Photography by Andria Darius Pancrazi
Month: May 2020
New Fiction 2020 – April
Far Cry Primal
dev. Ubisoft Montreal (2016)
I wanted to wander around an environment alongside mammoths and this game provided that in spades. I spent so much time just contemplating in big meadows full of gentle, giant mammoths. On the flip side, it’s a survival horror game? But saber-tooth cats instead of zombies. Now it’s one of my favorite video games. It’s an entry in a long-running series of first-person shooters I otherwise don’t care about. And this game definitely gives me ‘standard AAA bland shooter’ vibes in its structure and narrative. They just created a fascinating world around that. One of the interesting bits of the game is everyone speaks in recreated primal languages. The one bit of English is lyrics in a song that appears toward the end of the game and it’s so jarring to hear in contrast to the rest. I was impressed that Ubisoft invested in that level of authenticity but really got into it. It always bugs me when a game or movie uses weird accented English in place of the native language. I found this article series from the historical linguist they worked with to craft the languages and dialogue. Pretty fascinating deep dive.
Star Wars: Republic Commando dev.
(2005)
LucasArts released many Star Wars video games in the period around the prequel movies. 2005 saw the release of this game and Battlefront II, the latter of which is perhaps more popular for its online multiplayer component. I tried the single player of that game and it doesn’t compare to Republic Commando. This game’s focus on working together with a squad of surprisingly smart A.I.-controlled comrades makes it feel more intentional where many shooters seem to want to throw enemies for the sake of providing bullet sponges. Make no mistake, this is still a shooter and the player is still mowing down hordes of aliens. It’s just smarter about how it sets up those combat encounters. The player can only progress by successfully guiding squad mates around the battlefield. I enjoyed the game and was surprised to see it that it was rather short, starting at the Battle of Geonosis and ending just before the tragic Order 66 moment that so many heroes of the prequel era have to contend with. The game never received a sequel so I have to assume the squad sadly goes on to fulfill their mission. This is also compelling for providing an early look at the inner lives of the literal carbon copy clone army, something that Clone Wars would fully expound upon just a few years later.
Cabin Boy dir. Adam Resnick (1994)
All the movies I watched this month were through communal viewings on an app called Kast. It’s been fun to have no say in the movies that are selected, trusting someone else to make interesting choices. This first one was a strange, weirdly referential movie. It builds upon old timey sailor epics and Harryhausen stop-motion adventures to deliver a screwball comedy more in line with Pee Wee Herman than any of its inspirations. It stars Chris Elliott and I know of his work and have seen a few of his roles, but I can see why he was never quite popular in his heyday. His comedic style is almost daring you to like his work. I still can’t say I liked it, but it was certainly interesting to see a comedy like this and with this level of practical effects in 1994.
Manos: The Hands of Fate dir. Harold P. Warren (1966)
This felt similarly interesting as Cabin Boy in that ‘what the fuck am I watching’ kind of way, but at least with Manos I knew to expect some kind of schlock. I haven’t watched the MST3K version but knew full well that it’s hoisted up on the same lofty heights as Plan 9 from Outer Space in the Worst Movie Ever rankings. The big surprise for me was that it didn’t feel like the worst movie ever made. The viewer can follow along perfectly fine, and it’s clear what they’re going for. It’s also clear the filmmaker wasn’t a filmmaker. I can’t say I enjoyed it as a horror movie as much as I enjoyed examining it while I watched. I can imagine being disappointed if this movie was taken seriously, but hindsight really makes it a fascinating artifact. We watched the restored version on blu ray and perhaps that extra visual quality helped make it just a little better than old grainy copies would have.
The Castle of Cagliostro dir. Hayao Miyazaki (1979)
So let me get this straight. Lupin III–the star of this animated movie and countless other series both in manga and animated form–is usually an unlikeable pile of garbage? And this one movie where Miyazaki wisely makes him a hero is a source of complaints by fans who want the garbage version? That’s my understanding. It makes me want to not watch anything else with Lupin III in it. Castle of Cagliostro is still a product of its time and the whole ordeal is about the hero saving the damsel and taking down the villain (who, by the way, is a real pile of garbage). However, it’s still charming and Lupin’s intentions kind of clear up as the movie goes on. He’s more akin to Han Solo, rogue with a heart of gold. The movie’s notoriety is clearly driven by the high watermark set in the art and animation. It is an astounding movie to just watch in motion. Miyazaki and co. undoubtedly near killed themselves to make this, much as they did for many of the movies to later come out of Miyazaki’s Studio Ghibli work. There’s a fascinating interview with Yasuo Otsuka, animator on the film, that is included on the blu ray and available online.
Star Trek: Discovery – Seasons 1 & 2 (2017-2019)
Spoiler-filled rant.
Discovery is… something. It outta be called Star Trek: Burnham. Sadly now it feels, like Picard, that they had to squeeze their arcs into seasons that needed more episodes. There’s an odd bottle episode or two where I felt like “more of this!” But I can count them on one hand. The stakes are constantly at 11. And with Discovery, the characters are good! There are so many of them who get so few lines but like, I wanna know who they are and care about them before the shit hits the fan and they upend the status quo. For example, how do you include a cool-looking cyborg to the bridge crew for two seasons and give her almost no screen time, then make a major episode about her and expect us to believe everyone’s sad when she sacrifices herself? I got real annoyed over Airiam’s fate. She should’ve gotten her own non-critical episode before that. Like the stuff with Saru and his home planet. I suppose my key problem with Discovery is that they don’t seem to understand that TNG, DS9, etc were about ALL the bridge crew, not just a couple of people. Discovery also spends a lot of time on the villains and external characters. There’s some cool characters there but it definitely pulls time from the bridge crew dynamics and camaraderie.
Star Wars Rebels (2014-2018)
Rebels was a nice series to pair in the same month as Discovery because it does exactly what I’d hoped from that series. You spend all your time getting to know the key members of the Ghost’s crew. This show skews toward a younger crowd so its motivations are simpler, but they still squeeze in some significant character-building and growth into their relatively short episodes and seasons. They also raise the stakes, but the stakes are so personal and small in the grand scheme of the Star Wars galaxy’s problems that it’s always about what’s important to this group of people there and now. There are also plenty of fan service moments and returning characters to make this a satisfying continuation of the stories and themes in Clone Wars.
Star Wars Forces of Destiny (2017-2018)
I was surprised to find these bite-sized, kid-oriented shorts even existed. I’ve lost touch with Disney’s many efforts to expand the brand and while this series certainly fits into that type of marketing-driven creative effort, it’s still a nice bit of fun with familiar characters. I’d watch these with my five year-old niece. The focus on women as the leads of these shorts sadly highlights how they need to continue to expand the scope of their lead roles beyond men (and, I think, beyond humans).
New Fiction 2020 – April
Far Cry Primal
dev. Ubisoft Montreal (2016)
I wanted to wander around an environment alongside mammoths and this game provided that in spades. I spent so much time just contemplating in big meadows full of gentle, giant mammoths. On the flip side, it’s a survival horror game? But saber-tooth cats instead of zombies. Now it’s one of my favorite video games. It’s an entry in a long-running series of first-person shooters I otherwise don’t care about. And this game definitely gives me ‘standard AAA bland shooter’ vibes in its structure and narrative. They just created a fascinating world around that. One of the interesting bits of the game is everyone speaks in recreated primal languages. The one bit of English is lyrics in a song that appears toward the end of the game and it’s so jarring to hear in contrast to the rest. I was impressed that Ubisoft invested in that level of authenticity but really got into it. It always bugs me when a game or movie uses weird accented English in place of the native language. I found this article series from the historical linguist they worked with to craft the languages and dialogue. Pretty fascinating deep dive.
Star Wars: Republic Commando dev.
(2005)
LucasArts released many Star Wars video games in the period around the prequel movies. 2005 saw the release of this game and Battlefront II, the latter of which is perhaps more popular for its online multiplayer component. I tried the single player of that game and it doesn’t compare to Republic Commando. This game’s focus on working together with a squad of surprisingly smart A.I.-controlled comrades makes it feel more intentional where many shooters seem to want to throw enemies for the sake of providing bullet sponges. Make no mistake, this is still a shooter and the player is still mowing down hordes of aliens. It’s just smarter about how it sets up those combat encounters. The player can only progress by successfully guiding squad mates around the battlefield. I enjoyed the game and was surprised to see it that it was rather short, starting at the Battle of Geonosis and ending just before the tragic Order 66 moment that so many heroes of the prequel era have to contend with. The game never received a sequel so I have to assume the squad sadly goes on to fulfill their mission. This is also compelling for providing an early look at the inner lives of the literal carbon copy clone army, something that Clone Wars would fully expound upon just a few years later.
Cabin Boy dir. Adam Resnick (1994)
All the movies I watched this month were through communal viewings on an app called Kast. It’s been fun to have no say in the movies that are selected, trusting someone else to make interesting choices. This first one was a strange, weirdly referential movie. It builds upon old timey sailor epics and Harryhausen stop-motion adventures to deliver a screwball comedy more in line with Pee Wee Herman than any of its inspirations. It stars Chris Elliott and I know of his work and have seen a few of his roles, but I can see why he was never quite popular in his heyday. His comedic style is almost daring you to like his work. I still can’t say I liked it, but it was certainly interesting to see a comedy like this and with this level of practical effects in 1994.
Manos: The Hands of Fate dir. Harold P. Warren (1966)
This felt similarly interesting as Cabin Boy in that ‘what the fuck am I watching’ kind of way, but at least with Manos I knew to expect some kind of schlock. I haven’t watched the MST3K version but knew full well that it’s hoisted up on the same lofty heights as Plan 9 from Outer Space in the Worst Movie Ever rankings. The big surprise for me was that it didn’t feel like the worst movie ever made. The viewer can follow along perfectly fine, and it’s clear what they’re going for. It’s also clear the filmmaker wasn’t a filmmaker. I can’t say I enjoyed it as a horror movie as much as I enjoyed examining it while I watched. I can imagine being disappointed if this movie was taken seriously, but hindsight really makes it a fascinating artifact. We watched the restored version on blu ray and perhaps that extra visual quality helped make it just a little better than old grainy copies would have.
The Castle of Cagliostro dir. Hayao Miyazaki (1979)
So let me get this straight. Lupin III–the star of this animated movie and countless other series both in manga and animated form–is usually an unlikeable pile of garbage? And this one movie where Miyazaki wisely makes him a hero is a source of complaints by fans who want the garbage version? That’s my understanding. It makes me want to not watch anything else with Lupin III in it. Castle of Cagliostro is still a product of its time and the whole ordeal is about the hero saving the damsel and taking down the villain (who, by the way, is a real pile of garbage). However, it’s still charming and Lupin’s intentions kind of clear up as the movie goes on. He’s more akin to Han Solo, rogue with a heart of gold. The movie’s notoriety is clearly driven by the high watermark set in the art and animation. It is an astounding movie to just watch in motion. Miyazaki and co. undoubtedly near killed themselves to make this, much as they did for many of the movies to later come out of Miyazaki’s Studio Ghibli work. There’s a fascinating interview with Yasuo Otsuka, animator on the film, that is included on the blu ray and available online.
Star Trek: Discovery – Seasons 1 & 2 (2017-2019)
Spoiler-filled rant.
Discovery is… something. It outta be called Star Trek: Burnham. Sadly now it feels, like Picard, that they had to squeeze their arcs into seasons that needed more episodes. There’s an odd bottle episode or two where I felt like “more of this!” But I can count them on one hand. The stakes are constantly at 11. And with Discovery, the characters are good! There are so many of them who get so few lines but like, I wanna know who they are and care about them before the shit hits the fan and they upend the status quo. For example, how do you include a cool-looking cyborg to the bridge crew for two seasons and give her almost no screen time, then make a major episode about her and expect us to believe everyone’s sad when she sacrifices herself? I got real annoyed over Airiam’s fate. She should’ve gotten her own non-critical episode before that. Like the stuff with Saru and his home planet. I suppose my key problem with Discovery is that they don’t seem to understand that TNG, DS9, etc were about ALL the bridge crew, not just a couple of people. Discovery also spends a lot of time on the villains and external characters. There’s some cool characters there but it definitely pulls time from the bridge crew dynamics and camaraderie.
Star Wars Rebels (2014-2018)
Rebels was a nice series to pair in the same month as Discovery because it does exactly what I’d hoped from that series. You spend all your time getting to know the key members of the Ghost’s crew. This show skews toward a younger crowd so its motivations are simpler, but they still squeeze in some significant character-building and growth into their relatively short episodes and seasons. They also raise the stakes, but the stakes are so personal and small in the grand scheme of the Star Wars galaxy’s problems that it’s always about what’s important to this group of people there and now. There are also plenty of fan service moments and returning characters to make this a satisfying continuation of the stories and themes in Clone Wars.
Star Wars Forces of Destiny (2017-2018)
I was surprised to find these bite-sized, kid-oriented shorts even existed. I’ve lost touch with Disney’s many efforts to expand the brand and while this series certainly fits into that type of marketing-driven creative effort, it’s still a nice bit of fun with familiar characters. I’d watch these with my five year-old niece. The focus on women as the leads of these shorts sadly highlights how they need to continue to expand the scope of their lead roles beyond men (and, I think, beyond humans).