Lurker > BlueCrystalTear

Snake5555555555 posted...

NICE write-up! The imagery definitely is striking, still sticks out in my brain 12 years on. ESPECIALLY the toe-nail.

Thanks! And yeah... lots of visceral imagery perfectly juxtaposed with the hotness of two very, VERY gorgeous women. I looked away from the toenail to check my own in response; I can handle some blood, just not the guts (that's why you don't see many horror movies on here). The timing is very, very eerie to me given how my nail's gonna fall off tonight or tomorrow. It's also Murphy's Law since the pool just closed at my building and that was what was preventing me from swimming, since it was like a "flap" that was super painful. Thus, I can kinda understand how painful that injury was. But yeah, enough on toenail injuries.

Really, Natalie Portman played the role of Nina perfectly. She sold the schizophrenia really well, and that made for a fantastic psychological thriller. She's a great actress so this does not surprise me. Mila Kunis also did a fantastic job - and I could tell the difference between Lily's "real" self and the hallucinations. I think she recognized that she had to treat those as two separate characters - think Persona 5, where there's someone's real-world self and the cognitive version in a Palace (this isn't a spoiler for P5, really).

This is probably the kind of movie you have to watch a second time to fully appreciate. And probably more context from having actually seen Swan Lake instead of just knowing the gist of it.

Maybe I should have done "before 2005" since more people got their first long-term mobile number earlier than I thought. Until I got my MotoRAZR, I had a Tracfone where I didn't get to choose the number, and it changed once or twice.

I don't get calls for people who had this number before me anymore - I used to get people asking for a Shameka but that stopped a few years ago. What inspired this topic, however, was me getting a wrong-number text and that got me thinking about things like this.

Black Swan (2010)
Directed by: Darren Aronofsky
Written by: Andres Heinz, Mark Heyman, John McLaughlin
Starring: Natalie Portman, Mila Kunis, Vincent Cassel
Previous status: Never seen

"Was I good?"

Yes, you WERE good. Seriously, this one had it ALL. It was not only a visual masterpiece, but there were so many intricacies in the plot that made it one hell of a psychological thriller. Even if there were parts that were a bit gross to watch - when there was excess blood and gore, anyway. First thing that made me jump a bit was the bloody big toe - I had to check that mine wasn't bleeding, given how that toenail's hanging on by a thread (I injured it months ago and the toenail started to fall off in June). It wouldn't have been that bad otherwise, but the gashes and stuff - I'm not squeamish like my dad, but I still don't like the guts.

The most interesting things here were as follows:

• Using Swan Lake as metaphor for Nina's life, with her character offing herself like... she ultimately did. The dichotomy is also interesting: Mila Kunis's Lily was a more bubbly, upbeat and carefree personality that embodied the dark, seductive Black Swan better in dance, while Natalie Portman's Nina was dark and disturbed, yet her dancing embodied the pure White Swan.
• The way this started off normal but unraveled as it went along - it became impossible to tell what was real and what was imaginary after a certain point, and I'm struggling to figure out what that point was. Probably the ecstasy in the alcohol. This started feeling like Inception after a point, with multiple layers of Nina's subconscious we were going through - each more emotionally complex than the last, with increasing distortions. A schizophrenic mind is... scary to think about there.

Speaking of that ecstasy, that was ALSO when this suddenly became a porno out of nowhere. Lily just wanted to be friends with Nina. Even though "I feel shitty for what I did, so I stalked you" made no sense.... I do think it was because Lily actually gave a shit. She saw Nina as someone troubled and someone friendless, probably because of Helicopter Mom. BOY do I know that feeling. My mother refused to see me as an adult for the longest time and had to reevaluate things when it was pointed out to her. I can relate to Nina's plight a lot, though I'm glad I never tried drugs. She has hallucinations that distort her reality; me, I just have fantasies that blur with actuality. They're conscious and I know they're not real, and I can distinguish life from dreams.

Something I have to mention is the artistic camera shots, with close-ups, shaky camera, strobe lights, motion shots, and all that used to great effect. Shaky camera sucks in an action movie but here, in a psychological thriller about a schizophrenic dancer, it works wonders. There's still something I don't fully understand, and that's what was causing Nina's injuries. What was that on her back that she pulled out? I don't see any way she could have gotten that in there herself. It became clear that she'd stabbed herself at the end thinking Lily was her doppleganger (they do look like sisters), but it was another hallucination. Like many before it, probably including what happened with Beth in the hospital. And maybe even her inheriting "little princess" from Beth in the eyes of Vincent Cassel's character. Even though... yeah, he character was a prick who sexually exploited his dancers to bring out the best in them. He changed his mind on a dime just because Nina bit his lip. But I think he has good intentions - if it works and he has consent, great. If he doesn't have consent, fuck him.

I also have to say: This was hot. Seeing two actresses I've said many a time are among the hottest dance like this is arousing. The oral sex ecstasy dream was oddly kinky, and the "Was I good?" when Lily found out about it was hilarious. Her tattoo was never explained, though I don't know if it needed to be - or if it was even actually there. I don't know if the other dancers were actually worried about Nina at the end or not, or if that was a hallucination. Her eyes were red, she was losing her mind, and it was insanity. And then, as her character killed herself, she bled out, dying as the film closed. Quite the ending, let me tell you, but it HAD to end there. One thing that was great: This was all from Nina's perspective, so when that perspective no longer can exist, neither can the story. I hope Lily was just as "perfect" in as the Swan Queen.

Overall... a visual masterpiece. A psychological masterpiece. It was HOT. And frankly, I had to take a LOT of notes for this one. Just... look at this:
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/6/2/8/AAR0ZFAADt8k.jpg

This means I give a shit. This means I am engrossed. All this writing means I liked it. I wouldn't trouble myself if I wasn't enjoying it, and I do expect other movies on THE LIST will have very, very short write-ups. This one did not. 5/5. May watch again.

@Snake5555555555 @BetrayedTangy you each get another nomination!

Eddv posted...

Poor Kirby cant catch a break

"what ever kirby es dum ne ways"

I knew I'd free-fall because of cap issues forcing me to tell QB Kirby Freeman to take an early retirement. But DAMN.

By "primary" I mean the one you put on your resume and give to friends to contact you. If your primary was a landline back in 2010, and your mobile number that you got that year (and still have) became your primary in 2013, vote for 2010 since that is when this number was first tied to you.

Me, I have had the same number since I got my MotoRAZR in 2007. This is why the last options are as they are: That was around when people started getting dedicated cell phones, which is why I structured the options as I did.

Wordle 464 3/6

CATER
SWIRL
BRISK

Done in one minute. Easy today.

tag

haven't seen Tough As Nails but I still know what's what here

I didn't watch the season, but seeing this made me SO SATISFIED. Taylor going from house pariah to winner is fucking fantastic.

She won... 7-2 or 8-1. If it was 6-3, they'd have started with Indy's vote. But Indy or Jasmine could've voted Monte (Joseph we know voted Taylor), in which case it didn't matter which end they started with.

Great_Paul posted...

A little over 2 years ago when I helped bump all of the current ertyu topics to the front page.

Woah, it's been two years since ertyu got banned? (I looked it up: It was December 4th, 2020 according to the Lost Old Games Site).

Lots of moderations handed out that day, but ertyu got banned since 90% of his topics said absolutely nothing. Despite that, he bumped them frequently, thus keeping them alive for far longer than they needed to be. Which is what got him banned for spamming.

It's been so long that I couldn't tell you, save for one private board post that got deleted for quoting another post that was deleted; this was not counted against me.

Board 8 is pretty chill in terms of moderations. Only the most blatant violations get deleted here.

I don't ever wear sweatshirts or hoodies - that's how warm I run. They're not comfortable for me! And yeah, it's felt very much like November - not sure why, but I like it better than the humid 87-degree days, that's for sure.

I use people's clothes to profile their character - never to judge, just to get a feel for what they're like. I only do so to figure out what I can talk to them about. Sometimes I'm a bit off but I only do it to know how to approach them.

FarmFox posted...

What was your favorite childhood movie?

That... is a tough question, honestly, because I think I went through "phases." I honestly can't remember what my favorite Disney movie was when I was real young. I remember movies I liked, which were the standard 90s fare, but I couldn't pick a favorite.

Once I became a teenager and started watching James Bond movies, my favorite became GoldenEye. That much is easy.

Do you watch any sports? What are your favorite teams?

Well, that sucks.

Probably won't waste my time next year tbh

Played a bunch this morning, but have virtually nothing to report. Took me several tries to clear Lailah's crucible; Mikleo's only took one. Edna's... I'm not ready for it yet, in large part due to Lord of the Land hax making that thing too powerful. I couldn't find the one at Aifread's Hunting Grounds.

I crossed the Camelot Bridge - the boss was a Kraken that wasn't too hard - and that was the end of several hours' worth.

I DO hope people still care to read this... I feel like I'm just speaking into a void here.

Tag to listen later. I only remember the first four songs on this track list so we'll see how the rest of the album holds up!

Aerith insurance save

Wordle 463 5/6

(REACT)
(SPLAT)
(ABOUT)
(AIGHT)
(ADMIT)

I too wasn't seeing it for a while, and just spent like 15 minutes trying various combinations, one of which actually worked. Scoredle says I had only three choices left and somehow got one.

I haven't played for the past week for a few reasons:

• My movie watchthrough topic
• Being a busy beaver, getting stuff done that I'd neglected when I was busy being social
• Not feeling it, since... as you can see above, it's lining up to be at that point where the writing completely falls to pieces.

I'll get back to this soon. Maybe tomorrow. Don't count on me being too interested, not after how pathetic that last part was.

I didn't even last the first quarter, nor do I want to know the final score. It got gory QUICKLY. Also, I may be high...? There's a weird smell of drugs permeating the building. Somebody's getting evicted.

So I wanted to do something more lighthearted once again.... and I thought I'd just, out of nowhere, watch something not on THE LIST. Something that makes a lot of sense, though. Something that I think nobody's gonna mind me watching because it might have received some nominations anyway. And like I said: I want to watch same-series movies relatively close together, and I was just feelin' it after last night.

Monsters University (2013)
Directed by: Dan Scanlon
Written by: Dan Garson, Dan Scanlon, Robert Baird
Starring: Billy Crystal, John Goodman, Helen Mirren, Steve Buscemi
Previous status: Never seen

"How do I become a scarer?"

Hot off yesterday's enjoyment, I thought I'd go ahead and watch the prequel that was made with the idea that you'd seen the original movie in mind.... while still being enjoyable on its own, for kiddos who hadn't yet been procreated 12 years prior.

This gives a LOT of backstory for everybody - particularly notable that Mike Wazowski (I can't help but say his full name) wanted to be a scarer himself. I knew immediately why he ended up being a support person: Kids didn't find him scary. They found him funny. This is why, when the company switched over to laughs, he was one of the first comedians hired.

The first twist is that Mike Wazowski has a roommate who's also a scaring major... Randall Boggs, who is a geek with glasses, rather diminutive, and actually seems like a decent guy at first. He doesn't want to use his invisibility cloak for... some reason. When him appearing out of nowhere with a roar is legitimately petrifying. There's also a retcon that Mike and Sulley knew each other before. And Sulley is a dick because his father is a legend and he just thinks he has it made.... and him not thinking Mike has a chance. This is why Mike is studying. He needs to compensate for his size. Sulley's arrogance gets him deservedly flunked out by the headmistress... and Mike does too, because he's just not scary. Mike's testicular fortitude is certainly something, but it leads to him and Sulley having a completely different relationship. This is all fascinating. So is the start of the Sulley/Boggs rivalry.

One thing I notice is that this movie's early going's not as joyous as the original, but it's better in the character development department - at least for the major characters. This is quickly rectified, thankfully, with Squishy's mom interrupting the initiation to do laundry, since the frat house is his mom's house, and then the disastrous first event.... with the predictable DQ. Also predictable: The party being a trap by the bullies. Story of my life. This is why my biggest pet peeve is people. For being judgmental pricks and putting others into buckets. I get ostracized based on the way I look all the time. Trying to prove people wrong gets tiring. That said, Mike actually does it - and it turns out even the announcers were rooting for him, as the unexpected Cinderella story. Sulley.... rigged the machine for the maximum effect.... to get back in the scaring program since he didn't think his team could do it, especially himself. That's a Randall Boggs maneuver, y'know. Mike then tries to prove himself using the campus door chamber and gets caught at a girls' summer camp cabin... welp. Sulley comes to the rescue, tells Mike the full truth, and the two of them pull an insane stunt to scare the shit out of FIVE PARK RANGERS. Y'know, adults, which then causes all the equipment in the room on the other side to go ballistic. The guys get expelled... because there's nothing left for them to learn if they can do that. This leads to them quickly rising through the ranks of Monsters Inc and becoming an unstoppable scare team. Randall... sorta became an afterthought here.

In the end, all this was good. For what it is, it's good - but there's something missing from this that was present in the original. This prequel was written with a different viewpoint - focus more on writing intrigue than witty dialogue. This produced a very engrossing climax, but it did so at expense of how tightly written and thoroughly comedic the original was. This is not one of Pixar's best films, but it's still Pixar. It's still better than anything Disney's main studio did between (but not including) Emperor's New Groove and Frozen. I still can't decide between a 3 and a 4, so I'll just do a 3.5/5. I didn't want to do half-stars but... guess that needs to happen sometimes.

I think we definitely needed something like this. Light, catchy bubblegum pop to help balance the redundant instrumentation of the last couple weeks. The songs here are somewhat more variant - only somewhat, since these songs fall into one of three buckets, buckets that have slight overlap. I happened to enjoy the "string section" bucket the best, alongside "In Vain."

1. In Vain
2. Sight of You
3. Don't Feel Like Crying
4. Sucker Punch
5. Dynamite
6. Mine Right Now
7. Business Dinners
8. Never Mine
9. Don't Kill My Vibe
10. Strangers
11. Basic
12. Level Up

(there's a chance I'm joking - I don't even know if I am)

I don't know how to better put this, but maybe we shouldn't be friends, Metal...

ZaziGuado posted...

I'll get my rankings in finally tonight, but we might be breaking participation records here!

I did one listen, will do another.

My mind has been all over the place this week playing catch-up. Never got around to last week's, either. It's just a busy time of year.

Aerith 10

Trading for her next hour (yeah, I'm kidding)

Aerith 9

Aerith 8

Aerith 7

Wordle 462 2/6




You guys knew I got this in two already, didn't you?

:59:16

Aerith 6

Added those earlier, thanks for nominating, Gavs!

Tonight, I decided to go with something light. Because... it just works to follow up the heavy crime stuff.

Monsters Inc. (2001)
Directed by: Pete Docter
Written by: Pete Docter, Jill Culton, Jeff Pidgeon, Ralph Eggleston, Andrew Stanton, Daniel Gerson
Starring: John Goodman, Billy Crystal, Steve Buscemi, Mary Gibbs, Jen Tilly
Previous status: Saw ages ago

Please note that this first paragraph was written before watching, to recap what I recalled going in; I will do this for any movie marked as having been seen before. (I may be mistaken on some of those and my memories are actually from the trailers, jsyk)
Honestly, I could not tell you the last time I watched this movie. In fact, I don't remember many of the intricate details, just the basics: Monsters waltz into kids' rooms to scare them not out of malice but to protect their own insecurities - they themselves are afraid of the kids (can't recall why). And they suddenly have an unwelcome visitor, a 4 y/o who recognizes this that they refer to as "Boo" since that's what she says. All hell breaks loose but they must face their fears. Sulley and Mike Wazowski are the protagonists (I can't help but say "Mike Wazowski" like Boo does); I remember the smarmy Randall Boggs and the purple woman, but... the details are very, very few and far between, same goes for the relationships. I do remember Mike doing stand-up for a kid at the end, but not much else. Time for some nostalgia. Watching now...

Okay, back.

Yeah, I got several things wrong, and didn't remember some big details. Boo's even younger than I remembered - I remembered her being a bit larger than that, like at the sushi bar. I didn't recall her referring to Sulley as "Kitty." I did not recall at all that the screams and laughter powered Monstropolis. I really only remembered Celia for her design - nothing more, and I may have gotten some details between her role and that of Roz confused. It really has been ages since I saw this! My memory is usually better, but a refresher is always nice. I should do that more often for the movies I like. And get rid of the ones I don't.

One thing that's really great about this is the sheer amount of story they tell in an hour and a half. Like, there wasn't ANY wasted second in this movie. No dumb "watch X walk down a hallway" at an unnecessary time. No cameras panning out to show unnecessary scenery that doesn't even add atmosphere. All of the things like that were necessary for world-building or showing action and building tension. It was very tightly written and produced, and the story makes a lot of sense for it too.

Randall was even slimier than I had recalled - I'd just remembered him being smarmy, not to what lengths he went to. He was certainly an interesting villain - Steve Buscemi being an ass is certainly a carryover from Reservoir Dogs. That said, this time he got a comeuppance, and it was most certainly an amusing death. Changing colors uncontrollably when Boo conquered her fear to smother him and then being thrown into a door to some redneck's trailer where he's subsequently bludgeoned by a shovel until he's donezo.... yeah, that was great.

I honestly am not sure if I liked Waternoose being the Big Bad - it's too normal to have the CEO character be the villain and the Boggs be the henchman, and this was no exception. Boggs did all the dirty work to a point that Waternoose even questioned it - and then suddenly Waternoose was bad again, and got set up hardcore, arrested, and deposed. It felt like there was a huge inconsistency in his character with how he went from questioning his own henchman's ethics to threatening to kidnap a thousand children in a very short amount of time. At least he admitted that he knew that kids weren't really toxic creatures and was just doing that to fuel scares. I don't know if he knew that laughter worked just the same, but produces more power since it lasts for longer. There was also the nice twist of Roz being an undercover agent trying to find the truth. Did not remember that, either, OR the scene at the end with the door being restored (which I should have), probably two years later when Boo was y/o.

Was nice for the easter egg in Boo's room of the Jessie doll and clown fish - easy to spot, sure, but blatant crossovers with other Pixar properties (the latter being the movie after this one, which was certainly already in the works). The amount of detail and craftsmanship here was great, but I still am a little confused about that (spoiler) I mentioned above. That's... a minor issue, honestly. For what this movie is, it's damn good, and even better than I remembered. I'll give it a 5/5.

@MetalmindStats @hylianknight3 You are both allowed another nomination! (yes I also tag people so they know I watched what they wanted me to watch)

The next one may or may not be tomorrow - it depends on how badly the first quarter goes. I already expect it will be very ugly in Columbus since TOSU has our number.

Aerith 5

:02:59

Aerith 4

:02:35

Aerith 3

Majora's Mask

Okay, then...

Dreams you've had (of the idealistic variety)

:00:17

Aerith 2

Dreams you've had (of the sleeping variety)

Paratroopa1 posted...

I don't really understand the obsession with fishing minigames in games, I find fishing minigames to be a chore across every game that they're in. It's been a trend to put fishing minigames in games as part of some sort of meme and I don't get it.

tbh I want fishing in something like Stardew Valley, and I want it done like Stardew does it; it's simple, yet engaging. I also want fishing in a survivalist type of game where catching food is an active part of gameplay, and I want it to have realistic, yet engaging mechanics... while not keeping the "realism" of not catching anything for an hour.

I don't understand the need for fishing games in so many JRPGs and games like Zelda, when many of those are boring or too simple, and don't offer a productive reward.

Aerith 1

For me... I've found card games I've loved and others that are just luck of the draw. I've found puzzles that are fun/engaging and others that are either impossible, oversimplified, or lacking in variety. I've found base management games that are rewarding and others that were tedious collect-a-thons of random drops. I've found fishing that's dull and fishing that's Stardew Valley.

I think the one that I enjoy the highest percentage of the time are either puzzles or card games.

LeonhartFour posted...

Battle arena

Big_Bob posted...

Which break from normal gameplay is your favorite?

(I'm pretty sure a JRPG Coliseum is "normal gameplay" but in a reward-based setting)

XD he's only realized I've blocked him now, when I did so after he rubbed it in like a little child when Tifa went out?

(yes I am aware of someone on my side acting like a brat, too.)

Prince of Egypt

Aladdin is pretty great, but Prince of Egypt is downright epic.

KommunistKoala posted...

not really when it's exactly what is expected of you

Please don't feed the trolls. Let's just make sure Aerith wins this, shall we?

7

Some exciting parts and good twists, with a good cast (especially Lara's evolution as a character), but nothing too special. It's certainly leagues better than its sequel, which is... bad, to say the least.

:13:12 (if this isn't over yet but...)

Ramza

Bane_Of_Despair posted...

yea sure, for Ramza if you can

Works for me!

I save at :13:12, anyone who saves around that timestamp wanna trade me for Aeris?

aerith

Espeon posted...

it SHOULD be a real episode

it WILL be a pointless recap after a week of boredom

At least it's not Celebrity Big Brother, where they have a recap episode and reminisce about something that had literally happened just three days earlier.

Of course BB for a while had a midseason recap episode also, to "help people follow along better" or whatever. Keep in mind Grodner likes her showmances, which I think is because she thinks the fandom wants that stuff since a small portion of people talk about that being their favorite part. The recaps are meant to cater to those people, because they're pretty stupid.

Big Brother SHOULD do recap episodes at this point - but these should be centered around the final 3's storylines, focusing on highlighting things about their games previously only seen on feeds. In other words, it should exist solely to set up the finale. Instead of just regurgitating who hooked up with who, when the parties were, what the big petty fights were about, etc.