The Toad's Burrow

     Look I understand how it seems for me to only be watching Conclave  now. The pope died and now as a Catholic I'm interested in watching a movie about what happens when a pope dies. Even still, I don't think I can understate just how good this movie is, and that you should watch it, not just for its rare cultural relevance, but for the fact that it's a fantastic movie. It takes what seems like an arbitrary and overly secretive process and strips it down, it grounds down any sort of mysticism around it into one that we as humans can actually relate to. Because after all these cardinals are only human themselves, and what seems like some spiritual process is really a petty one, full of politicking and intrigue. If there was ever a time that it made sense to watch this film now would be it, and it would be worth every second of the two hours.     I think to start if off you have to praise the acting, especially Ralph Fiennes, who without him this simply wo...

      Yes I have spent the past hour just letting the finale of The Soprano's  sit, and yes I did in fact actually enjoy it. Letting Don't Stop Believin' course through me, I can only sit back and appreciate the fine job that David Chase and co. did. I definitely did not agree with every choice that happened at the ending, and some parts I definitely felt could have been just straight up removed, but you can't separate the good from the bad, otherwise was there ever any real meaning to begin with? I do think this season most definitely does drag on, especially as someone who was not there to experience the "two different halves" of this season. However, even still, I think Chase had a pretty clear direction and vision when it came to how the wanted this series and considering how easy it could have been for them to fumble their way to the finish line you have to appreciate the cohesion.      So, let's get the elephant out of the room, let's talk about ...

      Look, I know in recent years, at least online Detroit: Become Human  has a bit of a reputation as a game that's a little too on the nose with its commentary. Look, I get it, it does kind of give off some 2016 liberalish vibe, not to say it's necessarily bad, but I would not call it a little nuanced. All of this to say that I did indeed come into this game with a little bit of a bias, I did chuckle when the first mission you go on with Markus has him wear a sash like a Jewish person in Nazi Germany and then ride the back of the bus like Rosa Parks. Honestly, it does feel like perhaps this society should have been more woke and did need some diversity hires to tell them how bad the optics are. Jokes aside, they quickly faded, because even in spite of the hamfisted themes the game is good and I managed to suspend my disbelief very quickly. I can also gladly say that I finished the game with everyone, sadly I didn't really believe in violence. So how was it all? ...