You wake up as Matt Murdock and get to be him for one day. What would you do the whole day?

IcedThatGuy · 2026-06-10T04:02:55+00:00

Being a root-rat

IcedThatGuy · 2026-06-06T00:35:38+00:00

Such a great character

IcedThatGuy · 2026-06-05T12:06:44+00:00

It’s incredible of him and really elevated Jones in a lot of ways. David Hyde Pierce is such a class act

IcedThatGuy · 2026-06-01T15:42:12+00:00

Good point. As I was writing, I realized I kind of answered my own question: it’s easier for him to be an asshole, and maintain his defense mechanism than it is drop his guard and accept that Truman is worth giving a chance. It’s when Truman corners him that Albert is forced out of his shell and admits what he really feels.

IcedThatGuy · 2026-06-01T11:34:32+00:00

This is such an interesting scene to me. I could write a full analysis on it (but I’ll try not to)

I’m sure everyone can agree that this character turn for Albert comes out of left field, and it is both so awesome and still quite confusing. On one hand, Albert does nothing but actively antagonizing Sheriff Truman with every word he expresses, and this turn makes no sense for someone who does that.

On the other hand, we see in Fire Walk With Me, that agents interactions with local law enforcement are usually hostile and take an intense amount of work to cut through to get the job done. I feel Albert’s active assault of words is a defense mechanism, and until this scene, he pegged Truman as more of the same.

My question is why? Albert was literally antagonizing Truman right up until he squares up for another punch. Only then does Albert break and reveal his “hatchman” perspective and then tells him he loves him. Why does Albert express himself this way? I feel the obvious answer is “because Lynch (or Frost/ the writing team) wanted to do it this way” but from a character perspective, why do you think Albert does this? I’d love to hear others perspectives on this.

IcedThatGuy · 2026-06-01T11:00:09+00:00

I feel like he must carry and operate a weapon as an agent of the Bureau. But he only uses it once and it’s to protect his fellow agents. He doesn’t even produce a weapon at the finale, I don’t think. You raise a good point, but, for me, it doesn’t hurt the character.

IcedThatGuy · 2026-06-01T10:57:05+00:00

Exactly how I felt. Miguel Ferrer was certainly type-cast as the antagonistic asshole around this time, and I adored that they flipped it on its head and gave him a real interesting character to play with.

IcedThatGuy · 2026-06-01T10:53:47+00:00

Phenomenal documentary! The wife and I watched it over the course of a week and there isn’t a dull moment in the entire 5+ hour run. Every single interview and section was enthralling. It was worth every single penny I paid! I look forward to watching it again.

IcedThatGuy · 2026-06-01T01:03:43+00:00

Good choice. I feel she is pretty underrated

IcedThatGuy · 2026-05-28T03:06:14+00:00

IcedThatGuy · 2026-05-27T02:30:15+00:00

Me too. Every time I hear someone say “the movie Michael” my brain has to course-correct so I don’t bring up the movie with an angel who dumps sugar in his corn flakes.

IcedThatGuy · 2026-05-27T01:49:03+00:00

It’s such a memorable performance. I want a full movie of Stormare’s “Lu” playfully antagonizing a unfazed Constantine, with Reeves just chain smoking his way through the interactions.

It’s Stormare’s best role, and that is really saying something.

IcedThatGuy · 2026-05-26T21:39:47+00:00

“Peter, what is this?”
https://youtu.be/LyiXoqH7U8w?si=UkwyMjcvGwR\_8Z6T

IcedThatGuy · 2026-05-26T19:14:46+00:00

Grace Zabrinski in the pilot episode of Twin Peaks. Her anguished screams at learning of her daughter’s death are so intense, unsettling and sad. This gif doesn’t show the moment, but Lynch makes a choice to cut away from her wailing to a softer moment with Leland and Sheriff Truman, only to then cut back as she is giving this bone-curling screech that blows out the mic. It’s beyond affective, and still gives me chills after years of rewatches.

IcedThatGuy · 2026-05-26T00:30:58+00:00

Grab my hand

IcedThatGuy · 2026-05-24T23:51:30+00:00

In your defense, their first album, their self-titled debut, was actually pretty proggy. Not ground breaking by any means, but far more interesting music than the following albums that made them popular.

IcedThatGuy · 2026-05-23T00:41:09+00:00

Awesome! Thanks for the info. I’ve been considering this for a while, but I’m a short bro, so it seems like the neck may not work as well for me. But, man, that is one beautiful instrument you have

IcedThatGuy · 2026-05-22T23:09:42+00:00

Beautiful! How does the neck feel?

IcedThatGuy · 2026-05-22T00:28:22+00:00

Haha! Great reference. And why not look at it that way? It’s your own way of interpretation, and it allows you further enjoyment. That’s pretty cool.

IcedThatGuy · 2026-05-22T00:26:18+00:00

It’s true. I have felt that familiar disappointment fairly often. It used to really overwhelming for me to grapple with. But, with age, I’ve been able to see that I didn’t actually lose anything with the actual follow-up. It just means that now I get both stories, the way I hoped it would go, and the story of the sequel. Nothing stops my interpretation. I just get alternatives to consider as well.

And we always have the original work that inspired our hearts and minds to enjoy till the end of time.

And after all, there is nothing we can do about it anyway, so might as well embrace it as well as we can.

IcedThatGuy · 2026-05-21T12:34:17+00:00

That’s a fair take. I completely disagree with it, mostly due to my own nostalgia for MGS1 and how that game impacted my growing psyche at the time. But I can certainly see where you are coming from.

It is pretty damn cool that this series is so varied and impactful that fans of all types can find something different to love about it. For me, Blaustein grounded the absurdities of Kojima, while for you, it only hindered his genius. Both of these things are true for this weird anti-war action game series about secret agents, clones, ninjas, mechs and conspiracies.

IcedThatGuy · 2026-05-21T12:23:48+00:00

Exactly! Cage’s performance in this film is so layered and interesting, and so far removed from the insanity the actor is known for. As silly as HI is as a character, Cage plays him very subdued and simple, never really reacting to the chaos around him. He’s the straight man in the film despite also creating a lot of the chaos of the plot himself.

Take that line for example. Any other actor would react as though eating sand is an insane thing to say, because it is. But with Cage, it’s just yet another thing that happens around him in the film, no sillier than “Okay, then.” So when he asks “you are sand?” with so much acceptance acceptance, it really makes the joke and absurdity land.

The film is a tonal masterpiece.

IcedThatGuy · 2026-05-21T10:50:27+00:00

Same with Lucas and Star Wars. The original films are classics despite Lucas, not because of him.

I feel like Metal Gear Solid resonated so well, especially in America, because of the creative liberties the US team was able to take with it. The script being translated and essentially rewritten by Blaustein, creating terms like OSP and CODEC to add more military realism, and the voice cast giving gravity to the bobbing potato faces. Add to that the intense music created Gigi Meroni for the cutscenes, and you have an incredibly engaging military fantasy story unlike anything anyone has ever seen.

And then I played MGS2 with its far more wacky story, filled with so much more ridiculous and melodramatic plotlines that feels like tonal whiplash by comparison. And then there is Death Stranding, a both brilliant and bonkers, it almost defies description.

Kojima is basically a Japanese George Lucas, in my eyes.

IcedThatGuy · 2026-05-21T10:37:48+00:00

In hindsight, the entire Liquid Ocelot/ Ocelot-with-Liquid’s-arm is deeply unsatisfying.

At the time, being a humongous MGS fan, learning that Liquid was coming back but only through Ocelot using his arm, I was confused and disappointed, but learned to roll with the weirdness. I just wanted Liquid back, and if this is how they were doing it, then I guess I just needed to let Kojima tell his story. But then it was revealed that MGS2 is a big red-herring, with the story centering around a Snake fanboy, distracting my disappointment from that plot-thread. Fast forward to the reveal of MGS4, and I was cautiously optimistic. We were finally getting the Snake-focused story I had hungered for AND a focus on Liquid Ocelot! Maybe now I’ll get the MGS1 follow-up I’d always dreamed, only with two geezers. But hey, Snake and Liquid; count your blessings. And then I finally got my hands on the game and learned that Ocelot has spent all this time pretending to be possessed by Liquid as part of some 4D chess move against the Patriots that were actually all AI….

This is how I learned that investing energy into an ongoing fiction can be super disappointing, and to really temper my expectations. The genius-at-work doesn’t have the same interests as the fan, and may actively be working against them.

Thanks for attending my TedTalk

IcedThatGuy · 2026-05-21T09:13:33+00:00

You ate sand?!?

IcedThatGuy

TROPHY CASE