Douglas's recent activity
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Comment on What are you reading these days? in ~books
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Comment on ‘Everything Everywhere All At Once’ scores seven Oscars including Best Picture in ~movies
Douglas Link ParentGotcha, I appreciate the explanation. I mean you're right in that the ground has been covered many times, I think maybe this one was a hit for most because it covered it in an accessible way. But...Gotcha, I appreciate the explanation. I mean you're right in that the ground has been covered many times, I think maybe this one was a hit for most because it covered it in an accessible way. But that is probably why I'm not going to add it to my personal collection anytime soon-- my cynical nihilism movie slot is already occupied by No Country for Old Men, and my optimistic nihilism movie is occupied by Life is Beautiful. Both have probably solidified their positions in my vision 'cause I saw them first and nostalgia tends to give movies free passes for me.
What is, to you, the deepest movie you've ever seen that challenges the way you think, or has stuck with you years after seeing it?
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Comment on ‘Everything Everywhere All At Once’ scores seven Oscars including Best Picture in ~movies
Douglas Link ParentI hope I don't come off as defensive-- I enjoyed EEAAO and, while it's not in any of my top lists, I still thought it was surprisingly good-- so I'd like to pick your brain on this. To me the...pseudo-deep philosophy
I hope I don't come off as defensive-- I enjoyed EEAAO and, while it's not in any of my top lists, I still thought it was surprisingly good-- so I'd like to pick your brain on this.
To me the movie could be summed up as essentially "nothing means anything, so try not to make big deals out of nothings, and just enjoy the time you have, loving those you're with." I am a cynical nihilist myself and think everything and everyone on this planet is fucked, but the only way I stay sane myself is to just love who and what is accessible to me. I thought the movie did a good job packaging that sort of nihilism with optimism so people weren't sad af when they left the theater, and was a welcome message these days. It felt like Jon Oliver or Daily Show where they give you some depressing themes/tidbits, and sprinkle jokes to pull you back up before putting you back in.
When I think "pseudo," I think Marvel-- movies where maybe something deep could've been touched on, but the punches are almost completely pulled with silly jokes and low stakes that don't mean much by the end of the movie.
What was "psuedo" about EEAAO to you? I'm thinking you might touch on things I hadn't considered and would also shed light for me on why I don't plan on adding it to my personal library anytime soon.
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Comment on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem | Teaser trailer in ~movies
Douglas Link ParentThe turtles pine after pizza the way his stoner comedy pines after weed, so I think it'll translate just fine.I'm not always a fan of Seth Rogan, but I think his stoner humor will work really well here.
The turtles pine after pizza the way his stoner comedy pines after weed, so I think it'll translate just fine.
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Comment on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem | Teaser trailer in ~movies
Douglas LinkA younger cast/depiction, a new aesthetic, and embracing what made the originals fun-- I'm all for it. TMNT was never meant to go dark, it was at its best when it just embraced being what felt...A younger cast/depiction, a new aesthetic, and embracing what made the originals fun-- I'm all for it.
TMNT was never meant to go dark, it was at its best when it just embraced being what felt like the result of a marketing survey, "Hmm, kids like people older than them, but not yet adults. They like monsters and freaks. They like ninjas, pirates, and vikings, but ninjas use martial arts, which feels more accessible. And we don't want to divide them by choosing cats or dogs, but maybe a pet most people don't have but could have if they wanted to?... alright, Algorithm Bot, aggregate me a group of heroes that appeals to all of these factors!"
Anyways, this looks fun and I'm stoked.
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
Douglas LinkSons of the Forest! Going in blind with four other friends and so far we're liking it as it's more of the same from the previous game; open world crafting with a story element to drive your...Sons of the Forest! Going in blind with four other friends and so far we're liking it as it's more of the same from the previous game; open world crafting with a story element to drive your exploring further and further. It is a bit buggy, but nothing game-breaking and feels forgivable since it's early access.
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Comment on What’s something you’ve noticed about getting older? in ~talk
Douglas Link ParentThis is a good theory, and I'm not saying my other theory is right-- but I read a book called A Geography of Time and it essentially boils down to memory being a survival mechanism. Your brain...My theory is that we measure everything relative to how much we've already experienced. The reason that time seems faster when we age, I believe, is because a day is 10 times shorter when we're 50 than when we're 5, relative to how much time we've already experienced.
This is a good theory, and I'm not saying my other theory is right-- but I read a book called A Geography of Time and it essentially boils down to memory being a survival mechanism. Your brain will remember something until it decides it's not worth remembering because it didn't threaten your survival. As you get older in a scheduled environment, your brain decides the things you've seen before are not worth recording because they aren't a threat, so if you are doing the same thing over and over again the days will absolutely blur by. The options are to either do new things and new experiences or, barring that (as that's usually expensive), practice mindfulness.
Your brain recording things for survival is also why time appears to slow down when you are in a life-threatening situation like a car crash or an intense powder keg about to go off-- your mind is recording everything trying to make a record of what it can do in the future to not be in this situation again.
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Comment on What’s something you’ve noticed about getting older? in ~talk
Douglas LinkSeeing young people who I'll never get to know what they look like when they're old. I'll never know what Tom Holland looks like when he's an old man. Catching up to and passing the ages of...- Seeing young people who I'll never get to know what they look like when they're old. I'll never know what Tom Holland looks like when he's an old man.
- Catching up to and passing the ages of doctors, therapists, and people who are normally older than me and being thankful I don't associate age with wisdom lest I'd be more worried.
- I think the scariest thing is there's never a CLICK, I'm old! I have always felt like the same person for as long as I can remember. I was hoping I'd become more stoic over time or something internally would change on its own, but you really just have to work out the mindfulness yourself. Otherwise you'll look down at your hands (something I've recalled doing ever since I was a kid, it's a weird thing I do to check on my age ever since someone told me the "hands give it away") and see "oh hey, these are gettin' to be some old hands."
- Time only "speeds up" if you let it. I'm grateful everyone told me it does as you get older because I became obsessed with combating it and learned it's just your perception of time of that changes, not time itself (which sounds like a "duh" thing, but really all we have is perception). You can mitigate this by just being mindful of your days, reflection at the end of them, reflect on the week, the month, the year. Anytime someone says something like "that was five years ago? wow time flies!" I have to be like "no it doesn't, so much has happened! think about x, y, z!" Your memory is a movie library; you can't recite all of the movies you own, but if someone asks you if you own it, you could say yes or no. Pulling out those memories helps you realize how vast your memory is and how much time has truly passed. It really helps give weight to existence.
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Comment on Pacific Drive | Gameplay trailer in ~games
Douglas LinkNeat, I'll keep an eye on it! The Forest is my favorite open-world/survival/crafting game of all time because, unlike Minecraft and others like it-- it has an end-goal/there's an ending. I can't...You'll face supernatural dangers on expeditions out into the Olympic Exclusion Zone. Make your base of operations in an abandoned garage, where you’ll research new parts, customize your station wagon, and chart routes deeper into the Zone. As you learn to survive the hostile, vicious environment you'll discover experimental remnants that all point to one bigger mystery - what happened here? Hit the gas, dodge the anomalies, and find out.
Neat, I'll keep an eye on it!
The Forest is my favorite open-world/survival/crafting game of all time because, unlike Minecraft and others like it-- it has an end-goal/there's an ending.
I can't just be given a sheet of paper anymore these days, I need to know there's an ending and keep me intrigued to explore new areas.
After The Raft, Conan: Exiles, and Green Hell, Valheim has been scratching enough of that itch for my group and I, but we're kinda at the endgame with Mistlands (and even then there's not much story); we're anxiously awaiting Sons of the Forest but, after that, I'm not sure there's any other group-crafting-open-world games to enjoy (maybe Core Keeper or Satisfactory but there doesn't look like a story there) but this one looks like a good single player romp!
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Comment on 'Westworld' will soon stream for free on Roku and Tubi after leaving HBO Max in ~tv
Douglas LinkIt's so surreal how HBO swept this under the rug so shortly after it was canceled. I mean I know lots of others have had the same fate, but this was their pride and joy not too long ago and so...It's so surreal how HBO swept this under the rug so shortly after it was canceled. I mean I know lots of others have had the same fate, but this was their pride and joy not too long ago and so much production value was dumped into it.
I know there's more sci-fi shows coming out soon (Alien, Sphere, Event Horizon), but Westworld felt like such an (perhaps over-)ambitious premise that, even if it got a little rocky, felt its heart was very, unapologetically, in the right place.
It reminds me of Annihilation where like, audiences (on the whole) didn't care for it, but the ones who did are like "you know what? more of that please. keep trying new things!"
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Comment on ‘Strange World’ is a historic bomb for Disney on a weak Thanksgiving box office weekend in ~movies
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Comment on Margot Robbie says her female-led ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ movie is dead at Disney: ‘I guess they don’t want to do it’ in ~movies
Douglas LinkHm, I wonder why? Perhaps it's too much of a box office-gamble (i.e. it wouldn't net them enough profit)? I admit I have not watched Ocean's Eight yet, but I haven't hated any of the other...Hm, I wonder why? Perhaps it's too much of a box office-gamble (i.e. it wouldn't net them enough profit)?
I admit I have not watched Ocean's Eight yet, but I haven't hated any of the other women-lead chapters of men-dominated franchises like Ghostbusters or Birds of Prey. They didn't exactly feel fresh and instead felt very, um, churned out? But I'm willing to keep giving them shots.
I heard Charlie's Angels was terrible, but I'm always a skeptic when going off average IMDb ratings since those movies get hella bombed by dudes.
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
Douglas Link2016's Doom. I tried... three times to get into it before this latest time? I've now put it on the easiest difficulty and it's a cathartic, silly blast. It feels like an exaggeration of what a...2016's Doom.
I tried... three times to get into it before this latest time? I've now put it on the easiest difficulty and it's a cathartic, silly blast. It feels like an exaggeration of what a conservative parent would think their kids are playing; just hyper-violent, heavy metal, gravely-voiced shooting of everything. Solving all problems with violence. I also appreciate that you can just play in small chunks and it goes by pretty fast. I don't think I'll go back for completion, but it's just what I needed for now. Mindless entertainment. Just wanted some space horror before Callisto Protocol.
Also pairs very well with Hue light sync and I especially enjoy its Razer sync. I'm a sucker for light shows.
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Comment on Why do people play MMO's solo? in ~games
Douglas Link ParentBack in the day I got the .5 tier gear or whatever it was that they put out for people who couldn't spend 8 hours on a raid. Raids just didn't seem fun at all; spent X hours on a run that felt...Back in the day I got the .5 tier gear or whatever it was that they put out for people who couldn't spend 8 hours on a raid.
Raids just didn't seem fun at all; spent X hours on a run that felt like a job for the possibility you might get something good. No thanks.
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Brett Goldstein, Bowen Yang join ‘Garfield’ animated movie
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US to fly supersonic bomber in show of force against North Korea
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Comment on Google to remove all VPN ad blockers that don’t comply with their policy in ~tech
Douglas LinkThe new policy specifically says that VpnService cannot be used to “Manipulate ads that can impact apps monetization”.
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Google to remove all VPN ad blockers that don’t comply with their policy
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Comment on Netflix’s ad plan is missing multiple popular titles in ~tv
Douglas LinkI'm getting cable déjà vu. Oh you want TBS and AMC? That's extra. Cable even started off as ad-free when it started.I'm getting cable déjà vu.
Oh you want TBS and AMC? That's extra.
Cable even started off as ad-free when it started.
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Comment on Finally, the uncut version of The Muppet Christmas Carol is back in ~movies
Douglas Link ParentI'm so fortunate to have Movie Madness here in Portland, OR. It is near-impossible to find non-dubbed version of the terrific Spanish found-footage 2007 horror movie Rec. Literally every streaming...I'm so fortunate to have Movie Madness here in Portland, OR.
It is near-impossible to find non-dubbed version of the terrific Spanish found-footage 2007 horror movie Rec. Literally every streaming service I checked (Amazon Prime, Vudu, Shudder) all have only an English-dubbed version.
The only non-English dubbed version available to buy is not a NA-region Blu Ray, or-- what I wound up buying-- the Rec Trilogy on blu-ray, which makes you have to buy the subpar sequels 🙄 I'm donating them all to Movie Madness after I rip them.
Had physical options not have been an option, I'd have been forced to resort to piracy. It's ridiculous how hard some streaming services make near-forgotten movies of the past.
I'm only glad my other forgotten movies-- Abbott & Costello flicks-- are at least archived by Congress!
I just finished reading Dead Silence, a haunted house story in space, and thought it was alright. Akin to a relatively mindless space horror blockbuster movie.
Now I'm reading Reality Is Not What It Seems and... it is giving me a headache through no fault of the author, just the concepts getting explained are breaking my layman's brain. I just wanted to poke my head into wherever the fringes of new science are going and ye gods is it some complex stuff. I don't know that I'll have retained any of it by the time I'm done reading.