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"Blood Meridian or the Evening Redness in the West" A Painful, Thoughtful Read

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      Originally, I was planning on using that single iconic painting of "The Judge" as the cover for this review, but after some deliberation I decided against it, even though you could argue he was by far the most interesting part of this book. I mean after all he was the main reason I decided to give this book a try. The white skin, the unsettling grin on his face, it was calling to me. Though, now after reading this novel I can safely say, wow, what a slog. I don't think I can unironically recommend this book to most of my friends, just because it is a real pain in the ass to get through. I even spaced it out, but no matter what I did, in terms of the actual reading experience I can safely say I did not particularly enjoy Blood Meridian . Let's talk about it.     After finally finishing the book, and looking up some threads to see other interpretations of the ending I can safely say that this book is significantly more interesting to read about then to actua...
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"Sunset Overdrive" The Most Fun I've Had Moving Around in a While

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      Let me tell you the story of a younger me. One that spent his cash like it was truly disposable. He had few expenses, and few other hobbies save for video games, and so he loved to spend his money on Steam key websites, going for the "10 mystery game packages" and many others of a similar ilk. Eventually, at some point, he had more games than he could ever conceivably play. Hundreds of Steam games bought cheaply, on an account that was now worth thousands more than he had ever invested in it. The reason I tell you all of this? If you haven't guessed it by now, Sunset Overdrive  was one of those games that lay dormant in my Steam library for years. Until now. Let's talk about it.     I will say, this game might be short, but it's a damn good use of 30 hours. I can say it with my chest that I would wholeheartedly recommend my game. Yes, there are absolutely caveats to it, but I'd argue they're kinks that could easily be ironed out, rather than ugly sta...
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"Futurama Season 1" It's the Space Simpsons

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      Yes, yes, I know I said I was watching The Boondocks  but in Canada you have to buy it on Apple TV which is a pain so it's kind of annoying to go through it. So I've also been dabbling in other shows and frankly, this hasn't been the worst idea so far. There have been multiple times I have called this show The Simpsons  or Space Simpsons  by accident, despite the fact that my only actual exposure to The Simpsons has been clips online. So make of that what you will, I'm not saying it negatively or positively, I'm just saying I assume this is what The Simpsons  would be like if it was set in space. But otherwise, it was a pretty decent first season, let's talk about it.     You see, it was actually pretty novel watching the first season of Futurama  for "the first time." I say this in air quotes because I'm pretty sure I had actually already watched a whole rerun of this season when I was a very small child looking for anything on C...
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"The Boondocks Season 1" Aged Beautifully, Effortlessly Smart

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      I have officially finished watching the first season of The Boondocks.  It's a show that's always been on my radar, but for one reason or another eluded me, mainly the fact that it cannot be streamed in Canada unless I buy it off of Apple TV. But, I am in a bit of rut when it comes to figuring out what I want to do, I could not finish Tomb Raider 1 unless I felt like ripping my hair out, so I decided to give this show I see online so often a spin. And I should have watched this show earlier. I don't think it's the best show I've ever watched so far, but it's just a really enjoying watch. Let's talk about it.     I'm not saying this show is for "Le Intellectual" or whatever, but when I say this show feels pretty smart, I mean in the sense that I never really have to worry about anything aging poorly. Even if this show wasn't an animated show I would say it's pretty smart about topics it chooses to satirize, even if it's often t...
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"The Strange Talent, The Legend, and The Legacy of Luther Strode" Too Short For It's Own Good

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      I remember seeing someone post a page from The Legacy of Luther Strode. I felt as if the "messaging" was a bit vague, and the person who talked about it did say that they weren't sure if they agreed with the message, and I have to say, I kind of agree. Not to say that this comic book is particularly profound or anything like that, in fact I'd argue it's trying to be something it simply cannot be. For instance, I also saw somebody online describe this comic as "If Superman grew up with no morals," and I yet again also have to vehemently disagree. The bones of maybe an interesting concept are there, but there are simply too few bones given to readers to truly make anything special. Let's talk about it.     Luther Strode's fundamental issue is that it is simply too short. I would say almost all of it's issue's could be fixed if Jordan and co. made this comic longer than six issues per section, totaling to a measly 18 issues in total. T...
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"Pokemon Emerald Seaglass" A Beautiful ROM Hack for a Decent Game

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      This review is going to be a little different, in the sense that I'm reviewing a rom-hack, but also because I'm just going to be reviewing Pokemon Emerald in general as well. Part of this is because I've been slowly (and I do mean very slowly) going through all of the older Pokémon generations again, and another part of it is because this game is very intentionally faithful to the original games. I don't really mind reviewing the game, after all when I first started out emulating Pokémon Emerald  was one of the first games I played, and I've had a very on and off relationship with rom hacks in my life anyways. And because I just kept on playing variants upon variants of this game, I have very little recollection of ever actually finishing it. I'm pretty sure I must have at one point, but for some reason a memory of actually finishing this game eludes me. Let's talk about it.     I'll start off with the "Seaglass" part. The art style is fa...
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"This Is How You Lose The the Time War" Great Premise, With A Lot To Be Desired

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      If you named this book "Sapphic Encounters in the Time-Space Continuum" it'd sound like a really campy 60's flick, but that's also how I'd describe this entire book. The reason I decided to read it for my one mandatory book of the month was because I had heard about it before, I had seen it's cover, and for some reason people were clamoring about it on Twitter. If you think I base too much of my hobbies on what Twitter recommends you're probably right but still. I vaguely recall it being described as "some people call it really great, others call it too pretentious." So imagine my surprise when I pick up this book from the library, only to find that it's not even 200 pages long, and it's labeled as "Science Fiction Elementary." Let's talk about it.     On that last point for a quick paragraph. I can see why one might describe this novel as "for kids." I mean when I say it's short I do mean it, not jus...
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"I Love Boosters" Confusing, Messy, Funny

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      I promise I am not becoming a Keke Palmer fan who will review all of her films, but what I will say is that I did in fact go to the theaters with my sister to watch another Keke Palmer film, and I enjoyed it. It's messy, it's flawed, and frankly it's a pretty confusing film, but it was funny. That comedy was sort of the main tentpole that held up the very large tent that is the film I Love Boosters , which tries to do so, so much, admirably so I might add. Yet I found myself leaving the film feeling as if it tried to do too much, it tried to fit so much under it's tent, and as a result it almost cheapened the true message, the beauty that was meant to be at the center of it all. Let's talk about it.     I knew about this film when it came out, partially because of a fun movie auction activity I had done with friends, but I in fact did receive some minor promo of this film. Mainly someone posting a GIF from this movie, and a reddit post apparently from dire...
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"East of West" Amazing Premise Tempered by a Shaky Landing

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    People, come around, for I have finished another comic book series, this time by the wonderful Jonathan Hickman. I wouldn't say I've read everything he's done, but I will say that I read both his  Avengers  and Fantastic Four  runs and I both loved them, particularly as they were the leadups/lead-in's to Secret Wars . So, when I saw someone post an image of East of West , it didn't take me much convincing. Not only did the premise seem super cool, not only was it in a compact and relatively digestible 45 issues, but it was by an author whose stories I enjoyed. And well, I must say, East of West  is really good, except for the ending. That is not to say I think the story ended incorrectly, it's just that it came to that conclusion significantly faster than I thought it would. Let's talk about it.     So, for the uninitiated, the gist of East of West  is basically this. Some time in the 1800's(?) America was hit with a meteor in a place cal...
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"The Drama" A Delectable Film You Should Watch With Others

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    Certainly a film of all time. That's not to just say I thought The Drama  was bad or anything. In fact, I knew about the big twist prior to watching this film (thanks Twitter) yet still came away pretty pleased with how they handled the premise. If you (thankfully) haven't been spoiled yet, the big reveal is that Emma (Zendaya's character), planned and almost executed a school shooting. The semantics of it all are frankly just there to make you feel better about whatever judgement or choice you've made on her character. I will say that the film does really make you think about this moral quandary, and tests the limit of the idea that everyone gets a second chance. So let's talk about it.     I do think that this film is best enjoyed with other people around you. No offense to those who prefer to watch movies alone, but this is pretty clearly one of those movies meant to challenge your current paradigm on morality, and see if it needs to, or wants to shift. T...
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