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Ugh. Another tough one.

Coleby 3 - Davis 2

I pray Colin will pick up easier candidates for upcoming elections.

Most people  I know, sadly including my mother, believe every word they hear. "Don't be daft, Mark, they're not allowed to lie."

Makes me weep.

I don't know if it's the syndrome of watching telly too much or something else. To me, your government and press lying to you, are yesterday news to me.

[wasn't Anthony Hopkins in one?]

Just read the wiki summary and that sounds amazing - I love those old portmanteau films but if I've ever seen this one, it was many years ago. The ventriloquist bit is the only section that sounds familiar, but I may be mixing it up with other spooky-ventriloquist films (wasn't Anthony Hopkins in one?)

It's called Magic. A sad film, actually.

[ARMY OF THE DEAD]

ZACK SNYDER: Here is a film I have made, and it is about the inevitable failure of capitalism and why concentration camps are bad.
SOCIAL MEDIA: Typical Snyder.  So right wing.

That Zack Snyder's ARMY OF THE DEAD is an anti-capitalist and anti-imperialist work is apparently irrelevant to the living torment that is social media commentary, for Snyder is a right-wing hack and that is the only lens through which his work is allowed to be evaluated.  A Sean Spicer cameo is highlighted as proof that the film is right-wing, but Spicer's cameo actually sees him schooled by an African-American woman for failing to acknowledge racial profiling and America's jailing of political dissidents.  Within minutes of this, we see life in America's concentration camps as a living Hell in which people can "disappear" at the whim of guards who use their authority to hide their raping not just detainees, but also those who enter the camp as medical volunteers.  The camps full of people deemed less than human and a threat to American security, treated like they're diseased, all of them seemingly Latino, all confined behind a massive wall - I don't know who needs to hear this in relation to a Zack Snyder movie but this is not subtle stuff, it is not hard to miss, and none of this is my "hot take", this is the actual text of the film story.

There's a whole sub-plot in this movie where an alpha-male character is struggling to communicate with his daughter, and Snyder devotes long, seemingly aimless minutes to a father and daughter failing to express themselves adequately to each other and they cut the conversation short thinking they have time to work this through.  They've left this conversation in a bad place, but they'll sort it out later.  There's time.
I can think of... another interpretation of this part of the story which was written by Zack Snyder that doesn't involve his right wing politics, but Zack Snyder is right wing, so it's probably just about how he doesn't understand women probably.

There's an axiom in left-wing thinking that goes "we can sooner see the end of the world than accept the end of capitalism", and in recent years this has been born out to be true because capitalists are literally burning the planet to death, but if you want to see a fun examination of this notion played out with a zombie tiger, this movie has your back.  I really enjoyed its silly mix of heist and zombie tropes and while I did feel the running time once or twice, it's got plenty going on to keep you occupied.  It starts with a just-married woman declaring "I love life WOO" and if you know where that's going - and you definately do - but can keep watching anyway, you won't have any problems with this.

I got totally opposite impression from the film. To me, it's lefty piece of work, that serves as anti-capitalist statement and Snyder always comes to me as lefty.
Btw, I got that the whole father - daughter thing is self insert there, given Snyder's personal tragedy.

I'd have to go with Batman Arkham, but Asylum. I find it the least pretentious in the series. Tbh, there are not many superhero games out there, so that may work a bit in the Knight's favor.

The core Arkham games are still the gold standard. The first set the tone, the second arguably the best, and the third a satisfying conclusion (including a personal top ten gaming moment - driving the defeated and indignant Riddler to the GCPD lock-up).

I have an issue with Arkham games, all made after Asylum. Asylum had a comic book feel than the rest and it was non-pretentious. Every single game crumbles under the authors' ambition. City, for e.x, had Hugo Strange discovering Batman's identity, and you would think it would intensify the gameplay, but it didn't. It went nowhere. Same with the toxic poisoning, notwithstanding that Joker lived for weeks, while you were supposed to die in several hours. And in both cases, the game misses to motivate you to engage in it. And I didn't like that City throws you in the lap of one supervillain after another. But basically, the plot is lame. And for some reason, I find the graphics inferior to Arkham Asylum.

Arkham Origins is quite a solid prequel to Arkham City, but it feels too much like the City, so I observe it as full-blooded DLC than the full-blooded game.

Knight... The story quickly goes nowhere. Joker is again the main antagonist, after Scarecrow. And quite unnecessarily. Hallucination scenes bring nothing to the game, apart from more Batman-Joker dynamic, which is done to death in the previous games. Side missions are mostly uninspired. I'd single out Professor Pyg and capturing Killer Croc as scenery-chewing in that regard, but everything else is a disappointment, in one way or another. The game loses momentum in the second half. Scarecrow is not Bane. Batmobile, while driving mechanics are great, is vastly overused. And for further blasphemy, he's required for solving Riddler puzzles. I mean, couldn't developers make something that is casual puzzle solving, like in Arkham City, instead of casually beating the lap time that we got?
And yes, the PC version is horribly hackneyed. From a technical standpoint.

Jake 4
Mike 1

I'd have to go with Batman Arkham, but Asylum. I find it the least pretentious in the series. Tbh, there are not many superhero games out there, so that may work a bit in the Knight's favor.

I think my post might be controversial, but when you mentioned RE Village, to me, that game is an example of how fandom can get ahead of themselves. Some people rushed to worship Lady Dimitrescu, whose design is nothing that stands out, apart from being heghty, when her presence in the game is some 20-30 minutes.

But it's not as good as Arkham Night, which as far as superhero video games go is the... Ultimate.

I appreciate your sentiment, Doc, over Donnie Darko, but here i must thoroughly disagree.

On the other hand, the (original) DC of Blade Runner removed the voice over, which was a studio-applied over-explanation that spoiled the atmosphere of the theatrical cut.

Is somewhere in existence the theatrical version of BR? It'd work awesome in the noirish atmosphere of the film? Not to mention that I DC version confusing.

[Death Race 2050]

I am glad that there is someone who disliked self-indulgent, pretentious Donnie Darko.

Impossible as it is to rebut such a cogent argument, I must confess that your silver tongue has swayed me to your way of of thinking. Tell me now, if you would deem to stoop, your thoughts on the subtle ouvre of Milius?

Ah... If by Milius you refer to John Milius, I find his stories way more interesting in conveying deep philosophy bullshit, where in Donnie Darko, you feel like the director was screaming behind the camera "look at me, I am smart, I am smart" in every single scene.
In other words, Enigmatic Doctor was right about the internet.

Death Race 2050

The wikipedia page gives the impression that this is a sequel to Death Race 2000.  It's not.  It's a remake/reboot.  It's kinda fun.  Death Race 2000 is dumb as a bag of bricks.  It's satire lacks subtlety or nuance, it looks and is cheap and it's incredibly daft.  Death Race 2050 is all those things as well.  I wouldn't watch the two films back to back, but I'd probably watch 2050 over Death Race.  And Death Race has Jason Stathom in it!  To be fair, 2050 has Malcolm McDowell claiming another pay cheque, so it's tough competition.  What I'm trying to say is I enjoyed the film and I enjoyed it a lot more than I thought it.  Very much like when I first watched Death Race 2000 last year.

Is that the movie where drivers compete against each other in drive-by to death, while having hot chicks as co-drivers, who usually end up dead?

I am glad that there is someone who disliked self-indulgent, pretentious Donnie Darko.

[Barrow Hill The Dark Path]

Barrow Hill The Dark Path

The sequel to Barrow Hill, released 10 years prior. And the game takes 10 years after the first game. No surprises here. Another horror point n click adventure, continuing the tradition of the previous game in terms of gameplay and style. Another (divine) being from Celtic legends has been awoken seeking revenge and again you are on all wits trying to find every object you can and solve various sundry puzzles in order to appease the entity. As said, gameplay is practically unchanged, mouse cursor click returns and you have near total freedom to explore  (which, like in the previous game, made the game unnecessarily difficult). Creepy sound effects and music. To pick a better game between two is incredibly difficult task akin to picking up better artist between Colin MacNeil and Simon Bisley.

David 4
Jesus 1

A bit late to the party, but imo, if for example, John Wagner tomorrow drops dead (natural or unnatural causes), do I think that Dredd would also stop publishing? That he'll meet his demise, briefly mentioned in a Strontium Dog strip? I don't think so. Like Richard here said, Batman and Superman (and many others) continued for decades, why should British comics or any comics be different? The core ideas of these characters are practically the same.

Well, at least the man is still alive.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/may/21/elderly-man-has-wrong-leg-amputated-at-austrian-clinic