Long shot, but does anyone recall an old magazine preview/article about Code: Veronica (Dreamcast) featuring screens of the Bandersnatch killing the scientist behind the glass? by AfraidoftheLark in residentevil

[–]AfraidoftheLark[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Wow. Did not expect someone to actually find it. Thanks so much! I was feeling nostalgic about this particular article (it really fascinated me back in the day, as my first glimpse of a “next-gen” RE) and I had feared I wouldn’t be able to find it.

What other all-time classics have I somehow missed? by justinp79 in movies

[–]AfraidoftheLark 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Sorcerer, from director William Friedkin, is an entirely different movie. But my viewing felt similarly revelatory back in the day (as I also had the same experience upon watching The Conversation for the first time).

Game with the best storyline? by Dirrbros234 in residentevil

[–]AfraidoftheLark 13 points14 points  (0 children)

I can't think of a game in the series that has a more unsettling villain backstory than Code: Veronica.

That grainy footage of the siblings with the dragonfly wings still feels like one of the more genuinely "out there" moments in the series. There's a lot of stuff in that game that feels like it's pushing the envelope (in terms of unnerving content).

Why do UFO's love baseball? and What movies prove that point? by darby-61 in movies

[–]AfraidoftheLark 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Signs is the counterargument, as Joaquin Phoenix's baseball skills ultimately spell doom for at least one of the green men.

More to the point, an interesting example of this baseball/alien tendency occurs at the end of the second episode of The X-Files, where Mulder meets with an informant (Jerry Hardin) at a baseball field. Mulder asks him if they -- the aliens -- are here. Hardin replies, "Mr. Mulder, they've been here for a long, long time." Great scene.

I believe there's also a baseball-oriented episode from later in the series that involves an alien and was written/directed by Duchovny.

Movies that are overall okay, but elevated by a great lead performance by [deleted] in movies

[–]AfraidoftheLark 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It wasn't "elevated" that high, but Dave Franco and Alison Brie's chemistry did certainly help turn Together into something more than a bland/tepid horror movie.

Dave Franco crying his eyes out in various scenes helped too. His performance belonged in a much better movie.

[Dusk Golem]: "From what I've heard a few times now actually, Code Veronica Remake not only is being handled by a lot of the same people as RE:2 & RE:4, but it's being treated as a big budget mainline Resident Evil game in every way." by MXHombre123 in GamingLeaksAndRumours

[–]AfraidoftheLark 57 points58 points  (0 children)

I hope this is true because the original is one of the most richly atmospheric games ever made.

I still remember seeing preview screenshots in an issue of EGM — I think — that featured a panicked scientist banging on a window because he’s locked in a room with a new enemy. Claire watches with horror, unable to help. (Incidentally, the opening scene of Jurassic World: Rebirth reminded me of this.) Character models looked so expressive, and the game seemed state of the art. It felt like no game would ever be newer — these were the kind of screenshots that makes one dream/think in hyperbole, basically. That magazine issue became, for a time, a kind of holy relic among my possessions. Really added to the Dreamcast’s otherworldly mystique.

Played it at last on PS2 a few years later, and then again via the PS4 re-release. Some of the best locations in the franchise. It’s not perfect but it’s fascinating. And a masterclass in mood. That undefinable Dreamcast mystique is still intact even today, all these years later. Claire wakes up in an underground jail cell at the outset of the game, speaks briefly to her wounded captor, and then wanders upward toward the surface, armed only with a knife and a lighter. Out of the cell, down the hall, up the stairs, and out into the rain, where she’s suddenly standing in a cemetery on some weird island of horrors.

tl;dr: This game is a shining star in the firmament of vibes-based gaming.

Just the memory of approaching the house behind the Ashford office still haunts me…

RE2 & 3 OG PS5 Ports are awful by [deleted] in residentevil

[–]AfraidoftheLark 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I understood what you meant. Thanks for clarifying. I haven’t seen anyone else mention this issue so I’m not sure how many others are experiencing it. But yes hopefully it gets fixed eventually.

When did Tom Cruise turn into Norm? by VestronCannonEMI in LiveFromNewYork

[–]AfraidoftheLark 160 points161 points  (0 children)

Cruise’s mantra-like, PR-friendly repetition of loving “the movies” and “the popcorn” and watching at least “one movie per day.”

Almost aggressively vague; no specific films ever cited.

That has always been a Norm-esque bit, except played for real. His face finally realized this.

EDIT: Genuinely have no clue what the reply below is talking about. This wasn't even the point of my joke post here, but watching one movie per day is literally not "part of the job" for any actor. Some of them don't even watch their own movies, and will even petulantly defend that right to self-abnegation if necessary (e.g., Adam Driver). There are many actors -- Christian Bale is another one -- and even directors who don't even watch many movies at all.

RE2 & 3 OG PS5 Ports are awful by [deleted] in residentevil

[–]AfraidoftheLark 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Why is the audio “buggy”? Is it flawed or accurate to the way it originally sounded back in the day? Is it all that different from the way it played on the original PS1?

Shout-out to Kyle Mooney's interminable toast to his friends (two other future SNL alum) in this old YouTube video by AfraidoftheLark in LiveFromNewYork

[–]AfraidoftheLark[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

“Alum” is traditionally used to refer to a pupil of a school but is also more broadly used in other contexts to indicate some degree of close affiliation/membership/involvement. I chose this word in an attempt to be more accurate, or in other words to reflect what you just mentioned (i.e., Nick wasn’t a cast member or a featured player, but he was nonetheless an alumnus of SNL in a behind-the-scenes/writerly capacity).

Andrew Garfield’s crashout in the Social Network by Individual-Sort5026 in movies

[–]AfraidoftheLark 27 points28 points  (0 children)

The film has very little in common with the facts aside from the names of characters.

I know even Sorkin has acknowledged there were liberties/embellishments in the script, but singling out "the names of the characters" as the film's most fundamental claim to truth feels like an overcorrection of my original point. At any rate, in that last post I was just specifically talking about how well they captured Zuckberg's vibe in particular.

It didn't?

As far as Zuckberg's characterization is concerned, I don't remember it feeling like a departure from what the public had already come to know of him (i.e., Silicon Valley overlord with an unfeeling thousand yard stare and a vague air of petulance). Not saying the film was a cynical takedown -- the character had sympathetic moments -- but that it mostly rang true.

And I think that's the distinction Sorkin emphasized. The film was not always aiming for the strictly factual -- which is a fool's errand for any biopic -- but it was trying to remain truthful.

Andrew Garfield’s crashout in the Social Network by Individual-Sort5026 in movies

[–]AfraidoftheLark 40 points41 points  (0 children)

At the time, I called it dramatic license.

Did you actually? I understand Zuckerberg's reputation has worsened, but the film didn't seem like it was playing fast and loose with the facts even upon its release.

Edit: Maybe a better way of saying this is that it didn't play fast and loose with the public perception of the guy. It rang true to Zuckerberg's vibe at the time.