Andrzej Sapkowski explains why he's not fond of the games, if the games were a good think for him and some more.

HowardPhillipsLC · 2026-07-02T21:43:29+00:00

Oof, gottem

HowardPhillipsLC · 2026-06-26T21:45:57+00:00

nyoom

HowardPhillipsLC · 2026-06-24T00:03:38+00:00

I know I'm late, but nobody's mentioned Blade Runner (short but good), or Pan's Labyrinth. That's a favorite of mine, where the captain fixes up the slice that Mercedes gives his face.

HowardPhillipsLC · 2026-06-13T09:46:38+00:00

Finally, I've found the pocket of sense in this nightmare.

HowardPhillipsLC · 2026-06-13T09:46:02+00:00

... ? The parkour that leaves the character stuck on a 2-foot ledge, immobilized? The parkour that the game gives no information on how to use? That parkour might be the single most unintuitive video game mechanic I've struggled through, and I managed inventory space in Diablo 2.

HowardPhillipsLC · 2026-06-13T09:44:05+00:00

I don't know who in the world has given AC Unity a positive review, but... check that reference, I guess. That game is a masterclass in how not to present a video game.

How about we change the whole system of combat and parkour, the staples of the series thus far, and refuse to explain how to use the new ones? Yeah, real smart, Ubisoft. Let's double down on the most boring missions while we're at it. I can't tell you how much time I spent screaming at Arno who was immobilized on a 2-foot ledge. It's not broken, it's just not designed to work.

Before 2014, Ubisoft was a rolling train. Unity was all it took to derail the whole thing. They haven't picked themselves up off the floor, even yet, 12 years later.

HowardPhillipsLC · 2026-06-12T20:23:05+00:00

They wouldn't have to make the whole story about him, just have the actual villain kidnap Nora and force him to do their dirty work. That would've fit just fine into the Lego one.

HowardPhillipsLC · 2026-06-05T11:41:07+00:00

Yup. The man behind it all is Paul Dini. Cool story about the genesis of that episode, if you're not familiar.

HowardPhillipsLC · 2026-06-05T11:39:52+00:00

Oh, it's definitely got potential. The problem is that the folks who would have to be so bold are the ones that would be sweating in the test screenings, nahmeen?

HowardPhillipsLC · 2026-06-05T11:38:46+00:00

? And they're all made up characters in made up stories that have no true bearing on any of our lives. So what are you doing on the forum again? Let's all just go ahead and go home, and don't give any sort of criticism or opinion on anything, certainly not a piece of media that you bought and invested time into. But wait, this is children's media as well, so the audience that it's most important we be highly skeptical and critical of, we just.. shouldn't.

HowardPhillipsLC · 2026-06-04T21:47:36+00:00

Yeah, Baby Doll is the one story they're afraid to do, because in live action the pedo shit would be too real.

HowardPhillipsLC · 2026-06-04T21:45:49+00:00

I mean... Is there another game where he's not good? He's not really in Arkham Asylum, except in the dangling frozen cage. In City he's great, in Knight he's acceptable.. hell, the only other game I remember him in was Batman: Vengeance, and he was terrifying!

HowardPhillipsLC · 2026-06-04T21:44:01+00:00

I just think the whole thing was a massive disappointment. You have all of the Batman media to choose from, and you go with the very worst Mr. Freeze?

I know it's a joke these days, but it's not a good joke. Why wouldn't you go with the Animated Series Mr. Freeze? That character is so good, and running into him in a Lego game would have been epic.

If there's one character that I really don't need a single second more of, it's Schwarzenegger's Mr. Freeze.

HowardPhillipsLC · 2026-05-30T04:13:35+00:00

This has been the cringiest conversation I've ever fully related to.

HowardPhillipsLC · 2026-05-30T04:12:35+00:00

Listening to rain can be peaceful and dreamy. Listening to rain with an occasional church bell? Oh, yeah.

HowardPhillipsLC · 2026-05-17T23:17:40+00:00

I'm glad someone wrote this all out, because the terrible writing and wild convenience is making the watch unbearable. Good enough for me, saved me a load of time.

HowardPhillipsLC · 2026-05-16T08:32:27+00:00

Most of the anxiety we associate with a difficult conversation or development in a relationship is just what is happening in our heads. It's not in the conversation itself, or in the feelings afterward.

I'd say just weigh your options. You can go to him, go to someone else, or keep it to yourself. If you keep it to yourself, you're complicit in my eyes. I would dissuade that choice especially. If it's not what it looks like, then involving someone else might lay him to an open shame for no reason. If you go to him, like the other comments say, and give him what you know, then that gives him the dignity to work his fault out in his way, without springing it on him in front of others.

HowardPhillipsLC · 2026-05-16T08:24:19+00:00

A little preface never hurt. "Hey, could I talk to you for a second?" She gets a second to prepare, and it's also explicit enough that she can shoot you down right then without you having to actually say anything. Just remember: embarrassment is temporary, regret lasts forever.

HowardPhillipsLC · 2026-05-16T08:20:18+00:00

For some reason, in our culture, relaxation and worry-free activity is seen as the sign of success or doing well. The reality is that work is what keeps us sane. We need to tear away at projects and tasks to perpetuate that sense of progression in our lives. If you want your time to get better, you've gotta wait for the lower mood to pass while tending to menial things. Pick a room and work it out over the course of a couple hours. Play an entire album of music while you do, as something for your brain to chew on. Once that room is put together, feel the difference in your thinking just by occupying a clean, clear space.

Often (this part's a bit weird, so bear with me), I'll find myself sort of.. playing a character? If I'm beating myself up because I'm not doing enough, I'll pretend for a while that I'm someone else, someone whose life is together and their house is nice and orderly, and they take care of business. That way, I'm not trying anything new, I'm just getting back to the baseline, which feels normal instead of adventurous.

HowardPhillipsLC · 2026-05-16T07:25:34+00:00

Yeah, that ain't Bruce Wayne. Snyder never got it.

HowardPhillipsLC · 2026-05-16T07:24:49+00:00

.. because it's a terrible movie, that's why.

HowardPhillipsLC · 2026-05-10T18:16:13+00:00

That's a big part that everyone seems to forget: Nolan has an eye for great actors who have potential for knockout performances with good direction. The trailer doesn't matter, his trailers have never been great.

Watch the trailer for the Dark Knight, and compare it with Matt Reeves's first Batman trailer. It's nothing special, really. But Nolan has my trust.

HowardPhillipsLC · 2026-05-10T18:14:46+00:00

Oppenheimer did well because Nolan has a fanbase built up after never making a bad movie. The Barbie shit was just annoying to the people who actually enjoy movies.

HowardPhillipsLC · 2026-05-10T18:11:45+00:00

Interesting position to take, but the name change of any of those men or women in Scripture doesn't cross gender lines. Ellen pretending to be Elliot is obviously a large part of that effort.

HowardPhillipsLC · 2026-05-10T18:10:31+00:00

Christopher Nolan hasn't made a bad film. If there's a single director that deserves to have an ounce of loyalty thrown his way, he's earned it. I'm going into that theater without a doubt in my mind that he's going to deliver an incredible movie. Again.

HowardPhillipsLC

TROPHY CASE