcode: :alt Keanu Reeves in metal VR goggles grimming his teeth. The helmet covers most of his face.
#+attr_shortcode: :source https://madmuseum.org/events/johnny-mnemonic
#+attr_shortcode: :class centered
#+begin_image
This looks like something I want!
Screw that plastic toy from Apple.
#+end_image

#+attr_shortcode: :file johny-mnemonic-2.jpg
#+attr_shortcode: :alt A futurstic CGI city resembling cyberspace
#+attr_shortcode: :source https://madmuseum.org/events/johnny-mnemonic
#+attr_shortcode: :class centered 
#+begin_image
This was the cyberspace we were promised. 
#+end_image

I may be looking at this movie through rose-tainted cyber-visors, but I was expecting a terrible movie.
I saw as a teen and loved it.
But somehow, after all this years /Johnny Mnemonic/ holds up.
It's not a big nor overly smart movie.
It's a product of it's times but does it marvelously.
I loved it.

[fn:neurotv] It's a sign of the times.
Platforms want to get as much from every license, a /Neuromancer/ is as hot as SciFi goes.
This means that it will most likely be expanded into self-parody, with one unnecessary thread after another.
And /Neuromaner/ is already structured as a *movie*!
 

** 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 reviews/covers/invasion-of-the-body-snatchers-1956.jpg
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :rating 3
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :aliases '(/brain-rot/american-scifi/invasion-of-the-body-snatchers-1956/)
: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!

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!


** DONE Running Man (1987)
CLOSED: [2024-06-24 Mon 23:45]
:PROPERTIES:
:EXPORT_FILE_NAME: running-man-1987
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :abstract My review of the Schwarzenegger's classic
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :image reviews/covers/running-man.jpg
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :rating 3.0
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :aliases '(/brain-rot/american-scifi/running-man-1987/)
:END:

I never got into 80s action packed ultra-manly movies.
I was never fan of them, as action scenes bore me.
There was, however, quite a few of them in SciFi setting so this site will force me to finally get to know them.

So, /Running Man/ is a 1987 SciFi movie starring Arnold Schwarzenegger based on Stephen King's story.
In the not-so-distant future of 2017 the world faced an economic cryis and America became a totalitarian state.
Captain Ben Richards (played by Arnold) is a police officer who refuses to massacre unarmed civilians.
He finds himself to be government's scapegoat and, as a result, is jailed.
After a prison break, he is once again captured - but this time he is given a chance.
If he participates in /Running Man/, an ultra-violent TV show, he may regain freedom.

There is a /bit/ more to the story, but not much.
What is there, however, was a surprise!
There is a plot and there is commentary about risk of fascist state, of controlling crowds through entertainment, and about controlling the narrative by those in power.
/Running Man/ is /1984/ if Orwell wasn't so talented.
The entire world building happens in the first half an hour of the movie.
The rest is an hour-long series of Richard's fights against /stalkers/, professional killers who star in the show.
And I *have* to be sincere here: I hated the second part much less than I anticipated.
Yes, it's over-the top and mindless, but it has nice gore.

But mostly because of the montage.
I remember watching the second /Avengers/ and absolutely hating it.
Most of the movie was random characters fighting without any order.
One /cool/ scene after another.
In /Running Man/, on the other hand, I was able to follow the plot of the fight.
I knew not only what was going on, but I also had a vague understanding of where the fights were and where characters were in relations to another.

#+attr_shortcode: :file running-man-1.webp
#+attr_shortcode: :alt Face of a white, bearded man lighting a cigarette
#+attr_shortcode: :source https://wegotthiscovered.com/movies/this-one-would-be-a-big-dream-the-remake-of-the-only-stephen-king-and-arnold-schwarzenegger-team-up-edges-closer-to-reality/
#+attr_shortcode: :class centered
#+begin_image
Typical prison beard
#+end_image

#+attr_shortcode: :file running-man-2.webp
#+attr_shortcode: :alt White man wearing a bright yellow, shining, one-piece suit
#+attr_shortcode: :source https://wegotthiscovered.com/movies/this-one-would-be-a-big-dream-the-remake-of-the-only-stephen-king-and-arnold-schwarzenegger-team-up-edges-closer-to-reality/
#+attr_shortcode: :class centered
#+begin_image
The most offensive thing here are the costumes
#+end_image

So, this movie is not a completely mindless fight scene.
I should have hated it (like the aforementioned /Avengers/), but I did not.
I haven't /loved/ it, or even truly /liked it/.
Furthermore, I don't feel like I lost anything by not watching it when it was played on repeat on TV.
But it's not offensive[fn:off], it's not even boring.
I /enjoyed/ it, but I will never watch it again.
It's not one the great Schwarzenegger's movies.

[fn:off] Enjoyment-wise.
The movie is very offensive with its sexualization of women.
But this very nicely matches the metaphor in the story.
This, however, would not be made with modern sensitivity.

** DONE Ghost in the Machine (1993)
CLOSED: [2024-02-09 Fri 22:59]
:PROPERTIES:
:EXPORT_FILE_NAME: ghost-in-the-machine-1993
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :abstract My mirco reviview of a computer thriller
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :aliases '(/brain-rot/ghost-in-the-machine /blog/2024/ghost-in-the-machine/ brain-rot/american-scifi/ghost-in-the-machine-1993/)
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :rating 3.0
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :image reviews/covers/ghost-in-the-machine.jpg
:END:

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

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:
- [[https://utf.thetvdb.com/movies/ghost-in-the-machine][Ghost in the Machine on TVDB]]



** DONE Colossus: The Forbin Project (1970) 
CLOSED: [2024-03-03 Sun 16:52]
:PROPERTIES:
:EXPORT_FILE_NAME: colossus-1970
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :abstract A short review of SciFi classic 
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :rating 4.25
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :image reviews/covers/collosus-forbin-project.jpg
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :aliases '(brain-rot/american-scifi/colossus-1970/ /brain-rot/colosus-1970 /blog/2024/colossus-1970/)
:END:

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.

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:it] 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.


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.

#+attr_shortcode: :file colossus-1970-0001.jpg
#+attr_shortcode: :class centered
#+begin_image
The movie starts with sexy old-comp scenes.
Fitting, as Control Data Corporation supplied close to 5 million USD in computer equipment.
#+end_image


#+attr_shortcode: :file colossus-1970-0002.jpg
#+attr_shortcode: :class centered
#+begin_image
Rest of the movie is not as sexy.
#+end_image

#+attr_shortcode: :file colossus-1970-0003.jpg
#+attr_shortcode: :class centered
#+begin_image
Colossus in person.
#+end_image

#+attr_shortcode: :file colossus-1970-0004.jpg
#+attr_shortcode: :class centered
#+begin_image
At first Colossus communicates only via text.
Funny, as those screens sound like matrix printers.
#+end_image
 
#+attr_shortcode: :file colossus-1970-0005.jpg
#+begin_image
This one as well.
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.
#+end_image

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:sex].
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:pent].
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:it] There's an interesting discussion about what pronoum to use - He or It.
[fn:sex] It is a plot point!
A terrible one, but still.
[fn:pent] Vide: [[https://www.defense.gov/News/News-Stories/Article/Article/3682355/pentagon-official-lays-out-dod-vision-for-ai/][Pentagon Official Lays Out DOD Vision for AI]].
Note, it's from the official website of US Department of Defense.

** DONE Hardware (1990)
CLOSED: [2024-02-17 Sat 19:39]
:PROPERTIES:
:EXPORT_FILE_NAME: hardware-1990
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :abstract My mirco reviview of a killer-robot thriller
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :aliases '(/brain-rot/hardware-1990 /blog/2024/hardware-1990/ brain-rot/american-scifi/hardware-1990/)
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :rating 3.5
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :image reviews/covers/hardware-1990.jpg
:END:

I ue my descend into American cyberpunk cinema[fn:cp].
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:alien]/ 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=.
  

#+attr_shortcode: :file hardware-1990-0001.jpg
#+attr_shortcode: :class centered
#+begin_image
Red sky of postnuclear... summer?
#+end_image

#+attr_shortcode: :file hardware-1990-0002.jpg
#+attr_shortcode: :class centered
#+begin_image
The Nomad.
#+end_image


#+attr_shortcode: :file hardware-1990-0003.jpg
#+attr_shortcode: :class centered
#+begin_image
Nomad searching the desert for stuff for sale.
#+end_image

#+attr_shortcode: :file hardware-1990-0004.jpg
#+attr_shortcode: :class centered
#+begin_image
An ordinary store.
Great vibes!
Fun for the whole family.
#+end_image


#+attr_shortcode: :file hardware-1990-0005.jpg
#+attr_shortcode: :class centered
#+begin_image
Same store, different view.
#+end_image

#+attr_shortcode: :file hardware-1990-0006.jpg
#+attr_shortcode: :class centered
#+begin_image
The perfect glasses.
#+end_image

#+attr_shortcode: :file hardware-1990-0007.jpg
#+attr_shortcode: :class centered
#+begin_image
Seems like somene realy liked Jin-Roh.
#+end_image

#+attr_shortcode: :file hardware-1990-0008.jpg
#+attr_shortcode: :class centered
#+begin_image
What posses as art now.
#+end_image

#+attr_shortcode: :file hardware-1990-0009.jpg
#+attr_shortcode: :class centered
#+begin_image
Computer we want but don't deserve.
#+end_image

#+attr_shortcode: :file hardware-1990-0010.jpg
#+attr_shortcode: :class centered
#+begin_image
An art studio. Nothing out of the ordinary.
#+end_image

#+attr_shortcode: :file hardware-1990-0011.jpg
#+attr_shortcode: :class centered
#+begin_image
Remember when spirituality was cool?
#+end_image

#+attr_shortcode: :file hardware-1990-0012.jpg
#+attr_shortcode: :class centered
#+begin_image
Let's give our murder-robot eyes from a camera lense.
I'm sure no one will drop it.
#+end_image

#+attr_shortcode: :file hardware-1990-0013.jpg
#+attr_shortcode: :class centered
#+begin_image
UI we all want.
#+end_image

#+attr_shortcode: :file hardware-1990-0014.jpg
#+attr_shortcode: :class centered
#+begin_image
What lurks in the shadows.
#+end_image

#+attr_shortcode: :file hardware-1990-0015.jpg
#+attr_shortcode: :class centered
#+begin_image
Yup, Jin-Roh.
#+end_image

#+attr_shortcode: :file hardware-1990-0016.jpg
#+attr_shortcode: :class centered
#+begin_image
Yankee-Roh.
#+end_image

#+attr_shortcode: :file hardware-1990-0017.jpg
#+attr_shortcode: :class centered
#+begin_image
With some striking shadows.
#+end_image

#+attr_shortcode: :file hardware-1990-0018.jpg
#+attr_shortcode: :class centered
#+begin_image
I have become bread, the destroyer of worlds.
#+end_image

#+attr_shortcode: :file hardware-1990-0019.jpg
#+attr_shortcode: :class centered
#+begin_image
Prelude...
#+end_image

#+attr_shortcode: :file hardware-1990-0020.jpg
#+attr_shortcode: :class centered
#+begin_image
And the (most likely) last usage of a refrigerator as a safe place which makes any sense in the history of cinema.
#+end_image

#+attr_shortcode: :file hardware-1990-0021.jpg
#+attr_shortcode: :class centered
#+begin_image
Yup, a hand.
#+end_image

#+attr_shortcode: :file hardware-1990-0022.jpg
#+attr_shortcode: :class centered
#+begin_image
Hold the presses!
The glasses are back!
I repeat: the glasses are back.
#+end_image

#+attr_shortcode: :file hardware-1990-0023.jpg
#+attr_shortcode: :class centered
#+begin_image
Mark-13 in all of its glory.
#+end_image

#+attr_shortcode: :file hardware-1990-0024.jpg
#+attr_shortcode: :class centered
#+begin_image
This is only a window, but what a window it is.
#+end_image

#+attr_shortcode: :file hardware-1990-0025.jpg
#+attr_shortcode: :class centered
#+begin_image
They have not used Wilhelm's scream.
What a wasted opportunity.
#+end_image

#+attr_shortcode: :file hardware-1990-0026.jpg
#+attr_shortcode: :class centered
#+begin_image
In 2024 those are rookie number when it comes to unnecessary lights inside a computer.
#+end_image

#+attr_shortcode: :file hardware-1990-0027.jpg
#+attr_shortcode: :class centered
#+begin_image
I am a sucker for this type of fish eye.
Always reminds me of /City of Lost Children./
#+end_image

#+attr_shortcode: :file hardware-1990-0028.jpg
#+attr_shortcode: :class centered
#+begin_image
It doesn't get more era-apporiate than this.
#+end_image

#+attr_shortcode: :file hardware-1990-0029.jpg
#+attr_shortcode: :class centered
#+begin_image
Ok, it does.
#+end_image

#+attr_shortcode: :file hardware-1990-0030.jpg
#+attr_shortcode: :class centered
#+begin_image
One of the few CGI moments here.
#+end_image

#+attr_shortcode: :file hardware-1990-0031.jpg
#+attr_shortcode: :class centered
#+begin_image
And one of /many/ lighting shots.
#+end_image

#+attr_shortcode: :file hardware-1990-0032.jpg
#+attr_shortcode: :class centered
#+begin_image
Look how black it is. Classy.
#+end_image

#+attr_shortcode: :file hardware-1990-0033.jpg
#+attr_shortcode: :class centered
#+begin_image
But does it run Quake?
#+end_image

#+attr_shortcode: :file hardware-1990-0034.jpg
#+attr_shortcode: :class centered
#+begin_image
Back to the desert, like a fine sandwich.
#+end_image

And a few nice /gore/ sceenes which I won't show it.
This is a family-friendly website!

Links:
- [[https://thetvdb.com/movies/hardware][Hardware on TVDB]]
- [[https://www.theofficialrichardstanley.com/][Director's official website]]

[fn:cp] 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:alien] Aka "the clearly superior of the /Alien/ series"


** DONE Lawnmower Man (1992)
CLOSED: [2024-02-19 Mon 23:03]
:PROPERTIES:
:EXPORT_FILE_NAME: lawmower-man-1992
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :abstract My mirco reviview of a vr killer  thriller
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :aliases '(/blog/2024/lawmower-man-1992/ brain-rot/lawnmower-man/lawmower-man-1992/ brain-rot/american-scifi/lawnmower-man/lawmower-man-1992/)
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :rating 3.0
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :related '("Lawnmower Man")
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :relatedName "Lawnmower Man"
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :image reviews/covers/lawnmower-man.jpg
:END:

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:series]
Among those, there were constant replays of /The Lawnmower Man/[fn:trans]
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.


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.

#+attr_shortcode: :file lawnmower-man-1992-0001.jpg
#+attr_shortcode: :class centered
#+begin_image
Remember when huge companies were scary?
#+end_image
#+attr_shortcode: :file lawnmower-man-1992-0002.jpg
#+attr_shortcode: :class centered
#+begin_image
That's one way to save your neck from Apple Vision
#+end_image

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.

#+attr_shortcode: :file lawnmower-man-1992-0006.jpg
#+attr_shortcode: :class centered
#+begin_image
The cyberspace we all need.
#+end_image

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.

#+attr_shortcode: :file lawnmower-man-1992-0004.jpg
#+attr_shortcode: :class centered
#+begin_image
The hidden star of the movie, right behind that hairy guy.
Look at that keyboard!
Look at how beige it is!
#+end_image

#+attr_shortcode: :file lawnmower-man-1992-0005.jpg 
#+attr_shortcode: :class centered
#+begin_image
Cyber God indeed.
#+end_image

[fn:series] 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:trans] 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.


** DONE Lawmower Man 2: Beyond Cyberspace (1996)
CLOSED: [2024-02-23 Fri 20:29]
:PROPERTIES:
:EXPORT_FILE_NAME: lawmower-man-2-1996
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :abstract My mirco reviview of the sequeo to a vr killer thriller
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :aliases '(/blog/2024/lawmower-man-2-1996// brain-rot/lawnmower-man/lawmower-man-2-1996/ brain-rot/american-scifi/lawnmower-man/lawmower-man-2-1996/)
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :rating 3.75
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :related '("Lawnmower Man")
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :relatedName "Lawnmower Man 2"
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :image reviews/covers/lawnmower-man2.jpg
:END:

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:reviewlm]/ 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.


#+attr_shortcode: :file lawnmower-man-2-1996-0002.jpg
#+attr_shortcode: :class centered
#+begin_image
Kids flying in cyberspace
#+end_image

#+attr_shortcode: :file lawnmower-man-2-1996-0012.jpg
#+attr_shortcode: :class centered
#+begin_image
And flying even more.
#+end_image

#+attr_shortcode: :file lawnmower-man-2-1996-0003.jpg
#+attr_shortcode: :class centered
#+begin_image
Dog preparing to save a day...
#+end_image

#+attr_shortcode: :file lawnmower-man-2-1996-0004.jpg
#+attr_shortcode: :class centered
#+begin_image
And saving the day by inserting a CD in the drive.
How can anyone consider this to be a movie for adoults?
#+end_image

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.

#+attr_shortcode: :file  lawnmower-man-2-1996-0005.jpg
#+attr_shortcode: :class centered
Her hair is the closest thing to a "scare" in the entire movie
#+end_image

#+attr_shortcode: :file lawnmower-man-2-1996-0006.jpg
#+attr_shortcode: :class centered
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
#+end_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!

#+attr_shortcode: :file lawnmower-man-2-1996-0001.jpg
#+attr_shortcode: :class centered
#+begin_image
Cyberpunk!
I'm pretty sure that almost all those scenes happened on the same crossroad.
#+end_image

#+attr_shortcode: :file lawnmower-man-2-1996-0011.jpg
#+attr_shortcode: :class centered
#+begin_image
Almost Blade Runner.
#+end_image

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/.

#+attr_shortcode: :file lawnmower-man-2-1996-0010.jpg
#+attr_shortcode: :class centered
#+begin_image
Our first meeting with new Jobe in the cyberspace.
Yes, this is VR-forest.
#+end_image

#+attr_shortcode: :file lawnmower-man-2-1996-0007.jpg
#+attr_shortcode: :class centered
#+begin_image
Cyberspace here give more of FMV-game kind of vibe than I would have expected
#+end_image

#+attr_shortcode: :file lawnmower-man-2-1996-0008.jpg
#+attr_shortcode: :class centered
#+begin_image
The VR here more social than what Apple showed.
#+end_image

#+attr_shortcode: :file lawnmower-man-2-1996-0009.jpg
#+attr_shortcode: :class centered
#+begin_image
Luckily, sometimes the VR almost delivers.
#+end_image

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:reviewlm] Vide: [[/blog/2024/lawmower-man-1229/][my review of Lawmower Man]].



** DONE Dead Man's Lettes (aka Lettes from a Dead Man, 1986)
CLOSED: [2024-06-25 Tue 22:56]
:PROPERTIES:
:EXPORT_FILE_NAME: dead-mans-letters-1986
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :abstract A short review of SciFi classic
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :image reviews/covers/dead-mans-letters.jpg
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :aliases '(brain-rot/eastern-block-scifi/dead-mans-letters-1986/)
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :rating 5
:END:

Let's get this right of the bat: /Dead Man's Letters/ is a masterpiece; one of the greatest movies I've ever witnessed.

A Russian town after nuclear war.
Professor Larsen, a Nobel Prize in Physics laureate, lives with his sick wife and few other survivors in the basement of a museum.
For the next 88 mins you will witness pure, soul eating /bleakness/.

Talking about the story doesn't make sense, as it's not the point.
/Dead Man's Letters/ is very much akin to Tarkowsky's movies.
It's poetry and meditation on human condition.
There are long stretches of nothing but inner monologue of main character who /thinks/.
Not much of /comment/, but rather a /study/.
I don't think I've ever witnessed this type of movie outside Russian cinema.
It's not Bunuel, it's not Kubrick - but at the same it's very much /this/ type of movie.
More of an experience, than a 3 act story.

It's also one of the saddest movies I've experienced.
No one is fighting for the future.
They simply exist, waiting for the end.
The only glimmer of hope is Larsen who thinks the was ended.
But no one believes him.
Maybe he even doesn't believe himself?

The visual side very much reflects it.
There are no real colors, everything is monochromatic but colorized.
Just like in German Impressionism or /Stalker's/ scenes outside of The Zone.
The movie is full of special effects, but none of them aim at wowing the viewer.
You witness despair and the despair becomes part of you.
Luckily, this is only 88 mins long - anything longer and it would be unbearable.

#+attr_shortcode: :file dead-mans-letters-1.jpg
#+attr_shortcode: :alt An old, white man wearing glasses. In sepia
#+attr_shortcode: :source https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0091759/mediaviewer/rm794067713
#+attr_shortcode: :class centered
#+begin_image
The "hero"
#+end_image

#+attr_shortcode: :file dead-mans-letters-2.jpg
#+attr_shortcode: :alt Two characters sitting by a metallic table. On the left, an old man hiding his face in his hands. On the right a balding white man. The scene is blue.
#+attr_shortcode: :source https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https%3A%2F%2Fpreview.redd.it%2Fbyjma8jabmc61.jpg%3Fwidth%3D964%26format%3Dpjpg%26auto%3Dwebp%26s%3D02b9a40ac8c094bc25d79890adb64b07c86c26e5
#+attr_shortcode: :class centered
#+begin_image
You won't glimpse much happiness here.
#+end_image

The movie is a directorial debut of Konstantin Lopushansky and was co-written by Boris Strutsky.
Strugatskys Brothers are one of the greatest writers of /intelligent/ (up to a fault) SciFi, and Borise's talent is clearly shown here.
Just like in their books, the story is there as means to an end; a medium to discuss humanity.
It's not an easy movie to watch.
It requires focus, dedication and a lot of thinking.
You will get lost in it, and the movie may stay with you for a while - even though it won't ever be pleasant.
It's an unforgettable experience.
Too bad it's not widely known in the west.
Maybe it's simply too convoluted?
Or maybe it's just too different.
Anyway, a masterpiece.
I encourage everyone to at least /try/ to experience it.

** DONE Sneakers (1992)
CLOSED: [2024-07-29 Mon 21:12]
:PROPERTIES:
:EXPORT_FILE_NAME: sneakers-1992
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :abstract My review
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :image reviews/covers/sneakers.jpg
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :rating 4
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :aliases '( /brain-rot/hackers/sneakers-1992/ )
:END:

/Sneakers/ is a 1992 movie starring a huge cast of brightest stars about penetrating testers hired by NSA to recover a Russian-founder black box codename "Setec Astronomy".
Things get complicated and (as it was in the 90s) full of conspiracies.

I watched this film /only/ because it is about hackers.
And let me tell you, I did not leave disappointed.
We sure got some red team hacking.
Computers get hacked, doors get unlocked, cameras get taped.
If this is all you want - sure, /Sneakers/ is great.
All of those actions are believable, hackers are not the scum of the earth (as they tend to be in later movies) and it's just plain cool.

What I was not expecting was a great plot!
It's clear that the task is not what it seems.
It's not X-Files level of conspiracy within conspiracy[fn:xf], but we've sure got some rollercoaster of those.
It _is_ the 90s, so government are evil and private business is good, but even being raised on those ideas, I had a blast.
Even after the /evil mastermind/ laves the shadow, it doesn't break anything.
It may be a bit too-obvious, but what the hell. 80% of the story is great.

And the movie is simply beautiful.
It has /that/ 90s look, which can not be reproduced with modern digital effects.
But the camera work is stop-on.
When I pressed "play" on this hacker movie, I was not expecting such A-game.

But as the movie started to show its cast, it was obvious - this was to be a blockbuster.
An /Ocean's 11/ for the cyberage.
Just look at the poster - Robert Redford is here!
But, for me, Dan Aykroyd and David Strathairn stole each scene they were in.
Aykroyd played Mother, a young hacker and conspiracy theorist ("the moon landing was fake" kind of, not "Melissa Lavigne"), and Strathairn played Whistler, a deaf phreaker[fn:phreak].
Both played just the perfect amount of over-the-top characters - anything more, and they would be annoying.
Everyone knew when to stop.


All in all: great cast, beautiful cinematography and interesting story.
And the hacking isn't brain rotting!

#+attr_shortcode: :file sneakers-1.png
#+attr_shortcode: :alt Blue computer screen reflecting in black glasses
#+attr_shortcode: :class centered
#+begin_image
Monitors reflected on glasses can not be not cool
#+end_image

[fn:xf] But nothing is
[fn:phreak] This movie is so old, that viewer is expected to know what a phreaker is!


** DONE Dune: Part One (2021) 
CLOSED: [2024-04-13 Sat 21:33]
:PROPERTIES:
:EXPORT_FILE_NAME: part-one-2021
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :abstract My review of an adaptation of the first part of an amazing book
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :aliases '(/brain-rot/dune/part-one-2021  brain-rot/american-scifi/dune/part-one-2021/)
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :rating 4.75
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :image reviews/covers/dune.jpg
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :related '("Dune movies")
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :relatedName "Dune: Part One (2021)"
:END:

I'd like to call myself a Dune fan, but I am not.
I have finished my Dune adventure on /Heretics/ and only now am I planning to finish the saga[fn:witcher]
Though, I think this still puts me well above most people calling themselves fans now.
I loved eveything I've read, but I have never reached the end.

/Dune: Part 1/ is the second movie based on the 1956 Frank Herbert's classic SciFi epic.
Well, it is not.
It is the third attempt to show the first half of the book.
There was the David Lynch verion (which I adore) and there was a TV Series.
There were also games, but only two of those have any resemblance to the plot of the book.
So yeah, Dune was considered impossible to transfer to any other medium.
Sadly, I still have to agree.

I think everybody (and their dogs) know what /Dune/ is about but:
/Dune/ is a story of distant future, where all powerful houses rule the known universe.
The technological progress was halted thousands of years ago, after a thinking machines raged a war against humanity.
After their defeat it was forbidden to create such machines.
Arrakis (aka Dune) is a sand planet, the only known source of /Spice/ - a narcotic allowing humans to traverse time, and therefore spaceflight.
Spaceships are operated by mutated humans, who after exposure to Spice can see into the future and steer the ships.
Now, the Emperor orders the control of the planet to be shifted to th House of Atreides.
The previous stewards, House of Harkonen will not make it any easier.

Ignoring the mutants, this sounds like a run-of-the-mill SF series.
But /Dune/ It is also story of social engineering spanning millennia, of false prophets, and a million other crazy things.
The first book keeps it /almost/ sane, but there is a significant dictionary attached, and the first time reader will need to use it extensively.
Later the saga goes completely off the rails.
We'll get back to this.

Note, that /Frank Herbert/ wrote only the first few books.
After his death, his son - /Brian Herbet/ took over and wrote dozens of other ones.
The quality differs significantly, as I've been told.
I've read the /Houses/ trilogy, and it was quite nice.

Now that we've got the introduction out of the way, let's go to the movie.
Let me start with saying that I adore it.
It's not what I'd want (as the young vloggers say "hear me out face value it's as close to perfect SF movie as they go.

/Dune: Part 1/ is directed by Denis Vileneuve, who previously directed some of the greatest SF movies of this century - /Arrival/ and /Blade Runner 2049/.
His other movies are also amazing (I can't recommend /Enemy/ enough), so I was pretty stoked when it was announced that he will direct /Dune/.
I am no longer a movie buff[fn:critic], but he may very well be my favorite living director.

Technically, I can not find any fault with the movie.
The story makes sense (I'll return to Lynch in a second), which by itself is an achievement.
The acting is superb, and works as a reminder that TV series are still not on the level of the greatest movies.
The special effects are astounding[fn:ornitopter].
The music is, for the most part, at least great.
I hated the main theme with screaming lady.
Music is supposed to work with the movie, not to hide it with loud noises!
But that's the only thing I disliked.


#+attr_shortcode: :file dune-part1-001.webp
#+attr_shortcode: :class centered
#+begin_image
Jessicas portrayal is amazing.
#+end_image

#+attr_shortcode: :file dune-part1-002.webp
#+attr_shortcode: :class centered
#+begin_image
ALL costumes are amazing
#+end_image

#+attr_shortcode: :file dune-part1-003.webp
#+attr_shortcode: :class centered
#+begin_image
CGI is amazing.
The movie looks amazing.
#+end_image

#+attr_shortcode: :file dune-part1-004.webp
#+attr_shortcode: :class centered
#+begin_image
Have mentioned how amazing this movie looks?
#+end_image

I loved the tempo of this movie, as I never enjoyed action-packed shoot fests of the /other franchise dominating cinema for decades/.
Everything is slow - the actors speak slowly, the scene have time to breath, the camera is moving on a low gear.
Even things fall down slowly!
This adds an amazing dream-like feeling to most scenes.
Sometimes I felt like I'm watching a /Tarkovsky/ movie and not a big budget Hollywood blockbuster.

And this the greatest and worst thing here.
It's meditative.
You feel like yoy are in a trance.
You fully buy accept you see here.

But the world of Dune is weird.
It is full of things that make you go "huh?".
It has mutants who traverse time, but it also got mutants who are computers.
There are reanimated corpses, living furniture, hollow planets, vision quests.
Denis omitted everything that was not essential to the plot, and what he left, he grounded in reality by omitting the /wtf/.
There are not even the crazy names!
Some strange things he left, but they are shown without explanation.
It's just there, without any context.
But, to be fair - context would only add confusion.

But this is where /Lynchs/ version shines.
It makes little sense, it is rushed - sure.
But it conveys how twisted the world is.
It's not a trace, it's a full on narcotic trip straight out of some hippie story.

And this is why I don't think that this movie is a /great/ adaptation of Dune.
It is a /great/ movie on its own.
It perfectly adapts the adaptable and pretends that there is nothing else.
It makes /Dune: Part 1/ the hit that it is, and it allowed us to get /Part 2/.
But since making this move appeal to mass audience is not my problem, I'd like to see the full picture.

It'd also like to see the world less cold.
The architecture is devoid of heart, it's brutalistic.
It looks amazing (I think I mentioned that), but the crazy colors and abstract layouts we see in Lynch version is something else.
It's a Vileneuve style.
It looks exactly like his previous movies - it's controlled, clean, /cold/.
As much as I loved it in his other works, I'm not sure if it fits the degenerate houses we meet.

But that's just me.
As it stands, this is a groundbreaking movie which makes me want more.
Not only more of /Dune/ but more of serious, intelligent SciFi movies.
We had those and may get more!

It's better in any conceivable way compared to all previous attempts at adapting the source material, and I think all my nitpicks are kina moot.
It fits 2024 esthetic and it's crazy intelligent.

Highest recommendation from me.
4.75/4

And, hey!
Sardukars no longer look like welders!

[fn:witcher] Right after finishing the Witcher saga.
[fn:critic] not to brag, but I was a semiprofessional film critic during college years.
I had a press pass and all!
[fn:ornitopter] Ornititopthers look just like in the /Dune/ game!
This strangely works with how believable everything is.
All flying ships have this strange physics, which I have hard time explaining.
They are not like you X-Wings, but they fit the world.


** DONE Dune: Part Two (2024)
CLOSED: [2024-04-16 Tue 16:44]
:PROPERTIES:
:EXPORT_FILE_NAME: part-two-2024
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :abstract My review of an adaptation of the second part of an amazing book
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :aliases '(/brain-rot/dune/part-two-2024 brain-rot/american-scifi/dune/part-two-2024/)
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :rating 4.75
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :image reviews/covers/dune2.jpg
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :related '("Dune movies")
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :relatedName "Dune: Part Two (2024)"
:END:

It's here, it's finally here.
/Dune/ joins the  very small club of SciFi books with amazing adaptations.
When /Part One/ hit the screens, people were amazed that it was so good.
Now, with /Part Two/, we hear that it's even better than the first one!

But I was very skeptical.
The trailers seemed to indicate a train wreck.
They were full of explosions, angry screaming guys and the taglines about war.
Dune was never /about/ war.
War was in there, but it was never the point.
But cinema, SciFi especially, loves special effects, and big-booms are amongst the most used.
I dislike a lot of SciFi movies from the USA, as the (so called) spectacle is all there is[fn:iron].

But what the hell, I chose an IMAX experience nevertheless.
The first /Dune/ was breathtaking, so why not?

And then the movie started, and my worries were replaced with anger.
What the hell is this?
Soldier banter?
Puppy-eyes?
Joking?
It's a SciFi war movie.
There are preparing for the /specle/
/Dirty Fremen Dozen/!
/Independence Day of Arrakis/!

But, just as the action moved to Giedi Prime, the movie completely transformed.
What was mediocre, became absolutely marvelous!

Now, after seeing and rethinking the movie, it makes sense.
It's a not /sequel/ to /Dune/, but /part two/.
It doesn't start in act 1, as that was in the last movie.
The first chunk of this movie is a cool-down after the ending in of /Part One/.
Both /Dune/ movies should be treated as one long movie.
Much more than Kill Bill, as we have no clear /ending/ between the two.
/Part One/ ends with finishing of the Harkonen attack plot, which only ignites events of this movie.
And looking at it as one one big movie, I have to say: wow!

They made some changes to Herbert's text, but I like them.
Fremen are no longer a singular force that Paul uses.
The movie version of them is divided, having different cultures.
Maybe it's too black and white, but it's a nice change.

Similarly, Chani become a multidimensional character.
And while yes, Jessicas portrayal makes Chanis character shine much less, it's still a great change.
But the way Rebecca Ferguson plays Jessica is nothing short of wonder.
She starts scared, but loyal to both, Paul and Bene Gesserit.
After becoming the reverent mother however she becomes menacing.
With this comes another change - Alia is not born here.
She is talking with her mother telepathically, but at the end of the movie she is still to be born[fn:prochoice].
That's a dangerous change, but it works perfectly because the tone Jessica uses when talking with her - calm, silent, almost a whisper, yet still menacing.
I can not stress it enough - Rebecca is perfect here.

But the biggest change is the introduction of scenes from /Dune Messiah/.
You see, /Dune/ was often seen as a savior story.
Paul was to be the good guy, who comes and saves the day.
This is as far from what Frank Herbert envisioned as possible, so he wrote a short sequel book.
This movie vision introduces plot points and scenes taken directly from that book, so the meaning behing the story is much more obvious.
I think it's a good change, as we already see folks arguing against /Dune/ due to this misconception.
This way it defends itself.

#+attr_shortcode: :file dune-part2-001.jpg
#+attr_shortcode: :class centered
#+begin_image
Arrakis 90210
#+end_image

#+attr_shortcode: :file dune-part2-002.jpg
#+attr_shortcode: :class centered
#+begin_image
Jessica in all of her glory
#+end_image

Luckily, this movie is much weirder than /Part One/.
While last time Dennis omitted a lot, here he shows more /things/[fn:chairdog], but still there is no context.
We see the finger of the Baron, but we never learn what actually is there.
It comes as an Easter Egg for old time fans, which is nice as it takes nothing from the story.
But then there is Geidi Prime which is monochromatic, empty and cold - in the scariest way.
I'd love to see more of this side the world, but we got it spot on.
And Fayd?
Where Lynch gave us half-naked Sting, Austin Butler is a psychopath.
This is the Beast we all deserve!
This is the stuff nightmares are made of.

I am happy to report that this is not a war movie.
It's /Dune/ full of plots within plots, mysticism and (lastly) war.

Unfortunately, once again I am not happy with the music.
While most of the tracks are good (or great), the main theme is even worse than last time.
It's now layered over a lot more noise, making it this much more annoying.
It decreased my enjoyment of many of the greatest scenes.
Luckily, there is also new theme so this screaming woman may not follow us into the third movie. 

So, /Dune Part II/ is an excellent movie, but /Dune/ the complete story is a marvel.
It's the greatest thing I've seen in American SciFi in a very long time.
It's what it should be.
While not flawless, it's as close to what I'd imagine as a /perfect/ /Dune/ as it comes.
The movie gets a 4.75 from me (same as the first one), but looking at both /Dunes/ as a single movie?
Then it goes to a 5.
I don't think we will get anywhere close to this level of quality anytime soon.
What /Baldurs Gate III/ made for cRPG, /Dune/ makes to /SciFi cinema/.

And, I love that Christofer Walken is once again in the Dune universe.
He warned us about the Worm years ago.

#+attr_shortcode: :file  dune-part2-003.webp"
#+attr_shortcode: :class centered
Fayd in all of his glory
#+end_image

[fn:iron] I still remember how bored I was when I watched /Iron Man 3/.
The last decade of the movie runtime was filled with a non-stop battle.
The movie stopped and all was left was CGI.
[fn:chairdog] No chairdogs though
[fn:prochoice] Kinda fitting.
/Arrival/ had a very similar take on what a human is.


** DONE Run Lola Run (1998)
CLOSED: [2024-06-29 Sat 22:26]
:PROPERTIES:
:EXPORT_FILE_NAME: run-lola-run-1998
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :abstract A short review of the German thriller
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :image reviews/covers/run-lola-run.jpg
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :rating 3.75
:END:

Sometimes you find SciFi in the worst places, like Disney.
Sometimes you find it in a strange German techno thriller.

The story of /Run Lola Run/ is one of the simplest I've ever witnessed:
Lola's boyfriend, Manni, screwed delivery of 100000 Detche Marks (close to 83k Eur in 2024) and now his boss is going to kill him within 20 minutes.
It is up to Lola to get the money, and then run as fast as she can to him - before he does anything stupid.

This does not sound /scifi/ but there is one element that convinces me: butterfly effect.
The one from the mediocre Ashton Kutcher movie and a great movie from Kieslowski.
We rarely speak of it today, but a few years ago it was quite popular.
In /Run Lola Run/ we see different outcomes depending on a very slight changes.
This, and Lola's /magical scream/ are the only fantastical elements here.
Enough for me!

The story is serviceable - it's not bad, but it's also not memorable.

What is memorable is how the movie is made.

#+attr_shortcode: :file run-lola-run-1.jpg
#+attr_shortcode: :alt Red haied girl running on the left. A blurry building in the background
#+attr_shortcode: :source https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/104-lola-rennt/images/backdrops
#+attr_shortcode: :class centered
#+begin_image
There are quite a few running scenes here
#+end_image

There was this short period of time, when a few ultra-energetic movies were made.
Think Pi, or Human Traffic.
They seem more like something you would see on MTV than a full length movie.
Lola runs, some powerfully techno music plays /loudly/ and that's basically it.
We've got some breaks with dialogue, but most of the movie is pure, raw energy.
Think /Mad Max/ has aggressive montage?
Check again.

#+attr_shortcode: :file run-lola-run-2.jpg
#+attr_shortcode: :alt Two people poiting pistols: red haired girl and blond male
#+attr_shortcode: :source https://www.justwatch.com/ca/movie/run-lola-run
#+attr_shortcode: :class centered
#+begin_image
Unmistakable 90s
#+end_image

/Run Lola Run/ is a midbudget (low?) thriller with SciFi elements which is very much a forgotten genre.
It's also very, deeply /european/, which I love[fn:pl].
It's an enjoyable, non-insulting ride.
But it's a not lost classic.

[fn:pl]
Berlin, where action takes place, is so clean here.
I say that as a Pole.
Our cities back then were far from being nice to look at.
It improved though!


** DONE Mars Express (2023)
CLOSED: [2024-07-29 Mon 21:54]
:PROPERTIES:
:EXPORT_FILE_NAME: mars-express-2023
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :abstract My review
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :image reviews/covers/mars-express.jpg
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :rating 4.75
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :alias '(brain-rot/european-scifi/mars-express-2023/)
:END:

On the surface, /Mars Express/ is a detective story about a female detective and her robotic partner.
We've seen a lot of those, but they were mostly terrible.
/Mars Express/, on the other hand, is one of the greatest SciFi movies I've seen.

It is often compared to /Blade Runner/ and /Ghost in the Shell/.
And while yes, those are the two big titles /ME/ takes from - there is so much more here to marvel.

I don't want to spoil the story, but let me tell you it's great.
This /could have been/ another limited run TV series - but luckily, it is not.
We've got 88 minutes of great SciFi detective work which has already gone to history as a modern classic.
Enough said that it smart, makes sense and it's worth to experience without spoilers.

However, the biggest problem with /Mars Express/ is its older peers.
This film takes from numerous other movies - not only the /big 2/, but also 2001, /Akira/, /Armitage III/, and even some Cronenberg.
All of this works great - never have I felt that anything is a pointless reference[fn:marvel].
The director and writer duo - Laurent Sarfati and Jérémie Périn - blend all those ideas perfectly, each borrowed /thing/ is their own in the context of this film.
But it also creates a lot of unexpected foreshadowing.
Now, I did not expect the ending - the film had a chance to end 3 times before the credits rolled.
There were moments where authors could call it a day and still have a great film.
But the story continues, becoming better and better each time.
As a whole, I left very much surprised.
Yet, a lot of twist and turns came as "hey, I've seen that already".
Sometimes in better form, most often in worse.
However, if you are the kind of person who tries to guess what's going to happen[fn:flow], you may leave unchallenged.

But you will still marvel at the animation.
The French were always the champions of European animation, and this is another proof.
/Mars Express/ is breathtaking.
It looks 2D, and even when the CGI rears its ugly face, it's just for a brief moment.
We're seeing clear inspiration from /Production IG/, which is the best kind of inspiration.
Anime no longer looks as good as it looked when /Mamoru Oshii/ ruled the scene, and /Mars Express/ fill a huge void in my heart.

Not only because the animation is spot on, but also because we rarely see such a vivid SciFi world.
It's often just a steel wall here and there, a bit massive computer, maybe.
But /Mars Express/ fills the world with believable nuances - the "Police" tape is holographic, the roads react in a cool way to accidents, and even the gadgets are cool.
I could not smile wide enough to show how much I loved it.
They could have just made the bare minimum (like it often is), but they went the extra mile.
As it stands, /Mars Express/ is one of the greatest SciFi worlds I can remember.

#+attr_shortcode: :file mars-express-1.jpg
#+attr_shortcode: :alt On the left a woman is sitting on a table. Another woman is standing above her.
#+attr_shortcode: :class centered
#+begin_image
It's not anime, but it's breathtaking
#+end_image

This is the film to see.
I know there is another blockbuster in the cinema you may want to watch, but please - give /Mars Express/ a chance.
It's not a modern film, it's not an action film (even if the action is 10/10).
It's a smart story, like we used to experience 20 years ago.
They don't make movies like this very often, and we are lucky to have it.



[fn:marvel] Hello Marvel
[fn:flow] I never understood that.
When I watch a film, I try to go into a meditative state.
I try not to think of the story as a jigsaw, but as an experience.


** DONE Hackers (1995)
CLOSED: [2024-11-17 Sun 20:26]
:PROPERTIES:
:EXPORT_FILE_NAME: hacker-1995
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :abstract My review of the movie Hackers
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :image reviews/covers/hackers.jpg
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :rating 4
:END:

There are movies which I absolutely despised when I first saw them.
They were loud, obnoxious, made little sense.
Some of them, with passing time, grew on me.

Hackers is a 1995 movie about, well, hackers.
We start with Dade, an 11 year old geek, being arrested for hacking and crashing over 1,5k computer systems.
He is sentenced to the worst imaginable sentence - an judge imposed mandated ban on using computer system till he reaches 18 years of age.
Somehow we don't care what happened during those years, as we jump 7 years in the future (which seem to be undefined "now" of 1990s).
Dade is hacking once again, and as a result he joins a group of hackers and becomes part of an conspiracy.

Say what you will, /Hackers/ takes the hacker ethos pretty seriously and this is what escaped my teenage understanding.
All of the main characters (who are using simply amazing handles, like Zero Cool or Cereal Killer) break into system for the fun of it.
They are prosecuted by the government and media portrays them as dangerous individuals, but they are anything but maleficent.

Now, there is a plot where the entire group is messing with an FBI agent by hacking IT systems and modifying data related to him.
That's the closest where they come to having bad intentions, but it's presented as a cool game.
They don't want to destroy him, just to mess with him.

The hacking scenes make close to zero sense - but that's Hollywood for you.
We haven't seen serious attempt at showing it before /Mr Robot/.
Therefore, we can see past it.

The authors did made some research.
In one scene, Dade is tested from hacker knowledge.
A series of famous (and existing!) books is presented to him, and he names them with cure (also real!) nicknames like "Orange Book".


#+attr_shortcode: :file hackers-1.webp
#+attr_shortcode: :alt Group of youg man sitting at a table, covered in coloroful ligting. They are talking and holding and orange book.
#+attr_shortcode: :class centered
#+attr_shortcode: :source https://medium.com/@atroche/my-favourite-visuals-in-hackers-1995-79b3292d7475
#+begin_image
Orange book in person
#+end_image

But we can't see past the fashion.
I have no idea /how/ anyone came with what we see here, but it's simply glorious.
Just look!
I refuse to believe, that this was not the official fashion of New York in the 90s.

Also, the quotes.
If there is a infinitely quotable movie, it is Hackers.
/Hack the Planet/ or /"There is no right and wrong. There's only fun and boring/ should be recognized by anyone working in IT.
I may be wrong, but I think there are questions about /Hackers/ on CompTIA Security+ 

What the movies makes in its heart, it lacks in brains.
The main villain is trying to get rich and put the blame on our hackers.
The plan makes very little sense, as the /twist/ (which I will not reveal) would be very quickly discovered. 
This removes some of the tension, as it's not stopping the evil guy, but about who will go jail.

#+attr_shortcode: :file hackers-2.webp
#+attr_shortcode: :alt An white man is sitting in the center, back to us. In front of him is a huge screen with blue city-scape is in front of him.
#+attr_shortcode: :class centered
#+attr_shortcode: :source https://medium.com/@atroche/my-favourite-visuals-in-hackers-1995-79b3292d7475
#+begin_image
A typical data center
#+end_image

The antagonist character is also weak.
He has the most over the top quotes and reactions - even if he has the only hacker-worthy keyboard to be seen here.
The acting is great, as no one busted out laughing, but no points here.

/Hackers/ is a fun little movie, with a huge soul.
It's dumb, loud and over-stylized.
By any means I would not call it "good".
But it's also one the few movies which show the soul of a hacker.
I think everyone should see it at least once.
It's not longer a bad thriller, it's a now a fun and cool cult movie.

#+begin_quote
You wage wars, murder, cheat, lie to us and try to make us believe it's for our own good, yet we're the criminals. Yes, I am a criminal. My crime is that of curiosity.
#+end_quote


* TV Series  [0/0]                                                 :@reviews:
:PROPERTIES:
:EXPORT_HUGO_SECTION: reviews/tv
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :reviewSection '("TV series")
:EXPORT_HUGO_PAIRED_SHORTCODES: image
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :image_dir "reviews/screenshots" :image_max_width 765
:End:

** TV series reviews
:PROPERTIES:
:EXPORT_FILE_NAME: _index
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :abstract Reviews of movies
:END:


** DONE Severance (Season 1)
CLOSED: [2024-04-24 Wed 22:26]
:PROPERTIES:
:EXPORT_FILE_NAME: severance-s1
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :abstract Review of the SciFi thriller
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :aliases '(/brain-rot/tv/severance-season1/ brain-rot/american-scifi/severance/season1/)
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :image reviews/covers/severance-s1.jpg
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :rating 4.0
:END:

Oh how I love SciFi without action scenes!
Sevarance is a story based on a great premise: an all powerful company is able to sever a person into two.
One gets to live outside the company clock; the other only in the office.
Both share the same body, but are completely different and have their memories separated.

Apple tried to position itself in a small niche of the wider streaming service pool.
When Netflix and others produce one mediocre show after another, Apple is much slower and (seems to) focus on quality.
It allows itself riskier productions.

/Severance/ plays very much like an independent movie.
It's minimal in presentation, I would even call it /cold/ as everything serves a goal.
Most of the show happens either in a soulless office building, or in a few semi-empty locations.
Somehow, for the first few episodes I had strong reminiscence of Shane Carruth's works.
Those have close to nothing in common with /Severance/, but the feeling was there.
And I love Curroths's works!

The plot develops slowly and in an interesting way, everything points towards a great SciFi.
I was heavily invested in the plot, wanting to know what was hidden underneath.

Unfortunately, it's a typical modern TV series.
Its runtime is expanded thin, we've got romance and unnecessary threads.
Remember when they made three huge movies out of Hobbit?
Yeah, it's the same here.
What would have been an /amazing/ movie is a /good/ TV show.

It's stretched /almost/ into a self-parody.
They tried to have a mass appeal and with it, they lessen the story significantly.
I think they had material for 2 hours movie, maybe a miniseries.
But for multiple seasons?
I sure hope to be wrong, but it seems that it will the same as it was with /Westworld/.
Great start, but it's all downhill from here.

The biggest offender here is the last episode which serves only the second season.
Such high-addrenaline scene had no place in /this/ story.
But hey, let's make people remember about that season 2 that we will make someday.

For me /Severance/ is a perfect example of current TV drama state.
You can clearly see that it was made with passion, it could have been great.
But screw that, let's have it for four years.
Fill her up, please.

It's very good as a TV show nevertheless.


* Anime and manga  [5/7]                                           :@reviews:
:PROPERTIES:
:EXPORT_HUGO_SECTION: reviews/anime_manga
:EXPORT_HUGO_PAIRED_SHORTCODES: image
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :image_dir "reviews/screenshots" :image_max_width 765
:End:

** Anime and manga reviews
:PROPERTIES:
:EXPORT_FILE_NAME: _index
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :abstract Reviews of amime and manga
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :reviewSection '("Anime movies" "Anime TV series" "Anime OAV series")
:END:

*** Anime and manga reviews

I used to be a full-on weaboo, but kinda lost interest.
Manga and anime are too mainstream for my taste.

** DONE Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero (2022)
CLOSED: [2024-05-08 Wed 23:20]
:PROPERTIES:
:EXPORT_FILE_NAME: dragon-ball-super-super-hero-2022
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :rating 1.25
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :reviewSection '("Anime movies")
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :abstract My mirco reviview of the 2022 Dragon Ball movie
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :image reviews/covers/db-superhero.jpg
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :aliases '(/brain-rot/anime/dragon-ball/dragon-ball-super-super-hero-2022/)
:END:


Even though I was raised on /Dragon Ball/ and I adore it up to this day, /Super/ was a huge letdown.
It played as a washed-out version of /Z/ - there was no tension, the new characters were bland, and it was simply boring.
The fact the only not-terrible part of the series was one huge tournament didn't help.
Just give me an adventure!

I also can not say I enjoyed Dragon Ball movies.
There are a few enjoyable, but most of the time they are either bad or incredibly bad.
They try to condense interesting story lines into a few dozen minutes, failing miserably.
Say what you will about pacing, but Toriyama sure knew how to build tension over a hundred episode fight.

And therefore we are here, the /Super Hero/ movie.
It's the last Toryiama's Dragon Ball.
I expected nothing and still left disappointed.

The story exists, which is nice.
We're after the last /Broly/ movie.
Red Ribbon army still exists, and they want to take over the world again.
Goku and Vegeta are training, so they won't help.
It's all up to Picollo, Androids and the young Sayians to save the day.

Who is the main enemy this time?
A new Cell.
Yes, Red Ribbon's latest acquaintance happens to be a genius capable of creating a better Cell, Cell Max.
And this is where the good things about this movie end.

Remember Cell's saga?
It was long, it was interesting.
It gave us Android 18.
It was full of development, horror and surprises.
None of this is present here.
The new Cell looks worse than the original, doesn't have any forms nor any spoken lines.

Moreover, the animation is terrible.
Yes, CGI looks great when still, but when we start to see any fight it becomes unwatchable.
It's the kind of CGI that is not bad per-se, but still obvious.
It's clear that what we're seeing here is made by a soulless computer.
They don't even try to hide it with constant camera shifts.
CGI can look great, but here it looks lazy.

So, wasted Cell and bad animation.
Do we get anything instead?
We do - a lot of fan service.
We meet people from all other series and hear about even more.
We see return of figting Gohan and a few thinks we've been waiting for since the 90s.
It's fitting, as we're decades into Dragon Ball.
The problem is that they are just there and if they weren't, there would be difference.
Those cute scenes try to mask absence of anything new and interesting.

Unfortunately, we also see Shenron.
In the old series, every time he was summoned, it was a spectacle and a memorable moment.
With each occurrence however the characters stop treating him as a force, but more of a goof ball.
Yes, the first wish we see him fulfilling was creation of pantyhose, but it was part of the plot.
Here?
Here Bulma uses him for butt-lift and wrinkle removal, as he became useless.

And this sadly summarizes all modern Dragon Ball.
It's a low effort, forced return of an old legend.
It should stay were it was.
And this movie is one of the worst parts of /Super/.
It's not *as* bad as Gohan's[fn:whistle] whistle-dance, but the fact that it's not the worst of DB doesn't save it from being a insulting goodbye to the Dragon Ball world.

[fn:whistle] I've been told that /Dragon Ball Z Movie 4/ has its share of fans, but I've got no idea how.


** DONE Attack on Titan (2013-2023)
CLOSED: [2024-06-09 Sun 17:10]
:PROPERTIES:
:EXPORT_FILE_NAME: attack_on_titan_anime
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :abstract My review of the anime
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :rating 3.5
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :image reviews/covers/attack-on-titan.jpg
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :reviewSection '("Anime TV series")
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :aliases '(/brain-rot/anime/attack_on_titan_anime/)
:END:


/Attack on Titan/ may very well be the defining anime of this decade.
It started as a huge hit, then it faded into obscurity, just to return with a huge bang and end with huge disappointment.

The premise is quite interesting:
pre-industrial age; humanity is close to extension, locked behind gigantic walls.
Outside lives the biggest threat man has ever faced - Titans.
Race of gigantic, humanoid beasts whose only purpose in life is to attack and devour humans.
We meet our main heroes - Eren, Mikasa, and Armin, just before the Titans breach one of the walls.

The following 4 seasons differ in quality.

The first one is interesting, but suffers from terrible narration where we are constantly interrupted by internal monologues.
We either learn what we already know, or random ideas are thrown at us.
The second one has no idea what it wants to be, and this is where viewership dropped sharply.
Then came the third one.
It seems to  continue to downward trend from s2, but halfway through everything changes.
Without spoiling anything, /AoT/ stops being dumb fun and seems to become an intelligent commentary on human condition.
Before that, I was watching the series because I had nothing better to do.
After /this/ scene I instantly became invested and shocked.
Then the fourth came out, developing on what made the third great.
I was close to calling this a great series, but unfortunately it's all thrown out the window with the 2.5 hours long finale, which is almost entirerly one, long fight.
So much potential, such great buildup.
All wasted in the name of a boring action scene.
I don't remember when was the last time I felt so betrayed.

The great part of /AoT/ takes a lot from history and great fiction like Dune.
We're seeing great idea one after another.
The story is full of interesting twists.
By the end, it's all meaningless.

Story-wise, the only two redeeming qualities of this series are personal journeys of Eren and Gabi (introduced in S4).
Only their stories interest me.
Not that there is anything bad about the rest of the characters, they are ok[fn:armin].
Run-of-the-mill anime characters.

Yes, the series looks and sound pretty.
It's full of nicely animated action scenes.
But I can't stop comparing it to /Evangelion/.

Both series start cool, but are not memorable.
Then they develop into marvels, pure greatest.
But /NGE/ never stopped being great.
After it gained actual meat, it developed it culminating in the greatest movie I've ever experienced.
Full of story, drama, meaning, and emotions.

/AoT/ ends in /Iron Man 3/ - a prolonged, boring fight scene.

And while the scenes shown during end credits return the series on its track, it changes nothing.
They nicely connect and develop the great ideas behind the /golden era of AoT/, but they should not be the one good part!
The ending should be it, as the way it happened is I wasted 2.5 hours filled with boredom.

/AoT/ could have been great, but it is not.
It's an ok action series with huge unresolved ambitions.
If it was just a dumb action show, then ok - I would have some fun, then forget it.
It would fail in comparison of other shows we see now, like Jujtsu Kaisen, but it would be very much ok.
Unfortunately with added ambition, it ends in a huge disappointment.

It was very close, everything was going great.
And then it hits a wall.

[fn:armin] Except of Armin who single handely ruins the first few seasons.
He is the character who is able to calculate probability to 4 decimal places.
I see this kind of characters all around modern anime, and every time I have to roll my eyes.
Remember how /Big Bang Theory/ was often describes at how "dumb people think smart people are"?
Yeah, that's Armin.
The same kind of bullshit ruined shows like Kaji or Code Geass for me.

** DONE Mobile Police Patlabor: The Early Days (1989)
CLOSED: [2024-05-06 Mon 22:38]
:PROPERTIES:
:EXPORT_FILE_NAME: mobile-police-patlabor-the-early-days
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :abstract My review of the OAV
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :rating 3.75
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :image reviews/covers/patlabor-early-days.jpg
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :reviewSection '("Anime OAV series")
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :related '("Patlabor movie timeline")
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :relatedName "Early Days OAV"
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :aliases '(/brain-rot/anime/patlabor/mobile-police-patlabor-the-early-days/)
:END:

/Mobile Police Patlabor/ is a 7 episodes long OAV series which serves as an introduction to the more widely known movies.
The subtitle (/The Early Days/) says it all, as it depicts the humble beginnings of Special Vehicles Unit 2 (SV2), which we will follow in the later installments.
Think: the first few episodes of /The Wire/.
We see how they are preparing their base of operation, how they receive their Labors, and so on.
And that's pretty much all that's here.
No grand ideas (like in /Movie Two/), not even an attempt at those.
All we see is how the Unit starts and their first few cases.

It's only this, but it never sets up itself to be anything more.
Not everything needs to be full of difficult questions and even harder answers.
/Early Days/ on its own is cool if you're deeply into Mecha, but I am not.
For me, this OAV is /only/ an addition to the Movies.

But it changed how I look at the first movie.
I was not sure what it actually was all about.
Was it pro-technology?
Was it a warning?
Well, the opening here is a love song sung by one of the pilots towards her Patlabor (named Alfons).
Yep, it seems Patlabor was techno-fetishist all along.
Nothing here prepares us for /Movie 2/, but it makes the first movie better.

The seven episodes here are, in order:
- the start of SV2, and we get to know Noa (who is one of the main characters in /Movie 1/),
- mission to protect the mayor,
- underwater monster story (sic!),
- hostage situation,
- ghost story (sic! again) while the unit is on vacation (with mandatory hot spring scenes),
- the plot of second movie, but without the smart parts,
- a long chase scene.

It's all light-hearted and more often than not a bit goofy.

Technically, this is a very pretty anime,
The movies follow the style we see here, with bigger budgets though.
But what we see here is a great, old-school animation.
OAVs tend to look better than TV series, and this one is no exception.

My gripes with the OAV  are more with my expectations than with the /Early Days/ themselves.
It fulfills its aspiration to be a nice, short series.
Nothing here even points towards bigger ambitions.
But I saw it after /Palabor 2: Movie/ which was intelligent up to a fault.
And even though I deeply enjoyed every minute, it's not what I came for.

So, if you liked /Movie 1/ and want more - sure, this series gets my thumbs up (and therefore rating).
But if the /Movie 2/ floored you but left hungry, don't expect this series to come anywhere that level of ambition nor quality.

#+attr_shortcode: :file patlabor-early-days-1.jpg
#+attr_shortcode: :class centered
#+begin_image
We've got regular mecha fights!
#+end_image

** DONE Patlabor: The Movie (1989)
CLOSED: [2024-04-11 Thu 21:01]
:PROPERTIES:
:EXPORT_FILE_NAME: patlabor-the-movie
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :abstract The proto-GITS is still very nice!
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :aliases '(/blog/patlabor-the-movie //brain-rot/patlabor/patlabor-the-movie /brain-rot/anime/patlabor-the-movie/)
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :rating 3.75
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :image reviews/covers/patlabor-1-movie.jpg
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :related '("Patlabor movie timeline")
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :relatedName "The Movie"
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :reviewSection '("Anime movies")
:END:

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 thiis 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.

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.

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 3.75/5

#+attr_shortcode: :file patlabor-movie-1-0001.jpg
#+attr_shortcode: :class centered
#+begin_image
Sucide is painless...
#+end_image

#+attr_shortcode: :file patlabor-movie-1-0002.jpg
#+attr_shortcode: :class centered
#+begin_image
...It brings on many changes
#+end_image

#+attr_shortcode: :file patlabor-movie-1-0003.jpg
#+attr_shortcode: :class centered
#+begin_image
For a mecha anime, we've got a lot of people talking in different rooms
#+end_image

#+attr_shortcode: :file patlabor-movie-1-0004.jpg
#+attr_shortcode: :class centered
#+begin_image
Have I mentioned thast this movie looks stunning?
#+end_image

#+attr_shortcode: :file patlabor-movie-1-0005.jpg
#+attr_shortcode: :class centered
#+begin_image
S-T-U-N-N-I-N-G
#+end_image

#+attr_shortcode: :file patlabor-movie-1-0006.jpg
#+attr_shortcode: :class centered
#+begin_image
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?
#+end_image

#+attr_shortcode: :file patlabor-movie-1-0008.jpg
#+attr_shortcode: :class centered
#+begin_image
One of many GITS-style scenes.
#+end_image

** DONE Patlabor 2: The Movie (1993)
CLOSED: [2024-04-26 Fri 22:08]
:PROPERTIES:
:EXPORT_FILE_NAME: patlabor-2-the-movie
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :abstract My review of a masterpiece
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :rating 5
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :image reviews/covers/patlabor-2-movie.jpg
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :related '("Patlabor movie timeline")
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :relatedName "2: Movie"
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :aliases '(/brain-rot/anime/patlabor/patlabor-2-the-movie/)
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :reviewSection '("Anime movies")
:END:

Ok, this one is a difficult movie to write about.
For a /gajin/ it may come as a visually beautiful, but very convoluted movie.
But inside, it's deeply rooted in Japan's history and one needs to understand a few facts before truly appreciating it.
So, before talking about the movie, allow me to take a brief jump into history territory.

After loosing World War II, Japan was under the USA's occupation.
Their post-war constitution ha a very important "Article 9" under which Japan was allowed to have defense military force, but it was to be never deployed on foreign soil.
After few changes, the defense force became Japanese Self-Defense Force, the /JSDF/.
Decades pass and the population kind of forgot about the WWII.
Mind you, Nagasaki and Hiroshima lives in their mindset, but war becomes something that was in the past.
In June 1992, the National Diet passed a UN Peacekeeping Cooperation Law which permitted the JSDF to participate in UN medicalonal Diet passed a UN Peacekeeping Cooperation Law which permitted the JSDF to participate in UN medical, refugee repatriation, logistical support, infrastructural reconstruction, election-monitoring, and policing operations under strictly limited conditions[fn:wiki].

Amongst part of Japanese population it was seen as a dangerous precedence.
JSDF was, in fact, deployed on foreign soil.
Both creators of /Patlbor/, Mamoru Oshii and Kazunori Itō were vocal opponents of this decision.
/Patlabor 2: The Movie/ should be seen as their manifesto.

So, knowing this I have to say: /Patlabor 2: The Movie/ is amongst the greatest movies I've ever seen.
I always say that for me, SciFi for SciFi sake is boring; it can be elevated by using the setting as a mean to tell a human story.
What's more, I like SciFi movies that are not action-fests.
And for both of those measures /Patlabor 2: The Movie/ *excels* all expectations.

It is also a huge step-up from /Patlabor: The Movie/.
While that one had huge potential, but came out lacking in both, substance and form, the /2/ is a gigantic step.
There were only 4 years between release dates, but I am floored.

Ok, back to the movie itself.
It's 2002, 3 years after the events of /Patlabor: The Movie/.
Yokohama Bay Bridge is destroyed by a missile shot from a variation of F-16 Fighter.
JASDF (Japan Air Self-Defense Force) is blamed for the attack, and a result JSDF is ready to deploy forces all over Tokyo.
Japan is close to martial law.

#+attr_shortcode: :file patlabor-2-movie-0001.jpg
#+attr_shortcode: :class centered
#+begin_image
Don't get used to the old main characters.
They are barerly here.
#+end_image

#+attr_shortcode: :file patlabor-2-movie-0002.jpg
#+attr_shortcode: :class centered
#+begin_image
Even the trickiest of perspectives are spot on.
#+end_image

#+attr_shortcode: :file patlabor-2-movie-0003.jpg
#+attr_shortcode: :class centered
#+begin_image
Not much for mecha fans, but quite a lot for aviation fans.
#+end_image

One thing to get straight of the way: there's not much of Labors here to be seen.
I think there are more shots of fighters and tanks, than there are of the mechs.
This /not/ a mecha anime even though it is set in a mecha world.
It's also not an action movie, as most of the scenes are two/three people talking.
/P2TM/ requires significant attention, as it's all about those dialogues.
The message is more said than shown and it may be not to your liking.
Anime is mostly known for imaginative fight scenes and fan service.
This not that kind of movie.
It's slow and methodical.

But there are action scenes, and they are glorious.
/PTM/ was looking great; /P2TM/ sets incredible standards that are often unmatched even today.
I found it interesting, that the first portion of the movie uses very small color palette - everything is overblown, like in full sun, or lighted by fluorescent lamp.
People look more like cyborgs than living things.
Then, when authors start conveying their message, it all changes - the palette broadens and characters even get some tam.
Subtle and effective.
The city look incredible, the machines look amazing and characters no longer have perspective problems (like they had in /PTM/).
Overall, the presentation is perfect.
Unfortunately the style here seems mostly abandoned.
It's /distinctly/ Oshii and /Production IG/.
Anime no longer looks like this movie.

The only nitpick I can find when it comes to the visual aspect is that in a few scenes the snow looks bad.
That's all.

#+attr_shortcode: :file patlabor-2-movie-0004.jpg
#+attr_shortcode: :class centered
#+begin_image
This made me feel things.
I'd give a lot for such audio setup.
It even has a great CD transport!
#+end_image

#+attr_shortcode: :file patlabor-2-movie-0005.jpg
#+attr_shortcode: :class centered
#+begin_image
Basset, reporting in.
#+end_image

The music is great.
It's not /Ghost in the Shell/ but Kenji Kawaii is a master of his craft.

The only negative I can find is the main villain.
He is absent from most of his movie and his motivations are hidden until the very last few scenes.
His work is ever-present, but he is not here... which is fitting.
Oshii said that the "evil" character here is himself.
Everything the villain say is what the director thinks.

/Patlabor 2: The Movie/ is a masterpiece.
Oshii is one of the most brilliant directors in history, and this movie is one of his magnum opuses[fn:osh].
It's not only something *every* fan of anime should watch but everyone who enjoys cinematography.
It's smart, beautiful and haunting.
It is also a very strong anti-war manifest.
It dares to put a mirror in front of our faces and /as of this/ type of movie, I fail to find any real flaw.

#+attr_shortcode: :file patlabor-2-movie-0006.jpg
#+attr_shortcode: :class centered
#+begin_image
There's some eye candy here.
#+end_image

#+attr_shortcode: :file patlabor-2-movie-0007.jpg
#+attr_shortcode: :class centered
#+begin_image
It's not there are no mechs here.
They are, in very small doses.
#+end_image

[fn:wiki] Source: [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japan_Self-Defense_Forces#Peacekeeping][Wikipedia]]
[fn:osh] How many directors have achiever greatness on a few occasions?
Oshii certainly did!


** TODO Armitage III (1995)
:PROPERTIES:
:EXPORT_FILE_NAME: armitage-iii-oav
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :abstract My review of the anime
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :rating 3.75
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :image reviews/covers/armitage-iii-oav.png
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :reviewSection '("Anime OAV series")
:END:

There was a time when anime was /the/ place to get cyberpunk-like stories.
Titles like /Akira/ or /Ghost in the Shell/ are still the standard, which which we measure new movies.
In most cases, that's a very disappointing comparison.
Have we peaked in the 90s?

But among those giants, a lot of title dissapeared from our shared consciousness.
What once was known to anyone in the SF and/or anime community, is now completely forgotten.
This is a review of such title.


/Armitage III/ is a 4 part OAV series from 1995.
Damn, that's close to 30 years!
In it, we are transferred to the not-too-distant future.
Mankind has colonized Mars and humanoid robots became a commodity.
Ross Sylibus is a detective from Earth transferred to Mars after an accident where a robot left him crippled and forced to use cybernetic leg.
He is assigned new partner - Naomi Armitage.
At the same time, a series of dead robot is discovered.
We learn that they were all a part of a new series of androids - The Thirds.
They are not known to the public, but it is reviled that in contrast to all previous generations, they are capable of bearing children.

The story here is, sadly, very basic.
There is a reason to why /Armitage III/ is a forgotten classic.
Upon my first rewatch of the series since my teen years, I left a bit dissapointed.
We've got robot woman, who can be impregnated by human males.
How much story possibilities does it give?
How many questions does it raise?
Apparently, zero.
They give birth to humans, end of story.
This is a philosophical anime.

#+attr_shortcode: :file armitage-iii-oav-1.jpg
#+attr_shortcode: :class centered
#+attr_shortcode: :class alt A woman with a bullet hole in her forehead
#+attr_shortcode: :source https://animenostalgia.tumblr.com/post/651897636160487424
#+begin_image
I love that 90s aestesteric.
Someone spent hours on those bullet holes.
#+end_image

https://animenostalgia.tumblr.com/post/651897636160487424
https://animenostalgia.tumblr.com/post/651897636160487424
But it not that, then what?
Well, it's deeply personal.
It should not come as surprise, but Naomi Armitage is a Third (it's in the title!), and all she wants is to a human.
She doesn't understand her place in the world.
Humanity seem to /hate/ robots, but it was the same humanity who create them.
For her, the story is finding her human side.
For Ross it's about dropping all prejudice against androids.
He starts as someone who would wear a "no robots allowed" t-shirt, but when he gets to know Naomi, all his believes are put to a test.

/Armitage III/ and everything in it is just a pretense for their story.
If we look at it like that, it's really nice.
There is no pretense to ask questions about nature of humanity.
It's much more starigt forward, and is done really well.
There is /some/ depth - humans treat android as property.
They are sexualized, but they are more sexual creatures.
They walk half naked, but it's all for the joy of humans.
The first robots who are closer human, who can bear children, is hunted and have to live in hiding.
But that all plays second part.


#+attr_shortcode: :file armitage-iii-oav-2.jpg
#+attr_shortcode: :class centered
#+attr_shortcode: :class alt A woman taking out of her holster. She is wearing a heavy coat which is waving to the back revealing her red underwear.
#+attr_shortcode: :source https://pinnedupink.com/blogs/flashbacks/armitage-iii-martian-cyberpunk-review
#+begin_image
I said it's over-sexualized
#+end_image

Even the ending, where we learn why Thirds were developed, is only a reason for more Ross/Naomi scenes.

All in all, /Armitage III/ is a very well made classic.
I love the character design, I like the music.
They action scenes are nicely done, there is no time to be bored.
All my gripes come from comparisons with /Ghost in the Shell/, but those comparisons are not needed.

As it stand, I wholeheartedly recommend /Armitage III/ to anyone exploring the golden age of anime.
Just don't come in expecting one of the greats.


** TODO Blue Giant (2023)
:PROPERTIES:
:EXPORT_FILE_NAME: blue-giant-2023
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :abstract My review of the movie 
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :rating 4.25
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :image reviews/covers/blue-giant-2023.jpg
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :reviewSection '("Anime movies")
:END:

I can not call myself a jazzphile.
I have no sense of rhythm, my knowledge of music theory is abysmal.
Yet, it is my favorite type of music.
My love have been ignited by works of Shinichirō Watanabe, which I still find surprising but both, /Cowboy Bebop/ and /Kids on the Slope/ are the cornerstone of my music journey.
And now, we've got a love letter for jazz in the form of /Blue Giant/.

The movie in based on manga of the same name, which I have yet to read.
It tells the story of Dai Miyamoto, musical prodigy whose only goal in life is to be the best at jazz.
After 3 short years of practice, he moved to Tokyo where is journey to fame is begging.
Here he meets a genius (of course) pianist Sawabe Yukinori, and is soon joined by his friend, Tamada Shunji, who just discovered his loved for jazz.
They form a band - Jass.

And here is where the plot lost me.
I get that Dai is a genius, and I get that mangakas /love/ to show it.
Their heroes work hard (harder than anyone quite often), but they are geniuses.
But 3 years?
This is only unbelievable, but also an insult to the cats of the past who spent their entire lives mastering their craft.
Coltrane was still learning harmony after he has already made /A Love Supreme/!

So ok, /Blue Giant/ is not realistic.
The story is only a way to show the love for jazz.
So, if you can't stand listening to the wrong notes, this is not a movie for you.
We've got the dedication, the friendship and all that jaz... stuff.
But you'll find better stories quite easily - and here the director, Yuzuru Tachikawa, had only 2 hours to tell his story.

If you, however, have love for jazz - oh, are you in for treat!
The soundtrack is breathtaking - it was written and performed by Hormi Ueahara, a world famous jazz composer and pianist.
/Every/ piece the band plays is simply amazing.
The main piece, First Note, is a marvel in itself.
So yeah - the soundtrack alone is worth the admission.

But that's not where jazz ends here, as it is the begging and ending of everything.
/Kids on Slope/ may have used it to tell the story, but here is *is* the story.
Rarely do we hear about anything else, but fear not.
Very basic knowledge of musical theory and jazz structure is all you need.
It will elevate some moments, but even without it you can enjoy the emotion.

Because that's what the movie teaches us.
Jazz is deeply technical - very often it's considered to be a genre by musicians for musicians.
But the soul of jazz is not rooted in technical adept, but in emotion.
You have to loose yourself in the performance to truly appreciate it.
It's not rock, where the live performance is close to what you get on the CD; every time the band performs a piece it is a new piece.
Never will you hear the same arrangement twice, because then it would not be jazz.
Not a dull moment for the casual listener, but the musicians are experiencing it on a different level.

Anime always tried to show more than tell, and here it's not different.
I simply love how they showed artistic getting lost in the moment, in between the notes.
It's loud, it's expressive, it colorful.
It's never the same as it was before.
It's close to perfect - if it wasn't for the CGI.

Enough praising the should of the movie, let's talk about the movie.
It's a modern anime movie.
2 hours, not action scenes, and a significant budget.
The movie looks great for a drama.
Outside of the improvisation scenes, everything is /good/ - not /great/, but goot.
Sadly, it all falls apart when the camera starts moving.
When the camera is static, everything is fine - but something is very off they allow it to move.
Shadows are strange, movements are too smooth, and so on.
Most of the times it was bearable, but on few occasions it was strongly distracting.
Later in the movie, we see another band playing on a jazz festival.
The shadows on shirts move like in real life, but cell shading flattens it.
This clash is quite terrible.
Luckily, only few scenes suffer from this.

Story wise, we're seeing a short period of life of Dai.
From the very begging we know he will make it big, as the action time is intertwined with a documentary from the past.
It all works great, because we're having any drama here.
The team bonds, they play better and better today, their trajectory is going great.

And then, out of nowhere - drama.
Not spoiling anything, the finale of the movie tries at drama and fails.
I may even say it's close to being so improbable, that it may just be laughable.
The characters make it work, somehow, but the my enjoyment of the movie dipped significantly.
Everything would be better without /that/.

But as it stands, /Blue Giant/ is a wonderful love letter to the dying genre.
The story is between nice and bearable, but never bellow that.
Personally, I waited for the movie for 2 years and I left satisfied.
Not wowed, but the movie left a huge grim on my face.
I'm afraid my enjoyment was fueled by love for jazz, so take it with a grain of salt.za:w




* Games  [0/0]                                                   :@reviews:
:PROPERTIES:
:EXPORT_HUGO_SECTION: reviews/games
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :reviewSection '(Games)
:EXPORT_HUGO_PAIRED_SHORTCODES: image
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :image_dir "reviews/screenshots" :image_max_width 765
:End:

** Games reviews
:PROPERTIES:
:EXPORT_FILE_NAME: _index
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :abstract Reviews of games
:END:

*** Games reviews

I am not a "gamer" but I used to play games and I still do, from to time.
I get a lot less enjoyment recently, but still


** DONE Secret of Monkey Island, The (1990)
CLOSED: [2022-05-04 Fri 22:26]
:PROPERTIES:
:EXPORT_FILE_NAME: secret-of-monkey-island
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :abstract Secret of Monkey Island is a classic point-and-click adventure game. This is my short review.
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :aliases '(/2022/secret_of_monkey_island /articles/secret-of-monkey-island brain-rot/classic-games/monkey-island/secret-of-monkey-island/)
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :rating 4.75
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :image reviews/covers/secret-of-monkey-island.jpg
:END:



In preparation for /Return to Monkey Island/[fn:rtmi], I have decided to replay the first three classic games[fn:2023].

Frankly, I played only the third one as a child, soon after release. "The Secret of Monkey Island" came out right after Poland became an independent country again, and I was still in kindergarten.
Three years later, I received my first computer - a (not so)powerful PC386.
I was a kid back then, and I knew very little English.
Certainly not enough to comprehend this game.
My first play through was sometime around the year 2002. 


[fn:rtmi] [[https://returntomonkeyisland.com/]["Return to Monkey Island" official webpage]]
[fn:2023] update from 2023: this is still in progress.
**** Running the game

Running this 30-year-old game is amazingly easy, thanks to SummVM[fn:scvm].
Just download the emulator, find a copy of the game, and everything runs perfectly on any system.
An updated version was released in 2009, but it was never released on Linux, and macOS/iOS versions are no longer working. 


You can also play in the browser via Internet Archive[fn:ia].


If you want the updated version, you can get it on GOG[fn:gog].

[fn:scvm] [[https://www.scummvm.org/][ScummVM website]]
[fn:ia] [[https://archive.org/details/mnkyega]["The Secret of Monkey Island" on the  Internet Archive]]
[fn:gog] [[https://www.gog.com/game/the_secret_of_monkey_island_special_edition]["The Secret of Monkey Island" on GOG]]

**** Playing the game

/The Secret of Monkey Island/ is a pirate-themed adventure with lots of humor.
The later games focused more on the funny aspect, but we have an interesting story here.
Guybrush Threepwood lands on Mêlée Island, where he starts his quest to become a pirate.
He will have to pass a test, find true love, and face a ghost pirate LeChuck.
Some say that the idea for the game came from Disneyland's "Pirates of the Caribbean" ride.
Some say the movie of the same name stole the idea from the game. The similarities are, for sure, not coincidental.
And now, since LucasArts is part of Disney, it all made a giant circle.

#+attr_shortcode: :file somi-splash.png
#+attr_shortcode: :alt And island in the dark. A big stylized text with the title of the game occupies most of the screen.
#+attr_shortcode: :class centered
#+begin_image
Title screen
#+end_image

/The Secret of Monkey Island/ was one of the earliest examples of adventure gaming done right.
You no longer need to guess and type which action the authors envisioned.
Instead, the game can be completely operated using a Mouse, as simple verbs represent all actions.
This interface has stood the test of time perfectly.
I tried (and failed) playing the original Zork games despite the fantastic writing due to the text interpreter.
Using the mouse is as simple as it gets. Pro hint: "." on the keyboard allows skipping dialogue lines in ScummVM.

#+attr_shortcode: :file somi-lazypirates.gif
#+attr_shortcode: :alt A group of pirates sitting on a barrel occupy left side of the screen. In center a short pirate stands. Bottom is occupied by UI with graphical buttons representing possible actions.
#+attr_shortcode: :class centered
#+begin_image
Lazy pirates and the UI
#+end_image

The graphics aged, but it did it like a fine wine.
The game was a marvel when it came out.
LucasArts hired actual graphic artists to do computer games.
This was still the wild west, and no one knew how to do it.
Nowadays, a game can take up gigabytes, and no one bats an eye.
LucasArts sold "Monkey Island" on floppies, and every bite counted.
Everything we see or hear was a sacrifice of something else.
Luckily, Ron Gilbert - the author and primary programmer on the team - was a legend.
He created the Scumm engine, which allowed non-technical folks to create games (by writing scripts, not code), but he also managed to find a way to enable the designers to use dithering.
You can listen more on YouTube

- [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ikaqus5_QIg][A five-hour chat with Ron Gilbert, the creator]]
- [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ri4_3P2Oh14][A two-hour interview with Mark Ferrari, designer]]
- [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GABrEdG8Ez4][A short one-hour-long interview with Dave Grossman, designer]]
- [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzorEPK6khk][Another interview with Ron Gilbert, this time only 45 minutes long]]

The graphical design is not only a technical marvel but a testament to design done right.
The islands look great, and I really wanted to explore them. 

But the most significant thing is the idea that the game should not punish players for experimentation.
Lucasarts biggest competitor back in those days, Sierra, always found creative and annoying ways to kill the player character.
Did you go a pixel too far? You fell from a cliff.
Have you met a monster you still lack the means of defeating? Time to die. Sometimes they even completely blocked their progress.
For example, in the first "Space Quest," you are expected to find a pixel-wide item on the very first screen.
If you skip it, the game won't tell you, and you can proceed.
Then, a few hours later, you need to use that item however you can no longer access that location.
And you are lucky if you even know about it. There was no internet back then to check the walkthrough!

LucasArts also was guilty of this.
For example, in the "Maniac Mansion," you could put a hamster into a microwave.
Cooking a hamster seemed funny, but it also blocked the player from finishing the game.
Ron Gilbert wrote a short manifesto where he stated that a game should not punish the player but rather encourage him to play.
And so, "The Secret of Monkey Island" has no pitfalls.
You are never in a position where your prior action blocks you from finishing the game.
This has not aged a single day.
And, since "The Secret..." is still one of the funniest games ever made, allowing the player to see the funny parts is what makes so many people play it after all those years.

There are still some puzzles that are far from perfect.
I solved Chicken with a Trolley puzzle solely because I remembered it after all those years - it's this bad.
Moreover, I had to resort to a walkthrough because the solution was based on wordplay, which was far from natural for someone whose English is a second language.
After I learned the solution, it made perfect sense.
I have to give it to the authors.
Everything in the game makes sense in the context of the game.
But there were times I could not make head or tails, and I had to resort to the old "let's use everything on everything" strategy - and it's simply not fun to do so.

On the other hand, "The Secret of Monkey Island" is also the home of one of the most fantastic puzzles I've ever witnessed - insult swordplay.
You need to defeat pirates in a sword fight, but the fight is an insult-response loop instead of an action sequence.
First, the pirate insults you, and you need to learn the proper response and use it, then you insult the pirate, and so on.
After a few rounds, you either win and advance to another pirate or lose, but you learn some new insults and need to look for a pirate who will know how to reply.
Ingenious! A cherry on top - this part was written by Orson Scott, the author of "Ender's game".

#+attr_shortcode: :file somi-swordfight.jpg
#+attr_shortcode: :alt Two pirates with swords aimed at each other. Bottom of the screen contains funny insults.
#+attr_shortcode: :class centered
#+begin_image
Insult swordfighting
#+end_image

The game consists of four parts.
Out of them, the first one is easily the most polished and exciting.
Luckily, it also took roughly half the total playtime of my play through.
The rest is still good (and the worst, I'd say, "Flight of the Amazon Queen" good), but the first few hours shine the most, and I am sure this is what most players remember.

Overall, the game was great and (despite some shortcomings) is still extremely fun to play.
I sure hope that "Return to Monkey Island" will keep the adventure/comedy ratio from this installment.

And if you get stuck, remember that the "Universal Hint System"[fn:uhs] is the best way to get unstuck without getting a ready answer.

[fn:uhs] [[https://www.uhs-hints.com/uhsweb/monkey.php]["The Secret of Monkey Island" on UHS]]


**** Memories Emporium

What I'll remember from the game?

Mostly, the amazing world. Mêlée Island looks great and is full of rememberable characters - like the Voodoo Lady or lazy pirates training their pet rat for a circus.
LucasArts has the gift of creating exceptional places.
Their later game, "Grim Fandango," shows Rubacava.
This is the one gaming place I simply return to from time to time, just to hang out there - but that's a story for a different time.
They create a believable world inhabited but not completely sane people.
Love it! I'll have to return here with my son when he is a bit older.

The insult sword fighting.
I guess I already remembered it as I say, "Well, you fight like a cow" from time to time.

Guybrush.
Since this is primarily an adventure story, he is fleshed out for an early 90s game.
I really like the guy.
He is quirky but also driven and a bit insane.
Like every good heron should be.
And he can hold his breath underwater for solid 10 minutes!

Not bad for a 6 hour game.

** DONE Yakuza 0 (2015)
CLOSED: [2024-06-12 Wed 19:32]
:PROPERTIES:
:EXPORT_FILE_NAME: yakuza-0
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :abstract My review of the prequel
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :rating 3.75
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :image reviews/covers/yakuza-0.jpg
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :aliases '(brain-rot/modern-games/yakuza/yakuza-0/)
:END:

I have terrible reflexes, and therefore I am very disappointed with modern gaming's obsession with action-oriented games.
/Yakuza 0/ is a beat-em-up, so I should hate it.
I partially do.

As for the gameplay, I am not sold due to aforementioned problem.
In /Yakuza 0/ you walk around the town and fight bad guys.
We've got 3-D combat, combos, and quick time events.
Most of the time, this was all I've got.
A grueling mess of the type of gameplay I suck at horribly.
Luckily, this is a very easy game, so on normal difficulty I had very little problems with just mushing around and winning.

Then there's also a lot of additional content in the form of mini-games dressed as side quests.
You can buy properties, watch porn movies, manage a bordello, help make a movie, play classic Sega games, became a pro at some strange form of RC car racing.
But I don't care.
My biggest issue with Japanese games is the sheer amount of random stuff you can do, but has no real impact on the game world.
/Yakuza 0/ has a deep system for playing Shogi, as well as Dance Dance Revolution.
I may be too old for this, or I have not enough time (nor mental capacity), but I never get any enjoyment from such activities.
Make it integral to the main gameplay loop or don't bother.
I will not learn complex mechanics for a /mini-game/.
I barely have time to remember your combos!

As a gamey-game, /Yakuza 0/ is definitely not my type.
It may be yours - and if you like /modern/ games, then it most likely is.

But there is also the story and characters.
Those are the real meat of the game for me, and they made it an /amazing/ experience.

/Yakuza 0/ is a prequel of an already established series of games.
We control two characters - Kazuma Kiryu and Goro Mojima.
Kazuma wants to be a yakuza, but is presumed to be a killer of /civilian/, and as a result needs to leave the mafia.
His mission is to find who framed him.
Goro was a Yakuza, but due to mistakes of his past, he becomes a slave to a yakuza boss and needs to do his bidding.
At the same time a gigantic plot to take over an empty plot of land in the middle of the city is established.
Somewhere around middle point of the game, when all pieces started to fall on their places, I begun to be annoyed when they stopped the story for, well, game.

#+attr_shortcode: :file yakuza-0-2.jpg
#+attr_shortcode: :alt Topless asian scraming in a dramatic pose
#+attr_shortcode: :source https://www.rpgfan.com/game/yakuza-0/
#+attr_shortcode: :class centered
#+begin_image
Yakuza 0 can be over the top
#+end_image

#+attr_shortcode: :file yakuza-0-1.jpg
#+attr_shortcode: :alt Asian man holdig a remote control car
#+attr_shortcode: :source https://madmuseum.org/events/johnny-mnemonic
#+attr_shortcode: :class centered
#+begin_image
It is also silly
#+end_image
/Yakuza 0/ is a weird.
The main story is serious, but rarely becomes dark.
It's engaging, emotional, deep.
All side activities are silly.
Somehow it fits together nicely, but I don't know.
I'd rather this was a movie or a limited series.

Story-wise I have give my highest praises.
The main plot is masterful, characters are amazing (voice acting is superb).
Top bad I was thrown out of it in order to beat yet another group of thugs.
I clocked at 34 hours completing a bit over 18% of the game, so I am not target audience.
Still, the main plot pulled me back in.
After I started completely ignoring all side-content, I begun to enjoy /Yakuza 0/ immensely.
Yes, the final fight gave me thumb-blister[fn:qte], but after that we've got something like 26 ending scenes.
Each more emotional than the other.

I want to learn rest of the story of Goro and Kiryu, and therefore I'll continue playing other titles in the series.
Too bad that there's a game attached.

[fn:qte] And it still ended in a QTE.
Shame.


** 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 reviews/covers/grim-fandango.jpg
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :rating 5
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :aliases '(brain-rot/golden-age-games/grim-fandango/)
: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.

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/.


** DONE Persona 5: Strikers (2020)
CLOSED: [2024-03-08 Fri 21:24]
:PROPERTIES:
:EXPORT_FILE_NAME: persona-5-strikers
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :abstract A short review of SciFi classic 
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :aliases '(/blog/2024/persona-5-strikers/ /brain-rot/persona/persona-5-strikers/ brain-rot/modern-games/persona/persona-5-strikers/)
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :rating 2
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER+: :image reviews/covers/persona-5-strikers.jpg
:END:


/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.

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.

#+attr_shortcode: :file p5s-1.jpg
#+attr_shortcode: :source https://nintendoeverything.com/persona-5-scramble-the-phantom-strikers-boxart-details-screenshots/
#+attr_shortcode: :class centered
#+begin_image
Guess the only way here is to shut my brain down, as it's useless in all this chaos.
#+end_image