I want YOU to go to the movies!

'SUP, NERDS?!

You know what I'm sick of? Bad movies. And yes! In order to stop the madness of shit-movies, I want YOU to go to the movie theatre! Not only should you go to the theatre, but you should buy tickets to something that isn't the blockbuster of the month.

Why I'm Annoyed

If ya'll can't tell. I go see lots of unusual films, which you may have read in past entries. You'll typically see me mention, "There's just myself and *fewer than 10 people* in the theatre." Perhaps you can call me a hipster movie-goer?? However, I rarely see a film I really dislike. If I'm going to spend $13 to see an evening show (unfortunately my work schedule is never conductive to seeing a matinee...), I'm making sure it's something I know I'll enjoy or have an appreciation for even if it lacks in certain areas of filmmaking.

So my rage begins with Fathom Events. I guess this isn't anyone's fault, it's just a matter of demographics and theatre traffic. The other day I had my heart completely set on seeing Masaaki Yuasa's recent anime movie, The Night is Short, Walk On Girl. This movie was frequently advertised to me whilst browsing the internet and I frequently check for new Fathom Events anyway.

Yuasa is a phenomenal director and artist. I'm a huge fan of a bunch of anime he's worked on: Tatami Galaxy, Ping Pong: The Animation and most recently the Netflix exclusive Devilman Crybaby. These are all awesome anime, I highly recommend checking any of them out! For being a grossly underrated director, I was shocked to see that his movie made to American theatres for a specialty showing. That struck me odd, but it all started to add up in my head...

After finishing my 11 hour work day, I open the Regal Cinemas app to double check the time-- I should've had a half hour to get my butt from work to the theatre and catch the movie in good time. But the show wasn't listed. Confused, I checked the Fathom Events website to only find that the closest theatre playing The Night is Short, Walk On Girl is 90 minutes from me. I lost my shit. Absolutely furious.

The Remedy

After having my fit, I felt upon the principle of supporting movies deserving of good money, I went to a showing of Generation Wealth. Generation Wealth is a documentary by Lauren Greenfield who created one of my favorite documentaries of all time, The Queen of Versailles. If you haven't seen The Queen of Versailles, I highly recommend it, the family you will watch had waaaaay too much money and everything they did hurts. Whenever it goes on Netflix, I watch it ten times over.

I'm glad I saw Generation Wealth because that would have been the only opportunity for me to see it on the silver screen because that too had a very limited run. To my demise, I was the only person in the theatre. How depressing.

Just Stop Picking Dumb Movies

I noticed a lot of buzz around The Meg, which I kind of get "movie of the month" vibes from. I don't want to knock on "dumb" movies because I LOVE so many silly films, but you have to know what you're getting into before seeing a "dumb" movie. The number of complaints I saw on social media about the movie was immaculate! I was surprised to see so much discussion around it.

I'm one of those people frantically swimming away from
this film.

I saw so many tweets along the lines of, "There's no good movies this August, may as well go see The Meg." HELL NO! You don't know how many people I've refuted the importance of seeing good v. "dumb" movies, shouting to them, "GO SUPPORT THE FIRST FULL ASIAN-CAST MOVIE IN 25 YEARS, Crazy Rich Asians!!"

Special gems like Crazy Rich Asians are so incredibly rare and I'm so glad Kevin Kwan's novel was adapted into a movie. I've been a fan of the novel for years now and was joyed when I heard it was going to be made into a film. Heck, I even went to a special early showing of it before the official release, I was that excited!

I am as in love with this movie as Nick and Rachel are in
love with each other...

Most importantly, it is actually a well-crafted romantic comedy. Romcoms have a reputation for being extremely cheesy and reinforce the ideals of the male gaze. Of course there was some cheese in Crazy Rich Asians, but I think the various stories all came to fruition and you really fall in love with the characters and their problems.

IN CONCLUSION,

Please choose wisely which movies you see in the theatre. Just know that where your money goes influences Hollywood and if we continue to feed stupid movies, they'll cling onto a trend and beat it into your soul until your soul itself extinguishes. All I really want out of this is greater recognition for smaller gems and for them to be more available because all films, no matter how good or bad, are truly meant to be seen on the big screen.

"Liz, I don't go to the theatre because it will eventually be up on Netflix!" Dude. Support the film industry more directly for the genres and creators you want to make more of what you love. Netflix is a wonderful way to sample new things, but occasionally go out when you can afford it and give your dollars to a theatre.

LATER, DWEEBS!

Loverly Liz

The Talos Principle

'SUP, NERDS?!

I've been a bit busy lately being sick with mono, going to the hospital n' stuff, fixing the entire plumbing system in my house and now figuring out drywall and paint... meaning that I've been hardly seeing people or doing anything of personal significance. However, there is one video game that has consumed me on days I just don't feel like doing anything: The Talos Principle

The Talos Principle combines two things I love: puzzles and myth. I've always been kind of obsessed with puzzles games, having the hugest crush on Prof. Layton and enjoying the puzzles more than the action of the Resident Evil series. A friend insisted I try TTP when it came out, so I've finally slow-poked myself into playing years later. And goodness. I'm kicking myself for not playing it sooner.

 Big Questions, Few Answers

TTP is first a literal puzzle game that turns everything you witness and experience into a huge philosophical question. You play a robot in a virtual world, void of other beings. The other major beings(?) are Elohim, a disembodied voice who is presumably God, and a computer program, the Milton Library Interface.

MLA is hands down the best character.

Elohim says this universe was created just for the player, but he heeds you to not climb this glaring tower between the worlds. Within each world there are multiple levels with a handful of puzzles and tricky stars to find. These worlds are themed after ancient philosophers as well as Greek, Egyptian, and Christian  mythology.

I totally dweebed out over every bit of detail in the game. As I grew up, I spent a lot of time buried in my father's books about ancient history and mythology, reveling in diagrams of pyramids and learning of different rituals and stories. When I was little I even tried writing hieroglyphics and studied the Greek alphabet.

Rage-inducing levels. A bird's eye view of how this can be a
real cluster for your brain.

There are two major stories I see play out in The Talos Principle. Plot A is the goal to conquer these puzzles, finding your purpose and reason in the virtual reality. However, I would consider Plot B to be the entries you read in the MLI catalogue. Not only does this computer contain stories interpreting mythology, you slowly unearth what has happened in the real world, revealing harrowing truths about humanity.

It's Funny How We Speak of Reality...

I feel like sometimes a puzzle game is just a puzzle game... but I like to think of The Talos Principle as an experience. It may have taken me some six months to play and finish, but I had to be a particular mood to play. Often I'd play for hours on nights that I just wanted to be alone with my thoughts.

And if you turn around you'll see a statue of a woman on a floating isle...

There is very little dialogue and each level has a certain ambience, leaving a lot of character to be found in the environment. I loved finding small stories that are told in the world. Some of it I made up in my head, pretending people once lived in the old ruins that you explore. Other stories are direct and symbolic, bringing me to tears.

A puzzle game this serene, this beautiful can't go without me rage-quitting sometimes. For most of the final world, my friend Dan held my hand and did most of it for me. Puzzle games are meant to be chill for me, but when it becomes frustrating to a point it stops being fun, I need another brain to reel me back in. Working on it together was a much greater experience than sitting alone and getting worked up about a silly puzzle.

CONCLUSION

I've gone through a couple of emotional lows this year and TTP carried me through some of it when I needed to be removed from my own reality. While helping me, Dan made a point that we see through to every ending. They're all very interesting and I felt starkly different emotions given the scenario.

The completionist ending is quite a delight and I would definitely make sure you have you friends play after you fully beat the game. It's such a rewarding ending that bleeds into other people's games!! I didn't have any friends who played on PS4, so I'm really hoping some of you will pick it up and see my mark in The Talos Principle.

I'll try to catch up with some extra blogs this month, but considering my illness and the state of my home, I can't make any promises. I'll do my best!

LATER, DWEEBS!

Loverly Liz