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Film|Bones and All [2023]

Having just watched Timothee Chalamet in Dune for a combined 6 hours after watching Dune 1 and 2 I needed to wash it down with more Chalamet. Bones and all has been on my radar for a while having enjoyed it's peers; like Raw (2016), a young cannibal comes of age and has to navigate cannibalistic urges as a proxy for and alongside adolescent feelings, sexuality/ desires.etc. So i sat down to watch Bones and All and this film had me fucked up with its very beautiful and tragic storytelling.

Slightly shorter reccomendation but i thought it was very good and worth watching.

Film|Dune part 1 + 2[2021 - 2023]

To be clear this is not underrated or niche but this is cool. I watched Dune part 2 at the cinema on the release day, the cinema was packed and the atmosphere felt like how i would imgaine Star Wars Empire Strikes Back (1980) would have been like, and i say that trying not to be a Star wars pilled Disney brainrotted freak as much as possible. I had foolishly thought Dune 1 was overrated becuase I had stopped paying attention a couple times, I think i was finishing my dinner and by the end was about to fall asleep.(not to mention the several joints shared with my flatmates lol).

Needless to say going into Dune part 2 I had a vague outline. Paul Atreidies, Oscar Isaac, Zendaya, worms and like cool sci fi religous factions. I watched Dune 2 and those loose points materialised into a Lord of the Rings (2001-2003) level scifi adaption. I left the cinema kinda stunned and have been thinking about it ever since.

After Dune 2 in the cinema i went back to Dune part 1, giving it my full attention and yeah as a connected story Dune is phenomenal. I'm excited to get to see more to Dune, but not too much Dune, just the right amount of Dune.

Series|Poker Face[2023]

Poker Face is the best TV show ive watched in 2024, recency bias be damned, and the fact that it's only January. Natasha Lyonne plays Charlie Cale, a drifter who has the special ability to tell when someone is lying. Every episode is it's own serialised murder plot, akin to Sherlock or Columbo, and Charlie has to use her lie detector power to pin the murder plot to the criminal. The plot of each episode sort of unfurls itself like a puzzle where Charlie will blow into town after or during a murder and then will have to work backwards to figure out exactly what happened. Poker Face works this premise incredibly well and doesnt allow itself to get stale.

Rian Johnson directs and is clearly a big Tarantino fan with references to Pulp Fiction and Kill Bill littered around the place. This show has totally won me over to Rian's ways [see The Last Jedi being crap IMHO]. Poker Face pays attention to the details anything that is even in the background feels like it might have a purpose; the show is always telling you things. It's really refereshing to see interesting and motivated camera work on TV, with 10 episodes it left me wanting more.

Anyway I thought this was well worth the watch and I hadn't seen much buzz around it, there's a second season coming. Natasha Lyonne is great as always if you liked russian doll you would like this.

Game |OFF [2008]

I dont play many games in a year but I played OFF last year and i think it was one of the better games i played in 2023[competing with Armored Core 6].It was recommended to me by a friend and i didn't know too much going in but it was a banger.OFF is made in RPGmaker and is akin to pokemon where you walk around doing RPG stuff, whilst occasionally fighting in turn based combat. The music/sound design is really good which is super important in a game, and the Art is banging. You get the feel whilst playing that the direction for the game has been very clearly envisioned.

My favourite part about this game is the puzzle elements which actually had me writing scrawlings down on paper like an insane person. I havent needed to use paper and pen on a game for a while and this game almost necessitates it.

See below my scrawllings that i took from the nearest bit of scrap paper i found.

Game| Star Fetchers Pilot [2020]

The Pilot of Star Fetchers is not a full game, but I'm saying this is one to watch. It's a successfully kickstarter backed Indie development and is currently free on Steam. Star Fetchers reminds me of how Hotline Miami felt in 2012, the soundtrack goes so freaking hard along with fast pace graphic violence. The writing is funny aswell it gave me an irl lol.

In the game the main character Sanyati has a Tyler Durden esque type interaction with a free spirit- street ninja called Zambezi, who shows her the way out of her dead end job slaughtering pigs at a convenience store. Leading to an ultra violent setup to what i reckon will be a very fun game when it is released.