Last year, I started a multimedia roundup to go over some titles that weren't good enough to make it to the best of list, but I still wanted to talk about. It's a nice way to satiate my autism without having to break my brain trying to find ways to talk about these things. So without further ado, let's start off with the young medium of...
Video Games
Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun
I had a lot anticipated releases this year, and one of those was a boomer shooter called Boltgun. I never had the time commitment to get into Warhammer fully. So to have a retro style shooter where the only lore you have to learn is what bullet comes out of each gun, I find to be welcome.
Unfortunately, this is one of two of my anticipated releases that didn't quite reach my expectations. All in all, it's fine. It doesn't reach greatness like a lot of my favorite FPSs. For starters, enemy health feels a bit imbalance. Some mobs take no more than a few shots alla a Call of Duty title. It feels too easy to dispatch them. Conversely, some of the boss enemies take way too long to defeat, and it wasn't uncommon for me to deplete all of my ammo for multiple OP weapons.
It felt like a game whose numbers needed to be tweaked. Sometimes, the encounters are a joke, and I didn't feel a semblance of challenge. Sometimes, the encounters are brutal, and you can't even tell what's killing you until you immediately are at single digit health. This is Goldilocks worst nightmare because few things ever felt just right.
But, like I said, it's fine. Game feel is about as good as you can get with a boomer shooter. The art direction is strong. And if there was a highlight, I would say it would be the guns. Sure, they aren't unique as you get your typical selection of machine gun, shotgun, plasma gun, rocket launcher, and chaingun. However, they always have some tweak that makes them feel unique. So there is polish, but it is uneven on how it is distributed. A good but not great time. But of course, I would give it a recommendation, especially if you can grab it at a discount.
League of Legends: Convergence
As you can probably guess, I am going to saying "it's fine" a lot in this entry.
The League of Legends spin offs though have been consistently fine. With Arcane and the upcoming Project L, it seems they take their spin offs more seriously than League of Legends itself.
I also like how varied they've all been. To go from Arcane, a dramatic animated series, to this which is a 2D Metroidvania is not something I expect from a media franchise.
But anyway, Convergence is fine. There are a couple of interesting things, but it's overall a standard Metroidvania. I like they had the foresight to include an "exit to the overworld" with how linear the stages are. After playing Batman Arkham Asylum, it was appreciated when going for 100% to be able to simply exit stage instead of having to backtrack through a stage you already traversed.
I have mixed feelings on the combat. Encounters are a clusterfuck, and I don't know if that is intentional with the core mechanic to rewind time. It makes me wonder if the intent is to make the most of your entire tool kit to survive.
I suppose this can expand onto a standalone entry on difficulty in game design. Whenever I play a game, I always imagine if a no hit run is theoretically possible. And from there, I judge the difficulty by that metric. I know there are exceptions. For example, FPSs like the aforementioned Boltgun feel unreasonable to judge by this philosophy. But, I never seen a game that seems to actively oppose that mindset by making the game intentionally sloppy, almost forcing you to rewind time. I'm curious what this game is like on the highest difficulty, and if the sloppiness breaks under more intense pressure.
I don't know. I should be clear this isn't a point against the game, but I guess that is what happens when a game is 'fine.'
Tears of the Kingdom & Baldur's Gate 3
I am grouping these two together as "games my uncommitted ass couldn't be asked to finish."
Both games are great mind you. The number of hours I've played on both were enjoyable. Both rich and fleshed out. You will see these two a lot on best of lists for 2023, and I don't blame them one bit. However, both games met the same fate where I just got bored and didn't feel compelled to finish them.
I think these games made me realize that, with some exceptions of course, I am not a big fan of mechanically dense games. The type where the depth is more on the gargantuan amount of options on display than making the most out of a few systems. Take Tears of the Kingdom. In that game alone, you have climbing, fighting, building, physics puzzles, exploration, scavaging, survival mechanics, rpg elements, vehicle riding, korok harassing, etc. etc. etc. It's the mechanic equivalent of the DK64 collection screen, and Baldur's Gate 3 is no exception.
I feel it comes down to the ice cream flavor effect. The idea that more options can leave a person overwhelmed and indecisive. For comparison, let me briefly talk about Ape Escape, another game that I played this year for the first time. In that game, you catch monkeys. And anything else you do is just an obstacle that obstructs your goal of catching monkeys. It's simple. And if we are being objective, Ape Escape is not the most well produced game compared to something like Baldur's Gate 3 with it's God awful camera. Yet unlike Baldur's Gate 3 and Tears of the Kingdom, not only did I finish Ape Escape, I 100% completed it.
So nothing against these two games, but I found them too overwhelmingly dense. If your asshole can take the girth, then by all means plug away. I'm happy for ya.
Homebody
Ah the Game Grumps, the Rian Johnson of Youtube Channels. You either love them or think they are the AntiChrist. I personally really enjoy the Game Grumps, but that wasn't enough to compel me to play Homebody until much later into the year. And really, I played it more because I had a weekend to kill in October. So if you're wondering what I do when friends cancel plans on me, I play kind of alright video games.
This game is "say it with me now" fine.
I went in with low expectations because the game had a lot of things Im not a big fan of. The art style, while trying to go for the PSX era style of graphics, ends up looking like a low budget TellTale Game. It's a time loop game which I have established in the past has missed more than it hit for me. And, it is horror game which focuses on the exploration of mental illness which is horror equivalent to when comedy specials have out of place serious moments to try to seem more artful than they actually are.
So right off the gate, it's a game that shouldn't click with me. But surprisingly, it held my attention all the way through. Aside from the ending which didn't quite stick the landing for me, the narrative was decently written riding a pretty fine line of being ambiguous while making the horror feel real enough for the characters on screen.
I have a bit of a mixed reaction to the puzzle elements. Some puzzles were fine. Others were a little cryptic lacking any visual conveyance, and I only was able to solve them through the in-game hint system. You can argue that it's like Forgotten City where solving the puzzle is inevitable. However, Forgotten City hides it better with its really smart writing which organically string you along.
But I liked it. It has more of a right to exist than a lot of artsy horror stories out there. If you want an interesting albeit unpolished horror game, consider picking this up when its price is slashed during the next Steam Sale.
Many Pieces of Mr. Coo
I'm conflicted. I don't want to say this was a disappointing experience, but....
Ok, let me start with the good. The animation is some of the best Ive seen since maybe Cuphead. This game looks phenomenal, and it is what made me want to buy the game. The vibe is similar to that Looney Tunes cartoon where Porky has to deal with the dodo. Full of surrealism and abstractions. I love every frame of this game-all two hours of it.
Yeah...the game is very short.
And normally, that is not a big deal but the content on display is insubstantial. Remember when Metal Gear Solid 5: Ground Zeroes came out and was essentially a $40 demo? Well, this is the indie game equivalent.
The game progresses really well but leaves you feeling it was unfinished. The game didn't end but merely stopped. Granted, they give a to be continued. But usually, that is given to stories that already have explored a good amount before leaving you wanting more. I don't think Infinity War would have been as well received if they dropped the to be continued after Iron Man goes to space.
It doesn't help that the final puzzle, which is a boss fight, attempts to commit every sin you can make when designing a point and click adventure game. The amount of trial and error the game forces you to do leaves a bad final impression.
Mr. Coo feel more like an animation reel than a completed project. This could be redeemed by a full fledged game, but that remains to be seen. If you want my advice, I suggest just watching a long play. That, or try your hand to finish the game before the two hour mark to net a Steam refund. And if you are feeling guilty from taking advantage of the Steam refund policy, you can take the money and donate it to the Open Hand Foundation.
Movies
Barbie
Sorry Barbie stans, I didn't think the movie was good enough to crack the best of list this year.
I was kind of shocked how fanatic the reaction to this movie has been. Nothing against the movie, but it wasn't anything ground breaking.
That's kind of my thing with Greta Gerwig as a filmmaker. She is a very talented filmmaker, but all the films I've seen have been well made retreads. Ladybird is unique and striking...unless you've seen Real Women Have Curves. And in Barbie, it felt like every female empowerment film in the last two decades. I don't know why people are foaming at the mouth when Mean Girls and Eighth Grade nailed it perfectly years earlier.
It's got a few stand out bits that help set it apart, but sometimes it's easy to forget that the surface level has to be great too. And as a whole, it's merely ok.
Humor was bland throughout. And aside from the visuals and acting performances, the film didn't resonate as well as it should have. You might argue that because I am a guy, Barbie is supposed to not resonate with me. However, let me remind you I just listed three films earlier in this section that I found very memorable. And if these three films about the female experience absorb me without much trouble, why can't Barbie?
I'm only being harsh because we should scrutinize films if you perceive flaws within it and not just hop on the bandwagon because it says things you find agreeable. Because at the end of the day, this is Barbie! This is still a corporate product. A well made corporate product, but a product.
I don't know. There is also a fad element where no one will give two shits in a few years. It lacks the character and meat movies I mentioned before have, so I don't see this movie having any staying power. Like, remember anything from Wonder Woman? Yeah, me neither.
The Fabelmans
It ain't a multimedia roundup without mentioning a quality but overhyped Oscar nomination.
I think I was more interested in talking about this movie than any other Oscar nom. simply because Spielberg has been on my mind a lot throughout the year. I watched Close Encounters of the Third Kind for the first time as part of my blindspot movie challenge. My favorite Red Letter Media episode of this year was a spotlight on Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. I uh...saw a Jewish man at the grocery store one time. Ok, maybe not a lot, but enough to where I want to talk about Spielberg.
Spielberg has always been the most "ok" director in my eyes. I like his movies. After all, he practically invented the blockbuster with how crowd pleasing his movies are. But none of his movies ever fucked me up emotionally. He ain't no Ari Aster.
And recently, his movies have gone from ok to slightly less than that. My favorite movie of his, Lincoln, came out in 2012. And ever since then, I can't think of a film that I liked of his until now. Spielberg is back! And he is back being his old ok self.
Fabelmans isn't some mind blowing film. But for modern Spielberg, I was surprised how absorbing it was. It was uncharacteristically cynical. I am thinking about Schindler's List, arguably Spielberg's biggest downer, and even that one has a wift of optimism compared to this.
Of course, this film has its smultz, but there is an undercurrent about the realities of becoming a filmmaker and being a Jewish person in 20th Century America. Despite the film ending on a happy ending, it is only happy because we know everything is going to turn out alright for Mr. Fabelman. You can only imagine the many other aspiring filmmakers who walked through that studio concrete only to have their dreams crushed.
The Invisible Man & Ponyo
You might think why on Earth I paired a Miyazaki film and a low key horror film. It's simple really. They both have really strong first halves and really weak second halves. The math on that is likely not correct. But basically, both start off great and doesn't do much else.
This is definitely the case for Ponyo. I was told going in that it is one of the weaker Studio Ghibli films. And when I started, I was confused where all the negativity came from. Ponyo starts off delightful. But literally, at exactly the halfway point, the movie takes a complete nosedive. Never has a Studio Ghibli film reminded me of a bad Western animated movie. You know it's bad when a movie is comparable to Minions than a Miyazaki movie. But overall, the great first half and bad first half even out to a pretty meh whole.
As for Invisible Man, the decline is more subtle.
The opening scene is probably one of the best scenes I've seen from a movie. You know movie scenes that are just so good. They are basically world class short films. The kind your annoying film professor will show on repeat. Fucking can't count how many times I've seen the opening scene of Drive, but I digress.
The film starts off as a great exploration of domestic abuse and the paranoia that stems from the trauma. But the more the film goes along, it kind of stops exploring that and just becomes another horror film. One scene in particular is in stark contrast to the subtly and tension of the opening scene.
Suing the Devil
I am almost disappointed the lack of really bad shit I've came across this year as I usually have one or two that break my brain. It's makes for fun content to write about.
Now you might be thinking, "So Suing the Devil isn't a dishonorable mention? The movie that you found by sorting the Letterboxd list by the lowest rated?" And yes, this movie has an average rating of 2.7 on Letterboxd. However, this movie is beyond bad.
Normally with so bad they're good movies, I don't find them funny unless I am watching them with a group. With Suing the Devil, that was not the case. This isn't a so bad they're good movie. This is a so bad they're amazing movie.
This is literally a laugh a minute. I saw a number of comedies over the years and I can't think of the last time I laughed as hard from a movie. From concept and execution, it is the level of dumb that only Christian filmmakers are capable of reaching.
This movie has everything I want in a bad Christian film. Hammy acting, a story that makes no fucking sense, and isn't laced with bigot or malicious messages. It's a chef's kiss.
I love this movie. I would put this on my best of list if I didn't feel a deep shame having one of the most incompetent movies I've ever seen over Jeanne Dielman. I applaud Suing the Devil, but I applaud it the same way I applaud a Republican shooting themselves in the foot. However, this schadenfreude is much more delightful and doesn't come with the immediate sadness that these idiotic individuals are running the country. Ugh...now I made myself depressed. I should digress.
Anyway, this movie is great. It's free on Youtube, and it is one of the best bad movies I've ever seen.
Beau is Afraid
Hey, speak of the devil. We got an Ari Aster film.
Every once in a while, a decisive movie comes out that genuinely splits us movie buffs. Your Suspiria (2018), Mother!, etc. Beau is Afraid is this year's movie equivalent of a Twitter hot take. And in short, I really liked it.
It reminded me of the Holy Mountain. It's a movie that avoids pretension despite being extremely pretentious. To put it in a less paradoxical way, the movie is very audacious in terms of its visuals and abstractness, but it is quite approachable if you are willing to engage with it. It's not an art film where you are trying to solve a cryptic puzzle. It is journey that you put your own meaning to. I think I was also really into the surrealism. I love movies that feel like dreams, and this movie may be the best depiction of a fever dream I ever seen. It's so uncanny and unrelenting.
It's also really funny. I was shocked how much I laughed in this movie. It helped me describe why I was able to enjoy this movie but not laugh at something like the Lobster. The way I see it, there is a distinction between playing it straight and playing it dry. And to me, a movie like Beau that plays it straight is funnier than a movie like a Lobster that's exclusively dry humor.
However, as much I praise the film for being approachable. It also isn't. Yeah, there is me being paradoxical again. Granted, that's the kind of feelings the movie brings out.
Beau is an incredibly exhausting movie. It asks a lot from its audience with its 3 hour run time and brutal pacing. I would say it's very rewarding if you're patient with it, but I understand how that can be unappealing for a lot of people.
It's not the best movie I've seen let alone the best movie of year, but it was one of the most resonant. It's one of the better avant-garde films out there.
Shows
My Adventures With Superman
I had a weird slump with TV this year. Maybe it was a form of self-care in trying to not to commit to so many shows or just apathy. But for whatever reason, I didn't watch that many shows this year. In fact, almost all of the ones I will be talking about today I merely got through a handful of episodes.
Take My Adventures With Superman. This was something that caught my eye mainly for having one of the cutest depictions of Lois Lane yet. And upon watching, it certainly is one of the cutest depictions of Lois Lane, the problem is that the rest of the show didn't grab me.
There are a number of reasons, but I am going to blame streaming service fatigue especially with HBO Max. The cancellation, and sometimes straight deletion, of so many shows because of corporate greed has certainly been one of the sleaziest things to happen this year, and the unrealistic expectations of executives corralling the largest viewership in a short amount of time has only exacerbated my frustration. The sink or swim method of streaming services has put a lot of pressure on me. What was a show I could watch at any time whenever I found the time is now a ticking time bomb that can only be defused if I binge through the entire season, and even that doesn't guarantee the show's survival. And at a certain point, I get so exhausted that I just quit and say fuck it.
It's sad. In any other context, I wouldn't mind popping in My Adventures with Superman. It's not a perfect show. The humor is a little too corny for me, but I can see myself still putting it on a rainy day. But now, the pressure and resulting fatigue makes me feel guilty that I am putting a show like this at risk. That I am not only ending a show's run but also potentially ending the show's existence on any platform.
So in other words, #eattherich.
History of the World Part 2
Fun fact. The first joke I ever laugh at was from Mel Brook's History of the World Part One, and I laughed hard! The found the scene in isolation with Moses and his fifteen Commandments, and it basically became a core memory. I would later find out the movie isn't that great, but oh well.
So when I heard about the announcement of this show, I thought "wow, that's nice. it probably will be as non-great as the original." And you know what, I was correct.
To be honest, I think I liked this show more than a lot of people. I don't know the consensus but something tells me the more broad style of humor didn't click with people. But I don't know. I think like a lot of later Mel Brooks films, a few jokes will catch you off guard. That said, everything else is a slog. There are a lot of reoccurring sketches, and all of them I dreaded since they were the low points of the show. A lot of the same jokes that go on for too long.
There are also a lot of jokes that feel very generic to have the Mel Brooks stamp on it. I know the number of times it takes for a historical person using Tiktok to be annoying to me, and the answer is negative one.
But I trucked along, even finishing it. I wish I can recommend just the good sketches, but none of them are on YouTube upon my most recent search. I guess if you are starving for sketch comedy and I Think You Should Leave didn't satiate you, you could try History of the World Part 2. You will just have to pick the bad sketches out like dead flies in a serving of mash potatoes.
Smoking Behind the Supermarket with You & Miss Abbott & the Doctor
These next two with really long titles are part of my excursion this year trying to get more into sequential art (or comics for the non-pretentious type). I sampled a lot and most didn't suit my interests. However, I found two diamonds in the rough that held my attention throughout the year as I was slowly reading each chapter.
I love wholesome romance stories, and these two are quality.
I reviewed Tsuredure Children a few months back, and I criticized that show for lacking tension and for not appreciating the slow burn qualities of romance in favor of short term gratification. And in short, these two provide a better balance of condensing tension but in short bursts. So while you get the cathartic payoffs Tsuredure Children tries to focus on, it still leaves a layer of tension to not make any of it feel unearned.
These readings are just so fucking cute. There is a lot of flirting which I go crazy for. In the case of Miss Abbott & the Doctor, every panel is brimming with wink wink and nudge nudge, and it is so good that there is a part of you that doesn't want the other shoe to drop. You just want to stay in these comfy exchanges.
They are just an a beautiful form of escapism. Even in the case of Smoking Behind the Supermarket which is about an depressed office drone (which is like the John Smith of relatable character archetypes), there a sense of escapism has he finds his modest little refuge of a cheerful cashier and sexy goth girl. God I wish that were me.
So I give both of these my recommendations. If you want an easy read that you can have while you are pretending to work on your office desktop, these would be it.
Unicorn: Warriors Eternal
Unfortunately, Tartakovsky's streak on my best of lists ends with his latest show.
This show is fiiiiinneeee. And normally, that would be fine, but this is Tartakovsky! Pretty much every single thing he touches turns to gold from Samurai Jack, the Clone Wars, and Primal.
But here, it's fine.
I think my indifference stems from it being pretty standard storytelling. It seems the show is going for a homage to the wacky Saturday morning cartoons. Xiaolin Showdown in particular came to mind. I think the show is trying to go for a mature Saturday morning cartoon with the main character going through a pretty harrowing arc for Saturday morning cartoon standards, yet...that's not really interesting.
I think if this show came out in 2005, it would be more impressive. I mean, all of this shit Tartakovsky already achieved with Samurai Jack. And then, Avatar followed to establish the gold standard. Since then, we've had dozens of shows from Steven Universe and Adventure Time which tackle more adult subject matter. The stuff explored in Unicorn feels no different to what Batman was doing in the 90s.
Again, the show is good. The animation is standard awesome Tartakovsky action. The premise is solid. I like how the characters play off one another. It just didn't drew me in the way Primal or Samurai Jack has.
If you are starving for more Tartakovsky stuff, this will not offend. It just didn't met the heighten expectations he has built over the years with his legacy of amazing projects.
The Curse
I didn't finish this show due to not having enough time in the year. Though, I doubt it would make it on the best of even if I did finish it.
Not that the show is bad. It's fantastic so far. It's just that it is very VERY uncomfortable.
The Curse involves the Safdie Brothers who previously directed Uncut Gems. I believe I watched that movie right when I started doing the end of the year best of lists, and I remember excluding that movie for the same reasons. It's hard to genuinely call it one of my favorites when the movie made me feel like I was having a heart attack. Now imagine that energy mixed with the cringe of Nathan Fielder. Jesus Christ.
This is about as potent uncomfortable you can get. Imagine the stress of Uncut Gems versus the social awkwardness of the Rehearsal, and that's what the Curse is from a scene by scene basis. Safdie Brothers seem to relish on this kind of social horror. The unrelenting discomfort that doesn't give you even a moment to relax.
It's the type of narrative I admire than like. I admire that it isn't afraid to be uncomfortable. And from a writing standpoint, it is solidly done feeling like real people instead of TV characters. Of course, this adds to the discomfort as embarrassing moments are done realistically. The lack of drama just pierces the soul.
I think like the UK Office, the funny situations and memorable moments can only be appreciated after the fact. I know the whole sequence in the casino in Episode 2 only became funny once I finished the episode. During it, it was insufferable.
So if that is the type of thing you like, you will want to binge this show. Me, however, I'll stick to once a week.
Multi Medium: Great artwork, middling plot, meh gameplay.
Ugly: If you want something like Braid but less pretentious and isn't made by an anti-vaxxer.
Cavern of Dreams: Didn't blow me away as I hoped. I guess I'll have to wait for The Big Catch for another chance at falling in love with a N64/PSX-esque platformer.
Murder by Numbers: This is one of many Picross games I sank my teeth into this year. Visual novel elements are boring as shit. But hey, can't complain about some picross puzzles.
Ghost Trick: YEAH I KNOW. I DIDN'T FIRST PLAY IT THIS YEAR, I DON'T CARE. PLAY GHOST TRICK
Five Nights at Freddys: I hope this movie thanks Matthew Lillard from keeping this movie from being one of the worst movies I've seen in my life.
Knock at the Cabin: Pretty solid thriller. Hey Dicaprio fans! Now, that Leo has won an Oscar, maybe you can shift that energy to getting Dave Bautista one. That would be swell.
Aterrados (Terrified): A very unique horror film. Rough around the edges, but the ideas make up for it.
Mad God: Jesus, I watched a lot of horror films this year-uh anyway, this movie was meh. Having good animation doesn't substitute absorbing storytelling.
Cobweb: Yeah, I saw the Red Letter Media episode too. Go watch Cobweb.
Ken Burns' Benjamin Franklin: Thanks Ken Burns for the $5 charge to my credit card every month now just so I could use PBS Passport.
Superstore: Really funny! The later seasons weren't good enough for me to finish the whole thing though. There's only some much sitcom of a corporation taking advantage of poor people that I can take.
Demon Slayer: An anime that was fine but found too uninteresting to watch more than a handful of episodes.
Jury Duty: Another very funny show.
Family Guy Season 5: ...Don't ask...
