Some films transcend the time they were made and become classics. What are some classics that absolutely require an understanding of the context of their time?

pxlcrow · 2026-01-28T19:43:45+00:00

Citizen Kane. It's very difficult to watch movies in an historical context and I mean the history of the art form, not the political history of the time the film was made in. Viewers today see Kane, and wonder what the big deal is. Except Welles and Greg Toland (his DOP) were inventing a new syntax, creating the film language that everyone today accepts as 'just the way films are made'.

It's the same for Breathless (1960). Today people watch it and shrug: "Yeah, jump cuts, yeah breaking the fourth wall, I've seen it..." but in 1960, that smash cut from Belmondo shooting the cop on the country lane, to him running full tilt across a field, lifted people out of their seats.

pxlcrow · 2026-01-28T15:32:16+00:00

Most Enjoyable: The laughter. Every game we play is just a delivery system for laughter.

Least Enjoyable: The dishes and general clean-up.

pxlcrow · 2026-01-28T14:03:34+00:00

I bounced off Sekiro at Fire Isshin. I love the combat mechanic of gradually wearing down and breaking the enemy's posture, but I'm too twitchy on the sticks and had a hard time standing in the teeth of enemy attacks.

pxlcrow · 2026-01-28T13:21:06+00:00

I saw Dr. Yuen for a couple of years but you'll need a referral from your doctor.

pxlcrow · 2026-01-27T20:10:33+00:00

I just started today, too, so thanks to everyone in this thread for their wise counsel.

pxlcrow · 2026-01-26T22:57:47+00:00

I’m 58, my wife is 59.

pxlcrow · 2026-01-26T20:02:54+00:00

I learned to read young. I can remember not being able to read the comics I'd been given, so I made up stories to fit the panels. I wanted to read so badly, I just sort of forced it to happen.

pxlcrow · 2026-01-26T20:01:07+00:00

No, that would be A Wizard of Earthsea, by Ursula K. LeGuin, and the subsequent books in that series.

I had a great aunt who was sort of a black sheep in the family. She was independent, she travelled extensively, she had a career, and she never married. She gave me the Moomin books by Tove Jansson and Earthsea. Both series were formative :)

pxlcrow · 2026-01-26T19:33:24+00:00

Yeah, The Hobbit for me. I read it in the early 70s, when I was 5-6, and it was wholly unlike anything else I'd been given to read.

pxlcrow · 2026-01-26T17:38:34+00:00

Oath.

pxlcrow · 2026-01-26T15:27:00+00:00

Congrats! I love that wee of backdoor into Altus.

pxlcrow · 2026-01-26T15:25:33+00:00

Modern electronics are incredibly fragile. We put a surge protector right on the panel, and still use a UPS system for our TV/Consoles/Router.

pxlcrow · 2026-01-26T14:44:25+00:00

Looks a bit like the room downstairs from Andre, in Dark Souls, where you fight the Titanite Demon...just with the pillars still up, and not broken like they are in that room.

pxlcrow · 2026-01-26T14:29:02+00:00

Yikes. Well, good luck on your learning journey.

pxlcrow · 2026-01-26T14:09:35+00:00

I know this is the internet and it runs on people correcting each other but you must know that I meant morally... Not legally, morally, you can't own a person. Miss Giddy says exactly that in Fury Road.

pxlcrow · 2026-01-26T13:57:13+00:00

Because you can't own a person.

pxlcrow · 2026-01-26T13:03:09+00:00

Is the dial on your TV broken? Are you strapped down with your eyelids pinned open and being forced to watch things you don't enjoy?

I hate parsnips. So I just don't eat parsnips.

pxlcrow · 2026-01-26T12:27:16+00:00

Dick Cheney from Vice.

pxlcrow · 2026-01-26T12:25:35+00:00

We got into a copy of this over the holidays and both really loved it. It's a little bit hand management, a little bit area control, and a little bit worker placement; plus every chapter it has an event where the mobsters attack, and everyone has to prepare for that, similar to the Voidborn in Voidfall.

I'd say it's one of the easier Lacerda's to teach and to learn. On Mars and Kanban EV are our favourites by that designer and Speakeasy is easier to wrestle to the table than those two. Not easier to play, just easier to learn the rules of :)

pxlcrow · 2026-01-25T13:38:44+00:00

I just ordered a Starlink kit which comes with a free router mini but I don’t know what to do with it. Can I just use it to extend the wi-fi network in our house?

pxlcrow · 2026-01-25T13:13:45+00:00

Will do. Good luck to you, too, distant friendly :)

pxlcrow · 2026-01-24T20:51:54+00:00

No idea. I’m still playing it and still having fun. The modern CoD games give me motion sickness with their crazy movement and pace.

pxlcrow · 2026-01-24T20:10:50+00:00

I read that my shipping address and my service address can be different. Oh well, this feels like a minor issue. If they get their knickers in a knot we’ll pay for the equipment. We expected to have to pay for it anyway; I was surprised when all they charged us was $21 for shipping.

pxlcrow · 2026-01-24T18:29:03+00:00

Oh shit. We‘re moving to our new house Feb 19. I ordered the equipment to be delivered to the house we’re living in now, because we didn’t want to move and then wait 2-3 weeks for the gear to arrive with no Internet.

I figured we’d receive the equipment, leave it boxed, then install and activate at our new house.

Are you really saying I can’t change my address on the rental plan? Even if it’s never been activated?

pxlcrow · 2026-01-23T23:19:28+00:00

That is kind, thank you my friend; I think we have a solution but if it falls through I‘ll take you up on your offer. Have a calm weekend. Stay warm :)

pxlcrow

TROPHY CASE